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EA Acquires Super Mega Baseball Developer Metalhead Software

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Metalhead Software (the development team behind Super Mega Baseball) is joining EA Sports, with the studio all set to continue under the Metalhead name.

In partnership with EA Sports, the Canadian based developer will continue with the same team (in the exact same city) and be looking to further expand upon the Super Mega Baseball series as well as also developing other sports gaming experiences in the future.

Speaking about the decision to team up with Electronic Arts, Metalhead Studios had the following to say:

We’re proud of our games and passionate about our community. We want to tackle bigger projects and expand the reach of our games. EA is the perfect partner to help us achieve that goal! Most importantly, EA is a big fan of our games and shares our vision for future projects.

WWE 2K22 Officially Announced

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WWE 2K22 has officially now been confirmed, with 2K dropping an official trailer during WrestleMania 37 after building up the hype beforehand that a big announcement would be coming.

Further updates will be sure to follow, but with both Rey Mysterio and Cesaro featuring in the trailer, along with some incredibly slick and impressive graphics; it’s great to see the series returning after WWE 2K21 was cancelled last year and it should be very interesting to see what 2K can deliver when it’s released.

No official release date has yet been confirmed, but as and when more details develop; you can definitely expect us to cover all the news, both here and on our YouTube channel.

You can watch the official trailer right now below.

Tiger Woods is Coming Back to Golf Video Games With PGA Tour 2K

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Having previously been the face of the EA Sports PGA Tour series between 1998 and 2013, Tiger Woods is officially now returning to golf video games after signing a long-term exclusive deal with 2K.

2K also announced at the same time that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the privately held HB Studios Multimedia Ltd. (the developers of PGA Tour 2K21 and The Golf Club franchise), and moving forward Tiger Woods will now have his name and likeness exclusively appearing in the PGA Tour 2K series.

According to a statement released by 2K:

Woods’ partnership with 2K includes rights for his name and likeness to appear exclusively in the PGA TOUR 2K franchise, as well as any other golf games published by 2K during the partnership term. Woods will play an active role in the video game landscape as an Executive Director and consultant with PGA TOUR 2K, while 2K will also partner with Woods’ TGR Foundation, which provides award-winning STEM curricula and college-access programs to offer underserved students the tools needed to thrive in school and beyond.

With close to two million units of PGA Tour 2K21 being sold to date, it’ll now be very interesting to see the impact of the new Tiger Woods 2K partnership moving forward, and whether or not future games will be much more successful now that they have the Tiger Woods seal of approval.

Tiger Woods is arguably the greatest golfing superstar of all time, and the signing of him to an exclusive deal is an absolutely colossal move from 2K and a huge signal of intent for their future plans with the PGA Tour 2K series.

Outriders To Launch With Xbox Game Pass On Day One

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When Outriders is released next month, there’s some fantastic news for console gamers as it will become immediately available on Xbox Game Pass. Unfortunately there is bad news for PC gamers, however, as you will still need to buy the game on Steam or the Epic Game Store if you want to play the game on PC.

If you’re an Xbox Game Pass subscriber on console though, even if you pre-ordered the game via the Xbox store; your order won’t be automatically cancelled and you will need to manually cancel your pre-order/pre-purchase in order to avoid paying for a game that you’ll already have access to as soon as it’s released.

So make sure you get those pre-orders cancelled if you haven’t already done so, and if you are an Xbox Game Pass subscriber on console? We’ll see you online on April 1st!

NCAA Football Is Officially Coming Back

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There hasn’t been a new college football video game since NCAA Football 14 on the PS3/Xbox 360. EA Sports today took to Twitter, however, bringing us the news that we’ve all been waiting on for some years now.

EA Sports is officially bringing college football back to console, with the NCAA Football name seemingly being scrapped and replaced with the series title EA Sports College Football.

Whilst there’s not been too much information made available just yet; there’s already an official Twitter account and it’ll certainly be interesting to see how frequently it gets updated over the coming weeks and months.

With a timeframe of ‘the next couple of years’ being quoted though; the return is clearly not something that’s going to happen overnight. This is going to be an ongoing project over the course of the next few years and there are multiple variables here that are subject to change.

