November 2021

Halo Infinite's free-to-play multiplayer currently offers input-based ranked playlists, but it seems the game's ranked modes could do a better job of grouping players together of similar skill level.

One pro Halo player recently tweeted to say that it would be nice if ranked matches could "match all players of a similar rank with each other" instead of simply balancing teams. That led Halo community manager John Junyszek to chime in with a tweet of his own, saying that 343 agrees, is investigating, and will share more updates when they have them.

Halo Infinite multiplayer continues to be one of the most played games on Steam and Xbox following its surprise launch on November 15, three weeks earlier than expected. But just because players are putting tons of time into developer 343 Industries' latest doesn't mean players don't have issues.

Rocket League Sideswipe, Psyonix’s new mobile game, is officially out now on iOS and Android across the world. This is a 1v1 free-to-play game based on the company’s wildly successful car soccer game Rocket League.

Sideswipe was announced earlier this year and began to roll out to a small number of Oceania countries within the past few weeks. Now, everyone worldwide with a compatible device can join in on the fun.

You’ll want to get in on the action as soon as possible—the Pre-Season has already begun.

Throughout the Pre-Season period, you’ll be able to start practicing the mechanics of the game while unlocking customization items.

Square Enix has revealed a perhaps small but very interesting detail about the upcoming Endwalker expansion of Final Fantasy XIV.

The reveal, made on Instagram, showcases ribbons, which have been a traditional item in Final Fantasy game for a long time.

They also look extremely cute, as you can see from the images below. There are only a few days left before we can finally experience Endwalker for ourselves.

Just months after the news that Mad Max spin-off Furiosa would be delayed by a year into 2024, the production has hit another snag, with the news that Aquaman star Yahya Abdul-Mateen II is stepping away from the project due to scheduling issues. Abdul-Mateen is being replaced by English actor Tom Burke, Deadline reports.

It's unclear what conflicting project caused Abdul-Mateen to step back from Furiosa, though the actor is known to have a very full schedule already. As well as reprising the role of Black Manta in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, Abdul-Mateen is also involved in Matrix 4, and has two other action films in the works.

Furiosa will be led by Anya Taylor-Joy of Queen's Gambit fame, with the actress taking on the titular role--originally played by Charlize Theron in Mad Max: Fury Road. Chris Hemsworth is also signed on for the project, though it hasn't been announced what character he, or newcomer Tom Burke, will be playing in the spin-off.

Furiosa is set to be a prequel to George Miller's Mad Max: Fury Road, with the new film exploring the character's growth over a much longer time-frame than its frenetic predecessor.

The upcoming Uncharted: Legacy Of Thieves Collection will be the first time the PlayStation-exclusive franchise will be playable on PC, and a new clue points to the collection being close to release. The collection, which will include remasters of both Uncharted 4 and Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, has just been rated by the ESRB.

The collection has been rated T for Teen--though the rating itself is no surprise given both Uncharted 4 and Lost Legacy also have a T rating. The ratings board warns of "Blood, Language, Use of Alcohol and Tobacco, and Violence" alongside its rating.

More importantly, the fact that the game has been successfully rated for both the PS5 and PC suggests that the collection could be ready to release soon. Official word from Sony says the game will release in "early 2022," with the PlayStation 5 version due to launch a little earlier than the PC one, which is being developed by Iron Galaxy.

While Uncharted 4 continues the story of series mainstay Nathan Drake, The Lost Legacy is a spin-off game that centers the stories of Chloe Frazer and Nadine Ross. The first three games in Drake's story have already been re-released as Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection.

With the ESRB rating for the collection now sorted, hopefully it won't be too long before Sony announces official release dates for both the PS5 and PC versions of the remasters.

Bungie is counting down to Gjallarhorn coming to Destiny 2 by offering a new gift or discount every day from November 23 to December 7 in the Bungie Store.

