The PC game retailer Green Man Gaming is running a big Summer Sale right now, with particularly good deals appearing and vanishing daily. The current Deal of the Day puts Grand Theft Auto V in the spotlight, bringing the price down to $16 / £13--the lowest it's ever been. But you'll have to hurry, as the deal only lasts until July 25.
The reason for the discount is to celebrate the "After Hours" update that just hit GTA Online. After Hours introduces a bunch of things related to nightclubs to the online portion of the game. You can buy nightclub properties, deck them out with the decor of your choice, hire DJs and support staff, and host parties. Your nightclub can also act as the central hub for your criminal enterprises.
While GTA Online may be the primary draw these days for GTA players, you also get the full single-player campaign. From GameSpot's 9/10 Grand Theft Auto V review of the PC/Xbox One/PS4 release of the game: "This is the definitive version of GTA V, and the bar by which all other open-world games, or indeed any game that aims for a cinematic feel, should be judged. It is beautiful, and thought-provoking, and thrilling throughout. Even if you've played through GTA V once already, it's worth going back just to be reminded of what an outstanding achievement it is."
Green Man Gaming also has the Criminal Enterprise Starter Pack Bundle for over half off, landing it at $26.39 / £21.99. It comes with the game itself, plus the Criminal Enterprise Starter Pack, which contains a long list of in-game items valued at over GTA$10,000,000 in GTA Online, including additional properties, vehicles, weapons, clothing, and tattoo options. You can find the full details here.
NBA Playgrounds 2 is getting a new publisher with a slight tweak to the title to match. 2K announced today it will publish Saber Interactive's arcade basketball game, shifting the name to NBA 2K Playgrounds 2. The two-on-two basketball game will hit PC, PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch this fall.
The announcement suggests that the partnership will infuse Playgrounds 2 with "NBA 2K flair," but was short on details of how resources may be shared. In any event, it's a more casual approach to complement its annual NBA 2K series, which has enjoyed generally better critical buzz than EA's NBA Live series.
"The original NBA Playgrounds was a fantastic throwback to the glory days of arcade-action sports," said Visual Concepts president Greg Thomas, in the announcement. "The new NBA 2K Playgrounds 2 will step up this energy and attitude big time--with a bit of added NBA 2K flair--giving fans of both franchises an exciting new way to game with friends around the world."
The original NBA Playgrounds was published by Mad Dog Games, and received a middling reception. In GameSpot's NBA Playgrounds review, Blake Hester enjoyed the cartoon aesthetic and satisfying challenge, but found the audio repetitive and suggested its single game mode offered too little variety.
The EA Access library of free games on Xbox One continues to grow. The 2010 action game Dante's Inferno is now in "The Vault" of freebies, as EA calls it.
Developed by the now-shuttered Visceral Games, Dante's Inferno follows the trials of Dante, who fights through the nine circles of Hell to save Beatrice from the devil. The game got middling review scores, but if you're an EA Access member who was curious, now is your chance to check it out at no extra cost.
If you're looking for a deal on Xbox One games, you don't have to search far to find it. Last week Microsoft kicked off its Ultimate Game Sale, which sees sizable discounts on over 700 games and add-ons between now and July 30 (we've even compiled a list of the best Xbox One games on sale for under $10). On top of that, Microsoft is running a weekly sale, meaning there's a good chance you'll find something worth buying for cheap. Click the links above for details about the Ultimate Game Sale. Below you'll find highlights from Microsoft's weekly sale, which also ends July 30. Keep in mind you'll need an Xbox Live Gold account to get discounts on some of the games.
Seeing as a good chunk of the Xbox One game library is already discounted thanks to the Ultimate Game Sale, this regular weekly sale isn't as big as it usually is. Even so, some worthy deals can be found. For instance, Hitman: GotY Edition is on sale for $30 / £22.50. With a sequel launching on November 13, now is a great time to buy this edition, which includes everything that came in the regular game, plus extra missions, Escalation Contracts, weapons, outfits, and more.
Anime fans can pick up Dragon Ball Xenoverse for $10 / £10 and Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 for $18 / £15. While you're at it, you may want to check out the visually stunning Zelda-like game Okami HD while it's on sale for $14 / £11.
For a couch co-op game with a twist, you can get Screencheat on sale for $5 / £4. It's a split-screen FPS in which everyone is invisible. To figure out where your opponents are, you have to glance at their section of the screen to see what they're seeing, just like cheaters used to do in the GoldenEye 007 days.
You'll find a few more noteworthy games on sale in Microsoft's weekly Xbox One deals below. For the full list, plus the week's Xbox 360 deals, head over to Major Nelson's blog.
We've seen some big sales this season, ranging from the Steam Summer Sale to the PlayStation Mid-Year Sale. Now Xbox owners can get in on the fun, because the Ultimate Game Sale is live on the Microsoft Store. Between now and July 30, over 700 Xbox One and Xbox 360 games and add-ons are on sale for up to 65% off. And if you're an Xbox Live Gold member, you get an extra 10% off select titles. Let's dive in and what kind of deals are on offer--or head over to our roundup of the best deals under $10.
Whether you're currently a member or not, you can save $20 off a 12-month subscription to Xbox Live Gold, bringing the online service down to $40 / £26.50. In addition to letting you play online, the subscription also gets you free games each month, making it one of the best deals around for Xbox One and Xbox 360 owners.
Microsoft's other gaming-related subscription service, Xbox Game Pass, is also on sale right now. For $10 / £8, you can get a three-month membership that lets you download and play a selection of over a hundred games on your Xbox One, including first-party games the same day they're released.
As expected, many Xbox One-exclusive games are discounted during the Ultimate Game Sale. You can get Gears of War 4 for $20 / £17 and the console exclusive PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds for $22.50 / £19. The cartoonish platformer Cuphead is on sale for $16 / £13.39, while Quantum Break is $20 / £14.40 and ReCore is down to $15 / £11.
Far Cry 5, which just got some Mars DLC, is on sale for $40 / £36 (DLC not included). You can get yourself ready for this fall's Destiny 2: Forsaken release by grabbing Destiny 2 and the Expansion Pass for $20 / £16.50.
All of those and literally hundreds of other games are on sale right now. We have more highlights below, or you can hop over to the Microsoft Store for the complete list. Additionally, there are some more deals as part of Microsoft's weekly Xbox Store sale.
Following the Splinter Cell missions with Sam Fisher, Ghost Recon: Wildlands is crossing over with yet another Tom Clancy franchise: Rainbow Six. We already spent several hours with the update--which is available now on all platforms--and toward the end of the content we discovered a tongue-in-cheek reference to Rainbow Six: Patriots, one of Ubisoft's notorious cancelled projects. Spoilers follow for Ghost Recon: Wildlands' new update.
In addition to a new permadeath difficulty and updates to its PvP mode, Wildlands' newest free DLC update brings several characters from Rainbow Six Siege to open-world Bolivia. After discovering the scene of a firefight in which several Cartel members didn't make it out alive, you're introduced to Valkyrie, a fan-favorite character from Siege. She informs you that a small contingent from Team Rainbow is in Bolivia searching for one of their lost members: the Brazilian operator Caveira.
After helping Caveira rescue her brother from the hands of the Cartel, you extract them to one of Ghost Recon's outposts. During the car ride, your Ghost asks Twitch--the French drone specialist from Siege-- about an "Operation Patriots" that was rumored to have "gone south." In the video above, you can hear Twitch's response, and the rest of Ubisoft's self-aware reference to its cancelled project from 2013, which eventually evolved into what we now know as Siege.
The new Rainbow Six crossover mission is the next in a series of free updates Ubisoft has added to its open-world military shooter. You can watch more of the DLC here with Aaron Sampson and Mike Mahardy, and read our full Ghost Recon: Wildlands review here.
Alright guys, Comic-Con is over for 2018, so it's time to get back to watching movies and shows on Netflix. This week, there are a bunch of titles coming to the streaming giant, including a lot of Originals from the streaming giant.
Perhaps the most exciting original coming to Netflix this week is Season 6 of Orange Is The New Black, which will be released on Friday. After the dramatic conclusion of Season 5, many fans are really looking forward to seeing what will happen next.
Some other originals coming to Netflix include shows like Roman Empire: Reign Of Blood (July 27), and Iliza Shlesinger's new stand-up special, Elder Millennial (July 24).
As far as non-Originals go, there are a few movies coming to Netflix this week including Her, the futuristic love story starring Joaquin Phoenix, and The Company Men starring Ben Affleck and Tommy Lee Jones. Season 8 of Shameless is also hitting the service this week.
