Crysis 3 announced for spring 2013
Electronic Arts and Crytek have officially announced Crysis 3, the next installment in the first-person shooter franchise, due to be released in spring 2013 for PC via Origin, Xbox 360 and PS3.
Once again powered by Crytek’s proprietary CryEngine, the latest in the series returns to New York, with players taking on the role of Prophet. The city has been encased in a large dome, and is now overgrown with trees and rainforest wildlife.
Crytek’s CEO Cevat Yerli explained that the studio aims to deliver a mix of sandbox style gameplay with first-person combat. The game will feature seven environmental themes, as players aim to uncover the truth behind the dome’s “Seven Wonders.”
Microsoft releasing Halo 4 on November 6 worldwide
Microsoft Studios has announced that Halo 4, the newest entry for one of the Xbox 360′s biggest exclusive franchises, will launch around the world on November 6.
Halo 4 will be the first numbered released for the series since 2007, as well as the first new game release to be shipped by developer 343 Industries, which took over the first-person shooter property from Bungie several years ago.
Since opening in 2007 as a subsidiary of Microsoft Studios, 343 Industries has shipped a remake of 2001′s Halo: Combat Evolved and the Halo Waypoint Xbox 360/mobile app. It’s also released updates for 2010′s Halo: Reach developed by Bungie. Read more…
Activision confirms Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 for November
Activision has confirmed that the next title in the popular Call of Duty franchise is a sequel to 2010′s Black Ops, as previously rumored, with a release date of November 13 for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Windows PC.
The UK website for Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 appears to have gone live before the official reveal later today, stating that the game will be set in the near future during a 21st century cold war, moving the spin-off to be more in line with the Modern Warfare part of the series rather than its 20th century-based predecessor.
Activision said in September last year that the original Black Ops had seen sales of 23 million, while 18 million copies of the map pack DLC for the game had also been sold. Read more…
Diablo III becomes fastest-selling PC game with 6.3M copies sold
Blizzard Entertainment’s Diablo III is now the fastest-selling PC game of all time, with more than 3.5 million copies during its first day on sale last week, and 6.3 million copies sold so far in total.
The company has had a grip on this record for several years now. Blizzard’s World of Warcraft: Cataclysm was the last fastest-selling PC game when it pushed 3.3 million copies within 24 hours after debuting in 2010. Before that, WoW: Wrath of the Lich King held the record with 2.8 million copies sold in 2008.
Blizzard notes that Diablo III‘s first-day 3.5 million sales does not include the 1.2 million consumers who also received a copy of the game after signing up for a World of Warcraft Annual Pass. Nor does that number include players in Korean internet game rooms, where Blizzard claims Diablo III is currently the top-played game. Read more…
Take-Two shies away from its MLB 2K franchise
While Take-Two’s NBA 2K series is among the publisher’s more popular franchises, its long-running Major League Baseball series has struggled to perform over the last several years, and Take-Two indicated that it might be done with its MLB 2K franchise altogether.
Take-Two’s contract for the MLB license is set to expire within the next 12 months, and a company spokesperson told Kotaku, “MLB 2K12 is our last offering under that agreement. At this time, we have no further comment.”
In 2010, Take Two CEO Strauss Zelnick called the MLB license “a losing proposition.” At least as far back as 2009, the company blamed losses (in part) on the performance of its MLB games. Read more…
Uncharted series has sold 17.3M copies
Sony has announced that its Uncharted series for PlayStation 3 and PS Vita has sold more than 17.3 million copies around the world since its debut in November 2007.
The action-adventure franchise has become one of the best-selling properties for Sony in just four years — the latest console entry, Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception, shipped 3.8 million units worldwide when it launched last year.
This 17.3 million amount is several million more than the 13+ million sold copies that Sony previously announced for the series in December. The total includes all three of the Naughty Dog-developed PS3 games, as well as SCE Bend Studio’s recently released Uncharted: Golden Abyss for PS Vita. Read more…
