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EA: Battlefield 6 Will “Usher in a New Generation” for Battlefield Games; Will Be the BF Game Fans Want to Play

While most Battlefield fans (including this guy) sees Battlefield 5 as a misstep for the franchise, EA seems confident that fans will love what they see from this year’s Battlefield game tentatively titled Battlefield 6.

During EA’s quarterly earnings call, Andrew Wilson refrained from sharing any specific info regarding the upcoming shooter, though did state that this year’s Battlefield title will “usher in a new generation” for Battlefield games, and that this upcoming entry into the franchise will “exactly” be the game that Battlefield fans want.

Michael Ng (Goldman Sachs): With first-person shooters using free-to-play game mode to expand the top funnel, could you talk a little bit about your ambition to do something like that with Battlefield? Is there anything you could share with us about the content road map?

Andrew Wilson (EA CEO): On Battlefield, we don’t have anything more to share with you at this point other than we believe that it’s going to usher in a new generation for Battlefield games and Battlefield fans and we’ll be taking — benefiting from the full power of next-gen platforms. And you should imagine that we’re looking across all forms of the experience to ensure that this is exactly the game that Battlefield fans want to play and the game that we believe will drive growth in the Battlefield franchise. But more on that to come in the month ahead and we’re excited to share more on that at the appropriate time.

If you’re a big of a Battlefield fan as I am, you’re no doubt itching to know more. Thankfully, the wait won’t be long as EA has confirmed that we’ll be seeing the game’s reveal sometime in Spring 2021, and that it’ll feature “more players than ever before,” which leads into this whole “usher in a new generation” quote as well.

Image source: YouTube

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Alex Co

Father, gamer, games media vet, writer of words, killer of noobs.

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PlayStation Store Sale February 3 Is for “Critics’ Choice,” Here Are the Games

It’s another week, and it seems Sony has another digital store sale! The PlayStation Store sale February 3 list is for the “Critics’ Choice” sale, and as one might expect, has a bunch of awesome titles discounted! Head on below for the complete list.

PlayStation Store Sale February 3 Critcs’ Choice:

Title % Off Discounted price Regular Price
ACE COMBAT™ 7: SKIES UNKNOWN Deluxe Edition -67% $28.04 $84.99
Assassin’s Creed® Valhalla + Watch Dogs®: Legion Bundle -40% $65.99 $109.99
Assassin’s Creed Legendary Collection -70% $59.99 $59.99
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla -33% $40.19 $59.99
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla Gold PS4 & PS5 -33% $66.99 $99.99
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla Ultimate PS4 & PS5 -33% $80.39 $119.99
Assassin’s Creed® Bundle: Assassin’s Creed® Valhalla, Assassin’s Creed® Odyssey, and Assassin’s Creed® Origins -60% $63.99 $159.99
Batman: Arkham Collection -70% $17.99 $59.99
Borderlands 3 PS4™ & PS5™ -67% $19.79 $59.99
Borderlands 3 Season Pass PS4™ & PS5™ -50% $24.99 $49.99
Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare® -25% $44.99 $59.99
Chess Ultra -50% $6.49 $12.99
Civilization VI Expansion Bundle -60% $19.99 $49.99
Crossout – ‘Iron Shield’ Pack -50% $29.99 $59.99
Crossout – ‘Spectral Hunter’ Pack -50% $24.99 $49.99
Crossout – ‘Wild Hunt’ Pack -60% $7.99 $19.99
CRSED – Biker Queen Pack -50% $9.99 $19.99
CRSED – God Of Thunder Pack -50% $9.99 $19.99
Destiny 2: Beyond Light -33% $26.79 $39.99
Destiny 2: Beyond Light + Season -33% $33.49 $49.99
Destiny 2: Beyond Light Deluxe Edition -25% $52.49 $69.99
Destiny 2: Forsaken -50% $12.49 $24.99
Destiny 2: Legendary Edition -40% $47.99 $79.99
Destiny 2: Shadowkeep -50% $12.49 $24.99
Dishonored & Prey: The Arkane Collection -70% $29.99 $99.99
Dishonored 2 -50% $19.99 $39.99
Dishonored® The Complete Collection -70% $17.99 $59.99
DOOM Eternal Deluxe Edition -67% $29.69 $89.99
DOOM Eternal Standard Edition -67% $19.79 $59.99
DOOM Eternal: The Ancient Gods – Part One (Standalone) -20% $15.99 $19.99
DRAGON BALL Z: KAKAROT Deluxe Edition -50% $42.49 $84.99
Dying Light -35% $12.99 $19.99
Fallout 76 -60% $15.99 $39.99
FAR CRY 4 + FAR CRY PRIMAL BUNDLE -60% $19.99 $49.99
Far Cry New Dawn Complete Edition -75% $24.99 $99.99
Far Cry New Dawn Deluxe Edition -70% $14.99 $49.99
Far Cry® 5 Season Pass -50% $14.99 $29.99
FIFA 21 Champions Edition PS4™ & PS5™ -75% $19.99 $79.99
FIFA 21 Ultimate Edition PS4™ & PS5™ -75% $24.99 $99.99
FINAL FANTASY® XIV Online – Complete Edition -50% $29.99 $59.99
FINAL FANTASY® XIV: SHADOWBRINGERS -50% $19.99 $39.99
FINAL FANTASY® XIV: SHADOWBRINGERS – Collector’s Edition -50% $29.99 $59.99
For Honor Marching Fire Edition -70% $14.99 $49.99
God of War Digital Deluxe Edition -33% $20.09 $29.99
Grand Theft Auto V: Premium Edition -50% $14.99 $29.99
Hello Neighbor Bundle -60% $19.99 $49.99
Hello Neighbor Hide and Seek -60% $11.99 $29.99
Title % Off Discounted price Regular Price
Immortals Fenyx Rising™ Gold Edition PS4 & PS5 -40% $59.99 $99.99
Immortals Fenyx Rising™ PS4 & PS5 -40% $35.99 $59.99
LEGO® Marvel’s Avengers -65% $6.99 $19.99
LEGO® Star Wars™: The Force Awakens -55% $8.99 $19.99
Madden NFL 21 PS4™ & PS5™ -50% $29.99 $59.99
Mafia: Definitive Edition -25% $29.99 $39.99
Mafia: Trilogy -35% $38.99 $59.99
Middle-earth™: Shadow of War™ Definitive Edition -70% $17.99 $59.99
Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate PS4 & PS5 -40% $35.99 $59.99
MXGP 2020 – The Official Motocross Videogame -30% $34.99 $49.99
Need for Speed™ Heat Deluxe Edition -75% $17.49 $69.99
Need for Speed™ Hot Pursuit Remastered -40% $23.99 $39.99
NHL® 21 -51% $29.39 $59.99
NHL® 21 Deluxe Edition -57% $30.09 $69.99
NHL® 21 Great Eight Edition -55% $35.99 $79.99
Overwatch: Legendary Edition -67% $19.79 $59.99
Plants vs. Zombies: Battle for Neighborville™ -75% $9.99 $39.99
Prey + Dishonored 2 Bundle -70% $19.49 $64.99
Rainbow Six Siege & Ghost Recon Breakpoint Bundle -75% $22.49 $89.99
Red Dead Redemption 2 -50% $29.99 $59.99
RESIDENT EVIL 2 -60% $15.99 $39.99
RESIDENT EVIL 3 -67% $19.79 $59.99
RESIDENT EVIL 7 biohazard -50% $9.99 $19.99
Sekiro™: Shadows Die Twice – Game of the Year Edition -35% $38.99 $59.99
Shady Part of Me -20% $11.99 $14.99
Sid Meier’s Civilization VI -75% $14.99 $59.99
Snooker 19 -55% $15.74 $34.99
Snooker 19 Gold Edition -55% $17.99 $39.99
Spelunky 2 -30% $13.99 $19.99
STAR WARS Jedi: Fallen Order™ -67% $19.79 $59.99
Tennis World Tour – Legends Edition -80% $14.99 $74.99
Tennis World Tour: Roland-Garros Edition -80% $10.99 $54.99
The Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope -33% $20.09 $29.99
The Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope & Man of Medan Bundle -40% $29.99 $49.99
The Elder Scrolls Online -60% $7.99 $19.99
The Heavy Rain™ & BEYOND: Two Souls™ Collection -68% $12.79 $39.99
The Outer Worlds: Board-Approved Bundle -25% $59.99 $79.99
The Pathless PS4™ & PS5™ -20% $31.99 $39.99
The Sims™ 4 -75% $9.99 $39.99
The Sims™ 4 Cats and Dogs Plus My First Pet Stuff Bundle -50% $19.99 $39.99
The Sims™ 4 City Living -50% $19.99 $39.99
The Sims™ 4 Discover University -50% $19.99 $39.99
The Sims™ 4 Eco Lifestyle -50% $19.99 $39.99
The Sims™ 4 Get Famous -50% $19.99 $39.99
The Sims™ 4 Get to Work -50% $19.99 $39.99
The Sims™ 4 Get Together -50% $19.99 $39.99
The Sims™ 4 Island Living -50% $19.99 $39.99
The Sims™ 4 Plus Cats & Dogs Bundle -75% $12.49 $49.99
The Sims™ 4 Seasons -50% $19.99 $39.99
The Sims™ 4 Snowy Escape Expansion Pack -50% $19.99 $39.99
The Sims™ 4 Star Wars™: Journey to Batuu Game Pack -25% $14.99 $19.99
The Sinking City -70% $17.99 $59.99
The Sinking City: Necronomicon Edition -70% $22.49 $74.99
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Complete Edition -80% $9.99 $49.99
Tom Clancy’s The Division® Franchise Bundle -70% $16.49 $54.99
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege Gold Edition PS4 & PS5 -65% $22.74 $64.99
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six® Siege Deluxe Edition PS4 & PS5 -75% $9.99 $39.99
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six® Siege Ultimate Edition PS4 & PS5 -65% $34.99 $99.99
Tony Hawk’s™ Pro Skater™ 1 + 2 -25% $29.99 $39.99
Tony Hawk’s™ Pro Skater™ 1 + 2 – Digital Deluxe Edition -30% $34.99 $49.99
Tropico 6 El Prez Edition -52% $31.19 $64.99
Title % Off Discounted price Regular Price
UFC® 4 -50% $29.99 $59.99
UNCHARTED 4: A Thief’s End -50% $9.99 $19.99
Warface – Godfather Luxury Pack -45% $27.49 $49.99
Warface – Heroic Edition -45% $8.24 $14.99
Warface – Legendary Edition -45% $13.74 $24.99
Warface: Breakout -80% $3.99 $19.99
Warhammer Pack: Hack and Slash -65% $27.99 $79.99
Warhammer: Chaosbane Slayer Edition -45% $32.99 $59.99
Warhammer: Chaosbane Slayer Edition -60% $23.99 $59.99
Warhammer: Vermintide 2 -60% $11.99 $29.99
Warhammer: Vermintide 2 – Premium Edition -60% $17.99 $44.99
Watch Dogs 1 + Watch Dogs 2 Gold Editions Bundle -75% $24.99 $99.99
Watch Dogs 2 -80% $9.99 $49.99
Watch Dogs: Legion – Ultimate Edition PS4 & PS5 -50% $59.99 $119.99
Watch Dogs®: Legion PS4 & PS5 -50% $29.99 $59.99
Wolfenstein: Alt History Collection -50% $39.99 $79.99
Wolfenstein® II: The Freedom Chronicles Season Pass -32% $16.99 $24.99
Wolfenstein® II: The New Colossus™ Digital Deluxe Edition -67% $19.79 $59.99
World War Z -70% $8.99 $29.99
World War Z – GOTY Edition -60% $19.99 $49.99
WRC 8 Deluxe Edition FIA World Rally Championship -70% $17.99 $59.99

If you have a PS5, don’t forget to check out details on today’s firmware update that includes more than stability fixes!

Thanks, Reddit!

