After a moody first trailer, Striking Distance Studios, a team made up of former Dead Space developers, has released new gameplay footage from its upcoming survival horror title, The Callisto Protocol. Shown off during Summer Game Fest, the clip was captured on current generation hardware, according to host Geoff Keighley. The trailer sees the game's protagonist fighting their way through a claustrophobic environment using an arsenal that will be familiar to any Dead Space fan.  

Striking Distance Studios will release The Callisto Protocol on December 2nd.  

Developing...

E3 would normally be held around this time, but it isn't going ahead this year. Still, there are a ton of showcases over the next few days that will shine the spotlight on dozens, if not hundreds, of upcoming games. One of the biggest events on the docket is the Summer Game Fest showcase, which is set for 2PM ET today.

Host and producer Geoff Keighley has tried to keep fans' expectations in check by noting that, while there will be some new game announcements, the focus will primarily be on previously revealed titles. There will be details on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II, The Callisto Protocol, Gotham Knights, Cuphead - The Delicious Last Course, Street Fighter 6, Marvel's Midnight Suns and much more.

Rumors suggest the stream will also feature Hollow Knight: Silksong and perhaps a release date for God of War Ragnarök. One thing that definitely won't be included is a Grand Theft Auto 6 trailer, according to Keighley. Don't expect to hear a peep about Half-Life 3 either.

Keighley says the event will run for over 90 minutes. Be sure to stick around afterward for the indie-focused Day of the Devs event. The Summer Game Fest showcase is available to stream on a ton of platforms, including YouTube, Twitch, Twitter, Facebook, Steam and even in IMAX theaters. To make things even easier for you, the YouTube stream is right here:

The following article discusses spoilers for Lift Us Where Suffering Cannot Reach, and topics of a sensitive nature.

Last week, Strange New Worlds hit something of a groove with a lightweight comedy episode that showed how well this show can work. This week, it takes a hard turn toward the weighty, with an episode that tries to cover a whole host of stuff in its 50-minute runtime. In some ways, this feels like the most The Next Generation thing Star Trek has put out since 1994. In others, it feels like the show tripped backwards and landed on something deeply profound by accident.

We open on Pike in pensive mode as the USS Enterprise heads to the Majalan System to run a stellar survey. He’s been this way before, on an unseen rough-and-tumble adventure back when he was a lieutenant, and he’s hoping for an easier ride this time around. No such luck, as just as the ship arrives, it’s thrust into a low-stakes battle between two small vessels, one of which starts firing on the Enterprise itself. That forces Pike to intervene, rescuing three people from one of the ships: A child with the title The First Servant, a prickly doctor who is also the First Servant’s father and Elora, a noblewoman Pike met on his last visit.

The ship came under attack because it was carrying the First Servant, who is about to “ascend” and achieve some great destiny for his people. He’s sufficiently special that he’s been implanted with a special perpetual-healing device to protect him from injury. But what’s obvious, from a few minutes into the episode, is that neither of the adults want to talk about why the kid is special, or what his grand ascension ceremony is going to entail, beyond the fact that the entire civilization will collapse unless it takes place, pronto. In my notes, I wrote “I bet they’re planning on eating the Dalai Lama kid,” because this whole plot felt like a throwback to a less TV-literate age.

Unfortunately, Pike seems to have left his brain in his other pants as soon as he realizes that there was mutual affection between him and Elora. In fact, as soon as Pike realizes that he’s on track to Get Some, he becomes quite petulant when his subordinates try to drag him away to try to further the episode’s narrative. And that’s despite the fact that Elora is the most Character With Something Dark To Hide character you’ll see on television this year. All the while, La’an and Uhura, this week on the security portion of her apprenticeship, try to work out what exactly is going on.

