Gaming in San Francisco. Reviews, Walkthroughs, News

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Another big tech antitrust trial gets under way today as Epic Games squares off against Google over control of the app stores.

There was only one song that seven-year-old me would dance to at a school disco. When it came to get down, I had 3 minutes and 46 seconds to holler “who ya gonna call?” at the top of my pre-pubescent lungs before I’d slope back off to the edge of the hall while everyone else did The Birdie Song. I was never disappointed. For a while there in the 80s, Ghostbusters was everything, a more cerebral offering than He-Man and a primer for the similarly ooze-infused Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. So, as a slightly older person, the return of Ghostbusters to both the cinema and our digital platforms has the potential to be everything once again. The Meta Quest 2 and PSVR 2 release of Ghostbusters: Rise of the Ghost Lord also means that there’s finally a clear answer to “who ya gonna call?”. It’s me. And, potentially, you.

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OpenAI, which is largely credited for the generative artificial intelligence frenzy that started after the launch of its ChatGPT chatbot, just concluded its first-ever developer conference. The event, DevDay 2023, was hosted from the SVN West facility in San Francisco, the same city where it is headquartered. Company CEO Sam Altman came on the stage at the start of the keynote session and highlighted the major milestones achieved by the company as well as the way forward. Some key announcements were also made during the event, including the new GPT-4 Turbo, and a new GPT Store. Let us check out the 10 key announcements made during the event.

GFR Fund has raised $53.5 million for its third fund to invest in the future of gaming, entertainment and consumer technology.

Calling all Ghostbusters, both veterans and newcomers, we’ve got some new details on upcoming free DLC, so it’s time to charge those proton packs because things are about to get slimy. But before we jump into the details, we wanted to share a heartfelt message to our fans. 

Women make up just between 24% and 30% of the video game industry’s workforce, depending on the research source. However, year after year, from players to developers, female representation has been growing throughout games at all levels of experience.

Tesla CEO and 'X' owner, Elon Musk said on Wednesday that Artificial Intelligence (AI) could endanger the existence of human civilisation. "There is some chance, above zero, that AI will kill us all. I think it's slow but there is some chance. I think this also concerns the fragility of human civilization. If you study history, you will realise that every civilisation has a sort of lifespan," he said.

Ubisoft are "decommissioning" another slate of games next January, including Assassin's Creed Revelations, R.U.S.E., and Trials Evolution. These games will remain playable, but their online services will be switched off meaning leaderboards, online multiplayer, co-op and other features will stop working.

Advanced Micro Devices reported that revenue in its third quarter was $5.8 billion, up 4% from a year earlier and 8% sequentially as as new products, AI chips and data center tech grew in the quarter.

Solana Labs has launched a beta for GameShift, a platform that makes it easier for game developers to create blockchain games.

In a research paper released today, Nvidia semiconductor engineers showcased how generative artificial intelligence (AI) can assist in the complex process of designing semiconductors.

Spyglass Media Group and Sony Pictures have teamed up with AI and metaverse company MeetKai to create a horror metaverse experience for the upcoming horror film Thanksgiving.

Pulling a wand and down and readying it for action from its proton pack mount certainly feels like a confirmed return on the promise of VR. Long-running VR-focused studio nDreams’ new multiplayer co-op game incorporates snazzy versions of all the standard ghostbusting gear into a fine use of the license, with digestible short-stint missions that rarely overstay their welcome.

Form, a maker of augmented reality swim goggles, wants to revolutionize athletic performance with the launch of HeadCoach, a live digital swim coach.

Time for some Halloween scares. In a collaboration between Genvid Entertainment and Konami Digital Entertainment, Silent Hill: Ascension will debut tonight at 6 pm Pacific time.

Happy Halloween for memory nerds. Crucial has launched its T500 PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSDs for gaming and high-performance applications.

Atari has agreed to buy classic video game maker Digital Eclipse for up to $20 million in cash and stock.

Apple gave consumers a Halloween treat with the debut of its latest MacBook Pro laptops with the newest Apple silicon.

During its Next event last week, GamesBeat held its 7th Women in Gaming breakfast event, where women in the games industry speak about their experiences and have a chance to network with each other. At this event, the four panelists spoke about the twisting career paths that took them into and through the gaming world, and how women in the industry can better guide their careers along the paths they desire.

As 2023 draws to a close, it’s time once again for the Thankmas charity event, this year once again benefiting World Central Kitchen. Originally begun by Sean “Jacksepticeye” McLoughlin, the event raises funds for a single organization over the course of several days in December. McLoughlin will hold a live event on December 2 in Los Angeles.

The Walking Dead: Match 3 Tales debuts today as a puzzle role-playing game from Com2us and Skybound Entertainment.

