A number of former PlayStation Plus freebies are also discounted, in case you've missed any of those and want to now pick them up, including Titan Attacks ($2), The Swapper ($3.74), Tower of Guns ($3.74), Galak-Z ($8), and Nova-111 ($2).
Alan Wake won't be available for sale for much longer, giving you only a few more days to pick it up through an official retailer.
As explained in a post on developer Remedy's forums, the music licenses for the game will soon expire, which means it can't continue to be sold in its current form. This applies to both the PC and Xbox 360 versions --it will disappear from the likes of Steam, GOG, and the Xbox Store after this Monday, May 15. The follow-up game, Alan Wake's American Nightmare, is unaffected and will still be sold.
Remedy says it's "looking into relicensing the music," which would allow Alan Wake to return to stores, but it doesn't have an estimate for how soon--or if--that will happen. As such, if you're interested in owning or playing it, you should pick it up before it disappears.
At least one retailer will make doing so relatively pain-free. Starting on Saturday, May 13, at 10 AM PT/1 PM ET, Alan Wake will be 90% off on Steam, dropping it from $30 to just $3. It's unclear at this point if it will also go on sale elsewhere in advance of the game's removal. If you opt to pick up the Xbox 360 version, it can be played on Xbox One through backwards compatibility.
Alan Wake was originally released back in 2010. It's an atmospheric horror game about an author who lives through the events of a novel he has no memory of writing. Twin Peaks fans, in particular, are in for a treat--while not to the same degree as Deadly Premonition, it does draw inspiration from the classic show. For more on what to expect, check out GameSpot's Alan Wake review.
The Humble Store is offering major deals on many PC games, including AAA titles, in its spring sale.
There are some big savings if you're looking to get into the Dark Souls series. Dark Souls III is 50% off at US $43, and the same deal can be had on Dark Souls III Deluxe Edition, and the Dark Souls III Season Pass. Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin is 75% off at US $10.
Dishonored 2 is 50% off at US $30 and Grim Dawn is also 50% off at $13, while Dying Light: The Following is 60% off and costs US $24. For something completely different, Rocket League is 30% off at $14.
The popular indie platformer Shantae: Half-Genie Hero is coming to Nintendo Switch this summer, developer WayForward has announced via Twitter. The game is releasing in both digital and physical formats, the latter of which is being published by Xseed.
Half-Genie Hero is the fourth installment in the Shantae series and the first to be developed for HD consoles, mixing beautiful hand-drawn character art with 3D environments. The game was released back in December 2016 for Wii U, PS4, Xbox One, PC, and PS Vita. In addition to the Shantae series, WayForward is known for its work on DuckTales Remastered and the Mighty Switch Force titles.
The Switch version of Half-Genie Hero will utilize the console's HD rumble feature with 150 exclusive "HD Rumble events." WayForward didn't explain how these events would be implemented in the gameplay, but the developer promised that more details would be "coming soon."
WayForward has yet to announce a release date for the Switch version of Shantae: Half-Genie Hero. The game received a positive reception when it was initially released; we called the title "a delightful experience" in our review and awarded it 8/10.
It's been a week since Prey was released. Being a long game that wasn't shared with critics long before launch day, it's taken some time to complete, but a variety of Prey reviews now made their way online.
We've collected a handful of these for you to get a sense of Prey's critical reception. The response has been all over the place, with technical issues having a severe effect for some while others have enjoyed its atmosphere and the experimentation it allows for.
You can check out the reviews below and head over to GameSpot sister site Metacritic for a broader look at Prey's reception.
