In a press release, Activision has announced that eSports team Optic Gaming has won the Call of Duty World League Championship (CWL) for 2017.
Hosted by Major League Gaming (MLG) in partnership with Activision, Optic Gaming won against Team Envy and pocketed a cool $1.5 million of the season’s $4 million prize pool. CWL Championship 2017 MVP was won by Matthew “FormaL” Piper.
According to the press statement, Call of Duty eSports saw substantial rise in competition this year, with a year-over-year increase in participation by a whopping 400 percent.
Here are the final top four placements after the CWL Championships:
1st – OpTic Gaming
2nd – Team EnVyUs
3rd – Luminosity
4th – Red Reserve
5th/6th – FaZe Clan
5th/6th – eUnited
7th/8th – Ghost Gaming
7th/8th – Splyce
From all of us here on MP1st, we wish to congratulate Optic Gaming for a job well done.
While 2K Games’ NBA 2K franchise has a yearly stranglehold on basketball video games, EA is once again lacing its sneakers to have another crack at the virtual hardwood floor with NBA Live 18. Does it have a lottery bound game or one that’s ready for the playoffs?
Off-Season Work
With the NBA Live franchise taking a break to fix its core gameplay engine and iron out the visuals, I’m glad to say that the rest did the brand a lot of good. While the core gameplay of NBA Live 18 is super close to that of NBA 2K’s (why fix what ain’t broken, right?), EA Tiburon managed to add their own little bits and pieces to make it unique enough that you won’t feel like you’re playing NBA Live 2K.
In NBA LIve 18, gamers taking a jump shot will see a meter pop up that you need to hit at the exact peak to ensure a sure-ball. Mind, it’s not as easy as it sounds, and the better the shooter, the easier it is to nail down. If and when you’re guarded, it becomes significantly hard to make sure it reaches the little circle, and so far from the matches I’ve played, it doesn’t seem to be distracting.
Dribbling, doing crossovers, jukes and the like are all controlled by the right analog stick (same as in NBA 2K), and is intuitive enough that I was doing crossovers, fake outs with ease.
Stop and Pop
One welcome change in NBA Live from NBA 2K is the canned animations — or lack thereof. Players annoyed at how NBA 2K forces players to watch animations play out or in some cases, needing to finish cutscenes and inbound scenes, will be very happy that EA has taken all that stuff out. Want to inbound the ball? Just hit the pass button and you’re good to go.
This is the case when driving to the basket or dunking, too. It feels snappy and not drawn-out like how you watch a canned animation happen before your eyes.
Speaking of canned animations, one nice though EA did was add after-shot celebrations. Steph Curry did his little shimmy shake after draining a long three-pointer, LeBron flexes his muscle after a monster dunk and more. These things add to the NBA atmosphere but doesn’t interfere with the action. Either it happens automatically, or you can press a button to initiate it after an awesome play; this is the same for replays as well. No more auto replays of stuff you don’t want to see, nor do you have to go into the main menu to watch a replay of an awesome block, a game-winning shot, etc., now? You just press R3 (on the DualShock 4) and voila! Instant replay. It’s a small thing, but definitely a welcome quality-of-life thing that should have been implemented by other games ages ago.
NBA on ESPN
Another nice touch by EA Tiburon is having Mike Breen and Jeff Van Gundy to the color commentary. Now, I’m not sure whether it’s due to me being a fan of the duo, but the play-by-play audio is fantastic, with each analyst doing what they’re known for. Jeff talks about an in-depth strategy and numbers, while Breen gives the proceedings some color. Best of all, the voice-over work matches what we see on screen. Time will tell if the dialogue will get tiring but from what I played in the demo, it’s definitely a cut above what EA has done before.
The ESPN parternship doesn’t end there. even ESPN’s “First Take” talk show with Stephen A. Smith and Max Kellerman are in NBA Live 18, too! While it seems to be reserved for the revamped career mode (more on that in a bit), I would love to see it for specific games or maybe during the playoffs.
