Xbox Series X Showbiz and Celebrity Breaking News

Activision Blizzard has confirmed that the next Call Of Duty game, widely believed to be Modern Warfare 3, will be revealed through a “limited-time event” in Warzone.Yesterday (July 27), Activision Blizzard shared a blog post outlining the contents of Warzone Season 5, which launches for the battle royale on August 2.Within the post, it was confirmed that Modern Warfare 2 antagonist Graves, presumed dead after one of the game’s closing missions, is still alive. As the leader of mercenary group Shadow Company, Graves will arrive in Warzone as a playable operator — while his mercenary group will seemingly be involved in the next Call Of Duty.“Drop into Call of Duty: Warzone to experience the worldwide reveal for Call of Duty 2023 in a limited-time event,” reads the blog.

Starbreeze disclosed the details for the forthcoming Payday 3 playtests on PC and Xbox Series X, offering some players the opportunity to get to grips with the game.Applications to enter the closed beta — that begins on August 2 and ends on August 7 — will be randomly approved, according to the studio. It will feature the new heist “No Rest for the Wicked” with the characters Chains, Dallas, Hoxton and Wolf.

Fortnite revealed its latest crossover with Futurama, adding Bender, Fry and Leela skins in the battle royale as well as other references to the show.Bender’s Shiny Metal Raygun is a new mythic weapon that can be bought from the character stood on the edge of Mega City’s western pier. It offers infinite ammo as it fires plasma, however, the gun is vulnerable to overheating.There is also the Mammoth Pistol which is still accurate at long ranges and deals a hefty amount of damage at the expense of fire rate, making it an alternative to a sniper or marksman rifle.Bender, Fry and Leela’s skins are available in the in-game Item Shop for 1,500 V-Bucks or as a trio for 2,800 V-Bucks.

Turtle Rock Studios, the team made up of former Left 4 Dead developers who delivered Back 4 Blood in 2021, might be working on a sequel.Spotted by Games Radar, the California studio is seeking a senior combat designer for its upcoming game, focusing on a candidate who has experience “developing first person shooting and melee gameplay.”The applicant should also have a passion for “specifically FPS, Co-op, and Multiplayer games”. Obviously, this isn’t a lot to go on to determine whether or not this is a Back 4 Blood sequel.That being said, Turtle Rock Studio confirmed to fans that there will be no more Back 4 Blood content as it shifts its attention to the “next big thing”.

Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 appears to be the next entry in the series according to new branding for an energy drink that was circulated on social media site X.The images, that were shared by Call Of Duty specialist site Charlie Intel, show new Monster Energy boxes that featured Captain John Price and a logo for Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.

Fable game, has announced that she is leaving the Leamington Spa-based developer Playground Games.“In August, I’m stepping away from my role as Narrative Lead on Fable. I’ve had several wonderful years scribbling away in my fairytale cottage, but the time feels right for new challenges,” said Megill in a tweet posted on July 14.“Working on Fable was a dream come true for me, and it’s wrenching to leave it behind.

Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Warzone patch has brought a crossover with The Boys, adding four playable characters and superpowers from the Amazon TV show.The crossover kicked off today yesterday (July 12), with The Boys‘ own Starlight joining Call Of Duty with an operator bundle. Homelander will then arrive on Sunday (July 16), while Black Noir will be added on July 20.Priced at 2,400 CoD points (£16.79) each, every bundle will also come with three Tracer Weapon Blueprints and their own finishing move, along with weapon cosmetics and a loading screen.Besides cosmetics, Warzone players will also have a chance to find the ‘Temp V’ field upgrade, which will grant users one of four random superpowers: Charge Jump, Electric Shockwave, Laser Vision, and Teleport.While Charge Jump “propels players across the map” without any fall damage, Electric Shockwave “sends a powerful electrical explosion that injures Operators and AI Combatants, as well as destroys vehicles and equipment”.Meanwhile, Laser Vision lets players hover in the air and fire laser beams from their eyes, and finally, Teleport lets players warp into the sky.You can check out all four powers in action below:This is the latest in a string of crossovers for The Boys.

