Gaming Doesn't Sleep
Gaming Doesn't Sleep
E92: PlayStation, Call of Duty and Nintendo took center stage.
Good morning gamers! Last week, PlayStation held their September State of Play showcase. The showcase featured new game releases and details on previously announced titles, including some new gameplay footage.
God of War Ragnarök revealed their new story trailer. They also revealed the limited edition God of War Ragnarök DualSense wireless controller that was inspired by the Norse world of Midgard. God of War Ragnarök is releasing for PS4 and PS5 on November 9th.
Synduality is a new sci-fi third person shooter game from Bandai Namco Entertainment. Players will team up with an AI partner to find a way to reclaim lost ground for humanity. The game takes place in 2222, years after Tears of the New Moon, a mysterious rain almost wiped out the entire human race.
Rise of the Ronin is an action RPG from Team Ninja following the epic journey of a Ronin at the beginning of a new era in Japan. The game has been in development for seven years and it is combat focused at the end of a 300-year long Edo Period, commonly known as “Bakumatsu”.
Tekken 8 is currently in production and the trailer revealed work-in-progress PS5 gameplay from the story mode. Katsushiro Harada, the Executive Producer and Director of Bandai Namco Studio says the game will focus on the father and son showdown between Kazuya Mishima and Jin Kazama. Tekken 8 will be released for PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC.
Like a Dragon: Ishin is an action-adventure historical thriller set in 1860s Kyo, a fictionalized version of Kyoto. The game is in development from RGG Studio, the creators of Yakuza: Like a Dragon and it will launch globally in February 2023.
Stellar Blade was previously revealed as “Project Eve” at a PlayStation Showcase in September 2021. Stellar Blade is an action-adventure game focused on the powerful protagonist Eve and her comrades trying to reclaim the extinct Earth.
Star Wars: Tales from the Galaxy’s Edge - Enhanced Edition is coming to PlayStation VR2 in 2023. Players will be able to take advantage of the award-winning VR experience from Lucasfilm’s ILMxLAB with several enhancements from the PS VR2 software. Star Wars fans can experience a unique story alongside some iconic characters.
Pacific Drive from Ironwood Studios is a first-person driving survival game. The game will allow players to explore the “Zone” while trying to scavenge resources to maintain and improve their car to stay alive. The game is releasing on PS5 in 2023.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II
Activision hosted a major showcase event called Call of Duty: Next which revealed tons of details and video footage from their upcoming games Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II and Call of Duty Warzone 2.0. Here’s what we learned,
Multiplayer
The graphics look stunning and have been designed to be “colorful, offering visual variety and still feeling clean”. Looks very much like a MW game.
Most of the traditional 6v6 game modes like Team Deathmatch and Search & Destroy will be returning, including new modes like Prisoner Rescue (controlling hostages hidden around the map) and Invasion (20v20 “Ground War” style game with AI combatants).
Includes maps that appeal to all types of players and for all types of modes, from “open battle maps” (for larger games) to smaller and more closed-off 6v6 maps.
The Gunsmith is returning with a new and improved system giving players the ability to truly customize their weapons to their exact preferences.
The physics and movement mechanics have been completely revamped while still feeling similar to the Modern Warfare series. Diving, different movement speeds, ledge-hanging, swimming with aquatic combat, tactical sprint, sliding and even vehicle interactions have been improved.
Third-person POV is finally back in Call of Duty.
Tons of new equipment introduced such as intelligent decoys, new heartbeat sensors with limited duration, shock sticks, cameras and smart hacking systems.
Warzone 2.0
Warzone 2.0 is set to release free-to-play on November 16th for all Xbox and PlayStation consoles, and PC.
The new map is called Al Mazrah and it is Warzone's biggest map ever released including 18 points-of-interest, a river system that runs through the map, a mix of geographical landscapes and proximity chat.
Al Mazrah will feature the return of fan-favorite maps as new POIs such as Dome from MW3, Terminal, High Rise and Quarry from MW2 and Showdown from the original MW.
The gas will now feature multiple circles throughout the map which will converge to one final circle towards the end of the game.
The Gulag is returning as a 2v2 battle on a multi-level map. Players load in with just their fists and must “loot, shoot and win”.
AI combatants can be found in Strongholds across the map where if engaged, will fight back - ultimately rewarding players with different types of loot and abilities.
Traditional loadouts are no longer available in Warzone 2.0 and players will now need to loot for weapons and attachments. However, special “Shops” will allow players to purchase one of their “customized Gunsmith weapons”.
New game mechanics allow for swimming and aquatic combat, better weapon physics, greater movement freedom and a more realistic vehicle system where you can repair vehicles and even refill their gas.
RICOCHET Anti-Cheat will be active as of day one.
A new “sandbox experience” within Warzone 2.0 is coming called DMZ. It’s a special “extraction mode” where players drop into Al Mazrah to complete objectives.
Some sort of Raid system will be available but no further details were revealed.
Esports Corner
🥇Congratulations to LOUD for winning the VCT 2022 - Champions Istanbul.
Riot Games have announced more details surrounding the 2023 Valorant Champions Tour. The new structure will feature three International Leagues (Americas, EMEA and Pacific) each consisting of 10 partnered teams. The season will start with a brand new “Kickoff Tournament” in Brazil where all 30 partnered teams will compete against each other to automatically secure an invitation to the season's only Masters event. The three league champions will also qualify for the Masters event with all other teams forced to compete in the last chance qualifier. The VCT Champs will ultimately take place in August and September to crown the season's Valorant Champion.
The Apex Legends Global Series is set to return in October and EA have announced that this year it will include three in-person international LAN events and a $5 million total prize pool. The Pro League will now expand to feature 30 teams per region (22 invited teams and 8 through Preseason Qualifiers) and a new “Regional Finals” event will pin the top 20 teams of each region against each other to win a guaranteed Playoff spot. The ALGS Championships will take place in Summer 2023 where the 40 best teams will compete for the $2 million prize pool.
The Evolution Championship Series (EVO) returned in 2022 after a three year hiatus due to the ongoing global pandemic. As more fighting games have made their way into the spotlight, most notably MultiVersus, EVO saw its most successful event ever with a live attendance of more than 18,000 people and at least 3.7 million viewing the streams. EVO 2022 welcomed 7,000 competitors from 63 countries, and will now be heading to Japan in 2023.
Gaming Roundup
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is the sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and it will be released on May 12th, 2023.
Elden Ring has been awarded ‘Game of the Year’ honors at the Japan Game Awards as part of the Tokyo Game Show.
Deathloop is coming to Xbox Series X|S and Xbox Game Pass on September 20th. It was originally released as a PS5 timed exclusive in 2021.
GoldenEye 007 is being re-released on both the Nintendo Switch and Xbox (via Game Pass), but each console is receiving a very different version.
David Harbour from Stranger Things will star in the Gran Turismo movie. Harbour will play a retired driver who teaches a teenager to drive.
Fall Guys has launched Season 2: Satellite Scramble with new levels, variations, a whole new season pass, quality of life improvements and more.
343 Industries will reportedly lose former FASA Interactive developer Berger who has been with them for over 14 years and at Microsoft for over 20.
The Sims 4 will be going free-to-play on October 18th. Electronic Arts wants to continue to bring new experiences and content to their players.
Rockstar Games suffered a massive security breach as a hacker allegedly extracted videos, screenshots and source code from an early GTA6 build.
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