In a press release, Ubisoft has sent out the first Rainbow Six Siege Season 3 info! Called “Operation Grim Sky,” the new season will feature two new Operators — one American Attacker, and one Defender from Great Britain.
Rainbow Six Siege Season 3 will also mark the first ever “Map Rework,” which is one of the dev team’s key commitments to “enrich” Siege gamers’ experience with the shooter this season.
HEREFORD BASE, an iconic map inspired by the training camp from the Tom Clancy novel and among the first maps introduced during the Rainbow Six Siege Beta back in 2015, was selected to benefit from a full rework in Operation Grim Sky. This rework will include a new visual identity, layout, and architecture. The map will still feel familiar to our players, but with the rework, Hereford Base may be considered a new map.
The full reveal for Rainbow Six Siege Year 3 Season 3 content will be made this August 17-19 during the Six Major Paris event, which is the largest Rainbow Six eSports competition in Europe.
If you’re a fan of free stuff and you’re a PlayStation gamer, then rejoice! The month’s free games are now live! Yes, the PS Plus August 2018 free games can now be downloaded and played for free — provided you have an active PS Plus membership!
The big guns for the month are none other than Mafia III and the multiplayer game, Dead by Daylight. Check out the download links for the games below (US PSN), as well as the game description and video teaser straight from the PlayStation Blog!
Mafia III. Play as Lincoln Clay, a Vietnam vet who comes back home after years of combat. When his surrogate family is wiped out by the Italian Mafia, Lincoln builds a new family and blazes a path of military-grade revenge through the Mafioso responsible.
One player takes on the role of the savage Killer, and the other four players play as Survivors, trying to escape the Killer and avoid being caught, tortured and killed.
If free games aren’t your bag, you can check out this week’s big PSN sale right here where a lot of Bethesda-published games can be bought at a discount.
It’s Tuesday, and that means another PSN sale is now live! For this week, Sony has partnered with publisher Bethesda for a big “Quake-Con” sale that sees a ton of Bethesda published games at a reduced price.
There’s something for everyone as horror games like The Evil Within 2 are on sale, as well as action games like Dishonored 2 and more. Check out the full list thanks to Reddit’s weebae. Note that the sale will end next week at 8 a.m. PDT.
Epic Games continues its excellent support for super hit Fortnite, as it has now released Fortnite update 5.20! Expect some Fortnite downtime given that the patch is rolling out across all platforms as we speak.
Regarding Fortnite Battle Royale, there’s a new Limited Time Mode called “Steady Storm.” There’s also the double barrel shotgun added, as well as a bunch of gameplay tweaks. Check out the full Fortnite update 5.20 tweaks and additions below.
LIMITED TIME MODE: STEADY STORM
Summary
Steady Storm has one constantly moving storm closing in on the island. Stay ahead of it and take down the other players to earn a Victory Royale!
Mode Details
One Storm that closes in over the course of 15 minutes.
There are no safe zone circles. Keep an eye on the map to predict where the Storm will close in.
The Storm does 10 damage per second.
Profile Stats (K/D & Wins) and Challenges are tracked in this mode.
WEAPONS + ITEMS
Double Barrel Shotgun added.
Available in Epic and Legendary variants.
Can be found from floor loot, chests, Supply Drops, and Vending Machines.
Delivers high burst damage at very close range but damage falls off heavily at distance.
Fires 10 pellets like other Shotguns, has a larger spread, lower critical damage multiplier (1.25x), and a 2 second cooldown time when swapping weapons.
Epic Variant
Up to 143 base damage per shot at extreme close range.
Legendary Variant
Up to 150 base damage per shot at extreme close range.
Vending Machine rebalance.
Vending Machines spawn more often, cost less, and have an increased chance to spawn at a higher rarity.
Common Vending Machine
Spawn chance reduced from 7.27% to 6.67%.
Material cost reduced from 100 to 75.
Uncommon Vending Machine
Spawn chance increased from 14.55% to 20%.
Material cost reduced from 200 to 150.
Rare Vending Machine
Spawn chance increased from 14.55% to 20%.
Material cost reduced from 300 to 225.
Epic Vending Machine
Spawn chance increased from 5.45% to 18.67%.
Material cost reduced from 400 to 300.
Legendary Vending Machine
Spawn chance increased from 3.64% to 8%.
Material cost reduced from 500 to 375.
Chance for no Vending Machine to spawn at a location reduced from 54.67% to 26.66%
Reduced Remote Explosives drop count and max stack size.
Drop count reduced from 4 to 3.
Max stack size reduced from 10 to 6.
Added a higher accuracy penalty to jumping and sprinting for Dual Pistols, Submachine Guns, and Hunting Rifles.
