Gaming - Page 453

Before I even start, remember this is a technical playtest and not the final game -- but early reports from the Battlefield 2042 technical playtest report that the Xbox Series X version of the game runs better, smoother than the PC version of the game.

Battlefield leaker Tom Henderson tweeted out that he was receiving reports that "the Xbox version of the Battlefield 2042 tech test is much smoother than the PC version". The PC version of Battlefield 2042 on the other hand, once it launches, have NVIDIA-powered DLSS and Reflex technologies that will make it far superior than any console could ever wish to be.

It seems the console versions of Battlefield 2042 aren't perfect, as EA DICE had to pull the plug on the PlayStation 5 version of the Battlefield 2042 technical playtest over a "critical issue". The full game launches on October 22, so let's hope things are worked out by then.

Sony's OG car-smashing battle royale could make a return on the PlayStation 5.

The Twisted Metal franchise may come back to PlayStation consoles sometime in 2023, new reports from Battlefield informer Tom Henderson suggest. Sony is expected to support the PS4 until 2023, and after that the PS5 will take over.

While Sony has yet to officially confirm the news, a new game does seem likely. Sony has said a new Twisted Metal TV show is in development at itsPlayStation Productions media label (Sony's PlayStation Productions is adapting its core gaming IPs into films, TV shows, and series, including a Uncharted film starring Spider-Man's Tom Holland, a TV show based on The Last of Us, and a new Ratchet and Clank production).

Remedy has an ambitious plan to have three franchises on the market by 2025, and it's possible new games like Alan Wake and a Control sequel could release in the next four years.

Remedy Entertainment is currently working on five big projects, including two projects funded by Epic Games (which are believed to be Alan Wake titles), and a new big-budget Control game with 505 Games. These titles could release by 2025.

"By 2025, we aim to create several successful games and at least one major hit game that can [appear] on global selling charts," Remedy CEO Tero Virtala said in a recent earnings call.

Nearly two years after launch, Control is still selling well and Remedy expects 2021 to be a good year for overall purchases.

Remedy's new IP is paying off big. The developer's earnings are strong (they made more in 1H 2021 than the entire 2017 year) and Control is a big reason for continued revenues. Control has sold 2 million copies as of December 2020 and has been played by over 10 million people via game sales, PlayStation Plus, and Game Pass. Remedy expects Control to continue selling well into its third year.

"Control sold well in 2020, a long time after its original launch, and Control has continued to sell well this year," Remedy Entertainment CEO Tero Virtala said in a recent earnings call.

DICE has cancelled the planned Battlefield 2042 technical test on PlayStation 5 due to a "critical issue" with the build.

PS5 gamers won't get to try out Battlefield 2042 and put it through its paces this weekend. DICE recently confirmed the BF2042 technical test has been scrapped on PS5 due to an unspecific "critical issue."

"We've been testing our builds in the background on console ahead of the crossplay testing this weekend. We've already identified a critical issue with our submitted build on PlayStation 5 and have notified folks that we will not be testing on PlayStation 5 this weekend," Lead Community Manager Adam Freeman said on Twitter.

Nintendo conquers hardware and software sales in the United States with the Switch and Zelda Skyward Sword HD.

Nintendo is topping the charts once again. The Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword HD was the best-selling game in the United States in July 2021, the NPD Group confirms. Not many games released in July, however the NPD Group's figures don't even include digital sales of Skyward Sword which may be even higher. The Switch also took the top spot as the best-selling console for the month, helping Nintendo push past 89 million console sales.

"The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword was the best-selling game of July 2021. It is the first Nintendo published title to lead the monthly best-sellers chart since the launch of Super Mario 3D world in the February 2021 tracking month," NPD Group analyst Mat Piscatella said.

Microsoft's second-most-powerful next-gen Xbox has been thrown under the teardown microscope, with the Xbox Series S looking mighty sharp for its small footprint. Check it out:

The folks over at Digital Foundry have pulled apart the Xbox Series S console, after it stopped working -- to see what it looked like inside. The design of the Xbox Series S is impressive, given how small it is: measuring in at 27.5 x 15.1 x 6.5cm and weighing in at 1.93kg (4.25lbs).

Microsoft is using a chunky heat sink to cool that semi-custom SoC designed by AMD, with the CPU side of things packing 8 cores based on the Zen 2 microarchitecture... while on the GPU side of things, we have 20 Compute Units based on the RDNA 2 graphics architecture with 10GB of GDDR6 memory.

