Category: Games

Roughly 1/4 of Cyberpunk 2077 players have maxed out their street cred level, according to developer CD Projekt Red. While the figure may seem low in itself, it actually shows a notably high level of engagement with the game’s array of content when compared to how many players typically finish games.

CDPR announced the stat through a tweet, giving the exact figure of 23.5%. While you can gain street cred by playing the main story, the bulk of street cred is gained by taking on sidequests like gigs and taking down Wanted enemies.

By comparison, most people who start a game never finish it. Public sharing of stats like Trophies and Achievements have consistently shown very low levels of game completion. As noted in a Reddit thread, some very popular games only reach 20-50% completion rates on Steam, so 1/4 of Cyberpunk players maxing their street cred suggests those who do play the game are plumbing it thoroughly. Keep in mind this stat is being provided directly from CDPR, so it may have weeded out players who only dipped a toe in Cyberpunk and then bounced off–a group that tends to drive down completion stats for many games.

Cyberpunk 2077 had a troubled launch, with complaints of bugs that led the developer to offer refunds and the game ultimately being pulled from the PlayStation Store. CDPR hasn’t given up on the game, saying it hopes that continued support will help it sell for years to come. The studio posted a massive profit in 2020, and a comparatively tiny number of players requested refunds.

Going forward, the studio’s plans for multiplayer are unclear. CDPR has been continuing to issue patches and a dataminer recently uncovered evidence of new quests.

The next Fable game is being developed using the Forza engine, according to a job listing for a Software Engineer that was spotted Microsoft’s website (via IGN). Forza series creators and developers Turn 10 Studios posted an ad seeking a new software engineer to work with the ForzaTech engine, with the successful applicant being tasked with using the software to “support an open-world action RPG – Fable.”

The new employee will also be responsible for adding “new features like ray tracing” to the game for some added visual horsepower, which will “have a major impact on three AAA titles in development” across two other Xbox franchises.

The ForzaTech engine has been used in the past to create some of the best-looking games for Xbox, helping to create worlds and vehicles that look both realistic and vibrant. Microsoft wanting to use some of its best technology to revive the Fable franchise makes sense as development on this project continues.

Details on the next Fable game–which was revealed in a cheeky Xbox Series X|S showcase trailer last year–have been slim so far. What is known is that Forza Horizon developer Playground Games is handling development through a second studio that was formed in 2017.

So far the game has attracted some notable talent, which includes narrative director of Arkane Studios’ Dishonored: Death of the Outsider Anna Megill, Will Kennedy from GTA V as chief designer, Hellblade‘s Juan Fernández de Simón as principal game designer, and Adam Olsson from The Division 2 as lead environmental artist.

For more on the game and everything that we do know, you can check out our Fable hub for every detail that has been unearthed so far.

Right on schedule, IO Interactive has detailed the next DLC for Hitman 3. The second act of the game’s Seven Deadly Sins DLC is focused on “Pride,” and it launches May 10, IO Interactive announced as part of a livestream.

The DLC comes with “sin-themed” weapons, such as the The Proud Swashbuckler sword and the Majestic rifle. There is also a special new Narcissus suit for Agent 47. A new Escalation in Chongqing is also included with the new DLC. Check out the announcement trailer below to get a peek at some of the new content coming in the Pride DLC.

The first act of the 7 Deadly Sins DLC was focused on Greed. After Pride comes Sloth, Lust, Gluttony, Wrath, and Envy, so Hitman 3 fans have a lot more to look forward to.

The paid content for each season individually costs $5. Otherwise, all of the seasonal content comes as part of the Seven Deadly Sins DLC, which costs $30 total.

In addition to its ongoing development on Hitman 3’s DLC, IO Interactive is making a new James Bond game with an original story. Additionally, it was recently reported that IO is making a fantasy game with dragons as an Xbox exclusive.

Valve recently released a new stats tool for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (aka CS:GO). The service costs $1 per month and includes match stats from your Competitive, Premier, and Wingman game modes. But some fans have expressed disappointment with the feature, arguing that basic stat tracking should be free.

The stats feature was introduced in an update this week at the end of Operation Broken Fang. Purchasing Operation Broken Fang would give you a personal career stats page. When the operation ended, Valve introduced this new stats tracking feature for a nominal fee.

According to a CS:GO 360 Stats FAQ, the price (which is technically 99 cents) is the launch price, suggesting it could change in the future. After you subscribe, renewals will occur automatically every month on the date you signed up. Stats are only recorded while you’re a subscriber, so any matches you play without a subscription won’t count toward the tracking. The tracker doesn’t record Casual and Scrimmage game mode stats.

But some fans replied to the announcement tweet arguing that stat-tracking should be free or that third-party stat-trackers already exist.

CS:GO launched in 2012 but has remained among the top-grossing games on Steam as recently as 2020.

Apex Legends Season 9 launched to an enthusiastic response from players–but developer Respawn’s servers weren’t prepared for just how enthusiastic they would be. Since the season’s release earlier today, players have faced an array of problems with Apex Legends due to overloaded infrastructure, including extreme difficulty getting into matches.

Respawn has been sharing its progress on rolling out fixes all day today on Twitter, but it has yet to fully squash the issues plaguing its servers. In its latest tweet, Respawn stated that unlocked characters and marketplace services should be returned to normal soon. In addition, some players have increasingly had success joining matches, but the problems seem to persist for others.

It’s always a shame when server issues pester a game during a launch window like this, but scaling server infrastructure is always extremely hard and Respawn has committed to focusing on regaining stability. We’ll update this story when all of the issues are resolved.

Season 9, titled Legacy, brings with it a host of changes and additions, most notably a permeant team deathmatch mode called Arenas and a compound bow weapon. The Season 9 patch also overhauls the Lifeline character. For the whole list of changes, check out the Apex Legends Season 9 patch notes.

Call of Duty: Mobile may not capture all of the headlines that the full Call of Duty releases do, but it nonetheless has accumulated a huge audience. Activision has announced that the game has passed 500 million downloads across mobile platforms since its launch in October 2019.

This is an enormous number of players in comparison with the console entries, which generally top out around 30 million in sales. Unlocking that many more players is likely a huge reason why Activision pursued a mobile Call of Duty at all, as it has undoubtedly brought in millions of new people to the series.

It’s also been very lucrative for the company. As Activision revealed in its earnings call, the free-to-play game has brought in over $1 billion since its launch from in-game transactions. Its rate of growth may actually be accelerating, too. It took a year for the game to cross 250 million downloads and reach $500 million in revenue; it took just six months to double those numbers again to their current values.

2021 is shaping up to be a banner year for the game, in spite of COVID-19 posing unforeseen challenges for Call of Duty: Mobile development. China-based developer TiMi Games has been extraordinarily successful beyond Call of Duty Mobile, too, raking in $10 billion in 2020 across its games.

In addition, we are–not surprisingly–getting another full release this year. Although next to nothing is know about it, Activision confirmed a new Call of Duty is coming to consoles and PC later this year. It’s in development at Sledgehammer Games and will have integration with Warzone.