Gaming - Page 464

Playground Games captured 75TB worth of pictures of skies over Mexico to ensure Forza Horizon 5 delivers ultra-realistic gameplay.

A lot of work is going into Forza Horizon 5. Playground Games traveled to Mexico to snap an enormous amount of visual data for the game's skies. The developers use a specialized capture rig made up of three cameras that are capable of taking 8K resolution images. These cameras can be programmed to take pictures every 30 seconds for the entire day--that's 2,880 pictures a day. Playground says they capture photos for 400 hours, which is roughly 16.6 days. That equals to over 48,000 pictures of skies.

"We have three cameras that can take a third of the sky each and we take that back and stitch it together and then we have up to a 12K image that we can use for our sky domes," said Playground Games senior lighting artist Adan Currey.

Trusted games industry reporter Jason Schreier corroborates some of the recent GTA 6 rumors, namely the years-away release date and updated in-game world.

There's always tons of GTA 6 rumors floating around, and while specific details remain unknown, tidbits from trusted sources like Bloomberg's Jason Schreier have surfaced. According to Schreier, the recent GTA 6 info from Tom Henderson matches up with what internal sources have said.

Schreier says that GTA 6 should feature an evolving in-game map that gets updated over time, as per his Kotaku report from April 2020. Back then, as the pandemic was starting to ramp up, one of Rockstar's plans to alleviate crunch was to release a relatively smaller in-game world that would expand with updates, DLC, and expansions.

Like Microsoft, Xbox is a service-first business. Everything serves the platform ecosystem that isn't locked to any one device. Console hardware is a gateway to game sales, Xbox LIVE, and most importantly Game Pass, the service that has transformed the Xbox business.

We've long known that Microsoft emphasizes engagement over all other things. Xbox's billion-dollar digital empire is built around careful sustained engagement across all facets of the ecosystem, whether it's Xbox LIVE multiplayer or Xbox Game Pass, all pieces are designed to complement/synergize with one another but also operate in parallel. It's a good strategy: Xbox has consistently earned record revenues for four years running, with $8.1 billion earned in FY21 already so far.

Read Also: Game Pass defines entire Xbox generation, drives year-by-year revenues

Starfield and The Elder Scrolls 6 aren't just new games: They represent a new era for Bethesda Games Studios.

Bethesda is going all out for Starfield and The Elder Scrolls 6. The studio's creatives have been waiting decades to make Starfield--it was never possible before because the tech simply didn't exist. Now with the GPU/CPU and RAM synergy of next-gen PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S hardware, the tech is not only here, but better than expected, New hardware demands new engine optimizations, though, and Bethesda is up to the challenge.

To ensure Starfield and The Elder Scrolls 6 make the most out of the Xbox Series X/S, Bethesda is making the largest engine overhaul since the gigantic leap from Morrowind to Oblivion. Bethesda's new next-gen Creation Engine 2 is being tooled specifically to leverage next-gen SSD, GPU, CPU, and GDDR6 RAM tech. For the first time console components have been equalized in a way that unlocks a unshackled synergy and Bethesda is eager to exploit them.

Microsoft is hiring new software engineers to help create new machine learning algorithms that will push next-gen game on Xbox Seires X/S consoles.

Microsoft is doing fairly advanced work with Xbox hardware, namely with the software stack that optimizes next-level gaming performance like 120FPS, ray tracing, and 4K 60FPS. The system is powered by its new DirectX 12 suite of software APIs, which includes DirectStorage, Sampler Feedback Streaming, and DirectML, a feature that allows machine learning support on Xbox consoles. DirectML is a game-changer that helps run ultra-demanding games like Flight Simulator on comparatively lower-end console APUs.

The company is currently hiring to push DirectX 12's hardware-accelerated machine learning to new heights and continue balancing performance targets with ML algorithms.

Take-Two Interactive plans to release 62 games in the next 3 years. The company is buying up studios, talent, and tools in order to meet this lofty goal.

Microsoft, Sony, Tencent, EA, and other major publishers are snapping up dev teams left and right. Grand Theft Auto parent company Take-Two is no exception; they've made four big purchases for mobile, 2K Sports, Rockstar Games, and motion capture tech that will power a multitude of future games. The billion-dollar games-maker is planning more strategic acquisitions to fuel its next five years of gaming products across the premium and free-to-play markets.

According to Private Division's Head of Corporate Development & Independent Publishing Michael Worosz, Take-Two's buyout spree will continue. "This is Take-Two's third M&A transaction in the last nine months," Worosz said LinkedIn of the Dynamixyz buyout, "and we're still just getting started."

