Generally, Epic Games reveals the next free game on the Epic Games Store a week before they release. They broke from that trend last week, announcing only that we’d be getting a mystery game this week. Well, the mystery is over. This week’s free game is NBA 2K21. 2K’s basketball title will be available for free until May 27th.

NBA 2K21 will be replacing Mi’pu’mi Games’ The Lion’s Song, which was free on the service until May 20th. The Lion’s Song is “a narrative adventure game. It is steeped in early 20th century history and focuses on a cast of Austrian artists and scientists with each episode taking a closer look at their intimate struggles with creativity and inspiration.”

2K also said PC players can “now also experience cross play for NBA 2K21 on Epic and Steam platforms” in a separate announcement. Interestingly, next week’s game is also a mystery title. Mystery titles on Epic Games Store generally mean the free game is a high profile release, so keep an eye on it once NBA 2K21‘s free window expires on May 27th. If you’re looking to buy something on EGS, their Mega Sale is also going on right now. Players can also claim a coupon that will take $10 off any title that is $15 or more, even if that title is already discounted.

Along with revealing that The Outer Worlds had sold over three million units, Take Two Interactive confirmed sales figures for a number of other franchises. Grand Theft Auto 5 is on top with over 145 million units sold till date. The series has also sold in over 345 million units thus far.

Red Dead Redemption 2 has sold more than 37 million units thus with sales for the series crossing 60 million. Borderlands 3 was already confirmed to have sold in 13 million thus far but its predecessor, Borderlands 2, is still going strong with 25 million units sold. The franchise has hit “approximately” 70 million units sold.

As for the NBA 2K series, it’s sold over 111 million units worldwide. The BioShock series is at 37 million sold while Civilization has sold over 57 million units. Sales for Grand Theft Auto 5, along with revenue for Grand Theft Auto Online, should continue when it releases for Xbox Series X/S and PS5 in November. Stay tuned for more details in the meantime.

It’s been another hard week for most people, no doubt. Those who are lucky enough to not have to work on the weekend use it as a time to relax and rewind, and one of the best ways to do that is by playing some video games. This weekend will also give you a chance to play two different types of games free of charge on your PC.

From today until the beginning of next week, you’ll be able to try out DiRT 5 on Steam. The game is the latest in the off road based racing simulator. If you’re interested in a different type of drive, more of a drive to take a ball to its respective basket, NBA 2K21 is also free on the service. It’s also the newest entry in 2K’s flagship sports title. Both titles are also on sale if you decide they are to your liking.

Both DiRT 5 and NBA 2K21 will be free to download and try out up until March 8th. You can check out DiRT 5‘s Steam page through here, and NBA 2K21 through here.

Microsoft has announced its first wave of titles coming to Xbox Game Pass subscribers in March. Available now is Madden NFL 21, which is technically a part of EA Play (and limited to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members). On March 4th, Football Manager 2021 comes to PC and consoles, providing avenues for players to create their own professional teams.

NBA 2K21 arrives on the same day for consoles and the cloud. Later this month, Star Wars: Squadrons will become available for consoles via EA Play. Considering the critical acclaim that it’s received, it may be worth checking out for those on the fence till now. NHL 21, meanwhile, is set to join the service in April.

More Xbox Game Pass titles will be revealed later this month so stay tuned. Titles that will be leaving on March 15th include Alvastia Chronicles and Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night for console and PC. On the console side, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and Kona will also become unavailable. PC-only players will lose access to Astrologaster.

2020 is done and over. It was a year almost assuredly many won’t forget, even if they desperately want to. The final month of the year tends to be something of a snapshot of the entire year, and December 2020 wasn’t much different. In the US, the charts had a lot of the usual suspects, with one franchise on top as you’d expect it to be, and Nintendo in the strongest position they’ve been in in decades.

As per data provided by the NPD Group (via VentureBeat), December’s top 20 saw Black Ops Cold War at #1, which is no surprise since it was also the best selling game of the year in the region. Right below it was Cyberpunk 2077, which we know sold at least 13 million copies last month in total across all regions. Keep in mind, 2077 hits this list without digital sales, apparently. Whether that would have helped it topple Cold War is somewhat iffy, but even so, number 2 is impressive.

While the rest of the list is populated by a lot of games you’d expect such as Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, Miles Morales, and the various sports entries, what is maybe the most noteworthy is how much Nintendo dominated this list. Their first party titles are seeing strong sales all throughout, even early releases such as Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and many of the sports titles are on the Switch and being factored in such as NBA 2K21 and FIFA 21. All Nintendo first party titles are also in here without digital numbers being provided, just to add to how incredible a feat it is.

1.  Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War
2. Cyberpunk 2077*
3. Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
4. Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales
5. Madden NFL 21
6. Animal Crossing: New Horizons*
7. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe*
8. NBA 2K21*
9. Immortals Fenyx Rising
10. Super Mario 3D All-Stars*
11. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate*
12. Just Dance 2021
13. Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity*
14. FIFA 21
15. New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe*
16. Super Mario Odyssey*
17. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild*
18. Super Mario Party*
19. Ring Fit Adventure
20. Mortal Kombat 11

* Indicates that digital sales are not included.

As the new year of 2021 begins, it is always fun to go back and look at what 2020 was like and what topped the charts for the whole year. Most of the time these lists tend to be pretty predictable by and large with a few surprises. This year Sony did that with their PS4 and PS5 download charts, and that largely stays true.