Assassin’s Creed Codename Red, an upcoming Assassin’s Creed title set in Japan, will be launching next year according to one Ubisoft employee’s post.In a LinkedIn post spotted by Access The Animus, a member of Ubisoft’s business development and brand partnership team shared that they are looking for sponsorship partners for Assassin’s Creed Codename Red.While no release date or official title for Assassin’s Creed Codename Red has been confirmed, the post suggested that it will be launching in 2024.“We are seeking sponsoring partner for this title Assassin’s Creed Codename Red for next year [sic],” it reads.

Microsoft has prevailed in the court case against its acquisition of Activision Blizzard, where it had to defend the impact it would have on competition in the video game industry.Video Games Chronicle spotted that today (July 11), the United States District Court for the Northern District of California ruled that the Federal Trade Commission’s request for a preliminary injunction was not necessary. The FTC had asked for the injunction in order to let its in-house court discern the full effects that the acquisition would have on the consumer.“Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision has been described as the largest in tech history.

Researchers found that this has occurred as a secondary impact of digital game distribution becoming the preferred route for releasing games. As a result, the “classic” games in this study are games released prior to 2010 which was denoted to be the year when digital game distribution “started to take off”.

The Boys has been confirmed as a playable character in Mortal Kombat 1, through a TikTok comment exchange on the Amazon Prime show’s official account.Yesterday (June 10), Call of Duty‘s The Boys collaboration was announced, adding Homelander, Black Noir and Starlight as Operators in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Warzone 2.When a fan asked the official The Boys TikTok account if Homelander was also on his way to the newest Mortal Kombat title in the comments of the Call of Duty TikTok video, the account replied with “MK confirmed.”It is assumed that Homelander is planned to be part of a post-launch character pack, as The Boys‘ official TikTok account stated that the villain will be “available at some point” (via Eurogamer).(FYI) The Boys TikTok account confirms Homelander coming to Mortal Kombat 1 pic.twitter.com/ZedtKglP7P— Idle Sloth

Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege player alleged of directing a SWAT unit to Ubisoft Montreal in 2020, has been sentenced in a Paris court.The Montreal Gazette reported that the 22-year-old has been sentenced to three years of community service, and that the ruling also comprises charges related to a DDoS attack on a French government office and on Mojang (the developer of Minecraft).In November 2020, the City of Montreal Police Service responded to Ouahioune’s phone call claiming that there was an ongoing hostage situation at the offices located in Montreal’s Mile-End neighbourhood.A correspondent for TVA Nouvelles alleged that the caller threatened to blow up the building if they were not paid a ransom of more than £1.5million ($2million). In response, employees barricaded themselves in rooms and fled to the roof while the tactical unit swept the building for the instigator.Ouahioune’s motivation for the incident was that he had been aggrieved by 80 bans from Rainbow Six Siege.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.GamesRadar reported on the use of artificial intelligence tool ElevenLabs for these mods last week, and the response continues to rumble on. Twitter user Robbie92, who drew attention to those actors whose voices have been subject to this software, said that the actors have been “abused by the modding communities” through “AI voice cloning to create and distribute non-consensual deepfake pornographic content.”With the rise of AI voice cloning, voice actors are being abused by the modding communities.

Sega has now stepped back from its previously planned blockchain initiatives for fear of “devaluing” its strongest gaming properties, saying the technology is yet to show its maximum potential.In a new interview, the company’s co-chief operating officer Shuji Utsumi said that the move to blockchain might have been viewed as an interesting investment, but Sega’s motivation is to be ahead of the masses.“For the majority of people in the video game industry, what blockchain advocates say may sound a bit extreme, but that’s how the first penguin has always been,” he told Bloomberg, making a metaphor about risk-takers. “We should never underestimate them.”Nevertheless, Sega will be “[withholding] its biggest franchises from third-party blockchain gaming projects to avoid devaluing its content.” As a result, that doesn’t affect the present plans for Three Kingdoms and Virtua Fighter characters to be turned into non-fungible tokens or the newest Sangokushi Taisen blockchain game from developer Double Jump Tokyo.Sega is also “shelving plans to develop its own games in that [blockchain] genre, at least for now.” Utsumi continued to criticise play-to-earn games too, calling them “boring” and pointless for pulling the “fun” out of gaming.The company is not the only business to be dabbling in blockchain, NFTs and web3.

