Gaming Bolt News, Tips, Tricks, Ideas

Amid all the news and details about Assassin’s Creed Shadows, Ubisoft revealed that it’s stopped development on The Division Heartland. Its full-year 2023/2024 earnings report stated that resources were “redeployed” for “bigger opportunities” like XDefiant andRainbow Six.

Saints Row might have been the worst-performing game in the franchise. As caught by X user Timur222, a LinkedIn post Tyrin Stevenson—formerly a social media and community manager at developer Volition—states that Saints Row only sold 1.7 million copies.

After a short period in the Steam Beta Branch, Starfield’s latest update is available now on PC and Xbox Series X/S. As the largest update yet for the space-faring RPG, it features multiple new features and sweeping changes. For example, surface maps on planets are vastly improved, denoting points of interest. It even outlines all the vendors in cities to fast travel to.

Square Enix seems to have been disappointed by the sales of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. According to Bloomberg, company president Takashi Kiryu revealed to analysts after its earnings call that Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth was unable to reach the launch momentum required to hit internal targets.

In a recent earnings call, Square Enix president Takashi Kiryu has revealed that, similar to Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth (backlink to other story), Final Fantasy 16 has also failed to hit sales targets. According to Bloomberg, Kiryu’s statement indicated that sales of Final Fantasy 16 had slowed down after the sales during the game’s launch period.

If it’s not enough that Assassin’s Creed Shadows provides two playable characters, a fully dynamic lighting system and recruitable allies, there are seasons. Players will experience Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter as they progress through the campaign. However, they’re far from aesthetic and directly affect the gameplay.

While Assassin’s Creed Shadows is an open-world action RPG like Odyssey and Valhalla, it’s also leaning heavier into stealth and parkour with new protagonist Naoe. Speaking to IGN, game director Charles Benoit says the team wanted to keep the “core” of Assassin’s Creed, specifically “the hidden blade, the assassination, being able to stay hidden.”

Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed Shadows looks like a big game, especially since it’s the next mainline open-world title in the franchise, but how does it compare to previous entries? Speaking to IGN, creative director Jonathan Dumont said it’s similar in scale to 2017’s Assassin’s Creed Origins.

Frontier Developments has announced that F1 Manager 2024 will be coming to PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, and Xbox One on July 23. The game will be available digitally, and is priced at $34.99. Pre-orders for the game have also been started.

The new cinematic trailer for Assassin’s Creed Shadows has dropped, offering our first look at its protagonists, Naoe and Yasuke. While Ubisoft hasn’t showcased gameplay, it revealed the first details, including the ability to switch between the two seamlessly. They also have independent skills, gear and progression.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows has finally received its new cinematic trailer and a release date. Alongside these details, Ubisoft has also detailed the Standard, Gold and Ultimate Editions. The Standard Edition costs $69.99, and pre-orders get a bonus quest, “Thrown to the Dogs.”

Ubisoft has been hard at work on its upcoming free-to-play shooter xDefiant, which will be releasing on May 21, 2024 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S. In a recent blog post, the French gaming giant shed some light on its stance on skill-based matchmaking and how it plans to use that for its upcoming release.

Developer Airship Syndicate’s MMO Wayfinder hasn’t been going at the smoothest pace, and the upcoming Echoes update will be making some big moves to turn its fates around for the better. Post the release of the update on May 31, Wayfinder’s online requirements for play will no longer exist.

Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut is out tomorrow on PC, and pre-loads are now available on Steam. Sucker Punch and Nixxes have also announced launch timings for the title – it’s available at 8 AM PDT on May 16th. Check out the image below to see your regional equivalent.

Ubisoft has unveiled a new cinematic trailer for Assassin’s Creed Shadows, and as unfortunately leaked in the description recently, it’s out on November 15th. Pre-orders are live, and it’s coming to Xbox Series X/S, PS5 and PC. Check out the trailer below.

Bungie has released new trailers for Destiny 2: The Final Shape, revealing three new Exotics for each class. These are Mataidoxia, a Warlock chest piece; Gifted Conviction, a Hunter chest piece; and Hazardous Propulsion, a Titan chest piece. Check them out in action below.

