Gaming - Page 258

Valve has announced the Steam Best of 2023 lists covering the top sellers, the most played, games that left Early Access, most played on Steam Deck, most played with a controller, and VR's best sellers. Instead of a numerical list, Valve's 'Best of Steam 2023' puts games into different sales tiers: Platinum, Gold, Silver, and Bronze.

These tiers cover Gross Revenue, including in-game and full-game purchases, while the tier for 'Most Played' games separates them into different Peak Concurrent Players categories.

Some key takeaways: Baldur's Gate 3 and Starfield were incredibly successful, two of the most popular new game releases. Apex Legends, Counter-Strike 2, PUBG, and Destiny 2 are the most popular free-to-play first-person shooters - with Call of Duty: Warzone also in the mix.

CD Projekt Group is confident it can self-fund all 5 of its new video game projects, including a new Witcher trilogy.

Following 2015's best-selling The Witcher 3, and 2020's record-breaking Cyberpunk 2077, CD Projekt has been able to consistently generate high sales revenues from its games. During Cyberpunk's controversial launch, the company sold 13 million copies and made $541 million in sales--almost 5x the budget of the game. Alongside a multi-faceted business model that includes a fully-fledged software distribution storefront, the sci-fi shooter's performance helped CD Projekt amass a significant asset pile to fund future games and growth.

Cyberpunk 2077 has seen various price fluctuations and re-releases, including steep discounts post-launch, a game-of-the-year-style re-release for next-gen consoles, and the standalone launch of the Phantom Liberty expansion. The company also re-released The Witcher 3 for PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. This cyclical product slate is often used in the industry, and it's a key part of CD Projekt's business model.

Thousands of game developers lost their jobs in 2023, but next year may be even tougher as studios maintain current their reduced headcounts.

This year wasn't great for game workers; the industry shed nearly 7,000+ jobs throughout 2023, culminating in the largest series of layoffs that the interactive entertainment market has seen in decades. Companies are slashing personnel to reduce costs, closing down studios like Volition and Free Radical while laying off hundreds of workers and cancelling projects along the way. Inflation has necessitated an economic "correction" among many markets, and gaming, with its $100 million+ budget games, has been hit hard by the current business climate.

Some companies like CD Projekt RED are preparing to move forward with the current staff that they have right now. In a recent interview with Polish newspaper Parkiet, CD Projekt Group CEO Adam Kicinski says that there won't be many new hires throughout 2024, despite CD Projekt working on multiple projects in parallel.

The first Nintendo Switch flashcart officially has a name: The Mig Switch, and the creators are confident that Nintendo won't be able to patch it out via firmware updates.

Nintendo's Switch handheld-console hybrid suffered a critical hardware-based exploit at launch, but after that, gamers haven't been able to really do much with a stock device in the way of modding. To be able to play game dumps, users had to get ahold of a hacked Switch--flashcarts don't exist. Well, until now.

It appears that a device called Mig Switch is the first flashcart for Nintendo's best-selling console. The creators say that the Mig Switch is compatible with all Switch models, including the newer Switch OLED. It comes with a dumper and the flashcart casing, but an SD card is not included.

Yoshi-P believes that the future of gaming could be in the clouds, but it will take time to make that happen.

Streaming games via the cloud is not an ideal way to play most titles, especially fast-twitch shooters. Right now cloud gaming simply hasn't matured, and this is more than a decade after the technology was really first introduced in a mainline package. That being said, cloud has expanded dramatically, pushing to all forms of gaming: From PC to the Big 3 console family, there's some sort of cloud-based offering for games distribution and access.

How far much will cloud gaming evolve in another 10 years? Yoshi-P, producer and director of beloved Final Fantasy XIV and its expansions (and Final Fantasy XVI), recently said he believes cloud could eventually replace all platforms and consoles over time.

Learn how to maintain your PlayStation 5 console with this informative video.

Whether you got a new PlayStation 5 console for Christmas or you're like me and have a launch 2020 model, odds are that you're going to clean out the system at some point. Unfortunately for PS5 owners, the console's unique ventilation design makes it a kind of dust trap and often you'll see dust build up on the vents in the back of the console and the intake fins on the sides of the unit.

Luckily repair expert TronicsFix, who has brought many a broken console back to life, shows us the most efficient and safe way to clean PlayStation 5 consoles.

CD Projekt Group still has no plans to sell the company to a larger video games firm like Sony, Microsoft, or even overseas groups like Tencent, NetEase, and Nexon.

Polish game developer-publisher CD Projekt is fiercely independent. The company has seen massive success with two mega-sellers: The Witcher 3, and Cyberpunk 2077, a sci-fi FPS that made record-breaking earnings at launch but embroiled CD Projekt in harsh controversy. Over the next 3 years after release, CD Projekt spent millions of dollars on Cyberpunk 2077's redemption arc, culminating in a series of massive updates and a fully-fledged ultimate edition with a strong expansion.

