Gaming - Page 291

Alan Wake 2 is out in the wild for many, and to the general public, it's only a few hours away... now Remedy Entertainment boss Thomas Puha has been firing tweets out left, right, and center. In one of them, he talked about how he is glad he undersold the performance mode of Alan Wake 2.

Puha tweeted out that he was "glad I undersold the performance mode too" of Alan Wake 2, adding that the developer "played real safe on those PC settings btw. Underpromise, overdeliver, or something Finnish like that". Personally, I love to see this happen... a big developer with one of the biggest games of the year underselling the performance of their game... especially when so many weren't happy with the performance they'd get out of their hardware.

Alan Wake 2 isn't a safe game, and it's a game that pushes visual boundaries that are being made by a developer who doesn't have anyone to answer to (compared to the bigger billion-dollar companies that own all the developers). I'm glad they can have their marketing spin pushing that their game needs bleeding-edge hardware but then has a huge performance boost above those numbers because they undersold it. Nice.

Microsoft has made changes to its internal gaming leadership teams to help optimize the Xbox business.

Xbox's Senior Leadership Team (SLT) is getting overhauled as Microsoft prepares for the future of gaming. Microsoft has made two major changes to its Xbox team: Sarah Bond has been promoted to President of Xbox, where she will oversee multiple aspects of the games division.

Phil Spencer will still be the CEO of Xbox, which includes responsibilities like making decisions on game releases and content exclusivity.

ARK: Survival Ascended (the remake of Survival Evolved) is now out on PC, having hit Steam early on today, but already many gamers are venting their frustrations about issues with the open world survival remix.

As you can see in the launch announcement thread on X (formerly Twitter), there's no shortage of complaints, and on Steam, there's a good deal of negative feedback in early reviews.

Most of the flak being fired at Studio Wildcard is around serious performance problems on PC - the revamped game now uses Unreal Engine 5, as you may be aware - and issues around joining servers.

Konami announced that it was remaking the classic 2004 title Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, and now we have got our first look at the Unreal Engine 5 recreation.

The new in-engine look was posted to the official Konami YouTube channel, and we are immediately introduced to Snake making his way through a jungle, trudging through a river while avoiding contact with a crocodile. For those that don't know, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater is the first game in the Metal Gear series, and judging from the above video, it's now confirmed that Snake can move while crouched in the remake - something that wasn't possible in the original 2004 title.

Konami originally announced the Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater back in May, and many die-hard fans of the series were quick to warn Konami to take their time with the re-release and to not change any of the in-game fundamentals that they fell in love with all those years ago. Those same warning sentiments are echoed in the comment section of the above trailer, with thousands of people pushing for Konami to simply take their time and make sure they get the remake right.

As the spiritual successor to the iconic Sim City franchise, many gamers have highly anticipated the launch of Cities: Skylines II. Before the game's launch, developer Colossal Order and publisher Paradox Interactive warned players that the game would feature major performance issues.

A definite red flag, and with the game's launch seeing the concurrent player count hit over 100,000 on Steam; the current user review rating is sitting on 'Mixed' with most of the negative feedback surrounding the game's notably bad performance and optimization.

The developer and publisher (most likely the latter) thought that simply stating "performance is bad" was enough to lessen the community outrage. Cities: Skylines II is running at 20 FPS for many players, so the game is a mess regarding performance. To make the situation worse, as part of a new "Post-Release Plans & Goals" post, the developer states that "performance is not a dealbreaker" when launching a game on PC.

Diablo IV's Season of Blood is currently underway, and so far, the reception from players, both casual and hardcore, has been positive. Even if it's being review-bombed on Steam. With several quality-of-life updates, new vampiric powers, and many new endgame systems and loot overhauls, the game is currently in a much better state than it was at launch. And it's only going to get better.

