Month: June 2019

E3 2019 is expected to include a lot of big announcements, but the next game from Batman: Arkham studio Rocksteady Games will not be among them. Game director and co-founder Sefton Hill wrote on Twitter that the studio “won’t be showing at E3 this year.”

“We’ll be watching as fans but remaining in London, hard at work on our next big project,” he said.

It’s become tradition for Hill to release these kind of statements tempering fans’ excitement and expectations for Rocksteady’s new game.

In December 2018, Hill confirmed there would be no reveal at The Game Awards, while months prior he responded to fan feedback over Rocksteady’s E3 2018 no-show.

Rocksteady is clearly still not ready to show off its new game. There are a number of rumours floating around about it what be, but nothing is confirmed at this stage. Rocksteady created the Batman Arkham series, the latest instalment of which, Arkham Knight, was released in 2015.

Batman: Arkham Origins developer WB Games Montreal, meanwhile, is also working on a new game, but it too is shrouded in mystery.

WB Games Montreal and Rocksteady share a parent company in Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, which is one of the companies attending E3 2019 this month. That being said, nothing yet has suggested any new Batman games will be revealed at the show.

Rocksteady’s new game isn’t the only title skipping E3. The Last of Us 2 and The Elder Scrolls 6 are among the other titles that are also not going to be at the show.

While Sony is not attending E3 2019 next week, the PlayStation company still has news to share, specifically about its much-anticipated next-generation console. Sony’s Jim Ryan, who recently stepped into the position of SIE president, sat down with GameSpot sister site CNET to discuss some of Sony’s high-level plans for its next console, believed to be the PlayStation 5.

One of the biggest talking points was what Ryan called “cross-generational play.” This means those who pick up a PlayStation 5 (or whatever it is called), will be able to continue playing their PlayStation 4 games on the new box. Not only that, but Ryan suggested that PlayStation friends list will span both systems.

“Whether it’s backwards compatibility or the possibility of cross generational play, we’ll be able to transition that community to next-gen,” he said. “It won’t be a binary choice about whether you have to be either on PlayStation 4 or next-gen to continue your friendship.”

This is a big deal because the PS4 does not currently offer backwards compatibility like the rival Xbox One does. Ryan said in a previous interview that backwards compatibility and cross-gen play is “incredibly important” to helping make the transition between systems as seamless as possible.

Also in the interview, Ryan confirmed that the PS5’s new SSD that was custom-made for the system will be part of the standard edition, not a more expensive premium version. The SSD allows the PS5 to improve load times; you can see a demonstration of the faster load times here.

Ryan also talked about how the PS5 is capable of supporting 4K visuals at 120Hz for those who have TVs that can support that. 120Hz is a refresh rate around double the rate of standard TVs.

As for why Sony is talking about the PS5 (Mark Cerny shared numerous details earlier) before actually announcing the console, Ryan said it’s an effort to get ahead of leaks. PS5 development kits are being sent to outside studios currently, and Ryan said he wants PlayStation fans to have “clear and unambiguous” details about the system instead of “garbled nonsense.”

It sounds like the PS5 is still a long time off, as Ryan said, “This is just the start of the unveil process.” There is no word yet as to when Sony may officially announce the PS5.

As part of Sony’s Corporate Strategy Meeting recently, Sony said the PS5 will offer experiences that “greatly exceed” what is possible on PS4 and PS4 Pro. Sony said people can expect “completely transformative and immersive gaming experiences” on the PS5.

You can visit CNET to read the full interview in which Ryan touches on the changing landscape of the video game business, Sony’s partnership with Microsoft for cloud gaming, if the PS5 will be Sony’s last console, and lots more.

The PlayStation 5 will have an “appealing” price point given its specs, according to Cerny, but there is no ballpark estimate yet regarding what the price may be. As for the release date of the PlayStation 5, Sony has said it will not release in the next fiscal year, which means it won’t launch April 2020 at the soonest.

The production of James Bond 25 has suffered another filming accident. Not long after 007 actor Daniel Craig injured his ankle and needed surgery, the producers have now confirmed that a controlled explosion went wrong, with one crew member getting hurt.

There were no injuries on set at Pinewood Studios when the accident occurred on June 4, but one person outside the stage suffered a “minor injury.” No other details were provided.

According to the UK tabloid The Sun, part of the stage was blown off during the filming of a stunt involving a fireball inside a laboratory.

Presumably some extra time will be required to repair the stage at Pinewood Studios, though it’s unknown if this latest mishap will result in a delay for Bond 25. Craig needed about two weeks of downtime to recover from his own ankle injury and surgery sustained while filming in Jamaica. Despite that, the production team said at the time that the movie will not be delayed.

James Bond 25, or whatever it ends up being called, hits theatres in April 2020. In addition to Craig, Ralph Fiennes, Naomie Harris, and Lea Seydoux will all reprise their roles for the 25th James Bond movie. Jeffrey Wright and Ben Whishaw also return, while Rami Malek has joined the movie as the villain.

Bond 25’s story begins with Bond no longer on active service but instead enjoying himself in Jamaica. “His peace is short-lived when his old friend Felix Leiter from the CIA turns up asking for help,” reads a lin efrom the description. “The mission to rescue a kidnapped scientist turns out to be far more treacherous than expected, leading Bond onto the trail of a mysterious villain armed with dangerous new technology.”

The movie was initially going to be directed by Danny Boyle, but he left due to “creative differences.” True Detective’s Cary Fukunaga replaced Boyle before the film was delayed first from October 2019 to February 2020 and then again to April 3, 2020.

Up until now, the Halo series had been on a semi-regular release schedule with each title in the main series launching within three years of each other, and sometimes faster. But it’s been almost four years already since the release of Halo 5: Guardians in 2015, meaning fans have had to wait longer than ever for Halo Infinite. Why is it taking so long for the game to come out?

Halo transmedia boss Kiki Wolfkill explained to GI.biz that one of the reasons is because the team at 343 Industries has spent a lot of time working on “retooling” the franchise’s infrastructure. That probably is a reference to the brand-new Slipspace engine that Microsoft showed off at E3 2018.

“Part of why there’s been that span of time between Halo 5 and Infinite is the retooling of the infrastructure to give us the flexibility to do whatever we wanted with that game,” she said.

In addition, Halo Infinite marks the “next generation of Halo,” Wolfkill said. As such, and because the game is a “spiritual reboot,” Wolfkill said the team is taking extra time to make sure Infinite is a game that newcomers can also play and enjoy.

“But it’s also about setting off the next generation of Halo,” she said. “We want people to be able to come into Halo Infinite who may not have played any other Halo game before.”

Part of Wolfkill’s job as the leader of the Halo transmedia team is to find ways to expand Halo’s profile and reach. There is a new Halo TV show coming, and this, as well as the other Halo transmedia efforts, might help draw in new players for Infinite.

“Part of what my role is and my goal with the transmedia pieces is, how do we start to engage new audiences and bring people into the universe so that when Infinite comes out, maybe people who haven’t played before are interested in playing,” she said.

The Halo TV show, which is being produced by GameSpot sister company Showtime, is being compared to Game of Thrones in terms of its scope and scale.

Halo Infinite will presumably be shown off during the Xbox E3 2019 briefing coming up soon. Microsoft is also expected to announce a next-generation console (or two) during the show.