Gaming - Page 512

GSC Game World has come out teasing the very first official in-engine gameplay teaser of STALKER 2, check it out:

What we're seeing here isn't really gameplay, but rather GSC has created the look and feel of what the developer expects the final gameplay and world of STALKER 2 to be -- all in Unreal Engine 4, made by Epic Games. It looks great, but it's not mind blowing just yet -- and has to stand up against Cyberpunk 2077.

GSC explains: "[This gameplay teaser represents] how the game actually feels: fast-paced changes of scenery, ominous landscapes and the ever-present feeling of an inevitable danger accompanied by a barely-distinguishable guitar soundtrack".

If you're running the Epic Games Launcher and wondering why your CPU usage has been high, you'll need to get your refresher course on that here -- if you already know about it, Epic is aware and a fix is on the way.

Sergiy Galyonkin, one of the developers behind Epic Game Launcher, said that his team is well aware of the issue and have already made a fix that is being tested. We don't know when the patch will go live, but I don't think it'll be much into 2021 before there's an update pushed out.

It looks like Sony will continue giving away free PlayStation 5 games with its original PS Plus lineup.

The free PlayStation Plus lineup for January includes three games this time, including a PS5 game. Subscribers get access to Maneater (PS5), and two excellent PS4 games like the BioWare-esque RPG Greedfall and Shadow of the Tomb Raider, the finale to Square Enix's epic Lara Craft trilogy.

Sony was careful to say Maneater is only for PlayStation 5 players. The Jaws simulator is available on both PS4 and PS5, but PS4 owners won't get a last-gen copy. If you own a PS4, you only get Shadow of the Tomb Raider and Greedfall.

Torchlight II is the latest free game on the Epic Games Store, but you only have 24 hours to grab it.

Epic Games is closing out its huge free game giveaway with one of the best ARPGS on the market. Torchlight II is free right now on the Epic Games Store until December 31 at 11AM.

Torchlight II isn't as good as, say, Grim Dawn or even Path of Exile, but it does have its own charm. The game has awesome mod support and co-op play set in a stylish and colorful atmosphere, and the gear/skills progression is pretty fantastic. The game was made by original Blizzard North developers from the Diablo era--a team called Runic Games. Sadly, Runic shut down in 2017 but the online servers are still up so Torchlight II isn't completely defunct.

GOG.com is giving Metro Last Light Redux, but you have to act fast to grab it.

4A Games is working on a new Metro sequel complete with online multiplayer, so now there's even more reason to experience the franchise's early chapters. If you haven't played Metro Last Light yet, GOG.com has you covered. You can now grab the remastered Last Light for free on GOG.com for the next 48 hours.

All you have to do is agree to promotional emails and snag your copy. Once you grab it, the game is 100% free to keep forever. Also remember the game is DRM-free so there's no copy protection or Denuvo getting in the way. Metro Last Light is a must-play that still sets a high watermark for PC performance even to this day.

A now-deleted job listing indicates Respawn Entertainment is working on a new IP, but the reality is the studio has been assisting with a new intellectual property for a while now.

Respawn has made a big impact on EA. Apex Legends launched in February 2019 and is now a billion-dollar franchise. Jedi Fallen Order exploded on the scene later in the year, and the game's strong sales transformed how EA makes Star Wars games. As a result, Respawn CEO Vince Zampella has been given lots of creative control at EA and was tapped to help rebrand DICE L.A. from a support studio into a fully-fledged team.

Zampella is currently leading two teams: The DICE L.A. group, and Respawn. There's no word on what DICE L.A. is working on, but the project has been in development since late 2019.

Let's face it: you need all of the performance that you can get from your system in Cyberpunk 2077 -- especially if you want ray tracing enabled.

The new Cyberpunk 2077 mod is called "Optimized Raytracing Setting" for the PC version of the game, and wants to make the game playable with ray tracing on by adjusting settings. You'll have to play around with it yourself to see what kind of performance gains -- if any -- that you'll get out of Cyberpunk 2077.

Modder 'Romelsalwi' explains: "This mod is made with an intention to make the game playable with RT settings. I did a little reading around and come up with these settings. If anyone can help me understand ray tracing settings in depth, I'm all ears and looking forward to optimize the experience further".

Redditor Cooliomendez88 has purchased all of the buyable vehicles in Cyberpunk 2077 and made quite the collection of cool sci-fi cars and bikes.

Someone's finally done it. One dedicated gamer has spent lots of hours grinding out millions of eddies to buy up all of the purchasable vehicles in Cyberpunk 2077. The collection ranges from the derpy Makigai MaiMai P126 economy car all the way to the ultra-expensive 225,000 eddie Rayfield Aerondight S9 Guinevere supercar. All in all the cars are worth a wallet-smashing 2 million eddies.

