A Quiet Place writers Scott Beck and Bryan Woods will team up again, this time to adapt Stephen King's early short story The Boogeyman. Directed by John Krasinski, A Quiet Place stunned audiences while scaring up blockbuster numbers for a very grateful Paramount, finishing with $325 million in worldwide grosses. After a performance like that, it's no surprise that writers Beck and Woods are already conjuring up ideas for a sequel to A Quiet Place. With its classic fright-film premise of a family trying to survive amid an invasion of sound-sensitive aliens, A Quiet Place drew plenty of comparisons to the work of horror master Stephen King. Indeed, King himself publicly expressed admiration for the film, calling it "extraordinary." King's work has itself become a hot commodity on the movie market, after the massive success of last year's IT, based on the author's voluminous 1986 novel of an evil clown terrorizing a small Maine community across the decades. Multiple King adaptations are currently in the works, including a remake of Pet Sematary, a new feature film based on Tommyknockers and a TV series version of his most recent novel The Outsider. In a case of a potentially perfect marriage of writing talents, Deadline reports that A Quiet Place scribes Scott Beck and Bryan Woods will help bring yet another Stephen King work to the screen, adapting his early short story The Boogeyman. Twentieth Century Fox is putting the deal together with 21 Laps, the Shawn Levy-led production company responsible for Stranger Things (another series filled with echoes of King). The Boogeyman has previously been adapted multiple times as a short film, but this is the first time it will come to life as a feature. Originally published in 1973 and later reprinted in King's wildly popular short story collection Night Shift, The Boogeyman concerns a man named Lester Billings, who has seen three of his children die at the hands of a supernatural entity that lives in a closet. The story is mainly set in a psychiatrist's office as Billings tells the horrific story of how he and his wife attempted to evade the Boogeyman, only to lose yet another child to the monster. Like many King stories, including IT, Cujo and Pet Sematary, the story taps into primal fears about children falling prey to evil forces. Indeed, A Quiet Place itself tapped into many of the same terrors that King has explored in The Boogeyman and so many of his other works. Twentieth Century Fox is hoping that the pairing of King with the men who helped conjure up the creatures of A Quiet Place will result in monster box office returns.

https://youtu.be/WaG1KZqrLvM A new trailer has arrived for Shane Black's sequel/reboot, The Predator. Two years after his critically lauded buddy detective romp The Nice Guys made a rather soft splash at the box office, Black is back in franchise territory with his relaunch of the Predator film series. The Iron Man 3 director, as many know now, even costarred in the original 1987 Predator movie as the ill-fated Hawkins. This time, however, Black will get to put his spin on the sci-fi action property from the other side of the camera. Fox is bringing The Predator to San Diego Comic-Con this year, in an effort to generate more buzz for the film (which is somewhat lacking in hype at the moment). It's expected the studio will premiere some never-been-seen footage from the movie during the event, with Black and at least part of his cast in tow. In the meantime, the studio has gone ahead and dropped a fresh trailer for The Predator online. The Predator pits the eponymous alien against a team of human ex-soldiers, after a young boy (Room and Wonder's Jacob Tremblay) accidentally calls them back to earth. Among the actors playing military types in the movie are Sterling K. Brown (This Is Us), Boyd Holbrook (Logan), Keegan-Michael Key (Friends from College), Trevante Rhodes (Moonlight), Alfie Allen (Game of Thrones), and Thomas Jane (The Expanse). Rounding out the cast is Olivia Munn as scientist Casey Bracket and Yvonne Strahovski as Emily McKenna, Rory's (Tremblay) mother and Quinn McKenna's (Holbrook) ex-wife. Watch the new trailer for The Predator in the space above, then check out the latest poster below. While the new trailer makes the film look and feel like Shane Black's work more than the Predator teaser trailer, it still comes off as being more generic than The Nice Guys or even Iron Man 3. It's been reported that test audiences weren't so taken with the movie's original tone, which resulted in much of The Predator's third act being re-shot. However, in doing so, it seems the film may have lost a significant amount of its personality and Shane Black's signature blend of dark humor and pulpy violence. At the same time, the new trailer hints at The Predator expanding the franchise's lore in fresh and intriguing ways. In addition to redesigned versions of the Hell-Hounds, Black's "re-quel" will incorporate creatures and elements that weren't part of any of the previous Predator films. It's clear the idea here is to relaunch the series in a different and exciting direction, but as we've seen with Ridley Scott's Alien prequels, that approach can lead to pretty divisive results. Indeed, in the era of polarizing sequels, it will be interesting to see where The Predator lands on the spectrum.

The Rome-based company will be headed by former Endemol Shine executive Massimo Del Frate. Banijay Group is launching a dedicated Roman outpost with a new company, Banijay Studios Italy. The new operation will be entirely focused on high-quality scripted content for local broadcasters and OTT platforms. In addition to developing new original content for local broadcasters, Banijay Studios Italy will also explore ways to locally adapt Banijay Group's extensive content catalog. Banijay Studios Italy will be led by Head of Drama, Massimo Del Frate who previously held the same title at Endemol Shine Italy. The creation of the Roman company marks one more step in Banijay’s global footprint. Their wide-ranging unscripted hits include Survivor, Temptation Island and Wife Swap, and scripted shows to date include Versailles and Occupied. “Furthering and diversifying our scripted position in the market, we are confident the business has what it takes to build an impressive portfolio and become a key player in the Italian drama ecosystem,” commented Banijay Group COO Peter Langenberg. Banijay previously has had deals with multiple production companies in Italy, including DRY, Don’t Repeat Yourself, producers of the incredibly popular Italian versions of X Factor, Masterchef and Next Top Model.

