Gaming - Page 168

Star Wars Battlefront 2, released back in 2017, built an unfortunate legacy around its disgustingly greedy monetization practices. All in the name of 'pride and accomplishment' - this malpractice tainted a game that otherwise provided an incredibly authentic Star Wars experience. Fortunately for fans, the modding community has been quietly giving the game a new life.

Kyber V2 is a project that brings a 'new era of content and experiences' to the game. The content side of the mod, Battlefront+, adds a cast of 22 new heroes, including fan favorites Djin Djarin, Ahsoka Tano, Asajj Ventress, and Jango Fett - with custom voice lines, abilities, and skins to match.

You'll also find 30 new ground troopers, ranging from Gungan warriors to Clone sharpshooters and resistance smugglers to rebel pilots. All of which come equipped with their own custom abilities and playstyles. You'll also find 66 new blasters, over 90 new skins, new maps, weather and daytime map variants, and more.

Grand Theft Auto fans are currently reacting to the source code for a beloved Grand Theft Auto game leaking online, with rumors pointing to the source of the leak being Grove Street Games, formerly War Drum Studios.

Firstly, this is a developing story, and its details are somewhat murky. So, take the following with a healthy dose of skepticism. Reports indicate the source code for Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas has been leaked online, with a user posting a file of the source code onto the GTA forums. However, the timeline of events doesn't start there and actually dates back to April 23, 2020, when a user by the name @CJ_Apppearance posted a public service announcement about users obtaining a partial leak of the San Andreas source code.

Fast forward to January 5, 2025, NationalPepper posted screenshots of users bragging about having the source code archive and selling passwords to users who wanted access. At the time, it was known to be a scam as the archive holders would accept the money and never provide a password. The leak revealed early multiplayer elements, a ragdoll system, and skateboarding mechanics. On February 15, 2025, user AbhiDEV shared screenshots of the source code leak, showing a San Andreas model viewer, partial network code, a beta CJ, and ragdoll code.

Grand Theft Auto 6 fans are itching to know the official release date for the game, but what if the window was just narrowed down by the recent showcase of Borderlands 4 at Sony's State of Play?

Gearbox showcased a new trailer for Borderlands 4 at Sony's State of Play event, and besides the interesting gameplay, the developer revealed when the title will be available to games - September 23, 2025. Now, Strauss Zelnick, CEO of Take-Two Interactive, the publisher of Borderlands 4 and the Grand Theft Auto franchise, has previously confirmed that Take-Two won't "stack up huge releases unnecessarily," which means Take-Two won't release two big titles, such as GTA 6 and Borderlands 4 close together, as it would potentially cannibalize sales.

Notably, this isn't a unique strategy by Take-Two and is common practice not only in the video game industry but also in movies and most other competitive industries. How does this relate to the release date of GTA 6? Well, we know GTA 6 is coming out in the Fall of 2025, which is from September to November. Combine that fact with Take-Two confirming 2K's Mafia: The Old Country is scheduled to release in the Summer of 2025, between June and August. Now, Borderlands 4 is scheduled for release in late September, ruling out that month for GTA 6. That leaves a window of two months for GTA 6.

A high-budget film project in Tampa, Florida, has been sparking discussions due to its seeming resemblance to GTA 6. The footage features an actor bearing a close resemblance to Jason, the game's co-protagonist. You can also spot a green McLaren, presumably for the 'simulated carjacking' featured in the mystery short film.

A Reddit user first posted the footage to the Tampa subreddit, where users immediately drew comparisons to the anticipated game franchise. The actor in question is dressed in a similar outfit to Jason in the GTA 6 leaks, bearing an assault rifle as he marches up a closed-off street.

In the same post, citizens posted photos of emails that claimed to relate to the project, with Tampa Police informing citizens that the streets would be closed for the filming of a short film that 'simulates a carjacking' and includes 'fake weapons for dramatization purposes.'

The entirety of the Xbox ecosystem has generated over $80 billion for Microsoft throughout the Xbox Series console generation.

