Over recent years we have seen an uptick in developer studio acquisitions, but this year has really begun to heat things up. Or at least it seems as such. Microsoft showed the world just how serious the company is about getting ahead of the curve and definitely flexed just how much money the company has to play with. With the acquisition of Activision underway, Microsoft has a huge edge right now. Owning both Bethesda and Activision is a major win for the company. Granted, Sony has made some decent acquisitions such as buying Insomniac and now buying out Bungee, but it just didn’t speak as loudly. When it was announced that Microsoft was closing a deal to purchase Activision, stocks for Sony took a big hit. Sony answered the call by announcing they were buying Bungee. That’s a small flex, if it’s a flex at all, but still, the timing was definitely about trying to swing back at the Xbox company and try to give investors a little peace of mind. While Microsoft has stated that Activision games will continue to show up on PlayStation consoles even after the initial timed agreements, that could very well change once Microsoft seals the deal and owns the company. We don’t know for sure that the acquisition will go through as lawmakers in the US look into the matter, but if it does happen, there’s a good chance Microsoft will recant on their promise or even go as far as using their new found franchises as a bargaining chip to get more of what they want out of Sony. It wasn’t that long ago that Phil Spencer said he wants Xbox Gamepass to be available on PlayStation consoles. He wasn’t kidding when he made that statement and in my humble opinion, I don’t think Microsoft cares as much about console sales as they do subscription and game sales. Infact (and call me crazy), I think it’s only a matter of time before Microsoft closes up shop on being a console manufacturer and solely becomes a game publishing company instead. Not because they have to, but because the company makes money for software sales and not so much hardware. Granted they make their own consoles in order to get more sales, so I could be completely wrong, but it’s just my opinion and doesn’t hold much water. As 2022 goes on, I think we’re going to see a few more major acquisitions from both Microsoft and Sony. Both companies obviously have different strategies when it comes to this, but Sony is definitely looking into its pockets to see if there’s a way to increase their acquisition budget and grab a few more studios. I don’t think Sony has anything to worry about. The company may not have the deep pockets that Microsoft has, but that hasn’t kept the company from continuing to dominate the industry. I know the Gamepass is incredibly hard to compete with … Read More
PS5 gets a system update, possible upcoming PlayStation experience and more in last weeks new update today!
A good amount of gaming news has dropped over that last week or so and while I don’t have anything game changing for you today (pun intended), but there will definitely be something big coming later this month from EA and hopefully Sony will give us something more than the State of Plays they have been dropping for us. Without further ado, let’s get to the gaming news drop, shall we? The PS5 got another firmware update the other day. It doesn’t bring anything heavy hitting to the console, but performance improvements are always a good thing. Here’s a look at the notes: This system software update improves system performance. We’ve updated the DualSense wireless controller device software to improve stability. We’ve fixed an issue that restricted the functionality of some screens when the screen reader was enabled. We’ve fixed an issue where games that you’ve hidden on PS4 were not hidden on PS5. We’ve made the process of copying games from USB extended storage to console storage in the game library more stable All useful improvements in the end. Hopefully something big is coming soon. Thinking august we will get the PlayStation Experience. In other news, Cyberpunk 2077 is back in the PSN store. The heads over at Projekt CD Red say they are satisfied with how the game plays on last Gen consoles, although I still hear a lot of complaints from players that say the game is in just as bad of shape as it was before. I mean, Sony gave it the greenlight so it must be improved somewhat, but I haven’t played it on last Gen consoles, so I cannot attest to either. Fingers crossed the majority are happy with it. Ghost of Tsushima directors cut for PS4 and PS5 has a price tag on it that isn’t appeasing fans. If you already own the game on PS4, the upgrade will run you $19.99 USD and the PS5 version will cost 29.99 USD. PS5 owners seem to be the most upset because the upgrade is obviously $10 more. Fans are upset because an upgrade between last and next Gen consoles is usually free, but the extra $10 just for PS5 features does seem kinda shiesty on Sony’s part. I know it’s a business, but that doesn’t mean businesses don’t get petty at times. Sony hosted another State of Play stream a few days ago. They announced some upcoming games, but it wasn’t even close to the show everyone is hoping will happen soon. I mentioned in the last article that Sony did trademark PlayStation Experience this year which is a sure sign that there is a yet to be announced show coming up. I’m guessing it’ll take place in late August and I would be surprised if the show didn’t take place at all.. State of Play was ok, but does little for those waiting to hear some hard hitting news. If you’re looking for a bargain on … Read More
E3 is over, but the news never stops! Check out this weeks drop!
