The Jampack Report: Gaming News Podcast

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare will be the first game in years to leave the loot box system behind, taking on the Battle Pass system popularized by popular battle royale titles like Fortnite and Apex Legends. Here are today's stories:  - Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Ditches Loot Boxes, Adopts Battle Pass System - Nintendo Switch sales top 15 million in North America alone - An Updated Nvidia Sh...

It seemed that the Xbox One X would be the only console to support enhancements - specifically a 4K resolution - for Obsidian's upcoming si-fi RPG The Outer Worlds. Private Division has since clarified that both beefier current-gen consoles will get enhancements, but only the Xbox One X will have native 4K. Here are today's stories:  - Update: The Outer Worlds Will Have PS4 Pro and Xbox One X...

During the 10th anniversary celebration of League of Legends, Riot Games has revealed that the universe is expanding! With an FPS codenamed "Project A", a fighting game codenamed "Project L", a mystery project named "Project F", an animated series named "Arcane" and more... it's safe to say that the universe truly is expanding in a big way. Here are today's stories:  - League of Legends expan...

Fortnite Chapter 2 has officially launched! With a new map, new skins and weapons, overhauled mechanics and more, Fortnite Chapter 2 is shaping up to be a great time to return to the game or dive in for the first time. Here are today's stories:  - 'Fortnite' Chapter 2 is here: New map, boats and 'less grind' - Halo Infinite lead producer Mary Olson leaves 343 Industries - Microsoft rolls out...

"The End" is upon us in Fortnite. Season 10 of Fortnite has come to an explosive end with a black hole engulfing the map, all players, and... the entire game, now rendered offline for nearly 12 hours at the time of this podcast. Here are today's stories:  - Fortnite's Map Blows Up And Entire Game Gets Sucked Into A Black Hole - Blizzard halves banned Hearthstone player's suspension, gives bac...

Infinity Ward's upcoming Call of Duty: Modern Warfare was reported to take up 175GB on PC, but the studio has since clarified that includes not just the day one base game, but also all coming DLC. Here are today's stories:  - Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare Won't Take Up 175GB On PC--At First - Nintendo Switch console sales up nearly 30% in Europe this year - IO Interactive's next big project af...

Blizzard is facing backlash - both internal and external - for banning professional Hearthstone player "Blitzchung" after he took a public pro-Hong Kong stance. Here are today's stories:  - Blizzard employees staged a walkout over Hearthstone Grandmaster's suspension - Apple is selling the Xbox Wireless Controller for you to use with Apple Arcade - Google Stadia will be “faster and more respo...

Sony's next-generation console is officially called the PlayStation 5 and has been confirmed for a holiday 2020 release. Check out details about its controller, games coming to the PS5, a new PSVR and more! Here are today's stories:  - PlayStation 5 Gets a Holiday 2020 Release, Sony Unveils More Hardware Details - Doom Eternal Delayed To March - Doom 64 Has Been Announced for PlayStation 4, X...

Ninja's move to Mixer definitely put eyes on the platform, but it seems more streamers started streaming than viewers started watching according to Streamlabs and Newzoo's Q3 2019 report. Here are today's stories:  - Mixer tripled its streaming hours following its exclusive deal with Ninja - Fortnite's addictive nature in the limelight in a potential class action lawsuit - Monster Hunter: World Sm...

Rockstar's Red Dead Redemption 2 has been a console exclusive for roughly a year, but now the Western hit is making its way to the PC via Rockstar's new launcher in November followed by a Steam release in December.  Here are today's stories:  - Red Dead Redemption II is coming to PC, but Steam has to wait - Bully 2 "existed" and "was playable" but it "never got off the ground", say Rocks...

The team behind popular gamer-centric communication application Discord has suffered a round of layoffs. Although the official number of employees has not been disclosed, it seems the layoffs hit the marketing department specifically.  Here are today's stories:  - Discord confirms layoffs - Ghost Recon Breakpoint microtransactions aren't quite as bad as they were - EA leaks personal data...

AlphaDream, the studio behind the niche Mario & Luigi series, filed for bankruptcy on Wednesday citing large debt from growing development costs in recent years. Here are today's stories:  - Mario & Luigi RPG Developer AlphaDream Has Gone Bankrupt - PlayStation 5 Reportedly Codenamed Prospero, Will Feature a Built-In Camera for Streaming - Twitch Contract Pushed Ninja to Mixer Accordi...

