Commander Fury

Five years ago today we launched No Man’s Sky. For the first time we watched players all over the world begin to explore the universe we had created. It was a nerve-wracking moment and the culmination of five years of very hard work for our tiny team (the average team size was just 6, and at launch was just 15). We knew this was the start of a journey, but never expected what a wild ride it would be. Today we’d like to take a moment to appreciate this milestone together. It hasn’t always been easy, but the thing that has been our guiding star throughout has been the players and the community. Behind every update, every video, every feature and line in a patch note is a team that cares so deeply for this game. Play Video Our journey continues with the announcement of Frontiers, our next major free update. This is just another step on our voyage and is coming soon. Watching that video even the team is surprised by just how much No Man’s Sky has changed over the years, but also how close it has stuck to that central vision of building a universe to explore. As I look back, I think of the big moments throughout development. Our journey really started from the moment we stepped out nervously on the Sony stage at E3 2014 to share the first gameplay of our ambitious project. It was months after we had our office flooded, and it felt like a small triumph to still be standing as a team. The years before and after launch are one big blur, but some updates really stand out as milestones. It’s hard to imagine how we launched so many major updates so close to launch. Foundations launched around 10 weeks after the main game, introducing Base Building for the first time. Base building is now such an integral part of No Man’s Sky, but it felt unexpected at the time. Foundations really became the foundation for how the next few years would take shape. No Man’s Sky Next was an inflection point. It felt almost like a new game launch and brought multiplayer to PlayStation players in 2018. The reaction of the community continues to motivate us years later. In 2019, as just one part of the large Beyond update, we brought the whole game to PlayStation VR. Built from the ground up, travellers could experience the wonders of the universe in fully realised virtual reality as a free update. It was the moment I felt I could see the game with fresh eyes, to really step into this universe we had created with a new perspective. I really didn’t have that feeling again until 2020, at the launch of PlayStation 5, we were able to be there with an enhanced, ultra version of the game, as another free upgrade. Seeing the game with a new beautiful makeover, running on next generation hardware, was a real moment for the team. And finally, as we push forward to 2021, our next update Frontiers is something I’m very excited about. In some ways it is just another update, but in other ways it’s a missing piece of the sci-fi fantasy that we’ve always wanted to add, and very fitting for our fifth anniversary. There is still a lot we want to try, so much we are still excited for. The next step on that journey is not far off. We’ll have more to share on Frontiers with travellers very soon. We want to thank everyone who has travelled with us so far, and those that have still to join this ambitious voyage. Our journey continues. http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/PSBlog/~4/gww4AwWbMc0View the full article

Email us at PSPodcast@sony.com! Subscribe via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google or RSS, or download here Do you like voices? We’ve got you covered! Episode 406 of the Official PlayStation podcast features a trio of interviews; Greg Kasavin from Supergiant Games talks Hades ahead of its launch on PlayStation next week, Respawn devs Steven Ferreira and Travis Nordin discuss Season 10 of Apex Legends, and SIE Product Director Toshi Aoki talks about the DualSense Wireless Controller. Stuff We Talked About Ghost of Tsushima: Legends Oxenfree II: Lost Signals Hades (interview begins at 11:30) Apex Legends (interview begins at 40:48) DualSense Wireless Controller (interview begins at 55:52) Going Under The Cast Sid Shuman – Senior Director of Content Communications, SIE Tim Turi – Manager, Content Communications, SIE Kristen Zitani – Senior Content Communications Specialist, SIE Thanks to Cory Schmitz for our beautiful logo and Dormilón for our rad theme song and show music. [Editor’s note: PSN game release dates are subject to change without notice. Game details are gathered from press releases from their individual publishers and/or ESRB rating descriptions.] http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/PSBlog/~4/hxLKCOD0yVAView the full article

Last week, we asked you to face up against you favorite bosses in the game of your choice using #PSshare #PSBlog. Here are this week’s formidable foes: mett981 faces off against Emperor Nefarious in Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart. Amianan_NiRaGuB shares the arresting stare of Medusa in Assassin’s Creed Odyssey. KeyserS007 goes lightsaber to lightsaber in this epic boss fight from Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order. Ixion_VII faces the Grand Inquisitor in A Plague Tale: Innocence. Photoingame fights off a massive BT in Death Stranding. CaliOcelot shows a hulking Colossus from Shadow of the Colossus. Search #PSshare #PSBlog on Twitter or Instagram to see more entries to this week’s theme. Want to be featured in the next Share of the Week? THEME: Rain SUBMIT BY: Wednesday 9 AM PT on August 11 Next week, we’re enjoying summer showers and stepping out into the rain. Share rainy moments from the game of your choice using #PSshare #PSBlog for a chance to be featured. http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/PSBlog/~4/-Yti2NvXT6sView the full article

Season Five is incoming fast and with it comes a hefty serving of new free content, like five new Multiplayer maps, the Flamethrower Scorestreak, new Warzone and Zombies Perks, and a brand-new mode: Double Agent. We can’t wait for you to play this one. Prepare for sabotage and deception at its finest. Play Video The next step of Perseus’ plan is finally in play as the Numbers Program gets broadcast to field agents around the world, on both sides of the conflict. The mind-altering message affects all but the most resilient Operators, turning former allies into sudden enemies. Season Five of Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War and Call of Duty: Warzone arrives on PlayStation on August 12. Here’s what you need to know: New weapons and Kitsune lead the Season Five Battle Pass The Season Five Battle Pass brings two new weapons: the EM2 and TEC-9. EM2 (Tier 15) – The full-auto EM2 assault rifle comes equipped with a built-in low-optic zoom for improved accuracy. It features a slower fire rate with reliable range. TEC-9 (Tier 31) – Extend out of close-range with the TEC-9’s improved accuracy, low recoil, and slower fire rate. A versatile SMG with solid damage output. Purchase the Season Five Battle Pass to gain access to all 100 tiers of content, including Kitsune, the Japanese self-taught cybersecurity expert and world-class thief, instantly at Tier 0. And for the first time, an additional exclusive Kitsune Operator Skin can also be instantly unlocked with a Battle Pass Bundle purchase at the start of the season. Earn two more weapons — the Marshal shotgun/pistol hybrid and Cane melee weapon — by completing their-game challenges or by purchasing their corresponding Store bundles later in the season. Get more on PlayStation — exclusive content for Black Ops Cold War Fight Zombies and discover Intel in Echelon Pack your bags for Devil’s Mountain this season as the Onslaught orb looms over the plateau on the new Echelon map. Pair up with another Requiem Agent and battle waves of increasingly difficult enemies, making sure to pick up every last piece of new Dark Aether story Intel along the way. Later this season, expect another limited-time mode to arrive in Onslaught, in addition to a new Weapon Blueprint and other surprises for PlayStation users. New Multiplayer modes: Double Agent and Demolition Prepare for a brand-new Multiplayer experience with the arrival of Double Agent. Each match sees Operators taking on one of three roles: Double Agents: Eliminate everyone else or successfully set off explosive charges around the map. The Investigator: Use clues to target suspected Double Agents as Wanted. Operators: Work together to identify and eliminate the Double Agents before it’s too late. Multiple players are assigned as the Double Agents, who must sabotage the mission by successfully wiping out the investigating team. Expose the traitors before that happens…if you can. Season Five also sees the debut of Demolition in Black Ops Cold War. In this classic respawn mode, the attacking team attempts to destroy a pair of active bomb sites while the defenders must run down the clock as they attempt to do so. Additional Multiplayer maps and Scorestreak Echelon (6v6): This brand-new map set in Devil’s Mountain in West Germany takes Operators to a damaged NATO compound where they must battle through the rain and ash in the aftermath of Perseus’ latest attack. Slums (6v6): Deploy to Panama City in this classic three-lane map first introduced in Black Ops II. A central fountain invites long-range combat across lanes and plenty of aerial Scorestreak bombardments. Showroom (2v2 and 3v3): Duck and weave between retail displays and kiosks in this small-sized map featured in Gunfight and Face Off. Get in your practice for later in the season when Showroom is featured in an upcoming Gunfight Tournament. Drive-In (6v6, In-Season): Break out the popcorn for the return of this cult classic from the original Black Ops. Drive-In features close-quarters fights and powerful overwatch points, namely the big screen of the Galactic Drive-In, where snipers and other long-range weapons thrive. Zoo (6v6, In-Season): Take a trip to Zoo, first seen in the Black Ops DLC pack Escalation. Battle through bear pits and aquariums and hop onto the monorail for a view over the targets below. Burn ‘em with the Flamethrower Immolate your enemies with the new Flamethrower Scorestreak. This low-cost option is great for boosting your score to the next Scorestreak, setting the opposition ablaze in the process. New Outbreak region, Objective, Vehicle, Grapple Gun, and Intel The Outbreak Zone has expanded to the deserts of Algeria (codenamed “Collateral”), making it a prime spot to harvest Aetherium Crystals and further investigate the Dark Aether. Fight the horde around the Algerian desert’s natural rock formations, de-orbited satellite, and oil drills. Survive the new Transport objective, tasking you and your squad with escorting a drivable Requiem machines across the zombies-infested Outbreak zone. And when you’re in need of some serious firepower, hop into the Tank and blast holes into the heaviest zombies using its massive cannon and mounted turret gun. Head to the Crafting Table to build and equip the new Grapple Gun to travel through the Outbreak Zone with ease, and search every nook and cranny for all-new story Intel across Outbreak to discover the latest secrets of the Dark Aether narrative. Expand your Zombies Arsenal: New Perk, Field Upgrade, and Support Looking to survive even longer in both Outbreak and round-based Zombies maps? Drink the new Death Perception Perk-a-Cola to highlight obscured enemies with a bright outline, providing an even greater advantage as you spend Aetherium Crystals to level it up into an absolute powerhouse of a Perk. Summon lightning bolts using the new Tesla Storm Field Upgrade, connecting you to your allies while stunning and damaging enemies caught in its patch. Upgrade its Skill Tiers to stun more powerful enemies and to boost your squad’s movement speed. Finally, burn the undead to a crisp using the new Flamethrower Support Weapon, and dive into even more Zombies content in Season Five, including the new “Ikari EggXit” bonus map in Dead Ops Arcade 3. New Perks, POIs, the Gulag, and more in Warzone Build out your Loadout with two new Warzone-exclusive Perks, offering new ways to play and strategize. Pick Combat Scout to ping and highlight enemies you damage, perfect for focusing your squad’s efforts on nearby threats. For added damage resistance, try Tempered, improving the quality of your armor at the cost of three armor plate carrying slots. In an effort to spread the mind-altering Numbers Program, Perseus and allies have rolled out a network of Mobile Broadcast Stations throughout Verdansk. Their locations change from match to match, so keep your eyes open for the chance to uncover new intel and earn rewards. Prepare for 50v50 combat in Clash, a spiritual successor to Warzone Rumble. Enjoy unlimited respawns in a deathmatch to 200 points. Complete Contracts and public events to gain an advantage over the enemy. Watch out for the mysterious Red Doors, showing increased volatility since the broadcast of the Numbers Program. Reports suggest that these doors are sending Operators to new locations. Season Five launches August 12 Season Five of Black Ops Cold War and Warzone launches on PlayStation on August 12. See you online. http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/PSBlog/~4/D8Y8n1UQNEAView the full article