Whilst the greenlight has been lit for the return of college sports games; there are still a lot of things to be sorted and many moving parts in the equation. Will the game include feature the names and likeness of real life players? That all remains to be seen, so the name change kind of makes sense as this college football return may not be a strict successor to NCAA Football.

EA Sports may have to do things a bit differently here, but it’s certainly exciting news that they’re working on a new college football game anyway, and we’ll definitely be covering all the updates moving forward. So definitely stay tuned both here and on our YouTube channel to find out more as this all develops!

Xbox Release Confirmed for MLB The Show 21 (Due Out April 20th)

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MLB The Show has previously always been a PlayStation exclusive. With MLB The Show 21, however, not only will it be released on Xbox as well as on PS4 and PS5, but there will also be cross-platform play on Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S.

The game is officially set to release on April 20th, so a slightly later release than the usual cycle of releasing in mid to late March. 2020 was far from an ordinary year though, and with the game being released on both PlayStation and Xbox for the first time ever; I’m sure we can forgive them here for the slightly later release date.

As previously expected, San Diego Padres shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. is the cover star for MLB The Show 21, and will grace the cover of both the PlayStation and Xbox editions of the game.

The Standard Edition on current gen consoles will be $59.99 USD/$79.99 CAD/£59.99 GBP/€69.99 EUR MSRP, and on next gen consoles $69.99 USD/$89.99 CAD/£69.99 GBP/€79.99 EUR MSRP. 

MLB The Show 21 is Coming to Xbox?! (Cover Leaked)

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Instagram user anerdydad appears to have leaked the cover online for MLB The Show 21, featuring San Diego Padres shortstop Fernando Tatís Jr. as the cover star.

As the series is published by Sony Interactive Entertainment, in the past MLB The Show has been a PlayStation exclusive. When the official MLB The Show Twitter account put out a tweet earlier this month stating that MLB The Show 21 news was to be revealed in February, however, this led to major speculation online that this forthcoming announcement could be to confirm that MLB The Show 21 will also be coming to Xbox.

This would be absolutely fantastic news for sports game fans around the world, increasing the potential player base of MLB The Show by millions. And could this also mean that a Nintendo Switch version of the game may be possible in the future? We’ll just have to wait and see on that one…

How do you feel about this cover leak and the prospect of MLB The Show 21 coming to Xbox? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section and if you’re a big fan of sports games? Please do subscribe to our YouTube channel where we’re putting out weekly content!

No Place for Lionel Messi in the FIFA 21 Team of the Year?!

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In this world nothing can be said to be certain… Except for Lionel Messi being in the EA Sports Team of the Year. Or at least that was the case prior to FIFA 21 anyway!

The FIFA 21 TOTY has now been revealed, complete with a large number of the usual suspects. Manuel Neuer has been the selected in goal, the defence consists of Alphonso Davies, Sergio Ramos, Virgil Van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold, and the midfield three selected this year is Joshua Kimmich, Kevin De Bruyne and Bruno Fernandes.

With this year’s vote there was no space in the team for the Argentinian magician though, apparently, with the attacking trio instead consisting of Cristiano Ronaldo, Robert Lewandowski and Kylian Mbappé.

By his own standards, Lionel Messi hasn’t had the greatest of years, granted, and at the age of 33 he’s perhaps beginning to show some signs of slowing down and no longer quite being the absolute superstar of world football that he once was. Whilst both he and Barcelona might not be as good as they once were, however, Lionel Messi is still a phenomenal footballer and his omission from the FIFA 21 Team of the Year comes as quite a shock.

If we look at overall goal contributions in 2020; it paints quite an accurate picture of who belongs in this team, with Robert Lewandowski far ahead of the competition with 60 (45 goals and 15 assists), and Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo taking up the second and third spot respectively with Messi providing 50 contributions (26 goals and 24 assists) and Ronaldo 49 (41 goals and eight assists).Kylian Mbappe admittedly wasn’t too far off the pace, with 45 of his own (26 goals and 19 assists), but a definite question still remains as to whether or not he truly deserves his place in the team ahead of one of the greatest players to ever play the game.

How do you feel about Lionel Messi’s omission from the FIFA 21 Team of the Year? Was it justified in your opinion? Or does Lionel Messi decide his place in the spotlight alongside the likes of Crstiano Ronaldo, Kevin De Bruyne and Bruno Fernandes?

