Microsoft's game-streaming service, which is currently called Project xCloud, has introduced even more games. New to the library today are titles like Destiny 2 and Halo: The Master Chief Collection, as well as the racing game Forza Motorsport 7 and the strategy title Civilization VI.You can see the full list of new additions below:Project xCloud New Additions For January 21Black Desert OnlineCivilization VIDestiny 2Forza Motorsport 7Halo: The Master Chief CollectionSparkliteSuperhotThe SurgeTracks: The Train Set GameThese nine games join the 90+ titles already available for the Project xCloud trial, which is currently only available in the US, UK, and Korea. Microsoft also confirmed today that the preview is expanding in Korea, with more players now receiving invites. However, there is no word yet as to when Project xCloud will roll out in other parts of the world.The first public preview for Project xCloud launches in October 2019. The service allows players to stream Xbox games from the cloud to their mobile device over Wifi or a mobile network without the need to own an Xbox. The program currently only supports Android devices.Project xCloud is separate from Microsoft's Xbox console streaming program which allows players to stream games from their home console to their mobile device.Info from Gamespot.com

The Netflix show The Witcher has proven to be incredibly popular. The streaming network announced in its latest earnings report today that The Witcher has been viewed by 76 million households through its first four weeks.Based on that momentum, The Witcher is on track to become Netflix's "biggest season one TV series ever." It's not clear what Netflix means by "biggest," however. At the end of 2019, Netflix announced that The Witcher was one of the most popular shows or movies on the network, but this is the first time Netflix is disclosing viewership statistics.The 76 million number is huge, but it also might not necessarily reflect how many people have watched The Witcher in earnest. Netflix now counts a viewer when someone watches a TV show or movie for at least 2 minutes. Previously, Netflix counted a viewer as an account that watched at least 70 percent of a movie or a single TV show episode.The new data-reporting system means viewership figures are now about 35 percent higher on average than before. This means The Witcher's 76 million viewers would be around 49.4 million. Whatever the case, it's clear The Witcher is off to a very good start on Netflix.Lauren Hissrich, the showrunner for The Witcher, responded to the Season 1 viewership news by thanking her cast and crew. "I could not ask for a better gift for this tremendous cast and crew," she said.The Witcher Season 2 is expected to premiere on Netflix in 2021, and Hissrich has teased that it will more "more linear" following criticisms about the Season 1 timeline. The success of the show helped propel The Witcher 3 to its biggest day ever, while the publisher of the book series from Andrzej Sapkowski ordered 500,000 more copies to meet demand.Info from Gamespot.com

SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom - Rehydrated has set a release date. The date wasn't announced by publisher THQ Nordic, but was revealed by a Nintendo infographic about their 2020 line-up. This date presumably applies to all versions of the game, as it's also coming to PS4, Xbox One, and PC.The date makes a lot of sense--it's also when the next SpongeBob SquarePants movie, Sponge on the Run, is due to release. The film features CGI animation, so the game and the movie will look very similar.The original Battle for Bikini Bottom released on PS2, Xbox, and GameCube in 2003 (the PC and GBA games were distinctly different.) Rehydrated is a remake, and while the game did not receive stellar reviews it became a cult classic, and is popular among speedrunning communities. This remake will feature new multiplayer modes, as well as content cut from the original game. It has also received a complete visual overhaul. SpongeBob's history with games stretches back to the Game Boy Color (Legend of the Lost Spatula) and the original PlayStation (SuperSponge). The most recent SpongeBob game was SpongeBob HeroPants for 3DS, Vita, and Xbox 360 in 2015. The license is owned, as it was in the PS2 days, by the reformed THQ Nordic. Info from Gamespot.com

