Gaming - Page 390

DICE 2021 awards show host Greg Miller calls embroiled Activision-Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick out on stage.

Greg Miller, the co-host of the 25th annual DICE awards had choice words to say about Bobby Kotick

"Of course, we can't talk about the industry we love so much without talking about the recent stories of abuse and harassment at Activision Blizzard and other companies. But since this is a formal event broadcasted to audiences across the world, I'm only going to say F Bobby Kotick. I'm just kidding! Fuck Bobby Kotick," Miller said to applause from the audience.

Valve boss Gabe Newell says most of the purchases made with crypto on Steam were not legitimate.

Why did Steam ban all crypto games? It's not because of the blockchain tech itself, but the "shady activities" that typically surround cryptocurrency including scams and fraud. Valve simply do not want to do business with those types of people, Newell says.

In a recent interview with Rock Paper Shotgun discussed why crypto games were removed from Steam.

Chinese online giant NetEase reports its full-year earnings for 2021, showing significant growth.

Strong post-pandemic spending on an even stronger games slate has helped NetEase generate $9.8 billion from online games. According to data provided by NetEase, the company made $6.9 billion from mobile and $2.9 billion from the PC across a mix of online-based and more premium titles like Naraka Bladepoint.

Data indicates that NetEase is #2 in total online digital/network game services revenues. Sony takes the top spot with $11.5 billion combined revenues from add-on content (microtransactions) and combined network services. NetEase remains one of the most powerful forces in the industry and a leading top mobile developer that serves gaming's most lucrative market.

NetMarble is working on six P2E blockchain mobile games, the company has announced.

Korean mobile games giant NetMarble is jumping into the blockchain sphere with a swath of new games. The developer plans to release its first crypto game in March 2022 followed by five other blockchain-based titles. One of these games may be based on Marvel characters--in 2020, Marvel Games teamed up with Wax to make custom NFTs.

"The company is also aiming to launch six blockchain games, with the first coming in March. These include A3: Still Alive Global, Golden Bros, Ni no Kuni: Cross Worlds Global, Champions: Ascension, Monster Arena (TBD) and Everybody's Marvel: Meta World," reads a press release.

Sony's new PlayStation Spartacus subscription service will reportedly combine some of its competitor's best perks in one package.

Sony's new subscription, codenamed Spartacus, is said to merge PlayStation Now and PS Plus in one service. Official details haven't been announced but sources tell Venture Beat's Jeff Grubb how Spartacus might work (via Grubbsnax).

There's three tiers with separate prices, and the most expensive $16/month tier will offer access to classic PlayStation games similar to Nintendo Switch Online's treasure trove of NES, SNES, and Genesis titles.

Microsoft, Obsidian, and Bethesda reportedly have "high interest" in making a Fallout New Vegas sequel.

Now that Obsidian and Bethesda Game Studios are under the same roof, Fallout New Vegas 2 might actually happen. Sources have told Venture Beat's Jeff Grubb that very early talks about a New Vegas sequel are under way and that everyone involved with the discussions has a lot of interest and confidence in the project.

"This is very early, but people have begun to have talks and say the words 'Obsidian' and 'New Vegas 2' in sentences," Grubb said in today's episode of GrubbSnax

The next Mass Effect game will not be ready for at least a few more years, BioWare has said.

Mass Effect 5 is currently in the earliest phases of development and will not be finished for quite some time. Right now the project is in pre-production prototyping stage and doesn't yet have an actual blueprint. We do know the next mainline game will continue the original trilogy canon and that Liara T'soni will be a main character.

"We're also working on the next Mass Effect. The team, led by Mike Gamble, is made up of a team of veteran developers as well as some new, really talented people. They are all actively prototyping new ideas and experiences," BioWare general manager Gary McKay said in an update post today.

Dragon Age executive producer Christian Dailey has left BioWare, marking the second producer to recently leave the series.

BioWare has lost another major developer with the departure of Christian Dailey, who departed right in the middle of Dragon Age 4's production. Dailey was brought in after the previous Dragon Age executive producer, Mark Darrah, left the company after 23 years with BioWare.

