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The Outer Worlds publisher Private Division has announced that it’s signed agreements to publish new games by Moon Studios (Ori & the Blind Forest), Roll7 (OlliOlli) and League of Geeks (Armello).

Details about the games are scant: Moon Studios’ game will be a “a compelling action RPG”, League of Geeks will be announcing a new IP, and Roll7 will be taking “the next jump forward in their mission to create awesome, flow state games.”

Don’t expect to be playing any of these games too soon, however – none of the studios have formally announced the projects, and the first of them won’t arrive until parent company Take-Two’s fiscal year 2022.

All the new games are in early development, and announcements about each project will come “in the future”. No specific platforms have been announced at this time.

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“Developing the Ori series over the last decade has been a fantastic experience for our team, and we’re thrilled to now be aiming our sights even higher with a new action RPG,” said Moon co-founders Thomas Mahler and Gennadiy Korol in a press release. “We attribute our success to the ‘iterative polish’ process we use at Moon Studios, and we’re continuing that style of development to create a new game that rises above anything we’ve created thus far.”

Private Division was created by Take-Two as a publishing label for independent developers. So far, it’s published The Outer Worlds, Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey, and Disintegration, as well as republishing Kerbal Space Program.

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Joe Skrebels is IGN’s Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to [email protected].

Phil Spencer has said that news on backwards compatibility for Xbox Series X should be coming in August, sparking speculation that the previously-rumoured August Xbox event (and possible Xbox Series S reveal) event is legitimate.

Speaking on iJustine’s Same Brain podcast, Spencer discussed the work of the backwards compatibility team on Xbox Series X, and praised their work on optimizing older games for the next-gen console. He then added: “I’m encouraged to be able to talk more about it – should be August. I think August we’ll have more to say on that.”

While Spencer is specifically referring to backwards compatibility news, many have connected the August timing to previous rumours about an Xbox event set to take place during the same month.

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Those rumours point to the formal announcement of Xbox Series S (or Xbox Lockhart), a lower-priced, lower performance version of the Series X. It’s not too much of a speculative leap to imagine that the backwards compatibility news could apply to how older games will perform on the new console model. Earlier this week, we saw an image of a supposed white Xbox Series X controller surface, which added to the Lockhart buzz.

If true, it would mark the second major Xbox event in two months, following the Xbox Games Showcase – we thought some of that show worked, and some didn’t, so hopefully Xbox will be reacting to those concerns in any future events.

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Joe Skrebels is IGN’s Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to [email protected].

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Warzone are getting a refresh today, as Infinity Ward has rolled out a series of new playlists (and removed some) for the multiplayer games.

For Modern Warfare, Gunfight, Gunfight 3v3 Knives Only, Deathmatch Domination, and Drop Zone are now available. Additionally, fans of the popular Shipment and Shoot House maps are in luck, as Infinity Ward has introduced 24/7 playlists for each of them.

In Warzone, players can now dive into Plunder: Blood Money Trios, alongside the normal playlists: Solos, Duos, Trios, and Quads. The Plunder Quads playlist, however, has been removed.

Infinity Ward regularly cycles new playlists, maps, and modes, so if your favorite activity ever goes away, there is a chance it will return down the road.

Modern Warfare and Warzone will offer double XP, double weapon XP, and double Battle Pass XP this week. This double XP event begins July 31 at 10 AM PT and runs through August 3 at the same time.

While Modern Warfare and Warzone are still going strong, Activision is releasing a new Call of Duty game this year, and it’s rumored to be Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War from developer Treyarch.

With just over a week left until Guerrilla Games’ Horizon Zero Dawn releases for the first time on PC, minimum and recommended specs have finally been added to Steam and Epic Games‘ digital storefronts.

The game was first released in February 2017 as a PS4 exclusive, and has since received an in-depth story DLC, The Frozen Wilds. The PC version of the game is launching as a complete edition, with all DLC included.