Check below if you'd like to see the complete list of everything coming to Netflix this week, or if you're looking for something more comprehensive, head over to our complete list of everything coming to Netflix in July. We don't yet know what's coming in August, but that list should be coming along soon, given that the end of July is in sight.
Arriving On Netflix This Week
July 22
An Education
Bolt
July 24
The Warning- Netflix Original Film
Iliza Shlesinger: Elder Millennial- Netflix Original
July 27
Cupcake & Dino - General Services- Netflix Original
Extinction-Netflix Original
Orange Is the New Black: Season 6-Netflix Original
Roman Empire: Reign of Blood: Master of Rome- Netflix Original
The stylized military action worlds of the Tom Clancy brand are colliding, as a special event in Ghost Recon Wildlands brings in characters from Rainbow Six Siege. You can use two new Siege-inspired PvP classes or complete a two-part PvE mission starring Siege's operators.
In the mission from Special Operation 2, titled Operation Archangel, Valkyrie tracks the missing operator Caveira to Bolivia. You'll partner with Twitch to help Valkyrie find Caveira, while unlocking the mystery of why he's in Bolivia at all. You can start the mission in the province of Caimanes, and it can be taken on solo or with four-player co-op.
Completing the mission before August 14 will get you Caveira gloves, which unlocks a special CQC move and automatically unlocks enemy positions. You can also customize your Ghost character with a Rainbow Six Gear pack, which includes Caveria's Luison handgun, a new HK 416 assault rifle, a Valkyrie head-wrap shemagh, and a Twitch skull balaclava.
Two new Ghost War PvP classes are also available. Toxic and Surgeon are inspired by Smoke and Doc from Siege, respectively. Toxic uses a drone to deploy toxic smoke, and Surgeon uses a stim pistol to revive teammates at range. The update also includes two more PvP maps, Factory and Checkpoint, a new Observer mode for spectating, and a higher difficulty PvE game mode with perma-death.
DC movies weren't the only thing Warner Bros. showed off during its massive Hall H panel at San Diego Comic-Con 2018. The studio also brought the latest Harry Potter universe film, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, and showed off some brand new footage with the cast in attendance to answer fans' burning questions.
The new Fantastic Beasts 2 trailer began with a welcome look at Jude Law's young Dumbledore walking the halls of Hogwarts, and teaching a young Newt Scamander in Defense Against the Dark Arts class. Newt reveals that his biggest fear is "having to work in an office."
Johnny Depp's Grindelwald was a big focus, advocating in the trailer for wizards coming out of the shadows. On a foggy bridge, Dumbledore tells Newt that he can't go after Grindelwald himself--it has to be Newt. The special effects look amazing, from Newt's furry, dangerous creatures to a glimpse at a showdown between Newt and Grindelwald. "Mr. Scamander, do you think Dumbledore will mourn for you?" Grindelwald asks.
The trailer ended with a surprising meeting with Nicolas Flamel, a famous alchemist central to the backstory of the Harry Potter books. Thankfully, Warner Bros. released the trailer online shortly after it debuted at the panel, so you can see it for yourself above.
As a final surprise, Johnny Depp appeared onstage in full Grindelwald costume and character, delivering a speech about the inferior "No-maj" people.
At the panel's start, a larger-than-life video of Newt Scamander welcomed attendees to Paris, the movie's setting, from the inside of his carrying case. As his giant face uttered the spell "Lumos," the bracelets given to attendees as they entered lit up with the Deathly Hallows logo. Eddie Redmayne took the stage shortly afterward to thunderous applause. The rest of the cast joined him onstage shortly afterward.
"There's an awful lot at stake. It's very much a 'Whose side are you on?' story," Jude Law said during the panel. He said the wizarding world and the human world will be pitched against each other, but wizards will fight wizards as well--and that Fantastic Beasts 2 will go to darker places than we've seen in the Harry Potter universe before.
Later in the panel, asked what she would do with her own magic powers, actress Zoë Kravitz quickly answered she'd "impeach Trump," eliciting laughter and cheers from Hall H's enormous crowd. Prompted by moderator Aisha Tyler, actor Dan Fogler even created the spell on the spot: "Impeachious Maximus," he invented, after ruminating on it for a moment.
After the amazing gaming year that was 2017, many wondered how well 2018 would turn out. Fortunately for everyone, it has been great. The first half of the year has yielded a wealth of fantastic games, and there's more on the horizon. Upcoming games for the rest of this 2018 include slew of hotly anticipated new games, like Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Red Dead Redemption 2, Spider-Man, and a whole lot more. To help you keep track of all the games coming out and what has already released, we've compiled a list of all the noteworthy release dates for the biggest ones confirmed to come out in 2018 so far.
Game release dates change all the time and new ones arrive every month. Be sure to bookmark this page, as we'll be updating this article with more release dates or any potential changes to any of the dates below. And if you're eager to figure out the release dates from games next year, you can also reference our feature on the game release dates of 2019.
Below you can find a list of the biggest games that don't have explicit release dates but are confirmed to release sometime this year. There are also games listed that we expect to launch in 2018. We'll be moving each of these games into the release date sections above as soon as official dates are announced.
A Venom movie without Spider-Man seems like a dicy gamble, but the footage Sony debuted exclusively during Comic-Con 2018 had fans excited nonetheless. It didn't hurt that they teased an eventual crossover with Tom Holland's Spider-Man, although it didn't sound like something that will happen any time soon.
In the clip, Tom Hardy's character Eddie Brock struggles to get the Symbiote under his control. He tries meditating, but there's footage of more violent scenes interspersed as he attempts to clear his mind. "You cannot change the past. But in the present moment, you are in total control," a voiceover says, but clearly that's not the case.
The footage showed Riz Ahmed's character, Dr. Carlton Drake, demonstrating the Symbiote's effect on an unwilling patient/victim. He's intent on forcing humanity to evolve. In another scene, Eddie races down the street on a motorcycle while the Symbiote erupts from his body, attacking nearby cars. Eddie speaks to the Symbiote, which can project words directly into Eddie's mind, or appear as a CG Venom head protruding from Eddie's body. In another scene, the two appear to have melded and reached some sort of balance; the Symbiote face peels partially away from Eddie's, and the two proclaim together, "We are Venom."
During the Sony movies panel in San Diego Comic-Con's Hall H, Tom Hardy said Venom will stick closely to the storyline in the Lethal Protector comics. "[Eddie] is an anti-hero, so he'll figure on a goal, and he'll do whatever he has to do to get to that goal," he said. Earlier at SDCC, Hardy revealed why he took the role.
Ahmed said during the panel that Carlton Drake is a "genius billionaire inventor" who is trying to answer the question of "what does the future of humanity look like" with the Earth on the brink of ecological collapse.
Another Symbiote appeared in the footage as well, and director Ruben Fleischer explained afterward that as fans suspected, it was Riot--an adversary of Venom's who is a "stronger and more powerful" Symbiote. He also has the ability to jump between hosts. "In our movie, you never know quite where Riot's going to turn up," Fleischer said.
Fans were expecting a little bit more, but Fleischer only teased that "there may or may not be other villains in the movie," saying he didn't want to give too much away.
However, moderator Jessica Chobot got one more small tease for fans, asking Fleischer and Hardy whether this cinematic incarnation will ever face off with Spider-Man, knowing that's what fans really want.
"I have to think that the studio's thinking the same way and that at some point down the road they're going to run into each other's paths," Fleischer said.
"What, me? Go toe-to-toe with Tom Holland? I'll have a go, yeah," Hardy added. "He's an awesome actor and I'd love to work with him, and I love Spider-Man. Who knows?"
The new movie Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse has a huge amount of buzz thanks to its unique art style and starring role for the beloved Miles Morales. At San Diego Comic-Con 2018, Sony showed off some exclusive footage that went beyond the trailers we've already seen.
In the footage, Miles has apparently just gotten his powers, and seems mostly confused by them. At school, he gets his hand tangled in Gwen Stacy's hair, and wonders whether his strange new abilities are the result of finally hitting puberty. Later, the clip revealed that in Miles' universe, Peter Parker is dead. Miles is visiting Parker's grave in a makeshift Spider-Man outfit when he's approached from behind by an older Peter Parker, voiced by Jake Johnson. Miles quickly figures out that the other Peter is from an alternate dimension, and requests that he teach him how to be Spider-Man.
Finally, the footage showed Spider-Gwen, who introduces herself to the other two as "from another, another dimension." And three more Spider-Mans debuted: Spider-Man Noir, voiced by Nic Cage; Penny Parker, with her mech-like robot SPDR, voiced by Kimiko Glenn; and Spider-Ham, a cartoonish, costumed pig voiced by comedian John Mulaney.