Bug Fixes
Fixed an issue that would sometimes cause the storm in phase 6 to do 1 less damage than intended.
Fixed replication issues caused by interacting with a Guided Missile.
GAMEPLAY
The weapon fire position now more closely follows the actual player position when crouching and un-crouching.
Shooting while leaving the crouched stance will no longer fire bullets from full standing height until the animation is complete.
Crouch does not interrupt emotes anymore and is disabled when emoting.
Bug Fixes
Certain player models will no longer obstruct camera angles or block crosshairs on slopes.
Fixed an issue where a wall would become invisible when destroyed on a client, but would still have some health on the server.
The camera will no longer instantly transition when attempting to aim certain weapons while in midair.
Trap selection will no longer unintentionally cycle when switching to available traps.
Fixed an unintentional camera adjustment when entering and exiting targeting while transitioning in and out of crouch.
Visual effects will now properly play when a vehicle impacts an environment prop.
Fixed reliability issues when using a rocket launcher to boost shopping carts or the ATK.
Fixed an occasional failure of glider deploying after exiting a Rift.
Switching weapons after an emote will now play the correct weapon switch animation.
Slurp Juice will no longer continue to heal or provide shields after being knocked down.
Player placed map markers will no longer appear to jitter on the minimap or in the world.
PERFORMANCE
Significant GPU optimization on Switch. Moved to the high-end forward renderer. This increases dynamic resolution by 10% in expensive scenes.
Optimized the way explosives modify buildings to lighten the load on dedicated servers.
Building props have more efficient network usage when taking damage.
Melee animation trails now use significantly less network traffic.
Optimized C4 network usage, the impact sound no longer broadcasts to players outside a certain range. It now only plays for players that are close enough to the impact.
AUDIO
Added new equip sounds to grenades.
Add the ability to honk while driving the ATK.
Lowered the volume of impact sounds when harvesting vehicles.
Added audio effects for when spectating squadmates leave the match.
In the Locker menu, glider audio will fade out when it’s unselected.
Bug Fixes
Thermal Scoped Assault Rifle scope-in sounds are no longer hard-panned to the left on Switch.
Audio for the rocket incoming sound will now properly play during close range fights.
Ambient audio loops will no longer stack on each other and play at once. This was creating a sound phasing issue that sounded similar to a “fighter jet”.
Footsteps will no longer sound uneven for players outside your field of view.
Players will no longer hear ‘ghost footsteps’ after eliminating an enemy.
UI
The Challenges menu can now be opened in-game.
Additionally, Daily and Suggested Challenges have been added to the in-game map screen.
Modified the Battle Royale Challenges screen to display the remaining challenge bundle unlock time as a countdown once it is less than 13 hours away.
Show off your skills in the elimination feed when you land a trick in All Terrain Karts.
Bug Fixes
Fixed an issue with the buttons at the top of the Outfit style selection screen overlapping with the draggable window title bar area.
Eliminations at Haunted Hills Challenge will now display as hard.
Players who have unlocked the ability to select color styles for the Carbide and Omega Outfits will no longer randomly become locked out of that option.
The ‘Toggle Favorite’ option no longer shows when selecting styles.
The Build Bar no longer stays active if it was active on the warmup island.
Quest updates and vehicle key hints no longer overlap on the HUD.
Punctuation in the Challenge descriptions has been corrected.
Fixed clipping on the Item Return screen for systems with aggressive Safe Zone settings.
Changing setting while inside the Battle Bus will no longer bring up the full HUD earlier than intended.
The HUD will now show the vehicle currently being driven rather than the one that was driven last.
ART + ANIMATION
Updated the effect of lighting on character models.
Added equip and holding animations for all grenades.
Bug Fixes
The size of the Soccer ball in the juggling emote has been fixed.
Leaning while on All Terrain Karts no longer cancels emotes.
Player models will no longer appear twisted while controlling the Guided Missile.
REPLAY SYSTEM
Bug Fixes
Cameras no longer get stuck in a bad state while following the Battle Bus.
Rapidly skipping through a replay on non-desktop platforms no longer causes a crash.
The players remaining counter for the 50v50 LTM now appears properly when viewing replays.
The damage numbers toggle in replays now works properly.
Damage numbers now properly appear on the final elimination during replays.
Player list on the Map screen now works correctly using a gamepad.
Health and shield bars on map screen player list now display correctly.
MOBILE
Customizable fire mode selection screen added to mix and match fire modes.
Added FPS (frames per second) mode setting for mobile devices.
Added another individual quickbar button to the HUD layout tool.
Added mobile Elimination Feed.
Separated Quickbar buttons are more visible in the HUD Layout tool.
Harvest tool will now alternate between itself and the previously selected item when tapped.
Bug Fixes
Completed or expired Challenges are now cleared while navigating between Challenges.
