Star Wars Battlefront Companion App Launched for Android and iOS

2015 seems to be the year of Star Wars. We've had a mobile game, an augmented reality app, a book, a new PS4, and even a range of laptops. Naturally it all leads up to the grand event that is the movie, Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens.

But for some of us, the grand event is on November 17 thanks to Star Wars Battlefront, a multiplayer first-person shooter from the makers of the Battlefield series, Dice, and published by Electronic Arts (EA). As is the case with most games from EA, Battlefront has a companion app for Android and iOS. It weights 76MB on Android and 60.70MB on iOS.
The Star Wars Battlefront Companion app allows you unlock items in Battlefront. This is possible through Base Command, a card collection game that lets you earn credits to unlock weapons and power-ups in Battlefront. You can also check out your progress and performance through the app. Also, if your friends are on EA's Origin online service, you'll be notified when they're playing Battlefront.

With Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 and Halo 5: Guardians already out and Rainbow Six Siege yet to come, Star War Battlefront has heavy competition. But for fans of first-person shooters, there hasn't been this much choice in the genre for a long time. Never a bad thing.

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WWE 2K16 Championship Announced for India

This year, with games like Mortal Kombat X and Pro Evolution Soccer 2016 getting their own tournaments, it seems that WWE 2K16 is next. In order to promote the latest entry in the series, E-xpress, distributor of the game is hosting a WWE 2K16 tournament this month. In terms of prizes it seems to be the most generous one to date.

The first prize is a PS4, Rs. 30,000 in cash, and a WWE championship belt. Coming second also nets you a PS4 but only Rs. 10,000 in cash, and a WWE championship belt. As for third place? Rs. 15,000 in cash and yes, you guessed it a WWE championship belt. Keep in mind that these are toy belts from Mattel and not the real thing.
In order to take part, you'll need to register on the site set up for the tournament. Like prior tournaments, there's no entry fee for participation. The tournament will take place at the Bombay Exhibition Centre during IGX, a consumer gaming expo during November 14 and 15. Other events at IGX include a cosplay competition.

With WWE being a steady seller in the country through the year, it's nice to see publisher 2K Games taking an interest and tournaments like this only serve to grow its popularity.

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No, You Still Cannot Buy Dragon Age: Inquisition Officially in India

Earlier in the week we reported that Dragon Age: Inquisition had been made available officially in India via the PlayStation Network (PSN). For Rs. 3,999, you could snag the critically acclaimed role-playing game (RPG) and all of its downloadable content (DLC) digitally.

We speculated that this could have been a mistake on Sony's part as the game was not listed on publisher Electronic Arts' (EA) Origin digital distribution portal for PC nor was it present on Microsoft's Xbox digital store. The publisher has confirmed to us that this was an error. A quick check on PSN verifies that the game has indeed been removed.

"This issue had already been notified to them and the item was removed. It was an unintended error which was immediately remedied once the operations team had noticed it. There has actually been no reversal in our policy and so Dragon Age Inquisition Game of The Year Edition is not available in India," a representative for EA explained to Gadgets 360.
At the time when the publisher decided to remove Dragon Age: Inquisition from sale, the official statement cited compliance with local laws.

"In order to avoid a breach of local content laws, EA has withdrawn Dragon Age: Inquisition from sale in India and the game is no longer available for pre-order. Customers who pre-ordered the game will be contacted directly and will be fully refunded," the company said on its website.
Previous games from EA-owned developer Bioware such as Mass Effect and Dragon Age: Origins are still available though.

"The current action we've taken only affects Dragon Age Inquisition", said Smith-Wright Regional Marketing Director, Asia Pacific at Electronic Arts told Gadgets 360 last year when asked if this would affect Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age II as well as other role-playing games such as Mass Effect and it's two sequels.

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Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 Now Up for Pre-Orders in India

Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 is now available for pre-order in India, distributor World Wide CD ROM has informed Gadgets 360. With less than a month to go before the latest game in the franchise is out, it's about time too. But there's a catch. COD Black Ops 3 pre-orders are exclusive to Flipkart.
However if you're not keen with buying from Flipkart, a representative for World Wide CD ROMs assured us that you have other options at the launch of COD Black Ops 3, which is scheduled for November 6. "On launch it will available via most of the website and stores across India," he confirmed.

Compared to last year which saw Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare as an online exclusive to Flipkart, the wider availability of COD Black Ops 3 is sure to be welcomed by retailers as well as customers. Even more so considering that Flipkart's investments in gaming as a category have weakened considerably.

