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Today CD Projekt RED released its consolidated annual report for 2019, and it included some interesting information about the sales of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.

We learn that in 2019 digital sales for the game are higher in terms of percentage than they have ever been, reaching 82%.

The best-selling platform for the game remains PC, with 53% of sales. PS4 ranks second (26%), while Nintendo Switch (11%) barely overtakes Xbox One (10%) . That being said, we should keep in mind that the Switch version has been available only since October.

The Witcher 3 sold best in Europe, which generated 37.2% of sales in 2019, followed by Asia (27.9%) and North America (25,6%).

You can see all the relevant graphs below. Looking at the pillars, it appears that shipments in 2019 were just under seven million copies.

A new gameplay trailer has hit today for Streets the Rage 4, the newest game in the Streets of Rage series that have been dormant for 25 years. The new installment is being developed by Dotemu, Lizardcube, and Guard Crush Games.

While the trailer does show off plenty of streets and tons of rage, the simple existence of a fourth game that’s been waiting in the back of the minds of gamers isn’t even the best part of the trailer.

Not only do you play as series staple characters Alex and Blaze alongside three others (including already seen Floyd and Adam), but the roster has been bumped up even further. In addition to the five characters, an additional 12 unlockable characters are in the game from across all three previous Streets of Rage titles.

Previous versions of Axel and Blaze are also among them, letting you continue to rage with the best that nostalgia has to offer.

As for the tunes, the soundtrack has been crafted by Olivier Derivière. On top of that and fitting for a game that is really playing up being retro and letting you enjoy your favorite things about SoR, the soundtrack includes large contributions from series composers Yūzō Koshiro and Motohiro Kawashima.

Even with this new soundtrack, if you feel like taking things old school, you can switch to music from Streets of Rage 1 and 2 (sorry SoR3, fans).

Check out the trailer below, and get feast your eyes on some roads of anger.

The Resident Evil franchise is full of iconic characters, from quintessential tough guys to shady masterminds plotting world destruction. Here we’ve designed a wee personality quiz to determine who of the cast is most similar to you, dear reader. We like to know who’s browsing, you see…

Don’t freak out or anything; just calmly answer the 11 questions below as honestly as you can and we’ll store away the data we collect in our special filing cabinet.

Relax! We use a totally secure network. It’s been designed by a company called Umbrella and they just want the information to help develop new medicines. They are saving lives, people, so just comply.

We kid, we kid! Enjoy the quiz and let us know who you got in the comment section below. If you enjoyed this Resident Evil content then you can search Twinfinite for even more. Recently, for example, we wrote a detailed guide wiki for Resident Evil 3 Remake after reviewing the game.

If you’ve ever wanted to try Google Stadia then now is your chance: a new promotion unveiled today offers two months of Stadia Pro totally free of charge. It’s rolling out over the next 48 hours and will be available in 14 countries.

Those who sign up will have access to nine games, including GRID, Destiny 2: The Collection, and Thumper. Other games are available to purchase, too, and you’ll keep your access to them even if you choose not to subscribe to Stadia Pro beyond your two-month trial.

As noted in the blog post today by Stadia VP Phil Harrison, the maximum resolution of games has been reduced from 4k to 1080p to help combat the strain on data centers that has been causing issues across the world ever since COVID-19 isolation measures became norm. Obviously, this means you won’t quite be experiencing Stadia at its full potential.

If you’re interested in signing up for the promotion, here are the steps you need to follow:

Zenimax Studios has today provided an update on the development of Greymoor, the anticipated expansion for The Elder Scrolls Online that will allow players to explore Skyrim for the first time. In what should come as no surprise by now, the effect of social distancing measures brought about by COVID-19 means it won’t be coming out on time.

Thankfully, however, the team is confident the delay will only be about a week, roughly slated for April 20. Unfortunately for French-speaking players, though, a nationwide lockdown in France has meant voice actors haven’t been able to record lines for the French translation of the game. It could be months before it’s available.

