Ahead of Mass Effect: Legendary Edition’s May release, developer BioWare keeps teasing us with comparison shots of just how much the upcoming remaster reimagines the appearance of certain characters and places. The studio has now tweeted a side-by-side for how protagonist Shepard’s appearance changes.
The comparison in question specifically looks at the default appearance of the character in the original Mass Effect. As you would think, the change for the default female version of the character is a far more drastic change, as there was no iconic female option until Mass Effect 3.
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BioWare said that implementing iconic female Shepard into Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2 was one of the first things the studio did for the remaster. “We’ve done another pass on her where we’ve done everything from slightly modifying some larger forms of her face or adding some medium and fine details like wrinkles and pores and specular breakup,” environment and character artist Kevin Meek said.
Beyond this, BioWare has retroactively added Mass Effect 3’s improvements to the character creator back into the first two games with this remaster, allowing you to put together your ideal Shepard right from the get-go. Additionally, the developer has added brand-new options that weren’t previously in the original trilogy, including more Black hairstyles.
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Mass Effect: Legendary Edition will launch for Xbox One, PS4, and PC. The remaster will support faster loading speeds when played via backwards compatibility on Xbox Series X|S and PS5.
Chadwick Boseman has posthumously made SAG Award nomination history by receiving a total of four nominations on Thursday. No other actor has earned that many in a single year in the movie categories.
Additionally, Boseman was nominated as Levee for the outstanding performance by a male actor in a leading role category. He was again nominated for Stormin’ Norman in the outstanding performance by a male actor in a supporting role.
For years there have been rumors that Activision Blizzard is working on a Warcraft-inspired mobile game. Today, company CEO Bobby Kotick confirmed that there are in fact “multiple” mobile Warcraft experiences in “advanced development” at Blizzard.
During the latest financial earnings call, Kotick spoke to investors and shared plans to expand upon the Warcraft franchise by delivering “more frequent premium content.” As part of this strategy, Blizzard is deep in development on, not one, but multiple free-to-play Warcraft experiences for mobile.
“In our Warcraft franchise, we intend to deliver more frequent premium content to sustain and expand the World of Warcraft community,” Kotick said to investors. “And we’ve made multiple, mobile, free-to-play Warcraft experiences and they’re now in advanced development based on our franchise’s beloved IP.”
Kotick prefaced this news by talking about Diablo Immortal which has garnered positive buzz during its limited test trials and how it set the stage to “meaningfully expand [Diablo’s] global reach.”
Rumors of a mobile Warcraft game have been around since 2017 when Blizzard posted job listings for a new mobile game seemingly based on the Warcraft franchise. One rumor in 2018 suggested Blizzard was working on a Pokemon Go-style AR game. Given Kotick says there are “multiple” projects, this could be just one of several upcoming games from Blizzard.
There are technically already Warcraft-inspired games on mobile considering Hearthstone is a Warcraft trading card game spinoff available on mobile devices. But Kotick’s comments are in reference to unannounced, in-development projects.
As part of Activision Blizzard’s earnings report, the company confirmed that two of Blizzard’s most anticipated upcoming games, Diablo IV and Overwatch 2, will not release in 2021.
While we didn’t get any new details on the game itself, during an earnings call, Blizzard management said Overwatch 2 passed a significant milestone in December 2020. This involved “hundreds” of developers taking part. Overall, Blizzard said it feels confident about Overwatch 2.
Also during the call, management confirmed that a new Call of Duty game is releasing in 2021, but it did not say which studio is developing it or what franchise it might be.
Management also said that it has learned a lot already from the free-to-play Call of Duty: Warzone, and this game will remain operational and supported in the future, even when the new mainline game releases.
Black Ops Cold War’s weapons were integrated into Warzone, and it’s expected this will continue with the future mainline Call of Duty games.
If history is any indication, 2021’s Call of Duty game may be coming from Sledgehammer Games. The studio’s last game that it led the development on was 2017’s Call of Duty: WWII, so it appears the team may be up next after Treyarch made 2018’s Black Ops 4, and Infinity Ward developed 2019’s Modern Warfare. Treyarch returned in 2020 with Black Ops Cold War.
Whatever the case, it’s a good time for Call of Duty, as the franchise had its biggest year ever in 2020. Additionally, Activision announced that the entire franchise, dating back to 2003, has now generated $27 billion in revenue.
