Gaming News - Page 4

All the latest gaming news, with everything related to PlayStation releases (PS4 & PS5), Xbox, PC Games, Nintendo Switch & plenty more - Page 4.

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Sony was 'thrilled' to sign Call of Duty deal with Microsoft

Derek Strickland | Mar 22, 2024 12:32 PM CDT

Sony gaming CEO Jim Ryan has interesting things to say about Microsoft's proposed 10-year Call of Duty deal with Microsoft.

Sony was 'thrilled' to sign Call of Duty deal with Microsoft

PlayStation head Jim Ryan will leave Sony at the end of March, but before he departs, Ryan appeared on CNBC to discuss the history of the gaming brand. In the interview, the games leader briefly talked about the $70 billion Microsoft-Activision merger and more specifically, the decade-long deal that Sony ended up signing with Microsoft in order to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation.

According to Ryan, Sony was "thrilled" to sign the deal. The deal Ryan is referring to is actually the third and final contract offered to Sony. At the beginning of the Microsoft-Activision merger proceedings, Microsoft offered an unsatisfactory deal that only offered Call of Duty up until 2027. Sony rejected that deal, and Microsoft offered a second deal, one that upped the terms to 10 years of Call of Duty access. The second deal was also turned down, but we still don't know why.

Continue reading: Sony was 'thrilled' to sign Call of Duty deal with Microsoft (full post)

Still hoping for a Baldur's Gate 3 expansion? It's not coming, and neither is Baldur's Gate 4

Darren Allan | Mar 22, 2024 12:02 PM CDT

We'd pretty much accepted that Baldur's Gate 3 wouldn't get an expansion, but this has now been confirmed.

Still hoping for a Baldur's Gate 3 expansion? It's not coming, and neither is Baldur's Gate 4

This comes direct from the founder and CEO of Larian, Swen Vincke, who at GDC confirmed that there definitely won't be an expansion for the hit RPG, according to IGN.

Indeed, Vincke went further than this, clarifying that not only are there no plans at all for an expansion or DLC drop of any kind, but there will not be a Baldur's Gate 4 - or another Dungeons & Dragons RPG from Larian for that matter.

Continue reading: Still hoping for a Baldur's Gate 3 expansion? It's not coming, and neither is Baldur's Gate 4 (full post)

Diablo 4 is getting its major Loot 2.0 update and endgame overhaul in Season 4

Kosta Andreadis | Mar 21, 2024 8:59 PM CDT

Blizzard held a lengthy Diablo 4 'Campfire Chat' this week, where the team discussed major changes coming to the game in Season 4. A complete overhaul of itemization, crafting, and enchanting has many excited for what feels like the game's Diablo 3 "Loot 2.0" update. In addition, a new endgame mode called The Pit sees players racing against the clock in increasingly more challenging dungeons - ala Diablo 3 'Greater Rifts.'

Diablo 4 is getting its major Loot 2.0 update and endgame overhaul in Season 4

Players can expect massive, fundamental changes that make loot drops feel important and special on the item and loot side. Items are being simplified with fewer and more meaningful aspects while ensuring that only 'Sacred' items appear in World Tier 3 and only 'Ancestral' items appear in World Tier 4. With less clutter and expanded trading to allow players to trade Legendary and Unique items, this feeds into the new Tempering and Materworking crafting systems.

It works fairly straightforwardly. Tempering is all about adding affixes from special books or crafting manuals - so if you're a Necromancer who loves minions, you can temper pet-related bonuses. Each class, skill, and playstyle is being overhauled, and item affixes are being updated to celebrate Diablo 4's kinetic action.

Continue reading: Diablo 4 is getting its major Loot 2.0 update and endgame overhaul in Season 4 (full post)

Final Fantasy XIV Coins explained: What you need to know

Derek Strickland | Mar 21, 2024 8:17 PM CDT

Xbox users will have to buy a new type of premium currency in order to play the full version of Final Fantasy XIV, and it's priced so that gamers may have to overspend when trying to purchase Entry monthly subscriptions.

Final Fantasy XIV Coins explained: What you need to know

A bit ago, Square Enix announced that Final Fantasy XIV on Xbox would have two strict requirements. The first is that Xbox Game Pass subscriptions are required to play the MMORPG on Xbox consoles. This a stark contrast to FFXIV on PlayStation, which does not require PS Plus in order to play.

The second mandate was more controversial. The publisher says that Xbox gamers can only pay for Final Fantasy XIV game time and in-game purchases with a new premium currency called FFXIV Coins. It's a subscription-based game, so all users must pay a set fee to play FFXIV on all platforms. It's just that Xbox gamers can't buy game time directly from Square Enix and must first exchange their cash for in-game currency.

Continue reading: Final Fantasy XIV Coins explained: What you need to know (full post)

Captain America and Black Panther game 'Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra' unveiled by Marvel

Jak Connor | Mar 21, 2024 9:52 AM CDT

During the recent State of Unreal livestream, Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra was showcased in a new trailer, revealing a seemingly head-to-head battle between Captain America and Black Panther.

Captain America and Black Panther game 'Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra' unveiled by Marvel

The new game is developed by Skydance New Media, and according to the overview of the title found on the Marvel website, the game will put players into the chaos of the 1940s where Captain America and Azzuri, T'Challa's grandfather and the Black Panther of the 1940s, will need to overcome their differences and form an alliance to confront their common enemy.

Additionally, the overview reveals that both heroes will be fighting alongside Gabriel Jones of the Howling Commandos and Nanali, a Wakandan spy embedded in Occupied Paris, to stop "a sinister plot that threatens to turn the havoc of WWII into the ultimate rise of Hydra." Captain America will be voiced by Drew Moerlein, and Black Panther will be voiced by The Walking Dead's Khary Payton.