The full blog post, written by game director Matt Firor, reads:

ESO Community,

I hope this message finds all of you in good health. The number one priority for everyone on earth right now is our health and the health of our families. As you probably know, in response to the current pandemic, everyone at ZOS has been working from home since March 16. This is the first time we’ve ever tried remote work as a studio, and so far things are going well. It looks like we’ll be able to ship Update 26 (with the Greymoor Chapter) about a week after we initially planned it.

Right now, we are on track for the PTS to be updated with Update 26 and Greymoor on April 20th. We will let you know if we run into unexpected problems which could delay the live launch beyond the current estimate of one week.

In an unexpected reveal during the middle of Tuesday this week, Sony Interactive Entertainment decided to unveil the new wireless controller for the upcoming PS5 home console. The DualSense controller drops the DualShock line of naming and has a couple of new features that will surely change the way that some video games are played.

Thanks to haptic feedback, adaptive triggers, a built-in microphone, and a new Create button, the new controller will be ushering in a new console generation in a pretty creative way.

It seems as though Blooper Team’s acclaimed cyberpunk adventure game Observer is getting some sort of next-generation remake. A short teaser clip was published today on the developer’s Twitter page, accompanied by the captions “system_redux” and “destination: next-gen.”

\\title: observer_system_redux
_destination: next-gen
>full_reveal: in progress

📟Stay tuned and follow us on @ObserverRedux https://t.co/5MNpdrVb8f

— Bloober Team (@BlooberTeam) April 8, 2020

This follows on from a separate, more cryptic teaser image back in January which simply read: “incoming call.” The image had many thinking an Observer sequel was on the way.

Certainly, the original game could do with some polishing the last time I played it; Twinfinite reviewed Observer back in 2017 and suffered a game-breaking bug that forced us to mark it down. Still, there’s no doubt that it’s an excellent cyberpunk adventure game when technical issues aren’t causing a headache.

Does it need a remaster or a remake, though? For what it’s worth, I’m not so sure, and without speaking for the fanbase as a whole, I’m certain that most would have preferred a proper sequel.

Final Fantasy XIV has reached new heights of popularity after the release of the latest expansion Shadowbringers. After two major updates, the development team is hard at work bringing new features and content to the fans.

To learn more about what we can expect from our adventures as the warriors of light and darkness (depending on where you are in the story), Twinfinite interviewed Director and Producer Naoki Yoshida.

We asked Yoshida-san about a variety of topics, from the situation of the team in these trying times to the possibility of supporting new platforms.

Giuseppe: First of all, is the spread of COVID-19 affecting the development team and development in general? I hope everyone is ok.

Naoki Yoshida: Thank you for your concern for the team! Fortunately, there hasn’t been any direct impact on our development or operations teams. I am doing well too, but still busy of course. :p

However, FFXIV does receive assistance from development studios who are based in other countries, and we are starting to see small delays in the delivery of graphical assets. This is an unprecedented incident happening on a global scale; if needed, I plan to adjust our schedule in order to prioritize the health of all those involved.

If it comes down to that, then I will make sure to properly inform our players!

Giuseppe: Save the Queen: Blades of Gunnhildr is likely the short-term feature I’m most excited about, but I am also scared. Similar features in the past have been a bit on the grindy side of things. While I understand that a certain amount of grind is likely necessary for this kind of feature, are you trying to take a different approach this time, or it’ll be similar in grind requirements?

Today Bandai Namco released a new trailer of its recently-released anime game One Punch Man: A Hero Nobody Knows, showing the first DLC character.

We get to take a look at Suiryu, who will be released for the game really soon. As a matter of fact, the wait is almost over, as he’ll come tomorrow, April 9.

Basically, he’s Shiryu from Saint Seiya, without the armor and with consistently working eyes. Of course, I’m just talking about looks and fighting style, because Suiryu is completely different from the ultra-serious Shiryu in terms of personality. 

You can check out his flashy martial arts moves in the trailer below, and see if they tempt you to make the purchase tomorrow.

If you want to see more, you can read our review of the game from last month.

Today Cyberpunk 2077 developer CD Projekt RED started a series of tweets on social media introducing an interesting aspect of the setting.

According to Global Community Lead Marcin Momot, this is the first of multiple posts introducing gangs and corporations that we’ll encounter in the streets of Night City, so we should stay tuned for more.