Capcom has neither confirmed nor denied the possibility of a Resident Evil: Code Veronica remake, saying that the publisher is in the midst of “discussions regarding the future expansion of the series”.GamesRadar first reported the find from a Q&A session after a general shareholder meeting that was held today (July 6).In it, a shareholder queried if Capcom is considering “providing high-end visual remakes of only the main numbered entries in the Resident Evil series”.Capcom replied that it’s “carrying out discussions regarding the future expansion of the series so it can be enjoyed by a wide audience”.The wording seems to suggest that Capcom might be mulling it over. Remakes of Resident Evil 2, Resident Evil 3 and Resident Evil 4 have proved successful for the company, commercially and critically, with Resident Evil 4 becoming one of the fastest-selling entries in the entire history of the series when it released in March.If Capcom isn’t properly considering a remake of the 2000 title, it would likely upset fans who took on the task of a Resident Evil: Code Veronica remake for themselves.Late last year, the company contacted the team and asked that the project be cancelled owing to the use of Capcom-owned characters and the Resident Evil trademark.At the time, Capcom emphasised that this wasn’t in relation to an official remake.

Microsoft has alleged that Sony is planning to launch a slim model of the PlayStation 5 before the end of the year, according to a court filing in the continuing case between the technology corporation and the Federal Trade Commission.IGN noted that the document’s argument is that the Nintendo Switch is a competitor to the Xbox Series consoles and the PlayStation 5, based on the upcoming handheld PS5.“PlayStation likewise sells a less expensive Digital Edition for $399.99, and is expected to release a PlayStation 5 Slim later this year at the same reduced price point,” claimed Microsoft. “Sony is also anticipated to release a handheld version of PlayStation 5 later this year for under $300.”Late last year, when Famitsu pressed Sony’s vice president Hideaki Nishino on the possibility of a console upgrade, he did not outright deny it.

EA Sports boasted that there will be an innovative level of immersion in its upcoming EA Sports FC, as well as offering fans a first look at the game and its features that aim to “blur the line” between virtual and real football.During La Liga’s Nueva Era showcase (via The Loadout), fans found out about the latest iteration of the HyperMotion V technology that forms the foundation of the players’ animations.EA Sports FC vice president David Jackson explained that the technology uses more than 590 million frames of real-world football game capture that then leads to the most advanced in-game animation that the studio has created in its history of sport simulations.In other words, that is 80 times the data that was involved in the development of FIFA 23.

Persona 3 Reload, the 3D remake of Persona 3 from 2006, has gotten a new trailer and set of screenshots out of this year’s Anime Expo convention, showing off Atlus‘ efforts to totally transform the original title.The trailer features the English voice cast for Persona 3 Reload for the first time, showing off Alejandro Saab as Akihiko Sanada, Suzie Yeung as Fuuka Yamagishi and Allegra Clark as Mitsuru Kirijo.Rounding out the rest of the cast is Aleks Le as the playable protagonist Makoto Yuki, Heather Gonzalez as Yukari Takeba, Zeno Robinson as Junpei Iori, Dawn M. Bennett as Aigis, Justine Lee as Ken Amada and Justice Slocum as Shinjiro Aragaki.Fans were treated to new screenshots of the game’s turn based battles and dialogues as well as renders of the characters Akihiko, Fuuka and Mitsuru.

Ubisoft Singapore is remaking Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag for the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and S, which might spell more delays for Skull and Bones.On June 30, Kotaku published its claim that there is a remake of the 2013 pirate-themed adventure game in the works, with Ubisoft Singapore spearheading the development of the next-gen game. The two sources asked to remain anonymous as they are not sanctioned to announce anything about this project, but added that the new Black Flag is in the “earliest stages” of development at the moment.

