Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment today announced Dying Light, an open-world first-person survival horror game from Dead Island and Call of Juarez developer Techland.

The game will launch in 2014 for next-generation platforms like the Xbox One and PlayStation 4, current-generation systems including the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, as well as the PC.

No mention was made of a Wii U release and a Warner Bros. representative could not be reached for comment.

Dying Light features a full day-night cycle. In the day, players will explore an urban environment beset by "a vicious outbreak." Gamers must scavenge the world for supplies and weapons to defend themselves from the infected.

When day turns to night, "the hunter becomes the hunted," Warner Bros. said. The infected will become aggressive during the evening and certain predators will only appear after sundown.

"The next-gen technology allows us to create a truly dynamic open world that features a game-changing day-night cycle," said Techland CEO Paweł Marchewka in a statement. "Inventive free running mechanics also allow for nearly unrestricted exploration and weapon-crafting to further enhance the action survival experience."

Techland shipped Dead Island: Riptide last month and released downloadable game Call of Juarez: Gunslinger a few weeks ago. The Polish developer is also working on a current-generation cooperative hack-and-slash game called Hellraid.

Rockstar Games today announced premium bundles for this September's upcoming open-world game Grand Theft Auto V.

The $80 GTAV Special Edition includes a copy of the game, a collectible steelbook with never-before-seen artwork of Michael, Trevor, and Franklin, as well as a 21.5" x 26.75" blueprint map that shows off Los Santos and Blaine County.

The bundle also packs in various in-game perks, including a special ability boost for Michael, Trevor, and Franklin. With the boost, players' special ability bar will generate 25 percent faster.

The GTAV Special Edition also includes single-player Stunt Plane Trials and bonus outfits, tattoos, and "special deals" from shopkeepers inside the gameworld. Lastly, the premium bundle offers gamers additional weapons, including the Pistol .50, Bullpup Shotgun, and melee Hammer.

A $150 GTAV Collector's Edition will also be available. It includes everything from the Special Edition, as well as a special GTAV-themed 10.75" x 8.5" security deposit bag with a logo key.

The bundle also includes a "Los Santos" branded GTAV hat made by New Era and classic GTA characters for use within the game's multiplayer component. Players who buy the Collector's Edition will also receive an in-game garage to store custom vehicles.

In single-player, these cars include the 1930s-style Hotknife hotrod and the CarbonRS sports bike. In multiplayer, players will get to zip around in the Khamelion electronic car.

Lastly, Rockstar announced today that anyone who preorders GTAV--any version of the game--will be able to pilot the Atomic Blimp in-game vehicle. Preorders for all premium bundles went live today and will be available while supplies last.

GTAV launches September 17 for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

Valve's former Team Fortress 2 VR specialist has been snapped up by the company behind the VR headset Oculus Rift.

Oculus VR's Tom Forsyth.

Tom Forsyth worked on Team Fortress 2's VR support with Joe Ludwig and Michael Abrash. At Oculus VR he'll be working on the Oculus Rift SDK, alongside a few "top-secret" R&D projects.

“The Rift is a great bit of kit and combines a bunch of different technology together in a very clever package," said Forsythe.

"It was amazing working with it on Team Fortress 2 and seeing the extra immersion people felt inside a game they already knew so well. I“m really looking forward to helping other developers work with this tech as we go towards a consumer version.“

Oculus VR has also announced the hire of robotics expert Steve LaValle, who previously worked as a researcher at the University of Illinois. "Steve“s leading research and development on some of the toughest VR challenges including sensor fusion, magnetic drift correction, and kinematic modeling," said Oculus VR.

Development kits for the Oculus Rift are still being sent out to backers of the project's barnstorming Kickstarter campaign, though huge demand for the device has caused strain for the fledgling company. "All Rift development kits from Kickstarter are marked as “Processing“ or “Shipped“ in our system," says Oculus VR.

A consumer version of the VR headset is in the works.

EA executive vice president and chief technical officer Rajat Teneja has said that the architectures of the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 are "a generation ahead of the highest end PC on the market."

Writing in a post on social media service LinkedIn, the former Microsoft employee said the next-gen hardware of both Sony and Microsoft is "a significant inflection point in the history of our industry" that will be "as profound as the introduction of smartphones or Facebook to the market."

