Gaming News - Page 280

PlayStation console exclusives Spider-Man and Spider-Man Miles Morales are coming to PC in 2022, Sony today announced.

Insomniac's beloved Spider-Man duology is slinging across platforms to land on PC later this year. Marvel's Spider-Man will launch on Steam on August 12, 2022 whereas Spider-Man Miles Morales is coming Fall 2022. Both games will be optimized for PC with upgrades and new features like raytraced reflections, mouse and keyboard controls, a multitude of graphics and rendering settings, and more.

The newly-acquired Nixxes is working with Insomniac to bring both games to PC complete with all the content available on PlayStation consoles--suits, post-release DLC, updates, the works. Nixxes founder Jurjen Katsman says the games will deliver the "best possible PC experience that takes advantage of all the exciting possibilities the PC platform has to offer."

Final Fantasy XVI will not release in 2022 after all, and is now launching Summer 2023 on PlayStation 5.

Sony's latest State of Play event ended with a big explosive reveal of Final Fantasy XVI's combat and gameplay, while also confirming a Summer 2023 release timeline for the game. Combat looks to be a mix of Final Fantasy XV's action-based chaos mixed with a UI lifted out of the high-tech Final Fantasy 13, complete with 1v1 style mechanics and huge hulking summon battles.

Game director Yoshi-P confirms Final Fantasy XVI has entered the "final leg of development" and is currently playable from start to finish, but the team needs more time to optimize and there is still a "mountain of challenges" for polishing. "With the power of the PlayStation 5 behind us, we're looking to take you on a seamless, story-driven, white-knuckle ride that will rival even the most thrilling roller-coaster. So buckle up, the wait is almost over!"

Diablo Immortal is out now on PC...and it's not really something that should exist on the platform.

Today Blizzard released the beta version of Diablo Immortal on PC. The game has a solid place on mobile as a dungeon-delving action RPG looter, but on PC it's incredibly out of place. For one, Immortal's PC version is just the mobile port with PC controls. Two, and the biggest point of all, the game simply doesn't fit on PC. There's no reason for it to exist on this platform except as an extension of Blizzard's incredibly robust monetization options and to serve as a stopgap between Diablo III and Diablo IV (which could be out next year anyway).

Playing Diablo Immortal on PC is a jarring experience. The mechanics are familiar--hack-and-slash enemies, use skills, and pick up tons of loot. It's just Blizzard has already done this, and much, much better with Diablo III. Immortal is an obsolete game at launch whose only real innovations are an intensely layered, mobile-esque grind with lots of opportunities to spend money. Immortal is a pared back and heavily consolidated version of Diablo III that looks and plays like a mobile game, not a streamlined, PC-optimized release. The PC version is clearly an afterthought of the mobile version, and since it's on Battle.net, Blizzard gets to keep any and all revenues generated from in-game purchases.

Valve has delayed the Steam Deck's official docking station due to supply issues, the company has announced.

Following a delay of the Steam Deck itself, COVID-19 lockdowns have disrupted supply and manufacturing of the handheld PC's dock accessory.

"Due to parts shortages and COVID closures at our manufacturing facilities, the official Steam Deck Docking Station is delayed. We're working on improving the situation and will share more info when we have it. This has no effect on production schedule and reservation windows for Steam Decks (different parts, different factories)," Valve said.

Official gameplay footage for Modern Warfare 2 will be revealed on June 8 at 10AM PST / 1PM EST, Activision and Infinity Ward have announced.

Infinity Ward just dropped a live-action teaser for Modern Warfare 2, showing what looks to be a confirmation of a campaign based around conflict with South American cartels (the foothills and dusty deserts seem to be a big indication). The footage was brief, but it did give us a better look at Task Force 141, which now includes:

Twelve studios including Infinity Ward are working on the game, and Activision has confirmed Modern Warfare 2 will launch with a new version of Warzone that could completely redefine expectations for the battle royale shooter.

One of the best deals in gaming is back! New Xbox Game Pass subscribers can get an entire quarter of access for very, very cheap.

