In a recent Activision Blizzard investor call, executives from the company stated that despite the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the mass shelter-in-place, the Call of Duty franchise’s next major game is set for a 2020 release.
During the call, Activision Blizzard president and COO Daniel Alegre shared that employees have adapted to the new changes in society, and that the new CoD is still on track for its previously confirmed 2020 release. Executives at the company explained that the most recent entry in the franchise, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, has exceeded expectations. This is due in part to ongoing events with the seasons and the standalone battle royale game, Warzone–which currently has over 60 million players. While the details on the next game weren’t shared, including any plans for Xbox Series X or PS5, Alegre stated that the CoD franchise remains a key pillar for the company.
Back in February, the executives spent some time describing the current state of the series, which was shortly before the launch COD: Warzone and before the mass spread of COVID-19. Given that circumstances are far more different compared to then, and with other developers having to push the release of games back due to the shelter-in-progress, it’s surprising to see that they’ve managed to stick to their plans of releasing the next game this year.
In addition to talking what’s next for COD, the executives at Activision Blizzard also made time to talk about how the pandemic has affected the company. During this talk, Alegre also assured employees and investors by stating that “with true ingenuity and input from the team, we are managing through this.” During the mass shelter-in-progress, CEO Bobby Kotick even gave employees his personal number, allowing anyone to text or call him at any time. In the presentation to investors, the execs also raised awareness to the needs of mental health for employees, while also reiterating how the company has made donations to charities, including the company’s Call of Duty Endowment program for military veterans.
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HBO’s Westworld ended on a massive cliffhanger. Here’s what we need from Season 4 and beyond.
HBO’s Westworld has wrapped up it’s third season in a major cliffhanger–much like it did all the way back in Season 2. But this time around, we have a somewhat clearer idea of where things could be headed, and a relatively concise list of what big questions will need to be answered in Season 4.
Dolores’s plan–convoluted as it may have been–was ultimately a success. Humanity is free of the shackles they’d been unknowingly saddled with by the mega-AI Rehoboam thanks to Caleb’s moment of free will. But these things come with a cost, and while it may (or may not) have meant Dolores had to sacrifice herself for the cause, it could also mean that the world as humanity knows it is now destined for destruction. After all, that was Serac’s greatest argument for his own megalomania: He chooses how humanity progresses, not because he wants to, but because it’s the only way to keep us from destroying ourselves. But now the illusion has been shattered, Rehoboam is dead, Caleb (and Maeve) are in the wind, and Bernard has the key to the Sublime. Oh, and there’s the matter of that post-credits scene–which is still a lot to process.
Thankfully, we already know that Season 4 will happen, so it’s only a matter of time. Here are 7 major questions we’d like to see tackled when it finally arrives.
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1. What’s going on with these post-credits time-skips?
In the second post-credits scene of Season 3, we see Bernard waking up after he shut down while accessing the Sublime. He’s covered in a thick coat of dust, implying that he’s been there for a while. We can assume (or at least try to assume) that Bernard is waking up at some point in the far future, similar to the Man In Black’s post-credits scene in Season 2. If you remember, William (who is probably Host William) found himself entering a dilapidated testing facility in the park where a host version of his daughter was set up to test him for “fidelity.”
Obviously, part of Delos’ mission was to engineer a way to immortality and the fidelity tests were a major part of that–but what’s up with these major time-skips? Are these scenes with William and Bernard actually related or are they at two different moments in an already murky timeline?
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2. Who is Halores, really?
Season 3 dropped a bombshell about Dolores’s accomplices, revealing that they weren’t in fact other hosts, but copies of herself. This meant that the host piloting the copy of Charlotte Hale wasn’t Teddy like we’d assumed, but another Dolores. But something strange began happening for Halores as she continued through Dolores-Prime’s plan–memories of Charlotte’s life began surfacing in her, forcing her closer and closer to a complete mental collapse.
It seemed like Halores was killed in a brutal car explosion that took out her entire (human) family but she in fact survived, and found her way to Delos in Dubai to begin manufacturing more hosts–like a host copy of William for instance. But we have no idea who is actually in control of Halores’s mind or what they want. Is it Charlotte somehow returned from the dead? Is it an insane version of Dolores? Is it someone else entirely?
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3. Who is Bernard?
Bernard’s return from the Sublime was pretty ominous, and not just because it apparently took so long for him to come back. We have absolutely no way to tell if it’s actually him occupying that body, given just how many hosts were uploaded into the Sublime at the end of Season 2. So is it actually Bernard waking up?
