November 2022

Modern Warfare 2's full release is just around the corner, and ahead of this developer Infinity Ward is keen to clear some things up - notably that, despite some similarities in missions, the game is not running a "commentary" on the world's current events.

"It's an entertainment adventure," Call of Duty narrative director Brian Bloom explained recently (via PCGamesN). "And as far as real people and real places doing real things, you know, these are not based on actual events."

Bloom went on to state the team is, however, inspired by real-world events. "We want you to feel like when you play the game, it's happening in the world that you live in, and our heroes are here to do things that put the world back the way it was, in the way we left it, to restore it," he continued.

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Amazon has confirmed the next games that will be free for Prime members in November.

Fallout: New Vegas Ultimate Edition, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Facility 47, WRC 9, Etherborn, Whispering Willows and Last Day of June complete the line-up.

Also included this month is exclusive content for online games including GTA Online, FIFA 23, and Apex Legends.

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Leaked images appear to confirm the rumour that real-life footballers will be making their way to Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2.

In a crossover that nobody asked for, the screenshots (spotted on Resetera) show Brazilian forward Neymar and French midfielder Pogba wearing military attire and posing like they've just hit a 24 killstreak.

Rumours of footballers featuring in Modern Warfare 2 first emerged earlier this month when dataminer The Ghost Of Hope released a list of unreleased Operators that will make their way to the game.

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With Apex Legends' 15th season, Eclipse, mere days away now, developer Respawn is finally ready to discuss Catalyst, the free-to-play battle royale game's newest hero, in more detail, breaking down the abilities she'll bring to the latest round of the Apex Games.

Speaking at a recent press briefing, Respawn explained the starting point for Catalyst's aesthetic was "techno witch", with her final design aiming to represent both stylishness - in her emo goth vibes - and technological practicality. She is, after all, a member of a terraforming crew hired to help restore the moon of Cleo - which, as Season 15 begins, has been turned in an Apex Games arena, something Catalyst won't stand for.

Described as an "elegant and standoffish woman who likes crystals more than she likes people", Catalyst is Apex Legends' first trans character - voiced by trans actor Meli Grant - and, as Respawn succinctly puts it, simply reflects the fact the "real world is a diverse place".

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The village of Gravoi, somewhere on the island of Sardinia, is a cluttering of cobbled alleyways, concentric stairways, and shaded nooks where a wheezing tourist might take refuge from the heat. In the boiling sun, overlooking the tinselled Mediterranean Sea, it's the ideal backdrop for an Instagram shoot: billowing dresses, floppy straw hats, leggy prawns splayed across a white porcelain plate. At night, however, Gravoi provides the blueprint and backdrop for a nightmare. Its architectural swirl of dead ends, religious shrines, and silhouetted iron gratings describe a hellish, claustrophobic warren. It's this latter reality in which Saturnalia, a survival horror game set in a shifting village, is principally set. Described by its makers as a "procedural death labyrinth", it is a place of horrors both physical and psychological into which the game's four protagonists are inexorably drawn.

Earlier this year, it was revealed that PlayStation's London Studio, which is best known for its work on Singstar and Blood and Truth, was working on a new online game for the PlayStation 5.

Now, we have more details on what this elusive game actually is - and what it is, is an online co-op combat game that is set in a fantasy version of London.

Speaking via the SIE Blog, co-studio heads Stuart Whyte and Tara Saunders shared more details about this currently unnamed game, which they call the team's "most ambitious project to date".

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Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 players have been advised against changing their console's region in order to gain early access to the game.

The "New Zealand" trick, which lets players trick their consoles into letting them access a game that doesn't release until midnight in their own region, has been a staple of game releases for many years.

But Infinity Ward has issued a statement warning players may experience "connectivity issues" and "may be locked out of the game" until the game is officially released in their region.

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Warner Bros. Montréal has released a PC patch for Gotham Knights addressing some of the game's current issues, with the next console update coming towards the end of the week.