What’s up PlayStation Nation?! We are very happy to be back on the blog to announce that Skater XL Multiplayer Free Skate mode is now available for PlayStation players! With this update, friends from all corners of the world can link up online and share a skate session, regardless of location, weather, or physical ability. Play Video Skateboarding is more fun with friends, and there’s nothing quite like hanging out, talking shop, and vibing off each other. That essential experience inspired us to create Skater XL’s online Multiplayer Free Skate mode. Multiplayer Free Skate mode is built to replicate the energy and hype of a real life skate session as closely as possible. No rules or barriers, you and the homies decide where to skate, what to skate, and how to skate it. Whether you want to match each other trick for trick, choreograph party lines, or just vibe off each other in a more freeform way, Multiplayer Free Skate provides the platform. The social component of skateboarding has always been part of our vision for Skater XL, so we’ve given Multiplayer Free Skate players the capability to capture and save video of impressive lines and momentous trick moments using the in-game replay editor. Videos are a big part of the culture and we felt it was important to give players a way to share and rewatch their favorite moments long after the session is complete. A check of the Instagram #SkaterXL will give you an idea of the amazing content that is already coming out of the creative community. Building on our foundational goal of giving skate gamers more control than any prior title with our innovative Independent Foot Control system, the opening of the social ecosystem will allow for an even more immersive experience through increased interactions, collaboration, and more lively environments. Multiplayer Free Skate is our first step in opening up social modes in the game and features: Skate with up to 10 people online – Join a random room or start your own private one and invite your friends to join using a passcode Replays – Replay and save your group party lines, with the same replay editor functionality available in single player mode Smooth frame rates and a lag-free experience are so important to Skater XL’s physics-based gameplay and, given the extra processing and complexity of running online multiplayer, we wanted to make sure this update would feel as good as possible. Alongside the development on the multiplayer features, work began back in January on optimizing many of the systems and assets in the rest of the game. A huge number of hours have gone into turning over every stone and reworking code, 3D assets, lighting, shaders, and more alongside the multiplayer systems themselves to squeeze out extra performance. We’re excited to say this update comes with big FPS (frames per second) improvements. The game runs significantly smoother now and even with many characters on screen during online play is significantly smoother even than the previous version in single player mode. Skater XL’s gameplay and controls are feeling better than ever on all PlayStation consoles. Also included in this latest update is a small injection of new character gear with shoes from New Balance and Es Footwear, as well as an apparel capsule from Dickies. As we continue to release regular updates, you can expect to see even more new gear hit the customizer. We have greatly enjoyed connecting with the PlayStation community since Skater XL’s launch in 2020, and look forward to continuing the game’s evolution alongside such an incredibly talented and creative group of players. Be sure to follow us on social media for more updates, event announcements, highlighted content, and news. Thanks as always for your support and we hope to catch a session in a multiplayer room with you soon. http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/PSBlog/~4/tDSVvMm45VsView the full article

Following the PlayStation community’s incredible response to Godfall on the PlayStation 5, the team at Counterplay Games is ecstatic to open up the world of Aperion to PlayStation 4 players. We are excited for the expanded community to experience all the new content coming to the game, including the next chapter of our story – Fire & Darkness*, starting August 10. With additional allies joining our adventure, the Godfall community has a lot to be energized about – including a free upgrade path to PS5 for all PS4 players, as well as the free Lightbringer Update. With the Lightbringer Update, PS5 and PS4 players will now experience cross-generational co-op and can utilize our new matchmaking beta to tackle our most challenging endgame content. On top of that, we’re introducing a new game mode, unique cosmetics, and even more loot! With all the refinements we have made, I thought it might be helpful to take a moment to look at how far Godfall has come and let you know what’s in store. Last year, we launched Godfall alongside the PS5 and have continued to hone the experience based on your immensely helpful feedback. With additions like our hefty Primal Update and quality of life updates, revamped input buffering, new resource tools through Zenun, boss fight improvements, Tower of Trials upgrades, Dreamstones, and more. The game has evolved past our wildest expectations and that is all thanks to you. Together, we have faced and defeated the mad (wannabe) god, Macros, and are about to embark on an even more harrowing journey into the Fire Realm in Fire & Darkness. You will face new foes as an all-consuming darkness threatens to spread throughout Aperion and choke the world of all light. Expect nothing less than fierce resistance as you enter the Fire Realm. The Flameblood Tribe are some of the most formidable enemies in all of Aperion. They will stop at nothing to prevent you from reaching their leaders as they work to fulfill Kosmera’s plans of old. Need an even greater challenge? The Lightbringer Update, which is free for all players, introduces the all-new endgame Lightbringer mode for those that have achieved level 50. The Sanctum’s light has been trapped, and the most powerful knights will be needed to release and spread it, building up enough strength to face the all-consuming darkness. The mode begins with you and up to two other friends loading into one of the realms of Aperion where a mysterious force has emerged and shrouded the land in darkness. You will need to seal Dark Tears in a race against time to allow the Light of Seventh Sanctum to shine through. Teamwork will be essential to surviving these threats – matchmaking beta will serve you well. We wanted to devise a new combat experience within Godfall to test even our most seasoned players in new challenging ways. Lightbringer combines the best of what makes Godfall thrilling. If you are successful in ridding Aperion of the Darkness, that feeling of overcoming daunting odds and immense triumph will permeate through every run. Last but not least, we can’t forget about the loot! The Lightbringer Update introduces a new item tier – Cursed Items. These weapons bring devastating effects to the battlefield and will grant players a massive boon if they lift the Curse on the item and awaken its full potential. Be prepared to venture into Dreamstones and take on the enemies within the Ascended Tower of Trials to lift the curse. Further, the Lightbringer Update adds more than 50+ new cosmetic skins for Valorplates to help you stand out from fellow knights while in matchmaking. With all these new additions, now is the perfect time for new and returning players to raise arms together and battle the enemies of Aperion. Everyone at Counterplay Games is eagerly looking forward to all the amazing moments and epic victories the PlayStation community will celebrate together once this new content goes live on August 10. Thank you for your continued support, and we hope you enjoy all the new additions to Godfall. Fire & Darkness content is free to players that have previously purchased the Ascended and Deluxe Editions of Godfall. For owners of the base game, the content will be $19.99 USD / £15.99 GBP. The base game of Godfall is required to play Fire & Darkness. http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/PSBlog/~4/FJGYK2O2MtEView the full article

