Gaming

Nintendo had a terrific lockdown-hit quarter — that’s April through June — thanks to Animal Crossing: New Horizons, with operating profit jumping 428 percent year-on-year to nearly JPY 145 billion (roughly Rs. 10,290 crores) off total revenue of JPY 358 billion (roughly Rs. 25,400 crores). The new Animal Crossing title — released last quarter in

PUBG Mobile beta version has finally got Erangel 2.0 map with the 1.0 update. The development was shared by the PUBG Mobile team on its Discord server where it also posted a brief introduction to Erangel 2.0. The 1.0 update is currently available only for Android users with an iOS version coming soon. There are

FIFA 21 gameplay trailer is here, and it details the new gameplay features that EA Sports had previously announced, giving us an insight into how players can use them and what their impact on FIFA 21 will be. This includes improved dribbling (termed in-game as “Agile Dribbling”), positioning (“Positioning Awareness”), and collisions (“Natural Collision System”),

Microsoft’s game streaming service, Project xCloud, will make its way to Android devices on September 15, the company announced through a post on its website. It is part of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, the video game subscription service from Microsoft, and customers will be able to play more than 100 games on their Android phones

PUBG Mobile has got its first upgradable outfit with the new Golden Pharoah X-Suit. The new outfit was added with the latest update that brings the Ancient Secret game mode. The Golden Pharoah X-Suit has multiple forms and combines historic elements with futuristic technology. It can be upgraded for switching up the appearance as it

Sony on Tuesday reported a 1.1 percent decline in first-quarter operating profit, much milder than market estimates as its gaming business thrived while consumers locked down at home looked for entertainment and downloaded more games. The electronics and entertainment firm posted April-June profit of JPY 228.4 billion (roughly Rs. 16,180 crores), versus JPY 230.9 billion

PlayStation digital sales grew nearly 83 percent year-on-year in this past lockdown-hit quarter, bringing in over JPY 394 billion (roughly Rs. 27,960 crores) in total revenue, Sony revealed in its quarterly earnings report on Tuesday in Tokyo. That also helped its subscription service PlayStation Plus rack up nearly 45 million members — as of June

Microsoft Store on Xbox is getting a revamped experience that is said to be faster, safer, and easier to use. Microsoft says it has rebuilt the store experience from the ground up, making it more than twice as fast as the previous store. The intuitive experience makes it easier to navigate and find what you’re

Beyond Good & Evil — Ubisoft’s cult video game about a photojournalist who uncovers a planet-wide conspiracy — is in “early development” to become a Netflix movie. Rob Letterman, the director best known for last year’s Pokémon: Detective Pikachu and the 2015 horror comedy Goosebumps, is set to helm the Beyond Good & Evil movie,

The gameplay trailer for FIFA 21 will be released Tuesday, publisher EA Sports has announced, (hopefully) giving us our first proper look at new gameplay features from the annual update to the world’s biggest football simulation video game, following a fancy but entirely unnecessary “reveal” trailer a week ago. If you’re keen on watching it

Do you really need to spend Rs. 50,000 on a device like the new Asus ROG Phone 3 just to play games? No, of course not. Nearly all the phones that we’ve tested this year, priced at around or below Rs. 15,000, have been able to play modern games smoothly enough, and the whole reason

Critical digital rights battles over privacy, free speech and anonymity are increasingly being fought in video games, a growing market that is becoming a “new political arena,” experts and insiders said on Thursday. With the industry set to more than double annual revenues to $300 billion (roughly Rs. 22.44 lakh crores) by 2025, questions about

Electronic Arts on Thursday raised its full-year forecast for adjusted revenue after beating quarterly estimates, encouraged by strong player engagement and increased videogame sales to stuck-at-home gamers. EA, popular for titles like Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and Battlefield, raised its full year adjusted revenue outlook to about $5.95 billion (roughly Rs. 44,527 crores) from

Nvidia is in advanced talks to acquire ARM, the chip designer that SoftBank Group bought for $32 billion four years ago, according to people familiar with the matter. The two parties aim to reach a deal in the next few weeks, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private. Nvidia

Ubisoft’s Hyper Scape will be released on PC, PS4, and Xbox One on August 11, the company announced on Twitter. The free to play battle royale game is currently available in beta on PC and will finally come to all three platforms on August 11. Hyper Scape is Ubisoft’s take on the battle royale genre

