Bandai Namco Entertainment Europe has acquired Montreal studio Reflector Entertainment, which recently revealed its game Unknown 9: Awakening during Gamescom Opening Night Live 2020. According to a press release, this is part of Bandai Namco’s strategy to “build Western development capabilities” as the publisher plans to develop “50% of its content outside of Japan.” Reflector Entertainment was founded in 2016 and employs 120 AAA industry veterans. The studio’s ambition is to build what it calls ‘Storyworlds,’ transmedia experiences that “people can interact with across a variety of media, including videogames, novels, podcasts, movies and more.” [widget path=”global/article/imagegallery” parameters=”albumSlug=unknown-9-awakening-screenshots-and-exclusive-concept-art&captions=true”] The studio’s…

Michael Ancel, creator of Rayman and Beyond Good & Evil, has said he’s leaving the world of video games to open a wildlife sanctuary – but assured fans that work on Wild and Beyond Good & Evil 2 will continue without him. Posting on Instagram, the director wrote: “Today is very special for me. After more than 30 years, I’ve decided to stop working on video games and fully focus on my second passion : Wild Life ! My new project takes place in the real world and consists in a wild life open sanctuary dedicated to education , nature lovers…

Sony has said that the company doesn’t plan to bring its new first-party games to a Game Pass-like subscription service because it wouldn’t be “sustainable.” Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Jim Ryan broke the news in an interview with GamesIndustry.Biz. The interview noted the surprising reveal of the PlayStation Plus Collection during the PS5 conference, which will bring a library of the PS4’s best games to the console, available to PlayStation Plus subscribers for free. In light of this news, Ryan was asked whether PlayStation might follow Microsoft’s lead in bringing all of its future first-party games to a subscription service upon…

In comparison to last year’s big jump in quality with WRC 8, WRC 9 is a more modest lurch forwards. Several great new rallies have been added and it does feel like there’s been a bit of massaging under the hood – with a better sense of car mass and weight transfer – but elsewhere things seem fairly similar. This makes WRC 9 a thoroughly excellent entry point into the series, especially for rally fans who aren’t aware of the rapid and remarkable improvement of the official WRC series since developer KT Racing took over in 2015. However, if you…

PlayStation 5 will be compatible with “99 percent” of PS4 games according to Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO and President Jim Ryan, although that may be as far as backwards compatibility goes. In a recent interview with Famitsu which was translated by Siliconera, Ryan explained that PS5 will not be compatible with PS3, PS2, and PS1 titles. [widget path=”global/article/imagegallery” parameters=”albumSlug=every-game-and-announcement-featured-in-the-playstation-5-showcase-event&captions=true”] When asked about the possible inclusion of older generation titles Ryan replied, “We keep in mind the engineering specialized for the PS5, as we produced the device. In the midst of that, the PS4 already has 100 million players; we thought they ought…

Microsoft is promising a smoother experience for pre-ordering the Xbox Series X and Series S than the PS5, and today Microsoft laid-out exactly when and where one can pre-order the next-gen Xbox consoles. According to reports, pre-orders for the Xbox Series X and S will begin at 8 am PT/11 am ET on September 22 at various retailers. Online retailers like Amazon, Target, Walmart, Best Buy, Costco, Sam’s Club, Gamestop, Newegg, and the Army and Airforce Exchange Service will all carry digital pre-orders for both Xbox systems. [widget path=”global/article/imagegallery” parameters=”albumSlug=confirmed-xbox-series-x-games&captions=true”] Microsoft’s time and date pre-order announcement is a stark contrast…

The Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S preorders go live September 22 at 11 AM ET in the US, according to a report from Kotaku. We also know Xbox preorders in the UK will be popping up at 8 am, which is midnight Pacific Time in the US. Initially we thought this could point to a midnight preorder launch in the US, but we now know that’s not the case, thankfully. Knowing the time and date makes things much easier to plan for, unlike the surprise PS5 preorder drops we experienced. The downside is we could see even more…

The Oculus Quest 2 VR headset is now up for preorder and it’s shipping out on October 13th. The Quest 2 improves upon its predecessor with a more powerful Qualcomm XR2 VR-optimized processor and a higher resolution (nearly 2K per eye). It’s also 10% lighter and retains the manual IPD adjustment. The most welcome surprise, though, is the price. The Quest 2 model starts at $300 for the 64GB model and $400 for the 256GB model, a full $100 cheaper than the original. If you’ve been wanting to jump onto the VR bandwagon but have shied away because of the…

Monster Hunter was a fairly niche franchise since its inception in 2004, at least, until Monster Hunter: World was released with massive success. Now we know two more Monster Hunter games are coming to the Nintendo Switch in 2021: Monster Hunter Rise and Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin. Monster Hunter Rise seems like a blend between classic Monster Hunter with some new features introduced in Monster Hunter: World. IGN has given the Monster Hunter franchise multiple 8s and a few 9s. Even Monster Hunter Tri, with its controversial water combat, earned an 8.8! Check out every Monster Hunter…

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