Daily Briefing: Friday 19th March

Sony just bought the Evo Championship Series

Sony Interactive Entertainment will acquire the venerable fighting game tournament in partnership with RTS, an eSports venture that has attracted investors like the Endeavour talent agency. Sony have confirmed that Evo's founders, Tony and Tom Cannon, will remain "closely involved as key advisors." No numbers were disclosed around the deal.

• Sony's statement went on to outline that the Cannons' continued involvement will “ensure that Evo remains a one-of-a-kind, grassroots competitive platform for fighting game players and fans around the globe.” Evo is actually set to return as an online event this coming August after the pandemic forced it to take a year off last year - we'll see what Sony's corporate presence looks like then.

Project Athia gets a new trailer, an official name, and a tentative release date

As revealed during this week's Square Enix Presents showcase, the mysterious PS5 console exclusive is now officially called Forspoken and follows Frey Holland - an "ordinary young woman who must harness her magical abilities to survive in the fantastical yet dangerous land of Athia”.

• Forspoken is the first title from Square Enix's new Luminous Production studio, which was formed in 2018 by members of the Final Fantasy XV team. The game is reportedly set to release on PS5 and PC in 2022 and is expected to remain a PlayStation console exclusive for an impressive two years.

Starbreeze and Koch Media sign €50m Payday 3 deal

The deal is expected to cover both development and international marketing costs for Payday 3 when it eventually releases in 2023, including at least 18 months of post-launch content and marketing support. Starbreeze say that, with this deal confirmed, Payday 3 is now fully financed.

• Starbreeze's new CEO, Tobias Sjögren, said in a statement that the deal means "a strong foundation for a successful launch of Payday 3." Starbreeze have really turned their fortunes around in recent times. Not so long ago they were on the brink of insolvency thanks to some poor investments and underperforming launches - now Payday 3 actually launching is almost guaranteed.

Star Citizen brings in some more outside help

Firesprite have been brought in to work on Star Citizen's Theatres of War mode which, when it eventually releases, will be a 40-player combat mode similar to Battlefield. Devs Cloud Imperium this week announced that they have had some help with the mode in recent years, which really shows just how big Star Citizen has become.

• Firesprite have been collaborating on the Theatres of War mode since as far back as 2019. The UK-based studio are perhaps best known for working with Sony to create The Playroom on PS4, as well as The Persistence - a sci-fi horror roguelike released last year. There's no word just yet on when Theatres of War will actually release, but Star Citizen players are probably used to that kind of thing by now.