Arrowhead Game Studios CEO Johan Pilestedt has decried Helldivers 2 and Halo comparisons, arguing that they serve no purpose as there’s room for both games to be enjoyed separately. Helldivers 2 is Sony Interactive Entertainment‘s first multiplatform live service game that went on to become a hit, and that’s attracted quite a bit of vitriol by console fanboys. Much of Helldivers 2’s success comes from PC, where it has a far higher number of players.

Arrowhead CEO on Helldivers 2 vs Halo arguments: Let people love and enjoy both

In response to a comparison tweet from a fan account with thousands of followers, Pilestedt said, “Just let gamers love and enjoy both, either or neither.” He’s of the view that there should be “more compassion and union in the world, and less rivalry.”

In a separate tweet, Pilestedt added that healthy competition is good but even from a business standpoint, neither monopolies nor “cut=throat competitions” do any good.

Pilestedt — who’s earned a positive reputation for his social media conduct and fan interaction — was showered with praise for his response.

Recently, Xbox boss Phil Spencer commented on Helldivers 2’s popularity and console exclusivity, arguing that skipping Xbox platforms doesn’t benefit anyone.

The post Helldivers 2 Dev Responds to Halo Comparisons appeared first on PlayStation LifeStyle.

Bungie is looking into the possibility of adding something like Halo’s 8 vs. 8 Big Team Battle PvP mode to Destiny 2. However, some technical issues make implementing a 16-player mode in Bungie’s FPS MMO difficult.

Destiny 2 might get a version of Halo’s Big Team Battle

Former host and current Destiny 2 weapons designer Mercules recently joined the 64th episode of the Firing Range Podcast. During the interview, the host asked him about the possibility of bringing Big Team Battle to Bungie’s MMO.

“So, we’re investigating it,” Mercules replied. “It is an ongoing active investigation at Bungie.”

However, some “really weird” technical issues crop up when that many players load into a single activity. “We want to make sure that we can make it happen in a way that ends up being fun and stable,” the Destiny 2 dev explained. “Like, the stable part is pretty important.”

The 16-player Big Team Battle mode first appeared in Halo 3 multiplayer and has been in every Halo game since. Given the overlap between Halo and Destiny 2 fans, many players would no doubt consider it a great addition.

It might also do something to recover lost players. Going by the game’s player numbers on Steam, Destiny 2 hit its all-time peak in February 2023 in anticipation of the Lightfall expansion. However, the year-long post-Lightfall dip has seen the lowest PC player numbers since its release. While console numbers are harder to come by, they likely follow a similar trend.

Hopefully, The Final Shape expansion will reinvigorate Destiny 2 when it arrives in June. Considering the upcoming expansion will reportedly overhaul the game’s core mechanics, it might be an excellent opportunity to implement the Halo-inspired mode.

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A new Destiny 2 leak seems to indicate that Bungie is planning a big Destiny 2 Halo crossover later this year to help fill the gap in between the launch of Season 15 and the delayed Witch Queen expansion. The leak also claims to have a bunch of details about The Witch Queen expansion and story, which we won’t be detailing here in case any of them do turn out to be true.

As with all leaks and rumors, we must preface this one once again with a few grains of salt. However, this particular leak bears some veracity, perhaps, or perhaps not. It comes in the form of a Pastebin dump of information. Evidence shows that this document was created back in January (though that can be faked), and some of the details have already come true. For example, it cites the Witch Queen tagline as “Survive the Truth,” which is what Bungie used when hyping up next month’s stream to show off the new expansion and future of Destiny 2.

It also has accurate details about the past couple of seasons. So unless data is being manipulated, much of what’s here seems to be legitimate. However, these details haven’t been otherwise confirmed or corroborated in any way, and it’s possible it could be getting modified after the fact to make it appear as if it’s correctly predicting things. As we said before, big grain of salt here. We’re leaning towards this one not being true, but it’s a fun bit of fan-fiction nonetheless.

The leak claims that a 30th Anniversary pack will release on December 21, 2021, celebrating Bungie’s 30th anniversary in Destiny 2 with crossovers not only with Halo, but also other Bungie titles Myth, Pathways into Darkness, Oni, and Marathon.

