Tales of Arise Stream on July 29th Will Showcase Skits, Camping and More

A new livestream for Bandai Namco's Tales of Arise has been announced, taking place on July 29th, 8 PM JST. It features producer Yuusuke Tomizawa alongside voice actor Haruna Ikezawa (the voice of Kisara) with a focus on the various systems that Tales fans are familiar with.

This includes skits – dialogue exchanges where party members have throwaway conversations – along with camping and fishing. Fans will also have their questions answered so we may receive even more details on the RPG. For now, it's already confirmed that party members won't interact at the end of battles so it should be interesting to see how the new skits pan out.

Tales of Arise is currently set to release on September 10th for Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PS4, PS5 and PC. For more details on the combat, which includes aspects like Burst Strikes and Counter Edges, head here. You can also check out the animated opening and official theme here.

Ghost of Tsushima Director's Cut – Iki Island Story Details Revealed In New Trailer

Sucker Punch Studios have recently released a new trailer for Ghost of TsushimaDirector's Cut- Iki Island expansion. A new number of story details have emerged, and you can check out the trailer below.

In the Iki Island expansion, protagonist Jin Sakai will take on a shaman called Ankhsar Khatun, referred to as by "The Eagle." The new expansion is touted to be more high-stakes than before, and Jin must take help from the inhabitants of the island to defeat this enemy. The Eagle seems to have some form of drink that has hypnotic powers, which puts Jin into hallucinatory sequences.

In a PlayStation Blog update, senior writer Patrick Downs writes, "Our semi-fictional version of Iki Island provides a stark contrast to Tsushima. It is a wild, lawless land of raiders and criminals, scarred by memories of war, and fiercely independent; the samurai have not been in control there for decades. Skilled though he is, Jin can't take on the Mongols alone. He will have to work with—or around—a coterie of unsavory characters to take the fight to the Eagle. The cost of failure is too high. If the Eagle and her tribe subdue Iki and muster the support of its people, Tsushima and the rest of Japan will be in grave danger."

While Sony's pricing models for Ghost of Tsushima's Director's Cut has been a major point of contention among fans, there are many reasons to be excited for the game. It's also been confirmed that the game's file size on PS5 is 60 GB. Ghost of Tsushima: Director's Cut releases on August 20 for PS4 and PS5.

Two Point Hospital Going Free-to-Play For a Week On Nintendo Switch, Offer Starts July 28th

Nintendo has recently revealed that Two Point Hospital will be going free-to-play for a week, starting July 28th up to 8th August. Nintendo of Europe took to Twitter to announce it formally, and NintendoLife seems to be the first one to report the story.

Two Point Hospital will be featured in the Nintendo Game Trials, which allows Switch Online subscribers to try out the full game for a limited period of time – a week in this case. Among Us is also currently on offer, so interested fans might want to check it out. It's not yet confirmed whether the offer would be exclusive to the Europe region or not, but details are sure to emerge shortly.

Two Point Hospital is a simulation game that tasks players to well, run a hospital. Developer Two Point games recently announced Two Point Campus, set to release in 2022 for all major platforms. Two Point Hospital is available now on PC, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC.

Halo Co-Creator Was "Pretty Worried" About Halo Infinite After 2020's Gameplay Showings

Halo co-creator Marcus Lehto recently sat down for an interview with Youtube channel HiddenXperia, wherein he expressed his past concerns about Halo Infinite after the underwhelming reveal trailer last year. Check out the full interview below for more details.

Marcus Lehto seems to be elated about how 343 Industries took the feedback and applied it to the game. According to Marcus, the game looked great in the multiplayer showings this E3, and he can't wait to play the game later this year. In addition to this, he also jokes about being jealous of 343 Industries as Halo Infinite – to him – seems to be one the best Halos ever made.

"I was pretty worried by what I saw last E3. I think the community in general was. But, you can clearly see that 343 listened to all of that feedback, and what they turned around for this year was impressive," Lehto said(as transcribed by GameSpot).