Let us know your thoughts in the comments section, and if you’re a big fan of sports games then you might just enjoy our videos on YouTube, too!

A KFC Gaming Console is Coming… That Keeps Your Chicken Warm?!

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When the PS5 and Xbox Series X were officially released last month, few would probably have predicted that a third next-gen gaming console would soon be hitting the market, reportedly capable of up to 240fps with support for 240Hz output on 4k displays. And even fewer would have anticipated that the company leading the charge behind this 240fps gaming beast would be… KFC?!

KFC have joined forces with Cooler Master and there’s even an official landing page for the product for those (understandably) doubting its legitimacy. Complete with the world’s first built in chicken chamber, chicken grease and high end electronics sounds like a potential recipe for disaster. Could this really work though and will this new KFC gaming console be hitting the market very soon? We’ll just have to wait and see.

We’ll be covering all the news and updates on our YouTube channel as and when they’re announced though, so if you’re curious to hear more then definitely go and check it out and consider subscribing with notifications so that you never miss an upload!

NBA 2K21 Next-Gen Patch #3 Now Live, Adding Festive Aesthetic to The City

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As the holiday season fast approaches, NBA 2K21 Patch #3 for PS5 & Xbox Series X|S is now live, featuring (amongst other things) a festive new aesthetic for The City.

There have also been multiple gameplay improvements and updates to NBA courts, changes made to MyNBA, MyCareer and Pro-Am, and numerous players have received likeness and/or signature facial animation updates.

Full list of changes for NBA 2K21 Patch #3 as follows:

General

  • Court floor updates have been made for:
    • Philadelphia 76ers Primary
    • Philadelphia 76ers City Court
    • Utah Jazz City Court
    • Brooklyn Nets City Court
    • Denver Nuggets Statement Court
    • Denver Nuggets City Court
  • Uniform updates have been made for the following teams:
    • Philadelphia 76ers (updated City uniform)
    • Chicago Bulls (updated City uniform)
    • New York Knicks (updated City uniform)
    • Cleveland Cavaliers (updated City uniform)
    • New Orleans Pelicans (updated sponsor logo)
    • Los Angeles Clippers (updated sponsor logo)
    • Boston Celtics (updated sponsor logo)
    • Brooklyn Nets (updated sponsor logo)
    • Denver Nuggets (updated sponsor logo)
    • Los Angeles Lakers (updated sponsor logo)
    • Washington Wizards (updated sponsor logo)
  • The following players have received likeness and/or signature facial animation updates:
    • Paul George
    • DeMar DeRozan
    • Bradley Beal
    • Kemba Walker
    • Draymond Green
    • Rudy Gobert
    • Ben Simmons
    • Hassan Whiteside
    • Robin Lopez
    • Steven Adams
    • Isaac Okoro
    • Kelly Oubre Jr.
    • Cassius Stanley
    • Richaun Holmes
    • Precious Achiuwa
    • Josh Green
    • Aaron Nesmith
    • Tariq Owens
    • Edmond Sumner
    • Jalen Smith
    • Kira Lewis Jr.
    • Saddiq Bey
    • Steve Novak
    • Kelenna Azubuike
    • Devin Vassell
    • Chimezie Metu
    • Alen Smailagic
    • Naz Reid
    • Zylan Cheatham
  • The primary logo for the Toronto Raptors has been updated to reflect the latest design
  • Corrected a lighting issue in the historic Amway Center (Orlando Magic) arena
  • Addressed an issue with shorts displaying incorrectly in certain situations for classic teams
  • Resolved a rare hang when importing a face scan via the MyNBA2K app

Gameplay

  • Tightened up charge and block collision animations to prevent unwanted sliding
  • CPU defenders will now properly recognize the direction of a screen even after it has been flipped
  • Smaller “green release” windows on heavily contested shots
  • Fixed an issue with double-teams that was being used as an exploit
  • Adjusted breakout time of in-game emotes to prevent unrealistic movement
  • Corrected an issue with play graphics where the line for the pass would begin at MyPLAYER, even if they did not have the ball
  • Resolved an issue with certain settings sometimes getting reset when entering and exiting the menu when in a game
  • You are now able to change the Tempo and Rebound settings when you toggle the ACE manager ON/OFF
  • Players will no longer be able to move unrealistically while defending inbound passes during Garage Hoops games

