Gaming - Page 322

Tim Cain, the lead programmer of the original Fallout cRPG from the 1990s, gives rare insight into the content that didn't make it into the final games.

Just because a game is out in stores doesn't mean it's complete. Games are actually never complete, and developers typically shave off significant amounts of content from a dev build to make things fit into a finalized version. That was also the case with the first Fallout games.

So what kinds of things were left on the cutting room floor in Fallout? In a recent video, Tim Cain outlines some interesting concepts, stories, and features that didn't miss the axe. One piece of content was a kind of Library of Alexandria for the wasteland that was based on Walter Miller's classic dystopian novel A Canticle for Leibowitz.

Fallout co-creator Tim Cain reveals why he left Interplay back in the late-1990s.

Gaming was a lot different back in the 90s. That goes double for PC gaming, which was dominated by big-box titles that were as groundbreaking as they were irreverent. The original Fallout was one such game; with its humor, deep mechanics, and a gritty style augmented by an isometric view, Fallout was one such game that helped solidify the cRPG market.

TIm Cain, who co-created the Fallout series, was significantly influential to the PC gaming scene and the Fallout brand as a whole. Cain had left Interplay back in 1998 due to a myriad of reasons, and in a recent YouTube video, the legendary game developer tells his story on why exactly he departed the studio.

The $12.7 billion merger with Zynga has pushed mobile as the lead revenue-generating platform for publisher Take-Two Interactive.

Take-Two Interactive is mostly known for delivering mega franchises like Grand Theft Auto, NBA 2K, Red Dead, and Borderlands. However, following its mega-merger with Zynga in May 2022, mobile gaming quickly conquered the business in terms of earnings. The company's annual 2023 SEC filings give an important look at Take-Two Interactive's current place in the industry and it's growth-oriented trajectory.

According to the filings, recognition of Zynga's earnings boosted TTWO's Fiscal Year 2023 earnings by $1.845 billion year-over-year, leading to a total of $5.349 billion in net revenue earned during the year. Zynga made up 40% of total company revenues and its stable of popular free-to-play games pulled in $2.159 billion, helping offset over $300 million reduction in GTA earnings and over $71 million drop in Borderlands franchise revenues.

Sony Group Corp. CEO Kenichiro Yoshida comments on PlayStation's cloud gaming initiatives, and indicates that its proprietary GT Sophy artificial intelligence could play a larger role in emerging segment.

Although it has become more relevant today thanks to the Microsoft-Activision merger, cloud gaming has actually been around for quite some time. Sony became a pioneer in the tech after purchasing Gaikai for $380 million back in 2012 and then launching its PlayStation Now game streaming service. 11 years later, cloud gaming remains a nascent and substantially small part of the overall video games market (European Commission VP Margrethe Vestager has said cloud represents 1-3% of gaming earnings).

While UK regulators at the CMA believe cloud gaming will grow over time, Sony CEO Kenichiro Yoshida notes that game streaming faces considerable challenges and has a more realistic outlook on the technology.

CD Projekt Group management confirms that R&D on the new Cyberpunk game will begin in 2024.

Last year, CD Projekt announced Project Orion, a fully-fledged sequel to Cyberpunk 2077. Details on the new game are slim, but based on the publisher's new live game services focus, we expect that Orion is in some part a continuation of the Cyberpunk 2077 standalone AAA multiplayer game that CD Projekt had discussed some time ago.

We could be waiting quite some time for the game. Project Orion hasn't begun principal development just yet, and CD Projekt Group is planned to start spending on R&D for the game throughout 2024. This is an early phase of development that's technically pre-production, so the actual game may not release until a few years afterwards.

BioShock creator Ken Levine shares the storytelling process and motivations that he used in order to write the fan-favorite series.

BioShock is known far and wide for its unique story that weaves themes of classism, history, and unchecked tyranny in a fictional underwater city full of art deco beauty. But how exactly did this classical story come to light?

In a recent interview on Colin Moriarty's Sacred Symbols podcast, BioShock creator Ken Levine shared some interesting insight into his core motivations for the games. Levine explores topics like understanding perspectives from a villain's point of view alongside assertions that everything always has to be in service of characters.

Square Enix's developers give new updates on Final Fantasy VII Remake Part 2, including what to expect with exploration and overall release date.

In a recent Facebook update, Square Enix has delivered two new small Q&As with key developers of the new Final Fantasy VII Rebirth game that's due out in 2023 on PlayStation 5 consoles.

According to game producer Yoshinori Kitase, one of the main concerns with Rebirth is locking in a release date. The publisher currently plans to release two major AAA Final Fantasy games in 2023, with Final Fantasy XVI on June 22 and Rebirth expected to release sometime in Winter 2023. It's possible that Rebirth is pushed out to early 2024, possibly before Square Enix's fiscal year ends on March 31, or it could even get pushed into Square Enix's next FY23 timeline to help break apart and stagger game sales.

