Xbox Live Might be About to Drop the "Live" Branding
Microsoft have been making changes here and there to Xbox Live of late, including major ones like free-to-play games finally no longer requiring Xbox Live Gold subscriptions to be played offline, and it seems that more changes – though related to the Xbox Live branding this time – might be coming as well.
It seems the Xbox dashboard no longer has any mention of Xbox Live, and instead only refers to it in the UI as "Xbox network", suggesting that Microsoft might be preparing to drop the long-standing "Live" branding entirely in favour of something more general and wide-ranging. Given their platform-agnostic and services-driven approach, that would definitely fit with their strategy.
Of course, this is yet to be acknowledged by Microsoft in an official statement, so it's probably best to wait for word from the horse's mouth for now. Meanwhile, some reports have suggested that Xbox Live Gold might still be done away with in the near future (despite Microsoft saying that it isn't going away any time soon). Read more on that through here.
Xbox network
https://t.co/E49QQzQFad pic.twitter.com/OQS1cRsrZ2
— Tom Warren (@tomwarren) March 21, 2021
Forza Horizon 5 Still on Track for 2021 Launch – Rumour
Microsoft announced the next Forza Motorsport game last year, which was why it came as such a surprise when leaks emerged claiming that before that game came out, Playground Games were ready to go with the next Forza Horizon. GamesBeat's Jeff Grubb was who first claimed that Forza Horizon 5 was going to launch in 2021 itself following a surprise announcement, and it seems that still seems to be part of Microsoft's plan for this year.
Though it's been a while since this rumour first emerged, Grubb was recently asked on Twitter if he still believes that Forza Horizon 5 is scheduled for 2021, to which he replied that he does. Of course, that shouldn't be taken to mean that the game is guaranteed to launch this year, but with Microsoft seemingly having a couple of major unannounced games planned for 2021, Forza Horizon 5 definitely seems like a likely contender.
With Halo Infinite confirmed for a Fall 2021 launch, reports pegging Starfield for a late 2021 release, and Wolfenstein 3 popping up in rumours, 2021's second half could prove to be a packed one for Xbox. This is all still unconfirmed though, so tread with caution for now. We'll keep you updated if anything changes, so stay tuned.
— Jeff Grubb (@JeffGrubb) March 17, 2021
Fable is Being Built on a Custom Engine, as Per Job Listing
Playground Games' Fable reboot has hardly received any information since it was first unveiled (or even when it was first unveiled), but there's no end to the excitement surrounding the game- not just because it's Fable, but also because it's Fable developed by a studio as talented as Playground Games. And while there's no telling how long we're going to have to wait to get new info on the game, some seems to have recently emerged nonetheless.
Much like Playground's Forza Horizon games, it seems Fable is being developed using an in-house custom engine, rather than using a third party ready-made toolset. A job listing recent posted by Playground Games to their official website makes explicit mention of "working with a custom engine", and though Fable is not, of course, mentioned by name, the dots are pretty easy to connect. Then again, perhaps it's referring to the rumoured Forza Horizon 5.
Fable is currently in development for Xbox Series X/S and PC, but has no announced release date or release window. Stay tuned to GamingBolt for continued updates on the game.
Dragon Age 4 Shows off More New Concept Art
Dragon Age 4 is still a long ways off from launch yet, but even though it's probably going to be a while before we see a substantial new update on the game, BioWare have still been teasing out new bits and pieces here and there, with vague teaser trailers and the odd piece of concept art.
Recently, BioWare Austin head and Dragon Age 4 executive producer Christian Dailey took to Twitter to do a bit more of that, showing off a new piece of concept art for the game, which shows a human mage woman holding a staff. It's not much, but something's better than nothing, I guess, and it's a cool looking piece of concept art. Take a look below.
With Anthem Next having now been officially cancelled, BioWare are now fully focused on Dragon Age 4 and the next Mass Effect. Recently, a report suggested that Dragon Age 4, which was originally being developed as a live service title, had shifted gears mid-development and is now being made purely as a single player RPG. Meanwhile, it's also been confirmed that the game is set in the Tevinter Imperium.
It remains to be seen exactly when Dragon Age 4 will launch, but EA has said that it won't be any time before at least April 2022.
@SerGoldman perfect!
