Author: Will Nelson

NME

343 Industries is still contemplating adding microtransactions into Halo: The Master Chief Collection due to the game’s current progression system and number of available cosmetics. 

• READ MORE: Best FPS Games: What’s the best shooting game you can play in 2022?
  

The developer penned a post discussing the current state of cosmetics in the game and outlining what solutions it is considering for earnable items (via Kotaku).

At present there are over 1000 individual cosmetic items in Halo: The Master Chief Collection, with some released during specific seasonal updates. Back in June 343 Industries made it clear that it is happy with the current play-to-unlock system, but that it understands new players may benefit from the option of using purchasable points to unlock items.

To that end, 343 Industries has shared that “no decision has been made around the potential for purchasable SP (Spartan Points) being added as a secondary vector in the future,” but the studio says it does agree with players that the rate in which points are earned needs to be improved at the very least.

Spartan Points can currently be earned from any multiplayer game in the Halo collection, and then used on any cosmetics specific to each title.

343 Industries is currently working to solve the issue with an update that will allow players to players retroactively earn Spartan Points from every level between Tour one and 11 (for 329 total points) they’ve already progressed through that didn’t reward them with the points. This means that many players will likely get many Spartan Points in one go, which can be used to pick up in-game cosmetics.

“Having this open dialogue with our community is important to us as we navigate this path together, added the developer. “Feedback has already directly helped drive upcoming changes to our current earnable Spartan Points model.”

In other news, Hangar 13 has confirmed it is working on a new entry in the Mafia franchise, whilst 2K has announced that the 2002 original will be free on Steam soon for a limited time.

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2K has announced that the original Mafia game will be free on Steam in September for a limited time.

• READ MORE: ‘Aliens: Dark Descent’ is the ‘Aliens’ game fans deserve

In a tweet yesterday (August 29) 2K revealed that the 2002 game will be free on Steam between September 1 and 5. It’s worth noting that this is not the remaster, Mafia: Definitive Edition, which launched in 2020.

The original Mafia currently costs £7.99 on Steam, with the price coming back to the platform at 6PM BST / 10AM PT / 1PM ET on September 5.

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In honor of #Mafia20 let's go back to where it all started

Get the original Mafia (digital) for FREE on @Steam from Sept. 1 – 5 pic.twitter.com/ZdxSFZrLwh

— 2K (@2K) August 29, 2022

That’s not all for Mafia with the series’ 20th anniversary, as Mafia 3 and Mafia: Definitive Edition developer Hangar 13 has confirmed that it is currently working on a new entry in the series.

“I’m happy to confirm we’ve started work on an all-new Mafia project!” said Hangar 13 general manager Roman Hladík. “While it’s a few years away and we can’t share anything more right now, we’re really excited to keep working on this beloved franchise and to entertain our players with new stories.”

Hangar 13 has been behind the franchise since 2016, but it’s currently unclear if the tentatively titled Mafia 4 will be a standalone title or a sequel to any of the games in the trilogy.

You can find the original Mafia on Steam right here.

Hladík also talked about how they, the studio, and the franchise have all grown together.

“I’ve been with the company – which was originally Illusion Softworks, an independent game developer in the Czech Republic – since probably the summer of 1997, so I’ll have been here about 25 years this year,” said Hladík.

“Originally I joined the team as a 2D artist, learning a little bit of 3D, but I became a character artist on the original Mafia: The City Of Lost Heaven. When we started on the original Mafia, it was just four or five people. Eventually we grew to ten people; when we finished, it was a development team of around 20-25 people.”

In other news, Genshin Impact developer HoYoverse is looking into fixing the current ransomware issue plaguing the online game.

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HoYoverse is aware and working on a fix for a ransomware exploit tied to Genshin Impact, but there’s currently no word on when the problem will be solved.

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

The ransomware exploit – which uses malware to essentially lock off computer files and hold them ransom for payment – apparently uses Genshin Impact’s anti-cheat to deploy itself.

In terms of an incoming solution, HoYoverse recently responded to GamesRadar about the ransomware issue, explaining that it is currently looking into a fix and the best course of action.

“The HoYoverse team takes information security very seriously. We’re currently working on this case, and will find a solution as soon as possible to safeguard players’ safety and stop potential abuse of the anti-cheat function. We will keep you posted once we have further progress,” reads the statement.