As we reported earlier, Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 would cost Rs. 4,299 on the PlayStation 4 (PS4) and Xbox One. The PC version will retail for Rs. 3,499 while PS3 and Xbox 360 versions will retail for Rs. 3,499 as well. Though keep in mind that the PS3 and Xbox 360 editions do not have the single-player campaign. They're limited to multiplayer and co-op modes only.

Much like FIFA, Call of Duty is one of the biggest selling franchises in the country. Internationally pre-orders had started since the game's announcement and were aided by a multiplayer beta across all platforms. Until now, the only way you could be guaranteed of the game was ordering it digitally on PlayStation Network (PSN), Steam, or Xbox Live. Confirmation on local pre-orders is a relief for many a fan in the country without a fast Internet connection.

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Need for Speed No Limits Finally Released for Android and iOS

After being announced almost a year ago, Need for Speed No Limits has finally released on Android and iOS. It has had an extended soft launch period from January and came under scrutiny for having petrol as an in-app purchase. The game has you racing through the streets of the city of Blackridge. You'll take part in a host of arcade race events as you blast through traffic and speed past your competition. This aside, you'll customise your ride as you see fit. It features parts and body kits from real life brands like Rocket Bunny, 6666 Customs, RTR, and RWB to modify your ride as you like.
And although the game just launched, it sports 900 race events, 100 player levels, more than 10 game modes, 38 stunning race courses, and 30 different licensed cars. More than enough to keep you busy until developer Firemonkeys Studio - which was also responsible for the successful Real Racing series - decides to add more content. You can also go up against others in head-to-head tournaments and to earn special rewards.
At the time of writing this, the iOS version of the game is not available on the India App Store. However a quick check at on the Dutch App Store indicates an 808MB download. With EA claiming that Need for Speed No Limits has over 2.5 million custom combinations to indulge in, you can be assured that a fair few involve doling out real world cash. Information on the Indian Google Play Store pegs the range of micro-transations from Rs. 120 to Rs. 6,200.

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Hitman Delayed to Next Year

Open-world assassination simulator Hitman has been delayed to March 2016. The game will be the sixth entry of the series on home consoles and PC not counting Hitman Go and Hitman: Sniper that were mobile-focused games (although Hitman Go did make it to Windows later).
"It's safe to say Hitman is the biggest venture we've ever undertaken at IO Interactive. Not just in terms of scope and ambition but also in terms of the size of the game world itself," developer IO Interactive waxed eloquent on the game's official site.
"We want to make absolutely sure you all get the best possible experience when you join, so we've made the difficult decision to move the initial release date to March 2016," the post continued. "These few extra months will mean we can add more to the launch content of the game, more than we had originally planned, and then follow with a tighter frequency of updates, which ultimately will create a better game for everyone. And in the end, that's what we're all looking for."
Considering that the game has come under some scrutiny due to the lack of clarity on its single-player mode and its business model (which involves users paying upfront on the promise of content being digitally delivered on a consistent basis), many would say a delay was inevitable.
Nonetheless, that's not stopped the game from being showcased at every event possible. Gadgets 360 checked out Hitman at Gamescom 2015 and felt it was an ambitious yet familiar attempt that should allow for some interesting emergent experiences.

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Rainbow Six Siege Beta Begins Thursday

Rainbow Six Siege was one of the surprisingly good games we played at Gamescom 2015. It felt polished, tense and a whole lot of fun. And on Thursday 6:30 PM IST, the game enters closed beta. So if you registered for access on Ubisoft's site, you'll be able to experience (from September 24 to September 28) what's shaping up to be one of the better shooters this year.
"The main objective of the closed beta is to test the online infrastructure & matchmaking with the largest number of players we've had in the game to date," explained Chase Straight, Community Developer on Rainbow Six Siege on Ubisoft's blog.
In the Rainbow Six Siege beta you'll get access to three maps and two game modes as well as 14 different operators (or character classes as they're known in other games). There's an event as well - dubbed as "Terrorist Hunt" - that's open to those playing.
Don't be surprised to find connectivity issues and matchmaking trouble though. After all, you are assisting Ubisoft in ensuring Rainbow Six Siege has a smooth launch in exchange for early access. And access will be granted gradually so don't expect to be let in to the beta as soon as some of your friends have access.
"Players will be granted access in waves to allow us to test server stability so we can optimize the player experience during the beta. We'll be adding new people every day, so be sure to check your email regularly," reads Straight's post.
If you're lacking the bandwidth to download the beta or simply don't want to risk playing an incomplete game, Rainbow Six Siege is out December 1. But if you're adventurous, you can still register for the Rainbow Six Siege beta here.

