Gaming - Page 342

CD Projekt RED is letting an external development team work on a new Witcher RPG so that it can focus on new projects.

CD Projekt is working on a ton of new games. The studio announced a new Witcher trilogy codenamed Polaris that is set to release across a six-year span, as well as a fully-fledged sequel to Cyberpunk 2077 that should have multiplayer. There's actually five Witcher projects in development, but CD Projekt is only involved in four of them.

Following major tech and IP expansion, CD Projekt is handing off the development of one of its new Witcher games to another developer. The game is codenamed Canis Majoris (which roughly translates to "big dog") and is described as a story-driven, singleplayer open-world RPG.

The new Witcher saga is a trilogy of games that will all release in less than a decade, CD Projekt RED has officially announced.

Fans will not have to wait long for next Witcher game. CD Projekt today confirmed that its new Witcher saga, which is codenamed Polaris, will consist of three games set in a AAA RPG trilogy, and that the entire saga will be released in six years. This is a massive acceleration for CD Projekt, who typically releases one big AAA game every 4-5 years.

The Polaris saga will be developed using Unreal Engine 5 as part of a multi-year partnership agreement with Epic Games, and is being developed by over 150 people. The saga is in pre-production and should incorporate multiplayer in some way, which will be the first time any Witcher game has had online content. CD Projekt promises that multiplayer will be designed to "enrich the singleplayer experience."

CD Projekt RED has announce its first-ever new original IP that's built from the ground up within the studio.

Today was a big day for CD Projekt. The studio announced four major new game projects alongside Project Hadar, the first wholly-owned new IP that the studio has ever made.

Up until now CD Projekt has licensed two franchises, The Witcher and Cyberpunk, to make its games. The studio doesn't own these properties and has to pay rights holders royalties on a pre-arranged basis. But now CD Projekt wants to be in total control over creation, direction, and the overall business of a game--that's why they're developing Project Hadar.

CD Projekt RED has officially confirmed a Cyberpunk 2077 sequel is in development.

Today CD Projekt announced its new company strategy roadmap that outlines games in production and development, including a new Cyberpunk game. The game is called Project Orion, and will be developed by the core CD Projekt RED dev team. From the sound of it, the developer isn't going to make the same mistakes that it did with Cyberpunk 2077's original 2020 release.

Project Orion is described as a "Cyberpunk 2077 sequel that will prove the full power and potential of the Cyberpunk universe."

Activision-Blizzard has officially shut down the servers for the original Overwatch, with a 24-hour blackout between that and the launch of Overwatch 2. But when does Overwatch 2 launch in your country, specifically? Not long from now, folks.

It all kicks off at 12pm PDT on October 4 in LA, which is 3pm EDT in New York, 8pm BST in London, 9pm CEST in Paris, 4pm BRT in Santos, 4am KSR in Seoul, and finally -- 6am AEDT in Sydney, Australia. It's funny, Australia is meant to be in the future and not even a real country, yet they (we, I'm an Australian Overwatch gamer) have to wait until tomorrow.

PC gamers who purchased the Overwatch 2 Watchpoint pack or are an Overwatch prime player, pre-loading Overwatch 2 should've already started by now. Console gamers will have to wait, with pre-loading of Overwatch 2 kicking off on consoles at 9am PDT on October 4.

The release of Overwatch 2 is literally right around the corner, with my favorite game -- Overwatch -- having its servers closed down (forever) a few hours ago... Overwatch 2 drops in the next 24 hours, and now Secretlab has your back (quite literally) with their new Overwatch 2 Collection gaming chairs.

Secretlab has revealed the first two members of the Overwatch 2 Collection with the Tracer Edition and Genji Edition gaming chairs, which are both available in Small, Regular, and XL versions and upholstered in Secretlab's comfy NEO Hybrid Leatherette.

As usual, the company puts in a wicked amount of detail into the new Tracer Edition and Genji Edition gaming chairs, with Secretlab tweeting out that "next-generation heroics demand next-generation ergonomics. Inspired by two of the most iconic characters in Overwatch history - between cyborg ninja Genji and Tracer the time-jumping adventurer, who's your pick?"

Microsoft has officially launched a dedicated website that's devoted to its proposed $68.7 billion merger with Activision-Blizzard.

Microsoft now has a website for its hopeful acquisition of Activision-Blizzard. The site serves as a one-stop shop for archived data, information, and communications from Microsoft regarding the merger, complete with a list of all the benefits that the merger would pose for gamers, creators, and the industry as a whole.

It includes quotes, links, and a diagram expressing how the deal is good for everyone involved--except for maybe Sony, who recently confirmed Call of Duty, a $30 billion franchise that's poised to expand exponentially this year, would only remain on PlayStation for 3 years after existing contracts had ended.

