PS5 Showbiz and Celebrity Breaking News

Payday 3 developer Starbreeze has fired its CEO, Tobias Sjögren, following the underperformance of the heist-themed first-person shooter.In a notice to investors, Starbreeze stated it has appointed Juergen Goeldner as interim CEO. Goeldner is the former Focus Entertainment CEO and has over 40 years of experience in the video game industry.

Street Fighter 6 is getting another playable character this spring, with series antagonist Akuma on the way.Akuma, first introduced as a secret boss in Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo, is a long-time antagonist in the series, but players will soon be able to utilise him and his deadly fists.Last night (March 11), publisher and developer Capcom uploaded a new cinematic trailer showing Akuma training in a dark, damp cave. The aging antagonist has a different look now, with a large mane of white hair replacing his signature red.While there may be no more red in his hair, he’s not lost it entirely.

Poncle and iam8bit have announced that the soundtrack to indie hit Vampire Survivors is being released on vinyl this month.Set to launch on March 14, the set will feature 22 songs across two LPs. Priced at $42.99, the soundtrack has been pressed on “blood-splatter coloured red wax”, while its slipcase has an original illustration by artist Nimit Malavia.Discussing the score with NME, composer Daniele Zandara (who scored Vampire Survivors along with Filippo Vicarelli and Will Davies) reveals that he originally “didn’t envision” his music gelling with the game’s chaotic format.“That’s what [Vampire Survivors creator] Luca Galante did from the beginning of my path with Poncle, and still does,” Zandara shared.

Bethesda Softworks director Todd Howard had to stop Amazon Prime Video’s Fallout TV series from using plot points earmarked for Fallout 5.In a new interview with Den Of Geek, Howard, who is also an executive producer on the Amazon series, claimed he had to step in and help shape the storyline. “Well, there were some things where I said, ‘Don’t do this because we are going to do that in Fallout 5’,” he said, before going on to say Amazon were creating an original story within the current Fallout universe.“It wasn’t the translation of an existing story.

Sony Interactive Entertainment and PlayStation worldwide Shawn Layden has spoken about the importance of platform-exclusive games.The discussion around platform-exclusives has heated up in recent months after Microsoft confirmed a number of Xbox-exclusives would be made available on “rival” consoles. Both Grounded and Pentiment are due to come to Nintendo Switch while Hi-Fi Rush and Sea Of Thieves are coming to the PS5.Speaking on the What’s Up PlayStation podcast, Layden said (via VGC): “Exclusivity will always be important, it helps focus and highlight the features of your platform. What can you do here technically that you can’t do someplace else.“But, as your platform becomes established as the market recognises where you sit in that pantheon of gaming options, I think the necessity of exclusivity becomes a little bit less,” he added.Earlier this month, Layden described exclusivity as a studio’s “Achilles’ heel” due to increasing production costs.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth last month, an orchestral world tour has been announced.Set to kick off in August 2024, the tour will allow fans to “experience all new symphonic arrangements” of the music of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth.The show will include “beloved scores” by Nobuo Uematsu and “exciting new contributions” from Mitsuto Suzuki, Masashi Hamauzu, and many other esteemed composers and arrangers. The whole thing will be performed by an orchestra and chorus of over 100 musicians led by renowned conductors Arnie Roth and Eric Roth.“Immerse yourself in the world of one of the most visionary games of all time with this sensational multimedia concert experience,” reads the official Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth tour website.Announcing the FFVII REBIRTH ORCHESTRA WORLD TOUR!Immerse yourself in the world of one of the most visionary games of all time with this sensational multimedia concert experience!Experience all new symphonic arrangements of the music of FINAL FANTASY VII REBIRTH including… pic.twitter.com/SaaIXh8nHk— Distant Worlds: music from FINAL FANTASY (@ffdistantworlds) March 8, 2024Select shows will see appearances from the original composers, with Masashi Hamauzu appearing at Los Angeles, Rotterdam, London, Bangkok, Taipei, New York and Paris while Mitsuto Suzuki is set to take part in shows in Chicago, Munich and Rome.Tickets for the tour are being released in waves, with the first leg on sale this Friday, March 15.