It's no secret that Diablo IV will continue to get post-launch support, with Blizzard noting that they have teams working on seasonal content and multiple major expansions. Blizzard's head of Diablo, Rod Fergusson, has even hinted that the cadence could get to a point where we see annual expansions. Very cool.

Based on the latest bit of data mining on a new internal 2.0 build of the game (via Wccftech), we've now got info on the first expansion, it's setting, the game's first new class addition, and one of the coolest single-player features from Diablo II making a return.

Alan Wake 2 is so close I can feel it... and so can the SSD inside of my PC. Now that Remedy Entertainment has started the pre-loading push for Alan Wake 2, we know the file sizes of the game and what SSD space you'll need to have to install it on your PC.

Epic Games Store will be the exclusive storefront where you'll buy Alan Wake 2 on the PC; with Epic Games funding the development with Remedy Entertainment for Alan Wake 2, we should expect it to stay away from the likes of Steam. Anyway, on the PC, you're going to need 86GB of SSD storage space to get Alan Wake 2 installed, while the PlayStation 5 version of the game weighs in at 85GB, and the Xbox Series X/S version at 82GB.

The launch trailer for Alan Wake 2 was recently revealed... oozing with atmosphere, inviting players to come and enjoy the very best of what Remedy has crafted with its revolutionary Northlight engine. Alan Wake 2 will squeeze every last transistor out of your GPU to showcase the best in visual technology in 2023, with NVIDIA's new DLSS 3.5 Ray Reconstruction technology on offer, as well as ray tracing, path tracing, and some incredible graphics and environments to explore.

If you haven't heard of THE FINALS, it should definitely be on your radar: it's a new team-based multiplayer first-person shooter that takes place inside of a virtual game show -- and it's made by ex-DICE developers who worked on the Battlefield franchise.

Well, THE FINALS will now enjoy a huge cross-platform Open Beta that kicks off tomorrow (October 26) and runs through until November 5 on the PC (through Steam) and the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S consoles. Embark Studios has already run some closed betas of THE FINALS, which were held earlier this year. Still, the new open beta will see the introduction of a new map -- Skyway Stadium -- a new playground for THE FINALS players.

Embark has included a new "Bank-It" game mode that will see four teams of three duke it out for coins in a "casual-friendly" combat-focused mode. Whatever team reaches the maximum limit first, or the team with the most cash banked at the end of the round, will win the Bank-It game mode.

Microsoft will combine Activision Blizzard King and Xbox revenues together starting in Q2, which corresponds to the market's busiest season.

Xbox recently closed its $68.7 billion merger with Activision and a new high watermark will soon be established for Xbox's earnings. Microsoft has confirmed that it will recognize Activision's revenues as part of its Q2 FY24 period, which runs from October - December 2023.

Microsoft has published Xbox earnings forecasts for holiday 2023, and based on the figures, Xbox could brush very close against PlayStation's quarterly results. In a recent earnings call, Microsoft Chief Financial Officer Amy Hood said that gaming is expected to rise by 45-49% year-over-year. Of this amount, Activision is expected to impact about 35% of earnings.

October 27 is just hours away at this point, with Remedy Entertainment unleashing the official Alan Wake 2 launch trailer... check it out:

The launch trailer for Alan Wake 2 oozes with atmosphere, inviting players to come and enjoy the very best of what Remedy has crafted with its revolutionary Northlight engine. Alan Wake 2 is filled with the very best of what GPU technology offers in 2023, with NVIDIA's new DLSS 3.5 Ray Reconstruction technology on offer, as well as ray tracing, path tracing, and some incredible graphics and environments to explore.

In some recent benchmarks, NVIDIA used its flagship GeForce RTX 4090 graphics card, which was capable of pushing 130FPS+ at 4K with DLSS 3.5 (Frame Generation, Ray Reconstruction, and Super Resolution), with full ray tracing enabled on max settings. That's some good stuff right there.