Microsoft has made over $80.8 billion in revenue across the last five fiscal years since the Xbox Series was introduced. The number is based on indirect estimates gleaned from Microsoft's financials and includes the totality of the Xbox brand. Revenues made from game sales and subscriptions across all platforms are part of the grand sum, including things like Battle.net microtransactions, World of Warcraft and Xbox Game Pass subscriptions, and of course game sales made on competing stores like the PlayStation Store, Nintendo eShop, and Steam.

Over the past five fiscal years, Xbox's wide-spanning platform generated $80.8 billion in total revenues. Microsoft splits Xbox revenue into two parts: Hardware, which includes Xbox console sales and accessories, and Content and Services, which is game sales, subscriptions, microtransactions, etc.

Xbox Series X/S console shipments may have hit nearly 36 million by the end of 2024, new analysis indicates.

Editor's Note: The data provided below is based on estimates, not confirmed values. The millions of units are also based on sell-in/shipments and not sell-through. Microsoft does not share hardware unit sales data (neither shipments nor sell-through). Only AMD and Sony have delivered confirmed values.

New analysis from Install Base number-cruncher JPB (aka Welfare on YouTube) could shed light on mythical Xbox Series console figures. According to the data provided, Microsoft may have shipped up to 35.9 million Xbox Series consoles from launch to present.

Ubisoft won't comment on unannounced games for FY26 as the company weighs its current options.

Ubisoft isn't in the best place right now. Sales and earnings are down, debts are coming due, and margins are being squeezed. Layoffs have been triggered and entire games and development teams have been shut down. Ubisoft's most recent games have underperformed, with Star Wars Outlaws' sales actually disappointing Ubisoft two times in a row.

Ubisoft's current position makes it vulnerable for hostile takeovers. To prevent such a takeover, Ubisoft's largest stakeholders signed a deal with Tencent to prevent the Chinese firm from buying up a ton of stake in Ubisoft. Now it's said that Ubisoft may team up with Tencent to buy out all remaining Ubisoft shares and give creative control to the Guillemot Family, of which Ubisoft's CEO Yves Guillemot is a member of.

Ubisoft says that Assassin's Creed Shadows pre-orders are showing early signs of success, tracking closely with Odyssey's thunderous performance.

Ubisoft has a lot riding on Assassin's Creed Shadows. The company isn't doing great right now and is exploring options to either sell parts of itself off or to go private. Shadows will determine how much cash Ubisoft has, in part, to pay back its debts and stay on course with its plans--all while navigating uncertain waters for the company's future.

It sounds like the feudal Japan-based Assassin's Creed is doing well, at least with initial digital pre-orders. In a recent Q4FY25 earnings call, Ubisoft management commented on AC Shadows pre-sales:

Nintendo fans eagerly await more news on the Nintendo Switch 2, but what if you could buy one right now on the black market?

A post in the Nintendo Switch 2 subreddit has since gained a lot of traction posing this very idea, as a user has claimed to have gotten their hands on an early model and is willing to part ways with it, but for a hefty price. The user is the same person who posted CAD models of the Nintendo Switch 2 last year, which were, at the time, the first accurate look at the upcoming console. Now, that same user is willing to get go of the console, along with the dock and Joy-Con controllers, for a measly 290,000 RMG, or approximately $39,780 USD.

Screenshots of the conversation with the Xiahongshu forums user were posted on the subreddit, and according to the seller, the Switch 2 offering is aimed at accessory manufacturers that want to test their products on the new console. It should be noted there isn't any way to verify the user has obtained a Nintendo Switch 2 before its release, not to mention the legal risks that would follow if the console was actually sold and made it out to the public. The only piece of credible evidence is the user is the same person who leaked the CAD models of the Switch 2 last year, giving credence to the idea that they actually have access to at least one Switch 2.

