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Rumors resurface about 'Diablo' and 'Overwatch' animated series
Rumors of a Diablo anime and Overwatch cartoon have been floating around for a while now. Uber Gizmo reported on a potential Diablo series back in 2018, while Activision Blizzard director Jeff Kaplan gave an interview last year where he touched on his animated aspirations for Overwatch. Now, fans might have a reason to get excited again.
Activision Blizzard pulls its games from GeForce Now
GeForce Now, NVIDIA's game streaming service, went live for everyone last week. It allows you to play hundreds of games from dozens of publishers in the cloud, but Activision Blizzard's titles are no longer among the options after the publisher asked NVIDIA to remove its titles from the service. "While unfortunate, we hope to work together with Activision Blizzard to reenable these games and more in the future," an NVIDIA staff member wrote on the GeForce Now forums.
'Call of Duty: Modern Warfare' prepares for its first battle pass
Now that Call of Duty is officially in the post-loot box era, Activision and Infinity Ward have revealed what "season one" in Modern Warfare will bring players. As it's moved to a Battle Pass system, mimicking Fortnite and other shooters, developers are calling this "the biggest free content drop in Call of Duty history." Players who pay up for premium access will find out what the 100 tiers of Battle Pass rewards are next week when the season starts on December 3rd, but everything announced right now is available for free, although some of it will have to be earned through playing the game. New maps coming to the game include a few favorites from Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, like Crash, Vacant and Shipment. It's also expanding with three new gameplay modes, like a 2v2 gunfight where players have to find weapons and resources after the match starts, a single-life "Reinforce" mode with two teams competing to control three flags, and a new Infected survival game mode. Beyond that, there's a couple of new weapons and also some new Special Ops co-op missions on the way. Some of the content may drop later in the season, but everything's coming to all platforms at the same time -- check back next week for more information. Roadmap Announcement: #CallofDuty #ModernWarfare Changes the Rules of Engagement. Ready for the biggest FREE content drop in franchise history? Here are the first details on Season One content. Initial Intel Drop HERE: https://t.co/Tk3RrQMQb0 pic.twitter.com/uwMPXEdd7k — Activision (@Activision) November 26, 2019
The first season of Call of Duty League begins January 24th
Activision Blizzard's bid at an Overwatch-style, city-based Call of Duty esports competition is relatively close to getting underway. The publisher has announced that the first season of the Call of Duty League will get started on the weekend of January 24th, 2020, when the Minnesota Røkkr will play host to the other 11 teams in a collection of five-on-five Modern Warfare matches at the Minneapolis Armory. It'll also showcase the first Call of Duty Challengers Open for amateur players, whose online competition starts in November. Challengers teams can obtain passes for the launch weekend in early December.
'Call of Duty: Modern Warfare' devs will fix frequent Xbox One X crashes
The reborn Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is off to a rough start if you're an Xbox One X owner. Infinity Ward has identified a problem that leads to frequent crashing for some owners of Microsoft's higher-end console, in some cases rendering the game virtually unplayable. There's no timeline for the fix, but the developers said they were working with Microsoft to address the showstopping flaw.
US lawmakers criticize Apple over Chinese app censorship
In a new letter co-penned by a bipartisan group of members of Congress, federal lawmakers say they have "strong concern" related to Apple's recent actions in China. The letter, which is addressed to CEO Tim Cook, zeroes in on Apple's decision earlier this month to remove HKMap, an app pro-democracy demonstrators in Hong Kong used to track the location of local law enforcement.
'Call of Duty: Modern Warfare' swaps loot boxes for a battle pass
Activision has confirmed its post-launch plans for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, and they're generous to say the least. All future maps and new modes will be released for free, there won't be any loot boxes or a season pass, and the game will feature crossplay across all platforms. It's a major departure from previous games in the series.
Blizzard is 'assessing the situation' after Hong Kong protest ban
Blizzard is considering its options as fans around the globe react to its decision to ban Hearthstone esports player Ng Wai Chung, known professionally as Blitzchung, after he voiced support for the protests in Hong Kong during a live post-match interview. Two days after pulling down his gas mask and calling to "liberate Hong Kong" on the livestream, Chung's winnings from the Grandmasters tournament were rescinded, he was banned from pro play for a year, and ties were cut with the two Taiwanese casters who happened to be on-camera at the time. "It's a violation of free speech," Chung told Engadget. "I am pretty sure I won't get that kind of punishment if my speech was pro-China-government."
'Call of Duty: Modern Warfare' story trailer focuses on freedom fighters
The next Call of Duty installment is a little over a month away, and a story trailer emerged for Modern Warfare during Sony's latest State of Play stream. It focuses a little more on the freedom fighter side of the game than previous trailers. You'll play as both a freedom fighter and a highly trained military operative through the campaign this time around.
'Call of Duty' crossplay lands on October 25th
If you and your pals have different games consoles you don't really have a whole bunch of options when it comes to playing together -- but now, Activision is switching things up. Following in the footsteps of Fortnite and Rocket League, Call of Duty is getting crossplay. From October 25th, Modern Warfare fans will be able to play together across PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC.
