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Xbox One’s May Update Is Here – Includes Voice Messages And New Power Settings

The Xbox One May update is finally here for those who aren’t in the Xbox Preview Program.

While this month’s improvements include the new voice message feature and new power settings, dedicated servers for party chat are still undergoing some fine-tuning, but will soon be rolled out to additional testers outside of the Preview Program.

You can read about the full update details below and check out the video above to see it in action.

Voice Messages

“You can now send and receive voice messages from the Xbox One messages app. This is the No. 1 feature requested in the Friends and Parties area on the Xbox Feedback site > ‘Add audio message …’“

Power On/Off from Xbox One SmartGlass

“The Xbox One SmartGlass app for Windows, Windows Phone, iOS and Android are being updated to let you power your Xbox One on and off when your devices are on the same home network as your console.”

User Selectable Power Mode

“We are also altering the initial setup experience on Xbox One worldwide to enable you to select your preferred power mode between Instant-on or Energy-saving mode.”

Dedicated Servers for Party Chat

“We will start to expand the availability of the party chat relay services beyond preview members to a broader audience as we continue to fine tune the feature and scale out the servers needed to support party chat relay services.”

Source: Major Nelson

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New Star Wars Battlefront Image And Info – Hero System, Bots, Customization, Co-Op, & More

As Star Wars fans wait patiently for their next serving of Battlefront announcements, a few new details about DICE’s upcoming shooter have trickled out here and there.

Answering a handful of questions on Reddit, EA Community Manager Mathew Everett dropped a few bits of info on Star Wars Battlefront’s Hero system, Missions, players customization, and more.

First off, we learned that Battlefront’s Missions, which can be tackled solo or co-operatively, will send gamers off on adventures that take place on the same planets and environments that will act as the backdrops of the game’s multiplayer battles. Earlier this week, we learned Battlefront would ship with 12 multiplayer maps in total, presumably with three maps in each of the game’s four distinct locations: Tatooine, Hoth, Endor’s moon, and Sullust.

However, Everett promises a mix of locations that cater to specific Missions.

“Missions will take place within the same planetary offerings as the Multiplayer maps,” he said. “But will include a mix of locations that cater to the specific Missions.”

On Twitter, Gameplay Director Gustav Halling added that “There will be a variety of missions which includes a lot of bot target practice and others with bots and objectives.”

Gamers will enjoy a large selection of player customization as well, though DICE hopes to keep the look and feel of Battlefront as authentic as possible, meaning you won’t be able to paint your Stormtrooper purple, nor will you ever catch Darth Vader wearing an orange enviro-suit.

“Yes, you will be able to customize your characters in a number of ways, from selecting various character models and loadouts to choose your emotes that best suit your playing style,” Everett explained. “We’re going for an authentic, immersive Star Wars experience that makes you feel like you’re a part of this galaxy.

“That said, we won’t be letting players create purple Stormtroopers or change Darth Vader’s suit to orange. The team wants to maintain a level of immersion that they are striving to create.

“We will be jumping into further detail around customization in the near future.”

In another thread, Everett confirmed that Battlefront’s Hero system, which will allow you to play as your favorite iconic Star Wars characters like Boba Fett, will be a staple feature across multiple game modes.

“I think everyone is going to like how the hero system works across multiple game modes and types,” he said. “Stay tuned for the full details.”

Star Wars Battlefront’s official Twitter account was able to confirm that while the game will run at 60 frames per second, co-op will drop to 30, likely for performance reasons.

“Star Wars Battlefront will run at 60fps, except during split-screen co-op when it runs at 30fps,” the studio commented.

We saw our first glimpse of Battlefront’s co-op screen last month, which you can check out here if you missed it.

Lastly, DICE shared this new image of Battlefront’s AT-ST, which was also confirmed to be playable just a few days ago, marching through the forests of Endor’s moon, .

Battlefront

Keep your sights on MP1st for more Star Wars Battlefront news.

Star Wars Battlefront launches on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC on November 17.

