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Anthem will be due out a month earlier than originally planned, but still fits the early 2019 timeframe set by EA.

BioWare's big new online action RPG Anthem will release on February 22, 2019, EA today announced. Company CFO Blake Jorgensen recently affirmed the game would release in the "last month of our fiscal year," which pointed to a March launch, but the extra month will give EA a nice buffer for sales and potential monetization.

Speaking of monetization, BioWare said Anthem will rake in additional revenues via cosmetics only. Lootboxes won't be present, and gamers can't buy items that directly affect gameplay or make them more powerful. All cosmetics will be straightforward and players will know "exactly what you'll buy before you spend money," BioWare's Mark Darrah said.

Anthem, BioWare's massive new shared-worlds IP, won't have lootboxes of any kind.

Despite lootboxes bringing in billions across the industry, BioWare's latest flying mech-shooter will be monetized via cosmetics only. This aligns with recent predictions from analysts and confirms that Anthem will have a recurring hook.

"We are going to have some cosmetics and vanity items that you'll be able to purchase, but you're always going to know what you'll get before you spend any money on it," BioWare's Mark Darrah said at EA Play 2018.

Respawn's Vince Zampella makes good on his promise to reveal new tidbits at E3, and now we know more about its upcoming Star Wars game.

Respawn's new narrative-driven Star Wars game is called Jedi Fallen Order and is set in the dark time between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back, Respawn today revealed.

"We've been working with Lucas on getting the name and the setting for what our Star Wars game's going to be," Zampella said at EA Play. "The Star Wars game's name is Jedi Fallen Order. So it kinda gives you some idea that you'll be playing a Jedi. It takes place during the dark times when the Jedi are being hunted, and it's going to be spectacular."

The devs behind Alien Isolation and Halo Wars are busily readying a big new IP, and now we have more concrete details.

We've known for a while now that SEGA subsidiary Creative Assembly is making a new IP, and that it might be an online service-based game of some kind. Now in recent job listings from the studio's UK-based branch confirms key info about the project: "Creative Assembly's award-winning team behind Alien: Isolation are exploring new frontiers with a brand-new and exciting First Person Tactical Shooter IP," reads the intro banners on the listings.

Creative Assembly is currently hiring four positions to work on its new IP:

Respawn will be a part of EA's big E3 press conference in some way, but details are still nebulous.

New information on an upcoming project will be teased at tomorrow's EA Play, Respawn's Vince Zampella today confirmed. Respawn, now owned by EA after being acquired for $315 million, is currently developing three major games: a new war-based VR game, a narrative-driven third-person action Star Wars game, and Titanfall 3. Which one could be teased? We're hoping for the middle one.

Following Battlefront II's big lootbox controversy and Visceral Games' closure and the cannibalization of its interesting-sounding Star Wars project (aka Project Ragtag) the Star Wars gaming market has been pretty slim. EA's exclusive license to make Star Wars games has been stretched out now that the timeline has been disrupted. Project Ragtag was to release in 2018, and Respawn's game was to launch in 2019 or 2020 (EA's FY2020 and FY2021, respectively). Considering the Star Wars game is Respawn's highest profile game in development it's possible we could get more concrete info about it at E3 2018. However the VR war game is to release in 2019...so it could be that too.

The pre-E3 leaks just aren't slowing down and have now revealed the existence of Just Cause 4, taking some thunder away from Square Enix's press conference.

Just like many online retailers (looking at you Walmart Canada) Valve accidentally revealed Just Cause 4 by way of Steam startup ad. The actual store page for Just Cause 4 isn't live just yet, however, so exact details are still unknown. The game was just one of the many titles revealed on Walmart Canada's storepage that have been confirmed so far; others include RAGE 2 and the newly announced Assassin's Creed: Odyssey.

Just Cause 4's existence means that Avalanche Studios has been quite busy. The dev studio was recently acquired by Dutch film company Nordisk Film and has apparently been working on not only Just Cause 4, but it's newly announced IP Generation Zero, and will assist id Softworks with tons of open-world aspects of RAGE 2.

Computex 2018 - Intel unveiled their knee jerk reaction to the news of AMD's impending Threadripper 2 announcement, which until AMD's own Computex 2018 press conference the industry thought it was going to be 24C/48T only.

But it seems Intel's announcement was beyond knee jerk and into the ridiculous, as it is now being reported that the company "forgot" to mention that their "new" 28C/56T processor was overclocked to 5GHz and most tech press thought it was a monstrous 5GHz chip... except it's not.

Our good friend Paul Alcorn from Tom's Harware is reporting that he met with Intel reps yesterday that said that "in the excitement of the moment" they "forgot" to say that the 28C/56T processor was overclocked. Intel PR seems to have all failed here, as the impression most people got was that this was a 5GHz behemoth that would crush Threadripper 2.

On the heels of its accidental leak, Hitman 2 has been confirmed for a release in 2018 by Warner Bros. Interactive.

