Category: Gameinformer

A few weeks ago, DICE and EA were openly pontificating the ramifications of changing the time-to-kill value, basically how long it takes to kill an opponent, in Battlefield V multiplayer. While players enjoyed being able to kill opponents faster, they also disliked being killed so quickly, so DICE set up different servers to study and see how things play out in alternate matches. 

They eventually decided to increase the time it takes for an enemy to keel over so that players can live longer and have theoretically better matches. The community didn’t really like this change. So now they’re changing it back.

“After rolling out those changes last week, we’ve listened to your feedback, reviewed our statistical data, and have made the decision to return to the original TTK values seen at launch,” a DICE spokesman wrote on the game’s subreddit. “Our intent with the TTK changes was to see if we could evolve the Battlefield V experience and make it more enjoyable for new players, whilst also making sure the Battlefield vets have a choice with a more ‘core’ experience suiting their preferred play-style. Clearly we didn’t get it right. Veteran players didn’t ask for the change, but as game developers, we took it upon ourselves to make those changes based on extensive data and deliberation. It truthfully wasn’t an easy decision for us.”

DICE admits that part of the problem is the ongoing issue of balancing a game for both veterans and new players, as it’s difficult to onboard new players when they die so quickly, even though veterans love the challenge of dodging bullets like Neo. While they erred toward the wants of veterans this time, they are seemingly not sure how to keep these two groups happy at the same time, but do have some plans that they will be rolling out in the future.

Battlefield V is available on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. You can find our review of the game right here.

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Early this year, Obsidian announced their top-down RPG Pillars of Eternity II would also be on consoles and not just PC. The studio hoped to bring the game to PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Switch before the end of 2018, but anyone with access to a calendar can tell you that is becoming increasingly unlikely. While it may have slipped out of this year, Obsidian has clarified that the game is still coming and it’s doing so to all the platforms it was announced for.

Hidden at the bottom of a larger blog post about the Forgotten Sanctum DLC, the developer posted a note about the game’s upcoming console releases.

“As we stated, our partners at Grip Digital have been hard at work, and Deadfire will be releasing on the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch in 2019,” the post reads. “We are pleased to also announce that the console edition will ship with all expansions, updates, and free DLC’s included at launch! We don’t have an exact date for you yet, but as soon as we have one, we will let you know!”

Grip Digital, the studio in charge of porting the game, is also the studio behind Mothergunship and the last-generation ports of puzzle game Q.U.B.E. to consoles.

Fans had been concerned for the port’s existence after Obsidian had been so quiet about it in the ensuing ten months since it was announced. Further complicating matters was Microsoft announcing their intent to acquire the studio at the recent XO18 conference. However, much like with Minecraft, Microsoft seems to occasionally see themselves as a third party publisher for other platforms and isn’t cancelling rival console versions.

Another Obsidian game Microsoft is all too happy to allow on PlayStation 4 is the Take Two-published Outer Worlds. You can see us play the Fallout: New Vegas successor here, read our six biggest takeaways from playing more of the game than we can show, and listen to us discuss it on the GI Show.

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Media Molecule’s Dreams, a fascinating, upcoming sandbox where you can create your own games, could be getting some special news soon. Media Molecule recently tweeted that it’s going to stream Dreams-related content tomorrow, and although these streams are a routine occurrence, the sarcastic tone suggests it’s something big this time.

Our best bet is that it’s related to Dreams’ upcoming beta. Last we heard, the plan is to release the beta before the end of the year, but time is running out. When a fan asked the team on Twitter whether they are still on track for that launch, they received a confident response:

Tune in to the stream tomorrow, at 11 a.m. CST, to find out for yourself. You can head to Media Molecule’s Twitch channel here.

Click the banner below to be directed to our Dreams cover story hub, filled with exclusive interviews, features, and more.

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Square Enix has released a new trailer for Kingdom Hearts III featuring a bevy of story seeds as well as gameplay footage.

The wide-ranging trailer dips more into the title as its January 29 release date approaches, including summons, new keyblade attacks, and much more.

Click here for the recent trailer featuring the game’s opening cinematic, as well as take a look at this handy character guide.

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Update: You can read the full, official balance changes accompanying this patch right here. You can find a breakdown of the character here.

Capcom has announced a new character for Street Fighter V, and you can play as him right now.

