Gaming - Page 923

Microsoft's high-profile first-party exclusive Crackdown 3 will miss the Xbox One X's launch in November, the company today confirmed.

Crackdown 3 has been delayed to a nebulous Spring 2018 launch window, meaning the game could be delayed as much as five months from its original November 2017 release window. This announcement means that Microsoft's already-shaky first-party lineup is dealt with another blow, and that the company's new $499 high-end 4K-ready Xbox One X console will have one less title to tap the full brunt of its hardware.

The delay shouldn't come as much of a surprise to keen gamers. Crackdown 3's E3 2017 showcase was rough around the edges, and Microsoft hinted at a delay by not showing nearly as much in-game footage as publisher's typically offer when a game is months away from release. Microsoft Studios' Shannon Loftis says the extra months of development will ensure Crackdown 3 lives up to fans' expectations across the board.

Final Fantasy 14's new Stormblood expansion launched with much fanfare and acclaim, sparking big earnings and record subscription numbers.

Paid subscribers for MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV are at an all-time new high, Japanese publisher Square Enix confirmed in a quarterly earnings report. "Sales of the expansion pack have been brisk, and our paying subscriber numbers are at a record high," company president Yosuke Matsuda said during the earnings call. "We expect the expansion pack to make a sustained earnings contribution going forward."

The game's new Stormblood expansion, which retails for $40, was responsible for a swell in players that pushed Final Fantasy XIV past 10 million cummulative players. Although Stormblood was only available for 10 days of the company's fiscal period, it strongly contributed to Square Enix's MMO segment earnings: in that 10-day period, Stormblood helped the segment earn 9.3 billion yen ($84.304 million) in net sales, which is roughly 21% of the total Digital Entertainment revenues for the quarter.

PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds publisher Bluehole denies Tencent investment.

Reports from Yicai Global maintained that Chinese titan Tencent had backed PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds publisher Bluehole with an undisclosed sum. Now the South Korean publisher has spoken out, squashing the report. "These reports are not accurate. Tencent didn't make an investment into Bluehole," the company told the Esports Observer in an official statement.

With the massive success of PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, it's easy to see why companies like Tencent would mull an investment. The game has crested multiple milestones, including selling 4 million copies in three months and making a whopping $100 million in revenue. The game enjoys a massively engaged playerbase that continues to grow, and now sits at the top non-Valve game on Steam in concurrent players.

Rovio, the mobile titan behind the massively popular Angry Birds, sees its second quarter and first-half revenues take flight.

Following an earnings slide in 2016, Rovio Entertainment has rebounded thanks to the mighty success of the Angry Birds film, which helped kickstart new interest in its mobile titles. The Finnish games-maker today posted second quarter earnings of 86.2 million euros ($101.31 million) in total revenues, up a mighty 94% year-over-year.

Of that value, 61.3 million euros ($72.04 million), or 71%, was gleaned from its games segment, representing another strong 65% year-over-year increase. Rovio reports that new mobile games like Angry Birds Evolution and Battle Bay saw the most ARPDAUs (Average Revenue Per Daily Active User) in company history at launch.

Angry Birds developer Rovio may take some big steps for the company's future earnings.

Rovio Entertainment has laid plans to publicly trade its shares via an IPO that may value the company at a staggering $2 billion, sources have told Bloomberg. People familiar with the matter assert Rovio may start the initial public offering as early as next month, and the Angry Birds-maker could rake in as much as $400 million from a local market listing.

The company recently reported strong earnings growth for its second quarter and first-half cycles, up considerably from last year's drop in revenue which triggered restructuring and job cuts across the board. Rovio reported second quarter revenues of 86.2 million euros ($101.31 million), up 94% year-over-year, and 61.3 million euros ($72.04 million) from its games division, up 65% year-over-year.

After much soul-searching (and realizing its a bad idea to erase 21 years of brand awareness), Blizzard reverses plan to scrap the Battle.net naming scheme.

