Videogame News Thread

[Emperor Smeat]

Today's News:
* For those interested, Capcom will be holding a new showcase stream on their official YouTube channel on April 20th focusing on their upcoming Street Fighter 6 game. It was announced that this stream will be over 30 minutes in length and starts at 6 PM EST.
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ow46UZ0CCuQ , https://twitter.com/StreetFighter/st...72179590561793

* Also for those interested, Diablo IV associate game director Joe Piepiora stated in a recent interview with PC Gamer that it will take around 80 hours on average to fully complete a Battle Pass season for Diablo IV.
Link: https://www.pcgamer.com/diablo-4-bor...s-of-monsters/

* Nintendo announced that they will be releasing their final pre-launch trailer for their upcoming Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom tomorrow on their official Youtube channel. It was also announced that this final pre-launch trailer is around 3 minutes in length.
Link: https://twitter.com/NintendoAmerica/...51322134036488

* Tecmo Koei stated that the recent rumors of Team Ninja currently working on a new unannounced game planned to be released before their Rise of the Ronin game in 2024 are not true. The source of the rumors originated from some confusion over the wording from a recent interview Famiysu had with Team Ninja boss Fumihiko Yasuda.

Originally Posted by Destructoid Following a recent interview with Team Ninja lead Fumihiko Yasuda, reports swirled that the studio had another game in the works, set to arrive before 2024’s Rise of the Ronin. But Koei Tecmo confirms those rumors aren’t accurate to Team Ninja’s plans. Speaking to Famitsu, Yasuda discussed Team Ninja’s upcoming docket of games. The previously announced Rise of the Ronin is set for 2024. Yasuda also expresses a desire to release something new in 2025. The confusion arises around a certain phrasing, though. “‘Rise of the Ronin’ has been under development for about 7 years and is scheduled to be released in 2024,” Yasuda said. “This work will be released in 2023, and I feel like I want to release a new title in 2025.” Famitsu’s interview was published online on March 11, after the release of Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty earlier this year. This, alongside mention that the game in question was in development, led to speculation and reports that Team Ninja has another game planned for 2023. Koei Tecmo clarifies As noted in Famitsu’s article, though, this interview was conducted on February 14, 2023, prior to the launch of Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty. And the interview itself is about Wo Long, too. We reached out to Team Ninja parent company Koei Tecmo to clarify, and a spokesperson confirmed that “this work” refers to Wo Long. The spokesperson also confirms their 2023 game is Wo Long, and Team Ninja does not have another full game planned for 2023. Which, considering Wo Long still has a season pass’ worth of content on the way alongside Rise of the Ronin and thoughts of a 2025 game, is probably a good thing. Team Ninja has had a steady cadence over the last few years.

Link: https://www.destructoid.com/koei-tec...plans-wo-long/

[ClockShot]

Like what I saw in the Sony Final Fantasy showcase. Looking like a good preorder right now.

[Emperor Smeat]

Today's News:
* The National Recording Preservation Board (NRPB) recently announced that the theme song to the original Super Mario Bros game will be the first ever game music inducted into the Library of Congress. This song will be part of this year's class of 25 pieces of music to be added to the Library of Congress' music preservation catalog.
Link: https://www.destructoid.com/super-ma...pr-koji-kondo/

* Voice actor Matthew Mercer recently announced on Twitter that he voiced Ganondorf for Nintendo's upcoming Legend of the Zelda Tears of the Kingdom game.
Link: https://twitter.com/matthewmercer/st...76756122705922

* A new "Gamer's Lawsuit" class-action lawsuit was recently filed against Microsoft over their on-going attempt to purchase Activision Blizzard. This new lawsuit is an amended version of their original lawsuit that was filed this past January but dismissed this past March due to the presiding court ruling that "The Complaint does not plausibly allege the merger creates a reasonable probability of anticompetitive effects in any relevant market." This new lawsuit reportedly claims to contain redacted documents from Microsoft’s board of directors and also recent statements from Sony over their objections to MS's purchase attempt as part of their claims why MS should not be legally allowed to buy AB. MS recently responded to the new amended lawsuit stating that those involved “waited 11 months after the transaction was announced to file their lawsuit, and then wasted several additional months filing an implausible complaint."
Link: https://www.destructoid.com/gamers-l...tivision-sale/

[Emperor Smeat]

Today's News:
* Super Marios Bros Movie recently surpassed $600 million in box office sales making it the highest ever grossing video game-based film in history. Variety reported that it had surpassed $500 million as of this past mid-week while Destructoid reported that the film added another $100 million this past weekend for a current tally of around $667 million.
Link: https://variety.com/2023/film/news/s...er-1235583559/ , https://www.destructoid.com/super-ma...er-box-office/

* Former 343 Industries creative director and Halo Infinite head of creative Joseph Staten announced on Twitter that he recently joined Netflix's Netflix Games studio as the creative director for an upcoming "brand-new AAA multiplatform game and original IP."
Link: https://twitter.com/joestaten/status...00044719833088

*GamesIndustry.biz reported that SEGA is currently in the process of purchasing Rovi, Angry Birds developer, for around 706 million euros ($770 million). It was reported that the reason is due to SEGA wanting to boost their mobile gaming development and market presence. It was also reported that the sale is currently expected to be finalized in the second quarter of their current fiscal year.
Link: https://www.gamesindustry.biz/sega-t...6-million-deal

[Emperor Smeat]

Add South Africa's Competition Commission to the growing list of government agencies that have given or hinted their approval for Microsoft's purchase of Activision Blizzard.

