10 Bizarre Games Industry News That Stunned Gamers in 2018
Sony Dips out of E3
Sony announced earlier this year that for the first time since 1995, when the first E3 occurred, the company will not be making an appearance and this news shook the entire games industry.
Sony has not only been a longtime staple of the trade show but one of the best presences at E3 this generation. They almost always bring the heat, the laughs, the surprises and most importantly, the games.
At E3 2019, they’ll be completely absent. They’re not skipping just the conference —they’re skipping E3 all together so don’t expect to see The Last of Us: Part II or Death Stranding anywhere.
This news might be more shocking than anything else on this list simply because it’s quite a perplexing story. Sony didn’t exactly say why they were dipping out on E3, just that they were.
Because of this, speculation has run rampant among the industry. Is it because Sony is announcing the PS5 next year? Is it because Sony has run out of juice? Only time will tell.
For now, if you’re curious about what it could mean, check out some of the reasons we think Sony might be passing E3 up this year.
10 Bizarre Games Industry News That Stunned Gamers in 2018
Soulja Boy Game Console Announced 
Soulja Boy made a surprising move when he announced via Twitter that his very own console, the SouljaGame Console, was available for preorder.
We all cranked that Soulja Boy back in the early 2000s, but that doesn’t mean any of us wants to crank cash to purchase a video game console from him. It’s not even really a console either, but rather, an emulator.
And even worse, Soulja Boy wants $211.98 for it. According to the listing, the console is made by Chinese company, Anbernic.
Some quick searches online will show you that the SouljaGame is the same console made by Anbernic that can be found on sites like Sears.com for half the price (with a different paint color).
That’s not even the biggest problem with it. Legally, this console is not okay.
It’s not a console like something Nintendo, Microsoft or Sony might produce —it’s an emulator and it emulates games like Mario and Zelda, and much more. Nintendo is likely well aware of this and Soulja Boy can expect the legal arm of companies like Nintendo to come smashing down in no time.
Why Soulja Boy, why?
10 Bizarre Games Industry News That Stunned Gamers in 2018
Cross-Platform Play in Fortnite
Consumers dreamed of cross-platform play long ago, but it wasn’t until this year that it became a reality. Thanks to the mighty hand of Fortnite, the consumer-friendly Microsoft and some technical behind-the-scenes work, Xbox One Fortnite players were able to play with PC and mobile players.
Then, months later, when the Switch released, those same players could play with their Nintendo friends. During all of this, though, and despite pleas from the fans, Sony remained silent.
While everyone was playing together regardless of platform, PS4 Fortnite players were isolated to their own PlayStation world. Sony eventually spoke out and said they love hearing what fans have to say, but have nothing to announce at the time.
Then, with a surprise u-turn, Sony opened up a cross-platform play beta that allowed users to play Fortnite with their Xbox One, mobile, PC and Switch friends via cross play and thus the saga was over.
The consumers finally won in the war of cross-platform play. Everyone wanted this day to come, but nobody was sure it ever would. 2018 will be remembered for many things, with cross-platform play in Fortnite chief among those things.
10 Bizarre Games Industry News That Stunned Gamers in 2018
Sony Finally Allows PSN Name Changes
Ladies and gentlemen, it finally happened: Sony will allow us to change our PSN names.
For years and years going back as far as the PS3, PSN users have asked, no, begged, Sony to allow players to change their online user ID names. Whether it be the cringe of a name developed when we were in high school, or the nonsensical use of numbers or lowercase Xs, we needed to change our names.
Despite the pleas of millions, Sony remained silent. It was apparently impossible. Then, out of nowhere, Sony announced that through an intense and terrifying beta process, users could begin changing their names with a full rollout expected next year.
While you might lose your DLC, your progress and so much more, you no longer have to live under the guise of something like koolaidman420blazeit or something more embarrassing. Is it worth it, though? That’s for the beta users to determine.
Regardless, we can’t blame Sony anymore —they finally delivered the goods.
10 Bizarre Games Industry News That Stunned Gamers in 2018
Ninja and Drake Play Fortnite Together
If 2018 has been one person’s year, it’s Fortnite streamer Ninja’s. Not only did he take the world by storm with his impressive Fortnite skills over the year, which ended with an award at the 2018 Game Awards, he broke records upon records on Twitch.
He somehow outdid himself further when he played Fortnite with rapper Drake (you read that right), which damn near burned the world down, or at least the Twitch servers.
Claiming the record for largest number of concurrent viewers on one stream, with the number exceeding 500,000, Ninja and Drake showed everyone what the power of a good video game and two entertaining people can do.
We’re not sure it will ever happen again, but we sure hope it does.
Ninja has already played with Ellen since then so the sky is the limit with who’s next. Oprah, do you play Fortnite?
10 Bizarre Games Industry News That Stunned Gamers in 2018
Telltale Closes Its Doors
In a story that left the entire video game industry stunned, Telltale Games suffered massive layoffs that ended with nearly all of their staff laid off and almost all of their projects canned.
