Gaming - Page 262

AMD reportedly bid hard against NVIDIA to win the custom SoC contract for Nintendo's next-gen Switch 2 gaming handheld.

The news is coming from insider sources of NVIDIA in a new video from Moore's Law is Dead, where one of the sources said: "To be honest, the Switch 2 isn't really on my radar anymore -- right now I am focused on finishing up validation for Blackwell. Switch 2 silicon has been done since late 2022. As far as I am aware, that Digital Foundry article looking at the T239 processor leaked from when we were hacked is an almost entirely correct summary of what's true about the silicon in the Switch 2."

This source continued: "We presented several options to Nintendo, including one that utilized Lovelace, and they basically selected a cost-optimized version of Orin. It has some efficiency tweaks from Lovelace, and a few other goodies added as well. Oh, and AMD bid against us HARD for the Switch 2 btw, but ended up losing the bid."

EA is cutting costs, and is executing a restructuring plan that's led to mass layoffs and game cancellations. One of these cut projects is the rumored Mandalorian project from Respawn.

Despite Respawn's success with the Jedi franchise, EA has had a tumultuous history with Star Wars games. The publisher has cancelled multiple Star Wars games over the years, including Project Ragtag, an ensemble-based adventure game that was in development at Visceral Games before the project--and the studio--were shut down. Two more iterations of Star Wars games had also been cancelled.

This leads us to present day, where EA had three Star Wars games in the works. The first was Jedi 3, the second was an RTS game, and the third was a first-person shooter at Respawn. Sources told Insider Gaming that this mystery FPS was to be a Mandalorian game, complete with high-octane firefights and emphasis on movement and fluidity.

Disruption at publisher Electronic Arts as the Battlefield franchise loses leadership.

Just days ago, Marcus Lehto left Ridgeline Games. The ex-Halo developer was brought on to help guide Battlefield's story-driven singleplayer content, and EA even formed a studio dedicated to Battlefield's campaign renaissance. It was called Ridgeline Games, and the studio was built on what was formerly DICE LA.

Shortly after Lehto's departure, EA announced its second round of layoffs and closed Ridgeline Games. The news was announced in an update from EA Entertainment president Laura Miele.

Billion-dollar sports publisher Electronic Arts is laying off hundreds more workers in rigorous restructuring plan.

EA has announced that it will lay off 5% of its workforce, or about 670 people. This is the second round of layoffs that EA has announced during this fiscal year, and the publisher plans to have shed 11% of workers by March 2025.

First round of layoffs - In March 2023, EA said that it would reduce staff by 6%. As of the same month, EA had 13,400 employees. The first round of layoffs would reduce the workforce by 804 people and bring total employee count down to 12,596. A month before that, EA laid off 200 QA workers, some of which were under contract.

Destiny 2's new Guardian Games event introduces a totally radical new way to traverse the galaxy.

The 2024 gaming news cycle has been pretty depressing so far, but Bungie's latest Destiny 2 update gives everyone a reason to smile. That's right, Destiny 2 is getting hoverboards that would make both Marty McFly and Biff Tannen jealous.

The new hoverboard is actually called a skimmer, and it's kind of like a cross between a sparrow and a, well, skateboard. If a sparrow is a speeder bike, then the skimmer is what a cybernetic Tony Hawk would vert on. All Destiny 2 players will get a free skimmer--the Allstar Vector--that can be unlocked with a quick visit to Eva Levante.

Nintendo's next-gen Switch 2 handheld is in the news today with some new leaks from Moore's Law is Dead, teasing Xbox Series S console levels of performance, better raytracing, and console-optimized DLSS technology.

The next-gen Nintendo Switch 2 handheld will feature a custom "T239" SoC from NVIDIA, which features 8 x Arm A78C cores, an Ampere GPU with 1536 CUDA cores, 128-bit LPDDR5 memory support with up to 102GB/sec of memory bandwidth in total. There are "extra little bonuses" inside of this chip, too.

MLID says that with this new hardware, the Nintendo Switch 2 would have the raw performance of the Xbox Series S console, but with better ray tracing, console-optimized DLSS technology, and enough VRAM to actually run modern games than what the Xbox Series S is capable of pumping out. MLID adds that's the "pie in the sky" outcome of the Switch 2, of what Nintendo can choose what they can go with based on the SoC that NVIDIA designed for them.

Nintendo will launch its next-gen Switch 2 in the future, with some new leaks from insiders at NVIDIA leaking that it will use a Samsung 8nm process node and up to 16GB of LPDDR5 memory.

In a new video from leaker Moore's Law is Dead, we're to expect the next-gen Nintendo Switch 2 will reportedly use a new SoC from NVIDIA on Samsung's older 8nm process node, which makes sense. Why? Because NVIDIA has a tight relationship with Samsung for its 8nm process node, making GeForce RTX 30 series "Ampere" GPUs, it's very economical for Nintendo for its new Switch 2 handheld.

