Brazil’s competition watchdog, the Administrative Council for Economic Defense (CADE) has approved the Microsoft and Activision Blizzard merger without restriction, citing PlayStation’s already dominant position within the video game industry and Nintendo’s ability to compete without relying on franchises such as Call of Duty.

In a long public filing, CADE touched on PlayStation’s portfolio of exclusives, saying, “Investment in exclusive content is, and always has been, very important for the competitive dynamics in the console segment. Exclusive content was, most likely, one of the main factors responsible for positioning the PlayStation as a leader in the world console market for more than two decades, a leadership that continues to this day.”

CADE also mentions that Nintendo employs a similar strategy with exclusive content while noting that Microsoft doesn’t seem to sell as many consoles as PlayStation and Nintendo either. Of course, one of the biggest concerns about Microsoft’s acquisition is the multiplatform status of Call of Duty.

“As already seen, Nintendo does not currently rely on any content from Activision Blizzard to compete in the market,” CADE explains. “In turn, Sony has several attributes - strength of the world's leading brand for more than 20 years, extensive experience in the sector, largest user base, largest install base of consoles, robust catalog of exclusive games, partnerships with multiple publishers, third-party, brand loyal consumers, etc. – which should contribute to maintaining the competitiveness of PlayStation in a possible post-Operation scenario, even in the face of possible loss of access to Activision Blizzard content.”

The watchdog says that it's certainly possible that if Call of Duty were to become exclusive to the Microsoft ecosystem, many PlayStation players would migrate over to Xbox or PC in order to continue having access to the franchise.

Call of Duty would lose players and revenue in the short term due to this strategy, as well as invariably lead many players to favor multiplatform shooters such as Rainbow Six and Battlefield. Even EA CEO Andrew Wilson said a few weeks ago that Call of Duty potentially becoming Microsoft exclusive could benefit the Battlefield franchise.

However, this approach would ultimately lead to more Xbox console sales and Game Pass subscribers down the line, as well as give Microsoft a big competitive edge within the video game market.

Ultimately, CADE concluded that its objective is to protect Brazilian consumers, not the interests of PlayStation's. CADE says, “In this sense, although it is recognized that part of PlayStation users may decide to migrate to Xbox in the event that Activision Blizzard games - and especially Call of Duty - become exclusive to the Microsoft ecosystem, SG/Cade does not believe that such a possibility represents, in itself, a risk to competition in the console market as a whole.”

This is an early hurdle passed for Microsoft, but the acquisition will still face scrutiny from the UK government, various U.S. senators, the city of New York, and the U.S. Justice Department. While stockholders of Activision Blizzard approved the deal in April, there's still much debate on its merits or potential problems.

George Yang is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @yinyangfooey

Martin Luiga, the ex-developer of Disco Elysium that brought attention to key figures being 'involuntarily' forced out of the studio, says he thinks it's unlikely that ZA/UM Studio will make a sequel to the modern classic RPG.

Speaking to GamePressure, Luiga was somewhat cagey about the circumstances of the departures of Robert Kurvitz, Helen Hindpere and Aleksander Rostov, but said he doen't believe the remaining developers at the studio will make a Disco Elysium 2:

"I think ZA/UM Studio in its current form will not be developing the sequel and I am unsure of the number of people that left in the company who also worked on the original Disco."

ZA/UM's own response to the news did mention a new project in development, but pointedly did not make clear whether it was a Disco Elysium follow-up. We've contacted ZA/UM for comment. [Update: ZA/UM declined to comment on this story.]

The fallout from Luiga's original message - which announced the dissolution of the ZA/UM cultural association, an arts collective that spawned the studio and Disco Elysium - has seen some fans turn on the developers who remain at the studio, something he doesn't support:

"I do think though that it doesn't make sense to be offensive against the current workers of the company. It is unlikely to change their positions. The managers have a way of making people trust them. Robert (Kurvitz) and others had complete trust in them until it was too late. It pays to remain polite, even if it's hard – and I know that I have not been a very striking example at times."

