Gaming - Page 650

EA made the surprise announcement in the last 24 hours that Apex Legends would be coming to Steam, as well as the game hitting 70 million players, and some even bigger news -- it's coming to mobile platforms and most likely even next-gen consoles in the Sony PlayStation 5 and Microsoft Xbox Scarlett consoles in late-2020.

But the cherry on top of all of this is that Apex Legends will work with Steam and not require Origin running, unlike other EA games that will require Origin to be running in order to work on Steam.

We know this because Respawn Entertainment staffer 'thezilch' commented on this Reddit post about Apex Legends will be coming to Steam in 2020!, they replied saying: "Not true. Apex will launch directly with Steam without running Origin".

The Outer Worlds has only just come out and there's already someone who has speedrun through the game, finishing it in just over 30 minutes flat.

Obsidian Entertainment's latest game has been beaten in just 30 minutes and 54 seconds, with speedrunner 'Jabo' absolutely smashing through The Outer Worlds. Considering The Outer Worlds is an RPG, these speedruns make it even more impressive.

You can't just run-and-gun your way through RPGs but if you're fast enough and skilled enough at speedrunning, Jabo proves you can. He does all of this using The Outer World's built-in stun mechanics, bringing the major boss robot at the end to its knees. It's all done with the standard revolver in the game called The Vermin.

EA had quite a lot to share regarding Apex Legends during its recent financial earnings call, with CFO Blake Jorgensen saying that Apex Legends will launch on new platforms.

Right now, Apex Legends is available on the PC, Xbox One, and PS4 -- but now Apex Legends will be coming to mobile for both iOS and Android, but there is no ETA on when it will arrive. We should also expect Apex Legends to launch on the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Scarlett consoles when they launch late 2020.

EA also announced that Apex Legends has reached up to 70 million registered players, with EA also adding that Apex Legends will become one of their vital online games moving into the future. This explains the push into mobile which could see Apex Legends adding 10s of millions of new users, just like Fortnite which is on consoles and mobile.

I exclusively reported not too long ago that Sony will be launching its next-gen PlayStation 5 console in December 2020, and then news broke about Sony trademarking the PS6 through to the PS10. Well, I've cracked the code and know when Sony will release them.

Using my magic code-breaking-thingamajig I have worked out that Sony will launch the PlayStation 6 in 2026, while going through to the PlayStation 10 we'll see it in 2050. Sony have around 6 years between each console, so at that rate of 6 years between next-gen PlayStation releases we should see the PS10 in around 2050, or so.

I'll be 67 years old that year. Having owned each of the PlayStation consoles, it seems the PS5 is going to be quite the beast upgrade over previous-gen units. But what the hell would a PS10 be like from here? 16K at 240FPS? I think we'll be beyond resolutions by then, beyond normal 'pixels.

EA has been enjoying a great time this year, with the surprise launch of Apex Legends earlier this year -- but when you join it with FIFA Ultimate Team, Madden Ultimate Team, and The Sims 4 seeing Electronic Arts have "an excellent second quarter".

Electronic Arts announced Apex Legends passed 70 million players since its launch earlier this year, and then the news that Apex Legends will be coming over to Steam thanks to the new partnership between EA and Valve. This will open up the game to millions of other gamers who might not want to use or install Origin, and makes things much easier for people (like me) who only uses Origin for Apex Legends.

Apex Legends is a free-to-play title which drives its userbase through the roof, but developer Respawn Entertainment have been doing a great job keeping the game flowing well. The new third season throws in a new map into Apex Legends, which really does change the game completely.

A new Diablo IV rumor making the rounds says the game will be a first-person fantasy looter, but this is entirely fake.

After years of development, Blizzard is expected to reveal the next mainline Diablo game this Friday at Blizzcon 2019. Sources tell Kotaku it'll be a dark and gritty "modern Diablo II" that nixes Diablo III's cartoonish style. The game actually started off as a third-person type of experience, but has now shifted to the more isometric view gamers know and love.

But a new report on 4Chan says Diablo IV will be a weird first-person game built in the new Overwatch 2 engine. "It's a first-person game made in the Overwatch engine. It's an absolutely mess. They intend to "replace the vacuum in our ecosystem left by Destiny" and they essentially want to be the first fantasy schlooter," the anonymous user posted.

BioWare's next mainline Dragon Age game won't be released for years to come.

We already knew Dragon Age 4 was a long ways off, but we didn't exactly know how far. Now EA says the new Dragon Age could release in its FY2023 timeline, which is from April 1, 2022 through March 31, 2023. This would of course cement the game firmly in next-gen console territory and allow BioWare plenty of time to build the project in Frostbite.