CD Projekt was very independent before hand, but after Cyberpunk 2077's turn-around, the studio has become even more maverick. Those investments took a lot of effort, money, manpower, and planning, and now that CD Projekt has successfully turned around Cyberpunk 2077, the studio is doubling down on its independence.

Starfield's new user reviewers have fallen to mostly negative on Steam, many of which are from gamers who have spent over 100 hours playing.

Like the online game before it, Bethesda's latest space sim is proving to be quite divisive (at least among PC gamers). Starfield sits at a mixed user review rating on Steam, but the game has fallen to mostly negative in the recent reviews category. It's worth noting that a portion of these recent verdicts are actually from people who played the game for a longer period: Over 14,000 of the total 86,000+ reviewers played more than 100 hours of Starfield.

According to Steam's metrics, there were 7,280 newer Starfield reviews made from November 28 to December 27. Of this number, 67%, or 4,889 of the reviews, were negative and did not recommend that other people buy and play Starfield.

Next-gen PlayStation 6 and Xbox Next consoles may use dedicated AI chips that unlock new opportunities for Sony and Microsoft.

Reports indicate that Microsoft's new Xbox will have an AI processor, potentially an NPU (Neural Processing Unit), that handles a multitude of tasks. Sony's next PlayStation 6 console (or even the PS5 Pro) may likewise have a dedicated AI processor to help streamline operations and unlock new features.

In fact, Sony recently patented a solution for real-time predictive assistance that's powered by artificial intelligence. The patent would essentially use AI to help players beat difficult in-game levels or bosses with tips and tricks being shown on the screen. The tech relies on libraries of player characteristics data that's collected, analyzed, and interpreted by AI. The PlayStation console would create player profiles based on things like skill, game preference, use of services, etc.

Rumors indicate that legendary Doom developer id Software is working on a new game based on Star Wars' popular The Mandalorian serial TV show, but there's not a lot to substantiate this claim.

Now that the 10-year Star Wars exclusivity deal with EA has ended, Disney has conscripted a wide variety of developers for new Star Wars games. Ubisoft's Massive Entertainment, the team behind The Division 2, is making Star Wars Outlaws; the French choice-and-consequence masters at Quantic Dream are working on Star Wars Eclipse; Respawn is making Jedi 3 and another shooter; and Amy Hennig's Skydance New Media is making a new ensemble-based game with Star Wars 1313's Dominic Robilliard involved in the project.

Star Wars games are all over the map right now, and rumor has it that id Software is working on its own Star Wars game. There's just one problem with this claim: No one has heard anything about it. In a recent episode of the XboxEra podcast, Giant Bomb reporterJeff Grubb said the reports probably weren't real.

Square Enix's Creative Business Unit I took direct inspiration from CD Projekt RED's masterclass in open-world RPG design while making the new Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth game.

Since its launch in 2015 (hey, that's almost 10 years ago!), The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt has influenced countless open-world games. CD Projekt RED set a new high watermark for meaningful and interesting sidequests; gone are the days of rote fetch quests and escort missions, here The Witcher 3 creates dramatic and engaging quests that are just as satisfying as the main storyline.

This didn't go unnoticed, and we've seen companies like even Nintendo leverage this formula with its modern Zelda duology. Now this influence is carrying over to Final Fantasy, namely FF7 Remake's second chapter.

Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth will be a full-priced $69.99 game and it won't release on Xbox Game Pass.

SEGA and Capcom were among the last publishers to raise video game prices to $69.99, and now both firms are charginging the new MSRP for their premium-priced games. Offsetting this price hike are value-oriented subscriptions like Xbox Game Pass, and SEGA in particular has been a strong Japanese partner for the service.

That support only goes so far, though. SEGA isn't about to release all of their big games on Game Pass--that would eat into full game sales as more consumers opt to buy into the subscription than pay full price. Some games, including the new mainline Like a Dragon game, will skip Xbox Game Pass in a bid to sell more copies.

Shortly after shaking up its domestic video games market, Chinese regulators have approved over a hundred games for sale and play within the overseas country.

China is an incredibly lucrative market for video games publishers and developers, but only if their games adhere to the country's strict rules and regulations. China is notoriously fickle and requires game-makers to abide by controlled policies that are aimed at regulating how much time and money Chinese citizens spend on video games.

The National Press and Publication Administration recently published a draft of rules that, if implemented and made into law, would shake up the video games market. Under the new rules, game-makers would be forced to cap player spending in games, cut out all daily login rewards, and any items that are included in blind-bag style lootboxes would also have to be offered for direct purchase. Also, any kind of promotion of big-earning lootboxes would be prohibited.

