gaming

After a turbulent year for video game developer and publisher Activision Blizzard, things are now getting worse as the company has announced that both Diablo IV and Overwatch 2 have now been delayed indefinitely. The revelation came during the company’s earnings call for the third quarter of 2021, where it said that its development teams will require more time in order to create a proper experience for fans given some of the ongoing changes within the company. “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,” the company states. “While we are still pla...

With the Facebook rebranding to Meta and shifting focus onto creating the metaverse, Microsoft has also been quick to respond with its own intentions to build metaverses based around its popular console Xbox and its games. Right after announcing a Microsoft Teams metaverse to enable users to engage in meetings and calls within a virtual environment, the tech giant has now expressed an interest in creating metaverses for video games as well. Speaking to Bloomberg TV earlier this week, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said that the company has many plans for expanding into the gaming industry. “You can absolutely expect us to do things in gaming,” the executive explained. “If you take Halo as a game, it is a metaverse. Minecraft is a metaverse, and so is Flight Sim. In so...

Modiphius Entertainment has officially announced that it is working on a new Skyrim board game entitled The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim – The Adventure Game. Polygon reported that the board game can be played between one to four participants with each session lasting approximately 90-120 minutes long. Players will be able to choose between six races – Altmer, Dunmer, Imperial, Khajiit, Nord and Orismer – while choosing different types of equipment of choices that could affect how each hero may overcome their challenges and journey. The story is shaped by the decisions made during playthrough with the deck of about 700 story cards. The board game includes the story cards, a custom dice, detailed miniature figures of the playable races and game tokens. There will be two additional expa...

SEGA and Microsoft have plans to partner in creating a variety of global games for Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform. The new partnership would feature a next-generation game development environment and allow SEGA to proceed with its “Super Game” initiative that will develop new titles focusing on global, online, community and IP utilization sectors. Additionally, the partnership enhances development processes while also bringing high-quality experiences to the Azure cloud platform. “By considering a strategic partnership with Microsoft, we seek to further advance our game development so that our titles can be enjoyed by fans all over the world,” said Yukio Sugino, president and chief operating officer of SEGA in a release. “We aim to build an alliance that utilizes both SEGA’s powerful gam...

Epic Games announced on Monday that it will shut down its server used for testing Fortnite in the Chinese market. The company said that testing for the popular mega-title will officially conclude on November 15, and new users are no longer being accepted on the server. Epic had created a specific version of Fortnite for its audience in China, mimicking the title that is highly popular across the rest of the world. The variation of the game included a multitude of differences, including gameplay and monetization alterations, as well as several character graphic changes to adhere to local laws, according to a gamer-created blog. Additionally, after a set amount of playing time, users were unable to earn experience points in the game. Epic’s decision to pull the plug on it...

Nintendo will be producing 20 percent fewer Switch consoles than originally planned, Nikkei Asia reported. The company’s production was impacted by a shortage of electric parts in tandem with an increased demand for the gaming console during the pandemic. As a result, Nintendo will only be able to produce about 24 million Switch units in the fiscal year through March, falling short of the 30 million it had expected to make, according to Nikkei. The news arrives amid the ongoing global chip shortage that has impacted production in industries across the board, especially in the electronics and automotive sectors.  Nintendo reportedly couldn’t obtain sufficient quantities of certain parts and had to revise its production targets. A spokesperson for Nintendo told the publication...

Nintendo will be closing both its Redwood City, California and Toronto, Canada offices, with the company’s SVP of Sales and Marketing Nick Chavez also stepping down. An official statement from Nintendo reads: “Nintendo of America headquarters are in Redmond, WA, and Vancouver, BC. We are moving more of our employees and operations into those headquarters and will be closing small satellite offices in Toronto, ON, and Redwood City, CA, over time. Devon Pritchard, Executive Vice President, Business Affairs and Publisher Relations for Nintendo of America (NOA), will assume interim leadership of Sales, Marketing and Communications following the departure of Nick Chavez. Ms. Pritchard will oversee strategy and execution of sales, marketing and communications across the U.S. and Canada.” While N...

After what felt to be a lengthy hiatus from the Uncharted series’ creative director Amy Hennig, the Naughty Dog and Visceral Games veteran has now finally announced a new project she’s working on over at Skydance New Media: a brand new Marvel game featuring a “completely original story and take on the Marvel Universe.” Though not much has been revealed about the title for now, we know it’ll be a narrative-driven action-adventure game, much like the previous games Hennig has most been famous more. “I can’t imagine a better partner than Marvel for our first game,” said Hennig. “The Marvel Universe epitomizes all the action, mystery and thrills of the pulp adventure genre that I adore and lends itself perfectly to an interactive experience. It’s an honor to be able to tell an original st...

Long-time Call of Duty fans will be delighted to learn that Activision has brought back one of the classics from World at War for the upcoming Vanguard release. Announcing the maps list for the new title, the developer revealed that Dome will be making a return to the franchise, but this time with a battle-damaged look. A description of the map reads: “After heavy damage to the Reichstag Building in Berlin, Allied forces storm the bombed-out structure while Axis stand their grounds.” As usual, you can expect heavy, close-quarter combat in this classic asymmetrical area. Including Dome, Call of Duty: Vanguard will feature 16 multiplayer maps at launch, including Battle of Berlin, Bocage, Castle, Das Haus, Decoy, Demyansk, Desert Seige, Dome, Eagle’s Nest, Gavutu, Hotel Royale...

SteelSeries has now given its popular Arctis 7 series gaming headsets a welcome update. Joining the series will be the Arctis 7+ Wireless and the Arctis 7P+ Wireless. The former is a multiplatform headset compatible with PC, PlayStation, Mac, Android, the Switch and Oculus Quest 2, while the latter also includes extra support for next-gen 3D Audio for both the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5. Both have now been upgraded to carry a USB-C charging and connection port that can allow much quicker charging than their predecessors, offering three hours of game time in just 15 minutes of charging. Total battery life has also been extended from 24 hours to a more robust 30 hours. As for colors available, the 7P+ also comes in both black and white, while the 7+ only comes in black. For those intere...