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Activision is launching a new game studio called Elsewhere Entertainment in Warsaw, Poland.

This team is busy creating a completely new game series with its own story. It’s a part of Activision Blizzard, which is now owned by Microsoft Xbox. And they’re not making another game for the Call of Duty series.

Activision Opens New Internal Studio Elsewhere Entertainment

Activision announces a new studio and, get this, it appears to be making something other than a new Call of Duty

“exclusively focused on creating a new narrative-based and genre-defining AAA franchise.”

Elsewhere Entertainment, based in Warsawhttps://t.co/Tpz5Gtkzo9

— Stephen Totilo (@stephentotilo) May 16, 2024

It’s surprising to see Activision, which has many studios making Call of Duty games, decide to create a brand new game series.

What’s also surprising is that Microsoft, the parent company of Activision, recently closed down three studios and merged another. As far as I know, there’s no link between Activision’s decision to start a new studio and Microsoft’s studio closures.

The new studio, Elsewhere Entertainment, is part of Activision and based mainly in Warsaw, Poland, with some team members in the U.S.

They’re focused on making a big, story-driven game series. Activision says Elsewhere Entertainment is meant to be a unique and inspiring place where creative ideas can flourish.

The team at Elsewhere Entertainment includes people who have worked on well-known games like The Last of Us, Uncharted, The Witcher, Cyberpunk, Destiny, Tom Clancy’s The Division, and Far Cry. We don’t know who the founders of the studio are yet, but they’re hiring more people.

The new studio has all the support and tools it needs from Activision to keep making their game. They’re looking for talented people from all over the world to join them and help make an amazing gaming experience.

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• Final Hi-Fi Rush Patch Released: Sending the Game Out With a Bang!
• PlayStation Plus Games for May 2024 Revealed: Get Ready to Play!

In May, the PlayStation Plus Game Catalog is getting bigger. Players can expect one of the best sequels ever, a game with social stealth, and survival on a tough alien planet.

These games will be ready to play starting May 21. And if you’re into old-school gaming, some classic titles are also coming to PlayStation Plus Premium.

Also, the free games for PlayStation Plus Essential in May are already out. Subscribers can grab EA Sports FC 24, Tunic, Ghostrunner 2, and Destiny 2’s Lightfall expansion.

PlayStation Plus games for May 2024 Revealed

Please MAY I introduce this month’s new additions to the PlayStation Plus Game Catalogue…

1/3

🤠 Red Dead Redemption 2
🏙️ The Sims 4: City Living
🕵️ Deceive Inc.
🚨 Crime Boss: Rockay City pic.twitter.com/aO84UNTdtS

— PlayStation UK (@PlayStationUK) May 15, 2024

PlayStation Plus Classics Games For May 2024

Red Dead Redemption 2 is a story set before the events of the 2010 game. It’s about survival in a tough frontier. As civilization grows, Arthur Morgan and his gang find themselves running from the law.

The game is huge, with an open world to explore. It also includes Red Dead Online, where you can play with others, but it hasn’t been updated much lately because Rockstar is focusing on GTA 6.

In Deceive Inc., you’re a secret agent using gadgets to outsmart others. It’s an online game where you blend in with the crowd and try to outmaneuver your rivals.

The Sims 4: City Living adds city life to the game. Your Sims can explore the city, watch street performances, and join competitions.

Crime Boss: Rockay City is a co-op shooter game. It’s like Payday 2 but not as good. You can play alone or with friends, and there’s even a character voiced by Chuck Norris.

The Settlers: New Allies is a strategy game with a story. It took a while to come out, and reviews were mixed.

In Stranded: Alien Dawn, you’re stuck on an alien planet trying to survive. You have to protect your group from dangers like weather and starvation.

Cat Quest 3 is coming out soon, but you can play the first two games now. In the first one, you’re on a quest to find your missing sister in a cute adventure.

The next game in the Assassin’s Creed series is coming soon. Ubisoft showed the first trailer for Assassin’s Creed Shadows. It will come out later this year.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows Revealed

Ubisoft showed fans the first real glimpse of the next big Assassin’s Creed game with the trailer for Assassin’s Creed Shadows on Wednesday. Before, it was called Assassin’s Creed: Codename Red. Shadows will take players to feudal Japan in November, where they can be ninjas like Naoe.

In Assassin’s Creed Shadows, players can also be the legendary Black samurai Yasuke. Unlike other Assassin’s Creed games with two main characters, the ones in Shadows seem more different.

The female ninja uses weapons like ninjato, wristblade, and kusarigama, while her samurai partner is big and wears heavy armor, wielding a big katana.

