Steam Playtest Introduced, Allows Players to Request Access for Testing

Steam

Steam has rolled out a new Steamworks feature called Steam Playtest which will be an addition to other methods of testing a game out prior to its release. It will allow potential players pre-release access to testing a game through a version of the game that's similar to a demo, separate from the full-release.

In a blog post, Valve's Steam states, "Existing tools like demos and release-override beta Steam keys are already commonly used, and they aren't going anywhere." However, developers will now get to make use of Steam Playtest. that is a feature built right into Steam that removes the need for players to request beta keys and the like through external sources such as emails or sign-up forms for example.

When implemented by a developer, the game will show an option for players to request access to a Playtest. Steam details that this Playtest happens on a secondary, supplemental appID, which is similar to how demos are handled. Basically, players getting access to a Playtest will find their accounts ownership and playtime being separate from the release version of the game. It's also noted that Playtest is not a replacement for Steam Early Access.

Steam Playtest example

Those who choose to sign-up for a Steam Playtest, by clicking the button as demonstrated above, will get added to a queue. From there, the developer can choose as many potential testers to include when the testing goes live. Developers can also choose to stop testing at any time or leave it running to keep testing upcoming features. However, when it comes to receiving feedback, Steamstates that for developers, "You can provide links to your preferred feedback or communication system directly in a community Announcement." More in-depth information is available in the documentation.

Obviously, Steam has indicated it's not replacing beta keys and other methods of testing early versions of a game out, but this new system could certainly alleviate the hassle of organizing such systems. It's also a great way to get as many hands on board with testing, such as ensuring Remote Play works a charm before the full game launches.

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Destiny 2 Will Be Under Maintenance for Over 12 Hours on November 9

Destiny 2

Bungie will shut down the servers of Destiny 2 for over 12 hours from November 9 to apply the latest patches to the game and bring update 3.0.0.1 available for players on November 10th.

On November 10th, Destiny 2 Beyond Light will be available across all current-gen and next-gen platforms except for PS5. The game is a launch title for Xbox Series X | S and will be available to all Xbox Game Pass subscribers for free on any platform.

In a recent tweet, Bungie officially announced that update 3.0.0.1 for Destiny 2 will be available on November 10 at 12 PM PST, but the game will be under maintenance for over 12 hours as of November 9 at 7 PM PST. The developer warned players that they might face some sign-in issues in the first hours of the update's launch. The total file size of the update has not been revealed yet.

This update will add Beyond Light content to Destiny 2, which will be available for free through Xbox Game Pass, but the visual enhancements for the next-gen versions of the game will be available sometime in December this year.

Beyond Light is the first episode of the four content updates that Bungie revealed back in Summer this year. The game is currently available for free across all platforms, but PlayStation users will have to pay for the Beyond Light DLC to be able to experience the new content.

The developers behind Destiny 2 have created a long-lasting road-map for the game in the coming years, and it seems we are currently far away from the third entry of the Destiny series.

More news will be shared about the technical improvements of Destiny 2 as soon as we get closer to December 8, the day that visual enhancement updates of the game will be released for Xbox Series X and PS5.

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Dontnod Is Working on Six Projects, A New Studio Founded in Montreal

Dontnod Entertainment's Twin Mirror

In a recent interview with VentureBeat, the CEO of Dontnod Entertainment revealed that Twin Mirror is just one of the six projects that they are working on right now.

Oskar Guilbert, CEO at Dontnod, confirmed in his latest interview that they are expanding their teams and games with a new studio in Montreal and six separate titles under development. Guillbert said:

Our studio is growing, with six games in production now. Our recent releases have been very successful in terms of press reception and player reception. I'm very proud.

For us, [a Montreal studio] was really important because we obviously wanted to be closer to our players in North America, but also because the biggest part of our player base is in North America and our games like Life Is Strange take place in North America. Montreal is also one of the biggest video game ecosystems in the world.

Mostly known for its critically acclaimed Life Is Strange franchise, Dontnod Entertainment is the only major studio that can fill in the missing position of Telltale in the video game industry. The Paris-based developer has made a name for itself after launching Life Is Strange in 2015. A narrative-driven adventure game that focuses on a college student who earns a supernatural power to wind back time in a mysterious way.

The huge success of the game convinced Dontnod to continue developing even more story-focused games. That being said, they also tried working on some narrative-driven games with more interactive gameplay mechanics. Remember Me and Vampyr both featured superb stories, but they failed in representing the same quality in gameplay and fighting mechanics.

Right now, Twin Mirror is Dontnod's next big launch ahead. The game will hit PS4, Xbox One, PS5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, and PC this year on December 1st.