Similar to others, the SACC's main focus was gaming monopoly concerns over MS owning the CoD series but they eventually dropped their concerns due to being pleased with MS intent to provide 10 year support for CoD games on other platforms should their purchase of AB become a reality.

Originally Posted by Destructoid South Africa looks set to be the latest territory to offer its approval in Microsoft’s proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard. The South African Competition Commission has approved the deal without conditions, joining nations such as Brazil, Japan, and Saudi Arabia in backing the deal. Unsurprisingly, the Competition Commission’s investigation focused primarily on the fate of Activision franchise Call of Duty, and whether or not the industry would be severely hampered by the possibility of the billion-dollar military shooter becoming an Xbox exclusive. The Commission was ultimately satisfied with Microsoft’s intent to approach its competitors with deals pertaining to Call of Duty, and thus offered its approval to the $68.7 billion USD sale. Of course, there are still many hurdles to clear before Microsoft can pop the champagne corks. The publisher still has to win the favor of other major markets, including Europe and the United Kingdom, and will then face its biggest challenge in the form of the United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) which has gone as far as to file suit in order to prevent the Activision Blizzard sale from taking place. The case is set to go to court this summer. The option to appeal will also be available to the losing side, suggesting that this ongoing situation is still far from reaching closure.

Link: https://www.destructoid.com/south-af...sion-blizzard/

[Emperor Smeat]

Today's News:
* Sony announced that they are currently in the process of purchasing Firewalk Studios for an undisclosed amount of money. As part of this purchase, Firewalk Studios will be separating from their current publisher ProbablyMonsters.
Link: https://blog.playstation.com/2021/04...ultiplayer-ip/

* Atari announced that they have recently re-acquired around 100 games from their past library from Accolade, Infogrames, and Microprose. While the full list of games was not revealed, it was announced to contain Bubsy, Hardball, 1942: Pacific Air War, F-117A, Demolition Racer series, and F-14 air combat series.
Link: https://www.globenewswire.com/news-r...s-and-90s.html

* Epic Games announced that they have recently purchased Brazilian studio Aquiris, developer of Horizon Chase, as part of their expansion in the South American market and also to work as a support studio under the new name of Epic Brazil for their Fortnite game.
Link: https://www.epicgames.com/site/en-US...c-games-brasil

[Emperor Smeat]

Today's News:
* Staff from SEGA's SEGA of America offices recently filed paperwork to the National Labor Relations Board to hold a planned union election to officially determine if they will unionize or not. This potential new union would be called Allied Employees Guild Improving Sega (AEGIS) and they are partnering with Communications Workers of America (CWA) to help out their process. At least two employees spoken to stated that SoA management have not displayed any anti-union sentiments at this time.
Link: https://www.destructoid.com/sega-of-...vine-industry/ , https://www.theverge.com/2023/4/24/2...a-unionize-cwa

* Deep Silver recently announced that Dead Island 2 has already surpassed 1 million in sales since its launch last week.
Link: https://twitter.com/deadislandgame/s...51266337075211

* In a recent official statement to Eurogamer, Metacritic stated that they are currently planning to "evolve" their moderation system for user reviews for games on their website. This decision is related to a recent user review bombing of the recently released Burning Shores DLC pack for Horizon Forbidden West that included a flood of users reviews containing hate speech, tonal abuse, and homophobia being posted. This issue revolved around the DLC pack featuring Aloy spending a lot of time with another woman through out the DLC story and players eventually being given the option of if they want Aloy to embrace and give a passionate kiss or not to this woman character.

Originally Posted by Destructoid The DLC, which was launched by Guerrilla Games on April 19, was generally well-received by critics and Horizon fans — And while some players were left understandably frustrated by Guerrilla’s decision to only publishing the DLC on PS5, (leaving the PS4 community behind), it seems that this is not the main point of contention for a portion of the players who left negative user reviews. A lot of the negativity, (veiled or otherwise) is weighted toward the fact that, over the course of the story, Horizon hero Aloy meets another woman, Seyka, while on her journey through the new world. As the two characters spend time together over the course of the DLC, Aloy finds herself drawn to the Quen tribe warrior, ultimately resulting in a scene where the player can, should they choose to do so, bring the two characters together for a passionate kiss. And it seems that this, of course, is a cause for concern among the angriest and loudest of the gaming community. Last week saw the User Review section inundated with both massively negative written and numerical reviews, leading the DLC to sit at a current score of 4.0 (actually higher than it has been previously). While most of the more homophobic of the site’s 254 negative reviews have since been removed, many remaining reviews choose to mask themselves a little better, simply claiming that the DLC is “poorly written” or that “the world is boring”, before following up with a flat score of zero out of ten — somewhat raising eyebrows.

Link: https://www.destructoid.com/metacrit...oy-moderation/ , https://www.eurogamer.net/metacritic...shores-reviews

[Fignuts]

Convinced that a large portion of people have become so trigger happy with "woke" accusations, that they don't even know what the word means anymore.

[ClockShot]

Isn't there already a big video game union out there? Why not just join up with them?

A.E.G.I.S. Someone really wanted this group to sound cool.

