Gaming - Page 403

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.

BioWare is currently hiring 23 people to work on three separate teams: Mass Effect, Dragon Age, and Star Wars: The Old Republic. A good portion of these devs are being positioned for the next Mass Effect project.

Mass Effect 4 (or 5, if you include Andromeda) is currently in early pre-production stages of development. BioWare's next project on the release slate is Dragon Age 4, which may not be ready until 2023. That doesn't mean BioWare can't ramp up its workforce in preparation for the next Mass Effect--and that's exactly what they're doing.

A recent job listings post confirms that BioWare is currently hiring 7 separate developers to fortify its next space RPG. The team, led by Mike Gamble, is currently hiring some higher-profile director and lead positions across all of its studios. It's interesting to note that all of BioWare's North American branches--Austin, Vancouver, and Edmonton--are helping with the game.

Elden Ring has sold over 12 million copies as of March 14, becoming one of Bandai Namco's best-selling games of all time.

FromSoftware's new masterpiece RPG has hit an incredible sales milestone of 12 million+ physical and digital copies purchased worldwide. With figures like these, it's implied that Elden Ring has made over $500 million in game sales revenues across all platforms in just 17 days (nearly 3 weeks).

Elden Ring is so successful that Bandai Namco has declared it a full IP series that will expand with more content. The publisher mentions that Elden Ring could cross over to other mediums outside of video games.

Two leading video game market analysts predict GTA 6 could release in 2024, but they disagree on exactly when.

A bit ago I predicted GTA 6 could launch in Take-Two's FY24, which ends in March 2024. Since then that prediction has been carried by analysts based on a substantial spike in net bookings for the period. A new SEC filing shows that both FY24 and FY25 will be big years for Take-Two with an estimated $5.2 billion and $5.5 billion in respective net bookings.

This suggests that GTA 6 could launch in either FY24 or FY25. Both of these include the 2024 calendar year. Jefferies analyst Andrew Uerkwitz believes that a major Rockstar title should launch throughout 2024: "Despite a significant multi-year content unlock that likely includes a major content release from Rockstar in 2024, Take-Two will still grow in FY25," Uerkwitz wrote.

EA has officially cancelled its annual EA Play Live summer showcase because its projects simply aren't ready to show just yet.

EA Play Live will not premiere in 2022 after all. The publisher issued a statement that strongly hinted that COVID-19 and work-from-home measures have impacted game development, and certain games won't be ready to show off.

"This year things aren't lining up to show you everything on one date. We have exciting things happening at our world-class studios and this year we'll reveal much more about these projects when the time is right for each of them. We look forward to spending time with you throughout the year!" EA told IGN.

Tencent has acquired a majority stake in Tequila Works, the indie studio known for video games like RiME.

Chinese juggernaut Tencent has just increased its hold on the games industry with yet another indie developer. This time Tencent has bought the majority shares of Tequila Works, the Madrid-based studio behind RiME and Deadlight.

Tencent's acquisition will inject new funding into Tequila Works, arming them with new resources to expand and develop projects in all-original IPs. Tencent will remain hands-off and allow the studio to continue on as it always has.

Keanu Reeves said it best: "It's ridiculous that there isn't [a new Matrix game]." Well now WB Games knows what to do.

A batch of mods for the new fighting game Sifu shows exactly what fans want from a new Matrix game. Just let us play as Neo, give us some awesome survival brawling combat, and watch as we wipe the floor with dozens of Agent Smiths. Yes, it really is that simple. Maybe throw in some shoot-em-up chaos and crazy stunts in an analog, green-filtered world and boom, there's your perfect Matrix game.

Graphics aren't super important but a dev could use the crazy next-gen tech from the Matrix Awakens Unreal Engine 5 tech demo. I'd say gameplay is what matters most in a game like this--especially with the fun of smashing tons of agents around.

Microsoft's breakthrough DirectStorage API tech, which promises to accelerate NVMe storage speeds, is now available to all PC game developers.

PC devs can now supercharge loading screens and rendering in their games with DirectStorage integration. The new API accelerates asset pipeline delivery by completely bypassing the CPU and blasting data directly to the GPU for on-screen rendering. The result will fully unlock the power of NVMe SSDs and deliver true PCIe Gen 4x4 (and beyond) levels of throughput. For an in-depth explanation on how DirectStorage works, click here.

DirectStorage is also compatible with Windows 10 games, however Microsoft notes that Windows 11 is the "recommended path for gaming" because it has certain optimizations built into the OS.