Game dep

26/06/2021

Microsoft promised on June 10th that it was in the “final stages” of upgrading its Xbox Cloud Gaming (xCloud) datacenters with Xbox Series X hardware — and nearly two weeks later, it seems as if you can finally play games on that new hardware. Some xCloud games are now showing upgraded graphics options in their settings menus that would otherwise only be available on the Xbox Series X, or are loading much faster on xCloud than they used to.

You can see upgraded graphics settings in Yakuza: Like a Dragon and Rainbow Six Siege in this tweet from my colleague Tom Warren:

26/06/2021

New ‘Designed for Xbox’ displays include the best Xbox Series X support
Microsoft is expanding its Designed for Xbox program to include monitors and displays. Some gaming monitors will now include a new “Gaming Features for Xbox” badge that will indicate they support the latest and greatest HDMI 2.1 technology, with variable refresh rates, HDR, and 4K at 120Hz support all for the Xbox Series X / S consoles.

25/06/2021

EA continues to spend big on mobile games with $1.4 billion Playdemic acquisition
EA is adding to its roster of mobile game developers by purchasing Playdemic, known for Golf Clash, from WarnerMedia for $1.4 billion. The company says it plans on using Playdemic’s experience to help make future mobile games and that it’s interested in using Golf Clash’s mechanics with other franchises.

It’s possible that EA could be purchasing Playdemic not only to gain ownership of a successful mobile game (Golf Clash has over 10 million installs on the Google Play Store), but because there’s opportunity for EA to incorporate some of its other series — it makes the PGA golf games after all, which could tie in well with a mobile golf game.

EA seems to be focusing on mobile gaming recently — it also purchased mobile developer Glu in February for $2.1 billion.

25/06/2021

All modern means of communication rely on glass. From the Gorilla glass on our phones to the infotainment screens on our cars. But when I think of the internet I think of 5G, Starlink satellites, and WiFi, and I never think about the 750,000 miles of fiber optic cables currently running under our oceans: the tiny strands of glass that carry all of our photos, emails, and video chats. It is through these hair-thin strands of fiber that we are able to instantly communicate to almost anyone, anywhere, and it all relies on a 5,000 year old technology: glass.

24/06/2021

Someday, with the right business model, that may be how cloud gaming will work as well. You’ll be paying for the content, not the locale. You’ll simply sign up for a Netflix-like subscription filled with games that run on every platform under the sun, and their quality will dynamically adjust to the amount of horsepower you can access at any given moment — much like how the quality of your Netflix stream automatically adjusts when the rest of your household starts hogging the bandwidth.

24/06/2021

Google Stadia, Amazon Luna, Nvidia GeForce Now, and more: none of these are cloud gaming’s final form. They had one spectacular window of opportunity to pitch themselves as the next generation of gaming ahead of the PS5 and Xbox Series X, but we’ve yet to see any sign that they’ve made a significant dent.

23/06/2021

An Apex Legends player has gone viral after jokingly showcasing a squad using a Warzone-style strategy in an Apex match.

An Apex Legends player has gone viral after jokingly showcasing a squad using a Warzone-style strategy in an Apex match.

23/06/2021

TSM’s Phillip ‘ImperialHal’ Dosen had back-to-back deaths caused by a glitch with Valkyrie’s ultimate during a $10,000 invitational match. The frustrated pro had an idea for a hotfix, which could be helpful while Respawn continues to investigate a solution.

TSM ImperialHal has an idea for a "simple fix" for Apex Legends' Valkyrie while Respawn investigate a larger solution for her ultimate bug.

23/06/2021

Get more comfortable, it will be interesting