I've really been enjoying Foundation so far. As someone who hasn't read Asimov's books, and who can find joy in pretty much any movie or TV series so long as it looks great, I've been soaking up the spaceships and costume designs in spite of the show's plodding pace.
As fantastic as Crusader Kings III is, and as much as it lets you do as the ruler of a medieval dynasty, the nature of the game has meant that war has always been a bit distant. You can raise your armies and tell them where to go, but never directly lead the troops yourself. Until now.
'Twas nary a month ago that Crystal Dynamics took leave of their senses, and decided to infest sleepy hero sim, Marvel's Avengers, with paid-for experience boosts. With one voice the universe cried out, "Er, but you promised you wouldn't do that." A mere 25 days' profit later, the developers have issued a mea culpa,…
Jen Oneal, who assumed joint duties of the top position at Blizzard in August, will step down from the company at the end of the year, she wrote in a statement today. In the meantime, she'll transition to a new but unspecified role at Activision Blizzard. Her co-lead, Mike Ybarra, will take over the rest of her…
Activision Blizzard announced during an investor call today that Overwatch 2 and Diablo 4 won't be arriving as soon as originally planned, but didn't provide a new timeframe for when the two big sequels will eventually come out.
Do you find yourself constantly punching real-world children while playing Resident Evil 4 for the millionth time on your Oculus virtual reality headset? Well, Facebook—or, excuse me, Meta—has got you covered with Space Sense, a new feature heading to Oculus Quest and Quest 2 devices with the platform's latest…
Just two years after it launched, Niantic is already giving up on its Harry Potter: Wizards Unite augmented reality experiment. What was supposed to be Pokémon Go for the popular fantasy series will instead become just a memory when the game goes offline forever on January 31, 2022.
Masahiro Sakurai is back in Famitsu with his final column, in which he pontificates about Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as the series' potential finale. It actually sounds like Ultimate might not be the end, though Sakurai isn't certain about a sequel just yet.
The publisher behind the Dishonored, Fallout, and The Elder Scrolls tabletop games is planning to release a Skyrim board game in 2022. Skyrim - The Adventure Game will include several story campaigns, including a prequel to the events of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.
In today's Activision Blizzard financial report, the company reported 26 million monthly active users for the Blizzard side of the business across the three months ending on September 30, unchanged from the figure reported for the previous quarter. It seems that in terms of player sentiment, a sexual harassment lawsuit against Activision Blizzard, rising controversy over the direction of World of Warcraft, and the launch of Diablo II: Resurrected essentially balance out.
Blizzard reported 30 million monthly active users in the third quarter of 2020, so player numbers are down this year. But the company says revenue is up 20% year-over-year, "driven by the successful launch of Diablo II: Resurrected", and adds that "first week sales of the title were the highest recorded for a remaster from the company".
The 26 million monthly active users for Blizzard over the past two quarters is the lowest figure that side of the company has reported since Q1 of 2016, when Activision Blizzard started providing MAU metrics to begin with.
RELATED LINKS: WoW Shadowlands review, WoW Shadowlands leveling guide, WoW Classic leveling guide
As part of today's third-quarter financial results report, Activision Blizzard made a pair of major announcements: Overwatch 2 and Diablo 4 have both been delayed out of 2022, and Blizzard's recently-appointed co-leader Jen Oneal has left the company to advance the cause of diversity throughout the industry.
"As we have worked with new leadership in Blizzard and within the franchises themselves, particularly in certain key creative roles, it has become apparent that some of the Blizzard content planned for next year will benefit from more development time to reach its full potential," as the company tells investors during today's report.
There's now no clear window for either the Overwatch 2 release date or the Diablo 4 release date, though neither game had previously had a clear launch date, either - given Activision Blizzard's lowered financial expectations, however, it certainly seems that the company expected both games to launch in 2022. Overwatch League's next spring season will still run on an early build of Overwatch 2 with 5v5 competitive multiplayer matches.
RELATED LINKS: Overwatch 2 heroes, Overwatch 2 release date, Overwatch 2 talents
Sims 4's scenarios update is live today, with two new challenges for players to take on. The devs noted in the initial announcement, there'll be limited-time scenarios in addition to the standard challenges that you can take on at any time, and it seems that you'll have to be pretty fast to play them. The first limited-time scenario launches this week - and it ends this week, too.
The Too Many Toddlers scenario launches on November 3 and will be removed as of November 6, the devs have announced in a press release, though if you start the scenario before that end date, you'll still be able to play it to completion after it's removed. There are no details yet on how that scenario will play. The devs previously announced that another limited-time scenario called Perfectly Well-Rounded would come shortly after the feature's launch.
