Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella is still confident that the company’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard will be approved, and said, "if this is about competition, let us have competition.”
In an interview with Bloomberg, Nadella says, “Of course, any acquisition of this size will go through scrutiny, but we feel very, very confident that we’ll come out.”
A key concern, particularly for the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) in the UK, has been that the merger could be anti-competitive for the gaming industry as a whole. However, Nadella points out that Microsoft’s main competitor, Sony, has also acquired studios, including big ones like Bungie.
Nadella continues, “So if this is about competition, let us have competition.”...
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Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands developer Gearbox says the Borderlands spin-off is now the start of a new franchise all of its own.
Gearbox Software has called the Borderlands spin-off a “major victory” after a solid launch, with CEO Randy Pitchford saying that Gearbox now sees this as a new franchise, with “future experiences already under development.”
“Wonderlands shattered all of our target expectations, both critically and commercially,” said Pitchford during the Embracer Group’s annual general meeting, “and I'm thrilled to report that in addition to great financial rewards from this victory that will be coming our way in the coming quarters, we have established a firm beachhead, and we now clearly have a new franchise on our hands.”...
The Splinter Cell remake will be rewritten to be more relevant to a “modern-day audience”.
A job listing for a scriptwriter spotted by PSU has revealed some details about the upcoming Splinter Cell game, and it looks as though it’s going to get a rewrite and update the original.
“Using the first Splinter Cell game as our foundation we are rewriting and updating the story for a modern-day audience,” it reads. “We want to keep the spirit and themes of the original game while exploring our characters and the world to make them more authentic and believable.”
Splinter Cell was originally released back in 2002 and introduced Sam Fisher – an NSA black ops agent who is investigating the disappearance of two CIA officers. As the story...
Grand Theft Auto 6 gameplay was leaked via a hacker. So now what? What do we think of the return to Vice City? What, if anything, will change about Rockstar's plan to show us the game on their terms. We discuss that as well as Diablo 4's upcoming endgame beta, hands-on impressions from the surprise demo of Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty, and more!
Subscribe on any of your favorite podcast feeds, or to our YouTube channel. For more awesome content, check out our recent interview with Todd Howard, who answered all of our Starfield questions after the big reveal at the Xbox Showcase:
For more next-gen coverage, make sure to check out our Xbox Series X review, our Xbox Series S review, and our PS5 review.
Ryan McCaffrey is IGN's executive...
Previously exclusive to PS4, the critically acclaimed JRPG Persona 5 Royal is heading to Nintendo Switch, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC on October 21. The game is now available to preorder in a couple of editions. Below, you’ll find a full rundown about what comes in each edition, how much it costs, and more.
Persona 5 Royal Steelbook Launch Edition
Nintendo Switch
Get it at Amazon - $59.99
Get it at Best Buy - $59.99
Get it at GameStop - $59.99
PS5
Get it at Amazon - $59.99
Get it at Best Buy - $59.99
Get it at GameStop - $59.99
Xbox Series X|S / Xbox One
Get it at Amazon - $59.99
Get it at Best Buy - $59.99
Get it at GameStop - $59.99
The launch edition of Persona 5 Royal costs the same as the standard edition...
If you’ve ever pulled a devil trigger or set your clock to witch time, Soulstice wants to take up arms to battle for your heart. And though its developer, Reply Game Studios, follows the recipe as best it can, Soulstice is a great reminder that not all character-action hack-and-slashers are created equal. Combat is the shining point, but it’s plagued with a terrible camera, some buggy performance, and a steep learning curve. And while monsters are inspired and test your reflexes and wit, but the world they occupy is bland and lifeless, even more so than a blasted-out city in the aftermath of a small apocalypse should be.
The story of betrayal and intrigue within a holy order of knights is full of pretty predictable twists and turns...
I’ve played plenty of video game golf over the years, from Links 386 Pro on my first family PC (yes, I’m old) to Links 2004 on the original Xbox to Tiger Woods PGA Tour in the Xbox 360 days. A good golf sim has always been as chill and enjoyable with friends as the real-life sport is. But my virtual set of clubs, just like the real-life set sitting in my garage, have been gathering dust for years. So the fact that I was able to jump right into PGA Tour 2K23 and feel at home with both its three-click swing and swing stick control options during my two-hour hands-on session, then, was a testament to developer HB Studios: it’s really easy to pick up and have fun with even if you haven’t played the video game version of the sport in a...
Adapting the classic 1974 horror movie Texas Chain Saw Massacre into an asymmetrical multiplayer game might seem odd on the surface – particularly when the team setup isn’t the same 4v1 we’ve become accustomed to with the popular Dead by Daylight, but instead the even stranger-sounding 4v3 arrangement. It works exceptionally well in practice, though, creating a tactical, tense, team-based multiplayer experience that favors brains over brawn. Whether you’re on the Victim team of four trying to escape, or the serial-killing Family trio trying to cut them down, Texas Chain Saw Massacre’s tweak to the asymmetrical multiplayer format already plays great, and the 4v3 format is a great match for the movie license it’s built around...