"Prey is a game of uneven pacing and uninteresting characters. It opens with a poignant, thought-provoking premise, but fails to follow through until the end, when it claims a revelation it doesn't quite earn. Its gameplay falters out of the gate, eventually maturing into something worthwhile, if a bit familiar. As an homage to System Shock it's competent and at times even enjoyable. However, Prey fails to distinguish itself, and next to immersive sim contemporaries such as Dishonored, it feels stagnant." -- Tamoor Hussain [Full review]
PC Gamer -- 79/100
"Many of Prey's issues are a consequence of its broad range of options. Attempting to cater to a variety of play styles is laudable, but also means that Prey isn't as good a stealth game as Dishonored, nor as good a combat game as BioShock. But while the individual parts have problems, Prey is nonetheless greater than the sum of them. Prey is worth playing, mostly thanks to the strength of Talos-I as a setting, and the excellent environment design." -- Phil Savage [Full review]
GamesRadar -- 4.5/5
"Talos-I isn't just a location. The space station is a story in itself, with every inch of it marked by the people who used to live and work there. Walking through its corridors and gradually ridding them of the Typhon brings it closer to what it used to be. Weirdly, you wouldn't belong if everything went back to normal. Because over the course of the game it becomes increasingly impossible to stop thinking with your GLOO Gun and Typhon powers. Prey is a playground for creativity where you control the variables. It's time to start experimenting." -- Zoe Delahunty-Light [Full review]
Rock, Paper, Shotgun -- no score
"Prey is a game that's smart about almost every aspect of itself, and yet with that, so crucially modest. It doesn't yank the camera from you, doesn't force you to sit through cutscenes, doesn't demand you sit still and listen to its backstory. It's content to be itself and let you find it, which is a damned rare treat in this hobby. Even more amazingly, for all its array of abilities and powers, you can finish the game without touching them, perhaps even find a narrative rationale for doing so. It lets you improvise, explore, make big decisions without needing to tell you they're big. And yes, it absolutely does let you turn into a cup." -- John Walker [Full review]
Time -- 3.5/5
"If you're in the mood for a corridor crawl modeled after the Dishonored series' 'one problem, multiple solutions' approach, Prey has plenty to offer. Its pedigree is clear, an homage to design DNA you can trace back to Looking Glass Studios 1990s Thief and Shock games. There's no shame in iteration, and Prey does nothing worse than its precursors. The only question, given how familiar most of its ideas feel in 2017, is whether homage is enough." -- Matt Peckham [Full review]
IGN -- 4.0/10 (PC version)
"If the PC version of Prey hadn't become completely unplayable from crashes and save-game corruption just as it was hitting its stride, I'd have called it a very good or perhaps even great game. Its strange alternate-history universe, side-quests, hidden threats, and detailed environmental storytelling make Talos-I a joy to explore, one that's well worth slogging through combat that doesn't feel fresh enough to sustain it throughout a long game. But there's little so frustrating in a game in which you've invested dozens of hours as having your progress wiped out or blocked before the end, and my time with Prey concluded so poorly that I can't in good conscience recommend you risk hitting the same game-breaking bug I did." -- Dan Stapleton [Full review]
Polygon -- 8.5 (PC) / 8.0 (PS4/Xbox One)
"Arkane has the confidence to let Prey end on its own terms, even if it occasionally leans too heavily on its least interesting aspects. When it looks most like a shooter, Prey is merely competent. But as a mystery, a deep-space haunted house with dozens of stories of tragedy and humanity to tell, Prey is a remarkably successful archaeological expedition--and it manages to compellingly ruminate on what it means to be." -- Arthur Gies [Full review]
Koei Tecmo has confirmed a worldwide release for Dynasty Warriors 9, the latest entry in the long-running hack-and-slash series. While the publisher didn't specify on what platforms the game will appear, the most recent issue of Famitsu revealed it'll be launching in Japan for PS4.
Dynasty Warriors 9 is a marked shift from earlier Dynasty Warriors titles. For the first time in the series, the game trades stage-based battles for an open-world setting. The title still features the large-scale "one-versus-thousands" clashes the series is known for, only now battles unfold at different areas of the map depending on the time period.
The game also introduces a number of new mechanics to the gameplay, such as context-sensitive actions that vary depending on your surroundings; for example, players can use a grappling hook to climb when near walls or mountains. Koei Tecmo has confirmed that all 83 playable characters from previous Dynasty Warriors games return in Dynasty Warriors 9, alongside a selection of new fighters.
Koei Tecmo has also updated the official Dynasty Warriors 9 website with a gallery of screenshots that showcase the game's open-world setting, which you can take a look at below:
Koei Tecmo hasn't announced a release date for Dynasty Warriors 9. According to the developers, the game is roughly 40% complete.
Ghostbusters is a comedy classic, and one of the most beloved movies of the 1980s. But as well as being a pop-culture phenomenon, it seems that the film has now made an impact in the scientific community. A newly discovered dinosaur has been named after the movie's demonic villain, Zuul.
As reported by io9, scientists at Royal Ontario Museum recently discovered the 75-million-year-old fossil of a new type of ankylosaur. A joking comment that the horned dinosaur looked a bit like the scary Ghostbusters demon has led the discovery to be officially named the "Zuul crurivastator."
