Author: Trafficblast

Fortnite is one of the most popular games on planet Earth right now, but just how much money is the free-to-play game bringing in from its microtransactions? In short, a lot.

According to mobile analytics company Sensor Tower (via GI.biz), Fortnite’s iOS version made an average of $2 million per day over a 10-day period following the start of Season 5 earlier this month. This is up from a reported average of $1.2 million per day from launch on March 15 to the end of Season 4 on July 11. For the final 10 days of Season 4, Fortnite was apparently making an average of $1.7 million a day.

According to Sensor Tower, Fortnite daily revenue reached $3 million on July 13, which is a new daily revenue record. This is up substantially from the reported previous record of $1.9 million on May 1 for the start of Season 4.

Sensor Tower’s estimates say Fortnite has now brought in more than $150 million from the mobile edition alone. An Android version is still to come. Fortnite is also hugely popular on PC and console, so it’s staggering to think how much money the game might be making across all systems.

Epic is pouring some of that money back into the community, as it is promising $100 million in total prize money for the game’s 2018-2019 competitive season. Additionally, Epic recently announced a big change to its Unreal Engine Marketplace whereby it will now pay creators 88 percent of sales, with Epic taking just 12 percent. This is significantly higher than the industry standard 70/30 split, and is no doubt made possible in part by Fortnite’s massive success.

Fortnite’s virtual currency, V-Bucks, can be used to purchase things like cosmetics for your character, as well as the game’s various Battle Passes. None of the items you can purchase in Fortnite impact gameplay.

Fortnite was released one year ago this week, and developer Epic is celebrating with an anniversary event that adds birthday cakes and more to the popular game.

While you have to wait a while longer to play Halo Infinite and watch the new Halo TV show, fans of Microsoft’s famous shooter franchise do have something new to check out.

Halo: Fireteam Raven, an arcade game set in the Halo: Combat Evolved timeline, is available now at all Dave & Busters locations, Microsoft has announced. It’s been rolling out at select stores, but as of now it should be available at the arcade/sports bar’s dozens of locations across the United States.

Fireteam Raven will also be available at arcade locations internationally. The game will make its Australian debut at Timezone in Sydney this week, before coming to Melbourne, the Gold Coast, and Perth in August.

The game is set in the timeline of Halo: Combat Evolved, putting players into the shoes of ODST troopers that make up Fireteam Raven. While you don’t play as Master Chief, you’re battling his enemies: Covenant forces. The four-player game is played on a 130-inch 4K screen with four mounted turrets. Players fight together to take down the Flood and also compete for high scores. The game also makes use of Halo Waypoint so you can track your scores and earn rewards. Fireteam Raven was developed by arcade veterans Raw Thrills and Play Mechanix with the support of Halo custodian 343 Industries.

The next big Halo game is Halo Infinite. A trailer for the game’s engine, not the game itself, premiered at E3 this year. The game is coming to Xbox One and PC, but it may or may not support Xbox Play Anywhere. For more on Fireteam Raven, check out the announcement trailer above.

Back in the day, acclaimed filmmaker Joss Whedon directed Avengers and Avengers: Age of Ultron, in which Thanos made one of his first appearances in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Whedon recently spoke to IGN about his plans for Thanos at the time which were… limited.

In a quote from the interview, Whedon said that while he enjoyed the character, he essentially had no plans for the future of Thanos while making the movie. In Whedon’s own words, “Honestly, I kind of hung [Thanos] out to dry.”

Whedon went on to talk about Thanos as a character and why he decided not to move forward with him, “I love Thanos. I love his apocalyptic vision, his love affair with death. I love his power. But, I don’t really understand it. He’s had a lot of power, and he was cool in the comics. And I’m like, Thanos is the ultimate Marvel villain! And then I was like, I don’t actually know what I would do with Thanos.” This is surprising considering how important Thanos is to the franchise, but to Whedon’s point, it can be difficult to place a character that has that much power because of how easy it should be for them to defeat everyone; it doesn’t leave much room for drama.

Considering Whedon’s well documented break with the MCU, you might think that he would disagree with the direction the franchise has taken, but Whedon went on to compliment the Russo brothers and Avengers: Infinity War as a whole by saying, “So, I liked what [the Russo brothers] did so much, and I thought [Thanos actor Josh Brolin] killed it. And they did an amazing job of keeping that performance on-screen. But it wasn’t like I was like, here’s a set of directions. I was like, I’m gonna get through Ultron, nap for four years, and then I’ll come to the premiere. Which I did! It was like, this is so cool!”

Joss Whedon and the Russo brothers have done a great job tag-teaming the franchise, but it’s interesting to know that Infinity War wasn’t necessarily the plan the whole time.

The Metal Gear Solid movie is still a long way off. Its director, Jordan Vogt-Roberts, attached himself to the adaptation unusually early in the process, through a combination of passion, determination, and hard work. Back in 2014, he was relatively untested; now, with last year’s successful Kong: Skull Island on his resume, he’s hard at work on the project closest to his heart.

We caught up with Vogt-Roberts at San Diego Comic-Con 2018 to discuss the status of the Metal Gear Solid movie, including the brand new art the director has been tweeting. There have been some updates since the last time we chatted with him. Watch the video above.

