gaming

Riot Games is now beginning to monitor voice chat recordings on Valorant in an effort to combat online toxicity and disruptive behavior. In a new blog post from the gaming company, Riot says it understands players might not be happy with having their voice chats listened to, but emphasizes the necessity of the new measure in order to create a better, abuse-free community. “We know that before we can even think of expanding this tool, we’ll have to be confident it’s effective, and if mistakes happen, we have systems in place to make sure we can correct any false positives (or negatives for that matter),” its statement reads. “This is brand new tech and there will for sure be growing pains. But the promise of a safer and more inclusive environment for everyone who chooses to play is wor...

Blizzard Entertainment is working on a new first-person shooter Overwatch 2, a sequel to the original 2016 game of the same name. The sequel is currently in-beta and was reportedly intended to allow for player-versus-player modes with the first game, while bringing new cooperative modes into the mix. Overwatch 2 developers hosted a ​​Reddit AMA last week to field questions about the upcoming game. As it turns out, Overwatch 2 will completely replace the original game, rendering it unplayable. Game director Aaron Keller responded to one fan, who had asked if Overwatch 2 would “replace” Overwatch’s PvP modes. “We’re using the term ‘Early Access’ to indicate this is just the start of many new things coming to the game,” Keller responded. “We’re launching with new heroes, maps, and features, b...

Yuji Naka has officially confirmed the long-persisting rumor that Michael Jackson did write music for the soundtrack of Sonic the Hedgehog 3. The Sonic creator revealed the news on Twitter in celebration of the first game’s 31st anniversary, first asking the question “Does Sonic Origins Sonic 3 have a different song?” in reference to the recently-released remastered compilation of the first four Sonic games entitled Sonic Origins. He managed to answer his own question, stating, “Oh my god, the music for Sonic 3 has changed, even though Sega Official uses Michael Jackson’s music.” Naka also shared a TikTok video of Sonic channeling his inner Michael Jackson with “Billie Jean,” adding, “SEGA Official uses Michael Jackson’s music. means this.” To corroborate his claims, he shared a photo of t...

The Prince of Tennis II is coming to the Nintendo Switch this fall. The manga of the same name, which ran in Shueisha’s Weekly Shōnen Jump from 1999 to 2008, followed a middle school tennis player, Ryoma Echizen, and the challenge to beat friends and rivals alike in order to make it to the national tennis tournament. The forthcoming Switch title is called The New Prince of Tennis: Let’s Go! Daily Life and is being developed by Bushiroad. The game is billed as a “documentary adventure game” and will feature an entirely new story. All 62 characters from the series will be included with the potential for multiple pair endings. In a trailer for the game, boys compete in the team-based competition called the Sportsman Hunting Deluxe. A previous Prince of Tennis game launched for smartphones in ...

Netflix has added to its growing roster of games with Into the Breach, a strategy title from the developer Subset Games. The streamer began offering games last year with the launch of titles such as Trivia Quest, Knittens and more. Into the Breach is premised on the ability to travel in time. Gigantic creatures called Veks have taken over Earth and wiped out human civilization. Players venture into the past to defend cities and destroy the alien threat. The title will be available on Netflix’s mobile app for both Android and iOS and won’t show any ads or offer in-app purchases. Subset Games said that the Netflix version of the game will be essentially the same as that of other platforms but adapted for a touch interface. Into the Breach is already available for PC, Switch and Stadia. It’ll...

The Sega-owned British game developer Creative Assembly to develop Hyenas, a multiplayer sci-fi shooter title. Taking place in a future where billionaires have colonized Mars, the game challenges its players, vigilante pirates, to steal from their spaceships and compete for the biggest takeaway. Matches take place with 15 players, split into five teams of three. To get the loot, the pirates must outsmart “murphs,” the billionaires’ AI-controlled guards. The game takes place on ships traveling between Mars and Earth, and its maps are pretty extensive, with multiple rooms available for exploration. Certain spots will also allow for players to move around via zero-gravity. Launched in 1987, Creative Assembly is responsible for games such as Alien: Isolation, a number of EA Sports ti...

