Wednesday, August 16, 2017

The latest News from GameSpot News On 08/17/2017

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The latest News from GameSpot

In the 08/17/2017 edition:

PlayStation Experience 2017 Date Announced, First Tickets Now Available

By Chris Pereira on Aug 17, 2017 12:21 am

Sony's annual gaming convention, PlayStation Experience, will return this year. PSX 2017 has been dated, and those hoping to attend the PS4-focused event can buy tickets right now.

PSX 2017 runs from December 9-10 at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California, the same venue as last year's show. The first batch of early-bird, two-day tickets are on sale right now at a discounted rate of $65; standard two-day tickets will go for $75. Either way, you'll need to be at least 18 to attend, and no children or babies are allowed.

Those who purchase early-bird tickets will be entitled to attend a "special event" on December 8 that will allow attendees "to get up-close and personal with game developers and PlayStation personalities."

PSX will again coincide with the conclusion of Capcom Cup 2017, the ongoing Street Fighter V competition. Its Grand Finals will be held on the night of December 10, with more details to come.

Specifics of what games or developers will attend PSX 2017 have not been announced. Sony said it will share more details about all of this in the "coming weeks." PSX 2016 featured some major announcements, including The Last of Us: Part 2, Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, and Marvel Vs. Capcom: Infinite.


Pokemon Go's Pikachu Event Drew 2 Million Players, Here's How It Avoided Issues

By Kevin Knezevic on Aug 17, 2017 12:14 am

Pokemon Go's series of summer live events got off to a rocky start with last month's Pokemon Go Fest in Chicago. Due to the high volume of attendees, the event was plagued by technical issues that prevented many players from being able to even log in to the game. Pokemon Go developer Niantic applied the lessons it learned from that meet-up for the game's most recent real-world event, last week's Pikachu Outbreak in Japan, which would turn out to be much more successful.

The event, which took place over the course of seven days last week in Yokohama, attracted over 2 million attendees, who would go on to catch over 120 million Pokemon. To prepare for the massive number of players, Niantic says it "had all of the major Japanese carriers on notice" and that the carriers "turned out in force to keep the data flowing."

Similarly, the developer organized the event to encourage players to continually explore. Niantic says it "carefully" distributed rare Pokemon such as Unown, Chansey, Larvitar, and Shiny Pikachu throughout the entire area, giving attendees an incentive to "move through the greater festival area rather than staying in a single location."

The event culminated in a battle with the game's newest Legendary Pokemon, Mewtwo. Niantic says this encounter, too, was "tightly scripted" to ensure it ran smoothly. The developer undertook special work in order to "segment the servers for this finale raid to enable the best play experience." As a result, the developer was able to avoid the problems that mired Pokemon Go Fest, and players successfully defeated the Legendary Psychic Pokemon and unlocked him in Exclusive Raid Battles in the near future.

More Pokemon Go live events are still planned this summer. Following a delay, players in Europe will be able to attend special Pokemon Go Safari Zone events at Unibail-Rodamco shopping centers across the continent this month. You can find the full list of participating cities here. Meanwhile, players have another chance to encounter the game's first four Legendary Pokemon--Lugia, Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres--in Raid Battles around the world until August 31. The rare Shiny Pikachu that premiered at last week's Pikachu Outbreak event is also available to capture worldwide.


Playerunknown's Battlegrounds Patches Will Be Released Less Frequently

By Kevin Knezevic on Aug 17, 2017 12:12 am

Since Playerunknown's Battlegrounds' Early Access release this past March, developer Bluehole has supported the immensely popular title with a steady stream of patches and updates. Now, however, the developer has announced that new updates for the game will be rolling out less frequently until its official release.

Bluehole discussed the change in a post on the game's Steam forums. According to the developer, the reason behind the decision is to "improve how we work on the game."

"We've found internally that being rushed to finish certain features, and having shorter QA test time between pushing updates caused more issues than it solved in regards to maintaining a high standard of quality," Bluehole said. "We want to put our best content out, and ensure that everything we do is making the game more enjoyable with every update."

But while updates may not be coming as frequently as they once did, Bluehole says it will "utilize the test servers for significantly longer periods of time" and still issue patches and any other fixes when necessary. This approach allows the developer to ensure any new features are "thoroughly polished" before they are introduced to the game.

Despite the change in its update schedule, Bluehole assures that the full release for Playerunknown's Battlegrounds is "still on-track" to arrive during its revised launch window. Initially, the game was scheduled to officially release on PC by the end of October, though it was recently pushed back to "before the end of Q4 2017." The game is also slated to go into Early Access on Xbox One late this year. Playerunknown himself, Brendan Greene, will be hosting a panel about the game during Gamescom next week.


Mission: Impossible 6 Production Delayed Following Tom Cruise Stunt Accident

By Dan Auty on Aug 17, 2017 12:09 am

The production of Mission: Impossible 6 has shut down following an on-set accident involving star Tom Cruise. It has been reported that it could be up to three months before the movie starts shooting once more.

According to Variety, the London-based production will be paused for "six weeks to three months" to give Cruise time to recover from his injuries. While there has no been no official statement from Paramount about the accident, Variety's sources suggest that Cruise may have "broken his ankle in two places and hurt his hip."

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Cruise injured himself last weekend while performing a stunt which required him to jump a gap between two buildings. The 55-year-old actor is known for performing many of his own stunts across the entire Mission: Impossible series.

The movie currently has a release date of July 27, 2018. Although it is unknown whether the film's release will need to move back, Variety suggests that it could still make the the release date if the post-production process begins during the downtime.

Nevertheless, the busy schedules for co-stars Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, and Henry Cavill will be an issue for Paramount. The schedule clash between M:I6 and reshoots on DC's Justice League has been in the news recently, when it was revealed that Cavill--who also plays Superman in DC's movies--would have to have his M:I6 mustache digitally removed from Justice League.

M:I6 suffered delays last year before production had even begun. It was originally set to start shooting last year, but a dispute over Cruise's contract led to it being postponed until this summer.


New Uncharted 4 Update Adds Lost Legacy Character And More To Multiplayer

By Eddie Makuch on Aug 16, 2017 11:43 pm

Uncharted 4: A Thief's End may be more than a year old, but developer Naughty Dog is not finished supporting the celebrated PlayStation 4 game just yet. An update due out on August 22 adds a character from Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, Asav, along with skins for Chloe and Nadine based on their appearances in the upcoming standalone game.

Asav, the new character, is the antagonist of The Lost Legacy. He's playable in Uncharted 4's Survival and Multiplayer modes, and he has "uniquely menacing VO."

Also new for Uncharted 4 with the August 22 update will be the Survival Arena. It's a spin on on the Survival mode that introduces "over 100 new waves" with never-before-seen enemy types, Siege zones, and other wave modifiers. People who successfully clear the waves will get items like the Savage Starlight Skeleton skin.

As announced previously, The Lost Legacy includes Uncharted 4's multiplayer mode, and Lost Legacy players will be grouped with owners of the main game.

In other Uncharted news, Naughty Dog has announced new iOS Message stickers based on The Lost Legacy. Chloe and Nadine are represented, of course, and one of the stickers shows Nadine saying, "YAS QUEEN !!!"

The Lost Legacy, a standalone game where you play as Chloe, launches for PS4 on August 22. Keep checking back with GameSpot for more.


Sonic Mania: Collector's Edition PS4 Giveaway (UK Only)

By Sheiva Yazdani on Aug 16, 2017 11:30 pm

We're giving away Sonic Mania: Collector's Edition on PS4 (open to United Kingdom residents only)! One (1) winner will be chosen after the giveaway closes on Sunday, August 20th at 12:00 PM Pacific.

The Sonic Mania: Collector's Edition includes:

  • Deluxe "SEGA Genesis" style Collector's Box
  • 12" Classic Sonic Statue featuring SEGA Genesis Base
  • Flip the power switch to trigger the "SEEGAA" startup audio!
  • Metallic Collector's Card with Sonic Mania Download Code (digital game code)
  • SEGA Cartridge Cast with Golden Ring

To see what score we gave Sonic Mania, read our review here.

