Microsoft's head of Xbox said he's "evaluating all aspects of our relationship with Activision Blizzard and making ongoing proactive adjustments," in light of the recent revelations at the video game publisher. From a report: In an email to staff seen by Bloomberg News, Phil Spencer said he and the gaming leadership team are "disturbed and deeply troubled by the horrific events and actions" at Activision Blizzard. He referred to the Wall Street Journal story earlier this week that said Chief Executive Officer Bobby Kotick knew of sexual harassment at the company for years and that he mistreated women.

"This type of behavior has no place in our industry," Spencer wrote. He joins a swell of outcry from employees to investors and shareholders in demanding a stronger response from the U.S.'s second-biggest gaming publisher. On Wednesday, Sony Group's PlayStation Chief Jim Ryan sent a similar note to staff, writing that he and his leadership were "disheartened and frankly stunned to read" that Activision "has not done enough to address a deep-seated culture of discrimination and harassment."

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Axios: Microsoft's vice president of gaming, Phil Spencer, wants the gaming industry to work toward a common goal of keeping older games available to modern audiences through emulation, he tells Axios. Emulation allows modern hardware to simulate the functions of older hardware and run game files, or executables. "My hope (and I think I have to present it that way as of now) is as an industry we'd work on legal emulation that allowed modern hardware to run any (within reason) older executable allowing someone to play any game," he wrote in a direct message. Microsoft's newer consoles -- the Xbox Series and Xbox One -- run huge libraries of older Xbox 360 and original Xbox games using this technique.

Emulators are most commonly used worldwide by fans, preservationists and pirates. They run games from the original Nintendo era to more recent PlayStations, but there is no consistent use of them by the industry. [...] An official industry emulation approach would require long-term online support to offer game files and to possibly check if the user has the right to access them. Spencer, whose own platform has some of these issues, still sees a path forward. "I think in the end, if we said, 'Hey, anybody should be able to buy any game, or own any game and continue to play,' that seems like a great North Star for us as an industry."

Following a limited test in September, Microsoft has begun rolling out cloud gaming support to additional Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S consoles. Engadget reports: While the feature is still in beta, it's now available to select Xbox console owners in 25 markets. Over the coming weeks, the company plans to scale the service to all Xbox systems in those regions. As before, you'll need a Game Pass Ultimate subscription to use the service, but it's no longer necessary to take part in the Alpha Skip-Ahead and Alpha Insider programs.

Microsoft envisions a handful of scenarios where the ability to stream a game will be helpful. To start, it's a way for people to try a Game Pass title without downloading it first. In much the same way, it also allows you to jump into a multiplayer game with your friends, even if you don't have that title installed. Lastly, for Xbox One owners, it's a chance to play Xbox Series X/S titles like The Medium and The Riftbreaker.

Microsoft has confirmed that x64 emulation will no longer be offered in future Windows 10 Insider Preview builds (or release builds). Paul Thurrott reports: "We have received questions about the status of x64 emulation in Windows 10," a Microsoft spokesperson told me. "Microsoft wants to share an update that x64 emulation for Windows is only generally available in Windows 11. For those interested in experiencing x64 emulation, a PC running Windows 11 on Arm is required. Microsoft is committed to supporting customers on Windows 10 on Arm through October 14, 2025."

Microsoft announced the availability of x64 emulation in Windows 10 on ARM in the Windows Insider Program last December, before Windows 11 existed, but the original post has now been updated to note that this support is only available in Windows 11 on ARM. "x64 emulation for Windows is now generally available in Windows 11," Microsoft says. "For those interested in experiencing this, a PC running Windows 11 on Arm is required." And let's get real here. Windows on ARM won't be viable until Qualcomm ships its next-generation Nuvia-based chipsets for PCs anyway. And today, the firm revealed that that won't happen until the end of 2023 at the very earliest.

