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PlayStation acquires Canadian Jade Raymond’s Montreal-based Haven Studios

PlayStation has announced that it is acquiring Montreal-based Haven Studios, the developer founded by veteran Canadian games producer Jade Raymond.

This is PlayStation’s first developer in Canada. The Japanese gaming giant already had made an investment in Haven when it was founded in early 2021, but now, it’s fully purchasing the team.

Specific details on Haven’s first title are currently under wraps, but we do know that it will be a live service multiplayer title for PlayStation 5. It will also be a new IP. Around 60 people are currently working at Haven.

Raymond, a Montreal native, is a prominent figure in the gaming industry. At Ubisoft, she helped create Assassin’s Creed in 2007 and founded the company’s Toronto studio, the team behind Splinter Cell: Blacklist and Far Cry 6. Later, at Electronic Arts, she founded the Montreal-based Motive team, which has made Star Wars: Battlefront II‘s campaign and Star Wars: Squadrons.

Most recently, she led Stadia Games and Entertainment before Google shuttered the first-party development division. Following that, she and several former Stadia employees went on to form Haven.

Haven is the latest in a streak of acquisitions that PlayStation has made over the past few years. In 2019, the company acquired Ratchet & Clank and Marvel’s Spider-Man developer Insomniac, and it has since purchased Housemarque (Returnal), Bluepoint (Demon’s Souls remake) and Bungie (Destiny), among other teams.

Source: PlayStation

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Hogwarts Legacy gets holiday 2022 release window, 14 minutes of gameplay

Warner Bros. has confirmed that its highly anticipated Hogwarts Legacy game will launch in holiday 2022.

The release window was given during a new PlayStation State of Play presentation, in which 14 minutes of new gameplay footage were revealed.

Developed by Avalanche Software, Hogwarts Legacy is an open-world, action-RPG that lets players create their own wizard or witch, a fifth-year newcomer to Hogwarts in the 1800s. From there, you’ll get sorted into Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff and attend various classes, including Defence Against the Dark Arts, Potions and Herbology.

The larger story focuses on the player character, who holds mysterious magical abilities, as they work with Professor Fig to investigate a mounting goblin rebellion. Since the game is set in the 1800s, characters like Harry Potter won’t appear, although Avalanche promises some “familiar faces,” such as Nearly Headless Nick pre-head injury, will pop up.

Outside of all that, you’ll be able to explore Hogwarts’ grounds, including the castle and courtyards, as well as surrounding areas, like Hogsmeade and the Forbidden Forest. Brooms and Hippogriffs will be available to traverse the outdoor areas. As you explore, you’ll meet new students who can become Companions, who will teach you new spells and unlock their own story threads in a system that is reminiscent of Persona.

Gameplay-wise, Avalanche is promising “dozens” of spells, including Accio, Incendio, Confringo and Reparo. You can also use magical beasts in combat, such as a Mandrake to scream at enemies and stun them.

Outside of the gameplay footage, members of the Avalanche development team offered some commentary on their approach to the Wizarding World. You can see that towards the end of the State of Play.

Hogwarts Legacy is coming to PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox consoles and PC.

More to come…

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Hogwarts Legacy getting PlayStation State of Play stream this week

Warner Bros. Interactive and PlayStation are teaming up for a special State of Play presentation dedicated to Hogwarts Legacy.

The Harry Potter game stream will air on March 17th at 2pm PT/5pm ET on PlayStation’s Twitch and YouTube channels. Warner Bros. says the presentation will run for 20 minutes, 14 of which will be actual PS5 gameplay footage.

https://mobile.twitter.com/PlayStation/status/1503370414122274821

A few members of the Avalanche Software development team will also provide some insight into the making of the game.

Hogwarts Legacy is an action-RPG set in the Wizarding World in the 1800s, telling an original story many years before Harry Potter was even born. The game will allow players to create their own witch or wizard and explore a vast Hogwarts setting and its surrounding areas.

Originally unveiled during the big September 2020 PS5 showcase for a 2021 release, Hogwarts Legacy was later delayed until 2022 and we’ve had no update ever since. Therefore, this is a long-awaited update on the game, especially considering the reveal trailer has topped 28 million views on PlayStation’s YouTube channel alone.

Hogwarts Legacy is set to release sometime this year on PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox consoles and PC.

