News

New Overwatch Patch Gives Sombra Infinite Invisibility

Published

5 years ago

July 20, 2018

Anthony DiMoro

Blizzard is employing an update that once again will alter one of the most difficult characters to master, Sombra.

Blizzard is hoping to make her less challenging to use with their new update as players are pushing for the character to be more balanced and more creative.

The new update is giving her infinite invisibility, a drastic change to her character that will likely have a major impact on gameplay for everyone.

“The Sombra changes, I was a little surprised with the feedback online where people thought it was an overall nerf,” lead designer Geoff Goodman said, according to VG247.

“We gave her a lot of buffs and a lot of nerfs at the same time. The Sombra changes are a lot about giving her more flexibility in how she plays, and that flexibility gives her a lot more power.”

“It just seemed like this intense game of micromanagement and these timers, and you often have these situations where you slightly mistime something,” Goodman said. “None of that is the fun of being invisible and shooting people and hacking people.”

“The way it originally started, I was like, ‘How far can we actually push this invisibility?’,” Goodman stated. “So we doubled it and tried that, but we was like, ‘Is this really much different to being infinite?’ Even though infinite invisibility sounds really powerful, you do need to come out and build your ultimate, harass them, hack the right targets. So we tried infinite on both the translocator and the stealth, to take those timers out of your mind so you can focus more on the timing of when you hack or do damage to people, and it was just so game-changing for her – the ability to stealth, get where you want and be in position.

“Because she’s so much about timing – you get that hack just as your team are coming in or you get that damage on an enemy Zenyatta just after he takes a sniper body shot. You can pop out because you’re right there, not waiting for your stealth to recharge. It’s so much more fun to play her this way.”

Although the changes seem quite significant, Goodman says it’s still the same character.

“She kind of felt the same, she just kind of pops out and does her thing,” Goodman says.

“You don’t really get the feeling she’s been there the whole time – from your perspective she doesn’t feel hugely different or hugely more powerful. It was a win on that side too.”

Goodman also understands the pushback on most of their tweaks to Sombra.

“I kind of understand where some of the feedback is coming from, where they’re worried about how she moves a little slower now because she can stealth permanently,” Goodman explained.

“It used to be more of a burst of speed. You still move a lot faster, you move 50% faster, but it used to be 75% faster, so some people are worried about those changes. But I think when people play her they will realise she’s a lot more powerful, more useful, and more flexible.”

Console

Microsoft Unveils Xbox Developer Sustainability Toolkit

Published

6 days ago

March 22, 2023

Anthony DiMoro

Xbox has officially unveiled the Xbox Developer Sustainability Toolkit which is aimed to help creators reduce energy consumption and measure carbon emissions during game development processes.

The Xbox Developer Sustainability ToolKit includes resources that include:

Power Monitor tools
Certification reports
Power consumption dashboards
Best practices

Ubisoft and 343 Industries were named as early users of the Xbox Developer Sustainability ToolKit with 343 Industries able to reduce energy use by 15% without impacting the player experience at all.

Ubisoft and Xbox are co-developing an energy-efficient eco-mode for users.

You can check out the full report right here.

Business

Epic Games Store Hits $820 Million in Player Spending During 2022

Published

6 days ago

March 22, 2023

Anthony DiMoro

Epic Games has officially released financial data related to it’s growing marketplace on PC, showing that $820 million was spent on the Epic Games Store during the 2022 year, and promised support for third-party subscription services and new ‘content hubs’ to help companies promote their titles.

According to the data:

The numbers

Total users of Epic Games Store PC: 230 million (up 19% year-on-year)
Epic cross-platform accounts: 732 million
Daily active users peak: 34.3 million
Monthly active users: 68 million (up 10%)

Total spending, incl. Epic’s games: $820 million (down 2%)
Spending on third-party games: $355 million (up 18%)
Free games claimed: 700 million
Number of new PC releases: 626
Total library of PC games: 1,548 (up 68%)

Epic Games stated on it’s blog that more PC games launched during the 2022 year than in any year prior.

Fortnite, Grand Theft Auto 5, Rocket League, Genshin Impact, and Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands were among the most popular titles related to player engagement and player spending, and Epic Games looks to deepen their focus in 2023 as they aim to improve the store launcher’s performance.

Epic Games also aims to add support for subscription services from third-party publishers and live service products by the end of the 2023 year, adding that they are also working on ‘content hubs’ which will be separate from product pages and will enable publishers to “share information with users in a robust editorial format.”

Business

California Judge Dismisses Gamers Lawsuit Filed Against Microsoft

Published

6 days ago

March 22, 2023

Anthony DiMoro

A federal judge in San Francisco has ruled that the group of 10 plaintiffs “[lacked] allegations” in their lawsuit filed last year that claimed Microsoft’s ownerships of Activision Blizzard would harm consumers and competition in the video games market, according to a filing shared by Reuters.

While US District Judge Jacqueline Corley dismissed the case, she also gave the plaintiffs 20 days to refine their lawsuit and resubmit it, and the group’s lawyer, Joseph Saveri, said that there are plans to officially submit an amended lawsuit with “additional factual detail” that will address the judge’s concerns.

It marks a victory for Microsoft, but their battles are far from over as they still face a hearing over the Federal Trade Commission’s legal complaint, which is currently slated to take place in August of this year.

Microsoft and Activision Blizzard originally expected the transaction to be complete by June 30, 2023.