HELP US GEAR UP FOR LAUNCH DURING THE DIABLO IV SERVER SLAM - Calling all wanderers! In preparation for the launch of Diablo IV on June 6, we must enlist your demon-cleansing services for one final task: Server Slam. From May 12, 12 p.m.-May 14, 12 p.m. PDT, everyone can come to Sanctuary's defense on Windows PC, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, and PlayStation 4—along with couch co-op for consoles and cross-play and cross-progression for all platforms—against the armies of the Burning Hells to help us test the durability of our servers.

WHAT TO EXPECT DURING SERVER SLAM
Server Slam will give players one final weekend in Hell to experience a fraction of what Diablo IV has to offer, while simultaneously testing the capabilities of our servers prior to launch. The Prologue and entirety of Act I will be your canvas to paint with the remains of slain demons. Fractured Peaks, the first Zone, is yours to navigate as you please. Traverse its rugged landscape as Barbarian, Druid, Necromancer, Rogue, or Sorcerer, unleashing devastating power upon foes, and honing your unique skillset in the process.

The Sky UK news network has gathered intel from industry and government sources about an industry event that is due to take place next week at a very famous location - 10 Downing Street - the residence of the UK's Prime Minister. Sky News has been informed that Microsoft has been invited to attend the showcase by the UK Interactive Entertainment (UKIE) industry organization - best described as the main trade body for the nation's games and interactive entertainment sector. The American technology behemoth is expected to display and demonstrate their Xbox gaming product range in front of top politicians and key entertainment industry figures. There is no mention of representatives from Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) being invited to attend in a similar capacity. The timing of this UKIE organized event (to take place on April 26) is highly controversial as it will coincide with the UK's Competition and Markets Authority's statutory deadline to deliver a Phase-2 verdict on Microsoft's proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard.

The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) regulatory body has already delivered a provisional approval of the aforementioned deal, but stated that it required more time to investigate the potential for irregularities in competition within the cloud gaming sector. The Phase-2 verdict, due to be delivered next week, is anticipated to include the antitrust watchdog's finalized judgement on cloud gaming market affairs. Sky's insider sources in the city of London have speculated that Microsoft could face a humiliating situation at the 10 Downing-hosted party, if by coincidence the CMA changes its opinion on the Activision Blizzard takeover bid. If the competition regulator stays consistent with its (earlier) provisional decision, Microsoft could be criticized for its extensive courting of government organizations - not only in the UK, but around the world.

Blizzard Entertainment has confirmed that Diablo IV is feature complete and has reached a development milestone of being software version 1.0. The official Diablo Twitter account posted a not so cryptic tweet boasting the news: "Diablo IV has gone gold. Can you feel her presence now? See you in Sanctuary. 6.6.23 🔥." The general gaming public will gain access to the fully finished game on June 6, but a select lucky few have been toying with early preview builds over the past months. The last Diablo IV closed beta program attracted plenty of gaming news attention for a technical snafu, wherein owners of a particular NVIDIA GPU model found out the hard way, during D4 playtest sessions, about underlying faults in their chosen silicon - Blizzard is leading an investigation into the matter, with assistance from Team Green.

It is hoped that Blizzard's Diablo team will have all of these hardware melting issues resolved in time for Diablo IV's finalized launch date. In the meantime hardcore fans of the series are encouraged to absorb plenty of preview/marketing material, and go about swatting up on trainer material. Blizzard has uploaded several gameplay guide videos to the official Diablo YouTube channel - the company has enlisted the helpful services of Wudijo, a veteran Diablo streamer, to chaperone viewers through the game's systems.