Publisher 2K has warned users against opening emails or clicking links from its support page after confirming it has been hacked.
More than just a spoof account sending fake emails, 2K Support itself has been compromised, with the hacker sending seemingly legitimate emails containing malicious links. 2K's support website has gone offline as a result.
If users have clicked on these links already, 2K recommends they immediately change passwords saved in web browsers (like Chrome auto-fill), install anti-virus software, enable multi-factor authentication where possible, and check that no email account forwarding settings have been changed.
2K Support's Twitter account, which has remained secure, shared the news (above). "Earlier today...
Scorn feels as though it teeters on the gunk-covered ledge between “intriguingly disturbing” and “willfully grotesque.” In the hour or so I play of the the game – its completely tutorial-less opening section – I’m introduced to a truly unpleasant biotechnological setting, shown how its many opaque puzzles will link together to form neat chains of wordless storytelling, and gently repulsed by it occasionally pushing beyond its Giger-indebted fleshscape and into less impressive straight body horror.
The core of Scorn is in its puzzles. It may play from the perspective of an FPS, and occasionally offers you what look like weapons, but this is a cerebral game at its core. Opening with your mysterious main character literally ripping...
Cloud Imperium Games has now raised more than half a billion dollars for Star Citizen's development, including $100 million since last November.
As reported by Eurogamer, the space trading and combat sim - which has been in development for more than a decade - now claims to have amassed $500,111,757 from backers.
Star Citizen's initial Kickstarter campaign for $2 million started in October 2012, but this was just the beginning. Cloud Imperium Games has raised more and more money over the years, surpassing $400 million in total just ten months ago.
Despite this astonishing amount of money, however, the game is still in an alpha stage of development, with no release date in sight. For context, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt cost $81...
The limited time I got to spend with a slice of Flying Wild Hog’s Evil West felt almost like I was time traveling. A linear third-person action game? With hidden collectables? With no side quests? Checkpoints that don’t involve bonfires? Open areas that double as combat arenas to crunch through enemies before moving on to do it again? They don't make them like this anymore, and a game like this really makes me wish they did.
Set in an alternate 18th century, where the West is still wild, but also filled with vampires, you play as Jesse Rentier, star agent and heir apparent of the Rentier Institute, an organization of vampire hunters powered by sci-fi tech and government spending. As the tough-as-nails man on the ground, you're the...
Welcome to the Wednesday you may call Hump Day and/or Andor Day. That's right, the Star Wars spin-off from Rogue One will finally exit hyperspace to land on Disney Plus. Word is it's bloody good. You know what else is pleasing? Saving a ton on that Xbox sale centred around bundles. There's also a blink-and-it'll-sell-out preorder on PS5. Super high chance that will be gone before I can even post this...
Notable Sales for Nintendo Switch
Purchase Cheaply for PC
Exciting Offers for XO/XS
Product Savings for PS4/PS5
Adam Mathew is our Aussie deals wrangler. He plays at ludicrous difficulties on YouTube.
Continue reading...
Overwatch 2 designer Geoff Goodman has left Activision Blizzard.
According to PC Gamer, Goodman was the lead hero designer behind many of Overwatch’s most popular characters, but “made the decision to leave Blizzard earlier this year”.
“We thank Geoff for his many years of service at Blizzard and wish him all the best,” the company said in a statement to PC Gamer. “His ability to bring to life Overwatch’s diverse hero roster through gameplay has been incredible, and the mark he’s left on the Warcraft and Overwatch teams will be felt for years to come.”
Goodman’s involvement with Overwatch goes back to the very beginning. He was on board back when it was Blizzard’s project Titan – an MMO that was eventually turned into the Overwatch...
Ted Lasso and AFC Richmond may be in the upcoming FIFA 23.
Actor Jason Sudeikis has appeared in a Tweet from the TV show’s official account showing him being digitally scanned… and hinted that it’s for an upcoming video game.
“Look out, Mario!” it reads. “You're not the only pixelated man with a mustache who never knows where the tube is taking him…”
Even more telling, EA Sports FIFA responded to the Tweet, with a simple eyes emoji.
This isn’t the first time Ted Lasso’s addition to the game has been teased, with a recent leak suggesting that AFC Richmond would make it into the game when it was briefly included in a list of teams on the game’s official website.
Ted Lasso originally debuted in August 2020 and tells the story of...
Electronic Arts CEO Andrew Wilson thinks that Call of Duty potentially becoming a Microsoft exclusive franchise could benefit Battlefield.
