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The Division 2 Down for Server Restart, Super Short Downtime Expected

Heads up, Agents! Ubisoft is pulling the plug on The Division 2 servers, and players will experience The Division 2 down for the time being. Fortunately, it’s a super short downtime estimated at just 30 minutes.

Heads up, Agents! We’re performing a quick server restart in 45 minutes. Expected downtime is approximately 30 minutes. The server restart will fix occasional server crashes. Thanks for your patience!

When server crashes happen, remember that it’s part of the server restart so don’t panic. While you’re waiting for the servers to restart, check out the patch notes from yesterday’s title update to see what got fixed.

More The Division 2 Reading:

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Alex Co

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Apex Legends Known Audio Issues Listed, Respawn Gives an Update on Crashes

Developer Respawn Entertainment is continuing its communication with the Apex Legends player base, and has listed some of the things they’re looking into in terms of bug fixes and whatnot.

Over on Reddit, Community Manager Jay Frechette has posted an update, and has listed down the Apex Legends known audio issues, and even some quick troubleshooting tips to help players improve their audio performance.

AUDIO KNOWN ISSUES

Issues we are aware of and currently looking into:

  • Audio dropouts, where sounds or parts of sounds in the game seem to be missing at times.
  • Audio distortion, where there is loud static or mangled-sounding audio that plays, generally during large gunfights and/or heavy concentrations of players.
  • Close enemy footsteps being too quiet, or silent, in some situations.

Some troubleshooting tips that could help improve your audio performance:

  • Hard drive performance is the biggest factor, so anything that can make your hard drive faster can help, including:
    • Defragging your PC HD prior to the game installation (but don’t defrag if you have an SSD!) .
    • If possible, we recommend using a fast HD to install the game onto, such as an SSD or a 7200 RPM HD.
    • It can potentially help to make sure that the hard drive is not being hit by other background processes, such as downloading other games or recording video to the same HD as the game.
  • Currently, the game does not support quad audio. If your game is currently set to that, please change it to stereo or another surround option, such as 5.1 or 7.1, if your setup supports that.

When you experience audio issues or bug, here is some info you can provide to help us identify the problem:

  • General system specs, including the particular console you are on (PS4, PS4 Pro, XB1, XB1S, XB1X) or the PC and hard drive used, if on PC.
  • Analysis of other things going on during the game at the time – was there generally poor performance from server lag, bad frame rate, etc.
  • Video if you happen to be able to capture it in a non-performance hindering way.

Respawn has also given an update on crashes, and talked about the Legend hitboxes, and much more.

AN UPDATE ON CRASHES

Last week we dropped a small patch for PC. This patch included a fix for the biggest offender causing crashing on PC that we were able to identify thanks to all the apex_crash reports players sent to us. Since then, we’ve seen the daily crash rate on PC drop by about 90%.

This has been promising to see but we know we’re not out of the woods yet. We’ve been investigating the remaining causes for crashing we’re seeing and planning to add better communication from the game with error messages and tips to help players troubleshoot issues in the event of a PC crash in a future update.

We are aware of reported crashes on consoles as well and will be including improvements to overall stability in an upcoming client patch. I can’t say specific dates yet but we’ll let you folks know when we can and will include patch notes for it.

LEGEND RESTING BONUS TO 50K XP THIS WEEK

Remember, every week the resting bonus for Legends will increase by 25K. As of today the total resting bonus you can earn for each Legend is 50K. Next week will be 75K and so on and will cap at 250K.

FRAME RATE CAPPED TO 144 ON PC

In the last patch we made an update with the intent to cap frames at 300 if players bypassed the default 144 frames per second. This introduced a bug that capped frames to 144 regardless if players uncapped it or not. In the next patch we’ll be fixing this so the cap is 300 as intended.

XBOX UPDATE YESTERDAY

Xbox players should have noticed a small update that needed to be downloaded yesterday. This was address some stability issues on Xbox One.

LEGEND HITBOXES

Thank you to everyone that’s been catching and reporting this. After investigating on our end, we were able to confirm that there is an issue regarding hitboxes around Legend arms and upper bodies. This was why you would see a shot appear to connect but not always register damage. We have made some small improvements server side but are still investigating other examples players are sharing and doing tests to repro and address. Please continue to report and share clips if you can.

In other Apex Legends news, go check out the datemined info on what to expect from Season 1!

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Alex Co

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

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Borderlands: Game of the Year Edition Release Date, and All the Borderelands-Related Announcements in One Place

While the major announcement for the day out of Gearbox is undoubtedly, Borderlands 3, the studio also had a lot more announcements related to the franchise during its PAX East panel earlier today.

Gearbox and 2K also announced Borderlands: Game of the Year Edition, which will include brand new weapons, “substantial” visual upgrades, quality of life improvements, all four expansions, and more. Borderlands: Game of the Year Edition will launch this April 3 on the PS4, Xbox One, and PC, which is next week!

Another announcement was the Borderlands Ultra HD Texture Packs, which is a free optional download! According to the press release, this “increases the visual fidelity of Borderlands: The Handsome Collection and its DLC on consoles, and provides a visual upgrade for Borderlands 2, Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, and all their DLC on PC”

Finally, Borderlands 2 VR will be getting all the Borderlands 2 DLC this summer 2019 for free! More details will be revealed at a later time, but the keyword here is “free,” which should mean that everyone who has the game can and should download it when it’s out.

