Gaming - Page 365

What if Alien Isolation merged with horror film V/H/S with a splash of found-footage Backrooms weirdness? Then you'd have Routine, a sci-fi thriller announced many years ago.

Remember Routine? You probably don't. It was a sci-horror game originally revealed in 2012 and set for a release in 2017, but it disappeared for years. Now it's back, and it looks better than ever. The game has been re-announced for PC, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, and Game Pass.

Sadly there's no release date. Lunar Software, the smaller indie dev working on Routine, says it "won't make the mistake of sharing a release date until we're entirely confident we can hit it." The studio says that the 10-year hiatus was due to financial struggles, but teaming up with Raw Fury has resurrected the Routine project.

Naughty Dog reveals new info about its upcoming The Last of Us multiplayer game, and confirms it's "in some ways bigger" than its massive singleplayer games.

The new Last of Us standalone live multiplayer game is "something special" and will help lead Sony's new push into service games. Naughty Dog has hyped up the new Last of Us multiplayer game, saying that it's an incredibly ambitious and massive story-driven live title. The game won't be done any time soon, though.

"One of the things we mentioned a while back was we started making a multiplayer mode, and it was something different that we've really never done before at Naughty Dog. We felt the way to do it justice was to make a standalone title. And working on it over the past 2 years the ambition has grown, and we're not quite ready to fully unveil it, but we'll give an update of where we're at," Naughty Dog co-president Neil Druckmann said during the Summer Game Fest stream.

UPDATE: Sony has officially announced The Last of Us Remake for PS5 and PC.

"We wanted to give people the definitive version of the original game that wasn't encumbered by technology, and we achieved that on PS5 and PC," Naughty Dog's Neil Druckmann said. The game will run at 60FPS on PS5.

Sony has accidentally leaked one of its biggest PlayStation 5 games and spoiled the surprise for everyone.

Activision, a company that made a record $8.8 billion in revenues last year, is charging $70 for Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 on PC and last-gen consoles.

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 is coming back to Steam with a hefty price tag. First Square Enix charged $69.99 for Forspoken, now Activision-Blizzard is doing the same with Modern Warfare 2. The sequel is priced at gaming's new $69.99 standard price tag that was first set by Take-Two Interactive and Activision in 2020 on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. Now the trend is catching on PC, too.

What's even more interesting is that there's no $59.99 SKU for Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2. There is no base PS4 or Xbox One SKU available in stores--instead, Activision is exclusively offering a $69.99 cross-gen bundle on PS4 that includes a PS5 version of the game as well. So gamers with a PS4 have to pay extra for a PS5 version of the game even if they don't own a PS5.

Modern Warfare 2 will introduce a new standalone Warzone BR that completely resets all progress from Warzone 2020.

Warzone 2.0 is coming later this year as a separate game, complete with its own progression system and content. Infinity Ward has confirmed that the new Warzone 2.0 will basically reboot the battle royale and that original content, unlocks, and progression from Warzone 1.0 will not carry over.

The reason for this is Warzone 2.0's massive technical overhaul. Infinity Ward and Activision have unified the engines that power both Call of Duty's mainline game and Warzone together. The Call of Duty franchise will be using a new next-gen games engine starting with Modern Warfare 2 and Warzone 2.0. Upgrades include higher resolution textures, optimization upgrades, and more.

Microsoft reiterates a major new feature coming to Xbox Game Pass subscribers that will make it even harder for Sony's PlayStation plus to compete.

The console wars have transformed into the service wars; Microsoft has won the service market with its ultra-valuable Game Pass subscription, but Sony is swooping in with its new 3-tiered PlayStation Plus. Each service has its own strengths and weaknesses. Game Pass includes day-one first-party games, and PlayStation Plus boasts a mighty 740 game library across six console generations.

Today Xbox Game Pass packed on some more muscle. Microsoft announced that Xbox games that subscribers already own will soon be available for cloud streaming. "We're excited to share that later this year, it's our intent to roll out the ability for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members to play, from the cloud, select games they already own or have purchased outside the Xbox Game Pass library," Microsoft wrote on the Xbox Wire.

Xbox Game Pass is coming to Samsung TVs via a native app, transforming new Samsung-branded TVs into Xbox consoles via game streaming.

Starting June 30, owners of Samsung's new 2022 smart TVs will be able to stream Xbox Game Pass games directly to their TVs. The Xbox Game Pass Ultimate application will be available in the Samsung Gaming Hub across models like the Neo QLED 8K, Neo QLED 4K, QLED and 2022 Smart Monitor Series displays. Users can connect an Xbox or other controller to their TVs via Bluetooth to jump right into the games.

Microsoft currently has 372 games available for cloud streaming including a multitude of heavy-hitting first-party and third-party titles across four generations of Xbox consoles.

New Call of Duty franchise sales figures reveal that Activision has sold more than 25 million CoD games in one year.

