February 2021

343 Industries has taken to offering up regular monthly check-ups on the status of Halo Infinite as it steers toward its much anticipated launch later in 2021. After earlier looks into art, graphics, and the work of the live team, this month the team is shining a spotlight on the setting itself. The Zeta Halo is a massive explorable environment that seems to dramatically outstrip the scope of many previous games in the series, especially in terms of freedom and discoverability.

One of the big focuses for creating the game world for Halo Infinite is described as focusing on two central tenets – legacy and simplicity. “For 'Legacy' we really want players to feel like they are experiencing a game that they remember fondly (Halo: Combat Evolved), but with modernized graphics of course,” says Justin Dinges, the campaign art lead on the project. “As far as 'Simplicity' is concerned, we wanted to ensure that we steer away from overly noisy designs and details which is a key takeaway for the team coming off Halo 5.” That’s a welcome message for longtime fans of the series, as Halo has always found a way to balance a modern sci-fi aesthetic with natural beauty.

Bungie confirmed earlier today that Destiny 2: The Witch Queen has been pushed back until 2022. You can read the heartfelt post about that right here with our previous coverage, but the team also confirmed when players can finally expect transmog in addition to changes expected for the way rewards work in-game. 

Ada-1 returns to the Tower in Season 14, the very next season following Chosen. With her return comes the ability to finally ‘think Destiny 2 but then make it fashion’ with the ability to transmogrify those "lewks." 

Currently, players can go to the in-game Collections tab to change up how their Guardian looks by reacquiring certain gear and any unlocked shaders, but it's still pretty limited. There are also ornaments that can alter the way certain items look, but again; limited. With the newly implemented transmog system, called Armor Synthesis, arriving with Season 14, players will be able to take any armor they have in their Collections and turn it into a universal ornament with no limitations. 

"Every season Ada will offer players a set of bounties that highlight various activity types," explains the most recent blog post. "Players can complete these quests and receive the materials they need to power up Ada’s Loom, which can turn any piece of armor in your collection into a permanent universal ornament. Players short on time will also be able to purchase Synthesis tokens for Silver."

Users should once again be able to sign-in, complete purchases and join chat sessions. Thank you for your patience and as always, we're listening. https://t.co/d8rSxOsgNk

Where to Scan a Server at a Surface Hub in Fortnite

• Hunter’s Haven
• Colossal Coliseum
• Stealthy Stronghold

Hunter’s Haven Surface Hub Location

Bullet points, links to trailers, all info, and no fluff. A comprehensive list perfect for lazy gamers.

The post PlayStation’s State of Play Recap for February 2021 appeared first on Siliconera.

Last night, an anonymous competitor came out of nowhere to win a popular Street Fighter V tournament. And then, just as suddenly as they arrived, they were gone, but not before asking organizers to donate their winnings to charity.

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Update (9:47 p.m. ET, 02/25/2021): Shortly after Kotaku first reported on Xbox Live’s outage, the service appears to be back up and running. You’re welcome!

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Japan Studio, a branch of PlayStation’s development efforts once responsible for everything from Shadow of the Colossus to Gravity Rush to Ape Escape, has been downsized to oblivion by Sony, with only the team responsible for Astro’s Playroom remaining, alongside a few other staff.

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Look, we knew Bugsnax was a cute game with a dark heart, but this is particularly bleak.

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Today Capcom reached out with a press release to announce the Japanese cast of its upcoming survival horror game Resident Evil Village.

Below you can find the list for the main characters:

According to a statement provided to IGN, Sony Interactive Entertainment is going to “re-organize” its beloved Japan Studio.

The statement explains that the studio will be recentered on Team ASOBI, which worked on Astro’s Playroom.

You can read the full statement below.

In an effort to further strengthen business operations, SIE can confirm PlayStation Studios JAPAN Studio will be re-organized into a new organization on April 1. JAPAN Studio will be re-centered to Team ASOBI, the creative team behind Astro’s PLAYROOM, allowing the team to focus on a single vision and build on the popularity of Astro’s PLAYROOM.

In addition, the roles of external production, software localization, and IP management of JAPAN Studio titles will be concentrated within the global functions of PlayStation Studios.

Japan Studio is the team behind games like Ape Escape, Gravity Rush, Patapon, and The Last Guardian.

The wording describing this re-organization certainly doesn’t sound too positive for the future of Japan Studio outside of Team ASOBI.