Today also saw the announcement of the Blooming Rooms kit which, as the name suggests, adds a whole bunch of greenery to decorate your homes with when it launches on November 9. As part of today's update, plants' costs and environment score bonuses have been rebalanced to better match their perceived value.
RELATED LINKS: Best Sims 4 mods, Best Sims 4 sex mods, Play The Sims 4
Here we are, League of Legends fans. The end of the League of Legends 2021 patch schedule draws close, and we're now well into Preseason 2022 testing season. League of Legends patch 11.22 is gearing up to hit the MOBA game's live battlegrounds, and while its follow-up hasn't hit the PBE for its own round of testing quite yet, Riot has been giving us an idea of what's coming - so here's an early look for you to check out before the fresh batch o' PBE stuff goes live tomorrow morning.
As revealed by Riot on its various social media channels, patch 11.23 brings a batch of sugary sweet Café Cutie skins, with Annie, Soraka, Vladimir, Gwen, Bard, and Sivir being the lucky champions in for new looks in the alternate universe line this update. While the skins haven't yet hit the PBE - with it not due to come back from maintenance for a little while yet - you can get a peek from Riot's channels in the New Champion Skins section below.
As for balance changes, we don't yet have an idea of which champs, items, or runes might be in for buffs or nerfs this patch just yet. However, keep checking back on these notes over the update's two-week-long testing cycle as we'll keep them updated with everything you need to know.
RELATED LINKS: Best LoL Champions , League of Legends patch 11.20, LoL tier list
The developers behind Marvel's Avengers have announced that Hero's Catalysts and Fragment Extractors will be removed from the real money store. These items boosted XP and fragment currency gains respectively, and their addition to the game's suite of optional microtransactions immediately drew the ire of players - both because of their pay-to-win implications, and because the developers promised prior to launch that in-game purchases would exclusively be cosmetic.
"We apologise for not responding sooner to your concerns about the addition of paid consumables in the Marketplace," the devs say in a tweet. "We introduced them as an option for an evolving player base, and did not see them as pay-to-win since they don't offer power directly. After considering your feedback, we have decided that by the end of today we will remove Hero's Catalysts and Fragment Extractors for purchase. They will continue to be earnable rewards and those already owned are still usable."
The boosters were initially added to the game shortly after its move to Xbox Game Pass in late September. In a pre-launch blog post back in 2020, the developers "committed that content purchasable with real money in Marvel's Avengers will be aesthetic-only additions, which will ensure we can keep the game fresh for years to come".
RELATED LINKS: Marvel's Avengers review, Best action-adventure games on PC, The best open-world games on PC
There's a segment in a 2003 episode of radio series This American Life from 2003, in which a man named Dan Fitzsimons talks about a cable television channel he tried to launch in the '90s. It was the "Puppy Channel". A 24/7 broadcast of nothing but puppies.
At the time, no cable provider liked the idea enough to make it happen, but I think about the story a lot. I think about it on days like today, on which Twitch has just introduced a new "Animals, Aquariums, and Zoos" category to the livestreaming platform.
"Storm Point. It's a place where dreams come true," says a character at the end of Apex Legends' Escape mode trailer. Given the two preceding minutes, presumably the dreams have to involve being fired into the sky and then stabbing a bunch of dudes.
Apex Legends' new season, including Storm Point map and new character Ash, are all live now.
Marvel's Avengers came to Xbox Game Pass at the end of September. A week later, Square Enix added paid, consumable XP boosters to its in-game store, to much predictable uproar from its players.
Today, Square Enix announced that they were removing the boosters, while apologising "for not responding sooner" to players' concerns.
Earlier today, Matthew offered up his thoughts on Aiko's Choice, the standalone expansion for ninja stealth 'em up Shadow Tactics: Blades Of The Shogun. In a synchronised attack, publishers Daedalic also spat out the release date: December 6th.
Activision have squirted out another Call Of Duty: Vanguard trailer, but the drippings are more specifically relevant to us this time. It's the game's "PC trailer", and it appears alongside a blog post offering more detail on download sizes, specs and so on.
When it rains, it pours.
The post Blizzard Shake-Up Continues As Co-head Jen Oneal Prepares Departure appeared first on Twinfinite.
Nowhere is safe from the reaches of Skyrim.
The post Experience Tabletop RPG Goodness With The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim – The Adventure Game appeared first on Twinfinite.
The guerillas get a helping hand.