Ramps will no longer be built through other ramps.
Shooting when interacting with objects no longer occurs.
Fixed inconsistency with mobile low power mode support.
For the fixes regarding Save the World, check ’em out here.
If you’re still playing and grinding away in Destiny 2, then you’re in for a treat tomorrow! Bungie will be showcasing the combat for Destiny 2: Forsaken tomorrow, Tuesday, August 7 at 10 a.m. PT!
Expect Bungie Communications Director David “Deej” Dague, Sandbox Design Lead Josh Hamrick, Senior Sandbox Designer Greg Peng, and Senior Gameplay Designer Claude Jerome to dive deep in the the Destiny 2 Forsaken gameplay to talk about combat, and sandbox changes.
Check out the trailer below to get hyped for tomorrow.
While Guerrilla Games might be more known today as the studio that crafted Horizon Zero Dawn, it’s worth noting that the studio made a name for itself first and foremost with the hit long-running Killzone franchise.
With the latest title in the franchise — Killzone: Shadow Fall — being released way back in 2013 when the PlayStation 4 was released, could it be time for the franchise to make a comeback? While nothing’s certain, the highly anticipated Guerrilla Games next game will include some sort of online multiplayer based on a job ad.
According to a job posting, the studio is looking for a user interface (UI) programmer.
“Guerrilla, the Amsterdam-based developer of the PS4 Exclusive hit Horizon Zero Dawn, is looking for a UI Programmer to join its internal UX Team and contribute to developing AAA game UIs.
You have experience shipping network enabled code, online games.”
This hiring coincides with the studio’s hiring of Simon Larouche earlier this year. Who’s Larouche you might ask? He’s none other than the the Game Director for this secret project, and was the designer of Killzone 2’s multiplayer, as well as a member of the Rainbow Six Siege dev team.
Obviously, nothing’s been announced yet so this could all turn out to be nothing, but don’t be surprised if we see a new Killzone entry announced soon-ish. Maybe it’ll be a launch title for the PS5? One can hope.
Bandai Namco has announced the Tekken 7 Season Pass 2, and while there’s a few returning characters coming back to the fold, the big new addition here is Negan. Yes, that Negan from AMC’s The Walking Dead!
Watch the trailer below for the sneak peek!
Joining Negan as confirmed characters for the Tekken 7 Season Pass 2 are drunken master Lei Wulong and Anna Williams. Based on the look from the teaser and the voice, actor Jeffrey Dean Morgan might reprise his role for the game’s version of the villain.
No concrete release date has been revealed for the Season Pass 2 so far, but once we we know more, we’ll make sure to let you know.
What do you expect to see from Negan in Tekken 7? Will he able to use his bat to great effect or will he be a gimmick character in the franchise (much like Gon)?
Well, the first week of the Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 beta has come and gone, and with it, a ton of feedback from players. Treyarch has acknowledged the complaints, suggestions and overall feedback, and has offered us a glimpse of what to expect next week when the beta commences and starts for Xbox One and PC.
Before you dive in to the “Day 3 Beta Update,” check out the Day 1 and Day 2 Beta Update posts.
To all of you in the Call of Duty Black Ops community, you’ve played the living hell out of this game over the weekend, and you’ve provided an incredible amount feedback – the entire team at Treyarch sends its thanks. These last few days have put a spotlight on what it means to be a part of this community, and it’s an amazing opportunity that wouldn’t happen without you.
Alright, enough mushy stuff. Let’s get on with the updates – while you were enjoying your morning chai lattes, we were rolling out a new live update with the following changes:
Added Kill Confirmed to Chaos TDM and set it as the Featured Playlist.
Fixed several spawn issues that were discovered in Domination thanks to your help.
Added functionality to lock the Specialist select mid-match in Search & Destroy to prevent players from dying when switching Specialists during a round in progress.
Made numerous stability fixes and performance improvements.
Next week, we have a lot more in store, including new content and a title update that addresses many larger-scale issues, along with additional tuning based on what we’re seeing with performance of content. Here is a preview of what’s to come in the upcoming title update:
Scorestreaks
We’ve made a big pass at tuning the effectiveness of Scorestreaks that are underperforming. This includes: expanding the Hellstorm cluster lock-on radius, increasing the damage per shell of the Lighting Strike, upping the health of the Sentry turret, increasing the Strike Team’s weapon accuracy, improving the Strafe Run’s plane pathing and increasing the Attack Chopper’s targeting capabilities.
Movement
As promised, we’ve also made some modifications to locomotion, namely to reduce the amount of bunny hopping + sliding combo moves. We realize how important locomotion is to the feel of the game, so this is always a delicate balancing act and we’re taking it slow, starting with: reducing the global jump height by 5 units; slowing down very slightly the acceleration on sliding; and jumping multiple times in a row will now scale down jump height with each subsequent jump.