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New Ubisoft Studio Joins The Division Development Team

Developer Massive Entertainment is welcoming fellow Ubisoft studio Annecy to their current project in-progress, an open-world, third-person shooter survival game introduced to the world back in 2013 as The Division.

“We are very happy that Ubisoft Annecy is part of The Division’s family,” Managing Director David Polfeldt announced earlier today. “They are highly experienced and talented developers, adding much value to the project. Being able to work with other studios offers fantastic creative opportunities during development and, in the end, strongly benefits the overall quality of the game.”

Earlier last year, Ubisoft Massive announced a collaboration with Red Storm to help deliver “the most accurate weapons of any videogame,” as well as with Reflections, who are best known for their work on the Driver series as well as The Crew.

“We are bringing our previous experience in multiplayer online games and this project is allowing us to build our technical knowledge in other areas and become experts on this incredible brand,” Annecy Studio Manager Rebecka Coutaz said. “The collaboration with the other studios is going very smoothly, and we’re working together to ensure we meet and exceed the high expectations players have for this new title.”

Annecy previously delivered multiplayer experiences in a number of Splinter Cell titles, including Pandora Tomorrow, Chaos Theory, and Double Agent, though many might be more familiar with their work on Assassin’s Creed II multiplayer.

What exactly Annecy is currently working on with regards to The Division is being kept secret, but Ubisoft says it will have more to share soon.

Thanks, Gameinformer

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Preview Destiny Expansion II: House of Wolves In New Video From Bungie

Developer Bungie offers a good 5-minute long look at some of the new content arriving later this month in Destiny’s second expansion, House of Wolves. Have a look above.

To get a much greater overview of Destiny’s next expansion, be sure to check out Bungie’s full reveal of the new social space called the Reef, a first look at the Trials of Osiris end-game PvP event, and new gameplay from the Prison of Elders end-game PvE event.

House of Wolves is coming to Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 4 on May 19 at around 10AM Pacific. Destiny Update 1.2.0 will arrive one week earlier on May 12.

David Veselka

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Battlefield Hardline’s First DLC Will Launch With 4 Maps Total, 2 Night Maps, New Vehicles, & More Destructon

In a recent discussion with members of the Don’t Revive Me Bro podcast, Visceral Games Multiplayer Producer Zach Mumbach dropped a few juicy details on the Battlefield Hardline‘s first upcoming multiplayer expansion pack, which was previously revealed as “Criminal Activity”.

According to Mumbach, Hardline’s first expansion, included in all Premium memberships, will introduce four new multiplayer maps — a standard affair — two of which will be night maps. “Not, like, re-do’s of the main game, but, like, two brand new night maps,” he said.

The action will take place in a modern setting, like the main game, in locations like California and Florida. Maps will range in size and will be “a little bit more” destructible, but Mumbach says the studio has “done a better job of visually messaging what’s destructible and what’s not.” Players can also expect a few new vehicles, but probably no planes. He also told listeners that some of the DLC maps that are bigger in size are being saved for later, as they take longer to produce.

Non-Premium owners can also expect additional content in the future as well, like new weapons. “[…]the future is not just about Premium,” Mumbach explained. “We’re obviously doing a ton of Premium stuff, but we’re also going to support players that just bought the game and aren’t necessarily Premium.” No promises were made, but Mumbach says the studio also discussed letting non-Premium subscribers sample new maps with friends who own Premium. However, there are a few technical hurdles to overcome in order for that to happen.

Battlefield Hardline’s Criminal Activity DLC will be available this Summer with two weeks of early access for Premium subscribers.

Check out the full discussion with Zach Mumbach on Don’t Revive Me Bro’s Twitch.tv channel.

David Veselka

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Visceral Producer Shares Thoughts On Battlefield Hardline’s Shrinking PC Community

Zach Mumbach, Multiplayer Producer on Battlefield Hardline, recently dropped by the Don’t Revive Me Bro podcast to catch up with community members and talk about the current state of Visceral Games’ cops vs. criminals shooter.

