Gaming News for Week of June 28, 2018

Top Story: Bethesda sues Warner Bros. over 'Westworld' game, alleging it uses code from hit mobile game 'Fallout Shelter.'

Bethesda is suing publisher Warner Bros. and developer Behaviour Interactive over the release of mobile title Westworld for being a “blatant rip-off of Fallout Shelter.” Behaviour Interactive was contracted to work on the 2015 Fallout mobile game and provided a decent amount of code, along with art and designs, for the title. Bethesda alleges that Behaviour took that code and repackaged it with a Western veneer to sell to Warner Brothers, who were more than happy to publish. The titles are so similar, in fact, that they share similar bugs and glitches, according to Bethesda.

Bethesda claims this amounts to a serious breach of contract, as they were the rightful owner to all content, as works for hire typically are. Taking that intellectual property when they were no longer the legal owner would amount to a massive copyright infringement. The question now is if Behaviour Interactive did just that, or if they developed completely new, similar assets for the new title and if Warner Brothers was complicit in that act.

Warner Brothers clapped back Thursday morning to IGN, calling Bethesda's statements: "as surprising as they are unsubstantiated," and further arguing that they never "induced" Behaviour to infringe copyright laws and use code from Fallout Shelter. A brawl is surely brewing!

More legal news: 'PUBG' creators drop copyright lawsuit against Epic Games, creators of 'Fortnite.'

The short-lived legal battle has apparently ended between the two battle royale giants, according to Bloomberg. Details are scarce at the moment, as no comments have been made by either party and it is unclear if a settlement has been reached. Stay tuned for an update as news comes in.

Speaking of 'Fortnite,' season 5 got a release date.

On their Reddit page, Epic Games discussed that the fifth season of Fortnite would start on July 12 at 4 AM Eastern Standard Time. For those of you scrambling to get all of the perks in Season 4, a 100 percent XP boost weekend will be taking place this weekend, so take advantage while you can.

Blizzard revealed their new 'Overwatch' hero and he's a badass hamster (not discussed in the video version).

On the Overwatch Twitter account, Blizzard confirmed the next playable character in the popular FPS meets shipping simulator to be Hammond the Hamster. There are no details as to how the furball will play, including what class he resides in or even his move set, but he does have a sweet hamster ball tank and I think that's what really matters here.

Xbox 'exclusive' 'State of Decay 2' was the best selling game of May, followed by 'God of War' and 'Detroit: Become Human.'

State of Decay 2, a survival horror meets management resource Xbox and PC game, was the top-selling title in May 2018, according to NPD via Forbes. Following behind, from second to tenth best-selling were:

2. God of War 2018

3. Detroit: Become Human

4. Far Cry 5

5. Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze

6. Grand Theft Auto V

7. Hyrule Warriors Definitive Edition

8. Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Siege

9. Mario Kart 8

10. NBA 2K18

Far Cry 5 is currently the best selling game of 2018.

It is important to note that these stats are limited because they only track US sales and don't account for revenue from free-to-play titles, like Fortnite, or from the mobile market.

On the hardware front, every console manufacturer had a record-breaking May by moving a tremendous amount of units. Sony took the cake though and sold more Playstations than Microsoft did Xboxes and Nintendo did Switches.

Director of the 'Final Fantasy VII' remake believes the game was announced ‘too early.’

In light of its absence at E3, director Tetsuya Nomura admitted to Italian gaming magazine Multiplayer (with a translation by Kingdom Hearts Insider) that the remake of FFVII was "announced it too early," to which we all said: "yeah, no shit." Nomura said the decision came down to beating any leaks, as the title was already starting to become the topic of some scuttlebutt within the industry.

Nomura shared a similar sentiment of prematurity with Kingdom Hearts 3, which was first revealed in 2015 and is expected to launch next January.

Snapchat may be entering the world of gaming.

In a new report from The Information, Snapchat will supposedly launch a game platform all their own this fall. Snapchat has recently been experimenting with gamifying some elements of its preexisting service, but their new efforts will mark a decisive shift in attitude.

The platform will allow for outside developers to publish games that will be playable in-app, with one publisher already signed up to release a game on the platform, according to a source familiar with the undertaking.

Snapchat has yet to comment either way.

'Mario Kart 8 Deluxe' and Nintendo Labo are now compatible.

Nintendo confirmed through Twitter on Monday that their new cardboard initiative would now be compatible through the Toy-Con Motorbike creation. This marks the first time a full-fledged first-party title will network with Labo. The patch adding the functionality to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is out now.

'Life Is Strange 2' starts this fall.

Life Is Strange developer Dontnod also revealed through Twitter that the first episode of the hotly-anticipated second season of Life Is Strange will be dropping on September 27. It is unclear whether the game will continue to follow series protagonists Max and Chloe or if it will focus on a new set of characters, but Dontnod promised to discuss more about the title in August. Life is Strange 2 will be launching on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.

This is your last week to snag your monthly free games, so make sure you’ve grabbed all you can!

Your free games through PlayStation Plus and Games with Gold will be rotating out soon, so if you haven't added them to your library yet, your window is closing.

On PlayStation 4, you can snag XCOM 2, Call of Duty: Black Ops III, and Trials: Fusion. On Xbox One, you can get Smite Gold Bundle, a $100 value in of itself, Assassin's Creed Chronicles: Russia, and Lego Indiana Jones 2: The Adventure Continues.

The free games for July have been announced, hot off the presses! For PlayStation, the headliners are Heavy Rain and Absolver on PS4 and Zero Escape: Zero Time Dilemma on Vita. Games with Gold are being announced today and this story may be updated to reflect said announcements if announced in time.

Games Out This Week:

Nier Automata: Become As Gods (6/26/18) - Xbox version of 2017 hit game that breaks convention and is really weird.

Lumines Remastered (6/26/18) - All major platforms, including Switch. Rhythmic puzzler. I’ve never played, but I hear good things and it looks visually striking.

The Awesome Adventure of Captain Spirit (6/26/18) - PS4, X1, PC. A spin-off in the Life Is Strange series to prepare for the launch of Life Is Strange 2. Reviews have called it a little dull, but it’s free!

The Crew 2 (Today) - The most X-treme game coming this year to PS4, X1, PC. Drive, boat, and fly all across America in this sequel to the 2014 racer The Crew.

Wolfenstein II: The New Order (Today). The Nazi-bashing action comes to the Switch! The game apparently runs well, but getting the game through the eShop takes “at least 23GB,” so take that as you will.

Crash Bandicoot N-Sane Trilogy hits new platforms today! Exciting for all.

Games Out Next Week:

Pocket Rumble (7/5) A 2D, 16-bit fighter for Switch first announced in February 2017 with a release date around the launch of the console. More than a year and a half later, here it is and I’m super excited!

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