Sterne Agee's Arvind Bhatia says upcoming open-world game has opportunity to perform "substantianlly better" than GTAIV due to larger installed base.

Grand Theft Auto V has the potential to sell 18-20 million units by the end of Take-Two's fiscal year in March 2014, according to Sterne Agee analyst Arvind Bhatia.

The game has the opportunity to perform "substantially better" than 2008's Grand Theft Auto IV because the console installed base is now an estimated three times larger, Bhatia said in a note to investors.

Worldwide Xbox 360 sales stand at 78.2 million, while Sony has sold an estimated 78 million PlayStation 3 units since launch, meaning GTAV will release on platforms owned by more than 156 million gamers across the world.

According to Bhatia's data, GTAIV sold-in 11 million units in its first month and more than 13 million units in the first 9 months following release. The game has sold 25 million copies to date.

GTAV launches September 17 worldwide only on Xbox 360 and PS3. For more, check out GameSpot's previous coverage.

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2K reveals $100 collector's edition for upcoming wrestling game will feature Undertaker on the cover.

2K today announced the $100 WWE 2K14 Phenom Edition, a collector's bundle that features iconic wrestler Undertaker on its cover. The collector's edition will be available at launch on October 29 for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

The WWE 2K14 Phenom Edition includes a tin coffin box, collectible art card personally autographed by Undertaker, and the Undertaker "American Badass" playable character.

In addition, the premium bundle packs in the WWE Undertaker - The Streak movie, as well as Ultimate Warrior as a playable character. All preorders for WWE 2K14 will receive Ultimate Warrior as a playable character on launch day.

WWE 2K14 launches October 29 in North America and November 1 internationally.

2K parent company Take-Two Interactive acquired the World Wrestling Entertainment license for video games earlier this year following THQ's bankruptcy. The multiyear licensing agreement will see WWE games continue to be developed by Yuke's.

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Former Epic Games design director Cliff Bleszinski shows off "sneak peek" of something he has been working on.

Former Epic Games design director Cliff Bleszinski has released a teaser image for a new project he is working on.

"Here's a sneak peek at something I'm working on that has been cropped," Bleszinski wrote on Twitter early this morning, accompanied with the image at right.

Bleszinski did not reveal any further details, and it isn't clear if the industry veteran is working on the project himself or with a team, or if the image is related to a game at all.

The developer teased a new intellectual property--codenamed Silverstreak--in December, saying at the time that he was "gestating slowly" on the game.

Bleszinski left Epic Games in October after 20 years. Since leaving the company, Bleszinski has visited the offices of Activision, Zynga, Double Fine, and Electronic Arts. He has also met with God of War and Twisted Metal designer David Jaffe and been courted by Ubisoft.

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Listing for XCOM: Enemy Within appears on South Korean rating board, with publisher 2K confirming an announcement for August 21.

XCOM publisher 2K has confirmed that a new title, which is believed to be titled XCOM: Enemy Within, will be announced during Gamescom 2013.

2K's formal announcement will be made on August 21.

XCOM: Enemy Within was previously spotted on South Korea's rating board (spotted by CVG), with listings for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC.

No details about the title, such as whether it is DLC for XCOM: Enemy Unknown or an entirely new game, was provided.

Civilization maker Firaxis developed 2012's XCOM: Enemy Unknown, which received both critical and commercial success. The game has recently been released on iOS devices.

During PAX East in March, Firaxis teased a new project that looked similar to XCOM.

"XCOM: Enemy Unknown is a wonderful and worthy strategy game with a layer of campy charm that makes the stone-faced seriousness of the game's characters all the more endearing," said reviewer Kevin VanOrd in GameSpot's review of XCOM: Enemy Unknown.

2K's next shot at the XCOM franchise, shooter spin-off The Bureau: XCOM Declassified, will be released on August 20.

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Microsoft details community-powered reputation system for next-gen console that aims to help "filter out" users gamers don't want to play with.

Microsoft's new reputation system for Xbox Live on Xbox One promises "no more cheats or jerks." In a blog post, Xbox Live program manager Michael Dunn explained that the new community-powered system will help "filter out" users that gamers do not want to play with.