Luiga also said that he believes Rostov, Hindpere and Kurvitz will stay in the industry post-ZA/UM, and is deciding his own future: "I think the three will continue making games, as for myself, I haven't decided the level of my involvement as of yet. Right now, it is mostly the phase of pondering ideas and managing our problems."

Luiga made clear that he isn't disclosing all he knows about the situation, seemingly due to fear of legal reprisal, but said that the three key developers were "fired on false premises and the entire ordeal has been very traumatizing for both them and people close to them."

The future of Disco Elysium will be a sore spot for many fans. In our rare 10/10 review of Disco Elysium - The Final Cut, we said that it is a "unique blend of noir-detective fiction, traditional pen-and-paper RPGs, and a large helping of existentialist theory," and the Final Cut elevates the game from "an already phenomenal RPG to a true must-play masterpiece."

Joe Skrebels is IGN's Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.

Martin Luiga, the ex-developer of Disco Elysium that brought attention to key figures being 'involuntarily' forced out of the studio, says he thinks it's unlikely that ZA/UM Studio will make a sequel to the modern classic RPG.

Speaking to GamePressure, Luiga was somewhat cagey about the circumstances of the departures of Robert Kurvitz, Helen Hindpere and Aleksander Rostov, but said he doen't believe the remaining developers at the studio will make a Disco Elysium 2:

"I think ZA/UM Studio in its current form will not be developing the sequel and I am unsure of the number of people that left in the company who also worked on the original Disco."

ZA/UM's own response to the news did mention a new project in development, but pointedly did not make clear whether it was a Disco Elysium follow-up. We've contacted ZA/UM for comment. [Update: ZA/UM declined to comment on this story.]

The fallout from Luiga's original message - which announced the dissolution of the ZA/UM cultural association, an arts collective that spawned the studio and Disco Elysium - has seen some fans turn on the developers who remain at the studio, something he doesn't support:

"I do think though that it doesn't make sense to be offensive against the current workers of the company. It is unlikely to change their positions. The managers have a way of making people trust them. Robert (Kurvitz) and others had complete trust in them until it was too late. It pays to remain polite, even if it's hard – and I know that I have not been a very striking example at times."

Luiga also said that he believes Rostov, Hindpere and Kurvitz will stay in the industry post-ZA/UM, and is deciding his own future: "I think the three will continue making games, as for myself, I haven't decided the level of my involvement as of yet. Right now, it is mostly the phase of pondering ideas and managing our problems."

Luiga made clear that he isn't disclosing all he knows about the situation, seemingly due to fear of legal reprisal, but said that the three key developers were "fired on false premises and the entire ordeal has been very traumatizing for both them and people close to them."

The future of Disco Elysium will be a sore spot for many fans. In our rare 10/10 review of Disco Elysium - The Final Cut, we said that it is a "unique blend of noir-detective fiction, traditional pen-and-paper RPGs, and a large helping of existentialist theory," and the Final Cut elevates the game from "an already phenomenal RPG to a true must-play masterpiece."

Joe Skrebels is IGN's Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.

The wait is over. Google has fully revealed the Pixel Watch after teasing the wearable at its I/O event last May.

The Pixel Watch features a circular dome design with a crown located on the right side of the watch. Google claims the Pixel Watch's battery life is estimated to run for 24 hours on a single charge. Google Pixel Watch features Fitbit integration, allowing the wearable to provide many health and fitness features, including what Google touts as its most "accurate heart rate tracking yet." Fall detection will also arrive sometime next year.

The Pixel Watch is available in three colors: Black, Silver, and Gold. The Pixel Watch will cost $349.99 for the Wi-Fi-only model, while the cellular model costs $399.99. A competitive price compared to other wearables on the market, such as the recently-announced Apple Watch ultra or the Series 8. Google also confirmed that every Pixel Watch will include six months of Fitbit Premium and three months of YouTube Music Premium.

Taylor is the Associate Tech Editor at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster.