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Alex Co

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Apex Legends Sees 30% Growth in New Players From Previous Year; Mobile Version Soft Launch in 3-4 Months

It’s been quite a busy week for Apex Legends in terms of news, as not only did we get Season 8 yesterday, but EA also announced that the Nintendo Switch version will be out this March 9! If that wasn’t enough, EA touted how strong Apex Legends has been for the publisher, and how much it grew its playerbase.

During EA’s quarterly earnings call, EA CEO Andrew Wilson announced that Apex Legends saw an impressive 30% growth in new players year-over-year.

We are at the two-year anniversary of the launch of Apex Legends. And with 30% growth in new players year-over-year, its success is accelerating. The unique seasons of live service content delivered by our talented Respawn team are expanding the Apex audience, bringing in more players with great storytelling and engaging in-game events. Competitive play in Apex Legends is also reaching and entertaining more viewers with recent events in November driving new viewership and watch time records. – Andrew Wilson, EA CEO

During the Q&A portion, EA CFO and COO Blake Jorgensen revealed that Apex Legends mobile will see its “soft” launch in about 3-4 months’ time, and confirmed that Japan is the game’s second biggest audience, which is why the publisher pushed for a Nintendo Switch version (since the console is very big in Japan).

Mario Lu (Barclays):  Great. Thanks for taking the questions. I have one on Apex and one on FIFA Mobile. So the first one, Apex, very excited for the Nintendo Switch version coming out in March. So with close to 80 million Switches sold worldwide and the fact that Japan is the game’s No. 2 market, can you help us frame the Switch opportunity to the franchise reaching $1 billion in annual bookings versus growth coming from organic and mobile?

Blake Jorgensen (EA CFO):

o on Apex, clearly, as you said, Japan is the second-largest market for Apex, which is very exciting for us. And we know that it’s one of the largest markets for the Nintendo Switch.

And that’s the reason we decided to put it out on Nintendo Switch. But we also know that Nintendo Switch is a global business, not just a Japanese business. We think the combination of Nintendo Switch, Apex plus mobile Apex will be very powerful. We believe mobile Apex will be in soft launch sometime in the next three to four months and hopefully gets into the marketplace quickly.

Obviously, it will take longer to get into the market in China because of some of the regulatory issues. But in the rest of the world, we don’t see those issues happening. But we also want to make sure it is the exact product that we want. I think the team is very dedicated to making sure the product is the perfect product for a global market.

Given how big the Nintendo Switch in Japan (and in the entire world is), and the fact that Apex Legends is a free-to-play game, I wouldn’t be surprised to see if EA reports that the jump for Apex Legends’ playerbase is higher than 30% for the next year.

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EA: Over 230 Million People Engaged in EA Sports Franchises & Content in Past Year

While some gamers might thumb their noses at yearly iteration of sports video games, there’s a reason why publishers and companies continue to release them, and it’s because it makes a ton of cash. For publisher EA, its EA Sports label is on the same boat.

During EA’s quarterly earnings call, EA CEO Andrew Wilson announced some of the impressive figures the publisher’s sports titles managed to hit, and boy! Are they impressive! Wilson mentioned that over the past fiscal year, EA Sports titles managed to snag a whopping 230 million people to engage in its games and content.

Drilling down on these growth drivers. EA SPORTS is at the core of the sports experience for hundreds of millions of fans. More and more people, especially younger Gen Z players, are now defining their sports fandom through the games they play like FIFA, Madden, NHL and UFC. In the past fiscal year, we’ve had more than 230 million people engaged with our EA SPORTS franchises and content.

We delivered six new high-quality sports games in FY ‘21, including FIFA 21 and Madden NFL 21, on the new Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5, ushering in a new generation of sports games. FIFA continues to grow on every platform. We set a new record of nearly six million daily active players in FIFA Ultimate Team in December and FUT matches have grown a staggering 177% year-over-year. FIFA Online 4 in Korea has had higher player acquisition in every quarter of this year compared to last year.

Wilson also announced that FIFA Mobile Asia has reached over 21 million players, and even UFC 4 has seen an increase in daily players compared to its past iteration.

And we now have nearly 21 million players in FIFA Mobile Asia. We are driving growth across our EA SPORTS portfolio. Madden NFL has more players engaged in the franchise than ever before. NHL engagement is up 13% year-over-year.

And since launch, UFC 4 has consistently had 20% more daily players than our previous game. EA SPORTS is at the center of innovation, both in our games as well as how fans are connecting through our games to their friends and to the sports they love. For example, in a year where an in-person Pro Bowl event was not possible, we worked with our NFL partners to create the first-ever virtual Pro Bowl in Madden NFL 21. This was a groundbreaking experience for fans, where playing Madden actually helped to select two Pro Bowl players.

Yep, so if you’re hoping to see less sports games from EA, don’t count on it. That said, players do have the option of not buying these games or not even reading about it as well, so let the sports nuts have their yearly fun, alright?

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Gearbox to Continue Working With 2K on Borderlands Franchise Even After Embracer Acquisition (Update)

Earlier today, we reported on the huge development that the Embracer Group (formerly known as THQ Nordic) acquired Gearbox Entertainment, its studios, game engine and everything else in between. Now for those wondering what this means for the future of the Borderlands franchise, which is arguably Gearbox’s most lucractive IP, well, it seems it’ll still somehoe involve 2K Games.

Over on Twitter, user “EmbraceInvestor” which is an account dedicated to news and info regarding the Embracer Group has tweeted that Gearbox is planning to continue to cooperate with 2K games on the Borderlands franchise even after the Embracer Group acquisition.

This bit of news was shared by Gearbox employees during a YouTube Embracer Group press conference which Randy Pitchford attended as well.

To date, all the Borderlands titles and its spin-offs have been published by 2K games ever since the release of the first Borderlands title back in 2009.

This is huge news for 2K Games and the Embracer Group, and we honestly have no idea how the logistics of this will work. That said, we’ve reached out to Gearbox to seek clarification and a statement on this and will update the post if we get a response.

Update: A 2K spokersperson has replied to us and issued the following statement, confirming that 2K will indeed continue to work with Gearbox on the Borderlands franchise.

As the proud publisher of the Borderlands franchise, we are happy for our partners at Gearbox and this exciting new chapter for their organization. The merger does not change 2K’s relationship with Gearbox nor our role as the publisher for the Borderlands IP or any other projects we are currently working on with the studio. We look forward to continuing our long-term partnership with this incredibly talented team and delivering many more exciting entertainment experiences to gaming fans around the world.
If there are more developments, we’ll update the post.
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Rogue Company Update 1.48 February 3 Ushers in Season 1

First Watch Games has released Season 1 of Rogue Company today! The Rogue Company update 1.48 February 3 patch is now live and ready to be downloaded, and this brings a new rogue into the roster, a new Battle Pass, a new game mode set for release later this week and more!

Check out the patch notes for Rogue Company Season 1 below, as well as details on the new rogue, Kestrel!

Rogue Company Update 1.48 February 3 Season 1 Patch Notes:

New Rogue: Kestrel

One of the founding members of Rogue Company, now retired, Kestrel has been called back to even the playing field against Jackal.

Primary Weapons

New Weapon: Riptide Assault Rifle

  • Body Damage: 18
  • Fire Rate: 9.17
  • Range: 24
  • Handling: 32
  • Magazine Size: 30
  • Reload Time: 2

New Weapon: Knight SMG

  • Body Damage: 22
  • Fire Rate: 8
  • Range: 12
  • Handling: 33
  • Magazine Size: 20
  • Reload Time: 1.6

Secondary Weapon

P12K

New Melee Weapon: Kukri

Body Damage: 40

Throw Damage: 100

Swing Rate: 2.17

Gadgets

  • Adrenaline Shot
  • Bounce Grenade

Perks

  • Berserker
  • Padded Steps
  • Stalker
  • Helping Hand
  • Replenish
  • Resupply

Active Ability

Halo Drones: Deploy a cluster of halo drones at your location that will fire a barrage of rockets in the direction you are looking.

Note: We have increased the inner and outer blast radius of these drones from their values on PTS.

Passive Ability

Legend’s Contract: Gain 1000 extra cash per down.

New Mode: Sabotage (COMING FEBRUARY 5TH!)

Welcome to our newest limited-time mode, Sabotage. In each round of this 4v4 match, both teams fight to take control of a neutral bomb and detonate it in the enemy team’s zone or eliminate the enemy team’s tickets. If you have the bomb, be careful because the enemy team can see you!

Similar to Strikeout, you can respawn as many times as you like until you run out of tickets. A best of five rounds will determine the winner and you’ll switch sides each time!

  • Each round lasts 4 minutes.
  • Each team has 40 tickets.
  • The respawn time is 7 seconds.
  • A team wins by planting the bomb or having the most tickets left when the round ends.
  • There is no defend time once you plant the bomb.
  • While a player is holding the bomb they are revealed to friendlies in green and enemies in gold.
  • The bomb will reset where it spawns if it gets thrown off the map or is idle for 30 seconds.

Sabotage Maps

  • High Castle
  • Favelas
  • Lockdown
  • Vice
  • Windward

Battle Pass

The Season One Battle Pass is Rogue Company’s first and it’s filled with 50 rewards you can earn! By simply playing the game, you’ll earn Battle Pass Levels and work your way to the top to unlock the coveted Hellfire Protocol Scorch.

There are two Battle Pass Bundles available:

Battle Pass Base Bundle (1000 RB)

  • 3 Instant Premium Rewards (One Shot One Kill Fixer Outfit, Neon Psychedelic Primary Wrap, 1 Hour Account Boost)
  • +20% Battle Pass Experience

Battle Pass Elite Bundle (2000 RB)

  • +15 Battle Pass Tiers
  • 3 Instant Premium Rewards (One Shot One Kill Fixer Outfit, Neon Psychedelic Primary Wrap, 1 Hour Account Boost)
  • +20% Battle Pass Experience

Boosts

In Season One we are introducing boosts that you can earn at various levels in the Battle Pass. A few important notes:

  • These boosts will increase your base experience gained by 100% before bonuses.
  • Only one boost can be active at a time.
  • Once activated, the boost will continue running even if you are offline.
  • You can view and activate your available boosts in the “Boosts” menu found in the bottom left corner of the main menu.

Ranked Season One

Tiers and Divisions

The climb to Rogue is not an easy one, and we want you to have a real feeling of accomplishment as you move up through the ranks. Season One will better define where players stand by introducing 6 new Tiers from Bronze to Rogue, the first five containing 5 separate Divisions.

  • Bronze
  • Silver
  • Gold
  • Platinum
  • Diamond
  • Rogue

With the new Ranked system, we want to create competitive matchmaking, and with this in mind, we are introducing new features to place you with players close to your skill. At the beginning of each Ranked Season, players will participate in 10 placement matches and placed in a Tier and Division based on their performance.

The second way we are improving matchmaking for Ranked is the inclusion of party restrictions. In Season One you will not be able to queue in a party unless all members are within 6 divisions of each other.

Reputation Gain and Leveling

With Season One, we are removing the Level Reputation earned per match and providing it in a different way. The following changes have been made:

  • Rewards given at each level have been doubled.
  • Contract rewards have been increased significantly (300 and 500 per contract).
  • Contracts renewal will now provide you with 3 contracts at once per day instead of 1 every 6 hours.
  • New contracts have been added.
  • Some contracts have been adjusted to make them easier to achieve.

Rogues

Anvil

  • Fixed some issues that prevented Anvil from deploying his Barricade in various places.

Lancer

  • Quick and Quiet: No longer provides mini-map detection immunity.
  • Ability cooldown increased from 30 seconds to 45 seconds.

Phantom

  • No longer has Arren L2-12. Now has Nightshade.

Ronin

  • Ballistic Knife: Direct hits now deal 250 damage.

Saint

  • No longer has Trip Mine. Now has C4.

Scorch

  • Ability cooldown increased from 30 seconds to 45 seconds.

Trench

Barbed Wire

  • Players have 2 charges of Barbed Wire instead of one.
  • Size reduced from 9 meters to 4 meters.
  • Can no longer be destroyed with melee attacks.

