May 2021

Epic Paid $115 Million For The Borderlands 3 Exclusive

2 years 10 months ago

As the bizarro-world bunfight between Epic and Apple enters its second day in court, more extraordinary information is coming out in court documents. Like, how Epic paid Take-Two/Gearbox one hundred and fifteen million dollars for the exclusive rights to sell Borderlands 3.

Read more...

Author
John Walker

Tags

Blog: Store page marketing tips for game devs

2 years 10 months ago

Perfecting your store page is arguably the most important marketing activity you can focus on. Good store pages facilitate conversions (wish lists and buys), while bad pages render greatly hinder your marketing efforts. ...

Tags

Resident Evil Village Mod Adds Barney To The Fight, Short Demo Be Damned

2 years 10 months ago

We cover a lot of mods here at Game Informer, and for good reason. Sometimes mods can make a game so much better, with fan-driven expansions and improvements alike. Sometimes, though, they can just be silly, and that's what we're digging into today with this Resident Evil Village mod that adds Barney into the mix. Because naturally. 

Even though the Resident Evil Village demo was relatively short, even after the extension, that didn't stop modders from getting in there and causing some mayhem. That's exactly what one modder did when they decided to add Barney the purple dinosaur into a game filled with monsters and horror. And you know what? I'm not mad at it: 

Click here to watch embedded media

As spotted by the fellow mod lovers over at PC Gamerthis mod brings Barney into the mix in the best way possible. Why take down Lady Dimitrescu's daughters and Lycan when you can cut off the head of the world's friendliest dino instead? Amirite? 

Author
Liana Ruppert

Fans Think Mortal Kombat's Ed Boon Is Teasing A Marvel Game

2 years 10 months ago

Ed Boon is known for his clever tweets, but sometimes the gaming community makes a big to-do over harmless posts. Is his latest post another theory gone wild, or is the Mortal Kombat co-creator really teasing a new Marvel game? You decide. 

Boon and his Twitter account are always in the conversation. Sometimes he posts things that are wildly taken out of context; other times, he cleverly hides game secrets in plain sight. Because of that, it's hard not to look at his latest post as something other than a potential tease, especially with a new Marvel game rumor being such a hot topic. 

The Mortal Kombat co-creator retweeted a post from director James Gunn, a post about his latest film, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Boon shared the initial post, saying, "Wow, [James Gunn] has managed to work on DC and Marvel movies. That's impressive." He added a thinking emoji for effect and, apparently, that effect worked because gamers from all over immediately clamored to see if this was a clue. Even Geoff Keighley joined in on the speculation: 

Author
Liana Ruppert

Destiny 2: Season 14 Revealed With Season Of The Splicer

2 years 10 months ago

Destiny 2: Season of the Chosen is coming to a close, which means a new stage of the Bungie sequel is on the horizon. After numerous leaks, Season 14 has been revealed to be Season of the Splicer and it arrives later this month after the Guardian Games come to a close

Season of the Splicer will take longtime Guardians back to familiar places, including the beloved raid from the first game with Vault of Glass. But it wouldn't be a new Season without a new activity and new gear. Bungie tells Game Informer that among the new arrivals to Destiny 2 is a fresh six-player activity called Override that will center around this Season's narrative that revolves around the Vex. 

"The Vex threaten the safety of all who inhabit the Last City, plunging humanity's sanctuary into an endless night," Bungie tells us. It's up to Guardians to group up with Kell of the House of Light, Mithrax, to learn the sacred teachings of what it means to be a Splicer. Guardians must learn this new power and master it, lest they fall. Take a look at the trailer for Season of the Splicer below: 

Click here to watch embedded media

Author
Liana Ruppert

Square Enix is doing another candy bar promotion, this time with Final Fantasy XIV

2 years 10 months ago

It seems like Square Enix isn't done with candy bars yet!

After rolling with the Final Fantasy VII Remake theme bonus (which involved Butterfingers, Crunch, and Baby Ruth bars), the publisher is back with the former candy for Final Fantasy XIV. If you submit "$5 worth of receipts for Butterfinger" to this site, you can get a code for the "Chocorpokkur Mount."

There are a few provisos though. It'll take "3-5 days" for the promotion to go through, and some users are reporting that their legitimate receipts were denied. Also, the promo mount is actually just a reworked version of an existing Korpokkur mount, but chocolate-flavored. It's the same one offered in Japan through their Lawson promo, actually.

