Monster Hunter World's first anniversary is quickly approaching, and Capcom is commemorating the occasion with a special in-game event. The Appreciation Fest kicks off on all platforms--PS4, Xbox One, and PC--on January 26, and it'll feature new gear, as well as new and returning event quests and more.
During the Appreciation Fest, the Gathering Hub will be decked out with balloons, confetti, and other special decorations. As with other seasonal events, a special platter will be available, and all facilities will hold sales on in-game items and services throughout the festival.
On top of that, Capcom says that "almost all" previous event quests will return during the Appreciation Fest. Players will also receive daily login bonuses and limited bounties to complete, and the company teases that there will also be "some very special event quests, featuring monsters that have had a whole year to build up a grudge and are ready to unleash their frustration."
Finally, Capcom will introduce a new set of Appreciation Fest equipment and items. Both the Handler and your Poogie will also sport new outfits. The event is scheduled to run until February 21; you can find more details on the game's official website.
Not long after the Appreciation Fest begins, Capcom will roll out another free update for Monster Hunter World, bringing The Witcher's 3 Geralt of Rivia to the game. The update arrives for PS4 and Xbox One on February 8 (with a PC release set to follow at a later date) and will also add new quests new quests "with a unique flavor, blending the RPG mechanics of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt with Monster Hunter World's game systems."
While the acclaimed platformer Celeste is free all month for Xbox Live Gold subscribers, two of this month's free Games with Gold will return to full price on January 15. The games in question are Never Alone for Xbox One and Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light for Xbox 360 (also backwards compatible with Xbox One). You can get your free games here.
Never Alone is a puzzle platformer about a native Alaskan girl and her pet fox on a journey to stop the blizzards that have been wreaking havoc on her town. The game was made in conjunction with Iñupiaq elders, who appear in unlockable documentary clips that offer information about this Northern Alaskan people's culture.
Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light is a co-op action-puzzle game that first launched in 2010. You can play it solo or with a partner, and the puzzles you encounter will change depending on the number of players. Either way, you'll find plenty of weapons, upgrades, and abilities to help put down the many enemies you'll face throughout the game.
Once they go away on January 15, January's second wave of Games with Gold will become available for free. These include WRC 6 FIA World Rally Championship on Xbox One (free between January 16 and February 15) and the Xbox 360 game Far Cry 2 (free January 16-31).
Games With Gold January 2019
Xbox One
Celeste (Jan. 1-31)
WRC 6 FIA World Rally Championship (Jan. 16-Feb. 15)
The Witcher 3's Geralt of Rivia is invading Capcom's hit action RPG, Monster Hunter World, this year as part of the game's next crossover event. The publisher has now confirmed that the famed Witcher is set to arrive in the PS4 and Xbox One versions as a free update, which rolls out early next month, on February 8.
The White Wolf finds himself in the New World after being transported there by a portal. Capcom hasn't revealed many details yet about what the crossover will entail, but it says there will be new quests "with a unique flavor, blending the RPG mechanics of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt with Monster Hunter World's game systems."
Capcom also says Monster Hunter World's Witcher collaboration was developed closely with CD Projekt Red, the studio behind The Witcher games. Among other things, Geralt's original voice actor has been enlisted to provide new voice over work.
Geralt is hardly the only video game character to cross over with Monster Hunter World. Earlier this month, Capcom collaborated with Ubisoft to bring Assassin's Creed content to the game. By completing a new event quest, players will be able to craft a new set of layered armor that makes them appear as Bayek, the protagonist of Assassin's Creed Origins.
Before Geralt arrives, Capcom will kick off Monster Hunter World's Appreciation Fest, an in-game event commemorating the title's first anniversary. The celebration begins on January 26 and will bring back "almost all" previous event quests. It will also feature new gear, limited bounties, and "some very special" event quests.
It's been a major week for Destiny, both inside and outside of the game. Destiny 2's Niobe Labs puzzle proved too difficult, so the Bergusia Forge was unlocked manually by Bungie rather than fans. And then Bungie and Activision split up, with the former gaining full control of the franchise. Now it's Friday, and that means Xur is ready for a visit. Here's where to find him and what he's selling from now until the weekly reset on January 15.
This Xur appearance is no different than any other one. This week, Xur is located in The Tower. Spawn there and head left (east on the map) until you reach the hangar. Take another left and head past the Dead Orbit area, and then head up a set of stairs on the left to find him hanging out near a landing pad.
In terms of his item lineup, Xur has the typical slate: three Exotic armor pieces (one per class) and one Exotic weapon. The weapon is the enjoyable fusion rifle Merciless, which reduces the weapon's charge time as you fire it without securing a kill.
For armor, Hunters get the Young Ahamkara's Spine gauntlets (damage with abilities enhances tripmines), Titans get the Doom Fang Pauldron gauntlets (improves the Sentinel Shield and grants Super energy when you get void melee kills), and Warlocks get the Crown of Tempests (arc ability kills reduce their cooldown).
Crown of Tempests (Exotic Warlock helmet) -- 23 Legendary Shards
As noted above, the Bergusia Forge is now available to Annual Pass owners, marking the final big addition of the Black Armory DLC. Development on the game will continue, and Bungie claims its plans are "unchanged," so the previously outlined update roadmap will stay the same.
Kingdom Hearts 3 is coming this month at long last, finally wrapping up the trilogy. The series has become known for its complex story and hidden endings that tease future events, and this installment is being especially guarded about its conclusion. So guarded, in fact, that Square Enix has detailed plans to release the epilogue as a post-launch patch.
In a series of tweets, Square Enix noted that a few different free game updates will come on and around launch day. The first, scheduled for release alongside the game on January 29, will be the typical bug fixes along with a "Memory Archive" story recap. A second patch, on Wednesday, January 30, will add an epilogue video. Finally, on Thursday, January 31, a third patch will add a secret video.
The epilogue will be viewable to anyone who has finished Kingdom Hearts 3, while the secret video requires finishing the game along with various criteria that will scale by difficulty level. No word on what these videos will be about, other than that they will "enhance player's enjoyment of the world of Kingdom Hearts."
Traditionally, these epilogues and secret videos have shed more light on events that happened concurrently with other storylines, or teased future characters. Since this is the conclusion of the trilogy, it's hard to say what it might reveal--but the story of Kingdom Hearts has plenty of room for more sequels, even if this trilogy comes to a proper conclusion.
