With the PlayStation 5 entering the second half of its life, figures from Sony indicate around half of all current PlayStation gamers are yet to upgrade to current gen. As pointed out by Game File’s Stephen Totilo, Sony announced this week that PlayStation has 118 million monthly active users (MAUs), up 9% year-on-year, but around half of those are still on the 11-year-old PlayStation 4. PS5 has sold over 59 million units since going on ***** in November 2020, and it has yet to see a price cut. Infact, Sony has raised the price of the console. Speaking to the investment community (as reported by Totilo) Sony president Hiroki Totoki painted a rosy picture of the situation, saying MAUs will steadily increase as PS4 players eventually upgrade to PS5, but as Daniel Ahmad, Director of Research and Insights at Niko Partners, pointed out in a tweet, the transition from PS4 to PS5 has so far been “slow.” On console PlayStation Network MAU’s have barely grown since the PS5 launch. It’s just been a slow transition from PS4 > PS5 — Daniel Ahmad (@ZhugeEX) May 16, 2024 So, why have so many PS4 gamers held off on upgrading to a PS5? Or, perhaps to put it a better way, why are so many PS4 gamers content to stick with the console they have? Mat Piscatella, Executive Director and Video Game Industry Advisor at Circana, suggested in a tweet that the most-played games in the U.S. are all currently available on the last generation of consoles, and that’s enough for most people. These games (Fortnite, Minecraft, Roblox, GTA 5, and Call of Duty), are all available on PS4. “Any console that can play a majority of, or all five, of these games will be just fine for many people,” Piscatella commented. This is not a situation unique to PlayStation, either, Piscatella added, as it affects all consoles. IGN has already reported on tumbling sales of the Xbox Series X and S, which looks like it will struggle to outsell its predecessor, the much-maligned Xbox One. Microsoft’s answer includes bringing its Xbox games to rival platforms, including PS5, but it has also committed to releasing a more powerful next-gen console, and there are rumors it plans an Xbox handheld, too. As for Sony, PS5 sales currently trail those of PS4 after the same amount of time after launch, but it’s worth pointing out the PS4 had undergone price cuts totaling $100 by now. Sony has said it expects PS5 sales to continue to decline, although it is also expected to launch a PS5 Pro later this year. Sony’s plan to increase sales and profits from PlayStation in the coming years depends upon its ability to expand the number of active PlayStation users and user engagement, and cutting business costs. In February, Sony announced a significant round of layoffs affecting around 900 staff, or about 8% of its global PlayStation workforce. The layoffs affect a number of PlayStation studios, including Insomniac, Naughty Dog, Guerrilla, Firesprite, and, most significantly, PlayStation's London studio. Alongside the layoffs, a number of in-development games were canceled. Sony also plans to grow sales of first-party games. It has said this financial year ending March 2025 will not see the release of big new games in its major franchises, ruling out sequels in the Spider-Man and **** of War series. But Sony is expected to release a number of big-hitters from April 2025 onwards, including the likes of Insomniac’s Wolverine. Wesley is the *** News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at *****@*****.tld. View the full article
Yet another video game developer has been hit by layoffs. This time it's the Dauntless and Fae Farm developer Phoenix Labs, which posted its announcement regarding restructuring on LinkedIn late last night. The statement goes as follows: "Today is an incredibly difficult day. After a long ******* of evaluating how to navigate our economic environment, we have to significantly restructure the company to pave the path for a strong future. We are reorganizing Phoenix Labs to focus on our best-in-class live service titles, Dauntless and Fae Farm, and serving their communities." It continues by acknowledging the cost of such a venture. "This unfortunately means cancelling work on all other projects at the studio, which will impact many of our colleagues immediately. We are giving notices to everyone whose roles are affected. The restructure has not come easily, and has truly been the last resort to ensure Phoenix Labs can survive, and thrive in the long term. It's impossible to put into words how deeply we value every talented individual who has contributed their hard work and passion to every project at our studio." Read more View the full article
The free-to-play fighting game MultiVersus, featuring characters from multiple known universes, like DC and Tom and Jerry, is coming back for the full launch with an addition of a new PvE mode, and we’re finally getting more details about what this mode looks like. Velma, Finn, Jake, and a few other characters from MultiVersus revealed in a video breakdown on May 16 what we can expect from the upcoming PvE mode—Rifts. The PvE mode offers a new way to play outside competitive PvP and is an ever-evolving space for players of all skill levels. View the full article