"Hi friends. I wanted to pass on the news that I am leaving BioWare. The next Dragon Age is in great hands. Looking forward to cheering on the team and playing as a fan. Thank you BioWare Electronic Arts (EA) for the amazing adventure," Dailey said in a statement.

The new Dragon Age game is in middle phases of production, BioWare today confirmed.

BioWare is currently making significant progress in Dragon Age 4 following years of development and two major reboots. The developer gave a quick update on the new Dragon Age game in a blog post:

"For the next Dragon Age, we are right in the middle of Production, which is a great feeling," BioWare general manager Gary McKay said.

Apex Legends Mobile testing is opening up to wider APAC and Latin America regions, but not in North America or Europe.

EA is ramping up for the planned 2022 release of Apex Legends Mobile. The F2P game isn't out yet and is still in testing phases, with a new playable build rolling out to 10 countries and regions: Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia, Mexico, Peru, Argentina, and Colombia.

Gamers will need an iOS device with at least 2GB of RAM or an Android device with 3GB of RAM. EA re-confirms Apex Legends Mobile will have its own progression system and unlockables that are separate from the console/PC battle royale. There's no cross-play--Apex Mobile is its own self-contained experience, similar to Call of Duty Mobile.

Reports indicate Activision will not release a new Call of Duty game for 2023. This could impact the games industry as a whole, and possibly lead to lower earnings from PlayStation, Xbox, and even Steam.

Call of Duty is one of the most important franchises in the games industry. Every year, a new Call of Duty is released that helps Sony, Microsoft, Valve, and of course Activision make millions of dollars in revenue. Annualized Call of Duty games have been a dependable, constant source of Q3 holiday revenues for decades now. There's a noticeable earnings spike that accompanies every year's Call of Duty release.

For example, 2020 was Call of Duty's best year with over $3 billion earned. The franchise was firing on all cylinders with a mainline game release and two F2P modes generating recurring revenues. Black Ops Cold War sold 5.7 million copies at launch and was the best-selling game of 2020, made over $670 million in six weeks, and was also the #2 best-selling game in 2021.

Call of Duty will skip 2023 and no mainline game will be released next, sources have told Bloomberg. However, Treyarch could release a new zombies mode in 2023 to fill in the hole.

Call of Duty is one of the most important franchises in the industry. Every year, a new Call of Duty game releases that makes Sony, Microsoft, Valve, and of course Activision-Blizzard, hundreds of millions of dollars. That won't happen in 2023. Activision is slowing down its annual breakneck pace, and for the first time in decades, we won't have a new Call of Duty game next year.

Instead of a new game, Activision will lean on Modern Warfare II, two versions of Warzone, and Call of Duty mobile throughout 2023. This year's plans include the release of Modern Warfare II and a next-gen version of Warzone that runs separate to and in parallel with 2020's Warzone. New reports from Ralph's Valve, a Twitter user who has leaked various CoD info, indicate a zombies mode could be set for 2023.

Activision looks to be delaying Call of Duty 2023 according to the latest rumors from industry insider Tom Henderson, who was pretty damn rock solid with his insider info on Battlefield 2042 and many other games in the last 18 months.

In a new tweet, Henderson tweeted: "Activision is set to delay next year's Call of Duty title. This will be the first title in nearly two decades where the franchise won't have a yearly CoD. It looks like a lot is riding on Modern Warfare II".

Now that Henderson opened up the "Call of Duty 2023 has been delayed" floodgates, everyone else is reporting in with their own industry sources saying they've heard similar reports. If the news is true, it will have been the first time there hasn't been a new Call of Duty "mainline game" in nearly 20 years -- 2004 was the last time.

With the help of LEGO, 2K Sports is about to get even bigger.

2K has signed a deal to license the LEGO brand for a new wave of casual, kid-friendly sports games. Sources tell Video Game Chronicle that Sumo Digital, the developers behind Crackdown 3, Team Sonic Racing, Little Big Planet 3, and Sackboy: A Big Adventure, are working on the first game in the series. It's believed to be a soccer game slated for 2023.

Another racing-based LEGO game is coming from Visual Concepts, who are responsible for the NBA 2K and WWE2K games.

