Author: Trafficblast

Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption parent company Take-Two made headlines in 2017 when it announced an all-new publishing label devoted to indie games. The company, Private Division, announced publishing deals with four different games, all of which come from big names in gaming. Now, one of those games won’t be coming from Private Division after all.

The first of the four games included is Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey from Assassin’s Creed creator Patrice Desilets; another title was Halo co-creator Marcus Lehto’s sci-fi FPS Disintegration. A third was The Outer Worlds, the role-playing game from Obsidian Entertainment, with original Fallout developers Tim Cain and Leonard Boyarsky at the helm. The fourth title announced for Private Division was Project Wight, an action-fantasy game from Battlefield 3 lead designer and Payday 2 director David Goldfarb and his new studio The Outsiders.

The game, which was re-revealed as Darkborn in April this year, is now moving ahead with a different publisher. Private Division confirmed to GameSpot that it ended its publishing arrangement with The Outsiders in 2018.

“Private Division ended our publishing agreement with The Outsiders at the end of last year,” reads a line from Private Division’s statement. “We supported the studio financially for several months after ending the deal, and we wish David Goldfarb and the rest of the talented team the very best with the game and their future endeavors.”

It is not immediately clear why Private Division and The Outsiders split up, or what financial considerations might have been in place related to the business separation. Private Division declined to share further insight on the matter, while The Outsiders CEO Anders Pettersson tells GameSpot that the Swedish studio plans to share more details “after the summer.” Also unknown is if The Outsiders will or already is seeking a new publishing arrangement, or if the studio will self-publish Darkborn.

The Outsiders’ website is currently down, but Petterson said that’s only coincidental, as the team is working on a “rebranding.” The Outsiders has also changed its Twitter handle to “Monstery Games,” but whether or not the studio is planning a name change is unknown. What has definitely changed at the studio is its top leadership, as Pettersson took over that role from Ben Cousins. Cousins, a former DICE developer, said in a blog post that he remains a “major” shareholder in the company, though he has exited to become the CEO of Isbit Games in Sweden.

Private Division’s website has been scrubbed of references to The Outsiders and Project Wight/Darkborn. However, the label’s announcement video is still there, featuring Goldfarb and Cousins talking about their new studio and its ambitions.

In Darkborn, you play as a menacing beast, but the usual power fantasy is reversed. The monster you play, a Darkborn, is hunted by a horrible faction called The Pale Enemy that torture Darkborn and perform blood rituals with their corpses, according to a Game Informer preview. “Be the monster in Darkborn. Experience life on the other side of the sword,” reads the game’s official description. You can watch 16 minutes of gameplay in the video above. No release date or platforms have been announced for Darkborn.

Private Division’s three other publishing arrangements appear to continue to be in place. In fact, V1 Interactive, the developer of Disintegration, just announced it will show more of the game at Gamescom in August with the support of Private Division.

One thing that has changed is that, following the formation of Private Division, The Outer Worlds developer Obsidian was purchased by Microsoft. Private Division remains the publisher of the game, and it is still scheduled to release on PS4 despite the fact that its studio owner is Microsoft.

Private Division is also the publisher of Kerbal Space Program from Mexico City-based developer Squad. In fact, Take-Two owns the studio and the game. Private Division is based in New York City and has offices in Seattle and Munich. It is Take-Two’s third label, joining Rockstar Games and 2K Games.

Private Division Games Lineup

• Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey (Panahce Digital Games)
• The Outer Worlds (Obsidian Entertainment)
• Disintegration (V1 Interactive)
• Kerbal Space Program (Squad)

It’s not quite clear what will become of DC Universe after the HBO Max streaming service launches. Chances are we’ll get some answers at the DC Universe panel at San Diego Comic-Con, but that’s not all the service has set for the convention–which is already jam-packed with panels, exclusive goodies, and so much else.

A series of four SDCC-exclusive posters will be available at the DC/Warner Bros. booth, each spotlighting a different DCU original program. The new art comes courtesy of pop culture artists Doaly, Cliff Cramp, Chris Thornley, and Ruiz Burgos.

According to a press release from DC Universe, each day of the convention, Thursday-Sunday, will see the debut of a new poster. The shows getting unique art for the convention are Titans, Doom Patrol, Young Justice, and Swamp Thing. You can see all of the posters above.

The inclusion of Swamp Thing is interesting, given that the show was canceled by DCU after its first episode aired. The full first season is being streamed by the service. Also notable is the inclusion of Doom Patrol, which has still not been renewed for a second season. Of course, it’s promising that the show was not canceled outright and was recently featured in a promotional video for the HBO Max streaming service.