Early on in the discussion, the topic of Hardline’s shrinking population on PC was brought to light, which Mumbach tackled honestly and with a few thoughtful remarks. He shared Visceral’s current game plan to bring Hardline on PC back to life, which begins with the recently announced Community Test Environment.

“Battlefield 4’s got some sweet hot new netcode. It feels really good. Awesome. We actually helped them with that. As soon as our CTE comes out, we’re going to roll that netcode in there and then we’re going to roll it to the main game,” he explained.

“This is a huge part in sort of getting the PC community back into the game. When the game came out, the first few days, we had good numbers on PC. Obviously, people are not playing heavily on PC right know. We know that. We’re not going to abandon PC. We want those PC players.”

Earlier this week, Electronic Arts reported their Q4 FY2015 earnings, leaving out PC sales numbers, but signifying very strong sales on current-generation consoles.

“The easy answer for us is to abandon that platform — ‘Oh, whatever. We’re selling tons on console. We’re great.’ But we’re not going to do that,” Mumbach assured. “The community is on that platform. We really like that platform. It’s an important platform for the company. We just have to figure out how we sort of build back up the interest. I think the first step is CTE.

“I think the first step is to get that netcode in CTE, get it working, and get it into the game. I think that right there is going to be a huge help. I think, at the very least, it will get some of these guys that were playing early on to come back and give us another shot. And then, from there, it’s just about how we react to the feedback in CTE, how we do our tuning based on the feedback in CTE. It’s just about sort of putting the game in the community’s hands and us listening to them about — ‘Look, it’s your game now. We made the game. It’s now the community’s game. What do you want out of this game to make you want to play it more? We’ll do it.'”

Mumbach went on to share his own personal insight as to why PC numbers may have dwindled since launch.

“We do a ton of market research and surveys and all this with the customer before we even make games,” he said. “We knew going into making this game that we were cutting off a certain percentage of Battlefield players that are like, ‘hey, look, nothing against you guys, but we’re into military — we play the military game.’ For whatever reason, that percentage is just higher on PC. The guys that are really into the war simulation and the military stuff, it’s just a higher percentage on PC.”

“But we did know that the expectation wasn’t to do BF4 numbers. The expectation was to do good numbers and we had good numbers on PC for a bit there, in the start, and they sort of tailed off.”

Mumbach wasn’t able to share exactly when Battlefield Hardline’s CTE will go live and to whom it will be open, but we know testing should commence some time this month with one of the new maps from Hardline’s upcoming ‘Criminal Activity’ DLC. The studio also plans to continue with netcode tweaks and weapon tuning, among many other things.

Are you a PC gamer? Did you leave Battlefield Hardline in the dust early on? What would it take to bring you back? We want to hear from you in the comments.

Be sure to check out the full discussion with Visceral Multiplayer Designer Zach Mumbach over on Don’t Revive Me Bro’s official Twitch.tv channel.

David Veselka

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Rockstar Dishes Out The Latest On Future GTA Online Updates, Rockstar Editor On Consoles, PC Mods, & More

With Grand Theft Auto 5‘s launch on PC now in our rear-view mirror, Rockstar Games isn’t done yet. Developers are as busy as ever keeping up support for five different platforms and planning future updates that the studio shed some light on in today’s Newswire update.

By now, you’ve probably pulled off your fair share of successful high-profile robberies following GTA 5’s Online Heists update. So with all that money in the bank, what is there to spend it on? Rockstar has the answer:

GTA V

“[…] beyond the many new vehicles and items that arrived to GTA Online as part of Heists, we are also working on another update coming soon that will feature some very cool new toys for you to enjoy and flaunt with your ill-gotten gains. For now, the screenshot above provides just a glimpse…”

In addition to all the graphical bells and whistles that shipped with the PC version of the game, Rockstar also gave mouse and keyboard warriors access to a powerful video editing tool called the Rockstar Editor. Being a big hit amongst the PC crowd, the studio hopes to offer something similar to the console audience as well, but in a limited fashion.