During the Xbox 20th anniversary event today, Microsoft announced it'll be adding a total of 76 games to the Xbox backward compatibility program. The company also said "Halo Infinite," the latest edition of the best-selling Xbox alien-shooter game, will be available starting today for multiplayer gaming. Engadget reports: Every title Microsoft is adding today will support Auto HDR on Xbox Series X and Series S consoles. You'll also see an increase in resolution when playing original Xbox games. The Xbox Series X and Xbox One X will render those titles at four times their native resolution, while the Xbox Series S will do so at three times and Xbox One S and Xbox One at double. Additionally, 11 titles will support FPS Boost. The feature increases the framerate of a game up to 60 frames per second. 26 titles that were already a part of the backward compatibility library will now support FPS Boost as well. Included in that list are Fallout: New Vegas, The Elder Scrolls IV, Dragon Age: Origins and Dead Space 2. Some of the newly added backward compatible games include the entire Max Payne series and F.E.A.R. franchise, as well as Skate 2 and Star Wars: Jedi Knight II. Microsoft notes that this is the final update for the initiative.

"While we continue to stay focused on preserving and enhancing the art form of games, we have reached the limit of our ability to bring new games to the catalog from the past due to licensing, legal and technical constraints," Xbox Compatibility Program Lead Peggy Lo said.

Microsoft said "Halo Infinite," the latest edition of the best-selling Xbox alien-shooter game, will be available starting Nov. 15 for multiplayer gaming. From a report: The company, celebrating the 20th anniversary of the release of the original Xbox console and the first Halo game, said the first season of the game's multiplayer mode will begin Monday with a public test version on personal computers and consoles.

Nvidia's "GeForce Now" cloud gaming service has been quietly capping the frame rates for a handful of 12 specific games on certain tiers "to ensure consistent performance," reports the Verge.

"Nvidia says the vast majority of games run at 60fps, but not these 12." Nvidia's GeForce Now cloud gaming service just leapfrogged Google Stadia in performance, with a new $200-a-year tier that practically gives you the power of an RTX 3080 desktop graphics card in the cloud. But if you're grandfathered into the original $4.99 a month "Founders" tier, or pay $100 a year for "Priority" access, you may not be getting quite what you expected...

Nvidia now has an official support page (via 9to5Google) explaining the practice, after Redditors and others revealed that a variety of games were locked to frame rates lower than 60fps. It appears that Nvidia's been doing this for quite a while but only for a handful of demanding games. I did a little searching, and some people were already complaining about being locked to 45fps in Cyberpunk 2077 in December 2020, just as Nvidia admits here.

Assassin's Creed Odyssey and Immortals Fenyx Rising are the other games that have sub-50fps frame rates, while others run a bit higher.
"For our Priority Members, the maximum frames rendered per second is generally set to 60, or higher, for most of the 1,100+ games we've onboarded so far," NVIDIA explains on its official support page. "There are some exceptions that we determined do not run well enough at 60 FPS on the GPUs used by Priority members. So the default OPS for these specific graphics-intensive games cannot be overridden.

"This is to ensure all Priority members are running a consistent, high-quality experience."

Kotaku reports: Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy — Definitive Edition was released on November 11 on all major platforms including the Switch. However, for folks who bought the game on PC, they've been unable to play the game since just shortly after it was released. Now three days later, [PC] fans are still unable to access the game they bought days ago with no update from Rockstar on when the GTA Trilogy will become playable again.

The remastered Grand Theft Auto trilogy has had a very, very rocky launch, with players across all platforms reporting various graphical bugs, gameplay glitches, and other annoying changes and tweaks to the classic PS2-era games. But while players on Xbox One or PS5 or Switch are dealing with annoying bugs and odd visual problems, players on PC are left unable to play any of the games included in the collection.
In a review Screen Rant writes that all three games "look better here than they ever have before." But... The visual improvements don't discount the fact that there are a lot of things missing in Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy — Definitive Edition, including basic functions like the series' iconic cinematic camera mode which premiered in GTA 3. Gone also from GTA 3 is the top-down camera angle which was added in to please players coming over from GTA 2. Both of these camera angles were also missing in previous re-releases of GTA 3, but not including them in what is called the Definitive Edition feels like a mistake.
On the plus side, they write that "Some new but fun inclusions also make returning to Liberty City, Vice City, and San Andreas enjoyable, like San Andreas' updated bridge facts or the new cheat which lets players turn on Big Head Mode in all GTA Trilogy games if they enter the Konami code. The ability to instantly restart missions after being killed, busted, or otherwise failing is also much appreciated."