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AOC Could Very Well Be Doing Another Twitch Stream Soon

AOC featured image

Last month, New York state representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez organized a live-stream on Twitch alongside other popular streamers who joined over voice chat as well as streaming on their own channels. The idea was to encourage viewers to get out and vote in the US Presidental Elections, and while that was the goal, they made sure to keep the stream mostly focused on just having a good time in Innersloth's Among Us.

The stream was hugely popular, seeing the stream hit a peak at around 439,000 viewers with a plethora of memes being born the day. It seems as if we can expect to see another AOC stream in the future as she replied to a tweet last night confirming that she intends to stream again. She just wants a nap first. She also seems to have her sights set to streaming perhaps this week or next.

As for who will be joining her? She's already requested that fans suggest who she should have on board, so it's more than likely that we'll see a different line-up, although I wonder if a few streamers will make a return. There's also no indication as to what game she could end up playing, although it could very well be another Among Us stream due to the success last time.

AOC has been vocal in gaming for some time now, speaking out against Blizzard's move to suspend Blitzchung after he spoke up about protests taking place in Hong Kong. AOC has also recently filed an amendment to halt the US Army from using Twitch as a recruitment platform. And now she appears to be shifting to recurring streams. At the moment the US is underway with the Presidental Elections, and AOC and her 'Squad' have all been re-elected for Congress.

Featured image: The New York Times

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PS5 Won't Support 1440p Output Reportedly

PS5 PS4 Backward Compatibility Cross Generation New PlayStation

While Xbox manages to deliver a next-gen experience for both 4K and 2K resolutions with two different consoles, it seems Sony will only stick to Full HD and 4K resolutions in PS5.

According to a recent report from IGN Italy, they have been officially told by Sony that PS5 won't support 1440p or 2K resolution. Simply put, the console will only have true outputs for 4K and Full HD displayers. So, if you have a 2K monitor, PS5 will either upscale the images from 1080p to 1440p or downscale it from 4K to 2K.

One of the main purposes of the next-gen consoles is to make gaming easier on higher resolutions. Both PS5 and Xbox Series X consoles are targetting 4K as the base resolution for running next-gen games, however, there are still a considerable amount of players that wouldn't mind playing in 1080p or 1440p resolutions. Probably Xbox Series S would be a great choice for this group of gamers, but when it comes to PS5, there might be some problems with the 2K resolution.

Of course, it still needs an official confirmation from Sony itself, but it's not a big deal for most of the gamers, though it might be a little bit disappointing for those who already got a 1440p monitor or TV for gaming.

Recently, PS5 has officially been sent to some outlets and content creators around the world to be the first ones in the world experiencing the feeling of playing next-gen games on a next-gen console.

PS5 will be out on November 12th. Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Sackboy: A Big Adventure, Demon's Souls Remake, The Pathless, and Godfall will be the launch titles of Sony's brand new consoles. Not to mention that most of the cross-gen games that have already been launched for current-gen platforms like Watch Dogs Legion, FIFA 21, and NBA 2K21, will be available for PS5 at launch.

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The File Size for Black Ops Cold War Has Been Unveiled on Console and PC

File sizes have continuously grown for games as time has gone on. That is just an inevitable thing as technology advances. So, you should not be surprised to find out that the file size for Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is going to take up over 100 GB of space.

Per IGN, Activision has revealed that the latest installment in the series is going to make up around 100 GB on both console and PC. If you are playing on the PS4, the game will take up 95 GB of space while the Xbox One version will take up about 93GB of space. If you happen to be an early adopter of a next-gen console, Black Ops Cold War will take up 133 GB on your shiny new PS5 and 136 GB on the Xbox Series X|S. Finally, the game will be 125 GB on PC with the full game installed and on Ultra graphics. If you are not on Ultra settings, it will be around 82GB.

It should be noted that Activision has stated that both PC and console players can uninstall specific game mode packs like the Campaign or Zombies mode if they choose to do so. This would give players the opportunity to hop into the multiplayer mode (which takes up 35GB on PC) without the game taking up a big chunk of your storage. That will be a handy feature for Xbox Series S owners since the console will reportedly only allocate 364GB of storage for games.

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is set to release on November 13 for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.

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The Pathless New Video Explores the Making of Its Epic Soundtrack By Austin Wintory

The Pathless

Coming from the developers of Abzu, The Pathless is the next project from developer Giant Squid that will take players through a visually-striking journey on a mystical island. After previously collaborating with the studio on its first game, composer Austin Wintory–known for acclaimed titles such as Journey and The Banner Saga series–is returning to craft the music for The Pathless, as seen in a new video from the game's production.

PlayStation has released a new behind-the-scenes video for The Pathless giving a closer look at the upcoming title from Giant Squid. Specifically, the new video highlights the game's soundtrack by composer Austin Wintory, showing the recording of the score and highlighting gameplay.