The first organization to be showcased is The Mox, formed in2076 following the death of a strip club owner and ex-prostitute named Elizabeth “Lizzie” Borden, known for the fair treatment of her workers and the fact that she protected them from violent customers. 

Members define themselves as “those who protect working girls and guys” from violence and abuse.

You can see the tweet below, including the logo of The Mox.

Microsoft is planning to roll out the early access version of its Project Cloud streaming service in western Europe as planned, but the impact of COVID-19 is likely to slow the process.

Following the initial announcement during yesterday’s Inside Xbox, a subsequent blog post by head of product Catherine Gluckstein explained that Microsoft will only move forward when it is “confident it is sensible to do so.”

Gluckstein is referring to the strain on data centers that isolation measures to combat COVID-19 have brought about. It’s an issue that’s been so severe that publishers like Sony have taken steps such as reducing maximum download speeds in an attempt to lessen the load on servers.

Gluckstein explained Microsoft’s cautious approach to launching Project xCloud in the region, acknowledging the issue:

“We know gaming is an important way for people to remain connected, particularly during these times of social distancing, but we also recognize how internet bandwidth has been impacted with strain on regional networks as large volumes of people responsibly stay home and go online.

With that in mind, we continue to evaluate the COVID-19 situation and will begin rolling out the Project xCloud preview across 11 Western European countries when we are confident it is sensible to do so. We will take a measured approach to help conserve internet access, beginning the preview in each market with a limited number of people and adding more participants over time.”

For those interested in taking part in the Project xCloud’s early access period, pre-registration can be signed up for here. The countries applicable are as follows:

Final Fantasy VII Remake’s soundtrack is one of the most impressive parts of its overall production, reimagining the original’s iconic tunes with some really compelling arrangements. Today, a new episode of Inside Final Fantasy VII Remake, a mini-documentary series by Square Enix, details some of the creative processes behind its composition.

The episode features developer commentary from producer Yoshinori Kitase, music supervisor, Keiji Kawamori, sound director Makoto Ise, and composers Mitsuto Suzuki and Masashi Hamauzu.

The team breaks down some of the game’s tunes with a side-by-side comparison between the new and old versions, explaining the instrument choices and the themes they hoped the music would help to convey.

You can watch the episode for yourself below.

For those particularly interested in Final Fantasy VII Remake’s soundtrack, the game’s soundtrack is being released as a 7-disc standalone compilation which will be available in May.

Today’s Inside Xbox presentation provided plenty of news on highly anticipated titles coming to Microsoft’s series of consoles. One of the titles highlighted was The Last Campfire, a cute-yet-dark adventure title from Hello Games, creators of No Man’s Sky. During the presentation, we got our first look at the game’s opening minutes, and what Ember is in for.

The game balances the eerie and cute right from the beginning. Our pillow-like protagonist Ember is adorable for sure, but the circumstances they wake up in are less than ideal. The temple-like environment they find themselves in is covered in dust and cobwebs –how did Ember even get there in the first place?

During April’s Inside Xbox presentation, a bunch of new info was revealed about the upcoming Gears Tactics game. Gears Tactics is pretty much just Gears of War married with XCOM and is a turn-based strategy game.

As revealed today, Gears Tactics was built for the PC and is supposed to focus more on fast-paced strategy. This info was just released on their official website in regards to their commitment to PC play:

“Further to this PC commitment, last month we announced our partnership with Intel and discussed how The Coalition worked throughout the development of Gears Tactics to optimize the game for Intel’s Xe-LP architecture. Today, we’re happy to announce that a new bundle with our partners at Intel that includes an offer for a free copy of Gears Tactics with a qualifying purchase of an Intel Core i5 processor-based device or higher.”

Today Microsoft announced the upcoming launch of Xbox Game Pass in Japan on April 14, and it released a message from Phil Spencer himself.

In the video below you can see spencer making a brave effort to speak Japanese at least for a bit, talking about the extension of the service for the local market.

Interestingly, he also took the time to reiterate the importance of the Japanese market.

