Activision Blizzard recently made the surprising decision to merge Vicarious Visions--the studio behind Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2--into Blizzard to support other projects. One of those projects is, at least reportedly, a Diablo 2 remake while others at Blizzard continue working on Diablo 4.According to Bloomberg, issues with the development of Warcraft III: Reforged made Blizzard reconsider the teams it had developing games moving forward, with its classic games "Team 1" being pulled off the project and replaced by a division that is also handling Diablo 4. Among the developers also working on that project includes the Vicarious Visions team. It's the second time a Tony Hawk developer has been absorbed into another studio, with Neversoft joining Infinity Ward in 2014.That Diablo 2 remake hasn't been formally announced by Blizzard, but it could be a stopgap release to make the wait for Diablo 4 a little easier. What won't be easy is dealing with the studio behind one of 2020's best games getting pulled off its own projects to assist with it. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2 not only managed to replicate what made the original games great, such as the level design and sound, but also delivered a core skating experience that felt like it was made today. Nearly every song from the original two games was kept for the remake, as well. This includes the legendary "Superman" by Goldfinger. Unfortuantely, doing everything they could wasn't enough to be greenlit for another game. Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

[UPDATE] Microsoft pulled a 180 overnight and announced that it is reversing its planned Xbox Live Gold price increase. The subscription will NOT get more expensive, and free-to-play games are getting unlocked for everyone to play for free without a subscription. In the end, things are actually cheaper overall than before. Sometimes customers' feedback is heeded!According to industry analyst Daniel Ahmad, the decision to make free-to-play multiplayer truly free was "in the works for months," and the response to the news of the price increase was just a catalyst for announcing it. But this doesn't change the focus Microsoft is going to continue putting on Game Pass.The F2P announcement has been in the works for months and that announcement was dropped today to help offset the backlash from the original price increase announcement. Microsoft will continue its focus on Game Pass moving forward, and its acquisition of IP for the service. — Daniel Ahmad (@ZhugeEX) January 23, 2021Here is Microsoft's statement:Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Comedian Dave Chappelle has tested positive for COVID-19, according to The New York Times. Chappelle was set for a weekend of shows with comedian-podcaster Joe Rogan in Austin, Texas at the Stubbs Waller Creek Amphitheater, but the shows have now been canceled."Dave Chappelle is quarantined after testing positive for COVID-19," a rep for the comedian said in a statement. "Chappelle has safely conducted socially-distanced shows in Ohio since June 2020 and he moved those shows to Austin during the winter. Chappelle implemented COVID-19 protocols which included rapid testing for the audience and daily testing for himself and his team. His diligent testing enabled him to immediately respond by quarantining, thus mitigating the spread of the virus. Chappelle is asymptomatic."Rogan took to Instagram to address the news, apologize, and also clarify that Chappelle did not get COVID-19 from Elon Musk and his partner singer Grimes--they were all photographed together not wearing masks, also on Instagram, earlier this week.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Resident Evil Re:verse was revealed during this week's Resident Evil Village showcase, acting as a multiplayer accompaniment to the campaign. Something doesn't seem quite right with the scale of the shooter action, however, and it might be down to the characters themselves.Some fans have started noticing that the sizes of the in-game models used for characters like Leon Kennedy and Claire Redfield seem much smaller than usual, especially when viewed in reused spaces such as the police station from the Resident Evil 2 remake. Resident Evil is usually designed with tight corridors and small spaces to create tension, so it's possible this had to be changed in some way to accommodate for more frantic gunplay.Capcom hasn't confirmed one way or the other, but it seems like the character models have been shrunk down to allow for this space while not making drastic changes to the maps, many of which are likely being reused in some way. Critic Alex Donaldson shared a screenshot from the game's trailer that shows this in effect.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

