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The price of top-end AAA games is going up for the first time in over a decade, increasing by $10 from the $60 standard that has been in place since the Xbox 360 and PS3 generation. NPD analyst Mat Piscatella says that gamers will pay $70, if not happily, due to the demand for next-gen games.

Piscatella broached the subject on the Virtual Economy podcast last weekend, as reported by Gamesindustry.biz. “Game prices have stayed the same since 2005, when Call of Duty 2 first went to $59.99 on Xbox 360 and we’ve basically stayed there ever since,” he explained. “Now, a lot of people will say a rise in base prices for the higher tier, premium games is needed to offset development costs, inflation or whatever, and all those arguments seem to fall flat. But what doesn’t fall flat is that for some of these premium games, if the $10 increase was implemented, people would happily pay it.”

Various industry figures have spoken about the increased cost of next-gen production throughout the new consoles’ release cycles. Back in June, Sony Interactive Entertainment president Jim Ryan warned that more technologically demanding games would “become slightly more human intensive and capital intensive to produce,” but the new norm in game pricing wasn’t revealed until 2K Sports announced its next-gen edition of NBA 2K21 for $70.

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Founded by Peter Jackson, Richard Taylor, and Jamie Selkirk in 1993 to create the digital effects for Heavenly Creatures, Weta Digital is perhaps best known for its work on Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy. Now, the New Zealand studio is coming under fire for an allegedly toxic and sexist workplace culture, triggering the launch of an independent investigation.

Allegations about Weta Digital’s workplace culture have emerged due to a months-long investigation by local news team TVNZ. New Zealand’s workplace relations minister Andrew Little has spoken up on the allegations, urging the company to carry out an independent review of the claims.

The stories from current and former staff include a culture of sharing pornographic imagery among the workplace, with staffers describing explicit mailing lists hosted on Weta Digital’s own intranet. “There was a tradition at the time called Porn Friday,” one employee told TVNZ anonymously. “Every Friday staff members would email round porn images to the whole team.”

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Sunday’s all-virtual Emmy awards were not a hit for the TV audience, the final viewer count has confirmed. The 2020 awards attracted a total of 6.1 million viewers on ABC, down from 6.9 million when it aired on Fox last year, as reported by The Wrap.

This year’s numbers are part of a continuing downward trend, however–this year saw a decline of 29% on last year’s numbers, while last year also saw a 32% drop from the previous year. The show still attracted relatively big numbers for ABC, representing the channel’s largest audience on a Sunday since an episode of American Idol on April 5.

While the TV numbers were less than encouraging, this year’s Emmys were a hit on social media, seeing a total of 11.9 million social interactions for an increase of 108% from last year. The show’s isolation-based gags may have helped with that, including a team of tuxedo hazmat-suited people who were charged with hand delivering trophies to the winners–and apparently gloating at the losers.

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With Microsoft’s recent acquisition of ZeniMax Media–parent company for eight studios, including Bethesda–it feels like another step towards reclaiming an old identity for Xbox. Back in the days of the original Xbox and Xbox 360, the Xbox brand was known as the home for console ports of western RPGs. It’s an association that was lost with Xbox One, but thanks to the many acquisitions that Microsoft has made since 2018, it may be one that returns with Xbox Series X/S. And that association will only help Microsoft in this coming console generation, both in moving Xbox Series X/S units as well as selling Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscriptions.

In June 2018, Microsoft acquired Forza Horizon developer Playground Games, which is now working on a brand-new Fable. Later, in November 2018, Microsoft announced it had acquired Wasteland developer inXile Entertainment, following up that it also acquired Fallout: New Vegas developer Obsidian Entertainment. Both studios are also working on upcoming RPG projects for Xbox; inXile is still a ways from announcing its game while Obsidian has revealed its developing an “epic, first-person RPG” called Avowed.

Microsoft’s acquisition of ZeniMax Media adds Bethesda Games Studios to its rapidly growing list of first-party Xbox Game Studios. And though it’s still up in the air as to whether or not Starfield and The Elder Scrolls VI will release as Xbox Series X/S console exclusives, both are at least coming to Xbox Game Pass on day one. In fact, all of the aforementioned RPGs are scheduled to come to Xbox Game Pass on day one, given that they’re first-party titles.

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The Generation Next crew break down what Xbox buying Bethesda means for Game Pass, and upcoming Bethesda games like Starfield and PS5 exclusives Ghostwire: Tokyo and Deathloop.

One of the biggest gaming news stories of 2020 broke this week when Microsoft announced it would buy ZeniMax for $7.5 billion. People understandably have a lot of questions about the deal, and in particular, what it might mean for the future of ZeniMax and its subsidiary, Fallout and Elder Scrolls publisher Bethesda.

Xbox boss Phil Spencer recently appeared on CNBC to discuss the deal. Asked directly if Microsoft would make any cuts to the company, Spencer replied, “Our plan is to leave it alone.”

“ZeniMax has an amazing track record of building great games. Our goal is to make ZeniMax the best ZeniMax they can be,” Spencer added. “Working individually with their studios on the great platform technology that we have and getting their creators’ feedback into the things we need to go build, that’s just a critical flywheel for us.”

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Here are a few references and things you might have missed in “Meet Me In Daegu.”

In the first Little Nightmares, we followed a little girl in a yellow raincoat named Six as she made her escape from the Maw, an underwater resort inhabited by terrifying, ravenous creates. The upcoming sequel Little Nightmares II will explore the world outside the Maw, and it seems to be just as dangerous. Releasing February 11, 2021 on Nintendo Switch, PS4, Xbox One, and PC, Little Nightmares II will also be playable on PS5 and Xbox Series X, with free next-gen upgrades releasing later next year.

Set after Six’s escape from the Maw, Little Nightmares II sees her team up with a new protagonist, a boy with a brown paper bag over his head named Mono. Together, the two must work together to survive the lands outside the Maw, which are occupied by a new cast of monstrous residents, including the bloodthirsty Hunter, the sadistic Teacher, creepy Mannequins, and more.

The pair is headed for a giant Signal Tower in the distance, which is emitting a strange signal and seems tied to the fate of Six, who is “fading from this world,” according to the official website. Throughout Little Nightmares II, Six and Mono are also stalked by the Thin Man, a terrifying Slender Man-esque creature who first appeared at the end of the first game’s DLC and seems connected to the TVs found throughout the game.

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Forza Horizon 3, the series entry that took the race to Australia, will soon be delisted. The digital version of the game will no longer be available for purchase from September 27, meaning that if you want it, you’ll need to act fast.

The Xbox One/PC game is hugely discounted right now, and if you don’t buy it now, your only hope will be a physical copy–and it’ll likely be second-hand. The game will also be playable on Xbox Series X, but only if you buy it before September 27. If you own the game, you’ll still be able to download it after this date, but it won’t be available for purchase anymore.

This applies to the DLC too, so if you want to experience the wild Hot Wheels expansion you’ll need to hurry.

• Forza Horizon 3 Standard Edition: $9.89 (usually $40, 67% off)
• Forza Horizon 3 Ultimate Edition: $21 (usually $70, 70% off)
• Forza Horizon 3 Expansion Pass: $10.49 (usually $35, 70% off)

Forza Horizon 3 released in September 2016, and earned strong reviews, including GameSpot’s own. It has since been followed by Forza Horizon 4, which transported the action to the UK. Unlike 4, Forza Horizon 3 has never been on Game Pass.

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