Earlier today, sources told VGC that PlayStation is planning to wind down development at Sony Japan Studio, implying that well-known developer in the industry is closing down. The studio was founded in 1993 and is responsible for what many consider to be classic games.

Fortnite's newest season, Zero Point, is uniting some of the greatest hunters in movies, games, and comic books for an epic battle royale showdown. This event kicked off with The Mandalorian and his child companion leaping through a dimensional rift, and almost every week after has brought new hunters like the Terminator, Predator, and this week's addition of Ripley from the Alien films. Unfortunately for her (but fortunately for us) she didn't emerge from the rift alone. A Xenomorph also made it through.

Both Ripley and the Xenomorph are now available for purchase. You can get both of them together for 2,200 V-Bucks, or you can get Ripley on her own for 1,500, and the Xenomorph for 1,600. Ripley has two looks you can switch between, and the Xenomorph has a built in emote. The Alien fun is rounded out with the P-500 Power Loader Arm Pickaxe, Jonesy the Cat in a carrier, a Cheyenne Dropship Glider, and a chest-burster emote.

Arcade Is Dead… But Not Entirely

Sony confirmed that Sony Japan Studio will be reorganized on April 1, 2021. Team ASOBI will remain intact.

The post Japan Studio Reorganization Announced appeared first on Siliconera.

343 Industries has released an interview-focused blog post for Halo Infinite, which looks at Zeta Halo, the open-world setting of the upcoming game. Halo Infinite campaign art lead Justin Dinges said that one of the largest challenges of creating the space was honoring the nostalgic feel of Halo, while creating something that feels brand-new.

"With Halo Infinite, we wanted to take this new adventure back to its roots and create a visually pleasing experience that doesn't overwhelm with unnecessary complexity where readability and clear artistic composition prevail," Dinges said. "This is our artistic interpretation of a beautiful world to exist within--rather than something that is purely grounded in photo realism. Both goals have been a true challenge to balance, especially against the expectations of what it means to be a 'next-gen' title."

Part of honoring the appeal of Halo's roots comes from Zeta Halo's layout. As an open world, Zeta Halo invokes the same sensation of Halo: Combat Evolved's opening hours when you could approach problems in different ways depending on what weapons you have, vehicles you're driving, or pathways you uncover.

Despite being released in 2016, Overwatch remains an incredibly popular multiplayer experience, with a healthy community of players returning day after day for online skirmishes. Naturally, longtime players are eager to play the next entry in the franchise, which was originally announced in 2019. Many fans expected 2021 would be the year a new chapter in the Overwatch saga would unfold, but that is not the case.

The community became crestfallen in the immediate aftermath of this news. However, at BlizzCon 2021, the Overwatch 2 team showed off more of the game than we'd ever seen, and the scope of the effort became more apparent. As well as making drastic changes to the player-versus-player experience, Blizzard is creating a large-scale player-versus-environment suite complete with story missions and over a hundred repeatable missions that can be played with friends, and will allow characters to be developed in an RPG-like fashion. It looks to be much bigger than most imagined.

Following the reveal, we spoke to game director Jeff Kaplan about what the team showed at BlizzCon, balancing their vision with the demands of the community, the challenge of keeping the first Overwatch fresh, and its narrative ambitions for Overwatch 2.

Final Fantasy VII Remake: Intergrade comes to PS5 on June 10, and if you want to snag the game ahead of launch, so you're ready to jump in as soon as it releases, there are a number of ways to do so. The PS4 version comes with a free next-gen upgrade, though you won't get the bonus episode that stars the ninja, Yuffie--that will cost extra for those that upgrade.

If you don't already own Final Fantasy VII Remake on PS4, then you can snag it right now for $30 at Amazon or Walmart. That'll get you the 60fps PS5 version that features improved textures and a higher resolution when it releases in June. However, if you want to hold off and wait for the PS5 version, there are two different editions to choose from.

Two new Final Fantasy 7-related games have been revealed: Ever Crisis and The First Soldier, both of which are mobile games. Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade took the spotlight during the recent State of Play, showing off new story content starring Yuffie and flexing the free PS5 upgrade features, but these new mobile games seem to be some wild twists to the FF7 universe in their own right.

Ever Crisis is a...remake of the original Final Fantasy 7 along with reimaginings of Crisis Core, Before Crisis, Dirge of Cerberus, and Advent Children. It follows the same timeline in a chapter structure, but with an all-new graphical style and visual stylings that bridge the game between the original game and FF7 Remake's flair--a demake of a remake, if you will. It's coming to iOS and Android platforms sometime in 2022.