• Halo:
  • -Sniper (Heavy Exotic)
  • -Gravity Hammer (Heavy Exotic)
  • -Battle Rifle (Legendary)
  • -CE Magnum (Legendary)
• Marathon:
  • -Shotgun
• Myth:
  • -Claymore
• Paths and Darkness [sic]:
  • -Grenade Launcher
• Oni:
  • -Not sure yet (maybe Season Pass armor)

This event/pack will reportedly include a gun-only PvP mode called “Hardware,” (no abilities, supers, etc.), four new PvP maps (two new and two returning from Destiny 1), a special event getting Strange Coins from The Nine to buy Gjallarhorn from Xur, and a dungeon with returning Destiny 1 weapons. It’s also rumored to include armor cosmetics that are Halo-themed. The 30th Anniversary Pack will reportedly cost $20, but it’s unclear what’s part of the pack and what will be part of a free update at that time. Additionally, a lot of things could potentially change before it ultimately ships, if this leak bears any weight at all. Which it most likely doesn’t, for a number of reasons.

In some ways, it seems like the 30th Anniversary Pack is being staged as a kind of “Season 15.5,” bigger than a Seasonal Event but smaller than a full Season to bridge the gap between Season 15 launching in August 2021 and The Witch Queen/Season 16’s release in early 2022 (reported to be February 22, 2022). Whether its staged that way by Bungie itself or by some overzealous fanfiction writer trying to get invisible internet points remains to be seen.

TheGamePost, who first reported on these leaks, notes that “we’ve seen Bungie using some quotes from Halo including, ‘Don’t make a promise…’, ‘I need a weapon…’, and ‘You know the music…’,” which could be hints about what’s coming, or it could just be Bungie leaning into its history.

If you want to view the full Pastebin document for yourself, you can see it here, but be warned, there are potentially major spoilers for what is to come (or potentially a massive bit of fanfiction to hype you up for something that won’t end up being real).

Some have noted their own apprehension about the legitimacy of the document, noting that much of it seems to be written from a more recent perspective (referencing the Presage mission) despite claiming to be written back in January (well before Presage launched for players). Others have pointed out contradictions throughout the document, though some claim this could be because it was a document updated by numerous people over time. If that’s the case however, it puts the created/modified date of January 2021 into question, creating more issues with its accuracy.

Whether true or not, Bungie does need to have something ready to go to fill the gap of time with The Witch Queen pushed out to early 2022. Season 15 will launch in August, that means an extra two to three months tacked onto the end of the season before the new expansion arrives. Bungie will have to do something to extend the season until Witch Queen arrives.

It will be just over a month before we find out just how accurate the leak is. With the information now sufficiently dated to July 14th, Bungie’s reveal of The Witch Queen, Season 15, and the future of Destiny 2 on August 24th will either confirm details or blow the lid off of this fake. For now, it’s at least a fun read, particularly if you don’t mind potential spoilers. Just don’t take it too seriously until we hear more official news directly from Bungie itself.

[Source: Reddit; Via: TheGamePost]

The post Rumor: Huge Destiny 2 Leak Potentially Points to Bungie 30th Anniversary Halo Crossover, Witch Queen Details, and More, But it’s Probably False appeared first on PlayStation LifeStyle.

Halo Co-Creator Marcus Lehto produced the recently released Disintegration with developer V1 Interactive and publisher Private Division. While the title showed plenty of promise in the lead up to its June release, it ultimately didn’t review well. Evidently, the sci-fi shooter is not performing well, either. On November 17th, just months after its launch, Disintegration’s servers will shut down across all platforms. The single-player experience will remain intact, though.

The servers won’t go down for another couple of months, but V1 Interactive will begin rolling back the title’s online features today. Such a step comes in the form of a patch that dismantles Disintegration’s in-game storefront. However, players who have pre-existing credits can still redeem them.

In a statement regarding the news, V1 Interactive and Private Division noted that Disintegration’s players showed great interest in the solo campaign. Unfortunately, the multiplayer “struggled to build a significant audience necessary for a compelling multiplayer experience.”

The statement from the pair of companies further notes the pride they feel in having taken risks. And it appears there is plenty to be proud of in many respects. Regardless of the failed multiplayer, V1 Interactive’s small team of thirty developers released a unique project in a market that typically favors sequels, as well as tried and true experiences.

Disintegration’s future-set adventure sees desperate scientists solve a food shortage dilemma by temporarily placing the human mind in robotic armatures. Naturally, as time goes on, humanity becomes split on what to do next. There are those who prefer the immortality the armatures provide, while others want their humanity back. Add in Gravcycles and cool weapons and you have what we deemed a “great first game” in what now may or may not become a series.

Disintegration is out now for the PS4, PC, and Xbox One platforms.

[Source: Private Division via Video Games Chronicle]

The post Servers for Halo Co-Creator’s Disintegration Multiplayer Will Soon Shut Down, Just Months After Launch appeared first on PlayStation LifeStyle.

