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Call of Duty Modern Warfare Censored? Infinity Ward Shares The Truth

Call of Duty Modern Warfare censored

Call of Duty Modern Warfare is censored as reported by many websites. The news sparked a wave of disappointment in the community because fans hoped for an authentic war experience. But rest assured, the reports aren’t true.

Despite pressure from the mainstream media, Infinity Ward will not censor Modern Warfare. Infinity Ward has confirmed there is no censorship in Call of Duty 2019. There will be content cut from the game but not due to censorship. Furthermore, during the course of development, many aspects of the story and gameplay are often put aside. There is nothing to worry about as IW will deliver its true vision.

Addressing the ongoing censorship rumors, Narrative Director Tylor Kurosaki said: “We never would. Those are rumors. Not true.” Tylor confirmed that the only content removed from the game is the one that doesn’t work. Cutting and adding content is a routine practice and part of development.

No censorship is great news for the fans but I doubt mainstream media is too pleased about it. All in all, Call of Duty Modern Warfare isn’t censored. But there is one thing that needs a discussion here. If Modern Warfare is set in the Middle East and adjacent regions, it may end up censored in certain regions including but not limited to the Middle East.

Modern Warfare deals with terrorism and from the looks of the trailer, some parts of it are set in Middle Eastern locations. This region of the world is most affected by terrorism, often allegedly state-sponsored. The worst-case scenario for the new Call of Duty is a complete ban. It won’t be the first time a Call of Duty game feels the ban hammer in the Middle East. Black Ops is one of the games banned from the region.

Call of Duty Modern Warfare is set to release on October 25. The game is releasing on PS4, Xbox One, and PC. For PC gamers the title is available on Blizzard’s client. Modern Warfare is available to pre-order with many incentives.

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Hardware News

Xbox Scarlett Price Will Be “Reasonable” – Microsoft

Xbox Scarlett was one of the major highlights of the Microsoft conference at E3 2019. We know that the console features high-end hardware and can support games up to 8K at 120 FPS. With that in mind, fans are concerned about the potentially high price of the Xbox Scarlett. Xbox Lockhart was supposed to be the more mainstream console. Since that is no longer in development what will be the price of the upcoming Xbox Scarlett?

Microsoft’s Partner Director of Program Management Jason Ronald touched on the matter. He mentioned that the price point of the Xbox Scarlett will be “reasonable.” The following is what he had to say in this regard to Xbox Scarlett price:

We understand what reasonable price points are for a console and kind of what customers expect about that. At the same time to you, we are innovating we are pushing the boundaries of some of this. We’re not sharing any details on price, or, you know, more detailed specs at this point. But I will say that we’re very confident in what we’re building, something that will set a new bar for expectations of console gaming.

Now that Xbox Scarlett is going to be the only console that Microsoft will launch the price matters even more. It is possible that each unit will be sold at a loss for at least a couple of year. It is a normal practice for tech companies. Microsoft could make its money back in the form of revenue generated from services and games. This is not unheard of and we have seen this strategy being used in the past with PS3 and other consoles.

Microsoft does have plenty of studios developing games that’ll entice potential buyers. A high price for Xbox Scarlett can be justified with a killer games lineup, can’t it? But Xbox Scarlett is just one piece of the gaming puzzle for the Redmond giant.

Microsoft is also moving into the PC games scene. The company announced Xbox Game Pass for PC. Moreover, Phil Spencer also mentioned that Xbox games will soon be released on Steam. This means that PC gamers can play games that were limited to Xbox starting with Halo: MCC.

We will have to wait and see what the price of the Xbox Scarlett is going to be. Keeping in mind that it is going to release in the Fall of 2020, we might be waiting a while. The predictions right now are that the console will cost around $500. The same is the case for the PS5. There are some that speculate that the price could touch $600. Nothing is for sure right now. We will let you know about the pricing of the Xbox Scarlett so stay tuned for more updates.

Let us know what you think about the upcoming Xbox Scarlett and what price would be acceptable to you.

Source: Windows Central

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News

Sony Forced To Refund Anthem Months After Release

Anthem has had its fair share of issues ever since it first released. Sony and many other companies have been reluctant to refund players that bought the game. But it seems there is hope for disgruntled fans after all, at least in AUS.

An Australian gamer revealed that players can refund Anthem thanks to Australian consumer protections. On the basis of being faulty and defective. This includes re-disconnects, load times, errors, auto shutdown/database rebuild problem to name a few. Not to mention that the trailers that EA showed at E3 2017 and 2018 are fakes and are unlike the actual game at launch.