Sony showed the footage during the studio's panel in Hall H, SDCC's largest venue. Moderated by Jessica Chobot, the panel included actors Shameik Moore (Miles Morales), Jake Johnson (Peter Parker), and Hailee Steinfeld (Gwen Stacy), directors Rodney Rothman, Peter Ramsey, and Bob Persichetti, and producers Phil Lord and Chris Miller.
"He's a black Spider-Man, black and Mexican, I think that that's very powerful and iconic," Moore said of his character Miles Morales.
In the movie, Morales intersects with Spider-Men from alternate universes, including an older, jaded Peter Parker.
"It's Peter Parker at 40, it's Peter Parker with a bad back..and who's not sure if he still wants to be Spider-Man, and what it means to be Spider-Man after the excitement of being Spider-Man," Johnson said during the panel. "That just got really heavy, folks. But that's Peter Parker. It's chubby Peter Parker."
Hailee Steinfeld, who plays Gwen Stacy, said she's excited to play a female superhero.
"I get to play a female superhero, which was pretty cool--and not just any female superhero, but the first Spider-Woman," she said. "That was so exciting to me, and the fact that she really is the toughest and the coolest and the smartest and the most capable one in the room, and she knows it."
Lord and Miller said they insisted on a Miles story when Sony approached them to make an animated Spider-Man movie. "This story's been told a lot of times. We love Miles Morales," Lord said. "We thought this was an amazing way to tell the Spider-Man story."
"The thought of this movie was, 'What if these different stories intersected? What would it do, how would it shake them up, and what would happen if these people met?'" Lord said.
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse hits theaters December 14.
The big new update for No Man's Sky, dubbed Next, makes what appears to be a huge number of changes and additions. At least on paper, it's a dramatic overhaul for numerous areas. While these new mechanics and gameplay elements--along with multiplayer--are the most exciting components of the free update, developer Hello Games has also given the game a visual makeover.
As detailed in a blog post outlining all of the changes and patch notes, Hello shows how it has improved the graphics of No Man's Sky. This includes "massively improved draw distance," allowing you to see further into the horizon, and "new dynamic tessellation [that] enable detailed terrain height maps without sacrificing performance." The latter won't necessarily be available to everyone, as Hello notes that "tessellation will be rolling out in parity to all platforms that can support it very soon."
Although Hello lumps them in with the visual improvements, some of these changes are more than just visual enhancements. For instance, while it says the surfaces of planets "look more interesting and representative from orbit," the actual geography can now be different, too. Hello says that it's improved "planetary terrain generation [to] create more varied alien environments, featuring higher mountains and more navigable cave systems."
You can see some comparison images above and below (use the slider tool to see how things looked before and after the update). The changes also extend to out space, where you'll find asteroid rings around planets, among other improvements.
The need for a visual overhaul is not what held No Man's Sky back, and we'll be diving in to see how the gameplay additions stack up. But this is all a welcome addition to what's looking like a very nice set of changes for a free update.
Only a couple years after Fallout 4's release, Bethesda surprised fans by officially announcing Fallout 76, the next entry in its beloved post-apocalyptic RPG franchise. The new game was revealed in a trailer after a series of teases, and Bethesda discussed it in more detail at E3 2018. While there's still so much we do not yet know about Bethesda's upcoming game, the company has offered some clarity on Fallout 76's most curious features and additions to the Fallout formula.
To ensure you're kept up to date on everything there is to know about Fallout 76, we've compiled all the information we have on the game so far: the platforms it's on, its online functionality, its anti-griefing features, and where the game falls in the series' timeline.
Fallout 76 is a prequel to all of the previous Fallout games. Set in 2102, you play an inhabitant of Vault 76 who emerges from the shelter 25 years after the bombs fell on America. Your task is simple: explore what remains of post-apocalyptic America and rebuild civilization.
Longtime fans will likely recognize Vault 76; although it's not a place we've visited before, this isn't the series' first mention of it. Both Fallout 3 and 4 reference it and, according to the Fallout Wikia, this West Virginia-based vault was occupied by 500 of of America's best and brightest minds. Unlike the more grotesque experimental vaults in the Fallout universe, Vault 76 is a control vault intended to be opened 20 or so years after a nuclear war. But if the Vault was supposed to open 20 years after the bombs fell, why have 25 years gone by? The story likely has a few surprises in store.
Fallout 76 uses the Creation Engine, the same engine used to make Fallout 4, but it will purportedly feature much more graphical detail than its predecessor. Game director Todd Howard has said that Fallout 76 has new rendering and lighting technology, which allows for "16 times" the detail.
Is It An Online Survival Game?
Fallout 76 is a much different sort of game from its predecessors. It's "entirely online," but don't worry, you'll be able to play it solo too. According to Bethesda, the idea to take this approach to open-world survival came four years ago, when it started to work on building a multiplayer Fallout experience. Howard described the game's approach to survival as "softcore," which means death doesn't equal loss of progression.
You can form a party with up to three other players. You won't be able to manage your placement in servers when you login, as you'll automatically be inserted into a session with others upon booting up the game. Of course, you also have the option simply join alongside your friends and play together.
Howard commented that Fallout 76 will have dedicated servers that will support the game "now and for years to come." At launch, there will only be public servers, but Bethesda plans to introduce private servers that will allow players to invite friends to play in order to prevent undesirable behavior. According Bethesda Senior Vice President Pete Hines, it will actually be incredibly difficult to participate in ill-behavior. For instance, the game's PvP works more like issuing a challenge to somebody, preventing folks from pushing any attempts at griefing too far.
Some classic mechanics from past games will be changing to accommodate the shift to online play. For example, V.A.T.S has been reconfigured to work in real time, while still allowing players to target specific enemy body parts.
How Big Is The World?
According to Howard, Fallout 76's world is four times the size of Fallout 4. There are six different regions to explore, and each has its own unique style, risks, and rewards. Confirmed areas include the West Virginia State Capitol, The Greenbrier, Woodburn Circle, New River Gorge Bridge, and Camden Park. Contained within each area is a variety of new creatures to encounter, some of which are based on West Virginian folklore.
What Can You Do?
Like previous games, players will spend the majority of their time exploring and completing quests. However, Fallout 76 will not feature any human non-player characters, as all surviving humans will be controlled by active players. Instead, the game will use combination of robot NPCs, collectible recordings, and environmental storytelling in order to give players what they need to piece together quests and the story at large.
Given the game's premise of rebuilding the world, there will be base-building elements similar to Fallout 4. You will be able to set up a bases anywhere using an item called the Construction and Assembly Mobile Platform, or CAMP. These can be placed down in the world and allow you to construct an impromptu camp. At E3, we got to see the player laying down walls and decorating the base with pool tables, toilets, and other household objects. As the "mobile platform" part of the name implies, your CAMP can also be picked up and relocated, allowing you to move your base anywhere in the world.
While you can help build the world, you can also destroy it. If you have the necessary nuclear launch codes, it's actually possible to access a missile silo to fire a nuke at any point on the map. Doing so irradiates the chosen area, but it also allows for the opportunity to discover rare weapons, gear, and items. Be wary; nuking an area also causes more powerful enemies to show up, making it more difficult to survive.
As an online experience, player choice is said to be incredibly important, going as far as giving players the freedom to choose who are the heroes and who are the villains. Early footage showcased multiple players engaging in combat and participating in friendly activities, which seems to indicate that players have the freedom to choose their paths in the world of Fallout 76.
Who's Developing It?
Bethesda Game Studios, the Maryland-based developer responsible for the Elder Scrolls series and both Fallout 3 and Fallout 4, is at work on the game. In addition, Bethesda Game Studios Austin--formerly BattleCry Studios--assisted in fine-tuning the Creation Engine to support multiplayer functionality.
When's the Beta?
Falout 76's beta will be available exclusively to those who preorder the game. Bethesda said that it will begin selecting participants from the pool of pre-orders in early October. The plan is to start small and expand over time. Xbox One owners have a slight leg up on the beta compared to other platforms. For more details, you can check out Bethesda's Fallout 76 FAQ for more details on how to redeem your code.
Release Date
Fallout 76 is being developed for PC, PS4, and Xbox One, and is currently scheduled to be released on November 14. Unfortunately, there's no word about a Nintendo Switch release, which didn't seem out of the question after the Skyrim re-release made it to that platform.
This week's PlayStation Store sale is now live, meaning you can find a whole new set of PS4, PS3, and PS Vita games available at a discount. This week's selection isn't particularly large, but big discounts on a handful of noteworthy games are available. We've combed through the deals and highlighted some of the best ones below. Note that some of these require a PlayStation Plus membership.