Hello! I’m Szymon Erdmański, producer at Bloober Team, and I’m happy to tell you more about The Medium, coming to PlayStation 5 on September 3. For those who haven’t heard about the game, The Medium is a third-person psychological horror game that features innovative dual-reality gameplay – basically, you can play in two worlds at the same time. This unique twist on single-player split-screen gameplay is only possible on next-gen hardware such as PS5. Play Video You play as Marianne, a medium who lives in two worlds: our world and a hostile spirit world. At the beginning of the game, Marianne is haunted by a strange vision: a little girl murdered at a lake. She comes to believe that she can learn the truth behind the vision at an abandoned hotel resort. Once there, she discovers that years ago the place was a stage of a horrifying tragedy and hides a grim mystery only a medium like her can solve. Using Marianne’s unique psychic abilities, you must uncover deeply disturbing secrets, solve intriguing dual-reality puzzles, survive encounters with sinister spirits, all while exploring two realities at the same time. A haunting soundtrack co-composed by Bloober Team’s Arkadiusz Reikowski and Silent Hill composer Akira Yamoaka will accompany you on your journey. DualSense controller and dual-reality horror On PS5, we are taking full advantage of the console’s DualSense wireless controller to immerse you even deeper into the mystery of the Niwa Hotel. Our goal is to let you feel Marianne’s reactions to what is happening as she explores and interacts with the game world, thanks to haptic feedback. For example, when she is using her Spirit Shield ability, you can literally feel in your hands as dozens of spirit-world moths hit the barrier. Another example is Marianne’s Out of Body ability, which lets you leave your physical body and explore as the spirit only. It’s a bit like diving, you can’t survive too long in that state, eventually you’ll suffocate if you don’t return. So the longer you remain out of the body, the quicker you’ll feel the controller pulsate – giving you a hint when it’s time to go back. The adaptive triggers will not only raise the level of immersion but also make the controls more intuitive. When you start charging up the Spirit Blast, the medium’s offensive ability, the trigger will resist at the beginning but gradually loosen up until it can be fully pressed – this means the blast is also fully charged and ready to discharge. These are only a few of the examples of how the DualSense controller will work when playing The Medium on PS5. On top of it, we’re including support for the controller’s speaker, touchpad, light bar, and motion controls. You can expect a lot of hand-picked moments in the story enhanced with the gamepad’s features… but we obviously won’t spoil them now. We’re keeping a couple of aces up our sleeves until you play the game yourself on PS5 September 3.Look for more information about The Medium coming soon and thanks for reading! http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/PSBlog/~4/Z3Yry7gvCzYView the full article

Hades launches next week on PlayStation! We hope you have a wonderful time exploring the Underworld of Greek myth and discovering all its many surprises starting August 13. Today marks almost four years since we first started thinking about this game, so I wanted to tell you about some of the unique circumstances that led to our small team developing what’s become our biggest hit ever — a game that’s already earned more than 50 Game of the Year awards from publications including IGN, Eurogamer, and many others. Suffice it to say we could never have imagined all this when we were just starting out! We first started talking about the Hades project in the late summer of 2017, just weeks after the launch of our third game, Pyre. Our studio had recently celebrated its 10th anniversary, and we were in a reflective mood, thinking back on the different games we’d made. From Bastion, to Transistor, to Pyre, we jumped from one original setting and playstyle to another. However, a central goal in each project was to create a richly atmospheric, fully realized world for you to immerse yourself in. Practically speaking, that meant discarding our best ideas from our last project and starting from scratch. After all, we didn’t want our latest games to feel overly similar to their predecessors, and wanted each world to stand on its own. But, heading into Hades, the thought of yet again setting aside all our best ideas from the past felt needlessly limiting. Couldn’t we build on our best ideas and experience, rather than starting over yet again? So, one of the foundational ideas behind Hades was to make it sort of a ‘greatest hits’ of everything we’d been able to accomplish and enjoyed doing in our previous games to that point. Here then were some of the central ideas behind Hades: A ‘narrative rogue-like’. We were drawn to creating a game in the rogue-like format, meaning a game centered on replayability, where each time you die and start over, you get a different experience due to procedurally-generated encounters and other interesting bits of randomness. Despite this being a popular genre with many outstanding titles, we felt we could contribute something to it by placing a bigger emphasis on narrative and storytelling than the genre is typically known for. This approach would not only play to our strengths as a team, it would hopefully help open up the thrills of rogue-like games to more players. Our first-ever adaptation (rather than a wholly original setting). We’ve had the privilege of being able to create our own unique worlds for each of our games. After three titles, we had a good sense of what that experience was like. But something we’d never done before was adapt an existing world or setting in our own style. We chose the world of Greek myth, both because I and others on the team have a lifelong fascination with it, and because we felt it was such a good fit for the rogue-like genre. We also felt like we had a specific point of view on Greek myth that we hadn’t seen expressed much in modern adaptations, through our focus on the Olympians as a big, dysfunctional family, and centering our perspective on the Underworld and its own little-known gods. Immediate, responsive action. We wanted just about anyone to be able to pick up and start having fun with Hades in seconds. This was in some ways a callback to our design approach in our first game, Bastion, where we wanted players to be able to jump right into it and then discover what was unique about it. We also wanted Hades players to be able to enjoy the game either for minutes at a time or for hours at a time, whatever they felt like. Depth from interconnected systems and surprising permutations. Here we wanted to build on one of our favorite aspects of our second game, Transistor, which has a deep and intricate combat system where you can create your own set of powers by combining the properties of other powers in different ways. We felt this kind of approach would be key to giving Hades its longevity as a rogue-like game. You’d get lots of different powers from different Olympian gods, and they’d interact in many surprising and interesting ways. Character-driven story with no game-over state. Our narrative structure builds on ideas and lessons learned from Pyre, a game whose story always moves forward, whether you succeed or fail. We wanted that sense of a big, continuous story where failure was just part of the experience rather than a constant source of frustration and interruption. You get to decide how much you want to engage with the story and characters in Hades, and you’ll find that the characters are always responsive to your latest accomplishments. With these ideas in mind, we took our first steps building what became our biggest, most successful game we’ve ever made. Whether Hades on PlayStation is your first experience with one of our studio’s games or whether you’ve stuck with us for the long haul, we really appreciate your interest and support, and would love to know what you think – so let us know! We’re @SupergiantGames on Twitter. Take care, and good luck getting out of Hell! http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/PSBlog/~4/WJo7dz46MjQView the full article

We’re super excited to announce that Carrion, our grisly reverse-horror experience is chomping its way onto PlayStation 4! If you’ve always dreamed of portraying an amorphous blob of gristle, teeth, and tentacles as a PlayStation owner, you’ve come to the right place. Play Video Carrion has been greedily gobbling up players during its first year on Earth, and we’ve had our sights set on bringing our tentacle-baby’s wanton path of destruction to PlayStation for what feels like forever! We hope those of you who have yet to feel the warm, sticky embrace of our alien protagonist find that it’s been worth the wait. We are thrilled for you to soon get your feelers on Carrion, but what is a “reverse-horror experience”? Surely that’s just made-up marketing nonsense? Well, if you’re still unaware of our creepy (award-winning) creation, Carrion immerses you in the role of an abominable alien creature as it awakens in a secret, underground laboratory. With no explanation how it arrived there or for what purpose, there is only one thing on the mysterious monster’s mind: escape! And eat people. Okay, two things. But that reverse-horror title makes a lot more sense now, right? Verify your age to view this content. Verify your age to view this content. You’ll spread fear and panic throughout the mysterious facility as you stalk and consume the secretive humans that have imprisoned you. As you grow and evolve you’ll acquire devastating abilities, including a web-like ranged attack, the ability to bend light to become temporarily invisible, and even possessing humans for maximum terror. Your break for freedom will reveal a sprawling overworld that connects different parts of the facility, with new paths becoming accessible through your gradual evolution and successful completion of goals. It will take all your resourcefulness and cunning to navigate your crusade of chaos through the maze-like garrison as the humans begin to fight back. We hope you guys are as hysterical as we are that Carrion is chomping its way onto PS4. We know there’s a secret monster lurking inside you all… http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/PSBlog/~4/-EfEcyaPb2kView the full article