The epilogue and secret movies have come up before, when the game leaked and spoilers began circulating online. At the time, director Tetsuya Nomura specifically asked fans not to spoil the two movies, since they represent the game's "biggest spoilers." His statement said because they want to save the surprise, these two movies wouldn't be available before release. Now we know for certain that he was referring to these post-launch patches.
Kingdom Hearts 3 is one of our most anticipated games of 2019, and definitely the one with the longest wait. Kingdom Hearts 2 came out 13 years ago, and while there's been no shortage of spin-offs, fans have been eagerly waiting for the conclusion of the story. Check out our pre-order guide for more details.
It's winter in the northern hemisphere, and that means two things: colder temperatures and video game sales. If you do your gaming on PC, you'll want to check out the discounts available on the Humble Store now, because its winter sale is live through January 24, offering discounts of up to 90% on a slew of PC games (most of which come in the form of Steam codes). Let's look at some of the games available on the cheap.
First, a freebie--but you'll have to hurry to get it. Between now and January 12, while supplies last, you can grab a free copy of the first-person platformer A Story About My Uncle just for signing up for Humble's newsletter. No worries if you're already signed up; you can still get a copy of the game.
Fans of anime and fighting games can grab Dragon Ball FighterZ for $24 / 18. Tekken 7 is also on sale, bringing the price down to $20 / £17.50. Those looking to sink some hours into an RPG can get Final Fantasy XV Windows Edition, which comes with all of the DLC, for $25. If you prefer more traditional-style RPGs, you might consider Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age, which is on sale for $36 / £24.
Crunchyroll has announced the nominees for this year's Anime Awards. This year, there are five new categories: Best Character Design, Best Director, Best Fight Scene, and Best Performance by a Voice Actor--both for Japanese and English.
Megalobox is the dominant series this year, nominated for eight of the 15 categories, including Anime of the Year. For Anime of the Year, Megalobox is joined by A Place Further Than the Universe, Devilman Crybaby, Violet Evergarden, Hinamatsuri, and Zombie Land Saga. My Hero Academia, which dominated the last Anime Awards, is only nominated for Best Animation and Best Boy this year. [Update: A previous version of this article noted both My Hero Academia protagonist Midoriya and his childhood friend Bakugo were nominated for the Best Boy category. However, there was a miscommunication between us and Crunchyroll, and it's really Haida from Aggretsuko and not Bakugo who made the cut.]
Fan voting is live and you'll have until January 18 at 11:59PM PT to submit your choices for which shows you think deserve to win. Head over to Crunchyroll's Anime Awards portal to submit your votes. Full disclosure, I sit on the panel of judges for this year's awards, so I contributed to deciding the nominees for all but two of the categories.
The full list of categories and their nominees are outlined below.
New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe is out now on Nintendo Switch, with a few new features and improvements over its Wii U cousin. One of those, Toadette, is certainly welcome, but her inclusion seemed to mean one of the Wii U version's playable characters, Blue Toad, was no longer in the game.
However, it appears Nintendo was fooling us all along. You can still play as Blue Toad: simply hover over (Yellow) Toad on the character select screen and hold either ZL or L. Voila! Yellow Toad will switch out for Blue Toad, who is then playable in any level in the game--including those in the New Super Luigi U expansion.
We enjoyed the Switch remaster here at GameSpot, and we awarded it a 7/10 in our New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe review. "Despite its aging formula, New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe is still a great entry in the series, with its typically tight platforming and both accessibility and depth to spare," we said. "While it can feel a bit stale for those who have been round the Mushroom Kingdom one too many times before, Deluxe is well worth playing, especially if you didn't get a chance to play NSMBU on Wii U."
Update: Koei Tecmo has stated Dead or Alive 6's beta is exclusive to PS4. A PlayStation Plus membership is required to play. Original story follows.
Dead or Alive 6 recently saw its release date delayed by a couple of weeks, but fans will still get to play the fighting game very soon. Without any form of prior announcement, publisher Koei Tecmo has launched an online beta of the game on PS4.
The demo version is available to download now on the PlayStation Store, though you'll need to wait until 7 AM PT / 10 AM ET / 3 PM GMT on January 11 (2 AM AET on January 12) to play. The trial will last for precisely 72 hours.
Fighters Online Beta test for #DOA6 is available for pre download now! It will be playable Jan. 11th 2019 at 8:00AM PDT - Jan. 14th 7:59AM PDT. Kasumi, Ayane, Hayabusa, Hayate, and one of the most anticipated newcomers, Diego will be the available characters! #DEADORALIVE6#DOA6pic.twitter.com/YXhsKjEyua
In a tweet announcing the beta, Koei Tecmo did not mention platforms, leading many to believe the test would be available on PS4, Xbox One, and PC, as with the full game. However at present the beta only appears to be on the PlayStation Store, not the Xbox or Steam equivalents. Five characters are included in this free pre-release version: Kasumi, Ayane, Hayabusa, Hayate, and new fighter Diego.
Dead or Alive 6 was due to launch on February 15. However, following a delay to allow developer Team Ninja to "further polish its balance, gameplay, and expressivity," the game will now be released on March 1. The sixth main entry in the series focuses less on the overt sexuality of previous titles and more on easing in newcomers, according to our preview.
If you're eager for a great JRPG to dive into, you should pick up Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition. Often cited by fans as one of the best games in the Tales franchise, this remaster of 2008's Tales of Vesperia is essentially an enhanced version of the Japan-exclusive PS3 port. This means you get additional playable party members, story subplots, dialogue, costumes, dungeons, mini-games, and much more that weren't available in the original Western release. In addition, all paid DLC is included. For hardcore fans who never imported the PS3 version, Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition is essential. And for newcomers, the remaster serves as an ample opportunity to experience the series at its greatest.
Tales of Vesperia tells the story of Yuri Lowell, a former soldier who embarks on a journey to aid a young noblewoman on an important mission. While simplistic at a glance, the story remains captivating thanks to its alluring cast of characters and vibrant anime-styled presentation. Much like last year's Dragon Quest XI, there's a strict adherence to classic fantasy conventions in Tales of Vesperia, but it's delivered with such infectious joy and charisma that you can't help but be drawn towards the plights of its characters.
Over a decade after its release, Tales of Vesperia is still fantastic.
It also helps that the Definitive Edition looks and runs great. Aside from a blurry filter that seems to pop up during cutscenes at times, the visuals have aged well. We spent the majority of our time with the Switch version, which divvies up its performance to 30 fps during exploration and 60 fps during combat. Returning players from previous versions should feel right at home with these specs, but if you're looking to experience the game at its most enhanced, you're better off with the PS4 and PC versions, which run at higher frame rates across the board. Interestingly enough, it's worth noting that the Xbox One version's performance is identical to Switch. Regardless of which platform you choose, you'll find few technical issues that'll take away from your time spent playing Tales of Vesperia.