Call of Duty is still the third-best selling video game franchise on the planet behind Super Mario (680 million) and Tetris (495 million), but soon it could be #2. According to the latest figures provided by Activision, the Call of Duty franchise has sold over 425 million copies of games to date. The last figure Activision had shared was 420 million back in April 2021, which means the company sold 25 million+ games in little over a year.

While 2021's Call of Duty Vanguard is included in the number, last year's release doesn't make up all the game sales. Call of Duty titles are periodically on discount throughout the year, especially evergreen titles released on older platforms. The sales range from older games released on Xbox 360 all the way to more modern titles like 2019's Modern Warfare and 2020's breakout hit Black Ops Cold War.

The Call of Duty franchise has made $30 billion from game sales and microtransactions from 2003 to present, Activision has confirmed.

Today Activision and Infinity Ward announced Modern Warfare 2 features, content, and launch info. The publisher expects Modern Warfare 2 to deliver high sales and reinvigorate the franchise after Vanguard's flop. But how badly did the game underperform?

Nestled in a promo interview with The Washington Post is confirmation of franchise revenues. Call of Duty has made $30 billion to date, WaPo reports. The last figure was $27 billion as of December 31, 2020. This means the Call of Duty franchise made more than $3 billion from all of 2021, which includes Vanguard's launch, and half of 2022. These are lower figures considering Call of Duty made an incredible $3 billion in 2020 alone thanks to Black Ops Cold War's high sales, COD Mobile revenues, Warzone's strong monetization, and the launch of the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S helping spark game purchases.

Saudi Arabian prince Mohammed bin Salman has invested $1 billion into Embracer Group's video games business.

Savvy Gaming, which is run by the Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, just purchased a $1 billion worth of Embracer Group shares. The PIF purchased over 99 million class B shares and Savvy Gaming Group is now a long-term shareholder. Embracer says it will use the proceeds to "continue executing its successful acquisition strategy."

Embracer Group is one of the largest and most diverse games companies on the market, with access to over 200 IPs and franchises and a multitude of developers, projects, and media platforms including board games and video distribution. The Saudi PIF has billion-dollar investments in major games companies including Capcom, Take-Two Interactive, and Nexon. It recently purchased $3 billion worth of Nintendo shares.

Twitch streamer Quin69 spent 3,229 NZD ($2,000 USD) during a 13-hour live stream of Diablo Immortal and didn't get a single 5-star legendary gem.

Diablo Immortal isn't just a name. Evil never dies and it looks like you have to be immortal to find 5-star legendary gems in this game. Our legendary gem drop rate calculations show that gamers have a 1 in 2000 chance of finding a five-star legendary gem. The odds are against you, and the house (of the devil) always wins.

Case in point: Twitch streamer Quin69 just held a massive 13-hour live stream hunting legendary gems in Diablo Immortal. The stream is titled NON-STOP $25 RIFTS UNTIL I GET ONE 5/5 GEM OR GO BANKRUPT IRL. After spending o13 hours and $2,000 USD on legendary crests, Quin69 still hasn't found a single 5-star gem.

Fortnite could transform into a fully-fledged battle royale FPS soon and take on Apex Legends and Call of Duty Warzone.

Known insider and Fortnite news reporter HYPEX says that Epic Games is currently experimenting more with a first-person camera view in Fortnite, possibly in the next season. Fans have been clamoring for some sort of FPS mode for a while now, and this new first-person view could be a great fit for Fortnite's newer Zero Build mode.

If first-person is added, it's likely that Epic will allow gamers to switch between third-person and first-person in specific gametypes. Going first-person would impact cosmetics quite a bit and gamers wouldn't be able to see the outfits they spent money on. At the same time, it's possible Epic could be working on an FPS-only mode with special cosmetics and weapon trinkets.

Intellivision gives an update on its Amico console...and things aren't looking good.

Things don't seem to be going well for Intellivision's business, and its iffy Amico console sounds like more of a risky bet. Intellivision recently emailed investors with an update on the Amico's progress and said it hopes to start shipping consoles sometime in 2022, but production and shipments could be delayed due to higher costs and market uncertainties. Initial shipments will be focused mainly on fulfilling pre-orders.

The company also says that it has fired a significant portion of its staff to help lower its operating costs. For reference, Intellivision reported an operating loss of $3.2 million in 2021. Amico refunds may be affected by the staff reduction and Intellivision warns of refund delays, but the company intends to fully honor any refunds...eventually.

Apple has unveiled its new MetalFX upscaling technology, entering the realm of upscaling technologies alongside NVIDIA's Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS), AMD's FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR), and Intel's Xe Super Sampling (XeSS).

Apple's new MetalFX upscaling technology has support for temporal anti-aliased upscaling (DLSS, FSR 2.0, and XeSS) as well as spatial upscaling (FSR 1.0). Senior Director of GPU Software Jeremy Sandmel announced during Apple WWDC 2022 that No Man's Sky would be one of the first with MetalFX, dropping onto the iPad and Mac later this year.