The actual ransomware deployment was outlined by Trend Micro, which said one of Genshin Impact’s anti-cheats was being “abused to bypass privileges.”

Elsewhere, a Genshin Impact demake has shown off what the game could look like if it was a turn-based RPG with pixelated graphics. The short clip even attempts to show off some potential game mechanics as well.

The project features options to attack, use elemental skills, a team-up attack, items, defend, and flee. The enemy’s health bar and current playable characters’ stats are shown off too. The short clip shows Aether using the ‘Starward sword’ team-up attack which executes an attacking animation, until both Zhongli and Keqing appear to deliver high-powered follow-ups.

“Thank you so much everyone,” wrote freelance pixel artist OhoDavi in response. “Sorry I can’t answer all the comments. For the first time in my life, my art is liked by so many people…”

In other news, Hangar 13 has confirmed that it is working on a new entry in the Mafia franchise, with more news to come in the future.

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Hangar 13 has confirmed that a brand new Mafia title is currently in development, although it will be some time before more is revealed about the project.

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

A number of developers at Hangar 13 recently discussed the Mafia franchise in an interview, with general manager Roman Hladík confirming that a new series entry is on the way.

“I’m happy to confirm we’ve started work on an all-new Mafia project!” said Hladík. “While it’s a few years away and we can’t share anything more right now, we’re really excited to keep working on this beloved franchise and to entertain our players with new stories.”

Hangar 13 has been helming the Mafia series since 2016 with Mafia 3, alongside the  remaster of the original game in Mafia: Definitive Edition.

It’s currently unclear when and where the tentatively titled Mafia 4 will be set, or if it will be a follow up to any of the previous three games.

Elsewhere in the article, Hladík talked about how Hangar 13 has grown alongside the Mafia series, and shared that he has been with the company since the beginning.

“I’ve been with the company – which was originally Illusion Softworks, an independent game developer in the Czech Republic – since probably the summer of 1997, so I’ll have been here about 25 years this year,” said Hladík.

“Originally I joined the team as a 2D artist, learning a little bit of 3D, but I became a character artist on the original Mafia: The City Of Lost Heaven. When we started on the original Mafia, it was just four or five people. Eventually we grew to ten people; when we finished, it was a development team of around 20-25 people.”

Apart from a new Mafia game, another title was reportedly in development at Hangar 13 until it was cancelled, and it would have been a multiplayer superhero game.

Multiple reports from last year suggested that the title, codenamed Volt, was in development since 2017 and cost Take-Two around £39million ($53million) as it underwent “multiple iterations.”

Executives decided to cancel the game after they thought the project was not a “worthwhile investment because of the amount of time needed in development.”

In other news, a modding duo successfully turned Counter-Strike: Global Offensive into a go-kart capture the flag game.

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A group of modders have created a go-kart game mode in Valve’s massively popular team shooter Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO). 

• READ MORE: ‘Destroy All Humans! 2 – Reprobed’ review: old fashioned alien antics

Released today (August 29), the mod is available for download straight from Steam itself here.

Dubbed a “vehicular capture the flag gameplay mode for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive,” players can fire rockets at opponents, jump, and do a slam attack form the air to both capture and secure flags (via Dot Esports).

Check out a short clip of CS:GO Kart from the self-proclaimed “two random dudes” below.

A red and blue team will need to navigate the map, as seen in the above video, to get to the other teams base and steal their flag, in typical capture the flag game mode fashion.

The mod was developed by Dieter Stassen and Luke Millanta, with Milanta telling Dot Esports: “Instead of playing as soldiers/humans you instead take the form of a rocket-firing go-kart. From here each team battles it out to capture the other team’s flag and return it to their base.

“Every time they do this, they score a point. The team with the most points at the end of the game wins. Throughout the map, there are speed boosters, ammo (rockets), teleporters, and health kits/boosters.”

Millanta added that the mod is similar to “Rocket League but in CS:GO and with actual rockets.”

Elsewhere in the realm of Valve products, the company has outlined in a new book dedicated to Asain markets that it is planning future versions of Steam Deck hardware and software.

“Steam Deck represents the first in a new category of Steam handheld gaming PCs,” reads the booklet. “In the future, Valve will follow up on this product with improvements and iterations to hardware and software, bringing new versions of Steam Deck to market. Like the original, and like all PCs, these future products will continue to provide access to the same Steam game catalog that gamers already know and love.”