Download the Gadgets 360 app for Android and iOS to stay up to date with the latest tech news, product reviews, and exclusive deals on the popular mobiles.

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YouTube Gaming App to Allow Android Game Streaming, to Hit Japan First

Right now, the YouTube Gaming app is limited to the US and UK - the two regions it was launched in last month. During the Tokyo Game Show 2015 (TGS 2015), the Google-owned company announced that it would be making it to Asia soon with Japan being the first stop.
But this is not all, your Android phone will be able to stream live video games to YouTube. It's a move to cash in on the popularity of mobile gaming in markets like Japan. And while this update does not have a release date yet, it will be coming along with the YouTube Gaming app when it hits.
"Japan's mobile games define its gaming culture, far more so than in other countries," says YouTube's global gaming head Ryan Wyatt in a statement. "This trend shows there's a real need for gamers to easily share what's on their screen with the gaming community, as it happens."
Although there's no release date for the app in markets like Asia aside from "soon", it's an interesting strategy from YouTube. Its competition, the Amazon-owned Twitch has built up a strong fan following from the hardcore console and PC gamers over the years. Diversifying to mobile not only strengthens its chances of survival but gives Android its own streaming solution for gaming.
It also begs the question, how would platforms like Everyplay - which lets developers allow users to record gameplay and share it in their games, stay relevant in the face of competition that could essentially be, at the flip of a switch (since Google is behind Android and YouTube) embedded on every Android device?

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This Year's Big Gaming Titles Could Be Buggy at Launch

If you thought game publishers learned their lessons from a horrific 2014, think again.
According to game testing firms that spoke to industry website MCV, we just might see a host of titles releasing with game-breaking bugs.
This was the case last year with a number of high profile releases such as Assassin's Creed Unity, DriveClub, and Halo: The Master Chief Collection, to name a few. And this seems unlikely to change this year.
"Console games are expensive to develop, so missing a street date is not an acceptable situation to a publisher. Day One patches have become the norm over the last few years to try and address this, but the reality is that it often takes several patches where a title is significantly behind schedule," said Chris Rowley, localisation director at Pole to Win. The company's Austin and London Studios are Authorised Xbox Test Program (AXTP) vendors for Microsoft, which lets publishers test their games prior to submission to Microsoft for certification.
"We'll see many games launching with large errors and bugs. It's impossible to release a flawless game," said Babel's functionality QA director Mathieu Lachance. The company is an authorised QA testing partner for Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo.
"In some cases, delaying a game can have a more devastating impact on the game and studios themselves than what quality concerns could have. It then becomes a balance between quality expectations and financial risk."
A lot of this also has to do with poor production planning on part of studios and a rush to announce a release date that inevitably gets delayed or a product that is crippled with issues on release day. Some high profile titles out this year include Halo 5: Guardians, Assassin's Creed Syndicate, and Fallout 4. It will be interesting to see how many of the big titles fail to meet consumer expectations.

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Star Wars: Uprising for Android and iOS Is a Prequel to Force Awakens

With Star Wars: The Force Awakens out this December, the Disney marketing machine is in full swing. From unveiling hot ticket toys like the BB8 robot to the Crossguard Lightsaber, there's a lot of tangible merchandise for fans.
And if you're looking for your Star Wars fix without any embarrassing looking toys, there's Star Wars: Uprising, it's a role-playing game (RPG) for Android and iOS that lets you customise your own character and take part in cooperative, real-time combat with others around the world.
But the biggest hook comes from the fact that it ties in with the Star Wars lore. The events of Star Wars: Uprising take place between Star Wars: Episode VI: Return of the Jedi and Star Wars: The Force Awakens. You'll fight through the force of the Empire across iconic locations such as Hoth and Cloud City.
Like most mobile games nowadays, it's free with in-app purchases. These range from Rs. 60 to Rs. 6,200 to help you progress through the game. Developed by Kabam, the company behind mobile games like Spirit Lords, Marvel Contest of Champions, Wartune, and Fast & Furious Legacy, Star Wars: Uprising doesn't appear to be your standard cheap movie game cash in. No surprise considering the development staff consists of Daniel Erickson, the creative director on the Electronic Arts (EA) massively multiplayer online RPG (MMORPG) Star Wars: The Old Republic and Danny Keller, artist on the Clone Wars animated series.

