343 Industries February ‘Inside Infinite’ Presses On The Creation Of Zeta Halo With Breathtaking Screenshots

While Halo Infinite is still sitting in its extended development period aimed to deliver later this fall, 343 Industries continues to silently work on the project with the extra leg room from delay that took place this past August. One of the largest criticisms directed towards Halo Infinite happened to be the graphical realm of its appearance from the demo that was featured back in July this past summer. However, the game’s monthly ‘Inside Infinite’ installments provide that Halo Infinite is adopting a well needed makeover in anticipation for its release set for this coming autumn. In the first periodic blog post from 343 Industries, the Halo developer issued proactive testing has already commenced for preparation layer this year. Even more, the studio shared to build a PC control figuration from the ground up to make keyboard & mouse users experience Halo in an organic fashion as you would with a regular Xbox controller. On Thursday, 343 Industries issued its February ‘Inside Infinite’ which offers even more screenshots and this month surely steals the cake so far. The team in the post elaborates on the creation of Zeta Halo – the main setting for the approaching title and its inspirations to the thriving world players will explore in the full game. The world we have created for Halo Infinite is very large and with a finite team size to create it all we must be strategic in how we build each experience – there’s no one size fits all method for this project. So, in some cases it makes sense for design to go first and layout a space that’s fun for combat with an artist following to ensure visual qualities are being met. In other cases, it might mostly be an artistic endeavor that has a world artist creating the space with a designer following afterwards to place any gameplay aspects on top. And sometimes it’s a very tight collaboration between a designer and artist to make the best experience possible. At the end of the day each experience we create is a collaboration between many disciplines trying to make the best game that we can. Justin Dinges, Halo Infinite Campaign Art Lead While only so many developers work at 343 Industries, the team still faces limitations – even with its budget Microsoft handled for the game. Best explained by Halo Infinite World Design Lead John Mulkey, he reiterates on Dinges statement on the team’s combined creative flows to find the Zeta Halo that is being manifested for Halo Infinite. “The best results always come from collaboration and as we move forward collaboration will be a core aspect of processes we continue to iterate and hone.” Alongside the impressive progress that 343 Industries made on the detailed world Zeta Halo is evolving into, the context in the core of the setting is just as rich, the team shares. “Zeta Halo is very much a character in and of itself. The landscape, the mysterious structures, the surrounding vistas and even the wildlife found on it act as unique characteristics of the ring – we want Zeta to feel like a real and living place regardless of whether the player is present or not.” Dinges continues indicating the ambitions on 343 Industries behalf to truly grasp the audience with its setting. So, from an artist’s perspective, we have had two main goals with bringing Zeta to life: First, to visually show what is happening in current times with the violent occupation of the Banished forces and how it has shaped the landscape of the ring. And second, to create mystery and intrigue around Zeta’s past and ultimate purpose. Intertwining these two major story characteristics of Zeta has been an awesome and rewarding challenge. Players will not only experience the immediate story of Chief’s reawakening to confront the Banished and Cortana but if they look around, they may find glimpses of the future as well. Troy Mashburn, Halo Infinite Sandbox Lead continues by adding, “the Ring definitely has its own story to tell, and the environment artists have done an amazing job bringing this to life. Memories of past battles scars the surface, and evidence of bigger events can be seen in the fractured chunks of the Ring floating in the sky.” Additionally, the team goes on to disclose how gear like the Grappleshot will directly impact the flow of Halo Infinite on Zeta Halo and create experiences that stand unique to each player. Even more, the trio also expands on co-op by explaining that certain playstyles that you can pursue in a solo run can also be applied when running the campaign with a group of friends just as easily. Most noted is the concluding statement from Halo Infinite Head of Creative Joseph Staten who offers more reassurance on the state of the storyline being rafted for the upcoming release. A strong narrative remains at the heart of the Master Chief’s adventure, and your journey between story missions is entirely up to you. So then, what kind of game is Halo Infinite? It’s the most open and adventure-filled Halo game ever. It’s the Halo game we could only dream about making 20 years ago. And we can’t wait for you to explore it. With a lot to read over, there is new information on Halo Infinite’s development outside of the recent ‘Inside Infinite’. In that, a LinkedIn account for a former The Coalition developer reveals that the Gears of War studio offered aide for work towards Halo Infinite. You can read the full report by heading here. Are you satisfied with February’s ‘Inside Infinite’? Halo Infinite is scheduled to arrive sometime in fall 2021 for Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. Source: Halo Waypoint
Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis Announced For Android & iOS Release Arriving Later In 2022