Ghostbusters co-writer, star, and fellow Ontarian Dan Aykroyd subsequently paid a visit to the museum to see the fossils and recorded a short video. Watch it below:
According to a museum statement, "like Zuul, the new species has a short, rounded snout and prominent horns behind the eyes. The shape of the horns and the ornaments on the skull are what identified Zuul as a species new to science.
"Its species name, crurivastator, means 'destroyer of shins', and references the incredible weapon-like tail club found with the skeleton."
Sega Sammy has reported the results of its most recent fiscal year, which came to a close on March 31, 2017.
These reports remain a sore spot for Phantasy Star Online fans, as Sega notes that Phantasy Star Online 2 sales "remained robust" four years after its initial release (and one year after its PS4 launch) in Japan. The company has still not provided further word regarding a release for the game in the West, though Gravity Rush 2 received PSO2-themed DLC earlier this year.
The respective launches of Persona 5 and Total War: Warhammer were also called out as positives in its non-mobile games business, although no new sales figures were revealed. Sega reiterated that Persona 5 shipments hit 1.5 million units in April and said that the company sold 10.28 million packaged games overall during the year.
Net sales for the year were 366.94 billion yen (about $3.24 billion), a year-over-year increase of 5.4%. Operating income jumped 67.6% to 29.53 billion yen (about $261 million). Its Entertainment Contents division--which includes its game businesses--accounted for net sales of 205.7 billion yen (about $1.8 billion, up 8%) and operating income of 11.18 billion yen (about $99 million, up 165.1%).
Looking ahead to the current fiscal year, which runs through March 2018, Sega said it plans to launch more mobile games than last year while continuing to run special events in its major existing games. It expects packaged game sales to see an increase to 11.6 million units on the strength of Persona 5, Dawn of War III, Endless Space 2, and Total War: Warhammer II.
The big-budget action fantasy King Arthur: Legend of the Sword hits theaters next week, and star Charlie Hunnam has now revealed that he was very close to appearing in another high-profile fantasy property--Game of Thrones.
Speaking to GameSpot, Hunnam explained that he was offered a part in HBO's hit show, but production conflicts meant that he had to turn the role down. "I was shooting Lost City of Z at the same time so I wasn't able to do it," he said. "But then I ended up shooting in Belfast, and I was living in a little housing complex. I was living next door to old Dinklage [Peter Dinklage, who plays Tyrion Lannister in the show] and above me was [showrunner] David Benioff.
"I would see them going to work every day, and I thought, 'It could've been me.' Bad timing!"
Hunnam, who also starred in Pacific Rim and Sons of Anarchy, revealed that he was so upset that he couldn't appear in Game of Thrones that he never even asked which part he was being offered.
"I was so devastated I couldn't do it, I said 'You know what? Don't tell me anything about it.' I don't even know what role it was.
"I think it was was quite small--maybe three episodes--but significant. Not the last season, maybe the season before that."
King Arthur: Legend of the Sword hits theaters on May 19. Game of Thrones, meanwhile, returns for Season 7 on Sunday, July 16--check out the latest trailer here.
New England Patriots QB Tom Brady, who led his team to an unprecedented come-from-behind victory in Super Bowl LI, will be on the cover of this year's Madden NFL 18.
With his five Super Bowl victories, four Super Bowl MVP awards, 12 Pro bowl nominations, and his huge passing numbers, he is a lock for the Hall of Fame. But he's never been on a Madden game cover until now. Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski was on the cover of Madden 17, making this the first time ever that teammates have been on the cover of a Madden game in back-to-back years.
In a statement provided by EA, Brady said, "I'm not one to believe in curses, so I'm ready to take the challenge head on like always! It doesn't stand a chance!!!"
You can check out a teaser trailer for Madden 18 above. It shows some glimpses of gameplay and teases what may be a story mode similar to FIFA 17's The Journey.
For the first time ever, this year's Madden runs on the Frostbite engine, which is also used for EA's Battlefield, Star Wars Battlefront, and FIFA franchises, among others. EA says the engine will allow EA to deliver a "significant visual leap" for player models and also crowds, stadiums, and more.
Madden NFL 18 launches on August 25 for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. People who preorder will get an Elite-level player for the game's Ultimate Team mode, as well as five Squad Packs.