But Eurogamer reports that unhappy fans are now review-bombing the newly-released game on Metacritic: At the time of writing, the trilogy has 2000+ user reviews on the aggregate site. Of the 2054 reviews recorded by PC users on Metacritic, the combined score is a miserable 0.5. It peaks at 1.0 for PS5 players, but otherwise, most other platforms boast a similarly low score...

"This is it! This is the end of Rockstar, this is just too much," opines one particularly unhappy Xbox One customer, who has the highest number of "helpful" points.... "This so-called definitive edition is one of the most pathetic remasters of all time, especially considering how amazing Rockstar used to be. They were the top. They were the best there ever was. They showed other developers what can be done. I just can't believe that the end of Rockstar would be like this..."

Rockstar is now being inundated with refund requests as the Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy — The Definitive Edition backlash intensifies.
Oh, and one more thing. IGN reports that the game also appears to contain files for the infamous deleted sex mini-game "Hot Coffee."

Amazon employee Dustin Mitchell is also a metal guitarist in Texas who decided to name his band "Doomscroll," reports Kotaku — and in February Mitchell tried trademarking Doomscroll with America's Patent and Trademark Office.

But then on October 13th, the last day of the trademark's 30-day public comment period, "he got an email from a lawyer who represented Id Software." The lawyer asked Mitchell to extend the 30-day USPTO trademark deadline in order to avoid any legal action.

Mitchell felt weird after getting the email, telling Wired that he was a big fan of the old Doom games as a kid and now he was facing off against the devs over his band name. "They're trying to take something away from me that is completely unrelated to them," said Mitchell. A trademark lawyer told Wired that while it might seem odd, Mitchell most likely had every right to trademark the word doomscroll because within the context of music it "is not generic or descriptive of music, musical performances, or musical services."

But Id's lawyers are most likely "scooting" in to try to protect the brand name and franchise from any confusion. According to the Wired report, Id has similarly stepped in to stop other folks from trademarking or registering brand names that use the word doom, including a rock metal event named the "Maryland Doom Fest" and a podcast titled "Garden of Doom." For now, the future of Doomscroll (The band) is up to lawyers at Id Software.

In October, Mitchell received a lengthy trial schedule that goes all the way until 2023. So this most likely won't be settled anytime soon, unless the guitarist gives up the fight.

Shortly after Thursday's release of Grand Theft Auto: The Definitive Edition, the Rockstar Games Launcher on PC went down, leaving most Rockstar titles unplayable, reports PC Gamer.

They also identified possible issues explaining why: Firstly, the Trilogy has shipped with internal developer comments visible on the code, such as... "This shit doesn't work the way they wrote it below so we'll just show the text and place the blip at the beginning of the mission...."

Coders leaving funny comments is one thing: even if you might not want the public to see it, who really cares. However some dataminers have found that Vice City and San Andreas may have shipped with songs that have technically been 'removed' from the game because the licenses have expired... The presence of unlicensed music could in theory be a big headache for Rockstar. While the music may not be accessible to the average user, it is in the product's files and can be accessed using certain tools. And, oh yeah, without the appropriate license.
One dataminer told the site that the audio codec used in these games is the open source OGG-VORBIS, and for Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, "EVERY song is there." And then Thursday the official Twitter feed for Rockstar Support announced their Games Launcher was "temporarily offline for maintenance." PC Gamer reported it remained down for more than 16 hours.

Friday night Rockstar Support announced their Launcher was now back online — but that GTA: The Trilogy — The Definitive Edition "is unavailable to play or purchase as we remove files unintentionally included in these versions.

