Happy Halloween! Ubisoft Netherlands invites you to celebrate the spooky festivities with AI-generated Assassin’s Creed art. Terrifying indeed!
How Alan Wake 2 Builds Upon The ‘Remedy-Verse’
People first began to notice some of Ubisoft’s social media channels posting what appeared to be AI-generated versions of Assassin’s Creed art last night. A smoothed over, off-brand Ezio emerged on the French publisher’s X (formerly known as Twitter) account for Latin America. “In other amazing industry news here’s an official Ubisoft account with 300K followers posting AI art,” tweeted Forbes contributor Paul Tassi. The publisher’s post was mocked for making Ezio look like a Fortnite character and for one character in the background wielding gun grips like knives. The tweet was deleted soon after.
Not to be outdone, however, the Ubisoft Netherlands account followed up with its own AI-looking Ezio art complete with Jack-o’-lanterns. “Which Ubisoft game is perfect for this horrible evening?” the account asked in Dutch. Clearly the one the Assassin’s Creed maker was playing with fans’ hearts.
Ubisoft recently revealed that over 1,000 people have left the company in the last year as part of its “cost reduction” program. Some of those departures were voluntary, but others included layoffs across customer support, marketing, and other departments in Europe, the U.S., and elsewhere. “Ubisoft literally conducting layoffs this year and last month, and they’re posting AI art,” tweeted film concept artist Reid Southen. “Unbelievable. What the hell is the game industry doing right now.”
Still, over 19,000 people continue to work at Ubisoft, including many devoted just to the Assassin’s Creed franchise and all of its sequels, spin-offs, and other incarnations currently in the pipeline. Surely one of them could have made some art for the social media accounts. Or the company could have just used one of its many existing Ezio images. Anything would have been preferable to posting ugly AI-generated crap as thousands are laid off across the video game industry this year.
Fans have had to become increasingly vigilant in 2023 about companies trying to pass off AI-generated images in their marketing, as DALL-E 2, Midjourney, and other AI text-to-image models make it easier than ever to cobble together fake art. Amazon did it to promote its upcoming Fallout TV show. It sure seemed like Niantic did it to promote upcoming content in Pokémon Go. Legendary Studio Ghibli director Hayao Miyazaki calling AI art tools “an insult to life itself” back in 2016 has never felt so prophetic.
Ubisoft has announced plans to shut down online services for nearly a dozen video games, including Assassin’s Creed 2 and Splinter Cell: Conviction. The games will lose online functionally on January 25, 2024.
How Alan Wake 2 Builds Upon The ‘Remedy-Verse’
As we’ve seen over the last year, plenty of video game publishers and developers have already pulled online services and shutdown servers for a plethora of games across all platforms. The reasons vary, from low player counts to expiring licenses, but the reality is the same: More games become harder or impossible to play once the plug has been pulled. Now we can add even more titles to the growing list of “Dead Games.” This time around it’s Ubisoft announcing more shutdowns.
In a new post on Ubisoft’s support site, the publisher confirmed plans for “decommissioning” online services for 10 “older” games. Ubisoft further added that shutting down servers for old games is a choice it doesn’t make “lightly,” however it also added that it is “a necessity as the technology behind these services becomes outdated.”
Kotaku has contacted Ubisoft about the shutdowns.
Here is the full list of games losing online service on January 25, 2024, as well as which platforms are affected:
Assassin’s Creed II — Xbox 360
Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood — Mac
Assassin’s Creed Liberation HD — PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
Assassin’s Creed Revelations— PC
Ghost Recon Future Soldier— PC
Heroes of Might and Magic VI — PC
NCIS — PC
Splinter Cell: Conviction — Xbox 360
R.U.S.E. — PC
Trials Evolution— PC
According to a chart from Ubisoft, once online features are shut off for these 10 games, users will no longer be able to play online multiplier, link accounts, or collect Ubisoft Connect rewards for the affected titles.
A recently uncovered Rockstar Games patent suggests the developer could be using new technology to make NPCs in its games more immersive, particularly when it comes to the highly anticipated action-adventure crime sim GTA VI.
Grand Theft Auto 6 Comments: A Dramatic Reading
As spotted by Reddit user Tobbelobben30 (via Eurogamer), former Rockstar Games lead AI and gameplay programmer Tobias Kleanthous issued a patent in April called “System And Method For Virtual Character Locomotion.” The 11-page document, as Kleanthous described on LinkedIn, was “architected and implemented for games” at the Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption studio. According to the paper’s abstract, the patent houses “a system and method for controlling the animation and movement of in-game objects.” In layperson’s terms, Kleanthous’ tech should make characters way more life-like. Tobbelobben30 detailed the patent’s contents in their Reddit post:
“Based on this patent, it seems like they’re using a clever system. They’ve built a library of small building blocks for character movements. These blocks can be combined in various ways to create a wide range of animations. For instance, think about a character in the game walking in the rain, feeling tired, or getting injured. Instead of designing separate animations for each of these situations, they use these building blocks to put together the character’s movements naturally. This means GTA 6 can have more diverse and lifelike animations. So, when you play GTA 6, you’ll see characters moving in ways that match the weather, their energy level, and their injuries. This makes the game feel more immersive. It’s like having characters that can adapt to different situations, making the game world feel more real and thrilling.”
“Immersive” can so often be an empty marketing buzzword thrown around ahead of game releases, but when it comes to this patent, the adjective couldn’t be more apt. Based on the tech described, Rockstar Games’ games—particularly GTA IV—should have characters with more dynamic animations, giving their worlds unparalleled realism. While Tobbelobben30 couldn’t verify if the system was used in Red Dead Redemption 2, they did say that the animations in Rockstar’s upcoming game will be “incredible.” (Kleanthous gave a talk during GDC 2021 about some similar tech used in the cowboy RPG.)
Various Reddit users have shared their reactions to this new locomotion patent. “Yeah it’s gonna be mind-blowing, even in the leaks the animations and physics looked insane,” ArkhamIsComing2020 said, referring to leaked development footage from September 2022. “Soo procedural animation? Niceeeee,” quipped ProceduralFish. “So basically if my arm gets hit with a bat I won’t be able to shoot as well? That’s kinda cool,” noted rustynutsbruh.
Kotaku reached out to Rockstar Games and Tobbelobben30 for comment.
Pay no mind to the horrifying mascots in the background. Screenshot: Sega / Kotaku
During today’s Xbox Partner Preview, a showcase for Microsoft’s upcoming third-party games, we got a new look at Sega’s next Yakuza adventure. No, not Gaiden, the other one: Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth. Instead of showing off dual protagonists Ichiban Kasuga and Kiryu Kazuma kicking all kinds of street punk ass across Hawaii, today’s trailer pumped the brakes and gave us a peek at its madcap new Animal Crossing-inspired game mode.