The much-talked about Game Pass deal has returned. You know the one that everyone talked about for many months? Microsoft is currently offering a promo for 3 months of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate for just $1. This deal is exclusive to new subscribers, so if you've ever had Game Pass Ultimate before you won't qualify.

Microsoft is fine with offering such a steep -93% discount because they're so confident that you'll keep your subscription active following the 3 months. After all, Game Pass is already one of the best deals in gaming with over 400 high-profile games including must-play Bethesda and other first-party hits, not to mention a rotating lineup of titles that seems to only get better with time (this month, for example, Game Pass is adding a 60FPS version of Assassin's Creed Origins for Series X/S consoles). Check out a full list of Xbox Game Pass games here.

GTA parent company Take-Two Interactive has no intentions of "turning its business upside down" to release big games day and date on services like Game Pass.

The Xbox Game Pass model works well for Microsoft, but to be fair, the company is a service-first billion-dollar tech titan that can weather losses from missing out on game sales. Revenue-driven companies like Take-Two Interactive are totally different. TTWO depends on sales off its tentpole franchises like Grand Theft Auto, which routinely makes up 25-30% of its quarterly revenues, as well as NBA 2K. The GTA franchisehas made $7.5 billion since 2013, and GTA V has sold over 165 million copies--these are huge metrics that may be compromised with day one subscription launches.

In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick discusses the simple economics behind avoiding day-one subscription releases. Zelnick emphasizes the business strategy just isn't feasible, and big games like GTA 6 won't ever be released on Game Pass at launch. Stadia, on the other hand, doesn't count because it's a distribution service and requires consumers to actually buy the games upfront.

A YouTuber has been smacked by the long hand of Nintendo as the legendary company has dished out more than 500+ copyright claims.

For those that are unaware of Nintendo's history with copyright claims, the company has got a notoriously long history of refusing to let creators use any of Nintendo-patented music. At one stage, the company was issuing copyright claims to creators that were publishing YouTube videos that displayed gameplay from a Nintendo game. However, Nintendo has become somewhat relaxed on that front now.

Now, YouTuber DeoxysPrime took to Twitter to announce that his YouTube channel, which has 165,000 followers, has been hit with more than 500 copyright infringement claims over the last week. The YouTuber wrote in a Twitter thread that they will be removing all Nintendo music from the channel, adding that "it's pretty clear they don't want their music on YouTube".

Bethesda is still working on Fallout 5, but now we have "ENFANT TERRIBLE" teasing a new Fallout 5 fan concept trailer based on Unreal Engine 5, and it looks fantastic... check it out:

The modder explains: "We can't wait for a new Fallout! Take a look at this GREAT footage from different Unreal Engine 5 reels and projects and imagine how the next Fallout 5 or Fallout 4 sequel might possibly look like. Maya, Substance 3D Painter, Redshift, Blender, Cinema 4D, Unigine, 3DS Max, Photoshop, Quixel Mixer, Quixel Megascans, Marvelous Designer, Character Creator, Lumen, Nanite, World Creator, Zbrush, Rokoko Smartsuit 2, Quixel Suite, 3D Substance Designer and VFX were also used".

We don't know about Fallout 5, nothing at all really... as Bethesda Softworks has been a mess for a while now. The developer is also working on Starfield, which has been delayed through to 2023, as well as Fallout 5 that is in development right now.

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet will release on November 18, 2022 exclusively on the Nintendo Switch, both Nintendo and The Pokemon Company today announced.

Today the Pokemon Company dropped a new Pokemon Scarlet and Violet trailer that reveals a bunch of new in-game pocket monsters, including the endearing chonky pig Lechonk. The footage also shows more of the open-world exploration, gameplay, and the multiple biomes players will travel through like arctic tundra, dry mountainous cliffs, lush and verdant forests, and sprawling prairies.

Gamers get their first glimpse at the new professors--Sada and Turo--and a fresh look at what looks to be the best Pokemon graphics to date on the Nintendo Switch. Four-player co-operative play was also confirmed in the trailer, and we got a nice look at the interactivity of the world with a sneak feature, which can be used to stealthily capture more pokemon.