News

PUBG Creator Defends The Red Zone

Published

5 years ago

April 17, 2018

Anthony DiMoro

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds has received some input regarding their randomly changing mechanics from round to round, the blue and red zone, mostly the red zone.

The red zone has been a talking point among frustrated players but PUBG creator Brendan Greene is defending the red zone, saying it has a meaningful purpose to the game as a whole, pointing out that the issue lies with the gamer’s ability as opposed to the red zone itself.

“And really, you shouldn’t be dying to the red zone” Greene said, in an interview with Eurogamer. “If you’re dying to the red zone then, I’m sorry but you’re not a very good player.”

“It’s like you know there’s a hundred meter safe zone around the edge of it, if you’re in a building there’s a very little chance of you getting hit, it’s there for a specific reason, it looks really cool and it provides tension,” Greene said.

“If you’re trapped in a fight in the Red Zone, it’s exciting! People say that it has no reason, but it does. It’s there for a very specific reason which is providing audio cover and even when it’s a little bit in the distance it provides enough cover to run a little bit, so, there are reasons.”

“But, that said, if there is an outpouring of hate towards it, we may consider [removing it],” Greene said.

So, I guess we will see how this all plays out moving forward, but, for now, the Red Zone is here to stay.

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.