The Butterfinger brand is no stranger to cross-media promotions, too! Growing up it was kind of a reality: like a Butterfinger-Verse.

Butterfinger [Twitter]

Square Enix is doing another candy bar promotion, this time with Final Fantasy XIV screenshot

Author
Chris Carter

Epic Games Store opened its wallet to the tune of $12 million for its first run of free games

2 years 10 months ago

As the "Epic vs. Apple" kaiju-esque courtroom battle gets underway, more and more tidbits are being uncovered regarding what goes on Behind the Curtain at the industry giants. Presented for your consideration: a document that reveals has much money Epic doled out in order to secure titles for Epic Games Store's free game giveaways.

The document, released to Twitter by Game'sDiscoverCo.'s Simon Carless, paints an interesting picture of the dollar amounts certain titles cost over others. For example, old-school indie adventure Torchlight cost Epic $150,000 USD to procure for giveaway status, while Unknown World's Subnautica cost a princely $1.4 million. Ubisoft's multiplayer battler For Honor was a bargain at $63,000, while the most expensive title on the list is Rocksteady's epic Batman: Arkham Knight, which sold for $1.5 million.

As the list specifically concerns 2019's giveaways, Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto V — a game so in-demand it crashed the Epic Games Store's servers back in the summer of 2020  — is not noted.

Overall, Epic spent just shy of $12 million in the first nine months of its free games scheme. A fortune to the majority of us, but loose change for the Fortnite studio. Epic Games Store continues to operate at a loss, and is unlikely to turn a profit for several years more. But Epic boss Tim Sweeney is fully aware of the costs, and sees the tossed fortunes as a mere "investment" in the company's long-term future.

The Epic vs. Apple antitrust trial continues... I'm reminded of the Alien vs. Predator tag-line.

Author
Chris Moyse

In a rare move, several big Nintendo games are on sale for $40 at retail and digitally

2 years 10 months ago

Nintendo games go on sale pretty much never, so when multiple first-party titles go on sale, it's worth telling people about.

Starting this week, Nintendo has discounted New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe, Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edition, Super Mario Odyssey, and Fire Emblem: Three Houses. All of them were previously $59.99 before this week, which is crazy to think about.

Note that this promotion works for both physical and digital copies of games. Plus, the deal is actually live at multiple retailers, including Amazon, GameStop, and Target. So flex those bonuses or gift cards!

You can find a full list below of the games in the promotion, as well as links to reviews/coverage. They're pretty much all worth getting, depending on your tastes. If I had to recommend one, universally, it would probably be Mario Odyssey if you somehow don't have it yet.

Otherwise, Fire Emblem: Three Houses should last you a long while if you're looking for something to stretch your money on. New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe will keep a full house entertained with local play, and Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edition, like Fire Emblem, will keep you busy.

Fire Emblem: Three Houses [Amazon via Wario64]

In a rare move, several big Nintendo games are on sale for $40 at retail and digitally screenshot

Read more...
Author
Chris Carter

Rock Paper Shotgun's work experience programme for ethnic minorities: Round 2

2 years 10 months ago

Back in February, we launched our first work experience programme, open to applicants exclusively from minority backgrounds in the UK. We're now pleased to tell you our first work experiencer has been chosen! They'll be with us sometime later this month, so keep an eye out, and join us in giving them a warm welcome when they arrive.

That's not the end of it though - we have three more work experience slots to offer over the next year. Right now, we're opening applications for another up-and-coming writer to join us for two weeks between July and September.

Read more

Author
RPS

How is Resident Evil Village shaping up on Xbox Series consoles?

2 years 10 months ago

Capcom's staggered roll-out of Resident Evil demo code reached its conclusion last weekend as the Village and Castle gameplay segments previously available on PlayStation consoles rolled out to Xbox gamers. The results are pretty much in line with expectations based on prior experience with the RE Engine, but we do get our first look at how the technology's ray tracing performance scales onto Xbox Series S, having been left out of Devil May Cry 5 Special Edition.

So, having got the measure of the demo code from prior experience on PlayStation 5, how does Xbox Series X measure up? Perhaps inevitably, the results are very much in line with our findings on Devil May Cry 5 SE: despite having mentioned an expected frame-rate of 45fps at 4K resolution with ray tracing enabled (based on Capcom's spec sheet), both Series X and PlayStation 5 actually run with an unlocked level of performance and for the most part, actually run at 60 frames per second. Both versions use Capcom's image reconstruction tech to improve performance over native resolution rendering, and both consoles look nigh-on identical to one another.

