This week in Red Dead Redemption 2 Online, Rockstar is offering new Role discounts, XP Boosts, and big discounts on in-game items. PlayStation Plus and Twitch Prime members can also get big rewards just for logging in.
Cash and easy XP is up for grabs this week, with all cash and gold earned in Showdowns and Races this week will be increased by 25%, with a 100% XP boost for both events. Players who also complete three Daily Challenges this week will earn a free Ability Card in their Benefits section.
The limited-time clothing from last week is still available up until May 11 in the Wheeler, Rawson & Co catalogue. The apparel includes:
Fanned Stovepipe Hat
Owanjila Hat
Benbow Jacket
Eberhart Coat
Concho Pants
Darned Stockings
Bowyer Boots
Salter Shoes
There’s plenty on discount this week, with a 5 Gold Bar discount off the prices for the Bounty Hunter’s License, the Butcher’s Table, the Collector’s Bag, and all MoonShine Shack Properties. Camp customize options are also 50% off at the Wilderness Outfitters. The Wheeler, Rawson & Co. catalogue is offering 40% off all Repeaters, 60% off all Hats, and 70% off all Pants.
Twitch Prime members who have connected their Rockstar Social Club account to Twitch Prime can receive the Collector’s Bag, the Polished Copper Moonshine Still, and 5 Moonshiner Role Ranks for playing this month.
PlayStation Plus members can receive a fisherman’s starter pack containing 5 special Lake Lures, 5 special Swamp Lures, 5 special River Lures, along with a Treasure Map of the North Clingman area just for logging in this month.
A portion of all online purchases this month and all of May will be going towards COVID-19 relief thanks to Rockstar and Take-Two. This includes purchases made in Red Dead Online and GTA Online.
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Amazon Game Studios is going to launch a new hero shooter very, very soon. Although Crucible has only just been shown off (and we’ve got an extensive report on it), we’re going to be able to jump in and experience this shooter from developer Relentless (run by Westwood Studios co-founder Louis Castle) very soon.
Crucible will launch for PC on May 20. It’s completely free-to-play, and will be available on Steam, so it’ll be easy to coordinate with your friends and check out what Amazon’s new title has to offer.
This is shaping up to be a busy May, but Crucible will have that date to itself, more or less–it’ll be interesting to see how it performs in its first week, and whether it can compete with the likes of Overwatch.
Two of the biggest gaming publishers in the business, Activision Blizzard and Electronic Arts, have shared new numbers about how much money their games make from microtransactions–and it’s a lot.
Activision Blizzard measures microtransactions through a bucket called “in-game net bookings,” and these reached $956 million for the quarter ended March 31. That’s up by $162 million (+20 percent) from $794 million during the same period last year.
Modern Warfare’s microtransactions come in part from the game’s battle pass, which is shared with the free-to-play battle royale game Warzone. Activision regularly releases new customization items to buy outside of the battle pass, too, including various marijuana-related items to celebrate 4/20. Modern Warfare was notable from a monetization standpoint, as it ditched the franchise’s traditional season pass model in favor of giving all maps away for free, and replacing the Season Pass with the Battle Pass.
Activision Blizzard also made a lot of microtransaction money from Call of Duty: Mobile‘s Season 5 release. This new launch led to the “highest monthly in-game net bookings” for the game since Season 1, Activision Blizzard said.
Activision Blizzard also generates microtransaction revenue from basically all of its other games, including World of Warcraft, Overwatch, and of course, its numerous mobile games from subsidiary King (Candy Crush).
Moving to Electronic Arts, the company measures microtransactions through a label called “live services.” For the quarter ended March 31, EA made $789 million from live services, which is down from $845 million from the same period last year (which benefited from the launch of Apex Legends). For the trailing 12 months, EA has been a whopping $2.779 billion from live services. This is not a full or a complete picture of how much money EA makes from microtransactions, as revenue from mobile ($138 million) and full-game downloads ($190 million) are not counted toward live services.
EA also commented on the microtransaction revenue, saying last year’s Q4 figures benefitted from the launch of Apex Legends, making it a difficult comparison. On the brighter side, EA said its Ultimate Team modes “grew strongly.”
“The year-on-year decrease is driven by the massive launch of Apex Legends a year ago, offset by growth across the rest of our live services. Ultimate Team grew strongly through fiscal 2020,” EA said.
In 2018, EA CEO Andrew Wilson spoke about how EA is committed to microtransactions–so long as they are handled responsibly and in a fair manner.
