Daily Archives: January 27, 2024

It's possible that the Cyberpunk 2077 sequel, codenamed Orion, may feature multiplayer. That's according to CD Projekt RED co-CEO Michal Nowakowski, who made mention of discussion around Cyberpunk multiplayer, but stopped short of revealing details.

Rumblings of a potential multiplayer component for the follow-up to Cyberpunk 2077 comes via Reuters, with other tidbits including a quote from Nowakowski's fellow co-CEO Adam Badowski regarding The Witcher 4, codenamed Polaris. "We'd like to have around 400 people working on the project by the middle of the year", he revealed.

The next Witcher game will also be joined by an innovative take on The Witcher universe from The Molasses Flood, codenamed 'Project Sirius'. CD Projekt has previously teased multiplayer for its games, hinting at plans to introduce it to most of its games in an effort to "enrich the single-player experience". Whether those plans have changed, however, remains to be seen.

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Cyberpunk 2077 Sequel May Feature Multiplayer, as The Witcher 4 Set to Enter Production | XboxAchievements.com - XboxAchievements

PC players were treated to a fantastic FPS experience last year with the launch of Turbo Overkill, and publisher Apogee Entertainment has confirmed that a console port is in development.

Developed by Trigger Happy Interactive, Turbo Overkill shot onto PC last August and has racked up an Overwhelmingly Positive rating on Steam. There was mention of it coming to Xbox when Apogee first announced it, but things have been quiet about its arrival on console.

"In this Blade Runner-meets-Doom hellscape, Johnny returns to his hometown of Paradise and finds its entire population possessed by Syn, a rogue AI, and its army of augmented minions," the game's Steam description reads. "Desperate for enough money to outrun his past mistakes, Johnny takes on the impossible job of destroying the greatest AI ever created. Rival bounty hunters want to claim the prize first. Nothing is easy in paradise."

Your battle with Syn will see you blast through over 20 levels filled with combat puzzles, bonus stages, and secrets. Additionally, finding the numerous collectibles hidden throughout the game unlocks gameplay modifiers like insta-kill, increased monster speeds, and more.

Turbo Overkill seems to have been a hit with players on PC, so we'll be eagerly waiting for it to launch on Xbox and potentially nab a place on our list of the best first-person shooters on Xbox!

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Turbo Overkill is like a Cyberpunk Doom, and it's coming to Xbox - TrueAchievements

Palworld continues its record-breaking early access ascent, passing juggernauts such as Cyberpunk 2077 on Steam's all-time charts.

The monster-taming, base-building survival hit rocketed to an estimated concurrent player peak of 1,200,000 according to Steam Database. That makes Palworld only the sixth game to ever surpass the one million threshold, putting it in league with absolute behemoths such as Cyberpunk 2077, Dota 2, MMO Lost Ark, Counter-Strike 2, and PUBG: Battlegrounds.

With its meteoric success still rising, Palworld now holds the record for the paid game with the highest concurrent player peak, exceeding even Cyberpunk 2077's impressive numbers. The only games with bigger concurrent player peaks are all free-to-play - though it should be noted that PUBG's number were still higher even before it made the free-to-play jump.

Estimates on Steam fail to paint the full picture, though, since the game is also available on Xbox Series X|S, Game Pass, and the Epic Games Store. Developer Pockpair announced that the game had exceeded 1.3 million concurrent players across all platforms earlier today, although servers are still buckling under the weight of so many people with connectivity issues affecting Palworld multiplayer.

Palworld's rise to the top, surprisingly, took no time at all when compared to the gradual word-of-mouth growth enjoyed by fellow craft-and-survive gems like Valheim. The game very quickly reached an impressive 200,000 peak in mere hours, only to quadruple that number within the next day. It also sold two million copies in just 24 hours, all while retaining positive user reviews on Steam.

For those who have been caught off guard, Palworld's eye-catching premise promised to be a monster-taming game where the off-brand Pokemon wield machineguns and where you can force all your Pals into factory work. It leans extra hard into that edgy personality, even allowing players to capture other humans and sell their parts on the black market, to both the delight and horror of many.

