Google continues to invest in its game streaming platform, Stadia, with a new game development studio. The new Stadia Games and Entertainment studio, located in Playa Vista, California, will be led by Shannon Studstill. Google announced its first internal development studio, Stadia Games and Entertainment in Montreal, last year at GDC 2019. In December, Google announced it had acquired developer Typhoon Studios to boost its first-party game lineup. While the platform has lacked original, Stadia-

host Alex Trebek gave a one-year update to fans about his battle with pancreatic cancer. for over 35 years, was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer in March 2019, and has been undergoing chemotherapy treatments. The one-year survival rate for stage 4 pancreatic cancer is 18%; the two-year survival rate is 7%, Trebek said in the video. Despite these harrowing odds, Trebek gave an inspiring and touching video update. “He said, ‘Alex, even though the two-year survival rate is only 7%, the two

Death Stranding’s PC version, coming in June, brings a photo mode to the game. So far, creator Hideo Kojima is only talking about photo mode capabilities for PC, but the toolkit he showed off in a tweet earlier this morning is rather robust. Pre-order nowhttps://t.co/TxRuNL91u2 pic.twitter.com/WvMwqzPiBn — HIDEO_KOJIMA (@HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN) March 4, 2020Death Stranding on PC, to be published by 505 Games, arrives June 2. In addition to photo mode, the PC version will offer support for ultra-wide mo

Call of Duty Mobile, which launched for Android and iOS back in October, is losing its Zombies mode. It had been hinted at since Call of Duty Mobile launched in the fall, and joined the game in the November update. In other news, Call of Duty Mobile is kicking off a new season with the beginning of March. With the new battle pass, players can earn a new character, Soap, from Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. Our review of Call of Duty Mobile called it “a free-to-play greatest hits package” bringin

On March 3, 4K Blu-rays of Up, Monsters Inc., Monsters University, Wall-E, and A Bug’s Life are hitting shelves for the first time. Each of the Pixar Collector’s Edition 4K Blu-rays comes with a 4K UHD Blu-ray, a standard 1080p Blu-ray, and a 4K UHD digital copy of the film, redeemable through the cloud-based digital platform Movies Anywhere. In addition to the Collector’s Edition Blu-rays, Disney partnered with Best Buy on exclusive SteelBook cases for each of the Pixar 4K Blu-rays. These five

Two individuals have filed a class-action complaint against Zynga following a 2019 data breach that reportedly affected more than 172 million people. Zynga admitted to the data beach wherein “certain player account information” was obtained by hackers in September 2019. In December 2019, security website Have I Been Pwned said the data breach ranked 10th as one of the largest user information hacks. A hacker named Gnosticplayers told The Hacker News in 2019 he accessed names, email addresses, lo

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, the latest installment, promised a grim look at the reality of war, civilian danger, and responsibility. We’re also getting a virtual pet, basically a Tamagotchi, so we can hatch a sweet little buddy from a digital egg and help it grow. Introducing the Tomogunchi: a virtual pet for your Operator! In Modern Warfare, you have an old-school digital device strapped to your operator’s wrist. Related Modern Warfare season 2 trailer hints at battle royale modeThere’s only

When I was a teenager, I spent hours upon hours building friendships in World of Warcraft. Mobile games like Homescapes want to mimic this structure: Players are instructed to join guilds and team up en masse to take on high level content. Just like the gameplay itself is flattened and condensed nicely to fit on a phone session in bed or on the bus, the social features of a mobile game are simple. A different kind of palIt’s also important to note that mobile games tend to pick up a different ki

The first ride-through attraction at a Disney theme park to feature Mickey and Minnie opens on March 4. It looks magical, so magical I can almost forgive it for replacing the Great Movie Ride. Yes, the new ride takes over Hollywood Studios’ iconic Chinese theater, which was once home to the Great Movie Ride. Guests are invited to the premiere of Mickey and Minnie’s latest film, Perfect Picnic. While viewing Perfect Picnic in the theater, something goes amiss and guests will be sucked right into

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild turns three years old today, but fans aren’t ready to stop celebrating the game quite yet. With Breath of the Wild hitting a new milestone, fans are celebrating the game through fan art and stories. There’s everything from painted renderings of Link and Zelda, to screenshots of fans’ favorite memories, to alternate-universe interpretations of this classic Nintendo franchise. Not every game is so lucky to stick around in the zeitgeist for so long; not even

