April Fools’ Day 2019 compilation
All the games industry jokes rounded up.
April 1 is upon us, which means it is time for another April Fools’ Day compilation in which we gather all of the jokes from the games industry.
As time would have you believe, April Fools’ Day starts early in Japan, so if you read or watch something today or tomorrow that sounds too to be true, it probably is.
Find our annual roundup of games-related jokes below. The list will be updated as new jokes arrive, so be sure to check back every so often.
April Fools’ Day 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011
Added April 1 at 2:40 p.m.
- Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night – 505 Games has announced the Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night “Bloodstained Edition.” For only $999 (or $666 for Kickstarter backers), true Igavaniacs will receive the game on the platform of their choice, encased in 0.5 liters of blood drawn from famed game creator Koji Igarashi.
- Let It Die – Introducing the Uncle Death action figure.
- VGDunkey – Xbox Direct: April 1, 2019.
Added April 1 at 12:35 p.m.
- Sonic the Hedgehog – Announcing Sonic Royale, a free-to-play action player-versus-player MMO survival action RPG first-person shooter dating simulator featuring 1,000 player battles, virtual reality support, Game Gear companion app, four million characters, customization, Chao cooking lessons, and cryptocurrency downloadable content.
Added April 1 at 11:45 a.m.
- BeatEmUps – Nintendo Direct: April 1, 2019 reaction video.
- Marble It Up! – Marble It Up! sequel Cube It Up! announced.
- Sega Europe – Sega Europe and Amplitude Studios have released Love Thyself: A Horatio Story, a new visual novel set in the Endless Space universe, for PC as a free download via Steam.
Added April 1 at 11:10 a.m.:
- DOOM – Introducing a new DOOM experience for the artist in everyone: DOOM: The Joy of Slaying.
- Mortal Kombat 11 – Light Balance brings us an electric performance to celebrate the release of Mortal Kombat 11.
- Origin PC – Introducing the Origin PC Building League. “Compete for glory, a trophy, and a mystery crate in the ORIGIN PC Building League aka OPCBL!”
- Rainbow Six Siege – “Today, Ubisoft released Rainbow is Magic, a Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege limited time event where players are tasked with rescuing a Teddy Bear from nefarious captors on a dramatically reimagined classic map, Plane.”
Added April 1 at 10:05 a.m.
- Minecraft – Exclusive first footage of Minecraft 3D. “Released on April 1st, 1994, Minecraft 3D was a masterpiece of its time. A slice of state of the art shareware featuring cutting-edge technology that won everything from GOTY to the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. But despite universal praise, only a handful of copies were made. In fact, it’s so rare, we can’t even recall ever releasing it. Or developing it. But who cares? It’s back, and its return is bound to change everything!”
- OVERKILL Software – Get ready for the next step in the Payday franchise: Payday Royale.
- Paradox Interactive – “Paradox’s classic grand strategy wargame gets even finer historical detail as a new threat emerges from the air and sea in Hearts of Iron IV: Man the Guns 2: Sharkstorm.”
- Remedy Entertainment – Introducing Control Technicolor Mode. “Are the shifting corridors of the Oldest House too dark and scary? We have now made Control much more accessible and friendly. Control will ship with technicolor mode enabled.”
- Rivals of Aether – Announcing Lovers of Aether. “Now is not the time for war. Now is the time for love! The homecoming dance is tonight and you need a date pronto. Spend your school day talking to the students at Aether High. All the original characters from Rivals of Aether are in attendance in this spinoff dating sim released on April Fools 2019.”
Added April 1 at 9:05 a.m.
- Digital Foundry – Bubsy, the ultimate mascot platformer?!
- Final Fantasy XV – “With today being April Fools’ Day, an unbelievable screenshot of Final Fantasy XV appeared during the 22:00 broadcast of Pop Team Epic TV Special.”
- IGN – Nintendo Direct: April 1, 2019. Everything is coming to Switch.
- Tekken 7 – Tekken 7 director Katsuhiro Harada is coming to the fighting game as a playable character.
Added April 1 at 8:40 a.m.
- Armello – The next Armello game is the kart racer Kartmello.
- Cuisine Royale – “Join the players of Cuisine Royale in their struggle for ultimate victory, but this time, you are not only searching for sought-after weapons and armour, but also the body parts to attach them to!” Read more here.
- Danganronpa Birth:Right – Announcing Danganronpa Birth:Right, the next title in the Danganronpa series. Official website available here.
- David Jaffe – “Guess who’s back? No cars this time. Just Needles, his machete, and his madness! CAN. NOT. WAIT. to share more in just a few days!”
