Gaming - Page 477

A year after the impressive Unreal Engine 5 demo, Epic Games reiterates how the engine will transform how next-gen games are made.

Unreal Engine 5 is all about efficiency and freedom. Two new major UE5 innovations have been outlined by Epic: Nanite, a new virtualized micropolygon technology that allows incredibly high-definition assets, and Lumen, new real-time global-illumination lighting systems. In a recent video, Epic further outlines the advantages that Nanite offers developers.

Nanite is Unreal Engine 5's new geometry render technology that allows native cinematic-quality assets to be imported right into scenes, There's no kit-bashing required. No adjustment of the assets, no proxies, no tweaks; just natively importing the movie-quality assets right into the engine. Nanite allows developers to use Quixel megascans (ultra high-resolution assets) without compromise and gives artists freedom to choose and place images in whatever way they want.

Grand Theft Auto V may be priced at the new premium $69.99 MSRP for next-gen console games when it releases in November.

While neither Rockstar Games nor Take-Two Interactive have officially confirmed pricing on GTA V's PS5 and Xbox Series X/S re-release, we have reason to believe the game will cost $69.99. The new console gen gives publishers an opportunity to re-price games and Take-Two was one of the first to jump on the cost hike with NBA 2K21. That trend should continue onwards. Given GTA V has sold-in 145 million copies worldwide, it's also likely the game won't get a free next-gen upgrade. This would dilute the sales potential of the next-gen launch.

Previous comments from Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick frames the company's motivations going forward.

Returnal isn't just a new game for Housemarque: It's the start of the developer's future.

Housemarque just made its first big splash into the AAA space with PlayStation 5 exclusive Returnal. The roguelite is a unique mashup of third-person action and bullet hell that combines the studio's core strengths in one package. In many ways, Returnal is a kind of early proving point for Housemarque, and now the developers want more.

In a recent interview with GameReactor, Housemarque marketing director Mikael Haveri says Returnal is a kind of experimental template that will affect all of its future games. The PS5 game is an effort to tackle bigger fish than the smaller-scale indies and arcade games Housemarque has done in the past.

Having already dominated one portion of consumer free time with entertainment streaming, Netflix is interested in making a splash in the $180 billion games industry.

Netflix is currently mulling over plans to expand into gaming, sources tell The Information. The strategies remain unclear and there's a lot of options for the subscription titan.

For example, sources say Netflix could offer a separate Apple Arcade-style all-you-can-play subscription service with games created by third-party studios. Netflix could help fund and license games for sale based on its produced franchise including Stranger Things, which has already released as an indie game, as well as other series like Altered Carbon.

The core of EA's business is now dominated by billion-dollar earners like Apex Legends, EA Sports titles, and Battlefield, but the company still plans to expand into new IPs.

EA has high ambitions for its future. It just bought racing game gurus Codemasters and mobile experts at Glu to expand its sports and free-to-play initiatives. EA has a three-part plan that includes premium releases, new engagement strategies and business models, and mobile games. This plan will see EA's biggest franchises being adapted for the big and small screens complete with monetization and live services.

Most of EA's earnings come from a handful of game series including FIFA, Madden, Battlefield, Star Wars, and Apex Legends, it's still incredibly important to expand into new realms and take chances on projects like BioWare's ill-fated Anthem. It's the only way to move forward and not stagnate with sequels, re-releases, and rehashes.

EA taps Shadow of War studio lead Kevin Stephens to guide a brand new Seattle-based studio on a fresh open-world game.

EA is expanding big-time. The company recently announced its ambitious new three-part plan, which doubles-down on mobile, engagement strategies/new ways to play, and premium releases. EA's immediate focus centers on Apex, Battlefield, and EA Sports, but it still has lots of unannounced projects in the works.

Projects like a new open-world action-adventure game that's being led by Monolith's ex-vice president Kevin Stephens. After 13 years with Warner Bros. Games and 8 years helping Monolith make the excellent Shadow of Mordor and Shadow of War games, Stephens has a good understanding of the open-world genre.

Three of gaming's biggest franchises are set to battle it out in Holiday 2021, and the strong competition could affect overall sales revenues and impact yearly earnings.

Holiday 2021 is going to be packed. Things were already pretty heated with a new Call of Duty and Battlefield game set to duel during the period, but Rockstar fanned the flames by confirming a November launch for its Grand Theft Auto V re-release on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. Granted the next-gen console install base is still somewhat small, but given the game's massive momentum with 145 million sales and billions earned over the last 7 years, it's still extra pressure on competitors.

