Gaming - Page 316

If you've recently installed Super Mario 3: Mario Forever on your Windows PC, then you need to scan for viruses, as there's a version of the installer circulating that's laden with malware.

Bleeping Computer spotted that security firm Cyble flagged up the dodgy installer in a lengthy blog post explaining how it works, and what it exploits and steals.

Unfortunately for anyone who has been hit, this is a nasty infection that pulls a couple of stunts. The first is to install SupremeBot, a crypto-miner (using your PC's system resources for the attacker's mining gain), and the second line of attack is Umbral Stealer.

Blizzard Entertainment confirmed that Battle.net was hit with an attack that was kicking gamers off Diablo IV over the weekend.

The company first confirmed its servers were being attacked on Twitter, writing that Battlen.net was experiencing a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack that may result in players experiencing high latency and disconnections. About half an hour later, Blizzard took to the same Twitter account and announced that the DDoS attacks that it was monitoring "have ended" and that players who were struggling to log in should try again now.

Notably, Blizzard warned players the servers were experiencing an attack in-game, which came after a myriad of reports from players that were repeatedly being kicked off the game for what at the time seemed like no apparent reason. As for who is behind the DDoS attack, Blizzard didn't officially announce anything, but judging from the company announcement of the attack stopping, it seems like the attackers stopped out of their volition.

Microsoft does not expect the Activision buyout to help grow its Xbox console business, and the deal is instead focused on buying out the largest independent non-Chinese mobile games publisher in the world.

Due to its size, successful history, and breadth of AAA hit content, Activision is a unique video games publisher. The company's games catalog includes 8x separate franchises that have grossed over $1 billion across PC, console and mobile, including Call of Duty, Overwatch, Diablo, Warcraft, and Candy Crush. Based on revenues, Activision has been the top-earning, non-platform-holding video games publisher for many years now.

Interestingly enough, Microsoft does not fully expect the $68.7 billion buyout of Activision to help grow its console share. According to testimony from Xbox gaming CEO Phil Spencer, the acquisition's deal model does not include an uptick in console share.

Based on assessment of key business figures, testimony from Xbox CEO Phil Spencer, and a recently-published bombshell email from Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Jim Ryan, Sony is likely to sign a Call of Duty deal with Microsoft to ensure the $31 billion franchise says on PlayStation.

Microsoft has said it wants to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation, and Xbox Gaming CEO Phil Spencer's recent testimony at a court hearing over the Activision merger adds more weight to this assertion.

The evidentiary hearing has been a boon for information on the Xbox business and the complex, highly-secretive inner workings of the video games industry. At the trial, Spencer disclosed key internal acronyms like CSA (Consumer Solutions Area), GLT (Gaming Leadership Team), and PLA (Publisher's Licensing Agreement). Listeners also learned fundamentals on how the Activision merger proposal was put together.

Sony has used its market-leader position to negotiate exclusivity deals that block games from releasing on Xbox. Due to these deals, in which Sony pays companies to keep their games off of Xbox, Microsoft leadership sees Sony as a "hostile and aggressive competitor." That's why Microsoft fought back by purchasing Bethesda parent company ZeniMax for $7.5 billion.

Sony is no stranger to exclusivity deals. We've seen Sony make wide-sweeping deals that range from timed to full-on exclusivity. Microsoft already misses out on select Call of Duty content, with PlayStation receiving preferential treatment for in-game content and early access betas. Sometimes this exclusivity also makes a game skip Xbox, further weakening Microsoft's position and increasing costs for any exclusivity deals the company wants to offer. We've seen high-profile games like Final Fantasy 7 Remake and the more recent Final Fantasy 16 avoid Xbox entirely.

In the recent FTC v Microsoft evidentiary hearing, Xbox gaming CEO Phil Spencer gave rare insight into Microsoft's business structure and the rationale behind its recent acquisitions, including the $7.5 billion ZeniMax buyout, and the proposed $68.7 billion offer for Activision-Blizzard.