The City

  • The City is being decked out for the holidays! Coming Tuesday at 4PM BST!
  • Continued optimization and refinements to performance in the City
  • Various improvements and enhancements to buildings/objects/landscapes/lighting in the City
  • Further improvements have been made to invites and joining friends in the City
  • Streamlined the process of entering a store when you have a ball or vehicle equipped
  • The try-on feature should now properly work for the various standalone stores throughout the City
  • The Rep multiplier will now correctly appear in the postgame recap
  • Corrected an issue where the VC balance would not update immediately upon earning in various City events
  • Continued enhancements to the Puma Mania, Mobil 1, Kia Challenge, and Wacky Wednesday events
  • Fixed an issue in the postgame recap where overall rating was not correctly showing the tenths of a point (it would appear stuck at 99.0)
  • Addressed user-reported issues with Garage Hoops games and related flow
  • Added collision to the baskets in Warehouse Challenge games for players running underneath
  • Resolved an issue where the timer/counter would sometimes not track during workouts in the Gatorade Training Facility
  • Corrected some visual issues when using the subway
  • You are no longer able to enter and purchase items at stores for Affiliations you do not belong to

Pro-Am/The Rec

  • New Holiday uniforms have been added for Pro-Am games
  • Updated uniforms have been added for Rec Center games
  • Resolved user-reported issues with private matchmaking for Pro-Am Team games
  • Improved the ability of CPU players used as fill-ins for Pro-Am Walk-On games
  • Addressed an issue with invisible collision under the hoop in Pro-Am games
  • Addressed tracking issues with stats during games in the Rec Center
  • Resolved a hang that could occur in Pro-Am when editing the uniform while other players on the team were still in a game

MyCAREER

  • Continued improvements to arena personnel positioning and behavior during postgame events, particularly in relation to on-court interviews
  • Your MyPLAYER’s body type will now properly be kept individually per save
  • Addressed an issue with the saved camera setting being reset after the pregame shootaround in MyCAREER games
  • You can now skip through the animation of your MyPLAYER walking back to the bench after being subbed out
  • Resolved a rare issue where newly applied tattoos could disappear when changing your MyPLAYER’s appearance
  • Fixed a rare hang that could occur in the Jump Shot Creator menu when customizing your shot
  • Fixed an issue where your difficulty could be reset after participating in a training session with Chris Brickley
  • Addressed a logic error in The Long Shadow when determining if your performance was good or bad in the Combine and Private NBA Team Workout
  • Corrected a situation in the Dunk Contest where the Round Recap overlay could stay on the screen for too long, obscuring the following dunk

MyNBA

  • Uploaded Player DNAs and prospects in uploaded draft classes will now retain their tattoos
  • Start from Offseason will now include the rookies in the 2020 NBA Draft
  • Addressed a hang that some users reported when attempting to start a new MyNBA while using a custom roster
  • Addressed a hang that some users reported when attempting to download/apply Team Designs into a MyNBA
  • Editing tattoos will now work correctly in MyNBA Online
  • Fixed a progression issue in MyNBA Online that was causing many players to have their overall rating incorrectly decrease over time
  • Resolved various stability issues in MyNBA Online
  • Contracts for released players will no longer appear on the salary cap when dead cap rules have been disabled
  • Players will now continue to age after their age has been edited
  • Various improvements have been made related to player training and flex scheduling
  • You are no longer able to edit players in a ranked MyNBA league
  • Improved G League player generation to allow for a more realistic prospect pool

MyWNBA/The W

  • Players will now be wearing the expected/correct clothing during The W Online games
  • The camera will now always keep both the player and the ball on screen in The W Online games
  • Added baseline media to WNBA arenas and made continued improvements to positioning and behavior of all characters
  • Fixed a rare hang that could occur during the lottery in MyWNBA or The W
  • Addressed an issue in MyWNBA where the League MVP would also be shown as the Rookie of the Year after simulating through a season

MyTEAM

  • Added Online VS, the difficulty used in both MyTEAM Limited & Unlimited, to Play With Friends games
  • The camera will now be positioned properly when a shooting foul is called during Triple Threat Challenge games
  • A number of under-the-hood support items have been added  in preparation for upcoming MyTEAM Seasons.