Daily Briefing: Tuesday 6th July

New Switch system update makes juggling system storage a little easier

The recently released version 12.1.0 update lets players free up space to install new patches by first removing existing data from the game. This means that if a player wants to install a patch but their Switch storage is full, they can simply opt to jettison unneeded data rather than messing around with uninstalls.

• Aside from that, there isn't a whole lot going on in version 12.1.0. The rest of the update carries the usual "system stability improvements" and a rather nebulous, unexplained firmware update for the Joy-Con controllers. At least this update doesn't seem to have caused the same widespread eShop connectivity issues as the last update.

Atari Gaming will focus entirely on premium releases

As part of its ongoing (and you have to imagine ultimately doomed) attempt to stay relevant, Atari's Gaming division this week announced that they will be moving away from their previous focus on mobile and F2P games. Their new focus will be on premium console and PC games - the change in business strategy was approved by the board of directors and everything.

• Atari announced back in April that they would be restructuring into separate divisions with Atari Gaming and Atari Blockchain. At the time, the Gaming Division was said to be focusing on retro gaming through mobile games, their classic VCS console, and licensing deals. That focus has now be modified to include building "a strong pipeline of premium games on all platforms." These first titles will apparently appear sometime before the end of the current fiscal year.

Ghost of Tsushima's next-gen upgrade paths are baffling

Sony announced the intriguing Ghost of Tsushima: Director's Cut last week and, along with it, an absolute mess of upgrade options and additional content that would also make you regret the very existence of next-gen gaming. The problem is that both versions of the game are trying to play nicely across both generations of PlayStation consoles - something that hasn't really been going too well to date.

• The Ghost of Tsushima: Director's Cut includes an impressive amount of content including a new island expansion and the game's new co-op mode. It costs on £70 on PS5 which, while still gross, is expected. Upgrading from the base game to the Director's Cut on PS4 costs £16, while upgrading from the base game on PS4 to the Director's Cut on PS5 costs £25. Upgrading from the PS4 Director's Cut to the PS5 Director's Cut costs £9. So, Sony think next-gen features like dynamic 4K60fps and haptic feedback cost £9.

Looks like 4A Games are hiring for something new

According to a series of newly-posted job listings, the  Metro franchise developer appear to be hiring for an all-new AAA project in addition to their ongoing development work on Metro 4. There's obviously no word on what this mysterious game might be, but one of the vacancies being for a senior game designer suggests it's still pretty early in development.

• While this new IP is obviously very exciting, it still seems like 4A Games' next big project will be Metro 4. The last game, Metro Exodus, released back at the start of 2019 and another new instalment was confirmed really soon afterwards by publisher THQ Nordic. This new instalment will apparently involve a "complete overhaul" of the Metro engine and render tech in order to take advantage of the power of next-gen consoles. So we're talking loading times, resolution, and ray-tracing improvements there. Watch this space.