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Alex Co

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Torchlight 2 Hitting Consoles This Fall

Remember Torchlight 2? The 2012 action-RPG developed by Runic Games? If you ever wanted to play the game on consoles, you’re getting your chance!  Perfect World Entertainment and Runic Games will be bringing Torchlight 2 to consoles this fall!

Unfortunately, that’s all we know so far. No specific platforms were mentioned, but I’d wager the PS4 and the Xbox One are safe bets. If you’re curious what the game offers, check out the official game overview via Steam.

About

The award-winning action RPG is back, bigger and better than ever! Torchlight II is filled to the brim with randomized levels, enemies and loot. Capturing all the flavor and excitement of the original, Torchlight II expands the world and adds features players wanted most, including online and LAN multiplayer. Once again, the fate of the world is in your hands.

Key Features

  • Characters – With four classes to choose from, you’ll have a variety of play styles at your fingertips. Each class can be played as either male or female, with customized cosmetic features and looks to make your hero stand out.
  • Multiplayer – Play co-op with your friends via LAN or over the Internet for free. Our matchmaking service lets you connect and play games with people around the world.
  • Open-World – Explore the vast overworld and multiple hub towns of Vilderan. Fight through rain, snow, day and night. Level randomization ensures new layouts, paths, loot, and monsters every time you play.
  • New Game Plus – In New Game Plus, the game’s not over until you say it is. Once you’ve beaten Torchlight II‘s primary campaign, you can start again with the same character for a significantly greater challenge. You’ll keep all the skills, gold, and gear you worked so hard for!
  • Pets and Fishing – These popular features make their return in Torchlight II in improved form. More choices, better effects, and your pet will still make the run to town to sell your loot so you don’t have to.

As someone who loves action-RPGs and love the gameplay loop of Diablo, I can’t wait to try out Torchlight 2 (finally!) soon!

Source: Gematsu

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Alex Co

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Borderlands 3 Gameplay Gets Shown Off in Announcement Trailer – Watch it Now! (Update)

Update:

The official press release has been sent out, and we now have confirmation that more info will be shared regarding Borderlands 3 on April 3! Mark your calendars, folks!

Gearbox and 2K today confirmed that Borderlands 3, the next full installment in the original shooter-looter franchise, is in development. They also showed off a gameplay-filled trailer as a love letter to all the dedicated fans who’ve been eagerly anticipating the series’ return. More information about Borderlands 3 will be available starting April 3

Original story:

It finally happened! While we got yesterday’s “Mask of Mayhem” tease, Gearbox Software has confirmed that the next Borderlands is Borderlands 3! Here’s the announcement trailer along with a lot of Borderlands 3 gameplay!

As you can see, there are new characters, a TON of loot raining down, and new enemies to vanquish!

Once we know more info, we’ll be sure to let our readers know.

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Alex Co

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Battlefield 5 Upcoming Weapons and Gadgets Leaked via Data Files

Just last week, we ran a story about the upcoming new game mode coming to Battlefield 5, which will be limited to 5v5 battles, and include “Doctrines,” and more. Well, now we have something a lot more exciting for Battlefield 5 players.

Once again datamined by reliable source temporyal, below is a big list of Battlefield 5 upcoming weapons and gadgets that will (hopefully) get added to the game as Tides of War progresses throughout the year! In addition to the weapons, there are also weapon skins, and their possible release dates as well.

Hi guys,

today I want to share with you a broad overview of some data mined weapons and gadgets in Battlefield V.

Gathering this info is pure pain because it is scattered in many different files and has various code names. Expect a lot of names to be already known but you will also see some nice things you have read in one or another Reddit “wish list”.

A condition to be in this list was a named entity in one index file and another kind of “proof” that this is going to be implemented at some point. I provide a short ingame description if available and otherwise an excerpt from Wikipedia.

Don’t expect any “hardcore” statistics or specialization trees. A lot of them don’t exist in final versions, are placeholders and unfinished or contradict themselves on various places in the game files – and it would simply go beyond the scope of this post.

Weapon skins and possible release dates:

  • Weapon skins called “Free France”, “Mountain” and “Resistance” are likely to arrive with France focused content in Chapter 4 (think about the 5v5 mode with the Provence map)
  • Same goes for weapons like the “Chauchat” LMG or the “French Nail” melee weapon but that’s just a guess based on the upcoming content with a lot of references to Italy
  • Higher tiered weapon sets with detailed engravings could follow since Dice has moved some of those assets from BF1 inside the client
  • Some weapons & gadgets will probably only appear in the new 5v5 competitive mode due to their usefulness (e.g. Radio Jammer)

New weapon class definitions added with the latest patch:

  • Pistol Carbine
  • Bolt Action Carbine
  • Anti-Materiel Rifle

Since I don’t think everybody will make it to the end of the post let me thank you for your support and feel free to add interesting info to the comments.

Have a nice day!

Primary Weapon

M2 Carbine (Assault Rifle)

Ingame: “The M2 Carbine was the select-fire variation of the iconic M1A1 Carbine. US troops loved it due to its firepower, light weight, and small size.”

  • Note: Current version is heavily tied to the 5v5 mode coming in Tides of War Chapter 4.

Breda PG (Semi Auto)

Rate of Fire: 599 / MagCapacity: 20 / MagCount: 4

Wikipedia: “The Breda PG was a gas-operated rifle fed from a 20-round magazine. The Italian models were semi-auto only and chambered in 6.5x52mm Mannlicher-Carcano, while the Costa Rican models were chambered in 7x57mm Mauser and had an automatic fire mode with a four-round burst limiter. This makes the PG the world’s first burst-firing automatic rifle.”