Here's all the free stuff you can snag so far: A free ebook titled Destiny Grimoire Anthology, Volume IV: The Royal Will, a print-at-home coloring page featuring Gjallarhorn, and a print-at-home papercraft Gjallarhorn.

The Kindle version of the Destiny Grimoire Anthology, Volume IV: The Royal Will currently retails for $17.99 at Amazon, whereas if you download it from the Bungie Store, it's completely free. If you're interested in a physical copy, the Destiny Grimoire Anthology, Volume IV: The Royal Will hardcover edition sells for $22 on Amazon.

The studio behind DC Universe Online, Dimensional Ink Games, is in early development for a new Marvel-based MMO. Eurogamer noticed the game in the Q3 2021 investor briefings for coop company Enad Global 7, with Dimensional Ink noted as the developer.

In the report, there is a slide called "Exciting Product slate for 2022 and Beyond." The bottom right corner lists "Unannounced MMORPG" and some details below it, including:

• Marvel IP based massively multiplayer game
• Being developed by Dimensional Ink Studios in Austin, TX
• Led by Jack Emmert, who designed and helmed City of Heroes, and currently leads DCUO

Emmert is currently the CEO of Dimensional Ink Games and is responsible for the studio P&L. His LinkedIn profile also mentions "new, unannounced MMORPG" under his job responsibilities, which we now know is based on the Marvel universe.

Dimensional Ink is also celebrating DC Universe Online's 10 year anniversary. On the same aforementioned slide, the studio bills DC Universe Online as "the one and only superhero-based MMO" and that it is "performing near its peak historical annual revenues." Additionally, the studio is also investing in better graphics for the game as well as its largest content expansion (scheduled to launch in 2023).

Sea of Thieves Season 5 and the new Plunder Pass are upon us. Hopefully you've gathered your sea legs and are ready to set sail, because this season is packed full of fan service, from Cannon Rowboats to re-burying treasure to even the simple act of sitting. But for some players, the highlight will always be the new cosmetics to earn via the Plunder Pass. The Season 5 Plunder Pass once more brings an industry-leading 100 free items for all players, plus an additional handful of exclusives for those who elect to get the paid version. Here's what to expect in the Sea of Thieves Season 5 Plunder Pass.

Sea of Thieves Plunder Pass free rewards

As always, Sea of Thieves offers a season pass that behaves totally opposite of virtually all others in the live-service gaming world. Rather than earn a few free items but needing to buy into the paid path for most of the rewards, Sea of Thieves offers 100 free items spread across cosmetics for your pirate, your ship, multiple types of in-game currency, and more.

The unorthodox season pass includes the new Bell Brigade clothing set, which comes colored in red and green for holiday festivities. Completing the look are equipment skins such as the Mistletoe fishing rod and Snowbound Ship lantern, the latter of which gives your lantern the look of a beautiful snow globe.

The Ancient Gold flag and sails can be unlocked separately and will combine to give your new vessel a touch of sunlight. For Pirate Legends, more exclusive items come in the form of Merrick's tankard, made of course from the tooth of a Megalodon, his arch-nemesis. Legends can also obtain Captain Grimm's jacket sporting colors of burgundy, gold, and jungle green.

CD Projekt has released its latest earnings results, and included amongst the numbers was some commentary around Cyberpunk 2077 and what's next for the studio.

Starting off, CD Projekt Red it remains "hard at work" on Cyberpunk 2077's new version for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S, noting that it remains on track to launch in the first quarter of 2022 (January-March). Additionally, a "major update" for Cyberpunk 2077 on all platforms will be released around this time, the Polish developer said.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt's PS5 and Xbox Series X|S edition remains in development, too. CD Projekt previously said it's on track to launch in Q2 2022 (April-June).

A Cyberpunk 2077 expansion pack is also in development, but CD Projekt did not say when it's scheduled to release. The company did, however, provide a graph that shows it continues to increase the size of the development team working on the expansion.

Company of Heroes 3 was announced earlier this year, with the reveal accompanied by a single-player pre-alpha preview. Now, developer Relic Entertainment is letting fans check out the real-time strategy game's multiplayer for the first time, with a new pre-alpha preview beginning on November 30.

