Tag: nintendo

Microsoft Plans to Bring More Xbox Games to PS5 As Part of ‘Latutude’ Plan: Report

Microsoft had announced in February that it would bring four of its exclusive Xbox titles to rival platforms from Sony and Nintendo. It seems the company is not stopping with its four first-party games coming to PlayStation and Nintendo Switch. A new report claims that the Xbox parent intends to make a multi-platform push for more of its games. Under the plan, internally codenamed “Latitude,” more upcoming first-party Xbox titles are said to be in development for the PS5.

The Windows Central report didn’t name any Xbox titles planned for a PS5 release, but it claimed the titles were “potentially obvious games” that one would expect to release on rival platforms. “More upcoming Microsoft-owned games slated for PlayStation are already being developed,” the report said.

While announcing its plan to release some of its exclusive titles on PlayStation and Nintendo Switch in February, Microsoft had sought to draw a line, confirming that its biggest exclusive titles like Bethesda’s Starfield and the upcoming Indiana Jones and the Great Circle would not release on PS5. The new report, however, said that Microsoft was ready to consider a more unrestricted approach towards launching its games on rival platforms. “… Microsoft is pushing for no “red line” for what games could come to PlayStation, and it all revolves around Satya Nadella and CFO Amy Hood’s mandate to increase every department’s margins,” the report claimed.

Even as the company is working on plans to bring more games to Sony and Nintendo consoles, “Latitude” isn’t without internal contention. The report said that the plan has sparked debate and unease at Microsoft, with looming questions over its merits.

As part of its announcement early this year, Microsoft has already released Hi-Fi Rush, Pentiment, Grounded and Sea of Thieves on rival consoles, indicating a shift in its strategy towards exclusivity. Announcing more upcoming games for PS5 and Nintendo Switch would cement that shift towards finding new players for its games beyond its own Xbox ecosystem.

Microsoft’s gaming division added considerable muscle last year with the $69 billion acquisition of Call of Duty maker Activision Blizzard, but Xbox has struggled to see the fruits of its expanding roster of studios. Last week, the company announced it was shutting down three of its studios and absorbing another one into an existing team as part of its plan to shift focus on to its “priority games.” Hi-Fi Rush maker Tango Gameworks, Redfall developer Arkane Austin and Alpha Dog Games, makers of the mobile game Mighty Doom, were closed, while Roundhouse Studios, which also contributed to Redfall development, was absorbed by ZeniMax Online Studios.

Following the shutdowns, a report from Bloomberg claimed that Microsoft was planning more cuts at Xbox and the company had begun offering voluntary severance agreements to producers, quality assurance testers and other staff at Bethesda parent ZeniMax.

Microsoft is yet to make an official statement on the studio closures and reported cuts, but the company is set to hold an Xbox Games Showcase event on June 9, where it will reveal its upcoming lineup of exclusive and third-party titles.

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Baldur’s Gate 3 Wins Best Game, Four Other Honors at BAFTA Games Awards 2024: See Full List of Winners

Baldur’s Gate 3 continues to collect year-end honours as the expansive RPG from Larian Studios took home the top award at the 20th BAFTA Games Awards held in London late Thursday. The Dungeons & Dragons-style RPG was crowned as the Best Game, in addition to winning in four other categories on the night. Acclaimed survival-horror sequel Alan Wake 2, Nintendo platformer Super Mario Bros. Wonder and British indie Viewfinder won two BAFTAs each, while Cyberpunk 2077 continued its redemption story with a win in the Evolving Game category.

The prestigious British Academy Game Awards announced its winners in a ceremony at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London on Thursday night. In addition to the Best Game award, Baldur’s Gate 3 won in the categories of Music, Narrative, and Performer in a Supporting Role for Andrew Wincott, who plays Raphael in the game. The Larian RPG also emerged on top in the EE Players’ Choice Award, voted by gamers.

Tango Gameworks‘ vibrant rhythm-based action title Hi-Fi Rush won in the Animation category, while Remedy Entertainment’s Alan Wake 2 took home two awards in the Artistic and Audio Achievement categories. In one of the toughest categories on the night, Venba, the narrative-based cooking title, beat off strong competition from acclaimed games like Cucoon, Dave the Diver, Dredge, Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical and Viewfinder to win in the Debut Game category. Dave the Diver, a pixel-art style game about catching fish and serving sushi, did win in the Game Design category, however.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, two acclaimed games from last year that were in the running for several year-end game of the year honours during the awards season, won for Technical Achievement and Performer in a Leading Role (for Nadji Jeter as Miles Morales), respectively. In addition to the win for Tears of the Kingdom, Nintendo bagged two more awards on the night in the Family and Multiplayer categories, both for Super Mario Bros. Wonder.