Years ago, Telltale Games took the world by storm when it released The Walking Dead: Season 1. This game took video games to new storytelling heights and opened up an entire genre of games that other studios have now picked up the mantle in.
Their games made us laugh, cry, smile and feel every other emotion. Over time, though, their formula grew stale. Sure, our decisions mattered, but in the end, we all made it to the same place.
On top of that, their engine only continued to grow more and more unbearable. Telltale had seen better days in its final year, but nobody expected the studio to close, which is why when it did, we were all left shocked.
As it turns out, there were a number of things going on behind-the-scenes that led to this closure. The final season of The Walking Dead was seemingly canned, but it was recently brought back from the ashes to be completed by a number of former Telltale employees.
Fans of the series should savor every last moment in the final season’s last two episodes because sadly, it will be the last new Telltale story told.
10 Bizarre Games Industry News That Stunned Gamers in 2018
PUBG Sues Epic Games
In one of the most bizarre stories in the games industry this year, PUBG filed a lawsuit against Epic Games. The reason for this filing was that PUBG Corp. felt that Epic Games copied many elements of PUBG in Fortnite Battle Royale.
The reason why PUBG Corp. filed the lawsuit makes sense, somewhat. They likely saw the success of Fortnite and acted in a way to tone down said success. After all, PUBG was the Battle Royale king before Fortnite made its way to the genre.
Despite that, it was still a strange move, especially when considering the “why” behind the lawsuit. After all, PUBG was originally just a mod for Arma 3.
Furthermore, suing over genre mechanics likely wouldn’t have held up much in court anyway. There’s a reason we don’t see iD Software suing every other first-person shooter in the world for using mechanics they used in their 1993 title, Doom.
It’s unclear whether or not PUBG Corp. actually sought to win this lawsuit or get a settlement, but regardless, they ended up withdrawing from the lawsuit altogether.
10 Bizarre Games Industry News That Stunned Gamers in 2018
Skrillex and Hikaru Utada Team up for Kingdom Hearts III
A point of disdain for many fans, and a point of enjoyment for others (me), the Kingdom Hearts III intro theme song was announced this year as a collaboration between Hikaru Utada, who has done the theme songs for Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts 2, and Skrillex.
Then, just a few weeks ago, the song, titled Face My Fears, was released and boy is it a banger. It starts with the melodic tones we’ve come to expect from Utada and builds to a drop that only someone like Skrillex could create.
Skrillex walks the fine line between his old womp-womp dubstep days and the trap beats of 2018 in Face My Fears to excellent effect. It isn’t overpowering. It’s catchy. It fits the intro cinematic that was released with the song and most of all, it sounds very Kingdom Hearts.
A collaboration that nobody expected, or necessarily wanted, Face My Fears by Utada and Skrillex is a song we suspect will join the ranks of Simple and Clean and Sanctuary in no time.
10 Bizarre Games Industry News That Stunned Gamers in 2018
Fallout 76 Promised Canvas Bags But Didn’t Deliver
Weeks ago, one Reddit user realized that the canvas bag promised in the $200 Collector’s Edition of Fallout 76 wasn’t present in the final product and had in fact been replaced with a cheaper nylon bag.
Another addition to the pile of complaints formed from Fallout 76, Bethesda wasn’t quick enough to save face on this debacle. In no time at all, it was discovered that influencers had received canvas bags.
It’s important to note that these bags weren’t the same promised in the Collector’s Edition, but they were canvas and free for the influencers.
When Bethesda finally spoke on the subject, they announced that they would replace anyone’s nylon bag with the proper canvas bag, which was what the consumers were promised.
All seemed well (relatively speaking) until last week when it was discovered that these replacement bags won’t be delivered until four to six months from now.
Here’s hoping things start looking up for Fallout 76 in 2019.
10 Bizarre Games Industry News That Stunned Gamers in 2018
The Big 3 on Stage Together During The Game Awards
Each year, Geoff Keighley’s The Game Awards get better and better and the 2018 award show continued that trend.
The Game Awards this year opened up with something that hasn’t happened this generation and perhaps ever before: the big three of Sony PlayStation, Microsoft Xbox, and Nintendo took to the stage together to talk about the importance of unity in gaming.
It was an unprecedented moment, a moment Keighley himself said was five years in the making, and it left the industry with mouths agape. Were Shawn Layden, Phil Spencer, and Reggie Fils-Aimé together on a single stage to talk about video games? Yes, yes they were.
No real news came out of their speech on unity in gaming, but despite that, the industry as a whole woke up better the next day because of what was said. These were executive-level leaders of three companies who, because of many reasons including sheer obligation, are rivals.
They literally compete with each other day in and day out to win over a consumer’s money, but for that one moment, that rivalry was laid aside and for that reason, we were all stunned that night.
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