Saga, a Layer-1 blockchain protocol and developer ecosystem for Web3 games, has officially launched its incentivized testnet Pegasus.

Ledger is launching the second season of its gamified educational platform in The Sandbox virtual world with the aim of expanding crypto knowledge in the metaverse.

Playbite has raised $1 million to bring back the magic of arcades on mobile gaming devices.

Nextbase wants to revolutionize driver safety with its AI-powered dash cam Nextbase iQ, which is priced under $500.

One year ago, billionaire and new owner Elon Musk walked into Twitter's San Francisco headquarters with a white bathroom sink and a grin, fired its CEO and other top executives and began transforming the social media platform into what is now known as X.

In a quest to expand metaverse gaming, Animoca Brands has announced the acquisition of Web3 streaming platform Azarus.

Getting an email asking if I want a copy of “the Apex Legends cookbook” was one of the most WTF moments of my year thus far, but once I knew it existed, I had to have it. Before I left for GamesBeat Next, I was perusing and casually testing some of the recipes in the book, and let me tell you: The Apex Legends cookbook is a goldmine of comedy, if not of particularly inventive recipes. Some of the food feels artificially tied to specific characters — Octane has a couple of recipes in the book (both good, too), and I’ll remind you the character is canonically a thrill-seeking drug addict. I want nothing to do with whatever he puts in his body.

Elena Grigorian recently took over as CEO of My.Games, the former Russian game company that moved to Amsterdam after a buyout in the wake of the war in Ukraine.

Ark: Survival Ascended debuted on Steam on the PC on October 25, and it will be getting cross-platform support from modders thanks to Overwolf as the console launches approach in November.

Moonveil Entertainment has raised $5.4 million for multiplayer mobile games using blockchain technology.

GM-owned Cruise is halting all self-driving car operations after California’s DMV suspended the company’s state permit to operate the vehicles, citing them as a risk to public safety. 

In Q3 2023, gaming companies announced 33 M&A transactions worth roughly $5 billion according to Drake Star’s latest report. While announced deal value is up compared to recent quarters, the quarter had the lowest number of transactions since Q1 2021. Compared to the same quarter of last year, the number of announced deals fell 60%.

Tickets for The International Game Summit on Mental Health (TIGS) Gala evening event on November 16 are now on sale.

Microsoft is shaking up the structure and leadership of its Xbox gaming and marketing divisions shortly after its record-breaking $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard. Matt Booty was promoted to president of game content and studios, which will oversee ZeniMax and Bethesda. Likewise, Sarah Bond will now serve as president of Xbox.  Her responsibilities will include overseeing Xbox’s platform and hardware strategy. Finally, Chris Capossela, chief marketing officer, has stepped down after 32 years at Microsoft.

MegaDev, known for reviving the concept of cheat codes with their modding software Plitch, has announced the release of Plitch 2.0.

Nimo Planet has unveiled its spatial computing system for productivity apps that you can use in a private multi-screen virtual workspace.

NatureEye is launching immersive drone flights to tourist destinations around the world, taking you to exotic places such as Elephant Sands in Botswana.

Meta reported that it lost $3.7 billion in the third quarter in its metaverse-focused Reality Labs division.

Artisan Studios, an independent game developer with a reputation for creating premium role-playing games, plans to open a game development studio in Saudi Arabia.

Upon booting up Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, I did what any self-respecting New Yorker would do: I beelined it toward my favorite part of the city as soon as possible, to see how Insomniac Games had recreated the locale. In my case, this meant veering toward South Brooklyn, even as Sandman was wreaking havoc on the infrastructure of Manhattan’s Financial District. However, as I swung beneath the gothic arches of Brooklyn Bridge, the better to glimpse the steel girders and stevedore cranes of Red Hook from a distance, the vista confirmed what I had feared deep down: My favorite neighborhood wasn’t even there.

LG NOVA has announced the latest iteration of its Mission for the Future program, where it fosters collaboration between startups and the big electronics firm.

Harmony Games has raised $3 million in seed round funding for mobile games such as Tiles Delight.

Neon Machine, the developer and publisher of the highly anticipated extraction shooter game Shrapnel, has raised $20 million in funding.

Cities: Skylines 2 is out now on PC, and for those wondering if their system will be able to handle the game as they grow their towns, one player has the answer for you. 

We’re pleased to disclose the inaugural list of Game Changers from the partnership of Lightspeed and GamesBeat. Together with 15 industry judges, we selected 25 companies as the most innovative gaming startups for 2024.

German component designer Trinamix announced it has created a consumer spectroscopy module that can analyze your skin and give you health insights.

