Month: April 2021

Hazelight’s co-op game It Takes Two has now sold more than 1 million copies, the developer announced on Twitter. The independent studio added that sales are continuing at a good level, noting that the game is “still going strong.”

“Thank you so much for all the love you’ve shown our game; it means the world to us,” Hazelight said in its announcement.

Hazelight’s last game, A Way Out, sold more than 3.5 million copies, so It Takes Two still has a way to go to match the sales of that game. But 1 million copies sold in under a month is a solid start for the game. A Way Out sold its first 1 million copies in about three weeks, so It Takes Two is selling at about the same pace.

It Takes Two writer/director Josef Fares said the sales of It Takes Two demonstrates that people enjoy games that are exclusively co-op. “Thank you everyone and I hope we see more games like this,” he said.

It Takes Two is published by Electronic Arts. For A Way Out, EA did not receive a penny from the proceeds of that game, but it’s not immediately clear what kind of deal Hazelight had in place for It Takes Two.

GameSpot’s It Takes Two review scored the game a 9/10. “Takes Two is the best 3D platformer I’ve played since Super Mario Odyssey, and like that game, it has a flair for variety,” reviewer Andrew King said.

It Takes Two is playable exclusively in co-op, but the game has a special promotion where you can play with someone else for free. It Takes Two is one of GameSpot’s favorite split-screen co-op games.

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Revealed back in 2019, Prime 1 Studio’s Cliff Unger from Death Stranding statue has finally gone up for preorder. Portrayed by Hollywood actor Mads Mikkelsen and based on his likeness in the Hideo Kojima-directed game, the statue features a tailored fabric outfit, a themed base with poseable tendrils, and lED illuminations.

Depending on which version you opt for, there’ll also be two head sculpts to choose from. For the standard edition statue there’s the main portrait cast in polystone, or for the Black Label version, a more realistic portrait that features medical grade silicone for Unger’s face and rooted hair.

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Not just incredibly detailed, this statue of the Combat Veteran is also pretty large and stands at around 40 inches tall on its base. That’s 1/2 scale or half a Mads Mikkelsen in case you’ve ever wanted to own a mini version of the Danish actor.

Prime 1’s statues usually command a premium price, and this version of Unger will set you back $2,600 for the standard edition or $3,600 for the Black Label version that is limited to 250 pieces. Shipping isn’t included in the price, but considering that the statue has a weight of 57 pounds, it likely won’t be cheap.

This isn’t Prime 1’s first piece of Death Stranding merchandise, as the company unveiled a Sam Porter Bridges statue around the time period in which the game released. Also featuring an uncanny likeness of the man behind the character, Norman Reedus, that premium version of the statue is available for $3,600 ahead of its release later this year.

For a slightly more affordable option, there’s always the official Death Stranding PC case, although you’ll have to book a flight to Japan to pick it up.

A new special Max Raid event is now underway in Pokemon Sword and Shield. To celebrate World Penguin Day, the penguin Pokemon Eiscue is appearing in Max Raid battles across the Wild Area, Isle of Armor, and Crown Tundra until April 25, and you’ll even have a chance to find a Shiny variant.

Eiscue is normally one of the version-exclusive Pokemon only available in Pokemon Shield, but it will appear in Max Raids across both games throughout this event. You may also come across a Shiny Eiscue in five-star Max Raids, but its appearance rate is very low, so you’ll need to be persistent and check as many Raids as you can if you’re hoping to catch one.

The Eiscue Max Raid event runs until 4:59 PM PT / 7:59 PM ET / 11:59 PM UTC on April 25. Before you can participate in the event, you’ll need to refresh your Max Raid dens. You can do this either by connecting your game online via the Y-Comm, or by selecting Get the Wild Area News from the Mystery Gift menu.

There are a few new Pokemon games on the horizon. New Pokemon Snap, the long-awaited follow-up to the N64 Pokemon spin-off, releases for Nintendo Switch next week on April 30. Nintendo recently shared a lengthy overview trailer for the game that provided a closer look at its environments and new mechanics.

After that, remakes of Pokemon Diamond and Pearl are slated to launch on Switch in late 2021. Unlike other Pokemon remakes, these are staying very faithful to the originals, featuring the same chibi art style and top-down perspective as the classic DS games. Then in 2022, Game Freak is releasing a new Pokemon adventure set in ancient Sinnoh called Pokemon Legends: Arceus.

According to The NPD Group’s Player Engagement Tracker, Fortnite enjoyed the most unique active users in the month of March on both PlayStation and Xbox platforms. For more information on Player Engagement Tracker, check a look https://t.co/w9RkQXyC8y pic.twitter.com/a8u1p9zgK2

— Mat Piscatella (@MatPiscatella) April 22, 2021

Nier Replicant ver1.22474487139 is out today for PC, and you can claim a tidy launch day discount for the Steam version. Green Man Gaming is offering 20% off Steam keys for Nier Replicant with a coupon code, bringing the price down to $48. To claim the discount, first add the game to your cart on the GMG Store. Then at checkout, enter the promo code SPR21 for to take 20% off. After checkout you’ll receive a Steam key via email, which you can activate in the Steam launcher.

