Daily Briefing: Monday 30th August

Valve Win Lawsuit Over Controller: Back Paddles For All?

Back paddles on controllers (like the Steam controller and Xbox Elite) are a rare occurrence, because custom controller manufacturer SCUF hold the patents on it. The Xbox Elite licenses the patent, but Valve infringed upon it: In February, Valve were fined $4m as a result. However, now they've successfully appealed. If the appeal holds, it may be open season on back paddles and back paddle attachments for controllers.

• Patent law is a nightmare. SCUF deserve credit and reward for the idea and implementation, but it's better for games if such innovative controls can be available to all.

Death Stranding 2 Soft-Confirmed

Norman Reedus has revealed that Death Stranding 2 is currently in a negotiation phase, effectively confirming its existence. After the success of the first and the publicity behind the Director's Cut release, it seems a complete shoe-in.

• Seems reasonable to me - it was profitable before the PC release, so if Kojima is creatively up for the sequel, then it will almost certainly happen.

Naughty Dog Hiring Up For Standalone Multiplayer

Naughty Dog have been a bit upfront about this one: they just tweeted saying they were hiring a bunch of people for their first 'standalone multiplayer' game. One of the game's directors said "apply if you want to be part of bringing the cinematic experience between players in our new standalone multiplayer action game"

• Knowing Naughty Dog's history, it will likely be similar in gameplay and aesthetic to Uncharted or The Last of Us. The Last of Us Part 2 had multiplayer assets included in game files, and Naughty Dog were also remaking The Last of Us. Hopefully we learn soon, because beyond that, Naughty Dog are relatively silent. Maybe after Sony's already scheduled games are out?

Nintendo Bring The Hammer Down Twice

Nintendo, as anti-fan work as always, have brought the hammer down on two specific cases recently. First off, Prime2D has been taken down - a remake of Metroid Prime, but in the classic side-scrolling Metroid style. It was in the works for 15 years, but Nintendo lawyers told them to stop. At least they got their demo out into the wild in time. The second swing of Nintendo's mighty bludgeon fell upon Riptide, a Smash Bros event that included tournaments and setups for Project+, a continuation or successor to the legendary Smash Bros Brawl mod Project M. Project M itself was abandoned after pressure from Nintendo, and now Nintendo are continuing their zero-tolerance policy.

• It's a shame that Nintendo continue to be so old-fashioned, especially when CD Projekt Red are in the news for hiring Cyberpunk modders to work on mod support and bug fixing. Fandoms can create beautiful things, but Nintendo often destroy rather than harness that energy.