Jim Ryan, Sony Interactive Entertainment's (SIE) President and CEO, is stepping down in March 2024. In a post announcing his retirement, the executive said he's been finding it "increasingly difficult" to juggle his home life in the UK and his job that's located in the US. Ryan has been with SIE since 1994, before the first PlayStation was launched worldwide. He helped establish the company's presence in Europe and held several positions before he was eventually named as the CEO of SIE in 2019.
SIE launched the PlayStation 5 under Ryan's leadership. While the company struggled to produce enough consoles in the height of the pandemic due to component shortages, it was eventually able to increase production and meet demands. In the first quarter of 2023, Sony shipped 3.3 million PS5 units, bringing the total number of consoles sold to 41.7 million. Sony CEO Kenichiro Yoshida praised Ryan for "overseeing the launch of PlayStation 5 in the midst of the global COVID pandemic," saying that the device is now "on track to become SIE’s most successful console yet."
On April 1, 2024, Hiroki Totoki will step in as interim CEO of SIE, taking on the responsibility on top of his roles as the president, COO and CFO of Sony Group Corporation. The company said that he will work with management to "help define the next chapter of PlayStation's future" and to find the next boss for Sony Interactive Entertainment.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/sony-playstation-boss-jim-ryan-is-retiring-in-march-2024-051609995.html?src=rss
When Octopath Traveler 2 launched earlier this year, Microsoft's consoles were noticeably missing from the list of supported platforms. Now, at this year's Tokyo Game Show, Square Enix has revealed that the game is making its way to Xbox One, Series X and Series S sometime in early 2024. Xbox's Sarah Bond introduced Square Enix VP Yu Miyake during the event and also revealed that the platform has more than doubled its number of Japanese games over the past five years.
The high definition 2D pixel-based game that's reminiscent of a different era in gaming came out in February for the Switch, the PlayStation 4, the PlayStation 5 and Steam. It built on the strengths of its predecessor, with its new battle dynamics and game mechanism, but we still found its eight storylines too disconnected to make us feel a meaningful connection between the characters. Still, we thought it was a pretty game with better cinematic cutscenes than the first entry of the series and a polished soundtrack.
Square Enix and Xbox don't have an exact date for the game's release just yet. But it doesn't come as a surprise that Xbox is getting it much later than other consoles, seeing as the first Octopath Traveler didn't become available for the Xbox One until three years after it launched.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/octopath-traveler-2-arrives-on-xbox-in-early-2024-121817577.html?src=rss
This summer’s Federal Trade Commission−Microsoft trial revealed all kinds of intriguing details about how the tech company’s gaming arm saw its rivals and the future of gaming. But now, a court document leak has spilled the beans on new consoles, a new controller and even a list of new game projects (new Dishonored? Yes, please).
The most leftfield part, though, might be a letter from Xbox chief Phil Spencer talking about Nintendo. He said Nintendo was a prime asset for Microsoft’s continued push in gaming and could be the company’s best bet for consumer relevance. Spencer added Nintendo had a board of directors that had not pushed for increases in market growth in ages — indicating, of course, a massive difference in how Nintendo governs itself compared to Microsoft. Eventually, Xbox bought gaming giants, including Bethesda and Activision Blizzard, so fewer plumbers and more gunners.
Microsoft has attempted to acquire the Japanese gaming giant for a while. When Bloomberg published an in-depth on the development of Xbox in 2021, it revealed that Microsoft execs had asked Nintendo if it was willing to be acquired — and were laughed out of the room.
By the end of yesterday, Spencer commented on X, saying: “so much has changed” since those documents. He added the company “will share the real plans when we are ready.”
It’s the year of the USB-C iPhone, and the iPhone 15 Pro Max adds a new action button and the most versatile camera system yet. Apple has kept the same price for the Pro ($999) and Pro Max ($1,199) while doubling the storage capacity on the base model of the latter. If you’ve been holding on to an iPhone that’s at least two years old (or even just a year old), this could well be the year to upgrade. The changes coming to Apple’s Pro handsets feel meatier than before, and a new titanium build makes these devices seem fresher too.
