Month: December 2020

Despite a series of delays for polish for Cyberpunk 2077, the game itself has been performing poorly from a technical standpoint on current-gen Xbox One and PlayStation 4 systems. This means very low frame rates, game-affecting bugs, graphical glitches, and game crashes, all of which have rendered it largely unplayable for many using base-level consoles. It’s been bad enough to the point that developer CD Projekt Red itself issued an official statement on the matter, and mentioned options for players who have been unsatisfied with the experience.

The statement begins as an apology, but subsequently promises a series of patches to improve the experience on Xbox One and PS4. CD Projekt Red says that an update is planned in the next seven days and smaller updates will be released when they’re ready. The team also said that two large patches are planned for Cyberpunk 2077–the first in January and a second in February–that promise to address the larger problems players have faced in the base-console versions.

Lastly, CD Projekt Red is offering refunds. Those who purchased the game digitally will have to go through the respective routes on Xbox and PlayStation ecosystems to do so, and those with physical copies can go to their respective retailers. If that’s not possible, the developer is also offering help directly where you can contact the company at [email protected] up until December 21 this year.

You can view the full statement from CD Projekt Red on the situation of Cyberpunk 2077’s technical performance and refund options below.

For more on the game, be sure to check out our full Cyberpunk 2077 review. This isn’t the first time the game has shown issues in need of fixing–the latest patch, version 1.04, addressed seizure-inducing scenes affecting those with epilepsy, music copyright issues for content creators, and a number of other problems.

Shakedown Hawaii, the 16-bit styled throwback sequel to Retro City Rampage, is coming to PS5 with enhancements. This means that the game will be available across four different PlayStation systems–the PS3, PS4, PS5, and PS Vita.

Thanks to crossbuy, if you own the game on any previous system, you’ll have immediate access to the PS5 version.

Developer VBlank Entertainment announced that the game will use the PS5 DualSense controller’s adaptive triggers to give weapons “a more distinct feeling,” and it’ll use the controller’s enhanced vibrations, too. This can be toggled off if you’re not interested, though.

The trophy set on PS5 is also being expanded, and a Platinum trophy is being introduced for the first time. The PS5 trophies will be seperate from the other versions, so you can re-earn them if you’d like.

The PS5 version will also get all the updates that have been released for other platforms so far. It’ll release digitally on December 15.

Shakedown Hawaii also came to Wii and Wii U, making it one of the final–or possibly the final–game released for these consoles, with Just Dance finally bowing out after Just Dance 2020.

Frosty Fest, which has happened every year since 2017, is back in Rocket League for another year. The event adds new festive cosmetic items, limited-time events, and a snowy makeover to the recently free-to-play vehicular sports game.

The event begins on December 14, and runs through until January 4, 2021. At the beginning of the event, a limited-time Winter Breakaway mode will be available, which will be replaced by Spike Rush on December 21, and then 2v2 Heatseeker on December 28. These modes will all be played on snowy arenas.

Over the course of the event, the Floeberg Antenna will be available for free from the Item Shop, while numerous other themed items will be available through completing Event Challenges. These include some re-released items that were available in previous Frosty Fest events.

You can check those out in the gallery below.

Gallery

Season 2 of Rocket League has begun, adding new music and an arena to the game, as well as a new Rocket Pass. If you’re playing the game on Xbox Series X/S or PS5, the game has been updated for next-gen and has received a nice boost.

Grand Theft Auto V‘s Online mode is getting a major update this week for the Cayo Perico Heist, which adds a brand new social space and lots of new material, including a huge radio update that has now been detailed. The game is adding five new radio stations, and some major artists are involved.

In a Rockstar newswire post, each of the new channels has been detailed. The first one, Still Slipping Los Santos, is helmed by UK DJ Joy Orbison, and will feature techno and house beats. It sounds like this one will be a pirate radio station, and will tie into some of the new missions coming to GTA Online–“he’s having trouble getting a strong enough signal to reach beyond his neighborhood. If he’s going to take his sound city and statewide, he’s going to need some help getting started,” the post says.

The next station is Kult FM 99.1, hosted by Julian Casablancas. This one will feature a lot of throwback tracks from the likes of Joy Division, New Order, and the Velvet Underground, as well as guest appearances from Mac DeMarco, David Cross, and Tony Mac. The Music Locker, meanwhile, will feature various club tracks when it debuts.

FlyLo FM is Flying Lotus’ new station, and it’ll feature artists like Madlib, MF Doom, and “a bunch of rare, exclusive, and amazing surprises.” Finally, Worldwide FM comes from DJ Gilles Peterson, and features a mix of disco and world music.

All of this is in addition to GTA Online’s already massive list of stations and tracks. This new update will add over 250 new music tracks to the game.

These will all be part of a huge update that should keep fans going until the PS5 and Xbox Series X versions of GTA V and Online arrive later in 2021.

NBA 2K21‘s cover star is Zion Williamson, who features on the PS5/Xbox Series X versions of the game, is obviously a big deal–but when Williamson first heard his own player rating, it was surprisingly low. Williamson got to the bottom of this by getting on the phone to 2K, but as it turns out, he’d misunderstood.

In a video posted to the official Twitter account of the New Orleans Pelicans, Williamson calls up 2K’s Ronnie Singh–the man responsible for player ratings–and questions why his in-game rating is only an 81.

“Somebody got that wrong,” Singh replies, telling Williamson that he’s actually an 86 in-game.

After some back-and-forth, Singh says that the number, which has been found “on Google,” is probably from NBA 2K20–the cover star’s rating is much higher now.

Williamson’s laughing the whole time, so it seems to be all in good fun.

The game is out now on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S, but the file size is enormous. These versions also have a WNBA MyPlayer mode, which isn’t available on PS4, Xbox One, or Switch.

Thanks in-part to the launch of Cyberpunk 2077, Steam has broken its all-time concurrent player record with a peak of 24,804,148 users.

As reported by PC Gamer, this impressive number was revealed by the tracking site SteamDB and breaks the previous record of 22 million that was reached in March 2020 as more and more global stay-at-home orders and lockdowns were enacted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Alongside the success of Cyberpunk 2077, which itself broke Steam’s record for concurrent players in a single game with an all-time peak of 1,054,388 users, renewed lockdowns and the onset of winter in parts of the world also surely contributed to number.

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive also helped make this record possible, as its 24-hour peak, as of this writing, is 1,062,017 players. Other 24-hour peaks in this time-frame include DOTA 2’s 648,889 users, Among Us’ 173,021 users, and Rocket League’s 121,535 users.

In our Cyberpunk 2077 review, we said that it “kicks you into its beautiful and dazzlingly dense cityscape with few restrictions. It’s a shame that frustratingly frequent bugs can occasionally kill an otherwise well-set mood, but Cyberpunk 2077’s impressively flexible design makes it a truly remarkable RPG.”

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For more on Cyberpunk 2077, check out how you can improve the game’s visuals by changing a few settings, how to get unlimited money and crafting XP, and our comprehensive beginner’s guide to help you in your adventure in Night City.

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Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to [email protected].

Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

Welcome to our Sunday deals, where the headphones are cheap and the games even cheaper! It’s another great day for gamers, as some of the best current titles are on sale at Amazon and Best Buy. The Buy 2 Get 1 Free deal at Best Buy is still in full swing and over at Amazon, there’s a suite of great deals on games, headphones, vacuums and more.

The Best Deals for Saturday, December 12

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