Remedy Entertainment Currently Has 5 Games In Development Among 4 Teams
Remedy Entertainment may have delivered their best game yet in 2019 with Control, but the developer has been around for quite some time. They have always been a very active studio, and they may very well be entering their most active period yet, as they have a lot of projects in the works.
It's been known for awhile that Remedy has multiple projects ongoing, but now we have some more exact numbers. As reported via GamesIndustry, the company has 4 active teams going right now according to CEO Tero Virtala. The main team that worked on Control, in addition to working on more ports of that game, has started work on their next big title. They have another team tackling a multiplayer title being referred to as Vanguard, while a third team is working on two unannounced projects that will be part of the partnership with Epic Games. Finally, the last team is the one working on the CrossfireX campaign that is set to release sometime this year. No details were given about the unannounced projects.
Thanks in large part to the success of Control, 2020 was a record year for Remedy. It sounds like they aren't slowing down either. Hopefully, we'll start hearing about some of these projects soon.
Quantum Error Gets Creepy Gameplay Tease Ahead Of Future Games Spring Showcase
An early game that was announced to be coming to next gen consoles was Quantum Error. The developer once had hoped to get the game out by the launch of the PS5, but it was not to be. Since then we got confirmation of Xbox versions of the title also coming, and a wait for when we could get through the horrors of a hellish space station. Well, we may not have to wait too long, as a new tease for gameplay is here.
The developer released a very brief teaser ahead of a bigger reveal that will happen at this year's Future Games Spring Showcase. There's not a lot there, but it manages to make quite an impression as it's filled with mutated spiders, several humanoid monsters, and some gooey, blood flesh bags.
As of now Quantum Error has no release date, but it will come to PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One and PC. The next time we're expected to see the game is the Future Games Spring Showcase, which will occur March 25th.
Kena: Bridge Of Spirits Will Have Free PS4 To PS5 Upgrade
This new generation of consoles has brought about a lot of new titles to look forward to. One of those that was unveiled alongside the PS5 was Kena: Bridge of Spirits. The game has looked stunning from pretty much the beginning, and we now know when we can expect to get it in our hands. The game is also a cross-gen title for those many who will not manage to get a PS5 for awhile, and don't worry, the upgrade will be there.
On their official Twitter, developer Ember Lab was asked about whether or not you'd get a free upgrade from the PS4 version to the PS5. They responded with a pretty enthusiastic yes, confirming for the first time that you will be able to get a free upgrade from PS4 to PS5.
Kena: Bridge of Spirits is set now to release on August 24th. In addition to PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4, the game will also be coming to PC via the Epic Games Store.
Indeed, you do!
— Kena: Bridge of Spirits (@emberlab) March 5, 2021
NBA 2K21 And DiRT 5 Will Be Free To Play On Steam Until March 8
It's been another hard week for most people, no doubt. Those who are lucky enough to not have to work on the weekend use it as a time to relax and rewind, and one of the best ways to do that is by playing some video games. This weekend will also give you a chance to play two different types of games free of charge on your PC.
From today until the beginning of next week, you'll be able to try out DiRT 5 on Steam. The game is the latest in the off road based racing simulator. If you're interested in a different type of drive, more of a drive to take a ball to its respective basket, NBA 2K21 is also free on the service. It's also the newest entry in 2K's flagship sports title. Both titles are also on sale if you decide they are to your liking.
Both DiRT 5 and NBA 2K21 will be free to download and try out up until March 8th. You can check out DiRT 5's Steam page through here, and NBA 2K21 through here.
Dead Cells – Update 23 Now in Alpha, Adds New Weapons and Mutations
Following its release of the Fatal Falls DLC, Evil Empire and Motion Twin have a new update for Dead Cells. It's currently in the alpha branch on Steam so you'll need to navigate to the Betas tab under properties to download it. Dubbed "The Whack-a-mole Update", it adds three new heavy weapons, three Mutations and much more.
The new weapons are the Big Axe, the Big Club and the Tombstone, each scaling off of Survival. The Big Axe is capable of chaining attacks while the Big Club can be charged for even more damage. The Tombstone is for more comedic purposes since killing a foe will literally plant a tombstone on their grave.
The new Mutations are Execution, which executes enemies under 5 percent health (and can scale up to 15 percent); Barbed Tip, which inflicts damage over time to enemies based on arrows stuck in them; and Point Blank which inflicts bonus damage with close range attacks. Other welcome changes include Malaise being removed from Boss Cell 4 difficulty. Malaise also no longer increase enemy movement speed and enemies won't turn into Elites or spawn for a few seconds after an Elite notices you.
Check out the full patch notes here and stay tuned for more details when it hits live servers.