Qualcomm unveiled its most powerful computing processor for PCs, the Snapdragon X Elite. In doing so, it’s taking on the hegemony of Intel and Advanced Micro Devices.

California’s DMV is suspending Cruise’s permit to test self-driving cars in the state over concerns the vehicles pose a risk to public safety. 

This is Dean Takahashi’s opening speech for the GamesBeat Next 2023 event, taking place today in San Francisco.

EQ Studios, the creators of The Painscreek Killings, have released their latest investigative mystery game, Scene Investigators, now available on Steam.

Games can be good for your mind, according to a study that reveals the cognitive and psychological benefits of mobile games, Skillprint said.

CrazyGames has launched its CrazyGames Originals platform for browser-based gaming.

Xreal, formerly known as Nreal, unveiled its latest innovation in consumer augmented reality (AR) technology with the introduction of the Xreal Air 2 and Xreal Air 2 Pro AR glasses.

Brilliant Labs has raised $3 million in funding for its AI-powered augmented reality glasses.

Supercell’s globally popular mobile games Clash of Clansand Clash Royaleare now playable on the Windows PC for the first time via a beta on Google Play Games. 

In case you’ve somehow missed it, GamesBeat is holding its Next event early next week in San Francisco. As always, I’ll be there, probably in a costume of some kind, to participate. If you’re interested in seeing what the future of games looks like and what some of the most interesting new ideas in the industry are shaping into, then come and join us! I’ll be moderating the Women in Gaming breakfast panel with several exceptional women in the industry, as well as a panel on mixed reality ahead of the Apple Vision Pro. Registration is still open here.

Vertigo Games this week released one of 2023’s most unusual remakes: A VR-based remake of 90s-era adventure game The 7th Guest. Originally announced at the Meta Showcase event in June, the game brings a new version of the puzzle adventure to PlayStation VR2, Meta Quest and Steam VR headsets. GamesBeat got a chance to speak with Paul van der Meer, the game’s director, about bringing the classic to VR.

I’m ready to see a lot of gaming people again and so GamesBeat Next is coming just in time for me. Things are different this time so I thought I’d fill you in.

Ready Player Me, the virtual avatar platform, has launched its Premium Skins Catalog, which will enable developers to sell premium skins for avatar personalization.

Upland has raised $7 million in funding for its virtual land metaverse based on Web3 technology.

Noodle Cat Games has raised $12 Million in funding to bring fresh ideas to the action role-playing game genre.

Copresence, a maker of digital avatar generation software, has raised over $6 million in seed funding.

French publishing giant Ubisoft is bringing management of its North American studios under Christophe Derennes (pictured).

Starfield was the best-selling game of September 2023 in the U.S. despite some stiff competition, according to industry-tracking firm Circana. It was one of six September game releases that made it into the top 10 of the bestsellers list for the month. The games industry itself saw a 10% increase in sales, though hardware sales took a slight dip year-over-year, and higher spending on games and accessories offset the decline.

Ahead of TwitchCon Las Vegas, creator Nicholas “Nickmercs” Kolcheff has announced he will expand on to competitor Kick.com. The exact details were not disclosed, but the one year non-exclusive deal was for eight figures. Nickmercs will continue to stream on Twitch, but the majority of his broadcast hours will shift to Kick.

Neal Stephenson has unveiled the plans of his Lamina1 blockchain company for an open metaverse in partnership with the Avalanche chain.

Community and communications platform Discord announced a wide range of new features. Some are quality of life improvements while others are geared towards monetization and safety. Some of these features launch today while others will debut in the coming months.

Quest Portal, a startup dedicated to making tabletop role-playing games (TTRPGs) more accessible online, raised $7.6 million in funding.

Hathora helped Frost Giant Studios test the network for its online multiplayer real-time strategy game Stormgate, enabling it to hit a theoretical one million concurrent users.

Advanced Micro Devices unveiled its AMD Ryzen Threadripper Pro 7000WX-Series workstation processors and 7000 Series high-end desktop processors today.

GamesBeat Next is right around the corner — October 23-24, and, just like all of our recent conferences, it features the return of the Women in Gaming Breakfast. The conference and the breakfast take place in-person at the Convene event center in San Francisco.

Blizzard has already had a busy year with the launch of Diablo IV (and, you know, that whole getting acquired by Microsoft thing), but the studio still has one more big release for 2023: Warcraft Rumble, a free-to-play strategy mobile game releasing on November 3.

Forge, a startup headed by veteran entrepreneurs, has raised $11 million for a platform to connect and reward gamers for their achievements.

Nostra is launching its disruptive mobile game discovery platform around the globe and it will make it available to game developers worldwide.

Wonderland and Robot Invader have partnered on a novel way to get players excited about playing a virtual reality game.