Rumoured, reported and leaked……but finally DC Comic fans and gamers know the game coming from WB Montreal….Gotham Knights!

Batman is dead.

It is now up to the Batman Family – Batgirl, Nightwing, Red Hood and Robin – to protect Gotham City, bring hope to its citizens, discipline to its cops, and fear to its criminals. You must evolve into the new Dark Knight and save Gotham from chaos.

Your legacy begins now. Step into the Knight.

My Thoughts…

Well there we go, the rumours are true and The Court of Owls does seem to be the backbone of ‘Gotham Knights’ seemingly carrying on from Arkham Knight ending possibly but having Kevin Conroy voice Bruce Wayne as he leaves a final message to his Batfamily of Robin, Batgirl, Nightwing and Redhood to pass on the torch and duty of protecting Gotham City has be very intrigued and I also really like the reveal trailer.

Now the DC Fandome panel did continue to show some actual gameplay, focused on Batgirl and it certainly bares a striking resemblence to what fans of the Arkham series will instantly recognise which is not surprising as both WB Montreal did release Arkham Origins, the less that warmly received prequel story that did not feature the same voice cast as the original Arkham series, something that having Kevin Conroy voicing Bruce Wayne in the trailer suggests might not be an issue with Gotham Knights.

The gameplay did look to be a little different but navigating the world and the combat looked to me at least to be very Arkham, and the chance to play as Batgirl, Nightwing, Robin and Red Hood is enough to have this on my radar. Now interestingly it is a 2021 title and it did not confirm which platforms it will release on, so will it be just for PS5 and Xbox Series X or will it include the current or by the time of release, old gen consoles PS4 and Xbox One.

Time will tell and no doubt on the road to 2021 release we will see a lot more of this game but the setting of the Court of Owls, the focus on playing the Batfamily and not Batman certainly has this DC Fan…..on board!

*Update – taken from the WB Games Press Release we have some further clarification on Gotham Knights – Gotham Knights is playable either solo or as a two-player, online cooperative experience and will be available in 2021 for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 4 Pro, the Xbox One family of devices including Xbox Series X and Xbox One X and PC.

Hot on the heels of its Nintendo Switch release, Crytek announced today that Crysis Remastered is coming to PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4 on September 18^th. The game will be available as a digital release via the Epic Games Store, the PlayStation Store, and the Microsoft Store for GBP 26.99 / USD 29.99 / EUR 29.99.

Co-developed with Saber Interactive, the classic first person shooter will focus on the original game’s single-player campaigns and is slated to contain high-quality textures up to 8K, HDR support, temporal anti-aliasing, Screen Space Directional Occlusion (SSDO), Global Illumination (SVOGI), state-of-the-art depth fields, new light settings, motion blur, parallax occlusion mapping, Screen Space Reflections and Shadows (SSR & SSS) as well as new and updated particle effects and more. Further additions such as ray tracing enhance the game with a major visual upgrade.

For the first time a Crytek game will feature ray tracing on Xbox One X and PlayStation 4 Pro powered by CRYENGINE’s proprietary software based ray tracing solution. The PC version will additionally support hardware-based ray tracing on Nvidia RTX GPUs.

In Crysis, what begins as a simple rescue mission becomes the battleground of a new war as alien invaders swarm over a North Korean island chain. Armed with a powerful Nanosuit, players can become invisible to stalk enemy patrols, or boost strength to lay waste to vehicles. The Nanosuit’s speed, strength, armour, and cloaking allow creative solutions for every kind of fight, while a huge arsenal of modular weaponry provides unprecedented control over play style. In the ever-changing environment, adapt tactics and gear to dominate your enemies, in an enormous sandbox world.

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With fans still aching for a release date, pricing and pre-order information from Sony, today saw the very first TV advert for the PlayStation 5 released:

The advert/trailer still has no pricing or release information but focuses on the “Play has no Limits” that we have seen throughout the PS5 marketing:

Welcome to a new world of immersion. Discover haptic feedback, adaptive triggers, and 3D audio on PS5. PLAY HAS NO LIMITS!

But it does look as though Sony is gearing up to reveal the information fans have been painfully waiting months for.

The first ever video-game based on the award-winning television series Peaky Blinders – one of the most popular dramas on global TV in recent years- Peaky Blinders: Mastermind is out today on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and PC. The game is being published by Curve Digital and has been developed by award winning indie studio, FuturLab in collaboration with the creative and production teams behind Peaky Blinders, the independent production company Caryn Mandabach Productions.

Peaky Blinders: Mastermind is a puzzle-adventure game where players take on the roles of Tommy Shelby and his gang as they seek to take control of the streets of Birmingham in the early 20th century.

Set immediately before the events of the first season, players join the Shelby family’s criminal organisation as they unearth a sinister plot to put Tommy out of business. The game is designed to sync with Tommy’s talent for planning out complex scenarios in his head, with players setting out strategies by taking control of key members of the Shelby family down on the ground.