In other news, Riot Games has provided an update on the incoming Fracture map changes, with players expecting more details on it “soon.”

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Terraria creator and Re-Logic president Andrew “Redigit” Spinks has shared some early concept art for a sequel to the game.

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

Spinks shared an image on Twitter over the last weekend (August 27) of some concept art for what they call T2 (Terraria 2), but noted that “it’s crazy rough so forgive me,” (via PCGamesN).

Whilst this doesn’t outright confirm anything about a sequel to Terraria, Spinks did mention back in 2013 that one was planned, even telling Rock Paper Shotgun: “In Terraria 2, I really want to have infinite worlds so you’re not just stuck to one world. You can travel anywhere. I want more biome diversity in that, too. There’s a lot of stuff [I want to add and change].”

Check out the array of biome concept art in the tweet from Spinks below.

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Some concept art I did a while back for what T2s world map could look like. It’s crazy rough so forgive me pic.twitter.com/z0b4FNv9Wp

— Redigit (@Demilogic) August 27, 2022

The lead artist on Terraria also talked about the concept art from Spinks, and whilst they also gave very little away about the sequel, they did say: “I’ve been working with this man for almost ten years now and its safe to say he has a brilliantly wild imagination. If you think this looks weird I assure you, it gets weirder. And I love it.”

“I’m super excited about starting Terraria 2,” said Spinks back in 2013. “It’s a ways out, but it’s gonna have a lot in common with the original. It’s gonna be quite different as well. I really want to expand on the whole Terraria universe.”

As of publication, the actual state of a Terraria sequel is unknown. It’s also unclear if Spinks will actually use the concept in the game, if it does come out. Either way, it’s interesting to see what Spinks has already come up with the long talked about sequel.

The original Terraria is nearing its endgame however, as update 1.4.4 edges closer. In fact Re-Logic said recently that it was looking for “fun suggestions” from the community about what to include in the update when it launches.

In other video game news, Nintendo has released a new seven-minute trailer for next month’s Splatoon 3 featuring new weapons, game modes and more.

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Director and writer on the original Resident Evil 4 Shinji Mikami has explained that the team at Capcom never designed the influential camera system to be groundbreaking.

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

Mikami recently spoke to fellow Resident Evil franchise veteran Jun Takeuchi about the last 25 years of the series, with the second part of the video releasing today (August 29).

In the interview video, Mikami and Takeuchi address the overwhelmingly positive response the game had from players and other developers for simply moving the camera over the protagonist’s shoulder.

Check out the video, with its text translation, below.

 

“It felt natural, oddly enough, we weren’t planning on doing something innovative, but in the end everyone kept saying we did,” said Mikami (via VGC).

“To us personally, we just thought that angle was better. We weren’t trying to do something new or groundbreaking, there was none of that.”

Apparently Masahiro Sakurai, the long-time director of the Super Smash Bros. franchise, was the first person to praise the camera, Mikami recalls. In fact, Takeuchi says the Gears Of War team directly told him at E3 that they had based that game’s camera off of Resident Evil 4 as well. The first Gears Of War released in 2006, with Resident Evil 4 coming out in 2005.

“It’s weird. It doesn’t really hit you, even with all that praise. You’re not like, ‘I did it!’, it’s more like ‘this ought to work, I guess’,” added Mikami.

“Like, in a fight when you punch them in the gut, even if you were holding back, when you see the other guy keel over in pain you think ‘woah, that got him, that did it. That actually did it.'”

Mikami also revealed in the previous video that was a part of this discussion that he wants to make a completely original game, whilst endeavoring to change the development culture for the better.

Capcom also officially unveiled the Resident Evil 4 remake earlier this year, which is set to release on March 24, 2023.

In other news, a new Marvel’s Spider-Man mod for PC turns the web-slinging hero in Better Call Saul’s Saul Goodman.

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Blizzard Entertainment has outlined how it will visually change the crests in Diablo Immortal in an effort to make it clearer to players which crests they’re using and potentially purchasing with real money.

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

Diablo Immortal game director Wyatt Cheng responded to a Reddit post from last week (August 27) about the change in design of the Legendary Crests and Eternal Legendary Crests.