Weapons

D3D-i (Talon, Fixer)

  • Headshot damage increased from 54 to 58.
  • Body damage increased from 34 to 38.
  • Falloff damage increased.

Executioner (Anvil, Vy, Dima, Trench, Dahlia)

  • Falloff damage reduced.

MLX Mark 4 (Saint)

  • First-person ADS replaced with an over-the-shoulder third-person view.
  • Body damage reduced from 20 to 19.

MX-R (Dahlia, Trench)

  • Fixed an issue that inadvertently increased the MX-R’s fire rate. The fire rate is now 4.7.
  • Headshot damage reduced from 48 to 44.
  • Body damage reduced from 32 to 30.

SL-C (Ronin, Scorch)

  • Vertical recoil slightly reduced.

Quality of Life

  • Made an adjustment to how voice chat was handled between matches to address the issue where players could hear members of the party they’ve left.
  • Improved a few textures on the Depot map.

Bugs

  • Players should no longer “teleport” while using weapons with a high rate of fire on some platforms.
  • Fixed an issue with equipping non-wingsuit items in that slot which would make players appear as different Rogues.
  • Fixed an issue where the left thumbstick would not allow players to cycle through their statistics.
  • Fixed the animation of pulling out the bomb while Sigrid’s shield is active.
  • Fixed a series of collision issues on the Canals map.
  • Fixed an issue on Switch where the second and third options appeared blank in the settings with three selectable options.
  • Fixed an issue where an incorrect trajectory line was shown for a thrown object when crouched.
  • “Mute” text will no longer persist on the screen after unmuting a player on some platforms.
  • Fixed a small gap on the Icarus map that players could shoot through.
  • Fixed a camera clipping issue when crouched behind a stone wall in Lockdown.
  • Fixed an issue where helicopter rotor blades would not render at the end of matches on Depot and District maps.
  • Fixed an issue where Practice bots would randomly shoot at the ‘Information’ booth wall on Skyfell.
  • Fixed an issue with the Level 1 upgrade of Flashbang grenades.
  • Fixed various locations on Icarus where Anvil could not deploy his shield.

Fixed Bugs from PTS:

  • Kestrel’s Mastery will no longer unlock Anvil’s Mastery items.
  • Players can no longer buy Battle Pass tiers when they are at the maximum level.
  • Players can no longer make accidental double purchases of items.
  • Kestrel’s drones will now appear in the kill feed when downing an enemy.
  • Fixed an issue that would prevent players from moving to the next Battle Pass level.
  • Announcer lines will now play during Sabotage.
  • Battle Pass rewards will no longer list “0 Premium Rewards” if there are none available.
  • Fixed an issue where Kestrel’s Knight had a floating stock and untextured parts.
  • Fixed an issue with Kestrel’s Riptide had a glitchy reload animation.
  • Fixed an issue with Kestrel’s Kukri where it would get larger upon hitting an enemy.
  • Kestrel’s drones will no longer get stuck on the spectator screen.
  • Fixed an issue where boosts appeared to not activate immediately upon use.

That’s one heck of an update! Hardcore Rogue Company players, your time to shine in Ranked Season 1 begins today!

Source: Reddit

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Paladins Update 2.30 February 3 Brings Yagorath & Season 4 Calamity

Announced last month, the big Paladins Season 4 “Calamity” patch is now out! Hi-Rez Studios has released the Paladins update 2.30 February 3 patch which brings the biggest champion to the roster, Yagorath!

Paladins Update 2.30 February 3 Season 4 Calamity Patch Notes:

In addition to the Paladins new champion reveal, we also have the Calamity patch notes before the update is rolled out! Head on below for Yagorath’s skills, the other champion changes and more.

NEW CHAMPION: YAGORATH, THE DEVOURER

Your joys and hopes. Your fears and doubts. All your petty conflicts. Utterly devoid of meaning. She is Yagorath, the Devourer. She is what it is to consume – absolutely. Everything that is not already her is assimilated, spreading her being across the universe in a never-ending hunger. Momentarily weakened by the futile actions of a broken goddess, she now emerges to bring an end to what was started – the only end that could possibly be.

OVERVIEW

[Role]

  • Frontline

[Health]

  • 6,500

[PRIMARY FIRE- PLANTED FORM]
CAUSTIC SPRAY
Spray acid from your Maw, dealing 48 damage every 0.1s. Hitting the ground leaves behind a pool of acid that lasts 4s. Has a range of 90 units and a maximum of 6 pools placed at once.
[PRIMARY FIRE – TRAVEL FORM]
TRAIL OF ACID
Drop a series of 5 acid pools behind you as you roll. Acid Pools: Each pool deals 33 damage every 0.25s and Slows enemies affected by 15%.

 

[ALTFIRE – PLANTED FORM]
PIERCING QUILL
Fire out a Piercing quill every 0.15s, dealing 170 damage on hit and exploding for 50 damage in a small area shortly after. Hitting an enemy affected by Acid Spray will increase the damage they take from all sources by 10% for 3s. Has a maximum of 8 charges
[ALTFIRE – TRAVEL FORM]
ACCELERATION
Charge forward for 4s. Hitting an enemy will deal 500 damage and apply a Knockback. Cannot be canceled.

 

[ABILITY 1 – PLANTED FORM] HARDENING
Hunker down for up to 4s, increasing your base Damage Reduction by 25%. After this ability ends, deal damage to enemies within 25 units based on the duration of the ability. Base damage is 300 and maximum damage is 1100. You cannot be stunned while this ability is active. Can be refired to cancel early.
[ABILITY 1 – TRAVEL FORM] PRIMAL VISION
Let out a series of 5 pulses that briefly reveal enemies within 150 units to yourself and your team.

 

[ABILITY 2] FORM SWAP
Swap between your Planted and Travel forms, gaining access to a new set of abilities. In Planted form, you are unable to move. Swapping forms is not affected by Cripple

[ULTIMATE] DEVOUR
Target an enemy to start pulling them to you, swapping your current Health for a new 4000-Health pool. Your target is immune to damage and Crowd Control and cannot move during this process, but can still fire their weapon at you. If your Health pool is depleted before they are devoured, you drop your target; otherwise, they are Executed. Can only be used in Planted Form.

TALENTS

[Default] Corrosive Acid

  • Augment your acid, increasing the damage done by Caustic Spray to 48, the damage of acid pools to 40, and increase the Movement Speed of allies within your acid pools by 20%.

[Level 2] Sight Begets Strength

  • Allies within range of your Primal Vision gain a stackable 100-Health Shield and 15% increased Movement Speed for 4s each time you pulse.

[Level 8] Unnatural Persistence

  • Heal for 25 every 0.25s while on an objective and for 1s after leaving the objective. This effect increases the longer you maintain it, up to 65 every 0.25s.

CARDS

 
 

WEAPON/ARMOR

  • Deadly Predator
    • Increase your maximum acid capacity by {scale=8|8}%
  • Extermination
    • Reduce the duration and effectiveness of Crowd Control by {scale=5|5}%.
  • Futile Efforts
    • Reduce the Cooldown of Piercing Quills by {scale=0.05|0.05}s each time you hit an enemy with Caustic Spray.
  • Towering Presence
    • Increase the Health of your Ultimate Health pool by {scale=200|200}.

PIERCING QUILLS (ACCELERATION)

  • Ancient Wounds
    • Generate {scale=2|2}% of your maximum acid after hitting an enemy with Piercing Quills.
  • Dreadful Compact
    • Reduce the Cooldown of Hardening by {scale=0.3|0.3}s after hitting an enemy with Piercing Quills.
  • Last Efforts
    • Increase the duration of the vulnerability applied by hitting an enemy affected by acid pools with Piercing Quills by {scale=0.4|0.4}s.
  • Raze and Burn
    • Heal for {scale=50|50} after hitting an enemy with Piercing Quills.

HARDENING (PRIMAL VISION)

  • End Of An Era
    • Increase the efficacy of Hardening by {scale=20|20}% but reduce its duration by {scale=10|10}%.
  • Out Of Time
    • Halve the efficacy of Hardening. For {scale=0.5|0.5}s after using Hardening, gain its benefits.
  • Spreading Domain
    • Heal for {scale=100|100} if you do not cancel Hardening before it ends.
  • Violent Birth
    • Reduce the Cooldown of Acceleration by {scale=0.8|0.8}s after activating Hardening.

FORM SWAP

  • Collateral Damage
    • Gain {scale=10|10}% Lifesteal with Caustic Spray for 3s after swapping into Planted Form.
  • Deadly Pursuit
    • Increase your Movement Speed by 20% for {scale=1|1}s after swapping into Travel Form.
  • The Great Worm
    • Gain a {scale=80|80}-Health Shield for 2s after swapping into Travel Form.
  • Triumphant Return
    • Reduce your acid consumption by 90% for {scale=0.4|0.4}s after swapping into Planted Form.

SKINS

Caustic (LIMITED)

  • Unlocked through Season Pass 2021
  • This skin will become unobtainable after Season Pass 2021 has finished.

Grave Worm

  • Unlocked with 200 Crystals or 60,000 Gold

Golden Yagorath

  • Obtained by Reaching Mastery level 50 with Yagorath

SEASON PASS 2021

The Season Pass is your ticket to Exclusive content for every new Champion, all-year long.

You’ll instantly score cosmetics only available in the Season Pass: The Limited Soul-Stealer Furia skin, and the Golden Gryphon Mount.

Plus, you’ll get 1500 Crystals instantly and an additional 10% Crystals anytime you purchase crystals throughout 2021!

Best of all: You’ll get the following incredible content for every new Champion as they are released in 2021.

  • Season Pass Exclusive Rare Skin
  • All Talents Instantly Unlocked
  • Additional Uncommon Skin
  • Emote
  • MVP Pose

Note: The Season Pass 2019-2020 is leaving the store with the release of the Season 4 – Calamity update. This will be your last chance to unlock all the Limited skins for Champions throughout 2019-2020.

GENERAL

Commendations

  • 2020 Commendation Loading Frame

CUSTOMIZATIONS

Avatars

 


Static Sprays

 

Golden Terminus

  • Obtained by Reaching Mastery level 50 with Terminus

Golden Jenos

  • Obtained by Reaching Mastery level 50 with Jenos

CHESTS

Tales of Heroism – NEW

Price

  • 400 Crystals

Contents:

  • Skins
    • Battlesuit Godslayer Androxus
    • Prototype Koga
    • Galactic Scion Lian
    • Robo Force Ruckus
    • Sphinx Soldier Tiberius
    • Omega Dredge
    • Soul Briar Grover

Unbreakable – NEW

Price

  • 400 Crystals

Contents:

  • Skins
    • Pyre Lord Magnus
    • Legionnaire Atlas
    • Iron Maiden Inara
    • Omega Vivian
    • GR0BOT Grover
    • Steel Forged Imani
    • Mounts
    • Obsidian Warhorse

Misdeeds and Mischief – NEW

Price

  • 400 Crystals

Contents:

  • Skins
    • Safecracker Khan
    • Mercenary Strix
    • Omega Sha Lin
    • Steel Forged Mal’Damba
    • Street Style Maeve
    • Pirate’s Treasure Io
    • Gentleman Jenos
    • Kingpin Buck

SEASON 4 – RANKED

Season 4 Ranked Rewards

  • Play 100 Games
    • Limited Title
  • Win 100 Ranked matches
    • Berserker Torvald Skin
  • Reach Gold 5 or higher
    • Season 4 Loading Frame, awarded at the end of Season 4

SPLIT 1

Split Rewards

  • Play 15 Ranked matches
    • Gold Chest
  • Play 25 Ranked matches
    • The Maw, Avatar

Ranked Map Rotation

Each split, maps will either be in the active or reserved map pool. Reserved maps will not appear while playing ranked during that split. Each new split will see some maps rotated between the active and reserved pools. For Split 1, Timber Mill and Serpant Beach will be rotating into the active map pool, while Fish Market and Shattered Desert will be rotating out.