Depicting what the future holds for Final Fantasy VII, Square Enix on Thursday alone has broke the sound barrier with some bombastic announcements. For fans that continued to linger around in understanding what the potential trademarks filed in December were, there is now some clarity. A brief synapse: Square Enix submitted three trademarks in Japan: “Ever Crisis”, “ The First Soldier”, and Shinra Electric Power Company. While the discovery was left dormant as fans are hungry to uncover what Square Enix is preparing next, the publisher filled in on the meaty details on Thursday. In that, the firm announced Final Fantasy VII: The First Soldier. The new experience is a battle royale with ambitions to reside uniquely to mobile devices. Similarly, the same can also be said for the newly announced Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis – at least for its platforms of choice. You can watch the announcement trailer in the video below: “Final Fantasy VII Ever Crisis is a chapter-structured single player experience which will cover the whole of the FFVII timeline, including the events of the original game along with all the FFVII compilation titles, as well as new story elements, penned by Final Fantasy VII Remake story and scenario writer Kazushige Nojima, surrounding the origins of Soldier,” the overview reads from the press release. Additionally, Square Enix also touches base on the recent Final Fantasy VII Remake. In that, the April-released title is receiving a new add-on Intergrade which features Yuffie Kisaragi as a playable character. You can read the full report by heading here. Are you excited Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis is finally out of the bag? Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis is said to arrive later in 2022 for Android and iOS. Source: Square Enix
Square Enix Announces Mobile-oriented Battle Royale Game Final Fantasy VII: The First Soldier

Directly relevant to Final Fantasy VII, Square Enix when ending today’s PlayStation State of Play livestreamed presentation announced that the ongoing remake will be receiving new content. In that, the firm will be welcoming a new add-on introducing Yuffie Kisaragi as a new playable character in her own unique storyline based in the same timeframe as the main game. Additionally, Square Enix in that same amount of screen time also featured Final Fantasy VII Remake will be receiving a PlayStation 5 upgrade coming this June. The listed enhancements for the 2020 title is shared to include dense fog, reduced loading times, and improved lighting. However, it is what Square Enix revealed outside the showcase which is most interesting. If you may recall from January, Square Enix was reported to be filing trademarks for the following: “The First Soldier”, “Ever Crisis”, and Shinra Electric Power Company. Only filings uncovered in Japan that were placed in December, there was no direct substance at the time of reporting to determine what the projects could manifest into. Now in a new trailer uploaded on Thursday, Square Enix finally unveils Final Fantasy VII: The First Soldier – a new battle royale experience aimed for mobile platforms. You can watch the announcement trailer in the video below: “Final Fantasy VII The First Soldier is a battle royal action game set in Midgar before the events of Final Fantasy VII. As a Soldier candidate, the player will make full use of their magic and abilities in a battle for their survival,” the description for the game reads in the press release. Are you excited to see what this game will offer later this year? Final Fantasy VII: The First Soldier arrives to Android and iOS later on in 2021. Source: Square Enix
Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade Introduces PlayStation 5 Enhancements Scheduled For This June

