Category: News

Option To Turn off Xbox One/PC Cross Play Coming to Sea of Thieves

In a weekly Developer Update video released on the game’s official YouTube account, Executive Producer of Sea of Thieves Joe Neate announced that an option to turn off cross play between Xbox One and PC players was coming to the game.


While touching on a number of topics surrounding the game and its community, Neate stated that listening to the feedback from players, especially concerning the new Arena on the horizon, and that their focus as a developer was to make sure everyone was given a level playing field. “We’ve been discussing this in length internally and we’ve arrived at a solution that we are starting working on implementation.” Neate reiterates that this option will not be coming right away, but players should be made aware that measures are being taken into effect in the near future.

Sea of Thieves is one of many Xbox One first party titles that is receiving mouse and keyboard support on the console version of the game, which has since caused a bit of worry in certain sects of the game’s player base. Given the game’s first person perspective, many players believe that given the mouse and keyboard option will provide a competitive advantage heading into the new PvP mode that is due out within the next few months. Providing more detailed matchmaking and cross play options to the upcoming mode would help balance the competitive nature of it.

The Arena, which was announced at Microsoft’s XO18 event in Mexico City last November, is a free content update that is slated to release in the first half of 2019.

For updates on Sea of Thieves, follow us on Twitter and Facebook, and keep it locked in at Bonus Accessory.

Capcom Announces Release Date For Resident Evil 2 Free Update ‘The Ghost Stories’, February 15th

Capcom has finally confirmed a release date for The Ghost Survivors, a free content update for Resident Evil 2, coming on February 15th, 2019.

Announced last week, the free content update delves deeper into the fateful events that took place in Raccoon City during Resident Evil 2, centering around three characters that don’t receive a brighter spotlight within the game’s narrative: the gunshop owner, the mayor’s daughter, and the solider. The titles of the specific scenarios have been released as well: No Time to Mourn, Runaway, and Forgotten Soldier.

The remake to the original survival horror classic released last Friday, January 25th, to massive critical acclaim, and it appears to also be finding commercial success as well. Eurogamer is reporting the re-imagining of the classic title has topped the UK sales charts for the last week, and is the best selling Resident Evil entry since Resident Evil 7 in 2017 (though RE2‘s sales are currently 18% less than that of RE7 during the same time frame). US sales numbers have yet to be released, but we will provide an update when they are.

Resident Evil 2 is available now on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.

UPDATE 1/28/19 12:25 PM EST: Capcom has also announced that two character skins resembling the 1998 aesthetic of the original for Leon and Claire will be coming to Resident Evil 2 for free on February 15th, 2019.

For updates on Resident Evil 2, follow us on Twitter and Facebook, and keep it locked in at Bonus Accessory.

Breaking: Nintendo Confirms Restart on Metroid Prime 4 Development, Bringing On Retro Studios

In a shocking turn of events, Nintendo has confirmed that development on the highly anticipated Metroid Prime 4 will be restarted, with the series’s original creator Retro Studios being brought in to help with the process.

In a video released on Nintendo’s YouTube page, Shinya Takahashi, Senior Managing Executive Officer, released the statement regarding the status of the newest entry in the beloved Sci-Fi series. “We deeply understand the high anticipation that Metroid Prime series fans have for this title” Takahashi began. “Ever since the announcement, we have not been able to give you an update but as a result of the continuing development since that time – although this is very regrettable – we must let you know that the current development progress has not reached the standards we seek in a sequel to the Metroid Prime series. We have determined that the current development status of the game is very challenged, and we had to make a difficult decision as a development team. We have decided to re-examine the development structure itself and change it. Specifically, we decided to have the Producer, Kensuke Tanabe, to work in trust and collaboration with the studio that developed the original Metroid Prime series, Retro Studios in the United States, and restart development from the beginning.”

For decades, the Japanese gaming giant has been known for its development philosophy that iconic company figure Shigeru Miyamoto made famous, that “a delayed game is eventually good, and a bad game is bad forever”; which Takahashi touches on in the statement. “Nintendo always strives for the highest quality in our games; and in the development phase, we challenge ourselves and confront whether the game is living up to that quality on a daily basis. If we’re not satisfied with the quality, we aren’t able to deliver it to our customers with confidence, and the game will not live up to our fans’ expectations. From this perspective, we have determined that the current development status of the game is very challenged, and we had to make a difficult decision as a development team.”

Takahashi emphasizes that it will be quite some time before fans see the product in full, with development restarting, but expresses confidence that the wait will be worth it, as the company hopes to bring fans of the long running series an entry that fans will hold in high regard.

