We have a PSA for Civilization fans: If you've been waiting for the price to drop on Civilization VI's newest expansion, Gathering Storm, today's the day to grab it. While the Gathering Storm expansion, which released in February, is still selling for $40 on Steam and elsewhere, it's currently on sale for $26 at Fanatical--and we have an exclusive promo code that slashes the price even more.
If you use promo code GAMESPOTCIV6GS at Fanatical, you can get an officially licensed Steam key for Civilization VI: Gathering Storm for only $20, by far its lowest price yet. As a comparison, the first Civ VI expansion, Rise and Fall, still sells for $30 and is discounted to $19.49 at Steam right now--and it released over a year ago. So this is a good chance to grab Gathering Storm for cheap, as it likely won't drop lower than $20 anywhere for quite a while.
The deal is available now through May 21 at midnight PT / 3 AM ET / 7 AM GMT / 5 PM AET. To claim the 50% off deal, head to Fanatical and add the Gathering Storm expansion to your cart. In checkout, click "Redeem a coupon code" and paste in GAMESPOTCIV6GS.You'll see the price drop to $20, and you'll receive your purchased Steam key immediately. Please note this is Aspyr's version of Gathering Storm for Steam, so you must have a free Steam account to redeem the key.
The Gathering Storm DLC adds eight new civilizations and nine new leaders, along with new world wonders, units, districts, buildings, and improvements. As the name implies, Gathering Storm adds environmental hazards, like volcanic eruptions, blizzards, sandstorms, hurricanes, floods, droughts, and climate change, to wreak havoc on your civilization. Luckily, there are ways to counter nature's fury, such as building dams to ward off flooding and developing cleaner energy sources. Gathering Storm also introduces the World Congress (through which you can earn a Diplomatic Victory), new late-game technology and civics, and new scenarios like The Black Death and War Machine (WWII).
If, for some reason, you're reading this article but haven't yet purchased Civilization VI, it's worth noting you can currently grab the base game for $15 on Fanatical (about 75% off). Civ VI is already on sale for $16.79, and using sitewide promo code MAY10, you can slash another 10% off the price, dropping it to $15.
That promo code also applies to hundreds of other PC games discounted across Fanatical right now--be sure to check out the huge May Madness sale running all week long.
Netflix appears to have some game announcements in store, teasing appearances at E3 2019 next month. The studio will have a panel at the E3 Coliseum, and has dropped some intriguing hints about what it has up its sleeve.
A tweet announcing the Coliseum panel says it will cover "news about its plans in the gaming space," and an attached image names the panel, "Bringing Your Favorite Shows To Life: Developing Netflix Originals Into Video Games." Similarly, a Twitter thread from Netflix's sci-fi and fantasy Twitter account mentioned the previously announced Stranger Things game adaptation paired with the upcoming Season 3, but also said "there's definitely more to come!"
Now in its second year, E3 Coliseum is a main stage presentation that takes place at LA Live, adjacent to the LA Convention Center, hosted by Geoff Keighley. It's part of the ESA and E3's initiative to make E3 a more public-facing event.
Netflix has approached games in two distinct ways. The first puts out narrative-driven experiences on its video streaming service, marked with an icon to note that it allows you to steer the direction of the story--like Minecraft: Story Mode and Black Mirror: Bandersnatch. The other involves console and mobile releases of games based on Netflix properties, like the Stranger Things games.
The panel's title certainly seems to imply the latter, but then that raises the question of which properties are ripe for game adaptations. The NX brand tends to promote animated series like She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, Voltron: Legendary Defender, and The Dragon Prince, along with live-action series like Umbrella Academy, and Altered Carbon.
Be warned: We're discussing Episode 5 of Game of Thrones Season 8, "The Bells," and thus there will be a great many spoilers.
As it approaches its conclusion, Game of Thrones feels like a different show than it has in the past. Blame it on any number of issues--two shortened final seasons resulting in rushed character development, a lack of source material to act as a roadmap, or the cause of the constant (if possibly unfair) refrain decrying "bad writing"--but a generalized reaction among many fans is that something feels wrong.
It may be any or all of those things, but there's something fundamentally underpinning them all that fans are reacting to, even if they're not quite aware of it. Game of Thrones, it turns out, is not about what we all thought it was about.
In Episode 5, "The Bells," Game of Thrones finally takes Daenerys Targaryen from "worryingly willing to burn to death anyone who disagrees with her, but generally out for good" to full-on "child-murdering Mad Queen." She accomplishes what her father never could: She "burns them all" in King's Landing, regardless of whether they're civilian or soldier, or whether it wins her the throne or not. Daenerys's reactions to the loss of two of her dragons, the betrayals in her ranks, and the unwillingness of Westeros to bend to her will finally cause her to snap, and from the back of her last dragon, Drogon, she brings fire and blood to her former home.
Ask many fans/viewers/etc. and they'll say the show has been foreshadowing Daenerys bringing destruction to King's Landing all along. Dany has always been a ruthless character when she has to be, often electing to execute people in a generally cruel and unusual way: by burning them alive with dragon fire. She's particularly unforgiving to people who oppose her, especially when they don't immediately bend the knee. There have been plenty of times when Dany has wanted to just ravage everyone in her path, only to be curbed from her most merciless instincts by her advisers (most notably Jorah Mormont). With most of those people now dead and Daenerys currently at her lowest, she finally gave in to her Targaryen rage.
It's true that Game of Thrones has been foreshadowing that this could happen, but it's unfair to say that it always suggested that it would happen. Really, this goes to the fundamental conflict of Daenerys's character: She's struggling not to become her father, or to fall into the patterns of other monarchs who use their power mercilessly. Daenerys can be ruthless, but she learned a lot in Meereen not just about how to conquer, but how to rule. She has a highly tuned sense of justice. She considers herself the Breaker of Chains, and this is just as an essential part of her identity as being the Mother of Dragons.
Midway through "The Bells," we finally get Game of Thrones' overall thesis statement. The show is a tragedy in which the characters can't break free of their pasts. Power corrupts the powerful, even those with the best intentions. Monarchy is bad. The world is a cold, hard place, where you'll probably die badly and abruptly for no reason; if you're lucky, you'll die badly and abruptly because of a mistake you made two seasons earlier, but at least it'll feel deserved.
The trouble is that Game of Thrones has made thesis statements in the past--or at least, it felt like it did. The most notable was a declaration from Daenerys herself from Season 5, in which she explained her intention to "break the wheel." The system of inherited wealth and power, and constant war over both, destroy people needlessly. It makes the world a bad place to live. It could be better. And Daenerys intended to use her considerable power to improve it.
Daenerys made another similar statement to the same effect when talking to Tyrion in Season 5. Tyrion dispelled Dany's notions of her family being unjustly evicted from the Iron Throne by explaining why her father, the Mad King Aerys Targaryen, was deposed: He became a paranoid and vicious tyrant. With an understanding of what her father had become, Daenerys made a decision to become something else.
"Our fathers were evil men," Daenerys said. "All of us here. They left the world worse than they found it. We're going to leave the world better than we found it."
