Gaming - Page 1120

French CS:GO player Joey "fxy0" Schlosser has had a harsh few weeks. After being reported by former team member Robin "GMX" Stahmer for match-fixing, fxy0 came clean in a video confession, admitting he purposefully played badly during the match that was under investigation.

Given this news, two major things have happened. Firstly, Epsilon have officially released both fxy0 and another player, Kévin "Uzzziii" Vernel from their sponsorship, alongside Valve issuing both of these players with 1-year tournament bans across any Valve-supported event.

As seen on a post to his Facebook recently, fxy0 stated:

We recently reported a story on ex-Epsilon CS:GO squad member Robin "GMX" Stahmer reporting his old team for match-fixing, then later adding that their world-class player Adil "ScreaM" Benrlitom was not involved.

In a breaking news report by HLTV, Epsilon CS:GO squad member Joey "fxy0" Schlosser has admitted to match-fixing in his heartfelt video.

The video is uploaded to YouTube as unlisted and is already reaching over 64,000 views, with the outcome of Valve and ESEA's investigation not yet set in stone. We've seen previously that people found guilty of match-fixing have been handed life bans from almost all major tournament providers globally, alongside Valve themselves damning the players from any event they support.

Just months after the mess that was Assassin's Creed: Unity, Ubisoft has announced Assassin's Creed: Rogue for March 10. Assassin's Creed: Rogue launched back in November for the Xbox 360 and PS3, but will be launching next month on the PC.

Assassin's Creed: Rogue will have gamers playing as a Templar named Shay Patrick Cormack, who becomes an Assassin Hunter. Rogue takes place in North America during the Seven Years War, which will also see the return of naval-based combat, something we saw from Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag. Ubisoft Kiev is the studio behind Assassin's Creed: Rogue, with the studio teaming up with eye-tracking company Tobii Tech.

Tobii Tech will see their technology baked into Assassin's Creed: Rogue, where you can use SteelSeries' Sentry eye-tracking hardware to pan the game's camera left and right through eye movement. Ubisoft teases that this creases "an 'infinite screen' experience". PC gamers are also in for a treat if they choose to allow themselves to purchase another Assassin's Creed title, with Ubisoft offering a free Assassin's Creed game through Uplay if they pre-order Assassin's Creed: Rogue.

NetherRealm Studios, the developer behind Mortal Kombat X, has revealed the PC specifications of its upcoming fighting title. In a world where 60GB installations seem normal, you'll only require 25GB to 40GB to get Mortal Kombat installed.

Mortal Kombat X requires a 64-bit version of Windows Vista, Windows 7 or Windows 8, as well as 3GB of RAM. 8GB of RAM is recommended, however. The minimum requiremetns have you needing an Intel Core i5-750 at 2.67GHz, or AMD's Phenom II X4 965 at 3.4GHz. The GPU required is an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 or an AMD Radeon HD 5850. As for the recommended specifications, Mortal Kombat X would run better on an Intel Core i7-3770, or AMD FX-8350. An NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 or AMD Radeon HD 7950 would also run the game better, so would an additional 15GB of HDD space for a total installation of 40GB.

Mortal Kombat X launches on April 14 for the Xbox 360, Xbox One, PS3, PS4 and PC.

It looks like the end of an era is approaching, with news that Sony is shutting down the production facility that makes the RSX processors for the PlayStation 3 console.

Sony had recently said it would discontinue any and all operations at the factory responsible for the RSX chips in the PS3, but it looks like this is now happening. Oita TEC who was previously responsible for the memory packaging recently starting the production of advanced packaging for the CPUs that power the PlayStation consoles. The plant itself was producing the packaging of the Cell and RSX processors for the PS3, but is now being shut down keeping the "changing business landscape" in sight.

With 220 employees at the factory, usually their jobs would be lost, but this isn't the case. All of their jobs will be transferred to other plants that are used to make image sensors, or to other factories at alternate Sony Semiconductor Corporation sites.

