Author: Trafficblast

It would appear that some news about NHL 20 will be announced on June 19. The NHL video game Twitter account released a cryptic image today that states “Tomorrow” with a graphic of NHL 20 attached. That certainly makes it sound like we might know a lot more about the game soon.

June 19 is also when the 2019 NHL Awards are taking place in Las Vegas, so it appears that whatever announcement EA is teasing could happen then. EA historically has announced new entries in the NHL series during the NHL Awards.

The NHL video game series is confirmed to return this year, but EA hasn’t said anything about it as of yet. GameSpot’s NHL 19 review scored that game an 8/10, and you can currently play it free with a subscription to EA Access on Xbox One.

EA typically releases new NHL games in September ahead of the NHL season debut in October, so you can expect NHL 20 to launch around then.

Are you looking forward to the next NHL video game, and what are you looking for from it? Let us know in the comments below!

When is The Last of Us: Part II releasing? That’s one of the biggest questions in gaming right now. We still don’t know, and now game director Neil Druckmann is having some fun with the discussion.

He joked on Twitter that The Last of Us: Part II is delayed by five minutes every time someone asks for the release date. Naturally, people responded to his tweet by asking for the release date.

The Last of Us: Part II is rumored to release in February this year. Just recently, Ellie actress Ashley Johnson said on a Critical Role video that she thinks the game is coming out during a month that starts with the letter F. Kotaku writer Jason Schreier also believes The Last of Us: Part II could release in February, while noted industry analyst Daniel Ahmad says February 2020 is the current internal date for The Last of Us: Part II.

Officially, no release date–or even a release window–has been announced yet for The Last of Us: Part II. The parody website The Onion recently posted a silly story that said the game would launch in 2019, but Naughty Dog responded by saying it would share more information when it’s ready. For more on the much-awaited PS4 game, check out everything we know about The Last of Us: Part II.

The Last of Us: Part II is coming to PS4, but the PS5 will be backwards compatible with PS4 games, so Naughty Dog’s title will play on the new system as well.

In other news, one of The Last of Us: Part II’s designers has joined the new Xbox studio, The Initiative.

One of the Game of Thrones prequels has begun filming, according to Entertainment Weekly. The report states that the show starring Noami Watts is filming in Northern Ireland, which is where the mainline HBO show shot frequently.

Importantly, HBO is only filming a pilot episode for the Game of Thrones prequel. If the pilot is successful, HBO might decide to make it an entire series, but for now it’s just the pilot.

As fans may recall, the pilot for Game of Thrones was something of a trainwreck. It required extensive re-shoots, while cast members were replaced. Tamzin Merchant played Daenerys in the pilot, but she was re-cast and replaced by Emilia Clarke. Jennifer Ehle played Catelyn Stark in the pilot, and she was replaced by Michelle Fairley in the re-shoots.

A spokesperson for HBO told GameSpot sister site CNET that it has “not confirmed production” of the Game of Thrones prequel. The network said EW is “speculating based on other reports.”

X-Men: First Class and Kick-Ass writer Jane Goldman is the showrunner of the new Game of Thrones prequel, while George R.R. Martin is producing. Jessica Jones veteran S.J. Clarkson is directing the pilot.

The untitled prequel is set thousands of years before the events of the main show, which ended its eight-season run in May, so you shouldn’t expect to see any characters from that show.

A new Legendary Pokemon has arrived in Pokemon Go. Following Cresselia‘s departure, the Legendary Water-type Kyogre is making an encore appearance in Raid Battles for the next few days–and this time, you’ll have a chance to encounter its Shiny form.

Kyogre will appear in Raids from now until June 27. As before, you’ll first need to team up with other players in-person and battle the Legendary Pokemon before you can have an opportunity to capture it. Kyogre is a pure Water-type, which makes it susceptible to Grass- and Electric-type Pokemon. Your best bet for success is to bring along monsters such as Roserade, Leafeon, Manectric, and Magnezone when challenging it.

Kyogre is the second of three Legendary Pokemon developer Niantic is bringing back to Go. After it leaves on June 27, its counterpart from Pokemon Ruby, Groudon, will take its place until July 10. Just as was the case with Kyogre and Cresselia, you’ll also have a chance to encounter a Shiny Groudon when it returns to Raids. You can read more details on the official Pokemon Go website.

Kyogre’s return comes on the heels of the annual Pokemon Go Fest, which took place in Chicago this past weekend. As a reward for completing enough Global Challenges during the event, Niantic is giving players twice the usual amount of Candy for capturing and hatching Pokemon until June 25. Eggs will also hatch at half of their normal distance until then, and you’re guaranteed to earn one Rare Candy per Raid.