Metroid Prime 4 was originally announced at Nintendo’s E3 2017 Spotlight Direct, with no additional information provided at the time or since then regarding the development of the game, including a release date or even an attached development team. Rumors began circulating after E3 2018 that the company had planned to reveal the game later that year at the Game Awards 2018 for a release the following year, along with a Metroid Prime Trilogy collection for the Switch, but neither were heard of or seen at the event in December.

For updates on Metroid Prime 4, follow us on Twitter and Facebook, and keep it locked in at Bonus Accessory.

Cyberpunk 2077 Creative Director Joins Blizzard Entertainment

CD PROJEKT RED, home of the critically acclaimed Witcher series and highly anticipated Cyberpunk 2077, will soon be looking for a new Creative Director, as Sebastian Stepien has recently left the company to join Blizzard Entertainment.

As first discovered by ResetEra user Gerwant, the longtime employee of the Polish gaming company had recently updated his LinkedIn profile to reflect the change in employers. Most recently credited as Narrative and Setting Director, Stepien also served as Creative Director on CD PROJEKT RED’s projects since early 2013. His time at the company spanned over 12 and a half years.

While employment changes like this aren’t necessarily uncommon in the gaming industry, it does raise some eyebrows on a few aspects. Normally, in a situation like this, when an employee on the development side of the project leave, it likely because their obligation to the project has wrapped. In this case though, Stepien was credited as Creative Director on Cyberpunk 2077. Many industry members, analysts and commentators believe the upcoming open world, futuristic RPG is still a few years off, but given the change in leadership, it may signal the game is a bit further along than some may this. With the game being in a playable state, and a lengthy demo shown to public, this may signal the game is already in or close to a beta build. At the same time, this speculation could be off but it does raise a flag of interest towards the Polish gaming entity.

With all of the negative press surrounding Blizzard over the past few months, this seems to be a great get for the PC-centered gaming giant. While nothing has been announced on what the project could be that Stepien was hired on to oversee with Blizzard, it will be interesting to see the fallout on both sides of the spectrum for each entity.

For updates on Cyberpunk 2077, follow us on Twitter and Facebook, and keep it locked in at Bonus Accessory.

Psyonix Releases Rocket League Spring 2019 Road Map and Season 9 Rewards

Rocket League continues to be one of the most popular options for players in terms of games as a service offered today. With the beginning of Competitive Season 10 right around the corner, Psyonix has released an updated road map covering Spring 2019 for the zany car-soccer hybrid that includes updates, DLC drops and new rewards.

February
  • End of Competitive Season 9, plus rewards for the current season!
  • Beginning of Competitive Season 10
  • All new In-Game Event
  • Friends List (previously referred to as RocketID)
    • Cross-Platform Party system
  • New Crate launch
  • New in-game Music
March
  • New Licensed Premium DLC
  • Rocket Pass 2 Ends
  • Rocket Pass 3 will be launching soon after the conclusion of Rocket Pass 2, but no official date or details pertaining to what fans could expect were released.
Competitive Season 9 Rewards

With Rocket League’s Competitive Season 9 winding down, Rewards for the season will begin to be distributed following its conclusion. This season brings a unique set of wheels, representative to each rank earned within the competitive playlist.

Below is the distribution breakdown provided by Psyonix:

COMPETITIVE AND EXTRA MODE REWARDS

  • Bronze I or higher – Season 9 – Bronze Wheels
  • Silver I or higher – Season 9 – Silver Wheels + lower Wheels
  • Gold I or higher – Season 9 – Gold Wheels + lower Wheels
  • Platinum I or higher – Season 9 – Platinum Wheels + lower Wheels
  • Diamond I or higher – Season 9 – Diamond Wheels + lower Wheels
  • Champion I or higher – Season 9 – Champion Wheels + Lower Wheels

GRAND CHAMPION REWARDS

  • Competitive Grand Champion – ‘Season 9 – Grand Champion’ In-Game Title + all Season 9 Wheels
  • Rumble Grand Champion – ‘Season 9 – RNG Champ’ In-Game Title + all Season 9 Wheels
  • Dropshot Grand Champion – ‘Season 9 – Floor Destroyer’ In-Game Title + all Season 9 Wheels
  • Hoops Grand Champion – ‘Season 9 – Dunk Master’ In-Game Title + all Season Wheels
  • Snow Day Grand Champion – ‘Season 9 – Blizzard Wizard’ In-Game Title + all Season 9 Wheels

Players are reminded that you must receive placement in a competitive playlist before receiving the rewards. Psyonix also says a soft reset of placement that was found in the previous season will also occur when transitioning to Season 10.

For updates on Rocket League, follow us on Twitter and Facebook, and keep it locked in at Bonus Accessory.

EA Cancels Open-World Star Wars Game From Vancouver Studio

According to reports from those close to the studio, publishing giant Electronic Arts has canceled its open-world Star Wars project. Originally developed by Visceral Games, the game has since continued its development under the arm of EA Vancouver.

