Video Game Culture: Celebs Rumors

Twitch streamer completed Elden Ring in less than three hours using an electric saxophone as a controller, and he didn’t sustain any hits throughout his playthrough.DrDeComposing has beaten a number of other games in the same genre using the saxophone, including Bloodborne, the Dark Souls games and Demon’s Souls remake released in 2020. It’s likely through these achievements that the streamer had the confidence and the skill to take on Elden Ring in his latest playthrough.Last night, I beat Elden Ring (any%) without taking a single hit while using an electric saxophone as a game controller; the World's First No-Hit Run of Elden Ring using a non-traditional controller (e.g.

Pokémon games.“POKÉMON GANG 4 LIFE,” read Kyrgios’ caption on the video of the process posted to Instagram. “HAD TO COOK UP SOMETHING CRAZY!!!!” Check it out below:Nick Kyrgios got a full back tattoo of Pokémon characters

Blizzard Entertainment is raising funds with the help of Mila Kunis to support those in Ukraine through a new pack of companion pets for World of Warcraft. Sunny the golden retriever and Flurky the murloc are the new pets, and are yellow and blue to reflect the colours of the flag of Ukraine.

Old School RuneScape players are being treated to a sequel to one of its most beloved quests – Desert Treasure – almost two decades after the original was added into the game.As a Grandmaster quest featuring the mysterious Mahjarrat, Desert Treasure 2 – The Fallen Empire is the “most ambitious” quest that the Old School team has worked on since the release of the RPG in 2013.In this sequel, players travel to four new areas and will be pitted against four new bosses that guard an ancient vault that has the power to “change Gielinor forever” if it is opened. “These four bosses each have their own abilities, mechanics, and strategies,” read the press release, with the assurance that these bosses can be battled again after the ending of The Fallen Empire for extra rewards like the coveted Virtus Armour.The content is live today (July 26) in Old School RuneScape, allowing players to commence their quest as soon as they like and secure the “host of mythical and powerful rewards.”“Desert Treasure 2 will reward players with four new best-in-slot rings to boost strength, ranged skills, magic, and melee, as well as a fully upgraded Ancient Sceptre which gets stronger with every defeated boss,” explained the team.

The Simpsons: Hit & Run remake will never be released to the public.His The Simpsons: Hit & Run remake is now finished, according to a recently released video titled “THE FINALE” on his YouTube channel, showing the significant improvements from the original assets to the Unreal Engine 5 recreations. While it is an amazing achievement and a labour of love for the classic game, Reubs is not going to give the new and improved Hit & Run away.“This is a fan remake for entertainment purposes, this game will never be available to download.

post to Twitter (via Time Extension).In 1983, Gibson took on a role as a programmer at the incipient developer Imagine, after teaching himself how to write code on a ZX81 computer. There, he gained the nickname “Grandad” as he was the eldest member of a much younger group of developers.He contributed to the creation of classics like Molar Maul, Zzoom and Stonkers, as well as the real Bandersnatch game before Imagine went bankrupt.Denton Designs was formed from five ex-Imagine employees – Steve Cain, Ian Weatherburn, Ally Noble, Karen Davies,  Graham “Kenny” Everett and Gibson.

Baldur’s Gate 3 should not create a “raised standard” for other role-playing games, due to the upcoming game’s large scale.Xalavier Nelson Jr, accomplished independent developer and founder of Strange Scaffold, took to Twitter to explain that Baldur’s Gate 3 is an abnormal game. To exemplify this, Larian Studios began work on the new entry in the series in 2017, using seven different studios with over 400 developers, and benefitted from a significant volume of fan feedback in a three-year early access period.Like a lot of people, I'm deeply excited about what the lovely folks at Larian accomplished with Baldur's Gate 3, but I want to gently, pre-emptively push back against players taking that excitement and using it to apply criticism or a "raised standard" to RPGs going forward1/10— Xalavier Nelson Jr.