After a long week of E3, it’s time to get back to regular news updates here at PS5 Gamers. Of course there will be more shows coming up like EA’s Play Live, which will take place on July 22. So, without further ado, let’s get you updated on this week’s news drops! Sony has been back at it again with PlayStation Direct, which entails an invite to buy a PS5 directly from Sony. While the service is great for those hoping to get on the list of invitees, it seems that Sony needs to tweak the system a little bit as the company had seemingly sent invites to Gamers that already own the PS5 console. I don’t know if Sony just doesn’t care or if they plan to fix the invite system, but it seems pretty disappointing to players waiting on getting a console. Of course Sony hasn’t answered any questions in regards to what happened and probably won’t. If by chance the company speaks up, I’ll let you know what they have to say for themselves. On another note, Sony might be treating fans to an upcoming PlayStation Experience (PSX)! The company filed a trademark application for PSX on June 11th, 2021. While this doesn’t guarantee a showing, it seems like a waste of time to trademark the show if there isn’t going to be one and it’s not a situation where they have to renew the trademark in order to keep it. I wouldn’t be surprised if we hear an announcement for August or September. Sony has a lot to talk about sooner than later i.e. their answer the Xbox Gamepass and upcoming plans for the holiday. In the meantime, I’ll just keep holding my breath until we hear some dirt. Have you been getting excited for Battlefield 2024? Well, it would seem that many players are getting ready for the upcoming title by playing Battlefield 4. In fact, so many players have hopped back on BF4 from all platforms, EA is having the devs increase server capacity to accommodate the traffic. BF4 is 8 years old and I am telling you now, playing that game is not going to prepare you for Battlefield 2024. Play the game because you like it and are excited to see the servers light up once again, but don’t think this is going to “warm you up” for the next entry. Nothing will prepare us for it aside from a beta, I assure you. Speaking of EA (again), there is a pretty heavy rumor that the company is going to be bringing back an “established” IP. A journalist from Venture Beat by the name of Jeff Grubb seems to believe this is happening. He stated in a tweet that we should expect the reveal next month “if we’re not dead first.” This has of course gotten speculators to believe he is referencing the Dead Space series. While we have to take the rumors with a grain of salt, … Read More
Microsoft had an impressive show during E3. Should Sony be worried?