Hey everyone! I’m excited to announce that A Short Hike is coming to PS4 this fall! A Short Hike is a little exploration game about climbing up a mountain. In it, you guide a bird named Claire up to the peak, freely exploring the mountainside and helping other folk along the way. I started working on the game after going on a few road trips along the west coast, hitting up as many hiking spots and natural landmarks as we could. I really fell in love with hiking, and I started to wonder if I could capture that experience as a video game. There were some specific moments I wanted to capture, such as the moment of respite upon reaching the summit, and surveying the landscape from a new perspective. But generally, I wanted to try and recreate the peaceful meditative feeling you get as you explore the world around you. To help create a sense of freedom, I tried to design the game as a tiny open world. I wanted to encourage exploring the road less travelled, and have your curiosity be rewarded. This meant I had to design around the player going the exact opposite of the obvious route, and have the game’s pacing still feel good! This led to the creation of a variety of mini-games to discover on the off-paths and break up the hiking. After adding in fishing, boating, and (a form of) volleyball, the game was starting to feel a little more like a little summer getaway – a love letter to those breezy summer days without anything to do and all the time in the world. For the most part, I’ve been working on A Short Hike by myself. Between the programming, design, art, and testing… I’ve had my hands full! One thing I found difficult was the writing. Although the game is light on story, I did want it to be meaningful to me, and I wanted to touch on some of the fears or worries I have. In a previous project, I had hit a creative block with the writing, and I really struggled with putting something together I was happy with. So for A Short Hike, I tried to take a more improvisational approach. Once I started writing dialogue the same way I chat with my friends over text, it came much more naturally, and helped me find a voice for the game. Since I was doing most of the art myself, I took the opportunity to experiment with the style. I was interested in trying to create a 3D game where the pixels are a core part of the aesthetic, the way retro 2D games often are. While 2D games have been refining pixel art for decades, 3D games have been working to hide pixels as much as possible. I wanted to see if I could make a beautiful (and readable) 3D world using as few pixels as possible. This choice defined the rest of the art direction, leading me to use flat cohesive shading and no anti-aliasing. I added a soft outline effect to objects to help them stand out, and stay readable with so few pixels. I feel like the low-resolution can help the world feel lush, and let your imagination fill in the details. However, some people found the pixelated look less endearing, so I included the option to fine tune the pixel size to your preference. On PS4 Pro and PS5, you can even view A Short Hike in 4K! The one thing I didn’t have a hand in was the music. When Mark Sparling was creating the soundtrack for the game, he suggested creating a dynamic soundtrack that evolves as you wander around the island. He sent me a labeled map of the world outlining his plan, and I implemented it according to his design. Instruments will fade in and out depending on where you are, creating variations on the main theme. String instruments will chime in whenever the player is flying, and trumpets swell as you pick up speed in the motorboat… I think he’s really made something special! While I’ve worked on other games before, this is the first big project I’ve released mostly on my own. It’s been a real journey getting here, and I’m really excited to bring it to PlayStation! I hope you enjoy exploring the world I’ve created when it comes out this fall. http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/PSBlog/~4/tNaZMZvNjAIView the full article

This is Hideki Kamiya, Chief Game Designer at PlatinumGames and creative director of Sol Cresta. Did you all enjoy the new Sol Cresta trailer? Some of you may be thinking, “A sequel to Moon Cresta and Terra Cresta in this day and age? And from PlatinumGames? And it’s not an April Fools joke after all?” To explain a bit for those who may not know, Moon Cresta and Terra Cresta were released in the 80s by a game company called Nihon Bussan, better known as Nichibutsu. Both games were vertically scrolling shooters that included a play mechanic where you docked with friendly ships. At a time when shooting games where you fought alone were the norm, aggressive gameplay that made your ship more powerful as you docked with allies had gamer kids burning with excitement back then, and both games took a place in gaming history. Of course, I was one of those gamer kids and experienced the fever in real time. Sol Cresta itself is a “free-form docking and shooting” game that PlatinumGames will release, and it bridges the gap of 36 years since the release of Terra Cresta in 1985 as the official sequel and next entry in the Cresta Series. But just how did this miraculous project come to be? Well, I’d like to tell you the secret of the birth of Sol Cresta. Starting with Bayonetta and continuing with titles like Anarchy Reigns, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, The Wonderful 101, Nier: Automata, and Astral Chain, PlatinumGames has been fortunate to have the titles we’ve released receive acclaim for the “action feel,” and we’ve come to be known as “the studio that makes action games.” However, as a studio we want to make all kinds of fun games, not just action games. Since I was a kid, I played and had fond memories of a lot of games; shooting games (although these days this tends to mean FPS), adventure games, RPGs, and more. Eventually I thought, “I want to make games too,” and that dream came true when I became a game designer. Moon Cresta ©2014 HAMSTER Co. Terra Cresta ©2014 HAMSTER Co. But as times changed, technology advanced, and the player base grew, the very nature of games and the corresponding trends changed a lot and having become a creator myself, I was involved with large-scale projects centered around 3D visuals and gameplay. Before I knew it, the kind of games I knew as a kid—the simple, almost primitive yet packed with fun “classic games”—had disappeared from the mainstream market. This is getting into production talk, but it is no simple task to launch a game project in a genre that’s not mainstream. Furthermore, in my position it’s also my duty to develop the company’s flagship titles. But even while buried by my workload day in and day out, I never forgot the way I felt when I first dreamed of making games, and if only on paper I still hatched plans in secret for games that can recapture that nostalgic feeling and keep them warm inside. Time passed, and about three years ago, I called our studio head Atsushi Inaba into a meeting room and revealed my idea for a certain game. I said, “I have an idea for a vertically shooting game where you play while combining and reconfiguring three fighter jets.” Most shooting games are simple games where you pilot jets, fire bullets, and shoot down the enemy. However, there have also been a few unique games with standout gameplay features like a variety of powerups that you can choose from, or support craft that can be used for offense and defense. If we were going to take on a genre that is itself considered a “classic,” the game would need to have the kind of unique gameplay like the titles created by industry pioneers, or there would be no meaning in the attempt. With the firm belief that the three-fighter “dock-and-split” system I’d envisioned would help realize a new game experience on par with the historical titles that had come before, I shared my idea with Inaba. Inaba quickly became interested as I explained, and since he also had the desire to make a game like the ones he was crazy for as a kid, he may have been waiting for an opportunity like this. The draft of the idea I handed to Inaba started like this: Title: Sol Cresta This game is a “free-form docking and shooting” game and carries on the spirit of Moon Cresta and Terra Cresta to become the final chapter of the “Cresta Saga.” It elevates the series’ “docking” mechanic to make it the core of gameplay.” Original GDD for Sol Cresta My “dock-and-split” shooting idea came about during planning for possible new games, but as I was working out the details Moon Cresta and Terra Cresta, the games that arguably originated docking as a gameplay theme, popped into my head. Then I thought “How great would it be if I could take these games that I loved and build on their gameplay and world building?” As I thought about it, my imagination ran wild and my excitement couldn’t be contained. Around that time, Hamster’s Arcade Archives classic game revival project was getting praise from players around the world, and that course of events may have also given me inspiration. However, I did have some doubts. Since the founding of PlatinumGames, we’ve always had the desire to create our own original titles and realizing this project as the sequel to another company’s brand would mean abandoning that path. A feeling similar to regret still lingered in my mind. And even as I shared the draft of my idea with Inaba out of the blue, I was also honest with him about the smoldering doubts saying, “We could also try to do this with a new setting, but what do you think?” Without hesitation he said, “Wouldn’t it be more fun to make a sequel to the Cresta series?” Once I heard his voice, all my doubts were blown away. I remembered the basics of being a creator and my own core principle — to make fun and exciting games for the players. And that’s how the Sol Cresta project got started. Although frankly, it shouldn’t have come to be at all. First of all, as I explained before, both Moon Cresta and Terra Cresta were developed by Nichibutsu, with the rights currently held by Hamster Corporation. PlatinumGames had no connection at all to either entity, or any right to make a sequel to those games. It was then that Inaba and I had a discussion and got in touch with Satoshi Hamada, president of Hamster Corporation, who agreed to hear us out. Actually, I had appeared occasionally on Hamster’s weekly live stream on Thursdays and had even gone out to eat with Mr. Hamada and talk about games with him. Of course, circumstances are different when it comes to business, and I knew that as someone deeply invested in the Arcade Archives endeavor, Mr. Hamada has an extraordinary love for classic games. I worried about what would happen if I showed the usually gentle Mr. Hamada my indulgent draft and it angered him, or even worse if I betrayed his trust as a fellow lover of classic games. What if not just the Sol Cresta project, but also my friendship with Mr. Hamada came to an end? I stayed nervous right up until the day we had arranged to meet. Finally, I returned to the Hamster offices. Even though I’d been there many times before to appear on stream, the familiar meeting room seemed completely different as I sat there with Inaba, and it felt more like a chilly dungeon. I took out the draft of the project and handed it to Mr. Hamada with shaking hands. I never felt more like something I wrote could be a demonic recipe for disaster. And in 26 years in the game industry, I’ve never been more nervous than I was then. Mr. Hamada took the draft in hand and read quietly for a while. Inaba and I just watched with bated breath. It seemed like time froze between us, feeling incalculably long and heavy. But Mr. Hamada agreed to support the project on the spot! Of course, that couldn’t have been a simple decision. Being the lover of classic games that he is, I’m sure a lot ran through Mr. Hamada’s head as he read the document. But I don’t believe his decision was purely for business reasons, nor out of pity for me as I shook like a lost dog. I’m sure he made that decision because he trusted us and our plan with the great Cresta series. Right then, while I was overjoyed about getting approval, I also felt a new sense of responsibility not to betray Mr. Hamada’s trust, and not to damage the name of the Moon Cresta and Terra Cresta name that industry pioneers had built up. And as someone who loved both games myself, I felt deep in my heart that I absolutely could not disappoint players who have faith in the Cresta name. Mr. Hamada (left) and me (right) at the Arcade Archives million download celebration! As you can see, the path to realizing the Sol Cresta project was a long one (I’ll save the thrilling tale of Inaba getting internal approval for the project during an unrelated important meeting for a dramatization). Sol Cresta has the “Neo-Classic Arcade” label attached. The name comes from our goal of reviving the feel of “classic” games from the good old days that had the arcades abuzz with excitement in the present with current generation “neo” technology and creating a new gameplay experience. I hope everyone looks forward to this title into which we at PlatinumGames have poured our hearts and souls! To explain more about the “dock-and-split” system at the core of Sol Cresta, I’ll turn it over to director Takanori Sato on our official blog for details. Please check it out and start those mental scramble simulations to get ready for the release! http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/PSBlog/~4/mfU6QF9txC4View the full article

