Month: January 2019

Bethesda parent company ZeniMax has filed a trademark application for a new game called “Deathloop.” The goods and services description in the trademark application filed with the United States Patent & Trademark Office on December 26, 2018 states that Deathloop could be an online-enabled mobile game. That’s all there is to go on at this stage, however.

Trademark applications are not necessarily good predictors of future products, but they’re still intriguing to look over and consider. ZeniMax originally filed a trademark application for Starfield back in 2013, and it wasn’t until 2018 that the company officially announced Starfield as one of Bethesda Game Studios’ next projects.

Bethesda enjoyed tremendous success with its first mobile game, Fallout Shelter, so it’s no surprise that the company may be returning to that arena with a new game. Bethesda opened a new studio in Montreal back in 2015, and that branch was dedicated in part to mobile game development.

Bethesda did not respond to a request for comment outside of regular business hours.

A so-called death loop in a video game is when a game reloads after a save with players finding themselves thrust into a situation they can’t get out of without dying. A death loop is also a problematic situation that can happen in kitesurfing. While we don’t know what Bethesda’s Deathloop video game is about, it’s probably not related to kitesurfing.

It’s also possible that Deathloop never becomes a video game, because it could be that Bethesda is merely trademarking the name to protect its potential future use.

Bethesda’s latest big game was Fallout 76, which launched in November for PS4, Xbox One, and PC. Critics had mixed reactions, and the game sold relatively well in the United States. One of Bethesda’s next mobile games is The Elder Scrolls Blades, the first entry in the long-running RPG series, for mobile devices. It’s due out in early 2019.

Gears of War designer Cliff Bleszinski has revealed his next project, and it’s probably not what you expect. Bleszinski is becoming a co-producer on the musical Hadestown. The game developer, who also founded LawBreakers studio Boss Key which has since closed down, invested in Hadestown at an undisclosed amount to become a co-producer.

“Crazy, eh?!” Bleszinski said about the announcement.

At the end of December, Bleszinski said he would probably never work in the video game industry again. He found massive success at Epic with the Gears of War franchise, and he no doubt made a sizeable chunk of money when Tencent invested in Epic. After leaving Epic he started his own studio, Boss Key, but its games–LawBreakers and Radical Heights, failed to find audiences, and the studio closed down.

In a deleted tweet captured by Eurogamer, Bleszinski said he was distancing himself from video games because the culture around them can be “toxic AF.”

As for Hades town, it’s a Greek history story from singer-songwriter Anais Mitchell that tells two connecting love stories between Orpheus and Eurydice and king Hades and Persephone.

In addition to his co-producing role on Hadestown, Bleszinski is writing a book about his life.

The Gears of War franchise is now run by Microsoft, which bought the series from Epic back in 2014 for an undisclosed sum. As for Epic, it’s doing quite well right now thanks to the massive success of Fortnite. In fact, it was Bleszinski who revealed Fortnite to the world seven years ago.

Activision Blizzard, the gaming giant behind franchises like Call of Duty, Overwatch, World of Warcraft, and Diablo, has lost one of its senior executives. The California-based publisher announced that chief financial officer Spencer Neumann was notified on December 31 that his contract with Activision Blizzard was terminated.

The company decided to terminate Neumann’s contract “for cause unrelated to the Company’s financial reporting or disclosure controls and procedures,” Activision Blizzard said in US Securities & Exchange Commission filing.

Neumann is now on paid leave, and he’s been given the opportunity to “demonstrate why cause does not exist to terminate his employment or why termination of his employment is not otherwise justified.”

Activision Blizzard chief corporate officer Dennis Durkin is taking over for Neumann as CFO in the interim. Should Neumann end up leaving Activision Blizzard, Durkin will officially step into the role of CFO, the company said.

A source told Reuters that Neumann is leaving Activision Blizzard to join video streaming giant Netflix. Netflix’s former CFO, David Wells, announced last August that he was leaving the company after 14 years. The source told Reuters that Netflix wanted its next CFO to be based in Los Angeles, which Neumann is.

According to Reuters, Neumann is expected to start at Netflix in early 2019, so an official announcement might be coming soon.

Neumann had been Activision Blizzard’s CFO since May 2017. Before joining the company, he rose through the ranks at Disney, eventually becoming the CFO of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts.

