Gaming - Page 546

Far Cry 6 pre-orders are live across multiple storefronts and platforms, but the game is missing from Steam.

Ubisoft confirms its new guerrilla-warfare shooter Far Cry 6 won't come to Steam when it launches in February 2021. "Far Cry 6 will launch on PC (through the Epic Games Store, Uplay, and UPLAY+)," Ubisoft said in a press release.

Far Cry 6 will be another Epic Games Store exclusive that skips Steam and even the Microsoft Store. The PC version of the game, which stars Breaking Bad's Giancarlo Eposito alongside a fearsome wiener dog on wheels, is available for pre-order on the Epic Store and uPlay, but is missing from both Steam and the Microsoft Store.

Microsoft has announced that Flight Simulator will be launching on August 18, and in order to make the news even better -- they've released a new 4K trailer for the game. Check it out:

Jord Neumann, the head of Microsoft Flight Simulator, explains: "We have been thrilled and humbled by the support and dedication that has fueled the Flight Sim community for the past 38 years. Since the launch of the very first Microsoft Flight Simulator in 1982, we knew it was finally the right time to develop the next-generation version of Microsoft Flight Simulator".

There will be 3 different versions of Flight Simulator released, these will include:

It looks like someone is about to lose their job at Amazon Australia, with pre-order pages going up for the PlayStation 5, its hardware and accessories, and even a bunch of PS5 games.

A user on Reddit noticed that Amazon Australia had complete pre-order pages or the PS5 console, accessories and games, but you can't pre-order anything right now. The pages are live, and that's it -- but that means we're one step closer to the PS5 pre-orders going live worldwide.

We don't know about pricing on the PlayStation 5 just yet, but we're expecting somewhere in sub $500 range. We have had rumored pricing on the PS5 at $599 and $699, but new PS5 price leaks suggest $499 for the standard PS5 and $399 for the digital PS5 -- both launching on November 20.

Death Stranding is now pre-loading to PC gamers on both Steam and the Epic Games Store, with the pre-load requiring 63GB of storage space.

There's a catch with pre-loading Death Stranding, where if you pre-purchased the game you can now pre-load before the game officially launches on the PC at 7am PST / 3pm GMT / 1pm JP on July 14.

If you've got Death Stranding pre-loaded once the launch is live, you can play it immediately. Those who didn't pre-order will be able to begin their downloads, while you can already be peeing in the game.

Death Stranding is about to release on the PC through Steam and the Epic Games Store on July 14, with the legend himself Hideo Kojima set to talk about the PC version of the game... later today.

We have Geoff Keighley's Summer Games Fest kicking off this week, with Hideo Kojima and artist Yoji Shinkawa from Kojima Productions joining Keighley today to talk about the PC version of Death Stranding -- which launches tomorrow.

We don't know what exactly will be talked about, but they have said it will be a "special conversation" about the PC version of Death Stranding. I'm keen to see what they're going to talk about, especially with the tame PC system requirements. I want to hear about the crazy high-end version of the game with high-end textures and all that, hopefully it's not all about the Half-Life side and selfies.

Flight Simulator is getting closer to official takeoff, with Microsoft to begin a public closed beta on July 30 according to the latest reports.

The announcement itself is coming directly from the latest developer blog by Microsoft, after Alpha 5 was sent out to Flight Simulator testers. It arrived with a new slew of Flight Simulator alpha invitations for previous registrants, so if you've registered for the alpha -- you might want to check your inbox.

Microsoft explains in the blog post: "We are currently scheduled to release Closed Beta on 07.30. As a reminder, if you are currently an Alpha tester, you will be automatically granted access to the Closed Beta. If you are not currently an Alpha tester, we will be sending out new invitations for Closed Beta participation".

Like its predecessors, Assassin's Creed Valhalla will have an in-game microtransaction storefront that allows gamers to purchase items.

A new gameplay trailer for Asssassin's Creed Valhalla confirms the game will be monetized in some way with an in-game store. The footage clearly shows a Store tab in the upper right-hand corner, but it didn't outline what exactly will be sold.

We should expect in-game "convenience items" like crafting materials as well as on-demand purchases of powerful weapons to be sold for Helix credits, the universal Assassin's Creed currency. Both Assassin's Creeds Odyssey and Origins had stores that sold these types of items and used the premium currency.

New Assassin's Creed Valhalla gameplay footage shows some epic new weapons including a "Viking harpoon".

The latest Viking-themed Assassin's Creed game has lots of new combat additions and weapons. One of the most surprising is what's called the Viking harpoon, which is basically like Scorpion's infamous kunai hook. Since it's 873 AD, Eivor uses a rope with a cruel hook on the end instead of a chain to yank enemies into brutal execution moves. In the latest trailer we see Eivor use the harpoon to decapitate a foe.

