Author: Jack Coleman

NME

Cyberpunk 2077 is receiving a new expansion called Phantom Liberty set for release sometime next year.

• READ MORE: ‘New Tales From The Borderlands’ hands-off preview: an entertaining choice-driven comedy

Phantom Liberty was announced during CD Projekt Red’s ‘Cyberpunk 2077 Night City Wire’ stream – the developers previously teased that viewers would find out what was next for the action role-playing game.

Fan-favourite character Johnny Silverhand will be returning in Phantom Liberty, piloted once again by the ever-popular Keanu Reeves. The trailer for the expansion depicts the protagonist swearing an oath to the “New United States of America” before being told that taking that oath was a “bad idea.” After the trailer concluded, Reeves appeared on-screen to announce his return to the game.

Reeves had a brief message to share with viewers at the trailer’s conclusion, stating “Hey everyone… Johnny Silverhand is coming back and so am I. Get ready for Phantom Liberty, the upcoming expansion for Cyberpunk 2077.” He continued “It’s awesome to be back playing the role of Johnny and I hope you’re excited to see him rocking out once more in the dark future, keep an eye out for more info and I’ll see you again… in Night City.”

According to the trailer’s description, Phantom Liberty will take place “in an all-new district of Night City” and will be a “spy-thriller.” The exact release date of Phantom Liberty is currently unknown, with the trailer just revealing that it is planned to release next year. The expansion will not be released on last-gen versions of Cyberpunk, only on Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, PC and Google Stadia.

In other news, Phasmophobia developer Kinetic Games has released an updated roadmap for the game that details the specifics of what’s being added for the remainder of the year and into 2023. Despite delays related to the optimisation of the virtual reality version of the game, a new map and highly-anticipated custom difficulty features will be released later this month.

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NME

MultiVersus’ latest addition Morty is receiving a buff just two weeks after his release.

• READ MORE: ‘New Tales From The Borderlands’ hands-off preview: an entertaining choice-driven comedy

This comes from game director Tony Huynh who responded to a player’s inquiry on Twitter. The player replied to a tweet from Huynh saying Morty was a weak character to which the game director responded, “Morty got some buffs.” This is in reference to the upcoming patch, set to release on September 8.

Morty was released on August 23 and the balance team is already making adjustments to the bruiser. The specifics of Morty’s buffs are currently unknown but we will find out more when MultiVersus’ official patch notes are released.

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Morty got some buffs

— Tony Huynh (@Tony_Huynh) September 6, 2022

Huynh shared that the design team is currently working on patch notes and they will likely be released “early this week.” The upcoming patch is supposed to be a big one and Huynh is hoping to get the patch notes out before the patch is released so people have time to digest the changes before they go live.

The new character Gizmo from Gremlins is also set to be released on September 8. Not much is currently known about Gizmo’s kit but the teaser suggests he will be a defensive fighter who can shield himself by hiding in a box. Unless they take the Gremlins 2 route that is.

Much like the aforementioned Morty who was separated from his partner-in-crime Rick, Gizmo and Stripe will be two separate characters. Stripe’s release date is currently unknown, as is Rick’s. Both are expected sooner rather than later, however.

In other news, Phasmophobia developer Kinetic Games has released an updated roadmap. Despite the delays caused by the optimisation of the virtual reality version of the game, Phasmophobia will be receiving highly-anticipated custom difficulty options and a new map called Sunny Meadows later this month.

The post ‘MultiVersus’ buffing Morty weeks after release appeared first on NME.

NME

Phasmophobia developer Kinetic Games has released a roadmap that outlines what updates are planned for the remainder of the year and into 2023.

• READ MORE: ‘Gori: Cuddly Carnage’ is a bizarre blend of ‘Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater’ and ‘Devil May Cry’

Kinetic opened by talking about how Phasmophobia has experienced some update delays as the virtual reality optimisation took a few months longer than planned, “Originally the VR overhaul was planned to release earlier than April, allowing us to get knee-deep into custom difficulty’s development. As it took longer, we pushed custom back a couple of months and gave the community three smaller patches of content to fill the gap in content” shared the developer.

The custom difficulty update, mentioned above, is set to launch this month. This update adds several options that will allow players to tweak the difficulty of each individual game. A new map called Sunny Meadows is set to be added. This new asylum will be smaller than the original but will be more densely packed to compensate. Fans of the game previously voted in favour of a smaller map.