The wait is over. Google has fully revealed the Pixel Watch after teasing the wearable at its I/O event last May.

The Pixel Watch features a circular dome design with a crown located on the right side of the watch. Google claims the Pixel Watch's battery life is estimated to run for 24 hours on a single charge. Google Pixel Watch features Fitbit integration, allowing the wearable to provide many health and fitness features, including what Google touts as its most "accurate heart rate tracking yet." Fall detection will also arrive sometime next year.

The Pixel Watch is available in three colors: Black, Silver, and Gold. The Pixel Watch will cost $349.99 for the Wi-Fi-only model, while the cellular model costs $399.99. A competitive price compared to other wearables on the market, such as the recently-announced Apple Watch ultra or the Series 8. Google also confirmed that every Pixel Watch will include six months of Fitbit Premium and three months of YouTube Music Premium.

Taylor is the Associate Tech Editor at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster.

The developers behind Moonbreaker have released an update that removes the Cargo Run Contracts system from the game, giving players unlimited access to the PvE mode.

The update was announced in a post on Moonbreaker's Steam page, where the team extended their gratitude to the community for their support during the game's Early Access launch. They assured players that they were making adjustments to address some of the initial concerns that had been raised, specifically the use of Contracts to play Cargo Run.

"While our intent was always for players to be able to earn enough Blanks during Cargo Run to continually unlock additional Contracts to play, we understand the community's collective frustration that this mode felt gated and the desire to have any possible limitation removed," the post read before announcing an update that would remove the controversial feature.

The team explained that players who purchased Cargo Run Contracts using Pulsars or Blanks before this change will be refunded as soon as possible and will receive the full amount of the relevant in-game currency used to redeem any Contracts, while players that had Cargo Run Contracts in their inventory will receive 10 Blanks per Contract as part of the update.

This update was rolled out alongside several other improvements and bug fixes that the team have made following Moonbreaker's launch into Early Access. Players have been exploring the Reaches of the digital tabletop strategy game during its first week of release, with many already starting to build up their armies from a huge selection of units that are available.

IGN's Matt Purslow had the chance to play Moonbreaker at Gamescom 2022, and noted that the game has "tremendous promise" as it delivers "everything you'd expect of a miniatures game; a robust rule set for turn-based combat, simple tactical choices that build into deep strategies, and a collection of very cool miniatures split into colourful different factions."

Adele Ankers-Range is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow her on Twitter.

The developers behind Moonbreaker have released an update that removes the Cargo Run Contracts system from the game, giving players unlimited access to the PvE mode.

The update was announced in a post on Moonbreaker's Steam page, where the team extended their gratitude to the community for their support during the game's Early Access launch. They assured players that they were making adjustments to address some of the initial concerns that had been raised, specifically the use of Contracts to play Cargo Run.

"While our intent was always for players to be able to earn enough Blanks during Cargo Run to continually unlock additional Contracts to play, we understand the community's collective frustration that this mode felt gated and the desire to have any possible limitation removed," the post read before announcing an update that would remove the controversial feature.

The team explained that players who purchased Cargo Run Contracts using Pulsars or Blanks before this change will be refunded as soon as possible and will receive the full amount of the relevant in-game currency used to redeem any Contracts, while players that had Cargo Run Contracts in their inventory will receive 10 Blanks per Contract as part of the update.

This update was rolled out alongside several other improvements and bug fixes that the team have made following Moonbreaker's launch into Early Access. Players have been exploring the Reaches of the digital tabletop strategy game during its first week of release, with many already starting to build up their armies from a huge selection of units that are available.

IGN's Matt Purslow had the chance to play Moonbreaker at Gamescom 2022, and noted that the game has "tremendous promise" as it delivers "everything you'd expect of a miniatures game; a robust rule set for turn-based combat, simple tactical choices that build into deep strategies, and a collection of very cool miniatures split into colourful different factions."

Adele Ankers-Range is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow her on Twitter.

