Xbox One owners looking to save some money on games this week have a number of good options. That's because a new set of deals is now available on Xbox Live, dropping prices on digital titles from all genres. Read on for a peek at what's on sale between now and January 14.If competitive online gaming is your thing, you have some appealing options available. Battlefield V, one of the biggest shooters of recent months, is already on sale for half price, bringing it down to $30 / £30. Those who prefer melee combat over firearms can pick up For Honor for $10 / £8.25. And if a vehicular version of indoor soccer sounds like a good time, pick up Rocket League for $10 / £8.The recent launch of Darksiders III might have gotten you in the mood for some action-adventuring. Anyone who wants to catch up on the series can save money on every installment this week, with Darksiders Warmastered Edition down to $6 / £4.80, Darksiders II Deathinitive Edition on sale for $9 / £7.20, and Darksiders III discounted to $54 / £40.50 (just try to ignore the puns in those titles). Speaking of puns, you can pick up Red Faction: Guerrilla Re-Mars-tered right now for $12 / £9.60.Anyone who only wants to spend a small sum on games this week can grab a few fine titles on the cheap. The digital version of the card game Uno is down to $3 / £4. The colorful platformer Rayman Legends is only $5 / £6. And if you don't mind a challenge, Hollow Knight: Voidheart Edition is on sale for $9 / £7.50.You'll find more of our picks in the list below, or you can check out the full set of discounts here.Battlefield V -- $30 / £30Darksiders Warmastered Edition -- $6 / £4.80Darksiders II Deathinitive Edition -- $9 / £7.20Darksiders III -- $54 / £40.50FIFA 19 -- $24 / £30For Honor -- $10 / £8.25Guacamelee 2 (pre-order) -- $16 / £13.40Hollow Knight: Voidheart Edition -- $9 / £7.50Monopoly Plus -- $4.50 / £3.60NBA Live 19 -- $10 / £8.75NHL 19 -- $24 / £24Owlboy -- $15 / £12Rayman Legends -- $5 / £6Red Faction: Guerrilla Re-Mars-tered -- $12 / £9.60Rocket League -- $10 / £8South Park: The Fractured But Whole -- $15 / £12.50Uno -- $3 / £4Watch Dogs 2 -- $15 / £11Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap -- $10 / £8Info from Gamespot.com

Captain Marvel is the latest movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and it's set to hit theaters in March. Following the trailer that premiered earlier this week, we have a series of stylish new posters to promote the Dolby, IMAX, and 3D releases of the movieTwo of the posters are a variation on the same design, which shows Captain Marvel--aka Carol Danvers--blasting into the sky. The Dolby poster has a wartime propaganda feel, while the IMAX one takes a more cosmic approach. The 3D poster is a more regular design and shows star Brie Larson without the helmet she's wearing in the others. Check them out below:The movie is directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck. It also stars Samuel L. Jackson as SHIELD boss Nick Fury, plus Ben Mendelsohn (Star Wars: Rogue One), Jude Law (Sherlock Holmes), DeWanda Wise (She's Gotta Have It), and Gemma Chan (Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them). It hits theaters on March 8.In a recent interview with Collider, Larson spoke about headlining Marvel's first female hero-led movie. "I don't know how it's any different," she admitted. "To be honest, I don't want it to feel different. Kind of over the first female blah, blah, blah. And like, 'Wow, maybe women can actually do the same things that dudes can do. Like, what a crazy concept!' I feel like the more we talk about it, the more we perpetuate the myth that it's an impossible task. If it wasn't like that before it's because it was wrong. That was just wrong. Now we're just doing what's natural."Fans won't have to wait long to see more of the character after her debut movie, as Larson is set to play Captain Marvel again in April's Avengers: Endgame. The first trailer for the hugely anticipated follow-up to Avengers: Infinity War was released in December--check out our breakdown of the trailer here.Info from Gamespot.com

