Gaming - Page 934

Blizzard and Twitch today signed an agreement that's set to earn massive engagement and spectatorship for Blizzard's billion-dollar franchises like Overwatch.

Twitch today announced that it has partnered with Blizzard in a two-year deal to stream more than 20 major eSports events based around Blizzard IPs, including the Overwatch APEX League and the Hearthstone Championship Tour. Twitch will have third-party rights to stream key Blizzard eSports events through 2018 that range across the company's games catalog including Hearthstone, Heroes of the Storm, World of Warcraft, StarCraft II, and Overwatch.

Perhaps the most impressive part of the deal is how Twitch Prime subscribers in over 200 countries and territories will receive free loot for Overwatch, Hearthstone, and Heroes of Storm. Blizzard will give away a premium Overwatch golden lootbox to all Twitch Prime subscribers from now until August 10. A total of 10 more Overwatch lootboxes will be given out across August and October, and in-game rewards for Hearthstone and Heroes of the Storm will continue flowing to Twitch Prime subscribers in the coming months.

PC gaming owes a portion of its yearly global revenues to browser-based games like Runescape and Drakensang Online.

The PC gaming segment isn't just about high-end 4K visuals, thread-ripping CPUs and the most powerful video cards--it has an accessible side to it where anyone can jump in and play even with older laptops and hardware. The PC browser market is filled with free-to-play games with freemium-style microtransactions that earn quite a bit of revenue every year.

According to Newzoo's latest 2017 global games market report, browser-based gaming will rake in $4.5 billion in 2017, down 9.3% year-over-year. Since PC gaming is forecasted to make $29.4 billion in total revenues, PC browser games will be responsible of 15.3% of the segment's total earnings.

Nintendo isn't just competing against major console-makers like Sony and Microsoft to win over each console's respective userbase, but also competing against smartphone-makers like Apple and facing a very real issue in its own supply chain. Due to shortages the Japanese console-maker's new transforming Switch handheld-hybrid is in high demand, and analysts predict that the supply situation will be tight throughout the year.

As we reported earlier this month, the Nintendo Switch is facing a supply shortage due to rapidly evaporating components such as flash memory and LPDDR4 RAM needed to make the device work. Key OEMs like Apple and Samsung have laid claim to a portion of these chips, leaving Nintendo in a tight spot. According to IHS Markit's Piers Harding-Rolls, the Nintendo Switch's supply constraints should stretch throughout the remainder of the year. But even still, Nintendo is expected to meet its conservative goal of 10 million unit sales worldwide in the fiscal year ending March 2018.

"With this improving pipeline of content, it is now clear that the major challenge to potential sales of the Switch in 2017 is product availability, with pricing being a secondary consideration during the early adopter phase," Mr. Rolls wrote in a recent highlight article.

Blizzard today confirmed that it has multiple new projects in the works, re-affirming recent reports of a new FPS and a new Diablo release.

Prominent games-maker Blizzard, who's responsible for multiple billion-dollar franchises such as World of Warcraft and Overwatch, has officially confirmed that it has "multiple games in development" and is currently on a hiring spree. Past job listings give major clues on these new projects and indicate the company is currently making at least two projects: a "next-generation first-person shooter" as well as a new entrant in the beloved Diablo series.

The developer's official jobs listing page shows that Blizzard has openings for 267 positions.

Blizzard's new Rise of the Necromancer expansion for Diablo III will release this month on Xbox One, PS4 and PC.

Blizzard today announced that it's latest (and possibly last) paid expansion for Diablo III, Rise of the Necromancer, will launch on June 27 for all major platforms. The Necro DLC costs $15 and includes the new playable Necromancer class and other content including:

"While players often ask us to bring back their favorite characters from our classic games, few classes have been requested as often, or as passionately, as the necromancer," said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment.

Take-Two Interactive has earned the ire of Grand Theft Auto gamers across the globe, but PC players are still playing GTA V. In fact, more PC owners are playing GTA V on Steam this month than the last three months. For instance, the Steam GTA V playerbase has jumped 107% from May to June.

Five days ago Rockstar Games parent company Take-Two Interactive shut down prominent GTA PC mod OpenIV, and the community has responded with revolt.

The mod itself was used by countless PC gamers to mod their GTA IV and GTA V games for offline play for years and years now, but in an official statement Rockstar says OpenIV has been linked to "malicious mods that allow the harassment of players and interfere with the GTA Online experience for everybody."

Even though we're still a few months away from the release of Project CARS 2, developer Slightly Mad Studios continues to release screenshots of its next-gen racing game, and it looks incredible.

Project CARS 2 launches in September, but until then we get to scope out these new screenshots. Are you ready for it to hopefully melt your PC into the ground? It looks like it will push everything we've got to the limits, so let's hope AMD's upcoming Radeon RX Vega and whatever NVIDIA throws at it in return can play this at 4K 60FPS+ or 3440x1440 @ 100FPS or more.