Being The One
NBA Live 18 has a new career mode called “The One.” No, it doesn’t mean you can be Neo and kick the crap out of a hundred Agent Smiths, but think of it as your own ascension into the pros. Yeah, that’s how it usually is for all sports games, right? But in NBA Live 18. the process has been streamlined that it feels like an RPG. You won’t be able to cast spells, or craft weapons, but you will be able to tweak your abilities, get new gear, and even assign “special moves” for your created player.
I admit though, I’m not a big fan of career modes or these things, but seeing my own created character level up by playing pickup games is satisfying — more so since I want to get better stats, equip better gear (read: shoes, armbands, etc.) and have Curry’s jumpshot at my disposal more than anything. Will it be able to hold up the in-game drama for you to play it out completely? I can’t say for sure now. Fortunately. anything you earn in the demo will carry over to the final game when you get it, so there’s that at least.
With NBA 2K heavily embedded into a lot of basketball fans’ minds when it comes to video games, NBA Live 18 has a rough battle ahead of it. However, the good thing here is, it seems the game is actually good enough to stand on its own and not just as a substitute for NBA 2K18.
If EA can keep this momentum up, then NBA 2K might finally have some solid competition soon. For basketball fans on the fence, go give the demo a try and if you like it, you can pre-order it so the full price of the game is $40 (instead of $60).
NBA Live 18 seems to be back on track to not only play off the bench, but be a playoff contender. Will it be able to upset the current kings, though? That’s a question for another time, but for now, EA Tiburon can take comfort that this version of NBA Live might finally be the game that helps them bridge that gap that they so want to narrow down.
NBA Live 18 played on PS4. NBA Live 18 out this September 15 for the PS4, Xbox One and PC.
It’s not yet clear what 2018’s Battlefield title will be. A futuristic Battlefield 2143, perhaps? A Bad Company sequel or spin-off, maybe? Or is just Battlefield 5? Or, by some madness, Battlefield Hardline 2? It could be any of these, or something else entirely!
I decided to capture my excitement for the upcoming release in the video embedded above. Give it a watch and listen to my reasoning as to why “Battlefield Apocalypse” should be the next game in the series.
Let me know what you think of my ideas. Do you reckon the post-apocalyptic theme would suit the Battlefield franchise? Or is there something else that EA should be aiming for next year? The comment section below is, as always, there for you to post your thoughts.
For more video content, be sure to subscribe to the Pixel Enemy YouTube channel. And, of course, stay tuned to MP1st for all of your multiplayer gaming news, features, reviews, previews, and more!
Ubisoft is continuing with The Division’s constant updates and free content roll out, and one is available today! The Division update 1.7 is now out and ready for download.
While you can check The Division update 1.7 patch notes below, Ubisoft also released a new trailer where the developers talk about the new additions, rewards and more.
Check out the rather long list of tweaks in the patch notes below.
UPDATE 1.7 – PATCH NOTES
14/08/2017 12:30 PM
NEW FEATURE: GLOBAL EVENTS
Global Events are time-limited events that add special modifiers to the PvE parts of The Division.
Taking part in a Global Event will award you Tokens that you can use to purchase Classified Gear caches (detailed below) and unique vanity items (that are currently not included on the PTS).
The Global Event features a modifier that can be applied to existing content. Two extra modifiers can be enabled to increase the challenge and the rewards.
Earn Global Event Tokens by playing the content and exchange them for Global Event Caches at the vendor.
Rewards include
Three Classified Gear Sets.
Three different Weapon Skins.
One vanity set.
Global Event specific Commendations are available to challenge you even further.
NEW FEATURE: COMMENDATIONS & PATCHES
Commendations introduce hundreds of challenges across several categories for agents to accomplish. Commendations cover all aspects and areas of the game, both for PvE and PvP.
Unlocking achievements reward the player with Commendation Score. Your tallied score is displayed to other agents.