Fortnite may be introducing a new series of Jujutsu Kaisen skins as part of an upcoming event.Jujutsu Kaisen is a Japanese manga set in a world where negative emotions can manifest as Curses – a race of demonic entities bent on harming humanity. As well as a manga, Jujutsu Kaisen has gone on to inspire movies, TV shows, video games and a stage play.In celebration of the Jujutsu Kaisen anime’s second season, Fortnite launched a crossover event, with the 2023 limited-time collab featuring a number of skins and a dedicated quest.The skins made another brief return as part of Winterfest 2023 and last month, they were added to the Fortnite store.However, it looks like a new series of skins is set to come to Fortnite.Looking at Fortnite’s API, players have discovered code for a Jujutsu Kaisen cup as part of the ongoing Chapter 25, alongside dedicated leaderboards.Take this with a grain of salt, this could be changed in the upcoming future We may see a wave 2 of JJK skins due to an upcoming Skin Cup being developed for Season 2 pic.twitter.com/PGTtLfP9ae— Leaky (@LeakySussed) March 4, 2024“Take this with a grain of salt, this could be changed in the upcoming future,” added Twitter user Leaky, who shared proof of the rumoured update.The first event saw Gojo, Megumi, Yuji, and Nobara added to Fortnite, with players speculating that this second event could see Maki, Inumaki, Jogo, Panda, Sukuna, Geto, and Kenjaku coming to Epic’s Battle Royale.Last month, Lady Gaga made her Fortnite debut as part of dedicated music game Fortnite Festival.

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 has accidentally given players access to developer tools and revealed potential future content.Insomniac Games shared the 1.002.000 update yesterday (March 7), which introduced a New Game+ mode to Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 alongside new suits, upgraded gadgets and the ability to replay missions.However, it also inadvertently gave players the ability to access the game’s debug menu – a developer tool used to jump about the game to check for bugs and launch various modifications.“We’re aware the latest game update may have inadvertently allowed access to a development game menu. There’s a hotfix on the way,” promised Insomniac before warning that “using this menu could corrupt your saves and trophy progress.“There is no risk associated with playing the game as intended,” they added.⚠️ We're aware the latest game update may have inadvertently allowed access to a development game menu.

Funcom, the studio behind Dune: Awakening, has confirmed the upcoming survival game will veer away from the source material.Dune: Awakening takes place years after the events of the 2021 film and will feature an “alternative” history, according to creative director, Joel Bylos. Funcom worked with both Legendary Pictures, the team behind the big-screen adaptations, as well as the family of Dune author Frank Herbet, but Awakening sees several supposedly-dead characters still alive.That’s not the only change either, with Dune: Awakening “side-stepping” the religious-driven narrative of the original Dune story.“We agree that religion is an integral part of the Dune universe.

Overwatch 2 kicks off its crossover with ’90s sci-fi anime Cowboy Bebop today (March 7), we caught up with Overwatch art director Dion Rogers to learn more about the combination.Though this is Blizzard’s first Cowboy Bebop crossover, Rogers told NME that the team behind Overwatch are “huge fans” of the anime, and it inspired some of the game’s visuals during development.“Cowboy Bebop has an amazing art style blending various artistic influences [including] film noir, westerns and science fiction,” shared Rogers. “The anime’s visuals mix futuristic technology with a world that feels lived-in and with stylized characters that have real human emotions.”“Our game has a nice mix of east meets west art style, which helps fit the Cowboy Bebop aesthetics while maintaining the readability of our heroes,” they added.

11 Bit Studios has confirmed the release date for Frostpunk 2, with the game set for release this summer.Originally announced in 2021, the sequel to the original city-building survival game is set 30 years after the apocalyptic blizzard devastated Earth.In Frostpunk 2, players will take on the role of leader in a resource-hungry metropolis, where the expansion and search for new sources of power is an unavoidable reality. A gameplay trailer was shared earlier this year.Now though, it’s been announced Frostpunk 2 will launch Day One on Xbox Game Pass and will be available on PC from July 25.

Arrowhead Game Studios has promised Helldivers 2 players will be able to utilise mechs in the near future, but has denied rumours Sony is acquiring them.Helldivers 2 was published by Sony Interactive Entertainment and quickly became their biggest ever PC launch last month, but creative director Johan Pilestedt has taken to social media to deny rumours they’re set to become part of the official PlayStation family.“We are not owned. We are independently owned,” he wrote, before clarifying the founders own Arrowhead.