Seeing what all the hype is about? Check out how to capture Pals in Palworld and master the Palworld types chart for the edge in combat.

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Palworld becomes only the sixth Steam game to reach one million concurrent players, beating Cyberpunk 2077 in the ... - Gamesradar

Cyberpunk 2077 is a 2020 action role-playing video game developed by CD Projekt RED, set in a dystopian cyberpunk universea combination of lowlife and high-tech futuristic technological achievements, such as artificial intelligence (AI), weapons, and cyberwarein the year 2077.

The world challenges traditional views of technology, religion, and governance, and playing through the game, it is impossible not to consider how realistic the world of Cyberpunk 2077 is compared to our modern society.

Although cyberpunkis a science fiction subgenre that brings together advanced, futuristic technology in a dystopian world, the familiarity of its cultural movementslike entertainment, design, gaming, architecture, fashion, and modern technologysuggest that were already living in a cyberpunk universe.

Within the Cyberpunk universe, style is a vital part of identity. In Night Citya fictional city located on the border between North and South California and a modern multicultural metropolis of the 21st century, overrun by corporations, corruption, organized crime, and gang violencecitizens can subscribe to one of the four primary fashion styles. These fashion styles are style-focused Kitschthe lingua franca of the street, colorful and eye-catching; function-heavy Entropism; slick and classy Neomilitarism; and the heavily fancy Neokitsch.

However, Cyberpunk 2077 players will be pleased to know that this smart fashion already exists, with clothes that integrate with technology. Some fashion brands have already begun developing clothing that connects via phones, exchanges digital contacts, and interacts with other gear.

Levis Commuters Jacket is a collaboration between Levis and Google that allows consumers to connect their smartphone via Bluetooth, screen phone calls, control music volume, and notify you when a rideshare is nearby.

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The world of Cyberpunk 2077 embraces AI, with each designed to do a specific task. These range from Dedicated Heuristic Controllers, the simplest and most mundane type of AI programmed to undertake particular tasks such as driving autonomous vehicles and virtual assistant chatbots, to the more human-like Symbolic Analysis AI, which are designed to emulate the thinking patterns of human beings. These AIs are used as personal secretaries and online assistants, as they can render advice.

Back in our 21st century, AI is driving the next industrial revolution. Recent progress in machine learning on the back of improved algorithms, such as Googles AlphaGo, OpenAIs GPT-3 and Teslas Autopilot, and increasing computing power has enabled AI to solve real-life problems.

Today, chatbots and voice assistants like Apples Siri and Amazons Alexa are examples of AI co-existing with us in the real world. Likewise, the ability of social media and online advertisement to manipulate our emotions, thoughts, and decision-making abilities strongly indicates how deeply technology has entered into our everyday lives. Although AI is far from perfect, it will begin producing content without human supervision in the next decade.

Cyberware encompasses implants that players can install, exchange, and upgrade into their characters bodies to obtain passive buffs and enhance different combat tactics.

For example, when players install the Militech Paraline, it allows players to perform quickhacks on enemies and devices while scanning, as well as enhancing combat. Moreover, much of the combat in Cyberpunk 2077 comes in the form of traditionaland not-so-traditionalweaponry. For instance, the Mantis Bladesa pair of bladed cyberware melee weapons that emerge from the forearmsenable players to deal more physical damage in melee combat and allow them to leap at enemies to cause extensive damage.

While cyberware does not exist in modern society, there have been huge strides made in modern prostheses. For example, Deka Research & Development Corp, a New Hampshire-based company, developed the LUKE Arm systems for the United States Advanced Research Projects Agency.

This prosthetic offers a new degree of motion, strength, and skills for military personnel. Although it may seem a stretch to suggest that we are already living in a cyberpunk universe, it is not far off. There have already been a number of significant technological achievements, and future advancements will bring us ever closer to true cyberpunk technology.

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The reality of a cyberpunk universe in the real world - Verdict

Apart from a few minor updates, it seems that CD Projekt Red is fully ready to move on from Cyberpunk 2077 now. The next title up for release will be The Witcher 4 AKA Polaris, and then we'll get a return to our futuristic dystopia in the Cyberpunk 2077 sequel currently known as Project Orion.

