Category: Games

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Embracer Will Not Stop Buying Games Companies, Acquires 8 More

Embracer Group, the Swedish games holding company formerly known as THQ Nordic AB, is back at it again. The company, which has been in the business of acquiring games companies for some years now, has announced that it will be adding 8 more studios to its collection.

Embracer announced the news in a post on its website, and includes Duke Nukem studio 3D Realms and Deep Rock Galactic Creator Ghost Ship Games. The aggregated cost of the acquisition is around SEK 2.7 billion ($313 million USD). This figure could rise by up to a further SEK 2 billion ($232 million) if the newly-acquired studios are able to meet certain functional and operational milestones over the next eight years. Embracer has said that it is hoping the latest additions will contribute to sales ranging between $230 to $348 million in the next fiscal year.

New Embracer Studios

  • Deca Games
  • 3D Realms
  • Crazy Labs
  • Ghost Ship Games
  • DigixArt
  • Easy Trigger
  • Grimfrost
  • Slipgate Ironworks

Speaking about the acquisition, Co-founder and Group CEO Lars Wingefors said that he is “excited to welcome more than 500 great talents” to the company. Despite the recent acquisition and Embracer’s purchase of Gearbox for a reported $1.3 billion earlier this year, it looks like its shopping spree may not yet be over. Wingefors went on to say, “We still have a strong balance sheet with a sizable net cash position to support further M&A going forward. We continue to have many ongoing discussions with entrepreneurs, creators and companies to join the family, including large or transformative companies that would create new operating groups”.

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Of the acquisitions, Embracer has said that Israeli dev team Crazy Labs is its “most impactful contributor” in terms of sales. The mobile games publisher is set to be acquired by Embracer by September 30. The company says that within free-to-play games, the combination of Crazy Labs with Deca Games (another of its owned subsidiaries), will look to create a “fast-growing, process-oriented, data-driven organization across the casual and hyper-casual segments in the mobile market”.

Embracer owns more than 240 different IPs across over 40 different countries and will now grow to over 8,000 employees and contracted employees following its latest acquisition. In relative terms, if Embracer were a country and its employees accounted for its population, it would sit comfortably somewhere between Vatican City and San Marino. When they overtake Lichtenstein, that’s when we can start to get nervous.

With Embracer set to acquire both Gearbox Studios and 3D Realms, the real question is, could there be space for a Duke Nukem reboot to be on the cards? For the latest Gearbox news, you can read this article about the Borderlands 3 senior devs leaving the studio to start a new project.

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Jared Moore is a freelance writer for IGN. If you’d like to lend him a few hundred million dollars to acquire a few studios he’d be greatly appreciative. Alternatively, you can follow him on Twitter.

PUBG’s Update 13.1 Is Live Now, Introduces Dramatic Emergency Landings

After a maintenance period that ran long due to technical difficulties, the PC version of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds is back up with a brand new update. The new content includes updates to two of the game’s maps, as well as the potential to experience an exciting new crash landing scenario at the beginning of the game.

Update 13.1’s biggest shakeup is the “emergency landing” scenario for the Taego map, where the plane that drops players on the battleground has the potential to experience an engine failure, catch fire, and hurtle towards the ground. Players can bail from the burning plane whenever they want, with earlier jumps giving the option to travel further at the start. If players decide not to jump from the crashing plane, they’ll begin the match with 50% damage.

Now Playing: PUBG: New State – Official Launch Teaser (46″ ver)

Taego has another new addition in the form of a secret loot room that requires a special key to unlock, granting lucky players access to some of the best loot in the game. Classic map Sanhok has also been updated, with the new patch adding more areas of cover on the northwest island’s shoreline and temple.

The normal match rotation has been updated, with Paramo rotated out and Karakin now added to the rotation–however players on Twitter who were looking forward to playing in Karakin have complained that it’s currently showing up too rarely in the rotation.

For the full details on what’s been added in update 13.1, check out the full patch notes here. The update is due to arrive for consoles a little later on August 12.

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Daily Deals: Perfect PS5 M.2 SSDs Now £85, DualSense Charging Stations on Sale

There are some great deals on PS5 accessories at the moment, including some of the very best PS5 Compatible M.2 SSDs in the UK. This includes the WD_BLACK SN850 500GB SSD, now down to £85.74 (was £129.99), just make sure you buy a heatsink alongside, we’ve listed a few compatible with the PS5 below. You can also save on the PS5 DualSense Charging Station at the moment, now down to just £22.95.

TL;DR – Best Deals of the Day

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DualSense Charging Station for PS5 on Sale

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Best PS5 Compatible M.2 SSDs in the UK

For more information check out the Best PS5 M.2 SSD Options Currently Available.