Sony is securing day one releases on PlayStation Now, which may signal big things to come.

Sony has taken a move out of the Xbox Game Pass playbook in a bid to boost PS Now. The games titan is now brokering deals to release third-party games day one on PlayStation Now. Sony could be trying to add more value to PS Now in preparation for PlayStation Spartacus, the new ambitious games subscription service that combines PS Now and PS Plus together.

The first game to release day one on PS Now is Shadow Warrior 3. This is an interesting choice because Flying Wild Hog is owned by The Embracer Group, one of the biggest companies on the market, and nestled under Koch Media. This deal may extend to other Embracer or Koch Media games including Saints Row V and maybe even Dead Island 2.

Bethesda is shutting down its proprietary PC launcher and will move all games and content over to Steam.

The Bethesda.net PC launcher is being retired in May 2022. Starting in April, gamers will migrate their games ownership over to Steam. Most modern games will have automatic save transfers but some, like Elden Scrolls III Morrowind, will require manual save transfers. Oddly enough, Wolfenstein Youngblood's progress is "currently unable to transfer." All Bethesda.net wallet currencies--Fallout 76 Atoms, ESO drakes, and any money associated with your account--will transfer over too.

Bethesda makes it clear only the launcher is shutting down in May, and gamers will still have ownership access to all of their full games after that period. They just won't be able to launch them from Bethesda.net software. The actual Bethesda.net account services aren't being closed, and you'll still need to make and sign into a Beth.net account to play specific games.

Square Enix president Yosuke Matsuda has ordered more HD2D remakes of SNES games. Could a Chrono Trigger remaster be on the way?

Square Enix loves to re-release classic games on practically every platform known to man, and the new HD2D art style offers a unique opportunity resurrect retro games with new, enhanced graphics. The HD2D wave started with Octopath Traveler, then, Square Enix upgraded its original Final Fantasy games. Now the engine could overhaul other old-school SNES games including the beloved RPG Chrono Trigger.

"The president ordered us to make more use of HD-2D, so we decided to think about remakes of past titles," producer Tomoya Asano said in a recent Square Enix stream (in Japanese).

Guardians of the Galaxy is the second big Marvel game that missed Square Enix's expectations.

Square Enix may have overestimated the Marvel brand. First the publisher said that its ambitious Avengers live game delivered disappointing results, and now its the singleplayer-only Guardians of the Galaxy game missed its original targets. Deep discounts throughout the holiday period where the game sold for about $25 helped stabilize sales revenues, Square Enix says.

"Despite strong reviews, the game's sales on launch undershot our initial expectations. However, sales initiatives that we kicked off in November 2021 and continued into the new year have resulted in sales growth, and we intend to work to continue to expand sales to make up for the title's slow start,"Square Enix chief accounting officer Atsushi Matsuda said.

Square Enix plans to support Final Fantasy XIV for 10 more years and confirms a bunch of new content, features, and upgrades coming to the best-selling MMORPG.

Final Fantasy XIV is a big part of Square Enix's games division earnings; MMORPGs accounted for $419 million, or 23% of total 9-month games revenues. It definitely makes sense that the publisher keeps Final Fantasy XIV going for as long as possible, and that's exactly what they plan to do.

In a four-hour content stream, game producer Yoshi-P recently confirmed the 10-year support plan while outlining key features that are both coming soon and in deep development. One of the biggest new updates is a graphical overhaul that will add a new level of fidelity to in-game areas, NPCs, and player characters.

Sony has "vastly overpaid" with its $3 billion buyout of Bungie, analyst Michael Pachter says.

Sony's decision to buy Bungie was a knee-jerk reaction to its competitors making power plays. According to Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter, Microsoft's $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision-Blizzard and Take-Two's $12.7 billion merger with Zynga prompted Sony to make a "me too" purchase of Bungie--and that the buyout was significantly overpriced.

In a recent interview with Yahoo Finance, Pachter outlines his value-oriented rationale. It all comes down to share price and revenues generated by each company. Pachter estimates that Bungie makes $200 million in revenue a year, and Sony essentially paid $4 million per developer (Bungie has over 900 developers).