The Iterative Digest #85
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, Dragon's Dogma 2, a guide to Steam wishlists and more!
Hello and welcome to issue #85 of the Digest! This week we discuss a guide to Steam wishlists, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, Dragon's Dogma 2, Pokemon Snap on Switch and more.
So without further ado, sit back, relax, and enjoy this week’s latest - curated by yours truly! If you like what you see, don’t forget to share and subscribe; your support means a lot to us. Have a great week!
Final Fantasy 7’s 25th-anniversary stream was this week, and with it came the reveal that Square Enix is planning a trilogy of remake games, with the second officially titled Rebirth. It is set to release for PS5 next Winter.
Amazon has revealed a bunch of free titles set to be made available to Prime Gaming members. In the run up to its annual shopping event, Amazon Prime Day, the company will be giving away over 50 games over the next two months. Notable titles include Mass Effect: Legendary Edition, Grid Legends, Need for Speed Heat, and Star Wars Jedi Academy.
Two games in the spotlight this month, the recently released The Quarry and the recently announced High on Life were originally planned as Stadia exclusives. Both games were at one point signed with Google before they made the decision to downside its internal games business.
Capcom has officially announced Dragon’s Dogma 2 during a 10th-anniversary stream. No game details were revealed during the stream beyond the logo. In a follow-up statement, Capcom said that Dragon’s Dogma 2 will begin the cycle anew and will be developed using its RE engine.
Arkane Studios has confirmed that campaign progress for the upcoming title Redfall is tied to the host when playing in co-op whereas character progress carries over for all players. Whoever hosts the session, initiates the session, their story progress is persistent for them but for others, it’s not. Bummer.
GSC Game World shared an update on how the war in Ukraine has impacted its employees as well as its upcoming game, Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl. The studio has partially relocated from Kiev to Prague with some staff choosing to stay and join in the volunteering efforts in Ukraine.
Nintendo has announced that the classic Pokemon Snap will be added to Switch’s Online N64 library on June 24th! The first-person title made in 1999 sees players embark on a safari to take the best possible photos of over 60 Pokemon.
A Game Developer’s Guide to Steam Wishlists
Steam wishlists have become a key metric for developers and have quickly become an essential way for developers to quantify a game's potential on Steam. Her, we explore why Steam wishlists are important, and the strategies you can use to increase your numbers. This Gamesindustry.biz article explores how wishlists give players alerts about your game, provide valuable data about your player base, help you estimate your launch sales, and determine how often your title is seen on Steam. From the article, tips and tricks for improving your wishlist numbers include the following:
Nail your announcement—make sure your Steam page is ready from the moment you announce your game.
Aim for long-term visibility—pace your announcements to create ongoing engagement to keep the wishlists coming in regularly.
Utilize calls to action—every announcement should be linking to your wishlist page and encouraging your followers to act.
Understanding your traffic—analyzing your audience is key to creating wishlist conversions.
Concentrate your efforts close to the release date—find a balance between opening your steam page early enough to drum up excitement but not so early that the enthusiasm fizzles out before release.
For a more in-depth discussion of each of these topics check out this article here.
21st June
Shadowrun Trilogy is a tactical RPG collection consisting of Shadowrun Returns, Shadowrun: Dragonfall, and Shadowrun: Hong Kong along with their deluxe upgrades. With gripping tactical combat, skill-based character progression, and an engaging 2D/3D art style, Shadowrun will be releasing on PC, PS4/PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series S|X.
23rd June
Steve Jackson’s Sorcery! The Complete Collection spans four interconnected games, with players weaving their own unique tale of adventure, daring, luck, and cunning from a million words of dynamic content and tens of thousands of decisions. The entire Sorcery! collection is set to release on Switch, Xbox, and Playstation.
24th June
AI: The Somnium Files — Nirvana Initiative covers newly-appointed Special Agent Mizuki and her AI partner Aiba as they are tasked to solve the bizarre Half Body serial killings. It’s launching on PC, PS4, Xbox One, and Switch.
Cameron - Buzzing Communities
Buzzing Communities cuts through the fluff to offer a clear process for creating thriving online communities. The book combines a century of proven science, dozens of real-life examples, practical tips, and trusted community-building methods. Richard outlines a step-by-step guide, which includes the lifecycle for tracking your progress and a framework for managing your organization's community efforts as well as everything you need to know about your members. Highly recommend checking it out if you’re new to the world of community management.
Cameron - Sunset Overdrive
What do you do when a contaminated energy drink transforms most of the population into toxic mutants? Well, you embrace the chaos of a hyper-colorful, post-apocalyptic city with creative weapons, stylish traversal and so many gags that leave you smiling like an idiot. Having recently revisited the title on PC I had a blast relearning why I originally fell in love with the game.
The plot focuses on an evil energy drink corporation Fizzco who has turned the citizens of Sunset City into mutants known as OD. Encountering small factions of survivors your task is to make it out of the city alive and tell the world what has gone down. On top of this, you will battle with hundreds of monsters, Fizzco Robots, and enemy bandits.
The game is extremely immature but fits in well with its tone. It’s not trying to take itself too seriously and the cast of characters reflect that. The city itself is coated in a bright coat of paint, giving it a cartoonish vibe that fits well alongside the explosions, lightning effects, and ooze. Weapons have a ton of creativity, with cd disc launchers, hairspray bombs, and TNT teddies mixed with amps that amplify certain attacks and modifiers.
Traversal is the one thing in the game that sells it for me though, being able to jump from grinding, bouncing, and hanging from powerlines, all while shooting OD makes this game so fun. There is nothing in comparison that allows me to move the way that Sunset Overdrive lets me. I highly recommend it if you’re a fan of games with bright colors, great humor, and amazing movement.
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We are The Iterative Collective - an indie games incubator & publisher! Each week, we shed light on the latest gaming trends for all folks interested in the scene by going through a summary of the latest news from the industry as well as promising upcoming game releases! Click to learn more about us below!