Gamers can now dual-wield pretty much any one-handed weapon in the game for maximum fury, including hammers, swords, shortswords, morningstars/flails and axes--you can even dual-wield shields. There's also two-handed weapons like bardiches and greatswords that make combat much more visceral, chunky, and lethal.

The latest Serious Sam 4 gameplay footage looks washed out and a little funky.

Today Devolver dropped a new trailer for Serious Sam 4, Croteam's upcoming ultra-chaotic horde-mode FPS, and it didn't look all that good. The footage is a stark contrast to the brilliant and brightly-lit screenshots on the Steam page. Gameplay looks drab, the textures seem like something from a mid-2010's game, and the bullet streamers look quite strange when you're strafing and shooting.

We're hoping this isn't indicative of the final product. Serious Sam 4 is coming out next month, so I'm curious how much time Croteam will have to polish up the experience. Remember this is technically an indie game so expectations should be kept in check, but I darsesay the original game on the OG Xbox actually looks better.

Assassin's Creed Valhalla will release on November 17, 2020, Ubisoft's Italian Instagram account accidentally revealed.

The Ubisoft leaks just won't stop coming. First Sony accidentally announced Far Cry 6 starring Breaking Bad's Giancarlo Esposito, and now an Instagram post confirms the launch date for the new Viking-themed Assassin's Creed. The now-deleted post says Assassin's Creed Valhalla releases in mid-November, just two days before Cyberpunk 2077's launch.

We're not 100% sure if this is the final launch date or not because Ubisoft has yet to confirm anything. They're saving the announcement for tomorrow's Ubisoft Forward livestream. Here's another interesting parallel--Valhalla is said to launch alongside the Xbox Series X, so Microsoft's next-gen console could also release on November 17.

Carrion, the bloody and super-weird indie where you play as a writhing mass of disgusting otherworldly tentacles and gobble up humans, releases on July 23 on Nintendo Switch, PC, and Xbox One.

Today's Devolver Direct was filled with mayhem, hilarity, and weird indies. Games like Carrion really caught my eye. It's the type of experience that'd make horror mavens like David Cronenberg and John Carpenter proud. The basic premise is you control a horrifying alien monstrosity and find creative ways to negotiate platformer-style levels and chew on people in the process.

You can use your blood-soaked tentacles to slide through narrow passageways and even take control over NPCs to do your bidding (you can also control mechs, which is pretty awesome). It looks like an interesting puzzle type of game with a strong emphasis on gore and sci-horror. I daresay there's nothing like it on the market today.

Flying Wild Hog just dropped the first in-game footage for Shadow Warrior 3, and it looks damn good.

During the insane fever dream that was today's Devolvercast we got to see fresh gameplay footage of Lo Wang's triumphant return. The trailer shows off some brutal FPS combat with a new dragon shotgun, a badass magnum revolver complete with Clint Eastwood style quick rapid-fire, and a bunch of cybernetic yokai that get transformed into buckets of blood. There's also a weird mini-gun thing that looks like it shoots Chinese fireworks.

Oh and glory kills are confirmed, too, alongside a new double-handed hammer. The hookshot grappling hook can also be used to pull things towards you or pull switches and activate devastating traps across levels.

Sony's ambitious plans for the PlayStation 5 don't just include higher-end hardware, but also new innovations in its services framework. One of the most interesting advancements is a new feature that will allow gamers to create, edit, and share "gameplay slices" on the PS Network through its cloud infrastructure.

A new Sony patent has been making the rounds and lots of publications are reporting on it. You've probably seen headlines like "new patent will allow PS1, PS2, and PS3 games to play on PS5." The reality is that this original patent is rather old--it was filed in December 2013, a year before PlayStation Now launched, and claimed in 2012--and explicitly describes game streaming on PS Now. It's always been obvious PS Now would be supported on PS5 and that's always been a method for backward compatibility on the next-gen system. But it's the new updated portion of the patent that's most interesting, and it's the part that most websites simply didn't notice.

The update was published on June 10 and basically describes how legacy PS1, PS2, and PS3 games could support a revolutionary new gameplay sharing functionality that lets you create, edit, and share slices of your game as interactive and playable demos.

Seven years ago, Valve had a handful of interesting projects in the works including their very own spin on The Elder Scrolls.

Back in 2013, Valve was working on an experimental RPG built with its Source 2 engine. The project was internally codenamed "RPG" and took direct inspiration from role-playing greats like Monster Hunter, Dark Souls, and Elder Scrolls.

From the sound of it, the RPG would've have a grand fantasy scope with emphasis on action RPG combat. The details come from Geoff Keighley's new Valve documentary on Steam that spilled the beans on early Half-Life 3 concepts and the cancelled Left 4 Dead 3 project set in Morocco.