Annapurna Interactive announced Blade Runner 2033: Labyrinth in its showcase (June 29) with an atmospheric teaser trailer, filling in for a dark era of the franchise’s fictional history.Following the trailer, game director Chelsea Hash spoke with IGN to shed a little more light on the game.Set in 2033, Labyrinth is a narrative-heavy exploration of what it means to be a Blade Runner post-Blackout. The Blackout was an event triggered by two replicant androids, which shut down every electronic device in the city of Los Angeles and deleted all data held in storage.Tyrell Corporation had no choice but to shutter and so all remaining replicants were the last to ever be made.

Planet Of Lana, developer Wishfully and publisher Thunderful have told NME that it was the right call to make the platformer a day-one Xbox Game Pass title.Planet Of Lana launched for Xbox and PC on May 23, and was available from day one on Xbox’s Game Pass subscription service — joining the likes of Redfall, High On Life, and Hi-Fi Rush in doing so.While there have been questions on whether Game Pass cannibalises the sales of games on its catalogue, Adam Stjärnljus — Planet Of Lana’s creative director and Wishfully’s co-founder — says it was the right choice for his team.“For us at Wishfully, being an indie studio releasing our first game, it has been invaluable,” Stjärnljus tells NME. “It lowers the entry bar for players to discover and try our game with a huge potential to bring over players that normally might not gravitate towards the puzzle platformer genre as well.

Cyberpunk 2077‘s upcoming Phantom Liberty expansion, will also be directing a full sequel to Cyberpunk 2077.Amatangelo confirmed the news to Bloomberg (via PC Gamer), where he stated that when work wraps up on Phantom Liberty, he will continue on to direct a currently-untitled sequel to Cyberpunk 2077.Besides Phantom Liberty, Amatangelo is the current director of Cyberpunk 2077, and has led development since 2021. This included leading development on last year’s patch 1.5, which was seen as a major turning point for the game following its disastrous launch in 2020.CD Projekt Red‘s Cyberpunk sequel was announced in October 2022, and is currently working under the codename Orion.

Yakuza title, Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, has been announced at the Xbox Games Showcase with a trailer that is very reminiscent of Austin Powers.The latest trailer caught up with Like A Dragon protagonist Ichiban Kasuga washing ashore — covered in sand and completely naked — with no memories.Luckily, there were perfectly positioned props like a newspaper, sun cream, a surfboard and an umbrella to stop us from seeing anything that would bump the showcase’s age rating up — as Polygon noted, the whole thing is reminiscent of a few of Austin Powers’ most iconic scenes.The reveal trailer was less than two minutes long so we didn’t get a good sense of why he is stuck on this beach, but it appeared to be Miami Beach due to the American accents and towering skyscrapers close to the coast. Once more, the developer seized the chance to shake things up in the established RPG series, as this will be the first entry to be set outside of Japan.We won’t be waiting long for an answer to at least a few of Ichiban Kasuga’s panicked pleas.

Starfield Direct let fans feast their eyes on a vast range of planets and their odd environments, humorous character traits, flexible skill systems and more — placing an emphasis on Bethesda‘s role-playing systems within the game.Previously, Bethesda’s presentations introduced us to Starfield‘s “NASA punk” aesthetic, where “everything is well used, worn and lived in.”Today (June 11), another look at the game explained that the game’s planets will fall into one of two categories: colonised or barren. The former is where players will meet friends and foes, spurring their quest through the stars onwards, and the latter are resource-heavy and possess risks and rewards.

Starfield Direct (June 11) treated sci-fi fans to its sparkly settings, customisable spaceships and character creation, it also saw the return of one of The Elder Scrolls’ most aggravating characters.Traits, which are an optional aspect, alter how the game reacts to the player’s character. For example, the Freestar Collective Settler trait allies the player with that faction and will allow for greater faction rewards, however, crime bounties towards other factions are significantly increased.However, Hero Worshiped means that a blond citizen will appear randomly and fawn over the character — seemingly never tiring, requiring food or water, or running out of things to say.You can see it in action through the timestamped video below.As spotted in the footage, there’s no doubting it: that NPC is another iteration of the Adoring Fan that appeared in The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion.