“The gaming market in Japan, fans in Japan, gamers in Japan, are incredibly important to me and team Xbox. 

Some of the most amazing experiences we’ve all played on games have come from Japan and we work really hard to make Xbox a part of the experience for customers in Japan.”

We also hear at the end of the video 

“This is an exciting year for us in 2020. Obviously consoles are coming out this year, a lot of great games that we’re working on… We at team Xbox have a lot more news to share throughout the tear and expect to continue to talk with you, be very transparent with you about our plans and what we’re working on.”

Today, following its usual Inside Xbox information livestream, Microsoft and Obsidian Entertainment showcased the first look at single-player gameplay of grounded.

We get to see elements of base building, crafting, and exploration. Incidentally, the game includes both first and third person cameras, so you can play with the perspective you like the most.

Of course, since this is a survival game, we also get to see how the player needs to eat and drink in order to survive. 

Interestingly, the interaction with insects isn’t just limited to killing (or being killed). For instance, some can lead you to mushroom patches. 

And yes, if you’re wondering, you’ll eat insects.

Another cool element (and slightly disgusting) is the “Smoothie Statio” that will let you mash up materials and bug parts into (usually) beneficial smoothies. 

Incidentally, you can play both in single-player and four player co-op.

Of course the time of day progresses in real-time, and it’ll change the behavior of the insects you’ll meet. 

If you die, you’ll need to go back and retrieve your equipment which will be left in the location of your death. 

We also hear that the game has a “rich story with awesome characters,” which isn’t very surprising since it’s Obsidian. 

Sea of Thieves’ next content update brings some notable changes to the game, and Microsoft has unveiled some info on these changes ahead of its release.

During Microsoft’s April 2020 Inside Xbox event, the company showed off some of the changes and new content from the game’s next update, titled Ships of Fortune, in action.

Through the update, players will receive a call for Emissaries by the game’s trading companies, and will be given a choice of which to join in an attempt to gain control of the world’s seas. Each faction comes with its own cosmetics to unlock, as well as other rewards and benefits to earn through the update’s expanded Reputation system.

Players will have more than the game’s current four factions to choose from though. A new faction, the Reaper’s Bones, throw a chaotic option into the mix, with missions and tasks aimed at burning the other factions and the world at large to the ground.

The update will also offer cats as a new option for pets players can take along on their adventures. Though they might spend most of their time napping, they can be petted, scratched and dressed up in nautical costumes to the player’s content, and will be available to anyone interested in them.

Rounding out the reveals were some overhauls that would be applied to Sea of Thieves’ arena mode. Instead of deciphering a treasure map, players will now be able to spot and make their way toward a single treasure chest on the map; and, once they have said chest, they’ll only have one location where they can turn in their spoils for points toward a victory.

Earlier today, Typhoon Studios‘ Journey to the Savage Planet had its first DLC announcement during the Inside Xbox digital event. Journey to the Savage Planet Hot Garbage releases very soon on April 15.

Despite the name of the new content, these additions to this generally well-received 3D metroidvania title look to be pretty great so far. The trailer didn’t give away all the secrets of the Hot Garbage DLC, but we got a decent preview of some new content.

Two of the biggest announcements in the entire trailer were the suit and jetpack upgrades coming to Journey to the Savage Planet. They didn’t go too deep into what exactly this entails, but we only have to wait one more week to get all the details.

However, one of the biggest improvements that they actually showed off was the underwater boots. This upgrade appears to let you walk around at the bottom of any body of water.

The trailer also showed off some formidable enemies, including a fairly dangerous-looking robot near the end of the trailer. It’ll be interesting to see how this new content will balance difficulty for gamers who have been playing since the game released in January of this year.

Again, you can pick up Journey to the Savage Planet Hot Garbage DLC when it releases next week on April 15. Also, if you subscribe to Game Pass, then you can dive right into Journey to the Savage Planet starting Thursday, April 9. You can check out the full trailer from Inside Xbox below.

Microsoft has announced on Inside Xbox today that they will be expanding the Project xCloud preview service to 11 new countries in Western Europe.

