Gaming News - Page 5

Sony has repeatedly said that Microsoft's 10-year Call of Duty deal is not good for PlayStation, but it can't tell us why because Microsoft has redacted the terms of the confidential business agreement.

Microsoft's 10-year Call of Duty licensing deal is bad for business, or at least that's what Sony is saying. The PlayStation firm, who generated over $24 billion from games in 2022, has said the merger would "irreparably harm" the industry. Sony has said no to Microsoft's Call of Duty deal but it can't tell us exactly how the deal is bad for Sony, or why they won't accept it.

Why? Because the terms of the agreement are protected from the public. In a new statement, Sony says that Microsoft legal counsel redacted specific parts of the agreement. This isn't some nefarious deed on Microsoft's part, though. It's pretty standard that a sensitive agreement would remain private--both Microsoft and Sony have a lot to lose if specific numbers got out.

As Microsoft prepares to spend $68.7 billion to acquire Activision-Blizzard, Sony's management confirms that it has $5 billion left to make strategic investments and acquisitions.

Every four years, Sony's board of directors creates a new Mid-Range Plan that sets a spending budget for the period. Sony's current Mid-Range Plan has authorized the company to spend 2 trillion yen (about $14.6 billion in today's conversion rates) on acquisitions and investments, business expansion, and share buybacks. The coffers haven't run out yet, and Sony still has multiple billions of dollars to spend.

Sony's new president Hiroki Totoki has confirmed that 1.3 trillion yen has been spent so far, leaving 700 billion yen (or about $5.1 billion) that can be spent from April 2023 to March 2024. This remainder does reflect the $3.7 billion that Sony spent to acquire Bungie. Also remember that this value is for all of Sony Corp., and not just PlayStation. However, Totoki does say that he wants to continue making investments in Sony's three entertainment segments, so we could see another gaming acquisition.

Sony Corp.'s new president Hiroki Totoki is confident in the new PSVR2's success, and says there is a "good chance" of the new headset beating the original PSVR's sales.

Sony's new PSVR2 is facing tough challenges. The VR headset launched in an inflation-driven economy with a steep $549 price tag, and also requires a PS5 in order to play, bringing the minimum cost of the PSVR2 experience to $948 before taxes. The PSVR2 may face more prohibitive roadblocks if the games market continues to shrink and contract from economic conditions.

Despite market contractions, Sony management is optimistic on the PSVR2's success. After all, the VR market has expanded thanks a wider spectrum of hardware, from Meta's affordable Quest HMDs to Sony's PSVR offerings all the way to Valve's higher-end Index VR headsets.

Sony believes the PlayStation 5 will sell over 60 million consoles throughout its lifespan.

With 32.1 million shipments to date, the PlayStation 5 is off to a great start considering its supply issues. Sony management expects to at least double that figure in the coming years as the company ramps up production and manufacturing of the system.

Could the PS5 outsell the PS5? It's hard to say, but the PS5 still has not shipped as much as the PS4 did in launch-aligned sales; figures show that the PS4 achieved 37.9 million shipments in its first nine quarters, as compared to the PS5's 32.1 million. Sony hasn't commented on whether or not the PS5 will beat the PS4, but the company is confident its newer PlayStation could beat 60 million sales.

Fortnite fans hanging on for dear life to outdated versions of Windows, be warned - you'll no longer be able to play the game on anything older than Windows 10.

Epic Games made this change for Fortnite Chapter 4 Season 2, which kicks off today, although the developer had already told us that this would happen at the tail end of last year.

Both Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 are officially not supported now, and Epic suggests that users of those operating systems take a different tack to enjoy Fortnite on their PCs - namely streaming.

Before Bethesda delivered the fully-3D first-person Fallout 3, the Fallout franchise lived in the isometric cRPG space.

Fallout 2 with Talking Heads Actually Talk (THAT) mod, credit: Black_Electric

Developed by Black Isle Studios, Fallout 2 came out in 1998 for PC. The post-apocalyptic setting, deep RPG mechanics, and biting social satire made it a classic PC game that players repeatedly revisit.

This also means that the Fallout 2 mod community has been thriving for decades, and the latest from modder 'Black_Electric' called Talking Heads Actually Talk (THAT) Mod adds voiced dialog for over 40 NPCs in the game-a passion project born from volunteer work and a cast of professional and non-professional actors.

Rocksteady has delayed its new Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League live game once again, sources tell Bloomberg's Jason Schreier.

Following a long multi-year development timeline, the release date for the new Suicide Squad game has been pushed back once again. Originally set to launch in May, the live service title is now expected to launch later this year.

The delay comes shortly after a controversial gameplay trailer shown at Sony's recent State of Play event. Fans have picked apart the footage, comparing the game to Square Enix's failed Avengers live service title. Cursory investigation shows that Suicide Squad retains all the familiar trappings of live service titles: Huge inventory management systems with in-depth stats, skill upgrade trees, collectibles and crafting, and in-game purchases.

Epic reveals how much money its PC gaming storefront made in 2022, and gives interesting data on playerbase numbers and first-party vs third-party sales.

Epic's latest year in review report gives an update on the company's PC performance. The Epic Games Store made $820 million in 2022, down 2% year-over-year from the $840 million generated in 2021.

Metrics show that the Epic Games Store is still very much a first-party driven storefront/platform. Consumers spent the most money on first-party games in 2022, with $465 million or 57% of total spend made from first-party titles. Third-party conversely made up $355 million, or 43%, of total spending. It's worth noting that Fortnite makes over 5x more revenues from consoles than it does on PC.

Sony's latest PlayStation 5 update brings welcomed additions and features, including variable refresh rate (VRR) support for 2560x1440 resolution displays and native Discord chat functionality.

It's been a long time coming, but the PS5 finally supports Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) in 1440p. Gamers had been waiting some time for the PS5 to output native 1440p resolution and it's been an even longer wait for Variable Refresh Rate support to be included in the display mode. Remember that VRR is only compatible with HDMI 2.1 displays and TVs, but you can still use 1440p 120Hz even if your monitor or TV does not support HDMI 2.1.

There's some other major features included too. Gamers can now transfer data from one PS5 to another PS5 console using LAN or local Wi-Fi (USB-C will not be used for transfers), which is something that frankly should have been available at launch. PS5 owners can choose what data gets transferred, including game data, save files, and captured media like screenshots and video.

An official from Valve has revealed details about the company's upcoming next-gen Steam Deck, which is expected to come with a "significant bump in horsepower."

The details come from Valve designer Lawrence Yang that spoke to Rock Paper Shotgun recently, where he answered several questions about the current shelf life of the Steam Deck and the possibility of a new portable device coming out in the near future. Yang explains that Valve will be waiting "a few years" before releasing an upgraded version of the current Steam Deck as the company believes that the Steam Deck still has the potential to be a solid target for consumers within this generation of consoles.

It should be noted that while the Steam Deck is showing some age in select newly released titles, the portable console still has more than 8,000 titles supported, with many of those being rated 'Playable' or stamped 'Verified' by Valve's official Compatibility program.