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Infinite Wealth’s new Happy Resort Dondoko Island mode will have you managing your own island resort. Like Nintendo’s cozy 2020 life simulator Animal Crossing: New Horizons, you can go fishing on the beach, customize the island’s buildings and furniture, and have Ichiban craft special DIY projects. The similarities between Dondoko Island and AC:NH don’t end there. DonDonki Island will also let you forge friendships with the island getaway’s many outlandishly dressed tourists while you manage the island’s influx of funds and infrastructure just like Animal Crossing’s Tom Nook.
Dondoko Island may provide Ichiban and company some much-needed reprieve from the melodrama of his crime-riddled life, but that doesn’t mean you won’t have to sock a couple of uninvited guests along the way—this is a Yakuza game after all. Along with making sure everyone is having a good time on the island, you’ll also have to defend it from intruders.
This isn’t the first time the Yakuza series has turned a Nintendo game like AC:NH into its own game mode. In fact, Yakuza: Like a Dragon had Mario Kart-esque and Pokémon-inspired stints in the form of Dragon Kart Racing and Sujimon, respectively. Aside from providing players with a fun alternative to punching fools, these minigames were also a great way to earn a bunch of cash to purchase health items and upgrades for the main campaign’s challenging boss fights.
Screenshot: Sega / Kotaku
But not everything is about the money. Sometimes you just need to sit back, grab a guitar, and sing karaoke in front of a roaring bonfire. Catch a vibe, if you will. I can already see myself ignoring Infinite Wealth’s main quest to sink countless hours into perfecting my island fortress. Speaking as a longtime Yakuza enjoyer, January can’t come soon enough.
Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth launches on January 26 for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, and Windows.
Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 1 gathers some of the best games ever made and puts them all on modern platforms in one convenient package. Unfortunately, a laundry list of weird caveats and shortcomings at launch make the new anthology hard to celebrate. Why is one of the best franchises in gaming history not pulling out all the stops?
Tears Of The Kingdom’s Newspaper Questline And The State Of Hyrulean Journalism
Out October 24 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, and Windows PC, Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 1 has been stalked by controversy for months now, with questions about subpar performance on Nintendo Switch and a lack of bells and whistles on “next-gen” platforms like PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. The anthology features five main games—Metal Gear, Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake, Metal Gear Solid, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, and Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater—and includes the oddball Snake’s Revenge and the NES and Famicom ports of Metal Gear as bonuses.But now that it’s finally here, it’s hard not to be disappointed by how publisher Konami has gone about assembling it.
First up is the lack of a visual upgrade on new platforms, or parity with the original versions on Switch. As shared prior to release, Metal Gear Solid still only plays at 30fps across all versions (it was never remastered for 2011’s Metal Gear Solid HD Collection by Bluepoint Games). The Switch version of Metal Gear Solid 2 and 3 are also locked at 30fps (MGS2 originally ran at 60fps on PlayStation 2). All three games max out at 1080p as well, with no 4K resolution options for the stronger hardware versions.
Even without any big improvements, Konami notes that the launch versions still suffer from various bugs and performance issues it plans to patch sometime in the future. A full list of the shortcomings was provided to IGN. “Across Metal Gear Solid 1, 2, and 3, bug fixes are also planned, specifically on MGS2,” the site noted. “Konami warned the game may significantly slow down in certain cutscenes, which sounds worrying. A patch to reduce processing load is planned.” Visual options like CRT scanlines and the ability to switch between windowed and full-screen mode in the options menu in the two MSX games are also MIA at the moment.
There’s also the laggy pause button. Konami added the option to pause during cutscenes, a long-requested feature for the story-heavy stealth series. Footage from copies of the game that leaked early, however, showed that it can take up to 10 seconds for the game to register the pause after the button’s pressed, taking some of the shine off the new option. It’s still unclear if that’s intentional or will be patched down the road.
The Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 1 is, perhaps less surprisingly, encountering issues on PC as well. Initial Steam reviews are very mixed, with players complaining about unintuitive keybindings, poor UI, and a lack of aspect ratio options. “Take this with a grain of salt, the game literally just launched, but damn the video settings, button mapping, and poor UI/UX for the collection is pretty sour,” wrote one player. “I am sure it will improve over time, but yikes.”
Most galling for me personally are the games altogether missing from the physical Switch version of the collection. In North America at least, only Metal Gear, Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake, and Snake’s Revenge are actually on the game card. The three Metal Gear Solid games, which are the main ones advertised on the front of the box, must be downloaded separately. As someone who treats their Switch like a physical repository for retro remasters and re-issues, it’s frustrating to have to rely on an internet connection and a temporary online storefront to have access to all-time classics. It sounds like the Japanese physical release at least also includes the first Metal Gear Solid on the game card.
Many of the initial reviews for Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 1 have noted these shortcomings while still pointing out that at the end of the day these games still play great and remain some of the most profound meditations on geopolitics, war, and the military industrial complex the medium has ever produced. “I think it’s great that such a huge swathe of Metal Gear history is now readily available and easily playable on modern systems,” writes The Verge’s Jon Porter. “But there’s also a part of me that thinks Konami missed an opportunity to give Metal Gear Solid in particular a fresh coat of paint and update it for a modern audience.”
The video game industry is generally so bad at preserving its past I wish it would go all out when it decides to finally take the opportunity to repackage old games and sell them again. If that means charging more so be it. I’d gladly pay $100 for the definitive edition of all of these games. Maybe we’ll eventually get that one day. In the meantime I hope Konami’s planned post-launch updates give the collection some of the additional love it deserves.
Spider-Man 2’s New Web Wings Make It Feel Like A Proper Sequel
It’s not technically tofu per se, but that’s certainly what some players think it looks like. The strange bug sees a small cube you might associate with early development prototyping completely replace the titular superhero’s body. Spider-Block as some are calling it (me, I’m calling him that) can still do all the amazing things the neighborhood web-crawler normally does, like web-slinging through New York and comboing bad guys skyward. The weird glitch transforms the experience from cool comic book stuff to extra-surreal fever dream.
Social media is already full of players encountering the cube glitch:
Despite the bug’s prevalence, no one really seems to be sure exactly what causes it. The tofu slabs just appear any time either Peter Parker or Miles Morales’ suit model fails to load. Then it’s cube time. You can fix it by going back to the suit menu and swapping to a different costume. It’s smart to do that quickly, too, since there are reports of some cubed players falling through the map after their unexpected transfigurations. Perhaps therein lies a portal to the blockverse, but your best bet is just to reload from the last checkpoint if that happens.
