The Inaugural Issue of The Load Save Newsletter

Rockstar Takes A Step In The Right Direction

This type of news would have had no chance of being published five years ago. Fortunately, we live in a culture where video game fans and critics hold gaming companies accountable for their work environment and the way they treat employees. Although this is only a small step in the right direction, it holds promise for a brighter future for video game developers, testers, and teams that make our passion a reality.

Image credits: Rockstar Games.

Borderlands 2 Skyrockets In Sales 7 Years After Release

It's incredible to see that a game released in 2012 has had such a huge increase in sales. This is all thanks to Take-Two's resuscitation of Borderlands 2 in order to generate hype for Borderlands 3, which comes out in about a month. Through continuing to drop SHiFT codes and releasing a brand new story DLC for Borderlands 2, Take-Two has molded the "games as a service" model to work best for them. This shows how developers can get an old game back in front of the consumer while building massive amounts of hype for the next installment of the series. How often do you want to start the next chapter of a story as soon as you've finished one? Thanks to Take-Two's initiative, you can pick up right where you left off. Beat the Borderlands 2 DLC, which connects 2 and 3, then jump straight into the next story when Borderlands 3 launches on September 13th.

Image credits: 2K Games.

Loot Boxes Will Soon Be Not-So-Random

Loot boxes have always been a wild card in the gaming realm because you're gambling on the odds of getting a rare in-game item, but you end up getting some generic item that was definitely not worth the $5 you just spent. These loot boxes often time take the brunt of criticism from the players themselves, parents, and even policy-makers. This brings a lot of negative attention to video games that only degrades the public's view of gaming. It may be fun to take a chance on loot boxes, but their similarity to gambling provides far too much ammo for those who want to attack video games. So please, let's not give people another reason to blame video games for something like a gambling addiction. Thanks for regulating, ESA.

Image credits: Blizzard

Developers of Ooblets Continue To Receive Hate For Committing To The Epic Games Store

The chain of events surrounding Ooblets committing to the Epic Store continues to shock and amaze me. Full disclosure: I have no intentions to play Ooblets and I had never heard of it before the Epic Store conundrum. However, I am interested in the way that the Ooblets development team initially announced and further dealt with the decision to release their game exclusively on The Epic Games Store. The way they announced it was rather blunt. In this case, I found it to be incredibly refreshing! We rarely see a take like this from a company who dedicates so much time into making these games. I fully support this team being a little tongue-in-cheek. This also marks the first time that I've seen a major store indirectly defend a developer. To me, that seems like another great reason to stick with the Epic Games Store. Whatever your opinion on it is, the Ooblets devs are going to be financially stable during the launch of their game. That is something to be happy about.

Image credits: Ooblets

Welcome to The Load Save Newsletter!

Thanks for checking out Load Save! This newsletter's goal is to provide you with interesting and relevant articles about what's happening in the video game world. You can expect pieces about what's happening in the industry, news about software and hardware development, and headlines about what's going on in the gaming community. Complementing these links are my personal takes, which are easily disputable. So please reach out to me and let me know what you think about my thoughts! There is a lot of video game news out there. So if there's an article that interests you that isn't in the newsletter, send it my way! Odds are I'll like it too and I'll put it in the next edition.

This week in gaming: we'll see the good, the bad, and the ugly sides of the gaming industry, how a seven year old game is back in the limelight, and how the Nintendo Switch is still the coolest system.

Enjoy the read!

Development

DuckTales: Remastered Will Be Removed From Digital Stores

It's always sad to see news like this, especially when there's no specific reason given as to why it's being taken down. It's got to be hard for the developers who worked on this game to hear about this. Although it will still be available physically, I couldn't tell you where you would be able to find one physically that isn't Amazon. Who knows, maybe one day Ducktales: Remastered will earn E.T. levels of mystery around its disappearance and create a cult following.

Image credits: Capcom

DC Universe Online Makes Its Way To The Switch

The Switch continues to be the coolest console to date. I never took a deep dive into DCUO, but I did play it enough to get the gist of it. It's a fun MMORPG that allows you to fulfill your superhero dreams. It's a perfect game for comic book nerds and casual superhero movie lovers alike. The ability to take a huge, open-world MMORPG with you on the go is some of the best news I've heard this week. I haven't had a desire to get back into DCUO in years, but now that it's on the Switch I may jump back in and give it a try.

Anthem’s Delayed Patch Launches

Anthem is one of the biggest disappointments of 2019. I won't spend too much time lamenting the history of Anthem since there is a plethora of other pieces that accomplish that. But, it is sad to see a much anticipated update for this game fall so completely under the radar. Before the delay, Cataclysm was a highly anticipated patch. After this, the majority of the hype died down and many counted Anthem as down and out. From what the patch includes, it seems as if the dev team is slowly but surely rebuilding the majority of the game's aspects. From lowering enemy health and shields to completely removing the luck stat, the Anthem team is trying to make the game that the public wants. Only time will tell if there is still an audience dedicated to Anthem when the major updates are all rolled out.

Image credits: EA

Journey Gets Released For iOS

Journey was the first game I heard of that was winning awards based on its symbolism and beauty. This game didn't get applauded for being super fun to play, but it made people feel emotions through the simplistic gameplay and a deep message of community. Journey's surprise release on iOS is a great way for the non-gaming crowd to see how the video game medium can be just as moving as any other type of art. Cheers to the spread of great games!

Community

Hackers Ruin The Fun In Mortal Kombat 11

Why can't people just have fun in video games? I don't see why it's so important to get the number one spot on leaderboards, especially in this case. There's no cash reward and only gives the player recognition as a cheater. It is interesting (and a little crazy) to see how far some players will go to be #1.

Image credits: Gamespot

Fortnite Is More Than You Think

Let's end on a good note. This article made me tear up and I wanted you to have that feeling too. Other than that, this article was incredibly eye-opening to me on everything that Fortnite has to offer. I would be the first to judge people who play this game every day (I still don't see the fun in Battle Royales); however, this was before I knew about the robust Creative Mode. Don't miss the moral of the story: video games can do so much good for people. They can be a source of fun and joy for everyone around the world. In today's society where video games get blamed for being too violent, articles like these are reminders of how the purpose of video games is to make people happy. Props to Epic for making a space where people can express their creativity and get paid for it!

Before You Go

Thanks For Reading!

You can expect Load Save to hit your inbox every week with a new selection of video game news. Disagree with anything I said? Do I need to elaborate on any points? Is the name of this newsletter dumb? Respond to this email with whatever is on your mind.

If you see any interesting or crazy articles about gaming, feel free to send that in as well. I'll share comments and recommendations on the next week's newsletter!

Thanks again, and I'll see you next week on the next edition of Load Save.