Diablo 2 Resurrected won't have realm ladders at launch, franchise lead Rod Fergusson confirms.

In an odd move, the new Diablo 2 remaster won't have ladder rankings at launch. The ladders are seasonal events where everything is reset and players get a fresh start to scramble for the top spot. I always loved ladder resets because the in-game economy had a chance to shift--in one season, a high rune equaled 2 ist and um, and another season ist was a high rune. This was an exciting part of the changing trade meta that kept the game fresh without diverting too much from the core experience.

Sadly, ladders won't be in Diablo 2 Resurrected at launch. This means any characters you create or items you find will not carry over to the seasonal ladders once they go live. This is something to bear in mind before you start playing. It's also worth mentioning that direct TCP/IP online multiplayer isn't supported either. The only way to play D2R online is through the new Battle.net framework which is more secure than Bnet 1.0. Realm ladders brought more security because they are exclusively run by Blizzard, but now basic online multiplayer is secured by default.

Remedy's next big-budget Control game won't release any time soon, CEO Tero Virtala confirms.

Remedy is working on two new Control games: A four-player PVE multiplayer spin-off game called Condor, and a fully-fledged Control sequel. The bigger-budget sequel is still in very early stages--in fact, Remedy CEO Tero Virtala says the new Control is in pre-production conceptual phases. This means it's still in planning and actual development hasn't proceeded.

"We are still working on Control, we are expanding the world of Control, and we also announced there is a bigger, new Control game in very early phases of conception," Virtala said in a recent earnings call.

The reports were true: Quake is coming back with a new release, and the reveal will be at QuakeCon 2021.

Bethesda has accidentally spoiled a big QuakeCon surprise by confirming that a new Quake game is in development. The info was spotted on a now-altered QuakeCon 2021 schedule that mentions a "revitalized edition" of Quake is coming from MachineGames and id Software. This news follows recent reports of a Quake reboot with a female protagonist, but it's possible this new game is just a remaster of the original that'll be re-released on consoles and PC.

"Quake is back, in this special stream John Linneman from Digital Foundry talks to Jerk Gustafsson of Machine Games about the title's iconic legacy and what it meant to both of them. The pair will also discuss the additional content Machine Games have contributed to this revitalized edition," the original schedule reads.

You don't actually have to pre-order Diablo 2 Resurrected to get into the early access beta.

Instead of paying with money, Blizzard will also let you spend time in order to try out Diablo 2 Resurrected. The closed early access beta begins today, but you can get in even if you didn't pre-order. All you have to do is watch 2.5 hours of a drop-enabled Diablo 2 Resurrected stream on Twitch. Click here to see which streams are currently drop-enabled. So far we haven't seen any D2R streams.

The offer is exclusive to PC via Battle.net and won't be available on PlayStation or Xbox. A D2R open beta test is set for August 20 to August 23, and remember this is multiplayer-only and no singleplayer will be available. There's five classes to choose from--Barb, Paladin, Amazon, Sorceress, and Druid (everyone but the Necro and Assassin are playable) and the test only runs up to Act II.

Rockstar Games is planning to release remasters of Grand Theft Auto III, Grand Theft Auto Vice City, and Grand Theft Auto San Andreas on consoles in 2021, sources tell Kotaku.

Take-Two's three unannounced re-releases/remasters are reportedly all GTA games. Reports say Rockstar Dundee is developing remasters of the PS2-era GTA mega-hits for a digital-only bundle on PS4, Xbox One, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, PC, Mobile, and even Stadia.

Sources say the games are all being remastered in Unreal Engine with updated UI, but the fate of each game's original soundtracks remain dubious. The PC and mobile versions may not release until next year.

While Blizzard has seemingly yet to pinpoint major gameplay features, Activision promises that Diablo 4 will have content for "multiple years."

In a recent earnings call, Activision-Blizzard president Daniel Alegre says the company is investing big in Diablo 4's post-launch roadmap. Blizzard meanwhile is still experimenting with various in-game features. In short, the game isn't finished yet and the developers are looking to the future, which is par for the course for any live game.

"Blizzard continues to make strong progress on Diablo IV," Activision-Blizzard president Daniel Alegre said in a Q2'21 earnings call. "The game is shaping up incredibly well, and the team is allocating substantial resources to creating exciting content to drive engagement over multiple years."

Two of Diablo 4's key creative forces have left Blizzard, the publisher officially confirms to Kotaku.