Enter below and you can gain additional entries:


Sonic Mania: Collector's Edition Xbox One Giveaway (US Only)

By Sheiva Yazdani on Aug 16, 2017 11:30 pm

We're giving away Sonic Mania: Collector's Edition on Xbox One (open to United States residents only)! One (1) winner will be chosen after the giveaway closes on Sunday, August 20th at 12:00 PM Pacific.

The Sonic Mania: Collector's Edition includes:

  • Deluxe "SEGA Genesis" style Collector's Box
  • 12" Classic Sonic Statue featuring SEGA Genesis Base
  • Flip the power switch to trigger the "SEEGAA" startup audio!
  • Metallic Collector's Card with Sonic Mania Download Code (digital game code)
  • SEGA Cartridge Cast with Golden Ring

To see what score we gave Sonic Mania, read our review here.

Enter below and you can gain additional entries:


Agents Of Mayhem Review Roundup

By Oscar Dayus on Aug 16, 2017 10:56 pm

Volition, the developer of open-world action series Saints Row, has a new game out. It's not a Saints Row title, though it's remarkably similar. It's called Agents of Mayhem, and as pre-release trailers show, it's got the same blue sense of humor and similar over-the-top open-world combat. It's even got Saints Row favorite Johnny Gat as a pre-order bonus.

The game takes place in a distant future in which the only hope for governments and global corporations are a group of corporately funded super agents--the Agents of Mayhem. Take a look at a bunch of videos below:

After playing it pre-release, we had our doubts, and now final reviews have started to go live. In our verdict, critic Brett Todd said there's "little to Agents of Mayhem beyond its foul-mouthed and bombastic attitude." He went on to say it has "loads of mayhem, but not much else." Read more in our full Agents of Mayhem review.

For a selection of other critics' opinions, check out the roundup below. Alternatively you can take a look at GameSpot sister site Metacritic for a wider view of Agents of Mayhem's critical reception.

  • Game: Agents of Mayhem
  • Developer / Publisher: Volition / Deep Silver
  • Platforms: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC
  • Release: Out now (US), August 18 (Europe, Australia)
  • Price: US $60 / £43 / AU $100

GameSpot -- 4/10

"Personality can only take a broken and repetitive game so far. The attitude behind Agents of Mayhem has potential, at least if it's executed properly. But there's little to Agents of Mayhem beyond its foul-mouthed and bombastic attitude, which push the game into grating and obnoxious territory. Throw in the poor mission design and bugs, and you've got a game with loads of mayhem, but not much else." -- Brett Todd [Full review]

IGN -- 7.1/10

"Agents of Mayhem does a good job paying homage to the cartoon and live-action TV heroes of the '80s and '90s, and revels in the absurd tropes and idiosyncrasies of those inspirations. A broad and goofy arsenal of unique weapons and gadgets and the ability to switch characters on the fly to access complementary abilities offers some solid combat and good mindless fun, but due to some unpolished writing and repetitive environments and enemy types, it doesn't fully live up to its heroic potential." -- Jon Ryan [Full review]

Game Informer -- 8.0/10

"Agents of Mayhem is cheesy, rarely funny, and generally ridiculous, but I was eager to play for long periods of time. The action is frenetic and fun, with room for strategy using all the characters' assorted abilities. Even if Seoul ends up being a bland backdrop, I enjoyed being in the world and causing explosions in [it] at every opportunity." -- Kyle Hilliard [Full review]

Polygon -- 5.5/10

"This has likely started to feel like a litany of sins rather than cogent critique, but it's the best way I have of illustrating Agent of Mayhem's failings. It is not felled by any one thing, but is rather undone by a thousand little cuts. Agents of Mayhem heaps theoretical fun on you. Characters, powers, upgrades, tons of missions--it's desperate to for the player to just have fun. It's a noble impulse, but one that it's depressingly incapable of consistently delivering on." -- Justin McElroy [Full review]

GamesRadar+ -- 4/5

"Variety is something that Agents of Mayhem otherwise has in abundance, thankfully. Whether you're in the mood for action-packed battles on crowded concert stages, upgrading your agents and home base, or going for some breezy, triple-jumping platforming between skyscrapers, new fun is never far off. Then you can return to base, slot in a different trio of heroes, and drop back into Seoul with an all-new team. Mayhem is flawed, but it's also a strong start for an enjoyable and funny series. Would it be presumptuous to say I'm ready for season two?" -- Connor Sheridan [Full review]

Trusted Reviews -- 2.5/5

"Agents of Mayhem would have been a great rental in days gone by, but today it's an experience that's great for a a short while, but doesn't offer enough to keep players invested for the duration of the campaign. I hope Volition does something with these heroes, though, as they're truly great. I just hope they're wrapped up in a more fulfilling experience on par with rivals in the genre on their next outing." -- Brett Phipps [Full review]


For Honor 1.11 Update Adds Characters, Fixes Notorious Exploit; Full Patch Notes Released

By Chris Pereira on Aug 16, 2017 10:55 pm

A major new update for swordfighting game For Honor has been released on all platforms. Along with new content, it also makes some improvements and resolves an exploit that was controversially used to win a recent For Honor esports tournament.

For Honor update 1.11 introduces two new characters. The Highlander is a Viking Hybrid character who hits hard but is challenging to play; he wields a claymore and has Offensive and Defensive stances. The Gladiator is a Knight Assassin with high attack speed who has a trident and is easier to play.

There are also a pair of new maps. The Knight-themed Sentinel is set in a cliffside watchtower and can be played in any game mode. The Viking-themed Viking Village can also be played in all modes, except for Dominion.

As for the exploit, Nobushi's "unlock tech" has been addressed. "There are a number of situations where unlocking during an attack can cause it to become un-parryable by the opponent," Ubisoft explained in the patch notes. "Across the game, we're currently working to remove this unintended behavior."

This is notable in light of a For Honor tournament that took place this past weekend, in which a player, Jakub "SB.Alernakin" Palen, won by taking advantage of Nobushi. He didn't lose a single set en route to taking the $10,000 prize, culminating in what arguably seemed like a contentious trophy ceremony.

The 1.11 update makes a number of other balance changes as well--you can check out all of these in the full patch notes here. With this release, Season 3 is underway, which will see Ubisoft continue trying to fix the game.


More Free Xbox One And Xbox 360 Games Available Now

By Eddie Makuch on Aug 16, 2017 10:43 pm

Xbox Live Gold members can now pick up more free Xbox games as part of the Games With Gold program. Now that it's August 16, Xbox One owners can pick up the wonderful racing/platfoming game Trials Fusion; it'll continue to be free until September 15.

Switching to Xbox 360, Volition's shooter Red Faction: Armageddon is now completely free. Note that this game is playable on Xbox One through the backwards compatibility program.

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Also of note is that the adorable-looking Slime Rancher is free on Xbox One all month.

Runbow was free on Xbox One up until August 15, while Bayonetta was the first of August 2017's free Xbox 360 titles. You can see the full lineup below for August 2017.

In other Xbox Live news, the newest set of weekly Xbox One and Xbox 360 weekly deals have arrived, including discounts on Mass Effect: Andromeda and Fallout 4 expansions. You can see a roundup of some of the deals here.

August 2017 Games With Gold

Xbox One

  • Slime Rancher (August 1-31)
  • Trials Fusion (August 16-September 15)
  • Runbow (July 16-August 15)

Xbox 360

  • Bayonetta (August 1-15)
  • Red Faction: Armageddon (August 16-31)

Street Fighter 5 Getting Fancy DLC Costumes For 30th Anniversary

By Kevin Knezevic on Aug 16, 2017 10:22 pm

Capcom has announced more DLC costumes for Street Fighter V. This batch consists of four new outfits that will release later this month to coincide with the series' 30th anniversary.

