Gaming - Page 381

Bloober Team is currently developing four new projects, and the dev expects two of them to be ready in the next 3-4 years.

While scanning Bloober Team's recent annual report I noticed an interesting section that revealed how many games the team is working on. The studio currently has four projects in development across a variety of publishers and partners. The biggest is the mysterious game for Konami, which is almost assuredly a Silent Hill project.

The Polish independent developer just posted record earnings in 2021 thanks to the success of The Medium, which has become one of its most lucrative IPs. The company expects to push these earnings even higher throughout 2022 and wants to release two big new games by 2025.

Max Payne 1 & 2 are getting reborn for the modern age.

Originally released in the PS2 and Xbox eras, Remedy's stylish and gritty Max Payne originals are getting the remastered treatment. Remedy today announced they are teaming up with Rockstar Games to remaster Max Payne 1 & 2 in the powerful Northlight engine for next-gen consoles like the PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and on PC.

Grand Theft Auto juggernaut Rockstar Games will publish and finance the remasters, which will be released as a single-game bundle. Remedy could also make royalties from game sales once Rockstar has been paid back. The budget for the project will be typical of Remedy's games (Control was made for $33 million).

Sony has nuked the $59.99 PlayStation Now deal as gamers stack up subscriptions to save on the new $119 PlayStation Plus Premium tier.

With the help of deal maven Wario64, gamers discovered a great loophole that discounted the new PS Plus Premium by 50%. The deal offered 1 year of PlayStation Now for $59.99. Sony previously confirmed that PS Now subs would transfer directly over to its new $119 PlayStation Plus Premium tier that offers access to 740 games across six PlayStation generations. Gamers were buying multiple years' worth of PS Now in the hope that Sony would convert their subscriptions into PS Plus Premium at a 1:1 ratio.

Apparently this was a mistake and Sony has taken the deal offline. Navigating to the web page now delivers an Access Denied message:

Decentralized digital commodities like crypto and NFTs are quite volatile thanks to fluctuating values, shifting regulations, and security issues. Ubisoft has now effectively reminded the games industry as a whole just how unpredictable NFTs can be.

Ubisoft today announced that Ghost Recon Breakpoint is entering maintenance mode. Breakpoint will no longer get DLC or expansions and servers will remain online so the game can be played and monetized. Breakpoint was the first game to use Ubisoft's failed Quartz NFTs which are effectively in-game cosmetics that can be re-sold.

We've talked about how Ubisoft's NFTs are marginally bad for business; NFTs thrive off of scarcity and Ubisoft flooded the market, resulting in less than $3,000 in crypto resale value. That's 0.001% of Ubisoft's microtransaction earnings for Q3 2021.

Epic Games says that nearly half of all upcoming next-gen console games are using Unreal Engine technology.

The games industry typically uses two primary third-party game engines: Unity and Unreal Engine. Today's big Unreal Engine 5 showcase highlighted just how popular Epic's tools are for upcoming games on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S. According to Epic's Tim Sweeney, about 48% of all upcoming announced console games are using Unreal.

"Among game developers, 48% of announced next-generation console titles are powered by Unreal," Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney said.

Epic Games just released Unreal Engine 5 to developers and also shipped out a starter multiplayer game that's quite a bit like Mass Effect without powers.

Alongside UE5, Epic Games is shipping out starter game projects. One of them, a futuristic third-person shooter called Lyra, is pretty interesting. Lyra is basically a shell or framework for a game and isn't necessarily a finished product. Devs are to take Lyra and transform it into something of their own, but at its core the game looks very similar to the third-person multiplayer modes found in Mass Effect 3 and Mass Effect Andromeda (without the awesome abilities, of course).

The recent Unreal Engine showcase highlighted how easy it was for developers to start up Lyra and make direct changes in real-time in UE5, utilizing effects like the direct import feature from other libraries like Artstation and Quixel Megascans as well as a showcase of the new advanced lumen lighting tech.

It's expected that developer Battlestate Games will unleash NVIDIA DLSS technology into its new update for Escape from Tarkov, which could drop this week.

Escape from Tarkov is a super-hard game on your PC as it is, so any performance help is very, very welcomed. NVIDIA's kick-ass DLSS (Deep Learning Super Sampling) technology will offer its multiple upscaling modes in Escape from Tarkov: Quality, Balanced, and Performance.

The news is coming directly from Battlestate Games CEO Nikita Buyanov, who said in a recent podcast that NVIDIA DLSS support would be dropping in Escape from Tarkov sometime this week, and that it has passed the testing phases required for it to go live into the game.