Admittedly, one major shortcoming of the Definitive Edition is the new bonus dialogue interspersed across the story. A welcome addition on paper, the way it has been handled left us scratching our heads. While most of the original cast reprise their roles, a new actor has been brought on to play Yuri. Originally voiced by Troy Baker (The Last of Us, Bioshock Infinite, Metal Gear Solid V), the replacement does a decent enough job emulating the popular voice actor's performance. However, it's undoubtedly disorienting to hear Baker one moment only to hear a different actor take the reins for a brief slice of bonus dialogue. Fortunately, you're not without options, as the game does contain the original Japanese performances, which keeps its voice cast consistent throughout.
Over a decade after its release, Tales of Vesperia is still fantastic. With the flow of big releases slowing down, now's the perfect time to jump into this JRPG classic. For a closer look at how the game holds up and how it plays in its early hours, be sure to check out our commentary video above.
Al Pacino has been acting since the 1960s, but he's never starred in a TV show in a recurring role. That could be set to change soon. Deadline and others report that the Oscar-winning actor will star in Amazon's new Nazi-hunting show, The Hunt, which comes from the mind of Get Out writer-director Jordan Peele.
Pacino appeared in an episode of the TV show N.Y.P.D. back in 1968, but this will be the first time he's in a TV show on a recurring basis. He joins actor Logan Lerman in The Hunt.
Lerman plays a character out for blood after his grandmother is murdered, while Pacino portrays the mentor to Lerman's character. The Hunt is set in 1977 New York City, when a group of people known as Hunters track down Nazis who live secretly in the US hoping to establish a Fourth Reich in America.
Peele is producing The Hunt through his Monkeypaw Productions and Sonar Entertainment labels. Moonfall's David Weil created the show, and he'll write and executive produce the show. Amazon has ordered 10 episodes of The Hunt, but there is no word yet on when the program will air or who else will star in it.
Peele is famous for his comedy show Key & Peele, but he reached another level of success with the horror movie Get Out, for which he won an Oscar. He's keeping busy, as in addition to The Hunt, he has a horrifying-looking new movie, Us, coming out, and he's also working on the new Twilight Zone that will air on GameSpot sister network CBS All Access.
Update 3: In a surprising announcement, Fortnite studio Epic Games announced that it had teamed up with Improbable to create a $25 million fund aimed at encouraging developers to leave Unity in favour of other platforms. Epic and Improbably created the fund to give cash to developers who abandon Unity for other game-development tools. Epic, of course, owns and operates the very popular Unreal Engine, which competes directly with Unity.
"To assist developers who are left in limbo by the new engine and service incompatibilities that were introduced today, Epic Games and Improbable are together establishing a US $25,000,000 combined fund to help developers transition to more open engines, services, and ecosystems," Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney and Improbable executive Herman Narula said in a joint statement. "This funding will come from a variety of sources including Unreal Dev Grants, Improbable developer assistance funds, and Epic Games store funding."
It continues:
"We believe we are at the beginning of an unprecedented age of inclusive online games that become parts of our everyday lives. Enabling this will take much more than Epic or Improbable; it will take a vastly more mature, broad-based industry to enable this future: a community of companies connected by values such as fair and openly disclosed business terms, respect for developer choice, and full interoperability between platforms, software, and services. We encourage others with a similar vision to reach out, so we can find ways to make it come sooner."
Update 2: Unity has now responded with a blog post of its own that disputes Improbable's account of the situation and states emphatically, "Improbable's blog is incorrect."
Unity offers a detailed breakdown of what's happened over the past year-plus, though it starts out by clarifying, "Projects that are currently in production or live using SpatialOS are not affected by any actions we have taken with Improbable. If a game developer runs a Unity-based game server on their own servers or generic cloud instances (like GCP, AWS or Azure), they are covered by our EULA. We have never communicated to any game developer that they should stop operating a game that runs using Improbable as a service."
It goes on to explain the background of the situation, claiming that despite discussions between the two sides, "Improbable chose an approach which doesn't involve partnering with Unity, but instead involves making unauthorized and improper use of Unity's technology and name in connection with the development, sale, and marketing of its own products. More than a year ago, we told Improbable in person that they were in violation of our Terms of Service or EULA. Six months ago, we informed Improbable about the violation in writing. Recent actions did not come as a surprise to Improbable; in fact, they've known about this for many months."
Unity explains that, two weeks ago, it turned off Improbable's Unity Engine license keys, saying it didn't take the matter lightly but that Improbable had "left us no choice. This was the only course of action to protect the integrity and value of our technology and Unity developers."
"We believe that even though Improbable is violating our EULA, game developers should never pay the price for that," Unity said. "We have been clear with Improbable that games currently in production and/or games that are live are unaffected, and we would have expected them to be honest with their community about this information. Unfortunately, this information is misrepresented in Improbable's blog."
Unity's blog post goes on to provide further details and discuss changes to its EULA. You can read about that in full here. The original story follows.
A dispute between Unity and the developer of the middleware SpatialOS is impacting developers. Studios have had to pull their games due to the conflict, and SpatialOS developer Improbable has strong words for Unity's approach.
In a blog post, Improbable explained that a change in Unity's terms of service puts SpatialOS games in breach of the license terms. In fact, it suggests that Unity clarified directly to the company that the change in the TOS was specifically to disallow services like theirs to work in the Unity engine. It says Unity also revoked the license due to another breach in an unspecified manner. Other engines remain unaffected.
[Update 1: Improbable has now published another blog post in which it accepts some of the blame alongside Unity but suggests the problems are deeper and could have involved any company. It proposes that the games industry "might need to consider making some changes which hugely increase the rate of innovation and the collective success we could all experience." It doesn't outline any specific solutions, instead seemingly seeking to initiate a dialogue on the subject.]
Going forward, Improbable says it is attempting to negotiate with Unity, and is offering development support to those who use the SpatialOS tech in the meantime, including opening an emergency fund. It's also looking into moving to a different engine as a last resort.
"This is an action by Unity that has immediately done harm to projects across the industry, including those of extremely vulnerable or small scale developers and damaged major projects in development over many years," the company said. "Games that have been funded based on the promise of SpatialOS to deliver next-generation multiplayer are now endangered due to their choice of game engine. Live games are now in legal limbo.
"All customers who entered into a relationship with us and Unity previously did so on the good faith understanding that the terms they signed up to, sometimes years ago, would allow them to be successful and not carry additional charges."
