Most Recent: PS4

Online Beta for Red Dead Redemption 2’s Red Dead Online mode is now available

Red Dead Redemption 2‘s sprawling story has taken the gaming community by storm, but Rockstar Games wanted to take a little bit more time for the game’s multiplayer-focused Red Dead Online mode. Earlier today, the prestigious publisher confirmed that the Online Beta for Red Dead Online will beginning rolling out this week.

Owners of Red Dead Redemption 2’s Ultimate Edition will get the first crack at the Online Beta, and more players will be added to the population all week:

Red Dead Redemption 2 – Online Beta Schedule

  • Tuesday, November 27: All Red Dead Redemption 2: Ultimate Edition owners.
  • Wednesday, November 28: All players who played Red Dead Redemption 2 on October 26th.
  • Thursday, November 29: All players who played Red Dead Redemption 2 between October 26th to October 29th.
  • Friday, November 30: All players who own Red Dead Redemption 2.

Over on their official website, a Rockstar spokesman has detailed what players can expect from Red Dead Online in its earliest form:

The world of Red Dead Online will be a continually expanding experience. There will also be some additions and updates throughout the Beta period. Starting this week, you can ride with friends in a Posse, set up your Camp, embark on cooperative story-based missions or go head-to-head in competitive series, find strangers throughout the world to help (or hurt), tackle spontaneous Free Roam challenges, go hunting, fishing, bond with your horse, explore with friends or on your own (but look out for ambushes), and much more.

All the while, you’ll accumulate XP through your explorations and encounters that counts towards your rank and provides added bonuses. Unlock items and improve your attributes while you progress. You can also take on Award challenges throughout your open-world experiences to earn Awards in 12 categories like combat, hunting, sharpshooter and survivalist.

Red Dead Online begins with creating your character. Detail your appearance and attributes before you set out on your journey from Sisika Penitentiary where you’ll acquire a horse, set up a Camp, hunt down a treasure, equip your first Ability Card and meet some fateful characters with a larger story to tell; one that involves chasing truth, revenge, and honor.

After creating a character, players will be able to earn (or lose) Honor through two types of missions:

Free Roam Missions: Head over to the Stranger icons throughout the map alone or with your Posse to embark on Free Roam Missions. You’ll see some familiar faces along the way, and these missions can vary based on how noble or nefarious you are – for example, an honorable gunslinger may be asked to help escort a convoy, defending it from attacking gangs or even other players’ Posses, whereas a dishonorable outlaw may be asked to help spring a felon from the law.

A Land of Opportunities: Honor also plays into this deeper cooperative strand for two to four players that we will continually build upon. In A Land of Opportunities, you’ll be faced with a multi-part series of missions, with some parts changing as your honor changes on a larger journey to seek truth and justice, or revenge.

But if you’d rather mix it up with rival gangs, Red Dead Online will also include five different modes in the Showdown Series:

Shootout & Team Shootout: Classic gunfight modes with unlimited lives. Compete to rack up the most kills before the timer runs out. Sudden death will trigger in the event of a tie: whoever gets the first kill wins.

Make It Count: A true test of resourcefulness in two game modes: use nothing but a bow and a handful of arrows or throwing knives to be the last one standing. With a gradually shrinking player area, there’s nowhere to run.

Most Wanted: A tactical race to the top. Every kill pushes you up the scoreboard, but watch out: the closer to the top you are, the more points everyone else gets for killing you.

Hostile Territory: Work in teams to control the land. Capture a territory to start racking up points: the team with most points wins – or you can win outright by capturing every territory.

Name Your Weapon: Demonstrate your personal specialty in this free-for-all or team based match: the trickier the weapon you use to land the killing blow, the more points you get.

Rockstar is planning to add a wide variety of new features to Red Dead Online over the coming weeks and months, and players will be able to keep track of all the updates at RedDeadOnline.com.

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WB Games and TT Games will release The Lego Movie 2 Videogame on February 26

WB Games and TT Games are putting the pieces together on their next Lego-styled collaboration, and they’ve announced that The Lego Movie 2 Videogame will be released for the PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One on February 26.

Based on both The Lego Movie and The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part, players will need to team up with Emmet, Lucy, Batman, and all their friends to save Bricksburg from an alien invasion:

The alien monster invaders have left Bricksburg in ruins. It is now up to Emmet and a host of heroic characters to go beyond their world and save their friends from the strange inhabitants of the Systar System. Journey into outer space, discover new worlds, and test your Master Building skills.

“Packed with fan-favorite and exciting new characters, mysterious locations, and action from both the sequel and the original blockbuster, The Lego Movie 2 Videogame is a wild adventure for kids to explore,” said Arthur Parsons, the Head of Design at TT Games. “Players must scour the stars for rare items, materials and tools to complete their collections and help their journey across the Lego universe, experiencing a wide array of amazing environments, wacky vehicles, and incredible creatures along the way.”

More details about The Lego Movie 2 Videogame (along with a handful of screenshots) can be found at the game’s official website.

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New Retail Releases: Darksiders III, More

With the “Fall Gaming Season” typically running from early September through Black Friday, it’s easy to see why there’s only a handful of new retail releases set to launch this week. But we’re thinking that more than one new title will surely catch your eye…

THQ Nordic leads the way this week with the release of Darksiders III. Developed by Gunfire Games (which was founded by the remnants of franchise originator Vigil Games), the third game in the apocalyptic action series stars follows the exploits of a new Horseman, Fury, and will be available for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One.

