Gaming - Page 351

Bethesda Game Studios has a dedicated team that's responsible for placing in-game objects in all interior and exterior environments of every single RPG.

Bethesda's RPGs are known for their huge open worlds with interesting NPCs and memorable cities and environments. Many of these areas feel alive because of the various landmarks or in-game items that add a distinct lived-in feel; Fallout in particular makes creative use of environmental storytelling with towns like Megaton, a city built around a nuke that spawned an entire religion, and Diamond City, a city hub built out of Fenway Park.

It turns out that many of these areas, from landmark cities to random dungeons, are made possible by Bethesda's so-called "clutter group." This team is exactly what it sounds like: A dedicated group of devs who go into every single area of a game and clutter it with loot, gear, miscellaneous objects, models and characters that often tell unique side stories (like, for instance, the infamous Cat Lady in Fallout 4).

Nintendo has officially shut down its Dragalia Lost mobile game, and the company is more comfortable scrapping smartphone titles because the segment is not all that important for Nintendo.

After 4 years of service, Nintendo has determined that hosting Dragalia Lost is no longer worth it. The game, which was one of the only mobile titles that Nintendo had offered, is now offline. Dragalia Lost is estimated to have made about $100 million as of 2019, but the game's loss will not significantly impact Nintendo's earnings.

Now is a good time to remember that Nintendo is not reliant on mobile games to any real meaningful degree. Over the past 3 years, the company makes less than 5% of its revenues from mobile/smartphone games on a quarterly basis.

Today's Google Doodle is something that all gamers should check out to learn the origins of the early video games industry.

Before the days of next-gen consoles, 8K gaming with raytraced visuals, and always-connected multiplayer, there was a simpler time when arcades, wood grain, and pixellated graphics were all the rage. The early days of video games in the 1970s was an era that's hard to capture--it was something you had to be there to experience--and all too often today's gamers miss out on important history lessons from that early age.

Google has provided a neat little interactive history lesson that tells the story of one of gaming's most iconic creators: Jerry Lawson, who in 1976 helped create the world's first video games cartridge.

Discord has officially launched its Server Subscription program to all eligible creators in the United States.

Today Discord made history by offering new monetization options for creators in the form of Server Subscriptions. The new feature was in testing phases but is now widely available, and it's essentially a content delivery system that allows creators to monetize followers on their servers in the form of multi-tiered offerings. It's kind of like a combination of Patreon and Discord.

Creators have sole discretion in pricing and the content offered on each tier, which gives lots of flexibility and room to brainstorm new ideas. Discord has included a few examples from Bella Poarch below:

After monstrous sales on the Nintendo Switch, Capcom's behemoth-slaying mega-hit is coming to Xbox and PlayStation in 2023.

Monster Hunter Rise will launch on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S consoles simultaneously on January 20, 2023, Capcom has announced. The biggest surprise is that Monster Hunter Rise will also release day one on Xbox Game Pass, which doesn't typically happen. Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak is also coming to consoles in Spring 2023.

Capcom's sold 21.3 million games in the first six months of this fiscal year, and releasing Mon Hun Rise on Game Pass could affect game sales on the Xbox platform--but Rise also has microtransactions so this may help offset any potential loss in game sales. Capcom is also likely to get a nice royalty bonus for including the game on Game Pass as well, and there's a good chance the game will rotate out in 3-6 months. Plus, Sunbreak will not be included, as is customary for most Game Pass titles to not include expansions.

After 2 years of support, Assassin's Creed Valhalla is about to ride off into the sunset with its final content drop, and Ubisoft has teamed up with Bungie and Capcom to send the game off with a bang.

Destiny is no stranger to collabs--the game had a surprising Fortnite crossover this year--and now another epic crossover is happening with the Assassin's Creed franchise. Bungie and Ubisoft have announced both games will be getting AC and Destiny content in the form of buyable cosmetics.

Destiny 2 and Assassin's Creed players will be able to buy packs that include crossover content from each game. Assassin's Creed Valhalla will get some awesome armor sets that allow Eivor to transform into two of the most iconic Guardians in Destiny history, Lord Shaxx and Saint-14. The Valhalla pack includes 2 armor sets--Lord Shaxx and Saint-14--swords, a mount, and more weapons.

Valve will give away over 180 units of the hottest handhelds on the market in just a few days.

Valve has announced that it will give out a Steam Deck PC handheld every minute that The Game Awards is streamed. Last year's show was 3 hours and 30 minutes, and The Game Awards 2022 is expected to be "roughly three hours," which means that Valve should give out at least 180 Steam Deck systems.

To enter you just have to sign in to this link and then watch The Game Awards showcase live through the Steam platform.