Grand Theft Auto is changing its course of action after Take-Two Interactive‘s legal representatives sent them a cease and desist letter.Smokin J’s BBQ and Boyworldwide were working together to set up a pop up Cluckin’ Bell and Burger Shot at Comic Con San Diego this week, per Rockstar Intel‘s report. However, Smokin J’s BBQ has had to let Grand Theft Auto fans down lightly because Take-Two Interactive did not grant its permission for this imitation of its intellectual property.“Last Night, we received a cease and desist letter from the law firm representing Take-Two Interactive.

EA Sports responded to the sexist statements from fans saying that including female football players in EA Sports FC 24‘s Ultimate Team mode is unrealistic as ‘female players are not as skilled as male players’.Ultimate Team Evolutions — its new name in EA Sports FC 24 — allows men and women to play with and against each other for the first time in the series. In an interview with IGN, Electronic Arts vice president and executive producer John Shepherd said that the team “thought deeply” about the inclusion and that Ultimate Team was a “great spot” to communicate its mission that this sport is for everyone.“We have a vision of connecting not just the 150 million fans we have now, but a billion fans,” said Shepherd.

Rockstar Games and leaking Grand Theft Auto 6 (GTA 6) footage has been deemed unfit to stand trial, after being charged with 12 offences in relation to a string of hacks.In September 2022, over 90 videos and screenshots from GTA 6 surfaced online.  Rockstar Games confirmed the “early development footage” had been “illegally accessed and downloaded” — and within weeks, a teenager in Oxfordshire was arrested in relation to the hack.Now, 18-year-old Arion Kurtaj faces 12 offences, including six charges under the Computer Misuse Act, three blackmail charges, and two counts of fraud (Reuters, via Eurogamer).While psychiatrists have found Kurtaj is unfit to stand trial, Kurtaj is an alleged member of hacking group Lapsus$ and stands accused of hacking Revolut, Uber, Rockstar, and BT. It’s alleged that Kurtaj also attacked BT and EE, and used Rockstar’s own Slack channel to threaten to release Grand Theft Auto 6‘s source code.While Kurtaj is suspected of acting alone for the Rockstar, Uber and Revolut hacks, a 17-year-old who cannot be named is thought to have been involved in the blackmailing of BT and EE.Prosecutors claimed that both were “key players” in Lapsus$, and attempted to blackmail BT and EE for $4million (£3million).

Researchers found that this has occurred as a secondary impact of digital game distribution becoming the preferred route for releasing games. As a result, the “classic” games in this study are games released prior to 2010 which was denoted to be the year when digital game distribution “started to take off”.

Sega Of America have successfully voted to unionise, after their attempts to organise went to an election.On Monday (July 10), Sega Of America workers voted 91-26 in favour of forming the Allied Employees Guild Improving Sega (AEGIS-CWA).With members joining from a number of disciplines throughout Sega Of America’s California headquarters, AEGIS-CWA is now the largest multi-department union within the game industry.It’s a significant milestone for growing unionisation efforts across the game industry, as Sega is one of the world’s largest gaming publishers. Besides creating Sonic The Hedgehog, Sega is best known for owning the studios behind Persona, Total War, Like A Dragon, and Football Manager.“We are overjoyed to celebrate our union election win as members of AEGIS-CWA.

Sonic the Hedgehog and the president of Sega‘s Sonic Team for 16 years, has been sentenced and fined for insider trading in his time with Square Enix.READ MORE: Watch a historical weapons expert break down combat in ‘Final Fantasy XVI’The report from Jiji Press (via Video Games Chronicle) stated that Naka has been given a a suspended sentence of two years and six months in prison, with four years probation. As well as this, he faces two fines totalling $1.2million (£935k).Naka committed the crime with fellow Square Enix employees Taisuke Sazaki and Fumiaki Suzuki in order to secure advantageous shares in developers Aiming and Ateam, based on information that had not been publicised about their games Dragon Quest Tact and Final Fantasy 7: The First Soldier.In November 2022, the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office arrested Naka and charged him with violating the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act of 2006 for his $20,000 (£16k) shares in Aiming.