TimeSplitters game.Last December, it was confirmed that Free Radical Design would be closing down with immediate effect, with owners Embracer Group carrying out a fierce restructuring program.Since the studio was relaunched in 2021, it had been working on a fourth Timesplitters game. “You asked us and we listened.

Warner Bros. has said it will pivot away from “volatile” AAA games to focus on live service and mobile titles.Last month, the company said the launch of Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League “failed” to meet expectations.

Toys For Bob, the developer of Crash Bandicoot 4 and the remastered Spyro collection, has confirmed it’s going independent.Toys For Bob was founded in 1989 before being acquired by Activision in 2005, where they worked on Skylanders. As well as heading up a number of sequels, Toys For Bob also developed Crash Bandicoot 4 and was behind 2018’s Spyro Reignited Trilogy.As part of the recent wave of layoffs at Activision Blizzard, Toys For Bob lost 89 members of staff and saw the closure of their Californian offices.In a new blog post though, Toys For Bob has confirmed it has broken away from Activision.

Nacon’s open-world Terminator game now has a title and an Early Access launch date.Originally announced back in 2022, Terminator: Survivors is the first survival game set in the Terminator universe and was promised to feature “an original story that builds on the events of the official films”.“We can’t say much more for now, but this is definitely something to keep your eyes on,” said Nacon at the time. Now, after months of silence, the studio has confirmed Terminator: Survivors will launch later this year in Early Access.Due for release October 24 on Steam, Nacon have also promised Terminator: Survivors will be released on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S “at a later date” during their Nacon Connect 2024 showcase.“Play as a survivor in an open world set after Judgment Day where you, alone or in co-op, scavenge resources to build a base of operations for mankind. But you’re not alone,” reads the official Steam listing, with the game set after the events of the first two films.“It’s been four years since the day humanity nearly perished.

Stardew Valley is set to receive its first major upgrade since 2020 next month, with the launch of the 1.6 updateTaking to social media to celebrate the 8th anniversary of Stardew Valley, creator Eric “ConcernedApe” Barone thanked fans for their continued support before confirming the 1.6 update would be launching for PC users on March 19.Console and mobile will follow as soon as possible. “I really really don’t want a big delay between [them].

Hunt: Showdown turns six this month, we caught up with design director Dennis Schwarz and acting game director Scott Lussier to discuss the game’s anniversary and future.Though developer Crytek already had experience with making first-person shooter (FPS) games thanks to its Crysis series, Schwarz told NME that Hunt: Showdown forced developers at the studio to rethink the way they were used to making games.“Many of our devs at the time came from a boxed-product mindset, where they’d work on a game for some time, release it, and then move on to another project,” said Schwarz. “With Hunt: Showdown being intended as a live product, the plan was to improve and maintain it for years to come.

Call Of Duty kicked off a crossover with AMC’s The Walking Dead, as original leading character Rick Grimes joined the game as a playable operator. With an operator skin for fan-favourite swordswoman Michonne Grimes still on the way, NME caught up with the people responsible for the crossover.Speaking to NME, Clayton Neuman, head of franchise at AMC, said that from “very early conversations,” it was agreed that Rick and Michonne were the best picks to represent The Walking Dead.“Since Rick’s last episode in season 9, there’s been this sort of fan fervour about what happened to him,” shared Neuman.

Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege creative director Alexander Karpazis has shut down talk of a sequel to the online tactical shooter.Despite being released in 2015, Rainbow Six Siege still has a huge playerbase, with over 100,000 concurrent players logging in over the weekend (via SteamDB) and regular updates from Ubisoft. However, Karpazis has no interest in a sequel.​​”I can confidently say that we have probably one of the best engines in the world when it comes to live PvP shooters,” he said at the 2024 Sieve International in Brazil [via PC Gamer].

Hi-Fi Rush has been officially announced for release on PlayStation 5 next month, alongside several other formerly Xbox console exclusive titles.The title will launch on March 19 on PlayStation 5, with physical versions for the platform available exclusively through Limited Run Games. While a Switch release for Hi-Fi Rush has been rumoured, there is currently no official notice on if those rumours were actually true.Alongside Hi-Fi Rush, Xbox is also bringing three other previously exclusive games to new systems.

