Sony is not happy about the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) recent provisional approval of Microsoft's proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard, and has highlighted the apparent removal of a Microsoft-owned game from being developed on the PlayStation 5. According to legal documents submitted to the UK government, Sony has taken issue with the watchdog's sudden change in opinion - the CMA's position was highly critical at the start of the year - and suspects that Microsoft's expensive PR campaign and submitting of "new evidence" to international competition regulators have influenced a change in direction of rulings. Sony's statement bears down on the unfair nature of the bid's approval: "The CMA's reversal of its position on its consoles theory of harm is surprising, unprecedented, and irrational."

Japan's Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) was the latest anti-trust governing body to give the takeover a thumbs-up, almost two weeks ago - a dramatic turn of events given that it happened on Sony's home turf. The embattled electronics corporation has taken notice of fresh developments in the press, and proceeded to mention controversy surrounding the Redfall platform war. Harvey Smith, the game's creative director, let slip too many details during a promotion tour and seemingly admitted that the higher-ups at Microsoft's Xbox division had decided to can the PlayStation 5 version of Redfall in favor of keeping it exclusive to Xbox, Game Pass and PC. Arkane Studios, as part of the ZeniMax Media Group, was acquired by Microsoft in 2021 - and certain games, already in development, were later released on the PlayStation 5 as timed exclusives, Deathloop being a prime example of this.

Overwatch 2 Season 4 launches April 11! Blossom onto the battlefield with our newest Support Hero Lifeweaver, progress through the Battle Pass to earn rewards including Mythic Galactic Emperor Sigma, and fight for your faction when The Watchers and The Infinite Empire clash in the Starwatch event! Explore Talantis, the first-ever map made in collaboration with the community. Enjoy major quality-of-life updates with a revamped Competitive experience.

Watch the trailer to see what to expect with this upcoming season, which brings the new Support Hero Lifeweaver, a new Battle Pass, the community-made map called Talantis, and more. Progress through the Battle Pass to earn rewards including Mythic Galactic Emperor Sigma, and fight for your faction when The Watchers and The Infinite Empire clash in the Starwatch event.

Diablo IV Inside the Game: Into the Endgame. Join members of the Diablo IV development team as they pull back the curtain on the experiences waiting for you in the endgame. Welcome, wanderer! Over the course of our new Inside the Game video series, we'll sit down with our resident Diablo IV experts—members of the development team—to walk you through elements of the game.

Our second video in this series, Into the Endgame, is an exploration of the many endgame systems players can continue to grow their character's legend through once the Main Quest has been completed. The endless battle between the High Heavens and the Burning Hells rages on as hatred threatens to consume Sanctuary. With ceaseless demons to slaughter, countless abilities to master, nightmarish Dungeons and Legendary loot, this vast world brings the promise of adventure and devastation.

Blizzard has released a new trailer showing its latest playable hero, Lifeweaver. It will launch alongside Season 4 on April 11th. Overwatch 2's latest support Hero is Lifeweaver, an intelligent and curious adventurer who plans to use his biolight technology to make the world a better place.

Lifeweaver will shift the dynamic of every fight by providing cover, leveraging his mobility, and impacting positioning in ways we've never seen before. Get acquainted with Lifeweaver's ability kit in his Gameplay Trailer and get ready for his debut in Season 4 on April 11.

According to dataminers over at Reddit, it appears that Blizzard's Diablo IV might support Microsoft's DirectStorage API, although the developer did not officially announce it. This would make Diablo IV the second AAA title to support this API that should significantly lower loading times on SSD storage. The first title that used DirectStorage was Forspoken. The two files, named dstorage.dll and dstoragecore.dll, suggest that Diablo IV already has support for DirectStorage, or Blizzard is still working on it and it could be available only in the final version of the game.

According to Microsoft, DirectStorage API could reduce the CPU overhead in a game by 20 to 40 percent, when used with an NVMe SSD on Windows 11. Unfortunately, it appears that Diablo IV is also using DirectStorage 1.0 (v1.0.2), just as Forspoken, rather than DirectStorage 1.1 which adds GPU decompression to further speed up the loading process. Diablo IV beta stage is over and the game will officially launch on June 6th on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Xbox S/X. Blizzard already announced that the support for NVIDIA DLSS 3 will be available in the final version, and that ray tracing will be added at a later date as well, so the DirectStorage API could also be on that list.