Fortunately, my 40-hour experience with Spider-Man 2 was mostly bug free, though some players have reported game crashes or occasionally getting stuck on parts of the environment. A few players have even reported being unable to play the disc version of the game at all, with installations getting stuck at 36 percent. Insomniac Games hasn’t yet provided an official workaround, though the issue doesn’t seem to be too widespread. Hopefully it gets solved soon so those players can also experience the glory of Spider-Block.
Spider-Man 2, the highly anticipated sequel to Insomniac Games’ blockbuster 2018 action-adventure game, is out today, October 20. And though there’s plenty to be said about the impossibly fast fast-travel, the fantastic opening scene, and the story thus far, there’s one thing that I can’t get off my mind: Peter Parker’s muscles.
Spider-Man 2’s New Web Wings Make It Feel Like A Proper Sequel
When I played through Spider-Man 2’s opening scene, which frequently has Peter and Miles Morales fighting side-by-side, I noticed that the former seemed more beefed up than in the original game. And I’m not alone: The replies in my post on X (formerly Twitter) wondering if Peter got on that protein grind are full of people remarking on his physique.
The term “caked up” is being thrown around, and not just when he’s in that skin-tight suit. Even when he’s not wearing the Spider-Man costume, Peter boasts a neck so thick he looks like a WWE wrestler. There’s certainly at least the illusion of a buffed-up Peter, but is this just the result of the sequel being a PS5-only release, and therefore able to make the most of the current-gen consoles graphical rendering power?
Or perhaps Insomniac, knowing that there are more tag-team fights in the sequel, decided to make Peter a bit thicker so you could better delineate between him and Miles mid-battle. Maybe Peter, despite struggling to keep a job, clean his recently deceased Aunt’s house, and otherwise live a well-balanced life, decided to up his creatine intake and start meal-prepping some ground turkey and rice.
But speculation without proof is irresponsible, especially for a journalist. So I tried to prove that Peter Parker is more muscular in Spider-Man 2 than he is in the original game. I’m an amateur weight-lifter myself, and I can recognize when a lat spread looks decidedly more spread-y than previous versions. But that’s not enough—I asked other journalists who are experts in the field (“a real twink to twunk moment IMO,” said io9’s James Whitbrook, who noticed Peter’s neck and chest definition the most). I texted an ex who once chided me for not mixing creatine into my diet. I pored over a video comparing the visuals from the first and second games, lingering far too long on his gluteal fold. That last one helped me see the differences in Peter’s base costume (color changes, adjustments to patterns, etc.) as well as the slight changes to his body, which could be the result of him aging, spending more time as Spider-Man rather than Peter, or a new workout regimen.
Screenshot: Nick930 / Insomniac / Sony / Kotaku
Here’s what I noticed. His neck is definitely thicker, which could be the result of an increase in weighted shrugs (both dumbbell and Kirk) and/or weighted neck extensions. His lat spread, or latissimus dorsi (which covers the width of your middle and lower back), is definitely larger and more defined, likely the result of lat pull downs and/or pull-ups.
Peter Parker’s cupcake in Spider-Man 1 and his actual cake in Spider-Man 2.Screenshot: Nick930 / Insomniac / Sony / Kotaku
Most importantly, his butt and hamstrings are more defined and juicy, which could be thanks to Romanian deadlifts, sumo squats, and/or glute bridges. The fact that he’s a superhero likely contributes to him having a far easier time gaining and toning muscle than your average person—though you will definitely see some results if you start mixing the aforementioned workouts into your daily routine. You’re welcome.
I reached out to Insomniac Games for comment regarding Peter’s physique, but did not receive a response in time for publication. Despite this, I can say with some confidence that Spider-Man 2’s Peter Parker is a bit more of a beefcake than he was in the previous game. Case closed. I’ll await my Pulitzer.
Like Insomniac’s original Marvel’s Spider-Man, the studio’s new sequel, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, looks really good. It’s one of those games that just about anyone will look at and go “Wow, what a great-looking game!” But if you dig a bit deeper and compare the original 2018 Spider-Man and its 2023 PS5-exclusive sequel, you’ll discover an interesting mix of improvements and compromises.
The Week In Games: What’s Coming Out Beyond Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
In case you’ve been living under a rock,Spider-Man 2 (out on October 20) is the bigger, better follow-up to the critically acclaimed2018 game and 2020’s Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales. In his review, Kotaku’s Ethan Gach said that the latest Spider-Man sequel is as good as the previous games, adding that in many ways it’s “even better.” And I’m inclined to agree after playing Spider-Man 2for the past two weeks. The sequel is likewise visually impressive, and at first glance seems to be a complete improvement over the prior two. But in reality…well okay, yeah, it’s mostly an improvement. Yet when you directly compare old and new you can spot some cutbacks and tweaks Insomniac presumably made to ensure the sequel’s performance is silky smooth.
Nick930 / Insomniac / Sony
Thanks to a fantastic direct comparison video from Youtuber Nick930, we can see just how Spider-Man 2 improves on the already-impressive graphics of the first game.
For example, the sequel sees a huge increase in traffic density. Comparing the new game with 2018’s, it’s almost laughable how few cars can be spotted in the original. NYC looks like a ghost town.
Screenshot: Nick930 / Insomniac / Sony / Kotaku
Main character models and textures also see a nice bump in quality, and improved ray-traced reflections can be found throughout New York. Something I noticed when playing Spider-Man 2 is how buildings now reflect other buildings, which helps the city look more real and less like a movie set or video game world. The rivers in NYC have also been improved, with better reflections and more lifelike physics when objects like boats are seen interacting with the water.
Smart cutbacks and compromises
But on the flip side, the number of people you’ll see milling about in the city that never sleeps has been reduced, with some areas of the game being more devoid of pedestrians than I expected. As suggested by Nick930, this change was likely made as a result of Insomniac adding more variety to crowds, and for the most part, I never noticed this when playing.
Screenshot: Nick930 / Insomniac / Sony / Kotaku
Another example of some cutbacks is that very small details—soda cans in trash bins, newspapers lying on rooftops—aren’t as nice looking up close as they were in the original game. Similarly, the level of detail of the city seems reduced. So when you climb up a skyscraper and look out you’ll notice, on close inspection, objects like distant radio towers, AC units, or trees are missing or much lower quality than in Spider-Man 2018.
