Call Of Duty 2021 Confirmed To Be Cross-Gen And Still Planned For Fourth Quarter Release

Well, to say the least, Activision has been in the news quite a lot over the last month. The company seems to be in the midst of maybe the biggest PR firestorm we've ever seen in the gaming world, or at least the biggest one in recent memory. How that will impact the company, or not impact it, remains to be seen. However, despite the current environment, business goes on, and today we got confirmation that the one thing you can count on is still happening as planned.

In an earnings call earlier today, and as detailed by the folks at VGC, President and COO of Activision Daniel Alegre confirmed that the latest entry in the Call of Duty franchise is still very much on track to release in the last quarter of 2021. Little details were offered, only that it will be cross-gen, which is probably no surprise, and that it would be returning to a setting that we 'know and love.'

"Our teams remain hard at work on the next new premium Call of Duty release, planned for the fourth quarter," he said. "From a setting that our fans know and love to an incredible amount of content in development including an extensive live ops schedule, we believe this release will be incredibly well received.

"In addition to launching a great seamless experience for both current and next-gen console players, we are focused on continuing to integrate Warzone and engaging our direct relationship with our player base through even deeper content integration between the premium and free experiences and substantial innovation coming within Warzone itself."

The current rumor is that the game will be revealed later this month with the potential name of Vanguard. If rumors are accurate it will return to a World War 2 setting and be developed by Sledgehammer Games, who also developed Call of Duty: WWII, the last game in the series to share that setting.

Battlefield 2042's PC Requirements Seemingly Leaked – Rumor

This holiday season, we'll be going to the climate change ravaged near future with Battlefield 2042. The game hopes to once again dazzle us with multiplayer action with a new, more modern setting after the last game brought us back to World War 2. The game will come to most major platforms, including PC of course, and today we might have gotten a leaked look at what kind of rig you'll need.

Leaker Tom Henderson, who has been leaking all types of 2042 information, has shown off the alleged PC requirements from a playtest. It's actually not too bad if accurate, as the minimum requirements want you to have AMD FX-8350 or Intel Core i5 6600K with an AMD Radeon RX 560 or Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 Ti and 8 GB of RAM. Recommended bumps things up to AMD Ryzen 5 3600 or Intel Core i7 4790 with Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 or AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT with 16 GB of RAM. Storage size is not listed.

While Henderson has been pretty accurate so far, we still put it as a rumor for now until EA posts the official specs. Worth nothing, of course, that it's unclear what is being targeted with either minimum or required (1080p, 4k, 1440p, etc.). An open beta is coming in September before the October 22nd release, so we should have a better idea closer to that time period.

Session Developer Acquired by Nacon

Creat-ure Studios, developer of early access skateboarding sim Session, has been acquired by Nacon. The latter is already the title's publisher but the acquisition is part of an ongoing growth strategy to "further expand" into the sports game segment, as per CEO Alain Falc.

Crea-ture Studios founding directors Marc-Andre House and Vincent da Silva said that, "We are delighted to join the Nacon group, which has more than 30 years of experience in the sector. This is a great opportunity to accelerate our development and offer ever more exciting games." The press release confirmed that House and da Silva will contiue leading the team and also have a "great deal of autonomy" while having Nacon's marketing, editorial and commercial resources at their disposal.

Currently, there are 12 development sites under Nacon's video games division with over 500 developers and a publishing team of 60. The company's 2023 plan is to become one of the "leaders in 'AA' video games". Other studios that have been acquired include Big Ant Studios and Cyanide (which developed Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Earthblood and is currently working on Blood Bowl 3).

As for Session, it's currently available in Steam Early Access and Game Preview for PC and Xbox One. Its full launch will be coming to Xbox Series X/S, PS4 and PS5.

Age of Empires 4 Closed Beta Announced for August 5th to 16th

Relic Entertainment has announced that it will be inviting Age insiders to partake in the closed beta for Age of Empires 4. The beta will run from August 5th to 16th and offer a wide array of content, from the basics in Mission Zero to multiplayer and AI matches. Matches can support up to eight players and there will be different match types available.

Four civilizations from the eight available at launch can be selected including Mongol, Delhi Sultanate, Chinese and English. Among the maps available is the option to customize their sizes and appearances (which are referred to as biomes). Those struggling can also observe other players' games, provided the host gives permission.

Age of Empires 4 releases October 28th for PC. It will also be available for Xbox Game Pass subscribers from day one. Recently, Relic also showcased more naval combat gameplay along with the Abbasid Dynasty. Check that out here.

Ori: The Collection Coming to Nintendo Switch on October 12th

Those who have yet to experience the magic of Moon Studios' Ori series on Switch are in luck. Ori: The Collection will be coming to Nintendo's platform on October 12th, packing Ori and the Blind Forest with Ori and the Will of the Wisps in one package for $49.99. Check out the latest trailer below.

This physical retail version of the game can be pre-ordered through iam8bit though it should be available with other retailers worldwide as well. Ori and the Blind Forest, the first game in the series, introduces players to the gorgeously animated world as they follow Ori's journey. Despite its charming aesthetic, the title presents a fairly deep Metroidvania structure along with some devious challenges.