Hi there, we’re Alientrap Games and today we’re here to share our upcoming game Wytchwood with you! If you’re a fan of fairy tales (the Grimm kind), collecting newt eyes to craft hexes and cursing the living daylights out of shady villains, then read on! Made a deal with suspicious black goats lately? Finding it hard to get out of certain magical contracts? Nothing to worry about! In Wytchwood you take the role of a rickety old witch caught up in a dark pact she can’t remember making. You’ll travel the lands and uncover a rich narrative filled with a colorful cast of characters inspired by classic fables. A weeping maiden awaits the return of her lost love, a brutish bear loves nothing more than to knock some heads together, and a feline trickster in a smart pair of boots is plaguing the local market with her deceptions. Only with your magic and sharp wit will you be able to right these wrongs. Maybe with enough good deeds, that pesky billy goat hanging around your house will finally leave you alone! Even with all these evils running about unchecked, Wytchwood is fundamentally a chill game where exploration and collecting spell ingredients play a huge part of the experience. As the wicked witch of the swamp, you get to put on your hat- or in this case- your trusty cauldron, and go out into the world to discover what the lush environments hold for you. From the sunny forest, to the gloomy swamp and snow blown mountaintop, each area contains its own unique critters, plants and monsters. If you’re quick enough, maybe you’ll even snare that weird chicken legged fish that’s running around down by the docks! What’s a witch without her trusty grimoire? In Wytchwood, crafting potions and spells play a key role in unraveling the mysteries of the world. Did that pumpkin just… move? Crafting a Snagvine spell will be sure to hold it still. That cat seems awfully hungry! Maybe it will give you a special something if you can sate its appetite with a treat. Sometimes, an especially tricky problem will call upon you to dig deep and make something with a little more punch to it. Raising the dead takes more than a little elbow grease, after all. Bringing justice to the world and punishing evil doers is no easy feat, but with the right tools and attitude, you might just be the witch for the job! We hope you enjoyed this small peak at Wytchwood. Stay tuned for more news as we get closer to release. Wytchwood is being published by Whitethorn Games and will be coming to the PS4 and PS5 in Fall of 2021. http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/PSBlog/~4/0y622lvEwpUView the full article

It’s cliche at this point to say that making games is hard. Of course it’s hard. It’s in many ways even harder to make a game entirely by yourself. But you know what’s really hard? Maintaining your focus and passion on one project for years at a time. As I’ve said countless times before, Axiom Verge is both my hobby and my job. It puts food on the table and keeps a roof over our heads. But I’m lucky that it’s also what I would be doing even if I wasn’t making a living from it. For that to be true, and to stay true, I’ve got to push the boundaries of what I’m creating. It would be hard for me to maintain my passion for game development if I were just creating a new map layout and new weapons for Axiom Verge and calling it a sequel. Play Video So I decided to push myself and try something ambitious. I’ve talked a little in the past about some of the technical challenges of making Axiom Verge 2, particularly the earth-like sloping terrain and the intelligent enemies, but I’ve never revealed the biggest challenge and most distinctive feature of Axiom Verge 2…until now. Here’s the big reveal: Axiom Verge 2 is two worlds in one. Behind the overworld map that I’ve been showing this entire time, there is another interconnected breach world in an alternate dimension. I’ve hinted about this in an early trailer, where the drone goes through some mysterious portal, but I’ve kept this secret for a while. So first things first, what is the breach? Well, if you’ve played Axiom Verge 1, you may recall a cutscene with this image: The breach, on the right, is a region of space, long thought to be unpassable, that at first kept the denizens of Sudra safe from the outside universe. [Minor spoiler alert imminent!] In Axiom Verge, someone named Athetos was able to traverse the breach and use a breach attractor to keep Sudra trapped. Hijinks ensue. I first decided to include the breach in Axiom Verge 2 in some form around 2016. It took a while for the two worlds idea to gel. At first I considered just having one piece of land elevated above the other. After toying around with a few approaches, I decided that approaching the breach as an additional dimension could unleash a huge range of opportunities for non-linear exploration. In Axiom Verge 2, you’ll have the ability to enter and exit the breach and discover how that world is connected to the overworld. There will be secrets you can only find in the breach as well as places in the overworld that can only be reached via a path going through the breach—and vice versa. At a glance, you can see that the breach area looks very different from the overworld: The breach, being of alien origin, shares a bit more in common with Sudra than the earth. It has blockier tiles and a completely different look. The enemies are more organic than robotic, but all the while completely alien. In some ways, it is two games in one. Making two games in one is challenging enough, but it’s really the interaction of the two worlds that makes it into a cohesive whole. If they were just two separate art styles, where some rooms were in the breach style and others were in the overworld style, that’s not particularly interesting. What is interesting, to me at least, is using one to explore the other. For each location in the breach, there is a corresponding point in the overworld. The entrance and exit points for the breach and the overworld had to be carefully aligned to make sure players wouldn’t get trapped and so that you could reach everywhere you wanted to go. Working out the map system for this literally added an extra dimension to the game’s design. Going into any more detail about how the breach and overworld interact would start bleeding into the territory of over-spoiling. I don’t want to ruin the fun of discovering Axiom Verge 2’s secrets, so I’ll stop here. Just know that the game will be out before you know it, and you’ll be dimension hopping in no time. http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/PSBlog/~4/aUWuVTuVDocView the full article

Every town has that one story. A campsite where people mysteriously vanish. A bridge that’s always cold, even in summer. Woods where a disturbed killer still wanders the trail. In Camena — a community in Northern Oregon — that story is about a submarine from World War 2 and a collection of lost and terrifying spirits. Hi! I’m Adam, co-founder of Night School Studio and lead writer of Oxenfree. I’m also co-writer of Oxenfree II: Lost Signals, which I am super excited to finally announce is coming to PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 by popular demand. I’m happy to at last be able to start sharing a few details of the next chapter of the Oxenfree world, that spooky universe filled with strange apparitions and floating triangles and women with interesting hair choices. Previously, on… In Oxenfree (2016), a high schooler named Alex, her stepbrother Jonas and a few of their friends unwittingly discover that Camena’s town legend is actually real. Planning to celebrate the school year’s end with an overnight stay on Edwards Island — once a military base, now a tourist hot spot — they accidentally “tune” into a ghostly signal, opening a dimensional rift between time. The rift allows a horde of vengeful ghosts to come into our reality, who hope to take the teenagers’ lives as their own. Stuck offshore with no ability to contact anyone for help, Alex is forced to fend off the ghosts, reveal the true history of the mysterious island, and come to terms with her own guilt over the death of her brother, Michael, a year earlier. Happy ending, right? BUT! It turns out, there’s more to the story… Play Video Who is Riley? In Oxenfree II: Lost Signals, you play as Riley Poverly. If you’ve watched our teaser trailer, she’s the one with the flashlight, running around in that snazzy yellow vest. In Oxenfree, our characters were just finishing high school, and entering that period of time in their lives when they get to decide who they really want to be. Riley had that moment long ago, and is now grappling with the repercussions of post-adolescence. Were the choices she made the right ones for her? Is she who she really wants to be? Born and raised in Camena to a veteran father and an absent mother, Riley moved away at the first opportunity, bouncing around between cities and jobs in an attempt to conjure up some direction in her life. Now, a recent change has pushed her to return to her old hometown, to take an entry-level job as an environmental researcher. Mysteries of Camena You see, the last couple of months have been odd ones for Camena. Unnaturally occurring electromagnetic waves have been interfering with the electrical and radio equipment around the small coastal town. TVs have been turning on and off. Planes have lost radar. Stations can’t transmit their signals through static. A research group from a nearby college has been contracted to study the phenomena and to trace the source of whatever’s causing the interference. Riley’s job, as a new, freshly hired research assistant — is to do the grunt work: plant radio transmitters in prescribed areas and report back the data those transmitters collect. Easy! Until… well… things start going… weird. Stay Tuned In Oxenfree II, you’ll use much of the same tools as the original Oxenfree, a narrative game revolving around a robust conversation system and a radio that tunes into supernatural signals. I wish I could get into more of the game’s story, characters and villains and what happens if you go into the old mining town, Garland, and I want to show you all the weird time travel stuff and what Time Tears are but the rest of the team is dragging me away from the keyboard now. Thanks for reading! http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/PSBlog/~4/aKITCmvcZOcView the full article