The upcoming PS4-exclusive Ghost of Tsushima is one of the biggest games coming in 2020, and while we won't be able to play it until later this year, you can grab a free PS4 dynamic theme right now. Developer Sucker Punch tweeted a series of region-specific codes that will grant you the atmospheric and beautiful theme that can be seen in the tweet below. However, you better act fast, as the codes are only valid until January 31.Each code applies to a specific region, which means you'll have to use the correct one for where you live. If you want to redeem the code on PC or mobile devices, all you have to do is go to the PlayStation Store website, click your account's avatar, select "Redeem Codes," and then put in your code. However, if you'd like to do this on a PS4, then go to the PlayStation Store and choose the Redeem Codes option on the navigation bar on the left. Once that's done, you'll have a brand-spankin' new dynamic theme for your PS4.Americas: BEFB-AMNR-R4F6Europe/AU/NZ/Russia/Middle East/Africa/India: 38BE-G6N8-L93AJapan: N4TK-59NH-2LH3Korea: EM56-NTNC-EHX8Rest of Asia: DHLN-HANF-F6LHHere’s a free #GhostOfTsushima PS4 Dynamic Theme 🍂Americas: BEFB-AMNR-R4F6Europe/AU/NZ/Russia/Middle East/Africa/India: 38BE-G6N8-L93AJapan: N4TK-59NH-2LH3Korea: EM56-NTNC-EHX8Rest of Asia: DHLN-HANF-F6LHCodes expire Jan 31, 2020. Redeem region-specific code on PS Store. pic.twitter.com/3uhAZepBr1 — Ghost of Tsushima 🎮 Summer 2020 (@SuckerPunchProd) December 23, 2019Ghost of Tsushima releases on PS4 this summer. It's Sucker Punch Productions' first game since Infamous: First Light, which released all the way back on August 26, 2014. If you're interested in learning more about the upcoming PS4 exclusive, including insight on its combat, story, and historical accuracy, then we have everything you need to know about Ghost of Tsushima.Info from Gamespot.com

Production on the first Disney+ MCU TV show, The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, is well underway and, naturally, as filming progresses so do the "leaked" photos of characters on set courtesy of fans lucky enough to catch a glimpse of the action as it unfolds. That's exactly how we've received our first real look at Wyatt Russell's new MCU character, John Walker--AKA US Agent.Wyatt Russel as John Walker/Captain America/US Agent in Falcon and the Winter Soldier!! pic.twitter.com/ALfeqOWy8d — Thomas Polito (@thomas_polito) January 21, 2020If your immediate reaction to Walker's look is "wait, isn't that just a new Captain America suit?" Don't worry--you're not alone. Fans on social media are eagerly pointing out the similarities between Walker's patriotic uniform and the many costumes worn by Steve Rogers across the MCU's phases 1 through 3. But these overlaps aren't a coincidence and they're certainly not an accident. In fact, Walker looking like a knock off Steve Rogers happens to be the entire point of his character.No, really. That's it. That's John Walker in a nutshell. Let me explain.Originally called Super-Patriot, John Walker was introduced back in the mid '80s with a pretty simple purpose: He was, first and foremost, meant to be a supervillain that could exemplify the darker side of patriotism against Steve Rogers' heroism--someone who believed that Steve, and by extension Captain America, was espousing all the wrong values in American society. Walker thought Steve was "outdated" and wanted to replace him, even going as far as to manufacture fake crises that he could act on to earn himself media attention. Getting the press on his side was one of Walker's biggest goals and something he actually had a ton of success in (the public being tricked into believing that Captain America actually sucked was a fairly common recurring theme in his ongoing comic, especially through the '60s and '70s). By the end of Walker's first story arc, he had the media in the palm of his hand and Steve both blackballed by the public and physically on the ropes.Naturally, this whole fiasco culminated (at least indirectly--Steve being threatened with a major tax fraud case by the government was also part of it--don't ask) into another common, recurring theme in Captain America comics: Steve Rogers becoming completely disillusioned with both the government and his mantle and deciding to give it all up and reinvent himself. He quit being Captain America, turned over the shield, and created a new identity for himself: The Captain. He also grew a beard and fought a bear. It was a very exciting time.But of course, simply handing the shield and the costume back to the government didn't put an end to them. This was before Steve's identity as Captain America was publicly known, so inventing a new Captain America was as easy as handing the suit and the shield over to someone else. This is where media darling John Walker got his chance, adopting the mantle as the new Captain America while Steve was off living as a renegade hero.But, of course, it all went very, very wrong not long after--who could have guessed that a radically patriotic supervillain would eventually make an extremely bad Captain America?Naturally, Walker was eventually sent in to try and stop The Captain, a fight that resulted in Steve exposing Walker for the monster he was and returning to his proper station. Stripped of his title, Walker was forced to do some real soul searching before he eventually took on the name US Agent and adopted a modified version of the costume Steve wore as The Captain because apparently he's genuinely never had an original thought in his life.Obviously, Walker's story can't play out exactly the way it did in the comics in The Falcon And The Winter Soldier. For one thing, Steve is off the table thanks to Avengers: Endgame--but that doesn't mean the themes of the story will change much. Judging by the set photos, we can assume Walker's government-sponsored status is going to be in full effect, but instead of being sent after bear-punching vigilante Steve Rogers, he's likely going to be aiming for Bucky Barnes and Sam Wilson, the two men directly in the running to pick up the Captain America mantle in Steve's wake. But the idea of the government trying to promote a patriotic superhero that they can keep on a very short leash certainly doesn't need to change--after all, Steve Rogers made a pretty spectacular point of burning his bridges back during Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War, so it's only natural that Walker come into play in one way or another. But regardless--looking like a "knock off Captain America" is exactly what he's supposed to be.The Falcon And The Winter Soldier hits Disney+ in the Fall of this year.Info from Gamespot.com