Insomniac Games is working on what looks to be the best Spider-Man game ever made, and since Sony owns the rights to the Spider-Man franchise, it is a PS4 exclusive. But what about the faster PS4 Pro? Well.

During a recent discussion on open world games being locked to 30FPS, Insomniac said that even the PS4 Pro isn't capable of 1080p 60FPS with Spider-Man. This is mostly due to the slower CPU inside of the consoles, and this includes the new Xbox One X, too. Insomniac said that 1080p 60FPS is "not really an option" on the PS4 Pro, adding that they will "optimize for best experience on PS4 and PS4 Pro". I thought best experience meant smoothest and highest frame rate, you know: 60FPS - and 1080p at least.

Quantic Dream make some of the most interesting games, with Detroit: Become Human teased so far - without a release date, and now we have been told it will be a 2018 game.

Quantic Dream boss David Cage, the director behind Heavy Rain and the upcoming Detroit: Become Human said their new game would be a 2018 release. If you haven't heard about the game, Detroit: Become Human is explained as: "Travel to the near-future metropolis of Detroit - a city rejuvenated by an exciting technological development: androids. Witness your brave new world turn to chaos as you take on the role of Kara, a female android trying to find her own place in a turbulent social landscape".

Sounds interesting, right? The developer adds: "Shape an ambitious branching narrative, making choices that will not only determine your own fate, but that of the entire city. Discover what it means to be human from the perspective of an outsider - see the world of man though the eyes of a machine".

Capcom and Bandai Namco partner to bring a new dimension to cross-IP gaming.

Capcom today announced that it has entered in a "cross-licensing agreement with Bandai Namco related to online matching in properties such as the Street Fighter series." While the company didn't explicitly reveal the exact nature of this agreement, the partnership could one day open up new avenues to cross-gaming experiences such as cross-game online matchmaking between Capcom's Street Fighter V and Bandai Namco's Tekken 7, and lead the way to resurrecting the long-awaited Tekken x Street Fighter crossover fighting game.

The Japanese publisher affirms that the reason the agreement was made is to "improve the user experience while accelerating the production of titles and reducing development costs for both parties."

E3 2017 - Microsoft will have more than 40 games enhanced on Xbox One X when the console ships this November, and Xbox exec Phil Spencer discusses how much work goes into enhancing games on the new console.

As we've said multiple times, not every game will run at native 4K 60FPS on the Xbox One X - in fact, most of them won't. This is something that Xbox division head Phil Spencer has also said and iterated upon since the $499 Xbox One X was announced at E3 2017. Developers have total free reign to use the Xbox One X's higher-end power as they see fit, which includes the 6TFLOPs Polaris-derived GPU alongside a 2.3GHz Jaguar "Evolved" CPU, 12GB GDDR5 RAM at 326GB/sec, and a slew of other optimizations like DirectX 12 built right into the GPU's command processor, support for FreeSync 2, and the ability to hit native 4K with HDR enhancements and adequate frame rates.

Here are some of the ways that Xbox One games will natively play better on Xbox One X even without upgrade patches:

E3 2017 is done and dusted, and now we know just how many views each of the game trailers had during the week - with Star Wars Battlefront II at the top of the list. Here's the top ten most-viewed E3 2017 games:

Star Wars Battlefront II had over 7.9 million views, while Super Mario Odyssey enjoyed a swift 5.5 million views. As for the break down of numbers, we have:

Can you believe it has been 20 years since the release of the original Age of Empires, and now Microsoft has announced that it is working on Age of Empires Definitive Edition, a remastered version of AoE in 4K.

4K isn't the only thing Microsoft is doing with Age of Empires Definitive Edition, as there will noy only be the original base AoE alongside the "Rise of Rome" expansion pack, but there's enhanced gameplay and narration, 16 civilizations to explore, and 10 campaigns to play through.

Feature wise, Microsoft promises: "Fully remastered with beautifully enhanced graphics that support up to 4K, entirely re-orchestrated soundtrack, brand-new narrative, major gameplay improvements, Xbox Live support for multiplayer and achievements, this definitive edition brings back the original "Age of Empires" and its "Rise of Rome" expansion with 16 civilizations ranging from the Stone Age all the way to Romans".

Xbox One game sales are expected to rise by over 15% in 2017 in part thanks to Microsoft's new high-end Xbox One X system.

Microsoft's latest premium $499 Xbox One X system will catalyze game sales on the Xbox One family of consoles throughout 2017, analyst firm FutureSource Consulting forecasts. According to FutureSource, total Xbox One game sales are expected to rise by 17% to 70 million throughout 2017 with the bulk of game sales happening in Q4 to coincide with the Xbox One X's launch. PS4 game sales are expected to only jump by 3%, however Sony expects to sell 18 million more PS4 units in the fiscal year ending March 2018, bringing the total sales to 68 million units.

The adoption of 4K UHD television sets is also growing, likely sparked by more 4K entertainment options as well as the range of new 4K-enabled video games consoles such as Microsoft's $249 Xbox One S and it's new $399 Xbox One X, and Sony's $399 PlayStation 4 Pro.

