Daily Briefing: Wednesday 12th May

Blizzard will show off Overwatch 2 PvP in upcoming stream

In his first developer update since replacing Jeff Kaplan, new Overwatch game director Aaron Keller confirmed that a two-hour livestream will offer a first look at the kinds of PvP changes going into Overwatch 2. The Stream will air May 20th on YouTube/Twitch and will feature other members of the development team, Overwatch League staff, and content creators.

• Keller outlined that, while previous Overwatch 2 updates have focused on the co-op and PvE side of things, the core PvP experience is what makes Overwatch "so special." The presentation will go in on things like new maps and "major gameplay changes" - and will be followed on May 24th by a developer AMA over on the Overwatch subreddit where the team will look back on five years of Overwatch development.

Ubisoft are shifting focus away from big AAA releases

The company provided an update on their development strategy during their recent earnings call and confirmed that they intend to be less reliant on big AAA releases going forward. Focusing on 3-4 of these kinds of releases a year is "no longer a proper indication of [Ubisoft's] value creation dynamics", and the company will instead be focusing on "high-end free-to-play" titles.

• However, Ubisoft were also quick to emphasise that this shift is a financially-oriented decision. They will of course keep making and releasing large-scale AAA games but they will no longer form the bulk of the company's strategy going forward. Ubisoft recently announced plans to expand The Division into F2P and mobile titles, so it looks like this strategy is already well underway.

Live-services drive a strong quarter for EA despite falling revenue

EA also released their financial results this week and, for the three months ending March 2021, net revenues were down 3% to $1.35bn and net income was down to $76m from $418m this time last year. These numbers aren't amazing, but EA also reported quarterly net bookings being up 19% to $1.49bn.

• EA attribute this increase to Apex Legends' better-than-expected performance during the reporting period. COO and CFO Blake Jorgensen stated that the game posted its largest-ever net bookings quarter - delivering the best day, week, month, and in-game event on record. Jorgensen also confirmed that Apex Legends passed $1bn in lifetime net bookings partway through the quarter, well ahead of end-of-quarter projections.

Gabe Newell is teasing something Steam-related for console

During a recent Q&A, the Valve boss was asked whether any more Steam games would be coming to console à la The Orange Box. Newell responded that Valve will have "a better idea about that later this year", and subsequently set speculation racing. A clip of Newell's response is doing the rounds and you can just hear the excitement in the audience.

• Of course, we won't know exactly what Valve are planning until they clue us in. There have been a few rumours recently of collaboration with Microsoft. Phil Spencer has said on a number of occasions that he would like to bring the Xbox ecosystem to more platforms - could Xbox Game Pass be headed to Steam? Could we be getting another Orange Box? Watch this space.