#Macron blames video games and social media for French riots.#FranceProtests pic.twitter.com/Tc3rm1jX2z— In Context (@incontextmedia) July 1, 2023Macron stated it was the “responsibility of parents to keep [protesters] at home,” and requested social media sites to remote “sensitive content” related to the riots.However, Macron’s statement has been criticised by supporters of the rioters as detracting from the tragedy of the incident and minimising the human response to the loss of a young person.Recently, the United Nations Human Rights office pleaded with the French government to examine the “deep-rooted issues of racism and racial discrimination” present in its law enforcement agencies.The police officer suspected of shooting Nahel was charged with “voluntary homicide by a person in authority” on June 29 and is currently under investigation.

Halo have been invited to take part in the “world’s biggest” performance of its now-iconic Gregorian chant, with “no previous singing or gaming experience” required.The original Gregorian chant debuted in 2002, as part of the first Halo game’s theme.  Composed by Marty O’Donnell, the piece went on to become synonymous with the long-running Halo series, with many elements from the first theme turning up in subsequent games.Today (June 28), gamechoir has sent out a call for fans of the game to come together in creating the “world’s biggest” performance of the series’ Gregorian chant.The digital event will begin with a live-streamed vocals lesson on YouTube, which will take place on July 10 at 18:45 BST. From there, singers will be encouraged to practice using a professionally-recorded backing track, before submitting their “high, medium or low voice” performances to gamechoir.Following that, gamechoir will broadcast the final piece on August 17.Marty O’Donnell, the composer behind Halo‘s theme, has encouraged fans — “singer or not” — to take part in the Halo chant, and admitted he “never imagined” people would still be singing the chant over 20 years later.“Video games and video game music have the power to bring people together,” shared O’Donnell.

Cyberpunk 2077‘s upcoming Phantom Liberty expansion, will also be directing a full sequel to Cyberpunk 2077.Amatangelo confirmed the news to Bloomberg (via PC Gamer), where he stated that when work wraps up on Phantom Liberty, he will continue on to direct a currently-untitled sequel to Cyberpunk 2077.Besides Phantom Liberty, Amatangelo is the current director of Cyberpunk 2077, and has led development since 2021. This included leading development on last year’s patch 1.5, which was seen as a major turning point for the game following its disastrous launch in 2020.CD Projekt Red‘s Cyberpunk sequel was announced in October 2022, and is currently working under the codename Orion.

Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick has claimed that although he remains “enthusiastic” by the prospect of AI, it will not be able to replicate the “genius” of human game developers.While fielding questions from investors, Zelnick was asked how Take-Two — the publisher behind the likes of Grand Theft Auto, Borderlands and Civilization — plans to utilise artificial intelligence within game development.Although Zelnick described the publisher as a “leader in [AI space]” and said he was “pretty enthusiastic” about the technology, he views AI as serving a limited function (via PC Gamer).“While the most recent developments in AI are surprising and exciting to many, they’re exciting to us but not at all surprising,” shared Zelnick. “Our view is that AI will allow us to do a better job and to do a more efficient job, you’re talking about tools and they are simply better and more effective tools.”Zelnick explained that in this capacity, AI will make creating games “a whole lot easier and more efficient” for developers.

Microsoft president Brad Smith has described yesterday (April 26) as the company’s “darkest day in our four decades in Britain,” after its proposed £55billion purchase of Activision Blizzard was blocked in the UK.Yesterday, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) announced that it was blocking Microsoft’s proposed acquisition, over concerns that ownership of Activision Blizzard‘s catalogue — which includes the likes of Call Of Duty, Overwatch and World Of Warcraft — would harm competition in the cloud gaming market.Speaking on the BBC‘s Wake Up To Money podcast (via GamesIndustry.biz), Brad Smith accused the decision of being “bad for Britain,” and claimed it will “discourage innovation and investment in the UK”.“Microsoft has been in the United Kingdom for 40 years and we play a vital role, not just supporting businesses and non-profits but even defending the nation from cyber-security threats,” said Smith. “But this decision, I have to say, is probably the darkest day in our four decades in Britain.

