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As Game of Thrones comes to a close, Amazon is looking to continue the rolling of the medieval hype ball with a Lord of the Rings TV show. Now, a Game of Thrones writer has been poached to work on Amazon's upcoming show.

Only a few days out from its finale, Amazon has hired one of the main writers from Game of Thrones. The writers name is Bryan Cogman, he wrote 11 episodes of the show and was described by Sophie Turner (Sansa Stark) as one of the backbones of the series. Amazon have now hired Cogman as a consultant for the show, his exact title has yet to be revealed.

News surrounding the coming Lord of the Rings TV show is quite scarce at the moment, all we know is that the show will be based before the events of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. It is speculated that we will be diving into the second age of Middle-Earth, and perhaps see the descendants of Numenor and the rise and fall in power from Sauron. For more information about the show, check out my breakdown on it here.

It has been a bit over a year since Valve released their dedicated desktop chatting service under their Steam umbrella. Now the company has brought out an official messaging app.

The new app has already been made available on both Android and iOS, and comes under the title of 'Steam Chat.' As expected, the app encompasses everything that was included within the desktop version of Steam Chat but instead aims to be much more accessible for the user.

Since Valve are moving more into communication and a better user experience across their Steam platform, it will be interesting to see if they can develop a service that would be good enough to pull gamers from communication programs such as TeamSpeak or Discord. It could be possible that Valve are aiming to spit out the ultimate communication platform that will render these programs obsolete, and keep Steam users on their platform.

YouTube has certainly been through its ups and downs these past couple of years with algorithm changes and other tweaks here and there. Google will now be introducing a new change that everyone will be able to notice.

According to a new blog post on the official support page for Google, YouTube's subscriber count on everyone's channel will soon become abbreviated. The changes will be applied to anyone who has their subscriber count on public, and will effect channels that have over 1,000 subscribers.

The changes will be as follows; if a channel has 1,000 subscribers, instead of the figure appearing as '1,000' it will appear as '1K'. An example of this would be if a channel has 133,017 subscribers, it will now appear as 133K subscribers. This decision was made to "create more consistency everywhere that we publicly display subscriber counts, starting in August 2019, we'll begin showing the abbreviated subscriber number across all public YouTube surfaces."

Capcom, like other developers, is currently testing out PlayStation 5 devkits and sees exciting potential with the new hardware.

Sony's PlayStation 5 should be quite beastly. The system will feature all new customized AMD chips including a potent Navi GPU in tandem with a Zen 2 CPU to deliver high-end console gaming. Other features like full native backward compatibility with PS4 games will ensure a smooth transition. But Capcom also sees big opportunities with other features like the PS5's ultra-fast broadband SSD.

In a recent interview with Weekly Famitsu (as translated by Twinfinite), Capcom's games division head Jun Takeuchi says the PS5's beefy specs and blazing-fast memory can drastically improve immersion. Loading times break immersion and action games like Devil May Cry stand to gain quite a bit from the PS5's expanded hardware, and Capcom is eager to use the console to its full potential to optimize its games.

THQ Nordic is preparing for the industry's transition towards cloud streaming, and plans to bring its huge arsenal of games to subscription platforms.

One of the biggest worries about new cloud game streaming platforms like Google Stadia is content (well that and latency of course). Any service lives or dies by the content it offers, and Stadia will especially have to rely on third-party games to thrive. Luckily THQ Nordic has signed deals to offer its vast library of IPs, classics, and new releases on new streaming subscription services.

"We are operating in a dynamic market with increasing competition between new and established digital distribution platforms, which will benefit content producers, including THQ Nordic Group,"company CEO Lars Wingefors said in a recent financial briefing.

Metro Exodus is the biggest game THQ Nordic has ever released, and strongly contributed to a huge 500% jump in net sales.

THQ Nordic's yearly earnings are quite good. The company has a huge arsenal of games and IPs but sometimes bigger titles steal the show, and this time Metro Exodus is the star. 4A Games' latest AAA shooter helped the company's net sales rise astronomically by 507% year-over-year to 5.75 billion SEK ($596.3 million) in the 15 month period ended March 31, 2019. Also remember THQ Nordic acquired Deep Silver parent company Koch Media in 2018, so Deep Silver's full library of games contributed--especially Metro Exodus.