The film, now in production, marks rising star Craig Roberts' second turn as director. Rising multi-hyphenate Craig Roberts has beefed up the British cast for his upcoming second feature, Eternal Beauty, now in production in Wales. Alongside the already announced – and new Oscar nominee – Sally Hawkins (The Shape of Water, Paddington), Billie Piper (Yerma, Doctor Who), Penelope Wilton (Downton Abbey), Alice Lowe (Prevenge, Sightseers) and David Thewlis (Fargo, Wonder Woman) have also joined the film. Other cast members include Bob Pugh (Master and Commander), Rob Aramayo (Game of Thrones), Morfydd Clark (Pride and Prejudice and Zombies) and Paul Hilton (Lady Macbeth). Roberts’ second directorial feature after 2015’s BAFTA-nominated Just Jim, Eternal Beauty will tell the story of Jane (Hawkins) who, after being dumped at the altar, has a breakdown and spirals into a chaotic world, where love (both real and imagined) and family relationships collide with both touching and humorous consequences. Written and directed by Roberts and produced by Adrian Bate of Cliff Edge Pictures, the executive producers are Mary Burke (BFI), Adam Partridge (Ffilm Cymru Wales), Pip Broughton (Cliff Edge), Meroë Candy (Wellcome), Paul Higgins (Dragon). The film is financed by; the BFI (awarding funds from the National Lottery), Ffilm Cymru Wales, Welsh Government and Wellcome. The director of photography is Kit Fraser (Under The Shadow), with the shoot set to take five weeks in and around Cardiff, Newport and Port Talbot. Bankside Films reps foreign sales rights for the film, while Endeavour Content and Bankside Films co-represent domestic sales rights. Alongside his second stint as director, Roberts is also set to star in the upcoming J.R.R. Tolkien biopic Tolkien.

Chinese conglomerate Dalian Wanda has unveiled plans to consolidate its film and entertainment businesses with the aim of boosting production of films, television and games. In a company notice issued to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, Wanda Film Holdings, a subsidiary of Dalian Wanda Group, said it plans to acquire a 96.83% stake of Wanda Media from the company’s 21 shareholders at a price of 11.6 billion yuan ($1.77 billion) via cash payment and share issue. The proposed deal is expected to strengthen and consolidate the group’s business in content production (Wanda Media) rather than focusing just on cinema operations (Wanda Film). Under the plan, production, distribution and exhibition would all come under one banner. But the restructuring does not include U.S.-based companies AMC Entertainment and Legendary Entertainment, which Wanda, headed by chairman Wang Jianlin, acquired in 2016. Wanda’s entertainment operations have been going through plenty of changes in recent years. Wanda Cinemas was renamed as Wanda Film last year. A 13% stake in Wanda Film was sold to Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba and a state-backed investment group in February for 7.8 billion yuan ($1.24 billion). The restructuring plans reflect Wanda’s ambition in film and content production and distribution, following a number of box-office successes. Films by Wanda Media have achieved a total of 41.5 billion yuan ($6.3 billion) at the box office, with “Detective Chinatown 2” (pictured) raking in 3.4 billion yuan ($519 million) earlier this year during the Lunar New Year festive period. Wanda Media is also engaged in television production, which is comparatively less volatile than the film market. Games will be another focus. In anticipation of the restructuring, Wanda Film has been suspended from trading since July 4, 2017, until further notice.

FOX will have a big presence at San Diego Comic-Con 2018, including presentations for hit shows The Gifted, The Orville, and more. While it seems like SDCC has always been this big a deal in the general world of pop culture, that isn't actually the case. Only in the last decade or so has the convention transformed into the powerhouse event it is today, where studios jockey for position for the best spots during the weekend, and set out to get fans hyped up for what's to come in the rest of the year and beyond. Unlike Warner Bros. TV - which announced its SDCC 2018 schedule yesterday - FOX won't really be jumping into the fray until Friday, July 20. The network's festivities begin at 4:15pm in the Indigo Ballroom, with a panel and exclusive footage reveal for Bob's Burgers season 9. At 6pm on Friday, FOX will hold a panel for its highly anticipated new vampire apocalypse series The Passage in Room 6A, starring Zack Morris himself, Mark-Paul Gosselaar. Similar to FX's prior vampire program The Strain, The Passage is based on a series of novels. As always, SDCC doesn't really get rocking until Saturday, the busiest day every year. According to Deadline, at 2:30pm it's time for the heavy hitters, as the cast and crew of X-Men spinoff The Gifted converge on Ballroom 20 for a panel, followed at 4pm by a panel in the Indigo Ballroom focusing on season 2 of Seth MacFarlane's comedic space odyssey The Orville. Both series largely impressed critics and audiences alike with their debut seasons, and it's highly likely they'll bring along some juicy new info and exclusive looks at their respective sophomore runs Circling back to earlier on Saturday, FOX will get the afternoon started off right in Ballroom 20, via a 12pm panel looking at The Simpsons' historic season 30. Many have assumed this will end up being the last season, so it'll be interesting to see if producers confirm those suspicions. Right after that at 1pm comes a joint panel for Seth MacFarlane's animated mainstays Family Guy and American Dad - which despite now airing on TBS, is still produced by FOX TV. Sunday's FOX presentations will be an FX showcase, starting with a 1pm first look in Hall H at upcoming Sons of Anarchy spinoff Mayans M.C., with creator Kurt Sutter in attendance. At 2:15pm, another X-Men spinoff, Legion invades Hall H, with creator Noah Hawley and stars Dan Stevens and Aubrey Plaza set to take part. Finally things wrap up at 5:15 in the Indigo Ballroom with a panel for Archer's currently airing season 9. FOX may not boast quite the big name line-up that WBTV is bringing to Comic-Con, but what they're offering is still sure to draw a crowd. The Orville especially has something to prove, after going nearly a whole year between the airing of season 1's finale and season 2's scheduled December premiere. The Gifted will also be returning after a long hiatus this fall - the season 1 finale aired in January - and looks to show fans why they should stick with the series despite the low likelihood of any actual X-Men involvement ever occurring. As July draws closer, all eyes turn to SDCC, hopefully it'll be worth the wait. San Diego Comic-Con 2018 runs from July 19-22.

