Hello, PlayStation nation. 

Today, we announced that we have entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Savage Game Studios, a hugely talented team of creatives with many years of experience making some of the most popular mobile games enjoyed by players around the world. They were founded a few years ago with the goal of fearlessly exploring bold new ideas. We share their tireless ambition to innovate, along with a continued drive to expand our audience and bring PlayStation to more people than ever before, making them a perfect fit to join PlayStation Studios.

I’ll turn it over to Michail Katkoff, CEO and Co-founder of Savage Game Studios, for proper introductions:

Thanks, Hermen, and hello everyone in the PlayStation community! 

Established in 2020 and led by myself and fellow Co-founders Nadjim Adjir and Michael McManus, Savage Game Studios was born of our many years of mobile game development experience spanning a number of massively successful global IP. Our guiding vision was a creative space where experimentation and taking risks weren’t warily avoided, but rather eagerly embraced. We’ve all worked at big studios and while we respect the advantages of ample resources, we wanted to stay small and nimble so we could call our own shots.

“So why then,” you may be thinking to yourself, “would you join PlayStation Studios?” We made this deal because we believe that PlayStation Studios’ leadership respects our vision for how we can best operate and succeed, and because they too are not afraid to take chances. All of that, plus the ability to potentially tap into PlayStation’s amazing catalog of IP and the fact that we will benefit from the kind of support that only they can provide… The harder question to answer would be “why not?”

On behalf of everybody at Savage Game Studios, thank you for having us. We can’t wait to show you what we’ve been working on!

As we assured you before with our plans to bring select titles to PC, our efforts beyond console in no way diminish our commitment to the PlayStation community, nor our passion to keep making amazing single-player, narrative-driven experiences. It’s been a tremendous year for games on PS5 and PS4, with huge releases including Horizon Forbidden West, Gran Turismo 7, MLB The Show 22, and on November 9th, the highly anticipated God of War: Ragnarök. PlayStation VR2 is also on the horizon, and promises a huge leap forward in presence and immersion, bolstered by best-in-class software like Horizon: Call of the Mountain. We’re proud of our releases on PC as well, with Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered and the upcoming Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection giving gamers without PlayStation hardware a taste of our amazing library of first-party titles.

Our mobile gaming efforts will be similarly additive, providing more ways for more people to engage with our content, and striving to reach new audiences unfamiliar with PlayStation and our games. Savage Game Studios is joining a newly created PlayStation Studios Mobile Division, which will operate independently from our console development and focus on innovative, on-the-go experiences based on new and existing PlayStation IP.

I hope you’ll join me in welcoming Savage Game Studios into the fold, and that those of you who enjoy mobile gaming in addition to console or PC will look forward to what they have in store. They’re already working on a new unannounced AAA mobile live service action game. It’s too early to reveal more, but I’m so excited for when they’ll be able to.

Wishing good health and happiness to you and your loved ones!

Last week, we asked you to push yourself to the limit and share moments from games you received the Platinum Trophy on using #PSshare #PSBlog. Y’all went a step further, and shared the exact moments you snagged that elusive Platinum. Here are this week’s highlights:

Mur4dQ shares an encounter with the Architect in Ghostrunner.

rost_zf shares a tree town structure in Stray.

RenanVP_Alt share the freezing landscape of France in A Plague Tale: Innocence.

Furia898 share Astro gathering with his fellow bots in Astro’s Playroom.

tksenareal shares Sam gazing down at the BB pod in his hands in Death Stranding Director’s Cut.

lunatech4105_2 shares Mono in a trench and fedora next to a TV screen in the woods of Little Nightmares 2.

Search #PSshare #PSBlog on Twitter or Instagram to see more entries to this week’s theme. Want to be featured in the next Share of the Week? 

THEME: Duality
SUBMIT BY: 11:59 PM PT on August 31, 2022

Next week we’re seeing double. Share reflections, duos, anything that comes in pairs from the game of your choice using #PSshare #PSBlog for a chance to be featured. 

High up in the list of longest-running video game franchises at 33 years and change, Phantasy Star has touched the lives of many and inspired quite a following. And, that journey is set to continue. Today, we’re happy to announce that our action-RPG Phantasy Star Online 2: New Genesis comes to PS4 on August 31. If you’re new to the series, let me give you a quick primer.

A brief history of the futuristic RPG series

Phantasy Star has morphed over the last three decades, but some concepts remain the same. Initially developed for the Sega Master System in 1987, these single-player RPGs eventually became a quadrilogy and, though mostly set in the same star system, could each be enjoyed as a standalone adventure. The inclusion of sci-fi and classic fantasy thematic aspects made these games unique at the time, while players journeyed across multiple planets, explored dungeons, and fought fearsome foes. The four titles were highly acclaimed for their gameplay and visuals.

