Gaming - Page 436

Forza Horizon 5 is right around the corner, with Microsoft and developer Playground Games revealing the download size for the game.

We're looking at 103GB of storage required on both the Windows and Steam versions of the game on the PC, with the next-gen Xbox Series X/S consoles both also needing 103GB free storage for Forza Horizon 5. The previous-gen Xbox One version of the game is actually larger, requiring 116GB of storage.

You can now pre-load Forza Horizon 5 on the Microsoft Store, while if you've pre-ordered the game on Steam you'll have to wait a little while longer. The developer explains: "With the high-speed internal SSD storage found on Xbox Series X|S consoles, we've reduced the install footprint of Forza Horizon 5 on those systems by optimizing our assets for higher bandwidth streaming. That means a shorter download combined with super-fast loading times so you can seamlessly jump into the action as soon as you say 'Let's Go!'"

Microsoft is bringing new fan-requested features to the Xbox Series X, including a 4K UHD resolution dashboard UI and more.

Ever-focused on continually evolving and adding to the Xbox ecosystem, Microsoft rolled out a new update for the Xbox Series X that makes some big changes to onscreen visuals. We're not talking about gaming, but the UI used for navigation, which is now rendered in native 3840 x 2160p. The old UI used to be 1080p upscaled to 4K, which resulted in lots of jaggies and fuzzy edges--a minor gripe considering major advantages like Quick Resume and cloud saves, but hey.

There's also a new night mode that softens the on-screen light and even reduces the light from the controller (a big deal because Xbox controllers run on batteries) and the console's button, which is a nice touch for anyone playing at night. There's even a blue light filter to help gamers with sensitive eyes...pretty important when your games service is keeping people glued to their TVs for hours on end.

Doom Eternal's anticipated horde mode is coming October 26 in Update 6.66, id Software today announced.

Horde mode was something that I always wanted in Doom Eternal. Every since I started messing around with cheats I kept trying to figure out a way to get enemies to spawn in certain locations--I wanted to take on three or four marauders at once and just see how insane the battles could get. Wide-scale demon wars that are so demanding that they crash the game. Stuff like that.

Thankfully the official horde mode is coming out soon. It looks to be a survival-fest that gets harder over time, where you face off against waves of demon monstrosities in a scored and ranked playlist. It's an arcade game from hell--the best kind of arcade game. Update 6.66 will also include Battlemode's 2.0 revamp, two new master levels, and Bethesda says "there's certainly a surprise or two in there."

Remember in 2020 when everyone said raytracing could fix Halo Infinite's bad graphics? That's actually happening. 343i just confirmed Infinite will support raytracing thanks to AMD.

Halo Infinite will support AMD's raytracing solution on PC and possibly Xbox Series X/S consoles. The developers today revealed a host of high-end performance features that will be available on PC at launch and says it is working with AMD, its official partner, to scale and optimize the game across the entire spectrum of hardware from Jaguar SoCs in the Xbox One to the 7nm+ Zen 2 SoCs in the Series X and blistering-fast new desktop CPUs and GPUs.

"We're looking forward to working closely with AMD to bring raytracing to Halo Infinite. Raytracing is one our top development priorities post-launch and look forward to sharing more soon," 343 Industries wrote in the update.

Microsoft and Seagate are introduce two new SSD expansion cards to boost Xbox Series X/S storage: A cheaper 512GB option, and a hefty 2TB version that's more expensive than an Xbox Series S.

Seagate is introducing two new Xbox Series X/S SSDs to help fill out the price spectrum: a 512GB SSD for $139 that will be available mid-November, and a 2TB SSD for an eye-watering $399 that's coming in December, which is more than the Xbox Series S' MSRP of $299. Each drive has the same performance of an internal Xbox Series X/S SSD.

By December, Xbox gamers will have three options to upgrade their next-gen Xbox storage:

Square Enix says Guardians of the Galaxy's install size on the spec requirement page will shrink by almost half before launch.

A bit ago some bruhaha broke out about Eidos-Montreal's new Guardians of the Galaxy game, mainly with its huge install size requirements. Previous Steam listings say the game needs 150GB of space. This is wrong. The game actually only needs about 80GB of space--Eidos-Montreal has shrunk the requirement down by nearly 50%--and the Steam store page has been updated to reflect this number.

Outside of this brief kerfuffle there hasn't been much negativity around the game. Guardians of the Galaxy is an offline, singleplayer-only action RPG and won't be monetized with microtransactions or DLC. It's a self-contained experience and is as opposite as Avengers as a game could get. Crystal Dynamics' Avengers game has been criticized for its over-monetized cosmetics and explosive, yet derivative gameplay.

Bethesda reveals new Starfield info in an unlisted YouTube video, confirming the star date, brutal interstellar war, and multiple new factions seen in the game.