Some special Commendations award a Patch, a brand new vanity item. These Patches are displayed on the agent’s arm, replacing the default Phoenix patch.
NEW FEATURE: FACE MASKS
Face Masks are new vanity items allowing players to further customize the look of their agent.
Face Masks can be obtained during Global Events.
NEW FEATURE: FACE CUSTOMIZATION
The Base of Operations now include a room with an interactive mirror that you can use to change your agent’s appearance. You can find the room by turning right straight after you have entered the Terminal from the Base of Operation stairs.
NEW FEATURE: ENCRYPTED CACHE
An Encrypted Cache is a loot container obtained from the Premium Vendor in the terminal. It requires a key to open.
Encrypted Caches contain unique appearance items, emotes and skins.
Cipher Keys are needed to open Encrypted Caches. These keys are created by collecting key fragments, which are available from normal gameplay. 10 key fragments are needed to create one Cipher Key. Keys can also be purchased from the Premium Vendor.
Unique appearance items from the Encrypted Caches are organized in Collections that can be found in the Vanity tab. Once a Collection has been completed, the agent will receive a reward.
NEW FEATURE: CLASSIFIED GEAR SETS
Classified Gear Set pieces are unique gear set pieces for pre-existing gear sets and will feature 5 and 6-piece bonuses.
Classified Gear Set pieces can initially only be received from participating in Global Events.
After a Global Event has concluded, the Classified Gear pieces can be found during normal gameplay, but with lower drop rates than during Global Events.
Classified Gear Set pieces have higher Primary Stat Range than normal Gear Set pieces.
Primary Stat Range: 1274 – 1401
Classified Gear Sets can receive two recalibrations.
Three Classified Gear sets will be introduced for every Global Event. These Classified Gear Sets are:
Lone Star
5 Piece:
+50% Ammo Capacity
+12% LMG Damage
+12% Shotgun Damage
6 Piece: Berserker
When a weapon has 50% of its magazine remaining, there is a 75% chance to receive a bonus that activates when the final bullet is fired from the current magazine. Once activated, the magazine is instantly refilled, weapon damage is increased by 20%, fire rate is increased by 20%, and stability and accuracy are decreased to 0. The bonus is cancelled by reloading or exiting combat.
Final Measure
5 Piece:
+15% Exotic Damage Resilience
+15% Protection from Elites
6 Piece: Improved Final Measure
When a grenade is defused the player and all group members within 30 meters gain a buff based on the grenade type that was defused.
-EMP/Shock: Skill power increased by 20% for 8 seconds.
-HE/Incendiary: Weapon damage increased by 20% for 8 seconds
-Flashbang/Tear Gas: Damage Mitigation increased by 20% for 8 seconds
DeadEYE
5 Piece:
+40% Initial Bullet Stability
+20% Marksman Rifle Critical Hit Damage
6 Piece: Improved DeadEYE
When zoomed, getting a headshot kill with Marksman rifles will increase critical hit damage by 20% every second to a maximum of 100% and will increase stability by 100%. Lasts for 10 seconds or until no longer zoomed.
GAME CHANGES
GAMEPLAY
Blueprints are now shared across all characters on a same account.
Currencies are now shared across all characters on a same account.
Crafting materials are now shared across all characters on a same account.
After a Medkit cleanses a Status Effect, it will grant a temporary, three-second invulnerability to the cleansed Effect.
Fixed a bug where players could get the On Fire status effect even though they had 100% burn resistance. Note that players can still take damage from certain fire attacks, such as Cleaner flamethrowers.
Fixed a bug where players receiving a burn status effect right after throwing a grenade or throwable skill would disable the grenade or skill.
Fixed a bug where players could run faster than they should by spamming the sprint button.
Fixed gamepad maximum scope sensitivity being lower than intended. Maximum sensitivity is now the same as it was in 1.6.
Fixed a bug where a player would skip downed state and jump directly to dead state if killed after having pressed “give up” briefly during a previous revive attempt.
