Gaming - Page 408

Ubisoft's new blockchain-based NFT platform is amplifying FOMO (fear of missing out) through artificial digital scarcity...but it could actually pay off.

A cursory analysis of Ubisoft Quartz shows just how much potential there is for NFTs in gaming. The games industry's current business model is actually a great ramping point for NFT integration; right now monetization is mostly predicated on cosmetics and gear earned through engagement and natural progression of a game. Heavy-hitting live service games like Destiny 2 employ FOMO, fear of missing out, on a regular basis to keep players logging in to experience events and earn loot lest they miss out on the content forever.

It looks as if Ubisoft Quartz' NFT program is a natural evolution to the current model. Right now Ubisoft is experimenting with an admittedly egregious "free" model where players earn digital NFTs for completing in-game challenges. Some of these NFTs, or "Digits" as Ubisoft calls them, have incredibly high requirements. There's a Wolf Helmet that requires over 600 hours of playtime in Ghost Recon Breakpoint.

Sony has published its dual-GPU PlayStation console and cloud network patent to the World Intellectual Property Organization, securing the design in the worldwide market.

Back in 2020, Sony published an interesting patent for "scalable game console CPU/GPU design for home console and cloud gaming" that could be used in a high-end PS5 Pro. The document outlines a wide array of designs, embodiments, and permutations, but the most interesting is a PlayStation console design with two GPUs, which begs the question: What if Sony releases a mega-powerful PlayStation 5 Pro with two 7nm Zen 2 SoCs, effectively doubling GPU and CPU power?

In a world with massive chip restrictions, thermal limitations, and intimidating manufacturing costs, the idea seems fanciful. The patent itself outlines different design ideas including a console with two built-in GPUs on the same die, two SoCs connected together internally, or even an external GPU design that can hook up to the PS5 to supercharge graphics performance. The patent recognizes there's significant hurdles to tackle such as frame buffer management for rendering, and even offers solution like multi-plex rendering.

Only 1% of NFT assets are sold for over $1,500, a new study has found.

NFTs could be the next paradigm shift for gaming, especially when it comes to in-game collectibles, cosmetics, and overall monetization. In an attempt to demystify the NFT market researchers Matthieu Nadini, Laura Alessandretti, Flavio Di Giacinto, Mauro Martino, Luca Maria Aiello and Andrea Baronchelli have published a thorough study on the current NFT scene. The results are pretty surprising.

The scientists start out by first defining what an NFT is: "An NFT is a unit of data stored on a blockchain that certifies a digital asset to be unique and therefore not interchangeable, while offering a unique digital certificate of ownership for the NFT. Several types of digital objects can be associated to an NFT including photos, videos, and audio. NFTs are now being used to commodify digital objects in different contexts, such as art, gaming, and sports collectibles."

CD Projekt Group may settle its class-action securities fraud lawsuit and avoid a trial.

CD Projekt Group is being sued for potential securities fraud over Cyberpunk 2077's disastrous launch. Investors allege that CD Projekt willfully misled shareholders by not divulging Cyberpunk 2077's awful performance on PS4 and Xbox One--a controversy that tanked CD Projekt's share value. Investors suffered losses and sought legal counsel to sue the company on the grounds of securities fraud.

The lawsuit is currently ongoing, but CD Projekt now says that its legal counsel has "entered into negotiations concerning a potential settlement" with investors. If the case is settled then it wouldn't go to trial. Over 13 law firms sought to represent investors against CD Projekt Group and four separate securities fraud lawsuits were filed by claimants. Only four of these went to court, and they were combined into one single lawsuit.

Almost every franchise is going open world, and Sonic will have his big Breath of the Wild transformation in 2022.

SEGA has announced Sonic Frontiers, a new "open-zone" 3D action-adventure game that may do for Sonic what Breath of the Wild did for Zelda. Frontiers is the biggest game in the beloved Sonic The Hedgehog series thanks to its new Starfall Islands setting, which features massive expanses to zoom around in that are replete with ancient relics, mystical artifacts, and beautiful forests, roiling waterfalls, and sun-lit seacoasts lifted straight out of a New Zealand travel catalog.

Analysts have dropped their sales projections for Cyberpunk 2077 by more than half, reports from Bloomberg indicate.

Financial analysts now estimate that Cyberpunk 2077 has sold roughly 17.3 million copies from launch until present day, down from the lofty 30 million target that was originally made. This drop is due to the ongoing maintenance of the game and the disastrous launch performance on PS4 and Xbox One that has only slowly been fixed with patches and updates. Despite multiple major patches, Sony warns consumers not to play the game on base PS4 hardware: "Purchase for use on PS4 systems is not recommended."