Here’s the full list of winners from the 20th BAFTA Games Awards:

Animation

WINNER – Hi-Fi Rush Development Team – Tango Gameworks/Bethesda Softworks

Alan Wake 2 Development Team – Remedy Entertainment/Epic Games

Hogwarts Legacy Development Team – Avalanche Software/Warner Bros. Games

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 Development Team – Insomniac Games/Sony Interactive Entertainment

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor Development Team – Respawn Entertainment/Electronic Arts

Super Mario Bros. Wonder Development Team – Nintendo EPD/Nintendo

Artistic Achievement

WINNER – Alan Wake 2 Development Team – Remedy Entertainment/Epic Games

Baldur’s Gate 3 Development Team – Larian Studio/Larian Studio

Cocoon Development Team – Geometric Interactive/Annapurna Interactive

Diablo IV Development Team – Blizzard Entertainment/Blizzard Entertainment

Final Fantasy XVI Hiroshi Minagawa, Kazuya Takahashi, Naoki Kurihara – Creative Business Unit III/Square Enix

Hi-Fi Rush Development Team – Tango Gameworks/Bethesda Softworks

Audio Achievement

WINNER – Alan Wake 2 Development Team – Remedy Entertainment/Epic Games

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III Development Team – Sledgehammer Games/Activision

Hi-Fi Rush Development Team – Tango Gameworks/Bethesda Softworks

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Development Team – Nintendo EPD/Nintendo

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 Development Team – Insomniac Games/Sony Interactive Entertainment

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor Development Team – Respawn Entertainment/Electronic Arts

Best Game

WINNER – Baldur’s Gate 3 Development Team – Larian Studio/Larian Studio

Alan Wake 2 Development Team – Remedy Entertainment/Epic Games

Dave the Diver Development Team – Mintrocket/Mintrocket

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Development Team – Nintendo EPD/Nintendo

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 Development Team – Insomniac Games/Sony Interactive Entertainment

Super Mario Bros. Wonder Development Team – Nintendo EPD/Nintendo

British Game

WINNER – Viewfinder Development Team – Sad Owl Studios/Thunderful Publishing

Cassette Beasts Development Team – Bytten Studio/Raw Fury

Dead Island 2 Development Team – Dambuster Studios/PLAION

Disney Illusion Island Development Team – Dlala Studios/Disney

Football Manager 2024 Development Team – Sports Interactive/SEGA Europe

Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Realms of Ruin Development Team – Frontier Developments/Frontier Developments

Debut Game

WINNER – Venba Abhi, Sam Elkana, Shahrin Khan – Visai Games/Visai Games

Cocoon Development Team – Geometric Interactive/Annapurna Interactive

Dave the Diver Development Team – Mintrocket/Mintrocket

Dredge Development Team – Black Salt Games/Team17 Digital

Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical Development Team – Summerfall Studios/Humble Games

Viewfinder Development Team – Sad Owl Studios/Thunderful Publishing

Evolving Game

WINNER – Cyberpunk 2077 Development Team – CD Projekt Red/CD Projekt Red

Final Fantasy XIV Online Development Team – Creative Business Unit III/Square Enix

Fortnite Development Team – Epic Games/Epic Games

Forza Horizon 5 Development Team – Playground Games/Xbox Game Studios

Genshin Impact Development Team – HoYoverse/HoYoverse

No Man’s Sky Development Team – Hello Games/Hello Games

Family

WINNER – Super Mario Bros. Wonder Development Team – Nintendo EPD/Nintendo

Cocoon Development Team – Geometric Interactive/Annapurna Interactive

Dave the Diver Development Team – Mintrocket/Mintrocket

Disney Illusion Island Development Team – Dlala Studios/Disney

Hi-Fi Rush Development Team – Tango Gameworks/Bethesda Softworks

Hogwarts Legacy Development Team – Avalanche Software/Warner Bros. Games

Game Beyond Entertainment

WINNER – Tchia Phil Crifo, Marilou Lopez-Aguilera, Thoanë Thomadra – Awaceb/Kepler Interactive

Chants Of Sennaar Julien Moya, Thomas Panuel – Rundisc/Focus Entertainment

Goodbye Volcano High Development Team – KOOP

Terra Nil Development Team – Free Lives/Devolver Digital

Thirsty Suitors Development Team – Outerloop Games/Annapurna Interactive

Venba Abhi, Sam Elkana, Shahrin Khan – Visai Games/Visai Games

Game Design

WINNER – Dave the Diver Development Team – Mintrocket/Mintrocket

Cocoon Development Team – Geometric Interactive/Annapurna Interactive

Dredge Development Team – Black Salt Games/Team17 Digital

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Development Team – Nintendo EPD/Nintendo

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 Development Team – Insomniac Games/Sony Interactive Entertainment

Viewfinder Development Team – Sad Owl Studios/Thunderful Publishing

Multiplayer

WINNER – Super Mario Bros. Wonder Development Team – Nintendo EPD/Nintendo

Baldur’s Gate 3 Development Team – Larian Studio/Larian Studio

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III Development Team – Sledgehammer Games/Activision

Diablo IV Development Team – Blizzard Entertainment/Blizzard Entertainment

Forza Motorsport Development Team – Turn 10 Studios/Xbox Game Studios

Party Animals Development Team – Recreate Games/Source Technology

Music

WINNER – Baldur’s Gate 3 Development Team – Larian Studio/Larian Studio

Alan Wake 2 Development Team – Remedy Entertainment/Epic Games

Assassin’s Creed Mirage Development Team – Ubisoft/Ubisoft

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Development Team – Nintendo EPD/Nintendo

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 John Paesano, Scott Hanau, Keith Leary – Insomniac Games/Sony Interactive Entertainment

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor Gordy Haab, Stephen Barton – Respawn Entertainment/Electronic Arts

Narrative

WINNER – Baldur’s Gate 3 Development Team – Larian Studio/Larian Studio

Alan Wake 2 Development Team – Remedy Entertainment/Epic Games

Dredge Development Team – Black Salt Games/Team17 Digital

Final Fantasy XVI Kazutoyo Maehiro, Michael-Christopher Koji Fox – Creative Business Unit III/Square Enix

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Development Team – Nintendo EPD/Nintendo

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor Gordy Haab, Stephen Barton – Respawn Entertainment/Electronic Arts