Gears of War boss Rod Fergusson has spoken about the importance of inclusive game design and diversity in the workplace. During his keynote address as PAX South, Fergusson said he was inspired by the Stephen Frost quote, "Unless you consciously include, you will unconsciously exclude.""We had to find a way to welcome new players and create an on-board for them. The way we really focused on doing that was through inclusive design," Fergusson explained.The veteran game developer said his perspective as a straight white man limits his ability to create games that appeal to people from all different walks of life and social circles."If you live within your own tower, and your own insular base--I'm a straight white old male--my social circles and my demographics and all the people I reach could potentially be limited, or if not limited, biased in some ways," he said. "If I don't consciously make the decision to break out of that idea and go and talk to other people and hire people who are diverse to bring new opinions and new ideas and grow--if you don't do that intentionally, then you are going to accidentally leave people out."Over the years, Fergusson said the Gears of War franchise has done more to "lean in" to further inclusivity and diversity. He acknowledged that the franchise is known for being macho--it features giant men and huge guns, after all--though he said he is proud of the steps the studio has taken to make games that appeal to more people. The latest entry, Gears 5, features the Kait Diaz in the lead role; it's the first female protagonist in the series.The newest episode of GameSpot's Audio Logs features Fergusson speaking about, among other things, inclusive game design. Check it out in the video embed above. Fergusson's talk at PAX South was wide-ranging. He also touched on his time working on BioShock Infinite, while he also recalled leaving 2K over "creative differences."The next Gears game coming up is Gears Tactics, which is a turn-based strategy game for Xbox One and PC made by Splash Damage. No new entries in the mainline series have been announced, but given Gears 5 was such a huge success, a sequel is likely in the works.Info from Gamespot.com

Temtem, a new PC MMO that is clearly inspired by Pokemon, has just launched in Early Access on Steam. The game, which costs $35, lets you catch, train, and battle with your Temtem, and explore the world alongside other players.It's a good proposition for PC players who want a Pokemon-style game, or even players who were disappointed with Pokemon Sword/Shield, which it's currently cheaper than. That might not remain the game forever, though, as developer Crema has suggested that the game's price will rise in the future, before it has left Early Access.On the game's Steam page, a developer Q&A states that the game is about 50% complete right now, and will take about 20 hours to play through. The final product will be much bigger, but people buying the game now are paying less than customers will have to pay for later versions of the game."We believe in giving advantages to our early supporters, so the current Early Access price will be raised gradually as we ship new content and features," it says. It's unclear when this might happen, or how high the price would go, but if you're interested in the game it might be worth picking it up sooner rather than later.In her hands-on preview, Kallie Plagge said that the game is an interesting twist on what we've seen before from the Pokemon series. Info from Gamespot.com

