From Software president Hidetaka Miyazaki has revealed that the developer is currently working on two unannounced games. Whether both are sequels to existing series or the start to brand-new franchises has yet to be revealed.
Miyazaki made the announcement during an interview with 4Gamer.net, which was translated by Gematsu. "While it isn't the time to discuss details, they're both [From Software]-esque games," Miyazaki said. "We'll need a little more time, but we'll be able to tell everyone more about them once they take shape."
Back in June 2016, From Software revealed it had new games scheduled for the future. The first turned out to be Deracine with the second being the upcoming Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. Based on the phrasing for the new games, it's probably safe to assume the two unannounced titles are closer in length and scope to Sekiro as opposed to Deracine. Miyazaki added that both Dark Souls Remastered and Metal Wolf Chaos XD were not included in this original projection, and that the unannounced games are brand-new titles and not remasters.
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is From Software's next game, coming to Xbox One, PS4, and PC on March 22. It's Matt Espineli's most anticipated game for 2019, largely for its setting and fast-paced mechanics. Sekiro leaves behind the medieval castles of Dark Souls III and Victorian catacombs of Bloodborne for steampunk feudal Japan. Combat is even faster than From Software's previous Soulsborne games, mimicking the challenging back and forth of the Tenchu franchise. For more information, here's everything we know.
It's a sad day for professional wrestling fans around the world. Gene Okerlund, better known as "Mean Gene," has passed away at 76 years old The news was confirmed by CBS News and WWE, where he became one of the most recognizable interviewers in the history of the industry.
Okerlund got his start in the professional wrestling industry in 1970 when he began working for the American Wrestling Association as a part-time ring announcer and interviewer. During this time, he was given the nickname "Mean Gene" by Jesse "The Body" Ventura. It was in 1983 that he moved to what was known at the time as the WWF, becoming a mainstay on the company's various shows during the pro wrestling boom brought on by the rise of Hulk Hogan.
He stayed with the company for a decade before moving to WCW, where he stayed until WWE purchased the company in 2001. At that point, Okerlund returned to the company that made him famous and appeared sporadically over the years, even filming a reality show for the company called Legends House, which is available on the WWE Network.
In the wake of Okerlund's death, a number of WWE superstars, both past and present, shares their condolences online. "A voice and [soundtrack] to an entire era of our industry," Triple H said in a tweet. "He was the star of some of [WWE's] most memorable segments. 'Mean Gene' was beloved by all who got to work with him. Our thoughts are with his family at this difficult time."
A voice and sound track to an entire era of our industry. He was the star of some of @WWE's most memorable segments. "Mean Gene" was beloved by all who got to work with him. Our thoughts are with his family at this difficult time. https://t.co/9ddj6372eE
Just heard Mean Gene Okerlund has passed away. As an interviewer, pitch man, announcer, or host, he was untouchable. Simply the best. Total professional with quick wit, sarcasm, humor, and that golden voice. Condolences to his friends and family.
Of the very few regrets I harbor in my career, one was never getting to scream "Mean Gene" when answering the queries of a man who presence was larger than life and ingrained in the better memories of my childhood. RIP Mean Gene. My condolences to the Okerlund family.
GENE MEAN WAS BEST MAN AT MY WEDDING. WE DO HE SING HE DANCE HE ALWAYS WAS THERE FOR ME. ALWAYS LEADING THE WAY AT THE BAR WITH THE LEGEND. GOD BLESS HIM.
