Cloud gaming is poised to potentially be the Next Big Thing for gaming, and one of the companies that stands to benefit the most is Activision Blizzard, according to CEO Robert Kotick. In an earnings call, Kotick said new platforms like Google Stadia are good for gaming to help grow the market, but these platforms can’t succeed without content.

Activision Blizzard owns and controls decades worth of content, and that positions the company uniquely, Kotick said. “When you own 30 years of IP like we do, there’s probably never been a better time to be in the games business,” Kotick said. “When these big, well-funded companies are building out platforms where they have limited amounts of content to actually serve up to customers, I’d say there’s a great opportunity for a company like ours.”

“For starters, they will all try to broaden the audience for gaming and make big investments and commitments to doing so and that’s just helpful for growing the market,” Kotick added. “But in each case, none of these platforms can succeed without great content. Truthfully, they really don’t know how to make it. So when you think about what will be required, it will be support from us [and other game publishers] to allow them to actually build an audience. We have a better audience than most to capitalise on all these new platforms.”

Google Stadia‘s announcement in March was light on content partners, leading some to shrug the service off. Stadia boss Phil Harrison teased that more details will be announced in June, so it could be soon that we learn more about who Google is partnering with. Stadia has also created an internal game development team, Stadia Games led by industry veteran Jade Raymond, that will create games for Stadia.

Microsoft is working on its own game-streaming service, xCloud, and it’s not a stretch to imagine that the company will tap into its long list of owned studios to make new content for the platform. Sony, too, has its PlayStation Now streaming service that will likely continue to leverage first-party studios in an addition to third-parties to build out its content catalog as Xbox is expected to do.

Outside of those companies that are directly tied to game development, Amazon, Verizon, and Wal-Mart are among the non-gaming companies that are confirmed or rumoured to be building cloud gaming platforms. Those companies will need game content to build out their services.

Going back to Kotick, he said distribution models are always evolving and changing for games, and he expects this to continue with cloud gaming. In the next 5-10 years, Kotick said there will be “more ways and places to engage players [and] that serves us better than almost any other company.” Kotick added that, beyond partnering with the new cloud gaming services, Activision has a unique opportunity to connect directly with its massive network of 345 million monthly active players across its catalog of games.

Kotick is not the first gaming executive to discuss the issue of cloud gaming companies and a potential struggle to get compelling content. Xbox boss Mike Nichols said about Stadia, “They don’t have the content.”

What do you think about cloud gaming? Let us know in the comments below! You can also read GameSpot’s cloud gaming primer to find out everything you need to know.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/heres-what-activision-blizzard-thinks-about-cloud-/1100-6466632/

2019’s Call of Duty game from developer Infinity Ward is rumoured to be Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4. Whatever it is, the game will be announced in the coming months.

During the Activision Blizzard earnings call today, management confirmed that the game will be revealed before the end of the current fiscal quarter, which means it’ll be announced before June 30. That makes sense, given new Call of Duty games are typically announced in May before getting shown off further at E3 in June. This year could be different in a way, however. Activision typically showcases the new Call of Duty game during Sony’s E3 briefing due to its exclusive content deal, but that won’t happen this year because Sony isn’t attending E3.

On the earnings call, Activision management says it feels “incredibly good” about how the new Call of Duty title is shaping up, and they’re excited to finally reveal it eventually.

Not only that, but Activision boss Coddy Johnson teased that Activision plans to support the game’s release with even more content after launch to keep players engaged.

“We need to do even more to maintain the breadth of our Call of Duty player base beyond the launch quarters,” he said. “The Call of Duty team is hard at work on that for this fall’s big content release, excitement for which is incredibly high around the organisation. We expect that both the launch and the post launch will bring game-changing experiences to our fans.”

Activision is able to create more content for this year’s Call of Duty game because it’s increasing development headcount across the board, including the Call of Duty team. Activision announced it was increasing aggregate headcount for its development teams by about 20 percent following its layoff of 800 people primarily from non-game development roles.

Little is known about the title, but Activision previously said the game will feature a campaign mode. That’s notable because 2018’s Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 did not include a campaign but instead added a battle royale mode called Blackout.