Indie developers like Spilt Milk and Vitor de Magalhaes have made announcements on Twitter of their projects going on hiatus, pending a resolution to the conflict.
One of the biggest companies on the planet, Amazon, looks like it's extending its reach to yet another sector. The Information reports today that the retail giant is looking to launch its own game-streaming service. Deadline backed up the report with a report of its own that claims the project exists within Amazon right now.
Deadline also reports that Amazon is currently speaking with publishers to distribute their games on the untitled Amazon game-streaming platform. The service could reportedly launch in 2020 at the earliest, though it's unclear if this is for a beta version of the platform or the full thing.
It appears that streaming could be the next big battleground for game companies. Google already has its Project Cloud game-streaming service that it's testing with Assassin's Creed Odyssey (you can see our impressions in the video above), while Microsoft will let you play Halo on a phone with its Xcloud (working title) streaming service, and Electronic Arts has its own streaming technology in the works under its ridiculously ambitious-sounding Project Atlas. Sony has operated in the game-streaming area for a long time already through its PlayStation Now product.
Amazon already does a lot with games, as the retailer is one of the biggest sellers of games in the world, while it also owns the popular video-streaming site Twitch. Amazon also owns Killer Instinct developer Double Helix, while Amazon has its own game studio team called Amazon Game Studios. In August last year, Amazon announced it had hired 2K Games founder Christoph Hartmann to be the new boss of Amazon Game Studios. it hasn't been all smooth sailing, however, as Amazon Game Studios canceled one of its first games, Breakaway, and a number of high-profile staffers quit.
Amazon Game Studios has a number of games in the works, including a sandbox MMO called New World, the third-persons shooter Crucible, and a game based on Amazon's Grand Tour series.
Streaming is an exciting opportunity for games, and it could spell trouble for hardware manufacturers like PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo. In a streaming world, games would play off computers in data centers and stream to your computer or mobile device, which in turn would reduce the need to own a console like an Xbox or PlayStation. One potential issue with streaming is that it depends significantly on network availability and speed, which is no guarantee in some places around the world.
Andrew Wilson, the CEO of EA, said during a presentation recently that he sees a future where you can play games on any device you want, with streaming/cloud gaming help accelerate that shift. Strauss Zelnick, the CEO of Rockstar Games parent company Take-Two Interactive, has said he believes streaming will help accelerate the industry's transition away from "closed" systems.
Video game streaming hasn't been a total success story so far, as you may recall the OnLive service shut down before it ever got much of a foothold. However, given that some of the biggest companies in the world are now investing in game-streaming, it might finally be time for streaming to truly kick off in earnest.
The 22nd annual D.I.C.E. Awards have announced the full list of nominees for this year, and Sony's God of War leads the way with 12 total nominations, including a nod for overall Game of the Year. The other Game of the Year nominees are Red Dead Redemption 2, Into the Breach, Spider-Man, and Return of the Obra Dinn.
God of War already won the Game of the Year award at The Game Awards back in December. It is also nominated for a top writing award at the Writers Guild Awards.
Fifty-six games in all received nominations this year. As mentioned, God of War led the way with 12 nominations, while Spider-Man picked up 11. Red Dead Redemption 2 grabbed eight nominations, while Return of the Obra Dinn picked up six.
The winners will be announced during the awards ceremony in Las Vegas on February 13, starting at 8 PM PT / 11 PM ET. Also during the event, Halo boss Bonnie Ross will be honoured as this year's Hall of Fame recipient.
We're giving away 100 free PC Steam codes for PlanetSide Arena: Legendary Edition to one hundred (100) lucky fans! (Scroll down to enter below).
PlanetSide Arena: Legendary Edition includes:
Closed Beta and Full Game
Season 1 Battle Pass
Three Class Armor sets (Engineer, Assault and Medic)
M-20 Tempest (hoverbike) Pack
This is not an instant win. No purchase necessary. Competition ends at 12:00 PM PT on January 22, 2019, in which 100 winners will be chosen at random and emailed a code for the full game (MSRP: $40).
Enter below:
PlanetSide: Arena is a new massive-scale multiplayer sci-fi shooter that brings the franchise's signature epic-scale, all-out FPS action to new massive arena game modes capable of supporting up to 1,000 players per match. PlanetSide Arena initially launches with three major game modes: Massive Clash, an epic 500-player Group vs. Group experience, along with Solo and Team Battle Royale modes. Anyone who pre-orders (or wins a key) will get access to the Closed Beta which is expected to start later this month.
Looking for something new to play this weekend and don't want to spend any money? Microsoft has announced that Halo 5: Guardians is completely free to download and play starting now and running through the end of the weekend.
It's free on Xbox One as part of Microsoft's Free Play Days promotion which sees games drop to the low, low price of $0.00 for periods of time, usually on weekends. The one catch, if you can call it that, is that you need to have Xbox Live Gold.
Xbox Live Gold members can play Halo 5 for free today through Sunday as part of @Xbox Free Play Days. Jump in and join the Master Chief for an action-packed weekend! pic.twitter.com/PHAOxHWnKp
To sweeten the deal, Halo 5 is offering double XP for the duration of the free play weekend, while the fun-time playlists Holiday Fiesta and Castle Wars are in rotation. The Holiday Fiesta playlist is aimed at celebrating the holidays, of course, and it features "snow-themed" variants of Halo 5 arena maps. Castle Wars, meanwhile, is a large-scale capture-the-flag mode that supports 16 players.
Halo 5 still has a very active player population, so you should have no trouble at all finding multiplayer matches. The game is also free with Xbox Game Pass, which further helps the game reach even more players.
The next mainline Halo game is Halo Infinite, which is in development for Xbox One and PC. We still don't know a whole lot about it, but Halo boss Frank O'Connor recently talked about how the game's multiplayer is tons of fun.
Andrew Fleming, the drummer of Islander and maker of excellent drum cover videos of video game songs, is back with his latest--and it's all about Overwatch.
Fleming takes Overwatch's mostly serene, piano-filled "Hollywood" track and dials up the intensity with double-bass, fills galore, and open hi-hat. It's quite great.
The video caught the attention of Overwatch developer Blizzard. The official Overwatch Twitter account re-tweeted Fleming's video and congratulated him with a nice animated GIF of J.K. Simmons from the music movie Whiplash.
One of the biggest gaming news stories so far in 2019 broke today when Activision and Bungie confirmed they are ending their publishing deal for Destiny. Going forward, Bungie will take on development and publishing duties for Destiny, while Activision will focus on its own franchises, like Call of Duty.