  • Note: This weapon features a burst fire mode and is sometimes categorized as “Assault Rifle” or “BR” (whatever this abbreviation stands for…”Burst Rifle”?) in the code.

M1919A6 (MMG)

Rate of Fire: 599 / MagCapacity: 250 / MagCount: 2

Ingame: “The M1919 is mainly known as the .30 cal. machine gun. A bipod and a carrying handle was added which resulted in the A6 model.”

MG30 (alternatively S2-200) (MMG)

Rate of Fire: 770 / MagCapacity: 30 / MagCount: 4

Ingame: “The S2-200 was a magazine-fed machine gun originally banned by the Treaty of Versailles after World War I. Rejected by the German infantry, the Luftwaffe eventually adopted them for use in their aircraft.”

Madsen (LMG)

Rate of Fire: 539 / MagCapacity: 30 / MagCount: 4

Ingame: “The Danish-made Madsen was introduced in 1902. It was the first light machine gun in wide use. Like the Bren it had a top-mounted magazine, and were the standard LMG issued by the Norwegian army.”

Chauchat (LMG)

Rate of Fire: 327 / MagCapacity: 20 / MagCount: 5

Ingame: “In World War I, the standard French light machine gun was called the Chauchat. It could be handled by a crew of just two, which was rare at the time. It had many features seen on later LMGs.”

Lahti-Saloranta M/26 (alternatively LS/26) (LMG)

Wikipedia: “The Lahti-Saloranta M/26 is a light machine gun which was designed by Aimo Lahti and Arvo Saloranta in 1926. The weapon was able to fire in both full automatic and semi-automatic modes.”

M91/28 con Tromboncino (Bolt Action Carbine)

  • Note: Modified version of the Carcano Bolt Action Rifle with a grenade launcher.

Commando Carbine (alternatively De Lisle carbine) (Bolt Action Carbine)

Rate of Fire: 240 / MagCapacity: 8 / MagCount: 5

Ingame: “Despite its French-sounding name, the De Lisle carbine was a British weapon. It had an integrated suppressor, which was combined with subsonic ammo to make it one of the quietest firearms ever.”

MAB 38 (SMG)

Wikipedia: “The MAB 38 and its variants were a series of official submachine guns of the Royal Italian Army introduced in 1938 and used during World War II. The guns were also used by the German, Romanian, and Argentine armies of the time.”

Sterling (alternatively Patchett) (SMG)

Rate of Fire: 599 / MagCapacity: 32 / MagCount: 4

Ingame: “British airborne and special operations troops used a few samples of the Patchett SMG in 1944, but the well-liked gun didn’t enter mass production until after the end of World War II.”

Welgun (SMG)

Rate of Fire: 514 / MagCapacity: 32 / MagCount: 4

Ingame: “The Special Operations Executive had many projects going during the war. Among these was the Welgun, a submachine gun that would be easy to use and cheap to produce. Only a few prototypes were made.”

Lanchester (SMG)

Rate of Fire: 634 / MagCapacity: 32 / MagCount: 4

Ingame: “In 1940, the British decided to copy the German MP28 submachine gun for use by their Air Force and Navy. The result was the Lanchester, which many thought was superior to the Sten.”

M1917 Enfield (Bolt Action Rifle)

Rate of Fire: work in progress / MagCapacity: 6 / MagCount: 5

Ingame: “Near the end of World War I, the Americans decided to make their own version of the Lee-Enfield rifle. The M1917 became the main rifle used by US forces, with some seeing service in World War II as well.”

Sjögren (Shotgun)

Rate of Fire: 120 / MagCapacity: 5 / MagCount: 4

Ingame: “While its inertia-based loading system proved to be ahead of its time, the Sjögren’s service in World War II was mostly centered around different resistance groups.”

  • Note: The mentioned “resistance groups” seem to indicate a possible release in Chapter 4.

Sidearms

Welrod

Fire Modes: Single / MagCapacity: 6 / MagCount: 5

Ingame: “The British developed the Welrod pistol to be as quiet as possible. It was bolt-operated and magazine fed. At only 73 dBA, it was about as loud as a present-day car.”

  • Note: Fits quite well into the “Resistance” theme we might see in Chapter 4.

Model 27

Fire Modes: Single / Rate of Fire: 150 / MagCapacity: 6 / MagCount: 3

Wikipedia Description: “The Smith & Wesson Model 27 is the original .357 Magnum revolver. It was first produced in 1935, and many versions of it are still in production today.”

  • Note: The Model 27 is a basically slower firing version of the Auto Revolver but capable of dealing much higher damage.

PPK

Fire Modes: Single / Rate of Fire: 450 / MagCapacity: 7 / MagCount: 10

Wikipedia Description: “The Walther PPK is a smaller version of the PP with a shorter grip, barrel and frame, and reduced magazine capacity. The smaller size made it more concealable than the original PP and hence better suited to plainclothes or undercover work. It was released in 1930.”

  • Note: There is also a suppressed variant “PPK Suppressed”.

Gadgets

Panzerbüchse 39 (Anti-Materiel Rifle)

MagCapacity: 11 / MagCount: 3

Ingame: “The PanzerbÜchse 39, abbreviated PzB 39, was a German anti-tank rifle. It was an improvement of the Panzerbüchse 38 rifle.”