No Man's Sky just got its big "Next" update, which adds a robust multiplayer component to the game, along with other improvements like "near-unlimited base building, command of freighter armadas," and more. It's on sale for $30, or $27 if you have PlayStation Plus.
Anyone looking for a co-op shooter that gets frequent updates can pick up Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Wildlands for $20. Alternately, the Gold Edition (regularly $100) is on sale for $33; it comes with the game's two big expansions, plus a bunch of additional in-game extras.
Indie Darling Bundle Vol. 2 is a four-pack of games that usually costs $50, but is on sale for $12 for PS Plus members. It contains Bleed 2, The Coma: Recut, Slayaway Camp: Butcher's Cut, and The Aquatic Adventure of the Last Human. The unrelated indie darling Crypt of the Necrodancer is also on sale for $3, down from $15.
The upcoming platformer Guacamelee 2 just got a release date (August 21), and PS Plus members can pre-order it for $16 instead of its usual $20. We have a few more selections listed below, but you can find the full list of PlayStation Store deals here.
No Man's Sky's big Next update is now available for PS4, Xbox One, and PC. The free update makes sweeping visual improvements and introduces a number of much-requested features to the ambitious sci-fi exploration game, including multiplayer, enhanced base building, a third-person perspective, and more.
Multiplayer is the most significant addition to No Man's Sky. Now, players are able to form a small team with friends or other random players and explore the universe together. Developer Hello Games says players are also able to fight with friends and foes in "epic space battles," as well as race exocraft together across planets.
As previously mentioned, base building has also been overhauled in the Next update. Now, players are able to own multiple bases, which can be constructed anywhere on a planet. The complexity and size limits of the bases you're able to build have also been "dramatically" increased, while "hundreds" of new base parts have been introduced to the game.
Additionally, the Next update introduces the ability to command freighters. Players can now assemble and upgrade a fleet of frigates, then send them out into the universe or use them to help explore a particular system. Players can also invite friends on board to embark on multiplayer missions together from the Galactic Commission Station.
Finally, the Next update overhauls nearly every facet of No Man's Sky's visuals. Hello Games says it has "dramatically improved planetary terrain generation, ground textures, water, and clouds." Ships, NPCs, and buildings have likewise received visual improvements, and the entire game is now playable from either a first-person or third-person perspective, both on-foot and in spaceships.
You can find the full patch notes for the update on the game's official website. Next is the fourth major update No Man's Sky has received since it first launched back in 2016, but it won't be the extent of the content coming to the title. Hello Games says it plans to continue supporting No Man's Sky with weekly missions and events, the first of which are slated to kick off next week.
In a huge surprise, Disney revealed that animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars is getting a Season 7. The news was shared at San Diego Comic-Con 2018, where fans got their first look at an older Anakin, Obi-Wan, Rex, and Ahsoka in a new trailer, which you can watch below. A total of 12 new episodes of the animated series are officially coming to Disney's upcoming streaming service, although a specific release date has not yet been announced.
After being canceled on Cartoon Network, the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars returned for a sixth season on Netflix. The final season was shorter than the five that proceeded it and left many of supervising director Dave Filoni's stories unresolved, such as the fate for Ahsoka Tano, Captain Rex, Maul, and Asajj Ventress. Several authors picked up those plot lines and wrote them into novels, such as Star Wars: Ahsoka and Star Wars: Dark Disciple, but viewers were left with more questions than answers.
Based on the SDCC trailer, The Clone Wars' seventh season seems to pick up close to the start of Revenge of the Sith. Anakin and Obi-Wan are called in to take a hologram call, only to see that it's with Anakin's former apprentice Ahsoka and Mandalorian warrior Bo-Katan Kryze. In Ahsoka, we learn that Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Ahsoka reunite on Mandalore after Ahsoka leaves the Jedi Order. The three, along with Clone Captain Rex and Commander Cody, go on to fight together in one last battle: the Siege of Mandalore.
Near the end of the siege, Anakin and Obi-Wan are called away to return to Coruscant to rescue Chancellor Palpatine, kidnapped by General Grievous. The two Jedi leave Ahsoka behind and in charge of Anakin's 501st Legion of clone troopers. It's at this point that the three's paths diverge, with Anakin and Obi-Wan's rescue mission being the opening scene of Revenge of the Sith and Ahsoka's solo command during the Siege of Mandalore being the opening narration of Star Wars: Ahsoka. Ahsoka supposedly never meets Obi-Wan again, but discovers Darth Vader is her former master and faces off against him in the second season of Star Wars: Rebels.
It's still a mystery whether The Clone Wars Season 7 is entirely focused on the Siege of Mandalore or split between several different conflicts that occurred prior to the opening hours of Revenge of the Sith. If possible, we'd love to see more of Ahsoka and what happens to her between TheClone Wars and Rebels.
At SDCC 2018, Lucasfilm also announced new Star Wars' stories that will flesh out characters from the prequel era of the movies, like Padme and Qui-Gon Jinn.
Ubisoft is preparing to launch The Division 2, even as the original The Division still enjoys a relatively active player base thanks to a steady stream of content updates and quality-of-life tweaks. To tempt players back, and perhaps to ease the transition into the sequel, the company is offering some free goodies, as well as limited-time access to older expansions.
Shields are special commendations that are granted for fulfilling specific mission objections. Every Shield you unlock will grant you rewards in The Division, including 2,000 Phoenix Credits, three Cypher keys, one exotic weapon, a patch with the Shield icon, and more. But it also grants you a tiered rank that will transfer to The Division 2. As detailed on the official blog, the higher the tier, the more rewards you'll get:
Tier 1 - Weapon Skin
Tier 2 - Outfit and Patch
Tier 3 - Emote and Gear Dye
Tier 4 - Taunting Emote and Backpack Trophy
Every month, the Division is adding a new Shield, and another one just became available. It's called the Sacred Shield, and since it's tied to the Underground expansion, Ubisoft is making that expansion free for a limited time. You can play it gratis until next Wednesday, July 25.
The Sacred Shield is granted for completing 10 phases, getting to level 10, and killing 10 Hunters in the Underground. It joins Shepherd, Avenger, Deadeye, and Hazard as the Shields that are obtainable so far. Getting all of the Shields, and keeping up with new ones as they come out, will get you the best head-start when The Division 2 is released next year. You can read up on everything we know about The Division 2 for more details.
No Man's Sky launched for PS4 and PC back in August 2016, and at the time it was criticised for a perceived lack of content. The game has grown since, and it gets another big update this week when true multiplayer comes to the game in the No Man's Sky Next expansion. Part of the problem with the game was that some players felt they were promised more than what was delivered. Sony management has gone on record to say the PR strategy "wasn't great."
Now, the face of No Man's Sky--designer Sean Murray--has released a message to the community in which he acknowledged that he made "mistakes."
"Whilst I couldn't be prouder of the team, I personally made mistakes," Murray said in a blog post. "I could talk all day about things I personally would change. Certainly one regret is that the intensity and drama of launch left no room for communication with the community."
Murray said the team at Hello Studios wanted to focus on "development rather than words," which might have been part of the problem. He also pointed out that Hello Games is a very small team; there were never more than 15 people working on the game, he pointed out.
No Man's Sky Next, which launches on July 24, is just the latest free update for the sci-fi game. It follows previously released updates such as Foundation, Pathfinder, and Atlas Rises.
The game remains immensely popular, it seems, as Murray pointed out that around 1 million people played No Man's Sky on the day that Atlas Rises launched. Everyone who purchased the expansion played for 45 hours on average, Murray said, while 20 percent of players reached 100 hours and 5 percent passed 1000 hours. All up, people have spent more than 200 million hours playing No Man's Sky to date.
"One day I hope to reach a point where I feel No Man's Sky is 'finished,' but luckily there's still so much more we want to do," Murray said. "Working on NEXT feels important to us, but I know it's not the end of the journey. We know the journey would be more fun together."
No Man's Sky is currently available on PS4, Xbox One, and PC.
Fortnite's much-loved Playground mode will return on July 25, developer Epic Games has announced. There will be a number of new additions this time around, including team select options and the ability to drive the newly released all-terrain kart. Additionally, Epic is promising "lots more loot," though a specific list of items has not been released yet. [Update: Fortnite's 5.10 update is out now, and the patch notes details all of the changes to Playground coming on Wednesday.]
The full list of changes for the new Playground mode will be published in the 5.10 patch notes tomorrow, July 24. Keep checking back with GameSpot for more.