WEAPON BALANCE
All weapons
Added a hard cap on RPM for all weapons. It will no longer be possible to overcome the RPM limitation of a weapon, no matter what shooting method is used.
SVD
SVD recoil and spread have been retuned to be in line with the M1A.
Adjusted the RPM value shown in Burst Fire weapons’ UI to reflect their actual RPM instead of the RPM of the Burst alone. This change also results in an updated DPS value for said weapons. Note that this is a UI change only to better reflect the behavior of these weapons; their actual fire rate and damage have not changed.
GEAR SETS
Ballistic Shield: 3-Piece bonus changed from 30% Ballistic Shield Health to +10% Damage to Elite.
Fixed a bug with Banshee where ammo would not refill correctly after going Rogue.
EXOTICS
NinjaBike messenger bag
Talent: NinjaBike messenger bag
Slots in with any equipped Gear Set item to fulfill a requirement towards unlocking a Gear Sets bonus. Can unlock bonuses from multiple sets simultaneously. Cannot unlock Classified Gear Set bonuses.
Pakhan:
Pahkan weapon talent will now only apply the bonus mag size on reload. This means that refills from Leticulous and Lone Star 6 piece will only fill the magazine to the base unbuffed amount.
Fixed a bug where Pakhan’s talent could be staked if the reload animation was interrupted.
Historian:
Kills with the Historian explosion will now trigger the Disciplined Talent.
TALENTS
Stable talent will now increase stability by 10% instead of 35%. (this change is retroactive)
The Coolheaded & Determined talents will now have an effect on cooldowns for all skills, including Signature Skills.
Fixed a bug where Triage would be applied multiple times.
Fixed a bug with Battle Buddy where the buff would apply twice if the player revived himself with a Support Station.
Fixed a bug where Talented would proc when killing an enemy with a skill or grenade instead of the weapon itself. Fixed a bug where Strike Back would also reduce Medkits cooldown.
LOADOUTS
Minor color tweaks has been made to make the Loadout UI more consistent.
Fixed an issue where switching mods on a Loadout while having a full inventory could override the backpack capacity.
Fixed an issue where a player cannot switch between two identical Loadouts using different mods while having a full backpack.
Fixed a bug where certain audio clips would loop.
SKILLS
Ballistic Shield:
Added a PvP modifier to damage applied to the shield. Player damage to other players’ shields will now be increased by 20% in PvP.
Fixed a bug where the Ballistic Shield would not take damage from your own grenade or Sticky Bomb.
Fixed an issue with Ballistic Shield Riot Shield buff, where the agent could get multiple buffs by performing certain actions.
Pulse:
Fixed an issue where the Pulse icon would overlap other UI elements.
Seeker Mine:
Explosion damage has been reduced from 900 to 600.
Airbust Mod damage has been reduced from 300 to 120.
Fixed a bug where the Seeker Mine with Cluster mod would sometimes be unable to detonate on a target if the target was on top of a cover.
Sticky Bomb:
Fixed an issue where Sticky Bomb explosion would sometime only apply in a plane instead of a sphere, leading to no damage being applied to enemies at various height.
EMP Sticky Bomb no longer staggers the enemy.
Support Station:
Fixed a bug where if an agent revived by another skill while in a Support Station’s area of effect would cause the Support Station to despawn.
Fixed a bug where an agent could not be revived by First Aid if they were being revived by a Support Station that was destroyed before the revive finished.
Fixed a bug where the Support Station would remain in the agent’s hand after deploying it.
Fixed a bug where an agent would sometimes not get revived if a group member used First Aid with the Defibrillator mod.
Fixed a bug where an agent would get revived if the agent was in the process of self-reviving from a friendly Support Station but tried to cancel the action.
Fixed a bug where the Support Station Master Mod heal would still apply if the player canceled his station right after it was destroyed.
First Aid:
Fixed a bug where the First Aid Defibrillator revive would not be prioritized over other slower revives while they were in progress.