Boys AT Rifle (Anti-Materiel Rifle)

Wikipedia: “The Rifle, Anti-Tank, .55in, Boys, commonly known as the “Boys Anti-tank Rifle” (or incorrectly “Boyes”), was a British anti-tank rifle in use during the Second World War.”

  • Note: The equivalent to the Panzerbüchse 39.

Goliath Mine

Ingame: “Remote controlled explosive vehicle.”

RMN-50 Rifle Frag Launcher

“RMN-50 is actually designated as a hand mortar rather than a grenade launcher. They used Mosin-Nagant rifles with damaged barrels. The non-usable rifle barrel was cut leaving only the chamber and very little of the rifled portion. Then a Model 1938/40 50mm mortar smoothbore barrel was attached to the rifle.”

  • Note: This soviet gadget is linked to the 5v5 mode but it will probably come to base game, too.

Type 89 Knee Mortar

Wikipedia: “The Type 89 Grenade Discharger, inaccurately and colloquially known as a knee mortar by Allied forces, is a Japanese grenade launcher or light mortar that was widely used in the Pacific Ocean theatre of World War II.”

M1A1 Bazooka

Wikipedia: “By late 1942, the improved Rocket Launcher, M1A1 was introduced. The forward hand grip was deleted, and the design simplified. The production M1A1 was 54 inches (1.37 m) long and weighed only 12.75 pounds (5.8 kg).”

Panzerschreck

Ingame: “The Panzerschreck is a lightweight anti-tank launcher firing a fin-stabilized rocket with a shaped-charge warhead.”

Buff Syrette

Ingame: “Stab yourself or a teammate with a buff syrette and enhance the target’s capabilities for a while.”

Heavy specialized gadgets (5v5 game mode and/or old archetype relicts):

  • TN-17 Radio Jammer
  • Breaching Charge
  • Shaped Charge (AT Mine)
  • Tripwire Smoke
  • Fliegerfaust (Anti Air)

Pistol Carbines and Machine Pistols

​Due to the cancellation of the archetype system prior release Carbines and Machine Pistols are sitting in an uncomfortable spot between primary weapons and sidearms.

While one or two Machine Pistols can be interesting for close quarter engagements they still wouldn’t bring much to the table in their current state – especially not for the Medic class which already can handle itself in CQB quite well.

I’ve added them anyway because they could play a role in the upcoming 5v5 game mode with more restricted classes and Dice recently greenlit Bolt Action Carbines.

Astra Model 903 (Machine Pistol)

Rate of Fire: 1124 / MagCapacity: 21 / MagCount: 5

Ingame: “The Model 903 had a high Rate of Fire: but was difficult to control. The Spanish made it based on a German design. They sold large numbers to both China and Germany during the war.”

  • Note: Due to the very high Rate of Fire: probably a really nice 1v1 gun for close quarter engagements.

Maschinenpistole M1912 (alternatively Steyr M1912/P16) (Machine Pistol)

Rate of Fire: 900 / MagCapacity: 16 / MagCount: 6

Ingame: “By adding a shoulder stock, extended magazine and fire selector to a traditional M1912 this gun became what is considered to be the world’s first machine pistol.”

Frommer Stop Auto (Machine Pistol)

Rate of Fire: 900 / MagCapacity: 16 / MagCount: 6

Ingame: “If you added an extended barrel and magazine to the Frommer Stop, you ended up with the Frommer Stop Auto. Some would also add a shoulder stock for increased accuracy.”

P08 Artillery Luger (Pistol Carbine)

Rate of Fire: 299 / MagCapacity: 33 / MagCount: 3

Ingame: “The P08 Artillery Luger was a variation of the P08 with a longer barrel, shoulder stock and drum magazine. German Stormtroopers used it in World War I and reissued it to certain units in World War II.”

C96 Carbine (Pistol Carbine)

Rate of Fire: 299 / MagCapacity: 20 / MagCount: 4

Ingame: “With its integral magazine and wooden stock, the C96 Carbine was very stable for a semi-automatic pistol. The German military produced and fielded them in both world wars.”

Mle 1903 Extended (alternatively FN1903 Stock) (Pistol Carbine)

Rate of Fire: 359 / MagCapacity: 11 / MagCount: 8

Ingame: “With an extended stock, the Mle 1903 became a pistol carbine. It had a high rate of fire, good accuracy and a detachable magazine. It was primarily used by the Swedish Army.”

 

Melee

Fairbairn Sykes

Fairbairn and Sykes were experts in knife fighting and channelled that experience into the design of their knife. It had a double edge and foil grip and was a favorite among Allied special forces.

Lever Pipe

Improving on the practice of turning any heavy implement into a weapon, soldiers found that a pipe with the lever valve still attached gave it a weight and balance for a more impactful strike.

EGW Survival Knife

The EGW survival knife was never officially issued by the US Army, though soldiers often bought one for themselves. They were very versatile with a serrated back edge but were also prone to rust.

Fallskirmjaeger Switchblade

Unlike many switchblades, the German paratrooper version was not spring-loaded. Although drawing the blade was not as instantaneous, it was still considered dangerous in the right hands.

M2 Paratrooper Switchblade

The Americans designed the M2 switchblade so paratroopers could unsheathe the blade with one hand in the event they were tangled in a tree and needed to cut their cords.

