Hello! Welcome to the latest Geeky Brummie Gaming Roundup!

This week, E3 may be officially dead.

E3 Cancelled

E3 has been cancelled after a slow collapse, after several publishers pulled out of this year’s event. Ubisoft, Sega and Tencent all confirmed they were stepping away from the show, before the ESA canned it entirely.

Ubisoft were one of the few publishers committed to attending a month ago. However, this week they walked back that decision. Instead, they will be hosting their own Ubisoft Forward event on 12 June.

Following this, IGN contacted various other publishers to find out if they were attending. While most didn’t get back to them, Sega did confirm they decided not to participate. Similarly, Tencent also stated that they would have no presence at the show.

Devolver Digital don’t typically attend E3 itself, but can usually be found in the car park hosting a satellite event. However, they won’t be doing that this year either. However, in typical Devolver fashion, they have stated that if you still with to sit in an LA car park to eat a hot dog and drink a beer, feel free.

All of this escalated until eventually, on Thursday night, E3 was formally cancelled.

There does seem to be a shift towards publishers attending Geoff Keighley’s Summer Games Fest in place of E3. Tencent’s confirmation to IGN also stated their commitment to attending the Play Days event as part of SGF. Bandai Namco’s response focused entirely on their attendance of that event too (with no mention of E3 at all). Devolver also confirmed that their digital presentation/weird ARG will be part of the SGF programme instead of E3.

What I find interesting about E3’s slow collapse this year is the company placed in charge of it this year – ReedPop. They’re the same company who have been botching EGX and MCM for a good few years (allowing for pandemic disruption, obviously). We still don’t know why there hasn’t been a spring MCM Birmingham this year. They just didn’t announce one. And the much-hyped return to Birmingham for EGX simply…didn’t happen. Without explanation. It makes me wonder what’s going wrong behind the scenes that they’ve botched E3 so badly too.

It’s a shame, because E3 has always been the highlight of the gaming calendar. That week in June where everyone gathering around the streams and sharing the hype. Sure, Summer Games Fest is starting to take the place of it, but it’s chaotic. There’s also Gamescom, which is still not quite on E3’s level yet.

Obviously, in the age of streaming, publishers have focused on their indivual events. Not just that, but publishers’ positivity towards Summer Games Fest suggests Geoff Keighley, for all his faults, is building better relationships than the ESA somehow.

Will be interesting to see what happens next year, but I have my doubts it’s coming back.

New Releases

In re-releases, The Last of Us Part 1 comes to PC, fresh off the heels of the HBO adaptation (which is excellent). But be warned! It’s apparently quite buggy. As in “characters randomly being wet for no reason” levels of buggy. So best to watch for some patches if you watched the show and want to see Cannibal Dude #2 and Ellie’s Mom play Joel and Ellie.

Smalland launches in Early Access for PC. It’s a survival game where you play people the size of bugs. It’s Grounded but less Honey I Shrunk the Kids and more Ferngully.

If you like retro-style 2D platformers, you’re in for a treat this week. 9 Years of Shadows (PC), Lunark (PC, PlayStation, Switch, Xbox) and Anyaroth: The Queen’s Tyranny (PC, Switch) all released.

Similarly, fans of grim action RPGs have a couple of new choices this week. Ravenbound and Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon both released for PC.

Innchanted (PC) is a multiplayer game about running a magical inn. Think Overcooked with more chaos in a world of wizards, basically.

The Last Worker (PC, PlayStation, Switch, Xbox) is a puzzle platformer set in a world of automation. The final worker in the world sets out to take down the world’s largest retailer from the inside. Features art design by comic artist Mick McMahon and an all-star cast including Jason Isaacs and Zelda Williams.

Speaking of all-star casts, Crime Boss: Rockay City (PC) features Michael Madsen and more in a game about heists. Sadly, reviews suggest most of its budget went on its cast and you’re probably better off sticking to Payday.

Looking for a grand World War I strategy game? The Great War: Western Front (PC) is a real-time strategy game from developers behind Command & Conquer Remastered. Naturally, battles draw from real historical events (with assistance from Imperial War Museums). However, you are able to shape history in whatever way you see fit.

Terra Nil (PC) is an anti-city builder. You take a barren, eroded landscape and bring it to life with plants and new ecosystems. Looks really chill and an important game for the environment-damaging world we currently live in.

Game of the Week

Game of the Week this week is Dredge (PC, PlayStation, Switch, Xbox), which is a game about fishing. No wait, come back.

Sure, this might be a fishing game but it’s also a horror game. As we all know, the ocean is terrifying. Dredge is a game that gets this, as your little boat heads out onto an ocean of undersea dwelling monstrosities. Naturally this means pulling up Cthulhu’s mates, and night-time journeys are fraught with gigantic fish monsters.

I adore the concept of this game. We get plenty of horror games, but none as unique as this one. And yet, it’s a concept that’s so obvious when you hear about it. Suitably creepy vibes from the trailer too.