After two years of fighters, story updates, and a next-gen port, NetherRealm is totally finished with Mortal Kombat 11 and is looking to its next game.

NetherRealm today confirmed it's now focusing exclusively on its next unannounced project. Mortal Kombat 11's development and future content has ended, the devs said. The studio didn't confirm what it's working on, but fans speculate it could be Injustice 3--so far NetherRealm's development cadence has switched back and forth between Injustice and Mortal Kombat.

However, new job listings for NetherRealm suggest Mortal Kombat 12 is the next game. The studio is currently hiring a bunch of new talent, including a senior gameplay software engineer "to work as part of the programming team behind the Mortal Kombat franchise." These job listings were posted last month.

UPDATE: EA has issued the following statement regarding its PlayerWON advertising plans and confirms it has no plans to inject ads into console games:

"Following incorrect reports suggesting that we are looking to introduce 'TV-style' commercials into our games, we wanted to clarify that in-game advertising for console games is not something we're currently looking at, or have signed any agreements to implement. Creating the best possible player experience remains our priority focus."

The real-life Ad Buddy is here: EA is teaming up with an advertising platform to allow users to watch ads while playing games and earn in-game items.

EA Play Live is coming up this month on July 22, but BioWare won't be at the show.

Today BioWare confirmed that games like Dragon Age 4 and the new Mass Effect won't be at EA Play Live. The show will instead focus on games that are releasing in the more immediate future like Battlefield 2042, FIFA 22, Madden 22, and new Apex Legends content.

"We're hard at work creating the next Dragon Age and Mass Effect games and have some exciting stuff coming to Star Wars The Old Republic this year. We won't be showing anything at EA Play Live," BioWare said on Twitter.

Remedy Entertainment has revealed the last mystery game in its big slate of AAA projects: a new big-budget sequel to 2019's Control.

Remedy is very busy these days. The developer announced that it has two new Control games in the works: A fully-blown ambitious sequel, and a 4-player co-op PVE multiplayer spin-off game codenamed Condor, which will be exclusive to next-gen consoles and PC. This brings Remedy's total in-development pipeline up to 6 projects.

In a recent announcement, Remedy confirmed it will co-publish and co-finance both Condor and Control 2 with 505 Games: "505 Games and Remedy Entertainment have outlined high-level collaboration terms to further expand the Control franchise with a bigger-budget Control-game, to be agreed in more detail in the future."

Doom Eternal's invasion mode has been cancelled, but id Software is adding something better.

While doing our Doom Eternal review I had one strong thought: "This game really needs a horde mode." Luckily id Software was apparently listening to my internal dialog. Today id's Marty Stratton confirmed Doom Eternal is getting a new super-punishing horde mode for singleplayer that will push players to their limits.

"We have decided to redirect our focus from Invasion Mode to creating a totally new singleplayer horde mode. We're confident this horde mode will offer you more of the diversity and challenge you're looking for in the game," Stratton said in a statement.

EA today announced its schedule for EA Play Live, confirming five pre-show events before the main showcase on July 22.

EA's first pre-show event will focus on the future of first-person shooters, and it's pretty obvious that Apex Legends and Battlefield 2042 will be the stars of this one. Before you get too excited, PR has confirmed that these shows will be more like panels, so expect DICE and Respawn developers to discuss Battlefield 2042 and Apex Legends details in a format similar to the recent Twitch stream.

"The Series kicks off with an extensive discussion of two of our most exciting shooters: Apex Legends and the just-revealed Battlefield 2042.

Hideo Kojima and Microsoft have signed a preliminary agreement for a new game on Xbox, sources tell Venture Beat.

While neither Microsoft nor Kojima have yet to confirm their collaboration, the two recently signed a letter of intent saying they plant to work together, sources tell Venture Beat. This is basically a non-binding preliminary agreement that opens the door to an official publishing deal. Microsoft is apparently looking to publish Kojima's next game, and if an agreement is made, Microsoft will also offer resources to the project, which is likely to be Xbox exclusive.

Stadia veteran Kim Swift, who recently joined Microsoft's fledgling Project xCloud division, is said to be helping with negotiations. It's believed that Kojima's new Xbox game will be streamed over the cloud as new original content for Microsoft's Project xCloud service. A bit ago, Kojima pitched a game to Stadia, but Google passed on the project as it started winding down its game development operations.

Sony today announced the director's cut of Ghost of Tsushima, a GOTY bundle that includes DLC as well as next-gen optimizations with a $69.99 next-gen price.

