Daily Briefing: Friday 21st May

Overwatch 2 drops team sizes to 5v5

In a live-streamed presentation yesterday, the Overwatch team detailed a few changes coming to the sequel's PvP component. The standard Overwatch team size has been reduced from 6v6 to 5v5, and team roles will be locked to one tank, two damage, and two support.

• In terms of the rationale behind the decision, game director Aaron Keller explained that the reduction in team size reflects the various changes Overwatch has gone through over the years - through hero limits and role lock. The team believe that this is "the next step in the way that Overwatch ought to be played." It should also make the action much easier to follow.

Capcom announce Monster Hunter digital event for next week

Capcom announced this week that the event will cover Monster Hunter Rise and Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin, and told fans to expect news of Rise's upcoming major v3.0 update. The showcase will air on Twitch and YouTube at 7am PT / 10am ET / 3pm BST on Wednesday 26th May.

• Capcom have been having a solid year so far and Monster Hunter Rise has been a big part of that, so this digital showcase makes a lot of sense in terms of consolidating momentum and setting the stage for when Wings of Ruin releases in July. Speaking of which, the presentation will show a "brief overview" of Wings of Ruin.

Embracer Group are looking for even more expansion

Embracer Group released their annual report this week and showed the fruits of their aggressive acquisition strategy at the top end - net sales were up 72% to $1.09bn while net profits were up less than 2% to $34.6m. Q4 2020 was a particularly strong period for the company, bolstered by Valheim's breakout launch clocking in at 6.8m copies sold.

• But, as ever, Embracer are focused on more acquisitions. The company have made more than 25 since the start of 2020 and raised an additional $890m to fund more back in March. Embracer confirmed in their report that, in Q4 2020 alone, they "engaged with more than 150 companies about joining the group" and are in "late-stage talks" with more than 20.

PS5 doubled Xbox Series X sales in Q1 2021

The next-gen console launches may have been marred by low stock and scalpers, but analysts this week confirmed that the PlayStation 5 outsold the Xbox Series X|S from January to March this year. According to Ampere Analysis, Sony shifted 2.83m PS5 consoles against 1.31m Xbox Series X|S consoles - more than doubling Microsoft's sales.

• Of course, sales for both consoles would likely have been significantly higher were it not for a global component shortage. Besides, both Microsoft and Sony were apparently just fighting for second place against Nintendo - who managed to sell 5.86m Switch consoles during the same period. Switch components are much more widely available and the console is just plugging away "at the peak of its sales cycle."