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Heatsinks

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Preorder Back 4 Blood to Get Access to the Beta

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Xbox Series X|S Seagate SSD Now £179.99 (was £219.99)

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Robert Anderson is a deals expert and Commerce Editor for IGN. You can follow him @robertliam21 on Twitter.

My Friend Pedro Now Has A Free Mobile Game

Devolver Digital’s quirky shoot-em-up My Friend Pedro now has a free mobile spin-off subtitled Ripe For Revenge. The mobile title is a side-scrolling shooter in the vein of the original 2019 title, featuring 37 brand-new levels, as well as the return of titular banana friend Pedro.

“They kidnapped his wife and kids and left him for dead,” Devolver’s blurb for the mobile game reads. “But it’s going to take more than that to split this banana’s family. Help your friend Pedro serve some ice cold revenge, with a sprinkle of bullets on top!”

Now Playing: My Friend Pedro Ripe for Revenge Trailer

The game is out now for iOS and Android, and follows a classic free-to-play model for mobile titles. While most of the game can be played for free, checkpoints are locked behind a “premium” paid tier, meaning free players have to deal with an extra level of challenge.

The original My Friend Pedro is available on PC, Nintendo Switch, PS4, and Xbox One, while fans of the game also get to look forward to a TV adaptation that’s being developed by John Wick creator Derek Kolstad.

GameSpot may get a commission from retail offers.

This Replacement Font Makes Final Fantasy Pixel Remasters Look A Whole Lot Better

While old-school Final Fantasy fans were keen to get their hands on the recently released Final Fantasy Pixel Remasters, the ugly font that was used for the games weas widely criticized. Now, one fan has offered up a fix, releasing a classic pixel font that can be easily swapped into the game for anyone playing on PC.

Released by Twitter user Patera Quetzal, who also had the most succinct reaction when the fonts were initially revealed, the new font is inspired by Earthbound. Beyond just swapping the nicer font into the game, Quetzal made sure all the special glyphs and numbers would align properly.

Now Playing: Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster Trailer | Square Enix Presents E3 2021

Quetzal also later released a version of the font that would work for a broader number of languages, based on the free Silver font by Poppy Works. The second font file will work for languages including English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Traditional and Simplified Chinese, Japanese, and Korean.

The original font that shipped with the game was criticized for being too small, narrow, and difficult to read, as well as being in a style that looked too modern to match the rest of the game’s graphics.

The first three Final Fantasy games have now been released in remastered form for PC and mobile, while Final Fantasy IV, V and VI will be released sometime in 2021. There is currently no news on whether the remasters will eventually be released on consoles, though Square has said it’s possible if enough people request it.

GameSpot may get a commission from retail offers.

PlayStation’s Next-Gen VR Details Reportedly Leaked At Sony’s Developer Summit

Sony hosted a developer summit on August 3 where it reportedly unveiled new information regarding its upcoming next-gen PlayStation VR. According to YouTube channel PSVR Without Parole (and with further corroboration from UploadVR) among the announcements made were details about the unit’s controllers, as well as the studio’s game development strategy going forward. While much of the reported information was new, some statements seem to confirm previous rumors about the PSVR 2, making them seem increasingly more likely to be true.

According to reports, the upcoming VR unit’s headset will feature the previously reported HDR OLED screen technology. This will allow players to view 2000 x 2040 pixels per eye for a total 4K resolution, as well provide a 110 degree field of view–a noticeable upgrade from the current PSVR’s 100. In addition, the new headset might also utilize flexible scaling resolution, which limits the device to only render what you’re actually looking at. Through this technique, Sony would greatly reduce the amount of strain placed on the PlayStation 5, and greatly improve the system’s overall performance.

Moving to the PSVR 2’s controllers, it was reported the ones currently in development will be equipped with sensors that not only detect when a player is touching a controller, but their exact finger location as well. According to the rumors, the new controllers will also be able to tell how far away a person’s fingers are from the controller at any given time, which seems fairly similar to technology seen in Google’s latest phones.

Lastly, Sony reportedly told developers it’s “looking to pursue a hybrid model for future AAA releases on PlayStation” when it comes to PSVR incorporation. What this seemingly means is that PlayStation is looking to have more games with optional VR support, similar to both No Man’s Sky and Resident Evil 7 Biohazard. However, as of now there’s still been no word on if previous PSVR games will be compatible with the new system.

As of right now, we still have no information on what the PSVR 2’s official name is or when it’s set to release. However, recent reports indicate it will likely be late 2022.

DC Already Has More Plans For The Suicide Squad’s James Gunn

James Gunn may be done with The Suicide Squad, but DC isn’t done with Gunn yet. While he hasn’t announced a second DC Films project just yet, the studio already has plans to bring him back into the fold, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

“Gunn is always welcome back, whatever he wants to do. He really has a vision and he’s a great partner with us. Whenever he wants to come back, we’re ready for him,” said DC Films president Walter Hamada. “He’ll be back. We have more stuff planned.”

