Xbox Series X Showbiz and Celebrity Breaking News

Grand Theft Auto 5 protagonist Trevor, has revealed that one of the game’s singleplayer DLC projects featured a secret agent plot for the violent character.Speaking on a Q&A, spotted by The Loadout, Ogg shed some light on the cancelled Grand Theft Auto 5 DLC. Players were all expecting some story DLC because developer Rockstar announced it.

Warhorse Studios has revealed Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, with a new trailer revealing everything fans can expect from the medieval role-playing game (RPG).A direct sequel to 2018’s Kingdom Come: Deliverance, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is set to launch in 2024 and will continue the story of peasant-turned-knight Henry in 15th century Bohemia.Speaking to press, Warhorse Studios confirmed that the “majority” of Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 will take place in the Bohemian city of Kuttenberg, and its full world will be two times bigger than the first game.Additionally, Henry’s story will be much grander in scope. He’ll now be dealing with the “problems of kings” on a quest to avenge his destroyed village, and the first trailer teases that with scenes of large-scale sieges and urban warfare.

Stardew Valley community is a passionate one, and they’ve recently started using the music of Chappell Roan to highlight a queer romance in the game.Roan has a song titled ‘Good Luck, Babe!‘. It’s about the lost potential of a forgotten romance between the singer and a woman who chose to be with a man rather than confront the difficulty of facing her queer identity.

Hollow Knight: Silksong hopefuls have been waiting years for the game to launch, and after seeing it get rated in Australia, they may not have to wait much longer.A sequel to the beloved indie game Hollow Knight, Silksong was announced February 14, 2019. Since then it’s faced some delays and we still don’t have a fixed launch date. That’s why news of its rating in Australia, shared on Reddit, is important to fans of the series.It was classified April 2 and rated PG for mild violence.

Star Wars Outlaws drew the ire of fans recently when it was revealed its ultimate edition would cost £115. Now, people have noticed that there’s an “exclusive” Jabba the Hut mission locked behind purchase of the season pass.As noted by NME on April 11, an exclusive mission titled Jabba’s Gambit will be available at launch, but only for players who purchase either the gold or ultimate edition of the game; they both include the season pass which grants access to Jabba’s Gambit.Ubisoft has now responded to the further backlash caused by people noticing that a mission may be unavailable for people who just buy the £60 base version of Star Wars Outlaws.“The ‘Jabba’s Gambit’ mission is an optional, additional mission with the Hutt Cartel along Kay and Nix’s journey across the Outer Rim,” a Ubisoft spokesperson told Eurogamer.

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 crossover microtransaction isn’t so micro. The B.E.A.S.T. Glove melee weapon costs £67.88 in COD Points, more than the game itself.The B.E.A.S.T.

Call of Duty publisher Activision says over 27,000 Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 and Warzone accounts were banned this weekend. Team Ricochet, those using the Ricochet anti-cheat system to catch bad actors, says it anticipates “more ban waves to come.”In a statement given to CharlieIntel, Team Ricochet said it “identified and banned over 27,000 accounts over the weekend through a series of upgraded detection systems.

Dragon’s Dogma 2 received critical acclaim ahead of launch, many buyers on PC are leaving negative reviews due to the game launching with 21 optional microtransactions.Dragon’s Dogma 2 launched today (March 22), and at time of writing, currently holds a ‘Mixed’ user review rating on Steam, with 60 per cent of all player-submitted reviews marked as negative.The criticism is largely driven by the inclusion of microtransactions in the single-player game. Dragon’s Dogma 2 has 21 available microtransactions, including items that revive characters, help to escape from prison, and make fast-travelling easier.While these purchases range from £0.89 to £4.45 in price, it’s worth noting that all but two of them (the Explorer’s Camping Kit and Heartfelt Pendant) can be found in-game anyway, making the microtransactions completely optional.However, that hasn’t stopped buyers from criticising the DLC.

Larian Studios, the developer behind Baldur’s Gate 3, has confirmed that it will not be making a highly requested expansion or Baldur’s Gate 4.Speaking at this month’s Game Developers Conference (GDC) in San Francisco, Larian Studios founder and CEO Swen Vincke shared that the studio will not be following up the massive success of Baldur’s Gate 3 with another game in the Dungeons & Dragons series it’s set in.“Baldur’s Gate will always have a warm spot in our heart,” shared Vincke. “We’ll forever be proud of it but we’re not going to continue in it. We’re not going to make new expansions which everybody is expecting.

