Typically, shifts like these aren’t of note to the average video game player — people change jobs all the time, after all. In Kotaku’s report, the news outlet says that Activision wants to “boost Blizzard’s content output and release more games on a regular schedule.” Diablo 4 presumably falls under that umbrella, but this shift may also help explain some of Blizzard’s other recent announcements. Soon, that may change — and Diablo: Immortal, which was announced in 2018, may just be the tip of th

You’d like to find a way to express those emotions to the people who made the game, and actually be heard. So to help you understand things from the point of view of game developers, I’d like to explain, in a general sense, how developers receive and use feedback. Developers also have to consider whether a reported problem is a real issue in the game, or an issue with perception. Developers — all developers — love their players. Final wordsPlayer feedback is valued, desired, cherished and hugely

When Red Dead Online launched, I made my first cowboy — Aggie Havelock — with a great amount of precision and care. When I took Aggie out into the light of day and completed my first missions, she ambled into a cutscene. I have created a cowboy who veers dangerously into Handsome Squidward territory. Logging on and doing missions that relate to the internal vision for how you see your character is woke. I’ll admit there is something hypocritical about the way I portray myself in Red Dead Online.

If you played Destiny, you may be familiar with Xur, the weekly Exotic item merchant. Black TalonBlack Talon is a powerful Exotic sword from the Forsaken expansion. Its Exotic perk, Crow’s Wings, allow it to fire a Void projectile after two subsequent heavy attacks. Its exotic perk, Upgraded Sensor Pack, will constantly provide you with a radar, even while aiming down sites. Their exotic perk is Aeon Energy, which gives class energy — grenade energy for Warlocks — to nearby allies wearing other

Grand Theft Auto 5 was first released in September 2013, and quickly became one of the best-selling games of all time. In fact, in 2019, Grand Theft Auto 5 had one of its best years ever. Over the last 12 months, everything from new content for Grand Theft Auto Online, to Twitch streams, to something as simple as lower prices, seems to have contributed to the game’s impressive sales. So it should come as no surprise that this bump in sales comes with one of the best years GTA Online has ever had

Luckily, our day is brightened by the fact that the Christmas (er, sorry… Icetide) decorations from December’s seasonal event is still up. Presumably, he’s furious about the fact that there’s still Christmas decorations everywhere. However, common etiquette suggests that Christmas decorations should come down around Jan. 5. There are rumors that Anthem is getting a large-scale overhaul, but things remain quiet for now in the game itself. At least the decorations and snow show some signs of lif

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is coming to Nintendo Switch next week, courtesy of the Sega Ages series that has been bringing retro Sega Genesis hits to present day since 2017. Sonic 2, available Feb. 20, will feature characters and gameplay not seen in the 1992 game — most notably, Knuckles the Echidna, whose first appearance came in 1994’s Sonic the Hedgehog 3. Players can also start up a game as the fully powered Super Sonic, a kind of new-game-plus feature available from the start. Sonic the Hedgehog

His next role will be with Blizzard, where he will oversee the Diablo franchise. “Leaving is bittersweet as I love our Gears family, the fans, and everyone at The Coalition and Xbox,” Fergusson said. Starting in March, I will join Blizzard to oversee the Diablo franchise. In the early 2000s he joined Epic Games, where he participated in the development of the Gears of War franchise. In 2015, he joined The Coalition, the studio that Microsoft put in charge of Gears of War after buying the franchi

Red Dead Online started off in the shadow of its big brother, Grand Theft Auto Online. Red Dead, by its very nature, can’t crank the stakes up as high — there are no underground bunkers, orbital satellites, or Fast and the Furious-style sports cars. If Grand Theft Auto is a madcap theme park, where players fly by on their airborne, missile-firing motorcycles, then Red Dead Online is like a day at the park with friends, capped off by a laser tag session. Looking into the futureWorking my way thro

Phil Spencer, head of gaming for Microsoft, recently told technology publication Protocol he doesn’t view Sony and Nintendo as the company’s primary competition going forward. Instead, Spencer sees the future of gaming being fought over cloud computing between companies like Google, Amazon, and of course, Microsoft. “When you talk about Nintendo and Sony, we have a ton of respect for them, but we see Amazon and Google as the main competitors going forward,” said Spencer. “That’s not to disrespec

