Gaming - Page 614

Despite the disruption in its development teams that saw the franchise's studios reduced from three to two teams, Call of Duty will remain an annual franchise.

To no one's surprise, Activision confirms another mainline Call of Duty game will release in Q4 2020. "In Q4, we plan to launch the next premium release of Call of Duty. We can't wait to unveil what our teams have been working on, and we feel great about the content," Activision CFO Dennis Durkin said in a recent earnings call.

No actual information was revealed on the game, but reports indicate Call of Duty 2020 is Black Ops 5 and takes place in the Cold War era. Black Ops 5 is expected to have a singleplayer campaign mode set in the age of Communist scares and atomic bombs. The project is to be developed by a trio of studios collaborating together including Treyarch, Sledgehammer Games, and Raven Software.

Thanks to the incredible success of Call of Duty Mobile, Activision-Blizzard will continue doubling-down on smartphone games.

Making mobile games is a big part of Activision-Blizzard's new four-pronged business model. In its recent Q4 earnings call, the publisher discussed its plans for growth and how mobile will be--and currently is--a transformative force.

Call of Duty Mobile is doing tremendously well right now. So well in fact that Activision now sees mobile as its largest platform, and rightly so, because more people own phones than they do gaming PCs or video game consoles. Case in point: Call of Duty Mobile has been downloaded over 150 million times globally, making it a massively lucrative entry point to monetization and engagement (the company's core principals). Activision-Blizzard has taken a big bite out of the $68.5 billion mobile market and now they're hungry for more.

On the heels of Warcraft 3: Reforged's colossal failure, Activision-Blizzard confirms it has plans to remaster more old games. Diablo II could be next on the chopping block.

In its recent Q4'20 earnings call, Activision-Blizzard announced that more remasters will release in 2020. No games were explicitly confirmed, but Diablo II could be the next classic franchise to be torn apart and glued back together for the sake of reselling nostalgia.

"In addition, our business units will continue to tap into our portfolio of beloved IP to bring several remastered and re-imagined experiences to our players in 2020, which we will announce closer to launch," Activision-Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick said in the earnings call.

More than seven years in, Grand Theft Auto V simply won't stop making money. GTA Online is just as successful and is breaking records left and right.

In its latest Q3'20 earnings report, Take-Two revealed some not-so-surprising stats: GTA V is still selling tremendously well, and GTA Online is still making serious cash. Rockstar's landmark crime simulator has now sold-in more than 120 million copies to date (that's a 5 million jump in a quarter) and saw a huge 54% spike in microtransaction revenues in GTA Online. Active players are also up to an all-time high thanks to the massive engagement from the new Diamond Casino Resort updates.

Take-Two Interactive reiterates its massive new pipeline of games, which includes some big surprise projects from Mafia dev Hangar 13 alongside established IPs.

Rockstar Games parent company Take-Two Interactive is working on more games than ever before. Today the publisher once again teased its slate of projects, slightly changing the vocabulary; the pipeline is now the "largest and most diverse" in Take-Two's history, a lineup that includes new unannounced games from Hangar 13, who's rumored to be working on a new Mafia set in Las Vegas.

And yes, it also includes a new title from Rockstar Games.

Take-Two's latest Holiday 2019 quarterly revenues show more of the same trends: Digital reigns in earnings split, microtransaction revenues are up, and total net revenues are solidly driven by sports and catalog games.

In the Fiscal Year Q3'20 quarter ending December 31, 2019, Take-Two Interactive earned $930.1 million in total net revenues, down roughly $300 million from last year or a tremendous 25%. The main driver for the YoY loss was the absence of Red Dead Redemption 2, which launched during the Holiday 2019 quarter to thunderous success.

Recurrent consumer spending (microtransactions and DLC) accounted for 37% of total net revenues during Q3'20, or roughly $344.13 million. Take-Two notes this is a sizable 15% spike in player spending over 2018. NBA 2K20 led the charge in microtransaction earnings as per usual, followed closely by GTA V and Red Dead Redemption 2.

Secretlab continues to show why it is the king of gaming chairs with its latest limited edition chair, with the gaming chair leader collaborating with Warner Bros. and DC on a new Birds of Prey gaming chair.

Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) releases in cinema today, so Secretlab have worked with Warner Bros. Consumer Products and DC in a new chair in the DC-based chairs -- the first was the Secretlab Dark Knight Edition gaming chair. But this new one, is for the girl gamers of the world.