Happy Friday my friends – I hope you are all staying out of the rain! Stay safe. Have a great weekend!! pic.twitter.com/ViYBms8Gng
— Christian Dailey (@ChristianDailey) March 20, 2021
Resident Evil Village – New Details Revealed on Combat, Weapons, Story, and More
Resident Evil Village is less than two months away from launch now, and excitement surrounding the survival horror sequel is ramping up day by day. With the series' 25th anniversary coming up and the game itself not far away from launch, Capcom are likely going to be dropping major new details on Village soon- some of which are already here.
Interviews with the game's developers in a recent Japanese PlayStation stream have revealed new details on Resident Evil Village, and though the stream is, of course, in Japanese, you can check out a summarization of the highlights in this Twitter thread by Dusk Golem (a.k.a. AestheticGamer). On top of reiterating things that have previously been confirmed and talked about, such as the fact that the game is receiving a second demo this Spring, and that it takes a lot of inspiration from Resident Evil 4, the developers also go into new information on combat, weapons, and more.
Where the former is concerned, it seems Capcom have attempted to give more options to players in how to tackle things, with additional actions such as guarding, melee combat, stealth, and more giving viable alternatives for those who don't want to engage in traditional combat. Meanwhile, multiple branching paths also allow players to choose whether or not they want to avoid certain situations at times. The developers also confirm that Resident Evil Village has a variety of different weapons- in fact, it apparently has "a lot more weapons" than Resident Evil 7 did.
They also speak about the Duke a little bit, confirming that the new merchant will regularly have a lot of things on sale, including weapons, crafting recipes, ammo, health items, weapon upgrades, and even some secret things that the developers aren't talking about just yet. They have attempted to make it so that players feel relieved and safe every time they meet the Duke, and can take a breath and focus on thinking about what they want to spend money on.
Meanwhile, the devs also say that players will want to replay all the previous games in the series before heading into Village, since it apparently has connections to a lot of older plot threads and will cover a lot of the series' past- which should be particularly exciting to hear for RE fans. Finally, they confirm that development on Resident Evil Village is in its final stages, with the game on track for its planned launch.
Resident Evil Village is due out for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One, and PC on May 7.
Battlefield 6 Reveal Coming in May – Rumour
Battlefield 6 is officially confirmed to be in development, and EA has said that the shooter, due out later this year, will be revealed in full this Spring. When exactly in Spring though? Well, it seems that reveal might be on the horizon. According to GamesBeat journalist Jeff Grubb, Battlefield 6's reveal is coming this May.
Speaking during a recent GamesBeat Decides podcast, Grubb said that though "things are still fluid", what with no official announcements having been made yet, EA is currently working toward a reveal of the first person shooter this May, before the "general E3 timeframe", which is June.
DICE is, of course, leading development on the next Battlefield, but it was recently confirmed that Criterion Games were also pulled in for support work, with this year's Need for Speed game getting pushed back as a result. Meanwhile, DICE LA is also at work on something Battlefield-related, though whether that's support work on this year's game or a separate project entirely remains to be seen.
Recent leaks have indicated that Battlefield 6 will be set in the modern day, be a cross-gen release, feature significantly improved and more dynamic destruction, and more. Read about all of that and more through here and here.
Rainbow Six Quarantine PC Requirements Have Leaked Thanks to Recent Technical Test
Rainbow Six Quarantine – or whatever Ubisoft actually ends up calling it – has been a big question mark for a while now, but of late, several leaks have been pulling the curtain back in the PvE co-op shooter. We saw some leaked footage not that long ago, and recently, new details of the game also leaked from a technical test. The game's PC requirements, for instance – or at least the PC requirements of the game's technical test – have leaked online (via Reddit).
On minimum requirements, for 1080p and 30 FPS gameplay, the game requires either an Intel i5-4460 or an AMD Ryzen 3 1200, alongside either a Radeon R9 290X or a GeForce GTX 960, and 8 GB of RAM. On recommended settings for 1080p and 60 FPS, that's kicked up to 16 GB of RAM, either a Radeon RX 580 or GeForce GTX 1660 Ti, and either an AMD Ryzen 5 1500X or an Intel i7-4790K.
Ubisoft have said that Rainbow Six Quarantine will be out some time in 2021. Though recent leaks have suggested that it's going to be renamed to Rainbow Six Parasite, Ubisoft have said that that's not going to be the game's final name.