The introduction of Kage, who looks to be a more intensified and renamed version of Evil Ryu, would have been a nice surprise to cap off Capcom Cup, except… the update leaked ahead of time. By the time Capcom announced the character, players had already downloaded the update and discovered the character. From what we’ve seen of the character so far, he seems to have a moveset similar to this Street Fighter IV iteration, including the return of his signature Axe Kick. His V-Triggers allow him disappear and land a powerful punch from the sky, as well as use his Ashura Senku teleport mid-combo, even in the air.

Of course, the character also brings with him two alternate costumes for players to wear.

The update also brought with it a number of balance changes, including changes to Menat’s V-Trigger, Zangief’s Lariat, and Alex’s V-Skill. Some characters, like Alex and Abigail, also have some new moves to toy around with.

Capcom also announced the Capcom Pro Tour, which Capcom Cup concludes, will be back for another year, with the first major event being Final Round on March 15.

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During a brief on-camera interview with TMZ, rapper Soulja Boy tells the outlet that he has plans to start up his own esports franchise.

He wants to hire on the streamer Ninja, though he acknowledges it may be a difficult feat. He says, however, that he two are “close friends” and that Ninja helped get him verified on Twitch.

“We’re gonna be finding talent, hiring talent,” he tells the outlet. He says that he’s particularly interested in putting together teams for Fortnite, Call of Duty, Overwatch, and Counter Strike.

“It was just inspiring for me, so here we are,” he says. “I’m multitasking, man. Music, tech, everything.”

How exactly this will pan out, however, remains to be seen. The details are slim and a bit hazy, but hopefully he’ll let the public know more soon.

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Colin Kroll, the co-founder and CEO of HQ Trivia, has passed away after what appears to be a drug overdose, reports TMZ.

Kroll’s girlfriend called the police when she wasn’t able to get a hold of him early this morning. The police accompanied her to his home, where they found him dead in his bedroom surrounded by drug paraphernalia such as cocaine and heroin.

Kroll founded HQ alongside Rus Yusupov last year, though it has been steadily losing its once large audience. Before that, Kroll had worked for Vine as well as Yahoo. 

Kroll was 35-years-old. Game Informer extends its sympathies to Kroll’s family and friends during this difficult time. 

[Source: TMZ]

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Yesterday morning Fullbright’s Steve Gaynor asked game developers to share their “game dev crimes” – tricks, workarounds, or inefficient ways to create a game or fix stubborn technical issues.

The responses quickly game pouring in as other developers shared their own tricks. All of them offer a look at how some of our favorite games are made out of rickety little bits of code hamstrung together to make something truly special, while some of them are just funny.

Some of them can get a little technical, but many of them are fun even without a knowledge of Java, CSS, or Unity. Here are some of our favorites.

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Pokémon Go’s annual holiday event is looking a little more crowded than usual this year, as it will bring not only the return of the festive Pikachus, Deliberd, and free incubators from spinning discs, but new critters as well.

Munchlax, the pre-evolved version of Snorlax, will be added when the event next week, starting on December 18. They will be joined in 7km eggs by more common appearances by Smoochum and Azurill. Also in the update is the addition of Snover and its evolution Abomasnow, as well as Chingling, Croagunk, and the introduction of legendary Pokémon Azelf, Mespirit, and Uxie.

Of course, there are also the usual perks of it being the holidays in Pokémon Go as well. From December 18-22, players will earn double candy from catching monsters; from December 22-26, they’ll earn double stardust; after that until December 30, they’ll earn double experience points. Finally, from December 30-January 2, all those incubators you might have will be more effective at hatching eggs. There will also be new clothes in the shop in the style of Delibird.

For more on Pokémon Go, check out our comprehensive guide.

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John Carpenter, director of horror classics such as Halloween and The Thing would very much like to compose the score to a video game.

In a recent interview with music outlet Consequence of Sound, Carpenter was asked if his love of gaming had had any influence on his work. “I didn’t think of that, but I think there’s a part of me that’s dying to do a game score,” Carpenter said. “But I don’t think anybody will hire me. No one thinks about me to do music for games, that’d be great!”

Carpenter is known not only for the directorial work he’s done for movies, but for the iconic scores he’s helped create for them as well. He recently returned to the Halloween franchise for the recent remake to compose its score.

For a tangentially-related look at when a John Carpenter movie became a game, check out our Replay episode on video game version of The Thing.

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