Gaming - Page 384

Square Enix says PlatinumGames will not give up on Babylon's Fall...but that's probably because they legally can't.

Babylon's Fall isn't going anywhere. Despite incredibly poor metrics on Steam and even poorer review scores, Square Enix confirms the failed live service game will continue onward with new content. The publisher has sent out surveys in an attempt to glean feedback and understand how to fix the game, however it may go the way of Anthem eventually.

For the foreseeable future though Babylon's Fall is here to stay. Square Enix confirms that the publisher has "no plans to reduce the scale of development" on the game. Season 2's content is done, and work on season 3 has started. The rationale here might be less about continuing a failed live game and more about having to carry out a legally-binding contract that PlatinumGames signed with Square Enix.

Epic Games is donating 100% of all profits from Fortnite Vbucks virtual currency to Ukrainian relief, the company has announced.

Epic could very well make the games industry's largest contribution to humanitarian relief in Ukraine. The billion-dollar titan says it plans to donate all proceeds generated from Fortnite microtransactions in a two-week period (this is equal to revenues minus platform fees, taxes, refunds, etc).

"All real-money Fortnite purchases made between March 20, 2022 and April 3, 2022 will be distributed. This includes V-Buck packs, Fortnite Crew, gifted Battle Passes, and cosmetic packs such as the Voidlander Pack sold for real money. Retail store purchases of in-game cosmetics and V-Bucks cards will also be included if they are redeemed in-game during this window."

Today it's time to go back to a time when the Xbox 360 was brand new. It was a time when Bethesda convinced me to buy an entirely new video games console just to play Oblivion. That was sixteen years ago today, and the game is still just as impressive as ever.

Oblivion's release was a time of enchantment and magic. The game is pretty old today--old enough to legally drive that old Studebaker you bought it years ago as a starter car--but the RPG has aged like a fine wine.

The graphics aren't too shabby and still hold up even on the Xbox 360, with an extra injection of visuals on the Xbox Series X. The draw distances aren't so great though...

Humble Bundle's new Stand With Ukraine fundraiser includes 123 items worth $2,300 for the low cost of just $40.

The latest game bundle for Ukrainian relief is an incredible value. The Stand With Ukraine bundle packs one some amazing games for just $40, and Humble is donating proceeds to relief in the embattled region. The bundle has made over $6.2 million in just a matter of days.

Ubisoft is streamlining its game development tools for work-from-home environments.

Today Ubisoft announced Scalar, a new cloud-based technology that will help its dev teams adapt to the new norms of remote work. Scalar makes lots of promises about massive game worlds filled with tons of players and AI, but Scalar's most useful function is its virtual machine access and emphasis on seamless hotfixes for live games.

Scalar essentially aims to bring Ubisoft's video games engines to the cloud where developers have worldwide access to the tools they need to make games. The idea is similar to how SEGA plans to use Azure to connect developers to virtual machine networks that will not only host and power the games themselves, but also the tools required to make the games.

Yesterday, Elden Ring players made a discovery that some walls are actually breakable. All those notes weren't lying after all! But there's a catch.

It turns out that Elden Ring does have secret walls that can be destroyed if you hit them enough. Gamers have discovered that a certain wall in the Volcano Mansion area can break. There's no real reason to do this, though...you're not going to find any extra loot or an awesome chest of items. Instead the wall just leads to an area you've already been to.

This is a pretty big discovery though. Elden Ring is littered with player-made messages about hidden or secret walls. Were they right all along?

If Bungie had their way, Destiny 2 wouldn't have happened. But the sequel might've been necessary for the game to continue.

Destiny was always meant to be a singular game that evolved over time. Bungie didn't like the idea of a sequel (and they still don't). In a recent interview with Axios, Destiny 2 general manager Justin Truman says one game was always the plan and Destiny 3 isn't happening.

"We're trying to make Disneyland, right? And you don't build Disneyland 2. You update it and improve it and make it more modern."

343 Industries has confirmed that yes, Halo Infinite did ship with anti-cheat enabled.

Like Activision with Warzone's Ricochet tech, Halo Infinite also uses its own proprietary anti-cheat solution. It has a fitting name: Arbiter.