The latest weekly reset for Destiny 2 brings the new Niobe Labs content drop for The Black Armory expansion, but with it also comes another Ascendant Challenge. We've completed the Dreaming City's six-week cycle on Ascendant Challenges, which means that this week, we're back to the beginning. Here's where to go and what to do to complete the challenge.As always, the Ascendant Challenge starts out with acquiring the corresponding bounty from Petra in the Dreaming City. You'll also need a Tincture of Queensfoil, a consumable item you can earn by taking part in certain activities in the Dreaming City (or you can outright buy one). Once you have both the bounty and a Tincture, you'll head to a Lost Sector, Aphelion's Rest, which is located in The Strand, just beneath the area where Petra is sometimes found. Using a Tincture will grant you a buff, Ascendance, that allows you to see a Taken portal. This one is located partway through the Lost Sector, atop a hill--it's hard to miss if you've used your Tincture.Jumping into the portal takes you to the Ascendant Plane's Ouroborea. There, you'll have to explore the area to find four different blights. Enter the dome and destroy its core; you'll know you've done it when it disappears and the text "a seal breaks" pops up in the bottom-left corner. Once you've dealt with all the blights, you'll go back toward the center to destroy crystals (whose protective shield has been temporarily dropped). Just beware the knights who will chase you around as you do this--your best bet is to keep moving in a circle, which should let you destroy the crystals without allowing the knights to get too close.Although the chest is unlikely to have much in the way of worthwhile rewards, finishing the Ascendant Challenge also completes the bounty you picked up from Petra. That rewards you with a piece of Powerful gear that is highly desirable and can increase your level, making this all worth the trouble, provided you're capable of getting it done. With The Black Armory expansion in full swing, players are back to the gear grind to get to the new level cap of 650.Although this Ascendant Challenge is not a new one, there is a lot happening in Destiny 2 right now. Niobe Labs means the fourth of The Black Armory's new Forges to unlock, as well as a new step in the Mystery Box Exotic quest we've been tracking since the expansion released last month.There are actually five new Exotic weapons in The Black Armory to find, four of which we know about (and one of which we can take a guess at). There's also a lot more happening in January and beyond: Bungie laid out its content calendar for the rest of Year 2, which is pretty extensive.Info from Gamespot.com

Since its debut late last year, Fortnite: Battle Royale's X-4 Stormwing--the game's first flying vehicle--has been a source of complaints from many who feel it's overpowered. Now, with the release of the third and final content update of the 7.10 patch, Epic Games is making some changes to reduce its impact.Epic has approached this in a variety of ways, as outlined in 7.10's update #3 patch notes. Perhaps most notably, its spawn chance has been reduced--it's no longer a guaranteed 100%, instead appearing only 80% of the time.When you do encounter one, you'll receive significantly less knockback (down 70%) if a Stormwing collides with you. Meanwhile, when one hits a structure, it'll take 50% more damage. Additionally, its machine gun will now be less effective, with its spread increased by 75%.You can see the full list of Stormwing-specific changes in the patch notes excerpt below. Whether these changes are sufficient (or have even gone too far) remains to be seen, but many will likely be happy just to see Epic made some attempt to address the Stormwing's power.Besides these adjustments, the latest update introduces a new weapon, the Suppressed Sniper Rifle, which deals less damage but allows you to remain stealthy while using it. The patch also vaults the Six Shooter, meaning the weapon has been removed from the game for the time being, though it could always return in the future.All of this comes as the 14 Days of Fortnite event returns. While it was scheduled to have ended by now (and did come to a close), Epic miscommunicated the end date for the event, leading to frustration from some who missed out on the chance to complete its challenges and earn rewards.Fortnite 7.10 Patch - Content Update 3 Patch NotesStormwing ChangesThe knockback a player receives after being hit by a Stormwing has been decreased by 70%.Damage done to the Stormwing from colliding with structures has been increased by 50%.Impact damage reduction while boosting through structures reduced from 50% to 25%Increased the spread of the Stormwing machine gun by 75%.Stormwing spawn chance has been decreased to 80% from 100%.Info from Gamespot.com