First reported by Jason Schreier of Kotaku, the Vancouver based studio had been developing the project since October 2017, when EA shut down Visceral, While the project was under development at Visceral at the time of closure, reports suggest that the development of the game had changed quite drastically since the Vancouver studio took control. Code-named Ragtag, the game centered around a linear action-adventure play-style, with Uncharted director Amy Hennig leading the project. Since taken it over, EA’s in-house studio replaced much of the game, outside of a handful of art assets, to fit their open-world gameplay.

EA Vancouver handles support for multiple franchises within EA, including FIFA and Battlefront, with the Ragtag being a main focus with a portion of those within the studio. While it is not clear what EA Vancouver’s next project will be, but Scheier suggests that it may fall within the Star Wars IP.

In 2013, Disney and EA signed an exclusive, 10 year licensing agreement for EA to publish Star Wars games developed by then Visceral Games, DICE, BioWare, and now Respawn Entertainment. While the deal is approaching its sixth year, it has only beared witness to two console experiences (Battlefront 1 & 2), along with the mobile experience Galaxy of Heroes (iOS and Android). With the poor reception to both Battlefield entries from DICE, along with multiple game cancelations for the series, one must ask, at what point does Disney explore its options with the IP, including terminating its agreement with EA?

Respawn Entertainment, an EA owned studio, announced at EA Play event at E3 2018 that they were currently developing a new single-player, narrative driven Star Wars game, titled Jedi: Fallen Order. The game is currently scheduled for a 2019 release, with many expecting to see the game hit store shelves this fall.

We will continue to provide more information as it becomes available.

UPDATE (1/16/19): More details have began to surface since our previous post. Schreier notes those close to the project, codenamed Orca, have detailed that it would’ve set players in the role of a scoundrel or bounty hunter who could explore various open-world planets and work with different factions across the Star Wars universe. He also notes that the game was quite early in development, and that when EA’s top decision maker’s examined their internal road map for the next handful of years, they decided they wanted to get a project out sooner rather than later. Enter a new, smaller-scale project that EA and their Motive studio will be heading, that is planned to launch as early as 2020 (also noting this would line up well with the rumored 2020 launch of next generation hardware, although none of this has been confirmed). Also important to note that EA did not lay off anyone as part of this transition, and possibly rebooting the Ragtag project (technically again) isn’t off the table in the future.

For updates on EA and their canceled Star Wars experience, follow us on Twitter and Facebook, and keep it locked in at Bonus Accessory.

Nintendo Adds Three New Titles To It’s Nintendo Selects Line On Nintendo 3DS

Starting February 4th, Nintendo will be adding three new titles to its popular and cost efficient Nintendo Selects line up for the Nintendo 3DS, including Super Mario Maker for Nintendo 3DS, Star Fox 64 3DS, and The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask 3D.

Nintendo Selects, the successor to the company’s Player’s Choice branding, began in 2011 with select titles on the Nintendo Wii, and has been found on both the 3DS and Wii U since then. With the 3DS in particular, a wide variety of best selling games have donned the red labeling such as Super Mario 3D Land, Animal Crossing: New Leaf, Kirby: Triple Deluxe, and The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, to name a few.

Super Mario Maker for 3DS, a port of the popular Wii U title, first built its way onto Nintendo’s vastly popular handheld in December 2016. Fans can build, play and share their own creative and challenging Super Mario Bros. levels right from the palm of your hand. The game also offers the Super Mario Challenge, which pits you against 100 pre-built courses.

Solve puzzles, defeat enemies, and uncover the evil behind the iconic spiked mask in this remastered and enhanced classic entry in The Legend of Zelda series, Majora’s Mask 3D. Join link as he travels across Termina and time, releasing spirits, gaining new abilities through unique masks, and stop the Moon from crashing into the world and ending humanity. First released in February 2015, the 3DS remastered version offers updated visuals, and quality of life changes.

Released in 2011, Star Fox 64 3D offers a remade experience of the 1997 classinc on Nintendo 64, now in the palm of your hand. Take control of Fox McCloud and the classic Arwing as you blast your way through the Lylat system. Fight off hordes of enemies, collect power ups, and defeat bosess on your way to a final confrontation against the notorious Dr. Andross.

Titles within the Nintendo Selects program retail at a suggested price of $19.99.

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Anthem Will Have Matchmaking For Every Activity In The Game

BioWare’s newest IP Anthem is shaping up to be one of the biggest releases of 2019, with fans itching to jump into the world the EA owned developer has created. While excitement is high for the upcoming multiplayer Sci-Fi experience, a common concern amongst fans is the issue of gaining the full experience intended within the game when other players aren’t available to play. Now, a lead producer on the project is confirming details that will help players ease themselves, knowing that there will always be players to group up with.