Remember when Dead by Daylight developer Behaviour Interactive announced a new PvE multiplayer game with Midwinter Entertainment? It’s codenamedProject T and is a third-person co-op shooter currently in early development. Check out the “First Look” trailer below from the Dead by Daylight Year 8 Anniversary Broadcast and sign up for the Insider Program here.

Pearl Abyss is seemingly getting a host of its different games on track for release. X user Lunatic Ignus, who has reliably leaked details about Asian game releases in the past, has details that indicate that three games by Pearl Abyss—Crimson Desert, DokeV, and Plan 8, will be coming out one after another.

Capcom has released a new trailer for the latest set of cosmetic DLCs coming to Street Fighter 6. The DLC will bring with it the third set of DLC outfits, which will be available for Rashid, A.K.I., Ed, and Akuma. The new set of outfits will be coming to Street Fighter 6 on May 22.

With Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 less than one week from release, Ninja Theory has revealed launch timings for the sequel on Twitter. It goes live on May 21st for Xbox Series X/S and PC at 1 AM PDT, so those living on the West Coast in the United States will see it pop up early.

Sony president Hiroki Totoki has stated that we will get to learn more about the long-term vision behind Sony Interactive Entertainment later this month. This would indicate that there are likely some new announcements that will be made soon.

Sony has been quite successful with the PS5. According to the Sony’s recent earnings reports, courtesy of analyst Daniel Ahmad, the company sold around 4.5 million units of the PS5 over the last quarter. For a larger picture, around 59.2 million units of the PS5 were sold in totality as of the end of the previous financial year on March 31, 2024.

With NieR Re[in]carnation ending its service on April 29th, NieR series producer Yosuke Saito and director Yoko Taro have confirmed they’re working on a new project. Saito teases that it “might be NieR, it might not be NieR.”

If it’s not enough that Ubisoft accidentally revealed the release date for Assassin’s Creed Shadows ahead of the cinematic trailer premiere, Season Pass details and now even the official artwork are circulating. The latter is courtesy of Rainbow Six Siege leaker Ubisoft_Frax, seemingly confirming reports of the game’s two playable protagonists.

Ubisoft will reveal a new cinematic trailer for Assassin’s Creed Shadows (formerly Assassin’s Creed Codename Red) on May 15th, 9 AM PST. However, details have already begun leaking, including its supposed release date. Now Ubisoft_Frax on Twitter, known for leaking details on Rainbow Six Siege, has reported it will have a Season Pass.

Diablo 4’s long-awaited revamp to loot, crafting and progression is finally available with Loot Reborn. The fourth “season” for the action RPG loot adds new mechanics like Tempering, Masterworking and much more. It also revamps the Codex of Power to make managing Aspects easier. Check out the latest trailer below for a quick summary of the changes.

Braid is considered to be one of the most revered indie games of recent memory, and developer Thekla has rounded up work on the anticipated Anniversary Edition, which is available now for PC, PlayStation consoles, Nintendo Switch, and mobile platforms. Check out the trailer down below.

Arrowhead Games’ Helldivers 2 continues to be one of the biggest hits of the year, and it’s showing no signs of stopping down. A new patch has just been released on PC (more details through here), which helps with game stability and brings other miscellaneous fixes.

The Ashlands update for Valheim is out now. Celebrating the update, developer Iron Gate has released an animated trailer that showcases its story. Check out the animated release trailer for Ashlands below.

Supermassive Games’ The Casting of Frank Stone, a narrative horror game based on the Dead by Daylight universe, has received its first gameplay trailer. It sees four friends in the 1980s traveling to Cedar Hills’ steel mill to shoot a horror film. Unfortunately, the scares turn out to be more than just fiction.

Veteran developers from various studios, including developers from the team behind XCOM, have established a new game development studio, dubbed Midsummer Studios.

Developer Experiment 101 and publisher THQ Nordic have announced that open-world RPG Biomutant is out now on the Nintendo Switch. Celebrating the game’s Switch launch is a new trailer that you can check out below.