ARK: Survival Evolved was one of the biggest surprise hits of the last few years, and now Studio Wildcards' is cooking up something very, very exciting with its sequel... ARK: Survival Ascended, which has a new gameplay trailer to check out:

The new trailer was released during the Xbox Partner Preview showcase, with the Unreal Engine 5-powered ARK: Survival Ascended looking mighty fine in the graphics department because of it. We have massively upgraded environments, creatures that have an enormous amount of detail, destruction, and so much more. It's all in-engine, and it looks in-sane.

ARK: Survival Ascended is using Unreal Engine 5 to great effect, with many its technologies baked inside of the game, including Lumen, Nanite, Instance-Based Rendering, fluid and foilage animation technologies, and more. There are also modding abilities in ARK: Survival Ascended, with the new modding tools letting you access Unreal Engine 5 directly. Not only that, but console gamers playing ARK: Survival Ascended will be able to get in on the modding fun, too.

Microsoft's gaming division outperformed expectations and beat the highest internal forecasts by over $100 million.

Xbox is soaring right now. Microsoft's gaming branch just acquired Activision Blizzard King, folding in 8 more billion-dollar video game franchises into Xbox's mighty war chest. Starfield has propelled Xbox revenues to all-time highs, setting a record for Q1 results while proving the efficacy of new subscription-based monetization methods.

Starfield's success and subsequent bleed-over into Game Pass not only helped drive $3.92 billion revenues in Q1, making this the highest non-holiday quarter in Xbox history, but the game actually helped Microsoft exceed the highest upper limit of its internal earnings forecasts. Last quarter, Microsoft CFO Amy Hood forecasted that Xbox would make around $3.791 billion as a topline estimate.

Microsoft's games division now owns the rights to upwards of 17 separate video game franchises that have generated $1 billion in lifetime revenues.

Following the combination with gaming titan Activision-Blizzard, Xbox gaming has grown tremendously. Microsoft has acquired a war chest of some of the most highly-lauded and -profitable video game IPs on the planet, including the $31 billion Call of Duty franchise. In a recent Q1 earnings call, company CEO Satya Nadella puts the value of the Xbox brand into a more long-term perspective by highlighting the sheer breadth and volume of its new catalog.

According to Nadella, Microsoft will have access to 13 video game series with billion-dollar revenues...but our count puts this even higher. "With Activision Blizzard King, we will now add significant depth to our content portfolio. We will have 13 billion dollar-plus franchises - from Candy Crush, Diablo, and Halo, to Warcraft, Elder Scrolls, and Gears of War," the Microsoft CEO said during the call.

The Starfield community has collectively produced a sizeable patch for the game which fixes a lot of problems that Bethesda has yet to get around to resolving.

Specifically, this is a mod, and one packed with numerous fixes for the PC version of Starfield. Naturally, it's unofficial - of course - and you download and use it at your own risk. There are no guarantees it might not break other stuff in the game (and this is an early working version, too, v0.01 to be precise).

The full details of the mod, and instructions for installation - which are fiddlier than normal, given that Starfield doesn't officially support mods yet - can be found over at Nexus mods.

A Redditor has shared a gargantuan project onto the Skyrim subreddit, revealing the finished product of Skyrim successfully recreated within Age of Empires 2.

Yes, that's right, Skyrim within Age of Empires 2 - specifically Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition. The Reddit post was by user Grouchy_Bluejay4511, an alias account for Bubbabaelor, the mastermind behind the project, which took more than 400 hours of work and more than a year to complete. Bubbabaelor explained that their mod contains more than 50 quests, 100 unique characters, and the ability for players to "play as one of the Holds vying for control of Skyrim."

Bubbabaelor talked to GamesRadar and gave some backstory on the project, saying that the inspiration for it originally came from numerous mods for Age of Empires 2 HD that were based on books. Around that time, Bubbabaelor discovered a Skyrim map created by Zarko, but it was never fully completed. Bubbabaelor decided to take it upon himself to complete the project in their own way.

