The president has given Microsoft 45 days to reach a deal or he will ban the app in the US.
PS5: Next Announcement Reportedly Scheduled for This Month
A new report claims that Sony plans to make new PlayStation 5 announcements this month.
Bloomberg says a PlayStation official – who remained anonymous, as the plan isn’t public – explained that Sony “tentatively” plans to make its next announcement in August.
It’s not clear when that announcement will take place, nor what it will be. That said, it feels likely that the announcement would centre around the console’s price and release date, which the remain the major unknowns around PS5 (and its competitor Xbox Series X).
[ignvideo url=”https://www.ign.com/videos/ps5-sony-reportedly-increasing-production-to-10-million-consoles-in-2020-ign-news”]
That would fit into Sony’s recent statement saying preorders for the console won’t come as a surprise – meaning it’s feasible that this next announcement will serve as the early warning for preorders opening.
Worldwide Head of Marketing Eric Lempel previously said “I think it’s safe to say…we’ll let you know when preorder will happen. It’s not going to happen with a minute’s notice. We’re going to at some point let you know when you can preorder PlayStation 5. So, please, don’t feel like you have to go run out and line up anywhere until you receive official notice on how that will work.”
When preorders do arrive, it seems as though Sony may be limiting orders to one per household. Here’s everything we know about PS5 preorders right now.
[widget path=”global/article/imagegallery” parameters=”albumSlug=confirmed-playstation-5-games&captions=true”]
Whatever this announcement is, we know it won’t be a part of August 6’s State of Play, which will focus on upcoming third-party published PS4 and PS VR games, with check-ins on PS5 games announced at the PS5 reveal showcase, but will feature “no big PS5 announcements.”
[poilib element=”accentDivider”]
Joe Skrebels is IGN’s Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.
Melbourne police see violent lockdown resistance
A policewoman’s head was repeatedly “smashed” in one incident in shopping centre, authorities say.
Blizzard Employees Have Started Sharing And Comparing Their Pay In Wage Revolt
Blizzard Entertainment staff are revolting over pay, after an internal study meant to ensure fair pay didn’t produce the desired results for workers. According to a Bloomberg report, employees began sharing an anonymous salary spreadsheet on Friday, encouraging people to share their salary and recent pay increases.
Most of the pay increases given after Blizzard’s study were less than 10%, which Bloomberg reports is significantly less than most people expected. Employees at Blizzard Entertainment have previously described having to skip meals to make rent, while one veteran claims they are making less now than they were with Blizzard almost a decade ago.
Last year, Blizzard Entertainment was asked by parent company Activision Blizzard to cut costs, resulting in hundreds of cut jobs, with new responsibilities foisted onto remaining workers without a pay increase. The same story has repeated for a number of years, even as the company posts record profits.
Sony Sold Fewer PS4s This Quarter, But Digital Sales And PS Plus Subs Are Way Up
Sony’s latest financial report, covering the first quarter of the 2020 financial year, is now live, and there are some interesting takeaways about how the PS4 is going. Sales for the system were down, but with good reason, and a majority of software sales were digital.
Sony is reporting that PS Plus subscription numbers have risen to 45 million, while the increase in PS Now users is also “significant”. 45 million is a big increase from the 41.5 million figure reported in May, which suggests that a lot of players stuck at home during the COVID-19 pandemic are playing online.
The pandemic also likely accounts for the huge increase in digital game sales. 74% of PS4 game sales for the quarter were digital, with The Last of Us Part II and Ghost of Tsushima cited as big sellers. The latter broke the record for a new IP on the system, while the former is the fastest-selling game ever for PlayStation.
Universal’s IRL Nintendo Theme Park Has Been Delayed Indefinitely
In another addition to the long list of things the pandemic has delayed or cancelled, Universal’s Epic Universe theme park expansion in Orlando has been put on indefinite hold, NintendoLife reports. The park was due to be home to the long-awaited Super Nintendo World.
Originally scheduled to be opened in 2023, the park has yet to be constructed, and is now on indefinite hold as a cost-saving measure due to the pandemic’s impact on the entertainment industry. The delay was revealed on Comcast’s Q2 2020 Earnings call.
“We are continually adjusting our cost base and capital, including pausing development of our Epic Universe project in Florida, for example, until the future becomes more certain,” NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell said.
Netflix Wants To Make “Broad-Audience” Movies Like Star Wars And Harry Potter
Netflix’s VP of original films, Tendo Nagenda, has shared some new insight on the types of projects that Netflix wants to make going forward and which directors he’d like to work with.
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Nagenda said some of his “dream projects” are tentpole “adventure films” similar to Star Wars and Harry Potter.
“We’re looking at big, broad-audience, PG-level adventure films as something that we want to get into. Something along the lines of the first Star Wars, or Harry Potter 1 and 2,” Nagenda said. “A lot of family live action, fantasy, spectacle movies that we think are big and can play great. A Jumanji-type of story. That is the next frontier.”
Health Experts Demand Paid Leave Before Schools Reopen
More than 500 health professionals signed a letter calling for expanding paid family and sick leave to all workers.
GTA 5, Microtransactions, And The Pandemic Lift Take-Two To A Record Quarter
Take-Two reported its earnings on Monday, and the Grand Theft Auto company is flying high. Take-Two pulled in $831.3 million for its fiscal first quarter, the highest ever amount of money it’s made in a Q1 in the company’s 26-year history. The uptick in sales was driven by the pandemic–people are staying at home, playing more games, and spending more money on them.
Take-Two’s microtransaction business, which is called “recurrent consumer spending,” rose by a whopping 52 percent during the quarter to $482,153,999, led by GTA Online, NBA 2K20, Red Dead Online, and Borderlands 3.
“With more people staying at home, we have experienced, and are continuing to experience, heightened levels of engagement and net bookings growth-to-date,” Take-Two said. “The full extent of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic to our business, operations, and financial results will depend on numerous evolving factors that we are not able to predict.”
Netflix’s The Umbrella Academy Season 2 Review: Weird And Wonderful
The Umbrella Academy Season 2 dropped on July 31st, and it is exactly what you’d expect. Here is Meg Downey’s review of the new season of the Netflix original series.