Since its launch, Gotham Knights has faced a series of issues, with frame-rate drops, stutters, and frame-rate time fluctuations being reported across the board.

"We are aware that players on both PC and console have been experiencing performance challenges," the developer admitted earlier today, with an accompanying thread offering an overview of the game's upcoming fixes.

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Infinity Ward has shared a list of changes to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2's multiplayer ahead of tomorrow's release. The changes were made in response to feedback from the beta.

The biggest change is the addition of diamond icons above enemy heads to increase visibility.

In the beta, there was no indicator to differentiate between friendly and enemy players. This was traditionally achieved through name tags in previous games, but Infinity Ward took the design decision to remove them, seemingly to add to realism. Players didn't take kindly to the change and called for the return of name tags. Diamond icons are therefore a compromise between good enemy visibility and realism.

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Developer Unknown Worlds has removed the loot box system from Moobreaker, its new turn-based, digital tabletop strategy game.

In a post detailing the game's new content update, which is known as "Zax's Story", the team explained: "We've been reading and evaluating everything you've suggested on our Discord and Nolt board... and have been diligently reviewing every area of the game.

"Based on your ongoing feedback, we are realigning to make Moonbreaker better reflect our Early Access goals."

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It doesn't seem like Faith: The Unholy Trinity should be able to do this, to scare us, because it looks like something I played decades ago on a BBC Micro. It's got squiggly MS Paint lines for graphics, there are maybe two frames of animation, the sound garbles anything it plays, and you can even hear system beeps. And yet, somehow, Faith manages it - manages to be unsettling, manages to make me jump, manages to scare me. Had I played this as a kid, I would never have slept again.

The theme is exorcism, and Faith begins with you, a priest, driving along a road and parking by a forest, then getting out and walking into the trees. You're going to finish what you started, with or without the Vatican's permission, you're told, and that's really all you know. Faith is a game that doesn't tell you much because working out what you're doing is part of it.

Mechanically, though, you can't do much: you can walk around and hold up a cross. And holding up the cross near certain objects seems to exorcise souls from them, and doing so produces a note. And notes are important. They are what fill in the story around you, detailing who you are, what you're doing, what you're looking for and why. And they'll give you clues about what you'll find when you get there, too, the answer to that one nearly always being "demons".

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Author George R. R. Martin has admitted he hasn't played Elden Ring, despite providing backstory to FromSoftware's game.

That's not only because he's too busy writing his next book, but because he gets easily addicted to games.

"I have not played it, because people seem to want this Winds of Winter book," said Martin on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (spotted by GamesRadar).

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Striking Distance and publisher Krafton have announced the Japanese version of upcoming space-horror The Callisto Protocol has been cancelled.

This is due to the game's violent content, which means it was unable to secure an age rating with the CERO (Japan's equivalent of PEGI in Europe and the ESRB in North America).

The developer has stated those who pre-ordered this version of the game will receive a full refund for their purchase.

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Physical copies of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 contain a disc with just 72.23MB of data inside.

Players who received a copy slightly earlier than tomorrow's official multiplayer release are reporting that the disc contains almost no data and is accompanied by a hefty data download.

The latest pre-release update balloons the game to a massive 150GB, which does not yet include Warzone 2.0.

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Sales of Team Ninja's Nioh series have now surpassed 7m worldwide.

That's between both the first Nioh, released in 2017, and Nioh 2 released in March 2020.

Team Ninja shared the news in a celebratory Twitter post.

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In something of an inspired move, this year's Call of Duty is enjoying a staggered release, with the campaign being made available to all those who've pre-ordered Modern Warfare 2 a week ahead of the full release on 28th October. And as campaigns go it's possibly as big and bold as Call of Duty - a series that's not exactly renowned for being reserved - gets. Is it any good, though? We've played through it all and here are our thoughts...

