Gaming News - Page 106

Techland is adding a premium microtransaction currency into Dying Light 2 following the studio's acquisition by Tencent.

Last month, Techland announced that it would become the latest subsidiary of Chinese games juggernaut Tencent. Now shortly after that acquisition, the developer is adding DL Points into Dying Light 2 Become Human. Despite the timing, Techland says the move is not connected to the Tencent partnership.

In a new blog post, Techland details how this new currency will work and why it was implemented. In short, Techland wants to make it easier to buy skins and content directly from the game itself instead of having to navigate out of the game. The studio says that DL Points can't be used to buy DLC, upgrades, and expansions, and that all Dying Light 2 owners will get some free points when they launch.

What would a next-gen Ghostbusters game look like on PlayStation 5? Sony answers the question with an incredible new demo.

At SIGGRAPH 2023, Sony Pictures Entertainment showcased an impressive new bit of Ghostbusters footage that captures the classic '80s spirit from the original with the kinds of graphics you'd expect to see in a PS5 game. Sony's demo demonstrated the power and capabilities of its real-time visual effect technology, and is a collaborative effort that was created in conjunction with PlayStation Studios, Epic Games, Pixomondo and Ghost Corps, the division specifically made to handle the Ghostbusters franchise.

The demo is just a project and is not indicative of a new Ghostbusters game--it's more of a spectacle that shows what Sony Pictures Entertainment can pull off when collaborating with other entertainment divisions.

Following massive expansion, Embracer Group is now one of the largest video games companies on the planet with over 16,000 employees. This is expected to change as the company tightens its belt and its spending accounts become more lean.

Years after record earnings from pandemic spending, most video games companies are starting to pare back on operating expenses, whether it be budgets for more acquisitions or game development. We've seen mass layoffs in the tech sector with major publishers shedding hundreds of workers. That trend is set to continue with the Embracer Group, an entertainment company that houses some of the biggest names in gaming from Saber and Gearbox to THQ Nordic and Crystal Dynamics/Eidos.

Ever since Embracer's big $2 billion deal fell through, the company has been looking at ways to cut back its spending and has created a company-wide plan for cost saving. This plan includes the closure of game studios and the cancellation of specific titles. Other measures like divestment are also possible; Embracer is willing to sell off parts of or even whole studios in an effort to reduce its spending accounts. This is an interesting development in Embracer's years-long quest in acquisition expansion and somewhat ironically follows Square Enix's potential plans to also divest portions of its studios.

Crystal Dynamics and Eidos may not be in the black yet, but the studios are making good progress towards profitability.

In 2022, Embracer Group purchased Crystal Dynamics, Eidos Montreal, and several big-name IPs like Tomb Raider and Deus Ex. The previous owner, Square Enix, sold these properties and studios to Embracer for a surprising $300 million. Closer inspection of both company's books revealed that both Crystal Dynamics and Eidos aren't very profitable, giving key insight as to why Square Enix wanted to sell (it also didn't help that games like Deus Ex Mankind Divided, the new Tomb Raider trilogy, and the more recent Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy games missed Square Enix's expectations).

Now in a recent Q1 earnings brief, Embracer Group CEO Lars Wingefors gave a quick update on the Tomb Raider and Deus Ex studios:

Embracer Group's mighty games empire will shrink a little as the company attempts to cut costs.

Ever since its massive $2 billion business deal fell through, Embracer Group has been laying out plans to rein its massive team of studios in and reduce spending. Embracer was really counting on that $2 billion influx of cash to help fund new projects. Now the company will pare back its focus, cancelling projects and closing studios along the way.

In a recent earnings report, Embracer Group CEO Lars Wingefors gave an update to investors on the cost savings plan and confirmed more games and teams would be effectively terminated.

Immortals of Aveum is a first-person shooter themed around battlemages, but the real battle could be getting it to run okay on your PC - the specs are eye-watering to say the least.

As Wccftech reports (via the above tweet from Sebastian Castellanos), the developer has now confirmed the PC requirements for Immortals of Aveum.

And in the graphics card department - at the lowest spec level, for 1080p resolution (60 fps) - you'll need an AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT, or an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Super.

We're now pretty certain that Starfield won't be supporting anything but FSR when it comes to boosting frame rates in the game on PC.

As Sebastian Castellanos (a name we see quite commonly chipping in around leaks on X, formerly Twitter) tweeted to say (hat tip to PC Gamer), they have combed through the preload files for Starfield on PC. And there is no sign of NVIDIA DLSS or Intel XeSS support anywhere, sadly.

That means DLSS almost certainly isn't happening, and the lack of any announcement from NVIDIA at this point backs that up, too. Given that the release date of Starfield is less than three weeks away now (the game just went gold, ahead of a September 6 launch for PC and Xbox).

Earlier this month, we reported on the Lenovo Legion Go handheld that could compete with PC gaming handhelds like the Steam Deck and ROG Ally from ASUS. With the Legion Go set to feature AMD's new Phoenix APU processors, performance would reportedly be on par with the ROG Ally, which features a customized ROG Ally Z1 Extreme chip built off of the Ryzen 7 7840U SoC.

Thanks to a new report over Windows Report offers some exclusive images of the Lenovo Legion Go, which features a look and feel that is part Steam Deck, part Nintendo Switch. The Switch comparison sets it apart from other PC gaming handhelds, including the massive range of options from companies like AYANEO.

Based on the images we see for the Legion Go, it's set to feature removable controllers, much like Nintendo's wireless Joy-Con controllers for the Switch. This will allow the Legion Go to act similarly to the Switch by offering a seamless docking process to connect the handheld to a TV or monitor and still be able to use the same controllers.

Intel's latest bright idea on the giveaway front is to bundle a pair of free games with selected Core CPUs and Arc graphics cards.

The freebies are Assassin's Creed Mirage and Nightingale, with a value of $50 and $30 (US) respectively. They're being given away as an Intel Gamer Day 2023 promotion, but only by certain retailers (so check before you buy, if you're not sure).

So, for those who were planning to purchase the next instalment of Assassin's Creed anyway, this is effectively a $50 discount off an Intel CPU or GPU.

Microsoft is officially shutting down the Xbox 360 storefront on July 29, 2024, the company has announced.

The Xbox 360 Store will be unavailable starting next year, cutting off digital access to thousands of video games and content.

• On July 29, 2024, Xbox will stop supporting the ability to purchase new games, DLC, and other entertainment content from the Xbox 360 Store on the console and the Xbox 360 Marketplace (marketplace.Xbox.com)
• Related to this change, the Microsoft Movies & TV app will no longer function on Xbox 360, which means TV and movie content will no longer be viewable on your Xbox 360 after July 29th, 2024.