Of course, that perpetual-healing machine piques the interest of Dr. M’Benga, who wonders if such technology could be used to heal his own daughter. Sadly, the doctor brushes off the request for help, saying that it would be impossible for the Majalans to share their technology. The kid’s also something of a child prodigy, and based on nothing more than a half-overhead conversation about a sick child, he’s managed to bust Rukiya out of the transporter buffer. At this point, I can’t work out if her presence onboard is meant to be a secret or not, since it seems like a random child from an alien culture can figure out she’s there in about thirty seconds. (Pike, too, later in the episode, is tempted with an offer to get his own future fixed with their magical medical technology.)

Unfortunately, the next section of the plot is mostly throat-clearing and runarounds as Pike uncovers some sort of conspiracy. The hows and whys of the conspiracy aren’t really clear, and the only real point is to have a laser stick fight/chase scene through what looks like the grounds of Toronto’s Casa Loma museum. You can feel the show spinning its wheels while we get to the inevitable conclusion. Pike rescues the kid and hands him over to the Majalans, who promptly plug him into a supercomputer that “kills” him. This, somehow, is the key to keeping their society, which floats on suspended islands above the clouds, much like Columbia from Bioshock Infinite, from falling into the lava below. (Why? Don’t ask questions, it just does.)

Marni Grossman / Paramount

Pike does try to stop it happening, but gets enough of a beatdown to watch as the kid gets wired up. It’s a pretty disturbing scene and as close to horror as Star Trek has gotten for a while, since the child realizes too late that it’s going to lead to his untimely end. Elora, in response to Pike’s objection, then goes on a rant about having the courage to sacrifice one child for the greater good. I’ll quote her response in full: “Can you honestly say that no child suffers for the benefit of your Federation? That no child lives in poverty, or squalor, while those who enjoy abundance look away? The only difference is that we don’t look away.”

Now, it was these lines that threw me, only because it’s clearly meant to be a say-the-quiet-part-out-loud statement about the US. But while the Federation is meant to be some allegorical mash-up of the Western World at large, it’s also meant to represent a utopian version of that. In the 23rd century, the Federation had the ability to synthesize food, clothing and other materials pretty darn easily. In Discovery’s first season, Burnham uses food and clothing synthesizers to produce a delicious meal and new uniform pretty much on demand. Which means that, while the Star Trek of Pike’s day wasn’t the post-scarcity economy of The Next Generation, the idea that people would go hungry and live in squalor feels… off. I don’t want to be that guy, but did any of the show’s nine thousand producers read Trekonomics?

Here’s the thing, while the meat of the episode isn’t particularly meaty, the topics it covers are fairly profound. One of Star Trek’s most famous philosophical tenets is that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one. This form of Utilitarianism is upheld as a noble goal within the spirit of the Federation (except, of course, when Leonard Nimoy fancies a shot at directing and so decides / agrees to resurrect Spock, but let’s not talk about that now). Then again, it’s hard to see how a kid, even a bright one, can be emotionally and mentally mature enough to consent to such a grizzly demise.

Then there’s the fact that Pike loses, and is essentially powerless to do much of anything to “correct” what went on here. He can file a report to the Federation and lodge his objection to what went on, but there’s little anyone can actually do. And that raises another interesting point, since Star Trek can be read as an essentially colonialist text, one in which a group of people with Western values venture out to “civilize” the “wilderness.” If Pike had stormed back, phasers blasting, to rescue the First Servant, it might have made for good TV, but is it morally and ethically right for one group to impose its will upon others under force of arms?

(Longtime Trek fans will probably have spotted the handful of nods to the early TNG episode “Symbiosis” which covered similar ground. I won’t spoil it for you, but that too posed the question of how much you can, or should, interfere when you find one group of people taking advantage of another. Late ‘80s Just Say No moralizing aside, it does manage to reach a satisfying conclusion and keep within the rules of how the Prime Directive prevents the Federation from simply imposing its order upon the rest of the universe.)

But no matter how hamfistedly the show might be gesturing toward these sorts of problems, it is at least gesturing toward them. The thing that is working about Strange New Worlds is that it’s working to provoke you to think, and dwell upon your own moral and intellectual values. And it’s worth asking yourself, too, what you would be prepared to do to prevent this form of moral injustice in the world we live in today. And that, my friends, is the power of good sci-fi.