I'm so heart broken to hear of the passing of Mean Gene!! Thank you Gene for the laughs, advice, and most of a wonderful friendship! #wwe. #legend. #friendpic.twitter.com/hM7E9VoDIa
WWE universe has lost one of its greatest announcers and truly one of the nicest guys you'd ever know. "Mean" Gene Okerlund, RIP my friend pic.twitter.com/u3bS6pePmY
Gene Okerlund was an incredibly rare talent. He made everything and everyone better. #ThankYouMeanGene for all the incredible memories. Our condolences to his family and loved ones. https://t.co/IxpjiLo9UN
When I was younger and just starting out in wrestling all the guys at the wrestling gym went by 2 rules to pick a name.. 1) You had to be able to imagine Vince McMahon saying the name on commentary 2) You had to be able to hear Mene Gene saying it with a question#RIPMeanGene
Super bummed about Mean Gene. Literally JUST sat down last week to do an interview about his legacy. He was the most iconic backstage interviewer in wrestling history in my opinion. #RIPMeanGene
Fallout 76 had a tumultuous launch, but Bethesda has been consistently sharing plans to continue improving and iterating on the game well into the future. An update that outlines some planned features includes one big change: the ability to open up your own shops.
In a blog update to celebrate the new year, the studio promises bug fixes upcoming, and then briefly goes over some long-term feature plans. Those include a new PvP mode, new quests, and new Vaults opening, but the biggest feature is mentioned with just two words: Player Vending. That suggests that players will be able to open their own shops and sell unwanted loot, likely for in-game currency.
That would be a shot in the arm to the in-game economy. It would also give players some more non-combat interactions, bringing it that much closer to the community-building aspect that is core to the concept of repopulating the earth. A similar blog post at the end of last year detailed some upcoming plans, including a new mode without PvP restrictions in place.
Bethesda's commitment to keep development going comes amid heavy criticism and a surprising list of issues both inside the game and surrounding its promotion. It received heavy criticism for its canvas bags with the limited edition, which then gave way to a personal data leak. And that all came alongside an investigation into a PC refund policy and a generally negative critical reception. It currently stands at around 52 on GameSpot sister site Metacritic.
"Bethesda has stated it intends to continue supporting the game for a long time, but at launch, Fallout 76 is a poor experience," critic Edmond Tran wrote in GameSpot's review. "There are echoes of the series' admirable qualities, but look past that facade, past the cute Vault Boy animations, past the familiar radio tracks, and you'll find no heart--just an inconsequential wasteland doomed to be nuked over and over again."
It's the beginning of a new month, which means new Field Research tasks are now available in Pokemon Go. Just as with December's Field Research, if you complete enough tasks to achieve a Research Breakthrough, you'll have a chance to encounter one of several different Legendary Pokemon, including two new possibilities: Ho-Oh and Lugia.
Following their brief return for a special Raid weekend event last month, the Pokemon Gold and Silver cover monsters are now among the Legendaries you can catch when you achieve a Research Breakthrough, joining the previously available Articuno, Zapdos, Moltres, Raikou, Entei, and Suicune. You'll have an opportunity to encounter these Pokemon through the end of February.
In contrast to Special Research quests, which are assigned by Professor Willow and typically lead to an encounter with a Mythical Pokemon such as Meltan, Field Research tasks are acquired by spinning the Photo Disc at Poke Stops. You'll earn a stamp for the first Field Research task you complete each day; collecting seven stamps will lead to a Research Breakthrough.
On top of the new Field Research tasks, another Legendary Pokemon, Heatran, is still available in Go. The Gen 4 Legendary debuted as a Raid boss last month immediately following Cresselia's departure, and it's scheduled to appear in Raid Battles until January 15.
Pokemon Go's first Community Day of 2019 is also just around the corner. The event takes place next Saturday, January 12, and will feature the final Gen 2 starter Pokemon, Totodile. Players will also be able to hatch Eggs at a quarter of their typical required distance during the Community Day.
It's a new month and a new year. And because we've breezed passed the first Tuesday in January, a fresh set of six games is available for free to all PlayStation Plus subscribers. So whether you have a PS4, PS3, or PS Vita, you can head to the PS Plus page to add the freebies to your library. Just make sure you do it before Sony changes them out for next month's games on February 5.
PS4 owners can grab the Ubisoft extreme sports game Steep, which takes place on an open-world version of the Alps that you can descend using skis, a snowboard, or wingsuit. The other PS4 game is Portal Knights, a co-op RPG that incorporates Minecraft-like building mechanics.