Overwatch 2's upcoming Season 2 update isn't far away now, where Activision-Blizzard will be unleashing its new transforming tank hero "Ramattra" and so, so much more.

The new Season 2 update will also include a new map called Shambali Monastery, which is Tibetan-themed, as well as a new limited-time mode called Battle for Olympus, on top of a bunch of Greek mythology-themed cosmetics (of course, it's Blizzard, gotta make that dosh with skins).

The new tank in Ramattra is a powerhouse, with Ramattra being the first tank that can completely change forms as part of its kit, where it can alter its abilities and playstyle at any moment in the game. It'll be an interesting turn of events in Overwatch 2, which is already radically different -- as well as beautifully familiar -- to the original Overwatch.

NVIDIA has announced that Portal with RTX will be launching on December 8, acting as an upgraded remaster of the original Portal made by Valve. NVIDIA pushed the remastered Portal with RTX during its GeForce RTX 40 reveal event in September, and now it's nearly here.

Portal with RTX has NVIDIA's new Ada Lovelace GPU-powered DLSS 3 technology flowing through it, but if you don't have a GeForce RTX 4090 or GeForce RTX 4080 graphics card... don't worry, you've still got DLSS 2.0 to give you more image quality or frames per second, whichever you prefer.

You can expect a huge upgrade in visuals with Portal RTX featuring full ray tracing support and beefed up graphics for that beautiful 4K gaming experience, with NVIDIA recommending its GeForce RTX 4080 graphics card to achieve 4K 60FPS... and that's with DLSS 3 enabled. NVIDIA recommends an Intel Core i7-12700K or AMD Ryzen 9 5900 processor with 32GB of RAM, for 4K 60FPS for the Ultra preset on Portal with RTX.

Sony claims to know Microsoft's true motivations behind the Activision merger, and delivers a bizarre statement to UK regulators.

Sony is fighting the $68.7 billion Microsoft-Activision merger tooth and nail. The industry market leader has issued a 29-page response to the UK's Competition for Markets Authority that outlines Sony's major issues with the merger. Sony's arguments mostly align with what the CMA has already said, but some rather strange comments have sifted through.

One of the most audacious claims is that Microsoft apparently wants to make Sony more like Nintendo. This seems rather preposterous. Sony argues that by acquiring (and potentially withholding) key Activision franchises like Call of Duty that the PlayStation-maker would be implicitly downgraded and no longer be such a close competitor to the Xbox business. This plan, Sony says, is Microsoft's true strategy with the deal.

Merging with Microsoft could substantially disrupt Activision's revenues and/or profitability due to Xbox Game Pass integration.

Microsoft has been very clear on its motivations for wanting to buy Activision Blizzard King for $68.7 billion. The main rationale behind the deal is to bolster Xbox's billion-dollar digital empire through mobile gaming, substantial value boosts in Xbox Game Pass subscriptions, increased revenues from more service-based games and content, and substantially increased monetization potential through the publisher's incredibly popular franchises.

While the bulk of Activision Blizzard King relies heavily on monetization across a fleet of digital-based billion-dollar IPs like Candy Crush, Overwatch, and Warcraft, the Activision segment in particular is still quite reliant on full game sales driven primarily by its annualized Call of Duty franchise.

Sony tells regulators that Xbox Game Pass is "substantially leading" in the multi-game subscription space, indicates that its new higher-priced PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium subscriptions have yet to take off.

In a recent response letter to UK regulators, Sony makes a case against the Microsoft-Activision merger by indicating that Activision's billion-dollar franchises could represent a tipping point in the subscription market.

Sony says that Xbox Game Pass has a big lead over its new PlayStation Plus offering, revealing that total Xbox Game Pass subscribers are in the 29 million mark. Microsoft had previously said Xbox Game Pass had over 25 million subscribers at the end of June 2022.

Microsoft has made Sony a 10-year licensing deal to keep Activision-Blizzard games on PlayStation in an effort to help convince regulators to approve the massive $68.7 billion merger.

Sources tell Reuters that Microsoft is prepared to make pre-emptive concessions in the hopes of getting the Activision merger approved. While the Microsoft-Activision merger has been approved without limitations in Brazil, Saudi Arabia, and Serbia, regulators like the UK's Competition for Markets Authority, the United States' FTC, and the European Commission are heavily scrutinizing the multi-billion deal.

One of the biggest contention points is the fate of the $31 billion shooter franchise Call of Duty, as well as other lucrative Activision titles. Microsoft has publicly said that it intends to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation, and has recently backed up its pledge with a 10-year deal guaranteeing Sony access to Call of Duty on its PlayStation platform.

Activision-Blizzard games will not appear on any subscription services if the merger with Microsoft does not go through.

