Earlier this week, Dice announced that they were delaying Battlefield 2042's first season in order to focus on "extensive fixes to the game." One of those fixes were changes to the game's scoreboard due in late February, but today the development team announced those had slipped into early March instead.
As the original Yooka-Laylee was a throwback to Banjo Kazooie and 3D platformers of yore, so Yooka-Laylee And The Impossible Lair is a throwback to Donkey Kong Country and 2.5D platformers of the era. It's the latest game to be given away for free on the Epic Games Store.
Despite having been some considerable time ago now, Evil Within developer Tango Gameworks' Ghostwire: Tokyo has remained a bit of a hard one to pin down, with previous gameplay trailers leaving more questions than answers. Now, however, with the game finally sporting a 25th March release date on PlayStation 5 and PC, Sony has offered an extended look at its action in a new livestream showcase.
Tango Gameworks is calling Ghostwire: Tokyo a "supernatural action-adventure thriller", and its story unfolds in an eerie, haunted version of Tokyo after nearly all the city's population has mysteriously vanished. Players take on the role of Akito, a young man who awakens in a deserted Tokyo street to discover that strange elemental powers are coursing through his veins - soon revealed to be the work of a spirit known as KK who has possessed Akito's body.
Ghostwire: Tokyo has been something of a mystery since Bethesda unveiled the game in 2019, but a new gameplay deep-dive has finally shed light on how the game actually works, including its open world and combat mechanics.
Tango Gameworks, developers of The Evil Within, revealed the game is an open world set in a haunted Tokyo following "the Vanishing", a paranormal occurance where 99% of the population vanished.
The city has become overrun with spirits from Japanese mythology and the player must use a combined arsenal of supernatural powers and traditional weaponry to save it.
Ghostwire: Tokyo's open world, despite its fairly unique setting, appears to take on more traditional elements of the genre
A standard menu map allows the navigation of a Tokyo packed with main missions, side quests, and points of interest that involve defeating enemies within a certain location to clear surrounding fog.
These areas are marked by corrupted torii gates that players must cleanse in order to clear the fog, and there are several – big and small – scattered throughout Tokyo.
Another open world activity is the inclusion of strange spaces throughout the map that lean back into Tango Gameworks' horror past. The player must walk through corridors "where time and space cannot be trusted" which look to be something like a toned-down version of P.T. "The only way to complete your mission is to power through," the deep-dive narrator explains.
Activision Blizzard is currently facing serious ongoing allegations of harassment and mistreatment of marginalized workers. To learn more, please visit our timeline as well as our in-depth report on the subject.
A new year means a new Call of Duty and this year’s entry will be developed by Infinity Ward.
To maintain Call of Duty’s annual release cycle, Activision rotates development across three developers, Infinity Ward, Treyarch, and Sledgehammer, with other studios lending support.
Infinity Ward is once again up to bad having previously developed 2019’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, as well as the ongoing Call of Duty: Warzone. Infinity Ward’s official Twitter account confirmed the news by tweeting that a “new generation of Call of Duty is coming soon,” along with the words, “Stay frosty.”
A new generation of Call of Duty is coming soon.
Stay frosty.
Rumors of a Warcraft mobile game have swirled since way back in 2017, and it looks like 2022 will finally deliver. Blizzard has just confirmed that a new Warcraft mobile game will be releasing this year.
In its quarterly earnings report, Blizzard said that it is "planning substantial new content for the Warcraft franchise in 2022, including new experiences in World of Warcraft and Hearthstone, and getting all-new mobile Warcraft content into players’ hands for the first time."
Previously, Blizzard has revealed it was in fact working on multiple Warcraft mobile experiences that were in "advanced development" as of August 2021. Further official details haven't been shared, including genre or exactly what element of the Warcraft universe this will cover, though it's possible one of the games on deck is a rumored Pokemon GO-styled AR game.
If a Warcraft mobile game makes it out this year, it won't be the only mobile game from Blizzard, as Diablo: Immortal is currently planned for release as well in the first half of 2022.
