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Canon plans to more than double its RF mirrorless lens lineup by 2025
Canon plans to more than double its RF mirrorless lens lineup by 2025, producing around 32 more models over the next four years.
Kia unveils 'Automode' autonomous driving tech that will debut on the EV9 SUV
Kia has announced an electrification roadmap, promising to have 14 fully electric models by 2027 and sales of 1.2 million EVs by 2030.
Lamborghini plans to launch its first fully electric car before 2030
Lamborghini stands out from other supercar makers for a lack of EVs or hybrids, but the Italian automaker has finally unveiled its electrification plans.
'Gears 5' will add new modes and maps in its first six months
Now that Gears 5 is out the door, The Coalition and Microsoft are ready to preview what's next. They've outlined what you can expect in the first six months, and there shouldn't be a shortage of new material. The initial season ("Operation" in Gears speak) is starting off modestly with weekly Escape Hives and Supply Drop additions, but things will ramp up over the course of October with weekly Special Events and new characters. The spicier content, however, may wait until Operation 2's arrival in December.
Updated 'Battlefield V' roadmap teases Pacific theater combat
Now that Battlefield V's long-promised battle royale mode is nearly here, how else are DICE and EA going to keep you interested? By moving the action halfway around the world, apparently. The developers have posted an updated roadmap teasing a fifth chapter in fall 2019 that might be set in the Pacific. While the team isn't directly sharing details beyond the hints of "all-out invasion" in a brand new theater, the title ("Awakening the Giant") says a lot. PC Gamer points out that Japan's Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto was concerned the Pearl Harbor attack "awaken[ed] a sleeping giant" by dragging the US directly into the conflict. Don't be surprised if BFV has you island-hopping as the US first reels from the Japanese assault and eventually turns the tables.
BioWare outlines the next few months of 'Anthem'
Now that Anthem is available to everyone, there's an obvious question: what comes next? Not surprisingly, BioWare is ready to shed light on the future of its shared-world shooter. The studio has published a 90-day roadmap that shows plans for both more raw gameplay as well as deeper changes to the mechanics. The new Echoes of Reality phase starts out modestly, but you'll see more substantial additions before April is over.
Here's Bethesda's plan to keep 'Fallout 76' relevant in 2019
After a few very rough months, Bethesda is ready to show where Fallout 76 is headed next... and it might just inject some needed variety into the online action RPG. The company has published a 2019 roadmap that starts on March 12th with Wild Appalachia, a bundle of features, modes and quests to mark the spring. I'll start out modestly with a quest that opens up brewing and distilling at your home base, but it'll also include a seasonal event (the Fasnacht Parade on March 19th), the high-stakes Survival mode (March 26th), base decoration and player vending (April 9th), the Shear Terror storyline (also April 9th) and an Ever Upwards quest (May 7th) that includes Scouts-style merit badges and a customizable backpack. On May 23rd, a Purveyor vendor will scrap your legendary gear in return for fresher equipment.
Canon unveils more lenses to go with its new EOS RP camera
Canon has announced that, by the end of 2019, it'll add six more lenses to its EOS R and new EOS RP full-frame mirrorless lineup, bringing the total to nine. Coming in the second half of this year, the new models will be the RF 15-35mm f/2.8L IS USM, RF 24-70mm f/2.8L IS USM, RF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS USM, RF 85mm f/1.2L USM, RF 85mm f/1.2L USM DS (defocus smoothing) and the RF 24-240mm f/4-6.3 IS USM.
'PUBG' roadmap includes new maps and more stable gameplay
PlayerUnknown's BattleGrounds left beta this past December, adding a second map and instant replay feature to the 1.0 release, which also came to Xbox One in the same month. Since then, developer Bluehole has made various improvements, like spawning players in different locations to cut down on server load and pre-match mayhem and easier ways to report cheaters. Now, creator Brendan Greene has published the game's roadmap for the next year, promising a much more realistic and stable game with major updates set for every two months.
Bungie’s ‘Destiny 2’ roadmap is designed to win back players
Destiny 2 fans haven't given Bungie an easy ride. After rolling out a free trial in November, the team has been besieged with gripes about the game's XP system, the now-infamous Prometheus Lens, and, increasingly, the fact that players are running out of content. As Twitch metrics show, engagement has been on the decline for months. Now, in a bid to reignite fan excitement, Bungie has released a pretty comprehensive development roadmap.
Microsoft's Edge browser will offer ad blocking (update: with third-party extensions)
Ad blockers continue to go mainstream as Microsoft revealed its Edge browser will soon have the tech built right in. The feature was spotted by ZDNet during a Build 2016 presentation, where a slide showed that the software giant will "build ad blocking features into the browser" in the next release. The wording implies that the feature may work natively without third-party extensions, which is a good thing since Edge only just started supporting those. However, the same slide also shows that Microsoft plans to "provide a modern extension/plug-in model," complete with a store, for the next Edge release.
Intel delays next-gen chips as Moore's law begins to crack
Intel says its next-gen "Cannonlake" chips will be delayed by six months, marking the second time in a row it hasn't released a CPU on a two-year "Moore's law" cycle. Last year's 14-nanometer Broadwell chips were similarly delayed, and even Haswell and Ivy Bridge were behind schedule. Intel said that the setback for the new 10-nanometer chips was caused by the increasing complexity in building transistors that small. Addressing the elephant in the room, CEO Brian Krzanich said that "the last two technology transitions have signaled that our cadence today is closer to 2.5 years than two."
