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By Andy Robinson On paper,Haloin an open-world setup feels like a perfect marriage. Even though previous Halo entries were very much linear games, their best moments featured sprawling environments, beautiful vistas and the agency to jump in a Warthog and tear off in your own direction. The shift to a large, freeform map potentially offers a world full of Halo’s best bits. This series has always been about the sandbox and manipulating its sublime combat loops – shoot!...

No More Heroes fans have been waiting 11 years for this moment. Although 2019 spin-off Travis Strikes Again went some way to satisfying the series’ fanbase by bringing back their hero Travis Touchdown, its top-down arcade-style gameplay wasn’t quite a ‘proper’ follow-up to the Wii pairing of No More Heroes and its sequel Desperate Struggle. The wait, however, is finally over and No More Heroes is now officially a trilogy, with the third game in the series arriving exclusively on theSwitch....

Sniper: Ghost Warrior and Lords of the Fallen studio CI Games has outlined its plan for “the next five years”, which includes a live service shooter and a survival game. In a roadmap shared with investors on Monday, the Polish company confirmed plans for a new “premium, multiplayer PVE tactical-shooter”, codenamedProject Scorpio. CI’s internal Underdog Studio – the team behind the Ghost Warrior series – will lead development on the live ops title, which it says will be supported in the long term post-launch....

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 has earned $71M in its opening weekend at the US box office, making it the biggest ever opening weekend for a video game adaptation. According toVariety,the sequel managed to even outdoDeadline’s earlier estimation of the film taking home $60m-$65m. That’s higher than the $58m 3-day opening record achieved by the original film, and when combined withoverseas revenue(Sonic 2 opened a week early in Europe, Australia and other markets) of $70 million, the sequel’s global total is reportedly now $141 million....

Sony has increased its shares in Kadokawa as both companies agree to a “strategic capital and business alliance.” Sonyalready owned shares in the media heavyweight but following today’s announcement, it will now own around 10% of the company, making it its largest shareholder.Despite previous reports of Sony’s interest in acquiring the company,this deal does not constitute an acquisition, and Kadokawa will remain an independent entity. In a press release, Sony claimed it plans to “discuss specific initiatives for collaboration, such as initiatives to adapt Kadokawa’s IP into live-action films and TV dramas globally, co-produce anime works, expand global distribution of Kadokawa anime works through the Sony Group, further expand publishing of Kadokawa games, and develop human resources to promote and expand virtual production....

Sony is set to discontinue several PlayStation 4 models in Japan, according to a retailer notice. As spotted and translated by Twitter sleuthCheesemeister, one retailer in the region has notified customers that it will no longer be receiving stock of fivePlayStation 4models “due to the manufacturer ending production”. The models in question are PS4 500GB Glacier White, PS4 1TB Jet Black, PS4 1TB Glacier White, PS4 2TB Jet Black andPS4 Pro1TB Glacier White....

Square Enix plans to create “story-focused” NFTs, it’s been reported. According to the company’s 2022 Shareholders’ Meeting Report (as reported bymichsuzuki,) it plans to continue to integrate blockchain technology into game development. As revealed in the report, the company’s medium-term goals include the “development of blockchain games and entertainment products”. However, when discussing how the blockchain would impact the company’s biggest franchises,Square EnixPresidentYosuke Matsudasaid: “It’s still too early to consider making Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy blockchain games....

Stray has become the highest user-rated game on Steam this year, according to a weighted list. Steam250assignsSteamgames a score determined by whether players give them a positive or negative review, combined with how many players reviewed them. Stray‘s score is currently 8.61 – based on 42,665 votes of which 98% are positive – making it top of the list of all games released in 2022 to date (as spotted bySkill Up)....

No More Heroes creator Goichi Suda (aka Suda51) has revealed that he’s had meetings with Marvel, a company he’s long wanted to make a game with. Japanese publicationAutomatonrecently published an interview with six members ofGrasshopper Manufacture, including its CEO Suda, which discussed the studio’s plans for a wide-ranging recruitment drive to increase the studio for future titles. However, as part of the interview Suda was asked for more information on the studio’s plan to release three games over the next 10 years....

The Super Mario Bros. Movie sequel will feature some less widely known characters from Nintendo’s franchise and an “intriguing” setting. That’s according to Toad voice actor Keegan-Michael Key, who teased some of what fans can expect from the upcoming film in an interview withMen’s Journal. “One thing I can say about the second movie is that it’s a little broader in scope, and where it takes place is very intriguing lore and the Mario world,” he said....

Three more titles have been added to the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis library on Nintendo Switch Online. The newest additions to the service, which are shown in the trailer below, are Alisia Dragoon, Beyond Oasis and Earthworm Jim. Alisia Dragoon is a 1992 platform game developed by Game Arts for theSegaGenesis. Despite being a critical success and a cult classic, it wasn’t a commercial success. It was later included in the 2019 Sega Genesis Mini....

The Epic Games store has launched itsBlack Friday sale. It features discounts of up to 75% on selectedPC gamesand add-ons, valid until December 3 at 11am ET/8am PT/4pm UK. The next freeEpic Games Storetitle was revealed earlier on Thursday.MudRunner is free to download from the Epic Games Storeuntil December 3, when it will be replaced by Cave Story+. Epic Games Store Black Friday 2020 sale includes: PlayStation,XboxandNintendoare also currently running Black Friday game sales online....

A new console aimed at ‘Web 3 gaming’ has been announced and immediately met with resistance from some players. Web 3 company Polium claims its ‘Polium One’ system will be “the world’s first multi-chain gaming console” that will be capable of running games built on different blockchains. “The console will be powerful enough to run high-performance games and will be easy to use for a traditional gamer who doesn’t understand Web 3,” Polium claims....