Gaming - Page 407

CD Projekt RED has cut off Russia and Belarus from its entertainment products.

Polish game developer CD Projekt RED will no longer sell its games, media, and other content to Russia and Belarus following the ongoing war against Ukraine. The sales ban includes games like The Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077, and the countries are also restricted from the GOG.com game sales marketplace.

The decision will have a surprising impact on CD Projekt's sales revenues. The company warned investors that Russia and Belarus combined made roughly 9.1% of its total-year 2021 revenues. CDPR has yet to announce its Q4 earnings but based on a quick conversion, these regions may have made $12.8 million in sales--that effectively means CD Projekt will potentially lose millions of revenues a year from the ban.

Doomlord John Romero created its first Doom II level since 1994 to support Ukrainian relief.

John Romero, co-founder of id Software and co-creator of the legendary Doom franchise, is raising money for Ukrainian relief efforts in the best way: With a new custom Doom II level.

The level is called One Humanity, it costs 5 euros, and is available on Romero's official website. The FPS guru tells gamers that 100% of all revenues go directly to the Red Cross and the UN Central Emergency Response Fund to help with the brutal Russian invasion on Ukraine.

Intellivision has enacted a new quiet period as it negotiates with new investors and potential business partners.

Gamers and investors will have to wait for updates on Intellivision's business. Company CEO Phil Adam confirms Intellivision has gone quiet so it can reach an agreement with its new investors, who are presumably interested in the Amiico console platform.

This is a common business practice made by companies who need time compiling data or negotiating contracts. Intellivision has used third-party funding to raise over $39 million on paper (but the real value is lower because not all of those funds were collected) to produce and ship its family-friendly Amiico system. The latest campaign on Start Engine has raised less than $50,000 so far.

A World of Tanks developer is fired for controversial support of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

A bit ago, World of Tanks creative director Sergey Burkatovskiy wrote on Facebook that he agrees with Russia's unprovoked strikes on Ukraine. Shortly afterwards WoT parent company Wargaming terminated Burkatovskiy and confirmed he is no longer working on the game.

The Belarusian developer, who operates multiple war games including World of Tanks, World of Warplanes, and World of Warships, says these aren't the views it has on the escalating conflict. "Sergey Burkatovskiy expressed his personal opinion on social media which categorically does not reflect the position of the company. He has been let go and is no longer at the company," the Wargaming tells PC Gamer.

Netflix has acquired Next Games, the developers behind Walking Dead and Stranger Things mobile games.

Netflix has announce an offer to buy outstanding shares of Finnish game developer Next Games. Under the deal Netflix will pay 65 million euros ($72 million) for Next Games in an effort to bolster its growing video games production arm. The streaming giant has added mobile games into existing Netflix subscriptions free of charge to help boost value and continued engagement.

Next Games is the mobile dev responsible for two Walking Dead games, including The Walking No Man's Land that has generated 131 million euros in revenue across 23 million downloads, as well as a Stranger Things puzzle game.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 developer has halted work on the game as it faces war against Russia.

Ukrainian game dev GSC Game World has paused development of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 due to the Russian invasion. Russia is currently trying to capture the capital city of Kyiv, which is GSC's HQ. The game is set in irradiate Chernobyl, which was captured by the Russian military five days ago.

The developer says work on S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 will continue "after the victory."

Sony's European division has shipped multiple "console prototypes" overseas to the United States, import records show.

Sony Interactive Entertainment has made some interesting shipments lately. The company has sent thousands of development kits from all over the world to Oakland, California. These devkits are presumably modified PS5 systems specifically for software creators. They might also be PSVR2 devkits, or perhaps even early units for a new upgraded PS5 Pro.

Now Sony is apparently shipping prototype units overseas. According to international shipment records, Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe shipped 1,500lbs of video game console prototypes from its London, UK headquarters over to Norfolk, Virginia on November 16, 2021. The shipment was made in 4 CTN (cartons) weighing 694 kg (about 1,532 lbs).

