Gaming - Page 646

Modern Warfare's new battle pass offering will be available next month, Activision confirms.

Activision has shrugged off Call of Duty lootboxes for good, replacing them with a new battle pass business model for Modern Warfare. The battle pass has two versions: a free version that's available to everyone, and the paid version. The only difference with the paid version is you can earn CoD Points to spend on cosmetics in-game. Both versions will let gamers earn new weapons and attachments by playing the game, as well as new skins via seasonal events and rankings.

We don't know how much it'll cost just yet, but we do know it's coming sometime in December to coincide with the busy holiday season. "This includes our new in-game system for Modern Warfare which begins in December, slightly later than originally planned," Activision-Blizzard CFO Dennis Durkin said in a recent earnings call.

Sony's PlayStation services have come a long way. But they need to go farther to compete with Xbox services' tremendous value. Sony isn't ready to take on Game Pass on its own turf just yet, though.

Sony has no plans to bring its big first-party PS4 exclusives over to PlayStation Now at launch, SIE President Jim Ryan confirms. This could be a mistake. Right now PS Now is much more attractive then it used to be--it lets subscribers download and play titles offline, for instance, and only costs $10 a month--but Game Pass is still the ultimate value in gaming, not just because of its breadth of offered titles, but because every first-party Xbox game releases comes to Game Pass too.

"The nature and scale of some of the first party games that we are making leads us to think that, right now, it's better to spend energy on making sure that the launch of those games is a massive entertainment event," Jim Ryan told GamesIndustry.biz.

Ubisoft Spain just put up a mysterious Splinter Cell tweet...is it for a new game?

There's been rumblings about a new Splinter Cell for a while now. Back in May, Ubisoft creative director said a new Splinter Cell game was in dev. Nothing came of this, though, and Ubisoft didn't reveal a new game at E3 2019.

However, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot made it clear the series was far from dead.

Remember Desert Bus, that joke game made by Penn and Teller where you drive a commuter bus from Arizona to Las Vegas for eight droll and ultra-monotonous hours? Now we have the modern equivalent.

AMC Games' debut title is something any frequent flyer can appreciate. It's called Airplane Mode, and it's a simulator that recreates the thrills and excitement of a six-hour plane ride in economy seating. No Wi-Fi? Check. Constant droning hum of the craft? Check. Crying, sneezing, coughing, and other human noises? Check. The only thing's missing is the tight cramped spaces, leg cramps, tight backs, and having to pee every 10 minutes.

Players (well I use that term lightly, you're really not playing) will sit through the entire flight in real-time. Luckily the devs have given you some tools to whittle away the hours. You can do Sudoku, crosswords, read a book in real-time, and watch some royalty-free programming from the 1930s like Georges Melies' classic Voyage to the Moon.

As outlined in Jason Schreier's book Blood, Sweat, and Pixels, following Stormlands' cancellation in 2012, the then-independent Obsidian Entertainment was put in a pressure cooker. Obsidian had to fire nearly half of Stormlands' devs to reduce spending. Soon their cash would run out and they needed new projects and new funding from publishers.

Pillars of Eternity changed all of that and saved the company from a bleak, uncertain future. With the advent of Kickstarter, Obsidian could eliminate the middelman publisher and connect directly with fans. Obsidian could finally make a game everyone wanted to play, and fans could pay Obsidian directly to fund the experience. Obsidian raised over $3.9 million for Pillars of Etenity and for a time their money woes were over.

Although it was an arduous process making Pillars of Eternity, the game was popular enough to warrant a sequel, which was also funded via crowdsourcing (it raised $4.4 million).

Rockstar Games is ramping up its next-gen games development teams for big projects like Grand Theft Auto 6.

Like other devs, Rockstar is preparing for next-gen consoles like the PlayStation 5 and Project Scarlett. The company is hiring for a new animation systems programmer that'll design character animations for huge next-gen games like GTA 6.

"We are a global team of programmers and researchers who collaborate on pushing the boundaries of character animation on next generation hardware," reads the job listing.

Blizzard is experimenting with an awful-sounding trading system for Diablo IV, and they need to just kill it right out of the gate.

Let me preface this by saying I traded a ridiculous amount of items in Diablo II: LoD on Battle.net. In fact, I almost traded more than I actually played. There was something extremely addictive about the constantly-shifting economy that reset with every ladder wipe. It forced you to pay attention, to communicate, and to be opportunistic when you wanted specific gear. Sometimes you got lucky and found a great deal, other times you haggled. It was an actual skill that you had to learn to get far in the game--grinding was never enough.