Kinetic has also promised a couple of surprises for the upcoming patch, teasing “We’ve squeezed in loads of extra things and even a few new [redacted] for you to enjoy, all will be revealed when the update trailer drops very soon.”

The ‘Progression’ update has been split into several parts and pushed to next year, but some of the planned features are being packaged into an update set to launch in Q4 2022 called the ‘URP Upgrade’. This update will contain an overhaul of the game’s weather system and new lighting.

2023 will contain Phasmophobia’s “biggest programming and art overhaul” with various progression updates. New models, animations and systems are being made completely from scratch while Kinetic adds new content to the game simultaneously. The developer’s plan is to release several smaller updates to keep the game fresh for the community. You can view the whole Phasmophobia roadmap on Steam.

In other news, the latest update for Total War Warhammer 3 has added modding tools and new in-game content.

The post ‘Phasmophobia’ receiving new map and custom difficulty appeared first on NME.

NME

PUBG Mobile is partnering with Dragon Ball for a collaboration in 2023.

• READ MORE: ‘No Man’s Sky’ and the six-year struggle against its own crafting system

The collaboration is to celebrate the release of Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero, a Dragon Ball movie that was originally released in June in Japan and in September and August for the rest of the world. As the press release specifically mentions the recent film, it’s likely the event will centre around the characters and premise of the film rather than Dragon Ball as a whole.

The exact details of the collaboration are currently unknown but PUBG Mobile has previously collaborated with series’ like Jujutsu Kaisen and Arcane so the Dragon Ball collaboration may follow a similar formula.

During the Arcane event, characters like Jinx, Vi, Caitlyn and Jayce were added to the game. There was also a “mirror world” mimicking the location Piltover from the Arcane series and a hextech gun. The Neon Genesis Evangelion collaboration included a unique game mode.

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PUBG MOBILE x DRAGON BALL
Coming soon in 2023 pic.twitter.com/FRNxYOo0ym

— PUBG MOBILE (@PUBGMOBILE) August 30, 2022

Dragon Ball just finished a different collaboration with Fornite, another battle royale. This partnership added in-game cosmetics, emotes, missions and of course, the useable Kamehameha. Also included was a recreation of Kame Island where players could trade with Bulma for powerful items.

As the collaboration is set to take place sometime during 2023, a significant chunk of time would already have passed since the release of Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero. According to PUBG Mobile, more details on the event will be forthcoming closer to its release date.

In other news, Fortnite is adding the viral “Jiggle Jiggle” dance to the game. The song and accompanying dance were created by British-American documentarian Louis Theroux who first revealed his “rap” on the web show Chicken Shop Date. The release date for the dance is currently unknown.

The post ‘PUBG Mobile’ collaborating with ‘Dragon Ball’ next year appeared first on NME.

NME

PUBG Mobile is partnering with Dragon Ball for a collaboration in 2023.

• READ MORE: ‘No Man’s Sky’ and the six-year struggle against its own crafting system

The collaboration is to celebrate the release of Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero, a Dragon Ball movie that was originally released in June in Japan and in September and August for the rest of the world. As the press release specifically mentions the recent film, it’s likely the event will centre around the characters and premise of the film rather than Dragon Ball as a whole.

The exact details of the collaboration are currently unknown but PUBG Mobile has previously collaborated with series’ like Jujutsu Kaisen and Arcane so the Dragon Ball collaboration may follow a similar formula.

During the Arcane event, characters like Jinx, Vi, Caitlyn and Jayce were added to the game. There was also a “mirror world” mimicking the location Piltover from the Arcane series and a hextech gun. The Neon Genesis Evangelion collaboration included a unique game mode.

See more

PUBG MOBILE x DRAGON BALL
Coming soon in 2023 pic.twitter.com/FRNxYOo0ym

— PUBG MOBILE (@PUBGMOBILE) August 30, 2022

Dragon Ball just finished a different collaboration with Fornite, another battle royale. This partnership added in-game cosmetics, emotes, missions and of course, the useable Kamehameha. Also included was a recreation of Kame Island where players could trade with Bulma for powerful items.

As the collaboration is set to take place sometime during 2023, a significant chunk of time would already have passed since the release of Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero. According to PUBG Mobile, more details on the event will be forthcoming closer to its release date.

In other news, Fortnite is adding the viral “Jiggle Jiggle” dance to the game. The song and accompanying dance were created by British-American documentarian Louis Theroux who first revealed his “rap” on the web show Chicken Shop Date. The release date for the dance is currently unknown.