A combination of the Diablo IV Closed Beta and NVIDIA RTX 3080 Ti graphics card is proving lethal for the latter - community feedback has alerted Blizzard to take action, and they will be investigating the issue in the coming days, with assistance from NVIDIA. It is speculated that the game is exposing underlying hardware faults within an affected card, but it is odd that a specific model is generating the largest number of issues. Unlucky 3080 Ti owners participating in the closed beta are said to be experiencing unpleasant or inconsistent in-game performance at best, and BSODs followed by non-functional GPUs at worst.

A Blizzard forumite, ForANge, chimed in with their experience: "My graphics card also burned out. While playing, the fans of my Gigabyte GeForce RTX 3080 Ti suddenly started running at maximum speed. At the same time, the signal from the monitor disappeared. After turning off the power and trying to turn it back on, I couldn't get it to work anymore. The card is just under a year old. It happened during a cutscene with flowers when they showed a snowy landscape."

Blizzard has released a new gameplay footage from Diablo IV beta as a part of its "adventure with a dev", hosted by Lead Game Designer, Zaven Haroutunian. In the meantime, and as it was expected, another 36 minutes long video from a Chinese player has also leaked online, showing a lot more gameplay.

Blizzard's own video shows the Lead Game Designer, Zaven Haroutunian, slashing his way through a dungeon and talking about what players can expect to see in the beta phase. It is a rather short video from Kor Dragan Barracks, but gives you a nice idea on what went into designing this game and what to generally expect from it.

In the space of two days, Microsoft has announced long term partnerships with two different cloud gaming services. It is posited that the technology giant is rolling out a wide-ranging strategy to make good with regulators, who hold the keys to the clearance of an Activison Blizzard acquisition worth a reported $68.7 billion. Microsoft is facing significant push back from numerous international regulatory bodies, due to fears of anti-competitive impacts from a possible Activison Blizzard purchase.

Xbox Gaming CEO Phil Spencer today tweeted about the deal with the Taiwan-based company Ubitus K.K: "A leading cloud gaming provider, have signed a 10-year partnership to stream Xbox PC Games as well as Activision Blizzard titles after the acquisition closes. Our commitment is to give more players, more choice."

On Tuesday, Microsoft and NVIDIA announced the companies have agreed to a 10-year partnership to bring Xbox PC games to the NVIDIA GeForce NOW cloud gaming service, which has more than 25 million members in over 100 countries. The agreement will enable gamers to stream Xbox PC titles from GeForce NOW to PCs, macOS, Chromebooks, smartphones and other devices. It will also enable Activision Blizzard PC titles, such as Call of Duty, to be streamed on GeForce NOW after Microsoft's acquisition of Activision closes.

"Xbox remains committed to giving people more choice and finding ways to expand how people play," said Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer. "This partnership will help grow NVIDIA's catalog of titles to include games like Call of Duty, while giving developers more ways to offer streaming games. We are excited to offer gamers more ways to play the games they love."

Blizzard is about to shut down its services in China today, as it was unable to reach a favorable partnership renewal with NetEase, the Chinese company handling Blizzard's business in the Chinese market, including local regulatory compliance, geographic localization of servers, and accepting payments. NetEase CEO William Ding said the partnership renewal negotiations fell apart due to "material differences on key terms." This means gamers in China no longer have a means to play the genre-defining MMORPG "World of Warcraft," "Starcraft," and other popular titles. A lot has changed in China's domestic gaming industry over the past two decades, and there are dozens of popular game studios with their titles in the MMORPG genre.

Diablo IV, the next generation installment in the genre-defining series by Blizzard Entertainment, will be released on June 6, 2023. Diablo IV will feature cross-platform play and progression on Windows PC, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, plus couch co-op on consoles at launch.

"We are excited to soon be opening the gates to our most brutal vision of Sanctuary yet with Diablo IV," said Rod Fergusson, general manager of Diablo. "We are bringing the darkness of the original game, fusing it with the progression elements of Diablo II and the visceral combat of Diablo III, culminating in the vast, active overworld of Diablo IV, which has been built to be supported for years to come. Players will have more choices than ever before as they battle unspeakable horrors, explore dungeons, collect Legendary loot, and uncover what the return of Lilith, the Blessed Mother, means for the world of Sanctuary."