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4. What happened to Stubbs?
Poor Stubbs was in miserable shape when Bernard shut himself down to enter the Sublime. We get no indication whatsoever as to what happened to him when we see Bernard wake up. Did he die there in the bathtub? Did he escape? Did someone capture him?
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5. What’s going to happen to Caleb?
Caleb brought about Dolores’s new world order at the end of Season 3 and then escaped the Incite facility with Maeve–but now we’re left to wonder what’s going to happen to him. Unlike Maeve, who is functionally immortal, Caleb is a human, and sure, he may be able to be “whoever the f***” he wants to be now in the new world, but that doesn’t mean he’s any less at risk than he was. And we have to assume that there will be powerful people out there who know exactly what he did which makes us wonder: What’s next for Caleb and how can he possibly survive this?
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6. Is Dolores really dead?
It certainly seemed like Dolores met a grim end after being wired into Rehoboam and basically datamined into oblivion, all for coordinates that she didn’t actually have inside her head. But if there’s one thing Dolores has proven very, very good at time and time again it’s beating the odds. It seems pretty unlikely that Dolores is actually dead and gone for good–we’re betting that her consciousness somehow got uploaded into the shell of Rehoboam just before it was destroyed, meaning she could have sent herself out almost anywhere. Rehoboam had access to so many systems and servers around the world, she would have had an infinite number of escape hatches.
Or, maybe this is an occam’s razor situation and she really is just gone. Either way, we’d really like to get a definitive answer for Dolores’s fate come Season 4.
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7. What about Serac and Incite’s legacy?
Rehoboam may be gone and the world may be plunged into the chaos that comes with freedom of choice, but we have to imagine that Serac and Incite’s legacy won’t just vanish overnight. Rehoboam played a major role in the day-to-day function of society beyond just making sure people did or didn’t get the jobs they wanted, and now it’s gone.
And then there’s the issue of the information Incite had collected. After all, Delos still exists as we saw in the post-credits scene and while their goal may not be exactly the same as Incite’s, it’s unlikely that all the data the two companies were trying to win from one another is just going to vanish into the ether. Will Incite’s downfall create a power vacuum that Delos–or maybe something worse–is destined to fill?
And what about Serac himself? We never see him actually die, which means it’s likely he’s still around and ready to begin picking up the pieces of his shattered empire one way or another.
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Disclosure: ViacomCBS is GameSpot’s parent company
Activision has shared its financial results for the first quarter of 2020. Despite the coronavirus pandemic, the first quarter of the year has been a successful one for the publisher, and its latest Call of Duty title in particular, Modern Warfare, has been performing especially well.
According to Activision, Modern Warfare has “sold through more units and has more players than any prior Call of Duty title at this point after its release.” Moreover, the publisher says Modern Warfare’s sell-through in the first quarter was “the highest for the franchise outside of a launch quarter.”
Sales of Modern Warfare “accelerated” in March, thanks in part to the launch of its standalone battle royale mode, Warzone. Although it can be downloaded and played for free even if you don’t own Modern Warfare, the game supports cross-progression with MW, so Operators, weapons, and other content you’ve unlocked in that title can be used in Warzone, and progress you make in Warzone will carry back over into MW.
Modern Warfare developer Infinity Ward will roll out a new update for the game this week that will introduce a new mode called Demolition, as well as new playlists. The studio is also holding a limited-time double XP event. Until May 8, players will be able to earn twice the usual amount of XP, weapon XP, and battle pass XP in Modern Warfare and Warzone.
Like many other businesses, employees and game developers at Activision Blizzard have transitioned to working from home. However, that hasn’t stopped Activision from confirming that the next “Premium Call of Duty” is on track to release later this year.
Activision Blizzard’s new Chief Operating Officer and president Daniel Alegre spoke with investors today to share Activision’s Q1 2020 results. Despite the changes to the workplace caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Alegre confirmed that the next mainline Call of Duty game is “on track for later this year.”
Alegre also said two titles “based on library IP” from Activision are in development. This means there are two games not based on Call of Duty in development and include games like Crash Bandicoot and Spyro. Activision did not confirm what these titles are so there’s space for speculation.
Call of Duty has overperformed in recent months thanks to the huge sales for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and the popularity of Call of Duty: Warzone. Activision confirmed the sell-through for Modern Warfare is the highest in the franchise months after launch, and Warzone hit 60 million players.