Saber

By the time of World War II, the saber had become primarily a ceremonial weapon. But with a sharpened edge, it could occasionally useful in close combat.

French Nail

Improvised to serve the same purpose as a bladed weapon, a French Nail was made by taking a steel rods, hammering one end to a pointed blade while bending the other into a rough handle.

US Trench Knife

The US Mark I knife was in many ways a typical trench knife. It had a double-edged blade, a knuckle guard and a heavy hilt. It was mainly issued to US Airborne and Ranger units during World War II.

Arditi Dagger

The Arditi were an elite unit of Italian shock troops during World War I. Disbanding after the war, they were notorious for employing daggers as their primary weapon.

Scout Knife

For many people, their first contact with a knife outside of the kitchen or dinner table is with the scout knife. Its great for carving, but also handy in a fight.

Russian Combat Knife

The Russian combat knife was born out of the “Finka” – a Finnish knife favored by gangsters and outlawed by the government. It had a clip point blade and a black wooden handle.

Folding Shovel

Folding shovels were one of the standard tools issued to both Allied and Axis soldiers, who were prone to relocation, constructing their own defenses, and occasionally being caught with out a weapon.

Barbed Baseball Bat

A baseball bat can be a hefty weapon in itself. But if you wrap some barbed wire around it, it’ll be that much deadlier. Not a common weapon on the battlefield, but a useful one nonetheless.

French Hunting Knife

A hunting knife from the Northern part of Europe.

Quartermaster Knife

Useful for skinning and gutting all sorts of fish and game.

Machete

Despite a resemblance to long bladed instruments, machetes are most commonly used as a hacking tool in line with an axe or a cleaver. Its sharpened cutting edge makes it as useful a weapon as it is for clearing undergrowth.

Fire Axe

If a building catches fire, cut it down to save the neighbourhood. The same applies to enemy combatants, burning or no.

Fire Rake

Fire rakes make fire breaks. They are capable of breaking more than wildfires, of course.

Fire Iron

A fire poker helps keep the fire going in the hearth. The same poker can get right into the heart of your problems.

Escape Axe

Pilots were issued these axes to escape the fuselage of crashed planes if they did not manage to bail first. Incidentally they cut into flesh as well as they mangle a fuselage.

Scythe

The scythe reaps what is sown. It is also used by the Grim Reaper, for souls.

Mountain Axe

Mountains can be defeated with the help of this axe. It can be used to defeat other things, besides.

Level-specific Melee Weapons

Some levels will feature Bottles or Burned Planks which can be used as melee weapons – a concept we already know from Battlefield 1.

​You made it to the end and therefore you shall have an awesome bonus info:

The mighty “M80 Fire Cracker” will be a distraction gadget for some scout classes in the 5v5 mode and was initially planned as an item for the Paratrooper archetype in earlier BFV versions. 😉

That’s a lot, no? Note that given these are based off of datamined info, there’s no guarantee that everything listed will make it out soon — or if at all. So bear that in mind, alright?

Make sure to bookmark our Battlefield 5 game hub for the latest Battlefield 5 news.

More Battlefield 5 Reading on MP1st:

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Alex Co

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

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Gearbox PAX East Panel Livestream -Watch Borderlands 3 Get Revealed!

With the announcements teased way beforehand, and with yesterday’s teaser trailer confirming it, here we are with the Gearbox Software PAX East panel livestream! In it, we’re expecting Borderlands 3, and then some!

Watch the Gearbox Software PAX East panel livestream live below:

We’ll, of course, have the official announcements and reveals on the site once it’s available, and we’re expecting to see Borderlands stuff!

What are you hoping to see in Gearbox’s panel? Share your thoughts below.

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Alex Co

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

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The Division 2 Update 1.04 Patch Notes Include Frame Rate Drop Fixes , Co-Op Scaling and More

As part of today’s The Division 2 maintenance, Ubisoft has rolled out The Division 2 update 1.04! This relatively minor update, which is just at 701MB on PS4, includes a host of gameplay fixes, as well as technical ones.

Check out The Division 2 update 1.04 patch notes below:

Patch Notes:
Performance

  • Various improvements to reduce frame drops.

Clans

  • Changed the Clan Member UI colour to not conflict with Elite enemies.
  • Fixed an issue where players Clan XP contributions could stop registering.

VOIP

  • Changed Push-to-Talk to be the default VOIP setting.

UI

  • Changed Apparel Store purchase confirmations to a button hold action.
  • Reduced the UI flickering effect present in the menu.
  • Fixed a visual bug that would incorrectly display a grey duplicate backpack reward when opening apparel caches.
  • Fixed the menu distortion animation playing twice under certain circumstances.

Skills

  • Fixed abnormal skill behaviour when equipping a skill after having switched to a grenade.
  • Fixed instances of skills going on cool down when deploying a shield.
  • Fixed an issue where multiple Cluster Seeker Mines could be deployed in short succession.

Mods

  • Fixed an issue where donating a weapon with mods attached would remove the mods from the players inventory.

Gameplay

  • Fixed daily and weekly missions not resetting for offline players.
  • Improvements made to Co-op health scaling.
  • Fixed an issue where armour/gear scaling would not take World Tiers into account.
  • Fixed skill damage incorrectly being scaled twice for low level players joining a high level group.
  • Fixed players potentially becoming stuck on the “Meet The Division Coordinator” objective after having played in Co-op.
  • Fixed players potentially becoming stuck on the “Meet with Odessa Sawyer” objective.