These changes were likely a result of the game increasing its map size to include Brooklyn and Queens, nearly doubling the playable space. At some point, to keep performance from dipping, it’s likely that things most players barely notice were tweaked so resources could be spent elsewhere.
Update 10/19/2023 7:08 p.m. ET: Video creator Nick930 just tweeted that Spider-Man 2 may have a bug wherein the engine’s level of detail system might be misbehaving when the game is installed on a secondary drive, resulting in lower-than-intended detail in certain visuals. Sounds like more investigation will be needed to nail down exactly what’s happening there.
These tweaks are a good thing
Overall, the main takeaway shouldn’t be that Spider-Man 2 is a visually inferior game to the first entry. In fact, most of the cutbacks and compromises spotted in the video were tweaks or changes I didn’t notice in my 30 or so hours playing the game on a fancy 4K 120Hz TV. Instead, it seems Insomniac went through Spider-Man 2 with a fine-tooth comb and subtle hand, trying to balance impressive visuals and responsive, consistent performance. I personally didn’t notice a single dropped frame.
Screenshot: Nick930 / Insomniac / Sony / Kotaku
In an era when it seems like every other big gamereleasedthese daysis launching in a dismal state, with numerous performance issues or game-breaking bugs, it’s nice to see a studio taking the time and effort to ensure its game arrives in a rock-solid state. I mean, one look at how snappy fast travel is in this game, and I’m sold on whatever minor, hard-to-spot tweaks had to be made to get this thing running so well.
Maybe some of these changes mean cups and soda cans in Spider-Man 2’strash bags don’t look as good as before. But if the tradeoff is I get a 60fps open-world Spider-Man game featuring two playable characters and hours of side content and RT reflections everywhere, I’ll live!
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If you plan on playing Spider-Man 2 and haven’t finished the first half-hour yet, you should go do that first.
Gif: Insomniac Games / Sony / Kotaku
Spider-Man 2 stars Peter Parker and Miles Morales, so naturally the first mission features both of them working together like a well-oiled superhero machine. Miles is a high school student and Peter is teaching his class. When dust starts coming in the windows and an emergency breaks out downtown, the two bounce out of the building and strip down to their uniforms as the game’s hip-hop theme (“Swing” by Atlanta-based duo EarthGang) plays.
Gif: Insomniac Games / Sony / Kotaku
The opening cleverly makes use of Spider-Man 2’s bigger New York City map, which adds t Queens and Brooklyn on the other side of the East River. The first thing Peter and Miles do is web-swing across the Brooklyn Bridge to get to Manhattan’s Financial District where another villain is once again on the loose. It’s immediately clear just how much more expansive the game looks and feels, with glistening skyscrapers in full view across the shimmering water.
Gif: Insomniac Games / Sony / Kotaku
The villain in question is none other than Sandman, probably my least favorite entry in the Spider-Man rogues gallery. His shoehorned inclusion in 2007’s chaotic Spider-Man 3 did little to help that. But there’s no origin story here, just Flint Marko transformed into a 40-story-tall sand monster rampaging through the Financial District. He’s massive, but not so massive the Spider-Men can’t web his eyes shut and punch him in the face. It’s absurd but immensely gratifying.
Gif: Insomniac Games / Sony / Kotaku
The initial slugfest is just the start. The fight also takes Peter and Miles inside a nearby building, battling armies of mini-Sandmen while they run through the halls saving civilians and scrambling to get to the water tank on the rooftop as everything around them breaks apart. It’s an incredibly elegant sequence of real-time action and quick-time cutscenes that’s visually stunning and feels seamlessly stitched together.
Gif: Insomniac Games / Sony / Kotaku
This intro alone, topped off with a final boss fight sequence that looks better than most Marvel movies, would be enough to make it one of the best setpieces ever in a first-party PlayStation game. But then there’s something Insomniac does just because it can: fling Miles halfway across Midtown and back again in a 20 second shot that never cuts.
Gif: Insomniac Games / Sony / Kotaku
The entire encounter feels like some of the best tricks from Uncharted and God of War blended into Insomniac’s unique spin on cinematic comic book choreography. It even uses the action-packed chain of events to introduce the web wings, Spider-Man 2‘s best new trick which lets Peter and Miles glide through the air like Batman.
Gif: Insomniac Games / Sony / Kotaku
The opening scene takes less than 20 minutes and succeeds at both reminding players how to play a Spider-Man game and proving why Spider-Man 2 is more than just more Spider-Man. Some games start with drawn-out conversations or extended cutscenes. Others have you rigidly go through a tutorial bogged down in explanations and button prompts. Spider-Man 2 is like getting dropped into a rocket that’s just started counting down to lift off. More games should do that.
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is almost here (or already out if you’re reading this after October 20) and you might want a refresher on the first game, from way back in 2018, before swinging back in and seeing what’s next for everyone’s favorite webhead.
The Week In Games: What’s Coming Out Beyond Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
Spider-Man 2 actually does include a short recap video before you start playing, and it’s worth watching. But that video leaves out some key details and moments from the first Spider-Man game’s DLC episodes, as well as theMiles Morales-focusedspin-off. Never fear, True Believers. I’ve taken the time to concisely (as much as possible) summarize everything that happened in the first game, all its DLC, and the PS5 launch title, Spider-Man: Miles Morales. Ready? Here we go!
Marvel’s Spider-Man (2018)
Spider-Man starts with a call to Peter Parker from NYPD Captain Yuri Watanabe to assist with the arrest of Wilson Fisk, aka Kingpin. Spider-Man—with a hyphen as explained by the superhero himself—joins in, helps the police capture Fisk, then quickly leaves to get back to work at his day job.
Peter Parker aka Spider-Man (don’t tell JJ Jameson) is revealed to work for Dr. Otto Octavius. In the comics and films, he’s known as the villain Doc Ock, and has giant mechanical arms. But this time around, Dr. Octavius isn’t evil and instead wants to help people, even if it doesn’t always pay the bills, which inspires Parker to be even better. Boy, I hope this lovely relationship between surrogate father and son doesn’t get ruined…
A few days later, after defeating C-tier villain Shocker, Spider-Man encounters Mary Jane Watson during a museum heist. But Parker and Watson aren’t dating or married in this version of the Marvel universe. Instead, they broke up before the game started and are now separated. And yeah, it’s kind of awkward.
digitalshot / Marvel / Sony
After working together to help foil the heist—though failing to stop the gang from stealing a folder with important info—MJ and Parker meet up at a favorite restaurant to chat about things. It goes about as well as you’d expect between two exes who haven’t talked in a bit. Later, after some police sirens bring their meeting to an abrupt end, Parker heads over to FEAST, a homeless shelter run by his Aunt May and created by Martin Li. During the heist, MJ grabbed a creepy mask worn by the gang members and Parker thinks Li—an art expert—can help shed some light on it. Li warns Parker the masks are used by a dangerous gang and that he should stay away. Li seems nice but actually…
Li is a powerful supervillain, Mr. Negative, and is running a gang called the Inner Demons—the same ones who robbed the museum and grabbed the folder. It turns out Li hates Norman Osborn, who is mayor of New York City. With Fisk gone, Li and his gang take over Kingpin’s turf and resources with plans to use them against Osborn and the city. Oh and also, guess who else hates Osborn? Dr. Otto Octavius. He holds a grudge against the mayor for betraying him and kicking him out of Oscorp after they founded the company together.
