Category: Video Games

ESA Head Blames E3 Cancellation on Wider Industry Challenges, Won’t Say If Event Will Return

Following IGN’s report earlier today that E3 has officially been canceled, GamesIndustry.biz has published an interview with ESA president and CEO Stanley Pierre-Louis in which he was asked about what went wrong with the show and whether or not the show would return in the future — though Pierre-Louis was fairly tight-lipped about the answers to these questions.

When asked what went wrong with the show this year, Pierre-Louis pointed to larger industry challenges that proved “too large to surmount.”

“First, several companies have reported that the timeline for game development has been altered since the start of the COVID pandemic. Second, economic headwinds have caused several companies to reassess how they invest in large marketing events. And third, companies are starting to experiment with how to find the right balance between in-person events and digital marketing opportunities.”

Later in the interview, Pierre-Louis was asked if ESA members were no longer interested in the event, what E3 would look like if it continued, if E3 needed the three big platform holders to have any chance of success, and if E3 would return in 2024. Pierre-Louis did not provide any direct answers to any of these questions, though he did seem to deny that communication was an issue in setting up E3 2023 (something IGN’s sources have said was a recurring problem). He directly confirmed that the cancellation of E3 would not impact the ESA’s advocacy work for the games industry.

The ESA announced E3 2023’s cancellation to its members earlier today, stating in an email that the 2023 version of the event “simply did not garner the sustained interest necessary to execute it in a way that would showcase the size, strength, and impact of our industry,” though it did not mention whether or not the event would return. A press release sent to media following our report said that ReedPop and the ESA would continue to work together on “future E3 events.”

This is the latest in a string of cancellations of what was once the largest event in gaming, following the 2020 cancellation during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and another cancellation in 2022 — broken up by a quieter digital event in 2021.

Rebekah Valentine is a news reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.

PS5 Creators: How Final Fantasy XVI harnesses PS5’s power

Set to be released for PlayStation 5 on June 22, Final Fantasy XVI is the next mainline installment of the Final Fantasy series, which follows Clive Rosfield, the protagonist, as he harnesses the power of multiple summons to overcome his tragic destiny. The game is the first full-fledged action RPG in the Final Fantasy series and features high-speed battles in which players switch between the powers of various Eikons, as well as large-scale Eikon vs. Eikon battles.

We spoke with the main director, Hiroshi Takai, about how the game harnesses PS5’s power and how it was optimized and developed for PS5.

As a developer, what were your first impressions of the power and technology of the PS5?

Hiroshi Takai: The two main things that struck me were the size of the memory and the speed of the SSD. I’ve worked with a lot of different hardware over the years, and many have failed to strike the right balance between the capabilities of the hardware and the size of the memory. However, the PS5 is different—it comes with enough memory installed to take full advantage of the hardware. As for the SSD, as we were building the game, I was simply blown away by how fast it was.

The Final Fantasy franchise is known for the quality of its graphics. Final Fantasy XVI was developed as a PS5 game first and foremost, so how did you take advantage of the power of the hardware when it came to the graphics and the gameplay?

Naturally, we wanted the graphics to be the best that they could be, so we put a lot of focus on the fine details of the character and environmental models, as well as the quality of the lighting and the shadows, to really make them shine. It’s really resource-intensive just to render these models on screen, and the lighting and shadow effects are then layered on top of that. We’re only able to do this thanks to the size of the PS5’s memory. Clive, the protagonist of FFXVI, can unleash a wide range of attacks, and the animations and effects for them can all fit in the memory, too. And the way that the game seamlessly flows between resource-intensive gameplay to equally intensive cutscenes and back again wouldn’t be possible if it wasn’t for the speed of the SSD.

 

Could you explain a little bit about how FFXVI makes use of the PS5 DualSense controller’s adaptive triggers and haptic feedback in battle and exploration?

There are certain sections where the player will have to open heavy doors or lift up portcullises, and we use the adaptive triggers there to put across that feeling of effort and resistance. They’re also used when riding chocobos. The haptic feedback can produce extremely subtle vibrations, which we use to create a heightened feeling of presence in cutscenes. We converted the sound effects used in each scene into haptic data, which let us portray details that we’ve never been able to before, like the movements of the air.

Final Fantasy XVI will be the first fully-fledged action RPG in the history of the series. It’s a bold move to abandon the command system entirely. What was your aim with this?

That’s right, when it came to designing FFXVI, we wanted to see what would happen if we took it in a new direction and made it a full action RPG. We fine-tuned the gameplay so that when you take the DualSense controller in your hand, your every input produces a reaction that you can really feel. One of the main features of the battle system is the wide range of Eikonic abilities that Clive can unleash, and this results in a great deal of freedom in how players can approach battle. There are also the Eikon-on-Eikon battles, where the player controls the series’ famous summons directly, to add to the action. It’s a non-stop, white-knuckle ride from start to finish.

 

While the details of every Final Fantasy game might differ, they are always centered around a captivating story. The story of Final Fantasy XVI has a sense of tragic heroism at its heart, but could you tell us more about its themes?