Company executives haven't directly commented on the congested release slate, however both Activision and EA have set conservative expectations for Call of Duty and Battlefield. Activision has said they expect lower sales for Sledgehammer's new WWII-focused Call of Duty Vanguard when compared to Black Ops Cold War, but it's likely that Battlefield's competition also had something to do with those expectations.

GTA V released over seven years ago but is still raking in hundreds of millions of dollars every year for Take-Two Interactive.

After years of big success, Take-Two has expected GTA V to moderate in the long run. That hasn't actually happened yet. In fact, seven years after release the game is still achieving record earnings highs. The game has now sold 145 million copies and GTA V makes up 42% of total franchise sales. Both GTA V and GTA Online helped Take-Two hit a record $3.37 billion in net revenues in FY2021. This trend may continue with the third console release of GTA V on PS5, Xbox Series X/S this November.

How much is the franchise earning every year? In a recent SEC filing, Take-Two confirms that the GTA franchise generated 29.2% of total revenues for the year, or $984.9 million. For comparison's sake, Call of Duty earned over $3 billion in revenues last year.

Rockstar Games parent company Take-Two Interactive has a massive slate of games ready for the next three years, and a ton of them are mobile games.

In 2020, Take-Two Interactive confirmed it was working on 93 games. The company will start delivering on this slate throughout this year. Take-Two recently said it plans to release 62 games by the end of April 2024, leaving roughly 31 games for the post-2024 timeline. Not all of the 93 games will actually release and some will be cancelled, but we don't know which ones are deeper 2024-beyond titles and which aren't.

Take-Two wants to launch 21 games in FY2022 (rom now until April 2022) including annualized sports games, re-releases like the Grand Theft Auto V next-gen version on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S, mobile games, and a new IP from Gearbox.

Summer Game Fest returns on June 10, and here's what you should expect.

Summer Game Fest is back and 35 of gaming's biggest players are attending the event. The roster includes Activision, Blizzard, Capcom, 2K Games, EA, Xbox, PlayStation, Square Enix, and a bunch more.

Like E3 2021, the show will be an all-digital stream and showrunner Geoff Keighley will be hosting and conducting a myriad of interviews. The opening kick off event on Thursday, June 10 at 11 am PT / 2 pm ET/ 6 pm GMT will have a live performance by Weezer along with over a dozen premieres and announcements.

Naughty Dog teases big things for its next game on the PlayStation 5.

Nestled in The Last of Us Part II's next-gen PS5 update is mention of Naughty Dog's upcoming plans. It's a slight mention that confirms the studio has been testing the PlayStation 5 out since launch and the team is very excited about the possibilities the Zen 2 CPU, Navi 2X GPU, 16GB of GDDR6 RAM and super-fast 5.5GB/sec PCIe 4.0 SSD have to offer.

"The team has been digging into the PS5 hardware and the possibilities it unlocks since launch last year and we're excited about what the future holds. This patch is just the first step of working on the PS5. We'll let you know when we've got more news to share!" the post reads.

PS5 and Xbox Series X/S consoles are expected to be hard to find throughout 2022, but Take-Two Interactive expects console supply to even out with time.

Since next-gen consoles are hard to find, publishers are hesitant to move to full next-gen exclusives. EA, for example, is going full cross-gen with new games like Battlefield 6 and its annualized sports games. The install base simply isn't big enough yet. Other publishers like Take-Two Interactive aren't incredibly worried about the situation.

"There is a chip shortage and console supply is disrupted. It's a good news bad news thing. The bad news is you can't get a next-gen console for love or money. The good news is people really want these consoles. We had a limited selection of next-gen releases. We have many more titles coming in the future, we think supply shortages will be resolved," Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick said in a recent FY2021 earnings call.

Bethesda's new singleplayer space epic Starfield won't release in early 2022.

Sources tell Bloomberg's Jason Schreier that Starfield, Bethesda's biggest new RPG, is "nowhere near done" and gamers shouldn't expect a release any time soon.

Although Bethesda's Todd Howard first teased Starfield when he described three "big and crazy projects" in 2016, Schreier asserts that Starfield's team was quite small until 2019. The reality is that Bethesda's main Maryland branch was helping its Austin studio work on Fallout 76's development. Those three projects that Howard spoke of ended up being Fallout 76, Starfield, and The Elder Scrolls VI.

The metaverse is huge in gaming right now, and billion-dollar games like Roblox, Fortnite, and even Call of Duty Warzone are doing their part. What about games like GTA Online? Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick comments on the metaverse idea showing up in certain games.

Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick says he's allergic to buzzwords like AR, VR, and 3D...and he's somewhat skeptical on the nebulous idea of the metaverse, which sees millions of gamers coming together in a virtualized, social environment complete with fourth wall-breaking crossovers.

