Remedy creative director Sam Lake just dropped a huge bombshell on Control fans, teasing an upcoming expansion to the game on Twitter that ties directly into another of the studio’s titles: Alan Wake. Lake’s tweet teases three upcoming expansions, the last of which, AWE, looks like it’ll link the two games even more explicitly than Control already does.

Lake and Remedy haven’t actually confirmed that Alan Wake is coming to Control, but the tease is pretty obvious. The image for the AWE expansion uses the Alan Wake font, with two images filling in the letters. The top image looks like the cover of Alan Wake, which features Alan with a flashlight standing in the Washington forest (it looks like the bottom image is one of Control protagonist Jesse Faden fighting the Hiss in the Federal Bureau of Control). And while AWE stands for Altered World Event in Control, it could also stand for Alan Wake Experience. In Remedy’s game Quantum Break, there’s a reference to both reads on the acronym.

Control and Alan Wake are separate stories, but hints, documents, and Easter eggs in Control show that both stories take place in the same universe. There’s also a huge amount of evidence in Control that links it to Alan Wake, suggesting where the story has gone in the 10 years since Alan Wake was released, and teasing the continuation of that story.

The image also gives a rundown of all the other post-release content we can expect for Control. Coming first, in Fall 2019, is a Photo Mode, followed by the Expeditions game mode in December. According to Remedy’s press release on its upcoming DLC, the mode offers “challenging new end-game content in which Jesse must help Security Chief Arish explore the mysterious Formation and its strange surroundings. Here you will face some of the greatest challenges the Oldest House has to throw at you.” Both Photo Mode and Expeditions are free.

But more story is coming, according to Lake, who wrote, “There is more… more secrets, more mysteries….” The first expansion, The Foundation, is dated for early 2020, and AWE is coming in mid-2020. “The Foundation will delve into the history of the Oldest House,” the press release says. “At the request of the ever-mysterious Board, Jesse must explore what lies beneath the Bureau as she returns order to the Foundation and the Oldest House itself.”

As for AWE, the release says it “will take Jesse into a new area of the Oldest House, the Investigations Sector, where the Bureau closely examines Altered World Events.” According to documents found in Control, the events of Alan Wake in the town of Bright Falls are just one of the Altered World Events the Bureau of Control has investigated. Both The Foundation and AWE are included in the Control Season Pass, which will run you $25.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/control-dlc-image-teases-alan-wake-expansion/1100-6469776/

A new trailer for the Final Fantasy VII Remake has debuted at Tokyo Game Show, and it provides the first sights and sounds of several beloved characters. As promised, the new trailer shows off the Turks–the Shinra enforcers who serve as major antagonists in the game. We get to see Reno, Rude, and Tseng in the trailer, along with a few other surprises.

Each of the Turks gets a speaking part, so you can hear their new voice acting. We also get a brief glimpse of the corrupt and lecherous Don Corneo, just after Aerith is spotted in the red dress she wears as part of the gang’s plan to interrogate him. We also hear more of the voices from several key characters, and even get a hint that the squatting mini-game is coming back in the remake.

The Final Fantasy VII Remake won an E3 Best of Show Award from game critics, and Square Enix recently debuted a remake of its iconic cover artwork to mark its anniversary.

The remake is coming on March 3, 2020. And though it’s only the first part of the game, it will still span two Blu-ray discs. For fans of the classic RPG, Square Enix is putting out a $330 Final Fantasy 7 Remake collector’s edition.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/final-fantasy-7-remake-tgs-trailer-debuts-the-turk/1100-6469772/

Video game retailer GameStop has seen better days. In August, the company announced a huge round of layoffs that impacted more than 100 employees, including some members of the Game Informer staff. The company’s stock price is at a near all-time low, trading around $5 per share compared to more than $46 per share back in 2015. GameStop has a plan to turn thing around, and now the retailer has shared more details.

