Gaming - Page 855

The new Middle Earth: Shadow of War DLC, Desolation of Mordor has been released by Warner Bros. Interactive and Monolith Productions. Also coming with the DLC is the removal of microtransactions.

Not to long ago we saw the cinematic trailer for Desolation of Mordor and today the DLC has been released. To go with the DLC we have a new launch trailer, new difficulty level, Nemesis enhancements and much more.

At the beginning of April it was announced that microtransactions will be removed from Shadow of War. Included within this update is the removing of the microtransactions that plagued Shadow of War, for anyone that is even interested in this title it is available on PC, Xbox One and PS4.

BioWare's title Anthem has finally had its release month announced, March 2019 is the pipeline for the upcoming title.

Before this announcement the only knowledge of BioWares' title release date was that it was going to be released in calendar Q1 of 2019. During Electronic Arts' financial conference call the plans for the end of the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2019 was revealed.

The Chief Financial Officer, Blake Jorgensen announced the release month for the title, revealing that Anthem will be released in March of 2019. According to Jorgensen, EA is "very excited" about Anthem's release as the title will be a "extremely unique" experience that hopefully gamers "really enjoy playing."

Funcoms open world survival game Conan Exiles has been updated and fully released, the developers have announced the title has already achieved 1 million copies sold.

Funcom has rolled out a massive update for Conan Exiles across all of the titles platforms, the update debuts the title to its full release and has improved the game in numerous ways. Examples of the content included within the update are more than double map size and several more mechanics.

To go with the titles full launch the developer has released a gameplay video showcasing the two new biomes, the Swamp biome and the Volcano biome. If you are interested in picking up Conan Exiles, check out the official Steam page here.

At the end of March we learned that Milestones MotoGP 18 will be releasing on June 7th, now the developer has released the first gameplay trailer for the upcoming title.

The above video has showcased the official 2018 MotoGP season, as well as some improved features that are planned to create more immersion and realism for players.

MotoGP 18 will be arriving with brand new AI, bike physics and tire management system. All of which are designed to bring a better simulation to racing players. MotoGP 18 will be releasing on June 7th on the Nintendo Switch, PS4, Xbox One and PC.

I really don't see how people think they'll achieve anything good out of doing things like this, but you might remember the Romanian World of Warcraft player that hacked Blizzard's servers, who has now been sentenced and fined.

Calin Mateias hit the World of Warcraft servers between February and September 2010 with a series of DDoS attacks, so much so that the FBI stepped in to help out in an investigation that spanned an entire year. Mateias was indicted in 2011, and hasn't come back to Romania, instead extradited to the US last November and then in February, he pleaded guilty to "intentional damage to a protected computer".

Mateias was sentenced by United States District Judge Otis D. Wright II with one year in federal prison and fined $29,987 in restitution to Blizzard, which he has already paid.

While BioWare has already confirmed Anthem will have beta tests, EA underlines these promises and strongly hints we'll see some beta info revealed at E3 2018.

Anthem is the biggest game BioWare has ever made, and represents a hugely ambitious new goalpost for not only the developer, but EA--a publisher who's always wanted to make a big online-connected game akin to Destiny. EA has spent a bit hyping the game up, using words such as "genre-melding" and "massively, massively ambitious," and the company's latest Q4'18 earnings report does the same while revealing some interesting new tidbits.

In the earnings call EA CEO Andrew Wilson referred to Anthem as a "brand new franchise," pretty much saying what I've thought for a while: the publisher is investing in Anthem for years and years to come. Anthem will be a service game at its core with social-based elements, but unlike games like, say, Destiny, the in-game world will apparently be less static and will "constantly evolve around players."

As promised, Nintendo announces key features of its Switch Online subscription service.

Since it launched in March 2017 the Switch has been missing a few things, namely a way to securely backup your data should any accidents happen. But now Nintendo has revealed the $20 a year Switch Online service will allow subscribers to backup their saves to the cloud and net other perks like free NES games.

In many ways Switch Online mirrors PlayStation Plus and Xbox LIVE: the plan is required to play a good portion of Switch games online, and gives gamers access to a pool of free games. With 20 free NES games at launch and "more added regularly," Nintendo appears to make good on its promise that Switch Online will be "worth the wait". All of the free retro games will include online functionality in some way, including competitive action in games like Dr. Mario, co-op play in Super Mario Bros. 3, and even virtual controller-trading in singleplayer games like The Legend of Zelda.

Much to the dismay of fans, Nintendo has officially confirmed its Virtual Console storefront won't be coming to the Switch after all.