Although Avengers: Infinity War was the most commercially successful superhero movie of 2018, DC's Aquaman has, in just a few weeks, become one of the biggest comic book movies of recent years. However, it seems Marvel boss Kevin Feige is totally cool with that.In a recent interview with MTV, Feige revealed that he was a DC fan and was happy about its success. "I went to see Aquaman last night and I really, really enjoyed it," he said. "I've always supported [DC movies]."In addition, Feige was asked about the fact that James Gunn, who was fired from Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, and is now working for DC. "I don't see a rivalry," he said. "I see cool films being made and one you thing you know about James Gunn, he makes cool films."Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 was set to start filming this year ahead of a 2020 release. However, Gunn's dismissal over offensive tweets he made a decade ago has led to the project being put on hold, and no replacement director has been announced so far. In October it was confirmed that Gunn is writing a Suicide Squad reboot for DC.To date, Aquaman has made more than $943 million worldwide, which makes it biggest movie in the current DC universe and third only to Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises in terms of the studio's superhero releases. There are several more DC movies in the works--Shazam! and the Joker prequel movie arrive this year, while Birds of Prey and Wonder Woman 1984 are set for release in 2020. Info from Gamespot.com

Fans of From Software and action-adventure games are likely salivating as we get closer to the launch of the studio's upcoming title, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. While the game looks to feature familiar From design, one crucial element is missing: online multiplayer. Now, in a feature published by Game Informer, the studio's explained why Sekiro won't have online multiplayer.From's marketing and communications manager, Yasuhiro Kitao, sat down with the publication to dive deep into the studio's upcoming action-adventure game. When asked why Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice won't have online multiplayer, Kitao explained it gives them the freedom to create worlds without worrying about how multiple players may interact."When creating these playspaces, we don't have to take into consideration how players will operate with one another in these maps, or how they may exploit the playspace by cooperating or something like this," Kitao said. "So it allows us, again, to hone in on the player experience, and really capitalize on that lack of restriction that comes with creating a multiplayer-based game, and let our imagination run wild in these places."While From is adamant about keeping Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice a single-player focused game, online multiplayer is something we could see from the studio again in the future. "Of course, we at From, we love those online elements," Kitao said. "We love to create our own characters just as much as everyone else. We hope players are looking forward to something in the future where we might go back to that, but for now, Sekiro is very much its own thing." The feature also revealed that, unlike the Souls games, Sekiro allows you to pause the action.Hidetaka Miyazaki, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice's director and FromSoftware's president, has confirmed that the game is "probably even more challenging than previous From games." Since the studio's games are notorious for being punishingly difficult, it can be assumed that the lack of online multiplayer will make the game even more challenging than Miyazaki told us back in June 2018.Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is scheduled to release on March 22, 2019 for PS4, Xbox One, and PC.Info from Gamespot.com

Tropico 6 will not be available on PC later this month, as previously announced. In a frank message, developer Kalypso Media Group's owner, Simon Hellwig, announced a delay for the upcoming strategy game, explaining that it isn't yet great."Over the holidays, I have played Tropico 6 for many hours and really liked what I saw," he said in an open letter on Kalypso's website. "But, in my humble opinion, it is not enough to like a game--I want to love it! And Tropico 6 is good, but not very good, or outstanding. Yet."Combining my own opinion and the response we had from thousands of dedicated beta players around the world, Kalypso has decided to postpone the release of the game for another couple of months to March 29, 2019."Hellwig said the extra time will be used to introduce more requests the developer has received from the community. "But we cannot do this overnight, and want to present the best possible Tropico experience to the fans of the franchise," he said. "Features like pathfinding, a challenging multiplayer and the comprehensive simulation not only of each individual Tropican, but of the whole economy, are already implemented well, but could benefit from more balancing, testing and enhancement to meet our very high quality standards for Tropico 6."Hellwig went on to apologize to fans, though he did offer some good news to make up for the delay. Those who pre-order the game by a deadline on January 10 through certain digital platforms (including Steam and Kalypso's own store) will get the game's first DLC pack for free. That content is due out sometime in the second quarter of 2019.Tropico 6 introduces some brand-new features to the series, such as the ability to play across archipelagos; you can even connect the various islands using bridges. As seen in a previous trailer, you can also steal well-known landmarks from around the world, such as the Eiffel Tower and Statue of Liberty. In addition to the PC release now coming in March, PS4 and Xbox One versions are on the way later in the year.Info from Gamespot.com