Blizzard has announced that it won't go through with its plans to remove the instantly recognizable Battle.net moniker from its online service and games. The Battle.net network, which serves as the core to mighty Blizzard IPs like Overwatch, Hearthstone, and World of Warcraft, is still getting re-named, but the "Battle.net" brand name will still be attached.

In a recent news post, the billion-dollar games-maker says the service will be re-named to "Blizzard Battle.net". The company had originally planned to simply call the service "Blizzard" and remove the Battle.net name completely, but had a change of heart due to strong fan feedback.

Rather than constricting a dynamically, continually-evolving storyline, BioWare has decided not to set limits on Dragon Age's canon, but that doesn't mean they're not planning ahead.

The fan favorite medieval fantasy Dragon Age series has no real ending in sight. That is according to Dragon Age series Creative Director Mike Laidlaw, who recently said some interesting tidbits on Twitter. "There is no planned ending for Dragon Age. There is an evolving plan that tends to look two games ahead or so," Mr. Laidlaw said on Twitter, adding some insight on the beloved universe where dragons, knights, and magic co-existing in a fanciful--and often bloody--timeline. The developer goes on to say that outlining an ending puts undue pressure on writers and can create a very real tunnel vision that robs creators of their keen mindsight--the very same sight that's responsible for creating unique fell-magisters like Corypheus, or the deep-rooted reverence of Andraste throughout the fantasy world.

"I strongly believe that if you try to hold to a rigid plan that is a decade old by the time you reach the end, you are wasting opportunities," the creative director affirmed. This structure reminds me of Final Fantasy games, which are all indirectly linked with interwoven themes, characters, ideas, and visual content. Every Final Fantasy game is a different reflection of the same crystal, so to speak. History is folding back into the present, the future is a wide, ever-branching path rather than a clear linear tunnel.

Bethesda is well-known for extending the life of its products with tons of remasters and re-releases--this year marks the fourth release of Skyrim, for example--and now its post-apocalyptic RPG is getting the traditional game of the year treatment.

The Fallout 4: Game of the Year Edition retails for a full $59.99, and as you'd imagine, the game is bundled with the full suite of expansions like Far Harbor and Nuka World alongside baked-in updates like the esteemed Survival mode. The GOTY edition comes after Fallout 4 soaked up big sales over two years, and more than a year after Bethesda hiked the season pass to $50. The game's absurdly popular $99 Pip-Boy collector's edition is also getting a limited re-release (because of course it is).

Bethesda has some interesting motivations for this re-release. Outside of the obvious push for more money, the company is delivering an easily accessible all-in-one package to prepare gamers for Bethesda's new Creation Club monetization scheme, which launches this summer. The Creation Club initiative allows gamers to buy small slices of DLC add-on content like weapons and armor, and also includes big expansion-sized updates. Essentially Bethesda is making an on-demand DLC marketplace where gamers can buy high-quality content made by the modding community's top content creators and Bethesda themselves. But the real trick to Creation Club's success is compatibility, and the DLC or "paid mods" need to be 100% compatible with all official Fallout 4 DLC and updates. Thus Bethesda is releasing the all-in-one package at a full $59.99 price tag to get players started.

Gamevice, a company that makes a unique snap-on controller for Apple's iPhone, is suing Nintendo for patent infringement.

With its detachable controllers and handheld form factor, the Nintendo Switch's design may seem unique, but the device is actually an evolution of other various mobile devices on the market--most notably the Wikipad and Gamevice's detachable snap-on controllers for mobile phones. Now Gamevice is suing Nintendo for willful patent infringement and is seeking damages.

Gamevice alleges that the design of the Nintendo Switch infringes on a patent filed by the company in 2012 which served as the core to its Wikipad and attachable mobile iPhone controller products. In the suit, the peripherals-maker asserts that Nintendo has infringed on no less than eight different parts of the patent with the Switch's components, including the device's detachable JoyCon controller. Nintendo filed the Switch's patent (then called the "NX") in 2014, two years after Gamevice's patent.

Overwatch is getting two new deathmatch modes, but they won't be coming to Competitive or or Quick Play.

