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In a world separated by the sea of digital store fronts, there needs to be a hero that steps forward and says "no more". My friends, that is developer CD PROJEKT RED.

CDPR is currently developing Cyberpunk 2077, one of the most anticipated games of all time, and has officially confirmed the game will not be exclusive to any store front. Yes, that means it will NOT be exclusive to the likes of Steam, Epic Games Store, GOG, or even its own digital store front.

Unlike Deep Silver and its dog move of pulling Metro Exodus out of Steam and making it an exclusive to the Epic Games Store for more profit, CDPR is foregoing additional revenue it could make from a digital store front exclusivity deal, and making it easy for gamers to play their game on as many platforms as possible.

ArenaNet has confirmed that the company is currently going through job lay-offs and internal restructuring due to their parent company NCSoft seeing a lack of business revenue.

It is a sad day for both fans of the games ArenaNet has developed and more importantly the employees at ArenaNet, as the company has confirmed that they are currently undergoing job lay-off and internal restructuring. This confirmation followed last weeks internal email sent out to employees from NCSoft's - the parent company of ArenaNet - CEO, Songyee Yoon saying "Our live game business revenue is declining as our franchises age, delays in development on PC and mobile have created further drains against our revenue projects, while our operating costs in the west have increased. Where we are is not sustainable, and is not going to set us up for future success."

According to the Linkedln page for ArenaNet the company currently has about 400 employees, and now NCSoft will be restructuring that due to a lack of business revenue from its released franchises. Here is what NCSoft said in a statement to GeekWire, "This is part of a larger organizational restructuring within NCSoft in the west, but the Guild Wars and Guild Wars 2 game services will not be affected, nor is any upcoming game content canceled."

If you missed the fiasco of Metro Exodus' launch, then luckily you missed a huge amount of controversy that hit the gaming industry. Despite the controversy around Exodus, Steam reviews are overall extremely positive.

Before I get into why positive Steam reviews for Metro Exodus is not expected, I will give a quick recap on what happened with the titles launch. It all began when 4A Games' Metro Exodus, published by THQ Nordic and Deep Silver diverted their launch platform of choice extremely close to the announced release date. This decision came from the publishing side of the game and the decision that was made was that Exodus would skip the Steam Store and instead be a timed exclusive on the Epic Games Store. As expected, this decision came with extreme backlash from the community.

The decision to be a timed exclusive on the Epic Games Store was obviously done for monetary reasons due to the Epic Games Stores policy of having 88% of the revenue returned to the developers and publishers, while Steam takes a hefty 30% cut. There was so much upset amongst the Metro community that I even wrote a news post regarding fans of the series review bombing the other Metro titles on Steam to express their disgust with the publishing decision. You would expect that since the Steam page for Metro Exodus is still available that fans would be review bombing that as well, shockingly enough, that isn't the case.

Capcom has announced that three brand new Resident Evil titles will be coming to the Nintendo Switch on May 21st. Switch owners should prepare their handheld consoles for some classic horror action.

Yesterday Capcom announced via their official Resident Evil Games Twitter account that they would be bringing three new Resident Evil games to the Nintendo Switch via the Nintendo Switch eShop on May 21st. The games chosen to debut to Nintendo's hybrid console are; Resident Evil Zero, Resident Evil 4 and the HD remaster of Resident Evil 1.

It should be noted that European owners will be able to get all three games as separate digital downloads through the European eShop. North American owners can pick up 'Resident Evil Origins'at retail, but that bundle will only include Resident Evil HD Remaster and Resident Evil Zero. Unfortunately there is no known retail release date for Resident Evil in Europe. Pre-orders for these Resident Evil games begin on February 28th. For more information about the classic Resident Evil titles arriving on the Nintendo Switch, visit the official Resident Evil website here.

Ryan Reynolds set a goal to not disappoint any Pokemon fans with his upcoming release of Detective Pikachu, to ensure the best chances for a lack of disappointment Reynolds literally became Pikachu for an entire year.

Reynolds has taken to his own personal YouTube Channel to release a "Outside the Actors Studio" video that reveals his motivation towards taking the lead role of Detective Pikachu. Reynolds describes the first time that he got the news that he received the role of Pikachu, he says that he was driving to get his kids from school but didn't go and pick them up due to the fact that Pikachu wouldn't know who those kids were so neither did he (a joke of course).