Minimum specs (30FPS at 1080p, preset setting on Low):
- CPU: AMD Ryzen 3 1200 or Intel i5-4460
- GPU: Radeon R9 290X 4GB or Nvidia GTX 960 4GB
- RAM: 8GB
- OS: Windows 10
- Storage: 60GB
Recommended specs (60FPS at 1080p, preset setting on High):
- CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 1500X or Intel i7-4790K
- GPU: Radeon RX580 or Nvidia 1660Ti
- RAM: 16GB
- OS: Windows 10
- Storage: 60GB
Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade – Extended PS5 Features Trailer Shows More Technical Improvements
Square Enix announced Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade a short while back. An upgraded version of the action RPG made for the PS5, it promises significant visual and performance improvements, new features to boot, as well as new playable content with an entire episode featuring Yuffie as the primary playable character. Recently, at a Japanese PlayStation livestream, they showed off an extended version of the game's previously revealed PS5 features trailer, giving a deeper look at some of those upgrade.
From a mode that supports 4K resolution to a mode that supports 60 FPS gameplay, from a new photo mode to upgrades to textures, fog effects, lighting, and more, Final Fantasy 7 Remake is receiving quite the facelift for the PS5. Meanwhile, Episode Yuffie itself is promising to be quite a meaty new chunk of content as well, so it seems there's plenty of reasons for fans of the game to dive back in when Intergrade launches.
Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade will launch for PS5 on June 10, and will cost $70. Though those who have the game on PS4 can upgrade to the PS5 version for free, Episode Yuffie will still have to be purchased separately.
Final Fantasy 16 Ranks High in Famitsu Most Wanted Charts
Famitsu has released its latest weekly charts for the most highly anticipated upcoming video games, and much of it is quite predictable if you've been following these over the last few weeks. As always, Monster Hunter Rise is on top of the charts once again, and has a pretty healthy lead over the games behind it. Meanwhile, Final Fantasy 16 has risen up by a position, climbing up to second place and swapping places with Tales of Arise.
Resident Evil Village has fallen down one spot to fifth place, while The Legend of Zelda: breath of the Wild's sequel climbs up to No. 4. Meawhile, fellow Nintendo Switch exclusives Shin Megami Tensei 5 and Bayonetta 3 follow behind in sixth and seventh place respectively.
The rest of the games in the top 10 have also been frequenting these charts on a regular basis, with Rune Factory 5 slotting in at eighth place, New Pokemon Snap taking the ninth spot, and Ushiro taking the tenth position.
You can check out the full top 10 below. All votes were cast by Famitsu readers between February 25 and March 3.
1. [NSW] Monster Hunter Rise – 917 votes
2. [PS5] Final Fantasy 16 – 628 votes
3. [PS4] Tales of Arise – 618 votes
4. [NSW] The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 – 507 votes
5. [PS5] Resident Evil Village – 498 votes
6. [NSW] Shin Megami Tensei 5 – 347 votes
7. [NSW] Bayonetta 3 – 329 votes
8. [NSW] Rune Factory 5 – 299 votes
9. [NSW] New Pokemon Snap – 254 votes
10. [NSW] Ushiro – 225 votes
Gotham Knights is Looking Very Technically Impressive in Spite of Being Cross-Gen
2015's Batman: Arkham Knight was the last game in the Batman franchise to release on home consoles. While plagued by performance issues on PC, Arkham Knight was a remarkable showcase for the Unreal 3 engine, delivering on much of the promise (and visual style) of the Epic's legendary Samaritan tech demo. Six years later, we've seen high-rated superhero games like Spider-Man hit consoles, but we're a still off from the arrival of Gotham Knights, the latest Batman title. With the pandemic having pushed Gotham Knight's release date into 2022, this could go from being a cross-gen experience to a next-gen exclusive: the video footage we've seen so far shows that Gotham Knights will indeed be a visual showcase.
Let's take a closer look at the significant next-gen features in action from the available gameplay footage.
Engine overview
WB Games Montréal will be utilising the Unreal Engine 4 to create Gotham Knights in a similar vein to the previous Arkham games, which were made in Unreal Engine 3. UE4 provides some useful features to be utilised behind the scenes and a significant number are noticeable in the released gameplay footage. The high-quality post-processing which includes the motion blur, bloom, lens flare, chromatic aberration and depth of field are staple UE4 effects which can be noticeably distinguished. Particle effects including volumetric fog and sparks are also rendered in real time thanks to UE4. In the scene where Mr. Freeze starts up his gun, snow particles can be seen dynamically reacting in real time to the motion of the gun.