Beginning August 29, Street Fighter V players will be able to purchase fancy new threads for M. Bison, Guile, Ibuki, and Karin. Like previous DLC costumes, each one retails for $4 apiece. You can see screenshots of the outfits below.

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Capcom has been offering a regular stream of DLC costumes for Street Fighter V since its release. Last month, Capcom released a trio of retro costumes that were inspired by older Street Fighter titles. The publisher also introduced three sports outfits, as well as a premium Champion's Choice costume for Guile. You can see images of those costumes here.

Street Fighter V's newest DLC character, Abigail, also released last month. The beefy bruiser originally appeared in Capcom's Final Fight series and is the tallest Street Fighter character to date. Abigail can be purchased individually for $6 or as part of the game's $30 Season 2 Character Pass, which also includes Akuma, Kolin, Ed, and one more yet to be revealed character. His home stage, Metro City Bay Area, retails for $4.


Rick And Morty Can No Longer Be Livestreamed For Free

By Dan Auty on Aug 16, 2017 08:47 pm

Adult Swim's acclaimed animated sci-fi comedy Rick and Morty is no longer available to stream for free. The network had offered free livestreams of the first three episodes of the current third season on its website. However, this weekend's Episode 4 was not streamed live and is only available to subscribers.

The network announced this via a tweet, which told viewers that the episode could only be seen with a cable login and instructed pirates to "start your engines." Check it out below:

In a statement to Polygon, the network said, "Adult Swim livestreamed the first two episodes of Rick and Morty to kick off the new season and will continue to offer episodes to view online after they have aired on the network."

Viewers who visited Adult Swim's site on Sunday were instead offered a livestream of actors performing that week's script in deliberately chaotic fashion.

If you have seen Episode 4 of the current season of Rick and Morty, then check out GameSpot's breakdown of the episode. In addition, we are giving away a Weaponized Morty Funko Pop--click here to enter.


Total War: Warhammer 2 Adds A Much-Requested New Race

By Oscar Dayus on Aug 16, 2017 07:30 pm

A new race has been revealed for Total War: Warhammer II, and it's a much-anticipated one. The Skaven are here, and you can take a look at them in the trailer above.

Publisher Sega describes the creatures as a "highly numerous species who inhabit vast subterranean lairs." It continues: "Now, their time of prophecy is upon us, and this verminous Race have emerged to spread pestilence and mayhem across the face of the New World."

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The Skaven join the High Elves, Dark Elves, and the Lizardmen as another playable race. Another, the Norscans, were recently revealed as a pre-order bonus, though you'll also be able to purchase them separately if you don't pre-order.

Creative Assembly has previously announced plans to release an update that combines the campaign maps from Warhammer and Warhammer II that owners of both games will have free access to. This is due out "shortly after" Warhammer II's launch and will support the Norscans along with every other race from the base games and any other DLC races you own.

Warhammer II launches for PC on September 28. Developer Creative Assembly has reassured fans it's also at work on a new historical Total War game. More recently, the developer revealed a new set of Total War spinoff games called Total War Sagas.


Pokemon Sun And Moon Players Can Now Get Another Free Pokemon

By Kevin Knezevic on Aug 16, 2017 07:25 pm

The next Pokemon distribution for Sun and Moon is going on now. Players in the US who visit a participating GameStop store will be able to receive a free code for a "battle-ready" Salazzle.

As revealed earlier this month, the free Salazzle players can pick up from GameStop is level 50 and comes equipped with a Focus Sash, a one-use item that lets the Fire- and Poison-type Pokemon endure an attack that would normally result in a one-hit knockout. It also knows the following four moves:

  • Fake Out
  • Toxic
  • Sludge Bomb
  • Flamethrower

Salazzle is unique among Poison types thanks to its ability, Corrosion, which allows it to poison Pokemon that would normally be immune to the ailment (such as Steel and other Poison types). Its high speed and special attack stats allow it to use Sludge Bomb and Flamethrower effectively, while Focus Sash increases the frail Pokemon's survivability.

To add Salazzle to your team, select Mystery Gift from the games' menu screen and choose to receive your gift "via code/password." Input the code you received from GameStop and you'll be able to pick your Salazzle up from the deliveryman waiting inside any of the game's Pokemon Centers. GameStop will be distributing codes until September 4.

Salazzle isn't the only freebie Pokemon Sun and Moon can get right now. Nintendo is also giving away another batch of free Mega Stones via Mystery Gift. These four stones allow Gardevoir, Gallade, Lopunny, and Diancie to Mega Evolve during battle. Nintendo hasn't announced when the Mega Stone distribution will end, so players looking to add the items to their collections should download them soon.


Diablo 3 Update Out Now For Some, Here's What It Does

By Array on Aug 16, 2017 05:36 pm

Diablo III has received a big update for its public test realm on PC, bringing with it a bunch of balance changes. A number of abilities have been strengthened in the 2.6.1 patch, buffing their corresponding classes.

The Barbarian's Bloodshed effect has been "redesigned," for example, and it now deals damage "equal to 20% of your recent Critical Hits to enemies within 20 yards every second." The Crusader's limitless effect has also been overhauled, and will from now on increase the damage of Blessed Hammer to 640% and increase its area of effect by 20 yards.

The Necromancer has received a number of changes, though bear in mind that to test them, you will need to have purchased the class in the live game, as the ability to purchase it in the PTR has been disabled. Take a look at all the class's changed below. Elsewhere, developer Blizzard says many Legendary and Set items have had their drop chance increased, while many more have seen their damage effect go up.

Take a look at the full patch notes, via Blizzard, at the bottom of this article. Blizzard states that "this isn't the final version of the patch notes and that some changes may not be documented or described in full detail."

The last patch, 2.6.0, brought with it the Rise of the Necromancer pack, which added the new Necromancer class. It also introduced Challenge Rifts (weekly static dungeons that have you playing as a set character), new zones (The Moors and The Temple of the Firstborn, both found in Act 2 in Adventure mode), and new Realms of Fate bounties (which are located at new waypoints on the map).

In our verdict, we thought Rise of the Necromancer was "a fantastic character pack that adds one of the best, most enjoyable classes to the existing game roster." Read more in our full Diablo III: Rise of the Necromancer review.

Diablo III Update 2.6.1 PTR Patch Notes

Classes

  • Barbarian Skills
    • Battle Rage
      • Bloodshed
        • Has been redesigned:
        • Deal damage equal to 20% of your recent Critical Hits to enemies within 20 yards every 1 second.
        • Note: Bloodshed caused performance issues when encountering high enemy density, particularly when combined with Whirlwind, Pain Enhancer, and Gem of Efficacious Toxin.
  • Crusader Skills
    • Blessed Hammer
      • Limitless
        • Has been redesigned:
        • Increase the damage of Blessed Hammer to 640% weapon damage as Holy and increase its area of effect by 20 yards.
        • Note: The extra projectiles created by this rune were causing performance issues in cases with high enemy density.
  • Necromancer Skills
    • Command Skeletons
      • Commanding your Skeletal Warriors will break crowd control effects on them
      • Skeletal Warriors will no longer die after taking too many hits
      • Design Philosophy: When we were first designing Command Skeletons, we wanted to capture the feeling of being an undead commander by having skeletons regularly spawn around the Necromancer and charge into battle during combat. It created a cool visual, but as the class evolved through Set bonuses and Legendary powers, it became clear that this visual began to hinder gameplay for some builds. Skeletal Warriors now have the same defenses as all other pets in the game.
    • Devour
      • Voracious
        • Resource cost reduction stacks granted from this rune will now stack and are no longer overridden from multiple casts.
    • Simulacrum
      • Added a glow to the skill icon to indicate when Simulacrum is active.
    • Skeletal Mage
      • This skill will now display the duration of the oldest mage raised as a buff in addition to the total number of mages active
      • Design Philosophy: This change is largely to provide transparency to players on the duration of their mage armor. This will be especially useful to players using the Bones of Rathma set. It's our goal that players will no longer feel compelled to refresh their Skeletal Mage counter when they're already at max.
    • Bone Armor
      • Essence cost removed.
      • Can now be cast while moving.
    • Army of the Dead
      • Frozen Army
        • The pulsing damage from this rune has been spread out
        • Design Philosophy: This was done to ensure enemies within range are evenly hit and to better align with the visual. This will result in more targets being hit more consistently for the stated weapon damage amount.
  • Necromancer Passives
    • Fueled By Death
      • The movement speed bonus from this passive can now exceed the 25% cap
  • Witch Doctor Skills
    • Soul Harvest
      • Adding a stack or refreshing Soul Harvest now refreshes all stacks of Soul Harvest.
  • Bug Fixes
    • Fixed an issue which prevented Army of the Dead from sometimes triggering when the player is immediately afflicted by a monster's crowd control after casting it
    • Fixed an issue where enemy monsters could heal themselves when striking another monster afflicted by Leech
    • Fixed a bug which caused Skeletal Mages to sometimes spawn up in the air
    • Fixed an issue where the firewall left behind by Arcane Orb – Scorch was not dealing damage
    • Fixed an issue which caused Skeletal Mages to lose their target when players used Command Skeletons to attack the same target
    • Fixed an issue which caused connection issues when players used a channeling skill while attempting to force move at the same time