If you use PS Plus mainly to fill out your PS3 or PS Vita game libraries, here's a friendly reminder: starting in March 2019, Sony will no longer give away free PS3 and PS Vita games for PS Plus members. It's unclear if anything will replace these freebies, but if you subscribe to PS Plus primarily for those free titles, consider turning off your subscription's auto-renewal option or canceling it by then.
PlayStation Plus Games For January 2019
PS4
Steep
Portal Knights
Amplitude (also on PS3)
Fallen Legion: Flames of the Rebellion (also on PS Vita)
PS3
Zone of the Enders HD Collection
Amplitude (also on PS4)
PS Vita
Fallen Legion: Flames of the Rebellion (also on PS4)
Monster Hunter World is welcoming another crossover from a fellow franchise, this time bringing in characters and costumes from the Assassin's Creed series. You can earn one of two signature looks straight out of the assassin's guild wardrobe, as long as you have the chops to take down some monsters first.
A new event quest SDF: Silent, Deadly, and Fierce drops you into an arena against some fierce monsters: Odogoron and Deviljho together, followed by Lunastra. Taking down all three will grant you a Senu's Feather item, which Assassin's Creed fans will recognize as a reference to Bayek's eagle from Assassin's Creed Origins. You can trade two feathers for a layered armor that makes you appear as Bayek himself. An Assassin hood gives you a speed boost to running, climbing, and croaching, and deals extra damage if you attack from stealth.
Capcom released a trailer showing off the special duds, complete with a (sort of) leap of faith. This is an event quest, so you'll have a limited time to take part and earn your rewards.
Monster Hunter World has received lots of continued support, including an anniversary event coming this month. Another planned crossover will bring in Geralt, the famed monster hunter from The Witcher 3, into the game. Its first big expansion, Iceborne, is coming this fall. The user-friendly revisions paired with a lot of continued support helped earn it a spot among our favorite games of 2018.
You might have been enjoying a rare break over the festive period, but Fortnite definitely was not. Epic Games has been continuing to expand its battle royale phenomenon, and its latest update adds a new item, the Boom Box.
A specialist structure-counter, the Boom Box delivers "blasts of music that deal structure damage in a large area," according to Epic. "Newly built walls in the radius of the box are destroyed with every blast." Boom Boxes are discoverable in chests, and they are destroyed when shot. They deal no direct damage to players, but completely stop buildings and structures from forming and destroy them if already built.
Elsewhere, two new weapons have been added to Save the World. The Pain Train Assault Rifle has a slow rate of fire but high damage, and it's available in the weekly store until January 9. The Tree of Light Sword, meanwhile, is available as a weekly challenge reward, and is also a high-damage weapon--it does take a while to swing, however. Check out the full patch notes below, via Epic.
Fortnite is currently in Season 7, which offers a bevy of new cosmetics for those who complete the Battle Pass. You can check out our challenge guide for tips on how to complete the various tasks and earn your stars. Meanwhile, Epic is fending off legal challenges from the most unexpected of places: various celebrities and viral video stars suing over the use of their dances.
The 14 Days of Fortnite event will feature both new and returning LTMs. Large team modes switch every two days and small team modes rotate every 24 hours.
Log in each day at 9 AM ET(1400 UTC) to find out which modes are available to explore. Let us know which LTM is your favorite on our social channels!
Weapons And Items
Boom Box
Activate to create powerful blasts of music that deal structure damage in a large area!
Newly built walls in the radius of the box are destroyed with every blast.
Shoot the Boom Box to stop its effects.
Creative
What's New?
Ice Castle Prefabs: Sculpt your masterpiece in Creative with 8 new Ice Castle Prefabs!
This is an early release so you may experience client crashes, loss of progress, or other unexpected errors.
Weapons And Items
Boom Box added to Creative Inventory Consumables
Activate to create powerful blasts of music that deal structure damage in a large area!
Newly built walls in the radius of the box are destroyed with every blast.
Shoot the Boom Box to stop its effects.
Prefabs
8 Ice Castle Prefabs
5 Ice Castle Galleries including with and without snow
Save The World
What's New?
