Gaming - Page 415

Sony is buying Bungie, the creators of Destiny and Halo.

Sony is striking back with a megaton purchase of its own. Sony is buying Bungie, the original developers of Halo and the Destiny franchise for $3.6 billion.

Microsoft recently purchased Activision-Blizzard for $68.7 billion and ZeniMax in 2020 for $7.5 billion. In 2018, Bungie re-purchased the Destiny franchise from Activision-Blizzard and received a massive $100 million investment from Chinese juggernaut NetEase to fund its "bold new vision."

First Sony's PlayStation exclusives came to PC, then games released on Xbox. Now Sony will release its first PlayStation Studios game on Nintendo Switch.

Today the MLB announced that MLB The Show 22 will release on April 15, 2022 on PlayStation, Xbox, and for the first time ever, Nintendo Switch. This is a great business move that will leverage the Switch's mighty 92.87 million install base and also marks a historic occasion as the first-ever PlayStation Studios game to release on the Switch (MLB The Show games are developed by Sony's San Diego Studio, a wholly-owned subsidiary).

MBL The Show 22 will have full cross-platform play with PlayStation and Xbox gamers, alongside cross-progression.

After significant push back from fans, voice actor Troy Baker will no longer get into NFTs.

Troy Baker, who has voiced countless characters from Joel Miller in The Last of Us and The Joker in the Batman Arkham games, is abandoning is plans to support voice-based NFTs.

"Thank you all for your feedback and patience. After careful consideration, I've decided to not continue the partnership with VoiceVerseNFT. Intentions aside, I've heard you and apologize for accusing anyone of "hating" just by simply disagreeing with me," Baker said on Twitter.

FF7 Remake part 2 could be announced sometime in 2022 to coincide with the game's big 25th anniversary.

Final Fantasy 7 Remake is an episodic game that could span console generations. It's been nearly two years since the first game was released, so when does FF7R chapter 2 launch? No one knows yet, but we could get an announcement this year.

In a recent anniversary stream, game producer Yoshinori Kitase said: "...As for the Final Fantasy VII Remake news you've been waiting on, I think I'll be able to share more this year, maybe."

Elden Ring won't be so mercilessly difficult this time and offer players more flexibility to tackle obstacles like bosses, environments, and exploration in different ways.

Hidetaka Miyazaki has some great news for Elden Ring players: The game's non-linear open world gives more freedom in when to fight or avoid bosses. That means players won't have to "bang their head against a wall over and over," as Miyazaki puts it. You can run off and go level up somewhere else, explore another region, or practice against smaller enemies.

In this way, Elden Ring should technically be less difficult that linear games like Dark Souls and Bloodborne.

Square Enix teases even more Final Fantasy 7 projects as the landmark RPG turns 25 years old.

Final Fantasy 7 is so popular that Square Enix is treating as a mini-series. Mainline games will still continue--like Final Fantasy XVI--but the FF7 Series is getting its own galaxy of products too. Final Fantasy 7 Remake is just the beginning, and both Yoshinori Kitase (producer) and Tetsuya Nomura (creative director) tease more FF7 games.

"FF7 has re-emerged as the latest game in the series once again, with titles like Final Fantasy 7 Remake and Final Fantasy 7 The First Soldier, and you can look forward to even more exciting new developments in the future," producer Yoshinori Kitase said in a recent post.

New box art for Cyberpunk 2077 has reportedly been spotted on the PlayStation Store's backend database, hinting at an incoming PS5 version.

Back in October, CD Projekt announced Cyberpunk 2077's next-gen versions would be delayed to Q1 2022. This period is from January thru March 2022 so that means Cyberpunk 2077 on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S should launch sometime in February or March.

Now it looks like the next-gen version is right on track. New icon artwork for Cyberpunk 2077 has been unearthed by dataminers who comb the PlayStation servers for info on upcoming game releases. CD Projekt has not yet uploaded metadata like file size for the PS5 build--once that happens it indicates that progress has been made and some time of build has been uploaded.