"Dragon Age is out there, we've talked about it publicly, it probably comes after Fiscal 2022. You should assume it's out there and plans are under way for that product," EA Chief Financial Officer Blake Jorgensen said in a recent earnings call.

The next Battlefield is in the works, and it'll be optimized for PS5 and Project Scarlett.

Today EA confirmed the next Battlefield game will release in its FY2022 timeline, which is from April 1, 2021 through March 31, 2022, firmly in the second year of next-gen consoles.

No official details were announced, but EA did tout its investment in new development technologies so expect DICE's Frostbite engine to push next-gen consoles like the PlayStation 5 and Project Scarlett to its limits, complete with native ray tracing, 4K gaming, and high frame rate action.

Thanks to a successful quarter driven by live services, EA says it'll continue "doubling down" on online-based games in core IPs like FIFA and Madden.

Even as new games like Anthem miss revenue targets, EA sports games are always safe bets for big earnings. Unlike Ubisoft and Activision who recently both hit monetization ceilings, EA's core sports games are doing well despite lootbox controversy and microtransaction criticism.

EA packed in three heavy-hitting sports titans like FIFA 20, Madden 20, and NHL 20 into the same quarter to earn some serious cash. It worked. These games helped EA rake in $490 million from live services in Fiscal Q2'20, up 50% year-over-year and quarter-over-quarter. Live services made 62% of EA's total digital quarterly earnings of $790 million. The randomized Ultimate Team microtransactions are the main driver for these earnings, and of course EA isn't about to slow down any time soon.

Sony is cutting out the unprofitable parts of its business to lean out and ramp up spending for the PlayStation 5, and now it's axing PlayStation Vue.

PlayStation Vue was pretty ambitious: It's goal was to turn every PlayStation 4 into a TV cable box with live broadcasts of network shows. It was a part of Sony's big ecosystem service offering that orbited the PS4. Sadly the service just wasn't profitable enough for Sony's liking, so PlayStation Vue is getting shut down on January 30, 2020.

"Unfortunately, the highly competitive Pay TV industry, with expensive content and network deals, has been slower to change than we expected. Because of this, we have decided to remain focused on our core gaming business," John Kodera, who now leads Sony's services platform, said on the PlayStation Blog.

UPDATE: A Respawn dev confirms EA games purchased on Steam will launch on Steam and not the Origin client.

EA's biggest new games are coming to Steam, but you'll still have to download the Origin launcher to play them.

Today EA announced a big partnership with Valve to sell its hottest IPs on Steam, complete with cross-play with Origin users. But there's some stipulations, and an Origin installation is required to play any game purchased on Steam. Players also have to make an EA account and link it with Steam.

The rumors were right: EA games are coming back to Steam, starting with Jedi: Fallen Order.

EA is breaking Origin exclusivity on PC and plans to sell its biggest games on Steam. The company today announced huge IPs like FIFA, Battlefield, and Apex Legends are all coming to Steam, complete with cross-play between Origin and Steam players. The exodus will start with Jedi: Fallen Order's release on November 15 and other games are soon to follow.

The $5 a month EA Access subscription is also coming to Steam. The service gives unlimited access to a vault of EA games as well timed trials of every new EA title and discounts of full game purchases.

Hideo Kojima's 'Death Stranding' is one of the most anticipated games of this year, and while PC gamers were originally thinking they would have to miss out on the title, things have changed.

PC gamers suspected that a release of Death Stranding was going to happen sooner or later, this was because there was no "PS4 Exclusive" label attached to the title. There was also the instance when director of Death Stranding Hideo Kojima dodged a question in an interview about a possible PC release, neither confirming nor denying the existence of one.

Well now we have the official confirmation and it comes from none other than the official Kojima Productions Twitter account. The post says that Death Stranding will be releasing on the PS4 on November 8th, and that a PC version will be coming sometime in the early summer of 2020. If you are wondering how much storage you will need on your PS4 for Death Stranding, check out this post here.

Death Stranding is coming to PC in Summer 2020, which isn't a surprise because it was never a PS4 exclusive. The real surprise would be skipping Steam instead of the Epic Games Store.

In a move that oddly frustrated PS4 owners, Kojima Productions announced it's teamed up with publisher 505 Games to bring Death Stranding to PC. Now the invevitable question lurks: Epic Games Store or Steam? We don't know which just yet, but based on the publisher involved and KojiPro's indie status, Epic could win them over with a lucrative timed-exclusivity deal.

We reached out to a PR contact that might hint at a staggered PC launch for Death Stranding. This might hint at a launch first on the Epic Games Store and then later on Steam.

