Gaming - Page 493

The Witcher 3's anticipated next-gen console re-release will launch in 2021 after all, CD Projekt RED says.

Although Cyberpunk 2077's free expansions and next-gen versions have been delayed, CD Projekt affirms The Witcher 3's next-gen upgrade on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S consoles is still set for the second half of 2021. The next-gen version will be free for all existing PS4 and Xbox One owners with substantial upgrades like faster loading times, higher frame rates, and boosted resolution. CDPR has yet to detail exact next-gen optimizations.

"We also have the next-gen update for The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt coming in the second half of 2021," the company said in a video outlining its new business strategy.

Call of Duty's Big Three have absurdly demanding install sizes; Black Ops Cold War and Modern Warfare take up over 150GB on consoles, and that's without Warzone's installed. Now Treyarch is doing something about it.

After months of waiting, Treyarch is finally shrinking install sizes for Cold War, Modern Warfare, and Warzone. The new Season Two Reloaded update will compress data through a new optimization system and save gamers up to 33GB of hard drive space. There's just one catch: Gamers have to download a 50GB+ patch before their existing installs will shrink.

The Season Two Reloaded patch is rolling out for Cold War, Modern Warfare, and Warzone. The update is pretty big for Warzone players, and clocks in at 52GB-57GB on consoles and 54GB on PC. If you want to update both Modern Warfare and Warzone on PC, the install size is doubled to a huge 133GB.

We started hearing about Valve's new game codename Citadel back in July 2019, with Valve leaker Tyler McVicker who has teased that Valve is working on not 1 but 2 new Half-Life games.

The first of which is Valve's new codename Citadel, but there's a totally new game that has been teased as codename HLX. HLX is compeltely new and something we haven't heard of yet, with new teases coming from McVicker that HLX could turn into an evolution of the successful VR-exclusive -- and fantastic -- Half-Life: Alyx from 2019.

It seems Citadel could be a multiplayer RTS-type of gamer where you will be deploying units, resources, and moving things around in augmented and virtual realities between multiple gamers. This sound so awesome, and so very close to the sorts of things I've wished from Valve over the years and talked with my friends about.

AMD has just released its new AMD Radeon Adrenalin 2020 21.3.2 BETA drivers, which add support for DirectX Raytracing (DXR) to DIRT 5 through its new Update 4.0 patch.

Not only is DIRT 5 getting ray tracing support for Radeon GPUs but there's also support for Outriders, and Evil Genius 2: World Domination. On top of that, we have the usual fixes which help some issues with incorrect GPU core clocks in performance tuning and system graphics hardware information tab with the new Radeon RX 6700 series graphics cards.

There are other issues fixed including display issues with preferred desktop resolutions in Windows being changed when the display is power cycled, and the start and cancel buttons in the performance tuning stress test disappering when Radeon Software is resized to be small.

EA is hard at work on the next-generation Battlefield game that we've been expected to be called Battlefield 6, but Battlefield leaker Tom Henderson has some news: it'll be called Battlefield, and it sounds like it'll kick ass.

According to Henderson the new rumors on Battlefield NOT being a "hub" for all other Battlefield games like the new leaks on Reddit suggest, but rather the game will feature a "revolutionary campaign compared to other previous instalments. The campaign will focus on you and your specialist unit, where you'll be able to chose which superpower you fight for".

The new Battlefield game will not see you choose "Axis or Allies" but Henderson reveals that you will "be able to choose your own path", where you will "recruit" your own specialized team with their own skillsets throughout your campaign. These assets you acquire along the way will help you on both sides, with Battlefield's single-player campaign reportedly being a co-op experience as well.

Capcom's latest Monster Hunter game is enjoying astronomical success on the Nintendo Switch.

Monster Hunter Rise has shipped an incredible 4 million copies in just 3 days time on the Nintendo Switch, Capcom today confirmed. While Monster Hunter Rise didn't topple Capcom's reigning Monster Hunter World, which sold 6 million copies in its first two weeks and amassed an incredible 16 million+ in total sales, these sales figures only represent purchases on the Switch platform. Monster Hunter Rise's PC port isn't expected until 2022.

The news marks a big milestone for Capcom's FY2021 fiscal year, which should deliver the fourth consecutive year of record earnings thanks to consistent evergreen sales and performance of new titles like MH: Rise. To date, the Monster Hunter franchise has sold over 70 million copies across all platforms.

Capcom is adding a bunch of new tricks and gameplay mechanics into Resident Evil 8 to keep things fresh.

Although Resident Evil Village harkens back to RE4 with its supernatural village and haunted castle, the eight mainline sequel sets itself apart in many ways. A big one is mechanics. This time around, players can guard (a feature in RE7) as well as repel enemies with a new combat-based kick attack. While scouting a recent interview with Resident Evil Village Producer Tsuyoshi Kanda, I noticed another new feature: Building walls.