Activision-Blizzard is currently behind the crosshair of two major legal battles: The billion-dollar company is being sued for sexual harassment and discrimination by California's Department of Fair Employment and Housing, and law firms have also filed a class-action securities fraud lawsuit against the games giant.

The ongoing controversy is affecting development of key Blizzard games, including Diablo 4. Talent is leaving the studio and seeking other opportunities, including Diablo 4's game director Luis Barriga and lead designer Jesse McCree.

Sony is reportedly planning on introducing a new PlayStation Plus premium tier that bundles in video streaming offerings like Crunchyroll.

Sony will use its media arsenal to merge its billion-dollar gaming and video streaming services into one package. Sources tell Eurogamer that Sony will add a new higher-priced PS Premium subscription that bundles in other services like Crunchyroll at a reduced monthly/annual rate.

It's likely this will be part of PlayStation Plus Video Pass, an initiative that was accidentally leaked by Sony's Polish division back in April. Sony has yet to confirm details of PS Plus Video Pass, but the leaked materials included movies and TV shows from Sony Pictures Entertainment combined with the PlayStation Plus. It's possible Crunchyroll, which Sony recently acquired for $1.175 billion, will also be part of the offering.

Unity is buying Parsec, the company behind a popular remote desktop streaming service, for $320 million.

With the ongoing pandemic raging worldwide, game developers have been (and still are) forced to work from home and don't always have access to critical high-end office PCs. This has led to a multitude of game delays. That's where Parsec comes in.

Some of gaming's biggest companies including EA, Activision-Blizzard, and Square Enix have ised Parsec, a remote desktop streaming service, to connect employees to their valuable work computers. The game dev landscape has now changed and Unity is adapting in a big way by acquiring Parsec for $320 million in cash.

STALKER 2 will be powered by Epic Games' next-gen Unreal Engine 5, confirmed by the official Unreal Engine Twitter account.

The official STALKER account said "feel free to mention we're running on UE5" to which the official Unreal Engine Twitter account replied with a quick-witted "Hey, sure thing! We thought it was a secret though..." but I guess not. Unreal Engine 5 will make STALKER 2 look truly incredible, gives me another reason to not want to wait too much longer to play it.

So it seemed it wasn't meant to be revealed, but these days it is something that could be part of a larger marketing campaign. Lots of secrets were kept during Chernobyl, and maybe lots of secrets are here with STALKER 2 and its new "reveal" that it's powered by next-gen Unreal Engine 5 technology.

Capcom isn't ready to commit to $69.99 pricing for its next-gen games just yet, and instead will monitor industry trends and data to make a decision.

Big publishers like Take-Two, EA, Activision-Blizzard, and Sony have established a new $69.99 price for PS5 and Xbox Series X games (they've also started to cut out free next-gen upgrades). Other games-makers like Capcom are hesitant to raise the price tag of their games and want to see how the market reacts to the new schemes. Remember that publishers still expect most of their game sales to be on current-gen PS4 and Xbox One consoles due to the high install base.

In a recent investors Q&A, Capcom management was asked outright if a price hike was planned. The executives responded: "For new titles, we would like to set prices that are appropriate, based on market data."

Capcom's latest franchise sales figures show strong growth in some of gaming's most powerful IPs, including Monster Hunter and Resident Evil.

Capcom kicked off its FY2021 period with a massive spike in game sales. Q1 net sales revenue was up 104% to 48.2 billion yen, driven by a staggering 13.3 million games sold during the period. Resident Evil made up over half of these quarterly sales with 7 million units sold digitally and physically.

Taking a closer look at Capcom's top 5 franchises and we see clear trends that help define the company's long-term business. While the new RE Village mostly made up total RE sales growth, Capcom did sell a bunch of older games like RE5, RE6, and RE7. Meanwhile, sales of Monster Hunter World have slowed down to 500,000 units during Q1, bringing total game sales to 17.3 million.

Capcom's top-selling Resident Evil franchise moved a huge 7 million units in its Q1 period, the largest QoQ growth in the last 3 years.

With 4.5 million units shipped to date, Resident Evil Village has helped supercharge overall franchise sales in a critical post-pandemic period. Capcom's latest sales figures show the horror series has now sold 117 million units worldwide, with 7 million RE titles sold in the Q1 period from March - June 2021.

In fact, Resident Evil made up over half of Capcom's total game sales for the quarter. The company managed to sell 13.3 million copies of games during Q1'21, and most of the revenues from these sales were digital.