Speaking with Reuters, CD Projekt Red joint CEO Adam Badowski spoke about its upcoming projects. A lot of work is going into The Witcher 4, as we know, but Badowski also mentioned something very interesting about Project Orion, saying the studio was considering multiplayer.

Badowski declined to comment further on the matter, but if multiplayer is coming to the Cyberpunk 2077 sequel, it would certainly be a big development. Hopefully this won't leave it more open to the bugs that the first game suffered from, but as we are years away from Project Orion's release, there's plenty of time to make sure multiplayer runs smoothly if it is included.

Would you want to see multiplayer in Cyberpunk 2077's sequel?

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Cyberpunk 2077 sequel could have multiplayer - Project Orion - Gamereactor - Gamereactor UK

Highlights

Just days after its early access release, Pocket Pairs Palworld has set another momentous milestone by surpassing Elden Rings and Cyberpunk 2077s concurrent player count on Steam. While the title was not one of 2024s anticipated games for some, it has surprisingly become a worldwide hit, quickly topping the charts.

While the game is available on Xbox Game Pass, Palworld has also become an instant hit on Steam and has sold over 4 million copies over the span of three days, according to Pocket Pair on Twitter. The title, nicknamed Pokemon with guns by gamers, has captivated players by combining the monster-catching and survival genres so that its fans can catch a variety of helpful Pals while collecting materials to improve and strengthen their base.

This satisfying gameplay loop is one of the reasons that Palworld now has one of the highest concurrent player counts, having passed Elden Ring and Cyberpunk 2077. According to Steam DB, Palworld has reached 1,291,967 total players over the weekend, surpassing Cyberpunk 2077s 1,054,388 and Elden Rings 953,426. The game has also passed Baldurs Gate 3, one of last years most popular titles, and Hogwarts Legacy, 2023s best-selling game, in just one day.

While Pocket Pair has announced on Twitter that Palworld has the highest concurrent player count of any paid game in the history of Steam, it should be noted that the title belongs to PUBG, having reached an all-time peak of 3,257,248 players back in 2018 when it was a paid game. This is almost three times more than the amount of players currently playing Palworld.

Regardless, this milestone is quite the achievement that Pocket Pair has pulled off. Taking into consideration that Palworld was just released three days ago and is still in early access, the studio has pulled off a momentous feat in just a short amount of time. The game has provednto be so popular that Palworld had server issues on launch day due to the high volume of people trying to play the game.

However, not everyone is a fan of the game. In particular, Pokemon fans have been criticizing Palworld for the number of designs that were seemingly ripped from the Nintendo franchise. Even before the games release, the similarity between Pals and Pokemon was evident when looking at the designs of Lamball and Wooloo as well as Cattiva and Zorua. However, others have argued that this may be the push that Nintendo and Game Freak need to take the Pokemon franchise to the next level. After all, with the numbers that Palworld has achieved in just a few days, it is likely that Nintendo is keeping an eye on the title.

Pocket Pair's Palworld is a creature-collection game set in an open-world. Entering early access on January 19, 2024, the project blends survival, building, farming, monster breeding, and shooter elements.

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Palworld Passes Impressive Steam Concurrent Player Milestone, Beats Cyberpunk and Elden Ring - GameRant

Buoyed by the recent success (finally) of Cyberpunk 2077 after its shaky start in 2020, CD Projekt Reds metaphorical stock has once again risen sharply. After the success of the amazing The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, the bad press that was piled on the Publisher and studio in the wake of the disastrous Cyberpunk launch must have weighed heavy on many gamers favorite studio.

Fast forward just a few years and Cyberpunk 2077, constantly patched, reworked, and now in v2.0 with some great DLC to boot has restored faith in the Polish company. Now that parity has been restored to the universe, news is coming out that CDPRs next game is readying itself for the pipeline in 2024.

According to a report in Reuters production on the new title at this stage Polaris is hoped to get underway during this year.