After teasing the products at I/O this summer, Google has officially announced the Pixel 7 and 7 Pro.

Like last year's Google Pixel 6 family, the Pixel 7 lineup includes an in-house processor called Google Tensor G2 and the Titan M2 chip, the latter aims to protect your personal data, according to Google. Google promises that the Pixel 7 and 7 Pro will include five years of security updates — the same as the Pixel 6 family.

Google also confirmed that the Pixel 7 lineup will include a built-in virtual private network (VPN) service at no additional cost. What's interesting about the free-of-charge VPN is that Google released its own VPN back in 2020, usually costing $9.99 a month, and includes other perks, such as 2TB of cloud storage.

The tech giant notes that the Pixel 7 features up to 72 hours of battery when extreme battery saver mode is enabled, includes a better camera, promises to better nighttime selfies, and capture skin tones more accurately.

The Pixel 7 lineup also includes a Clear Calling feature, which uses machine learning to reduce background noise and allow you to hear your calls more clearly. Alongside the fingerprint reader underneath the display, the Pixel 7's selfie cameras feature a face-recognition system, and there's face unlock now.

The Pixel 7 is available in Snow, Lemongrass, and Obsidian, and the Pixel 7 Pro will be available in Obsidian, Hazel, and Snow. Both phones are available for preorder today and will release next week. The Pixel 7 will retail for $599, while the Pixel 7 Pro will cost $899.

Taylor is the Associate Tech Editor at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster.

After teasing the products at I/O this summer, Google has officially announced the Pixel 7 and 7 Pro.

Like last year's Google Pixel 6 family, the Pixel 7 lineup includes an in-house processor called Google Tensor G2 and the Titan M2 chip, the latter aims to protect your personal data, according to Google. Google promises that the Pixel 7 and 7 Pro will include five years of security updates — the same as the Pixel 6 family.

Google also confirmed that the Pixel 7 lineup will include a built-in virtual private network (VPN) service at no additional cost. What's interesting about the free-of-charge VPN is that Google released its own VPN back in 2020, usually costing $9.99 a month, and includes other perks, such as 2TB of cloud storage.

The tech giant notes that the Pixel 7 features up to 72 hours of battery when extreme battery saver mode is enabled, includes a better camera, promises to better nighttime selfies, and capture skin tones more accurately.

The Pixel 7 lineup also includes a Clear Calling feature, which uses machine learning to reduce background noise and allow you to hear your calls more clearly. Alongside the fingerprint reader underneath the display, the Pixel 7's selfie cameras feature a face-recognition system, and there's face unlock now.

The Pixel 7 is available in Snow, Lemongrass, and Obsidian, and the Pixel 7 Pro will be available in Obsidian, Hazel, and Snow. Both phones are available for preorder today and will release next week. The Pixel 7 will retail for $599, while the Pixel 7 Pro will cost $899.

Taylor is the Associate Tech Editor at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster.

A new Need for Speed will be arriving on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC this December, featuring the return of Criterion as the lead developer for the first time in close to a decade.

Titled Need for Speed Unbound, Criterion's long-awaited return to the racing scene will utilize new-gen consoles and the Frostbite Engine to deliver 4K 60fps visuals in a free-roaming open world called Lakeshore. The physics will run at a high frame-rate as well, offering "more control and nuance to...the physical movement of the cars," creative director Kieran Crimmins says.

A trailer released Thursday offered fans their first look at the newly-revamped art style, which is meant to reflect the franchise's return to its street racing roots as well as the input of rapper A$AP Rocky, who will have his own mode in the new entry. Its emphasis on art and graffiti will extend to the gameplay, with Burst Nitrous boosts rewarded for stylish driving.

"Need for Speed is about trendsetting. Need for Speed is about breaking the mold. Need for Speed is about rebellion. It's at the heart of that street racing fantasy, so we should be exploring new art styles and new visions and new ways the game can look, so that we can not only stand out from everything else, but also deliver innovation where we should be setting trends," Crimmins says.