Research firm Cowen & Company shared its thoughts on the news in a note to investors today, and one prediction the company made was that Bungie will release Destiny 3 in 2020. This is not an altogether surprising revelation, as the Destiny series normally releases new mainline entries every three years.
Destiny 1 launched in 2014, with Destiny 2 coming in 2017. According to Cowen & Company, the initial deal between Activision and Bungie called for new Destiny games every two years, but this shifted to one new game every three years. This slip might have contributed to what Cowen & Company called a "growing divergence" between Activision and Bungie's respective visions for where the Destiny franchise should go.
While Destiny and Destiny 2 might have been commercially successful on a unit basis, the games did not achievement the kind of "recurring revenue stream" that Activision wanted, Cowen & Company said. Indeed, Activision management recently said Destiny 2: Forsaken failed to meet its commercial expectations, and as a result, the company was looking at ways to bring more microtransactions to the game. Whether or not that's still the case now that Bungie operates Destiny 2 by itself remains to be seen.
According to Cowen, Bungie's attempts to broaden the Destiny player community with a more casual friendly Destiny 2 didn't work out, and while Destiny 2: Forsaken was praised by critics and fans, it didn't do a good enough job at bringing back lapsed players.
Cowen estimates that Activision severed ties with Bungie and Activision to focus on strengthening its own fully owned franchises like Call of Duty, even if it meant taking a financial hit in the short term. The upside of investing in its own franchises was greater than continuing to sink resources into an under-performing series like Destiny, Cowen said.
Also in the report, Cowen said Bungie likely paid Activision a fee to reclaim the Destiny publishing rights, but the figure is not likely "enormously significant," it said.
Losing Destiny will hurt Activision Blizzard's bottom line, Cowen said, estimating that the company will announce lowered financial guidance when it reports earnings next in February.
"Ultimately, we think this decision is probably for the best for Destiny as a franchise, as we think having two head cooks in the kitchen with somewhat divergent views created some issues with the development process and led the game down some blind alleys," Cowen said. "Destiny was a worthwhile attempt by Activision to build another cornerstone franchise, one that just didn't quite pan out as they had hoped (underlining once again the high difficulty of creating and managing a successful live service game business), in our view."
There continue to be unanswered questions about the Bungie/Activision breakup, including what it means for Destiny support studios High Moon and Vicarious Visions. Those studios, which are owned by Activision, might shift to other Activision projects, but no official announcements have been made at this point.
For more on the big Destiny news, check out the stories linked below.
As CES 2019 comes to an end, we're looking back at all the announcements and new pieces of tech shown off during the event. A bunch of laptops and PCs were displayed at this year's CES, and GameSpot's sister site, CNET, compiled a list. We've gone ahead and narrowed it down to ones best for playing video games.
If you're looking to invest in a new gaming machine, then you'll want to check out the Acer Nitro 5, Zotac Mek 1, or Dell Inspiron Gaming Desktop. The latter two are PCs, while the Acer is a laptop. The Acer Nitro 5 has a 15.6-inch screen and is powered by AMD, with a Radeon RX560 GPU and Ryzen CPU. The price for the laptop isn't all that bad, with a starting price of $800 USD getting you a 512 gigabyte SSD hard drive.
You're getting a lot more bang with the Zotac Mek 1, but it's going to cost you a lot more bucks. The desktop will have a starting price between $1200 and $1400, but you get a machine with a seventh generation Intel processor and Nvidia GeForce 1070Ti CPU. The Dell Inspiron Gaming Desktop falls between the two in terms of performance and price, costing a little over $800 with an eight generation Intel processor and Nvidia GeForce 1070 CPU.
If you just need a new laptop and don't want to use it for gaming, but still need the processing power to render and edit videos or photos, then ideally all the aforementioned computers should work. However, you can also look at a few other options that are primarily designed for business people and artists. The Dell XPS 15 2-in-1 and HP Spectre x360 are the powerhouses of the non-gaming laptops shown off at CES, but they will each set you back at least $1300. Both the Asus Zenbook Flip 14 and HP Envy x2 are the new kids on the block--neither are out or priced yet--but they boast very impressive specs as well. The Flip 14 includes a Nvidia GeForce MX150 GPU, eight generation Intel CPU, and a 512 gigabyte SSD. The Envy x2 is basically a souped up version of HP's laptop from last year, with a seventh generation Intel processor increasing the speed of the machine's performance.
Plenty of other pieces of tech were announced at CES this year. There wasn't much specifically geared towards gaming, but a few things hinted at a change in the industry landscape. Also, some products were just really weird.
One way Microsoft is distinguishing the Xbox One from other consoles is by embracing keyboard and mouse support. Peripheral maker Razer is trying to make a splash by offering its own set with the Turret keyboard and mouse combo built specifically for Xbox One, and we got our hands on it at CES 2019. It has plenty of ideal features we'd expect from high-end PC-gaming setups, though a few design choices may hold it back from being the best solution for the Xbox One.
To put it broadly, Razer Turret is a wireless lapboard intended to bring PC controls to the console while being comfortable to use in a couch or living room setting. Certain design decisions have made the Turret a sensible piece of hardware, like the tenkeyless layout--it seems you won't be missing much functionality on the Xbox One by omitting the number pad. At roughly four pounds (or 1,800 grams), the unit itself doesn't weigh much, helping avoid the feeling of something pressing upon your lap. To top it off, the wireless mouse that comes packaged closely resembles the Deathadder, Razer's flagship mouse, which fits like a glove for right-handed folk. Both the keyboard and mouse conveniently connect through a single 2.4Ghz dongle, only occupying one USB port.
An important feature of the Turret is the use of Razer's own green mechanical switch, which has that distinct clicky, tactile feel (similar to the Cherry MX Blue switch). For the uninitiated, mechanical switches offer a more tactile feel to keystrokes since each key operates on its own distinct switch--it makes for consistent, responsive inputs as opposed to the squishy feel of standard membrane keyboards. It also wouldn't be a Razer product if it didn't have RGB lighting; both the mouse and keyboard have full-range, 16.8 million colors for backlighting via the company's Chroma system.
There's also a dedicated Xbox dashboard key where the right CTRL key would be for easy access. One aspect you might expect is mouse cursor navigation in the dashboard, but getting through menus is relegated to directional keys, unfortunately. This isn't any fault of Razer's, just a current limitation a limitation on the Xbox One.