New York City’s annual Toy Fair is basically a childhood fever dream. To get a sense of 2020’s biggest toys and trends, we spoke to Kristin Morency Goldman, spokesperson for the Toy Association (the company that puts on the Toy Fair), and spent a few hours walking the aisles. Unfortunately, of all the iterations of Baby Yoda at the toy fair, none will ship sooner than that. They have a big presence at the fair, as do toys that encourage kids to be creative through open play. HalfToys magnetic an

What a concept to kick off a family dinner and ensuing hijinks. Connected, the latest film from Spider-Verse and Lego Movie producers Phil Lord and Chris Miller, will explore this concept, but with a zany twist befitting the duo that brought Spider-Ham and “Everything is Awesome!” There is a, shall we say, disconnect in the Mitchell family when it comes to phones and technology. About two minutes into the trailer comes the kicker: The family road trip is barreling through a robot apocalypse. Con

Benh Zeitlin: Probably the biggest thing is just the amount of unpredictable, risky elements we brought to the process. That hopefully gives an energy and a feel to the film that’s different from a more tightly controlled film. They’re real kids, and they want to have fun. But one of the key things we were looking for, one of the main early ideas, was that we wanted Peter to be very, very young, as young as we could possibly cast him. We wanted to bring childhood to life, and make a film that ce

Share All sharing options for: I’m devoted to reminding people that Lord of the Rings actually ‘takes place’ in MarchDid you know that the Battle of Helm’s Deep began around midnight on March 3? I did, because I run a deliciously pedantic Lord of the Rings-themed Twitter account that tweets the events of the J.R.R. Would anyone follow a Twitter account that notified them when things happened? But I admit: There are deeper takeaways to maintaining a pedantic Lord of the Rings-themed Twitter accou

The 2002 theatrical feature Star Trek: Nemesis, the Trek franchise’s 10th film, defied the conventional wisdom that the even-numbered Trek movie installments are the series’ strongest ones. The movie’s reputation hasn’t improved much in the past 17 years, even though Tom Hardy, who plays the villain Shinzon, became a massive star, and though Star Trek itself has continued to evolve, from the J.J. Abrams-produced Kelvin-timeline movies to the CBS All Access series Star Trek: Discovery and Star Tr

On March 10, Destiny 2: Season of the Worthy kicks off a new fight to save the Last City. In this season, players will work with Commander Zavala, Ana Bray, and the Warmind, Rasputin, to save the Almighty ship from crashing into the Traveler. Tommy’s Matchbook is an Exotic auto rifle that comes as part of the season pass. And The Fourth Horseman shotgun from the original Destiny will arrive sometime this season — likely through a new Exotic quest. As always, players also have a new season pass t

If you think this game is unfair, you can appeal directly to the creatorShare All sharing options for: If you think this game is unfair, you can appeal directly to the creatorWhen we play video games, the rules are set. Maybe this sounds far-fetched, but it’s already a reality in Spelltower+, a beefed-up 2020 re-release of the classic word game. The thing about word games is that you are at the mercy of the built-in dictionary, which may not include the word you’re thinking of. It’s a process th

Riot’s new tactical shooter, Valorant, is all about challenging players’ skills. HavenUnlike traditional tactical shooter maps, like the ones in Counter Strike, Haven has three sites that defenders need to protect from attackers. The teleporters let players transition from one bomb site to the other quickly, but they make a loud noise any time a player comes through. While most small tactical shooter maps involve a lot of very short angles and quick fights, the teleporters allow Bind to have a f

With the studio’s new shooter, Valorant, Riot is looking to replicate the success of its hit League of Legends, with its pricing, cosmetics and microtransactions. At the moment, the cosmetics in the game include weapon skins and sprays, which can be graffitied onto the map at any time. Donlon also mentions that the team plans to make weapon skins in Valorant upgradeable. Are there character skins in Valorant? “I think [character skins] would have to be in a way that there’s absolutely nothing to

The British Academy Games Awards nominations were announced today, and two different games each broke a long-standing record. Both Control and Death Stranding were nominated in 11 categories each, the most ever in the award’s 16-year history. Other nominees include Disco Elysium, which had seven nominations, and Untitled Goose Game, which recently took home game of the year honors at the 2020 DICE Awards. Awards are presented annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), a