Reynolds describes that he "vanishes" into his roles, which can also be interpreted as method acting. Reynolds says that he purposefully vanished into the world of Pokemon and gave examples of how he did so. "I read about them, I lived at his height, I tried to loose 182 pounds to match his weight until doctors intervened." The Pokemon: Detective Pikachu Twitter account also released a short video teasing that there will be a brand new trailer tomorrow, so stay tuned for that one. If you happened to miss the first trailer, check it out here. There is also a "big" trailer that was released, more on that here.

Sometimes its just fun to jump into a sandbox title and quite literally just start reaping havoc upon its occupants, and what better title to do that in than Saints Row: The Third - The Full Package?

Deep Silver have taken to their official Twitter account to announce that Saints Row: The Third will be arriving on the Nintendo's handheld console with its "Full Package". Deep Silver will be bringing the game over to the Switch with a slew of downloadable content for players to enjoy, in-fact all of the post-DLC content that was released for the title will be included within the Nintendo Switch version.

What can you do in Saints Row: The Third? Well, I think a better question would be what can't you do. Players will be able to disrupt numerous crime mobs in a variety of unorthodox ways; riding hover jets, whacking them with human size sex toys, over the top destruction and much more. There will also be co-op mode added as well, so Switch players can double the strange level of fun if they so desire. Switch players will be able to jump into the action of the City of Steelport on the 10th of May this year.

My childhood was filled with hundreds of hours of my brother and I playing on our Sega Mega Drive (Sega Genesis in the US) and now one of my favorite consoles of all time is being made into the Mega Drive mini, with Sega Japan asking gamers what games they want to see on the shrunken-down console.

Sega Japan took to its official Twitter account to ask gamers what they want to see on the Mega Drive mini, with a choice between Sonic 1 and Sonic 2 being a hard decision. Not only that, but it's also between Puyo Puyo vs Puyo Puyo Tsu and Shining Force vs Shining Force II. The Twitter voting is for the Japanese version of the console, but I'm sure we'll see those votes count towards the Western version of the console when it drops later this year.

What games would you choose?

We knew it was coming, and now we are getting a small taste of what to expect from the latest hero that will soon join the ranks of Overwatch; Baptiste. Check out his origin story teaser trailer below.

Baptiste is a new combat medic for Overwatch, with his back story telling us that he was one of the millions that was orphaned during the Omnic Crisis. He joined the bad guys in Talon, regretting this decision and then leaving. Talon sent operatives after Baptiste, but then they went missing as well, leaving Baptiste on his own helping people whether that means healing them, or ending them.

We don't know what abilities or weapons that Baptiste will have, but at least we know that Blizzard is offering up a new combat medic to Overwatch, something I've wanted for a while now. Is he enough to pull me away from being a Mercy main... well, I guess we'll have to wait and see. We should expect Baptiste to pop his head up in the PTR soon enough before joining the ranks in ranked matches in the coming weeks and months.

Samsung unleashed a bunch of smartphones just before MWC 2019, with everything you need to know about the Galaxy S10 covered in my article, but what about the new Galaxy Note 10 that should be unveiled later this year?

Now we're hearing new rumors that Samsung's next big thing will include not two or three rear-facing cameras, but a quad-camera rear-snapper setup akin to its Galaxy S10 5G variant that rocks four cameras. SamMobile reports a new Samsung model number SM-N975F, and that'll feature four cameras on the back. We should expect that the new Galaxy Note 10 will feature 5G connectivity, since there will be close to 6 months between now and its release.

We should expect Samsung to slap on an even better Infinity-O panel on the Galaxy Note 10, with the new Galaxy S10 featuring the best display on a smartphone yet. Apple will release its new iPhone in a few months and I'm sure it'll have a great display that might top the Galaxy S10, and then Samsung will be back in the champions chair with the Galaxy Note 10 later in the year, as well as 5G, something Apple won't have until 2020.

NVIDIA shook up the sub $300 graphics card game with its new GeForce GTX 1660 Ti (our review here) and now there are new rumors suggesting AMD is preparing price cuts to its Radeon RX 580 and Radeon RX 590 graphics cards.

No, these price cuts won't be like that fake news that spread like wildfire last week that saw rumors stating AMD had dropped the price of the Radeon RX Vega 56 to $279, rather it sees AMD dropping the price of the Radeon RX 580 to $199 and the RX 590 to $229. AMD launched the Radeon RX 590 at $279, so a large $50 price reduction would help sell many more units, while a solid sub $200 retail price on the RX 580 will make it an even bigger seller.

