Apple is increasingly focusing on building its own devices and expanding its ecosystem by taking steps towards a more native experience for users and relying less on third-party accessories. While the Cupertino-based tech giant's HomePod and AppleTV have left quite the mark in the smart home category, it generally relies more on outsourcing cameras and other hardware for smart homes. Now, a new report suggests that the company intends to create a fully integrated experience by developing its own smart home accessories. Gurman hints about Apple working on making smart home products like security cameras for a more integrated experience […]
We’re continuing our Best of Black Friday posts today with a look at the best current deals on power stations and their respective bundle options. Folks across the country and beyond have been steadily investing more and more in the industry for a vari...
Blizzard has announced that two decades after its release, World of Warcraft is finally going to let players build a home and live in it. The feature has long been requested by WoW players and now it’s finally coming in the game’s next expansion.Read m...
Guild Wars 2: Janthir Wilds will receive the Godspawn update, adding a new 50-player boss battle, a new 10-player raid, and a legendary spear. Guild Wars 2: Janthir Wilds is getting the first major update "Godspawn" on November 19th, expanding the story with new story chapters The MMORPG Guild Wars 2 by ArenaNet is receiving its first major update for the Janthir Wilds expansion soon. It's the first of three major updates, and it'll land on November 19. The update will add new content to the game for the players. The Janthir Wilds expansion DLC was released in August this year, […]
Earlier this month, a new independent game development team called AVALON announced its highly ambitious namesake debut project. This MMO game seeks to largely deliver on the concept of the Metaverse as it was enunciated in Ernest Cline's seminal science fiction novel Ready Player One while also pushing the user-generated content trend forward and taking advantage of the latest technological advancements, including two different generative AI tools (Didimo's Popul8 and Inworld AI's Character Engine) that we previously covered on Wccftech. The development team at AVALON is led by Jeffrey Butler, who was a producer on old-school MMORPGs like the original […]
Over five and a half years after launch, Funcom's survival game Conan Exiles is still going strong. The game quickly became Funcom's fastest-selling title, having sold 1.5 million copies by July 2018, and the continued support of the player base has translated into a steady stream of new content and features. Following the release of the Isle of Siptah expansion in 2021, Funcom switched to a different model where free updates (the so-called Ages) were released for free to all players alongside optional Battle Passes for cosmetic items. After last year's Age of Sorcery, 2023 is all about the Age […]
Hot on the heels of the tech-focused chat with Cyberpunk 2077 developer CD Projekt RED we published earlier this week, today we've got another brief technical talk with Alan Wake 2 developer Remedy Entertainment. The second triple-A game to implement path tracing after CP2077, Alan Wake 2 stunned once again with the latest evolution of the Northlight engine, delivering what has been described by some as the most visually impressive game made to date, and that's also largely true for the non-path traced version (which runs pretty well even on mid-range PCs). After the praiseworthy launch, Remedy took some time […]
Following the release of Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty and Update 2.0, CD Projekt RED was able to further elevate the game's visuals compared to the already amazing base game thanks to additions like NVIDIA DLSS 3.5 (Ray Reconstruction). However, with the Path Tracing mode still technically in preview and other tech-related topics worth discussing (chiefly the promised implementation of AMD FSR 3 and the engine switch from RED Engine to Unreal Engine 5), we reached out to the Polish studio for a follow-up interview. You can read the replies by Jakub Knapik, Global Art Director at CD Projekt RED, below. […]
Today, NetEase announced it has funded Worlds Untold, a new game development studio led by Mac Walters, a BioWare veteran credited for his work as a writer on Jade Empire and the Mass Effect trilogy. More recently, Walters was Project Director on Mass Effect Legendary Edition before leaving the company. Worlds Untold is a small but growing team already filled with other veterans, such as Audio Director Sotaro Tojima (Metal Gear Solid and HALO), Head of Production Elizabeth Lehtonen (Dragon Age, The Sims, and Angry Birds), Head of Art Ramil Sunga (Mass Effect Andromeda, Anthem, and the entire Dragon Age […]