The latest entry in the long-running Company of Heroes franchise brings a new take on its World War II real-time strategy, with a new turn-based strategy element added to the mix. For more on how the game's earliest public build played, check out GameSpot's hands-on with the July pre-alpha.

The upcoming pre-alpha will let fans get stuck into the game's multiplayer, testing out how the game's new features can be used against other players. Some of Company of Heroes 3's new features, like the Tactical Pause, are single-player only, so the multiplayer playtest will have some new challenges even for players who got to check out the game in July.

The Company of Heroes 3 multiplayer playtest is due to begin at 9 AM PT on November 30, with the game download available now. The playtest will be available for just under a week, finishing up at 8 PM PT on December 6. Players who participated in the July pre-alpha should already have the new pre-alpha available in their library, whereas new players will have to sign up on the Company of Heroes website.

Chansey’s name in Japanese is Rakkii (ラッキー ) or “lucky,” and that’s exactly what kids in Namie, Fukushima prefecture are. The character is getting its own playground in the city, and it looks sweet.

Read more...

Rocket League Swideswipe has now launched worldwide for both iPhones and Android devices.

This is the same football-in-cars Rocket League you know and have probably played before, but now retuned for mobile play.

Read more

UPDATE 03/12/21: Ludwig has already been banned on YouTube mere days after his high profile move from Twitch.

In a great start to his YouTube career, part way through his stream on 2nd December he received a suspension due to "policy violations" from an earlier stream in which he was watching other streamer videos and reacting to news.

Read more

Blood Bowl 3 and Vampire: The Masquerade - Swansong now have new release windows, after a further delay to both games from publisher Nacon.

In September, Nacon delayed the early access launch of murderous sports game Blood Bowl 3 indefinitely, after previously postponing plans for an August debut.

Read more

PlayStation 5 owners can at last add BBC iPlayer to their list of media apps today.

The BBC confirmed iPlayer's roll-out on PS5 this morning, just over a year after the console first launched.

Read more

Music festivals have been absent from our lives for the past couple of years. The joys of muddy fields, blocked up toilets, crowds and crowds of people, and watching some sort of music act somewhere in the distance obscured by a load of flags have all been scuppered by the pandemic.

For anyone suffering from withdrawal, there's Festival Tycoon courtesy of solo Austrian developer Driehaus, currently in early access on Steam. It's a cute little title that puts you backstage managing your own music festival, thankfully without your wellies getting sucked into a muddy hole.

Read more

343 has increased Halo Infinite's XP payout for the first six matches of each day in response to a backlash over progression.

The change goes live when Halo Infinite updates later today.

Read more

Few mice in the world are as well known as the Razer DeathAdder. Well, maybe Stuart Little, but that's not the type of mice we're discussing here today. Today, we are going to talk about the DeathAdder V2, the successor to the much beloved original and currently going for a fantastic discount.

The Razer DeathAdder V2 is currently priced at £30 on Amazon UK. That's over 57 percent off from its original price of around £70, making it superb value for money.

Read more

The new trailer follows an earlier video showcasing the Berserker

The post DNF Duel Inquisitor Gameplay Trailer Released appeared first on Siliconera.

Pheonix also comes with a magatama.

The post Preorders Open for Phoenix Wright and Miles Edgeworth Ace Attorney Nendoroids appeared first on Siliconera.

If Jeff Bezos and William Shatner can go to space, surely someone can get Hideo Kojima there, too. He would really, really like to go. While hosting a recent press screening for Last Night in Soho, the game creator once again underscored his desire to be an astronaut.

According to Oricon, while talking about dreams,…

Read more...