Xbox Cloud Gaming (Project xCloud) was originally created to deliver Xbox console games to mobile devices, but the service has not gone according to plan.

Microsoft's game streaming initiative was born out of necessity. The company--and the rest of the industry--has identified mobile gaming as the largest area of growth, with mobile expected to rise to $113 billion by 2027. While Microsoft has a presence on console and PC, it is significantly lacking in mobile. In an attempt to solve that, the Xbox games division decided to try to bring its existing content library to mobile using cloud gaming instead of creating a smattering of native mobile games.

During his testimony in the federal trial between the FTC and Microsoft/Activision, Xbox gaming CEO Phil Spencer delivered an insightful history lesson on Xbox Cloud Gaming and revealed why the service was made and why the xCloud platform hasn't gained traction.

Bethesda's Todd Howard reveals that most of Starfield's planets will be devoid of life, and that's as much as a design decision as it is a technical one.

Starfield promises a lot. The game is supposed to have 1,000 planets with exotic flora, fauna, resources, and possibly even strange ancient alien artifacts. We might find things like derelict ships in space, colonies of adventurers that died in mysterious ways, and other forms of unique environmental storytelling that Bethesda is known for.

One thing that Starfield will also have are those lonely, introspective moments of exploration in a vast world--or in this case, galaxy. This is something Bethesda RPGs have, and not all of your expeditions are going to be exciting encounters with life. Your explorations might end up with you being mostly solitary. In a recent interview with Kinda Funny Games, Bethesda's Todd Howard talked more about what gamers can expect when it comes to Starfield's planets and how the team is looking to a distinct Buzz Aldrin quote for inspiration.

Before Take-Two Interactive bought Zynga for $12.7 billion, Microsoft had its eye on the mobile-maker.

Xbox gaming CEO Phil Spencer made one thing clear in today's court testimony: Console gaming is not growing. In the hearing, Phil Spencer laid out the rationale behind Microsoft's $68.7 billion merger proposal with Activision, saying that despite his best efforts, the Xbox console business has remained stagnant.

Despite beating Nintendo in games revenues in 2022, things apparently aren't going well for Xbox. In the hearing, Spencer admitted to FTC laywer James Weingarten that Xbox has missed its internal targets. Microsoft's board of directors and senior leadership, including CFO Amy Hood and CEO Satya Nadella, pressure the Xbox unit to continue growing. That's just not happening on console.

The Elder Scrolls VI's release is so far away that Microsoft is not ready to fully commit on Xbox exclusivity.

Bethesda's next Elder Scrolls RPG could also release on PlayStation. Even Xbox gaming CEO Phil Spencer has no idea when Elder Scrolls 6 will release--it's pretty far out there, and right now Bethesda is full steam ahead on Starfield. TES6 may not launch on Gen9 consoles, and could move to Gen 10, which is expected to begin in 2028.

As part of his recent testimony at the FTC v Microsoft court evidentiary hearing, Phil Spencer cautioned that a decision hasn't been made on The Elder Scrolls 6 skipping PlayStation.

Xbox Gaming CEO Phil Spencer says that PlayStation is a hostile competitor.

Note: The quotes taken here were transcribed via live audio call and are not wholly representative of what was said, and there are paraphrases.

Microsoft believes that Sony is a hostile competitor due to its myriad of exclusivity deals, which sees Sony buying up platform and timed-exclusivity for big-name games like Final Fantasy and Call of Duty. Spencer says that Sony outright pays developers to skip Xbox, a controversial business practice also referred to as "blocking rights."

Xbox gaming boss Phil Spencer gives a quick explanation on how developers make money from Xbox Game Pass deals.

Xbox Game Pass can be risky or rewarding depending on many factors. The service can bring negative effects like "cannibalization," which reduces overall premium full game sales as a result of the business model--gamers are less likely to buy a game for full price if they can access it on Game Pass. To help make up for this effect, Microsoft offers specific deals to developers as incentives to bring new content to the value-driven service.