In a recent 111-page response letter to UK regulators, Microsoft reveals some rather interesting details about Activision's thoughts on subscriptions. According to Microsoft, who cites internal data and sworn testimony from executives, Activision has no plans to bring its big mainline games to a subscription service if the merger is not approved.

This is particularly interesting because of a pre-existing deal that Activision made with Sony. Some time ago Activision had signed a big multi-year marketing and licensing deal with Sony that offered exclusive content to PlayStation. Part of that contract stipulated that Activision could not release Call of Duty on Game Pass. According to Microsoft's recent statements to the CMA, Activision had no plans to release Call of Duty (or any of its big games) to Game Pass anyway.

Microsoft has suggested that Sony disrupt disrupt a business model that has delivered nearly 10 years of success in order to boost the value of PlayStation Plus.

Right now both Sony and Microsoft are going head-to-head with the Activision merger. Sony is arguing against the deal and says it will "threaten the gaming ecosystem," where as Microsoft argues the deal is great for consumers and competition. One of the main arguments is that Sony's PlayStation Plus will have a hard time competing should Activision games become offered exclusively to Game Pass and not available on PS Plus.

So what is Sony to do? Microsoft says that, at minimum, Sony could offer day-and-date releases of key first-party and third-party games on PlayStation Plus. In other words, Microsoft is advising Sony to essentially break the so-called "virtuous cycle" that has helped sustain the multi-billion dollar PlayStation empire.

Neither Sony nor Microsoft are willing to allow either company's competing services on their respective platforms.

Sony's latest response to the Microsoft-Activision merger reveals interesting new information. Sony tells UK regulatory body the CMA that Microsoft will not allow PlayStation Plus on Xbox, which presumably means the company tried to offer its subscription service on Microsoft's ecosystem.

Microsoft had likewise previously offered to bring Game Pass to Sony's platform, suggesting that PlayStation gamers could still access any content that would theoretically be Game Pass-exclusive and thereby circumventing one of the CMA's theories of harm arguments against the Microsoft-Activision merger.

Microsoft's recent comments about Grand Theft Auto 6's release date are based on rumors, not concrete information.

Microsoft recently made a 111-page response arguing why it should be allowed to merge with Activision. That document, which about as long as a novella by Stephen King, outlines a ton of information regarding the games industry, key metrics, and new releases. One of the games mentioned in Microsoft's response is a potential release year for Rockstar Games' massively anticipated GTA 6.

Microsoft's recent comments about Grand Theft Auto 6's release date are based on rumors, not concrete information.

If Microsoft is allowed to merge with Activision, then Xbox will become a "one stop shop" for shooter video games, Sony has told regulators.

Sony's latest response to the Microsoft-Activision merger has made some new arguments against the deal. Sony's core argument boldly claims the merger would threaten the games industry during a pivotal point, but more specific arguments include Microsoft acquiring a much larger share in the very lucrative shooter genre.

Sony has told the UK's Competition and Markets Authority that Microsoft would essentially hold too many popular FPS franchises following the Activision merger, including Call of Duty, which dominates the premium console shooter space with over $31 billion in revenues generated to date. Other franchises would include Overwatch, which certifiably became a billion-dollar series in 2017, joining other wholly-owned Xbox megahits like Halo.

Sony's latest response letter to UK regulators argues heavily against the Microsoft-Activision merger and uses very expressive language to describe multi-billion franchises like Call of Duty.

Before we delve any deeper, there's something I'd like to make clear in this article: This new document is not Sony's official response to the merger itself, but a direct response to the CMA's Issues Statement that was published on October 14. Sony's response was published on October 28 and is nearly 1 month old. It does not include recent developments or reflect recent statements made by Phil Spencer, e.g. the 10-year Call of Duty offer.

Sony's messaging has become much more specific and targeted in this brief. While Microsoft's tone with Call of Duty is now much more confident and adamantly against exclusivity, Sony's language makes it clear that the deal should not go through at all. There's some holes in Sony's arguments to be sure, and most of the document is re-asserting the CMA's position on the merger, but the platform-holder is making some stark and bold comments regarding the merger.

CD Projekt RED shows its peers how to do a real next-gen upgrade with The Witcher 3's impressively robust update.

New-gen game upgrades should be a lot more than simple visual upgrades--they should be more like The Witcher 3's upcoming re-release. CD Projekt RED has detailed the massive amount of added value that this upgrade brings to the core Witcher 3 experience, and many of the features actually help evolve and adapt the open-world RPG to a more modern day gaming market.

Apart from the significant visual upgrades on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S, which includes raytraced global illumination, optimized frame rates and FSR 2.0 / DLSS support, there's a bunch of great new additions that will improve gameplay.