Two months from now, Final Fantasy VII Remake will celebrate its first full year since release. Also, that also marks the expiration of the game’s exclusivity to the PlayStation 4. Following the game’s delay, Sony Interactive Entertainment alongside Square Enix adjusted the agreement with an extension starting on April instead of the initially promised date. Looking elsewhere, there is suggestions that the game will be arriving to PC already. In that, Square Enix presented footage of the game running on PC in a ‘Thank You’ recorded video following the game’s reception and performance at launch. As of yet, there is still no details on Final Fantasy VII Remake coming to other systems. Well, at least outside of PlayStation that is. Closing out Thursday’s PlayStation State of Play presentation, Square Enix announced a PlayStation 5 version of the game with Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade. You can watch the detailed trailer in the video below: The announcement, Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade, is two sides of the same coin, Square Enix shares. Part of that, players can find a new playable episode arriving to the game later this June which features Yuffie Kisaragi as a playable character. At the same time, the PlayStation 5 update will include upgrades for the newest console. “The expressiveness of the game’s lighting, texture, and environment has increased with the PS5 version of the game. New features have also been added, including the ability to switch between ‘Graphics Mode’ that prioritizes high quality 4K graphics (4K compatible display required) and ‘Performance Mode’ that prioritizes smooth action at 60FPS.” If still unfamiliar with Final Fantasy VII Remake, we highly suggest you read our full review for the game. Rectify Gaming’s David Rodriguez pens his time playing to be “a bold reinvention of a classic while changing what a remake truly means.” You can read the entirety of the review by heading here. Are you planning to play Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade on PlayStation 5? Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade arrives to PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 on June 10, 2021. Source: PlayStation Blog
Play As Yuffie In Upcoming Episode For Final Fantasy VII Remake – Intergrade, Launches Later This June

While the wait for Final Fantasy VII Remake was pushed to an April release last year, the game happened to align with the anticipation many of its fans were holding since the project’s announcement back in 2015. Even more, the title also happened to be the top seller in franchise history for Final Fantasy and even sat at PlayStation 4’s most purchased release at the time of reporting last spring. And as players suspect, Square Enix is already well into development for the next segment of Final Fantasy VII Remake. Ahead of the release for the remade title, game director Tetsuya Nomura disclosed development for part 2 has already commenced. But roughly a year since the game’s release, Square Enix is still dormant on new information. Despite that, however, Square Enix instead prepares a new addition to Final Fantasy VII Remake altogether. In that, the publisher announces Final Fantasy VII Remake Inergrade. You can watch the announcement trailer in the video below: “In this new adventure, play as ninja Yuffie Kisaragi as she infiltrates the shadowy Shinra Corporation to steal a powerful materia and restore glory to her homeland,” the add-ons description in the press release reads. “Play alongside new characters and enjoy an expanded gameplay experience featuring multiple new combat and gameplay additions, bringing a new perspective to the Final Fantasy VII Remake story that cannot be missed.” Sharing the spotlight during Thursday’s PlayStation State of Play, Sloclap announced its next endeavor, Sifu. You can read the full report by heading here. Are you planning to return to Final Fantasy VII Remake for the new Intergrade episode? Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade is scheduled to arrive on June 10, 2021 for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5. Source: Square Enix
Absolver Developer Sloclap Unveils PlayStation Exclusive Sifu, Arrives Later In 2021

Looking at third-person brawlers, the unique genre only strands oh so far with the perspective only approaching a plethora of namely franchises. In some sense, the category of games lost a major contender with 2020’s Yakuza 7: Like a Dragon upon learning the game is now a turn-based RPG handing in the towel after nearly two decades of hand-to-hand combat gameplay. Despite that, developer Sloclap has slowly invigorated the genre with its 2017 inaugural release, Absolver. But to expand further on the premise that the game studio established already, the team is now looking to dig its fingernails into martial arts with Sifu. Pushing the envelope even further, players can find the same Sloclap charm alongside a more cinematic approach in this new experience. You can watch the announcement trailer in the video below: “After releasing Absolver, we chose to build on our experience creating exciting and innovative martial arts gameplay, and used everything we learned from our first game to create a 3rd person action game featuring intense Kung-Fu combat with unprecedented authenticity,” Felix Garczynski, Sloclap Marketing Manager issued on the team’s ambitions. “Inspired by our passion for Kung Fu, and martial arts movies in general, we decided to focus on a single-player experience to build an immersive adventure featuring deep and challenging gameplay.” As of reporting, the game is only unique to both PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 consoles. Are you excited to see more of Sifu later on in the coming months? Sifu is listed for a 2021 release for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5. Source: PlayStation Blog
Report: SIE Japan Studio Faces Obstacles With Asobi Team Remaining Staff At The Internal Developer