The new Secretlab Birds of Prey Limited Edition gaming chair is splashed in exactly what you'd expect from a Harley Quinn themed chair, with a cream color base and gold diamond-motif leatherette on the backrest accents, and on the inside of the seatbase. Quinn's signature is on the front of the back wrist, while Secretlab has a pop-art twist of her iconic lipstick kiss on the back, some "graffiti-ed" hearts, and XOXOs all over the chair.

A renowned Nintendo leaker has claimed that Nintendo will be hosting a Nintendo Direct dedicated to the new Animal Crossing Horizons this month.

According to Spieltimes journalist and known Nintendo leaker, Sabi, who took to Twitter to say that throughout the month of February, Nintendo is expected to hold a Nintendo Direct. In Sabi's Tweets, it's said that one of the Direct's will be circled around the newly announced Animal Crossing Horizons, and another could be dedicated to a Nindies Showcase.

Sabi says that the Nindies Showcase might happen mid-March and that both of the Direct's won't be happening this week and instead happen within the next three weeks. Since this isn't an official confirmation from Nintendo, please take this news with a hint of salt as it's not 100% confirmed. Rumors are rumors until Nintendo announces something.

Activision's latest earnings show a steep $800 million drop in microtransaction earnings, but it still made over $3.3 billion from in-game spending.

Photographer: Troy Harvey/Bloomberg

Activision-Blizzard is a titan of monetization but it's game is slipping a bit, at least when compared to its 2018 highs. The publisher earned $3.366 billion from in-game microtransactions in 2019, down a whopping $837 million from last year. This represents a sizable 20% drop from 2018's mTX earnings.

A new BioShock game is in development at the newly formed 2K studio Cloud Chamber, but it won't release any time soon.

In its recent Q3'20 earnings report, Take-Two Interactive confirms BioShock 4 isn't releasing for at least a few years. The publisher also confirms the game has just started development, hinting the original 2017 iteration has been scrapped or rebooted.

"In addition, 2K announced that Cloud Chamber has started to work on the next iteration of the globally acclaimed BioShock franchise, which will be in development for the next several years," reads the press release.

Blizzard is currently hiring 16 people to work on a new unannounced project that may tap its new shared games engine.

Under Activision's new consolidated engagement-driven business model that incorporates things like cross-play, Blizzard is likewise changing and trying to streamline its game launches and development cycles. Now we have a clue in how some of these changes will manifest.

The company is currently hiring over a dozen developers to work on a new unannounced project, which may or may not be part of the huge IP pipeline that ex-Blizzard president Mike Morhaime teased in 2017. Back in October, it was also reported that Activision was working on 10 new games, one of which may be a Destiny-killer IP.

Microsoft no longer sees Sony or Nintendo as competitors. That means they could become allies to fight the true threat: Google and Amazon.

Image: DigitalTrends

Microsoft is open to signing a kind of truce with Sony and Nintendo in a bid to fend off the incoming specter of Google's and Amazon's respective streaming might. It's kind of like when enemies join together temporarily to take out a bigger foe that threatens to upend everything--in this case, Google and Amazon could upend entire games industry and take over with more accessible game streaming solutions.

Both the PS5 and Xbox Series X could be delayed as key hardware supply chain facilities are impacted by China's coronavirus health risk.

Big chip-makers like Foxconn are closing shop due to the coronavirus outbreak, interrupting tech hardware production in games consoles, iPhones, DRAM, and more. Today Nintendo confirmed the temporary closures at Foxconn will impact Switch production and stall shipments to Japan. This could only be the beginning of the disruption; Sony and Microsoft also rely on Foxconn's fab facilities for chips in their respective PlayStation and Xbox systems.

If the situation doesn't improve, both the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X next-gen systems could be summarily impacted. This could eventually lead to a delay past Holiday 2020, which would tremendously shake-up the games industry.

A bit ago Nintendo confirmed China's coronavirus outbreak would interrupt production of Switch console hardware, and now the company reiterates that hardware supplies in Japan will be delayed.

The tech sector is getting hit in a big way as China weathers the coronvirus health hazard by shutting down chip-making factories and plants. Console-makers like Nintendo are planning for delays of hardware supplies in the coming weeks as Foxconn, the leading manufacturer of Switch hardware, has temporarily closed due to the virus.

Today Nintendo announced that Switch supplies will remain constrained in Japan due to the coronavirus. JoyCon production, main Switch hardware--including the base, Switch Lite, and new Animal Crossing bundles--, and the massively outsold Ring Fit Adventure will all be delayed.

A new bit of concept art for WB Montreal's upcoming Batman game has leaked out, showing the batcycle...but it might not be in the final game.