Items

  • General
    • Many Legendary and Set items have had their drop chance increased

Legendary Items

  • Barbarian
    • Bracers of Destruction
      • Seismic Slam deals 300–400% 400-500% increased damage to the first 5 enemies it hits.
    • Bracers of the First Men
      • Hammer of the Ancients attacks 50% faster and deals 150–200%300-400% increased damage.
    • Fury of the Vanished Peak
      • No longer rolls Legendary-strength bonus to Seismic Slam damage as an inherent affix. Can still roll 10-15% as a random affix.
      • Reduces the Fury cost of Seismic Slam by 40-50% and increases its damage by 400-500%.
      • Note: Existing versions of this item will also be changed to include the damage roll in the orange text, but will always roll a damage roll equal to the previous maximum possible.
    • Gavel of Judgement
      • No longer rolls Legendary-strength bonus to Hammer of the Ancients damage as an inherent affix. Can still roll 10-15% as a random affix.
      • Hammer of the Ancients returns 20–25 Fury if it hits 3 or fewer enemies. The damage of Hammer of the Ancients is increased by 400-500% and it returns 25 Fury if it hits 3 or fewer enemies.
      • Note: Existing versions of this item will also be changed to include the damage roll in the orange text, but will always roll a damage roll equal to the previous maximum possible.
        • Note: The Legendary power on this item is currently not functioning; this will be fixed in an upcoming patch
    • Girdle of Giants
      • Seismic Slam increases Earthquake damage by 80–100% 200-250% for 3 seconds.
    • Skull Grasp
      • Increase the damage of Whirlwind by 250–300% 400-500%
    • Standoff
      • Furious Charge deals increased damage equal to 200–250% 400-500% of your bonus movement speed.
  • Crusader
    • Blade of Prophecy
      • No longer rolls a bonus to Condemn damage as an inherent affix.
      • Two Condemned enemies also trigger Condemn's explosion and the damage of Condemn is increased by 350-450%.
      • Note: Existing versions of this item will also be changed to include the damage roll in the orange text, but will always roll a damage roll equal to the previous maximum possible.
    • Bracer of Fury
      • Heaven's Fury deals 150–200% 300-400% increased damage to enemies that are Blinded, Immobilized, or Stunned.
    • Denial
      • Each enemy hit by your Sweep Attack increases the damage of your next Sweep Attack by 30–40% 100-125%, stacking up to 5 times.
    • Faithful Memory
      • Each enemy hit by Falling Sword increases the damage of Blessed Hammer by 50-60% 60-80% for 10 seconds. Max 10 stacks.
    • Fate of the Fell
      • Gain two additional rays of Heaven's Fury.
      • Heaven's Fury gains two additional rays and has its damage increased by 150-200%.
    • Frydehr's Wrath'
      • No longer rolls Legendary-strength bonus to Condemn damage as an inherent affix. Can still roll 10-15% as a random affix.
      • Condemn has no cooldown and has its damage increased by 450-600%, but instead costs 40 Wrath.
      • Note: Existing versions of this item will also be changed to include the damage roll in the orange text, but will always roll a damage roll equal to the previous maximum possible.
      Gyrfalcon's Foote
      • Removes the resource cost of Blessed Shield and increases Blessed Shield damage by 400-500%.
    • Jekangbord
      • No longer rolls Legendary-strength bonus to Blessed Shield damage as an inherent affix. Can still roll 10-15% as a random affix.
      • Blessed Shield ricochets to 6 additional enemies and has its damage increased by 300-400%.
      • Note: Existing versions of this item will also be changed to include the damage roll in the orange text, but will always roll a damage roll equal to the previous maximum possible.
  • Demon Hunter
    • Dead Man's Legacy
      • No longer rolls Legendary-strength bonus to Multishot damage as an inherent affix. Can still roll 10-15% as a random affix.
      • Legendary power now also increases Multishot damage, now reads Multishot hits enemies below 50-60% health twice and its damage is increased by 125-150%.
      • Note: Existing versions of this item will also be changed to include the damage roll in the orange text, but will always roll a damage roll equal to the previous maximum possible.
      Karlei's Point
      • The damage of Impale is increased by 60-80% and Impale itreturns 10–15 Hatred if it hits an enemy already Impaled.
    • Manticore
      • No longer rolls Legendary-strength bonus to Multishot damage as an inherent affix. Can still roll 10-15% as a random affix.
      • Reduces the Hatred cost of Cluster Arrow by 40-50% and increases its damage by 250-300%.
      • Note: Existing versions of this item will also be changed to include the damage roll in the orange text, but will always roll a damage roll equal to the previous maximum possible.
      Yang's Recurve
      • Multishot attacks 50% faster and its damage is increased by 125-150%.
  • Monk
    • Binding of the Lost
      • Each hit with Seven-Sided Strike grants 3.0–3.5% 4-5% damage reduction for 7 seconds.
    • Balance
      • No longer rolls Legendary-strength bonus to Tempest Rush damage as an inherent affix. Can still roll 10-15% as a random affix.
      • The damage of Tempest Rush is increased by 450-600% andwhen your Tempest Rush hits 3 or fewer enemies, it gains 100% Critical Hit Chance.
      • Note: Existing versions of this item will also be changed to include the damage roll in the orange text, but will always roll a damage roll equal to the previous maximum possible.
      The Fist of Az'Turrasq
      • Exploding Palm's on-death explosion damage is increased by 250–300% 400-500%.
    • Incense Torch of the Grand Temple
      • No longer rolls Legendary-strength bonus to Wave of Light damage as an inherent affix. Can still roll 10-15% as a random affix.
      • Reduces the Spirit cost of Wave of Light by 40–50% and increases its damage by 450-500%.
      • Note: Existing versions of this item will also be changed to include the damage roll in the orange text, but will always roll a damage roll equal to the previous maximum possible.
    • Scarbringer
      • The damage of Lashing Tail Kick is increased by 300% 450-600%to the first 7 enemies hit.
  • Necromancer
    • Bloodsong Mail
      • While in the Land of the Dead, Command Skeletons gains the effect of all runes and deals 100–125% additional damage and gains the effect of the Enforcer, Frenzy, Dark Mending and Freezing Grasp runes.
    • Bloodtide Blade'
      • Death Nova deals 20–30% 80-100% increased damage for every enemy within 15 25 yards.
      Dayntee's Binding
      • You gain an additional 40–50% damage reduction when there is an enemy afflicted by your Decrepify any of your curses.
    • Defiler Cuisses
      • Your Bone Spirit's damage is increased by 75–100% 400-500%for every second it is active.
      Fate's Vow
      • Army of the Dead now deals an additional 200-250% damage and gains the effect of the Unconventional Warfare rune.
    • Golemskin Breeches
      • Your Golem's damage is increased by 100–125% and You take 30% less damage while it your Golem is alive and the cooldown on Command Golem is reduced by 20-25 seconds.
    • Leger's Disdain
      • Grim Scythe deals an additional 7–10% 65-80% damage for each point of essence it restores.
    • Lost Time
      • Your cold skills reduce the movement speed of enemies by 30%. In addition, your movement speed is increased by 4–5% 8-10%for 5 seconds. Maximum 5 stacks.
      Maltorius' Petrified Spike
      • Bone Spear now costs 40 Essence and deals 375–450% 550-700% increased damage.
    • Mask of Scarlet Death
      • When paired with the Revive: Purgatory rune, the mega-revived monster will drop the same number of corpses were used to create it on death.
      • This item will now attempt to give preference to the strongest monster to become the mega-revive when selecting a group of corpses.
      Nayr's Black Death
      • Each different poison skill you use increases the damage of your poison skills by 50–65% 75-100% for 15 seconds.
    • Scythe of the Cycle
      • Your Secondary skills deal 250–300% 350-400% additional damage while Bone Armor is active but reduce the remaining duration of Bone Armor by 4 seconds.
    • Steuart's Greaves
      • You gain 40–50% 75-100% increased movement speed for 2 10seconds after using Blood Rush.
    • The Johnstone