Support studio Certain Affinity is reportedly working on a brand new all-original gametype for Halo Infinite that will appeal to recreational players.

Halo Infinite Firefight or some variant of PvPvE game mode could be coming to the budding service game. Sources tell Windows Central's Jez Corden that Certain Affinity is making a new Halo Infinite mode aimed at casual gamers.

The gametype is big enough to have its own codename (Project Tatanka) and may serve as the middle ground between the easy Bot Bootcamp playlist and the more competitive playlists. The mode is meant to onboard new players who may not be familiar with Halo's gameplay and would rather enjoy a more low-stress experience, possibly something like the unranked, non-competitive camaraderie that formed from Halo 3's customs matches years ago.

A new Halo Infinite BTB fix has been playtested and is waiting to be greenlit by Xbox's QA teams.

After 3 months of malfunctioning matchmaking and one failed update, Halo Infinite's Big Team Battle is still having issues. 343i is on the case and says a new patch is currently in certification...but it won't be ready until February 3 at the earliest. For now BTB will still remain broken, but the devs will remove challenges from BTB starting February 1.

"Using the telemetry we received from the hotfix on January 19, we were able to make a new build with an update that we believe should address the core issue impacting the BTB playlist. The studio ran a successful playtest today and plans to send it off for certification on Monday," Halo community manager John Junyszek said in a forum post.

Ubisoft's recent Quartz NFTs are disastrous PR nightmare that've been ridiculed by pundits, consumers, fans, and the press. Instead of reversing course, Ubisoft is doubling down.

Ubisoft believes in NFTs and isn't giving up. The wildly unpopular Quartz NFTs are "just the beginning" of what's to come. Ubisoft has a grand vision in how its NFT platform will work out--despite not actually revealing said plan or discussing details. It's the gamers and consumers who "don't get it," one dev says.

In a recent interview with Finder, Nicolas Pouard, who has worked at Ubisoft's Strategic Innovations R&D lab with blockchain games since 2018, said this about NFTs:

The new Evil Dead game has been delayed for a second time and will now release on Friday the 13th in May.

Evil Dead: The Game has been pushed back again. This time it will launch May 13, 2022 on all systems as a feature-complete product with PVP, PVE, and solo play.

In a recent interview, star and game producer Bruce Campbell said his top priority is to make the game worth the wait.

For decades SEGA's name has been above Japan's bustling arcades. Then COVID-19 disrupted the market, forcing SEGA to spin off its arcade business to avoid disastrous losses. Now SEGA's name is being removed entirely.

In 2020, SEGA sold off 85.1% of its arcade business shares to Genda Inc. A new company was born from this transaction: Genda SEGA Entertainment.

Today Genda announced that it has purchased 14.9% of SEGA's remaining shares and the company will be renamed to Genda GiGo Entertainment. SEGA's name will be removed from all arcade centers throughout Japan and be replaced with the new GiGo brand.

Call of Duty Warzone is getting a sequel that will flip the reset switch and start fresh.

Warzone 2 will essentially follow in Destiny 2's footsteps. Reports from Tom Henderson indicate that the Warzone sequel will wipe the slate clean and start fresh, complete with new content, operators, weapons, etc. Warzone 2's map is reportedly being made by Infinity Ward, and will launch alongside the upcoming Modern Warfare 2 reboot sequel in November 2022.

The biggest departure is that Warzone 2 will only connect to a single mainline game, Modern Warfare 2, when it releases in 2022. It's set to be a highly-optimized, streamlined, and next-gen connective tissue between MW2 and the games that come next.

NetherRealm has a little fun with Mortal Kombat fans' predilection of wild goose chases and suppositions.