Additionally, there will be a GOAT Edition of Madden 18, featuring everything in the standard edition as well as one of five GOAT players of their choice for use in Ultimate Team.
The GOAT Edition unlocks three days early, starting on August 23. EA Access members can play the game even sooner, starting on August 17, but only for a total of 10 hours.
More details on Madden 18 will be announced at E3 2017 in June.
Hot on the heels of the recent PS4 remaster of PaRappa The Rapper, the creators of PaRappa and Gitaroo Man have teamed up to make a new rhythm game called Project Rap Rabbit.
Masaya Matsuura and Keiichi Yano, the makers of PaRappa and Gitaroo Man, respectively, are working on the new game, which is described as a "rhythm-action adventure." They have launched a website and accounts on Twitter and Facebook to tease the game, but have yet to reveal any more details. You can see a short teaser video for Rap Rabbit below.
Although the developer didn't show off any gameplay, the music in the video is definitely reminiscent of PaRappa. I'm also a big fan of the giant frog in the background.
PaRappa The Rapper originally launched in 1997 for the PlayStation 1, and Gitaroo Man in 2002 for the PS2. PaRappa was recently remastered and released on PS4, and you can read our updated review here.
Real-world colonization of Mars is still years away (although I'm holding out hope that SpaceX's Red Dragon will get there in my lifetime), but if you've ever wanted to try your hand at colonizing the Red Planet, a new game from developer Haemimont lets you do just that.
Surviving Mars is a city-building strategy game that tasks you with trying to eke out a living in the harsh environment of Mars. In a press release, publisher Paradox Interactive explained that, although you will be building a civilization, it won't be like SimCity or Cities: Skylines. It's much more of a survival game than those other city-builders.
"Every colonist will be vital to the mission as the colony struggles to gain a foothold where the environment is hostile and resources are scarce," the press release states. "With each success, however, players will gain the ability to expand further, and even establish a thriving society--and lead a new generation that has never known the Earth."
Paradox also published Cities: Skylines, and CEO Fredrik Wester said that since the success of that game, the company has wanted to make more city management games: "Expanding our management-strategy catalog has been something we've wanted to do for some time, after the successful launch of Cities: Skylines and building the player community around that genre."
BattleTech, the upcoming mech turn-based strategy game from Hairbrained Schemes, now has a publisher. Paradox Interactive has announced that it has made a deal with the developer to publish BattleTech when it releases on PC later this year.
The game was originally funded via a successful Kickstarter campaign in November 2016, and in a press release Paradox stated that it "is providing a full loadout of publishing support in BattleTech's march to launch." Paradox and Hairbrained also released a trailer for the game today, which you can see below.
BattleTech is an established franchise of both tabletop and video games stretching back to 1984, which includes the popular spinoff series MechWarrior. The last BattleTech game came out in 1994 for the Sega Genesis. As a result, the developer claims that the new BattleTech is "the first turn-based tactical Mech PC game in over 20 years."
Hairbrained Schemes is best known for developing recent Shadowrun games. BattleTech includes a story campaign as well as competitive multiplayer, and it is currently scheduled for release sometime in 2017. You can check out screenshots from the game below (click for full size).
Destiny's servers will be offline for a period of time next week, developer Bungie has announced. The downtime will begin on Wednesday, May 17, starting at 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET.
The maintenance period is expected to end at 2 PM PT / 5 PM ET that day, meaning the downtime should be around four hours if all goes to plan.
During the downtime, players won't be able to sing into Destiny's servers. On top of that, "some" Bungie.net and Destiny companion app features won't be online.
Next up for the Destiny franchise is Destiny 2, which launches in September this year for Xbox One and PlayStation 4, as well as PC. The first gameplay footage will be shown during a livestream event on May 18. Keep checking back with GameSpot for the latest.
The spotlights the Lizardmen, who are described as "ancient, cold-blooded warriors" who fight on the behalf of the Old Ones. The Lizardmen are one of the four playable races in the game, joining the previously announced High Elves and Dark Elves. The fourth will be announced later.
Sega also confirmed today that Warhammer II will be playable on the E3 show floor in June. For the first time ever, this year's E3 is open to the public.
While still promising to offer the classic Total War style of gameplay, Sega and Creative Assembly claim Warhammer II features a "new style of narrative campaign." Each of the four races is competing to either save or destroy the Great Vortex over Ulthuan, and you'll have to rush to do so before anyone else can. This "struggle culminat[es] in a cataclysmic endgame."