New Intellectual Property

WINNER – Viewfinder Development Team – Sad Owl Studios/Thunderful Publishing

Chants of Sennaar Julien Moya, Thomas Panuel – Rundisc/Focus Entertainment

Dave the Diver Development Team – Mintrocket/Mintrocket

Dredge Development Team – Black Salt Games/Team17 Digital

Hi-Fi Rush Development Team – Tango Gameworks/Bethesda Softworks

Jusant Development Team – Don’t Nod/Don’t Nod

Performer in a Leading Role

WINNER – Nadji Jeter as Miles Morales in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2

Amelia Tyler as Narrator in Baldur’s Gate 3

Cameron Monaghan as Cal Kestis in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor

Neil Newbon as Astarion in Baldur’s Gate 3

Samantha Béart as Karlach in Baldur’s Gate 3

Yuri Lowenthal as Peter Parker in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2

Performer in a Supporting Role

WINNER – Andrew Wincott as Raphael in Baldur’s Gate 3

Debra Wilson as Cere Junda in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor

Ralph Ineson as Cidolfus “Cid” Telamon in Final Fantasy XVI

Sam Lake as Alex Casey in Alan Wake 2

Tony Todd as Venom in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2

Tracy Wiles as Jaheira in Baldur’s Gate 3

Technical Achievement

WINNER – The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Development Team – Nintendo EPD/Nintendo

Alan Wake 2 Development Team – Remedy Entertainment/Epic Games

Final Fantasy XVI Ryota Suzuki, Yasuhiro Yanamoto, Kei Honda – Creative Business Unit III/Square Enix

Horizon Call of the Mountain Development Team – Guerrilla and Firesprite/Sony Interactive Entertainment

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 Development Team – Insomniac Games/Sony Interactive Entertainment

Starfield Development Team – Bethesda Game Studios/Bethesda Softworks

EE Player’s Choice

WINNER – Baldur’s Gate 3 Development Team – Larian Studio/Larian Studio

Cyberpunk 2077 – CD Projekt Red/CD Projekt Red

Fortnite Epic Games/Epic Games

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom – Nintendo EPD/Nintendo

Lethal Company Zeekerss/Zeekerss

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 Insomniac Games/Sony Interactive Entertainment

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Microsoft Announces 4 Xbox Exclusives for PS5 and Nintendo Switch, Activision Blizzard Titles on Game Pass

Four Microsoft first-party games will launch on Sony’s PlayStation 5 and the Nintendo Switch, the company confirmed late Thursday after weeks of speculation over its exclusive titles releasing on rival platforms. The announcement came on the Official Xbox Podcast from Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer, who also shed further light on the reasons behind Xbox’s business decision and confirmed that the next generation of Xbox consoles were in development. Microsoft has not yet revealed the four Xbox exclusives coming to PS5 and Nintendo Switch, but The Verge reported that said games would be Hi-Fi Rush, Pentiment, Sea of Thieves and Grounded.

Spencer addressed the rumours about Microsoft first-party titles and the future of Xbox exclusivity head on, confirming that contrary to reports, Triple-A Bethesda releases like Starfield and the upcoming Indiana Jones and the Great Circle will remain as Xbox and PC exclusives. “We’ve made the decision that we’re going to take four games to the other consoles, just four games,” the Xbox chief on the podcast. He confirmed that Xbox won’t be fundamentally changing its exclusives strategy, explaining the decision to port the four unnamed games over to rival consoles. “We think this is an interesting point in time for us to use what some of the other platforms have right now to help grow our franchises,” he said.

While Spencer refrained from naming the four Xbox exclusive titles slated for launch on PS5 and Nintendo Switch, a report from The Verge, citing sources privy to Microsoft’s plans, claimed that these would be Hi-Fi Rush, Pentiment, Sea of the Thieves and Grounded. The first three of these were previously reported to be coming to Sony and Nintendo’s platforms, too. There are no specific release dates or launch windows for these games, but Spencer said that their respective developers have plans for announcements that are “not too far away.”

Hi-Fi Rush has been rumoured to come to PS5 and Nintendo Switch
Photo Credit: Bethesda

The Xbox chief, however, did elaborate on the process of picking the four yet confirmed games for multi-platform transition. The company considered games released over a year ago that have been on Xbox and PC for a while. Two of the selected games are community-driven games, Spencer said, while the other two are smaller games that weren’t built to be platform exclusives. “As they’ve realised their potential on Xbox and PC, we see an opportunity to utilise the other platforms as a place to just drive more business value out of those games, allowing us to maybe invest in future iterations of those, or sequels to those, or just other games like that in our portfolio,” Spencer said. “And we don’t damage Xbox and we can grow our business using what other platforms have to help us with that. We’re gonna do that.”

Spencer, however, cautioned players on rival platforms that the change in Microsoft’s strategy did not mean that all or several Xbox exclusives going forward would arrive on PS5 and Nintendo Switch. No other games besides the four already confirmed titles are currently being considered for a multi-platform launch.

In the wide-ranging podcast, Xbox Game Studios head Matt Booty also reiterated that Game Pass would only be available on Xbox on PC. Additionally, Xbox president Sarah Bond also announced that Activision-Blizzard games would soon arrive on Xbox Game Pass, starting with Diablo IV on March 28. Microsoft acquired Call of Duty maker Activision-Blizzard late last year in $69 billion deal after a long running regulatory battle with the US’ Federal Trade Commission and the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority. Bond also confirmed that Xbox Game Pass had reached 34 million subscribers.