The new open beta for Battlefield Hardline has kicked off, with EA revealing the PC requirements of the game. Gamers will need 60GB of HDD space to play Battlefield Hardline, as well as a 64-bit version of Windows.

The bare minimum specifications aren't too bad, with an Intel Core i3/i5 at 2.4GHz or an AMD Athlon II/Phenom II at 2.8GHz required. 4GB of RAM is also required, with Windows Vista SP2 64-bit being the minimum OS to get it going. As for EA's recommended specifications, they are asking for a quad-core Intel, or six-core AMD processor, 8GB of RAM, 3GB of VRAM on either an AMD Radeon R9 290 or NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760.

Battlefield Hardline reports for duty on March 17 for the Xbox 360, Xbox One, PS3, PS4 and PC.

We've already heard that a redesigned PS4 is coming, as well as a redesigned Xbox One on AMD's new 20nm APU, but now Netflix is teasing that the redesigned consoles are coming.

Samsung has some shiny new high-density GDDR5 memory that should be baked into the redesigned PS4 Slim, while the redesigned Xbox One should feature AMD's new 20nm-based APU. Both consoles are now close to 18 months old, which is about the time the previous generation consoles saw their slimmer, faster, redesigned models. Netflix's Chief Product Officer Neil Hunt said at CES 2015 that the company is expecting a "traditional two-year refresh" which should see both consoles with 4K abilities.

We should expect thinner, cooler, hopefully more powerful consoles from the redesign. AMD's 20nm APU should provide some added performance thanks to its lower heat and power outputs, while the better GDDR5 RAM from Samsung will give Sony a boost to its PS4. Let's just hope it's not a redesign, as in a smaller/thinner console, and that we get some added performance with them, too.

Just how well as Grand Theft Auto V performed since its release last year? Well, on the Xbox One and PS4, retailers have received 10 million copies since it hit the now current-gen consoles around two-and-a-half months ago now.

When GTA V launched for the PS3 and Xbox 360, Rockstar sold a huge 11.2 million units in 24 hours, with a total of 45 million units being shipped since it launched. The PC version isn't even out yet, but these numbers will only increase on March 24. Don't forget the news of GTA 6 being under development, which shouldn't come as too much of a surprise, should it?

One of the many League of Legends tournaments being run is being operated by Garena, which operates LoL tournaments in places such as Southeast Asia, Taiwan, the Philippines and more. Well, they're hosting an all-women eSports competition, but there's just one catch.

The host has put a limit on the amount of LGBTQ people allowed to participate per team, as it would offer the team an "unfair advantage". You might think we tripped over a language barrier here, but there is only one lesbian or trans woman per team in Garena's upcoming all-women Iron Solari League tournament. The tournament will take place at the end of the month in Manilla, Philippines. Garena has talked with the competitors of the first leg of the Iron Solari competition, as well as LGBTQ members in the League of Legends community. The organizer said that it wanted to be inclusive, but adds that "there are arguments and concerns from other participants who disputes that Lesbian, Gay, Transgendered Women members may probably have some unfair advantage".

What we need to see here, is that Garena is just telling the world what it's doing, without explaining why. Kotaku brings up the question in their article: "How does being lesbian, trans, or queer in any other way confer an advantage in a video game, a virtual space where physical characteristics cease to matter?" That's right, as they're all human beings at the end of the day with a normal brain, hands, fingers and reflexes. It's great that Garena is doing an all-women League of Legends competition, but this is definitely something that should raise some questions and red flags.

We haven't even received GTA V on the PC yet, which was delayed from January to March, but now we're hearing the first rumbles of GTA VI. Yes, that's Grand Theft Auto 6.

During a talk with Develop, Rockstar Games' President, Leslie Benzies said: "We've got about 45 years worth of ideas we want to do. We don't know what GTA 6 will be, but we've got some ideas". Benzies continued, somehow thinking that teasing the world of one of the biggest franchises of all world would be fine, adding: "It comes from the idea first. Where is it going to be set is the first question. Then that defines the missions; you're doing different things in LA than in New York or Miami. The map and story get worked up together, and the story is a basic flow of how it works out so you can layer the missions in".