Over and over again, Game of Thrones has felt like this was what it was really about: When given the choice, even in the face of tragedy and hardship, what do you leave in the world? It's central to the stories of the Stark kids: Jon Snow fights for the good of the realm, up to and beyond his own murder; Sansa Stark learns how to be the best power-seeker in Westeros, but uses those lessons to win independence for the North; Arya Stark is driven by nothing but revenge, until she reestablishes her connections with her family. It was Daenerys's story too, obviously. And it was the story of the Lannisters, who represented the other side of the coin, fully willing to add ruin to the world so long as they were protected. Really, just about every character, from Jaime Lannister to Brienne of Tarth to Sandor Clegane, is trying to shake off the weight of their pasts, to turn away from the path determined by what they've done and what was expected of them, with each achieving varying degrees of success.
In fact, this line of thinking was why the elimination of the Night King mid-season could have been a brilliant move for the show. Fighting the army of the dead brought unity to a variety of people, including former enemies, in the middle of Season 8--but unity against a common enemy only survives as long as that enemy does. When the Night King is vanquished, can you resist the inertial pull to go back to the old petty squabbles that end up costing lives? Dealing with that question is what made Cersei Lannister a better villain than the wordless Night King because she held up a dark mirror of what Daenerys (and other rulers) could easily become. The Night King was an external existential threat, but Cersei represented the threat the characters pose to themselves and each other.
With Daenerys's choice to go full war criminal over King's Landing as the bells start ringing, Game of Thrones makes a choice about which show it is. If Daenerys had felt rage and suffering and considered giving in to those feelings (how easily someone with her power could), but turned awayfrom that choice even with no better angels like Jorah or Tyrion to mutter in her ear, the show really would be about breaking the wheel. Its ultimate message would be that people aren't beholden to our cycles and our baggage, or to the sins and expectations of our parents. The world can be better, but you have to make it better, just like you have to make yourself better.
Instead, Game of Thrones chooses a darker, more nihilistic meaning. Throughout "The Bells," characters fall back into their old ways. No matter how good a man Jaime tries to become, the one person he can't convince that he's changed is himself. No matter how much Sandor Clegane might hope for a life free of violence, the desire for vengeance consumes him. Cersei can't give up her stranglehold on power and control, even in the face of annihilation. Jon Snow's unyielding dedication to his father's ideals of honor leaves him complicit in a massacre. No amount of good intentions (or slaves freed, or cruel institutions crushed) can keep Daenerys from giving in to her worst impulses and becoming the Mad Queen.
The world is bad, it's going to stay bad, and we can't break free of our pasts. Your baggage defines you and even if you try to improve, you're always an inch away from backsliding into becoming the very thing you feared and hated. Life is nasty, brutish, short, and most of all, explicitly, extremely sad because of what we do to each other. The wheel is much bigger than any one person or even any 300-year dynasty, and not even dragon fire can break it. This is just another war in a history full of them.
That seems to be the finality that Game of Thrones has chosen. It's an end that, in a way, has always been written into the show's DNA--but it also seemed as though the whole point of the show was for its characters to overcome it. After having meant so much to so many people, it seems a shame that the "bittersweet" ending Game of Thrones' creators have chosen leans so hard into bitter, and so little into sweet.
As Game of Thrones reaches its very end, the show continues to break records. The most recent, penultimate Episode 5 has set a new audience record for the show and was watched by a massive 18.4 million viewers.
The episode, titled "The Bells," is the most-watched episode in the show's history. This figure includes replays and streaming; in terms of on-air viewing, the episode drew an audience of 12.5 million across two airings on Sunday night. The previous record was held by Episode 3 of Season 8, "The Long Night," which which was watched by a total of 17.8 million viewers two week ago. Prior to that the record was set by the 17.4 millions viewers who watched the season premiere.
While these figures make Season 8 the most popular to date, the show has been a ratings hit from the very start. The show is HBO's most popular series of all time and the most watched scripted show on TV. There is just one episode remaining in Season 8--and the whole show entirely. Episode 6 airs next Sunday, May 19.
Despite the huge viewings figures, like most of the episodes in Season 8, "The Bells" received a mixed response from some critics and viewers. In his review, GameSpot's Michael Rougeau stated that the show has become a "fiery sea of nihilism and cynicism about human nature." Nevertheless, he praised it on a technical level, stating the episode was "a masterpiece of cinematic fantasy television."
After over six months in open beta, Red Dead Online is finally leaving its beta phase and rolling out a huge new update. This week, Red Dead Redemption 2's online mode is getting pumped up with new co-op story missions, Free Roam missions that feature new characters from the main game, new Posse Versus Challenges with activities like fishing and shooting, a new hostility system, poker games that seat up to six players, various gameplay improvements, and more.
To celebrate the occasion, Rockstar Games is making Red Dead Online available to all PS4 players, including those who aren't subscribed to PlayStation Plus, as part of a special bonus period. From now through May 27, anyone who owns Red Dead Redemption 2 on PS4 can dive into its online multiplayer mode. With all the new additions and improvements, there's no better time to see what Red Dead Online is all about.
If you want to keep playing Red Dead Online past May 27, PlayStation is temporarily lowering the price of PS Plus for Red Dead Redemption 2 owners in the US. The 12-month subscription is being offered for $48 (usually $60), while the three-month plan is available for $21 (usually $25); plus, you'll receive 10 Gold Bars per month while your subscription lasts. This offer ends June 3 and must be purchased within Red Dead Redemption 2. The subscription will auto-renew at full price unless you cancel. (Psst--if you don't care about the Gold Bars, you can get a 12-month PS Plus subscription for $40 at MassGenie right now.)
More content and bonuses are planned for Red Dead Online in the coming weeks, including new Free Roam missions, clothing, and PS4 Early Access content, which will release on May 21 in time for players without PS Plus to check it out. Another perk: Anyone who logs into Red Dead Online this week will get a one-time gift of 15 Gold Bars and receive a 15% XP increase on A Land of Opportunities, Free Roam missions and events, Showdown modes, and races. You'll also find 25% extra cash and gold in chests. Finally, Ultimate Edition owners will also receive $100 in Red Dead Online cash and the Throat Slit emote for free.
Each week, digital storefronts and local retailers release a slew of new movies and TV series for you to purchase. While movies like Detective Pikachu are dominating the box office, maybe you want to stay home and watch something on your couch? This week is a pretty large week for releases, even though there isn't anything huge of note.
Digitally, you can find new releases at digital storefronts like iTunes, Google Play, Vudu, and more. The Kevin Hart/Bryan Cranston dramedy The Upside drops this week. The movie follows a wealthy handicapped man who needs someone to help him with his daily routine. He hires a parolee who is trying to put his life back together.
Additionally, there is a new Batman movie available. In Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the dark night teams up with the heroes in the half shell to fight Shredder and Ra's Al Ghul. This is very much a movie title that explains the entirety of the plot. Other releases of note are Apollo 11, Cold Pursuit, and the A24 horror movie Climax.
On the physical side of things, on DVD and Blu-ray this week is Fighting With My Family. The film is the real-life story of WWE superstar Paige and her family, who are also wrestlers. Paige starts off in the indies and works her way through WWE's developmental system, NXT. While the movie tends to make choices that may annoy hardcore wrestling fans, Fighting with my Family is a lighthearted and fun flick. The DVD release includes deleted and extended scenes, a gag reel, commentary, and making-of featurettes, including in-ring training for the movie. If I had a pick of the week, this would be it--mainly because I love wrestling.
Below, you'll find the full list for his week's releases, both digitally and physically.
Last week, Disney revealed the release dates for the three Star Wars movies that will follow Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker this December. It has now been confirmed that Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss will be making the first of these, which is set to arrive in 2022.