At BlizzCon 2023, Blizzard unveiled Hearthstone Battlegrounds Duos, a brand new way to play the popular digital collectible card game. In Duos, players can partner with a friend or matchmake with a new one to take on another team of two. In this mode, the life is shared and cards can be passed between teammates. We joined a roundtable press interview with Lead Battlegrounds Designer Mitchell Loewen and Associate Game Designer Jia Dee to discover everything about this new way to play Hearthstone, which is due to be released early next year. Tell us about the origin of the idea […]
For a long time, the World of Warcraft vanilla experience was relegated to private servers (such as Nostalrius, which was shut down) until Blizzard finally decided to accept the community's feedback and create World of Warcraft Classic. Launched in August 2019, WoW Classic turned out to be a big success and is considered to be nearly as popular as the modern version of the MMORPG. As such, Blizzard has continued to dedicate resources to this version of the game, advancing Classic through the various expansions: The Burning Crusade and Wrath of the Lich King. At BlizzCon 2023, it was announced […]
Following the successful release of Season of Blood, Blizzard's Diablo IV team unveiled the first expansion at BlizzCon 2023: Vessel of Hatred. Due to launch in late 2024, Vessel of Hatred will build upon the base game by focusing on the fate of the Prime Evil Mephisto. Adventurers will head to the Torajan Jungle, which Diablo II players will recall due to their visit to the city of Kurast. The developers have also promised a class addition never before seen in Diablo games. Meanwhile, the live service will be updated with Malignant rings coming this week. Next month, a patch […]
At BlizzCon 2023's opening ceremony, Blizzard announced Mauga as the 39th hero to be added to Overwatch 2 with the upcoming Season 8. A damage-based tank hailing from Samoa, Mauga was available to try both at home and at the event itself; we played a few games and discussed our first impressions here. Later, we had the opportunity to join a roundtable press interview with a few members of Blizzard's Overwatch 2 development team to discuss the entire design process of creating Mauga. As a reminder, Season 8 will be released on December 5th across all platforms. To unlock the […]
Yesterday, Chris Metzen (who returned to Blizzard only about a month ago) took the stage at BlizzCon 2023 to announce the Worldsoul Saga, which is set to span the next three World of Warcraft expansions. It's a brand new approach to storytelling for th...
Florida-based AI startup NPCx recently made the news after securing the lead investor in their $3 million seed round investment. The investor is none other than Kakao Investment, a branch of Kakao Games, known to gamers as the old Western publisher of ...
EA Sports WRC, the first rally game made by Codemasters with the official WRC license, is set to debut tomorrow on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series S|X, priced at $49.99 on all platforms. EA Sports WRC is also the first Codemasters game to ditch...
Earlier this month, a new independent game development team called AVALON announced its highly ambitious namesake debut project. This MMO game seeks to largely deliver on the concept of the Metaverse as it was enunciated in Ernest Cline's seminal science fiction novel Ready Player One while also pushing the user-generated content trend forward and taking advantage of the latest technological advancements, including two different generative AI tools (Didimo's Popul8 and Inworld AI's Character Engine) that we previously covered on Wccftech. The development team at AVALON is led by Jeffrey Butler, who was a producer on old-school MMORPGs like the original […]
Over five and a half years after launch, Funcom's survival game Conan Exiles is still going strong. The game quickly became Funcom's fastest-selling title, having sold 1.5 million copies by July 2018, and the continued support of the player base has translated into a steady stream of new content and features. Following the release of the Isle of Siptah expansion in 2021, Funcom switched to a different model where free updates (the so-called Ages) were released for free to all players alongside optional Battle Passes for cosmetic items. After last year's Age of Sorcery, 2023 is all about the Age […]
