Rounding out this busy week is another batch of video game news, starting with the quiet release of a new Ratchet & Clank short film called Life of Pie. In addition, NPD results for January 2021 reveal that Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War was the month’s bestselling game, more content for The Division 2 will come later this year, Playtonic Friends has been established as a new publishing label, and more. Here’s the video game news you might’ve missed on Feb. 12, 2021.
Ratchet & Clank Animated Short on Crave
Recently an animated short called Ratchet & Clank: Life of Pie appeared on the Canadian TV service Crave, apparently being a non-canon story to drum up excitement for the upcoming Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart on PlayStation 5. The 23-minute animated short was not advertised and seemingly came out of nowhere. Unfortunately, Life of Pie is only available through Crave right now, and it’s unclear if it will be made available on other platforms.
Read More: TV Short Ratchet & Clank: Life of Pie Serves as a Prequel to Rift Apart, Appears Quietly on Crave
More The Division 2 Content Will Come This Year
Today, Ubisoft announced that more content for The Division 2 will launch this year. As announced via the official Twitter page for The Division 2, Ubisoft stated, “Some of you had noticed that Title Update 12 was originally meant to be the last major Title Update for The Division 2, but thanks to your continued support, we are now in the early stages of development for fresh content to release later in 2021.” The company didn’t elaborate much, but it said it would share more “as soon as” it can.
Today, we are thrilled to confirm that were will be additional content for The Division 2 released later this year! pic.twitter.com/LRlTwVZEtp
— Tom Clancy's The Division (@TheDivisionGame) February 12, 2021
The New Way to Play Halo: The Master Chief Collection Is via a Custom Game Browser
Last week, the Halo community was fired up because 343 Industries said it would introduce a “new way to play” Halo: The Master Chief Collection. Many thought the collection would head to a new platform, but this is not the case. Instead, 343 will be adding a Custom Game Browser to the collection on Feb. 18. This much requested feature will allow users to jump right into a custom game of their choice right away.
In this week's Community Update, we've got a full agenda:
✔️ The latest on MCC Season 5
✔️ The latest from @HCS
✔️ Halo 5 playlist updates
✔️ Updates from the @HaloGear team
✔️ Our very first #Ask343 Q&A session
✔️ And even more!
➡️ https://t.co/X5AHBHOoXw pic.twitter.com/Bu3MoSK24B— Halo (@Halo) February 12, 2021
Playtonic Has Launched Its Own Publishing Branch Meant to Create Friendships
Yooka-Laylee developer Playtonic Games has started its own publishing label called Playtonic Friends. Partnering with the company are Awe Interactive (BPM: Bullets Per Minute), Fabraz (Slime-san), and okidokico (OK Golf). Speaking to VGC, Playtonic explains that the Playtonic Friends publishing branch will try to “create these friendships that last a long time” while “helping people long into the future.” Though, it’s unclear what kind of projects are in the works under the label at this time, as they’re all unannounced.
Read More: Yooka-Laylee developer Playtonic explains why it’s launching its own publishing label
Black Ops Cold War Is the 20th Bestselling Game of All Time in the US
Mat Piscatella of the NPD Group released the sales results for January 2021 today, revealing that Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War was the month’s bestselling game in the United States. On top of that, the shooter has managed to become the 20th bestselling game ever in the U.S. This might not sound impressive, but considering it’s only been on the market since November 2020, it’s remarkable the game has sold so quickly. The full NPD Twitter thread can be seen below.
https://twitter.com/MatPiscatella/status/1360227103392686084