Videogame News Thread

[drave]

Capcom is great

[Emperor Smeat]

Today's News:

* During a recent interview with Eurogamer, IO Interactive co-owner Christian Elverdam stated that the Hitman series is currently in hiatus due to the studio focusing all of their efforts and priority towards the development of their new 007 game.
Link: https://www.eurogamer.net/how-io-tur...-assassination

* For those interested in WWE 2K23, this year's Showcase Mode featuring John Cena might be one of the weakest in series history in terms of effort and quality by developer Visual Concepts based on NewlLegacyInc's release day stream of it. Besides the order of matches being all over the place that was already known going into its release, VC was pretty lazy when it came to design decisions and attires being off for certain wrestlers like Edge's Rated R persona. Also if you like refs with blurry heads, blurry logos, and other censored stuff, the mode is full of it in regards to the actual video clips shown during it. Also seems the female wrestler story for this year's MyRise mode is plagued with voice acting quality issues based on Destructoid's review in progress for the game. Rest of the game seems to be about equal to better compared to last year's game depending on the mode and feature.
Link: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1764646059 , https://www.destructoid.com/review-i...x-playstation/

* During a recent interview with AP News, Nintendo of America boss Doug Bowser defended the company's decision for a price hike for their upcoming Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom stating that it was done due to the amount of content they packed into the game. Bowser also stated that this $70 price tag will not be something that will become a standard for all of their first party games going forward, at least on the Switch.

Originally Posted by Destructoid We look at what the game has to offer. I think fans will find this is an incredibly full, deeply immersive experience. The price point reflects the type of experience that fans can expect when it comes to playing this particular game. This isn’t a price point that we’ll necessarily have on all our titles. It’s actually a fairly common pricing model either here or in Europe or other parts of the world, where the pricing may vary depending on the game itself

Link: https://apnews.com/article/nintendo-...08c77945a3e787 , https://www.destructoid.com/noa-boss...gdom-70-price/

[Fignuts]

Yeah, production on the Cena showcase isn't as good as last year. That said, I really like that you play as Cena's opponents. Got sick of playing as Rey last year.

[XL]

Yeah that was always the downside of the superstar-centric showcase modes, they became repetitive using the same guy and the same move set for 12+ matches. Nice touch this year.

[Emperor Smeat]

Today's News:

* Filming for the sequel to 2006 Silent Hill film, Return to Silent Hill, reportedly is currently scheduled to start next month, according to Deadline. It was reported that Christophe Gans will be the director and Jeremy Irvine was casted as the lead star portraying James for the upcoming film. In terms of plot, this upcoming film is currently believed to be based on the Silent Hill 2 game.
Link: https://deadline.com/2023/03/return-...ls-1235299997/

* IO Interactive announced that they have recently launched a new studio in Istanbul, Turkey as part of their current growth plans for the company. It was also announced that this new studio will be helping with the development of their upcoming 007 and Project Fantasy games.
Link: https://ioi.dk/careers/news/2023/ann...g-ioi-istanbul

* Studio ZA/UM, developer of Disco Elysium, reportedly recently settled several lawsuits filed by their former employees over claims of unfair dismissals and firings. All of the lawsuits have been or are expected to be dropped and resolved due to lack of evidence issues.