As reported by io9, this news was announced by Disney boss Bob Iger while was speaking at the MoffetNathanson Media & Communications summit in New York. It's not a big surprise, as it's been known for some time that Benioff and Weiss have been working on a new series of Star Wars films.
The new Star Wars movies will be released on on December 16, 2022, December 20, 2024, and December 18, 2026. There are two sets of movies in development, one from Benioff and Weiss, and the other from The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson. It had been rumored that work on Benioff and Weiss's series was further along, and Star Wars Net recently reported that their first movie will begin production this fall. It has also been reported that their films will be set in the days of the Old Republic, hundreds of years before the events of the current movies.
It's notable that the Star Wars release schedule has slowed down. When the series relaunched in 2015 with The Force Awakens, Disney's plan was to release a movie each year. However, the commercial failure of 2018's Solo: A Star Wars Story reportedly led to plans for further spin-offs to be cancelled, with Iger admitting that the movies so far had been released "a little too much, too fast." The new films will now be released every two years, alternating their December releases with James Cameron's Avatar sequels.
In related news, the live-action Star Wars show The Mandalorian premieres in the fall, when the streaming platform Disney+ launches. There is also a show focusing on the Rogue One character Cassian Andor in development for the service.
World of Warcraft turns 15 this year, and Blizzard is celebrating in a few different ways. One of those is the launch of World of Warcraft Classic, coming this summer, for those who want to experience WoW in its original flavor. But for fans of the popular MMORPG as a whole, the company is also releasing an anniversary Collector's Edition filled with goodies.
The CE launches on October 8 for $100, and pre-purchases are now available through the Blizzard store. The bonus items include a pair of special mounts, fine art prints, a mouse pad with a map of Azeroth, and an Onyxia pin. The centerpiece of the collection is a large black-and-gold colored statue of Ragnaros.
Meanwhile, Blizzard also announced that WoW Classic will launch on August 27. You may actually get a chance to try it before then, though, as a closed beta is set to begin on May 15. It will also be running a series of stress tests through July. You can sign up to participate through the official site. If you're already a WoW subscriber, you'll get access to Classic as well.
Classic rewinds the clock to World of Warcraft as it existed as of the 1.12 update. It also includes some under-the-hood modern conveniences like Battle.net social features and modern server infrastructure.
Over the 15 years since the launch of World of Warcraft, Blizzard has slowly sanded off some of Azeroth's rough edges. The world is still bustling with dangerous dungeons and harrowing raids, but these days it's a kinder, friendlier world. World of Warcraft Classic aims to fix that, to make Azeroth dangerous again--although it retains a few of the modern niceties.
Blizzard has announced a release date for World of Warcraft Classic, along with a closed beta and a series of stress tests leading up to its August launch. Recent hands-on time with WoW Classic showed a recognizably sparse version of the game, with even basic quest-tracking a little less clearly signposted. This is a WoW meant for fans who have been with the game since the beginning, and who want to recapture that feeling.
Production director Patrick Dawson and WoW Classic lead engineer Brian Birmingham explained the motivations behind this ambitious retrofitting of the popular MMORPG, and what they hope it brings to the fans.
"The community said, we want Classic WoW. And when we looked at it, it looked like a world with crashes, with teleport hacks. It didn't meet the quality bar that Blizzard has today," Dawson told GameSpot. "Well, what if we used our modern infrastructure? Can we retrofit that? So we embarked on a few weeks journey to explore what that world was."
The decision to recreate the classic feeling within the new infrastructure led to some decision points. For some players, the rough edges are part of the original authenticity. Blizzard was left to make determinations on what belonged and what didn't, and the question came down to tough judgment calls.
"Anything that would affect gameplay we want to make sure that we deliver something that is authentic." Birmingham said. "Where we feel like quality-of-life improvements are okay are things like, tabbing to complete a name in in-game mail. That's not a core part of the gameplay experience of leveling, and questing, and trying to explore the world.
"Challenge is part of it," Birmingham continued. "The world feels dangerous. There are difficult group quests out in the world, elite quests that you can't do by yourself, or you would have to over-level if you wanted to do them by yourself. Where they really push you to find somebody else to help you out, or out level them and come back later, or you can just leave them and go on. You don't have to complete every quest in every zone. You can choose your path through the world. So I think that is exactly the classic gameplay that people are looking for."
A different brand of challenge is presented by the PVP, which has undergone multiple phases and metas throughout the game's long lifespan. As in any competitive live game, some classes will be a fan favorite criticized as overpowered in one era only to be left behind in the next. The team says this is one of the main reasons it chose this specific iteration of WoW.
"The 1.12 system is what we're starting with, that's the one target that we aimed at," Birmingham said. "We said, '1.12 was where the game was the most patched, the most complete, and the most balanced.' That's what we wanted to set the systems at for WoW Classic."
That isn't to say that the game will be completely static, however. While the plan is to retain the game as it was in the 1.12 update in perpetuity, players will still find some content unlocking over time, recreating the feeling of being an active player as the game was first rolling out with updates.
"People are asking to be able to go back and play WoW Classic as it was," Birmingham said. "We wanted to create this, almost like a snapshot in time, but we do want have these progressive content unlocks. So things like, Blackwind Lair, and Ahn'Qiraj, and Naxxramas. We want those to unlock over time, as the community is ready for them, as they progress through those various pieces of content. At the same time the systems overall we want to lock in at 1.12, where we feel like they were the most complete and balanced."
The notion of ongoing updates as they originally appeared, though, raises the question of expansions. Blizzard has released seven expansions in all. And while later ones like Legion or Battle for Azeroth would feel out-of-place within the Classic framework, it stands to reason that some players may want to experience earlier expansions--such as The Burning Crusade or Wrath of the Lich King--in the context of World of Warcraft Classic. Blizzard isn't committing to this, but also hasn't ruled it out.
"The community's demand for WoW Classic is why we did WoW Classic," said Birmingham. "So we are certainly open to hearing what people think about it. At the same time what we are focused on right now is WoW Classic. That's what we are committed to delivering. We don't have any plans to announce anything past that."
World of Warcraft Classic, the retro re-release of WoW in its near-original state, will launch on August 27, 2019. Blizzard announced the release date alongside a nifty collector's edition, but you may not have to wait until the summer to try out the game. A closed beta is starting this week.
The closed beta will begin on May 15. Participants will be selected from a small pool of existing WoW players. Subsequent stress tests will run regularly from May through July. You can opt in through the official site.
Blizzard also announced a boxed Collector's Edition for World of Warcraft to ring in the game's 15th anniversary. It includes a Onyxia pin, map of Azeroth mouse pad, art prints, special anniversary mounts, and a large black-and-gold statue of Ragnaros the Firelord. It will release on October 8 for $100, and you can pre-purchase from the Blizzard store.
World of Warcraft Classic lets you play the game as it existed almost 15 years ago, upon the release of the 1.12 "Drums of War" update. Blizzard says it considers that era to be the correct balance of the game resembling its original launch state while also having ironed out some of the rough spots of launch. This version is also including some updates under the hood, like modern server infrastructure and Battle.net social features.
If you're already a WoW subscriber, you get access to Classic as well at no extra cost. WoW Classic will also be releasing content in phases, following the original order of content releases.
Join GameSpot as we celebrate gaming history and give recognition to the most influential games of the 21st century. These aren't the best games, and they aren't necessarily games that you need to rush out and play today, but there's no question that they left an indelible impact on game developers, players, and in some cases, society at large.