You can take a look at the full video below from PlayStation:

The title was first announced at The Game Awards 2018 with a striking reveal trailer, with Giant Squid officially confirming its release for this November. Originally announced for PS4, PC, and iOS as part of the Apple Arcade lineup, it was also revealed by Giant Squid that The Pathless would be part of the launch line-up for the PS5. For a closer look at the game, you can also check out one of its most recent showings at PlayStation's State of Play this summer, including a new trailer with clips of gameplay.

The Pathless will release for PS5, PS4, PC, and iOS on November 12, 2020.

The post The Pathless New Video Explores the Making of Its Epic Soundtrack By Austin Wintory by Ryan Meitzler appeared first on DualShockers.

WWE 2K Battlegrounds Adds Some Legends Later This Month

WWE 2k Battlegrounds

WWE 2K Battlegrounds launched in September to tepid reviews. However, the team at 2K is still providing some post-launch content in the form of new characters coming to the game. Starting later this week, anyone still playing can expect to see some of the biggest names in wrestling history popping up on the roster. Plus, you can finally play as the Uso brothers. Check it out below.

The WWE 2K Battlegrounds roster gets its first infusion of talent later this week. On November 6, players will have access to Goldberg, Batista, and the Uso brothers. Next up are Ultimate Warrior, Eddie Guerrero, and Lita on November 11. Then, Trish Stratus, Booker T, and Ruby Riott will follow on November 18. Of the three character drops, that second one is probably the tastiest. That's one of the biggest stars of the early 90s, one of the greatest wrestlers to ever live, and a woman who helped legitimize women's wrestling.

That said, the entire three-week haul is pretty solid. There are still a few Legends that they'll look to add in the future, but this is an excellent start. Alongside the characters, players will have tons of new cosmetics to unlock. From new outfits to stadium unlocks, there will tons to do over the coming weeks. Of course, any goodwill the product might have from all the content is shrouded by all of the game's microtransactions. On that basis alone, it's hard for me to get too excited.

WWE 2K Battlegrounds is available now on Nintendo Switch, PC, PS4, and Xbox One.

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End of An Era: The Causes And Consequences Of Sega Leaving The Arcades Management Business

13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim arcades sega story

On November 4, Sega Sammy Holdings announced that the Sega Group subsidiary company, Sega Entertainment, will sell 85.1% of its shares to Genda. With this, Sega Entertainment will not be owned by Sega Sammy Holdings anymore. Sega will sell pretty much all of its Game Centers, Amusement Centers, around 200 all over Japan, and will leave the arcades management business 0n December 30, 2020. This is mainly due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

Sega Sammy Holdings did not make public how much the shares were sold for.

Sega Entertainment is the Sega Group subsidiary managing its Amusement facilities, as in game centers, arcades, but also cafés, etc. It's the third largest Amusement Centers manager in Japan. Famitsu explained how a few years ago, Sega Entertainment started selling taiyaki in cafés near its game centers. Expanding its business possibilities. However, with the Covid-19 pandemic, Sega Entertainment reported heavy losses.

When the 2020 fiscal year ended in March 2020, Sega Entertainment reported 900 million Yen in losses. Compared to a 600 million Yen gain the previous year. Due to the temporary shutdown of its facilities with the Coronavirus state of emergency, and the sanitary regulations with less people going out. Sega Sammy Holdings considered various options, and ultimately decided on selling the shares of Sega Entertainment to Genda, which has expressed desire to expand its Amusement facility management business.

Genda is a company who rents Amusement machines to game centers, such as those owned by Sega Entertainment. Genda also operate multiple online crane games. As in, crane games playable through your smartphone or PC, with a camera filming the machine live.

Genda stated that with Sega Entertainment, it hopes to revitalize the industry and make Amusement a more enjoyable industry for all party involved, the makers, the operators, and the players.

Obviously that's all business talk though, and no one knows what will happen, except Genda. At the moment, we do not know how many arcades and shops Genda will keep open. We don't know either if brands such as Club Sega will still be a thing. While it's unlikely that all these game centers, Club Sega etc, will all be disappearing, this sale is happening because many of these arcades, cafés etc are already in a precarious situation. Japanese games history specialist Florent Gorges mentioned Genda will certainly be closing down all the arcades which can't be saved. This is a huge shock for video games fans and Sega lovers around the world. And right after the closure back in August of the SEGA Akihabara Building 2. Turns out that shutdown was only the beginning of the end for Sega owned arcades.

Sega owning arcades is an intrinsic part of Sega and video game history, and a cultural element used in Sega's biggest IPs nowadays such as Yakuza. While Sega is selling ownership of its arcades, it's not like it's selling any arcades games IPs it owns. So worry not, we'll still be able to play Virtual On and Virtua Fighter in future Yakuza games. But probably not at "Club Sega" anymore.