Today is a huge day for gamers, as we’ve finally reached Microsoft’s rumored “night of mic drops.” (It’s nighttime somewhere.) The show will obviously have a large focus on Halo Infinite, but it’s an hour long show purely focused on games, so there’s plenty of time to show off a bunch of titles, from Microsoft first-party studios games to third-party developers showing off things “optimized for Series X.” Microsoft’s executives have maintained that this showcase will not feature any hardware or service announcements, so don’t expect an Xbox Series X price or release date reveal just yet.

The show officially kicks off at 9 am PT/12pm ET, but there’s currently a pre-show running featuring Summer Game Fest’s Geoff Keighley along with a few guests from other outlets. After the hour-long show there will be a post-show with even more reveal and conversations that should offer additional details about some of the games we see.

While yes, we are a PlayStation site, we still think it’s important to watch the Xbox Series X games showcase, for a couple of reasons. First is that there are sure to be at least a few third-party games shown off. As in first-party E3 showcases of years past, this show will certainly provide us with a few peeks at games coming to the PS5 as well.

The second is to get a sense for how Sony might “respond,” with the back and forth between Microsoft and Sony propelled by these streams. Sony’s original PS5 reveal stream was in part a response to the third-party Xbox Series X showcase earlier this year, and much of Microsoft’s marketing for the Xbox Series X has been centered on Microsoft’s services, rather than on specific next-gen console exclusives.

Sony is rumored to have a PS5 State of Play coming up on August 6th. While that’s yet unconfirmed, the timing makes sense both from the perspective of following up this Xbox event and considering next-gen consoles are just four months away with still lots left to learn about them.

The post Watch Microsoft’s Xbox Series X Games Showcase Live Stream Here appeared first on PlayStation LifeStyle.

One of the biggest technological advancements of the PlayStation 5 is drawing the attention of developers and fans alike. One such game maker, who just happens to be the co-creator of the original Halo and the upcoming shooter Disintegration, has even said the hardware’s solid-state technology “will make a huge difference.” Former Bungie art director and Halo co-creator Marcus Lehto spoke to VideoGameChronicle about his studio’s upcoming game and the ways that solid-state technology will affect the development process going forward.

A metric ton of new details came out in regards to the PS5’s internal architecture thanks to Mark Cerny’s streamed GDC talk that aired last month. Cerny spoke of the hardware’s potential and gave examples, such as the PS4’s HDD taking approximately 20 seconds to load 1GB of data, whereas the SSD for the PS5 will allow 2GB to load in 0.27 seconds. It was also noted that the PlayStation 5 will host 825GB of internal storage on a solid-state drive.

And despite the PS5 and Xbox Series X both having these high-powered, custom SSDs, the PlayStation’s is reportedly double that of the Series X in regards to raw throughput based on its particular custom architecture and design. VGC questioned Lehto on this power jump, saying that he’s excited about the prospect of that much raw power. “It will make a huge difference and open up the door for more expansive content that can stream a lot faster. Players won’t be waiting on load screens and we won’t have to hide loading behind cinematics and that kind of thing.”

The jump in hardware power highlights just how long the most recent console cycle has been and the number of leaps in progress made in that time. “These platforms have been around for what, seven years? Developing for them is like developing for machinery in the stone age,” said Lehto.

Of course, a lot of this is the type of conjecture that consumers are used to hearing before the hardware even comes close to being in the hands of fans. It seems like only yesterday that outlets talked about the PlayStation 2’s emotion engine allowing your console to talk to your kitchen or control military missiles. Well, that second one is definitely true, but all the same, there’s a lot of hyperbole in talking up new hardware. Only time–and a PS5 release date–will truly tell if the power is a major jump or just more talk.

The post Halo Co-Creator Excited About PlayStation 5’s Solid-State Technology appeared first on PlayStation LifeStyle.

Former IGN journalist, Colin Moriarty, had us all raising eyebrows when he claimed in his recent Sacred Symbols podcast that Microsoft once considered releasing Halo: The Master Chief Collection on the PlayStation 4.

“I have it on good authority that Master Chief Collection was being talked about on PS4 years ago,” he said. “Like, I have that on great authority.”

A ComicBook article covering this rumor was immediately picked up by Twitter users, and caught the attention of Halo Franchise Director, Frank O’Connor. While he isn’t in a position to confirm or deny Moriarty’s claim, O’Connor hinted that it’s something Microsoft might have considered but didn’t actually make plans for.

“I’m not aware of the details of conversations between the platforms at a corporate level but the distance between ‘plans’ and some ‘what if for instance’ conversations is a meaningful gulf,” he tweeted. “We’ve had plenty of those over the years but not one line of code was even glanced at.”

“This doesn’t address or dismiss the veracity of the article, by the way, I’m just pointing out the semantics as it relates to ‘plan,'” O’Connor added in a subsequent tweet.