Reports from earlier this month about Microsoft first-party games making their way to PS5 and Nintendo Switch had left the Xbox community unsettled, with many questioning the future of the platform. Major exclusives like Bethesda RPG Starfield and the recently announced Indiana Jones game were reported to be under consideration for a PS5 launch.

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Sony Set to Miss PS5 Sales Target for FY 2023, Says Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 Sold 10 Million Copies

Japan’s Sony slashed the full-year sales forecast for its PlayStation 5 console on Wednesday and said it plans to list its financial business next year as it focuses on entertainment and image sensors.

Sony cut its PS5 sales forecast for the year ending March to 21 million units, from 25 million units previously, after weaker-than-expected sales over the year-end shopping season.

The company said it expects a gradual decline in unit sales from the next financial year and that it does not plan to release any major franchise titles in the coming fiscal year.

Sony, which in 2023 said it was examining a partial spin-off of its financial business, said it plans to list Sony Financial Group in October 2025 and retain a stake of just under 20 percent.

The company’s operating profit in the October-December quarter jumped 10 percent to JPY 463.3 billion ($3.08 billion, or roughly Rs. 25,568 crore), beating an average estimate of JPY 428 billion (roughly Rs. 23,663 crore) from 11 analysts polled by LSEG, as strong performance by the financial, movies and music businesses offset weakness in games.

Known as the inventor of the Walkman, Sony has transformed from an electronics manufacturer into an entertainment and tech behemoth spanning movies, music, games and chips.

Sony sold 8.2 million PlayStation 5 units in the third quarter, which spans the year-end shopping period, compared with 7.1 million units a year earlier.

Operating profit at the games business fell by around a quarter, hit by higher losses from hardware due to promotions and lower sales of first-party titles.

“Sony tried hard with promotions, bundles and discount but the sales target was too ambitious from the get-go,” said Serkan Toto, founder of consultancy Kantan Games.

“In the end they will probably land closer to 22-23 million units,” Toto added.

Monthly active users on the PlayStation network, a measure of engagement with the platform, reached 123 million units at the end of the quarter from 107 million three months earlier.

Sony said it has sold 10 million copies of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, which launched on October 20, with the company also rolling out a slim version of the console from November to boost sales.

Nintendo last week hiked its full-year Switch forecast to 15.5 million units, from 15 million units previously, as the Kyoto-based company extends the lifecycle of the aging console.

Xbox maker Microsoft is due to share updates on its games business on Thursday amid speculation the company will bring its titles to other platforms.

“If big third-party titles grow that will be a positive factor and we hope to utilise that momentum,” Sony President Hiroki Totoki told a news briefing.

Sony, a leading maker of image sensors for smartphones, said profit at its chips division rose 18 percent on higher sales.

TSMC said last week it will build a second fab in Japan in partnership with companies including Sony in a vote of confidence by the leading contract chipmaker in the country.

Last month Sony scrapped plans for a $10 billion (roughly Rs. 83,000 crore) merger of its Indian business with Zee Entertainment which would have created a TV juggernaut.

The Indian market has great growth potential on a long-term basis, Totoki said.

“If we can find another opportunity that would replace this type of plan we will actively look at that and we also need to reformulate our organic growth strategy,” Totoki said.

Sony’s shares closed down 0.5 percent ahead of earnings. They have gained 9 percent this year.

© Thomson Reuters 2024

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The Pokémon Company Issues Statement After Palworld Attracts Plagiarism Allegations

Palworld, the viral hit action-adventure survival title that has come under intense scrutiny over the alleged likeness of its in-game creatures to the cute monsters from Pokémon, could be staring at legal trouble. The Pokémon Company, which manages the iconic franchise, has finally released an official statement addressing the swirling plagiarism accusations against Palworld, albeit without naming the game directly. Palworld released in early access on January 19 and quickly took the Steam charts by storm, with developers Pocketpair confirming Thursday that the game had sold over eight million copies.

In its statement issued Thursday, The Pokémon Company said it intended to investigate any alleged instances of copyright infringement on part of the newly released game. “We have received many inquiries regarding another company’s game released in January 2024,” the statement said, pointing to Palworld in all but name. “We have not granted any permission for the use of Pokémon intellectual property or assets in that game. We intend to investigate and take appropriate measures to address any acts that infringe on intellectual property rights related to the Pokémon. We will continue to cherish and nurture each and every Pokémon and its world, and work to bring the world together through Pokémon in the future.”

The Pokémon Company manages the intellectual property rights of Pokémon, said to be the world’s most lucrative media franchise with revenue estimates reaching $88 billion. The IP rights are collectively owned by Nintendo, Game Freak and Creatures, with Nintendo infamously known to be highly litigious when it comes to protecting the rights for its franchises. In fact, the Pokémon publisher might have already acted against Palworld PC mods that turn the game’s in-game creatures into actual Pokémon, with one modder saying “Nintendo has come for me” after his modded gameplay video on X was taken down earlier this week.

Palworld has been surrounded by plagiarism allegations since its release, with several gamers, game developers and Internet commentators pointing out uncanny similarities between the creature design of the game and that of Pokémon. An X user even went as far as to compare 3D models from Palworld and Pokémon games side-by-side, pointing out resemblances in specific creatures. Back-and-forth discussions over the limits of inspiration and what constitutes plagiarism in gaming have since raged on, with several developers weighing in. Some have defended Palworld, noting the derivative nature of the medium and claiming that Pocketpair’s survival title contains enough original ideas, in addition to effectively mashing together elements from popular games like Ark: Survival Evolved, Fortnite, Rust and Pokémon.