According to Kanda, gamers will be able to build walls out of furniture in order to strategically protect themselves against the multitude of horrors in RE8. "This is a much more action-oriented game. We included the guard function from the previous game, but now it's possible to do a counter attack. You can also utilize furniture to build walls, so there are a few ways you can handle different situations. We have some more new tricks, but you'll have to check it out yourself," Kanda said.

Overseas mobile titan Nexon has invested a substantial $874 million into Japanese game companies like SEGA, Konami, and Bandai Namco.

Nexon is sinking $1.5 billion in specific games companies in a bid to help preserve high-quality IP creation and curation. The company has already invested 58% of this cash into a trio of beleaguered games-makers like SEGA, Konami, and Bandai Namco, all of which have been hit particularly hard by COVID-19.

Nexon corporate heads say this is a "friendly investment" and the company has no intention of takeovers or acquisitions. Buying out Konami, Bandai Namco, or SEGA simply isn't feasible for Nexon, who made $2.2 billion in 2019, more than Konami ($1.3bn) and SEGA ($1.15bn) but less than Bandai Namco ($3bn).

CD Projekt RED has officially released Cyberpunk 2077's new Patch 1.2 update on PS4, Xbox One, and PC, and it's a colossal game-sized patch that makes many, many changes.

Since its widely-criticized launch, the devs at CDPR have been tirelessly working on fixing Cyberpunk 2077. The second phase of that comeback story, Patch 1.2, rolls out today and it's an absolutely massive series of bug fixes, tweaks, and adjustments. Patch 1.2's notes clock in at a staggering 8,010 words and there's over 1,000 fixes listed across PS4, Xbox One, and PC, complete with a multitude of quest fixes, eliminating T-pose animations, improved memory allocation on base consoles, and tons of QoL improvements.

This kind of patch also comes with a hefty install size on all platforms. Patch 1.2 takes up 35GB on PS4, but needs 58GB free in order to install. On Xbox, it takes up 40GB. Most of the tweaks are immensely welcomed, but CDPR has removed the fan-favorite fall damage cancelling trick. The devs clearly took all the feedback and bug reports to heart and have methodically squashed dozens upon dozens of issues across all platforms.

The Tony Hawk 1+2 next-gen upgrade is having some big problems on Xbox Series X consoles, complete with crashing and other bugs.

Activision just released the Tony Hawk remaster duo on PS5 and Xbox Series X, but the upgrades didn't go without a hitch. The game is having a hard time on Xbox Series X, and gamers are reporting freezing, crashing, and the inability to upgrade digital versions of the game.

There's seven reports on the support forums of the game freezing on the main menu when booting from an Xbox Series X, and other instances of the upgrade simply not showing up at all. Compounding player frustrations is Activision's odd next-gen upgrade policy for disc owners on Xbox, which forces players to re-buy the game altogether to receive the upgrade.

Microsoft could be very close to unveiling the release date for its highly anticipated Age of Empires IV. So, when will we find out?

Microsoft hasn't directly said that it will be unveiling the release date for Age of Empires IV, but the company has released a new trailer that teases a coming broadcast that will showcase some big news for Age of Empires IV, including a look at gameplay, campaign missions and playable factions.

Additionally, the "Fan Preview" will drop some exciting news for Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition and Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition players. The broadcast is scheduled to begin on April 10th at 9 am PT/12 pm ET/5 pm BST. The broadcast will also include some behind-the-scenes gameplay for the fans to enjoy. Tune into the livestream if you are excited for Age of Empires IV. For more information on this story, check out this link here.

Cyberpunk 2077 is a mish-mash of multiple genres, systems, and mechanics that're a bit confusing to decipher. It was just as tough for CD Projekt RED developers.

Gamers often note Cyberpunk 2077 feels disjointed; is it a Witcher 3-level RPG? An action-paced shooter-looter? Or an immersive open-world sim like GTA? All three? CD Projekt developers reportedly had a similarly tough time outlining Cyberpunk 2077's main scope.

In a recent interview with The Washington Post's Launcher, Bloomberg's Jason Schreier says that sources familiar with CD Projekt's development cycle weren't exactly clear on what Cyberpunk was.

Anthem director and chief of staff Jonathan Warner has left BioWare, marking the 9th higher-profile developer to depart the studio in the last 4 years.

Last Friday, Jonathan Warner announced he was leaving BioWare. Warner had been part of BioWare's core teams for nearly a decade, working on games like Anthem and Mass Effect 3. Warner also served as BioWare chief of staff for over 1 year and helped guide the studio during a critical transition point.

On Twitter, Warner says big franchises like Mass Effect, Dragon Age, and Star Wars are all in safe hands. "So, today is my last day at BioWare, I'm moving on to do new things. BioWare has been home to my grateful heart for nearly 10 years and I want to wish them all the best. DA ME and SWTOR are in good hands and I can't wait to play from this side of the screen," Warner said.