Warhammer II does not yet have a specific release date, but it's due out sometime before the end of 2017. A third game is also expected in the future, as this series has been announced as a trilogy.
The latest weekly sales charts for physical game sales in Australia and New Zealand have arrived. Bethesda's sci-fi shooter Prey landed in the No. 2 position in Australia, outsold by AFL Evolution. In New Zealand, Prey fared better, coming in on top of the charts overall.
You can see a full breakdown of game sales by platform for Australia and New Zealand below.
The data comes from the Interactive Games & Entertainment Association (IGEA) and covers sales for the week ended May 7. Note that digital sales are not factored in.
A big staffing change has taken place at Halo series steward 343 Industries. Studio head Dan Ayoub, who worked on entries in the series dating back to 2009's Halo: Reach, has left the team.
He's leaving gaming altogether, but is staying within Microsoft to work on the Mixed Reality team. There, he will work in an effort for the "empowerment of education through technology."
"Although Dan will be staying in the Microsoft family, and won't be heading too far, our 343 family will miss his wit, wisdom and effort throughout the years," reads a line from 343's statement announcing his departure. "But Halo Wars 2 and its forthcoming DLC are in the safe hands of Dan's team, with some wonderful DLC and other surprises still to come."
The statement continues: "Over the years, Dan has helped us work with amazing studios and partners from literally every corner of the globe. They, like us are going to miss him, and Dan wanted us to express his thanks to both those partners, and to all the Halo fans and community who've been the fuel and fire that have ignited his passion and ambition, throughout the years."
Prior to joining Microsoft, Ayoub worked as a senior producer at Electronic Arts for four years, then was a game director Propaganda Games for two, according to his public LinkedIn profile page. He then spent a year at Ubisoft as an executive producer.
343's latest game is Halo Wars 2, which came out in February for Xbox One and PC. As the statement mentions, 343 continues to support the RTS with more post-launch content and updates.
You might have seen an image circulating online yesterday that was rumored to be from Red Dead Redemption 2. As it turns out, this was a shot from Wild West Online, a new PC MMO that looks like Rockstar's celebrated western and is heading to Kickstarter later this month.
Red Dead Redemption never came to PC, and Wild West Online aims to fill that void, it seems.
"There's an audience for this that just wasn't being served on PC," Stephan Bugaj, the creative vice president of publisher DJ2 told PC Gamer. "So we wanted to make this big, open Wild West world with a bit of a twist that, like the best MMOs, is a place where people can really live in."
The game is being developed by a new studio, 612 Games, whose staff worked on games like Crysis and League of Legends.
Wild West Online is a PvP MMO that will apparently go beyond what Red Dead Redemption's multiplayer had to offer. Players can choose a specialization (gatherer, prospector, farmer) and then put the resources they acquire into an economy system of sorts.
There is a law system in Wild West Online where those who commit crimes will earn wanted stars, like in Red Dead Redemption and Grand Theft Auto. Once enough infamy is built up, a bounty will be put on their head. Unlike Rockstar's games, however, Wild West Online only has player-versus-player battles; there won't be NPCs coming after you.
A Kickstarter campaign for Wild West Online is due to go up later this month (the game's website says a new reveal is coming May 26), asking for $250,000. The game's scope will grow if more money comes in; for example, at $1.75 million, 612 Games will introduce train robberies. A server-wide game mode that plays out once a week, train robberies sees a train travelling across the entire map, with one side tasked with defending it and the other with attacking it.
If all goes to plan, Wild West Online will come out later this year. As for Red Dead Redemption 2, which has been announced for Xbox One and PS4 but not PC, it's slated to launch later this year as well.
The X-Men spinoff film New Mutants is moving forward and has now signed two actors.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Maisie Williams (Game of Thrones) and Anya Taylor-Joy (Split) have joined the film. Josh Boone (The Fault in Our Stars) is directing, with production set to begin in July.
The movie follows teen characters Moonstar, Wolfsbane, Sunspot, Cannonball, Magik, and Warlock. Williams is lined up to play Wolfsbane, who is apparently struggling to "reconcile her religious beliefs with her power to turn into a wolf." Taylor-Joy is playing Magik, the sister of Colossus who has teleportation powers.
It has been reported that the movie might be a departure from the more traditional superhero action of the other X-Men films, with a story in ComingSoon describing it as a "teen horror movie." This ties into comments made last year by X-Men producer Simon Kinberg, who said that it would have "its own unique, original voice."