The Call of Duty RICOCHET Anti-Cheat team announced earlier this month that their newly updated system was capable of detecting "third-party hardware devices that alter the Call of Duty gameplay experience" - this makes reference to a plethora of gaming input modification devices including the Cronus Zen/Max, XIM Apex and FPS Boost Strike Pack. All readily available from direct stores, Amazon and various e-tailers. These hardware modules are hooked up to a gamepad or mouse plus keyboard combination, and allow the user to bypass the legitimate control input detection on the host hardware, be it a games console or PC. Stock scripts and macros can be utilized - for example - to boost in-game aim assist to unprecedented levels, mitigate weapon recoil, and add support for mouse and keyboard in otherwise non-compatible games. Anti-cheat software suites have been unable to detect the extra layer of code, since it runs on an external device - until now.

CoD's security team elaborates on their cheat spotter: "Since our previous progress report, TeamRICOCHET has developed and tested a detection for third-party hardware devices that alter the Call of Duty gameplay experience. These devices act as a passthrough for controllers on PC and console and, when used improperly or maliciously, can provide a player with the ability to gain an unfair gameplay advantage, such as reducing or eliminating recoil. Testing is complete: This detection is deployed globally on all platforms. Users across PC or console who are detected to be using third-party hardware devices to impact the Modern Warfare II or Warzone 2.0 gameplay experience will first see a warning about the improper use of these devices..."

Grab a friend and prepare to battle against another Duo when Gunfight returns in Season 03 of Call of Duty : Modern Warfare II, launching on April 12. In this round-based match, players must use randomly assigned Loadouts to overcome the opposition and secure the round win. And with just one life per round, every move counts. Whether you need to brush up on the returning mode or this is your first 2v2 duel, read on for the rules of engagement and tips for achieving victory. The world of Call of Duty : Modern Warfare II is in chaos with a global power struggle playing out in plain sight.

Gunfight 101
In Gunfight, two teams of two compete in a round-based match. There are no respawns and no health regeneration, and all players are assigned the same randomized Loadout at the start of each round. The assigned Loadout changes every two rounds, and you never know what you're going to get; you may be trading shots from afar with Sniper Rifles one round, then rushing in with Shotguns the next. Each Loadout includes a lethal and tactical equipment.

Sony is not happy about the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) recent provisional approval of Microsoft's proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard, and has highlighted the apparent removal of a Microsoft-owned game from being developed on the PlayStation 5. According to legal documents submitted to the UK government, Sony has taken issue with the watchdog's sudden change in opinion - the CMA's position was highly critical at the start of the year - and suspects that Microsoft's expensive PR campaign and submitting of "new evidence" to international competition regulators have influenced a change in direction of rulings. Sony's statement bears down on the unfair nature of the bid's approval: "The CMA's reversal of its position on its consoles theory of harm is surprising, unprecedented, and irrational."

Japan's Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) was the latest anti-trust governing body to give the takeover a thumbs-up, almost two weeks ago - a dramatic turn of events given that it happened on Sony's home turf. The embattled electronics corporation has taken notice of fresh developments in the press, and proceeded to mention controversy surrounding the Redfall platform war. Harvey Smith, the game's creative director, let slip too many details during a promotion tour and seemingly admitted that the higher-ups at Microsoft's Xbox division had decided to can the PlayStation 5 version of Redfall in favor of keeping it exclusive to Xbox, Game Pass and PC. Arkane Studios, as part of the ZeniMax Media Group, was acquired by Microsoft in 2021 - and certain games, already in development, were later released on the PlayStation 5 as timed exclusives, Deathloop being a prime example of this.

Overwatch 2 Season 4 launches April 11! Blossom onto the battlefield with our newest Support Hero Lifeweaver, progress through the Battle Pass to earn rewards including Mythic Galactic Emperor Sigma, and fight for your faction when The Watchers and The Infinite Empire clash in the Starwatch event! Explore Talantis, the first-ever map made in collaboration with the community. Enjoy major quality-of-life updates with a revamped Competitive experience.

Watch the trailer to see what to expect with this upcoming season, which brings the new Support Hero Lifeweaver, a new Battle Pass, the community-made map called Talantis, and more. Progress through the Battle Pass to earn rewards including Mythic Galactic Emperor Sigma, and fight for your faction when The Watchers and The Infinite Empire clash in the Starwatch event.