Throughout the 15-month period (the odd reporting schedule is due to THQ Nordic switching from a calendar model to fiscal year, so 3 months were tacked on), Deep Silver games made a disproportionate amount of sales earnings, especially during Q5 when Metro Exodus was released. While no exact per-game unit sales were revealed, Deep Silver accounted for 77% of total sales in Q5, driven by, you guessed it, Metro Exodus.

THQ Nordic has signed a deal for 4A Games' big new AAA project. Could it be the next Metro project?

Metro Exodus developer 4A Games is making a brand new big-budget game, THQ Nordic today confirmed in its yearly earnings report. "The Company invested SEK 305.2 million ($31.7 million) in its growing development pipeline that will be driving growth and profitability in the coming years. During the period multiple new projects were signed, among them a new development agreement with 4A Games, the developers of Metro franchise, for their upcoming, still undisclosed AAA-project," the company said in the report.

4A Games has enjoyed massive success with their game adaptations of Dmitry Glukhovsy's post-apocalyptic book series. Metro Exodus was a huge driver to the publisher's quarterly earnings, driving up net sales and operating profits. Given Metro is 4A Games' biggest cash crop, the new project could be another chapter in the franchise. But a new Metro game runs into one big problem: Glukhovsky isn't writing any more books. So the studio will have to come up with source material themselves. At the same time, Glukhovsky usually consults with the team to ensure authenticity.

Every gamer loves free games, and it doesn't really even matter what kind of game it is as long as its free. So what free game can gamers get their hands-on now? How about a copy of The Sims 4?

The Sims 4 was released back in September of 2014 and while most gamers would already have a copy of the title, those who don't now have a chance of grabbing one for free. The news comes from the official Sims Twitter account, and the announcement reads as follows; "Simmers, tag a friend who should get The Sims 4 for free!"

EA will be giving the game away for free for anyone that is on PC or Mac. Users will have to head on over to the Origin store to pick up their free copy. "The game is free on PC and Mac via Origin until May 28th". If you are interested in earning yourself a free copy of The Sims 4, head on over to the Origin website here.

A new announcement will see another great title ported over to the Nintendo Switch later this month. Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons will be arriving on the handheld console on May 28th.

Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons was released back in August of 2013 and was developed by Starbreeze Studios and written and directed by Josef Fares who is known for his recently released co-op title 'A Way Out.' When Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons was released it was met with a fantastic response, so I'm sure that the Nintendo Switch community will welcome the title.

For those wanting to pre-order the title, there will be a 10% discount. Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons will be released onto the Nintendo Switch on May 28th. For more information head on over to the official 505 Games website listing here.

World War Z publisher and developer Saber Interactive are proud to announce that their recently released title World War Z has managed to amass 2 million sales world wide.

World War Z, the zombie co-op shooter inspired by the Brad Pitt starred movie 'World War Z' has taken off to quite the bang. So much so that publishers Saber Interactive and Focus Home Interactive have released a accolades trailer to celebrate the titles achievements. The trailer contains many quotes from many different game reviewing websites, each giving their own spin on what they think about World War Z.

Josh Austin, SVP, WW Licensing and Interactive at Paramount Pictures commented on the success of World War Z. Saying "World War Z has fast become one of our most successful interactive games to date. It's a testament to both the incredible co-op action experience that Saber Interactive and Focus Home Interactive have crafted, as well as the strong appeal of our hit franchise with fans across the globe." World War Z is currently available on PS4, Xbox One and the PC. For more information head on over to the official website here.

A new leak has suggested that Microsoft will have a whole segment for Age of Empires at this years E3. The leak hints towards gameplay being shown off.

The leak comes from NeoGAF user Braldryr who has claimed he has insider information on Microsoft's entire E3 2019 press conference. For the purpose of this post I will be concentrating purely just on Age of Empires IV, which Braldryr says will have an entire dedicated segment throughout Microsoft's showcase.

Braldryr says that there will be a general "info dump" that will include a gameplay reveal and a release date of 2020. This certainly does make sense as we haven't heard anything about the coming Age of Empires IV for quite some time now, the original announcement trailer was released back in August of 2017 and it has basically been radio silence since then. Since this isn't an official confirmation and just a rumor, please do not take this information as gospel, it is merely an accurately guessed rumor.

