Gaming - Page 266

Microsoft gives out a new Xbox Game Pass metrics update in its recent games business meeting.

Xbox Game Pass now has 34 million subscribers, Xbox president Sarah Bond officially confirmed in the recent Xbox strategy briefing. In the same sentence, Bond also announced that Activision Blizzard games will start to release on Game Pass next month.

"Activision Blizzard games are coming to Game Pass starting with Diablo IV on March 28. It's all part of our commitment to make Xbox, the Xbox experience, and the games that we build as widely available as possible. So now the 34 million Game Pass members can all enjoy the fantastic experience of Diablo IV," Bond said.

While Xbox games are going multi-platform, Xbox services are not.

Today, Microsoft confirmed plans to bring four unnamed games to PlayStation and Nintendo Switch (they are likely to be live games Grounded and Sea of Thieves alongside smaller titles like Pentiment and Hi-Fi Rush). Xbox wants the opportunity to sell more games and "grow communities" that are driven by online play.

Microsoft has confirmed that big AAA games like Indiana Jones and Starfield won't be coming to PlayStation, but one of Xbox's biggest businesses will stay firmly in its control: Services.

Neither Starfield nor Indiana Jones and the Great Circle are coming to PlayStation, Xbox gaming CEO Phil Spencer today confirmed.

Recent reports about Xbox breaking exclusivity have ignited fierce controversy among enthusiast gamers. It was believed that big tentpole Xbox exclusive games could cross over to rival platforms, thereby diminishing the Xbox console brand and potentially even starting a death spiral of Xbox hardware.

It turns out the reports are only half true. Some games are breaking exclusivity. Microsoft confirms that four unnamed titles are coming to PlayStation and Switch. Rumors indicate these Sea of Thieves and Hi-Fi Rush are among these games, but no titles were announced.

Microsoft plans to bring four games to PlayStation and Nintendo Switch, but won't tell us what they are. We have a few ideas.

It's official: Microsoft is breaking Xbox exclusivity on four games, and will release the titles on rival PlayStation and Nintendo platforms. Rumors have shed light on three of these titles, and based on what Xbox gaming CEO Phil Spencer said during the recent business update, it seems the reports are correct.

Two of the games are community-driven. That means a large playerbase, online gameplay, live service elements, and typically microtransactions. Reports said that Sea of Thieves is coming to PlayStation, and now it seems more increasingly like that Obsidian's Grounded could be the other community-driven title.

Microsoft today confirmed it will bring four unnamed first-party Xbox games to PlayStation and Nintendo Switch. The rationale? It's basically a big experiment to see what happens.

Microsoft just paid $75 billion for Activision Blizzard King, and despite making consistently strong revenues every year, Xbox gaming hasn't met its internal metric guidelines. Couple this with lukewarm reception for big first-party games like Starfield, potentially stagnant subscription growth, lower console sales, and universally rising costs, and you have a recipe for lower profits (and maybe even losses).

Now Microsoft wants to try doing something more safe: Selling games. That's why the company plans to bring four Xbox games onto PlayStation and Switch. The games haven't been announced yet, but Xbox's Phil Spencer did talk about the thought process of this decision with The Verge's Tom Warren:

Microsoft plans to break Xbox game exclusivity in an effort to become the top cross-platform games company.

Gaming is changing. The industry is being hit with massive layoffs due to rising costs, and companies are still trying to deal with the aftershocks of COVID (record revenues led to ballooned investments, over-hiring) and sales misses from the glut of games released in 2023.

Subscription models may not be paying off, and Microsoft may have changed the way it sees the game sales vs services model. Platform-holders like Sony and Microsoft are now talking about the importance of multi-platform gaming. Rumors that Microsoft will break exclusivity for games like Sea of Thieves and Hi-Fi Rush to boost game sales and monetization have caused a stir; after all, exclusives sell consoles, right? So if Xbox breaks exclusivity, will gamers even buy Xbox consoles any more?

It has been less than a day since Aspyr and Crystal Dynamic released the highly anticipated remaster for the first three Tomb Raider games.

The iconic franchise is getting a fresh coat of paint, and upon release, the first Not-Safe-For-Work (NSFW) mod has surfaced on Nexus Mods and is available to download. The mod, as you have already probably guessed, makes Lara Croft topless, and while being quite a basic mod, it certainly achieves what it is intended to do.

According to the modder, the topless Lara replaces the TR1 original costume, and modders will have the ability to switch out the costume to whatever suits their fancy. It shouldn't be understated that the remaster for Tomb Raider games has been out for less than a day, and we have already seen the first nude mod. I'm not sure whether to be impressed, concerned, or not surprised at all, but what I do know for sure is that this won't be the last nude Tomb Raider mod and that this mod will be the least detailed.

Sony wrapped its Q3 2023 earnings release, and within it, there were insights into what to expect out of PlayStation 5 sales heading into this year and next.