Microsoft is planning a mid-generation refresh of the Xbox Series X with a new discless cylindrical design, according to those leaked documents. Microsoft previously said it has no plans for a mid-gen console refresh, but that doesn’t appear to be true according to the document. In fact, the company may be working on three new consoles. The first, codenamed Ellewood, is a light refresh of the Xbox Series S (set to arrive around September 2024), while Brooklin, tentatively planned for November 2024, is a new discless version of the Xbox Series X.
Another model, XDL, matches Brooklin’s specs but will presumably offer Xbox Design Lab customization. Another slide details a two-tone Sebile controller with built-in accelerometers and haptics that would make it more like Sony’s latest DualSense controller. There are apparently some sustainability tweaks, like a swappable battery, recycled materials and improved repairability. If you’re looking even further into the future, the documents also detailed a cloud hybrid Xbox for 2028, which would combine console power with cloud strength.
The company wants to test its implants on people with quadriplegia.
Elon Musk’s Neuralink company, purveyors of the experimental N1 brain-computer interface (BCI), announced on Tuesday it has finally opened enrollment for its first human study.
The study “aims to evaluate the safety of our implant (N1) and surgical robot (R1) and assess the initial functionality of our BCI for enabling people with paralysis to control external devices with their thoughts.” As such, this study is looking primarily for “those who have quadriplegia due to cervical spinal cord injury or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).” The release adds: “The initial goal of our BCI is to grant people the ability to control a computer cursor or keyboard using their thoughts alone.”
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-huge-xbox-leak-reveals-an-all-digital-series-x-and-a-lot-more-111449389.html?src=rss
If you thought we were done learning juicy details about the internal workings of Xbox after this summer's Federal Trade Commission-Microsoft trial wrapped up, hoo boy, you can guess again. A jaw-dropping court document leak has revealed a ton of information about recent goings on within the Microsoft Gaming division, as well as critical details about its future plans. Perhaps the biggest nugget concerned a major Xbox Series X refresh that Microsoft has lined up for next year.
All-digital Xbox Series X refresh
Microsoft via FTC
Over the last few console generations, we’ve seen the likes of Sony and Microsoft release updated hardware midway through the cycle (the PS4 Pro and Xbox One X spring to mind). And while there are always rumors in the lead up to those new versions, we’ve never seen legitimate leaks of this magnitude before.
Codenamed "Brooklin," a refreshed Series X will have double the internal storage at 2TB, lower power usage, Wi-Fi 6E connectivity and other tech updates, according to a leaked document. This model will have a cylindrical design, compared with the boxy original Series X.
Critically, Microsoft is planning to ditch the console's disc drive. It's not yet clear as to whether there will be an external disc drive available (as is rumored to be the case for a PlayStation 5 refresh). It would mark a significant shift for Xbox to no longer offer a disc drive as standard and perhaps accelerate the death of physical game discs. What's more, Microsoft plans to sell the updated Series X for $499, the same price as the current console.
Microsoft via FTC
Microsoft is planning to release an updated Xbox controller next year as well, per the unredacted filing. Codenamed "Sebile," the peripheral is slated to have "precision haptic feedback" (perhaps to better compete with Sony's DualSense), quieter inputs and, like some premium controllers, modular thumbsticks. There's said to be support for "seamless" pairing and switching between devices with the help of new mobile app features.
Intriguingly, a "direct-to-cloud" feature is mentioned in a slide. That suggests Microsoft is focusing on reducing input latency for games streamed from the cloud, like Google tried with the Stadia Controller (RIP).
Sebile is slated to arrive in May, according to the documents. Microsoft is then expected to announce the new Series X (and a Series S refresh) in June, likely at its annual summer showcase. The $299 Series S refresh is now expected to go on sale around August or September 2024, with the beefed-up Series X scheduled to land a couple months later. It seems Microsoft is planning a clearance sale on the current Series S too, as a slide mentions a $199 offer for Black Friday 2024.
The next-gen Xbox could be a 'cloud-hybrid' console
Xbox
It seems we're not yet midway through the current console generation, but of course Microsoft is thinking about what's ahead. The next-gen Xbox, slated to arrive in 2028, is expected to support "cloud hybrid games."
There's not much detail available on that, but it's clear the company has been moving in this direction for a while. Microsoft Flight Simulator, for instance, incorporates real-time weather data that it pulls from the cloud (that's not a pun, I swear). Xbox has been making a major push into cloud gaming over the last few years too.
