Category: Video Games

Art strategy game Inkulinati gets 1.0 launch in February, still an illuminated manuscript full of warring animals

Not to denigrate either the efforts of either the comms or dev teams, but when a game has been knocking around my consciousness for a while, eventually I just move it it from a mental box marked “in development” to “probably out now, innit” without any input from anyone else. Inkulinati, a turn-based strategy game where you play a medieval artist duking it out with another artist on the pages of an illuminated manuscript, is one such. It’s been kicking about on Steam since at least 2019, and in fairness to me it did launch in January last year – it just went into early access. These factors contributed to me being sort of surprised at the reveal of the actual release date for 1.0, which is February 22nd.

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Call of Duty Zombies Fans Fear the Worst After Treyarch Says Not to Expect New Perks or Enemy Types

Call of Duty’s latest Zombies mode is only three months old but fans now fear it’s “dead” after developer Treyarch indicated no new perks or enemy types are planned.

Popular Call of Duty content creator MrDalekJD tweeted to say that during a Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 Season 2 ‘Creator Call’, Treyarch confirmed “there are no plans for any new enemy types or new perks to come to Modern Warfare Zombies at any point.”

The news has caused a collective wave of disappointment to crash over the Call of Duty Zombies community, which had already feared the worst following a lack of content relative to Multiplayer and Warzone in the recently released Season 2.

“I feel robbed,” redditor scirvexz said in a post on the Call of Duty Zombies subreddit. “Seems that the mode is already starting to die,” said AssassinsCrypt. “I was still hoping they would have improved it in the future seasons, but seems that they actually don’t care at all about this mode.” “I’ll probably just delete the entire mode from my console after Season 2 like I did for DMZ,” said SuccessLongjumping62.

It’s a similar sentiment across social media, where Zombies fans have signaled the end of Call of Duty’s famous co-op mode.

The situation with Modern Warfare Zombies echoes that of DMZ, an extraction mode Activision moved on from after it launched with 2022’s Warzone 2.0.

The relentless pace of Call of Duty development and its annual release schedule mean there’s an army of Activision developers working on the first-person shooter franchise at all times, with each new mainline entry supposedly led by a different team each year. But last year’s Modern Warfare 3 marked a change in strategy, following directly on from Modern Warfare 2 just a year later.

Treyarch, best known for the Black Ops series and the creation of the Zombies mode, was drafted in to make Modern Warfare Zombies. It is now reportedly working on this year’s Call of Duty Black Ops Gulf War, which is expected to launch with a Zombies mode of its own. How long that will be supported remains to be seen.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

Disney buy $1.5 billion stake in Fortnite publisher Epic, announce new “games and entertainment universe”

Disney are taking out a $1.5 billion equity stake in Fortnite publisher Epic Games, and have announced “an all-new games and entertainment universe that will further expand the reach of beloved Disney stories and experiences”. According to Disney CEO Robert A. Iger, it’s “Disney’s biggest entry ever into the world of games”. Friends, we are witnessing the birth of a franchising megamoeba of titanic proportions – a new, Unreal Engine-driven “persistent universe” of playing, watching, shopping and other content-tickling opportunities, featuring characters and stories created by Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, Avatar “and more”. Where are your puny gods now?

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FromSoftware Parent Company Acquires Octopath Traveler Developer

Kadokawa Corporation, the parent company of Elden Ring and Bloodborne developer FromSoftware, has acquired the studio behind Octopath Traveler.

As reported by Gematsu, Kadokawa revealed during its latest earnings results it had made the studio, called Acquire, a “wholly owned subsidiary”, placing it alongside the likes of fellow developers FromSoftware and Spike Chunsoft.

Perhaps best known for developing Octopath Traveler and its 2023 sequel, Acquire is also responsible for No Heroes Allowed VR, Akiba’s Beat, and Akiba’s Trip: Undead and Undressed.

“To strengthen the ability to create IP in games as part of our game business strategy, we have made ACQUIRE Corp. into a wholly owned subsidiary,” Kadokawa said.

“By acquiring the company, which has produced million-seller hit titles, we expect to generate synergies with our existing game-related subsidiaries, strengthen our planning and development capabilities groupwide, and enhance our lineup of console games.”

It’s unclear what the “synergies” between game studios will entail, but it’s likely related to development efficiency rather than seeing Elden Ring downloadable content in Octopath Traveler 2 and vice versa.

The Octopath Traveler is perhaps most recognised for its art style, dubbed HD-2D, which reimagines classic role-playing game pixel art in a modern and dynamic way.