A lot of those things will be eradicated with Blizzard's new trading system for Diablo IV. Nothing's set in stone just yet, and I hope this simply doesn't take off.

Sony Interactive Entertainment recently patented another game cartridge, igniting speculation of PS5 game carts and the rebirth of the Vita. But don't get too excited just yet. We've been here before.

LetsGoDigital spotted an interesting game cartridge patent from Sony. We can't actually find the patent ourselves for further investigation, but outlet says the patent was filed in June of this year and updated this month. Now everyone thinks Sony is making a new Vita handheld, or that the PS5 will run on game carts. Or, more ridiculously, that the PS5 will be a kind of handheld-console hybrid.

None of these are likely. In fact, the patent is probably for Sony's Toio line of kid's toys, not actual PlayStation hardware.

As we predicted, Activision-Blizzard is infusing cross-play into its biggest games. Diablo IV will be one of them, and the game itself will benefit tremendously from the move.

Gaming's biggest barriers are falling. Thanks to cross-play, no longer will console and PC gamers be segregated into walled gardens. This platform mingling is a calculated business decision predicated on one thing: Further monetizing the billion-dollar live service market.

Like the Modern Warfare reboot, Diablo IV will also embrace cross-play. "We're very excited about cross-play. There are technical details and details to work through with the first parties, but it's our goal to get to cross-play," Blizzard co-founder Allen Adham told The Telegraph.

Despite making hundreds of millions of dollars from microtransactions every quarter, Take-Two CEO says monetization doesn't come first.

Take-Two Interactive runs a pretty profitable business thanks to microtransactions. In its recent Q2'2020 earnings the company pulled in $318.38 million from mTX and DLC, driven strongly by NBA 2K games, GTA Online, and Borderlands 3. But Take-Two isn't solely focused on making money from live services--microtransactions only come second to making a great game.

"We only think about monetization after we've already focused on that engagement," Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick told the Hollywood Reporter.

Ubisoft plans to infuse cross-play into its highest-earning PVP games, company CEO Yves Guillemot says.

Cross-play is the next big frontier for publishers. It's perfect for digital-first companies like Ubisoft, Activision-Blizzard, EA and Take-Two Interactive that make billions every year from live services. Cross-play is one of the most potent engagement boosters out there because it lets PS4, Xbox One, and PC gamers play together in a shared environment. The more people who are playing, the more likely they are to continue playing. And the more gamers play, the more they pay for microtransactions, battle passes, and DLC.

Ubisoft understands this dynamic well. That's why the company wants to push cross-play into online-based megaton titles like Rainbow Six: Siege and even The Division 2.

In its current state, Diablo IV will be a very, very grindy game that won't let you respec or reset skills.

Blizzard has a few clear-cut goals with Diablo IV. The sequel will be bloody and dark like Diablo II, it'll have Diablo III's core mechanics with tons of DII staples like runes, and most importantly for Blizzard, it'll be a never-ending game with tons of stuff to do. A big part of that last bit centers around near-infinite builds thanks to Diablo IV's huge skill customization options.

Oddly enough, Diablo IV won't have skill respeccing. That means you can't just swig a potion or read a book to reset your skills, hearkening back to old-school Diablo II. Any mistakes you make setting up your skills will be permanent. You can only move forward by leveling up more or acquiring skill tomes from events, quests, and in-game activities.

Blizzard isn't about to launch another big Diablo game without microtransactions, and Diablo IV will have the more accepted cosmetic approach.

Microtransactions are a huge part of Blizzard's business (arguably the most important part) and are included in every game. Once a game is released, Blizzard's job is only beginning. The studio uses releases as the inception point for years of monetization through expansions and piecemeal microtransactions. Diablo IV is no different and will embrace Activision-Blizzard's new pinpointed focus on live services, engagement, and monetization.

Luckily Diablo IV's monetization will be cosmetic-only. It won't have a horrible Real-Money Auction House, nor will it be pay-to-win. "Diablo IV will be available as a base game, we'll have expansions, and you'll also be able to acquire cosmetics in the game. It's too early to talk about a shop, but yes," Blizzard designer Joe Shelys told Twitch streamer Quin69.

Death Stranding's PC release won't be exclusive to the Epic Games Store after all.

Contrary to our predictions, Death Stranding will release simultaneously on Steam and the Epic Games Store in Summer 2020. There won't be any staggered launch, and the game won't release first on the Epic Store and then Steam months later. It's being released at the same time on both platforms.

