Gaming - Page 402

Bandai Namco and FromSoftware just released Elden Ring's new v1.03.2 patch and thankfully it doesn't nerf or debuff any existing builds.

Gamers are still lamenting the builds that were significantly downsized Elden Ring's original 1.03 patch (RIP mimic and hoarfrost stomp), and thankfully today's new patch doesn't make any more downgrades. The latest v1.03.2 update is mostly made up of bug fixes that adjust various issues with quests and co-op.

The developers are watching players closely and will continue tweaking, adjusting, and adding to Elden Ring over time, including new expansions and in-game content. After all, Elden Ring is now officially a new franchise for Bandai Namco.

Today Microsoft and SEGA revealed some bizarre and unsettling Sonic-themed Xbox controllers...and we have some concerns.

To celebrate Microsoft and SEGA have teamed up to celebrate Sonic 2's upcoming theatrical release with a special-edition Xbox Series S console.

The console looks okay enough, complete with a big golden ring in the center, but the controllers are rather strange. They're fuzzy. Yes, really. They have fur, and they look like something from another world--maybe they'll even go full Gremlin if you feed them after midnight. The red one is something that Gossamer from Looney Tunes would have in his collection.

New gameplay for Square Enix's upcoming action RPG Forspoken reveals a strange UI decision that hinders gameplay.

Forspoken has a strange on-screen UI. Magic spells and abilities are presented in a wheel formation, which is pretty standard for most RPGs. Hold a button, time slows down as a wheel pops up, you select and ability, and then perform said ability. All pretty straightforward stuff.

What isn't straightforward--or even straight--is the actual UI itself. The wheel is tilted at an angle, making things unnecessarily more difficult to read. The presentation is meant to be stylish--this is Luminous Production's new savvy action RPG with slick combat, a bombastic protagonist, and incredible-looking traversal. But in reality the UI is just...awkward. It offends the eye and looks like something that should be in a VR game where angles are constantly changing as you move around a 3D space.

Ubisoft has today announced a surprise Stranger Things x Far Cry 6 crossover event alongside a free weekend for the game.

The Upside-Down is coming to Far Cry 6's bloody paradise of Yara, and your favorite wheely-boy pal Chorizo has gone missing. The new Vanishing crossover event brings monsters and environments straight out of Netflix's Stranger Things series.

Far Cry 6 is also free to play on all platforms from March 24 through March 27, including co-op action and the free Vanishing crossover event.

Halo today announced a new marketing deal with work boot-maker Wolverine while the latest Halo game continues shedding players.

Halo Infinite is in trouble. The game has shed tons of players since release due to a myriad of reasons including:

What I've found most interesting about Halo Infinite's release (and previous delay) was the dearth of marketing deals that Microsoft signed with other brands. Since December, it seems like Halo Infinite is everywhere. It's on Rockstar and Monster energy drinks, fingernail polish, and there's even Swarovski crystal collectibles. The marketing deals are so big that there's a Halopedia article just on Infinite's promos.

Friday the 13th: The Game developer Illfonic today announced Ghostbusters Spirits Unleashed, a new asymmetrical 4v1 multiplayer game set in the beloved 1980s franchise.

A new Ghostbusters game is crossing over to the world of the living, and it looks pretty fun. The game follows Illfonic's penchant for 4v1 PVP multiplayer and pits four Ghostbusters up against one fearsome poltergeist. The ghosts are taken right from the old-school animated series (you can even play as Slimer!) and have all kinds of special abilities including teleportation, possessing nearby objects, vicious slicing attacks.

Original Ghostbusters cast members Dan Aykroyd and Ernie Hudson are back, too. Ray has apparently retired and now runs Ray's Occult Books full-time, giving you advice and probably unlocking other anti-ghost abilities. Winston is now the head of the Ghostbusters and sends you on missions while running the HQ. As a Ghostbuster, you'll be able to upgrade your proton packs and other equipment like PKE Meters as well as unlock new abilities as you progress.

As a big fan of Overwatch, I don't know how I feel about Overwatch 2 just yet... but in saying that, the Overwatch 2 Closed Beta kicks off on April 26.

The upcoming Overwatch 2 Closed Beta is on the PC only at first, leaving console gamers swimming in their potato-flavored tears, where you can sign up for it right here. If you end up getting selected, then Blizzard will email you and you'll be able to participate in the Overwatch 2 Closed Beta.

But now we also know the PC system requirements for Activision-Blizzard's upcoming Overwatch 2, at least in its Closed Beta form. You won't need much, so there's not much change on your PC hardware requirements over the original Overwatch. 60FPS on Medium settings requires an Intel Core i7 or AMD Ryzen 5 series CPU, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 or AMD Radeon R9 390, 8GB of RAM, and 50GB of storage space.

