Join independent journalists and industry decision-makers at GamesBeat NEXT, returning to San Francisco November 2–3. The event brings together 500 executives, founders, investors and tech leaders shaping the $200 billion interactive economy for candid discussions on gaming, entertainment, technology and AI, plus executive networking and opportunities to build partnerships and close major deals.
Welcome to another GamesBeat weekly roundup! This time, Overwatch gets a new map, Nintendo has a strong sales month, and we went hands-on with upcoming Ubisoft games like Watch Dogs 2 and For Honor.
Happy reading, and have a great weekend!
Pieces of flair and opinion
- The DeanBeat: Why Donald Trump should play Deus Ex: Mankind Divided
- Hearthstone’s One Night in Karazhan guide: How to beat The Opera
- Why Nintendo isn’t likely to use AMD’s top Zen chip design — and why Microsoft will
- LiquidSky is ready to show off its modern take on OnLive’s failed cloud gaming
- How VCs are looking at investing in VR experiences
- Google’s Lee Jones on how marketing will impact the future of mobile gaming
News
- New Prey gameplay shows the power of a coffee mug
- Path of Exile continues charting its path to China
- Red Bull adds online qualifiers to Capcom’s Street Fighter V esports event
- Innerspace VR recruits actor John Rhys-Davies for artistic VR title
- Nintendo thanks Pokémon Go for the 3DS’s sales dominance in July
- Hearthstone: One Night in Karazhan’s Opera wing is live now
- Overwatch’s adorable Bastion animated short is now live
- Paragon’s new hero is a drum-playing beast
- Augmented reality firm CastAR recruits former LucasArts chief Darrell Rodriguez as its CEO
- AMD takes biggest jab at Intel in years with Zen processor
- Sony will publish the virtual reality tank game Battlezone for PS4
- Uncorporeal and RadicalMedia team up to capture human forms in VR
- Xbox Live is down for some (updated: resolved)
- Konami announces its first post-Kojima Metal Gear game: Metal Gear Survive
- BioShock: The Collection’s remastered opening is a big upgrade from the original
- Up close with Intel’s Project Alloy open hardware AR/VR headset
- Twitch acquires Curse, its sites, tools for gamers, and databases
- University of Nevada, Las Vegas will offer a course on esports
- Overwatch is getting its first new map since launch: the castle-themed Eichenwalde
- Heroes of the Storm is adding Zarya from Overwatch
- Intel shows off the power of the 7th generation Core processor
- Intel and Microsoft will work together on mixed reality specs for Windows 10
- Intel unveils Project Alloy all-in-one virtual reality headset (update)
- Titanfall 2 gets two weekend multiplayer tests in August
- U.S. game sales to hit $25.3 billion in 2016, thanks to rapid online growth
- Oculus Rift VR launches in Canada and Europe on September 20
- Paragon is now in open beta on PlayStation 4 and PC
- Lenovo launches two compact desktop virtual reality gaming systems
- Logitech targets latest mouse at pro esports players
- Nvidia unveils Pascal-based VR-ready laptop graphics chips with 76% performance boost
- Battlefield 1’s open beta starts August 31
- Minecraft now works with the Oculus Rift
- Fallout 4’s NukaWorld theme park is revealed in a new trailer
- Final Fantasy XV officially delayed to November 29
Mobile and social
- New Pokémon Go bot ‘automates the entire game’
- George of the Jungle mobile games swings its way to iOS and Android
- Unity makes it easier to release games for Facebook
- SuperAwesome brings kids’ social app PopJam to the U.S.
- Hit show Mr. Robot gets a mobile game with a confusing name
- Armajet’s free beta brings team-based shooting to mobile
- Gamblit will put zombie and racing games into casinos
- Kabam’s Kent Wakeford on why mobile gaming is so complicated
- Pokémon Go rivals Rio Olympic Games in popularity
Previews, reviews, and interviews
- Hands-on with Skylanders Imaginators’ zany user-generated characters
- Why Teddy Roosevelt’s fat face matters in Civilization VI
- Ubisoft’s Steep brings X-Games-like skiing on December 2 to PS4, Xbox One, and PC
- Hands-on with For Honor’s brutal sword combat
- How Ubisoft game designer wants you to learn swordfighting in For Honor
- Hands-on with Ubisoft’s The Crew: Calling All Units
- Hands-on with co-op and single-player in the hacker’s world of Watch Dogs 2
- How D&D’s boss sees the role-playing game working in augmented reality
- Storm King’s Thunder stomps into D&D’s Neverwinter online game on PC
- Titanfall 2’s new grappling hooks and giant batteries transforms its multiplayer
- Creature Quest is one big nod to its creator’s first world — Might and Magic (update)
- No Man’s Sky procedural universe can’t match your imagination