Nier Replicant is a remake of the cult classic action-RPG that later spawned the breakout hit Nier Automata. While the original was met with middling reviews and poor sales, the critical reception to this remake has been much more positive. Critics in particular have mentioned its combat improvements and a newfound appreciation for the design style of director Yoko Taro.

“I’m not going to lie, Nier Replicant made me ugly-cry on several occasions,” Michael Higham wrote in GameSpot’s Nier Replicant review. “Kainé, Emil, and Weiss will win your heart with their earnest and endearing personalities, making their tragic journey with you and tremendous story moments hit hard. Despite some significant gameplay enhancements, the lengths you have to go to see the story all the way through will be a test of your willpower. But for all its antiquated designs retained from the original version, it’s worth the effort in the end. Thus, Nier Replicant is essential for anyone who has love for Automata, and it’s a special experience on its own.”

The Nier games aren’t for everyone, but even the least-sad person in the world has to admit that both Nier Replicant and Nier Automata are packed full of bangers. Composer Keiiche Okabe is a wizard, and you can currently get a vinyl box set that comes with dozens of tracks from both games.

The Nier Automata / Nier Gestalt and Replicant Original Soundtrack Vinyl Box set is available on the Square Enix store. It features 35 tracks across four vinyl records, and its gorgeous packaging features characters from both games. It’s done in a watercolor style, with the recurring Lunar Tear flower visible in a few spots, and was drawn by Tokyo Ghoul creator Sui Ishida.

You can see the full track listing for the album here, but it’s worth noting that not every single song is included. If you get the CD or MP3 version of the Nier Automata soundtrack, for instance, it includes 46 songs, while the original Nier soundtrack had 43. Some of these are variants of the same tune, such as the multiple “Weight of the World” versions that accompany key moments in Automata’s story.

Nier’s music has received so much acclaim that it was toured internationally in a special concert series, with stops in major cities like London and Chicago. During one concert called “The Memories of Puppets,” a small one-act play was also performed, serving as an epilogue to Automata’s story. If you want to watch it, you can pick up a Blu-ray recording that also includes 17 songs.

Nier Replicant ver.1.22474487139–that’s the approximate square root of 1.5–is available today on Xbox One, PS4, and PC. In our Nier Replicant review, Michael Higham said the game made him “ugly-cry” multiple times and praised its storytelling, revamped combat, and, of course, its music. You can get the PC version on sale for $48 via Green Man Gaming with the code SPR21.

Valheim publisher Coffee Stain said it was caught off-guard by the game’s massive success. The publisher, which also has two other successful titles under its belt–Deep Rock Galactic and Satisfactory–scrambled to deal with the success of Valheim, according to an interview with GamesIndustry.Biz.

That’s not to say that some level of success wasn’t expected by Coffee Stain. “We knew from the beta period that the game was well received by players, who played more than we thought they would–that set us up with quite positive expectations,” said Sebastian Badylak, Valheim’s executive producer. “We were confident that the game would do well, and definitely sell in the tens of thousands in the first week.”

However, those expectations were easily met and then surpassed. Valheim has been one of the hottest items on Steam since its early-access release on February 2. A week after release, it didn’t just sell 10 or 20 thousand copies; it sold one million. Within six weeks of releasing, Valheim had moved six million units.

Coffee Stain CEO Albert Säfström was taken aback by the game’s success. Also speaking to GamesIndustry.Biz, he compared its sales to knocking over a bathtub full of water.

“But normally you sell the most at the beginning and then it starts to taper down. For at least the first week, every day we outsold what we’d managed the previous day. It was like if you knock over a glass of water on your desk. Most of the water comes out in the beginning, and that’s what your sales are like. This felt more like if you tried to tip over a bathtub full of water.”

This success, spurred on by the pandemic, the popularity of Vikings in mainstream culture, and even the success of Rust, according to both Säfström and Badylak, has radically shifted the post-release plans for Valheim. For instance, as an early-access title, Valheim has a lot of bugs. Now, instead of a trickle of bug reports, Iron Gate is flooded with them. According to Badylak, the only reason there are more reports is because of the game’s high player-count, not because the game has a myriad of bugs.

For the team at Iron Gate, which consists of just five developers, squashing these bugs while also updating the game with new content has presented a problem. To alleviate that stress, Iron Gate is hiring new developers, and Coffee Stain is even working with Unity, the company that built the engine Valheim runs on.

Past the struggles that came with Valheim’s popularity, Coffee Stain has learned something that it will be applying to future titles. The game only costs $20 and has no microtransactions, and is admittedly high-quality. Prioritizing games with this model will be a key strategy for the publisher moving forward.

“We want it to feel like you’re getting a good deal when you buy one of our games,” said Säfström. “That you almost feel bad for the developer or publisher that you can get so much game for that amount of money.”