"Both the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 have adopted electronics and an integrated systems-on-a -chip (soc) architecture that unleashes magnitudes more compute and graphics power than the current generation of consoles," says Teneja. "These architectures are a generation ahead of the highest end PC on the market and their unique design of the hardware, the underlying operating system and the live service layer create one of the most compelling platforms to reimagine game mechanics."

The importance of the cloud will also tie into the future of games, according to Teneja. "The power of connected data is going to be an integral part of the gaming experience," he said. "We see 2.5bn monthly game sessions and 50 [terabytes] of daily telemetry data on our network alone. The Xbox Live network required 500 servers when it launched a decade ago and as was mentioned yesterday, they are now provisioning 300,000 servers to handle Xbox data in the cloud. That growth is staggering, but it also means we“ll really start to see more examples of true cross-device play."

"You don“t have to be an engineer or even a gamer like me to appreciate the power of these new devices," he concluded.

EA this week announced that its new, next-gen Ignite engine will power its upcoming sports titles. DICE's Frostbite engine will also play a key part in EA's next-gen development.

Microsoft announced the Xbox One earlier this week. Check out GameSpot's Xbox One hub for more information on the successor to the Xbox 360

Gamers who wish to stay in touch via Skype will be able to do so on the Xbox One, Microsoft has revealed in an entry on the Xbox blog. The post details the integration of Skype, a voice over IP service, into the Xbox One console.

It was confirmed during the Xbox One presentation that the console will support Skype video calling. The feature utilises Kinect voice and gesture controls to execute on-screen actions.

According to the blog post, the new Kinect camera will be able to send one-to-one Skype video calls in 1080p, so long as an adequate internet connection is provided. The camera also sports a "wide-angle field of view".

The service will be incorporated into the Xbox One console, allowing gamers to initiate calls using voice commands. The Kinect microphone will also take into account background noise generated from the television, and block it out.

Like video and music, Skype is supported by the Snap feature, which embeds the video call alongside other Xbox One activities. Users will be able to activate the feature with the voice command, "Xbox Snap Skype".

Skype was developed by Skype Technologies, which was acquired by Microsoft in 2011.

To keep up with the latest news on Microsoft's next-gen console, check GameSpot's Xbox One hub.

Independent developers who wish to publish their games on the Xbox One will not be allowed to do so on their own, according to a Shacknews report.

Independent developers may not be able to self-publish their games on Microsoft's new Xbox.

Developers will need to obtain a publishing deal from either Microsoft Game Studios or a third-party partner such as EA. Games published on Xbox Live Indie Games will not be affected by the new policy.

General manager of Redmond Game Studios and Platforms, Matt Booty, said that Microsoft intends to stay the course with the way it operates currently. "As of right now, yes. We intend to continue to court developers in the ways that we have," he said.

Both Sony and Nintendo have said that they will allow developers to publish their own titles on the PlayStation Network and Nintendo Network, respectively.

PlayStation Call of Duty fans can rest easy, with confirmation that upcoming first-person shooter, Call of Duty: Ghosts will be coming to the PlayStation 4.

Despite the official announcement for the game coming months after the unveiling of the PlayStation 4 hardware, Activision listed only unspecified next-generation consoles as being in development.

Fielding a question from a fan on Twitter, the official Infinity Ward account responded, “we'll be releasing #CODGhosts on both platforms #PS3 #PS4“.

The news should come as little surprise, given that previous Call of Duty games have launched simultaneously on both the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, though fan confusion is understandable, with neither Amazon nor GameStop currently listing a PS4 version of the game. As part of its Xbox One announcement held earlier this week, Microsoft revealed that it had once again secured timed exclusivity on downloadable content for Call of Duty: Ghosts.

The latest game in the hit shooter series is being billed as having a more emotional storyline, is being built on a new game engine, and will be written by Traffic and Syriana author Stephen Gaghan. The game is set to release globally on November 5 this year on the PC, Xbox 360, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, and PlayStation 4.

Four expansion packs are coming to 4A Games' new shooter Metro: Last Light, publisher Deep Silver announced today. Gamers can grab all add-ons together for $15 via the DLC Season Pass, available now for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC.

The first expansion for Metro: Last Light is the Faction Pack, which will launch next month for all platforms. It introduces a new and original single-player story that "expands on the Metro: Last Light universe." Further details were not specified.