Fixed a bug where the First Aid’s effect would be delayed while the projectile slowly descended to the ground.
Fixed a bug with First Aid Defibrillator where a player equipped with a Vigorous chest rolling into the area would only receive the instant heal and not the heal over time.
Mobile Cover:
Fixed a bug where the Mobile Cover could be knocked down by other agents and enemy NPCs even though they were under immobilizing status effects.
Fixed a bug with Mobile Cover where an agent could be lifted above ground.
Fixed the description of the Mobile Cover Countermeasures mod so that it now clearly states that shooting a target while being in cover on it will pulse the target for 5 seconds.
Fixed an issue with the Mobile Cover Countermeasures mod where group members would not get the concealment when taking cover behind it.
Other:
Fixed a bug where group member’s skill cooldowns would not be decreased when taking cover in an area affected by Smart Cover with the Recharger mod.
Fixed a bug where attempting to use a skill immediately after entering the Dark Zone would result in the skill going into cooldown.
Recovery Link can no longer be used while firing your weapon, similar to Survivor and Tactical Link.
Fixed an issue with the Turret’s target prioritization.
MISSIONS
Fixed a bug in Napalm Production Site where an agent could defeat Joe Ferro inside his room before defeating his guards.
Fixed a bug in Grand Central Station where the turrets were reactivated after player death.
Fixed an issue where Hudson Refugee Camp became impossible to complete if the bosses are killed too quickly on Challenge Mode.
Fixed an issue in WarrenGate Power Plant where a door would refuse to open if the player dies before completing a certain objective.
Fixed several instances in different missions, including Russian Consulate and Napalm Production Site, where the player could get stuck or shoot through walls and floors.
Fixed a weird door in the General Assembly parking lot.
Fixed a location where the player could throw a Seeker Mine through a wall and kill all the enemies on the other side.
Fixed a location in General Assembly where a glass panel could get in the way in the fight against Raptor.
UNDERGROUND
Fixed a bug where Underground Directives would not continue across Underground phases.
Fixed an issue with the Mad Skills Directive where the second skill would go on cooldown when the player aimed his first one.
Fixed a bug where the agent could fast travel to the Underground while carrying contaminated items.
Fixed some big weird doors in the Underground.
Fixed an issue where enemies were unable to detect the player after going through a weird fire door.
SURVIVAL
The rewards you get from Survival have been increased.
Reaching Tier 1 will rewards you with a Survival Cache instead of a Gear Cache.
Reaching Tier 2 will rewards you with one Survival Cache and one Weapons Cache.
Fixed a bug where the Punisher accolade on the end screen would always have a checkbox next to it even if it wasn’t completed.
Fixed several issues in the environment, where players could get stuck.
Fixed instances of the game freezing when leaving Survival.
Fixed a bug where Mods could not be equipped on items in Survival.
LAST STAND
You can now see recent/nearby players from the opposing team as well as from your own team.
Fixed instances of the game freezing when leaving a Last Stand match.
Fixed an issue with the positioning of a prop which could cause players to get stuck in tactical point A1.
BASE OF OPERATIONS
Stopped an evil Christmas tree by the Premium Vendor from trapping players.
Fixed a bug where the Base of Operation would become unusable after visiting the Premium Vendor.
WORLD
Fixed a number of issues throughout the world such as:
Being unable to vault over certain objects.
Being shot by NPC’s through a wall by the entrance of the The Ward safe house.
Being blocked by invisible objects.
Getting stuck between objects.
Objects clipping through other objects.
Being able to glitch through various walls.
Floating flags and misplaces textures.
Fixed an issue where agents were able to jump off a roof in Turtle Bay.
We’ve stopped NPCs from following you into an elevator in Turtle Bay.
Fixed several places where hiding behind certain objects would stop enemies from engaging the agent.
DARK ZONE
Fixed several issues in the DarkZone such as:
Agents sometimes receiving the Outside Playable Area message when in the The Armory landmark.