Dragon’s Dogma 2, but framerate issues are hampering the experience for some.A Capcom representative told IGN, “a large amount of CPU usage is allocated to each character and dynamically calculates the impact of their physical presence in various environments.” They added that this could be the cause for the framerate issues when “numerous characters appear simultaneously”.Dragon’s Dogma 2 on consoles doesn’t have the option to switch between a performance and quality mode, so players are largely having to make do with what’s currently on offer. Fortunately for PC players, the representative told IGN, “we are looking into ways to improve performance in the future.” So, a patch could already be in the works and delivered soon, but it’s unclear what the solution will be for console players.The director of the original Dragon’s Dogma, Hideaki Itsuno, felt “let down” by PS3 hardware, and it seems the PS5 is also struggling to keep up.

Gotham Knights developer WB Games Montréal‘s website, the studio is assisting with Monolith Productions‘ upcoming Wonder Woman game.As spotted by Tech4gamers, WB Games Montréal is looking for an external development artist who will “support the Monolith Productions team on their announced Wonder Woman game!”The upcoming Wonder Woman game was announced back in December 2021 at The Game Awards. It is being developed by Middle-Earth: Shadow of War developer Monolith, and is not going to be a live-service game like the recent Suicide Squad, according to a statement from Warner Bros..

Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 patch notes detail how the powerful Longbow sniper rifle has been nerfed.In the new update, the Longbow has had its hipfire spread benefit removed and its aim down sight time increased from 390ms to 470ms, a whopping 21 percent increase. These changes appear to have been made to reduce the sniper rifle’s effectiveness at close ranges.

Slipknot are getting their Dead By Daylight debut, thanks to an upcoming cosmetic collection.In a livestream on the official Dead By Daylight YouTube channel (which you can watch below), associate art director Leisha Riddel described the crossover. The Slipknot cosmetics being added to the game include seven masks and one full outfit; these designs are all based on “core” Slipknot members, but have been altered slightly to better fit with the style of the horror game.Subliminal Menace for The Legion is the outfit coming to Dead By Daylight, and will feature a white mask and flowing robes inspired by DJ Sid Wilson.Next up is a Metallic Grill for The Wraith, based on guitarist Mick Thomson, along with the Dominant Eye for The Deathslinger, which is based on guitarist Jim Root.

Persona 3 Reload is getting its first piece of DLC, with two sets of songs from Persona 5 Royal and Persona 4 Golden being added.These two sets, featuring 16 songs in total, will be available via Persona 3 Reload‘s expansion pass, which is out now. The expansion pass is free for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers via Game Pass Ultimate Perks through January 31, 2025, and is otherwise available for £28.99 on digital storefronts.From Persona 5, fans will get ‘Life Will Change’, ‘Beneath the Mask’, ‘Kichijoji 199X’, ‘Gentle Madman’, ‘I Believe’, ‘Keeper of Lust’, ‘Blooming Villain’, and ‘Victory’.

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.

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.

SpongeBob SquarePants special edition of the Xbox Series X.The console has been created in conjunction with Best Buy, Paramount Game Studios and GameMill, and is only available to purchase in the United States through set drops on the Best Buy Mobile App, and won’t be available when stocks run out.The bundle comes with an Xbox Wireless Controller featuring characters from the Spongebob SquarePants franchise, while the Xbox Series X itself features Spongebob smiling at the user.A digital download of Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 is also included in the bundle. This Super Smash Bros-like game featuring classic Nickelodeon cartoons allows players to pit characters such as Invader Zim, SpongeBob SquarePants, Jimmy Neutron and Aang against each other, among many others.The bundle retails for £550 ($699) and is only available in the United States through the Best Buy Mobile App.

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.

Interior Night CEO Caroline Marchal has told NME why narrative drama As Dusk Falls will be a good fit for PlayStation fans when it launches for PS4 and PS5 next year.As announced during The Game Awards on Friday (December 8), As Dusk Falls will launch on March 7, 2024, for both PS4 and PS5. Additionally, the game will be coming to PC storefronts GOG and the Epic Games Store on the same day.The crime drama will also be getting some new features, including support for haptic feedback, touchpad controls, and an audio description accessibility setting that will be available on all platforms.Originally launched for Xbox and PC in 2022, As Dusk Falls is a branching narrative that lets players choose how a motel robbery unfolds for those involved.

