Author: Trafficblast

As part of Take-Two’s latest earnings report, the publisher revealed that two of its studios have been working on unannounced games that we’ll be hearing more about “in the coming months.”

The first is from developer Hanger 13, the team behind 2016’s Mafia III. Take-Two president Karl Slatoff wouldn’t say what exactly the project is, only that we’ll be finding out at some point later this year.

The other project we’ll soon discover more about is from 2K Silicon Valley. The studio was only established a year ago and doesn’t have an official name yet, but the team, led by Sledgehammer co-founder Michael Condrey, has already been cooking up something.

Take-Two also reiterated during the earnings report that the newly founded Cloud Chamber Studio is very early in the development of a new BioShock game, noting that it’s still years away. The rest of the news out of the call revolves around Take-Two’s finances, with Grand Theft Auto V reaching a new sales milestone, Rockstar Games being in a position that’s “never been stronger,” despite the looming departure of co-founder and writer Dan Houser, and The Outer Worlds selling two million copies.

Overwatch has now hit 50 million players since launch, bolstered by the recent release of the Nintendo Switch version, according to Activision Blizzard. The company revealed the new player count in its quarterly fiscal disclosure.

This comes just after the latest update, 1.45, added Hero Pools at the start of Season 21. That disables certain characters from competitive play, with rotations coming weekly. This was largely seen as Blizzard’s solution instead of a pick and ban feature, which had been rumored just before the announcement. The Hero Pools feature may not return for Season 22, depending on how Blizzard assesses its performance. This is part of a new strategy to iterate with balance changes more frequently.

Overwatch was also impacted by the recent coronavirus outbreak, prompting the studio to cancel several esports events slated for China.

Meanwhile, Blizzard is working on Overwatch 2, which will introduce new story content as well as characters, maps, and modes that will come to the original game too. The development of Overwatch 2 did impact the original one for a time, though, leading to less frequent updates.

The Activision Blizzard financial statement also revealed that Call of Duty Mobile is doing very well for Activision, prompting even more mobile ports for the future. And sure enough, another Call of Duty is coming this year.

The reception to Warcraft 3: Reforged has not been great. Activision acknowledged as much in earnings call yesterday, extending the refund window for the remaster while also committing to upcoming patches to fix current issues.

The first update for Reforged, which is out now, is meant to be the first step in that process, and it does some cleaning up around the outskirts. It addresses bugs in the campaign involving mission event triggers and fail states. Blizzard notes that some of these fixes will invalidate prior saves, but will not reset any campaign progress.

Aiming at online fixes, the patch should address issues with invalid map names in multiplayer, as well as crashes associated with Multiboards on custom games. There’s no word yet on when some missing functionality from Classic Warcraft 3 will be restored in Reforged, however. Blizzard indicated that they intend to add much of that functionality in a major update for Reforged in the future.

You can read through the full patch notes below:

• Campaign
  • Players should no longer be met with a “defeat” screen after loading into a mission.
  • Audio levels for some dialogue have been adjusted.
  • The animations, triggers, and cameras for some cutscenes have been tweaked.
  • Disconnecting or logging out will no longer change the save file folder.
  • Fixed a number of issues that would block progression or not give credit for completing missions.
    • Developer’s note: Updating a map for these types of fixes invalidates prior saves. This is similar to how replays from prior game client versions no longer work. Campaign progress will not be lost.

• Custom Games
  • Multiboards should no longer crash custom games.
  • Joining lobbies for the same map no longer creates duplicate versions of the map.
    • Developer’s note: This also resolves disconnects from improper map names.

• Gameplay
  • The rendering of Classic mode has been updated.
  • Resolved an issue with hitching when constructing buildings or training units for the first time.
  • Fixed Ziggurat upgrade animation in Reforged mode.
  • Adjusted animations and portraits for multiple units and buildings.
  • Units completing training while off-screen again have voices.
  • Starting locations are again obscured by the fog of war.

