This year’s Call of Duty is still yet to be announced, but some people have seemingly already played it. A select few American athletes have shared images across social media of them playing this year’s game.

Riley Ridley, Tajae Sharpe, and N’Keal Harry have each posted pictures of themselves playing the new shooter at what looks to be an official event, while All Games Delta has more images. We’ve reached out to Activision to verify this isn’t some elaborate ruse from the American footballers.

The publisher is yet to announce this year’s Call of Duty. Traditionally, each game in the series gets announced in the May before it eventually launches, so we might be just around the corner from Activision lifting the lid on this year’s game.

We do know it’s Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare developer Infinity Ward working on the upcoming shooter. Infinity Ward also created the Modern Warfare sub-series, as well as Call of Duty: Ghosts. There are rumors this year’s title is Modern Warfare 4, but this has not yet been confirmed.

Activision has confirmed, however, that 2019’s Call of Duty game will include a single-player campaign, despite last year’s Black Ops 4 doing away with the traditional story mode. Activision also confirmed the new game will have a “huge expansive multiplayer world,” as well as “fun co-op gameplay.”

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/the-new-call-of-duty-is-already-playable-despite-n/1100-6466435/

How did the US video game industry fare in March 2019? The NPD Group has released its report for the month, shining a light on the best-performing consoles and games in March.

Starting with games, The Division 2 was the top-selling game of the month, and it becomes the second best-selling title of 2019, only behind Kingdom Hearts III. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice came in at No. 2, and it is the second-highest launch-month sales for FromSoftware; it’s only behind Dark Souls III.

Another highlight in March was MLB 19: The Show, which came in at No. 3. The PS4-exclusive set a new franchise record for first-month sales; it also set a new all-time record for first-month sales across the entire baseball category. Devil May Cry 5 also came out in March, and it enjoyed the second highest launch-month sales in series history; only Devil May Cry 4 outperformed it. One final highlight was that Kingdom Hearts III, which released back in January, is now the best-selling Kingdom Hearts game ever.

Overall, total game spending in March 2019 amounted to $547 million; that’s down 11 percent year-over-year.

Moving to hardware, the Nintendo Switch was March 2019’s best-selling console, and the first quarter of the year overall, across units sold and dollars spent. The Switch’s strong performance wasn’t enough to stabilise the entire hardware sector, as total hardware spending for March 2019 dropped 15 percent to $282 million.

Microsoft and Sony are working on new consoles, so it might be people are holding off their purchases for now. Retailer GameStop has said it expects new console to be announced soon. Just recently, a new report said Nintendo will release a cheaper Switch model in June.

With games, hardware, and accessories sales combined, total US industry video game spending reached $1.2 billion in March; that’s down 11 percent year-over-year.

March 2019 US Sales

Top 20 Games All Platforms

1. The Division 2^
2. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice^
3. MLB 19: The Show
4. Devil May Cry 5
5. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate*
6. Red Dead Redemption II
7. NBA 2K19
8. GTA V
9. Yoshi’s Crafted World*
10. Call of Duty: Black Ops 4^
11. Anthem^
12. Mario Kart 8*
13. Jump Force
14. New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe*
15. Far Cry New Dawn
16. Minecraft#
17. Battlefield V^
18. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild*
19. Borderlands
20. Assassin’s Creed : Odyssey

2019 Year-To-Date Top 10 Games

1. Kingdom Hearts III
2. The Division 2^
3. Anthem^
4. Resident evil 2
5. Red Dead Redemption II
6. Jump Force
7. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate8
8. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice^
9. Call of Duty: Black Ops 4^
10. New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe*

All Platforms 12 Months Ending March 2019

1. Red Dead Redemption II
2. Call of Duty: Black Ops 4^
3. NBA 2K19
4. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate*
5. Madden NFL 19^
6. Spider-Man
7. God of War
8. Assassin’s Creed Odyssey
9. FIFA 19^
10. Mario Kart 8*

March 2019 Xbox One

1. The Division 2
2. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
3. Devil May Cry 5
4. Anthem
5. Red Dead Redemption II
6. Call of Duty: Black Ops 4
7. NBA 2K19
8. Battlefield V
9. Far Cry New Dawn

March 2019 PS4

1. The Division 2
2. MLB 19: The Show
3. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
4. Devil May Cry 5
5. Red Dead Redemption II
6. NBA 2K19
7. Call of Duty: Black Ops 4
8. Jump Force
9. Spider-Man
10. GTA V

March 2019 Nintendo Switch

1. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate*
2. Yoshi’s Crafted World*
3. Mario Kart 8*
4. New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe*
5. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild*
6. Super Mario Party*
7. Super Mario Odyssey*
8. Pokemon: Let’s Go Pikachu*
9. Pokemon: Let’s Go Eevee*
10. Mario & Rabbids: Kingdom Battle

March 2019 3DS

1. Kirby’s Extra Epic Yarn*
2. Pokemon: Ultra Sun*
3. Pokemon: Ultra Moon*
4. The Legend of Zelda: Marjora’s Mask 3D*
5. Super Mario Maker*
6. Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story + Bowser Jr.’s Journey*
7. Super Smash Bros.*
8. Mario Kart 7*
9. Super Mario 3D Land*
10. Luigi’s Mansion*

* Digital sales not included

^ PC digital sales not included

# Minecraft digital sales on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One included

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/switch-outsells-ps4-and-xbox-one-in-march-top-10-b/1100-6466433/

A new, cheaper version of the Nintendo Switch will launch “by the end of June,” according to a source speaking to Bloomberg. This is at least the second time this year that we’ve heard reports about a less expensive Switch model, as The Wall Street Journal reported in March that Nintendo would release a pared-down, less expensive Switch system in 2019.