Criterion returns

In development since at least 2020, Need for Speed Unbound checks off many of the items on fan wishlists from previous years. In addition to putting a firm focus on street racing, Need for Speed Unbound will include an offline single-player mode and cross-play (though not cross-progression). It will continue to put an emphasis on the cars themselves – meaning a cockpit view is out, but hood and bumper cameras are in.

But even if it looks very different from previous entries — and series stalwart Ghost Games is long gone — don't call it a reboot.

"I think Need for Speed Heat was extraordinarily successful for us," Criterion GM Matt Webster says. "So we are following up this game from a really, really successful Need for Speed Heat, and the games continue to reach tens of millions of players. So our view of this is where Need for Speed is going...this is us sort of encapsulating the fantasy and setting it up for a modern audience."

A historic series going back to 1994, Need for Speed Unbound is the first entry to be developed primarily by Criterion since 2013. Known for classic racers like Burnout Paradise and Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit, the Guildford-based studio has lately served as support for releases such as Battlefield and Star Wars Battlefront, with a particular emphasis on vehicle combat.

In the interim, Need for Speed has generally languished in the 70 overall range on Metacritic. Need for Speed Heat was well-received by fans, with our review calling it "easily the most impressive Need for Speed game in many years," but that didn't stop EA from shuttering Ghost Games and handing the keys back to Criterion. Despite that, Webster says the series is in "good health," noting that it's managed to stick around for close to 30 years.

In taking the reins back from Ghost Games, Criterion is keeping the focus squarely on the areas it considers to be the series' strengths, but also expanding and reworking many aspects of the gameplay.

"If I was to boil everything up to what we trying to do here, we are trying to make the player feel like an illicit street racer, and make crazy bets like an illicit street racer, and feel the highs and lows and thrills of what it means to kind of embody that fantasy," Crimmins says.

Place your bets

It’s reflected in Need for Speed Unbound’s single-player, which will feature a “completely new campaign structure.”

“So when you go in a race, there's a buy-in, which basically, you have to be able to play the race and then you can win that back with a reward if you do well or you can lose that money. So you have to make a choice in which race you want to do and what buy-ins you're comfortable with,” Crimmins explains. “Every single race also gives you a little bit of heat. So if you do lots and lots of races in one session, your heat can build up and you'll take a huge gamble on the money that you're carrying around as well. So there's a consequence there.”

It will also include what Criterion describes as an “immersive narrative” in which two friends are torn apart by a robbery at a family auto shop, leaving the player to try and reclaim a priceless car by winning the “ultimate street race.”

“[E]very single one of those characters, we've actually made them full characters this time,” Crimmins says. “They've got little story arcs, they've got personalities, they've got their own car customization and style and you can see them driving around.”

That element extends into side bets, which will allow players to target individual characters. “It's like, ‘I am going to make sure I beat this character and I am going to make sure I beat this character,’ Crimmins says. “It's not as big as the buy-in and the rewards of picking the event, but it is personal.”

Cops, of course, will be omnipresent in Need for Speed Unbound, but Criterion’s approach will be much more “tactical” this time around. Individual vehicles will have their own strengths and weaknesses, which players will be able to exploit during chases.

“You have to pick your strategy for the kind of cop that's coming after you. And if you get really good, you can even get in a full high heat chase. And if you know all the strategies, you can totally still get away with it. But if you don't, or you can't execute the strategies, you will be taken down,” Crimmins says.

Cops have at times presented an interesting problem for the series. They are a necessary part of any Need for Speed game, but they can prove disruptive or intrusive if a player wants to complete a task or simply vibe. Need for Speed Unbound addresses this by giving players the chance to deliberately decide how much cop heat they take on – the mechanic that governs how aggressive the police will be at any given time. Criterion is also including a police scanner and a spotting mechanic, giving players additional options for avoiding police if they so desire.

Multiplayer, meanwhile, has been tuned to be "as low friction as possible." When you go into the multiplayer mode you can drive around the world, meet up with friends, or just mess around. While there, "people will be pinging off race requests and playlist requests and you can seamlessly join any one of those events at any time,” Crimmins says.