From Software's Dark Souls launched in 2011 and, at the time, seemed destined for obscurity. As the spiritual successor to PS3 curio Demon's Souls, it initially garnered interest from a small but passionate fanbase, but few would have bet on it to leave a lasting impression. After all, 2011 was a year littered with tentpole releases: Skyrim, The Witcher 2, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Batman: Arkham City, Uncharted 3, Portal 2, and Modern Warfare 3, to name just a few.
These were new entries in blockbuster franchises that leveraged the cachet of well-known and respected developers--Dark Souls, on the other hand, came from an underappreciated Japanese studio which had cultivated a niche following through the challenging gameplay and obscure design of its previous games. On lists of notable game releases of 2011, Dark Souls still looks like an awkward outsider. And yet, what it achieved resonated with game developers and players in a way that made it one of the century's defining games.
From Software may have received mainstream recognition with Dark Souls, but what made that game special wasn't that it came up with completely new ways to play, it was instead the execution of ideas that From Software had been playing with since its very first title, King's Field. From Software is a studio that iterates more than it innovates, and the building blocks of what made Dark Souls a landmark title were laid out in Demon's Souls, albeit in a configuration that felt less cohesive than they would be in the follow-up.
Dark Souls is a game in which players are cast as the Chosen Undead, a prophesied figure that would appear at the end of the Age of Fire and journey to Lordran to either sacrifice themselves to the flame and extend the Age of Fire, or snuff it out and usher in the Age of Dark. The Souls series has come to be notorious for its difficulty. Death is inevitable, and often woven in on a thematic level. Enemies, large and small, are ruthless, often punishing missteps and undoing progress in a way that feels particularly ruthless. This trait of Dark Souls is what is most prominently discussed and, at the time, showed that games didn't have to be power fantasies where the player always has the upper hand. Instead, the grueling struggle of facing insurmountable odds and the satisfaction of overcoming them was a valuable and appreciated design philosophy.
In the wake of Dark Souls, games began to bear their teeth once again, harkening back to classic, punishing experiences of old school platformers and action games. Titles such as Titan Souls, Nioh, Lords of the Fallen, Dead Cells, Hollow Knight, Dragon's Dogma, and The Surge, among many others, were built around offering the same sense of powerlessness that Dark Souls popularized. They challenged players to work for the satisfaction of victory and earn their progress, instead of handing it to them on a platter. This is perhaps the most immediate ramification of Dark Souls on games as a whole, but the game's achievements extend so much farther.
Ask a From Software or Souls fanatic what the most impactful part of Dark Souls was, and why they think it has been influential, and they are more likely to cite the game's delivery of narrative and its world-building. Demon's and Dark Souls are games that reflect the way their director, Hidetaka Miyazaki, experienced stories as a child. Growing up poor, he became an avid reader, often delving into stories that were still beyond his comprehension. He would reach passages that were difficult for him to understand, and in those moments would craft his own narratives to fill in the blanks.
That kind of co-authorship is at the heart of Dark Souls. The world of Lordran is rich with history, with various gods, disciples, factions, and ideologies laid out to build a compelling world for players to unravel and understand. But all of the necessary details to do so are scattered around the game as small pieces of a larger puzzle. Those interested in seeing the full picture would need to read item descriptions, which contained small nuggets of information, or listen closely to the vague chatter of characters, and then draw their own connections. Like the gameplay, the process of experiencing the story demands patience, a studious nature, and the willingness to read between the lines and draw conclusions that may never be overtly verified. That sense of narrative minimalism also became pervasive in the post-Dark Souls era.
From Software's depiction of Lordran is one of its crowning achievements, and to this day few games have been able to capture an atmosphere in the way Dark Souls did.
Audiences began placing scrutiny on aspects of games that were previously an afterthought. Things like item descriptions were no longer just treated as simple flavor text, and set dressing didn't just have to be eye-candy. It became an expectation that even the smallest details should be meaningful to the game in some way. In turn, developers seized the opportunity to explore narratives in more emergent ways. Bungie's Destiny, for example, is a game that--on the face of it--launched with a barebones story, but obsessives that read the text attached to guns, armor, and other items could find so much more buried beneath the surface. With that in mind, it's perhaps more appropriate to say that Dark Souls was a game that emphasized lore more than story, and showed that players didn't need to be held by the hand and dragged through a narrative. They could be teased with it and left to find meaning at their leisure. The delivery of narrative and lore became more sophisticated, and you only have to look at the massive online communities that have developed around dissecting Dark Souls' story to see just how valuable this has been.
Lordran itself also holds as significant a place in the history of games. On a broader level, its construction stands out as intricate and thoughtful, with disparate areas connecting in a natural way that imprinted a vivid impression of its whole, but it's the artistic expression that elevates it all. Lordran is a world that feels suspended in time and on the precipice of a great change, waiting for the player to arrive and instigate it. The Age of Fire has not been kind to its people, who have lost their purpose and become husks of themselves because of an endless cycle of death and rebirth. Lordran is oppressively somber, a sad echo of a kingdom that was once prosperous and ruled by a benevolent king. The desperate struggle to hold on to the Age of Light only served to plunge the land into further turmoil, and this is overwhelmingly apparent at every turn. From Software's depiction of Lordran is one of its crowning achievements, and to this day few games have been able to capture an atmosphere in the way Dark Souls did. From its very outset, the game is melancholic, and as you stand in Firelink Shrine--a hub area that players return to frequently--evocative music makes you mourn for a world you barely even know. There's a restraint to the way From Software presented Lordran, with many areas left eerily silent, devoid of life, and bearing the marks of cataclysmic events from ages gone.
In Dark Souls, less was very much more. It sought to instill feelings and evoke emotions: isolation, loneliness, fear, or uncertainty, these are what remain most memorable about the game. In GameSpot's review of Dark Souls, Kevin VanOrd said, "Its terrors emanate from its very core … how amazing that such a terrible place could be so inviting. The game's world is so memorable, and its action so thrilling, that it might invade your thoughts even when you aren't playing, silently urging you to escape the real world and return to this far more treacherous one." This achievement can't be held up as entirely unique to Dark Souls, as games that came before it, most notably Nintendo's Metroid series, Thief, Shadow of the Colossus, and more modern titles such as BioShock, managed similar feats. But somewhere along the way, this method of creating a striking sense of place through minimalism fell by the wayside. In the years following Dark Souls, however, they sprung back into the spotlight, obtuse, empty, and often hostile game world became the aesthetic du jour, with games like Hollow Knight, Sunless Sea, and Darkest Dungeon.
Dark Souls' impact on gaming is undeniable. Such is its influence that the term Souls-like has become a genre in and of itself. But describing a game as "Souls-like" can mean so many things, from challenging gameplay to emergent storytelling, or even a distinct sense of place. The fact that the term can be used in such a diverse way to explain facets of action games, RPGs, puzzle games, or even text adventures is the strongest indication of just how important the game was and is to this day.
A new Nintendo Direct presentation is airing this week, the company has announced. The broadcast is scheduled to take place tomorrow, May 15, and will focus entirely on one of this summer's biggest Nintendo Switch games, Super Mario Maker 2.
According to Nintendo of America's official Twitter account, tomorrow's Nintendo Direct will run for approximately 15 minutes and be "packed" with new details about the upcoming Mario level creator. The broadcast is set to begin at 3 PM PT; you can find time zone conversions below.
— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) May 14, 2019
May 15 Nintendo Direct Start Time
3 PM PT
6 PM ET
11 PM BST
8 AM AET (May 16)
You'll be able to stream the presentation from the usual venues. Nintendo will broadcast the Direct on its website, Twitch, and YouTube channels. GameSpot will have the stream up as well, so you can tune in right here to watch the Direct. We'll also have full coverage of all the new details Nintendo will reveal.
Super Mario Maker 2 was first announced during February's big Nintendo Direct. Much like the original Wii U/3DS game, it allows players to create and share their own custom Super Mario levels using a suite of assets and tools. Nintendo showed off a handful of new customization options in the game's reveal trailer. Among other things, players can now create slopes for Mario to slide down, adjust the direction autoscrolling levels scroll, and use assets from Super Mario 3D World.
Red Dead Redemption 2's multiplayer component, Red Dead Online, has been receiving a steady stream of patches and content since launching in open beta last November, and now the online mode is finally moving out of its beta phase with this week's update. Rockstar is introducing an assortment of new story missions, Free Roam activities, and more to Red Dead Online on PS4 and Xbox One, with additional content on the way in the coming weeks.
First, players will be able to take on a variety of new Land of Opportunities missions. There will be different ones depending on which side of the law you fall on. Those following the Gunslinger path will go up against the Del Lobos gang and help Marshall Davies save the town of Valentine, while Outlaws will commit highway robbery and other misdeeds with Samson Finch. Whichever route you go, Rockstar teases, "Both paths lead to a rendezvous in Blackwater with a dangerous adversary."
Additionally, Rockstar has added a variety of new Free Roam missions featuring new characters from Red Dead Redemption 2's main campaign. There are also three new Posse Versus contests--fishing, bird shooting, and herb picking--as well as dynamic events that may occur as you travel the old west. On top of that, Rockstar has added another new Showdown mode, Overrun, as well as a handful of poker tables in certain towns around the map, where you can challenge up to five other players to high stakes games of Hold 'Em.
Also arriving as part of this week's update are the previously detailed Offensive and Defensive play styles, which allow you to tailor how you'd prefer to experience Red Dead Online. Offensive is the default play style and gives you the ability to freely attack other players, while Defensive is designed for those who'd prefer to avoid PvP skirmishes and rather explore the world.
Along with the Offensive and Defensive modes, Rockstar has implemented a hostility system to further stem griefing in Red Dead Online. According to the developer, this system "tracks aggressive behavior across both Playing Styles, making hostile players visible to others and helping to balance the needs of players who want to get away from others who habitually attack or kill during unstructured Free Roam gameplay."
Rounding out this week's update is an assortment of gameplay improvements. Among other things, Rockstar has added a new control scheme based on player feedback, increased weapon swap speed, added new daily challenges and rewards, and removed auto-aim headshot tracking. You can more details on everything that's new in this week's Red Dead Online update on Rockstar's website.
Rockstar has more content and updates lined up for Red Dead Online. The developer says it will add new Free Roam characters, Showdown modes, and more "in the weeks to come." Starting this summer, Rockstar will also introduce three new roles that players will be able to choose from, each of which will "come with a range of unique gameplay along with a host of new outfits, weapons and other rewards to earn."
Ubisoft has announced the first raid for The Division 2, titled Operation Dark Hours, goes live on May 16 at 9:00 AM PT / 12:00 PM ET / 5:00 PM BST. The Division 2 is available on Xbox One, PS4, and PC. Regardless of where you play, you'll unlock an exclusive reward if your squad completes Operation Dark Hours before anyone else.
"The first team to complete Operation Dark Hours after it goes live will be forever immortalized in-game by having their team photo and names displayed in The Division 2's White House for all players to see," a Ubisoft press release reads. "All other players that complete Operation Dark Hours between May 16 and May 23 will receive a commemorative Arm Patch, while players who complete the raid after those dates will be rewarded with a clan banner icon and a trophy in their clan space."
Operation Dark Hours will be available for players who've reached World Tier 5 and defeated Tidal Basin. Taking place in Washington National Airport, the eight-player raid will task you with retaking the location after it falls into the hands of the Black Tusks. You'll be able to earn exclusive loot for completing the raid, ranging from new gear sets to exotic weapons and unique rewards.
Initially, Title Update 3--which adds Operation Dark Hours to The Division 2--was supposed to raise the Tom Clancy game's maximum Gear Score to 515. However, community complaints caused Ubisoft to go back on the decision, and keep the maximum Gear Score capped (for now) at 500. "We don't want to invalidate your progression and we heard that feedback loud and clear from our community," Ubisoft said.
In our The Division 2 review, Edmond Tran wrote, "[The narrative] letdown is hard to ignore for the game's initial hours, but the strength of the systems and design that fuel The Division 2 as a game are compelling enough to keep you captivated for dozens more. The range of enemy types continues to keep combat encounters challenging, the equipment I earn and pick up continues to feel different, valuable, and asks me to consider new ways of play. The ravaged environments continue to intrigue, and sometimes they're so stunning I find myself needing to take screenshots before I move on. It might not have much to say, but The Division 2 is a perpetual cycle of tension, relief, and reward that's difficult to stay away from."
Director Ari Aster's Hereditary was one of the scariest horror movies 2018, and its mix of dark family drama and wild supernatural thrills made it a critical and commercial success. Expectations are high for Aster's follow-up Midsommar, which releases in July. A seriously creepy new trailer has been released.
Unlike March's first teaser, which was more concerned with setting a spooky mood than revealing many plot details, this latest promo is heavier on story. Florence Pugh (Fighting with my Family) plays a troubled young woman who is invited to mysterious festival in Sweden by her estranged boyfriend. But things don't get any better when she gets there, as the festival is being run by some sort of weird cult who have scary plans for the American travellers. Check it out below.
Midsommar also stars Jack Reynor (Transformers: Age of Extinction), William Jackson Harper (The Good Place), and Will Poulter (Black Mirror). It releases on July 3.
In a recent interview with Vulture, Aster explained how Midsommar differs from Hereditary. "It's a breakup movie, in the same way that Hereditary is a family tragedy," he said. "It's less overtly a horror movie, but it's still working in that same space. It's very macabre. But people shouldn't go in expecting Hereditary."
Ubisoft has released the first tease for Rainbow Six Siege's two new Operators. The gif, which you can see below, is difficult to make out, and that appears to be a deliberate move from the publisher, which captioned the video, "Look carefully... what do you see?"
From what can be gleaned, the two figures appear to be hooded, with one wielding some form of... electricity orb? We're not entirely sure. Let us know what you see in the comments below.
Ubisoft typically ties its Siege reveals into the game's esports scene, and with the pro league finals being held in Milan on May 18-19, we hopefully don't have too long to wait until we hear more about these new Operators and the upcoming Year 4, Season 2.
The most recent Operators, Mozzie and Gridlock, were revealed in February along with a new map named Outback. More recently, Ubisoft introduced reverse friendly fire as an attempt to curb teamkilling in Siege.
Grand Theft Auto V and Red Dead Redemption 2 parent company Take-Two has stated it has more unannounced games coming before the end of the financial year. The company, which owns publisher Rockstar, confirmed the news in an earnings call; CEO Strauss Zelnick said the company has "titles coming in the fiscal year that have not been announced yet."
