Month: January 2021

After a messy launch and more than its fair share of bugs, developers at CD Projekt Red have been hard at work issuing patches to address the game’s most glaring issue. Yet hotfix 1.06, an important patch that launched just before Christmas for consoles and PC, has only just arrived for Stadia players, many of whom were counting the extra days they had to wait for the fix.

In a CDPR forum thread about the hotfix, disgruntled Stadia players counted the days since the hotfix launched on other platforms, with one commenter still suffering from the missing Dum Dum glitch that the hotfix addresses.

The hotfix has a number of extra bug fixes on Stadia, which may have been why the patch was so delayed on Google’s game streaming platform. The Stadia-specific patch notes are as follows:

Continue Reading at GameSpot

USB connectors are the universal standard not just for computer peripherals, but for charging most phones, tablets, and small devices. It’s hard to remember a world without USB, which debuted almost exactly 25 years ago, on January 15, 1996.

The reminder comes courtesy of How-To Geek, which has published an in-depth feature on the history of the USB and its development. It’s a reminder of how complicated, difficult to set up, and even expensive computer ports could be before the USB, or Universal Series Bus, became the standard for connecting a mouse, keyboard, game controller, or any number of computer peripherals that adopted the technology.

USB was a truly universal effort, emerging as a collaboration between multiple big tech names: Intel, Microsoft, IBM, Compaq, Digital Equipment Corporation, NEC, and Northern Telecom. Adoption of the tech wasn’t immediate, and many attribute its eventual success to Apple’s release of the iMac in 1998, which was the first PC to ditch legacy ports and only support USB.

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A lawsuit filed in 2019 by Niantic Inc has reached a settlement, with hacking group Global++ agreeing to pay out $5 million to the Pokemon Go developer. As reported by Polygon, the rogue developers created and sold hacked versions of Pokémon Go, Ingress, and Harry Potter: Wizards Unite that gave players the ability to spoof their GPS locations and use features like “auto-walk.”

After ignoring a number of cease and desist letters, Global++ had a lawsuit filed against it in mid-2019, after which a number of its social media and online presences went dark. In the original filing, Niantic alleged that the hacker group had made millions by selling “hundreds of thousands of subscriptions” to apps based on Niantic’s original code.

In the settlement details, Global++ was found to have accessed and used Niantic’s map data, and profited from the process by selling access to its programs through a subscription model. The defendants admitted to a number of breaches of federal law, including copyright infringement and violations of California’s Computer Data Access and Fraud Act.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

The upcoming monster movie Godzilla vs Kong will be released earlier than expected. The film was due to hit theaters and HBO Max simultaneously in May, but it will now arrive in March instead.

As reported by Deadline, Godzilla vs Kong hits theaters internationally and on HBO Max in the US on March 26. The film was originally set for release in November last year, but was pushed to May due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The new date for Godzilla vs Kong follows several weeks of negotiations between distributors Warner and Legendary, who financed the majority of the movie. In November, Warner reportedly blocked a $200 million deal for Legendary to sell the film to Netflix, only to announce it was putting it straight onto HBO Max, its own service, along with every other Warner movie in 2021. Legendary threatened legal action over this decision, but have now reached an agreement with Warner, which includes the earlier release date.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

PlayStation’s new San Diego-based studio is working to “expand upon existing franchises”, according to the LinkedIn profile of the studio’s former head.

Michael Mumbauer worked at PlayStation as Studio Head until November 2020. In the segment of his profile detailing his work with the new San Diego team, Mumbauer writes: “His latest achievement is having built a brand new, all-star, AAA Action/Adventure development team for Playstation. Based in San Diego and utilizing proprietary engine technology, this team was assembled to expand upon existing franchises and craft all new stories for the next generation of gamers.”

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As to what those existing franchises could be, there have been rumours for a while that PlayStation has been working on a partnership with Naughty Dog to continue the Uncharted series. Nothing official is available to confirm that this new development team is working on an Uncharted game, but there is an unusual and interesting wrinkle…

In the ‘Featured’ section of Mumbauer’s LinkedIn profile, between videos of a keynote presentation and GDC talk from him, is a video from YouTuber RobinGaming about Sony “secretly” creating a studio to make Uncharted 5. The ‘Featured’ section of a LinkedIn profile is filled in by the profile owner themselves, and so this Uncharted 5 theory video has been purposefully placed there by Mumbauer. This is, of course, by no means an official confirmation of the rumour, but is an interesting detail all the same.

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As for this new development team, it should not be confused with San Diego Studio, Sony’s first-party development house that has spent much of its lifetime dedicated to creating installments of MLB The Show. Instead, this new San Diego-based studio is a new assembly that has yet to be officially announced.

For more on PlayStation Studios, take a look at the news of the upcoming God of War Ragnarok, PS5 exclusive Returnal dropping in March, and the discussion of PS5’s 2021 lineup.

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Matt Purslow is IGN’s UK News and Entertainment Writer. 

Matt Damon has reportedly landed in Australia to quarantine for two weeks ahead of production on Thor: Love and Thunder.

As reported by local news outlet News.com.au, Damon and his family were spotted disembarking a private jet in Sydney on Sunday before they reportedly moved into a private facility to undertake a mandatory 14-day quarantine to help prevent any potential spread of coronavirus (COVID-19). Once the isolation period elapses, it’s believed that Damon will head out for the Thor 4 shoot.

“I’m so excited that my family and I will be able to call Australia home for the next few months,” Damon reportedly said in a statement to the local press on his arrival in the country, per CNET. “Australian film crews are world-renowned for their professionalism and are a joy to work with so the 14 days of quarantine will be well worth it.”

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Damon’s alleged role in the movie remains a mystery, though it’s worth noting that he previously made a very brief appearance in Thor: Ragnarok, playing an Asgardian actor portraying the God of Mischief in a stage play. It’s unknown whether he will have an expanded role in Taika Waititi’s next movie, which has been reported as being almost like an Avengers 5 due to its large cast.

The all-star ensemble features the likes of Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Chris Pratt, Tessa Thompson, and Christian Bale as the villainous Gorr the God Butcher. Waititi will also once again voice Thor’s alien pal Korg in the movie, which is currently slated for release on May 6, 2022. It will follow Black Widow, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, and many more in the MCU’s Phase 4.

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For more on the studio’s future slate of projects and releases, read our breakdown of the biggest and most noteworthy developments in the MCU, on Disney+ and in Marvel’s comics this year.

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Adele Ankers is a Freelance Entertainment Journalist. You can reach her on Twitter.