Daily Briefing: Friday 14th May

Housemarque still don't know how to fix saving in Returnal

Returnal's lack of save options is its most criticised feature and, while developers Housemarque have acknowledged this criticism from fans, it turns out they still don't know what they're actually going to do about it. The team are wary that any attempt to solve the save issue is complicated by varying player expectations.

• This really has gotten out of hand, hasn't it? Housemarque's logic in not having a save system is to put players in a hardcore mindset for taking on the game's challenges, but a rogue-like with a long runtime just not allowing players to save is a bizarre decision. It's hard to imagine somebody calling something like Dead Cells tame because players are able to leave mid-run and not have it be a massive waste of time.

Google Stadia is apparently still "alive and well"

That hilarious statement comes courtesy of Stadia developer marketing lead Nate Ahearn who this week reassured us all that, despite so much evidence to the contrary, Stadia is still plugging along. Ahearn says that the Stadia team are "well on [their] way" to releasing over 100 new games this year and advised non-believers to "take notice" of how Stadia is delivering on promises.

• That Ahearn said all this with a straight face is hard enough to believe in itself, but calling Stadia "alive and well" is just laughable when it has no internal development, zero media profile, and folks in the Epic v. Apple trial can't even work out if it's still a thing. Stadia is indeed still putting out games but as long as it isn't drumming up interest the clock is ticking.

Jim Ryan says PlayStation 5 production will increase soon

Next-gen console stock has been scarce since release and the PlayStation 5 is no exception. Though it's still managed to sell nearly 8m units worldwide, Sony CEO Jim Ryan has been outlining the various steps taken to mitigate the shortage.

• According to Ryan, Sony will be "ramping up" production over the summer and the second half of the year and hope to see "some sort of return to normality in terms of the balance between supply and demand" during that period. Ryan's comments come after Sony CFO Hiroki Totoki warned analysts that shortages could extend well into next year, so we'll see.

E3 2021 plans revealed

While we've known for a while that E3 would be taking the all-digital route this year, we haven't heard a whole lot on what the show will actually entail. This week organisers ESA announced an online portal and app for the show that will allow access to all the goings-on from the show.

• The ESA describe the portal as a "key hub" for the show - where users will find events, virtual booths, forums, and video conferencing. These booths are where the announcements and big events will take place, while odd lounge spaces will act as a sort of hang-out for virtual visitors. It all sounds as needlessly complicated as you'd expect plus there's no mention of demos - i.e. the one thing that could have made this year's show worthwhile. Better luck next year, lads.