Active Maps

  • Frog Isle
  • Ice Mines
  • Splitstone Quarry
  • Stone Keep
  • Jaguar Falls
  • Warder’s Gate
  • Frozen Guard
  • Ascension Peak
  • +Timber Mill
  • +Serpent Beach

Reserved Map

  • Brightmarsh
  • Bazaar
  • -Fish Market
  • -Shattered Desert

Season 3 Ranked Frames

  • Players who reached at least Gold during Season 3 will receive a Loading Frame based on their highest rank achieved:

 


 

BALANCE

Items

  • Wrecker
    • Increased Scaling 20/40/60 ➡️ 25/50/75

Champions

Androxus

  • Cards
    • Spiteful
      • Increased Ultimate Charge Gain {4|4}% ➡️ {6|6}%

Ash

  • Cards
    • [Siege Shield] Ramparts
      • Increased Cooldown reduction scaling {0.5|0.5}s ➡️ {0.8|0.8}s
    • [Siege Shield] Watchtower
      • Increased Siege Shield Health scaling {200|200} ➡️ {250|250}
    • [Kinetic Burst] Brawl
      • Increased health scaling {120|120} ➡️ {150|150}

Atlas

  • Talents
    • Unstable Fissure
      • Increased damage 900 ➡️ 1,000

Barik

  • Talents
    • Architectonics
      • Reduced Cooldown Reduction of Turrets 3s ➡️ 2s
    • Tinkerin
      • Increased damage per shot 480 ➡️ 510

Bomb King

  • Cards
    • [Grumpy Bomb] Countdown
      • Increased Grumpy Bombs Cooldown Reduction {0.6|0.6}s ➡️ {0.8|0.8}s
    • [Grumpy Bomb] Doomsday
      • Increased Heal after using Grumpy Bomb {75|75} ➡️ {130|130}
    • [Grumpy Bomb] Mad Bomber
      • Increased duration of movement speed increased 2s ➡️ 3s

Cassie

  • Cards
    • [Dodge Roll] Incitement
      • Increased cooldown reduction {0.8|0.8}s ➡️ {1|1}s
    • [Dodge Roll] Onslaught
      • Increased Heal {40|40} health ➡️ {75|75} health

Corvus

  • Abilities
    • Entropic Breach
      • Now damages Pets & Illusions
  • Talents
    • Dark Gifts
      • Increased Cooldown Reduction 10% ➡️ 15%
      • Increased Healing received 50 ➡️ 75
    • Stunning Visage
      • Increased Damage 600 ➡️ 800
    • Spreading Influence
      • Increased Healing Reduction on Marked Targets 15% ➡️ 20%
  • Cards
    • [Projection] Unyielding Discipline
      • Increased Cooldown reduction for each enemy hit {0.2|0.2}s ➡️ {0.5|0.5}s
    • [Projection] Abyssal Shift
      • Increased damage reduction {3|3}% ➡️ {5|5}%
    • [Abyssal Reconstruction] Abyssal Effluxion
      • Increased active time of damage reduction {0.3|0.3}s ➡️ {0.8|0.8}s

Drogoz

  • Cards
    • [Thrust] Survival
      • Reduced internal cooldown 30s ➡️ 15s
    • [Thrust] Rain of Fire
      • Booster Consumption Reduction 10% ➡️ 15%

Furia

  • Talents
    • Exterminate
      • Now increases the damage per tick players under Pyre Strike take from 20 every 0.05s ➡️ 40 every 0.05s.
  • Cards
    • [Pyre Strike] Hallowed Sight
      • Increased Wrath generation {10|10}% ➡️ {15|15}%
    • [Kindle Soul] Light Forge
      • Reduced Internal Cooldown 20s ➡️ 15s

Imani

  • Abilities
    • Frost Bomb
      • Reduced Cooldown 18s ➡️ 15s
    • Inferno Cannon
      • Reduced Cooldown 18s ➡️ 15s

Inara

  • Cards
    • [Impasse] Plateau
      • Increased Shield {75|75} ➡️ {125|125}

Io

  • Talents
    • Goddess’ Blessing
      • Reduced Damage Reduction 15% ➡️ 10%
  • Abilities
    • Guardian Spirit
      • Luna can no longer Capture objectives points, or push the Siege Cart.
      • Reduced Initial Deploy Cooldown 18s ➡️ 16s
      • Reduced Redeploy Cooldown 8s ➡️ 6s

Kinessa

  • Talents
    • Steady Aim
      • Reduced time limit for bonus damage 7s ➡️ 4s
      • Reduced Additional Damage Increase 30% ➡️ 20%

Koga

  • Talents
    • Blood Reaper
      • Increased Damage to targets 115% ➡️ 125%
      • Increased bonus movement speed 15% ➡️ 25%
      • Now increased Ultimate Charge rate by 15%

Lex

  • Abilities
    • Magnums
      • Can now be held down to fire

Lian

  • Talents
    • Precision
      • Increased total stacks 4 ➡️ 5

Makoa

  • Talents
    • Leviathan
      • Increased Ultimate charge rate 15% ➡️ 25%

Mal’Damba

  • Abilities
    • Mending Spirits
      • Increased Healing per second 325 ➡️ 340
  • Cards
    • [Gourd] Many Gourds
      • Increasing Cooldown Reduction {0.5|0.5}s ➡️ {0.8|0.8}s
    • [Gourd] Venomous Gourd
      • Increased Lifesteal Granted to Allies {6|6}% ➡️ {8|8}%
    • [Gourd] Pungent Gourd
      • Increased Heal {75|75} ➡️ {90|90}
    • [Slither] Spirit’s Touch
      • NEW: Using Slither Increased your movement speed by {8|8}% for 3s.
    • [Wep/Armor] Snake Pit
      • Increased Movement Speed {2|2}% ➡️ {4|4}%

Moji

  • Talents
    • Snack Attack
      • Increased Health of pickup 600 ➡️ 900

Pip

  • Talents
    • Mega Potion
      • Increased Bonus Healing 100% ➡️ 115%

Raum

  • Talents
    • Enforcer
      • Reduced Damage Reduction while using Juggernaut 50% ➡️ 40%

    Cards

    • [Soul Harvest] Shattered Essence
      • Reduced Additional healing from Soul Fragments {20|20} health ➡️ {15|15} Health.

Ruckus

  • Talents
    • Flux Generator
      • Increased Shielding 1,000 ➡️ 1,300
  • Abilities
    • Emitter
      • Increased Duration of Shield 3.5s ➡️ 4s
  • Cards
    • [Missile Launcher] Opulence
      • Now heals for each player hit
    • Reduced Heal {100|100} ➡️ {60|60}
    • [Missile Launcher] At the Ready
      • Increased ammo generation {5|5} ➡️ {10|10}

Seris

  • Talents
    • Mortal Reach
      • Time between healing ticks 17% ➡️ 25%
  • Abilities
    • Restore Soul
      • Increased Healing granted to adjacent allies 40% ➡️ 60%
    • Shadow Travel
      • Reduced Cooldown 14s ➡️ 12s
    • Rend Soul
      • Reduced Cooldown 10s ➡️ 5s
      • Reduced Damage 100 ➡️ 60
      • Reduced Healing Received 15% ➡️ 8%
  • Cards
    • [Rend Soul] Bane
      • Increased duration of movement speed increase 3s ➡️ 4s
    • [Rend Soul] Wickedness
      • Decreased Cooldown Reduction {0.5|0.5}s ➡️ {0.4|0.4}s
    • [Shadow Travel] Dusk-Walker
      • Increased cooldown reduction {0.6|0.6}s ➡️ {0.8|0.8}s
    • [Wep/Armor] Sorceress
      • Increased Ultimate Charge Rate {5|5}% ➡️ {7|7}%

Terminus

  • Talents
    • Undying
      • Increased Threshold 40% ➡️ 50%

Tiberius

  • Talents
    • Vicious Assault
      • Increased Damage 700 ➡️ 900

Torvald

  • Talents
    • Thanks, Grandpa
      • Reduced Shielding 500 ➡️ 300

Willo

  • Talents
    • Nightshade
      • Increased Damage 500 ➡️ 650
  • Cards
    • [Dead Zone] Pixie Dust
      • Increased healing {65|65} ➡️ {75|75}
    • [Dead Zone] Shenanigans
      • Increased movement speed {5|5}% ➡️ {8|8}%
      • Increased duration of movement speed 2.5s ➡️ 3s
    • [Dead Zone] Sparkle
      • Increased duration of Dead Zone {0.5|0.5}s ➡️ {0.6|0.6}s

BUG FIXES

Champions

Imani

  • Fixed an issue where Imani’s Dragon could hit enemies with FrostFire Breath through thin walls.

Mal’Damba

  • Fixed an issue where the Otherworldly card did not function properly.
  • Fixed an issue where the Venomous Gourd card did not provide Lifesteal to allies who were standing in the Gourd’s volume.

General

  • Fixed an issue where physical VFX and items that appeared during emotes could stick on Champion models if the emote was cancelled early.

Once we get wind of the next champion or content/event drop for Paladins, we’ll let our readers know.

Source: Paladins

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Alex Co

Father, gamer, games media vet, writer of words, killer of noobs.

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EA FIFA 21 Update 1.12 February 3 Rolled Out

EA Vancouver and EA Romania has released the EA FIFA 21 update 1.12 February 3 patch, and it’s out on all platforms! According to EA, this patch is out on all platforms where FIFA 21 has been released, and yes, this includes the Nintendo Switch, PS5 and Xbox Series X too.

EA FIFA 21 Update 1.12 February 3 Patch Notes:

Here’s the latest “Server Release Notes” from the EA FIFA team:

This release covers multiple versions of FIFA 21, including FIFA 21 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC (Origin/Steam) and Nintendo Switch, as well as the FUT 21 Web App and FIFA 21 Companion App. When changes only apply to individual titles, they will be made clear in the notes below.

Made the following changes for the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC versions of FIFA 21:

General, Audio, and Visual

– Activated Starheads for Nathaniel Clyne, Antonio Valencia, Jefferson Montero, and Marco Fabian.

FIFA Ultimate Team

Made the following change:

– Activated David Beckham’s Player Item in FUT.

Career Mode

Addressed the following issue:

– Updated Al Ain’s listed city.

Given it says “server” release notes, we’re thinking that there might be another set of patch notes released later today. That said, if we spot any, we’ll be sure to update the post and let our readers know about the moment we know more.

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Alex Co

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PS5 Update 20.02-02.50.00 February 3 Released

Heads up, PlayStation fans who managed to get their mitts on a PS5, Sony has released the PS5 update 20.02-02.50.00 February 3 firmware update! This is a small download at just 860MB, though it does come with more than just stability fixes this time around.

PS5 Update 20.02-02.50.00 February 3 Patch Notes:

Here’s what the PS5’s System Software Update settings state as what’s new:

  • The following issue was resolved: The PS4 version of the game was sometimes installed from the PS4 game disc even after upgrading the disc version of a PS4 game to the PS5 version.
  • This system software update improves system performance

Yep, that’s basically it. That said, it is a very much welcome fix since the PS5’s HDD isn’t exactly upgradable at the moment.

If you spot any other changes not mentioned here, feel free to share them down below in the comments.

Related Reading:

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Alex Co

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Sony Announces PlayStation “Playful Festival” Sales and Challenges

PlayStation fans in Asia, Sony has announced the PlayStation “Playful Festival” campaign to celebrate Chinese New Year! This brings a slew of sales and contests for gamers that starts today and lasts until February 21, 2021.

Head on below for the Playful Festival sale and contest details straight from the press release.

Playful New Year Sales Offer Details

Starting from today to 21st February, customers can enjoy a HK$800 discount upon purchase of PS VR with PS Camera (Special Price: HK$1,680). Besides, customers who purchase DUALSHOCK 4 Wireless Controllers (designated colors – Jet Black / Glacier White / Magma Red / Green Camouflage)*1 can also enjoy a HK$100 discount (Special Price: HK$368).