• Interface
  • Whispers now include the name of the sender.
  • Locale settings for audio and subtitles can now be adjusted independently in Battle .net prior to launching the game.
  • Non-Latin glyphs no longer overlap.
  • A tooltip now displays when hovering over truncated text.
  • Chat keeps up with the latest messages.
  • Heroes on the match results screen are now contained by boundaries.
  • All menus are now distinct between Classic and Reforged graphic settings.
    • Developer’s note: We’ve implemented a temporary solution to better inform whether you are playing in Reforged or Classic mode, by applying a sepia tone to the background images for Classic.

Blizzard has changed its standard refund policy for Warcraft III: Reforged, allowing those disappointed by the game the opportunity to receive a refund upon request. This follows a week in which fans have remarked that the remaster of the iconic RTS was lacking in several areas.

The Support section on Battle.net has a refund page for the game that outlines its specific refund policy. “Blizzard stands by the quality of our products and our services,” the page reads. “Normally we set limits for refund availability on a game, based on time since purchase and whether it has been used. However we want to give players the option of a refund if they feel that Warcraft III: Reforged does not provide the experience they wanted. So, we’ve decided to allow refunds upon request for the time being. You may request a refund here on our Support Site.”

Blizzard’s RTS remaster launched last week to a mostly negative reception. Many fans have noted that certain cutscenes failed to live up to the expectations set by what was shown previously at BlizzCon 2018, and many are disappointed with the absence of reworked story elements and an overhauled UI. The remaster has also courted controversy surrounding the fact that anything you create in Warcraft III’s Custom Games is immediately owned by Blizzard, rather than by their creators, which hasn’t gone down well in the game’s modding scene.

Blizzard has responded to the negative reception in the week since its release, and patches are on the way. For now, though, if you want a refund you’ll get one.

For more on Warcraft III: Reforged, check out GameSpot’s hands-on impressions piece, “Warcraft 3 Remains Fun But Reforged Is A Disappointment On Many Fronts.”

The following contains spoilers for Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn).

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Marvel may have popularized the post-credits scene trend over the past decade, but that hasn’t stopped DC’s movies from getting in on the action in recent years. While Suicide Squad, Justice League, Aquaman, and Shazam have all featured after-credits stingers, other DC movies like Wonder Woman and the standalone Joker did not. But what about Birds of Prey?

Does Birds of Prey Have a Post-Credits Scene?

No, Birds of Prey does not technically have a mid-credits or post-credits scene, although there is an amusing tease from Harley Quinn herself if you stick around after the credits have rolled.

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As the credits end, Harley’s voiceover returns, pulling a Ferris Bueller and making fun of anyone who stuck around for so long. Still, she offers a reward to those patient enough to wait, offering to reveal a juicy secret about Batman. She begins, “Did you know that Batman f-” before the audio cuts out, leaving us hanging. So cruel! (Any guesses what she was going to say?)

Is Batman in Birds of Prey?

As for the Dark Knight himself, Batman doesn’t cameo in Birds of Prey – which makes sense, considering how muddled DC’s Batman continuity is right now. Matt Reeves’ upcoming film The Batman is rumored to be set in the ’90s (although that has yet to be officially confirmed) and will star Robert Pattinson as a younger Bruce Wayne, seemingly closer to the beginning of his career as Batman. Meanwhile, Birds of Prey is technically set in the same continuity as Suicide Squad, Batman v Superman, and Justice League, with Suicide Squad featuring a cameo from Affleck to explain how Harley got captured and enlisted into Task Force X in the first place.

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While Batman’s absence is never explained in the movie (you’d think he’d take notice of Harley blowing up Ace Chemicals and Black Mask going on a murder spree around Gotham), Harley does namedrop him at one point before the post-credits scene: She tells Cassandra Cain that she named her pet hyena Bruce, “after that hunky Wayne guy.” It’s a fittingly tongue-in-cheek nod to the character without getting tangled up in the details.

Is the Joker in Birds of Prey?

