It appears Respawn's current Titanfall project and plans on all future Titanfall games have been delayed. Previously scheduled for later this year, Apex Legends executive producer Drew McCoy announced plans for all future Titanfall games have been delayed so that Respawn can better focus on future seasons for Apex Legends.
"[Regarding] other games in development at Respawn, it is important to understand that there are entirely separate development teams working on Apex Legends and Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order," McCoy wrote in a blog post. "Additionally, in order to fully support Apex Legends, we are pushing out plans for future Titanfall games. No resources from the Apex Legends team are being shifted to other titles in development here at the studio, nor are we pulling resources from the team working on Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order."
Not many details about this upcoming Titanfall project have been revealed, but Respawn CEO Vince Zampella has clarified that it is not Titanfall 3. "We love being able to experiment in this crazy universe!" he said. On Twitter, Zampella also shot down the theory that the Titanfall project would be a VR game. In an earnings call, EA described the project as a "premium" title but suggested the game would not be a typical Titanfall sequel.
In this regard, the Titanfall project sounds like it could be similar to Apex Legends, Respawn's battle royale game set within the Titanfall universe years after the events of Titanfall 2. This upcoming game could just be set within the same setting as the original first person shooters, but doesn't quite follow the same mixture of fast-paced, wall-running gameplay and slower, mech-based combat.
Respawn is set to announce the details concerning Apex Legends Season 2 during EA Play in June. "For Season 2 you can expect a Battle Pass with more meaningful content, the introduction of a new Legend, the debut of a new weapon...and you didn't expect Kings Canyon to stay the same forever, did you?" McCoy wrote. Following the start of Season 2, Respawn is scheduled to release Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order on November 15 for Xbox One, PS4, and PC. The Star Wars game is set after the events of Revenge of the Sith and sees you play as Jedi padawan Cal Kestis.
Fortnite's 8.50 update is now live across all platforms, and it's kicked off the game's anticipated Avengers: Endgame limited-time event. That isn't the extent of the crossover, however. Epic has also added a new assortment of Avengers-inspired cosmetics to the battle royale game, including a cool skin based on Black Widow.
The Black Widow outfit, which you can see below, is available for purchase now from Fortnite's in-game store. It costs 1,500 V-Bucks and comes in two variants: one with red hair, and one with blonde. It also includes a matching Back Bling. On top of that, Epic is selling a Widow's Bite harvesting tool skin for 800 V-Bucks, as well as a Widow's Pirouette emote for 200.
If you're interested in adding the Black Widow outfit to your wardrobe, you'll need to act quickly; the skin will only be available from the Fortnite store until 5 PM PT / 8 PM ET. There's also no telling if it'll cycle back in at some point in the future, so if you'd like it, you only have a few hours to pick it up. However, Epic has teased that there will be other Avengers outfits in the game, with the second set going on sale "early next week."
Meanwhile, the Fortnite Endgame LTM will run through to the end of Season 8. This special mode has players either siding with Thanos and his Chitauri Invaders or the Heroes trying to stop them. Those on Team Thanos must find the six Infinity Stones scattered around the island in order to power up the mad titan, while players on the Heroes' side will need to find the Avengers' iconic weapons and wield them against the villains. There's also a set of Fortnite Endgame challenges to complete, which will unlock more Avengers-inspired cosmetics.
On top of all that, Week 9's challenges are also live in Fortnite, which means we're quickly nearing the end of Season 8. That also means you only have a little more time to complete any outstanding challenges from this season and unlock the remaining Battle Pass rewards. If you need any help, we've rounded up tips for the trickier tasks in our complete Season 8 challenges guide.
Die-hard PlayStation fans now have a new online destination for games-related merchandise and apparel: Sony just relaunched its online PlayStation Gear Store this week with officially licensed products inspired by PlayStation and some of its biggest games, like God of War, Bloodborne, Uncharted, and The Last of Us. As of right now, the PlayStation Gear Store is available only to those in North America and ships to the United States, Mexico, and Canada.
The new store has a wide range of official products, from apparel and accessories to home decor. According to Sony's announcement, limited-edition items are coming soon and will include collectibles, seasonal products, and brand collaborations.
Head over to the PlayStation Gear Store to check out the new offerings, and see some of the new products that caught our eye below.