Posters aren’t the only DC Universe representation you’ll find at the DC/Warner Bros. booth. To promote the upcoming Harley Quinn animated series, there will be an “interactive tour” of Arkham Asylum. Additionally, those who sign up for the service at SDCC will get a set of four limited-edition comic books with new variant covers.

As you plan our your SDCC, make sure to set aside time to grab these posters before they run out. Also, make sure to spend some time studying our look at the panels and activations you aren’t going to want to miss.

You need a javascript enabled browser to watch videos.

Please use a html5 video capable browser to watch videos.

This video has an invalid file format.

Sorry, but you can’t access this content!

It’s not just Madden NFL 20 that’s revealing its player ratings. Another one of this year’s big sports games, NBA 2K20, has now begun to announce its own player ratings.

LeBron James is the highest-rated with a 97 overall rating, while Kawahi Leonard is No. 2 also with a 97 rating. Giannis Antetokounmpo follows at No. 3 with a 96 rating, while Kevin Durant and James Harden round out the Top 5 with 96 overall ratings. There are no surprises in the Top 5.

You can see the full 1-20 list below.

NBA 2K20 launches in September for PS4, Xbox One, PC, and Nintendo Switch. Anthony Davis is on the cover of the standard edition, while Dwayne Wade graces the cover of the Legend edition.

NBA 2K20 Player Ratings (1-20)

1. LeBron James — 97
2. Kawahi Leonard — 97
3. Giannis Antetokounmpo — 96
4. Kevin Durant — 96
5. James Harden — 96
6. Steph Curry — 95
7. Anthony Davis — 94
8. Paul George — 93
9. Damian Lillard — 92
10. Joel Embid — 91
11. Kyrie Irving — 91
12. Nikola Jokic — 90
13. Russell Westbrook — 90
14. Klay Thompson — 89
15. Karl-Anthony Towns — 89
16. Jimmy Butler — 88
17. Kemba Walker — 88
18. Donovan Mitchell — 88
19. Rudy Gobert — 88
20. Blake Griffin — 88

Watch out, Amazon Prime Day—Humble Monthly, the subscription service that delivers a group of PC games to your gaming account every month, has Kingdom Come: Deliverance as one of its titles for August 2019.

Deliverance is a no-fantasy RPG from Mafia creator Daniel Vavra’s studio, Warhorse. The game was originally released in 2018 for PC, as well as PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

GameSpot’s review of Kingdom Come scored the game an 8/10. “This is one of those rare, memorable games that stays with you long after you stop playing,” reviewer Brett Todd said.

Other outlets praised the game as well, but if that’s not enough to get you to consider picking it up on Humble Monthly, you should know that there is a chicken in every cutscene in the game.

“In every single [cutscene], appropriate or not, there’s a hen somewhere in some form. And let me tell you, sometimes it was very challenging to find a spot for it and we had to be very creative,” Warhorse said on Reddit.

Another one of the Humble Monthly games for August is Surviving Mars, the highly acclaimed 2018 city-building game from Tropico developer Haemimont Games.

The rest of August 2019’s Humble Monthly titles will be announced later. You must subscribe by August 2 to get the bundle. Memberships are available starting at $12 USD/month.

Go to Humble Monthly’s FAQ page here to learn more.

Miles Teller, Harry Styles, Ansel Elgort, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and Austin Butler tried out for the role of Elvis Presley in Baz Luhrmann’s upcoming biopic, and now the Oscar nominated director has chosen his star.

Butler will play The King.

Butler will appear alongside Tom Hanks in the film. Hanks plays Presley’s longtime manager, Col. Tom Parker. Butler might not be a household name, but he’s on the rise.

The 27-year-old American actor appeared in a number of Disney Channel shows, before a big role in the 2018 Broadway show The Iceman Cometh opposite Denzel Washington. His next role is in the Quentin Tarantino movie Once Upon A Time In Hollywood.

Luhrmann earned the Best Picture Oscar nomination for 2001’s Moulin Rouge. He also directed the movies Romeo + Juliet, Australia, and The Great Gatsby, all of which were critically acclaimed.

In a statement to Entertainment Weekly, Luhrmann said, “I knew I couldn’t make this film if the casting wasn’t absolutely right, and we searched thoroughly for an actor with the ability to evoke the singular natural movement and vocal qualities of this peerless star, but also the inner vulnerability of the artist.”