Destiny 2's latest weekly reset includes new content, and right now, pretty much every hardcore player in the Destiny community is trying to figure out how to access it. Teams are currently investigating a new location called Niobe Labs, where they're trying to solve an involved puzzle that requires having certain weapons to find hidden symbols, which players have to shoot in a particular order to activate.Niobe Labs is set to unlock the last new activity of The Black Armory, the latest Destiny 2 expansion. That's the Bergusia Forge, the fourth and final of the Forge areas where you can craft new, powerful weapons as part of the expansion. Over the last month since the expansion launched, the community has been uncovering and solving puzzles related to the Forges, each requiring a different weapon that's become available as each new Forge has been unlocked.With the release of Niobe Labs, it seems we're dealing with the culmination of all those puzzle-solving efforts, and teams are currently standing in the special room trying to figure out what exactly they have to do in it. On Twitter, Bungie said once one team figures out Niobe Labs, the Bergusia Forge will be unlocked for the rest of the player base--kind of like what happened when new content unlocked after the first successful completion of the Last Wish Raid in the Forsaken expansion late last year.You can access Niobe Labs and try to solve it yourself if you want, although unless you're following the progress of the rest of the Destiny community on streams and Reddit, you'll probably be wasting your time. The room is located in Earth's EDZ, in the Outskirts area.As you enter the Outskirts, head south past where the Forge Saboteurs sometimes spawn and cross the bridge toward Sojourner's Camp. Pass through the camp area (you'll have visited here during Destiny 2's original story campaign) and look for a broken metal bridge at the far end. You can cross that bridge to access a gorge, which will lead you to a cave through which you can pass to access the hidden facility beyond.Streamers like Teawrex, Datto, and Professor Broman are currently broadcasting attempts at solving the puzzle, and progress is being made, at least. You can also track the progress of the efforts on the Destiny 2 subreddit. For those of us who can't add our genius to figuring out the Black Armory's final brainteaser, watching and waiting is about all there is to do.Info from Gamespot.com