Originally Posted by Destructoid Disco Elysium developer Studio ZA/UM has, to various effect, resolved numerous lawsuits filed against it within the past year. These include a case with the game’s executive producer, Kaur Kender, as well as several Unfair Dismissal suits filed by several key members of the studio, who left the team in fall 2022. The Kaur Kender lawsuit saw the former ZA/UM producer sue the studio’s majority shareholding company Tütreke, claiming that ZA/UM CEO Ilmar Kompus had essentially “cheated” him out of €1 million, while also trying to illegally wrest control of the studio away from the founding members of the team. However, the case will no longer be progressing, as per a statement from Kompus offered to GamesIndustry.biz ... The unfair dismissal suits were filed following the revelation that Disco Elysium designer Robert Kurvitz, writer Helen Hindpere, and art director Aleksander Rostov were no longer at the studio, having been “involuntary” pushed out of the company by its owners. While initially offering a more diplomatic statement, Kompus and business partner Tõnis Haavel would eventually allege that the departing members had been “creating a toxic environment”, and “belittling co-workers”, with the party also accused of “intending to steal the IP”. Studio ZA/UM now says that Kurvits and Rostov have dropped their respective suits, with the studio claiming a lack of evidence prevented the cases from progressing. The studio notes that it expects further accusations and cases to be brought forward by former employees, and it expects these cases to meet similar fates. In addition, Studio ZA/UM has received a €4.8 million payment from its owner, Tütreke.

Link: https://www.gamesindustry.biz/zaum-r...er-kaur-kender , https://www.destructoid.com/studio-z...disco-elysium/

[Emperor Smeat]

Belated Friday's News:

* Footwear manufacturer Red Wing Shoes announced that they have recently created Mario themed replica shoes in celebration of the upcoming Super Marios Bros Movie. It was also announced that the shoes are a pixel-perfect replica of the iconic shoes worn by Mario. It was also announced that the shoes are not available for sale because they don't like making a big pile of money or whatnot.


* As noted before, Studio ZA/UM, developer of Disco Elysium, recently announced that they have settled several lawsuits filed by former employees over claims of unfair firings and dismissals. In a recent update, former employees Robert Kurvitz and Sander Taal stated in an interview with Eurogamer that they currently dispute the claims made by the company over the lawsuits being "misguided" and without real merit.

Originally Posted by Destructoid “The press release quotes Kender admitting that he has filed a ‘misguided’ lawsuit against ZA/UM in late 2022. We disagree,” reads the duo’s response. “Kender’s lawsuit was based on the misuse of ZA/UM’s funds (€4.8m) by the majority shareholders Kompus and Haavel to increase their own stake in the company. In the press release, Kompus and Haavel admit to this misuse, arguing only that the money has been “paid back to ZA/UM”. “Paying back stolen money, however, does not undo the crime; here, it does not undo the majority that Kompus and Haavel have illegally gained in ZA/UM […] Kompus and Haavel silenced Kender on this matter, but they will not silence us. Unlike Kender, we have not participated in the looting of ZA/UM, and Kompus and Haavel have no power over us.”

Link: https://www.eurogamer.net/disco-elys...-been-resolved , https://www.destructoid.com/studio-z...disco-elysium/

[Emperor Smeat]

Capcom recently released the first episode of a new anime comedy mini-series as part of their promotion for their Resident Evil 4 Remake game.

The first episode is under a minute long and features Leon's quest to find Ashley in the intro village of the game.

Originally Posted by Destructoid As we near the launch of Resident Evil 4, Capcom has released the first episode in a series of (very) short anime (mis)adventures detailing the events of one Leon Kennedy and his journey through the strange, European countryside — For your approval: Leon and the Mysterious Village. Produced by Nippon Animation and stylized in a colorful & sunny style, not unlike the cheery work of Hayao Miyazaki and classic “globalized” anime shows of the ’80s, episode one “Looking for Ashley” sees Leon stumble across a strange town occupied by a party of friendly locals. It works out incredibly well for our young hero, as you can imagine.