Leaks say World of Warcraft's next expansion is called Shadowlands, and it could be centered around a corrupted Bolvar.

A leaked advert recently outed Shadowlands as the next major World of Warcraft expansion, complete with a new area called Bastion. Now the Blizzard Gear Store might've just accidentally revealed the principle antagonist: Bolvar Fordragon, the new Lich King.

The twisted Bolvar could lead an army of darkness across Azeroth, unleashing havoc across the realm. Once a legendary Alliance paladin, Bolvar essentially sacrificed himself by adorning the Helm of Domination to seal and control the Lich King. The art shows Bolvar's glowing inner fire and blue glowing eyes instead of Bolvar's glowing dragon-altered eyes, strongly hinting the Lich King has beaten Bolvar and won the internal battle.

Greedfall is a massive success for publisher Focus Home Interactive, showing the staying power of traditional singleplayer RPGs.

In today's gaming world of live games and microtransactions, it's refreshing when actual offline RPGS do well. That's the case with Spiders' latest game Greedfall, which combined BioWare-like companions set in a Dragon Age-oriented fantasy setting. The game is a runaway success that did so well it spiked publisher earnings by over 100%.

Thanks to big hits like Greedfall, Focus Home Interactive earned a mighty 37.2 million Euros ($40.54 million) in Q2'19, up a tremendous 135% year-over-year. "This very high performance was driven by GreedFall, which showed a stunning start and beat expectations," the publisher said in its latest earnings report.

Sony has filed trademarks for decades' worth of PlayStation consoles all the way up to PS10.

Sony's next-gen PlayStation 5 isn't even here yet, but that hasn't stopped the company from securing trademarks for future consoles. As is customary, Sony filed trademarks for PS6, PS7, PS8, PS9, and PS10 in Japan. Obviously these are just palceholder-type trademarks secured for the brand's future and don't indicate actual hardware is in the works.

This doesn't mean Sony is already working on new systems all the way up to PS10. They don't have that kind of technological foresight or business flexibility--no company really does. Right now Sony is completely focused on the PlayStation 5, which isn't even in final stages yet. Developers are still maxing out and pushing PS5 devkits that simulate finalized console hardware to their limits.

Microsoft will have a trade-up program for its next-gen Project Scarlett console, but it's only available through the credit-based Xbox All Access payment plan.

Xbox All Access is back, and this time it includes Microsoft's next-gen console. The program's aim is simple: To give gamers access to an Xbox console by paying monthly installments instead of a lump sum. But the logistics aren't so simple, and neither is the trade-up program. And there's no guarantee you'll get Scarlett at its Holiday 2020 launch.

With Xbox All Access, Microsoft says users can pay as little as $19.99 a month for an Xbox One S, Xbox One S All-Digital Edition, or Xbox One X. It's a financing contract with stipulations, not a rental system, and not everyone will pay the same amount. How much you pay is dependent upon your creditworthiness, so don't expect to get the cheapest option unless you have decent credit. It lets gamers build (or lose) credit by making monthly payments towards a console, complete with adjusting Annual Percentage Rates depending on your credit history.

A new rumor has pointed towards their currently being a PlayStation VR version of Guerrilla Games' Horizon Zero Dawn in development.

According to a tweet by Callum Hurley, who's been heavily involved within the VR industry for quite some time, he was "recently made aware of a very exciting new PlayStation VR game coming out of London Studio. Not sure whether it'll be for PS4, PS5 or both, but it's really exciting, and an announcement could be on the Horizon...".

Since there was the obviously capitalization on the 'H' in Horizon, fans immediately jumped to the conclusion that he was referencing Horizon Zero Dawn. Follow up questions were then asked to Hurley about how he obtained this information. Hurley then replied by saying he hasn't seen the game himself, but received the information regarding its existence by someone who has play-tested the game and who he trusts.

Watch Dogs Legion just got delayed to coincide with next-gen consoles, and the devs will use the extra time to push the PS5 and Project Scarlett systems to their limits.

Watch Dogs Legion is massively ambitious. The game effectively lets you play as anyone in the entire game, transforming every NPC from a non-player character into a now-playable character. The entire world is your playground and everyone in the Orwellian London setting can join your party, complete with hugely dynamic AI, an interactive and shifting world, and robust RPG mechanics. It's a huge undertaking that requires lots of power.

Luckily the devs at Ubisoft Toronto will get plenty of power. Watch Dogs Legion is now set to launch between Ubisoft's Q2 and Q3 of FY2021, which cements it firmly in next-gen console territory. Ubisoft already confirmed Legion would be optimized for the Zen 2 and Navi GPU-powered PlayStation 5 and 4K 120FPS-ready Project Scarlett systems.