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Angry Birds Creator Launches Candy Crush Clone 'Nibblers' for Android and iOS

We don't remember a time when Rovio was not in the news. Aside from laying off 260 employees, IPO concerns, and well, launching Angry Birds 2 to a mixed response, the company's latest attempt at catching on the Candy Crush Saga hype train is alive and well. Dubbed Nibblers, it's a match-3 game that has you donning the role of fishes hunting down fruits like oranges, pears, plums, and bananas, as well as avoiding lizards. It's on the App Store and Google Play.
And much like Candy Crush Saga, it's free with in-app purchases. You can buy extra moves and characters and the microtransactions range from Rs. 73.42 to Rs. 2,965.77 according to its listing on Google Play. Much like Angry Birds 2, don't be surprised to see video ads make an appearance wherein the game offers you free items in exchange for you watching it.
What's interesting is that this isn't Rovio's first attempt at trying to find some traction in the match-3 space. Earlier it partnered with developer Magic Tavern through its Rovio Stars publishing program to release Jolly Jam. This time around it's trying its luck with a game that's been developed in-house as a completely new IP.
"We're thrilled to bring a completely new IP to the mobile gaming scene," said Heini Kaihu, Head of Studio at Rovio in a prepared statement. "Nibblers may be newly evolved creatures, but fans of our other games will recognize the Rovio touches - strong characters, beautiful visuals, and a lush soundtrack recorded with live orchestra and soloists. This will be a game you want to return to again and again."
We hope so for Rovio's sake that players do return again and again. The mobile gaming space has seen its fair share of turbulence in the last few months, impacting local business units in India as well, most notably Disney's game development studio in the country. Considering that it's a fresh IP from the Angry Birds creator, the outcome will be of interest to both industry watchers and fans.

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Mario Creator Shigeru Miyamoto Confirms Super Mario Bros. 3 Was a Play

With Super Mario Maker hitting the Wii U this week, Nintendo released a video with series creator, Shigeru Miyamoto. And instead of it being your usual attempt at talking up the latest Mario game, it played right into one of Nintendo's biggest strengths - its storied legacy over the years.
After all a company that's been around for over 125 years has a few interesting myths right?
While the video answered a host of fan theories such as who Mario was named after (Nintendo of America's landlord, Mario Segale), it also verified one of the more popular assumptions floating around. Miyamoto confirmed that Super Mario Bros. 3 was indeed styled as a play or theatre production.
For the longest time fans have wondered if the revered classic was based on a dramatic performance what with curtains, bolted platforms, and exiting stage right at the end of a level. Other questions included whether Minamoto would allow Dr. Mario to perform on him (to which the answer was a vehement no) and if he is Bower Jr.'s mother (a surprising and creepy yes).
Coupled with other Nintendo news this week that revealed a new Pikmin game in the works and almost ready, and that the Nintendo NX could see Super Mario Galaxy 3, the Nintendo faithful have a lot to look forward to. This includes a stellar Wii U lineup this year that has the likes of Xenoblade Chronicles X, Star Fox Zero, Yoshi's Wooly World, and of course, Super Mario Maker.

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Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen Coming to PC

While Capcom is more famously known for its Street Fighter and Resident Evil franchises, the company has also made a lesser known (albeit arguably better) Dragon's Dogma in 2012 on the PS3 and Xbox 360. It's an open-world role-playing game that focuses on slick combat and shrewd use of AI companions known as pawns to aid you on an epic adventure.
Dragon's Dogma was followed up with an expansion and re-release a year later dubbed Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen. It contained the original game and an entire new quest line and region "Bitterblack Isle", plus all the original DLC content, as well as additional skill upgrades, monsters, weapons and armour.
Now, three years later, the company has announced that Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen will come to PC on January 15, 2016. It will sport support Xbox 360 and Xbox One controllers aside from the obvious keyboard and mouse. And as is the case with most games on PC these days, it has full Steam support with achievements as well as high resolution graphics. According to a press release from the publisher, the game will be available as a purchase "globally on digital PC platforms and retail outlets across Europe." The game will cost $29.99 (around Rs. 2,000).
While Capcom has not announced a distributor for India yet, sources indicate that it should have one before the year is up. Considering that other Europe only physical editions of PC games such as Final Fantasy XIII and Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes have made it to India, we won't be surprised if this does as well.