Today, Nvidia issued a hotfix in the form of a new driver, version 382.19, to help with stuttering issues on some setups while playing the newly released Prey. Users of any Nvidia graphics cards can find the appropriate download here, or get the update through the GeForce Experience software.
This is a relatively minor update to the previous WHQL driver released last week, version 382.05. It encompassed other optimizations for Prey, Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War III, and Quake Champions. For all the features, fixes, and known issues the driver has, check out our breakdown.
Want some new Street Fighter V outfits? Capcom today released a new DLC pack called the Battle Costume bundle, which includes 16 "fisticuff-friendly outfits" for $30.
Alternatively, you can buy each Battle Costume for $3 each. So if you're sure to want them all, the bundle is the economical choice.
In its blog post announcing the DLC, Capcom made special mention of the "Hot Ryu" costume, so that's something. You can click through the images in the gallery below to see all the outfits.
You can download the Battle Costume Bundle on PS4 and PC through the links below:
In other Street Fighter V news, Capcom has announced that the updated Capcom Fighters Network for PS4 and PC will be available in beta starting May 11 at 6 PM PT / 9 PM ET and ended at the same time on Sunday, May 14.
As part of the announcement of its E3 2017 plans today, Nintendo revealed that Super Mario Odyssey will be playable for the very first time at the show.
We don't know all that much about Odyssey, but in a press release, Nintendo described the game as an "sandbox-style adventure," similar to Super Mario Sunshine and the groundbreaking and iconic Super Mario 64. Nintendo will talk more about the game at E3 during its Nintendo Spotlight: E3 2017 video presentation, scheduled to begin on June 14.
E3 2017 is open to the public, a first in the show's history, so anyone at the event (who is willing to wait in what will presumably be long lines) can check out Odyssey well head of its release. The game is scheduled to come out this holiday, though a release date has not been announced.
[UPDATE] Following the publication of this story, Blizzard Entertainment sent over a lengthy statement in response to the reports about the Overwatch League. The full statement follows below:
"We appreciate that there's a lot of enthusiasm about the Overwatch League, which has translated into months of speculation--including reports circulating unverified and wildly ranging rumors from anonymous sources about purported deal terms, team pricing, and other details. We understand the interest in the rumors, and we feel it's important to clarify some things for our community.
"First, we want to be clear that our ultimate goal is to create an exciting Overwatch esports ecosystem, the pinnacle of which will be the Overwatch League, that's accessible to a wide audience, sustainable, and rewarding for everyone involved. We're doing our best to take great care with building this ecosystem, and as with much of what we do, we don't release information until we're at a place where it makes sense to do so.
"Second, we'd like to dispel any rumors that we're ignoring endemics. Anyone who knows Blizzard understands how deeply we care about the communities around our games. The league is built upon the best elements of endemic esports programs and traditional sports, and we're in active discussions with many teams and owners from both worlds because it will take a village to stand up a league with such an unprecedented structure. Those conversations have been going well and there's a lot of excitement around our ambitious plans.
"Finally, it's important to think twice about statements from unnamed sources, who may try to leverage the media to deliberately spread misinformation as bargaining tactics or for other competitive reasons. We look forward to officially sharing real details about the league and the ecosystem as a whole as we continue the development process. In the meantime we are staying focused on our goal of creating an awesome Overwatch esports experience for players, partners, and fans, and we want to thank everyone for their continued support."
ESPN is reporting today that the League is having a hard time finding teams/franchises to participate, in part because of a whopping $20 million buy-in fee. The fee could be even higher for major markets like New York and Los Angeles, the report said. Another issue, it seems, is that franchises are not guaranteed a piece from the revenue-sharing until after 2021 and "only if Blizzard meets certain criteria."
Another stipulation in contract, according to ESPN's sources, is that in the event a franchise sells their spot to another group, the League/Blizzard would get a 25 percent cut of the take.
ESPN points out that Blizzard's $20 million fee is very high when compared to the League of Legends Championship Series, which carries a franchise fee of $1.8 million.
More from the ESPN report:
"Sources said the price is the sticking point, but the game and league are still desirable to teams. Blizzard said earlier this year that Overwatch League was scheduled to launch in late 2017, but some organizations have expressed doubt whether the league will launch on time, given the current state of the negotiation."