The post Latest Far Cry 6 Patch Brings Bug Fixes, Improvements & DLC Preparations appeared first on Twinfinite.
While it's a pretty solid game at its core, New World has suffered through its fair share of problems since launch. World transfers were a bit of a confusing mess, there was a gold exploit that came with it, and now, Amazon has taken drastic measures in an effort to resolve issues surrounding another gold […]
The post New World's Economy Is on Fire As Auction House & Taxes Get Halted appeared first on Twinfinite.
The location-based AR game Harry Potter: Wizards Unite is closing down early next year, Jan. 22, 2022, publisher Niantic has announced today. It will be removed from the App Store and Google Play following that date, while in-game purchases will cease to be available from Dec. 6, 2021. Wizards Unite, which was largely based on […]
The post Harry Potter: Wizards Unite Is Closing Down as of January, 2022 appeared first on Twinfinite.
Today third-party developers had news to share about upcoming add-ons for Microsoft Flight Simulator, on top of a relevant aircraft release.
The post Microsoft Flight Simulator F-35 & F-104 Get New Screenshots & Video; Twin Otter Liveries Revealed; Bonanza V-Tail Released appeared first on Twinfinite.
During today's financial conference call, Activision Blizzard executives announced delays for Diablo IV and Overwatch 2.
The post Diablo IV and Overwatch 2 Delayed by Activision appeared first on Twinfinite.
Activision announced its financial results for the third quarter of 2021, related to the period between July 1 and September 30.
The post Activision Blizzard Announces Better-than-Expected Financial Results appeared first on Twinfinite.
Earlier today, Wired Productions and Limited Run Games revealed they would be teaming up to bring fans of the BAFTA Games nominated title, The Falconeer, to vinyl. According to the official press release, the premium Double Vinyl is limited to 1,000 pressings, with 500 in 'Azure Blue' available exclusively from the Wired store for the […]
The post The Falconeer Limited Edition Double Vinyl Pre-Orders Have Gone Live appeared first on Twinfinite.
Riders Republic on PS4 Extreme sports have always been my jam. Whether it was playing video games like SSX Trickey, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, and Skate or the brief period I lived in Park City snowboarding the day away, I can never say no to the adrenaline rush that comes alongside experiencing these crazy activities. […]
The post Riders Republic Review – Obnoxious Potential appeared first on Twinfinite.
Today NIS America released another trailer of the western localization of The Cruel King and the Great Hero.
The post The Cruel King and The Great Hero for Nintendo Switch & PS4 Looks Adorable in New Gameplay Trailer appeared first on Twinfinite.
While Dead or Alive appears to be dormant on consoles, the free-to-play PC game Dead or Alive Xtreme: Venus Vacation continues to grow.
The post Dead or Alive Xtreme: Venus Vacation Reveals New Girl Koharu appeared first on Twinfinite.
The DLC campaign continues where the main story left off and comes with plenty of bells and whistles.
The post SAO Alicization Lycoris DLC Expansion Now Available appeared first on Siliconera.
We're getting closer to the end of the SMT V demon videos, and the latest two show how Shiki-Ouji and Sudama could help a Nahobino out.
The post See How Shiki-Ouji and Sudama Can Help in SMT V appeared first on Siliconera.
Siliconera spoke with Sugi about Tales of Luminaria about its development, characters, and how its launch and updates will be simultaneous.
The post Interview: Sugi Discusses Tales of Luminaria Characters and Development appeared first on Siliconera.
A manual save system would've been nice With the way Far Cry 6 forces players to rely on autosaves, things...
The post Far Cry 6 update fixes the 'looping death' bug and other progress blockers appeared first on Destructoid.
Virtuoso Neomedia, Future Club, and Perfect Garbage will all receive support from the fund In January, Glitch founder Evva Karr...
The post Moonrise Fund reveals the first three game studios it's backing appeared first on Destructoid.
In case, five years later, you're finally ready to fight In the five years since the release of Street Fighter...
The post Street Fighter V All Character Pack is actually, maybe, probably, SFV's last DLC drop appeared first on Destructoid.
More time needed for the games to reach their 'full potential' During a Q3 2021 earnings report, Blizzard announced that...
The post Diablo IV and Overwatch 2 feel even more elusive after a delay appeared first on Destructoid.
Mike Ybarra will be taking over sole leadership of Blizzard One of Blizzard's leaders has announced they're stepping away from...
The post Blizzard co-leader Jen Oneal is leaving the company appeared first on Destructoid.
Kingdoms of Amalur, Knockout City, First Class Trouble, and three PS VR bonuses [Update: We're actually getting six games for...