While the role of secret agent James Bond is still in the hands of Daniel Craig for one more film, former 007 Pierce Brosnan thinks Tom Hardy should be the next actor to put on the tux. There’s really no better support for an actor whose name has been floated around in fan circles as a possible choice to play Bond than to have someone like Brosnan endorse you as a candidate before the role is officially open. Though it’s likely going to be quite some time before the powers that be behind the immensely successful franchise are ready to announce Craig’s successor, Brosnan has chimed in with a solid choice. Hardy’s name has been bandied about numerous times over the years, putting him in good company along with Tom Hiddelston, Idris Elba, and even Damian Lewis. Since the role is akin to casting the next Spider-Man, Batman, or Superman, everyone has their favorite choice for who’s best suited to play the suave spy. And while there’s no clue if any of the abovementioned actors are even on the Broccoli’s short list, it’d be surprising if fans weren’t pleased as punch to see Hardy in the role. Brosnan made the comments in an interview with The Mail on Sunday’s Event Magazine. In it, the actor addressed the future of the character and who might take over the part. “I think Tom Hardy could be a good Bond,” Brosnan said. “I’d be happy to see him do it.” Though he didn’t go too much into specifics, he did follow that up with: “You need an actor who can put a bit of wiggle into it — that’s what makes Bond.” What exactly “a bit of a wiggle” means is up for interpretation, and yet at the same time, it’s hard to not to think that if anyone has that, it’s Hardy. Just listen to him speak in the trailers for Venom, and try not to hold some sort of actorly “wiggle” responsible for that accent. As for the actor who replaced him, Brosnan has nothing but nice things to say about the star of Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace, Skyfall, and Spectre. “Daniel Craig has been an incredible Bond,” Brosnan said. “He’s very physical, he looks lethal. You genuinely believe this is someone who could kill a man.” Of course, Craig is getting ready to play the character one last time — and in the 25th Bond movie to boot — in the as-yet untitled film set to be directed by Danny Boyle. After that, it’ll be interesting to see whether or not Brosnan has an eye for casting 007.

Cyberpunk creator Mike Pondsmith said at E3 that fans 'can wait a few more years' to get their hands on the game. CD Projekt finally showed off what it's been getting up to with Cyberpunk 2077 at E3 earlier this month. The demo was behind closed doors so we, the people without appointments, didn't get to see it for ourselves (you can listen, though) but by all reports it was good. Really good. All of which might lead you to think that the full release of the game isn't too far off. Maybe it is—anything is possible—but it doesn't sound like that's the case. Following a similar presentation this week in Warsaw, according to a Bankier.pl report (Google translated), CEO Adam Kiciński described the demo as being "earlier" than alpha and "not the final quality yet," which is why it's not yet being shown to the public. "This is the most polished part of the game we have now, prepared in some sense to show it to people outside the company," CD Projekt chief financial officer Piotr Nielubowicz said. When the studio does reveal the game to the public, you can expect it to go all-out: The marketing budget for Cyberpunk 2077 will be "much larger" than what was spent on The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt—which got a pretty big push, I think it's fair to say. Nielubowicz added that CD Projekt has been "holding cash," which I take to mean that it's building up cash reserves, in part to support a big marketing budget. Kiciński's description of the game's current state isn't particularly well defined. Maybe it's content complete and in the early stages of polish, maybe there's still a big pile of side quests and dialog to be added, maybe work on the main storyline was put on hold so they could polish the hell out of this E3 presentation, or maybe it's something else entirely. Whatever its actual status, the statement does broadly imply that there's still a long way to go before it's ready for rollout. At least one analyst predicted that the game may be out in the second half of 2019 or first half of 2020, but given the likelihood of unexpected delays and CD Projekt's well-earned reputation for taking its time, I wouldn't be at all surprised to see it take even longer. And as VG247 noticed, original Cyberpunk creator Mike Pond told YouTuber YongYea at E3, "I waited 30 years to get this. It was worth it. You guys can wait a few more years." https://youtu.be/9rop6Z70u_4

The video also showcases some new enemies and a big kaboom. https://youtu.be/Og3A5yIs3b8 The Garden of Eden Creation Kit—the G.E.C.K.—is a device of singular importance in the Fallout universe. It's a portable terraforming technology that can transform blasted chunks of wasteland into viable, life-supporting land in very short spans of time. In Fallout 76, players will establish their post-war settlements with a similar, but still very different, device called the Construction and Assembly Mobile Platform—the C.A.M.P. The Camp (which, like Stalker, is how we will be stylizing it) is more of an emergency quick-start device than the Geck, providing "shelter, supplies, and safety" rather than a wholly-changed environment. It will also enable players to set up trading outposts to exchange goods with other players—the ones who aren't inclined to just take what you've got by force, anyway. The settlements look more primitive than some of the big, sprawling bases that were built in Fallout 4, although whether that's by design—Fallout 76 is set nearly 200 years before Fallout 4, in a wilder wasteland—or simply because nobody's had time to do anything really crazy with it yet, isn't clear. The quick clips of base-building seen in the trailer look very reminiscent of Fallout 4, which makes sense given that it's built on abandoned plans for multiplayer in that game. There's also a quick look at some of the new creatures that will appear in the game, like the Scorchbeast and the one that looks like a carved-from-rock version of Gossamer, and of course there's a nod to... what's that noise?