Warner Bros. Montreal has been working on a new Batman game since 2014, but the project has shifted quite a bit. Originally called Project Sabbath and starring Damien Wayne, the game was reportedly rebooted into the now-famous Arkham Legacy focus with multiple main protagonists (presumably Bruce Wayne, Damien Wayne, Dick Grayson, and Barbara Gordon). Based on teasers from the studio we can surmise that some of Sabbath's rumored features, like the new-and-improved nemesis system, are returning.

Fast-forwarding to current day and we have new reports the Batman game is a soft reboot of the Arkham series without actually being part of the Arkham series. Sadly the recent info batch doesn't tell us much we don't already know. But today we get a new glimpse at what could've been (or what could be) a big part of the game's vehicle system: The Batcycle.

Today Valve revealed some stats about Steam's performance in 2019, and the numbers are pretty stellar.

PC gamers are spending an astronomical amount of time on Steam games. According to Valve, gamers spent 20 billion hours playing Steam titles, representing absolutely huge engagement levels for the platform. Throughout the year Steam evolved quite a bit with new social features, a great new games library UI, and new ways to play.

Remote Play Together, which lets Steam users play couch co-op games online, is also extremely popular with over 2.3 million gamers trying out the feature. Steam Remote Play is likewise appealing; over 3.7 million gamers are beaming their Steam libraries to mobiles on-the-go.

With an imminent Steam launch and the game-changing Wastelanders expansion on the way, April might be the most important month of Fallout 76's life.

Fallout 76 is coming to Steam on April 7, 2020, the same day the free Wastelanders update rolls out. This will be a big proving point for Bethesda's hotly-contested live game. The intent is clear: Bethesda wants to grow playerbase with a Steam release while simultaneously reinvigorating the game with an update. The idea is to pull lapsed users back to the game while also giving current players more content, and appealing to Steam's massive 90 million userbase.

Wastelanders itself is a big deal for Fallout 76. The expansion will dramatically change the game by adding actual human NPCs to the world and bringing some much-needed agency to irradiated Appalachia. There's also new questlines, items and gear, creatures, and a choice-driven system that actually reflects Fallout's roots.

Google is making an absolute killing from YouTube ads, which represents nearly 10% of its total yearly revenues.

Google makes a lot of money. I mean a lot of money. The company raked in an astronomical $161.85 billion in total earnings in 2019 alone, and 83% of that, or $134.81 billion, was from advertising.

YouTube in particular generated $15.1 billion in ad revenue last year, representing roughly 9.3% of Google's 2019 earnings. In the holiday quarter alone, YouTube made $4.7 billion in revenues, more than Microsoft's total Xbox gaming segment figures.

If you are a Lord of the Rings fan and enjoy real-time strategy games, then keep your eyes on this fan project as it's glorious.

The team at BFME REFORGED (Battle For Middle-Earth Reforged) has posted a new video showcasing their work on re-making the classic real-time strategy title in Unreal Engine 4. The above video reveals Isengard in all its glory, and as the commentator explains, "The fortress is initially made of stone and iron. However, and as Isengard grows in might, it can improve the fortress using its resources to make the it even more resilient to damage with the Obsidian Defence upgrade."

If you have never heard of Battle for Middle Earth it's an old real-time strategy title that was released back in 2004. Since then, EA has lost the rights to Lord of the Rings content and discontinued the BFME, and the sequel. At the moment, it's almost impossible to buy, unless you get second hand or pay a jacked-up price. BFME REFORGED doesn't have a release date yet, but the team is hard at work bringing the multiplayer over to Unreal Engine 4. For any more updates on BFME REFORGED, check back here.

While fans of the Saints Row series wait patiently for news about the game's fifth title, Nintendo Switch owners will be able to enjoy the fourth game in portable mode.

If you haven't played a Saints Row title, and own a Nintendo Switch, now your chance to jump into some of the over-the-top action ever created. A new announcement trailer has been posted to the official Saints Row website that reveals Saints Row: Re-Elected will be arriving on the Nintendo Switch with a tonne of downloadable content.

If you haven't played Saints Row IV: Re-Elected, here's a quick summary of what you are in store for. You play as the President of the United States who is facing an alien invasion, and you must do whatever means necessary to stop these aliens from invading your home. Players have an incredibly diverse range of weapons to use, and ways of disposing of the alien invaders -- and the best bit about it is that it's all ridiculous action. Saints Row IV: Re-Elected will be arriving on the Nintendo Switch on March 27th for $40.