BethesdaSoftworks
Latest
Bethesda will add a high-stakes PvP mode to 'Fallout 76'
Bethesda might have a way to keep gamers interested in Fallout 76 despite all its troubles: it's raising the stakes for its more competitive players. The company has detailed an upcoming Survival mode beta where every player outside of your event group or team is considered hostile. In other words, no one needs an invitation to start shooting. A seemingly friendly encounter could turn violent in the blink of an eye, and a sniper could take you out while you're busy fighting mutant wildlife. You'll even see leaderboards that show how well you rank compared to other players in your existing world.
'Rage 2' serves up open world mayhem on May 14th, 2019
Bethesda, Avalanche and id Software have nailed down a release date for Rage 2. The Mad Max-like open world shooter will be available on PC, PS4 and Xbox One on May 14th, 2019 -- almost exactly a year after it was introduced, in fact. The accompanying new trailer doesn't tell you much that you don't already know, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Essentially, you can expect punks with guns, a thorough mix of vehicular and on-foot combat, and many creative ways to kill your foes.
'Fallout 76' won't come to the Switch because it 'wasn't doable'
Bethesda has made a habit of releasing Switch versions of high-profile games (with the help of Panic Button) despite technological limits, but it won't be pulling a rabbit out of a hat with Fallout 76. Marketing exec Pete Hines told guests at PAX Australia that it wouldn't bring the apocalyptic shared-world game to the Switch because it "wasn't doable." The developer has asked about the possibility of supporting Nintendo's system with every game it's working on, Hines said -- it just wasn't an option here.
'Elder Scrolls: Legends' may skip PS4 due to cross-play ban
Sony's ban on cross-play for PS4 titles may create more than just inconveniences for some gamers. Bethesda's senior global marketing VP Pete Hines told Game Informer in an interview that the console version of The Elder Scrolls: Legends won't launch on any system that doesn't support cross-play -- in other words, it would skip the PS4. The card battling title revolves around an experience you can carry from device to device, Hines said, and it would be unacceptable to have one version walled off from everything else. The feature is "essentially non-negotiable," the executive said.
'Fallout 76' deals with trolls by making them part of the game
When Bethesda mentioned that Fallout 76 was an online game, you could hear alarm bells ringing in fans' heads. How were they going to deal with the inevitable trolls who come in to ruin other players' fun? Now we know: it's making them a part of the game. In a presentation at QuakeCon, game lead Todd Howard revealed that people who kill unwilling victims will get bounties on their heads, with the money coming out of their total cap balance (that is, currency) and reflecting their character level. They'll also be impossible to miss -- you'll see a red star on the map.
Bethesda threatens lawsuit over sale of secondhand game
You can legally resell your personal games in the US under the First Sale Doctrine, which allows resales of copyrighted media like discs so long as you don't modify them in any substantial way. However, Bethesda doesn't think that applies if the shrink wrap is still present -- the publisher recently threatened to sue gamer Ryan Hupp for listing an unopened PS4 copy of The Evil Within 2 on Amazon Marketplace when he realized he didn't need that version of the game. As Hupp explained to Polygon, Bethesda's law firm viewed the listing as "unlawful" because he was not only unauthorized to resell new copies, but had rendered the game "materially different" by not including the original warranty.
Oculus will pay ZeniMax $250 million for copyright infringement
Bethesda Softworks parent company ZeniMax Media has always been a little sue-happy. But maybe a recent decision from its case against Oculus (and by extension, Facebook) will cool its jets a bit. A jury recently decided that Zuckerberg and Co. will only pay $250 million of the initial $500 million claim from ZeniMax that when John Carmack left Bethesda-owned id Software for Oculus, he stole his former employer's intellectual property, according to Bloomberg.
Bethesda lawsuit claims ‘Westworld’ game is ‘Fallout Shelter’ rip-off
Bethesda Softworks filed a lawsuit this week against Behavior Interactive and Warner Bros., alleging that the new Westworld mobile game is a "blatant rip-off" of its Fallout Shelter, Polygon reports. The company cites a number of reviews of Westworld that noted the similarities and points to specific parts of Westworld's gameplay and imagery that it says are largely indifferentiable from Fallout Shelter. "Working with the same copyrighted computer code used by Fallout Shelter, Westworld has the same or highly similar game design, art style, animations, features and other gameplay elements as Fallout Shelter, all of which are owned by Bethesda," the company says in its suit.
'Rage 2' brings the frenetic action of 'Doom' to an open world
Bethesda's initial teaser for Rage 2 may have been long on hype and short on substance, but it's making up for that with the full announcement. The team-up between original Rage creators id Software and Avalanche Studios (best known for Just Cause and, appropriately, Mad Max) promises to be a significant expansion of the first game's post-apocalpytic open-world concept. The premise is familiar -- you're still fighting gangs, mutants and the oppressive Authority through a mix of on-foot shooting and vehicular combat -- but the mechanics have changed. Even at this early stage, it's clear the title is borrowing a page from Doom's book.
The first 'Wolfenstein II' add-on pack is available now
Killing Nazis and protesting are two of the most American things you can do. And if you need another avenue for (virtually) doing the former, that's where the first expansion for Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus comes in. "The Adventures of Gunslinger Joe" changes up the base game's formula with a new protagonist who, thanks to his football skills, can run through walls and Nazis alike. Sounds good? There are two more packs incoming, and you can pick them up as part of the $25 season pass.