Activision posted the PC system requirements for the upcoming Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III release a little early. The post from the company, which has since been taken down, outlined the minimum and recommended specs for the next Call of Duty - and based on what we've been seeing of late (looking at you, Alan Wake 2), it's pretty modest stuff.

The minimum specs on the GPU side only require an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970, GeForce GTX 1650, or AMD Radeon RX 480 to get a playable version of the game. Of course, playing any PC release with the minimum specs, especially a fast-paced shooter, is a dangerous game - it's always best to look at the 'recommended' options to ensure a somewhat smooth experience.

Activision's 'recommended' specs for 60FPS "in most situations" ask for an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 or GeForce RTX 3050. Compared to last year's recommended GeForce GTX 1060 - it's not that big of an increase. This means most PC gamers shouldn't have an issue playing the game with a stable frame rate.

With the arrival of the GeForce RTX 40 Series, NVIDIA has leaned into technology that delivers breathtaking visuals alongside upping raw horsepower. The GeForce RTX 4090 is an absolute beast in that department, but with dedicated RT and AI hardware, we've been treated to the stunning DLSS 3.5 images in games like Cyberpunk 2077. And now it's time to add Remedy's Alan Wake II to the list.

Much has been said about the game's intensive hardware requirements, with the game set to feature fully ray-traced graphics (i.e., path tracing) alongside a suite of cutting-edge DirectX 12 technologies. Remedy pushing in-game graphics is no secret, and even though it sounds like the game will struggle running on an old GeForce GTX GPU - a new deep-dive from NVIDIA shows that if you've got any of the new GeForce RTX 40 Series GPUs - you're golden.

On the high-end, the GeForce RTX 4090 can push 130+ FPS in 4K with DLSS 3.5 (Frame Generation, Ray Reconstruction, and Super Resolution), full ray-tracing, and max settings. Incredible.

As we predicted, Starfield's breakout launch propels Xbox earnings to new heights.

Microsoft just broke new barriers with its Xbox games division. Xbox pulled in a record-breaking $3.919 billion in revenues during Q1'24, representing a +9% year-over-year increase, or a jump of about $309 million dollars over last year's results. Starfield's significant launch helped kick off Microsoft's new Fiscal Year 2024 timeline with a big earnings milestone.

To put this number into perspective, Xbox made more in this Q1 period (July - September, 2023) than any other non-holiday period in the platform's entire 22-year history. Like its competitors Nintendo and PlayStation, Xbox makes most of its earnings from the critical year-end holiday timeframe. Starfield was undoubtedly a big part of these results, with the game becoming the top-earning premium title of September 2023 and amassing 6 million players shortly after launch.

After multiple patches and expansions, Cold Iron Studios is sunsetting Aliens: Fireteam Elite...but a new Alien game could be in development.

Aliens: Fireteam Elite is comfortably the best Alien shooter ever made. The game has great gunplay, impressive visuals, and chaotic action-packed gameplay that keeps you on the edge of your seat--not to mention that it pays respect to the classic franchise's lore while expanding it further.

Now it looks like gamers could be getting another Alien shooter from the same developer. In a recent Facebook post, Cold Iron announced that Aliens: Fireteam Elite would be getting smaller quality-of-life changes moving forward, and that the team was working on the next big game.

Spider-Man 2 is the latest first-party PlayStation game to achieve blockbuster status.

With Spider-Man 2's spectacular success, Insomniac has proven lightning can strike in the same place twice (three times including Miles Morales). The successful sequel has garnered a 90 on Metacritic and has now unlocked game sales to match the hype.

Sony has confirmed that Spider-Man 2 is now the fastest-selling PlayStation Studios game of all time. This is an impressive feat to be sure, but it's hard to match the webslinger's performance with other first-party record-holders like God of War Ragnarok, the original Spider-Man from 2018, and The Last of Us Part II.