Marvel’s Avengers beta begins August 7 and will offer more than 20 single-player and co-op missions that will take between 10 minutes to two hours to complete, developer Crystal Dynamics announced in a live stream on Wednesday. You’ll take on the role of four heroes — Iron Man, Kamala Khan, Black Widow, and Hulk —

Nubia Red Magic 5S has launched as the newest member in the brand’s Red Magic series of gaming smartphones, after the Red Magic 5G and Red Magic 5G Lite. The new model comes with Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 SoC. The smartphone also features an upgraded cooling system called ICE 4.0 that is backed by a centrifugal

With the government reportedly taking a look at more than 250 Chinese apps for a potential ban, after a ban on over 100 apps has already been ordered, rumours are that PUBG Mobile could finally be banned in India. Many in the country seem set to welcome the new move, though Gadgets 360 is yet

PUBG Mobile is one of the most popular games in India. Recent reports however, hint that the game might be under the scanner from the government, and could potentially be banned in India. If you’re a PUBG Mobile fan who is worried by this, you’re not alone, but the good news is that there are

New phones are once again launching every week after taking a bit of a pause during the coronavirus related lockdowns meant to slow the spread of COVID-19. It’s not surprising because India is the world’s biggest market of smartphones after China, with a size of more than 50 crore users. It’s a market that has

PUBG for PC and consoles received its 8.1 update that brings a revamped Sanhok map, a loot truck, an updated Survivor Pass, and several other gameplay improvements. Sanhok, which is the smallest map in PUBG, has been revamped with terrain changes, reworked areas like Ruins, Gateway (previously Docks), and Airfield (previously Mongnai), along with several

Halo Infinite gameplay trailer is here. At the Xbox Series X games showcase, Microsoft unveiled nine minutes of campaign gameplay from the next iteration of Halo for its next-gen console, giving us a proper look at what Master Chief will go up against: the Banished. The Halo Infinite gameplay trailer opens 167 days after a

Contra Returns, the mobile version of the iconic 90’s game, may soon be getting a worldwide release, or at least a wider release as per the tweet by developers TiMi Studios. Contra Returns was originally released in China in 2017 and then in Taiwan in 2018. Then, an English version of the game was released

Forza Motorsport 8 is on its way. At the Xbox Series X games showcase, Microsoft announced the next chapter of Turn 10 Studios’ simulation racing franchise — calling it a “reimagining” — for its next-gen console, which is currently in “early development”. A one-minute Forza Motorsport 8 trailer — all captured in-engine — gives you

Over a dozen Xbox Series X games were showcased at Microsoft’s Xbox Game Studios-driven online-only event on Thursday. That involved a new Halo, Forza Motorsport, Fable, Stalker, State of Decay, and Psychonauts. There are major updates coming to Destiny 2 and Phantasy Star Online 2. And there were more first-party titles from the makers of

Xbox sound. Microsoft is ready to give us our first look at more Xbox Series X games in an online-only event — due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic — on Thursday night, in what is the second Xbox Games Showcase for its next-gen video gaming console. The first was devoted to 13 third-party launch titles,

French video game maker Ubisoft said it was bringing in “profound changes” following allegations of inappropriate behaviour at the group, as it reported higher-than-forecast net bookings for its fiscal first quarter. Earlier in July Ubisoft announced the departure of three senior managers, including its chief creative officer, following an investigation into allegations of inappropriate behaviour.

Asus is one of a small handful of companies designing high-end phones specifically for gaming. A lot of mainstream models are advertised as “gaming phones” because of their processors or screens, and yes, they do run games relatively well. However, the Asus ROG Phone series is actually designed for gaming first and everything else later,

PUBG Mobile Lite has received its 0.18.0 update as the game celebrates its first anniversary. It brings a host of new features and changes to the game. The Northwest side of the Varenga map has been revamped and newly-excavated urban ruins have been added. There are new weapons, a new Arena map, system updates, display

Rocket League will soon be free-to-play. Epic Games-owned developer Psyonix has announced its football-meets-cars multiplayer video game is dropping its paywall later in summer 2020. When that happens, Rocket League will also move from Valve’s PC distribution platform Steam to its counterpart, the Epic Games Store. While Steam Rocket League owners will still be able