Blizzard today announced that two new deathmatch modes will soon come to Overwatch: free-for-all and team deathmatch. The new modes are currently available to sample on the Overwatch Public Test Realm (PTR) for interested PC gamers, and the modes will roll out to all platforms including PS4 and Xbox One at a later date.

However, Overwatch will retain its core focus as a team-based shooter, and the new deathmatch modes are exclusively available in the new Arcade mode and Custom Games, and won't be available in the principal Competitive or Quick Play session types.

Boss Key's new class-based shooter Lawbreakers launched to a diminished playerbase on Steam, and has failed to gain momentum in the crucial days after launch.

Any developer will tell you that the first few days of a game's launch are absolutely critical defining moments. Not only are developers constantly scouting data--playerbases, engaged users, DAUs, MAUs, you name it--but sites like Githyp are aggregating key insights to gauge a game's success. Sadly, it appears that Lawbreakers may end up crashing to the ground, much as the site predicted.

Since its launch on August 8, Lawbreakers has yet to break Steam's top 100 most-played games list. The game's playerbase at launch saw just 3,019 peak players, down 34% from the second open beta test and a massive 60% from the first open beta test conducted on June 30. A day after Lawbreaker's release on Steam the game had 2,739 peak players, and continues losing players every day since.

Call of Duty: WWII is taking an interesting approach to engaging players and pushing them towards buying monetized supply drops.

Activision's new World War II-themed Call of Duty game features a new online social space called Headquarters that will actively reward players for spectating other users who open supply drop crates. According to Game Informer's latest issue, players who watch others open loot boxes in the Headquarters social hub will boost spectator's overall "social score", which raises a player's chance to find better loot from supply drops.

By rewarding players who watch their friends open up the game's cosmetic-only loot packs, Activision hopes that spectators will then purchase monetized loot boxes in an attempt to recreate similar drops. Activision knows that users who are engaged are much more likely to spend money on microtransactions, and Call of Duty: WWII's social hub is a bona-fide built-in engagement service that will continue to engage players with new content and social events.

UPDATE: It appears the permadeath save wipe doesn't actually happen, and Ninja Theory has bluffed gamers.

Ninja Theory adds unique bold and gutsy finality to its new game, adding weight to everything you do.

If you die too much while playing Ninja Theory's new macabre, atmospheric and visually creative new title Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice, then the game will wipe your saved data. The adventure is about eight to nine hours long and features a number of challenges that often put you in harms way, and the permadeath system is quite controversial in the gaming sphere.

Angry Mob Games is bringing its "smash and bash" indie to the Nintendo Switch, where it will fill the noticeable Super Smash Bros.-shaped recess on the console.

Brawlout, the new party fighting game that's very much like Super Smash Bros., is coming to the Nintendo Switch handheld-console hybrid later this year. Brawlout features six characters with unique movesets and abilities that battle in specific stages, with up to 4 players being able to play at once. Gamers can battle in local couch co-op and online sessions across a variety of modes, including timed, stock, or team battles.

Unlike Smash Bros., Brawlout features a unique Rage Meter that allows characters to unleash powerful special attacks. Another major change is that the game does away with shield blocks completely, pushing players into a more aggressive strategy--but there's plenty of air dodges and wavedashes to keep you out of harms way. The devs will update the roster with new characters to keep the battles nice and fresh, including crossovers like Hyper Light Drifter from the acclaimed indie of the same name.

Nintendo's new rewards scheme gifts in-game items to players when they read news posts and updates.

Nintendo has kicked off a new unique rewards platform that allows Switch users to earn in-game items simply for reading news posts. The initiative was launched with the Zelda tips channel, which will feature a number of articles and updates to show players unique things to do while playing the game. Zelda: Breath of the Wild players that read these posts can also earn free in-game rewards such as ingredients, miscellaneous items, and possibly weapons and armor.