Today, Tango Gameworks and Bethesda gave fans an exclusive look at what they can expect from Ghostwire: Tokyo’s gameplay, revealing a deep dive showcase that highlights all of the explosive supernatural elements of the game.
Using a technique known as Ethereal Weaving, players will explore an eerie version of Tokyo they’ve never seen before, defeating monsters, known as the Visitors, along the way. Combat revolves around everything from spirit finger guns to supernatural bows and arrows, all of which you’ll need to survive while exploring Tokyo’s ultra-modern cityscape.
That cityscape is set to include plenty of landmarks and secrets to uncover, including charming side stories that prompt players to rescue spirits and meet unexpected purry friends for some serious rewards. You can find out a bit more about the action in the video and screenshots below.
Today we have plenty of news about Microsoft Flight Simulator, both on the first-party and third-party fronts.
We learn from the official development update that the release date for Sim Update 8 has been changed from the previously scheduled February 22 to March 1.
The much-awaited Antonov An-2 by AT Simulations will also be released on the same day directly under Microsoft’s banner.
The update also revealed that the Bücker Bü 131 Jungmann by Lionheart Creations has been released on the official marketplace for $24.99.
The aircraft is scheduled to launch on other storefronts as well, like Just Flight, Simmarket, Aerosoft, and more, but it’s not available there yet.
Update: it appears that at the moment of this writing, the marketplace update has not gone live yet. If you can’t find the Jungmann, hold fast, as it should appear later today.
We also get a single new screenshot of the DHC-2 Beaver by MilViz, showcasing the seaplane variant.
Today Activision announced its financial results for the fourth quarter of the calendar year 2021, related to the period between October 1 and December 31.
You can see a summary of the relevant figures below.
The press release comes with the traditional statement by Activision Blizzard chief executive officer Bobby Kotick, who focused mostly on the upcoming acquisition by Microsoft.
“I’m so incredibly proud of our teams for their commitment and passion as we continued to engage the world through epic entertainment in 2021.
The 25th Annual DICE Awards are taking place later this month, and the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences has announced head of Xbox, Phil Spencer will receive the prestigious AIAS Lifetime Achievement Award.
Presenting the award to Spencer will be industry luminary, and fellow Microsoft alumn Todd Howard, who was welcomed into the company through the acquisition of Bethesda Game Studios and its parent company ZeniMax Media, led by Spencer in 2019. In the announcement of the award recipient, the AIAS gave a summary of Phil's history in the game industry including the new role of Microsoft Gaming CEO and the many studios he's brought into the Xbox family.
Since its surprise launch last month, Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel has taken the world by storm. The free-to-play title based on the popular children’s card game trading card game has rocketed towards the top of Steam charts and Twitch streams, though a mobile release was the last big missing piece of its (millennium) puzzle. Switch has been the only option for playing on the go, but that changes today with the game’s launch on iOS and Android.
Although Master Duel became available on mobile a week ago in other countries, today marks its debut in North American territories. That means you can get Ash Blossom’d and stare down Eldlich the Golden Lord anywhere an internet connection allows. If you’re new to Master Duel, it’s basically a premium version of the traditional trading card game. Unlike Duel Links, Master Duel uses Master Rule 5 AKA the standard ruleset of the real-life game. Master Duel also supports cross-play and cross-progression, with Season 2 of ranked duels kicking off earlier this week.
Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duels is also available on PlayStation and Xbox consoles, Switch, and PC. For more on the game, check out this opinion piece on how playing its ranked matches can be a good way of learning to put yourself out there.
Today, Tango Gameworks provided the first extended look at Ghostwire: Tokyo's moment-to-moment gameplay and the other activities players can get into throughout its haunted Tokyo. A pair of videos provides a walkthrough of the game's action, while a developer interview reveals the team's design process.
We already knew that the game’s story is set after Tokyo’s population disappears thanks to the arrival of dangerous Yokai, or spirits. You play as a lone survivor, Akito, who awakens possessed by a spirit named KK who imbues you with elemental powers. This power is called Ethereal Weaving, and let you channel the elements of fire, wind, and water. Executing these moves resembles a blend of Doctor Strange’s spellcasting and Avatar: The Last Airbender’s bending thanks to its flashy, elaborate hand gestures. Physical weapons complement your spells such as a bow and various talismans, and you can stealth attack enemies instead of blasting them head-on.