A team was removed from the Twitch Rivals $250,000 Call of Duty: Warzone Doritos Bowl championship after it was ruled that they had been cheating.Streamer Metzy_B was accused of cheating by several other players, including 100 Thieves' Tom "Tommey" Trewren. When looking at Metzy_B's gameplay, Trewren said that the other streamer had to have been using some kind of cheat to lock onto other players, as it looked like his aim had "locked onto the guy by accident."After reviewing the clip in question, along with others from his previous streams, Metzy_B and his team were removed by Twitch. On broadcast, the reason given for the ban was that the gameplay from the clips was "unnatural beyond a reasonable doubt."Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Eli Roth's History of Horror has been greenlit for Season 3. The documentary series is produced by AMC and hosted by Roth, who is best known for directing movies like Hostel and Death Wish.As reported by Deadline, Eli Roth's History of Horror Season 3 will once more explore different sub-genres and themes and feature interviews with a wide range of figures from the genre. The episode titles for the new season include 'Sinister Psychics,' 'Infections,' 'Mad Scientists,' 'Apocalyptic Horror,' 'Sequels That Don't Suck,' and 'Holiday Horror.'In a statement, Roth said, "I'm beyond thrilled to continue this incredible deep dive into horror history with all of these legends, rising stars, and fans. I'm so thankful to all those who have to come together to celebrate and catalog the genre we love in a show that will play for generations to come. We've had the most amazing discussions, and so many older films are being rediscovered through the show and its accompanying podcast. We want to make Season 3 our deepest and darkest yet."Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Newegg is selling six-month subscriptions for Xbox Live Gold for $33 today only with promo code EMCEHSH46. Normally, this wouldn't be a notable deal, but due to the newly announced changes to Xbox Live Gold pricing, you can convert that subscription to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate at no extra charge. Xbox Game Pass Ultimate normally costs $90 for six months, so this is quite the deal. That said, not everyone can take advantage of this offer. Xbox Live Gold: 6 Months $33 with promo code EMCEHSH46 See at Newegg Current Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers will not be able to convert at a 1:1 rate. Instead, the six-month subscription will be bumped down a couple a couple of months during the conversion, which doesn't really make this a good deal for existing Game Pass Ultimate subscribers. For those with Xbox Live Gold or no subscription at all, this is an excellent deal. Alternatively, you could purchase a 12-month subscription to Xbox Live Gold for $60 and convert it to a year of Game Pass Ultimate.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

The Pokemon Company is implementing stricter measures to deal with cheaters in Pokemon Sword and Shield. The company released a statement in Pokemon Home addressing the issue and outlining some of the ways in which it plans to penalize those who alter game data or use hacked Pokemon."We are aware that some users are playing Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield, as well as using Pokemon Home, with altered data," the statement begins. "Additionally, certain users have been causing issues that impair the function of games or apps or that cause problems for others."The statement goes on to list the measures The Pokemon Company will take against users suspected of using altered data, including banning them from online play in Sword and Shield and preventing them from using Pokemon Home's trading features. The company says it may even suspend hackers' Pokemon Home access entirely on both Switch and mobile devices.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Microsoft has been given the green light on a new patent that allows the company to revive dead people by turning their digital and real-life footprints into artificial intelligence chatbots.According to the patent--which was filed on December 1, 2020--the tech allows Microsoft to cull "images, voice data, social media posts, electronic messages, and more personal information" to create a digital profile of someone to build a chatbot of them. While the most obvious application is "to make a chatbot using the personal information of deceased people," the patent notes that it could also "correspond to a past or present entity (or a version thereof), such as a friend, a relative, an acquaintance, a celebrity, a fictional character, a historical figure, a random entity, etc." The tech could even be used to create an AI chatbot of onself.The patent goes on to say that "living users could train a digital replacement in the event of their death." Should it come to fruition, Microsoft will basically allow people to live forever in cyberspace.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

