Gaming - Page 411

In a recent Reddit post, Halo community director Ske7ch gives transparency on what led up to Halo Infinite's development and where 343i currently stands.

Halo Infinite has divided the franchise's faithful, and some Halo fans joke this is the second Great Schism for the community. Based on recent posts on the Halo Reddit, they're not too far off the mark. Halo Infinite's F2P structure has been widely criticized across the board, and gamers have issues with the intense monetization and challenge-based progression systems.

Community director Ske7ch has had a lot to say about Halo Infinite on Reddit. Ske7ch admits that the studio has a lot of work to do with Halo Infinite and confirms bigger changes will take some time due to the "complexity" of the game.

343 Industries could use freebies as a way to keep players interested in Halo Infinite's multiplayer.

Halo Infinite currently has big problems with progression, customization, and monetization. It's a big reason why the F2P multiplayer is only in a beta phase (and a reason why it'll probably stay in beta for a long time). While 343i is planning evolutions, changes, and updates to the game, they're also experimenting with engagement-boosting models like free items.

Microsoft recently confirmed that Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers would get a few free items for Halo Infinite, including an AR skin and extremely valuable XP boosters and challenge swaps. While these things are created as a means of monetization--e.g. creating a problem and selling gamers a solution or a shortcut to that solution for real money--a steady flow of freebies might be a great avenue to spark both player retention and Game Pass subscription retention that may keep gamers playing Infinite for the long run.

Quake just got its first major content update after 25 years, a new trend that could resurrected old-school classics in exciting new ways.

Following the big RTX update for Quake II and re-release of the original on next-gen consoles with 4K 120FPS support, MachineGames and Bethesda just added a new co-op horde mode to Quake.

This expands the legendary 90s FPS in a brand new way with survival co-op action, and could set a new precedent that sees Bethesda going back and upgrading other classics in its wide catalog, maybe even the original Doom and Wolfenstein games.

Final Fantasy XIV's latest expansion is the most popular of all time and has pushed Steam players to an all-time new high.

Endwalker is one of the most important expansions for FFXIV. Not only does it mark the end of the Hydaelyn-Zodiark saga, but it marks the beginning of the next era of the beloved MMORPG. It's also capitalizing on a massive surge in players that started in 2020 and has now reached a new peak on Steam.

According to new figures from Steam DB, Final Fantasy XIV hit a record 95,540 concurrent players since Endwalker's release. That's up 42% from July's previous high of 67,000+ users on Steam, and this significant jump in players has also packed Square Enix's datacenters so much that users have to wait in thousands-long queues in order to get in.

The next Dragon Age game is still primarily a singleplayer RPG, BioWare has re-confirmed.

As part of its Dragon Age day celebration, BioWare tells fans that Dragon Age 4 will retain the beloved singleplayer-first formula that its games are known for. It sounds as if things haven't changed since the next-gen Dragon Age was rebooted back in February, which saw the game shifting from a live-based online experience with evolving content to a more traditional singleplayer adventure.

"Speaking of building new worlds and stories for you to explore, we want to let you all know that we're still hard at work on building the next single-player focused experience for Dragon Age. We're excited for next year when we can talk more about what we're working on," the studio said.

Battlefield executive producer Aleksander Grondal is the latest to leave DICE following Battlefield 2042's launch.

Battlefield 2042 has proven to be a contentious turning point for DICE. The game has released to middling reviews and has been blasted by the community for its myriad of issues, leading to two big patches from DICE. Now publisher EA and DICE are making big transitions for the future of the franchise which has led to a changing of the guard.

The changes see Respawn boss Vince Zampella taking over the franchise and multi-year veterans like DICE general manager Oskar Gabrielson leaving to make room for a new GM, Other departures include Aleksander Grondal, who has spent 14 years at DICE producing games like Battlefield 3, Battlefield 4, and serving as executive producer on Battlefield 2042.

Geoff Keighley responds to and clarifies controversial statements he made to the Washington Post about speaking out on Activision-Blizzard's harassment issues live on stage at The Game Awards 2021.

On Twitter, Keighley points out that Activision-Blizzard will not be involved in the actual The Game Awards 2021 show. There will be no reveals, trailers, or content showcasing Activision-Blizzard games and products during the show itself--instead, the problematic publisher will only be included in the listed nominees.