Diablo IV Inside the Game: Into the Endgame. Join members of the Diablo IV development team as they pull back the curtain on the experiences waiting for you in the endgame. Welcome, wanderer! Over the course of our new Inside the Game video series, we'll sit down with our resident Diablo IV experts—members of the development team—to walk you through elements of the game.

Our second video in this series, Into the Endgame, is an exploration of the many endgame systems players can continue to grow their character's legend through once the Main Quest has been completed. The endless battle between the High Heavens and the Burning Hells rages on as hatred threatens to consume Sanctuary. With ceaseless demons to slaughter, countless abilities to master, nightmarish Dungeons and Legendary loot, this vast world brings the promise of adventure and devastation.

In the space of two days, Microsoft has announced long term partnerships with two different cloud gaming services. It is posited that the technology giant is rolling out a wide-ranging strategy to make good with regulators, who hold the keys to the clearance of an Activison Blizzard acquisition worth a reported $68.7 billion. Microsoft is facing significant push back from numerous international regulatory bodies, due to fears of anti-competitive impacts from a possible Activison Blizzard purchase.

Xbox Gaming CEO Phil Spencer today tweeted about the deal with the Taiwan-based company Ubitus K.K: "A leading cloud gaming provider, have signed a 10-year partnership to stream Xbox PC Games as well as Activision Blizzard titles after the acquisition closes. Our commitment is to give more players, more choice."

On Tuesday, Microsoft and NVIDIA announced the companies have agreed to a 10-year partnership to bring Xbox PC games to the NVIDIA GeForce NOW cloud gaming service, which has more than 25 million members in over 100 countries. The agreement will enable gamers to stream Xbox PC titles from GeForce NOW to PCs, macOS, Chromebooks, smartphones and other devices. It will also enable Activision Blizzard PC titles, such as Call of Duty, to be streamed on GeForce NOW after Microsoft's acquisition of Activision closes.

"Xbox remains committed to giving people more choice and finding ways to expand how people play," said Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer. "This partnership will help grow NVIDIA's catalog of titles to include games like Call of Duty, while giving developers more ways to offer streaming games. We are excited to offer gamers more ways to play the games they love."

The Federal Trade Commission is seeking to block technology giant Microsoft Corp. from acquiring leading video game developer Activision Blizzard, Inc. and its blockbuster gaming franchises such as Call of Duty, alleging that the $69 billion deal, Microsoft's largest ever and the largest ever in the video gaming industry, would enable Microsoft to suppress competitors to its Xbox gaming consoles and its rapidly growing subscription content and cloud-gaming business.

In a complaint issued today, the FTC pointed to Microsoft's record of acquiring and using valuable gaming content to suppress competition from rival consoles, including its acquisition of ZeniMax, parent company of Bethesda Softworks (a well-known game developer). Microsoft decided to make several of Bethesda's titles including Starfield and Redfall Microsoft exclusives despite assurances it had given to European antitrust authorities that it had no incentive to withhold games from rival consoles.

Microsoft's USD $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision-Blizzard is running into hurdles with competition regulators in both the UK and the EU, with both Brussels and London hinting at a thorough investigation into the impact the acquisition will have on competition in their respective markets. Microsoft is already a game publisher under Microsoft Games Studio, and makes at least two leading gaming platforms—the Xbox and Windows PC; whereas Activision-Blizzard own a constellation of dozens of game developers, and a mountain of IP over some of the most valuable game franchises of all time.

Britain's Competition and Markets Authority has hinted that the acquisition warrants a "second-phase investigation" since it has concerns that the deal would "result in a substantial lessening of competition within a market or markets in the United Kingdom." Over in Brussels, the EU market regulators, too, are taking a closer look at what the deal could entail for European consumers. Sony Computer Entertainment is particularly unhappy with the acquisition, and is the primary source of opposition to the deal that's invoked by regulators. Sony fears that with this acquisition, Microsoft will be in a position to deny popular game franchises such as "Call of Duty" to the PlayStation platform, and will have too much control over whether Sony can deliver an experience comparable or better than that of the Xbox.Many Thanks to DeathtoGnomes for the tip.

