A VR spinoff and Horizon Forbidden West expansion won’t be the last we see of Guerrilla Games’ Horizon universe. The studio has at least two more games in the works for the PlayStation franchise, including a multiplayer title.
Guerrilla made the announcement in a recruitment tweet. Along with working on more “epic solo adventures for Aloy,” the star of the first two games, the studio has set up a separate team to create an “online project set in Horizon’s universe.” It added that the latter will feature new characters and a “unique stylized look,” as well as the fact friends will be able to play together — which suggests there will be a focus on co-op.
Join Guerrilla in Amsterdam as we work to expand the world of Horizon
Warhammer shows and films may be coming to Prime Video in the next few years. Amazon has secured the global rights to Warhammer 40,000, according to Deadline, and Henry Cavill is set to star in and executive produce the franchise. The company's confirmation comes after the announcement by Games Workshop, the manufacturer behind the miniature wargame, that it has "reached an agreement in principle" with Amazon. It's unclear if the two companies have already worked out the details of their partnership, but Games Workshop said it's giving Amazon the rights to develop films and TV series based on the IP, along with any associated merchandising rights. Deadline lists games and animation as other potential projects.
The tabletop wargame has been around since 1987 and is set in the distant future with a rich lore that encompasses humans, alien races and gods. Based on Deadline's report, production company Vertigo Entertainment teamed up with Cavill, who once posted a photo of himself painting a Warhammer miniature in the middle of pandemic lockdowns, to secure the Warhammer 40,000 IP before bringing the project to Amazon. Cavill recently left The Witcher, where he played Geralt of Rivia, and was supposed to play Superman in future DC films. However, he was ultimately dropped as the superhero after DC Studios' new co-chairman James Gunn decided to write a movie for a younger Man of Steel.
In a statement, Cavill said: "I have loved Warhammer since I was a boy, making this moment truly special for me. The opportunity to shepherd this cinematic universe from its inception is quite the honour and the responsibility. I couldn’t be more grateful for all the hard work put in by Vertigo, Amazon Studios and Games Workshop to make this happen. One step closer to making a nigh on lifelong dream come true."
Kojima Productions is working with LA-based Hammerstone Studios to develop a movie adaptation of Death Stranding. The 2019 action game already provides quite a cinematic experience with lengthy cut scenes and dramatic expositions, which is probably part of the reason why they aren't directly adapting its story into film. According to Variety, the movie will introduce new elements and characters into the Death Stranding world, so we will see something fresh at the very least, even if they don't create a brand new story for the big screen.
The game is set in an apocalyptic version of the United States, where invisible creatures called "Beached Things" showed up and triggered nuclear bomb-like explosions. Death Stranding was a star-studded production, since Kojima chose to get known actors to play its characters. Norman Reedus portrayed Sam Porter Bridges, the game's protagonist that the player controls. The game also stars Mads Mikkelsen and Léa Seydoux and even uses the likeness of director Guillermo del Toro. It's unclear if any of the actors in the game will also appear in the film.
Hideo Kojima will serve as the film's executive producer, along with Hammerstone co-founder Alex Lebovici. "We are thrilled and honored to have the opportunity to partner with brilliant and iconic Hideo Kojima on his first film adaptation," Lebovici said in a statement. "Unlike other big budget tentpole video game adaptations, this will be something far more intimate and grounded. Our goal is to redefine what a video game adaptation could be when you have creative and artistic freedom. This film will be an authentic ‘Hideo Kojima’ production."
This announcement comes after Kojima announced Death Stranding 2 at The Game Awards. The upcoming sequel is just as star-studded as the first game, with Norman Reedus reprising his role, Léa Seydoux coming back and Elle Fanning playing a character that still remains a mystery.
Several journalists across various publications have found themselves unable to access their Twitter accounts tonight. They've been suspended on the website, and according to NBC News Senior Reporter Ben Collins, one thing they had in common was that they covered the social network and Elon Musk, who once described himself as a "free speech absolutist." Collins listed the suspended journalists' accounts on a Twitter thread, including CNN'sDonie O'Sullivan whose last tweets included his interview with Jack Sweeney, the college student who ran the @ElonJet account.
The Washington Post's Drew Harwell has also been suspended, as well as The New York Times'Ryan Mac whose last tweets also talked about Sweeney and Twitter's policy changes after @ElonJet was suspended. Mashable'sMatt Binder also found himself suspended after retweeting a post doubting Musk's claim that he and his son were followed by a "crazy stalker" and another about how Twitter's new head of trust and safety invited a QAnon-adjacent group to discuss a partnership.
Apple TV+ has announced a Mythic Quest spinoff show. The streaming service hasn't revealed too many details about Mere Mortals just yet. However, it did say the so-called "extension series" will delve deeper into the lives of the employees, players and fans who are impacted by Mythic Quest, the fictional game at the heart of the eponymous sitcom.