"We're sorry for the disruption and hope to have correct ones up soon."

Sony Group has reduced its PlayStation 5 production outlook for this fiscal year due to component and logistics constraints, Bloomberg reported Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter. From the report: The Tokyo-based entertainment giant had previously targeted more than 16 million units assembled in the year ending March, setting it up to achieve its sales goal for the period and also get a head start on the subsequent year's production. The company has now cut that number down to about 15 million, making its aim of 14.8 million PS5 sales by March difficult, the people said, asking not to be named as the information is not public. Logistics issues and parts shortages have grown more severe for Sony, Chief Financial Officer Hiroki Totoki told investors on a conference call late last month. PS5 sales in the quarter ended September were slightly weaker than expectations, he said on Oct. 28, having previously warned that any resurgence in the spread of Covid-19 may impact the company's components supply. The PlayStation 5 became the fastest Sony console to reach 10 million units sold this July, but it has fallen behind the sales pace of its predecessor PlayStation 4 since then.

Valve has delayed the release of its Steam Deck handheld by several months, it announced in a statement today. The anticipated handheld will now start rolling out in February 2022, pushed back from an initial December release. Kotaku reports: "We're sorry about this -- we did our best to work around the global supply chain issues, but due to material shortages, components aren't reaching our manufacturing facilities in time for us to meet our initial launch dates," Valve wrote. "Based on our updated build estimates, Steam Deck will start shipping to customers February 2022. This will be the new start date of the reservation queue -- all reservation holders keep their place in line but dates will shift back accordingly." Further reading: Valve Launches Steam Deck, a $400 PC Gaming Portable

Over the weekend, the hacking group Fail0verflow claimed to have obtained PS5 root keys allow them to decrypt the console's firmware. "Additionally, Andy Nguyen (a security engineer at Google who's better known under his handle, theflow0) managed to access the PS5's debug settings menu on a retail PS5 over the weekend, too," adds The Verge. Is this the first steps towards jailbreaking Sony's latest console? The Verge's Chaim Gartenberg reports: The two exploits are particularly notable due to the level of access they theoretically give to the PS5's software. Decrypted firmware -- which is possible through Fail0verflow's keys -- would potentially allow for hackers to further reverse engineer the PS5 software and potentially develop the sorts of hacks that allowed for things like installing Linux, emulators, or even pirated games on past Sony consoles.

For now, the two exploits won't result in much of a change for PS5 owners -- there's no sudden PS5 jailbreak available today, and neither Nguyen nor Fail0verflow have published the details of their respective hacks -- nor is it even clear if they ever will. Nguyen has already said that he has "no plans for disclosure" of his hack, while Wololo.net notes that Fail0verflow held off on publishing its PS4 hacks last console generation until Sony patched things, meaning that it's possible none of this will lead to concrete changes in the PS5 hacking scene.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from TorrentFreak: Last evening the web was alive with angry players who couldn't play their games due to an unexpected error. While the situation is still not completely clear, it appears that someone allowed a domain used by Denuvo's anti-piracy technology to expire, meaning that players of some big games couldn't enjoy what they had paid for. [...] According to Alex Buckland, the DRM provider for all of the affected games had let a key domain expire, rendering the system inoperable. Following the failure to renew, the domain then went into a grace period but when that expired too, it appears to have been removed from DNS records. This meant that the domain would not resolve to an IP address, effectively breaking the system.

To solve the problem, some users on Steam posted up tutorials for players to modify their Windows HOSTS file to point to the last known IP address for the domain. This appeared to do the trick but obviously, such drastic measures shouldn't be needed to play a game that has been legally purchased -- especially those that are single-player only.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from PCMag: Intel has posted a release that the hybrid CPU core architecture on Alder Lake can be incompatible with certain games, specifically some protected by the anti-piracy DRM software from Denuvo. This was confirmed in our review of the Core i9-12900K when we tried to run the hit AAA Ubisoft title Assassin's Creed: Valhalla, part of our processor benchmark suite. The game would crash halfway through the test run, or simply not boot in at all. The errors occur because Denuvo's DRM software will mistakenly think the so-called "Performance-cores" and "Efficiency-cores" (P-cores and E-cores) on the chip belong to two separate PCs, when in reality the two types of processing cores are running on the same Alder Lake processor. (This P-core/E-core design is a new trait of Intel's chips with Alder Lake.)