Joint CEO Adam Badowski told Reuters that, Wed like to have around 400 people working on the project by the middle of the year.

Polaris is a new trilogy that expands The Witcher universe, which has also been popularized further with three seasons of a live-action TV show on streaming giant Netflix.

Realistically we cant expect to see anything of Polaris, or the much-vaunted Cyberpunk sequel which is still only on the drawing board, probably until late 2026 at the earliest. Of course, CD Project Red has sold over 75 million copies of Witcher games and managed a not unsubstantial 2 million of the Cyberpunk DLC Phantom Liberty at the end of 2023, so it is unlikely that the pressure to get a game out is great.

People are still playing The Witcher 3 today, so it is exciting to think that these games in development now could still be a part of gamers lives deep into the 2030s.

Featured Image: CDPR

Paul McNally has been around consoles and computers since his parents bought him a Mattel Intellivision in 1980. He has been a prominent games journalist since the 1990s, spending over a decade as editor of popular print-based video games and computer magazines, including a market-leading PlayStation title published by IDG Media. Having spent time as Head of Communications at a professional sports club and working for high-profile charities such as the National Literacy Trust, he returned as Managing Editor in charge of large US-based technology websites in 2020. Paul has written high-end gaming content for GamePro, Official Australian PlayStation Magazine, PlayStation Pro, Amiga Action, Mega Action, ST Action, GQ, Loaded, and the The Mirror. He has also hosted panels at retro-gaming conventions and can regularly be found guesting on gaming podcasts and Twitch shows. He is obsessed with 3D printing and has worked with several major brands in the past to create content Believing that the reader deserves actually to enjoy what they are reading is a big part of Pauls ethos when it comes to gaming journalism, elevating the sites he works on above the norm. Reach out on X.

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Follow-up to The Witcher 3 will be in development this year - ReadWrite

Developers leaving studios to form a new studio and work on a new game isnt unheard of, especially after the heavy layoffs last year. One such game was announced by former Cyberpunk 2077 developers at CD Projekt RED (CDPR), titled Dawnwalker. Konrad Tomaszkiewicz, known to have worked for The Witcher franchise left the studio late last year to form his independent studio, Rebel Wolves.

Dawnwalker is the first AAA title the studio has been working on since the studios formation, and now the title is known to have entered the alpha stage of development.

Ever since the formation of the studio and after a couple of domains were registered, several rumors pointed at the possible title of the studios AAA game. The Poland-based studio by Tomaszkiewicz confirmed working on the AAA title, Dawnwalker, along with some wallpapers and some art.

Joining the group at Rebel Wolves as the new Creative Director is another veteran from CDPR and Konrad Tomaszkiewiczs brother, Mateusz Tomaszkiewicz, who had also worked on The Witcher franchise as well as Cyberpunk 2077.

In a press release shared earlier this month, Tomaszkiewicz mentioned that the upcoming fantasy RPG title has officially entered the alpha stage of development and that there will be more updates shared by the team later this year.

Nothing else was revealed in the press release as the studio continues to hire for more positions. The studios official website has job listings for a Combat Designer and a Tools Programmer.

The post by Rebel Wolves on X confirming the games title was shared with a crimson-washed image of a character wielding a sword with the game logo mentioned as still being a placeholder. Going by the registered domains by Rebel Wolves, there were rumors that the first title would possibly be Dawnwalker: Origins so theres still a chance the title could change.

Konrad Tomaszkiewicz had mentioned in an interview that the studios first AAA game is not expected to be as massive a title as The Witcher or Cyberpunk 2077 but is expected to have a lot more quests than the two big titles in comparison.

Unreal Engine 5 being a lot more convenient and better than other engines was revealed by him as being the deciding factor for the studio to use it to build its first AAA title. With Dawnwalker in the Alpha stage, more details about the title arent expected any time soon.

Going by whats revealed so far and the developers working on the game, it sounds and looks a lot better than major CDPR AAA titles.

What do you think? Let us know in the comments below!

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Former Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk Devs are Developing a New Game that Could Be Better than Both - FandomWire