Where it falls short is in the built-in mouse pad. The surface itself is slick, similar to a good hard-surface mouse pad, and easily slides in and out of the right side of the keyboard. However, the surface and mouse are magnetic, and the push and pull of the magnets makes for an unnatural feel that can compromise the precision expected from PC-based controls. The magnetism helps keep the mouse in place when you take your hands off of it, and the top right corner of the pad is magnetized so strongly that it'll hold the mouse even when the whole set is sitting vertically. But as as a result, you sacrifice the free flow of swiping and lifting the mouse (which you'll do often since the mouse pad is on the smaller side) due to the resistance. Of course, you don't have to use the built-in mouse pad, but it's your only realistic option when the Turret is used as a lapboard in a living room-type setting.
Though we can't speak to battery life ourselves, Razer states that the keyboard can last up to 43 hours without backlighting and 11 hours with the default backlight setting. The mouse is said to run for 50 hours without lighting, and 30 hours with it on, after a full charge. A USB-C port resides on the top right of the keyboard for charging.
As for parity in competitive games, the onus is on developers in how they want to implement keyboard and mouse controls. Some games could filter matchmaking based on control scheme, but can very well give players the option to match with anyone if they desire. As great as it is to have precision control and perhaps gain a slight advantage in games like Fortnite, Warframe, and would fit well for upcoming games such as Gears 5, the Turret's price of $250 may be a tough sell. Pre-orders are open on the Microsoft Store and units are expected to be available on or around March 31 this year.
The upcoming Community Day isn't the only event Pokemon Go players have to look forward to this month. Niantic has announced it is also hosting a new type of Limited Research event next weekend, and it'll give users a chance to encounter a new Shiny Pokemon.
The Limited Research event is scheduled to take place on Saturday, January 19. Much like a Community Day, it will only run for three hours, during which time you'll be able to receive special Limited Research tasks by spinning the Photo Disc at PokeStops. You can find the event hours for each region below.
Each Limited Research task you complete will reward you with an encounter with a Feebas, the base form of the majestic Water-type Pokemon Milotic. Moreover, Niantic says players will have their first chance to encounter a Shiny Feebas as part of the event. The Limited Research tasks will only be available during the three-hour window, but players will be able to complete them at any time once they've been received.
In the meantime, players still have a few more days to take advantage of the ongoing Adventure Sync Hatchathon. The event is scheduled to end on January 15--the same day that Heatran leaves Raid Battles--and offers double the usual amount of Stardust and Candy for hatching Pokemon Eggs.
This month's Community Day, meanwhile, takes place on January 12. The featured Pokemon this time is the Gen 2 starter Totodile; if you evolve it into its final form, Feraligatr, up to an hour after the event ends, it'll also learn the powerful Water attack Hydro Cannon.
While there's a certain amount of unavoidable uncertainty when something atypical like the Bungie-Activision split happens, Destiny 2 fans needn't worry, at least about the immediate future of the game. The company insists it isn't abandoning the plans it's already outlined for Destiny 2, which will see new content continue to be released in the months ahead.
"Today is a big news day for Bungie. Change is afoot for us," wrote Bungie's David Dague on Twitter. "Our plans for Destiny are unchanged. All of these game updates are still on the calendar." The tweet included the image below that outlines Destiny 2's roadmap new content between now and the end of August. That includes both free and paid additions, the latter of which will be available to those who have purchased Destiny 2's Annual Pass. Among other things, the game will add another new Raid, Exotics, seasonal events, a "Gambit experience," and much more.
Bungie's weekly blog post, This Week at Bungie, has been on hiatus recently due to the holidays. It was scheduled to resume today, but likely due to the big news, it's been pushed until Friday, January 11, Dague confirmed on Twitter. It will feature "the latest details on the Destiny player experience," he said, but don't expect it to offer up any further specifics regarding the split from Activision. "We don't have more news to report on the business of the franchise," he said.
The announcement of the split comes amid apparent tension between the two companies. Last year, following Forsaken's release, Activision said it had been a commercial disappointment. This prompted Destiny 2 game director Luke Smith to respond, saying, "We are not disappointed with Forsaken."
We are not disappointed with Forsaken. We set out to build a game that Destiny players would love, and at Bungie, we love it too. Building Destiny for players who love it is and will remain our focus going forward.
Regarding Bungie assuming control of the Destiny series, the studio said, "The planned transition process is already underway in its early stages, with Bungie and Activision both committed to making sure the handoff is as seamless as possible.
With Forsaken, we've learned, and listened, and leaned in to what we believe our players want from a great Destiny experience. Rest assured there is more of that on the way. We'll continue to deliver on the existing Destiny roadmap, and we're looking forward to releasing more seasonal experiences in the coming months, as well as surprising our community with some exciting announcements about what lies beyond.
"Thank you so much for your continued support. Our success is owed in no small part to the incredible community of players who have graced our worlds with light and life. We know self-publishing won't be easy; there's still much for us to learn as we grow as an independent, global studio, but we see unbounded opportunities and potential in Destiny. We know that new adventures await us all on new worlds filled with mystery, adventure, and hope. We hope you'll join us there."
This week was a big one for Destiny, as the last piece of big content from the Black Armory expansion was released. This was marked by the start of a complex new puzzle for players--specifically, the most hardcore fans and streamers--to crack. Their success would open the fourth and final Black Armory forge activity. However, after more than a day only resulted in a partial completion, Bungie decided to go ahead and unlock the Bergusia Forge for all players.
So it's no surprise, then, that Activision Blizzard's stock price dropped dramatically after the news was made public. Investors were seemingly spooked at the idea of Activision Blizzard losing a revenue-contributor.
The company's share price fell by almost 7 percent in after-hours trading today on the New York Stock Exchange. The news was released after the stock market closed, so it'll be intriguing to watch the share price tomorrow when the market opens. [Update: With markets now open, the drop has only continued; after closing Thursday at $51.35, it's gone as low as $44.67 so far this morning. Since that point, it's recovered slightly, although as of this writing it stands at $45.92, a 10.56% drop. Expect this to continue fluctuating throughout the day.]
In 2015, Activision Blizzard's stock price reached a new all-time high, and it grew higher still, before dropping in the past year. In March 2018, one analyst firm downgraded Activision Blizzard's stock rating, saying the company was facing a "combination of worries" that could affect its stock price.
In a Securities & Exchange Commission filing, Activision Blizzard said it doesn't expect losing Destiny to have a significant impact on revenue or operating income in 2019. However, losing a franchise as big as Destiny will surely have an impact on Activision Blizzard's bottom line in some capacity. Activision Blizzard next reports earnings on February 12, and it's likely we'll learn more at that time.