Mere Mortals will take inspiration from Mythic Quest "departure" episodes, such as the standalone "Everlight," "Backstory" (which is set in 1972) and "Quarantine," which showed how the characters were dealing with COVID-19 lockdowns. Mythic Quest writers Ashly Burch, John Howell Harris and Katie McElhenney created the eight-episode spinoff. Burch (who also stars as Aloy in Sony's Horizon games) plays Rachel in the original show. Mythic Quest creators Megan Ganz, Rob McElhenney and Charlie Day are involved as executive producers as well.
Apple TV+ didn't say when Mere Mortals will debut. Season 3 of Mythic Quest premiered on the streaming service last month.
If you envy Universal Studios Japan and its Mario-themed area, the US equivalent is almost here. Hollywood’s Super Nintendo World is less of a self-contained theme park and more of a new area at Universal Studios, and it will open on February 17th, 2023. Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge will be the centerpiece attraction, an augmented reality-powered go-kart simulator inspired by Nintendo’s racing franchise. You wear an AR visor displaying a digital world with fantastical racetracks, Koopa Shells and familiar competitors, who you blast using your steering wheel trigger.
But, this will be the only ride inside the US’s Mushroom Kingdom tribute. The Japan equivalent has a second ride, and US work is already underway on a Donkey Kong-centric addition for 2024. That’s still enough reason to visit, right? The February opening should roughly coincide with the release of The Super Mario Bros. Movie.
– Mat Smith
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Tesla is officially rolling out Steam integration for the latest versions of its Model S and X cars as part of its holiday update. In its promo video of the feature, you'll see Tesla's infotainment system running Steam Beta and even graphically demanding games like Cyberpunk 2077. By "new" Model S and X vehicles, Tesla likely means the "Plaid" versions, which started deliveries last year. Both models' infotainment systems use AMD's RDNA 2 GPUs, which are also the technology behind PlayStation 5, and AMD's Ryzen chips.
One day after Jack Dorsey took to Revue to share his thoughts on the Twitter Files, Twitter announced it would shut down the newsletter platform early next year. "From January 18th, 2023, it will no longer be possible to access your Revue account," Revue said on Wednesday. At the time, the company said the acquisition was a natural expansion of its platform. And for a while, it had a point, since paid newsletters were all the rage last year. At first, the company added Revue signup buttons to Twitter profiles. A month later, it rolled out a feature for users to sign up for Revue newsletters directly from tweets.
YouTube is rolling out updates today around toxic comments that violate community guidelines. Previously, it has used tools like popups to encourage "respectful" interactions, but it's now taking a (slightly) more assertive approach. If YouTube detects and removes abusive comments, it will notify users that they've violated community guidelines. If the same person continues to post toxic comments, they'll get a "timeout" and be unable to leave further comments for 24 hours.
A federal grand jury and the Securities and Exchange Commission have charged eight men with allegedly operating a stock pump-and-dump scheme on Discord and Twitter between January 2020 and April 2022. They reportedly used their social media presences (including a combined 1.5 million Twitter followers) to artificially inflate the value of stocks, only to sell their shares without disclosing their plans. They made a $114 million profit off the campaign, the Justice Department said. The nature of the manipulation isn't surprising, but the scale is. It follows the meme stock saga on Reddit, which boosted stock prices, including GameStop, and showed how online communities can influence share prices in the right circumstances.
The group went beyond Twitter, supposedly using a Discord server (Atlas Trading) to share misinformation about stocks. One participant, Daniel Knight, also co-hosted a podcast that apparently played a role in the fraud.
Earlier this year Sony announced that God of War would be developed as an Amazon Prime series, and since then, the latest installment Ragnarok has become a huge hit on PlayStation. Now, the series is officially a go at Amazon and we've learned more about what will take place, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The series will follow the main character Kratos, The God of War, through roughly the events of the 2018 reboot based on Norse mythology. In that, he has quit his violent past and exiled himself to the Norse Midgard realm.
"When his beloved wife dies,” Amazon's description reads, "Kratos sets off on a dangerous journey with his estranged son to spread her ashes from the highest peak — his wife’s final wish. [The quest] will test the bonds between father and son, and force Kratos to battle new gods and monsters for the fate of the world."
The series will be produced by Sony Pictures Television and Amazon Studios in association with PlayStation Productions. The showrunner will be The Wheel of Time's Rafe Judkins, aided by Oscar nominees Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby (Children of Men, Iron Man) who will take on writing and executive producing duties.
The original God of War series revolves around Greek mythology wrapped up in 2013 with God of War: Ascension (PS3). It rebooted with 2018's Norse mythology-based God of War for PlayStation 4, which led to God of War Ragnarök, released last month to rave reviews.
Amazon is also producing a Fallout series for Prime that started production early this year and should be arriving soon. Other series based on high-profile games either released or coming soon include The Last of Us (HBO), Halo (Paramount) and Horizon Zero Dawn (Netflix).
Epic Games is shutting down "out-of-date online services" and servers for several of its older games, including multiple Rock Band and Unreal titles, starting today. The company notes that most affected games will still be available offline, but others will no longer work. It says the move is part of a shift that will only see it support online functions through Epic Online Services, which offers a unified friends system, voice chat, parental controls and parental verification.