PS5 sales are in a gradual decline, and Sony is looking to solve one of its biggest problems at Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE): operating profit. Firstly, SIE president and CEO Jim Ryan is scheduled to step down from his position next month, with Sony decidedly putting Chief Operating Officer (COO) Hiroki Totoki as Chairman of SIE until a new CEO is obtained. Totoki has been in his position for four months, and during that time, he has noticed some major flaws within the business.

To remedy this issue regarding margins, Tokoki said SIE needs to shift its focus from using 1st party titles as a means of popularizing the console to having 1st party titles work in synergy. Tokoki further explains that having 1st party content on other platforms, such as PC, will enable 1st party content to grow, improving operating profits.

Sony's beefed-up PlayStation 5 Pro console could cost just $499 without a disc drive, according to the latest rumors.

The upgraded PlayStation 5 Pro console has been teased and leaked for a while now, with leaker Moore's Law is Dead confirming some of the leaked specs and now a tease of some ultra-good pricing. Sony could launch the upgraded PlayStation 5 Pro console without a disc drive for just $499, dropping the price of the PlayStation 5 Slim console to $449 or even $399.

The costs of making the original PlayStation 5 back in 2020 would've been higher, and Sony isn't changing much of the hardware inside of the PS5 Pro, so it shouldn't cost more to make.

Microsoft's next-gen Xbox has been in the headlines for all the wrong (and I guess, some right) reasons this week... and now we're hearing that Microsoft "just f***ed" Intel over the chip contract for the next-gen Xbox.

The news comes from leaker Moore's Law is Dead, who had sources from within Microsoft and Intel give him some news nuggets for the next-gen Xbox console. The first source was reportedly from Intel, who said: "Dude, Microsoft just f***ed us (Intel). I guess now we know that their "letters of intent" mean absolutely nothing. I have no idea if AMD got the contract back, but this left a bad taste in my mouth... and from what I hear we aren't the only company annoyed by the games they're playing lately".

Another source, this time from Microsoft, told MLID: "I (Microsoft) honestly have no idea what's going on with management here anymore. We are at least a year behind Sony in SoC development by now, and it almost seems like upper management's seen some metric that's making them doubt our ability to compete with another generation".

Sony misses its holiday PlayStation 5 sales target and has now reduced its total-year hardware forecast by 4 million units.

The PS5 just can't seem to catch up to the PS4. Sony today announced its Q3'FY23 earnings and gave an update on total PlayStation console sales. The company expected to sell 25 million consoles throughout FY23--an incredibly ambitious record-breaking number that would've made history for the PlayStation brand.

Sony has now downwardly adjusted this target to 21 million units following the console's holiday performance, when it was made clear that the company wouldn't achieve the lofty goal. Throughout the Holiday 2023 period, Sony shipped 8.2 million PlayStation 5 consoles, pushing total PS5 shipments to 54.8 million.

If you are an individual that is constantly moving around, say commuting from work or university back to home and enjoy a nice relaxing video game to pass the travel time, you need a backpack to carry all of gear.

ASUS has literally got your back with its latest offering called the ROG Ranger Gaming Backpack 16, a backpack that has been designed with a gamer in mind as it contains all of the storage expectations that a gamer would want. The 18L backpack features an interior equipped to transport a 16-inch laptop along with other storage compartments such as side pockets for smaller peripherals, space for a headset, keyboard and power cables.

The backpack is also equipped with side pockets that can be used for umbrella, drink bottles or other smaller accessories. There is also a storage section located on the rear of the backpack that is designed to conceal valuable items such as keys, wallets, or identification. Furthermore, ASUS has thought of comfort, writing on its website listing that it comes with side-mounted collars designed to conform to the shape of the wearers neck and back, reducing the side-to-side motion as the wearer walks.

The parent company of Wizards of the Coast, Hasbro, which owns the rights to Dungeons & Dragons, reported the licensing agreement with Larian Studios, the developers and publisher of the immensely popular Baldur's Gate 3, earned the company $90 million, and is being viewed as an indicator of the demand for more D&D-based games.

Hasbro's financial report, while being somewhat somber with the admittance of a 15% revenue dip, contained some nice statements for fans of D&D-based video games. Looking at the financial report, we can see Wizards of the Coast and digital gaming segments increased its revenue by 10%, which was "driven by [an] increase in licensed digital gaming revenue behind Baldur's Gate 3 from Larian Studios and Monopoly Go! from Scopely."

Hasbro's chief financial officer Gina Goetter said during an investor call that Baldur's Gate "had another healthy quarter" and earned "around $90 million of revenue" for the year in totality. Goetter went on to say that its expected revenues from Baldur's Gate 3 will taper down throughout 2024, but there is the expectation that revenue will continue to trickle in for many years to come. "We expect a long tail into 2024 and beyond for this mega-hit."

The AYANEO Flip DS blends a retro design inspired by classic Nintendo hardware with a cutting-edge PC gaming handheld running the latest AMD Ryzen 8840U APU. With mobile Radeon 780M graphics and an 8-Core Ryzen 7 CPU with a Boost Clock speed of up to 5.1GHz, AYANEO puts this power to good use, powering two screens - a 7-inch 1080p 120Hz IPS main display and a smaller 3.5-inch 640p secondary display.