Racking up those eddies took quite a bit of effort. Cooliomendez88 says he completed every side mission in the game and all of the NCPD Scanner Hustles...and even that wasn't enough to fund the extravagant collection.

Reddit user Sybekul discovers what could've been Cyberpunk 2077's original travel system.

Like most big-budget AAA games, Cyberpunk 2077 is littered with unfinished pieces and remnants of cut content. One big piece that was cut out is the NCART line, or the Night City Area Rapid Transport. Remember the monorail that V. rode in the Cyberpunk 2077 trailer? That railway was at one point included in the game.

One industrious gamer found a way to hop on the unfinished NCART railway system. There's the plain monorail track and a very glitchy railway station, and there's also a moving shipping rail you can ride--provided you find it and can hop on top of it (try out this build to reach super high areas in Night City).

Could Cyberpunk 2077's planned free DLC get pushed back as CDPR gears up for big PS4 and Xbox One updates?

Just like The Witcher 3, Cyberpunk 2077 will get a bunch of free DLC for all gamers to enjoy. The official Cyberpunk 2077 website confirms the DLC will start releasing early 2021. However, this scheduled timeline could get disrupted. Right now CD Projekt RED has bigger fish to fry.

The studio is currently prioritizing the development of two big PS4 and Xbox One optimization patches that will fix the dismal performance on last-gen hardware. The devs expect to release one update in January 2021, and the other in February 2021.

Despite GTA V's brief stint on Xbox Game Pass, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick is still skeptical about subscriptions and game streaming platforms.

Xbox Game Pass is the single-most transformative subscription in modern gaming. It's changed how Microsoft distributes, markets, monetizes, and develops its games. Other publishers are following suit with their own subscriptions (EA Play, Ubisoft+), and even Sony adapted PS Now to mimic Game Pass. But there's one major publisher that isn't ready to jump on the bandwagon with their own all-in-one subscription platform: Rockstar Games parent company Take-Two Interactive.

At the UBS Global TMT Virtual Conference, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick made it clear he's not sold on the idea. Subscriptions, Mr. Zelnick argues, deliver too much content that can't possibly be consumed. Most working consumers only have a small amount of time for leisure activities, and Mr. Zelnick argues consumers would rather buy games selectively than get access to a glut of content.

In a new letter to Star Citizen players, RSI's Chris Roberts reiterates that Squadron 42 won't be rushed to meet a deadline.

There's a running joke about Star Citizen that it'll never be finished. The game has commands a huge $300 million budget and whole parts of the game are still missing. Star Citizen's ambitious singleplayer campaign Squadron 42, a spiritual successor to the Wing Commander games with an all-star cast including Mark Hammill, Liam Cunningham, Gary Oldman, and Gillian Anderson, is one such missing piece, and it won't be found any time soon.

In a recent letter to backers, Chris Roberts confirms Squadron 42 is still a long ways off. Roberts says he won't show actual Squadron 42 gameplay nor divulge new details until the game is closer to release. In short, it'll be done when it's done--which is exactly what Roberts said in October.

GTA IV managed to generated $2 billion in worldwide sales in its heyday, but it doesn't hold a candle to GTA V's juggernaut earnings.

According to ex-Rockstar producer Franceska Bucci, Grand Theft Auto IV made over $2 billion in lifetime sales revenues. The current data shows GTA IV managed to sell 28 million copies since 2008. These are massive figures compared to most games, but Grand Theft Auto V absolutely crushes its forebear.

In comparison, GTA V has now sold a monumental 135 million copies since 2013. GTA V has the added benefit of releasing across two whole generations of consoles--and is about to re-release on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S too. GTA V's revenues are also significantly higher thanks to GTA Online; in 2019 alone, GTA V and GTA Online generated over $500 million, or roughly 1/4th of GTA IV's total lifetime earnings. GTA Online managed to break $1 billion in earnings way back in 2017 solely from microtransaction purchases.

Control lead writer Anna Megill is also writing the new Fable reboot, so things could get pretty interesting.

A new Fable game is in development from Playground Games, and there's a few things we should expect from it. First, it'll be exclusive to the Xbox Series X and Series S next-gen console platform, so native 4K graphics, ultra-fast loading, and more vibrant, expansive worlds are probably a given. Second, the game could have a rather quirky and irreverent storyline infused with myth and legend.

Not much is known about the new Fable's storyline, but we do know Control writer Anna Megill is a lead writer on the project. This is a pretty exciting prospect. As seen in Remedy's excellent game Control, Megill brings a unique supernatural vision to her work. We're not exactly sure how this will fold into Fable's mythos. The series is known for its wacky humor and Princess Bride-style antics, and there's also an undercurrent of fairy-tale Arthurian magic too.