Responding to a question on Twitter yesterday, lead producer on Anthem Ben Irving confirmed that “there is matchmaking for every activity in the game.” While the statement does comes off a bit vague, Strongholds, free roaming, missions and much of the core gameplay seems to be a given at this point. Players will likely find this feature to be most useful when attempting to tackle Strongholds, which require four players to enter. Traditionally, matchmaking in experiences like Anthem and Destiny (open, shared world shooters) has proved to be a bit problematic. The latter of the two listed in destiny saw multiple revisions to its matchmaking system over its two entries. While the confirmation of matchmaking within the game does ease many players’ minds, Irving went on to clarify that matchmaking is an optional feature that you can opt out of.

Anthem, which was officially shown and announced at Microsoft’s E3 2017 press conference, sets players in the role of a Freelancer who sets out to leave their civilization to explore the surrounding landscapes. Controlling exosuits called Javelins, players will fight and explore their way through a vast world in hopes of finding a better tomorrow. In traditional BioWare fashion, the game will also feature a heavy emphasis on single player content, through their trademarked storytelling excellence.

Anthem is set to release on February 22, 2019 on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC.

For updates on Anthem, follow us on Twitter and Facebook, and keep it locked in at Bonus Accessory.

The Walking Dead Final Season Episode 4 Set to Release on March 26th


The end to the final season of the former Telltale Game’s the Walking Dead series is right around the corner, with a now confirmed release date of its fourth and final episode on March 26th, 2019.

As first reported by DualShockers, the episode titled “Take Us Back” now lists a specific release date of March 26th, 2019 on the game’s episode selection page. While Skybound Games, who officially took over production of the final episodes in the series following Telltale’s closure, has yet to officially announce the game themselves. Yet, it doesn’t look like fans will have to wait long to experience not only the end of the season, but the conclusion to Clementine’s overall story as well.

The original season of Telltale’s the Walking Dead first released in April 2012 to critical acclaim and commercial success, claiming multiple Game of the Year nominations and awards in the process. Many could argue that the success of Telltale’s the Walking Dead helped catapult the graphic adventure genre into mainstream popularity, with many studios following the formula after. Due to the unfortunate financial events last September, Telltale Studios was forced to suffer a major studio closure after their last investor pulled out of funding the studio. Over 250 employees were let go from the studio, with only 25 remaining to finish previous obligations including a port of Minecraft: Story Mode to Netflix.

The first three chapters of the Walking Dead’s Final Season are available now on Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.

Bungie Announces Split With Activision, Retain Rights to Destiny IP

With an announcement of astronomical proportions, developer Bungie has announced their departure from their publishing partnership with Activision. In doing so, Bungie has also announced that they will retain publishing rights to the Destiny IP.

In a release by Bungie, the developer detailed the process moving forward, which has already entered the processes of completing the transition. “When we first launched our partnership with Activision in 2010, the gaming industry was in a pretty different place” the developer stated. “As an independent studio setting out to build a brand new experience, we wanted a partner willing to take a big leap of faith with us. We have enjoyed a successful eight-year run and would like to thank Activision for their partnership on Destiny. Looking ahead, we’re excited to announce plans for Activision to transfer publishing rights for Destiny to Bungie. With our remarkable Destiny community, we are ready to publish on our own, while Activision will increase their focus on owned IP projects.”

For a few months now, rumors have began to appear leaning towards tensions between the Destiny developer and publisher Activision, with Jason Schreier mentioning the rift dating back before the first title even shipped. Earlier today, Schreier reported that he had gained knowledge that Bungie was scheduled to have a team meeting, saying “the buzz around the studio is that it’s “good news” for them.” He declined to share more details at the time, but broke the story as soon as the word was official. Schreier also stated that at the meeting today, the staff cheered loudly for the announcement, expressing their excitement to fully own the Destiny IP and to no longer feel weighed down by Activision’s restrictive annualized schedule.

“With Forsaken, we’ve learned, and listened, and leaned in to what we believe our players want from a great Destiny experience” the team continued in the release. “Rest assured there is more of that on the way. We’ll continue to deliver on the existing Destiny roadmap, and we’re looking forward to releasing more seasonal experiences in the coming months, as well as surprising our community with some exciting announcements about what lies beyond.”

Following their split from Microsoft in 2007 to become an independently owned studio, Bungie continued to develop exclusively for Microsoft’s then-current console, Xbox 360. In 2010, they then signed a 10 year publishing agreement with Activision. Schreier also points out that the developer showed the same excitement when leaving Microsoft at the time.

We will continue to provide updates on the situation as more information becomes known.

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