In August, we found out that a new Saints Row game is being worked on. It was revealed that a new entry in the series was “deep in development,” and that it would be a full Saints Row game, not a spin-off. Since then, though, we haven’t heard or seen anything else about it. Now, Koch Media CEO Klemens Kundratitz has spoken out about the next game in the series, which is in the works within the studio of series developer Volition.

Speaking with Gamesindustry.biz, Kundratitz says that Volition is being allowed to take their time and get it right. “With Volition, we have the creators of all the Saints Row games as an internal studio and they’re not going to be distracted by anything else from creating our next game under this important franchise,” he said. “Saints Row is very close to our hearts, and we’ll talk about it next year. For the time being, we just wanted to get the word out that it’s coming and it’s going to be great.”

The last official release in the Saints Row series was Saints Row: Gat out of Hell. During this console generation, we’ve also seen the 2017 spin-off Agents of Mayhem, which ultimately underperformed, leading to layoffs. The rights to the series have bounced around over the years: the publisher, Deep Silver, is owned by Koch Media, which was, in turn, bought out by THQ Nordic last year. The first three Saints Row games were published by the original THQ.

The next game in the series has not been named yet, nor is it clear which consoles it will come to. Earlier this year, Saints Row: The Third released on Switch, and a spin-off film is being planned.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/the-new-saints-row-game-will-be-revealed-in-2020/1100-6471618/

Shenmue 3, the much anticipated third chapter in the long-dormant series, is finally out now. There was an 18 year gap between Shenmue 2 and this latest release; the second game hit the Dreamcast back in 2001, and Shenmue 3 was only possible thanks to a record-breaking Kickstarter campaign. Considering how difficult it was to get Shenmue 3 made, there was speculation that series director Yu Suzuki would use the game to wrap up his saga, which was originally envisioned to span 11 chapters (a few of which were condensed down into Shenmue 2). Instead, Suzuki is planning on making a fourth game to continue the Shenmue saga.

Metro UK has published a letter to fans from Yu Suzuki, which, as VG247 points out, appears in the game after the credits have rolled (so don’t read ahead if you’d rather finish the game yourself to access the letter.)

“To all the fans who have waited many years for Shenmue 3, and to all of the crowdfunding backers who have made this game possible: This project would not exist without your love, support, and the connections we’ve made along the way. With profound appreciation for all that you have done, I am happy to finally present to you Shenmue 3,” Suzuki’s letter begins. He says that the game’s scope expanded during development, and that, “for as long as there are those who wish to see Shenmue live on, I will never give up on my own personal journey to complete its story.”

“I sincerely hope that, together, we can continue to spin the tale of Ryo and his adventures in Shenmue 4,” Suzuki says. He’s previously described the game as a commitment to a 20 year vision.

Our Shenmue 3 review is still being worked on, as review copies were sent out to press shortly before embargo. Reviews are starting to trickle in on Metacritic, though, and the consensus seems to be that it’s very much a game made with fans of the series in mind.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/shenmue-director-yu-suzuki-is-hoping-to-make-shenm/1100-6471614/

It’s an exciting time of year for Star Wars fans, with the release of The Mandalorian on Disney Plus and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker in theaters this December. To complete the trio, Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order released on PS4, Xbox One, and PC on November 15. If you’re planning to buy Jedi Fallen Order for yourself or someone on your shopping list this holiday season, you might be looking for discounts on the game this Black Friday and Cyber Monday. There are some great Xbox One console bundles planned for Black Friday, but unfortunately we haven’t yet seen discounts on the game itself since launch last week.

Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order is one of our top 2019 holiday gift recommendations; it also earned an 8/10 in our Jedi Fallen Order review. “Fallen Order becomes perhaps the strongest conception of what playing as a Jedi Knight ought to really be like,” wrote Phil Hornshaw. “It’s true that Fallen Order borrows liberally from other action games, but those elements work together with Respawn’s combat and environment design, and a story that finds humanity in the Force and in its characters, to hone in on what makes the world of Star Wars worthy of revisiting again and again. Even with some rough edges, Fallen Order represents one of the most compelling game additions to the Star Wars franchise in years.”

Read on for the best Black Friday deals on Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order announced so far.

Black Friday deals: Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order

Game deals

So far, the best deal on Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order for PS4 or Xbox One was available around launch over at Ebay, where you could get a brand-new copy of the game with free shipping for $50 ($10 off). Unfortunately, that deal is sold out, and we haven’t seen any other good discounts since the game’s release. We’re keeping an eye out for future discounts, however, and we’ll be sure to update this article as soon as we see a good one. We expect a few places to have deals ready to go for Black Friday, including digital storefronts like Steam and the Epic Games Store.

In the meantime, Epic is offering a free Imperial Stormtrooper outfit for Fortnite with any purchase of Jedi Fallen Order now through November 30, 2020.