"As an artist and creative director looking at the overall game, [I am] really impressed with where they are taking things and how they are kind of harkening back to some of the original designs," he said. "Yes, I know a lot of the designs were from the Bungie era, but they're taking their own spin on it still. They're not just copying things verbatim. They're making it unique for Infinite, and it feels like it. It feels really good. Not gonna lie, I'm kinda jealous because I think it looks like one of the best Halos that has been created thus far. So I really can't wait to hop in there and see what they've done with it. I have all the hope and positive vibes for 343 when it comes to them wrapping up Infinite and getting it out there this fall. I hope the community is there to support them as well."

Halo Infinite's original E3 showing spawned numerous variations of Craig the Brute meme, and the game definitely looks in a much better shape now. The game will feature live storytelling elements, a flexible battle pass system, and a number of other things. Halo Infinite will be releasing this Holiday on Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, and PC.

Tom Clancy's Elite Squad Being Shut Down Later This Year, Ubisoft Confirms

Ubisoft has recently announced that it would be dropping support for its free-to-play mobile shooter, Tom Clancy's Elite Squad. In a blog post on the offcial Elite Squad website, Ubisoft confirmed that no new content updates will be releasing for the game going forward.

Furthermore, servers for the game would be shut down on October 4th, 2021. Tom Clancy's Elite Squad released in August 2020, and dropping support as early as an year of release isn't a good sign. Of course, Ubisoft has it's reasons which while it hasn't directly mentioned in the blog post, is most definitely low player counts.

This news comes shortly after Ubisoft announced a new free-to-play game set in the Tom Clancy universe, xDefiant. Ubisoft also has a free-to-play battle royale, Hyper Scape which also failed to gain much traction in the genre. However, Ubisoft continues to remain interested in pursuing free-to-play live-service ventures such as The Division Heartland.

Company of Heroes 3 Video Breaks Down Dynamic Campaign Map, Companies and More

Following the announcement of Company of Heroes 3, Relic Entertainment has detailed how its Dynamic Campaign Map will work. Essentially, the campaign takes place on a large open map where players can battle, cut off enemy supply lines and capture objectives. There are two main unit types – Companies and Detachments.

Companies are your major force and they consist of unique unit rosters with different unlocks and abilities each. For instance, a US Airborne company allows for aggressive strikes along with granting access to Elite Paratroopers. Once Companies enter combat, then battles play out in the classic style of RTS skirmish gameplay. Companies can also gain Veterancy and Officers for more unique abilities and bonuses.

Detachments are smaller support units that operate independently of Companies, providing unique effects on missions. A British Medical detachment, for example, can be used to call in a half-track that reinforces and heals your troops. Other elements include calling in a US Naval Destroyer squadron in range of a mission to provide fire support. However, you might also want to use to launch a preemptive strike on a mission (the results which can be seen when a company enters the same).

Company of Heroes 3 is slated to release in 2022 for PC but a pre-alpha preview is currently ongoing. Stay tuned for more details in the meantime.

Soulcalibur 6 Has Sold Over 2 Million Copies

There's been an embarrassment of riches in the fighting games genre these last few years with releases such as Mortal Kombat 11, Guilty Gear Strive, and the ongoing support for Street Fighter 5. Another major release a few years ago was Bandai Namco's Soulcalibur 6, and the game certainly seems to be doing very well for itself.

Bandai Namco recently took to Twitter via the series' official account and confirmed that Soulcalibur 6 has sold over 2 million units worldwide. The game launched nearly three years ago in October of 2018, so the pace of its sales certainly doesn't compare to something like, say, the aforementioned Mortal Kombat 11- but it's still an impressive accomplishment.

Soulcalibur 6 is available on PS4, Xbox One, and PC. In our review of the game, we awarded it a score of 9/10, saying, "Smart gameplay refinements, a ton of content, the return of the original cast, and excellent teaching tools makes this the best Soulcalibur in years and prove that the soul still burns 20 years later." You can read our full review through here.