Martin: So first of all, before we get to the campaign itself - I'm a fan of the split release. I love a good Call of Duty campaign but in recent years I've found myself skipping them in favour of the real meat that's the multiplayer modes. In fact, I can't remember the last time I finished a Call of Duty campaign - maybe Infinite Warfare? They can sometimes feel like afterthoughts and it's easy to pick them up for a couple of hours then put them down and forget about them. At least this way the campaign's getting its moment in the sun, and fittingly it feels like the biggest, boldest Call of Duty campaign there's been in an age. Now whether it's a good campaign or not is another question...

Wes: I think it's good! But I don't think it's brilliant. It's a weird mishmash of different gameplay types, some clearly inspired by other games but not quite as good as them. Take for example the car chase level. You're jumping from car to car, leaning out and shooting and blowing stuff up as you do in Call of Duty, but it's not as good as Uncharted's famous car chase stuff.

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BioWare has revealed Dragon Age: Dreadwolf - the latest instalment in its fantasy role-playing series - has now reached the alpha stage of development and is playable "to the very end".

That news was shared in a new developer blog post celebrating the alpha milestone. "Up to this point, we've been working hard on the various parts of the game, but it's not until the alpha milestone that a game all comes together," the developer explained.

"Now, for the first time, we can experience the entire game, from the opening scenes of the first mission to the very end," it continued. "We can see, hear, feel, and play everything as a cohesive experience."

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Microsoft's head of gaming Phil Spencer has discussed possible price increases across the Xbox line, acknowledging that while the company has so far maintained prices for its consoles, Game Pass, and games, it will "at some point...have to raise the price on certain things".

Speaking at the Wall Street Journal's Tech Live (thanks The Verge), Spencer admitted, "We've held price on our console, we've held price on games and our subscription. I don't think we'll be able to do that forever... I do think at some point we'll have to raise some prices on certain things, but going into this holiday we thought it was important to maintain the prices."

Earlier this year, of course, Sony announced it would be increasing the cost of PlayStation 5 in response to "high global inflation rates, as well as adverse currency trends". At the time, Spencer said Xbox would not be following suit, explaining, "When our customers are more economically challenged and uncertain than ever, we don't think it's the right move." Given Spencer's latest comments, though, it's unclear how long that might last.

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We've spoken at length to Glen Schofield about it and seen impressive gameplay demos of it, but now we've finally been able to play The Callisto Protocol - one of the biggest games of what's left of 2022, and certainly its goriest.

A recent hands-on demo treated us to 90 minutes of action, and subjected us to so many ways for protagonist Jacob Lee to succumb to the biophage enemy you're up against. There's a lot to unpack, so Ian and Zoe - with the assistance of lovely producer Richard Smith - have pieced together this video with six things you need to know about The Callisto Protocol.

It's not really too long until you'll get to sample The Callisto Protocol for yourself, as it's coming to PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One and Series S/X and PC on December 2. Which is terrifyingly soon.

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Co-founders Sefton Hill and Jamie Walker are leaving Rocksteady, the studio behind the Batman Arkham games and the upcoming Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.

In a statement announcing their departure on the Rocksteady website, Warner Bros. Games' David Haddad praised the duo's work, complimenting their commitment to "the highest quality and excellence across all facets of game development".

He continued: "With Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League nearly finished, they have both decided to leave Rocksteady at the end of 2022 and will begin a new adventure in gaming. We have the utmost respect and gratitude for Jamie and Sefton and wish them all the best in their new endeavour, and like many fans, we look forward to what they do next."

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Genshin Impact developer HoYoverse has suffered a massive data breach.

Over the weekend, huge batches of information were shared online that revealed details of new characters, quests, and events from version 3.3 until 3.8.

HoYoverse has DMCA striked posts containing information from the data breach, although any future updates are of course subject to change.

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The hype is very real for Like a Dragon (formerly Yakuza) fans right now.

A long-awaited remake of Like a Dragon: Ishin! will release on 21st February 2023, which will be followed by Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name later in the year. In 2024, the maineline series will continue with Like a Dragon 8, and sees the return of protagonists Kazuma Kiryu and Kasuga Ichiban.

