Future Stories

Ubisoft’s sequel to The Division is coming March 15th, 2019. The Division 2 will take place in Washington DC, after an apocalyptic plague has laid waste to the city. A new trailer for the game premiered today at the Xbox E3 press conference, along with a lengthy gameplay demo. Ubisoft surprised fans of The Division , a online-only shooter-RPG hybrid in the vein of Bungie’s Destiny , with the official announcement of a sequel back in March. We didn’t get a ton of details about the game at the time, other than that it will again be developed by Ubisoft-owned Swedish studio Massive Entertainment and done so using an updated version of Ubisoft’s Snowdrop game engine. Developing... Continue reading…

Microsoft’s anemic supply of first party games for the Xbox One isn’t a secret , but the company took big steps to rectify that at E3 this year, announcing that five new studios would be joining Microsoft Studios to create more Xbox One exclusive titles in the future. Leading the charge is newly founded Santa Monica-based studio The Initiative, set to be lead by former Crystal Dynamics head of studio Darrell Gallagher. Additionally, Microsoft is acquiring Undead Labs (which previously made the Xbox-exclusive State of Decay and State of Decay 2 ), Playground Games (which has developed the Forza Horizon games, and is also said to be working on a new open world game as well), Ninja Theory ( Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice), and Compulsion Games... Continue reading…

Kingdom Hearts 3 will tackle several new Disney-based lands, including that of the beloved, icy world of Frozen . During Microsoft’s E3 conference today, Square Enix dropped new trailer showing Sora and his pals tangling with the animated film’s heroes. The trailer also showcases new gameplay exclusive to Frozen ’s world, including Sora strapping on some icy rollerblades to chase after foes and shield sledding with Goofy and Donald. Square Enix announced the game’s release date yesterday , but it includes one more delay. The game will miss its previously promised 2018 window and will not launch January 29. 2019 for Xbox One and PlayStation 4. Continue reading…

Todd Howard dropped by Microsoft’s E3 presser today to give us our first gameplay look at Fallout 76 , a prequel to the post-apocalyptic series. Set in the hills of West Virginia, Fallout 76 will be a whopping four times bigger than Fallout 4 , Howard said . Judging by the trailer, it looks like the focus of the game is going to be on rebuilding the world after the bombs drop. Hope you like the settlement system in Fallout 4 , because there’s a good chance it’ll get expanded in Fallout 76. Bethesda first announced Fallout 76 late last month with a teaser revealing the game’s title and not much else. But rumors began swirling immediately, and Kotaku’ s Jason Schreier reported later that same day that the game would likely be an online... Continue reading…

Dontnod Entertainment is releasing a new game set in the universe of Life is Strange on June 26th. The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit was revealed today at Microsoft’s E3 press conference. Although the game is set within Life is Strange ’s world, Captain Spirit will be a self-contained story. It follows Chris, a 10-year-old boy who dreams of adventure. “Over the past few years, ever since the release of the first game, DONTNOD have been quietly working on the next mainline entry in the Life is Strange universe,” reads a post from Dontnod. “During this time we not only observed what these games truly meant to our fans, but we also put that in the context of what the series means to us and our ambitions for it. “For us, Life is... Continue reading…

Todd Howard dropped by Microsoft’s E3 presser today to give us our first gameplay look at Fallout 76 , a prequel to the post-apocalyptic series. Set in the hills of West Virginia, Fallout 76 will be a whopping four times bigger than Fallout 4 , Howard said . Judging by the trailer, it looks like the focus of the game is going to be on rebuilding the world after the bombs drop. Hope you like the settlement system in Fallout 4 , because there’s a good chance it’ll get expanded in Fallout 76. Bethesda first announced Fallout 76 late last month with a teaser revealing the game’s title and not much else. But rumors began swirling immediately, and Kotaku’ s Jason Schreier reported later that same day that the game would likely be an online... Continue reading…

Ori and the Will of the Wisps will launch in 2019, Microsoft announced today at its E3 press conference. The developer showed off a new teaser trailer on stage, though it offered no other new details. Ori and the Will of the Wisps is the sequel to Ori and the Blind Forest , a gorgeous, Metroidvania-style platform adventure game released in 2015. It follows Ori, a guardian spirit, and Sein, who acts as Ori’s guide. Microsoft announced Will of the Wisps at E3 last year . The game is launching for Xbox One and Windows 10 Store. Continue reading…

Microsoft is teasing a new Halo at E3 2018 today. Halo Infinite is a new Halo game that appears to include a giant world associated with it, and vehicles like the classic Warthog. Microsoft demonstrated a brief teaser video of Halo Infinite at the beginning of its E3 keynote today, but the company has not revealed many more details. Microsoft’s teaser also includes a mention of a new Slipspace Engine that powers Halo Infinite , and the naming and teaser does suggest this might be an open world version of Halo . 343 Industries describes this new game as “the next chapter of the legendary franchise,” and it will be available on both Xbox One and Windows 10 PCs. That’s great new for PC gamers, as Halo 5: Guardians never made it over to... Continue reading…

Bethesda’s E3 presentation should give us good looks at Fallout 76 and Rage 2 when the event takes place on Sunday, June 10th. But any number of other Bethesda franchises could pop up during the company’s E3 keynote presentation. The happiest surprise for fans could come with any news about the Elder Scrolls 6 , the much-anticipated follow-up to Skyrim . It has also been a few years since Bethesda resurrected Doom , which might be coming back for more. We’ve also heard rumors about Starfield , a sci-fi open-universe RPG, along with a new mobile game to join Fallout Shelter among Bethesda’s offerings. Here’s how to watch the presentation when it takes place: Date : Sunday, June 10th Time: San Francisco: 6:30PM / New York: 9:30PM / London:... Continue reading…