Meanwhile, Pocketpair confirmed Thursday morning that Palworld had sold over eight million copies in less than six days. The game continues to be a sensation even with the cloud of plagiarism accusations hanging above. Palworld is currently the most played game on Steam with a 24-hour peak concurrent player count of a whopping 2,018,905. It is now only behind PUBG: Battlegrounds in the list of all-time most played games on Valve’s platform.

Palworld features Pokémon-style animals, or Pals, that can be captured and tamed for combat, traversal and base building in the game’s open world, thus attracting the moniker “Pokémon with Guns.” The game is available on PC (via Steam), Xbox One and Xbox Series S/X and is also included with Xbox Game Pass.

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Palworld Accused of Plagiarising Pokémon as Game Sells 6 Million Copies, Pocketpair CEO Responds

Palworld, the viral hit action-adventure survival title from Japanese developers Pocketpair, has taken the gaming industry by storm, climbing to the top of Steam charts and selling six million copies in just four days of release. But as the game’s player count balloons, it has found itself embroiled in a plagiarism controversy, with many on the Internet pointing out alleged similarities between the designs of Palworld’s creatures and those in popular Pokémon games. A user on social media platform X has gone as far as to compare in-game 3D models from both Palworld and Pokémon, claiming evidence of outright plagiarism.

Palworld features Pokémon-style animals, or Pals, that can be captured and utilised for combat, traversal and base building in the game’s open world. Gamers and commentators have even called the new survival title from Pocketpair “Pokémon with Guns.” Some, however, have gone beyond the claims of Palworld’s creatures being inspired by or satirising cute pocket monsters from the iconic Game Freak franchise and levelled accusations of plagiarising in-game assets.

On Sunday, X user @byofrog posted side-by-side mesh comparisons for character models from both Palworld and Pokémon games, first highlighting the similarities between a creature from the newly released game and the Cinderace model from Pokémon Sword and Shield. The user went on to post several other side-by-side comparisons, sparking more copycat accusations against Pocketpair. Since Palworld’s January 19 early access release, gamers and game developers have engaged in intense discourse over the game’s perceived Pokémon inspirations, with some alleging plagiarism and others defending the developers.

A former game designer at Blizzard, Eric Covington, quoted one of @byofrog’s comparison posts and claimed that the close similarity seen between character models couldn’t be accidental. “To “accidentally” create a complex model mesh with so near-exact proportions is practically impossible. To repeat that improbability throughout your roster… doesn’t pass the sniff test,” he said in a post on X. Others, meanwhile, were more cautious in their judgment, claiming the game included enough original ideas. Dinga Bakaba, studio/co-creative director at Arkane Lyon, defended Palworld in a series of posts on X, saying the game effectively mixed and matched gameplay concepts from popular games like Pokémon, Fortnite, Ark: Survival Evolved and Rust. “As a game designer, I’m baffled that some say this is lazy. Even if you copy an idea from another game you can just copy/paste it. Even doing a sequel to your own game with the same programmer in a new engine, it takes crazy amount of time to develop a viable V2.0 of a mechanic,” Bakaba said in one of his posts.

X user @byofrog also went on to qualify his posts comparing Palworld and Pokémon in a later post, saying the 3D models from the two games weren’t identical, despite close resemblances. “I want to emphasize that while some elements are similar these meshes are not literally “exact” copies of each other,” they said.

Meanwhile, game director and Pocketpair CEO Takuro Mizobe responded to the plagiarism accusations on X Monday, claiming the team had received what appeared to be death threats on the socil media platform. “I have received a variety of opinions regarding Palworld, but all productions related to Palworld are supervised by multiple people, including myself, and I am responsible for the production,” Mizobe said in his post (translated from Japanese). “I would appreciate it if you would refrain from slandering the artists involved in Palworld.”

Amid all the noise, Pocketpair confirmed Tuesday that Palworld had sold six million copies in just four days, with its all-time peak player count surpassing 1.7 million. The studio also said that it was prioritising issuing fixes for bugs and other issues reported by Palworld players. At the time of writing, Palworld has hit the third-highest all-time peak concurrent players in Steam history, surpassing Lost Ark and Dota 2. Palworld is also currently the most played title on Steam with almost double the player count of Counter Strike 2.

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E3 Is Officially Dead After a Series of Failed Attempts at Reinvention

E3, what was once the biggest video game expo, is officially dead. The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) confirmed the news on Twitter, thanking the fans and developers who attended and supported the in-person show for over two decades. Its closure was only a matter of time, slyly signalled in March, when the 2023 edition got cancelled due to a lack of interest from several publishers including the big three — PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo — all of which pulled out. Add to that pandemic-era disruption which caused global lockdowns, competitors such as Summer Game Fest, and the general audience preferring to catch up on game reveals from the comfort of their homes, eventually leading to its demise.

“We know the entire industry, players and creators alike have a lot of passion for E3. We share that passion,” ESA President and CEO Stanley Pierre-Louis told The Washington Post in an interview. “We know it’s difficult to say goodbye to such a beloved event, but it’s the right thing to do given the new opportunities our industry has to reach fans and partners.” Several attempts were made to revive and reinvent E3, but online digital events became a go-to favourite for both fans and developers, who didn’t want to deal with the hassle of travelling long distances to attend a crowded physical show and spending large amounts to secure booths at the event. During the peak COVID-19 period, industry giant Geoff Keighley decided to quit working with E3 and took the opportunity to kickstart his own online season of games called the Summer Game Fest, allowing developers to switch on their webcams and promote games.