If you can’t wait to get stuck into Fallout 76’s rendition of West Virginia, we have just what you need – a map with all known locations. Bethesda already said Fallout 76’s map will be four times the size of Fallout 4’s so there will be a lot to explore where we finally exit Vault 76 on November 14. Redditor Chiyuiri has put together a map, with help from various other contributors, marking all the known, confirmed, and speculative locations in Fallout 76. Each of them is handily colour-coded so you know how much to trust the landmarks. Click the link above that image for a better view. Some of the confirmed locations include Top of the World Ski Resort, Watoga, Lewisburg, Beckley, a Nuka Cola Quantum plant, Charleston, the Mothman Museum, Bolton Greens, and Morgantown. There are also a bunch of locations speculated by map landmarks and people with knowledge of West Virginia, including: Green Bank Telescope, Shepherdstown, Beartown State Park, the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament, and more. On top of that, some of the images on the map point to crashed planes, sinkholes, wildlife, and other oddities. It looks like the game will ease us into it, releasing us near Aunt Mable’s Farm before making us fight through some irradiated township. Where will you explore first when you emerge from Vault 76? Personally, I want to go straight on an alien hunt.

https://youtu.be/tMvjJbqZQ6U H1Z1 has been growing its player base on PlayStation 4 since its release last month but on PC where it all began, it's virtually vanished from the battle royale conversation. When it launched (and included a new Auto Royale vehicle-based mode), H1Z1 needed to go free-to-play just a week later. It currently sits with a few thousand concurrent players as Daybreak attempts to push forward with the game's Pro League. But there's more to come for active players, newcomers, and returning veterans. Daybreak Games today released a massive game update on the PC for H1Z1, higlighted by the remastered Z1 map called "Outbreak". It's a post-apocalyptic, 8x8 square kilometer world designed to enhance H1Z1’s frantic and fast-paced gameplay and is now available in Solos, Duos, and Fives Modes on Windows PC. The update also includes changes to gameplay mechanics that allow players to "recapture the classic feel of H1Z1." This includes new run and jump movements and animations to create a faster and more responsive system that keeps combat fun and intuitive. Classic audio cues also make their return with this update. Veteran players may notice a few smaller POIs in the northern and western areas of the map, along with new loot spots in the otherwise sparse areas. The terrain has been refined for improved navigation and to make it clearer where you can and can't drive a vehicle. Buildings have been updated to be more performant and visually appealing. While most building layouts are unchanged, some were revised to better fit within area, window, and door metrics to make combat and navigation more consistent and less frustrating. All of this was done with an overall development philosophy to keep the footprint of the classic map and retain what made each city and POI fun and interesting. The new map Outbreak is now available for play in all regular modes - Solos, Duos, and Fives - as we are currently in an off-season until Season Two kicks off in July. Based on community feedback and survey results from the Test server, spawn selection has been disabled for Outbreak. In addition, there are multiple lighting and climate schemes for Outbreak that will randomly rotate from match to match (take a look at some examples here). Finally, as we know many of you are fans of the Z2/Arena map as well, keep an eye out for how it could reappear in Arcade mode moving forward! Spawn selection has been disabled in all Outbreak game modes. The AR-15 and AK-47 have been adjusted to allow two to three (depending on how fast you're firing) extra shots put on target before recoil growth kicks in. This does not affect tapping shot behavior. The AR-15 and AK-47 are now 60% more accurate when hip-firing. Crouch fatigue has been removed, so players are no longer restricted with the crouch action regardless of how often it is used. Jump animations have been shortened to provide a more responsive jump action, allowing players to jump more frequently without having to wait for animations to complete. Additionally, player momentum and velocity persist in the direction of the jump, allowing you to freely aim and look around without prematurely shortening your leap. Running and sprinting animations have been restored to Preseason 3 versions, with the Rifle class of weapons having a prominent forward-facing position. Much-beloved bullet impact sounds have returned. Helmet break, headshot, and laminated/makeshift armor break sounds are all back from Preseason 3. In celebration of the update - and to ensure interested players login again - there are also a pair of limited time rewards available this week only - the Homecoming Scrubs Set and the Z1 Zombie Mask! For the Homecoming Scrubs Set all players need to do is play one match of Solos, Duos, or Fives between 12:01AM PT on Wednesday, June 27 and 11:59PM PT on Wednesday, July 4. For the Z1 Zombie set, the same condition must be met, but it's only for old school players who created their account before September 20, 2016. There's also a new "Apocalypse" crate but we hate loot boxes. H1Z1 and PUBG need to move away from that ASAP.

CD Projekt RED’s more recent job openings drop big hints about the existence of multiplayer in Cyberpunk 2077. The jobs page on CD Projekt RED‘s developer website may tell us a thing or two about what the studio has planned for Cyberpunk 2077. At E3, the developer confirmed that while its main focus is on delivering a single-player game at launch, it’s not completely ruling out multiplayer down the road. On that page, two jobs are worth highlighting. The two, network programmer and senior technology programmer, have the Cyberpunk 2077 tag. Although the job descriptions don’t explicitly say those accepted will be creating the multiplayer portion of the game, it’s all but confirmed that CD Projekt RED is slowly laying the groundwork for what’s to come. Interestingly, the developer prefers candidates who have experience with multiplayer shooters. There’s also another job, for a multiplayer designer. It’s not tagged under Cyberpunk 2077 like the first two, but it too is after people familiar with AAA shooters, all but confirming what the job is for. All positions are available at CD Projekt RED’s Wrocław office, the most recent addition to the studio’s portfolio. Though none of this is confirmation that Cyberpunk 2077 will have a multiplayer component (they could be for unannounced projects), it’s looking very likely. Even if it does end up not being part of the initial package. Cyberpunk 2077 does not yet have a release date, but it’ll come to PC, PS4, and Xbox One.