The mode includes a banner system that will allow players to show off photos and achievements. Neither Criterion nor EA were ready to discuss whether Need for Speed Unbound would have a battle pass or any other type of monetization; however, EA did confirm that it will feature a series of “free content updates” after launch, including “new features, experiences, content drops, and more.” EA says it will reveal more details on post-launch content “soon.”

One way or another, Need for Speed Unbound will include plenty of ways to make your car your own, including fully customizable characters, body kits, and wraps, as well as tiered vehicles similar to Forza Horizon and tie-ins with “loads of really high-end prestige brands.” Gameplay customization will also include "thousands of thousands" of combinations for car tuning, as well as tiered vehicles similar to Forza Horizon. Crimmins wasn't able to say how many cars will be in the new release, only that it will have “a lot.”

It’s all wrapped in what Crimmins claims is the “deepest driving system and the best handling” that Criterion has ever put in one of its racing games. It’s augmented by a brand-new physics system, which Webster calls a “super sophisticated physical simulation” that’s “comparable to other big driving sims.” The difference, Webster says, is that Need for Speed aims to be as accessible as possible via driver assist mechanics while maintaining a high skill ceiling.

“I think players are really going to feel the difference and be able to – across a broad range of vehicle types – feeling the difference between a nimble, small European car or a big American muscle car or a hyper car...And then when they get into more specifics of adjusting how that car handles by modifying it to suit their preferences. That shows you the level of breadth and depth that we're able to uncover with that tech,” Webster says.

Brand-new style

But the element of Need for Speed Unbound that fans undoubtedly notice first will be its heavily-stylized art, which is a departure from the look and feel of previous entries – and the highly-realistic racing genre in general. A$AP Rocky will play a key role in the look and feel of Need for Speed Unbound, including releasing a brand-new track titled “Sh*ttin Me” that’s featured in the trailer. A$AP Rocky will also appear in-game as a leader in a dedicated mode called Takeover Scene, in which players work together to take over parts of Lakeshore.

According to Crimmins, the style grew out of a conversation about what the series is about – namely, “trendsetting” and “rebellion.” At the same time, Criterion wanted to find a way to provide interesting feedback when a player was driving well.

“Essentially, games are a playground where you do something cool and then you feel good about it, and that felt like something that we could experiment with,” Crimmins says. “But we were also looking at the graffiti at the same time…That would not only deliver something that felt very Need for Speed, very street style, very kind of urban, but also it would relay the mastery of your actions in a way that would be kind of not only beautiful, but also visceral and exciting to do. So that's kind of where we ended up with it, and as soon as we started playing with it, it felt amazing.”

As for how Criterion came to work with A$AP Rocky, Crimmins says that the rapper’s brand fits well with the feeling the studio is trying to convey with Need for Speed Unbound.

“I mean A$AP's kind of a trendsetter in both fashion and music, and he's also a bit of a rebel, and that is kind of part of the Need for Speed vibe,” Crimmins says. “So it totally made sense to put him in the game and have a game mode that represented what he was about and also give a cool event for players to play as well.”

As befits a series that’s all about speed, Need for Speed Unbound is coming in hot. While this entry has been in development for at least three years, there will be less than two months between its reveal and its ultimate release. EA and Criterion currently have no plans for a demo or a closed beta, but fans won’t have to wait long to play the final release in any case.

And for Criterion, this is just the beginning.

“I think broadly we've got big ambitions and plans…with modern games these days, the launch day is just the start, and that's no different for Need for Speed,” Webster says. “I think as a series it's been a little bit underserved when you compare it to other genres or other live series, and we expect to be breathing life into the game over a period of time beyond launch. So that'll be an exciting journey for us too.”

Need for Speed Unbound releases December 2 on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.

Kat Bailey is a Senior News Editor at IGN as well as co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Send her a DM at @the_katbot.