Link: https://www.destructoid.com/resident...rious-village/

[Sepholio]

Biohazard no Kuni

[Emperor Smeat]

Today's News:

* EA announced that they will be delisting and removing Battlefield 1943, Battlefield: Bad Company, and Battlefield Bad Company 2 from sale from all digital stores on April 28th. The official reason given is due to them shutting down all online support for those games. It was also announced that online multiplayer for all of the games affected will remain playable until December 8th. Mirror's Edge was originally announced to also be among the games getting delisted but was recently removed from the list.
Link: https://www.ea.com/games/battlefield/legacy-sunset , https://twitter.com/Wario64/status/1638268889657376768

* During a recent interview with the Financial Times, Xbox boss Phil Spencer revealed that Microsoft is currently in the process of launching a new in-house digital store app for mobile gaming. The official reason is due to the European Union's upcoming new law called the Digital Markets Act which requires Apple and Google to allow third party app stores on their iOS and Android services.
Link: https://www.ft.com/content/7707705e-...d-7fa993325018 , https://www.destructoid.com/microsof...-spencer-xbox/

* 2K Games and LEGO recently released a teaser trailer for their upcoming announcement on this Thursday of a new kart racing game currently rumored to be called LEGO 2K Drive. This game has been rumored by Jeff Grubb and others to be a direct competitor to Nintendo's Mario Kart series in terms of gameplay focus and plans from 2K.

We are not supposed to say anything �� but tune in for March 23rd pic.twitter.com/i0NUiF3bqG

— LEGO (@LEGO_Group) March 20, 2023

[ClockShot]

Tony Todd. Who's doing the voice work for Venom in Spider-Man 2, let slip in a tweet that the game will release this September.

Take it for what it's worth.

Looks like September! Massive publicity coming in august. Commercials start dropping in august so I’m told. Hold on to your … and hold breath! Gonna be necessary

— Tony Todd (@TonyTodd54) March 21, 2023

[M-A-G]

Originally Posted by Emperor Smeat Today's News: * Filming for the sequel to 2006 Silent Hill film, Return to Silent Hill, reportedly is currently scheduled to start next month, according to Deadline. It was reported that Christophe Gans will be the director and Jeremy Irvine was casted as the lead star portraying James for the upcoming film. In terms of plot, this upcoming film is currently believed to be based on the Silent Hill 2 game. Link: https://deadline.com/2023/03/return-...ls-1235299997/

Shit like this is what makes me hate Silent Hill: Revelations even more. When the film is so shit that people look at the first one and it looks competent in comparison that it leads to Gans getting another shot, it's just a fucking headache. His movie wasn't good either, but that seems to be lost on a lot of people when the sequel was the cinematic equivalent of sticking your genitals in molten lava.

[Sepholio]

lol Arkane's lead director might have just thrown a wrench into Microsofts defense in the Activision/Blizzard acquisition.

He was talking about their upcoming game Redfall and stated that they were making that game for PS5 as well. Until Microsoft told them to shut it down. Womp.

[Emperor Smeat]

Today's News:

* Next Level Games reportedly is currently rumored to be working on a remaster of classic Gamecube game F-Zero GX for the Nintendo Switch, according to Nintendo Prime. It was reported that their sources confirmed earlier rumors about this game being in development and as part of two unannounced projects currently being developed at the studio
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-basID2Qhc , https://gamerant.com/f-zero-gx-remas...t-level-games/

* Activision and Vicarious Visions reportedly were rumored to have been developing a new game in the Donkey Kong Country series in 2016, according to Famiboards.com. It was reported that the reason why there has not been a new game in the Donkey Kong series since DKC Tropical Freeze is due to Nintendo is still undecided over the plans and direction for a new game. Nintendo reportedly had contacted Activision to develop a new DK game that would have been a 3D and not 2D style game with Shigeru Miyamoto helping out its development. Nintendo reportedly decided in 2018 to move the project in-house instead and later shelved it for unknown reasons.
Link: https://mynintendonews.com/2023/03/2...-moved-to-epd/ , https://famiboards.com/threads/what-...-5#post-594139

* Ubisoft announced that they are currently developing a new A.I.-based scriptwriting tool called Ghostwriter that the company claims will help their writers by providing a first draft of scripts to be used for NPCS in their games.
Link: https://www.destructoid.com/ubisoft-...-npc-dialogue/