The mentioned gamer bought Anthem at launch and just a few days ago asked Sony for a refund. Not to my surprise, the refund request got denied. He then checked whether it was eligible for a refund by Australian consumer protection law. It turns out that he is eligible and so are you. He later contact Sony and mentioned the consumer protection and as expected, Sony had to comply. He contacted Sony again and mentioned that he would take things up with the authorities if he did not get his refund. It took 2 weeks for the request to go through but he did get his money back.

The Reddit user voiced his concerns and mentioned the following:

I have been ripped off by a few games… No Man’s Sky was a real eye opener for me and I hope everyone understands that just because its policy doesn’t make it legal. Often companies will deny claims outright until you demonstrate you know your rights.

Anthem ticked a lot of boxes for me and while I expected hiccups…. what we got wasn’t even close to acceptable, and not much has been done to improve the situation. Sad to see such potential lost.

Earlier, we learned that Amazon had also given refunds for Anthem after buyers mentioned how the trailer was misleading and it’s a broken product.

At this point, it is clear that the developers are having a hard time fixing the game. Most of the talent pool is working on other BioWare games. It is time to get a refund, at least try to.

Source: Reddit

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News

Phil Spencer on PC Gaming: “Our games will be available on Steam”

For the past few years, Microsoft has made efforts to bring Xbox and Windows together. But the most significant step toward the goal came in the form of Xbox Games Pass. Microsoft is bringing Xbox games to PC via Xbox Games Pass.

While that is good news Xbox Game Pass isn’t the only option in the works. PC gamers should look forward to Microsoft games on Steam. According to Head of Xbox Phil Spencer, Microsoft wants to and will bring Xbox games to Steam.

Phil Spencer confirmed the company plans to bring games to Steam but there can be issues. Spencer explained that issues can occur with rights in certain situations. Despite that Microsoft will do its best to bring as many games as possible to Valve’s Steam.

My expectation is that our games will be available on Steam. You can never say ‘always ever’, because then something will happen with rights in certain situations where something might not happen, but we have a really good relationship with the team over there. We go over and talk with Scott Lynch, Erik Johnson and Gabe a lot about the plans we have—it’s a good, healthy conversation. So there’s nothing in our plans that would say there’s a reason we wouldn’t continue to ship our games on Steam, and they’ve been incredibly supportive with us which I appreciate.

Xbox Games Pass is only the first step. Bringing Microsoft games to Steam is the next move. One of the first games to arrive on Steam is Halo: MCC. As far as we know, Xbox Games Pass is its own thing that’s separate from Steam.

But many people love to have their library in one place and Phil Spencer acknowledged that. It would be interesting to see if Xbox Games Pass for PC ever comes to Steam.

Apart from Steam, there are other PC stores online. Epic Games and GOG are two of the leading video game retailers. While Microsoft wants to support both of these platforms there are certain issues.

GOG has some specific rules that they set, as does Epic right now, about what games we can put [on them], what other stores they can be available in.

Spencer commented on Epic Games strategy of buying exclusives. Xbox Head thinks buyers should have the option to buy games they want from wherever they want to. Still, he thinks Tim Sweeney’s strategy is something Epic considers best for both the company and the consumer.

We will know more about Microsoft’s plans and the future of Xbox at next year’s E3. Who knows? We may see Xbox games on Google Stadia.

Source: PC Gamer

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Articles Hardware News

Xbox Lockhart No Longer In Development? (Update)

Update: As we speculated, reports are now starting to come in that Xbox Lockhart is shelved. According to Insider Benji-Sales on Twitter

It’s starting to look like the weaker version of Microsoft’s next-gen console code name Lockhardt has possibly been shelved. The guy has been in the middle of rumors for a while now and has a good track record.

To be clear, I do not know firsthand if Lockhardt is indeed canceled. This is just the rumblings that are going around. It very well still could exist. However, Phil himself seemed to indicate this as well at E3. He said next-gen ‘console’ whereas at E3 2018 he said ‘consoles

It is also worth noting that Lockhart was going to be the cheaper console that was being designed with streaming in mind. With the announcement of Google Stadia, Microsoft might not have found Lockhart worth releasing. Fewer hardware options mean lower costs for Microsoft which makes their investors and directors happy. Long story short, Google Stadia might have killed the development of Xbox Lockhart.