Intel was originally mum on which specific games were affected, making it unclear the scale of the problem; the company cited "32" in pre-release briefings to the tech press. Whether these would be marginal titles or blockbusters we did not know, as hundreds of games use the Denuvo DRM scheme. But on Thursday, the company published a list of every PC title known to it that has incompatibility issues with Alder Lake. It spans 51 games, including For Honor, Mortal Kombat 11, Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order, and Shadow of the Tomb Raider, as well as the Assassin's Creed: Valhalla game we observed the issue on. Intel says it is working with game developers to roll out a software fix, although the company notes that some of the affected DRM-protected titles can run fine, so long as your PC is on Windows 11. In the meantime, the company says it has come up with a workaround that can run any of the affected games on Alder Lake. But it'll do so by placing the efficiency cores on standby. "According to Intel, 22 of the games won't work on Alder Lake under both Windows 10 and Windows 11," adds PCMag. "[T]he remaining 29 titles [...] will suffer incompatibility problems, but only when run on Windows 10. So owners can also solve the issue by updating their PCs to Windows 11 or using the Scroll Lock workaround if available."

EA CEO Andrew Wilson called NFT and "play-to-earn" games the "the future of our industry," but added that "it's still early to figure out how that's going to work," when asked about the topic during the company's earnings call this week. From a report: "I think that in the context of the games we create and the live services that we offer, collectible digital content is going to play a meaningful part in our future," Wilson said. "So, it's still early to tell, but I think we're in a really good position, and we should expect us to kind of think more innovatively and creatively about that on a go-forward basis." EA has yet to officially step into the NFT and "play-to-earn," or blockchain space that's been growing in the past few years. "Play-to-earn" games often require players pay an up-front cost through cryptocurrency to play the game and collect unique, in-game items. Those items can then increase in value and be sold to other players. It's common for players to also have input on the game's development as their monetary stake in it increases the game's overall value. Recent EA job listings include "NFT" and "blockchain" in the descriptions, suggesting that the company is at least aware of the genre's surge in popularity. A post for a senior director of the company's competitive gaming brand reads, "We set the pace for EA's investment in gaming subscriptions, our PC storefront and platform, competitive gaming (including FIFA, Apex Legends, and Madden NFL), as well as new business opportunities, including fantasy sports, blockchain and NFTs, and more."

Ana Diaz writes via Polygon: Jack Morrison logs on to stream, he doesn't boot up Twitch, Streamlabs OBS, or speak into a fancy microphone. Instead, he grabs a basic circular mirror and sets it in front of his desktop monitor, facing the screen. Then he sits in front of his monitor, as usual, and plays the game, propping up his cell phone to face him and setting his camera live. When he boots up Apex Legends, viewers see the gameplay reflected in the mirror as they watch him play. This makeshift setup might have been surprising just a year ago, in an industry that seems to be more and more concerned with having the latest streaming technology. But it's become a rather common practice on TikTok, where video game streaming has picked up in the past few months. In September, the company said that one billion people in total use the app each month, and jokes and sounds riffing on video games have long proliferated widely across TikTok. Now, Morrison (JackMorrisonTV on TikTok) and other streamers with similarly crude setups have taken over the app's "LIVE" section, capturing as many as 2,400 viewers at a time.