After a lengthy delay, the long-awaited remastered version of Westwood Studios’ 1997 cult classic Blade Runner is finally here. The game was originally slated for a 2020 release, but Nightdive Studios delayed the game indefinitely at the time, explaining that without Blade Runner‘s original code, the remastering process proved more difficult than the team first imagined. Fortunately for fans of the cyberpunk franchise, the game has now been released, offering an increase in FPS from 15 to 60 for modern systems along with reworked character models, animation and in-game tools to help make your detective work more convenient. As for those unfamiliar with the original game, the late ’90s title was created by Westwood Studios and remains one of the best video game adaptations of the&...

Taiko no Tatsujin, the classic Japanese drumming game found in arcades, has officially been announced for the Nintendo Switch. In the new Taiko no Tatsujin: Rhythm Festival game, players can choose from four difficulty levels and drum to  76 songs in the collection including the main theme from The Legend of Zelda. Beyond the classic drumming mode, the game has also evolved to include multiplayer and in-person online battles, a four-person party mode, and a TAIKO MUSIC PASS subscription which expands the playlist by more than 500 additional songs. Through playing the various game modes, players can collect “Don Coins” which can be used to customize their costumes and nameplates. “Welcome to Omiko City! Get ready to drum to the beat of your heart with DON-Chan! Join an amazing musical ...

Since its launch to massive popularity back in February this year, FromSoftware‘s Elden Ring has received a whole host of fan-made mods, including making Thomas the Tank Engine as a boss fight and turning your character into Darth Vader, but now the game has finally offered its biggest twist yet: a classic Gameboy demake. Created by Redditor Shintendo, the new demake converts the massive open-world RPG into a top-down adventure game in the Gameboy’s iconic 8-bit graphics, with an accompanying soundtrack that will surely immerse you into the Lands Between. Of course, it’d be impossible to bring over the vast scale of Elden Ring into the demake, so Shintendo streamlined most of the story’s main elements into a more playable experience on the platform. If you’re an Elden Ring f...

Shortly after coming to a $13 million USD settlement with a group of websites responsible for creating and hosting Destiny 2 cheats, video game developer Bungie is now engaged in another legal battle revolving around the game, this time filing a lawsuit against a YouTuber who streams gameplay of the title.  According to new reports, Bungie’s contractor CSC Global sent YouTuber Nick Minor a legitimate copyright strike back in December last year requesting the removal of The Taken King‘s soundtrack from his video. But instead of complying, Minor allegedly created a fake Gmail account impersonating a CSC employee and subsequently sent out fake copies of takedown notices to numerous other YouTubers, at one point even targetting an official Bungie account, requesting all of them ...

Shortly after dropping a gameplay trailer earlier this month for the long-awaited Final Fantasy XVI, Square Enix‘s development team has now confirmed that the game will not adopt an open-world style like the franchise’s previous installment. Speaking to IGN, the game’s producer Naoki Yoshida explained that while the title draws heavily from other AAA open-world games that have been released in recent years, the game itself would not feature an open-world mechanic, instead opting for what he called “area-based design.” “We’ve found in our extensive user research that many of the younger generation of gamers have never played a Final Fantasy or don’t have any interest in the series,” Yoshida began. “To create a game that might excite and resonate not only with our core fans, but al...

Marvelous Entertainment has shared a new trailer for No More Heroes III, which will be making its way to the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S. Created by Japanese game developer Grasshopper Manufacture, the title is slated to launch in Japan on October 6, followed by a release in the West via XSEED Games sometime in fall 2022. Following 2019’s spin-off Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes, No More Heroes III is technically the fourth installment in the franchise. The game follows top assassin Travis Touchdown, who is forced out of retirement to defend Santa Destroy, California from the threatening Prince FU and his nine alien henchmen. The new video gives players a feel for the open-world format and offers snapshots of some of the alien adversaries Travis will hav...