Maps/Modes
A pass at performance optimizations has been made across all maps in the Beta for improved framerate.
Made a pass at global spawn improvements in various maps and modes.
Updated Hardpoint locations and rotation on Seaside.
Specialist Weaponry/Equipment
We’ve made some tuning adjustments including reducing overall effectiveness of the K9 Unit while fixing some of its more *ahem* egregious pathing issues.
Armor
Because we know this is a hot topic, we’re going to address it separately with a dedicated thread. We did say that we wanted to leave this alone until more content is unlocked, and we’ve had more time to crunch the data from all of the content in the game. For now, we are making some early tweaks which we’ll discuss in a later post.
Just because Week 1 is coming to a close doesn’t mean we’re shutting things down. . . we’ll be back with a second week of Beta action starting this Friday (PS4/XB1/PC), which will feature a few new items that you’ll want to jump in to see. We probably shouldn’t reference the new map that you saw in the beta trailer, secret new mode that has been kept under tight wraps, new XP events, and/or new level caps that you’ll see next week, so we definitely won’t do that.
Thanks again for all of your feedback, enjoy what’s left of Week 1, and we look forward to seeing you in a few days for the start of Week 2.
Cheers!
Treyarch
Stay tuned to our complete Black Ops 4 beta impressions once we’ve had enough of the multiplayer shooter. Don’t forget to check back this coming Friday to see the beta up and running again to see what changes Treyarch has made to the game.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 will hit the PS4, Xbox One and PC this October 12, 2018.
In case you didn’t know, this year’s Call of Duty game — Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 — is now letting players try it via a closed beta program running for PlayStation 4 users. If you didn’t get a key, well, we’re here to help!
Thanks to Activision, MP1st has quite a few number of Black Ops 4 beta keys to giveaway! How to win one? Super simple! Just leave a comment below telling us what you like about Black Ops 4 based on what you’ve seen so far. Simple, right?
Winners will be picked before the day is out, so leave your Twitter handle or email below so we can contact you ASAP. We’re also doing a Twitter giveaway within the day, so check that out as well.
Don’t forget to check out the Black Ops 4 beta trailer to know what to expect, and make sure to keep our Black Ops 4 hub page bookmarked for the latest news regarding this year’s Call of Duty.
For Xbox One X owners, 4K support means full 4K resolution with added HDR support, so your grim and gritty war to end all wars is, in fact, full of pretty colors and death. To enable it, you must download the update from Xbox Live.
For those of you who played Battlefield 4 until its very end, you’ll remember that DICE updated the UI in the game to include the ability to customize it, from making your hud more visible, to changing your reticle color to neon green or purple. Many new buyers of Battlefield 1 hoped that these updates to Battlefield 4 signaled that the latest installment of the series would also include this level of customization, but unfortunately it didn’t. Until now.
With the new update, players will find themselves basking in the glory of UI customization once again, and there’s a lot to change. Check out the patch notes below of the full UI changes.
USER INTERFACE/USER EXPERIENCE
Added gameplay options for adjusting color and visibility of the lens sight reticle.
Added gameplay options to show compass bearing numbers on the mini-map and the big map.
Added video options for adjusting the screen safe are width and height on PC (Xbox One and PlayStation 4 already have those).
Moved the objective world icon names from below the world icons to above those to reduce UI clutter and obstruction of the player view over soldiers near the objectives.
Added gameplay options for adjusting the visibility of the 3D objective and soldier names separate from the icons.
The world icon customization gameplay options now work in spectator mode too.
Added gameplay options for adjusting the crosshair size and the hit indicator size.
Added gameplay options for adjusting the visibility of the receiving damage HUD panel.
Added gameplay options for adjusting the size and visibility of the following HUD elements (separate ones per each of the elements):
Fixed an issue with dog tags sometimes showing up blank in kill cards or when completing a melee kill.
4K support and UI changes aren’t the only things that DICE have included in the update. Balancing to Shock Operations and fixes to AA griefing has also been introduced. Read the rest of the changes below.
MATCH EXPERIENCE
Improved loading times going into the soldier customization screen and reduced occurrence of disconnects when trying to join a server.
Fixed an issue with map vote results not being respected, if an RSP map rotation changed whilst in progress.
Fixed issue with squad boost sometimes counting down during pre-round phase.
Reinforced the result of the map vote when the game server is migrating to a different host due to maintenance.
Fixed an issue where players in a queue were blocked from joining a match, behind a player that was waiting for a space to open on a specific team (as a result of join on party or friend).
MAPS & GAME MODES
Rebalanced Shock Operations on Lupkow Pass, Zeebrugge, and Prise de Tahure.