      • Each corpse consumed in the Land of the Dead gGrants a 50 stacks of Macabre Knowledge when Land of the Dead expires.Macabre Knowledge increases the damage of Corpse Lance and Corpse Explosion by 150–200% while outside Land of the Dead.
  • Witch Doctor
    • Bakuli Jungle Wraps
      • Firebats deals 150–200% 250-300% increased damage to enemies affected by Locust Swarm or Piranhas.
    • Mask of Jeram
      • Pets deal 75–100% 150-200% increased damage.
    • Staff of Chiroptera
      • No longer rolls Legendary-strength bonus to Firebats damage as an inherent affix. Can still roll 10-15% as a random affix.
      • Firebats attacks 100% faster, and costs 70-75% less Mana, and has its damage increased by 150-200%.
      • Note: Existing versions of this item will also be changed to include the damage roll in the orange text, but will always roll a damage roll equal to the previous maximum possible.
    • The Short Man's Finger
      • Gargantuan instead summons three smaller gargantuans each more powerful than before that have their damage increased by 500-650%.
      • Note: Existing versions of this item will also be changed to include the damage roll in the orange text, but will always roll a damage roll equal to the previous maximum possible.
        • Note: There is currently a bug which causes the new and old versions of the ring to not work when both are equipped; this will be fixed in an upcoming PTR patch
  • Wizard
    • Orb of Infinite Depth
      • Each time you hit an enemy with Explosive Blast your damage is increased by 4% 8-10% and your damage reduction is increased by 15% 20% for 6 seconds. This effect can stack up to 4 times.
    • Ranslor's Folly
      • Energy Twister does 225-300% more damage and periodically pulls in lesser enemies within 30 yards.
    • Triumvirate
      • Your Signature Spells increase the damage of Arcane Orb by 150–200% 300-400% for 6 seconds, stacking up to 3 times.
    • Unstable Scepter
      • No longer rolls Legendary-strength bonus to Arcane Orb damage as an inherent affix.
      • The damage of Arcane Orb's is increased by 350-450% and its explosion triggers an additional time..
      • Note: Existing versions of this item will also be changed to include the damage roll in the orange text, but will always roll a damage roll equal to the previous maximum possible.
    • Wand of Woh
      • No longer rolls Legendary-strength bonus to Explosive Blast damage as an inherent affix.
      • The damage of Explosive Blast is increased by 300-400% and 3 additional blasts are triggered after casting Explosive Blast.
      • Note: Existing versions of this item will also be changed to include the damage roll in the orange text, but will always roll a damage roll equal to the previous maximum possible.
  • Set Items
    • Barbarian
      • Immortal King's Call
        • (6) Set
          • While both Wrath of the Berserker and Call of the Ancients is active, you deal 400% 750% increased damage.
      • Might of the Earth
        • (6) Set
          • Increase the damage of Earthquake, Avalanche, Leap, Ground Stomp, Ancient Spear and Seismic Slam by 1200% 3000%.
      • The Legacy of Raekor
        • (4) Set
          • Furious Charge gains the effect of every rune and deals 300% 500% increased damage.
        • (6) Set
          • Every use of Furious Charge increases the damage of your next Fury-spending attack by 750% 1500%. This effect stacks. Every use of a Fury-spending attack consumes up to 5 stacks.
      • Wrath of the Wastes
        • (6) Set
          • Whirlwind gains the effect of the Dust Devils rune and all Whirlwind damage is increased by 800% 1700%.
    • Crusader
      • Armor of Akkhan
        • (6) Set
          • While Akarat's Champion is active, you deal 600% 900%increased damage and take 15% 20% less damage.
      • Thorns of the Invoker
        • (2) Set
          • Your Thorns damage now hits all enemies in a 15 yard radius around you. Each time you hit an enemy with Punish, Slash, or block an attack your Thorns is increased by 35% 115% for 2 seconds.
        • (6) Set
          • The attack speed of Punish and Slash are increased by 50% and deal 800% 1600% of your Thorns damage to the first enemy hit.
    • Demon Hunter
      • Embodiment of the Marauder
        • (6) Set
          • Your primary skills, Elemental Arrow, Chakram, Impale, Multishot, Cluster Arrow, Companions, and Vengeance deal 1200% 2100% increased damage for every active Sentry.
      • Natalya's Vengeance
        • (6) Set
          • After casting Rain of Vengeance, deal 500% 750%increased damage and take 60% reduced damage for 10 seconds.
      • Unhallowed Essence
        • (6) Set
          • Your generators, Multishot, and Vengeance deal 40%70% increased damage for every point of Discipline you have.
    • Monk
      • Monkey King's Garb
        • (6) Set
          • Has been redesigned.
          • Lashing Tail Kick, Tempest Rush, and Wave of Light have their damage increased by 600% for each stack of Sweeping Wind you have.
      • Uliana's Stratagem
        • (4) Set
          • Your Seven-Sided Strike deals double 777% its total damage with each hit.
        • (6) Set
          • Increase the damage of your Exploding Palm by 250%1800% and your Seven-Sided Strike detonates your Exploding Palm.
    • Necromancer
      • Pestilence Master's Shroud
        • (6) Set
          • Each corpse you consume grants you an Empowered Bone Spear charge that increases the damage of your next Bone Spear by 3000%. In addition, Corpse Lance and Corpse Explosion damage is increased by 1500%.
      • Trag'Oul's Avatar
        • (6) Set
          • Your Life-spending abilities deal 3300% increased damage but cost twice as much Life. Your healing from skills is increased by 100%.
    • Witch Doctor
      • Helltooth Harness
        • (2) Set
          • Enemies hit by your primary skills, Acid Cloud, Firebats, Zombie Charger, Zombie Dogs, Gargantuan, Grasp of the Dead, Piranhas, or Wall of Death are afflicted by Necrosis, becoming Slowed, taking 1500% weapon damage every second, and taking 20% increased damage from your attacks for 10 seconds.
        • (6) Set
          • After casting Wall of Death, gain 1400% 1700%increased damage for 15 seconds to your primary skills, Acid Cloud, Firebats, Zombie Charger, Zombie Dogs, Gargantuan, Grasp of the Dead, Piranhas, and Wall of Death.
          • Note: This set bonus is being temporarily disabled to fix an issue with the set. It will be re-enabled in a later PTR patch.
        • Note: The damage bonus for you against enemies affected with Necrosis causes performance issues when encountering high density. This change is not intended to be a nerf and, when coupled with the six-piece change, should be a net buff for the complete set. This change should not change the gameplay style of this set.
      • Raiment of the Jade Harvester
        • (2) Set
          • When Haunt lands on an enemy already affected by Haunt, it instantly deals 120 480 seconds worth of Haunt damage.
        • (6) Set
          • Soul Harvest consumes your damage over time effects on enemies, instantly dealing 300 1200 seconds worth of remaining damage.
    • Wizard
      • Firebird's Finery
        • (6) Set
          • Your damage is increased by 120% 200% and damage taken reduced by 3% for each enemy that is Ignited. This effect can stack up to 20 times. You always receive the maximum bonus whenever a nearby Elite monster is Ignited.
      • Vyr's Amazing Arcana
        • (6) Set
          • Increased number of Archon stacks gained when hitting with an Archon ability from 1 to 2.
  • Other Items
    • Shields acquired by Necromancer players can now properly roll the +Max Essence affix
  • Bug Fixes
    • Fixed an issue where Mimics created from Rabid Strike were not correctly inheriting the player's bonus damage from Lashing Tail Kick, Seven Sided Strike, Cyclone Strike, Exploding Palm and Wave of Light.
    • Fixed an issue where after dying, the pet damage bonus granted from Jesseth Arms could sometimes be lost if skeletons are re-commanded onto the same target.
    • Fixed an issue preventing the free Blood Nova granted by the Iron Rose from correctly granting the damage bonus from the Trag'Oul's six-piece bonus.
    • Fixed an issue causing certain items to drop for the Necromancer which are not able to be equipped by the class.
    • Fixed an issue preventing Necromancer primary skills from taunting enemies when Boyarsky's Chip is equipped.
    • Fixed an issue which prevented the +% Thorns damage bonus granted by Aberrant Animator from applying correctly to items such as the Spear of Jairo.