The reports were correct: Asypr has officially cancelled development of KOTOR II's planned DLCs on Nintendo Switch.

One of the biggest selling points of the new KOTOR II re-release on the Nintendo Switch was the promise that missing content would be added back into the game. Back in 2004, KOTOR II launched as an unfinished game with a portion of its gameplay, features, and content left on the cutting room floor so that Obsidian could get the game out to consumers more quickly. This happens very, very often in the video games industry.

Aspyr, who was previously handling the KOTOR Remake, had originally planned to re-incorporate KOTOR II's unreleased content into the 2022 re-release and sell the first complete version of the beloved RPG. The cut features have been identified for many years thanks to the Sith Restoration Project.

With the new Zelda game, Nintendo has created an incredible playground for user-generated content...and it could be the beginning of something interesting for the company.

Gamers are making some really outrageous, elaborate, and often amazing things in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, including airships, gimbal aircraft, and even Tie Fighters straight out of Star Wars. Combined with a world ripe for the picking, the game's new Ultrahand power offers such massive creative freedom and should help extend TotK's overall lifespan for many, many years, but it could also be a magic ticket to a new realm of possibility for Nintendo.

Some of the biggest games on the market rely on what's called user-generated content, or UGC. Both Minecraft and Roblox rely on UGC to promote engagement, sell copies of games, and in Roblox's case, push microtransactions. These games have huge player bases in the millions of users, with 66.1 million people playing Roblox every day.

The U.S. House Oversight Committee has opened a probe into Chair Lina Khan's leadership at the Federal Trade Commission on allegations of "abuses of power."

Today the United States House of Representatives Oversight Committee has announced that it is probing the FTC in order to address allegations made by former Republican FTC Commissioner Christine S. Wilson, who in an Wall Street Journal op-ed said that FTC Chair Lina Khan was "abusing her power" to "achieve desired outcomes."

In a formal letter to the FTC, House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer outlines key concerns that lead to questions on whether or not the Federal Trade Commission has become a "rogue agency."

Microsoft and Activision may be ready to take drastic measures in order to merge and become one of the biggest powerhouses in the video games industry.

Microsoft is currently looking at ways to carry on with its $68.7 billion Activision merger without the United Kingdom's approval. The megaton merger was blocked by the UK's Competition and Markets Authority, and with the merger's July 14 deadline fast approaching, it's possible that Microsoft and Activision could "close over" and proceed with the merger despite the CMA block.

There are already plans underway to close the deal in the United States despite the FTC's current administrative lawsuit. The FTC would need an injunction from a federal court in order to get the merger blocked, and this could be challenging as the merger has already been approved in the European Union for similar reasons as the FTC's anti-competitive objections.

EA has announced a partnership with Nike Virtual Studios to bring .Swoosh "virtual creations" to future EA Sports games. Now the publisher needs to clarify exactly what is happening before the announcement turns into a full-blown controversy.

Note: Most of this article is speculation based on limited information presented by Nike and Electronic Arts. The actual plan for Nike .Swoosh integration may be different than what is presented here. Speculation is required due to the limited amount of information made available by both companies.

It appears that Electronic Arts will tie its billion-dollar EA Sports brand to a new iteration of the NFT market in some form. Today, EA and Nike announced a partnership to bring .Swoosh digital collectibles into new EA Sports games. So...what are .Swoosh "virtual collectibles?" Most people think these are NFTs, but they resemble a kind of game-less lootbox that you buy with real money instead of cryptocurrency.

Grand Theft Auto 6 is expected to make $1 billion at launch, and is expected to sell at least 25 million copies upon release.

GTA 6 is one of the most anticipated games of the modern era, and Take-Two Interactive has telegraphed a potential Holiday 2024 or early 2025 launch for the crime sim. According to a recent newsletter from games industry expert Joost van Dreunen, initial forecasts for Grand Theft Auto 6 sales are around 25 million.

"Assuming a 2025 launch window, which is optimistic given the publisher's propensity for delays, early estimates expect the new title to sell 25 million units," van Dreunen writes.

Capcom's latest public survey saves its best question for the very end: What Resident Evil game do you want remade?

Capcom is on fire right now. The company just recorded its 7th straight consecutive year of operating profit growth and managed to sell 41.7 million games in FY22. Resident Evil 4 is performing strongly with over 4 million units sold worldwide, continuing the long-running success of Capcom's new remake lineup.