Every new Starfield update makes one thing clear: This is the game Bethesda has always wanted to make. Starfield is a celebration of the golden age of 1970s sci-fi where spaceships, blasters, and promises of interstellar exploration captured the public's attention.

The latest Starfield news further illustrates this with new exuberant concept art inspired directly from John Berkey alongside gritty Bladerunner-style art based on Syd Mead's work. We also get a bunch of new info, including confirmation that Starfield takes place in the year 2330 in the Settled Systems, a group of planets and stars 50 light-years away from the Solar System.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and Cyberpunk 2077 next-gen versions won't release in 2021, and have been delayed to 2022, CD Projekt RED today announced.

In a recent note to investors, CD Projekt RED confirms the delay of new next-gen ports for two of its hit games. Cyberpunk 2077's PS5 and Xbox Series X/S re-release will now launch in Q1 2022, which runs from January - March 2022.

The Witcher 3 won't be out until much longer, as far out as mid-year. CDPR plans to launch The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt's PS5 and Xbox Series X/S version in Q2 2022, which runs from April - June 2022.

Sony continues breaking PlayStation console game exclusivity by bringing more PS4 games to PC.

God of War is the latest PS4 game to make the jump over to PC. Sony Santa Monica's 2018 magnum opus will be unleashed with the power of PC hardware and offer optimizations like NVIDIA DLSS support for boosted in-game performance (as well as NVIDIA Reflex support), native 4K resolution gaming, and uncapped frame rates. Like the PC version of Horizon Zero Dawn, God of War will also have a ton of graphical tweaks and presets for PC players to adjust.

"Our PC version includes a wide range of graphical presets and options so you can fine-tune your visual experience based on your setup. From higher resolution shadows and improved screen space reflections to enhancements to the ambient occlusion pipeline with GTAO and SSDO - God of War on the PC can create striking visual quality unique to the platform."

Monster Hunter World is selling incredibly well for a three year-old video game and still remains Capcom's champion release.

Monster Hunter World's performance can be summed in one phrase: sales-revenue monster. The game has now accumulated 20 million shipments worldwide, cementing the game firmly as the best-selling Capcom title of all time.

On top of the accumulated sales milestone is the game's continued sales over time. Monster Hunter World's previous sales were 17.3 million as of June 30, 2021, meaning the online action-RPG has sold 2.7 million in just three months. That's more than some games sell in their entire lifetime, and Monster Hunter World's total sales are more than some franchises sell.

As a huge Call of Duty: Warzone (mostly Rebirth Resurgence) and just as big of a fan of the Scream franchise, it brings me great pleasure to announce that Ghostface from the Scream franchise is dropping into The Haunting event in Call of Duty: Warzone and Black Ops Cold War.

Ghostface is available in the Store between October 19, and November 18, 2021 with the horror-themed "The Haunting" event in Warzone and Black Ops Cold War. On the official Call of Duty website, they explain: "This is your opportunity to play as Ghostface before the return to cinemas in January 2022, when Paramount Pictures and Spyglass Media Group will bring back the classic film series that defined the '90s for meta horror".

Not only is there a Ghostface Operator -- which I purchased just as I started writing this news -- there's also the iconic "Violent End" Finishing Movie. There's the "Cordless Phone" Weapon Charm, the "Scary Hours" Watch, an animated Emblem and Calling Card, 3 x Legendary Weapon Blueprints, with one of them being Ghostface's signature weapon: the "Ghost Blade".

Apple has quite the beast on its hands with its new M1 Max SoC which was unveiled during Apple's 2021 MacBook Pro unveiling event, with the latest custom silicon made on TSMC's new 5nm process node.

The new Apple M1 Max SoC is faster than Sony's PlayStation 5 console in pure compute performance, with the Apple M1 Max SoC having 10.40 TFLOPs of performance while the semi-custom APU inside of the PS5 is capable of 10.28 TFLOPs.

Apple has 10 CPU cores and up to 32 GPU cores inside of the new M1 Max, with up to 64GB of unified RAM with 400GB/sec of memory bandwidth. Sony has 16GB of shared GDDR6 (between the system and GPU) inside of the semi-custom APU inside of the PS5, with 448GB/sec of memory bandwidth -- 48GB/sec more than the M1 Max SoC. Apple has much more memory (up to 64GB versus 16GB inside of the PS5 APU).

Netflix re-affirms its commitment to not charging extra for its new video games.

Netflix is getting into gaming. The company plans to bundle new video games for free with all existing Netflix subscriptions with no added cost to consumers. The company also reiterates that there won't be any in-game purchases, monetization, or microtransactions--unlike most games on the market today. Instead of making money, Netflix says it's focusing on user enjoyment above everything else.