These streamers are using low-key setups, in comparison to the complex (and expensive) setups that dominate Twitch, where a DSLR camera and the capture card to use it can cost over $800. The exact build of each TikToker's setup varies, but nearly all of them capture video via an external camera that's focused on a screen, or in Morrison's case, a reflection of a screen. A brief scroll through the gaming section of TikTok's live content shows these streamers' ingenuity; some will stream videos of tablets or phones as they play mobile games, while others will just put the camera in front of a screen. The games also vary widely, with people playing games like Snake, Minecraft, and Wordscapes in addition to shooters like Valorant.

The number of live streams is much smaller than the wave of short-form videos being pushed out every single day on the app, making them stand out more. It also feels like a more accessible platform, especially for people who are just getting started with streaming. TikTok streamers are using more basic technology, such as mirrors, cell phone stands, and the like. It's also less competitive than Twitch, which has over seven million unique streamers go live each month. [...] TikTok is also testing monetization features that might make it more appealing for streamers to use. [...] For now, streams seem like a quick and easy way to take advantage of TikTok's massive audience. Whether or not bona fide TikTok streaming stars will emerge on the platform or find a sustainable home there remains to be seen.

According to Nikkei Asian Review, "Nintendo will only be able to produce about 24 million units of its popular Switch game console in the fiscal year through March, 20% below an original plan." From the report: Its production has been held up by shortages of semiconductors and other electronic parts amid strong demand for Switch, including for its latest version released on Oct. 8. Nintendo's trouble is a reminder of the far-reaching impact of the global supply crunch that has affected a wide range of industries from autos to electronics to machinery.

The Kyoto-based company originally planned on producing a record 30 million Switch units on the back of rising demand for computer games triggered by the COVID pandemic, which has forced people to spend more time at home. However, production bottlenecks quickly emerged around springtime for key components including microcomputers. The company concluded it would have to revise down production targets as it was not able to secure enough supplies. Nintendo's suppliers have already been notified about the production cuts.

Netflix, the video-streaming giant, began its expected foray into video games with the introduction of five mobile games to its users worldwide, playable initially on Android devices. From a report: The titles are included in a Netflix subscription, and there'll be no advertising or additional purchases required, Mike Verdu, Netflix's vice president of game development, said Tuesday. The streaming company has targeted video games as its next big thing -- it's an industry that's larger than the movie and TV businesses. Players logging in will see a dedicated games row and tab where they can choose which titles to play. Games for Apple's iPhone are also planned. The initial offering includes titles linked to Netflix shows, such as Stranger Things: 1984 and Stranger Things 3: The Game. Also included are Shooting Hoops, Card Blast and Teeter Up.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from GeekWire: The Japanese video game company Sega announced Monday that it plans to "explore a strategic alliance" with Microsoft, which will see Sega build new games and overhaul its development process via Microsoft's Azure platform. The new alliance is part of a forward-focused initiative at Sega called "Super Game." According to a news release, Microsoft's Azure provides Sega with a "next-generation development platform" that Sega can customize to account for different styles of work and infrastructural changes. "SEGA has played such an iconic role in the gaming industry and has been a tremendous partner over the years," Microsoft CVP Sarah Bond said in a statement. "We look forward to working together as they explore new ways to create unique gaming experiences for the future using Microsoft cloud technologies. Together we will reimagine how games get built, hosted, and operated, with a goal of adding more value to players and Sega alike."

According to Sega, the key focuses behind Super Game are the keywords "Global," "Online," "Community," and "IP utilization." With 5G on its way to supercharge cloud gaming in many parts of the world, Sega is explicitly using Microsoft Azure in an attempt to anticipate and serve whatever the next trend might be. The name of the initiative follows up on information spotted in Sega's March 2021 financial presentation, where the company stated that its strategy included the creation of a Super Game within the next five years, defined as a title that "can be expanded globally." With IP utilization as one of the Super Game's hallmarks, it suggests that Sega plans to turn one of its tentpole franchises -- the same financial report mentioned Phantasy Star Online, Sonic the Hedgehog, Persona, Yakuza, and Total War as potential candidates -- to be made into a big-ticket service game. Whatever that ends up being, its development process will be powered by Microsoft Azure.