*********’s Creed Shadows will be playable offline without an Internet connection, but there will be a mandatory download when you install the game. On May, 16, Ubisoft shared a post on X addressing the topic. “*********’s Creed Shadows will not require a mandatory connection at all times.” The key word here is “at all times.” The post continues: “An online connection will be needed to install the game, but you will be able to play the entire journey offline, and explore Japan without any online connection”. View the full article
A renowned Counter-Strike 2 leaker, Gabe Follower, revealed Valve is working on a six-versus-six hero shooter called Deadlock. On the same day, the creator posted the first leaked images from the game. Gabe Follower underlined many Deadlock pictures were appearing online, but the images he posted are ones he can “verify.” They showcase a bit of the title’s UI, two screenshots of heroes in action, and one hero named Grey Talon, who appears to be an archer. View the full article
G2 Esports have reignited the hopes of Western League of Legends fans by taking down Top Esports with a score of 3-0 at Mid-Season Invitational 2024. Gen.G have already made it to the final, and their AD carry predicts they’ll face the LEC champions in the grand final. After dismantling Bilibili Gaming on May 16, Gen.G’s Peyz talked a bit about the victory and the League tournament. Three powerful teams, T1, BLG, and G2 are left in the lower bracket, and Peyz predicts G2 will go all the way to the final. View the full article
Dauntless and Fae Farm studio Phoenix Labs is undergoing significant restructuring resulting in layoffs and project cancellations. While the number of layoffs being made by the company hasn’t been confirmed, former Phoenix Labs principal Engineer Kris Morness claimed “about 140” employees have been impacted. Canada-based Phoenix Labs, which has offices in Vancouver and Montreal, said the decision to restructure was a “last resort” to ensure the studio’s survival. Read More... View the full article
You can chill out. Take-Two has narrowed down the release window for GTA 6 from a year to a month in that year. Yup, despite the rumours of delays possibly pushing the game from 2025 to 2026, we've now had officialy word it's coming in fall 2025. Also, GTA 5 continues to fly off the shelves. While the GTA 6 hype train has been properly chugging away since late last year, when that first trailer arrived, we'd heard some potentially concerning things about its development in the interim. It seems as though you needn't worry though, you should be getting the thing next year. As part of its latest earnings report, Take-Two has officially confirmed that it's aiming to release GTA 6 in fall 2025 - that's autumn for us here in the *** - narrowing down the 2025 release window it'd previously cited. Read more View the full article
*****-wandering roguelike Hades 2 has received its first proper patch, and it does everything the developers said it would. You now sprint faster and, significantly, you can gather more than one type of crafting resource per run (as long you've unlocked the tool that lets you gather that resource). This means Melinoë can now go fishing, dig up seeds, mine silver, and gain the trust of errant shades, all in a single night's work. There is a catch though. Read more View the full article
It can't be over a decade since Grand Theft Auto V launched, it just can't be. That's a modern game, one that came out recently, not one that launched way back in 2013. So it's always a slight surprise that we're nudging at GTA 6 so soon. Today we received confirmation that we may be seeing the next title sooner than many expected, with Take-Two Interactive confirming the game's release window. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: GTA 6 release date window, trailers, and latest Rockstar Games news GTA 6 map explained - 7 locations we want to see New GTA 6 trailer isn't coming as soon as we hoped View the full article
The frustration around VALORANT’s Episode Eight, Act Three map pool is apparently not limited to the competitive rotation, with players now slamming the tac shooter’s latest Team Deathmatch map for being too unthoughtfully designed. In a Reddit post on May 16, a player highlighted the blaring issues of the Drift map, stressing that its excessively ranged playground is useless for warming up. “Why am I warming up my aim ********* players so far away that the **** is not even accurate anymore? Then you just get peeked by 5 people from up and below,” their post reads. View the full article
Being offered a 4X game for free is definitely one of those cursed-monkey-paw situations. Sure, you’re saving physical currency, but at what price in terms of that most treasured and least tradeable of commodities, time? In the hours it takes to properly clean out a 4X game, you could probably build an empire yourself. OK, not a huge empire. An empire the size of the ******** or the Principality of Sealand, perhaps. Maybe an empire that only covers the distance between your desk and your fridge. But an empire nonetheless. Go on, pronounce yourself ****-Tyrant of your bedroom while you download Amplitude’s Endless Legend, which is 100% off on Steam till 10am PDT, 1pm EDT and 6pm BST on May 23rd. Read more View the full article
PokeRogue is chugging along as 2024’s early leader for the most popular Pokémon fangame, but it looks like development could hit a slight snag, with the game’s creator stepping away from the game just two months after it launched. PokeRogue launched on March 11 and very quickly became one of the rising stars of the Pokémon community, garnering hundreds of thousands of daily players and sweeping into the content scene for creators and streamers alike. And, while PokeRogue still has plenty of new features and updates coming, the game does have an ending thanks to the work of the development team. But that team is losing one of its pillars moving forward, with Samuel “FlashfyreDev” stepping away from the game now the finale’s done. View the full article