“The Rockstar Editor is an advanced tool requiring additional processing power so it would not be compatible with GTAV on the older systems, but we are currently working on a version tailored for the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 consoles – and we hope to release that sometime this summer, or as soon as it is ready. We are also planning to bring The Lab radio station to all four consoles in a forthcoming title update. Please stay tuned for more information.”

With more powerful hardware, GTA V on PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4 might get the treatment when it comes to additional features, but Rockstar still plans to support older-generation consoles for as long as possible. As a matter of fact, the game’s next big update will land on all five platforms.

“We want to support the older consoles with new content for as long as we possibly can. As we mentioned previously, we always knew there might be a point where we would reach the technical capacity of what the older generation of consoles can handle as each downloadable update requires additional memory both for assets and for additional scripting.

“We have continued to optimize the entire game over time in order to squeeze as much memory as we possibly could out of the last-generation hardware and at some point, continuing to add content for those systems could cause the risk of instability to the game overall. As of now, we are planning on releasing the next big content update for all five systems and we will continue to squeeze as much as we possibly can onto them.”

Though more updates are inbound, Rockstar urges fans to rule out the thought of any additional Heists.

“For those asking for more Heists, please understand that Grand Theft Auto Online Heists were a tremendous undertaking so it’s not the sort of thing where we can easily create and publish additional Heists like other Job modes and missions. We are, however, working on other cool updates for GTA Online that you can expect over the coming months.”

Finally, Rockstar had a few words to share to the PC modding community who’ve run into a bit of trouble over the past few weeks. You can read the full statement below, but, in short, Rockstar will allow the use of mods in GTA V’s single player campaign, but not in GTA Online.

“We have always appreciated the creative efforts of the PC modding community and we still fondly remember the awesome zombie invasion mod and original GTA map mod for GTAIV PC among many other classics. To be clear, the modding policy in our license has not changed and is the same as for GTAIV.

“Recent updates to GTAV PC had an unintended effect of making unplayable certain single player modifications. This was not intentional, no one has been banned for using single player modifications, and you should not worry about being banned or being relegated to the cheater pool just for using single player PC mods. Our primary focus is on protecting GTA Online against modifications that could give players an unfair advantage, disrupt gameplay, or cause griefing. It also bears mentioning that because game mods are by definition unauthorized, they may be broken by technical updates, cause instability, or affect your game in other unforeseen ways.”

For more questions and answers, head on over Rockstars latest Newswire update.

David Veselka

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Destiny Gets Two Updates To Prepare For House of Wolves DLC – More Reveals To Come, Says Bungie

To prepare for the launch of Expansion II: House of Wolves, Destiny will receive two updates in the very near future, Bungie revealed today.

According to Community Manager “DeeJ”, the first one, Update 1.2.0, will arrive this Tuesday, May 12 some time after 10AM PST. The second, Update 1.2.0.1, which will help deliver Expansion II and its contents, will appear next Tuesday, May 19 at around the same time.

The official change log will be available at a later date, but some players were able to extract a few notes following yesterday’s maintenance. It’s likely incomplete and subject to change, but you can see what they found for yourself right here.

So far, we know changes are inbound for Destiny’s Weekly missions and Crucible activities, as well as for the game’s weapon and armor upgrade systems. Stay tuned for more details to come.

In anticipation of Destiny’s House of Wolves expansion, the past few weeks were filled with big reveals and infosplosions. If you missed any of it, you can probably find what you’re looking for in the links below:

Lastly, stay tuned tomorrow, as Bungie says it has even more House of Wolves goodies to reveal. “Tomorrow, you’ll want to keep an eye on Bungie.net, or any of our off-world social outposts,” DeeJ wrote. “There are more secrets from the Reef to share.”

Keep your sights on MP1st for updates!