WildStar outlines its plans for the future of PvP
Do you want to smash faces on Nexus? Do you not give the smallest toss about being able to unravel ancient mysteries so long as you can find the opposite faction and crack their collective skulls? Then good news, cupcake: WildStar still has PvP on its docket. A new post outlines the game's plans for PvP in 2015, starting with new daily and weekly PvP quests in the next major patch to the game. What else is coming in 2015? How about gear sets that can be purchased with gold, a removal of rating from higher-tier PvP sets, the end of season 1, and same-faction battlegrounds? Because those are all in the pipeline, along with bigger improvements for later in the year. If you just can't get enough of that factional warfare, check out the full post and get ready to carve up the other side. [Thanks to Cap for the tip!]
Life is Feudal unveils its 2015 roadmap
So what will the next year bring for Life is Feudal? Lots of things, since the game is still in its early access phase. But you don't have to take our vague and noncommittal words for it; you can just take a look at the game's official 2015 roadmap. The page outlines what will be coming to the game each month from here until September, along with progress bars to give hopeful players an idea of how far along the team has gotten on these features. The team is going to be taking a break on all of this during their first trip to a convention, though; the staff from Bitbox will be in-person at PAX South, displaying at Booth 1261 for fans and those who have never heard of the game before. In other words, it should be a pretty busy 2015 for the game. [Thanks to Saxxon for the tip!]
The road ahead for Darkfall Unholy Wars
Darkfall Unholy Wars has seen its ups and downs during its operation, but the latest post from the team is about moving forward. The development team's roadmap was shared with players over the weekend, providing a peek at what's coming in the future to make the game more interesting. No dates are included with the roadmap, as it's focused on concepts rather than specifics, but it still includes plenty of things for veteran players to be excited about. Among the large-scale changes planned for the game in the future are improvements to the AI and PvE combat in general, along with systems to help players more firmly align themselves within the game world. The developers would like to minimize instant travel while promoting fast travel where possible, creating a more localized economic model that emphasizes journeying between markets. There's also an ongoing commitment to keeping all combinations of skills and powers viable, supporting a wide variety of playstyles. Take a look at the full roadmap for more details on what's coming around the bend.
BlackBerry's leaked roadmap shows when its revamped phone line arrives
BlackBerry has been more than willing to tell you about most of the smartphones coming down its pipeline, but it hasn't been very clear about when they'll show up. There aren't many mysteries left now, though: N4BB has posted a roadmap (below) revealing most of what's happening in the remainder of 2014, as well as how the devices are positioned. Both the wacky, squarish Passport ("Windermere") and the luxurious Porsche Design P'9983 ("Khan") are tentatively slated to arrive near the end of the third quarter, or around September. They'll represent the "innovation" and "prestige" models, respectively. There's no mention of the Classic or a leaked Z3 with LTE, although the timetable has the Classic launching with a BlackBerry 10.3 update (10.3.1) due in the fourth quarter. You'll have to be patient if you prefer that old-school BlackBerry feel, in other words.
EverQuest Next Landmark lays out development roadmap
EverQuest Next Landmark Director of Development Dave Georgeson has posted a roadmap for the title's next few months last night, divvying up the upcoming features into three phases that are independent of alpha and beta labels. In the first phase that's coming in "the next few weeks," SOE will be adding in player ratings for claims, key mapping, voice chat, groups and grouping bonuses, social media integration, quick travel options, better building tools, underground caves, claim expansions, required upkeep for claims, and an improved chat system that includes links for map waypoints. Phase two will happen about four weeks later, with guilds, SOEmote, naming freedom, mini-hubs, health, dying, basic combat, buffs, plant harvesting, water, a tree harvesting revamp, a journal system, achivements, salvage, treasure chests, claim storage, and more movement options including flying. SOE was a little more vague about the third phase, saying that it will include PvP, advanced combat, more physics, and better AI. [Thanks to Michael18 for the tip!]
SWTOR lays out 2014 roadmap including two digital expansions
Star Wars: The Old Republic Senior Producer Bruce Maclean delivered a roadmap today for 2014 in the game including a promise of two more digital expansions before the year is out. "Expect to see two digital expansions in 2014 just like you did last year," Maclean said, "with one similar to Galactic Starfighter in scope and one more closely resembling Rise of the Hutt Cartel." Maclean also gave out a few specific dates for the near future. Tomorrow, February 4th, Galactic Starfighter will open up to the free-to-play crowd with additional content for all. Game Update 2.7 is scheduled for April 8th and includes two new flashpoints, a nightmare mode Dread Fortress operation, a Quesh Huttball warzone, and an additional space battle zone. Then on June 10th Game Update 2.8 will arrive with a nightmare mode Dread Palace operation and more ships for the Galactic Starfighter battles. One thing to note is that the team will be moving to a nine-week cycle between major content releases to allow for more minor patches and bug fixes.
PlanetSide 2 gets an updated development roadmap
SOE has updated PlanetSide 2's roadmap website. What does that mean for you? It means that you can get an idea of what the devs are planning to push live between now and June. New stuff in the works includes the continent of Hossin as well as continent locking, which "will hopefully enhance the feel and depth of PlanetSide 2's overall metagame significantly." Outfit recruiting functionality is also getting a revamp, and top contributor outfits will also get some recognition in the form of "belonging" labels on captured bases. [Source: SOE press release]
Camelot Unchained details progress in latest update
Camelot Unchained has come to the end of another "sprint," City State's term for a roadmap, and CEO Mark Jacobs has whipped up another post detailing everything that was accomplished, noting what didn't make it into the completed pile, and laying out the next batch of tasks to tackle. Of the 25 + items on the list, the team checked off 23; it even threw in a few bonus tasks. According to Jacobs, "Our biggest accomplishment in Sprint 4 was pulling together our entire editor, build system, database, patch server, and patch client into a fully working pipeline." This way, when artists and designers make changes to the world it can be instantly downloaded by the workgroup or even the beta or live game. This paves the way for quick response in the live version. For more details on all the technical accomplishments, check out the full update.