During an earnings call on September 10, GameStop shared more details on what it called the “GameStop Reboot” initiative. The overall aim of this is to “improve the financial performance of the business and implement a series of initiatives that will support the long-term success of the business and value creation for stakeholders.”

“We are committed to acting with a sense of urgency to address the areas of the business that are critical to achieving long-term success and value creation for all our stakeholders,” GameStop CEO George Sherman said in a statement. “We will set GameStop on the correct strategic path and fully leverage our unique position and brand in the video game industry. Our strategic plan is anchored on four tenets which include, optimizing the core business by driving efficiency and effectiveness, creating the social and cultural hub of gaming within each GameStop, building compelling digital capabilities, and transforming our vendor and partner relationships for an evolving video game industry.

“This is a compelling new strategic vision for the company, and we’ve already started to execute against all four pillars. We also remain committed to returning capital to shareholders and balancing that opportunity against the need to maintain a strong balance sheet to properly run our business and invest in responsible growth.”

The four main pillars of GameStop’s Reboot initiative include the following (descriptions written by GameStop):

• Optimize the Core: Optimize the core business by improving efficiency and effectiveness across the organization, including cost restructuring, inventory management optimization, adding and growing high margin product categories, and rationalizing the global store base.
• Become the Social / Cultural Hub for Gaming: Create the social and cultural hub of gaming across the GameStop platform by testing and improving existing core assets including the store experience, knowledgeable associates and the PowerUp Rewards loyalty program.
• Build Digital Platform: Build compelling digital capabilities, including the recent relaunch of GameStop.com, to reach customers more broadly across the omni-channel platform and give them the full spectrum of content and access to products they desire.
• Transform Vendor Partnerships: Transform our vendor and partner relationships to unlock additional high-margin revenue streams and optimize the lifetime value of every customer.

Sherman spoke at length about each of the pillars during the earnings call; you can listen to the webcast here to hear everything that Sherman had to say.

GameStop is already moving on its plan to right the ship. Just recently, the company re-launched its website (now with ThinkGeek incorporated), featuring a more streamlined shopping experience that aims to allow customers to find what they want and buy it more smoothly. Additionally, GameStop is testing new pilot stores in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Some of the store concepts are focused on competitive gaming and “home-grown e-leagues.” While other concept stores will exclusively sell retro games and hardware.

Another part of GameStop’s plan to turn things around is to scale down. The retailer confirmed on the earnings call that it plans to close 180-200 “underperforming” stores by the end of the company’s current fiscal year (ending February 2020). The store has 5,700 stores worldwide, so the impending closures–if they reach 200 stores–amount to around 3.5 percent of its total store base. The company added that it expects a “much larger tranche of closures” to follow in the coming 12 to 24 months, though a specific number wasn’t provided.

Management added that it is “rapidly developing a point of view” on how many more stores it will close in the future. The company is taking a “very specific approach” to looking into specific store closures, the company said. Specifically, the company might look to “de-densify” its store base, which means stores with overlapping trade areas might close. GameStop also pointed out that its average store land lease is two years, so the company isn’t generally financially committed to any particular area for an extended period of time.

Don’t expect GameStop to turn things around overnight, however. Sherman said on the call, “This transition will take time.”

As for GameStop’s latest earnings, for the quarter ended August 3, the company saw its total global sales fall 14.3 percent to $1.3 billion. GameStop posted a net loss of $415.3 million for the quarter, which is far worse than the $24.9 million that the company lost during the same period last year.

Every category except Collectibles saw sales decrease year-over-year.

New hardware sales fell a massive 41.1 percent, a downturn that GameStop attributed to the announcement of next-generation consoles coming in 2020. New game sales fell 5.3 percent overall; Nintendo Switch game sales grew, but it wasn’t enough to offset the “weaker title launches” across all systems relative to the same period last year. Accessory sales, meanwhile, fell 9.5 percent, while pre-owned sales fell 17.5 percent. Digital sales fell 11.2 percent “due to weaker title launches.” Collectible sales, however, jumped by 21.2 percent, proving to be the only big bright spot for the retailer.