The idea of Microsoft releasing its tentpole franchise on a rival’s platform is certainly interesting. The critically-acclaimed series has inspired books, comics, live action adaptations, toys, and much more.

We’ll update our readers if we learn that there’s more to this rumor. In the meantime, let us know what you think of this and if you’d like to see Halo make its way to the PS4.

[Source: Sacred Symbols (Podbay) via ComicBook, Frank O’Connor (Twitter)]

The post Halo Dev Responds to Rumor That Microsoft Considered Releasing Master Chief Collection on PS4 appeared first on PlayStation LifeStyle.

Destiny and ex-Halo developer Bungie has announced a new partnership, with a new publisher. That publisher, Chinese company NetEase, separately announced it has invested $100 million in the storied developer. With this investment, NetEase has purchased a minority stake in Bungie, which comes with a seat on the board of directors. While Bungie insists this won’t have an impact with its relationship with Activision Blizzard (and Destiny by extension), this move is being spun as an opportunity for the company to work on new IP.

In a post on Bungie’s own website, the narrative in place suggests the move will “empower us to build new worlds and invite players, new and old, to join us there.” In the same statement, Bungie states Destiny is alive and well, that this news will not interfere with that franchise, and the plan is to “turn new players from all over the world into Guardians.” Meanwhile, while gamesindustry.biz wonders if NeatEase will help bring Bungie’s games to China for the first time, Bungie stated there’s “no explicit deal” regarding Chinese publishing.

Bungie CEO Pete Parsons points to its long-term goals to foster a global presence as its primary motivator for the sale, citing NetEase’s experience with branding and development in China, and on mobile platforms. Parsons also notes how difficult it was to even determine Bungie’s standing brand value in China, and that this move could also assist Bungie in exploring options like self-publishing.

[Source: gamesindustry.biz]

The post Bungie Announces New Partnership with NetEase appeared first on PlayStation LifeStyle.

Despite dealing with accusations of being fanboys on a nearly a daily basis, we here at PlayStation LifeStyle just love video games. Sure, we specialize in covering PlayStation games (and they have a special place in our heart because of that), but we also love playing games on other systems. In fact, sometimes there are titles on other systems that leave us downright jealous.

Since it’s good to not live in a total bubble, I decided to highlight some fantastic Xbox One exclusives (at least console exclusives, anyhow) that I wish were on PlayStation 4. I mostly limited the list to games that are out, but I did include two upcoming releases that are coming very soon (these are also games that I’ve spent hands-on time with).

Check out our list below of 10 Xbox One games that we wish were playable on PlayStation 4!

We hope you enjoyed our look at the 10 Xbox One games that we wish were playable on PlayStation 4. It’s worth noting that there are other awesome Xbox One exclusive games likes Gears of War and fun titles like Ryse (which is sort of like their Knack equivalent). So, even if one of your personal favorites didn’t make the list, that doesn’t mean that it isn’t a good game.

Let us know in the comments below which Xbox One exclusives you wish were on PlayStation 4, and if you own an Xbox One as well!

Recommended Reading:

• Square Enix Series We’d Love to Get the Secret of Mana Remake Treatment
• My First Gaming Memory is of Crash Bandicoot, But I Don’t Know If It’s Real
• Why This Grown Ass Adult Still Plays LEGO Games

The post 10 Xbox One Games We Wish Were on PS4 appeared first on PlayStation LifeStyle.

Destiny and Halo composer, Marty O’Donnell, has spoken out about his infamous split with Bungie for the first time since his termination, revealing that he was “surprised” by the way he was fired. In an interview with IGN, O’Donnell said that disagreements arose over Destiny‘s creative and business decisions, leading to him and some Bungie staffers bumping heads.

There were things that were being re-jiggered, and my frustration with some of the business and creative decisions started to mean that I was on this side of the divide and everybody else was on this side. And, as much as we tried to bridge it, it just didn’t seem like it was going to get bridged.

The ‘why’ question is actually still a question for me. I don’t know why. I was surprised.

O’Donnell later acknowledged that parting under the circumstances was the right thing to do but that he wasn’t happy with the way he was let go. He also said that he was hoping that the relationship between himself and Bungie could be mended.

I really was hoping it could be mended. Now, it’s quite possible that it couldn’t be mended, and I was just…a thorn in the side of finishing Destiny. Maybe I just wasn’t as good of a leader and helper at that point, because we were on such different sides. So, I’m not saying it wasn’t the right thing for us to part ways; it probably was. I just don’t think it was done in the best way.

Bungie did end up having to pay for firing O’Donnell “without cause.” Following a highly publicized legal battle, the studio was asked to pay the composer a hefty sum of money, return his founder’s shares, and honor its agreements with him. 

[Source: IGN]

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