A deal has been made. Collectors, the company behind the Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA), and eBay have closed a transaction that will see both sides gain assets from the other—and entering a partnership that will have a streamlined suite of features centered on trading card collectors. On April 10, Collectors and eBay agreed to a deal that would see Collectors taking over the eBay vault used to store valuable, verified cards, while eBay acquired the Goldin collectible auction house and marketplace. That transaction has today been completed and both companies are now gearing up to launch a combined offer that is touted as a “streamlined approach to buying, selling, grading, and storage” for card collectors. View the full article
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Toby Fox, director of the beloved episodic indie RPG Deltarune, recently gave fans an important update about the game's fourth and fifth chapters. Deltarune's release has been spread out over the last few years, due to its episodic nature and release schedule. The first chapter was shadow-dropped in 2018, much to the surprise and hype of the Undertale fanbase. Deltarune's second chapter was released in 2021 with a similarly shadow-dropped launch, with fans giving it an immense amount of praise. Now fans are eagerly anticipating the release of the game's next batch of chapters. View the full article
An Elden Ring player came across the OP guard boost feature while upgrading their shield, which gives users much more incentive to use their Smithing Stones on something which might they might not consider their first priority. What's surprising is the fact that they discovered it after 1400 hours in Elden Ring, and many other players missed this mechanic too. View the full article
Final Fantasy XIV has introduced new features over its lifespan, some as part of full expansions and others as continuous regular updates. This even includes plans to revamp the main storyline quest. With a likely influx of new and returning players trying out a vast selection of jobs broadened by the release of FFXIV on Xbox Series X/S consoles there will possibly be a lot of activity in the games open world. To ease quest difficulty and grinding, it would be a good idea to bring along a Chocobo Companion into battle. View the full article
The Destiny 2 community is complaining about a new set of changes developer Bungie has outlined impacting The Lament, one of the game's most popular swords. The complaints center around nerfs made to the sword's unique qualities, which players appreciated since its debut in the Destiny 2 Beyond Light expansion. View the full article
League of Legends Patch 14.10 hasn’t quite gone according to plan, and so Riot Games is deploying a chunky micropatch with buffs and nerfs to champions like Corki, Draven, Samira, and Smolder as well as a half-dozen item changes. Phreak shared the League micropatch details on X (formerly Twitter) late on May 16, adding alongside the unveiled changes that these were the most significant outliers that desperately needed changing before Patch 14.11. That update, he explained, should have a lot more midseason follow-ups when it arrives on May 30. View the full article
It happened. It looked for a while like it was impossible, but he’s done it: KaiCenat has defeated Malenia, Goddess of Rot in his days-long Elden Ring marathon. One of the most notorious bosses in recent memory gave Kai fits for over 24 hours and over 400 deaths. But as is the norm with FromSoftware games, each ****** was a lesson and eventually, Kai was able to take down the sword-slinging redhead—with a little over 200,000 viewers tuned in for the big moment, no less. View the full article
Epic Games co-founder Mark Rein has revealed an interesting hint for the next Fortnite season, dropping the word "Nitro" when a fan asked him to describe it. This is not the first time that Mark has teased fans, as he is well-known for giving mysterious clues in the past as well right before the start of a new Fortnite season. View the full article
There were heaps of different changes dropped into League of Legends in the huge midseason update shared in League Patch 14.10, but no change has been more hated—and maybe misunderstood—than the one to Mastery Points. These changes mean new emotes, *******-to-complete challenges, and a whole lot of miscommunication about Mastery conversions. View the full article
The Fortnite fandom has found a surprising ally in the war against power-ups, with Doja Cat joining the ongoing battle with an epic and super full-on *****-up where the “Paint the Town Red” singer dubbed anyone who uses the mechanics “losers.” Major game developers rarely take action almost immediately after a celebrity rants about unbalanced features they’re facing, but the popstar’s explosive rant may be the exception; Doja Cat took to X (formerly Twitter) on Wednesday to declare it “f—king embarrassing” that Fortnite still allows waterbending and Chains of Hades in its lead playlists. She went on to add she just wanted to join “lobbies where people with actual aim skills and FPS experience didn’t have to deal with losers [who use the abilities].” View the full article
