220°

Baldur’s Gate 3 Dev Might Have to Make “Compromises” to Get Splitscreen Running on Xbox Series S

Swen Vincke also reveals that Larian Studios has been receiving support from Microsoft and the Xbox Advanced Technology Group.

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gamingbolt.com
Jin_Sakai335d ago

Series S was a mistake. It only exist to boost Xbox sales.

QuantumMechanic334d ago

It exists to sell GamePass. MS doesn't really care about anything else.

peppeaccardo334d ago

It was a mistake .. all my friends stopped using it once their GP expired.

Flawlessmic335d ago

I'm glad they have gone down the staggered release path, no reason to keep everyone waiting because of 1 under powered box.

I wonder how many more games we have to wait longer for because of the S and devs want to launch all at one.

On the one hand I think the S was a massive mistake, like who would want that as there main console, but on the other side if I was a parent with very young kids, I'd be buying them the s

Kurt Russell334d ago

I own one for extended work travel. It's dead handy in that sense, but I do not use it at home.

Crows90333d ago

If im a parent with very young kids, of which I have 5, I would not buy them the series s...I'd buy them the nintendo switch.

But if they really wanted the xbox, to my shame, I would buy them the series x because its a phsyical console. Digital only would force my kids to only get digital games. The physical world allows them more options, trading is a huge one. By trading in games I've purchased them they would be more easily able to get newer games before working age.

jznrpg333d ago (Edited 333d ago )

I have young children and I gave them my PS4 Pro and they can play my PS5 and Switch when they want.

I don’t let them play games all day so yeah they are fine with that.

I wouldn’t waste my money on that junk.

I am waiting for the slim or pro model to get a second PS5 for them. Slim will be theirs or Pro for me and they get my launch PS5.

isarai334d ago

If they don't drop having a series S port as a requirement, I could see it coming back to bite them before long.

FallenAngel1984334d ago

Screwing over the millions of consumers who did get the S model will bring its own problems as erll

badz149334d ago

they have $69bil to spare now to buy ABK after already spent $7bil for Bethesda. what's a couple of millions more for MS? pocket change!

FallenAngel1984333d ago

Screwing over your userbase has too big ramifications to considered pocket change

That kind of action would create distrust with the brand similar to what Saturn did for Sega

KwietStorm_BLM334d ago

The fact that they're still juggling these decisions at this point in development is very telling of what kind of situation the S forces on studios. Even as we get into the phase where last gen finally gets left behind, these compromises are going to persist for the entirety of the current generation.

334d ago
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200°

Former Activision studio Toys for Bob partners with Xbox to publish its first game as an indie

Former Activision studio Toys for Bob partners with Xbox to publish its first game as an indie. This is something of a homecoming, as Microsoft owns Activision.

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engadget.com
Obscure_Observer15h ago

Very very early in development. Still, fantastic news!

Let´s GO!!!

Lightning7713h ago

I guess.

How come they didnt either let them go or sell Tango and others to another publisher? Not saying Ubisoft, EA would be any better. (Capcome would of treated them right )

At least it wouldn't be MS of all ppl destroying them.

MS really should let go Tango go like they did TFB here.

darthv7213h ago(Edited 13h ago)

one was under Bethesda (Tango) the other under Activision (TFB). Clearly each one handled the separations of their subordinates differently.

Obscure_Observer12h ago(Edited 12h ago)

"How come they didnt either let them go or sell Tango and others to another publisher? Not saying Ubisoft, EA would be any better. (Capcome would of treated them right )"

Perhaps because Zenimax and ABK handles such matters differently based on their own internal policies as "independent" publishers.

Whoever, chances are it´s simply because MS didn´t wanted Tango or Austin to be acquired by competitors and develop new bangers for them, giving MS a bad rep in a possible future. Which could also be the reason why they ensured an exclusive partnership with TFB and its new game, before anyone else.

Sad and disgusting. But it is what it is.

Lightning779h ago(Edited 8h ago)

"Whoever, chances are it´s simply because MS didn´t wanted Tango or Austin to be acquired by competitors and develop new bangers for them, giving MS a bad rep in a possible future."

MS has a bad rep now because those studios are no more. I rather them sell the studio continue to make multiplatform releases, while MS continues to focus on whatever they're doing. If they didn't want Tango around they should separated from them or sell them to, like they did TFB.

It's inexcusable, they have options on how to handle studios they don't want anymore with killing jobs. Not just MS but the rest of the industry also.

Sad and disgusting sure how many will get shut down next year or this year even?

I don't trust MS decisions and motivations at this point. You have to admit they make one dumb move after another.

Obscure_Observer1h ago(Edited 1h ago)

"MS has a bad rep now because those studios are no more. I rather them sell the studio continue to make multiplatform releases, while MS continues to focus on whatever they're doing. If they didn't want Tango around they should separated from them or sell them to, like they did TFB."

Imo, MS separated from TFB because they didn´t had a game associated with Xbox yet, unlike Tango.

"I don't trust MS decisions and motivations at this point. You have to admit they make one dumb move after another."

Fair enough. It was indeed an epic dumb move from them to close Tango.