So, E3 had a pretty decent event for Microsoft this year. It seems that the Xbox is finally getting a great lineup of first party titles to end the console’s long running drought of exclusives. Xbox and PlayStation fans alike should rejoice! The stronger the competition in the market, the better the games and offers from both companies. It doesn’t matter which console you root for as long there is solid competition. Now, not taking a shot here, but even if Microsoft didn’t have a great lineup during their presentation at E3 the absence of Sony is definitely an advantage. Sony won’t likely show up for another E3 ever again, but the company is still missed. I wonder if Phil Spencer got excited before the show and said “We’re really gonna steal the show from Sony this year!” Just kidding. Phil is obviously a smart guy, but anyway, let’s review some of the Microsoft presentations and discuss what Sony needs to do in response. I can’t honestly say what is the better announcement for games this year because seriously, a bunch of them look and sound great to me. Starfield and The Outer Worlds 2 have both been confirmed to be Xbox exclusives and while that isn’t a surprise, boy does that sting. Well, kind of stings. I’m sorry, but when I think about what Sony has already released and is going to release, I can be pretty ok with losing Bethesda to Microsoft. It doesn’t hurt that I have all of the consoles that have been released, so I don’t lose out there either, but that fact aside, I want to finish this up from a “I only play on PlayStation” state of mind. Halo Infinite has been given a holiday release date for this year and I am sure fans are hoping to see this franchise rejuvenated to some of its former glory. What was once an amazing franchise took a break from stellar development and has become mediocre for sometime now. I imagine it must be a tough job to take on the pressure of making this a great game again. I’ve been plenty disappointed over the years, so I’m sure the major fanbase is hoping, but not expecting something that will be memorable. They’ll find out this holiday! Forza Horizon 5 was announced during the show. Another first party Xbox exclusive and I can say this much, Horizon is one franchise that releases steadily without disappointment. Fans of the series are fans for good reason. As a PlayStation fan, I enjoy Granturismo, but I would rather play Horizon. I know they are two different games, but if I had a say in the matter, I would pluck Horizon right over the PlayStation lineup. The game looks great and it’s hard to imagine being anything less. Forza Horizon 5 releases this year on November 9th. Not everything during the Microsoft show was exclusive of course, but some of the third party titles … Read More
Last weeks gaming news Today!
I typically drop news updates a little later in the week, but I made the mistake of not publishing last week’s update, so this week will be jam packed with some highly anticipated info such as Dying Light getting a release date, gameplay from Horizon Forbidden West, Sony’s development of AI companionship and more! So, without further ado, let’s go over the latest news updates in PlayStation gaming! Mentioned above, we finally have a release date for Dying Light 2: Stay Human! I have to admit, I was beginning to get a little concerned that this game was going to be another couple of years or possibly longer. Dying Light 2: Stay Human is slated to release on December 7th, 2021. Super fans (such as myself) have been waiting for this for a long time! Those of us on PS5 should be extra excited to finally play the long awaited sequel on next/current Gen consoles. I think it’s gonna be great! Last year I wrote an article about Sony having a patent for an AI companion that could play PlayStation games with you. Like a little robot you sit next to you on the couch and it becomes your player 2. Not only that, it can learn how to play games better, root you on, play with or against you and probably a lot more that I’m unaware of. Sony wants to help make things a little more social in part due to the world pandemic. Where I scratch my head is, isn’t replacing a human with an AI companion kind of antisocial in itself? Who am I to ask such daft questions? I’ll buy it anyway. In other news, Sony’s network sales are up nearly “10 fold” over the last seven years. The biggest contributor being PS Plus with more than 47 million subscribers in March of 2021, I’m sure they’re pretty smitten right now. While that is great news, you really have to wonder what’s up Sony’s sleeve to fight back against Microsoft’s Gamepass. We heard very little about what the future holds for PS Plus, but we do know that Sony is working on something as they have said, we just have to wait a little longer and see. We were treated to some Horizon: Forbidden West gameplay yesterday during PlayStations State of Play and I’m not gonna say much more than wow. It was beautiful and while we know demos are polished extra shiny for these events, I can’t wait to see the full product. I loved the first entry in the series and I am sure the second one will offer just as much if not more satisfaction. This is another title us PS5 owners need to be extra hyped about, but we still don’t have a release date, so hopefully we’ll be hearing about a holiday drop, but there is a good chance it could land in the Spring of 2022. Guerrilla Games has confirmed release date info is coming … Read More
New PS5 model coming 2021?