In fact, PlayStation even adopted that digital format for both its smaller State of Play events and its bigger showcases, as a medium to present a slew of video games at once and generate hype. Assassin’s Creed maker Ubisoft was another major publisher, who backed out of this year’s proposed E3 event and decided to host an online Ubisoft Forward show, albeit with select journalists at the venue. This year’s E3 was supposed to be held from June 13–16 at the Los Angeles Convention Center, marking the first in-person extravaganza since 2019. The 2020 edition was cancelled due to the pandemic, then there was an online version in 2021, and the 2022 E3 was outright cancelled in the hopes of revitalising it. And now we’re here.

Since its conception, E3 also served as a stage for some of gaming’s biggest figures like Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto and Metal Gear Solid creator Hideo Kojima. As such, the latter has shared his favourite memories from the show and expressed gratitude for opening the gates for Japanese games to flourish in the global market. Meanwhile, God of War reboot game director Cory Barlog reminisced on the time when he debuted the bearded and reserved look for Kratos to thousands of screaming fans. “Both loved and hated this show. RIPs to the E3,” he tweeted. At the time of writing, there are reportedly no plans for selling the E3 brand name, either.

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The Game Awards 2023 Winners: Baldur’s Gate III Crowned Game of the Year, Alan Wake 2 Bags Four Trophies, More

Baldur’s Gate III took home the top honour at The Game Awards 2023, held early Friday in Los Angeles, besting its lead competitor Alan Wake II. The Dungeons & Dragons-based sprawling RPG, which was strongly revered by both fans and critics alike, bagged six trophies, including Best Community Support and Best Performance. The latter was collected by Neil Newbon, who played Astarion, the silver-haired vampire spawn, holding our attention with his melodramatic persona and the occasional high-pitched screeches. Meanwhile, Remedy’s Alan Wake 2 won four awards across some of the most important categories, with co-directors Sam Lake and Kyle Rowley emerging as the best game directors of the year, alongside a writing/ narrative nod.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, which orchestrated most of the gaming craze in early 2023, only won one award — for Best Action/ Adventure Game. Cyberpunk 2077, which saw a resurgence lately, with update 2.0 and its Phantom Liberty expansion, was crowned the Best Ongoing Game, for its commitment to fixing and essentially breathing new life into a title that drastically failed at launch. The indie game slot was a subject of controversy for its inclusion of the Nexon-owned Dave the Diver, though there’s no more room for outrage since another cutesy pixelated game Sea of Stars emerged victorious. The cast of the upcoming Fallout series also made an appearance on stage to present the award for Best Adaptation, which HBO’s The Last of Us series won — no surprise there.

Baldur’s Gate 3 Review

In addition to The Game Awards jury-voted winners, there was a Players’ Voice bracket, which as the name suggests, is completely governed by fan voting. Baldur’s Gate 3 was also a victor in that, beating out Genshin Impact, whose fanbase was called out last year for botting to skew the results in their favour.

With that, here’s the entire list of winners from The Game Awards 2023:

The Game Awards 2023 winners — the full list

Game of the Year

Baldur’s Gate 3 (Larian Studios) — WINNER
Alan Wake II (Remedy Entertainment/Epic Games Publishing)
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (Insomniac Games/SIE)
Resident Evil 4 remake (Capcom)
Super Mario Bros. Wonder (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)

Best Game Direction

Alan Wake II — WINNER
Baldur’s Gate 3
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
Super Mario Bros. Wonder
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

Best Narrative

Alan Wake II — WINNER
Baldur’s Gate 3
Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty (CD Projekt Red)
Final Fantasy XVI (Square Enix)
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2

Best Art Direction

Alan Wake 2 — WINNER
Hi-Fi Rush (Tango Gameworks/Bethesda Softworks)
Lies of P (Round8 Studio/Neowiz Games)
Super Mario Bros. Wonder
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

Best Score and Music

Masayoshi Soken, Final Fantasy XVI — WINNER
Petri Alanko, Alan Wake 2
Borislav Slavov, Baldur’s Gate 3
Shuichi Kobori, Hi-Fi Rush
Nintendo Sound Team, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

Best Adaptation

The Last of Us (PlayStation Productions/HBO) — WINNER
Castlevania: Nocturne (Powerhouse Animation/Netflix)
Gran Turismo (PlayStation Productions/Sony Pictures)
The Super Mario Bros. Movie (Illumination/Nintendo/Universal Pictures)
Twisted Metal (PlayStation Productions/Peacock)

The Last of Us Season 1 Review

Best Audio Design

Hi-Fi Rush — WINNER
Alan Wake 2
Dead Space (Motive Studio/EA)
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
Resident Evil 4

Best Performance

Neil Newbon, Baldur’s Gate 3 — WINNER
Ben Starr, Final Fantasy XVI
Cameron Monaghan, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
Idris Elba, Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty
Melanie Liburd, Alan Wake 2
Yuri Lowenthal, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2

The Game Awards 2023: The Biggest Announcements

Innovation in Accessibility

Forza Motorsport (Turn 10 Studios/Xbox Game Studios) — WINNER
Diablo IV (Blizzard Entertainment)
Hi-Fi Rush
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
Mortal Kombat 1 (NetherRealm Studios/WB Games)
Street Fighter 6 (Capcom)

Best Ongoing Game

Cyberpunk 2077 — WINNER
Final Fantasy XIV
Apex Legends (Respawn Entertainment/EA)
Fortnite (Epic Games)
Genshin Impact (HoYoverse)