Avowed received its latest trailer in the Xbox Games Showcase that went live today (June 11), revealing the world of Eora is in turmoil.“Explore the Living Lands, a mysterious island filled with adventure and danger. As an envoy of Aedyr, you are sent to investigate rumours of a spreading plague with a secret that threatens to destroy everything,” reads a new summary from Xbox Game Studios.“Can you save the island and your soul from the forces threatening to tear them apart?”Eora is the same setting as Obsidian Entertainment’s Pillars of Eternity.

Fable’s comical world for fans, featuring Richard Ayoade as one of the disgruntled denizens dealing with bothersome heroes.Of course, we had an inkling the RPG would be appearing in the presentation, based on a sparkly social media post from the official Xbox social media channels. And if there’s one thing that Fable is fondly remembered for, it is its wry sense of humour about the Hollywood solemnity of other fantasy fiction.Richard Ayoade, who you’ll recognise from The IT Crowd, set the scene for the narrative of the new Fable, starring as Dave the vegetable enthusiast.

Bloober Team has shared a new trailer for its upcoming horror game Layers Of Fear, revealing key story details ahead of the game’s launch this month.Set to launch next week (June 15), Layers Of Fear will include the first two Layers Of Fear titles and all of their downloadable content, along with a new story that will “tie the entire series together,” according to the game’s Steam page.Today (June 10), a new trailer detailing that story was shared during the Future Games Show. Check it out below:“This is the story of the Writer,” reads the trailer’s description.

Sega has revealed Sonic Superstars, an upcoming Sonic The Hedgehog title that will blend the long-running series’ retro and modern-day identity.Set to launch this autumn, Sonic Superstars is a 2D platformer that will see players take on the villainous Dr. Eggman, who is attempting to turn the North Star Island’s animals into Badniks.“Join Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy Rose on an adventure that takes ‘classic’ to another level,” reads a description for the trailer.

Blizzard Entertainment, for failing to bring Diablo 4 to her “favourite gaming system” — the Apple Mac.Seeing that Diablo 4 is said to be the fastest-selling game in Blizzard Entertainment’s history, it’s unsurprising that Goldberg has been swept up in the hype.According to her speech (via PC Gamer), she’s been a longstanding fan of the series. “There are a lot of terrible things happening in the world but what I’m about to tell you is not on any scale like that,” said Goldberg in a video posted to her Instagram account.

NetherRealm CCO Ed Boon has given an explanation as to why the next installment in the Mortal Kombat series is called Mortal Kombat 1.As reported by PCGamesN, Boon explained in a Kommunity Chat following the game’s reveal that “Mortal Kombat 1 is the beginning of a universe” and “is not a continuation of the Mortal Kombat 11 story so the characters have completely different roles in this new timeline and we really wanted to punctuate that with our title.”“So this is Mortal Kombat 1, it is a brand new beginning, you’re going to be seeing these characters reintroduced in their new roles, with new relationships with each other, and that’s the main catalyst for calling it Mortal Kombat 1,” Boon said.Mortal Kombat 1‘s cover art features the character Liu Kang — as opposed to Scorpion and Sub-Zero who have “always been the poster child of Mortal Kombat” — and Boon added that this represents a new storyline, saying that the game takes place in a “reborn” universe created by the Fire God.Mortal Kombat 1 is set to launch on September 19, 2023 for PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch. The upcoming game was expected to be called Mortal Kombat 12 and continue on from Mortal Kombat 11.Earlier this year, it was reported that the CEO of Warner Bros Discovery, David Zaslev, may have revealed the release window for the game.

