No, Kingdom Come: Deliverance, We Happy Few Are Not Banned in Australia
Contrary to reports earlier this week, Warhorse Studios’ Kingdom Come: Deliverance and Compulsion Games’ We Happy Few do not appear to have been officially refused classification in Australia.
IGN has been in contact with the Australian Classification Board and is awaiting more background on the matter but, since yesterday, the automated International Age Rating Coalition (IARC) game classification tool generated RC ratings for Kingdom Come: Deliverance and We Happy Few have both been amended and now reflect the same R18+ ratings that were earlier applied by the Classification Board itself.
The recent RC rating for Kingdom Come: Deliverance has been changed to match the existing R18+ rating.
Who Has More to Lose When Spider-Man Leaves the MCU?
With fans reeling from the news that Sony and Marvel/Disney are breaking up and Spider-Man will no longer be part of the MCU, there are a lot of questions about why it happened, who’s to blame, what happens next, and which studio has more to lose from no longer collaborating to make Spidey movies.
Is this a case of Marvel wanting too much (reportedly up to 50 percent of the gross from the next solo Spidey film)? Is this Sony being short-sighted on going it alone again after the MCU Spidey revitalized the property following the less successful Amazing Spider-Man films?
PS5 Devkit Design Seemingly Confirmed By Game Developer
Yesterday, a Sony patent for what appears to be a new game console turned up online. Many presumed this to be a PlayStation 5 devkit, and today a game developer seemingly confirmed this to be true on Twitter.
Following a ResetEra thread which uncovered a European Sony patent for some kind of hardware device, there was speculation online that this was the design for the PlayStation 5. Or at the very least the PS5 devkit.
The image on the patent was highly unusual as it eschewed industrial design standards in favor of bulk. There’s also the matter of the “V” design carved into the hardware. “V” is the roman numeral for five, which further fueled the speculation that this console was related to the PS5.
Gears 5 Accessibility a Priority for The Coalition
Microsoft and The Coalition have touted Gears 5 as the series' "biggest" entry to date, but more quietly, it's also been working to make it the most accessible.
IGN spoke to The Coalition design director Ryan Cleven this week during Gamescom. During the interview, which you can watch in full above, Cleven addressed how the studio is working to make Gears 5 playable (and enjoyable) for "everybody."
"We’ve really invested in as many ways we can to bring people into Gears, because it really is about having everybody play," said Cleven. "It’s something that’s important to us as a studio, but also us as a company.”
In addition to fairly standard accessibility features, such subtitles and a narration mode for menus, Cleven mentioned a lock-on system in Gears 5 designed for beginners and players who can't physically control both sticks simultaneously.
GreedFall: An Unknown World That You Will Shape With Diplomacy
At Gamescom 2019, the CEO of Spiders Jehanne Rousseau discussed more details of GreedFall, the upcoming action-RPG that will be released on September 10, 2019, on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC.
Speaking to IGN's Brian Altano and Max Scoville, Rousseau talked about how a big part of GreedFall is about diplomacy, and revealed more about character customization, companions, factions, natives and the language created for them by Spiders, and so much more.
GreedFall is set in a world that is heavily inspired by 17th century Europe, but with a heavy influence of fantasy, magic and fantastical creatures. The Old World is plagued with a deadly, incurable disease called Malichor, but a remote and hidden island called Teer Fradee has been discovered that has been spared from it and may hold the key to curing the world of it.
Death Stranding: Geoff Keighely Discusses Mysterious Online Multiplayer
At Gamescom, Hideo Kojima gave us the best look at Death Stranding so far. Maybe too good a look. Now, Opening Night Live host Geoff Keighley spoke about what players can expect from Death Stranding when it is released, including some details about the mysterious multiplayer.
Speaking with IGN at Gamescom, Keighley talked about the multiplayer portion of Death Stranding that Kojima hasn’t spoken too much about just yet. According to Keighley, the multiplayer portion really exemplifies the themes of “connection” that Kojima has talked about whenever discussing Death Stranding. Watch the interview in the video above.
“What he’s doing with the online aspects of it, I think people aren’t quite fully ready for what he’s doing.”
Empire of Sin: A Brilliant 1920’s Era Strategy Game
After playing the first half-hour or so of Empire of Sin, I could easily have stayed where I was and played the rest of the day. While it’s still in a pre-beta state, Empire of Sin feels polished, with deep systems that beg for more probing. After all, this is essentially Boardwalk Empire crossed with XCOM - what’s not to find completely intriguing?
Empire of Sin is set in prohibition-Era Chicago. As one of 14 bosses with different interests (speakeasies, union protection, or casinos), you’re tasked with building an empire built on Chicago’s most precious currency: alcohol. You can get your alcohol that’s produced in breweries, you can get if from your allies, or you can occasionally get it from missions. “So alcohol is the number one currency of Prohibition-era Chicago,” says Game Director Brenda Romero. “So we make it, we consume it in our rackets, without alcohol your businesses aren't going very far.”
Marvel’s Avengers Aims to Balance Comics History and Originality
With Marvel's Avengers, developer Crystal Dynamics had the difficult task of balancing the old with the new. Marvel Comics is celebrating its 80th anniversary in 2019, giving the developer a rich history of character and story to draw from. But, according to Crystal Dynamics studio head Scot Amos, the development team wasn't interested in simply retelling old tales: With encouragement from Marvel, Crystal is blending that history with original storylines, costumes, and abilities.
This week's Gamescom provided the closest look at Marvel's Avengers yet; Crystal allowed attendees to go hands on with the Marvel superhero game, in addition to releasing a 19-minute Avengers gameplay demo. During the show, IGN sat down with Amos to discuss the aforementioned balancing act, hero customization, games as a service, and more. You can watch the full interview above.
Need For Speed Heat: 16 New Details from Gamescom 2019
At Gamescom 2019, Need for Speed Heat's creative director Riley Cooper discussed some new details on the newest entry in the Need For Speed franchise that will be released on November 8, 2019, for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.
We've broken down 16 of those most interesting things we learned about Need For Speed Heat from IGN's Destin Legarie's discussion with Cooper from IGN Gamescom Now.
1 - Need For Speed Heat Studio is a companion app to Need For Speed Heat that will allow players to customize cars that they can then use in Heat. New cars will be released each week leading up to Heat's release and all cars featured in the game will be available in the app by launch on November 8, 2019.
Opinion: The MCU Will Survive the Loss of Spider-Man
Just when it seemed like Disney was on the verge of locking up almost every major Marvel franchise under the MCU umbrella, Peter Parker's infamous bad luck struck again. Ongoing negotiations between Disney and Sony over Spider-Man's cinematic future have broken down, meaning we've likely seen the last of Tom Holland's Spider-Man in the MCU (although Sony is reportedly developing at least two more Spider-Man movies with Holland following Far From Home).