Resident Evil Village is launching on the Mac later this year, with Masaru Ijuin, manager of Capcom's Advanced Technical Research Division, adding: "It's with great pleasure that we're bringing our latest Resident Evil installment to Apple's amazing Mac lineup, powered by Apple silicon. With its incredible performance, now the Mac with Apple silicon is a great platform for games. And with our support for new Metal 3, our game screams on Apple Silicon from the MacBook Air to the blazing-fast Mac Studio".

Bend Studio, the developers behind Syphon Filter and the more recent PS4 game Days Gone, is developing a new multiplayer PlayStation game.

Today Bend Studio reinvented itself. Starting with a new logo, the studio outlined its decades-long history in gaming from Syphon Filter to Uncharted and Days Gone, and gave us clues on what's next on the horizon.

"We are currently working on a new IP that includes multiplayer and builds upon the open-world systems of Days Gone, but brings you a whole new world that we are extremely excited to craft for you. We cannot wait to reveal it to you when the time is right," Bend Studio's Kevin McAllister said.

SEGA developers describe the new Sonic Frontiers game as "open zone," not open world, while also confirming EXP progression systems and skill trees.

At first, Sonic Frontiers looks like the Blue Blur's very own Breath of the Wild moment. But developers are saying that's not quite right. The new ambitious Sonic Frontiers game is described as open zone. This makes sense: Sonic's in-game areas have always been zones ever since the original Genesis game.

So why is a zone and not an open world? It comes down to semantics. Sonic Frontiers is mainly an action game, not an RPG. "Open world games like Zelda or other AAA games fundamentally have RPG or adventure worlds. For Sonic, the core here is a 3D action game. Our basic idea was to have that take place in an open space. What sets Sonic Frontiers apart is this different approach to an open game world," Sonic Team creative officer Takashi Iizuka told IGN.

Halo Infinite's online co-op testing will begin next month and carry on throughout the year, 343 Industries says.

343i plans to start Halo Infinite's online network campaign co-op flighting as early as July across Xbox One, PC, and Xbox Series X/S consoles. Co-op was expected to ship with season 2's launch in May, but was delayed indefinitely due to technical complications. Co-op is planned to launch sometime in Season 2 Lone Wolves, which lasts from now until November 8.

"With Halo Infinite campaign network co-op arriving later this year, we're planning to flight it to Halo Insiders in July," 343i said in a Facebook post.

How difficult is it to find legendary gems in Diablo Immortal? Pretty tough. Here are the drop rates for legendary gems, and how much you may have to pay to get them.

Diablo Immortal's microtransactions are causing lots of controversy among core fans and newcomers alike. The endgame has been exposed as an incredibly layered pay-to-win style system wherein players are strongly pushed towards buying Legendary Crests for real money in order to find high-powered gems that can boost items and equipment. While not entirely necessary for PVE, winning PVP battles is largely determined by the extra buffs provided by these specific gems.

The legendary gems are exceedingly rare and come in multiple grades, ranging from 1-star to 5-star. Gamers have compiled a list of drop rate probabilities for each grade, and we've put that into a simple table for convenience.

E3 will return in 2023, the ESA has promised.

E3 isn't dead after all. The Entertainment Software Association confirms the industry's most renown trade show will return in 2023 with bot a digital and in-person event. E3 skipped 2022 and led many publishers like EA and Ubisoft to also skip Summer-themed showcases. 2022 has continued COVID-19 disruptions, watering down hype. The not-E3 vacuum has been filled by Geoff Keighley's Summer Game Fest, and mainstays like Microsoft are promising its annual Xbox event, but there's an air of caution as this era of delays becomes more realized.

"We're excited about coming back in 2023 with both a digital and an in-person event," ESA president and CEO Stan Pierre-Louis told The Washington Post in an interview. "As much as we love these digital events, and as much as they reach people and we want that global reach, we also know that there's a really strong desire for people to convene - to be able to connect in person and see each other and talk about what makes games great."

Hideo Kojima's next game is reportedly a horror project called Overdose, sources have told Tom Henderson.

Several years after P.T. and the cancellation of Silent Hills, it looks like Kojima's next game has returned to horror. Sources have reportedly send known leaker Tom Henderson footage of Kojima's upcoming terror-filled project, which is codenamed Overdose. The footage was brief but spoke volumes; it reportedly showed Margaret Qualley, who portrayed Mama in Death Stranding, as a lead character in a blue dress.

If accurate, Overdose will have a cinematic look and feel similar to Death Stranding, featuring high-end motion captures. Kojima has been working with Kojima Productions' new LA-based studio, which is also using Sony's advanced motion capture technology. Kojima has said his new game would be a "radical project" that pushes a "new era of experimentation" and "challenge different mediums".