Remember that the Radeon RX 580 and RX 590 are both 8GB cards, and the RX 580 even comes in a 4GB model so expect that to be found a little cheaper than the rumored $199 price. We should expect these price drops to come into effect in the next couple of weeks and then after that it should be pretty quiet through to June or so when AMD reveals Navi.

Don't worry fellow Apex players, Respawn is aware of the hitboxes being a bit iffy in Apex Legends and the team is working on it. To bring you up to speed, YouTuber 'SookieSpy' has a good video that'll run you through the issue, check it out:

This is a big issue for Apex Legends players depending on the legend you're playing, because the hitbox for Gibraltar is 140% larger than Wraith, but then you can shoot between the legs of legends like Bloodhound works, but it won't work on Pathfinder. Pathfinder is a favorite legend for many players, with lots of them turning off the legend because of the hitboxes being a big problem.

In a post on Reddit, a Respawn community manager said: "We are definitely aware of it and we were actually discussing it today. I can't say anything more for now but we hear you guys".

Final Fantasy publisher Square Enix isn't doing so great right now financially, and key franchises aren't meeting expectations.

Square Enix's nine-month earnings show a company in decline. Luckily it has the massive success of Kingdom Hearts III to surge Q4 earnings, but for the first three quarters the publisher didn't fare as well as it wanted to.

The company saw multiple drops in revenue across the board. Operating profit for the first nine months was down by a whopping 65% to 11.7 billion yen, total income was down by 54% to 15.9 billion yen, and total profits Square Enix raked in were down a big 60% to 8.9 billion yen. This is comparitive performance, of course, and Square Enix's FY2018 was stronger with multiple MMO expansions, strong smartphone game earnings, and great sales of games like NieR: Automata, various Kingdom Hearts re-releases, and Dragon Quest titles. So this decline is natural given the publisher's leaner release slate and decline in smartphone revenues, but the games it did manage to ship missed expectations.

Watch Dogs 3 could launch in 2019 and take the high-stakes hacktivism outside of the United States.

Ubisoft's next big Watch Dogs sequel will launch sometime this year and be set in London, England, according to an admittedly shaky rumor from an anonymous 4Chan poster. Per usual, the poster outlines some Watch Dogs 3 possibilities including combat weaponry--knives and handguns are in, but assault rifles may be absent--and a bigger focus on hacking the city's advanced tech. This implies London will be much more dynamic than San Francisco's immensely enjoyable hacking opportunities.

If accurate, this rumor poses some interesting possibilities. We could see the same kind of youthful stick-it-to-the-man spirit found in Watch Dogs 2 mixed with an explosive anarchical style straight out of London's 1970s punk era. Less emphasis on meme culture and more gritty and visceral street-wise action coupled with that Mr. Robot rebelliousness, all while tying in England's culture clashes.

Obsidian's big wacky sci-fi shooter The Outer Worlds may launch this August, if a Steam listing is accurate.

A bit ago The Outer World's Steam page was updated with an August 9, 2019 release date, which is a bit too specific to be a fake. The accident was quickly remedied and scrubbed, replaced with the nebulous 2019 launch date, but not before SteamDB caught the change. The shooter, which is set in a new IP that inside sources told us in 2017 would be Obsidian's own answer to Fallout, incorporates many old-school Fallout-esque elements including traits, a quirky style and humorous bent, deeper RPG mechanics, and even a time-dilation mechanic similar to VATS.

An August launch for The Outer Worlds would put the indie squarely in Take-Two Interactive's Q3 window. This might be a problem. The publisher always releases its huge NBA 2K annualized sports games in September, followed up with a possible AAA game in the Q4 holiday quarter. NBA 2K20 could take a bite out of The Outer Worlds' visibility...but we could argue Obsidian's game is niche and probably won't appeal to a mass audience anyway.

Capcom isn't about to give up on PC any time soon and plans to continue leveraging marketplaces like Steam to reach a wider audience.

PC ports of Japanese games have seen a marked increase over recent years. Bandai Namco, Koei Tecmo, Atlus, SEGA, and even Capcom have enjoyed success selling their games on PC and amassing more consistent earnings. Capcom in particular plans to keep this trend going, especially after it just made a killing from Monster Hunter: World's Steam port.

The news comes straight from Capcom President and COO Haruhiro Tsujimoto, who affirmed the publisher's strong commitment to PC in a recent corporate letter. "From the viewpoint of promoting digital strategy, PC platform expansion cannot be overlooked. The sales ratio of PC versions of our main titles have improved every year, and we will strive to further expand PC sales as an important platform."