By Anonymous on Apr 25, 2019 11:36 pm Fortnite Season 8 has brought back its much anticipated Avengers crossover event! For Battle Pass owners however, there are still challenges to be completed. This week one challenge requires you to dance between Ice Sculptures, Dinosaurs, and Hotsprings, and we've got the exact locations that you need to go in this video guide. Captured on PC.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe doesn't have the best track record when it comes to representing minorities. All but three of the franchise's 22 films have been focused primarily on straight, white men--and the three that aren't only came in the last two years. It's not a spectacular ratio when you really break it down. Avengers: Endgame didn't exactly tip the scales in favor of diversifying the line up in any meaningful way, but it did include the big screen MCU's first-ever openly queer character.
Sure, the character was an unnamed cameo by co-director Joe Russo, but, look, we're going to take the win we can get, even if it's a really embarrassingly thin one.
And in terms of including any level of queer representation, Russo's cameo was actually handled pretty well for as minimal as it was. Here's how it went down: Captain America is moonlighting as a grief counselor running a therapy group for snap survivors. In group, Russo's character explains that he went on a date--a big step--and that it went pretty well, except for when he started crying, and when his date, a man, started crying too. The trauma of the Snap is obviously not something people are adjusting to easily, even five years later.
Steve offers up some kind-hearted advice, and tells everyone that it's best to focus on the things that are positive about their situation and they need to work on moving on. It's all over in about five minutes, but it's an exceedingly normal five minutes devoid of any real stereotyping or poorly handled tropes.
In an interview with Deadline, Russo spoke to their motivations and intentions in including the scene. "It was important to us as we did four of these films, we wanted a gay character somewhere in them. We felt it was important that one of us play him, to ensure the integrity and show it is so important to the filmmakers that one of us is representing that. It is a perfect time, because one of the things that is compelling about the Marvel Universe moving forward is its focus on diversity."
The sentiment is nice, to be sure, and appreciated. But it's important to look at this moment in context of not only Endgame, but the entire cinematic universe. This is not a monumental victory--all things considered, it's a tiny drop in a very, very large ocean. That isn't to say it doesn't matter, but it's ultimately a tiny scrap being tossed the way of queer fans and what may or may not be an empty promise for movies to come.
For all the MCU has lacked genuine representative queer relationships in the past, there has been no shortage of subtextual coding--everything from the wildly popular assumed romance between Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes to the extremely loosely implied past love life of Valkyrie during Thor: Ragnarok's flashback sequence. By the same token, there have also been characters that are explicitly queer in the source material--Valkyrie again, members of the Dora Milaje that served as Okoye's inspiration, Loki, and Korg, to name a few--who have been transported into the live-action universe, only to have their sexualities and identities written around or outright erased. All of which is to say that the MCU has had a bunch of opportunities to start including non-heterosexual characters into the mix and blatantly chosen not to do so. That's not something that can be undone or corrected by a blink-and-you-miss-it cameo.
But we've got to start somewhere right? Hopefully Marvel Studios will deliver on Russo's promise, and hopefully future representation will be more than a tiny, inconsequential Easter Egg.
Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney has laid out an ultimatum in regards to securing further exclusive titles for the Epic Games Store. If Valve offers a revenue share for developers on Steam that matches Epic's, Sweeney tweeted out, then the Epic Games Store will stop signing exclusivity agreements that keep games off of Steam.
"If Steam committed to a permanent 88% revenue share for all developers and publishers without major strings attached, Epic would hastily organize a retreat from exclusives (while honoring our partner commitments) and consider putting our own games on Steam," Sweeney wrote. "Such a move would be a glorious moment in the history of PC gaming, and would have a sweeping impact on other platforms for generations to come."
The Epic Games Store has made a habit of securing major triple-A and high-profile indie games away from Steam. The Souls-like game Ashen was one of the first to leave Steam for an exclusive offering on Epic, but it was followed by more prominent titles like Metro Exodus and Borderlands 3. Ubisoft has entered into a partnership with the Epic Games Store and moved most of its PC releases over from Steam to Epic, starting with The Division 2 and extending to Anno 1800 as well.
There's been plenty of discontent for the Epic Games Store, especially when games that have been sold on Steam are moved to Epic during the pre-order phase. In most cases, this has caused outrage on Twitter and Reddit, as well as Steam users review bombing games that have sequels launching on Epic. Both Metro 2033 and Metro: Last Light were hit hard in the aftermath of Metro Exodus' move to Epic. The same happened to Borderlands, Borderlands 2, and Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel after the reveal that Borderlands 3 would be launching on the Epic Games Store.