Games for Impact

Tchia (Awaceb/Kepler Interactive) — WINNER
A Space for the Unbound (Mojiken Studio/Toge Productions/Chorus)
Chants of Sennaar (Rundisc/Focus Entertainment)
Goodbye Volcano High (KO_OP)
Terra Nil (Free Lives/Devolver Digital/Netflix)
Venba (Visai Games)

Baldur’s Gate 3 — WINNER
Cyberpunk 2077
Destiny 2 (Bungie)
Final Fantasy XIV
No Man’s Sky (Hello Games)

Best Independent Game

Sea of Stars (Sabotage Studio) — WINNER
Cocoon (Geometric Interactive/Annapurna Interactive)
Dave the Diver (MINTROCKET)
Dredge (Black Salt Games/Team 17)
Viewfinder (Sad Owl Studios/Thunderful Publishing)

Best Debut Indie Game

Cocoon — WINNER
Dredge
Pizza Tower (Tour de Pizza)
Venba
Viewfinder

Best Mobile Game

Honkai: Star Rail — WINNER
Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis (Applibot/Square Enix)
Hello Kitty Island Adventure (Sunblink Entertainment)
Monster Hunter Now (Niantic/Capcom)
Terra Nil

Best VR/AR Game

Resident Evil Village VR Mode (Capcom) — WINNER
Gran Turismo 7 (Polyphony Digital/SIE)
Humanity (tha LTD/Enhance Games)
Horizon Call of the Mountain (Guerrilla Games/Firesprite/SIE)
Synapse (nDreams)

Best Action Game

Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon (FromSoftware/Bandai Namco) — WINNER
Dead Island 2 (Dambuster Studios/Deep Silver)
Ghostrunner 2 (One More Level/505 Games)
Hi-Fi Rush
Remnant 2 (Gunfire Games/Gearbox Publishing)

Best Action/Adventure Game

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom — WINNER
Alan Wake 2
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
Resident Evil 4
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor

Resident Evil 4 Remake Review

Best RPG

Baldur’s Gate 3 — WINNER
Final Fantasy XVI
Lies of P
Sea of Stars
Starfield (Bethesda Game Studios/Bethesda Softworks)

Best Fighting Game

Street Fighter 6 — WINNER
God of Rock (Modus Studios Brazil/Modus Games)
Mortal Kombat 1
Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 (Ludosity/Fair Play Labs/GameMill Entertainment)
Pocket Bravery (Statera Studio/PQube)

Best Family Game

Super Mario Bros. Wonder — WINNER
Disney Illusion Island (Dlala Studios/Disney)
Party Animals (Recreate Games)
Pikmin 4 (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
Sonic Superstars (Arzest/Sonic Team/Sega)

Best Sim/Strategy Game

Pikmin 4 — WINNER
Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp (WayForward/Nintendo)
Cities: Skylines II (Colossal Order/Paradox Interactive)
Company of Heroes 3 (Relic Entertainment/Sega)
Fire Emblem Engage (Intelligent Systems/Nintendo)

Best Sports/Racing

Forza Motorsport — WINNER
EA Sports FC 24 (EA Vancouver/EA Romania/EA Sports)
F1 23 (Codemasters/EA Sports)
Hot Wheels Unleashed 2: Turbocharged (Milestone)
The Crew Motorfest (Ubisoft Ivory Tower/Ubisoft)

Best Multiplayer

Baldur’s Gate 3 — WINNER
Diablo IV
Party Animals
Street Fighter 6
Super Mario Bros. Wonder

Most Anticipated Game

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (Square Enix) — WINNER
Hades II (Supergiant Games)
Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth (Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio/Sega)
Star Wars Outlaws (Massive Entertainment/Ubisoft)
Tekken 8 (Bandai Namco/Arika)

Content Creator of the Year

IronMouse — WINNER
PeopleMakeGames
Quackity
Spreen
SypherPK

Best Esports Game

Valorant (Riot Games) — WINNER
Counter-Strike 2 (Valve)
Dota 2 (Valve)
League of Legends (Riot Games)
PUBG Mobile (LightSpeed Studios/Tencent Games)

Best Esports Athlete

Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok (League of Legends) — WINNER
Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut (CS:GO)
Max “Demon1” Mazanov (Valorant)
Paco “HyDra” Rusiewiez (Call of Duty)
Park “Ruler” Jae-hyuk (League of Legends)
Phillip ”ImperialHal” Dosen (Apex Legends)

Best Esports Team

JD Gaming (League of Legends) — WINNER
Evil Geniuses (Valorant)
Fnatic (Valorant)
Gaimin Gladiators (Dota 2)
Team Vitality (Counter-Strike)

Best Esports Coach

Christine “potter” Chi (Evil Geniuses – Valorant) — WINNER
Danny “zonic” Sorensen (Team Falcons – Counter-Strike)
Jordan “Gunba” Graham (Florida Mayhem – Overwatch)
Remy “XTQZZZ” Quoniam (Team Vitality – Counter-Strike)
Yoon “Homme” Sung-young (JD Gaming – League of Legends)

Best Esports Event

2023 League of Legends World Championship — WINNER
Blast.tv Paris Major 2023
EVO 2023
The International Dota 2 Championships 2023
VALORANT Champions 2023

Players’ Voice

Baldur’s Gate 3 — WINNER
Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Libery
Genshin Impact
Spider-Man 2
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

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The Legend of Zelda Live-Action Movie Is in Development, Nintendo Confirms

The Legend of Zelda is getting a live-action adaptation. After years of rumours, Nintendo has finally confirmed that it’s working on a movie set in the enchanted lands of Hyrule, co-produced by the gaming giant and Avi Arad, who’s behind the recent Spider-Man spin-off films. Wes Ball — best known for the Maze Runner trilogy — is attached to direct, which isn’t being received well by fans of the franchise. Of course, Zelda creator Shigeru Miyamoto is deeply involved in the project in a producer capacity, just like he was for The Super Mario Bros. Movie.