Housemarque's Returnal is a new roguelike that leans into the developer's pedigree for arcade-style shooters, yet it also has something to say about the effects of being trapped in isolation and in a perpetual cycle. Following an emergency landing on the planet Atropos, the game's protagonist Selene finds herself stranded on a planet filled with ancient ruins and hostile monsters. After meeting her seemingly inevitable end, she re-awakens shortly after the crash, retaining memories of her past attempt at survival. Selene is forced to relive the day again and again until she can uncover why she's trapped in a time loop, and why the strange world seems to have a growing attachment to its new visitor.

Ahead of its April 30 launch, I had the chance to view an extended preview of the game in action and also spoke with game director Harry Krueger and narrative director Gregory Louden about Returnal's scope. During the preview, I noticed that Returnal adds a Metroid-style sense of action and exploration to its time-looping roguelike structure. I was surprised to see that the game uses its conceit to showcase Selene's unsettling descent into a mysterious, sentient world that always seems to be two steps ahead of her.

Enter The Void

The roguelike sub-genre has seen a significant surge in recent years, and 2020's Hades was a breakthrough that demonstrated that a meaningful and poignant story with a personable cast of characters can have an impact within a structure that is inherently random. Returnal operates in the same territory as Hades, and with each run, Selene not only expands her powers and knowledge of the planet Atropos, but it in turn reveals more about the protagonist's past, even forcing her to confront visions and constructs that evoke memories of what she left behind before her arrival.

A major outage is impacting certain aspects of Xbox Live, preventing users from signing in. That is effectively locking people out of content and the ability to play games online--which is unfortunate timing with Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Season 2 having just launched today.

Microsoft has already acknowledged the problem, with the Xbox Live status page highlighting an outage to multiple aspects of the service. On Twitter, it also provided an update, saying it's investigating the issue:

A subsequent update noted that party chat and the ability to purchase content are also impacted, so there are a variety of Xbox Live-centric services that aren't working correctly. There's no word on exactly when things will get back to normal, although the status page does suggest a fix could be near.

Square Enix just revealed Final Fantasy VII Remake: Intergrade for PS5, and if you want to get in on the free next-gen upgrade, you can snag the PS4 version of Final Fantasy VII Remake for $30 at Amazon and Walmart. It will upgrade to the 60fps PS5 version for free when it releases on June 10, though you will have to pay extra for the bonus episode that features fan-favourite Yuffie as a playable character. In addition to the improved frame rate and resolution, the PS5 version will also feature a photo mode, new difficulty setting, and quality-of-life improvements.

While the PS5 version sounds exciting, the last-gen version of Final Fantasy VII Remake is still a great game. It was named one of GameSpot's best games of 2020 and received a rare 10/10 in our Final Fantasy VII Remake review.

State of Play came through with the reveal of new content for Final Fantasy 7 Remake. This includes new story scenarios to introduce Yuffie and new character Sonon in what's called Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade. PS5 owners will also get options for visual and performance improvements like higher resolution, better textures, visual effects, and 60fps gameplay. A few other features will be added to the game as well, such as a photo mode and new difficulty setting.

The update and story content both launch on June 10--the next-gen upgrade will be free for all owners of Final Fantasy 7 Remake, but the Intergrade story content must be purchased separately after upgrading to the PS5 version.

Story And Gameplay Of Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade

In a surprise reveal, the original Final Fantasy 7 character Yuffie will be making her Remake debut in new story content called Intergrade. She arrives in Midgar and teams up with another character named Sonon. They seem to have a close sibling-like relationship and will be in a party together as you play through brand-new scenarios within Midgar.

PlayStation revealed a new trailer for Kena: Bridge of Spirits during February 2021's State of Play. The trailer reveals that the upcoming PlayStation console exclusive will launch August 24 on both PS5 and PS4.

In the trailer, we get a closer look at the story in Kena: Bridge of Spirits, as well as how the titular Kena will utilize the cute Rot in both combat and platforming challenges. Those little black creatures may be adorable, but when Kena has a lot of them together, they sure can pack a punch.

Interestingly enough, we see Kena don a mask in the trailer as well--developer Ember Lab made their mark with a fan film of The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, a video game all about using masks to gain additional abilities.

Oddworld: Soulstorm launches for PS4 and PS5 on April 6, Sony revealed during its February 2021 State of Play presentation. What's more, Sony confirmed the game will be free for PlayStation Plus subscribers when it releases in April.