Still, all to be forgotten, like always have. This is not the first time a big publisher shuts down a beloved and/or successful studio out of nowhere and certainly won´t be the last. Do you remember Lionhead? Do you remember Evolution Studios? Yeah... both were beloved studios and yet, those companies kill those studios in q blink of an eye and got away with it.

-Foxtrot15h ago

Manages to buy their freedom especially after all the shit Microsoft has been doing with its studios lately

...

Goes right back to them as partners.

Okaaaaaay...

darthv7213h ago

Id venture a guess that TFB working directly with MS was a better outcome than working through Activision to get to MS.

VersusDMC11h ago

From the article...

"Toys for Bob spun out as an indie back in February after Microsoft instituted sweeping layoffs that impacted 86 employees, which was more than half of the staff"

I doubt those 86 employees enjoyed the Microsoft experience over Activisions.

Inverno10h ago

MS shuts down studios because of lack of resources and then helps these guys by giving em resources. Also MS is what forced them to buy their freedom in the first place? What kind of logic 😂

Chevalier7h ago

The best thing is that the company that is worth $3 trillion and owns the company instead of Xbox lacks resources. How the hell does a company worth $3 trillion making a measly $70 billion purchase they 'can't' support. Lol

Sciurus_vulgaris13h ago(Edited 13h ago)

Xbox’s gaming division seems to still function as 3 semi-autonomous sub-divisions, Xbox Studios, Bethesda and ABK. The three main sub-divisions can seemingly shut down or build studios and set up partnerships independently. This would explain why Bethesda can recently shutdown studios, while ABK spins off one studio, while building a new one. Plus, Toys for Bob could be spun off by ABK, only to immediately re-partner with Microsoft.

Chevalier7h ago

That's absolutely 💯 BS. Any sane 'autonomous' company would NOT put their games on Gamepass day 1 like COD will lose probably billions.

Also they're all under Xbox game studios so any autonomy is an illusion.

Elda7h ago

Either a kiddie game or something uninteresting.

Obscure_Observer1h ago

Don´t worry. You won´t be playing it anyway since their next game will possible be a next gen Xbox console game.

Elda1m ago(Edited 1m ago)

Don't worry about my comments.

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130°

What Happens to Your Steam Account When You Die?

The Outerhaven writes: While Steam has come out recently, stating that Steam accounts can't be transferred, we need to think about it since we all will eventually kick the bucket. But if Valve is denying transferring accounts, what can be done? Plenty, actually.

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theouterhaven.net
thorstein1d 16h ago

It goes to my kids because I gave them the passwords.

To Steam: Missio has a song that conveys my feelings about you stealing my purchase after I die. It's called "Middle Fingers"

shinoff218321h ago

Pretty much. My son knows my info.

Abear2121h ago

Yeah worrying about digital ownership when you’re on the other side of the grass seems a little strange, but also on brand for these millennial journalists to worry about.

qalpha6h ago

I'm sure Keith will be happy to hear he's a millennial journalist.

Goodguy011d 1h ago

I suppose if I have kids, I'd just give em my account details by retirement age. If I die young then...idk lol.

CrimsonWing6922h ago

Yea, I mean just give someone the password to your account. Is that difficult to do or something? Like, I’m legit asking because I don’t know.

anast20h ago(Edited 20h ago)

It's not difficult but It's against the policy. If they find out, they will lock the account permanently.

CrimsonWing6919h ago

Ah ok, I had a feeling there was something like that. It seems kind of weird that you can’t just hand your account over to a family member or friend and let them take over the account.

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90°

CDPR Confident In Transition To Unreal Engine 5 For New Witcher Game, Addresses Industry Layoffs

CD Projekt Red is confident in the transition from its in-house Red Engine to Unreal Engine 5 for the next Witcher game.

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twistedvoxel.com
cthulhucultist1d 3h ago

My main concern with UE5, is that some developers have resorted to very low resolutions in order to enable the advanced feature set of this engine and sustain the frame rate.

In open world games, especially those with excellent graphics, we cant realistically expect 60fps  from consoles (PS5 pro set aside as we do not know exactly how performant it will be) without huge compromises.

Thus the new Witcher game will probably require more powerful consoles to experience it the way the developers intended and in that sense, it reminds me of Cyberpunk situation.

It was released in current gen systems albeit in dire state (even PS4 Pro and Xbox One X suffered) requiring next generation consoles to achieve a desirable (and still not ideal) result.

DarXyde1d 2h ago

My thoughts exactly. This is definitely a PC engine first and foremost, given the compromises required on consoles. Tekken 8 is a **fighting game** on UE5 and, even without Nanite and Lumen, needs to be upscaled to 4K to run at a solid 60fps. The engine straight up dog walks current console hardware. I don't see this getting much better on a PS5 Pro either.

I don't see this game releasing this generation. If it wasn't Sony owned, I think Decima 2.0 would be an excellent engine for this game.

Aussiesummer1d 1h ago (Edited 1d 1h ago )

I am quietly confident that they are going to make one hell of a jaw dropping witcher considering what they achieved with cyberpunk, i reckon they will bring a new level of what can be expected from ue5 BUT i reckon it will be a ps6/rtx 5090 game.