Category: Gamespot

Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare has been officially announced, and Activision has dropped a ton of information about the game. Need to catch up on the important details? We’ve got you covered, and have collated everything that’s been revealed so far in a handy list.

Story

Players will step into the shoes of Captain Reyes, a Tier 1 Special Operations pilot who helms the Retribution, one of Earth’s last remaining warships. Reyes’ story will see him/her lead the “remnants of coalition forces against a relentless enemy.” The campaign will take players across the solar system, spanning locations including Earth and beyond in a “grand scale war.”

Setting

Infinite Warfare will take place in the future, after Earth has been stripped of its natural resources as a result of population growth and industrial expansion. The residents of Earth rely on colonies established elsewhere in the solar system to mine planets and asteroids for resources. The value of these outposts attracts militant radicals who seek to control them, an action which could place the countries of Earth in a very unfavorable position. A United Nations Space Alliance has been established, although few details on its role and purpose have been revealed.

Possible Enemy

Details on The Settlement Defense Front (The Front) describe the movement as a “group of insurgents” that broke away from the United Nations Space Alliance during a war of secession, prior to the events of Infinite Warfare. The Front is also described as a “fascist power.” Following years of a troubled stalemate with The Front, relations have deteriorated to a point where the entire solar system is poised on the brink of war.

Multiplayer

While more details on the multiplayer mode and maps will be released later this year, Activision has confirmed that it will feature an “evolution of Call of Duty’s movement system with an emphasis on front-line engagement.” This hints the possibility of maps with more emphasis on verticality, Titanfall-style. Players will allegedly be able to achieve goals in “creative ways based on their specific play style.”

Warships

Air and space combat will play an integral part in the campaign. The Retribution will serve as the player’s home and house the crew. It will be a vessel players will “come to rely on and be responsible for.” In addition, players will be able to pilot a space combat jet-fighter named the Jackal.

Zombies

The new co-operative Zombies mode will feature a new storyline, unique gameplay features, and mechanics. Like with Infinite Warfare’s multiplayer mode, Activision will be revealing more information later this year.

Trailer

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Bran returns this week as he ventures into his family’s past, learning more about Hodor and his connection to Ned Stark. In addition, there was a whole lot of death this week, and one big moment right at the end of the episode. We’re taking a look at the biggest moment of the week and breaking it down, while also discussing a few of the other key parts of this week’s episode.

Warning: Spoilers from are ahead.

Last week, we found out that Melisandre isn’t the young woman everyone saw her as. It’s all an illusion, as she is actually much older than she appears. Melisandre’s story continues, but it weaves into Jon Snow’s story as well. Davos and his men are guarding Jon Snow’s body from other members of the Night’s Watch. The Wildlings and Eddison come in and take control by showing their force. Davos asks Melisandre about bringing someone back from the dead. She says she’s seen it, but it’s obviously not something she’s tried to do. She puts together a spell, and it seems like it failed. As everyone leaves the room where the ritual took place, Jon Snow opens his eyes.

This is what everyone was waiting for. The fan-favorite character is once again alive but at what cost? Melisandre mentioned earlier on that the person she saw come back from the dead was different. Could that mean that this new Jon Snow won’t be the same? Will he be the shell of the person he once was? In addition, when Melisandre finds out about this, will she regain her confidence? She was dangerous in seasons past, when she was giving birth to killer shadows. There’s a lot of questions that need some answers.

Other notable moments:

• Bran returns and meets the Three-Eyed Raven, while revealing the Stark’s family history, including Hodor’s connection to Ned Stark. At one point, Hodor could talk.
• Arya continues to be tested. Jaqen shows up and offers her many different things, including her eyesight back, if she tells him her name. Arya says “the girl has no name.” She passes this test and gets to go back to The House of Black and White.
• Tyrion unshackles the dragons in Meereen. They’re still underneath the palace but no longer in chains. They have not been eating since Daenerys left the city. Meereen is going through changes again and the slavers are starting to retake the city.
• Balon Greyjoy, of the Iron Islands, is killed by his own brother, who has been missing and apparently gone mad. Yara Greyjoy thinks she’s next in line to rule the Iron Islands, but that may not be the case.
• Ramsey Bolton is still a monster. He wants to chase Sansa Stark to Castle Black and fight the Night’s Watch. His father doesn’t agree, so Ramsey kills him. Ramsey also feeds his newborn baby brother and his mother to his dogs so he can rule over Winterfell. It looks like he’s going to get his way and try to take Castle Black.

