Gaming - Page 51

Polish games developer CI Games announces that its first Lords of the Fallen game is now profitable as the studio gears up for a Soulslike sequel in 2026.

After three years of sales, the original Lords of the Fallen game has now turned a profit. CI Games has delivered a series of studio updates, confirming the first LotF has now broken even by achieving 2.5 million game sales worldwide on all platforms. The developer also gives a complete budget figure for their action RPG--details that are rarely shared in the games industry--and revealing it took about $80 million to develop, market, publish, and distribute.

"CI Games' dark fantasy action-RPG, Lords of the Fallen (2023), has sold over 2.5 million copies worldwide, officially breaking even at the end of February on a total budget of 298 million Polish złoty ($80.45 million, based on current exchange rates), including development and marketing."

Over the past decade or so, few technologies have been as polarizing as DLSS 5 has been since its announcement. It has only been a handful of days since Jensen Huang and his iconic leather jacket took to the stage to unveil the 5th iteration of Deep Learning Super Sampling, this time with a huge helping of AI for good measure.

Ever since the keynote, the gaming industry has been struggling to wrap its collective head around the technology. NVIDIA has since responded to criticism of the technology, saying it is NOT an AI slop filter and that gamers are mistaken.

Now, the industry experts are providing much-needed insight into the game development process and how DLSS 5 may impact it. In a recent interview with Wccftech, Eternal Darkness developer Denis Dyack had this to say about the technology.

Pearl Abyss is quick to respond to player feedback and has promised an official patch to address Crimson Desert's controls.

Following news of Crimson Desert's successful launch with 2 million copies sold in its first day, South Korean developer Pearl Abyss is now directly tackling some of the game's biggest friction points. The top complaint among gamers is Crimson Desert's wonky control scheme, which can become quite tedious. Luckily, the devs plan to make some fixes.

"We are aware of the discomfort many players have experienced with the controls, and we are currently preparing a patch to address this," Pearl Abyss said today.

Crimson Desert, developed and published by Pearl Abyss, has become the talk of the town just days after its launch. The game is currently topping Steam charts and has made $20 million in pre-orders. While the reception is mixed among gamers, with some loving its jack-of-all-trades approach, others question the depth of the story, but a new, quite major issue has emerged.

If you are on an Intel Arc GPU and have tried running the game, you have likely encountered an error message that says "The graphics device is currently not supported." Tough luck, because this won't be fixed any time soon, as the studio has now officially confirmed that Crimson Desert is not supported on Intel Arc GPUs.

In its official Crimson Desert FAQ, the studio says the game "currently does not support Intel Arc graphics cards", and the only remedy it's offering players is a refund. Strangely, this wasn't communicated before launch, which would have saved Arc owners from the whole ordeal. There is also no mention of a support patch, a driver workaround, or even a timeline for future compatibility.

Crimson Desert is a success in terms of unit sales with 2 million copies sold to players, Pearl Abyss today announced.

The sales numbers show that gamers are willing to bite on Pearl Abyss' new open world RPG, Crimson Desert. The South Korean developer celebrated 2 million sales of Crimson Desert in just 1 day, specifically mentioning sell-through and not just shipments.

"We are incredibly humbled to share that Crimson Desert has sold through 2 million copies worldwide. Thank you so much to our fans, community, and everyone who has joined us in Pywel," the developer shared on Twitter.

ByteDance is poised to sell its mobile games business Moonton to the Saudi-owned Savvy Games Group, sources tell Nikkei Asia.

Savvy Games Group is set to expand its billion-dollar games empire even further in a landmark $6 billion acquisition deal. It was previously reported that Savvy wanted to purchase Moonton, the mobile games unit of Chinese TikTok creator ByteDance, with a proposed $5-7 billion valuation. It's now been revealed that Savvy and ByteDance have agreed on a purchase deal worth over $6 billion. Moonton is responsible for mobile hit Legends: Bang Bang, a game that sees over 110 million monthly active players.