Tags

League of Legends Netflix series launches this autumn

2 years 10 months ago

Arcane, the animated League of Legends spin-off series, debuts on Netflix this autumn.

This is the first League of Legends show, though the latest of many Netflix video game adaptations.

The streaming service describes it as an "event series", which suggests it won't run for multiple seasons like Castlevania. Here's a quick glimpse:

Read more

Tags

We've got 125 beta keys for World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade Classic to give away

2 years 10 months ago

The Dark Portal is reopening soon and thanks to Blizzard, we have a chance for 125 of you to try World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade Classic before it's officially released!

Burning Crusade Classic is of course the retro version of World of Warcraft's first expansion, which originally launched in January 2007. Oli interviewed Blizzard about Burning Crusade Classic back in February - it's a chat that's well worth a read if you want to know more about the game.

For a chance to receive one of the beta keys, answer the question in the widget below and let us know your email address. Entry is open until 11.59pm on Wednesday, 5th May. We will email you with a key if you win - the key can be redeemed at your Blizzard Account page. The giveaway is open to anyone and everyone over 13 years of age.

Read more

Tags

Microsoft gives FPS boost to 74 more Xbox Series X/S games

2 years 10 months ago

Microsoft has announced that another 74 games have been given the FPS Boost treatment, bringing the total number of boosted titles up to 97.

The new set of 74 games includes several Assassin's Creed titles (including Unity, The Ezio Collection, Rogue Remastered and 3 Remastered), three Far Cry games (5, New Dawn and Primal), and a bunch of Lego games such as Batman 3, Jurassic World, Marvel Super Heroes and Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Oh, and also Alien Isolation at 60fps. You can find the full list of boosted titles over here.

The FPS Boost feature allows Microsoft to significantly improve older games, in some cases "nearly doubling" original frame rates and making them steadier. In some cases this requires a reduction in resolution, in which case users are presented with an option to toggle FPS Boost on and off.

Read more

Tags

Disney Debuts "Real" Lightsaber For Forthcoming Starcruiser Vacation

2 years 10 months ago

Click to watch embedded media

Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser is a two-night vacation getaway that will debut at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida in 2022. As amazing as the Galaxy's Edge theme park is, this vacation sounds like it will be the closest we come to living in a galaxy far, far away. When you arrive at the resort, you'll step into a launch pod that will rocket you through hyperspace to the starship Halcyon. From the moment the doors open, everything around you will be Star Wars themed. Your room's windows look out into space, you'll be dining in a room filled with Star Wars characters, and you'll even have a chance to train with the Jedi.

Author
Andrew Reiner

Fortnite and Apple's nasty court battle reveals characters that might show up, like Samus and Naruto

2 years 10 months ago

We're this close to figuring out why Metroid can't crawl, and we may never know, if the plans in this Epic versus Apple court document never sees the light of day.

So in case you missed it, the huge court battle between Epic and Apple is happening now, which will potentially determine the fate of both the App Store and Epic's forthcoming business plan. There's a lot to unpack here from a legal standpoint, but one of the more interesting elements that came out of the proceedings was...spoilers?

Fortnite and Apple's nasty court battle reveals characters that might show up, like Samus and Naruto screenshot

Read more...
Author
Chris Carter

Rainbow Six Siege brings about the apocalypse in today's new event

2 years 10 months ago

It's tough being a member of melodramatic counter-terrorist strike team Rainbow. One moment your saving hostages and Fuzing your own teammates, the next you are literally the last hope for the continued survival of all mankind. At least that's what's Rainbow Six Siege fans are being led to believe in the multiplayer shooter's brand new event: Apocalypse.

Kicking off today and running through May 18, Apocalypse is a limited-time event that sees a handful of Team Rainbow's operators tasked with protecting the last bastion of life after some dreadful, ungodly war. The new mode sees a team of Defenders — comprised of Maestro, Melusi, Rook, Smoke, and Valkyrie — protecting Earth's last living plant from a team of Attackers, consisting of Fuze, Gridlock, Maverick, Nomad, and Twitch.

