Latest News - Page 1919

Borderlands 3 is bringing some welcomed changes to loot and co-op, and introducing some absolutely bonkers guns.

Wither Borderlands 3, Gearbox wants to go all out. Not only is the game absolutely massive with 1 billion guns, off-planet travel, full synergy with AMD's latest PC hardware, and four new vault hunters with unique customizable skills, but it'll change how gamers play co-op in a few key ways.

Gearbox confirms Borderlands 3 will have couch co-op with two loot drop modes: the classic Diablo-style shared drops where anyone can pick up anything like in Borderlands 2, or a new mode that has loot instanced and separated to each individual player. Both modes can be activated online or in couch co-op sessions.

Nintendo's new Switch-powered VR headset will interact with some of its best-selling games.

VR is coming to the Nintendo Switch, but not in the way you think. Rather than take on competitors like Oculus or HTC with a dedicated peripheral, the Switch's VR kits are more like Google's low-cost cardboard kits. Gamers can buy Labo VR kits and assemble their own headsets and weird, wacky peripherals like a bird, an elephant trunk, and even a gun to interact with special VR games. But Nintendo isn't missing out on the golden opportunity to breathe new life into some of its best and brightest Switch games using VR.

Best-selling Switch games like Super Mario Odyssey and Zelda: Breath of the Wild will have special VR compatibility with the headset. Each game plays differently in VR: Super Mario Odyssey, for example, has three special mini-games made specially for VR, whereas Breath of the Wild offers a more immersive theater mode experience.

Ubisoft's next Assassin's Creed game is set in the brutal age of Viking seafarers, and is planned for a release next year.

Keen on chasing God of War's critical success and spinning their magic on Norse history, Ubisoft's new Assassin's Creed will take gamers to the turbulent Viking era. A curious teaser for the game was found in The Division 2 that shows a poster of a soldier holding an Apple of Eden under a banner that reads "Valhalla". The soldier looks suspiciously like one of Charlemagne's crusaders during the expansion of the Holy Roman Empire, hinting the game could be set in the late 8th Century.

Sources have confirmed to Kotaku that yes, the next Assassin's Creed is Viking-themed, and that it'll release in 2020. It's likely Ubisoft will use this big marquee title as a showcase for next-gen console power and push the upcoming PlayStation 5 and Xbox Scarlett systems to their limits (Ubisoft did the same with Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag during the PS4's and Xbox One's launch).

Fallout 76 in itself is a weird experiment that fails as a service game. It's getting better, though, but nothing's ever sure with live games and publishers/devs often go back on their promises. Bethesda is doing just that with Fallout 76 by introducing non-cosmetic microtransactions that have an actual tangible affect on the game.

In a bid to earn more revenues from its online-only Fallout service game, Bethesda plans to sell shortcuts in Fallout 76's Atomic Shop. Gamers can buy these kits with Atoms, a currency that's purchased for real money or earned in-game. The kits are pretty advantageous and instantly repair any item's condition and allow gamers to avoid the tedium of collecting materials. Bethesda is kind of selling us stress-savers directly. And the non-cosmetic microtransactions may just be beginning.

Here's what Bethesda said in a recent blog post announcement:

This week has been truly hectic for Borderlands announcements, and now we have yet another announcement out of developer Gearbox Studios. This weekend players will be able to enjoy The Handsome Collection completely free of charge!

According to the official Borderlands 3 Twitter account, Borderlands: The Handsome Collection will be going completely free-to-play this weekend on Xbox One and Steam. Combined with the free-to-play weekend, other platforms such as the Microsoft and PlayStation Store will feature heavy discounts for the bundle.

For those that don't know what The Handsome Collection contains, it includes Borderlands 2, Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, and all the respective downloadable content. Additionally, there is free Ultra HD texture packs that have been released for both of the games on PC, Xbox One X and PS4 Pro. For more information about The Handsome Collection going free-to-play, visit the offical Steam listing for the title here.

The newest member of the XCOM family of games is Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden, and now that title is going portable with an official Nintendo Switch trailer being released.

