Category: Gamespot

The Rockstar Games Social Club, an online service for Grand Theft Auto V and other games, has not been hacked, the developer says in a new statement. The statement, provided to Kotaku Australia, comes after players wrote on Reddit and Rockstar’s own support forums that their accounts had been hijacked in the days following GTA V’s release for PC, leaving them–in some cases–unable to play the game.

In its statement, however, Rockstar said it is aware of cases of compromised accounts, and is working with affected users to straighten things out. The developer also reminds players that they should avoid using the same password for multiple services–and the Rockstar Games Social Club is no exception.

“The Rockstar Games Social Club has not been compromised,” the developer explained. “However, it appears that attempts have been made to access user accounts using email and password combinations from an unaffiliated, compromised website or database elsewhere on the Internet.”

“For the accounts affected, we are in the process of reverting those accounts back to their original owners. As a reminder, it is a good policy to ensure that the Rockstar Games Social Club account username and password is not shared across multiple websites on the Internet.”

GTA V was released for PC on Tuesday, April 14, quickly becoming the most played non-Valve game published on Steam, with more than 300,000 people playing the game simultaneously. Although the game lacks official modding support, that hasn’t kept players from developing all manner of unique creations.

GameSpot’s GTA V PC review praised the game’s improved visuals and frame rate.

“It looked great on PS4 and Xbox One, but GTA V shines on PC thanks to 4K-grade textures, the availability of additional post-processing effects, and an unlocked frame rate,” reviewer Peter Brown said. “Previous versions of the game played just fine at 30 frames per second, but you quickly appreciate the added fluidity of playing at 60 FPS (if not more) on PC.”

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An assistant producer at EA DICE, the studio behind Star Wars Battlefront, has addressed some fans’ suspicions that content is being held back so that it can be sold as DLC.

Jesper Nielsen, an assistant producer at the DICE support studio Uprise, responded to various claims published by fans on Reddit. One of the most common accusations made was that content currently in development for Star Wars Battlefront would not be shipped with the game, but instead delayed so that it can be sold as DLC.

“If you think there’s anything we’re not including in the game to save it for DLC, I can tell you you’re 100 percent wrong,” Nielsen wrote in response to one such accusation.

He added: “In this project, I’ve never heard anyone say, ‘Let’s not do this for launch so we can do it as DLC instead’. Ever.”

EA released a new Star Wars Battlefront gameplay trailer last Friday, whilst also confirming that the multiplayer-focused FPS will not include a traditional single-player campaign.

Nielsen, who posts on the Star Wars Battlefront subreddit under the alias DICE_TheBikingViking, also addressed some suspicions regarding the Battle of Jakku maps, which will be released after the game as free DLC.

Even though it’s a free add-on, one fan claimed this content was held back because–he assumed–EA wanted to have material for marketing purposes post-launch.

“The situation was never that we had the Jakku maps in the main game, and then stripped them to put them in a DLC,” Nielsen explained.

“It was that the idea to do the Jakku maps came quite late in the process and we didn’t have capacity to add them for launch, so we found a way to get them out to people as soon as possible after launch.

“Of course, if you want to think we’re evil, you’ll always think up evil motives and method. But in all essence, this is the output of hundreds of passionate people and games, just like people here, who want to deliver great gaming experiences.”

Other Reddit users have praised Nielsen for his efforts in addressing some fan concerns, unfounded or otherwise.

Star Wars: Battlefront is scheduled to ship on November 17 for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC.

Recommended: Star Wars: Battlefront — Everything You Need to Know

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Confirming earlier reports, The BBC on Wednesday officially announced casting and plot details for the network’s upcoming 90-minute drama about the Grand Theft Auto series.

As rumored, Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe will play the role of GTA co-creator Sam Houser, while Bill Paxton (Titanic, Apollo 13) will portray inflammatory lawyer Jack Thompson, who gained notoriety in the 2000s for taking on abrasive elements of pop culture.

Thompson’s most notable target has been the GTA series, which he accused of “mentally molesting minors for money.” After three police officers were killed by a professed Grand Theft Auto: Vice City player in Alabama, Thompson represented their families in a civil lawsuit to hold Take-Two responsible. He was eventually disbarred in 2008.

The BBC’s GTA feature is in development under the working title Game Changer and will air on BBC Two.

In its official synopsis, The BBC says the GTA series is “arguably the greatest British coding success story since [World War II code-breaking institution] Bletchley Park.” It adds: “Game Changer tells the story of an extraordinary chapter in the history of this iconic game, and reveals the major impact it has had on our cultural landscape.”

A premiere date for Game Changer was not announced.

Game Changer is directed by Owen Harris (Kill Your Friends, Holy Flying Circus) and was written by James Wood (Rev., Ambassadors). Former GameSpot editor Guy Cocker is also on the writing team for the drama.

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Developer NetherRealm has deployed a new patch to Mortal Kombat X, installing various fixes to bugs and problems encountered in the game.

Patch 1.03, which weighs more than 3GB, marks the game’s third update since its release on Tuesday last week.

Listed within the patch notes is a fix to network sign-in issues, which locked some PlayStation 4 players out of the online components of the game.

An outline of patch notes, published on Reddit and NeoGAF, can be found below:

• Krypt Switches Fix
• Sony Entertainment Network account Sign In Fix
• Leader Board Fix
• Purchasing Easy Fatality Fix
• Test Fixes

Some users are claiming that the update also adds a Jason Voorhees silhouette to the character select screen, seemingly paving the way for the character’s inclusion into the main roster, yet other players claim they do not see this.