The popular Virtual Console service, which sells classic games from yesteryear Nintendo console eras like the NES, SNES, Nintendo 64, DS and Game Boy Advance, isn't going to grace the company's newest system. In a statement to Kotaku, Nintendo confirmed it has no plans to launch the traditional VC "banner" on the Switch: "There are currently no plans to bring classic games together under the Virtual Console banner as has been done on other Nintendo systems," a spokesperson said.

This move isn't exactly a surprise, however. Nintendo has been hinting that Virtual Console wouldn't make the jump to its new console-handheld hybrid generation for a bit now. With the NES and SNES Classic Editions the company sent a clear message that hardware-software retro combos are an option, despite it losing out on lots of potential revenue via Switch owners. After all Nintendo doesn't want to undercut its lucrative mini console business...but at the same time gamers will--and do--spend $5 a pop for NES classics, or $8 for SNES games, for example.

Tarsier Studios has decided to bring their adventure puzzle title Little Nightmares to the Nintendo Switch, to celebrate this decision the developers have released an announcement trailer.

Those that have not heard of Little Nightmares, here is a short description of the title "Immerse yourself in Little Nightmares, a dark whimsical tale that will confront you with your childhood fears! Help Six escape The Maw - a vast, mysterious vessel inhabited by corrupted souls looking for their next meal. As you progress on your journey, explore the most disturbing dollhouse offering a prison to escape from and a playground full of secrets to discover. Reconnect with your inner child to unleash your imagination and find the way out!"

Tarsier Studios and Bandai Namco are also launching the final DLC titled The Residence. Little Nightmares for the Nintendo Switch will be released on May 18th.

Everyone is gearing up for Undead Labs' State of Decay 2, the title is launching in just 15 days and ahead of its launch the official PC requirements have been released.

The official PC requirements have been released onto the Microsoft Store and from the minimum requirements section we can see that State of Decay 2 will need at least 8GB of RAM, a NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760 or AMD Radeon HD 7870 graphics card and either a AMD FX-6300 or a Intel i5-2500 processor.

State of Decay 2 will also be requiring a total 20.31 GB HDD space and for those that are not aware, the title releases on May 22 for PC and Xbox One. If you missed the State of Decay 2 gameplay trailer check it out here.

They Are Billions, the steam-punk survival strategy has received what has been titled as a "mega-update". The update will be adding The Six Wonders which will add increases to certain aspects of the players colony.

Players will be able choose one of the six wonders to use for their colony, as they are quite expensive it is estimated that players will only be able to use one per game. Each of the wonders will boost the players economy considerably, so much that the choice that is made will have to be taken into account when using a long-term strategy.

They Are Billions is currently available on Steam through Steam Early Access, at the moment there is no full release date for the title but the developers have promised to continue rolling out regular updates, eventually working towards a full release. If you are interested in checking out They Are Billions, check out the official Steam page here.

Sitting at the top of the Nintendo gaming console perch for unit sales is of course the Wii, the Nintendo president has said that the Wii sales margin is not what they are aiming for with the Nintendo Switch.

Nintendo recently released their worldwide sales data and from it we can see that as of March 31st the Nintendo Switch has sold 17.79 million units. The Wii sold a huge 101.63 million units but according to Nintendo president Tatsumi Kimishima Nintendo have other plans in mind rather than concentrating on sheer unit sales.

In a recent investor Q&A Kimishima said "As for the Nintendo Switch life cycle, we need to steadily provide new experiences that will keep consumers always wanting to play Nintendo Switch in order to maintain sales for a long time. Our company has a lot of experience with selling gaming systems, and we will actively incorporate everything we have learned, including our failures, into our planning."

The world of gaming has been infused with both Battleground and Fortnite over the last 18 months, but GTA V is one of the best-selling games of all time so it makes sense that a new Battle Royale mod has been created.

Complex Control is the mod in question made by modder 'Theaetik' that turns Grand Theft Auto V into a single-player Battle Royale shooter on the PC with the modder promising "high replayability and variety... it feels as though there's always something new to experience every run".

The mod features a rather large 70 characters to choose from, all with color-matched weapons and vehicles to keep your OCD in check. Complex Control will see you controlling, and then surviving the deadly zone that has AI enemies parachuting from the sky or driving to mow you down.

PUBG Corp. has provided an official name for their new tropical 4x4 map, where until now it was called Codename: Savage, but now the official name is Sanhok, so you'll need to get used to it.