GameStop's first Pro Day sale of 2021 is kicking off this Saturday, January 23, offering PowerUp Rewards Pro members the chance to save on games, accessories, and collectibles. As usual, the sale will run for a full 24 hours, and only Pro members who are signed into their account will be able to take advantage of the online deals. The Pro Day deals will also be available in stores.The new Pro Day sale brings discounts on games for Nintendo Switch, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PS4, and Xbox One. There are some nice deals, but for many of these games, it's worth noting we've seen them cheaper in recent months than they are in the Pro Day sale. That includes Cyberpunk 2077, which will be $40 for Pro members on Saturday but was $30 as recently as this week. (We don't recommend buying Cyberpunk 2077 for last-gen consoles anyway unless you're holding out for the next-gen upgrade.) Persona 5 Royal sees a drop to $40 as well, and while we highly recommend the acclaimed JRPG, you'll likely find it cheaper in other sales if you're willing to wait--it was just $20 during Black Friday.The sale also offers first-party Nintendo Switch games for $50 instead of their usual $60. While this would have been notable in years past, $40-$45 is increasingly becoming the standard discount range for games like Super Mario Party, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. Just check out Walmart or Best Buy right now, for instance, and you'll find some of these games for less than $50.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Entei is making an encore appearance in Pokemon Go very soon. To coincide with the Johto Celebration event, the Legendary Fire Pokemon is returning to five-star Raids beginning January 26. If you're looking to add the Legendary to your collection, here are some tips to help you beat and catch Entei before it leaves the game again.Entei Raid ScheduleEntei will return to five-star Raid Battles starting at 10 AM local time on January 26, and it'll be available until the same time on January 31, giving you only a few days to catch it. Since Raids don't follow a set schedule, these battles can occur at any point during the day, but you'll receive a notification within the game before a Raid begins at a nearby Gym.EnteiTo participate in an Entei Raid, you'll need to have either a Raid Pass (to join in-person) or a Remote Raid Pass (to join remotely). Both can be purchased through Pokemon Go's in-game shop. You can also receive one free Raid Pass by spinning the Photo Disc at a Gym, but you can only hold one of these free passes at a time.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Hitman 3's second mission, set in Dartmoor, has the usual objective: Find a way to assassinate a particular target without anyone knowing. But it also carries a secondary requirement for Agent 47, asking you to locate a case file about Arthur Edwards, Hitman 3's primary antagonist. Getting that file requires as intricate a solution as taking out an assassination target, but you can't complete Dartmoor without it.Luckily, there are multiple ways to snag the Case File in Dartmoor, so you have plenty of options. Here's a rundown of all the ways you can find the Case File in Dartmoor and what you'll need to do to get it.Be sure to check out the rest of our Hitman 3 coverage, including our Hitman 3 review, complete guides on finding all the Dartmoor murdery mystery clues and murder mystery solutions, and guides for the rest of Hitman 3's missions, as well.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

The developers of the popular Euro Truck Simulator series have apologized for comments the studio made in a press release about the COVID-19 vaccine.The Czech studio issued a press release on Friday about its "Hauling Hope" in-game campaign that is raising awareness for COVID-19 vaccine distribution. So it took some by surprise to see a line in the release that stated, "We do not take a stand neither for or against vaccines."The studio has now explained what happened. This was a "f**k up," according to a developer at SCS Software; it was a mistake driven by a language and translation barrier, the studio explained to The Gamer.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

This week's episode of GameSpot After Dark is all about Hitman 3 and Resident Evil. The former is the big release for January and both Jake and Jean-Luc are playing it. IO Interactives third, and supposedly final, entry in the World of Assassination story has been received well and the gang discuss why it's so good. Of course, the big news for the week comes from Capcom's Resident Evil Showcase, which offered us an in-depth look at Resident Evil Village gameplay, as well as other upcoming Resident Evil experiences such as the new multiplayer game called RE:Verse and a crossover with The Division 2. Jake, Kallie, Tamoor, and Jean-Luc recap all the biggest news from the event and offer their opinions on everything. Below you'll find all the necessary links to find the show on iTunes, Spotify, SoundCloud, and Google Play. We've also included an RSS link so you can put that into your podcast app of choice. Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

The third movie in the Kingsman franchise, The King's Man, has been bumped from a March 12 release date to August 20 this year. The move was reported by The Hollywood Reporter, and this film alone is one of many that has had multiple delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic--when it was first announced in 2020, it was expected in theaters September 18 of that year.Despite being the third movie, it's actually a prequel set decades before the first two movies in the Kingsman series, and as such, it doesn't feature star Taron Egerton. It explores the origins of the franchise's secretive spy organization. Check out the film's official trailer below. Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com