Open World

  • Fixed an issue that would allow players to upgrade neutral control points.

Side Missions

  • Fixed an issue that would cause low level players to gain unintended amounts of XP by completing side missions with a high level group member.

PC

  • Fixed an issue where some Logitech headphone users experienced missing in-game audio.

UI

  • Fixed “Navigate Categories” and “Mark as Junk” being bound to the same button in some occurrences.

Xbox One

  • Fixed an issue where the HDR setting slider would not move.

For more on The Division 2, make sure to bookmark our The Division 2 game hub for the latest news.

Source: Ubisoft forums

Essential The Division 2 Reading on MP1st:

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Anthem Server Update Rolled Out and Includes Loot Fixes

With Anthem’s update 1.0.4, the studio managed to roll out a lot of gameplay changes, technical fixes, and other stuff that helped make the experience better for players. Unfortunately, it also changed a few things in terms of loot, that weren’t really appreciated by the community.

Thankfully, BioWare has rolled out an Anthem server update that should be live by the time you read this. Here are the changes included in the Anthem server update:

The team has released a couple of server side fixes to address loot in 1.0.4:

  1. You should now receive your guaranteed Masterwork items at the end of Strongholds.
  2. You should now be able to pick up loot for yourselves, instead of it being picked up for you from a squad mate.

Some regions/servers might take a little longer to see the changes, but they’re happening. Never hurts to back out of your current expedition and start a new one.

Aside from the loot issues, what other problems does BioWare need to address in Anthem ASAP? Let us know what they are in the comments.

Source: Reddit

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Ubisoft E3 2019 Press Conference Confirmed for June 10

While EA has confirmed that it won’t be doing a traditional E3 press conference this year, that, thankfully, won’t be the case with other publishers.

Earlier today, Ubisoft has announced that it’s attending E3, and will hold a press conference on June 10 — a day before E3 officially starts! If past E3 shows are any indication, the Ubisoft E3 2019 press conference should include a megaton announcement or two.

In case you didn’t know, Sony has confirmed that it’s not attending E3 this year, and is instead opting to disseminate info and announcements via the company’s State of Play shows, which is Sony’s version of a Nintendo Direct.

What are you expecting to see from Ubisoft’s E3 2019 showing? Perhaps a new Watch Dogs announcement? Maybe a look at the upcoming games for the PS5 and next Xbox?

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Latest World War Z Trailer Brings Us to Japan

While we’ve seen past trailers from World War Z before, this one brings us to Tokyo, Japan! The latest World War Z trailer shows us that the infection has spread worldwide, and the zombies from Japan are just as relentless as the ones in the US!

Make sure to watch til the end to see a massive pileup of zombies on a building that looks cool.

Check out the pre-order bonuses for World War Z right here. We also posted a behind-the-scenes video where the devs explain what makes the game different from other zombie titles.

World War Z will bite its way out this April 16 on the PS4, Xbox One, and PC.

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Anthem Loot Changes After Latest Patch Made Things Worse, Community Upset

Just yesterday, BioWare released a massive Anthem patch (1.0.4) that not only fixed technical issues, but also touched on gameplay balance, as well as loot changes.

Unfortunately, it seems the Anthem loot changes made after the latest patch hasn’t gone over well with the Anthem community. Over on Reddit, user Dredgen1994 posted a quick breakdown on how the Anthem loot changes made things worse.

  • Stronghold bosses no longer guarantee masterworks, just received 4 purples from the monitor on GM2. Get ready for everybody to start leaving at the boss again!
  • Teammates can now pick up your loot for you, so your inventory is constantly getting filled up with blues and purples and you don’t get the satisfaction of being able to pick up your own drops.
  • Half the items in freeplay and stronghold chests have been replaced with embers. That’s a pretty shady stealth Nerf. Could be a bug, regardless, it needs to be fixed

A hotfix or another client update needs to go out ASAP to fix this, because this is horrible.

Currently, the post is at over 6,300 upvotes, with multiple people chiming in and agreeing with the complaint.

You can read more reactions from the post right here.

For those currently playing Anthem, has BioWare made the loot drops worse with the recent patch or are people overreacting? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

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Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 Update Today Includes Stability Fixes, Low Population for Blackout

While Treyarch just rolled out a big Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 update patch yesterday, the studio rolled out a server-side Black Ops 4 update today, that fixes a few technical issues, low population Blackout fixes, and lots more.

Summary:

  • Bug fixes and gameplay improvements in Multiplayer, Blackout, and Zombies.
  • Added a second rotating playlist for lower player population regions in addition to the global Featured Playlist option on consoles in Blackout.
  • Redeploying multiple times in Hot Pursuit now provides players with progressive loadouts in Blackout.
  • Nomad’s K9-Unit kills will now properly track toward the “Special Weapon Kills” Challenge in Multiplayer.
  • Gameplay improvements and stability fixes for “Ancient Evil” in Zombies (PS4).
  • Stability fix for new Zombshell Perk in Zombies (PS4).

​PS4:

The following updates are live on PS4, with other platforms to follow:

ZOMBIES

  • Ancient Evil
    • Gaia Wonder Weapon can no longer insta-kill zombies at high rounds.
    • Addressed an issue with characters speaking over the Pegasus cut scene.
    • Addressed visual issues that could occur when a player was downed while the “Do Not Take Damage” Tribute was active.
    • Addressed a streaming issue with the Giant Drakaina on the dark side of the map.
    • Addressed a rare issue where enemies could become un-targetable by wonder weapons during Main Quest Amphitheater step.
  • Stability
    • Ancient Evil
      • Fixed a crash that could occur during the Redeemed Hand of Gaia Quest.
    • Zombshell Perk
      • Fixed a crash that could occur when a player was downed while the Zombshell Perk’s area effect was active.