“Going forward, we believe that live services that include optional digital monetization, when done right, provide a very important element of choice that can extend and enhance the experience in our games,” Wilson said. “We’re committed to continually working with our players to deliver the right experience in each of our games and live services.”
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THQ Nordic and Koch Media have just undertaken an unusual transaction, trading IP rights with one another for several largely-dormant franchises. Think of it as being like two teams in your sport of choice trading players in the off-season–or, to use the analogy THQ Nordic used on Twitter, like a Pokemon trade.
THQ Nordic trades Painkiller & Red Faction for Koch Media’s Sacred, Risen, Rush for Berlin, Second Sight & Singles: Flirt Up Your Life! Koch waves farewell as their IPs are transferred. „Take good care of them!“#THQNordic#KochMediapic.twitter.com/HLVmXJXY9K
There’s a mix here of franchises and one-offs–Second Sight, Singles: Flirt Up Your Life and Rush for Berlin never received sequels, and were all published in 2006 or earlier. According to the press release, “evaluations on remasters, ports, potential sequels, and new content etc. will start right away.”
Koch Media, meanwhile, has its hands on Red Faction, most recently seen in Red Faction Guerilla: Re-Mars-tered. The Painkiller series has been less active in recent years, but is certainly beloved.
The two publishers already share some DNA. In 2018, Koch Media was bought by Embracer Group–or, as it was known at the time, THQ Nordic AB. Embracer Group is a holding company under which both publishers operate, which is how they’re able to make a swap such as this one.
It remains to be seen what games will be published or created as a result of this trade.
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In a recent Activision Blizzard investor call, executives from the company stated that despite the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the mass shelter-in-place, the Call of Duty franchise’s next major game is set for a 2020 release.
During the call, Activision Blizzard president and COO Daniel Alegre shared that employees have adapted to the new changes in society, and that the new CoD is still on track for its previously confirmed 2020 release. Executives at the company explained that the most recent entry in the franchise, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, has exceeded expectations. This is due in part to ongoing events with the seasons and the standalone battle royale game, Warzone–which currently has over 60 million players. While the details on the next game weren’t shared, including any plans for Xbox Series X or PS5, Alegre stated that the CoD franchise remains a key pillar for the company.
Back in February, the executives spent some time describing the current state of the series, which was shortly before the launch COD: Warzone and before the mass spread of COVID-19. Given that circumstances are far more different compared to then, and with other developers having to push the release of games back due to the shelter-in-progress, it’s surprising to see that they’ve managed to stick to their plans of releasing the next game this year.
In addition to talking what’s next for COD, the executives at Activision Blizzard also made time to talk about how the pandemic has affected the company. During this talk, Alegre also assured employees and investors by stating that “with true ingenuity and input from the team, we are managing through this.” During the mass shelter-in-progress, CEO Bobby Kotick even gave employees his personal number, allowing anyone to text or call him at any time. In the presentation to investors, the execs also raised awareness to the needs of mental health for employees, while also reiterating how the company has made donations to charities, including the company’s Call of Duty Endowment program for military veterans.
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HBO’s Westworld ended on a massive cliffhanger. Here’s what we need from Season 4 and beyond.
HBO’s Westworld has wrapped up it’s third season in a major cliffhanger–much like it did all the way back in Season 2. But this time around, we have a somewhat clearer idea of where things could be headed, and a relatively concise list of what big questions will need to be answered in Season 4.
Dolores’s plan–convoluted as it may have been–was ultimately a success. Humanity is free of the shackles they’d been unknowingly saddled with by the mega-AI Rehoboam thanks to Caleb’s moment of free will. But these things come with a cost, and while it may (or may not) have meant Dolores had to sacrifice herself for the cause, it could also mean that the world as humanity knows it is now destined for destruction. After all, that was Serac’s greatest argument for his own megalomania: He chooses how humanity progresses, not because he wants to, but because it’s the only way to keep us from destroying ourselves. But now the illusion has been shattered, Rehoboam is dead, Caleb (and Maeve) are in the wind, and Bernard has the key to the Sublime. Oh, and there’s the matter of that post-credits scene–which is still a lot to process.
Thankfully, we already know that Season 4 will happen, so it’s only a matter of time. Here are 7 major questions we’d like to see tackled when it finally arrives.
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1. What’s going on with these post-credits time-skips?
