Author: Trafficblast

Seagate has announced the next of its special edition game drives, this one themed around Rare’s upcoming Xbox One and PC pirate game Sea of Thieves. The 2 TB drive is pretty cool-looking, featuring the “Reaper’s Mark” logo on the purple case.

It also comes with in-game content in the form of the weapon The Midnight Blunderbuss, which I am also calling dibs on now for my sludge-rock band that I want to form. Additionally, it includes a one-month Xbox Game Pass membership. That’s notable because, with that membership, you’ll be able to get Sea of Thieves at launch on March 20 at no extra cost because first-party Xbox games are now launching into Game Pass right away. However, you must keep your subscription active or buy the game outright to continue playing after the first month.

Seagate says the drive’s USB 3.0 speed means you won’t notice any slowdown for games playing off the drive compared to the Xbox One’s internal hard drive. The $90 Sea of Thieves drive launches on March 20 alongside the game.

In other news, Xbox has announced a $75 Sea of Thieves Xbox One controller, which is shipping to retailers now. It also features the Reaper’s Mark logo and it comes with the Ferryman Clothing Set, which you can unlock in the game on March 20. Also included are 14-day trials for Xbox Live Gold and Game Pass.

And related to that, Microsoft also announced the “Xbox Pro Charging Stand” from Controller Gear. Described as a “premium charging stand,” it comes with a battery cover, a rechargeable battery, and a six-foot power cord. launches on April 5 for $50. Finally, Controller Gear is also launching a $15 standard controller stand featuring the same design. You can see all of the newly announced Sea of Thieves devices in the gallery above.

Sea of Thieves launches for Xbox One and PC on March 20 and will support cross-play between the two platforms.

Update 2: A representative for Bandai Namco told GameSpot, “Bandai Namco Entertainment America Inc. cannot confirm nor deny rumors or speculation about its products.”

Update: In the same LinkedIn bio, the developer claims it’s working on Ridge Racer 8, a game which has so far not been announced. The bio describes the title as a “drift-based high speed car racing [game] exclusive to the Nintendo Switch.” Original story follows.

It looks like Japanese publisher Bandai Namco is working on a new first-person shooter/adventure game that will be exclusive to the Nintendo Switch. A developer at Bandai Namco’s Singapore studio posted on their LinkedIn page that they are working on an “Unannounced IP (First Person Shooter/Adventure Exclusive to the Nintendo Switch).”

It’s intriguing to think about Bandai Namco, which hasn’t done all that much in the FPS space, making a game in the genre that is exclusive to Switch. The company published the shooter Get Even in 2017, though it is perhaps best known for its non-FPS franchises like Dragon Ball, Dark Souls, and Tekken.

A scene from Bandai Namco’s Get Even

During a Bandai Namco earnings briefing in November last year, management talked about how the company is adding more resources to Switch game development. President Mitsuaki Taguchi said, according to the Wall Street Journal, “It’s a shame, but we didn’t think the Switch [would] be accepted this fast.”

Bandai Namco Singapore’s jobs page shows at least five open positions. However, none of the listings say what kind of game the candidate would be working on. The job ads call for people with experience working on AAA games. We have contacted Bandai Namco in an attempt to get more details. We’ll report back with more details as they come to light.

One high-profile upcoming Switch release from Bandai Namco is Dark Souls: Remastered, which is due out in May. It will include the Artorias of the Abyss DLC, along with a better frame rate and improved resolution.

Take-Two Interactive, the parent company of Rockstar Games and 2K Games, reported earnings for its fiscal third quarter ended December 31, 2017. It’s good times for the company, as it posted gains for revenue, while GTA V‘s online mode continued to make a lot of money.

During the holiday season, GTA Online and NBA 2K18 set records for “recurrent consumer spending.” This is Take-Two’s terminology to describe revenue from microtransactions, subscriptions, DLC, and other forms of digital content.

Take-Two CFO Lainie Goldstein said during an earnings call that the company is committed to recurrent consumer spending. The goal for the company, as it has stated for years now, is to have all of its games feature microtransactions in some form. This would also include Red Dead Redemption 2, though no specific details on how microtransactions may be featured in that game have been announced.

Regarding microtransactions in general, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick said, “We’re focused on players, not payers.” Giving people great content for free is part of what is making GTA Online so successful, he added. Zelnick went on to say that when you create compelling content, “the monetisation will take care of itself.”

Additionally, GTA V the base game continues to see “robust ongoing sales,” which is remarkable given that the title originally launched back in 2013. GTA V has shipped more than 90 million copies, Take-Two announced today, making it one of the most commercially successful games ever in the United States.

In December 2017, GTA Online set a new player record. More people played GTA Online during the month than ever before in the game’s history, Take-Two said. The game is enduringly successful, Take-Two said, due in part to Rockstar’s commitment to regularly releasing new and engaging content such as the Doomsday Heist and content themed around Halloween and Christmas.

Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick at one time referred to GTA Online as “the gift that keeps on giving” as it relates to the money it makes from the game’s microtransactions.

Given the massive success of GTA Online, it stands to reason that Rockstar’s next big game, this October’s Red Dead Redemption 2, may offer something similar. All that we know for sure, however, is that the western will have a “brand-new online multiplayer experience.”

Take-Two’s net revenue for the quarter was $480.8 million, up from $476.5 million during the same period last year. Revenue from recurrent consumer spending jumped by 64 percent year-over-year and made up 32 percent of Take-Two’s total net revenue. Unsurprisingly, GTA Online was called out as one of the main contributors.

Take-Two’s profit for the quarter was $25.1 million, which is down from $29.8 million during the same period last year. Similar to many other companies, Take-Two incurred an tax expense related to Trump’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which was enacted on December 22. Take-Two’s expense for this was $11.9 million, so the company would have made a profit instead of a loss under normal circumstances.

During an earnings call, Take-Two shared some further details on the company’s performance during the quarter. Here are some takeaways:

• NBA 2K18 has sold 8 million copies and is expected to become 2K’s best-selling sports game ever.
• Management said the WWE brand remains popular so there is an opportunity in the future to release more games. However, Take-Two did not share a sales number for WWE 2K8.
• Take-Two reaffirmed that a “highly anticipated new title from one of 2K’s biggest franchises” is still on the way. This is likely a reference to Borderlands 3.
• Take-Two has been impressed with the success of the Switch so far. The company will consider bringing more titles to it where it makes sense.

More to come…

It looks like tomorrow’s big Overwatch Year of the Dog update will also include a welcome new feature. Starting tomorrow, February 8, you will have the option to change your character’s skin at the start of a match. This is a feature that fans have been asking for, so it’s nice to see it finally come to the game.

You can see an animated GIF of this below, which Blizzard shared on Twitter today when it announced the new feature. The footage below is from the PC edition, but Blizzard confirmed on Twitter that the feature will also be available on PS4 and Xbox One.

The developer also clarified that you can only change at the start of a match, not when it’s already in progress. Some worried that changing mid-match could interrupt the flow of play if people hung around too long deciding on a skin before jumping back in to play.

This new skin-changing feature is coming to Overwatch tomorrow, February 8, which is also when the Year of the Dog event kicks off. As announced previously, this event adds a new map set in Thailand and made specifically for Capture the Flag. It is the first Overwatch map made specifically for Capture the Flag.

As you’d expect, Year of the Dog skins are coming to Overwatch as well in the update. Check back with GameSpot soon to see a breakdown of the new skins.