Selected PS4 software will also be available with great discount up to 49% off, including “Ghost of Tsushima” (English & Chinese Version / Disc version) (Special Price: HK$308), “God of War PlayStation® Hits” (English & Chinese Version / Disc version) (Special Price: HK$98), “The Last of Us Part II” (English & Chinese version / Disc version) (Special Price: HK$238) and “Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End™ PlayStation® Hits)”(English & Chinese Version / Disc version) (Special Price: HK$98)*2. Customers can receive a TORO 2021 Calendar upon any spending of HK$1,000 or above on PlayStation products during the promotion period*3. Offers are available at all PlayStation®Platinum Shops, Sony Stores, LOG-ON, Club Shopping and authorized dealers*4, while stocks last.

From 3rd to 10th February, customers who purchase PS Plus 12-month membership voucher (HK$308) will be eligible to an extra 3-month membership*5. Besides, customers who purchase PS Plus 12-month membership on PS Store can enjoy 25% off (Special price: HK$231). PS Plus members can get strong lineup of free games every month. In Feb, there will be 5 free games including “Destruction AllStars” (PS5), “Control: Ultimate Edition” (PS5), and several PS4 titles “Concrete Genie”, “Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night” and “Shio”. Take this chance to join PS Plus now to enhance your PlayStation experience! From 3rd to 17th February, many game titles will be available at a special price with up to 80% off in PS Store, including some masterpieces such as “Assassin’s Creed Valhalla PS4 & PS5”, “FIFA 21 Champions Edition PS4 & PS5”, “Ghost of Tsushima”, “PERSONA 5 THE ROYAL”, etc.

Playful Festival Challenge Details

Challenge (1): Community Challenge

To participate in “Playful Festival Challenge”, you just need to sign in to the PlayStation™Network (PSN) account*6 to register for the Challenge from 3rd to 11th February. Then all the play record and usage hours of any entertainment application such as YouTube, Netflix and Twitch on PS4 or PS5 during the period from 12th February to 5th March will be tracked in the community achievement score. Once the community goals achieved, participants are eligible to win prizes.

Challenge (2): Team Challenge

Several influencers including Tat Gor and Alodia Gosiengfiao were invited to lead the teams across Asia to achieve our community goals together. Participants can select a team they want to join. The gameplay hours will be recorded as part of the team score. The top 3 teams with longest gameplay hours will win the Team Challenge. The top 20 players in each winning team will be rewarded with prizes.

Playful Festival Challenge Description & Prizes
Community Goals

 

Goal 1 - 180,000 Entertainment Apps Usage Hours Usage of any entertainment apps such as YouTube, Netflix, Twitch, etc. will be counted in achievement record for Goal 1. Once it achieves 180,000 hours, all participants can get one set of Playful Festival Avatar.
Goal 2 - 880,000 Gameplay Hours of non-online multi-player mode Any gameplay hours of non-online multi-player mode will be counted in achievement record for Goal 2. Once it achieves 880,000 hours, the top 50 players from each region*5 who play the longest hours can get PS Plus 12 Month Subscription.
Goal 3 - 108,000 Online Multiplayer Gameplay Hours Any online multi-player gameplay hours will be counted in achievement record for Goal 3. Once it achieves 108,000 hours, the top 2 players from each region*5 who play the longest hours in online multiplayer mode can get PS Store Money Voucher of value HK$7,800.

* PS Plus subscription is required to enjoy online multi-player mode.

Team Challenge

 

Winning Team The top 20 players with longest gameplay hours of non-online multi-player mode in the Winning Team will be rewarded with 2-way Backpack.
1st Runner-up Team The top 20 players with longest gameplay hours of non-online multi-player mode in the 1st Runner-up Team will be rewarded with Tough Case.
2nd Runner-up Team The top 20 players with longest gameplay hours of non-online multi-player mode  in the 2nd Runner-up Team will be rewarded with PS Store Money Voucher of value HK$230.

For more info, you can head on over to the Playful Festival website.

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Alex Co

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Embracer Group Acquires Gearbox, Deal Worth “Up to $1.3 Billion”

Embracer Group (formerly known as THQ Nordic/Nordic Games Publishing) has once again added a new company into its fold! In a press release, the company has announced its merger with Gearbox Entertainment Company, wherein the studio most popularly known for the Borderlands franchise, will be a wholly-owned subsidiary of Embracer.

According to the press release, the deal is “worth up to $1.3B,” and will provide Gearbox with access to capital, adding “rocket fuel” to Gearbox’s game engine and positions Gearbox’s AAA studios and IP catalogue to become a significant part of Embracer Group’s diverse family of member companies.

Here’s what Randy Pitchford, CEO of Gearbox had to say about the merger:

“Lars’s vision of Embracer as an allied partner group committed to fueling and accelerating the ambitions of a series of decentralized, successful entrepreneurial companies while magnifying the collective value and advantages of diversification across the entire group is the most brilliant strategy and design for short, medium, and long-term success in this industry that I have ever encountered in my 30 years in this industry.

The feeling at Gearbox is that we are just getting started and this transaction is not merely a stimulant for the talent of our employee-owned company, but a propellent for the exciting future we have planned.”

Speaking of Pitchford, he will continue his role as the current head of Gearbox Entertainment.

We wish both companies nothing but the best!

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Alex Co

Father, gamer, games media vet, writer of words, killer of noobs.

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Nioh 2 Update 1.25 February 3 Released for Adjustments

While Nioh 2 players got a patch earlier this week that helped with PS5 functionality and also included gameplay tweaks, Team Ninja has released the Nioh 2 update 1.25 February 3 patch, and this one includes a new host of gameplay adjustments and fixes.

Nioh 2 Update 1.25 February 3 Patch Notes:

Adjustment
  • Adjusted the following for the 6th and subsequent bosses of “Naraku Jail / Deep”
    • Greatly mitigated adjustment to make it easier to damage power
    • Adjust physical strength upward
  • Adjusted to increase the time that automatic recovery is paused when damage is given to the automatic recovery of physical strength given to “Nio’s One Difficulty”.
  • Adjusted the frequency of big moves on high difficulty of “Tachikara Hat” upward
Bug fixes
  • Fixed a bug where the ax martial art “Sliding” did not work properly against fatal damage attacks.
  • Fixed a bug that the sword martial art “Kagerotsuki” does not take over the energy that can be recovered by the remnant of “Kageken”
  • Fixed a bug that bullets may not hit the head of “Onyudo” and may penetrate
  • Fixed a bug that damage does not occur when thrown by “Sohaya-no-shu” by Yakura collapse
  • Fixed a bug that “Namahage”, “Huangquan Army”, and “Shikijiro” can return the attack when recovering from lack of energy with “Boar’s Child Twist”.
  • Fixed a bug where if the host died without a rescue gauge in the “Eternally Accompanying” boss battle, no damage would be given even if the accompanying NPC’s attack hits an enemy.
  • Fixed a bug that “The number of layers that advanced in the abyss in one challenge” of “Play record” is reflected only when “Highest clear layer” is updated.
  • Fixed a bug that the resistance of “Oezo” in “Yokai Illustrated” was incorrect.
  • Fixed other minor bugs

Stay tuned for the latest game updates for Nioh 2 here on MP1st!

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Alex Co

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Genshin Impact Update 1.30 February 3 “All That Glitters” Released

Announced last month, developer miHoYo has released the Genshin Impact 1.30 February 3 patch or what the studio calls the “All That Glitters” content update. There’s a new event coming, alongside other stuff.

We’ve posted the patch notes below, as well as details on the event

Genshin Impact Update 1.30 February 3 Patch Notes (All That Glitters);

〓Compensation〓
1. Maintenance Compensation: Primogems ×300
(60 Primogems for every hour the servers are down)

2. Issue Fix Compensation: Primogems ×300
(Please refer to the relevant compensation mail for more details)

〓Eligibility〓
Maintenance Compensation: All Travelers who have reached Adventure Rank 5 or above by 2021/02/03 06:00:00(UTC+8)
Compensation must be claimed before the end of Version 1.3.
Bug Fix Compensation: All Travelers who have reached Adventure Rank 5 or above by 2021/02/03 06:00:00(UTC+8)
Please claim from in-game mail before 2021/02/06 11:00:00(UTC+8)
Our developers will distribute compensation to Travelers via in-game mail within 5 hours after the update maintenance is finished. The mail will expire after 30 days, so don’t forget to claim the attached compensation in time.

〓Update Schedule〓
Update maintenance begins 2021/02/03 06:00:00(UTC+8) and is estimated to take 5 hours.
(Note: Precise timings are subject to change. Players may also experience disruption outside of this period.)

〓How to Update Game Client〓
PC: Close the game, open the Genshin Impact Launcher, and click Update.
iOS: Open the App Store and tap Update.
Android: Open the game and follow the directions on-screen. (Alternatively, you may open Google Play and tap Update.)
PS4: Highlight Genshin Impact from the PS4 Home Screen and press the OPTIONS button > Check for Update.
Please do not hesitate to contact Customer Service if you encounter any issues installing the new version. We will do our very best to resolve the issue swiftly.

〓Update Details〓
(All times below based on server time)

I. New Character
5-Star Character “Vigilant Yaksha” Xiao (Anemo)
◇ Vision: Anemo
◇ Weapon: Polearm
◇ A yaksha adeptus who defends Liyue. Also heralded as the “Conqueror of Demons” and “Vigilant Yaksha.”
Elemental Skill “Lemniscatic Wing Cycling”: Xiao instantly lunges forward, dealing DMG to enemies in his path. This maneuver can also be executed in mid-air.
Elemental Burst “Bane of All Evil”: Xiao dons the Yaksha’s Mask, giving him enhanced abilities at the cost of draining his health: He deals increased DMG, attacks are converted to Anemo DMG, and his jumping ability is greatly increased.

During the event wish “Invitation to Mundane Life,” from after the Version 1.3 update to 2021/02/17 15:59:59, the event-exclusive 5-star character “Vigilant Yaksha” Xiao (Anemo) and the 4-star characters “Kätzlein Cocktail” Diona (Cryo), “Uncrowned Lord of the Ocean” Beidou (Electro), and “Blazing Riff” Xinyan (Pyro) will have their Wish drop rates greatly increased!

 

II. Rate-Boosted Characters
5-Star Character “Driving Thunder” Keqing (Electro)
◇ Vision: Electro
◇ Weapon: Sword
◇ The Yuheng of the Liyue Qixing. Keqing has much to say about Rex Lapis’ unilateral approach to policymaking in Liyue — but in truth, gods admire skeptics such as her quite a lot.

During the event wish “Dance of Lanterns,” from 2021/02/17 18:00:00 – 2021/03/02 15:59:59, the 5-star character “Driving Thunder” Keqing (Electro) and the 4-star characters “Eclipsing Star” Ningguang (Geo), “Trial by Fire” Bennett (Pyro), and “Shining Idol” Barbara (Hydro) will have their Wish drop rates greatly increased!

More character event wishes to follow during Version 1.3.

 

III. New Equipment
◇ Primordial Jade Cutter (5-Star Sword)
◇ A ceremonial sword masterfully carved from pure jade. There almost seems to be an audible sigh in the wind as it is swung.

*During the event wish “Epitome Invocation,” from after the Version 1.3 update to 2021/02/23 15:59:59, the event-exclusive 5-star sword Primordial Jade Cutter and the 5-star polearm Primordial Jade Winged-Spear will have their Wish drop rates greatly increased!

◇ Staff of Homa (5-Star Polearm)
◇ A “firewood staff” that was once used in ancient and long-lost rituals.

◇ Lithic Spear (4-Star Polearm)
◇ A spear forged from the rocks of the Guyun Stone Forest. Its hardness knows no equal.

◇ Lithic Blade (4-Star Claymore)
◇ A greatsword carved and chiseled from the very bedrock of Liyue.

*Staff of Homa (Polearm), Lithic Spear (Polearm), and Lithic Blade (Claymore) will appear in future event wishes.

 

IV. New Events
Take part in Version 1.3’s flagship event, Lantern Rite, for the chance to obtain a free 4-star Liyue character of your choice!
◆ Gameplay Duration: 2021/02/10 10:00:00 – 2021/02/28 03:59:59
◆ Event Rules: No Original Resin needed to take part. During the event period, Travelers can claim a 4-star Liyue character of their choice in “Stand by Me.” Complete challenges in “Theater Mechanicus” to obtain Peace Talismans, which can be spent in the Xiao Market on rewards including Crown of Insight and a new namecard style “Celebration: Lantern-Light.”