Steam users' harsh reactions to games leaving Steam for Epic and Valve's slow response on some of the review bombings have rubbed some developers the wrong way. "Ironically, that this misuse is possible and that Steam has no interest in correcting this misuse makes me kind of happy about 2K's decision and makes me want to reconsider Gearbox Publishing's current posture on the platform," Gearbox studio head Randy Pitchford wrote.
Respawn will share the first details of Apex Legends Season 2 at the EA Play event taking place just before E3 in June. A statement from the company acknowledges some of the shortcomings of this first season battle pass, and goes on to tease some of the new content that will be coming, including changes to the map.
"We've seen all the feedback on Season 1 and look forward to showing you the improvements we're making," the studio said in a note on the EA blog. "For Season 2 you can expect a Battle Pass with more meaningful content, the introduction of a new Legend, the debut of a new weapon... and you didn't expect Kings Canyon to stay the same forever, did you?"
The seasonal roadmap also said that Season 2 would begin in June, so there likely won't be much time between the announcement and the update.
This is part of the studio's new commitment, as stated in the blog, to "provide more visibility into the future." That doesn't mean we'll hear about everything, they warn, but it's attempting to be more transparent and put out "fewer surprise drops."
Also along those lines, it explained the current studio slate and how it's prioritizing its projects. Respawn is currently split into two teams working on Apex Legends and Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order. But to keep from stretching itself too thin, the studio is pushing back its plans for future Titanfall games. This would seem to suggest that it's no longer planning to put out multiple games this year.
A recent report claimed that Fortnite, Apex's chief competitor which offers weekly content drops along with larger seasonal changes, has developed a culture of crunch because of the sheer workload of such frequent updates. Without mentioning Fortnite by name, Respawn CEO Vince Zampella said that Apex will stick with seasonal drops, referencing "quality of life for the team."
By Anonymous on Apr 25, 2019 10:15 pm Armed with the iconic equipment of the Avengers, take to the island of Fortnite with Captain America's shield, Iron Man's gauntlets, Hawkeye's bow, and Thor's Stormbringer to stop the forces of Thanos before you see Avengers: Endgame on the big screen.
By Anonymous on Apr 25, 2019 10:15 pm As Thanos and his army of Chitauri, your objective is to secure the Infinity Stones to bring the Infinity Gauntlet to full power, before The Avengers are able to wipe our your forces.
The world of Fortnite is in turmoil. Through a little bit of cross-promotional magic between Fortnite and Avengers: Endgame, the mad titan Thanos has appeared once again on the island, and this time he's brought an army of Chitauri with him. All is not lost, however, as the iconic weapons wielded by the Avengers have also appeared and players can use them against the power-crazy villain. But before you do any of that, there's the weekly challenges to complete, and one of them involves dancing at various locations on the island.
As always, the exact locations aren't spelled out; instead you've got little clues that point you in the general direction. These include "between three Ice Sculptures", "between three dinosaurs", and "between four hot springs." Some of you may know exactly where to go, but for those that don't have an intimate layout of the island in their head, we've put together a quick guide that'll get you where you need to be pronto.
For the first one, "between three Ice Sculptures," your destination is the snow biome--naturally. Specifically, it's just to the east of Frosty Flights, where you'll easily spot the three sculptures. For "between the dinosaurs," you'll need to head south of Paradise Palms and, on the bend towards the lower part of the area, you'll spy the red, purple, and green dinos hanging out--bust a move there. Finally, the four Hot Springs are just east of Risky Reels. There are two larger springs and two small ones, and you'll need to get right in the middle of them all before gettin' down.
Fortnite Ice Sculpture, Dinosaurs, Hot Springs Locations
Ice Sculptures: East of Frosty Flights at grid reference C8
Dinosaurs: South of Paradise Palms at grid reference I9
Hot Springs: East of Risky Reels at grid reference G2
If you've completed the weekly challenges and are thirsting for more, there's a special set of Avengers: Endgame challenges that will task you with completing specific objectives in the LTM. These include hunting down the Infinity Stones and even using Iron Man's iconic repulsors. In return, you'll get cosmetic unlocks. New challenges are going to be added regularly, and you'll want to complete those too as the Quinjet is awarded to those that finish 10 of them.
If you're on the lookout for new horror movies to watch this May, you may want to check out what the AMC stream service Shudder has to offer. Next month, there are some new original series you should check out, along with a growing selection of horror flicks watch.