Ori and the Will of the Wisps is the follow-up, and sees Ori making a new owl friend and venturing through Niwen on a new quest. Along with improvements to its upgrade and checkpoint systems, it offers even better visuals, tighter gameplay and tougher boss fights. For more details, check out our review here.

EA Play Receiving 5 New Codemasters Titles Later This Week

EA has announced a number of new Codemasters games that will be coming to EA Play later this week, and by extension Xbox Game Pass. These titles include Dirt 4, Dirt Rally, Dirt Rally 2.0, F1 2020, and GRID. These are of course, in addition to a lot more games coming to Xbox Game Pass which includes Skate, Katamari Damacy and others.

This announcement comes shortly after EA's acquistion of Codemasters, which is hard at work on its upcoming GRID Legends. The studio recently shipped F1 2021, which received great reviews and sales figures.

Xbox has now hit its stride with Xbox Game Pass, which seems to be growing larger by the day to a degree that fans consider it to be the quintessential part of owning an Xbox console. The upcoming Halo Infinite also wrapped up its first flight test, which has been well-received by fans all around the globe.

PS5 Nearly Outsold Every Other Console Combined In the UK Last Month, Report Claims

Sony's latest console has been selling like hot cakes, particularly in the UK region. Much like in the vein of previous month, the company outsold its competitors – but this time, it outsold every other console combined. Christopher Dring of GamesIndustry.biz took to Twitter to report the news.

Getting a next-gen console has consistently been an exercise in pain since launch, with issues like widespread scalping and global silicon shortages. Despite this, PS5 has officially sold 10 million consoles – making it the fastest selling console in the company's history.

Another interesting point worth noting is most highly-anticipated exclusives planned or speculated to release this year have been delayed, the standout highlights of which are God of War: Ragnarok, Horizon Forbidden West (unconfirmed), GhostWire: Tokyo. Competitors such as Xbox and Nintendo have also been enjoying high sales numbers despite the pandemic, and Nintendo's new Switch OLED model's profit margins are being noticed by Sony.

Playdate's 2021 Stock Sells Out In 20 Minutes, Panic Confirms

Panic's latest console Playdate recently started taking pre-orders, and fans emptied the stock in around 20 minutes. As reported by Gamesindustry.biz, the console sold over 20,000 units in the time period.

Panic did continue taking up pre-orders for the next batch of consoles, which will be delivered next year. The Firewatch publisher will be providing free software development kits for the consoles, and a number of developers are already onboard for developing games for Playdate – including Return of the Obra Dinn's Lucas Pope.

Playdate will be doling out these games as a part of its seasons, wherein fans will get a title for free every week for 12 weeks during the first season. Given that fans have flocked to the console in an unprecendented manner, it's quite possible that many more developers start developing games for the console. Valve's latest Steam Deck also sold out in a similar manner, and Valve has already extended pre-order periods for the handheld.

New Aqua Shift Xbox Controller Revealed, Features A Shiny Blue Color

Xbox has recently revealed a new controller for Xbox Series X/S, which features a shiny aqua color with a bit of shimmer. The controller releases on 1st September, at a price tag of $69.99. Pre-orders for the special edition controller are now live, and interested fans can check it out on the official Xbox website.

Microsoft adopted an "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" strategy with its next gen controllers, offering marginal benefits as opposed to Sony who went all in with the DualSense controller. However, Microsoft has acknowledged this shortcoming and head honcho Phil Spencer is interested in updating the controller in the future.

That being said, Microsoft is definitely quite some ways ahead in offering flexibity of choice to its customers in terms of controllers. The Redmond-based giant recently restarted the Xbox Design Lab program, and already has a number of special controllers on offer.

The Outer Worlds 2 is Likely Going to Use Unreal Engine 5, Job Ad Suggests

Microsoft's first party studios have been steadily jumping aboard the Unreal Engine 5 train, with a number of developers already having confirmed that they'll be using the new engine for their upcoming projects, and it seems Obsidian Entertainment is the next in line to do the same- at least that's what a recent job ad suggests.

Asspotted by @klobrille on Twitter, a job ad published by the studio for the position of Houdini Technical Artist includes mention of Unreal Engine 5, with one of the bullet points under the "pluses" section reading: "An understanding of the material editor in Unreal Engine, as well as an understanding of new features coming in UE5." Meanwhile, the engine is also mentioned under the responsibilities section.

Obsidian Entertainment is currently working on two large-scale RPGs (that we know of), but of the two, it's likely that The Outer Worlds 2 is the one that's going to use the new engine. Development on Avowed is in full swing and has been going on for a while, so it's unlikely that Obsidian will switch engines in the middle of production. The Outer Worlds 2, on the other hand, is clearly just beginning development.

A number of other Microsoft first party studios are using Unreal Engine 5 for their next games, including the likes of The Coalition, inXile Entertainment, Ninja Theory, and Undead Labs.

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