Author: Jordan Middler

NME

DLSS support for Microsoft Flight Simulator will be coming ‘later this year’ according to a new Q&A with the games developers.

• READ MORE: Here’s what Xbox’s acquisition of Activision means for you and your games

As spotted by PCGamesN, during a Q&A with Asobo Studios, when asked about the long-requested feature on the PC they revealed that players won’t have to wait too much longer for DLSS and Direct X12 support.

You can watch the full Q&A below;

Also revealed was the news that the upcoming World Update 7 will cover Australia, including new digital imagery to make the countries geography feel more realistic. World Update 8, which is set to launch in late March, although no specific date was given, will focus on Spain and Portugal.

A free expansion pack featuring planes from the upcoming Top Gun reboot will finally release in May after having been delayed to coincide with the release of the new film.

As before, the DLC will be released for Windows 10 PC, Steam, Xbox Series X|S, and on Xbox Game Pass. It will be a free expansion pack and features the F-18 amongst other items inspired by the film, which stars Tom Cruise.

The team also revealed that gliders and helicopters are currently planned for Autumn, although it might be a while before we here more about them. These Q&As are regular, with the net one scheduled at the end of February, so expect more news on upcoming World and Sim updates then.

Sim update 9 is said to be focused on fixing repeated bugs during long haul flights, but details were not given at this time.

Elsewhere, 35 states in the US have said that Apple’s app store practices aim to overshadow the competition, backing claims made by Epic Games. The bipartisan group of attorneys general said in a court filing that the judge’s initial ruling that Apple’s App Store doesn’t have dominant control over the mobile app market was false.

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Fans of the popular Twitch streamer xQc have been targeting fan accounts, and the streamer himself, due to the amount of time he spends playing the popular role-play mod for Grand Theft Auto Online. 

• READ MORE: Here’s what Xbox’s acquisition of Activision means for you and your games

As spotted by Kotaku, a fan account, @xQcOWUpdates tweeted that it had been receiving a large amount of backlash in recent times.

“We have unfortunately noted a sharp increase in hostile complaints and targeted harassment in our replies. Please remember that we are an updates account with no direct connection to xQc ourselves.”

The account continued “but with that being said, we cannot choose what xQc plays or affect what happens on stream. As of now, effective immediately, we will begin to restrict and block complainers here depending on severity.”

When asked by Kotaku for comment, the person who maintains the Twitter account said;

“It is pretty ridiculous how terrible some people will get because their favourite streamer isn’t playing a game they like,” the account holder told Kotaku. “The replies on our tweets have really become a breeding ground for this, which is why we put out that statement yesterday. It seems like so many of these people are banned from xQc’s chat so they now just come here to spew their vitriol. We try our best to ignore the shitty comments, but when regular people in our community are also becoming victims of targeted harassment…because they like watching xQc play GTA RP, is when it bothers us.”

Elsewhere, 35 states in the US have said that Apple’s app store practices aim to overshadow the competition, backing claims made by Epic Games. The bipartisan group of attorneys general said in a court filing that the judge’s initial ruling that Apple’s App Store doesn’t have dominant control over the mobile app market was false.

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Stray Bombay, the team behind ‘The Anacrusis’ has revealed that over 200 thousand players have tried the game during its first week.

• READ MORE: Here’s what Xbox’s acquisition of Activision means for you and your games

In a statement, Chet Faliszek, co-founder of the studio said that;

“Seeing the community jump feet first into the Anacrusis in this first week has been fantastic. We’ve seen a huge surge in players from Game Pass and lots of positive responses from PC fans as well. We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us and all the feedback that’s come in has been hugely appreciated. We’re continuing to create more game content and refine what’s there as we work on new features like mod support and the upcoming Challenge Track.”

The co-op shooter, which is currently in Early Access on PC and as part of the Game Preview programme on Xbox is planned to release fully towards the end of 2022.

As part of this announcement, several fixes have been announced which will be implemented in an upcoming patch. These include fixes to the Spanish localization, an in-game language selector, fixes for Xbox Series X and Series S performance.