Activision’s free-to-play Call of Duty battle royale title, Call of Duty: Warzone, has been a major hit. The publisher said in a press release for its Q1 2020 earnings call that Warzone “has reached over 60 million players” since its release on March 10.
Activision didn’t specify what it meant by players “reached,” though it’s likely the measure of total players who have downloaded Warzone, as opposed to how many are actively playing it each month. Though active players is sure to be a smaller number, the 60 million figure suggests Warzone has gained a significant player base in the three months since its release.
And apparently the number of players jumping into Warzone is continuing to increase. Back in April, Activision announced that the battle royale game, which features cross-play between Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC, had hit 50 million players.
The Call of Duty franchise is doing very well for Activision at the moment. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, released in late 2019, “has sold through more units and has more players than any prior Call of Duty title at this point after its release,” according to the press release. Modern Warfare’s sales in the first quarter of 2020 were also the best the franchise has ever seen outside of a launch quarter, with a big chunk of those sales driven by the addition of Warzone.
Activision also said on its earnings call that there’s more Call of Duty on the way, with the yearly premium CoD release on-track for the fall despite the impact of COVID-19.
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Louis Leterrier is in negotiations with Netflix to direct Bright 2, a sequel to the streaming service’s 2017 film which starred Will Smith and Joel Edgerton. Leterrier helmed the second MCU film, The Incredible Hulk, as well as movies such as Now You See Me, Clash of the Titans, and the first two Transporter features.
The buddy-cop/action/fantasy sequel will reunite Smith and Edgerton as the pair of LAPD officers from the first film, the latter of whom happens to be an orc. Suicide Squad’s David Ayer, who directed the original and had been attached to the follow-up, is busy rewriting his remake of The Dirty Dozen for Warner Bros, according to Deadline.
Ayer wrote Bright 2 with Evan Spiliotopoulos, and T.S. Nowlin handled rewrite duties on the script.
The first film was touted by Netflix’s Chief Executive Reed Hastings as one of the service’s most-viewed original titles ever in the weeks after it debuted. At that time in January 2018, a sequel was announced but we’ve heard little about it since then. The title had a total audience of more than 11 million in its first three days of release, according to Nielsen estimates.
According to Deadline’s sources, the Bright sequel will feature the unlikely partnership of Smith’s Daryl Ward and Edgerton’s Nick Jakoby “on an international stage.”
In our review of Bright, IGN’s David Griffin gave the film a 7 out of 10, saying “Bright could have been something truly special if it had slowed down the pace of its narrative to allow for a fuller exploration of its engaging world. Will Smith and Joel Edgerton are a compelling duo I’d love to see again in a sequel, or even a new series produced by Netflix, so hopefully, this isn’t the last we’ll see of the world of Bright.” Sounds like it isn’t!
It takes time to create a stunning video. From the first brainstorming session to scriptwriting, to actually filming – it’s a lot of work. The last thing you want to do at the end of an edit session is to wait for your work to be rendered and ready to share with the world.
A speedy laptop for video editing is about more than just the latest processor. You’ll also want a powerful GPU to speed up exporting, but often that means you’ll give up some portability. Although, that’s not always the case, as you’ll see below.
The spec sheet of most video editing laptops reads a lot like a gaming laptop, with color tuned displays, RTX 20-series GPUs, and cooling systems to ensure everything keeps running. But that’s necessarily a bad thing. You’ll save yourself some time, and when you’re done working, you can open your favorite game and escape for a couple of hours.
The Aero15 checks all the boxes for a fully-loaded video editing laptop without the sticker shock. The Samsung AMOLED display is X-Rite Pantone color calibrated, giving you realistic colors and shading. There’s a myriad of ports on either side, including a rare UHS-II SD card reader.
This laptop also comes with Microsoft’s Azure AI support, which helps automatically tune the CPU and GPU based on the app you’re using, increasing performance when you need it most. There are several configurations, with the one we’re highlighting here being the middle of the road option in specifications and cost.
Apple’s 16-inch MacBook Pro is the most powerful MacBook Apple makes. It combines Apple’s typical minimal approach to design, with a high-resolution Retina display, an AMD Radeon Pro 5000M GPU, and a beefy 64GB of memory.