With three billion people actively playing games today, and fueled by a new generation steeped in the joys of interactive entertainment, gaming is now the largest and fastest-growing form of entertainment. Today, Microsoft Corp. announced plans to acquire Activision Blizzard Inc., a leader in game development and interactive entertainment content publisher. This acquisition will accelerate the growth in Microsoft's gaming business across mobile, PC, console and cloud and will provide building blocks for the metaverse.

Microsoft will acquire Activision Blizzard for $95.00 per share, in an all-cash transaction valued at $68.7 billion, inclusive of Activision Blizzard's net cash. When the transaction closes, Microsoft will become the world's third-largest gaming company by revenue, behind Tencent and Sony. The planned acquisition includes iconic franchises from the Activision, Blizzard and King studios like "Warcraft," "Diablo," "Overwatch," "Call of Duty" and "Candy Crush," in addition to global eSports activities through Major League Gaming. The company has studios around the word with nearly 10,000 employees.

Activision Blizzard, Inc. today announced the hiring of two senior executives to help the company build a more inclusive workplace as well as diversify and grow its revenue. Julie Hodges, Senior Vice President, Corporate HR and Compensation, Benefits and Talent Acquisition at The Walt Disney Company, will become Chief People Officer, effective September 21. Sandeep Dube, Senior Vice President, Revenue Management at Delta Airlines, will become Chief Commercial Officer, effective September 27.

"These two outstanding leaders from companies with exceptional reputations will help us achieve our goal of becoming the best company to work for in the entertainment industry while growing our reach, engagement and player investment," said Bobby Kotick, Chief Executive Officer of Activision Blizzard. Ms. Hodges brings more than three decades of global human resources experience in entertainment and an impeccable record of shaping corporate culture. She will be responsible for the company's global talent organization, making Activision Blizzard the destination for top talent. In her role, she will lead all aspects of human resources, including diversity, equity and inclusion, talent acquisition, employee experience, learning and development, compensation and benefits and workforce planning.

The system requirements lists of "Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War" were released, covering a broad range of gaming segments, from competitive online play, to recommended AAA campaign playthrough, and even maxed out gameplay with RTX-on. "Black Ops: Cold War" appears to be optimized for an equally diverse set of use cases. There are three disk space requirement levels. For 50 GB you get only the multiplayer component with e-Sports content. For 175 GB, you get the multiplayer component and the single-player campaign. For 250 GB, you get these two, plus additional high-resolution content. Among the use-cases are "minimum," "recommended," "recommended with raytracing," "competitive," and "Ultra RTX."

For starters, there's the absolute bare minimum, which calls for a mid-range 4th Gen Intel "Haswell" or AMD FX "Vishera" processor; along with 8 GB of RAM, GeForce GTX 670 or Radeon HD 7850 graphics (circa 2012), and either 50 GB or 175 GB, depending on what you want to install. The "recommended" tier is for the game with medium-level eye-candy. It calls for a Core i5-2500K or Ryzen 5 1600X processor, 12 GB of RAM, and GTX 970 or GTX 1660 SUPER from the NVIDIA camp; or R9 390 or RX 580 from the AMD camp. "Recommended with raytracing," is essentially minimum requirements for raytraced content. You'll need at least a Core i7-8700K or Ryzen 7 1800X processor, 16 GB of RAM, and at least RTX 3070 graphics (if you can find one).

Activision-Blizzard is one of the largest companies involved in the making of video games and they are accountable for many popular game franchises known to every gamer. Today, according to a report from Bloomberg, we have found out that Activision-Blizzard holding company will close the doors of its office located in Versailles, France. This move puts an end to company operations in that country. The company has informed its employees on Tuesday regarding the office closure, and thus has laid-off about 400 people the office accounted for. Generally speaking, there were no developer roles involved here.