"The first point of clarification we'd like to provide is yes, Halo Infinite shipped with its own proprietary anti-cheat system which we call Arbiter," 343i wrote in a new blog post.

Final Fantasy maker Square Enix has donated multiple hundreds of thousands of dollars to Ukrainian relief, the company has announced.

Square Enix is the fourth major Japanese games company to contribute to Ukrainian relief, following Sony's mighty $2 million donation and The Pokemon Company's $250,000 donation, and SEGA.

"Square Enix Group has announced the donation of $500,000 to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in order to provide humanitarian aid to the Ukrainian people who are seeking refuge in neighboring regions," the company wrote in a statement.

The new Hogwarts Legacy RPG will make use of the PlayStation 5's graphical horsepower and bring a new level of realism and immersion to the Wizarding World.

Yesterday's State of Play revealed an incredibly in-depth look at the new Harry Potter RPG that's set for 2022. The game is called Hogwarts Legacy, and it looks to be the ultimate fan game--Avalanche, the studio that made the game, says this is what Potter fans have been waiting 20 years to play.

Hogwarts Legacy takes place in the 1800s and delves into a new all-original story that weaves history with a narrative that players unravel throughout their discoveries, and even delves deeper into areas that weren't explored throughout the books and films. Avalanche has taken this opportunity to "put their own spin" on the Harry Potter universe and lore while working closely with J.K. Rowling's estate to ensure accuracy (however Avalanche is adamant that Rowling had no part in writing the game's story).

EA's new darling Respawn Entertainment is doing some interesting and mysterious things behind closed doors, including working on multiple unannounced games in early stages of development.

We've actually known about Respawn's new IP for a while now. You know, the one that wants to "Pioneer new ways to enable adventuring until the heat death of the universe.". That sure sounds like a live game to me.

While scouting Respawn's current job openings I noticed that the studio is still hiring for this project (and a few others). The game is part of the incubation team that currently has 9 openings available across multiple disciplines, including the one that mentions the infamous galactic meltdown phrase.

Worldwide games giant Embracer Group is about to allocate the largest total donations to Ukraine relief in the entire games industry, beating out Sony's $2 million donation.

Embracer Group plans to donate at least $5 million to humanitarian aid in the region, the company has announced to shareholders. The company employs hundreds of employees in Ukraine who have been impacted by the ongoing devastating Russian invasion. Embracer says it is devoting monetary resources in helping families relocate safely while also delivering basic necessities.

"We now estimate that we will dedicate at least USD 5 million into humanitarian aid across the group during the quarter ending March 31, which will equally lower our Operational EBIT in the period. In addition, many of our employees are contributing further funds and resources to humanitarian aid," Embracer CEO Lars Wingefors said in a note to investors.

Hogwarts Legacy won't nickel and dime players with in-game purchases and will instead be a self-contained AAA experience.

In a departure for WB Games, a company that typically bakes in live service elements into key franchises, Hogwarts Legacy is a single-player only RPG that won't have any kind of monetization. That's a pretty big deal for the publisher, especially after Mortal Kombat 11.

We've seen this question coming up and want to set the record straight. There are no microtransactions in Hogwarts Legacy,"Avalanche community manager Chandler Wood said on Twitter.

Elden Ring is a smash success with 12 million sales. Bandai Namco and FromSoftware and taking advantage of the spotlight by adding new content to the landmark RPG.

Yesterday's Elden Ring patch signals two big things: One, FromSoftware is committed to the game and should continue to roll out new content, and two, the core meta will shift and change similar to a live game. Patch 1.03 brought some big changes to the game by hamstringing endgame builds with heavy nerfs; Much to the vexation of Elden Ringers, the Tree Guardian Shield, Mimic tear, Hoarfrost Stomp, and the Sword of Shadow and Flame have all been downgraded and forced new shifts towards specific builds.

This creates an interesting flow and with the right adjustments of other gear--or the introduction of new items--FromSoft has created a unique kind of live game meta within what's mostly a communal singleplayer title. There's also tons of buffs to things like cracked pot throwables, boosted damage for other craftables like poison spraymist, and damage upgrades for the collapsing stars sorcery.