Convergence: A League of Legends Story has been confirmed, with the time-bending platformer set to launch later this month.Following its announcement in 2021, Convergence will launch on May 23 for Nintendo Switch, PC, Xbox and PlayStation platforms.As for what it’s about, the game will follow League Of Legends champion Ekko through the city of Zaun, which was the setting of Netflix’s 2021 animation Arcane.The game will be a platformer with an emphasis on parkour and Ekko’s signature ability — just like in League Of Legends, the hero is equipped with a device that allows him to manipulate time.“Developed by Double Stallion Games, Convergence: A League Of Legends Story is a 2D action platformer with an incredible art style that focuses on tight dynamic combat and unique exploration opportunities afforded by Ekko’s ability to travel in space and time,” reads the game’s Steam page.In the latest trailer for Convergence, Ekko is shown time-travelling to meet a younger version of himself in an attempt to save Zaun from a “devastating future”. Besides Ekko, League Of Legends fans will be able to spot a number of returning characters from the game — including Jinx, Warwick, and Camille.Check it out below.Convergence will arrive just over a month after The Mageseeker: A League Of Legends Story, which was published by Riot Forge last month (April 18).Like Convergence, The Mageseeker is a League spin-off — though instead of following Ekko, it stars Demacian mage Sylas as he leads a rebellion against the kingdom.

FromSoftware and Bandai Namco have confirmed an August release date for their upcoming sci-fi game Armored Core 6: Fires Of Rubicon, with a new gameplay trailer showcasing the game in action.Armored Core 6 will arrive on August 25, 2023 — just over 11 years since the last mainline Armored Core game was released.As for platforms, the upcoming game will be available on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC, and has been priced at £49.99 on Steam.The first gameplay trailer for Armored Core 6 was shared today (April 27), revealing players piloting a customisable mech and pitting it against a wide variety of rival robots.Check out the trailer below.The trailer confirms that players’ mechs will be highly customisable, with the protagonist using everything from cluster rockets to lasers to take down opponents; while one scene shows the player swapping their mech’s legs for tank tracks.While FromSoftware is yet to touch on the game’s plot, the Steam page for Armored Core 6 says players will “pilot their mech in fast-paced, omni-directional battles, taking advantage of massive stages and their mech’s mobility on land and in the air to ensure victory”.“Customise Armored Core parts to suit a large variety of playstyles,” the page continues.

Destiny 2 developer Bungie has claimed it has “irrefutable evidence” that a content creator – believed to be Ekuegan Teko-Agbo – was responsible for leaking news of upcoming Destiny 2 content.Earlier in the month, screenshots of a limited-access Bungie presentation were leaked – revealing details on a number of new content and changes coming to the game in Season 21.Last week, Bungie acknowledged these leaks came from “confidential summits” that the studio presents to some of Destiny 2‘s content creators.Breaches of this trust could result in our inability to hold more summits. We take these breaches extremely seriously and are taking actions to reinforce our policies with those invited to these internal meetings.— Destiny 2 Team (@Destiny2Team) April 14, 2023“Breaches of this trust could result in our inability to hold more summits,” wrote Bungie.

Bungie has acknowledged that it “missed the mark” with parts of last month’s Lightfall expansion for Destiny 2.In a blog, published last night (April 5), Bungie praised Lightfall for beating the studio’s sales expectations and bringing in the most concurrent players the game had seen “in years”.However, game director Joe Blackburn acknowledged that with the expansion’s launch, Bungie “didn’t provide the full clarity we originally planned for when we set out creating Lightfall”.The expansion’s Steam reviews currently sit at a ‘Mostly Negative’ rating, as players have reported experiencing technical issues, a disappointing story, and limited content.“It’s clear we missed the mark on some of our goals and needed to make updates based on constructive feedback,” said Bungie in its recent blog.As a result, Bungie has listed a number of areas that it plans to revisit.

Hello Games has revealed the Interceptor update for its open-world sci-fi title No Man’s Sky, which has added new enemies, planets and ships for players to tackle.Update 4.2 for No Man’s Sky, titled Interceptor, was revealed today (April 5) and pits players against corrupted planets that have spread throughout the galaxy.These corrupted planets offer new buildings, resources and equipment for adventurous players to discover, including a unique jetpack. However, the loot will be guarded by robot guardians who have been “twisted” by corruption.“The strange power flowing through corrupted worlds has warped the Sentinels beyond recognition,” teased Hello Games.