The France office specialized in marketing, localization, and customer support, so no game developers were fired. At the beginning of this year, 1/4 of all France office employees were laid-off already and got their severance packages, while the rest of the employees affected by this move are expecting relocation somewhere else in Europe. A company spokesman corresponding with Bloomberg has said that "Over the past year we have been exploring how we might best integrate our capabilities across the business, enabling us to better leverage talent, expertise and scale as we adapt to the needs of a fast-paced, highly-competitive, digitally focused industry". This is quite a vague answer the spokesman gave; however, it is the only information we have.

ASTRO Gaming, the leader in premium video gaming equipment, today introduced the ASTRO Gaming Call of Duty : Black Ops: Cold War A10 Headset. ASTRO Gaming is the Official Headset licensee of Call of Duty and has been a long time official collaborator of Call of Duty, bringing licensed headsets and accessories to gamers around the world. The new ASTRO Gaming Call of Duty : Black Ops Cold War A10 Headset joins the ASTRO A40 TR, Speakers tags, and A40 TR Mod Kits already on the market today.

"ASTRO has been a key collaborator of Call of Duty esports such as Call of Duty Champs, and the Call of Duty League," said Daniel Siegel, VP of Licensing for Activision. "We're excited to continue our partnership with ASTRO as the Official Headset licensee of Call of Duty. With this latest headset, our fans are sure to get the best audio experience while playing Call of Duty : Black Ops Cold War."

Activision today announced the worldwide launch of its much-anticipated Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 and 2, a remaster of the first two successful titles in the iconic, billion-dollar Tony Hawk video game franchise. In one game package, players will experience all the levels, tricks, and pro-skater characters from the original blockbuster hits from 1999 and 2000, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater and Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2, fully remastered in 4K resolution and bolstered with new ways to play, new pro-skaters to choose from and new music. In addition, the game includes features that allow players to customize their own skate parks and outfits and share them with friends.

"I'm thankful for the quality and care that Activision and Vicarious Visions have put into the remaster to revive the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater series in the best way possible," said Tony Hawk. "For years, fans have asked me about bringing these games back, and I'm proud to say that we finally have a game that delivers on the expectations that nostalgic fans want, while inspiring a new generation to pick up a controller, and perhaps even a real skateboard."

Shortly after a Doritos-sourced leak on the next installment in the Call of Duty franchise, Activision has now officially confirmed the future of the Call of duty franchise. The next installment, Call of Duty Black Ops: Cold War, is being hailed as inspired by historical events. And if the title is anything to go by, players can apparently expect to take part in a web of black ops hat are, at the very least, placed somewhere alongside the historical years between 1947 (the beginning of the Truman doctrine) and the USSR's dissolution in 1991 (quick historical fact: the USSR's ultimate dissolution occurred with as much pomp and circumstance as pen to paper, with the signing of the Commonwealth of Independent States at the Belovezhskaya Pushcha, in Belarus).

It remains to be seen what - if any - changes to the Call of Duty formula this title will bring. It's being developed by Treyarch, one of Activision's three development studios tasked with bringing the Call of Duty franchise to market yearly, with a three-year development cycle. Raven Software is collaborating with the studio, and we know the title will see integration with Call of Duty Warzone: it's likely Warzone will become a Battle Royale companion to all future Call of Duty titles, added to and updated with the latest installments. Watch the announcement video after the break.

Activision Blizzard, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI) today announced record second-quarter 2020 results. "Our mission to connect and engage the world through epic entertainment has never been more meaningful," said Bobby Kotick, Chief Executive Officer of Activision Blizzard. "Our 400 million players continue to experience fun, joy and accomplishment through our games. Our record engagement resulted in greater revenue and earnings per share than previously forecast. While economic uncertainty could have an impact on our near-term results, the initiatives that drove our growth for the first half of the year should also provide the foundation for long-term growth."

