Top 10 Gaming News of the day: February 2, 2023

Here's the latest news from the gaming and esports world.

1. EA shuts down Apex Legends Mobile and Battlefield Mobile 

Electronic Arts have announced that both Apex Legends Mobile and Battlefield Mobile will be shut down. The company is also shutting down Battlefield Mobile developer Industrial Toys. The studio was led by Bungie founder and former CEO Alex Seropian. 

2. The Crew Motorfest announced by Ubisoft, will release this year

Ubisoft has finally announced The Crew Motorfest after teasing an announcement on 31st January. Ubisoft talked about the upcoming game, “Motorfest will allow car lovers to fulfil their ultimate action driving bucket list through a series of tailor-made races, themed events, and other unique challenges.” Earlier reports suggested that the upcoming game will be set on the island of O‘ahu, from the Hawaiian archipelago. 

3. Union Budget 2023 

The Union Budget 2023 announced nothing specific for the AVGC sector which includes the gaming industry of India. Regardless, the increased production of mobiles and smartphones was discussed which points towards the potential rise in mobile gaming. Additionally app development using 5G services will be encouraged. For Real Money Gaming, a 30% TDS over the net winnings has been proposed. Additionally, the current minimum threshold limit of Rs 10,000 for TDS has been removed. Thus there won’t be any specific threshold for “online gaming”. 

4. Pokemon Go February Community Day: Noibat scheduled for Feb 5

Pokemon Go’s February Community Day has been scheduled for February 5, 2023 from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m IST. Noibat, the Sound Wave Pokemon will be the highlight of it, being more easily available in the wild. 

5. Marvel Snap adds battle mode

Marvel Snap finally introduces battle mode feature to the game. It’s a mode that was constantly requestd by fans and it has finally arrived. It will allow gamers to compete against their friends in Marvel Snap.

6. EA says FIFA 23 is “pacing to be the biggest title in franchise history”

FIFA 23 is “pacing to be the biggest title in franchise history,” as per Electronic Arts. The company made the claim as part of its third quarter earnings results on Tuesday. CEO Andrew Wilson said during the earnings call, “Year to date net bookings from the FIFA franchise have grown 4%.” He also revealed that the unit sales are up 50% year over year. 

7. Star Wars Jedi: Survivor delayed to April, announces game director Stig Asmussen

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor was earlier scheduled to launch on March 17, 2023, as revealed at The Game Awards. The game has now been delayed by a little over a month, with the arrival now slated for April 28th. Though the game’s content development is complete, the developers will now be focusing on the final stage of polishing and bug fixing. 

8. Epic Games is shutting down Rumbleverse at the end of this month

Rumbleverse, the free-to-play brawler by Epic Games will be shut down this month. Developed by Iron Galaxy, Rumberverse servers will go offline on February 28 at 10AM CST (9:30 PM IST) after a total runtime of 7 months only. Epic Games have announced that any player who has spent real money on Rumbleverse can apply for a refund.

9. Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0 will get new map

A new Resurgence map called Ashika Island has been revealed for  Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0. The map will be playable starting February 17. 

10. Halo Infinite DLC not in the pipelines

Amidst the layoffs at 343 Industries, reports suggesting that no DLCs will be launching anytime soon have now surfaced. Additionally, 343 Industries is reportedly planning to shift to Unreal Engine 5 to develop the future builds of the game.