The Xbox showcase had more than games on hand. During the event, president Sarah Bond unveiled a new trio of consoles launching during the holiday season.Both the Xbox Series X and S will receive white, all-digital versions with 1TB hard drives, priced respectively at $449 and $349. The Series X will also get a special edition console in black that comes with 2TB of space and costs $599.Additionally, Xbox stressed these new consoles have "the same speed and performance" as their predecessors.Price-wise, these new consoles are roughly in line with the original $499/$299 pricing of the Series X|S at launch. Unlike the newer iterations of the PlayStation 5 from late last year, it doesn't appear Microsoft is phasing out the original versions of these systems.Last year, Xbox head…
French developer Voodoo Games has bought the BeReal social platform for €500 million (or $536.9 million).Known for free-to-play games like Helix Jump and Hole.io, Voodoo aims to use BeReal as a way to "strengthen [its] global position." As for BeReal, the tech company wants to "accelerate its growth" using the tech and knowledge Voodoo's learned over the years.BeReal was founded in 2019, and is chiefly known for being a social platform without likes or followers dictating the experience. Photos also automatically disappear 24 hours after posting, and it currently sports 40 million active users.
Hypercasual possib…
A £656 million (or $841.09 million) lawsuit has been filed by the Competition Appeal Tribunal in London against Valve. The developer is accused of using Steam to overcharge 14 million players across the UK.Per BBC, Valve is accused of demanding publishers to sign up to price parity obligations, which keep games from being sold on other platforms at cheaper prices. Vicki Shotbolt, a digital rights campaigner, also highlighted Steam's "excessive commission of up to 30 percent."In her words, that 30 percent means players "pay too much for purchasing PC games and add-on content." Shotbolt has previously accused Valve of breaching UK competition law and hopes to "get people back what they're owed."Valve has previously been criticized for the 30 percent r…
The Video Game History Foundation has recovered and released the potential first-ever TV commercial for a Nintendo system in the US and outside Japan overall.Per the VGHF, it found the 16mm commercial through game historian Chris Kohler in an online auction. According to him, the handheld is the Mego Time-Out. The commercial dates back to 1980, and it can be watched below.The Time-Out came about through a licensing deal between Nintendo and US toy company Mego. In the US, Mego released four early Game & Watch systems identical to the originals, but with its logo and new "Time-Out" branding.Four games for the handheld were made: Toss-Up, Fireman Fireman, Flag Man, and Exterminator. Toss-Up is the only one in the promo, presented as a sports game so good, athletes will play it …
Video platform YouTube is entering games through a new avenue: a free arcade of games that can be played directly in the app.Dubbed "Playables," the feature was first reported last summer shortly ahead of public testing. After a limited rollout in select countries, it's now getting a full launch over the next few months.At the moment, the arcade will have over 75 games that are instantly playable whether on computer, iOS, or Android. Players can even share games with friends using the three-dot "More" menu, and save game progress.According to YouTube, launch titles will include Cut the Rope, Angry Birds Showdown, and Tomb of the Mask.
The newly relaunched IP fighter MultiVersus has arrived on Steam with a softer launch compared to its 2022 beta. Per SteamDB, it opened with 114,515 concurrent players, down 25.4 percent from its peak of 153,433 players two years ago.Before being delisted in the summer of 2023, MultiVersus was the talk of the town. Its beta garnered 20 million players across all systems within a month and was briefly the most-played Steam Deck game at the time.Player First Games took it offline to rework the progression system and release cadence for new fighters. The new version, developed in Unreal Engine 5, comes with a PvE mode and new fighters like Jason Voorhees and The Matrix's Agent Smith.
During a recent business segment meeting, Sony Interactive's Herman Hulst opened up on the company's approach to PC versions of its first-party titles.Hulst, who'll be co-CEO of PlayStation starting in June, explained single-player games will come to PC after their initial PlayStation 5 launch to drive PC players to buy a console.Live-service games like Helldivers 2 will have simultaneous launches on both systems. Arrowhead's multiplayer shooter benefitted greatly from the same-day launch and quickly succeeded initial sales projections.Speaking to the "dual approach," Hulst called those narrative-based games "the backbone of PlayStation Studios. […] We’re finding new audiences that are potentially going to be very interested in playing sequels on the …
It's official: Arkane Austin is no more, and development on its troubled shooter Redfall is over with its final update.The update went online earlier today and contains numerous changes to the game to account for its developer's closure. Case in point: it now has an offline mode, the ability to pause in single-player, and streamlined systems."We’re thankful for the millions of players who have joined us," wrote Arkane Austin. "From everyone [here], thank you for playing our games and loving our worlds, it’s been an honor to deliver these experiences to you."Founded in 2006, Arkane Austin was initially formed as a spinoff studio to help establish potential work-for-hire relationships in the US. In 2010, Bethesda approached it to make a stealth-based game in…
Nearly two years ago, Bloober Team entered an agreement with Private Division where the Take-Two offshoot would publish its next game. Those plans have seemingly been ended in light of Private Division's recent layoffs.As spotted by GamesIndustry, the Polish developer recently published a notice saying their partnership for a game currently dubbed "Project C" was officially over.Per the notice, Bloober will continue working on the project as it would a self-published game. It also acknowledged production may change "based on cooperation" with a new, currently unannounced publisher.