[ClockShot]

The U.K. Competition and Markets Authority has blocked the sale of Activision-Blizzard to Microsoft.

And here we go......

https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/26/tech/...ard/index.html

[Emperor Smeat]

Today's News:
* Longtime music composer Ryo Nagamatsu announced that he recently left Nintendo with the official reason due to him wanting to go in a new direction for his career. Prior to his departure, Nagamatsu had spent the past 17 years working at Nintendo.
Link: https://twitter.com/NagamatsuRyo/sta...91363515047936 , https://www.destructoid.com/nintendo...platoon-mario/

* Netherealm Studios recently released a video celebrating the 30th anniversary of their Mortal Kombat series. This video also contained a cryptic message at the end teasing the upcoming reveal of the next game in the MK series, Mortal Kombat 12, and a potential story teaser for it. This game was later confirmed to be currently in development from an investor's meeting held earlier today by Warner Bros Discovery.

Originally Posted by Destructoid The video then ends with a cryptic clip, featuring a torrent of sand trickling from the hourglass of the time-twisting boss of Mortal Kombat 11, Kronika. After the final grain leaves the hourglass, its shatters into endless grains, which would perhaps suggest a full restart of the timeline, or even a shakeup into multiple timelines. While Mortal Kombat‘s reboot, which began in 2011, definitely redefined storytelling in the fighting game genre, there’s no denying that the timeline very quickly painted itself into a corner, struggling through the events of MKX and really hitting the wall in MK11.

Originally Posted by Destructoid Speaking on an earnings call today, Warner Bros. head David Zaslav confirms that Mortal Kombat 12 is in the works. The comment arrived during a section where Zaslav was discussing the success of gaming efforts under WB: “[…] And there’s lots more to come, including the highly anticipated Mortal Kombat 12 and Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, games also set for release this year with ambitious launch projections.”

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsX8jGhBHgo , https://www.destructoid.com/mortal-k...er-bros-games/

* Add Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine to the list of government agencies that have recently approved Microsoft's attempt to purchase Activision Blizzard. According to GamesIndustry.biz, the main reason for the AMCU's approval was due to them not holding a similar level of concern like the FTC and UK's CMA over potential monopolistic fears of MS owning AB, especially in regards to the cloud gaming market for the Ukrainian market.
Link: https://www.gamesindustry.biz/ukrain...ision-blizzard

* Variety reported that the Super Mario Bros Movie recently surpassed $1 billion on global box office revenues. It also became the first film this year to surpass the $1 billion mark and one of only a few films to have done it so far since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Link: https://variety.com/2023/film/news/s...ne-1235598832/

[Emperor Smeat]

A new game in the Double Dragon series was officially announced to be currently in development by Modus Games and Secret Base.

This upcoming new game is called Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragons and is currently planned to be released this summer for Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.

In terms of gameplay details, it was announced that it will feature 13 playable characters and a "tag team combat" system but it only supports local co-op at 2 players max and no online multiplayer.

Originally Posted by Destructoid Modus Games and Secret Base are teaming up to beat Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragons right into our faces this summer. Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragons brings back the brothers Lee, as well as a couple more dragons to make quadruple dragons. Marian joins the brothers, after becoming tired of bad guys constantly carrying her off. Meanwhile, I hope Uncle Matin is actually their uncle. There’s reportedly going to be a total of 13 playable characters, but the gameplay only supports two-player local coop. That’s probably a bummer for a lot of people, but I’m okay with it. I don’t like playing games with people who are out of Charlie Horse range. The big combat change here is that it’s all “tag team combat.” You select two characters and can switch between them freely. There are co-op combos and other moves to pull off between your pair. Secret Base is best known for Streets of Red: Devil’s Dare Deluxe. They’re applying a twist to the main campaign of Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragons. You select the order you’ll tackle the levels, and that will affect the length and difficulty of the following stages. You can also gain cash by performing special KOs and upgrade your fighter.

Link: https://www.destructoid.com/bimmy-an...f-the-dragons/

[Fignuts]

Basing the gameplay on tag team combos and not having any online co-op is a giant fucking L.

[Emperor Smeat]

Today's News:
* According to a report from the Game Post, Bungie was recently award $12 million by a court over their lawsuit against cheat seller website VeteranCheats and its owner Mihai Claudiu-Florentin. Bungie claimed that the cheat hacks being sold by the website had "caused significant harm to Destiny 2 and its community, frustrating users and undermining the game’s intent" as the reason for their lawsuit.

Originally Posted by Destructoid As reported by The Game Post, Bungie filed suit against Romanian Claudi-Florentin in 2021, accusing the website owner of committing copyright infringement and tortious interference through the development selling of various hacks and cheats, distributed through the VeteranCheats domain. The key software allows players to see through walls and auto-aim, alongside other in-game advantages. Bungie argued that the sale of VeteranCheats had caused significant harm to Destiny 2 and its community, frustrating users and undermining the game’s intent. Bungie sought default judgment of just over $12 million USD, including statutory damages of $2,000 for each of the cheat’s 5,848 downloads, as well as an additional $146,000 for copyright violation, and payment for the studio’s legal fees. The District Court of Washington found in favor of Bungie’s claim, and ordered a total damage reparation of $12,059,912.98. In addition, Claudi-Florentin was barred from engaging in any activity that opposes Bungie’s copyright act and DMCA rulings. As of this writing, the VeteranCheats website is still operational, selling cheats for other popular video games including Call of Duty and PUBG. The Destiny 2 hacks, obviously, have since been removed.