Zelnick has already commented on a Roblox-style community creation tool showing up in GTA Online, but he was also asked about the metaverse. The CEO says it's something they already do in highly engaging, social-driven online games like NBA 2K, GTA Online, and Red Dead Online (and he's right, GTA Online and RDRO both have a very active roleplaying community, for instance).

Embracer Group (Deep Silver, Gearbox Software, Saber Interactive, 4A Games, etc) spent more to storefront owners like Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo, and Valve than it did on games development.

Embracer owns 225 game IPs and currently has 160 projects in development, but without its own digital distribution platform or games store, the company must give a cut of its revenues to third-party companies. In a recent earnings report, the company expressed frustration with the current 70-30 revenue split on platforms like the PlayStation Store, the Xbox marketplace, the eShop, and Steam. The company says it will challenge the revenue policies and do its best to invest intelligently.

In the fiscal year ended March 31, 2021, the games titan actually spent over 200% more on commissions than internal games development. This says a lot considering Embracer owns 225 game IPs and currently has 160 projects in development.

Aspyr Media's Knights of the Old Republic remake may release throughout Embracer Group's Fiscal Year 2021 timeline.

Nestled in Embracer Group's (formerly THQ Nordic) incredibly positive earnings report is mention of the company's release slate. Embracer says its FY2021 timeline will include 90 completed games and directly mentions new projects from Gearbox and Aspyr Media.

"In the current financial year ending March 2022, we are committed to fulfilling our ambition to complete more than 90 game development projects with a total completion value in the range of SEK 2,800 to 3,300 million. This includes projects from Gearbox and Aspyr," the company said.

Nintendo's latest amiibo offers massive convenience in Skyward Sword HD: instant teleportation from the surface to the sky at any point in the game.

Skyward Sword HD has two parts of its world: The surface and the sky. Gamers will frequently go between the two as they adventure, and the sky offers things like a shop, whereas the surface is more for adventuring. In the original game you can only travel from the surface to the sky at specific points. But if you buy the new Loftwings amiibo, you can go between the sky and the surface worlds at any time.

Nintendo is offering a distinct paid convenience option with the amiibo figure. This is the equivalent of having to pay extra to unlock a Mark and Recall spell in Morrowind, for example. The Loftwings amiibo will also be priced at a premium $25, so you'll have to pay about $85 in order to get a more full and convenient Skyward Sword experience ($60 for the base game, $25 for the amiibo).

It's finally here: The Last of Us Part II just got a free next-gen enhancement patch on the PlayStation 5 that allows super smooth 60FPS.

The PS5 can natively boost in-game performance of some PS4 games, but others require specific patches from developers. First-party devs have rolled out patches for games like Ghost of Tsushima and Days Gone, and now The Last of Us Part II gets an upgrade to 60FPS.

The new patch doubles frame rates from 30FPS to 60FPS without touching any graphical presets, effects, or visuals. The game still runs at a native 2560 x 1440 (upscaled to 4K) with the update installed. The only thing that changes is the frame rates, which can be boosted to 60FPS.

With $387 million in quarterly revenues, Roblox's community-driven business model is turning heads. Could user-generated content find its way into games like Grand Theft Auto Online?

GTA Online is already a powerhouse of engagement and revenues. Since 2013, the game has continued to gain momentum with new content and strong microtransaction earnings. Take-Two arguably doesn't have to adjust GTA Online's model--the money-making machine seems to be running fine. But competitors like Roblox do offer some interesting ideas.

Like all live games, GTA Online is driven by its community. Rockstar, however, makes all of GTA Online's content--a stark contrast to how Roblox's creators make their own games to share with others. What if Rockstar moved to this model and gave players the tools to make their own low-code mini-games and experiences?

In a strange bit of news, Bethesda announces that it will be closing down its Bethesda.net forums and moving to Discord and Reddit.

The Bethesda.net forums are used by countless gamers to connect, share feedback, and keep up-to-date on a myriad of games from Fallout 76 to Doom. It's a catalog of tips, tricks, complaints, and a unique time capsule that captures different eras of Bethesda games. Those forums will soon be taken offline. In a move that has frustrated lots of gamers, Bethesda says it will close the forums by July 6 and erase a big portion of its community legacy.

Fallout 76 players in particular are aggravated by this announcement. The forums' Fallout section is incredibly popular with over 156,000 discussions ranging from the original cRPGs to the new live service game. The Fallout 4 section in particular is used as a reference for mods (the mod section has over 10,000 discussions). Fallout 76, however, has over 128,000 discussions and 40,000 of them are support posts.