Cyberpunk 2077 sold 13.7 million copies during its controversial launch period and the bulk of those were made on PC; sales on PC made more than PS4 and Xbox One combined. Despite these lofty sales and a massive surge in Q3 launch timing earnings, CD Projekt's overall stock has dropped by over 60% in the year after Cyberpunk 2077's launch.

Ubisoft's new Splinter Cell game will be an open-world game with live services and monetization, reports indicate.

The beloved Splinter Cell franchise may be the latest IP to get transformed by Ubisoft's digital-first business model. Sources have told Tom Henderson that the new Splinter Cell game will now have an open-world evolution that's "a more stealthy version of Assassin's Creed." This matches up with the company's current focus, which sees all of its franchise being molded into engagement-driven games with live services, monetization, and long-term play.

It's also possible that the Splinter Cell game could fall into the emerging games-as-a-platform model. This particular model was pioneered by MMORPGs over the last decade and has proven to be the natural evolution for digital-based games.

Slayer is finally coming to Halo Infinite in a few days, 343 Industries has officially confirmed.

Halo Infinite was the first Halo PVP game to release without a slayer playlist. Strange, right? 343 Industries is fixing the mistake with a big multiplayer update coming December 14 that adds slayer, free-for-all, fiesta, and SWAT modes as separate playlists.

Halo community director Ske7ch also says challenges are getting updated. Each new playlist will have its own set of challenges and 343i is adjusting the tedious grind from other challenges.

Peter Molyneux is back with a new game that cashes in on the emerging blockchain, NFT, and cryptocurrency craze.

Peter Molyneux, the game developer of the Fable series who became so infamous that he declared "I haven't got a reputation in this industry any more," has revealed his new game Legacy to the world. The game with its seemingly ironic name is a business simulator where players buy land, start a business, create factories, and sell products to other players in a theoretical bustling economy.

All of these things will apparently be bought and sold with LegacyCoin, the in-game cryptocurrency based on the Ethereum blockchain that serves as the play-to-earn impetus of the entire operation. Players will first buy LegacyCoin with money or other crypto, then buy a land NFT to start a business. Land is currently unavailable for sale right now but is based on real-world locations in the United Kingdom, including London.

Certain Affinity's new original IP The Last Expedition is a blockchain-based game with play-to-earn mechanics.

After years of pitches, Certain Affinity has finally found a publisher for its new shooter. Gala Games, a company known for blockchain games powered by in-game cryptocurrencies and NFTs, will publish the game. The Last Expedition is described as an "ambitious original title" centered around survival co-op FPS action, complete with a dark and brooding H.R. Giger sci-fi style.

"The world's first play-to-earn FPS will pit players against a hostile alien world, challenging their skill, focus and resourcefulness like never before while empowering them through the true asset ownership that only blockchain can provide," reads the game's website.

If you remember when the two Matrix sequels came out -- The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions -- they were joined by the tie-in game "Enter the Matrix". It was a pile of shit, so if you didn't play it, don't worry -- go play Max Payne and Max Payne 2 instead. There was also The Matrix Online (MxO) which came out in 2005, as a not-so-successful MMORPG.

Anyway, during a recent interview between The Verge and Matrix Resurrections stars Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss, Neo, and Trinity were asked about their thoughts on why there isn't a new Matrix game. You can jump into the interview, with the part about the Matrix game starting at 11:06 into the video.

There was a leak of the experience on like the PlayStation server, and it got a lot of attention that there was this Matrix experience happening that you guys (Keanu and Carrie-Anne) were in. And "I was looking at the Reddit thread where it was posted, and everyone was just saying, 'I want a Matrix video game, I want a modern-day re-imagining of the Matrix video games".

The new Saints Row reboot trailer from Volition confirms lots of new toys including wingsuits, hoverboards, tanks, experimental ships, and maybe even super powers.

The upcoming Saints Row reboot looks like tons of fun and has a very Watch Dogs 2-meets-GTA V vibe. The latest trailer shows a bunch of carnage-inducing vehicles and weapons that we'll use to wreak havoc in the open sandbox...and I personally can't wait to try them out.

The trailer is a whirling spectacle of ridiculousness that shows off the wingsuit (every game needs a wingsuit) and a bunch of land, sea, and air vehicles like helicopters, what appears to be an alien ship, ATVs, golf carts, superspeed muscle cars, jet skis, and even a hoverboard for old-school Back to the Future II action.

Google wants to merge PC and mobile platforms together into one cohesive gaming ecosystem.