There's an implication that the next-generation Xbox will have an always-online requirement for certain games. It's entirely plausible that there will still be a sizable digital divide by 2028, which could prevent some folks in rural areas or other regions with poor internet access from properly being able to play games on Microsoft's next major console.
Xbox head Phil Spencer really wants to buy Nintendo
Lucy Nicholson / Reuters
Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer thinks it would be, like, super cool if the company bought Nintendo. Spencer suggested in an internal 2020 email discussing acquisition targets that he saw Nintendo as a white whale for the company, and one that he was personally invested in snapping up. He saw that as a potential "career moment," per the email.
The document nods toward other possible acquisition targets, including another highly ambitious one in Valve. Spencer mentioned that his team was in active talks with Warner Bros. Interactive and Bethesda parent ZeniMax Media. Both of those were seemingly open to a deal and while the WB talks didn't work out in Microsoft's favor, the company did scoop up ZeniMax for $7.5 billion.
It seems highly unlikely that Microsoft would ever actually buy Nintendo. Antitrust regulators would surely have a lot to say about that, particularly after Microsoft’s ZeniMax purchase and its pending $68.7 billion deal for Activision Blizzard (which could close any day now). It’s not hard to imagine that Japanese officials in particular would be none too happy about an American business buying one of the country’s best-known brands. Still, it’s nice to have dreams, eh, Phil?
Upcoming games
The leak also shed some light on Xbox's plans for upcoming games. It seems that new Doom and Dishonored games are in the pipeline. The latter would see Arkane returning to a successful series after Redfall — its most recent attempt to branch out into fresh IP — faceplanted this year. Fallout 3 Remaster, Oblivion Remaster and a Ghostwire: Tokyo sequel were also mentioned in the leaked documents.
It's worth noting, however, that this Bethesda roadmap ran from fiscal years 2020 through 2024. A lot has changed since then, including Microsoft buying the publisher. Games get canceled all the time, so it's unclear whether any of these unannounced projects will actually come to light. Still, it's hard to imagine that there isn't some kind of Doom title in development.
Aaron Souppouris/Engadget
This is all the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the leaked documents. There are details on everything from Game Pass revenue to Microsoft leaders' reactions to the PlayStation 5 announcement and Spencer revealing he bought his own PS5 (he had to plump for a bundle with Horizon Forbidden West included).
The timing of this leak could not have been worse for Microsoft, as we're going into the critical holiday period. The company was banking on Starfield being a must-have game (it isn’t, unfortunately) to help it shift consoles and Game Pass subscriptions in the last few months of the year. This news won’t help convince people who were on the fence to buy an Xbox soon either. Knowing that a revamped Series X is on the way next year will surely put some people off of buying one now (raises hand). That could result in Microsoft losing more ground against Sony and Nintendo, which appears set to debut a brand new console in 2024.
The FTC, which still has a lawsuit in the works in an attempt to block the Microsoft-Activision deal, has claimed it's not to blame for the leak. "Microsoft was responsible for the error in uploading these documents to the court," Douglas Farrar, director of the FTC's office of public affairs, told NBC News. However all of this information got out there, some heads are surely rolling at Microsoft HQ today.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/everything-we-learned-from-the-biggest-leak-in-xbox-history-161027198.html?src=rss
Microsoft Gaming chief Phil Spencer wanted to acquire Nintendo so bad, he considered it a "career moment." One of the leaked documents from the FTC v. Microsoft case was an email Spencer sent to the company's Chief Marketing Officers Chris Capossela and Takeshi Numoto in 2020. The executive talked about how Nintendo was the prime asset for the tech giant in gaming, which is Microsoft's best bet for consumer relevance. He was confident that if there was an American company capable of acquiring Nintendo, it was Microsoft. However, Nintendo was apparently sitting on a "big pile of cash" that made it unlikely to go looking for buyers.
Spencer added that Nintendo had a board of directors that had not pushed for increases in market growth in ages. He explained that it might change in the future, though, as one of Microsoft's board of directors — investment company ValueAct Capital — had been "heavily acquiring" Nintendo shares and had been "fully supportive" of an acquisition if the opportunity arose.
