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Google adds 10 more games to Stadia’s launch lineup

Google’s Stadia game streaming service is launching in… let me check my notes… less than 24 hours, but that hasn’t stopped the search giant from continuing to tweak its launch lineup.

Last week, Google confirmed that 12 titles would be available to purchase on November 19, with an additional 14 set to be released before the end of the year. But earlier today (via Twitter), they moved ten titles from the “Coming Soon” column into the “Available on Launch Day” column.

In addition to games like Destiny 2 and the Stadia-exclusive Gylt, the updated launch lineup now also includes Final Fantasy XV, NBA 2K20, Rage 2, and a few others:

Additional Games Available at Launch for Google Stadia

  • Attack On Titan 2: Final Battle
  • Farming Simulator 19
  • Final Fantasy XV
  • Football Manager 2020
  • Grid
  • Metro Exodus
  • NBA 2K20
  • Rage 2
  • Trials Rising
  • Wolfenstein: Youngblood

As before, Google said that Stadia users will still be able to purchase Darksiders: Genesis, Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Breakpoint, Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2, and Borderlands 3 sometime before the end of the year.

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New trailers for Gears Tactics and Ori and the Will of Wisps will debut at the 2019 Game Awards

This year’s Game Awards will be held on December 12, and as usual, Geoff Keighley and company are busy gathering a mind-bending collection of World Premiere Trailers to debut during the broadcast. Yesterday, they revealed two trailers that fans can expect to see on Twitter… and they both hail from Microsoft.

Though the consolemaker just revealed a ton of new stuff at their X019 event in London, Keighley confirmed that World Premiere Trailers for both Gears Tactics and Ori and the Will of Wisps will make an appearance at the 2019 Game Awards. Both games are currently in development for the PC and Xbox One, and both are expected to be released in 2020.

The nominees for this year’s Game Awards will be announced on Tuesday, November 19, which will probably be followed by a few more trailer announcements over the next month, but we can surely look forward to a few surprises on the big day as well.

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Obsidian’s Grounded is coming in Spring 2020 and it looks like “Honey I Shrunk the Kids: The Game”

For those of us of a certain age, the pint-sized dangers of Honey I Shrunk the Kids will always stick with us. In the movie, a small group of kids are forced to fend for themselves against a giant scorpion, a swarm of bees, and a super-powerful lawnmower after they’re accidentally shrunk down to microscopic size by Rick Moranis. There was also a heroic ant named Antie who saved the day years before Paul Rudd joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe. If you’re a Disney Plus subscriber, you should absolutely check it out.

This is all just my way of preparing you for Grounded, a new game from Microsoft and Obsidian that is basically “Honey I Shrunk the Kids: The Game.”

According to Xbox Wire, players will be “shrunken to the size of an ant” and dropped into a suburban background teeming with life. They’ll need to survive by scavenging “everybody objects” that have been lost among the grass, and up to four players will be able to undergo missions together:

In Grounded, players are shrunken to the size of an ant and tasked with surviving in the unique micro-world of a suburban backyard. Players must gather, craft and build bases with everyday objects found within the yard, searching for life-saving resources and living alongside giant, peaceful insects while fighting to survive massive hostile inhabitants.

Grounded provides a mix of environmental and narrative driven story telling. Set in a versatile, handcrafted sandbox structure it allows players to create their own experience from the ground up. Tasks that may seem approachable when human-sized become a challenge in this dangerous backyard landscape. This familiar yet fantastical world can be navigated solo or in four-person co-operative multiplayer, where players work together to complete missions or explore the intricately detailed world.

Grounded will be available to download in Game Preview/Early Access for the Xbox One and PC in Spring 2020.

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Call of Duty: Modern Warfare blows away the competition as the best-selling game of October 2019

According to The NPD Group (via Twitter), yet another Call of Duty game has debuted as the best-selling game in the US during its first month on sale for the 12th straight year. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare blew away the competition in October, and it has also settled in as the best-selling of 2019 (so far). And if history is any guide, it will likely remain in that spot throughout November and December.

But there were plenty of other titles that debuted last month that also managed to resonate with gamers.

Obsidian’s The Outer Worlds debuted at #2, and it was followed closely by Nintendo’s Luigi’s Mansion 3 at #3. Rounding out the top ten (at #10) was Nintendo’s exercise RPG, Ring Fit Adventure. Going further down the list, Overwatch‘s Switch debut helped push it back into the spotlight (and the #16 slot).

Overall, the game industry has tallied $9.3 billion in sales through the first ten months of the year, a roughly 10% drop from 2018.

You can find the full list of best-selling games from October 2019 after the break. (more…)

Posted in News, PC, PS4, Switch, Wii, Wii U, Xbox One | Tagged ,

Minecraft Dungeons will launch in April 2020

Microsoft very briefly turned the spotlight on Minecraft Dungeons at their X019 event today, but it was a big moment for everyone wondering when we’ll finally get the chance to play Mojang’s multiplayer dungeon-crawling spinoff.

