Captain Marvel Won’t Come To Netflix, Nor Will Any 2019 Disney Movie After It

Disney has announced that Captain Marvel, scheduled to premiere in theaters on March 8, will be the first of the company’s films to not come to Netflix. Instead, sometime after exiting theaters, Captain Marvel will debut on the upcoming Disney+ streaming service.

According to Deadline, Disney CFO Christine McCarthy predicts the decision to keep Captain Marvel, and all other 2019 Disney movies, off of Netflix will cut the company’s operating income for the year by about $150 million USD. “What we’re basically trying to do here is invest in our future,” Disney CEO Bob Iger said. “It’s almost the equivalent of deploying capital to build out our theme parks. This is a bet on the future of this business.”

No exact launch date has been confirmed for Disney+ as of yet, but the service is scheduled to release sometime in 2019. Disney+ will become the new streaming home for all of the company’s existing movies and TV series, as well as the platform that hosts new content. Disney already has three new series scheduled for the service. All three will be live action, with one starring Tom Hiddleston reprising his MCU role of Loki, another focusing on Scarlet Witch and Vision, and the third acting as a prequel to Rogue One: A Star Wars Story that stars Diego Luna reprising his role as Cassian Andor.

Captain Marvel is far from the only Disney movie scheduled for 2019, nor will it probably be the biggest. After Captain Marvel, Disney sees the debut of Toy Story 4, The Lion King, Avengers: Endgame, and a few other films. Avengers: Endgame will probably be the biggest superhero film of the decade, which concludes the overarching Infinity Stones-focused arc that began in 2008’s Iron Man. Avengers: Endgame is scheduled to premiere April 26.

Disney Will Keep Making R-Rated Marvel Movies

Disney CEO Bob Iger reaffirmed that the company intends to keep R-Rated properties that it will acquire from the Fox merger as R-Rated, specifically referring to the Deadpool films.

In a Disney Q1 2019 earnings results call, Iger said “We do believe there is room for the Fox properties to exist without significant Disney influence over the nature of the content, meaning that we see that there is certainly popularity amongst Marvel fans for the R-Rated Deadpool films, as a for instance, we’re going to continue in that business.

“There might be room for more of that… as long as we’re very carefully branding them and making sure that we’re not in any way confusing the consumer with a product that would be either a Disney product or a more traditional Marvel product.”

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Disney Has No Plans to Publish Video Games Themselves

Disney currently has no plans to publish video games based on its own intellectual properties.

During the company’s recent earnings call (Via DiscussingFilm), Chairman and CEO of The Walt Disney Company Bob Iger stated Disney doesn’t plan to publish any video games and will instead continue to license its brands to other studios.

An example of this is the current deal with EA which currently has the rights to make games under the Star Wars license. This includes titles like the Battlefront series, the recently cancelled open world Star Wars game that was being worked on by EA Vancouver, and the other single player Star Wars game that was also cancelled when Visceral Games closed down.

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Disney Says EA Has Been “Good” Partner For Star Wars Games Despite Loot Box Controversy

At one point in time, media giant Disney published video games like Disney Infinity and Epic Mickey in-house through its now-defunct Disney Interactive Studios. That’s no longer the case, as it now primarily licenses its franchises to outside studios instead. One major partner is Electronic Arts. In 2013, Disney and EA signed a 10-year deal to make EA the exclusive publisher of Star Wars games on console, and now Disney chief Bob Iger has commented on the company’s philosophy about publishing games and its relationship with EA.

He said on an earnings call that Disney’s history of internal development and publishing of games has been shaky, so he’s happy that Disney has now shifted to a licensing model.

“Over the years we’ve tried our hand in self-publishing, we’ve bought companies, we’ve sold companies, we’ve bought developers, we’ve closed developers. And we’ve found over the years that we haven’t been particularly good at the self-publishing side, but we’ve been great at the licensing side which obviously doesn’t require that much allocation of capital,” Iger said.

Regarding EA specifically, Iger said Disney’s relationship with the publisher has been “good,” despite what could be seen as issues recently.

“We’ve had good relationships with some of those we’re licensing to, notably EA, and the relationship on the Star Wars properties, and we’re probably going to continue to stay on that side of the business and put our capital elsewhere,” he said.

While Disney has been enormously successful in the areas of making its own movies, theme parks, cruise ships, and TV shows, video games have been a tough nut to crack. “We’ve never managed to demonstrate much skill on the publishing side of games,” Iger said.

EA has released two Star Wars console games, Star Wars: Battlefront and Star Wars: Battlefront II, since its licensing deal with Disney began in 2013. The next one is Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order from Titanfall developer Respawn that is due out this fall. In other news, it was recently reported that EA canceled an open-world Star Wars game, with its developer EA Vancouver, now focusing on a smaller-scale project that can be released sooner. EA maintains that it is “fully committed” to making more Star Wars games as part of its deal with Disney.

2015’s Star Wars: Battlefront was an enormous success, shipping more than 14 million copies. The sequel, which was criticised for its loot box mechanics, shipped 9 million copies at launch.

Assuming EA’s deal with Disney for Star Wars video games hasn’t been updated, it runs until 2023. Unlike wholly owned franchises like Battlefield and Dragon Age, EA must pay Disney a licensing fee for its Star Wars games. However, the specific terms of the licensing agreement between Disney and EA is unknown.

Xbox Announces New Sport Series Wireless Controller

During the Inside Xbox stream on Tuesday, Xbox announced a new wireless controller that will be added to the Sport Series.

