All the gear you need to game-stream like a pro

It’s the season to cozy up in front of your monitor with a big blanket, a cup of hot cocoa, a great game and all of your best friends in the Twitch chat. But before going live on Twitch or YouTube, there are dozens of factors to consider, such as light…

‘Bayonetta 3’ turns witchy weirdness into an art form

A new Bayonetta game is like the circus rolling into town. Bayonetta is the ringmaster, of course, and she shows up out of the blue with boxcars of strange beasts, weird friends, dangerous spells, magnificent clothing and endless promises to impress. H…

The Silent Hill universe is expanding with three vastly different games

Silent Hill fans, hold onto your butts. Konami today dropped a ton of news about the future of its iconic horror franchise, and aside from confirming a long-rumored remake of Silent Hill 2, the studio revealed three new games in the same universe: Sile…

A ‘Silent Hill 2’ remake is coming from Bloober Team and it’s a PS5 console exclusive

As the rumors suggested, a remake of Silent Hill 2 is in the works from Bloober Team. Bloober is the studio behind Layers of Fear and The Medium, and it’s a complete remake, not a remaster of Konami’s 2001 horror game. You’ll remember it as the one tha…

Google is rolling out Chrome improvements on Android tablets today

Google has turned its attention to tablets with today’s Chrome on Android update, which focuses on improving tab navigation. The update introduces a side-by-side tab design that makes swapping open pages easier, and an auto-scroll back feature that brings you directly to your previous tab. When tabs become too small, the new Chrome on Android will get rid of the close button on each one, hopefully preventing accidental exits. There’s also a new visual tab layout, which organizes tabs in a grid with a preview of each page.

Google is also adding drag-and-drop among apps, allowing you to take an image, text or link from Chrome and slide it into Gmail, Photos or other programs. Finally, today’s update brings desktop mode to Chrome on Android.

The update is live now on all Android tablets, and it’ll come to the Pixel Tablet when that lands next year. It makes sense that Google is trying to spruce up its tablet interface ahead of the Pixel’s launch, and this likely won’t be the last update in this space over the coming months.

Google has already confirmed that a future update will add tab groups, a popular desktop feature, to Chrome on Android.

‘Overwatch 2’ moderation tools include voice chat transcriptions and SMS verification

Overwatch 2 is set to go live and free-to-play on October 4th, and in preparation for the big day, Blizzard has outlined a suite of moderation tools aimed at curbing abusive and disruptive player behavior. The new system will require a phone number to be linked to every account, and will introduce audio transcriptions of reported voice chat interactions, among other changes. Blizzard is calling the initiative Defense Matrix, named after D.Va’s hologram shield ability.

The phone-linking system, SMS Protect, means every Overwatch 2 player will need to connect a phone number to their Battle.net account, and that number can’t be used to operate or create another account. This makes it easier to enforce suspensions and bans, and makes it harder for players to cheat the matchmaking system. SMS Protect isn’t a new idea in the world of competitive online gaming, and it’s a proven way to reduce smurfing — a practice where skilled players create new accounts and creep into lower-tier matches, whether to boost their friends, avoid a ban or simply troll.

Another notable feature of Defense Matrix is the addition of audio transcriptions for problematic voice chat recordings and automated review tools for the resulting text. The transcription process relies on players reporting abusive speech as it happens — but once someone is reported, this system collects a temporary recording of the match’s voice chat and transcribes it to text. That text is then analyzed by Blizzard’s existing AI-driven abuse-detection tools. 

When it comes to the longevity of the recordings and text files, Blizzard said the following: “Once the audio recording has been transcribed to text, it’s quickly deleted as the file’s sole purpose is to identify potentially disruptive behavior. The text file is then deleted no later than 30 days after the audio transcription.”

The studio said audio transcriptions will roll out in the weeks after launch. Additionally, the general chat feature won’t exist in Overwatch 2, leaving Twitch streamers one fewer outlet for their watch-me spam. Blizzard outlined the complete Defense Matrix strategy on the Overwatch blog, alongside checklists for existing and new players. October 2nd is the final full day to play the original Overwatch, and Overwatch 2 is scheduled to go live worldwide at 3pm ET on October 4th.

‘Warzone’ is going mobile in 2023

Call of Duty is doubling down on mobile play with Warzone Mobile, a battle royale heading to Android and iOS devices in 2023. Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile will feature 120-player matches with operators, weapons, locations and combat familiar to existing Warzone fans. The game will support a shared Battle Pass, social features and cross-progression with Modern Warfare II and Warzone 2.0, both of which are due out at the end of 2022. The base game will be free.

Activision hasn’t shared details about potential microtransactions in Warzone Mobile, but that’ll likely be the case. In-game purchases have been built into Call of Duty: Mobile since its debut in 2019, and that plan seems to have worked out just fine for Activision — the studio has made more than $1.5 billion off of Android and iOS players in less than three years, according to SensorTower. Call of Duty: Mobile has been downloaded more than 650 million times globally.

If Call of Duty: Mobile was a test run, Warzone Mobile is Activision’s end game. Warzone Mobile is part of a unification scheme for the entire Call of Duty franchise, with Activision pulling the annual installment, Warzone and mobile play into one ecosystem with the same underlying technology. This move unlocks shared progression, socializing and payments across platforms and titles, transforming Call of Duty into more of a state of mind than a video game.

Though the franchise is coming together in new ways, Warzone Mobile will feature mobile-specific playlists, events and content. Activision also promises deep customization options for handheld play. The game is being developed with input from multiple studios, including Activision Shanghai, Beenox, Digital Legends and Solid State Studios. Pre-registration for Warzone Mobile is live now on Google Play.

‘Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0’ goes live November 16th

Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0 will officially land on November 16th, bringing Modern Warfare II environments, gameplay and technology to a large-scale battlefield. This release date has been floating around the internet for a few months now, and Activision confirmed it today during a showcase about the new, connected future of Call of Duty.

Modern Warfare II and Warzone 2.0 will mark a turning point for the Call of Duty franchise, with a focus on cross-progression and shared technology among its various versions. MWII comes out on October 28th, just a few weeks before Warzone 2.0. Both games will use the same underlying technology, a fresh version of the IW engine that powered 2019’s Modern Warfare. 

Warzone 2.0 will serve as an extension of MWII multiplayer, set in a fictional region of Western Asia called Al Mazrah. The battle royale has a revamped circle mechanic for end-game play, with multiple enclosures dropping down, rather than a single shrinking circle. There’s also a new sandbox experience called DMZ and a revamped Gulag, where killed players can fight for the chance to rejoin a match in 2-on-2 skirmishes.

AI mechanics in Warzone 2.0 will be ripped from the mainline installment as well — MWII will feature AI-driven advancements in squad positioning and enemy behavior, offering more lifelike reactions to player movement across the board. This AI system will also be live in Warzone 2.0. Both titles will use Activision’s Ricochet Anti-Cheat, a kernel-level solution that monitors your rig while the games are active.

MWII multiplayer emphasizes amphibious play, stealth and vehicular combat, and later this year it’ll get a new 3-v-3 Raids mode. The MWII multiplayer open beta goes live September 16th on PlayStation, and September 22nd on Xbox and PC (and still PlayStation). This’ll be open to folks who pre-ordered the game.

Warzone 2.0 will be free-to-play, just like its granddaddy, Warzone.