Link: https://thegamepost.com/bungie-wins-...veterancheats/ , https://www.destructoid.com/bungie-a...eller-lawsuit/

* The Strong Museum recently announced that Will Sports, Barbie Fashion Designer, Computer Space, and The Last of Us will be the inductees for this year's World Video Game Hall of Fame class. In regards to games that missed out being selected for this year's class, GoldenEye 007, Quake, and Age of Empires were among the games not selected from this year's pool of candidates.
Link: https://www.nintendolife.com/news/20...e-hall-of-fame

* Activision Blizzard announced they will be holding a live stream session on May 10th for their upcoming Diablo IV game that will focus on the game's Battle Pass, seasons, and cosmetics systems.
Link: https://www.destructoid.com/diablo-i...s-battle-pass/

[Emperor Smeat]

Today's News:
* Plaion (former Koch Media) recently announced that they are currently in the process of restructuring their publishers branches to consolidate them into a new single publisher brand. Publishers Deep Silver, Ravenscourt, and Prime Matter will all be merging into a new Plaion publisher label. The company is also currently focusing on quality over quantity in regards to their yearly game releases. As with all restructuring plans, the company is also currently expecting layoffs to be made affecting those publisher companies as well.
Link: https://www.gamesindustry.biz/plaion...ayoffs-planned , https://www.destructoid.com/plaion-m...r-ravenscourt/

* Sony-owned PixelOpus studio recently announced that they are shutting down and their employees going in a new direction for their careers. In a recent statement to IGN, Sony confirmed that the studio will be shutting down on June 2nd and revealed that the reason is due to a recent review process of their PlayStation Studios division that resulted in the decision to close down the studio.
Link: https://twitter.com/Pixelopus/status...63543386296320 , https://www.ign.com/articles/sony-st...-shutting-down

* TheWrap reported that Karl Urban is currently in talks to join the cast for the upcoming sequel to 2021 film Mortal Kombat. It was reported that Urban would be portraying the role of Johnny Cage in the film.
Link: https://movieweb.com/karl-urban-mortal-kombat-2/

[Emperor Smeat]

Private Division announced that they have partnered with Game Freak for the development of a new game currently scheduled to be released in 2026.

It was announced that this upcoming new game will be an action adventure type game and currently has a project codename of Project Bloom.

As part of the announcement, a piece of concept art for the new game was also released.



Link: https://www.privatedivision.com/2023...th-game-freak/

[Emperor Smeat]

Today's News:
* In a recent statement to Eurogamer, Ubisoft stated that they will be doing a round of layoffs in the company. It was stated that due to recent changes made to their Customer Relations department, they currently expect around 60 people to be laid off from the company and primarily from that department. Those who have already been released stated on social media that the company gave no warning beforehand of these layoffs.
Link: https://www.eurogamer.net/ubisoft-cu...o-60-lose-jobs , https://www.destructoid.com/ubisoft-...stle-industry/

* In a recent fiscal report release, Capcom revealed that this past fiscal year was the sixth year in a row where the company saw a growth in profits and was also the highest ever in terms of game sales at 41.7 million games sold, which was 10 million more than they sold compared to the prior fiscal year. This 10 million increase was also the largest year-to-year increase in company history as well.
Link: https://www.capcom.co.jp/ir/english/...22_full_02.pdf , https://www.destructoid.com/capcom-r...treet-fighter/

* In a recent fiscal report, Nintendo stated that they have sold over 125 million Switch consoles since its release in March of 2017. It was also stated that they had sold over 3 million Switch consoles this past fiscal quarter, which was a 22% decline compared to the same fiscal quarter last year. Despite the console's ongoing trend downwards in terms of new sales, it was stated that they are still hopefully of selling round 15 million consoles by the end of this fiscal year (March 2024).
Link: https://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/pdf/2023/230509e.pdf , https://www.destructoid.com/nintendo...end-continues/

[Fignuts]

Pretty much gave up on redfall. At it's very best, it's no better than average.

Microsoft has had so many fails lately that when they do get a win (hi-fi rush) no one even notices.

Starfield can't just be a home run. It has to be a grand slam.

[ClockShot]

[Emperor Smeat]

Today's News:
* Add the EU Commission to growing list of government agencies that have given or hinted their approval for Micorsoft's attempted purchase on Activision Blizzard. Similar to others, the EU Commission did not believe that MS' ownership of AB would give them monopolistic power in the gaming industry but also similar to others, they did have concerns over the impact it would have on the cloud gaming market. MS managed to resolve that issue by offering a 10-year deal as a concession for all European Economic Area (EEA) gamers to play “all current and future Activision Blizzard PC and console games” via a cloud service of their choice. This deal for the cloud gaming market will also apply globally as well.
Link: https://www.destructoid.com/eu-commi...vision-merger/

* In some somber news, the original voice actor of Crash Bandicoot, Brendan O’Brien, passed away on March 23rd at the age of 60. The reason for the delay between his passing and it becoming public was not given but likely was just due to family privacy-related reasons.