Additionally, it was confirmed that the Call of Duty series has sold more than 300 million copies since it premiered back in 2003.

Also on the call, Activision said interest in the new Call of Duty mobile game from Tencent is high; the game has more than 10 million pre-registrations on Google Play.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/new-call-of-duty-game-rumored-to-be-modern-warfare/1100-6466630/

We’ve finally reached the end of Fortnite Season 8, but there’s still one more set of weekly challenges to complete before Season 9 officially begins. Week 10’s challenges are now live across PS4, Xbox One, PC, Nintendo Switch, and mobile devices, which means this is your last chance to level your Battle Pass up and unlock any remaining Season 8 skins and rewards.

As has been the case this whole season, there’s an added bonus for completing as many challenges as you can. If you finish all of the tasks from a given week, you’ll complete one of Season 8’s Discovery challenges, which in turn will unlock a special loading screen. These screens all feature some cool artwork, but the real reason you want to unlock them is because each one contains a subtle clue that points you to a free Battle Star–which levels your Battle Pass up by one tier–or a Banner–which can be used as a profile icon–hidden somewhere around the game’s map.

If you’ve finished all 10 weeks’ worth of Season 8 challenges, you’ll be able to pick up one final Banner before the season ends. To find it, though, you’ll need to look carefully at the loading screen below, which is your reward for completing the tenth Discovery challenge. This screen depicts a group of characters gazing at the mysterious alien vault beneath Loot Lake, which will presumably play a pivotal role in the seasonal changeover as Season 9 begins.

Among the things you can spot in the loading screen is someone in the Peely banana skin and, more importantly, the hidden banner. It’s located just near the perimeter of the hole, in the northwest corner.

You can see the Banner’s exact location on the map below. We also walk you through where to find it in the video at the top of this guide. However, the usual caveats will apply. This particular Banner won’t appear in the game unless you’ve completed all 10 weeks’ sets of challenges and unlocked the above loading screen, so you won’t be able to simply go to the right area and collect it unless you’ve done all the necessary work.

You only have a few more days to complete any outstanding Season 8 challenges and unlock all of this season’s Battle Pass rewards. If you need help mopping up some remaining missions, be sure to check out all of the tips we’ve put together in our complete Fortnite Season 8 challenges guide. You also still have a little more time to take part in Fortnite’s Avengers: Endgame crossover event and unlock the new Avengers-inspired rewards.

Fortnite’s final update of Season 8, patch 8.51, arrived on May 2. Along with the usual assortment of bug fixes and gameplay tweaks, the update introduced the recently teased Shadow Bomb item, which gives players the ability to turn invisible temporarily and gain additional movement speed and abilities. You can read the full Fortnite 8.51 update patch notes here.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/fortnite-week-10-secret-banner-location-guide-seas/1100-6466597/

Avengers: Endgame is setting box office records left and right, so chances are pretty good that you’ve already seen it. If you haven’t made time, though, you might want to head to the cinema over the next few days, because directors Joe and Anthony Russo have declared that the statute of limitations on spoilers is almost over. As of Monday, May 6, spoilers are fair game.

Co-director Joe Russo gave the end date in an interview with Good Morning America, and then the brothers collectively shared the clip on Twitter. Russo said he feels there has to be an end-date when spoilers are no longer off-limits, because part of the reason they make movies is to encourage discussion. With that in mind, it’s fair enough if you couldn’t make it out opening weekend, but after two weekends the conversation should be free to spoil.

This film is the final one in the Infinity Saga, and culminates in a lot of story and character payoffs that have been building for more than ten years. As a result spoiler sensitivity has been higher than usual, as fans eagerly await seeing what happens to earth’s mightiest heroes. If you’ve managed to avoid plot details so far, now you have a firm due date. The Russos have previously pleaded with fans not to spoil the film, and of course not everyone has or will abide by their own determination of when to begin spoiling.

If on the other hand you already have seen Endgame, you may still be puzzling out some of the finer details. In that case check out the endings explained and read up on plot holes. Or for the lighter side you can catch up with a ton of Easter eggs and scenes that weren’t in the trailers.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/avengers-endgame-spoilers-are-a-free-for-all-as-of/1100-6466623/