Original Story: A few months back we got leaks, reports, and rumors that pointed towards two Xbox gaming consoles. One of the consoles would use lower specs while the other is a premium product. That seemed like a very reasonable plan but something changed. Xbox boss Phil Spencer only announced a single console at E3 2019, Project Scarlett. Is Xbox Lockhart still in development?

Back at E3 2018, Phil Spencer mentioned “next-generation of consoles.” But this year it was down to one. What happened to the development of Xbox Lockhart is the big question here.

If we look back at the gaming industry, the lower spec hardware has always been the limiting factor. Some say current-generation of consoles are holding video games back. That could also be true for Lockhart and Anaconda. Xbox Lockhart was going to be the lower spec model which could mean that it would hold back the Xbox Anaconda.

It isn’t hard to imagine this situation from a developer’s standpoint. Developing games for four different Xbox consoles? And each machine holding the other back. They would have to optimize the game for PS5, PS4 Pro and the base PS4 as well. It is not only extra work but extra expense too.

Xbox backward compatibility is going to be an option on the Xbox Scarlett so it does make sense that Microsoft would scrap the idea of Lockhart. Developers would be much happier as Xbox Scarlett and PS5 both are based on the same hardware and architecture. This means less work when it comes to optimizing different games for PS5 and Xbox Scarlett.

At this point, we are not sure whether Xbox Lockhart development has indeed been stopped but it seems highly unlikely that Microsoft is working on something and didn’t talk about it at all. The following is what he had to say regarding the matter:

We also know that we’re going to have dev kits out, developers building games, and I’d rather not have to pretend that something is not happening when everybody knows it is happening.

If Xbox Lockhart is in fact under develop Spencer would have said something at E3. For some reason, not even the mainstream media is discussing the possibility of two consoles anymore. It isn’t a shame to admit Xbox One X sales performance didn’t live up. And that is definitely in the back of Phil Spencer’s mind. The focus shouldn’t be on two consoles. Rather, they need to release one console with a clear message and a plethora of games. At this point, it is anyone’s guess if Xbox Lockhart is happening or not. We’ll have to wait till next year to find out.

Let us know what you think about Xbox Lockhart being scrapped and whether you think it should be released.

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News

Google Stadia Considering Free Games With Subscriptions

Assassin's Creed Odyssey on Google Stadia

Google Stadia plans to offer free games to its subscribers. According to Google Stadia Vice President Phil Harrison, they are considering free game giveaways to subscribers. Google Stadia is giving away free subscriptions already to those who buy games from Google.

But free subscriptions aren’t as encouraging to consumers as free games. Google has a paid subscription model for Stadia yet if you buy the game from Google you can play it for free. The company didn’t mention how much Stadia games will cost. Still, it is clear that the pricing will be competitive with the industry.

Pricing for digital games is a long-running debate. Should digital games cost less compared to their physical counterparts? Well, fans sure seem to think so. Distribution cost is low while the manufacturing cost is none.

Another interesting aspect of digital games is the lack of discounts. Physical games discounts are normal in the weeks following launch. Why don’t we at least see digital games discounted as fast as physical copies? Ubisoft is a major Google Stadia partner and back in 2015, this question came up to CEO Yves Guillemot. Digital is more reactive than physical but at the same time it doesn’t react as fast on consoles, he said.

Google Stadia internet speed requirements

Hence, why we see more physical sales on consoles compared to PC. It is also why PC games see discounts in the weeks following launch. Meanwhile, digital games cost the same on consoles for months.

Digital is more reactive than what we put in stores, but at the same time, it doesn’t react as fast on consoles than it does on PC. What we can say is that when games are older than one year, digital is a lot more dynamic on console because there are fewer units in stores.

It’s a new business, a new trend, and we think all this will get more in line with time, but for sure, at the moment you see all sorts of prices depending on who is doing a promotion for that specific week. “If you look at the PC [post-release discount] trend, I think you will see that on consoles, but you will have to wait a little bit of time for that to happen with the same speed.

In his interview, Yves suggested that Ubisoft’s digital discount strategy may change in the future. And now, we are 4 years into the future since Yves did the interview. We are seeing the dawn of digital games and streaming platforms like Google Stadia. It is about time publishers reconsider their pricing model for digital games.

Google Stadia subscription pricing model is already confirmed but what we need to know about are the games. How much will Stadia games cost? But the good news is that at least Stadia performance reviews are positive. The lag and latency-free experience has impressed E3.

Still, Google Stadia requirements can’t be met by the majority of the world. Based on Google Stadia requirements we can safely say that it’ll take sometime before streaming is a worldwide thing.