Playground mode returns on July 25th! Set up squad battles with new team select options, skirt around in an ATK and gear up with lots more loot. Look out for the full list of changes in the 5.10 patch notes. pic.twitter.com/7bK1Wgg98U
Originally released at the start of July, Playground is intended to be a "low-pressure environment" that acts much like a private server. It allows players to explore the map and play around with up to three friends, free from the risk of being eliminated by other people. The mode was removed a couple weeks back, with Epic saying at the time it would bring it back with some changes at a later date.
July 24 marks the first anniversary of Fortnite's release, and Epic is celebrating the occasion with a limited time event that lets you take on a set of special quests to unlock birthday-themed cosmetics and an XP bonus. There will be three different quests to complete, each of which offers a different reward. Players who manage to complete all three of the quests before the event ends on August 7 will receive a Birthday Cake Back Bling.
The neverending onslaught of new Fortnite updates continues, with patch 5.10 now available. It's a notable one, with a new weapon, birthday challenges, and more included, but perhaps best of all are the variety of map changes that have been implemented--one of which is quite funny, though it requires you to know where to look.
To understand this tribute on the map, you need to be familiar with the plight of Chappadoodle. Recently, streamer Muselk published a video of an attempted rescue operation in Fortnite. He sees an All-Terrain Kart nearing the edge of the map and goes to investigate, only to discover a player--Chappadoodle--has fallen far off the edge of the map but somehow managed to survive. Assuming Chappadoodle has simply run out of building materials and is stuck, Muselk builds an elaborate series of stairs to get them out. But just as they are about to reach the trapped player, he finds himself unable to build further, seemingly due to a block in place at such a low elevation.
Luckily, the aforementioned ATK was still hanging around up above, so Muselk retrieves it, intending to use its bouncy roof to let Chappadoodle reach the stairs. While attempting to bring the ATK down, it goes dangerously tumbling down the side of the cliff, but somehow manages to not fall off the map--only to mistakenly collide with Chappadoodle, sending them flying off the map to their death. And in a cruel twist, Muselk tests his theory of using the ATK's roof to reach the stairs, and sure enough, it works.
The official Fortnite account shared a clip of all this, as you'd expect any game developer to do with a funny video involving its game. Not content with simply doing that, Reddit user StoreBrandEnigma has found that Epic has actually memorialized the entire incident in-game. As of patch 5.10, if you visit the spot where Chappadoodle died, you'll find a tombstone. And nearby, where the ATK's roof was needed, you'll find a set of tires (which in Fortnite also send you flying into the air). You can see it in the screenshot below or watch video of it here.
This isn't the first time Epic has acknowledged happenings in the community in-game. Maybe most famously, theories that Season 4's comet would destroy Tilted Towers led to Epic leaving signs from a doomsday party on the roof of one of Tilted's buildings.
The new tombstone appears to be just one of several small changes to the map unmentioned in the patch notes. Redditor ImmortalTechniquez found a skeet shooting setup, while Sqoof noticed that Risky Reels has been patched up.
Update: Although the new Fortnite patch is out now and the birthday event is live, the new challenges are not available for everyone as intended. Epic has confirmed issues have arisen with the rollout, causing "some" players to be unable to access the challenges. However, that should be fixed before long; Epic says everyone will get the challenges when the in-game store refreshes today, July 24, at 5 PM PT / 8 PM ET (1 AM BST on July 25). The original story follows.
A new update is on the way soon for Fortnite: Battle Royale. Coinciding with the game's first anniversary, Epic is rolling out the v5.10 patch on all platforms--PS4, Xbox One, PC, Nintendo Switch, and iOS--today, July 24, which will kick off a special, limited-time birthday event and introduce other new content to the battle royale game. [Update: The servers are now back online. You can read the full Fortnite 5.10 patch notes and our Fortnite 1st Birthday challenge guide to see everything that's new and what you'll need to do to get some fresh cosmetics.]
As usual, the v5.10 update is preceded by a period of server maintenance, during which time the game will temporarily be taken offline. As with most updates, Epic hasn't revealed how long the maintenance will last, but it started at 1 AM PT / 4 AM ET / 9 AM BST. In most cases maintenance lasts between an hour or two.
Full patch notes for the v5.10 update will be shared once the maintenance period begins, but among the changes coming to Fortnite: Battle Royale is a buff for the Slurp Juice. As Epic detailed on Reddit, the Slurp Juice will now provide 75 points and prioritize HP. If your HP is full when the item is consumed, then the points will go toward your Shield.
Fortnite's in-game New Updates section also hints that a new weapon, the Compact SMG, is also on the way this week. The update doesn't provide very much information about the upcoming gun, but the accompany description calls it an "Epic and Legendary rarity SMG that excels at close quarters combat."
Fortnite's v5.10 update also marks the start of the aforementioned birthday event. For a limited time, all Fortnite players will be able to take on a set of special quests to unlock birthday-themed cosmetics and an XP bonus. According to the game's official website, there will be three different quests to complete, each of which offers a different reward. Players who manage to complete all three of the quests before the event ends on August 7 will receive a Birthday Cake Back Bling.
Bethesda's annual fan event, QuakeCon, is just around the corner, and it promises to offer another look at some of the publisher's biggest upcoming titles. Bethesda has already confirmed this year's event will feature the gameplay reveal of Doom Eternal, and now the company has teased it will also share some new details on the highly anticipated Fallout 76.
Bethesda has announced it will host a panel and Q&A session about the upcoming online RPG at QuakeCon 2018. The panel takes place on Saturday, August 11, at 9 AM PT / 12 PM ET and will feature Todd Howard and other developers from Bethesda Game Studios providing a "deeper dive into the character system and Perks coming in Fallout 76."
In addition to the Fallout 76 panel, Bethesda will hold a big keynote address at this year's QuakeCon. The presentation takes place at the same time--9 AM PT / 12 PM ET--on Friday, August 10, and will provide updates on several titles, including Quake Champions, Rage 2, and The Elder Scrolls Online, as well as the aforementioned gameplay reveal of Doom Eternal.
QuakeCon 2018 takes place in Grapevine, Texas. Tickets for the event are still available; if you're interested in attending, you can purchase tickets here. If you can't make it to the event in-person, Bethesda will also livestream its keynote address and the Fallout 76 panel as they happen on its Mixer and Twitch channels.
Fallout 76 launches for PS4, Xbox One, and PC on November 14. Ahead of its release, Bethesda will hold a special beta for those who pre-order the title. The beta is slated to begin in October, but it will start off small; Bethesda says it will select players for the beta and gradually expand over time, so not everyone who pre-orders the title will be chosen to participate right away.
Dragon Ball FighterZ arrives on Nintendo Switch this September, but Switch owners will have a chance to try the acclaimed fighting game out before then. Bandai Namco has announced it will host an open beta for Dragon Ball FighterZ on Switch sometime in August.
No further details on the open beta have been revealed yet, so it's unclear how many fighters and modes will be available or what days the test will run, but Bandai Namco has confirmed the beta will be open to players in North America, Europe, and Japan. The open beta held for the PS4 and Xbox One versions ahead of their release featured 11 playable characters and a handful of different stages and modes, although it remains to be seen if the Switch beta will feature a similar lineup.
In addition to announcing the open beta, Bandai Namco has revealed that the Switch version of Dragon Ball FighterZ will launch with a couple of new local mulitplayer options, specifically an offline six-player Party Match mode and 2v2 and 1v1 matches. The publisher hasn't announced if these options will also be added to the PS4, Xbox One, and PC versions.
In other Dragon Ball FighterZ news, Bandai Namco recently unveiled the two newest DLC characters coming to the game: the base forms of Goku and Vegeta. Both characters are expected to release next month and are modeled after their appearances during the Saiyan Saga in Dragon Ball Z.
Niantic is releasing another new update for Pokemon Go. The update is in the process of rolling out for both iOS and Android devices, and along with a handful of bug fixes and performance improvements, it introduces another new feature to the mobile game: Lucky Pokemon.
According to Niantic, following the update, some Pokemon will now become "Lucky Pokemon" when traded to another player. These special monsters will be denoted by a sparkling background, and what makes them particularly desirable is that they require less Stardust to power up, meaning players can raise the Pokemon's Combat Power much faster than normal.
It's unclear what other variables factor into whether or not a Pokemon you receive in a trade will become a Lucky one. However, Niantic notes that the longer a Pokemon has been sitting in a player's storage, the higher its likelihood is of becoming a Lucky Pokemon.
In addition to Lucky Pokemon, the latest Pokemon Go update adds another incentive to send Gifts. Now, players who send Gifts to their friends will be rewarded with XP. The Gifts themselves also now have a chance of containing Stardust, in addition to their usual assortment of items (including special Eggs that hatch into Alolan forms of certain Pokemon).