For the quarter ended June 30, 2020, Activision Blizzard's net revenues presented in accordance with GAAP were $1.93 billion, as compared with $1.40 billion for the second quarter of 2019. GAAP net revenues from digital channels were $1.59 billion, as compared with $1.09 billion for the second quarter of 2019. GAAP operating margin was 39%. GAAP earnings per diluted share were $0.75, as compared with $0.43 for the second quarter of 2019.

The genre-defining Tony Hawk's Pro Skater franchise made its mark on videogames in the '90s touting the top names in skateboarding at the time. With the launch of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 and 2 on September 4, 2020, the legacy continues with some of the most preeminent pro skaters in the world today -- Nyjah Huston, Leo Baker, Leticia Bufoni, Aori Nishimura, Lizzie Armanto, Shane O'Neill, Riley Hawk and Tyshawn Jones -- joining the lineup of OGs in the remaster.

"Modern-day skateboarding originated from a generation of skaters who grew up playing the original Tony Hawk's Pro Skater games," said Michelle Bresaw, Vice President of Product Management and Marketing at Activision. "The world-class pro skaters we're adding to this remaster took the tricks and combos from the videogame and made them possible in real life. We're proud that the remaster will represent the skate culture landscape today with a diverse roster of skaters that will appeal to any gamer."

Bandicoots get ready fur it, Crash is moving 4-ward into 2020 with a brand-new game that's built from the ground up and "It's About Time." No, literally! Activision Blizzard, Inc., and developer Toys for Bob, are giving fans the true sequel to the original trilogy with Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time. Our lovingly absurd marsupials are back and putting a fresh spin, jump and wump on conflicts of cosmic proportions, discovering expansive new worlds, unexpected allies, larger-than-life boss battles and powerful new Quantum Masks that must be united to restore order to the multiverse. Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time will be available for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 4 Pro, Xbox One and Xbox One X on October 2, 2020. Pre-orders are available now.

According to a recent report from CNBC AT&T is considering selling the Warner Bros. gaming division for about 4 billion dollars as it seeks to divest assets with total debts nearing 200 billion dollars. Interested parties include Take-Two Interactive, Electronic Arts, and Activision Blizzard according to Industry Insiders. Most Warner Bros. Interactive games are based on Warner-owned intellectual property, such as "Harry Potter," "Game of Thrones" and "The Lego Movie." in addition to several separate franchises such as "Mortal Kombat" and "Scribblenauts". Any deal will likely involve a commercial licensing agreement with AT&T where they can continue to receive revenue from its IP.

The end cannot be nigh as long as Activision is able to put out a Call of Duty title for the year, come war, famine, pestilence, or death. The 2020 release of CoD will be reportedly titled "Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War," signaling a game set in the era of the original Black Ops. The name first appeared on Tuesday when a an anonymous tipster tweeted it, and Eurogamer later corroborated it. If 2019's Modern Warfare is any indication, Black Ops Cold War could be a retelling of the original Black Ops storyline, away from the future-warfare theme picked up by the two most recent Black Ops titles. Activision has reportedly dropped many hints of the Cold War setting in recent content additions to Warzone.

The videogame that transformed the skateboarding world is back! The original birdman Tony Hawk, and Vicarious Visions, the studio that reinvigorated Crash with the Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy, have teamed up to bring fans remastered versions of the first two badass games in the critically acclaimed Tony Hawk franchise -- Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 and 2. To provide players with breathtaking gameplay experiences, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 and 2 will blend all the original levels, pro-skaters, old-school tricks and more that gamers remember from the '90s and '2000s with new, beautifully recreated levels. This faithful remaster will also include blockbuster songs from the original franchise. Dropping in on September 4, 2020, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 and 2 will return remastered in one awesome package for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 4 Pro, the family of Xbox One devices from Microsoft, including the Xbox One X, and on PC through the Epic platform.

"The original Tony Hawk's Pro Skater series is a big factor in the evolution of modern skateboarding tricks and inspiring many of the pro skaters you know and love today," said Tony Hawk. "I'm excited to help inspire a new generation of skateboarders and gamers - and existing fans - to grow the sport even further."