GameSpot has followed up with Blizzard in an attempt to get more details. We'll update this post with anything we hear back.
The Kraft Sports Group, which owns the NFL's New England Patriots and MLS team New England Revolution, is reportedly interested in closing a deal for the Overwatch League. However, a source told ESPN that it was only a "handshake deal and includes a most favored nation agreement that allows the Kraft Group to buy in at the most favorable price given to another organization."
In its announcement of the Overwatch League last year, Blizzard described it as a "world-class sports ecosystem for professional Overwatch competition."
"Combining Blizzard's esports pedigree with the best practices of major professional sports, the Overwatch League will focus on long-term stability for teams as well as opportunities for players to establish the types of professional careers associated with traditional sports," the studio said.
Blizzard co-founder Mike Morhaime said he believes the Overwatch League "represents not only the pinnacle of Overwatch competition, but also a genuine career opportunity for the most skilled Overwatch players."
He added: "We're building a league that's accessible to players and fans, sustainable, and exciting for everyone involved."
Ubisoft's team-based shooter Rainbow Six Siege was one of the best shooters of 2015 and, about 18 months after launch, the game still has a "thriving community," according to the developer.
Now, in an effort to improve the "overall Rainbow Six Siege experience," Ubisoft has announced plans to release updates and changes over the next three months. This is happening as part of a multi-stage update process that Ubisoft gave the appropriate name of Operation Health.
In a blog post, Ubisoft said Operation Health is a "hard push" in the area of technology improvements and bug fixes for the game. The developer also plans to roll out a new, three-stage process for the game's updates, starting on a Technical Test Server, then moving to PC, and then to consoles.
As a result of Operation Health, Ubisoft is making a series of changes to the game's DLC roadmap. In particular, the Poland DLC map has been canceled.
"The planned Hong Kong season will be pushed back to Season Three in August, while November's Season Four will feature South Korea," Ubisoft said. "Poland will no longer have its own season in Year Two, but its GROM Operators will be available at the start of seasons three and four. The number of new maps has also been reduced to three, and includes the most recent map set in Spain."
Also in the blog post, Ubisoft said it plans to be more transparent when it comes to speaking to the community about what's in the pipeline and specific changes/features/improvements being rolled out.
For more on Operation Health and the DLC roadmap changes, you can read this blog post, which also contains a detailed FAQ on what's changing and why. Additionally, Ubisoft will announce even more details during the Season 1 Pro League finals on May 21 as pat of an Operation Health panel.
What do you make of this news? Let us know in the comments below!
Activision released a trailer for the upcoming map pack for Call of Duty: Black Ops 3, called Zombies Chronicles, and it gives a look at how fan-favorite Zombies maps have been updated for the current generation.
This is the first gameplay for the pack that Activision has shown, and we can see the much-improved visuals on the maps from past Treyarch Call of Duty games. The eight maps in the pack come from World at War, Black Ops, and Black Ops 2. You can check out the video above.
Personally, I'm particularly excited to revisit Nacht der Untoten, the first-ever Zombies map and my favorite. The video shows off a couple seconds of it, and it looks a lot better from its PS3 days. The video also showcases a handful of the wacky weapons that you can get, including the Wunderwaffe.
In addition to Nacht der Untoten, Zombies Chronicles includes Verruckt, Shi No Numa, and Kino der Toten from World at War, Shangri-La, Moon, and Ascension from Black Ops, and Origins from Black Ops 2.
The map pack releases on May 16 for PS4. Treyarch hasn't specified when it's coming for Xbox One and PC, but DLC generally comes about a month after the PS4 release for those systems. It'll cost $30, more than a normal map pack.
A closed beta for Gwent: The Witcher Card Game has been running for a few months on Xbox One and PC, and today developer CD Projekt Red announced that sign-ups to get into the beta will be ending soon.
The beta will continue to run, but the developer said in a press release that this weekend is the last chance to gain access to it. CD Projekt Red stated that its reason for closing registration is to prepare for a larger, public beta test. More information about that test will come next week.
"Throughout Closed Beta, we've reworked and added a huge amount of features and mechanics to Gwent," development director Benjamin Lee said. "I'd like to thank everyone from the bottom of my heart for the hours invested."
This weekend, CDPR is also holding the finals for the Gwent Challenger tournament. Winners of a community bracket will face off against professional gamers for a $100,000 prize pool. The studio will livestream the finals on May 13 on its Twitch channel.