Lupkow Pass
The goal is to make the first sector a little easier and to reduce the impact of the Behemoth.
The first sector boundary has been adjusted to:
Prevent Defenders from using the rocks on the edges of the boundary to snipe Attackers.
Prevent Defenders from using the slope at the edge of the boundary to harass Attackers.
Removed 1 Defender plane from Sectors 2 and 3 to prevent air superiority for Defenders during tough Attacker sectors.
Removed the single Defender cavalry unit from Sector 1 to prevent cavalry runs out of bounds to harass Attackers.
Removed the Airship L30 Behemoth from Sectors 2, 3 and 4. The Behemoth remains for the first sector, but between defender planes, AA guns, Burton LMRs and AA rocket guns, this Behemoth shouldn’t be so consistently dominant.
Elite kits have been offered as a comeback assist in Sectors 2, 3, and 4, repurposing some of the existing kits to be used as comeback kits for Attackers.
Zeebrugge
The goal here is to help the Attackers during the first sector as much as possible. The remaining sectors look pretty good from a sector loss perspective, making the first sector easier should help Attackers build some momentum.
Sector 1 has had its bounds adjusted to prevent Defender access to the lighthouse; the Attacker HQ now includes the lighthouse and part of the mole.
The Attacker Elite Infiltrator kit has been moved into the lighthouse base. A Flame Trooper has been added there as well, to allow for Attackers to more aggressively push and hold flags in the first sector.
The A flag capture area has been slightly adjusted to make swimming captures a little more viable.
Defender planes now respawn a bit slower than the Attacker planes.
Defenders now only get their second plane when the Attackers reach sector 3, as opposed to sector 2.
Defenders can no longer use boats in Sector 4 to harass Attackers.
Prise de Tahure
It was found that Attackers on the final sector could steal Defender kits and Defenders could steal Attacker “comeback” kits, so that has also been addressed.
WEAPONS, GADGETS, & VEHICLES
M1903 Experimental now has an alternative fire mode.
Fixed an issue where vehicle laid Anti-Tank Mines would have difficulty detecting vehicles.
Adjusted the reload time of the C96 pistol when loading single bullets to better match its animation.
GAMEPLAY
Fixed instances where players could grief teammates using shell type weaponry such as mortars and AA guns.
Friendly flares will now display their spotting radius to teammates, allowing for better coordination between recon players.
Fixed issue where damage that resulted in score < 0.5 wasn’t messaged to players. Score < 0.5 from damage is now rounded up, granting at least 1 point of score.
You’ll be able to download the update right now on all platforms.
Gran Turismo Sport fans, more content has raced your way courtesy of Polyphony Digital! Unfortunately, it also introduces microtransactions to the game, though it’s not as offensive as some might assume.
Titled as the GT Sport July update or update 1.23, it brings a list of new vehicles, events and more to the top-selling racing game. Check out a comprehensive list of the new content added, as well as the trailer below.
1. Eight new models, including the Mercedes F1 and Mazda 787B, will join the GT lineup.
Mercedes AMG F1 W08 EQ Power+ 2017 (Gr.X)
Mazda 787B ’91 (Gr.1)
Ford GT LM Spec II Test Car (Gr.3)
Ferrari 250 GTO CN.3729GT ’62 (Gr.X)
HONDA S660 ’15 (N100)
Honda Beat ’91 (N100)
Daihatsu Copen Active Top ’02 (N100)
2. Take on a scenic new race track, the “Circuit de Sainte-Croix,” that boasts six geometric layouts.
・Circuit de Sainte-Croix (A/B/C)
Circuit de Sainte-Croix, Layout A: Total Length, 9,477m; Elevation Change, 44m; Number of corners, 19; Longest Straight, 915m
This original track, based on the one near Sainte-Croix Lake, located in Provence, Southern France, stretches for 10km. You can choose from three different configurations here, which are labeled A, B and C. The track features geometric-shaped corners, from 90-degree benders to radial turns. You can also run each layout in reverse.
3. A new option allows you to purchase cars from the PlayStation™Store.
Cars that cost less than 2,000,000 in-game Cr. can now be purchased directly through the PS Store, in addition to your standard in-game purchases.
The service start date will vary depending on the region.
– Asia Region and Americas Region: July 30
– EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa) Region and Oceania region: August 2
4. You will now be able to apply decals to Racing Suits and Helmets.
Until now, players were only able to change the color of their Racing Suits and Helmets, but they will soon be able to apply decals to them.
5. The following three events will be added to the “GT League:”
■ Lightweight K Cup (Beginner League) This is a race for compact cars available only in Japan, powered by 660-cc displacement engines.
■ Nostalgic Car Festival (Amateur League)
Bask in the beautiful design and sensuous sounds of famed cars from a bygone era.