Among other features, the first video shows off Akito tango ability, which lets him fire a spirit tether to grapple and ascend buildings. We also got a look at corrupted, fog-covered areas players must clear out and surreal shape-shifting areas that evoke the psychological horror of Tango Gamework’s previous series, The Evil Within.
Click here to watch embedded media
Bungie dropped a bombshell in today’s blog post, and it had nothing to do with being bought by Sony. The studio revealed some more major changes coming to Destiny 2 with the launch of the long anticipated Witch Queen expansion later this month. While the game’s crating system was the big topic of discussion, Bungie…
Star Citizen, a game that has been in development for over a decade and has raised over $400 million in funding, is nowhere near being done. Not even close. And as work continues on the game, recent changes to the way the studio communicates its progress with fans have not exactly been helping matters.
I become more interested in supernatural, open world, first-person magic 'em up Ghostwire: Tokyo with every new thing I see of it. Today, Tango Gameworks broadcast a 20 minute-long showcase and developer interview that had enough stealth, grapple hooks, and paranormal finger-guns to convince me completely. You can watch the full thing below.
Blizzard Entertainment's long-running Warcraft franchise will be making its way to mobile later this year, according to a newly released quarterly earnings report from Activision.
As things currently stand, there's not a lot of information to go on, with Activision only saying Blizzard is "planning substantial new content for the Warcraft franchise in 2022" that will see it deliver "all-new mobile Warcraft content into players' hands for the first time". The project is highlighted separately from World of Warcraft and Hearthstone, both of which will also be getting "new experiences" this year, according to Activision.
One of the biggest changes to the Xbox business in the past five years has been the introduction of the Xbox Game Pass. Microsoft Games CEO Phil Spencer has been its biggest champion, and according to a new profile, a major reason why Microsoft took a chance on the experimental gaming service in the first place.
In a profile by the Wall Street Journal, Xbox Game Pass — a service where for a monthly fee players can download and play from a library of games, including Xbox first-party titles — was born from Microsoft’s success with its cloud service business. But it was never a guarantee Microsoft would go through with the proposal.
“In meetings, Mr. Spencer’s staff would present arguments for why Game Pass Wouldn’t work — publishers wouldn’t participate, or it would eat into profits,” says former Xbox veteran Richard Irving.
“‘[Phil Spencer] wouldn’t take no for an answer,’” Irving added, saying Spencer was at the center of pushing forward with Xbox Game Pass. “He was always trying to find a way to make it work.”
While Xbox Game Pass has been touted as a success with around 25 million subscribers. There are reports that PlayStation is working on a similar service codenamed Project Spartacus.
While most folks are still chewing their way through the hours of adventure available in Pokemon Legends: Arceus, if you're close to wrapping up the main story, you might be wondering whether DLC will be on the table. Though there's no official word yet, Legends: Arceus fortunately leaves open quite a few possibilities for where a potential DLC could go.
Warning: Minor spoilers for story and locations in Pokemon Legends: Arceus (or, rather, locations not in Legends: Arceus) follow.
Pokemon Legends: Arceus does a fairly good job of canvassing the breadth of "vast Hisui," but there are a handful of key locations that appear in Diamond and Pearl that we never actually get to visit in its past-tense Hisui that could be ripe for some kind of DLC area down the line, big or small.
On the main continent itself, two that spring immediately to mind are Eterna Forest and Canalave City. Though it seems like we visit the forest in the Obsidian Fieldlands, Eterna Forest is located to the north of Jubilife in Diamond and Pearl, while the Heartwood is far to the south in an area we don't really visit in Diamond and Pearl. Canalave is actually in a similar boat, as it's located to the west of Jubilife in an area that appears covered by ocean on the Hisui map. Both of these are relatively small spots though, so they're less interesting DLC fodder than other possibilities.
A new Halo Infinite patch appears to have finally fixed its Big Team Battle mode's matchmaking issues, which have persisted since early December.