* Valve recently confirmed the rumors of them working on a new Counter Strike game and revealed that its not a remake of Go running on a new version of their Source Engine but instead a sequel called Counter Strike 2. Valve also recently released a few videos showcasing the new changes and improvements made to the CS series for this upcoming new game.
Link: https://www.youtube.com/@Valve , https://www.destructoid.com/counter-...-2023-release/

* In a recent interview with Variety, Gears of War series developer The Coalition revealed that Netflix recently hired Dune film writer Jon Spaihts to be the lead writer for their upcoming Gears of War television series.
Link: https://variety.com/2023/film/news/g...ix-1235559889/

[Sepholio]

Holy shit I am totes down for more F-Zero. Loved those games.

Can we get Xtreme G next?

[Emperor Smeat]

Still regret big time not buying F-Zero GX many years ago when it was like $20-$24 thinking if I waited a bit longer it would go down more to an enticing $15 or under price. Main reason was not being that big of a racing genre fan at the time and still am to this day outside of the Mario Kart series in general.

Instead the game shot up in price around the same time Nintendo games from the GC and N64 started spiking in price.

Same for missing out on buying Tales of Symphonia when it was around $20ish at the time but didn't get it since I'm not that big of an RPG fan and now its one of the most expensive GC games.

[Emperor Smeat]

During a recent interview with IGN, Arkane Austin director Harvey Smith revealed that their upcoming Redfall game was originally planned to be a multi-platform game prior to Microsoft's purchase of their parent company ZeniMax Media.

Smith stated that the game was originally planned to be released for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC but Microsoft requested for the PS5 version to be dropped from development shortly after their purchase of ZeniMax.

Smith also stated that he thinks dropping the PS5 version from development was actually a good thing in the end since it meant they wouldn't be stretched as thin developing three versions at the same time and would be able to better focus on the remaining two platforms for its development and polish.

Originally Posted by Destructoid Developer Arkane Austin has confirmed that its incoming monster-masher Redfall was initially planned as a multi-platform title, but was asked to drop the PS5 edition once Microsoft acquired the studio in the ZeniMax Media purchase — which took place back in the summer of 2020. The somewhat unsurprising revelation was made by studio director Harvey Smith in an interview with IGN France. Smith describes the Microsoft purchase as “Change with a capital C”, noting any plans for a Playstation edition of the vampire-hunting multiplayer title were instantly scrapped by the new owners. “They came in and they said ‘No PlayStation 5. We’re focusing on Xbox, PC, and Game Pass.” Smith notes that he thinks it was a good idea, with the dropping of Redfall on PS5 allowing the studio to focus on one less platform and add further polish to the project. Smith also points to Xbox Game Pass’ 30 million subscribers as a solid install base for the multiplayer-focused shooter, which will hopefully provide Redfall with a ready-made community of players. A Monster Squad, of sorts.

Link: https://fr.ign.com/redfall/64224/new...-prevu-sur-ps5 , https://www.destructoid.com/redfall-...box-exclusive/

[drave]

c-c-c-c-c-c-c-combo breeeeeeeaker

[Fignuts]

Hasn't sony been in the process of trying to buy rockstar, to add gta to their already extensive list of exclusives? And they're seriously trying to make claims of microsoft having an unfair advantage?

[Emperor Smeat]

According to reports, UK regulator Competition and Markets Authority recently dropped most of their objections to Microsoft's attempt to purchase Activision Blizzard.

In an official statement, the CMA stated that Microsoft's purchase would not harm competition in the gaming industry and eased their earlier concerns and issues over it.

Despite them hinting their approval of the purchase, the CMA also stated that they still have some concerns over the potential negative impact MS's purchase of AB would have on the cloud gaming market.

The CMA also became less concerned over MS's purchase after they had publicly pledged a 10 year deal to keep the CoD series on Playstation and also signed a similar deal with Nintendo for it.