Where Take-Two and Private Division fit in…
Ubisoft's still-alive remake for Prince of Persia: Sands of Time has gained a co-developer in Ubisoft Toronto. It'll help the Montreal team get the game through the finish line, as Ubisoft studios often do with its big games.Sands' remake hasn't been as troubled as Skull & Bones. But between these two games and Beyond Good & Evil 2, what reported issues there have been may speak to the French publisher's larger, still-ongoing issues."We’re excited to rewind time and bring our studio’s creativity, expertise and updated tech to refresh this beloved classic with our partners at Ubisoft Montreal," the Toronto team wrote.Ubisoft Toronto is also hard at work on a remake of Splinter Cell and when asked, assured that it was still working on that proje…
The newly relaunched IP fighter MultiVersus has arrived on Steam with a softer launch compared to its 2022 beta. Per SteamDB, it opened with 114,515 concurrent players, down 25.4 percent from its peak of 153,433 players two years ago.Before being delisted in the summer of 2023, MultiVersus was the talk of the town. Its beta garnered 20 million players across all systems within a month and was briefly the most-played Steam Deck game at the time.Player First Games took it offline to rework the progression system and release cadence for new fighters. The new version, developed in Unreal Engine 5, comes with a PvE mode and new fighters like Jason Voorhees and The Matrix's Agent Smith.
During a recent business segment meeting, Sony Interactive's Herman Hulst opened up on the company's approach to PC versions of its first-party titles.Hulst, who'll be co-CEO of PlayStation starting in June, explained single-player games will come to PC after their initial PlayStation 5 launch to drive PC players to buy a console.Live-service games like Helldivers 2 will have simultaneous launches on both systems. Arrowhead's multiplayer shooter benefitted greatly from the same-day launch and quickly succeeded initial sales projections.Speaking to the "dual approach," Hulst called those narrative-based games "the backbone of PlayStation Studios. […] We’re finding new audiences that are potentially going to be very interested in playing sequels on the …
During a recent business segment meeting, Sony Interactive's Herman Hulst opened up on the company's approach to PC versions of its first-party titles.Hulst, who'll be co-CEO of PlayStation starting in June, explained single-player games will come to PC after their initial PlayStation 5 launch to drive PC players to buy a console.Live-service games like Helldivers 2 will have simultaneous launches on both systems. Arrowhead's multiplayer shooter benefitted greatly from the same-day launch and quickly succeeded initial sales projections.Speaking to the "dual approach," Hulst called those narrative-based games "the backbone of PlayStation Studios. […] We’re finding new audiences that are potentially going to be very interested in playing sequels on the …
It's official: Arkane Austin is no more, and development on its troubled shooter Redfall is over with its final update.The update went online earlier today and contains numerous changes to the game to account for its developer's closure. Case in point: it now has an offline mode, the ability to pause in single-player, and streamlined systems."We’re thankful for the millions of players who have joined us," wrote Arkane Austin. "From everyone [here], thank you for playing our games and loving our worlds, it’s been an honor to deliver these experiences to you."Founded in 2006, Arkane Austin was initially formed as a spinoff studio to help establish potential work-for-hire relationships in the US. In 2010, Bethesda approached it to make a stealth-based game in…
Nearly two years ago, Bloober Team entered an agreement with Private Division where the Take-Two offshoot would publish its next game. Those plans have seemingly been ended in light of Private Division's recent layoffs.As spotted by GamesIndustry, the Polish developer recently published a notice saying their partnership for a game currently dubbed "Project C" was officially over.Per the notice, Bloober will continue working on the project as it would a self-published game. It also acknowledged production may change "based on cooperation" with a new, currently unannounced publisher.
Where Take-Two and Private Division fit in…
Ubisoft's still-alive remake for Prince of Persia: Sands of Time has gained a co-developer in Ubisoft Toronto. It'll help the Montreal team get the game through the finish line, as Ubisoft studios often do with its big games.Sands' remake hasn't been as troubled as Skull & Bones. But between these two games and Beyond Good & Evil 2, what reported issues there have been may speak to the French publisher's larger, still-ongoing issues."We’re excited to rewind time and bring our studio’s creativity, expertise and updated tech to refresh this beloved classic with our partners at Ubisoft Montreal," the Toronto team wrote.Ubisoft Toronto is also hard at work on a remake of Splinter Cell and when asked, assured that it was still working on that proje…