Pain Train Assault Rifle: Bring the pain with this heavy hitting assault rifle, available in the Weekly Store.
Tree of LIght Sword: Chop down Husks and stun enemies with the light from this melee weapon! Unlock this reward from Frostnite Weekly Challenges.
Missions And Systems
Weekly Frostnite Challenge Missions:
Each week during the Frostnite event, there will be a new Weekly Challenge mission in the Frostnite zone.
These zones include specially crafted challenges to push player's skills using a variety of modifiers
Weekly Frostnite Challenge 1: Slip Out
Touching snow or ice will cause players to slide. Use building to your advantage!
Red Dead Redemption 2 was one of the biggest games of 2018, and we now know it ended the year at the top of the UK sales chart. Rockstar's open-world PS4 and Xbox One game was the best-selling physical game in the UK's final trading week of the year after also topping the Christmas chart the week before.
No new titles entered the chart this week, though old faces do crop up: both Spyro Reignited Trilogy and Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy are in the top 10 at No.7 and No.9, respectively. The continued success of the '90s gaming mascots is an encouraging sign for Activision with Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled coming to Switch, PS4, and Xbox One in June.
You can read the full top 10 sales chart below, courtesy of UKIE and Chart-Track. Note this table does not include digital sales data, and so should not be considered representative of all UK game sales.
Bethesda parent company ZeniMax has filed a trademark application for a new game called "Deathloop." The goods and services description in the trademark application filed with the United States Patent & Trademark Office on December 26, 2018 states that Deathloop could be an online-enabled mobile game. That's all there is to go on at this stage, however.
Trademark applications are not necessarily good predictors of future products, but they're still intriguing to look over and consider. ZeniMax originally filed a trademark application for Starfield back in 2013, and it wasn't until 2018 that the company officially announced Starfield as one of Bethesda Game Studios' next projects.
Bethesda enjoyed tremendous success with its first mobile game, Fallout Shelter, so it's no surprise that the company may be returning to that arena with a new game. Bethesda opened a new studio in Montreal back in 2015, and that branch was dedicated in part to mobile game development.
Bethesda did not respond to a request for comment outside of regular business hours.
A so-called death loop in a video game is when a game reloads after a save with players finding themselves thrust into a situation they can't get out of without dying. A death loop is also a problematic situation that can happen in kitesurfing. While we don't know what Bethesda's Deathloop video game is about, it's probably not related to kitesurfing.
It's also possible that Deathloop never becomes a video game, because it could be that Bethesda is merely trademarking the name to protect its potential future use.
Aquaman, the latest DC superhero movie, has been and continues to be a juggernaut at the box office. After another weekend at No. 1, the movie has now made $751.8 million worldwide. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the Jason Momoa-starring film is now on track to make $900 million during its theatrical run. If it does, it'll end up becoming the biggest DC movie since 2012's The Dark Knight Rises ($1.09 billion).
After just a few weeks, Aquaman has already exceeded the lifetime gross figures for DC movies Man of Steel ($668 million), Justice League ($657.9 million), and Suicide Squad ($746.8 million). Aquaman is expected to soon pass Wonder Woman ($821.8 million) and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice ($873.6 million).
Aquaman is doing much better from international markets. It's made $562.4 million from international markets, including a whopping $260 million from China alone. The film has pulled in $189.4 million from the United States.
Aquaman stars Jason Momoa as Aquaman, with a cast that also includes Amber Heard, Willem Dafoe, Patrick Wilson, and Nicole Kidman.
For more on Aquaman, you can check out GameSpot's review and related feature content linked below.
Gears of War designer Cliff Bleszinski has revealed his next project, and it's probably not what you expect. Bleszinski is becoming a co-producer on the musical Hadestown. The game developer, who also founded LawBreakers studio Boss Key which has since closed down, invested in Hadestown at an undisclosed amount to become a co-producer.
"Crazy, eh?!" Bleszinski said about the announcement.