'Spyro Reignited Trilogy' heads to PC and Switch on September 3rd
You won't have to stick to the living room to play the revamped Spyro Reignited Trilogy. Activision and Toys For Bob are bringing the pint-sized dragon's adventures to both PCs (via Steam) and the Nintendo Switch on September 3rd, 2019. That's nearly a year after the revamped classics came to the PS4 and Xbox One, but you probably won't mind if you've either wanted to play Spyro on the road or take advantage of your custom gaming rig. It's certainly a big leap for a series that was best known as a PlayStation exclusive in its early days.
Fall 'Destiny 2' update makes it easier to spend money in-game
Destiny 2 developer Bungie is doubling down on microtransactions as a way to fund the continued development of its popular online shooter. In a recent blog post, Destiny franchise director Luke Smith detailed how microtransactions (or MTX) will play a more prominent part in the Destiny 2 experience.
Chinese video-game censorship doesn't end with 'Devotion'
By all accounts, Devotion was a great game. That sentence has to be in past tense, and the opinion has to be second-hand, because Devotion was only available to play for one week earlier this year. But apparently, it was a twisted and masterful psychological horror title inspired by games like PT, but steeped in Taiwanese superstition. Devotion landed on Steam in February and it quickly earned thousands of positive reviews. And then China got involved.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare's biggest fight is in the studio
When Infinity Ward head Patrick Kelly introduced the single-player portion of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare to journalists in May, he sat at the front of a dim, intimate theater in the heart of his studio, and spoke as if he were divulging a delicious secret. This Call of Duty was going to be different than the 15 iterations that had come before, he said. It was going to be real. He showed off a preview of the solo campaign that began under a pile of rubble, right after a bombing in the fictional country of Ursekstan. The main character, a young girl named Farah, heaved at the debris and screamed as she found her mother crushed to death beside her. By the end of the demo, Farah had witnessed her father's violent murder, stabbed and killed a cartoonishly homicidal Russian soldier, run through poison gas, hidden from mass execution squads, and fired her first gun. "The vision for the game, the first thing we're trying to do is, we're trying to reflect the world we all live in," Kelly said at the beginning of the presentation. "We talk about like, you could see the story unfolding on CNN or a Frontline talking about it. Because we want this game to be as relevant as possible in the world that we live in, and a lot of the events, and a lot of the things that shaped the game, are based on the world that we live in."
'Call of Duty: Modern Warfare' multiplayer beta kicks off in September
When Call of Duty: Modern Warfare launches on October 25th for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC, it'll come with a handful of multiplayer modes, including classic options like Team Deathmatch, Domination and Headquarters, plus a 2v2 Gunfight option (complete with local splitscreen), Cyber Attack (the new Search and Destroy) and Ground War (battle royale, baby). Ground War supports more than 100 players in traditional team-based multiplayer matches, though it also allows smaller rounds like 20v20. The Modern Warfare open beta kicks off, exclusively for PS4 players, on September 12th. The Early Access beta runs from September 12th - 13th, while the open beta will be from September 14th - 16th, both only on PS4. Players on other platforms can jump in the following weekend. Early Access for Xbox One and PC is September 19th and 20th, and the PS4 beta will be live those days as well. The open beta for all platforms happens from September 21st - 23rd.
'Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled' gets a dinosaur-themed grand prix
If you've already mastered Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled, the game has another challenge for you. When Activision and Beenox revealed their revival of the Naughty Dog classic last month, they kicked off the Nitro Grand Prix. With that first race complete, Activision is ready to launch the second: the Back N. Time Grand Prix.
‘CoD: Black Ops 4’ is getting a fresh batch of zombies on July 9th
Zombies are on their way to Call of Duty: Black Ops 4. Activision announced today that "Operation: Apocalypse Z," a multiplayer-centric content pack that will conjure up game mode similar to the classic Zombies maps of previous games, will be coming to PlayStation 4 on July 9th. The mode will also be arriving on Xbox One and PC on July 16th.
The next Call of Duty campaign is an emotional hellscape
Jaws, not Saw. That's one of the guiding mantras for the developers building Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, this year's installment of the legendary first-person-shooter franchise. Modern Warfare comes out on October 25th and it's at once an homage to the series' history and a completely new vision for Call of Duty, with the single-player campaign thrusting classic characters like Captain John Price into overwrought situations that are ripped from current, real-world headlines.
'Call of Duty: Modern Warfare' arrives October 25th with cross-play
The next Call of Duty game is called Modern Warfare. Yes, just like the 2007 game. Yes, it's kind of confusing. Now that's out of the way -- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is scheduled to hit Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC on October 25th, complete with cross-play capabilities. Plus, it won't have the series' traditional, paid Season Pass for post-launch maps, gear and events. Instead, developer Infinity Ward plans on shipping more free content than they have with past Call of Duty installments.
'Overwatch' third anniversary event kicks off May 21st
Blizzard is holding its third Overwatch anniversary event on May 21st, and this year the focus appears to be on welcoming in as many as people as possible. The occasion will revive many seasonal cosmetics, Arcade brawls, emotes and skins, but it'll also include a week-long free trial (until May 28th) to give you a better feel for the team shooter -- it's not just a weekend this time. You can also expect genuinely new legendary and epic skins as well as fresh dances for more recent characters like Ashe, Baptiste and Wrecking Ball.