Luhrmann said he learned about Butler from his role on The Iceman Cometh, and he got to know him better of “extensive screen-testing and music and performance workshops.”

“I knew unequivocally that I had found someone who could embody the spirit of one of the world’s most iconic musical figures,” Luhrmann said.

Filming on the untitled Elvis biopic is scheduled to begin in 2020 in Queensland, Australia.

Red Candle Games has released a statement in regards to the current status of its latest game, Devotion. The Taiwanese developer pulled its first-person horror title from Steam following the discovery of a controversial in-game art asset. Unfortunately, Red Candle Games’ latest news on Devotion isn’t particularly promising and it seems like the game isn’t coming back to Steam any time soon.

“While mediation is still in progress, Red Candle’s co-founders have reached a unanimous decision to not re-release Devotion in the near term, including but not limited to obtaining profit from sales, revision, IP authorization, etc. to prevent unnecessary misconception,” Red Candle wrote in its statement, which is linked below. “If, in the future, the public would be willing to view this rationally and allow us the opportunity to rebuild trust with our players, Red Candle would reconsider re-releasing Devotion.”

The art asset in question was a hidden reference that compared China president Xi Jingping to Winnie the Pooh, a joke that is censored in China. Upon the asset’s discovery, Devotion received heavy review-bombing from Steam’s Chinese playerbase. Though Red Candle implemented a patch that removed the asset almost immediately after it was discovered, the developer ultimately pulled the game from Steam after it was apparent the review-bombing was not going to stop.

In regards to the incident, Red Candle wrote in its latest statement, “We made a critical and unprofessional error during the game’s production. It saddens us that the focus of the game has shifted drastically since the erroneous art asset was found.” Red Candle concluded its statement with the hope that fans will give the developer a second chance, explaining that all it wanted was to “create a great game.” The thing is, Devotion is a great game and it’s a shame that there’s currently no way to play it unless you downloaded it to your PC before the game was taken off Steam.

In our Devotion review, Richard Wakeling gave the game a 9/10, writing, “Devotion doesn’t quite match the anxiety-inducing frights that permeate each cautious step forward in games like P.T. and Amnesia: The Dark Descent, but its domestic terror burrows deep inside your psyche long after the final credits have rolled. The sorrowful story it tells meshes malice with tenderness, metaphor with stark truths, and achieves it all with the nuanced kind of environmental storytelling other games can only strive for. There are moments when it jumps out of the genre completely, surprising you with a sudden tonal shift, and others where the oftentimes clichéd presence of a children’s doll is used to signal a character’s poignant detachment. Everything Devotion does is in service of this story and its character development; you learn about these people’s lives, empathize with their plight, and come to understand their actions, even if you don’t agree with them. Home is where the heart is, and Devotion is a shining example of what the horror genre is capable of.”

You need a javascript enabled browser to watch videos.

Please use a html5 video capable browser to watch videos.

This video has an invalid file format.

Sorry, but you can’t access this content!

The full trailer for Rob Zombie’s Three From Hell is here. The movie is the sequel to Zombie’s 2005 horror favorite The Devil’s Rejects, and it once more follows the gory exploits of depraved maniacs Captain Spaulding, “Baby” Firefly, and Otis Driftwood.

While the new trailer doesn’t reveal that more about the plot than last month’s first teaser, it’s packed with wild, gaudy, and violent footage. It reveals that the trio somehow survived the avalanche of bullets that met them at the end of the last film. They are imprisoned for their terrible crimes but inevitably escape. More mayhem ensues–if you’ve seen either The Devil’s Rejects or its predecessor House of 1000 Corpses, you’ll know what to expect. Check the trailer out below.

Three From Hell stars Sid Haig, Sheri Moon-Zombie, and Bill Moseley as the murderous trio, plus Danny Trejo (Machete), Emilio Rivera (Mayans MC), Richard Brake (Kingsmen: The Secret Service), and Dee Wallace (ET: The Extra Terrestrial). It’ll be in theaters for three days only from September 17 to 19, with a series of special events lined up for each screening.

In a recent interview with Metal Hammer, Zombie stated that the film wouldn’t just be a copy of The Devil’s Rejects. “The second was so different to the first one, and I wanted the third one to be different yet again,” he said, via Bloody Disgusting. “If you’re just retreading the same movie for a profit, that’s a bummer.”

For more, check out GameSpot’s guide to the biggest upcoming horror movies of 2019.