Soulstorm is a remake of the second installment in the Oddworld franchise, Abe's Exoddus, which first released back in 1998. Like the original, the game is a side-scroller that pits players in the role of the titular Abe, who can save more than 1,000 allies during the course of the adventure. Abe will also be able to scavenge, loot, and pickpocket items from enemies, as well as take control of them via possession and turn their strengths against them.

According to game director Lorne Lanning, your actions in Soulstorm will ultimately determine the fate of Abe and all of the allies you rescued during the game. Soulstorm will also make use of the PS5 DualSense's haptic feedback, allowing you to feel Abe's heartbeat.

Sony showed off a new trailer for the PS5-exclusive shooter Deathloop during its State of Play, and it was nothing if not stylish. The new trailer interspersed combat footage with a Bond-like animation sequence set to a smoky ballad.

And fitting with the Bond vibes, we saw some impressive tech gadgets at play too. You can cloak to look like someone else, turn invisible near enemies, or use phase out similar to Dishonored's Blink ability.

Deathloop is coming to PS5 and PC on May 21.

During February 2021's State of Play, PlayStation revealed a new trailer for Sifu, an upcoming game from developer Sloclap. Sifu is set to come to PS5 later in 2021.

The game seems to be a combo-focused action game in which "dying" only ages the protagonist. Throughout the trailer, we see them grow older and older, becoming an old man by the end. The cinematics seen in the trailer were captured on PC, but Sifu is also coming to PS5 and PS4.

Previously, Sloclap developed Absolver, a combat-heavy game set in an online world. Absolver was first released in 2017; in GameSpot's Absolver review, critic Richard Wakeling gave the game an 8/10 and said: "There's a significant challenge involved in learning Absolver's combat intricacies, but it's the kind of struggle that rarely frustrates. Defeat is part and parcel of the experience, but your demise always teaches you something new that you can take with you into the next battle--and Absolver's deep, nuanced combat always finds ways of enticing you back for one more fight."

During its February 2021 State of Play presentation, Sony debuted a new trailer for Five Nights at Freddy's: Security Breach, which is coming to PS4 and PS5 in 2021. The creepy trailer gave a better look at the colorful environments and what appear to be new mechanics coming to the series.

The trailer showed the player interacting with environments like a colorful ball pit inside the indoor amusement park that is the hallmark of the FNAF series. The trailer showed the player-character going behind the scenes through hallways with pipes and other backstage equipment, and a companion voice warned that the enemies will never stop hunting you. The trailer ended with a suitably creepy clawed monster coming straight at you.

The most recent Five Nights at Freddy's game, Help Wanted, was also revealed during a State of Play presentation. That game was originally released only in VR before a non-VR version came to PC and PS4 at the end of 2019.

One of the many games showcased during PlayStation's State of Play was Solar Ash, the follow up from Heart Machine, the creators of Hyper Light Drifter. We got a closer look at its gameplay which emphasized its movement system and combat, as well as a bit of insight into the premise.

Creator Alx Preston said that the game focuses on speed and fluidity with some platforming elements. The main character, Ray, glides across the environment as if she's skating across the colorful lo-fi world, and uses a grappling hook for platforming elements. Combat is also simple, but challenges do ramp up throughout the game.

Solar Ash is set to launch sometime this year for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5. For more on the recent reveals, be sure to catch our State of Play recap.

Bungie is rebalancing several elements of Destiny 2's player-vs.-player mode in upcoming seasons, including the Stasis powers introduced in the Beyond Light expansion that have dominated the Crucible ever since. The developer says it'll be reworking Destiny 2 subclass powers in the near future to make them all more viable, while making a lot of other changes to PvP over the next few content seasons.

The changes were outlined in a massive post Bungie published on its blog. First and foremost are its changes to the new Stasis abilities, which many in the player community have complained are too powerful and dominating in PvP situations. Bungie is adjusting several of those abilities to be less lethal to other players, while also fixing some bugs and other issues with Stasis that have made the subclasses not work as intended.

In addition to changes to Stasis, Bungie says it's looking at changing the Light subclasses that existed in the game before the release of Beyond Light to make them more viable. The idea, Bungie said, is that it wants to achieve more of a balance between all the classes, while also making sure the emphasis in PvP stays on gunplay. Right now, players have complained that subclass abilities are too strong and overshadowing a lot of the bread-and-butter shooter gameplay at Destiny 2's core, and it sounds like this is a key part of what Bungie means to address.