 

〓Lantern Rite Questline〓
Duration:
The Origin of the Lanterns: 2021/02/10 10:00:00 – 2021/02/28 03:59:59
Currents Deep Beneath the Lanterns: 2021/02/14 04:00:00 – 2021/02/28 03:59:59
Light Upon the Sea: 2021/02/18 04:00:00 – 2021/02/28 03:59:59

 

〓Lantern Rite Tales〓
Unlock Criteria:
Lantern Rite Tales I: Complete “The Origin of the Lanterns” to unlock.
Lantern Rite Tales II: Reach the Festive Fever stage “Guests Flock From Afar,” complete the questline “Currents Deep Beneath the Lanterns,” and complete all requests in “Lantern Rite Tales I” to unlock.
Lantern Rite Tales III: Reach the Festive Fever stage “Glow of a Thousand Lanterns,” complete the questline “Light Upon the Sea,” and complete all requests in “Lantern Rite Tales II” to unlock.
● Complete requests in “Lantern Rite Tales” to win Primogems and increase Festive Fever. Increase Festive Fever to progress through the Lantern Rite.
※ After the event gameplay ends on 2021/02/28 03:59:59, requests will no longer be available to complete.

 

〓Theater Mechanicus〓
Unlock Criteria:
Complete the quests “The Origin of the Lanterns” and “Liyue: Theater Mechanicus” to unlock

● Each attempt at Theater Mechanicus costs 1 Xiao Lantern (regardless of whether or not the challenge is successful). Xiao Lanterns can be crafted at a Crafting Bench, and the required crafting materials can be obtained by gathering plants and ore, or by defeating specified enemies.
● Progressing through the stages of Festive Fever unlocks new maps, new mechanici, higher upgrade levels, and increased difficulty levels.
● Progressing through the stages of Festive Fever unlocks new Theater Mechanicus challenges. Complete them to win Peace Talismans.
● Theater Mechanicus challenges can only be completed in Single-Player Mode or a two-player Co-Op session.

〓Xiao Market〓
Duration:
Stage I: 2021/02/10 10:00:00 – 2021/03/07 03:59:59
Stage II: 2021/02/14 04:00:00 – 2021/03/07 03:59:59
Stage III: 2021/02/18 04:00:00 – 2021/03/07 03:59:59
● Spend Peace Talismans at the Xiao Market to purchase items including Hero’s Wit, Mystic Enhancement Ore, Character Level-Up Materials, Talent Level-Up Materials, the Crown of Insight, and the namecard style “Celebration: Lantern-Light.”

 

〓Stand by Me〓
Duration: 2021/02/10 10:00:00 – 2021/03/07 03:59:59
● Reach the Festive Fever stage “Glow of a Thousand Lanterns” and spend 1,000 Peace Talismans in “Stand by Me” to receive one of the following 4-star characters: “Exquisite Delicacy” Xiangling (Pyro), “Blazing Riff” Xinyan (Pyro), “Uncrowned Lord of the Ocean” Beidou (Electro), “Eclipsing Star” Ningguang (Geo), “Juvenile Galant” Xingqiu (Hydro), or “Frozen Ardor” Chongyun (Cryo). You may claim only one character in this way.

Login Event “May Fortune Find You”: Log In on 7 Days, Receive Intertwined Fate ×10
◆ Event Duration:2021/02/11 04:00:00 – 2021/02/26 03:59:59
◆ During the event, log in on 7 days in total to receive Intertwined Fate ×10 and other rewards!

 

Five Flushes of Fortune
◆ Event Duration: After the Version 1.3 update to 2021/02/10 03:59:59 (Please notice that this event will start from 2020/02/03 04:00:00 on Euro and America Server.)
◆ During the event, Travelers can claim a Kurious Kamera from Ji Tong. Equip the Kamera and take pictures of specific targets to obtain photos of different colors. Collect photos of five different colors and exchange them for a Fortune Trove to obtain Primogems, Hero’s Wit, Mystic Enhancement Ore, and other rewards!

More events to follow during Version 1.3.

V. New Questlines
1. New story quests
After the Version 1.3 update, Xiao’s story quest “Alatus Chapter” will be available.

◆ More story quests are on the way, so please stay tuned!

 

2. New world quests
◆ A total of 26 festive World Quests will become available over the course of the Lantern Rite event, accessible from “Lantern Rite Tales” on the Events menu.
◆ A further world quest “Bough Keeper: Dainsleif” will also be added.

 

VI. Other New Content
• Gameplay
1. New monsters: Geovishap, Primo Geovishap
2. New gadgets:
Parametric Transformer
Complete the world quest “Tianqiu Treasure Trail” from Lan in Liyue Harbor to obtain the Parametric Transformer. Enhancement Materials can be converted into Character EXP Materials, Character Level-Up Materials, and Weapon Ascension Materials by placing them in the Parametric Transformer to undergo transmutation.
3. New consumable: Dust of Azoth can convert the Elemental Type of Character Ascension Materials.
4. New achievement “Transmutation Nuclide”
5. New recipes:
Xinyue Kiosk’s “Fullmoon Egg”
Wangshu Inn’s “Vegetarian Abalone”
Liuli Pavilion’s “Stone Harbor Delicacies”

 

• System
1. Archive addition: Living Beings
Records information on enemies defeated and living things caught or discovered. Travelers can consult the Living Beings section of the Archive to view how many times they have defeated different enemies and also review tutorials for certain enemies.
2. New conversion function on Crafting Bench:
Combining some Character Ascension Materials with Dust of Azoth at a Crafting Bench lets you convert their Elemental Type.
3. Travelers’ profile pages now include Achievement progress and a Character Showcase.
4. Controller support added for devices running iOS 14 or above. Currently, the following controllers are supported: Xbox Wireless Controller (Bluetooth Version), Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2, PlayStation DualShock 4 Wireless Controller, some other Bluetooth Wireless Controllers designed for iOS.
5. On the Weapon Enhancement screen, holding the selected material will add it rapidly.
6. A quick delete function has been added to the mailbox. Does not delete unread mail or mail with unclaimed attachments.
7. New photography method added for the PS4 version. Take a photo and save it to the PS4’s local storage in one single action.

 

VII. Adjustments & Optimizations
• Characters
1. Adjustments to Zhongli:
1) Adjusts the effect of holding Zhongli’s Elemental Skill “Dominus Lapidis”:
◇ Original effect:
Causes nearby Geo energy to explode, causing the following effects:
·Creates a shield of jade. The shield’s DMG Absorption scales based on Zhongli’s Max HP, and absorbs Geo DMG 250% more effectively.
·Deals AoE Geo DMG.
·If there are nearby targets with the Geo element, it will drain a large amount of Geo element from a maximum of 2 such targets. This effect does not cause DMG.
◆ Post-adjustment effect:
Causes nearby Geo energy to explode, causing the following effects:
·If their maximum number hasn’t been reached, creates a Stone Stele.
·Creates a shield of jade. The shield’s DMG Absorption scales based on Zhongli’s Max HP. Possesses 150% DMG Absorption against all Elemental and Physical DMG.
·Characters protected by the Jade Shield will decrease the Elemental RES and Physical RES of opponents in a small AoE by 20%. This effect cannot be stacked.
·Deals AoE Geo DMG.
·If there are nearby targets with the Geo element, it will drain a large amount of Geo element from a maximum of 2 such targets. This effect does not cause DMG.

2) Adjusts the effect of Zhongli’s second Ascension Talent “Dominance of Earth”:
◇ Original effect:
Planet Befall deals additional DMG equal to 33% of Zhongli’s Max HP.
◆ Post-adjustment effect:
Zhongli deals bonus DMG based on his Max HP:
·Normal Attack, Charged Attack, and Plunging Attack DMG is increased by 1.39% of Max HP.
·Dominus Lapidis’ Stone Stele, resonance, and hold DMG is increased by 1.9% of Max HP.
·Planet Befall’s DMG is increased by 33% of Max HP.

2. Optimizes Mona’s Talent “Illusory Torrent”: When Mona is hit, she can use Illusory Torrent more quickly, as is the case with sprinting for other characters.
3. Adds a new idle animation for Kaeya.
4. Optimizes Zhongli’s animation under “Weapons” on the Character Screen.
5. Resolves issues with Aiming Mode for Bow-wielding characters when obstacles are present nearby, such as character shaking and off-center shots.
6. Optimizes precision when firing shots at moving targets.
7. Resolves issues of shaky clothing/movements when some characters perform actions such as walking, attacking, skill casting, and sitting.

 

• Monsters
1. Adjusts combat logic for Dendro Slimes: When a Dendro Slime is hiding relatively far from your location, you will not enter combat mode.

 

• System
1. Spiral Abyss
Updates the monster lineup on Floor 12 of the Spiral Abyss.
The Ley Line Disorders on Floor 12 are adjusted to:
• For this floor only, the ley line flow will be normal
• No Ley Line Disorder
Starting from the first time that the Lunar Phase refreshes after updating to Version 1.3, the three Lunar Phases will be as follows:
Phase I:
When active character’s HP is less than 70%, ATK is increased by 20% and ATK SPD is increased by 15%.
When active character’s HP is less than 35% and they are under the protection of a shield, CRIT Rate is increased by 20% and CRIT DMG is increased by 40%.
Phase II:
A Charge will accumulate every 10s, with a maximum of three existing at any one time. If the active character’s HP is less than 50%, they will consume a Charge when they hit an opponent to create an unstable energy orb at the opponent’s position. This orb will explode after 1s, and only one of them can be created every 2s.
Phase III:
When the active character’s HP is less than 50%, they gain a 2% DMG Bonus for 10s after hitting an opponent. This effect can stack up to 10 times, and each character in the party will have their own independent stacks and durations. Each time the stack count or duration of this effect resets, there is a 50% chance to release an Energy Blast. An Energy Blast can be triggered once every 10s.

2. Deleted chats will not appear in the chat list.
3. Optimizes display order of chat column: After entering team setup in Co-Op Mode, the chat column will automatically switch to the team column.
4. Optimizes the display hierarchy when there are multiple overlapping icons on the Map.
5. Optimizes UI transparency on mobile devices upon entering Aiming Mode in the Spiral Abyss.
6. Optimizes the Kamera gadget for the PS4 version: When equipped, using the Kamera directly stores a screenshot with the UI hidden to the local storage.
7. From Version 1.3 onward, extra Fragile Resin rewards will be included in the BP system:
Starting from BP Level 5, Sojourner’s Battle Pass and Gnostic Hymn provide Fragile Resin ×1 every 10 BP Levels. The original rewards of Mystic Enhancement Ore provided at these BP Levels will be added to the rewards at other BP Levels instead, and the total quantity of Mystic Enhancement Ore that can be obtained from the BP system will not change.
8. Removes the Delete button from the Portable Waypoint interface of the open world map.
9. Optimizes the size of the Wind Glider on the Dressing Room screen for certain characters.
10. When using a controller, improves the refresh rate when switching between tabs in the Paimon’s Bargains section of the Shop.
11. Optimizes the experience of moving the crosshair in Aiming Mode when the frame rate is low.

 

• Audio
1. Voice-Over Optimization:
a. Adds a reverb effect to internal monologue voice-over in quests.
b. Character combat voice-over can interrupt idle voice-over.
2. The Chinese voice artist for Amber will be changed, and this adjustment will take effect in Version 1.4.
3. Adds Chinese voice-over for some characters.
4. Adds Japanese voice-over for some characters.
5. Adjusts the audio effects for some voice-over on mobile and PC versions.

 

• Other
1. Adjustment to the Geo Elemental Resonance “Enduring Rock”:
◇ Original effect:
Increases resistance to interruption. When protected by a shield, increases Attack DMG by 15%.