Star Wars Jedi series, has said that he would like a live-action appearance of his character as long as it was “right”.Speaking at a panel at Fan Expo Vancouver 2024 on February 17, Monaghan was asked if he had thought any more on the possibility of reprising his role in a film or TV show.“It would have to be right,” answered the actor (via The Direct). “By that I mean, it has to continue the story or the character in some way.

Arrowhead has released a new patch for Helldivers 2 which makes its hardest mission easier.Released today (February 19), the 1.000.009 patch for Helldivers 2 sees developers “continue to focus on stability and matchmaking”.However, the team at Arrowhead has also adjusted the difficulty of a number of missions. According to the patch notes, the Defend event, which is regarded as the hardest mission in the entire game, has had its difficulty “reduced”.It’s not all nerfs though.

Remedy Entertainment has confirmed plans to “expand and grow” the Alan Wake franchise following the success of Alan Wake 2.The long-awaited sequel to the 2010 original was finally released in October last year to critical acclaim. Alan Wake 2 was named NME’s Game Of 2023 and picked up two awards at The Game Awards including Best Narrative.Now Remedy has confirmed the game is the studio’s fastest selling title, with over 1.3million units sold [via VGC].“We are happy with the start of the sales,” explained Remedy’s CEO Tero Virtala.

Xbox has confirmed that four exclusive games will be released on rival consoles, after weeks of speculation.Earlier this month, several reports emerged that Microsoft was planning on releasing several big exclusives like Starfield, Indiana Jones & The Great Circle, Halo and Gears Of Wars on the PlayStation 5. Microsoft then confirmed a press conference to discuss the “vision for the future” of Xbox, which finally took place last night (February 15).Those rumours were swiftly debunked, but Microsoft did announce their intention “to take four games to the other consoles [PS5 and Nintendo Switch]”.

PC, Xbox, PlayStation and Nintendo Switch in November 2023.Games that had this content tag accounted for less than two per cent of Xbox, PlayStation and Nintendo’s roster of titles available on their digital storefronts.

Doctor Who, has said that the rumour that the sci-fi show is crossing over with Fortnite is a “myth”.Sharing a photo on Instagram of his appearance on BBC Radio 4, a commenter asked if there was anything he could share about the potential crossover.A post shared by Russell T Davies (@russelltdavies63)“There isn’t one!” replied Davies of the hypothetical Doctor Who and Fortnite collaboration. “It’s a complete myth, I’m afraid x”.Eurogamer noted that the denial of the crossover was a surprise because a slew of reliable Fortnite and Doctor Who leakers revealed very convincing specifics on it.

Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot has shared the release windows for both Assassin’s Creed Codename Red and Star Wars Outlaws.Speaking as part of the company’s most recent financial report, Guillemot confirmed Ubisoft were already looking forward to the 2025 fiscal year, which runs April 2024 to March 2025.“Moving forward, we’re gearing up for a very promising line-up for fiscal year 2025,” said Guillemot. He went on to confirm that Star Wars Outlaws, an action-adventure game set between The Empire Strikes Back and Return Of The Jedi, would be released before the end of 2024.“It should be a major milestone in the video game industry, especially given the undeniable appeal of this legendary franchise that will be coming for the first time to the Open World territory,” he added.Star Wars Outlaws was announced last year.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth players have been covering a number of iconic tracks via a new piano minigame.A demo for Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth launched earlier this week, with players able to get to grips with the game’s opening chapters. As well as providing a backstory for Cloud and Sephiroth, this demo has also allowed players to try out a number of new minigames.“Some of the minigames are just as fun to watch as they are to play, so they’re perfect to play when you feel like taking a breather from the main story,” said Square Enix, with both collectible card game Queen’s Blood and a series of chocobo time trials available to play.However it’s the piano found in Tifa Lockheart’s room in Nibelheim that’s causing the most excitement.