- Distance – The Preservational Booster Sloth has arrived in Distance.
- Fatshark – “Bardin,” the song book, is now available for purchase.
- Funcom – Announcing Conan Chop Chop, “possibly our greatest Conan game yet.”
- GameXplain – Leaked Nintendo Switch trailer resurrects an old franchise.
- Honkai Impact 3rd – Introducing the Negatron Supply Simulator.
- Mike Intel – Announcing Splatoon Island for smartphones.
- IGN – Prepare to Try: Sekiro teaser trailer.
- Raw Fury – “Kingdom V:R is the groundbreaking new entry to the award-winning Kingdom franchise. Combining the gameplay you know (and love), with the immersion of Virtual Reality.” Read more here.
- Razer – “Introducing Razer Ping! The contextual notification app that redefines the way you interact with people. Inspired by the game we’re currently obsessed with, simply point your camera at any object and let Razer Ping! do all the work. Never speak to your friends again.”
- Rockman.EXE Zone – New spirits from the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate version 3.0 update have leaked.
- SpellForce 3 – Introducing SpellForce 3: Bavarian Edition.
- Team17 – “Worms For Teletext: The story behind a long lost technical marvel.” Read more here.
- Tokyo Afterschool Summoners – A 16-bit version of Tokyo Afterschool Summoners is in development!? Visit the teaser website here.
- War Thunder – “Gaijin Entertainment invites everyone to take part in Earth Thunder, an intergalactic tournament about to begin right now. The tournament sees talented cyber-athletes from all corners of the universe take control over one of the galaxy’s less advanced civilizations, forcing them to man the Universal Fighting Orbiter and to fight until death for the galaxy’s amusement.” Read more here.
Added April 1 at 3:05 a.m.:
- Final Fantasy XIV – Presenting Omega, the latest state-of-the-art smart home assistant that you will not be able to live without.
- Fire Emblem Heroes – Feh (voiced by Kimberly Tierney, illustrated by Shiomiso) joins the fight.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpRWwtr05yQ
Added April 1 at 2:15 a.m.
- Steins;Gate – 5pb. has announced 10 new titles in celebration of Steins;Gate‘s 10th anniversary. They include:
—Steins;Gate: Completely Innocent Wind Cutter:
—Rapsodia of the Moonlight Stud:
—Steins;Gate Grand Oredaaaaar:
—Rukako: A dressing boy who changes love at the bound of this world.:
- Sting – Announcing Macho de Union, due out in April 3019 for smartphones.
【おしらせ】最新作マッチョ・デ・ユニオン・令和版がスマートフォンで3019年4月に発売します。ご期待ください。#エイプリールフール #マッチョでポン pic.twitter.com/ZkhGojZ4mU
— スティング広報 (@sting_pr) April 1, 2019
Added on April 1 at 12:10 a.m.:
- For Honor – Ubisoft announced that For Honor will run a special one-day event for April Fools’ Day featuring elements from the Rabbids universe. Players who connect to the game during the event will receive a melee pack as an exclusive reward. The event will run for 24 hours, from April 1 at 12:00 a.m. ET through April 2 at 12:00 a.m. ET.
- Valkyria Anatomia: Origin – A problem is occuring that replaces Lenneth’s in-game 3D model has with a new model created by Pop Team Epic illustrator Bkub Okawa.
Added on March 31 at 10:20 p.m.
- Capcom Dev 1 – Introducing the next playable character for Devil May Cry 5.
Check out this fun announcement for DMC5!#AprilFools #DMC5 pic.twitter.com/JX33BUBZYn
— Capcom Dev 1 (@dev1_official) April 1, 2019
- Corsair – Introducing the Corsair Game Launcher. “Never before have game launchers brought such power and form together into an easy to use software. With the ability to craft games, manage digital currencies, and bundle software across platforms…this is one software you need to experience.”
- Mega Miracle Force – Ileheart, Compile Heart‘s Virtual YouTuber, joins the fray as a playable character.
- MonsterHunter.fr – Monster Hunter Portable V / Monster Hunter Victory for Switch announcement leaked. Due out worldwide in Q1 2020 for Switch with a new continent, new ecosystems, returning gameplay from Monster Hunter: World and underwater combat, 14 weapon types returning and one new weapon, new monsters, and local and online multiplayer.
- Nobunyaga’s Ambition – Koei Tecmo has announced Nobunyaga’s Ambition‘s entry into the world of eSports.
- Persona Official Twitter – Something is different about the Persona Twitter account.
- PlatinumGames – PlatinumGames has announced Chief Executive Omni-Weapon Ken-Ichi, its long-awaited first independent IP. Rewrite the history of action games and witness the birth of a new generation of hero.