Sony plans to dole out record bonuses to unionized employees, news site NHK Japan reports.

Sony expects to earn over $10 billion in net profits this year, and the company plans to share its record FY2021 profits with employees. According to recent reports, Sony will pay its unionized workers a bonus that's equivalent to 7-months salary. Unions had previously asked for a bonus worth roughly 6.9 months' of pay in negotiations with Sony.

According to a recent Form 20-F filed with the SEC, 13% of Sony's employees are members of labor unions. As of the end of 2020, Sony had 114,400 employees, so roughly 14,872 workers were unionized in the timeframe. NHK notes that this is the first time in 20 years that Sony has issued such a large bonus payout.

Digital Extremes reveals tons of new content coming to Warframe next month, including PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X optimizations.

Warframe's anticipated Update 30: Call of the Tempestarii will bring new content like the new Warframe Sevagoth and a few quests. Also coming with Update 30 is next-gen upgrades on PS5, Xbox Series X and Series S systems. Thanks to a new memory allocation thread tweak, and Sony's custom 12-channel PCIe 4.0 SSD, PS5 load times have been cut in half. It's all coming in April, the developer says.

"April is also our launch month for the next-generation Xbox build of Warframe. That will include Update 30. So if you play on Xbox Series X or S you will be, in April, receiving Update 30 and the next-gen build,"live ops and community director Rebecca Ford said in a new developer update (full video below).

Hideo Kojima's next game should be revealed soon, Kojima Productions art lead Yoji Shinkawa says. What could it be?

In a recent interview with AI Hub, Yoji Shinkawa says he's working on something new and that it could be announced in the coming months. "Well yeah, I am doing something, for sure, and I could tell you probably that we can announce it quite soon," said Shinkawa.

It's likely Shinkawa is referring to Hideo Kojima's next game. Yoji Shinkawa has worked on over a dozen Metal Gear Solid games in collaboration with Hideo Kojima, and was one of the first to follow Kojima when he left Konami in 2015. That was six years ago, and Shinkawa has been a part of Kojima Productions ever since.

Microsoft is eager to buy PC chat platform Discord and is currently in advanced acquisition discussions, sources tell The Wall Street Journal.

Microsoft could finalize a deal to purchase Discord as early as next month, sources tell WSJ. The deal could cost Microsoft over $10 billion, a substantial sum that re-affirms the company's commitment to gaming during a time of record-breaking industry earnings.

The Discord buyout follows Microsoft's recent acquisition of ZeniMax media and all of its studios and IPs for $7.5 billion, the second-largest games industry purchase in history. Microsoft will likely use Discord to power its Xbox party chat infrastructure and help better unify its cross-platform PC-and-console ecosystem.

aOver the past decade, Darby McDevitt has helped shape the stories of Assassin's Creed. Now he's moving on to a "new adventure."

As narrative lead at Ubisoft Montreal, Darby McDevitt has spent 10 years weaving historical fact with engaging fiction. McDevitt helped pen some of the most memorable games in the Assassin's Creed franchise; he was narrative director on Valhalla, and lead scriptwriter on Black Flag, and Revelations, helping create unique characters like Edward Kenway and Eivor Wolf-Kissed.

Now McDevitt is moving on. The dev recently announced his departure from Ubisoft Montreal on Twitter and said a new adventure awaits...but we don't know exactly what he's referring to. Given the pedigree of his past works, it's likely that McDevitt won't leave the games industry entirely.

This year's Call of Duty is called Vanguard and returns to the franchise's World War II roots, sources tell Eurogamer.

Activision has conscripted Sledgehammer Games to develop 2021's Call of Duty game, which will be set in World War II. Contrary to recent reports, the game won't follow an alternate history set in a 1950s timeline where WWII never ended. Instead, the game will be more traditional, sources tell Eurogamer's Wesley Yin-Poole.

Sledgehammer is being re-entrusted with the franchise after supporting Black Ops Cold War's development, and the news follows a substantial 100-worker expansion across its Australia- and California-based studios.

Back 4 Blood brings back Left 4 Dead's original Director game mode with a unique twist.

Turtle Rock's new zombie FPS gore-fest Back 4 Blood will make use of an evolved form of L4D's classic Director gametype. The mode is basically like a randomized Firefight map with weapons and enemies strewn throughout by an AI bot. Turtle Rock is making one big change by adding in some Magic The Gathering-style card mechanics.

There's two sides to Back 4 Blood's new Corruption Cards: Ones the director selects, and ones players use while fighting. Director cards are detrimental things like enemy spawn types and in-game challenge activities. Players, on the other hand, get to buff their team with handy bonuses like extra health, ammo, and other things.