"No question that Xbox Live is a distinct community of passionate gamers. We love that. But just like in life, there are all types of people--some shy, some polite, some aggressive, some snarky, some annoying, and some that can’t avoid swearing at #$%^ happens to them," Dunn said. "Most Xbox Live players are polite online and know how to socially adjust to people they're playing with. But not everyone does this. And, it can be challenging to pick up on social cues when you are connected online and not face-to-face in the same room."

This is why Microsoft conceived the new reputation system for Xbox One. The new model will "expose" people who "aren't fun to be around" and will implement "real consequences" for gamers who harass others.

To do this, Microsoft will include actions like "block" or "mute player" into the feedback model. This model will take a player's online ratings and put it into a system with a "crazy algorithm" created by Microsoft and "validated" by a Microsoft Research PhD.

A player's reputation score will determine which category they are assigned to: "Green = Good Player," "Yellow = Needs Improvement," or "Red = Avoid Me." Gamers will be able to view this data by looking at someone's gamer card.

"And, your reputation score is ultimately up to you. The more hours you play online without being a jerk, the better your reputation will be," Dunn said. "Similar to the more hours you drive without an accident, the better your driving record and insurance rates will be."

Overall, Dunn said most players will have good reputations, as the algorithm is designed to identify players who are "repeatedly disruptive" on Xbox Live. Dunn described the algorithm as "sophisticated" and one that won't penalize players for "a few bad reports."

"Even good players might receive a few player feedback reports each month and that is OK," Dunn said. "The algorithm weighs the data collected so if a dozen people suddenly reporting a single user, the system will look at a variety of factors before docking their reputation. We'll verify if those people actually played in an online game with the person reported--if not, all of those player's feedback won't matter as much as a single person who spent 15 minutes playing with the reported person. The system also looks at the reputation of the person reporting and the alleged offender, frequency of reports from a single user and, a number of other factors."

Dunn did not detail any of the "real consequences" gamers will suffer if they are found to be harassing other players.

The $500 Xbox One launches in November.

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Sony's sales come in flat year-on-year as declining sales and PS4 development costs eat into budget, though company expects a significant increase in sales in the coming months.

The costs of developing the PlayStation 4 has taken a bite out of Sony's revenue, with the PlayStation division posting a $149 million (£98.4m) loss in the company's latest financials.

As Sony prepares itself for the PlayStation 4's global launch later this year, the company confirmed that fewer PlayStation 3s, PlayStation 2s and PSPs were sold between April and June 2013 than this time last year. Sony did not specifically mention the Vita.

In a slide to investors, Sony also stated that the PlayStation 4 received "accolades" from the company's showing at E3.

PS2 and PS3 hardware sold 1.1 million units combined, down from last year's 2.8 million. Vita and PSP sales stood at 0.6 million, down from 1.4 million this time last year.

Sony's sales of games saw an increase, however, rising from 43 million last year to 64 million this year. The company's launch of The Last of Us at the start of June likely contributed to the sales bump.

Overall, Sony's game division was flat year-on-year, with $1.2 billion (£792 million) in sales.

Looking to the future, Sony expects its games division to see sales that "increase significantly."

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Two multiplayer packs and one single-player chapter in the works for PlayStation 3 exclusive.

The first details about DLC for The Last of Us will be revealed in August, developer Naughty Dog has said.

Taking part in a Reddit AMA, The Last of Us game director Bruce Straley and creative director Neil Druckmann spoke briefly about the DLC when asked. "There's stuff in the pipe’ to be talked about soon-ish" followed by the confirmation that "news is on the way about the first DLC drop. Should hear about it this month."

Two chunks of multiplayer DLC and a new story chapter have been promised for The Last of Us, and will be available as part of the game's season pass. The pair confirmed that some characters from the campaign would return for the DLC, but that Naughty Dog wasn't sure who. "Still trying to figure it out ourselves." said Druckmann.

Elsewhere in the discussion, Druckmann and Straley said that the team went over "about three or four ideas" for The Last of Us' ending "before finding the ending that worked best for the story we wanted to tell."

Druckmann and Straley added that they will go over some of the alternate The Last of Us endings during a panel at PAX Prime, which takes place in Seattle between August 30 - September 2.

For more information on The Last of Us, check out GameSpot's previous coverage.

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