The current fiscal year ends on March 31, 2020, meaning these titles will arrive before then. It should be noted, however, that Take-Two also owns 2K Games, the publisher of games like XCOM and Borderlands 3, and 2K Sports. We therefore shouldn't get too excited at the prospect of GTA 6 and Red Dead Redemption 3 launching in the next 10 months.
Game of Thrones ends on May 19 with Episode 6 of Season 8, but it'll be followed up a week later with a two-hour Game of Thrones documentary called The Last Watch. HBO has now released a trailer for the documentary, and it begins by showing the cast doing a table read for what appears to the series finale. The video includes a dramatic cut of Jon Snow actor Kit Harington becoming overwhelmed with emotion at the words on the page.
Sansa Stark actress Sophie Turner looks on with a smile, as The Hound actor Rory McCann has a wide smile on his face. As you'd expect, there's no indication of what is going on in the context of the show to produce this response.
The documentary will shine a light on the extensive production work that went into Game of Thrones Season 8. There is also a nice moment in the trailer where showrunner D.B. Weiss embraces Daenerys actress Emilia Clarke on her final day of filming. Check out the trailer:
The Last Watch releases May 26 on HBO.
In addition to the documentary, HBO is working on multiple prequel spin-offs, one of which stars Naomi Watts and will begin filming later this year. According to author George R.R. Martin, three of the five prequel series are coming along well. Aside from the fact that the show starring Watts is set thousands of years before the events of the existing show, very little has been shared. Even less is known about the other projects.
The upcoming Mortal Kombat movie will be filmed and produced in Australia. It was announced today that the action movie will be the largest ever film production for South Australia.
According to reporter Claire Campbell, the production is expected to create 580 jobs and see $70 million AUD get poured into the local economy. In terms of a timeline, pre-production is tipped to begin later this month. SA premier Steven Marshall said the film will be shot in Adelaide. Post-production will be handled by VFX studios in the region.
More specifically, the Mortal Kombat movie will be filmed at Adelaide Studios in Glenside, according to AdelaideNow. "Mortal Kombat will be the largest film production in South Australia's history and highlights the importance of engaging with the world's major production houses," Premier Steven Marshall said at a news conference. "The State Government's investment in Mortal Kombat will enhance the scope and reach of our production and post production capabilities, bringing the promise of fantastic new jobs for the local film industry."
SA will be the stage for @newlinecinema's highly anticipated action film, Mortal Kombat. The film will be shot in Adelaide, utilising our world-class crews & acting talent, with postproduction in our internationally acclaimed VFX and post-production facilities. #SAJobspic.twitter.com/QVrBSYrF3V
— Steven Marshall, MP (@marshall_steven) May 14, 2019
The new Mortal Kombat film, which has been in development for a long time, will be directed by Australian commercials director Simon McQuoid who is making his directorial debut with the project. Aquaman director James Wan is producing.
The Mortal Kombat movie is just the latest high-profile production to announce plans to film in Australia. Earlier this year, Marvel announced it would film an upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe movie in Sydney.
The largest film production in South Australia's history!@warnerbros will bring their epic action film, Mortal Kombat, to life here in SA. SA locations. SA crews. SA VFX companies. It will enhance our production capabilities and create new jobs for the local film industry. pic.twitter.com/jkPeRuq1Wz
— Steven Marshall, MP (@marshall_steven) May 14, 2019
The first Mortal Kombat movie, released in 1995, was directed by Paul W.S. Anderson who would go on to make the Resident Evil series. The movie made more than $120 million worldwide, but its 1997 sequel, Annihilation, was a disappointment by comparison with only $51 million.
An internet video series called Mortal Kombat Legacy ran from 2011-2013.
Disney is rebooting the classic Rick Moranis comedy Honey, I Shrunk the Kids with Josh Gad in the lead role, according to a new report. SlashFilm reports that the film is a reboot that takes place in the same universe; it's being billed as a "legecyequel."
The new film, which will apparently be called "Shrunk," will take place 30 years after the 1989 original in which Rick Moranis plays a scientist who creates a shrink-ray that accidentally zaps his children, Nick and Amy Szalinski, and family friends down to the size of ants. Gad, who is known for his role as the voice of Olaf in Frozen, will play an adult Nick Szalinski who shrinks his own children.
Shrunk was apparently at one time considered as a movie for Disney's new streaming service, Disney+, but now SlashFilm reports that it's going to be a theatrical release. The film was director Joe Johnston's first movie; he would go on to direct Jurassic Park III, October Sky, Hidalgo, and Captain America: The First Avenger.
Honey, I Shrunk the Kids was followed up in 1992 by Honey, I Blew Up the Kid, in which the kid gets blow up to a massive size. A straight-to-video movie, Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves was released in 1997, which was also the same year a TV show called Honey, I Shrunk Kids premiered.
Superstar NFL quarterback Aaron Rodgers had a cameo role in Game of Thrones Season 8, Episode 5, "The Bells," but it isn't exactly clear where he showed up. People think they saw him in different parts. Now, more information has come to light about where to find the Green Bay Packers QB in the episode.
Speaking in a behind-the-scenes video feature, showrunner D.B. Weiss said Rodgers appears as a background actor in the assault on King's Landing. "There are a lot of people lurking in the background; see if you can find Aaron Rodgers," Weiss said.
Rodgers himself confirms in the mini-documentary that you can see him helping a woman who is injured on the streets. But then he decides, "The hell with her, I'm getting out of there."
You can skip to around 17:14 in the video to hear from Weiss and Rodgers about the cameo. Rodgers posted a picture of himself in costume on Instagram, and in the caption he says he appears for "a few seconds."
Rodgers is just the latest celebrity to have a cameo in Game of Thrones Season 8. Country music star Chris Stapleton and his bandmates played White Walkers in Episode 3. Showrunners D.B. Weiss and David Benioff appeared in Episode 4 during the dinner scene.
Previous seasons of Game of Thrones have included cameos by musicians like Sigur Ros, members of Mastodon, and Ed Sheeran.
George Clooney gave Ben Affleck some advice on playing Batman: "Don't do it."
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Clooney--who played Batman in Joel Schumacher's 1997 box office bomb Batman & Robin--recalled the advice he gave to Affleck. "I actually did talk to him about it. I said, 'Don't do it.'"
Clooney said the advice he gave to Affleck--who played Batman in Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, Suicide Squad, and Justice League--was based only on his own experience, which wasn't great. "I wasn't good in [Batman & Robin], and it wasn't a good film," Clooney recalled.
"But what I learned from that failure was, I had to rethink how I was working," he added. "Because now I wasn't just an actor getting a role, I was being held responsible for the film itself."
Affleck did take the part of Batman in Dawn of Justice, against Clooney's advice, and Clooney remarked that Affleck "did great" in the movie.
Affleck--who won Oscars for Good Will Hunting and Argo--was initially attached to write, direct, and star in a new Batman movie called The Batman. However, he eventually dropped out. Explaining his decision to leave, Affleck told Jimmy Kimmel that he "couldn't crack it."
There is no word yet on who will be the next actor to play Batman after Affleck. Other actors who have played Batman over the years include Christian Bale, Michael Keaton, and Val Kilmer.
The Entertainment Software Association, the United States-based video game organization that lobbies for the industry with lawmakers and also runs E3 every year, has announced new leadership. Stanley Pierre-Louis, who had been serving as interim CEO following the departure of former president and CEO Michael Gallagher, is taking over effective immediately. The timing of the news is noteworthy, as it comes just a day after Variety published an explosive story that detailed what is said to be rampant disarray within the ESA.