Now that RE4 Remake has been delivered, Capcom wants to know where it should go next, and is directly asking fans what Resident Evil games they'd like to see get the remake treatment. There isn't a selection to choose from--Capcom doesn't want to play its hand too early--and fans can freely submit whatever title they want. Do you want to see Code Veronica next? Maybe Resident Evil 5 or 6 as the next remake? Now's your chance to make your voice heard.

Redfall's controversial reception could have been even worse if the game launched with its intended storefront.

A new report from Bloomberg's Jason Schreier has illuminated some of the major problems that Arkane faced with Redfall, its latest vampire-themed looter-shooter. The game's trouble story stems from deep alignment and scope issues from the get-go, with many of the original Prey development team leaving en masse as the game suffered an identity crisis that tore Redfall between a singleplayer-driven experience and an online multiplayer shooter.

General games-as-a-service inexperience exacerbated these issues, with Arkane facing the infinite complexities of maintaining a live game both operationally and mechanically. Redfall is something that Arkane's management did want to make, however PR secrecy led to significant short-staffing for a studio that was simply already in over its head when it comes to live service titles.

The AI gold rush presents interesting opportunities to disrupt key markets and streamline operations with greater levels of automation. There's been lots of talk and excitement about how AI could help gaming.

The prospect of creating a kind of AI that can sustainably write, fabricate, and maintain the infinitely-complex machine that is games development is an appealing pipe dream--but developers, CEOs, and publishers are quick to shake off this fantasy.

Although AI will likely help the games industry by reducing crunch and opening the doorways to more productivity and complexity of games, the days of AI replacing actual humans in this field are a long ways away--if it happens at all. There's just some things you can't fake.

A new Bloomberg report confirms what gamers have long thought to be true: ZeniMax Media insisted that its studios add microtransactions to new games.

ZeniMax Media has some of the best-selling franchises on the planet. Bethesda's beloved series are known far and wide; from The Elder Scrolls and Fallout to id Software's legendary Doom, these games are powerhouse singleplayer experiences that sell tens of millions of copies.

Singleplayer gaming saw disruption, though. The emerging games-as-a-service industry model had triggered a paradigm shift in the industry, and publishers could make hundreds of millions--or even billions--of dollars from microtransactions and seasonal live service content. ZeniMax broke into this market with The Elder Scrolls Online in 2014, and since then, we've seen multiple franchises pivot towards live services, including the controversial Fallout 76, the multiplayer-driven Wolfenstein Youngblood, and even Doom Eternal. Now the trend continues with Redfall, which has been regarded by critics as one of the worst games of 2023.

Analysts speculate that Comcast's next big investment strategy could target the $200 billion video games market.

A new Bloomberg feature outlines an interesting possibility: What if Comcast got into gaming? After all, there were reports that Comcast would have spun off NBC Universal and merged with EA to create a new multimedia group. Stranger things have happened--even Netflix is getting into gaming and is starting to ramp up big AAA studios to help fill out its catalog.

Analysts and experts have floated the idea of Comcast entering the games market in some capacity, possibly in the form of a major buyout acquisition, or even purchasing licenses to characters and franchises from major game companies to use in films and TV shows to bolster its streaming and cable empire. Comcast's aspirations are believed to target the larger entertainment umbrella--rather than focusing exclusively on gaming, Comcast would likely tap these gaming franchises (like, say, Grand Theft Auto) in transmedia efforts and bring them to the big screen.

U.S. consumers spent more money on video game purchases, subscriptions, and microtransactions than Chinese consumers throughout 2022, market research data from Newzoo indicates.

According to a new report from Newzoo, the United States was the leading region for worldwide game spending in 2022. Newzoo estimates that the total global video games market generated $182.9 billion throughout 2022, which is slightly below the firm's previous $184 billion estimate.

The United States actually led regional spending in 2022, beating China by some $2.4 billion. Consumers in the U.S. spent $46.4 billion on games throughout the year, whereas Chinese gamers spent $44 billion. The firm notes that 49% of total global spending came from these two countries. Europe was the second-highest region with $33.3 billion, which further illuminates the European Union's weight as it pertains to its Microsoft-Activision merger decision.

Microsoft President Brad Smith reiterates that the company is focused and committed on finding key solutions that address regulatory concerns in a bid to get the $68.7 billion Activision merger passed by the FTC and CMA.

The Microsoft-Activision merger has been cleared in 10 jurisdictions so far. Out of the handful of worldwide regions, the European Union's approval carries the most weight. EU regulators had identified two key areas of potential anti-competitive effects from the merger, but those worries were satisfied when Microsoft agreed to make certain adjustments in its post-merger business plan.

This shows that Microsoft is willing to work with regulators to find a solution to get the deal passed. Microsoft clearly wants Activision Blizzard King's mighty billion-dollar empire to supplement the Xbox brand and its grand, but unclear, plans at creating a universal video game platform that connects and sells games on mobile, PC, and console.