Fear the Wolves, the Battle Royale game developed by Vostok Games and published by Focus Home Interactive, is now accepting beta signupsfor the upcoming PC test. Set in an irradiated Chernobyl, the game is coming out this year on PC and next year on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. "Drop into a radioactive wasteland with nothing but your wits, fists, and whatever you can find to protect you. Deadly mutated wildlife, the organic spread of radiation, unexplainable anomalies, and 99 other players stand in your way on your long march to the extraction helicopter inside the final zone. To defend yourself you have an arsenal of scavenged weaponry. The trusty fire-axe is a silent killer but won’t do much good as the knife in a gunfight. Abandoned weaponry is scattered around the map, but you will need to scavenge from air drops, caches and radioactive areas to find the most powerful gear. Every other player will be after them too, bringing the wolves with them. Wolves are the first of our mutants to be revealed. Roaming in packs and picking off stragglers, they have adapted to the radioactive environment and evolved into savage, decaying beasts. While on their own they pose a mere inconvenience, a pack will drain your ammo and leave you injured – or worse – if you aren’t careful. They’re just as deadly and hostile to your enemies, and how you use that will determine your survival. As the radioactivity of an area worsens, reality begins to break down. Dangerous areas distort and enter flux as they pulse with radiation. In the early stages, the adrenaline from sprinting will stop you taking damage, but after that only gas masks and hazard suits will keep the poisonous air and deadly rays out. You are never safe, but you can be more protected than your enemies, using this advantage to access areas they can’t, to loot more and flank them. Extraction is your ultimate goal. Rather than a slow stalemate, Fear the Wolves challenges players to get out how they came in, with a final dash to an extraction helicopter that accepts just one occupant. The location of the extraction zone will vary game to game, forcing adaptation and rewarding intricate map knowledge. If you manage to wipe out every other player, you still take home the victory – so choose your path wisely."

Warhorse Studios has released Hardcore Mode for Kingdom Come: Deliverance. Kingdom Come: Deliverance players can download Hardcore Mode for free from today. The mode turns the game into a survival RPG, lacks a visible health or stamina bar, ditches auto-saves, and features more “realistic combat and world navigation.” Due to the lack of navigation, Warhorse says players will need to follow the sun and study world maps to navigate the countryside. In Hardcore mode, perks such as Brittle Bones, Nightmares and Claustrophobia are included. Players will have to choose at least two of the new perks which will stay with them for the entire game. Finishing the game with all perks will unlock new achievements. Tournament mode and modding are other updates in the pipeline. https://youtu.be/LwJWCP9lQgI Alongside today’s release, the studio also provided a first glimpse of From The Ashes, the upcoming story DLC expected in July. Three more DLCs offerings are in the works: The Amorous Adventures of Bold Sir Hans Capon, Band of Bastards, and A Woman’s Lot. A Woman’s Lot will be free to early crowdfunding backers. Kingdom Come: Deliverance is available on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.

World of Warcraft begins phasing out artifact weapons and other Legion-specific features Say goodbye to your glorious weapons, because once the Battle for Azeroth pre-patch launches, they'll be useless (but still pretty). With the Battle for Azeroth expansion for World of Warcraft on the horizon, Blizzard is beginning to slowly phase out some Legion-specific features starting with artifact weapons. Don't worry, you can still use them for now, but a blog post details that Magni Bronzebeard is summoning players to Silithus where they'll use the power of their artifact weapons to "draw out the darkness from Sargeras’ sword and help stabilize Azeroth’s grievous wounds." If you're not up to speed on Warcraft's story, when players defeat Sargeras in the latest raid, he plunges a continent-sized sword into the planet, which makes for a pretty awesome cutscene. This sword is becoming a central part of the prologue story leading up to Battle for Azeroth. Players who venture to Silithus will "destabilize" their artifact weapons, granting them a temporary boost in power but also setting the stage for them to be retired when the Battle for Azeroth pre-expansion patch launches. Once that happens, you'll still have your artifact weapon, but the powerful traits that actually make it worth using will be deactivated. This is, of course, a big change but one that Blizzard made players aware of many months ago. Artifact weapons aren't the only things slowly being phased out in preparation for the new expansion. As the blog post describes, The Mage's Tower on the Broken Shore will now be active 24/7 so players can beat its trial and unlock that oh-so-cool unique artifact weapon skin. Likewise, a bunch of achievements are being turned into Feats of Strength once the pre-patch launches—Blizzard's way of effectively retiring them and their rewards. That means you only have a few weeks left to earn certain mounts that drop from the latest raid. You can find a full list of the impending changes in this blog post. World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth launches on August 14, but a pre-patch will bring a lot of exciting changes before then.

A group of analysts believe that video game revenue will come entirely from digital sales by the year 2022. That means that gamers need to start working on upgrading hard drive space on their PCs and consoles because there will could come a time when video games are no longer available in physical form. Any player of video games has already noticed the trend of digital games becoming more popular. Independent studios already rely almost entirely on digital revenue, with some games only seeing releases as downloads. Players may not like it - at least those who like to have something they can hold in their hand - but like everything, online is where the money is at. A report written by Michael J. Olson and Yung Kim for Piper Jaffray [h/t Wccftech] shows that sales for physical video games drop about 10 points per year. They estimate that by the year 2022, revenue from video games will come entirely from digital sales. There is also an increase in subscription services, including services such as PlayStation Plus and Xbox Live, that offer video game downloads each month. Other revenue models to consider include services such as PlayStation Now and Xbox Game Pass that allow gamers to stream and play older games for a set subscription fee each month. These analysts expect that streaming and subscription models will continue to boost digital sales and that these models will become a major area of focus over the next 3-5 years. "Streaming games from the cloud, without need for dedicated hardware or massive downloads, would materially grow the TAM (total addressable market) for high end console-style titles. Specifically, today the primary market for major video game publishers is tied to consumers that own an Xbox One, PS4 or gaming PC, which currently has an installed base of 150-250M (depending on how gaming PC is defined) and a minimum price point of $199 (Xbox One S), which creates a barrier to entry for many would-be gamers. With ongoing datacenter build-outs and improving internet speeds, streaming games from the cloud could be a commercial reality within 2-3 years." Sales from digital downloads of video games continue to rise around 25 percent each year. As of May, players spent around $9.1 billion on digital game downloads. In comparison, they only spent $7.3 billion the previous year. Free-to-play games, such as Fortnite, take in around $200 million per year. Downloadable mobile games also continue to increase in sales every year by around 36 percent. Digital game downloads also offer benefits for players, too. Being able to digitally download any title allows gamers instant access to what they want to play when they want to play it, although the downside is that the used game market will end up quietly going away (something that is already starting to happen). Digital is already highly popular with music, television and movies, so it's no big surprise that gaming will soon go that way as well.