The post ‘PUBG Mobile’ collaborating with ‘Dragon Ball’ next year appeared first on NME.

NME

Netflix has added a username system to its gaming section, calling the new feature “game handles”.

• READ MORE: Roll7 co-founder John Ribbins is changing the way we make games – for the better

Game handles work like any other gaming name tag system, they are publicly identifiable usernames that are unique to every user. Upon downloading certain games like Into the Breach and Mahjong Solitaire, the user will be prompted to create a Netflix game handle.

“Your game handle is a unique public name for playing games on Netflix” the prompt reads. The description for game handles mentions the ability to invite friends via their game handles and leaderboard functionality for games. However, these features are not yet available – suggesting they’re planned to arrive at a later date.

The Verge spoke to Netflix spokesperson Kumiko Hidaka who said the company is “always looking to improve our members’ experience on the service, and are exploring different features to enrich the Netflix mobile games experience,” though had “nothing else to share” at the moment.

Netflix has increased its presence in gaming, adapting several video game series’ to film or television. These include the Resident Evil and Cyberpunk 2077 series’ and the upcoming BioShock film. Though the Resident Evil series has now been cancelled after just one season after poor reception from fans.

The gaming section of Netflix may not have delivered just yet, as less than one per cent of Netflix’s subscribers reportedly engage with the platform’s gaming section.

The company is still experimenting with gaming and is hoping to add more games to the platform by the end of 2022. Back in June, Devolver Digital announced that it was bringing three games to Netflix Games.

In other news, The Callisto Project and PUBG had their shared universe connection severed due to narrative difficulties. 

The post Netflix adds usernames and hints at further social gaming features appeared first on NME.

NME

Dwarf Fortress may be getting its Steam release soon following a Tweet from publishers Kitfox Games.

• READ MORE: Roll7 co-founder John Ribbins is changing the way we make games – for the better

It was announced in 2019 that the famous freeware management simulation game Dwarf Fortress would be getting a paid enhanced release on Steam – as creator Tarn Adams is looking to monetise his popular creation. Adams has partnered with Kitfox Games, developers of Boyfriend Dungeon to handle the business side of development while Adams’ Bay 12 Games work on the enhanced edition.

In response to a fan question about when the Steam version would be released, the Kitfox brand account replied “Sooner than you might think!” Of course, this still does not provide a concrete release timeline. The Steam page for Dwarf Fortress has not been updated, with the release date still reading “time is subjective.”

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Sooner than you might think!

— Kitfox Games Secret Weapons out NOW!!! (@KitfoxGames) August 28, 2022

On Tarn Adams’ blog, he shared on August 8 that “…we don’t have a release quite ready” giving a brief update on the game’s development. However, included in his August 22 update is the mention of an “exciting announcement” that he is working on. This announcement relates to the Dwarf Fortress demo that will be shown off at PAX West. As this event is set to take place next week (September 3 – September 6), it stands to reason that this announcement will be arriving soon.

The Steam version of Dwarf Fortress will be replacing the ASCII art with charming tile-based sprites. Also coming with the enhanced edition are a major UI overhaul and mouse support in menus. There will be numerous other general quality-of-life updates added. The PAX demo will likely reveal more about the current state of the game.

In other news, The Callisto Protocol and PUBG Battlegrounds stopped being in a shared universe due to narrative difficulties associated with the link.

The post ‘Dwarf Fortress’ Steam version arriving “sooner than you might think” appeared first on NME.

NME

The concept of The Callisto Protocol and PUBG: Battlegrounds being set within a shared universe was scrapped as Striking Distance, developers of the former, felt tying together both games was too “difficult”.

• READ MORE: Video game reboots – natural evolution or shallow cash grabs?

Upcoming horror shooter The Callisto Protocol was originally planned to take place within the shared universe of PUBG Battlegrounds as both games are being published by Krafton. However, after Striking Distance requested to remove the PUBG Battlegrounds connection from the game, Krafton allowed them to do so.

As reported by PCGN, the original plan to link both games would have involved a 400-year gap between the events of both narratives. Striking Distance’s chief technology officer Mark James shared that “the connection would have taken away from the Callisto universe” and as a result, they decided not to pursue it.

Game director Glen Schofield has previously said that upon trying to link the narratives of PUBG and The Callisto Protocol, Striking Distance realised the concept was “a little out there” and dropped it as a result. Schofield also shared that his upcoming game will still make reference to PUBG through Easter Eggs.