Netflix and CD Projekt Red have unveiled the first trailer for Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, their anime series based on Cyberpunk 2077. The companies first announced the project back in 2020 and have been developing it since 2018.

The 10-episode story revolves around a street kid turned mercenary edgerunner and is set in Night City, "a technology and body modification-obsessed city of the future," the description reads. CD Projekt Red is producing the project with showrunner Rafal Jaki (The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Cyberpunk 2077), but the animation is being done by Japan-based company Studio Trigger. 

Studio Trigger is known for its wild anime designs and "raucous" storytelling with projects like Kill la Kill and Promare, and Edgerunners looks like it falls solidly into that category. It'll be directed by Studio Trigger founder Hiroyuki Imaishi, with Hiromi Wakabayashi doing character design. The original score will be composed by Akira Yamaoka (Silent Hill series). It's set to launch in September. 

Let’s get this out of the way: No Russian will not be included in the new Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II. In fact, the game will penalize friendly fire and fail players who shoot civilians while in combat.

This is in stark contrast to the No Russian mission from the original Modern Warfare II, which came out in 2009 – in this level, players were instructed to shoot their way through a busy airport, killing civilians en masse alongside a Russian terrorist organization. The protagonist was undercover, trying to infiltrate the cell for the CIA, and even though it was possible to skip this section or play it without firing a single shot, the fictional peer pressure to kill as many people as possible was strong.

No Russian sparked heavy controversy with the release of Modern Warfare II. Though Call of Duty has made billions gamifying the horrors of war, many players balked at the idea of role-playing as a mass shooter targeting unarmed civilians. The mission came with a content warning in the US and it was censored internationally. Infinity Ward and Activision were forced to publicly justify its inclusion, arguing against the idea that it was tone-deaf, ham-fisted and needlessly disturbing.

With the 2022 version of Modern Warfare II, Infinity Ward is avoiding the conversation altogether. In response to the question, “Can you confirm whether the No Russian mission will be included in the new game, in any form?” an Activision spokesperson responded as follows:

“No. There are NPC civilians in the game, but you will be penalized for friendly fires. If civilians are caught in the crossfire, players will automatically get a mission fail.”

Activision

This fits with the overall vibe of the new Modern Warfare II. At a media briefing ahead of its reveal, Infinity Ward developers emphasized the game’s entertainment value over serious wartime themes, at one point using the phrase, "fun for everyone." They said they wanted this Modern Warfare II to be realistic, but still "cool." Without mentioning No Russian specifically, developers said the goal of the original game was to be provocative, while this year’s version was aiming to be heroic.

With Modern Warfare II, Infinity Ward is sticking to the fun bits of war. The game still deals in real-world themes of organized violence, large-scale military action and shadowy terrorist groups – but no joke, I’ve never heard Call of Duty developers use the word “fun” so freely in a pre-release briefing.

This may be because Modern Warfare II marks the beginning of a fresh approach to Call of Duty for Activision, with pivotal implications for the future of Warzone specifically. When the next version of Warzone comes out after October of this year, it will include the AI improvements, new vehicle behaviors and upgraded physics of Modern Warfare II, and both games will run on the same engine.

Activision

“A wholly new Warzone will launch as an extension of the Modern Warfare II universe,” an Activision spokesperson said. “With it comes new technology, new features, and new gameplay that work seamlessly together…. In order to fully deliver this state-of-the-art experience, Warzone 2.0 will feature new Modern Warfare II content and systems with brand new progression and inventories. Today’s Warzone will continue on as a separate experience that will include a continuation of player progression and inventories within that Warzone experience.”

Modern Warfare II is scheduled to come out on October 28th. Warzone 2.0 should land soon after, according to Activision.

Modern Warfare II is a sequel to 2019’s Modern Warfare, which rebooted the series but kept familiar themes and characters like Captain John Price. The new game follows Price’s Task Force 141 and Mexican Special Forces as they attempt to thwart terrorist plans across the globe.

