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Ray-Tracing, New Modes Introduced To Ratchet And Clank: Rift Apart In PS5 Pro Update

Ratchet & Clank Rift Apart

So, Insomniac Games has unleashed a patch for Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart ahead of the PS5 Pro launch, introducing ray-tracing options and new graphical modes — Performance Pro and Fidelity Pro. These new modes are for two very different types of people.

Detailed on the patch notes page, the newest update — 1.005.000 — was largely geared towards prepping for the mid-gen refresh and its new capabilities. The only non-PS5 Pro-related patch comes in the form of a cinematic fix.

Performance Pro, which runs as default for the refresh, targets 60fps with strong image quality akin to the regular Fidelity mode in the base game thanks to the use of the PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution and all ray-tracing options enabled. Fidelity Pro, on the other hand, targets 30fps and is more hands-on, it seems.

F2P Concord Rumors Surface Again

Speculation surrounding Concord and it’s possible return as a free-to-play game has surfaced once again. Considering the mass amount of money sunk into the hero shooter, it wouldn’t be the worst idea.

Firewalk Studios has been finagling around the Steam files for the game, as indicated by SteamDB. While none of this confirms anything, the fact even as recently as a couple days ago things are shifting around gives some level of “hope” if you had any desire for this game to succeed.

Now, of course, whether this will actually happen remains to be seen; the game failed to garner any sort of traction during its short time on the market, failed to stand out, and above all, seethed a generic feel. Of course, Sony could turn it around, but we’re not sure it could without a complete makeover.

Unfortunately, we’d suspect part of the new model entail some sort of Battle Pass, which the game notably lacked at launch.

Bungie Considers $40 For Marathon’s Price

It sounds like Marathon, Bungie’s upcoming PvP extraction shooter, may take a chapter out of — of all games — Concord’s book, pricing itself at $40. Kind of a bold move, if true.

Sources speaking to The Game Post allege that the PlayStation-owned studio is planning on the premium model. Supposedly, discussions around Marathon’s price were discussed between both Bungie and Sony. Likely, it trickles down from the horrid launch of Concord.

Very little is known about Marathon in terms of what to really expect directly from Bungie. It’s been somewhat hush-hush. We do know that it seems to be prepping for a 2025 release, but we wouldn’t be shocked if it’s delayed futher.

The game itself has gone through some changes, but the report does assure fans that while custom characters are gone, the game is not a “hero shooter,” akin to something like Overwatch. TGP’s sources liken the gameplay to Escape from Tarkov, but with a “Bungie twist.”

Black Myth: Wukong Tops August’s PS Store Downloads

Game Science’s Black Myth: Wukong has, as expected, topped the PlayStation Store downloads in August. Considering the game has sold over 18 million copies across the PS5 and PC, this isn’t that shocking.

Coming to us straight from PlayStation Blog Japan, it shows that here in the US and in Canada, Black Myth: Wukong takes the top spot. Second and third place go to the latest NFL game and College Football 25.

Over in Japan, though, the downloads are a bit different. In fact, only three of the 10 games appear on both — Black Myth, Hogwarts Legacy, and Star Wars Outlaws. Game Science’s Chinese mythological romp still heads the pack, meanwhile, Gundam Breaker 4 and Visions of Mana take up the second and third spots.

Yooka-Replaylee Discount To Be Offered For Existing Owners

With a remaster of sorts coming for the 2017 Kickstarter game Yooka-Laylee, Playtonic Games has you covered if you already own a copy during the past seven years.

Playtonic first announced Yooka-Replaylee earlier this summer on their official website. Nothing much is known about the remaster right now, other than the devs working on giving their original 2017 game new content and quality-of-life improvements, such as with the controls and visuals. Although Steam is the only confirmed platform the remaster is coming to so far, the devs have teased plans for offering discounts to existing owners. Playtonic hasn’t given any details on how much this discount could be. Even then, such plans will be discussed later this month through an upcoming dev video series (according to the game’s Steam page).

Besides PC, Yooka-Laylee was released for PS4, Xbox One, and Switch. This makes it fair to presume the remaster will also arrive on consoles. This detail (and a possible release window) could be among the plans to be discussed by Playtonic in the near future. Maybe we will also get confirmation on whether the discounts for owners with existing copies will also apply to the console ports. And though this may also be too early to ponder, could the same definitive remaster treatment eventually come to the 2019 sequel Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair?

What do you think? Will the remaster and discount for existing owners entice you to revisit Yooka-Laylee? Let us know below!

Concord Beta Early Access To Open For All PS Plus Members

Sony’s Overwatch-like attempt, Concord, enters a Closed Beta today through July 14 before hopping into an open beta for all PlayStation Plus members on July 18 through the 21. Much of the game will be available during these periods.

Firewalk Studios revealed in a PlayStation Blog post more details about its Open and Closed Betas, noting that all 16 of the game’s playable Freegunners that are poised for its launch will be available alongside four maps and three game modes. Progression will carry over with both Betas, but not the full release.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jqQJhjf_3o

Concord is Firewalk’s debut game, and among one of the handful of day-and-date PC releases alongside PS5. While it was announced some time ago, it wasn’t until the last State of Play that we got a proper look at the game, which many have very mixed feelings about, as it looks like any other Overwatch-like hero shooter, and looking at the available game modes, that doesn’t help either.

Slated for an August 23 release, we want to hope Concord will stand out among the crowd of other games looking to jump into the live-service pseudo-eSports game late, but we can imagine it will only be a niche crowd that will take this game over any other.