The holidays have come and gone, but Sony's PSN Holiday SaIe is still going strong. At long last, we've reached the fifth and final week of this promotion, which offers discounts on over 1,600 games, expansions, and digital items for PS4, PS3, and Vita (and PS Plus members get an extra discount on many of the items). So take a look at some of the best deals available. Just make sure to finalize your purchases before the discounts go away on January 15.So what's on sale? It might be easier to list what isn't, but let's look at some of the highlights. New discounts this week include $15 for Yakuza Kiwami, a remake of the first game in the series, which originally appeared on PS2 in 2006. And if you still have a PS Vita, you can grab what's arguably its best game, Persona 4 Golden, for just $10.Aside from that, you can get PS4 exclusives like Bloodborne for $7, Shadow of the Colossus for $14, and The Last Guardian for $11. Both Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection and Uncharted 4: A Thief's End can be scooped up for $16 each. Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, a standalone coda to the series that focuses on characters besides Nathan Drake, is down to $8. And for longtime PlayStation fans, each installment in the Jak trilogy is available for $6.Many third-party heavy hitters are on sale for fantastic prices as well. Grand Theft Auto V is down to its lowest-ever price at $15. Resident Evil 7: Biohazard is on sale for $18, and the content-rich game The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Complete Edition is $20. You can find a somewhat exhaustive list of our picks below, or you can head to the PlayStation Store to find a fully exhaustive list of every item on sale until January 15.Alienation -- $3Armello -- $6Bastion -- $3.75Batman: Arkham VR (PSVR required) -- $12Battle Chef Brigade Deluxe -- $12Battlefield 1 -- $4Battlezone Gold Edition (PSVR required) -- $8Beyond: Two Souls -- $12Bloodborne -- $7Bravo Team (PSVR required) -- $24Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons -- $6Burnout Paradise Remastered -- $6Conan Exiles -- $25Danganronpa 1-2 Reload -- $20Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony -- $36Darkest Dungeon -- $8.25Day of the Tentacle Remastered -- $4.50Deus Ex: Mankind Divided -- $4.50Dragon Age: Inquisition -- $10The Elder Scrolls Online -- $10Elite Dangerous -- $9Everybody's Golf -- $14Farpoint (PSVR required) -- $8God of War III Remastered -- $3Grand Theft Auto V -- $15Gravity Rush Remastered -- $9Gravity Rush 2 -- $12Guilty Gear Xrd Rev 2 -- $16Headlander -- $8Heavy Rain -- $12Heavy Rain & Beyond: Two Souls Collection -- $16Hello Neighbor -- $9Hitman Go: Definitive Edition -- $2Hollow Knight: Voidheart Edition -- $10Horizon Chase Turbo -- $13Infamous: First Light -- $7.50Infamous: Second Son -- $10Injustice 2: Legendary Edition -- $18The Inpatient (PSVR required) -- $12Inside -- $6The Jackbox Party Pack 4 -- $16Jak and Daxter: The Precursor's Legacy -- $6Jak II -- $6Jak 3 -- $6Journey: Collector's Edition -- $5Jurassic World Evolution -- $30Just Cause 3 -- $6Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes -- $7.50Knack -- $4Knack 2 -- $10Lara Croft Go -- $2.50The Last Guardian -- $11The Last of Us Remastered -- $16The Last of Us: Left Behind - Stand-Alone -- $4Life is Strange: Complete Season -- $4Life is Strange: Before the Storm Complete Season -- $5Limbo -- $2Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite -- $20Mass Effect Andromeda -- $7.50Minit -- $6.70Monster Hunter World -- $25Mortal Kombat XL -- $5Mr. Shifty -- $1.50The Mummy Demastered -- $13N++ -- $7.50Need for Speed -- $5Need for Speed Rivals -- $5Oddworld: New 'n Tasty -- $5The Order 1886 -- $3Outlast 2 -- $9Overcooked -- $4.25Overcooked 2 -- $17.50Owlboy -- $12.50Oxenfree -- $5Peggle 2 -- $3Persona 4 Golden (PS Vita) -- $10PlayStation VR Worlds (PSVR required) -- $4.50Psychonauts -- $2Pyre -- $8Rain World -- $8Ratchet & Clank -- $16Resident Evil 7: Biohazard -- $18Rise of the Tomb Raider: 20 Year Celebration -- $12Rogue Legacy -- $4.25Shadow of the Colossus -- $14Shantae: Half-Genie Hero -- $10Shantae and the Pirate's Curse -- $13The Sims 4 -- $10Sleeping Dogs: Definitive Edition -- $4.50South Park: The Fractured But Whole -- $18Spyro + Crash Remastered Game Bundle -- $49.50Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection -- $26Thief -- $3Thumper -- $6Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition -- $6Torn (PSVR required) -- $15Transistor -- $5Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection -- $16Uncharted 4: A Thief's End -- $16Uncharted: The Lost Legacy -- $8Unravel -- $8Unravel 2 -- $8Until Dawn: Rush of Blood (PSVR required) -- $4.50Virginia -- $3Wipeout Omega Collection -- $6The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Complete Edition -- $20WWE 2K19 -- $30Yakuza Kiwami -- $15Yoku's Island Express -- $10Yooka-Laylee -- $10Info from Gamespot.com

HBO's Game of Thrones prequel TV show still doesn't have a proper name, but its cast is getting bigger. The show, which will star Naomi Watts and Josh Whitehouse in leading roles, has added eight more names to its roster of stars.According to The Hollywood Reporter, the newly revealed cast includes Naomi Ackie (Star Wars: Episode IX), Toby Regbo (Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald), Denise Gough (Angels in America), Ivanno Jeremiah (Black Mirror), Jamie Campbell Bower (The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn), Georgie Henley (The Chronicles of Narnia), and Alex Sharp (To the Bone). Much like everything else about the series, all character details are a tightly held secret.What we do know is that the new show is set long before the events of Game of Thrones. A logline, per THR, reads "Only one thing is for sure: From the horrifying secrets of Westeros' history to the true origin of the White Walkers, the mysteries of the East to the Starks of legend--it's not the story we think we know."George R.R. Martin, who wrote the novels the franchise is based on, teased on his blog that the prequel would be called The Long Night. He later noted that HBO says a name has not been given to the series. In Game of Thrones lore, the Long Night refers to a time roughly 8,000 years before the events of the series during the Age of Heroes. It's during this time that the White Walkers make their first appearance in Westeros in the middle of a particularly brutal winter.Directing the pilot episode for the series will be SJ Clarkson, who is also signed on to helm the next Star Trek film. Clarkson has an impressive TV resume, that includes directing episodes of Orange Is the New Black, Jessica Jones, Bates Motel, and Dexter, among others.Jane Goldman, who wrote the pilot script and collaborated with Martin on the story, will serve as showrunner on the prequel. A production start date has yet to be revealed, though THR says more casting announcements should be announced at a later date. The final season of Game of Thrones will premiere in April. Info from Gamespot.com