Agent 47's lethal escapades will continue in Hitman 2, which serves as a direct sequel to IO Interactive's 2016 reboot. Unlike the previous game the sequel won't be carved up in episodic chapters--instead it'll ship as a complete experience with even more dynamic gameplay. Hitman 2 will also feature a co-op mode called Sniper Assassin that allows two friends to team up and take out specific targets online, which should boost engagement.

Hitman 2 will take players all across the world to new locales like Miami and other exotic cities: "from sun-drenched streets to dark and dangerous rainforests, each intricate location provides multiple paths to discover and unparalleled game depth," reads the press release. Warner Bros. affirms the game's sandboxes will be much larger than the predecessor to offer unique ways to tackle targets.

Days Gone will release February 22, 2019, Sony today announced on the PlayStation Blog.

Sony's new first-party open-world game Days Gone looks pretty interesting--not only does it have lush environments, but it will be story-driven as much as it is surviving a zombie breakout. The game itself features lots of characters that will provide meaningful interactions to the main character Deacon's adventure, along with various factions and disease-ridden creatures to take on.

Days Gone was previously delayed into 2019 from its original 2018 launch, and it appears Sony's Bend Studio has put that extra time to good use. The latest trailer is quite impressive and I'm hoping the actual shipped game will look this fluid and graphically appealing.

Fallout 76 should be built on the same framework as Fallout 4, but with a few big changes.

While watching NoClip's excellent Bethesda documentary I realized something that's fairly obvious when you think about it: Bethesda Game Studios' own first-party games like Skyrim and Fallout 4 are all iterative with one another and share common development threads. One game typically uses tricks, engine features, and other techniques found in previous titles in an effort to grow and one-up the previous game.

While working on Oblivion, for example, Bethesda Game Studios had a back-up plan just in case it didn't do well--a project that became Fallout 3. The team employed much of what they learned making Oblivion into Fallout 3...except for the whole having to build gun combat from the ground up. It's no secret that game studios work on multiple projects at once, but it's important to remember that BGS titles can cross-over insofar as development work.

Microsoft has delayed Crackdown 3 into 2019, sources say, corroborating past reports.

Xbox gamers may be in for big disappointment this E3 season: Crackdown 3 has been pushed back into next year, two sources familiar with the matter told Kotaku's Jason Schreier. Originally announced in 2014, Crackdown 3 was due out in 2017 alongside Microsoft's beefy Xbox One X console, and then delayed into Spring 2018--which has technically passed.

Crackdown 3 will be powered by Microsoft's Azure cloud technology to assist with the demanding gameplay, which includes destructible environments and multiplayer. Developer Sumo Digital and its partnered studios will reportedly need more time to polish and shore up the game's rough edges. On the plus side Crackdown 3 sounds pretty ambitious. The game should launch as part of the Xbox Game Pass and is a Play Anywhere game on console and PC.

Bandai Namco today confirmed that Code Vein, the company's new unique hack-and-slash IP, will release in September.

Code Vein looks like a rather interesting game that melds J-RPG visuals with fast-paced dodge-and-slash action combat from a Dark Souls game. Internally described as a "dramatic dungeon-exploring action RPG," Code Vein features online co-op and will take players across a world riven with chaos and monstrosities. The combat itself will be blistering and fluid, and gamers will have a fair bit of exploration to tackle throughout their journeys.

Code Vein launches on September 28, 2018 for the PS4, Xbox One and PC.

Blizzard once again reiterates that a new Diablo project is currently in development, and based on the current job talent listing, it should be an entirely fresh game--not a Diablo II remaster.

Blizzard is currently hiring no less than eleven full-time positions to work on a new unannounced Diablo game, including a creative director and executive producer. The company seems to have filled the project's game director role following Josh Mosquiera's exit from Diablo III back in 2016. "The minions of Hell are growing stronger...We're working on a new, unannounced Diablo project. Come work with us, and together we will build something exceptional," reads the header on every listing.

We've known for a while now that Blizzard is making a new Diablo game, so this recent development shouldn't exactly be a big surprise to any of our readers. Blizzard has been steadily recruiting talent for the project for quite some time. A new Diablo game hasn't been directly announced but it has been confirmed by multiple job listings--but remember this only means that a project is in development, not that it will release.

The very first gameplay video of SEGA's Team Sonic Racing game has been revealed by the YouTube channel Shacknews, it showcases what is in store for the upcoming arcade racer.

This Sonic racing game will give players the opportunity to race with up to twelve friends in both online multiplayer and co-op modes. SEGA's idea behind this title is that they want to be utilizing all the best parts of a competitive racer while still including an arcade style.

Team Sonic Racing will also be featuring 4 player split screen and numerous racing modes to enjoy, some of which include Grand Prix Mode, Exhibition Mode, Time-Trial and Team Adventure Mode. According to the leak from Walmart, Team Sonic Racing will be released on the 31st of December 2018.