The above trailer, which has been released onto the official Nintendo YouTube Channel showcases the new title that heads over to the Nintendo Switch on June 25th. Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden will combines an amazing story with tactical turn-based combat that will require strategic thoughtful planning to overcome each battle.

Players will also have to choose 3 mutants out of a total 5, these mutants will be apart of your team as your progress throughout the story. The storyline will be linear but will give players some options via side-missions and vital choices that will have to be made. If you are a fan of the XCOM games and don't mind giving something new a try, check out Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden as I'm sure it won't disappoint. Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden will be launching on the Nintendo Switch on June 25th, for more information visit the official website here.

Persona has been grabbing at the attention of some gamers as of late, due to the announcement of the games protagonist Joker joining the ranks of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

In a new interview with the games director, Naoto Hiraoka, was asked numerous questions surrounding the Persona series and where it stands sales wise, his thoughts on the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate inclusion with Joker and the possibility of the Persona series coming over to the Nintendo Switch.

According to Hiraoka, the latest release of the Persona series 'Persona 5' has seen over 2.4 million sales since its release. When asked about the possibility of Persona coming to the Nintendo Switch, Hiraoka says "We don't have a specific answer to give for that question, but I personally think that the Nintendo Switch is a 'very attractive platform'." With Joker now joining the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate roster, I think its a very big possibility that the Persona series will eventually follow.

If you are a big fan of the Souls series, you can easily tell that FromSoftware's latest release, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is a step in a different direction development wise. Now why is that?

In a recent interview with Famitsu and summarized by Frontline, Hidetaka Miyazaki the President of FromSoftware, spoke out about what the developers had in mind while developing Sekiro. According to Miyazaki, FromSoftware made sure that they developed Sekiro with a balance of fun combat combined with a notorious level of difficulty.

Miyazaki expresses that was very important to develop the title with this balanced combination, and removing things such as fall damage allowed them to create more fluid controls which in turn opened the door for more mechanics to be implemented. The whole idea of having fun while getting better at the game is an extremely rewarding feedback loop that players can enjoy being in. More importantly, games that have the capacity to be able to enthrall you in its difficulty, while still keeping you engaged because of how fun it is showcases a truly great development balance.

Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice developer Ninja Theory have announced the release date for Hellblade arriving on the Nintendo Switch, with the developer announcing the date on their official Twitter account, it says "Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice is coming to the Nintendo Switch next week on April 11".

Fans asked if Ninja Theory was planning on releasing a physical edition of Hellblade for the Nintendo Switch. Ninja Theory replied with "Hello, we have no plans for a physical version at this time", so at the moment Switch owners will only be able to pick up a digital version of the game. Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice will be available on the Nintendo eShop for $29.99 on April 11th. On a side note, Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice will be coming to the Nintendo Switch with motion control support, more on that here.

Monster Hunter World is being updated right now on Steam with a rather large 29GB download that provides a high resolution texture pack for improved graphics.

The new free DLC is available for Monster Hunter World as the large update to the game, but you'll have to do a few clicks to get to it. The developer explains: "After downloading the pack, go to the main menu > Options > Display > Advanced Graphics Settings to adjust the texture quality".

The patch also adds a new TAA+FXAA anti-aliasing option, new mouse controls that aren't as sensitive to unintentional movement when controlling the Focus Camera with the mouse, and more. The team also added a meter to the Advanced Graphics Settings menu that lets you know how much VRAM your graphics card will be using with the applied settings at the time.

The Division 2 is already a bundle of fun and one of the best experiences I've had in games for a very, very long time with publisher Ubisoft teasing the first post-launch update for the game titled 'Tidal Basin' will be pushed out tomorrow, April 5. If you want to see how The Division 2 runs from a GeForce GTX 980 Ti to an RTX 2080 Ti and Radeon VII (a 20 graphics card test), check out my article on The Division 2 performance here.

