Gaming - Page 344

Assassin's Creed Infinity will include both singleplayer-only and multiplayer-only games, Ubisoft has said.

Ubisoft's most ambitious new project isn't a game. It's a platform. Assassin's Creed Infinity isn't actually a game but instead a kind of hub, or launcher, where players will go to buy, download, and play future Assassin's Creed games (think of it as a combination between a store, launcher, and a social interface). Infinity represents an emerging trend in gaming that I've called Games-as-a-Platform; while nascent, other developers like 343 Industries are trying to take this approach with Halo Infinite, which will be the nexus for all future Halo games and content.

Infinity is a big opportunity for Ubisoft to cross-monetize its franchise with microtransactions, DLC, and outright purchases. One of these biggest opportunities is the fracturing of games into smaller comparative experiences and give players a dearth of variety across historical timelines, play time, and content scope. Infinity won't just serve up massive games like Assassin's Creed Valhalla, but will also deliver more visceral and unique titles like Hexe, which will take place during the brutal 17th Century Holy Roman Empire witch trials in Europe.

Valve reiterates that it is 'always working on games' even as it readies new hardware like the Steam Deck.

Valve has made a big splash into the hardware market. Over the last decade Valve has released multiple new hardware platforms aiming to iterate and innovate the PC space. First there was the ill-fated Steam Machines, which were essentially cheaper console-like PCs that ran Steam games, then there was the Steam Controller, and more recently the popular Valve Index VR headset and the even more popular Steam Deck handheld-PC hybrid. So...where are the games?

In a recent interview with IGN, Valve's business development guru Erik Peterson says the company is still making software outside of Steam OS. "We're always working on games. We have nothing new to announce today, but we're a game developer in addition to working on Steam, and we're always working on things."

NVIDIA has used its next-gen GeForce RTX 4090 graphics card to utterly super-power Blizzard's upcoming Overwatch 2, to a blistering 1440p 360FPS+.

The next-gen GeForce RTX 4090 graphics card is so damn fast in Overwatch 2 that NVIDIA pushed Blizzard to increase the frame cap in Overwatch 2 from 400FPS to an even more insane 600FPS. NVIDIA posted the first ever Overwatch 2 gameplay on the GeForce RTX 4090 with over 360FPS+ and sub 10ms latency, with NVIDIA Reflex enabled and High graphics settings.

The company posted a new 1-minute video that shows Overwatch 2 running on the new GeForce RTX 4090 at 1440p 360FPS+ with parts of the game hitting 450FPS and even pushing through the 500FPS+ ceiling. It's pretty damn insane, and as an Overwatch player (it's my main game), I can't wait to play 1440p 360FPS+ myself. 4K 120FPS+ is already fun, but 360FPS would be interesting to see on the RTX 4090.

Electronic Arts is applying a new four-part concept model to its biggest franchises that is focused on embedding games as new social networks.

EA CEO Andrew Wilson has a vision: Games will eventually be used as the new social network to bind players, communities, and families together using online frameworks and interactivity models. The plan will be (and has been) made possible by EA's emphasis on four major pillars: Watch, play, create, and connect. Each of these aspects will find their way into all of EA's most powerful IPs and franchises, including Battlefield, Apex Legends, FIFA, Madden, and The Sims.

"What I do think we'll see more is the creation. The Sims has been built on creation since it launched in 2001, and we've seen hours of creation in our Battlefield franchise with all those Battlefield moments, and we've seen FIFA expanding with team creation and collection and ultimate team. We're going to do more of that. We're going to open this up and offer a more interactive component and part of what you see with us in Skate is that we're going to be able to build this overall global universe with skateboarding as a cultural catalyst--skateboarding leans into fashion and into music and building and brand, we think that franchise can do that as well.

The new Saints Row reboot has been poorly received by critics and may have bombed on the sales charts, but the Embracer Group is still confident they will make money from the game.

The latest Saints Row game has its fair share of problems. It's being lambasted by YouTubers and streamers for cutting out popular franchise characters and completely rebooting the main story, location, and overall culture. The biggest issues are performance hiccups and glitches, which remain prevalent throughout the game. As a result, it looks like Saints Row is a sales dud.

In a recent shareholders broadcast, Embracer Group CEO Lars Wingefors attested the game has a "polarized" image and that Saints Row won't make as much money as other popular franchises--or even games in the Saints Row series--like Metro, which remains one of Deep Silver's most potent IPs.

Embracer Group reminds gamers, shareholders, and the games industry at large that it has the largest treasure trove of IP rights in the entire market.

The Embracer Group is fast becoming a megaton force in creative power. The company currently has access to a whopping 816 intellectual properties with rights stretching across media like film, games, TV shows, and various tabletop/board games. This is an absolutely massive amount of properties to choose from, including heavy-hitters like The Lord of the Rings, Tomb Raider, Deus Ex, Borderlands, Saints Row...and some surprising IPs like Hellboy, Timecop, and The Umbrella Academy.