“While we experienced sales declines across a number of our categories during the quarter, these trends are consistent with what we have historically observed towards the end of a hardware cycle,” GameStop CFO Jim Bell said. “We will continue to manage the underlying businesses to produce meaningful cash returns, while maintaining a strong balance sheet and investing responsibly in our strategic initiatives.”

Looking ahead, Bell said GameStop expects total sales to continue to be down in multiple consecutive quarters to come, as the industry awaits the launch of next-generation consoles in Holiday 2020. He pointed out that both Xbox Scarlett and the PS5 were announced, at least partially, earlier than in the past. This hurt GameStop, he said, because consumers may hold out on buying systems if they know a new one is coming later, while game releases might slow, too, as developers wait to release titles on the new systems.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/how-gamestop-plans-to-turn-things-around/1100-6469770/

Borderlands 3 is almost here. Gearbox’s next big looter-shooter arrives on September 13 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. Like previous entries in the series, the music is one of its standout features. Music has been very important to the series from the beginning (the opening sequence in Borderlands 1 might have been the first time you heard “Ain’t No Rest For The Wicked”), and this theme continues with Borderlands 3.

GameSpot recently had the opportunity to interview Borderlands 3 composer Jesper Kyd, who spoke to us about many different topics. Having already worked on Borderlands 1 and 2, as well as the Pre-Sequel and Claptastic Voyage, Kyd expanded on the challenges of making new music in a series he’s familiar with, as well as what it was like working with Gearbox, how the music ties together with Borderlands 3, bringing players to multiple planets outside of Pandora this time around.

Kyd also told us more about how Borderlands 3 makes use of a “deep interactive music system” that, through some backend wizardry and randomness, allows the game’s music to sound slightly different each time you play. Additionally, he explained that, at a high level, he wanted to try new things and break from some of the series tradition, while he also described the score as the “most varied” one he’s ever made for the Borderlands series.

“I knew right away the last thing I wanted to do was add the predictable swampy slide guitar on all the music. It just felt too pedestrian for Borderlands 3, it wasn’t out-there enough,” he said.

You can see the full review below. Kyd also composed the music for games in the Hitman, Assassin’s Creed, Darksiders, and State of Decay franchises.

For lots more on the upcoming Borderlands 3 launch, check out GameSpot’s roundup that covers the pre-load details, region unlock times, PC specs, and more. If you’re looking to pick up the game, you can check out GameSpot’s extended pre-order guide to learn more about what’s available.

GameSpot’s Borderlands 3 review scored the looter-shooter an 8/10. “Borderlands 3 has a few stumbling blocks when it comes to bosses, but these fights are overshadowed by the game’s rewarding gunplay and over-the-top humor,” reviewer Jordan Ramee said.

Jesper Kyd

Having worked on previous Borderlands games in the past, can you talk about the challenge of coming up with new ideas for a series you’re already familiar with?

After working on Borderlands 1 and 2, the last Borderlands games I scored were The Pre-Sequel and Claptastic Voyage, which were both science fiction-inspired scores mixed with the distinct feel of Borderlands. With Borderlands 3 we are back to Pandora as well as visiting new worlds such as the Eden-6 planet, which is the planet I scored. Scoring a brand-new addition to the Borderlands universe has been very exciting to work on. Eden-6 is a planet covered in swamplands and thick vegetation, so it was a very different writing experience from scoring the previous four Borderlands games I worked on. It is also the most varied Borderlands score I have written.

“Eden-6 is a planet covered in swamplands and thick vegetation, so it was a very different writing experience from scoring the previous four Borderlands games I worked on.” — Jesper Kyd

What kind of notes did Gearbox give you as it relates to the music they wanted?

