Gaming - Page 243

The total installed base of 9th generation consoles is expected to break 111 million by the end of 2024, new reports from Take-Two Interactive indicate.

Take-Two Interactive's latest Q4 earnings call revealed an interesting snippet on console market expectations. During the call, TTWO CEO Strauss Zelnick gave out IDG's console expansion forecasts for the current 9th hardware generation. These numbers combine both PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S console sales.

IDG expects the installed base for the 9th console generation to reach 111 million by the end of calendar 2024, up +37% from the previous figure given by Zelnick. The most eye-opening figure is for 2027 and beyond, where the 9th gen console installed base is expected to jump to 175 million.

Microsoft has officially launched its Auto SR (Automatic Super Resolution) technology, its new system-level super resolution tech, which is available on new Copilot+ PCs powered by Qualcomm's new Snapdragon X Elite processor.

In order to use Microsoft's new Auto SR technology, you'll need a new Copilot+ PC powered by Qualcomm's new Snapdragon X Elite processor, which you can't even buy today. Microsoft has paper launched Auto SR, with Copilot+ PCs required to play it, unavailable to buy today.

You'll also need Windows 11 version 24H2, a 1080p display at a minimum, and automatic updated to be enabled. That is, once you've got your new Copilot+ PC powered by a Snapdragon X Elite processor. The 12 games that will work on the Copilot+ PCs with Auto SR supported out of the box include:

In the United States, the video game era in the late 1970s and early 1980s was defined by two consoles - the Atari 2600 and Intellivision. This rivalry predates the Nintendo versus Sega era by a decade and the current PlayStation versus Xbox versus Nintendo era. It even predates most gamers in 2024, who weren't even alive when the Atari 2600 was a thing that connected to a TV.

Atari and Intellivision aren't big players in the modern video game era, which makes today's announcement that Atari is acquiring Intellivision and its various trademarks and games more of a fun news story than the monumental news that something like PlayStation acquiring Xbox (or the other way around) would be.

What does Atari + Intellivision mean for gaming? The press release states, "Atari will seek to expand digital and physical distribution of legacy Intellivision games, potentially create new games, and explore brand and licensing opportunities."

Senua's Saga: Hellblade II is now available on PC and Xbox consoles and is part of the Xbox Game Pass or PC Game Pass subscription service. Built with the latest Unreal Engine technology, it's being praised as one of the most cinematic and visually impressive games ever made. From character detail to realistic-looking environments to the lighting and other effects - it's jaw-dropping stuff.

The game is also available to play on NVIDIA's GeForce NOW cloud streaming service, bringing the total number of cloud-supported games on the service to over 1,900. Best of all, GeForce NOW Ultimate members can stream the game at up to 4K 120 frames per second on a GeForce RTX 4080 SuperPOD.

Per NVIDIA's benchmarks for Hellblade II running in 4K with Max Settings and DLSS 3 enabled, the only way to experience the game with this level of performance is with a GeForce RTX 4080 or RTX 4090. This makes a GeForce NOW Ultimate subscription (with a stable connection) one of the best ways to experience the game.

Activision has taken to its official Call of Duty X, formerly Twitter, account to share a short teaser video that confirms the next Call of Duty.

The above teaser video was released only an hour ago, and it confirms the next Call of Duty will be called Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, which Activision writes will bring in "a dark new chapter of the Black Ops franchise." The coming Call of Duty is rumored to be releasing this October on the following platforms: Xbox, PlayStation, and PC. The reason that's worth mentioning is because of Microsoft's acquisition of Activision, which led many to believe that Call of Duty was going to become an Xbox and PC exclusive, only to be released on PlayStation at a later date, but that isn't the case.

The current agreement Microsoft is under is to continue launching the Call of Duty franchise on multiple platforms. As for Black Ops 6, there isn't much officially known about the now highly anticipated game, but we are scheduled to find out more about it at the Xbox Games Showcase penciled in for June 9. Rumors indicate that Black Ops 6 will take players, at least in part, to the Gulf War.

A gaming industry insider who has previously been correct about the Kingdom Hearts series coming to Steam has said the next installment in the series might be coming to Nintendo's next console.

The insider is Midori, who took to X, formerly Twitter, to share some details about a tip they received back in February. According to Midori, they received a message in February that informed them about Missing Link, Kingdom Hearts 4, and the Kingdom Hearts series coming to Steam. Midori said they didn't believe the information from the source at the time, but the news was confirmed on May 21 via the official Kingdom Hearts X account that announced the series will arrive on Steam on June 13.

Midori revealed further details about what the source told them, writing the Steam ports have been in development since last summer. As for Kingdom Hearts 4, the source said it has some "small online features" and that it "looks very different from the first trailer".

CD Projekt RED has launched the REDkit for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt on PC, free for all owners of the game. The editor and toolset allow modders and players to create, edit, and modify various aspects of the game. From control over models and environments, there are even detailed cinematic tools and the ability to create brand-new questlines.

The Witcher 3 has a vibrant modding community on Nexus Mods, but this new update takes everything to the next level. It also adds Steam Workshop support so players can download and enable mods from the popular platform. Check out the tutorial video embedded below for a guide on installing The Witcher 3 mods via the Steam Workshop.