Source: Boogie2988

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Cyberpunk 2077 Could Get Enhancements On Xbox Scarlett And PS5

CD Projekt Red took things to a whole new level by adding Keanu Reeves to Cyberpunk 2077. Seeing him at E3 2019 was the cherry on top. Microsoft announced that the Xbox Scarlett will release in the fall of 2020. Cyberpunk 2077 will release on April 16th, 2020. With that in mind, will Cyberpunk 2077 will get any enhancements on Xbox Scarlett and PS5?

Cyberpunk 2077’s lead quest designer Pawel Sasko talked about the matter. He mentioned that right now the team is working on releasing the game for Xbox One, PS4 and PC. He did mention that Xbox Scarlett and PS5 ports are under consideration for the future. The following is what he had to say in this regard:

Right now we’re focusing on PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One but obviously, in the future, we’d probably like to have Cyberpunk 2077 on the next platforms. But that’s really a matter for the future, to be honest. Right now we’re focusing on these.

Sasko mentioned that the Xbox One and PS4 are pretty old. CDPR is trying to get the most out of them. If you want to experience the game as it is shown in the trailers then you will need a high-end PC. Sasko also mentioned what CDPR has learned from making The Witcher series. He talked about how consoles should not be neglected. The following is what he had to say in this regard:

One of the things we learned with The Witcher 3 was, you should not delay working on the console versions, ever. So at all times, we have a version running for everything. And of course, the high-end version we’re showing running it is completely different to the consoles, the current-gen is starting to get old. So there’s some things which won’t look as crisp. But the important thing to us is it will be fluid, it will play on your machine. There are limitations for any given hardware, that’s a natural thing. But we’ll do everything we can to squeeze as much as we can.

From what Cyberpunk 2077 lead quest designer Pawel Sasko has mentioned, it is more than likely that the game will get enhancements on Xbox Scarlett and PS5. If that is the case then you could get a high-end PC experience on a console. The graphics and gameplay on the next generation consoles could be on par with what we have seen in the official trailers and gameplay footage.

Now that the release date is public CDPR has started opening up about the Cyberpunk 2077. The devs have confirmed that you will be able to customize your character in different ways. Not only can you pick an origin story but you can also customize cyberwear. Cyberwear can give you unique abilities such as double jump.

Weapon customization is also possible. You can add silencers and extended magazines to your weapons. Different weapons will have different slots. CDPR has also confirmed that Keany Reeves has a major role to play in the game. Players will form a relationship with him depending on the choices that they make in Cyberpunk 2077.

Cyberpunk 2077 has a lot of hype around it right now and it deserves it. Let us know what you think about the game and whether you want enhancements for the Xbox Scarlett and PS5 version of Cyberpunk 2077.

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PS5 The Last Gaming Console From Sony? CEO Unsure About It

We move towards a future where mobile gaming is becoming the mainstream. Cloud gaming is being introduced later this year. People are wondering if Sony and Microsoft will release more consoles after PS5 and Xbox Scarlett. Microsoft has confirmed that Xbox Scarlett is not going to be the last gaming console. What about Sony? Will the PS5 be the last gaming console from Sony?

PlayStation boss Jim Ryan seemed unsure in this regard. He mentioned that the PS4 launched at the time when everyone told him that mobile was the future and that a home console would be a failure. Look where the PS4 is in 2019. The following is what he had to say about the matter:

I actually don’t know. I’ve been around a while, and I sat there in 2012 and listened to all sorts of smart people tell me about mobile and that the PlayStation 4 was going to be the most terrible failure ever.

I can imagine that if you needed to think twice back then, you will need to think 10 more times in the future. Mobile gaming is very popular now and companies are porting their games to mobile. Nintendo Switch is a new competitor in the gaming space and cloud gaming is also going to play a role in 2019.

These are all the different things the PS5, Xbox Scarlett and all upcoming consoles will have to compete with. So I can see why Jim Ryan is not sure about a gaming console after the PS5. He went on to mention the following:

The logic was actually hard to fault. But we believed in that product then, we believe in this next generation product now. Who knows how it might evolve? Hybrid models between console and some sort of cloud model? Possibly that. I just don’t know. And if I did know, I wouldn’t tell you.

Sony has confirmed some specifications of the PS5. We know that the console features AMD hardware. It will have a CPU that is AMD Zen 2 architecture based. It also has a GPU that is Navi based. While the graphics solution is going to be a custom one, you can expect performance on par the AMD RX 5700.