While playing Anthem, you'll get very familiar with staring at loading screens. So why doesn't BioWare and EA make them more interesting?

Loading screens can be a boon or a bane. They can be a much-needed reprieve after an intense hours-long session or boss battle, or an incessant nuisance that constantly induces rage. Anthem falls into the ladder category. Practically everything you do in the online-only game triggers a rather drab and boring loading screen, even equipping new gear. Missions routinely have multiple loading zones and prompt those same boring, uninspired still images that break your immersion.

But what if Anthem had a neat little loading screen minigame to keep us engaged? Maybe a little pixellated side-scrolling javelin flyer where we have to shoot enemies and dodge incoming fire? Or just a small puzzler where we match symbols up and get various in-game rewards? Gaming is filled with examples of these little (but immensely impactful) features, from old-school Commodore 64 games like Skyline Attack to modern FIFA releases.

Like most games (especially online-only ones), Anthem was made for a specific purpose: to make money. But how it makes money is different than, say, Sony's blockbuster PS4 exclusives.

Based on the middling-to-lackluster reviews of BioWare's big new online-only game Anthem, there seems to be some confusion about what EA set out to achieve here. Anthem is ultimately molded around the engagement strategy that makes EA billions every year, which ultimately means it was built to make revenues first and be a great, groundbreaking game second. This point is unfortunately illustrated quite clearly through every facet of Anthem, from the light RPG and heavy loot mechanics that pull in separate directions to the story that seems to conflict with the game's basic scope.

In short, Anthem wasn't designed to be what most gamers consider a great title. We won't see any Horizon: Zero Dawn-level story arcs, or God of War cinematic-style matery; no, Anthem was made to be addicting first and everything else comes second. Action takes the forefront and interesting RPG elements are in the back. How good a game is wildly subjective, of course, and I don't aim to diminish BioWare's immensely hard work on the game. It's clear the team toiled tirelessly on every aspect of the project, but Anthem itself is still bound by the rules of engagement.

If you are strategy game fan and are hanging out for a new goliath strategy game to sink hours upon hours into, there is no doubt you are waiting for Microsoft's Age of Empires IV. So, here is everything that we know so far about the coming Age of Empires IV.

Back in August of 2017, Microsoft shook strategy game fans to the very core with the release of the announcement trailer for Age of Empires IV. It has been 14 years since the release of a new Age of Empires so its more than obvious that a new game in the series is overdue. What do we know about Age of Empires IV though? and when can we expect more information on the title or perhaps even an idea of when it will release?

Firstly, Age of Empires IV will be developed by Relic Entertainment. Relic are known for their work on the Company of Heroes games as well as the Dawn of War games. What age will Age of Empires IV be set in? Well, the only information we really have to off of in this regard is the announcement trailer which showcases concept art across a wide span of history. We see art from historical points in history such as Trojan soldiers, Rome with a 'Caeser'-like figure looking out over the city, a battle of Jerusalem, British Red coats, Native American Indians and a period in Japanese history.

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson has taken to his official Twitter account to congradulate the recently former Nintendo of America President, Reggie Fils-Aime.

Last week we heard about the saddening yet humbling news of Nintendo America's COO stepping down, Reggie Fils-Aime. The famous President of Nintendo of America announced that he would be surrendering his position as President to none of their than Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Doug Bowser. Fils-Aime has had an epic 15 long year career at Nintendo of America and will be departing from his position on April 15th, 2019.

Reggie took to the official Nintendo of America's Twitter account to post a highlight video of many of his most iconic moments while in his position. He also thanked the fans for their support throughout his time serving as President and said that he is going to be spending much more time with his family and wife. There was quite a lot of positive feedback from the Nintendo community, and surprisingly enough Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson got on board the positivity train as well by congratulated Fils-Aime on his incredible career.

Microsoft are bringing out the nostalgia in all PC gamers that are enjoyed Age of Empires as the company has teased that some fresh news will be released regarding the franchise during March's Inside Xbox livestream.

The news comes from the official Age of Empires Community Manager, Jennifer Godwin where she detailed 'update 8' for Age of Empires: Definitive Edition. More interestingly though, Godwin teased that Age of Empires will have its own segment on the Inside Xbox live stream planned for March, now what could that entail?

I have a few theories for what Microsoft are planning to announce, firstly they could be bringing Age of Empires: Definitive Edition to the Xbox since the console now has full mouse and keyboard support. This wouldn't be a bad idea either since I would image that there is many Xbox gamers out there that would love the accessibility of having a classic game like Age of Empires on their console.