Word on the web is that Sony is in fact working on a redesign of the PS5 console for 2022. From the sounds of things, it isn’t going to be a slim or pro model of the console, but it is being redesigned to host a different AMD to cut costs and there’s a good reason for that. As you probably know, there is a major shortage of next gen consoles available and that isn’t really because of scalpers as much as it is because there is a world wide Microchip shortage that has not only made it difficult to build the consoles, but it also caused the cost to skyrocket. It’s to the best of my understanding that the chip shortage is the reason for the console shortage, but there are other things to calculate. So, the PS5 is currently using a 5nm AMD microchip and the plan is to switch over to a 6nm for a cheaper cost. I can’t honestly tell you how this will make a difference aside from a lower manufacturing cost. I don’t know much about these chips and in my mind, a 6 sounds like an upgrade over a 5, so I’m not even sure if that’s a fact. Moving forward, this isn’t confirmed by Sony and word came out first from news site based in Taiwan called DigiTimes, and info essentially comes from someone claiming they have this info as they have a subscription for a paywall, which gives its subscribers classified info on certain companies. I don’t know a lot about paywalls, I do know that a lot of insider information has been correct when leaked, but there are also a lot of false claims from people claiming to leak info from a paywall and it’s really just a hoax to grab some new followers on social media’s platforms. Now, I wouldn’t be surprised if Sony is working on a new model of the console. It seems way too early for a slim and definitely too early for a pro upgrade and I really hope they don’t pull the “pro” console out anytime soon if at all, but let’s be honest here, the Xbox Series X is capable of giving a ton of older games 120 FPS when playing. We’re not seeing the same advances on the PS5 just yet. I’m not sure if this will come as an update, but I am positive Sony is watching and working on an answer for this. Sony is dominating the console scene right now, but they have a lot to look at. The Xbox Gamepass is an absolutely amazing service for a low cost. Sony has PS Now, but that doesn’t give us game drops upon release and if you consider the fact that Microsoft owns Bethesda games, I mean, ouch! That’s a huge loss for us as a gaming community if things go exclusive and they likely will, but there was that one day that Phil Spencer … Read More
First major PS5 firmware update drops tomorrow
While the next gen console shortage rages on, there are still plenty of PS5 owners (and soon to be owners) out there. Enough owners in order for Sony to drop the first major firmware update. Not gonna lie here, I’m a little worried. We’re still very early into this console and sometimes when we get these updates we also get a headache from unforeseen issues that can cause performance issues to put it nicely. So, worries aside, let’s go down what is currently listed for the update. Store PS5 Games on Compatible External USB Drives.* With this feature, you can now transfer your PS5 games to USB extended storage from your console’s internal storage. It’s a great way to extend the storage capabilities of your PS5 console, and you can seamlessly copy your PS5 games back to the console’s internal storage when you’re ready to play. It is faster to reinstall PS5 games from USB extended storage than to re-download or copy them from a disc Because PS5 games are designed to take advantage of the console’s ultra high-speed SSD, PS5 titles can’t be played from USB extended storage. PS5 titles also cannot be directly downloaded to USB extended storage. However, games that you transfer or copy back to internal storage will automatically update when applicable. In addition, you can select which game modes you want to install (such as campaign or multiplayer) for select titles that support the option. Cross-generation Share Play. PS4 and PS5 players can now Share Play together while chatting in parties. This means PS5 console users can let their friends on PS4 consoles view their game screen, or even try out the PS5 games through Share Play, and vice versa. Options include the ability to share your screen with a friend, pass your controller virtually to a friend, or pass a second controller virtually to play co-op games together. Request to Join Game Session. A selection of your friends’ joinable game sessions will now appear on both PS5 and PS4 consoles, allowing for more gameplay opportunities together. The “Request to Join” option also serves as a shortcut to sending a game invite, reducing the time it takes for you to get into games with friends. Through the Privacy Settings menu, you can modify who can interact with you through parties, games and messages. Improved Game Base. The Game Base menu has been improved for quicker access to important content and features. You can now easily switch between Parties and Friends to start chatting with your existing parties or see what each of your online friends is up to. In addition, you can turn notifications on or off for each of the parties you’re in. Disable Game Chat or Adjust Players’ Volume. You can now quickly disable in-game chat, which turns off your mic audio and the voice audio of other players. Additionally, you can easily adjust the individual voice chat volume of other players in the same chat so you don’t have to … Read More
Sony shutting down PlayStation Store for PS4 in 2022
Well, we already knew and expected the PSN stores to close for the PS3 and PS Vita this summer, but at a surprising turn of events, Sony has announced that the PS4 store will close down in January, 2022. This comes as a shock because the PS5 is barely in the hands of consumers right now. I’m no sales marketing expert, but if this is in some way a plan to push PS5 sales, this has gotta be the wrong way to go about it. Right now, everyone I know is buying extra external hard drives and downloading everything they own to try and keep their precious digital content safe. I am at loss for words, other than April Fools! Ahaha! I’m sure you knew this was a farce and I appreciate you reading along! I hope you enjoyed my short April Fools articles today. I tried to spread them about and hopefully everyone had a few good chuckles with me.