A lootable object in DZ7 being in an unreachable place.
Being able to glitch through a wall in the The Mall landmark.
Being unable to drop down from certain objects once the agent has climbed them.
Minor graphical issues in The Armory.
Moved several trashbags around so players wouldn’t get stuck behind them anymore.
Moved a rogue lamp.
NPCs being able to shoot through certain walls.
Fixed an issue where a Named NPC was missing from the The Basement landmark in DZ09.
Stopped NPCs from sneaking through a gap between a pair of doors and a rooftop in DZ09.
Fixed an issue where cleared Landmarks would not give out rewards.
The Named NPC “Beans” now belong to the correct faction.
Fixed a bug where enemies would stop engaging the player if they hid behind certain objects in the Q Building Landmark.
Fixed an issue where the player can teleport outside of the map in Dark Zone 2.
UI
Consumables Caches are now available at the Dark Zone vendors.
Moved the position of the Loadout icon on items you have marked as a favorite to make it easier to identify them.
Added backpack capacity to the loot preview.
Fixed a bug where after dying and placing the cursor over a respawn location the highlighting of the option would appear on the bottom of the screen.
Fixed a bug where pressing back while having the option to disable sharing for an item would cause the item to be unshareable.
Fixed a bug where buying back items quickly could result in exceeding the inventory limit.
Fixed a bug where the “Sell” button at a vendor would be active even though there was nothing to sell.
Fixed a bug where you would get the wrong message when buying an item from any vendor.
When buying every item from the Appearance Vendor, you will now be able to see all your available currencies.
Fixed a bug where the Ubisoft Club Action Completed pop-up would show up every time the game was started.
Players now get a warning if their wallet of is full of a given currency and they open a Cache containing that currency.
Fixed a bug where a dead group member would still appear as unconscious in the group UI.
Fixed a bug in the Group Management menu where the Agent Details could overlap with the server warning “Poor connection to host server”.
PC SPECIFIC
Fixed an issue where an agent would right-click on an item and the text describing the options presented would flicker rapidly.
Fixed UI overlap which could occur when an agent was comparing items and then dragging an item over to share or dismantle.
Fixed an issue where agents could still use the scroll wheel while the Not Enough Space prompt was present.
Fixed a bug where the mouse cursor would sometimes not be present on the loading screen.
Fixed an issue where the Group Management menu would begin flickering when an agent hovered the cursor over a friend’s name.
Fixed an issue where the player’s FPS would still be capped despite turning off the Frame Rate limiter.
Fixed several instances of skills being locked when aiming too fast after another skill was deployed.
OTHER
Fixed an issue where the NPC beating a dead body scene had no sound effects.
Fixed an issue with Tattoo saturation not changing between 0 – 30% during Character Creation.
Fixed a visual bug where an agent would continuously bleed if revived by a group member’s Recovery Link while another revive was in progress.
Fixed instances of incorrect NPC animations.
Added sound effects to the JTF officer knocking on bars in the Brooklyn Precinct. Maybe someone will actually hear him and help him out now.
The Blueprints Vendor in the Terminal should now speak again.
Several improvements made to texture loading speed after a fast travel.
Agents no longer blink and move their eyes once killed. Say no to zombies.
CHANGES FROM PTS 3 TO FINAL 1.7 BUILD
CLASSIFIED GEAR SETS
Striker’s Battlegear: 6-piece stacks will now reset when player exits combat.
Final Measure: Players will no longer defuse grenades when downed.
Sentry’s Call: 6-piece bonus now has a 50% chance (instead of 25%) to spread within 25 meters (instead of 10).
Fixed a bug where attributes would not be normalized correctly if the player recalibrated one of them.
Fixed a bug where players equipped with 6-piece Lone Star would sometimes no longer deal damage after the Berserker Talent triggered.
Various improvements to UI feedback.
Various UI fixes.