https://youtu.be/Y53JPo_2zLI Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy is coming to the Nintendo Switch, the Xbox One, and the PC this week. A launch trailer for the Nintendo Switch port of the remastered versions of the classic Playstation games shows Crash Bandicoot in action with much-improved graphics. The remastered trilogy was originally released for the Playstation 4 in 2017. Published by Sony and developed by Naughty Dog, platform video game Crash Bandicoot was released in 1996 for the Playstation as an answer to Nintendo's Mario and SEGA's Sonic the Hedgehog. Two sequels, Cortex Strikes Back, and Warped followed, both for the same console. For several years, the Crash Bandicoot series received other installments and spin-off titles that were released for multiple systems. Unfortunately, the franchise's last major game was 2008's Crash Bandicoot: Mind Over Mutant. To the disappointment of fans, the series has been dormant for the last 10 years. A launch trailer for the Nintendo Switch version of Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy shows off the gameplay for some of the games' levels, as well as the vast improvements made to the graphics. In classic Crash Bandicoot fashion, the character can be seen running in terror from a giant rampaging polar bear, cruising through the streets on a motorcycle, flying an airplane, bounding over obstacles, and executing his trademark spin attack. Though past Crash titles have been made by Naughty Dog, the remastered collection was developed by Vicarious Visions in partnership with Activision. As seen in the trailer, the goal was never to change the gameplay but to enhance the graphics, sounds, and animations. Even cutscenes have been remastered with recordings from the franchise's more recent voice actors. The N. Sane Trilogy has already proven to be extremely successful. The Playstation 4 version sold 2.5 million copies worldwide in the span of a few months, so being ported to the Switch, the fastest-selling console in U.S. history, the PC, and the Xbox One, is sure to make the Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy an even bigger hit. It's success has already led to a rumor that a brand new Crash Bandicoot game could release in 2019. Based on the look of the game, it's no surprise that the N. Sane Trilogy has been able to single-handedly bring Crash Bandicoot back into the spotlight. Side-by-side comparisons of the originals and the enhanced versions show just how far these games have come from their initial releases. The amount of detail given to the remastered collection is remarkable, and adds hope to the idea that Crash Bandicoot may soon make a comeback.

The Xbox One might be getting keyboard and mouse support thanks to a partnership between Razer and Microsoft. Earlier in the year, Microsoft had indicated to developers it might offer support for the traditionally PC gaming peripherals soon, but there has been little indication since then that the plan has advanced any further. While there have been console gaming keyboards created before with varying amounts of success, there hasn't been a better fit for the technology than the Xbox One. Microsoft's cross-play service with Windows 10 has already bridged a gap between PC gamers and their console counterparts. Microsoft's exclusive titles also support the Play Anywhere initiative, wherein gamers can choose to play a Microsoft title on the Xbox One and the PC seamlessly. A recent document leak, broken by Windows Central, suggests that the Xbox One will be getting keyboard and mouse support sooner than we'd previously thought. The report indicates that Microsoft was planning to showcase mouse support in the April update of the Xbox dev kit, the tool that lets developers experiment with new features supported by Xbox One. If Microsoft was ready to launch mouse support in April, then there's a strong chance the keyboard would follow soon. The report also demonstrates what amounts to a very clear and nuanced partnership between Razer and Microsoft. Razer, known for its PC gaming peripherals, is a company that caters almost exclusively toward the hardcore gamer demographic. The presentation visuals in the document leak detailed how the Razer Chroma RGB lighting support would work with the Xbox One. Razer Chroma is a popular feature used today in multiplayer games like Overwatch and DOTA 2, and can be programmed to offer gamers color-based cues on in-game timings like ability cooldowns. Those worried about the competitive impact of keyboard and mouse support on the Xbox One will be happy, too. The report also indicated that Microsoft has technology available that would let developers detect who is using a keyboard and mouse in a given Xbox One title. This would allow developers to put keyboard and mouse users into a separate matchmaking lobby. Traditionally, keyboard and mouse users are advantaged over those playing with a controller partially because they have more input options available, so keeping those users separate is crucial in preserving the competitive balance of multiplayer Xbox One games. Ultimately, these plans might not be moving ahead, since Microsoft scrapped the April update. Now that the technology is confirmed to exist, however, gamers likely won't let this one go, and Microsoft would be hard pressed to abandon the feature entirely. The company has made it clear it feels there is something to be gained by bringing console and PC gamers together, and Xbox One keyboard and mouse support would be yet another step in that direction.