"We believe that through this partnership with Savvy, Moonton will receive broader development opportunities and deliver an even better gaming experience to more players around the world," Moonton CEO Zhang Yunfan told employees in an internal memo acquired by Nikkei Asia.

The Witcher 4 and Cyberpunk 2 aren't the only games in development at CD Projekt--the team is also making a brand new IP, but it's still in early phases of design and planning.

CD Projekt is already planning for 10 years into the future with its new IP, Project Hadar. The studio is currently laying out the foundations of what Hadar will actually be, while also being mindful of how the IP will align with the company's 'franchise flywheel' of transmedia, content, and merch.

In a recent FY25 earnings call, co-CEO Michal Nowakowski tells investors that CD Projekt has "established the foundations of this entirely new IP," with the team having also "clearly defined distinguishing parts of the world." There are currently 26 devs that are drawing out the blueprints for Hadar.

CD Projekt's transmedia strategy is paying off, having generated nearly $50 million in supplementary revenue via TV shows, merch, and other multimedia.

Back in 2022, CD Projekt released an interesting report that outlined the future of the company. Mentioned in that briefing was a so-called "franchise flywheel," which is basically a cyclical model where CD Projekt uses transmedia to help keep its brands alive, exciting, and relevant in between major game releases.

The business plan is apparently paying off. In a recent FY25 earnings call, CD Projekt co-CEO Michal Nowakowski revealed that the company has made a combined 170 million PLN ($46 million) from its flywheel plan. This includes both Cyberpunk 2077, which has made 70 million PLN (about $19 million), as well as The Witcher, which has made 100 million PLN (about $27 million).

Nintendo announced it was rolling out a new system update to both the original Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2 earlier this week, and now that users have downloaded the update and begun testing, something has been noticed - a significant reduction in battery life.

The reduction in battery life is directly tied to the new Handheld Mode Boost feature, which enables original Nintendo Switch games to be run in TV mode on the Nintendo Switch 2. The idea behind this feature is to increase the graphical fidelity of original Switch games on the Switch 2 in handheld mode, since original Switch games are limited to 720p due to the original Nintendo Switch's display resolution, while the Switch 2 has a 1080p display.

Handheld Mode Boost boosts the resolution of original Switch games to 1080p on the Switch 2, improving graphical fidelity across all titles. However, it has been discovered that enabling this mode reduces the battery life of the Nintendo Switch 2 by about 25%, with one user estimating they were only able to get 3 hours and 43 minutes while playing DOOM (2019), which is down from 5 hours and 5 minutes without the new mode enabled.

Valve has published a new blog post detailing the latest version of SteamOS, which includes support for the upcoming Steam Machine.

The SteamOS 3.8 update is a major upgrade that Valve explains expands the platform beyond the Steam Deck, introducing support for Valve's upcoming Steam Machine, a living room console/PC hybrid expected to launch in early 2026. This update marks the first official support Valve has rolled out for the Steam Machine, and the upcoming console isn't the only device that is getting support, as SteamOS 3.8.0 also expands compatibility with third-party handhelds such as the Xbox Ally, Lenovo Legion Go 2, and others.

Additionally, the update adds key quality-of-life improvements for the Steam Deck, including better hibernation and memory power-down modes to improve battery life, Bluetooth microphone support in gaming mode, and Bluetooth wake functionality. Desktop also got a little love in this update, as Valve has added HDR, VRR, improved scaling, and other features to the Linux experience.

OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT, is looking to the desktop to release a new "super app" that combines ChatGPT, its new browser, and its Codex app.

The information comes from Wall Street Journal and CNBC reports, citing an OpenAI spokesperson, who said OpenAI's Chief of Applications, Fidji Simo, will be at the helm of the new "super app" and overseeing its implementation. Additionally, OpenAI President Greg Brockman will assist with its rollout. The idea behind the new desktop app is to combine all of OpenAI's resources to streamline the user experience across its services.

OpenAI hasn't officially announced the new app yet, but according to a response from Simo written in an X post, "Companies go through phases of exploration and phases of refocus; both are critical. But when new bets start to work, like we're seeing now with Codex, it's very important to double down on them and avoid distractions. Really glad we're seizing this moment."