MSI has been making LIGHTNING series graphics cards for 10 years now, and in order to celebrate the milestone the company has unveiled that a new special edition of its GeForce TX 2080 Ti LIGHTNING graphics card will debut at Computex 2019.

There's not much known about the new special edition MSI GeForce RTX 2080 Ti LIGHTNING Z graphics card, but if the normal version is anything to go by the 10th anniversary special edition card should be something very, very special indeed. We should expect nothing but the very best from MSI -- something we'll definitely be checking out on day one of Computex 2019 next week.

The very first LIGHTNING series card was the MSI GeForce GTX 2060 LIGHTNING back in 2009, the first graphics card to feature 5 heat pipes and the first with a metal cover and dual-fan design. It also featured the first integrated touch OC panel, and kicked off the entire LIGHTNING series family of cards from MSI.

We are only a couple of weeks away from E3 2019 and now we're hearing about what Microsoft has planned for the show, with a leak courtesy of NeoGAF user Braldyr. We will also see AMD's next-gen Navi GPU unveiled at its Next Horizon Gaming event just before E3 2019, with the new Zen 2 and Navi architectures both on 7nm, both powering the next-gen PlayStation 5 and next-gen Xbox consoles.

The post teases that we can indeed expect next-gen Xbox console announcements, new services like Microsoft's cloud gaming service Project xCloud, and a bunch of games both new and old to be unveiled at E3 2019. In terms of next-gen Xbox consoles we're looking at being introduced to both the next-gen Xbox Anaconda and Xbox Lockheart consoles (Next Xbox Streaming and Next Xbox X according to recent rumors).

We can expect Microsoft to unveil what's inside of the next-gen Xbox consoles, and I'm sure a big look into what they'll be capable of from the inside-out, through to truly next generation games. The rumors added that 'less confident predictions' of game unveils included a new Forza Motorsport game, new MechAssault game, and even a Perfect Dark reboot that would be overseen but not developed by Rare. All I want to see is a next-gen Battletoads, that would be freaking awesome.

SAPPHIRE has revealed some next-gen Radeon Navi graphics card details at a new Chinese press event, with a SAPPHIRE product manager and PR director talking about two Radeon Navi cards at $399 and $499, as well as a next-gen TOXIC version of Navi.

You might not remember the TOXIC brand from SAPPHIRE but it used to be a kick ass super-custom Radeon graphics card until AMD started to slow down with enthusiast-level Radeon cards. Well, TOXIC is making a come back according to the SAPPHIRE PR manager who said that the company has designed the TOXIC version of Radeon Navi and that it will be watercooled.

That is some good news for gamers and SAPPHIRE, as the company has had its hands tied behind its back with recent Radeon releases. There were no custom Radeon VII graphcis cards as I exclusively revealed, with all roads leading to Navi and now a TOXIC-infused SAPPHIRE card that is watercooled. We're in for some great times when it comes to Navi excitement in the coming months.

John Wick Chapter 3: Parabellum has barely been out a week and it is already met with well-deserved success, and it seems so much so that the studio has green-lit John Wick 4 with a release date already unveiled of May 21, 2021.

The execution of the announcement was done in a very John Wick way, with a text message sent to the fans and media that said: "You have served. You will be of service. John Wick: Chapter 4 is coming - May 21, 2021". We should see the return of Keanu Reeves to the titular role, with director Chad Stahelski (if you didn't know, played Reeves' stunt coordinator for The Matrix Trilogy).

John Wick Chapter 3: Parabellum is currently the #1 movie in the world, and it deserves it - if you've seen the movie you'll agree it kicks ass, and if you haven't seen it -- go see it! It is awesome. What a world we live in - The Matrix is receiving a new movie with the Wachowskis involved and now John Wick 4 is happening -- oh, and let's not forget Bill & Ted 3 with Keanu Reeves. Excellent!

Sony's new PlayStation Productions label is going old-school with its first project.

Sony is baking PlayStation into nearly everything it does. It recently launched PlayStation Productions, a studio that'll work along Sony Pictures to adapt big first-party game franchises into TV shows and movies across its entertainment subscriptions. Sony's kicking things off with a surprising gem from PlayStation's early days: the carmageddon smash-up Twisted Metal.