David Veselka

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New Elder Scrolls Online Trailer Talks About Freedom And Choice In Tamriel

Taking your first steps into any MMO experience can be a daunting experience, especially as worlds get bigger and bigger with every new generation of RPG games. Luckily, publisher of Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited has got you covered with a few basic steps.

Today, Bethesda Softworks released a short start-up video guide that takes you through some of the game’s first few actions. It’s the start of a new video series, so keep your eyes out for more. You can have a look in the featured section above.

The Tamriel Unlimited edition, announced earlier this year, drops all subscription fees and packages the original game plus all previously released content, including the new Justice and Champion systems. It’s available now on PC and Mac and is arriving this June 9 on Xbox One and PlayStation 4. Visit the official website for more details.

David Veselka

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Star Wars Battlefront Gameplay Will Have “Nothing To Do” With Previous Work, Says DICE

Battlefield developer DICE says its upcoming Star Wars shooter will stay true to its own unique vision, avoiding any copy-and-pasting from the studio’s previous work in the first-person shooter genre.

“We’re not taking into account what we’ve done before, because I think that would be disrespectful to the fans, and to what we’re trying to achieve here,” Executive Producer Patrick Bach told OXM in an interview.

“A lot of the things you saw in the game have nothing to do with anything we’ve done before. Some features of course resemble [our other shooters], because we want to make the best possible shooter, but in general we’ve tried to do something completely unique.”

Aside from many of the multiplayer details we were previously fed, Bach used the traditional aiming down sights mechanic, adopted by many Battlefield titles and other first-person shooters over the years, as an example of this.

“There are no ironsights in Star Wars, on the ordinary blasters,” he said, suggesting that players will instead focus on firing from the hip, just like real Stormtroopers in the original trilogy. “You have scopes on some rifles, but there are no ironsights.”

Our first look at Battlefront’s first-person and third-person views arrived last month with this behind-the-scened video.

Earlier this week, it was confirmed that Star Wars Battlefront will ship with 12 multiplayer maps based on four different locations and that vehicles like the AT-ST will be playable.

Thanks, Gamesradar

David Veselka

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Ubisoft Shares Rainbow Six Siege Closed Alpha Statistics, Community Feedback To Be Addressed Soon

Several weeks after the conclusion of Rainbow Six Siege‘s Closed Alpha on PC, developer Ubisoft is sharing a few notable statistics as the studio moves along in development.

“There were several topics of feedback that were consistent across the community, and soon we will be updating you with how we are addressing them,” Ubisoft wrote in a recent blog update.

“Until then, we thought it would be fun to share an infographic displaying some of the gameplay stats captured during this testing period.”

Check it out and tell us in the comments which Operator class and which weapons you favored during the Closed Alpha.

You can read and listen to our impressions of the Rainbow Six Siege Closed Alpha right here.

R6_CAInfographic_Final-us_201985

David Veselka

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Destiny’s “Biggest Content Addition To Date” Arrives This Fall, Content Expected Throughout The Summer As Well

Echoing statements from earlier this year, publisher Activision has re-confirmed that Bungie’s shared-world shooter, Destiny, is still on course to receive its “biggest content addition to date” this Fall.

This point was highlighted in Activision’s Q1 2015 earnings report where Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg elaborated on future plans for Destiny during a Q&A session.

“[…] we have a very robust content plan for Destiny starting with our second major expansion pack, House of Wolves, which has already been announced, and then you’ll also see content being dropped off this summer,” he explained. “And then, in the fall, we’ll have a major release which will be the biggest addition to the Destiny universe yet across all modes of play.”

“Unfortunately, I don’t have more details than that today, but we’re confident it’s going to incredibly appealing to not just our current fans, but also to people who haven’t yet joined the Destiny universe. It’s going to be that big of an expansion.”

Activision and Bungie have yet to announce their summer plans for Destiny, so we’re not certain if Hirshberg was referring to additional expansion releases, or perhaps more title updates and special events. Either way, it sounds like there’s a lot in store for Destiny’s future.