Originally Posted by Destructoud In the video game sphere, O’Brien performed the array of wild and madcap sounds that Crash makes as he barrels his way through the Wumpa Islands, offering the zany hero personality through chaotic screams and yells, as well as the memetic “Whoa” that is still intrinsically linked with the series and its characters to this day. O’Brien would voice Crash and other characters, including Tiny Tiger, Dr. N. Gin, and Dr. Nitrus Brio in earlier Crash titles including Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back, CTR: Crash Team Racing, and Crash Bash. A fascinating element of O’Brien’s legacy lies in the fact that, while he never really delivered any actual dialogue as Crash Bandicoot, he infused the personality and character that would lead to the platform hero becoming a huge success, during an era when many such characters would be left by the wayside. And while O’Brien would eventually leave the character in his past, he helped the franchise — one that shape the formative years of so many players — find the heart and success that endures today.

Link: https://twitter.com/graysonZ80/statu...930650624?s=20 , https://www.destructoid.com/original...n-passed-away/

[Emperor Smeat]

In a recent investor's meeting, SEGA revealed that they are currently considering the idea of potentially raising the price for their new game releases from its current price of $60 to a new price tag of $70 similar to what other publishers and companies have done for several of their game releases this gen.

Originally Posted by VGC Sega Sammy CEO Haruki Satomi and CFO Koichi Fukazawa were asked about the possibility of raising game prices during a Q&A session following the publication of the company’s full-year earnings in April. “In the global marketplace, AAA game titles for console have been sold at $59.99 for many years, but titles sold at $69.99 have appeared in the last year,” Sega said in a newly published English transcript of the event. “We would like to review the prices of titles that we believe are commensurate with price increases, while also keeping an eye on market conditions.” In August 2020, Take-Two’s NBA 2K21 became the first current-gen game to be priced at $70. Sony and Activision quickly followed suit by charging $70 for big new releases, followed by the likes of EA and Square Enix, with the Final Fantasy publisher even bringing the increased price point to some of its PC games. Microsoft and Nintendo released their first $70 games this month, while Ubisoft has said its long-delayed Skull & Bones will be its first $70 title.

Link: https://www.videogameschronicle.com/...-prices-to-70/

[Emperor Smeat]

Today's News:
* NetherRealm Studios recently teased on Twitter that the next Mortal Kombat game will be officially revealed tomorrow.
Link: https://twitter.com/MortalKombat/sta...80057195233281

* Nintendo announced that the Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom recently broke the record for fastest selling game in LoZ history with over 10 million copies sold since its release this past Friday. Besides the all-time LoZ sales record, it was also announced that Tears of the Kingdom also broke the record for fastest selling first party game for the Switch and also the fastest selling first party game ever for a Nintendo console in North America at over 4 million copies sold since its release. For some comparisons, Tears of the Kingdom is already at 1/3 of the lifetime sales that Breath of the Wild did on the Wii U & Switch combined at 30 million.
Link: https://www.businesswire.com/news/ho...Game-in-Series , https://www.destructoid.com/legend-o...ame-in-series/

* Sony announced that they will be holding a new Playstation Showcase stream on May 24th on their Twitch and YouTube channels. It was also announced that this upcoming stream will be a little over one hour in length, will focus on PS5 and PS VR2 games, and will feature several new games reveals.
Link: https://twitter.com/PlayStation/stat...34831483060226 , https://blog.playstation.com/2023/05...-pacific-time/

[M-A-G]

[Ruien]

Now that is a hype video. I have not played MK since MK3 and I am all for this.

[Emperor Smeat]

Today's News:
* AEW & publisher THQ Nordic announced that their upcoming Fight Forever game will be released on June 29th for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PC, and Nintendo Switch.
Link: https://www.allelitewrestling.com/po...-fight-forever , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JEyDX8vvlw

* FromSoftware is currently rumored to be working on a PC port for Bloodborne based on a recent data mining from a supposed complete build of the game. One of FromSoftware's developers Marcos Domenech recently stated that the company had a PC build of the game going as far back as 2014 but this recent leak is likely from a more complete build with DLC included.
Link: https://twitter.com/manfightdragon/s...29358235996161 , https://www.destructoid.com/datamine...orne-pc-build/

* In a recent fiscal report, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick stated that the company is currently expecting their 2025 fiscal year to "set the new standard" in the gaming industry with them targeting around $8 billion in revenues. Recent rumors have hinted that this will be the year that Rockstar will release their next game in the GTA series, GTA VI.

Originally Posted by Destructpid "Fiscal 2025 is a highly anticipated year for our company. For the last several years, we have been preparing our business to release an incredibly robust pipeline of projects that we believe will take our company to even greater levels of success,” said Zelnick. “In fiscal 2025, we expect to enter this new era by launching several groundbreaking titles that we believe will set new standards in our industry and enable us to achieve over $8 billion in net bookings and over $1 billion in adjusted unrestricted operating cash flow. We expect to sustain this momentum by delivering additional growth in our operating results in fiscal 2026 and beyond."

