EA is Intent on Driving Players to Loot Boxes in FIFA Ultimate Team, Leaked Document Suggests

loot boxes

The predatory nature of loot boxes and randomized real-money purchases in games has become a major topic of discussion for many in the industry, and many even outside it. Loot boxes as a concept have been viewed as being potentially dangerous for their addictive and random nature and have been likened to gambling, with many calling for outright bans. Belgium has outright declared loot boxes to be gambling and banned them, while other governing bodies in countries have also eyed the process.

The company that has engaged in these monetization practices the most is, of course, EA, to the extent that they've almost become synonymous with loot boxes at this point. In fact, a huge chunk of their business revolves around randomized purchases in Ultimate Team modes in their yearly sports titles (with FIFA being the biggest revenue generator). That wasn't ever in any doubt, of course, but a new damning document has leaked in a report by CBC News, and suggests that that has very much become a central strategy for EA.

The document – a presentation made for internal purposes – mentions that EA is going "everything [it] can" to drive players to FIFA Ultimate Team. FUT is described as the "cornerstone" of the FIFA experience, with EA wanting to "funnel players towards" the mode, with everything from "active messaging" to "content teasers." "All roads lead to FUT," the 54-page document summarizes.

An EA spokesperson called the document "privileged and confidential" and said that the information presented within it is being "viewed without context", and that any conclusions and interpretations are following as a result are "misinformed."

"All EA games can be played without spending on in-game items, and the majority of players do not spend," the EA rep added.

Within the industry itself, some have been taking steps to curb the randomized nature of loot boxes in video games. The ESRB has started including labels for games with randomized purchases, while platform holders have agreed on a policy to disclose loot box odds to players.

May 2021's Xbox Live Games With Gold Revealed

Microsoft has announced the free games Xbox Live Gold subscribers can acquire next month as a part of their Games With Gold Program today.

Users will be able to download Armello throughout the month of May. This dark fairy tale game combines the tactics of a card game with the strategy of a tabletop game to create a rich RPG with a focus on character building. From May 16th to June 15th, members can pick up Dungeons 3, a dungeon building RTS in which players command the forces of evil as they attempt to conquer the overworld.

From May 1st to May 15th, players on Xbox 360, Xbox One, and the Xbox Series console can grab the original Lego Batman and play as Gotham's greatest heroes and villains. From May 16th to May 31st, Gold players can grab Tropico 4 and rule over a small island nation. All told, this month's games have a value of $79.96 ESRP and offer 4,000 gamerscore to collect.

If you haven't picked up all of April's games, you still have time. You can still pick up Truck Racing Championship and the excellent Contra: Hard Corps. As a reminder, Xbox Live Gold is included with Game Pass Ultimate.

You can check out a video describing this month's Games With Gold titles below, courtesy of Microsoft.

Resident Evil Village Demo Availability Period Extended by a Week

resident evil village

Resident Evil Village launches in less than two weeks, but before the full game is out, Capcom is giving players the chance to get a taste of what it will have in store with playable demos. PlayStation players have already gotten very brief glimpses of the game, first with the Maiden demo earlier this year, and then snippets of the game's Village and Castle sections over the last couple of weeks.

A demo combining those two sections will be going live across all platforms on day one, but responding to criticism for the convoluted way the demo's release has been structured and the fact that it will only be available within a 24-hour period (with a hard 60 minute time limit), Capcom have confirmed that the demo's availability period is being increased.

Still going live at 5 PM PDT on May 1, the demo will now remain live for over a week, and will be available until May 9 5 PM PDT. The 60 minute time limit within the demo itself will still be in place, but at least now you don't have to contend with an incredibly short window to be able to try it out.

Resident Evil Village is out on May 7 for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One, PC, and Stadia.

Starfield Will be Exclusive to Xbox; Microsoft "Trying Their Hardest" for a Holiday 2021 Launch – Rumour

starfield

With Microsoft's acquisition of Bethesda's parent company ZeniMax now officially set in stone, there's quite a bit of exclusive content for anyone with Xbox Game Pass to look forward to. Bethesda has quite a few big games in the works, of course, and the biggest of these is probably Starfield. People have been looking forward to the sci-fi RPG for some time now, and it seems like it might just arrive in the not-so-distant future.

In his recent Xbox Two podcast (via Pure Xbox), Xbox insider Rand al'Thor said that Microsoft and Bethesda are trying their hardest to get Starfield out by Holiday this year. He added that the game's development is essentially done, and Bethesda are currently in the process of polishing the game. Meanwhile, he also stated that Starfield will without a doubt be an Xbox console exclusive- which shouldn't surprise you at this point, honestly. It's a Microsoft-owned property, after all.

"I've been told, by very reliable people that Starfield was 100% an Xbox exclusive," he said. "I've even made bets about it, and I don't bet unless I know I'm willing to bet. So I'm really, really confident that Starfield is only releasing on Xbox when it does, and I've been told as well that Microsoft is trying their hardest to get the game out for this holiday. They really want Starfield out this holiday.

The game's basically sort of finished – it's in bug squashing mode right now, very much like Halo Infinite, and it would be a big boon for Game Pass and Xbox if both Halo and Starfield could launch this fall."

This isn't the first time we've heard similar reports about Starfield. The game's allegedly been targeting a late 2021 launch for some time now, and recently, it was also reported that Microsoft intended to unveil the game in full at E3 and then launch it later in the year. Read more on that through here.

Of course, we'll keep you updated on any new info that comes our way, so stay tuned.

Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart State of Play Confirmed for Thursday

ratchet and clank rift apart

With Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart less than a couple months away from launch now, Sony and Insomniac are ready to kick the game's marketing into gear, which should entail new information and gameplay footage. The newest gameplay trailer did just that, showing new gameplay and releasing details on the mysterious female Lombax, whose name has been confirmed to be Rivet. But that's not all- there's more coming up.

Sony has also confirmed that there will be a new State of Play episode broadcast this Thursday at 2 PM Pacific Time. The broadcast will be focused on Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart, and will be showing extended gameplay footage from the upcoming action platformer. In addition to that, however, the State of Play episode will also feature new updates on a couple of upcoming indie game (hopefully, Kena: Bridge of Spirits will be one of them).

Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart launches exclusively for the PS5 on June 11. New details on the game's digital deluxe edition were also recently revealed- read more on that through here.

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity Has Shipped 3.7 Million Units

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity may not have been the Breath of the Wild prequel that it may have been advertised as, but that aside, it was a great musou action game in every sense of the word. Appropriately enough, the game has been enjoying sales that reflect that, and recently crossed another milestone, with Koei Tecmo confirming during their recent earnings call (via industry analyst Daniel Ahmad on Twitter) that the game has shipped a total of 3.7 million units worldwide as of March 31.

That means the game shipped roughly 200,000 units during the previous quarter, having shipped 3.5 million units as of the end of last year. Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity is also the best selling musou game Koei Tecmo have ever made. In fact, it earned that tag less than a week from its launch.

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity is available exclusively for Nintendo Switch. An expansions pass for the game has also been announced, with the first DLC for the title due out in June. Read more on that through here.

Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart – Digital Deluxe Edition's Five Armour Sets Revealed

ratchet and clank rift apart image

Insomniac Games and Sony have dropped some vital new details on the upcoming Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart, showing juicy tidbits of new gameplay in a trailer and also revealing new details on Rivet, the mysterious female Lombax who's being introduced as a new protagonist. Along with that, in an update on the PlayStation blog, they've also revealed some more new details on the game's digital deluxe edition.

The digital deluxe edition was announced and unveiled some time back, back when the game's launch date was first announced. Now, Insomniac have detailed one specific point- namely, what the five armor sets included in the package will be. These will, of course, be purely cosmetic skins, usable (presumably) with both Ratchet and Rivet. These include the Imperial, Scavenger, Rebel, Hacker, and Android suits. Check them out below.

In addition to the five armour sets, the digital deluxe edition will also include a sticker pack for the game's photo mode, a digital art book, a digital soundtrack, and 20 pieces of Raritanium to use in-game. And, of course, it will also include the base game itself.

Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart is out exclusively for the PS5 on June 11.

ratchet and clank rift apart

Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart Gameplay Trailer Introduces New Protagonist Rivet

ratchet and clank rift apart

Insomniac had promised an update on the upcoming Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart, and that update is now here. The mysterious female Lombax who showed up in the game's debut trailer has been a big question mark for some time now, and the action platformer's newest gameplay trailer provides some key details on her. Her name is Rivet, and she is a resistance fighter in another dimension fighting against Emperor Nefarious.

She will, of course, be playable, and plenty of her gameplay is also shown off in the trailer, while we also get glimpses of some interesting new combat and traversal mechanics, as well as some new weapons. Meanwhile, a few locations are also shown off in the trailer, including, as promised earlier, a mix of new and alternate versions of returning locations. One new area is named in a PlayStation Blog update as Nefarious City, while the trailer also briefly shows alternate takes on familiar locations such as Sargasso and Torren IV.

Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart launches exclusively for the PS5 on June 11. Insomniac Games have previously confirmed that the game will feature two visual modes– one running at 4K and 30 FPS, and the other at 60 FPS at a lower resolution.

Respawn Entertainment is Working on a New IP

respawn entertainment logo

Respawn Entertainment has plenty of irons in the fire right now. Apex Legends is going strong as ever, and the developer plans on expanding it even further in the coming months, while a sequel to Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order is also currently in the works- but it seems there's more stuff in the pipeline from Respawn as well.

Apparently, the developer has started working on a new, unannounced IP, according to job listings posted to its careers page. An ad for a software engineer, for instance, confirms that "a compact incubation team" at Respawn is "currently developing a brand new IP." The fact that it's been described that way, and that the ad itself mentions that the applicant will have "early involvement" in the IP's development, suggests that it's still quite early in production, and might not see the light of day for quite some time- but at least it's in the works.

Here's hoping we eventually see Titanfall 3 as well- though whether or not that happens is, it seems, completely up to Respawn itself.

Godfall Rated for PS4 by PEGI

Godfall might have been the first ever game to be officially confirmed for the PS5, but it's fair to say that things didn't pan out the way developer Counterplay Games would have hoped. The looter-slasher RPG received middling reviews at best (and downright terrible at worst), but it seems the game will soon be opening the door for more players to give it a go.

It was confirmed shortly before it came out that Godfall had a timed exclusivity period on the PS5 lasting six months. That period is now over, and it seems the game is coming to the PS4 soon- that's according to a rating handed to a PS4 version of the game by European ratings board PEGI. Of course, no announcement for this has been officially made so far, but if this is indeed accurate, one should be coming sooner rather than later.

As it stands right now, Godfall is available on PS5 and PC.

In our review of Godfall, we awarded it a score of 6/10, calling it "an aggressively mediocre game". You can read our full review through here.