Also during the call, management said there would be more “remastered” content coming in the future. No further details were provided, but this comment came after it was reported that Vicarious Visions–which is now a Blizzard studio–is working on a Diablo 2 remaster.
For more on Activision Blizzard’s earnings and the latest developments in the Call of Duty franchise, check out the stories below.
The joy of Hitman comes from a mastery of its levels. Learning their layouts, planning the perfect hit, or adapting to a changing situation. But what do you do once you’ve mastered Hitman? You make it harder for yourself.
In this video, Jean-Luc Seipke talks about how the experience of playing Hitman 3 can significantly change when you disable key HUD features such as Mission Story Guidance and Instincts Mode. Both are great tools for helping out players but Jean-Luc argues that without them you’re forced to act more cautiously and creatively, creating a more thrilling Hitman experience. And of course just for fun he also tries the game without any HUD just to see what it’s like.
If you enjoy this video, why not check out 47 Ways To Hit Men In Hitman 3, which offers up a humorous look at just how ridiculous the kills can get in Hitman. You can also check out our full review of Hitman 3 by Phil Hornshaw right here on YouTube or at GameSpot.com.
Update 2/4: After wrapping filming late last year, the untitled Resident Evil movie, which is an origin story reboot for RE on film has now been given a September release date.
The upcoming Resident Evil origin story movie that is being directed by 47 Meters Down and The Strangers: Prey at Night’s Johannes Roberts has officially finished filming ahead of its 2021 premiere.
The news was announced via Resident Evil’s Twitter, which said, “that’s a wrap in Raccoon City. diREcted by Johannes Roberts.”
Set in 1998 “on a fateful night in Raccoon City,” the Resident Evil movie will star Kaya Scodelario (Maze Runner) as Claire Redfield, Hannah John-Kamen (Ant-Man and the Wasp) as Jill Valentine, Robbie Amell (Upload) as Chris Redfield, Tom Hopper (The Umbrella Academy) as Albert Wesker, Avan Jogia (Zombieland: Double Tap) as Leon S. Kennedy, and Neal McDonough (Yellowstone) as William Birkin.
Roberts had previously said in a statement that “I really wanted to go back to the original first two games and recreate the terrifying visceral experience I had when I first played them whilst at the same time telling a grounded human story about a small dying American town that feels both relatable and relevant to today’s audiences.”
Dustin Rhodes debuted as the mysterious Goldust in 1995, and his first feud was with none other than the Bad Guy himself, Razor Ramon. While many wrestling fans remember the feud, you may not remember how it started: with a love letter. In a segment that feels like it came from the Attitude Era, Goldust gave Ramon a note, and during an interview with Dok Hendrix (Michael PS Hayes), Ramon explained the situation.
“Goldust, he sent me a letter,” Ramon says on the December 18 episode of Raw. “He tells me he thinks I’m so hot. I’m so handsome. Hey Chico, you right! But, I don’t play that. Razor, he only likes women. Goldust, you can do your thing, man, just not with me.”
Dok asks about the contents of the letter, and Razor gives him a frank answer. “Well, it’s a family show, Dok, but I’ll tell you back in the back. It’s not for children.”
Sony’s next installment in the Resident Evil franchise finally has a release date. The untitled origin film will arrive on September 3, 2021–just seven months from now.
Written and directed by Johannes Roberts (47 Meters Down), the story takes place in 1998 in Racoon City, following the events of what can be described as “one fateful night.” That really only means one thing: the escape of the T-Virus which turns a bunch of people into zombies.
Production wrapped on the film back in December, as the official Resident Evil Twitter sent out an ominous image featuring white noise on a TV screen.
There are plenty of familiar names in the movie if you’re a longtime fan of the video game series. Kaya Scodelario (The Maze Runner) will play Claire Redfield, Hannah John-Kamen (Ant-Man and the Wasp) plays Jill Valentine, Robbie Amell (Upload) as Chris Redfield, Tom Hopper (The Umbrella Academy) as Albert Wesker, Avan Jogia (Zombieland: Double Tap) as Leon S. Kennedy, and Neal McDonough (Yellowstone) as William Birkin.
Sony Pictures’ Screen Gems will be distributing the movie domestically, so as of this writing, it will be in theaters. There have been six movies in the previous Resident Evil franchise, all written and directed by Paul W.S. Anderson and starring Milla Jonovich.
However, this upcoming untitled movie isn’t the only Resident Evil content coming your way. Netflix is developing two TV shows: one live-action and one animated. There’s also a demo available on PS4 and PS5 for the upcoming game Resident Evil: Village, which contains sexy vampires.