The first trailer for Assassin’s Creed Shadows hinted at its movie-like goals and introduced its characters. Players might have to wait until Ubisoft Forward in June to see actual gameplay.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows is made by Ubisoft Quebec, the team that made 2018’s Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, led by Jonathan Dumont. It was first mentioned in 2022 under a secret name and promised to take the Assassin’s Creed series to a setting fans had been asking for.

Shadows follow up on last year’s Assassin’s Creed Mirage, which was a simpler version of the classic Assassin’s Creed games. It’s set in feudal Japan and is just one of several projects Ubisoft is working on for the Assassin’s Creed series.

Another one is Assassin’s Creed Jade, a mobile game set in ancient China. Then there’s Assassin’s Creed Codename: Hexe, which Ubisoft’s Marc-Alexis Cote describes as a unique type of Assassin’s Creed game. Hexe is led by creative director Clint Hocking.

There’s also Assassin’s Creed Codename: Infinity, which Cote described as more of a platform than a single game. It’s meant to connect all the different Assassin’s Creed experiences and players.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows will be available on Amazon Luna, Mac, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, and Xbox Series X on Nov. 15.

The First Assassin’s Creed Shadows Trailer Shows Off Dual Samurai

The trailer gives a good look at the game. It introduces two main characters. One is Yasuke, a samurai who was originally from Africa. He serves a Japanese warlord named Oda Nobunaga.

The other character is Naoe, a ninja. At first, Naoe opposes Nobunaga’s war, which puts her against Yasuke. Before the trailer, there were rumors that the game would have two main characters, like Assassin’s Creed Syndicate. Some pictures of the samurai and ninja characters were leaked before the trailer was released.

Before this, the game was known by the codename Assassin’s Creed Red since 2022. Ubisoft recently announced the official name change to Assassin’s Creed Shadows. They also announced the trailer.

Red/Shadows was first revealed as part of Ubisoft’s plan for future Assassin’s Creed games. This plan also includes other games like Assassin’s Creed Jade and Codename Hexe.

Sony’s latest financial report reveals big news: Helldivers 2, a popular co-op shooter made by Arrowhead Game Studios in Sweden, is now PlayStation’s fastest-selling game.

In just 12 weeks, Helldivers 2 sold a whopping 12 million copies, beating the previous record set by God of War Ragnarök, which sold 11 million copies in the same time frame.

Helldivers 2 is PlayStation’s Fastest-Selling Game Ever

What’s interesting is how Helldivers 2 was released. Unlike most PlayStation games that start on the console and then come to PC later, Helldivers 2 came out on both PS5 and PC (via Steam) at the same time. Plus, it was cheaper than most PlayStation games, priced at $39.99 instead of the usual $59.99.

Steam played a big role in Helldivers 2’s success, with about 60% of its sales coming from there in the first month. It became one of the top 10 most-played games on Steam too.

As announced in the Sony earnings call, we have sold over 12M units!

It’s crazy to think that there are more Helldivers than there are Swedes 🤯

What a massive achievement from everyone involved in realizing @Helldivers2. A massive thank you to the community for your support,…

— Pilestedt (@Pilestedt) May 14, 2024

Because of this success, Sony plans to release all future live-service games on PlayStation and Steam together. But they’re still keeping them exclusive to PlayStation for big single-player games like Marvel’s Spider-Man or God of War.

However, not everything went smoothly. Sony tried to make Steam players link their PlayStation Network accounts, but people didn’t like that idea, so Sony had to drop it.

In other news from Sony’s report, they’ve sold nearly 59 million PS5 consoles, just behind the 60 million PS4s sold in the same period. They expect PS5 sales to slow down from now on.

There’s also a change in leadership at Sony Interactive Entertainment, which oversees PlayStation. Hermen Hulst and Hideaki Nishino are the new CEOs.

Hulst will look after game development and publishing, while Nishino will handle console hardware and services. They both report to Hiroki Totoki, who’s the current interim CEO.

So, while Sony’s doing well financially, some changes are happening behind the scenes.

Helldivers II Sales Top 12 Million

Sony Interactive Entertainment and Arrowhead Game Studios revealed that Helldivers II, a cooperative third-person shooter, has sold a whopping 12 million units by May 5.

According to Hiroki Totoki, the interim CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment, Helldivers II sales have surpassed the record set by God of War Ragnarok in the same period after its release in 2022.

It’s also the biggest PC title for Sony Interactive Entertainment so far, and its release on multiple platforms contributed greatly to sales and profit in Sony Group Corporation’s fiscal fourth quarter ending March 31, 2024.

Xbox Game Pass is bringing lots of exciting games this month! Next week, Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II finally arrives on the service. Plus, there are other great games from 2023 joining, like Immortals of Aveum, Lords of the Fallen, Humanity, and Chants of Sennaar.