Xbox players who own Android devices will now be able to register for Project xCloud and stream games in the following countries:

• France
• Germany
• Netherlands
• Belgium
• Denmark
• Finland
• Ireland
• Italy
• Norway
• Spain
• Sweden

In addition to expanding xCloud to western Europe, Microsoft also announced that they will be adding three EA games to the service, including Dragon Age: Inquisition, Unravel Two and The Sims 4.

Players in the aforementioned regions can now register for the xCloud service at xbox.com/projectxcloud.

The post Project xCloud Preview Expands to 11 European Countries appeared first on Twinfinite.

Microsoft announced more games would be coming for Xbox Game Pass on PC and console during its Inside Xbox livestream today.

This Thursday, April 9, first-person adventure game Journey to the Savage Planet will be added to Xbox Game Pass for console and retro-styled RPG Alvastia Chronicles will be available for console and coming soon to PC.

Microsoft announced several other titles with no scheduled release date for Xbox Game Pass on PC including Football Manager 2020, Mistover, Stranger Things 3: The Game, and Yakuza Kiwami.

Nier: Automata Become as Gods Edition and Totally Reliable Delivery Service were added to Game Pass earlier this month alongside Ultimate perks such as a Phantasy Star Online 2 bonus pack and MyTeam bundle for NBA 2K20.

Microsoft also announced several games leaving both services next week on April 15. The full list includes:

Today, during an episode of its usual Inside Xbox information livestream, Microsoft broadcasted a chat about the technology of Xbox Series X. 

On the podium we have Xbox Series X’s Director of Program Management Jason Ronald, providing an overview and a deeper look at the features of the console. 

This includes both the visual features like Ray Tracing, all the way to the storage solutions, which are rooted in the latest SSD technology. 

That being said, you’ll still be able to play your Xbox One games from a USB HDD, but if you want to play a native Xbox Series X game, you’ll need to transfer it on the SSD (this includes the new proprietary expansion card). 

You can watch the video below. 

In an unexpected reveal from Sony Interactive Entertainment today, it was announced that the next controller to supersede the DualShock 4 would be called the DualSense. It’ll be launching alongside Sony’s next console, the PS5, later this year and if you’re looking for the most important details and facts regarding the new controller, look no further.

1: Say Bye-Bye to the Share Button and Light Bar… Kind Of

One of the big innovations that Sony brought in the last generation of consoles was the addition of the Share button on the DualShock 4 controller. It allows players to instantly record or screenshot their favorite gaming moments and then share them on social media sites with their friends.

Today, during an episode of its usual Inside Xbox information livestream, Microsoft and Obsidian Entertainment released a new trailer of Grounded and revealed a release date.

The trailer provided an introduction to the game. To be precise, it’s provided by an NPC robot buddy that will accompany us through the story.

The game includes both single-player and multiplayer, and apparently the story will lead us to explore some sort of secret in the backyard. Something else is out there. 

The game will release in preview on July 28, and it’s coming for Xbox One and PC, including Game Pass on both platforms.

You can watch the trailer below.

Here’s how Microsoft describes the story.

At the end of last week, we asked our readers here at Twinfinite how they felt about the concept of time traveling in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Do they consider it cheating? Do they think it’s perfectly okay for others to do? Or do they just not care about it at all?

We put up a poll a couple of days ago on Twinfinite’s Twitter account and asked for the opinions/thoughts of our followers about time traveling. After a total of 306 votes, it turns out that the majority of our audience, specifically 62%, consider time traveling to be cheating. And of course, the remaining 32% had the opposite opinion.

Here’s the Twitter poll:

We’ve also compiled most of the individual comments from Twitter and the poll and as you can guess, some are positive, some are negative, and some were very mixed:

Sony Interactive Entertainment has officially revealed the new controller for the PS5, The DualSense wireless controller, via the official PlayStation Blog.

The DualSense controller replaces the DualShock’s Share button with a Create button and will feature a built-in microphone array, which will enable players to easily chat with friends without a headset.

As previously mentioned by Sony, the new controller will have haptic feedback, which “adds a variety of powerful sensations you’ll feel when you play, such as the slow grittiness of driving a car through mud.”