Well... NASA has discovered something on Mars after 2054 days on the Red Planet, with the US space agency set to hold a press conference tomorrow to tell the world about their discovery.

NASA said in a statement when they announced the press conference: "The media and public are invited to ask questions during a live discussion at 2 p.m. EDT Thursday, June 7, on new science results from NASA's Mars Curiosity rover. The results are embargoed by the journal Science until then".

No one knows what NASA is going to talk about, but we do know that NASA's new drilling technique has worked, and now they're going to talk about something mysterious. The US space agency will have a bunch of scientists and experts on the ready, including:

Computex 2018 - Qualcomm has announced its new Snapdragon 850 processor, a new chip that was specifically designed for Windows 10 Always Connected PCs, and has some nifty upgrades and improvements under the hood.

The new Snapdragon 850 will be exclusive to Windows 10 machine and will not be used in smartphones or tablets, even though it is a customized Snapdragon 845. We have a 30% performance improvement, 20% improved battery life, and 20% faster peak performance over the previous-gen Snapdragon 835, which is great.

It's built on the second-gen 10nm process, the same node that the Snapdragon 845 was made on, with the same X20 modem for LTE connectivity. Qualcomm has performed both hardware and software tuning to the Snapdragon 850 so that it will perform PC tasks better than the current Snapdragon 845.

Computex 2018 - AMD is kicking all sorts of ass today with the announcements of its second-gen Threadripper CPUs rocking a huge 32C/64T of CPU power, the super-small Radeon RX Vega 56 Nano, and also the world's first GPU on 7nm - just like we said they would, last week.

AMD will have Vega on 7nm inside of the upcoming new Radeon Instinct part, which thanks to 7nm will feature 35% more performance over the previous-gen 14nm part, with twice the power efficiency that means it can do it all with under half the power consumption. Crazy stuff.

The density has been increased by 2x which means we can have smaller die sizes, or what I want - bigger GPUs. Bring it on, AMD. This now means AMD is ahead of the GPU game in one area, as even Volta is only on 12nm. It's good to see Team Red in their stride, and I can't wait to see what 7nm Radeon RX gaming cards can do.

Computex 2018 - AMD has just announced its new second-gen Threadripper CPU, and it is truly a monster that just so happens to be right around the corner.

The new Threadripper arrives on the same socket as the original Threadripper, but doubles the core count to 32C/64T for some extreme megatasking. AMD is using the new 12nm node with the Zen+ architecture on the second-gen Threadripper, which beats out Intel's just-announced 28C/56T processor.

AMD's new Threadripper will be coming in 24C/48T and 32C/64T with the company showing off the new CPUs on air cooling here at Computex, which is very impressive. The new Threadripper CPUs will be launching in Q3 2018, so we don't have long to wait at all.

Destiny 2 is getting some big changes, but if you're a new player be prepared to pay.

Destiny 2's big new Forsaken expansion is changing the shape of the game in many, many ways: from core shake-ups like weapon loadout designations, mods and shaders to exciting new super abilities, the DLC aims to please the community. In many ways Forsaken resembles the original game's The Taken King mega-DLC that ultimately saved Destiny...but there's a catch. The $40 Forsaken expansion requires both the base game as well as the two previous expansion packs--Curse of Osiris and Warmind--to play. And it doesn't come with either.

This little tidbit wasn't explicitly mentioned on the game's website, nor was it mentioned on Activision's official press release. I spotted it on the cover art for the expansion itself, which reads "Destiny 2 game, Destiny 2 Expansions I & II required. Sold separately." What's even more eyebrow-raising is that Forsaken, an expansion to a live game, comes with its own $30 season pass that potentially brings your investment up to $69.99. The total investment for new players though is much higher. The Destiny 2 Expansion Pass is $34.99 regularly (on sale on PSN right now), the base game is $59.99 MSRP still (can be had for cheaper, let's say $30) and Forsaken is $40. That's a hefty bit of cash.

Bungie has plotted Destiny 2's DLC roadmap well into next year.

Today marks a big occasion for Destiny 2. Bungie finally announced Forsaken, the game's big The Taken King-style expansion, which brings a massive core systems overhaul while adding in new endgame content, weapons, supers, and more. And it seems this $40 expansion will be the new baseline for Destiny 2's future content rollouts.

Forsaken has an optional $30 Annual Pass attached to it that unlocks three "premium content releases" that will "deliver new experiences to Destiny 2: Forsaken, including activities, end game content, and an arsenal of powerful weapons, armor, and gear to earn." Assuming these bits of content are priced at $10 they may not be actual expansion-sized affairs but instead piecemeal modules of sorts that beef up Forsaken. Or they could indeed be bigger DLC akin to Bungie's original Comet idea (I'm betting they aren't, though, despite the Eververse raking in untold amounts of money via microtransactions).