It looks like all change for battle royale behemoth Fortnite as an upcoming map update leaks online. Players can expect the recent flurry of activity to continue as Epic Games winds towards the end of Season 4 and heads into an even bigger fifth season. Fortnite may be in a bitter legal row with PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, but it hasn't stopped Epic Games from ruling the roost of battle royale games and bringing more and more gamers on board by the day. Part of Fortnite's biggest pull is its constant ability to reinvent itself. with in-game events and teasing what is to come next season. Season 4 brought in superhero skins and new locations like Dusty Divot, but the next update promises to push the envelope even further. With Fortnite being a veritable goldmine for data mining, Reddit user UppyGSY has collected together the latest leaks after they first appeared on IGN's interactive map. Importantly, the various craters around the map have slowly begun to be filled and life is slowly returning to normal after the cataclysmic comet strikes of Season 4. Dusty Divot has undergone the biggest change and is showcasing a new structure. Elsewhere, the missile is missing from the villain lair near Snobby Shores, sparking rumors that it has either retracted into the silo or someone has launched it. Where the rocket ends up remains to be seen, but similar to comets raining down on the map, a missile could become an in-game timed event to help wipe out the other 99 players or could take out another famous landmark. Speaking of landmarks, the space occupied by Titled Towers is a hive of regeneration and may be returned to its former glory pre-comet. Finally, the incoming convoy of trucks is yet again on the move and can currently be found by Greasy Grove. This ties in with the theory that the trucks have picked up the hop rocks that were once in Dusty Divot and are taking them to the villain lair for some nefarious scheme. These leaks are only shown from above, so fans don't have a full picture of what's going on at ground level just yet. Either way, Epic Games doesn't take kindly to leaks, so expect some slapped wrists on this one. Over on the more realistic PUBG, the introduction of the Sanhok map should be a big lure to fans old and new, but can it compete with Fornite? Season 4 of Fortnite continued the colorful carnage and a strange theme of space. With Season 5 just around the corner and a rocket now possibly up in the sky, Fornite might literally be blasting off to find a new place for 100 players to whittle themselves down to just one winner. With update 4.5 expected today (June 26), there isn't long to wait until Fortnite players can go head-to-head in a brand new world.

Agony Unrated Cancelled as Studio Appears to Be in Financial Problems; Steam Users Express Their Discontent The uncensored version of dark fantasy survival horror game Agony, Agony Unrated, has been cancelled by Polish developer Madmind. The controversial game, featuring heavy violence, nudity and what not, was released for PC and consoles last month, and an “Adults Only” PC patch was planned for a release later on. The Polish developer already said that they had been confronted with legal issues, but as it turns out now, the studio is struggling with financial problems and the promised unrated version of the game has been canceled. “We regret to inform you that our company is currently struggling with financial problems”, the developer wrote on the game’s Steam page. “Due to technical and legal reasons, Madmind must cancel the development of Agony Unrated. Part of the team will continue to support Agony on Steam and consoles by publishing new patches.” Those who purchased the ‘normal’ version on either PC or console, will receive a new patch later this week, which includes various fixes and a “highly refined lighting system”. Steam users don’t appear to mourn over the studio’s financial state and cancellation of the unrated version, and have expressed their extreme discontent with the studio. We’ve included some comments down below: “You guys deserve the worst, please do not make another game ever again”, an unhappy Steam user wrote. “Your company is going to go under, your game will probably be taken off of Steam. And if it isn’t, let it be a testiment to show developers what NOT to do when making ANY sort of game. You do not scam your backers and take back everything you said you were going to do with this game”, another comment reads. “Not to mention all the lies you guy dished out……. this was totally expected. you guy shot yourselves in the head. Nobody else to blame but you”, yet another unhappy Steam user writes.

Creative Assembly is currently recruiting for the 'unannounced IP'. The Creative Assembly team responsible for 2014's brilliant Alien: Isolation is working on a tactical first-person shooter. The news comes via the official Creative Assembly website, where the company is recruiting for a "Senior UI Artist" to work on the "new unannounced IP". The listing contains no other hints regarding what the game might be, though the successful applicant must have "good UX knowledge for console / PC games". While a sequel to Alien: Isolation seemed possible for a little while, it's looking pretty unlikely nowadays. There was news back in January about a new Aliens shooter, which will be developed by Cold Iron Studios and published by Fox's game publishing wing, FoxNext Games. A "free-roaming VR experience" based on Alien did emerge in May from Cold Iron Studios, though it didn't get a wide commercial release: it seems to have been playable exclusively at a mall in Orange County. Whatever the case, it's interesting that the Creative Assembly advertisement specifies the "team behind Alien: Isolation", and it's cause for wonder what that team has been up to these past three years. Hopefully we'll find out soon.

Kingdom Come Deliverance, the role-playing game by Warhorse Studios, is about to get harder very soon with the introduction of the Hardcore Mode. The Hardcore Mode is getting added to the game tomorrow, June 26th, with a free update. The mode features no autosaving, no fast travel and more realistic combat. "In Hardcore Mode there is no autosaving. The game can only be saved by drinking “Saviour Schnapps”, sleeping in your own bed, paying for a bathhouse full service, or exiting the game. In Hardcore Mode you can’t rely on eating from open cooking pots. The best way to regenerate health is to sleep. Food and healing potions take quite a while to kick in. You’re only alerted to your current health and stamina levels by means of in-game visual effects. Henry’s position is not shown on the map and there are no indicators on the compass. Waypoints are shown only when you get close to them. Fast travel isn’t possible in Hardcore Mode. Combat is more realistic in Hardcore Mode. Strikes have more realistic impact, and engaging in combat with an experienced warrior without wearing quality armor is very deadly. Hardcore Perks are a form of customizable difficulty. You can enable a lot — like “Consumption”, “Nightmares”, “Tape Worm”, “Claustrophobic”, or “Shakes” — to make the game even harder. Traders pay less for goods and rewards are lower overall. Repairing items is even costlier." Kingdom Come Deliverance is now out on PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in all regions.

Solomun, Dixon, Tale of Us, and The Black Madonna will all be performing in Los Santos this summer. Last month, DJs The Black Madonna and Tale of Us teased a collaboration with fellow artists Solomun and Dixon for something happening this summer in the city of Los Santos. Today Rockstar revealed that all four artists will bring their beats to Grand Theft Auto Online's new Nightclubs, sweaty palaces of the underground dance scene that also provide a respectable cover for your shadier business affairs. Full details won't be released for awhile, but Rockstar said players will design, set up, staff, and promote their new establishments, working to build their reputations and popularity, and thus the money they bring in. Club management is "honest work," which is of course what you want in a money-laundering operation, and that's apparently what's really going on here. Hey, it's GTA, what did you expect? As useful as this new avenue for criminality may be for your bottom line, the real attraction here is the appearance of The Black Madonna, Tale of Us, Solomun, and Dixon as themselves (or perhaps some thinly-veiled fascimile?) in the game. That could well make GTA Online's club scene the most interesting thing to happen to dancing in videogames since The Asylum.