At the end of December, Bleszinski said he would probably never work in the video game industry again. He found massive success at Epic with the Gears of War franchise, and he no doubt made a sizeable chunk of money when Tencent invested in Epic. After leaving Epic he started his own studio, Boss Key, but its games--LawBreakers and Radical Heights, failed to find audiences, and the studio closed down.
In a deleted tweet captured by Eurogamer, Bleszinski said he was distancing himself from video games because the culture around them can be "toxic AF."
As for Hades town, it's a Greek history story from singer-songwriter Anais Mitchell that tells two connecting love stories between Orpheus and Eurydice and king Hades and Persephone.
The Gears of War franchise is now run by Microsoft, which bought the series from Epic back in 2014 for an undisclosed sum. As for Epic, it's doing quite well right now thanks to the massive success of Fortnite. In fact, it was Bleszinski who revealed Fortnite to the world seven years ago.
Update: Netflix has officially announced the hiring of Spencer Neumann, who becomes the company's new CFO, replacing David Wells. There's only a single mention in Netflix's press release of his role at Activision. It's unclear how soon he'll start in the new role or whether he'll attempt to prove he should not have been dismissed by Activision. The original story follows.
Activision Blizzard, the gaming giant behind franchises like Call of Duty, Overwatch, World of Warcraft, and Diablo, has lost one of its senior executives. The California-based publisher announced that chief financial officer Spencer Neumann was notified on December 31 that his contract with Activision Blizzard was terminated.
The company decided to terminate Neumann's contract "for cause unrelated to the Company's financial reporting or disclosure controls and procedures," Activision Blizzard said in US Securities & Exchange Commission filing. In a PR statement, it said that he was "terminated for cause for violating his legal obligations to the Company."
Neumann is now on paid leave, and he's been given the opportunity to "demonstrate why cause does not exist to terminate his employment or why termination of his employment is not otherwise justified."
Activision Blizzard chief corporate officer Dennis Durkin is taking over for Neumann as CFO in the interim. Should Neumann end up leaving Activision Blizzard, Durkin will officially step into the role of CFO, the company said. Durkin was CFO from 2012-2017.
A source told Reuters that Neumann is leaving Activision Blizzard to join video streaming giant Netflix. Netflix's former CFO, David Wells, announced last August that he was leaving the company after 14 years. The source told Reuters that Netflix wanted its next CFO to be based in Los Angeles, which Neumann is.
According to Reuters, Neumann is expected to start at Netflix in early 2019, so an official announcement might be coming soon.
Neumann had been Activision Blizzard's CFO since May 2017. Before joining the company, he rose through the ranks at Disney, eventually becoming the CFO of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts.
At the time of this writing, investors don't appear to be worried about the news, with Activision shares up 1.4%.
The Halo TV show, which has been in development for a very long time, hit a bit of speedbump at the end of 2018 when director Rupert Wyatt (Planet of the Apes) dropped out. Microsoft has now confirmed it is is "knee-deep" in conversations with potential replacements.
Kiki Wolfkill, the head of Transmedia efforts at 343, said in a blog post that 2018 was a "year of momentum and energy" for the Halo TV show, and this included "a few roadbumps." In better news, the project continues to move ahead, and work is being done on the scripts and even prototyping of physical props. As for who may replace Wyatt in the director's chair, Wolfkill said more details will be shared in the time ahead.
It sounds like the Halo TV show is still in the very early stages, however, as Wolfkill said she and colleague Frank O'Connor (Halo franchise director) are still building the "foundation" of the series. Whatever the case, Halo fans eager to know the project hasn't been abandoned or forgotten have some good news in this update.
"It's been a year of momentum and energy and a few roadbumps along the way but we are ending the year on the Halo TV series happily exhausted," Wolfkill said. "Not unlike game development, it has been a very rapid pace over the last few months of script refinement, concepting, and practical prototyping (but unlike game development, much of this is physical prototyping which is a whole other thrill)! There have been short flights, long flights (ask [Frank O'Connor] about his unobtainium flight status), skype calls, and working sessions all of which have left us excited to come back in January and continue to build our foundation for this show.
"In the meantime, we're knee-deep in director conversations and will share deets when we're back!"