Peaky Blinders: Mastermind will allow players to set and rewind each character’s path in order to tune all of their actions for perfect coordination, tactically utilising characters and stealth to solve increasingly complex puzzles. 

James Marsden, Founder, FuturLab said:

“After having the pleasure of working with this license, we’re super excited to see the hard work from all involved come to fruition today. Our concept came down to a simple idea at the heart of the show: The Soldier’s Minute; where everything in a battle can be decided. This idea inspired us to offer the player an opportunity to feel as smart and powerful as Tommy Shebly, coordinating all the Peaky Blinders to pull off daring acts in perfect sync..” 

Simon Byron, Publishing Director, Curve Digital added: 

“There’s often scepticism about licensed titles, which is why we have been so delighted to work with FuturLab and their concept – The Soldier’s Minute – it felt like a fresh, innovative approach to how to design a licensed game, and was clearly a perfect fit for the franchise. We hope the game resonates with fans now that they can get their hands on the title.”

Caryn Mandabach Productions’ Jamie Glazebrook, executive producer of Peaky Blinders, said:

“James and his team at FuturLab found an ingenious way to take the DNA of Peaky Blinders and turn it into an utterly compelling game. I’m thrilled beyond measure that both fans of the show and players new to our world will finally be able to experience it for themselves.’

In Peaky Blinders: Mastermind players CAN: –

• Witness the rise of Tommy Shelby as the true leader of the Peaky Blinders in early 20th century Birmingham
• Utilise Tommy’s prowess for planning to set up complex scenarios
• Control Tommy, Arthur, Polly and more on the ground as they pull off mission after mission

Peaky Blinders Season 1 to 5 are currently on Netflix in the UK. The fifth season launched on BBC One in autumn 2019 to its highest ratings yet.

Created and written by Steven Knight (Dirty Pretty Things, Eastern Promises and Locke), the multi-award-winning BBC One and Netflix series is produced by Peaky Blinders official brand owner Caryn Mandabach Productions and by Banijay UK’s Tiger Aspect Productions.

Peaky Blinders: Mastermind is available on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC.

Discover everything you need to know about the Battletoads’ new adventure in an exclusive interview with Xbox’s Major Nelson. Get ready for a ‘toadally’ awesome multi-genre journey with Rash, Zitz and Pimple as they try to free the galaxy from the grip of the evil Topians!

You can play Battletoads on Xbox One, Xbox Game Pass, Windows 10 and Steam and it’s available now!

For more information head to https://www.xbox.com/games/battletoads

Today BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment America Inc. released part 2 of The Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope Dev Diary from actor Will Poulter, who voices three characters in the game.

The video delves into some of the exciting and horrific aspects players will get to experience when they dive into the frightening story of The Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope. Will also shares some insight into the characters and how the cast brought them to life. 

The Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope will launch on October 30th for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC Digital.

In a move that has already received backlash on Social Media, Oculus announced yesterday that from October 2020, all users will be required to have a Facebook account in order to continue to log in and use their VR devices:

The Statement on the official Oculus Website explains further:

After January 1, 2023, we will end support for Oculus accounts. If you choose not to merge your accounts at that time, you can continue using your device, but full functionality will require a Facebook account. We will take steps to allow you to keep using content you have purchased, though we expect some games and apps may no longer work. This could be because they include features that require a Facebook account or because a developer has chosen to no longer support the app or game you purchased. All future unreleased Oculus devices will require a Facebook account, even if you already have an Oculus account.

Giving people a single way to log into Oculus—using their Facebook account and password— will make it easier to find, connect, and play with friends in VR. We know that social VR has so much more to offer, and this change will make it possible to integrate many of the features people know and love on Facebook. It will also allow us to introduce more Facebook powered multiplayer and social experiences coming soon in VR, like Horizon, where you can explore, play, and create worlds. The majority of our users are already logging into Oculus with a Facebook account to use features like chats, parties, and events, or to tune into live experiences in Oculus Venues. We’re also making it easier to share across our platforms if you’d like. For example, people already have the option to livestream or share their VR experience on Facebook, and soon you’ll be able to use your VR avatar on other Facebook apps and technologies.

Currently there are major privacy concerns amongst tech users towards Facebook, just recently Microsoft themselves closed their own streaming platform MIXER and announced a partnership with Facebook Gaming which did not go down well with its user base. Oculus did explain that additional privacy options will be available such as hiding your Facebook ID from other users but the concern is very palpable on social media since this was announced yesterday.

Full support for current Oculus accounts will continue until 2023 but they are letting people know and beginning the process early as of October 2020 this year. Time will tell if this reaction will impact Oculus plans.

The first in a series of Elite Dangerous: Odyssey dev diaries One Giant Leap explores how commanders can experience light atmospheres and break new ground with exploration on foot for the first time.

Stay tuned for more dev diaries on combat, missions, environments and co-operative play over the coming months.

Elite Dangerous: Odyssey arrives early 2021.