In a tweet posted earlier today, the official Halo Infinite Twitter account confirmed the improvements to matchmaking in Big Team Battle. Players are being asked to close and relaunch Halo Infinite to install the patch.
In addition to the problems with Big Team Battle, the new patch also resolved known campaign issues while also making balanced changes. A few of the most notable changes can be found here:
Having made a splash at the box office with its latest cinematic outing, it seems that 2022 will not be the last time we will see the Ghostface killer. As reported by The Hollywood Reporter, Paramount Pictures and Spyglass Entertainment have greenlit a sixth installment of the Scream franchise, and the sequel will once again be led at the helm by the creative team behind the latest effort.
This will see the return of both Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett to direct, while James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick will be responsible for the script. Production has been slated to start this summer.
In a joint statement, Spyglass and Paramount shared that “we are tremendously grateful to the fans around the world who enthusiastically received our film. We can’t wait for audiences to see what Radio Silence, writers Jamie & Guy and Project X have in store for our Woodsboro family.”
Epic Games’ battle royale title Fortnite is certainly no stranger to crossovers, bridging the gap between video games and all forms of entertainment mediums. Following the arrival of Arcane’s Vi and Jinx, the stage is set for yet another interesting collaboration. This time around, Fortnite will be welcoming Grammy-nominated R&B duo Silk Sonic, made up of Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak, to the Icon Series.
Players will get access to the pair starting on Thursday, February 10, a 7 PM ET, with accessories and Outfits available in the Item Shop.
It was only earlier this week that we were reporting that Battlefield 2042's first major content updates won’t be out for months. Now the smaller updates are being pushed back as well.
Wojtek Ostrycharz is currently art director on development of The Invincible, a retro sci-fi thriller based on a Stanisław Lem novel that’s coming to Steam later this year.
If you just cannot get enough of Spider-Man and his side of the tracks, then you are in luck. One of the many spinoffs for the webhead includes one for Madame Web, and as The Hollywood Reporter shares, Dakota Johnson is in talks to take on the role of the title character.
Leading the movie will be director S.J. Clarkson, with Sony looking to expand its catalog of films starring characters from Marvel. Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless, who created the script for Morbius, will be doing the same for Madame Web.
While a few game publishers here and there are starting to shy away from the crypto and NFT space, it looks like GameStop is ready to dive headfirst into the wild world of NFTs. Rumors of a new NFT marketplace from the brick and mortar game store chain had been swirling around for months since there was speculation of GameStop making use of the Loopring protocol and its layer-2 solutions (which help alleviate Ethereum gas fees and energy usage) to launch the project.
Things are starting to move along, as GameStop has officially announced their partnership with Immutable X, a blockchain platform that’s known for hosting other popular gaming projects such as Gods Unchained, an online trading card game that allows you to battle with other players and sell your cards as NFTs. Immutable X also made sure to state that building projects on their platform would allow for more efficient and carbon neutral transactions.
According to a report from Business Insider, GameStop has also committed to a $100 million fund to support game developers and studios that will partner with them.
The post GameStop Announces Partnership With Immutable X to Launch New NFT Marketplace appeared first on Twinfinite.
Video games can be hard at times. They require accuracy, attentiveness, dexterity, and above all, patience. So playing on Normal isn’t always an option, especially if you’re rusty in a particular genre or have a disability that impedes your gameplay. Dying Light 2, the sequel to Techland’s 2015 predecessor, is already…
Remember when Nintendo had hilarious, quirky commercials back in the day? The latest commercial for Pokemon Legends: Arceus embraces the quirkiness by parodying the show Antiques Roadshow to show that the latest game is “Pokemon, but not as you know it”
The commercial shows a man asking for an appraisal on in a strange item he found in his parents’ attic. It appears to be an ancient Poke Ball from Pokemon Legends: Arceus’s Hisui region, but neither party recognizes it. When they open the ball to get a closer look, a giant Basculegion pops out and wreaks havoc in the room.
The Basculegion here is a giant plush toy, so watching it flop around the room wrecking everything in sight is pretty funny to watch, especially when the man asks if that makes his relic worth more money.
