Category: Games

Cyberpunk 2077 is one of the most highly-anticipated games around right now, and we’re still learning more about it. Now, five years after saying the game is “definitely not a multiplayer shooter,” developer CD Projekt Red has hinted it may have changed its mind.

“We are exploring multiplayer modes,” the game’s producer, Richard Borzymowski, told GameSpot in an interview at Gamescom. “This is all I can say at the moment.”

Of course, this isn’t a confirmation of gun-focused multiplayer modes–or, indeed, any kind of multiplayer mode–so the earlier claim may still be true. In addition, last year saw CD Projekt Red hire Canadian studio Digital Scapes, specifically citing the company’s history with “AAA multiplayer console and PC game development” as a reason for enlisting its help.

Will Cyberpunk 2077 receive DLC or expansions?

We also asked Borzymowski whether CD Projekt Red intends on adding more content to Cyberpunk after launch in the form of expansions, in a similar vein to The Witcher 3‘s add-ons Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine. The producer refused to confirm CD Projekt Red’s plans but offered a small hint as to what it intends to do: “We know how well received the DLCs and expansions were for The Witcher. Right now–and I’m not lying about this–we are 100% focused on the main game.”

He concluded: “Bearing in mind how well received The Witcher’s expansions were, there will be time to think [about expansions for Cyberpunk 2077].”

Cyberpunk 2077 launches for PS4, Xbox One, and PC on April 16, 2020.

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Marvel’s Avengers had its big debut at E3 2019, but Crystal Dynamics and publisher Square Enix have kept the public showings of it strictly cinematic. That has changed now with a full 18-minute capture of the “A-Day” prologue mission released at Gamescom.

As noted in previous behind-closed-door presentations, the Avengers game has you taking control of the five main team members: Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Hulk, and Black Widow. The introductory stage both sets the story in motion and introduces the mechanics of each character. Cap is a brawler with his boomerang-like shield, Black Widow is a combination of melee and gun-play, Thor uses his lightning attacks, Iron Man flies, and Hulk, of course, smashes. The trailer gives a good look at all of them, including an extended boss battle against Taskmaster as Black Widow.

The presentation at E3 received a mixed reaction, perhaps in part because the public didn’t get to see actual gameplay. Even behind closed doors we were left with some lingering questions, especially around the online component and microtransactions. The game’s follow-up at SDCC shed more light on co-op play.

Marvel’s Avengers is coming to PC, PS4, and Xbox One relatively soon, on May 15, 2020. Crystal Dynamics is getting an assist from Eidos Montreal, which is also working on the game.

In fellow Marvel game news, Sony recently acquired Insomniac, the studio behind the hit Spider-Man game. While Marvel’s Avengers is multiplatform, Spider-Man was a PlayStation 4 exclusive. Sony has hinted it may still allow its studios to develop multiplatform games, as the situation demands.

Gamescom 2019 is officially underway. Following Nintendo’s indie-focused presentation on Monday, Pokemon Sword and Shield developer Game Freak has shared a new gameplay clip of the upcoming Pokemon Switch titles, giving fans a closer look at one of the first areas they’ll explore in the games.

The video, which you can watch below, gives viewers a brief tour of one of the quaint, English-inspired towns that players will visit on their journey across the Galar region. While brief, we get to see a few notable landmarks in the clip, including a Galarian Pokemon Center, the Pokemon Research Lab where Professor Magnolia conducts her studies, and a few other facilities, such as a boutique shop (where players will be able to purchase you clothing items for their avatar) and a rail station.

Nintendo and The Pokemon Company have been gradually revealing more details about Pokemon Sword and Shield in the lead up to their launch. Ahead of the Pokemon World Championships last week, we got to see a new trailer that showcased some new Pokemon Abilities and held items, such as Galarian Weezing’s Neutralizing Gas, which negates the Abilities of every other Pokemon on the field.

The Pokemon Company also shared more details about how online battling will work in Sword and Shield. The games will feature both Ranked and Casual battle modes; the former has players earning points after every battle, which will increase their standing in the different ranked tiers. The titles will also occasionally host special online competitions, like those that are run through the Pokemon Global Link website for Sun/Moon and their Ultra counterparts.

Pokemon Sword and Shield launch for Nintendo Switch on November 15. Players will need to have a Nintendo Switch Online subscription in order to take advantage of the games’ online features. You can see all of the new Gen 8 Pokemon revealed so far in our gallery. For more information about the titles, including where you can secure a copy, be sure to check out our Pokemon Sword and Shield pre-order guide.

Dwayne Johnson might not be appearing in the upcoming Fast & Furious 9, but the movie continues to add some impressive names. Following the news that Charlize Theron, Helen Mirren, and John Cena will all co-star, it’s been reported that Guardians of the Galaxy actor Michael Rooker has also joined the cast of the action sequel.

According to Deadline, Rooker will play a character named Buddy, and his casting is a “last minute addition” to the production, which is now underway. Rooker played Yondu in both Guardians of the Galaxy movies, and is also known for his role of Merle Dixon in The Walking Dead. He also appeared in the most recent season of True Detective and in movies such as Days of Thunder, JFK, Sea of Love, and Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer.