They were looking for the music to help make Eden-6 sound unique from the other planets, yet at the same time help define this new unexplored world as a location that belongs in the Borderlands universe. I remember writing one of the cues that opens with a slow atmospheric guitar solo, a la Pink Floyd, and when I talked about this to the Gearbox audio director Raison Varner he mentioned the team was 100% on board with such ideas. The score I wrote doesn’t draw inspiration from any film or game soundtracks, the direction goes much further than that. Naturally the score also needed to support areas such as marshlands and wetlands and this is often mixed up with a high-tech mood, since advanced technology is ever-present.

How much collaboration was there between yourself and the team at Gearbox?

I worked closely with the audio department at Gearbox, specifically Raison Varner. We talked a lot about the different worlds I was working on and he really encouraged me to bring a lot of creativity to the writing. Borderlands is a perfect playground for me to let loose musically and after working on all the previous games and helping to establish the Borderlands sound, I was able to use a lot of my knowledge of the universe and creative energy to help push things much further this time around. That’s the great thing about returning to franchises; since you have already established the sound you can now invest time in pushing that sound further into new territories.

“Adding lots of melodies to the exploration music is something I felt would fit very well with this gameplay type. This is what I feel ties all my music together.” — Jesper Kyd

Borderlands 3 is such a sprawling game with so many different locations, characters, and moments–is there a connective tissue of a kind that ties your music together?

That’s a great observation. I feel my main menu music is a good example of the dynamic type of music I wrote for Borderlands 3. I really focused on adding a lot of melody to my writing. When playing games myself, my favorite musical moments are often those based on melody and this is something I talked a lot to Gearbox about and they loved that idea. Borderlands is such a high-octane experience, even when just exploring the maps, there is a ton of variation and entertainment throughout. So adding lots of melodies to the exploration music is something I felt would fit very well with this gameplay type. This is what I feel ties all my music together.

When you set out to make the music for Borderlands 3, what themes and tones did you want to highlight or accentuate? What kind of instrumentation were you looking to use?

I knew right away the last thing I wanted to do was add the predictable swampy slide guitar on all the music. It just felt too pedestrian for Borderlands 3, it wasn’t out-there enough. We are on an alien planet after all! So I pursued other ideas. There is a track called “Exploring The Dormant Ship” where I play a big Russian zither as well as some really warped pianos through a space echo; this really helped us realize that we could move way beyond just slide guitars and other more traditional bayou instrumentations. I then recorded a lot of vocal parts for the action part of this cue, which helps give the world a more immersive depth and richness of life.

I recently had the opportunity to play Borderlands 3 during a preview session. That dub-step boss was a musical treat; can you talk about how that all came together and what you were setting out to do with it? The way it uses music is so fascinating.

Great! I love that you noticed that. I wrote 10 minutes of end boss music to make all that come together like that. I had this idea of making the end boss music for Eden-6 something that really stands out with an atmosphere that lifts you up. I am a huge fan of boss battles and I’m fascinated with how games use boss music; Japanese games perform these types of gameplay moments especially well. Gearbox was onboard with this approach but when we put it in the game we all realized that we needed something different to set it up before we could give people this crazy melodic lift in spirits.

To make that transition work I wrote a track for the boss battle that’s really heavy and bombastic before introducing such a shift in uplifting mood. So if you ace this epic boss battle right away you’ll move on faster and the game will take you to the next world. But if you take longer in battle the game rewards you with a new level of atmosphere which gives you a feel of rising hope, that you can overcome this challenge. On the album, that track is called “Tranquility Achieved”.

“Borderlands 3 features a really deep interactive music system with many layers and modular pieces that are randomly put together in-game, so the music sounds a bit different every time you play the game.” — Jesper Kyd

I’ve read that you’re challenging yourself to experiment with new sounds for Borderlands 3. What does this mean?

Well, I am always looking at new ways to break the mold of what is expected and then take things further or go in a totally different unexpected direction that really rewards the gamers as well as fitting the game perfectly. There are so many interesting things that can only be done in the games medium and following the path of scoring games more traditionally is a lost opportunity, since I feel we have an opportunity to create something unique or surprising.