E3 2017 - Xbox division head Phil Spencer says that Microsoft's new $499 Xbox One X isn't for everyone--it's for those experienced players who want the best console hardware available, and want to push 4K gaming and play today's games at the best possible performance.

"The Xbox One X is a console so it's for someone who wants to play video games in a console environment, and it's for someone who wants the best console out there and a premium console experience. It's not for everybody. Just like the Elite controllers--they're not for everybody. Everyone shouldn't spend $150 on a controller," Xbox executive Phil Spencer said in a recent interview with Giant Bomb.

"The Xbox One X is for the gamer who's experienced, whether they're a PC gamer or a current-gen console gamer, and they want the best console experience available."

E3 2017 - Nintendo's new Super Mario Odyssey looks to be the most exciting Nintendo Switch exclusive the platform has to offer, and the Japanese games-maker highlights how two players can team up and play within the unique 3D platforming world.

As we previously reported, Super Mario Odyssey will have co-op on the Nintendo Switch. Players can detach both of the Switch's included JoyCon controllers and play co-operative two-player on-the-go in Tabletop Mode, or at home in TV Mode. One player will control Mario while the other controls Cappy, Mario's trusty hat. The two-player dynamic is surprisingly fun and deep: Mario can jump on Cappy to close long distances, and Cappy can protect Mario from enemies as well as collect items.

Nintendo Treehouse showcased some of Super Mario Odyssey's two player co-operative mode in a recent video to highlight some of the more entertaining features. While co-op isn't the star of the show perse, it has a very big effect on gameplay, especially certain in-game areas.

E3 2017 - Microsoft is keen on resurrecting the old-school 2001 Xbox using its newest generation of Xbox One consoles.

Microsoft has very successfully breathed new life into last-generation's Xbox 360 platform with its extensive backwards compatibility program, ensuring about 380 older last-gen games are playable on the newer Xbox One consoles. Now Redmond is going even farther by bringing 2001 "OG" Xbox games onto Xbox One, ushering in a surprising endeavor to reinvigorate the console brand from its roots.

At E3 2017, Xbox division head Phil Spencer officially confirmed that original 2001 Xbox games are coming to Xbox One backward compatibility. To date only two games have been announced including Crimson Skies and Fusion Frenzy, but we have a strong feeling that the classic system-seller Halo: Combat Evolved will make it over and soon everyone will be able to recreate those beloved old Halo LAN memories.

E3 2017 - Like all of Ubisoft's new games, the publisher's new massive ancient Egypt-based Assassin's Creed: Origins will be based around live services to monetize the game and ensure a long tail for revenues.

Ubisoft is no stranger to microtransactions. The publisher has dramatically shifted towards digital online content with games like For Honor, Rainbow Six: Siege, The Division and Ghost Recon: Wildlands, which have all significantly boosted PRI (player recurring revenue) spend across the board. In fact, PRI spend on microtransactions and add-on content made up 17% of Ubisoft's total revenue in 2016, or $273.7 million. By 2020, Ubisoft expects PRI to make up a whopping 25% of total yearly revenues, or $584.1 million. That's a 113% increase in PRI from fiscal year 2017 to fiscal year 2020.

This forecast frames key insights for FY2018 releases like Assassin's Creed: Origins and Far Cry 5, both of which should be monetized in key ways to facilitate substantial PRI growth. Today we'll be focusing on Assassin's Creed: Origins--Far Cry 5 will come at another time. Ubisoft Montreal game director Ashraf Ismail has confirmed that Assassin's Creed: Origins wont' have an online multiplayer mode, but will instead feature online features that will enhance the player experience. This is prime lingo for microtransactions.

E3 2017 - Bungie says that Sony didn't force 30FPS parity between Xbox One X and PS4 console performance in Destiny 2.

Just yesterday Destiny 2 dev Luke Smith told WCCFTech that Bungie is "aiming to deliver the same experience on all platforms, and so far, there are no specific enhancements planned for Xbox One X." This led many to believe Bungie was simply holding back and forcing the Xbox One X to run the same as the PS4 Pro because of the exclusive marketing deal it signed with Sony.

Microsoft's new $499 Xbox One X console features beefier hardware than the PS4 Pro, including a 6TFLOP GPU, a 2.73GHz customized Jaguar CPU, and 12GB of GDDR5 RAM clocked at 326GB/sec--all of which should ideally be tapped to deliver higher graphic fidelity and frame rates then Sony's $399 PS4 Pro box.

E3 2017 - Bethesda exec Pete Hines says premium Creation Club content will live alongside free mods, and the company has no plans to disrupt or shake-up the free modding market on PS4, Xbox One or PC.

Bethesda's new Creation Club program might sound an awful lot like paid mods, but it's actually not. Creation Club content does resemble mods in terms of being add-on content that ranges from weapons and armor to new quests and even new world areas, but it isn't free.

Users will have to pay real-world money to unlock credits to buy content. However, payment ensures higher quality--the content is highly regulated and submissions are put through Q&A testing and alpha and beta phases.