As reported by Axios's Stephen Totilo, Wilson called questions about Call of Duty's platform "a tremendous opportunity."
“n a world where there are questions as to the future of Call of Duty and what platforms that it might be on and might not be on, being platform-agnostic and completely cross-platform with Battlefield I think is a tremendous opportunity," Wilson said at a Goldman Sachs conference last week.
What Wilson is referring to here could be several things. As a multiplatform franchise, Battlefield has the advantage of having a large player across PC, PlayStation, and Xbox. If the...
Like a Dragon: Ishin is heading to PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC on February 21, 2023. The game is a remake of a samurai spinoff from the Yakuza series, originally released in Japan in 2014. This remake represents the first time Like a Dragon: Ishin has officially mades its way to the West. And it’s available for preorder now (see it at Amazon).
Below, you’ll find where it’s available, how much it costs, what comes in each edition, and more. Read on for the goods.
Preorder Like a Dragon: Ishin
PS5
Get it at Amazon - $59.99
Get it at PS Store (digital) - $59.99
PS4
Get it at Amazon - $59.99
Get it at PS Store (digital) - $59.99
Xbox Series X|S / Xbox One
Get it at Amazon - $59.99
Get it at Xbox Store (digital)...
Company of Heroes 3's Italian campaign map is by far the most ambitious single-player experience in the series’ history. At first glance, it could be mistaken for a World War II-themed Total War mod. Fighting your way from the southern tip of the peninsula all the way to Rome will require careful planning, use of your land, sea, and air resources, and some political decision-making. The focus, though, is still on setting up exciting RTS missions, and Relic has even dialed back some elements to support this goal, like autonomous support companies, based on player feedback.
In our first campaign preview, we saw a slightly different set-up for Italy where smaller detachments of machine guns, anti-tank weapons, and rifle teams could join...
As part of Nvidia's GTC keynote today, the company announced Portal RTX — an RTX-enhanced version of the 2007 puzzle classic developed by Valve.
Portal RTX includes updated graphics and supports ray tracing. This is not the first time Nvidia has made RTX upgrades to older games. The company previously made RTX versions of Quake II and Minecraft. However, this latest RTX remix game is special because Nvidia confirmed that the tool used to make Portal RTX, called RTX Remix, will be available to all for free. Meaning others will access the tool and make their own RTX-enhanced games.
Portal RTX was one of many announcements Nvidia made during its GTC keynote. Other announcements include the unveiling of the long-awaited RTX 40-series...
Blizzard has announced that hardcore Diablo fans will get the chance to play in a Diablo 4 closed beta this year, while a public beta while arrive in early 2023.
Announced in a Blizzard blog post, the publisher announced that players who've recently invested "significant amounts of time" playing the end-games of Diablo 2: Resurrected, Diablo 3, or Diablo: Immortal will be eligible to participate in the test.
Unlike most betas that give players access to the first few hours of the game, the Diablo 4 beta will do the opposite, letting players straight into the end-game. It's available across all platforms - PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox One and Series, and PC - with cross-play and cross-progression.
"We have decided to focus the closed...
The alleged hacker that leaked around 90 videos of Grand Theft Auto 6 and also targeted Uber is being investigated by the FBI.
As reported by Eurogamer, the hacker who claimed responsibility also said they were behind the major cyber attack suffered by Uber on September 18. The taxi company has since released a blog post that announced it is actively working with the FBI and the U.S. Department of Justice to resolve the matter.
Acknowledging that Rockstar had also suffered a breach, Uber said it believes the hacker is associated with Lapsus$, the group behind recent attacks on Nvidia, Microsoft, and Samsung.
"We believe that this attacker (or attackers) are affiliated with a hacking group called Lapsus$, which has been increasingly...
EA Motive, the studio behind the upcoming Dead Space remake, has announced that it is developing an Iron Man game.
In a new tweet from Motive's Twitter account, the Montreal-based EA studio revealed that it is collaborationg with Marvel Games on "an all-new single-player, action-adventure Iron Man game." The project is said to still be in early development.
The tweet points out that the Iron Man project will be a single-player action-adventure game, which is where Marvel has had the most success in AAA games. Spider-Man and Guardians of the Galaxy are firm favourites among comic and MCU fans, something that can't be said for the multiplayer-focused Avengers.
Motive is currently working on the Dead Space remake, but in the past has...
Atlus says to not expect any new game announcements at the upcoming Persona Super Live P-Sound Wish 2022 concerts taking place next month on October 8 and 9 in Japan.
“There are no plans to announce new game titles at this live show,” Atlus clarifies on its Japanese website. “We aim for the best live performance that will satisfy everyone who can come and watch, and we are preparing with all our strength every day. Please look forward to it.”