In the second post-credits scene of Season 3, we see Bernard waking up after he shut down while accessing the Sublime. He’s covered in a thick coat of dust, implying that he’s been there for a while. We can assume (or at least try to assume) that Bernard is waking up at some point in the far future, similar to the Man In Black’s post-credits scene in Season 2. If you remember, William (who is probably Host William) found himself entering a dilapidated testing facility in the park where a host version of his daughter was set up to test him for “fidelity.”
Obviously, part of Delos’ mission was to engineer a way to immortality and the fidelity tests were a major part of that–but what’s up with these major time-skips? Are these scenes with William and Bernard actually related or are they at two different moments in an already murky timeline?
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2. Who is Halores, really?
Season 3 dropped a bombshell about Dolores’s accomplices, revealing that they weren’t in fact other hosts, but copies of herself. This meant that the host piloting the copy of Charlotte Hale wasn’t Teddy like we’d assumed, but another Dolores. But something strange began happening for Halores as she continued through Dolores-Prime’s plan–memories of Charlotte’s life began surfacing in her, forcing her closer and closer to a complete mental collapse.
It seemed like Halores was killed in a brutal car explosion that took out her entire (human) family but she in fact survived, and found her way to Delos in Dubai to begin manufacturing more hosts–like a host copy of William for instance. But we have no idea who is actually in control of Halores’s mind or what they want. Is it Charlotte somehow returned from the dead? Is it an insane version of Dolores? Is it someone else entirely?
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3. Who is Bernard?
Bernard’s return from the Sublime was pretty ominous, and not just because it apparently took so long for him to come back. We have absolutely no way to tell if it’s actually him occupying that body, given just how many hosts were uploaded into the Sublime at the end of Season 2. So is it actually Bernard waking up?
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4. What happened to Stubbs?
Poor Stubbs was in miserable shape when Bernard shut himself down to enter the Sublime. We get no indication whatsoever as to what happened to him when we see Bernard wake up. Did he die there in the bathtub? Did he escape? Did someone capture him?
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5. What’s going to happen to Caleb?
Caleb brought about Dolores’s new world order at the end of Season 3 and then escaped the Incite facility with Maeve–but now we’re left to wonder what’s going to happen to him. Unlike Maeve, who is functionally immortal, Caleb is a human, and sure, he may be able to be “whoever the f***” he wants to be now in the new world, but that doesn’t mean he’s any less at risk than he was. And we have to assume that there will be powerful people out there who know exactly what he did which makes us wonder: What’s next for Caleb and how can he possibly survive this?
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6. Is Dolores really dead?
It certainly seemed like Dolores met a grim end after being wired into Rehoboam and basically datamined into oblivion, all for coordinates that she didn’t actually have inside her head. But if there’s one thing Dolores has proven very, very good at time and time again it’s beating the odds. It seems pretty unlikely that Dolores is actually dead and gone for good–we’re betting that her consciousness somehow got uploaded into the shell of Rehoboam just before it was destroyed, meaning she could have sent herself out almost anywhere. Rehoboam had access to so many systems and servers around the world, she would have had an infinite number of escape hatches.
Or, maybe this is an occam’s razor situation and she really is just gone. Either way, we’d really like to get a definitive answer for Dolores’s fate come Season 4.
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7. What about Serac and Incite’s legacy?
Rehoboam may be gone and the world may be plunged into the chaos that comes with freedom of choice, but we have to imagine that Serac and Incite’s legacy won’t just vanish overnight. Rehoboam played a major role in the day-to-day function of society beyond just making sure people did or didn’t get the jobs they wanted, and now it’s gone.
And then there’s the issue of the information Incite had collected. After all, Delos still exists as we saw in the post-credits scene and while their goal may not be exactly the same as Incite’s, it’s unlikely that all the data the two companies were trying to win from one another is just going to vanish into the ether. Will Incite’s downfall create a power vacuum that Delos–or maybe something worse–is destined to fill?
And what about Serac himself? We never see him actually die, which means it’s likely he’s still around and ready to begin picking up the pieces of his shattered empire one way or another.
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Disclosure: ViacomCBS is GameSpot’s parent company
Activision has shared its financial results for the first quarter of 2020. Despite the coronavirus pandemic, the first quarter of the year has been a successful one for the publisher, and its latest Call of Duty title in particular, Modern Warfare, has been performing especially well.