NME, Warhammer Age Of Sigmar: Realms Of Ruin game designer Daniel Saunders has discussed the effort that goes into turning a Warhammer story into a real-time strategy (RTS) campaign.Set in the savage realm of Ghur, Realms Of Ruin‘s campaign takes place as a band of Stormcast Eternals – some of humanity’s strongest warriors – fight to secure a foothold against Orruk tribes, undead Nighthaunt, and Chaos-touched Disciples Of Tzeentch.“Getting to a campaign to operate where you’re playing from multiple perspectives is quite tricky,” shared Saunders. He says more of that challenge lay with principle designer Sandy Sammarco and veteran Games Workshop author Gav Thorpe, who worked with Frontier Developments on the plot.“They had to weave together a story where each of these factions having something to do with each other, whatever that may be, had to make sense,” said Saunders.

Rocksteady Studios has released a twenty-minute Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League video which delves into the story and mechanics of the long-delayed title.The video confirms that Metropolis will be “twice the size” of Gotham City in the studio’s Batman: Arkham Knight game, meaning each of the Squad has a unique traversal method for getting around. Harley Quinn has a glider and grappling hook, Deadshot has a jetpack, King Shark can jump incredibly high and Captain Boomerang has a type of super speed.Rocksteady also confirmed that Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League is a “third-person action shooter”.

Payday 3 is adding two levels from Payday 2 to the game as part of a free update later this month.Developer Starbreeze Entertainment announced the news in a post on its website, which revealed the update will “reimagine” two classic heists: Cook Off, which tasks players with batch-cooking methamphetamine, and stealthy robbery Turbid Station.The developer added that the update, currently scheduled for release in November 2023, is planned to have a “new skill line, brand new first-person interaction animations, Infamy Points to heist payout, two new banging tracks from Gustavo Coutinho and more than 200 additional bug fixes and improvements”.There’s no official word on when to expect this update other than November of this year, but Starbreeze Entertainment has been patching Payday 3 following its launch troubles.Upon release, the game was criticised for bugs, server issues, and slow progression. A major complaint was from PlayStation owners, who reported that they couldn’t access special pre-order bonuses at all.We gave Payday 3 three stars in our review, and criticised its lack of heists and shallow stealth.“Payday 3 is brilliant fun, but it wears thin very fast,” the review reads.

Baldur’s Gate 3 may be receiving an official release date on Xbox platforms this week after several delays to the popular Computer Role Playing Game (CRPG) port.After a series of delays due to worries about quality slippage, and reassurances that Xbox would in fact receive the game this year, the official Larian Studios X (formerly Twitter) account posted the following interesting sentence amid celebrations of the multiple awards Baldur’s Gate 3 was nominated for at The Game Awards yesterday (November 14).The Baldur’s Gate 3 developers posted: “Xbox fans, and fans of physical media, watch this space for a formal announcement.

Starfield features a silent main character, actor Elias Toufexis has revealed he spent “months” voicing the game’s protagonist before being moved to another role.Toufexis, best known for voicing Adam Jensen in the Deus Ex series, took to Twitter yesterday (November 8) to confirm he was originally hired to be the players’ voice in Starfield, along with BAFTA-winning voice actor and The Owl House star Cissy Jones.“We worked for months,” he shared (via Gamesradar), although developer Bethesda Softworks ultimately decided to scrap the main character’s voice-acted lines.However, it wasn’t all bad news. Toufexis and Jones were instead given two different leading roles as members of Constellation – Toufexis as spacefaring cowboy Sam Coe, and Jones as ex-spy Andreja.

Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is surpassing 200GB in size, and Activision has explained that this is thanks to the “increased amount of content” available in this entry.To compare, Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 was 125GB on PC. Other titles don’t even come close to Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 – Final Fantasy 15 was 148GB, Baldur’s Gate 3 and Red Dead Redemption 2 were 150GB, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor was 155GB, all at launch and on PC.However, Activision and Sledgehammer Games stated that they are trying to slim the total install size down through “ongoing optimisation efforts”.#MW3 is almost here.

Xbox players switch on their console, the first thing they see is a prompt to purchase Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, and some people have not reacted well to this splash screen.“Fight against the ultimate threat. Play the Campaign now.

NME, Sledgehammer Games‘ creative director Dave Swenson and narrative designer Shelby Carlton have discussed how Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 villain Vladimir Makarov may not be the same iconic character that fans remember from the first Modern Warfare games.Although the Modern Warfare reboot shares a lot in common with the initial trilogy, they tell largely original new stories. This means that although Modern Warfare 3 will see the return of ultranationalist terrorist Vladimir Makarov, he may not be the same exact villain that fans remember.“We’ve reset the story,” Swenson told NME. “All that old canon isn’t applicable to what we’re making.