Hi everyone! We’re back today with a lineup of reveals, updates, and previews for seven thrilling indie games coming to PlayStation. From mysterious horrors and action-packed dungeons, to colorful characters and thoughtful exploration, there’s a game from today’s announcements suited to every player. Keep an eye here on PS Blog as the updates unfold every half hour, starting at 7am PT / 3pm BST / 4pm CEST. http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/PSBlog/~4/0up4B8JbooMView the full article

Last October, we launched Ghost of Tsushima: Legends, our very first online multiplayer project as a studio, which expanded the gameplay of Ghost of Tsushima into a supernatural world inspired by Japanese mythology. And to say that your support and enthusiasm blew our wildest expectations out of the water is an understatement. We have loved seeing reactions and photo mode shares for the past 10 months, and have lost plenty of sleep staying up late to watch teams streaming their Raid progress. Thank you to everyone who’s played so far! With just two weeks to go until Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut, we wanted to talk about what’s next for Legends*. As always, just like all Legends content, every update detailed below will be available at no additional charge to owners of any version of Ghost of Tsushima on PS4 or PS5, with no Director’s Cut purchase required. Players on PS4 and PS5 will also be able to play together seamlessly, and progression in Legends carries over regardless of which console you’re playing on. Play Video First, today we’re excited to reveal Rivals, an all-new mode coming to Ghost of Tsushima: Legends on September 3 (including new Trophies and cosmetics!). In Rivals, two teams of two will compete to defeat waves of enemies. With each defeated foe, you’ll collect Magatama that you can use to harm the other team. For example, you can spend Magatama on Shades to block your opponents’ purchases, Curses (health drain, exploding bodies, etc), Hwacha fire, and more. Once you’ve spent enough Magatama, you’ll unlock Final Stand waves. Complete these before the opposing team to win! Second, at the same time Rivals launches, we’ll be releasing the Gear Mastery system. This is a new expansion of the progression systems and rewards for Legends. Players who’ve earned 110-level gear will now be able to bind it to a class and activate “Mastery Challenges.” This will allow a piece of gear’s Ki level to be upgraded to 120 and eventually unlock a second perk slot! As you activate Mastery Challenges, you can also unlock a new Ability and new Techniques for each class. Starting on August 20 (release date of Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut), we’re also releasing an update that will add new features to Legends, including some changes based on feedback from the community. We’ve rebalanced the Survival mode to shorten the session length and added new weekly Survival Nightmare challenge variants. We’ve also unlocked additional cosmetics in Legends for players who’ve earned them in Jin’s story and New Game+. Again, all of the above will be available at no additional cost if you already own Ghost of Tsushima, but for those of you who don’t own Ghost of Tsushima yet but are interested in trying out Legends, we’re also offering a new way to buy Legends on its own, without the single-player campaign starring Jin Sakai. This new standalone version of Legends will be available on PlayStation Store for $19.99 / €19.99 / £15.99 on PS4 or PS5 consoles. With the exception of some cosmetics that can only be unlocked via the single-player campaign, this is the same Legends content accessible by owners of Ghost of Tsushima, so you’ll have access to the content released in 2020 in addition to everything new described above. (And of course, you’ll be able to play cooperatively with players who own the full version). For players who purchase the standalone release of Legends, if you decide you want to check out the rest of Ghost of Tsushima, you’ll be able to upgrade to Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut at any time for $40 / €50 /£44 (PS4) or $50 / €60 / £54 (PS5). In addition to all of the above, we’ll be adding a new piece of content each week from September 10 through October 1, including an additional Rivals map, new Survival maps inspired by Iki Island and Iyo’s realm, and Trials of Iyo, a new harder-difficulty version of last year’s Raid that offers challenges in bite-sized chunks, and offers a new set of online leaderboards. Thank you once again to everyone who has played Ghost of Tsushima: Legends! We can’t wait to get all of this new content and the Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut into your hands very soon! *Internet connection and PlayStation Plus membership required to download and play Legends Mode. PlayStation Plus membership is subject to a recurring subscription fee taken automatically until cancellation. Age restrictions apply. Full terms: play.st/PSPlusTerms http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/PSBlog/~4/pSisyGPNVUgView the full article

Last October, we launched Ghost of Tsushima: Legends, our very first online multiplayer project as a studio, which expanded the gameplay of Ghost of Tsushima into a supernatural world inspired by Japanese mythology. And to say that your support and enthusiasm blew our wildest expectations out of the water is an understatement. We have loved seeing reactions and photo mode shares for the past 10 months, and have lost plenty of sleep staying up late to watch teams streaming their Raid progress. Thank you to everyone who’s played so far! With just two weeks to go until Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut, we wanted to talk about what’s next for Legends*. As always, just like all Legends content, every update detailed below will be available at no additional charge to owners of any version of Ghost of Tsushima on PS4 or PS5, with no Director’s Cut purchase required. Players on PS4 and PS5 will also be able to play together seamlessly, and progression in Legends carries over regardless of which console you’re playing on. Play Video First, today we’re excited to reveal Rivals, an all-new mode coming to Ghost of Tsushima: Legends on September 3 (including new Trophies and cosmetics!). In Rivals, two teams of two will compete to defeat waves of enemies. With each defeated foe, you’ll collect Magatama that you can use to harm the other team. For example, you can spend Magatama on Shades to block your opponents’ purchases, Curses (health drain, exploding bodies, etc), Hwacha fire, and more. Once you’ve spent enough Magatama, you’ll unlock Final Stand waves. Complete these before the opposing team to win! Second, at the same time Rivals launches, we’ll be releasing the Gear Mastery system. This is a new expansion of the progression systems and rewards for Legends. Players who’ve earned 110-level gear will now be able to bind it to a class and activate “Mastery Challenges.” This will allow a piece of gear’s Ki level to be upgraded to 120 and eventually unlock a second perk slot! As you activate Mastery Challenges, you can also unlock a new Ability and new Techniques for each class. Starting on August 20 (release date of Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut), we’re also releasing an update that will add new features to Legends, including some changes based on feedback from the community. We’ve rebalanced the Survival mode to shorten the session length and added new weekly Survival Nightmare challenge variants. We’ve also unlocked additional cosmetics in Legends for players who’ve earned them in Jin’s story and New Game+. Again, all of the above will be available at no additional cost if you already own Ghost of Tsushima, but for those of you who don’t own Ghost of Tsushima yet but are interested in trying out Legends, we’re also offering a new way to buy Legends on its own, without the single-player campaign starring Jin Sakai. This new standalone version of Legends will be available on PlayStation Store for SGD 26.9 / MYR 89 / IDR 289,000 / THB 690 on PS4 or PS5 consoles. With the exception of some cosmetics that can only be unlocked via the single-player campaign, this is the same Legends content accessible by owners of Ghost of Tsushima, so you’ll have access to the content released in 2020 in addition to everything new described above. (And of course, you’ll be able to play cooperatively with players who own the full version). For players who purchase the standalone release of Legends, if you decide you want to check out the rest of Ghost of Tsushima, you’ll be able to upgrade to Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut at any time for SGD 53.00 / MYR 160 / IDR 590,000 / THB 1,300 (PS4) or SGD 71.00 / MYR 210 / IDR 740,000 / THB 1,600 (PS5). In addition to all of the above, we’ll be adding a new piece of content each week from September 10 through October 1, including an additional Rivals map, new Survival maps inspired by Iki Island and Iyo’s realm, and Trials of Iyo, a new harder-difficulty version of last year’s Raid that offers challenges in bite-sized chunks, and offers a new set of online leaderboards. Thank you once again to everyone who has played Ghost of Tsushima: Legends! We can’t wait to get all of this new content and the Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut into your hands very soon! *Internet connection and PlayStation Plus membership required to download and play Legends Mode. PlayStation Plus membership is subject to a recurring subscription fee taken automatically until cancellation. Age restrictions apply. Full terms: play.st/PSPlusTerms http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/PSBlog/~4/BR1A5hU8F30View the full article