Having a complete game editor in the REDkit brings The Witcher 3 closer to Bethesda's iconic Skyrim in terms of what's possible. Skyrim's popularity has endured for over a decade, and the arrival of the RED Kit for The Witcher 3 could lead to a similar situation.

Valve, the creators of the iconic Half-Life, Portal, DOTA 2, and Team Fortress 2, release games so infrequently that if there's even a rumor on what it might be cooking up next - consider that major PC gaming news. Over the last few days, we've seen the PC gaming community come alive thanks to screenshots and information leaking for Valve's next big game - an Overwatch-style third-person shooter called Deadlock.

The game hasn't been officially announced, and Valve hasn't responded to the leaks or requests from outlets to confirm if the information is accurate. According to multiple sources, the 6v6 'hero shooter' is currently in the Closed Beta phase, so what we're seeing comes from an early version of the game and from players who are most likely breaking their NDA agreement with Valve.

Today, we've got our first look at the game in action, with a short clip showcasing Deadlock gameplay.

The MSI Claw Windows PC gaming handheld stands out from the competition because it uses the Intel Core Ultra 7 processor 155H with integrated Arc graphics and not the AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme found in the likes of the ROG Ally from ASUS. This has led to a rocky start for the new handheld, with spotty and inconsistent gaming performance reported by those who went hands-on with a pre-release or launch version of the hardware.

Today, there's some very welcome news for MSI Claw early adopters. The company is releasing BIOS 109, which replaces BIOS 106, alongside a new version of the MSI Center M software. The latest BIOS and MSI Center M software deliver a massive 30% performance increase in titles like Forza Horizon 5.

Other popular games like Fortnite and Helldivers 2 see a sizeable 20% increase in performance with the new BIOS and MSI Center M software.

Microsoft seems pretty hungry after its Activision acquisition, with a fresh (and very hot, prepare your salt) rumor that the Windows and Xbox giant is preparing a $16 billion offer to buy Valve. Yes, that Valve, from Gabe Newell.

Dior is a gaming-focused content creator in the Counter-Strike gaming community, posting on X that Microsoft is reportedly preparing a $16 billion offer to buy Valve Corporation, which would include the absolutely gigantic Steam store... by far, the most popular PC gaming platform on the market, and stars in the eyes ($$$) of Microsoft.

I don't know why Valve would consider this when they're a private company and no one knows exactly how much Valve is worth, or how much money Valve makes each year. There are some estimates that see Valve pulling in over $10 billion per year in revenue, with Valve CEO Gabe "Lord GabeN" Newell reportedly has a net worth of over $4 billion.

Yesterday, Microsoft unveiled a new range of AI-powered Copilot+ PCs, which will arrive soon. These PCs are powered by Arm-based Snapdragon X chips running Windows 11 with a suite of new AI features and optimizations. In addition to Microsoft's latest Surface Pro and Surface Laptop, Copilot+ PCs are arriving from various partners, including ASUS, Dell, Lenovo, Acer, and more.

They all run on Snapdragon X chips with a Qualcomm Hexagon NPU, which provides 45 TOPS of AI performance to meet the Copilot+ PC requirement. This is all fine for running AI tools locally, but what about gaming performance? Well, Microsoft held a Windows on Arm gaming demonstration at the Build 2024 event to showcase the power of the Qualcomm Adreno GPU found in the Snapdragon X Elite chipset.

According to Windows Central, which was present during the presentation, Baldur's Gate 3 can run on a Surface Pro at around 30 FPS at 1080p. This is comparable performance to high-end PC gaming handhelds, which is encouraging for the future of Arm gaming on Windows devices.

Ninja Theory and Xbox Game Studios just released the sequel to the critically acclaimed Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice, with Senua's Saga: Hellblade II now available on PC and Xbox consoles.

Senua's Saga: Hellblade II was a highly anticipated release from Ninja Theory, as the game was in development for nearly five years and any trailer or screenshots showcasing the title left fans in awe at the phenomenal graphics - particularly the motion capture. But, with intense graphics there is a cost to performance, or framerate, and that is now being reported by players on the Xbox Series X|S.

According to an analysis by ElAnalistaDeBits, Hellblade II runs at a dynamic 2560x1070p with an average res of around 2304x963p on Xbox Series X and a dynamic 1920x803p with an average of 1472x615p on Xbox Series S. If you are wondering why the resolutions aren't familiar it's because Ninja Theory chose to run the game in a cinematic aspect ratio of 2.39:1, which means black bars at the top and bottom of the screen.

Elden Ring players will be glad to know that some new details have been revealed about the villain they will be facing in the upcoming DLC expansion titled "Shadow of the Erdtree".

The long-awaited expansion of the critically acclaimed FromSoftware title Elden Ring has just received a new story trailer that reveals some new details about the villain, Messmer the Impaler. Reports indicate the new villain is a powerful demigod that is linked to the characters from the original Elden Ring story. As for the story trailer, there are hints at what sent the demigod Miquella to the new land that she sacrificed himself for.