Sony has announced that Jim Ryan’s position as CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment will be taken up jointly by Hermen Hulst and Hideaki Nishino, according to GamesIndustry.biz. The role is being split into two, with Hulst becoming the CEO of the Studio Business Group, while Nishino becomes the CEO of the Platform Business Group.

In its eighth anniversary broadcast for Dead by Daylight, Behaviour Interactive announced two of six upcoming Chapters for the asymmetrical horror. The first is a collaboration with Dungeons and Dragons, going live on June 3rd and adding The Lich (based on the villainous Vecna) as a new Killer. Check out the trailer below.

Microsoft has announced the second wave of titles coming to Game Pass in May, starting with the original Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, available today for cloud, consoles and PC. On May 15th, subscribers can check out the acclaimed puzzle adventureChants of Sennar. May 16th sees the arrival of EA Sports NHL 24 on the cloud and Immortals of Aveum for cloud, PC and Xbox Series X/S.

Assassin’s Creed Codename Red, the next mainline title in Ubisoft’s series, is now officially Assassin’s Creed Shadows. A new cinematic trailer goes live tomorrow at 9 AM PST, but, in classic Ubisoft fashion, the release date has seemingly already leaked.

While PS5 shipments missed Sony’s forecasted 21 million for fiscal year 2024, Sony had some positive news in its financials regarding PSN users and software sales. It revealed that the PlayStation Network reached 118 million monthly active users as of March 31st, 2024, up a whopping 10 million from the same period of last fiscal year.

Pocket Pair has released a new update for Palworld, currently live on PC and coming soon to Xbox Series X/S and Xbox One. It offers several balance adjustments, like increasing the HP for all Alpha and Lucky Pals by 1.2. Breeding eggs also have a “slight chance” to yield an Alpha Pal, providing more of a reason to pursue them.

After highlighting the success of Helldivers 2, which sold 12 million units as of May 5th, Sony is looking forward to two other live service games this year. These include Bungie’s Destiny 2: The Final Shape, out on June 4th, and Firewalk Studios’ Concord, which is still launching in 2024.

Along with revealing sales numbers for Helldivers 2, Sony announced that the PlayStation 5 has reached 59.3 million worldwide shipments as of March 31st, 2024. During the three months, it shipped 4.5 million consoles, up from 54.8 million in the last quarter but down from the same quarter of the previous year.

Developer Galvanic Games and publisher Devolver Digital have released a new update for action-adventure title Wizard with a Gun. As part of the update, titled Better Together, the game now features 4-player co-op. Check out the trailer for the Better Together update below. Check out the complete patch notes below as well, while you’re at it.

New rumours have popped up indicating that Capcom might be working on a remake of the original Resident Evil. According to industry insider and leaker Daniel Ricthman, a remake of Resident Evil that would follow in the footsteps of other remakes in the franchise—namely Resident Evil 2,3, and 4—is being developed.

In light of its recently-revealed new mid-term business plans, Square Enix has now confirmed that it has cancelled games that didn’t align with its new strategy. In its latest earnings report (via VGC), the company has confirmed that a number of unannounced titles were cancelled, and that its profits being 70 percent lower than last year were a result of these cancellations.

Space-based real-time strategy game Homeworld 3 is out now on PC. Celebrating the release, developer Blackbird Entertainment and publisher Gearbox have released a new launch trailer which you can check out below.

As part of its fiscal year 2023 earnings release, Sony has finally confirmed sales for Arrowhead Game Studios’ Helldivers 2. It’s sold 12 million units as of May 5th on PS5 and PC, after launching on February 8th for both platforms, as revealed in a recently concluded conference call.

Supergiant Games’ Hades 2 launched to a positive critical reception (check out our review here) and a peak concurrent player count of 103,567 on Steam. Of course, this is only the beginning of early access, and it has a ways to go before its 1.0 release. The developer has outlined its goals for development, revealing that it’s released several “small hotfixes” to address crashes and progression bugs.

Square Enix recently announced a new medium-term business plan to focus on multi-platform releases and games delivering on the premise of “fun.” However, it also outlined plans to “rebuild overseas business divisions from the ground up,” which meant “optimizing costs at its European and American offices via structural reforms.” Unfortunately, it seems layoffs are part of the equation.