Whack-a-mole Update
Important features
- New mutation: Point Blank. Close-ranged range attacks inflict X% bonus damages.
New difficulty curve: We're experimenting with a new way of increasing the difficulty from one BC to the next.
- BC0: Health fountains in every transition.
- BC1: Health fountain every other transition, with one minor flask when the fountain is missing.
- BC2: No more health fountain, one minor flask in every transition.
- BC3: One minor flask after the first boss and before the second.
- BC4: No more health in any transition, enemies teleport to your position.
- BC5: No more health, enemies teleport, malaise added.
Looking to have your opinion on that new formula, so don't hesitate to give us feedback!
- A new PNJ 5bc exclusive has appeared, the Collector's intern! He will be able to unlock blueprints while the big guy is away.
- New weapon: The Big Axe ™. They say the last hit can be chained, but no one lived long enough to confirm…
- New weapon: The Big Club ™. Hold to charge and break the club on the head of your unfortunate enemies.
- New weapon: The (regular-sized) Tombstone. Stay on the ground if you manage to kill something with the last hit, but we're still working on it and it will be updated in the next weeks.
- New mutation: Execution. (Colorless). Instantly kill enemies going under 5% (scales up to 15%) health after you hit them with your weapon.
- New mutation: Barbed Tips. Inflict x damage per seconds to enemies per arrows stuck in them.
- Added an Omnivorous diet which randomize the appearance of your food.
Destiny 2 – Trials of Osiris Still Unavailable as Issues Being Investigated
In its latest weekly update for Destiny 2, Bungie confirmed that Trials of Osiris would remain unavailable for players. The mode was disabled earlier this week "due to unexpected issues" and the developer confirms they're being investigated. While it didn't acknowledge the same, many believe the mode to have been removed due to issues with win-trading.
How this will be addressed in the coming days remains to be seen. One issue that will be fixed on March 16th when Grandmaster Nightfalls begin is an exploit that allows for 12 players in one activity. However, Bungie is mostly fine with this for the time being.
"We've been watching the 12-player raid hype and are glad you're enjoying yourselves. We aren't rushing out a fix for this and it's totally fine if you want to try it out and have some fun. Just keep in mind that we didn't create these activities expecting a clown car of Guardians to roll up, so you may experience some weirdness."
So until then, the floor is open for all kinds of multi-fireteam raids and strikes. Destiny 2 is currently in the midst of Season of the Chosen which added the new Battlegrounds activities, the Presage mission (which rewards new Exotic Dead Man's Tale) and two returning Strikes from Destiny 1. A brand new Strike called Proving Grounds will be added on March 30th so stay tuned.
Take-Two CEO Thinks You're Ready For The PS5, Xbox Series X/S $70 Price Hike
As always, when a new generation of consoles launch, it's an exciting time. Last November saw the launch of the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S with lots of games to chose from. However, it wasn't all happy times, as it also saw some publishers doing a price hike for next gen-only versions of games, such as 2K's NBA 2K21 being $70. There was also Call of Duty, and Sony confirmed they, too, would be hiking up to $70 for their PS5-only titles (and apparently, was thinking of even more). And the CEO of Take-Two thinks you're ready.
Strauss Zelnick spoke at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media & Telecom Conference (as transcribed thanks to Tweaktown), and when talking about the price hike, he said that he felt it was time, referencing how their had not been an official hike in price in a long time. Zelnick said he felt ultimately that consumers were ready for the change.
"In terms of pricing, we announced a $70 price point for NBA 2K21. Our view was that we're offering an extraordinary array of experiences and lots of replayability. The last time there was a frontline price increase in the U.S. was in 2005-2006. So we think consumers were ready for it.
"Our view is to always deliver more value than what we charge, to make sure both the experience and paying for the experience are positive for the consumer," he said.
"We all know anecdotally that even if you love a consumer experience, if you feel you were overcharged for it, it ruins the experience and you don't want to have it again. If you go to a nice restaurant and have a great experience and a great meal, but the check is double what you think it should be, you're never going back.
"We always want consumers to feel that we deliver much more than we ask in return. That's true for recurring consumer spending as well. We're here to activate and engage consumers, and if we do that, monetization follows."
While the majority of titles are still $59.99, they are also still cross-generational. We're seeing more companies adopt the $69.99 price tag for next gen only, such as the recently announced Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade. Prices vary more for Europe and Asia, but a hike of some kind seems to be a standard in every region. It seems, ready or not, it's here to stay.
Baldur's Gate 3 Hotfix Fixes Crashes, Dialogue Triggers Not Working
Baldur's Gate 3 recently received its biggest patch till date with "Nature's Power," which added the Druid class, two different Circles for specialization and new numerous abilities tied to it. As with any major patch, it also introduced some issues. The latest hotfix is now live though and addresses a number of them.