Halo Infinite is 343i's ambitious idea for a game-as-a-platform, but this vision won't come to reality any time soon.

Like Fortnite, Halo Infinite's free-to-play multiplayer will likely stay in beta phase for the foreseeable future. The reason for this is simple: the game simply isn't ready yet and needs a lot of work. Infinite's progression and monetization systems have stirred up mass controversy among Halo faithful and gamers want answers as well as changes to what's described as a "predatory drip-feed" business model predicated on "nickel and diming" consumers.

343 Industries has responded to criticisms saying that changes are coming. More immediate updates include more XP doled out for challenges and promises of upcoming playlist options. More significant changes--like those to the progression and monetization mechanics--will take a lot longer to implement, hence why we think this will stay in beta for a while.

BioShock 4 will reportedly take place during the 1960s and set in a brand new frozen city in the South Pole.

The next BioShock game will take place in the glacial surface of Antarctica, sources have told VideoGameChronicle and Sacred Symbols' Colin Moriarity.

BioShock 4, which is believed to be called BioShock Isolation, will trade the sunken city of Rapture in the Atlantic for the cold wastes of Borealis in the Antarctic. Sources also say it's set in the 1960s era which opens up all sorts of possibilities for pop culture references, and will be tied to the original BioShock games' storylines.

Kojima Productions is currently hiring seven positions including a programmer, 3D character modeler, game designer, sound designer, writer, project manager, and a producer.

Hideo Kojima's Tokyo-based game development studio is expanding, and the job listings give an idea on what KojiPro is working on. One of the projects is likely a 3D open-world action game (possibly Death Stranding 2). The game designer listing calls for "experience of placement and balance adjustment of enemies in action games" as well as map design. Multiple listings say the projects are "high-end games".

The Metal Gear Solid creator also made an interesting comment on KojiPro's future games, saying they make "AAA original titles" and "new outrageous titles," the latter of which could refer to the studio's expansion into entertainment mediums like film, TV shows, etc.

Halo Infinite is getting playlists by the end of year, 343 Industries has confirmed.

Halo Infinite is missing a lot of core features and has a lot of problems--that's why it launched as a beta and not a fully-fledged game. 343i has been collecting tons of feedback and info from fans and now plans to utilize what they've learned into new updates and content.

One of the first major complaints as the lack of playlists for Halo Infinite. Gamers can choose between Social 4v4 games, ranked play, big team battle, and 4v4 bot matches. The social playlist has randomized gametypes that serve up things like oddball, capture the flag, slayer, and territories, but gamers want more control over what they play--especially if they're trying to complete challenges to rank up.

Sony is reportedly making a new subscription service that combines PlayStation Now and PlayStation Plus, complete with legacy PS1, PS2, PS3, and even PSP games. But it's not truly an Xbox Game Pass competitor because it's missing one important selling point.

On paper, Sony's new codenamed Spartacus subscription is very ambitious. The billion-dollar games-maker has needed to bolster its services for a while now and the new Spartacus plan seems to check all the right boxes with classic games, a collection of PS4 and PS5 games, and cloud streaming.

There's just one thing preventing Spartacus from being a true Game Pass competitor: Day-and-date first-party releases. This is one of the biggest selling points of Game Pass. Subscribers can play first-party Microsoft games without buying them at retail prices--on top of the third-party games available.

EA confirms that multiple new Battlefield projects are in development as it gears up for massive expansion in the franchise.

EA is going all-in on Battlefield. The publisher now has three separate studios that are working on multiple Battlefield projects, including DICE proper in Sweden, Ripple Effect (DICE L.A.) who developed Battlefield Portal, and a new studio based in Seattle led by Halo co-creator Marcus Lehto.

EA has an ambitious goal to create a "connected universe" with Battlefield. This is very similar to what Activision is doing with the Modern Warfare reboot narrative and Warzone, a free-to-play game that has connected all mainline Call of Duty games together since 2018.

Sony's answer to Xbox Game Pass would combine PS Plus and PS Now services together in a three-tiered structure, sources tell Bloomberg.

According to a new Bloomberg report, Sony is currently working on a big competitor to Xbox Game Pass. Sony's new digital service, planned to release in Spring 2022, is codenamed Spartacus and would combine PlayStation Plus and PlayStation Now in a single subscription.