Check out the full list of games coming and leaving Game Pass by the end of the month. We’ve even included links to our reviews for some of them!

Xbox Game Pass Games List for May

What Is Leaving Game Pass on May 31?

A really big update for Star Citizen just came out! It’s called Alpha 3.23. This update brings lots of new stuff to the game to make it better.

One cool thing is a new tool where you can make your character look just how you want. The people who make the game, Cloud Imperium Games, rebuilt this tool completely. Now, you can pick from different head shapes, hairstyles, eyebrows, and facial hair styles. Plus, you can save your character and use it later.

Some other important changes are happening behind the scenes. They’re making the game work better, even if you might not notice it right away.

Alpha 3.23 is LIVE now!

🚀 New Character Creator
🚀 Distribution Centers
🚀 Wildlife
🚀 Master Modes
🚀 Updated UI, Interactions, mobiGlas, StarMap
🚀 Engineering Gameplay
🚀 Enhanced Cloud and Water Tech
🚀 And more!

Playable Now: https://t.co/ri80o1kDhf pic.twitter.com/WA2nDnmU1l

— Star Citizen (@RobertsSpaceInd) May 11, 2024

One big change is how the game saves your progress. Now, if the game crashes, you won’t lose all the progress you made. That’s good news!

They also added something called the Vulkan Renderer. Right now, it might not make the game run faster than before, but they’re working on it. Eventually, it might be even better than before.

Lastly, they improved how the game looks. They added something called image upscaling. This makes the graphics look better without slowing down the game.

Star Citizen Alpha 3.23 Update

● Meet the Wildlife, Marok and Kopian: Life finds a way. Star Citizen now has animals! The first ones are the marok bird and the kopian. The marok bird is small and flies using its big wings. It follows fish when they move. Sometimes, it eats leftover food from humans. But don’t worry, it won’t hurt you. The kopian, however, is like a wild dog. It can be a problem, and players might need to deal with them.

● Mirai’s Pulse and Pulse LX Hoverbikes Bring Portable Thrills: Mirai, a company in the game, made two new hoverbikes. The Pulse is fast and has weapons to defend itself. The Pulse LX is even faster but doesn’t have weapons. Both bikes are easy to carry in your spaceship, so you can explore different places easily.

● Master Modes Makes its Galactic Debut: Now, flying ships in Star Citizen is different. Ships can be in Navigation Mode or Standard Control Mode. Navigation Mode helps you travel quickly, while Standard Control Mode lets you fight better. Switching between them is easy, but it takes a few seconds.

● Welcome to the Distribution Center: There are big buildings called distribution centers in the game now. You can go there to get missions. They’re huge, so it’s best to use ground vehicles to get around.

● Fly, Shoot, and Problem Solve in Arena Commander: There are new maps and challenges in the game’s Arena Commander mode. One map, Miner’s Lament, is full of asteroids. There’s also a new mode for testing engineering gameplay.

● Plot a Course with the Star Map: The Star Map helps you find your way in space. It shows all the places you can go. You can even search for specific places and plot a course there.

● FPS Combat Upgrades Deliver More Immersion: Fighting on foot is better now. There are new animations for running and aiming guns. Reloading is slower, and guns kick back more realistically.

● New Cloud Tech and Visual Options: Clouds look better in the game now. There are also options to make the game look better without slowing it down. And you can customize your character even more.

● Welcoming New Players to all Landing Zones: New players have more starting options now. They can begin in different cities, each with its unique features.

You might also be interested in the patch notes for Poppy Playtime Chapter 3 Patch 3 and NBA 2K24 Season 4 New Gen Patch Notes.

CI Games is making more job cuts as part of the changes it started in January.

In a statement to GamesIndustry.biz, the company said this “final, targeted round of redundancies” will affect about 30 people in its production teams. They’re doing this to be more efficient in focusing on their main goals.

CI Games Announces final layoffs

They made it clear that Hexworks, the team behind Lords of the Fallen, isn’t affected. They’re still working on ‘Project 3,’ their new action RPG.

Another CI Games team, Underdog Studio, has more time to finish the early version of ‘Project Survive’ before they start making the whole game.

All the affected employees have been told about this today, and the company will support them during this process.

This news comes after CI Games said in January that they would be letting go of 10% of their staff.

Last month, they announced they made over $60 million in 2023 because Lords of the Fallen did so well.

CI Games Laying Off Around 30 Employees

CI Games told GamesIndustry that they’re going to have one last round of job cuts, and about 30 people will lose their jobs.

CI Games is laying off around 30 people in final round of job cuts.https://t.co/LQtnLwIWsy pic.twitter.com/gUMMFlvMd1

— Knoebel (@Knoebelbroet) May 10, 2024

They say this is the last time they’ll do this, and it’s to make sure they’re using their resources in the best way for their plans.

