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, […]
After some teases and leaks, Marvel and NetEase Games have officially revealed Marvel Rivals. The game is a free-to-play, 6v6 hero shooter in the style of Overwatch, but it’s in third-person and stars superheroes from across Marvel’s various comics. Wh...
Following various leaks over the past few days and the announcement of a collaboration nearly five years ago, NetEase and Marvel Games have finally announced Marvel Rivals, an Overwatch-like third-person shooter game featuring 6v6 PvP matches filled with superheroes and villains. Marvel Rivals is being developed for PC by a global team that includes talent with credits on shooter franchises like Battlefield and Call of Duty. A Closed Alpha test (signups are available on the website) will be conducted in May with over a dozen playable characters. The full roster includes the following eighteen characters: Black Panther, Doctor Strange, Groot, […]
Not quite gone are the days of the zombie survival simulator. Although there are still titles coming out, the releases seem staggered more and more among the wider breadth of multiplayer titles. NetEase Games is looking to change that dynamic with Once Human, a free-to-play online multiplayer title in the same vein as titles such as Tom Clancy’s The Division. We recently went hands-on with the Unreal Engine 5 title on PC thanks to two NetEase reps (Derek Qiu, Head of Overseas Operation, and Peng Sun/Victoria, World and Content Designer) who sat down to talk with us for a brief […]
The last few years have seen a number of high-level departures from Activision Blizzard, with a great deal of those folks going on to found their own studios and compete directly with the giant. The latest team to spring up from the exodus is Netease-b...
Following a 14-year partnership, Blizzard and NetEase had a loud and controversial split in late 2022. The Chinese publisher operated Blizzard's games in China as the licensed partner required by the government. The announcement came in November 2022, revealing to angry fans that popular games such as Overwatch 2, Diablo III, World of Warcraft, StarCraft, Hearthstone, and Heroes of the Storm would not be available any longer starting on January 23, 2023 across mainland China. Blizzard China lamented that NetEase refused a six-month extension. NetEase reacted much more vehemently. Employees famously tore down the World of Warcraft statue they had […]
Overwatch 2 debuted in late 2022, and the controversial sequel to Blizzard’s beloved hero shooter struggled in its first few months. Messaging around it was confusing (we were meant to get a sequel that shared a multiplayer environment with the origina...
Around a month and a half ago, former Age of Empires, World of Warcraft, and League of Legends designer Greg Street (also known as Ghostcrawler) announced he partnered with NetEase to make a new triple-A fantasy MMORPG codenamed Ghost. Street leads a fully remote studio called Fantastic Pixel Castle, which was established earlier this year. Plenty of other industry veterans have been hired, including Gameplay Design Director Brian Holinka (Homefront, Transformers, World of Warcraft), Chief Technology Officer Cameron Dunn (L.A. Noire, Guild Wars 2), Content Design Director Candace Thomas (World of Warcraft, New World, Diablo IV), Principal Game Designer Graham […]
From mergers to memes, the landscape of interactive entertainment is always in motion. Here’s your cheat sheet for the week’s most important stories in gaming.Read more...
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 […]
Greg Street, better known as Ghostcrawler, is an industry veteran who worked for many years on WoW at Blizzard Entertainment as Game Designer and then Lead System Designer until the Warlords of Draenor expansion. Street, who's also credited as Designer...
Occasionally, in times of crisis, gaming studios and publishers have worked to raise funds for people in dire need of humanitarian aid. Last year, for instance, Cyberpunk 2077 developer CD Projekt Red contributed to a fund for victims of the war in Ukr...
After some teases and leaks, Marvel and NetEase Games have officially revealed Marvel Rivals. The game is a free-to-play, 6v6 hero shooter in the style of Overwatch, but it’s in third-person and stars superheroes from across Marvel’s various comics. Wh...
Following various leaks over the past few days and the announcement of a collaboration nearly five years ago, NetEase and Marvel Games have finally announced Marvel Rivals, an Overwatch-like third-person shooter game featuring 6v6 PvP matches filled with superheroes and villains. Marvel Rivals is being developed for PC by a global team that includes talent with credits on shooter franchises like Battlefield and Call of Duty. A Closed Alpha test (signups are available on the website) will be conducted in May with over a dozen playable characters. The full roster includes the following eighteen characters: Black Panther, Doctor Strange, Groot, […]
Not quite gone are the days of the zombie survival simulator. Although there are still titles coming out, the releases seem staggered more and more among the wider breadth of multiplayer titles. NetEase Games is looking to change that dynamic with Once Human, a free-to-play online multiplayer title in the same vein as titles such as Tom Clancy’s The Division. We recently went hands-on with the Unreal Engine 5 title on PC thanks to two NetEase reps (Derek Qiu, Head of Overseas Operation, and Peng Sun/Victoria, World and Content Designer) who sat down to talk with us for a brief […]
The last few years have seen a number of high-level departures from Activision Blizzard, with a great deal of those folks going on to found their own studios and compete directly with the giant. The latest team to spring up from the exodus is Netease-b...
Following a 14-year partnership, Blizzard and NetEase had a loud and controversial split in late 2022. The Chinese publisher operated Blizzard's games in China as the licensed partner required by the government. The announcement came in November 2022, revealing to angry fans that popular games such as Overwatch 2, Diablo III, World of Warcraft, StarCraft, Hearthstone, and Heroes of the Storm would not be available any longer starting on January 23, 2023 across mainland China. Blizzard China lamented that NetEase refused a six-month extension. NetEase reacted much more vehemently. Employees famously tore down the World of Warcraft statue they had […]
Overwatch 2 debuted in late 2022, and the controversial sequel to Blizzard’s beloved hero shooter struggled in its first few months. Messaging around it was confusing (we were meant to get a sequel that shared a multiplayer environment with the origina...
Around a month and a half ago, former Age of Empires, World of Warcraft, and League of Legends designer Greg Street (also known as Ghostcrawler) announced he partnered with NetEase to make a new triple-A fantasy MMORPG codenamed Ghost. Street leads a fully remote studio called Fantastic Pixel Castle, which was established earlier this year. Plenty of other industry veterans have been hired, including Gameplay Design Director Brian Holinka (Homefront, Transformers, World of Warcraft), Chief Technology Officer Cameron Dunn (L.A. Noire, Guild Wars 2), Content Design Director Candace Thomas (World of Warcraft, New World, Diablo IV), Principal Game Designer Graham […]
From mergers to memes, the landscape of interactive entertainment is always in motion. Here’s your cheat sheet for the week’s most important stories in gaming.Read more...
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 […]
Greg Street, better known as Ghostcrawler, is an industry veteran who worked for many years on WoW at Blizzard Entertainment as Game Designer and then Lead System Designer until the Warlords of Draenor expansion. Street, who's also credited as Designer...
Occasionally, in times of crisis, gaming studios and publishers have worked to raise funds for people in dire need of humanitarian aid. Last year, for instance, Cyberpunk 2077 developer CD Projekt Red contributed to a fund for victims of the war in Ukr...