Rainbow Six Siege brings about the apocalypse in today's new event screenshot

Read more...
Author
Chris Moyse

Nintendo just updated their 'Ninten Island' in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, here's the code

2 years 10 months ago

The last time I visited Nintendo's "Ninten Island" in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, it was kind of a mess! But it's been slowly improving since launch, and now, it has more of a theme to it.

As Nintendo announced this week on their European Twitter account, the new and improved Ninten Island is open for business. The publisher is calling it a "facelift," and you can visit it now and "grab some new Nook Inc. Custom Designs."

To get in, use the Dream Address here: DA-6382-1459-4417. As a reminder, here's how to navigate the Dream Island system. Basically, you go to bed, select some prompts, and put the code in.

As a whole, the island is a lot cleaner, and things are more deliberately placed. It feels like they took the criticisms of the previously hastily-crafted island to heart! Most of the user creations I've visited are still better, but it's actually worth visiting this time (and even has a little Mario museum).

Nintendo Europe [Twitter]

Nintendo just updated their 'Ninten Island' in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, here's the code screenshot

Author
Chris Carter

Stadia's VP & Head of Product has left Google

2 years 10 months ago

Google has announced that the VP & Head of Product for streaming service Stadia has left Google. John Justice was one of the faces of the Stadia brand, appearing in interviews and marketing streams in the lead-up to the product's launch in 2019.

Following a report by The Information referencing Justice' absence, 9to5Google confirmed that the executive had indeed left the company. "We can confirm John is no longer with Google, and we wish him well on his next step." reads a succinct statement on the website.

Stadia losing its Head of Product is just the latest in a series of rough optics for both the brand and the service. Justice' departure follows the closing of Stadia's in-house development studio back in February. The closure also saw the departure of high-ranking producer Jade Raymond, who left to found her own studio, Haven Entertainment.

Google has stated that it intends to reach out to third-party studios for Stadia's future titles, noting that it has over 100 titles coming to the platform over the course of 2021. These include major releases such as Capcom's Resident Evil Village. The Head of Product role will be reassigned and, optimistically, there is a possibility that a change of leadership could see the Stadia service change course for the better. But there's no denying that's it's an uphill battle for Google's experimental service.

Author
Chris Moyse

Fortnite planned basketball, survival simulator modes

2 years 10 months ago

A basketball mini-game and an open-world survival simulator have been in development within Fortnite.

The details are the latest to come to light as part of documentation revealed in the Epic Games vs Apple courtroom drama, and which fit into previous leaks.

Plans for an NBA tie-in mode, including a LeBron James skin, are detailing an internal report dated June 2020 - though leaks suggest these are still coming.

Read more

Tags

Apex Legends' excellent new 3v3 Arenas mode has arrived

2 years 10 months ago

Today, Respawn adds some of the most exciting stuff to Apex Legends that I think they've added yet. Call me over-excited if you will, but I've tried the new 3v3 Arenas game mode and it's well good. I've also had a go at the new walking Titanfall reference, Valkyrie, and she has a delightfully satisfying jetpack. A jetpack! All the best games have jetpacks. Both of these excellent additions arrived today in Apex's ninth season, Legacy, alongside a new weapon, new maps, and a whole lot of balance changes.

Read more

Author
Imogen Beckhelling

Walmart Cloud Gaming Service Details Revealed in Epic vs Apple Documents

2 years 10 months ago
New documents presented as part of the Epic Games vs Apple court case have revealed new details about the cloud gaming streaming service that Walmart had been developing, which it pitched to Epic Games in 2019. An email thread from April 2019 confirms reports from the same year that Walmart was talking to developers about a streaming service for games. The service, known as Project Storm, was designed to be an "open ecosystem" that allowed users to stream from the cloud or download games to a Windows PC and play locally. Documents attached to the email thread show that Walmart had been pitching this system to publishers such as Epic, and was planned to support for third-party launchers such as Steam, Uplay, Epic Games Store, Origin, Battle.net and the Bethesda Launcher. Walmart streaming diagram A diagram explaining the system also notes that indie games would be supported alongside AAA via third party launchers. Users would be given the option to subscribe, buy games, or 'BYOG' - Bring your own game (presumably by linking with accounts like Steam and porting across your existing library). Among the new details in the emails, Epic Games co-founder Mark Rein sent messages detailing a clip that would attach a phone to a controller, in order for players to use Walmart's system. “They’re going to sell the clip for a crazy low amount, they were saying something like $2,” said Rein.
Author
Matt Purslow

Tags