Wyatt, who directed Rise of the Planet of the Apes, left the Halo TV show due to scheduling conflicts. He said he enjoyed the time he spent working on the show, saying it was a "creatively rich and rewarding experience with a phenomenal team."
The Halo TV show will air on Showtime, whose parent company, CBS, also owns GameSpot. Network president of programming Gary Levine said in his own statement that the Halo show is "evolving beautifully with rich characters, compelling stories, and powerful scripts."
The production demands for the Halo TV show continue to be "enormous," Levine said. As such, Showtime needed to add more time to the production schedule, and this meant that Wyatt had to drop out. Showtime said previously that Halo is the network's "most ambitious series ever," and that's notable given Showtime is behind some massive productions such as Homeland, Shameless, Billions, and more recently the Jim Carrey show Kidding.
The Halo TV show will feature Master Chief in some capacity, but it remains to be seen if he is the lead, or what other characters might join him. Kyle Killen (Awake) will serve as writer, showrunner, and executive producer.
In other Halo news, Microsoft recently shared more details about the much-anticipated Halo Infinite. Specifically, we learned the game will feature four-player split-screen support, which is notable considering Halo 5 had no split-screen at all.
New year, new Happy Death Day 2U trailer! The upcoming sequel to 2017's Happy Death Day is heading to theaters on Valentine's Day, with the original cast returning for a new take on its horror-tinged Groundhog Day-like premise.
In the new film, Tree (Jessica Rothe) isn't the only one dying every time the day resets. Now she's leading a ragtag group of college buddies in an attempt to stop whatever force it is that wants them all very dead. As seen in the new trailer, she's also figured out a clever way around being constantly murdered--killing herself. Whether it's falling off a building, jumping out of a plane without a parachute, or blowing herself up, Happy Death Day 2U is mixing things up when it comes to killing off its star just as much as the first one did.
Happy Death Day 2U is set two years after the original movie and throws Tree back into the time loop that started it all.. By this point, though, she's a pro as reliving the same awful day over and over, so she quickly jumps into action to mobilize her group of friends and figure out who it is that wants her so dead.
The latest film in the franchise sees the rest of the originals cast returning alongside Rothe, as well as writer/director Christopher Landon. Happy Death Day 2U hits theaters on February 14.
After over a year, it's finally time to start getting ready for the next trip to the Upside Down. To celebrate the new year, Netflix released the first teaser trailer for Stranger Things 3 at midnight on December 31. While the quick clip didn't contain any new footage--it did include some vintage Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve imagery--it revealed when the hit series would return.
The third season of Stranger Things will premiere on Netflix on July 4, because what better way is there to celebrate America's independence than with Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) using her mental powers to throw cars around and fight demodogs? Along with the teaser, Netflix also released the first poster which gives a hint at the theme for the new season.
In the poster, the show's stars are watching 4th of July fireworks explode in 1985, leading us to believe that the series won't just be released over Independence Day, but also be set around it. The tagline reads, "One summer can change everything," which sounds like a totally cliche '80s movie line--something that is very appropriate for the series. It would be hard enough for the show's youngest characters to enter their teenage years just as normal kids. It's an entirely different situation for them, though, given the awful hellscape of a dimension they just can't seem to get away from.
In the image, only Eleven and Will (Noah Schnapp) are looking back as the Upside Down makes its way into their world. Mike (Finn Wolfhard), on the other hand, is looking at Eleven with concern, while their friends are too mesmerized by the fireworks to realize anything is wrong.
The new teaser and poster still manage to keep most of what Season 3 will be about under wraps. Thus far, Netflix has been revealing tiny pieces of information about Stranger Things 3--like the list of episode titles--while managing to leave us knowing very little. However, there are some things we've learned, like the arrival of some new faces that include Cary Elwes and Jake Busey, or that the new shopping mall in town will play a major role.
If you're dying to find out all of the details about Stranger Things 3, make sure to take a look at everything we've learned so far. Otherwise, you've got seven months to get ready for the show's return on Netflix on July 4.
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