Hot on the heels of the tech-focused chat with Cyberpunk 2077 developer CD Projekt RED we published earlier this week, today we've got another brief technical talk with Alan Wake 2 developer Remedy Entertainment. The second triple-A game to implement path tracing after CP2077, Alan Wake 2 stunned once again with the latest evolution of the Northlight engine, delivering what has been described by some as the most visually impressive game made to date, and that's also largely true for the non-path traced version (which runs pretty well even on mid-range PCs). After the praiseworthy launch, Remedy took some time […]
Following the release of Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty and Update 2.0, CD Projekt RED was able to further elevate the game's visuals compared to the already amazing base game thanks to additions like NVIDIA DLSS 3.5 (Ray Reconstruction). However, with the Path Tracing mode still technically in preview and other tech-related topics worth discussing (chiefly the promised implementation of AMD FSR 3 and the engine switch from RED Engine to Unreal Engine 5), we reached out to the Polish studio for a follow-up interview. You can read the replies by Jakub Knapik, Global Art Director at CD Projekt RED, below. […]
Today, NetEase announced it has funded Worlds Untold, a new game development studio led by Mac Walters, a BioWare veteran credited for his work as a writer on Jade Empire and the Mass Effect trilogy. More recently, Walters was Project Director on Mass Effect Legendary Edition before leaving the company. Worlds Untold is a small but growing team already filled with other veterans, such as Audio Director Sotaro Tojima (Metal Gear Solid and HALO), Head of Production Elizabeth Lehtonen (Dragon Age, The Sims, and Angry Birds), Head of Art Ramil Sunga (Mass Effect Andromeda, Anthem, and the entire Dragon Age […]
At BlizzCon 2023, Blizzard unveiled Hearthstone Battlegrounds Duos, a brand new way to play the popular digital collectible card game. In Duos, players can partner with a friend or matchmake with a new one to take on another team of two. In this mode, the life is shared and cards can be passed between teammates. We joined a roundtable press interview with Lead Battlegrounds Designer Mitchell Loewen and Associate Game Designer Jia Dee to discover everything about this new way to play Hearthstone, which is due to be released early next year. Tell us about the origin of the idea […]
For a long time, the World of Warcraft vanilla experience was relegated to private servers (such as Nostalrius, which was shut down) until Blizzard finally decided to accept the community's feedback and create World of Warcraft Classic. Launched in August 2019, WoW Classic turned out to be a big success and is considered to be nearly as popular as the modern version of the MMORPG. As such, Blizzard has continued to dedicate resources to this version of the game, advancing Classic through the various expansions: The Burning Crusade and Wrath of the Lich King. At BlizzCon 2023, it was announced […]
Following the successful release of Season of Blood, Blizzard's Diablo IV team unveiled the first expansion at BlizzCon 2023: Vessel of Hatred. Due to launch in late 2024, Vessel of Hatred will build upon the base game by focusing on the fate of the Prime Evil Mephisto. Adventurers will head to the Torajan Jungle, which Diablo II players will recall due to their visit to the city of Kurast. The developers have also promised a class addition never before seen in Diablo games. Meanwhile, the live service will be updated with Malignant rings coming this week. Next month, a patch […]
At BlizzCon 2023's opening ceremony, Blizzard announced Mauga as the 39th hero to be added to Overwatch 2 with the upcoming Season 8. A damage-based tank hailing from Samoa, Mauga was available to try both at home and at the event itself; we played a few games and discussed our first impressions here. Later, we had the opportunity to join a roundtable press interview with a few members of Blizzard's Overwatch 2 development team to discuss the entire design process of creating Mauga. As a reminder, Season 8 will be released on December 5th across all platforms. To unlock the […]
Yesterday, Chris Metzen (who returned to Blizzard only about a month ago) took the stage at BlizzCon 2023 to announce the Worldsoul Saga, which is set to span the next three World of Warcraft expansions. It's a brand new approach to storytelling for th...
Florida-based AI startup NPCx recently made the news after securing the lead investor in their $3 million seed round investment. The investor is none other than Kakao Investment, a branch of Kakao Games, known to gamers as the old Western publisher of ...
EA Sports WRC, the first rally game made by Codemasters with the official WRC license, is set to debut tomorrow on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series S|X, priced at $49.99 on all platforms. EA Sports WRC is also the first Codemasters game to ditch...