Project 007 Will Feature Sandbox Storytelling Similar to Hitman, Job Ad Suggests

IO Interactive has built a reputation for itself as one of the best developers of stealth gameplay in the industry- more specifically, it's Hitman's brand of sandbox, systems-drive, emergent design that opens up nearly limitless options in player choice that the studio has become associated with. Hitman's not the only thing the studio is working on though, with Project 007 in particular also in the works, and many have wondered what IO Interactive's take on James Bond is going to look like.

Apparently, there might be more than a few similarities between Project 007 and the brand of stealth gameplay that Hitman is known for. Several job listings are currently up on IO Interactive's website that seem to contain brief details about the direction of the project. In particular, the ad for the position of Audio Director suggests that Project 007 is going to be "a sandbox storytelling game", which sounds a whole lot like the emergent storytelling in the sandboxes of Hitman games.

Of course, past job ads have also suggested that the game is also going to have a much more cinematic flair with a larger emphasis on storytelling, but it seems like it's still going to retain many of Hitman's strengths.

Interestingly enough, the ad for the position of AI Programmer states that the developer has created a brand-new "cutting edge" AI framework. Given how crucial AI is in IO's Hitman games, it should be interesting to see what changes they have implemented.

Finally, the ad for Senior Gameplay Producer also states that the studio is currently prototyping new systems for shooting gameplay and melee combat- which certainly makes sense. As good as Hitman is, its flimsy shooting and melee combat simply wouldn't cut it in a Bond game.

Pro Evolution Soccer Officially Renamed to eFootball, Goes Free to Play in Autumn

After an open beta launched late last month, Konami has finally confirmed that the Pro Evolution Soccer franchise will be renamed to eFootball. The series received the eFootball moniker two years ago with eFootball PES 2020 but that's not the only change. eFootball will also be digital only and launches as a free to play title for Xbox One, PC, Xbox Series X/S, PS4 and PC in Autumn with iOS and Android versions coming later.

As IGN notes, cross-play will be available for all versions by the Winter (with mobile players needing to use controllers to participate). Instead of the FOX Engine, eFootball is developed on a custom version of Unreal Engine 4. All versions will be functionally the same though it will be lighter in content at launch. The plan is to provide free yearly updates instead of new annual releases with eFootball serving as a platform as per series producer Seitaro Kimura. And yes, there will be a Battle Pass-style system with Match Passes.

Exhibition matches and nine clubs are available at launch but other modes must be purchased via DLC (which will be optional). Konami hasn't detailed how monetization will work but it wants to make the game "fair and balanced" for all. The good news is that Peter Drury and Jim Belgin are returning as the English-language commentators along with Option Files for customizing the game (though the latter is coming post launch).

In terms of new features, fans can expect a new animation system called Motion Matching which provides four times as many animations as previous titles. It will also be available for all versions of the game in stark contrast to FIFA 22's HyperMotion being exclusive to Xbox Series X/S and PS5. More details on the gameplay and online modes are coming in late August so stay tuned. In the meantime, check out the roadmap below.

eFootball roadmap

Sledgehammer Games Reveals its New Logo

Sledgehammer Games has been part of Call of Duty's three-studio development cycle for a while now, and even though the developer skipped 2020's game to make room for Treyarch and Raven Software's Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, Sledgehammer is back in the driver's seat for this year's instalment. And ahead of unveiling that game, they've also changed up their whole look.

Essentially, it's just a new logo- but it certainly looks quite different from their previous one, that's for sure. The studio shared a short gif over on Twitter to show the new logo, as well as a variant of it that features the "SHG" shorthand rather than their full name. Check it out below.

This year's Call of Duty game is allegedly titled Call of Duty: Vanguard, and is reportedly going to be revealed next month, likely via Warzone the way Black Ops Cold War was last year. Stay tuned for all the details to come out of that announcement.