It was also the first laptop Apple shipped with the new Magic Keyboard scissor mechanism that, so far, hasn’t experienced the same issues Apple’s keyboards had been plagued with. For anyone who lives inside Final Cut Pro X while on the go, the 16-inch MacBook Pro was made for you.
HP’s ZBook Studio boasts Intel’s Xeon E-2176M processor and the Nvidia Quadro P1000 GPU. Unlike the RTX or GTX lines which are primarily for gaming, the Quadro is designed and marketed for professional applications like CAD or video editing and support 10-bit color.
The ZBook Studio x360 has a unique form factor with a screen that rotates nearly 360-degrees, a touchscreen, and stylus support. So you can flip around the display and use the included ZBook Pen to make edits, sketch graphics, or take notes. There are multiple configurations, doubling the memory or storage – or both.
Want more screen space? 17.3-inches is plenty for a laptop, and Acer found a way to keep it from adding a ton of extra weight. The ConceptD has a Pantone validated 4K screen with true to life colors.
This configuration hits an attractive price point while combining the reliable performance of 9th generation Intel Core i7 and a GTX 1660 Ti – a combination we’ve seen perform well in some of the best budget gaming laptops, and it is sure to excel when put to use in a creative environment.
The Razer Blade Stealth 13 (see our review) is stunningly small, lightweight, and portable, without sacrificing much, if any, power. It’s a clear cut Ultrabook on the outside, with a spec sheet that reads like a gaming laptop. Another benefit? It’s priced more in line with what you’d expect from an ultrabook, at $1,500.
The 13.3-inch screen looks fantastic, despite its 1080p resolution. Razer also has a 4K touch panel configuration if you require a higher resolution display. Weighing just over 3 pounds, lending itself to be tossed in a bag and taken anywhere you want to work.
Not all laptops are made for your lap, and the Alienware Area 51m (see our review) is proof of that. It’s big, bulky, and heavy, but for good reason. Instead of using a mobile processor, it uses a desktop-class CPU i9-9900K and RTX 2080 for a truly powerful workstation. It comes with plenty of storage, 1TB of SSD storage and a 1TB hybrid drive.
The Area 51m has a fun design, with a honeycomb pattern on the bottom that’s part of its cooling system. There are plenty of ports, allowing you to connect peripherals and monitors via HDMI, miniDisplay Port 1.4, or Thunderbolt 3.
If budget isn’t a concern, you can go all out with the Asus ProArt StudioBook Pro. The massive 17-inch WUXGA display is powered by a Xeon E-2276M processor, and Quadro RTX 3000 GPU that’s designed for professionals (read: not gaming). With 64GB of memory, 4TB of storage, and the Xeon E-2276M, you’re looking at a computer that should be able to handle your editing sessions with ease.
The overall design is fairly small, given what it’s packing inside. At 5.27 pounds, it’s still portable even with a 17-inch screen. You can pare down the $4,000 price tag with different configurations, cutting down memory, storage, or both.
What to Look for in a laptop for video editing
In many ways, there’s a significant overlap between a great video editing laptop and a gaming laptop. You want something that’s powerful, while still being portable. Battery life is nice to have for everyday tasks, but when it comes to processing your latest shoot, you’ll want to keep your laptop plugged in.
To help with processing, you’ll want a laptop with a powerful GPU. Nvidia’s latest RTX 20-series GPUs leverage Nvidia’s Max-Q design that trades a slight decrease in performance for a smaller overall size, and in turn, allowing for a light and portable laptop (just look at the Razer Stealth). But don’t get caught up on with having to have the latest 20-series GPU – unless you’re dealing with 8K video, you should be able to get by just fine with something like the GTX 1650.
When looking at processors in a laptop, Intel’s 10th generation chips are becoming commonplace, and future proof your investment, but aren’t a requirement. Intel’s 9th generation processors are just as capable and will save you a little money when shopping. A quick way to identify which generation is being used in a build is to look at the numbers that follow the processor name. For example, an Intel Core i7-1065G7 denotes a 10th generation Ice Lake processor. Whereas an Intel Core i7-9750H represents a 9th generation Coffee Lake processor.
It’s easy to get caught up in looking at flashy gaming laptops, most of which will do just fine as a video editing machine. But don’t limit yourself to a gaming machine, laptops like the ZBook Studio x360 or Asus ProArt StudioBook Pro are proof that non-gaming laptops are just as powerful and versatile.
Jason Cipriani has covered technology full-time for the past 8 years. During that time he has freelanced for the likes of CNET, Fortune, Time, ZDNet, Macworld, Wired, and TechRadar.