For example, once you finally make it to the end part of Eden-6, the music track “Treasures Of The Vault” starts with a set of upbeat motivational combat cues, to get the fun factor going out in full force. It’s like a reward for the game player while at the same time reminding you that you are finally here, that this is what you have been looking for, now fight and go claim your reward. These types of ideas are important to me as a gamer and I always think like a gamer when scoring video games. I really have to give credit to Gearbox and Raison Varner for allowing my creativity to run wild during the making of this score.

What else should people know about the soundtrack for Borderlands 3?

Borderlands 3 features a really deep interactive music system with many layers and modular pieces that are randomly put together in-game, so the music sounds a bit different every time you play the game. In addition to a more unique playing experience, this results in some really interesting soundtrack versions of the music. For example, there are exploration tracks on the soundtrack such as “Enter Floodmoor Basin” which are over nine minutes in duration as well as action music tracks such as “Treasures Of The Vault” which is an eight-minute piece. And these pieces of music never repeat any parts or themes but keep moving forward and developing. So it’s progressive in structure. The soundtrack, which also features music by co-composers Michael McCann, Finishing Move and Raison Varner, is almost six hours long and there’s a vinyl release on the way as well!

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/borderlands-3-composer-on-the-most-varied-score-he/1100-6469469/

Entertainment giant Disney is reportedly taking another big step away from in-house game development. According to sources speaking to financial publication Bloomberg, Disney is planning to sell the game developer/publisher FoxNext, which it picked up through the acquisition of Fox earlier this year.

The site reports that different Disney executives, including direct-to-consumer boss Kevin Mayer, considered keeping FoxNext. However, Disney CEO Bob Iger reportedly shut that down, and it was ultimately decided to sell FoxNext. Officially, Disney had no comment.

FoxNext was founded in 2017 with the aim of handling Fox’s video game, virtual reality, augmented reality, and theme park endeavors. In 2018, FoxNext announced it was working on a new Alien shooter with a team made up of people who worked on BioShock, Borderlands, and Star Trek: Online.

In terms of games that FoxNext has already released, the company worked with Aftershock Studios on the mobile game Marvel Strike Force; it was released in March 2018. Earlier in 2019, FoxNext announced it created an program to fund the development of indie games; the first of these was the gravity-based puzzle game Etherborn.

If Disney does decide to sell FoxNext, that would be little surprise given that the House of Mouse has been moving away from internal game development for a long time already. In 2016, Disney shut down the Disney Infinity toys-to-life series and closed developer Avalanche Software in the process.

Before that, Disney closed down Tron Evolution studio Propaganda Games, which was working on Pirates of the Caribbean: Armada of the Damned before its cancellation. Disney also owned the game developer Black Rock Studios that made the excellent racing games Pure and Split/Second before it shut down that studio, too. Disney also developed the Epic Mickey video games with Warren Spector’s Junction Point Studios, but the company ended the franchise and closed the developer in 2013.

Bungie founder Alex Seropian was heading up Disney’s gaming business before he left to form a mobile game studio called Industrial Toys that EA later acquired.

During an earnings call earlier this year, Iger talked about Disney’s rocky history with game development and publishing.

“Over the years we’ve tried our hand in self-publishing, we’ve bought companies, we’ve sold companies, we’ve bought developers, we’ve closed developers. And we’ve found over the years that we haven’t been particularly good at the self-publishing side, but we’ve been great at the licensing side which obviously doesn’t require that much allocation of capital,” Iger said.

One of Disney’s video game licensees is EA, which signed a 10-year deal with the company to make Star Wars games. Iger said these licensing arrangements have been a positive for EA on the video game side, and you can expect them to continue in the future.

There is no word as of yet regarding potential buyers for FoxNext, if Disney is indeed selling the company. Keep checking back with GameSpot for the latest.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/disney-to-sell-one-of-its-last-big-gaming-studios-/1100-6469766/