Sony has also incorporated adaptive triggers into the L2 and R2 buttons to increase tension when performing actions in-game, such as pulling back on a bow and arrow.

And one of the most exciting new features revealed in the blog post is that the DualSense controller will have an improved battery life over the DualShock 4 (thank goodness).

Jim Ryan, President and CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment, had this to say about the new controller and the future of PlayStation:

Death Stranding

For some, the first entry on our list of games that dragged on too long should not be a surprise. Even fans of the game must admit that Death Stranding stretches on for quite some time. It is a Kojima game so that’s partly expected but there’s a difference between a game being long and seeming like it goes on forever.

Today Yostar shared more information on what you can expect from this week’s update to the popular shipgirl-focused mobile game Azur Lane. 

First of all, we learn that the new update is going  to be released on April 9.

As usual, the servers will be down for a few hours as the new content is implemented.

Perhaps the most interesting (and a bit surprising) element is that the Fallen Wings event is going to be added to the War Archives on the English servers.

The latest update for Respawn Entertainment’s battle royale title Apex Legends features changes to playlists, characters, weapons, and a new event.

As announced last week, the often featured Duos mode will become a permanent addition to the game starting today. The Duos mode will sit alongside the regular Trios mode and will not be available as a ranked mode.

Respawn detailed why the Solos mode did not get added as a permanent mode too, citing the limited-time mode did not hold new players or played to the strengths of the game’s design.

“When we introduced Solos as a limited-time mode last year we saw it actually negatively impacted the game, especially when it came to new player retention,” Respawn wrote in the update notes. “We’ve also purposely designed Legends and their abilities to compliment teamplay and squad composition, but when played Solo some Legend abilities become useless.”

Respawn says it will continue to explore ways to allow “a Solo experience.”

The other change to playlists is a permanent map rotation that includes the current version of World’s Edge, Kings Canyon Season 2, and Kings Canyon After Dark. The map rotation is available for the unranked modes, while the ranked mode will still feature only one map during this season.

A few characters also received balance changes with the update including buffing Revenant’s abilities, Lifeline being able to access secret compartments on new blue loot bins, and Wraith’s portals disappearing after four seconds if both ends are out of the circle.

You certainly didn’t see this one coming. Announced in a new trailer today, Borderlands 3 has added a mini-game on board the Sanctuary III that, yes, helps real scientists sort through data collected on microbes.

Scientists have collected an enormous amount of data on the human gut microbe, and due to the sheer amount of data, the computers have had a bit of trouble. That is where you, in Borderlands 3, come in.

Developed alongside McGill University, Massively Multiplayer Online Science, and The Microsetta Initiative, Borderlands 3 introduced a mini-game called Borderlands Science that actually lets you help sort the data through puzzles, and the data is sent back to the scientists. If the idea of helping out some scientists doesn’t appeal to you, you can win in-game currency by playing the free game as well.

But don’t take my word for it; listen to a real, actual scientist explain it in the trailer:

Who knew you could help science by playing Borderlands 3?

The puzzle looks to be a puzzle in the vain of Tetris or, dare I say, Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine, but instead of simply completing a row, there are set rows for each tile that you must try to fill.

It’s been three weeks since the coronavirus pandemic forced everyone to split up and confine themselves to their homes, and Facebook Gaming just gave users early access to Tournaments, a feature that will help gamers play together remotely to alleviate symptoms of cabin fever.

The social media giant launched Tournaments to allows gamers to stay remotely connected with each other by creating, joining or following virtual gaming competitions.

Activision is about to release the third season of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Warzone, and today they launched a trailer to celebrate.

The trailer showcases new and returning operators including Alex, four men squads, new vehicles, and new weapons.

Modern Warfare will also get new free maps, Talsik Backlot, Hovec Sawmill, and Aniyah Incursion.

Season 3, alongside with the new battle pass, will release tomorrow, April 8, for all platforms, across both Modern Warfare and Warzone, so you don’t have much longer to wait in order to enjoy the new content and goodies. 

You can enjoy the trailer below and get a taste of what you’ll be able to play tomorrow.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is currently available for PS4, Xbox One, and PC. Warzone is a free to play battle royale spin-off that is also available on the same platforms. 