Epic is removing the mobile title DropMix and the Mac and Linux versions of Hatoful Boyfriendand Hatoful Boyfriend: Holiday Star from storefronts today. You'll still be able to play these games if you already own them.
Servers for several games will be shut down on January 24th, but Epic has already started delisting them from digital storefronts and turning off in-game purchases. After that date, you'll still be able to play the following offline in single or local multiplayer modes:
1000 Tiny Claws
Dance Central 1-3
Green Day: Rock Band
Monsters (Probably) Stole My Princess
Rock Band 1-3
The Beatles: Rock Band
Supersonic Acrobatic Rocket-Powered Battle-Cars
Unreal Gold
Unreal II: The Awakening
Unreal Tournament 2003
Unreal Tournament 2004
Unreal Tournament 3
Unreal Tournament: Game of the Year Edition
Dance Central VRand Rock Band 4online multiplayer features will remain available. Epic also plans to restore online features to Unreal Tournament 3 down the line. It will integrate Epic Online Services into the game.
Battle Breakers, a hero collector RPG that a small team of Epic developers built inhouse and released in 2019, will shut down on December 30th. Epic will refund all in-game purchases made through its direct payment system in the 180 days before today. As of January 24th, the alpha of the Unreal Tournament reboot, Rock Band Blitz, the Rock Band companion app and SingSpace will no longer be available.
It's unclear how many people are still playing the Unreal Tournament and Rock Band titles but at their peaks, they were among the biggest franchises around. It's a shame to see Epic sunsetting these games and all the others on the list. Still, if you happen to have a Rock Band guitar or drum set gathering dust, this may at least be a decent reminder to bust those out and play along to "I Want to Hold Your Hand" or "Basket Case."
Meanwhile, Rock Band developer Harmonix, which Epic bought last year, recently announced that its most recent game, Fuser, will go offline. The studio will also stop selling the game and in-game purchases on December 19th.
Two years after Super Nintendo World’s opening in Osaka, Japan, its first American counterpart will arrive at Universal Studios Hollywood. Like the Japanese version, Hollywood’s Super Nintendo World is less of a self-contained theme park and more of a new area at Universal Studios. Roughly coinciding with the release of The Super Mario Bros. Movie, the California “theme land” will open on February 17th, 2023.
Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge is the centerpiece attraction, an augmented reality-powered go-kart simulator inspired by Nintendo’s racing franchise. Attendees wear AR visors displaying an alternate digital world with fantastical racetracks, Koopa shells and familiar competitors, who you blast using your steering wheel trigger. Unfortunately, although Nintendo and Universal believe the attraction includes enough variety to invite repeat visits, it’s Super Nintendo World’s only proper ride at launch. (The Japan park only has one other ride, a slower-paced Yoshi adventure, which hasn’t been announced for the US.)
Beyond AR Mario Kart, the park invites you stimulate your senses and spend money. You can buy a Power-Up Band, which helps families keep score and unlock “extra-special interactions” with question-mark blocks and costumed characters. Additionally, if the ride’s AR visor wasn’t enough, you can pick up a pair of interactive binoculars to “discover a new dimension of Super Nintendo World.” You can buy lunch at Toadstool Cafe, where Chef Toad serves delicacies like Toadstool Cheesy Garlic Knots, Piranha Plant Caprese and the Mario Bacon Cheeseburger. And, of course, there’s the 1-Up Factory, a retail shop selling character hats and plush dolls.
Super Nintendo World is a collaboration between Nintendo and Universal Creative. Mario creator and Nintendo visionary Shigeru Miyamoto was instrumental in designing and constructing the original Japan park, which its Hollywood sibling largely mirrors. A second US park is in the works for Universal Studios Florida, which will open sometime down the road.
Tidal users in the US can now become DJs on the streaming service. The company is testing a feature called DJ, which enables those on the $20 per month HiFi Plus tier to share songs or a playlist they're listening to with other paying users in real time. Tidal added a proper playlist sharing option just last month.
You can choose a name for the DJ session and share a link that others can use to access it. Unfortunately, Tidal says that those tuning in won't be able to listen to whatever the DJ's playing at high-resolution or lossless quality for the time being. The songs will play in regular AAC quality (160 Kbps) — higher-resolution streams will be available at a later date.
Budding DJs will need to be enrolled in Tidal's Early Access Program to access the beta. They'll only be able to start a session on iOS for now, but Android support is coming soon. All paying Tidal users can listen to a DJ session on either iOS or Android.
The feature is different from Tidal for DJs, which enables producers and DJs to plug songs from the streaming service into professional audio software, as The Verge notes. So, this new feature is geared toward amateur tastemakers. However, the fact that listeners also need to be paid Tidal users might prevent folks from sharing their live DJ sessions with friends who typically use Spotify or Apple Music. At least Turntable.fm is still around, while Amazon's Amp enables people to host their own radio shows with chat and licensed music.