Crests in Diablo Immortal need to be used to access Elder Rifts, with different crests yielding different rewards from the in-game events. Some of these can be redeemed daily and monthly, whilst the Eternal Crests are the only ones that can be purchased outright with actual money.

To reduce any confusion around these crests, Cheng said on Reddit that Blizzard wants “to make sure players know exactly what they’re getting when they make a purchase, view them in inventory, and use them at the Elder Rift entrance.

“Players should be able to distinguish the two quickly not only by colour but also by shape (for colour-blind accessibility),” (via PCGamesN).

Part of the reason for these changes is to make sure the crests are easily differentiable on mobile with the small screens. “In addition we’re adding the Market Icon to the item description of the Eternal Legendary Crest to reinforce the difference.”.

These changes to Diablo Immortal arrive as the game has been mired in controversy since it launched earlier this year, mostly due to its implementation of microtransactions in its free-to-play model. There was even one player that allegedly spent around £80,000 on the game, only to then find that their upgraded character couldn’t find PvP games.

In other news, the release of Total War; Warhammer 3’s Immortal Empires expansion has seen the Steam player count of the game absolutely skyrocket.

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Valve is currently testing a new version of the Steam mobile app, in an effort to improve the Steam experience on mobile devices. 

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

A limited beta for the Steam mobile app started last week (August 24), with Valve saying it’s “rebuilt the app on a new framework and modernised the design,” (Steam post via Eurogamer).

Users will still be able to browse the store, get Steam guard codes and confirm trades in this beta, but there’s now a QR code sign in, smarter notifications, an improved Library feature and multi-account support.

Valve then answered its own question on why it’s launching a new beta for the mobile version of Steam by saying: “The sooner we get your feedback on a product, the better. So when we’re far enough along, we ask invested Steam users to try something out and provide feedback.

“This helps us test our assumptions, learn what you like and don’t like, and find things that need to be fixed. This is especially important when the app can be used on so many different phones and devices.”

Anyone that uses the mobile app is welcome to sign up for the beta, as long as they’re also happy to provide feedback to Valve about their experience.

There’s currently no release date for the new version of the mobile app, with Valve insteading adding that it will “continue adding people to the beta and improving features until we’re ready to push the update out to everyone.”

Elsewhere, Valve has confirmed that it is working on new versions of hardware and software for the Steam Deck portable gaming PC. The “Steam Deck represents the first in a new category of Steam handheld gaming PCs,” reads the statement from Valve. “In the future, Valve will follow up on this product with improvements and iterations to hardware and software, bringing new versions of Steam Deck to market.”

In other news, Dr Disrespect has weighed in on whether or not sniper headshots in games should be an instant kill or knockdown.

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Sony Interactive Entertainment has announced that PlayStation has entered into an agreement to acquire mobile developer Savage Game Studios and add it to the newly created PlayStation Studios Mobile Division.

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

Sony announced the acquisition today (August 29), with Savage Game Studios forming in 2020 and being filled with mobile development veterans.

The move looks to be a way for Sony to push further into the mobile gaming space, as the blog post says it will be “providing more ways for more people to engage with our content, and striving to reach new audiences unfamiliar with PlayStation and our games.”

Savage Game Studios will thus be a part of the new PlayStation Studios Mobile Division, which will operate separately from the company’s console development and create new experiences based off of PlayStation franchises.

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Welcoming Savage Game Studios to the PlayStation Studios family: https://t.co/xUidwYZrfG pic.twitter.com/9my00c62NL

— PlayStation (@PlayStation) August 29, 2022

The developer is also working on a “new unannounced Triple-A mobile live service action game,” with nothing else revealed about the project yet.

Savage Game Studios co-founder and CEO Michail Katkoff said: “We made this deal because we believe that PlayStation Studios’ leadership respects our vision for how we can best operate and succeed, and because they too are not afraid to take chances.

“All of that, plus the ability to potentially tap into PlayStation’s amazing catalog of IP and the fact that we will benefit from the kind of support that only they can provide… The harder question to answer would be “why not?””.

This acquisition marks an expansion of the PlayStation ecosystem, as the company has already been expanding outside of its console releases by porting major releases to PC.

It’s likely no coincidence then that Sony recently announced the Backbone One mobile controller, which can grip onto mobile devices for playing games.

In other news, Valve has confirmed that new versions of the Steam Deck’s hardware and software are on the way as part of a “multi-generational product line.”

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