Daily Briefing, Tuesday 15th December 2020

Hello, friends, and welcome back to the Bellular Daily Briefing - industry news right at your fingertips

OpenCritic add performance warning to Cyberpunk 2077's review page

The page addition warns against "significant disparities in performance, player experience, and review scores" between the various versions of Cyberpunk 2077 - and alleges that CD Projekt Red sought to hide the "true state of the game" on PS4 and Xbox One.

• In a separate statement issued yesterday OpenCritic's co-founder, Matthew Enthoven, accused CDPR of being "deceptive, selfish, and exploitative" for not issuing review copies of the game on Xbox One and PS4. Harsh words, but does Enthoven have a point?

Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo team up for safer gaming

The three companies have released a joint statement detailing their collective commitment to ensuring better online safety in games - and pledging to continue "investing in, evolving, and amplifying" their approaches to user safety.

• This collective commitment is intended to ensure the companies' online spaces are free from hate and harassment, particularly for their most vulnerable players. The commitments are grouped under three principles - Prevention, Partnership, and Responsibility. Go team.

Fall Guys gets new content today with Season 3

The jellybean battle royale's festive-themed third season kicks off today and promises a suite of new content - with seven new levels, 30+ new skins, and many more surprises still to be revealed. IGN will be revealing some of those things exclusively later in the week, apparently.

• Fall Guys was one of the breakout games of the summer and, while its mainstream popularity appears to have waned a bit in the wake of games like Among Us and Phasmophobia, developers Mediatonic have really been delivering with new content over the seasons.

SteelSeries acquire KontrolFreek

It's believed the acquisition will allow SteelSeries to expand their range of controller-based offerings - as KontrolFreek specialise in competitive gaming accessories like special grips and thumbsticks. KontrolFreek also boast a 4m follower-strong online community which SteelSeries hope to leverage.

• This is SteelSeries' second acquisition of the year, after their purchase of 3D sound solutions provider Nahimic back in April. Sums are undisclosed for both acquisitions - but SteelSeries are obviously having a solid year.

Ubisoft Plus now supports Google Stadia for free

This new support means that Ubisoft Plus subscribers can sign up for a free Google Stadia account and get instant access to Ubisoft cloud gaming - though the scheme is currently only open to US-based subscribers.

• Subscribers won't be required to purchase a Stadia Pro subscription - the free tier will suffice for Ubisoft games unless players want the streaming quality boost. Ubisoft Plus costs $14.99 a month and having streaming included certainly sweetens the pot.

That's everything for today - catch us back here tomorrow for another daily news blast!