Pierre-Louis joined the ESA in 2015 as general counsel. Before the ESA, he was senior vice president and associate general counsel for intellectual property at Viacom where he worked on brands like Nickelodeon, MTV, and Paramount Pictures. He also worked for the recording Industry Association of America.
Stanley Pierre-Louis, an industry executive with more than two decades of entertainment experience, will be the Entertainment Software Association's (ESA) new President and CEO.
"I look forward to leading the ESA and advocating for the industry with a strong voice and clear vision," Pierre-Louis said in a statement. "The future of our industry is bright and limitless. Video games are a part of the fabric of American culture and a cornerstone of entertainment."
The bombshell Variety report cited numerous current and past ESA employees who described the organization as a "toxic environment rife with internal politics, witch hunts, and in-fighting." Regarding the claims against Gallagher, it is alleged in the story that he was "very difficult to work with." Some said he was "manipulative, moody, and sometimes nasty," and at times sent "vicious, belittling emails to employees."
Gallagher left the ESA in October 2018. At the time, the situation surrounding his exit was unclear, but Variety's story claims members of the ESA board--including Xbox boss Phil Spencer--visited the ESA's HQ in Washington D.C. to hold meetings with employees to discuss Gallagher's management style and behavior. Gallagher ultimately resigned, while Variety's report said "some believe he was forced to leave the association." Gallagher denied all claims against him.
Variety's story contains numerous other details about the goings-on at the ESA, including a claim that ReedPop, the group that runs the PAX events and Star Wars Celebration and owns various gaming media sites, made an offer to take over E3, but it never happened.
E3 2019 runs June 11-13 in Los Angeles. We're expecting a lot of big news and reveals, including a new console from Microsoft. Check out the video embedded above to see a rundown of what we know so far about the E3 2019 press conferences.
The top executive at Take-Two Interactive, the parent publisher of Rockstar Games and 2K Games, has weighed in on two major video game industry trends: subscription and streaming. CEO Strauss Zelnick said today on an earnings call that he is skeptical of subscription-based models but more optimistic about streaming, at least in some scenarios.
Starting with subscription services, Zelnick said Take-Two as a company is open-minded because it wants to "be where the consumer is." Take-Two could get on board if it makes sense from a business and creative perspective--and that might not be so easy.
"You have to find that intersection in business models that serve the customer successfully and also serve everyone else who participates in the value chain," he said. "And that may prove to be a little challenging for subscriptions in this space because people do consume video games differently than they consume linear entertainment."
Zelnick said the average American household spends around 5 hours each day and 150 hours per month consuming linear programming like TV and movies. For interactive entertainment like video games, the average American home spends 1.5 hours daily or 45 hours monthly playing games, he said. A subscription service makes sense with TV and film content because people largely watch many different programs or movies that they can roll through quickly and move on to something new. This makes an all-you-can-eat model like Netflix appealing, Zelnick said.
But with video games, which people spend relatively more time with, a subscription model might be a tougher sell, Zelnick said.
"In the case of video games, it is possible that the average user in those 45 hours might be playing 1, 2, maybe 3 titles; certainly not 70 titles," he said. "In that event, if you play 1, 2, or 3 titles and you play them for months in a row--which often happens in [the video game world]--then a subscription model may not be such a great deal for the customer."
Zelnick went on to say that he is no soothsayer, and overall, Take-Two wants to release games where the consumer is. "This all remains to be seen; we're open-minded," the executive explained. "We want to be where the customer is. But I don't think it is a foregone conclusion that subscription will be as massive for interactive ent as it has proven to be for music and motion pictures and television. But we'll see."
In regards to streaming services like Google Stadia, Zelnick said the ability to play AAA games without a console could be a significant opportunity for Take-Two, as it would (theoretically at least) expand the size of the gaming audience overall.
"We're very optimistic about the notion of streaming technology bringing our titles to consumers who currently do not have access to them," he said. "The promise of being able to sign on to a service with virtually no barriers; without a box in between, and being able to play our games on any device whatsoever around the world and to do it with low-latency, well, that's very compelling if that can be delivered. The folks at Google minimally have said it will be delivered, and it will be delivered in relatively short order. Conceptually, we want to be where the consumer is. We'll support new entrants. We are a believer in streaming services. We need to have business models that make sense for us, but so far we're pretty optimistic."
Disney's Maleficent sequel, Mistress of Evil, is coming to theatres in October. A new trailer has arrived that provides a fresh look at the spooky film starring Angelina Jolie in the lead role.
Take a look:
Mistress of Evil takes place "several years" after 2014's Maleficent. "The film continues to explore the complex relationship between the horned fairy and the soon to be Queen as they form new alliances and face new adversaries in their struggle to protect the moors and the magical creatures that reside within," reads a line from the film's official description.
The film also features a lot of other big names, including Elle Fanning as Princess Aurora and Michelle Pfeiffer as Queen Ingrith.
Mistress of Evil is directed by Joachim Ronning, who directed Pirates of the Caribbean: Salazar's Revenge for Disney in 2017. The movie comes to theatres in the US on October 18.
The Borderlands franchise has reached new sales heights ahead of the release of Borderlands 3 later this year. Parent publisher Take-Two Interactive announced today that entire shoot-and-loot series has now hit 43 million copies shipped across all titles.
Take-Two, which owns Borderlands publisher 2K Games, added that Borderlands 2 alone has shipped around 20 million copies. Management added that the game is still played by more than 1 million monthly unique users, which is impressive given the game released all the way back in 2012.
With Borderlands 2 shipping 20 million copies by itself, that leaves a further 23 million across the other the other releases. The figure was announced as covering the entire Borderlands franchise, so this presumably includes Borderlands 1 and Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, though it's not clear if it also counts sales of spinoffs like Telltale's Tales from the Borderlands or the iOS game Borderlands Legends. The latest Borderlands release is the Borderlands: Game of the Year Edition, which launched in April.
Borderlands 3 comes out in September for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC, and Take-Two expects it to be yet another hit. CFO Lainie Goldstein declined to share a specific unit sales projection figure for the title, but she did mention that Take-Two expects all of its new games to perform better than the previous release, and this is no different for Borderlands 3.
"For Borderlands 3 we have really high expectations, and we're really excited for the title," she said.
Goldstein also fielded a question regarding the margin profile of Borderlands 3, which is developed by Gearbox, a studio that it does not own. She confirmed that margins--that is, how much Take-Two will make on the game--are "in line" with games that Take-Two's own studios develop internally.
For more from Take-Two's earnings report today, you can check out the stories below:
Red Dead Redemption 2 is a huge hit, though sales appear to be slowing. Take-Two Interactive, which owns developer Rockstar Games, announced today that the open-world western has now shipped 24 million copies.
That's up from the 23 million figure that Take-Two announced in November. Growth for the title seems to be slowing. Red Dead Redemption 2 shipped 17 million copies right at launch, with a further six million coming by November. One million copies shipped since then is impressive but it's on a slower pace than before.
Red Dead Redemption 2 also makes money from Red Dead Online's microtransactions. Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick confirmed on an earnings call that Red Dead Online will exit beta during the current quarter, so it should happen soon. Red Dead Online launched in November as a beta, and it has remained in beta since then with Rockstar supporting it with new content regularly.