Sony could ship as many as 18 million PlayStation 5 consoles in 2021 and beat PS4's comparative second-year shipments, sources tell DigiTimes.

According to DigiTimes, Sony has secured a big contract with foundry titan TSMC to expand PS5 chip production. Sources say that TSMC could fabricate APUs for as many as 18 million PS5s in 2021.

The reports indicate Sony could have anywhere between 16.8 and 18 million PlayStation 5 consoles ready for shipment throughout 2021, beating out the PS4 by up to 3.2 million units. In comparison, the PlayStation 4 shipped 14.8 million consoles in 2014, its second year of availability.

At least two the five investigating law firms have filed class action securities fraud suits against CD Projekt Group. Now the games developer promises it will defend itself "vigorously" in court.

Five law firms are currently investigating CD Projekt Group for possibly misleading investors for material gain, which technically constitutes securities fraud. Two firms, Rosen Law and Schall Law, have moved forward by filing class-action lawsuits against CD Projekt. The allegations stem from CDP's miscommunication around Cyberpunk 2077's last-gen port, which kicked off widespread controversy and led to mass refunds and a significant stock drop (it's currently $19.18, down 23% since CP2077's launch).

The developer has now issued a response. CDPR confirms they received the class-action lawsuit and say they will take "vigorous action" against the lawsuits.

Sony has shipped a huge 3.4 million PS5 consoles worldwide in its first month of availability, a new record for PlayStation hardware, sources tell DigiTimes.

According to DigiTimes, the PlayStation 5 is swinging out of the gate with strong shipment surges. Sony has reportedly made good on its promise of widespread console availability for the holidays, and has shipped 3.4 million consoles to worldwide markets in four weeks' time. Remember, this is shipments so it's technically sell-in, not sell-through or actual sales, but due to extreme demand it's implied that all of these units were sold to consumers.

If accurate, this figure places the PS5 at the top of PlayStation console launch shipments. A like-for-like comparison against the PS4 is tough because we don't know exact 4-week figures for the PS4. The PS4 sold 2.1 million units in its first two weeks of availability, and shipped 4.3 million units in Q3'13 and another 3.3 million units in Q4'13. All in all, the PlayStation 4 managed to ship 7.6 million units in the two quarters after launch.

If you've been lucky enough to buy Sony's next-gen PlayStation 5 console this year, or you're gearing up to buy one sometime in 2021, then you'll be happy to know dbrand will have matte black faceplates and much more coming soon for the PS5.

The company wrote a post on Reddit announcing it had started mass producing custom faceplates for the PlayStation 5. dbrand wrote: "After moving a few more chess pieces through four dimensions, we added a new production line to our plastic injection molding facility and got to work. The skills we've refined through the past few years of developing the Grip Case has uniquely positioned our organization to create OEM-grade Faceplates: ones with all of the precision, attention to detail, and needlessly elaborate packaging that you've come to expect from dbrand".

"We'll be entering mass production on PS5 Faceplates by year's end. However, we won't be accepting orders until we have stock at our Toronto HQ, ready to ship. If CD Projekt RED has taught us anything, it's that selling products before they're finished is a bad idea".

Caviar is known for some truly one-of-a-kind tweaks on popular electronic products like smartphones, but now the Russian jewelry company has designed a truly unique PlayStation 5 called "Golden Rock". Check it out:

The company will be making a single custom PS5 made from solid gold, with 20KG of gold used on Golden Rock. Caviar explains Golden Rock: "The fastest, most powerful and advanced Sony PlayStation 5 is definitely one of the best-selling game consoles. Caviar jewelers could not pass by such a luxurious and very difficult to manufacture golden version of the PlayStation".

Golden Rock was inspired by the geometry of the gold ore and outlines of the rock itself, so the gold-laden PS5 console has been made with 8 sheets of 18 carats gold which weigh in at a very, very hefty 20KG or so.

In a recent interview with Game Informer, Ubisoft producer Julien Laferriere said there are improvements coming for Assassin's Creed Valhalla.

The game doesn't have any ray tracing elements, native 4K rendering on the next-gen PS5 and Xbox Series X consoles, but there are improvements coming to those platforms -- and high-end PC. Laferriere said: "When looking at Valhalla's post-launch plans, it was important to me to have quality-of-life fixes in there, and also be able to react to the new platforms, because they continue improving".

He continued: "We've got great reception on PS5, Series X, and PC as well -- people are definitely enjoying the high-end capabilities of the game, so we want to continue to capitalize on that. This isn't meant to sound like bullshit or cliche, but for me, it's about hearing what the player base is saying and reacting to that, on top of the extra content and the features".