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Weekly Rewind: October 24, 2020

Welcome to the Nano Gaming News Weekly Rewind for October 24, 2020 where we cover stories and events that we missed over the past week.

This past week saw several games get in the Halloween spirit, such as Blazing Sails Kraken Keep update or Circle Empires Rivals that has spooky skeletons and many other holiday classics. Outdoor enthusiasts can check out the one year anniversary update for Morels: The Hunts which involves mushroom hunting and beautiful nature photography. Lastly, it’s been another week with more development in the Epic Games and Apple legal proceedings.

Here is a quick recap of a few stories Nano Gaming News covered over the previous week. Double Pug Switch is digging its way through various dimensions with the platformers release on both PCs and consoles. Ahead of the 2020 United States election, Electioneering is hit an early access campaign trail to see which players get their candidate elected. The party-based tactical RPG Solasta: Crown of the Magister is sending dungeon groups into early access action. Lastly the Busan Indie Connect Festival took place over the past week and Aeon Drive was one of several games featured with a demo available to play.


Circle Empires Rivals - Halloween Update | Luminous
Circle Empires Rivals – Halloween Update | Luminous

Circle Empires Rivals Halloween Update

Estonian indie game developer Luminous along with Iceberg Interactive have released a Halloween themed update for the multiplayer RTS Circle Empires Rivals. This update, available now on Steam, features all the creepy crawlers and spooky skeletons one would expect along with other Halloween classics.

One other surprise to help celebrate the season includes the addition of Pink Goo. This strawberry frosting lookalike is anything but sweet. Even more so than water biomes, Pink Goo slows down units that walk across it creating a potentially deadly situation. As an added bonus, when the holiday season ends, Pink Goo will be sticking around.

Other changes of note include Zombies no longer decaying while harvesting resources and the timer is now reset when they drop off resources at the storehouse. The fish fishing upgrade bonus has been reduced from +50% to +30%. Several other miscellaneous and small fixes were included in the update.

Circle Empires Rivals is available on Steam for Windows PC at a regular price of $14.99 USD. More information about Circle Empires Rivals can be found on the game’s website at circleempires.com, following @CircleEmpiresG on Twitter or joining the official Iceberg Interactive Discord.


Morels: The Hunt – Anniversary Update Trailer | Abrams Studios

Morels: The Hunt Anniversary Update

Abrams Studios announced on Friday that Morels: The Hunt released a one year anniversary update on Windows PC for the outdoor mushroom hunting game. In addition to anniversary update a 50% off special promotion runs into the first week of November.

The list of changes in the Anniversary Update is huge. Besides all maps having graphical updates and improvements the whole inside cabin menu has been replaced with a 3D environment. A new trophy room gives players access to a whiteboard with an overview of tasks. There is a display for Golden Morels and photos on the walls can be changed out with photos the player has taken. Other newly added collectibles to the game can also be displayed in this room.

Players can now enter the Outdoor Shop where they can purchase items of use. There are new items available for purchase. The Snorkel allows players to stay underwater for two minutes at a time. A Fast Travel Map is for sale that lets a player fast travel back to their home base from anywhere at any time.

The camera has seen several changes of note. When in camera mode animals will now have an outline if they are in focus. Green outlines mean the animal has not been photographed that day and while gray outlines mean that the animal has been photographed. This feature only works during the day and is disabled at night. Quick capture lets players take several pictures in a row and the photographed text has been relocated to the bottom right with visual UI improvements.

New Blewit Mushrooms have been added to the hunt. Mushroom markers now come in several colors. Inventory is now stackable. Six new songs have been added to the acoustic playlist. Other game changes include CPU optimizations, a simpler tutorial, crouch toggle, minimap image updates, less frequent ticks, and numerous bug fixes.

Morels: The Hunt is available on Steam at a regular price of $19.99 USD. An anniversary 50% off special promotion runs until 9 AM PST November 6, 2020. More information about Morels: The Hunt can be found on the game’s website at abramsstudios.com/morels/.


Nineteen Eighty-Fortnite – #FreeFortnite | Epic Games

Epic Games and Apple Court Court News

Week 11 of the Epic Games versus Apple story and things were a complete opposite of last week’s slumber in the legal proceedings. Besides the pre-trial hearing that took place on Monday, October 19 there was a new filing at the end of the week with Epic Games firing back at Apple.

During last Monday’s pre-trial hearing, U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers warned both parties during their zoom meeting that she won’t hesitate to sanction any attorneys for so-called nastiness as the case moves towards the May 2021 bench trial.

Since the late September launch of The Coalition for App Fairness, which includes Epic Games, the group has added dozens more members that includes both developers and publishers. In addition, earlier in October, the House Judiciary Committee released a report, that blasted tech companies, including Apple, for using their power to stifle competition and innovation.

On Friday, Epic Games filled in a new complaint that started off with the line “Apple has no right to the fruits of Epic’s labor, other than the rights arising under a contract.” The company went on to claim that Apple was more like an agent that they were forced to use for App Store sales as a part of the license agreement. Epic went on to assert that they did not steal or convert Apple’s property.

Back on Tuesday, October 6, a court filling confirmed that the case is heading to a bench trial rather than a jury trial as requested by both parties with the date set for May 3, 2021. A pretrial conference will be held on April 21, 2021. Continued development on this story is expected as next year’s court date approaches.


Thank you for reading the October 24, 2020 Edition of the Nano Gaming News Weekly Rewind. Don’t forget to check back with us next Saturday for the next edition of Nano Gaming News Weekly Rewind and until then, keep on gaming.