Image credit: Warner Bros. Interactive

Source: PlayStation

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PS4 owners can now get three months of Apple TV+ for free

PlayStation 4 owners can now receive a free three-month subscription to Apple TV+.

The offer is eligible to new subscribers and requires you to have a free PSN and Apple ID. If you meet those criteria, follow these steps to claim the subscription:

  1. Download the Apple TV app onto your PS4 from the ‘TV and Video’ section
  2. Open the app and follow the on-screen instructions
  3. Sign in with your Apple ID (or create one, if needed)

An Apple TV+ subscription costs $5.99 CAD/month on its own, giving this offer a $17.97 value. Note that this is a separate promotion from the six-month Apple TV+ offer on PS5. That said, both offers can be redeemed until July 22nd, 2022.

Notable Apple TV+ originals include the Oscar-nominated drama films, Coda and The Tragedy of Macbeth, the drama series The Morning Show and the comedy series Ted Lasso and The Afterparty. 

Image credit: Apple

Source: PlayStation

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PlayStation offering 25 percent off 12-month PS Plus subscription until March 13

Sony is currently offering a PlayStation Plus subscription at a discounted rate.

Currently, you can get a 12-month membership for 25 percent off, which lowers the price to $52.49, from its regular $69.99.

This deal is only available until March 13th. Unfortunately, this deal is only available for new PlayStation Plus members or former members without an active subscription. The deal isn’t available for current members; therefore, you can’t use it to renew your existing subscription.

PlayStation Plus memberships give users free monthly games from PS4 and PS5 titles. Additionally, users with PS Plus members have access to multiplayer games online and exclusive game discounts.

Source: PlayStation Via: RedFlagDeals

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PlayStation’s Essential Picks sale offers games up to 75 percent off

The PlayStation Store has launched a set of deals offering games like Last of Us Part II, Dead by Daylight and Diablo III: Eternal Collection at a discounted price.

These games are on sale until March 16th.

Here are some of the games available:

You can check out the complete list of games here.

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PlayStation’s next State of Play streams March 9th

Sony’s next PlayStation ‘State of Play’ presentation will stream this Wednesday, March 9th at 5pm ET/2pm PT.

Though it’s unclear what we’ll see during the event, PlayStation mentions that the presentation will feature “new reveals and eye-catching updates for PS5 and PS4 titles.”

In a blog post surrounding the event, Sony says that the keynote will highlight “…great games coming from some of our beloved Japanese publishers, though we’ll have a few updates from other developers located around the world, too.”

Beyond this, Sony also mentions that we won’t see anything related to PlayStation VR2 titles during this particular State of Play.

Similar to past State of Play streams, you’ll be able to watch the presentation on Sony’s Twitch and YouTube channels. It’s likely the live stream will offer a look at Square Enix’s Final Fantasy 16.

Previous events have focused on Gran Turismo 7 and Ghostwire Tokyo.

MobileSyrup will have comprehensive coverage surrounding the event tomorrow evening.

Image credit: Sony

Source: Sony

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Amazon eyeing God of War TV show with PlayStation: report

Amazon is in negotiations with PlayStation to adapt the company’s God of War action game franchise into a live-action TV series for Prime Video, according to Deadline.

The outlet notes that the series is being developed by The Expanse creators/executive producers Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby and The Wheel of Time executive producer/showrunner Rafe Judkins. Both shows are exclusive to Prime Video.

Deadline did not mention any potential plot details for the proposed God of War series. For context, the God of War games follow Kratos, a rage-filled Spartan warrior who opposes the gods of Greek mythology. It’s unclear whether Amazon’s series would draw inspiration from Kratos’ Greek adventures, the more mature 2018 Nordic outing with his son, Atreus or even tell a new story entirely.

In any case, an adaptation of God of War makes sense for PlayStation, given that it’s one of the company’s flagship franchises. Since 2005, seven God of War games have been released, with the series’ most recent title, 2018’s God of War, garnering numerous accolades, including “Game of the Year” at The Game Awards. The highly anticipated sequel, God of War: Ragnarok, is set to come to PS4 and PS5 later this year.

It’s important to note that because the series is still being negotiated, there’s no guarantee as of yet that it will actually get made. Should a deal close, though, God of War would be the latest in a growing lineup of gaming adaptations for Amazon, including a Fallout show based on the eponymous Bethesda gaming franchise from Westworld creators Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy and a rumoured Mass Effect series.