Ministry Of Sound and cosmetics retailer Lush have announced a weekly gaming livestream that will feature a mix of guest musicians and streamers.Titled Beyond The Player, the livestream will be hosted by NNESAGA founder Stephanie Nneoma, and feature “in-depth interviews with some of the industry’s most prominent figures, gaming challenges and giveaways”.Nneoma will be joined by a range of guests on the show. A number of musicians — including Talia Mar, Sim0ne, VENBEE, Bklava, wAFF and Jordan Adetunji — have already been confirmed, along with streamers Sunpi, Ebonix, and King Jae.Beyond The Pale will be hosted through Ministry Of Sound’s Twitch channel, and after its first livestream kicks off on May 9, it will run every Tuesday for eight weeks.Across those two months, the stream will cover a number of games that are releasing in that period — including The Legend Of Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom, Street Fighter 6, Diablo 4, and Final Fantasy 16.As the schedule suggests, it’s going to be a busy few months for gaming releases.

Metacritic has confirmed it will be implementing “stricter moderation” going forward, after Horizon Forbidden West‘s Burning Shores downloadable content was review bombed due to an LGBTQ+ relationship with the game’s protagonist.Although Burning Shores holds an aggregated Metascore of 82 among critics, its user-submitted reviews score currently sits at 3.9 out of 10.While some of the negative reviews criticise the game’s story and brief length, others have scored the review negatively purely because of a dialogue option that results in a kiss between the game’s protagonist, Aloy, and her companion Seyka.The inclusion of an LGBTQ+ relationship has resulted in a number of bigoted reviews flooding the Metacritic page, with users taking aim at the game’s perceived “agendas” and “woke propaganda”.In a statement sent to Eurogamer, Metacritic and its parent company, Fandom, confirmed that it would be taking steps to crack down on the “abusive” reviews.“Fandom is a place of belonging for all fans and we take online trust and safety very seriously across all our sites including Metacritic,” wrote the site. “Metacritic is aware of the abusive and disrespectful reviews of Horizon Forbidden West Burning Shores and we have a moderation system in place to track violations of our terms of use.”“Our team reviews each and every report of abuse (including but not limited to racist, sexist, homophobic, insults to other users, etc) and if violations occur, the reviews are removed.

10:10 Games has released a trailer for its debut title Funko Fusion – an action-adventure game that features Funko Pop characters from Jurassic World, The Umbrella Academy, and more.Set to launch for PC and console platforms in 2024, Funko Fusion is a third-person action game that will see Funko Pops fight enemies and solve puzzles across a variety of worlds.The first trailer shows characters from the likes of The Umbrella Academy, Shaun Of The Dead and The Thing doing battle. Some of the trailer’s locales will also look familiar, as Back To The Future‘s town of Hill Valley and Jurassic World‘s Isla Nublar both make appearances as levels in the game.You can check out the trailer below.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Eq52cnf_Os&feature=youtu.beThe game appears to share some similarities to TT Games‘ Lego series, which — like Funko Fusion — features a mix of third-person combat, co-op, and puzzle-solving.

UKIE) and Many Cats Studios have announced Impact – a campaign to profile six disabled and neurodiverse individuals within the games industry.In UKIE’s latest UK Games Industry Consensus, the trade body identified an increase in neurodivergent workers in the industry: four per cent of respondents identified as disabled, while 18 per cent considered themselves neurodiverse.As part of Impact, six industry professionals will be offered a platform that “showcases and celebrates” their talents. This will include speaking opportunities at companies and an invitation to talk at UK events, including Develop: Brighton.Additionally, the six individuals will each star in a digital campaign to highlight their status as “top-tier professionals in video games”.Applications open here on April 24, and will be open to the likes of content creators, developers, journalists and esports competitors within the industry.Introducing Impact – the joint campaign by @ManyCatsStudios and Ukie's #RaiseTheGame initiative to showcase disabled and neurodiverse people working in games.