The Federal Trade Commission is seeking to block technology giant Microsoft Corp. from acquiring leading video game developer Activision Blizzard, Inc. and its blockbuster gaming franchises such as Call of Duty, alleging that the $69 billion deal, Microsoft's largest ever and the largest ever in the video gaming industry, would enable Microsoft to suppress competitors to its Xbox gaming consoles and its rapidly growing subscription content and cloud-gaming business.

In a complaint issued today, the FTC pointed to Microsoft's record of acquiring and using valuable gaming content to suppress competition from rival consoles, including its acquisition of ZeniMax, parent company of Bethesda Softworks (a well-known game developer). Microsoft decided to make several of Bethesda's titles including Starfield and Redfall Microsoft exclusives despite assurances it had given to European antitrust authorities that it had no incentive to withhold games from rival consoles.

World of Warcraft : Dragonflight, the ninth expansion to Blizzard Entertainment's critically acclaimed massively multiplayer online role-playing game, is now live! Heroes of the Horde and Alliance are called back to Azeroth to explore the mystical Dragon Isles and its ancient secrets, where the dragon aspects have returned to reclaim their kingdom and ancestral home.

"Dragonflight goes to the heart of what players have always loved about World of Warcraft—exploration, customization, and the feeling of wonder as the world and its stories unfold," said Mike Ybarra, president of Blizzard Entertainment. "The updates to core systems, such as the new talent trees, build on the legacy of WoW for players of all types, allowing old friends and new to enjoy everything Azeroth has to offer for years to come."

As the world's leading e-sports equipment brand, GTPLAYER announced its official partnership with Blizzard Entertainment to launch the GTPLAYER Lich King co-branded gaming chair, which is also GTPLAYER's largest collaborative series to date, and will be released globally on October 24. "World of Warcraft" is definitely high on the list of the masterpieces enjoying worldwide popularity, and among the "World of Warcraft" series, the Lich King is one of the most popular, with well-rounded and successful characters and countless fans who have found love and hate in him.

This September is destined to be extraordinary for the existing players of "World of Warcraft". Blizzard officially announced that the "Wrath of the Lich King" content will be launched in the World of Warcraft Classic on September 26. The Lich King once again reigns in the world, which is enough to excite millions of fans.

Rather than another leak of performance numbers for NVIDIA's upcoming RTX 4090 and 4080 cards, the company has shared some performance numbers of their upcoming cards in Overwatch 2. According to NVIDIA, Blizzard had to increase the framerate cap in Overwatch 2 to 600 FPS, as the new cards from NVIDIA were simply too fast for the previous 400 FPS framerate cap. NVIDIA also claims that with Reflex enabled, system latency will be reduced by up to 60 percent.

As for the performance numbers, the RTX 4090 managed to 507 FPS at 1440p in Overwatch 2, using an Intel Core i9-12900K CPU, at the Ultra graphics quality setting. The RTX 4080 16 GB manages 368 FPS, with the RTX 4080 12 GB coming in at 296 FPS. The comparison to the previous generation cards is seemingly a bit unfair, as the highest-end comparison we get is an unspecified RTX 3080 that managed to push 249 FPS. This is followed by an RTX 3070 at 195 FPS and an RTX 3060 at 122 FPS. NVIDIA recommends an RTX 4080 16 GB if you want to play Overwatch 2 at 1440p 360 FPS+ and an RTX 3080 Ti at 1080p 360 FPS+.

Today marks the beginning of a new era for Blizzard Entertainment's award-winning franchise: Overwatch 2 is live now and free to play worldwide with cross-platform play and progression for all players on Windows PC via Battle.net, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch consoles! Setting the stage for years to come, Overwatch 2 will receive substantial seasonal updates, often including features such as new heroes, maps, game modes, cosmetics, and more released at a regular cadence.