Trading and Gifting were first introduced in Pokemon Go earlier this summer, along with the much-requested friends system. Players can now register each other as friends by exchanging numerical friend codes. Once registered, they can then send Gifts to other trainers on their friends list. Players can also trade Pokemon with friends, but that can only be done in-person.
A new Legendary Pokemon, Registeel, recently began appearing in Pokemon Go. Players will be able to encounter the Legendary Steel-type in Raid Battles until August 21. Niantic also recently shared details for the game's next Community Day event, which this time takes place on two days--August 11 and 12--and features Eevee.
The Shin Megami Tensei series is over 30-years old. Known for its unique demon recruitment, turn-based battle systems, as well as its uncompromising difficulty, the series has also spawned a large number of spin-offs across consoles, including the increasingly popular Persona series. Now, the series has made its debut on iOS and Android phones with Shin Megami Tensei Liberation Dx2. It's a free-to-play title, perhaps unsurprisingly, and that might immediately prompt skepticism from just about anyone who has any love for the series, or video games in general.
But our experience with the game's English-language closed-beta phase in late June surprised us. All the signature elements you would expect from an SMT game were there--an involved narrative, a robust demon fusion system, and most importantly, the press-turn combat system which incentivizes you to exploit enemy elemental weaknesses at every opportunity. What's more, there were a wealth of different modes to play with: a campaign narrative, competitive PvP, a randomly generated first-person dungeon crawling mode ala Persona Q, and a number of single-player ladders.
There's loot-box style system for the first time in the series, where you can obtain a random selection of demons, and this is the center of the game's monetization efforts. But with SMT's in-combat demon recruitment and demon fusion systems in place, we didn't feel the need to ever rely on it, at least in the beta.
GameSpot recently had the chance to interview the chief producer on the title, Yamada Riichiro, to ask him the approaches to transforming the beloved, Atlus-developed console series into a Sega-developed free-to-play smartphone game, and the steps they took to respect the devoted fanbase.
GameSpot: How do you stay true to the SMT franchise while making something that's viable on mobile? What are the key characteristics of SMT you wanted to maintain?
Yamada: Our key goal has been to "offer a console gameplay experience on smartphones", and I think we managed to achieve this goal, though it required a lot of work. I personally think that a console game must be a piece of art, although in the case of a F2P game, it becomes a "service" that must be managed, so our biggest challenge was to balance the game properly.
Which SMT series did you take the most influence from when building Dx2?
Shin Megami Tensei 3: Nocturne is my favorite of the series, and I've played them all! The system of the press-turn battle was epochal, and I also loved the story.
What separates SMT Dx2 from similar mobile games, aside from history/foundation of Shin Megami Tensei?
This might not exactly answer your question, but the biggest difference is that user can experience gameplay close to a console title, while still being in a F2P. There are not that many games (on mobile) that allow players to create characters of the highest rank by just taking time and effort. Of course, there are several original elements, but the point just mentioned is the one that makes it the most different I think.
With a new wave of Western interest in the Persona series and Japanese games in general, what are your hopes and expectations for the success of Dx2?
I know there are only a few Japanese-developed titles that really found success in the Western market. But since its early stages of development, this title was created with a global release in mind. I really hope it will find success in US and Europe!
Can you tell us about how successful Dx2 has been in Japan in terms of the number of players?
Shin Megami Tensei Liberation Dx2 was released six months ago in Japan. As a result, it has already exceeded 5 million downloads! We're proud of this number and want to thank all the fans.
What considerations did you have in mind when you were creating the game's story and characters? The game seems brighter, more positive, and more fun in its tone compared to other SMT stories, with a more international cast. Did you aim to try something different here?
Since it was developed by the SEGA team I wanted to make it a bit different than the console titles. The game is also set in modern Akihabara. Akihabara is the center of the Otaku culture, and many visitors from around the world are visiting this part of the city. Therefore, it was natural to add non-Japanese characters in the game.
Dx2 has many different game modes--the main narrative, competitive PvP, first-person dungeon crawling, and a number of extra single-player ladders. What made you decide to include all these modes, rather than just focusing on one or two?
We thought the game should offer as much content as possible to the players. It took us a lot of time and effort though!
Which mode has been the most popular with Japanese players?
The storylines and 3D dungeon were very positively received by players here. Regarding PvP, not many Japanese players like PvP compared to Western players.
It's very nice to see that many demon fusion options exist in Dx2. But, it also has the new option to obtain demons via Gacha (loot boxes, blind boxes). What was the reason behind including Gacha?
We added Gacha as a monetization system. In order to continue to provide high-quality content to users, we needed to monetize the game. However, this is not "Gacha game", it should just be seen as a "time-shortening" opportunity.
What has been the reaction of Japanese SMT fans to the Gacha?
There was some negative feedback that "summon rate is low" when it was released. But, in general, mobile games based in Gacha are adding high ranked characters every month. This can cause inflation and unbalance the game. We did not want to make this type of game, so we allow players to take the time and effort to eventually get high ranked demons. We're continuously teaching this type of game mechanic to users, so negative feedback has gone away for now.
Can you tell us how much of the Japanese player base uses the Gacha option?
I think that all players are using it. The reason is that summons can be done with the summon card as well.
Can you tell us how successful Dx2 has been in Japan in terms of its profits?
Sorry, this is confidential, I can only say it's doing great so far.
Is the game designed for players to be able to realistically be able to access all the demons without paying money?
High-rank Fiend/Hero demons are limited to summoning at launch. However, we are planning to implement Demon Fusion in the future. Additionally, all demons can be upgraded to ★6, the highest rank.
What was your philosophy behind balancing the point where people had to pay money to progress?
The concept is "to shorten the time", this goes for Gacha also. Even if there are no demons that you would like to achieve, everything is connected, such as Fusion materials, materials for improving rarity, skill inheritance. We did not put in a "Gacha especially for this event" that is common in Japanese games.
Can the game be enjoyed for a long time without paying money?
I think that this is very possible. If you take your time, you can complete everything in the game.
What was the decision process behind making Dx2 a free-to-play game, rather than a premium, pay-once RPG story?
I don't think it would have much value to release this title as a premium title on mobile. The reason is that SMT is already successful and available on consoles, so we needed to adapt it as a genuine mobile game.
Would global success with Dx2 lead Atlus or Sega to consider another traditional, premium SMT RPG for mobiles?
Unfortunately, I can't discuss future plans at this time.
Shin Megami Tensei Liberation Dx2 is available now on the iOS App Store and Google Play.
To celebrate the first birthday of Fortnite, developer Epic Games has introduced a special set of celebratory challenges to the game as part of the 5.10 update. There are a total of three new challenges, and if you're able to complete all of them you'll get a special reward item. Thankfully, each of the challenges are fairly easy, though one of them will require you to spend a little bit of time running around the map and getting your dance on.
The first of the challenges involves playing 14 matches in the Battle Royale mode, which you can probably manage with ease. The second involves being a little aggressive in-game and dealing damage to opponents. You'll have to dish out a total of 1000 points of hurt before you're rewarded with the birthday emote.
The third of the challenges requires you to dance in front of 10 different birthday cakes, and once you've done that you'll get a spray. We've done the legwork and put the locations of each of the birthday cakes on the map, which you can find below. There's also a list of the locations, along with a short description on where to find the cakes. Alternatively, you can watch the video above to see us find each of the cakes and do a little jig.
With all three challenges complete, you'll unlock a special back bling for your character. You've got up until August 7, when the event will no longer be active. You can see an image of the new Back Bling, along with the details for the three challenges, below.
Fortnite 1st Birthday Challenges
Play matches (14) -- 5,000 XP
Deal damage to opponents (1000) -- Emote
Dance in front of different Birthday Cakes (10) -- Spray
Birthday Cake Locations
Lazy Links: Near the road next to the southern sand traps
Wailing Woods/Risky Reels: On the hill between Wailing Woods and Risky Reels
Retail: In the middle of the market near the basketball court
Tilted Towers/Loot Lake: Above the waterfall between Tilted Towers and Loot Late
Pleasant Park: East of the park, behind the gas station
Greasy Grove: Centre of Greasy Grove, between the Durr Burger and the basketball court
Paradise Palms: North of Paradise Palms, across the street from the welcome sign
Fatal Fields: In the middle of Fatal Fields
Flush Factory: Under the giant toilet sign
Lonely Lodge: West Lonely Lodge, near the parked Caravans.
Alongside the new challenges, Epic Games has detailed the contents of the 5.10 update. The patch brings back the Playground LTM, which has had a few tweaks for its second appearance. There's also the introduction of the Compact SMG, which is deadly when you get in close. A number of tweaks have also been made to the gameplay, performance, and user-interface, so check out our story on the full patch notes to see that all. You'll also find some details on what's new with Save the World mode.