The season opener was a bit dull. It wasn’t bad, but it really didn’t hit the mark, like this week’s episode did. There was a lot going on, and it stayed exciting throughout the episode. There was a whole lot of murder and betrayal here, and while fans may be more excited for Jon Snow’s story, Ramsey Bolton’s story really stole the show. He’s a character you simply love to hate.

What did you think of this week’s episode? What were your favorite moments?

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[UPDATE] Ubisoft has responded to Vivendi’s move. In a statement to Game Informer, the company said it remains committed to “preserving the independence of the company.” Additionally, a Bloomberg story from late March quotes Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot as saying a hostile Vivendi takeover of Ubisoft would “kill creativity.”

“We are not at all surprised by this latest statement from Vivendi, nor by the intent behind it. This is a confirmation of their habitual strategy of creeping control, in which they say they have no intention to take control of Ubisoft while steadily increasing their stake and preparing an offensive at the next Annual Shareholders Meeting.

“This strategy of successively announcing conflicting intentions is contrary to good corporate practices and is not in the best interests of Ubisoft’s other shareholders. Moreover, despite our repeated written requests since they first entered into our capital, Vivendi has never presented any details or convincing plan on how this supposed cooperation would take place.

“Ubisoft’s management remains committed to preserving the independence of the company, which is the condition for the long-term value creation that will benefit all of our shareholders.”

The original story is below.

Vivendi, the French media conglomerate that once owned Activision Blizzard, has increased its stake in Assassin’s Creed and Far Cry publisher Ubisoft. The company formerly held a 10 percent position in Ubisoft, but has now increased its stake further. It now holds 17.73 percent of Ubsioft’s capital and 15.66 percent of voting shares.

This is according to Vivendi documents filed this week and reported on by Reuters (via Gamasutra). The media company said in its filing that it has “no plans” to attempt a Ubisoft takover or make an offer for the company’s outstanding shares.

In 2015, Vivendi increased its stake to 10 percent from 6.6 percent, in a move that Ubisoft called “unsolicited and unwelcome.” Since then, Ubisoft management has met with a series of investors and even the Canadian government as part of “fight to preserve our independence.”

It’s unclear what impact Vivendi’s continued acquisition of shares could have on Ubisoft. But considering Ubisoft is among the biggest game publishers in the world, with franchises like Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry, and Just Dance under its umbrella, we’ll continue to monitor this story closely.

Vivendi is the former owner of Activision Blizzard. The company began looking to sell off its majority stake in the publisher in 2012 and eventually did so in 2013. It still owns part of the company, but that figure–roughly 12 percent after the 2013 sale–is now less than six percent.

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The fan remake of Star Wars Battlefront III, the controversial, ill-fated Star Wars shooter that was in development at Free Radical before being canceled, continues to move forward. The team of Star Wars fans behind the unlicensed game, Frontwire Studios, today hosted a new livestream where they talked more about their attempts to revive and remake the game as part of a PC project called “Galaxy in Turmoil.”

During the stream, the developers shared new work-in-progress images and cleared up a few points of potential confusion. First, they stressed that Galaxy in Turmoil will be a free game when it is eventually released. This is because the team feels like fans deserved to get Star Wars Battlefront III years ago before it was canceled. Additionally, from a business perspective, this may keep it off Disney legal team’s radar, for now at least.

The game is of course inspired by Battlefront III, but its assets were built from the ground up, the developers said. However, they also explained they plan to use John Williams’ score, which could lead to some legal issues, we’d imagine.