Log in today to play as the recently unveiled support hero Kiriko: a fierce protector with a heart of gold. She joins tank hero Junker Queen and damage hero Sojourn as three game-changing women rounding out a playable roster that now includes 35 heroes. And what's a new era without a new look and feel? Going live today are updated appearances for every hero, numerous hero ability kit reworks, a new five-versus-five multiplayer format, six new maps, the new Push game mode, a new ping system, a redesigned competitive mode, and more—all experienced through updated graphics and audio engines. Additionally, the diverse cast of characters has never felt more alive, with over 40,000 new voice lines in the game.

AMD today released the latest version of the AMD Software Adrenalin drivers. Version 22.10.1 beta comes with optimization for "Overwatch 2," the hot new online shooter from Blizzard. The drivers also fix a couple of outstanding issues. The first one fixes "GPU for image processing" preference not being available in Adobe Lightroom, with graphics cards such as the Radeon RX 6000 series. The second one is an application crash experienced with "Street Fighter 6" beta. With this release AMD also acknowledges identifying several new issues, which it will fix in future releases.

DOWNLOAD: AMD Software Adrenalin 22.10.1 beta

The ancestral home of dragonkind is stirring as Blizzard Entertainment today announced Dragonflight, the ninth expansion for the massively multiplayer online role-playing game World of Warcraft, will be released worldwide on November 28 at 3:00 p.m.

"Dragonflight was crafted with our incredible community in mind and with the desire to return to what we all love most dearly: the splendor of Azeroth and its characters, with our players cast as heroes," said World of Warcraft executive producer Holly Longdale. "We invite everyone into this new adventure where we will bask in the landscape of dragons, become a part of their ancient legacy, and watch the secrets of this land unfold together."

The icy winds of Northrend are wailing once more, heralding news that Blizzard Entertainment's Wrath of the Lich King Classic is now live. All players with an active subscription automatically receive access to the re-creation of WoW 's acclaimed second expansion at no additional cost and can log in to begin their adventures into the frozen wilds of Azeroth's northern continent today. The legendary story can be experienced on all realms previously dedicated to World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade Classic content.

Players will embark on a treacherous adventure through lush locales, battling foes unlike those found anywhere else in Azeroth, and will fulfil numerous quests before confronting the iconic Lich King in Icecrown Citadel and putting an end to his heartless destruction. This journey includes the rise of the fearsome Death Knight hero class, available to all players (even new ones!) and starting at level 55, the original iteration of the World of Warcraft achievement system to recognize various accomplishments in the game, and the Inscription profession, which enables players to scribe ability-enhancing glyphs that alter the appearance and modify the properties of spells and abilities.

Microsoft's USD $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision-Blizzard is running into hurdles with competition regulators in both the UK and the EU, with both Brussels and London hinting at a thorough investigation into the impact the acquisition will have on competition in their respective markets. Microsoft is already a game publisher under Microsoft Games Studio, and makes at least two leading gaming platforms—the Xbox and Windows PC; whereas Activision-Blizzard own a constellation of dozens of game developers, and a mountain of IP over some of the most valuable game franchises of all time.

Britain's Competition and Markets Authority has hinted that the acquisition warrants a "second-phase investigation" since it has concerns that the deal would "result in a substantial lessening of competition within a market or markets in the United Kingdom." Over in Brussels, the EU market regulators, too, are taking a closer look at what the deal could entail for European consumers. Sony Computer Entertainment is particularly unhappy with the acquisition, and is the primary source of opposition to the deal that's invoked by regulators. Sony fears that with this acquisition, Microsoft will be in a position to deny popular game franchises such as "Call of Duty" to the PlayStation platform, and will have too much control over whether Sony can deliver an experience comparable or better than that of the Xbox.Many Thanks to DeathtoGnomes for the tip.

Blizzard Entertainment announced today that Dragonflight, the next expansion to the massively multiplayer online role-playing game World of Warcraft, is now available for pre-purchase and is set to launch later this year. In Dragonflight, players will embark to the awakening Dragon Isles, the origin place of dragonkind, where the fabled dragon aspects have returned to claim their rightful home.

The Dragon Isles feature four lush new zones for players to adventure through on their journey to the new level cap of 70: the vibrant Waking Shores, the verdant Ohn'ahran Plains, the sprawling Azure Span, and the resplendent Thaldraszus. Dragonriding, a new method of aerial movement, empowers players to soar through the skies of each new area in style atop customizable Dragon Isles Drakes. The isles are home to the all-new playable Dracthyr allied race, who mix the magics of the dragonflights with ranged damage and healer specializations as a solely dedicated Evoker hero class that start off at level 58.