If you’re playing Warzone, you can find plenty of guides on Twinfinite which may help you out on the battlefield.

Microsoft has announced that all its internal and external events will be “digital-first” until July of 2021 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The news comes by way of a Tweet from Microsoft MVP and community contributor Ginny Caughey, which was spotted by Gamesindustry.biz.

The statement reads:

“In light of the challenges presented by COVID-19, Microsoft has been closely monitoring the developing global situation and re-assessing the overall company-wide in-person event strategy. As a company, Microsoft has made the decision to transition all external and internal events to a digital first experience through July 2021.

This will include the future MVP & RD Summit which is currently scheduled for March 28 – April 2, 2021. We will continue to evaluate the situation and look forward to connecting in person when the situation allows.”

As noted by the outlet, there’s no clarification on how this will impact Xbox events as yet. It’s likely that digital events like Inside Xbox will continue in place of anything physical, such as X020 and the like.

Speaking of Inside Xbox, there’s one being held later today. The headliner is news on Obsidian Entertainment’s upcoming survival game Grounded, but you can expect on Gears Tactics, Sea of Thieves, and Xbox Game Pass. Indie surprises from the ID@Xbox team have also been promised. Further details are here.

Following yesterday’s leak, today Hello Games released update 2.4 for No Man’s Sky, including plenty of new content and features.

The update brings the “Minotaur” Exo Mech, which comes with jump jets, an immersive cockpit, immunity from planetary hazards, and a mining laser which can be upgraded to a Terrain Manipulator.

Players are now able to upgrade their Exocraft with solar panels to recharge their engines. Scan capabilities of the Signal Booster are also improved, revealing all nearby points of interest.

If you have a freighter you can build an Orbital Exocraft Materialiser, which basically lets you prepare for Titanfall, meaning you can summon your Exocraft from the surface of a planet if your freighter is in the same solar system. 

On top of that, customizing Exocraft with decals is now possible.

Base building has been improved with the ability to hide your power lines and to disable complexity limit on consoles at the cost of performance.

Below you can see the trailer and a few screenshots, on top of the full patch notes.

Riot Games’ new hero shooter Valorant launched its closed-beta trial earlier today and spectator numbers over on Twitch are through the roof. So much so that the game is by far and away dominating the platform in terms of pure numbers, with 1.5 million watching at the time of writing — over a million more than CS: GO in second place. But there’s a clever promotional campaign behind this explosive popularity.

In order to actually play Valorant’s beta, you’re required to tune into a select number of Twitch streamers who are giving away access codes. The net result is that Valorant has skyrocketed to the top of Twitch’s most-viewed channels, which Riot will presumably be hoping attracts even more interest moving forward.

If you think you have a knack for Cyberpunk style then CD Projekt Red’s latest contest might pique your interest. Starting from today and running through until May 17, contestants who pimp their PC cases with an aesthetic faithful to the genre’s defining tropes (think neon — lots of neon) will have the chance to win a bunch of goodies.

That includes high-grade PC gaming gear –gaming rigs, laptops, headphones, etc– sponsored by Alienware, NVIDIA, and SteelSeries, with the grand winner to be awarded a main prize during the live finale. A full list of prizes and detailed information on the contest can be found here.

A panel of experts will select 5 top entries from all valid submissions, these will be announced on May 29th, 2020. The 5 selected entries will be constructed by professional case modders from around the world, and a grand winner will be selected during the competition finale — a set to take place on 17-18 July, 2020.

A trailer teeing up the contest can be viewed below.

Cyberpunk 2077 will release September 17, 2020, for PS4, Xbox One, and PC. A Google Stadia version is set to launch the same year.

Today CERO, the Japanese video game rating board, announced that it will close temporarily due to the newly-declared state of emergency in the country due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

The announcement was made on the board’s official page (via Automaton).

Below you can read the full notice, citing that game reviews cannot be done from home. The process will be suspended until at least May 6.

“The government declared state of emergency regarding COVID-19, and the Governor of Tokyo asked people to refrain from going outside until May 6.