Following the Faction Pack will be the story-focused Chronicles Pack, as well as the Tower Pack, which will "present a unique solo challenge to Metro veterans." Lastly, the Developer Pack for Metro: Last Light will give players "some interesting tools with which to explore the world of Metro."

"Artyom's story may have been concluded in Metro: Last Light, but there are other characters with stories to tell, some familiar locations that fans of the Metro series wanted to revisit, and some new challenges that 4A wanted to explore," said 4A Games creative director Andrew Prokhorov in a statement. "Since completing the game we have been working on these new stories and hope to release them throughout the summer."

Gamers who purchase the Metro: Last Light DLC Season Pass will also receive a new semi-automatic shotgun rifle called Abzats. Its secondary fire mode shoots six shells in one blast.

Deep Silver did not divulge prices for individual expansions.

PlayStation Plus subscribers can score a 25 percent discount on the Metro: Last Light Season Pass if they purchase it between May 21 and June 4 in the United States and May 22 and June 5 in Europe and the rest of the world.

Metro: Last Light launched earlier this month for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC.

The 38 Studios vs. Rhode Island court case has begun. The The Providence Journal reports today that opening arguments from both sides were made today in Rhode Island Superior Court.

Schilling at a separate hearing. Image credit: Steven Senne, AP

Rhode Island sued 38 Studios founder and former Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling and 13 architects of the controversial 2010 $75 million loan in November, claiming the company knew it would fail but did not inform the state.

All 14 defendants were in court today attempting, for a third time, to have the lawsuit tossed out.

The defendants' lawyer William M. Dolan III belittled the lawsuit today, telling judge Michael A. Silverstein that, "clerks don't check specious claims at the door."

Rhode Island's lawyer, Max Wistow, presented a claim of his own, saying the state has an "avalanche" of evidence that supports its claim that 38 Studios attempted to hide its financial problems.

Meanwhile, Rhode Island is also attempting to sell 38 Studios' assets to recoup some of its $130 million in debt related to the developer's bankruptcy. These assets include the Amalur intellectual property.

Attorneys for the state report there is "interest" in the assets, though no further detail has been provided and the legal team has not responded to GameSpot's requests for comment.

Head of Microsoft's Xbox division Don Mattrick has spoken out to say the Xbox One not featuring backwards compatibility is not much of an issue.

Speaking with The Wall Street Journal, Mattrick said only 5 percent of gamers play past-generation titles on new machines.

Thus, it would not make sense to invest time and resources into creating technology to allow gamers to play older games on the Xbox One, he said.

"If you're backwards compatible, you're really backwards," he said.

The Xbox One will not support Xbox 360 games and Xbox Live Arcade titles players have purchased over the years will not be compatible on the next-generation platform.

The PlayStation 4 is not backwards compatible with physical PlayStation 3 discs or PlayStation Network games, though Sony's partnership with Gaikai will allow users to stream older titles on the new system.

The Warriors is on its way to PlayStation Network. Rockstar Games announced today that its 2005 action game will be available on PSN May 28 in North America. The game launches a day later in Europe.

It will be available for $9.99 / €9.99 / £7.99.

The Warriors is based on Walter Hill's 1979 film of the same name. In the game, players are cast as the leader of a gang struggling to regain control of the streets of New York in a dystopian future.

It joins a growing catalog of PlayStation 2-era Rockstar Games titles coming to PSN, following Manhunt, Bully, Red Dead Revolver, and multiplayer Grand Theft Auto and Midnight Club games.

Konami today announced the Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance Ultimate Edition, a premium digital bundle that includes the full game and all downloadable content for $64.

The Ultimate Edition is available now for PlayStation 3 through the PlayStation Network. PlayStation Plus subscribers can grab the game for $44.79.

No mention was made of a release for Xbox 360 and a Konami representative was not immediately available to comment.

Downloadable content bundled with the Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance Ultimate Edition includes the Cyborg Ninja Armor Skin, Metal Gear Solid Solid 4 Raiden Skin, Commando Armor Skin, White Armor Skin, Inferno Armor Skin, VR Missions, Jetstream, and Blade Wolf.

Gamers hoping to bring their library of Xbox Live Arcade games with them to the Xbox One are out of luck. Microsoft has confirmed that these games will not carry over to the next-generation platform.