Microsoft has a long history of trying to acquire the Japanese gaming giant. When Bloomberg published an in-depth oral account of how the Xbox came to be for its 20th anniversary in 2021, it was revealed that the company asked Nintendo if it was willing to be acquired — and got laughed out of the room. "They just laughed their asses off," Xbox co-creator Kevin Bachus said. "Like, imagine an hour of somebody just laughing at you. That was kind of how that meeting went." Microsoft also reportedly asked Nintendo to let it take care of hardware so it could focus on games, but it ultimately failed to convince the company to do a merger.
In Spencer's letter, he said it was "taking a long time for Nintendo to see that their future exists off of their own hardware." And then he ended it with a smiley face that seemed to indicate that he was willing to play the long game, though it's unclear if he still has plans to make another attempt at a merger. Microsoft's legal battle against the Federal Trade Commission will decide the outcome of the company's $69 billion Activision Blizzard acquisition. The company announced the massive purchase in early 2022, but the FTC filed a lawsuit to block the merger, which the agency says can harm competition in the gaming market.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/xbox-chief-phil-spencer-believed-a-nintendo-merger-would-have-been-his-career-moment-114525963.html?src=rss
Microsoft is planning a mid-generation refresh of the Xbox Series X with a new disc-less cylindrical design, according to a document accidentally revealed from the FTC v. Microsoft court battle. It also leaked the existence of a new controller with a gyro (codenamed Sebile), a refreshed Xbox Series S, key specs for the new devices and a timeline. It's not clear how the documents came into public view, but they could be damaging for Xbox's gaming business, as it shows the company's strategy well over a year in advance.
Microsoft previously stated it has no plans to a mid-gen console refresh, but that doesn't appear to be true according to the document. In fact, the company plans no less than three new consoles. The first, codenamed Ellewood, is a light refresh of the Xbox Series S (set to arrive in September 2024), while "Brooklin," tentatively planned for November 2024, is a new disc-less version of the Xbox Series X. Another model, called XDL, matches Brooklin's specs but will presumably offer Xbox Design Lab customization.
Microsoft via FTC
Microsoft's two-tone "Sebile" controller has a built-in accelerometer and haptics that "double as speakers," which would make it more like Sony's latest DualSense controller. It also features new modular thumbsticks, quieter buttons and thumbsticks and new app features, along with sustainability tweaks like a swappable battery, recycled materials and improved reparability. Once it's released, we'll likely see games with support for the gyro, letting you maneuver just by moving the controller around. The company will also have an XDL version of Sebile, codenamed Igraine.
The star of this leak is the new updated Xbox Series X console, though. While Microsoft touts it as "adorable" (presumably due to the cylindrical design that's less severe than the current fridge-like Xbox Series X), many gamers may not find the lack of a disc cute at all.
Along with the new design, the Series X will come with Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2, USB-C front port, an all-new southbridge "to modernize IO and sustainability efforts" and a 6-nanometer die shrink. That will result in a reduced (15 percent) power draw with a new low-power standby mode that's up to 80 percent less than current standby, along with increased use of recycled plastic (>30 percent) and 100 percent recycled packaging.
Microsoft via FTC
It'll have 2TB of storage, or double the current model, and come standard with the Sebile controller. Microsoft also notes that it'll have the "same great price" as the current Xbox Series X at $499 when it arrives (tentatively November 2024), but that's a somewhat disingenuous statement given the lack of a disc.
The Xbox Series S will have similar improvements inside, along with double the storage (1TB rather than 512GB), though the design appears relatively unchanged. It's also set to carry the same current $299 price, with availability tentatively set for September 2024.
A lot more information is laid out, including things that Microsoft would no doubt want private, like projected sales volumes, margins, funding and more. For instance, Microsoft notes that "Sebile full product vision not currently approved due to GM % (gross margin percentage), and appears to place that ball in the "Finance" court. It also outlines a "path to leadership in gaming" with a vision of cloud-first, PC-first and console-first Xbox Game Pass subscription numbers. The leak appears to be a massive screwup that will likely cause some severe fallout, so stay tuned.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/huge-leak-reveals-microsoft-will-launch-an-all-digital-xbox-series-x-and-new-gyro-controller-090442796.html?src=rss
It emerged last week that Robloxwould finally make its bow on PlayStation some time this October, and Sony revealed the exact date during its State of Play showcase. You'll be able to hop into the ultra-popular sandbox on PS4 and PS5 (albeit through backward compatibility) on October 10. There will be full cross-platform support, so you should be able to check out the many, many experiences Roblox has to offer with your friends, even if they access it via mobile, PC, VR or Xbox.