This is a very, very smart move on Nintendo's part. Why? Because it engages players on a whole new level; gamers will--and I repeat will--read over the news posts just to get free goods, and maybe they'll learn something they didn't know about. This will create a natural form of engagement, which is the lifeblood for modern gaming, and it will help pull in lapsed players and incentivize them to return to the game.

Hello Games continues adding content to No Man's Sky a full year after the game's hotly controversial release in an effort to heal gaping wounds and expand upon the sci-fi adventure.

A year ago No Man's Sky was launched on PlayStation 4 and PC as a fully-priced AAA game, kicking off a massive wave of frustration. We've chronicled how No Man's Sky underdelivered in our official review. Instead of a final release, the game was simply the foundation for things to come. Now those things are here.

No Man's Sky is getting its third major overhaul update this week. The free expansion is called Atlas Rises, and adds a bevy of new content to the game including portals that allow players to fast-travel across the galaxy, and more story-based content. Hello Games head Sean Murray confirmed Atlas Rises' content with a mass email blast to No Man's Sky players, saying:

Blizzard's slate of games is becoming more and more enviable as the company rolls out new content that's attracting millions of players across North America and Europe.

Blizzard games like Hearthstone, World of Warcraft, and Overwatch are among the top 20 most-played PC games in July in North America and Europe, analyst firm Newzoo reports. According to the findings, Blizzard games took five spots in the top 20 list, and three spots in the top 10 list.

Blizzard's massively lucrative and popular card game Hearthstone topped the publisher's other games at #3, with the still-popular World of Warcraft coming in at #6 and the hugely engaging shooter Overwatch ranked at #7. Diablo III jumped onto the list at #12 to dethrone Rainbow Six: Siege thanks to the new Necromancer DLC and free content updates.

Having failed to capture the FPS market with its now free-to-play shooter Battleborn, Gearbox Software is ready to try again...this time making a game that combines two key lucrative industry trends into one.

Borderlands developer Gearbox Software today announced a new experimental game codenamed Project 1v1, a "competitive first-person shooter" which aims to combine "the action of a fast-paced 1v1 first-person combat with the metagame strategy of a collectible card game." Essentially what Gearbox wants to do is hit two birds with one stone by tapping the massively lucrative CCG world of Hearthstone as well as the popular, engaging eSports scope of shooters like Overwatch and CS:GO.

The developer plans to hold a short closed technical test this summer across North American servers, but the test will be open to gamers across the globe.

Valve aims to rake even more revenues with a new digital DOTA-themed collectible card game.

DOTA 2 remains one of Valve's key breadwinners, and is one of the most lucrative MOBAs on the market today. With strong engagement via eSports tournaments like the ongoing The Invitational DOTA 2 Championships event that engages millions of fans worldwide, and massively lucrative revenues from its in-game DOTA 2 Store that sells in-game cosmetics for real money, Valve has created a titanic franchise that looms over the industry. Now Valve is taking that one step further by creating an online card game based around the franchise in an effort to chase the massive earnings that Blizzard rakes in from Hearthstone.

The new DOTA-themed card is called Artifact, and is slated to release sometime in 2018. That's pretty much all we know about the game, but industry trends give us major clues about Artifact. Digital CCGs work best when they transcend all platforms, typically mobiles, so Artifact should be released on consoles, PCs, as well as tablets and mobile phones. The key here is to reach as many people as possible and engage them with compelling content while making them aware of the core game on Steam. And, of course, Artifact should be monetized by letting players buy randomized card packs with real-world money.

It looks like all eyes should be on the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, as the co-president of the Paris Olympics bid committee said to the Associated Press that there are discussions on whether there should be an eSports tournament.

Tony Estanguet, co-president of France's bid committee told the AP that the gaming community need to be heart. He said: "We have to look at it because we can't say, 'It's not us. It's not about Olympics. The youth, yes they are interested in eSport and this kind of thing. Let's look at it. Let's meet them. Let's try if we can find some bridges".

He continued: "I don't want to say 'no' from the beginning. I think it's interesting to interact with the IOC, with them, the eSports family, to better understand what the process is and why it is such a success".