Daily Briefing: Thursday 1st April

Among Us is getting new art style and bigger lobbies

It's been a big week for the Among Us. The much-anticipated Airship map is now live on all platforms as part of the biggest update to the social stealth game since it went crazy viral toward the tail end of last year. The Airship is a truly massive map that introduces a suite of new ways to be all sneaky like.

• As for what the future holds for Among Us, developer InnerSloth stated this week that the game will be getting bigger lobbies and a revamped art style. The bigger lobby will allow 15 people to all lie to each other at once and the revamped art style will involve "cleaner lines and an easier animation process." No word on a release date yet, but InnerSloth say we'll be seeing these new things "soon."

Demon's Souls remake lead exits Sony following Japan Studio closure

Gavin Moore, creative director on the stellar Demon's Souls PS5 remake, this week announced his departure from Sony's Japan Studio on the same day it was absorbed by Sony's Worldwide Studios operation. Moore had spent 24 years with Sony, with 18 of years being spent in Japan.

• Moore's announcement says that he will miss the "great creative spirit and camaraderie" of Japan Studio and, while he didn't elaborate on what exactly he'll be doing next, he did confirm that it was time to "seek out new and exciting opportunities." Moore is just the latest big name to announce his departure from Sony in the wake of their decision to close the historic Japan Studio, which still feels like an odd move.

Tokyo Game Show will be an online show in 2021

According to Gematsu the all-digital TGS 2021 is set to be held between September 30th and October 3rd. Show organisers had previously hoped to be able to return to a physical show format this year but the ongoing pandemic has presumably caused plans to shift. The show will still have a small, physical element, but this will only be open to press.

• According to the official TGS website, the theme of this year's show is "We'll always have games" as it attempts to celebrate the ways in which gaming brought us closer together in 2020. This year also marks the 25th anniversary of the Tokyo Game Show, so we can expect some big things. Over 31.5m people tuned into TGS Online last year.

Remedy could be collaborating with Epic Games on Alan Wake 2

That's according to Summer Games Mess architect Jeff Grubb who, speaking during a recent livestream, suggested that Remedy Entertainment have entered into a partnership with Epic Games to make the much-requested sequel. Grubb claims there was a bidding war over the Alan Wake IP but, ultimately, Epic offered the best publishing deal.

• Grubb went on to say that this deal is part of a wider strategy by Epic Games to help finance the creation of new PC games from the ground up. The strategy is apparently Epic's response to widespread criticism of their exclusivity strategy, with their logic being that players might be more receptive to Epic Store exclusives if Epic are part of the reason the game got made in the first place. Good luck with that one.