■ Mercedes AMG Grand Prix (Professional League)
This one-make event features the F1 W08 EQ Power+, which led Lewis Hamilton to his series victory in 2017.
There’s also an update to Scapes, “Circuit Experience,” and a bunch of gameplay tweaks and fixes as well, which players should keep an eye out on.
For those wondering, the microtransactions are nothing more than an easy way to unlock the cars gated by in-game credits. Here’s what Polyphony Digital had to say about it (via PlayStation Blog):
Downloadable Content
While there are many car enthusiasts young and old among Gran Turismo’s players, there are many who don’t have enough time to play and save the in-game credits needed to acquire their favorite cars. By making cars immediately available to purchase as DLC, we hope to make it so that players busy with work (or those who’ve just entered the world of GT) can acquire attractive and competitive cars quickly, and take their position on the starting grid.
However, to keep things fair and balanced for our existing players, all cars can still be purchased with in-game credits as before; there are no cars that are only available for cash, and nothing will change in the way you currently earn cars, or the present car system.
Furthermore, GT Sport’s priciest vehicles can only be bought with the in-game currency – meaning drivers will still have to prove their ability and effort out on the track to acquire the very best cars on offer.
In case you didn’t know, the Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 beta is set to go live later this week for PlayStation 4 owners who pre-ordered the game (other platforms will “follow”)! And to whet your appetites, Activision has released the Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 beta trailer!
Watch it in action below to see what you should expect later this week.
The Black Ops 4 beta will house 10 Specialists, six multiplayer modes, and six multiplayer maps. If the recent Call of Duty betas are anything to go by, expect new modes, maps and more to be made available after a week, and don’t be surprised to see it extended, either.
MP1st will give our firsthand impressions of the beta once we can, and we’ll be giving away early access codes for the beta as well, so stay tuned!
Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 will be available this October 12 on the PS4, Xbox One and PC.
During EA‘s investor call on July 26th, CEO Andrew Wilson announced that Origin Access Premier would launch on July 30th for PC players.
For just $15 a month, Origin Access Premier will give user’s the ability to play new EA titles on release(as well as a few days prior in some cases) such as Anthem, Battlefield 5, Madden NFL 19, etc. You’ll also get access to over a 100 other titles already in the vault, like Batman: Arkham Asylum, Battlefield 3, Dragon Age, and more(check out the full selection of titles here).
If you aren’t a fan of spending $15 a month though, you can still buy into the $5 a month membership of Origin Access which still gives you access to over a 100 titles but doesn’t give you access to them on release. Both memberships also include a 10% discount on any games you buy.
Great for those times when you need Kane’s Wrath for a LAN party but don’t feel like buying it.
After years of neglect and controversy that left the site dead in the water with the exception of No Punctuation, The Escapist Magazine has been acquired by Enthusiast Gaming for an undisclosed sum of money. As a result, the site’s former Editor-in-Chief Russ Pitts will be back at the helm steering the once legendary site in a new editorial direction, one that “leaves politics at the door.”
In a Medium piece by Pitts, he describes how horrifying it was to watch The Escapist head into extinction due to the actions of former writers and editors of the magazine. Pitts attempted to buy the website but learned quickly that another group, Enthusiast Gaming, already had the winning bid that Pitts couldn’t match.
As a result, Pitts and Enthusiast Gaming decided to partner up to relaunch the website, and part of that relaunch is rebranding the website to focus more on fun rather than politics.
One thing I can tell you without delay or equivocation: We’re leaving politics at the door. Most of us have thoughts about politics. Just like most of you. And, because we’re creators, those thoughts might show up in our work. Avoiding that would be unnatural. That said, I can promise you no one here will share their politics in an attempt to convince you yours are wrong. And your worth will not be calculated based on whether you’re on the left or on the right. Politics are everywhere, but they don’t have to be everything. We’re going to focus on what’s fun, and we hope you’ll join us in that.
Many prominent voices in games media have suggested that this means the site and its writers will be taking an “apolitical approach” to the content that will be produced.
given its name and new focus on being apolitical, The Escapist is the perfect site for readers who want to be completely out of touch with reality
And even if you don't intend it, tossing out the phrase "leaving politics at the door" acts as an explicit dog whistle to the GamerGate crowd, the very crowd The Escapist was courting for years.
Pitts responded to these criticisms in a Twitter thread, saying that he avoided using the word altogether because “that word has a specific meaning and that meaning was not my meaning. Anyone suggesting Escapist Magazine (or I) will be ‘apolitical’ is misreading or misrepresenting my editorial.”
There are no dates as to when the site will relaunch as of now.
