Gaming - Page 231

Black Myth: Wukong was first showcased years ago and with the developer

Game Science is partnering with NVIDIA to incorporate cutting-edge ray-traced visuals into the cinematic action RPG retelling of the Journey to the West myth; it's been highly anticipated for a long, long time.

With the release right around the corner, August 20, for PC and PlayStation 5, the developers also dropped a Black Myth: Wukong Benchmark Tool on Steam - check out our 4K performance results here. Interestingly, the Benchmark Tool hit an incredible 85,277 peak concurrent 'players' in its first 24 hours. And this is for something that only takes a few minutes to run.

The Borderlands movie is the latest video game-to-movie adaptation to hit the big screen and be received with utter disappointment by fans and the general public.

Borderlands has flopped at the box office with a reported $145 million budget that includes marketing; the movie only managed to pull in $8.8 million in its opening weekend. Additionally, critics haven't had very nice things to say about the movie, but, regardless of its negative reviews, fans of the video game franchise, which is undeniably popular, have begun flocking back to the titles for another playthrough.

Through the smoke of negative comments about the Borderlands movie, Gearbox Studios, the developer of Borderlands, teased the upcoming next installment in the video game franchise, presumably Borderlands 4. The Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford tweeted that the response for the Borderlands movie means fans of the franchise like what Gearbox does with the universe rather than some of the best cast and crew of filmmakers - "I'm super flattered!"

Black Myth: Wukong is one of the most anticipated game releases of 2024, and it's right around the corner - launching August 20 for PC and PlayStation 5. This is one that we've been following for a while, and on PC, the game is set to be a visual treat thanks to the inclusion of full ray-tracing (or path tracing), DLSS Super Resolution, DLSS 3.5 Ray Reconstruction, and Frame Generation.

Ahead of the game's launch, developer and publisher Game Science has released a free Benchmark Tool on Steam that includes a fly-over through one of the game's lush forest, river, and temple environments. There's no combat in the benchmark, which is a shame. Still, the developer notes that it "evaluates your hardware performance and system compatibility through the real-time rendering of an in-game sequence."

As for the game's full visual potential, here's a look at 4K performance running on a GeForce RTX 4090.

GPD has just unveiled its new Pocket 4, which is the first gaming handheld powered by AMD's new Ryzen AI 300 series "Strix Point" APU. Check it out:

GPD's new Pocket 4 gaming handheld features the flagship Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 "Strix Point" APU, with the handheld sporting an 8.8-inch LTPS display with a 2.5K resolution and 144Hz refresh rate. We've also got 97% DCI-P3 color coverage, and 500 nits of brightness.

This isn't just a gaming handheld either, with the GPD Pocket 4 handheld featuring a physical keyboard, touchpad, and a 180-degree rotatable screen. This means that the GPD Pocket 4 could be used as a tablet, so it's kinda like a 2-in-1 tablet and notebook, powered by the Strix Point APU. Nifty.

Activision Blizzard King helped Microsoft achieve new record-breaking annual games revenues as the publisher continues raking in billions from service-oriented games.

Microsoft's latest FY24 results gave us key insights on the health of the Xbox business. According to the data, the Xbox brand managed to pull in $21.5 billion throughout July 2023 - June 2024, a new all-time high for the video games unit. The +39% year-over-year revenue growth was driven primarily by software, services, subscriptions, and monetization--a segment that Microsoft refers to as Content & Services--whereas hardware declined slightly by 13% to $2.87 billion.

Activision was a significant driver for Xbox's growth, and helped the division finally break the $20 billion mark. But how much did Activision contribute? Is the costly $70 billion merger having a positive impact on the business? The raw figures say yes, but we also have to wonder about Xbox's overall performance sans Activision. Microsoft's quarterly financial results gave us some clues, at least on a more basic level.

Microsoft reports new record-breaking gaming revenues as it recognizes the full might of Activision's earnings potential.

Xbox just reported its full fiscal year earnings following the $70 billion Activision-Blizzard merger. Microsoft's FY24 gaming results reflect three consecutive quarters of Activision Blizzard King's billion-dollar contributions, and the service titan has had a strong material impact on Xbox's total-year results.

According to the loose figures provided by Microsoft and calculated by us (with the help of past historical figures from Xbox numbers expert John Welfare), Xbox gaming delivered a record-breaking $21.524 billion in revenue throughout Fiscal Year 2024 (July 2023 - June 2024).

Nintendo has reportedly told developers when they should expect the Switch 2 to release.

The next-gen Switch successor isn't coming in 2024, and may not be out until mid-2025 at the earliest. That's according to new reports from GamesIndustry.biz's Christopher Dring, who has been given a few clues on the system's launch by game developer sources.

This information lines up with previous rumblings about Nintendo's new Switch 2 system. In those previous reports, the DLSS-powered Switch 2 was pegged for a Q1 2025 launch, which runs from January - March 2025. But that timeline may have been adjusted if this newer report is accurate.