We also learn that Octavius is suffering from a disease that’s destroying his body. However, Peter helps the doctor work on mechanical prosthetics that can be controlled via neural implants. Regardless, the disease (and hatred) corrupt the doctor and soon he’s scheming to hurt Osborn and get his revenge. Anybody else in this city have problems with Osborn…?
Later, at a rally for Norman Osborn’s re-election, Li and the Inner Demons attack. Norman Osborn gets away, but Miles Morales’ father—a police officer who helped Spider-Man—isn’t so lucky, and perishes in a suicide bomber’s blast. Parker tries to connect with Morales, as he knows how he feels, and ultimately gets him to join FEAST. Oh, and during the attack on the rally, Peter Parker sees Martin Li turn into Mr. Negative.
At some point, while helping out at FEAST, the still grieving Miles Morales is bitten by a strange spider accidentally brought in by MJ after she sneaks into Osborn’s labs. Wonder if that means anything…
Santosx07 / Marvel / Sony
Following some investigating, Spider-Man and MJ discover that Martin Li has stolen a bioweapon, called the Devil’s Breath, that Osborn inadvertently created while searching for a universal cure for all diseases. (Wonder why he wants that…) Li and his demons then attempt to deploy it but are stopped by Spider-Man and MJ. He’s arrested and sent to the Raft, a super-secure prison. Meanwhile, Dr. Octavius goes full Doc Ock, building powerful mechanical arms and staging a prison break of the Raft, freeing classic Spider-Man villains including Rhino, Scorpion, Vulture, and the recently arrested Martin Li.
After almost dying while trying to stop all of the villains from escaping, Spider-Man is left drifting in the waters outside NYC. Meanwhile, Doc Ock goes to Times Square and releases the dangerous Devil’s Breath bioweapon into the air, causing any who come into contact with it to develop a deadly disease. But don’t worry, there is a cure! Bad news: Osborn has it and he’s hiding behind private mercs he hired to capture the Demons. These mercs are led by the badass Silver Sable. She… doesn’t like Spider-Man.
Later, Spidey is rescued by NYPD Captain Watanabe. He’s hurt, but he pushes through the pain and goes after the villains who are now causing chaos across an infected NYC. After cleaning up that mess, Spider-Man tracks down Martin Li, who has discovered Osborn’s location and is holding him hostage.
Spider-Man fights Li, but eventually convinces him to give up his need for revenge against Osborn, who in the past tested Devil’s Breath on Li, which gave him his powers, but also led to the deaths of his parents. However, at just that moment, Doc Ock shows up and overpowers Spider-Man, nearly killing him. Octavius then leaves with Osborn and the cure. Silver Sable, who at this point realizes that Spider-Man is good and Osborn sucks, helps bring Spider-Man to FEAST where he recovers for a bit.
Targa / Marvel / Sony
Once he’s feeling better and has built a new, tougher suit, he goes after Doc Ock. During the fight, Octavius reveals that he’s known about Peter’s secret identity for quite some time now, angering Peter as it means that the doctor has, essentially, been trying to kill him or at least let him get killed for days now. Rough stuff. Thanks to Peter’s new suit, he beats Doc Ock, who gets arrested, and brings the cure back to FEAST, where Aunt May is dying from exposure to Dragon’s Breath.
Because this is a Spider-Man story, Peter is forced to make a gut-wrenching choice. There is only one vial of the cure. He can use it to save Aunt May, but that’s it. Or he can give it to a scientist helping them who can, in a few days, turn it into a cure for everyone. Although Peter wants to save May, he knows he can’t. Before she dies, May reveals that she’s known Peter’s secret for a while. May also tells him how proud she is of him and reassures Peter about his choice to save the city over her. She then quietly dies next to Peter. And I cried.
In a mid-credits scene, we learn that Morales has developed Spider-Man-like powers and Peter Parker reveals his secret to the young teen. In a post-credits scene, Norman Osborn’s son and Parker’s best friend, Harry Osborn—who is said to be visiting Europe—is revealed to be in a coma inside a large medical tank. A strange black goo is wrapped around him, helping him fight a disease that killed his mom.
Marvel’s Spider-Man DLC (2019)
A few months have passed since the destruction of Fisk’s empire, and all the damage wrought by the Inner Demons and Dragon’s Breath. After all that, another power vacuum has formed in NYC and the Maggia crime families want to take over. MJ learns that a lost painting is currently on display and the Maggia crime family wants it. Spider-Man is alerted and stops them from stealing it; however, master thief Black Cat gets her hands on it and breaks it open to grab a secret data drive.
Spider-Man learns that Hammerhead, one of the five heads of the Maggia crime empire, has hired Black Cat to steal four data drives belonging to the other dons. Spidey tracks down Black Cat and confronts her about why she’s working with Hammerhead and what’s up with these drives. She won’t say what’s on the drives, but reveals that if she doesn’t do what Hammerhead wants, they will kill her son. Later, MJ discovers that long ago the families agreed to combine all their assets in one place to create peace. The ability to access these assets was split across five USB drives, and whoever gets them all can take everything and bankrupt the families.
Eventually, Spider-Man tracks down the last data drive, but Black Cat beats him there, and a chase ensues. When he finally catches her, he convinces her to let him help her break free of Hammerhead. The plan: Spidey will look for Black Cat’s son while she stalls the gangster. This leads to Black Cat learning about a massive vault Hammerhead recently bought, and she deduces that her son is being held in there.
With Spider-Man’s help, and after learning that Hammerhead has taken Sable merc weapons and tech from the NYPD after the Devil’s Breath crisis, Black Cat finds the vault. (Yes, Silver Sable’s mercenary company is called Sable.) But she leaves right as some goons show up. Once defeating them all, Spidey enters the vault and sees a briefcase inside that once held a USB drive.