Amazon is responding to Google Stadia's demise with a well-timed sale on its own game streaming platform.

Today Amazon announced a substantial discount on its game streaming service, Luna. Gamers can get the Luna controller and one month of the premium Luna+ subscription service for $39.99, which represents a 43% savings over the bundle's original MSRP of $69.99.

Luna+ includes access to 130 games across AAA, indies, and casual gametypes. The lineup includes hits like Yakuza Like A Dragon, Control, the Castlevania and Contra collections, Metro Exodus, Alien Isolation, and both Resident Evil 2 and 3 remakes. Luna+ originally costs $9.99 a month but is free for all Amazon Prime subscribers (shared accounts don't work, however).

If the Activision merger goes through, Microsoft could use Game Pass to deliver in-game content bonuses to key franchises like Call of Duty, Diablo, and Overwatch.

Bethesda is celebrating Fallout's 25th anniversary with some freebies. One interesting freebie is one month of Fallout 1st, the premium Fallout 76 subscription service, for all Xbox Game Pass subscribers. This isn't new: Microsoft routinely gives out extra perks and bonuses for Game Pass subscribers.

It did remind me that Game Pass delivers more than just games. It also delivers content. Xbox Game Pass perks could have big implications for Activision-Blizzard's live games should Microsoft's $68.7 billion mega-merger go through. Microsoft could offer extra perks to sweeten the deal and incentivize more Game Pass sign ups. This content wouldn't even have to be exclusive to make a meaningful contribution for adoption and retention (Microsoft has said it will make the same version of Call of Duty available on PlayStation, Xbox, and PC if it acquires Activision).

Sony needs to ensure there is proper synergy between its live games and big premium AAA singleplayer games in order to maximize reach, engagement, and potential sales.

We've outlined a few things that Sony should be doing regarding its live games, including dropping the PS Plus requirement for any first-party free-to-play games, and now it's time to quickly discuss synergy between online and singleplayer games.

Ideally, Sony should establish direct links between its first-party AAA games and its live games. This is especially true for games that are set in the same franchise, and it can be done in a number of ways. We've already seen Sony's early start into live games with built-in monetized multiplayer modes like The Last of Us' Factions mode, Uncharted 4's multiplayer, and non-monetized live content like Ghost of Tsushima Legends.

Sony is significantly ramping up production of its PlayStation VR 2 headset and plans to make 2 million units by March 2023, sources have told Bloomberg's Takashi Mochizuki.

Sony is planning a VR blitz to accompany its new record-breaking PlayStation 5 shipments. The company will produce 2 million PlayStation VR 2 headsets throughout Fiscal Year 2022 as part of a new hardware fusillade meant to meet exceptionally high market demand.

Sony will also ship 18 million PS5's during the year, the single largest console shipment in PlayStation history. By March 2023, Sony expects to have over 37 million PlayStation 5 consoles shipped worldwide.

Fandom, a network of websites known for walkthroughs and content, has bought out some of the biggest gaming sites on the internet.

Today Fandom announced that it has purchased a ring of leading gaming and entertainment websites including Gamespot, Giant Bomb, GameFAQs, Metacritic and others. Workers' jobs are apparently being preserved and no one is expected to be fired during the transition period.

"The news is out. We learned about this last week. The amazing thing is everyone got to keep their jobs, titles, and salaries, which never happens with these acquisitions. While it's kind of scary to be bought out, at least our new parent company understands what it is we do," Gamespot video producer Tom Caswell said on Twitter.

Sony Interactive Entertainment President and CEO Jim Ryan reportedly met with European regulators in Brussels to discuss the ramifications of Microsoft's mega-billion merger with Activision-Blizzard.

Sony's Jim Ryan is believed to have met directly with European Commission regulators that are currently overseeing the approval of gaming's biggest merger. Ryan has publicly voiced his opposition to Microsoft buying Activision-Blizzard for $68.7 billion, with Call of Duty's exclusivity at heart of Ryan's arguments.

Ryan has publicly confirmed that Microsoft had plans to remove Call of Duty from PlayStation 3 years after Activision's current contracts had ended. This has likely been noticed and recorded by regulators as a key point to consider; the UK's Commission for Markets Authority (CMA) had also stated concerns about exclusivity.

Sony reportedly has plans to release a remastered version of Horizon Zero Dawn, which is already one of the best-looking games on PlayStation 4.

In an effort to capture resales and engage a next-gen audience, Sony has been releasing remakes and remasters to help fill the gaps in between its PS5 first-party lineup. The PS5's release saw the remake of Demons' Souls (which isn't a first-party game but published by SIE) alongside remasters of the best-selling Marvel's Spider-Man. The most recent high-profile remake was The Last of Us, which was significantly overhauled with impressive visuals, effects, and in-game adjustments to gameplay.