In recent times, there's been a steady drip of exciting news around Bloodborne coming to the PC - unofficially, mind, using a PS4 emulator - and we've just caught wind of some screenshots of the game running under Windows.

This is using the shadPS4 emulator, and as you'll doubtless recall if you've been following along with this saga, Bloodborne has been fired up to get to the character screen already - but now the devs of the unofficial port are past that and into the game.

Well, sort of. As YouTuber BrutalSam points out, the graphics are pretty broken, but the alpha of the emulated version of Bloodborne now actually gets past the menus and into the game. Wccftech spotted the video above which shows off a couple of screenshots of this feat.

The Last of Us multiplayer game that was canceled last December has gotten more details, which may be nails on a chalkboard to fans of the series that were excited about a multiplayer addition to the popular franchise.

The details were revealed by Bloomberg's Jason Schreier, who said during an episode of the Friends Per Second podcast that Sony is "trend-chasing to the extreme" with its push into live-service games, and that live-service titles can work in rare cases such as Helldivers 2. Schreier even talked about the Horizon Zero Dawn online game, saying it's "still in development," but he's unsure when / if it will ever be released.

As for The Last of Us online game, Schreier said that the title was deep into its development before it was suddenly canceled. The Bloomberg reporter said there was a team of hundreds of developers behind the project, and that it was in development for "something like four years". Notably, Schreier said the cancellation of the title wasn't a "bloodless endeavor" and that there were "some heads rolling at Sony as a result of that one."

The first Red Dead Redemption game was released more than 10 years ago, and now it appears Rockstar Games is planning to bring it to PC.

Originally spotted by Wario64, a known gaming industry leaker, the PC port for Red Dead Redemption has, funnily enough, appeared on the PlayStation Store in an update to the description of the PS4 version of the game. The description states that gamers will soon be able to "Experience the epic western adventures that defined a generation - now on PC for the first time ever." It appears there is a current-gen port of the game in the works, and whoever was responsible for the description of the PS4 version mixed it up with the PC version.

However, it happened, the description for the PC version of Red Dead Redemption mentions specific PC enhancements that will be coming upon its arrival. According to the description, these enhancements will come in the form of support for increased resolutions and framerates, multiple displays, spatial surround sound, and other accessories. Notably, the PC port will be coming with Undead Nightmare and come complete with the single-player experiences of both games while also including any bonus content from the Game of the Year Edition.

id Software's Doom II from 1994 is not only an iconic first-person shooter; it helped change how PC games were made and played forever. Hot on the heels of Bethesda releasing a moddable and notable mod-friendly upgrade to the original Doom and Doom II on PC, it's time to feast your eyes on Doom 2: Ray Traced.

A new and stunning path tracing mod based on the popular GZDOOM port of the game. Okay, so there's a lot going on here - which includes the improved hardware support and visuals of GZDOOM and the fantastic voxel-based character models from the 'voxel doom project' that recreates all of the game's 2D sprites as full 3D characters.

On top of this, you've got the ray-tracing renderer used in previous ray-tracing mods for Half-Life 1 and Quake 1 - supercharged. With improved particle support and better overall performance, with NVIDIA DLSS 3 Frame Generation and AMD FSR 3 Frame Generation support. The result? Insanity. Doom II, like you've never seen before.

Valve has been running Closed Beta testing on its next game for months, and it is an Overwatch-style third-person hero shooter called Deadlock. In May, we got our first glimpse at the game and some of its characters, albeit low-quality footage.

Those playing early have undoubtedly digitally signed Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDA) with Valve; however, based on the latest SteamDB data on the game - it's on its way to becoming a massive hit.

Will it reach the same heights as Valve's Team Fortress 2, DOTA 2, and Counter-Strike 2? Time will tell, but with 18,254 peak concurrent players recorded overnight, it seems that those who have gained access to the game are enjoying it. Steam peak concurrent player counts are a good indicator of a multiplayer game's popularity and player retention. The data also shows Valve is potentially ramping up to an official release.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl from developer GSC Game World has been a long time coming, and after several delays, the final product is right around the corner - launching November 20, 2024, for PC and Xbox Series consoles. And with that, the development team has just dropped a new 35-minute deep-dive video, taking a closer look at the game and The Zone.

Fans of the original games will undoubtedly feel a sense of familiarity with the bleak isolation from exploring the Zone. The developers note that even though STALKER 2 has a story to tell, with quests, factions, and missions to discover and undertake, players will be free to explore the world, and it will be as tough and challenging as the original games.

Making the game easy would not be an authentic "STALKER experience," GSC adds, and a player's skill and familiarity with the environment will drive progression - not skills and abilities that unlock.

Microsoft's latest gaming results underline its core focus as a service-first company as hardware sales drop over time. These results yield interesting comparisons against PlayStation and Nintendo.