Garry’s Mod creator Garry Newman has confirmed that Facepunch Studios will be “keeping more of an eye” on player-made content related to Nazis going forward, following a debate on the studio’s moderation responsibilities.While Garry’s Mod‘s community-oriented approach means its servers and game modes are created by players rather than Facepunch, a number of World War 2 modes and Nazi-oriented game modes have led to Garry Newman – who the game is named after – addressing the topic on Twitter today (April 20).While Newman can see the educational and entertainment “merit” in these games, the creator has warned that some too far and actively glorify the fascist regime.While Newman confirmed Facepunch doesn’t “want to police” the “huge majority” of entertainment-oriented servers, he acknowledged that the studio has a responsibility to prevent extreme servers from finding a home in Garry’s Mod.Lots of worry about the Garry's Mod server moderation.. here's a bit more of an explanation.RoleplayingI can see merit in the games here where you roleplay survival/war scenarios.

Microsoft president Brad Smith has claimed that Russian intelligence groups are trying to “penetrate” gaming communities to spread information.

Wii Sports Bowling tournament in France, taking home the competition’s trophy on behalf of their retirement home.The pair were competing at a tournament held by Gamers Assembly, which took place over the weekend (April 8-11).Jeanine (96) and Gilbert (85) were representing their retirement home at the competition, and managed to take home the tournament’s first-place trophy thanks to a well-placed strike from Jeanine (via Eurogamer).In the final round, Jeanine takes a moment to line up her shot before swinging the Wii controller forward to land a perfect strike. When every pin is knocked down, the audience erupts in cheers, with Jeanine and Gilbert moving to the front of the stage to celebrate.You can watch the moment below:96 year old Jeanine and 85 year old Gilbert won a Wii Bowling LAN in France this weekendWe need more of this pic.twitter.com/NPtauo3xmz— Jake Lucky (@JakeSucky) April 11, 2023GILBERT !!!! pic.twitter.com/B61f05CtEz— Asso Silver Geek (@SilverGeekFr) April 8, 2023In a follow-up clip, Jeanine and Gilbert can be seen posing with their trophy — a shattered bowling pin with a Wii remote inside.Also shouts to @Elchocobo the main caster for the event.

Elden Ring and Crisis Core Final Fantasy 7 Reunion.Summer Games Done Quick 2023 (SGDQ) will run from May 28 to June 4, with the annual event hosting speedrunners from across the world as they attempt to raise money for charity.As the event prepares for next month’s kickoff, organising body Games Done Quick has published the speedruns that have been accepted for SGDQ 2023.While an exact schedule will not be issued until April 11, the current list confirms every game that has been “locked in” for the event.As is tradition, next month’s event includes a mix of new and old games. Nintendo 64 games Banjo-Kazooie, The Legend Of Zelda: Majora’s Mask and Paper Mario will all be making an appearance, along with arcade games StepManiaX and X-Men Arcade.However, there are plenty of newer titles that will appear at the event.

Snoop Dogg has left Faze Clan, following a difficult financial year for the esports and gaming lifestyle brand.In a letter filed through the United States Securities And Exchange Commission (SEC), Snoop Dogg stated he was resigning from Faze Clan’s board of directors “effective immediately”.The filing (via Dexerto) clarified that the resignation of Snoop Dogg, real name Calvin Broadus, was “not the result of any disagreement with the company or any of its subsidiaries”.Snoop Dogg joined Faze Clan’s board of directors in March 2022, and his responsibilities included creating content for the org, launching Faze-related merchandise and participating in “key business initiatives”.However, Faze Clan has struggled with tumultuous finances since going public on the stock exchange in July 2022.