These Persona live concert events have previously been used by Atlus as a platform to announce new titles. The first one was held in 2015 and debuted Persona 4: Dancing All Night. In 2017, Atlus revealed Persona 3: Dancing in Moonlight and Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight, as well as Persona Q2...
Computers are some of the most flexible, powerful devices in the world, but that power can come at a cost. Running the most powerful components (or overclocking those parts) can cause them to run hot, which can lead to hardware throttling and even failure. While PC fans have been a go-to for a long time, water coolers (and other liquid coolers) are vastly more efficient.
Thankfully, you don't have to be a professional to get a cool (pun intended) rig these days, thanks to the availability of all-in-one (AIO) liquid coolers. These cooling units are self-contained, meaning you don’t have to worry about spilling water on your expensive gaming PC components, and they are incredibly easy to install. As an added bonus, they are usually far...
Two highly purchasable Switch titles have gone lower than ever before today. If Mario Golf and Metroid Dread aren't your bag, perhaps a decently discounted Mario Kart 8 is more up your Rainbow Road. On the PC side of things, I'm tracking great discounts on almost everything Bethesda, too.
Last but not least, I have a lot of time for that sizeable Gran Turismo 7 digital discount, not to mention the 50% off Cyberpunk 2077. What can I say here? Edgerunners on Netflix, you're an anime good enough to make me forgive the bugs of the half-baked thing that spawned you.
Notable Sales for Nintendo Switch
Purchase Cheaply for PC
Exciting Offers for XO/XS
Product Savings for PS4/PS5
Adam Mathew is our Aussie deals wrangler. He...
Cyberpunk 2077 has hit its highest concurrent player count on Steam since January 2021.
According to the Steam Charts, Cyberpunk 2077 had around 85,555 concurrent players on Steam this past weekend. In comparison, the game had over 1 million concurrent players at launch when it was released in December 2020, before steadily declining. On January 21, 2021, there were around 80,483 concurrent players.
This boost in popularity can be attributed to the high critical reception of the Cyberpunk Edgerunners anime series by Studio Trigger and the accompanying 1.6 Patch which includes Edgerunner content.
Cyberpunk 2077 has been on quite the rollercoaster ride. It had a disastrous launch back in December 2020 due to having many bugs and...
Return to Monkey Island is the adventure game equivalent of Spider-Man: No Way Home. No, wait, don’t go! Hear me out: most would agree that No Way Home is an excellent, very fun movie – even for a kid who’s never seen the Tobey Maguire or Andrew Garfield Spider-Man films. But if you have made those movie memories with the Peter Parkers of the past, then No Way Home taps into something more: nostalgia, even eliciting genuine emotion at various points.
Return to Monkey Island, which very notably puts series creator Ron Gilbert back in the franchise’s director’s chair for the first time in 30 years, is a similar ride. It's a funny, beautiful, polished, and well-paced story packed with plenty of puzzles that are both hilarious and...
Tactics games have been enjoying a little bit of a renaissance of late. Square Enix alone has released several of them this year, including Triangle Strategy, Front Mission, and The DioField Chronicle. But the oldest and most important of them is Tactics Ogre – the strategy game that led directly to Final Fantasy Tactics along with a host of imitators.
Currently in the midst of its second major update in 10 years, Tactics Ogre Reborn will heavily rebalance the series’ classic gameplay while adding full voice-acting and several quality-of-life improvements. Its development team includes veterans like producer Hiroaki Kato, whose history with the series stretches all the way back to the days of the Super Nintendo. Renowned for its dense...
Grand Theft Auto 6 isn't the only highly anticipated game to leak in the last few days as footage from an early version of Diablo 4 has now appeared online.
As reported by PC Gamer, Reddit user iV1rus0 spotted two videos uploaded anonymously to a file sharing website, one containing five minutes of Diablo 4 footage and the other 38 minutes.
It's unclear at what stage of development the footage is from, but given that several models within the game world are untextured, it is clearly far from a finished product.
A lot of the game does appear to be functional, however, and the videos show what appears to be a Barbarian character exploring the world and battling enemies. Blizzard hasn't yet released a statement regarding the leak but...
One of the nicest features of the annual Tokyo Game Show is the co-mingling of blockbuster AAA video game franchises and small projects made by small teams or even solitary individuals. For years, TGS has dedicated floor space to universities, pavilions from nations around the world, and independent developers of all sizes.
With the show returning to an in-person event in 2022, getting a chance to see these up-and-coming titles and meet the people behind them was one of the things I enjoyed most about returning to TGS. Here are my favorite finds:
Shambles
Most mobile games in my experience aim towards the lighter side of the medium, featuring bright colors, chipper music, and offer players a breezy means to pass the time while...