Sure, NVIDIA could walk up to TSMC and ask to make its next-gen SoC for the Nintendo Switch 2 on a smaller 6nm process node, but that isn't as economical as using Samsung's older 8nm process node. TSMC's fresh 6nm process node is being used heavily by AMD for multiple products: CPUs, APUs, consoles, and more.

PlayStation leads the Big 3's earnings with $30 billion revenues generated through calendar year 2023, but Xbox isn't so far behind with $18 billion.

Now that Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo have all published their holiday earnings reports, we can compile the data and get a total sum for the entire year. According to data provided by the companies and analyzed by TweakTown, gaming's Big 3 generated over $60 billion in combined annual revenues.

PlayStation leads the charge with a staggering $30.12 billion made during the year. Compare that with PlayStation's $24.410 billion revenues for 2022, and we see a significant 23% spike in earnings on a year-over-year basis, or an increase of $5.71 billion. Sony's revenues are high, but profits are slipping as the company faces steep costs.

Ubisoft's experimental never-ending Assassin's Creed game is taking shape.

Assassin's Creed Infinity is part of what I call Games-as-a-Platform. It's a lot like Games-as-a-Service, but there's extra steps. Whereas GaaS games are typically elongated in a continuous stream of content, GaaP titles would have a distinct level of separation between the games. This would create a kind of episodic approach that fits the Assassin's Creed series quite well, what with each game taking place during a different historical era.

Ubisoft has loosely outlined what Assassin's Creed Infinity will be, confirming it'll act as a kind of one-stop hub for all future games in the series. Infinity is kind of like a combination of a store, social hub, and game launcher, all within the main app client. So think of AC Infinity as the main menu, and each game as a different mode of sorts.

How much money does Magic: The Gathering make? Hasbro's latest financials offer some eye-opening numbers.

Hasbro's latest earnings report shows a breakdown of its key segment earnings for the entire 2023 year. While revenues are down to $5 billion from $5.8 billion a year ago, gaming earnings are up, and a lot of that is owed to an iconic early 90's card game.

According to the financials, the Magic: The Gathering franchise generated $1.085 billion in 2023, accounting for over half of Hasbro's total gaming earnings.

PlayStation's peripherals revenue surged during the holiday 2023 season, and the new PS Portal remote player may have had a lot to do with it.

Sony released the PlayStation Portal handheld in November 2023 for $199, and at first glance, the Portal looked to be a valid PS Vita successor. The reality is that the PS Portal is a niche product that, like the more recent PlayStation accessories, is specifically designed to maximize profits (Sony has said that accessories are "highly profitable"). Unlike the Vita, the Portal cannot play games on its own and entirely relies on a PlayStation 5 in order to operate. It's a remote play-only device, seen as a receiver of sorts.

Despite its limitations, it appears the PlayStation Portal was a big win for Sony. In a recent interview with Game File, a Sony tech whiz said the consumer reception has been quite strong.

Sony's gaming division is delivering record revenues, but profits have tanked. We take a look at the reasons behind the substantial drops.

Holiday 2023 was a big quarter for PlayStation. The platform made $9.766 billion revenue from Oct - Dec, a new historic high for a Q3 period. PlayStation's operating profit, on the other hand, was only $582 million. This represents a 6% profit margin, which is quite low, and is the seventh quarter in a row where Sony's Game & Network Services segment made sub double-digit margins.

Sony is the market leader when it comes to overall revenue, but Nintendo enjoys better operating margins because of its success in a more concentrated market with heavy emphasis on exclusive content, games, and hardware features. Nintendo often sees operating margins above 30%, and sometimes as high as 40% throughout the Switch's lifecycle; across that same aligned timeline, PlayStation's highest operating margin was 21% during mid-2022.

Costs are rising and platform-holders are scrambling to find new ways to monetize users. On-screen advertisements may present one such opportunity to the console market.

Advertisements may be coming to the dedicated gaming environment in some shape or form. Experts have speculated that subscription services like Xbox Game Pass and PlayStation Plus could get lower-cost ad-supported tiers, not unlike Netflix, with users being able to watch an on-screen ad in exchange for playtime.

Xbox President Sarah Bond has also discussed something similar in public interviews, suggesting that Xbox would offer "slices of gameplay" to users. In December, Xbox chief financial officer Tim Stuart also suggested ads could come to xCloud game streaming.

Tekken fighting game guru Katsuhiro Harada delivers an eye-opening look at the inner workings of video games development.

Gaming is a very costly and risky venture. Even in the best of times, there's no guarantee that your game will break even, let alone sell millions of copies. 2024's mass layoffs prove that now is far from the best of games in the games industry, and publishers/developers are monetizing nearly all facets of their projects in an attempt to not only recoup rising development budgets but also make profit along the way.

Tekken 8 is one such game with a high budget and an in-game microtransaction store to help make more money. The Tekken Store rolled out today in Tekken 8, and days ago franchise director/producer Katsuhiro Harada gave a frank explanation on why the cosmetic storefront is essential for the game. According to Harada, Tekken 8's budget was more than double that of Tekken 7.