Though Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is a From Software game through and through, the studio's making sure to separate the upcoming action-adventure game from its recent titles. One way it's doing so, aside from ditching online multiplayer, is modifying how character progression works. In a feature published by Game Informer, the studio detailed the way progression works and how it differs from other games like Bloodborne and the Dark Souls series.In Sekiro, you play as a shinobi dubbed The One-Armed Wolf. Because From has created an established character, there are no customization options in regards to changing class; players start the game with a sword and will likely end the game with a sword (though secondary equipment by way of the prosthetic arm may change). With this limitation in class customization, Sekiro will feature a skill tree that allows players to unlock new moves and abilities.Players kill enemies to gain experience and collect gold; in other recent From games, experience and currency were one in the same. After killing enemies, new levels are achieved upon filling an experience bar. Once players unlock skill trees by finding particular items within the game's world, players can invest those experience points in one of three skill trees shown to Game Informer: samurai arts, a traditional warrior archetype that favors power and aggression; shinobi arts, skills focused on evasive and crowd-control maneuvers; and the prosthetic arm.As noted by From's president, Hidetaka Miyazaki, during E3 2018, Sekiro is "probably even more challenging than previous From games." As such, death will likely come swift and often. However, unlike previous From games, Sekiro won't feature the infamous corpse run. Instead, experience and gold collected during that life will stay with the player upon either restarting or resurrection. While this may seem to be a strange departure for the masters of the masochistic action game, Miyazaki told Game Informer that "death will have a detrimental effect" but didn't divulge how or in what way.Though players can use experience points to upgrade attributes and spend gold to purchase items, improving The One-Armed Wolf's other stats require more exploration. Similar to The Legend of Zelda's heart pieces, Sekiro will have prayer beads scattered throughout the world--either hidden in rooms or on enemies and mini-bosses--that increase the protagonist's health. According to From, there may also be upgrade tools for the prosthetic arm and ways to build upon the game's resurrection mechanic.With the absence of online multiplayer and honing in on a single-player experience, From says this method of character progression allows it to fine-tune the depth of individual encounters. It also allows them to focus on character progression instead of just player progression "While you are a fixed shinobi protagonist, you do feel like there's a sense of progression, there's a sense of building your own character and finding your own playstyle, and experimenting with this throughout the game," Yasuhiro Kitao, From's manager of marketing and communications, told Game Informer.Sekiro is scheduled to launch on March 22, 2019.Info from Gamespot.com

Overwatch is launching a new update that packs in a limited-time event, with some special rewards for the taking. The event is based on the new short story Bastet, which Blizzard published recently. Ana's Bastet Challenge kicks off today, January 8, and will last through January 21.During the event dates, scoring wins will earn you special new cosmetics on top of your usual rewards. You can earn a player icon (win 3 games), a victory pose (win 6 games), and an epic Bastet Ana skin (win 9 games). On top of that, watching promoted Twitch streamers during the event can net you five Ana's Bastet Challenge sprays. Check out the official blog for more details.The update also includes skins for the Overwatch League. You can snag a Hero skin for the Atlanta Reign, Chengdu Hunters, Guangzhou Charge, Hangzhou Spark, Paris Eternal, Toronto Defiant, Vancouver Titans, and Washington Justice. You can get each one for 100 OWL tokens, which includes both the home and away outfits. The 2019 season will kick off on February 14.The Bastet short story also made waves in the fan community for confirming that Soldier 76 identifies as gay, due to a revealing dialogue exchange with Ana about a past relationship. This makes him the second queer character in Overwatch fiction, in addition to Tracer.Info from Gamespot.com