Epic Games has purchased Bandcamp, the independent music marketplace platform.

Bandcamp is now part of Epic Games. The internet music company isn't changing operations and day-to-day business will resume as usual. Bandcamp CEO Ethan Diamond explains:

"Bandcamp will keep operating as a standalone marketplace and music community, and I will continue to lead our team. The products and services you depend on aren't going anywhere, we'll continue to build Bandcamp around our artists-first revenue model (where artists net an average of 82% of every sale), you'll still have the same control over how you offer your music."

United States import records show that Sony has shipped thousands of mysterious software development kits from across the world to its Oakland, California branch.

Sony Interactive Entertainment may be preparing to ship dev kits of new PlayStation hardware to video game makers. According to domestic trade ledgers, the billion-dollar games giant has shipped approximately 2,374 cartons of dev kits from October 2021 to January 2022.

The breakdown looks like this:

Oh man, it just doesn't stop reigning terror for NVIDIA in the last few days -- the company was hacked, with intellectual property, rumored GPU specs, and more -- but it extends now to Nintendo's next-gen Switch handheld.

In the new leaks, NVIDIA would be using its Ampere GPU with ray tracing support as well as DLSS 2.2 technology -- Deep Learning Super Sampling, especially DLSS 2.2 -- would be fantastic for Nintendo's next-gen Super Switch, or Switch 2, or Switch Pro, or whatever the hell Nintendo calls its new handheld.

NVIDIA has "nvn2" in its leaks which points to a graphics API for the Switch Pro, which is based on NVIDIA's current-gen Ampere GPU architecture with ray tracing support and DLSS 2.2 technology. From there, there's also mentions of the T234 and T239 SoCs that would be for the next-gen Nintendo Super Switch (or Switch 2).

Secretlab is expanding its DC Collection of gaming chairs with the introduction of the officially licensed Secretlab "The Batman" Movie Edition chair... and it even has a magnetically detachable Bat emblem... oh man.

The new Secretlab TITAN Evo 2022 "The Batman" Movie Edition gaming chair joins the ranks of the growing Secretlab DC Collection in The Joker Edition, The Flash Edition, the Superman Edition, and the older Dark Knight Edition gaming chairs.

In the usual Secretlab style, the new Batman Movie Edition gaming chair arrives in the Bruce Wayne-ready NEO Hybrid Leatherette with perforated matte leather detailing -- and what I need to see in-person -- a brand-new Bat emblem that magnetically attaches to the backrest. Secretlab teases that "The Batman" Edition gaming chair features "nuanced details inspired by Batman lore to create a statement piece for Super Hero aficionados". Uhhh, yeah Secretlab that's me and you really did nail those details (at least from the pictures).

Forspoken will utilize DirectStorage to unlock full throughput power of NVMe PCIe Gen4 x4 speeds on PC.

Forspoken was built from the ground up in close collaboration with AMD, and utilizes technologies like FidelityFX Super Resolution and raytracing. Luminous Productions has built AMD features right into its engine alongside support for Microsoft's new DirectStorage tech.

A new GDC 2022 panel schedule confirms that Forspoken will use DirectStorage, a new DirectX 12 API that supercharges data throughput by fully unlocking NVMe speeds.

UPDATE: Valve is issuing a new firmware update to address the drift issues:

Gamers are reporting stick drift on Valve's new Steam Deck handheld-PC hybrid.

Anything with a joystick is susceptible to stick drift, including the $69.99 DualSense (ours drifted in the first week) and the "best in class" thumbsticks used in the Steam Deck.

Bandai Namco is paying game developers an extra $5000+ a year as an incentive to stay with the company.

With tons of game company buyouts and acquisitions, the two most valuable commodities in the games industry are now content and the developers responsible for the content. Buying a franchise like Destiny doesn't mean much without also buying Bungie to manage it. These acquisition sprees have led to high turnover rates as more developers leave and join other studios. Bandai Namco wants to preserve its developers, so that's why it's offering a big raise (similarly, Sony has also allocated over $1 billion as an incentive plan to retain Bungie employees).

