News
8 CommentsDoom developers explain the campaign's progression system
Doom's single-player campaign will let you customize your skills to suit your play style, and in a new developer diary, the game's developers at id Software discussed the options that the system offers.
You can modify your guns, turning the up-close-and-personal shotgun into a mid-range weapon with an alternate fire mode. According to Doom creative director Hugo Martin, weapon customization will determine how you tackle the enemies that the game throws at you, since you'll have to use specific guns for certain foes. This also applies to the player character.
"We kind of have this whole upgrade system that allows you to play in a lot of different ways and use your own strategy in how you approach the different arenas, and even tweak that as you go through the game," said executive...
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18
May 2, 2016
Their future is Epic: The evolution of a gaming giant
Find out how one of the industry’s biggest developers is changing its approach.
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8 CommentsDark Souls 3 enjoys the series' biggest launch
Dark Souls 3 shipped 3 million copies, Bandai Namco announced today, making this the largest launch in series history.
The figure is for units shipped to retailers, not actual copies sold, but it still appears Dark Souls 3 will end up the all time leader in that department. The first sold 1.2 million copies, the second only shipped 1.2 million copies, over roughly the same span after their launches. Dark Souls 3 launched March 24.
The series has sold 13 million units lifetime, Bandai Namco said. The shipping breakdown for Dark Souls 3 is 1.5 million to North America, 1 million in Europe, and 500,000 in Asia.
For more on Dark Souls 3, see Polygon's in-depth guide.
Culture
22 CommentsFox News makes on-point criticism of a video game
Gamers have become accustomed to Fox News Channel's panelists over the years laying into video games and landing punches based on stereotypes, poor assumptions or just plain wrong information. That's what makes this particular aside from Andy Levy, on Red Eye with Tom Shillue, so charming.
Levy pops it in at the end of a listicle about skills every 18-year-old should have. Don't worry, it's not a scolding about turning off the console and getting a job. It's "be able to level up your character in The Division, despite the way Massive nerfed the crafting system and allows packs of super-geared Rogues to gank you in the Dark Zone — thanks a lot, jerks."
The last part is said tongue-in-cheek, but dude's got a point and, more importantly, has probably played this game a bunch. He's not...
Esports
13 CommentsWorld Esports Association seemingly leaked, includes major esports teams and brands
In a post on the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive sub-Reddit today, someone leaked the picture of a poster above. This image appears to reveal the existence of something called the World Esports Association, or WESA. The Redditor was then accused of leaking a major announcement and deleted the image.
So what is WESA? The mystery figure who leaked the image did not provide that information. However, it's clear from the picture that this Association includes some big names in the esports world, including tournament organizer ESL and major esports teams such as Fnatic, Na'vi, Ninjas in Pyjamas, Mouseesports, G2, Virtus Pro and more.
All of the team organizations listed have devoted Counter-Strike teams, though many also have teams focused on other popular competitive games such as League...
News
52 CommentsStar Wars Battlefront sequel coming in 2017
Electronic Arts plans to release a follow-up to last year's Star Wars Battlefront sometime in 2017, the publisher announced today during an investor call.
The Star Wars Battlefront sequel wasn't listed on EA's slate of announced titles for its 2017 fiscal year, which suggests that the game will be released sometime from April to December 2017. (EA's 2017 fiscal year ends in March.) EA said in an earnings release today that it has shipped over 14 million copies of Star Wars Battlefront, which was released last November on PlayStation 4, Windows PC and Xbox One.
"We'll most likely have one Star Wars title a year for the next three to four years," said Blake Jorgensen, EA's chief financial officer, during the call. The only Star Wars game that EA has announced for a 2016 release is a S...
News
26 CommentsMicrosoft enables unlocked frame rates in Windows 10 games (update)
Microsoft updated Windows 10's Universal Windows Platform today to enable a few graphics features that PC gamers have been clamoring for, with support for unlocked frame rates leading the list.
The patch gives developers the option to allow players to disable v-sync in UWP-based games and apps. Turning off v-sync causes screen tearing, an issue that both Nvidia and AMD have addressed with their own proprietary graphics technologies — Nvidia in the form of G-Sync, and AMD with FreeSync — that only work with special monitors. Today's update also enables support for G-Sync and FreeSync in UWP software.
Must Read
Microsoft responds to Epic co-founder, says it's not locking down Windows 10
The update doesn't mean that UWP-based Windows 10 games...
News
42 CommentsTitanfall 2 drops this fall
Titanfall 2 is scheduled to be released this fall, publisher Electronic Arts announced today.
In a slide presentation for its 2017 fiscal year, EA listed Titanfall 2 for a launch in its fiscal third quarter, which runs from October through December 2016. That means the publisher expects developer Respawn Entertainment to ship Titanfall 2 in the same window that EA DICE will launch another first-person shooter, Battlefield 1. EA announced Battlefield 1 last week with a release date of Oct. 21.
During an investor call today, EA CEO Andrew Wilson downplayed any possibility that the two games will cannibalize each other, calling the first-person shooter genre "a giant category in our industry."
Titanfall 2 is in development on PlayStation 4, Windows PC and Xbox One. Respawn and EA...
News
29 CommentsMass Effect: Andromeda now set for early 2017 launch
The release of Mass Effect: Andromeda has been pushed back a bit — the game is now scheduled to be available in "early 2017," developer BioWare announced today.
"As we've been playing the game at the studio recently, it's showing us that we're taking the game in the right direction," said Aaryn Flynn, general manager of BioWare, in a post on the Mass Effect website. "But we also know we need the right amount of time to make sure we deliver everything the game can be and should be — that's our commitment from all of us to all of you. Because of that, Mass Effect: Andromeda will now ship in early 2017."