There are a few movies you may have missed coming next month, including the second and third movies in the V/H/S series. Much like Creepshow in the '80s, V/H/S is a horror anthology featuring different stories and directors. The third film in the franchise, Viral, is the weakest of the lot, but still very much worth your time. Also headed to Shudder in May are 2008's Doomsday, 1996's Fear, and 2015's Predestination, all on the first of the month.
As for other programming, Shudder is continuing to put out more original and exclusive content on its service. The Last Drive-In With Joe Bob Briggs will air live on Fridays, continuing the Thanksgiving specials he did on the service. Briggs introduces the movies and occasionally pops up to talk to the viewers at home. He's been doing this gig since 1986 with Drive-In Theater on TMC.
On May 8, the Shudder original movie The Ranger arrives. The film follows a group of teens on run from the police. They end up in the woods and find themselves terrorized by a crazy park ranger. On May 23, The Night Shifter hits the service, following a man who works at a morgue during the graveyard shift. The man can talk to the dead, which somehow releases a curse.
Shudder is available on iOS, Android, FireTV, Roku, and Xbox One. An annual membership costs $4 a month--billed yearly for $47.88--or monthly for $5. Below, you'll find a full list of everything arriving to Shudder this May. For more streaming service selections for May, check out what Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime Video has in store.
Shudder Original Movies
The Ranger (2018, Jenn Wexler)--available Thursday, May 9 (Also available on Shudder Canada and Shudder UK)
Shudder Original & Exclusive Series
The Last Drive-In With Joe Bob Briggs--Fridays at 9 PM ET/ 6 PM PT (Most titles available live on Shudder Canada; select titles also available on demand on Shudder UK)
May 2019 Highlights
Stan Lee's Lucky Man, Season 3--available Thursday, May 16 (Also available on Shudder Canada)
Eli Roth's History Of Horror: Uncut Podcast--premieres Friday, May 3
Additional May Releases
May 1
Bad Dreams (1984, Andrew Fleming, also available on Shudder Canada)
Doomsday (2008, Neil Marshall)
Fear (1996, James Foley)
The Other (1972, Robert Mulligan, also available on Shudder Canada)
Predestination (2015, Peter Spierig)
May 6
Bloody Birthday (1981, Ed Hunt, also available on Shudder Canada)
May 13
V/H/S/2 (2013, Simon Barrett, Jason Eisener, Gareth Evans, Gregg Hale, Eduardo Sanchez, Timo Tjahjanto, Adam Wingward)
Nintendo's lastest financial earnings results are now out, giving us a look at the company's hardware and software sales for the past fiscal year. Not only did Nintendo's recent spate of Switch exclusives sell an impressive number of copies, the Switch console itself has also hit a new sales milestone.
During the fiscal year ended March 31, Nintendo moved 16.95 million Switch consoles. While that missed the company's ambitious plan to sell 20 million units during the fiscal year, it did represent a 12.7% year-on-year increase. Moreover, it brought the system's global sales thus far up to 34.74 million, surpassing the lifetime sales of the Nintendo 64, which stands at 32.93 million.
The Switch has been an impressive rebound for Nintendo after the poor performance of the company's previous home console, the Wii U, which moved 13.56 million units over its lifetime. The hybrid system, on the other hand, has been selling remarkably well since launching back in March 2017, managing to outsell its predecessor in just 10 months. However, it remains to be seen whether or not it'll match the company's best-selling home console, the Wii, which stands at 101.63 million.
This past fiscal year was also a big one for Nintendo in terms of software sales. The company released a handful of notable exclusives for Switch, which have all moved some impressive numbers. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate sold more sold more than 13.81 million units, making it the series' best-selling installment and Nintendo's third best-selling game for Switch, while Pokemon: Let's Go Pikachu and Eevee sold a combined 10.63 million copies. Those numbers have quickly rocketed both titles up Nintendo's list of the 10 best-selling Switch games.
This fiscal year has the potential to be even bigger for Nintendo. The company has a number of major exclusives lined up for Switch in 2019, including a new pair of Pokemon games, Sword and Shield. There have also been numerous reports that Nintendo will release a cheaper Switch model this summer. While not necessarily denying that a new version of the system is coming, Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa responded to those rumors, saying the company has "no plans to announce" any new hardware at this year's E3.