Destiny 2: Forsaken is launching in little over a month, and that means the hype-train is on track and going full speed. As a result, Bungie has shown off new exotics coming to Destiny 2 with the expansion’s launch, and they are looking sick. Check ’em out.
For those unable to watch the video, here’s a list of all the exotics coming with the expansion shown in the trailer.
Just in case you’re playing Ghost Recon Wildlands and found that Splinter Cell crossover wasn’t enough, Ubisoft is dipping once more into its franchise pool, as it’s crossing over the Ghost Recon Wildlands title with the hugely successful Rainbow Six Siege!
In the press release, Ubisoft has rolled out a gameplay video which focuses on the free DLC that’s set to hit tomorrow. It’ll be part of Special Operation 2, and is the second major update of the second year for Wildlands. Rainbow Six Siege fans will be glad to know that they’ll be able to see Valkyrie, Twitch and Caveira in another game starting tomorrow.
Starting July 24 for all players, exclusive Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege–themed content will be introduced to the Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands main campaign and Ghost War PvP mode, including two new Rainbow Six Siege–inspired Ghost War PvP classes and a two-part PvE mission, called Operation Archangel,. The Rainbow Six Siege Operator Caveira has gone missing. Valkyrie, a longtime friend of Karen Bowman, has tracked her down to Bolivia. With the help of Twitch, the Ghosts will follow a trail of clues, to learn more about why Caveira is in Bolivia, and also about her troubled past. This special challenge is playable solo or with up to four players in co-op and can be found in the province of Caimanes.
Upon completing Operation Archangel before August 14, players will be rewarded with Caveira gloves. When equipped, players will be able to perform Caveira’s iconic CQC move and automatically unlock the position of all enemies in the vicinity. In addition to the rewards for completing the challenge, players can further customize and arm their Ghosts with the Rainbow Six Gear Pack, which includes new customization items and weapons such as Caveira’s iconic Luison handgun, a fully customizable HK 416 assault rifle, a head-wrapped shemagh inspired by Valkyrie and a skull balaclava inspired by Twitch.
Special Operation 2 will also bring two new Ghost War PvP classes, Toxic and Surgeon, which were inspired by Smoke and Doc of Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege. Toxic uses his drone to deploy a large cloud of toxic smoke, which allows players to both trap the enemy team and create area denials, while Surgeon uses his stim pistol to revive teammates from a distance, creating new opportunities to deploy support strategies at medium range. In addition to two new classes, this update will also contain two new PvP maps, Factory and Checkpoint, a new spectate feature called Observer mode and Ghost mode, a higher difficulty permadeath PvE game mode.
Once the update is live tomorrow, we’ll be sure to let our readers know.
Well, this is a new one; chalk Halo Infinite as one game that won’t be jumping into the battle royale bandwagon. In a livestream on Halo’s Mixer channel earlier today, developer 343 Industries answered a few fan questions, and naturally, given how hot the battle royale genre is right now, a fan asked whether Infinite would feature some kind of mode like it.
343 Industries’ Jeff Easterling (also known as “Grim Brother One” within the Halo community) answered the question definitively and said, “I’ll tell you right now, the only BR we’re interested in is Battle Rifle. The original BR. So, calm yourself.”
Easterling’s mention of BR refers to the Battle Rifle gun seen in most Halo titles. While this might seem like a confirmation to most, don’t forget that 343 can do an about-face, and release a battle royale mode post-launch.
Would you want to see a Halo Infinite battle royale mode? Or are you getting sick of the mode appearing in almost every shooter?
During today’s Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 panel at the San Diego Comic-Con, Treyarch revealed a few interesting tidbits regarding Black Ops 4’s expanded Zombie mode.
First up, the studio debuted the intro cutscene for “Blood of the Dead,” the third Zombies experience available on the disc that fans will be able to play come release day. Check it out below.
“Blood of the Dead” is a reimagined, fan-favorite Zombies experience takes the classic Zombies heroes — Richtofen, Dempsey, Takeo and Nikolai – on a journey to a secret laboratory beneath the iconic Alcatraz Penitentiary. Encountering a familiar enemy Hell-bent on imprisoning them for all eternity, the Primis crew quickly realize that the future predicted by the Kronorium – the future they sought to secure – is now in jeopardy.
In addition to that, Treyarch also revealed the “Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 Mystery Box Edition” — a limited edition (duh!) packed with items in a collectible box inspired by the in-game Zombies mystery box.
Check out what it looks like in the image below, as well as the exact contents straight from the press release.
The Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 Mystery Box Edition Includes:
CALL OF DUTY: BLACK OPS 4 GAME – Black Ops is back! Featuring gritty, grounded Multiplayer combat, the biggest Zombies offering ever with three full undead adventures at launch, and Blackout, where the universe of Black Opscomes to life in a massive battle royale experience.