That report also mentioned a second new Switch model, one that has “enhanced” features that is targeted at “avid” gamers. However, the specs won’t match PS4 Pro or Xbox One X, the report said. Bloomberg’s sources, meanwhile, suggest that the current Switch model will get a “modest upgrade” in 2019. However, it’s unclear what the upgrade will entail. Whatever the case, Bloomberg reported that the more powerful Switch system “is not in the works.”

The Wall Street Journal’s report suggested that the new, less expensive Switch would cut features like controller vibration to save on costs. Bloomberg’s story had no details on that.

It could be a big week for Nintendo news, as the company is holding its next earnings report on April 25. It could be here that Nintendo confirms it’s working on new consoles. That also might not happen. We’ll have to wait a few days to find out for sure.

Another big news story surrounding Nintendo currently are the rumors and reports about the company launching the Switch in China with the help of Tencent. Nintendo might share more details about this during its earnings report this week.

The new Switch consoles are rumoured to be announced at E3 and then released relatively soon thereafter. Keep checking back with GameSpot for the latest.

It would be no surprise at all to see the Switch get a hardware revision. Historically, Nintendo–along with Microsoft and Sony–have released hardware revisions over time.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/cheaper-nintendo-switch-model-coming-in-june-repor/1100-6466431/

The new video game World War Z is inspired in part by the 2013 Brad Pitt movie of the same name. Despite the film being about six years ago, the new game is selling very well. Developer Saber Interactive and publisher Focus Home Interactive announced today that the co-op shooter has reached more than 1 million copies sold in its first week since launching on April 16 for PS4, Xbox One, and PC.

Saber CEO Matthew Karch said the studio is “humbled and thrilled” by the game’s “immense success.” He specifically called out the PC edition as doing especially well. Released as an Epic Store exclusive, the game sold 250,000 copies on PC alone and that success was due in part to the “tremendous support” Epic gave Saber, Karch said.

“Moving forward, we’ll continue to expand the game and its community with new improvements, stability updates, and bonus gameplay content, beginning very soon with a special new mission for the Tokyo episode,” Karch said.

World War Z runs on Saber’s own “Swarm Engine,” which is capable of rendering “hundreds” of zombies on screen at once. In the game you play as one of six difference classes in four-player co-op missions set in places like New York, Jerusalem, Moscow, and Tokyo. In addition to fighting against zombies, World War Z features multiplayer support for team-based PvP.

World War Z is a budget-priced game, coming in at $40 USD on PS4 and Xbox One, and $35 USD on PC. It’s only available digitally.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/world-war-z-sells-1-million-copies-in-first-week/1100-6466425/

The latest patch for Cuphead, Update 1.2, is live on Xbox One, PC, and Switch. The update adds several quality-of-life improvements to the game, such as the feature to choose between Cuphead and Mugman while playing the campaign solo. However, the update added something far more interesting: secret boss battles.

An exact number of secret bosses hasn’t been confirmed, but YouTuber ProsafiaGaming has already found three. The first can be found in Isle One’s The Root Pack, the second in Isle Two’s Djimmi the Great, and the third in Isle Three’s Sally Stageplay. To access each secret boss, you’ll need to perform certain actions during specific moments in the aforementioned boss battles.

In The Root Pack, play as normal until the giant onion appears. Don’t attack him at all and eventually he’ll disappear. During the final phase of the fight with the giant carrot, an angry radish will pop up instead.

For Djimmi the Great, just battle your way through the boss any way you please until you reach the third phase (where he scans you). Transform into the smallest airplane form at the end of the third phase and instead of a normal-sized Cuppet joining the fray in the next round, a mini version will show up to do battle instead.

Sally Stageplay hides a rather morbid secret boss. During her boss battle, ignore Sally and parry the floating hearts she kisses at you. Then jump on the angel platform on your left and remain there until you hear a cracking sound. Now do the same thing but on the angel platform to the right. You’ll know you’ve got it when the ceiling comes crashing down and kills Sally’s husband to be. Continue as normal and Sally’s dead husband will rise from the grave to join his beloved in battle during the second-to-last phase.

Peter Brown updated our Cuphead review to reflect the new Switch version of the game, writing, “[Cuphead is] beautiful to look at, and with a pitch-perfect soundtrack, it flawlessly captures the era its developers so clearly revere. It’s also an intense action game that pulls no punches. It could benefit from a few tweaks, and two-player co-op doesn’t feel like the valuable addition you might imagine, but Cuphead remains a rare, unique game that truly stands out.”

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/latest-cuphead-update-added-secret-bosses-heres-ho/1100-6466423/