News - Warzone 2 Launch Problems - Xbox Cancels New Console - This Week Gaming
This week's top gaming news
Warzone 2's launch wasn't exactly perfect. Battlefield 2042 season 3 is looking like it could be the best one yet, Blizzard is shutting down all their games in China, and much more on this week in gaming.
Warzone 2 launched without a functional party system and other bugs
Call of Duty: Warzone 2's launch was met with positive reviews from the online community.
Fans are still getting to grips with the new mechanics, design changes, and slower gameplay, but overall, the community's response has been favorable, which is not to say that there aren't issues. One major bug plaguing lobbying right now happens to be when you're put into a state that typically occurs when your health is reduced to zero HP and you're put into "Last Stand." The developers at Raven Software have acknowledged that some players skip the down state entirely and are instantly killed.
The game's social page was also bugged, making it difficult to invite friends to your lobby or even create a party. In Infinity, Ward released a minor update that should have resolved this issue. Other balance tweaks and bug fixes are listed on the devs' public Trello board, and they've assured fans that issues like these will be ironed out in the coming patches.
Dice reveals battlefield 2042 season 3 "escalation"
Dice unveiled Season 3 for Battlefield 2042 this week. This season is all about experimental tech in weaponry, hearkening back to the previous games like 2142, and the final stand DLC for Battlefield 4. The new map spearhead is set in the Swedish countryside. The combat is focused in and around massive, semi-automated factories.
The exteriors of these buildings can be destroyed, and infantry can infiltrate the interior by climbing through the vents. Season 3 specialist Zayn is an assault specialist. He's equipped with an airburst grenade launcher that can easily suppress enemy targets, and his passive ability lets him recover health as soon as he's out of combat to follow the experimental.
The Tech Theme Dice are adding the Rosche Mark IV railgun. It can attach different magazines to switch between charge shots, burst fire, and full auto, leading to a variety of play styles. There's a new tank equipped with a railgun turret, and it's available to both factions, meaning high-tech tank battles will be occurring.
Other weapons include the NVK Smart Shotgun, a new Bullpup pistol, and throwing knives later in the season. 3Dice plans to redesign the specialists to make them more like the class system alongside, and reworks for the manifest and breakaway maps are coming in post-launch updates as well. When it launches on November 22nd, the update will release alongside 2042, being added to Xbox Game Pass and EA Play.
Blizzard is suspending most of their games in china
Blizzard Entertainment announced that it's suspending game services in China. Its licensing agreement with the Chinese game publisher Netease expires in January, and Blizzard won't renew it while it's unconfirmed.
Bloomberg reports that the ownership of player data was one of the issues causing tension between the two companies. Blizzard will suspend sales of its game in China in the coming days. The games affected include World of Warcraft, Hearthstone, Overwatch, Starcraft, and others. Diablo Immortal won't be affected, however, since it's licensed under a separate agreement.
It's believed that this won't impact Blizzard too much since sales and Chinese markets were rapidly declining. The country's government is currently clamping down on the tech industry with new regulations and restrictions that impact even the biggest corporations like Tencent.
Xbox cancels streaming box due to price issues
Xbox boss Phil Spencer has revealed Microsoft's decision to pivot away from its Game Pass streaming box, announced earlier this year.
This change in direction is due to pricing concerns. With the cost of the device being too high for retail at just $99. Spencer stated the console they built was more expensive than what they initially wanted because of the high-end hardware used; he later said the console worked well but didn't make much sense based on the price. Instead, the company will refocus its efforts on something new and maybe revisit the streaming box once costs are a bit lower.
Xbox okay with delaying games for better launches
In the same interview, Phil Spencer was questioned about game delays and how Microsoft approaches them. Spencer focused mainly on the recent delay for Starfield. This is Bethesda's upcoming space RPG.
Spencer acknowledged that Microsoft is guilty of shipping games too early and doesn't want to repeat past mistakes. He stated that when a game has had so much time and money spent on it, it doesn't make sense to launch something that isn't the best version of that game. He also noted that Starfield and Fallout are the first big games from Bethesda since Microsoft bought them, which adds a lot of pressure in the end.
Spencer believes the quality of the games will be better if they're given enough development time instead of being rushed out as soon as possible.
God of war devs finally moving on from the franchise?
After the successful launch of God of War: Ragnarok, fans are naturally curious about what's next for the developers at the Santa Monica Studio, and while you'd expect them to be already working on a third title Quarry Barlog, the producer of God of War, has mentioned that the studio is busy working on multiple other projects, and fans speculate that they could be working on a new live-service game.
Sony has previously shared that it's aiming to release 10 live service titles by 2026, and Santa Monica Studio is likely to tackle a new IP since they've technically been producing God of War Games since 2005.
New star citizen event and ship live!
the annual Intergalactic Aerospace Expo, or IAE, is live in Star Citizen. It runs until the 30th, letting players download the game and try out many ships for free. The ships that are available change each day, so if there's a particular ship you're interested in, take note of its availability.
Chips will be accessible in your inventory for 48 hours, and a new ship has also been announced. The Drake Cutter is a single-seat ship designed to be a better starter option than previous releases. Many of the game's existing starter ships are limited in their capabilities because they were designed well before the full scope of Star Citizen was laid out.
The Cutter is an attempt to fill that gap between the game's starter ships and the sort of upgrade ships that you can progress to. It's got a good-looking layout, cargo, a bed, a bathroom, a pilot seat, vital engines, and apparently some decent straight-line speed. It seems like an easy recommendation for somebody just getting into the game.
Cdpr announces the witcher 3 next gen upgrade release date
