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Activision has announced when players will be able to sample Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3’s multiplayer offering prior to release. As previously confirmed, the publisher plans to showcaseModern Warfare 3multiplayer at thereturning Call of Duty Next showcaseon October 5. This event will also provide a look at what’s in store forCall of Duty: Warzoneand Call of Duty’s mobile experiences. The Modern Warfare 3 multiplayer beta will include a selection of core maps from the 16 modernised launch maps in 2009’sModern Warfare2, plus new Ground War experiences....

The winners of the second Scottish Games Awards have been announced. The event, which took place at Platform in Glasgow on Thursday night, was held to celebrate the best talent in Scotland. A total of 15 awards were given out on the night, including new awards designed to acknowledge games that feature Scottish culture, and Scottish-made games that have made an impact. Lemmings and Grand Theft Auto co-creator Mike Dailly was given the Lifetime Achievement award....

Todd Howard has said Bethesda is working on solutions to shorten the length of time between its game releases. Having releasedStarfieldlast year,BethesdaGame Studios has switched its attention toThe Elder Scrolls 6, meaning a sequel to 2015’s Fallout 4is likely many years away from releasing. Howard discussed the long wait between new Bethesda games during an interview withKinda Funny Gameson Monday. “You know, they do take a long time, and so I think one of the things we’re focused on here is obviously making sure they’re of the highest quality, but also finding ways to increase our output, because we don’t want to wait that long either, right....

The UK’s performing arts and entertainment trade union Equity has set recommended minimum rates for video game performers for the first time. The move is part of Equity’s Game On campaign, which is designed to “fight for better pay, terms and conditions for UK performers working in video games”. Therecommended minimum rates, which are intended for performers working on AAA titles, include £300 per hour for voiceover work, £1000 per day for ensemble recording, a maxium of two hours per session for “vocally stressful” voice work....

UK retailer Game has confirmed that it has cancelled a number of Nintendo Switch 2 pre-orders. In a statement posted on its X account and its customer support website, the retailer said it recently cancelled someSwitch2 pre-orders, but didn’t specify how many customers have been affected and whether the cancellations were a mistake. It also said it’s trying to make some of the cancelled pre-orders active again, but hasn’t yet indicated how many are likely to miss out on receiving a console on launch day....

UK broadcaster Channel 4 is planning to reboot classic games television programme GamesMaster, it’s told potential advertising partners. Channel 4 says it will revive the iconic British show as a “social first” programme this year, with content to appear on its E4 channel, YouTube and social media platforms. GamesMaster aired on the channel between 1992 to 1998 and was the first British television show dedicated to video games. Hosted by Dominik Diamond and with the late Sir Patrick Moore appearing in the role as the titular GamesMaster, the programme was comprised of game reviews and challenges as players competed for a GamesMaster Golden Joystick trophy....

Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition currently has an unprecedented 0.6 score from users on Metacritic following a litany of issues. ThePCversion, which has beenpulled from sale by Rockstarfollowing the discovery of unlicensed music and uncompiled code, has garnered 2011 ratings from users earning it an “Overwhelming dislike” rating on thesite. Out of over 1000 user reviews, 991 of them are negative, with 11 mixed and 30 positive....

Valve CEO and co-founder Gabe Newell has said competition from the Epic Games Store will ultimately be good for everyone, despite causing problems for the Steam firm over the past 16 months. TheEpic Games Storelaunched in December 2018 and offers developers an 88 per cent share of the revenue theirPCtitles generate, compared to the 70/30 per cent revenue split offered byValve(as well as digital platforms operated by companies includingMicrosoft,SonyandApple). The more attractive revenue split has helpedEpicsecure some major timed PC exclusives includingControl,Borderlands 3andMetro: Exodus– a strategy CEOTim Sweeneyhas saidis necessary to challenge Steam, which was previously operating without a heavyweight rival....

Valve has a Steam related announcement planned for E3 2021. That’s according toPC Gamer, which published the partial line-up for this year’sPC GamingShow on Monday. It said “a message fromValveregardingSteam” will be delivered during the 90-minute event, which kicks off on June 13 at 2.30pm PST / 5.30pm EST / 10.30pm BST. It was claimed in May thatValve is creating a portable gaming PClikened toNintendo Switch, codenamed SteamPal. According toArs Technica, the hardware will play a large selection of games on Steam viaLinuxand could launch this year, depending on the supply chain situation....

The latest episode of VGC’s new weekly show, VGC: A Video Game Podcast, is now available on all major audio platforms. This week VGC’s Jordan Middler and Andy Robinson are joined by broadcaster Pete Donaldson to discuss the week’s biggest video game news, includingXbox’s regulatory roadblock,Nintendo’s return toGamescom, and Nintendo’s movie hints. We also share our impressions playing this week’s big release,Star Wars Jedi: Survivor. If you’d like to get in touch with the podcast, you can do so via podcast@videogameschronicle....

Microsoft has added widgets for popular PC gaming apps to Xbox Game Bar. XboxGame Bar is a customisable gaming overly built into the latest versions of the Windows operating system, giving players quick access to capture, sharing and social tools by pressing the windows key and G. Starting today, widgets for apps such as XSplit’s Gamecaster and Razer’s Cortex are available via theXbox Insider Hub, Xbox announced in a new Inside Xbox live stream....

A new preview being tested from today will let some Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members share their membership with multiple users. The ‘XboxGame Pass Insider Preview’ will allow users in Ireland and Colombia to “add up to four people to [their] subscription, all with their own unique access to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate games, content, and benefits,” according toMicrosoft. While players being added to a subscription don’t have to be part of the Insider programme, they do need to live in the same country as the Insider adding them, essentially limiting the trial to Ireland and Colombia for now....

The first retail listings for Xbox Series X and S’s SSD storage expansions have priced a 1TB card at around $260 USD (£203), when converted from AUD. The cards, which are manufactured by storage giant Seagate, have appeared for pre-order at multiple Australian retailers includingEB Games,JB Hi-FiandMighty Ape, with prices ranging from $360 – $388 AUD. The price points represent almost half the cost of anXbox Series Xin Australia ($750 AUD) and 70% the price of anXboxSeries S ($500 AUD)....