Daily Briefing: Tuesday 9th February

Terraria creator locked out of Google accounts, cancels Stadia release in response

Andrew Spinks took to Twitter to detail being inexplicably locked out of his Google accounts since mid-January, and to criticise Google for doing nothing beyond giving him "the runaround" since he brought the issue to their attention.

• This lockout means that Spinks has lost access to "thousands of dollars" of apps on Google Play, and well as his Google Drive, YouTube account, and Gmail address. Spinks believes Google's lack of response signals a conscious effort to burn a bridge - and in response has cancelled Terraria's (hitherto unannounced) Stadia release.

Plans are moving ahead for an all-digital E3 2021

The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) are reportedly working on plans that would see E3 2021 become three days of live-streamed content broken up into things like keynote sessions and preview events.  There are also plans for remotely playable demos during the event, but the ESA will have to win over publishers first.

• Last year's E3 physical show was cancelled amid the coronavirus pandemic and, when the promised digital alternative never made an appearance, organisers confirmed that a "reimagined" show would take place in 2021. Interestingly, this year's physical show hasn't yet been cancelled, but it's understood that the focus will be digital.

CD Projekt Red suffer "targeted cyber attack"

The Cyberpunk 2077 studio confirmed the attack in a statement published to Twitter, outlining that an as yet unidentified actor claims to have obtained source code for Cyberpunk 2077, The Witcher 3 (and its unreleased version), and Gwent.

• The attackers also claim to have accessed "all" of CDPR's internal documentation related to accounting, admin, investor relations, legal, and HR. Unless an "agreement" is reached, the source code will supposedly be sold/leaked online and the documentation will be sent to "[their] contacts in gaming journalism." CDPR say they will not negotiate, so watch this space.

EA will reportedly decide Anthem's fate this week

The news comes courtesy of a new Bloomberg report that claims that EA will this week assess whether to expand the team currently trying to resurrect Anthem or cancel the project entirely.

• Around 30 people are currently working on the Anthem revamp but developer BioWare reportedly need closer to 90 in order to get the project to completion. This would be a significant investment on EA's part for a still relatively mysterious reimagining of one of modern gaming's most disappointing launches, so it'll be interesting to see what happens.