Sony Interactive Entertainment has acquired Audiokinetic, the creators of Wave Works Interactive Sound Engine (Wwise). Wwise is a piece of software specifically tailored for audio design in video games and other interactive media, and it's been used by dozens of both triple-A and indie developers in hundreds of games."A rich and all-encompassing audio experience is increasingly critical to the overall gameplay experience, further enhancing immersion and emotion for the player," said Sony Interactive president and CEO John Kodera. "Audiokinetic is a preeminent provider of audio solutions for the gaming industry, and we are confident that this acquisition will allow us to further grow the PlayStation platform and contribute to the broader gaming industry."The acquisition is expected to close by the end of January, but Audiokinectic will continue to operate on its own. "It's our goal to support Audiokinetic's efforts to advance its audio technology while maintaining independence and platform neutrality," Kodera said.Wwise has been used by developers for pretty much every system platform for the past two generations, including Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, Xbox One, PS4, Wii U, Switch, PC, and mobile devices. Games that have used Wwise include several mainline Assassin's Creed games, BioShock Infinite, Rocket League, Destiny, Firewatch, Alien Isolation, Monster Hunter World, Overwatch, PUBG, Nier: Automata, and many more.Sony's PS4 had a fairly good year in 2018. The console continues to support some of the best first-party exclusives on the market--some of which are on sale right now. However, Sony made a few missteps with the console as well. The company stubbornly refused to reverse its position on cross-platform play with Xbox One and Switch until finally relenting with the success of Fortnite. PlayStation Now's potential continues to remain unfulfilled, and PlayStation Classic pales in comparison to what Nintendo delivered with its NES and SNES Classic consoles. Sony's acquisition of Audiokinectic suggests the company is looking for new avenues to improve its products, which points to a more promising future for whatever comes after PS4.Info from Gamespot.com

At CES 2019, Samsung revealed a new TV that is irresponsibly large. The television comes in at 98 inches and 8K QLED resolution, giving it more than 33 million pixels. Those who want to play Red Dead Redemption 2 with horses that appear actual size, the new model will go on sale this year.However, it may prove a difficult sell. CNET reports that Samsung's line of 8K TVs offers upscaling, but for a TV that size you'd probably want native 8K. So far most programming isn't offered at such a high resolution.Last year Samsung released the first 85-inch 8K QLED TV, which goes for a cool $15,000. No price has been given for this new 98-inch model. Samsung says sales of TVs with screens above 75 inches have more than doubled in the United States over the past year.Samsung's super-sized TV is one type of showpiece for CES, as existing technologies get bigger and better. Meanwhile we're seeing a big uptick in the development of new technologies, including displays like VR headsets. We've also seen new announcements in gaming hardware like the Mad Box console and a slate of new gaming laptops from Nvidia. You can check our full coverage of CES 2019 for more details.Info from Gamespot.com

In June 2018, From Software announced that its upcoming Souls-like action RPG, titled Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, would not have online multiplayer. The developer has now further clarified that, because Sekiro lacks this feature, it will allow you to pause your game.With the exception of Dark Souls Remastered on Switch, no From Software Soulsborne game has allowed players to pause wherever they want since Demon Souls. For anyone who might think this will make Sekiro somehow easier in comparison to Dark Souls III or Bloodborne, don't worry. Sekiro is just as hard, if not much harder, than its predecessors. In an interview with Game Informer, From Software revealed that, without the option for online play, every environment and boss has been specifically catered to providing a challenging experience for a single person."When creating these playspaces, we don't have to take into consideration how players will operate with one another in these maps, or how they may exploit the playspace by cooperating or something like this," From Software marketing and communications manager Yasuhiro Kitao said. "So it allows us, again, to hone in on the player experience, and really capitalize on that lack of restriction that comes with creating a multiplayer-based game, and let our imagination run wild in these places."Just because Sekiro is abandoning the online features of previous Soulsborne games--such as leaving notes, teaming up with other players, and invading--doesn't mean From Software is done with them entirely. "Of course, we at From, we love those online elements," Kitao said. "We love to create our own characters just as much as everyone else. We hope players are looking forward to something in the future where we might go back to that, but for now, Sekiro is very much its own thing." From Software hasn't yet announced what the future past Sekiro might be, but the company has revealed that it is already working on two unannounced games. There's a chance that one might be an Armored Core sequel.Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice releases for Xbox One, PS4, and PC on March 22. The standard version of the game releases alongside a Collector's Edition, both of which are available for pre-order.Info from Gamespot.com