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Batman: Arkham Knight for PC to Get Game-Fixing Patch

Although Batman: Arkham Knight was one of the better games we played this year, its PC version was an absolute mess. To the point where it felt like we were playing an early, first generation PlayStation 3 game.
If this wasn't enough, those brave enough to hazard such poor performance were left high and dry as the physical copies of the game would not unlock on Steam. A last minute increase in system requirements didn't help matters, nor did the game being pulled from sale on Steam either.
Now it seems that there's some respite for those looking to play the game on PC. According to Kotaku, gamers who have opted-in for Steam's beta updates received an update to the game that improved performance dramatically. Some have reported a steady 60 frames per second at 1080p with all details turned up to the maximum and a silky smooth experience.
However the patch was pulled and another one put in its place to reverse it. Nonetheless, it's a sign of what to expect when the patch finally hits.
Considering that it should not have shipped in the state it was in to begin with, we can't shake the feeling it's a case of too little too late from Warner Bros., with a stellar season of games approaching it's unlikely that Batman: Arkham Knight will still be relevant when this patch is finally public.

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Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain Companion App Launched for Android, iOS

Konami has released the companion app for Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. With this you can call in for air support, use it to display maps, and listen to music featured in the game.
While using the first two features are rather straightforward, and require you to use a Wi-Fi connection, listening to music from the game works a little differently. You'll need to play up to a certain point in the game to be able to listen to the music that includes the likes of A-ha's 'Take On Me' and David Bowie's 'The Man Who Sold the World', and they can only be played within the app.
In order to make the most of it, you'll need to be on a Wi-Fi network to which your PS3, PS4, or Xbox One is connected. Yes, there is no support for the Xbox 360 or PC. A crying shame considering how well the game is selling on Steam.
The Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain companion app is available for Android and iOS. Smartphones and tablets on Android require to be on Android 4.2 or later. And if you're on iOS, you'll need an iPhone 5S or above and iOS 8.0 or later.

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Deus Ex: Mankind Divided Release Date, Pre-Order Bonuses Announced

Sequel to 2010's Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, has a release date. You can pick it up on February 23, 2016. The news comes by the way of the European PlayStation blog uncovered by enthusiast gaming forum, NeoGAF. "The team has been working hard on the game, and even if its release is still a few months away, having a set date where we know you'll get a chance to experience the game first hand is a huge motivation for all of us," the blog post said.
And in an odd turn of events, the post highlights an incentive to pre-order the game digitally by allowing fans to play the game four days ahead of time.
"The very last tier is one of a kind, as its reward will be an early release of the game, four days prior to its scheduled launch! For more details on Augment your Pre-order, check out www.augmentyourpreorder.com."
At the time of writing this, www.augmentyourpreorder.com was not accessible. Other pre-order tiers include an extra mission, a digital comic, and a sampler of the game's music. In addition to this, there is a collector's edition that has a nine-inch figurine of Adam Jensen, a limited steelbook, and a 48-page art book.
The post outlines a February 23 release date for the PS4. Given Eidos Montreal's track record, it would be safe to say that the Xbox One and PC versions would be out at the same time. With Mirror's Edge: Catalyst, XCOM 2 and now Deus Ex: Mankind Divided slated for February, the month looks to be one replete of heavy hitters that would resemble a November lineup. Not that we're complaining.
At Gamescom 2015 we spoke to the development team on Deus Ex: Mankind Divided at length. Look out for our interview on what to expect from the latest entry in the series soon.

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Metal Gear Solid V on PC Is a 28GB Download Even if You Buy It on Disc

Previously, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain on PC was scheduled for a September 15 release date. However series publisher Konami pushed that up to September 1 to ensure PC gamers can enjoy the latest instalment in the stealth series at the same time as those on console. What was even more surprising was that the physical edition of the game on PC would be out at the same time.
Nonetheless, all is not what it seems. The game released last week, ahead of its official September 1 date (also known as a street date break) and PC owners discovered that even if you buy Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain on disc, you will still have to download the entire game. Reason being, the disc just comes with a paltry 8.7MB of data that's just a Steam installer.
Considering that the game itself is 28GB and has no preload option, this makes the PC version feel a little more a rushed afterthought than a day one priority.
Coupled with the fact that Konami announced that the game is only downloadable on release day at 12am ET (9:30am IST) makes it all the more disappointing for fans of it on PC as console owners have had the luxury of preloading the game days before release.
This isn't the only game where Konami has given PC gamers the short end of the stick. Pro Evolution Soccer 2016 on PC won't have the same visual fidelity as the PS4 and Xbox One versions. Of late, Japanese publishers have taken more care with their PC releases, hopefully it's something Konami takes notice of going forward.