Now reports indicate that Horizon Zero Dawn is the next best-seller to get the remaster treatment. Sources have told MP1st and Video Game Chronicle that Guerrilla Games plans to refresh Horizon Zero Dawn to take advantage of the PlayStation 5's power.

Guerrilla Games is reportedly working on a new online Horizon game that will release on PlayStation 5 and PC, sources have told MP1st.

Horizon Zero Dawn was originally supposed to feature some form of online co-op play, but the feature was scrapped due to time and technical constraints. Despite early reports, the feature didn't show up in Horizon Forbidden West either. Now it looks like Horizon's online multiplayer will be a standalone live service game.

Sources have told MP1st that the Horizon franchise will get a new online multiplayer game that bridges both PS5 and PC. The game is expected to have some sort of co-op or PVP action (naturally, given it's a MP game). This news fits right in line with Sony's new multi-platform business model that targets big games across mobiles, PlayStation 5, and PC.

Google may have a compelling argument against Microsoft's proposed buyout of Activision-Blizzard.

Right now worldwide regulators are sifting through data and conducting interviews with the biggest players in the $198 billion video games market. The goal is to determine whether or not Microsoft merging with Activision-Blizzard would harm competition. After the merger, Microsoft would be the second biggest video games company on the planet and own multiple billion-dollar franchises like Call of Duty, a $30 billion franchise that dominates PC and consoles, and Candy Crush, a top-earning mobile app with over $11 billion revenues since 2015.

The case involves an alphabet soup of worldwide regulators including the FTC in the US, CMA in the UK, and the European Commission in EU all trying to determine whether or not the deal is fair to competitors and consumers. Everyone is involved in this merger scrutiny, including competitors like Sony, Epic Games, and even Google--the latter of which may have an interesting argument against the deal.

Tencent reportedly plans to buy more majority stakes in video games companies to continue earnings growth and counteract falling share prices.

Sources tell Reuters that Tencent will aggressive buy up more majority stakes in overseas games companies. The Chinese gaming giant, who earned $33 billion in 2021 and more than Xbox and Nintendo combined, wants to spark growth in gaming as domestic games revenues stagnate due to strict regulations. Tencent's solution is to buy more stake in overseas countries with the hopes of riding consistent revenues.

Reuters reports that Tencent is targeting companies in Europe. This is on the heels of Tencent acquiring nearly 50% of controlling stake in Guillemot Bros. Limited, a company run by the founders of Ubisoft. The Guillemot brothers sold stake in their company in order to fend off a hostile takeover from Tencent. As part of the deal, Tencent's stake in Ubisoft can rise as high as 9.9%, but can't exceed this threshold for 8 years.

Microsoft has filed a formal merger proposal in Europe concerning its desired buyout of Activision-Blizzard's shares.

Regulators around the globe are currently scrutinizing Microsoft's proposed acquisition of Activision-Blizzard. The deal is valued at $68.7 billion and is the largest in gaming history by a long shot; it's over 5 times more valuable than Take-Two's recent acquisition of Zynga for $12.7 billion.

Microsoft corporate executives are confident the deal with will go through despite Sony's direct and public opposition. The billion-dollar tech firm has filed its merger proposal with worldwide markets including the United States and now Europe. Microsoft's merger proposal has been officially filed in the European Commission's competition database and has been assigned a provisional deadline of November 8, 2022.

Google has made all of its Stadia videos private, and the official Stadia YouTube channel is now a ghost town.

Google plans to shut down Stadia, its fledgling game streaming service, in January 2023. The service had largely missed its market and failed to gain traction, losing Google untold millions in the process. Now history repeats itself as Google shuts down the service as it has many other products before.

What's most interesting about Stadia is that Google has effectively scrubbed all traces of the service from its official YouTube account. All videos uploaded by the Stadia YouTube account have been made private and the following message pops up: "This channel doesn't have any content."

Google cancelled a Death Stranding sequel that could've helped Stadia take off.

Years ago when Google established Stadia Games and Entertainment, Google had opened collaborations with famed Metal Gear Solid developer Hideo Kojima. Rumors had circulated that Kojima would make an episodic horror game for Stadia (which may have evolved into his latest game, Overdose) but the reality was the auteur was laying out concepts for a new Death Stranding game for Google's ill-fated streaming service.

Sources have told 9 to 5 Google that Hideo Kojima's new game would have been a successor to the popular cinematic Death Stranding game released in 2019 on PS4. The project was to be singleplayer-only, however, which is something that Google disagreed with. Stadia's third-party dealmakers cancelled the collaboration in the middle of 2020 after Kojima Productions had delivered game assets.