Striking Distance has expressed interest in making a Callisto Protocol franchise with the studio’s chief creative officer saying they’d “love” to see the series expand after the release of the first game. That being said, the studio is solely focused on creating the game for now.

The Callisto Protocol is often referred to as the spiritual successor of Dead Space. This is both because of Dead Space creator Glen Schofield’s direction of the game and also because of the major similarities one can observe between both games.

The Callisto Protocol releases on December 2 for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.

In other news, Halo: The Master Chief Collection may still be getting microtransactions according to developer 343 Industries.

The post ‘The Callisto Protocol’ cut ‘PUBG’ link due to narrative “difficulty” appeared first on NME.

NME

MultiVersus has debuted as the highest-grossing game of July 2022, beating out the ever-present Elden Ring for the month.

• READ MORE: What the hell is ‘doom jazz’, and why is it in the ‘Alone In The Dark’ reboot?

According to the latest NPD sales report, free-to-play crossover fighting game MultiVersus was the highest-grossing game of July, its debut month. Despite the game being free-to-play, the game’s Founder Packs drove sales. These packs include character tickets which allow players to unlock a character of their choosing, alongside in-game currency and numerous cosmetic items.

Prior to July, Elden Ring had been the best-selling game for four of the five months since its release in February. On July’s rankings however, Elden Ring is second to MultiVersus. Elsewhere, Xenoblade Chronicles 3 debuted fourth on the rankings but this data doesn’t take into account sales from the Nintendo eShop.

MultiVersus continues to be popular following its release last month. According to SteamDB, the game continues to peak at around 40,000 players per day. Players continue to speculate on what characters will be added in the future as well, with text from The Matrix and assets relating to The Lord Of The Rings having been found in the game’s files.

Season one of MultiVersus is currently underway, with LeBron James having already been released and Morty from Rick and Morty set to release on August 23. It has now been confirmed that MultiVersus is going to add DC’s Black Adam as well as Stripe from Gremlins in the near future.

In terms of game balance, NME‘s own tier list puts Bugs Bunny, Finn, Harley Quinn and Batman as the predominant fighters in the current meta.

In other news, Final Fantasy 14 players who unintentionally received currency through a housing lottery glitch will receive poster rewards for voluntarily returning the money.

The post ‘MultiVersus’ beats out ‘Elden Ring’ as highest-grossing game of July appeared first on NME.

NME

Bloodstained: Ritual Of The Night is set to get yet another crossover, this time with landmark indie adventure game Journey.

• READ MORE: What the hell is ‘doom jazz’, and why is it in the ‘Alone In The Dark’ reboot?

The crossover will add a new area to Bloodstained’s castle, called the Tunnels. This area is inspired by the visual design of Journey and will require exploration and shard abilities to traverse. At the end of the Tunnels, the player will face the guardian of the area. After defeating the beast, players will receive a Journey-inspired equipable item.

In order to access this new area, the player must have already defeated Gebel and unlocked the Den of Behemoths. The doorway within the castle will be marked on the map and will be accessible once the above conditions have been met. In addition to the crossover, there are some minor bug fixes being patched in with the 1.4 update.

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The castle reveals more secrets! A new boss area inspired by Journey, the award-winning game from @thatgamecompany will emerge on August 23rd. Explore the new area and defeat the Guardian Dragon to win your prize.

Read all the details on our blog: https://t.co/nY9LR4WRdZ pic.twitter.com/dy5njzQmeq

— Bloodstained: RotN (@SwordOrWhip) August 19, 2022

Bloodstained is a metroidvania released on the Nintendo Switch in 2019, developed by Japanese studio ArtPlay and published by 505 Games. Bloodstained: Ritual Of The Night is no stranger to crossovers, having previously done one with Child Of Light. This crossover allows players to play as Child Of Light protagonist Aurora in the game.

Journey, meanwhile, is a visual adventure game originally released for PlayStation 3 back in 2012. It’s been ported to PlayStation 4 and PC in the intervening years. Journey has not been ported to the Nintendo Switch however, making the crossover the first time the title has come to the portable in any capacity.

Bloodstained: Ritual Of The Night update 1.4, which features the Journey crossover, will be released on August 23.

In other news, Death Stranding is coming to Microsoft’s PC Game Pass despite the game being Sony-owned property. According to a Sony spokesperson, the licensing for the PC version of Death Stranding is handled by Kojima Productions and 505 Games meaning Sony had “no involvement” with the promotion.

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