It’s hard to believe that just a year ago, we held our first online digital event with the SFV Summer Update in 2020. One year and several seasonal updates later, we’re back with today’s SFV Summer Update 2021! Check out the full video here: Play Video Let’s dive into what was covered, including info on returning SFIII series character Oro, SF newcomer Akira, the reveal of the final character for Season 5 of SFV, and more! Oro returns from the SFIII Series Street Fighter III’s wandering hermit is back in SFV and is ready to teach these youngins a lesson in fighting. Oro’s playstyle has always given him a variety of options and his SFV iteration is no different. V-System Oro’s V-Skill I is called “Onibi,”which summons a bouncing orb projectile that can bounce at three different trajectories. Oro’s V-Skill II is “Minomushi,” that has Oro executing a short hop that has two different follow-up attacks: “Kaki Otoshi,” an overhead attack or “Eda Uchi,” a safer on block kick. Oro’s V-Trigger I is called “Manrikitan,” which gives Oro access to his command grabs called “Kishinriki” and “Kishin Kuchu Jigoku Guruma” and can be performed on the ground and in the air, respectively. Oro’s “Tengu Stone” returns as his V-Trigger II where Oro summons three objects that can be used to make combos possible that weren’t before. If you hold Down while activating V-Trigger II, “Tengu Midare Stone” will activate instead and produce five objects. This makes combos even more powerful but will drain the V-Gauge faster. With his turtle buddy in tow, Oro is back in SFV with classic moves as well as some new tricks up his robe. We hope you’re all excited to try out Oro when he releases on August 16! Let’s check out Oro in action! Play Video Akira Kazama makes her debut in Street Fighter V Hailing back from the fighting game series Rival Schools, Akira Kazama makes her Street Fighter debut in SFV! Her playstyle excels best up close and personal. Special Moves “Kiko Kai” is a short ranged blast of energy that comes from Akira’s hands. The EX version has a longer range and comes out much faster. “Urarimon” is a fast, forward-moving elbow strike. This move allows Akira to close in space and deal good damage and is best used as a combo ender. Her “Senshubu” kick has low, medium, and high variations to hit at all angles and has a follow up kick after. Akira’s V-System Akira’s V-Skill I “Kiko Rensei,” enhances her “Kiko Kai” by adding more hits and damage to the attack. Her V-Skill II is called “Tsutenda,” where Akira will launch her opponents into the air allowing for follow up attacks. These airborne combos are called “Air Bursts.” Akira’s V-Trigger I is “Otoko No Senaka.” Akira’s brother Daigo drops down from the sky and strikes the opponent, then explodes with a burst of energy! Her V-Trigger II is “Haten no Kamae,” which puts Akira in a special stance where she can execute three different follow-up attacks. Each follow up attack has unique attributes and you can cancel the stance and go for a throw instead! Use this V-Trigger to extend your combos or open up opponents with frame traps and mixups. Akira has studied up and is set to make waves in SFV when she releases on August 16! Let’s check out Akira in action with this exclusive match footage: Play Video Season 5’s mystery character revealed SFV Director Takayuki Nakayama and Producer Shuhei Matsumoto also announced the fifth and final character for Season 5! Introducing Luke, a brand new character that will help expand the world of Street Fighter. Play Video Luke will be released in November of this year and we’re looking forward to sharing more about him soon! SFV Season 5 Pass, Free Trial, and Sales With Luke now revealed as the final character in SFV, check out what’s updated with the Season 5 passes. Season 5 Premium Pass Season 5 Character Pass Also, to help celebrate the launch of Oro, Akira, and Online Tournament Mode, we’re offering a Free Trial lasting August 4 through August 18 which gives access to all characters in Seasons 1-4. In addition, SFV and the Upgrade Kit are discounted in the PlayStation store. Also, for the first time, we are discounting the Season 5 Premium and Character passes as well as the SFV:CE + Season 5 pass and Upgrade Kit + Season 5 pass bundles: Well, that was quite an event. We appreciate all the support you’ve given Street Fighter V and we’re excited to share more on Oro, Akira, Luke and the future of Street Fighter. Until next time! http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/PSBlog/~4/9EjjTlGPqUEView the full article

The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners wowed the VR world with its intense physics based combat, terrifying undead hordes, and immersive survival gameplay. Its first major update, The Meatgrinder, brought with it a new gameplay difficulty, the wave-based survival mode The Trial, and hours of replayable walker slaying action. However, for those seeking a way to continue your adventure in the main campaign, the wait is nearly over. Though delayed for some time, the next free update for The Walking Dead Saints & Sinners will be launching on September 23, and with it comes new missions, new threats, and a new mystery to uncover. As Mark Domowicz, Project Director at Skydance Interactive, describes the update,“I like to think of Aftershocks as a small ‘Thank you’ to the players who’ve supported us since the game released and as we’ve grown. These are the bonus missions, end-game content designed to surprise, delight, and challenge even our most diehard fans. And, it’s a small appetizer for bigger things yet to come!” To get you ready for this ‘Thank you’, we have five tips that will give you an edge in tackling these challenges and increase your chances of finding the remnants of The Reserve. 1. Expect the unexpected As all of the missions in Aftershocks take place after you complete the main story, the tasks you take on will be fully geared with well-trained survivors ready for an extra challenge in mind. Old stomping grounds will be revived in unexpected, deadlier ways, and no two missions will play out the same. Newly guarded areas, surprise death squads, hungry walkers and deadly traps will show up where you least expect them, so don’t go into any mission resting on your previous map knowledge. 2. Watch your step Verify your age to view this content. Verify your age to view this content. Speaking of traps, one of the first new things you’ll need to keep an eye out for are the tripwire bombs set up in your path during certain missions. Connected to propane tanks, these lethal setups will blow you to bits if you accidentally cross one. Going in slow and setting off the propane tanks from afar is one method to deal with them, but consider killing two birds with one stone and leading walkers into the traps as well. Just try to get out of the area before the sound attracts more of the undead. 3. Spend your supplies and gear up well You’ve found your first Reserve Cache, raided it for all its worth, and made it back to your home base successfully, but what are you going to do with all these resources? Our advice is to not be stingy and start crafting as much as you can. You never know what kind of challenge awaits you on the next mission, so it’s best to stock up for any and all possibilities. Melee weapons and arrows for stealthy infiltrations, high powered guns for impromptu shootouts, bombs and noise makers to get the walkers out of your way, and plenty of bandages and medicine when you get caught in a bad spot. If there are any upgrades you’ve still been putting off it’s a good idea to take care of those too. Just make sure you’ve got enough room in your backpack for the next Reserve Cache. 4. The cache may not be all Each of the missions will have you following clues to uncover a hidden Reserve Cache, but just because you’ve found the chest doesn’t mean you’ve found the real treasure. Both Tower and Reclaimed soldiers are searching for these supplies, and often they will have found them before you arrive, taking the valuable stuff somewhere else on the map. Be sure to read every note you uncover, and follow the clues to find where the real bulk of goodies could have gone. Each cache comes with at least one piece of military memorabilia, if you can find that then you’ve probably come to the end of the trail. 5. Look out for what’s next Aftershocks is just a small bite of what we have planned for Saints & Sinners, and is in fact only the first taste of new content planned to come for the game. Explore Aftershocks to its fullest and you may get some more insight into what comes next for both the Tourist and all of post-apocalyptic New Orleans. Just like with the new missions, returning to old locations with a new perspective can reveal more than you think. Aftershocks comes to The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners September 23 on PlayStation VR. http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/PSBlog/~4/OgWWDUP8d-8View the full article

Hi everyone, I’m Benedict Nichols, the composer and sound designer for the third-person aerial combat game, The Falconeer, which is coming to PlayStation 5, and PlayStation 4 on August 5. I’ve worked with the game’s solo developer, Tomas Sala, for almost two years, helping to bring his vision for the game to life. It’s been an incredible privilege to work on such a unique game, and it’s a pleasure to share a little insight into how I used music to bring the world of The Falconeer to life here with you today. Tomas knew that he wanted deep Mongolian singing to be the sound of the Ursee (the ocean-based world of The Falconeer), and so, as the waters provide a stark reminder of death below, it provides the bed for nearly all the music and ambiences. After receiving the liberating guideline of “be bold and unique”, my creativity ran wild! I felt music needed to do more than just accompany the player’s journey, so I set about the ambitious task of creating an entire sonic world that not only represented the game and it’s various factions in the ‘present day’, but also immersed the player with a sense of history, creed, musical development, and the emotional journey the people of the Ursee have experienced. Every location in The Falconeer has its own unique suite of music, written with guidelines for each faction, that varies depending upon your relationship with those people (friendly, neutral or hostile). Further thought was given to the physical position of locations. For example, Mawbridge, being right in the centre of the map, draws on influences from various faction locations around it as it’s a pinch point for travelling sailors, who would bring their cultural heritage with them. This pseudo-anthropological approach results in a much more immersive experience for the player, for if they fly from one side of the map to the other, they will experience shifts in the music and ambience that relays information about everything below, This becomes essential for establishing a ‘believable’, engrossing world that is much more than just a stunning visual backdrop to the good old classic dogfighting! Below are the guidelines I established for the various factions. These were integral to establishing the believable, immersive game world that the player inhabits. I tried to find unusual ways of using and combining instruments that would feel unique to the world while still resonating with the player: Civilians Struggling for survival amongst the warring factions, their independence is characterized by solo string and woodwind instruments. Their melodies are somewhat remorseful of their history, but at locations like Saladmount, there is still a bit of grit in them. Meanwhile locations like Sacred Steps feature ‘religious’ chanting, as the monks perform their rituals within, which informs the player of the sort of people they are approaching. Imperium Strong and imposing, the rhythm of their machinery runs through the blood of its workers. There’s a sense of them stamping their mark everywhere they go with heavy drums (often emphasising beats 1, 2 and 3) and metallic hits, while combinations of brass (including some non-idiomatic flugal horn playing), bagpipes, cimbalom, bazantar, and synths boldly proclaim their presence. Listen to the track ‘Cleftspire’ here – Cleftspire is the home of great ship builders, their strong melodies call out their challenge over strong percussion and grunting chants. The Mancer Order A technological cult who guard history’s mysteries, their music is made of an eclectic collection of instruments. I was looking for a sound that could define their religious zeal and depth of purpose in the way a deep church bell can, but without being metallic (as bells represent a sense of freedom in the game) and settled on a heavily detuned sitar, as if they were hung and struck in the towers of Stargazer. The Freebooters With this faction I represented the fusing of technology with nature, resulting in combinations of effected didgeridoo, more intense Mongolian singing (as they reside below the surface) and characteristic synths and orchestral forces. Pirates Guitars, cimbalom, massive drums, strong strings, deep throaty chanting (by myself) and some non-idiomatic saz (also by me!) characterise these pesky hordes. The changing compound time signatures reflect their rolling over the waves. While writing the location music, a balance was needed to make it feel somewhat semi-diegetic. I needed to be careful that there wasn’t too much detail in the music, but with each faction’s battle music, that all changes. It’s job is to rip the player out of the serene beauty of gliding around a stunning world and thrust them into instant, visceral battle. It pushes the player forward as well as being informative, full of little musical details to reduce tedium. Listen to the track ‘Pesky Marauders’ here – It establishes the Pirates’ sonic signature in the world early in the game as they launch a surprise attack. I hope this has given you some insight into my approach and why music is so important to creating the sense of a living world in The Falconeer. Having a ‘worldly’ reason for every musical choice and nuance gives the music more authenticity, and I hope has resulted in a much deeper, immersive experience for players. http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/PSBlog/~4/_AB5Lk262ioView the full article