Tekken 8's new in-game microtransaction storefront is now live, and the prices of the new Tekken Coins currency has also been revealed.

Tekken 8's latest update brought a new optional spending option for Iron Fist enthusiasts. It's called the Tekken Store, and it has its own premium currency that gamers can buy with real money. The content is entirely cosmetic and allows users to buy costumes and bundles with greater customization options.

The shop can be accessed via the main menu, but it also has an interactive presence in the Tekken Fight Lounge. This is a very metaverse-like approach to multiplayer and customization, with a kind of online hub where players can mingle, befriend one another, and fight battles--a setup that's reminiscent of other Bandai Namco games like Dragonball Xenoverse.

The galactic war is being fought by hundreds of thousands of gamers from around the world, each trying to do their part to protect specific planets across the galaxy.

Helldivers 2 has quickly become one of the most popular games being enjoyed right now as hundreds of thousands of gamers dive down into planets, defeating seamlessly never-ending hoards of various enemies. Players are all on the same and are attempting to prevent the galaxy from being taken over by foreign invaders, and progress made by any team adds to the total foothold players have on that specific planet.

However, Helldivers 2 developers fight back players by taking back regions, sometimes viciously, and according to Arrowhead Studios CEO Johan Pilestedt, the developers behind the hit title, there is one man pulling all the strings, similar to a Dungeons & Dragons dungeon master. PCGamer interviewed Pilestedt who said one developer named Joel has been appointed to the role of "Game Master" and he is equipped with multiple tools that give him "a lot of control over the player experience".

Electronic Arts' next Battlefield game is expected to be released with a dedicated battle royale mode that will be free-to-play, according to a new report from Insider Gaming.

The recently released exclusive report outlines what we can expect from the next installment in Electronic Arts' Battlefield franchise. The next Battlefield game is being developed by Ripple Effect, who is being headed by Christian Grass, a former DICE LA member. Insider Gaming reports it has been informed the next mainline Battlefield game will be taking a "back to its roots approach" that will include classic 64-player matches, a return to its four-class system, and a complete overhaul of its in-game destruction systems.

Notably, the publication states it's learned the next Battlefield will be set in modern times, specifically between the dates of 2025 and 2030. As for the story, it will be focussed on modern technology used in war. Furthermore, Insider Gaming learned Ripple Effect is working on a "new experience" for the coming Battlefield game - a Battle Royale title that's going to be free-to-play and follow in the footsteps of Call of Duty: Warzone, which was released as free-to-play but included in next installment in the franchise.

Helldivers 2 has been a smashing success for developer Arrowhead so far, but in a new leaked video, we're being teased with something new: playable mechs. Check out the video of playable mechs in Helldivers 2 on Reddit here.

Arrowhead has the server issues for Helldivers 2 behind it now, racking up over 700,000+ concurrent players simultaneously. Now, it's working on new things for its uber-popular Democracy-spreading game. We knew mechs would probably be coming to Helldivers 2 as they were in the first game, and the "Report for Duty" trailer that dropped last month featured a mech, teased with "coming soon after launch."

But now, in a leaked video posted on Reddit by "fozzye18," we get to see the playable mech in Helldivers 2 in action; they said he joined a game by a player who was "showing us new things to enjoy." There's not just one mech in this video, but two, which are in the background for a matter of seconds.

Remedy Entertainment has just announced it acquired the full rights to the Control franchise from publisher 505 Games for $18 million.

This provides Remedy with the Control IP going forward, with the $18 million representing the amount of money 505 Games paid to the development of Control 2, which is codenamed Condor. 505 Games will continue to be the publisher of the original Control game through to December 31, 2024.

Remedy CEO Tera Virtala said: "Ever since we signed up with 505 Games in 2017 to develop and publish Control, we have enjoyed a good partnership in building Control into a successful game that has sold over 4 million units and generated shareable net revenue of approximately EUR 100 million to Remedy and 505 Games. As part of Remedy's long-term strategy to have more ownership over our business and the IPs we have created, we have gotten back all rights for Control and the in-development Condor and Control 2. Having complete ownership over the Control franchise gives us the freedom to decide the best path forward".

A 22-year-old who discovered a sealed copy of The Legend of Zelda from 1987 nearly sold it on eBay for just $17,000 when it may be worth close to $1 million.

The sealed copy of 1987's The Legend of Zelda was discovered by the seller Kiro, who decided to use a pseudonym for privacy reasons, spoke to CNBC and said the sealed game of one of the most iconic video game franchises of all time was part of his family ever since it was purchased for just $29.87 in 1987. Kiro told the publication that they looked on eBay for copies of the vintage Zelda game and thought he was going to get anywhere between $17,000 and $20,000 "if I'm lucky".

Kiro proceeded to list the video game and immediately got responses from buyers attempting to finalize their payments. The 22-year-old said that one buyer even offered $30,000 cash to drive to his location immediately and pick it up. Upon realizing what they had was likely worth more than what it was listed for, Kiro decided to remove the listing, and that night, a collector offered to call him to discuss the game.