As picked up by PC Gamer, here are the specs for PC players:

Minimum:

• 64-bit processor and operating system
• OS: Windows 10 64-bits
• Processor: Intel Core [email protected] or AMD FX [email protected]
• Memory: 8 GB RAM
• Graphics: Nvidia GeForce GTX 780 (3 GB) or AMD Radeon R9 290 (4GB)
• DirectX: Version 12
• Storage: 100 GB available space

Recommended:

• 64-bit processor and operating system
• OS: Windows 10 64-bits
• Processor: Intel Core [email protected] or Ryzen 5 [email protected]
• Memory: 16 GB RAM
• Graphics: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 (6 GB) or AMD Radeon RX 580 (8GB)
• DirectX: Version 12
• Storage: 100 GB available space

The PC edition of the game will feature a number of enhancements over the console release, though it’s not an extensive rework–ray-tracing enthusiasts will likely have to wait for the sequel. For more info on how the PC version of the game will stack up to its three-year-old PS4 counterpart, check out everything there is to know here.

Guerrilla Games recently announced a Horizon Zero Dawn sequel for the PS5 called Horizon Forbidden West, due out sometime in 2021 and featuring plenty of the series’ trademark gorgeous visuals in a new setting that will span from modern-day Utah to the Pacific.

Grounded has had a strong debut, shooting to the top of Steam’s top sellers list after yesterday’s launch. The Honey I Shrunk the Kids-inspired survival game is an experiment of sorts for developer Obsidian Entertainment. The studio is known for its story-heavy RPGs with the likes of The Outer Worlds, Pillars of Eternity, Fallout: New Vegas, and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II filling out its expansive catalogue.

Grounded quickly became the top-selling game on Steam after launching in Early Access yesterday, despite being freely available as part of Xbox Game Pass for PC as well. SteamDB shows a concurrent player peak of 12,543 players, which puts it near the bottom of Steam’s top 100 most played games. However, this doesn’t take into account those playing on Game Pass or via the Windows Store.

These numbers jump up in terms of Twitch views, too, with the survival game reaching the top three spots in terms of viewers on the streaming platform.

It’s a decent start for a game you wouldn’t expect from Obsidian. Grounded’s concept is a curious mix between Honey I Shrunk the Kids and survival games like Rust or The Forest. You play as one of four teenagers in 1990 (either solo or with up to three other friends), all of whom are shrunk down to the size of mere millimeters as part of an experiment. From here, you find yourself trapped in a backyard full of hostile insects and creatures. You’ll need to cook food and find water, construct a base, and craft weapons and items to fend off the spiders and other creepy crawlies trying to kill you.

Developed by only 13 people, Grounded’s biggest focus is on story, which is something survival games often eschew in favour of the emergent experience of simply staying alive.

The studio is also working on more familiar projects, with The Outer Worlds’ first expansion, Peril on Gorgon, set to release in September. During the recent Xbox Showcase event, Obsidian also announced Avowed, a new first-person RPG for Xbox Series X that takes place in the Pillars of Eternity universe.

Halo’s MA40 AR weapon is being turned into a Nerf gun to promote the release of Halo Infinite, and now Microsoft has shared some new images of it and more.

The Halo Twitter account announced that the Nerf blaster is now in production, and pre-orders are now open. Amazon has posted a product page for the toy, revealing new details about the toy itself and a related DLC offer.

The MA40 AR blaster features a “motorized” system that allows users to hold down an “acceleration button” and then squeeze the trigger to fire. It comes with a 10-dart clip and 10 darts, while it also includes a “rail riser” that can be attached to the weapon to customize it.

Intriguingly, the Amazon page also mentions that the $50 USD toy blaster comes with a code to unlock a “digital asset” in Halo Infinite. Specifics are not available, but a logical jump would be that the code will unlock a digital version of the weapon in Halo Infinite.

The Amazon page for Halo Infinite also mentions that the game will have “in-app purchases,” which is no surprise given what Microsoft has already said about micotransactions in the game.

Finally, the Amazon page lists an October 1 release date for the MA40 AR Nerf blaster, but this looks like it might be only a placeholder.

Halo Infinite is due to release this holiday as a launch title for the Xbox Series X. The game will also come to the standard Xbox One as well as PC. For lots more, check out GameSpot’s video overview above that covers everything you need to know about Halo Infinite.