Shirrako / Marvel / Sony
Black Cat then traps Spider-Man in the vault and reveals that she took Hammerhead’s own drive—contained in the secure vault—and gave the gang leader fake USB drives and kept them all for herself. Also, she lied about having a son to trick Spider-Man into helping her. She escapes, but Hammerhead soon learns of her deception and plants bombs in Black Cat’s penthouse, blowing it up and seemingly killing her in the process.
A few days pass and all-out war engulfs NYC as the Maggia families have united against Hammerhead’s goons. Spider-Man and Captain Watanabe help lead a SWAT team assault on one of Hammerhead’s bases to possibly capture him. But after getting split up, Yuri Watanabe and her team are ambushed by Hammerhead who kills everyone and nearly gets Watanabe before Spider-Man saves her. This deeply traumatizes the NYPD captain and she vows revenge.
Later, Spider-Man learns that Hammerhead is after “Project Olympus” and plans on capturing and killing the other Maggia family dons. Despite police trying to protect the family heads, Hammerhead captures them and brings them to a construction site to kill them.
Spider-Man shows up just in time to save them, but runs into Hammerhead who is now wearing a powerful suit of armor—revealing what “Project Olympus” was—and the two fight. Spider-Man wins (duh…) but Watanabe interferes and shoots Hammerhead dead. Or so everybody thinks, as we later see him revived and carried away by his goons.
A short while after all that, Spider-Man and MJ learn that Hammerhead is alive and in hiding. He’s trying to steal more Sable tech and this leads to Sliver Sable returning to stop him. She works with Spider-Man and they discover Hammerhead wants to meet her on top of a tower in NYC. She goes after him, even though Spidey warns it might be a trap. Spoilers: It’s a trap.
Spider-Man saves Silver Sable and they fight together to defeat Hammerhead’s goons. Eventually, Hammerhead himself shows up and is now a full-on cyborg thanks to more Sable tech he stole. He fights the Sable and Spidey, nearly winning. But Black Cat shows up and saves Spidey, while Hammerhead gets away with Silver Sable. Black Cat apologizes for all the deception and gives Spider-Man a data drive that will help him beat Hammerhead.
MrRedRivers / Marvel / Sony
Spider-Man tracks down Silver Sable, who is being held in the sewers. He saves her from being tortured and, using the data drive, they discover they must melt down Hammerhead’s steel head with a massive amount of heat to finally defeat him. Using a powerful Sable-tech laser, Spider-Man and Silver Sable break through his steel-plated head and they eventually defeat him.
In a post-credits scene, Miles Morales is seen training with Spider-Man, which takes us right into…
Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales (2020)
Set roughly a year later, Miles Morales opens with Peter and Miles working together as Spider-Men and fighting Rhino. During this fight, Miles Morales discovers he has a unique electricity-like power referred to as “Venom.” (Not to be confused with Venom, the character that is appearing in the sequel.) Anyway, Parker tells Morales that he is leaving with Mary Jane to help her with a news story in Symkaria, aka the homeland of Silver Sable.
Now alone, Miles Morales is protecting NYC by himself. To help the lone Spider-Man keep the city safe, Morales’ friend Ganke creates an app that lets people report crimes and strange events happening around New York City. Later, Morales has to stop a criminal gang known as the Underground from stealing a powerful prototype energy source, Nuform, from the Roxxon Energy Corporation.
While all this is happening, Mile Morales’ uncle, Aaron Davis, figures out his nephew is Spider-Man. He promises not to tell his mom and tells the young Spidey to call him if he ever needs help. He seems like a good dude!
Jekavac TV / Marvel / Sony
Shortly after all that, another big fight happens between Roxxon and the Underground. During this tussle, Spider-Man learns that the leader of the gang, a villain known as The Tinkerer, is actually none other than his childhood friend Phin. Cue the dramatic music! While trying to stop more Nuform from being stolen, Morales accidentally destroys it with his new Venom powers, and the citizens of New York grow upset with the new Spidey. But Morales does figure out another neat trick he can do: This Spider-Man can turn invisible.
After some investigating and punching, Miles learns that Phin, aka The Tinkerer, had a brother, Rick, who created Nuform while he worked at Roxxon. However, the powerful energy source made him sick. Phin and Rick work together to try and expose the truth about Nuform, that it’s dangerous and deadly, but Rick gets killed before the public can be warned. Phin, desperate and angry, works with Miles to help stop Roxxon and its CEO, and warn people about Nuform.
But wait, remember Uncle Aaron? Well, he is the Prowler, a dangerous villain who sometimes kills people for money. Boy, Miles Morales knows a lot of secret superheroes and supervillains.
At first, Prowler helps Miles infiltrate Roxxon to get revenge for Rick’s death and expose the truth about Nuform. But eventually, Prowler betrays Miles, capturing the younger Spider-Man and holding him for his own good, or so he believes. He explains that it’s best to let Roxxon and the Underground destroy themselves. But Miles disagrees, explaining that heroes don’t sit back while people get hurt. Spider-Man escapes using his powers and fights Prowler, beating up his uncle in the process.
Miles Morales then learns that Phin and the Underground’s plan to destroy the Roxxon building will also destroy most of Harlem. Wishing to save his neighborhood and stop Phin, Morales quickly goes after her and stops her just before it’s too late and convinces Phin that what she’s doing is wrong. She agrees and helps Miles stop the explosion.
Cinema Clips / Marvel / Sony
To do so, Morales uses his Venom abilities to absorb all the energy of the Nuform into his body and Phin flies him into the air high above the city, where he can detonate all that stored-up power safely. Miles Morales lives, but Phin doesn’t.
The incident puts a spotlight on Roxxon, its CEO, and Nuform. Roxxon ends up in hot water and its CEO is arrested. Aaron, inspired by his nephew, turns himself in as the Prowler and reveals to authorities that Roxxon hired him to do criminal acts. He testifies against Roxxon, helping seal the CEO’s fate.
Meanwhile, after he risked his life to save Harlem, NYC’s populace is back on Miles’ side. Peter Parker returns and the two Spider-Men catch up and get back to protecting New York City, together.
Finally, in a post-credits scene, we see Norman Osborn talking to Curt Connors aka the Lizard. They are discussing Harry Osborn, who is once again seen inside a tank covered in black goo. It seems he’s getting released soon…
Grand Theft Auto Online’s latest update unleashes ghosts across the world of Los Santos, letting players track down and photograph them for rewards. And one of these ghosts might look kinda familiar if you’ve played GTA IV’s Lost and the Damned DLC…
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Every October for years now, GTA Online has enjoyed an influx of spooky new game modes and creepy secrets to celebrate the Halloween season. Last time it was killer carsand aliens. This year, Rockstar has added 10 ghosts to the online crime sim and tasked players with photographing these haunting spirits. One of these phantoms is returning GTA character Johnny Klebitz, making real an old GTA urban legend.