[Emperor Smeat]

Today's News:
* Sega Europe and Relic Entertainment announced that they have recently laid off around 121 employees at Relic. Official reason given was due to current restructuring plans and process that are going on at the studio.
Link: https://twitter.com/relicgames/statu...60864651452416

* Add China's State Administration for Market Regulation to the growing list of government agencies that have given or hinted their approval for Microsoft's attempted purchase of Activision Blizzard. Unlike other government agencies that had some concerns or are against the deal over potential monopolistic issues in the general gaming and cloud gaming markets, China's government agency had no such concerns and gave their unconditional support for MS' purchase.
Link: https://www.destructoid.com/china-ap...zard-purchase/

* According to Kotaku, Ubisoft currently has tentative plans to release their new open-world Star Wars game by Spring of 2024 but it is more likely that the game will be delayed to a later date of by Spring of 2025 instead. The rumored reason for the potential lengthy delay is due to potential development-related issues over the game's large scope.
Link: https://kotaku.com/star-wars-ubisoft...ate-1850461329

* New York Times reported that Blizzard is currently developing an A.I. tool that would be able to produce concept art and assets for future projects.

Originally Posted by Destructoid In a report from The New York Times, Blizzard’s tool has been trained on assets from games like World of Warcraft, Diablo, and Overwatch. The machine, dubbed Blizzard Diffusion, could then produce new concept art for new ideas. In an email seen by The New York Times, Blizzard chief design officer Allen Adham told employees about the new initiative dubbed last month. “Prepare to be amazed,” said Adham in the email. “We are on the brink of a major evolution in how we build and manage our games.” Blizzard Diffusion is reportedly being used to help generate concept art for game environments, characters, and outfits. The internal email also reportedly mentions possible tools for procedurally assisted level design, A.I.-assisted voice cloning, game coding, anti-toxicity, and “autonomous, intelligent, in-game NPCs.” Blizzard has already been experimenting with A.I. tools in the past. According to the NYT’s report, Blizzard has already abandoned a machine-learning technology it had patented to create environmental textures, as it was taking up too much of artists’ time to be effective. Meanwhile, another tool was assisting with fitting headpieces to players in World of Warcraft. “The goal is to remove the repetitive and manual process and enable artists to spend more time on creativity,” Blizzard’s vice president of global insights Andrew Guerrero told The New York Times. “Our goal with A.I. has been, and will continue to be, to try to make creative work easier.”

Link: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/22/a...deo-games.html , https://www.destructoid.com/blizzard...n-assets-news/

[ClockShot]

I thought Ubisoft's plan was to dump more resources into Assassins' Creed. 2025 seems more realistic unless LucasArts strolls in for a visit says they want it done now.

[Emperor Smeat]

Today's News:
* Ubisoft announced that the development for their Prince of Persia Sands of Time remake is currently in the "conception" stage following Ubisoft Montreal taking over the project last year.
Link: https://news.ubisoft.com/en-us/artic...of-time-remake

* Sony reportedly is currently in the process of raising additional funds in order to purchase more studios and companies for their Playstation division within the near future, according to The Financial Times.
Link: https://gamerant.com/sony-acquire-mo...os-playstation

* Some notable highlights from Sony's Playstation Showcase stream today included:
- Bungie is reviving their Marathon series for a new PvP live service style shooter game for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, & PC.
Link: https://www.destructoid.com/bungie-m...er-pvp-reveal/
- Sony officially announced a new dedicated PS5 streaming handheld device called Project Q.
Link: https://www.destructoid.com/sony-ann...eld-project-q/
- As part of their newest trailer for the upcoming game, Ubisoft announced that Assassin's Creed Mirage will be releasing on October 12th.
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G97lx7orMN8
- Konami announced that they are currently working on a remake for Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC (Steam).
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YDauj2Ayog
- Besides MGS 3 Remake, a new Metal Gear Solid collection called Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Vol. 1 was also announced for PS5 featuring MGS 1, MSG 2, & MSG 3 and is based on the previously released MGS HD Collection set.
Link: https://www.destructoid.com/metal-ge...-games-to-ps5/

[Fignuts]

Some cool looking new ips. Great to see gameplay for DD 2 ans Spider-man. Overall though, it wasn't an amazing showcase. Only big announcement was MGS 3 which we knew was coming.

If xbox had a bunch of big games under wraps, now would be the time to unveil them.

[Fignuts]

Wait I just rewatched the ps5 project q. It has to stream from the ps5 over your wifi.

This thing is a god damn wiiU.

[Emperor Smeat]

CD Projekt RED recently denied rumors of Sony being in the process of potentially purchasing the company as part of their current plans to buy more studios as a counter of Microsoft's purchases and attempted purchases in recent years.

In a recent investor's meeting CD Projekt RED's CEO Adam Kiciński stated that their company is not available for sale.

This rumor originated from a screenshot recently posted online from a Destiny leaker claiming that Sony was working on plans to buy the company.

Originally Posted by Destructoid CD Projekt is shutting down any rumors of it being acquired. President and CEO Adam Kiciński said in a recent investor Q&A that CD Projekt is not for sale. The question came up during the Q&A portion of CD Projekt’s Q1 2023 results. The caller asked about recent rumors that Sony is interested in CD Projekt; for context, they seem to stem from a Destiny leaker, with a screenshot in an accompanying thread alleging PlayStation plans on “buying” CD Projekt Red. “Nothing has changed on our end,” Kiciński said. “I can repeat what we’ve been saying throughout the years: CD Projekt is not for sale. We want to remain independent; we have–I believe–an excellent strategy. For sure it’s not easy to execute, but it’s very exciting to follow our own path, so it’s a pure rumor.”