It's been a time of change for Activision Blizzard lately. In addition to losing Destiny, Activision Blizzard CFO Spencer Neumann recently left to join Netflix, while Blizzard CFO Amrita Ahuja left the company to take a new job at Square (the mobile payment company, not Square Enix).
For more on the big Destiny news, check out the stories linked below.
One of the biggest surprises to emerge from last month's Game Awards was Mortal Kombat 11, the next installment in the long-running fighting series. Developer NetherRealm unveiled the title with a brutal trailer, and now series co-creator Ed Boon has given us a glimpse at its cover.
Boon revealed the game's cover artwork on his official Twitter account. Much like Mortal Kombat X's cover, it's very minimalistic, featuring a single character: series mainstay Scorpion, who appeared in the game's reveal trailer alongside another MK veteran, Raiden. You can take a look at the art below.
NetherRealm hasn't announced many details about Mortal Kombat 11 yet, but based on its reveal trailer, it appears the series' trademark gore is very much intact. The developer has also teased the game will feature a "time bending story," which was hinted at in the trailer; after Raiden dispatches Scorpion, another Scorpion--dressed in the character's classic garb--appears and continues the fight.
Fans will get their first extended look at Mortal Kombat 11 on January 17, when NetherRealm broadcasts a reveal event on Twitch. The game is scheduled to launch a little later this year, on April 23. It's coming to PS4, Xbox One, PC, and Nintendo Switch, and those who pre-order a copy will receive Shao Kahn as a playable character.
PS4 and Xbox One owners have an added incentive to pre-order the game, as doing so will get you access to a pre-launch beta. The test will be held for those two platforms sometime in March, although further details have yet to be announced.
A new set of Season 7 challenges has arrived in Fortnite, providing another opportunity to level your Battle Pass up and unlock rewards. As usual, if you manage to finish all of the objectives from a given week, you'll also complete a related Snowfall challenge, netting you a special loading screen that hides a clue to a free Battle Star or Banner waiting somewhere around the island.
The loading screen you'll get depends on how many weekly sets of challenges you've completed. Once you've finished six weeks' sets, you'll unlock the one pictured below. It depicts a character wearing the Durrr Burger onesie standing at the titular eatery, burger in hand. This time, the clue can be found on the chalkboard in the lefthand corner of the image, which features a drawing of a Banner floating about the Crown of RVs--the same spot you needed to visit to complete Week 1's dancing challenge.
The Crown of RVs is located south of Paradise Palms, at the edge of the map near the desert village. Your best bet for finding the Banner is to glide to the area at the start of a match and make your way to the crown-like formation. As teased, the Banner will appear at the top. Collect it and finish the match, and you'll be able to use the Banner as a swanky profile icon.
We've marked the Banner's location on the map below to help you find it. You can also watch us collect it in the video above to show you exactly where you need to go. However, as always, the Banner will only appear on the map if you've completed the necessary number of challenges and unlocked the aforementioned loading screen; you won't simply be able to waltz over to the right spot and find it unless you've done the required work.
You have until the end of Season 7 to complete any outstanding challenges; if you need help, you can find tips in our Season 7 challenge roundup. We've also put together guides on where to find all of this season's other free Battle Stars and Banners below.
Anyone concerned that Bungie ending its publishing arrangement with Activision for Destiny would mean Destiny 2 will be removed from Battle.net can breathe a sigh of relief. Blizzard has confirmed that Destiny 2 will continue to receive "full support" on Battle.net going forward.
Destiny 2 and its extra content remains available to buy on Battle.net, and it appears it will not be removed from the store, at least not yet.
Destiny 2 will still receive full support on BattleNet and we do not anticipate any disruption to our services or your gameplay experience. https://t.co/FFOE1iae3R
Destiny 2 was the first non-Blizzard game to be released on Battle.net. It was followed up by Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, which, like Destiny 2, was published by Activision. Both titles skipped Steam and other digital PC stores in favour of launching through Blizzard's digital PC store.
Given that Bungie is taking over publishing responsibilities for the Destiny franchise going forward, it would appear that Bungie will get to decide where it sells its games in the future; this could theoretically include Steam or the newly launched Epic Games Store.
For more on the big Destiny news, check out GameSpot's coverage through the stories linked below.
At CES 2019, GameSpot's sister site, CNET, saw and occasionally tried several new pieces of technology that could change the way people play games in the future. Below, we've gone ahead and highlighted the ones that stand out the most, but you can also head over to CNET's CES hub to browse through everything.
Some folks showed up to CES with pieces of third-party tech that allow you to play Nintendo Switch in new ways. The first is something that people have been asking Nintendo to make for a while: a means of charging Switch Joy-Cons while playing with them. Both Xbox One and PS4 controllers can be charged while in use, as can wireless mice and keyboards on PC, but Switch Joy-Cons will only charge while docked. GameSir also showed off a portable mouse and keyboard combo that can connect to Switch, which would probably be helpful for playing shooters like Fortnite and Splatoon 2, should Nintendo decide to update them with support
VR had a pretty heavy presence at CES this year as well. HTC unveiled two new headsets, one of which, the Vive Cosmos, is specifically built for gaming. The other, called the Vive Pro Eye, isn't designed for games just yet, but it supports impressive eye tracking technology. The company also announced Infinity, which is a new subscription model for Viveport that offers unlimited access to select VR titles for less than their full retail price. Holoride showed off a brand-new VR experience where you wear a headset while riding in the back of a car, allowing you to swiftly travel through worlds of fantasy or moments in history while on road trips. CNET also tried out Cyber Shoes, which allows you to feel like you're running in real life while playing VR, as well as a foot controller that should help make PSVR more accessible for those with a motion disability. CNET got to try out Oculus' new VR headset too, called Quest, which promises full motion and no cables.
There were also just your typical pieces of new tech at CES. We always expect to see new laptops each year, many of which have the specs to be used as gaming computers. Spherical gaming chairs aren't a stranger to CES either, although CNET notes the Predator Thronos is probably the best of what they saw.
Say what you will about the state of the DC Extended Universe films, but Aquaman is continuing its box office domination around the world. The film, which stars Jason Momoa, has been the number one movie in theaters since its December 21 debut and, according to The Hollywood Reporter, is set to stay in the top slot again this weekend.
Based on estimates, this weekend will also see the film cross the $1 billion worldwide mark, making it the first DC Entertainment film to do so since 2012's The Dark Knight Rises, which ended it's run with an impressive $1.084 billion at the box office.