According to Microsoft, Minecraft Dungeons will be released for the PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One in April 2020, which is right smack in the middle of the game’s previous “Spring 2020” launch window.

A (very) short Release Date Trailer for Minecraft Dungeons has been embedded above.

Posted in News, PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox One | Tagged

Sindel will be added to Mortal Kombat 11 later this month

Sindel will strut her way into Mortal Kombat 11 later this month, but a Queen requires a proper entrance, and so NetherRealm Studios unveiled a brand new Gameplay Trailer for the character earlier today.

Sindel still serves Quan Chi as one of his revenants in Mortal Kombat 11, and as you might have guessed, her moveset features plenty of hair-raising attacks, as well as her debilitating Banshee Scream. You can see her in action in the video embedded above (be sure to stick around for a pretty gruesome Fatality at the end).

Mortal Kombat 11 players who have purchased the Kombat Pack will receive access to Sindel (as well as the Gothic Horror Skin Pack and a Klassic Cassie Cage Skin) on November 26. All other players will be able to purchase the character as a standalone download beginning a week later on December 3.

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Shovel Knight’s King of Cards and Showdown expansions will be released on December 10

Yacht Club Games has announced that the first chapter of the Shovel Knight saga is finally coming to a close after four expansions and five glorious years (though you’ll need to tack on an additional year if you want to go all the way back to the Kickstarter campaign). Yesterday, the developer confirmed that Shovel Knight: King of Cards and Shovel Knight Showdown will both be released on December 10.

King of Cards is a followup to Plague of Shadows and Specter of Torment, and it’ll be the final side-story starring a member of the villainous Order of No Quarter. Meanwhile, Showdown breaks from tradition and isn’t a platformer at all. Instead, it’s a multiplayer fighting game that features the franchise’s entire cast, along with a huge single-player adventure.

Fans who originally backed the Kickstarter campaign for Shovel Knight, or who own the Treasure Trove bundle, will receive both expansions for free. The King of Cards expansion will be available for the 3DS, PC, PS3, PS4, Switch, Vita, Wii U, and Xbox One, while Showdown will be available for the PC, PS3, PS4, Switch, Wii U, and Xbox One.

Yacht Club will also release King of Cards and Showdown as standalone downloads for fans who are digging into the franchise for the first for the PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.

Finally, the developer will try to also take over your favorite game store on December 10th with the release of a pair of Amiibo sets (a Treasure Trove 3-Pack and a Gold Edition Shovel Knight), as well as a Physical Edition of Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove (which includes the original game and all four expansions) for the Switch and Xbox One. A PS4 version of the Physical Edition will follow in 2020.

Whew, that’s a lot of Shovel Knight. But don’t forget, Yacht Club is also hard at work on a 16-bit-styled sequel/spin-off known as Shovel Knight Dig.

Posted in 3DS, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Switch, Vita, Wii U, Xbox One | Tagged , ,

Only 12 games will be available to buy through Google Stadia at launch

Back in June, Google said they were expecting to launch their Google Stadia game streaming service with at least 25 games, but it looks like the search giant has had to cut that number as we get closer to the service’s November 19th launch.

All Stadia Pro subscribers will still receive a free copy of Destiny 2: The Collection as part of their subscription, but according to the official Google Blog, the Stadia Store will only include 11 other games for purchase on “Day One” (on top of the $10 per month subscription cost). This launch lineup will include a Stadia-exclusive horror game from Tequila Works, Gylt, as well as Mortal Kombat 11, Red Dead Redemption 2, and a handful of other titles:

Games Available at Launch for Google Stadia

  • Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey
  • Destiny 2: The Collection
  • Gylt
  • Just Dance 2020
  • Kine
  • Mortal Kombat 11
  • Red Dead Redemption 2
  • Rise of the Tomb Raider
  • Samurai Showdown
  • Shadow of the Tomb Raider
  • Thumper
  • Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition

While they won’t be available on launch day, Google has promised that an additional 14 titles will be added to the Stadia Store before the end of the year:

Games Set to Launch Before the End of 2019 for Google Stadia

  • Attack On Titan 2: Final Battle
  • Borderlands 3
  • Darksiders Genesis
  • Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2
  • Farming Simulator 19
  • Final Fantasy XV
  • Football Manager 2020
  • Grid
  • Metro Exodus
  • NBA 2K20
  • Rage 2
  • Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Breakpoint
  • Trials Rising
  • Wolfenstein: Youngblood

Google Stadia’s “free” tier, Google Base, will be available sometime in 2020. However, users will still need to purchase titles on an individual basis before they can stream them.

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