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Thank your own personal deity—possibly the **** of War and Tsushima—it's Friday! Speaking of that samurai epic, it arrived on PC last night, and I have been hilt deep in it since 2 o'clock in the AM. Runs well and looks phenomenal so far. Given Nixxes spectacular and recent craftsmanship with Horizon Forbidden West, my finely-tuned instincts already tell me this is worth the yen. In retro news, I'm lighting some sparklers for the 22nd birthday of the Nintendo GameCube. Fondly remembered as the console with the needless but appreciated handle, I recall day-one scoring this boxy ****** at $399 for Luigi's Mansion, Wave Race: Blue Storm, and Rogue Leader: Rogue Squadron II. Granted, the Cube wasn't the strongest contender in the sixth generation of gaming, but I still adored it for birthing classics like Smash Bros. Melee, MK: Double Dash, Super Mario Sunshine, Metroid Prime, and Zelda: The Wind Waker. This Day in Gaming Aussie birthdays for notable games. - Ridge Racer Revolution (PS) 1996. Ebay - Star Wars Episode I: Racer (N64) 1999. Get - GameCube console launch, 2002. Ebay - Rogue Leader: RS II (GC) 2002. Ebay - Luigi’s Mansion (GC) 2002. Sequels - Wave Race: Blue Storm (GC) 2002. Ebay - Final Fantasy X (PS2) 2002. Get - Halo 2 (PC) 2007. Get - Injustice 2 (PS4, XO) 2017. Get Table of ContentsNintendo SwitchPCXboxPlayStationNice Savings for Nintendo Switch Expiring Recent Deals Hardware Watch How much to make the switch to Switch? [/url] Back to top Purchase Cheaply for PC Expiring Recent Deals Hardware Watch Slay your pile of shame. [/url] Back to top Exciting Bargains for Xbox Expiring Recent Deals Hardware Watch How many bucks for a Box? [/url] Back to top Pure Scores for PlayStation Expiring Recent Deals Hardware Watch How much you'll pay to Station. [/url] Back to top Adam Mathew is our Aussie deals wrangler. He plays practically everything, often on YouTube. View the full article
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The hit strategy game Sid Meiers Civilization VI can be somewhat overwhelming to new players, and not just because of its many-layered, interacting systems that players must become familiar with. New players may find themselves overwhelmed simply at the first couple of menu screens when asked to decide which among many they should choose as their first civilization. The new total number of Civilizations in Civilization VI is 50, including all the DLC and Season Pass content. View the full article
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With the PlayStation 5 entering the second half of its life, figures from Sony indicate around half of all current PlayStation gamers are yet to upgrade to current gen. As pointed out by Game File’s Stephen Totilo, Sony announced this week that PlayStation has 118 million monthly active users (MAUs), up 9% year-on-year, but around half of those are still on the 11-year-old PlayStation 4. PS5 has sold over 59 million units since going on ***** in November 2020, and it has yet to see a price cut. Infact, Sony has raised the price of the console. Speaking to the investment community (as reported by Totilo) Sony president Hiroki Totoki painted a rosy picture of the situation, saying MAUs will steadily increase as PS4 players eventually upgrade to PS5, but as Daniel Ahmad, Director of Research and Insights at Niko Partners, pointed out in a tweet, the transition from PS4 to PS5 has so far been “slow.” On console PlayStation Network MAU’s have barely grown since the PS5 launch. It’s just been a slow transition from PS4 > PS5 — Daniel Ahmad (@ZhugeEX) May 16, 2024 So, why have so many PS4 gamers held off on upgrading to a PS5? Or, perhaps to put it a better way, why are so many PS4 gamers content to stick with the console they have? Mat Piscatella, Executive Director and Video Game Industry Advisor at Circana, suggested in a tweet that the most-played games in the U.S. are all currently available on the last generation of consoles, and that’s enough for most people. These games (Fortnite, Minecraft, Roblox, GTA 5, and Call of Duty), are all available on PS4. “Any console that can play a majority of, or all five, of these games will be just fine for many people,” Piscatella commented. This is not a situation unique to PlayStation, either, Piscatella added, as it affects all consoles. IGN has already reported on tumbling sales of the Xbox Series X and S, which looks like it will struggle to outsell its predecessor, the much-maligned Xbox One. Microsoft’s answer includes bringing its Xbox games to rival platforms, including PS5, but it has also committed to releasing a more powerful next-gen console, and there are rumors it plans an Xbox handheld, too. As for Sony, PS5 sales currently trail those of PS4 after the same amount of time after launch, but it’s worth pointing out the PS4 had undergone price cuts totaling $100 by now. Sony has said it expects PS5 sales to continue to decline, although it is also expected to launch a PS5 Pro later this year. Sony’s plan to increase sales and profits from PlayStation in the coming years depends upon its ability to expand the number of active PlayStation users and user engagement, and cutting business costs. In February, Sony announced a significant round of layoffs affecting around 900 staff, or about 8% of its global PlayStation workforce. The layoffs affect a number of PlayStation studios, including Insomniac, Naughty Dog, Guerrilla, Firesprite, and, most significantly, PlayStation's London studio. Alongside the layoffs, a number of in-development games were canceled. Sony also plans to grow sales of first-party games. It has said this financial year ending March 2025 will not see the release of big new games in its major franchises, ruling out sequels in the Spider-Man and **** of War series. But Sony is expected to release a number of big-hitters from April 2025 onwards, including the likes of Insomniac’s Wolverine. Wesley is the *** News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at *****@*****.tld. View the full article