No, Jared Leto’s Joker doesn’t appear in Birds of Prey, although the villain’s involvement is a little more complicated. Birds of Prey reuses some footage of Leto and Margot Robbie from Suicide Squad for flashback purposes, and otherwise utilizes a body double, shot from behind or in silhouette as Harley recalls their breakup and other moments from their past, but we never see his face. Whenever we do see Joker head-on, it’s in animated form or drawings, none of which resemble the tattooed, metal-mouthed version of Leto. We’re guessing, considering the movie is all about Harley’s “emancipation” from her ex, director Cathy Yan and writer Christina Hodson probably didn’t want to commit too much screen time to the Joker, which would’ve made it hard to justify calling Leto back in for a glorified background role.

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But, as we point out in our Birds of Prey review, the Joker’s “presence isn’t missed,” since Birds of Prey gives us plenty of deranged lunacy with Ewan McGregor’s sadistic Black Mask and Chris Messina’s Victor Zsasz as the movie’s villains.

What did you think of Birds of Prey, and did you want a better end credits scene? Weigh in below.

Activision Blizzard is known for console and PC games like Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, and Diablo, but the company now makes more money from its mobile game business.

As part of Activision Blizzard’s latest earnings report, the company revealed that net revenue from mobile has exceeded console, PC, and all other elements of its business.

For the quarter ended December 31, Activision Blizzard made $633 million from mobile and ancillary revenue, which works out to 32 percent of the company’s total net revenue. By comparison, mobile revenue was $596 million, or 25 percent of total revenue during the final three months of 2018.

This is a big change from the final three months of 2018, when console (34 percent) was Activision Blizzard’s biggest sales category, followed by PC (31 percent) and then mobile (25 percent).

You can check out the sales charts below to see how much money Activision Blizzard makes from console, PC, mobile, and other. Note that the ancillary revenue includes things like physical merchandise and accessories.

Part of what’s boosting Activision Blizzard’s mobile revenue are the offerings from mobile game giant King, which Activision Blizzard bought in 2016 for $5.9 billion. With the acquisition, Activision Blizzard said it became the “largest game network in the world.”

Outside of Candy Crush and other games from King, Activision has Call of Duty Mobile, which recently surpassed a whopping 150 million installs worldwide. The success of Call of Duty Mobile “highlights the opportunity for our other large franchises to reach hundreds of millions of new players as they expand onto mobile,” Activision said.

In fact, the company said previously that every single one of its franchises is under consideration for a mobile adaptation.

One of Activision Blizzard’s next big franchises to go mobile is Diablo. The first alpha test for Diablo Immortal will begin during 2020, Activision Blizzard has confirmed.

It also bears mentioning that just because mobile game revenue is booming for Activision Blizzard, that doesn’t mean the company will stop making console and PC games. As the charts show, console and PC remain massive categories for the company.

Just today, Activision Blizzard confirmed the next Call of Duty game, and it will no doubt launch across console and PC.

Activision Blizzard Category Revenue Breakdown

It appears Activision intends to release even more remasters and reimaginings of classic games from its catalog. As part of the company’s earnings report today, Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick confirmed we could expect more to be announced later this year.

Which games the company is looking to give the remaster treatment remains unclear. However, Activision has expressed interest around remasters for a while now, which should come as no surprise given the critical and financial success around previous releases, like Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy, Spyro Reignited Trilogy, and the most recently released Crash Team Racing: Nitro-fueled. While we may get a remaster of another well-known Activision property, the company has made it clear that it’s also not shy about investing in new games within its most recently remastered franchises.

“When you look at our IP library, we think there’s a lot of IP in there the fans are going to want to experience again,” said Kotick during an August 2019 investor call. “I’d say stay tuned for some future announcements, but just beyond pure remasters, there are also a lot of opportunities now to innovate and think about totally new content within these IPs.”

New remasters only encapsulated a sliver of the discussion during Activision’s most recent investor call. Among the more notable details was the confirmation of this year’s new Call of Duty, and how Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is selling more than Call of Duty: Black Ops 4.