A small number of additional games will also make their way onto store shelves this week, including Milestone’s latest motorcycle racing simulation, Ride 3, which will cross the finish line for the PS4 and Xbox One. Studio Wildcard’s dinosaur survival sim, Ark: Survival Evolved, and Saber Interactive’s offroad driving game, Spintires: Mudrunner – American Wilds, will also both make their Nintendo Switch debut this week.

Finally, Activision will bundle together Spyro Reignited Trilogy + Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy into a new package on the PS4 and Xbox One.

That’s all for now, but we’ll be back later this week with an update on the latest downloadable titles coming to the PlayStation Store, Xbox Games Store, and Nintendo eShop.

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Battlefield V, Farming Simulator 19, Beat Saber, more coming to PS Store this week

It’s mid-week, so it’s time for another PlayStation Store update…

Electronic Arts will do battle with other game publishers this week for your attention with the PS4 launch of Battlefield V. Developer DICE is bringing the multiplayer shooter back to the World War II era, and they’ll add a Battle Royale mode to the game sometime next Spring.

Elsewhere on the PS Store, PS4 players who opt to download Farming Simulator 19 this week won’t have to deal with a rampaging army, but they will learn how their Thanksgiving feast moves from the farm to the table. But as they say, all work and no play make Jack a dull boy, so thankfully Beat Saber launches for the PS4 this week to provide a colorful rhythm experience for PlayStation VR owners.

Finally this week, Sony and Insomniac will expand Spider-Man once again with the Turf Wars expansion.

You can learn more about the rest of this week’s additions to the PlayStation Store after the break. (more…)

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CoD: Black Ops 4 comes out on top against Red Dead Redemption 2 in October 2018’s ranking of best-selling games

Once Red Dead Redemption 2 staked a claim on October 26, game publishers ran screaming in the other direction. Ubisoft notably subtracted three weeks from the usual late October launch for the new entries in the Assassin’s Creed series, and Activision pushed the release of the latest entry in the Call of Duty franchise up a full month from its typical early November slot.

But it looks like Activision’s gamble paid off, as The NPD Group has revealed that Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 was last month’s best-selling game. And at #3, Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey also performed well in its earlier launch window. Red Dead Redemption 2, which was only on sale for nine days during the sale period, galloped away with the #2 spot.

The NPD Group further noted (via GamesIndustry.biz) that Black Ops 4 is now the owner of the eighth-best launch month (in dollar sales) since they began tracking video game sales in 1995. As you might have guessed, that means its also currently the best-selling game of the year. And it’ll probably hang on to that title through November and December, but it’s hard to completely count out Rockstar Games.

A complete look at The NPD Group’s list of the best-selling games from last month can be found after the break. (more…)

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Development on The Walking Dead: The Final Season resumes at Skybound Games

The reverberations from the closure of Telltale Games back in September are still being felt throughout the game industry. In one corner, you had discussions about a company’s responsibility to its employees after former Telltalers confirmed that they received little to no warning about the studio closure ahead of the announcement. And on the other hand, you had conversations about a company’s responsibility to its fans after the apparent cancellation of The Walking Dead: The Final Season.

Earlier today, one of those questions was publicly answered by Skybound Games, the interactive division of The Walking Dead comic creator Robert Kirkman’s Skybound Entertainment.

According to a new post on Skybound’s official website, development on The Walking Dead: The Final Season has resumed thanks to the efforts of part of the original team from Telltale:

After Telltale shut its doors, the game was, unfortunately, unable to be worked on and hence the release dates of Episodes 3 and 4 have been delayed. But, we’re excited to let you know that many of the talented, passionate team members who originally worked on the game are resuming development efforts today!

The first two episodes of The Walking Dead: The Final Season were released this Summer for the PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One. Release dates for Episode 3: Broken Toys and Episode 4: Take Us Back will be announced “soon.”

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New Retail Releases: Battlefield V, Farming Simulator 19, More

The number of new releases has slowed to a trickle as we approach Black Friday, but there’s still a few big titles to look to this week.

Electronic Arts and DICE return to the battlefields of World War II this week in Battlefield V for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One. It’s a little hard to keep up with the numbering that DICE uses for their multiplayer-focused franchise, but it’s interesting that Battlefield V doubles as the fifth numbered entry in the series and as a sly reference to the WWII-era slogan “V For Victory.”

You’ll find considerably less fighting in Farming Simulator 19 from Focus Home Interactive and Giants Software. According to the publisher, the PC, PS4, and Xbox One game will feature “the most striking and immersive graphics ever,” and players will also be able to pilot John Deere tractors for the first time.

A complete look at the rest of this week’s new retail releases can be found after the break. (more…)

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PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds will parachute onto the PS4 on December 7

PUBG Corporation has announced that PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds will be released for the PS4 on December 7, nearly a year after the battle royale shooter first made its way to the Xbox One.

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds will be available for the PS4 as a digital download through the PlayStation Store, with a Disc Edition also slated to appear on retail shelves. A Survivor’s Digital Edition ($59.99) will add the Vikendi Survival Pass, a 2,300 G-Coin Pack, and 20,000 Battle Points to the package, while the Champion’s Digital Edition ups the G-Coin Pack to 6,000.

Whichever version you buy, all three maps (Erangel, Miramar, and Sanhok) will be available and PS4 players will also receive a pair of in-game bonus items from Uncharted and The Last of Us… a Nathan Drake Desert Outfit and Ellie’s Backpack.

The first trailer for PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds’s PS4 debut has been embedded above.

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