Additionally, the trailer ends with followers of Miquella joining forces and requesting new warriors fight for their cause to be rid of Messmer and his burning legions. Notably, the new story trailer may appear confusing to the casual Elden Ring player who didn't really pay much attention to the lore of the game and was just there for the extremely tight and rewarding gameplay, but for self-proclaimed Elden Ring scholars, the new story trailer is certainly a rich piece of information to obtain just a few months before the DLC releases.

Grand Theft Auto V has now sold-in more than 200 million copies worldwide, Take-Two Interactive has announced.

Over a decade later, GTA V is still selling incredibly well on all platforms. The game has now shipped 200 million copies worldwide as of March 2024, up 5 million units since the previous quarter. This is quite the eponymous trend for GTA V: The game has shipped 5 million copies in 11 of the last 16 quarters.

Total Grand Theft Auto franchise sales are now at 425 million, and GTA V makes up nearly half of those sales, or about 47%.

Microsoft isn't the only one working on a mobile games platform--Sony is also developing its own PlayStation mobile experience.

Earlier this month, Xbox president Sarah Bond confirmed Microsoft's mobile games store would launch in July. But Xbox isn't the only one interested in leveraging the $90 billion market; Sony also has big dreams of releasing its own free-to-play mobile titles.

There's just one problem: Outside of Fate/Grand Order, Sony doesn't actually have any mobile games. That's about to change, though, as Sony ramps up investments in the space, including acquisitions of studios like Firesprite and Valkyrie. Now a new Sony job listing for a mobile platform architect gives clues on what's next for Sony's mobile ambitions.

Microsoft has grand ambitions to capture some of the $90 billion mobile games market with an Xbox mobile store, but the digital shop won't actually sell games when it launches.

Microsoft plans to launch an Xbox mobile store experience in July, but what will it look like? According to Game File's Stephen Totilo, the store will only sell microtransactions at launch. The store has been a long time coming but Microsoft didn't take the plunge until now due not having enough mobile titles to justify an entire competing store.

Emboldened by the Activision Blizzard King acquisition, which armed Microsoft with three heavy-hitting mobile powerhouses (Candy Crush, Call of Duty Mobile, and Diablo Immortal), and European Union's new Digital Markets Act, the company has now decided to flip the switch and greenlight its mobile plans.

Microsoft could raise the price of Xbox Game Pass once again in an effort to combat rising costs of games development.

Game Pass subscribers might be in for another price increase as Xbox chases more growth. Sources tell The Verge's Tom Warren that Microsoft is mulling over a subscription price hike for Game Pass.

This price hike is likely being timed in conjunction with the arrival of Call of Duty on Game Pass--the added value from the series could give Microsoft a reason to raise subscription prices again.

IGN Entertainment has purchased Gamer Network, and it now owns UK sites like Eurogamer/Digital Foundry, GamesIndustry.biz, VG247, and Rock, Paper, Shotgun.

After today's deal, IGN now owns a considerable portion of the video games media sector. The Ziff Davis-owned media company has acquired Gamer Network for an undisclosed sum.

Gamer Network was founded in 1999, and over its multi-decade run has grown to operate a ring of six popular UK-based websites including Eurogamer, Rock, Paper, Shotgun, VG247, Digital Foundry, Dicebreaker, and GamesIndustry.biz, which has become an important resource for video game developers to connect and find work.

Sony has taken to the official PlayStation YouTube channel to share a new trailer for V Rising, revealing the release date for the popular title on PS5.

V Rising, developed and published by Stunloock Studios, has been available on PC for quite some time, gaining quite a lot of attention for its new take on the survival genre with a meticulously thought-out combat system that is reminiscent of Diablo. V Rising has earned itself a "Very Positive" review score on Steam, with some players saying the game is like if ARK: Survival Evolved and Diablo had a baby, and that baby was into Anne Rice novels, the American gothic fiction author best known for The Vampire Chronicles.

Along with the announcement the game is coming to the PS5 on June 11, developer Stunlock Studios announced three purchasable editions for PlayStation. The Standard Edition includes just the base game, while the Legacy of Castlevania Edition includes the base game, Legacy of Castlevania Premium Pack and 5 days early access. Lastly, the V Rising Completed Edition includes the following.

Experts at Digital Foundry discussed the possibility of the next-generation Nintendo console being able to output a 4K resolution at 60FPS.

The tech experts over at Digital Foundry, the gold-standard for video game hardware/software analysis, recently discussed the Nintendo Switch successor being able to output games at a 4K, 60FPS using NVIDA DLSS. According to the team, the purported Switch 2 may be able to deliver a 4K resolution at 30FPS, but 60FPS will more than likely be off the table due to how expensive it is for the console's GPU to upscale the content.

Digital Foundry referenced a test they conducted with a T239 chip wherein their goal was to replicate the rumored hardware inside the Switch 2, specifically the test where they upscaled Death Stranding from 720p to 4K with DLSS Ultra Performance. The team found the upscaling added 18.3 milliseconds to frame time over native resolution, meaning 60FPS wasn't possible. However, upscaling to 1440p from 720p only added 7.7 milliseconds.