Aquaman, the latest DC superhero movie, has been and continues to be a juggernaut at the box office. After another weekend at No. 1, the movie has now made $751.8 million worldwide. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the Jason Momoa-starring film is now on track to make $900 million during its theatrical run. If it does, it’ll end up becoming the biggest DC movie since 2012’s The Dark Knight Rises ($1.09 billion).

After just a few weeks, Aquaman has already exceeded the lifetime gross figures for DC movies Man of Steel ($668 million), Justice League ($657.9 million), and Suicide Squad ($746.8 million). Aquaman is expected to soon pass Wonder Woman ($821.8 million) and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice ($873.6 million).

Aquaman is doing much better from international markets. It’s made $562.4 million from international markets, including a whopping $260 million from China alone. The film has pulled in $189.4 million from the United States.

Aquaman stars Jason Momoa as Aquaman, with a cast that also includes Amber Heard, Willem Dafoe, Patrick Wilson, and Nicole Kidman.

For more on Aquaman, you can check out GameSpot’s review and related feature content linked below.

Destiny 2‘s weekly reset brings another Ascendant Challenge to complete, this one ending the Dreaming City’s six-week rotation. You can see what this entails in the video above, and check out our guide for full details.

After grabbing the Ascendant Challenge bounty from Petra in the Dreaming City (she’s conveniently located near the landing zone this week), you’ll need to head to the Starlight Chamber Lost Sector in Rheasilvia–but be sure you have a Tincture of Queensfoil on-hand. Progress all the way through the Lost Sector and use the Tincture to gain the Ascendance buff. You’ll find the portal behind the Lost Sector reward chest. Inside, you’ll have to deal with enemies and some platforming to make your way to a knight enemy that has to be killed to complete the challenge and bounty–netting you some Powerful gear.

The Dawning, Destiny 2’s holiday event, is over this week as well, and you’ll need to wait until the January 8 reset for new content. That’s when the final of the four Forges, the new activities in The Black Armory expansion, is released. In the meantime, here’s everything you need to know to unlock the Izanami Forge.

With the new year comes Destiny 2‘s weekly reset, and while the game’s holiday event, The Dawning, might have ended, there are still lots of ways to chase Powerful gear to get up to the new Power level cap of 650. Most notable is the rotating Ascendant Challenge, which takes you into the strange recesses of the Dreaming City. This is the end of the six-week cycle of challenges, and it’s one of the most spookiest and most involved. Here’s where to find the Taken portal and what to do once you’re inside.

As always, the first step is to pick up the Ascendant Challenge from Petra–this is what nets you a piece of Powerful gear for completing it. Once that’s done, make sure you have a Tincture of Queensfoil. With that in hand, you’ll enter the Lost Sector in Rheasilvia, the Chamber of Starlight. You’ll need to make your way through the entire thing, as the portal is located just behind the chest that unlocks after killing the boss. While optional, you might as well complete the Lost Sector to make things easier on yourself. With that out of the way, use the Tincture to gain the Ascendance buff, which allows you to see the Taken portal. The exact location can be seen in the video above and map below.

Jump through the portal to head to Cimmerian Garrison, located in the Ascendant Plane. Here, you’ll be faced with what amounts to a gauntlet–you’ll need to make your way through and kill an enemy at the end. Once you go inside, you’ll be chased by three knights. As you progress, you’ll have to deal with various enemies, including hobgoblins, shriekers, and thrall with yellow health bars. Take them out as you go, and you’ll reach a point where you have to platform across some rocks (because it wouldn’t be an Ascendant Challenge without some first-person platforming). Along the way, be mindful of the Taken corruption that will periodically explode with a blast of energy, which can send you falling you to your death if you aren’t careful.

Once you’re done platforming, you’ll have to kill a knight to finish things out, but beware the shrieker that spawns nearby. With the knight dead, open the chest to complete the Ascendant Challenge. There may not be any special rewards inside there, but you’ll get a piece of Powerful gear for turning in the associated bounty.

This week’s reset marks the end of the Iron Banner as well as The Dawning, and you’ll have to wait a bit if you’re itching for something new to do. There’s one last Forge activity to unlock in Destiny 2’s latest expansion, The Black Armory, but it won’t become available for to find and unlock until the weekly reset on January 8. In the meantime, though, there’s the Izanami Forge, which is the toughest and most involved to unlock yet–check out our guide for help.