As of recent reports, the internal team for Sony Interactive Entertainment’s Japan Studio continues to show signs of misfortune as prominent leadership continues for the door. The developer lately recognized for its release of Astro’s Playroom, a free experience bundled with every PlayStation 5, the firm is turning for the worst surprisingly. In December, Keiichiro Toyama issued his departure for the forming of Bokeh Game Studio to follow personal ambitions. This week, Japan Studio witnessed another departure as well. In that, Bloodborne producer Masaaki Yamagiwa announced to also be heading for the exit by the end of February. And while it is speculated that potentially more employees are to depart from Japan Studio in the coming months, a new report indicates bigger cuts are developing. Coming from Video Game Chronicles, the publication as per sources familiar with Sony Interactive Entertainment’s Japan Studio tells that the firm is winding down with mass layoffs among the internal developer. Given the circumstance of the recent report for Japan Studio’s future, Video Game Chronicles relays that the remaining entity for the firm is solely comprised of localization studio, Asobi Team. While some employees will transition to Asobi Team, many are still heading to work outside of Sony Interactive Entertainment. Alongside Yamagiwa’s announcement this week, Brendon Pritchard and Ryo Sogabe also issued leaving Japan Studio. In regards to reasoning for the report manifesting, Video Game Chronicles is told that the source of the decision for Japan Studio is the lacking profitability from the developer. Even more, the outlet is told the decision was already established more than a year ago and only executed recently. Gathered by the uncertainty entailed for Sony Interactive Entertainment’s Japan Studio, the PlayStation company elsewhere begins to be transparent in its ambitions towards PC releases. In that, firm President & CEO Jim Ryan issued that Bend Studios’ Days Gone will be hitting PC later on in 2021. You can read the full report by heading here. What are your thoughts on more developing fallout of Japan Studio? Source: Video Game Chronicles
Masaaki Yamagiwa, Bloodborne Producer, Announces Soon Departure From SIE Japan Studio This Month

If it wasn’t apparent enough, a shift of management is underway for Sony Interactive Entertainment’s Japan Studio and the uncertainty of leadership at the first-party subsidiary is nothing to shrug off. Already, the internal game studio witnessed the departure of Keiichiro Toyama just this past December which drew many eyes as to the future of the development team. Adding on to the leaving of Toyama, he disclosed upon his announcement to be forming a new video game developer – Bokeh Game Studio. Toyama also introduced Kuzunobo Sato and Junya Okura. As of last reporting on the up and coming game studio, Toyama issued that its first project is set to arrive sometime in 2023. He also places some light details on the coming action thriller as well for eager fans looking to learn more. Back to the conversation of Japan Studio, another prominent lead is leaving the nest. This time, Bloodborne producer Masaaki Yamagiwa announced that he will be departing from the firm as well by the month’s end. Similar to when Toyama announced his leaving from Sony Interactive Entertainment’s Japan Studio, Yamagiwa also discloses to be continuing his career within the video game industry. But, he fails to include the new pastures he will be heading towards upon officially leaving Japan Studio at the end of February. While Sony Interactive Entertainment’s Japan Studio says good bye to another familiar face, Insomniac Games happens to welcome another this week. In that, Drew Murray announces his return to his native game studio after working at Xbox Game Studios’ The Initiative for the past two years. You can read the full report by heading here. What are your thoughts on the departure of Masaaki Yamagiwa from Japan Studio?
Electronic Arts Reveals New Push Encouraging Developers To Work In Favor Of Its Players