GTA Series Videos / Rockstar Games
Fans have already figured out where and when all 10 ghosts appear, as seen in the video above. They’re spread out all around the large GTA Online map. Some appear in places you’d expect, like old cemeteries or abandoned homes. Others are chilling near waterfalls or inside trailers. The ghosts only appear during certain in-game hours, and players have to photograph them to “expose” them.
One of these ghosts is not like the others…
Once you’ve captured the first nine ghosts—who appear to be random, generic characters—on film, you can find a 10th and final ghost in Sandy Shores, north of Los Santos.
This 10th apparition, haunting a trailer park, is none other than the ghost of Johnny Klebbitz, the protagonist from Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and the Damned. And, spoilers for a 10-year-old game, Klebitz was beaten to death by GTA V protagonist Trevor Phillips in the opening hours of that game. In fact [lowering voice and putting a flashlight under chin] he was killed in the same spot where, a decade later in 2023, his ghost now lingers! According to players visiting Klebitz’s spirit, you can hear him yelling about Trevor before you snap a pic.
Seeing the ghost of a former GTA protagonist is a neat Easter egg by itself, but this is also Rockstar making real a previously debunked urban legend that after Klebitz was killed you could find his ghost hanging around the Sandy Shores trailer park. Although players claimed to hear his ghost yelling or found evidence of his spirit haunting the area, these were all lies and hoaxes spread online in the years following GTA V’s release.
After months of silence, vampire shooter Redfall is receiving its biggest update yet following a disastrous launch back in May. The second big patch will add the Game Pass multiplayer game’s long-awaited 60 frames-per-second mode on Xbox Series X/S, as well as a host of gameplay improvements and bug fixes.
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“Today’s update brings Performance Mode to Xbox Series X/S, stealth takedowns, a bevy of new controller settings, and a lot more changes to Redfall,” the development team wrote on Bethesda’s website. While the 60fps mode is the biggest addition, a raft of accessibility features and improvements to stealth gameplay and aiming sensitivity are also welcome changes. Whether it’s enough to begin addressing some of the deeper disappointment around Redfall’s lackluster enemy encounters and unfulfilling progression system remains to be seen.
Redfall was panned by many critics and players when it launched earlier this year. Expected to be the first-party blockbuster that would end Microsoft’s drought of console exclusives, it instead failed to live up to the months of marketing hype that preceded it. In addition to bugs, performance issues, and complaints about the core gameplay loop, it also launched on the “next-gen” Xbox Series X/S with a “next-gen” price tag of $70 but without the 60fps performance option that players on PC would have access to.
Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer apologized for the situation at the time, but a report by Bloomberg later revealed other issues underlying the game’s rough development. Made by Arkane, best known for immersive sims like Prey and Dishonored, Redfall was instead an online multiplayer game that at one point was planned to include microtransactions as part of a push by parent company ZeniMax into live-service monetization. While those features were stripped out, a lack of development resources and constant turnover reportedly made it hard for the studio to deliver on Redfall’s confusing blend of genres and gameplay mechanics.
Recently, Bethesda marketing head Pete Hines said in an interview that despite the harsh reception, Redfall wouldn’t be abandoned. Instead, he expected new players joining Game Pass a decade from now to give the game a shot and enjoy it thanks to ongoing post-launch support. With Cyberpunk 2077‘s recent 2.0 victory lap after a botched release, many are wondering if Redfall can pull of something similar, or if Microsoft will pour the money into it required to make that happen.
If it does, it will still have a big uphill battle to fight. The game only has a few dozen players on Steam at any given moment. Still, Redfall’s second update is a start.
Sony is preparing to sell a Spider-Man 2 PlayStation 5 bundle that will include a digital download for the game, presumably at a discount, as it ramps up plans to try and sell a record-breaking 25 million consoles this year. The company is already giving away free copies of older games to any players who activate a new PS5 in the next few weeks.
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The newSpider-Man 2 PS5 bundle was teased in an October 2 tweet. Sony confirmed to Kotaku it will be $560, the same as last year’s God of War Ragnarök PS5 bundle, saving new owners $10. The Spider-Man 2 version ships on October 20 alongside the launch of the game. Pre-orders aren’t yet live.
The sequel to the 2018 action adventure by Insomniac Games, Spider-Man 2 sees Peter Parker and Miles Morales team up together, complimenting one another’s abilities and trading off on the fly as they take on the hunter Kraven and the alien symbiote Venom. It’s one of the only first-party blockbusters that is a PS5 exclusive so far this console generation.
Sony revealed its intention to sell 25 million new PS5s this fiscal year back in April, telling investors in August it was prepared to take the “necessary measures” to make that happen. So far, that’s included discounting the old God of War Ragnarök bundle by an additional $50, and even giving away free downloads for critically acclaimed games like Horizon Forbidden West and The Last of Us Part 1. This “upgrade” promotion runs until 3:00 a.m. ET on October 21, meaning anyone who buys the Spider-Man 2 bundle could potentially get an additional game at no extra cost.
The new bundle is seperate from the special edition console that includes red and black face plates for the PS5. That went for $600 and is already sold out. Fortunately, Sony won’t be running out of Spider-Man 2 codes when it comes to the regular bundle.
Update 10/2/2023 5:05 p.m. ET: Sony confirmed the price in an email.
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is out soon and looking very good, with a ton of hype surrounding the PS5 exclusive open-world superhero game. But now, even years after Sony made clear it would be giving Spidey a new look, fans keep grumbling about the loss of Peter Parker’s old face, last seen in the original PlayStation 4 version of the first Spider-Man game. And Peter Parker actor Yuri Lowenthal has a message to those fans: Get over it.
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WhenMarvel’s Spider-Man, originally released on PS4 in 2018, made its leap to the next-gen PS5 in 2020, it came with a bunch of changes and graphical improvements. One of the changes that got the most headlines didn’t involve ray-traced reflections or 4K textures. Instead, a lot of people got very upset that developer Insomniac Games decided to change the face of Peter Parker, making the character look younger and more like Tom Holland in the process. Since then fans have been talking about it a lot. And Lowenthal is “tired of talking about it after all this time” and just wants fans to move on.
In an interview with ComicBook.com published Thursday, Lowenthal said that he got over the change as soon as Insomniac explained to him it would help improve Parker’s facial animation, telling the studio “I’m all in” after learning about why the change was being made.