To celebrate the series’ 31st anniversary, Vogt-Roberts sent out a note recently marking the date, and promised he’ll be dropping 31 days of fan art with “some surprises along the way.”

He provided a playful CODEC scene with Roy Campbell explaining that Snake has been sent to retrieve new information about the Metal Gear Solid movie. In the meantime, he’s giving us a look at concept art he’s created, though the message is careful to note that this shouldn’t be interpreted as hints at the film itself.

“As a thank you to fans of this franchise, that bearded director, Jordan Vogt-Roberts, will be releasing concept art he created with a series of ‘next-gen artists,'” reads the message. “For the next 31 days, we will be releasing 31 pieces of art. We must stress that this is, quote, ‘fan art’, and is not meant to represent what is or not in the forthcoming film.”

That doesn’t mean the MGS movie is off the table at Sony–it’s just probably still a long way off. However, one of the director’s goals includes debuting the movie officially with a Comic-Con panel, which we discussed in the video above.

Madden 19 is making a change to its voice acting lineup, it seems. GameSpot recently got a chance to play the pro football sim and we discovered that former ESPN anchor Jonathan Coachman now appears to be the pregame/halftime host. In the previous Madden games, Larry Ridley covered the pregame and halftime duties. You can hear his voice in the gameplay video above.

It’s unclear if Ridley is completely gone for Madden 19 or if he’ll be featured in the game alongside Coachman. We have contacted EA Sports in an attempt to get more details, and we’ll update this post with anything we hear.

Coachman, who goes by the stage name “The Coach,” currently works for the WWE following a run as an anchor at ESPN. This isn’t the first time he’s lent his voice to a video game, as Coachman also did voicework for Black College Football: BCFX: The Xperience.

The commentating team of Brandon Gaudin and Charles Davis that’s been in place since Madden 17 will remain intact for Madden 19. In a very big and controversial move, they replaced NFL broadcast legends Jim Nantz and Phil Simms who did the previous games.

Madden 19 launches a little earlier this year, arriving at the start of August. The game is coming to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, as well as PC for the first time in a decade. The footage in the video above was captured on Madden 19’s PC version. For more on Madden 19, check out 35 minutes of the game’s Longshot mode here.

Marvel might have unintentionally had the biggest news of San Diego Comic-Con weekend when it fired James Gunn, but in terms of presences at the event, DC had the more prominent showing. Although SDCC is now in the rear-view mirror, there’s still no shortage of cosplay to check out, and this year’s event had quite a lot from DC fans.

We’ve already rounded up some of our favorite cosplay from each day of the event, as well as the best that Marvel fans had on display. Now we’re taking a look at all things DC cosplay, and that means Wonder Woman, Batman, Robin, Red Death, and many others are presented.

It’s no surprise that SDCC had so much cosplay. Despite its name, it’s an event that’s home to happenings for all manner of movies, TV shows, and games, whether or not they bear any connection to comics (which are of course at the show, too). Being open to the public, fans don’t pass up the opportunity to show off their passion for their favorite franchises by dressing up in what can often be staggeringly impressive outfits.

As noted above, DC had a lot of news to take in during SDCC. Aquaman finally got a new trailer, and its panel featured exclusive footage that showed the titular character in his classic garb. Wonder Woman 1984‘s panel similarly showed footage just for those in attendance, and there was some talk about the Chris Pine question–albeit without any satisfying answers. The much-anticipated Shazam movie got its first trailer, showcasing the kind of humor we can expect from the film.

There was plenty more to take in from Comic-Con, so be sure to check out the highlights of our coverage through the links below.

San Diego Comic-Con 2018 Coverage

The long-awaited sequel to the critically acclaimed Metroidvania Guacamelee is coming this year. A new trailer for Guacamelee 2 revealed the action-platformer is launching for PS4 and PC on August 21.

Guacamelee 2 continues where the first game left off, with luchador Juan Aguacate retired from supernatural adventuring and brawling. That all changes when a new threat emerges, and Juan once again dons the luchador mask that gives him his vast array of powerful attacks and abilities.

Like its predecessor, Guacamelee 2 will feature four-player local co-op, and a vast array of colorful abilities that offer new strategies for movement and combat. The same style of electro-Mexican soundtrack is making its return too, as well as the vibrant color palette used for the graphics. The game promises the return of familiar faces from the original, both friendly and villainous.

However, there are a few changes this time around. Guacamelee 2 has twice as many different enemy types for Juan to smash, plus many more bosses. Juan will also unlock new abilities he can only use after he’s transforms into a chicken, instead of only finding new skills for his human form. He’ll learn these new chicken abilities from some sort of Chicken Illuminati.

Fans of the original Guacamelee were surprised to hear its sequel would not be making its way to the PlayStation Vita. Guacamelee released on the Vita, PS3, and PC in 2013, before getting ported to Xbox 360, PS4, Wii U, and Xbox One the following year. Guacamelee 2 might copy its predecessor and eventually make its way to other platforms–like the Xbox One, Vita, or Nintendo Switch–at a later date.