In the recent FTC v Microsoft evidentiary hearing, Xbox CEO Phil Spencer outlines the kinds of revenue deals that developers can take advantage of on Game Pass. When asked specifically about a revenue share split by FTC legal counsel James Weingarden, Spencer replied that Game Pass actually doesn't adhere to the standard 70-30 storefront model because it's a subscription.

ZeniMax's Head of Publishing Pete Hines explains why some Bethesda games go exclusive, and highlights the general merits of platform exclusivity that apply to all independently-operated game developers.

Starfield is a full-on Xbox exclusive, but it wasn't always going to be. Microsoft's $7.5 billion buyout of ZeniMax, Bethesda's parent company, changed things. In yesterday's evidentiary hearing in the FTC v Microsoft trial, ZeniMax's Pete Hines revealed key information about exclusivity deals, how such deals benefit ZeniMax, and how the publisher fits into Microsoft's games division.

Hines' testimony first reveals that ZeniMax is a limited-integration company, meaning that ZeniMax's studios--Bethesda Game Studios, id Software, Tango Gameworks, ZeniMax Online, Arkane, etc--do not report or answer to Xbox Game Studios head Matt Booty. Instead, ZeniMax reports directly to Phil Spencer.

Microsoft's Xbox Cloud Gaming (also known "as xCloud") may not ever become a standalone subscription service due to the constrained logistics of the business.

During yesterday's evidentiary hearing the FTC v Microsoft case, Xbox SVP Sarah Bond highlighted the practical realities of Microsoft's game streaming initiative. The Xbox executive highlights how xCloud operates, reiterating that Xbox's game streaming fork is powered by actual Xbox Series X consoles and not Azure servers. Microsoft has made it clear that it makes no money from Xbox hardware sales, and since these servers are powered by Xbox consoles, Microsoft themselves must acquire Xbox units for the service and potentially reduce consumer product availability in the process.

This could put constraints on the practicality of the business. It's unclear that xCloud is even profitable, which is likely why the delivery method is combined with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate--the premium value-oriented part of Game Pass could offset any losses from xCloud, the same way that software sales and services help Microsoft offset the losses from console hardware sales.

In new court filings, Microsoft's legal counsel reiterates a 2028 forecast for the next PlayStation and Xbox console generation.

If the traditional hardware cycle is anything to go by, Gen10 could launch in 2028. The modern games industry has taught us that things change quite fast, especially with disruptive services like Game Pass, and world-altering events like the pandemic and challenging economic climate.

In a recent findings of fact filing in the FTC provisionary injunction court case (Case 3:23-cv-02880-JSC Document 177), Microsoft lawyers once again mention a potential release date for the PS6 and next-gen Xbox. It's a very small mention, and the date is in relation to the 10-year Call of Duty deal that Microsoft has offered Sony. Microsoft lawyers say that the 10-year deal would overlap with the launch of Gen10 consoles...assuming they came in 2028.

After engaging tens of millions of players and making tons of revenues, Warzone 1.0 will officially shut down in September.

Warzone Caldera, the first iteration of the landmark free-to-play Call of Duty mode that radically transformed Activision-Blizzard's business, is officially closing shop on September 21, 2023. The mode will be pulled offline on all platforms and gamers will need to move over to Warzone 2.0. The move remains clear: Activision has unified the Call of Duty ecosystem with a new updated proprietary games engine that is capable of belting out new premium games, the F2P Warzone 2.0, and the upcoming Warzone mobile--there's just too many spinning plates going at once.

Activision says that all existing content that was purchased in Warzone 1.0 from MW 2019, Black Ops Cold War, and Vanguard will still be available in those games, but the base F2P game will be taking offline.

Microsoft's corporate VP of Xbox Sarah Bond clarifies why Xbox game streaming is a costly venture.