In a recent interview with GamesBeat, Embracer Freegroup CEO Lee Guinchard shed some light on the company’s plans with J.R.R. Tolkien’s works. The interview goes in depth about the history of games like Middle Earth and Guinchard’s long career in the games industry – read the entire interview through here.

Developer Player First Games has released a new trailer for upcoming fighting game MultiVersus, this time around giving us a closer look at the gameplay for the newest addition to the game’s roster—The Joker. Check out the trailer below.

Celebrating the first anniversary of the release of Horizon Forbidden West‘s Burning Shores DLC, developer Guerrilla Games has released a new trailer that talks about how the game’s epic Horus fight was designed. the video features senior art director Misja Baas and principal game designer Arne Oehme, as well as other parts of the game’s development team, talking about the Horus fight. check out the video below.

Rockstar Games seems to be working on bringing the original Red Dead Redemption to PC. Spotted by X user Tez2, the files in a recent update of Rockstar’s game launcher contains strings that indicate that Red Dead Redemption is coming to PC.

Ubisoft has announced that a new cinematic trailer will debut for Assassin’s Creed Codename Red on May 15th at 9 AM PT. It also confirmed the official title – Assassin’s Creed Shadows – while revealing a massive hourglass display (complete with red grains of sand) counting down in Japan.

Bethesda Softworks has registered for a new trademark for what might be a new DOOM game by virtue of its IDKFA name (which is a cheat code in DOOM). The trademark details can be viewed by clicking here, and it was registered on 2024-01-09 with its current status as still pending approval.

Following Fallout 4’s Next-Gen Update, Bethesda Game Studios has a new patch to address issues and offer improvements. Perhaps the most noteworthy addition is the new display settings on Xbox Series X/S and PS5 to allow for setting the Frame Rate Target and whether to prioritize visuals or performance.

In a new interview with GameInformer, Star Wars Outlaws senior narrative systems designer Alice Rendell and lead systems designer Matthieu Delisle talk about the types of encounters that players will find in their time with the game. The two talk about, among other things, the reputation system in Star Wars Outlaws, which will have a big impact on your encounters in the game. Check out the interview below.

After delaying its early access launch to make room for playing Hades 2, Evil Empire has announced that The Rogue Prince of Persia will launch on May 27th. It will be available for PC via Steam Early Access. A new gameplay trailer is available, highlighting the smooth combat and some of the soundtrack, composed by ASADI. Check it out below.

Xur has returned in Bungie’s Destiny 2, carrying some relatively forgettable loot (with a few noteworthy exceptions). He’s in the Tower Hangar until the next reset and has the Exotic Energy shotgun, Lord of Wolves, available.

Developer Visual Concepts and publisher 2K Sports have announced that CM Punk will be coming to WWE 2K24. Punk will be part of the ECW Punk pack, and will be available in the game on May 15. Check out the trailer below.

Bungie has announced that it is teaming up with the Aleph One community to bring its classic shooter franchise Marathon to Steam. Kicking things off with the first Marathon, games in the series will be coming to Steam over time. All three games on Steam will be free.

NetEase Games has come under fire for its recent closed alpha release of multiplayer superhero title Marvel Rivals. Members of the game’s community spotted that the contract that players have to sign in order to get access to it includes a non-disparagement clause.

With theShadowkeep andBeyond Light campaigns going free to play for all Destiny 2 players with The Final Shape, Bungie has announced two packs to accommodate the rest of their content. If you’re a new player who wants all (nearly) everything in one place, there’s the Legacy Collection 2024.

Square Enix has announced a new business plan. Over the course of the next three years, the company is going to start “foundation-laying for long-term growth,” according to its recent earnings report. The business plan, apparently going into effect this year, will be in effect until the fiscal year ending on March 1, 2027.

Following rumors about Microsoft debating whether Call of Duty should come to Game Pass, Xbox president Sarah Bond reiterated that all first-party titles from the publisher arrive on day one for the service. That includes Activision’s titles, but she didn’t discuss rumors about Game Pass potentially receiving a price hike. Nevertheless, it seems to be happening.