Between the launch of its new expansion, Shadowkeep, its free-to-play version, New Light, and the transition of the PC version of the game to Steam, Destiny 2 hit over 200K concurrent players, effectively blowing Warframe's previous peak player count out of the water. Here are today's stories:  - In one hour, Destiny 2 matched Warframe’s all-time peak player count on Steam - Fortnite US July...

Sony Interactive Entertainment Worldwide Studios Chairman Shawn Layden is leaving the company as announced in a tweet from the official PlayStation account. Here are today's stories:  - Shawn Layden, Head Of PlayStation's Game Studios, Departs - Troy Baker Didn't Star in Borderlands 3 Because Gearbox 'Wouldn't Go Union,' Gearbox Responds - Bungie Will Release A New Non-Destiny Game By 2025 -...

Owners of the original Nintendo Switch aren't the only ones experiencing Joy-Con drift. The new model of the Switch - Nintendo Switch Lite - is being added to the class-action lawsuit after users are reporting the same issues after less than two weeks of use.  Here are today's stories:  - Nintendo's Week-Old Switch Lite Added to Joy-Con Drift Lawsuit - Duke Nukem 3D composer sues Randy P...

Mario Kart Tour, the free-to-play mobile kart racer from Nintendo, has brought in over 20 million players and $1 million since launch, marking yet another big win for Nintendo as they push further into the mobile space.  Here are today's stories:  - Mario Kart Tour Races Past Nintendo's Previous Launches with 20 Million Day One Downloads - Twitch drops a big redesign as TwitchCon 2019 dr...

Medal of Honor is a franchise that originally defined the first-person shooter genre, but now Respawn is developing Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond to push VR to the next level.  Here are today's stories:  - Respawn is making a new Medal of Honor game for VR - Oculus adding hand-tracking to Quest - You will soon be able to plug an Oculus Quest headset into a PC to play Rift games - You...

PlayStation's September 2019 State of Play brought announcements ranging from the smallest new indies to the largest AAA projects in the entire gaming industry. Most significantly, however, we now know that the official release date for The Last of Us Part 2 is February 21, 2020. Here are today's stories:  - 'The Last of Us Part II' lands on February 21st, 2020 - PlayStation Plus Free Games f...

Borderlands 3 had an explosive first week, already marking itself not only as one of the biggest games of the fall season, but also as a record breaker for 2K! Here are today's stories:  - ‘Borderlands 3’ Is Dramatically Outselling ‘Borderlands 2,’ And Is 2K’s Fastest-Selling Game Ever - Red Dead Redemption 2 PC rated by the Australian Classification Board - Fortnite is getting skill-based ma...

WB Games Montreal teased a new project on Batman day, clearly alluding that something is coming from the developers of Batman: Arkham Origins. Here are today's stories:  - Batman: Arkham Origins developer WB Games Montreal has dropped another hint that they’re making another Batman game - Control's Epic Games Store exclusivity initially cost Epic $10.45 million - Obsidian are hiring staff for...

A French court has made strides against Valve's "anti-consumer" policies by deciding, among other things, that Valve must allow users on Steam to resell digital games that they have purchased. Valve is prepared to appeal the decision. Here are today's stories:  - French Court Says Valve Must Allow Steam Users To Resell Games - Sony State Of Play PS4 Livestream Coming Next Week - Apex Legends'...

Undead Nightmare opened the world of Red Dead Redemption up to the undead, setting John Marston against hordes of undead Western settlers. Now Rockstar is teasing a return of the undead in the online side of Red Dead Redemption 2.  Here are today's stories:  - Red Dead Online players say they’re finding zombies in the game - Call Of Duty Mobile Release Date Announced, Features Battle Roy...

VENN, or the Video Game Entertainment & News Network, is a new network with $17M in funding and plans to open two studios in LA and New York in 2020. Their focus? Gaming content: talk shows, reality shows, documentaries, and esports events.  Sounds like a new G4 to me! Here are today's stories:  - A TV network for esports comes to L.A. and New York - Mixer rolls out ads across both f...

Gears 5 launched last week at retail and through Xbox Game Pass to incredible success, bringing in double the amount of players as compared to Gears of War 4 and officially taking the title of largest Xbox Game Studios launch since Halo 4. Impressive figures to say the least.  Here are today's stories:  - Gears 5 tops 3 million players in first week - Borderlands 3 tops the UK Charts as...

Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford tweeted a statement on Borderlands 3 PC numbers, saying that the new shooter-looter's peak concurrent player count was double that of Borderlands 2 when it released 7 years ago. Here are today's stories:  - Randy Pitchford says Borderlands 3 has twice as many players on PC as Borderlands 2 did - Capcom responds to fan outcry over Project Resistance’s multiplayer ro...