Originally Posted by Reuters Britain's competition regulator said Microsoft's (MSFT.O) 69-billion purchase of "Call of Duty" maker Activision Blizzard (ATVI.O) would not harm competition in gaming consoles, removing a major obstacle to the deal. In findings based on new evidence, the Competition and Markets Authority said on Friday that it would not make financial sense for Microsoft to make "Call of Duty" exclusive to its Xbox console, and it would instead still have the incentive to continue to make the game available on PlayStation. The regulator, however, said it was still looking at the impact of the deal on the cloud gaming market. The takeover, the biggest ever in gaming, remains subject to the scrutiny of regulators in the United States and Europe. The CMA had noted Activision's flagship "Call of Duty" franchise was important in driving competition between consoles, and it worried that Microsoft could benefit by making the game exclusive to Xbox, or only available on PlayStation under materially worse conditions. But Microsoft has since offered Sony a licence deal to address those concerns. "Our provisional view that this deal raises concerns in the cloud gaming market is not affected by today's announcement," the CMA said, adding that its overall investigation was on course for completion by its April 26 deadline. A Microsoft spokesperson said: "We look forward to working with the CMA to resolve any outstanding concerns."

Link: https://www.reuters.com/markets/deal...al-2023-03-24/

[Sepholio]

Originally Posted by Fignuts Hasn't sony been in the process of trying to buy rockstar, to add gta to their already extensive list of exclusives? And they're seriously trying to make claims of microsoft having an unfair advantage?

There is no evidence of Sony trying to buy rockstar other than internet rumors that they will as a response to MS getting Actiblizzard. It started with some guy named Rhythian on twitter who suggested it as a theoretical response from Sony to the MS takeover, and then everyone ran with it like it was gospel.

Fact is Rockstar is on record saying they want to remain an independent organization that controls themselves and have no interest in selling to anyone.

[Kalyx triaD]

This Diablo thingy ain't bad. Just finished the prologue. Gonna try mulyiplsyer questing.

[drave]

D IV was amazing. They've a lot of work to do in terms of balance. I raised 4 of 5 to level 20+ and ho boy......




The barb needs work, and the druid. It was a fucking struggle (sometimes didn't happen) to beat some bosses with those two classes. Every other class was able to walk around and kinda scratch their butt with one hand and take out demons with the other.


I've played Diablo since it's inception on PC. D4 is the best god damn Diablo since I. To me, it is better than 2 (so far) and makes 3 look very, very silly. Nearly cannot recognize it as a Diablo game (three that is).




6/6/2023. Hit me up anytime.

[Sepholio]

I feel like no one figured out the build I was using on barb. It took me no effort to roll everything. I mauled the butcher encounter with ease and that's widely considered the hardest encounter in the beta.

[Sepholio]

Don't get me wrong, it still took me a touch longer to kill bosses, but I also didn't have to constantly run away while dropping hydras and avoiding everything.

Flay with the bleed damage, WW with bleed boost, couple items to boost bleed damage, then stack life regen on items and socket skulls into dual wielded weapons. Regen gave me enough health to tank any aoe ground effects and the like, skulls let me pull even more life off trash mobs, WW for CC, and then quickly stack a bunch of bleed with Flay onto bosses, which look like I'm hardly damaging them for about 5 seconds and then BAM hit em with rupture and they disintegrate as all the stacked bleeding is triggered at once.

[Sepholio]

I just hope eventually I can feel as powerful as the weird impaler focused DH I used in 3. Ran with a friend with a DH that focused on blasting away packs with ease as I followed behind and whenever we hit a boss he steps back and I walked in and throw a couple daggers and bye bye boss. Killing high level rift guardians in less than a second was awesome lol

[ClockShot]

Ubisoft backs out of E3.

Which is sad because they always put on a good show. But with all their issues right now, I wouldn't be surprised if the only thing they have in the pipeline is Assassins' Creed: Mirage.

Let's not talk about Skull and Bones.