Link: https://www.cdprojekt.com/en/investo...ntype=webcasts , https://www.destructoid.com/cd-proje...for-sale-news/

[ClockShot]

If Sony wants to look at big name companies, join the other vultures circling Ubisoft.

[Emperor Smeat]

A new game in the Wolfenstein series, Wolfenstein 3, is rumored to currently be in development based on recent job postings at developer MachineGames.

Originally Posted by Destructoid For all you B.J. Blazkowicz fans out there, it’s possible that Wolfenstein 3 could currently be in development. While Cyberpilot and Youngblood came out in 2019, the last mainline entry in the revitalized series was back in 2017. Since then, many of you have wanted to see more exploits from the Nazi-killing protagonist. The existence of a new job opening comes from Reddit user Hard2DaC0re, who points to a new vacancy posted by developer MachineGames. The studio has been responsible for the modern wave of Wolfenstein games, so the fact that the company is advertising a new position suggests something is on the horizon (indeed, the MachineGames website shows a number of job openings). The senior animator listing specifically states that applicants must be familiar with the developer’s prior releases. Is B.J. back? It’s still early days to say for certain if Wolfenstein is poised for an immediate comeback. At the time of writing, there’s been no confirmation from official parties about whether Wolfenstein 3 is currently in the works. We already know that MachineGames is making an Indiana Jones game. These new positions could be related to that project. But it’s really just a matter of when in terms of Wolfenstein’s triumphant return.

Link: https://www.reddit.com/r/GamingLeaks...king_on_a_aaa/ , https://www.destructoid.com/wolfenst...w-job-listing/

[Emperor Smeat]

Sonic the Hedgehog co-creator Yuji Naka reportedly is currently facing a potential prison sentence of two and a half years and a $1.2 million fine over his involvement in a recent insider trading scandal at Square Enix during his time with the company.

Abema Times reported (via VGC) that the reason for the prosecutor’s office at the Toko District Court pushing for a prison sentence of over two years is due Naka had shown no signs of remorse over his crimes.

Originally Posted by Destructoid According to a report from Abema Times, (as translated by VGC) Sonic the Hedgehog co-creator Yuji Naka is facing 2.5 years in prison — in addition to receiving a $1.2 million (USD) fine — for his role in insider trading schemes that took place during his time at developer Square Enix. The punishment is being requested by the prosecutor’s office at the Toko District Court, who argue that Naka had violated Japan’s Financial Instruments and Exchange Act, stating Naka had shown “no signs of remorse” for the offense. Naka was first arrested in November 2022 under suspicion that he had used insider knowledge in order to draw large sums of money on the stock market. Naka was then re-arrested again a month later on additional charges. The prosecution argues that Naka, alongside fellow former Square Enix employee Taisuke Sazaki, knowingly invested in Japanese developer ATeam Entertainment, ahead of the announcement that the studio would be developing 2021 mobile release Final Fantasy VII: The First Soldier. Naka reportedly purchased 120,000 shares in ATeam at a cost of around ¥144.7 million yen (roughly $834,000 USD). In a separate incident, Naka, Sazaki, and a third employee, Fumiaki Suzuki, were charged with purchasing stock in another studio, Aiming, ahead of Square Enix revealing that it would be working on Dragon Quest: Tact. In this instance, Naka was accused of having purchased ¥47 million (roughly $336,300 USD) of shares before the public announcement. The prosecution believed Naka ascertained the details ahead of time by accessing an internal website containing meeting transcriptions. Naka’s defense team is hoping to reduce the fine and is currently seeking a suspended sentence in the hope of preventing Naka from serving any jail time. A final verdict is expected in July. Naka left Square Enix in 2021, following the critical and commercial failure of lurid platformer Balan Wonderworld. After the fact, Naka would also file suit against the publisher, arguing that he had been removed from Balan’s development six months ahead of its much-maligned release.

Link: https://www.videogameschronicle.com/...sider-trading/ , https://www.destructoid.com/yuji-nak...e-enix-report/

[Emperor Smeat]

Capcom recently released a new survey asking fans which game in the Resident Evil series should be the next to get the remake treatment.

This question did not have any games listed as choices to select from and instead was entirely left up to the person to fill in the game name as their choice in a blank text box.

Originally Posted by Destructoid The Resident Evil franchise has been on top of the world lately, especially with the release of the Resident Evil 4 remake. Now, not wanting to stop this juggernaut, Capcom is asking you which other game in the iconic survival horror series you’d like to see get remade, if any. The recent survey poses a few questions about how well people know what’s happening in the world of Resident Evil. For example, people are asked whether they follow any of the official social media channels, as well as how familiar they are with the entries, be they games or movie adaptations. One of the final questions then gives you the chance to suggest which installment you’d like to see a remake of. With Capcom flying high in terms of sales, no doubt the studio is interested in where to take things from here. It should be pointed out that the survey results won’t necessarily mean there’ll be another RE remake in the pipeline. However, there have already been rumors that the series’ 2009 release, Resident Evil 5 could be getting reimagined, but there’s no solid evidence for that yet. Given that the remake of Resident Evil 4 has sold millions of copies, it’s not surprising that Capcom wants to keep bringing back older entries. At this point, however, anything past the fourth entry doesn’t quite fit the “classic” status of the earlier installments. RE5 is certainly a mainline series entry but arguably may not necessarily warrant a full remake.