Adventure Mode

  • Rifts
    • Reduced the number of deadends when Rifts choose the Temple of the Firstborn tileset.
    • Increased the amount of experience and Rift progress granted by the Hematic Disciple.
    • Reduced the fog effect in the Shrouded Moors tilesets in Rifts and Greater Rifts.
    • Shield Pylons no longer reflects damage back to attackers.
      • Note: Reflecting damage back to attackers caused performance issues when encountering high density.

PTR Only

  • D'jank Miem
    • Players can exchange Blood Shards with this vendor for bags containing Legendary items

It Movie's VR Experience Will Make You Float With Terror

By Dan Auty on Aug 16, 2017 04:48 pm

Virtual Reality is a natural fit for horror, so it's no surprise that the producers of the upcoming Stephen King adaptation It are using it for the movie's promotion. Warner has released It: Float--A Cinematic VR Experience, which takes the viewer deep into the darkened sewers of the fictional town of Derry, with the voice of demonic clown Pennywise as your guide. Experience it below--if you dare:

It arrives in theaters on September 8. A first trailer was released in April, and this creepy clip followed in May. The movie stars Bill Skarsgard as Pennywise, plus Finn Wolfhard, Jaeden Lieberher, Sophie Lillis, Wyatt Oleff, and Jeremy Ray Taylor.

Even though the film doesn't hit cinemas until next month, plans for the sequel are already underway. Last month, director Andres Muschietti confirmed that he would start work on the second part of the adaptation soon. "We'll probably have a script for the second part in January," he said. "Ideally, we would start prep in March. Part one is only about the kids. Part two is about these characters 30 years later as adults, with flashbacks to 1989 when they were kids."

Muschietti also recently explained how the new film would differ from the 1990 TV adaptation that starred Tim Curry as Pennywise. "People who read the book and got the book, they're not crazy about the miniseries," he said. "It was a very watered-down version. It didn't contain the darkness that the book had. They couldn't make something for TV about a clown who eats children."

"I wanted to stay true to the essence of [Pennywise]," he continued. "I knew that I didn't want to go the road of Tim Curry. Bill Skarsgard caught my attention. The character has a childish and sweet demeanor, but there's something very off about him. Bill has that balance in him. He can be sweet and cute, but he can be pretty disturbing."

In related news, it was reported last month that Muschietti has also signed on to develop a live-action version of the classic '80s animated series Robotech.


Nintendo Switch's Arms Getting New Fighter Soon, Take A Look Here

By Oscar Dayus on Aug 16, 2017 04:43 pm

Arms for Nintendo Switch has been out for a couple of months now, and Nintendo continues to support it with new updates and content. Right now, the company is teasing an upcoming fighter with an as yet unannounced name, as well as a new map. Take a look at the fighter below.

They appear to have nunchuck-type Arms, but little else is currently known about the character. The tease follows a separate Tweet from two days ago which showed Arms' announcer, Biff, in what looks to be an upcoming DLC arena with a candy theme.

The character and stage will not be the first free DLC Arms has received since launch. Just last month, a fighter called Max Brass--who was previously a boss character in the game's Grand Prix mode--was added as a playable warrior. More recently, the game was updated to tweak a bunch of characters and add new training exercises.

Arms launched in June to a positive critical reception. It's proved popular commercially, too: Nintendo revealed recently that the game had sold over 1 million copies by the end of June, while the Switch itself had shifted nearly 5 million units. In our Arms verdict, critic Kallie Plagge called the title a "strong, substantial fighting game," but one that "takes a while to really hit its stride." Read more in our full Arms review.

In other Nintendo Switch news, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild has been updated, adding a new Zelda-specific news channel on Switch called Tips from the Wild. The channel, which is live now, allows players to obtain in-game items, though it's currently unclear what those items might be.


New ReCore News Teased, Might Be Definitive Edition

By Eddie Makuch on Aug 16, 2017 03:42 pm

An announcement about the adventure game ReCore is coming up soon, it seems. The developer said on Twitter today that fans should stay tuned on August 20 to find out "what's next" for the game.

That timing lines up with Microsoft's Gamescom 2017 briefing, so an announcement could happen at that time. The briefing begins on Sunday, August 20, starting at 12 PM PT. That comes out to 8 PM BST and 5 AM AEST on Monday, August 21.

There have been rumors about a Definitive Edition of ReCore, so this could be the announcement that is being teased for August 20.

Designed by Mega Man's Keiji Inafune, ReCore launched in September 2016 at a budget price of $40. The game, which was the first in Microsoft's Xbox Play Anywhere Xbox One/PC program, saw middle-of-the-road reviews. It was discounted quickly, and you can get it for around $20 right now.

For more on Recore, check out GameSpot's review and what other critics are saying. In other news, the game is adding 4K support later this year.

This story has been updated.


Daniel Craig Will Be Back For New Bond Movie, But It Might Be His Last Time

By Eddie Makuch on Aug 16, 2017 03:34 pm

Confirming earlier reports, actor Daniel Craig said today he will return to play James Bond for a fifth time in the next 007 movie. He confirmed the news tonight on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert. Here's an animated GIF of the moment it went down:

Craig also said that he thinks his fifth Bond movie will be his last. "I think this is it. I just want to go out on a high note," Craig said, according to Variety. "I can't wait."

The actor also cleared up confusion surrounding his comments in 2015 that he would rather slash his wrists than return as Bond. He said that in an interview two days after Spectre finished filming. And given what must have been a demanding shoot, it's understandable that he wouldn't want to commit to another movie at that moment. Reflecting back on his choice of words in the Colbert interview, Craig said, "Instead of saying something with style and grace, I said something really stupid."

Today's confirmation comes not long after Craig said "nothing has been confirmed" regarding his potential return as Bond. Now it appears it's a done deal that he'll be back.

In July, The New York Times reported that Craig would play Bond in at least one more 007 movie. Before that, another report said Craig would be back and that producers were looking to have Skyfall singer Adele sing the theme song for the next entry.

The 25th Bond movie already has a release date of November 8, 2019, but an official title or director remains unknown. A joint statement by production companies Eon and MGM that was released last month read, "additional details regarding distribution, including international release dates, [and] the film's cast and director will be announced at a later date."