Atlus has announced that Persona 3 Reload is the fastest-selling game in the history of the company.Atlus West posted on X (formerly Twitter) that Persona 3 Reload has sold over a million copies in the first week of release, making it the fastest-selling game that the company has ever published.The game was launched on February 2 across all platforms. The game was originally revealed by Xbox in June of last year, along with the reveal that the game would be launching on Xbox Game Pass at no additional price to existing subscribers.As reported by Persona Central back in 2021, the Persona series had hit fifteen million sales by the end of Fiscal Year 2021, meaning that Persona 3 Reload has already sold roughly a fifteenth of what the entire series had sold in by the end of its 25th anniversary year.NME reviewed Persona 3 Reload, with our reviewer calling the game a “must-play marvel”.“As the sums of its parts, Reload is phenomenal as both a remake and a standalone game.

Rocksteady Studios has been forced to take Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League offline, less than an hour after it was launched in early access.Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League is due for release February 2 via PS5, Xbox Series X|S and Steam but players who purchased the more expensive deluxe edition can access the game 72 hours early.That early access window opened earlier today (January 29), starting with players in New Zealand, but the game was quickly taken offline due to a bug. When some players logged in for the very first time, they found that the game had auto-completed itself.Posting on social media, Rocksteady wrote: “We’re aware that a number of players are currently experiencing an issue whereby upon logging into the game for the first time, they have full story completion.”To fix the bug, the studio confirmed it would be performing “maintenance on the game servers” with Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League taken offline soon afterwards.

Ubisoft has announced an open beta for Skull & Bones, with its February release looking set to actually happen.Development on the co-op pirate open-world RPG experience Skull & Bones started in 2013, with the game being made public at E3 2017. Since then, it’s been delayed numerous times with several different directors taking the helm.“Nobody knew what the fuck they were doing,” one former developer claimed, but it seems Ubisoft is now sticking to the February release date it confirmed at The Game Awards 2023.The studio has now announced an open beta for Skull & Bones.

Palworld could be coming to PlayStation soon, per a post on X (formerly Twitter) from PlayStation head of indies Shuhei Yoshida.Yoshida replied to a post which asked for the team to “support SIE [Sony Interactive Entertainment] so that the PS5 version can be released as soon as possible”.Yoshida tagged the development partner at PlayStation in the reply, writing “Yes”.Previously, the community manager of Palworld posted that the title “won’t be on PlayStation” and will only be available on “Xbox and Steam“. However, on January 21 the community manager posted on X to state that Palworld may still come to PlayStation.“The above post said Palworld may release on PS4, PS5, Xbox or PC.

ZeniMax has revealed big plans happening in The Elder Scrolls: Online over the next twelve months, including a new expansion, a roadmap and a pack of downloadable dungeons.Revealed as part of Microsoft’s most recent Xbox Developer Direct, ZeniMax confirmed that the Gold Road expansion would be released in June for The Elder Scrolls: Online.Released June 3 for PC and coming to Xbox and PlytStation consoles on June 18, Gold Road will bring 30 hours of new main quest content to Elder Scrolls: Online, including a storyline with never-before-seen characters and new, but familiar zones for players to explore.The new chapter of The Elder Scrolls: Online will pick up where last year’s Necrom left off, and will return players to locations last seen in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.“In Gold Road players must investigate Ithelia, a Daedric Prince never seen before in the Elder Scrolls series and it’s up to players to uncover the schemes of her most devoted followers. Adventurers will encounter opportunistic woodeElves, and protect the people of West Weald from the chaos of the Forgotten Prince’s return,” said ZeniMax in a blog.

Baldur’s Gate 3 Xbox save woes should be over from today following a new update.Baldur’s Gate 3 launched on Xbox in December 2023 after winning Game of the Year at the 2023 Game of the Year awards. However, it wasn’t released without several issues, such as reports of save files deleting themselves after a crash.

T-Pain is apparently working with Rockstar Games on Grand Theft Auto 6.Speaking to fans during a recent livestream that’s now circulating on social media, T-Pain (real name Faheem Rashad Najm) revealed that he’s working on Grand Theft Auto 6.Responding to a fan question about playing Grand Theft Auto Online, T-Pain explained that he used to be an active member of the GTA role-playing server NoPixel before being asked to quit because of the conflict of interest.“I used to be on NoPixel, then I started working on Grand Theft Auto 6, and [Rockstar] told me I couldn’t do role-play anymore because it kind of goes against [their rules].