Category: Games

Thanks in-part to the launch of Cyberpunk 2077, Steam has broken its all-time concurrent player record with a peak of 24,804,148 users.

As reported by PC Gamer, this impressive number was revealed by the tracking site SteamDB and breaks the previous record of 22 million that was reached in March 2020 as more and more global stay-at-home orders and lockdowns were enacted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Alongside the success of Cyberpunk 2077, which itself broke Steam’s record for concurrent players in a single game with an all-time peak of 1,054,388 users, renewed lockdowns and the onset of winter in parts of the world also surely contributed to number.

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive also helped make this record possible, as its 24-hour peak, as of this writing, is 1,062,017 players. Other 24-hour peaks in this time-frame include DOTA 2’s 648,889 users, Among Us’ 173,021 users, and Rocket League’s 121,535 users.

In our Cyberpunk 2077 review, we said that it “kicks you into its beautiful and dazzlingly dense cityscape with few restrictions. It’s a shame that frustratingly frequent bugs can occasionally kill an otherwise well-set mood, but Cyberpunk 2077’s impressively flexible design makes it a truly remarkable RPG.”

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For more on Cyberpunk 2077, check out how you can improve the game’s visuals by changing a few settings, how to get unlimited money and crafting XP, and our comprehensive beginner’s guide to help you in your adventure in Night City.

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Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to [email protected].

Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

Welcome to our Sunday deals, where the headphones are cheap and the games even cheaper! It’s another great day for gamers, as some of the best current titles are on sale at Amazon and Best Buy. The Buy 2 Get 1 Free deal at Best Buy is still in full swing and over at Amazon, there’s a suite of great deals on games, headphones, vacuums and more.

The Best Deals for Saturday, December 12

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Update (12/13/20) – Insomniac Games has released the 1.002 update for Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered on PS5 and it also brings a 60fps ray tracing mode to the game.

Original story follows.

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A new update for Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales brings a 60fps ray tracing mode to the game on PlayStation 5.

Before today’s update, which is already live, PS5 players had to choose between a resolution mode and a performance mode. The resolution mode featured 4K visuals with ray tracing while the performance mode dropped ray tracing in favor of a steady 60fps. Players can now have the best of both modes with the new “Performance RT” mode that features both 60fps and ray tracing.

Our new update overnight introduced Performance RT mode on PS5. 60fps and ray-tracing! https://t.co/SSRy9vq9Aw

— Insomniac Games (@insomniacgames) December 9, 2020

This new mode adjusts scene resolution, reflection quality, and pedestrian density in order to achieve ray tracing at 60fps, according to the in-game description of the mode. The word “adjusts” in this description presumably means “lower.” While this might be noticeable to some players, Miles Morales is so fast-paced, especially while swinging through New York City, that you’ll likely see the benefits of 60fps and ray tracing more so than the lower quality reflections and more minimal pedestrian count.

The update is already live and weighs in at roughly 262MB. Once you’ve got the update downloaded and installed, restart Miles Morales and then head to the visual settings in the game’s main menu to select the new Performance RT mode. Like with the previous two modes, you can also switch between this new mode and the game’s resolution mode from the start menu while playing the game.

This news comes the same day that PlayStation announced that Miles Morales was the number one game at the top of the PS Store’s first-ever PS5 downloads chart. Miles Morales beat out other November titles like Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, PS5-exclusive Demon’s Souls, and Assassin’s Creed Valhalla.

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For more of the game, check out the official Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales vinyl soundtrack announced yesterday and then read the official IGN Miles Morales review after that. For a look at how the game looks on PS5, PS4 Pro, and PS4, check out IGN’s Miles Morales performance review video.

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Wesley LeBlanc is a freelance news writer and guide maker for IGN. He is sad this update came after he already obtained the game’s platinum trophy. You can follow him on Twitter @LeBlancWes.

Certain Cyberpunk 2077 players on PlayStation, Xbox, and Steam are seemingly getting refunds after complaining about the game’s performance.

As reported by VGC, Redditor NotBen_2 issued a PSA to those who are also experiencing issues when playing Cyberpunk 2077, especially on base PlayStation 4 and Xbox One units.

Sony’s policy on refunds for PlayStation Store purchases allow you to request one within the first 14 days. However, if you have started to download the game, you will “not be eligible for a refund unless the content is faulty.”

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Despite that, NotBen_2 did receive a refund, even after playing 10 hours of Cyberpunk 2077. For further context, he did mention that he deleted the entire game – game data, saved data, etc – off his PS4 before requesting the refund in a “calm professional manner.”

NotBen_2’s support representative also mentioned that “Sony is issuing a business complaint to CDPR about the issues, and [that he] wasn’t the first one to call in today about refunds.”

The comments included many who were also able to secure a refund, even on Xbox consoles and Steam, but not everyone has been so lucky. So, while it doesn’t appear to be a given that a refund request will be successful, it may be worth a try if you are experiencing issues with Cyberpunk 2077.

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Cyberpunk 2077’s launch has been impacted by many factors besides those performance-related, including a possible seizure-inducing sequence in the game and copyrighted songs that may cause DMCA strikes for streamers. Furthermore, these issues and others have caused CD Projekt Red’s stock to drop 29% around the launch of Cyberpunk 2077.

All these problems aside, Cyberpunk 2077 has already been a huge success for CD Projekt Red, as it revealed that Cyberpunk 2077’s pre-order sales had already covered the entire development and marketing cost of the game and that it had sold 8 million copies before launch.

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Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to [email protected].

Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

Electronic Arts is allegedly attempting to outbid Take-Two Interactive’s nearly $1 billion offer to acquire Codemasters, the developers behind the Dirt, F1, and Project Cars racing franchises.