NVIDIA's cloud gaming platform GeForce NOW is celebrating its fifth anniversary this year. As part of the celebration, it's partnering with Warner Bros. Games to bring the critically acclaimed and fan-favorite Batman: Arkham series to the cloud. This includes the Batman: Arkham Asylum Game of the Year Edition, Batman: Arkham City Game of the Year Edition, and Batman: Arkham Knight Premium.

These are all enhanced versions of the games, three titles widely regarded as classics in the PC gaming community. The Arkham trilogy follows the story of Batman taking on various DC Super-Villains. GeForce NOW Ultimate members will be able to experience these titles running in 4K at 120 FPS with G-SYNC support on everything from a PC to a laptop or a big-screen TV.

The Batman: Arkham trilogy games are classics, but this week, GeForce NOW is also getting something brand-new in the form of Sid Meier's Civilization VII, which will be playable via the cloud for those looking to run their very own empire. Plus, Legacy: Steel & Sorcery - a new PVPVE RPG from former World of Warcraft developers.

Sony has just wrapped up the PlayStation State of Play event, where the publisher showcased a selection of titles - some of which come out later this year, and others have dates to be announced.

Below, you will find a full list of all of the announcements at State of Play, a short description of each of the titles, a release date if it has one, and a trailer for the content. Which were your favorite unveiling?

The latest sequel in the Borderlands franchise has received a release date trailer, where it's revealed the title will become available on September 23, 2025.

During Wednesday's PlayStation State of Play, Sony announced that Day's Gone, the survival action thriller released in 2016, would receive a remastered release dropping April 25, 2025.

Early reactions to the project are lukewarm. A video posted by Cycu1 on YouTube provided a side-by-side graphics comparison of the two titles, comparing footage from the original's PC version with trailer footage of Days Gone Remastered (running on the PS5 Pro).

As you can see in the video, it isn't easy to differentiate the two. The textures, lighting, and shadows appear largely the same. The original PC version even outperforms PS5 Pro in some areas. It's important to preface that the PC footage runs on an NVIDIA RTX 4080, quite a step up from the hardware that powers the PS5. Despite this, it's somewhat concerning that a remaster of a 6-year-old title is still being outperformed by its original counterpart.

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, from acclaimed developer Machine Games (Wolfenstein) and Bethesda, is one of the best games of 2024 and the best looking. With Full Ray Tracing enabled on PC, you're presented with absolutely stunning environments to explore as one of cinema's most iconic characters. Running on a version of id Tech, it's also one of the best performing Full Ray Tracing or Path Tracing games currently available.

Next week, the game is set to get a massive update to its visuals thanks to a new patch that will add DLSS 4 support, including the new Transformer AI model for Super Resolution, DLAA, and Ray Reconstruction. These technologies have been game changers for titles like Cyberpunk 2077 and Alan Wake 2 and will undoubtedly level up the visuals in Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, too.

"Using DLSS Ray Reconstruction, surface detail is improved, shadows are more precise, lighting is enhanced, and reflections more accurate," NVIDIA writes. "Even in darker scenes, temples, and forests, DLSS Ray Reconstruction adds an extra level of refinement to the image."

GeForce Game Ready Driver 572.42 has been released, and it includes day one support for Obsidian's (Fallout New Vegas, The Outer Worlds) latest RPG - Avowed. The game supports cutting-edge ray-tracing effects alongside DLSS Frame Generation, DLSS Super Resolution, and NVIDIA Reflex. DLSS 4 support is available on Steam via the NVIDIA App's DLSS Override feature.

This includes the new Multi Frame Generation technology to boost smoothness and maximize your display's refresh rate. NVIDIA has released some Avowed benchmarks showcasing the expected 4K performance. In 4K with DLSS 4 and Multi Frame Generation, the GeForce RTX 5090 hits an impressive 343.9 FPS, with the GeForce RTX 5080 hitting 259.3 FPS. This is with Ray Tracing, Max Settings, and the new DLSS 4 Transformer AI model.

