The Xbox’s redesigned Microsoft Store can be acquired to all or any now

It is important to keep in mind what is going on within Activision Blizzard at this time regarding ongoing allegations about the work culture. The ongoing lawsuit from the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) against the company is over reported toxic workplace culture. The bulk of the suit focuses on "violations of the state's civil rights and equal pay laws," specifically regarding the treatment of women and other marginalized groups. To learn more about the proceedings thus far, including details listed in the lawsuit against Activision Blizzard, please check out our previous coverage here. Call of Duty: Vanguard will be much smaller than previous Call of Duty releases, and if you listen closely, you can hear the millions of hard drives around the world rejoicing over the news.  This news comes by way of a tweet made by the official Call of Duty Twitter account, as reported by Video Games Chronicle. Activision says that new technology has allowed it to save a lot of space when it comes to installing Vanguard on current-gen consoles and PCs.  Good news for hard drives everywhere: Vanguard's install sie at launch will be significantly below previous Call of Duty releases. New on-demand texture streaming tech expected to save up to 30% to 50% on next-gen console and PC hard drive disk space.  Good news for hard drives everywhere: #Vanguard’s install size at launch will be significantly below previous #CallOfDuty releases. New on-demand texture streaming tech expected to save up to 30%-50%+ on next-gen console and PC hard drive disk space 💥 pic.twitter.com/oYZoyIDTuO — Call of Duty (@CallofDuty) October 26, 2021 If Vanguard is 30% smaller than previous releases, that's at least 60GB of space saved, and if it's 50%, that number jumps up to roughly 100GB. For context, Call of Duty: Black Ops: Cold War was about 220GB on PlayStation 5. That includes Warzone, but Vanguard will also launch with the popular battle royale, this time with a new Pacific-themed map.   The Call of Duty series has notoriously taken up a ton of space on consoles and PC, so any space saved is a win for players. Here's hoping Activision's "new on-demand texture streaming tech" gets even better in subsequent years.  Vanguard will hit PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC on November 5.  For more about Vanguard, check out Game Informer's multiplayer impressions and then check out the latest batch of campaign details we learned. Read about the Vanguard Zombies experience after that. [Source: Video Games Chronicle] Will you be checking out Call of Duty Vanguard when it comes out? Let us know in the comments below!

Back in 2017, the game that would eventually become Backbone was entirely different: a stealth game in a science fiction setting. During a conference call brainstorming session, the team was interrupted by a crash that came from outside co-founder Nikita Danshin’s home in Vancouver.

Far Cry 6 places you on the front lines of a revolution. Yaran president Antón Castillo (played by Giancarlo Esposito of Better Call Saul and Breaking Bad fame) is manufacturing an impressively potent cure for cancer, Viviro. However, he’s utilizing labor camps and tyranny to assist with the production of the substance. Your job as Dani Rojas is to bring his totalitarian regime to its knees. Of course, the hustle and bustle of real life might halt this action-packed process. But if you take too long to topple Castillo, he’ll send personalized emails that taunt you for not beating the game, as reported by IGN.  A lot of games are already ruthlessly designed to maximize engagement, but now they email and hassle you if you dare to stop playing them. pic.twitter.com/TRIsV4jnZP — Brendan Sinclair (@BrendanSinclair) October 26, 2021 ‘El Presidente’ filled Brandon Sinclair’s (managing editor for GamesIndustry.biz) inbox with call-outs. Pictured above, Castillo says “It was amusing watching you fail” and “Hola, Rojas. I wanted to thank you for giving me free rein in Yara. Take it easy and know that Yara is in capable hands.” In the second email, “Surely you can do better than this,” and the time played take up a majority of the message, reminding Sinclair, and others, that there’s still a lot of work to be done.  Sinclair was less enthusiastic about the mockery. He emphasized that players shouldn’t be demonized for not completing games, “A lot of games are already ruthlessly designed to maximize engagement, but now they email and hassle you if you dare to stop playing them.” However, commenter Illigalsesi Gaming revealed that Castillo will also notify you of your progress if he starts to feel threatened by the revolution. The images below show just that:  They also do it if you play pic.twitter.com/7D1mEg6KDS — Illegaldesi Gaming (@illegaldesi) October 26, 2021 As you can see, Ubisoft also informs you of the checkpoints you’ve captured and the total number of kills you’ve amassed. Of course, the Yaran president will try to get in a jab or two even if he feels that you’re weakening his influence.  Have you received any Far Cry 6 emails from Castillo? If so, attach your screenshots in the comments section!  [Source: IGN]