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Assassin's Creed Syndicate PC Release Date Announced

Ubisoft, the company behind Assassin's Creed Syndicate has confirmed that the game will be coming to PC on November 19. It's coming to Xbox One and PlayStation 4 (PS4) almost a month earlier on October 23. The delay is inevitable considering how poorly the last entry in the series, Assassin's Creed Unity, performed on the PC.
"We have introduced several new improvements to our production pipeline and validation process, which allowed us to focus on polishing, stabilizing and optimizing the PC version very early on in the project," said Sam Kovalev, Studio Production Manager at Ubisoft Kiev on Ubisoft's blog. "This has been one of the top priorities for the production team this year."
"The additional four weeks are for us to really bear down and finalise all of the polish and optimisation, to make sure the game and all of its systems are stable when it launches, so it runs smoothly for all players starting on day one," he explained further.
While the final PC requirements have not been announced, there will be no limit in terms of frame-rate or resolution the company confirmed. The game's recommended system specifications will target a 1080p resolution and 30 frames per second.
In the past, the company has delayed games for a variety of reasons ranging from adding DRM to extra testing across a variety of hardware. And though Ubisoft had earlier said the PC version of Assassin's Creed Syndicate will be delayed, it's good to know when it would exactly hit.

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Disney Shuts Down One of India's Oldest Game Studios

Disney India is shutting its game development studio, sources at Indiagames have told NDTV. We have been given to understand that around 30 programmers, testers, and artists working on the studio's recent game iOS and Android game ICC Pro Cricket 2015 have been given their relieving letters on Thursday.
What this means is, one of India's oldest game studios will cease to develop video games after a 16-year run that included being acquired by Disney.
The reason given for this is that Disney does not have any internally developed games globally, and is pivoting to a publishing model wherein the actual game development is outsourced.
However, multiple sources have confirmed that there is more to it. High development costs and unrealistic revenue projections are what have resulted in the studio's demise.
"Management had projected a revenue on ICC Pro Cricket 2015 of $2 million (roughly Rs. 13.2 crores) in 9 months. It was not realistic," a recently laid off employee told us.
The studio's efforts were solely-focused on ICC Pro Cricket 2015. It's other cricket game, Cricket Card Battle, ceased receiving updates earlier in the year. Another title it worked on was a match-3 game called Cupcake Dreamland. After it was developed in-house, it was given to Pune-based company Appon Software to run live operations and updates for six months, but that contract was cancelled in two weeks.
Indiagames' producers and designers are still on Disney's rolls though. The company, much like many others in the country, seeks to leverage its Bollywood movies by making games based on them, albeit outsourced to less expensive studios. For that, a certain amount of internal expertise is critical. This isn't the first round of layoffs either with Disney laying off a large number of employees last year.
Indiagames was one of the most consistent developers, delivering one title after another during the feature phone era including hits based on licenses like Spider-Man and BioShock. Of late it was known for its cricket games bearing the IPL license such as IPL T20 Fever. Disney did not respond to a request for comment.

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YouTube Gaming, Google's Twitch Competitor, to Launch Wednesday

YouTube's big push to gaming, which it first announced in June, is set to release on Wednesday as a standalone website and will also be available via apps on Android and iOS.
YouTube Gaming will compete against Amazon-owned Twitch, which currently leads the game live-streaming business with milestones such as around 2 million concurrent viewers. The launch of YouTube Gaming came months after Google reportedly failed to acquire Twitch due to potential antitrust concerns.
The YouTube Gaming service will offer gamers more than 25,000 game-specific pages to let them quickly find game-related videos and other content. The service will also curate live-streams from thousands of gaming-related channels.
With YouTube Gaming service, the company also wants to make it easier for people to live-stream games on YouTube. The company has launched a new page called Stream, currently in beta, which gives users the option to start streaming at a personal URL.
"YouTube gaming brings you closer to the games, gamers, and culture that matter to you," said Frank Petterson, YouTube engineering manager. "Together, we all make gaming better. Our peers make us better gamers, and games are made better by the communities that surround them."
YouTube Gaming will utilise HTML5 technology to stream content. It will also allow streamers to use a "DVR Mode." DVR Mode will allow gamers to buffer last four hours of a stream and play it at a later time.
The new YouTube Gaming service will be launched on Web on YouTube's new Gaming website and will be available in all countries where YouTube is available. The Android and iOS clients, on the other hand, will be released in the UK and USA on Wednesday, with other countries getting the support soon.

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