Interestingly, looking at 1440p performance, it seems like Avowed is going to be a well-optimized game, as the GeForce RTX 5080 and the GeForce RTX 5090 can both hit 100+ FPS with Full Ray Tracing at Max Settings without DLSS. Even the GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER hits 66 FPS at 1440p without DLSS - which is always great.

Following the release of the latest Captain America MCU skin based on Avengers: Infinity War (2018), players have been quick to notice a particular design choice left in by the developers.

In Avengers: Endgame (2019), the culmination of nearly 15 years of comic book world-building, Paul Rudd's Scott Lang delivers a joke in the third act that got a big laugh from audiences:

Ubisoft's efforts to bolster Star Wars Outlaws sales haven't gone according to plan, the publisher says.

Despite steep discounts during the holidays, a release on Steam, and new content updates, Star Wars Outlaws still failed to meet Ubisoft's expectations. The news was confirmed during Ubisoft's latest Q3FY25 earnings call--but the company isn't giving up on Outlaws.

Ubisoft Chief Financial Officer Frederick Duguet is optimistic that Star Wars Outlaws will be a "long-term seller."

Sony's PlayStation State of Play was packed with reveals for anticipated game titles. Among them: Directive 8020, a story-based sci-fi horror experience set in space.

Directive 8020 kicks off Season 2 of The Dark Pictures Anthology, a series of shorter survival horror games with a unique story and cast in every entry. Directive 8020 was first teased during the mid-credits of The Devil in Me back in 2022, and a full announcement trailer was unveiled at Gamescom in August 2024.

Supermassive Games has always drawn inspiration from classic films. This time, they appear to be drawing on works like Alien and The Thing. The story trailer features astronauts facing an unknown alien threat while they grapple for survival aboard a spaceship called 'The Cassiopeia.'

Former Rockstar lead Leslie Benzies is working on a new action title set to release in the same year as GTA 6. Enter Mindseye - an action-packed third-person shooter set in a dystopian sci-fi-style cityscape, with explosive, high-octane combat taking the lead.

The two trailers, released at Sony's latest State of Play, feature protagonist Jacob Diaz - a former soldier fitted with a neural implant haunted by fragmented memories. The game centers around Jacob's journey to uncover the truth in a world fogged by AI, high-tech experimentation, and military corruption.

The developers have not specifically addressed the open-world comparison to GTA 6, instead emphasizing the cinematic narrative elements of the experience. Throughout the trailer, you'll find Jacob driving around in classic American muscle, and at the very least, it appears to be a semi-open-world experience. It also draws on the narrative third-person formula that Sony does so well, with the inclusion of high-fidelity, motion-captured cutscenes.

Borderlands 4, the next entry in the long-running looter scooter co-op action FPS series, is set to launch on September 23, 2025, for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC (via Steam and the Epic Games Store). 2K and Gearbox Software made the announcement earlier today during Sony's latest State of Play PlayStation event.

Gearbox describes the game as the "most ambitious Borderlands title to date," the trailer highlights its fast-paced action, expanded traversal, and weapons. Plus, it confirms that you'll be able to swim for the first time in the franchise. You'll no longer instantly wipe when touching the water, meaning Borderlands 4's Vault Hunters have learned how to swim.

The trailer also showcases the new grapple hook. This "fixed-point grapple" system will allow for faster movement and more aerial abilities alongside new double-jump and glide abilities. 2K notes that the Borderlands franchise has sold over 87 million copies, making it one of the publisher's most popular franchises.

Elden Ring Nightreign is a standalone spin-off to one of the most popular games in recent years, and it's a new co-op survival adventure game set in the Elden Ring universe. From developer FromSoftware (Dark Souls) and publisher Bandai Namco, the game is set to launch globally on May 30.

Alongside the release date announcement, Bandai Namco has announced that pre-orders for the game are now open and will ship in four versions: Standard Edition, Deluxe Edition, Seekers Edition, and Collector's Edition. The game will be available on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC (Steam).

Hit the jump for a breakdown of the various versions.