The impact of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic is changing the way most live their everyday lives. Now, after the Walt Disney Company’s quarterly earnings call, it’s also becoming clear how it’s affecting businesses. In a press release pertaining to the company’s earnings, Disney revealed it expects to lose over $1 billion dollars due to the pandemic.
“Obviously, much has changed in the world since our last earnings call and the challenges we’re facing are unprecedented,” chairman and former CEO of Disney Bob Iger said to open the earnings call. Those unprecedented challenges include all of Disney’s theme parks around the world remaining closed, while many of Disney’s employees were furloughed until they can safely return to work.
The closures led to a 10% revenue loss for the Parks, Experiences, and Products division of Disney, which amounts to a $1 billion loss in operating income. Meanwhile, there remains no set date for most of the parks to reopen. However, CEO Bob Chapek noted that the company plans to reopen Shanghai Disneyland on May 11. The park will follow government required procedures, as well as implement limited capacity and density control.
Disney has also had to contend with postponing movie releases and, in the case of Artemis Fowl, opting to debut a movie on the Disney+ service and forgoing a theatrical window altogether. Still, the company believes it can ultimately weather the storm.
“While the COVID-19 pandemic has had an appreciable financial impact on a number of our businesses, we are confident in our ability to withstand this disruption and emerge from it in a strong position,” Chapek said in a statement. “Disney has repeatedly shown that it is exceptionally resilient, bolstered by the quality of our storytelling and the strong affinity
consumers have for our brands, which is evident in the extraordinary response to Disney+ since its launch last November.”
For more information about the new release dates for Disney’s upcoming slate of films, including several upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe movies, check out our easy guide.
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EA has been impacted by the coronavirus but is still planning a pretty full slate of 2020 games, according to its recent financial results. The remainder of the year will include its full slate of sports games, and a few other surprises leading into next spring.
One of the slides in the company’s most recent financial statement lays out a partial schedule of games. That includes Burnout Paradise Remastered on Nintendo Switch and Command & Conquer Remastered by the end of June, followed by FIFA 21 and Madden 21 by the end of September (Q2), and then NHL 21 by the end of the calendar year (Q3).
In addition to those, EA’s footnotes mention a few other games on the way. Another sports game is coming, along with another EA HD game, four EA partner games, and two mobile games that will soft-launch. All of those are scheduled for this fiscal year, which means they could come anytime before March 31, 2021. It is also planning to release a previously-announced Medal of Honor VR game on Oculus during this period.
Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson previously spilled he’ll be the cover athlete for Madden 21, which suggested that game was on track for its usual fall release. The rest of EA’s 2020 slate may be light without many fall releases besides sports titles, but that could change if any of the unannounced EA or partner games get slotted into the fall time period.
EA is likely to make any such announcements at EA Play Live, its annual summer gaming show. This year the festivities will go on without being adjacent to E3, since that show was canceled, and it will take place digitally instead of as a physical gathering. It will begin on June 11 at 4 PM PT / 7 PM ET.
If you’re working from home or just want to rid your gaming setup of some wires and cables, then you should check out the latest deal from Logitech. Its G305 Lightspeed wireless gaming mouse is currently $40, down from $60, and comes with free shipping. Unfortunately, Logitech notes that it’s currently experiencing order processing delays of up to 14 days, so you may have to be patient in waiting for your mouse to ship and arrive.
The G305 gaming mouse comes in white and black colours. It features an optical sensor with up to 12,000 DPI sensitivity and 400 IPS precision, making it a great mouse for gaming. It also boasts a 1ms response time and 250 hours of battery life, powered by one AA battery. The fact that it uses a AA battery is particularly great, as a built-in battery would most definitely degrade over time, shortening its lifespan.
Logitech G305 Lightspeed wireless gaming mouse
$40 ($60)
If you’re looking for more suggestions, there’s currently a great sale on Star Wars-themed PC gaming accessories. Amazon has discounts on a Razer Stormtrooper gaming mouse, keyboard, and headset as well as a large mouse pad. They are awesome, but stock is limited and the price is likely to go up soon, as it was a special Star Wars Day deal.
While you wait for your mouse to show up, there are plenty of free games you can claim right now that’ll help keep you busy. Developers and publishers have been making a number of their games free to help those who have to stay at home during the current pandemic. Also, be sure to check out our guide to the best TV, movies, and games for social distancing.