Unity has just revealed its latest visual masterpiece from its Demo and R&D teams, collaborating on Enemies -- showing off a next-gen demo that would stress any PC -- and will be fully unveiled during the Game Developers Conference (GDC) between March 23-25. Check it out:

The new Unity "Enemies" showcases all of the power and capabilities of the Unity platform for creating "high-end, visually compelling content". The developer explains: "Our real-time 3D (RT3D) technology is constantly evolving to meet the ever-growing expectations creators have for visual quality and realism".

"All High Definition Render Pipeline (HDRP) features have been improved and some new systems were introduced, including Adaptive Probe volumes and Screen Space Global Illumination (SSGI). Real-time ray traced reflections, ray traced ambient occlusion, and native support for NVIDIA's Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS) allow the demo to run at 4K with image quality comparable to native resolution".

Fortnite players have raised over $36 million for Ukrainian relief in just one day.

Yesterday, Epic Games announced that it woulddonate 100% of all Fortnite purchases to humanitarian aid in Ukraine. Microsoft joined in and offered to also give its cut of Fortnite revenues towards donations. Based on Fortnite earnings data disclosed in the Epic vs Apple trial, I predicted that this could lead to tens of millions of dollars in donations. This happened a lot faster than I expected.

Epic has confirmed that Fortnite players have spent over $36 million on in-game purchases in just one day's time. This includes Epic's total cut on all platforms + Microsoft's 30% cut from Fortnite purchases on Xbox platforms. Fortnite and Epic Games are now the single largest contributor towards relief efforts for Ukraine, followed by the Stand for Ukraine Humble Bundle that has raised over $10 million.

PlayStation has officially acquired Jade Raymond's new indie team Haven Studios in an effort to bolster its live service ambitious.

Sony wants to have 10 live service games on the market by 2026. Two of its latest buyouts have served this goal; First with the$3.6 billion purchase of Bungie, and now with its recent acquisition of Have Studios.

Formed in 2021 by industry veteran Jade Raymond (of Assassin's Creed fame), PlayStation had originally teamed up with Haven Studios to bring a new live game to its console platform. After a long courting process Sony today put a ring on it and officially purchased Haven Studios. According to SIE boss Herman Hulst, Haven Studios' new game is a "modern multiplayer experience that brings gamers together in positive and meaningful ways."

CD Projekt RED is teaming up with Epic Games for its new Witcher game...but it won't be exclusive to the Epic Games Store.

Today CDPR announced a new Witcher game is in development. The project promises a "new saga" for The Witcher franchise and is being built in collaboration with Epic Games. CDPR has signed a massive 15-year deal with Epic Games to use the Unreal Engine 5 for various projects. Through the development of The Witcher 4 on UE5, CDPR will help Epic innovate and iterate upon the engine for next-gen open-world games.

This collaboration won't extend to exclusivity, though. CD Projekt RED makes it very clear this isn't a marketing deal and Epic hasn't purchased exclusivity rights for the next Witcher project. The new Witcher game is planned to release on a bunch of platforms, likely including consoles, Steam, and the Epic Games Store.

CD Projekt RED has signed a collaborative15-year deal to use and iterate upon Unreal Engine 5 technology.

Today CDPR and Epic Games announced a partnership that will help usher in a new era of Unreal Engine 5 optimization. CD Projekt RED plans to use Unreal Engine 5 for its recently announced new Witcher game, but not only that, CDPR will also help iterate and build the engine through the development of new games. In short, CDPR is helping Epic make UE5 even better for open-world games.

"This new relationship with Epic covers not only licensing, but technical development of Unreal Engine 5, as well as potential future versions of Unreal Engine, where relevant. Developers from CD PROJEKT RED will collaborate with those from Epic with the primary goal being to help tailor the engine for open-world experiences, beginning with the development of the next game in The Witcher franchise."

The next Witcher game has been announced by CD Projekt RED, and it will be a "new saga" for the franchise that's being developed on Unreal Engine 5.

The Witcher 4 is currently in development at CD Projekt RED. The game will feature a new protagonist--one that represents a cat, or a lynx, instead of the White Wolf that Geralt represented--and CDPR says this will be the start of an all-new saga for the beloved IP. As per Jason Slama, game director on the new Witcher title, the project is in early phases: "We have tons of roles open as we are in early pre-production and there's even the possibility of remote work we could discuss!"

The developers are also switching from their powerful proprietary RED Engine tech to the more flexible Unreal Engine 5. The RED Engine was used for Cyberpunk 2077 and led to lots of complications on old-gen platforms.

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.

The lineup has 123 pieces of content including 3D printable files, tabletop RPGs, and some awesome games like:

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."