PS4 and Xbox One:

The following updates are live on PS4 and Xbox One, with PC to follow:

MULTIPLAYER

  • Equipment
    • Thrown Equipment will now damage the correct enemy if the player changes teams while the Equipment is still active.
  • Challenges
    • Nomad’s K9-Unit kills will now properly track toward the “Special Weapon Kills” Challenge.
  • Lobby
    • Addressed an issue where lobbies could occasionally become non-joinable.

BLACKOUT

  • Game Modes
    • Hot Pursuit
      • Redeploying multiple times in Hot Pursuit now provides players with progressive loadouts, up to a final loadout stage including an MX9 and Armor.
  • Playlist Update
    • Added a second rotating playlist for lower player population regions in addition to the global Featured Playlist option. Currently set at Duos.
  • UI
    • Cleaned up overlapping text that sometimes appeared on the Eliminated screen.

ZOMBIES

  • Host Migration
    • Addressed an issue where Scarlett would always appear in the After Action Report after a host migration.
  • Stability
    • Fixed a crash that could occur when the non-host of a 2-player private game disconnected from the match.

​In other Black Ops 4 news, Treyarch released the Triple Play bundle yesterday which costs almost half the game.

Source: Reddit

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Battlefield 5 Firestorm Brazil Servers to Be Rolled Out by DICE Within the Week

For those playing Battlefield 5’s battle royale mode Firestorm in Brazil, chances are you’ve encountered some (or a lot) of lag. Thankfully, DICE is aware of this and the studio has confirmed that Battlefield 5 Firestorm Brazil servers will be rolled out within the week!

This was announced over on Reddit today, though there’s no exact time frame when the Battlefield 5 Brazilian servers will be rolled out.

Hey everyone,

Just a quick update to let you know that we’re currently in the process of spinning online Firestorm servers for the Brazilian region. We’ve seen the feedback over the last few days from players local to Brazil and we’re hoping the inclusion of these servers will improve your gameplay experience.

We don’t currently have a set time frame for this but are expecting them to be online by the end of the week and are currently in the initial stages of getting everything in place.

Please do keep the feedback coming.

Those wondering why Brazil is getting this special treatment, it’s worth noting that Argentina, Uruguay, and players from other countries also get put in the same servers.

For more Battlefield 5 Firestorm news, go check out this post that shows the best item spawn locations in the map.

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PS Plus Free Games April 2019 Announced

It’s almost the end of the month, and that means PlayStation Plus members will be getting a few new games come April! Today, Sony announced the PS Plus free games April 2019 list, and they include The Surge, and Conan Exiles!

Conan Exiles

Drawing inspiration from the classic barbarian tales, survival open world survival game Conan Exiles winds back the clock to the very dawn of civilization, casting you as a forgotten exile abandoned alone in the desert for crimes unknown.

Starting out with nothing but a loincloth and your own two hands, you’ll have to explore this vast, hostile world, gathering materials, crafting tools and carving out a new life for yourself in a world filled with danger.

Exploring a shared online space, you’ll have the chance to meet with other players, build settlements and bases together, and even raise your own armed fortresses as you advance your mission to dominate this brave new world.

The Surge

From the creators of brutal medieval action-adventure Lords of the Fallen comes a challenging sci-fi spin on the hardcore RPG genre.

Take on the role of new staff member Warren who, following a trying first day on the job, awakens to the aftermath of an unknown cataclysm to find his new workplace devastated and its ruins overrun by out-of-control machines.

Explore the twisting maze-like environment of the CREO research facility, fending off haywire tech, scavenging new parts and weapons, rescuing survivors and unlocking the secrets of this vast, abandoned facility.

Both games will be available come April 12. In the meantime, don’t forget to download this month’s free PS Plus titles while you still can.

Source: PlayStation Blog

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Borderlands 3 Mask of Mayhem Teaser Trailer Released

Well, here we go! After teasing what could only be Borderlands 3, 2K Games has today released our first Borderlands 3 teaser trailer! Bear in mind though, it’s not officially called “Borderlands 3” just yet, but just Borderlands – Mask of Mayhem.

If you check the video below, it’s official video title isL “Borderlands Teaser Trailer – Mask of Mayhem.

Gearbox Software will reveal the game officially tomorrow at its PAX East panel tomorrow, March 28, at 11 a.m. PDT/2 p.m. EDT. Thankfully, it’ll be livestreamed, so we’ll be able to partake in the announcements and reveals.

What are you expecting to see from this new Borderlands title? Let us know down in the comments.

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Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 Triple Play Bundle Introduced in Latest Update Costs Almost Half the Price of the Full Game

In today’s Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 update, Treyarch introduced a barebones (no Specialists) mode, new gameplay balances and more, much to the delight of the Black Ops 4 player base. Unfortunately, it seems the studio also added in a new “Special Offer” in the Black Market and it’s not going over well with the community.