During the stream, the developers said if Disney sends them a cease and desist order, they will shut down the project right away. They said they would be “shocked” if Disney was not aware of the project. Additionally, they said they would contact Disney in the future to talk about how they can go about ensuring the project does not get shut down.

It was also announced during the event that Frontwire, as of Friday morning, is now an official, registered company.

Check out the bullet point list below for some other takeaways from the stream, while you can click through the images in the gallery above to see some shots that were revealed today.

• Game runs on Unreal Engine 4
• Undecided about split-screen.
• Don’t expect it on Steam, since it’s an unlicensed game.
• Game is in pre-alpha currently; all plans are subject to change.
• All classic Battlefront game modes will be available, while Frontwire is creating a new mode designed around competitive play.
• Matches will be 32v32 players; AI will fill in for players who drop out mid-match.
• Will include original Battlefront III maps and some new ones.
• Support for Battlefield II maps it to be determined; could be added as DLC.
• Development won’t end at 1.0 release; more content will be added later.
• Will include multiplayer because “it’s not Battlefront without multiplayer.”
• Mod support could come after launch.
• Developers are looking at all eras of Star Wars; fans can add their own content with mods.
• No Star Cards like DICE’s new Battlefront.
• There will be pickups for things like health packs and ammo drops.
• No health generation.
• Aims to be faithful to the original Battlefront games.
• Some maps have a day/night cycle.
• Frontwire hopes to make a new IP after releasing Galaxy in Turmoil.
• A video will be released on May 4, Stars War Day, to hype the Battlefront III remake.

The remake’s developers include TheDarkSithLord, ColeT2014, CoolJedy, Corra_Ashu, and Dinozavr. Frontwire is also inviting people with development experience to help out.

Despite numerous and detailed evidence about its existence and development, LucasArts never actually confirmed that Battlefront III was in fact in production. The game has long been the subject of much rumor, speculation, and head-butting.

In January this year, gameplay footage stemming from what appeared to be a leaked prototype version of Battlefront III emerged online.

“After a lot of work I managed to get my hands on Star Wars Battlefront III and wanted to share the infamous canceled game that I’m sure many of you wanted to play,” the person who leaked the footage said at the time. “I know not everyone will get the chance to play this immediately, but over time I expect the modding community to be able to change that.”

That’s now exactly what’s happening.

EA launched a new Star Wars Battlefront game in November for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC—it was a big, big hit. Multiple sequels are apparently also on the way.

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Sony is again driving a 16-wheeler across the country to promote the PlayStation brand. The company announced this week that the “Road to Greatness” tour is coming back for 2016, making stops at festivals and conventions across the United States. The tour stop at a different city every week now through November.

This year, the focus appears to be on PlayStation VR, Sony’s upcoming virtual reality headset. In a PlayStation Blog post, Sony said it will have “a number” of different PlayStation VR games available in the truck, though a list of these was not provided. Only a “few dozen” people will be able to check out PlayStation VR on any given day. However, people who send a tweet to @HeyPlayStation saying they want to try it, and then show that tweet to a staffer on the truck, will receive priority access.

PlayStation VR launches this October, priced at $400.

The Road to Greatness truck will also host “King of the Couch” local multiplayer competitions, with winners taking home things like PlayStation 4 games and PlayStation swag.

People who stop by the Road to Greatness truck can also get PlayStation shirts, hats, sunglasses, and other items that aren’t available anywhere else. Additionally, people can pick up a Road to Greatness Collectible Card (pictured below).

The Road to Greatness truck, which shape-shifts like a Transformer of sorts, will also let attendees check out Sony’s cloud-based TV streaming service PlayStation Vue.

Additionally, PS4 games like Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, MLB The Show 16, Hitman, and Ratchet & Clank will be playable in the truck, which is outfitted with 17 systems.

The first Road to Greatness stop is at the Beale Street music festival in Memphis, Tennessee this weekend until May 1. Other stops include Summefest, the Utah Air Show, Musikfest, and the GameStop Expo.

You can see all of the announced dates here at the Road to Greatness website, but note that most of the dates are listed as “TBA.”

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