The latest earned a 7/10 in IGN’s review. “Octopath Traveler 2 is a very enjoyable JRPG sequel that feels a little too safe and familiar,” we said.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.

Homeworld 3 delayed till May to incorporate player feedback to War Games demo

Homeworld 3‘s release date has been pushed back from March 8th to May 13th 2024, in order to build on player feedback to this week’s Steam Next Fest War Games demo, which will be available till February 12th, 10am PT or 6pm GMT. The associated joint statement from developers Blackbird Interactive and publishers Gearbox arrived within hours of me posting about said Homeworld 3 demo and saying that while I am fully onboard with many aspects of the new space strategy game, I do have reservations about its controls.

Naturally, and self-flatteringly, I’m now petrified that I’m single-handedly responsible for the delay. Please come back, Homeworld 3! I didn’t mean it! I’m pretty sure I’ll acclimatise to the control scheme with practice! True-3D starfleet management is always a bit fiddly! Besides which, I might not get to review it now!! I’m moving flat in May!!!

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Video: Digital Foundry Talks 8-Inch ‘Switch 2’ Screen, Joy-Con Compatibility

“I just want some answers at this point”.

With rumours of a potential Switch successor landing in 2024, there’s much talk on exactly what the system will entail and whether it will retain the overall concept of Nintendo’s hybrid console.

One of the most recent rumours doing the rounds is regarding the console’s screen size, with one analyst noting that it will likely come packing an 8-inch LCD screen. This is a full inch larger than the current Switch – OLED Model, and Digital Foundry has discussed the potential implications this might have on the successor’s form factor and Joy-Con compatibility.

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

Sony’s Helldivers 2 Gets Off to a Strong Start on Steam

Helldivers 2 is off to a strong start on Steam after the PC version launched alongside the PlayStation 5 game.

Arrowhead Game Studios’ cooperative action game is published by Sony Interactive Entertainment across PS5 and PC via Steam (on Steam the publisher is down as PlayStation PC LLC). Helldivers 2 is currently the 15th most-played game on Steam with 53,189 concurrent players, a number that will no doubt grow over the course of the day, week, and into its first weekend.

Helldivers 2 is also the second top-selling game by revenue on Steam, ahead of smash hits such as Palworld and Call of Duty. It’s worth noting Helldivers 2 is not a full-price game but cheaper at $39.99. It’s much harder to get an idea of its popularity on PS5, given Sony does not divulge player numbers on its platform.

Helldivers 2’s launch is somewhat unusual in that Sony much prefers to release its games on console ahead of PC, but it is not unprecedented for an externally-developed game it’s published. Sony published IllFonic’s Predator: Hunting Grounds, for example, across PS4 and PC on the same day in April 2020.

Whether Sony might be willing to relax its policy for its big first-party exclusives remains to be seen. The recently released Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is not available on PC and Sony has yet to announce a PC version. Shift Up’s eye-catching action game Stellar Blade is down for release on PS5 only, as is Team Ninja’s Rise of the Ronin. Concord, a brand new PvP multiplayer first-person shooter from Firewalk Studios, is however due to launch on PS5 and PC.

Sony’s policy is in stark contrast to that of Microsoft, which releases all its games on Xbox and Windows PC at the same time. Microsoft is expected to discuss the future of Xbox in a business update next week, following reports that indicate it is ready to launch some of its first-party games on PS5 and Nintendo Switch.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

Strategy game from hell Solium Infernum gets a week delay to February 22nd

League Of Geeks’s remake of cult strategy game Solium Infernum is having its release date pushed back by a week, the studio have announced. It will now launch on February 22nd, instead of its original date of February 14th – which is a damn shame, if you ask me, as nothing screams “romantic Valentine’s night-in” like trying to backstab your other half in a bid to rule hell in Satan’s absence. Alas, we’ll just have to make do with the altogether more pedestrian date of a regular Thursday in February, as the team need just a bit of extra time to ensure it’s “as polished as possible” before release.

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Microsoft’s Xbox Layoffs Hit Crash Bandicoot And Spyro Developer ‘Toys For Bob’

It reportedly includes an office closure.

Just weeks ago, Xbox’s owner Microsoft announced mass layoffs, and now in an update, it seems the Crash Bandicoot, Spyro and Skylanders developer Toys for Bob has been hit.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, 86 workers will be affected at the developer’s office in Novato, California. A state filing has also revealed the facility is closing.

Read the full article on nintendolife.com