Publisher 505 Games today confirmed the news to the elation of PC gamers everywhere, and we're pretty sure Kojima Productions is happy about this move too. Selling your game on as many storefronts as possible is huge for an independent dev. Steam has a huge 90 million strong monthly active userbase, whereas the Epic Games Store lets Kojima Productions keep 85% of all revenues from games sold on the platform.

A bit ago Hideo Kojima said his game development studio will actually start making movies, but these will only be small slices of films. Games will be at the forefront of Kojima Productions.

Death Stranding, Hideo Kojima's latest game, is already a lot like a film. It's a weird hybrid of interactive gameplay with heavy cutscenes that's wrapped up with the auteur's strange style. This is just the beginning for Kojima Productions, and the team will start branching into films. A bit of context is needed here, though, and we won't see Kojima abandoning games in favor of films any time soon.

A recent BBC interview got everyone interested in Kojima's film-making aspirations, but this isn't the first time the Metal Gear Solid creator talked about making movies. "In the future, Kojima Productions will start making films. If you can do one thing well, then you can do everything well," Kojima said. These productions will be smaller-scale endeavors, not blockbuster titles, so don't expect huge marquee movies from Kojima Productions.

Take-Two Interactive reiterates that it has tons of new games in the works, including big sequels from its blockbuster franchises.

Take-Two is doing really well right now: Its Q2'2020 earnings are up 74% YoY to $857.8 million, but the best is yet to come. The company is investing heavily into new projects, sequels, and IPs across the board, teasing the possible return of titanic heavy-hitters like BioShock and of course the billion-dollar Grand Theft Auto.

In a recent earnings call, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick once again teased a robust lineup of new games, as well as new business models like game streaming.

Microsoft and Forgotten Empires will be releasing the definitive edition for Age of Empires II in just a few days, and ahead of the launch, we have the full list of its achievements.

On November 14th, Microsoft and Forgotten Empires will be releasing the Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition which is a complete overhaul of 1999's Age of Empires II. The overhaul will include three brand new civilizations, 4K textures, three new campaigns, revamped building destruction, adjustable zoom controls, and much more.

It should also be noted that gamers who own a copy of Age of Empires II: HD will receive a 25% discount when purchasing Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition. Ahead of the launch, we have the full list of 100 achievements that can be earned for the Windows 10 version of the game. In the entirety of this article, I have provided every achievement, how to earn it, and the amount of points that will be scored for completing the said achievement.

If you have been following Age of Empires news recently you would know that Microsoft are about to release Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition. But what about the incredible counterpart Age of Mythology? Will that get some love?

In a recent Twitter post from the official Age of Empires Twitter account, it's mentioned that this week there will be some news regarding Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition. This news will be arriving via weekly streaming event, a link can be found here and here for both Twitch and Mixer respectively.

The Twitter post also happens to mention that there will be Age of Mythology news, could this possibly mean the spin-off from Age of Empires is also getting its own Definitive Edition? Or perhaps is Microsoft thinking about taking the series in a brand new direction such as a whole new sequel, Age of Mythology II?

The Chinese government is taking online gaming addiction exceptionally seriously, and to battle its problems, they have introduced a bunch of new rules.

According to the announced new rules, young Chinese gamers will now be restricted from playing online games specifically between the times of 10pm and 8am. This is basically a curfew for minors, and if you under 18, you will also be restricted to 90 minutes of online gaming during the week. Weekend and public holiday play for gamers under 18 will be restricted to just 3 hours.

If you thought that was bad, China has also put spending restrictions in place as well. Gamers between the age of 14 and 18 years old can only spend 400 yuan per month, which is equivalent to $57. Gamers that are younger than 14 are only allowed to spend 200 yuan, or $29 a month. To go alongside these new rules, the Chinese government will also require players to provide "valid identity information" to ensure ages haven't been faked.

Dr Disrespect has gone on a tirade againsdt Fortnite in a recent stream, with the popular streamer saying that anyone over 13 years old that plays Fortnite has major issues.

The streamer deleted Fortnite from his PC and blasted gamers saying that anyone over 13 playing Fortnite has a "psychological problem". He said: "Get me the f*ck off this stupid f*cking game. Get it off my computer, I don't want phoneyness".

Dr Disrespect continued, saying: "If you play Fortnite and you're over the age of 13 years old, you've got a psychological problem, there's something wrong with you, wake up!"