Ahead of the busy schedule for Like a Dragon, director and executive producer at developer Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio Masayoshi Yokoyama has spoken more about the increased recognition of Like a Dragon overseas, the upcoming games, and the possibility of the series on Nintendo Switch.

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God of War Ragnarök is less than a month away from its highly-anticipated release. However, its photo mode will not be present at launch.

Rather, it will be coming after the fact, much like it did with 2018's God of War.

Sony Santa Monica confirmed this news in a tweet, stating it will share more details on Ragnarök's photo mode further down the line.

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CD Projekt Red has announced a full remake of the first Witcher game is in production.

Earlier this month, the developer unveiled its forthcoming plans, including a Witcher project called Canis Majoris by a third-party.

Turns out that's a remake of the first Witcher game, developed by Fool's Theory with supervision by CD Projekt Red.

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Last week saw the release of two new games that do not support 60 frames per second gaming on PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series consoles, Gotham Knights and A Plague Tale: Requiem. Many would argue that one of the greatest wins from the new wave of consoles has been that the majority of titles support 60fps - or even 120fps - representing a game-changing improvement over the last-gen standard 30fps. The question is why this brace of titles do not support this option and whether it signifies the beginning of the end of 60fps as a standard for console gaming.

It's a tricky question to answer, but ultimately, I feel it is inevitable that the proliferation of 60fps support will slack off significantly - not least because so many titles are looking to tap into the full array of features offered by Epic's Unreal Engine 5, which sets the stage for a new 3D rendering paradigm. We've already had our first taste of the kind of fidelity UE5 offers thanks to last year's phenomenal demo - The Matrix Awakens - based on an early rendition of the engine's features. Lumen, tapping into hardware-accelerated ray tracing features, delivers an astonishingly realistic lighting solution, while Nanite offers a level of geometric detail in excess of traditional rendering.

It's quite unlike anything we've seen before, but the point is that the demo runs at an inconsistent 30fps during gameplay, while cutscenes are actually operating at a literally cinematic 24fps. Both CPU and GPU are put through the wringer here, so simply scaling down resolution to improve frame-rate will not help much.

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Sega has released an official comic as a prologue to the forthcoming Sonic Frontiers.

Called Sonic Frontiers Prologue: Convergence, it gives a little insight into the events leading up to the start of the game as Sonic and friends travel to the Starfall Islands in search of the chaos emeralds.

Part one of the comic was released on Twitter last week; now the second part has been published.

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Apple has confirmed the iPhone will be getting that USB-C cable port, in accordance with the European Commission's upcoming mandate.

By autumn 2024, all portable electronic devices sold in the EU will need to use USB Type-C for charging. The aim is to reduce electronic waste and be more consumer friendly by having just one "common charger".

Now the powers that be at Apple have confirmed the company will release an iPhone with this charging port - even though it is not very happy about it all.

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Capcom has released its quarterly earnings, and shared some impressive figures for its Monster Hunter series.

As of 30th September, Monster Hunter Rise has topped 11m sales. That is an increase of 1m since July.

Meanwhile, its expansion title Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak has topped 4.4m sales cumulatively.

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As part of the celebrations for Fallout's 25th anniversary, Bethesda has been uploading retrospectives on the history of the series.

The latest video discusses Fallout: New Vegas, and Todd Howard, executive producer at Bethesda and one of its most public figures, revealed the game was initially conceived as an expansion for Fallout 3.

Howard said following the success of Fallout 3, there was a "push" internally to ride the momentum the game had created. The decision was made to add a "big" expansion pack to the game.

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Valve has launched a new regional pricing recommendation system for Steam, but it could lead to higher prices in certain countries.

The new pricing tool suggests prices across the 39 currencies supported by Steam to simplify the process for developers, though these are just recommendations.

"We think it's a helpful guide, but with purchasing power and foreign exchange rates constantly evolving, we needed to make significant changes to those conversion recommendations to stay current," said Valve in its announcement.