The affected employees were told about this today, and CI Games will support them during this time.

This isn’t the first time CI Games has done this. They also let go of 10 percent of their staff in January.

Square Enix, the company behind Final Fantasy, has shared a new business plan. They say they want to “aggressively pursue a multiplatform strategy” which means they want to release games on different platforms like Nintendo, PlayStation, Xbox, and PCs.

This could mean they might not focus as much on releasing games only for Sony platforms as they used to.

Square Enix’s Plans for Multiplatform

Square Enix has a new plan called “Square Enix Reboots, and Awakens.” They want to release their big games on different platforms like Nintendo, Xbox, PlayStation, and Windows PC.

Square Enix Is Done With PlayStation Exclusivity After Profit Drop via @forbes https://t.co/BJfhe4yw1z pic.twitter.com/Yh7GKjASXV

— Paul Tassi (@PaulTassi) May 13, 2024

Before, Square Enix usually made deals with Sony to release their biggest games only on PlayStation. For example, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth and Final Fantasy 16 are only on PlayStation 5.

But some games, like Forspoken and the original Final Fantasy 7 Remake, are on PlayStation and PC. Final Fantasy 14 just came out on Xbox this March, after being on PC and PlayStation for over ten years.

But now, Square Enix’s new plan suggests they won’t do this exclusive stuff as much. They want more people to be able to play their games.

They mentioned they want to do this for “major franchises and AAA titles including catalog titles.” This means games like Final Fantasy 7 and Final Fantasy 16 might come to other platforms soon.

This change comes after reports that Final Fantasy 16 and Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth didn’t make as much money as expected. Square Enix even said they didn’t make a lot of money from big-budget games for consoles and PCs in their financial report.

Other companies like Xbox and Sony are also thinking about releasing games on different platforms.

Xbox is already doing this, and Sony is starting to do it too with games like Helldivers 2. Square Enix’s new plan is kind of like what Xbox is doing. They want more people to play their games, just like Xbox does.

Pokemon GO players can join in the Flock Together Research Day Timed Research for lots of rewards. During the Flock Together Research Day event, you’ll find different Flying-type Pokemon and have the chance to encounter both regular and Shiny ones.

Completing all the Timed Research tasks will earn you various items, including encounters with Flying-type Pokemon.

The Flock Together Research Day event starts on Saturday, May 11, 2024, at 2 PM and ends at 5 PM Local Time on the same day. During this event, you’ll encounter two types of Research quests: event-exclusive Field Research and Timed Research.

Both types of quests give you the chance to encounter special Pokemon, but the Timed Research also rewards you with in-game items. This guide will give you all the details about the Timed Research tasks and rewards for the Flock Together Research Day event.

Pokemon GO Flock Together Research Day Event Details

The Flock Together Research Day in Pokemon GO is all about bird Pokemon from different generations. You’ll see birds from the Kanto region to the Kalos region.

Catch some feathered Pokémon before they take flight!

The Flock Together Research Day event takes place Saturday, May 11, 2024, from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. local time! #PokemonGO #WorldOfWondershttps://t.co/5iMvV2tMGj pic.twitter.com/yfJZrp3NzI

— Pokémon GO (@PokemonGoApp) May 2, 2024

This event starts on May 11 from 2 PM to 5 PM local time.

Featured Pokemon

As we mentioned earlier, the Flock Together Research Day in Pokemon GO focuses on bird Pokemon. This means that the special field research tasks during the event will offer different species of bird Pokemon as rewards.

The Flock Together Research Day in Pokemon GO, it’s all about bird Pokemon. The event-themed field research tasks will reward players with various species of bird Pokemon.

Here’s the full list of bird Pokemon you can encounter after completing these tasks:

• Spearow
• Doduo
• Hoothoot
• Taillow
• Rufflet

Additionally, other bird Pokemon will spawn more frequently in the wild during the event:

• Pidgey
• Murkrow
• Wingull
• Starly
• Pidove
• Fletchling

To make the most of catching these bird Pokemon, it’s a good idea to mega evolve a Flying-type Pokemon like Mega Rayquaza or Mega Pidgeot for the extra candy bonus.

Keep an eye out, as lucky players might also encounter shiny versions of these featured bird Pokemon during the event.

Timed Research

During the Flock Together Research Day event in Pokemon GO, players can buy a special ticketed timed research for a dollar or the equivalent in their local currency.

This exclusive timed research offers rewards like:

• Spearow
• Doduo
• Hoothoot
• Taillow
• Rufflet

Remember, this timed research has an expiration. You need to finish the tasks and claim your rewards before the event ends at 5 PM local time.

You can also read our Street Fighter 6 Character Guide and Diablo Immortal Familiar Guide.