Hello everyone. Welcome to another issue of Emmen Weekly, our new twist on gaming news. 

It’s been another hectic week of updates and surprises. 

This is an update on what’s been going on in the games industry last week.

Twisted Metal TV Series to Air on Peacock

A series based on the game franchise, Twisted Metal is coming to the video streaming service, Peacock.

The series will star Anthony Mackie aka the Falcon from the MCU. He is also an executive producer of the series.

The show was first reported to be in development back in 2021 and will be a half-hour action comedy type of show.

The premise seems to be that John Doe (played by Mackie), a smart mouthed milkman with no memory of his past, gets a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make his wish of finding community come true.

However, since this is a Twisted Metal series, what stands between him and his goal is a brutal gauntlet of vehicular combat.

Twisted Metal is more than 25 years old and has many fans around the world (including some on the Emmen team).

We are looking forward to seeing how this show plays out.

Nintendo Removes Super Smash Bros. from EVO 2022

Nintendo has decided to remove all Super Smash Bros’ titles from EVO 2022 for the first time since 2007.

The Evolution Championship Series or EVO is the largest fighting game tournament in the world and is currently owned by Sony.

The EVO Twitter account shared the news with the public just days before the start of EVO 2022 announcement show on March 8. 

Nintendo’s decision to remove itself from EVO could be related to Sony’s purchase of the tournament back in 2021.

However, it could also be due to Nintendo forming a partnership with Padna Global to host an officially licensed series for Super Smash Bros eSports tournaments in North America.

Whatever the case, this is a loss for Super Smash Bros. fans and EVO fans who enjoyed seeing it being played there.

EVO 2022 is currently slated to take place from August 5 – 7 in Las Vegas. 

Netflix Purchases Stranger Things Game Developer 

Netflix has purchased the game developer who made their Stranger Things mobile game.

The streaming giant purchased the Finnish studio Next Games for USD 72 million with the deal expected to close in the second quarter of 2022.

This move is part of Netflix’s push into the games industry. 

Next Level is a studio with three games released so far. They are Stranger Things: Puzzle Tales, the Walking Dead: Our World, and the Walking Dead: No Man’s Land.

Netflix stated in January that it intended the “absolute best” gaming service. 

Time will tell whether the streaming giant’s attempt at entering the games industry works out or not. 

Valorant Patch 4.04 Brings Long-Awaited Yoru Reworks and More

Valorant is bringing long-awaited reworks, updates, and other changes in patch 4.04, which will be a part of Episode 4 Act 2.

The patch will rework how the character, Yoru works. 

Previously, the character had been criticized for a bug that enabled him to interact with the world while using his ultimate ability, which was not supposed to happen. 

The ult makes him invisible and invincible, with the caveat that the player cannot interact with the world for a time while it is active.

Therefore, this bug was seen as somewhat game breaking at the time. It has since been fixed and he’s reportedly back in competitive mode.

Another change they brought is to the Controller role. They updated some of the abilities of some characters.

There is also an update made to site B in the Icebox map. The developers described it as quality of life changes.

Lost Game Award for Celeste Discovered by YouTuber

A YouTuber has somehow managed to get their hands on a lost Game Award that was supposed to be given to the developers of Celeste, Extremely Ok Games.

The trophy was one that the studio won back in 2018 when Celeste won Best Independent Game at that year’s Game Awards.

It was discovered by YouTuber PrestigeIsKey or Ryan B. He said that he had always wanted a replica of the Game Award trophy. 

He found a listing for one such trophy for USD 500 and offered USD 375, which the seller accepted.

It is worth noting that the seller doesn’t sell video games, instead opting for car parts. They admitted that they had no idea what the trophy’s origins were.

The story has a happy ending though. After obtaining the trophy, Ryan reached out to the developers in order to return it to them.

In return, the studio allowed him to do an unboxing video and will send him signed copies of Celeste, as well as reimburse him for the amount he paid for the eBay listing.