Despite a steep decline in domestic revenue over the last week, Warcraft has become the highest grossing film adaptation of a videogame of all time – even adjusting for inflation. Warcraft suffered a 73% drop in ticket sales from its opening weekend to last weekend, when it was up against the dominating force of Pixar’s Finding Dory. The majority of the film’s ticket sales have come from overseas, with over $200 million of the film’s $377 earnings coming from China alone. The film had a budget of $160 million and, despite some harsh reviews from critics, has been a success with fans. Our own review gave the film a 3 / 3 (for a “Good” rank). Despite the promising numbers, the film is expected to need to hit a $450 million gross to break even when considering the marketing budget, distribution costs, and a smaller cut from overseas markets.
The previous record holder, Prince of Persia, had a total gross of $335 million when its theatrical run finished.
While the new Phantom Dust has been absent from Microsoft’s last two E3 shows, the IP is most certainly not dead. The reboot might be, but the property will live on in a “remaster” of the original game that was announced after Microsoft’s press briefing. The game will use the original assets, which means it will be an upscaled re-release with modernized features (such as support for the recently announced Xbox Live Arena). The game is expected to release in 2017 and will be a part of Microsoft’s Xbox Play Anywhere initiative, which grants players access to the game on Xbox and Windows 10 when purchased digitally.
Resident Evil VII was announced at Sony’s E3 briefing. The game will be released January 24, 2017 and will be entirely playable, beginning to end, on PlayStation VR.
Microsoft unveiled a new cinematic teaser for the Creative Assembly developed sequel to 2010’s Halo Wars. Along with the new teaser, the game’s release date was announced. Halo Wars 2 will be available on Xbox One and Windows 10 on February 21, 2017. Players anxious to see what the game will offer can get a taste of Halo Wars 2 with the game’s week-long open beta which is now live on Xbox Live.
Microsoft and Capcom officially announced the return of Frank West in this holiday’s Dead Rising 4. The game has been confirmed for Xbox One and Windows 10.
Dishonored 2 is set to release November 11, 2016. Pre-orders, for a limited time, will include Dishonored Definitive Edition.
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