The commercial is an awesome throwback to the bizarre gaming commercials of the past, which is the perfect advertising for Pokemon Legends: Arceus because the game takes place in the Sinnoh region’s ancient past. The rest of the commercial shows bits and pieces of gameplay that demonstrate how this new Pokemon game is unlike anything fans have played in the series before.
Basculegion is also a fantastic Pokemon to use for this advertisement because it’s one of the rideable Pokemon in the new game that allows the player to travel across deep water surfaces. It’s also a brand new Pokemon that is introduced in this game.
You’ve got to check out the commercial, so you can view it below.
Pokemon Legends: Arceus is out now for the Nintendo Swtitch.
Pokemon Legends: Arceus has been released just a week, but apparently it has already sold a whole lot of copies.
To be more precise, Nintendo announced via Twitter that the game has already sold 6.5 million copies worldwide, which is certainly a flattering number.
You can check out the announcement below.
Today Square Enix has revealed a new batch of Bring Arts action figures portraying the protagonists of the popular turn-based JRPG Final Fantasy Tactics.
At the Square Enix Store, you can find Ramza Beoulve, Delita Hyral, and Agrias Oaks. All are available for pre-order at 9,680 yen, which translates approximately into $84.
You can also find all three figures at AmiAmi for 8,170 yen, which translates into approximately $71.
They all come with a base, weapons, and alternate hands. They’re relatively small, measuring 142 mm in height.
Ramza will release on July 2, 2022, followed by Agrias on August 6, and lastly Delita on September 3.
Like all Bring Arts figures, these are fully poseable, so you can recreate your favorite scene for the beloved game.
Below you can check out what they look like in a gallery of images.
Today Square Enix had a surprise announcement in store for those who love games by Yoko Taro, Voice of Cards: The Forsaken Maiden.
The game will release for PS4, Nintendo Switch, and PC via Steam on February 17. Yes, that’s just two weeks from now.
The new release also comes only four months after the first game of what’s apparently a series, Voice Of Cards: The Isle Dragon Roars.
The staff behind the game is the same, with Yoto Taro (whom you likely know for the NieR and Drakengard series) as creative director, his long-time buddy Yosuke Saito as executive producer, Keiichi Okabe providing his gorgeous music, and Kimihiko Fujisaka of The Last Story and Drakengard fame at the character design.
With the announcement, we got a new trailer providing a few hints at the story and a look at the characters.
Square Enix also provided a brief description for Voice of Cards: The Forsaken Maiden:
Today Square Enix announced its financial results for the first nine months of the fiscal year, from April to December 2021.
Below you can find the relevant figures, with net sales for the whole company grew by 7.9% year-on-year and operating income grew by 22.2％.
The Digital Entertainment business, which includes video games, had its net sales grow by 4% year-on-year, while operating income grew by 17.1% year-on-year.
This is rather remarkable considering that by the mid-point of the fiscal year, both the whole company and the digital entertainment segment had sales and operating income dropping year-on-year.
Basically, the third quarter on its own made up for the difference and then some.
Activision has confirmed Infinity Ward is leading development of this year's new Call of Duty game as well as new Warzone offerings while announcing declining interest in the shooter series on PC and console.
Call of Duty net bookings (sales) on console and PC declined year-over-year in the fourth quarter of Activision Blizzard's financial year, which ended on 31st December.
When you become a game designer, you are handed a big book of antagonists to use as guilt-free bullet fodder. First among them is the reliable, stinky zombie. (Also found in this repertoire are Nazis and Slimes. They are beyond the scope of this listicle.) The zombie is a preternaturally killable being. It has already experienced mortality once, so this creature more than anyone is ready to suffer the ignominy of death. It has practice, it knows what's coming. Being a zombie is like having two degrees. You're extra qualified, and you probably groan a lot.
Here's a list of the best zombies in PC games.
Nintendo announced that sales for Pokemon Legends: Arceus surpassed 6.5 million units within a week of the game's release on January 28, 2022. The company did not specify whether this number combined physical and digital sales. However, the announcement tweet confirmed that this figure came from worldwide sales.