When AMD announced and launched FSR 4, its AI-powered upgrade to its open-source, platform-agnostic FSR technology, it deservedly received a lot of praise for finally bridging the image-quality gap between FSR and NVIDIA DLSS. However, there was also some backlash as FSR 4 was and still is exclusive to AMD's latest RDNA 4 architecture and Radeon RX 9000 Series of desktop graphics cards.

The reason is simple: the AI model FSR 4 requires specific AI hardware and technology available only in the latest Radeon cards. However, with AMD inadvertently leaking FSR 4's source code, several community members noticed that a version of the technology, dubbed FSR4 INT8, was in development that worked with RDNA 3 and RDNA 2 GPUs - covering the Radeon RX 7000 and RX 6000 Series.

And with that, the community project OptiScaler, a Super Resolution and Frame Generation replacement tool for FSR, DLSS, and XeSS, has done what many have been asking AMD to do for almost a year now: bring FSR 4 to all Radeon gamers. And the latest OptiScaler release presents a major milestone for RDNA 2 gamers with cards like the Radeon RX 6700 XT or 6800 XT. The FSR 4 injection or override now works on RDNA 2 GPUs with current Radeon drivers while also improving image quality by dramatically reducing ghosting.

Recently, Sony released an updated version of its PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution (PSSR) that improves image quality and detail, motion stability, while also offering more tools and options for developers to push performance and resolution on the PlayStation 5 Pro. It's an impressive update, and one that works on all existing PSSR-supported titles as it's handled by the console's software, similar to how AMD's Radeon drivers override games to run the latest version of FSR 4.

It's available in a wide range of games, including Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, SILENT HILL f, Dragon Age: The Veilguard, Control, and Alan Wake 2. After its debut in Capcom's Resident Evil Requiem, the consensus is that the latest version of PSSR is now comparable to AMD's AI-powered FSR 4, exclusive to its RDNA 4 GPUs like the Radeon RX 9070 XT.

Which is literally true, because Mark Cerny, the Lead System Architect of the PS4 and PS5, has taken to social media to confirm that AMD's new FSR 4.1, which launched today, is "based on the same neural network as the upgraded PSSR we released for PS5 Pro." Sony's partnership with AMD, dubbed Project Amethyst, appears to be moving toward parity in features between PC and console.

Industry insiders, leakers, and analysts have all pointed to CD Projekt secretly working on a new DLC for the critically acclaimed title, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, and now CD Projekt Red has seemingly hinted at its existence in a recent financial report.

The string of rumors pointing to a new Witcher 3 DLC suggests CD Projekt Red is working on a new DLC to bridge the gap in the story between the events of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and the upcoming Witcher 4, which will feature Ciri as the main protagonist. Additionally, rumors indicate the new DLC will be an expansion of the region Velen, rather than an entirely new region as earlier rumors suggested.

As for what is official, CD Projekt Red hasn't announced anything specifically regarding a new Witcher 3 DLC, but in a recent financial report, the developer wrote, "In the coming quarters, the Studio will focus primarily on further development work on ongoing projects; we also plan to publish one of the heretofore unannounced gaming projects," reads the document.

Ubisoft is reportedly making another round of layoffs, with GamesIndustry.biz reporting that a source at Ubisoft has informed the publication that the North Carolina studio Red Storm Entertainment will be closing its doors.

According to a recent report, Red Storm Entertainment, a studio founded in 1996, will let go as many as 105 employees, and those that remain will stop working on their current project and begin focusing on the Snowdrop engine. GamesIndustry.biz reports that Red Storm Entertainment has been working on an untitled Splinter Cell VR game, which Ubisoft cancelled in 2022, and on Tom Clancy's The Division Heartland, which was also cancelled in 2024.

As for the recent layoffs, the Ubisoft source said that Red Storm's cuts were part of Ubisoft's global savings plan, and that any affected employees will be offered severance packages to assist with their departure.

