Microsoft Starts off 2019 with An Increase in Sales
Microsoft ends 2018 and begins 2019 with their sales increasing overall. Compared to this same period of time last year, the company is up 8%. A strong hand that Microsoft has been playing includes the Xbox Game pass alongside Xbox live. These offerings has brought them a 31% increase in software sales revenues and services. To date there are 64 million users, and counting. With the backwards compatible library combined with the new Xbox One games games that will be available immediately for download. While console sales may be slowing down, Microsoft truly has the upperhand with the subscription service and quality of their game library. In addition, these same games can now be transferred from consoles to PC, opening up possibilities for users.
PS Plus Increases Cloud Storage from 10GB to 100GB
Sony has unveiled their PS plus benefits for the February 2019. At the top of the list of free games are For Honor and Hitman: The Complete First Season headline February’s free games lineup. Both of these games will be available on February 5th. In addition, members will receive a 10x increase in cloud storage for game saves. This expands the cloud storage space from 10GB to 100GB. Giving room for the new games that are added to the always growing PS Plus games list. For the final time, here are the games that will available on PS3 & PS Vita. Remember that after March 8th, PS3and Vita games will no longer be included in the PS Plus monthly lineup. Divekick, PS3 (Cross-Buy with PS Vita) Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, PS3 Gunhouse, PS Vita (Cross-Buy with PS4) Rogue Aces, PS Vita (Cross-Buy with PS4)
Minecraft Windows 10/Xbox One/ Android: Beta 1.10.0.3 is Out Now
After weeks of waiting, endless bug fixed internally and 2 big bugs which caused a delay, the beta has finally released. The first 1.10 beta. The team have worked non stop on it and thankfully it contains some really cool features. Some features include shields and the new cat skin which was voted for by the Minecraft community, the Jellie skin! As this is a beta, there will be issues. The game will (probably) crash but there will be more betas coming to fix these issues if they are constantly happening. You can check out the full changelog here.https://feedback.minecraft.net/hc/en-us/articles/360022448772 Happy testing fellow beta testers!
Certain Affinity Expanding To Toronto In March
Independent video game studio, Certain Affinity are expanding to a city up north in Canada known as Toronto. The company was founded in 2006 in Austin, Texas where they are known to be from. This is a company you probably don’t hear too much about, but they’ve done lots of co-work on multiple AAA titles that you might still play today such as Halo 4, Call of Duty: Black Ops, and DOOM 2016 .With the announcement of expanding to Toronto, the company will be adding 60 employees to the new office. The company alone has 170 employed workers and added 55 full time employees last year. Certain Affinity will be working on a new original project known as Last Expedition, but this is not the first time the company has worked on an original project. They’ve put out ‘Age of Booty’ a strategy game in 2008, free-to-play action RPG ‘Crimson’ which launched in 2011. Last Expedition is described as an “ambitious original title” and a “sci-fi co-op FPS. Which could be a nice competitor to Halo which Max Hoberman who is a great leader for the company has worked on in the past. Hopefully in the near future we will see more news on Certain Affinity’s new title. Source
NetEase’s Minor Acquisition Of Quantic Dreams Could Bring Multi-Platform Titles
Quantic Dreams latest installment for this generation’s PlayStation 4 brought Detroit Become Human, which received above average reception from fans and media last year. The French studio behind the line of David Cage’s titles have are notorious for crafting games exclusively for Sony’s video game platform. But according to a recent stake acquisition, the France-based developer could soon be making titles for other platforms. NetEase Games over in China has recently bought a small portion of shares for Quantic Dream and in response to the recent acquisition, studio Co-Founder David Cage states that the studio will further their development into other platforms aside from PlayStation. This investment will allow us to invest in future technologies and games in order to prepare for the next generation of platforms, with the same ambition regarding creativity and innovation. Our goal is to develop our studio as a global, multi-franchise company, while remaining an independent studio. We want to keep developing original games in the genre we pioneered, but also expand our audience by being present on all platforms. The recent decision not only breaks the border between Quantic Dreams and other platforms like Xbox, but also brings future work from the studio to experience what those on PlayStation have exclusively. For what the studio plans for upcoming projects was not discussed as Cage states the recent investment to be: “even more impressive than anything we have done before.” Guessing when another title could be inbound from the Paris-homes studio could be anytime in the coming generation of consoles. In the mean time though, if the decision take full effect we could see previous titles possibly make their way onto competing platforms until word on what Quantic Dreams takes on next for their latest project. The Chinese internet company has previously bought shares for Activision titles Hearthstone and even Diablo Immortals. As the company is becoming more and more consistent with western titles coming to the Chinese market out east, this will not be the last time NetEase will get more press time under similar situations. Detroit Become Human is available now for PlayStation 4. Source: VentureBeat
Metro Exodus Isn’t Completely Off The Table Returning To Steam Says THQ Nordic
Deep Silver’s Metro Exodus is almost two weeks away from reaching its destination of the game’s mid-February release date and recently it was discovered that the game will be abandoning releasing on Steam for the younger Epic Games Store. With fans unhappy seeing that they would have to jump online stores to play a game previously available on the platform, THQ Nordic following the recent reveal made a statement expanding on the current status of the upcoming game on PC. not want to categorically exclude the possibility of timed exclusives for any of our games in the future, but speaking in the here and now, we definitely want to have the players choose the platform of their liking and make our portfolio available to as many outlets as possible. pic.twitter.com/oOI52rLDAi — THQ Nordic 🔜 gamescom 2024 (@THQNordic) January 29, 2019 Clearing things up that the Deep Silver’s choice to remove the game from Steam’s storefront is only for a limited time and show to be in favor of fans to decide on where they prefer to play their games. To freshen up from days prior: fans who pre-ordered the game on competing retailers like Steam or GOG will still receive the game as well as following DLC for the game. For those anticipating for an update revolving around Exodus returning to Steam and other online marketplaces, you will have to be patient as Deep Silver recently stated the game’s return around the game’s year anniversary in February 2020. Metro Exodus has a paved release date for February 15, 2019 for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC.
