“‘Hi-Fi Rush’ Appears To Have Out-Earned Forspoken’s Launch Week Sales On PC. Two of the biggest releases of super-early 2023 here could not be more different. They are rival console exclusives, but both available on PC. One was huge-budgeted open world spell-casting action game. The other a cartoony rhythm fighter that was announced and shadow dropped the same day. But one appears to be doing a lot better than the other, at least on PC.
From Pure Xbox
“Report: Xbox Is 'All But Starting From Scratch' On Next Halo Project, Moving Over To Unreal Engine. Halo Infinite seems to be all over the gaming news right now, and sadly, not for the reasons you'd want it to be. Following Microsoft's recent round of company layoffs, we've been hearing a lot about restructuring at Halo dev 343 Industries, and a new report sheds even more light on what looks like a major shift for one of Xbox's biggest franchises.
To sum things up, Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier has gone on record to say that 343 Industries has, after a drawn out process, decided to move over to Unreal Engine for its next Halo project. That project is supposedly 'Project Tatanka', the rumoured battle royale game being co-developed by Certain Affinity. What exact shape this project will take is reportedly up in the air as well, as the game is still evolving.”
From Pure Xbox
“Xbox Series X And Xbox Series S Consoles Are Going Up In Price In Japan. Well, here it is. A few months after Xbox boss Phil Spencer warned us all of potential price increases across the Xbox division, the company's current-gen consoles are officially going up in price in Japan.
Revealed by Japanese outlet Famitsu, both Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S console prices are increasing by 5,000 yen in the region, or about $40 US. Interestingly, both consoles are seeing the same price jump, which means Xbox Series S is getting the bigger percentage increase here.
The RRP leap takes effect on February 17th in Japan, so from that date onwards, current-gen Xbox consoles are going to cost a fair amount more for Japanese Xbox fans.”
From Pure Xbox
“Activision Blizzard Thinks Sony's 'The Last Of Us' Can Help Justify The Xbox Acquisition. The talk of the TV world right now is undoubtedly Sony and HBO's The Last Of Us series, which has drawn massive attention through its first few episodes — and even Xbox's Phil Spencer has been loving it!
However, Activision Blizzard seems to think this success could actually work against Sony when it comes to Xbox's attempted takeover of the company behind Call of Duty. Lulu Cheng Meservey, EVP of Corporate Affairs and CCO at Activision Blizzard, had some interesting comments to share about this on social media yesterday.
In a Twitter thread, Meservey explained that the FTC appears to be worried that "Sony’s position as market leader could be jeopardized by this deal", but she thinks there's no reason for concern because "Sony has an unrivaled warchest of IP, not just in gaming but TV, movies, and music", as evidenced by The Last Of Us.”
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