"Those games will continue to run on your Xbox 360 for as long as your Xbox 360 runs," Microsoft Game Studios VP Phil Spencer told GameSpot. "The box is not backward compatible and we think for somebody who invests in a large digital library that you want to keep your [Xbox 360]. Keep that as a vibrant part of the ecosystem."

Continuing to play on an Xbox 360 while others are on Xbox One won't be an alienating experience, Spencer said, because friends lists and achievements will remain constant between both platforms.

"That's why we've made sure that your identity, your friends, are constant between both platforms. You don't have a separate identity on Xbox one or [Xbox 360]; it's the same, you are you," Spencer said. "My friend's network is the same on both boxes, my achievements are the same. So we think that service component is an important component to keep constant across both devices."

The Xbox One not only does not support XBLA titles, but it will not be backwards compatible with Xbox 360 games.

Check out GameSpot's full Xbox One conversation with Spencer for more on used games, the platform's Internet requirements, and new business models.

The wide-ranging deal Microsoft and the National Football League (NFL) announced yesterday during the Xbox One event is worth an estimated $400 million over five years, according to sources speaking with the Associated Press.

As part of the multiyear agreement, Microsoft will have the rights to create "exclusive interactive experiences" through Xbox One and its Surface tablet line. As shown yesterday during the Xbox One reveal presentation, the NFL on Xbox One will allow for new viewing experiences made possible through Skype and Xbox Smartglass.

In addition, Microsoft said its deal with the NFL will be a boon for fantasy football enthusiasts. NFL on Xbox One will enable users to view live games and simultaneously interact with a personalized NFL destination that features player, team, and game information.

"When we started working with [NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell] and the team at the NFL we knew that we could create great new experiences that fans would love," Xbox boss Don Mattrick said in a statement. "This partnership will redefine NFL experiences through exclusive and interactive content that you will find only on Xbox. For fans, the NFL on Xbox will provide the most complete way to enjoy live football by bringing the first fully-integrated fantasy football experience to the TV, exclusively through Xbox."

The Microsoft-NFL agreement will extend beyond the TV screen and into the real world. As part of the deal, NFL coaches will be given Surface tablets to "enhance on-field communications, photo viewing, and play calling." Microsoft believes this could change the way the classic sport is played.

"Microsoft and the NFL envision a sideline of the future with players reviewing in-game photos from different camera angles directly from the sideline and head coaches calling plays off connected Surface tablets instead of today's static paper products," Microsoft said in a statement. "With Microsoft technology, NFL coaches, players, and other personnel will have the technology they need to improve decision-making and on-field performance."

Another result of the partnership will be Surface branding appearing on NFL sidelines on the hoods of the official on-field NFL instant replay stations. In addition, the deal reaffirms the Xbox as "The Official Game Console of the NFL," makes Microsoft "The Official Sideline Technology Sponsor of the NFL," and Surface and Windows will become "The Official Tablet and PC Operating System of the NFL."

Speaking with GameSpot at the Xbox One reveal event, executive Phil Spencer said Microsoft understands the importance of the secondhand market in the overall console ecosystem.

He declined to go into specifics regarding how used games will be supported on the Xbox One, but did make clear that the secondhand market "is a design criteria" for the next-gen Xbox.

"So we'll talk about some of the 'how' at a later date, but I will say that we understand the importance of the secondary market," Spencer said. "The secondary market was important in the current generation. We designed Xbox One understanding secondary market would be important in the new generation as well. We'll share more details, but people should know that it is a design criteria for us on the new box."

Microsoft told Wired yesterday that the Xbox One will require secondhand users pay a fee to play used games. This fee has not been specified and Microsoft's official stance is that the platform has been designed "to enable our customers to trade in and resell games at retail."

More from GameSpot's conversation with Spencer will be published later today. This interview was conducted by GameSpot executive editor Justin Calvert during the Xbox One announcement event in Redmond, Washington yesterday.

Microsoft has suggested its iconic studio Rare could be working on a new Xbox One game based on one of its classic franchises.

Microsoft Studios executive Phil Spencer told Polygon during the announcement of its next-generation Xbox One that "fans of Rare and Rare IP I think will be pleased with what we're going to show at E3."

Xbox One will see 15 exclusives within its first year on sale, and 8 new IPs--some of which Microsoft intends to show off at E3 2013 in June.