In October 2015, Craig said if he were to play Bond again, it would "only be for the money." A year later, a report claimed that Craig was offered $150 million to star in the next two Bond movies. Details about his contract are of course officially unknown.

Craig has played the British super-spy four times already, in the movies Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace, Skyfall, and Spectre. Are you happy that Craig is coming back to play Bond again? Let us know in the comments below!

The Late Show With Stephen Colbert airs on CBS, the TV network owned by GameSpot parent company CBS Corp.


Marvel's Jessica Jones Season 2 Will Feature This Surprise Villain

By Dan Auty on Aug 16, 2017 03:32 pm

The Marvel universe is packed with villains, but few as evil as Kilgrave, the mind-controlling bad guy played by former Doctor Who star David Tennant in the first season of Jessica Jones. It has now been revealed that Tennant will return for Season 2 of the Netflix hit. Warning, spoilers below!

No Caption Provided

As reported by Entertainment Weekly, Tennant has been pictured on set with star Krysten Ritter--check out the image above. What might be surprising to fans is that Kilgrave seemed to die at the end of the first season. Jessica spent much of the show under his control, before finally breaking free and snapping her tormentor's neck.

Jessica Jones Season 2 has not yet been given a release date, but it is expected to hit Netflix in 2018. However, the character returns to screens on Friday in the first season of The Defenders, which will see her team up with Daredevil, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist. Check out the final trailer for the show, which was released this week.

Last year, Jessica Jones showrunner Melissa Rosenberg spoke about her plans for Season 2 and revealed that her time on the acclaimed serial killer drama Dexter was influencing her approach. "I learned from working on Dexter that you can advance the character, but you never want to cure the character," she said. "With Dexter, the moment he felt guilt or accepted that he was 'bad,' the show's over. He's no longer a sociopath.

"The equivalent for us would be if Jessica somehow recovered from the damage that had been done to her. People don't just heal, you don't go through that just to say, 'Oh, he got arrested, he's in jail, I'm OK now.' That trauma is a huge part of who she is now. She was kind of messed up even before Kilgrave came along, and so in Season 2 we can explore what's possible for her moving forward."


Captain Marvel Movie Hires Tomb Raider Writer

By Dan Auty on Aug 16, 2017 03:29 pm

After the huge success of Wonder Woman, expectations are high for Marvel's first female-led superhero movie, Captain Marvel. Brie Larson is set to play the title character, and it has now been reported that the movie has found a writer.

No Caption Provided

According to Deadline, Geneva Robertson-Dworet will work on the script for the 2019 film. Robertson-Dworet is making a name for herself as a key writer of high-profile superhero and action movies. She wrote the script for next year's much-anticipated Tomb Raider reboot and worked on the DC supervillain team-up Gotham City Sirens, which is currently in development. She has also been attached to a movie version of the classic toyline MASK, as well as a new Dungeons & Dragons film.

Robertson-Dworet replaces Meg LeFauve and Nicole Perlman, who were originally hired for Captain Marvel. LeFauve is now co-directing Disney's animated film Gigantic instead.

In April, it was announced that Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck will direct Captain Marvel. The pair previously made the acclaimed gambling drama Mississippi Grind and have directed episodes of hit TV shows The Affair and Billions.

Earlier this year, Larson spoke about the importance of taking on this iconic role. "The fact that she can be a bridge between two worlds, that she can go between Earth and space and that her own personal place is in this little area between where Earth ends and space begins and that's only hers, is so moving to me," she said. "I'm just inspired. I've been so inspired going through the comics and reading them right now."

Captain Marvel has been the name of various heroes over the years. The current incarnation is the alter ego of Carol Danvers. Danvers previously used the name of Ms. Marvel and first appeared in her own comic book in 1977, before taking the identity of Captain Marvel in 2012.

Captain Marvel hits theaters on March 8, 2019.


Madden 18 Has 4K Support On PS4 Pro Without A Patch

By Eddie Makuch on Aug 16, 2017 12:35 pm

EA Sports has clarified its position about Madden NFL 18's graphical features for PlayStation 4 Pro. In a statement to GameSpot, EA Sports confirmed that the game will support 4K and 1080p resolution on PS4 Pro with no update required.

As for frame rate, Madden NFL 18 will run at 60fps, the statement continued. However, there is no word yet on HDR support for PlayStation or Xbox consoles. You can read the full statement below:

"Madden NFL 18 supports PS4 Pro at launch in both 4K and 1080p, with no update needed. If a gamer chooses to run Madden NFL 18 in 4K, they will see improved resolution, if they choose to run the game in 1080p, they will see improved framerate in certain areas of the presentation. Core gameplay will render at 60fps regardless. We have no announcements to make regarding HDR support at this time."

This statement came in response to a report that said Madden NFL 18 will need an update to support 4K and HDR. The statement does not mention anything about graphical features for Xbox One S or Xbox One X.

Madden NFL 18 launches on August 25 for PS4 and Xbox One, but EA Access members on Xbox One can start playing the game on August 17. And if you buy the premium G.O.A.T. Edition, you can begin playing on August 22.


Madden 18 Release Date And Early Access Timing Confirmed

By Eddie Makuch on Aug 16, 2017 12:13 pm

It's almost Madden season, that glorious time of year that signals the return of American football. This year's Madden game, Madden NFL 18, arrives on August 25 on Xbox One and PlayStation 4, but if you don't want to wait, there are multiple ways to play early.

The Madden website shows that the game's EA Access Play First trial will go live on August 17, which is a full week before the game's official release date. The Madden NFL 17 Play First trial let you play the full game for 10 hours, but there is no word on the length of the new one.

EA Access is only available on Xbox One, but PlayStation gamers aren't shut out when it comes to having the ability to play earl.

The other way to play Madden NFL 18 early is to pick up the G.O.A.T. Edition ($80/£80/$120 AU). This premium version of the pro football game unlocks on Xbox One and PS4 on August 22, three days before the game's full launch on August 25.

The G.O.A.T. Edition comes with a number of bonuses for game's Ultimate Team mode, including an Elite-level player, a uniform pack, 2,500 contracts, and 12 Squad Packs.

New England Patriots QB Tom Brady is on the cover of Madden NFL 18. It's the second year in a row that a Patriots player has been on the cover of a Madden game, following Rob Gronkowski who was on the cover of Madden NFL 17.

Keep checking back with GameSpot for more on Madden NFL 18 in the coming days and weeks.


Next Game Of Thrones Episode Leaks, Apparently

By Eddie Makuch on Aug 16, 2017 11:17 am

The next Game of Thrones episode has appeared online, it seems. According to Game of Thrones fansite Watchers on the Wall, episode six was briefly posted online by HBO Spain.

A screenshot of the episode is available online; and this being the internet, you already know how you can find it if you want to. We won't add it here, however (via Gizmodo).

Episode 6 is slated to officially air this coming Sunday. It doesn't appear that HBO has commented as of yet regarding this newest leak.

An earlier Season 7 episode of Game of Thrones leaked online, and police in India have reportedly arrested those who are alleged to be responsible.

That leaked reports HBO had been hacked and several TV episodes and written material connected to Game of Thrones had been stolen. That theft is not connected to the arrests.

There are only seven episodes in this season of Game of Thrones, so it's coming to a close quickly. One further season is planned, but after that we could get prequels.

For lots more on Episode 5, "Eastwatch," check out GameSpot's coverage below.


Playerunknown's Battlegrounds Panel Coming To Gamescom

By Eddie Makuch on Aug 16, 2017 09:26 am

Gamescom 2017 kicks off next week from Germany, and now the organisers have announced some of the panels that people can attend at the big gaming show.

Maybe the biggest one is about Playerunknown's Battlegrounds. Creator Brendan Greene will appear on a panel called, "My journey – from modder to creative director of Playerunknown's Battlegrounds." Given that Battlegrounds is one of the most popular games on the planet right now, this panel will understandably probably be one to watch if you can. It's being held on Wednesday, August 23, starting at 1 PM local time.

