Gaming News - Page 1

Helldivers 2 publisher Sony Interactive Entertainment announced that all new Helldivers 2 players will need to connect their Steam account to a PlayStation Network account to access the game.

Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) took to the Helldivers 2 Steam blog with an update explaining that a technical issue at the game's launch forced SIE into making linking Steam and a PSN account optional, but that will now change. As of May 6, new Helldivers 2 players on Steam will be forced to link to a PSN account, and if they don't have one, they will be required to make one. Helldivers 2 won't be accessible if they don't.

According to SIE, linking a Steam and PSN account "plays a critical role in protecting our players and upholding the values of safety and security provided on PlayStation and PlayStation Studios games." Additionally, SIE wrote that linking the two accounts is the main way to "protect players from griefing and abuse" by banning players that are participating in that kind of behavior. Additionally, banned players will be able to appeal.

Helldivers II is estimated to be the best-selling release of 2024 so far.

The Verhoeven-inspired squad shooter Helldivers II is doing some heavy lifting for Sony. According to the latest updates from analyst firm Circana, it's the top-selling game in the United States so far in 2024. The game is so popular that either the PlayStation 5 or the Steam version are the best-sellers of the year in the region for their respective platforms.

Helldivers II was the best-selling game of March 2024, and also topped the charts for its debut month of February 2024 as well.

Hardware sales are down across all platforms, not just Xbox.

A few days ago, Microsoft announced that Xbox hardware sales were down -31% to $430 million, the lowest point of the Xbox Series generation. It's not just Xbox, though. All of the Big 3--Nintendo, PlayStation, and Xbox--saw console sales dips in the United States.

According to Circana analyst Mat Piscatella, U.S. spending on gaming hardware was down by 32% in March 2024, and sales were also down a sizable 24% across the entire Q1 period.

For those who are NVIDIA GeForce Now subscribers, but haven't got the streaming service up and running on their Steam Deck yet, because it seems like too much hassle perhaps - here's some good news.

NVIDIA has gone ahead and made the process of getting GeForce Now working on Valve's handheld a good deal easier.

As detailed in the latest GeForce Now Thursday update, NVIDIA has released an installation script that takes care of everything.

Bethesda Game Studios, the studio behind mainline entries in the Elder Scrolls and Fallout franchises, focuses primarily on one game at a time, switching between franchises. However, with the studio spending several years building its epic sci-fi RPG Starfield, it's been over a decade since we got The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and close to a decade since the launch of Fallout 4.

With the success of the Fallout TV show on Amazon Prime, Fallout 4 is currently one of the most played games on PC and consoles like the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. However, With Bethesda Game Studios shifting its focus toward The Elder Scrolls 6 before tackling Fallout 5, it could be a decade before we see a new Fallout game - and years before The Elder Scrolls 6 is done and ready to ship.

Speaking with Kinda Funny Games, Bethesda Game Studios head and Skyrim and Starfield game director Todd Howard is fully aware of the long gap between entries in these iconic and popular franchises - and is looking to rectify it.

Tactical FPS Gray Zone Warfare has launched into Early Access on Steam. Even though it currently has a 'Mixed' user review rating, the general sentiment is that the game is on track to live up to its potential as an open-world shooter focused on realism. The good news for GeForce RTX 40 Series owners is that performance is boosted thanks to DLSS 3 Frame Generation support.

DLSS 3 makes it 60+ FPS playable in 4K using the 'Epic' quality preset on everything from the GeForce RTX 4070 to the RTX 4090 using DLSS 'Performance' mode with Frame Gen enabled. For those wanting triple-digit GeForce RTX 4070 performance, dropping the resolution to 1440p sees 81 FPS turn into 111 FPS.

This week, third-person space combat action RPG Everspace 2 is also getting DLSS 3 support. The game just got a massive Incursions Update for all players, introducing new content and migrating it from Unreal Engine 4 to Unreal Engine 5.3.

NVIDIA's RTX Remix enables modders to reimagine an older PC title with full ray tracing or path tracing, updated models, and AI-enhanced textures while leveraging modern rendering technologies and tools like DLSS, Frame Generation, and Reflex.

NVIDIA first showcased what RTX Remix could do with the impressive Portal RTX mod, and with the RTX Remix Open Beta kicking off earlier this year, we'll see many great projects pop up in the months and years ahead. This week, NVIDIA has updated RTX Remix with the addition of NVIDIA DLSS 3.5 with Ray Reconstruction. We first saw the groundbreaking tech in Cyberpunk 2077's Phantom Liberty expansion last year.

DLSS 3.5 with Ray Reconstruction dramatically improves the quality of ray tracing, adding new detail to ray-traced effects like reflections and shadows. Thanks to NVIDIA's GitHub community input, this week's update also improves RTX Remix mod performance and compatibility. We also got an update on the stunning Half-Life 2 RTX: An RTX Remix Project.

Diablo IV, Season 4: Loot Reborn will begin on May 14, 2024, and it will present a significant overhaul to many of the game's systems, including the endgame, itemization, crafting, leveling, and putting together a demon-slaying build. Throw in The Pit of Artificers, which sounds a lot like Diablo 3's Greater Rift system and revamped Helltide events, and Diablo IV is on track to become a whole new game in a few weeks.

With loot and items making up a big part of Diablo's action RPG fantasy, 'Loot Reborn' is bringing permanent and fundamental changes to how that will work. General items, including Legendaries, will now feature fewer, more meaningful affixes and stats and drop less frequently.

Customizing an item to make it more personal arrives with the new Tempering system that allows you to apply Weapons, Offensive, Defensive, Mobility, Utility, and Resource stats and abilities to items. In addition, the new Masterworking system is the endgame upgrade process that makes your gear more powerful.

A Nintendo Switch accessory manufacturer has revealed key details about Nintendo's highly anticipated Switch successor.

There has been no shortage of Nintendo Switch 2 leaks and the latest one comes from Switch accessory manufacturer Mobapad, who took to its website to share a list of what to expect Nintendo's next console will feature. According to the blogpost, the Switch 2 will come with Joy-Cons that have larger volume buttons, metal SL and SR shoulder buttons, an additional button alongside L and ZL on the left controller, and R and ZR on the right controller.

Additionally, the sliding rail for the Joy-Con has been replaced with "electromagnetic suction technology". Mobapad writes the Switch 2 will also be able to connect to existing Joy-Con controllers along with the Nintendo Switch Pro Controller. Another key feature is Mobapad writing the Nintendo Switch 2 cartridge slot will accept original Switch games, enabling full backwards compatibility. But, the Switch 2 cartridges won't fit in the original Switch slot.

Sony wants PS5 gamers to be able to easily jump into multiplayer experiences, and one hurdle is first adding your new friend to your friends list.

Sony's new feature seemingly solves that problem altogether as the company has announced via its blog a new feature that will be part of a coming PS5 update. The new feature streamlines gamers partying up with each other by generating a link that can be shared with anyone online. The recipient can then click this link, triggering them to jump into the party automatically. What is great about this feature is that players don't have to be friends for it to work, and it will work when they are away from their console.

An example of this feature working to its best ability would be a player meeting some friends on a social media app, and wanting to quickly jumping on a game together to play. One player sends the other a sharable link that has a QR code, and then a party is immediately formed, removing the need to exchange usernames first. It should be noted that this new feature will be coming to PS5 consoles later this year and will only work for PS5 games.