No Next-gen Delays, The Last of Us TV Show

AMD on Console Delays

AMD don’t expect any next-gen delays

AMD just revealed new details about the upcoming next-generation consoles at their Financial Analyst Day event.

PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X will both use AMD’s RDNA2 GPU architecture, and according to AMD work on RDNA2 is on-schedule, suggesting they will not cause any delays to the new consoles.

There have been rumours that the PlayStation 5 would use an existing GPU architecture, but AMD has clearly put paid to that speculation. Both consoles will feature hardware-accelerated ray tracing, which should offer a considerable leap in graphic fidelity over the current generation, and facilitate new approaches to rendering.

• Ray tracing was one of the first hardware features announced for PlayStation 5
• There have been worries that COVID-19 could disrupt the launch of both next-gen consoles

Console war is heating up again: Microsoft has already announced much of the Xbox Series X hardware (except the final clockspeeds for any of the parts), while Sony has been considerably less candid.

Power parity: There has been speculation that PlayStation 5 could be less powerful than Xbox Series X, but since both consoles use similar GPUs it seems reasonable to assume their performance will be very similar.

Time For A Quick Daily Quiz?

What was Naughty Dog’s first name?

• JAM Software
• Muse Software
• Ready at Dawn Studios
• Chaos Studios, Inc

The answer will be revealed at the bottom of today’s issue. Join up with our community on Twitter and Facebook to discuss what the answer could be.

Daily Fact

Sucker Punch History

Sucker Punch wasn’t always a Sony powerhouse: The company was founded in 1997 by former Microsoft employees working on productivity software.

Their first game Rocket Robot on Wheels was for Nintendo 64, and didn’t work with Sony until they signed character platformer Sly Cooper in 2000. No matter how you look at it, going from office applications at Microsoft to creating one of the most anticipated games for Sony is quite a journey!

Join up with our community on Twitter and Facebook to discuss today’s fact.

Ghost of Tsushima Dated

Ghost of Tsushima has a release date

Sony has finally announced a release date for Ghost of Tsushima: June 26th.

Sucker Punch Productions has also released a story trailer alongside details on the Special, Collectors and Digital Deluxe editions of the game. Pre-order any edition to receive an avatar, digital soundtrack and a dynamic theme for PlayStation 4.

The new trailer shows more of hero Jin Sakai as well as the people and places he encounters on his journey. There are also glimpses of gameplay, including horseback riding, stealth sequences and shots of the invading mongol army.

• Ghost of Tsushima features both English and Japanese voice-over tracks
• This is Sucker Punch Productions’ third PlayStation 4 game, the last being Infamous Last Light from 2014

Not delayed after all: Many assumed that Ghost of Tsushima would be delayed since Sony had been silent about it for a while. It’s also pretty surprising that it will launch just one month after The Last Of Us 2.

Busy months ahead: The next months will be expensive and time-consuming for PlayStation 4 owners: Nioh 2 in March, Final Fantasy VII Remake in April, The Last of Us 2 in May and finally Ghost of Tsushima in June.

The Last of Us TV Series

The Last of Us TV series from HBO

Naughty Dog and PlayStation Productions have announced a TV adaptation of The Last of Us in collaboration with HBO.

The project will be headed up by Craig Mazin, who recently acted as writer and executive producer on the acclaimed min-series Chernobyl. Naughty Dog’s Neil Druckmann will also act as executive producer and work alongside Mazin to adapt the game for TV.

”Getting a chance to adapt this breathtaking work of art has been a dream of mine for years, and I’m so honored to do it in partnership with Neil,” said Mazin. The Last of Us is the first television project from PlayStation Productions, who is also producing the upcoming Uncharted movie.

• Produced by HBO, Sony Pictures Television and PlayStation Productions
• HBO has not announced the cast yet, but fans are already discussing their picks, and tend to favor Kaitlyn Dever as Ellie and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as Joel

Druckmann on Mazin: “From the first time I sat down to talk with Craig I was equally blown away by his approach to narrative and his love and deep understanding of The Last of Us. With Chernobyl, Craig and HBO created a tense, harrowing, emotional masterpiece. I couldn’t think of better partners to bring the story of The Last of Us to life as a television show.”

What Else Happened Today?

• A World Betrayed is the latest Total War: Three Kingdoms expansion, and Creative Assembly has just released a new trailer for it
• Zombie Army Trilogy coming to Switch on March 31st
• Dead by Daylight: Chains of Hate trailer shows off the new killer Cabel Quinn – The Deathslinger
• Bungie allows all employees to work from home following a COVID-19 outbreak in the Seattle area, where Bungie’s headquarters is located
• 2020 International Challenge April announced for Pokemon Sword & Shield, the fourth online competition since the game launched last year

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Broomstick League Early Acess Code on Steam

You could be in with a chance to receive a Steam early access code for Broomstick League, if you refer DailyBits to a friend! You can use our widget to start earning your referrals, which you can build up throughout the year giving you a greater chance of being selected.

Broomstick League is entering into early access on Steam today for $5 or £5, and we’ve got codes to hand out today; note that there’s no region restrictions for this one.

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Quiz Answer - Did You Get It Right?

What was Naughty Dog’s first name?

Answer: JAM Software!

Naughty Dog is most famous for their work on PlayStation, but they’ve been around for much longer. The company was founded as JAM Software in the mid-80s and their first project was edutainment title Math Jam.

The company decided to change their name after they stopped working with Baudville and struck a deal with Electronic Arts, and their first console game was the 1991 Genesis title Rings of Power.

Naughty Dog finally hit its stride in the mid-90s with Crash Bandicoot, which became one of the PlayStation’s biggest hits. Sony eventually bought the studio, paving the way for series like Jak and Daxter, Uncharted and The Last of Us.

Today’s issue of DailyBits was written by Ken McKown, Gavin Herman, Erlend Grefsrud, Christian Vaz and Jamie Davey.