After it practically gave up on Stadia, its ambitious game streaming service, Google is now setting its sights closer to ground level. The tech giant plans to bring its Google Play Games platform to PC and allow mobile titles to be played on desktop and laptop computers.

The idea here is to allow seamless switching between PC and mobile devices. Gamers can start a game while commuting on a long bus ride and pick up right where they left off at home on their PC. This could be a transformative new ecosystem access point that keeps billions of consumers more cemented in Google's powerful ad-based network.

Dune is coming back to the video game world with Dune Spice Wars, a new 4x RTS from the developers of Evoland.

Shiro Games and Funcom have announced the first new Dune game in 20 years. It's called Dune Spice Wars, and it's a real-time strategy game filled with base-building, resource management, and all the intricacies of gaming's best RTS games.

Spice Wars will see great houses clashing and vying for control over Arrakis just like the film, only this time you're the general that commands the sway of battle. Players can control legendary houses of the Landsraad including House Atreides from Caladan, and House Harkonnen from Giedi Prime to recreate the spice wars from the films and books.

Final Fantasy 7 Remake's second chapter may resemble the new combat structure from FF7R's INTERmission DLC.

Square Enix gives clues on what's coming next in the Final Fantasy 7 Remake series. Instead of releasing a massive three-disc remake, Square Enix has carved up the Remake into multiple parts. That means a multi-year development cycle, but Square Enix filled the gap with the INTERmission DLC. This connective tissue may actually inspire the new upgraded combat in FF7R part 2.

In a recent Epic Games Store interview, FF7R development leader Naoki Hamaguchi says he wants to use INTERmission's synergistic co-operative combat part of the next game.

Square Enix's new game Forspoken is a lot like Final Fantasy XV...but there's no actual weapons.

Luminous Productions' new next-gen fantasy game Forspoken doesn't have any weapons. In a recent PlayStation Blog post, the developers confirm Forspoken's combat is 100% magic-only, saying that "the battles in Forspoken are all about magic and don't rely on weaponry whatsoever."

Instead players will rely heavily on a myriad of magical abilities that range from stealth cloaking to destructive elemental spells and AOE attacks, and even physics-breaking spells like levitation.

Scorn is set to release four years after it was originally revealed in 2017, developer Ebb Software has announced.

Scorn has been MIA for a while but now it's back in the limelight...and the news isn't so great. The exotically weird horror FPS has been delayed for the fourth time and is now set to launch in October 2022. That's right in time for Halloween.

The shooter is set to deliver higher-end atmospheric effects, UHD textures, and FPS action while hitting 4K 60FPS performance on Xbox and PC. Scorn is also exclusive to the Xbox Series X/S line and won't be coming to the Xbox One.

A new Star Trek game is coming out of hyperspace to a console near you.

At the Game Awards 2021 showcase, indie devleoper Dramatic Labs revealed a new story-driven game called Star Trek Resurgence. While it does have some action sequences, Resurgence is primarily a narrative game where players make choices and follow an interactive branching path.

Star Trek Resurgence's dev team includes 20+ former Telltale writers, developers, designers, artists, and producers, and the devs promise Resurgence will be "familiar to fans of Telltale's unique style of gameplay."

Middle-earth Shadow of War developer Monolith Productions is making a new Wonder Woman game complete with its signature Nemesis System.

WB Games had a big surprise at The Game Awards. Wonder Woman's first-ever game debut is on the horizon, it's singleplayer-only, and it's being developed by Monolith. While Diana has appeared in a number of games as a starring character, this is the first time she's gotten her very own story-driven game.

Like Monolith's other releases, the Wonder Woman title is an action-adventure open-world game that will deliver an all-original storyline divergent from comics and other media. Gamers will traverse two different worlds that blur reality and myth--the modern world of the humans and the fantasy world of the Amazons--as they fight to unite both planes against an undeclared foe.

PC used to be exempt from the new $69.99 price tag. Not any more.

Square Enix is the first publisher to charge $69.99 for base versions of its next-gen PC games, and more publishers are likely to follow. The new $69.99 MSRP was introduced for next-gen PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S games, but now publishers are pushing the price hike on PC as well.

The Japanese publisher is charging $69.99 for PC versions of two of its upcoming PS5 and Xbox Series X games: Luminous Productions' new fantasy game Forspoken is $69.99 on Steam. Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade is also $69.99 on the Epic Games Store (and it's also exclusive to EGS). Both of these titles are are only coming to Gen 9 consoles, skipping Gen 8 consoles, and these are baseline prices for the standard PC ports--not deluxe or premium SKUs.