The signs are looking good for Red Dead Online to continue to be a huge success, as Zelnick said Red Dead Online is performing better than GTA Online over similar periods of time after release. "We have very high expectations for that title going forward," Zelnick said. This is specifically related to various engagement metrics that Zelnick did not expand on. He did add that Rockstar learned a lot from the release of GTA Online, lessons that were applied to RDR Online.
A PC edition of Red Dead Redemption 2 is rumored, but nothing is confirmed at this stage. Whatever the case, launching on PC would presumably help improve sales, which might be what Take-Two is looking for given sales of the game on PS4 and Xbox One are slowing.
Take-Two also announced in its earnings report today that Rockstar's previous game, Grand Theft Auto V, has now shipped an astonishing 110 million copies sold. It was also confirmed that NBA 2K19 has now shipped 9 million copies.
Grand Theft Auto V has reached yet another massive sales milestone. The Rockstar Games open-world action game has now reached almost 110 million copies shipped, parent publisher Take-Two Interactive announced on an earnings call today. That is up from the 100 million figure announced in November 2018. This means that Grand Theft Auto V, which was initially released in 2013, shipped around 10 million copies since the previous figure was announced.
Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick said GTA V and GTA Online performed better than expected for the publisher. GTA Online is the game's multiplayer mode, and it brings in money from its various microtransactions.
GTA V's ongoing success is due in part to the game's quality: it is very good. Zelnick said it has proven to be must-have title on any system that it's on. Not only that, but GTA Online receives regular updates to keep things fresh and interesting for players.
GTA V was originally released in 2013 for PS3 and Xbox 360 before coming to PS4 and Xbox One a year later. A PC edition was released in 2015.
Fans have for a long time wondered if GTA V would get single-player DLC, but Rockstar confirmed in 2017 that the game will never add new story content. "We did not feel single-player expansions were either possible or necessary, but we may well do them for future projects," Rockstar design director Imran Sarwar said.
Wolfenstein: Youngblood continues the rebooted Wolfenstein story, but transitions the narrative away from series' stalwart BJ Blazkowicz in favor of his twin daughters, Jessica and Sophia. A different set of protagonists isn't the only change being implemented in Youngblood though. The game is also leaving behind the fairly straightforward structure of previous Wolfenstein games for a more open-ended Dishonored approach.
"I think players will see a lot of similarities to level design in the Dishonored games, so in that sense it can be a little bit different as an experience but it can be for the benefit of the game, especially when it comes to finding different ways of approaching a combat scenario or a mission in general," Youngblood executive producer Jerk Gustafsson told Official PlayStation Magazine.
"Regarding game length, it's hard to say," MachineGames senior producer John Jennings wrote in a Reddit AMA. "We're doing a much more open-ended/branching gameplay structure on this one so, while there's a golden path to finish the main story, if you want to play all of the side missions you're easily looking at a length more similar to [Wolfenstein: The New Order or Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus] than [Wolfenstein: The Old Blood]."
In that same AMA, Jennings also spoke about how it was to work with Arkane Studios, the developer behind Dishonored, Dishonored 2, and Dishonored: Death of the Outsider. "It was great working with [Arkane]; they're a really awesome team," Jennings wrote. "We certainly learned some things from them and I'd like to think they learned some things from us too. It's really nice being part of the Zenimax/Bethesda family; there are so many studios you can talk to and share experiences with. Our past collaborations have been mostly with [id Software] in the past though, so it's been great to work with Arkane directly for the first time."
During the AMA, Jennings also spoke about game development crunch culture, and how MachineGames is trying to eliminate it. Wolfenstein: Youngblood is expected to launch this July for Xbox One, PS4, Switch, and PC. Pre-ordering the Youngblood Deluxe Edition nets you a pretty nice bonus, allowing you to more easily play through the campaign's optional co-op mode with a friend without needing to buy two copies of the game.
With Daenerys Targaryen gone full Mad Queen in Game of Thrones Season 8, Episode 5, "The Bells," the question on everybody's mind is simple: Who can possibly stop the Dragon Queen in the show's final episode ever?
Will Arya kill Dany, fulfilling the final part of Melisandre's "brown eyes, green eyes, blue eyes" prediction? (Dany should have purple eyes, based on the books, but actress Emilia Clarke's eyes are, indeed, green.) Will Jon kill Dany for her crimes during the Fall of King's Landing, and assume his rightful role as king? Or will something more surprising happen--a twist, involving Varys and his little birds, that seems extremely likely in light of some quiet scenes early on in Episode 5?
Here's what everybody missed as we became absorbed in Varys's execution, Dany's massacre of the smallfolk, and Cleganebowl (the hype was real): Varys and his young spy, Martha, were actively trying to poison Dany before she cut his scheming short.
In the episode's opening scene, Varys was very clearly writing letters explaining Jon Snow's true identity, presumably to send to everyone with a pair of eyeballs in Westeros in order to justify Jon seizing the throne. Although he's still doing this later in the episode when Grey Worm comes for him, it's unclear whether he actually sent any ravens--if he did, it happened offscreen. My money's on yes, but that's beside the point, for now.
When one of Varys's "little birds," Martha, enters the room, they have a brief exchange in which Martha tells Varys that "she won't eat" ("she" presumably being Dany), and Varys replies that they'll "try again at supper." Martha believes Dany's soldiers are watching her, and Varys attempts to reassure the little girl by reminding her that big risks garner big rewards. At the end of the scene, Varys sends Martha back to the kitchen, where she apparently works.
"The greater the risk, the greater the reward." What's a bigger risk than attempting to poison the Targaryen queen?
It's a very Varys-like move; the Master of Whispers is always plotting, and frankly, his arc this season has felt uncharacteristically dumb. His plan was to approach Jon and Tyrion directly, and if they didn't go for it, he'd just die? That's not the Spider we used to know. But openly defying the queen--a classic, if risky, misdirect--while he secretly plots to poison her from the shadows? Now that's more fitting.
That isn't all, though--there's one other scene that hints at the poison plot, and might even give us a clue to how Dany will go down in the finale.
When Varys hears Grey Worm and the Unsullied marching down the hall toward his room, he burns the letter he was writing--and removes his rings. The camera lingers in an extreme close-up as he twists one briefly, pulls it off, and drops it into an empty chalice on his desk. The rest soon follow.
This could be nothing, or it could be everything: When Olenna Tyrell poisoned Joffrey at his wedding, she plucked the poison--appropriately dubbed "the strangler"--from Sansa's necklace, which had been given to her by the fool Dontos at Littlefinger's behest, and dropped the false crystal into Joffrey's cup, where it presumably dissolved and became undetectable.
Zooming in on Varys's rings and brightening up the image doesn't reveal any conspicuous blue crystals. In fact, the ring we get the best look at seems to have represented Varys's loyalty to the Targaryen queen--it appears to be this ring from jewelry retailer Mey's official partnership with the show. The retailer calls it an "allegiance ring," and their site claims that Varys, Tyrion, Jorah, and Grey Worm have all worn one since Season 7. It was designed to look like a dragon spine. In taking it off, Varys is symbolically shedding the symbol of his loyalty to Daenerys.
But Varys is still loyal to Jon, who he now knows is also a Targaryen. Even though we didn't see the obvious blue poison crystal as Varys removed all his rings, the show seemed to focus on their removal just long enough that it might be important in the finale. That scullery maid, Martha, may still be skulking around, after all, and her master's death at Dany's hands could inspire her to continue attempting to carry out his final wish: To see the Dragon Queen dead, no matter the method.
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