The statement confirms comments made by Blake Jorgensen, chief financial officer of Mass Effect publisher Electronic Arts, during a technology conference in early March. At the time,...
News
8 CommentsStellaris becomes Paradox Interactive's fastest seller ever, one day after launch
Spacefaring strategy game Stellaris launched on Steam yesterday, and publisher Paradox Interactive — best known for popular titles like the Hearts of Iron series and last year's Cities: Skylines — is already hailing its launch as the company's biggest ever. In a press release, Paradox described Stellaris as its fastest selling game ever, among other accolades.
In its first day of sale, Stellaris moved more than 200,000 units, Paradox said. That's more than any other Paradox title, including games like the Magicka series and the role-playing game Pillars of Eternity.
Another record Stellaris takes from Cities: Skylines is most concurrent players on release day. 68,000 players were actively trying out the procedurally generated space title yesterday. Cities: Skyline, which Paradox...
News
8 CommentsNeed for Speed series won't return until 2017
Electronic Arts' Need for Speed series is taking the year off, and Sweden-based developer Ghost Games is planning to bring the franchise back with a new entry in 2017, the studio announced today.
"We are now building upon the foundations that have been laid with Need for Speed and delivering our next game in 2017," Ghost Games said in a blog post today.
EA appears to have turned Need for Speed into a biennial series; the publisher also gave the franchise a rest in 2014 after Need for Speed Rivals, which was a launch title for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in November 2013. Need for Speed, a reboot of the franchise, debuted in November 2015 on PS4 and Xbox One and was released on Windows PC in mid-March 2016.
Ghost Games has delivered new content to Need for Speed players in a number of...
News
29 CommentsFinal Fantasy 10 and 10-2 are coming to Steam this week
Final Fantasy 10 and Final Fantasy 10-2 are out on Windows PC this week, according to a retail listing for the games on Steam. A bundle containing high-definition remasters of both PlayStation 2 games will be available this Thursday, May 12.
The official Final Fantasy Twitter account confirmed the ports earlier today, after the store page went live on Steam hours earlier. This Thursday's release marks the classic game and its direct sequel's — a first for the Final Fantasy franchise — PC debuts.
The games come with dual Japanese and English voice options, auto-save and five "enhancements," including a no-encounter mode and the option to turn up the speed. Similar boosts were included in the recent Steam port of Final Fantasy 9, which also hit mobile earlier this year.
Those unwilling...
News
6 CommentsHeroes of the Storm ranked-play overhaul kicks off in June with first season
Heroes of the Storm's ranked play is getting a complete overhaul in mid-June, Blizzard said on Friday, introducing the game's first ranked season with new tiers and divisions and other features.
The tier-and-division system, broadly speaking will separate players according to skill level and then, within that, note how close those players are to being promoted or demoted to a different tier, ranging from Bronze to Diamond.
The top tier, called Master, will display rank differently. Masters will have a badge showing how many rank points they have accumulated in that season's Master league. Grand Masters are Master league members who are the top 500 point earners in their region. Their badge will note that numerical rank. The rank is updated daily.
As a result of the new tiering...
Esports
3 CommentsReport: Big-time German soccer club acquires spot in League of Legends championship series
Here's a twist: an esports league has a new team: a soccer team. A German soccer club, that is, one of the nation's largest.
Esports Observer reports that FC Schalke 04 has acquired a place European League of Legends Championship Series, replacing Elements. The deal has not been formally announced but Esports Observer cited multiple sources saying the deal had gone through.
FC Schalke 04 is not the first professional sports club to get into esports. Others in European soccer also sponsor teams and just this week West Ham United F.C. of the Barclays Premier League signed up an esports professional to represent it at FIFA tournaments (the video game series, not the global organization). Eports Observer notes Schalke's move is the first significant foray into a top-tier league, however.
...
News
72 CommentsOverwatch open beta extended by a day
Overwatch's open beta, which got underway for everyone on Thursday, has been extended by a day and will now conclude Tuesday, May 10 at 10 am PT.
The extension is good for all platforms.
Blizzard announced the extension yesterday evening, couching the extension as a thank-you to the Overwatch community who have played the beta in great numbers.
Overwatch, the class-based multiplayer shooter, will launch May 24 on PlayStation 4, Windows PC and Xbox One.
Movies
16 CommentsHere's what Khadgar looks like in the Warcraft movie
Warcraft's latest trailer showcases another mainstay character of the 22-year-old franchise. Here is Khadgar the mage, portrayed by Ben Schnetzer in his first major role.
In Warcraft's canon, Khadgar is the apprentice of Medivh and commands the Alliance's expedition into Draenor. In Warcraft II he closed the Dark Portal but was trapped in Draenor when it went kaboom. He was presumed dead, but really, when is that ever permanent. Khadgar went on to several more appearances in Warcraft, and will return in World of Warcraft's next expansion, Legion, coming this summer.
Warcraft, as in the movie, will premiere June 10.
News
112 CommentsNvidia's newest card, the GTX 1080, launches at the end of May
Nvidia revealed its newest cards last night, the GeForce GTX 1080 and GTX 1070, both of which overtake its current top-of-the-line product in performance, efficiency and especially price.
The GTX 1080 will be on shelves May 27 and costs $699. Nvidia's current best-in-class graphics card, the Titan X retails for about $1,000. It is less powerful and much less efficient than the GTX 1080, according to a graph shown during Nvidia's reveal event last night.
The GTX 1070 will buy Titan X-level performance for $449. It launches June 10. The prices are for boards directly from Nvidia and select partners. Other manufacturers will offer custom boards starting at $599 and $349, Nvidia said.
As a point of reference, the GTX 1080 is faster than two GTX 980 cards running together. Nvidia's live...
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