While it's global box office success hugely eclipses the other entries in the DCEU--the next highest-earning movie is Batman v Superman at $873 million--it's still not the most domestically profitable film for the franchise. That honor goes to Wonder Woman, which earned $412 million at the domestic box office. To compare, Aquaman's domestic haul currently sits at $268 million, per Box Office Mojo. That number also leaves it trailing behind Batman v Superman and Suicide Squad in North America. Of course, that just goes to show the international appeal of Aquaman, which has already earned over $700 million overseas.
Given the success of Aquaman, it's hard not to think about what's next for the DCEU. Shazam is the next DCEU character heading to theaters. Unlike Aquaman--who debuted in Justice League--this will be the first time the character is seen on the big screen. Will audiences still flock to theaters to see what the team behind the movie has come up with? You'll find out on April 5, when Shazam premieres.
In one of the bigger gaming news stories so far in 2019, Bungie and Activision announced that they are breaking up. Going forward, Bungie will self-publish the Destiny franchise, with Activision instead focusing on its own series like Call of Duty.
It's big news, and many people from the video game industry reacted. Xbox boss Phil Spencer weighed in, as did Nick Chester of Fortnite studio Epic Games. Many more people commented on the news as well, and you can see a roundup of takes below.
As part of the breakup, Bungie gets full control of the Destiny intellectual property. The transition from Activision to Bungie has already begun, and the two say they will "work closely" to ensure a smooth transition.
In addition to ongoing support for Destiny, Bungie is making new games. Last year, it got $100 million from Chinese company NetEase for non-Destiny projects that have not yet been announced. This is sure to be an ongoing story, so keep checking back with GameSpot for the latest.
Industry Reacts To Destiny Breakup
Phil Spencer (Head of Xbox):
Looking forward to a very bright future working with one of my favorite independent studios on one of my favorite franchises. Excited to see how they continue to grow and evolve Destiny.
At today's meeting announcing the news, Bungie staff cheered loudly. Can't over-emphasize how happy they are not just to get away from Activision, but to have a game that they now own completely. Imagine a Destiny free from Activision's restrictive annualized schedule!
I remember when I quit Raven Software, an ATVI studio, after they canceled a game and put the studio on CoD support. Someone asked the COO "where is ATVI going to make new IP from if all the studios are just helping call of duty" and his answer was "we have Bungie for that" 😬 https://t.co/K90yNoPJx6
— Manveer aka King Curry Thunder (@manveerheir) January 10, 2019
Nick Chester (PR boss at Epic Games):
Self-publishing a game at this (or any!) scale is HARD. It's not a switch you flip. Bungie will have to learn a lot, grow in new ways, and they may stumble. We did and still do. But when they come out the other side, the game and its players will see a huge benefit.
Destiny was always meant to be a game-as-a-service like WoW but for some reason, they decided to go with semi-annual releases instead of supporting and updating the original game. Hopefully, now Bungie can focus on that.
Some of my fondest memories of working on Destiny include the amazing adventures we've had with Activision at events all around the world. To my friends at that company, thank you for working with us to bring together this amazing community that we will continue to serve.
Bungie splits with Activision. Y'all knew what you signed up for from the get go. Still, glad y'all got the rights back. Now? Self publish. Control your... Destiny? pic.twitter.com/LHB4wXHR43
Congratulations to @Bungie on its second declaration of independence! 2019 is shaping up to be an awesome year for independent developers and their ability to reach the world's billions of gamers directly. https://t.co/C8zn1mFkbo
Bungie will assume full publishing rights of the Destiny series from Activision, the developer announced on Thursday. This will mark the end of a 10-year contract established in 2010, which saw Activision help Bungie to launch its first post-Halo project after it gained its independence from former owner Microsoft.
The process of transitioning Destiny's publishing from Activision to Bungie has already begun, according to a post on Bungie's website. There's no word on any impact on Destiny 2, and Bungie says its plans are "unchanged." The PC version--which operates using the Activision-owned Blizzard Battle.net launcher--will "still receive full support on BattleNet and we do not anticipate any disruption to our services or your gameplay experience," Blizzard confirmed.
In a statement, Activision said, "Today, we're announcing plans for Bungie to assume full publishing rights and responsibilities for the Destiny franchise. Going forward, Bungie will own and develop the franchise, and Activision will increase its focus on owned IP and other projects. Activision and Bungie are committed to a seamless transition for the Destiny franchise and will continue to work closely together during the transition on behalf of the community of Destiny players around the world."
Both Destiny and Destiny 2 have been uneven games, delivering a mixture of highs and lows, with Bungie often correcting mistakes and offering dramatically improved experiences with post-launch expansions. Destiny 2 in particular has been maligned by some for its use of microtransactions and the Eververse store. While it's difficult to separate decisions made by Bungie versus Activision, some players worried that the latter's influence on the game had resulted in the heavy push of Eververse.
Reports have surfaced in the past about development issues with the series, as Destiny 2 was said to be rebooted at one point. Signs of possible strain between the companies' relationship became public last year following the release of the Forsaken expansion in September. Despite being received much more warmly than the base game, Activision publicly stated that it had been a commercial disappointment. This in turn led to Destiny 2 director Luke Smith responding on Twitter, saying, "We are not disappointed with Forsaken. We set out to build a game that Destiny players would love, and at Bungie, we love it too. Building Destiny for players who love it is and will remain our focus going forward."
In Bungie's new statement regarding the split, it stated, "With Forsaken, we've learned, and listened, and leaned in to what we believe our players want from a great Destiny experience. Rest assured there is more of that on the way. We'll continue to deliver on the existing Destiny roadmap, and we're looking forward to releasing more seasonal experiences in the coming months, as well as surprising our community with some exciting announcements about what lies beyond.
"Thank you so much for your continued support. Our success is owed in no small part to the incredible community of players who have graced our worlds with light and life. We know self-publishing won't be easy; there's still much for us to learn as we grow as an independent, global studio, but we see unbounded opportunities and potential in Destiny. We know that new adventures await us all on new worlds filled with mystery, adventure, and hope. We hope you'll join us there."
The news provides no indication of what Destiny's future might hold; Bungie appears to be fully dedicated to it and can perhaps have more freedom in how it handles Destiny 2 and beyond. But we also know part of Bungie is looking elsewhere, as just last year it received $100 million in funding from NetEase to work on non-Destiny projects. Bungie is a massive company, allowing it to work on multiple projects at once, and it insisted the Destiny franchise will "grow for many years to come. Our commitment to that world is not diminished by this announcement."
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