Author: Trafficblast

The news keeps getting worse for Overkill’s The Walking Dead. After Walking Dead rights-owner Skybound announced it would terminate its agreement with Starbreeze for the co-op shooter due to the poor quality of the game, Starbreeze has now confirmed the PC edition will be removed from sale while the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions are now in question.

In a news release, Starbreeze said it was in communication with Skybound to try to find “a solution.” In the meantime, Starbreeze said sales of the PC edition of Overkill’s The Walking Dead will “likely be disabled,” and should no agreement be met, the game would never return to Steam. Additionally, the PS4 and Xbox One versions “would not be released” if no new deal between Skybound and Starbreeze can be reached. It appears the game has already been removed from Steam.

Starbreeze added that Overkill’s The Walking Dead generated sales of 34.1 million Swedish Krona, which comes out to around $3.7 million USD. However, “costs related to development of Overkill’s The Walking Dead has so far exceeded revenue,” Starbreeze admitted.

505 Games was announced as the publisher of Overkill’s The Walking Dead for PS4 and Xbox One. Digital Bros, which owns 505 Games, said in a statement to GI.biz that it is “very sorry about the relationship between Skybound and Starbreeze.” The statement doesn’t outright confirm that the console editions have been canceled, however.

Skybound announced it would end its contract with Starbreeze because Overkill’s The Walking Dead “did not meet our standards nor is it the quality that we were promised.”

The statement added: “We are exceedingly sorry to our fans and share their disappointment in the game. We remain dedicated to providing our fans with the most premium quality content we can offer, and will continue to look for alternative video game options for the IP.”

Ray Liotta, who played Henry Hill in Martin Scorsese’s classic mobster movie Goodfellas, is joining another gangster film. Liotta will play an unspecified role in the Sopranos prequel film The Many Saints of Newark, joining other cast members such as Alessandro Nivola, Jon Bernthal, Vera Farmiga, and Billy Magnussen, according to Deadline. Michael Gandolfini will play Tony Soprano, a role his late father portrayed in the HBO show.

The Many Saints of Newark is set in the ’60s during the Newark race riots. Sopranos TV show creator David Chase co-wrote the script with another Sopranos veteran, Lawrence Konner. Game of Thrones and Thor: The Dark World director Alan Taylor is directing.

Liotta grew up in Newark in the ’60s, and according to Deadline, the actor has a “personal connection to the story.”

“David’s talent is unmatched and the directing of Alan Taylor makes this even more exciting. I respect them both immensely and look forward to making this special project with New Line,” Liotta told Deadline.

Nivola plays Dickie Moltisanti in The Many Saints of Newark. He is the father of Christopher Moltisanti, who was played by Michael Imperioli in the TV series.

In other mobster movie news, the eerie first teaser for Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman starring Robert de Niro and Al Pacino has arrived–watch it here.

The upcoming Suicide Squad sequel has lost one of its biggest stars. Sources told Variety that Smith, who played Deadshot in the 2016 Oscar winning film, is not expected to return for the follow-up reportedly due in part to scheduling issues.

Smith and Warner Bros. reportedly parted ways amicably. It’s also worth nothing that Smith was never even officially confirmed to return as Deadshot in Suicide Squad 2. According to the report, producers wanted Smith and Margot Robbie, who played Harley Quinn, to return for the sequel. No official casting announcements about Suicide Squad 2 have been made as of yet, however.

Suicide Squad might not have been a critical hit, but it made $746 million at the global box office, which basically guaranteed a sequel. As mentioned, it won an Oscar–for Makeup and Hairstyling.

The sequel is to be written and directed by James Gunn, who directed the Guardians of the Galaxy movies before Disney fired him. Production on Suicide Squad 2 is expected to begin this fall, and the movie has a release date of August 6, 2021.

In a recent interview, 343 Industries boss Bonnie Ross said Halo Infinite‘s sandbox multiplayer is potentially capable of delivering a battle royale experience as one of its modes. Nothing is confirmed at this stage, and that remains the case, according to Halo franchise manager Frank O’Connor.

He responded to someone on Twitter who said Ross’s comments equated to a confirmation that Halo Infinite will have a battle royale mode. That’s not the case.

“I don’t know how you get from ‘Sandbox is capable of’ to ‘basically confirmed,'” O’Connor said. “The sandbox is also capable of 1:1 Big Team Invisible Low G SWAT Vehicle Fiesta and I can tell you that’s not happening because I’ve pitched it for five games straight now.”

So there you have it, again.

It’s also worth noting that Halo 5 already has numerous battle royale modes made by fans through Forge and published as Custom Games that you can play right now. Presumably Halo Infinite will bring back Forge mode, and players will be able to make whatever they want, including battle royale, if Microsoft doesn’t make it an official game type as franchises like Call of Duty and Battlefield have.

343 already poured some cold water on the idea of a battle royale mode in Halo Infinite. In 2017, a Halo developer said, “I’ll tell you right now, the only BR we’re really interested in is Battle Rifle.”

What’s particularly interesting now is how Ross specifically mentioned Apex Legends in her comments about battle royale. People would generally agree that Fortnite and Halo are not much alike, but Apex Legends is more of a core shooter like Halo. It makes sense that 343 would constantly evaluate industry trends. It would be surprising if they didn’t.

Halo Infinite is in development for Xbox One and PC. No release date has been announced, but more details about the game are coming at E3 2019. It’s rumoured that Microsoft will also talk about its next console at E3; Halo Infinite is said to be to be a launch title for the new Xbox.

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