PS5 scalpers are showing remorse and want to make it up to Playstation fans?
The PS5 shortage is one thing, but scalpers are a different issue. Those loathsome commanders of bots beating everyday consumers to the digital shopping cart is just awful. Then selling the PS5’s for double, Triple, quadruple the profit if one sells? These guys are the worst! While it’s a fact that less than 10% off all PS5 consoles were purchased by a scalper, that’s around 10% of PlayStation fans that got the shaft. Plenty of people ignore the fact that there is also world wide shortage for console components that are actually dragging down the number of available consoles, but scalpers have happened to come across articles explaining the shortage and they are having a change of heart! Scalpers are taking to the internet to denounce their wicked scalping ways and apologizing globally! That’s right! They see the error in their ways and realize that profiting off of limited consoles during a world wide pandemic is just a crappy thing to do! Moreover, many of these scalpers are now giving away the PS5 consoles they secured, rather than turning them for a profit. On top of that, they are even paying for the shipping! These guys have gone from scalping to going more than $500 (usd) into the hole! Wow! What a change of heart! With so many scalpers listing their PS5 console sales as free, they are sure to disappear quickly, so what are you waiting for? Why are you still reading this? Because… It’s an April Fools article! Damn it!
Sony answers Microsoft’s call to Bethesda with Forced Nintendo acquisition!!
Did you read that right? Yes, you did! While many have been glued to the thought that Microsoft now owns Bethesda, Sony has been making some sneaky moves to force Nintendo into an acquisition! I have seen a lot of crazy moves over the years in the gaming industry. Things that I never expected to see like, Activision buying the rights to Crash Bandicoot! SEGA going out of the console making business, Microsoft entering the gaming biz and tons more! I remember when I first heard about Nintendo suffering from financial woes and possibly filing for bankruptcy. The end of Nintendo seems all but real and the big N made it out of the hole and has some rather well competing with handheld devices. Well, it may have seemed like they were out of the hole, but Sony has gone on to prove otherwise. In a private announcement that only I was privy to for some reason, Sony let me in on a huge secret. They had in fact manipulated Nintendo into a financial agreement that states in the fine print, if Nintendo did pay back a full Ian amount and interest by March 31st, 2021, Nintendo would forfeit all of their licensed properties to Sony and the PlayStation brand! Holy crap, I can’t believe Nintendo fell for that! Sony reps went onto state that the rumored Nintendo Switch Pro is in fact not a hardware upgrade, but it is code named for a major software update that will allow players to download, install and play digital copies of Nintendo’s biggest Switch releases! Not only that, all consoles made by Nintendo will come to a halt on April 1st, 2021! This will free up microchips to help ramp up the production of the PS5! Killing one console market to ensure another is born seems like a monopoly play to me, but what do I know? At least I’m not an exec at Nintendo right now. Am I right? Anyway, thank you for taking a moment to read on my April’s Fools satire this year! This is in fact a joke, but could imagine if Sony did manage to buy Nintendo’s properties? I love Nintendo and their franchises, but I often wish they really would close up the console shop and become a third party developer like SEGA did. That’s just me of course. Happy April Fools Day!