Epic Games has unleashed Unreal Engine 5 into the world, where you can now download it from the Epic Games Launcher (20GB download). It was released during the State of Unreal 2022 event, where the developer displayed a list of game developers working on games powered by Unreal Engine 5.

During the State of Unreal 2022 live stream, developer Epic Games posted up a picture of a list of game developers that are working on games powered by Unreal Engine 5. The list includes developers like CD PROJEKT RED, Xbox, PlayStation (and PSVR 2), Ninja Theory, Tencent Games, Obsidian Entertainment, The Initiative, Codemasters, Remedy, Bloober, Splash Damage, Gearbox, and so many more.

Tomb Raider developer Crystal Dynamics announced during the State of Unreal 2022 event that its new Tomb Raider game was being made with Unreal Engine 5, while it'll be awesome to see the fruits of the UE5 labor in Sony's next-gen PlayStation VR2 headset and UE5-powered VR games of the future.

Epic Games absolutely blew my mind when I turned my PlayStation 5 on one morning, and got to experience their Unreal Engine 5-powered The Matrix Awakens: An Unreal Engine 5 Experience... which is now available to download. Be warned: The Matrix Awakens UE5-powered "City Sample" is a huge 93GB download.

The Unreal Engine 5-powered "The City Sample" can be downloaded as a sample project, providing the city scene from The Matrix Awakens experience. You'll need to download Unreal Engine 5, which is a 20GB download on its own, and then The City Sample separately.

Epic Games explains: "The City Sample is a free downloadable sample project that reveals how the city scene from The Matrix Awakens: An Unreal Engine 5 Experience was built. The project-which consists of a complete city with buildings, vehicles, and crowds of MetaHuman characters-demonstrates how we used new and improved systems in Unreal Engine 5 to create the experience. In addition to the complete sample, the content is available in separate packs, so you can download just the vehicles, for example".

The new Tomb Raider game will be tapping next-gen Unreal Engine 5 technology, in an announcement from developer Crystal Dynamics.

Crystal Dynamics announced during the "State of Unreal 2022" event that the new Tomb Raider is being built with Unreal Engine 5. We don't know what the new Tomb Raider will be, whether it'll be a successor to Shadow of the Tomb Raider, or something new: but whatever it is, it'll be powered by Epic Games' Unreal Engine 5.

The two previous Tomb Raider games from Crystal Dynamics -- Rise of the Tomb Raider, and Shadow of the Tomb Raider -- used their in-house Foundation Engine. This marks another big developer shifting away from their in-house engine, and into the warm arms of Epic Games and its new Unreal Engine 5 technology. The Witcher developer CD PROJEKT RED recently announced that it is working on a new Witcher game using Unreal Engine 5.

Horror game dev Bloober Team nearly tripled its revenues throughout 2021 thanks to the success of The Medium.

According to latest filings, Polish studio Bloober Team has reported record revenues and profits for 2021. The company made 74.832 million PLN ($18.326 million) in revenues throughout last year, driven by its wide slate of titles including The Medium, Layers of Fear VR, Layers of Fear 2 Switch port, and the recent Observer System Redux remaster.

Bloober Team also made a record for profits in 2021 with 21.783 million PLN ($5.334 million) generated for the period. The studio is currently working on a handful of projects including the next Layers of Fear game. Chinese juggernaut Tencent also purchased a 22% stake in Bloober Team last year.

Halo developer 343 Industries says it does not have plans to add a battle royale mode into Halo Master Chief Collection, but new content is coming soon.

Halo Infinite needs some new modes. Fans are starting to agree that Dr. Disrespect might've been right when he said Infinite should have a BR mode: "The people saying Halo doesn't need a battle royale said Battlefield didn't need one. Now look at where that game is. You have to have one." But what about Halo MCC?

343i has said on three separate occasions that Halo Infinite isn't getting battle royale. Now 343i's communication director Brian Jarrard says the Master Chief Collection won't get it either.

Here's DOOM like you never thought possible back in the 90s when id Software exploded onto the scene with its game-changing first-person shooter... now with ray traving:

A modder who has also added ray-tracing through path tracing into games like Half-Life and Serious Sam: The First Encounter, has now injected ray tracing into the original DOOM and the results are surprising. It looks fantastic next to the original DOOM, giving it a totally new vibe while remaining the same DOOM we all know and love.