A bit ago NetherRealm senior production manager Jonathan Andersen reportedly posted up a Mortal Kombat image on Twitter...and then promptly deleted it. At first glance everything looks normal--it's just some old legacy artwork for Injustice and some Mortal Kombat adverts. Closer inspection (look on the upper right) reveals some interestingly-named desktop icons: KI_Planning, dinosaur, and a reference to MK12.

Even closer inspection reveals a tongue-in-cheek email from Christine Letheby, NetherRealm's production manager, which mentions: "Our fans eagerly scrape the internet for any trace..."which is undoubtedly a nod to Injustice 3 and Mortal Kombat 12 theories floating around.

Yacht Club Games teases a huge announcement at their upcoming showcase, which will be streamed on G4TV's new Twitch channel.

The third Yacht Club Games Presents stream is coming back on Tuesday, February 1st at 2pm PDT on G4's Twitch channel. The devs are hyping up the show with some pretty explosive language surrounding a groundbreaking announcement. Could this be a clever pun for a new Shovel Knight game, or perhaps even a TV show based on the mega-popular indie franchise?

The stream will have "boatload of new updates, never-before-seen gameplay sneak peeks, DLC, and a groundbreaking announcement," Yacht Club says. This show will be one for the ages: "We have a bunch of cool announcements including an exciting MEGATON ANNOUNCEMENT! You do not want to miss this historic event!"

Death Stranding Director's Cut is coming to Steam and the Epic Games Store on March 30, publisher 505 Games has announced.

The definitive version of Kojima's ultra-weird journey simulator is coming to PC in March for a reduced cost. Death Stranding Director's Cut will cost $39.99 on both Steam and the Epic Games Store (with variable regional pricing). Anyone who currently owns a copy of the base game can pay $9.99 to upgrade to the Director's Cut.

"To upgrade, owners simply need to install the standard edition of the game, then purchase the DIRECTOR'S CUT through the in-game store-front at the discounted rate," a press release says.

Elder Scrolls Online's new expansion is called High Isle, and takes place in a Breton island-kingdom that was specifically created for ESO.

Today Bethesda announced ESO's full-year content roadmap for 2022, including new expansions and DLC. The 2022 theme is Legacy of the Bretons, and the new expansion (also called chapters) is High Isle, which comes jam-packed with new content including gear, zones, dungeons, and even a Gwent-like card game.

Here's a timeline:

Crytek goes on a big hiring spree as it ramps up development on Crysis 4.

Crysis 4 is officially happening. Instead of announcing the game with a splash at E3 or The Game Awards, Crytek instead used Crysis 4's announcement for recruitment. It's so early that Crytek isn't trying to build hype yet--it's trying to build a workforce. Blizzard just did the same thing with the announcement of its new fantasy IP.

Right now Crytek is hiring a ton of developers across multiple disciplines, including senior and director level roles. There's 23 job openings available at its Frankfurt, Germany studio that range from concept artists (who lay out the early visions for games) to design directors and weapon designers.

Free-to-play battle royale Hyper Scape is officially shutting down, Ubisoft Montreal today announced.

Ubisoft hit the ground running in 2020 with battle royale FPS Hyper Scape, an attempt to cash in on the billion-dollar Apex Legends and Warzone craze. Despite a fiery marketing campaign that recruited big-name streamers, the game fizzled out and lost steam over time. Now it's being shut down as Ubisoft Montreal moves to other projects.

Hyper Scape was last updated in April 2021.

Sony's next big PlayStation console exclusive has been finalized.

Horizon Forbidden West has officially gone gold, and is now feature-complete and ready to ship. Guerrilla Games announced the news today with much fanfare, locking in the February 18, 2022 release date for Aloy's new adventure.

The sequel is one of the most ambitious games in the new PS5 generation, and Guerrilla's biggest title to date. Horizon Forbidden West introduces a significant amount of changes to gameplay, including fundamental shake-ups to verticality and exploration with free climbing and an arc glider. There's also a new outfit-based gear system that will buff skills and abilities.