So many, in fact, that Square Enix is releasing a brand new bundle called Kingdom Hearts All-in-One Package, which brings together every game in the series so far all the way up to Kingdom Hearts 3. This new game is essentially a bundle of Kingdom Hearts 3 along with the previously released, Kingdom Hearts: The Story So Far. This means that the new release will include Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 + 2.5 Remix, which are comprised of several other Kingdom Hearts games:Kingdom Hearts Final MixKingdom Hea

It looks like Harley Quinn is coming to Fortnite. The Fortnite Twitter account tweeted a teaser image of Harley’s mallet along with her signature Suicide Squad hairstyle, which all but confirms that a Birds of Prey tie-in event is on the way. On top of the teaser, there have also been Harley Quinn skins datamined from the game’s most recent patch. Birds of Prey is a loose spinoff of 2017’s Suicide Squad and stars Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn. Near the end of January, the Fortnite account replie

Other changes in the season 4 patch include the addition of Revenant, the game’s newest Legend, a new weapon, a new battle pass, and a few balance changes. For a full look at everything that’s changing in Apex Legends season 4 update, you can find the full patch notes below. Apex Legends season 4 patch notesNew weapon: Sentinel Sniper RifleThe Sentinel is a bolt action sniper rifle, effective at medium to long range. LootNEW LOOT: SNIPER AMMO [10 shots per pickup]All snipers now take new ammo ty

Sony’s reveal of its next-generation game console took a new step today with the launch of a PlayStation 5 information sign-up page. There’s no new information, and the company posted a note stating that “we’re not quite ready to fully unveil the next generation of PlayStation.” Sign up below to be among the first to receive updates as we announce them, including news on the PS5 release date, PS5 price and the upcoming roster of PS5 launch games. This tease is likely a reference to widespread an

Door Kickers 2: Task Force North, originally announced in 2016, is still in development. The pauseable real-time tactical title from KillHouse Games went silent for a while, but a new trailer has it set to be released in the second quarter of 2020. The original Door Kickers launched on Steam around the same time as Breach & Clear, a deceptively similar take on tactical close-quarters action, went live on iOS. But KillHouse’s game went on to receive critical praise and commercial success on Steam

Dan Houser, vice president of creative at Rockstar Games, is set to depart the company next month. The announcement was made by parent company Take-Two Interactive on Tuesday afternoon:After an extended break beginning in the spring of 2019, Dan Houser, Vice President, Creative at Rockstar Games, will be leaving the company. Along with his brother Sam Houser, Dan Houser founded Rockstar Games in 1998, as part of Take-Two Interactive. Sam Houser currently serves as president at Rockstar Games. Re

Instead, Riot used the patch notes to announce Legends of Runeterra’s usual patch cadence, as well as to add some adorable Guardians to the game. For the complete list of patch notes, scroll down. Riot plans to patch Legends of Runeterra every two weeks. Legends of Runeterra patch 0.8.3 is live now, with patch 0.9 coming Feb. 18. Here are the official patch notes and bug fixes in patch 0.8.3.

Just in time for the 2020 primaries, Saints Row 4 is being released for the Nintendo Switch. Titled Saints Row 4: Re-elected, the game will be out on March 27 for $39.99. The Nintendo Switch port will feature 25 different packs of downloadable content, including Enter The Dominatrix and How The Saints Save Christmas. A previous title in the Saints Row series, Saints Row: The Third, also arrived on Nintendo Switch last year. That means all eyes will be on Saints Row 4, perhaps the most beloved ti

Fallout 76’s big Wastelanders update will be released on April 7 for PlayStation 4, Windows PC, and Xbox One, Bethesda Softworks confirmed on Tuesday. Bethesda will also bring Fallout 76 to Steam for the first time. If you’re thinking of making the switch between the Bethesda.net version and Steam, there’s an important caveat from Bethesda:If you already have Fallout 76 on Bethesda.net, you will not be able to transfer your Atoms or Fallout 1st membership balance between Bethesda.net and Steam.

Two game developers from Pakistan who were denied U.S. visas to attend the Game Developers Conference (GDC) in San Francisco have made a game about their experience. Both Zia and Sajid had previously been awarded scholarships by the Independent Game Developers Association (IGDA) to attend GDC. But, when they applied for visas to enter the U.S. for GDC in March, they were denied. The IGDA has made great strides in the past decade to support fledgling game developers around the world. The same wee