Now Playing: The Suicide Squad Stars Plays WOULD YOU RATHER

Gunn left a strong impression on those he worked with on the film, which hits HBO Max and theaters tomorrow.

“If I read the script and didn’t know James Gunn was going to direct it, it would have been a straight-up ‘no,'” said Margot Robbie, who stars in the film for her third turn as Harley Quinn. “I was like, no one could pull this off.”

“This is what happens when you leave a brilliant man alone with his thoughts,” said John Cena, who continues to wear his Peacemaker costume everywhere, apparently. “I didn’t even hear what it was [before saying yes].”

It wasn’t just the actors, though. Producer Charles Roven noted to THR that The Suicide Squad came in both under budget and with no reshoots.

“He storyboards every single shot in the movie,” Roven said. “Not just the action sequences.”

The Suicide Squad is nearly here. Before its release tomorrow, check out our review. Gunn has had plenty to say about the film in interviews, too. He’s talked about how he decided who to kill, spoke about the review bombing the film is currently receiving, and told GameSpot about how the movie will surprise us.

Jeopardy Moving Closer to Revealing Its Permanent Host, And No, It’s Not LeVar Burton

Jeopardy is moving closer to revealing its new permanent host and it doesn’t look like it’s going to be LeVar Burton.

That’s because the game show is moving closer to finalizing a deal with executive producer and former guest host Mike Richards to become the new permanent host, according to Variety. This news comes after a massive fan campaign for the former Reading Rainbow host and Star Trek actor to become the new host after a successful guest stint.

For what it’s worth, Burton also pushed to become the new permanent host himself, but it seems the game show has other plans as Variety reports it is in “advanced negotiations” with Richards. If Richards is selected, he’ll be the first permanent Jeopardy host since the death of Alex Trebek, who hosted the show for 36 years, last November.

A Sony Pictures spokesperson told Variety that discussions with several potential candidates are ongoing, however. A source close to the show also told the publication that there’s no guarantee Richards’ deal will go through and that Jeopardy is keeping discussions with other candidates open as a result. Still, Richards remains the front-runner, according to that source. 

Richards has produced more than 4000 hours of game shows ranging from The Price Is Right to Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, along with many other television classics.

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Beyond serving as one of the many guest hosts of Jeopardy since Trebek’s death, Richards is also an executive producer for the classic game show, a job he landed last year. Variety’s report says Richards “impressed Sony Pictures brass with his command of the fast-paced game and easy on-air manner.”

For more about Jeopardy, check out this heartwarming moment from 2019 when one contestant did something so nice that it almost brought Trebek to tears.

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Wesley LeBlanc is a freelance news writer and guide maker for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @LeBlancWes.

Mass Effect Legendary Edition Sales Were ‘Well Above’ EA’s Expectations

Sales for Mass Effect Legendary Edition were “well above” EA’s expectations, the publisher stated during Wednesday’s earnings call for investors.

“The launch of Mass Effect Legendary Edition – the remaster of the first three Mass Effect games – reignited the passion of fans around the world, driving sales performance well above our expectations,” said EA CEO Andrew Wilson.

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EA did not share exact sales numbers for Mass Effect Legendary Edition, but it proved to be popular on Steam, reaching highest-ever player count for any Mass Effect or BioWare game. It reached an all-time peak of 59,817 players, and was the second-highest ever player count on Steam for an EA game, trailing only Apex Legends.

EA’s other exclusively single-player game for 2021, Josef Fares’ It Takes Two, also outperformed EA’s expectations.

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Mass Effect Legendary Edition seems to warrant the praise, with the remaster of Mass Effect 1 receiving an 8 out of 10, and Mass Effect 2’s remaster receiving a 9 out of 10.

Despite the success of EA’s lonely single-player games, it was the publisher’s portfolio of multiplayer live service, sports, and mobile games that staved off a significant chunk of net income decline. EA emphasized it is continuing to focus on live service games and developing them as ongoing ecosystems rather than adhering to traditional sales models. The company reported a total revenue of $1.55 billion, up 6% from last year.

It’ll be interesting to see if EA’s other single-player remaster project, the Dead Space remake, proves to be as successful. EA executives said a new Dead Space is one of the most-requested games second only to the Skate franchise. IGN spoke with the developers at EA Motive about how the horror remake is being rebuilt in EA’s Frostbite engine.

If you’re curious, you can check out this infographic EA released that shows we’re all (mostly) good people who would never say mean things to attractive aliens.

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Joseph Knoop is a writer/producer/investment for IGN.