Telltale's The Walking Dead is over, but it's still found a way to rise from the dead. Following the collapse of Telltale Games, their full catalog disappeared from Steam, and when the final season of The Walking Dead eventually wrapped up, it was an Epic Store exclusive on PC. Meanwhile, on Switch, the first and fourth seasons were available to buy, but seasons 2 and 3 were not.Now, all of that is changing. Skybound Games, the studio now in charge of the Walking Dead IP, has announced that the games are returning to Steam on January 22, and that seasons 2 and 3 are finally available on Switch.TT The Walking Dead Fans! Two good pieces of news for this Twosday:1) S2 and S3 of TT TWD are now in the Nintendo Switch eShop! Play through all 4 seasons on the go! https://t.co/aGKr0AoXBQ2) All 4 seasons will be back on Steam....tomorrow! https://t.co/tRB6VCCVJY — Skybound Games (@skyboundgames) January 21, 2020The seasons on Switch retail for $15 each. It's now possible to play through the entire Telltale Games Walking Dead saga on the handheld console--minus the Michonne spin-off, which has not been announced for the console. You'll be able to do the same on Steam soon, although the wording of the tweet above does not make it clear if Michonne will return there, either.Telltale Games has itself been reborn, and has started work on The Wolf Among Us 2. The first Wolf Among Us game is available on Steam, too.Info from Gamespot.com

It's a good time to be a Half-Life fan. All of the Half-Life games are currently free on Steam, and a brand-new entry in the series, Half-Life: Alyx, is releasing in March. There are still many unanswered questions about the VR-only PC game, and Valve plans to answer (at least some) of those questions very soon.Valve has now announced it will hold an AMA on Reddit for Half-Life: Alyx this Wednesday, January 22, beginning at 9 AM PT. The developer is asking fans to submit "all your burning questions" about Half-Life: Alyx, and it may answer "some" of them. Check back with GameSpot around then, as we'll collect some of the most interesting and noteworthy responses.The Half-Life: Alyx team will be doing an AMA on https://t.co/y6aHejwwHE tomorrow at 9am Pacific Time. Come prepared with all your burning questions about the game's development, because we'll be there to answer some of them. pic.twitter.com/qN3BCn7OPC — Valve (@valvesoftware) January 21, 2020Half-Life: Alyx is exclusive to VR, but it will work with any major PC VR headset you may have. The game is compatible with the Valve Index, Oculus Rift, Oculus Quest (with Link), HTC Vive headsets, and Windows Mixed Reality headsets. You can pre-order it on Steam for $54 USD.As for the freebie offer, you can currently grab all seven of the main Half-Life instalments right now on Steam for the low, low price of $0.00. Click through the links below to get going. The games are free to play until Half-Life: Alyx releases. Half-LifeHalf-Life: Opposing ForceHalf-Life: Blue ShiftHalf-Life: SourceHalf-Life 2Half-Life 2: Episode OneHalf-Life 2: Episode TwoInfo from Gamespot.com

Killer Queen Black has received a major new update, and it's brought some big changes with it. By far the biggest is the addition of local eight-player support on both PC and Switch, meaning that if you get eight people in a room they can all play the game together.Patch 1.60, called the Hydra Update, also fixes bugs, shifts some UI elements, and adds a new Streamer mode, among other changes. Here's the full list of changes.Eight-player local support for PC and consoleRegion selection on SwitchCustom (online) and local matches can be started by a single playerBots can fill out local and custom matchesTeams in local and custom matches can now be automatically shuffledStreamer mode: Choose which names to display in-game and in menusMap pools now skew towards more variety and fewer repeatsVarious bug fixes and UI improvementsThe press release for this update also contained a roadmap, showing their plans for the game's immediate future.The game is currently discounted down to $10 on the Switch eShop, Steam, and the Humble Store to celebrate the update. It will come to Xbox One at some point, and will be available on Xbox Game Pass.Info from Gamespot.com

Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood was a huge movie, earning 10 nominations at the 2020 Academy Awards and grossing over $373 million worldwide. Now, in an interview with critic Peter Travers on YouTube, Tarantino has talked about his process working on the film, and what inspired the film's narrative.(Warning: some spoilers for the movie follow.)Tarantino recalls the slow process of writing Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, and says that when he initially started work, it didn't take form as a movie script right away. "I wasn't in a hurry to sit down and write a movie script," he says. "Even my very first couple of years writing on it, I wrote it as a novel, or at least a couple of chapters as a novel, in a exploratory way."An opening scene between Leonardo DiCaprio and Al Pacino was initially written in the style of a one-act play. These were exploratory writing activities, Tarantino explains; he never seriously intended to write the whole piece as a book.Tarantino says that the movie really started to coalesce when an older actor on a movie he was directing (he does not give specifics) approached him about their own stunt double, who they'd been working with for nine years. The actor approached Tarantino and asked if they could maybe use the stunt double for a scene they were shooting soon, for the sake of giving the stunt double something to do in the movie.On the day in question, the stunt double showed up and did a great job. Tarantino says that as the day went on, he observed the relationship between the actor and their stunt double. "You could tell that there was a time where this guy was a perfect double for the actor," Tarantino recalls. "Perfect. I mean, you could have shot close-ups with the stunt guy, and they would have passed. This time...was not that time."Instead, there was an air of melancholy to the pair, Tarantino recalls.: "this was maybe the last or second-to-last thing they'd be doing together."Tarantino says that as he watched the two actors, who were both dressed in the same costume, have a discussion, he could "see the whole nine years of their relationship," knowing that this is the tail end of it. He thought about what this friendship would look like, when "one is working for the other". The stunt person, he thought, is the one person the actor always knows on every movie set, as they might find themselves working with actors or directors they don't know. "Wow...that's an interesting relationship," he thought.Tarantino also talks in the interview about Sharon Tate, and how he thinks she has been, historically, "reduced to an extra in her own story" because of the brutality and cultural impact of her murder. He talks about how audiences, when they think about Sharon Tate, are mostly just going to think about her murder at the hands of the Manson family--before they've seen the film, at least. "I think the perception of Sharon has changed...now people think of her as more than just a murder victim."He also addresses controversy around how few lines Margot Robbie's Sharon Tate has in his film. "The fact that people would think that a character is denoted by the level of dialogue that they have...that is a situation where I just don't agree with that hypothesis."The director also addresses his impending apparent retirement from film-making after his next movie. "I haven't retired, so the idea of me talking about the aesthetics of my retirement before I've retired is kind of obnoxious...But I guess I do believe that directing is a young man's game," he says, saying that he'd like to work more as a writer. "My modus operandi is facing a pile of blank paper, where there was nothing before, and filling those blank pages," he says.Tarantino would like to "lean a little more into the literary," he says, and become more of a homebody following the impending birth of his first child. However, he also acknowledges that he's not entirely sure what he'll do next.Tarantino was attached to direct a new Star Trek movie until recently, but it looks like that film won't be happening now. Tarantino also intends to direct the five episodes of Bounty Law he wrote for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.Info from Gamespot.com

Confederate, the controversial HBO show from the minds of Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, has been officially canceled. HBO programming boss Casey Bloys confirmed this to TVLine.Confederate was to take place in an alternate reality and depict the ramifications of a Confederate victory during the American Civil War. It would have been set in a version of America where slavery had not been abolished.Back in 2017, the show's announcement sparked some controversy, with many arguing that Weiss and Benioff were not the right pair to tackle this subject matter. In May 2019, Bloys said that the show was not a priority, and when Weiss and Benioff signed their new deal with Netflix, it looked like Confederate was done for. Weiss and Benioff are now being paid $200 million to work with Netflix on new TV shows and movies. Confederate was not the only project to get the axe following their deal with Netflix, as the pair also walked away from a new trilogy of Star Wars movies.In other HBO programming news, it was recently confirmed that Watchmen is unlikely to get a second season after showrunner Damon Lindelof announced he is stepping away. Info from Gamespot.com