Hola! For this month’s Players’ Choice poll, we’ve got a prime selection of gaming decadence for you to choose from. JRPG sequel NEO: The World Ends With You released to high praise from fans of the quirky original, The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles appeals to fans of loud exclamations and pointing at people, Tribes of Midgard makes a boisterous debut, and oh-so-much more. Hit the poll below before Sunday night to cast your vote, and we’ll update this post with the winner next week. See you then! How does it work? At the end of every month, PlayStation.Blog will open a poll where you can vote for the best new game released that month. Soon thereafter, we’ll close the polls, tally your votes, and announce the winner at PlayStation.Blog. PlayStation Store will also showcase some top Players’ Choice winners throughout the year. What is the voting criteria? That’s up to you! If you were only able to recommend one new release to a friend that month, which would it be? In keeping with our long tradition in the Game of the Year Awards, remastered or re-released games won’t qualify. Ambitious, larger-scale rebuilds and remakes like Shadow of the Colossus and Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy will. How are nominees decided? The PlayStation.Blog and PlayStation Store editorial teams will gather a list of that month’s most noteworthy releases and use it to seed the poll. Write-in votes will be accepted. http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/PSBlog/~4/LAEGiJlnsfIView the full article

An eclectic mix of compelling titles await PlayStation Now members this month*. Nier: Automata promises compelling story and blistering RPG action in a far-flung future as combat androids take on a mechanical threat. Sci-fi style Ghostrunner challenges you to master its potent combination of unforgiving but ever thrilling parkour and one-hit-kill mechanics. Meanwhile, Undertale takes a nonviolent approach to traditional dungeon crawling. All are must plays, and all three are available to play from tomorrow, Tuesday, August 3. Let’s take a closer look at each in turn. Play Video Nier: Automata In this captivating action RPG, invaders from another world attack without warning, unleashing machine lifeforms. To break the deadlock, a new breed of android infantry is sent into the fray: the YoRHa squad. Join androids 2B and 9S in their ferocious battle to reclaim an overrun dystopia and experience mesmerizing, high-speed combat that’s the specialty of development studio PlatinumGames. Nier: Automata is available until Monday, November 1, 2021. Play Video Ghostrunner Wield a blade and perform amazing parkour feats to battle your way up a megastructure tower city in this intense, fast-paced first-person adventure. Slice your enemies with a monomolecular katana, dodge bullets with your superhuman reflexes, and employ a variety of specialized techniques to prevail. One-hit one-kill mechanics make combat fast and intense. Use your superior mobility (and frequent checkpoints!) to engage in a fearless, never-ending dance with death. Play Video Undertale In this top-down adventure, control a human who falls underground into the world of monsters. Now you must find your way out… or stay trapped forever! Explore a rich RPG world full of strange and delightful characters where violence isn’t the only answer: every enemy can be defeated nonviolently. Negotiate out of danger using a unique battle system. Dance with a slime…pet a dog…whisper your favorite secret to a knight…or ignore all of that and rain destruction upon your foes. The choices are yours—but are you determined enough to prevail? *Certain games featured on PlayStation Now may be made available in the library on a limited-time basis only. Games included in the subscription (and their features) are subject to change. PlayStation Now games may not provide the same features or be identical to the original formatted or other versions of the same-titled games. http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/PSBlog/~4/CsPkVefWE_sView the full article

Email us at PSPodcast@sony.com! Subscribe via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google or RSS, or download here Welcome back! This week, the team shares their Game of the Year-So-Far selections, and highlight news from the Annapurna showcase. Stuff We Talked About Hunter’s Arena: Legends Destruction AllStars Life Is Strange: True Colors Stray The Outer Wilds Returnal It Takes Two Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart Going Under The Cast Sid Shuman – Senior Director of Content Communications, SIE Kristen Zitani – Senior Content Communications Specialist, SIE Thanks to Cory Schmitz for our beautiful logo and Dormilón for our rad theme song and show music. [Editor’s note: PSN game release dates are subject to change without notice. Game details are gathered from press releases from their individual publishers and/or ESRB rating descriptions.] http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/PSBlog/~4/2KX0Mo3WWxIView the full article

Last week, we asked you to keep out of the shadows in the dangerous world of A Plague Tale: Innocence. While avoiding plague-infesting supernatural rats, you shared Amicia and Hugo’s best moments using #PSshare #PSBlog. Here are this week’s highlights: RyoppyGamePhoto shares Amicia carrying Hugo as he grows weak. DKANG0316 shares Hugo’s connection to the rats growing. justinphotomode shares a lovely portrait of Amicia. ISAchan_97 got up close and personal with the rats. kuanpunchman stays in the light. crisg_art shares an emotional shot of Hugo. Search #PSshare #PSBlog on Twitter or Instagram to see more entries to this week’s theme. Want to be featured in the next Share of the Week? THEME: Bosses SUBMIT BY: Wednesday 9 AM PT on August 4 Next week, we’re facing our toughest enemies. Share epic moments confronting bosses from your favorite games using #PSshare #PSBlog for a chance to be featured. http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/PSBlog/~4/rr9iJvYEBccView the full article

Mobius Games is very excited to finally talk about our first (and only) expansion to Outer Wilds! Echoes of the Eye adds a mysterious new location to the solar system, packed with secrets to uncover. We designed the expansion as if it was always lurking within the world of Outer Wilds but hadn’t been discovered yet. When Echoes of the Eye launches, check out the new museum exhibit on Timber Hearth which marks the trailhead for one last journey into the deepest, darkest part of the solar system. Play Video You might be wondering why we chose to add content when Outer Wilds is already a complete experience. As a relatively small and un-established studio we needed a project to immediately follow Outer Wilds that wasn’t too big or crazy, while still allowing us to grow as developers and hopefully deliver something that would appeal to fans of Outer Wilds. Internally we had been tossing around various, more conventional, ideas for Outer Wilds DLC. Ultimately we realized that we wouldn’t be comfortable expanding on the existing game unless it gave players something new and substantial to explore while also adding something meaningful to the narrative. While Echoes of the Eye doesn’t match the breadth of the base game by itself, it does have more depth than any existing location in the solar system. Our playtesters have been pleasantly surprised by how deep the rabbit hole goes! As you might guess, adding something substantial to the existing game was a rabbit hole of its own. Making Outer Wilds content is an involved process, and it wasn’t long before the DLC became an expansion. Because it needed to work equally well for both new and returning players, the structure of Echoes of the Eye wound up resembling a microcosm of the original game as a whole. That being said, don’t expect Echoes of the Eye to be the base game in miniature. We took some risks with the method of storytelling and added plenty of new mechanics. Outer Wilds has always had light horror elements to it, but this expansion really leans into the spooky side of things (don’t worry, we’ve added a “reduced frights” option to the menu if you find it too intense!) As with Outer Wilds, Echoes of the Eye will play best the less you know about it, so we’re trying to avoid spoiling too much before you get the chance to play it for yourself. Much like the original game, we’ve taken many science fiction staples and used them as inspiration for both the narrative and dynamic systems at play. We’re looking forward to seeing how fans react to the new revelations we have in store, and as usual we’ve done our best to include plenty of extra details for those who seek answers to their questions. Be wary however; although Echoes of the Eye may contain the answers you seek, is there some knowledge better left in the dark? http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/PSBlog/~4/AZdzNuKSoogView the full article