Resident Evil 4 remake fan has modded a small mouse onto protagonist Leon Kennedy’s head, in reference to a viral tweet that reimagined the game’s Ashley Graham as a mouse.Since Capcom launched its Resident Evil 4 remake in March, fans have latched onto a Twitter post that asked what they would do if one of the game’s main characters – the president’s kidnapped daughter Ashley Graham – was a mouse.I saw a joke drawing that depicted ashley with big ears and this came to my mind, i never got past the boulder chase scene as a kid.— Mora (@Agrimmora) March 24, 2023The now-viral tweet has amassed over 17million views, and even inspired other Resident Evil 4 players to draw their interpretations of a mousey Ashley – who fans have dubbed “Moushley Graham”.Now, Nexus Mods user Cathroon has brought Moushley Graham to life with the Moushley Graham – Ratatouille Mod (via Gamesradar), which adds a model of Moushley to watch the horror game from Leon’s head.“This is Moushley Graham, she’s cheesed to meet you, and she craves violence,” reads the mod’s description.

Activision Blizzard regarding its handling of salaries in Call Of Duty and Overwatch professional scenes.In the lawsuit, the US Government stated that Activision Blizzard’s Competitive Balance Tax in its Overwatch and Call Of Duty leagues limited competition and “suppressed esports players’ wages”.The Competitive Balance Tax forced competing teams to adhere to a salary cap implemented by Activision, meaning they were fined if any of their players were paid above a certain amount.In October 2021, Activision Blizzard told Call Of Duty and Overwatch teams that the Competitive Balance Tax would no longer be enforced, following an investigation by the DOJ.“The Competitive Balance Tax substantially lessened competition between teams in the Overwatch and Call Of Duty Leagues for esports players and limited the players’ compensation,” alleged the DOJ, who added that teams who used most of their salary cap on more expensive players drove down wages for everyone else.If successful, the lawsuit would hit Activision with a financial penalty and order the company to avoid reimplementing anything like the Competitive Balance Tax again.“Professional esports players – like all workers – deserve the benefits of competition for their services,” said Jonathan Kanter, Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division.

Silent Hill publisher Konami has opened a new studio in Osaka, Japan, to provide “sustainable growth” for the 50-year-old company.The company’s newest branch has been named Konami Osaka Studio, and a press release from Komani has shared that it is equipped with motion capture equipment and sound studios.Konami explained that Osaka Studio will help it “continue sustainable growth in the next 50 years,” following the company celebrating its 50th birthday in March.Elsewhere, construction continues on Konami’s “next-generation R&D centre” in Tokyo, which is scheduled to complete in 2025.In the same press release, Konami also announced that it has “substantially” raised the company’s base salary level. This means an average increase of 50,000JPY (£303) per employee, while the base salary for new starters will be increased by the same amount.“We have taken various steps to promote management emphasized on human capital, improve employee engagement, and enhance its competitiveness,” shared Konami.Over the last year, a number of Japanese game publishers have issued pay rises for its workers.Back in February, Sega announced a 30 per cent pay increase for all workers, which will kick in from July 2023.In the same month, Nintendo confirmed it would be giving its employees a 10 per cent pay rise.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles graphic novel The Last Ronin is being turned into a video game.Speaking to Polygon, Paramount Global’s senior vice president for games and emerging media, Doug Rosen, revealed that a third-person action role-playing game (ARPG) adaptation of The Last Ronin is in the works at an unrevealed studio.Rosen shared that the game is a “few years off” from launching, and likened the upcoming single-player game to Sony Santa Monica‘s God Of War series.The Last Ronin is one of the darker Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles stories. Set in the distant future, The Last Ronin followed Michelangelo — the lone surviving Ninja Turtle, after his brothers and mentor Master Splinter were killed by Foot Clan.The premise is much darker than last year’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge; as Michelangelo attempts to murder the Oroku bloodline while haunted by hallucinations of his deceased siblings.Rosen shared that although other characters could still be playable in flashback sequences, the main action would stick to Michelangelo in the game’s present.Looking ahead, Rosen teased that more information about The Last Ronin and other TMNT games would be shared in the next few months and years.It’s a good time to be a TMNT fan, with the likes of The Cowabunga Collection and Shredder’s Revenge launching in 2022.Since its release last June, Shredder’s Revenge has been hugely successful for developer Tribute Games.