Later that day, Ultima creator Richard Garriott will be on a panel titled, "The golden age of games is NOW – how to rise to the occasion." He is now working on an Ultima spiritual successor called Shroud of the Avatar.

Finally, there will be a Project Cars 2 panel called "Project Cars 2 -- Built By Drivers." Creative director Andy Tudor and professional race driver Nicolas Hamilton will talk about "how Project Cars 2 was made by both motorsports drivers and a community of passionate racing fans." A live gameplay demonstration will take place during the panel.

Go to the Gamescom website to learn more about the panels and their specific timing. It isn't immediately clear if these panels or others may be streamed.

Gamescom 2017 runs August 23-26 in Cologne, Germany. In addition to these panels, we're expecting news from Microsoft and Electronic Arts, and there could always be surprises. GameSpot will have a team on the ground to bring you coverage as the show unfolds.


Destiny 2 Is Not Coming To Steam, Bungie Says

By Eddie Makuch on Aug 16, 2017 08:58 am

Recently, it was discovered that Silver, the microtransaction currency in Destiny 1, was strangely available to buy on PC gaming juggernaut store Steam. Now, it's been removed and refunds are being issues, but there is no word as to why it was listed in the first place.

Bungie community manager David "Deej" Dague said on Twitter that Silver showing up on Steam was an error. He added that Valve will process refunds, and he apologised for the "confusion." Some took this as a signal that Destiny 1 or Destiny 2 might be coming to PC. While that hasn't been completely ruled out, it doesn't seem like it's going to happen soon or ever. In another tweet, Dague said, "We're with Blizzard. No plans to release Destiny 2 on PC anywhere else. Pass it on." He didn't say anything about Destiny 1, however. Here are the two tweets (via Eurogamer):

As announced previously, Destiny 2 will be available on Blizzard Battle.net, which is the online service/store that also operates games like Overwatch and World of Warcraft.

Destiny 1's Silver, which you bought with real money, could be spent on items in the Eververse Trading Co. in-game store. It remains to be seen how microtransactions may be handled in Destiny 2, but you can expect the game to feature them after how popular they were in the first game.

Destiny 2 launches on September 6 for PS4 and Xbox One, with a release for PC following on October 24. Bungie is holding a PC beta that begins on August 28 to people who pre-order the game, and it opens a day later to everyone. It features changes based on feedback from the earlier console beta, and you can see a 4K/60FPS trailer for it right here.

For more on Destiny 2, check out our feature on Destiny's story so far.


"60 FPS Or Death," Project Cars 2 Dev Says

By Eddie Makuch on Aug 16, 2017 08:12 am

From what we've seen of Project Cars 2 so far, it's looking to be a gorgeous simulation driving game that has enough under the hood to give hardcore fans a lot to play with. It has been a significant effort for Slightly Mad Studios to get Project Cars 2 looking and running so well. We caught up with Slightly Mad COO Rod Chong recently for a wide-ranging interview, one part of which touched on Project Cars 2's graphical abilities.

He told us that Slightly Mad is always looking to dial things up to 11 when it comes to the look and performance of its racing games. For frame rate specifically, Project Cars 2 runs at a bare minimum 60 FPS, because anything lower would mean "death."

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"You're always pushing boundaries," Chong said. "You're always pushing new rendering features. New areas of the physics engine, which are taxing the processors more. If the performance starts dropping off or the frame rates are not maintained in the way that you want, that can be challenging. Our bare minimum is 60 frames per second. It must be 60 frames per second or death. The feeling of the car is not there [if the frame rate is] below that. Or if you're in VR, you start getting ill below 60 frames per second. We have the optimisation worked out reasonably well now, but certainly there have been so moments where had to really push hard to optimise, optimise, optimise."

Slightly Mad's overall ambition with Project Cars 2 is to make the "most beautiful, most advance driving experience possible," Chong told us. He added that he doesn't see Project Cars 2 so much as a game as it is a racing simulator that professional drivers might even use to hone their on-track skills.

"It's ultimately all about immersion and you always need to be pushing the look of the game," Chong explained. "Simulation racing titles are a bit of an arms race if you look at the different titles out there. I think you can look at what we've achieved with the visuals and it kind of speaks for itself."

Slightly Mad goes to the extreme to to ensure top-notch graphical quality for its games, Chong said. "There is a reason it's called Slightly Mad Studios--seriously."

Keep checking back with GameSpot for lots more from our conversation with Chong.

In other news, Slightly Mad recently talked about how the Xbox One X version of Project Cars 2 will look "significantly better" than the PS4 Pro edition. While Microsoft's new console is impressively powerful, it can't stand up to the rig you could create on PC. But outside of a high-end PC, the best-looking version of Project Cars 2 will be on Xbox One X, Slightly Mad game director Stephen Vijoen said.

Project Cars 2 launches on September 22 for PC, Xbox One, and PS4. For more, you can check out all the cars and all the tracks through GameSpot's new videos below.


New Nvidia Driver Available; Here's What It Does

By Michael Higham on Aug 16, 2017 06:39 am

The latest graphics driver from Nvidia makes several optimizations, most notably for the newly released Agents of Mayhem. Nvidia says the game uses a number of its graphical technologies like volumetric lighting, hybrid frustum traced shadows, and temporal antialiasing. In addition, the free-to-play game Crossout and VR game Killing Floor: Incursion are optimized with driver version 385.28.

The new graphics driver also fixes a handful of previous issues, such as the following bugs:

  • GeForce GTX 1070 and Doom: The GPU clocks remain running at high performance speeds after exiting from the game.
  • GeForce Experience: "Any file is missing" error message appears when installing new drivers updated from GeForce Experience.
  • Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare: Performance drop occurs with updated driver.
  • SLI and Intel's X299 platform: Low GPU usage resulting in poor performance occurs with the X299 motherboards.
Agents of Mayhem
Agents of Mayhem

As with any driver, known existing issues still linger, which includes the following:

  • GeForce GTX 780 Ti in SLI: There is no display output when connecting the DisplayPort and two DVI monitors.
  • GeForce GTX 1070 and Surround: The [Ctrl+Alt+S] keyboard shortcut does not enable or disable Surround.
  • GeForce GTX 970 and Quantum Break: Drop in frame rate occurs when playing the game.
  • GeForce GTX 1080 and G-Sync: With G-Sync enabled, stuttering occurs when playing games on the external display.

Users of Nvidia graphics cards can download the 385.28 version driver from the GeForce Experience application or directly on the company's website. For the full details on what the new driver does, download the release notes here.


Rick And Morty Season 3 Funko Pop Giveaway

By Sheiva Yazdani on Aug 16, 2017 05:27 am

In honor of Rick And Morty Season 3 Episode 4, we're giving away a Weaponized Morty Funko Pop! One (1) winner will be chosen after the giveaway closes on Sunday, August 20th at 12:00PM PT.

Open to US residents only, void where prohibited. If you do not win this time, you'll be automatically entered in the next giveaway.

Scroll down to enter below.

GameSpot Universe is our official entertainment channel focused on comics, movies, TV, anime, giveaways, and more! We find you movie easter eggs, recap shows like Game Of Thrones and Rick And Morty, and tell you who the hell are certain comic book characters like Cable from Deadpool.


Game Of Thrones Season 7 Funko Pop Giveaway

By Sheiva Yazdani on Aug 16, 2017 05:27 am

In honor of Game Of Thrones Season 7 Episode 5 "Eastwatch", we're giving away a Jon Snow Funko Pop! One (1) winner will be chosen after the giveaway closes on Friday, August 18th at 12:00PM PT.

Open to US residents only, void where prohibited. If you do not win this time, you'll be automatically entered in the next giveaway.

Scroll down to enter below.

GameSpot Universe is our official entertainment channel focused on comics, movies, TV, anime, giveaways, and more! We find you movie easter eggs, recap shows like Game Of Thrones and Rick And Morty, and tell you who the hell are certain comic book characters like Cable from Deadpool.


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