“We love telling stories,” Infinity Ward head writer Brian Bloom said. “Story is character and character is story, and that's writery stuff that writers sometimes say internally, but it boils down to a simple thing. If you have a plot, who’s in it, what’s happening?”

With Modern Warfare II, developers focused on refining water physics and figuring out how combat works above and below the surface. One level they showed off, Wet Work, had the player sneak into a marina by swimming around docked boats, taking out security forces by throwing knives and shooting a pistol upward through the water. In the new game, shooting underwater reduces the impact of each bullet, whether it breaks the surface or not, but the pistol otherwise operates normally.

These new water physics will apply to multiplayer portions of the game, as well as Warzone 2.0. In terms of multiplayer for Modern Warfare II, developers have taken observational data from past Call of Duty games to identify three main player behaviors: aggressive, defensive and reactionary, each of them with assault and stealth variants. The game’s default loadouts fall into the resulting six categories. As for vehicles, it’s possible to shoot their doors and tires off, complete on-the-fly repairs, and get a 360 degree view when leaning out of a window. Amphibious vehicles and a helicopter troop carrier also make an appearance in multiplayer.

New multiplayer maps come in large-scale and traditional sizes, and there’s a new 6v6 mode called Knockout that infuses Gunfight with a multiplayer component. Players have one life (with revive) and one minute on the timer, and a bag randomly spawns in one of three locations. The winner is the last person left alive or the person holding the bag when time runs out.

Activision

The AI systems in Modern Warfare II have been tweaked to better facilitate emergent gameplay and mimic real-world scenarios, while Infinity Ward is running internal tests on maps with 300 AI characters and 100 live players. Call of Duty’s Ricochet Anti-Cheat system will be live in Modern Warfare II and Warzone 2.0 on day one.

Infinity Ward creative director and co-head Patrick Kelly teased what this could all mean for Warzone 2.0 and the future of Call of Duty in his introductory speech, saying, “What if there was tons and tons of AI in the world and things like that, and there was tons of players and stuff like that? That could be potentially really cool, right? We want a scenario where everyone is playing together, having fun and playing how they want to play and what they want to play.”

As long as it’s not No Russian.

The resurgence of Ghostbusters is set to continue with a new animated series that's coming to Netflix. Ghostbusters: Afterlife co-writer and director Jason Reitman and co-writer Gil Kenan are heading up the show as executive producers. Sony Pictures Animation is involved as well. Other details remain a mystery for now, including the title, the basics of the plot or and when it will be released.

It seems to be early days for the new project, which will be the third animated Ghostbusters series after The Real Ghostbusters and Extreme Ghostbusters. Netflix made the announcement as part of its Geeked Week event. 

Today is also Ghostbusters Day, an annual celebration of the franchise. According to Variety, Reitman and Kenan are expected to announce more projects. A few Ghostbusters games are in the works as well, including Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed and Ghostbusters VR, both of which are set to arrive later this year.

LinkedIn is expanding its Clubhouse-style live audio feature as it looks to draw more creators to its platform. The company, which first launched live audio events in January, will now open up hosting capabilities to all creators.

With the update, all LinkedIn creators who use the platform’s “creator mode” will be able to host live audio events so long as they stay in line with the platform’s “community policies of being a trustworthy, safe, and professional provider of content.” Though event hosting is currently limited to creators, any LinkedIn user is able to participate in the chats.

Similar to Clubhouse, creators on LinkedIn can schedule their audio events in advance and share the upcoming talks with their network. The company says creators are already using audio features to expand their professional networks, connect with potential clients and reach new followers. Video-centric live events are also in the works, though LinkedIn hasn’t given an update on when that will launch. 

The expansion comes as LinkedIn has significantly ramped up its efforts to become a more creator-centric platform. The company says more than 10 million people are using the site’s creator mode, nearly double the 5.5 million who were using it in March. Now, LinkedIn is trying to help those creators broaden their reach. The company is tweaking the way creator profiles and their content appear in search results and in the LinkedIn feed in order to make it easier for people to find and follow them. It also plans to make creator profiles embeddable to outside websites so creators can more easily promote their LinkedIn content on other platforms.