The characters also feature advanced shading models with each material displaying a unique reaction to light rays hitting them and with subsurface scattering visible on the face and eye textures of the main characters.
Models, texture quality, and environmental asset quality
The PS5 and the Xbox Series X feature higher VRAM than their respective predecessors, both including a 16 GB of combined RAM space for CPU and GPU usage. Gotham Knights is making great use of the higher memory capabilities with high resolution 4K textures both for character models and the environmental assets. Whether it's flopping capes of justice, the suits, snow-covered roads, intricately designed interiors, or Mr. Freeze's distinctive face and armor, those high-fidelity textures are a cut above the eighth-gen standard and pair well with the high fidelity in-game models.
The same goes for model quality, as even in cinematic close-up shots the seams and edges of both the protagonist and the complicated mechanical design of the Mr. Freeze blend smoothly. The game's clothing features some high-quality material based reflectance characteristics, with each component scattering the light rays with realistic detail depending on the underlying material texture. Skin shading with sub surface scattering is also visible under the detailed wrinkles, pores or lips of the character models.
For some reason, hair seem to be a significant weak point in some next-gen titles and even here, Batgirl's longer hair is lumped into a singular entity as if affixed by a gel. We've seen better quality strand rendering. The quality of the hair texture and its reaction to light sources is still presentable, however.
Lighting and shadow quality
Gotham Knights isn't officially confirmed to have ray-tracing yet and we don't see the technique in play in current gameplay footage, but considering how frequently developers are deploying ray-tracing – Spider-Man: Miles Morales is a good example – it is entirely possible it could be added later on. Gotham's neon lighting and ever-present puddles have the potential to look great with ray-traced reflections.
Raster-based global illumination and screen space reflections both make the cut, however. Light bounce is visible in gameplay trailers, with transference from dynamic light sources. The screen space reflections look fine, too, though, as always with SSR, temporal stability is an issue. WB Montreal also makes great use of dynamic lighting, from flashy electric sparks to the glow of unique weapons each character uses: these light up the environment and nearby particle volumes of snow and smoke. The volumetric fog present is equally affected by dynamic lights as is seen whenever a coloured super attack is utilised, such as batgirl's red-lit circle of bats.
It's interesting to note that, compared to other third-person action titles, we're seeing a higher volume of particles visible on screen for longer periods of time: the extra GPU headroom from the next-gen consoles means that WB Montreal can afford a more lax. Sparks of fire or electricity fall to the ground and bounce before dissipating, all hinting at a higher particle limit than previous gen consoles.
Shadows are also affected by the dynamic lighting and feature a form of contact-hardening, visibly getting softer as their distance from the light source increases, as seen in the final boss encounter with the huge tower of light.
UE4's deferred rendering pipeline is being leveraged to great extent here with multiple dynamic light sources in action which include particle effects, sky-lighting, and a large number of point light sources at a time.
Post-processing
When it comes to console gaming, post-process effects are one of the first to be axed whenever a gain in performance is to be attained. Thankfully, next-gen consoles offer enough processing power in the post-processing pipeline to avoid these reductions in quality and bring them at par with standard PC post-processing levels.
A superior depth-of-field effect, and per object and camera motion blur at high sample counts are visible throughout the fight scenes as well as when driving down the road in the bat-bike contraption.
There is tasteful use of bloom such as when the lightning strikes, though this is reined in in other circumstances, such as electric gun blasts, to stay in line with the overall art style.
The ambient occlusion implementation has a high sample count with accurate shading on surfaces like the grilles on ramps or large vehicles.
While it isn't visible here, we expect WB Montreal to use UE4's high-quality temporal upsampling for dynamic resolution scaling. While it isn't on par with DLSS, temporal scaling can offer reasonable image quality, even at lower resolutions, while keeping AA artifacts minimized.
On the PC side of things, NVIDIA also launched the DLSS plugin for the Unreal Marketplace a while back. Easy implementation means that we'll likely see DLSS upscaling implemented on the PC version of the game for considerable performance gains.
Conclusion
As it stands now, Gotham Knights is graphically well-crafted game that wouldn't look too out of place in a Series X or PS5 library. It is, however, lacking a number of features like ray-tracing and advanced hair physics. This is likely because of the fact that's built as a cross-gen title. It will be interesting to see whether or not WB Montreal drops the previous-gen versions entirely, which could open the door to more ambitious visuals