Hello again folks, and welcome to another issue of Emmen Weekly, where we round up on interesting gaming news that caught our eye during the past week or so.

The announcement of DLC expansion for Elden Ring is a highly anticipated one, while other industry developments (particularly one Company which took more of the spotlight) have come across as less than expected.

So with that all being stated, let’s dive into it.

Elden Ring DLC: Shadow of the Erdtree Announced and in Development

The announcement of DLC expansion content for Elden Ring came as a major pleasant surprise for the wider gaming community, following the commercial and critical success of FromSoftware’s latest masterpiece.

The official announcement confirmed that the content is already in development, but stated no specific release dates.

That said, some official artwork images were released, and we figure that this will no doubt spark some serious break-downs, analyses and video essay discussions on what we can expect from the DLC.

Given how Elden Ring (and just about any of the Soulsbornes games for that matter) generally do with very little direct exposition and leave the in-game lore for much speculation, there are multitudes of possibilities that could be experienced.

While some may clamor for a quick update and even release of the content, others are inclined to trust the FromSoft process and let them take their time on the DLC, as in many cases some of the best content of the FromSoft games of recent times have come through their DLC content.

We expect that additional details, and possibly dates could be announced later this year (fingers crossed for one of the summer gaming events to give us more official updates).

Final Fantasy XVI Not likely getting a PC Version soon

Bit of a downer news to Final Fantasy PC gamers, as it appears that the highly anticipated Final Fantasy XVI (16) is, on one hand, likely to receive a PC update, but on the other, not anytime soon upon the game’s release.

The indication came straight from the game’s producer Naoki Yoshida (Yoshi P) himself, as he spoke on the Japanese PlayStation Blog.

The remarks (translated on twitter by industry insider Wario64) indicated that Yoshi P was mindful about the 6-month exclusivity for the PS5, but that in spite of that, the PC version wouldn’t be out by then.

This delay in the PC release may not necessarily be a bad move, considering how PC ports of some recent big games have been less than satisfactory per user expectations, ranging from visual fidelity, technical framerate and other fidelity and stability issues.

Given how we know that FF XVI is likely to be a game that will tax the visual and graphics aspects of the devices it is played on, the decision to delay the PC release may be ultimately beneficial for PC gamers to obtain an optimal experience.

Forspoken Developer Luminous Productions to be absorbed back into Square Enix

More Square Enix news, and in what appears to be a rather surprising bit of news, Luminous Productions– the studio that developed Forspoken, is to be absorbed back into it’s parent entity Square Enix.

The news came along with statements from both Luminous and Square Enix. Luminous Productions indicated that they would be committed to working on more updates on Forspoken, including DLC contents.

Square Enix meanwhile spoke on the wider aspects of the merger, stating that this was part of the Company’s efforts to improve competitive capabilities of it’s development studios, and also to leverage technical competencies.

Originally formed in 2018 with heavy enrollment of developers that worked on Final Fantasy XV, Luminous Productions was tasked with creating new games using the Luminous Engine utilized in FFXV– by which Forspoken was developed, and is the only game that was made by the studio.

Speculations to this move come down to the general mixed reviews that the game received despite being marketed and touted as a heavy hitter new IP.

There is also reason to believe that recent rightsizing activities across the tech industry may have some influence on companies such as Square Enix working to bolster their operations against industrial volatilities ahead.

Square Enix President Yosuke Matsuda to step down after 10 years

And volatilities are ahead indeed, as the news from Square Enix continues across this past week.

Per IGN, Square Enix had announced it’s intentions to have current president Yosuke Matsuda to be replaced at around June, pending approval from the Company’s annual shareholder meeting by then.

Mr. Matsuda is to be replaced by Takasi Kiryu, another director in the Company.

Square Enix’s statements indicated that this was a change made to recalibrate the management team toward adopting the ever-evolving technological innovations and maximizing creativity.

Given how the rapid rise and decline of NFTs in mainstream popularity, as well as blockchain volatilities experienced in recent times, Mr. Matsuda’s vision and direction for Square Enix games to include such implementations may not have sat well with the target consumers.

This along with high profile ($300 million) sales of the Company’s western development studios that included Crystal Dynamics (Tomb Raider), Square Enix Montreal and Eidos-Montreal to Embracer Group are among the controversial actions that took place during his 10 year run as president.

As Square Enix continues to undergo some restructuring, as well as leadership changes, we expect that it will have influences on the games and services offered to the gaming communities.

And while Square Enix has had it’s bumpy outings, there have been successful ones as well, and time only will tell what is ahead for the Company and for gamers alike.

Olympics eSports Series 2023 Announced

In what is a historic announcement that has garnered both applause and skeptics, the Internation Olympics Committee (IOC) announced that the Olympics eSports series shall take place with the finals in Singapore between 22nd to 25th June 2023.

The event is an evolved format of the IOC’s previous Olympic Virtual Series, that took place in 2020 with over 250,000 participants from across 100 countries.

The sport events consist of eSport counterparts of real life sports facilitated via various sporting associations and game applications. This includes Archey (Tic Tac Bow), Baseball, Chess (Chess.com), Cycling (Zwift),
Dance (JustDance), Motorsport (Gran Turismo), Sailing, Tae Kwon Do (Virtual Tae Kwon Do) and Tennis (Tennis Clash).

As the event makes it’s return following the pandemic period, it has since garnered a major interest and following. However, there are also more skeptical remarks across some gaming communities with regards to the variety of events, as well as the gaming applications used.

In any case, we anticipate that when it comes down to the wire, it will be an event worth catching up on, as many nations bring out their very best players to represent and play for victory.

To catch up more on this event, fans can visit  Olympics.com  for more information.