Cyberpunk 2077 Will No Longer Be Eligible For The Game Awards 2020
It was quite the shock today to learn that Cyberpunk 2077, the next hotly anticipated game from CD Projekt RED, was delayed again. Originally set to come November 19th after a lengthy delay from April of this year, it was pushed back again to December. This was despite the game being announced as having gone gold shortly before that and even moving the Stadia version's release up to the other versions. At this point, it seems like it coming in 2020 could really go either way, but regardless of how it'll go, it will impact some award shows.
As announced by the Founder and longtime host of The Game Awards, Geoff Keighley, with the most recent delay that means the game will no longer be eligible for the 2020 edition of the show. Instead, the game will have to be moved to the 2021 show, which is something similar to what happened with Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as Keighley references.
Cyberpunk 2077 is now set to come out on December 10th for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC and Stadia. Place your bets on whether it'll make that date or not.
Much like Super Smash Bros. Ultimate a few years ago, Cyberpunk 2077 will first be eligible at next year's Game Awards. https://t.co/1gV1J4sDpV
— Geoff Keighley (@geoffkeighley) October 27, 2020
Ghostrunner's Switch Version Has Been Pushed Back To November
Billed as a hardcore, one-shot kill platformer/action game, Ghostrunner is quite a unique title that we enjoyed a good bit. The game released yesterday for other platforms and was scheduled to release today on the Nintendo Switch. Of course, if you've checked the eShop, you'll notice a distinct lack of it being there. Well, it seems that Cyberpunk 2077 wasn't the only delay today.
As announced in a press release from publisher 505 Games and developer All In! Games, Ghostrunner on the hybrid system has been pushed back to some unspecified time in November. It's said they hope to get the port running in the best possible way and apparently needed a little extra time. It is quite the looker considering the scope of the game, so it'll be interesting to see what the Switch version ends up looking like.
Ghostrunner is now available on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC. PS5 and Xbox Series S/X version have been confirmed to be coming in 2021 as well. You can check out the game's slick launch trailer through here.
PS5 Unboxing Videos Now Live, Includes DualSense, Accessories, And Size Comparisons To Series X
It's just a couple of weeks away now, when next gen finally hits. It's been a long, hard year and who knows how it'll actually end up, but at the very least we're going to have some new toys to play around with. Sony's PS5 is one of those systems, and sure to be anticipated highly coming off the major success of the PS4. As reported earlier, it was said that the console was being sent out to various parties for impressions and reviews, and now, it's arrived.
While we didn't get a system on our end, a lot of media outlets and influencers have uploaded videos of their PS5s. We'll post a few below, one from IGN, CNET and a personal favorite of mine, Marques Brownlee, for the influencer side of things. It's gone out to most major names at this point, so you're outlet or influencer of choice no doubt probably has their own video by now. Most are looking at the system, the DualSense controller as well as the accessories such as the charging dock and new headsets. Some even take their preview Xbox Series X to stack up and see the size difference, and the PS5 is quite a bit larger than the Series X, it's a big fella. Check them out below.
The PlayStation 5 is set to launch on November 12th in selection regions with a worldwide rollout a week later on the 19th.
Assassin's Creed Live Action Series In Development At Netflix
For many years now, the Assassin's Creed franchise has been something of the crown jewel for Ubisoft. While they have several franchise that are huge (Far Cry, Ghost Recon, Watch Dogs, etc.), no game series has been so consistent in its releases and overall quality. Now it seems the series is making a jump, no pun intended, to the small screen with Netflix.
As reported by Deadline, Ubisoft and the streaming powerhouse have crafted a deal for a live action adaptation of the series. It's unclear at this point whether this will be a direct adaptation of one of the storylines in the games or be like the 2016 film that served as a canonical side story. This is part of a larger content deal between the two and will include more Assassin's Creed material in the future, which will include this live action series as well as animated series and shorts down the line.
There is no timeline for when the show will air, and it seems to be in the very early stages still since Deadline also reports they are currently in the process of looking for a showrunner. On the game side of things, the latest entry in the series, Assassin's Creed Valhalla, will release on November 10th across most major platforms, and you can read more about it through here.