According to reports from earlier today, a filing of a new trademark at Activision suggests Destiny’s next major expansion could be called “The Taken King.” This, along with today’s news, falls directly in line earlier reports of a major Destiny re-release that would include both old and new content in one package called a “Comet”.

Bungie revealed new details on Destiny’s House of Wolves expansion earlier today, launching May 19, including the new Prison of Elders end-game event and new Strike mission called The Shadow Thief.

Keep your sights on MP1st for more Destiny news and updates.

David Veselka

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Next Destiny Update Will Bring Big Changes To Heroic And Nightfall Strikes, Patch Notes Leaked

As Destiny’s House of Wolves expansion approaches, developer Bungie has plans to implement a few new tweaks to the game’s weekly activities in order to keep things interesting and keep non-DLC buyers happy.

Soon, Destiny’s weekly Heroic and Nightfall strikes will reset independently of each other, meaning they’ll more than likely be different from one another each week. On top of adding some variety to Destiny’s weekly activities, it will also ensure that those who haven’t bought into any DLC will have something to do every week.

“We’ve heard the feedback from players about not being able to do the weekly activities, so two things we wanted to do were always have one of the activities available if you didn’t have one of the DLC’s,” House of Wolves Lead Designer Matt Sammons told IGN. “So you’ll never have where all of the missions are from the House of Wolves expansion. We also wanted to have more variety for all players so we’ve actually uncoupled the Nightfall and Heroic so those will be different every week now.”

New DLC missions will be featured more heavily in the first few weeks after House of Wolves’ launch, but will space out over time, Sammons added.

Many new updates are expected to launch with Destiny Update 1.2.0, which, as some of you may have already noticed, was applied to the game earlier today. The changes it presents, however, won’t take effect until later on, says Bungie.

Patch notes aren’t yet available, but thanks to the efforts of Destiny sub-reddit user Quinonvocabitur, we can see some or most of what Update 1.2.0 will have to offer. Here are the tentative notes that were discovered in today’s patch:

  • Three maps from The Dark Below DLC will be available to all Crucible players in select playlists (Pantheon, Skyshock and The Cauldron).
  • Etheric Light has a chance of being included in Iron Banner reward packages for Rank 3 and Rank 5.
  • Reputation and Mark gains will double for each completed Crucible match.
  • Your first match in the daily featured Crucible activity will earn you a new reward package each day.
  • Legendary items will be added to post-game reward tables for all Crucible activities.
  • The spawn locking issue currently affecting Iron Banner will be fixed.
  • Fixed a bug where the Hive Disruptor perk on the Black Hammer would interrupt with White Nail.
  • Fixed a bug where a player leaving a game or an occurrence of host migration would result in players being unable to respawn.
  • Fixed a rare bug where if a player were to use a consumable it would reset their ammo.
  • Increased the percent chance to obtain rewards when playing crucible.
  • Players who preform at the top of their team in crucible have a greater chance of rewards as to those at the bottom.
  • Fixed a bug where the time between shots of the Black Hammer to activate White Nail was reduced.
  • Fixed a rare bug where a locked item could not be unlocked.
  • Reduced the amount of total ammo of the perk Double Down when combined with Field Scout.
  • Increased the percent chance of activating the perk Mulligan upon missing a shot.
  • Fixed a bug where players were able to obtain Iron Banner weapons according to the rank of their previous Iron Banner.
  • Changed the description of certain perks to be more fitting with their abilities.
  • Fixed a bug where a player would lose all ammo upon switching special weapons in the crucible.
  • Added reward packages for players who participate in the daily featured crucible activity for their first game.
  • Added Crucible maps from The Dark Below to the normal Crucible rotation for Control, Clash, Skirmish and Rumble. (Pantheon, Skyshock and The Cauldron).
  • Fixed a bug where the perks on the Vex Mythoclast would occasionally fail to load.
  • Fixed a bug which allowed players to manipulate ammo when equipping an Icebreaker and switching weapons.
  • Fixed a rare bug which would prevent players wearing the Light Beyond Nemesis from being revived.
  • Fixed a rare bug where the Flawless Raider achievement would not show after completing it on Xbox One.
  • Fixed a rare bug where players would not be able to purchase the Urn of Sacrifice from Xur.