Spartacus would be broken up into three different tiers:

Qualcomm and Razer have officially announced their partnership with the Handheld Gaming Developer Kit, which is powered by the Snapdragon G3x Gen1 SoC.

The new purpose-built platform has been built from the ground up from input by both Qualcomm and Snapdragon, to deliver "cutting-edge performance to run all Android games, play content from cloud gaming libraries, stream games from your home console or PC, and enjoy entertainment from your favorite Android apps. Amassing the entire arsenal of Snapdragon Elite Gaming™ technologies together to create a premium category of dedicated consumer gaming products, the platform is designed to power incredible experiences for gamers on-the-go".

Razer collaborated with Qualcomm on the Snapdragon G3x, with the mobile device teased packing what should be a gorgeous 120Hz HDR OLED display. Inside, there's a large 6000mAh battery feeding the system and display. The device is advertised here as a game streaming product that supports Xbox Game Cloud, streaming from a console or even a PC... very, very nice.

Activision is detailing Call of Duty: Warzone's biggest update yet, morphing COD: Warzone into something new called Warzone Pacific -- and it will be introducing a new map called Caldera.

In a new video posted by the developer, Warzone Pacific gets a naughty video that covers a bunch of things we need to see (and so many that I can't wait for). The map itself looks absolutely gorgeous compared to the drab environments of Verdansk, with many new locations and environments in Caldera that will make Warzone Pacific feel oh-so-fresh.

There are 15 locations teased so far in Caldera: Arsenal, Docks, Runway, Ruins, Mines, Peak, Beachhead, Village, Lagoon, Airfield, Fields, Sub Pen, Power Plant, Capital, and Resort.

Polaris has just announced a first-of-its-kind partnership for the company, announcing that they are the new Official Off-Road Vehicle Partner of Battlefield 2042. Not only that but there's a huge $30,000 giveaway where fans can win an awesome Battlefield 2042-inspired ATV. Check it out:

Polaris is a global leader in power sports, with the company celebrating the (limp) launch of Battlefield 2042 with the Polaris Sportsman XP 1000. Polaris is running a huge 6-week prize giveaway, including daily, weekly, and the huge grand prize winners.

The grand prize is a fully custom Battlefield 2042-inspired Polaris Sportsman XP 1000 ATV, which is featured in the trailer above. The ATV is worth close to $30,000 while the entire vehicle was hand-painted to mirror the in-game vehicle from Battlefield 2042.

If you've played Battlefield 2042 then you would've realized it's just... really not that great, at all. So the news from Battlefield insider Tom Henderson that the Battlefield 2042 player base has dropped, hard.

Henderson tweeted that the Battlefield 2042 "player base has dropped 70% since launch, in addition to its stock also dropping 18% since early access. Both players and investors are not happy with this game". We don't have any firm numbers to confirm this, because a 70% drop would mean the Battlefield 2042 servers would be empty.

But even tweet replies to Henderson's claims that 70% of the Battlefield 2042 player base has run away aren't all negative, with some tweets noting: "Well I'm happy. Game is great, loving it. Genuinely" and another that tweeted: "70% ?! On what platform? Just Steam or across the board. Seems like if 70% of people stopped playing, we wouldn't be finding matches as quickly. Not seeing this on PS5 anyway".

EA's rockstar Vince Zampella now leads the Battlefield franchise amid a big internal shake-up at the company.

Big things are happening with the Battlefield universe. EA announced that Respawn Entertainment head Vince Zampella has taken over the Battlefield series and will guide the IP into the future with a multitude of new games.

Halo co-creator Marcus Lehto will also help expand the Battlefield universe. In October, EA opened a new Seattle-based studio and hired Lehto to lead the team. Now Lehto confirms his new studio is working on Battlefield.

Valve has confirmed that its upcoming Steam Deck portable handheld gaming device will not have any exclusive games; meaning there will be no Steam Deck exclusives that aren't available on the PC or other platforms.

Unlike every other platform which has exclusives like Microsoft with Halo, Sony with The Last of Us or Uncharted, Nintendo with Mario and Zelda, and so on -- Valve will instead not have any Steam Deck exclusives -- and there's a very good reason (from Valve themselves) on why.

Valve explains in its updated FAQ, with a question "Would Valve be interested in having any Steam Deck exclusive titles?" to which the developer answers: "No, that doesn't make much sense to us. It's a PC and it should just play games like a PC".