Xbox,s game streaming infrastructure isn't cheap to operate. The service is bundled as a value proposition in Microsoft's Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription, which helps subsidize the cost of the service. But ultimately it sounds like Xbox Cloud Streaming, aka xCloud, has not been profitable for Microsoft for one big reason: the service is powered by unprofitable Xbox console hardware.

As part of her testimony in the recent FTC vs Microsoft evidentiary hearing, Xbox exec Sarah Bond offers more details about how xCloud works. Microsoft's game streaming service doesn't actually use server blades or Azure. Instead, xCloud uses literal Xbox Series X hardware to power the service. That means Microsoft has to acquire more Xbox consoles--which it does so at a loss--in order to beef up its servers.

Microsoft executive Sarah Bond confirms that Activision refused to bring Call of Duty to its Gen 9 consoles unless Microsoft promised a better revenue share.

Activision has used its $31 billion Call of Duty franchise as a very influential negotiation tactic to secure lucrative multi-year deals. These deals extend to favorable revenue shares that go beyond the typical 70-30 split (Activision keeps 70% of revenues, platform-holder gets 30%).

As part of her testimony at a recent FTC vs Microsoft evidentiary hearing, Sarah Bond confirmed that Activision CEO Bobby Kotick refused to bring Call of Duty to the Xbox Series X/S Gen 9 launch unless Microsoft made a specific revenue split deal. "It was clear that Call of Duty would be on PS5 and that would not have been good if it was not also on Xbox if it was launching at the same time," Bond said. "It was clear if we did not move beyond the standard rev share, he would not place Call of Duty on Xbox."

As the CEO of Microsoft's video games division, Phil Spencer has authority on which games become exclusive and which games don't.

The evidentiary hearing for the FTC vs Microsoft preliminary injunction case is under way--a case that could ultimately determine the fate of the $68.7 billion Microsoft-Activision merger--and key Xbox executives have given interesting testimony to defendants and plaintiffs. A large part of the FTC's case hinges on Microsoft's willingness and incentive to make content exclusive to the Xbox ecosystem, and we've received some interesting answers from Xbox leadership on this topic.

Xbox Game Studios lead Matt Booty was one of the key witnesses in today's evidentiary hearing and his testimony outlined a general understanding of the Xbox business. Testimony from the Xbox Game Studios head confirms that Xbox's CEO Phil Spencer has the final say on game exclusivity.

If Microsoft successfully acquires Activision, Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Jim Ryan confirms that Sony will stop sharing details of its new PlayStation hardware with Activision in order to protect its trade secrets.

In a recent court filing (Case #3:23-cv-02880-JSC, document #134-2) in the FTC's preliminary injunction case against Microsoft, Sony's Jim Ryan outlines a new business relationship that would ensue as a result of the Microsoft-Activision merger. If Microsoft is able to merge with Activision, then Sony will cease providing Activision with information about its next-generation PlayStation consoles, including its upcoming PS6.

The filing includes part of Jim Ryan's deposition taken in April 2023, which mentions "Once Microsoft acquired Activision...SIE could no longer share confidential details about its next console in development."

ZeniMax's head of publishing Pete Hines indicates that MachineGames' Indiana Jones game was originally a multi-platform game before Microsoft purchased ZeniMax in 2021.

New testimony and evidence in the FTC vs Microsoft evidentiary hearing reveals details about MachineGames' Indiana Jones project (aka Project Relic). Although the game was revealed in 2021, the new Indiana Jones game actually pre-dates Microsoft's acquisition of Bethesda. As it turns out, Disney had signed a licensing deal with ZeniMax before the acquisition was made.

Following the $7.5 billion buyout, Disney had inquired on which platforms the Indiana Jones project would release on. This makes sense, as Disney probably prefers wider net of platforms that could reap more sales revenues. In the hearing, FTC counsel asked ZeniMax's Pete Hines if the licensing deal was leader-changed, and Hines confirmed that it was. The original licensing agreement saw the Indiana Jones game coming to multiple consoles. Hines also confirmed that the Indiana Jones project is indeed an Xbox platform exclusive, meaning it won't be coming to PlayStation.