CROATIA fielded a virtual reserves team but still engineered enough quality moments to beat Iceland 2-1 and book a round of 16 game against Denmark in Nizhny Novgorod on Sunday. It was harsh on the Icelanders, who needed a win in the hope of qualifying for the World Cup’s knockout stages and were in with a chance right up until Ivan Perisic scored in the 90th minute to seal the deal. Instead, Argentina will go through with Croatia from Group D, setting up a blockbuster with France, after the South Americans produced a late winner of their own to beat Nigeria. It was a vastly entertaining game in Rostov. Iceland’s best player Gylfi Sigurdsson had equalised from the penalty spot after a high-quality finish from Croatian midfielder Milan Badelj had put his team in the lead, but Perisic’s late, late show ended Iceland’s dreams. The contest was a fascinating contrast in football styles. Not that one is superior. One of the beauties of the beautiful game is the number of different ways it can be played. The Croatians treat the football the way a master pianist strokes the ivories, while the Icelanders batter it about like a demolition expert bringing down an old power station. To continue the musical analogy. It’s Mozart versus Megadeth. Not that they don’t have skill, it’s just there is nothing half-hearted about the way the play. Yet, after a strong start by the Croatians, Iceland found their tempo and to some extent knocked their opponents off their languid stride. As the first half progressed it was the Icelanders who looked increasingly dangerous. For all the beautiful notes played by the Croats, conducted by captain Luka Modric, it was the Icelanders who looked more likely to bring the house down by scoring the first goal. It was scoreless at the half-time break though and Iceland was still very much alive in the competition. It had been helped to some extent by Croatia’s team selection.They were already through to the second round and could afford to give some players the night off. Only two players, Modric and Perisic, started from the team that embarrassed Argentina 3-0 earlier in the week. Iceland never stopped trying, they hit the bar, they had other chances as well, midfielder Birkir Bjarnason had a terrific opportunity to finish off a flowing move that would have put his team in front, but made a terrible mess of the chance. Iceland would surge, inspired by a noisy contingent of their countrymen, then Croatia would take the ball back and restore some calm. But they couldn’t shake a tenacious Iceland, not until the last minute.

IN the end the agony was written on their faces, as the Socceroos’ World Cup dreams melted in the Sochi sun. Dreaming of a win and a place in the last 16, Australia lost 2-0 to Peru even with a 37-minute cameo from Tim Cahill. Goals in each half from Andre Carrillo and Paolo Guerrera gave Peru a consolation win, leaving Australia bottom of the group. Even had they won their fate would have been sealed, with Denmark drawing against France to secure second place in the group. But there was intense frustration that the performances against France and Denmark couldn’t be completed with victory. Outgoing Socceroos coach Bert van Marwijk praised the Australian team but lamented its lack of goals throughout the group stage. Insisting he had no regrets over his five months in charge, van Marwijk said it was a “fantastic period” for him personally in which he had learned from coaching the Australians. “It is not a success but also not a failure,” van Marwijk said of his tenure. “Everyone saw the way we performed and we have got lots of compliments. But compliments don’t win you games, goals do. “We showed that when you don’t have the best players, you can still compete with France, Denmark and Peru. “That means you can reach a lot when you work very well. But you need individual quality to decide games, you need to find a goal, and I could not find that solution. “Against France in football terms we were at last the equal, and against Denmark we were better. Today I have the same feeling but in all three games we couldn’t make the difference with goals.” Australia knew they faced a delicate balancing act against Peru, of not leaving themselves open while pushing for the win they needed. An early shot from Mile Jedinak was a statement of intent, that Australia would not be intimidated by either the occasion or the massed ranks of Peruvians. But Jedinak’s desire also got him into trouble, booked for a headhigh tackle on Christian Cueva. As if Lima’s Estadio Nacional had been transplanted to the Russian coastline, the roar of support for their team was cacophonic — especially when their team took the lead. In a match until then of shadow-boxing, Peru suddenly found a perfect punch. A ball over the top of the Australian defence was gathered in the corner by captain Paolo Guerrero, who looked up and curled a deep cross towards Andre Carrillo. Arriving unheralded at the far corner of the box, Carrillo struck a perfect volley back across Mat Ryan and into the bottom corner. That opening goal hurt Australia, even more so when replays appeared to show Peru were off-side. And an Marwijk tended to agree. “We had lots of chances and shots, but Peru had maybe two shots and scored,” he said. “Their first goal I think was off-side so we didn’t have luck — though even if we had won it wouldn’t have changed anything.” Desperately Australia tried to respond, but 24-carat chances went begging. Tom Rogic, playing like a man on a mission, ran at the Peruvians, beat four players but saw his shot beaten away by Pedro Gallese. Then Rogic freed Robbie Kruse into the box for a cutback, but as the goal gaped for Mathew Leckie, Anderson Santamaria somehow scooped the ball away. By halftime Australia had mustered six shots, but only one on target, a statistic that spoke volumes — especially when Peru showed them again the art of seizing the moment in the 50th minute. Admittedly they had some luck in the process, though the move that opened up space for Cueva to charge down the left was elegant. Cutting inside, Cuevo struck a cross that deflected off Jedinak into the path of Guerrero; the captain struck it goalwards and another slight deflection off Mark Milligan helped it past Mat Ryan. Finally Bert van Marwijk produced his trump cards, sending on Cahill and Daniel Arzani. Immediately there was a flurry of chances, Aziz Behich’s shot brushing the post on its way wide and Cahill’s goalbound effort hitting his own man. Arzani hit the top of the net with a daring volley from the edge of the box, then Behich sidefooted a low cross just a fraction beyond Cahill’s run. As the game, and the World Cup drifted away, the Australian fans were denied even the consolation of Cahill scoring at a fourth World Cup. A day of such hope ended in bitter disappointment.