COLLECTIBLE ZOMBIES MYSTERY BOX – Inspired by the in-game Zombies Mystery Box, this collectible box features an eerie skeleton exterior along with frightening sounds and lighting.
ZOMBIES HEROES FiGPiNS™ – Get the exclusive set of our new Zombies Heroes FiGPiNs featuring Scarlett Rhodes, Bruno Delacroix, Diego Necalli, and Stanton Shaw from Call of Duty: Black Ops 4
10th ANNIVERSARY ZOMBIES PUZZLE – This 1,000-piece puzzle features unique art celebrating 10 years of Treyarch Zombies history.
DARK HORSE ZOMBIES COMIC ISSUE #1 – This first issue of the Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 Zombies Dark Horse Comic comes with an exclusive cover only for the Mystery Box Edition. The comic series will unveil details about our Zombies Heroes’ backstories.
ZOMBIES LITHOGRAPHS – These three collectible lithographs commemorate Voyage of Despair, IX, and Blood of the Dead, three Zombies Experiences in Call of Duty: Black Ops 4.
POPSOCKET™ – With its intimidating skull logo, this limited-edition Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 PopSocket is the perfect way to show off your Black Ops
COLLECTIBLE STEELBOOK™– Limited edition SteelBook game case featuring unique art.
LIMITED EDITION SPECIALIST ICON PATCHES – Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 reintroduces the fan-favorite Multiplayer Specialists, each with their own unique weapon, equipment, and icons. This set of collectible patches is inspired by each of the 10 Specialists’ in-game icons.
BLACK OPS PASS*– The Call of Duty: Black Ops 4Black OpsPass includes Classified, a bonus Zombies experience, available at Launch, 4 additional all-new Zombies experiences, 12 Multiplayer maps, and 4 exclusive Blackout characters.
ADDITIONAL BONUS CONTENT
Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 will be available this October 12 for the PS4, Xbox One and PC. You can check out our coverage of the title right here.
Yesterday, Ryan McArthur, Producer for Engagement & Core Gameplay (yes, that’s an actual job title) for Battlefield V answered a fair number of fan questions regarding the upcoming first-person shooter during a Reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything).
If you’re a busy person like I am, chances are you can’t read through every comment to see what new Battlefield V info came up. Fortunately for us, the folks over at the BattlefieldV subreddit did all the leg work for us! Below, user Martiger434 compiled the known info revealed during the AMA.
In case you can’t see the embedded post, here it is in text form:
Details about the company:
The company is your personal collection of soldiers, vehicles and weapons. Each of these you will be able to progress and customize each of these to fit your personality and play style.
2 factions
You can have multiple planes and tanks and duplicates of each. These can be specialized in different ways
You can have multiple weapons for each soldier including duplicates, each of these specialized based on the choices you make
each soldier and be customized visually, in face, helmet, face paint, jacket and pants
Weapons have 5-7 part slots to add your choice of visual customization
Vehicle (planes and tanks) also have multiple visual customization slots
Customization is faction specific, so you can’t make your British soldier look like a German one etc
Each player will have a Axis and an Allied company. So when you load into a match on the axis side you will use you axis company.
I think it’s important that the cosmetic “weapon parts” are not the same thing as weapon attachments (for example a bipod), but this has not been made entirely clear. This lack of clarity may be an error in translation.
Other Info
Monetization is limited to cosmetics
No lootboxes reiterated
At this point they are not planning to implement a killswitch on cosmetics.
Clans/platoons are a separate thing to the company entirely
Levels for vehicles/weapons are attached to specific vehicle/weapon types. So if you made a (made up example) slow and heavy tank, you will not need to grind again to make a lighter, more mobile one.
Weapon gameplay choices will come from the choices players make in the (weapon I assume?) skill tree. (as I said cosmetic parts are seperate to this)
Live service will be supported as long as players are playing and enjoying it.
Let me know if I missed anything.
EDIT 1: I think I should clarify that while he said that you make a “axis and allied company” it’s important to remember that in this comment from DICE community manager a few months ago…:
You can create one personalized Company per faction, each containing a set number of soldiers, vehicles, and aircraft. In multiplayer, you’ll be able to play as the British and German armies – the initial two factions of the game.
…faction is used as a way to describe nations, At launch we’ll only have 1 nation per faction so I assume when more nations are added they will get separate companies
Don’t forget that Battlefield V will have a beta sometime this year, so you’ll be able to experience all the changes firsthand. For more on BFV, stay locked in here on MP1st!
If you’re running out of games to play, or just want to burn a hole through your pocket, Sony has sprung a PSN flash sale today. As one can expect, there’s a ton of titles offered at discounted prices.
Thanks once again to Reddit user weebae, you can check out the full list — along with direct PSN Store links — below.