For many of us at Game Informer, Halo Infinite's free-to-play multiplayer is a blast that feels nostalgic and refreshingly new at the same time. However, a point of contention (one that's also been shared by the wider Halo community) is the monotonous grind of accumulating XP points. Infinite's progression system leaves a lot to be desired, and leveling tends to be a painful slog. Initially, 343 Industries implemented an update to give players longer durations for XP boosts (among other features). Today's new update goes a step further and increases XP payouts for the first six matches of each day. 

After seeing how XP was earned with those changes, we noticed that players were starting their sessions with slower payouts than we'd like. To address this, we will be increasing the XP payout for the first 6 matches of each day. An outline of this update can be found below:

Several measures will be taken to potentially prevent player congestion.

The post Square Enix Warns of Congestion Ahead of FFXIV Endwalker Release appeared first on Siliconera.

More details will arrive in the near future.

The post Possible Another Eden Chrono Cross Collaboration Teased appeared first on Siliconera.

If you haven't seen the Final Fantasy XIV 1.0 trailer, here is your chance.

The post Square Enix Re-Uploads Final Fantasy XIV 1.0 Trailer to YouTube appeared first on Siliconera.

I know, we've all got too many TV streaming subscriptions already. It's expensive and daunting. There's too much to choose from, too much to catch up on, and it oftens feels like you're paying for multiple iterations of the same thing. Juggling them is a chore, but it's increasingly something we'll have to do as we hop between new seasons of Ted Lasso and Succession.

Far be it from me to suggest yet another subscription is the answer to this modern malaise of plenty - and yet, maybe it is? BritBox, a streaming service put together by the UK's dominant TV networks, BBC and ITV, is something quite different, with limitations that feel like strengths, strong curation and a narrow, culturally specific remit. There's less choice but more flavour. It's a vibe, a nostalgic haven from the legions of polished transatlantic dramedies vying for your attention elsewhere.

Read more

Terraria: Journey's End is on its way to Nintendo Switch next year.

The final update to Re-Logic's sandbox game, this release will bring parity of content between all console versions.

Read more

Pokémon Go's fifth season has been named as the Season of Heritage, and will be themed around January's big release of Pokémon Legends: Arceus for Nintendo Switch.

Artwork for the new season was teased by Pokémon Go developer Niantic last night, ahead of the season's full details arriving later this week.

Read more

Halo Infinite’s gameplay is receiving glowing praise from critics and fans alike following its launch earlier this month, but the slow and grindy nature of its battle pass progression has been the subject of some controversy.

To its credit, 343 Industries has been quick to recognize the problem and offer XP payouts simply for playing games, rather than having to tick off daily and weekly quests. Still, though, the battle pass has proved slow going, and so today the developer has announced plans to boost daily XP.

343’s community manager, John Junyszek, has outlined a new first-six-game XP boost that the team believes will help to rectify the issue in Twitter thread. Following an update that is expected to release later today, players will earn the following XP tiers across their first six games:

• 1st Game = 300XP
• 2nd Game = 200XP
• 3rd Game = 200XP
• 4th Game = 100XP
• 5th Game = 100XP
• 6th Game = 100XP
• 7th+ Game = 50XP

Junyszek signed off by highlighting that the team is aware that many players “want even larger changes” and that the team is “committed to doing so” moving forward.

Some have pointed out in the replies that XP boosts for performance within games would be a welcome addition to the new changes, while others highlight that the descending XP bonus still incentivizes players to purchase XP boosters. It will be interesting to see how 343 further hones BP progression moving forward; keep in mind the game is still officially a beta.

Following weeks of vocal community backlash, developer 343 Industries has announced sweeping changes to Halo Infinite’s contentious battle pass. The adjustments, which go live today, make progression far friendlier, allowing you to easily rank up at least once per day.

Read more...

Angel will be a part of the KOF XV roster and SNK Character Designer Tomohiro Nakata went over how her Unchain attacks work.

The post Learn More About the Angel Unchain Attacks in KOF XV appeared first on Siliconera.

One of the three Godzilla mobile games will soon be destroyed literally.

The post Godzilla Destruction Will Shut Down in January 2022 appeared first on Siliconera.