- PlayStation Japan – PlayStation 4 production is in its golden age. Have a look at the craftsmanship of Sony Interactive Entertainment‘s veteran employee.
- Resident Evil 2 – “In just two short months, the worldwide zombie population has decreased by 774,038,013. We need your help averting the crisis caused by this sharp decline.” Apply now.
- SonicHQ – SonicHQ has confirmed via sources within Paramount Studios that the new Sonic the Hedgehog movie will be a tie-in to the next upcoming mainline game, which will use the same character model for Sonic that has been shown in the movie leaks.
- Uta no Prince-sama – Be healthy and happy 365 days a year with the new “Vegetable 1000% Princemoothie” drink, now on sale.
- WayForward – WayForward is joining forces with “some of the most remarkable characters in video game history.”
- YU-NO Anime – The official website for the YU-NO: A Girl Who Chants Love at the Bound of this World anime has been updated to look like a website from the 1990s.
Added at Press Time
- Ancient Games – Ancient Games, the developer of Mamotte Knight, has released Koshitte Knight: Yuuzou’s Great MML Strategy as a free download for PC in commemoration of its 30th anniversary.
- Arc System Works – Arc System Works has opened the official website for “Family Death Game,” a survival horror entry in its Family game series and a complete 180 from previous titles. The official website will only be open for one day.
- BoxBoy! – In response to Kirby going square (see below), BoxBoy is going round.
- Capcom Sound Team – Introducing “Automatic Sound Effect Generation AI.”
- D3 Publisher – Has a leaked video revealed Earth Defense Force 6!? (Spoiler: No, not it has not.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtLGsEPyFpQ
- Dead or Alive Xtreme: Venus Vacation – That day, darkness covered Venus Island. Introducing Zombienus Island!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0h5GIcPS3A
- Dragon Ball Z: Dokkan Battle – Dragon Ball Z: Dokkan Battle has turned into a Butoden game. (Thanks, ResetEra.)
- Fate/Grand Order – DelightWorks has released Fate/Grand Order Quest, a field exploration-style RPG, for iOS via the App Store and Android via Google Play. This is real and can be downloaded and played free of charge, but please note that it contains spoilers for the story of Fate/Grand Order.
- GaijinHunter – Capcom has announced Monster Hunter for Google Stadia: “Monster Hunter: World was successful by embracing the latest technology. We’re excited at the new opportunities cloud gaming presents.”
- Google Japan – Google Japan has announced the new version of Google Japanese Input—the Spoon bending Version. “Spoon bending was reborn as an innovative typing device. You bend spoon to type. This is a typing device like no other.”
- Kirby – Starting today, Kirby is a square.
- Nippon Ichi Software – Nippon Ichi Software has updated the official Japanese website for Murder Detective: Jack the Ripper with an announcement that the game’s title has been changed to Chibi Detective: jack the ripper, and that the characters have been changed to cute, chibi versions, allowing even children to enjoy the game.
- Nvidia GeForce – Introducing GeForce RTX R.O.N., the world’s first holographic gaming assistant. “Bring your rig to life with powerful AI-enabled, real-time game coaching and 3D AR displays. Tame the beast within using all new RageConverter technology. Take on trolls with cutting-edge TrollDestroyer capabilities. Now you can do it all with GeForce RTX R.O.N. It Just Works!”
- PlayStation Asia – PlayStation Asia is celebrating 25 years of PlayStation with the release of “very limited collector’s edition merchandise.
- Sega Japan – Sega’s offical advertisement truck is driving around Akihabara with the Sega logo backwards, instead reading “Gase.”
- Street Fighter V – The world president (of Street Fighter V) challenges a shoot ’em up game. Play it here.
- Tales of the Rays – Tales of the Rays has implemented Tales of WHIStiria. To play the mini-game, tap the Tales of WHIStiria banner on the home screen.
- VisualArts Japan – Visual Arts has announced Shimanomon Fight Deluxe, a dream crossover of Key titles.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnVK2CJdmo0
- Vooks – Rare returns to Nintendo with Rare Replay 64, a collection of 10 Rare titles for Switch.
- World End Heroes – The heroes of World End Heroes are becoming BuckeTuber’s / video content creators.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DZ0UeZhJKc
- Yakuza – A video of the latest entry in the Yakuza series starring Ichiban Kasuga has surfaced, which reveals that it has become a command-based RPG. While this is more than likely a joke, the footage shown does feature Ichiban Kasuga, so it is possible that command-based system shown in the video will appear as a Play Spot in the new Yakuza title. Read more about that here.