Xbox controllers and accessories will no longer work after November has concerned disabled gamers who use their own controllers.Error “0x82d60002” has popped up for those using an unauthorised controller to play on the Xbox One or Xbox Series consoles, stating that the controller “will be blocked from use on [November 12]”.Microsoft provided a statement to clear up the confusion, saying that “unauthorised accessories can compromise the gaming experience” and this new policy is part of maintaining “quality standards for performance, security, and safety”.Yet, disabled gamers who play with controller and accessory combinations that use third-party technology have aired their aggravation at the announcement.“Xbox I urge you to give a statement on if this will affect the disability community and if so, how is this in line with your vision for accessibility in gaming,” said streamer Elisabeth “Arevya” Sivertsen in a post to X.Another said it was a “step backwards in inclusivity” for Xbox, as the release of the Xbox Adaptive Controller in 2018 won it several awards for the innovation in its design.“For a company that touts their accessibility and inclusion efforts so hard, this move by Xbox is really confusing and disappointing,” added X user and game developer jasonthinks.Fortunately, it appears that conversations about the impact of this policy on disabled players are occurring.

Ubisoft Massive has shared the PC system specifications for Avatar: Frontiers Of Pandora, allowing fans to work out whether their PCs can run the anticipated game.The developer listed four visual settings for the game increasing in complexity and detail for the characters and environments.PC players of Avatar: Frontiers Of Pandora will also benefit from features like ray tracing, ultrawide monitor support, AMD FSR 2 and DLSS, high frame rates and access to benchmark tools.Avatar: Frontiers Of Pandora minimum PC requirementsAvatar: Frontiers Of Pandora recommended PC requirementsAvatar: Frontiers Of Pandora enthusiast PC requirementsAvatar: Frontiers Of Pandora ultra PC requirementsAvatar: Frontiers Of Pandora arrives for PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S and Amazon Luna on December 7.None of the above applies if the player opts for the console version of the game as these versions will automatically be compatible with the technology inside the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S.In other gaming news, actor Sarah Michelle Gellar is the official judge of a vampire hunting competition in Diablo 4 where three players will win a prize of signed vampire hunting props and credit to their Battle.net account.

Microsoft will not allow players to use unauthorised third-party controllers and accessories for their Xbox from November in the interest of “performance, security, and safety”.Windows Central reported that players have been encountering error “0x82d60002” when they attach a third-party accessory in an article from October 29.“Using unauthorised accessories compromises your gaming experience. For this reason, the unauthorised accessory will be blocked from use on 11/12/2023,” read the pop-up on the console.

Xbox Partner Preview presentation, Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth showed off a new Animal Crossing-inspired island where the player manages a thriving resort.Accessed by riding a dolphin to its shores, Dondoko Island is a much more slower paced addition to the anticipated action game. Developer Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio said “sometimes even the yakuza need a breather” in its trailer, revealing a “cosy DIY lifestyle” for hero Ichiban Kasuga.

Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 developers from Sledgehammer Games have spoken to NME about the game’s longer time-to-kill mechanics, along with planned changes to visibility and weapon balance.Last week (October 6), the first beta for Modern Warfare 3 kicked off on PlayStation. As fans got their hands on the upcoming shooter, a few of its features stuck out – one of which was the game’s unusually long time-to-kill (TTK), a measurement that determines how long it takes one player to kill another.While this varies between Call Of Duty games, Modern Warfare 3 has one of the series’ longest to date.

Fortnite Fortnitemares 2023 event will introduce Alan Wake to the game in its Halloween celebrations as part of the upcoming “Waking Nightmare” cosmetic Set.Alan Wake, portrayed by Ilkka Villi, will be available as an outfit alongside his satchel back bling, a torch pickaxe and a “Find Alice” weapon wrap.He is not the only recognisable face to feature in Fortnitemares. The Nightmare Before Christmas‘ Jack Skellington will arrive with a Santa Jack alternate outfit in The Pumpkin King set, as well as a Zero back bling, peppermint parasol pickaxe, Jack’s sled glider, Jack’s Scary Face emote and Lock, Shock and Barrel’s Tub emote.Michael Myers is also landing in the Fortnite item shop at a later date in The Shape set, containing a stabbed pumpkin back bling, kitchen knife pickaxe and stabby keyboard emote.Fortnitemares began yesterday (October 10) and will last until November 3 so there is a lot of time to watch out for these rare character crossovers.Additionally, Fortnite re-added the Horde Rush game mode with its own collection of quests that unlock unique rewards upon completion.