It's a big week in Fortnite, which is now in Season 8, Week 9. The crossover event with Avengers: Endgame has begun and gives players the opportunity to wield iconic weapons against Thanos and his Chitauri army. On top of that, there are the regular weekly challenges, which you'll want to complete if you want to unlock all the cosmetics for this season.
As always, there are two sets of challenges. The free selection is available to all players, while the Battle Pass challenges are exclusively for those that have spent V-Bucks on a premium Battle Pass. You should know the drill by now: Complete challenges to unlock Battle Stars, which will in turn level up your pass and give you cosmetics to customize your character with.
This week, in the free section, players will need to complete a multi-stage challenge that involves landing in multiple locations, starting with Loot Lake. On top of that, they'll need to search seven chests at either Polar Peak or Lonely Lodge, and ride three Volcano Vents without ever landing.
For those with a paid Battle Pass, challenges involve dancing between specific landmarks, doing damage to enemies from below them, reviving a teammate using a Reboot Van, and taking out five enemies in different matches. You can see the complete list of challenges below.
Fortnite Season 8, Week 9 Challenges
Free
Stage 1 of 5: Land at Loot Lake -- 1 Battle Star
Land at Lucky Landing
Land at Salty Springs
Land at Lonely Lodge
Land at Haunted Hills
Search chests at Polar Peak or Lonely Lodge (7) -- 5 Battle Stars
Ride three different Volcano Vents without landing (1) -- 10 Battle Stars
Battle Pass
Stage 1 of 3: Dance between three Ice Sculptures (1) -- 1 Battle Star
Dance between three dinosaurs
Dance between four hot springs
Deal damage to opponents from below -- 5 Battle Star
Revive a teammate at a Reboot Van (1) -- 10 Battle Stars
Eliminate an opponent in different matches (5) -- 10 Battle Stars
Season 8 is starting to wind down now, which means there's not a lot of time left to complete challenges from previous weeks and get all the cosmetics in the Battle Pass. We've been keeping track of all the most difficult challenges and put together a comprehensive Fortnite Season 8 challenge guide. If you need to get Battle Stars fast, you can use that guide roundup to get the challenges done quickly.
The update that introduces the Avengers: Endgame crossover also makes some other tweaks and changes to the game, including how weapon swapping works. You can see everything that Epic Games has changed in its popular battle royale title in the full Fortnite update 8.50 patch notes.
Nintendo has shared its latest financial earnings results, giving us a much better look at Switch hardware and software sales during the fiscal year ended March 31. Despite being a comparatively slow year in terms of marquee game releases, causing Nintendo to fall short of its hardware sales estimates, the company's most recent spate of exclusives have moved some impressive numbers.
As of March 31, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate has sold more than 13.81 million units worldwide since launching back in December 2018, surpassing the lifetime sales of the series' best-selling entry, Super Smash Bros. Brawl for Wii, in a little under four months. Switch's first proper Pokemon games, Let's Go Pikachu and Eevee, have likewise been a huge sales success; since November, the pair have sold a combined 10.63 million copies, overtaking the series' final 3DS installments, Pokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, which stand at 8.37 million copies.
This past fiscal year also saw a handful of new Mario games hit Switch, and these too are already off to a strong start for Nintendo. Super Mario Party has surpassed six million copies, while New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe, which launched this past January, has sold 3.31 million. That puts it above the standalone Wii U version New Super Luigi U and roughly two million units shy of the original New Super Mario Bros. U's lifetime sales. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe also continues to sell remarkably well; it moved an additional 7.47 million units in the previous fiscal year, bringing its lifetime Switch sales up to 16.69 million and moving it to the top of the company's 10 best-selling Switch games.
Thanks to these strong software sales, Nintendo sold 16.95 million Switch consoles in the fiscal year, a 12.7% year-on-year increase, bringing the console up to 34.74 million units worldwide. Nintendo also says that 118.55 million software units were sold during the fiscal year (up 86.7% YoY). According to the company, "Combined with steadily-growing sales of titles released during previous fiscal years and titles released by other software publishers, the total number of million-seller titles during this fiscal year recorded 23."
Nintendo has a number of big exclusives lined up for Switch this year, including Pokemon Sword and Shield and Super Mario Maker 2, which recently received a release date, so it's likely the console will only continue its upward trajectory. Nintendo also reportedly has a cheaper Switch model on the way "by the end of June," according to Bloomberg, although Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa said the company has "no plans to announce" any new hardware at this year's E3.
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