For instance, certain checkpoints which would trigger dialogue were previously not working or would get stuck (usually while in Wild Shape form) – these have now been fixed. Crashes relating to saving, a VRAM leak and PhysX materials are also gone. Other crash fixes include for those that would occur during character creation or when objects fell into chasms.
Check out the full hotfix notes below. Along with the Druid Class, the latest patch also added Speak With Dead cinematics, several improvements to lighting and animation in the campaign, Loaded Dice for less punishing RNG and much more. You can read more about it here.
Changelist:
- Fixed certain dialogue trigger checkpoints not working or getting stuck. This was related to being in Wild Shape while triggering dialogues.
- Fixed a possible crash when saving.
- Fixed a crash related to a VRAM leak.
- Fixed a crash related to PhysX materials.
- Fixed a crash when viewing tooltips by hovering over combatants while someone joins or leaves the game.
- Fixed a rare crash when entering character creation.
- Fixed a rare crash when an object falls into a chasm.
- Fixed a crash related to incorrect or corrupted game files.
- Fixed a crash related to closing containers if too many were opened by pressing escape quickly.
- Fixed empty inventory after pickpocketing a party member.
Last year saw the release of the Destroy All Humans! remake. The game was a faithful reskinning of the original, and it seems that a tease for a second game of some kind is out there now. A new update is live for the game, too, that will let you have a better experience on next gen consoles, as well as some goodies all around.
The latest update, 1.08, is live now. It adds unlocked framerate for the PS4 version, which should allow a higher framerate on the PS5. It also mentions improved resolution for Xbox systems, both Xbox One X and Xbox Series X. Just to be clear, there are no native next gen versions of the game, this is all referencing playing the game via backward compatibility. There's also several gameplay tweaks and three free skins. Thanks to Twisted Voxel for transcribing the full patch notes below.
Destroy All Humans! is available now for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC. The 1.08 update is now live.
- 3 new free skins (all platforms): Ain't No Man, Worst Nightmare, Midas Touch
- PS4 patch to unlock FPS restrictions (this will help players on PS5 as well)
- X1X patch for improved details
- XSX patch for improved resolution and details
- Silhouette fight tweaks (all platforms)
- Decreased difficulty on the final boss fight
- Toned down enemy reinforcement spawns
- Slightly increased the time Crypto has to get into cover
- Slightly reduced Silhouette's Shock-O-Mator beam damage and sweep speed
- Removed particle exploder mines that spawn in proximity to Crypto
- Soldier and Power Suit Grenades balancing tweaks (all platforms)
- Increased damage dealt to enemies by enemy grenades.
- Crypto tweaks (all platforms)
- Ion Detonator Upgrade
- Lowered the slowdown and duration of the Ion Detonator's Temporal Distortionator upgrade and increased its shield regen multiplier.
Ghost of Tsushima Co-Directors to be Made Permanent Tourism Ambassadors of Tsushima Island
Ghost of Tsushima would not have been the excellent game that it was had it not been for the excellent way its titular setting, the island of Tsushima. Though far from historically accurate, the game blended artistic flair, excellent design, and engaging exploration to truly make its setting shine, while also using its general atmosphere, pieces of its history, and Japanese culture to craft something quite unique.
For that excellent portrayal of Tsushima and for spreading "the name and history" of the island to millions of people around the world, Ghost of Tsushima game director Nate Fox and creative director Jason Connell are being honored by the actual Tsushima island, as they are made its permanent tourism ambassadors. The pair will also receive awards and letters of appreciation for the same, while the city of Tsushima in Nagasaki will also collaborate with PlayStation to set up a tourism campaign inspired by the game.
Said Hiroki Hitakatsu, Mayor of Tsushima (via VGC): "[Fox and Connell] spread the name and history of Tsushima to the whole world in such a wonderful way.
"Even a lot of Japanese people do not know the history of the Gen-ko period. When it comes to the world, the name and location of Tsushima is literally unknown, so I cannot thank them enough for telling our story with such phenomenal graphics and profound stories."
"The appointment of Tourism Ambassador is from today until Mr. Jason and Mr. Nate no longer wish to have it," Hitakatsu added. "In fact, I had been thinking and discussing about appointing the role to them ever since I discovered they were using Tsushima's name as the name of their work.
"I did not appoint them for the purpose of having them do anything in the future. Thanks to the two of them, Sucker Punch Productions, and SIE, I have heard from people all over the world who have learned about Tsushima through their works, and now want to see, know, and go to Tsushima."
Ghost of Tsushima is currently available on PS4, and playable on PS5 via backward compatibility with some significant enhancements. Rumours have suggested that a native PS5 port is also in the works, while job listings have pointed at a sequel being in development.