Sony is going all-in on the new $70 premium MSRP for PS5 games. This new price hike doesn't just include new PS5 games, but re-releases that've been enhanced for the new console. Ghost of Tsushima is the latest PlayStation game to get the new price adjustment.

Ghost of Tsushima's new director's cut is coming to PS5 with a bunch of new content and feature upgrades. Sony is justifying the new $70 price tag by adding more value, including a new Iki Island expansion, as well as a slew of next-gen exclusive optimizations like ultra-fast loading (GoT already loaded in a blink of an eye on PS4), haptic feedback on the new DualSense controller, 3D audio via the Tempest engine, new 4K resolution options and 60FPS.

Today the tech wizards at Insomniac Games rolled out a new patch that improves ray traced reflections in Spider-Man Miles Morales on PlayStation 5, but the results aren't super noticeable.

Miles Morales is basically the best-looking game of 2020, and the ray-traced visuals on PS5 ensured the console launched with a bang. The game already looks incredible and the ray tracing effects are superb--there's full reflections in windows, puddles, oceans, etc. Now Insomniac has rolled out a patch to make things look even better in the Performance RT mode, which offers 60FPS gameplay with ray tracing turned on.

Version 1.10 (PS5)

Thanks to a recent acquisition, future Rockstar games like GTA 6 could have facial animations that rival L.A. Noire.

Take-Two Interactive has purchased leading motion capture company Dynamixyz for and undisclosed sum. The buyout will supercharge Take-Two's massive slate of games with ultra-realistic animation technology, including upcoming games like BioShock 4, Grand Theft Auto 6, and annualized NBA 2K sports games.

Dynamixyz's proprietary facial motion capture software is based on machine-​learning technology (both the PS5 and Xbox Series X are capable of ML), and the company has robust hardware and rendering systems with high-end 3D processing. This acquisition will have a direct affect on games development and give Take-Two direct first-hand access to some of the most powerful animation know-how in the entertainment industry.

Like every game that Activision-Blizzard makes, Diablo IV will have microtransactions. Now we have a better idea of how they will work.

Blizzard has already confirmed Diablo IV will have cosmetic microtransactions, and a recent dev update gives us a look at how much work is being done for character appearances. Live games live or die based on two things: engagement, and monetization of said engagement. It's important that a game can pull in players and keep them, but also monetize them over time with in-game items, subscriptions, and expansions--and sometimes all three at once.

Diablo IV is no different in this regard, but it's a big departure from Diablo II and Diablo III--at least the latter Reaper of Souls era of D3 after the Real Money Auction House kerfluffle. An incredible amount of work is being put into Diablo IV's development, and Blizzard is adding a massive new character customization system that you'd typically find in singleplayer RPGs to ensure gamers have plenty of exposure to cosmetics (both in-game and paid).

Asobo Studio has re-written Flight Simulator's engine to allow mid-range PCs to push great performance.

Microsoft's Flight Simulator used to be one of the most demanding PC games ever made, but a new update introduces significant engine optimizations that drastically reduce hardware usage.

"We have re-written a lot of the parts of the engine, the architecture, in order to get the maximum performance of the sim and minimize resource memory bandwidth footprint," Asobo Studio CEO and co-founder Sebastian Wloch said in a recent Flight Sim stream.

Battlefield 2042's new squad-based Hazard Zone is apparently a unique spin on battle royale, but it won't be a traditional BR mode.

DICE has already confirmed Battlefield 2042 won't have straight battle royale like Warzone or Apex Legends, but it looks like the developers are putting their own spin on the mode. Up until now details on the Hazard Zone mode have been somewhat light, but the devs have delivered some new comments.

In the August 2021 issue of Play magazine, DICE says that Hazard Zone will "move the battle royale concept on in a way only Battlefield can." It's possible that Hazard Zone mashes up team-based squadplay with BR mechanics like elimination-style deaths. DICE can't reveal official details just yet, and PR tells us Hazard Zone will be revealed closer towards the game's launch. EA Play will focus on DICE LA's new mysterious game mode.

Sony Group has acquired licensing rights to Sesame Street in Japan, and plans to create new games and other products based on the franchise, sources tell Nikkei Asia.

Sony's Creative Products division has re-acquired the rights to Sesame Street in Japan with the aim of creating and distributing products based on the hit kid's show. Sony's rights to Sesame Street expired in 2004 and have been renewed this year as expands into apparel, broadcasting the show throughout Japan, and eventually video games.

Other Sony Creative Products licenses include Thomas & Friends, Peter Rabbit, and Charles Schultz's Peanuts.