Will Smith (not that one), communications director at Stray Bombay said that;

“Everyone on the Stray Bombay team has had a blast watching The Anacrusis streams since launch. We’ve enjoyed chatting with fans, getting feedback from players, and occasionally even joining in the fun! We want to highlight the amazing streamers and YouTubers who are having a blast with The Anacrusis, so we’ve begun a bi-weekly highlights series to put a spotlight on some of the best moments people have been having with our game.”

Elsewhere, 35 states in the US have said that Apple’s app store practices aim to overshadow the competition, backing claims made by Epic Games. The bipartisan group of attorneys general said in a court filing that the judge’s initial ruling that Apple’s App Store doesn’t have dominant control over the mobile app market was false.

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The writer of 2021’s Mortal Kombat movie will write the upcoming TV adaptation of the legendary immersive sim System Shock.

• READ MORE: Here’s what Xbox’s acquisition of Activision means for you and your games

In October it was reported that Nightdive Studios was working with Vinge to create a TV adaptation of System Shock, a cult sci-fi adventure from 1994, and the spiritual prequel to BioShock. 

Binge is a new streaming service that is said to be ‘created for the gaming universe’ is working on the project. Nightdive boss Stephen Kick will act as executive producer for the show, alongside Larry Kuperman, who will serve as director of business.

But now, as revealed by Deadline, the project has a writer. Greg Russo, who wrote the 2021 Mortal Kombat film has joined the project. Speaking about the announcement, Russo said;

“I’m honoured to have the opportunity to work alongside the fantastic team at Binge and Nightdive Studios to bring the iconic System Shock franchise to life,” said Russo. “I’ve been waiting for the right opportunity to make my directorial debut, and I finally found it.”

Binge Chief Content Officer Alan Ungar added ; “Greg is a superbly talented screenwriter who possesses an unmatched knowledge and passion for gaming. His artistic approach to storytelling and his deep understanding of the source material will undoubtedly get fans excited about this new franchise. We’re thrilled to be bringing him on board and can’t wait to share his vision with audiences worldwide.”

In addition to writing on the project, Russo will also executive produce. No release date or production schedule has been announced for the adaptation.

Elsewhere, 35 states in the US have said that Apple’s app store practices aim to overshadow the competition, backing claims made by Epic Games. The bipartisan group of attorneys general said in a court filing that the judge’s initial ruling that Apple’s App Store doesn’t have dominant control over the mobile app market was false.

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Rangers Football Club has condemned racist attacks aimed towards player Nnamdi Ofoborh as he streamed FIFA 22 on Twitch.

• READ MORE: How social media helped ‘Football Manager’ become one of the biggest cult games on the planet

As reported by The Daily Record, Ofoborh’s live stream of FIFA 22 was the target of extremely racist remarks by several users on the popular game streaming platform.

The player later shared images taken of the chat on his Instagram page, which showed users abusing Ofoborh with derogatory racist remarks.

According to The Daily Record, Twitch took action against the accounts that sent the messages after this was brought up by the player and by the newspaper.

A spokesperson for the website said: “Twitch stands firmly against racism in any form and our community guidelines prohibit the use of hateful slurs on Twitch.

“Twitch offers a range of tools in addition to human moderation to help keep our service safe. Using AutoMod, our creators can ban certain words from appearing in chat and filter out unwanted contributions. We take action against any account for conduct that we determine to be inappropriate, harmful, or puts our community at risk.”

Anti-racism campaign group Show Racism The Red Card, which deals primarily with racism in Scottish football, has said that the abuse faced by the player is “commonplace” on platforms like Twitch.

It told The Daily Record;

“The thoughts of everyone at Show Racism the Red Card are with Nnamdi and we are writing to both him and his club to offer our support. Over 50 per cent of young people and players we work with in Scotland have seen or experienced racist abuse on gaming platforms in the last year. Platforms can, and must, do more to protect all users. Until then, online gaming cannot be considered a safe space for people of colour.”

A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “We have received a report of offensive comments made online and inquiries are at an early stage.”

Elsewhere, PS5 players will soon be able to automatically upload captured screenshots and video files to the PlayStation app.

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PS5 players will soon be able to automatically upload captured screenshots and video files to the PlayStation app.

• READ MORE: How social media helped ‘Football Manager’ become one of the biggest cult games on the planet

It’s being noticed by some players that they’re being offered the option to automatically upload their files from their PlayStation consoles, despite the fact that the feature is yet to be announced.

