Xbox’s marketing boss has discussed the recent trend of some game publishers increasing their pricing on next-gen consoles. Rival platform holderPlayStationrecently confirmed that the majority of its first-party gameswill carry an increased $70/£70 price point on PS5. PublishersActivisionand2Khave also increased the price of some of their next-gen games, while others have said they will “monitor trends”. In July,XboxheadPhil Spencerwouldn’t comment on how muchMicrosoft’s ownXbox Series Xtitles would cost when asked byThe Washington Post....

Bethesda’s Todd Howard has said The Elder Scrolls 6 is still in the relatively early planning stages, suggesting its release is some years away. The Elder Scrolls 6 was announced at E3 2018 with abrief teaser trailerwhich confirmed that the sequel was in pre-production atBethesdaGame Studios. However, another Bethesda title,Starfield, was also announced at E3 2018 and is ahead of the fantasy game in the company’s release pipeline. Howard, who oversees development of the long-running RPG series and is directing Starfield, recently toldThe Telegraphthat the next Elder Scrolls game will benefit from the development work the studio’s currently doing on the sci-fi title, which isscheduled to release in November 2022for platforms which supportXboxGame Pass....

Absurd Ventures, the new transmedia company founded by GTA co-creator Dan Houser, has revealed its new game and animation universe, the ‘Absurdaverse’. “Prepare to meet some new kinds of heroes (and watch them suffer),” reads an announcement published on Friday, alongside an image of twenty colorful characters, ranging from familiar GTA-style protagonists to a Viking and a hooded ghoul. According to Absurd, more information on its plans for Absurdaverse will come this year, including animation projects and an “original story-driven action-comedy adventure game” set to star some of the characters revealed on Friday....

2K has confirmed that online services for WWE 2K22 will soon be permanently closed. Announcing plans for their closure early next year, the company suggested now would be “the perfect time to upgrade” to the most recent series entry,WWE 2K23. “WWE 2K22servers will be discontinued as of January 3rd, 2024,”it said. “All online modes & functions, including online matches & community Creations, will no longer be available. “Now is the perfect time to upgrade to WWE 2K23....

2K Games has reportedly fired Michael Condrey, the founder and president of internal studio 31st Union. According toKotaku’s sources, Condrey was dismissed this week following a muted reception to the studio’s debut game, Project Ethos,which was revealed last October. 2Ksaid Condrey is now serving as an advisor on the free-to-play, third-person roguelike hero shooter, to which it remains “very committed”. Having previously co-founded Call of Duty studioSledgehammer GamesforActivision, and served as chief operating officer atEA‘s originalDead Spacestudio, Visceral Games, Condrey had led31st Unionfrom its establishment in February 2019....

Treyarch has revealed plans for a fresh round of Black Ops Cold War weapon tuning. Itsaidthe rebalancing will arrive in an update next week, including adjustments for all sniper rifles, assault rifles, LMGs, and pistols. The announcement followed the release ofBlack Ops Cold War‘s new 12v12 Moshpit mode on Thursday. It doubles the player count on a selection of 6v6 maps such as Nuketown ‘84, Raid, Yamantau, Diesel, Apocalypse and Miami Strike, with supported game types including TDM, Domination, Kill Confirmed and Hardpoint....

Square Enix has announced The Adventure of Elliot: The Millennium Tales, a new HD-2D RPG for Switch 2. The game is scheduled for release next year, but a demo for the game will be available later today on theNintendo Switch 2eShop. Square Enixhas said that it will gather feedback from fans following the release of the demo. The Adventure of Elliot: The Millennium Tales was announced as part ofNintendo‘s Partner ShowcaseNintendo Directpresentation which took place on Thursday....

A remake of Star Ocean: The Second Story has been officially announced, a week after it was accidentally leaked by Square Enix. Last week a banner found on theSquare EnixSupport websiteappeared to show a logo for a game called Star Ocean: The Second Story R. In 2019, a remake of the first Star Ocean was released forSwitchandPS4under the name Star Ocean: First Departure R, leading to assumptions that a remake of the second game was in development....

Almost three hours of Until Dawn footage has been published online ahead of the game’s release. The opening hours of the title werestreamed on Twitchseveral days before the remake is due to hitPS5andPCon October 4. Sonyhas also released the official launch trailer for the game, which is viewable below. Until Dawn is developed by Woking, UK-based Ballistic Moon, whichlast month announced significant layoffsintended to “secure the future” of the studio....

Respawn Entertainment has revealed Apex Legends’ fifth battle royale map, Broken Moon. Featuring a new zip rail system and some larger points of interest (POI), the map has been in development for about a year-and-a-half. Broken Moon will join existing battle royale maps Kings Canyon,World’s Edge, Olympus and Storm Point whenApex Legends Season 15launches on November 1. Titled ‘Eclipse’, Season 15 will also introduce Apex Legend’s latest hero, a trans woman called Catalyst, and a new gifting feature....

August 2022’s free PlayStation Plus Essential games have been revealed by their usual leaker. Dealabsuser billbil-kun, who has been accurately leaking the PS Plus line-ups almost every month since September 2021, has revealed what they claim to be the new titles coming to the service in August. The new batch of games reportedly includes Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 andYakuza: Like a Dragon. Update - Games now live2nd Aug 2022 / 5:25 pm August’s PlayStation Plus games are now liveand available to download onPlayStationconsoles....

The release date for Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora’s second story DLC has been delayed by a couple of days. Previously scheduled to launch on November 26, the Secrets of the Spires expansion will now be released on November 28. In a statement published onX,Ubisoftblamed the delay on the emergence of “a critical last-minute issue”. It said: “We know many of you are eagerly awaiting this new adventure in the Western Frontier, and we apologize for this delay....

Battlefield 6’s open beta kicks off this weekend. The beta will run for two weekends, but players who’ve received an early access code will be able to start playing on Thursday, August 7. In this guide, we will explain how to get an early access code toBattlefield 6‘s open beta, how to redeem it, and when the beta will be running. The beta will give players the chance to sample four multiplayer maps (Siege of Cairo, Liberation Peak, Iberian Offensive, Empire State) and five modes (Conquest, Closed Weapons Breakthrough, Breakthrough, Rush, Squad Deathmatch)....