The new Tidal Basin update is part of the Invasion: Battle for DC post-launch content avalanche that will include a new stronghold held by the Black Tusk faction, which when taken over, will unlock The Division 2 players to hit World Tier 5. There, you'll have access to even higher-end weapons, and boosted gear of up to level 500, oh, and a new Specialization. The next update will arrive in the Summer, then another in Autumn, and the final update for the Year 1 Free Content for The Division 2 ends in Winter 2019.

Once players have reached World Tier 5 they'll be hit with "weekly invasions" that will see powerful Black Tusk members taking over main missions and strongholds across the city. Ubisoft and Massive will be rolling out a new PvP map called Fort McNair as well as two new exotic weapons in Pestilence and Nemesis.

DICE has pushed out a new update for Battlefield V, and while it might have some tweaks to DXR and DLSS features the developer also snuck something else in: premium currency.

The new 'Battlefield Currency' as the developer puts it are just premium coins you can use to purchase cosmetic customization sets, elite sets, and time savers. They add no additional stats or buffs to any weapons and are purely cosmetic, with DICE explaining the elite sets are "unique characters with names and backgrounds" you can use in Battlefield V multiplayer.

There will be two types of time savers up for your hard-earned real-world money, with them acting as either tier catch-ups or XP boosts. DICE explains Tier Catch-Ups with unlocking Chapter Reward items, "providing an option for those players who don't have the time to earn all those items through gameplay". XP Boosts will "accelerate the amount of experience points you earn while you play, allowing you to reach Chapter, Career, Weapon, Vehicle, or Class Rank at a faster pace".

If you were like me and gaming your life away in the 90s during some of the best game releases like Hexen and Heretic, you'll be surprised (and glad) to hear about somethign I didn't know about until today: an AI-powered texture pack for Heretic.

Improving games using AI and new texture packs isn't something new, but modder Grandgreed has used a neural network-created texture pack for the new Heretic called Heretic Neural Texture Pack. The new AI-powered texture pack improves the surface textures of Heretic, as well as its enemies and pick up sprites which all look much better with the Heretic Neural Texture Pack.

Just looking at the enemy models, the AI-based texture mod is doing a great job here alone.

Battlefield V will soon receive its Tides of War Chapter 3: Trials by Fire Update #2 with developer DICE providing some update notes for gamers on what to expect in the upcoming patch.

DICE has focused the update on Battlefield V's new battle royale mode, Firestorm, with tweaks amounting to improved interaction with safes, fixed visual issues, and making the Flare Gun usable while in water. The developer adds that other parts of the multiplayer of Battlefield V have been improved, with the team adding a soldier stance icon from single-player, which was a big request from players. DICE adds that "we've made multiple stability improvements, bug fixes, and some quality-of-life enhancements".

There are some PC-specific improvements in the new Battlefield V update as well, with concentration on DXR and DLSS features, and much more. Check out that full list below:

BioWare has big, big problems. It's systemic issues have affected big marquee games like Mass Effect: Andromeda, and most recently, the studio's massive new IP Anthem. These issues have existed for a long while and now, but the studio finally makes a big step towards change.

BioWare's magic is running thin. Gone are the glory days of Dragon Age: Origins and Mass Effect 2. BioWare now seems to export strange experiments rather than great games, and has created an environment endemic of anxiety, depression, and massive stress to the point where employees suffer mental breakdowns. Now after years of reports about crunch on Dragon Age: Inquisition, and a startling expose on Anthem's development, studio General Manager Casey Hudson confirms these issues exist. BioWare is in bad shape...but Hudson is determined to fix how the studio makes games.

"The article mentions many of the problems in the development of Anthem and some of our previous projects. And it draws a link between those issues and the quality of our workplace and the well-being of our staff. These problems are real and it's our top priority to continue working to solve them," current BioWare General Manager Casey Hudson said in an internal memo acquired by Kotaku.

Games take a very real toll on developers, but some studios in particular shed more weight on their workers. BioWare is one such studio, and the company has a very big morale problem on its hands.