The side-by-side comparison is great, as it makes the ray-traced version of DOOM stand out from the original. We've already seen similar, with Quak II RTX released onto Steam and is fully ray-traced, including the 3 levels from the original shareware version of the game. But DOOM with ray tracing on its own is still impressive, as it doesn't have a team of developers behind it. Makes me want to go back through and replay DOOM with ray tracing enabled.https://github.com/sultim-t/prboom-plus-rt/releases

A new Halo Waypoint blog post makes it clear that fans will be waiting quite some time for more Halo Infinite updates and news.

343i has been as transparent as possible regarding new Halo Infinite content. The studio announced that season 2 Lone Wolves is coming on May 3. Lone Wolves brings two new maps--Catalyst for arena and Breaker for BTB--and a handful of classic modes like multi-team and king of the hill are returning. Online campaign co-op has been delayed to "later in season 2". Other than those details, 343i doesn't have a whole lot of concrete info to share.

The latest Halo Waypoint post did two things: First, it relayed all the lessons 343i has learned from season 1 and the content coming in season 2. Secondly, the post pretty much told fans to get used to waiting.

Sony is currently selling a 1-year PlayStation Now subscription for $59.99 that will convert into its new higher-priced PS Plus Premium sub.

Sony is combining PS Now and PS Plus subscriptions together in a new 3-tiered model. Existing PS Now subscribers will carry over to the most expensive tier, PlayStation Plus Premium, which offers 740 games across six console generations.

Deal wizard Wario64 found an impressive deal that could save PlayStation gamers some serious cash. Right now Sony is selling 12-month PS Now memberships for $59.99 that will convert into PlayStation Plus Premium subscription that retails for $119 a year.

E3 2022's all-digital event has been scrapped, and the ESA has sent out internal emails to business partners relaying the news.

While the E3 website says "see you next year" in reference to E3 2022, memos sent out to exhibitors tell a different story. According to info from Razer PR rep Will Powers, E3 2022's all-digital event have been cancelled and the show will skip 2022.

Then an ESA rep told IGN that it E3 will return for 2023 with an all-new format.

Capcom is giving all of its employees a big 30% pay raise as an incentive for retention and recruitment as it aims for its ninth consecutive year of operating earnings growth.

Today Capcom announced that it is increasing base pay for all of its employees. The move follows reorganization of its HR department, which could lead to layoffs and consolidation across the unit. "In order to sustainably strengthen its development and technological capabilities to create the world's finest, high-quality games, Capcom will reorganize its Human Resources around four departmental operations."

As for the pay raise, Capcom plans to increase employee salaries starting today, March 31. "Beginning with the 2022 fiscal year, Capcom will partially revise its compensation system. This will consist of an average base salary increase of 30% (includes the portion for pay raises) and the introduction of a bonus system more closely linked to the company's business performance."

Chinese gaming giant NetEase will reportedly buy Quantic Dream, the developer behind celebrated cinematic games like Beyond Two Souls and Detroit: Become Human.

NetEase is making a big move to buy Quantic Dream, sources have told Tom Henderson. NetEase had purchased a minority stake in Quantic Dream back in 2019 and the acquisition would solidify the company's focus on non-domestic investments; NetEase also gave Bungie $100 million to fund its "bold new vision" in 2018.

Quantic Dream is currently developing three new games: Star Wars Eclipse, a new mobile game, and another mystery project.

Sony recently combined PS Now with PS Plus and announced three new subscription tiers with different prices. One of these subscriptions isn't worth paying the annual rates for.

Sony's new PlayStation Plus tiers are strategically priced to push consumers towards the more expensive 12-month membership options. Sony is offering significant discounts for annual plans of its three new PS Plus tiers, which include Essential, Extra, and Premium (for example, paying month-to-month rates for a year's worth of the Essential membership is double the upfront cost of an annual subscription).

Based on our analysis, the Extra tier isn't worth buying for $100 a year due to the overwhelming added value from the yearly Premium tier option. The Extra tier is essentially the base PlayStation Plus with access to 400 downloadable PS4 and PS5 games.

Sony has confirmed that not every game will stay on the PlayStation Plus Collection.

Back in 2020, Sony released the PS Plus Collection to hit two birds with one stone. The first goal was to give new PS5 owners a bunch of PS4 games to play. The second objective was to help spark PlayStation Plus subscriber retention.

The promotion has apparently worked well, and in tandem with the PS5's release, PS Plus Collection was part of a big PS Plus subscriber push to 47.4 million in Q3 2020, up from 45.9 million in Q2. Retention took a dip in Q1 2021 as PS Plus subscribers fell to 46.3 million, then bounced back to 47.2 million in Q2 before finally settling at a record 48 million in Q3 2021.