◆ Post-adjustment effect:
Increases shield strength by 15%. Additionally, characters protected by a shield will have the following special characteristics: DMG dealt increased by 15%, dealing DMG to enemies will decrease their Geo RES by 20% for 15s.

2. Geo Shield balance adjustments:
Geo Shields are adjusted from having “250% Geo DMG Absorption” to having “150% Physical DMG and Elemental DMG Absorption.”
This adjustment affects the following:
• The Geo Shield produced by Zhongli’s Elemental Skill
• The Geo Shield produced by Noelle’s Elemental Skill
• The Geo Shield produced upon picking up a Geo Crystal dropped by a Geovishap Hatchling

3. Amends the tab for the standard wish “Wanderlust Invocation.” *Only the tab has been changed. The Wish contents and rules remain unchanged.
4. Optimizes item source descriptions for Mist Grass Pollen, Mist Grass, and Mist Grass Wick.
5. Adjusts descriptions for the materials Fragile Bone Shard, Sturdy Bone Shard, and Fossilized Bone Shard and adds their sources.
6. Adds a description for the rules of Elemental Orb drops in the “Test Run” event (the actual mechanics in-game are not affected by this change).
*Note: In order to allow Travelers for a quicker use of Elemental Bursts and more efficient testing experience, the opponents on trial stages drop additional Elemental Orbs. However, due to our negligence, this effect was not individually listed in the event details, leading some Travelers to misevaluate characters based on their trial stage performance. We sincerely apologize for any confusion this might have caused. After this update, the event details will be supplemented with the relevant rules. We will continue to optimize the trial stage experience in the upcoming versions.
7. Adjusts the Stellar Reunion event as follows:
a. Adjusts the order of rewards in Passage of Time (total obtainable rewards remains unchanged).
b. Reduces the number of points required in Homeward Path to be eligible to claim the sword “Prototype Rancour.” Points requirement reduced from 700 to 500.
Scope of Impact: Travelers who activate the Stellar Reunion event after updating to Version 1.3.

 

〓Bug Fixes〓
• Quests
1. Fixes an issue affecting the PS4 version whereby during the story quest “Should You Be Trapped in a Windless Land,” Stanley’s movements during cutscenes are erroneous.
2. Fixes an issue whereby two Tea Master Liu Sus will appear under certain conditions.
3. Fixes an issue in the Story Quest “Traveler Observation Report” whereby some of Paimon’s voice lines are missing.
4. Fixes an issue with the archon quest “A Long Shot” whereby there is a small chance of triggering a Plunging Attack during the aerial battle with Stormterror.

 

• Domains
1. Fixes an issue whereby when temporarily leaving a Spiral Abyss challenge, Statues of The Seven can revive characters that have fallen in the Sprial Abyss.

 

• Co-Op
1. Fixes an issue in Co-Op Mode whereby during the second stage of the Childe boss fight, some of his Skill DMG may not be attributed to the correct location.
2. Fixes an issue in Co-Op Mode whereby there is a small chance that the Anemo Hypostasis and Geo Hypostasis are unable to be defeated.
3. Fixes an issue in Co-Op Mode whereby the ice crystals that form after the Frostarm Lawachurl sprints do not appear properly.
4. Fixes an issue in Co-Op Mode whereby when another Traveler joins a world, the ability of some character skills to break monsters’ shields becomes inconsistent with Single-Player Mode.
5. Fixes an issue in Co-Op Mode whereby when another Traveler joins a world, some Ruin Hunter attacks may be unable to land hits.
6. Fixes an issue in Co-Op Mode whereby when another Traveler joins a world, some Ruin Hunter skills are unable to be displayed properly.
7. Fixes an issue in Co-Op Mode whereby when another Traveler joins a world, interacting with a Statue of The Seven and accepting a Domain challenge invite cause the game to freeze.
8. Fixes an issue in Co-Op Mode whereby the blocking effect of Anemoboxer Vanguards may not be displayed properly.
9. Fixes an issue in Co-Op Mode whereby if voice-over audio is being played on the Character Profile screen when another Traveler leaves the world, the interface will not be displayed properly.
10. Fixes an issue in Co-Op Mode whereby after the host disconnects and reconnects, the constructs of other Travelers’ characters may not disappear.

 

• Monsters
1. Fixes an issue in the Childe boss fight whereby during the second stage of the fight, Childe’s attacks may not be able to apply the Riptide effect to the character.
2. Fixes an issue with the Anemo Hypostasis whereby when it casts its butterfly wing-flap skill and blows the character into the air, the character may get stuck in mid-air when falling back down.
3. Fixes an issue with the Geo Hypostasis whereby Basalt Columns may be ousted by characters’ Geo constructs, causing them to disappear.
4. Fixes an issue with the Geo Hypostasis challenge whereby after the energy cube has been broken and the shield has formed, switching characters within the range of the shield may cause the character to take DMG.
5. Fixes an issue during combat with the Anemo Hypostasis and Geo Hypostasis whereby the effects of Barbara’s Elemental Skill, Qiqi’s Elemental Skill, and Klee’s Elemental Burst may unexpectedly disappear.
6. Fixes an issue whereby the Ice Shieldwall Mitachurl cannot block attacks normally when buffed by an Elemental Node.
7. Fixes an issue whereby after a large slime jumps, it still takes DMG if the location from which it jumps is attacked.
8. Fixes an issue with Rock Shield Hilichurl Guards and Ice Shield Hilichurl Guards’ resistance to interruption when holding shields.

 

• Weapons
1. Fixes an issue with the weapon “Deathmatch” whereby the weapon affix “Gladiator” incorrectly counts nearby animals when calculating the number of nearby opponents.
2. Fixes an issue whereby if a character gains a shield, the ATK increase effects of the weapons Vortex Vanquisher, Summit Shaper, The Unforged, and Memory of Dust may be affected by a short delay.
3. Fixes an issue with the weapon “Raven Bow” whereby the icon and the weapon model are inconsistent after the weapon ascends.

 

• Characters
1. Fixes an issue with Kaeya whereby under specific circumstances, casting his Elemental Skill “Frostgnaw” at a body of water causes him to be pushed underwater by the ice layer.
2. Fixes an issue whereby casting some characters’ skills can be incorrectly interrupted by sitting.
3. Fixes an issue whereby some effects are incorrectly affected by the CD Reduction attribute. The affected effects are: Barbara’s Lv. 6 Constellation “Dedicating Everything to You”; Qiqi’s Lv. 6 Constellation “Rite of Resurrection”; Kaeya’s Lv. 4 Constellation “Frozen Kiss”; Noelle’s Passive Talent “Devotion”; and Fischl’s ability to summon Oz back to her side with her Elemental Skill while he is already on the field.
* CD Reduction should only affect the CD of Elemental Skills and Elemental Bursts.
4. Fixes an issue in Co-Op Mode whereby the effect of Jean’s Lv. 6 Constellation “Lion’s Fang, Fair Protector of Mondstadt” may not properly take effect on teammates.
5. Fixes errors that may occur with the effects of Tartaglia’s cape.
6. Fixes an issue with Tartaglia whereby after continuously attacking enemies in his Melee Stance, an error occurs with the CD of his Elemental Skill “Foul Legacy: Raging Tide” after he returns to his Ranged Stance.
7. Fixes an issue with Zhongli whereby after activating his Lv. 1 Constellation “Rock, the Backbone of Earth,” casting his Elemental Skill may cause Stone Steles on the field to erroneously disappear when the maximum number of Stone Steles has not been reached.
8. Fixes an issue whereby Zhongli’s weapon model may not be displayed when performing Plunging Attacks.
9. Fixes an issue whereby Zhongli’s Jade Shield effect upon taking hits is triggered too frequently (the effect of his Passive Talent “Resonant Waves” remains unaffected by this fix).
10. Fixes an issue with Zhongli whereby when the Jade Shield is active, the AoE Geo DMG dealt by holding the Elemental Skill “Dominus Lapidis” cannot trigger the DMG increase of the Elemental Resonance effect “Enduring Rock.”
11. Fixes an issue whereby if Zhongli jumps while performing a Normal Attack, consequent attacks may be unable to be infused.
12. Fixes an issue whereby after Fischl uses her Elemental Skill “Nightrider” to change Oz’s location, her Passive Talent “Undone Be Thy Sinful Hex” cannot be triggered properly.
13. Fixes an issue whereby Kaeya’s Passive Talent “Glacial Heart” may not take effect properly.
14. Fixes an issue with Razor whereby triggering the lightning caused by his Lv. 6 Constellation “Lupus Fulguris” and casting his Elemental Skill within a short time of each other causes an error with the number of Electro Sigils received.
15. Fixes an issue whereby if the Traveler (Anemo) immediately jumps or sprints after using the Elemental Skill “Palm Vortex,” Elemental Particles will be unable to be generated.
16. Fixes an issue with Diona whereby clipping occurs with the character and weapon model on the Weapons section of the Character Screen.
17. Fixes an issue whereby if the game reconnects to the server after Lisa uses her Elemental Skill “Lightning Rose,” the ground effect will not function properly.
18. Fixes an issue affecting Barbara’s Lv. 6 Constellation “Dedicating Everything to You” and Qiqi’s Lv. 6 Constellation “Rite of Resurrection” whereby the CDs of these constellation effects do not reset when starting the Spiral Abyss.
20. Fixes an issue whereby Klee’s Charged Attack incorrectly causes DMG numbers to be displayed under some circumstances.
21. Fixes an issue with Klee whereby reconnecting to the server after casting her Elemental Burst causes errors with the duration of the effects of her Lv. 4 Constellation “Sparkly Explosion.”
22. Fixes an issue whereby if Xiangling teleports or steps onto the crystallized platform created by Solar Isotoma when she uses her Elemental Burst “Pyronado,” the effects of “Pyronado” will not be shown properly.
23. Fixes an issue with Ganyu whereby if the game disconnects and reconnects while her Elemental Skill is being cast, or if the connection is poor while switching to another character immediately after Ganyu casts her Elemental Skill, the number of times that her Lv. 6 Constellation “The Clement” takes effect is incorrect.
24. Fixes an issue whereby when the crystallized platform created by Solar Isotoma raises a character, certain operations will cause the character to be raised up very high.
25. Fixes an issue whereby after Diona uses her Elemental Skill “Icy Paws,” quickly switching characters causes Elemental Particles to be unable to be gained.
26. Fixes an issue whereby in certain situations, the number of Stone Steles existing at one time can exceed the maximum.

 

• System
1. Fixes an issue within the Character Screen whereby characters’ expressions may appear incorrectly.
2. Fixes an issue with the Bounties part of the City Reputation system whereby some 5-star Ruin Hunter targets are missing weak spot descriptions.
3. Fixes an issue whereby consumed Artifacts may incorrectly be displayed on the Artifacts filter screen.
4. Fixes an issue when using a controller on the Party Setup screen whereby if many characters are owned, the first row of character icons may not be displayed fully when switching characters.
5. Fixes some issues in the Travel Log section of the Archive whereby text is missing or is inconsistent with the audio.
6. Fixes an issue whereby the hint window does not display correctly when attempting to use a revival item while revival items are in cooldown.
7. Fixes an issue whereby after changing the Quest Navigation button under Settings > Key Bindings (PC) or Settings > Controller Setup (PS4), the game UI still refers to the default button in on-screen guidance.
8. Fixes an issue whereby character idle voice-over may play when a wish is being made.
9. Fixes the issue of controller users being unable to skip the Battle Pass animation.

 

• Audio
1. Fixes some issues with the Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and English voice-over.
2. Fixes issues with some character and environment sound effects.
3. Fixes an issue for controller users whereby some interface sound effects do not function properly.