According to Activision, Modern Warfare has “sold through more units and has more players than any prior Call of Duty title at this point after its release.” Moreover, the publisher says Modern Warfare’s sell-through in the first quarter was “the highest for the franchise outside of a launch quarter.”
Sales of Modern Warfare “accelerated” in March, thanks in part to the launch of its standalone battle royale mode, Warzone. Although it can be downloaded and played for free even if you don’t own Modern Warfare, the game supports cross-progression with MW, so Operators, weapons, and other content you’ve unlocked in that title can be used in Warzone, and progress you make in Warzone will carry back over into MW.
Modern Warfare developer Infinity Ward will roll out a new update for the game this week that will introduce a new mode called Demolition, as well as new playlists. The studio is also holding a limited-time double XP event. Until May 8, players will be able to earn twice the usual amount of XP, weapon XP, and battle pass XP in Modern Warfare and Warzone.
Like many other businesses, employees and game developers at Activision Blizzard have transitioned to working from home. However, that hasn’t stopped Activision from confirming that the next “Premium Call of Duty” is on track to release later this year.
Activision Blizzard’s new Chief Operating Officer and president Daniel Alegre spoke with investors today to share Activision’s Q1 2020 results. Despite the changes to the workplace caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Alegre confirmed that the next mainline Call of Duty game is “on track for later this year.”
Alegre also said two titles “based on library IP” from Activision are in development. This means there are two games not based on Call of Duty in development and include games like Crash Bandicoot and Spyro. Activision did not confirm what these titles are so there’s space for speculation.
Call of Duty has overperformed in recent months thanks to the huge sales for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and the popularity of Call of Duty: Warzone. Activision confirmed the sell-through for Modern Warfare is the highest in the franchise months after launch, and Warzone hit 60 million players.
Activision’s free-to-play Call of Duty battle royale title, Call of Duty: Warzone, has been a major hit. The publisher said in a press release for its Q1 2020 earnings call that Warzone “has reached over 60 million players” since its release on March 10.
Activision didn’t specify what it meant by players “reached,” though it’s likely the measure of total players who have downloaded Warzone, as opposed to how many are actively playing it each month. Though active players is sure to be a smaller number, the 60 million figure suggests Warzone has gained a significant player base in the three months since its release.
And apparently the number of players jumping into Warzone is continuing to increase. Back in April, Activision announced that the battle royale game, which features cross-play between Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC, had hit 50 million players.
The Call of Duty franchise is doing very well for Activision at the moment. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, released in late 2019, “has sold through more units and has more players than any prior Call of Duty title at this point after its release,” according to the press release. Modern Warfare’s sales in the first quarter of 2020 were also the best the franchise has ever seen outside of a launch quarter, with a big chunk of those sales driven by the addition of Warzone.
Activision also said on its earnings call that there’s more Call of Duty on the way, with the yearly premium CoD release on-track for the fall despite the impact of COVID-19.
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Louis Leterrier is in negotiations with Netflix to direct Bright 2, a sequel to the streaming service’s 2017 film which starred Will Smith and Joel Edgerton. Leterrier helmed the second MCU film, The Incredible Hulk, as well as movies such as Now You See Me, Clash of the Titans, and the first two Transporter features.
The buddy-cop/action/fantasy sequel will reunite Smith and Edgerton as the pair of LAPD officers from the first film, the latter of whom happens to be an orc. Suicide Squad’s David Ayer, who directed the original and had been attached to the follow-up, is busy rewriting his remake of The Dirty Dozen for Warner Bros, according to Deadline.
Ayer wrote Bright 2 with Evan Spiliotopoulos, and T.S. Nowlin handled rewrite duties on the script.
The first film was touted by Netflix’s Chief Executive Reed Hastings as one of the service’s most-viewed original titles ever in the weeks after it debuted. At that time in January 2018, a sequel was announced but we’ve heard little about it since then. The title had a total audience of more than 11 million in its first three days of release, according to Nielsen estimates.
According to Deadline’s sources, the Bright sequel will feature the unlikely partnership of Smith’s Daryl Ward and Edgerton’s Nick Jakoby “on an international stage.”
In our review of Bright, IGN’s David Griffin gave the film a 7 out of 10, saying “Bright could have been something truly special if it had slowed down the pace of its narrative to allow for a fuller exploration of its engaging world. Will Smith and Joel Edgerton are a compelling duo I’d love to see again in a sequel, or even a new series produced by Netflix, so hopefully, this isn’t the last we’ll see of the world of Bright.” Sounds like it isn’t!