[Emperor Smeat]

Today's News:

* Nintendo announced they will be holding a new stream tomorrow showcase around 10 minutes of gameplay and new details for the upcoming Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom game. This stream will air live starting at 10AM EST/ 7AM PST.
Link: https://twitter.com/NintendoAmerica/...53190414565378

* In an interview with Polygon, Paramount Global Senior VP Doug Rosen announced that a new Teenage Mutant Turtles game based on the TMNT The Last Ronin comic series is currently in production. The game was stated to be planned to be a single player adventure game similar in gameplay style to the recent God of War games. No other details regarding the game were given beyond it being in early pre-production stage.

Originally Posted by Destructoid Released in 2020, TMNT: The Last Ronin tells of a single turtle — wearing a black mask and wielding the iconic weaponry of all four Heroes in an Half-Shell — as they pick their way through a dystopian, futuristic take of New York, seeking revenge for their fallen brethren. The identity of the turtle remains something of a mystery until its revelation further in the tale, making The Last Ronin a particularly grim entry to the TMNT pantheon.

Link: https://www.polygon.com/23645176/tmn...-ninja-turtles , https://www.destructoid.com/tmnt-the...turtles-comic/

* As noted before, Arkane Austin director Harvey Smith stated that the upcoming Redfall game was originally planned to be a multi-platform game prior to Microsoft's purchase of their parent company ZeniMax Media. In a recent statement to Eurogamer, Microsoft denied that they had pushed for the development of the PS5 version of the game to be dropped following their purchase of ZeniMax. It was stated that they have not pulled any games from development that was planned for the PS5 following their purchase of Zenimax.

Originally Posted by Eurogamer "We haven't pulled any games from PlayStation. In fact, we've expanded our footprint of games that we've shipped on Sony's PlayStation since our acquisition of ZeniMax, and the first two games we shipped after closing were PlayStation 5 exclusives. We did the same thing since our closing of Minecraft as we extended the reach of that franchise. All of the games that were available on PlayStation when we acquired ZeniMax in March 2021 are still available on PlayStation, and we have continued to do content updates on PlayStation and PC. We have always said that future decisions on whether to distribute ZeniMax games for other consoles will be made on a case-by-case basis."

Link: https://www.eurogamer.net/microsoft-...ll-ps5-reports

* Last week's GDC 2023 event reportedly was plagued with multiple instances of people being sexually harassed and abused according to those who had attended the event. There were reportedly also instances of people having their drinks spiked without their knowledge at a karaoke night show held as part of the event. In one instance, two women reportedly were "lured up to a hotel room by a man in a position of power for a ‘pitch’, where he then assaulted them."
Link: https://twitter.com/LeenaVanD/status...47400249864193 , https://twitter.com/YugSTAR/status/1639706520052027396 , https://www.destructoid.com/gdc-2023...drink-spiking/

[Emperor Smeat]

Today's News:

* This year's upcoming E3 event recently took another big hit in terms of dropouts. IGN reported that Sega, Tencent, and Devolver Digital will also not be attending this year's event and joins the growing list of notable companies who have backed out from having a physical presence at this year's event. It was also reported that more companies likely will also be dropping out soon based on recent contacts with those companies.
Link: https://www.ign.com/articles/rumors-...shers-back-out

* While Ubisoft is currently not planned to be holding a press conference at this year's E3 event, they recently announced they will be holding an E3-like Ubisoft Forward stream on June 12th to discuss updates for previously announced games current in development and the official debut of new games in development as well.
Link: https://twitter.com/Ubisoft/status/1640747302166884352

* Valve recently announced that they will be dropping official support for their Steam Client for Windows 7, 8, and 8.1 operating systems starting on January 1, 2024. Official reason is due to the way certain new features for Steam rely on an embedded version of Google Chrome that no longer works on older Windows OSs.
Link: https://help.steampowered.com/en/faq...4F2B-1321-800A

* The Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) recently gave their official approval for Microsoft's attempt to purchase Activision Blizzard. Similar to other government bodies around the world, the JFTC stated in their filing that they believe that MS's purchase of AB "would not substantially restrain competition in any particular fields of trade" nor do they believe that it would violate Japanese anti-trust laws, especially in regards to cloud gaming.
Link: https://www.destructoid.com/japan-ap...zard-purchase/

[Sepholio]

The Last of Us: Part 1 PC port is getting absolutely destroyed in reviews.