At a recent Sony investor's meeting, Sony Pictures CEO Tony Vinciquerra confirmed a Twisted Metal TV show is happening. "We have a TV show we just agreed to get underway that will be developed from the IP on PlayStation, it's called Twisted Metal. It's a game that was put out many years ago and we're going to develop a TV series around that."

The PlayStation 4 absolutely dominated this generation and this year it'll reach 100 million units sold worldwide. Although the next-gen PlayStation 5 is on the way, Sony isn't about to flip a reset switch and scrap all that progress. No, the PS4 will live alongside the PlayStation 5 for years to come and is expected to deliver strong earnings well into the PS5's lifecycle.

Sony has no plans to retire its massively lucrative PlayStation 4 any time soon. In a recent investor's meeting, Sony predicts the PS4 will continue as the main driver for profitability and engagement until 2022, or roughly two years after the PS5's planned launch. Although it's not explicitly outlined, this infers the PS5 won't pick up steam until its third year (the PS4 hit its peak of 20 million sales in four years).

This makes perfect sense given the console's massive 98.6 million install base and Sony's emphasis on a seamless generational transition. Although the PS5's Navi GPU and Zen 2 CPU hardware is a true leap ahead of current PS4 consoles, Sony has confirmed that the PS5 will play all existing PS4 games via native backward compatibility. The company has put great effort in ensuring a smooth changeover between the two consoles.

Sony has a bold and ambitious plan to make PlayStation a part of every bit of entertainment it creates.

When looking over Sony's recent investor's meeting presentation, one key thought stood out: PlayStation is king. Sony is synergizing all of its strongest points to make a huge content foundation for long-term growth. It's entertainment branches are working together in a new way to not only compliment, but meld with its billion-dollar gaming division. PlayStation will permeate through everything Sony does insofar as entertainment.

Soon we'll see some of PlayStation's biggest properties adapted into films and TV shows, all produced by Sony's new in-house PlayStation Productions studio. Its movie-making segment Sony Pictures will help bring PlayStation games to the big screen. The company's new focus on unity, which calls for a "one Sony collaboration," will see all of its moving parts working together to enhance PlayStation gaming and retroactively feed back into itself. Even Sony Music will create soundtracks for big first-party games moving forward.

Sony's PlayStation business has been centered around the PS4 for a while now. Now the company is breaking its console tether with cloud streaming tech.

Sony has ambitious plans for the PlayStation brand's future. The company outlined a new business strategy at its recent investors event that fully embraces its strengths as a company as well as new technologies like game streaming. Sony plans to bring its PlayStation Now service off-console to other platforms like mobiles, using 5G and Microsoft's own Azure servers to make it happen. The games-maker is eager not to be left behind as big companies like Microsoft and Google enter seamless cloud streaming.

The presentation talks a lot about Sony's ideals for its future. The two main tenants for PlayStation moving forward are "seamless" and "immersion." Immersion refers to the raw might of the PS5's new Navi GPU and Zen 2 CPU hardware, but the seamless aspect is geared more towards services--game streaming in particular. Sony is creating a cohesive network of cross-platform services to help supplement its earnings and bring PlayStation to more users everywhere, regardless if they own a console or not.

From Software's weird and bizarre visual flair will mix with the flowing prose of one of the best fantasy writers in the business, reports indicate.

Famed A Song of Ice and Fire author George R. R. Martin is helping From Software create a new open-world RPG with Norse mythology themes, sources tell Games Radar and Gematsu. The game will be centered in Norse mythology, giving From Software lots of source material to adapt with its otherworldly style, and will likely draw from George R. R. Martin's expansive knowledge of knights, myths and legends.

Key sources say Hideki Miyazaki and George R. R. Martin are working closely on the ambitious game. The game is codenamed GR--an abbreviation for Great Rune--and the game will be announce during Microsoft's E3 2019 next month. Whether or not the RPG is a Microsoft exclusive remains to be seen. The project is supposedly massive in scope and will be more expansive, complete with big tribal conflicts and longer-winded exploration. Horse-riding is reportedly involved and conquest may play a pivotal role; players may launch huge army-scale attacks on kingdoms to usurp thrones.