Called the “Triple Play” bundle, it houses the Home Wrecker melee weapon, 10 tiers, 10 Reserve Cases, and a Weapon Crate all for 2,800 COD Points or $28! Here’s the bundle you’ll see in the game:

Given how Black Ops 4 can be bought for $60 (or even cheaper), you can see how a $28 cosmetic bundle is a bit hard to take. Currently, the community and even the “influencers” aren’t happy with this move by Activision.

Call of Duty You Tuber Xclusive Ace even made a video about it, which you can see below.

Another Call of Duty YouTuber, Neros Cinema, has gone on Twitter to call out how overpriced the Triple Play bundle is.

Important to note that the melee weapon is a cosmetic skin only. It doesn’t offer any distinct advantage over any of the other melee weapons, and the Reserve Cases and Tiers usually contain emotes, stickers, and the like.

Do you think people are overreacting given this Triple Play bundle is something optional and contains only cosmetic items? Or are people complaining in the right here given how bad this makes Treyarch and Activision look?

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Red Dead Online New Content Introduced: Target Races, PS4 Early Access Content & More

Virtual cowboys and cowgirls, Rockstar Games has added a bunch of Red Dead Online new content ahead of its big update later this spring. This week’s new addition is Target Races, which is a fast-paced mix of shooting and horse riding.

Red Dead Online Target Racing: All players start out with a bow and arrow – as you race, each target you hit will increase your Horse’s Stamina – but you can also take advantage of strategic pickups along the courses. Ride through Stamina pickups to extend your Horse’s sprinting time or quickly recover from a drained Horse Stamina core. Weapons pickups dole out firearms with limited ammo supplies – use a shotgun blast to quickly and easily takeout a checkpoint target or turn that weapon against your competition. While players can lock-on to checkpoint targets, using weapons against other competitors will require proficiency with free-aim. If you’re trailing behind, ride in your competitor’s slipstream to regenerate Horse Stamina quickly and gain a slight speed boost, or if you’re defending a lead you can kick your competitors to reduce their Horse Stamina levels with a slight chance of being able to knock them down.  Launch Target Races from the Landing Page menu, using the Quick Join option or riding to a Featured Series sign post.

PS4 gamers will get early access to Open Target Races. Players will see the Special Series icon appear on the game map.

Lastly, Red Dead Online is dishing out 20 percent boost on all XP earning activities! Players can also take off 25 percent from everything in the Horse Care Section at the Stables and different catalogs the game offers. There’s also new clothes added which are listed below.

  • Morning Tail Coat
  • Strickland Boots
  • Bowyer Boots (Female only)
  • Furred Gloves

Stay tuned for the latest Red Dead Online news here on MP1st!

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Alex Co

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EA Laying Off 350 Employees

It’s another bad day in video games, folks. In a new post on the company’s website, EA CEO Andrew Wilson confirmed that EA is laying off 350 employees across the publisher’s marketing and publishing staff.

Read on below for the full note by Wilson.

Today we took some important steps as a company to address our challenges and prepare for the opportunities ahead.  As we look across a changing world around us, it’s clear that we must change with it.  We’re making deliberate moves to better deliver on our commitments, refine our organization and meet the needs of our players.  As part of this, we have made changes to our marketing and publishing organization, our operations teams, and we are ramping down our current presence in Japan and Russia as we focus on different ways to serve our players in those markets.  In addition to organizational changes, we are deeply focused on increasing quality in our games and services.  Great games will continue to be at the core of everything we do, and we are thinking differently about how to amaze and inspire our players.   

This is a difficult day.  The changes we’re making today will impact about 350 roles in our 9,000-person company.  These are important but very hard decisions, and we do not take them lightly. We are friends and colleagues at EA, we appreciate and value everyone’s contributions, and we are doing everything we can to ensure we are looking after our people to help them through this period to find their next opportunity. This is our top priority.

        —  Andrew Wilson, CEO of Electronic Arts

To everyone affected, we hope you land on your feet ASAP! Of course, news like this is a lot harder to take when you find out how massive Andrew Wilson is getting (over) paid.

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Alex Co

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Battlefield 5 Firestorm Best Loot Spawn Locations Marked in Map

If you’re playing Battlefield 5’s battle royale mode called Firestorm, you’ve no doubt jumped into areas with good loot, and in some areas with sub par items.

Thanks once again to ace Battlefield dataminer temporyal, we now have a map that showcases the Battlefield 5 Firestorm best loot spawn locations! Check out the map along with his thoughts below.

This is just a simple map I quickly created on game data basis for a convenient start into a round of Firestorm.

The pink dots show all ingame tier 3 loot spawns for “scattered equipment” (items that are just lying around on the floor).

Only these locations have an increased base chance to spawn rare and epic weapons apart from “advanced” loot opportunities like strongboxes or safes.

All spots have a spawn probability of 70 to 75 percent and the following improved drop chance values:

Weapon (Epic: +5%, Rare: +45%, Common: -50%)

or

Gadget (Misc Gadgets: +65%, Grenades: -35%)

Additional notes:

  • Be sure to check out different floors or basements since the map doesn’t provide any info on height
  • Additional lower tier loot is usually nearby
  • I had to rescale all dots for readability and therefore some might overlap (especially on hot spot like the dam)
  • Again: There is no guarantee for epics, just higher chances

In other Battlefield 5 news, go check out the complete list of Assignments, Rank Rewards and Challenges of Chapter 3: Trial By Fire right here. If you’re looking forward to the body dragging mechanic promised by DICE a few months ago, sadly, it’s been cancelled and here’s why.

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Alex Co

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