Iron Galaxy is excellent at releasing absolutely terrible ports of great games.

[ClockShot]

The inevitable has happened as the ESA has cancelled this year's E3.

[Emperor Smeat]

According Jeff Grubb on yesterday's Game Mess Mornings show, this was pretty much inevitable once the latest batch of dropouts happened.

Grubb stated that his sources told him that the organizers for this year's now cancelled event waited way too long to put things into motion for the plans for this year's E3 which also meant they delayed contacting other companies for their commitments. This is what led to the string of dropouts and non-committals in the end.

One company had even told the organizers that they should have started doing this several months before than what was done since now it meant they no longer had the prep time needed to do an E3 showcase and already had set their work and events schedules for the year in place.

[Sepholio]

Feels like this is the death of E3. Kinda sad. Used to be so hyped for E3 every year

[Splaya]

The problem would become in my eyes is that these companies would rather use their social media platforms to promote it, rather than go to the event. There always used to be a Final Fantasy exhibit filled with news about future games, and we rarely get that anymore.

[Sepholio]

I mean I get it. It's good business. Cheaper and a much wider reach just doing your own presentation on social media. Plenty of other big shows throughout the year if you want to do something in person. It just sucks because E3 was a big part of growing up/young adulthood as a gamer for me. Was always excited for it to come around to see what was cooking behind the scenes.

Ah well. RIP E3.

[Emperor Smeat]

I'm a bit surprised the ESA had any remaining goodwill left with companies for E3 after that massive data breach incident a few years ago.

COVID took a big hit on E3 that it never recovered from but E3 could have easily been done for good back in 2020 after that incident.

[Emperor Smeat]

Film production studio Legendary Entertainment reportedly recently signed a deal with Capcom for the film & tv rights for their Street Fighter series, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

Originally Posted by Hollywood Reporter Legendary is ready to unleash a sonic boom, with the studio acquiring the film and TV rights to the classic beat-’em-up game Street Fighter. The studio will work with video game company Capcom on future projects ... Hollywood has made moves on Street Fighter in the past, with Universal releasing an ill-fated 1994 film that starred Jean-Claude Van Damme as Col. Guile and featured a cast including Kylie Minogue, Ming-Na Wen and the late Raul Julia. More than a decade later, 20th Century Fox released Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li (2009), which starred Kristin Kreuk in the title role. Like its predecessor, it was a commercial and critical bomb. An assortment of animated adaptations have also made their way to the screen. Legendary, which has a film distribution deal with Sony, has Dune: Part Two due out Nov. 3. Its deal for Street Fighter comes as video game adaptations have found success in recent years, with Paramount’s Sonic films, Sony’s Uncharted and HBO’s The Last of Us all cutting through to various degrees. And on Friday, Universal will try its luck with The Super Mario Bros. Movie, the first time in 30 years that gaming giant Nintendo has teamed with a Hollywood studio to put one of its prized properties on the big screen.

Link: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/mo...ry-1235365168/

[Emperor Smeat]

As noted before, UK regulator Competition and Markets Authority recently dropped most of their objections to Microsoft's attempt to purchase Activision Blizzard setting the stage for their official approval of the deal for the UK region.

Sony recently issued an official statement criticizing the CMA for revising their earlier stance against MS's attempt to purchase AB. Sony claims that CMA's reason for their reversal is "surprising, unprecedented, and irrational" over them being pleased at MS's 10 year offer to Sony & Nintendo for the CoD series and no longer having concerns that MS owning the CoD series would give them a near monopoly-like status in the console gaming industry.