The post PlayStation Plus has six games for November, and it's time to claim them appeared first on Destructoid.
The Pokemon Go follow-up is closing its doors in January Harry Potter: Wizards Unite is gradually shutting down over the coming months. Niantic...
The post Niantic's Harry Potter: Wizards Unite is shutting down appeared first on Destructoid.
Localizations also headed westward Today is a day, and that means that it's time for another old-school shmup to announce...
The post Frantic Xbox 360 shmup Eschatos is headed to PS4 and Switch appeared first on Destructoid.
Both purchasable Hero's Catalysts and Fragment Extractors will leave the shop today Crystal Dynamics has announced it will be removing...
The post Marvel's Avengers is removing its paid consumables appeared first on Destructoid.
New World players discovered a glitch that allowed them to duplicate gold. At least one way to accomplish it was having a player starting a trade with another, with zero gold, using a lag switch. After the sender confirmed their side of the trade, the receiver would enable the lag switch followed by them accepting the trade. The trade would then be canceled and a reconnection would occur. This often resulted in gold being duplicated, letting some players rack up coin that they hadn't earned, much to the ire of players who want the economy and wealth transfers in New World to remain balanced and fair. Amazon has already swiftly responded to this by disabling all wealth transfers until the glitch has been removed from New World. At the time of this writing, all players are unable to send currency, use the guild treasury, utilize trading posts, or initiate player-to-player trades. What's more, anyone that has utilized the above glitch will be "actioned against" ... 
At the end of September, Amazon unleashed a new MMORPG for PC owners to play. Titled New World, it was immensely successful at launch, hitting peaks of over 900,000 concurrent players. However, just one month later and the player count for New World has fallen considerably. According to Steamcharts, it is averaging 340,000 concurrent players and hitting lows of around 130,000. It is worth understanding that a decreasing playerbase is completely normal for any new game. There are simply a lot of players who try out something when it launches and decide that it isn't to their taste. Despite this, the rapid rate at which New World's playerbase is leaving is a concern. Why is everyone leaving? There are several reasons that players are leaving. However, many feel that above all the state of the game at release is the most difficult issue to overlook. Even if it's not the sole reason, it seems likely that the various bugs and exploits have played a role in the pl... 
Following the news of Overwatch 2 and Diablo IV getting delayed, Blizzard Co-Leader Jen Oneal has announced she's leaving the company. Oneal stepped into the role, alongside Mike Ybarra, only three months ago when former Blizzard President J. Allen Brack departed. She announced that she will move to a new position before leaving the company at "the end of the year." Mike Ybarra takes over as the leader of Blizzard starting today. Oneal revealed the news in a message posted to the Blizzard website. In the announcement, she writes that she's "been thinking about the potential of what I can do as an individual to create the most meaningful change." Oneal has worked in the games industry for two decades. She was the former head of Vicarious Visions before it got brought into Blizzard. She's been a part of the company since January. During the year, Activision Blizzard has been surrounded by controversy. However, Oneal maintains she isn't l... 
Kingdom Two Crowns launched to acclaim back in December of 2018. Has it really been three whole years? Despite this large chunk of time, Kingdom Two Crowns is still getting DLC in the form of Norse Lands, which has a release date set for this month. Players who have been eagerly waiting for more content these last few years will finally be able to jump back into the game. Although Norse Lands is the first paid DLC, there have been free updates to the game that extended its base content. There are just a couple of short weeks to go until everyone will be able to install and fight off the enemy in new locations. The Norse Lands DLC for Kingdom Two Crowns is being released on November 16, meaning that this announcement comes exactly two weeks prior to launch. As you've likely surmised, Norse Lands is an entirely new campaign featuring an all-new setting and fresh challenges. Making good use of the premise, the DLC will allow players to use abilities from the Norse gods themselves... 
Activision Blizzard announced some big changes following the release of its financial report today. According to the company, both Overwatch 2 and Diablo IV have been delayed to a "later launch." There have been rumors that Overwatch 2 would in fact get further pushed, but today marks the company's official confirmation on the move. Activision delivered a series of slides detailing its Quarter 3 results, revealing the news in the one titled "Update on Our Pipeline." In the slide, the company writes that "some of the Blizzard content planned for next year will benefit from more development time to reach its full potential." That Blizzard content mentioned consists of both Diablo IV and Overwatch 2, which have been delayed until further down the road. "While we are still planning to deliver a substantial amount of content from Blizzard next year, we are now planning for a later launch for Overwatch 2 and Diablo IV than originally ...