Sony has moved their studios focus on PS5
As we near the year of 2020 there has been lots of talk about the next generation consoles for Sony and Microsoft. It’s pretty clear that the next console for Sony will be the PlayStation 5 unless they come up with a completely new name for it, but for now that’s what we will call it. According to a recent report from IGN, Sony is apparently having their first-party studios focus on the PlayStation 5 and we might not see what those projects are for some time. Daniel Ahmed, Industry Analyst went to ResetEra and said the following: “Sony also has a couple of unannounced games (already existing IP) with PS4 in mind but I’m conscious that there have been discussions around making them cross gen/next gen titles. In general, most of the focus for Sony 1P is on PS5 right now. It is still early to talk about next gen but I imagine we’ll hear some whispers come out of GDC.” In 2018 it was revealed that PlayStation 5 is in production as well as Microsoft’s next generation console. We will have to wait and see later this year if we will find new information from the respective companies on the next generation. It was also rumored that the next PlayStation console will have Backward Compatibility. Source
Latest Update For Smash Bros. Ultimate Brings More Spirit Boards & Piranha Plant
Among the pepper on patches and fixes that have already came to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate since releasing a little more than a month now, the latest 2.0.0 update is seen more landmark as the first added character Piranha Plant joins the battle. Players who have not done this already: you have until the end of the month to register your copy of the game in return for a code to redeem the additional character. For those who purchased the game digitally, your game is already registered. But for fans with the physical copy of the game, you must follow these steps: Create a My Nintendo account if you have not already. Have the Smash Ultimate game card inserted into your Nintendo Switch. Press either the + or – buttons to pull up an options menu. Hover over and select the “My Nintendo Rewards Program” option, following with prompting the “Earn Points (Game Card version only)” . After following these steps, you should receive an email which holds the code for Piranha Plant that can be redeemed on the Nintendo eShop. Players have until this coming June to use the code. Those unable to secure a code past January will have to pay for the Super Mario Bros. enemy. Along with the newest roster addition, the offline spirit mode has also received some new work as well. by allowing up to four players to play the mode locally. Replays will also be removed following the latest update, but if you convert the videos to the vault will be able to save your last second highlights. Nintendo also released a list of fixes to that have been made to every character which assists both competing and fans who main each respected fighter. You can read the full list here. Piranha Plant despite being the first DLC character is not part of the five fighter occupied fighter Pass. With Persona 5’s Joker to come out some time in the near future, speculation surrounding the remaining additions is left in the air until Nintendo gives official word on who it might be. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is available only for Nintendo Switch.
Speculation Reveals That Capcom Would Like To Remake Resident Evil 3
Less than a week ago Capcom’s complete remake of the 1998 title Resident Evil 2 released rushing fans with nostalgia and excitement. Now discussion on the chances of a follow-up remake has emerged with speculating that a reworked title for Resident Evil 3 is bound to release when reflecting on the two original titles launching a year apart. According to a recent interview from GameWatch, Game Producer Yoshiaki Hirabayashi was asked about the chances of seeing the same line events to occur for the remakes of both Resident Evil titles. In response, Hirabayashi tells the Japanese videogame outlet that it isn’t their decision to remake the third title, it’s only decided if the fans want it. This falls for the recent remake as well: the producer explained in the interview that a remake for Resident Evil 2 was not a priority until fans of the franchise continued to ask for it. For those who would anticipate a remake for the third installment in the franchise as much as the latest, make sure to be vocal with Capcom and there’s a good chance we could be seeing a Resident Evil 3 Remake in the coming years. Check out more on the Resident Evil 2 Remake by reading our review on the game here. Resident Evil 2 Remake is out now for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. Source: GearNuke
Anthem Developer Notes Current Problem And Talks Of Futures Fixes
To freshen up for those who might have been busy this weekend: fans who gained access to Anthem’s closed demo either through pre-ordering BioWare’s latest title or being a member of EA Access faced trouble when discovering to be unable to play the anticipated sci-fi title. With the game’s release only two weeks away, that the demo left many fans with a sour taste in their mouth already was not the initial plan from the Mass Effect developer. In a recent blog post, BioWare’s Head of Live Service Chad Robertson discusses the current status of the title and reveals what is on the way to prevent similar problems from reoccurring. We’re working hard to ensure everyone can enjoy the game exactly as we’ve designed it. Acknowledging some of the obstacles players ran into during the tree days of the VIP demo, Robertson ensures that the teams in both Austin and Edmonton will be working on squashing the bugs for the approaching open sessions coming this weekend. With problems circulating around server performance, Javelin unlocks, infinite loading, and client logins: these problems are the most frequent amongst others that appeared in the three-day session. Other problems present though players won’t see solutions to coming the weekend, Robertson tells that the developer will be working on towards the game’s mid-February release date: Weapons with 0% infusions Weapons with bonus that applies to different Javelins Plot integrity / party gather issues Changes to Javelin unlock behavior Fixes for losing XP at end of some expeditions Performance Improvements Additional stability fixes A Social Hub: The Launch Bay And a few thousand more (literally)… The upcoming open demo for BioWare’s Anthem will kick off on February 1st until February 3rd. Anthem will be available on February 15, 2019 for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC. Source: BioWare