This sales figures came not long after Famitsu reported that Pokemon Legends: Arceus sold 1,424,657 physical copies in Japan from January 28-30, 2022. The Japanese outlet also confirmed that the new game outsold prior Pokemon releases on the Switch during the same length of time.
With this announcement, Pokemon Legends: Arceus has set new launch sales records for Pokemon games on the Nintendo Switch. The single-version title sold better than the prior mainline games and remakes that released with two versions. For the record, both Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl and Sword and Shield sold over 6 million units worldwide during their respective launch weeks in 2021 and 2019.
Square Enix opened pre-orders for Bring Arts figures of Agrias, Delita, and Ramza from Final Fantasy Tactics. Each figure will come with the character's weapon of choice. Pre-orders are open on the Japanese Square Enix e-store. The figures will cost ¥9,680 (about $84) each, and they'll release between July and September 2022.
The Final Fantasy Tactics figures are fully poseable, and each one comes with its own figure stand. Ramza is wearing his squire uniform, while Agrias and Delita are wearing their individual armor sets. The Ramza figure is expected to ship on July 2, 2022, Agrias on August 6, 2022, and Delita on September 3, 2022.
The three figures will have a range of different hand parts and their signature weapons. Both Agrias and Delita will come with a broadsword, and Ramza will come with his rapier. Additionally, Delita will come with a separate scabbard for his sword.
You can get a better look at each figure in the screenshots below:
[gallery columns="5" link="file" ids="915022,915024,915025,915026,915027,915028,915029,915030,915031,915032"]
Dying Light 2 is out and hoo boy, is it a tough nut to crack. Not in the hours to completion sense, or even difficulty in general – Matthew’s review found a rather unthreatening strain of undead – but in how tricky it is to get running smoothly on PC. That goes double if you want to dolly up this post-apocalypse with some shiny ray tracing features, so even if you’ve got a rig that can breeze through most games, I’d recommend reading on for a guide to Dying Light 2’s best settings.
There is a very high chance that Mike Booth's fingerprints are on one of your favourite games. He's one of the original founders of Turtle Rock Studios and creator of Left 4 Dead. At Valve, he worked on CS:GO and Team Fortress 2. Westwood Studio's classic RPG Nox? That's Booth as well. After a stint working on VR games for Facebook, he's currently the chief creative officer at Bad Robot Games, the game-centric offshoot of J.J. Abrams' Bad Robot film and TV production company. But, not content with having one job at a time, Booth has also been working at Resolution Games on the VR tabletop RPG Demeo.
A streamlined, high production values version of Dungeons & Dragons, Demeo won a lot of "best of" accolades in VR game round-ups. But soon it's coming to regular ol' PCs, with early access starting on April 7th. I spoke to Booth about Demeo, but also the future of co-op games. He had quite a lot to say.
Satya Nadella has downplayed the likelihood of Microsoft's enormous $69bn Activision Blizzard buyout being blocked by the US Federal Trade Commission.
In an interview with the Financial Times, Nadella said the deal should be viewed in the context of the video games industry market - where Microsoft is not top dog.
Dicebreaker Recommends is a series of monthly board game, RPG and other tabletop recommendations from our friends at our sibling site, Dicebreaker.
When I was younger, my parents used to invite my brother and me to bet on the Grand National - a renowned British horse race - with 20p being the maximum amount we could put into the pot. Despite the minuscule amount of money at stake, and the fact that I now find races like the Grand National to be rather cruel, it was impossible not to feel a certain rush whenever I handed over my 20 pence piece in hopes that Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, or whichever oddly named nag I'd chosen, would help me win big. I still experience this exact same feeling whenever I play Camel Up: Second Edition.
New figures released by Activision Blizzard show another decline in its monthly active user numbers. In contrast, Square Enix has seen its numbers rise.
Across each division under the Activision Blizzard umbrella, there has been a fall in players. In December 2021, Activation saw its player count fall from 119m to 107m, while Blizzard's numbers went from 26m to 24m. This follows a previous trend that saw the developer's MAUs fall by 13 percent in November 2021.