Destiny 2: Beyond Light – Season of the Hunt Roadmap Revealed
Along with revealing more details and gameplay for Destiny 2: Beyond Light in a new Vidoc, Bungie also provided the first details on Season of the Hunt. This will launch alongside the expansion and offers a new story and activities to pursue. The return of Uldren Sov aka The Crow as a Guardian is one such story tidbit.
The roadmap below outlines what to expect in the weeks following Beyond Light's release. "Uncover Europa's Secrets" runs from November 10th to January 12th 2021 while Adept Weapons will come to Trials of Osiris on November 13th. The seasonal mission starts on November 17th alongside Wrathborn Hunts while the Deep Stone Crypt raid opens up on November 21st.
Iron Banner arrives on December 8th while The Dawning kicks off on December 15th to January 5th. Even more is to be expected afterwards but perhaps the best news is that all of the seasonal content and gear will be available for the duration of Year 4. This means that players can go back and experience all of the content, even if they jump into the game late.
Destiny 2: Beyond Light arrives on November 10th for Xbox One, PS4, PC and Google Stadia.
Cyberpunk 2077 Delayed to December 10
Cyberpunk 2077 has been among the most highly anticipated upcoming games for a long time now, which means that every delay has come as a major disappointment to audiences- and there's been no shortage of delays, either. However, with the game recently having gone gold and wrapped up principal development, you'd have thought there would be no more delays. Well, there is one.
CD Projekt RED have announced on Twitter that Cyberpunk 2077 has been delayed once again, this time by three weeks, to December 10. The developer directly addresses this delay after having gone gold, saying that though the gold master is complete, that doesn't mean development has wrapped up, and improvements are still being made. CDPR says the primary reason for this delay is requiring a little more time to ensure that the game runs well across all nine devices that it will be available on.
One has to wonder what this will mean for crunch at the studio, with it recently having come to light that the studio had mandated crunch until the game's launch.
Cyberpunk 2077 will release on December 10 for PS4, Xbox One, PC, and Stadia, and also be playable on Xbox Series X/S and PS5. Dedicated next-gen versions will be coming some time next year.
We have important news to share with you pic.twitter.com/qZUaD6IwmM
— Cyberpunk 2077 (@CyberpunkGame) October 27, 2020
Destiny 2: Beyond Light Vidoc Details New Weapons, Snowstorms, Cosmodrome and More
Bungie has released a new Vidoc for Destiny 2: Beyond Light, covering the various new things that can be expected in the expansion and beyond. Key among those is the trip to Europa, where the player will reconvene with the Stranger and battle the House of Darkness. Check out the Vidoc below.
Along with showcasing what Stasis is capable of, we also get a closer look at how the new dynamic snowstorms will look. These can obscure one's view, making it tougher to battle enemies and explore the landscape. New weapons like No Time to Explain and The Lament, a chainsaw sword, are also showcased. The revamped Cosmodrome is also on display and looks better than ever.
Destiny 2: Beyond Light is out on November 10th for Xbox One, PS4, PC and Google Stadia with Xbox Series X/S and PS5 support coming in December. Season of the Hunt also kicks off on the same day, offering a new Artifact, Season Pass and much more. Stay tuned for more details on upcoming content shortly.
The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel 4 is Out Now for PS4
The trials of Class VII finally come to an end. The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel 4 is now available for PS4. Originally released in 2018 for the console, it's now localized in English and provides an end to the Erebonia saga. Check out the launch trailer below (though beware that it contains spoilers).
Along with the old and new Class VII, Trails of Cold Steel 4 gathers heroes from The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky and Trails from Zero/Trails to Azure in one massive package. This results in the largest character roster in a Trails game yet along with numerous new quests, Bonding Events and much more. Of course, the battle system has also seen some updates with revamped Orders, Lost Arts and more.
The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel 4 will also be coming to Nintendo Switch and PC in Spring 2021. In the meantime, NISA has confirmed a day one patch along with another patch to release in the near future. It's also looking into issues with pre-loads for the PS4 version so stay tuned for more details.
Astro's Playroom – Cooling Springs Showcased in New Gameplay Footage
As unboxing videos and size comparisons for the PlayStation 5 become available, new gameplay has emerged for Astro's Playroom. Developed Team Asobi and SIE Japan Studio, the platformer comes bundled with the console and serves as a showcase for the DualSense. Check out the latest gameplay below courtesy of IGN, which showcases the Cooling Springs level in 4K.