Fallout London looks to be one of the most ambitious Fallout 4 mods ever made, and it finally has a release date.

Fallout London is an impressive expansion-sized mod that's coming in April 2024 to Fallout 4 on PC. The team spent tens of thousands of hours crafting a realistic irradiated London city that's replete with UK culture, complete with its own overseas Pip-Boy variant, the Atta'boy.

The sheer size, scope, and dedication of Fallout London is noteworthy. The mod is just as big as the entire original game combined with the excellent Far Harbor DLC. There's a multitude of customization options, including custom races, and even extra companions with unique dialog options.

According to reports, illegally-obtained confidential material stolen from Insomniac Games indicates the studio had pitched a live service Spider-Man game, but this project had been cancelled a while back.

Microtransactions are great for business. Sony's games division makes billions of dollars a year from its 30% commission on live service games like Fortnite, Call of Duty, Apex Legends, and Genshin Impact. PlayStation sees how much money these games make and now it wants a piece of the pie. That's why Sony has embarked on an ambitious plan to release 6 live service games by 2025--it used to be 12, but Sony delayed half of these games.

Some games, like Naughty Dog's online multiplayer take on The Last of Us, have been cancelled. Other cut projects include a multiplayer Spider-Man game pitched by Insomniac Games.

This unsuspecting PlayStation 1 game was hiding a big secret for 23 years.

Alien Resurrection released in 2000 for the PlayStation 1 and was generally received as a competent first-person shooter. On the surface, there wasn't anything truly groundbreaking or remarkable about the sci-fi FPS, but the final game actually contained something it shouldn't have ever shipped with: an exploit that allows gamers to play burned PSX game backups.

For over 2 decades now, Alien Resurrection has been hiding a PlayStation 1 boot exploit which offers a nifty trick for playing pirated/burned games. Alien Resurrection's boot exploit is only accessible via a special cheats menu. The secret was revealed by original game developer Martin Piper, who broke his silence by informing YouTuber Modern Vintage Gamer about the feature.

A new patent from Sony Interactive Entertainment could hint at dedicated AI processors in future PlayStation consoles.

Sony has filed an interesting patent (US20230405461) that may rely on AI tech in order to operate. The patent is for a robust "predictive assistance" solution that leverages artificial intelligence to study play patterns through a predictive lens, and then react accordingly, providing tips to players when needed.

For example, if a player is trying to beat a boss but repeatedly fails, the patented tech would give the user an on-screen hint on how to defeat the enemy. Sony already has something similar to this with the PS5's Game Help feature, but that isn't reactionary and is instead a series of static Wiki-style tips and tricks. Sony's patent would be more dynamic, smart, and highly conditional by contrast.

As Sony achieves 50 million units sold to consumers, Microsoft may be struggling to find market share in video games hardware.

Sony has high hopes for the PS5. The company hopes to ship 25 million consoles this fiscal year, and eventually beat the PS4's 117.4 million sales. Data shows that Sony is almost halfway there, having achieved hefty PS5 metrics like 50 million sell-through and over 46 million sell-in.

Microsoft, on the other hand, appears to be once again having trouble gaining market share. New estimates from analyst firm Ampere Analysis indicate that Microsoft has sold 7.6 million Xbox Series X/S consoles throughout 2023, compared to the PlayStation 5's strong 22.5 million.

Sony Interactive Entertainment management expects 2023 to be a record year, potentially even topping last year's $26.9 billion revenue.

Thanks to a lucrative billion-dollar digital ecosystem of games, services, and content, alongside profitable consumer-grade electronics that sell tens of millions of units, Sony PlayStation has remained at the top of gaming's Big 3 for years. That could change now that Microsoft owns Activision Blizzard King.

Even still, Sony still forecasts this year to break new records. The PS5 did just reach 50 million consoles sold through to consumers, moving 14 million systems in a 9-month period--a new PlayStation record.

The first Nintendo Switch flashcart may be ready to launch sometime in 2024.

Nintendo's current Switch handheld-console hybrid has been uniquely resilient to flashcarts due to tightened security. The Switch's GameCards are built with Nintendo's proprietary tech and have been tough to crack. The Switch actually features a dedicated ASIC that communicates directly with the GameCards through a custom protocol designed by Nintendo.

If recent reports are accurate, then big progress has been made. It appears that the first Switch flashcart is here, and it may be ready to release in January 2024. In a NickMoses05 stream, a guest from the modding scene speculates that the flashcart could be running via an exploit, potentially a GameCard-based exploit that no one currently knows about. It's also possible the flashcart requires a modchipped Switch in order to function.