Spencer said that Rare remains important to Microsoft. "We had a limited amount of time today and a lot of story to tell. But Rare remains an incredibly important part of our development capability."

"That historic IP that they've built I think can play a real important role on Xbox One," added Spencer, though he gave no clues as to what IP he was referring to.

Microsoft last year announced that it has renewed the Killer Instinct trademark, the fighting series that saw its last installment in 1996 on the Nintendo 64.

As for Rare's more immediate history, the developer released Perfect Dark Zero as a launch title for the Xbox 360, but the series has not continued outside of an 2010 XBLA version of the original Perfect Dark. The company also launched the Kinect Sports and Viva Pinata franchises on Xbox 360, as well as Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts.

Crytek's Kinect-enhanced brawler Ryse will launch exclusively on Xbox One, the developer has confirmed. The information was revealed via an updated website for the game, with a countdown clock ticking to June 10, the same day Microsoft will hold its 2013 Electronic Entertainment Expo briefing.

The description for Ryse says gamers will "Fight as a soldier. Lead as a general. Rise as a legend." Once a Kinect-exclusive, it now appears Ryse's motion-control features are only complementary to traditional controller-oriented gameplay.

"Controller-based gameplay enhanced by Kinect," reads the game's description.

Microsoft announced yesterday that it will release 15 exclusive titles for the Xbox One during the platform's first year. Eight of these titles will be all-new franchises.

According to a past report, Ryse will be a launch title for the Xbox One. The Roman-themed action game was announced in 2010 for Xbox 360 as "Codename Kingdoms."

Though Microsoft's future is the Xbox One, the platform holder is not leaving the Xbox 360 behind anytime soon.

Microsoft Game Studios executive Phil Spencer told GameSpot that the company will support the platform for "years to come" and even has a "huge" Xbox 360 announcement in the works for next month's Electronic Entertainment Expo.

"I think the [Xbox 360] is going to be very vibrant for many years. In fact, we have a huge, I think it's huge, [Xbox 360] announcement for E3 that I keep wanting to talk about, but I can't," Spencer said. "I think it will surprise people. I loved what we did last year with Minecraft; bring Minecraft to the box; six million units later it's kind of a beast. I think there's a lot of life in the [Xbox 360] for years to come."

Over 77 million Xbox 360 units have been sold worldwide to date and Xbox Live membership stands at over 46 million users.

Microsoft is not the only company that plans to support current-generation platforms well into the future. Yesterday, Electronic Arts CFO Blake Jorgensen said the Battlefield and FIFA publisher will continue to support Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Wii through 2017 at least.

More from GameSpot's conversation with Spencer will be published later today. This interview was conducted by GameSpot executive editor Justin Calvert during the Xbox One announcement event in Redmond, Washington yesterday.

The much-praised 2011 Mortal Kombat reboot is coming to PC.

Publisher Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment announced today that Mortal Kombat Komplete Edition for PC will launch digitally July 3 with a release at retail slated for August 6.

Exclusive images of the game are available below.

Mortal Kombat on PC will include all previously released downloadable content, including warriors like Skarlet, Kenshi, Rain, and Freddy Krueger.

In addition, all modes and features found in the console version of Mortal Kombat have made their way over to the PC iteration. The game also supports the Mortal Kombat Tournament Edition Fight Stick for "full controller capability."

NetherRealm Studios handed off development on the PC version to High Voltage Software, the independent studio behind The Conduit, Kinect Star Wars, and various licensed games.

Microsoft has confirmed over Twitter that only Xbox One controllers and accessories will be supported on the next-generation platform. The Xbox 360 controllers and accessories players already own will not work on the new platform.

"To deliver consistent, meaningful gameplay to all users, only Xbox One controllers/accessories work w/Xbox One," Microsoft said.

This is not much of a surprise, as the Xbox One boasts a redesigned and updated controller, as well as a next-generation version of the Kinect sensor.

Microsoft also has addressed the Xbox One's Kinect requirement. In a Q&A blog post, the company said it is requiring Kinect with every Xbox One because the technology is "essential" to the next-generation platform.

"The all new Kinect is now an essential and integrated part of the platform," Microsoft said. "By having it as a consistent part of every Xbox One, game and entertainment creators can build experiences that assume the availability of voice, gesture and natural sensing, leading to unrivaled ease of use, premium experiences and interactivity for you."