Coming into this week we had just one title set to launch, so it was quite possibly going to be another quiet report.

Then reality showed up and had some things to say about that idea.  But first, where we left off last week.

Week 32 Scores

Not too long after last week’s update went live we had a score update, so already the week was off and going with some activity.

• Chained Echoes: Ashes of Elrant
  • [Picked by Crash and Burn Games (Shawn)]
  • Score has gone UP from 71.0 to 75

That was a decent score pop, but not quite enough to shift the lineup.  But then another update hit.

• Chained Echoes: Ashes of Elrant
  • [Picked by Crash and Burn Games (Shawn)]
  • Score has gone UP from 75.0 to 77.9

The additional update was just enough to push Shawn up a slot at the expense of Shilgrod.

• Publisher Score Updates
  • Crash and Burn Games (Shawn)
    • Score has gone UP from 55.1 to 58.0
    • Moved from 5th place to 4th place
  • Rusty Shackleford (Shilgrod)
    • Moved from 4th place to 5th place

We got that far before I had even woken up on Monday morning.

Then we started getting score updates for the week’s one release.

• Sword of the Sea
  • [Picked by Pretty Blue Fox Games (Bhagpuss)]
  • Now has a score of 83
• Sword of the Sea
  • [Picked by Pretty Blue Fox Games (Bhagpuss)]
  • Score has gone UP from 83.0 to 84.2
• Sword of the Sea
  • [Picked by Pretty Blue Fox Games (Bhagpuss)]
  • Score has gone UP from 84.2 to 85.8

So when Tuesday finally rolled around and Bhagpuss got that applied to his total, he ended up even more securely in first position.

• Publisher Score Updates
  • Pretty Blue Fox Games (Bhagpuss)
  • Score has gone UP from 85.0 to 100.8

So that happened… and then carried on some more.

• Sword of the Sea
  • [Picked by Pretty Blue Fox Games (Bhagpuss)]
  • Score has gone UP from 85.8 to 87.3

The first review must have been at the low end of the results because it certainly climbed for a while as more reviews came in.

Sword of the Sea

By that point there had only been 15 reviews, so it was also a situation where every review could impact the score noticeably.

That left Bhagpuss at 102.3 points on the board.  Then we got a couple more updates.

• Wildgate
  • [Picked by Play Forever Mwahahaha (Shintar)]
  • Score has gone UP from 75.0 to 76

Wildgate continues its slow roll, adding a point, bringing Shintar’s score up to 48.9 with that move.

Then we had a score ranking change without a score change announcement.

• Publisher Score Updates
  • Rodent Entertainment (Arhanta)
    • Moved from 9th place to 8th place
  • Slightly Scuffed Studios (Kluwes)
    • Moved from 8th place to 9th place

That looks like Killing Floor 3 dropped half a point, going to an even 70, which makes it worth zero points.  At least it isn’t negative.  That wasn’t quite enough to cause the swap, so something else must have shifted slightly to get the position change.

That was all of the movement for scores which left the board looking like this.

Week 33 Scores

Bhagpuss extended his lead in the league this week.

We did, however, get a preview of next week.  The new Metal Gear Solid was clearly available for reviewers and so scores for that have started to pile up ahead of its launch this week.

• Metal Gear Solid Δ: Snake Eater
  • [Picked by Neutical Publishing (Cyanbane)]
  • Now has a score of 83.5
• Metal Gear Solid Δ: Snake Eater
  • [Picked by Neutical Publishing (Cyanbane)]
  • Score has gone UP from 83.5 to 85.6
• Metal Gear Solid Δ: Snake Eater
  • [Picked by Neutical Publishing (Cyanbane)]
  • Score has gone UP from 85.7 to 86.9

If it keeps up at that trajectory Cyanbane may still have a shot at first place.

Then there were the changes to ship dates.

• World of Warcraft: Midnight
  • [Picked by Rusty Shackleford (Shilgrod)]
  • [Counter Picked by TAGN HQ (Wilhelm)]
  • Estimated release date changed from ‘Late 2025 or Later’ to ‘Early 2026’.
• Moonlighter 2: The Endless Vault
  • [Picked by Crash and Burn Games (Shawn)]
  • Estimated release date changed from ‘Summer 2025’ to ‘TBA’.
  • Early access release date changed from ‘No Date’ to ‘Thursday, October 23, 2025’.
  • Note removed: ‘Despite a press blurb from the latest trailer mentioning Early Access, a PR rep has reiterated that the game will not have an Early Access period.’.
  • Tags changed from New Game to New Game, Planned for Early Access.
• Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2
  • [Picked by Rodent Entertainment (Arhanta)]
  • Release date changed from ‘October 2025’ to ‘Tuesday, October 21, 2025’.
• PowerWash Simulator 2
  • [Picked by Play Forever Mwahahaha (Shintar)]
  • Estimated release date changed from ‘2025’ to ‘Fall 2025’.
• Hollow Knight: Silksong
  • [Picked by Play Forever Mwahahaha (Shintar)]
  • Release date changed from ‘Before Christmas 2025’ to ‘Thursday, September 04, 2025’.
  • Note removed: ‘Developers confirmed the release window in their Discord.’.

It looks like I at least got a safe counter pick.  That will be a tough zero point entry for Shilgrod, though at least it isn’t a negative entry I suppose.

The alert here is for Shawn around Moonlighter 2.  The league is sending me notes about “Planned for Early Access” being a banned tag, but when I went to unban it the league also told me that was a bad idea because early access games often don’t get reviewed in the same way as normal launches and either when they enter early access or when they leave.

However, when bids were finally resolved, Shawn had taken care of business.

• Moonlighter 2: The Endless Vault
  • Crash and Burn Games (Shawn)
  • (Drop Successful)

The one bid this week was also from Shawn.

• Kirby Air Riders
  • Won by Crash and Burn Games (Shawn) with a bid of $1
  • Dropped game ‘Dispatch’ conditionally

I was considering Kirby Air Riders myself at one point… I still have a few titles I could swap out.

Meanwhile, Hollow Knight: Silksong was getting all sorts of buzz for its launch, to the point that some indie titles were opting to delay so as not to be lost in the rush for the long awaited release.

And that was the week, which leaves the upcoming releases looking like this.

Coming Up for Week 34

We have FOUR releases next week for four different people, so I expect to see some movement on the scoreboard as the week progresses.  We still have to get to the back half of September before I will get another launch… but I can wait.  My big “come from behind” plan… and you can’t come from further behind than from where I am now.

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