"As a reminder, games on Netflix will be included in members' subscriptions and will not have advertisements or in-app purchases so game play is purely focused on enjoyment versus monetization," the company said in its Q3'21 earnings report.

Shortly after removing its PS5 Darkplates from sale, Dbrand has resurrected the custom shells with a new design.

Dbrand's Darkplates are back on the market, but they're a little different than before. Instead of just making a black version of the often-memed PS5 casing, the new Darkplate 2.0 design removes plate fins altogether.

There's also two vents on either side of the plates aimed at improving air circulation from the console's massive 120mm dual-intake fan, and thus keeping vital components cooler during demanding 4K graphical loads.

UPDATE: CD Projekt RED has confirmed The Witcher 3's next-gen version has been delayed to Q2 2022.

The Witcher 3's next-gen version is likely to meet its initial 2021 release timing.

New ratings for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt's next-gen PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X version have been spotted on PEGI's ratings database, signalling an upcoming announcement and impending release. The listing, which is for the Game of the Year SKU with all expansions, suggests Witcher 3's next-gen port may not be delayed and meet its original 2021 release plans.

Marcus Lehto helped make one of the most iconic shooters in the history of gaming. Now he's opening a new studio for Electronic Arts.

Halo veteran Marcus Lehto today announced he will serve as game director for a new EA studio based in Seattle. Lehto says the studio will focus on what he does best--first-person shooters--and may possibly be set in a new franchise or IP. Electronic Arts CEO has said in the past that new IP is currently in incubation and development stages, however EA has two billion-dollar hits with Battlefield and Apex Legends.

Lehto has worked on every single Halo game leading up to Reach and has been an invaluable force in shaping the franchise's legacy. More recently, Lehto opened up a studio V1 Interactive which shipped the failed service game Disintegration.

A new Splinter Cell game is in development at an undisclosed Ubisoft studio, sources tell Video Game Chronicle.

Reports say that Ubisoft has finally approved a new Splinter Cell game. The project is reportedly in early pre-production phases of development outside of its Montreal-based studio.

The news comes during an interesting time for Ubisoft, who is starting to shift towards mobile and free-to-play games development. Ubisoft also just shook up its internal editorial team, a division that oversees the creative decisions behind all in-development and upcoming games. Ubisoft leadership is now focusing on differentiating its games following the lackluster performance of The Division 2 and Ghost Recon Breakpoint--both of which were derivative.

Apple's new M1 Max chip has a monstrous 32-core GPU with 10.4 TFLOPs of power (that's a bit higher than a PS5), but compatibility may be the chip's Achilles' heel.

Yesterday Apple announced its new MacBook Pro notebooks aimed at professionals. The new line includes supercharged M1 SoCs--the M1 Pro, and the monstrous M1 Max, which features a 10-core CPU, a GPU with up to 32 cores, and up to 64GB of unified memory. It's a powerhouse for high-end workloads. Gaming, however, isn't the main selling point.

As Moor Insights and Strategy's Patrick Moorhead notes, the MacBook Pros aren't well-positioned for gaming. It's not because of the SoC horsepower; on paper, the M1 Max checks a lot of the boxes for gaming. The issue is compatibility, namely on PC's biggest storefront.

Nintendo's new $50 Switch Online pricing tier introduces game DLC for the first time, signifying a shift to hybridized availability. This aggressive pricing model should spark an aggressive push towards value-oriented content past the current offerings.

Now that the Switch hardware install base has matured with over 84 million shipments worldwide, Nintendo pushing harder into digital capitalization. The new $50 Switch Online + Expansion Pack is a clear example of Nintendo's plan, which was first implemented with NSO's original launch. After all, the Switch doesn't have Virtual Console because Nintendo would rather lease you games rather than let you buy them. That way you are in a state of continual service renting--think of it like Blockbuster without late fees.

The $50 Switch Online tier is kind of a hard sell. Compared to the $20 version, you're not getting a whole lot extra outside of a handful of Nintendo 64 and SEGA Genesis games. That will change over time. Not only will the games library continue to expand and more DLC will be added. How long that will take is totally up to Nintendo, and based on recent trends, it could take a while.

Valve is currently testing every Steam game for compatibility with the new Steam Deck, and it's posting its findings in a huge public database.

Valve today launched a new platform aimed at transparently informing Steam Deck owners which games they should play on the handheld-PC hybrid. Games that meet certain performance and experience targets become verified on the database and on the official Steam Deck storefront. Every game will have a compatibility icon telling you certain limitations that might be in place.

"With Steam Deck, we're bringing your Steam Library to a new form factor-a portable gaming PC. While many games run great on Deck out of the box, this shift means there are some games that, while they may be great on a desktop PC, aren't a great experience on Steam Deck, Valve says.