In a recent shareholders presentation, Embracer Group CEO Lars Wingefors showed an interesting slide with a bunch of IPs listed on it. Wingefors was mentioning transmedia content, which is also interesting because some of this content hasn't ever been adapted into games.

Analyst firm Newzoo estimates the global video games industry will generate $196.8 billion in total revenues throughout 2022, including platforms like consoles, PC, and mobile devices.

Driven by strong software sales, billion-dollar monetization across all platforms, and new continuing subscription adoption, gaming is getting even closer to the $200 billion revenues mark. According to Newzoo's latest global games market report, the industry is set to make $196.8 billion throughout the year, up 2.1% year-over-year from 2021.

Mobile is on track to make up 52% of total worldwide earnings with $103.5 billion. Console gaming is down 2.2% from 2021 due to supply chain issues, however Sony is preparing to ship 18 million PlayStation 5 consoles from March 2022 - March 2023.

E3 2023 is coming back as an in-person event, but the entire show won't be accessible for everyone.

Today the Entertainment Software Association announced that iconic trade show E3 is making its triumphant return as an in-person event, and will be held at the Los Angeles Convention Center as per tradition.

E3 2023 will be held from June 13 - 15, but will be split between two different types of access and one of them will be closed to the public. The industry hall, which includes developers, publishers, games media, and distributors, will be closed to the general public. The gamers section, which will be open to the public from June 15-16, is a free-for-all of game demos, promotions, and exhibitors.

Take-Two Interactive may have allocated a max budget of $2 billion for Grand Theft Auto 6.

According to newly published DMs with the infamous GTA 6 hacker, the upcoming Grand Theft Auto game could be the most expensive title in the series. The leaker, colloquially known as "teapotuberhacker," was reportedly in discussions with other hackers regarding the stolen Rockstar Games data. Throughout the DMs, the hacker claims that Rockstar has spent $2.5 billion on GTA 6 so far--a number which has since been amended.

This is an incredibly high budget for any entertainment property, and would make Grand Theft Auto 6 the most expensive video game ever made. The information is incredibly shaky, however, and shouldn't be taken as 100% fact.

Cyberpunk 2077 has a runners high and is sprinting through Steam's top-selling and top-played charts.

CD Projekt RED is currently reaping the benefits of an underdog comeback story. CDPR successfully executed a one-two punch; the first punch, a massive wave of patches, updates, and a PS5/Xbox Series X/S re-release, took nearly 2 years of training to pull off. The second punch was effective use of transmedia, more specifically the new sci-fi Edgerunners anime series on Netflix. CD Projekt fixed the game so that it would be ready when millions of people saw Edgerunners and wanted to explore the Cyberpunk 2077 universe.

The bet paid off. Cyberpunk 2077 has broken into Steam's top charts, and was briefly the #1 top-selling game on the platform today. At the time of writing, Cyberpunk 2077 is the third best-selling game on Steam, second to Modern Warfare 2 and Slime Rancher.

Our suspicions have been confirmed: Sony's new CFI-1202 line of PlayStation 5 console revisions use a new 6nm SoC.

Sony's new PlayStation 5 SoC has been upgraded to a new 6nm APU codenamed Oberon Plus. According to Angstronomics, the PS5's SoC has been shrunk from 300mm2 to 260mm2, representing a 15% decrease. This isn't a surprise: We've been hearing about the PS5 moving to 6nm since 2021.

The new 6nm APU is built on TSMC's N6 node, which offers production advantages including better yields and faster time-to-market. In short, Sony can make more PS5 chips faster than before and reduce any defects. The move to N6 also theoretically reduces costs because TSMC can produce more chips at a similar price factor. The move to N6 will help Sony meet its ambitious 18 million PlayStation 5 shipment and move more consoles throughout global markets.

mThe next mainline Resident Evil game will not feature the Winters family--Capcom says the saga has been completed and they're ready to move on.

After two big AAA games filled with trauma, excitement, and total horror chaos, the saga of Ethan, Mia, and Rose Winters has officially been concluded. The family's monster-mash storyline will end with the new Shadow's Rose story DLC expansion for Resident Evil Village on October 27, Capcom has announced.

Capcom told IGN that it is "creating the Shadows of Rose story to conclude the Winters family saga."

Certain Affinity reveals new tidbits on Halo Infinite's new mysterious Tatanka game mode, which is rumored to be Halo's very own unique answer to the battle royale genre.

In a recent interview with VentureBeat, Certain Affinity studio boss Max Hoberman outlines a few new details about Halo Infinite's upcoming Tatanka gametype. There's no confirmation on whether or not it's a BR, or when it will release, but Hoberman does acknowledge a few interesting things.

"The biggest thing we're doing that's public right now...For more than two years now we've been working on Halo Infinite," Hoberman said.

