In The News
Stay tuned for a “surprise” from Xbox about backwards compatibility. “Microsoft is preparing to make some kind of announcement about Original Xbox backwards compatibility support on Xbox One,” GameSpot’s Eddie Makuch writes. “The announcement will be made during the next episode of Inside Xbox, which premieres on Tuesday, April 10, at 3:30 PM PT / 6:30 PM ET.”
Sales news:
Far Cry 5 is Ubisoft’s “fastest-selling game in the franchise, more than doubling the first week sales for Far Cry 4. It has earned $310 million in its first week,” Venture Beat’s Mike Minotti reports.
Gamasutra’s Alex Wawro reports the Steam game price points that took top sales, revenue and earner sports. “The most popular game price was $10, but the games that generated the most revenue on Steam were priced at…”
IO Interactive inked a publishing deal with Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment for the Hitman franchise, Engadget’s Jon Fingas writes. “Warner Bros. is launching Hitman: Definitive Edition on May 15th for the PS4 and Xbox One, and it includes a handful of content beyond what you received in the Game of the Year Edition release.”
Rainbow Six Siege has ideas on combating toxicity, according to Game Informer’s Suriel Vazquez. “It’s implementing a trio of chat improvements. The first is the ability to mute the text or voice chat for any player in a match individually … The second is an automatic filter that will censor certain words … The third feature involves monitoring how often some players use certain slurs.”
Skybound Entertainment “launched a dedicated publishing division, with Hinterland’s The Long Dark and Monomi Park’s Slime Rancher the first games up for release,” Matthew Handrahan at GamesIndustry.biz reports.
NBA 2K League Draft news:
The Washington Post’s Matt Bonesteel did a rundown of yesterday’s draft. Additionally, WaPo’s Tim Bontemps interviewed first draft pick Artreyo “Dimez” Boyd.
The Esports Observer’s Trent Murray writes that Grizz Gaming and the Navy partnered. Grizz “signed a partnership with America’s Navy. The branch of the United States military will act as Grizz Gaming’s presenting partner for the first NBA 2K League season.”
Formula 1 Esports Series confirmed 9 out of 10 teams for its inaugural season, Esports Insider’s Adam Fitch writes. “The teams involved are as follows: Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport, Red Bull Racing, Hype Energy eForce India, Williams…”
Team SoloMid’s Ali “Myth” Kabbani offered his advice to Fortnite players in an interview with Dexerto’s Albert Petrosyan. “Myth understands that being on the Fortnite team of a major org can be prestigious, but he realizes that too many players are trying to make it in the Fortnite competitive, when there is actually…”