Sony had been opposed to having Roblox on PlayStation for some time owing to safety concerns (most of Roblox's 66 million daily active users are younger players). But court documents that emerged during the recent FTC and Microsoft legal battle indicated that Sony's stance on the issue softened as of last year.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/roblox-is-coming-to-playstation-on-october-10-212727224.html?src=rss
Sony is hosting a State of Play livestreamed event today. Sony says the announcement will include “something for everyone,” focusing primarily on indie and third-party titles and promising updates on flagship games and PS VR2.
The PlayStation State of Play stream starts at 5PM ET today and will be available on PlayStation’s YouTube, Twitch and TikTok accounts. Or you can watch the embedded video below.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/watch-sonys-latest-state-of-play-here-at-5pm-et-193021890.html?src=rss
Wondering what you'll be playing on your PlayStation 5 this fall? Sony has some ideas. The company announced that its next State of Play stream will take place at 5PM ET on September 14, hosted on PlayStation's YouTube, Twitch and TikTok accounts. While the stream's announcement promises to have "something for everyone," including updates on major releases and PS VR2, don't expect a lot of big reveals: Sony says that the showcase will have a strong focus on indie and third party titles, and will primarily feature updates to previously announced games.
If you can't bear to wait until Thursday evening, however, you may be able to get some clues from the Nintendo Direct stream happening earlier that same day. While the Switch-focused stream won't give you any clues about PlayStation's flagship updates, there's a good chance some of the third party announcements featured on the Nintendo Direct will be at Sony's showcase, too. If nothing else, the State of Play should give us a good idea of what fans might be playing on the upcoming PlayStation Portal streaming device when it launches this fall.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/playstation-is-hosting-a-surprise-state-of-play-on-september-14-000143525.html?src=rss
The latest software update for the PlayStation 5 adds a number of useful features to the console, starting with the ability to enjoy its 3D Audio powered by Tempest 3D AudioTech on compatible Dolby Atmos-enabled HDMI devices. Sony first made the feature available, along with the other ones we're mentioning here, as part of a beta update released back in August. Now, it's available to all PS5 users.
Another notable upgrade brought by the new software is support for larger capacity M.2 SSDs. You can now use SSDs up to 8TB, double the previous limit of 4TB, so long as they meet the requirements for compatibility. And if you're playing with someone who may need help beating a particularly difficult level or boss, the console will now allow you to assign a second controller as an assist controller. By doing so, your PS5 will recognize two controllers as one device, and either can control whatever's on screen.
PS5's latest update also comes with enhancements for the console's social features. When you're invited into a closed party, you won't automatically get added to the group anymore, so you don't have to interact with anyone you don't want to. And if someone is sharing a screen in the party you're joining, you'll see a preview of it even before you jump in. If you're the one inviting people, take note that you can now send both closed and open party invitations to several players at the same time. In addition, you can now see which of your friends are doing an activity you can join under the Friends tab, since the interface will now show a "joinable" icon next to them.
Aside from those features, the update will give you the ability to stream PS5 or PS4 games from devices running Android TV OS 12. So far, Sony has verified that the PS Remote Play app is compatible with the 4K Chromecast with Google TV device and the BRAVIA XR A95L model smart TV. In the US and in UK, the update adds new voice commands you can use: Simply say "Hey PlayStation, help" to quickly bring up help pages or "Hey PlayStation, what’s new?" to check for the latest features and the current PS Plus lineup. And if you want to game in the middle of the night and don't want anybody else hearing what you're up to, you can now mute the beep sound the console makes when you turn it on or off. Simply go to Beep Sound under System in Settings and then mute or or adjust its volume.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/sonys-big-ps5-update-adds-dolby-atmos-support-and-lets-you-turn-off-the-startup-beep-120620769.html?src=rss