Link: https://www.enqform.capcom.com/form/.../rebhportal_en , https://www.destructoid.com/capcom-s...t-remade-next/

[Sepholio]

Originally Posted by ClockShot If Sony wants to look at big name companies, join the other vultures circling Ubisoft.

I've said this for years. Think they could do some amazing work together.

Also would not be surprised if Sony was secretly going after SquareEnix. Imaging a Legend of Dragoon remake being co-developed by Sony/SE. mmmmmmmmmmmmm

[ClockShot]

Originally Posted by Sepholio Also would not be surprised if Sony was secretly going after SquareEnix. Imaging a Legend of Dragoon remake being co-developed by Sony/SE. mmmmmmmmmmmmm

Sony can let Bluepoint handle that.

[Emperor Smeat]

Today's News:
* Square Enix is currently rumored to be "slightly panicked" over the lower than expected pre-orders for their upcoming Final Fantasy XVI game, according to gaming journalist Imran Khan. Khan reported that even after adjusting their expectations due to FF XVI being PS5 exclusive compared to FF XV, the game is still performing below than expected in terms of pre-orders made. Khan also reported that it is currently rumored that Square's recent announcement of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth still being in development and targeted for this winter was made in reaction to the current situation with FF XVI's pre-orders numbers.
Link: https://www.patreon.com/posts/everything-once-83982355 , https://www.thegamer.com/final-fanta...nicking-sales/

* EA announced that they have recently signed a new partnership deal with Nike for Nike-branded NFT gear for their games under the EA Sports label.
Link: https://twitter.com/dotSWOOSH/status...86289867444226 , https://www.destructoid.com/ea-sport...gear-to-games/

* During today's Apple Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple CEO Tim Cook officially revealed Apple's new AR/VR headset called Apple Vision Pro that is currently set for an early 2024 release and is currently priced at $3,499.

Originally Posted by Destructoid Today was the annual Apple Worldwide Developers Conference, and as predicted, Tim Apple Tim Cook finished the event with the reveal of the new Apple headset. Called Apple Vision Pro, the headset is more AR than VR, utilizing a system of cameras to project screens and objects into the world around you. It’s arguably the most exciting piece of tech to come out of Apple since the iPod. Looking at the Vision Pro and how it works is some real sci-fi shit, technology I thought was still years away. But it’s actually less than a year away. There is a lot going on under the hood with Apple Vision Pro, including two chips (the M2 and the R1), 23 million pixels across the device’s two screens, eye-tracking, gesture tracking, and 4K video resolution that will be rendered at scale. As if it wasn’t hard enough to get people to look away from their screens, one device feature is EyeSight, which reveals your eyes when you start talking to somebody else in the room. Because heaven forbid you take it off your head when talking to others. While the showcase focused more on how Apple Vision Pro will take your apps off your iPhone, iPad, and iMac and display them as virtual screens in your real world, it also emphasized that gaming will be a part of the experience. One hundred Apple Arcade games will be available on day one, and the device is compatible with standard video game controllers. The feature I’m most excited about is being able to watch movies on virtual screens of any size. While I still prefer going to a real theater to watch films, something like that will greatly improve the home theater experience. If you’re wondering about battery life, you can run this thing for two hours before needing to recharge or you can plug it in for continuous use.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TX9qSaGXFyg , https://www.destructoid.com/apple-vi...veryone-about/

[Emperor Smeat]

According to IGN, EA is currently in the process of handing over development and operation of Star Wars: The Old Republic from BioWare to a third-party studio.

This studio taking over was stated to be Broadsword Online Games, developer of Ultima Online and Dark Age of Camelot, and this deal could be completed as early as by the end of this month.

In regards to the current dev team, it was reported that around 70-80 of the core staff are expected to move to Broadsword while the rest will have the opportunity of seeking new jobs within EA or be laid off if they are unable to do so.

In regards to BioWare, it was reported that the studio will be shifting focus to its current single-player projects including Dragon Age: Dreadwolf and the next game in the Mass Effect series.

Originally Posted by Destructoid It sounds like things are shifting at Electronic Arts and BioWare. A new report from IGN says EA is nearing an agreement to hand development and operation of Star Wars: The Old Republic to a third-party studio. According to IGN’s report, Broadsword Online Games—developer of Ultima Online and Dark Age of Camelot—would take the reins. The deal is expected to be final as soon as this month. Over half of the 70 to 80 people on the core Old Republic team are expected to move to Broadsword. Those remaining with EA will reportedly have an opportunity to look for other roles in the company, but could otherwise see layoffs. Star Wars: The Old Republic will keep getting updates, including the upcoming 7.3 patch, and EA would remain publisher. On the BioWare side, the team will focus its resources on current single-player efforts. This includes both Dragon Age: Dreadwolf and the next entry in the Mass Effect series ... Star Wars: The Old Republic has been running for quite a while, having launched back in 2011. It added free-to-play options a year later, and has since rolled on with expansions and content updates. It’s not surprising that EA wants to keep its Star Wars MMO running. But moving it from BioWare does draw some attention back to the developer.

Link: https://www.ign.com/articles/star-wa...-party-bioware , https://www.destructoid.com/ea-star-...ioware-report/

[Emperor Smeat]

As part of today's Ubisoft Forward stream, Ubisoft released a new trailer for their upcoming Assassin's Creed Mirage game and also a gameplay trailer following their event.