North American players on Reddit and Twitter have been noticing that this hidden update is being rolled out slowly. If a player is part of the select group, they’ll receive a pop-up informing them about the new feature.

“Automatically upload your latest screenshots and video clips, and view them on PlayStation App.” reads the message that players have started to receive. Players can then upload screenshots or video clips to the app, however, the video clips can be no longer than 3 minutes, if they are, they’ll still have to be transferred via external storage on the PlayStation 5.

In other PlayStation news, Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection will allow players to transfer saves and trophies.

The official PlayStation Twitter account made the announcement clarifying that both save data and trophy progress from Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End and Uncharted: The Lost Legacy can be carried over from PS4 to PS5.

There was no word on PC save integration, as that version of the remaster still only has a 2022 window for its release.

In NME’s 4-star review, Jon Bailes said “Uncharted 4 and The Lost Legacy are still at times as stunning as gaming gets, and at other times still almost oddly fallible and flimsy. Which overall makes them pretty good. Hopefully, though, if/when there is a true current-gen sequel, it takes the little advances made by Lost Legacy much further, because the series could do with a few new tricks.”

Elsewhere, Capcom has reported its fifth consecutive year of record profits, a big part of which has been due to older titles.

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The 19th Team of the Week for FIFA 22 has been revealed, and it features Bayern Munich star Joshua Kimmich, PSG midfielder Marco Verratti and Chelsea winger Hakim Ziyech.

• READ MORE: 10 games to look forward to in 2022

The new items, which will be put into packs at 6PM UK on January 26, feature unique upgraded versions of the best performing players of the week.

Following his incredible performance for Bayern Munich during a 4-1 win over Hertha Berlin, Joshua Kimmich receives a 91 rated item. As well as getting two assists, Kimmich got more touches of the ball, played more passes and covered more ground than any other player during the game.

This will also mean that his FUT Headliners item will be receiving an upgrade, making one of the best midfielders in the game even better.

Following his ridiculous goal against Tottenham Hotspur last Sunday, Morocco international Hakim Ziyech takes his place in the Team Of The Week. Ziyech, who is always a popular player in FIFA, recently received a special ‘Moments’ version that was only available for a limited team via Squad Building Challenges.

Manuel Akanji, a centre-back for Borussia Dortmund, is this week’s star player.

This week, the full list of players is:

Ledesma – 84 (GK)

Digne – 86 (LB)

Akanji – 85 (CB)

Walker-Peters – 81 (RB)

Kimmich – 91 (CDM)

Verratti – 88 (CM)

Diaby – 86 (LM)

Kittel – 82 (CM)

Dzeko – 86 (ST)

Ziyech – 86 (RW)

Bergwijn – 83 (ST)

This week’s FIFA 22 Team of the Week reserves are:

Bizot – 81 (GK)

Rugani – 81 (CB)

Makisomivic – 82 (CM)

Mavididi – 81 (LM)

Borja Iglesias – 82 (ST)

Abraham – 82 (ST)

Kwang Ui Jo – 81 (ST)

Vindheim – 78 (RWB)

Akbaba – 79 (CM)

Ward – 76 (ST)

Juanma Garcia – 76 (ST)

Muldoon – 74 (RW)

Elsewhere,  Shigeru Miyamoto, gaming legend and the creator of The Legend Of Zelda series, doesn’t like the controversial companion Navi either. According to a recently uncovered interview from 1999, the legendary creator called the fairy the “biggest weak point” of the game.

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Shigeru Miyamoto, the creator of The Legend Of Zelda series, doesn’t like the controversial companion Navi either. 

• READ MORE: How social media helped ‘Football Manager’ become one of the biggest cult games on the planet

According to an interview from 1999, which was discovered by Eurogamer, the legendary creator called the fairy the “biggest weak point” of the game.

Commenting on her famous repeatedly voice lines, Miyamoto said; “If you read Navi’s text, she says the same things over and over. I know it makes it sound bad, but we purposely left her at a kind of ‘stupid’ level,”.

“I think if we’d tried to make Navi’s hints more sophisticated, that ‘stupidity’ would have actually stood out even more. The truth is I wanted to remove the entire system, but that would have been even more unfriendly to players.”