 

• Other
1. Fixes an issue on iOS devices whereby certain Dragonspine environments are not displayed properly.
2. Fixes an issue whereby Plunging Attacks do not function correctly under specific circumstances.
3. Fixes an issue whereby the camera angle is incorrect under specific circumstances.
4. Fixes some errors with environment models.
5. Fixes an issue whereby some revival items cannot be added to the gadget NRE (Menu 30).
6. Fixes an issue whereby casting some characters’ skills can cause errors with weather conditions.
7. Fixes spelling errors in some descriptions.
8. Fixes an issue whereby the character model may fall into the ground after teleporting.
9. Fixes an issue whereby once the shards created by Crystallize disappear, their visual effects are still visible for some time.
10. Fixes an issue whereby if wooden crates in the Dragonspine region disappear due to Burning, they still diminish Sheer Cold.
11. Fixes an issue whereby some effects triggered by switching character are incorrectly triggered by actions such as teleporting and entering domains. (Example: effects caused by the catalyst “Thrilling Tales of Dragon Slayers”)
13. Fixes errors in the description of the food item “Suspicious Tianshu Meat” (the actual effects of this item in-game are not affected by this change).
14. Fixes an issue whereby some clues for Bounties are suspended in mid-air.
15. Fixes an issue whereby unlocked Teleport Waypoints briefly appear red when loading.
16. Fixes an issue whereby characters can climb in mid-air in certain situations.
17. Fixes an issue whereby under certain conditions, an elemental reaction cannot be triggered even though the target is still affected by one of the elements involved. This fix takes effect for all units (both characters and monsters).
* Example: A monster who is affected by a relevant element is hit by a Geo attack, causing the Crystallize reaction. As of Version 1.3, providing the monster continues to be affected by the relevant element (i.e. the effect has not worn off), additional elemental reactions can be triggered by attacking the monster with corresponding elemental attacks. (In previous versions, it was sometimes impossible to produce additional elemental reactions after the initial reaction.)
18. Fixes textual errors and display issues in some languages and optimizes the localization of text. “Note: Related in-game functions have not changed.” (Travelers can view the changes in different languages by going to the Paimon Menu > Settings > Language and changing the Game Language.)
Text-related fixes and optimizations in English include:
◆ The NPC name “Troubled Lillian” is revised to “Troubled Lianne.”
◆ The names of the weapon forging materials “Northlander Sword Prototype,” “Northlander Bow Prototype,” “Northlander Claymore Prototype,” “Northlander Catalyst Prototype,” and “Northlander Polearm Prototype” are revised to “Northlander Sword Billet,” “Northlander Bow Billet,” “Northlander Claymore Billet,” “Northlander Catalyst Billet,” and “Northlander Polearm Billet” respectively.
◆ The name of the character level-up material “Dirty Mask” is revised to “Stained Mask.”
◆ Corrects the description of the weapon affix “Sky-Piercing Fang” belonging to the sword “Skyward Blade.” The original description reads: “…increases the DMG of Normal and Charged Attack hits by XX% for 12s.” The revised description reads: “…Normal and Charged hits deal additional DMG equal to 20% of ATK. Skypiercing Might lasts for 12s.”
◆ Corrects the wording of the tutorial “Elemental Reaction: Superconduct.” The original wording reads: “Superconduct deals AoE Cryo DMG and significantly decreases DEF for the affected being.” The revised wording reads: “Superconduct deals AoE Cryo DMG and significantly decreases Physical RES for the affected being.”
◆ Corrects the wording of Diluc’s Lv. 4 Constellation “Flowing Flame.” The original description reads: “Casting Searing Onslaught in sequence greatly increases damage dealt. Within 2s of using Searing Onslaught, casting the next Searing Onslaught in the combo deals 40% additional DMG. This effect lasts for the next 2s.” The revised description reads: “Casting Searing Onslaught in rhythm greatly increases damage dealt. 2s after casting Searing Onslaught, casting the next Searing Onslaught in the combo deals 40% additional DMG. This effect lasts for 2s.”

In addition to the patch notes, here are the details on the Lantern Rite events for update 1.30!
If the text for the image above is too small, head on over here.
Once we get word of the next update for Genshin Impact, we’ll let our readers know.
Source: Genshin Impact (1, 2)
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Alex Co

Father, gamer, games media vet, writer of words, killer of noobs.

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Resident Evil Village Art Director Reveals How Tall Lady Dimitrescu is

Ever since images and a new trailer showed off the character in literally a huge way, Resident Evil fans have taken a liking to Resident Evil Village character Lady Dimitrescu, who is affectionately nicknamed as “Tall Lady” and serves as one of the primary antagonists of the new game.

Capcom has heard and seen the love the fans have showered this villainess with, so art director Tomonori Takano has shared a little fact about her that fans will be happy to know via the RE Twitter page.

https://twitter.com/RE_Games/status/1356391885816823808

As the message makes clear, Lady Dimitrescu is 2.9 meters tall — Meaning her height is 9’6″ including her hat and heels, which dwarves main character Ethan Winters who is only less that 6 feet.

Fans actually get to meet Lady Dimitrescu and her vampire daughters first hand in the Resident Evil Village “Maiden Demo” — which serves as a prologue of sorts to the main game. In it, players control the titular maiden who is a prisoner inside Dimistrescu’s castle. Desperately trying to find a way out, she encounters her pursuers and we get to see just how powerful these beautiful and dangerous creatures are. The demo is available exclusively for PS5.

In case you missed it, details on the boss fight with Lady Dimistrecu were leaked online.

Resident Evil Village will be released for PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC on May 7.

Tim Villasor

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Overwatch Lunar Event 2021 Kicks Off This Thursday

Get ready to celebrate the Year of the Ox this coming Thursday, as Blizzard and Team Overwatch have announced that they are kicking off this year’s Overwatch Lunar Event on Thursday, February 4 — bringing in some new items and accessories starting with a new Tiger Huntress outfit for the character Ashe.

Check out the announcement below via the Overwatch Twitter page.

While other details on the Lunar Year event celebration are still a mystery, there’s a good bet there are more skins, accessories, and tons of other goodies players can win via Loot Boxes. Stay tuned and check back for more details as they come.

In the meantime, the last Overwatch Update in Patch 3.03 has been live since January 12 and has brought a new map and tons of other stuff.

Tim Villasor

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COD Warzone Anti-Cheat Programs Discussed by Activision, Over 300K Permabans Since Launch

If there’s a prevalent problem in Call of Duty: Warzone that still nowhere being fixed, it has to be Warzone cheaters. In a new blog post by Activision on the official Call of Duty website, the publisher gave an update on Warzone anti-cheat programs and the steps being taken to fend off cheaters.

According to Activision, since launch, there have been more than 300,000 permabans doled out! Just today, over 60,000 accounts confirmed to be using cheat software in Warzone has been banned!

Since launch we’ve taken a number of dedicated actions:

·      Weekly backend security updates

·      Improved in-game reporting mechanisms

·      Added 2-factor authentication, which has invalidated over 180,000 suspect accounts

·      Eliminated numerous unauthorized third party software providers

·      Increased dedicated teams and resources across software development, engineering, data science, legal and monitoring

In addition, we’re increasing our efforts and capabilities in these key areas.

·      Enhancements to our internal anti-cheat software

·      Additional detection technology

·      Adding new resources dedicated to monitoring and enforcement

·      Regular communication updates on progress; more two-way dialogue

·      Zero tolerance for cheat providers

·      Consistent and timely bans

Additionally, Activision states that they know cheaters are constantly looking for vulnerabilities, and how they are dedicating resources 24/7 to identify and combat cheaters, which include “aimbots, wallhacks, trainers, stat hacks, texture hacks, leaderboard hacks, injectors, hex editors and any third party software that is used to manipulate game data or memory.”

Weekly updates for Warzone will officially be handled by Raven Software as well, so give them a follow on Twitter too.

While acknowledging Warzone’s cheater issues are a thing, this is more of a “we know there are cheaters and we are working on stomping them out,” rather than “we have a solution and it’s coming soon!” kind of thing.

Cheaters will always be in online multiplayer games, let’s hope Activision gives players proper anti-cheat programs for Warzone, and show cheaters no mercy.

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Alex Co

Father, gamer, games media vet, writer of words, killer of noobs.

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EA: Battlefield 6 to “Feature More Players Than Ever Before,” Reveal Coming in Spring 2021

Are you looking forward to some hot Battlefield 6 news? While we still don’t know the exact title of this year’s Battlefield game, EA has dropped a few morsels of info during the publisher’s quarterly earnings report today.

Remember that rumor that surfaced stating that this year’s Battlefield will see 128-player matches? Well, it seems there might be some truth to that, as EA has said that Battlefield 6 will “feature more players than ever before!” Here’s a summary of the info shared by EA today.

  • It will take full advantage of next-gen consoles
  • Feature more players than ever before
  • Takes franchise to the next level
  • Reveal coming in Spring 2021
  • Release set for Holiday 2021

Given that spring is set to start soon (next month), we should be hearing or seeing teases about it soon! One can hope that we can at least learn of the official title and maybe new game mechanics by then, no?

Stay tuned for the latest Battlefield news here on MP1st!

Thanks, Westie!

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Alex Co

Father, gamer, games media vet, writer of words, killer of noobs.

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Apex Legends Nintendo Switch Release Date Set for March 9, BLM Badge Given to Players in Celebration of Black History Month

Nintendo Switch players, it’s your time to drop, loot and shoot is almost upon us! EA has announced the Apex Legends Nintendo Switch release date and it’s set for March 9!

The port is being handled by Panic Button, and will feature cross-platform play, the latest season (Season 8 which launched today on all platforms), and full feature parity with the other versions of Apex Legends! In addition to that, since it’ll be launching a wee bit later than today’s Season 8 start, all Switch players will be granted 30 free levels for their Season 8 Battle Pass for the first two weeks after launch, and playing on Switch will also grant players double XP!

Same as with other platforms, Apex Legends on Nintendo Switch will be free-to-play! So make sure you have some space allocated.

In addition to the big announcement, Respawn Entertainment has announced that in celebration of Black History Month, the studio is giving players a Black Lives Matter (BLM) badge starting at 8 p.m. PT/11 p.m. ET today/tonight! It’s unknown how long this freebie will be granted, so best hop to it if you want to get it.

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Alex Co

Father, gamer, games media vet, writer of words, killer of noobs.

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EA Plans Annual Release Schedule of Racing Games via Codemasters Acquisition

In December of last year, word got out that EA managed to sneak in and acquire Codemasters before Take-Two Interactive managed to. During today’s quarterly earnings report, EA has shed more light on its acquisition.

EA has distributed slides pertaining to the Codemasters acquisition and what it means for the publisher. To possibly no one’s surprise, it means more racing games. How much is “more” you might ask? Try annual releases.

  • Grows EA’s presence in racing, creating a global leader in racing entertainment
  • Brings talented game teams, technology and IP to EA
  • Will enable EA to release new racing experiences annually
  • Natural fit and clear opportunities with EA Sports portfolio
  • Expected to grow net bookings and underlying profitability

Bear in mind that aside from the Codemasters studio and name, EA has also managed to secure the franchises under the studio (such as Dirt, F1, etc). Note that Codemasters has released a racing game every year ever since 2012, so this shouldn’t really be a different situation to the studio. EA also has Ghost Games who develops the publisher’s Need for Speed franchise as well.

Do you think Codemasters’ titles will dip in quality due to EA or will it remain the same? Let us know your thoughts below. Stay tuned for more reports via EA’s quarterly earnings later today.

Thanks, ZhugeEX!

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Alex Co

Father, gamer, games media vet, writer of words, killer of noobs.

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Black Ops Cold War Firebase Z Trailer Gives Us an Inside Look

Starting tomorrow (or February 4 for most), Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War’s Zombies mode will have a new map introduced in Firebase Z! While we already got a tBlack Ops Cold War Firebase Z trailer that showed us the new location, the latest one gives us a peek inside!

The Dark Aether story continues with “Firebase Z” in Black Ops Cold War Zombies on February 4th. Go behind the scenes with veterans of the Zombies dev team: Corky Lehmkuhl, Craig Houston, Anthony Saunders, Collin Ayers, and Mark Maestas.

For those on PS4, don’t forget that the pre-load for tomorrow’s patch is now out! Read up on details about that here.

Once the patch notes are released tomorrow and more details are known, we’ll be sure to let our readers know.

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Alex Co

Father, gamer, games media vet, writer of words, killer of noobs.