Back in 2013, Valve was working on Left 4 Dead 3 alongside a myriad of other projects--including a unique Half-Life 3 idea. But the game ultimately fizzled out due to a fledgling Source 2 engine that simply wasn't ready. Now Valve opens up on what Left 4 Dead 3 looked like back then, and discusses why the game wasn't ever released.

We know Valve was making Left 4 Dead 3 at some point--the leaked concept art and environments prove as much--but we don't actually know much about the project except it was set in Morocco and had new 8 heroes total, including four new ones.Until now, that is.

Geoff Keighley's new Half-Life: Alyx the Final Hours documentary delves into some of Valve's cancelled projects, including Left 4 Dead 3. The zombie shooter would've been quite ambitious and had an open-world focus set in the sandy environs of Morocco. Back in January, Valve said it wasn't working on Left 4 Dead 3, which was technically true at the time.

Crytek has pulled the bigger bait and switch on Crysis fans, after teasing that Crysis Remastered was right around the corner -- and then going Maximum Stealth, and pulling the release.

It all happened because the gaming and tech media as well as gamers themselves, were not happy with what was shown off in the early leaked footage of Crysis Remastered. The developer pulled the release within an hour of revealing it (not a good move by Crytek) yet... the Nintendo Switch version is still launching on July 23.

The official Crysis Twitter account tweeted out: "Crysis Fans, You may have seen our last update about the Crysis Remastered release, and we have good news for you: We can confirm that Crysis will still be coming to Nintendo Switch on July 23rd! Watch this space for further updates".

In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Xbox boss Phil Spencer says next-gen exclusives basically go against the spirit of modern choice-driven gaming. But in reality next-gen exclusives just go against the Xbox business model.

Once again Microsoft and Sony are kicking off a new console gen by doing very different things. Sony plans to release next-gen PlayStation 5 exclusives that're built from the ground up specifically for the console. Microsoft, on the other hand, won't have Xbox Series X exclusives, and its first-party teams have to make their games playable on four separate SKUs at launch. The reasoning is quite simple: Microsoft's business model is very different than Sony's.

"Sorry, I am a bit soap boxy with this one. Gaming is about entertainment and community and diversion and learning new stories and new perspectives, and I find it completely counter to what gaming is about to say that part of that is to lock people away from being able to experience those games. Or to force someone to buy my specific device on the day that I want them to go buy it, in order to partake in what gaming is about," Spencer said.

NVIDIA has just announced that it is bundling Hideo Kojima's masterpiece Death Stranding, with any of its GeForce RTX 20 series graphics cards.

This includes desktop graphics cards and GeForce RTX-powered gaming laptops and desktops as well, with Death Stranding launching on the PC on both Steam and the Epic Games Store on July 14. Remember that Death Stranding packs NVIDIA's kick ass DLSS 2.0 technology.

To coincide with the announcement of the Death Stranding RTX bundle, NVIDIA released a new GeForce Game Ready 451.67 driver that has optimizations and support not just for Death Stranding, but Horizon Zero Dawn and F1 2020.

2013 was a big year for Valve. The company had three projects in experimental phases: A new fantasy RPG, a Morroccan-themed Left 4 Dead 3 set in a vast open world, and a Source 2 project that could've changed gaming forever. That last project was Half-Life 3.

Even in early phases of development Valve had ambitious plans for Half-Life 3. According to a new Half-Life: Alyx The Final Hours documentary, Valve wanted Half-Life 3 to be replayable on a new level. Instead of static levels like Half-Life 1 or Half-Life 2, the game would shake things up and shift certain sequences and levels.

The game would've used procedural generation to create unique and semi-randomized events and situations that could liven up every playthrough, ensuring no two runs were the same. It would've been something like a live campaign with a myriad of different outcomes.

Sony's latest patent further hints at unique save-state sharing functionalities on the PlayStation Network, which should allow gamers to create and share their own custom slices of gameplay.

Sony's PlayStation 5 may usher in a new evolution of the PSN service ecosystem. We've uncovered multiple patents that hint at transformative features similar to Google's Stadia platform and Microsoft's Project xCloud. If these patents coalesce, gamers will be able to capture, create, edit and share custom game demos. Think of it as not only watching a game clip, but being able to play it too.

The latest Sony patent, which was filed in June and published this month, specifically mentions instant play. The patent is built on a simple premise: "cloud-based game slice generation and frictionless social sharing with instant play." This tells us everything we need to know. It's clear Sony wants to emulate Stadia's unique save-state sharing feature with instant click-to-play access. Microsoft is also doing something similar with Project xCloud.