The horror mavens at Supermassive Games have revealed The Quarry, the latest thriller in their macabre video games lineup.

Like all good 80's splatter flicks, Supermassive's new game The Quarry has a simple premise: A bunch of kids try to survive the night at a spooky campground where all hell breaks loose. It looks like a fun romp that includes some of the most well-known horror alums in the business like David Arquette of Scream fame, Lance Henriksen, Ted Raimi, Lin Shaye, and even Sarah Palmer herself Grace Zabriskie.

Similar to Until Dawn, Supermassive's breakout success game, The Quarry is a cinematic experience where everything you do (and say) has a repercussion later on in the game. Players inadvertently choose who lives and who dies as nine camp counselors are killed off in what we can only imagine is creatively disturbing ways. It's like an interactive Friday the 13th choose-your-own-peril adventure game.

Bethesda details new features coming to their new space epic RPG Starfield, complete with origin stories and more.

Starfield looks to be a culmination of every big RPG Bethesda has made to date. The studio recently posted up a roundtable discussion of content, features, and mechanics found in the new spacefaring game. Starfield is made for wanderers, Bethesda promises.

The update outlines some interesting mechanics, including some borrowed from Cyberpunk 2077. Starfield will allow gamers to chose different origin stories, which will affect their starting location, factions, and overall attributes. There's even one faction, Ryujin Industries, that's similar to the corpos in CD Projekt RED's sci-fantasy game.

Take-Two Interactive is confident that Zynga could bring cross-play to its major franchises following the merger between the two companies.

The Take-Two/Zynga merger will bring tons of benefits to both companies. Zynga will have the might of a publishing giant behind it, and Take-Two will have the power of Zynga's mobile prowess and advertising platform under its banner. The cross-synergies are particularly interesting. Take-Two has noted that Zynga could create mobile versions of its top franchises--on a selective basis, of course--and utilize the company's budding cross-platform focus to help fill out its current games.

The biggest game without cross-play is Grand Theft Auto Online, which has been a billion-dollar powerhouse since its release in 2013. In a recent S-4 SEC filing, Take-Two suggests that Zynga will help create "cross-platform experiences" for its blockbuster IPs.

Detroit: Become Human has sold more than 6.5 million copies on consoles and PC, and Quantic Dream confirms it's working on three new games.

Paris-based studio Quantic Dream is ramping up its workforce for a myriad of new games. The developer is currently developing three new projects including the anticipated Star Wars Eclipse, however details on the two remaining projects are scarce (job listings reveal some tidbits, more on that below).

"Our very good financial results are explained by the robust sales of our back catalog titles, and in particular Detroit: Become Human, which surpassed the symbolic one million copies sold on Steam during the year 2021. This title is now Quantic Dream's biggest commercial success, with over 6.5 million copies sold on PC and PS4 worldwide."

Quantic Dream confirms its workforce has increased by 50% throughout 2021, which seemingly refutes recent reports that it's having trouble recruiting game developers.

A bit ago Tom Henderson published a report surrounding Quantic Dream's issues with hiring new developers, which stems from allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct at the studio. Sources told Henderson that QD was having problems recruiting new devs for its ambitious Star Wars Eclipse project.

Interestingly enough, Quantic Dream now says its employee base has jumped by 50%. The studio now employs roughly 229 people according to its LinkedIn page.

BioWare is hiring 23 new developers to work on multiple projects. Two of these job listings are for Dragon Age, and one position could shed light on what to expect from the game.

Previous reports have said Dragon Age 4 is a singleplayer-driven RPG. The project has gone through three phase-shifts: the first iteration was codenamed Joplin and was a small game focused on Tevinter spies. Then it morphed into projected Morrison, a live game with shifting, evolving content. Now in its current iteration, which was formed in 2021, Dragon Age has shifted back to its roots and become a singleplayer-driven RPG.

A new game economy job listing strongly suggests that Dragon Age 4 will indeed be singleplayer and it might not have any multiplayer elements at all.