Now we have the pleasure of imagining where Rockstar could take GTA VI if it wasn't held back in shackles by the previous generation consoles. What could GTA IV turn out to be like if it were built from the ground up on the Xbox One, PS4, and the PC? What if Rockstar made it with the PC as the lead platform, with VR in mind and then just baked down to the consoles? I'm obviously making too much sense with that last bit, so I'll leave it at that.

H1Z1 and Planetside 2 developer Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) has announced that it has snapped away from Sony, where it is now operating as an independent company.

How did this happen? Well, an investment management firm based in New York City, Columbus Nova, bought the company out from Sony for an undisclosed amount of money. The studio has said: "This means that effective immediately SOE will operate as an independent game development studio where we will continue to focus on creating exceptional online games for players around the world, and now as a multiplatform gaming company".

Yes, you read that right. SOE can now make games for the Xbox, mobile, and many more platforms. Jon Smedley, President of SOE has already said "Yes, that means PlayStation and Xbox, mobile, and more!". From this day forward, SOE is now known as Daybreak Game Company, with the new studio saying: "This name embodies who we are as an organization, and is a nod to the passion and dedication of our employees and players. It is also representative of our vision to approach each new day as an opportunity to move gaming forward".

We recently published an article stating that former-Epsilon CS:GO team member Robin "GMX" Stahmer dug up some dirt on his ex-team mates - claiming that they threw a match on purpose in order to win in-game items in a bet against themselves on CSGOLounge.

Stahmer has taken to Facebook, explaining how he believes that his former teammate Adil "ScreaM" Benrlitom wasn't involved in the scandal - stating "I did this under anger, and in this act, I forgot to say that my former team mate ScreaM, didn't know about this throw. I've talked a bit with Adil [ScreaM], and in my anger, I forgot he didn't know about it. I don't know yet if they told him about it or not, but I didn't."

Stahmer went on to express his sympathy and regret, stating "I want to apologize toward the community, and toward ScreaM who doesn't deserve all this hate."

Recently there was a massive match-fixing and betting ring scandal that rocked the whole North American and Canadian Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) scene, seeing numerous players and a manager be banned for life from all Valve major events, ESEA tournaments and more.

In recent news, French-based eSports organization Epsilon has suspended their whole CS:GO division pending a current match-fixing investigation.

Their world-class CS:GO squad has been unearthed by former teammate Robin "GMX" Stahmer, with him stating that his old team purposefully lost a match on the ESEA platform against rivals OverGaming in order to profit from weapon skins. These skins were achieved through bets made against themselves on the popular website, CSGOLounge.

Microsoft has been slowly unveiling some exciting stuff lately, where we have Windows 10 and HoloLens to look forward to, the company is now hiring new staff, including a Senior Software Engineer position for something even more 'magical'.

A job listing has popped up on the Microsoft Careers spage for a Senior Software Engineer who will help the development team built "magical, delightful and disruptive consumer experiences for the next generation of technology (from the creators of the Kinect: Alex Kipman & Kudo Tsunoda)" and the company is "looking to make significant contributions to the early stages of a project with huge growth potential".

This could mean we'll see it reach the Xbox One, or something new is coming. I would peg it on HoloLens, but we could see it reach the Xbox One or even Windows 10. The Xbox One for me, is kinda dead ass you can't add some magical peripheral to it like VR as the system isn't fast enough to deliver the experience Microsoft will need to beat Oculus VR and the Rift. But something for HoloLens and Windows 10? Now you're talking.

The former iBUYPOWER CS:GO professional player and current banned member of the match-fixing and betting ring scandal Joshua 'steel' Nissan has issued a public statement and apology on his public Facebook page.