Sega Entertainment doesn't participate in the development of games or arcade games either. Console, mobile and arcade games are developed by Sega Interactive and Sega Games. Which both merged in April 2020 to form "Sega".

Speaking of Virtua Fighter, there's the recently announced Virtua Fighter x Esports project, revealed at TGS 2020. This might turn out to be a fully online oriented project seeing how far arcades are declining. And Sega owned arcades aren't a thing anymore.

I'm sure anyone else following Japanese games for a long time must have heard the same thing for decades now:"Arcades in Japan are dying". Arcades have been in a difficult position for years now, with hundreds of shops closing. MajinObama mentioned in a 2016 interview that it was happening for a while already. The Coronavirus pandemic only (viciously) exposed that. Arcades such as Mikado in Takadanobaba launched crowdfundings in early 2020. But the resonating success of the campaign also made me feel like these alternate ways of survival should have been further explored years ago by now. They shouldn't have waited for a pandemic.

However, since the mid 2010s, plenty of pretty popular arcade games have launched in Japan. While traditional fighting games have kinda declined after the new boom born from Street Fighter IV in late 2000s, you've got other genres and series that seem to fare pretty well. Such as the Gundam EXVS series by Bandai Namco which is celebrating its tenth anniversary with a new game. We had new entries for Initial D, the JoJo Batte Royale, FGO Arcade, Starwing Paradox and Gunslinger Stratos by Square enix. Etc.

Rhythm games and idol themed games were all huge as well. With the Aikatsu series by Bandai Namco. And Pretty Series by TakaraTomy and SynSophia, with its PriPara series being one of the most popular arcade games of  the 2010s.  Sega's own arcade games such as the Project Diva Hatsune Miku games in particular are pretty popular too.

However, added to that, you have all the other things that probably make the most money: all the Amusement games not directly linked to video games; The aforementioned crane games for example, or the darts games such as DartsLive featured in Persona 5 The Royal, etc. It's very possible Genda will be focusing even more on those from now on, dealing a huge blow to video games arcades. I think at this point the only big arcades chain left would be Taito Station.

Note that Sega Sammy Holdings is keeping its pachislot and casino-like operations. Dr Serkan Toto specified on Twitter.

One of the first Japanese Twitter accounts who picked up Sega's announcement and shared it was @exvsdb, an account dedicated to news on the Gundam EXVS series:

A few dozens of Japanese Twitter users have first reacted through quote replies to this tweet, with most noting Sega exiting the arcades business is the end of an era. And how the future of arcades is worrying when even Sega decided to throw in the towel.

A few hours later, Yahoo Japan and Livedoor News started reporting the news as well, followed by Famitsu. Which triggered more and more reactions flooding in, including from international fans. Sega is trending on Twitter as I'm writing this. Most fans are dumbfounded, myself included. We've all seen the damage the Coronavirus pandemic is causing to the world, and we were all lucky enough to still be able to witness it, but this is all unbelievable. Pretty crazy this is happening on Sega's 60th anniversary, but that's 2020 for you.

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Sea of Thieves Optimizations for Xbox Series X/Series S Detailed By Rare

Sea of Thieves

Since its release in 2018, Sea of Thieves from developer Rare has let players set sail on the high seas in the search for treasure and danger with friends on Xbox One and PC. Of course, the popular pirate-themed multiplayer game will also be heading to the uncharted waters of next-gen, with the title's optimizations for Xbox Series X and Series S officially detailed.

Rare has revealed the optimizations that Sea of Thieves players can look forward to on the Xbox Series X/Series S, which will arrive with the consoles' launches on November 10, 2020. Like other recent Microsoft first-party titles such as Gears 5, Sea of Thieves will support graphical enhancements for the next-gen consoles via Smart Delivery, which will be free for players that own the title on Xbox platforms, or that will play it through Xbox Game Pass.

According to Rare, Sea of Thieves will support 4K/60FPS on the Xbox Series X, while those on the Xbox Series S will be able to play at 1080p/60fps. Additionally, the developer also highlighted that the title will feature reduced load times on both consoles.

While the Series X and Series S launch lineup will feature a number of upcoming titles such as Assassin's Creed Valhalla, Yakuza: Like a Dragon, and more, Microsoft has also been leaning into its back catalog and the graphical enhancements that players will enjoy on older titles. For a closer look at the titles that will support enhancements on Series X and Series S, you can check out this page from Microsoft.

Sea of Thieves is available now on Xbox One and PC, and will receive enhancements for the Xbox Series X and Series S for the consoles' launches on November 10, 2020.

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