Microsoft filed a response in regards to Sony's statement stating that they have no financial reason for wanting to purposely "withhold or degrade access to Call of Duty" that would cost them billions of dollars as a strategy to do so.

An official decision by the CMA is currently expected to be made by April 26th.

Originally Posted by Destructoid Sony has issued a new statement regarding the Competitions and Markets Authority, or CMA, and its recently narrowed scope of concerns over Microsoft’s pending acquisition of Activision Blizzard. The paper, submitted last month and recently publicized, sees Sony describing the CMA’s “reversal” of its position on its consoles theory of harm as “surprising, unprecedented, and irrational" ... Sony’s response goes into several errors it believes the CMA has made in its findings, including an assertion that Minecraft, which is already on multiple platforms, says “nothing” about whether Microsoft would pursue Call of Duty exclusivity. In one instance, Sony cites a recent quote from Arkane’s Harvey Smith to IGN. In it, Smith said that Redfall was in development for PlayStation 5 prior to Microsoft’s acquisition of Bethesda. “We got bought by Microsoft and that was a huge sea change,” Smith said. “They said, ‘No PlayStation 5. Now we’re gonna do Game Pass, Xbox, and PC.'” Sony asserts that this provides compelling evidence of Microsoft’s ability, and incentive, to “foreclose rivals to acquired games.” The company also brings up a point it’s mentioned before: that any degradation of performance or quality of play on PlayStation, or delays in release, would harm Sony’s reputation. It ultimately calls on the CMA to revisit its analysis of Microsoft’s incentives and partial foreclosure. “In conclusion, SIE respectfully submits that the Addendum does not justify the CMA’s U-turn on the consoles theory of harm,” Sony’s statement concludes ... Microsoft also had a response, issuing the following statement today (via Eurogamer): “The Provisional Findings Addendum correctly confirms that Microsoft has no incentive to withhold or degrade access to Call of Duty. As Microsoft has explained throughout the course of the CMA’s investigation, such a strategy makes no commercial sense and would result in Microsoft writing off billions from the deal value.” The CMA is expected to deliver its final decision on Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard no later than April 26.

Link: https://assets.publishing.service.go...E_response.pdf , https://www.eurogamer.net/sony-pounc...on-acquisition , https://www.destructoid.com/sony-rep...blizzard-deal/

[Emperor Smeat]

Today's News:
* As noted before, Legendary Entertainment recently signed a deal with Capcom for the film & tv rights for the Street Fighter series. Capcom recently confirmed that a new live-action Steer Fighter film is currently in production by them and Legendary.
Link: https://twitter.com/StreetFighter/st...60498150227977

* Longtime Halos series developer Joseph Staten announced that he has recently left Microsoft. Official reason given was due to him wanting to go in a new direction for his career. Prior to his departure, Staten had been involved in Halo series since the first game, first as a cinematic director and eventually as the creative director.
Link: https://twitter.com/joestaten/status...01906126176257 , https://www.destructoid.com/joseph-s...inite-studios/

* According to Variety, the recently released Super Mario Bros film broke the record for largest ever opening-day box office for an animated film at $377 million in global revenue and is currently expected to become the highest grossing film for this year. The previous record was held by 2019 film Frozen 2.
Link: https://variety.com/2023/film/box-of...es-1235577619/

[Emperor Smeat]

For those interested, Sony will be airing a new State of Play stream on Thursday focusing on Final Fantasy XVI.

State of Play presents more than 20 minutes of new Final Fantasy XVI gameplay this Thursday. Tune in live at 2pm PT / 5pm ET / 11pm CEST: https://t.co/nOULcwLVnQ pic.twitter.com/vNR9kGbxL6

— PlayStation (@PlayStation) April 11, 2023

[Sepholio]

I hope they sneak in a little something about FF7 Remake 2