The CoD franchise had more than 100 million monthly active players during 2020, and this helped drive new records for revenue. For the year, net bookings across the entire CoD franchise amounted to nearly double that of 2019. During an earnings call, CEO Bobby Kotick said Call of Duty had 250 million players in 2020.
Activision also revealed that the Call of Duty franchise has now generated an incredible $27 billion since it started in 2003 across all platforms and entries to become one of the most successful franchises across all of media.
Call of Duty premium sales–that is, non-free-to-play games–grew by 40% year-over-year for unit sales. Additionally, Activision reported a “further strong shift” away from physical and toward digital sales.
For Q4 (October-December), Activision–across all of its franchises–had 128 million monthly active users, while net bookings for the CoD franchise jumped by double-digits compared to Q4 of 2019.
Black Ops Cold War’s release in November helped grow the franchise, too, with monthly active users growing by 70% and time spent in CoD more than doubling. The game sustained its momentum, too, as Activision said unit sales “grew sharply” in December and January thanks to the launch of the Season 1 update.
Microtransaction sales on console and PC are booming, too, growing by more than 50% in the fourth quarter alone. The Season 1 content for Black Ops Cold War and Warzone led to the highest number of battle passes “consumed” since Activision launched the mechanic in 2019.
Call of Duty Mobile also had a big Q4, achieving double-digit growth for microtransaction sales, while monthly player numbers in Western regions reached their highest numbers yet. The average amount of money spent per player also grew year-over-year.
Shifting to Blizzard, World of Warcraft had “strong engagement” for its Classic and modern modes in 2020, Activision Blizzard said. Net bookings from the WoW series jumped by 40% to reach their highest level in almost a decade.
WoW monthly active users jumped year-over-year, helping push total Blizzard monthly active users across all games to 29 million in Q4 alone.
Sales of the Shadowlands expansion, along with more subscribers, helped push WoW revenue in Q4 to growth year-over-year.
Blizzard also said the Diablo Immortal beta test in December and January was “met with very positive feedback and strong engagement metrics.” Additional beta tests are scheduled for later this year. In other Blizzard news, the first BlizzConline event will take place February 19 and 20, where Blizzard will share updates on its franchises.
Activision Blizzard’s King division also posted strong results, hitting its highest-full year financial performance since Activision Blizzard bought the company in 2016. King reached an astonishing 240 million monthly active users, while microtransaction sales grew by double-digits.
In total, Activision Blizzard made $2.4 billion in revenue for Q4, which compares to $1.9 billion for the same period last year.
For the full year, Activision made $8.09 billion in revenue, up from $6.49 billion last year. Revenue from digital channels reached $6.66 billion. This was Activision Blizzard’s biggest year in its 30-year history.
In terms of microtransactions alone, Activision Blizzard made $1.3 billion from microtransactions in Q4 and $4.85 billion from microtransactions in 2020 overall.
It’s a big week for Call of Duty, as Black Ops Cold War’s Zombies mode grows with its new Firebase Z map. Check out the video above and the stories linked below to learn more.
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This week on Wrestle Buddies, GameSpot’s professional wrestling podcast, our homework is due. For months, Mat Elfring has been watching every episode of WWE Monday Night Raw and every pay-per-view from 1995, and now it’s time to look back at WWE’s weirdest–and perhaps worst–year of programming.
Chris and Mat review the highs and lows from 1995, including the rise of Shawn Michaels to main event superstar, Papa Shango being repackaged as a biker and wannabe ultimate fighter, and the time WWE gave a house to a child–yes, that actually happened. Also, did you know the secret inspiration for Bray Wyatt’s WWE character was introduced in 1995? Get ready to meet Waylon Mercy.
This is a year that doesn’t get talked about much. After all, it’s post-Hulkamania running wild, but WWE had yet to launch the Attitude Era. Instead, the “New Generation” as they termed it, is a time where WWE got experimental with its characters and storylines. A lot of them were bad, yes, but it’s interesting to look back on a time when the company wasn’t afraid to get weird and over-the-top with its product to see what gained traction with the audience. This is definitely a journey you want to join us on.
Plus we answer your questions! New episodes of Wrestle Buddies are released every Thursday on the podcast platform or app of your choice, including Spotify, Stitcher, and Apple Podcasts. You can also keep up to date with the podcast by following it on Twitter.