Continue reading: Captain America and Black Panther game 'Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra' unveiled by Marvel (full post)

FSR 3 and Frame Generation could hit Xbox Series X this year and debut in Indiana Jones

Kosta Andreadis | Mar 21, 2024 7:59 AM CDT

AMD just announced FSR 3.1, which brings a couple of significant updates to the company's upscaling and frame generation tech for PC - image quality improvements when upscaling and decoupling frame generation so it can run with other upscaling technologies like DLSS or as-is.

FSR 3 and Frame Generation could hit Xbox Series X this year and debut in Indiana Jones

AMD has also included support for the Vulkan API and Xbox in the update - specifically, "Xbox Game Development Kit (GDK) support." Although FSR 3 upscaling and frame generation have been available on PC for a while, they have yet to make their console debut.

The new FSR 3.1 update only hints at the update arriving "later this year," but mentioning Vulkan and Xbox in the same sentence does suggest that we might see its support in Xbox's big first-party holiday release - Indiana Jones and the Great Circle from Machine Games and Bethesda. Hear me out.

Continue reading: FSR 3 and Frame Generation could hit Xbox Series X this year and debut in Indiana Jones (full post)

AMD FSR 3.1 announced, improves upscaling image quality and lets frame gen work with DLSS

Kosta Andreadis | Mar 21, 2024 7:28 AM CDT

AMD's FSR 3 with Frame Generation, the company's answer to NVIDIA DLSS 3, launched in September 2023. It is supported by just two games-Forspoken and Immortals of Aveum. A slow start, FSR 3 was also not quite as impressive as it should have been. Visual fidelity was a step down from DLSS 3, and features like support for VRR displays and tech like AMD's own FreeSync were missing.

AMD FSR 3.1 announced, improves upscaling image quality and lets frame gen work with DLSS

All that changed in December 2023 with AMD releasing the full source code and an updated, more impressive version of FSR 3 launching with Ubisoft's Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora. With AMD improving frame issues and adding VRR support, 2024 saw an influx of games supporting FSR 3 (most recently with Starfield and The Last of Us Part I), bringing the total number of games with FSR 3 support to 40.

It's still far from where DLSS 3 is, but it's picking up pace - and FSR 3.1 was announced at GDC 2024. FSR 3.1 brings two significant updates: an improvement to upscaling image quality and the ability for FSR's frame generation technology to work with "other upscaling solutions" like NVIDIA's DLSS or Intel's XeSS.

Continue reading: AMD FSR 3.1 announced, improves upscaling image quality and lets frame gen work with DLSS (full post)

Remedy says Max Payne 1 and 2 Remake have a 'similar development budget' as Alan Wake 2

Anthony Garreffa | Mar 20, 2024 10:35 PM CDT

Remedy Entertainment posted its latest quarterly report for Q4 2023 after the mega-successful launch of Alan Wake 2, which became Remedy's fastest-selling game ever.

Remedy says Max Payne 1 and 2 Remake have a 'similar development budget' as Alan Wake 2

Inside that report, Remedy provides some updates on its upcoming Max Payne 1+2 Remake, which the developer said is fully funded by the IP owner and publishing partner, Rockstar Games, who is currently working on the next-generation Grand Theft Auto 6.

Remedy CEO Tero Vertala said: "Max Payne 1&2 Remake also continued in the production readiness stage. The team made considerable progress throughout the year. Max Payne 1&2 remake is going to be a major new game with great potential, enabled by a similar development budget as Alan Wake 2".

Continue reading: Remedy says Max Payne 1 and 2 Remake have a 'similar development budget' as Alan Wake 2 (full post)

PS5 Pro might be actually be an affordable mid-gen upgrade

Derek Strickland | Mar 20, 2024 8:02 PM CDT

Sony's upcoming PlayStation 5 Pro might actually be an affordable console that doesn't cost $700.

PS5 Pro might be actually be an affordable mid-gen upgrade

On paper, the new PS5 Pro sounds like an expensive machine. Recent leaks have basically unearthed all of the PlayStation 5 Pro's secrets and exposed some interesting new advancements to the world, including a beefy new RDNA 3 GPU capable of 33.5 TFLOPs of power clocked at 2.1GHz. The PS5 Pro is also said to have a special new machine learning (ML) block on its GPU that will power Sony's new PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution (PSSR) upscaling tech. All of this is said to enable more detail-heavy gaming experiences at boosted effective resolutions without biting so much into FPS, potentially leading to more sustainable 4K gameplay.

This has led to lots of talk about the PS5 Pro's price tag. Will it be a $600 machine that doesn't move the needle very much in terms of mass adoption? Or is it a carefully planned and budget-balanced device that is specifically made to sell as a profitable, cost-effective piece of hardware aimed at helping stabilize Sony's falling operating margins? The latter seems more likely, especially given Sony's current position.

Continue reading: PS5 Pro might be actually be an affordable mid-gen upgrade (full post)

Microsoft's new Xbox development kit spotted, monster console at South Korea regulatory office

Anthony Garreffa | Mar 20, 2024 6:30 PM CDT

We all know Sony is working on a beefed-up PlayStation 5 Pro console for later this year, but now we're hearing news about a new Xbox console that has just hit South Korean regulatory offices.

Microsoft's new Xbox development kit spotted, monster console at South Korea regulatory office

The South Korean Radio Research Agency (RRA) regulatory office received a new Microsoft Xbox Development Kit (XDK) for testing, which is usually part of the procedure before new hardware launches in a few months' time. We saw the Xbox 360 console back in 2005 being sent through regulatory offices before the console hit retailers a month later.

Continue reading: Microsoft's new Xbox development kit spotted, monster console at South Korea regulatory office (full post)