In 2000, the series inspired one of the first console games that featured online multiplayer: Phantasy Star Online. The game’s party-based systems and combat-based PvE play made it one of the earliest pioneers of online gameplay in the console market. 2006’s Phantasy Star Universe would carry on the series’ penchant for having each entry feature a new setting and story, while evolving its hallmark sci-fi-infused combat. Finally, in 2012, Phantasy Star Online 2 launched its own stellar journey to the stars.

A New Genesis

August 31 marks the launch of Phantasy Star Online 2: New Genesis on the PS4. It’s a massive update, as the game system and graphics engine were completely overhauled and exploration changed from hub-based to true open-world, as well as featuring a new story and cast of characters set over 1,000 years after the events of PSO2. 

Players of New Genesis are still able to explore the content of PSO2 with their character by accessing an in-game device and teleporting to the original world at their leisure. This makes New Genesis the perfect entry point for newcomers, as they’ll have access to both games. And all this is F2P, as a Playstation Plus subscription is not required to play the Playstation 4 version of New Genesis.

New Genesis: Combat and exploration, solo or with friends

Like its predecessors, New Genesis is built around compelling, story-driven quests and intense real-time combat sequences as you explore and battle your way across the landscape of the planet Halpha. 

While quite engaging as a solo adventure, New Genesis is also fun with friends and others, as players can form parties of up to 4 and play in the Exploration Sectors – where up to 32 players can be at a time. There are also Urgent Quests, where tougher enemies and Bosses reside, that allow up to 2 parties or 8 total players to participate. 

When it comes to party dynamics, this isn’t your typical healer, tank, and two damage classes. No, none of that is necessary here. While some classes have abilities to support the play of others (such as damage or defense buffs, or area-wide healing) there are no strict roles in NGS. 

In addition, you don’t gain Skill Points or abilities simply by leveling up. In order to place points in your Skill Tree, you need to earn them by visiting Trainia and Cocoons, where you’ll vanquish foes and solve puzzles in simulated environments. These can be done in a party and are repeatable for in-game currency and experience (but no additional Skill Points after the first completion). You can also create parties for Urge

With The Last of Us Part I releasing next week, September 2, Naughty Dog is excited to share a comprehensive overview of the game’s accessibility features. The studio has taken the features established in The Last of Us Part II as a baseline, and then evolved these options even further.  

“We’re expecting this to be an accessible experience for blind players, for deaf players, for players with motor accessibility needs,” explains Game Director Matthew Gallant. “The biggest new feature we have are audio descriptions for cinematics. We partnered with Descriptive Video Works, a professional service whose background is TV, movies and video game trailers, and integrated it into the cutscenes and across all our localized languages. 

“Another, which started as a prototype but ended up being really successful during playtesting is a feature that plays dialogue through the PS5 DualSense controller as haptic feedback. That way a deaf player can feel the way a line is delivered, can feel the emphasis, along with the subtitles to give some sense of how that line is delivered.” 

Play Video

Below, you can find the accessibility options in full.

Accessibility Presets

As with The Last of Us Part II, many of the accessibility features were built to work in concert with one another. As such, there are three accessibility presets that configure all the recommended settings for vision, hearing, and motor accessibility. You’re free to customize these presets further to better suit your needs. 