The November Savings promotion comes to PlayStation Store on Wednesday, October 27. Yes: that’s a few days shy of November proper. However, we’ll waive that technicality and offer you savings on a number of games and add-ons early. You’ll have until the end of Tuesday November 19* to pick out discounts from the likes of […]

News on Niantic’s latest AR title has been scarce recently. The company first announced the project back in March but has been relatively quiet about the app since. For this iteration of the developer’s familiar formula, the Pokémon Go creator partnered with Nintendo to make the titular creatures in the Pikmin series your walking buddies, and it looks like they’re ready to take their first steps. The newly titled Pikmin Bloom rolls out in select regions today, with its worldwide release coming in the following days. I took a stroll with the upcoming title recently and got a sense of its early gameplay. So far, Pikmin Bloom feels like a gamified exercise app as opposed to Niantic’s Pokémon Go which feels more like a mobile game that happens to involve walking, and it seems like this is what the creators were going for. Niantic Tokyo Studio director of UX design Madoka Katayama explained in a recent preview event that the game’s goal is to enhance your typical walking experience. So, if you’re already hoofing it to school or work, Pikmin Bloom is there to make your journey more delightful. The app nails the charming feel of the Pikmin series, and the helpful plant-based beings are just as adorable on your smartphone as on Nintendo platforms. Whether that makes its gameplay compelling is still questionable. Click here to watch embedded media You begin Pikmin Bloom by setting up your avatar, though the range of customization is limited to a few pre-created options. Even before getting into the meat of the experience, it’s easy to see how the game captures the original IP’s pleasant mood. The music is gentle, though upbeat, and the recognizable sounds of the Pikmin are as endearing as ever.    First, you receive red Pikmin seedlings. By planting them in your special Pikmin-growing backpack and walking the specified amount of steps, you’ll grow fully-formed creatures. If you are a fan of Pokémon Go, this process works a lot like egg incubators. These Pikmin can then follow along with you on your excursions, finding more seedlings or picking up fruits along the way. Harvesting these fruits for nectar allows you to feed your little group some snacks and make the flowers on their head grow, giving you a supply of flower petals. Flower petals fuel the game’s most unique aspect: planting flowers. When you open the app and have petals on hand, you’re able to turn on flower planting. This will leave a trail of blooms behind you, helping your Pikmin grow faster and marking your path as you wander through the real world. Other players in the game will be able to see these blossoming pathways and add their own flowers. This comes in handy when you come across a giant, unopened flower bud in the game. So far, I’ve seen them appear in places that are also Gyms or Poké Stops in Pokémon Go, and Pikmin Bloom’s version of these locations asks players to plant a certain number of flowers in the designated space around the large, closed bloom to make it blossom.   At the end of each day, the app will catalog your daily steps, award achievement badges for things like growing a set amount of Pikmin and give you the option to make a kind of memory log with notes and pictures. Your actions convert into points that help you level up; reaching higher levels grant perks like letting more Pikmin join your active walking squad, unlocking different colored creatures, or gaining a few useful items. I’ve only had a short time with Pikmin Bloom, but my initial impression is there isn’t much to do, though that might be by design. You are not actively searching for anything, and there’s no combat. In fact, if you connect the game to a fitness app to record your steps in the background, you don’t really have much reason to open the game except to pluck Pikmin out of your backpack or turn on flower planting. It’s entirely possible that might change as you level up, and Niantic has promised a monthly Community Day, which may add more to the gameplay. However, if daily walking is already a part of your routine, or you just want to lead a herd of leafy buddies on a stroll, Pikmin Bloom will add a dose of cheer to your day. The game is out on Android and iOS as a free app in Singapore and Australia today, and the creators promise Pikmin Bloom will release in other regions soon. Click image thumbnails to view larger version