Blizzard Entertainment announced today that Diablo IV, the next generation installment in the genre-defining series, is debuting in 2023. Blizzard also announced that Diablo IV is coming to Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5, alongside versions for Windows PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4, with cross-play and cross-progression enabled for all platforms. Inside Sanctuary—a realm long embattled by the devastating wars between the High Heavens and the Burning Hells—decades have passed since the events of Diablo III: Reaper of Souls, but the world remains plagued by a sinister, corrupting force. And now Lilith, the Daughter of Hatred, has been reborn in the mortal world and is determined to rule over Sanctuary once more.

Joining the battle alongside iconic classes Barbarian, Sorceress, Rogue, and Druid is the legendary Necromancer, the fifth playable character class, which returns with newly designed undead mechanics. Players will be able to utilize the Necromancer's Book of the Dead, an all-new ability for the class, allowing them to dominate the battlefield with deeper customization of their undead army than ever before. Fight with aggressive skeleton Warriors, fast-attacking Skirmishers, sword and board Defenders, or scythe-wielding Reapers. Unleash a litany of spells with Skeleton Mages, imbuing them with shadow, cold, and sacrificial magics. Deploy tanking Bone Golems, health-stealing Blood Golems, and charging Iron Golems. Or sacrifice them all to absorb their power.

Overwatch 2 is launching in early access with dynamic new PvP content releasing on Windows PC and Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch consoles on October 4, kicking off the next chapter for Blizzard Entertainment's acclaimed team-based shooter. Featuring a new five-versus-five multiplayer format with cross-platform play and cross-platform progression, Overwatch 2's PvP experience is designed to offer incredible and fresh competitive gameplay with a new, free-to-play model and major game updates such as new heroes, hero reworks, maps, modes, and premium cosmetics.

At launch, players will have an opportunity to get their hands on the newest tank hero to join the roster, the ruthless Australian-born ruler of Junkertown: the Junker Queen. More details on the Junker Queen, Overwatch 2's live service model and seasonal content plan, and the upcoming phase of the game's closed beta testing will be shared during the Overwatch 2 Reveal Event livestream on YouTube.com/PlayOverwatch or Twitch.tv/PlayOverwatch this Thursday, June 16, at 10:00 a.m. PDT.

Millions of viewers around the world today watched the world premiere cinematic trailer for Frost Giant Studios' eagerly-anticipated real-time strategy game, Stormgate. Southern California-based Frost Giant Studios was founded in 2020 by Tim Morten and Tim Campbell, veteran game development leaders who helped create some of the most acclaimed and best-selling PC games of all time-as well as some of the most-watched esports-including Blizzard Entertainment's WarCraft III and StarCraft II.

"We are building Stormgate for the real-time strategy community--past, present, and future," said Tim Morten, CEO and production director at Frost Giant Studios. "Our vision is to create a social experience that breaks down the barriers that have kept people away, to welcome back players who have been waiting for the next great RTS, and to prove that the RTS genre can thrive once again."

The Lord of Terror has been defeated, but darker days lie ahead for Sanctuary's newest heroes. Diablo Immortal, the latest, all-new entry in Blizzard Entertainment's iconic Diablo franchise, is live and available for download free on iOS and Android mobile platforms, and in open beta on Windows PC via Battle.net, throughout most regions of the world, with select Asia-Pacific regions coming June 22. In celebration of the launch and in gratitude to the more than 35 million people who pre-registered for Diablo Immortal, all players who log in to the game and complete the tutorial within the next 30 days will be able to deck out their characters to battle demons in style with the ceremonial Horadrim Cosmetic Set.

"We're thrilled to now be able to put the newest entry in the Diablo series in players' hands," said Mike Ybarra, president of Blizzard Entertainment. "The visceral gameplay, dark story, and depth of character customization that Diablo is known for are all here in Diablo Immortal. And with this being a AAA free-to-play Blizzard game, it was important to us to give players a full and highly engaging core game experience—including upcoming features, character classes, story, and more—completely free."