Sources close to Twitch have told Bloomberg that the billion-dollar streaming company is more focused on profits than it is on creators.

Following 2021's reported earnings of $2.657billion in revenues, Twitch is universally enacting a 50/50 revenue split for all streamers. In 2023, Twitch's top streamers will go from a lucrative premium contract that gave them 70% of all revenues while Twitch kept 30% to an even-keeled 50/50 split. The announcement was controversial and caused uproar in Twitch's top echelon, especially streamers that employ workers to help run their brands--millionaire streamers have turned Twitch broadcasting into a business.

This latest business decision was made by management who reportedly cares more about numbers than they do about streamers. Twitch makes less than one half of a percent of Amazon's yearly revenues ($2.67 billion compared to $470 billion), and the service also runs on Amazon Web Services to boot. Sources have told Bloomberg that Twitch's top brass, which includes CEO Emmet Shear and President Dan Clancy, who made the wildly unpopular 50/50 split announcement, are targeting profits and product rather than creators.

Cyberpunk 2077 continues gaining strong momentum following the release of Edgerunners on PC.

Cyberpunk 2077 is now CD Projekt RED's most popular game in terms of concurrent players on PC. While The Witcher 3 still holds the top spot for game copies sold (The Witcher 3 has sold 40 million versus Cyberpunk 2077's 18 million), more people are playing the sci-fi shooter on PC right now than they ever have in The Witcher 3.

At the time of writing, Cyberpunk 2077 had over 114,000 concurrent players on Steam in the last 24-hours, beating The Witcher 3's all-time concurrent player peak of 103,329 by some 11,647 users. In short, Cyberpunk 2077 had more players in the last 24 hours on Steam than The Witcher 3 ever has.

The graphics and effects aren't the only thing that's getting upgraded with the new Splinter Cell remake--Ubisoft has said it will update the game with a new modernized story.

Ubisoft is completely remaking the original Splinter Cell in Avalanche's powerful Snowdrop engine, complete with next-gen effects, lighting, and graphics. The game's subject matter and story are also getting a revamp to reflect a contemporary timeline; the world has changed quite a bit since the original game's release on the original Xbox, and Ubisoft wants to capture the technological and sociological evolutions in the new remake.

In a new job listing for a Splinter Cell remake scriptwriter, Ubisoft confirms its teams are "rewriting and updating the story" to make it fit in today's high-tech world.

A 17 year-old teenager has been arrested for alleged involvement in the recent Rockstar Games server hack and subsequent GTA 6 leak.

The perpetrator of the damaging GTA 6 leaks may have been apprehended by London police. Today the City of London Police announced that they had arrested a 17-year-old Oxfordshire teen on suspected hacking.

"On the evening of Thursday 22 September 2022, the City of London Police arrested a 17-year-old in Oxfordshire on suspicion of hacking, as part of an investigation supported by the National Crime Agency's National Cyber Crime Unit (NCCU)."

United States House of Representatives Congressman Matt Gaetz (R, FL) is joining Twitch to promote his America First message to younger audiences.

Just yesterday Twitch announced that it would not enact a 70-30 revenue sharing split and would in fact reduce revenue splits to just 50-50. This new policy was massively controversial and has sent shockwaves through the billion-dollar streaming industry. Twitch's image fell even farther following a revealing Twitch expose from Bloomberg's Cecilia D'Anastasio.

Now Twitch is facing more pressure from audiences, fans, and social media followers as controversial Florida Republican Matt Gaetz has announced he will start streaming political messaging on his own Twitch channel.

Cyberpunk 2077 is back in the limelight for very good reasons this time.

Following a disastrous launch that tanked company share prices, CD Projekt has radically turned around Cyberpunk 2077 on all platforms. The studio has invested tremendous revenues into correcting the game's issues with a ton of patches, including a next-gen re-release. While gamers haven't entirely forgotten about Cyberpunk 2077's launch woes, they certainly are willing to buy and return to the game.

According to CD Projekt, Cyberpunk 2077 has surged in popularity on consoles and PC. Over 1 million people have played Cyberpunk 2077 every day this week thanks in no small part to the new Edgerunners anime. This trend clearly validates CD Projekt's transmedia focus which stretches its key IPs and licensed franchises into merchandise and TV shows, including Edgerunners and the Witcher Netflix series.

Former PlayStation boss Shawn Layden has announced he has joined Tencent Games as a strategic advisor.

With over $30 billion from gaming, Tencent is the world's largest video games company and the Chinese is only getting bigger with continued multi-studio investments. To help lead Tencent's evolution past live services and more into infrastructure and high-profile games, Shawn Layden, who helped Sony earn mega-billions during the PlayStation 4 era, has joined Tencent as a strategic advisor.

"Looks like LinkedIn leapt the species wall and the news is here. Nevertheless, quick update to say I've joined Tencent as a strategic advisor and am excited to be working with them as interactive entertainment drives technology and innovation," Layden said on Twitter.