After 25 years of hits, including the best-selling Ghost Recon and Rainbow Six franchises, Red Storm Entertainment is done making video games for Ubisoft.

One of Ubisoft's oldest legacy studios is being impacted by recent restructuring. Sources tell GamesIndustry.biz's Lewis Packwood that Ubisoft has made significant cuts to Red Storm Entertainment that will lead to over 100 people being laid off, and the studio now being relegated to technical work like Snowdrop Engine optimization, as well as IT and apparently even customer support.

It's reported Red Storm had been working on two cancelled projects for Ubisoft, including a Splinter Cell VR game as well as The Division Heartland.

Microsoft is testing out new Quick Resume controls in its Xbox Insiders program, and the feature should be rolling out soon to all users.

Xbox's upcoming OS update is a big one. Microsoft is bringing more customization and control to the user experience on Xbox Series consoles, and one feature stands out the most: being able to toggle Quick Resume on/off.

On the surface, this doesn't sound like much. Quick Resume is one of the best features that the Xbox Series X/S offer, so why disable it? There are 8 Quick Resume slots, and the slots are overwritten. Think of these as save states on an emulator. Each time you play a game that supports Quick Resume, it automatically takes up a slot. Basically, this new update lets you control which games don't get automatically added, thereby letting you preserve the slots you might have reserved for big RPGs like, say, Fallout 4.

Take-Two Interactive has no plans to interrupt gameplay with forced ads in premium-priced games.

Ads are the next horizon for monetization in gaming, especially on consoles...but it's a tricky well to tap. Ad-supported tiers have taken over all streaming services--perhaps the ultimate endgame all along--and the same could happen with gaming, at least to an extent, but no one has been brave enough to tackle it yet.

Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick says that these kinds of interstitial ads have no place in full-priced $70 games. This sentiment makes sense on a value level, as advertisements in games are typically used in free to play games, with the exception mainly consisting of sports titles. And the kind of interstitial ads that Zelnick refers to are the kind that break immersion and threaten engagement by disrupting player activity. For more on how ads could work for console gaming, check out this article.

NVIDIA unveiled DLSS 5 at GTC 2026, and the reception from the new technology has been anything but pleasant, with large portions of the gaming community describing the tech as AI slop.

The criticism of the latest generation of DLSS has even been recognized by NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang, who said people are "completely wrong" about DLSS 5, particularly the aspect where some characters look completely different than their original design. Concerned gamers pointed to examples such as Resident Evil: Requiem, as the DLSS 5 On image showcased a stark change in the character model. Notably, Capcom developers recently said they found out the title was being used in the presentation at the same time as the public.

NVIDIA's Jensen Huang responded to a question from Tom's Hardware, saying, "Well, first of all, they're completely wrong. The reason for that is because, as I have explained very carefully, DLSS 5 fuses controllability of the of geometry and textures and everything about the game with generative AI."

In a recent interview with The Game Business, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick discussed numerous topics in the gaming industry, including the recent rise in AI-powered tools for asset creation, in-game advertising, and his stance on a publisher/developer taking that route with a title.

Take-Two Interactive is the publisher of the Grand Theft Auto franchise, and during the interview, Zelnick was asked for his thoughts on GTA fans who bought GTA 5 when it released, but now do not have enough time to play GTA 6 when it releases, as they are now 13 years older. Zelnick dismissed this as a concern, saying he believes many 17-year-olds will be playing GTA 6 when it releases, and that GTA 5 players who are now 13 years older can purchase GTA 6 without a parent present.

Additionally, Zelnick believes there won't be an impact on sales over teens thinking they need to play all of the GTA games before getting GTA 6. The Take-Two CEO said he doesn't think teens will go "If I didn't play (GTA) five or four or three or two or one, I'm not showing up." Regarding GTA 6, Zelnick was asked his thoughts about advertising being built into the game, such as players seeing branding from companies within the game world. Fans of GTA have suspected this could be a route Rockstar takes to earn more money from the release of GTA 6, but Zelnick quickly shut that idea down, while simultaneously alluding to pricing for GTA 6.