Last year, Airbnb unveiled a program called Open Homes , designed to allow Airbnb hosts to provide emergency housing after a disaster. Homeowners can allow refugees or evacuees to find housing on a short notice — for free. The company is now expanding that program (via Techcrunch ) with a pilot project that will allow hosts to list their properties ahead of a disaster. The idea is to streamline the response to a disaster by allowing hosts to sign up in advance, so that when a disaster does strike, those in need don’t necessarily have to wait for said hosts to come forward in the aftermath. Presently, the program matches up users willing to donate space with emergency managers, who can then connect people who need housing with available... Continue reading…

Now I just have to figure out what to do with it Continue reading…

It can be difficult to find time to finish a video game, especially if you only have a few hours a week to play. In our biweekly column Short Play we suggest video games that can be started and finished in a weekend. Delete, released back in January by developer Pony, is sort of like a three-dimensional Minesweeper . The goal is similar: click on tiles to reveal numbers which indicate how many adjacent tiles are mines. But in Delete , these tiles are arranged on three dimensional objects as opposed to a flat grid. The game also differentiates itself in a few other ways: not only does it ask you to reveal the spaces that aren’t mines, but indicate which ones are actually mines with a right-click. Also clicking on a mine, or right clicking... Continue reading…

Kingdom Hearts 3 finally has a concrete release date — but it’s a little later than expected. The long anticipated third installment to the Final Fantasy / Disney crossover is now slated to hit players hands on January 29, 2019 for the Xbox One and PlayStation 4. Director Tetsuya Nomura announced the news at the Kingdom Hearts Orchestra World Tour, and later apologized to fans on Twitter for the delay. “I’m sorry that we’re asking for a little more time than initially planned,” he said, and promised more information and “a few trailers at E3.” We’ve announced the release day for KINGDOM HEARTS III ahead of E3 at the KINGDOM HEARTS Orchestra -World Tour-. I’m sorry that we’re asking for a little more time than initially planned. Please... Continue reading…

A bunch of retailers, including Amazon, Target, and Walmart, pulled their listings for a line of smartphone-connected stuffed animals called CloudPets this week after they were found to be storing kids’ voice recordings online without any security measures, among other issues. The news offers them good optics, but the reality is that this security revelation came about in February of last year : it took the massive retailers over a year to remove the stuffed animals, during which time they likely sold at least some of their inventory. The toy’s removal only happened after the Electronic Frontier Foundation wrote a letter this week to Walmart, Target, and Amazon requesting that the CloudPet listings be taken down. The organization writes... Continue reading…

Last year at E3, Microsoft unveiled the Xbox One X. Now, the console is out in the market and on discount for the first time since its November launch, so we can expect Microsoft to shift its E3 focus back to software. The company’s big press conference in Los Angeles every year is an opportunity to showcase new games in its established franchises, like Halo and Gears of War , and exclusive titles, which the Xbox has been desperately lacking lately. Microsoft’s E3 press conference kicks off at 1PM PT / 4PM ET on Sunday, June 10th. Microsoft’s mission at E3 this year to get players excited to be on the Xbox platform and to convince those who’ve maybe been sitting on the fence regarding the most recent midcycle console hardware refresh to... Continue reading…

BioWare’s answer to Destiny was shown in action today at E3 2018, and it looks impressive. Here’s a look at what sort of experiences you’ll be able to play within Anthem come February 2019. If you’ve been following Anthem , then you know that it’s set in a future where humanity lives in cities protected by freelancers who wear mechs. During today’s gameplay reveal, we watch players donning “javelins” go out into the wild, beyond the city, where large kaiju-esque monsters roam. The player’s goal is to stop something from using a new poison-based weapon. While short, the gameplay demo showed off what it would be like to enjoy the game with a few pals. Unfortunately, the group isn’t strong enough to take on the big baddy, but you can still... Continue reading…

At E3 today, DICE revealed several big updates to Star Wars: Battlefront II. Players will be able to play during the Clone Wars era, and the game will introduce several new playable characters, including Anakin Skywalker, Count Dooku, General Grievous, and Obi-Wan Kenobi. There’s no release date yet for the DLC. While B attlefront II has allowed you to play as a clone trooper, it’s largely focused on the latest series of films: The Force Awakens , The Last Jedi , and Rogue One . This is the first time that Battlefront II players will be able to play as characters from the the prequel era, or to visit the planet Geonosis, where the Clone Wars began in Attack of the Clones . Design director Dennis Brannvall says that it’ll also include “the... Continue reading…

BioWare’s big upcoming shooter made an appearance at E3 today, and it looks as ambitious as ever. Announced last year, Anthem lets players strap into exosuits to protect humanity, which is living under a protected city. Anthem is an open-world shooter where players can roam and find objectives, enemy mobs and patrols, ruins, as well as special events — and many of these tasks drop loot. One of the biggest draws for Anthem is that it combines four player co-op with classic BioWare-style conversations and world-altering choices. (BioWare explained that they want to build a game that changes every time you play.) And, of course, you can customize the heck out of your suits. During today’s presentation, BioWare stressed that it wants to... Continue reading…