Many of the DualSense's mechanics, from the blowing into the microphone to move a pinwheel to tilting it for a spring-loaded suit, are showcased. But the overall flow of the level and its detail are also worth noting. Keep an eye out for references to classic PlayStation franchises courtesy of all the other Astrobots running around.
Astro's Playroom launches on November 12th for the PS5 in North America and Japan with the rest of the world getting it (and the console) on November 19th. Though it's bundled free, this won't be a short tech demo. Game director Nicolas Doucet confirmed to Famitsu several weeks ago that it would be about 4 to 5 hours long. Stay tuned for more details in the meantime.
Cyberpunk 2077 – 8 Ways It Emphasizes Story As Much As Gameplay
CD Projekt RED are masters of telling captivating stories in richly realized worlds, stories that present players with tough choices and then change themselves in response in consistently surprising ways. With Cyberpunk 2077, it seems like years of their work are ready to culminate in their biggest and most ambitious game to date in more ways than one.
It's looking like the open world RPG is going to emphasize choices in gameplay as much we it will in story- and we're very excited to see how that turns out. But this is, after all, a CDPR game, and what we're most looking forward to it the story itself, the world it is set in, the characters that inhabit it, the choices players will make, and the consequences that will rear their head. Based on everything that CDPR have said and shown of the game so far, it's clear that there are more than a few reasons to be excited about Cyberpunk 2077's storytelling potential, and in this feature, we're going to talk about some of those biggest reasons.
THE CYBERPUNK UNIVERSE
As you no doubt already know, though Cyberpunk is making its introduction in the games industry this year, the property itself is significantly older- over thirty years, in fact. Based on Mike Pondsmith's tabletop role playing game Cyberpunk and its future editions, Cyberpunk 2077 sees CD Projekt RED once again adapting a popular collection of works into a video game.
The connection to draw here is an obvious one, but it bears mentioning. This is a studio that has a history of doing that, and doing it with excellent success. The Witcher games are, of course, based on Polish writer Andrzej Sapkowski's fantasy series of the same name, and you don't need us to tell you how excellently CDPR captured the spirit and feel of the books while creating their own stories on top of them. Cyberpunk's universe, too, is rich and brimming with storytelling opportunities, and we're excited to see what CDPR will do with it.
LIFEPATHS
We already spoke about Cyberpunk 2077's Life Paths in our recent feature focusing on the gameplay side of things of the upcoming RPG, but as we mentioned then, this is a part of the game that effects the whole game- a perfect blend of storytelling and gameplay, inextricably linked and constantly feeding each other. With its three Lifepaths – Corporate, Street Kid, Nomad – Cyberpunk 2077 is giving you so much control over its story.
For starters, the way the story will begin will be completey different- your character will have a different life, a different background, operate in different circles, know different people, and live in different parts of the time based on what your Lifepath is. This, naturally, will affect future choices and events as well, which means that the ripple effect continue to get stronger and stronger as the game progresses. With all of these differences, Cyberpunk 2077 might also ensure that with each of these three Lifepaths, you get a completely different perspective on the story and its main players, on your sense of what's right and what's wrong. There's an incredible amount of potential that CDPR can tap into here, if only they execute it as well as it should be, and so far, we're quite optimistic.
FIRST PERSON
This was a choice by the developers that proved to be a little controversial for a while after it was first revealed, but it seems most people have either accepted it or actually grown to understand it. Since day 1, CD Projekt RED have emphasized time and again how important immersion is to the whole Cyberpunk 2077 experience, how they want to completely transport players to Night City.
One of the biggest and most immediate ways they're doing that is by making the entire game playable through a first person perspective. No matter what you're doing, whether you're in a cutscene or gameplay, Cyberpunk 2077 will always be a first person game, which is a rather significant change in direction for CDPR after The Witcher trilogy. Only when you're driving vehicles in this game will you get to look at the world from a third person perspective.
DIALOGUE CHOICES
Cyberpunk 2077 will, of course, present you with dialogue choices to make regularly, which will be how you will, for the most part, interact with and shape the story, leading to one of several multiple endings. That's par for the course, not just for CDPR, but for a game in this genre. What's exciting, instead, is the changes CD Projekt RED are making to this system, and the potential that those tweaks have.