When we started thinking about making a game for the PS5, we wanted to create a world where there was no disconnect between the graphics and the story. While it might go to some pretty dark places, it’s a world where that darkness only exists because light exists too, and our heroes go through the trials that they do precisely because  they have hope that things can get better. A world where every man, woman, and child has their own sense of what a “just” world should look like.

What other PS5 games have impressed you? From a developer’s point of view, how did you feel that they took advantage of the PS5’s capabilities?

I think God of War Ragnarok is a fantastic game. It’s a seamless experience from beginning to end, and paints a perfect picture of the relationship between a father and his son.

Deal Alert: Save $50 Off the Meta (Oculus) Quest 2 VR Headset at Gamestop

After over 2 years on the market, the Meta (Oculus) Quest 2 VR headset is still far and away the best value when it comes to VR gaming. For a price that beats every other comparable VR headset out there, it offers a completely tether-free experience, phenomenal inside-out tracking, and a huge library of games. Also, starting August of 2022, you do not need a Facebook account to login to your Quest 2. That was justifiably a sore point for many people and Meta eventually realized that.

The Quest 2 originally started out at $299.99 at launch, but those days are long gone. Last year Meta raised it to $399.99, a rather significant price hike. Fortunately today, there’s a $50 price drop that brings it down to $349.99. The current gen Quest 2 features 128GB of internal storage (compared to 64GB from the OG $299 model) and also includes two games: Golf+ and Space Pirate Trainer DX, both are which are really good.

$50 Off Oculus Quest 2 VR Headset

The Quest 2 is the best VR headset for you to jump into Beat Saber, easily the most successful VR game in history. Beat Saber is a simple rhythm based game that doubles as an outstanding fitness tool. By now there are hundreds of official songs available and the game receives plenty of regular updates. If that’s not enough, there’s a huge modding community out there with access to tens of thousands of user created songs that are every bit as good as the official songs. Beat Saber needs to be purchased separately ($29.99), but really you shouldn’t be getting a VR headset if you don’t get this game.

On a personal note, I own the Oculus Quest 2 specifically for Beat Saber. I purchased the original Rift CV1 headset and a third sensor back in 2016 and since then I’ve clocked almost 1,000 hours in Beat Saber and I’m pretty good at it. In my opinion, the Quest 2’s simple inside out tracking is superior to the original Rift’s 3-sensor setup. In conjunction with the light weight and comfortable ergonomics of the Touch controllers, you can’t really ask for a better control setup for a fast-paced precision game like Beat Saber. I’ve tried other VR headsets and the only other headset that comes close is the Valve Index, and that setup will run you hundreds of dollars more. As someone who plays VR games religiously over PCVR with his RTX 4090 gaming rig, I can say that getting a $1000 VR setup is still not worth it.

For more deals, take a look at our daily deals for today.

Guide: Every Dragon Quest Game Ranked

All the mainline Dragon Quests ranked by you.

Update: We’re republishing this piece to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Dragon Quest X‘s Wii U release in Japan! And while we’re at it… Square Enix, where’s that offline version in English for Switch?

On 27th May 2021, Yuji Horii’s seminal RPG Dragon Quest turned 35. Initially released in the West with the name Dragon Warrior, the Chunsoft-developed first entry in this genre-defining series debuted on Famicom in Japan before migrating to the North American NES three years later, and over the past three-and-a-half decades we’ve enjoyed another ten mainline games, plus a whole host of spin-offs and side adventures.

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

Foxhole’s developers are bringing their massively multiplayer formula to medieval warfare

Foxhole finished its early access journey last year as an expansive massively multiplayer World War 2 shooter that looks and functions like an RTS in which every soldier is an individual player. Now developers Siege Camp (formerly Clapfoot) have announced Anvil Empires, which seems similar in every way except its now thousands-strong armies are forging arrows and sieging castles in medieval warfare.

Read more

Start Exploring The Long Dark: Tales from the Far Territory on Xbox Today

Grab your favourite pair of wool socks, Survivors – it’s time to explore the wild reaches of the Far Territory!

Today, Hinterland is excited to launch the new Tales From the Far Territory Survival Mode Expansion Pass on Xbox, featuring the first paid content for its popular survival game The Long Dark. This update includes two incredible content drops – Part One: Forsaken Airfield and Part Two: Signal Void.

northern lights

Adventures in the Far Territory begin with Part One: Forsaken Airfield. Explore a brand-new Airfield region featuring a vast, frigid plain, an airport with hangars and a Control Tower, and new mysteries waiting to be explored. Watch out for Glimmer Fog and the new Insomnia Affliction, search for new Rifle Variants, and experience stunning new Survival music by Sascha Dikiciyan, composer of award-winning music for games including The Long Dark, The Division 2, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, Mass Effect, and many more.

screenshot

Part Two: Signal Void introduces the first “Tale”, offering Survival Mode players new objectives to follow while weaving in compelling narrative elements. Explore the Tale with new Transponder gameplay and use the Handheld Shortwave to pick up mysterious signals, leading to hidden caches, crash sites, and more. Signal Void also introduces three new clothing items – a Hockey Jersey, a leather Flight Jacket, and a matching Aviator Hat. You’ll find them scattered around Great Bear as you explore locations and search containers. Be alert, Survivors… you might even discover a few surprise items that can only be found using the Handheld Shortwave.

