BGM Weekly Download - 24 January 2025
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Welcome to The Weekly Download
This week in video games saw the removal and readdition of Marvel Snap on US app stores, the announcement of Sonic 4’s March 2027 release date, and the return of Ninja Gaiden in Xbox’s Developer Direct.
Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, another Nuverse-published game, is also unable to be downloaded in the US. The unavailability of these apps follows the temporary shutdown of TikTok in the US due to security concerns, with Nuverse being a subsidiary of TikTok owner Bytedance.
NCSOFT is said to have cancelled the project due to financial difficulties. The game was expected to be released across PS5, PC, and mobile as part of PlayStation’s efforts to reach more players. It’s not all bad news though, as another multiplayer Horizon project is still in the works at series’ creator Guerilla Games.?
On 19 March, to be exact, and pre-production has already started! The third film reached $211.5 million during its first week in cinemas, and as of writing, it has grossed $422.4 million globally. By early January 2025, the Sonic franchise had earned over $1 billion at the global box office.
Call of Duty slipped to 3rd place in revenue, while new releases like Path of Exile 3 and Marvel Rivals made strong debuts in 5th and 6th, respectively. Holiday discounts boosted sales of RPGs like Hogwarts Legacy and Cyberpunk 2077. On the engagement charts, Marvel Rivals secured 3rd place, while Overwatch 2 dropped from 9th to 12th place.
Microsoft's Xbox Developer Direct unveiled a new entry in the mainline Ninja Gaiden series. A remake of Ninja Gaiden 2 Black was also revealed and is available now. South of Midnight also gets a release date, April 8th, as did Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, set to launch on 24th April. The last major reveal was Doom: The Dark Ages, locking in a release on May 15th.
Alongside this week's highlights, here are some other notable stories from the world of video games.
Monday 20th January
Tuesday 21st January
Wednesday 22nd January
Thursday 23rd January
Friday 24th January
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