As detailed on the PlayStation blog, Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War was the big winner, just in case you had any delusion the series was fading . It topped the PS4 and PS5 charts for the US/Canada, and even in Europe for PS5. The only place it wasn’t number 1 was Europe’s PS4 chart where it was actually 4th below FIFA 21 (that took the top spot), FIFA 20 and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare.

The charts are largely what you’d expect, including the mainstays of Grand Theft Auto 5 and Minecraft and the annual sports titles such as NBA 2K21 and Madden NFL 21. Big AAA titles are here, too, such as The Last of Us Part 2, Ghost of Tsushima, Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales and Final Fantasy 7 Remake. Maybe the biggest surprise that jumps out is that Ghost of Tsushima actually sold more than The Last of Us Part 2 on the US PS4 charts.

The PS5 charts ended up being a bit more diverse just due to the lack of native options, but still had a lot of what you’d expect. Games like Sackboy: A Big Adventure, Immortals Fenyx Rising, Watch Dogs Legion and, obviously, Demon’s Souls made their presence there. You can check out the full list below

PS4 – US/Canada

1. Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War
2. Grand Theft Auto 5
3. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
4. Minecraft
5. Ghost of Tsushima
6. The Last of Us Part 2
7. NBA 2K21
8. NBA 2K20
9. Final Fantasy 7 Remake
10. Madden NFL 21

PS4 – Europe

1. FIFA 21
2. FIFA 20
3. Grand Theft Auto 5
4. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
5. Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War
6. Minecraft
7. NBA 2K20
8. The Last of Us Part 2
9. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
10. Red Dead Redemption 2

PS5 – US/Canada

1. Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War
2. Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales
3. Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
4. NBA 2K21 
5. Demon’s Souls
6. Madden NFL 21
7. FIFA 21
8. Sackboy: A Big Adventure
9. Immortals Fenyx Rising
10. Watch Dogs: Legion

PS5 – Europe

1. Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War
2. Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales
3. Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
4. FIFA 21
5. Demon’s Souls
6. Watch Dogs: Legion
7. Immortals Fenyx Rising
8. NBA 2K21 
9. Sackboy: A Big Adventure
10. Rainbow Six Siege

SuperData has released its 2020 Year in Review for digital games and interactive media, listing the highest-earning premium games of last year. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare emerged on top, earning $1,913 billion in revenue. Much of that success can be attributed to Call of Duty: Warzone, the battle royale mode which saw a massively positive response.

Titles like FIFA 20, Grand Theft Auto 5 and NBA 2K21 also featured in the rankings. Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, which recently had Warzone integrated into it, managed to earn $678 million in revenue while Cyberpunk 2077 raked in $609 million. On the Nintendo side, Animal Crossing: New Horizons managed to earn an impressive $654 million.

As SuperData notes, the top 10 highest-earning premium titles managed to account for 34 percent of the overall market. The COVID-19 pandemic also played a role in the popularity of games last year – a survey by SuperData indicated that 36 percent of players would indulge in video games in place of other entertainment. With the release of next-gen consoles, it remains to be seen if this year can top the last in terms of revenue. Stay tuned for more details in the meantime.

Delays

Whether it’s from requiring more polish or that-which-shall-not-be-named, delays were fairly common throughout the year. Some titles, like Cyberpunk 2077, saw multiple delays while others like Dying Light 2 don’t even have a new release window. A number of titles and updates were also hilariously delayed from their original dates to avoid competition with Cyberpunk 2077, whether its Everspace 2 early access or the start of Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War – Season 1.

]]> https://gamingbolt.com/15-things-players-hated-about-video-games-in-2020/feed 0 464261 https://gamingbolt.com/12-video-game-trends-that-must-end-with-the-ps5-and-xbox-series-x-s https://gamingbolt.com/12-video-game-trends-that-must-end-with-the-ps5-and-xbox-series-x-s#respond Fri, 27 Nov 2020 15:27:30 +0000 https://gamingbolt.com/?p=462597 The next-generation of console gaming has officially arrived with the Xbox Series X/S and PS5 now available worldwide. And while some things will seemingly never change, there are a few trends that we’d like to see die off in the coming years. Let’s take a look at 12 of them here.

Triple-A Games with Microtransactions

It’s been said multiple times, even before triple-A titles inevitably raised their prices to $70. But having microtransactions in a full priced game, even if they’re optional or cosmetic, just feels excessive, whether it’s Watch Dogs: Legion, Marvel’s Avengers or NBA 2K21. And now that games cost more, it’s all the more irritating to see some publishers – like Take Two Interactive and Activision – jump through hoops to justify price increases while continuing to peddle microtransactions. Though unlikely, one can hope that triple A titles are free of such nonsense in the new generation.

Prospective users have been concerned about the PS5’s useable internal storage for a while now, with the console offering just 664 GB of space- which may not seem like a small number in isolation, but doesn’t seem like it will be enough when you consider how big next-gen games’ file sizes are going to be. The likes of Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War have already baffled players with their massive storage requirements, and another game that seems to be doing just that is NBA 2K21.

Leveraging next-gen hardware for improved visuals, features, gameplay additions, and more, NBA 2K21 is going to be significantly larger on the upcoming next consoles. Over on Twitter, @GameLeaksRumors recently showed the game’s physical box, which states on the box that it will require a minimum of 150 GB of free storage. That does not necessarily mean the game’s file size is going to be 150 GB, but it’s definitely going to be in that ballpark. For instance, on the Xbox Series X/S, the game’s file size is over 120 GB.

NBA 2K21 is currently available on PS4, Xbox One, PC, Nintendo Switch, and Stadia, having also launched for Xbox Series X/S today. It will release for PS5 on November 12.

https://twitter.com/GameLeaksRumors/status/1326078322783248386