On top of those bonuses, Niantic is bringing one of the three Legendary dogs, Raikou, back for a special Raid day. The Legendary Electric-type will return to Raid Battles on Saturday, June 29, from 4-7 PM local time. During the event, you’ll be able to receive up to five free Raid Passes from Gyms, and you may even encounter a Shiny Raikou.

The NPD Group has released its monthly report for May 2019, revealing which games and consoles sold the best in the United States during the month.

Beginning with game sales, NetherRealm’s Mortal Kombat 11 was the best-selling game in the US for the month, repeating its top performance from April when it was released. Mortal Kombat 11 now becomes the best-selling game of 2019 so far. Its second month was a strong one, as the NPD said month-two sales nearly doubled comparable sales of any other Mortal Kombat game in history for its second month.

The No. 2 overall best-selling game of May 2019 in the US was PlayStation 4 exclusive Days Gone. Also notable for May was that Minecraft re-appeared in the top ten list, coming in at No. 9.

Overall, game sales in the United States reached $262 million in May, which is down 13 percent year-over-year. It was a particularly tough month, as May 2019 sales were the lowest for a May month since May 2013 when total game sales reached $222 million. In terms of new releases specifically, May 2019 is the lowest for a May month since May 1998, the NPD added.

On a year-to-date basis, however, total game sales have now reached $2.2 billion, which is up 2 percent year-over-year. Sales of Nintendo Switch games are growing, but the uptick in Switch software sales was offset by lower sales on every other platform that the NPD tracks.

Moving to hardware, the Nintendo Switch was the best-seller of May 2019. It’s also the No. 1 best-performing console of 2019 across unit sales and dollar revenue.

For May 2019 specifically, spending on all video game consoles dropped 20 percent to $149 million year-over-year. The Switch grew, but all other systems dropped. Looking at year-to-date, total hardware spending is now $1.1 billion, which is down 17 percent.

Looking at the full picture–covering games, hardware, and accessories–total US video game spending reached $641 million, which is down 11 percent. Year-to-date sales are also down, falling 3 percent to $4.7 billion.

May 2019 Best-Selling Games

All Platforms May 2019

1. Mortal Kombat 11
2. Days Gone
3. Total War: Three Kingdoms
4. Rage 2*
5. Grand Theft Auto V
6. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate*
7. Red Dead Redemption II
8. MLB The Show 19
9. Minecraft#
10. NBA 2K19

All Platforms Year-To-Date 2019

1. Mortal Kombat 11
2. Kingdom Hearts III
3. The Division 2^
4. Anthem^
5. Resident Evil 2
6. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate*
7. Red Dead Redemption II
8. Days Gone
9. MLB The Show 19
10. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice

All Platforms 12 Months Ended May 2019

1. Red Dead Redemption 2
2. Call of Duty: Black Ops 4^
3. NBA 2K19
4. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate*
5. Madden NFL 19^
6. Spider-Man
7. Assassin’s Creed Odyssey
8. Mortal Kombat 11
9. FIFA 19^
10. Kingdom Hearts III

May 2019 Xbox One

1. Mortal Kombat 11
2. Rage 2*
3. Red Dead Redemption II
4. The Division 2
5. Grand Theft Auto V
6. NBA 2K19
7. Minecraft
8. Forza Horizon 4
9. Call of Duty: Black Ops 4
10. Rainbow Six Siege

May 2019 PS4

1. Mortal Kombat 11
2. Days Gone
3. MLB The Show 19
4. Rage 2*
5. Grand Theft Auto V
6. Spider-Man
7. Red Dead Redemption 2
8. Call of Duty: Black O ps 4
9. NBA 2K19
10. The Division 2

May 2019 Nintendo Switch

1. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate*
2. Mario Kart 8*
3. New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe*
4. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild*
5. Mortal Kombat 11
6. Yoshi’s Crafted World*
7. Super Mario Party*
8. Super Mario Odyssey*
9. Pokemon: Let’s Go Pikachu*
10. Pokemon: Let’s Go Eevee*

May 2019 3DS

1. Pokemon: Ultra Sun*
2. Pokemon: Ultra Moon*
3. Detective Pikachu*
4. The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask 3D*
5. Super Mario Maker*
6. Mario Kart 7*
7. Super Smash Bros.*
8. Kirby’s Epic Yarn*
9. Luigi’s Mansion*
10. Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story + Bowser Jr.’s Journey*

* Digital sales not included

^ PC digital sales not included

# Minecraft digital sales on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One included