Earlier today, Bungie provided fans with a first look at the House of Wolves’ new end-game three-player activity, the Prison of Elders. Read here to find out more and keep your sights on MP1st for more Destiny updates.

House of Wolves launches may 19.

David Veselka

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Destiny Players Clock 3 Hours Of Game-Time Per Day, Over 20 Million Registered Users

Publisher Activision reports “strong” player engagement with Bungie’s new IP since launch in September of last year.

According to the company’s latest earnings report, Destiny has seen “more than 50 million registered players and nearly $1 billion in non‐GAAP revenues1 life‐to‐date” in combination with Blizzard Entertainment’s Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft. UPDATE: Activision clarified during an earnings call that 20 million registered users belong to Destiny.

Research shows that Destiny’s active players play about three hours per day, which has lead to “strong digital sales and expansion attach rates.”

“Additionally, Destiny was awarded Game of the Year by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, a prestigious addition to the 31 Game of the Year awards that Destiny has been honored with to date,” Activision writes.

Earlier today, Bungie revealed the new Prison of Elders end-game content coming to Destiny’s House of Wolves DLC, which launches on May 19 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360.

David Veselka

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Destiny House of Wolves Live Stream Recap – Prison of Elders End-Game, Wave-Based Event Explored

Continuing on with its live stream reveal campaign for Destiny’s upcoming House of Wolves expansion, Bungie tells all its willing to tell about the DLC’s new end-game, three-player, wave-based event called the Prison of Elders.

For starters, Guardians will be able to participate in the base Prison of Elders’ event on any day of the week, that is, after they’ve completed all of the new story missions the House of Wolves DLC has to offer.

This even starts off at level 28 and includes online matchmaking, so you can enter as a party of one and automatically match up with a couple of teammates. Challenges are combat-focused with randomized elements and an assortment of modifiers, some of which are brand new to Destiny. Players will face five rounds of three waves, each containing different sets of objectives and enemies with some waves containing a boss battle.

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From there, the difficulty increases with the Prison of Elders’ challenge modes. Each week, three additional challenge modes will open up at levels 32, 34, and 35. They will require players to form their own Fire Teams and can only be completed once per week.

There are six different challenges in total, five of which rotate every week. The level 35 challenge, however, will remain constant and will prove to be the most difficult, considering the House of Wolves’ Light level cap is only 34. It is also the only challenge that features a sixth round where players will face the Prison of Elders’ most powerful enemy, a Fallen Kell known as Skolas. Instead of being randomized, these higher-level challenges will feature a set progression of rounds and enemies.

Each challenge arena will be themed around one or a combination of Destiny’s four enemy races. Players will face all enemies of the Reef, including the Fallen, Hive, Vex, and Cabal.

Screen Shot 2015-05-06 at 3.02.18 PM

Rewards will scale appropriately, meaning the highest level gear will only be attainable in the Prison of Elders’ level 35 challenge. Players will score tokens that can be used to purchase gear from the new vendor, Variks.

Screen Shot 2015-05-06 at 3.03.11 PM

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In addition to new PvE content, the House of Wolves DLC will also provide players appropriate end-game PvP challenges in the new Trials of Osiris event, which Bungie explored in detail last week. It will also introduce four new multiplayer maps to the Crucible, which you can learn more about right here.

House of Wolves launches on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 on May 19. Keep your sights on MP1st for more Destiny news.

You can watch a full replay of Bungie’s live stream below:

[youtube id=”plR5X6zt0tU”]

Update

Check out this batch of new Prison of Elders images below:

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David Veselka

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DICE Confirms Playable AT-STs In Star Wars Battlefront, Reveals New Model

Star Wars Battlefront developer DICE has confirmed that players can pilot the AT-ST in their upcoming Star Wars-themed shooter, launching this November 17.