Bandai Namco confirms it will give all employees a $435 /month ($5,220 /year) raise to help retain current talent. The Japanese games-maker is paying extra for new graduate students, who will earn a $505/month ($6,000/year) bonus raise.

Ohhhh Elden Ring! in sugary candy form.

Elden Ring is absolutely huge right now. Everyone's talking about it, there's a billion YouTube videos on gear, builds, and rune farming, and it's utterly consuming our collective souls. Now it can consume your bad junk food habits, too.

Trolli, the confectioner known for its sour gummy worms, has created Peachie Elden Rings to celebrate the game's monumental success. There's no code or anything in the bag, and Trolli's USA branch says they actually aren't for sale to the general public. Bummer. Gaming personality Geoff Keighley apparently received a few promotional bags of the candy to commemorate the game, which makes sense considering Keighley nabbed the Elden Ring reveal for The Game Awards.

George R. R. Martin celebrates Elden Ring's success in the best way: With a custom Malenia hat.

Elden Ring might be FromSoftware's most successful game yet. It's one of the best-reviewed games of all time (Open Critic 96, Metacritic 97) and having played it myself, I can say the hype is real. Now famed fantasy scribe George R. R. Martin is getting in on the fun.

The Game of Thrones writer actually helped Miyazaki and FromSoftware create Elden Ring's lore and world, and it certainly shows. While Martin says he played a "small part" in the game's worldbuilding, anyone familiar with GRRM's work will notice his signature style while playing the game. Take the naming schemes of areas, for one; Gatefront, Stormhill, etc, alongside the deeper, more mythical lore of Marika, the Elden Ring's corruption-of-power parallels to Lord of the Rings, and the curse that spread throughout the Lands Between.

Mention of a new DLSS-enabled Switch model has reportedly been found in the recent NVIDIA leak.

NVIDIA's recent data breach may have unearthed details about Nintendo's upcoming 4K-ready Switch model. The code indicates the Switch will support DLSS, NVIDIA's powerful and flexible supersampling technology, in order to hit 4K gaming.

The leaked code makes three possible references to the Switch: "nvndlss.cpp," "nvn_dlss.cpp," and "nvn_dlss_backend.h". For reference, NVN is the name of the graphics API used for the Nintendo Switch.

NetMarble has created its very own blockchain to host its upcoming P2E blockchain games.

With $2.2 billion earned in 2021, South Korean mobile games titan NetMarble is one of the biggest games companies on the market. The developer makes billions every year from online-driven mobile games like A3: Still Alive, Ni no Kuni, and Lineage II. Now it's jumping headfirst into the blockchain market.

NetMarble has created its own proprietary blockchain platform called MBX to serve as the base for its new dapp (decentralized application) video games. The publisher plans to release six blockchain games in 2022, with the first releasing in March. MBX is built on the Klatyn blockchain and will utilize a new MBX-based cryptocurrency.

Valve wants to create new upgraded Steam Deck models in the future that offer better performance and value.

The PC gaming hardware market evolves at a blistering pace and every year NVIDIA and AMD seem to release new-and-improved GPU and CPU tech. Valve wants its Steam Deck to keep up with these fast iteration cycles by designing and releasing beefier models. This is just the beginning for the new PC-handheld frontier.

When asked in a recent IGN interview (transcribed by TweakTown) if new Steam Deck models could happen, Valve boss Gabe Newell said:

Valve has no plans to raise the base price of the Steam Deck, Gabe Newell confirms.

Like the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S, the Steam Deck is selling gangbusters. Demand is soaring for the innovative PC-handheld hybrid but Valve doesn't want to take advantage of the market with a price hike.

In a recent interview with IGN (transcribed by TweakTown), Valve boss Gabe Newell says the Steam Deck's current $399 entry price was "painful" given the overwhelming chip demand. It's expensive to create a supply chain, negotiate pricing, and manufacture and ship a device to millions of consumers. Despite this costly process, Valve won't raise the Steam Deck's price.