Console bundles

If you’re looking to pick up a new Xbox One along with Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order, you have some excellent choices for Black Friday. You’ll be able to get an Xbox One X bundle with Jedi Fallen Order for $350 and an Xbox One S bundle with the game for $200.

Xbox One X bundle with Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order: Deluxe Edition and 3 months of Xbox Live Gold

$350 ($500)

Best Buy’s Xbox One X bundle includes three months of Xbox Live Gold in addition to Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order Deluxe Edition. It’ll be available starting November 28 at Best Buy. If you buy at Microsoft, you’ll get the same bundle for the same price, but it comes with one month of Xbox Live Gold, one month of Xbox Game Pass for console, and one month of EA Access. In addition, Game Pass Ultimate and Xbox Live Gold members get early access to Xbox deals starting November 21. Everyone else will have access to this console bundle and other Microsoft Store deals starting November 24, which is still earlier than Best Buy and other stores.

Xbox One S bundle with Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order and $40 Target Gift Card

$200 ($300)

Multiple stores are offering this Xbox One S bundle with Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order Deluxe Edition, but only Target is throwing a $40 gift card in as well. It’ll be available starting November 28. Meanwhile, it’ll also be on sale at the Microsoft Store for the same price. Xbox Live Gold and Game Pass Ultimate members still get early access to Microsoft’s deals, which come with the aforementioned one-month trials.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/star-wars-jedi-fallen-order-black-friday-deals-ps4/1100-6471498/

Depending on how you choose to play Death Stranding, the playtime can either be a long, sweeping open-world journey or the length of your standard action-adventure video game. Do you care about doing extra side-missions and being the best delivery man in the entire UCA? Or are you mainly interested in getting through the story? Here’s how long it takes to beat Death Stranding no matter how you want to experience it. (No spoilers!)

As far as we know, Sony hasn’t published any official statements on how long Death Stranding is, but based on several GameSpot editors’ time with the game pre-launch, we have some numbers that might be useful to you. Please note these are not official numbers, just some basic calculations based on how long it took us here in the GameSpot office. For more Death Stranding features, check out our in-depth beginner’s guide and our gallery highlighting all the most significant celebrity cameos we’ve found in the game so far.

Main Story

• 50 hours (standard)

• 100 hours (completionist)

We took the average of several GameSpot editors’ completed playtimes with Death Stranding to get the standard game completion rate. This is if you play Death Stranding at a pretty normal pace, balancing “main story” missions with the optional standard deliveries that help you build out reputation and increase your connection level with various NPCs in the game. Playing at this rate also means spending a decent amount of time building structures for other players and yourself: filling out the landscape connected to the chiral network with generators and watchtowers, delivering materials to bridges and road pavers to make travel more efficient, and so on. It also means spending some time delivering lost packages for other players and raking in the likes. If you’re not in an urgent rush to beat Death Stranding, but you’re also not walking around in circles slamming back Monster Energy drinks, you can get through the main game story in about 40-60 hours. (Of course, those little moments matter too.) One of our editors completed the game in 45 hours at this pace, but ended up focusing more on efficiency in the latter episodes to speed up the playthrough.

One of our editors was dedicated to maxing out his connection level with all NPCs in the game, such as preppers and Bridges distribution center workers, and he got 99.9% of the way there. Doing so required him to take on a ton of extra standard orders and deliver as much lost cargo as he could across several cities and waystations. This is as close to a completionist run as anyone at GameSpot has gotten so far, and it took about 100 hours, including getting through the main game story. Depending on how much you love helping out your fellow porter, you could probably double that number before you even get halfway through the game, but that’d be entirely optional.

The more broadly community-sourced site HowLongToBeat.com (so far) has about 63 hours for “main + extras,” about 50 hours for a “rushed” pace, and 76 hours for a more leisurely playthrough.

Episodes

Death Stranding has a total of 14 story episodes, or chapters. These episodes vary in length, with Episode 3 comprising a huge portion of the early game due to the vastness of the map and the amount of orders available for Sam to complete.

If you’re looking to get through Death Stranding quickly or just need some help along the way, check out our Death Stranding episode walkthroughs below.

• Death Stranding – Episode 1 Guide
• Death Stranding – Episode 2 Guide
• Death Stranding – Episode 3 Guide

We hope this has given you a better sense of how long it takes to beat Death Stranding. No matter your approach to Death Stranding, we have you covered with tons of guides to help you get started and successfully reconnect the UCA, including a general Death Stranding walkthrough, a BT survival guide, and a guide on how to get your first vehicle. Be sure to also read our Death Stranding review, which gave it a 9/10 and praised it for its “remarkable” exploration of “the sheer power and purpose we can find in human connection.”

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/how-long-is-death-stranding/1100-6471233/