One of these tweaks leverages the game's new first person perspective to full effect. Even in the middle of cutscenes you can control V and have them look around, which means you're never really in a completely static cutscene where camera control is taken away from you. Players will always have the option of looking around, observe the environment, perhaps be on the lookout for potential trouble. Best of all, you might also get new dialogue choices based on what you see and what you're doing, which themselves could take the conversation and the scene in new directions.
NIGHT CITY
World building is an area where CD Projekt RED have always exhibited excellent talent, so like with many other things, we're all going in to Cyberpunk 2077 with our expectations high. Cyberpunk settings are usually extremely rich and fascinating, and the Cyberpunk universe itself is richer than most. And based on everything we've seen of Cyberpunk 2077 so far, it seems like it's looking to capture to vastness, the variety, and the depth of that universe perfectly.
Night City itself looks like an encapsulation of that, divided into six unique districts that each have their own distinct identities. The City Center is the heart of Night City, home to luxury, the most powerful and influential people, and all the megacorporations. Watson is a district full of markets and bazaars and populated by immigrants. Heywood is a massive suburban housing district, and the place where the most socially influential people of the city usually find themselves. Santo Domingo is the industrial part of town, full of power plants that power all of Night City. Westbrook is a tourist attraction, a place where the wealthy go to flaunt their riches. Pacifica is considered the most dangerous part of town, abandoned by most and overrun by gangs and criminals. Finally, there are the Badlands, a desert that surrounds Night City, which you will also be able to explore (and even start the game in, if you pick the Nomad Lifepath).
GANGS
Given how vast and varied Night City is clearly going to be, it's not surprising that the city is also full of various different factions with unique motivations and story, all vying for control. V will have run ins with several gangs scattered throughout the city, from the Maelstrom in Watson, to the Voodoo Boys in Pacifica, to the 6th Street Gang in Heywood and Santo Domingo, to many others.
Each of these will come with their own quests, of course, and it shouldn't take a genius to figure out that that leaves room for a ton of interesting conflict. As V works more and more with these gangs, each of whom will be trying to further their own interest, there will be potential for not only captivating individual and isolated stories, but larger ones where multiple of these factions might come into conflict with each other.
CORPORATIONS
Gangs won't be the only different factions that you'll be crossing paths with in Cyberpunk 2077. Like any other cyberpunk setting, Night City is full of corporations and megacorporation that exert more influence and have more power than they should. Militech is an organization that, as its name suggests, specializes in weapons manufacturing and private military contracting. Trauma Team International provides rapid medical response services. Rayfield makes high-end supercars, while ARCH is a motorcycle manufacturer.
Then there's Arasaka, the megacorporation that seems to be at the top of the food chain. Arasaka will clearly be heavily involved in the game's story as well- the company is on the lookout for the Relic, an old "chip of immortality", which is what essentially leads V to Johnny Silverahand. In fact, if you pick the Corporate Lifepath, you'll start out as an Arasaka agent in the megacorporation's tower. Similar to gangs, there's a lot of potential for telling unique stories here, so we're excited about how CD Projekt RED will uses these corporations to bring players deeper into the world of Cyberpunk 2077.
PACING
This, of course, is something that we're guessing at more than anything else- you never really know how well a game is paced until you play and finish it. But CD Projekt RED seem to be willing to take a look back at their previous work and pinpoint the areas where they could have improved. The Witcher 3, for instance, was an incredibly long game and could take players dozens of hours to finish, if not more. That means there were many who never did finish it- which is something CDPR are looking to address with Cyberpunk 2077.
Speaking during the post-show of September's Night City Wire episode, senior quest designer Patrick K. Mills had this to say about Cyberpunk 2077's main story and its length: "We do know that the main story run in Cyberpunk 2077 is slightly shorter than The Witcher 3 because we got a lot of complaints about Witcher 3's main story just being too long. Looking at the metrics, you see tremendous numbers of people played through that game really far, but never made it to the end. We want you to see the full story, so we did shorten the main story, but we have lots to do. And in terms of a completionist campaign, I just don't have that number."