Tales From the Far Territory will continue to receive multiple updates over the span of the 12-month campaign, including new Regions, new Gameplay, all-new objective-based Tales, and more. Plus, each Part will also contain free updates for anyone who already owns Survival Edition.

For a sneak peek at your next survival adventure, check out the trailer for Tales from the Far Territory  at the top of this post.

To start your journey into the Far Territory, and access great new content, visit the Xbox Store today!


The Long Dark
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The Long Dark

Hinterland Studio Inc

☆☆☆☆☆
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★★★★★

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PC Game Pass

The Long Dark is a thoughtful, exploration-survival experience that challenges solo players to think for themselves as they explore an expansive frozen wilderness. Monitor your Condition, search for life-saving supplies, and master survival skills like fire-building, maintaining your gear, hunting, fishing, and landmark-based navigation. There are no zombies — only you, the cold, and everything Mother Nature can throw at you.

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GDC 2023: Four Incredible New ID@Xbox Games You’ll Be Playing This Year 
How Dredge Corrupts ‘Cozy Fishing’ Into ‘Cosmic Horror’

Blizzard Reveals Most Popular Diablo IV Beta Weekend Classes

Blizzard has revealed the Diablo IV beta that took place over the last two weekends was the largest in the franchise’s history. Thanks to the official Diablo Twitter account, we now have information on how many times players died, which classes were the most played, and more.

The popular classes throughout both betas were the Sorcerer and Necromancer. The Sorcerer was available during the Early and Open Beta, while the Necromancer was only playable during the Open Beta.

In our review-in-progress of the Diablo 4 beta we wrote that all three of the initially available character classes in the beta were “pretty great,” saying of the Sorcerer, “The Sorcerer has a similar set of mostly long-range skills based on fire, electric, and ice attacks, but I found them to be better at controlling large groups of enemies (like with a chain lightning attack that zaps six enemies with every blast) rather than doing high damage to a single opponent. Plus, dealing elemental damage and freezing enemies in their tracks or lighting them on fire is great – they even have different death effects.”

We also called the Necromancer “among our favorites” out of the gate. “The fantasy of raising a private militia and making atrophy and death your wicked allies is wonderfully realized, and once I got aboard the dastardly train the Necromancer was all I wanted to play,” reviewer Travis Northup wrote.

A popular beta

Throughout the six days that Diablo IV was available, players invested over 61 million hours of gameplay, equating to a little over seven thousand years, and over two million players earned the Beta Wolf Pack.

With all those hours invested into the game, players managed to kill over twenty-nine billion monsters. But there were also forty-six million deaths recorded, with Ashava being the cause of ten million people dying and the Butcher being responsible for over a million players being killed.

Even though both of these monsters were the main reason for many people dying, players managed to kill the Ashava over one hundred thousand times and the Butcher over five hundred thousand times.

For more news on Diablo IV, check out our story on how one streamer basically defeated Ashava on their own.

Luis Joshua Gutierrez is a freelance writer who loves games. You can reach him at @ImLuisGutierrez on Twitter.

Cyberpunk 2077’s Turnaround Just Gave CD Projekt Its Second-Best Revenue Year Ever

With the rocky launch of Cyberpunk 2077 firmly in the rearview, CD Projekt seems to have fully bounced back from where it was at the end of 2020 both in good will and in financials, celebrating its second-best earnings year in 2022 despite no new major releases.

Per CD Projekt’s earnings report, Cyberpunk 2077 revenues were up 18% year-over-year in 2022, with 94% of the units sold being digital. That’s a pretty unusual figure in video games, which typically release to enormous unit sales and then see a steady but consistent drop over time. CD Projekt attributes the sales to their long-term work on improving issues with Cyberpunk 2077, as well as the success of the companion Netflix series Cyberpunk: Edgerunners. And having The Witcher 3 around doesn’t hurt either.

It’s a significant turnaround for a game plagued with bugs and glitches on the base PS4 and Xbox One at launch, which its own developers reportedly did not expect to be ready by its 2020 launch date. But multiple patches since slowly began to rebuild good will, and the one-two punch of a next-gen update in February last year and Edgerunners seems to have convinced people it was worth returning to night City.

CD Projekt expects to release a Cyberpunk 2077 expansion in the second half of this year, titled Phantom Liberty. One slide in the investor presentation indicates that a “marketing campaign” is planned to begin for the expansion in June.

Consolidated revenues for CD Projekt in 2022 reached 953 million PLN ($222 million), with 347 million PLN ($81 million) in net profit. Both revenue and net profit were the second-best in company history. CD Projekt says it has reinvested over 200 million PLN ($47 million) back into future development projects, including the recently “re-evaluated” multiplayer Witcher game codenamed Project Sirius from Molasses Flood.

Rebekah Valentine is a news reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.