The new controller is called the Sport Red Special Edition, and is the second controller in the series that was launched this past summer. The first controller in the Sport Series was the Sport White Special Edition and featured mint, grey, and silver accents.

The new controller is primarily red in color and features darker red and transparent accents on the buttons and joysticks, with a metallic red D-pad. Hits of silver can be seen in patterns on the front as well.

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New Xbox One Controller Color Revealed–Take A Look Here

Microsoft has revealed the second in its Sports series style of Xbox One controllers. The new version, named the Sport Red Special Edition, is, well, red, and “inspired by the world of activewear and sports lifestyle.”

The new controller, which boasts rubber grips on its rear, launches worldwide on March 5 and costs $70 in the US. International pricing has not been announced. Microsoft says the pad includes a 14-day trial for Xbox Live Gold and Xbox Game Pass “in select regions.”

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In addition, the publisher has unveiled a matching Pro Charging Stand, also in Sport Red. The charging stand comes with a six foot cable for long-distance charging and launches on May 1 in North America for $50. It’s unclear whether Microsoft plans to bring the Sport Red charging stand to other territories.

Halo: Outpost Discovery Experience Announced for the U.S.

Halo: Outpost Discovery is headed to five major cities in the U.S. and will allow visitors to “Explore a Halo Ring, get up close and personal with a real-life Warthog, battle fellow recruits in an epic laser tag arena, experience thrilling in-universe encounters with the latest simulation and VR technologies and much, much more.”

As announced during today’s Inside Xbox, fans will have a new way to experience the universe of Halo that began all the way back on the original Xbox in 2001.

The five cities that will host Halo: Outpost in its first year will be;

  • July 5-7 – Orlando, FL
  • July 19-21 – Philadelphia, PA
  • August 2-3 – Chicago, IL
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Microsoft Game Studios Has A New Name

Microsoft Game Studios has rebranded as Xbox Game Studios, a change that corporate vice president Matt Booty says reflects the company’s evolution. “As we’ve expanded our focus beyond the console, the Xbox brand has also evolved from its original roots,” he explained.

“Xbox is our gaming brand across all devices, no matter how or where you want to play, or who you want to play with. In that spirit, I’m pleased to share that we are changing the name of our game development organization from Microsoft Studios to Xbox Game Studios.”

Xbox Game Studios is comprised of 13 teams including “343 Industries, The Coalition, Compulsion Games, The Initiative, InXile Entertainment, Minecraft (Mojang), Ninja Theory, Obsidian Entertainment, Playground Games, Rare, Turn 10 Studios, Undead Labs, and [Xbox’s] Global Publishing Group.”

According to Booty, these teams are “working hard to deliver incredible exclusives, original IP, and all-new chapters from your favorite franchises.” Looking ahead, he noted that 2019 will offer Xbox owners Crackdown 3 (coming later this month), Gears 5, and Ori and the Will of the Wisps, all of which will be available on both Xbox One and PC and through Game Pass.

In 2018, Microsoft went on an acquisition spree, adding seven new game studios to its roster. While the new games these teams are working on haven’t been revealed, Booty said, “as a gaming organization, [Xbox has] never been in a better position to deliver a diverse line-up of exclusive games for Xbox fans now, and in the future.”

Of course, the projects these new studios are working on may not be targeting Xbox One as, at E3 2018, Microsoft confirmed work on new Xbox hardware was underway. Whatever the case, we might learn more in June, as Microsoft has teased big E3 plans.

D’Vorah Added to Roster for Mortal Kombat 11

Announced Tuesday during Inside Xbox, D’Vorah will be added to Mortal Kombat 11.

D’Vorah is known as the female villain from the species Kytinn who has insects living inside of her, and uses them in her fighting. She was first debuted in Mortal Kombat X in 2015.

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Her coloring is a golden yellow with black detailing, and she has four lethal pincers that come out of her back for attacks and to help her fly.

Because of her connection to insects, D’Vorah is able to take control over other bugs and uses them for offensive attacks and sealing up her wounds.

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Halo Outpost Discovery Event Kicks Off This Summer

Microsoft and 343 have announced a traveling Halo event filled with in-universe activities and games, panels with the Halo creators, and more. The weekend-long Halo Outpost Discovery will kick off this summer and visit five major cities across the United States.

The announcement promises you can explore a Halo Ring, see a real Warthog, play Halo-themed laser tag, and take part in VR simulations of Halo adventures. You can also attend a panel to hear the creators talk about their work building the Halo universe, or take part in one of the community themed panels revolving around livestreaming or cosplay. Finally, hundreds of game stations will let you kick back and just play some Halo.

Halo Outpost Discovery boasts a 300,000 foot area, and will debut in 2019 with stops in Orlando, Philadelphia, Chicago, Houston, and Anaheim. Check below for the full schedule and read more details at the official site.

It’s been quite a while since 343 has brought out a major Halo release. Halo 5 Guardians released in 2015, and since then the only hint at something new that we’ve seen has been teases for Halo Infinite. The studio has clarified that Infinite is Halo 6, but we still have no idea when to expect it. The Outpost Discovery does begin after E3, though, and Microsoft has promised it’s “going big” this year, so the event may boast some Infinite content.

Halo Outpost Discovery:

  • July 5-7 – Orlando
  • July 19-21 – Philadelphia
  • August 2-4 – Chicago
  • August 16-18 – Houston
  • August 30-September 1 – Anaheim