Setting	Options	Description
Apply Vision Accessibility Preset	On or Off	Configures all the recommended settings designed for players who are blind or have low vision. This will enable settings across multiple menus, such as:  • Screen Reader • Cinematic Descriptions • High Contrast Display • HUD Scale > Large • Lock-On Aim > Auto-Target • Traversal and Combat Audio Cues • Navigation and Traversal Assistance • Ledge Guard • Enhanced Listen Mode •  Invisibility Toggle • Skip Puzzle Option • Various adjustments in the Combat Accessibility menu
Apply Hearing Accessibility Preset	On or Off	Configures all the recommended settings designed for players who are deaf or hard of hearing. This will enable settings across multiple menus, such as: • Awareness Indicators • Pick-Up Notifications • Subtitles > Story + Read more Learn how the DualSense controller helps bring some of Inscryption’s deepest secrets to life Game Ace Pro / Friday, August 26, 2022 0 0 Hello! I’m Daniel, creator of Inscryption and I’m back to explain some of the PlayStation-exclusive features we’ve implemented in the PS5 version! With some clever use of the controller and a drop or two of goat’s blood we managed to make Inscryption even more immersive. Firstly, spoiler alert! There’s nothing here that will give away the game’s darkest secrets, of course, but if you want to dive into the console experience completely fresh, then proceed with caution. Let’s start with the controls themselves. The good news is controls have been completely redesigned to feel good on a gamepad. Inscryption was originally designed to be a point-and-click adventure controlled with a mouse, but moving a virtual cursor with the analog stick was not going to be good enough for console players, so we went back to the drawing board. It was a lot of work. Now, you’ll be able to snap between views with the analog stick, use the face buttons to examine and play your cards, then press the adaptive trigger to end your turn. It feels great on the controller and we’re really happy with how it turned out. But what about exploration? Well, in the cabin itself, certain interactable objects are bound to hotkeys for easy access. However, to maintain the curiosity of not knowing what will react to your input, some of the hotkey prompts are hidden. New controls aren’t the only thing we’ve been working on, there’s also some fun features for the DualSense Wireless Controller. First up, the lightbar now adds some dramatic effects to Inscryption, matching the ambient in-game lighting, flashing orange when Leshy speaks and shocking red when certain traumatic events occur. Speaking of traumatic events, we’ve also designed specific haptics for them that tightly match the on-screen action – it’s like pulling-teeth! Other haptic features include a light rumble in the controller relative to the position of whichever card you choose next, and various rumbles as pieces move on and off the table. Feel the heavy Sacrifice Stones slam down on the table! Last, but not least, Adaptive Triggers provide just enough resistance to make pressing the bell to end your turn extra satisfying, and some key decisions – such as confirming which card to sacrifice to the Bone Lord – resist your trigger finger to give you a final moment to turn back, or make you feel extra guilty! In the frenzied, energetic years leading up to the Columbian Exposition, HH Holmes built a hotel to cater for the vast crowds that would turn up for the spectacle. It was a huge three-storey building that took up an entire block. The first floor featured an elegant reception area, a bar and a pharmacy store. The third floor contained guest rooms. But the second floor was unique and dangerous. After Holmes was arrested, investigators found it was made up of secret corridors, hidden rooms, trap doors, torture chambers and rooms specifically designed for murdering people. In the basement there were tables for chopping up and dismembering bodies and vats of acid for destroying evidence in the cleanest way possible. Holmes approached the task of murdering people with intellect and zeal and creativity. He experimented and refined his techniques. He was ruthless and highly motivated. He was far too much for the poor rubes who turned up at his hotel hoping for a bit of comfort while they took in the glories of t Read more Gran Turismo 7 Update 1.20 delivers four new vehicles, new layout to Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya and Café Extra Menus Game Ace Pro / Wednesday, August 24, 2022 0 0 Gran Turismo players! The August update for Gran Turismo 7 arrives today August 24 at 11:00pm PDT* (August 25 at 7am BST / 3pm JST).  Play Video Four New Added Cars! McLaren MP4/4 ’88 A legendary F1 machine that marked the end of the Turbo era. McLaren fought the 1988 F1 World Championships season in the MP4/4. This was a low height, low drag machine designed by Gordon Murray and Steve Nichols, powered by the Honda RA168E engine. This was also the last year for turbocharged machines in Formula racing. With the allowed maximum boost pressures reduced from 4 bars to 2.5 bars, and on-board fuel reduced by 45 litres to 150 litres in total, it was supposed to be a very tough season for the turbocharged machines. But in the end the McLaren Honda MP4/4 totally dominated the season with 15 wins out of 16 races. Of course, the chassis was very well developed, but the Honda engine which balanced fuel consumption and effective power extremely well is said to be the major factor in their victory. The number 12 MP4/4 was the car driven by Ayrton Senna. Senna put on an incredible performance this year with 13 pole positions and 8 wins and won the drivers’ championship. Pontiac GTO ‘The Judge’ ’69 This extreme sports package was introduced for later models of the GTO, the original muscle car. The original Pontiac GTO debuted in 1964 to great success and is said to be the original road-going muscle car. However, the 1968 second generation model changed to a more style oriented fastback and while it wasn’t lacking in performance it failed to stand up to more powerful rivals that had arrived on the scene. In a bid to make a comeback, General Motors released ‘The Judge’ in 1969. Costing a mere $332, this sports package included a staggering amount of equipment as standard. It included unique decals and racing stripes, a Hurst shifter, heavy duty suspension, wider tires, and a rear spoiler. The engine was upgraded to the 6.6L ‘Ram Air III’ V8, which was listed at 360 BHP but rumored to produce much more. As a result, ‘The Judge’ was able to top its rivals in both presence and performance, gaining it widespread attention. Just one year later though, strict emissions regulations came into effect in the Unite Read more RSS Load next 10 article(s) (1099 left)Loading...