“This is Miyamoto. I have been working on the live-action film of The Legend of Zelda for many years now with Avi Arad-san, who has produced many mega-hit films,” Miyamoto said in the announcement tweet. “It will take time until its completion, but I hope you look forward to seeing it.”

Nintendo confirmed earlier this year, its plans to turn the gaming company into an entertainment empire by slowly transitioning into theme parks and movies. They’ve both succeeded gracefully, with Illumination-produced The Super Mario Bros. Movie grossing $1.36 billion (about Rs. 11,324 crore), placed second among the biggest films this year. That’s a huge feat, considering the film ruffled fans’ feathers before release for casting Chris Pratt (Guardians of the Galaxy) as the titular plumber Mario.

With The Legend of Zelda being a live-action production, Nintendo is partnering with Sony Pictures Entertainment to helm the film, with the former putting forward more than 50 percent of the financing. Currently, there’s no logline for the film but we can assume it follows the young warrior Link’s perilous adventures, as he’s tasked with saving the kingdom of Hyrule and its princess Zelda by defeating the evil King Ganon. The decades-spanning game series is loaded with legacy dungeons and puzzles to solve, but in recent years, veered into the open-world territory, allowing players to explore the entire realm at their own pace. 2018’s The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild was the first to do it, and it was later expanded in Tears of the Kingdom with special abilities that let you build machines and a whole Sky Island map section to explore. They’re both considered as some of the best video games ever made.

Director Ball is also slated to helm Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, slated for release on May 24, 2024, in which a feral young woman (Freya Allan) and an ape Cornelius (Owen Teague) head out on a spiritual journey to seek freedom from the rule of chimpanzee king Proximus Caesar (Kevin Durand) — who took on the mantle following Caesar’s death and perverted his teachings. While fans are still wishing for the Zelda movie to be an animated take, this must mean a big deal to Ball, who back in 2010 expressed interest in seeing a Zelda movie. At the time, he also hoped for it to be a mocap film akin to James Cameron’s Avatar. Back in 2015, even Netflix tried to develop an animated series based on Zelda, though it never came to fruition.

Currently, The Legend of Zelda live-action movie does not have a release window.

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Microsoft Considered Buying Nintendo at One Point, Court Documents Reveal; Unannounced Bethesda Games Leaked

Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer considered buying Nintendo at one point, a leaked 2020 email revealed. Multiple documents from Microsoft’s trial with the US FTC were leaked Tuesday, with one showing a casual discussion about buying the Mario maker, where Spencer called it a “career moment” and implied that a collaboration would be a ‘good move’ for either company. It’s worth highlighting that this conversation happened in August 2020, before Microsoft acquired Bethesda’s parent company ZeniMax Media for $7.5 billion (about Rs. 62,431 crore). The leaks also disclosed Bethesda’s release schedule, alongside details for Microsoft’s planned mid-generation console refresh.

“I’ve had numerous conversations with the LT of Nintendo about tighter collaboration and feel like if any US company would have a chance with Nintendo, we are probably in the best position,” Spencer responded to Microsoft executives Chris Capossela and Takeshi Numoto in the email (via The Verge). He then went on to list some hurdles in the acquisition, starting with Nintendo happily sitting on a ‘big pile of cash,’ which makes any hostile buyout moves futile. He claimed that it’s taking a long time for Nintendo to realise that their games would flourish better if they weren’t just exclusive to their own platform. In the same email, Spencer also touched upon acquiring Valve Corporation — whose president Gabe Newell previously worked at Microsoft — noting that Microsoft’s board of directors would be fully supportive if some positive actions arise.

In addition to ZeniMax, it would seem that Microsoft was actively engaged in buyout discussions with Warner Bros. Interactive, which published Hogwarts Legacy, earlier this year. However, that interaction raised issues about IP ownership — as in, Microsoft wouldn’t hold the rights to DC Comics characters and such, in turn hurting “long-term flexibility.” Meanwhile, with ZeniMax, the issue was more money-based, in the sense of what its founders were expecting from the acquisition.

The leaked documents also revealed a list of unannounced Bethesda games, which include remasters for Fallout 3 and the Cyrodiil-set open-world RPG The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. The chart of planned titles was put together in July 2020, and as such, there are several changes in the launch timelines. The Oblivion remaster was originally slated to release in 2022, but the only update we’ve heard so far stemmed from a rumour claiming that Virtuous Games was working on it. That studio is currently co-developing the Metal Gear Solid 3 remake with Konami. The Fallout 3 remaster was planned for next year, and the list obviously mentions a Starfield DLC for 2022. Of course, the game got delayed and so the timelines drastically differ now.

According to the chart, the long-gestating Elder Scrolls VI was initially eyeing a 2024 launch. But it just recently entered the early development phase and isn’t expected to release until 2026 on PC and Xbox. Other major releases on the horizon include the Indiana Jones game from MachineGames, a Ghostwire: Tokyo sequel, and Dishonored 3, marking Arkane’s return to the stealth franchise following Deathloop and the poorly-received Redfall.

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