What’s up, gamers? We’re back with another week of tech and gaming news, and once again, it’s a big one. We’re gearing up for the end of the year, so you can expect plenty of announcements to start dropping from now until January.
Just this week we’ve had Spotify Wrapped drop to mixed impressions and DreamHack cancel all future plans for Australia. But in lighter news, we’re getting two huge games this week that should help (somewhat) balm the soul a little.
So, without further ado, let’s get into it.
6. DreamHack Melbourne 2025 discontinued
Gaming and e-sports convention DreamHack announced this morning via Instagram that next year’s convention will no longer happen, and that it has no intentions of holding future events in Australia.
From their post: “It is with a heavy heart that we share with you the news that DreamHack Melbourne will not be returning in 2025 and that there are currently no plans to hold further DreamHack events in Australia in the foreseeable future.”
This is a huge bummer for the gaming scene in Australia. I’ve been to both DreamHacks, and they were probably some of my best convention-going experiences ever. Sitting in Rod Laver Arena to catch a few games of Counter-Strike 2 or League of Legends with a passionate crowd was incredible and a testament to how eager Aussies are for a genuine e-sports scene here.
With DreamHack not moving forward, our e-sports and gaming community will definitely have it rough for a bit. If you’re passionate about keeping the community afloat, you can follow Twitch ANZ, ANZ Creators, ESL Australia, Rektgn and Fortress to find new creators and local e-sports events in the future.
5. Brand New Indiana Jones game gets solid first impressions
Dust off your hats, folks, because a brand new Indiana Jones game is set to be released next week on Xbox and PC. Early reviews just dropped this morning, and everyone seems to be frothing it.
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle takes place between Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Last Crusade, where Indi is trotting around the world to recover an ancient artifact. Along the way, you’ll square off with Nazis, solve ancient puzzles and, most importantly, spring some traps.
Game publisher Bethesda Studios tapped Wolfenstein developers MachineGames to make this one, and ooh boy, do they know how to make a game that lets you punch Nazis.
You can pick up the game from your local retailer, play it online from December 9, or play it on Game Pass.
4. Ubisoft shutting down XDefiant team
Game developer Ubisoft has announced that they will be shutting down the live-service shooter XDefiant this year, just six months after launch. The game was intended to be a “Call of Duty” killer, however couldn’t drum up enough of a playerbase to rival its competitor.
Ubisoft will also lay off nearly 300 devs across its San Francisco, Osaka and Sydney locations.
If you’ve been meaning to try out the game, you’re fresh out of luck. As of December 3, no new players can download XDefiant or register an account. Players who have already downloaded the game and made accounts can still play until June 3, 2025.
You can visit XDefiant’s website for more info on the future of the game.
3. Spotify Wrapped featured a lame AI Podcast
Okay, my fellow Pink Pilates Princesses, it’s okay to admit we were all kinda bummed about this year’s Spotify Wrapped.
After waiting longer than expected for this year’s personalised music round-up, Spotify finally released it on December 4, and it’s received plenty of flack online.
Unsurprisingly, Spotify decided to use AI to help consolidate users’ data this year, which dulled so much of the personality Wrapped usually has. There were no top genres or odd metrics that compared people’s listening to a town in Vermont. It didn’t make people feel special or unique for their listening.
I listened to over 1,269 different artists this year, and I still got called a Pink Pilates Princess! How am I meant to maintain my mysterious and artsy persona now after being exposed like that?
Spotify also implemented AI by using Google’s Language Model to recap your results, and it was so uncomfortable in my opinion. The AI voices sounded way too horny and flirty. I know no one is that interested in someone who was in the top 0.05% of The National listeners, you can’t fool me.
Either way, here’s hoping Spotify takes on the feedback and gives us the Wrapped we deserve next year.
2. Hailey Welch AKA ‘Hawk Tuah Girl’ Crypto Coin crashes hours on release
Now, I thought we were past the era of internet stars launching lame crypto cash grabs, but apparently not.
Host of the “Talk Tuah” Podcast Hailey Welch launched her very own crypto coin, Hawk, yesterday. However, it has already crashed in value, leading some to speculate that it may have been a pump-and-dump scheme. Hailey and her team have denied this.
Web3IsGoingGreat and CoinTelegraph have reported that Welch’s Hawk coin reached a total market value of $490 million, but plummeted to around $28 million hours later. Now, I’m no economist, but that’s pretty bad.
Regardless, if you’re buying meme coins in the year of our lord 2024 expecting anything besides a catastrophic disaster, I don’t know what to tell you.
1. Marvel Rivals releases today
Marvel has been having a pretty solid year so far. We’ve had X-Men ’97, Agatha All Along, Wolverine & Deadpool, and now to cap it all off, we’re getting a game to sink into.
Marvel Rivals is a brand new team-based hero shooter from developers NetEase and it’s looking like a helluva good time. In the game, you and five other players square off in a 6v6 player versus player mode, playing heroes and villains from Marvel comics. That’s right, you get to play as all your faves, including Spider-Man, Iron Man, Magneto and Jeff the Land Shark. Oh you don’t know Jeff the Land Shark, you absolute poser? Well, you will soon as the best boy gnaws your ankles off.
The game had a successful beta period a few months ago that was a solid success, and showed off some really fun tricks you could do in the game.
Overall, it’s neat to see a brand-new Marvel game come out. My childhood was filled with Marvel vs Capcom, Spider-Man 2 and Ultimate Alliance, so I’m really happy to see Marvel drop a new game for younger fans to get exposed to lesser-known characters.
You can download Marvel Rivals for free on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X | S and Steam.
That’s all, folks. Be sure to tune in next week for more tech and gaming news.
Image Credit: Getty / NetEase
The post Spotify Wrapped Flops And Marvel Rivals Drops: This Week’s Tech & Gaming News appeared first on PEDESTRIAN.TV .