Mortal Kombat X launched across the UK on Tuesday April 14 and, by the following Monday, was reported to be the fastest-selling game in the series’ 23-year history. (This statistic only applies to UK sales).

Take a look at some of our favourite Mortal Kombat X screens below.

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The developers behind Kerbal Space Program have been busy this week as they gear up for the version 1.0 launch of their amazing space simulation game.

A beta version of Kerbal Space Program has been available since 2011, and the game hit Steam Greenlight in March 2013. But April 27 marks the first “complete” version of the game.

KSP is more than just a simple space flight sim, though. As the name implies, you take control of an entire space program, and its your job to learn how to get objects into space successfully and without running into any catastrophic disasters

A developer blog on the game’s official site states that the final days of this stage of development are being spent making “cool final additions and tweaks to the game” as well as “improving that sense of completion.”

In what is the final note before the release of version 1.0, the developer extended its thanks to the community. “Not that this means there won’t be dev notes after the release, of course, but it’s a good opportunity to give you guys a massive THANK YOU!! To the entire KSP community, who stood by us throughout the four years we’ve been developing the game, who believed in our crazy notion of a build-a-rocket-and-fly-it game, and who continuously supported us through good and bad times, from the humble beginnings of our weird little project, all the way through today, as we stand on the brink of this huge moment for the game, and to us.”

You can see some pictures of the in-progress additions to the game in the gallery below.

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Video game retailer GameStop has announced a new charitable effort to support the Ronald McDonald Houses, a charity run by the fast food giant McDonald’s.

As part of the campaign, GameStop and Sony Computer Entertainment America have teamed up to donate PlayStation 4 bundles to all 180 Ronald McDonald Houses in the United States.

The donated PS4 bundles will come with a new system, an extra DualShock 4 controller, and the following games: LittleBigPlanet 3, Driveclub, and MLB 15: The Show.

GameStop’s partnership with Ronald McDonald Houses is nothing new. The retailer has been a partner to the charity for more than six years now. In 2013, GameStop reported that its store associates volunteered at 21 different Ronald McDonald Houses across the country.

Ronald McDonald Houses are designed to be a “home-away-from-home” for families who must travel to a faraway hospital or care center as their child gets treatment. McDonald’s says sick children are more likely to cope better with the stress of their illness if their family is close by during their hospitalization.

“When families come to a Ronald McDonald House, they are going through an extremely difficult, trying period,” Sony director of sales Chip McTighe said in a statement. “Our hope is by teaming up with GameStop we can help add some fun to the homes and bring excitement and laughter to families when they need it most.”

People can sign up to stay in a Ronald McDonald House for “little or no cost,” and there are local chapters across the country–and throughout the world.

Ronald McDonald Houses is not the only charity GameStop works with, as the company also has partnerships with Gamer Fund (which GameStop operates), St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, and Make-A-Wish.

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The Xbox One version of Yacht Club Games’ 2D side-scrolling platformer Shovel Knight will be released sometime next week, Microsoft has announced. Xbox boss Phil Spencer said on Twitter that he was recently informed that the game had passed certification, while Microsoft’s Larry “Major Nelson” Hryb revealed the game’s target release window in his own tweet, saying the game is due the week of April 27.

Microsoft typically refreshes the Xbox Store on Wednesdays, which would mean Shovel Knight should arrive on April 29.

Shovel Knight was originally released in 2014 for PC, Nintendo 3DS, and Wii U. The PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, and PlayStation Vita versions are scheduled to arrive Tuesday, April 21.

At the 2015 Game Developers Conference in March, Microsoft revealed that Battletoads content is coming to Shovel Knight through a future update to the platforming game. You can watch a teaser trailer for the content below.

The PlayStation versions of Shovel Knight are getting special content, too, as God of War’s Kratos will make an appearance on Sony consoles.

For more on Shovel Knight, check out GameSpot’s review.

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Greg Mitchell has announced he is leaving his post at Epic Games to join Microsoft’s new Vancouver studio, Black Tusk.

With nine years of experience at Epic Games, Mitchell was responsible for the direction of all cinematics in the popular shooter series from Gears of War 2 onwards.

He leaves the North Carolina based developer to join the startup studio Black Tusk, which is building the next game in the Gears of War series, following Microsoft’s acquisition of the IP.

Since it was announced back in January 2014 that Microsoft had acquired the IP, little of the Gears of War project has been revealed, aside from one blurry teaser image. It is not known if Black Tusk will make an appearance at Microsoft’s E3 press conference to showcase the project. Xbox exec Phil Spencer recently said the main focus for E3 will be the company’s own first-party efforts, as well as new IP.

Although Cliff Bleszinski–an instrumental designer on the original trilogy–is not working on the new Gears of War game, Microsoft has hired veteran Gears of War producer Rod Fergusson to lead development.

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A set of new images has emerged online showcasing Mad Max, the open-world action game set to release alongside the upcoming Fury Road movie.

The screenshots and concept art, shown further down the page, reveal more about some of the in-game vehicles and crazed foes that players will encounter.

Developed by Avalanche Studios, the team behind the Just Cause franchise, Mad Max was originally expected to ship in 2014 across both current and last-gen systems. However, the game was delayed to 2015, with the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions scrapped.

Keeping with the series’ signature style, Mad Max is set in a post-apocalyptic world where wasteland scavengers are recurring obstacles. One of the key aspects of the game will be vehicular combat and car customisation.

Early gameplay impressions, noted by GameSpot back in 2013, suggested that it showed promise.

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