As reported by Sky News, EA has “tabled a potentially knockout bid for Codemasters, trumping an offer agreed last month with Take-Two Interactive Software, maker of the Red Dead franchise.”

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Take-Two’s attempt to acquire Codemasters was announced in November, and EA is said to be looking to outbid the £725 million (~$969 Million USD) offer that was placed.

While EA’s offer has not been revealed, Sky News notes that it is working with bankers at UBS on its offer and that it will likely to be disclosed to the stock market on Monday, December 14, and will be a “substantial premium to Codemasters’ closing share price on Friday of 534p.”

Take-Two’s offer is a cash-and-shares deal, which means that the value of the proposal fluctuates depending on the stock market. Additionally, certain fund managers who own Codemasters have “reportedly expressed dissatisfaction with the Take-Two deal because of its equity component and the comparatively modest premium it represented to the British company’s undisturbed share price.”

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Codemasters’ latest game, Dirt 5, was released alongside the launch of the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S. In our Dirt 5 review, we said that it “represents a complete about-face for the main Dirt series, shedding virtually all semblance of simulation in favour of an unabashed, arcade-inspired racing experience that draws from just about every influence you can name except its direct predecessor.

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Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to [email protected].

Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

Dragonspine, Genshin Impact’s first new map addition, will be added to the free-to-play game on December 23, 2020 with its Version 1.2 update called The Chalk Prince and the Dragon.

As revealed on PlayStation.Blog, Dragonspine is a frozen mountain range in the south of Monstadt and “is one of the most inhospitable areas in Teyvat.” Furthermore, Dragonspine, which was revealed earlier this year, holds the remains of the venomous dragon, Durin, who fell here after the battle with Dvalin.

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When players enter Dragonspine, they will notice the addition of a Sheer Cold bar that will go up if you are exposed to the cold without any heat source. When the bar is filled, you will take damage. The only way to combat Sheer Cold is to utilize Waypoints, lit torches, cooking pots, and the Seelie. Scarlet Quartz can also temporarily combat Sheer Cold.

All Travelers at Adventure Rank 20 and above will also be able to participate in a special winter event that will see player’s assisting the new 5-star character Albedo, Chief Alchemist and Captain of the Investigation Team of the Knights of Favonius in Monstadt. Upon completion, players will get to keep a mysterious and powerful sword called Festering Desire.

Ganyu is another new character that will be added with Version 1.2 who is a half-human, half-adeptus Cyro archer who serves as an emissary and secretary for the Liyue Qixing.

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Following this update, Version 1.3 will arrive in February 2021 and will add the Lantern Rite event.

For more, check out our Genshin Impact review and how the developers behind the game want to tell a years-long story.

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Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to [email protected].

Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

A little over a month ago, publisher Take-Two announced it had agreed to purchase Codemasters, a British company best known for its racing franchises. It would have helped to fill a hole in Take-Two’s genre output–it doesn’t do much in the way of racing games now–but it appears those plans could be on hold because of an apparent bid by Electronic Arts.

According to Sky News, Electronic Arts has made a larger offer than the £725 million (nearly $1 billion) offered by Take-Two, and it will likely be made public on Monday. It doesn’t appear Codemasters has agreed to EA’s offer yet, and the publisher refused to comment when asked by Sky News.

Take-Two could potentially reignite its Midnight Club franchise with Codemasters’ talent, but acquiring such acclaimed racing studios would also make sense for Electronic Arts. Though Criterion Games had success with Need for Speed and resumed development on the franchise, Need for Speed as a whole has struggled in recent years. More racing experts to contribute to the next game could be very valuable to EA.

The acquisition of Codemasters by either company would be big news in any year, though it’s far from the largest acquisition announced in 2020. Microsoft agreed to purchase Bethesda Softworks for $7.5 billion. This makes it the second-biggest game industry acquisition of all time, only trailing Tencent’s Supercell purchase for $8.6 billion. Microsoft’s deal hasn’t officially closed yet, meaning Bethesda legally has to operate as a separate entity for now, but it will provide Microsoft with one of–if not the–best game studio rosters in the world.

Christopher Nolan, who recently made headlines by publicly deriding the decision by Warner Bros. to move its entire 2021 film slate onto HBO Max, got in touch with his lighter, goofier side this week by professing his love for the Fast and Furious franchise.

Guesting on MTV’s Happy Sad Confused podcast, Nolan expressed how much he enjoys the entire franchise, and how the movies have gotten wilder and more unbelievable – though he still mostly prefers the first movies in the saga, particularly Tokyo Drift.

“I’m sort of an original recipe [guy],” Nolan said. “I mean the Rob Cohen original. But I’ve got a very soft spot for Tokyo Drift, actually. And then the skill as Justin Lin’s iterations, as they got crazier and bigger and crazier and bigger, they became something else, but something else kind of fun.”

“The fun thing about those movies is even as they’ve gotten bigger and bigger and bigger, as sequels have to do,” he added, “everyone always complains that sequels get bigger but we’re the people making sequels get bigger, we do want them bigger, you don’t want them smaller, it’s the Alien 3 lesson that [David] Fincher learned. You can do it but it’s not going to make anybody happy, even though personally I love that film, a lot more than he does in fact.”

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The latest installment in the Fast and Furious Franchise, Fast 9, was slated for April 2021, after it was bumped an entire year from its original April 2020 date due to the COVID crisis. Now it’s been pushed back a second time, though this time it’s a much smaller move to May 28, 2021.

Nolan, meanwhile, isn’t the only director speaking out against the Warner Bros. decision to stream its massive 2021 movie schedule on HBO Max. Dune director Denis Villeneuve has also chimed in, saying “with this decision, AT&T has hijacked one of the most respectable and important studios in film history.”

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