Announced ahead of CES 2024 and with availability expected in March 2024 (via Indiegogo), YouTube channel ETA Prime went hands-on with the AYANEO Flip DS, putting to the test with modern AAA-style PC gaming as well as emulating the classic hardware the physical design is inspired by.

Ahead of gaming benchmarks, the hands-on looks at the dual-screen design, where we see some impressive features. Using it as a pure Windows 11 portable, the analog sticks, optical mouse, and touchscreen look super intuitive - with the second screen (also touch) providing system info or displaying anything you want.

You probably haven't heard of Tuplar, don't worry neither have I, but the UK-based gaming company has just shown off its new gaming handheld at the recent IEM 2024 event in Poland. Check it out:

The new Emdoor EM-GP080MTL gaming handheld features an 8-inch screen with a native 1920 x 1200 resolution, with a standard layout: two joysticks, a D-pad, buttons, and triggers... everything you'd expect on a gaming handheld. Tuplar has Intel's new Meteor Lake CPU inside of its new Emdoor gaming handheld, marking another gaming handheld contract win for Intel and its Meteor Lake architecture.

Intel Gaming shared a few photos of the new Tuplar gaming handheld, with RGB lighting on the joysticks -- which looks nice -- and an overall pleasing aesthetic. We don't know the exact display configuration -- refresh rate, VRR support, etc -- nor do we know the price.

Immortals of Aveum was released in August 2023 and was met with hardly any attention, and the attention that it got wasn't what EA was expecting.

The game was released at a time when many heavy hitter titles were also released, such as Diablo 4, Starfield, Baldur's Gate 3, and more. This release window certainly contributed to the game's lack of attention and its eventual failure, as indicated by EA's decision to lay off about 45% of the workforce behind the studio. Furthermore, the studio's CEO, Bret Robbins, blamed the poor performance of the title on the busy release calendar, but that may not be the only reason it failed.

An anonymous former employee at the studio that developed the game spoke to IGN and explained the general idea for the game, combined with the development costs, marketing costs, and the fact that it was a new IP releasing among established IPs was the real reason it failed.

The Switch platform has generated over $77 billion in lifetime revenues for Nintendo, new company financials indicate.

The Nintendo Switch family of products has achieved incredible success across its 7-year span. Nintendo radically transformed its video games business in March 2017 with the release of the Switch, a device that represented decades of experimentation combined into one hybrid.

It's not just a handheld, it's also a console. The combination of a Wii U and a 3DS, if you will. The Switch unified Nintendo's once-separate hardware divisions and created a synergistic ecosystem that allowed more rapid development of hit first-party games. This led to a high volume of must-play games releasing onto the device that were quickly bought up by consumers.

Nintendo needs to avoid resetting the console generation and displacing over 130 million Switch owners in the process.

Moving to a new console generation is a tricky thing to pull off. Asking customers to buy a whole new wave of hardware and software can be a tough prospect. Some companies like SEGA can even exit the market entirely during these transition points due to a combination of factors. Hardware-makers also have to worry about low migration rates to the new system due non-compatible games.

While the core problems of cross-gen navigation remain the same, the proposition of completely resetting game libraries is even more off-putting these days. No one wants to have to buy all new games on top of a $300-500 console. Backwards compatibility is a must for new consoles (I argued it was the single most important feature for the PS5 and Series X/S), and Nintendo isn't exempt from these pressures.

Microsoft's next-gen Xbox console isn't being built by the team that led the charge with Xbox Series X/S consoles, but rather the Surface team is building the next-gen Xbox, according to the latest rumors.

During a chat in the latest episode of the XboxERA podcast, according to XboxEra's own Nick Baker, that the person responsible for leading development of the Xbox Series X/S hardware -- Jason Ronald -- is not in charge of Microsoft's next-gen Xbox gaming device and that Microsoft's own Surface team replaced his team.

There's lots of news about Microsoft's next-gen Xbox hardware right now, with previous rumors that AMD won't get the contract for the new Xbox and that it's already got the contract to build an APU for Sony's next-gen PlayStation 6 console. Intel is reportedly stepping up into the ring and is thirsty to win a huge contract like building a chip for the next-gen Xbox, which would be a huge deal for the company -- a major win for a semi-custom SoC -- and it could be built in the United States.

Helldivers 2 is rapidly establishing itself as a cracking PC shooter of the online coop variety, and it has easily overtaken God of War to become the biggest Steam launch ever for a PlayStation title.

A simultaneous PS5 and PC launch, Helldivers 2 hit just over 155,000 concurrent players on Steam over the weekend.

To put that in perspective, God of War previously held the record amount of concurrent players for a PlayStation PC published game at 73,000 - so Helldivers 2 has more than doubled this, which is quite the achievement.