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Spry Fox, the developer of games like Cozy Grove and Alphabears, is joining Netflix games to become the company’s sixth in-house game studio. The news was announced through a blog post on the Spry Fox website, which also answers some questions about the future of the studio.

Spry Fox says the partnership will not change any of their upcoming plans, meaning that Cozy Grove 2 and their unnamed non-violent MMO will still be developed as planned. Instead, Netflix will provide them with financial support, which Spry Fox says will allow them to “stop stressing” about how their games will generate profit. Despite all of Netflix’s current games existing through their mobile app, the blog post does not mention anything about platform exclusivity.

Spry Fox joins five other in-house game developers at Netflix: Next Games (Stranger Things: Puzzle Tales), Night School Studio (Oxenfree), Boss Fight Entertainment (Dungeon Boss), and two internal studios in Helsinki, Finland and southern California.

Netflix launched its games collection just over a year ago, in November of 2021. Currently, subscribers can play over 30 games on their mobile app, including Into the Breach, Spiritfarer, and Poinpy. On top of that, Netflix has over 50 more games in development. Have you had a chance to play any games on the Netflix app? Let us know in the comments.

It’s spooky season!!! For those who enjoy being scared, we invite you to enter this sweepstakes for your chance at MADiSON: Possessed Editon, and to help with the goosebump-inducing audio, an H6PRO Gaming Headset.

When Electronic Arts' Motive Studios announced its Iron Man game in September, we learned it would be the first of a multi-game deal between the publisher and Marvel. That was a vaguely defined arrangement at the time, but we now know the partnership will produce a minimum of three titles.

EA announced the news in a press release, with the publisher describing it as a “long-term” deal that could extend beyond three games based on the wording. The release also specifies these titles will be action-adventure games for consoles and PC, each featuring original stories in the Marvel universe. 

It's worth clarifying that EA is not getting exclusive rights to Marvel like it had with Star Wars. There are multiple Marvel games in the works at various studios, including the recently announced Captain America/Black Panther game from Amy Hennig’s Skydance New Media. 

Xbox head and Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer has revealed that assuming the company's in-progress acquisition of Activision Blizzard goes through, the Call of Duty franchise will remain on PlayStation as long as there is a PlayStation platform for the series to release to. 

This news comes by way of a new interview between Spencer and the Same Brain YouTube channel, where Spencer said Activision Blizzard would keep releasing Call of Duty games on Sony consoles "as long as there's a PlayStation out there to ship to," as reported by Eurogamer. 

"We're not taking Call of Duty from PlayStation," Spencer said. "That's not our intent. Our intent is not to do that. As long as there's a PlayStation out there to ship to, our intent is that we continue to ship Call of Duty on PlayStation, similar to what we've done on Minecraft since we've owned that. We've expanded the places people can play Minecraft, we haven't reduced the places, and it's been good...for the Minecraft community, in my opinion, and I want to do the same as we think about where Call of Duty can go over the years."

He also touched further upon the ongoing acquisition, citing that it's currently in the regulatory phase, which is a phase where Spencer and others talk to regulators about the acquisition, answer their questions, and more. 

Netflix has announced that Henry Cavill's final season as Geralt of Rivia in The Witcher will be Season 3, with Liam Hemsworth picking the mantle for Season 4. 

This news comes as a surprise considering how devoted Cavill has seemed to the role over the years, quickly becoming a fan-favorite after the release of Season 1. He released a statement explaining that it was time for him to put down the swords and expressing his enthusiasm for Hemsworth's casting in the role. 

"My journey as Geralt of Rivia has been filled with both monsters and adventures and alas, I will be laying down my medallion and my swords for Season 4," Cavill's statement reads. "In my stead, the fantastic Mr. Liam Hemsworth will be taking up the mantle of the White Wolf. As with the greatest of literary characters, I pass the torch with reverence for the time spent embodying Geralt and enthusiasm to see Liam's take on this most fascinating and nuanced of men. Liam, good sir, this character has such a wonderful depth to him, enjoy diving in and seeing what you can find." 