In a tweet earlier this morning, the studio revealed a new model for the iconic vehicle used by the Imperial Army.

Earlier this week, DICE revealed that Star Wars Battlefront will launch with 12 playable multiplayer maps with two more to come in the upcoming Battle of Jakku DLC.

David Veselka

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Bungie Goes Behind-The-Scenes With Destiny’s House of Wolves Expansion, New Strike and Images Revealed

Bungie explores the House of Wolves, Destiny’s upcoming expansion arriving on all platforms this May 19, in a new video presented by PlayStation.

The studio also reveals a new three-player Strike mission called The Shadow Thief that begins on the Moon. Guardians will need to track down a mercenary named Taniks the Scarred who’s holed up on the Wolfship Kaliks-Syn. Players will need to find a way to teleport to the ship where they will face more challenges, including a Fallen Walker and a dangerous Captain.

Have a look at the behind-the-scenes video above, as well as a batch of brand new screens from the House of Wolves’ new Strike mission below.

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Bungie Trademarks “The Taken King,” Possibly For Upcoming Destiny Expansion

Destiny developer Bungie has filed for a trademark for “The Taken King” last week, according to a U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

The name is presumably related to Destiny, as the “oxblood” logo beneath the title itself strikes a close resemblance to the symbol for the enemy race known as the Hive.

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According to NeoGAF user Kifimbo, the attorney who filed the trademark is also responsible for filing “The Dark Below” and “House of Wolves,” the names of two previously announced expansions for Destiny.

Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg stated earlier that the studio has already planned a “major content release for Fall” of 2015, which this filing might pertain to. He also confirmed a “very robust pipeline plan after that.”

It was previously rumored that a major Destiny expansion called “Comet: Plague of Darkness” was planned for a September launch with additional DLC packs to follow.

Bungie plans to reveal new content for Destiny’s upcoming House of Wolves expansion at 11AM Pacific today on the studio’s official Twitch.tv channel. A short teaser was released yesterday.

With the House of Wolves DLC out in the hands of players by this May 19, it’s possible we’ll soon here more about Bungie’s future plans for Destiny.

David Veselka

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Xbox One & PlayStation 4 Made Up 80 Percent Of All Battlefield Hardline Console Sales, EA Reports

Update

We’ve clarified that the sales reported in EA’s Q4 FY2015 earnings call were concerning console sales, not total sales.

Original Story

80 percent of all Battlefield Hardline console sales since launch belong to current-generation platforms, publisher Electronic Arts revealed in a recent earnings call earlier today.

“Illustrating how far the transition has come, four out of every five copies [of Battlefield Hardline] sold for consoles that were either Xbox One or PlayStation 4,” said EA CFO Blake Jorgensen. That leaves about 20 percent made up of PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 sales. The number are interesting, considering the franchises strong history with PC gaming.

EA also reports that over 2 billion minutes and 30 million game sessions have been played since launch.

Battlefield Hardline launched on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC on March 17.

David Veselka

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Star Wars Battlefront Expected To Ship 9-10 Million Units By Next March, Says EA

EA is predicting notable success with their upcoming Star Wars launch from the developers at the Stockholm-based studio, DICE.

According to the company’s CFO, Blake Jorgensen, EA expects to ship 9 to 10 million copies of Star Wars Battlefront by the end of its fiscal year 2016, or by the end of next March.

“We certainly hope we can leverage a lot of the hype,”Jorgensen said in a recent earnings call. “We’re thinking about it as two bookends: One bookend is the historical Battlefront, which did roughly 9 million units. The other bookend is our first-person shooter franchise, Battlefield, which typically does around 15 million units. Our guidance we’ve put in there roughly 9 to 10 million units for the title, which we believe is the upside if things go well.”

Star Wars Battlefront officially releases on November 17 only on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC, followed by the launch of a free downloadable expansion pack shortly after that ties into the upcoming movie, Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

David Veselka

Musician, Gamer, Geek. Subscriber

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