PlayStation / Insomniac Games
“The performance was the same for me,” said Lowenthal. “I don’t care if he looks like a goblin, if my performance is better, then I’m in. I’m kind of tired of talking about it, to be honest, because I think everything that needs to be said has been said.”
The Spider-Man actor acknowledged that it will take longer for some fans and players to get comfortable with the face swap. And he also admitted that he understands some people will likely “never” reach that point. However, he does see one positive to all the backlash and continued demands for the original face to return.
“People connected emotionally so hard and so deeply in the first game that they’re mad when they feel that person changes,” said Lowenthal. “I can only be so mad about that because it worked—not the [face change]—but you connected with the character which is great.”
But the actor did have a final message for those still struggling with the new face of Peter Parker: “Now, get over it!”
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 launches on PS5 on October 20.
Part of the appeal of video game remasters and remakes is the prospect of playing an old game on better hardware that can, ostensibly, run it better than your old console did back in the day. That is the hope, at least. Unfortunately, not every “remaster” is an improvement over its source material—just ask the Grand Theft Auto Trilogy collection. Now, eyes are turning toward Konami’s upcoming Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 1., with fans hoping it doesn’t run into those same issues. On that front, today saw the emergence of one new slightly disappointing tidbit.
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The original 1998 PlayStation Metal Gear Solid ran at 30 frames per second, and Konami has now confirmed that will still be the case for the newly remastered edition launching in the Collection on October 24. News of this comes from a graph on the compilation’s official website, which says the first MGS adventure will run at 30fps on all platforms, while Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty and Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater will run at 60fps on all systems except for the Nintendo Switch.
To be clear, the original Metal Gear Solid ran at 30fps when it launched in 1998, but it being locked to that lower framerate across the board seems odd in 2023, especially when its sequels will apparently have some scaling depending on which platform you buy them on. (For reference, MGS2 originally ran at 60fps, while MGS3 was originally a 30fps game.)
Here’s the full rundown:
Screenshot: Konami / Kotaku
There’s been chatter about the games’ graphical resolutions as well. It’s a bummer to see that none of these games will run at 4K resolution, even on PC, PlayStation 5, or Xbox Series X/S. This lack of 4K support was confirmed back in August.
All of this comes ahead of Konami’s separate, upcoming Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater remake. That’s titled Metal Gear Solid Δ: Snake Eater, presumablyso the number doesn’t scare anyone off from playing the game. MGS3 was a prequel in any case, so you didn’t need to know everything going in to understand it.
Fans have long wanted Rockstar Games to release a next-gen patch or updated version of Red Dead Redemption 2 that would let the large game take advantage of the more powerful PS5 and Xbox Series X/S consoles. That’s not happened yet, even though many have speculated about it. And new documents reveal that even Microsoft was expecting a next-gen RDR 2 to be out by now.
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Released in 2018, Red Dead Redemption 2 is a massive open-world western and a prequel to the original, critically acclaimed Red Dead Redemption. When RDR 2 was first launched, there weren’t any next-gen machines out yet, so the game only came out on Xbox One, PS4, and PC. However, after Grand Theft Auto V and GTA Online received fancy next-gen upgrades in 2022, many assumed RDR 2 would get similarly improved ports. Five years after its initial launch, it still hasn’t happened, leaving many fans disappointed and frustrated.
In newly leaked documents and emails, it turns out the folks at Xbox were, like so many Rockstar fans, also expecting a next-gen update. In a document showing Summer 2022 emails between Xbox boss Phil Spencer and other execs about acquiring more games for the company’s subscription service, Game Pass, we see a chart that is basically a wishlist of potential games to add. And listed in that chart is an entry for RDR 2’s “gen 9” release.
Screenshot: Kotaku
According to Microsoft, the company expected Rockstar Games to launch this “gen 9” version of RDR2 in FY23Q2 aka between October and November of 2022. In the doc, Microsoft suggests that Rockstar and parent company Take-Two Interactive will want around $5 million a month to bring the next-gen version of RDR2 to Game Pass on day one. Further, it estimated around 10 million hours of the game would be played each month.
Based on the chart, Microsoft considered its chances to secure RDR2’s next-gen port as a day one Game Pass launch “very low” and listed its “Wow Factor” at medium. It also wasn’t sure if it would be able to get RDR2’s 2 PC port as part of the deal.
Of course, all of this planning and preparation was for nothing, as Red Dead Redemption 2 still doesn’t have a next-gen update or port. It’s a shame, as the game would look wonderful on the more powerful machines and would likely be able to run at 60fps, a big upgrade over the 30fps the game is currently locked to. Alas, it seems Rockstar is focused on the future and is busy developing the next entry in the Grand Theft Auto franchise, which we know quite a bit about thanks to a separate, different leak from last year.
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is just about a month away, as the PlayStation 5 sequel is set to launch on October 20. While both the original 2018 game and its 2020 spin-off sequel Miles Morales were also on PlayStation 4, Spider-Man 2 is being made exclusively for the PS5’s beefier tech. As such, developer Insomniac claims it’s been able to leverage the system to achieve ray tracing across the board regardless of what graphical performance setting you play on.
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In an interview with IGN, Insomniac Director of Core Technology Mike Fitzgerald and Project Director Jeannette Lee talked about the tech behind the upcoming open-world game. When the topic of ray tracing (realistic rendering of reflections, lighting, and shadows) came up, Fitzgerald explained that Spider-Man 2 will offer multiple framerate options (30, 40, and 60 frames per second). The 30fps mode will have better graphical fidelity, but if you trade some of that prettier image quality you’ll get a smoother framerate at 60. The 40fps option is for those of us with a 120Hz TV.
Regardless of which you pick, Fitzgerald says ray tracing will be on by default for each mode, and says this is thanks to the studio working with the PlayStation 5 long enough to understand the tech, having released three games on the system already between both prior Spider-Man games and Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart.
“For this game we’re really able to deliver [ray tracing] as a baseline performance mode,” Fitzgerald told IGN. “There’s no mode of this game that has the ray tracing turned off, no need for it. We’ve really figured out how to deliver what we feel like is the right Spider-Man visuals and we want to make sure every player is seeing that.”
That all sounds impressive, and if Insomniac is this good with the tech by now, I’m curious to see what its Wolverine game will look like whenever it comes out. But even before this, Insomniac’s games have been a pretty strong technical showcase for the PlayStation 5. Rift Apart’s portal tech was really wild to see, and supposedly needed the PS5’s solid-state drive to accomplish.