In this statement he highlighted his disappointment in his actions, the good times while competing in various CS:GO tournaments and some of his plans for the future. He's currently planning to stream his public matchmaking game-play through Twitch.TV, alongside commenting that "I am still a host of knowledge about Counter-Strike. I will try to make all of this information available to everyone for free. It's the least I can do."

Many enraged members of the public have decided to boycott all of Nissan's content, further naming him as "Steal".

Despite the recent match-fixing and betting ring scandals surrounding the former and friends-of iBUYPOWER (IBP) CS:GO squad teammates - the large North American computer company has announced they are looking toward another CS:GO pick-up.

IBP and their CS:GO team split on January the 5th before the accusations were confirmed. As as we're now rolling into February 2015, they've stated that another team is on their mind - commenting that their previous players actions "are not in keeping with the philosophy of the iBUYPOWER brand."

They further stated that "IBP is committed to supporting gaming at the highest levels, and expects each member of our staff and teams to perform to the best of their ability and conduct themselves with integrity at all times," adding "recently, IBP learned that certain members of the IBP CS:GO team failed to meet that expectation. The actions of these individuals come as a shock to us."

Ahead of its scheduled release date of March 17, an open beta of Battlefield Hardline will take place from Tuesday, February 3 to Sunday, February 8. The game is powered by the Frostbite 3 game engine and includes both single player and multiplayer modes.

There will be three separate modes for gamers to enjoy: A conquest mode that is similar to traditional team-based death match, supporting up to 64 gamers on PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One - and 24 players for the Microsoft Xbox 360 and Sony PlayStation 3. The Hotwire mode focuses on chase scenes, and the Heist mode features bank robbers trying to complete a heist before the police capture them.

Interestingly, a "Hacker" mode is available so one person on each team can hack to operate cameras and better spot enemies, with information relayed back to teammates.

With the gaming organization known as Team Solo Mid (TSM) picking up a North American CS:GO squad, they have publicly claimed to now be supporting the highest paid CS:GO players on the planet - later being bested by Team Ninjas in Pyjamas (NiP), with their CEO Per Lilliefelth claiming an even better salary for his squad.

I'm sure you're wondering exactly what the figure is here - it's $3,000 US per month, per player. Nothing celebrity status that's sure - but pretty amazing given they are playing video games for employment. But wait, there's more. This $3,000 doesn't cover any of the in-game sticker sales alongside any prize money that the players may win at international tournaments, which can include total prize pools of up to $250,000.

Different from other gaming organizations, TSM have promised to take no cut of prize money or sticker sales, meaning that if these players see themselves added into a 'legends sticker pack' they could see up to $400,000 spread between the five-man squad.

It's been a rough few months for the CS:GO community, seeing six top figures from the North American and Canadian scene get pinned with match-fixing, a betting ring scandal and then a plethora of bans from almost-all major tournaments across the globe.

In unusual fashion, even Valve spoke up - damning the betting ring and match-fixing, personally banning the players involved from all future Valve major events.

One of the players involved in this scandal was 17-year-old Braxton Pierce - gamer name 'swag'. Name aside, he first hit it big in the North American Counter Strike 1.6 scene where he competed in many top level tournaments at the ripe old age of 15, often surpassing many players 10 years his senior and proving himself as a major player to watch in the future.

When Valve launched Steam Workshop, I don't think most people could have imagined it would grow this large. Well, it has continued to grow and there's no signs of it stopping, with the company announcing it has given out over $57 million to content creators since 2011.

Creators of in-game content for titles like Team Fortress 2, DOTA 2, and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive have made quite a lot of money over the years, with over 1500 creators in 75 different countries. Valve has also announced that it has curated Workshops opening for two non-Valve games which will allow gamers to purchase in-game items for Dungeon Defenders: Eternity and Chivalry: Medieval Warfare.

Valve has also added that "We expect more curated Workshops to become available for creators and players in various games over the coming weeks and months". The company also teased that it would soon be releasing new tools for these content creators, something that will allow them to keep track of their sales, for both individual items and overall, both in real-time.