The team explains finding the name Sanhok, and how it blends in with the world of Battlegrounds:

Our new 4Ã-4 map is inspired by a wide variety of island locales across southeast Asia, particularly those found in Thailand and the Philippines. To reflect that inspiration, we invented a sort of hodgepodge combination of two words:

Activision could do something very different with Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 with a new rumor stating that Black Ops 4 will be an exclusive to Battle.net on the PC, just like Overwatch.

The news is coming from Gaming Intel, with an image of the Black Ops 4 logo underneath Destiny 2 in Battle.net whic his a surprise, as well as the shop featuring a pre-order button.

Gaming Intel's source stated: "The source said that Battle.Net will fast resemble Epic Games own launcher, where you can add people from other platforms such as the Xbox One and PS4, though they also have no idea how far along this additional functionality is into development, or if it is currently functional at all. If it does work, there is a high likelihood that it will be used to lend cross-platform play to Black Ops 4's much rumoured Battle Royale mode".

Thanos is coming to Fortnite starting tomorrow, Infinity Gauntlet and all.

In an interesting new move, Marvel and Epic Games have revealed a special crossover: a new limited-time Fortnite event that sees Thanos coming to the massively popular battle royale shooter. Well...sort of. The Infinity Gauntlet will be randomly dropped on the event's map, and whichever player finds it will transform into the mad titan Thanos himself and wield tremendous power.

What's fascinating is this transmedia mashup wouldn't have happened if Infinity War co-director Joe Russo wasn't a big fan of Fortnite.

Deus Ex might not be dead, but it should be a while before we see a new game in the franchise.

Adam Jensen might be coming back at some point--at least that's what Eidos Montreal studio head David Anfossi hints. In a recent interview with Electric Playground, Anfossi affirms Deus Ex isn't dead, but the studio needs some time to carefully plot out the IP's future.

"Deus Ex is here, I want to reassure you that we did not forget Deus Ex. The studio gives this franchise our blood, sweat, everything to reboot this franchise and be true to it," Anfossi said. "[Deus Ex] is not dead. It's not dead. It's [in our hearts] and we just need to think about the future of it and make it correctly and respectfully."

The worldwide games industry will rake in almost $140 billion this year, more than half will be driven by mobile gaming.

In its latest forecast report analyst firm Newzoo predicts that the global games market will reach $137.9 billion in 2018, up about 13.3% year-over-year. Given mobile gaming is expected to take in 51% of total revenues, and live service-powered games such as Fortnite are juggernaut engagement-churning moneymakers, digital will account for a massive 91% of the market, or $125.3 billion.

Once again mobile gaming will make the lion's share of 2018's gaming earnings: mobile should pull 51% of total market revenues, or $70.3 billion, up a mighty 25.5% from last year. Smartphone games will pull in 80% of these earnings whereas tablet games should rake in about $13.9 billion. Predictably enough, China dominates the market and helps drive lucrative mobile earnings with $37.9 billion in spending.

While major publishers are shifting more towards digital, Nintendo consumers still prefer physical hard copies of games.

With its engagement-driven revenue model (microtransactions, DLC, etc), the digital games market is an absolutely massive billion-dollar business. More and more publishers and developers are pushing into live service games in an effort to continually make recurring cash while ensuring their games live on for years...but companies like Nintendo are following a more traditional path. According to Nintendo's latest yearly earnings report, consumers are much less likely to buy games on the digital eShop than in stores.

The filings, which break down total hardware and software sales for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2018, show an interesting trend: digital only made up 17.3% of global software sales across all Nintendo hardware. Considering Nintendo sold about 102.31 million copies of games in the year, about 17.69 million of these unit sales were digital.

First-party games like Super Mario Odyssey strongly drove software sales for the last fiscal year.

While taking a gander at Nintendo's recent yearly earnings I noticed something not too surprising: the vast majority of total software sales were from games developed in-house by the Japanese company. In Nintendo's filings for the fiscal year ended March 2018 the games-maker reveals it sold 102.31 million copies of games across Switch, Wii U and 3DS both digitally and in-store, which strongly contributed to the $3.7 billion (1.055 trillion yen) earned during the period.

In specific figures, the filings also note that first party games made up 85% of total software sales during the year, or about 82 million units. Considering IPs like Mario, Zelda, and Pokemon are huge heavy-hitting sales powerhouses, this trend towards first-party dominance should continue throughout the Switch's life cycle. Nintendo plans to continue driving its "distinctive software-driven hardware and software business" with a steady stream of new games and content to keep players actively engaged in the respective platform ecosystems.