This Weeks 8 Biggest Stories
1. Battlefield 1 Announced
Battlefield 1 was officially confirmed by EA this week, and will release on 21st October 2016, for PC, PS4 and Xbox One. Battlefield 1 will be set in World War I, featuring battles on land, sea, and in the air across France, Italy, and the Arabian Desert. There will be a new focus on melee combat, with featured weapons including spiked batons, trench shovels, and rapiers. There will also be trench warfare, mustard gas and dogfighting in biplanes.
A collector’s edition was also revealed (Pictured above). Costing $219.99, it will include the Deluxe Edition of the game, 14” Collector’s Edition Statue, Steel book case, cloth poster, deck of playing cards, messenger pigeon tube, exclusive DLC content and a patch. There will also be an Early Enlister Deluxe Edition that will grant three-day early access to the game, in addition to extra vehicles, weapons and emblems. Those who pre-order the game will receive the Harlem Hellfighter Pack and seven-day early access to a free map, coming later this year. Finally, EA Access players will also “be able to play for a limited time before the release date”. Be sure to check out the trailer for Battlefield 1 below.
2. Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare Announced
Activision officially revealed Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, which will release 4th November 2016. The game will revolve around battles for resources from different inter-solar system settlements. Gameplay will feature dog fighting, zero-gravity fighting and boots on the ground combat. The campaign will not support co-op, as previous entries in the series have. Accompanying the main campaign will be various side missions, granting players the option to attack “targets of opportunity” grating various items and loot rewards, as well as expanding on the game’s narrative. The infamous Zombie Mode will return, designed by Infinity Ward and featuring new gameplay and mechanics.
Also revealed was Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered; “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered is a full campaign and 10 multiplayer maps from the original Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare game remastered in stunning high-definition, featuring next generation textures, physically based rendering, high-dynamic range lighting and much more to bring a new generation experience to fans.” (Activision.com) The remastered will only be available as part of the special editions of the game listed and detailed below.
There will be a Legacy Edition, costing $79.99; it will include a copy of the game as well as Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered. There will also be a Digital Deluxe Edition, costing $99.99; featuring Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, the related season pass, and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered. Finally, there will be a Legacy Pro Edition, costing $119.99; featuring Infinite Warfare, its season pass and Modern Warfare Remastered, it will also include a Steel book case, original soundtrack and unannounced digital items. Check out the trailer below.
3. The Division Update Gets New Details
Ubisoft Massive conducted a State of the Game Livestream this week, shedding new light on the 1.2 update. Included in the update will be a new Incursion, Broken Circle, described; “Go head to head with the Rikers and disable their SAM system to secure the Manhattan airspace” and with a recommended gear score of 220. There will also be a new Dark Zone tier, designed for players with a gear scores of 201 and above. Featuring NPC’s ranked between level 32-34, players can expect 204-240 loot to drop. There will also be updates to the PvE areas of the game, although these have yet to be detailed.
Ubisoft Massive also addressed concerns over the multiple problems that were introduced following the 1.1 update; “There was testing, but obviously the process was not good enough because there are some bugs that made it through that shouldn’t have”. As such the 1.2 update will not release until it is “rock-solid”; the reason the update has yet to be dated.
4. Mighty No. 9 Gets Final Release Date?
If physics has the Uncertainty Principle, gaming has Mighty No. 9 (And the Last Guardian), a game whose continual deluge of delays makes the tooth fairy more likely to be real, than its actual release. With all said, Inafune appears adamant that the game will release worldwide, this 24th June. Note that the PlayStation Vita and Nintendo 3DS version of the games will not release in June, set to release at a later date instead.
5. Fallout 4: Far Harbor Trailer and Release Date
Bethesda released a trailer (below) for Fallout 4’s upcoming DLC; Far Harbor. Featuring the largest landmass for any Bethesda DLC to date, Far Harbor will be available 19th May. Season Pass holders will receive the DLC for free, or will cost £20/$25 as a standalone purchase.
6. Dishonored 2 Release Date Revealed
Bethesda has also revealed that Dishonored 2 will release 11th November 2016, and that fans can expect a gameplay demo to be featured at their E3 conference which takes places on 12th June.
7. Uncharted 4: Multiplayer Roadmap Detailed
Speaking on the PlayStation Blog, Naughty Dog revealed that all post-release maps and modes will be available for free. Currently there are four updates planned, dated for Summer 2016, Autumn 2016, Winter 2017 and Spring 2017 respectively. In addition to new maps and modes, there will be weapons and vanity items added to the game over time. These items can be earned at random by purchasing Chests with in-game currency, or through optional microtransactions. Naughty Dog have stated that there will be no py-to-win.
8. Respawn Working on New 3rd Person Star Wars Game
EA announced that Titanfall developer, Respawn Entertainment, are working on a new 3rd Person Star Wars game; “an all-new 3rd person action adventure game set in the Star Wars universe”. The project is being led by Stig Asmussen, former God of War III creative director. Writing a blog on Respawn’s site Asmussen said; “We promise to pay respect to the Star Wars legacy at all times, a fact that will be constantly reinforced and honored as a central game design tenet. Fans should expect the exemplary level of quality first established at Respawn with Titanfall, a game that epitomizes our studio’s dedication to slick, larger-than-life action and fun, groundbreaking mechanics.”
This Weeks Financial Report
IT’s NOT AS SCARY AS IT SOUNDS! Here’s the weeks latest sales figures and financials for games, developers, publishers and hardware manufactures.
Nintendo Will Not Sell NX at a Loss
Sticking to Nintendo’s historically hard and fast stance, Nintendo president Tatsumi Kimishima confirmed that the NX will not be sold at a loss. While this isn’t inherently bad news, (Both the Xbox One and PS4 were sold at a profit) it does mean there is a limit to how much power Nintendo can pack into the NX, and still sell the console at a competitive price point. Note that the Wii U was also sold at a loss.
Trailer Time
Below you can check the new trailers for the week that were not featured above.
DOOM Launch Trailer
Persona 5 Japanese Release Date Trailer
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War III – Announcement Trailer
And that’s a wrap on this weeks’ news, be sure to come back next week for another news round-up and subscribe to the Weekly Knockout on iTunes.
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