In related news, Fortnite Halloween costumes are going to be released as part of a partnership with retailers Spirit Halloween and Spencer. The two completed a deal with Epic Games for "a range of officially licensed" Fortnite costumes, as well as accessories and gear based on the brand. There are outfits based on the Black Knight, Crackshot, Dark Voyager, Skull Trooper, and Cuddle Team Leader skins. You can also purchase the basic, rainbow smash, and party animal pickaxes, or a light-up boogie bomb that actually plays sound.
Epic Games is currently celebrating Fortnite's 1st birthday with new challenges that will unlock emotes, sprays, and bling. However, it's also offering some extra skins to those that have been with the game from the very start. Fortnite originally launched with just the mode that is now known as Save the World, and was available to purchase as a Founder's Pack. When the Battle Royale mode was later launched, those that had purchased the Founder's Pack were promised some free skins, and almost a year later they've materialised.
To thank you for your continued support, all founder's pack owners will receive the legendary Warpaint and Rose Team Leader Outfits in Battle Royale as part of our v5.10 release. pic.twitter.com/JhgswBdBZR
If you purchased the Fortnite Founder's Pack, when you jump into Battle Royale will be greeted with a notification informing you that you have new cosmetics. These include Legendary Warpaint and Rose Team Leader outfit, which are available to use now. You can take a look at images of the new skins below.
Click image to view in full screen
These new skins were released as part of the Fortnite 5.10 update, which also includes the aforementioned birthday challenges. There's three challenges in total, and while the first two are fairly straightforward, the third requires a little bit of legwork. To make things a bit easier for you, we have a Fortnite 1st Birthday Challenges guide. Using that, you'll be able to get those emotes, skins, sprays, and bling in no time.
The new update also brings back the Playground LTM, which was introduced to give players a low-pressure place to hone their skills and experiment with friends. For its return, Epic Games has made a few changes, such as adding new team select options and also letting squads set up team battles for practice and training. Additionally, the Compact SMG has been added to Battle Royale, you can read about that and much more in our detailed Fortnite update 5.01 patch notes story.
Fornite's 5.10 update is now live and developer Epic Games has released patch notes detailing all the additions and changes coming to the game's Battle Royale and Save the World modes. The main attraction in the new Fortnite update is the birthday celebration event, during which players will be able to find birthday cakes around the island and earn special cosmetics by completing challenges and quests. You can check out our Fortnite 1st Birthday challenge guide for more on that.
Beyond that, the patch also preps the game for the return of Playground LTM, which will be playable again from July 25. This time, however, it will include team select options and the ability to drive ATK vehicle. Epic has also promised there will be "lots more loot," though it didn't provide any specific examples.
Fortnite update V5.10 also adds the Compact SMG to the Battle Royale mode. "Unwrap the newest weapon in Battle Royale. Engage in close quarters combat with the high capacity, fast firing Compact SMG," the description reads. As you might expect from an SMG, the gun is incredibly useful for catching enemy players off guard and dishing out deadly damage up close.
In Save the World, meanwhile, players can now head to the desert of Canny Valley, where they'll be able to explore Thunder Route 99. "Immerse yourself in the story, uncover its secrets, and explore the new Arid Biome with your friends," Epic says. Take a look at the full Fortnite: Battle Royale update 5.10 patch notes below, courtesy of Epic Games.
Click image to view in full screen
Fortnite Update 5.10 Patch Notes
#Fortnite1st Birthday
We've got a birthday party planned for #Fortnite1st and you're invited! Eat cake, party and bring your friends. Each Birthday Challenge you complete unlocks a slice of the birthday cosmetic set.
Playground LTM (Battle Royale)
Playground mode is back on Wednesday, July 25! New team select options let you and your squad set up team battles for practice and training. Race! Create, and share your screenshots and cinematics on social.
Compact SMG (Battle Royale)
Unwrap the newest weapon in Battle Royale. Engage in close quarters combat with the high capacity, fast firing Compact SMG.
Canny Valley (Save the World)
Adventure into the desert of Canny Valley and explore Thunder Route 99... Immerse yourself in the story, uncover its secrets, and explore the new Arid Biome with your friends.
Save the World Celebration
Celebrate #Fortnite1st with cake, loot, and a special in-game questline. Complete the questline to unlock Birthday Brigade Ramirez. While you're partying, find and eat birthday cakes to earn event tickets which can be spent on the limited time Birthday Llama.
General
New default keybindings for new players.
All keyboard layouts will continue to default to the QWERTY bindings for new players or those who reset their back to default.
Changed countdown timers to display more useful information
Shows hours left instead of days when under 72 hours.
Shows hours:minutes:seconds left when below 13 hours.
Changed the background of the loading screen bullet points area to be partially translucent.
Removed the "static noise" when switching tabs.
The "Restore" button has been removed from the settings screen. Also, the "Reset Defaults" button has been renamed to "Reset."
Leaving the settings screen before applying changes will give the option to apply changes and exit or discard changes and exit.
Double clicks now register as two clicks on a button, allowing for faster navigation through Next/Previous type buttons
Bug Fixes
Items on the ground will properly have their stack counts updated if the stack size changes while the player is currently looking at them.
Fixed a frame delay on some text layouts, which would cause large blocks of text to reflow their wrapping one frame after seeing them.
Corrected text shadows that were appearing incorrectly in certain areas of the UI.
Battle Royale
Birthday Event
You can now find birthday cakes placed around the map with consumable slices next to them. Enjoy those tasty treats!
Cake slices give +5 health and +5 shield instantly when consumed.
Complete three birthday even challenges to unlock a new emote, spray, and Backbling.
The Battlebus and Supply Drops have been decorated to celebrate #Fortnite1st.
Limited Time Mode: Playground
Players can now switch teams in-game. Join the same team to work together creatively, join separate teams to practice fighting each other!
Note: Voice chat will remain on across all teams, future iterations of the mode will offer more customization.
Aim assist will work when using a gamepad against players on an opposing team.
Matches will no longer end if one player leaves the server.
Golf carts have been added and spawn 100% of the time.
Ammo cans spawn 10x the amount of ammo.
Removed grey vending machines, increased the chances of higher-tier machines spawning.
Increased launch & bounce pads spawn likelihood.
Lowered forced glider deploy height, so players can get back into the action more quickly.
Increased max rocket ammo cap to 60.
Increased rocket ammo drop rates.
Added 100 Supply Drops.
Chests now spawn 3 weapons and more ammo & consumables than normal.
Floor loot now spawns 3 items.
Increased Chug Jug and Slurp Juice spawn chances, decreased Bandages.
Added Chug Jugs to floor loot.
Respawn timer lowered from 10s to 3s.
Weapons and Items
Compact SMG added.
Available in Epic and Legendary variants.
23-24 base damage.
Uses Light Ammo.
50 round capacity.
Can be found from floor loot, chests, Supply Drops, and Vending Machines.
Slurp Juice now grants 1 health every 0.5 seconds, up to a total of 75. If health is full, shield will be granted instead.
Supply Drop loot rates adjusted.
Weapons (drops 1)
Assault Rifles to 25% from 14.2%.
Explosives to 25% from 28.5%.
Compact SMG 14.58%.
Sniper Rifles to 14.58% from 28.5%.
Heavy Shotgun to 10.42% from 7.1%.
Minigun to 10.42% from 14.2%.
Removed Hand Cannon, Dual Pistols, and Silenced Pistol.
Traps (drops 2)
Launch Pad to 44.44% from 9.6%.
Cozy Campfire to 33.33% from 7.5%.
Bouncer to 22.22% from 15%.
Removed Damage Traps.
Consumables (drops 2)
Shield Potion to 20% from 19.1%
Small Shield Potion to 17.50% from 12.7%
Med Kit to 13.75% from 6.3%
Slurp Juice to 11.25% from 5.11%
Clinger to 10% from 6.3%
Remote Explosives to 10% from 3.3%
Impulse Grenade to 10% from 4%
Chug Jug to 7.5% from 2.1%
Removed Boogie Bombs, Grenades, Bandages, Stink Bombs, Port-a-Forts, and Bush.
Materials (drops 2)
Wood to 33% from 47.6%.
Stone to 33% from 35.7%.
Metal to 33% from 16.6%.
Gameplay
Changes to building materials.
Wood wall starting health to 80 from 100.
Stone wall starting health to 80 from 90.
Wood wall max health to 150 from 200.
Metal wall max health to 500 from 400.
Metal build time to 25s from 20s.
Storm Circle changes.
Safezone 2 wait time to 120 from 150.