With Shin Megami Tensei 5: Vengeance out next month for all platforms, Atlus has announced that the original Shin Megami Tensei 5 will be delisted from the Nintendo eShop on June 13th. It will be unavailable to purchase alongside all its DLC and the Digital Deluxe Edition.

In its latest earnings report, Sega parent company Sega Sammy has revealed that the Persona franchise has sold 5.06 million copies throughout the last financial year. The sales figure, which accounts for FY 2023 (April 2023 to March 2024), includes both digital as well as physical copies of Persona titles.

After the rumored cancellation of Deviation Games’ project and shutting down last March, Sony has allegedly established a new studio comprised of its former developers. Furthermore, the team working on a new unannounced IP.

With the Xbox Games Showcase less than a month away, rumors circulated about what could appear. Gears 6 and Call of Duty: Black Ops Gulf War are favorites, but The Initiative’s Perfect Dark may be another. After reports from Giant Bomb’s Jeff Grubb about it being in “rough shape,” insider Nate the Hate said it could make an appearance.

With the PSN account-linking crisis resolved for Arrowhead Game Studios’ Helldivers 2, players have returned to concerns about balance. It follows last month’s big update, which adjusted weapons, Stratagems and much more, but has been an ongoing conversation since the Railgun’s nerf.

Ninja Theory’s long-awaited sequel to Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice, Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2, is out next week. It sees Senua venturing to Viking Iceland to mete out justice while still dealing with her psychosis, manifesting as “The Furies.” In a new video, the development team discusses psychosis alongside several experts and how it’s depicted in-game.

Link has been the protagonist of The Legend of Zelda series for decades. While the titular Princess Zelda would take on more active combat roles, she’s only been playable in spin-offs like Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity. That could change in the future, according to YouTuber PapaGenos.

Amid reports of Microsoft internally debating future Call of Duty titles coming to Game Pass, Xbox president Sarah Bond has reiterated that all Xbox games will launch on day one for the service.

Like a Dragon developer  Ryu  Ga Gotoku Studio said it would open auditions for the next title in the series soon, and sure enough, applications are available for the “Minato Girls Audition.” The audition is for female performers to appear as the Minato Girls, with selected candidates appearing in live-action and CG scenes.

Fallout 4’s Next-Gen Update arrived last month to much fanfare and hype, especially following the success of Amazon’s TV show. It wasn’t without issues, whether it’s the UI not scaling with Ultrawide displays, breaking mods or oddly targeting 60 FPS in all modes on Xbox Series X.

Turn 10 Studios has made great strides over the previous few months to address concerns with Forza Motorsport, like revamping car progression to unlock all parts at level 1. Its next update, which goes live sometime this week, will tweak Safety Ratings and their calculations, starting with bumping the required races to 20 from 10.

With over one million copies sold and 173,178 peak concurrent players on Steam, Slavic Magic’s Manor Lords has received a new patch to address multiple issues. It’s available on Steam’s experimental branch, and though accessed in the Betas tab, players should back up their saves. Some balance changes are also “still experimental”, and there may be stability issues.

Blackbird Interactive’s Homeworld 3 launches on May 13th exclusively on PC, but those with Fig Backer Edition or the Fleet Command Edition can start playing now. A new overview trailer is also available to highlight what RTS fans can expect. Check it out below.

After the Helldivers 2 account-linking fiasco, which Sony backtracked on, Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut is the latest Steam port from the company to be delisted from certain countries on Steam. According to SteamDB’s history of the listing (which you can view here), around 180 countries can no longer purchase the title.

In its latest earnings report, publisher Bandai Namco has revealed that FY23 saw the company’s highest sales and and income to date. Despite this, however, the company has also reported that the financial year saw a decrease in operating profit.

The latest round of GSD game sales data has just released, and we have a surprising revelation for this month. Bethesda’s Fallout 4 which originally released in 2015 saw a sudden spike in sales, and that too to the point that it has topped sales charts for the month of April 2024 in the UK region. Check out the complete table below for more details.

Xbox president Sarah Bond has responded to some of the criticisms faced by the company in the wake of its recent decisions to shutter a bunch of development studios, laying off employees in the process. In an interview with Bloomberg, Bond referred to the decision as one made to ensure the health of Xbox as a business.