Gwent is a standalone and enhanced version of the collectible card game that was playable within The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. In addition to improved graphics and animation, it also includes more cards and an open-world map to explore. You can read our E3 2016 preview of the game here, and check out some tips and tricks for it here. Although the closed beta is only running on Xbox One and PC, the game will also be released for PS4.
If you're eager to start playing Injustice 2 on consoles, the newly released mobile version might just make the wait a little easier.
Like its predecessor, Injustice 2 for mobile devices is a free download on iPhone, iPad, and Android devices. There are, of course, microtransactions available, ranging in price from $3 all the way up to $100, though the bulk of them can be had for $20 or less.
Injustice 2 on mobile features a gear system similar to the one being introduced in the console version, but it also has its own distinct take on fighting as compared with the console game: most notably, it pits teams of three against one another. It does still have Super abilities, though, several of which can be seen in the trailer above.
Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment says Injustice 2 for mobile has improved combat and a Story mode, as well as some welcome changes from the first game. That includes the ability to move more freely around the stage and use jumping and crouching attacks, among other things. There's also an Operations mode where you "send characters away on missions" and a PvP Arena mode.
You can grab the game through the links below. The PS4 and Xbox One versions launch on May 16, although one lucky fan got his hands on it early and shared photos of Injustice 2's Premier skins.
Whether experiencing Half-Life 2 in full virtual reality sounds terrifying or terrific to you, you may soon get your chance find out. A group of modders has remastered the game in VR and the developers are asking fans to click 'yes' on their Steam Greenlight campaign to get it into the digital store.
In the new trailer above you can see the mod in action. In an article on Road To VR, the developers promise full motion controller support, a 3D GUI made for VR, realistic weapon interactions, and updated effects, textures, models, and maps.
The mod was first developed and released in 2013, with a motion-controller capabilities via the Razer Hydra, but it soon became unplayable as VR technology advanced. Now that same team says the VR remaster been resurrected for Oculus Rift and HTC Vive.
"While Valve had added support for the Rift development kits to their Source engine, as the software that the headsets relied on advanced over time, Valve didn't update the Source implementation, leading to the present situation which is that the mod can't be played on anything but old development kit headsets," reads the article.
"After several years of the mod in dormancy, members of the original mod, with some new help, have devised a method to make the mod work with the latest Rift and Vive."
The mod, called Half Life 2: VR, will be distributed for free, but you will have to have to own desktop versions of Half-Life 2, Half-Life 2: Episode 1, and Half-Life 2: Episode 2 on Steam in order to play.
With the return of Twin Peaks drawing even closer, another trailer has been released--and this one actually features some real dialogue.
Whereas last week's Twin Peaks trailer featured only a single word--Hawk saying, "Really"--this one has a bit more, including a pair of actual, complete sentences. Given the secrecy that's involved what the upcoming series will be about, that's exciting news for fans who have waited more than 25 years for a continuation of the series.
The new trailer also distinguishes itself from last week's by featuring new characters. While we do still see some returning faces--including Cooper, Andy, Lucy, Shelly, Gordon, and Albert--we're also afforded a peek at a number of new characters, including those played by Madeline Zima and Ben Rosenfield.
Twin Peaks' new season is comprised of 18 episodes and debuts on Showtime with a two-parter on Sunday, May 21 at 9 PM ET/PT. The following two episodes will be released through the network's streaming service on the same day, with ensuing episodes airing on Sundays until a two-part finale on September 3.
Disclosure: Showtime is a division of CBS, which is GameSpot's parent company.
DC's latest movie is Wonder Woman, and it hits theaters next month. Early box office predictions for the movie are in, and it looks set for a solid opening weekend.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, initial estimates suggest that the film is on course to make at least $65 million in its first three days. While this is well below the openings for previous DC movies Suicide Squad ($133 million) and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice ($166 million), it is in line with the debut for such Marvel films as Captain America: The First Avenger and Ant-Man.
As the site points out, Wonder Woman will be the first female-fronted superhero movie from either studio. In addition, while Wonder Woman is an iconic figure, the character only appeared briefly in Dawn of Justice and does not necessarily have the built-in box office appeal of Batman or Superman as yet.
The movie stars Gal Gadot, with support from Chris Pine, Robin Wright, Danny Huston, and Connie Nielsen. It is directed by Patty Jenkins and hits theaters on June 2, 2017.
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