Sony has confirmed that the console will use a super fast SSD that will make loading screens a thing of the past. We saw a leaked presentation in which the PS5 launched Spider-man in a second while the PS4 took much longer. If that is the kind of performance the PS5 will offer then it will be very interesting indeed.

It is safe to say that the next generation of consoles is going to provide a major leap in performance. 8K support is a major highlight. The developers will decide whether they want to make games that support 8K or not. I am sure that the fans are excited and they should be.

Let us know what you think about the PS5 and whether a gaming console after that would make any sense.

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Destiny 2 Cross-Play Teased By Bungie

Now that Bungie is separate from Activision it has a lot of control over its own Destiny. the developer has already announced that the game will move to Steam. Players are getting the new Shadowkeep expansion in September. A lot has been announced for Destiny 2 and the developer has teased cross-play as well. Cross-save is a feature that Bungie confirmed recently. So cross-play could be the next big move the developer makes.

Bungie’s Mark Noseworthy teased cross-play in destiny 2 and here is what he had to say:

Cross-play is definitely a part of achieving that total vision, but this year, in terms of what we could afford to do – there’s technology, policy, and then there’s time and resources. Cross-save is the things people have been screaming about the most, and that we want the most. We have a lot of people that want to play on multiple consoles and platforms.

Noseworthy Tweeted that cross-play is a feature that devs have been talking about for Destiny 2. He mentioned that plans are being made around it. This is a major tease and cross-play for Destiny 2 has been all but confirmed.

The upcoming Shadowkeep expansion is going to be a stand-alone one. Players will not need the Forsaken Expansion to buy it. Bungie also announced that year 1 content will be available for free. New players can do different activities with friends for free. They can decide later whether they want to pay or other content later. If players want to play Forsaken then they can buy that. Otherwise, they could buy Shadowkeep and continue from there.

Bungie has also confirmed that PS4 will no longer get exclusive content. The upcoming expansion will have some major changes. More RPG elements will appear in Destiny 2. Armor and gear mods are being changed so that you can wear armor that looks great. Destiny 2 Shadowkeep will also offer new weapons, gear, activities and a new raid. Bungie has confirmed that the new raid takes place in the Black gardens.

Let us know what you think about Bungie teasing cross-play for Destiny 2 and whether this is a feature you that are interested in.

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Project Scarlett Will Set a New Bar for Gaming Consoles: Mike Ybarra

Xbox Scarlett was announced back in 2018 but we have got some new details about the gaming console at E3 2019. Microsoft revealed that the next-generation Xbox will be able to support resolutions of up to 8K and variable refresh rates of up to 120 FPS. Those are some very impressive numbers indeed.

Xbox Corporate Vice President Mike Ybarra recently talked about the Xbox Scarlett gaming console. He Mentioned that it will set the new bar for console gaming. the following is what he had to say in this regard:

It’s really about eliminating all those bottlenecks, so those game developers can really deliver on their visions, to try and enable developers to make the best possible versions of their games. I will say that we’re very confident in what we’re building, something that will set a new bar for expectations of console gaming.

Xbox Phil Spencer mentioned that the upcoming Xbox Scarlett gaming console will offer a lot of power to game developers. It will be up to them to device how much of that power they take advantage of. Spencer mentioned that developers will decide the resolution and frame rate. A developer can make a game that runs at 1080p 120 FPS, 4K 60 FPS or 8K 20 FPS.

This will give the developers a lot of flexibility and gamers as well. 8K is not a cheap option right now when it comes to displays. keep in mind that the Xbox Scarlett will be supported for the next 10 years or. 8K should become a cheaper solution by then. Microsoft is trying to future-proof its product like Sony is trying to do with the PS5.

We have heard rumors that the PS5 could be more powerful than the Xbox Scarlett. That is not something that we are going to dive deep into here. I will say that we do hear such rumors around products like a console. Especially when we get new information about them and at times they are not accurate. Microsoft has the most powerful console on the market right now. This is a position that the company will like to keep moving into the next generation of consoles.

Sony has won this console war with the PS4 which is still selling like crazy. Microsoft seems to have learned from its mistakes. It is working on making a comeback with the upcoming Xbox Scarlett gaming console. We got a glimpse of what Microsoft is planning with Xbox One X. We will see more next year at E3 when the Xbox Scarlett is closer to release.

Let us know what you think about Xbox Scarlett and whether this could be your next gaming console when it releases in the Fall next year.

Source: Windows Central