Since reviewers visit our office to conduct review, it is not possible for our staff and reviewer to work from home.

For this reason, all operations, including review (including those under review), will be suspended from today until May 6.

All staff will be on standby at home, and the office will be closed during this time. We will announce the resumption of business on our website.

We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you, and thank you for your understanding.”

Automaton talked with developers who actually weren’t aware of the closure before today, suggesting that the decision to close was taken suddenly.

According to the developers, games are rated a few months in advance, so those coming in April and May should not be affected, but those to be released in the summer may be significantly impacted, with possible delays.

Today Square Enix released update 5.25 for its popular MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV, and it included the new Save the Queen: Blades of Gunnhildr relic weapon questline.

Of course, this had some fans worried, because similar questlines for relic/upgradable weapons have been remarkably grindy in the past. Luckily, the development team appears to have realized that.

Twinfinite interviewed Producer and Director Naoki Yoshida, and we asked him what we can expect from Save the Queen. He explained that enhancing this new weapon type will be “much less demanding” compared to the past.

“The Save the Queen content in Patch 5.25 should not feel like time-to-win content where you must put in many hours of play to succeed. You should be able to obtain the first weapon just by enjoying the quest’s storyline.

Now when it comes to enhancing the weapon, a bit more work will be required, but it is still much less demanding when compared to past equipment enhancement quests. The next chapter in this quest series that will release on or after Patch 5.35 will feature new ways to enhance your equipment, but players will have different options as to how to strengthen their weapons. We hope this will create a weapon enhancement process that is more casually accessible. Please look forward to it!”

If you’d like to learn more about Final Fantasy XIV, you can read our previous interview with Naoki Yoshida and Banri Oda,  our review of Shadowbringers.

Recently, we also learned that the game has passed 18 million registered users.

Dead Cells, developer Motion Twin’s acclaimed side-scrolling action-RPG, is set to come to Android devices this summer, June 3. Those interested can take advantage of an early bird offer, with pre-registration rewarding a 10% discount. The game will otherwise cost $9.99.

The mobile port is said to have carefully revised for suitability on the platform, offering players either a tailor-made control system or the option to customize to their preference. And if you’d rather not use touch controls then there’s external controller support available.

A new trailer celebrates today’s platform announcement and showcases a first look at gameplay, which you can check out below.

Dead Cells came to iOS last year after earning critical acclaim for its console release months before. The game has since been supported by a number of major content updates; most recently, the Bad Seed DLC, which Twinfinite was such a big fan of that we wrote an impressions piece you should absolutely check out.

Capcom’s Resident Evil 3 remake is a reimagining of the 1991 PS1 classic survival horror that stars Jill Valentine, the handsome Carlos Oliveira, and a very ugly monster that goes by Nemesis. By working together, Jill and Carlos must finally put a stop to the threat while also working on finding a cure for the virus.

You’re probably very aware of this already but this newly released remake is absolutely stunning and is a delight for the eyes. Considering it’s been over 20 years since the original launch of the game, let’s take a look back at how the PS1 version compares to the modern re-telling in 2020.

Sony is offering a refund to customers who pre-ordered The Last of Us Part II and/or Iron Man VR following last week’s delay. Those interested in taking it up need only wait for an impending email providing instructions.

The information comes directly from Sony’s support page, which features a message that reads:

“The Last of Us Part II and Iron Man VR have been delayed. All digital pre-order consumers will automatically receive a refund. Please check your email for more details.“

Last week’s delay of both games was the second for both; developer Naughty Dog pushed the original February 22 release date back earlier this year. Iron Man VR has also been delayed once before — back in January, it was pushed back by five months.

Since social distancing measures have become a global standard in recent weeks, we’ve seen a number of publishers struggle to deliver physical copies of video games in a timely manner.

Both Capcom with its Resident Evil 3 Remake and Square Enix with Final Fantasy VII Remake have experienced similar difficulties in recent weeks.

For those wanting some more positive news on The Last of Us Part II, Naughty Dog recently released a bunch of awesome screenshots. The studio subsequently made comments on how much the game has improved since the demo that was showcased to press earlier this year.