The first beta test for Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary's release on PC is coming up soon. Developer 343 Industries announced in a blog post (via Windows Central) that the first public test--or "flight" in the Halo vernacular--will begin in February.You can sign up for the Halo Insider program for a chance to get into the testing phase.Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary is the second title within Halo: The Master Chief Collection that's coming to PC and other digital stores, following Halo: Reach at the end of 2019.Microsoft is looking to test various elements of Halo: Combat Evolved, including the campaign (both solo and co-op), as well as multiplayer and its progression system.In addition to launching the first Halo on PC, this next testing phase will include updates and improvements for Halo: Reach that Microsoft is testing before rolling out publicly. One of the updates is a feature that allows players to crouch while moving, which is supported on both mouse and keyboard and controller.Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary for PC will cost $10 USD on its own or $40 USD through The Master Chief Collection. A release date for Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary's final version for PC hasn't been announced yet. The remaining titles in the package--Halo 2 Anniversary, Halo 3, Halo 3: ODST, and Halo 4--will release later. They will also be tested first through the Halo Insider program before launching publicly for everyone.Part of the reason why Microsoft is being so thorough and extensive with its testing is because Halo: The Master Chief Collection got off to a horrible start on Xbox One back in 2014, and the company doesn't want to repeat those same mistakes. It's also worth noting that Halo: The Master Chief Collection is in a very good places these days with active player populations and ongoing support and updates.2020 is a very big year for the Halo brand, as 343's other internal team is working on Halo: Infinite for release across Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and PC later this year.Info from Gamespot.com

The Xbox Adaptive Controller has been an important step for making games more accessible, but it's had an obvious downside--it's only compatible with Xbox. However, one man has found a way to change this, customizing an Xbox Adaptive Controller to work on Switch for his daughter.Rory Steel, head of the Digital Jersey Academy, tweeted out a video of his daughter playing The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild on Switch using a heavily customized Xbox Adaptive Controller. There's a lot of cables involved, and he says that this is only the first version, with further iterations to come. But it all works, and his daughter is clearly very pleased.Finished! Ava gives my homemade #accessibility controller V1.0 the thumbs up. She can play @Nintendo #BreathoftheWild on her #switch like her friends now. All thanks to @Microsoft 🙌 #adaptiveController #XAC @brycej @ArranDyslexia @shanselman pic.twitter.com/dOhGnUFZa0 — Rory Steel (@JerseyITGuy) January 19, 2020Xbox boss Phil Spencer has shared the tweet as well, calling it "incredible." Steel posted an in-progress photo earlier, too, showing how much wire work was involved. He completed the project in a single weekend.The #1 quality of a digital professional... Patience... Making inroads with the aid of coffee! The controller project is on target for this afternoon. #accessibility @Nintendo #switch @Microsoft #adaptiveController pic.twitter.com/U5z1xjzROe — Rory Steel (@JerseyITGuy) January 19, 2020Microsoft said back at E3 2018 that it would love to see the controller working on PS4 and Switch, and while official support has not come, it looks like it's technically possible on Switch at least.Info from Gamespot.com

Guilty Gear Strive has been confirmed for PlayStation 4, but if you're in Japan, you'll also have the option of playing it in an arcade. The arcade release of the game was reported on Arc System Works' website, and was picked up on and translated by Gematsu.While it's possible that the cabinets will make their way outside of the country, they're bound to be rare--arcades are still fairly common in Tokyo and other areas of Japan. For most players, the PlayStation 4 version will remain the most accessible.A new trailer for Faust, a returning character first seen in the game's name announcement trailer, has also been revealed. You can watch it below.A demo of the arcade version will be playable at Japan Amusement Expo 2020 in February; otherwise, a closed beta of the game is coming later this year, although details have not been announced yet.The new Guilty Gear has been described by the game's general director as "a full-frontal confrontation with the essence of the fighting game genre."Info from Gamespot.com