Hemsworth released his own statement about the news as well, explaining that as a Witcher fan, he's over the moon about this opportunity. 

Brian is returning from his trip overseas, ready to catch up on all the news that hit over the last two weeks. He's joined by new Game Informer editor Charles Harte to do just that. Then, Blake Hester comes on to give his verdict on Bayonetta 3. Finally, Alex Van Aken joins the show as he and Brian talk about their recent trip to Osaka, Japan, where they visited Super Nintendo World.

If you'd like to follow the people from this episode on Twitter, hit the following links: Brian Shea (@brianpshea), Charles Harte (@chuckduck365), Blake Hester (@metallicaisrad) , Alex Van Aken (@ItsVanAken).

The All Things Nintendo podcast is a weekly show where we can celebrate, discuss, and break down all the latest games, news, and announcements from the industry's most recognizable name. Each week, Brian is joined by different guests to talk about what's happening in the world of Nintendo. Along the way, they'll share personal stories, uncover hidden gems in the eShop, and even look back on the classics we all grew up with. A new episode hits every Friday!

Your host Wesley LeBlanc chats with Game Informer's new magazine director (and returning face) Kyle Hilliard about the new Shadows of Rose DLC for Resident Evil Village. It's out today on all platforms where you can play Resident Evil Village alongside a new third-person mode for the base game and additional Mercenaries missions. 

In today's installment of New Gameplay Today, your hosts discuss how Shadows of Rose plays, how it ties into the story of Ethan Winters and Resident Evil Village, and whether or not it's worth a return to Village. Enjoy more than 15 minutes of Shadows of Rose gameplay in today's NGT!

Remember Mewgenics? The wacky cat-breeding roguelike is the brainchild of Super Meat Boy co-creator and The Binding of Isaac mastermind Edmund McMillen and has been in and out of the works for a decade. After being announced, put on hold, and restarted, it appears to have a new release window. 

McMillen tweeted a gif of two of the game’s adorable cats engaging in what we'll call an intimate cat exercise. The tweet links to the game’s Steam page, which lists a 2024 release window.

Hold on to your Butts!https://t.co/wDBOizNXGl pic.twitter.com/MESXJFFXsh

— 🜏 Edmund McMillen 🜏 (@edmundmcmillen) October 28, 2022

What the heck is Mewgenics? The game tasks players with collecting and breeding hundreds of cats to train and send into battle. Or, as the Steam description puts it, Mewgenics is a “turn-based legacy roguelike draft sim about cats!” The game apparently boasts “100s of hours” of gameplay, multiple classes with over 50 unique abilities, over 200 enemies, and other features. 

Bayonetta 3 has finally launched after years of waiting, and we’ll be diving into the witch’s latest adventure live on Twitch! Join Blake Hester, who reviewed the game, along with myself, Marcus Stewart, author of our cover story, as we explore the game’s opening hours.

The fun begins at 2 p.m. Central on Twitch. Can’t make it? You can watch the archived stream on our Game Informer Shows YouTube channel (along with other live streams such as our Metal Gear Rising Super Replay) or down below. 

If you enjoy our livestreams but haven’t subscribed to our Twitch channel, know that doing so not only gives you notifications and access to special emotes. You’ll also be granted entry to the official Game Informer Discord channel, where our welcoming community members, moderators, and staff gather to talk games, entertainment, food, and organize hangouts!

With Pokémon Scarlet and Violet right around the corner, The Pokémon Company is releasing a new expansion in its Sword and Shield series. Silver Tempest stars Alolan Vulpix on the key art, but monsters like Lugia, Serperior, Ho-Oh, and Mawile share the spotlight. Meanwhile, players can expect cards starring Regieleki and Regidrago.

The Pokémon Company sent us several booster packs so we could open them and see what we pull. While it may just be dumb luck, I feel like this expansion gave me better pulls than any others in recent memory. As I cracked these open, I was met with several attractive full-art cards, as well as some gorgeous Trainer Gallery cards. I even managed to pull two of the three new Radiant Pokémon cards.