Respawn Entertainment is opening a third studio to support the development of Apex Legends, weeks after parent company EA laid off over 200 of the game’s testers.Respawn’s third studio will be located in Madison, Wisconsin, and will initially support the company’s battle royale shooter Apex Legends.As reported by GamesIndustry.biz, the studio will be led by Ryan Burnett, who previously worked as Epic Games‘ director of engine production and, prior to that, worked at Call Of Duty developer Raven Software for 14 years.“Wisconsin is quickly becoming a central development hub here,” Burnett told GamesIndustry.biz.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino has shared that the organisation’s upcoming FIFA game series will be “the best egame for any girl or boy,” despite moving away from long-time developer Electronic Arts (EA).As noted by The Times‘ chief sports reporter Martyn Ziegler, Infantino confirmed that FIFA still plans to launch its own football game to rival former FIFA developer EA.“The new FIFA game – the FIFA 25, 26, 27 and so on – will always be the best egame for any girl or boy,” stated Infantino, who added that FIFA will “have news on this very soon”.Infantino says FIFA will go head-to-head with EA Sports by launching rival video game (EA Sports refused cash demands to keep FIFA's name)"The new FIFA game – the FIFA 25, 26, 27 and so on – will always be the best egame for any girl or boy, we will have news on this very soon."— Martyn Ziegler (@martynziegler) March 16, 2023The company’s partnership with EA came to an end in May 2022, following reports that negotiations “hit the wall” when FIFA demanded double the money it was receiving from EA in its existing deal.When the partnership ended, Infantino said “the only authentic, real game that has the FIFA name will be the best one available for gamers and football fans”.“The interactive gaming and esports sector is on a path of unrivalled growth and diversification,” he added.

Splash Damage has announced that it will be partnering with content creators Shroud and Sacriel to create an open-world survival game.Codenamed Project Astrid, the upcoming AAA game will be set within an original IP and launch as an open-world survival game.While more details on the game are yet to be announced, Mike ‘Shroud’ Grzesiek has stated he has high hopes for Project Astrid.“This project means everything to me,” said Shroud. “Chris and I have refined a vision for what’s next in the survival genre and with Splash Damage we’re setting out to build it.

Criterion Games general manager Matt Webster has announced the founding of Fuse Games, and has told NME why he stepped away from EA to start a new studio with other Criterion veterans.Announced today (March 16), Fuse Games is based in Guildford, UK, and currently numbers 17 employees.The studio has already started work on a AAA title with “significant funding”, and has claimed its debut game will fuse “uncompromising attention to game-feel with blockbuster spectacle and player-centric innovations in social gameplay, self-expression, and creativity”.Speaking to NME, Webster shared more on the direction that Fuse will take for its first game.“Over the last decade, Fuse’s founding team has had a lot of experience in a variety of genres, with work on games like Battlefield and Battlefront, as well as racers like Burnout and Need For Speed when we were at Criterion,” reflected Webster. “It’s too early to announce what we’re working on at Fuse right now, but we’ll be sticking to the values that have served us well over the years – working fast, rapidly iterating, and letting our team be creative within the genre.”While Webster will serve as the studio’s general manager, he is joined by four other co-founders who worked alongside him at Criterion.

IO Interactive has shared that any “major” new Hitman game is on “a little bit of a hiatus,” as the studio focuses on creating its upcoming James Bond game.Speaking to Eurogamer, Christian Elverdam – the co-owner of IO Interactive and its chief creative officer – suggested that fans may be kept waiting for another Hitman game.“Right now a major, major new Hitman game: that’s a little bit on hiatus as we’re building another agent fantasy that’s also taking up a lot of our time,” said Elverdam. “But obviously we’ll come back to beloved Agent 47.