The currently-untitled Fast 9 hits theaters on May 22, 2020. It’s directed by Justin Lin, who has made four of the previous movies, and stars Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster, Tyrese Gibson, and Ludacris. Although Johnson has appeared in every movie since 2012’s Fast Five, as well as this year’s spin-off Hobbs and Shaw, he isn’t part of the Fast 9 cast. Johnson and Diesel had a reported falling out during the shooting of The Fate of the Furious and did not share any scenes together.

In related news, Rodriguez recently took to Twitter to blast regular series screenwriter Chris Morgan. Her tweet was in response to comments that Morgan has made about the character of Shaw, played by Jason Statham, who killed the character of Han in the Morgan-written Fast & Furious: Tokyo Drift. Rodriguez declared that Morgan has “absolutely nothing to do with where [the Han] narrative is.”

Hobbs & Shaw released earlier this month–read GameSpot’s review here. For more, check out our ranking of the most ridiculous stunts in the Fast & Furious series.

Respawn CEO Vince Zampella has issued a statement apologizing for an incident in which members of the Apex Legends team were critical of the community. While he said he firmly stands behind the team when it comes to defending itself from “toxic and nasty comments” like death threats or comments directed at developers’ loved ones, he also said the team shouldn’t add to the fray.

It started with another admission of guilt, when project lead Drew McCoy announced changes to the Iron Crown event. That ongoing event has unique cosmetics that could only be earned through randomized Apex Packs, driving the cost up to more than $150 for everything together. McCoy said that making skins so expensive broke the studio’s promise to make its monetization fair, so the shop began selling the cosmetics individually.

A thread on the Apex Legends subreddit had developers engaging with the community and offering their thoughts. But things took a turn for the worse when developers criticized the community with insulting language and saying most players are “freeloaders.” After hours of tensions, Zampella issued a statement on Twitter.

“Some of our folks crossed a line with their comments, and that’s not how we want Respawn to be represented,” he said. “I apologize to any of our fans that were offended. I will always stand behind the team here at Respawn and support them on speaking out against some of the toxic and nasty comments being directed at them, including everything from death threats to comments aimed at their family and loved ones. But we shouldn’t contribute to it when we do comment, and add to the very thing we want to prevent. We need to lead by example.”

Zampella’s statement was also posted on the subreddit itself, where the top-upvoted comments seem fairly receptive to it. Some are faulting both the devs and community for being overly hostile, while others are trying to turn attention back towards more constructive criticism.

The Iron Crown event is centered around a new limited-time Solos mode, which is structured like the regular battle royale but (as you might expect) you’re going it alone.

It looks like Rockstar Games has something new in the works, as the name ‘Bonaire’ has popped up on the Australian Classification website. ‘Rockstar Games’ is listed as the publisher and production company.

What is ‘Bonaire’, exactly? It’s entirely unclear – all we know so far, as first reported by Kotaku Australia, is that it’s been refused classification in Australia. The listing is barebones, not containing any information beyond the fact that it’s from Rockstar and that it’s a game (‘computer game’ is the broad term used for all games within this system, so it does not necessarily specify that it’s a PC release).

Kotaku Australia‘s theory is that Bonaire is likely DLC for Red Dead Redemption 2, as Bonaire is the name of a Caribbean island as well. Considering that a portion of the campaign takes place on the fictional island of Guarma, it’s possible that Bonaire could be an additional section added to either the single-player or online part of the game. Why it was refused classification, though, remains a mystery – Red Dead Redemption has an MA15+ rating in Australia, restricting it from being sold to anyone under 18. Many games in the past have been refused classification in Australia at first, but have then eventually found their way onto shelves, though – just today Australia was able to buy Hotline Miami 2 for the first time.

There’s no guarantee that Bonaire is connected to Red Dead Redemption in any way, though – it could be something entirely new. An LA Noire spin-off? A Bully sequel? Hopefully we’ll find out more soon.

Marvel’s Spider-Man, Insomniac Games’ excellent take on our favourite webcrawler, looks like it’ll be getting a Game of the Year edition. A barebones listing on Amazon points towards a new retail version of the game, and although the page doesn’t explicitly say it, it’s likely that this release would contain the game’s The City That Never Sleeps DLC. There is no release date or cover art as of yet.

The combined file size of Marvel’s Spider-Man and its DLC stretches past 70GB, so it’s likely that the DLC would be available as a download code rather than being on the disc. The City That Never Sleeps was released as three parts post-launch: The Heist, Turf Wars, and Silver Linings, all of which were bundled together in a season pass. The game has received numerous updates and free costumes since launch, but it’s unclear if this Game of the Year edition will be the same version currently available or whether it will carry some of these updates.

Marvel’s Spider-Man was a huge sales success, and made our Game of the Year list for 2018. We also learned today that Sony has acquired Insomniac Games, adding them to their stable of internal development teams.