Given the precedence on how publishers view the envision of its properties from the perspective of its developers, there is a continuous shift for how these firms welcome the team’s ambitions ahead of its own. In that, developers are encouraged to work at their own pace more independently without the publisher popping in to realign what is and isn’t suitable for the respected game. In the past, we witnessed Microsoft form a similar relationship with its Xbox Game Studios teams already. In that, the Xbox company following its acquisition of Psychonauts 2 developer Double Fine Productions was reported to be lenient on its studios and remain as distant to the development process as can be. And, at least as of reporting, the company is still abiding to that pact it appears. And it seems that Electronic Arts is also taking notes on this new philosophy with a similar initiative to be followed as well welcoming developer to work in favor of the game and its user base leading ahead. Speaking with IGN, Electronic Arts tells just that. In terms of our game development philosophy, our players are always our north star. As I started this current role, I wanted to strip away some of the preconceived notions about what games we should be investing in and really start listening to players and incorporating their voice into our development process. Since then, we have announced a slate of games that players asked for: a new Skate, College Football, a Command & Conquer remaster, the Mass Effect Trilogy and we developed free content in Battlefront 2 for several years to turn the perception of that game completely around. Laura Miele, Electronic Arts Chief Studios Officer As stated, Electronic Arts is already following the passion of its player base with several announcements underway including the coming Skate release, the return of EA Sports’ college football, and the highly-requested Mass Effect: Legendary Edition. As for the results of its pursuit to put the benefit of the player ahead of itself, the firm references DICE’s Battlefront II. “When I first took this studios leadership role, players were incredibly unhappy with this game. We had made commitments to deliver content to the community, but we didn’t have team members assigned to deliver on these promises.” Adding on,” we quickly pulled together a great team of people from our studios in Vancouver, Montreal and Stockholm to immediately get to work on fulfilling our promises. “We created free content for players because it was the right thing to do and I felt we owed it to our community of players.” Another example of its trust in the teams under the Electronic Arts banner is Respawn Entertainment. While the firm stands tall with Apex Legends currently, the publisher presses that it does not intervene in capitalizing on a new Titanfall game when the studio is not creatively driven to do so. “That team will determine what the future holds for Apex and Titanfall. I don’t believe in directing or telling games teams what to create, it has to come from the player community, and the inspiration and motivation of developers.” Understanding the creative capital at Electronic Arts’ disposal, the publisher ultimately shows to be investing for a larger payout in favor of the community’s satisfaction. Are you in support of this new initiative Electronic Arts continues to carry through? Source: IGN
PUBG Corp. Announces New Battle Royale Experience For Mobile, PUBG: New State

Although the battle royale genre continues to expand and manifest its own subgenres at this point, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds still remains one of the top dogs in regards to leading titles in the genre. The series even more is expanding its grasp with new entries based in the same realm of the initial battle royale. One being Striking Distance’s The Callisto Protocol slated to arrived sometime later in 2022. Elsewhere in more relevance to PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds itself, PUBG Corp back in November introduced the game’s next major update for the then-nearby release of the newest iteration for Xbox & PlayStation. In that, the two will receive dedicated support for a 60 frames per second feature alongside the long-requested addition of cross-play as well. But looking ahead for the battle royale landscape of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, the game is evolving on mobile. More so, a new project is coming altogether – PUBG: New State. You can watch the reveal trailer in the video below: “Set in the near future, years have passed since the original game. In 2051, anarchy rules as numerous factions battle each other,” reads the synapse on the Google Play Store. “The competition has evolved into a new battleground featuring state-of-the-art technology that requires survivors to adopt new tactics to survive.” For now, players can pre-register for PUBG: New State on the game’s website. Doing so, for Android right now, will also offer unique in-game rewards for those that sign-up ahead of the game’s release. You can do so by heading here. Are you tempted to tap into PUBG: New State later this year? PUBG: New State is said to arrive to Android and iOS on sometime later on in 2021.