According to a new report from Kotaku, sources close to BioWare confirm the studio is endemic with depression, frustration, and mismangement. BioWare's development practices are grueling, years-long cycles of crunch, anxiety, and mental duress that see employees regularly have mental breakdowns. It's so bad people go into closets and cry, yell at walls out of anger, or simply disappear for months at a time on stress leave.

"I actually cannot count the amount of stress casualties we had on Mass Effect: Andromeda or Anthem. A stress casualty at BioWare means someone had such a mental breakdown from the stress they're just gone for one to three months. Some come back. Some don't," one ex-BioWare dev told Kotaku's Jason Schreier.

Outside of being the only place to buy specific games on PC, Epic hasn't made a compelling argument for its storefront. Until it can fortify a very flimsy marketplace we should expect this buying spree to continue.

Epic's exclusivity deals won't stop any time soon. The company will continue to poach games from Steam as devs jump over to the Epic Store's attractive 88% revenue split. Tim Sweeney already confirmed as much, but he really didn't have to say anything. One visit to the Epic Store says everything you need to know. Here's what Sweeney said in a recent Tweet:

"We've had a lot of discussions about [exclusivity deals] since GDC. Epic is open to continuing to sign funding/exclusivity deals with willing developers and publishers regardless of their previous plans or announcements around Steam," Epic Games' founder said.

Risk of Rain 2 is one of the most explosively chaotic and fun indies I've played in recent memory. Apparently I'm not the only one who thinks this; the game has pulled in a metric ton of players in its short availability on Steam.

Hopoo's new sequel brings the classic Risk of Rain roguelike to the 3D realm, complete with 4-player co-op madness and hard-as-nails boss fights. The formula has proven to be immensely powerful: Risk of Rain 2 has amassed over 650,000 players on Steam in its first week of early access. For an indie--or any game on the platform, really--these numbers are absolutely gigantic. The numbers are inflated a bit from the recent BOGO offer, but Hopoo is about to crest 650,000 copies sold on Steam...and those are just early access figures. Those sales could jump dramatically when Risk of Rain 2 launches on other platforms later this year.

Armed with this surge of goodwill, the devs are committed to laying out the game's future roadmap of content. There's still more classes, maps, items, and titanic world-breaking bosses to deliver, as well as a ton of tweaks and hotfixes to roll out. Right now Risk of Rain 2 feels like a complete game to me, so I'm excited about the prospect of expansion into this weird, punishing sci-fi universe.

Remedy wants to make another Alan Wake game, and now we know they actually were developing a sequel at one point. But we shouldn't expect the dark series to make a comeback any time soon.

In a recent interview with VG247, Remedy's Thomas Puha says the studio was actually making Alan Wake 2 a long while ago. The game just fell apart while in development for undisclosed reasons--Microsoft could've canned it, Remedy could've moved on to other things, or the game could've just fizzled out as is all too common in the industry.

Puha affirms that Alan Wake probably won't be seen for a while now. Remedy is working on a bunch of projects, including its new IP Control, a game called CrossFire 2, and another mystery title. "We were working on Alan Wake 2 years ago and it just didn't pan out, so there's nothing. We're just booked solid for the next couple of years, really."

2K Games and Firaxis Games has now enabled support for cross-platform saves for Civilization VI between the PC and the Nintendo Switch. PC Civilization games can now be continued portably!

A recent announcement onto the Civilization VI: Gathering Storm Twitter account has brought in a new way of portability for PC Civilization VI games. Players that happen to own a Nintendo Switch and have a second copy of Civilization VI will now be able to continue their PC game that they were playing on their Nintendo Switch as Firaxis and 2K have enabled cross-platform saving.

Players can now link their 2K account to multi-platform cloud saves in the options menu, then depending on what platform players choose to play on, they will able to continue right where they left off. It should be noted that at the moment both the Rise and Fall or Gathering Storm expansions are not available on the Nintendo Switch version, so cloud saved games with these expansions enabled will not be able to be played on the Switch. More positively, those expansions will soon be released onto the Nintendo Switch, so players will be able to enjoy cloud saves with more than just the vanilla game.