PUBG Is Free to Download on Xbox This Week
Xbox players can pick up PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds for free right now, and have up until Sunday, November 11 to take advantage of the offer on the Xbox Marketplace.
The offer comes just as the Xbox Twitter account teased some "big PUBG news" via The Verge, dropping on November 10.
Former EA Exec Patrick Söderlund Opens New Game Studio
Embark Studios is Patrick Söderlund's latest venture, and he's joined by former DICE dev, Johan Andersson.
Former EA exec Patrick Söderlund has announced the opening of a new game studio that has secured an investment from Japanese-Korean publisher of PC and mobile titles, Nexon. Söderlund is joined by former DICE colleague Johan Andersson, who shared the news in a tweet earlier today.
The Verge reports that Nexon will act as both an investor and publisher to the studio.
Red Dead Online Beta to Arrive ‘Towards the End’ of November
We knew it would come at some point this month, but Rockstar owner Take-Two Interactive has confirmed that the beta for Red Dead Online will arrive at the end of November.
On an earnings call, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick explained that "it will launch in public beta towards the end of the month – Rockstar will have a lot more to say about it".
Zelnick didn't go into any more detail about exact timing, but at least we know it won't be a surprise release for the next few weeks.
Final Fantasy XV DLC Canceled as Director Leaves Square Enix
Final Fantasy XV director Hajime Tabata has resigned from Luminous Productions and the Square Enix Group as of October 31, 2018.
This news was delivered as part of a special Final Fantasy XV presentation that also announced that three of the four upcoming DLC for Final Fantasy XV are also being cancelled.
Tabata took over for Tetsuya Nomura as Final Fantasy XV's director in 2013, while Nomura went to focus on Kingdom Hearts III.
Netflix Announces Anime Series Based on Pacific Rim and Altered Carbon
Netflix has announced five new anime titles are in development, including series based on Pacific Rim and Altered Carbon.
Pacific Rim will expand upon Pacific Rim and Pacific Rim: Uprising, and focus on two siblings who pilot an abandoned Jaeger in an attempt to find their missing parents across a hostile, Kaiju-peppered landscape. Craig Kyle (Thor: Ragnarok) and Greg Johnson (X-Men: Evolution) will act as co-showrunners.
Altered Carbon is set in the same universe as Netflix's live-action series, which is receiving a second season. It will "explore new elements of the story mythology," is all Netflix has said about the anime series so far. It will be written by Dai Sato (Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo) and Tsukasa Kondo.
Dragon Ball Z Composer Is Now a State Senator in the U.S.
One of the Dragon Ball Z composers has just become a state senator in Texas.
Kotaku explains that Nathan Johnson, who was elected as a state Senator in Texas yesterday, is also responsible for the musical scores to several of the English dubbed episodes and movies of Dragon Ball Z.
Johnson graduated with a law degree from the University of Texas but continued to alternate between his day job as a lawyer and composing music.
For a while, he focused entirely on his musical career and coincidentally met the co-founder of FUNimation, Robert Cocanougher. This led to him eventually to writing some of the scores for Dragon Ball Z.
Cumberbatch Says The Grinch Is About Redemption
Actor Benedict Cumberbatch, who voices the title role in Dr. Seuss' The Grinch, revealed to us why it was important for the new animated film to explore what made the Christmas-stealing cad so mean (beyond just having a heart that was two sizes too small).
"I think we live in a world where a little bit of understanding and empathy goes a huge way, and it’s not just been about good versus evil, right and wrong, left or right, blue or red, it’s a little bit less binary than that. And I think that’s an important thing," Cumberbatch said during a recent phone interview.
"It leaves room for forgiveness and understanding and love and acceptance, and it really shows exactly what happens in the film. It’s about redemption."
Spider-Man PS4’s Second DLC Release Date Confirmed
The second piece of DLC for Marvel's Spider-Man, "Turf Wars," now has a release date thanks to an in-game menu item.
As confirmed by a copy IGN owns, Spider-Man's menu now confirms that the second part of The City That Never Sleeps DLC will be released on Nov. 20 for PS4.
As first spotted by Reddit, the description reads, "Butt heads with Hammerhead in the new DLC, 'The City That Never Sleeps: Turf Wars.' Available Nov. 20 in the PlayStation Store."
Gotham’s Cameron Monaghan Thinks Joaquin Phoenix Will Be a ‘Very Different’ Joker
Whether we're talking about a proto-Joker, or pre-Joker, it's a dangerous time to be in Gotham City, with double the Clown Princes of Crime, and no Caped Crusader.
Filming in New York City, the Fox series Gotham features Cameron Monaghan as Jerome and Jeremiah Valeska, predecessors to the iconic Batman villain. Meanwhile, across the way in New Jersey, Joaquin Phoenix is shooting the Todd Phillips-directed Joker origin movie.
Though there are at least two other projects involving The Joker rumored to be in the works at Warner Bros., Gotham and Phoenix's Joker are ostensibly Batman-free prequels.
So what does Monaghan, Gotham’s so-called proto-Joker since 2015, think of the pre-Joker on the other side of the Hudson?
Is Red Dead 2’s Story Lost in Its Open World?
BEYOND (and howdy)!
On this week's episode of our weekly PlayStation show, Beyond!, host Jonathon Dornbush is joined by Max Scoville, Brian Altano, and Jon Ryan discuss more of their impressions of Red Dead Redemption 2, specifically some of the weirdest glitches in the game, the main story and how it works within the open world, and much more.
Then, the gang discusses the PlayStation Plus free games for the month — you won't be surprised to find out that Max wants you to play Yakuza Kiwami — plus offer impressions of Deracine and Jonathon's review of it, its possible Bloodborne Easter egg, and the Tetris Effect demo.