This would also be another title in the ever-growing catalogue of PlayStation Productions, a division Sony founded in 2019 to adapt its gaming properties into shows and movies. The first PlayStation Productions title, Uncharted, opened in theatres last month with strong box office success, and Sony has all but confirmed a sequel. Other PlayStation Productions include HBO’s The Last of Us show from Chernobyl‘s Craig Mazin and developer Naughty Dog’s Neil Druckmann, a Ghost of Tsushima movie from John Wick director Chad Stahelski and a Twisted Metal NBC Show starring Anthony Mackie.

Image credit: PlayStation

Source: Deadline

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Here are the games hitting PlayStation Now in March 2022

PlayStation has revealed the new batch of games coming to its PlayStation Now streaming service in March.

As previously confirmed, Shadow Warrior 3 is debuting on PlayStation Now on March 1st, the same day it releases for standalone purchase on PlayStation and other platforms. The game will be available through PS Now until July 4th.

Meanwhile, the other three titles joining the PS Now catalogue on March 1st are Chicken Police: Paint It Red, Crysis Remastered and Relicta.

PlayStation Now is available on PS4, PS5 and PC at a cost of $12.99/month, $34.99/three months or $79.99/12 months.

Find out what hit PlayStation Now in February here.

Image credit: Crytek

Source: PlayStation

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Details on pricing and features for PlayStation’s Xbox Game Pass rival reportedly revealed

A number of new details have reportedly been revealed about PlayStation’s long-rumoured response to Xbox Game Pass.

On VentureBeat, credible reporter Jeff Grubb spoke about the yet-to-be-announced service, codenamed Spartacus.

To start, Grubb said that testing could begin in a few weeks ahead of a reveal in March. This would align with Bloomberg‘s original December 2021 report on Spartacus, which offered first-ever information on the service, including a spring release window.

More tantalizing, though, was Grubb’s breakdown of names and pricing for the three tiers which Bloomberg had stated the service would offer. First, there’s ‘Essential,’ which would be $10 USD (about $12.80 CAD) and offer the same functionality as the current PS Plus (online play, free monthly games and cloud saves).

‘Extra,’ meanwhile, would be the middle tier and cost $13 USD (about $16.64 CAD). Per Grubb, Extra is the base PS Plus membership plus a limited offering of PS Now, Sony’s game streaming service. Specifically, you’d only get what he says is a “downloadable game catalogue” of any game that’s currently downloadable on PS Now. As Grubb notes, there are around 250-300 downloadable games out of the full 800-plus title catalogue. No streaming functionality would be offered.

Finally, there’s ‘Premium’ for $16 USD (about $20.48 CAD), which would offer PS Plus, the full PS Now catalogue with streaming capabilities and more. Bloomberg first noted that one of the extra perks would be classic games from the PS1, PS2 and PSP eras, and Grubb corroborated that.

One other Premium benefit Grubb mentioned is EA Play-like full game trials. While PlayStation has dabbled in trials before for the likes of Death Stranding, Grubb suggests that trials for all first-party PlayStation games would be included with Premium.  While PlayStation most certainly wouldn’t offer its big-budget first-party games on day one as Xbox has with the likes of Halo Infinite, the free trials seem to be a compromise. Grubb didn’t mention whether these would be 10 hours like EA Play, but regardless, they would be an option for consumers at a time when games normally cost $80 to $90 CAD before taxes.

Grubb noted that the pricing for all three tiers could be placeholders, but that’s what he’s heard for now. He also said he’s not sure whether there will be annual subscription options. For context, PlayStation Plus costs $11.99/month, $29.99/three months or $69.99/year, while PlayStation Now is priced at $12.99/month, $34.99/three months or $79.99/year.

Xbox Game Pass, meanwhile, is $11.99/month on Xbox and PC with a $16.99 ‘Ultimate’ tier that includes Game Pass for both platforms, ‘Cloud Gaming’ (streaming on mobile/in browsers), Xbox Live Gold and EA Play.

It’s worth noting that PlayStation is rumoured to be holding a major March event; the company’s last significant showcase was in September. It’s possible that a formal reveal of Spartacus, as well as updates on the likes of Final Fantasy XVI and Hogwarts Legacy, could come during this rumoured March showcase.

Source: VentureBeat