Sony's new PSVR bundle includes the apt version of 'Skyrim'
Sony is making up for its dearth of big exclusives this holiday season (expansions for Horizon: Zero Dawn and Uncharted don't count, sorry, and racing sims don't quite have mass appeal) with a concerted focus on PSVR. Come November 17th you'll be able to pick up a new bundle with The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR, a pair of Move motion controllers, the PlayStation Camera and updated PSVR headset for $449.99.
'Doom' arrives on Nintendo Switch November 10th
Turns out that you won't have to wait too long to raze some Hell on your Nintendo Switch. That's because Doom will be released this November 10th, only a few short weeks from now. How's it look? Based on the video below, good and it seems to play just as fast, but it's a little soft/hazy compared to the PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions. That's to be expected though, because the Switch is running on a standard NVIDIA Tegra X1 chip versus the PS4's and Xbox One's AMD Radeon processors. What's impressive is that the game's fancy lighting tricks appear to be intact. However, the video doesn't indicate if the game footage was captured during handheld mode or in TV mode.
‘Quake Champions’ isn’t finished, but you can play it August 22nd
Been green with envy over your pals playing the Quake Champions closed beta? Time to stop being jealous and start working on your rocket jumping because the classic shooter's revival is moving to Steam's Early Access on August 22nd, where everyone can play. Now, there was an open beta during E3, but that was a limited-time deal. To celebrate, publisher Bethesda is knocking 25 percent off the Champions Pack, bringing the price down to $29.99.
'Wolfenstein 2' and 'Evil Within 2' will support 4K on Xbox One X
You'd be forgiven for thinking that most of the games getting 4K support on Xbox One X will come from either Microsoft itself or Ubisoft, but there will definitely be some high-profile releases in the mix beyond what's been mentioned so far. The official Xbox website has let slip that Bethesda's Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus and The Evil Within 2 are both slated to run in 4K with high dynamic range visuals. It's not certain that this is picture-perfect 4K, since some One X titles use upscaling and other tricks to reach the higher resolution, but you should still notice a difference over 1080p.
'Wolfenstein II' starts with a wheelchair, Nazis and a machine gun
A little over four months away from launch, Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus already feels finished. The game takes place almost immediately after the events of 2014's Wolfenstein: The New Order, with protagonist B.J. Blazkowicz waking up from a coma aboard a German U-boat, confined to a wheelchair, his legs lame. The Nazis have long since won the war, and in 1961 they're taking their goal of world domination even further. They're afraid of the game's one-man-army hero, too. And really, after 35 years of Wolfenstein, shouldn't they be?
Watch Bethesda's E3 2017 event in under 8 minutes
Bethesda took just over a half hour to reveal all of its news at E3 2017, but you don't have to sit through the entire ordeal to catch up on all of the announcements. We've compiled a clip that will bring you up to speed in under eight minutes. How's that for efficiency? Follow all the latest news from E3 2017 here!
Step inside the Commonwealth in ‘Fallout 4’ on HTC Vive this October
VR is all the rage these days and Bethesda is offering more immersive views of two of its popular games in 2017. One of those is Fallout 4, and the title is making the leap to HTC Vive this fall. At E3 last year, Bethesda revealed that both Fallout and Doom would soon be available in virtual reality and now we know when to expect at least one of them. Details are still scarce for now, but what we do know is Fallout 4 VR is set to hit that virtual reality headset in October. We'll add more details here as they're announced, so stay tuned. Who knows, maybe we'll get a chance to play the new version at E3 2017 later this week. For now, watch the Fallout 4 VR trailer embedded below.
How the studio behind 'Prey' reimagined space history
Talos I is a beautiful nightmare. The privately-owned research facility, suspended in space above the Earth, offers a captivating blend of science and art-deco design. Its offices are filled with tall, geometric art prints, red leather sofas and mahogany desks laced with gold. The station's lobby, large and extravagant, features two winged-lion statues carved from bronze and a huge set of windows overlooking the Moon. It's gorgeous, but there's a problem — the vessel is overrun with black, wispy aliens that can hide in everyday objects and kill you in a couple of seconds. Welcome to Prey, the latest video game from Arkane Studios.
Play 'The Elder Scrolls Online' for free this week
Bethesda is trying to boost The Elder Scrolls Online's player base less than two months before the launch of its big Morrowind expansion. Starting tomorrow at 10 am EST, anyone can download and play the game on PC, Xbox One or PlayStation 4 for free for an entire week.
You won't have to pay to play 'Quake Champions'
The upcoming Quake Champions will be free-to-play. Or not. It depends on how you want to approach it. "At its core, it's a free-to-play game with the option to buy the Champion Pack and just get in and play with all the Champions," developer Bethesda Softworks' creative director Tim Willits recently told Polygon. The Champion Pack is basically the full-priced version of the game, giving access to everything you'd expect from a retail title right out of the gate. But, if games like League of Legends and Dota 2 have taught us anything, it's that dropping $60 up-front is a huge barrier to entry for people around the world.