Safezone 2 shrink time to 120 from 90.
Safezone 4 wait time to 90 from 120.
Safezone 6 wait time to 60 from 90.
Safezone 7 wait time to 45 from 60.
Safezone 8 wait time to 30 from 60.
Safezone 9 wait time to 30 from 45.
Added moving circle to Safezone 6.
Added "Sprint By Default" option, when enabled this makes sprint the default movement. The sprint key will now be used to transition into walking.
Newly-placed building pieces will now appear in a different color while players are still overlapping the structure.
Improved handling of collision when building pieces are placed right on top of a player. It's much more likely for players to be moved outside of newly-placed structures.
Pickaxe damage against enemy and ally player built structures increased to 75 base damage and 150 critical damage.
The slow motion and confetti effects for a Victory Royale will now play for the winner regardless of how they win the game.
Changing the gyro motion of the Nintendo Switch to rotate around the roll instead of the yaw.
This is intended to allow for the users to be able to hold the device in any situation and always have the motion react according to the screen direction instead of being in the Switch's world space.
Bug Fixes
Fixed an issue causing bullets and projectiles to be blocked by invisible collision.
This was being caused by player placed map markers
Autorun can now be used while in vehicles. Fixed a logic issue in the autorun canceling code.
This should also fix autorun canceling when releasing the stick while using a gamepad.
Changed the button layout for Old School and Quick Builder configs so that the "change seat" action button is not the same as the "powerslide" button.
Sniper rifle bullets no longer incorrectly stop when passing through certain trigger volumes.
Eliminating players will now properly grant challenge progress.
If the same player knocks out and eliminates an enemy with two different weapons, they will get elimination quest progress for both weapons.
Players will no longer get stuck in the coasting state if they change seats while in a vehicle.
Pickaxes will no longer stretch and appear incorrectly if the slow-motion effect plays while players are riding in a vehicle.
Fixed an issue where a player would not have a weapon out if hitting a bounce pad into a jump pad under certain network conditions.
Players will no longer hold weapons while emoting if they're riding in an All Terrain Kart.
Players will no longer fall through floor or pushed through walls when placing or editing structures.
Remote Explosives will now only show damage numbers when damage is done to players.
Vehicles can no longer be flipped while standing on top of them.
This fixes the issue where players would sometimes become stuck or teleported if standing on a vehicle that flipped.
Crouching is no longer allowed while emoting.
The Wave emote, emoticons, and sprays will now continue to play even if you're moving.
Peformance
Various server performance improvements focused on the 50v50 LTM.
Server performance improvements were made to the custom matches used during competitive events.
Significant All Terrain Kart (ATK) performance improvements.
Audio
Added spatialization to the sound played when a marker is placed on the map. Now you will hear it coming from where the in-world marker was placed.
All Terrain Kart (ATK) audio improvements
Improved All Terrain Kart (ATK) audio attenuation fall-off.
Added a unique sound when the All Terrain Kart (ATK) is destroyed.
Added sounds for when the All Terrain Kart (ATK) is in water.
Improvements have been made to grenade bounce audio so they don't sound as spammy under certain conditions.
Lowered the volume of the AC/DC pickaxe.
Added a unique sound for bouncing off a diving board.
Added a unique sound for destroying cacti.
Audio panning logic for Switch has been changed. Sources panning from one side to another will be more dramatic.
Bug Fixes
Conquest glider's open and close sounds no longer stack when spamming the action.
Twist emote music no longer overlaps with other emote music.
Re-added metal impact sounds when shooting or pickaxing Shopping Carts.
Weapon fire audio no longer cuts out when low on ammo for some weapons.
UI
Adjusted lobby nameplate arrangement to better account for long player names.
Added the ability to combine stackable items in player inventory if the stack sizes aren't already capped.
The Game Mode Select screen now sorts in the following order from left to right:
Solo, Duo, Squads
Bug Fixes
Fixed an issue preventing players to select nothing as an Outfit and Backbling.
Removed the 'Save and Exit' option for items without variants.
Double tap the accept hotkey/button to confirm your selection.
Fixed an issue in the locker where the shuffle icon for randomized outfits was drawn slightly differently to other shuffle icons.
Removed an error message when trying to purchase the Battle Bundle while at tier 76 or above.
The correct actions are now shown on the HUD when you get into a Shopping Cart for the first time after being in an All Terrain Kart (ATK).
Art and Animation
Bug Fixes
Prevented sprays from affecting the eyes of the Rainbow Smash pickaxe.
The Toilet Paper contrail animations now appear correctly.
Replay System
Changed the icon when a player has been downed to an exclamation mark.
Bug Fixes
Battle Bus positioning now appears correctly in replays.
Fixed an issue with focus distance when changing cameras in replays.
Fixed issues with drone cameras when viewing players in vehicles during replays.
Fixed an issue where the camera controls would not display when toggling the HUD visibility.
Mobile
Downloading patches will now continue when you switch to a different app. When the download has completed, you'll receive a notification.
Fire mode selection now has preview videos to better illustrate the functionality.
Added new placeable individual quick bar buttons to the HUD layout tool. Can be set to either locked Combat, locked Build, or Automatic mode to switch based on the player's currently selected mode.
Tapping a currently selected build item from the quick bar will now build the item.
Bug Fixes
Fixed texture streaming issues with the battle bus.
Audible pops will no longer occur on iOS during loading screens and gameplay.
To read the full patch notes for the Save the World mode, check out Epic's full update post.
July 24 is the first anniversary of Fortnite's release. We've got a guide for the upcoming set of special quests that'll let you unlock birthday-themed cosmetics and an XP bonus. Find out where the Fortnite birthday cakes are here. Once you've danced in front of all the cakes, and completed the other two challenges, you'll get a new Back Bling. You've only got until August 7 to do it, so get to work.
BioWare's Anthem does not appear to be the kind of game that the acclaimed RPG studio is known for. It's an always-online, multiplayer-focused shooter with limited or non-existent dialogue and romance options. While the game impressed at E3, it left some wondering about this new direction. In particular, there are some who believe BioWare owner Electronic Arts pushed the company to go in the new direction.
"I think one of the things about BioWare has been really good at it, which has allowed it to survive for more than two decades, is taking risks and trying new and different things," Ohlen told Game Informer.
He pointed out that BioWare has a history of taking risks and innovating. "Neverwinter Nights was quite a bit different when it came out in 2002 and obviously Star Wars: The Old Republic was quite a bit different when it came out in 2011," he said.
Also in the interview, Ohlen said just because Anthem is a multiplayer-focused online game, that doesn't mean the studio won't also make "classic" BioWare games. Bethesda faced some of the same criticism when it announced the multiplayer-enabled Fallout 76.
"The fact that BioWare is doing something different with Anthem doesn't mean that BioWare isn't going to do games that skew more towards the traditional style that BioWare is known for," Ohlen said. "It's just a chance to do something a little different. It was driven by BioWare itself, the team. I know there's a lot of the conspiracy theories that EA is the one behind it, but that's never been the case. BioWare's always had a lot of control over the kind of games it makes."
Surely EA had some hand in shaping the direction of Anthem, but it's encouraging to hear Ohlen say BioWare had a good amount of control over the direction it wanted to take Anthem. Risk-taking is essential for any creative industry, and video games are no different. Whether or not Anthem works out critically and commercially remains to be seen, however.
Also in the interview, Ohlen talked about the culture at BioWare and if it had changed in recent years amid a number of veteran staffers leaving the company. BioWare veterans Mark Darrah and Casey Hudson (who left BioWare to join Microsoft and then returned) are helping to keep the BioWare culture alive, Ohlen said. While BioWare founders Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk have moved on, BioWare's culture remains one of "humility" and "excellence," Ohlen said.
"It's a good place to work that doesn't burn out its people, but at the same time, it's a place that focuses on creating the highest-quality games possible," he explained. "And then BioWare's had to evolve because games are getting more and more expensive and teams are getting larger and larger, so it's been difficult, but I think the studio's leaders have done a great job."
Asked why BioWare is facing some level of high-level turnover, Ohlen said people sometimes just want to try new things and have more creative control over a project.
"The fact is, with bigger and bigger games, people are working with larger and larger teams … Working on the development of Star Wars: The Old Republic, I was the game director, which meant I had the most power, but I often felt like I was the captain of the Titanic and I could just steer it a teeny tiny bit if I put all my efforts into it," Ohlen said.
Anthem launches in February 2019 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. You may be able to play earlier, however, as EA will host a beta before launch. Anthem is BioWare's first new IP in 10 years, and it's not the only game the studio is working on. BioWare is also reportedly at work on a new Dragon Age game, though it has yet to be formally announced.
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