In protest of France's content streaming rules, Disney has announced that its animated holiday film Strange World (aka Avalonia) will go straight to Disney+ and not appear in theaters in the country. It also gave a strong statement to Deadline decrying France's so-called chronologie des medias rules. 

"Strange World will be available to all Disney+ subscribers in France, foregoing a French cinematic release. While we support French cinema — and have for decades — the new, cumbersome media chronology is anti-consumer, ignoring how behavior has evolved over the last several years and puts us at increased risk for piracy. We will continue to make decisions on a film-by-film basis and according to each market’s unique conditions," a company spokesperson said. 

France's laws force studios like Disney to wait 17 months before they can release movies to Disney+ after a theatrical release, following a four month purchase and exclusive six-month Canal+ window. Disney+ can then only keep it for five months, as it goes to free-to-air channels like TF1 and France 2 for a 14-month period. Once that window ends (36 months after the theatrical release), it reverts back to Disney+. 

Minister of Culture

Prior to a new law implemented earlier this year, the situation actually used to be worse for streaming channels, with release windows much longer. Disney has protested because the new rules favor Netflix, giving it a shorter 15-month window before films can revert to its streaming service. It has also said that the laws don't take into account the new reality of how content is consumed in the COVID-19 era. 

"We believe that the media chronology is not consumer friendly, nor does it establish a balanced or proportionate framework between the various players in the French audiovisual ecosystem. This is especially frustrating as we have been increasing our investment in the creation of original French content while also supporting French cinema through our theatrical releases," Disney said at the time. (Engadget has reached out to France's media regulator for comment.)

France's Ministry of Culture and regulatory body CNC juggle the needs of theater chains, studios, streaming services and consumers. At the same time, they're trying to encourage local production and original French content in general. That has been effective of late, with numerous productions like Emily in France shot in the country. At the same time, original French series like Netflix's Lupin and Call My Agent have become hits in the US and elsewhere around the world. 

Following a test that began in April, Instagram has begun rolling out grid pinning, a new way for users to highlight posts they want others to see. When you pin an image or Reel, it will appear above the photo grid on your profile page. It’s possible to showcase up to three pieces of content in this way. To start pinning, tap on the three dots icon above an individual post and then select “pin to your profile.”

The release of grid pinning coincides with Instagram and Facebook adding new features to Reels. It’s now possible to add interactive stickers to your clips and import your own audio. Meta has also extended the maximum length of Reels to 90 seconds. Speaking to all the changes, Instagram head Adam Mosseri said they would make it easier for creators to engage and share their work with fans. He added the company was looking at more ways to give users control over their profile pages.

After a months-long delay, DICE and EA are finally ready to premiere the first season of Battlefield 2042. The two have announced that Season 1: Zero Hour premieres on June 9th with a large batch of fresh content. There's a new map set in the Canadian Rockies (Exposure) for the All-Out Warfare and Portal modes. A new character, Ewalina Lis, is well-suited to anti-vehicle combat. You'll need her, too, as there are new stealth helicopters (the Huron and Hannibal) that could provide an unwelcome surprise.

The new season includes a wider range of gear, including a crossbow with multiple round options (including explosive), a mid-range rifle and a smoke grenade launcher. To no one's surprise, EA is also promising more skins and melee takedown animations for Premium Battle Pass buyers.

Zero Hour also builds on the many bug fixes and needed feature additions since launch. You can expect greater stability, better balancing and improved handling for guns and vehicles, among other tweaks. Custom game mode creators can expect a more powerful editor and a new preset, while Portal brings back some vehicles and "experiences."

Season 1 is free for all BF2042 players, and you'll only really want the Premium pass if you insist on having the latest cosmetics. The question is whether or not the update will bring gamers back. While active player counts have levelled out, according to Steam Charts, there's no doubt that interest in the shooter tumbled soon after its November 2021 debut. A rough launch and other frustrations prompted much of the target audience to drift toward other titles. The major content update might encourage users to give the game a second chance, but it's not certain that they'll stick around.