He went on to say; “You can think of Navi as being there for players who stop playing for a month or so, who then pick the game back up and want to remember what they were supposed to do.”

Later in the interview, which was originally part of a strategy guide, Miyamoto spoke to the difficulty of the game, and how he feels about it; “I’m pretty bad at action games myself, so I wanted Ocarina to have a system with depth, something you could steadily improve at the more you played – though it didn’t need to be as complex as Tekken, of course,”

Towards the end of the interview, Miyamoto discussed his philosophy of level design in Zelda: Ocarina Of Time, specifically when it comes to dungeons.

“Instead of mapping your way through a maze, I think what’s more important is a sense of dread, a sense of pressure, and of course, an opportunity for finding secrets and solving puzzles – we should be pursuing an emotional immediacy, the sense that you are really there”.

Elsewhere, Capcom has reported its fifth consecutive year of record profits, a big part of which has been due to older titles.

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Savvy Gaming Group, a company backed by the Saudi Arabian government, has purchased ESL Gaming and FACEIT, two of the largest esports companies in the world, for $1.5billion (approximately £1.1billion).

• READ MORE: ‘OlliOlli World’ preview: heaven is more than a halfpipe in Roll7’s expanded skater

“ESL Gaming, the world’s leading independent esports company, and FACEIT, the leading digital destination for competitive gamers, are joining forces to shape the future of competitive gaming under the name ESL FACEIT Group.” the company said in a statement. It continued; “The new company will create the ultimate platform for competitive gaming with an unmatched proposition for players, fans, teams, publishers, developers, and partners, no matter where they are on their competitive gaming journey.”

ESL CEO Craig Levine said of the merger; “Our mission remains unchanged: to create a world where everybody can be somebody. Our merger with FACEIT, along with the backing of SGG, will give us more know-how, capabilities, and resources than ever before to deliver on this vision. Whether you are competing or watching, doing so socially or at a professional level, every stage of the pathway will be improved through this merger.”

Brian Ward, CEO of SGG added said: “SGG has committed to invest heavily in the games and esports industry and to materially strengthen the global games community. We are delighted to be working with ESL FACEIT Group – a deal that will enable us to actively support the creation of a world-class esports ecosystem. With our investment, ESL FACEIT Group will be able to accelerate their development of an unrivalled experience for players and fans”.

Elsewhere, Blizzard has announced that it’s working on a brand-new survival game for PC and console.“Blizzard is embarking on our next quest.” begins the statement on its website titled “Create a new universe with us”.

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Blizzard has announced that it’s working on a brand-new survival game for PC and console.

• READ MORE: What the hell has happened at Activision and why should you care?

“Blizzard is embarking on our next quest.” begins the statement on its website titled “Create a new universe with us”.

“A place full of heroes we have yet to meet, stories yet to be told, and adventures yet to be lived. A vast realm of possibility, waiting to be explored.”

The team is currently hiring for several positions as development on the game gets underway.

“Do you like survival games? Do you want to join a collaborative team of experienced developers at the early stage of a new project in a new world…and help write the next chapter in Blizzard’s story?”

The publisher is recruiting for the following positions:

Art

• Environment Artist (Associate to Senior)
• Senior Character Artist
• Technical Artist (FX Pipeline)
• VFX Artist (Associate to Senior)
• Senior Concept Artist

Design

• Associate Level Designer
• Level Designer

Engineering

• Lead Software Engineer, Engine
• Senior Software Engineer, Audio
• Senior Software Engineer, Server
• Senior Software Engineer, Tools.

Microsoft recently acquired Activision Blizzard, in a deal that is estimated to cost around £50billion ($68billion USD).

This has led to speculation that Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick will be out of his position and possibly the company as well, following claims that he knew and chose to hide the ongoing misconduct and harassment taking place at the company.

Activision Blizzard has now also begun removing employees accused of misconduct, and Kotick allegedly told people he waited until the new year for fears that the company’s problems would “seem bigger” than is known.

Elsewhere, EA has confirmed that Respawn Entertainment is working on a series of titles in the Star Wars franchise, including “the next game in the Star Wars Jedi” series.

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