Hardware has always been a weak spot for Microsoft, at least where gaming is concerned. It's not that the tech giant hasn't seen success with video games hardware--it has, especially during the Xbox 360 days, and Xbox Series is currently doing well in the United States. But there's been one problem that has plagued Xbox hardware from the get-go: The consoles have never been produced at a profit.

Unlike Sony and Nintendo, who both sell their respective hardware at a profit (an eventuality for Sony, but the Switch was sold at a profit on day one), Microsoft makes its gaming profits solely from Content & Services. This includes game sales (both first- and third-party), monetization, and subscriptions. Xbox has slowly become a digital-first enterprise over the years as a result.

Two new games based on the legendary slasher franchise Halloween are currently in development, and the team behind Evil Dead: The Game are making the new projects.

Halloween fans are in for a treat: Not only are two games based on Michael Myers' blood-thirsty rampage on the horizon, but John Carpenter is actually helping with the new video games.

"As a huge gamer myself, I'm thrilled to help bring Michael Myers to life again in this game, and my hope is to scare you silly," the iconic horror maven said.

The highly anticipated next title in The Witcher franchise has just had the main character from the critically-acclaimed The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, confirmed for The Witcher 4.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt was released in 2015 and was the sequel to the 2011 title The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings. In 2013, CD Projekt Red confirmed that The Witcher 3 was going to be the last chapter of Geralt of Rivia's story, the main character of the past three games. However, at the time CD Projekt Red did tease the possibility of Geralt returning in future stories.

We have now heard a tiny but important detail about the next Witcher game, and it comes from Geralt's voice actor, Doug Cockle, who has been voicing Geralt in all the Witcher games. Cockle said during a recent video from Fall Damage that "Geralt will be part of the game [Witcher 4], we just don't know how much, and the game won't focus on Geralt. So it's not about him this time. We don't know who it's about. I'm excited to find out."

With a range of stylish minimalist PC cases and cooling products, it only makes sense for Fractal Design's first gaming chair to carry the same visual identity. Available in the U.S. and Asia Pacific region, the Fractal Refine gaming chair is described by the company as a "comfortable, versatile place to sit and become fully and enjoyably immersed in the gaming experience."

The look is partially inspired by Scandinavian furniture and research-led ergonomic science in the high-end office chair market. Naturally, you can adjust the Fractal Refine chair from the headrest height to the overall seat height with additional ergonomic tilt and '4D' armrest adjustments.

In addition, it has a glass-fiber reinforced frame and aluminum wheelbase, and it offers comfort backed by a five-year warranty on the chair's construction and a three-year warranty on soft parts like the upholstery.

idStudio Beta is a new modding tool from id Software that is now available on Steam for DOOM Eternal owners. Like the Creation Kit for Skyrim and other in-depth modding tools, idStudio represents the internal tools the developers at id Software used to create the game.

"We are so impressed with the DOOM Eternal community mods created without any official tools," id Software writes, acknowledging the existing mod community for the game. "They inspired us to release a public beta of idStudio for creators and an opt-in PC mod preview for players to easily browse and play mods. We can't wait to see what this community does next."

id Software has posted a detailed breakdown of idStudio features alongside a range of tutorials for budding modders and developers to dive in on its official site. From creating new levels, assets, audio, animation, and more, there's enough detail here to lead to the sort of game-transforming mods in Bethesda's RPGs like Skyrim and Starfield.

Microsoft's landmark acquisition of Activision Blizzard closed in October 2023 after over a year of widespread global scrutiny. The deal is worth $68.7 billion, the largest in videogame history. With so many iconic gaming franchises now under the Xbox and Microsoft Gaming banner, there doesn't seem to be a rush to bring new and back catalog Activision Blizzard to the Xbox Game Pass and PC Game Pass subscription service.

Diablo 4 was the first major Activision Blizzard game to arrive on Game Pass in March 2024, with last year's blockbuster Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 added last month. It's definitely slow going, but the good news is that the third major Activision franchise has now made its way to Game Pass in the form of Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy for PC, Console, and Cloud.

Crash Bandicoot is a 3D action platformer from the original PlayStation era. At the time, the character was viewed as Sony's answer to Nintendo's Super Mario. Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy presents full, built-from-the-ground-up remakes of the first three Crash games in vibrant 4K.

Wolfeye Studios is an independent game developer created by ex-Arkane and Dishonored and Prey (2017) co-creator Raphael Colantonio, with the studio's first game, Weird West from 2022, garnering a positive response from fans of isometric RPGs and sims.

Fast-forward to 2024, and the team is ready to tease its next project: a first-person game that blends Dishonored's sandbox mission design with the RPG aspects of Prey and Bethesda's Fallout games. The game's title is still to be revealed. Still, Raphael Colantonio has taken to social media to proclaim, "Fans of the previous first-person games I was involved with (Dishonored and Prey) will be happy."

In a follow-up interview and article on Eurogamer, we learn that the game is a first-person action RPG that's set in an alternate version of America in the 1900s. Based on the artwork and images released so far, the retro sci-fi angle visuals nail the Dishonored meets Fallout promise.