GLOBAL EVENTS
Fixed a bug where Global Event progress performed in Manhattan would reset each time a player would play a session of Underground, Survival or Last Stand.
Contagious effect in Outbreak has been tuned down. Its damage is reduced by 40% and the DOT duration reduced from 3 seconds to 1 second.
Global Event caches have been updated with the following content:
2x of either
45% Classified Gear Set
43.5% Gear Set
11.5% Exotic
12.5% chance of an extra item
90% Classified Gear Set
10% Exotic
Global Event Tokens will now correctly drop from Survival and Last Stand caches.
Fixed several instances of Global Event Tokens not being counted towards the total earned during a Global Event.
Fixed a bug where HVT bosses would not drop any Global Event Tokens.
Fixed a bug where some Incursions bosses would not drop any Global Event Tokens.
Fixed a bug where Underground bosses would not drop the correct amount of Global Event Tokens.
Fixed a bug where some Open World bosses would not drop any Global Event Tokens.
Various UI and text fixes.
ENCRYPTED CACHES
Key Fragments drop rates increased from 3% to 20%. These fragments can drop from named NPCs in the Open World, Dark Zone, Missions, Incursions and HVT contracts.
Various UI fixes.
COMMENDATIONS
Fixed various Commendations not updating correctly.
Various UI fixes.
EXOTICS
Fixed an issue where the Ninja Backpack bonus would not apply correctly when equipping it.
That is one heck of an update, no? If the patch brings something new that’s not in the list, please let us know in the comments.
In case you didn’t know, this year’s Call of Duty is going back to its roots; there’s no more jetpacks, no more drones, no more wallrunning. It’s back to basics, and it seems a lot of people — including me — is on board with this change for the upcoming Call f Duty: WWII.
While the shooter’s release date is a few months away, Activision is letting gamers get a taste of the action in a private multiplayer beta set to take place this August 25 on the PlayStation 4, and September 1 on the Xbox One. Just to get you pumped up, Activision has released the Call of Duty: WWII multiplayer private beta trailer and it’s definitely looking fantastic so far.
Sledgehammer Games has also detailed what beta participants can expect come next week, and also, what not to expect.
Here’s an overview on what you should expect in the Private Multiplayer Beta:
Maps – At least three Multiplayer maps, including: Pointe Du Hoc, Ardennes, and Gibraltar.
War – Operation Breakout
Modes – Fan-favorite modes, including Team Deathmatch, Domination, and Hardpoint.
Divisions – Enlist in the Infantry, Expeditionary, Airborne, Armored, or Mountain Division. You are not limited to any one Division, and we encourage you to try them all!
Progression – Players will begin at Soldier Rank 1 and rank up through a limited progression to unlock weapons, scorestreaks, equipment, and Basic Training Skills.
Here’s what you should not expect in the Private Multiplayer Beta:
Headquarters – We’re testing the match-making of this all-new social experience, but access to this space will not be active during the Multiplayer Beta.
Supply Drops, and Loot – These customization features that add depth and personality to your soldier will not be included in the Multiplayer Beta.
Esports – Ranked Play, Game Battles, and our suite of competitive features will be accessible when we release in November.
Additional content not in the Private Multiplayer Beta includes: full progression, remaining maps and modes, additional WarMode maps, and the full armory of weapons, scorestreaks, Basic Training, and equipment.
Stay tuned for our Call of Duty: WWII private beta impressions once it’s available, and we’ll also be putting up gameplay footage of the MP1st crew mowing down enemies and taking names — or us getting repeatedly killed, which is more likely.
Those gaming on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, and PlayStation Vita will want to take note of the upcoming PSN maintenance.
The scheduled maintenance will take place later today and is expected to last for 30 minutes.
Prepare to temporarily lose access to some features starting at 10pm ET.
As for what to expect during the downtime, here’s the official description by Sony:
Anyone who already has an account can still sign in to their PlayStation™Network profile, play games and use most applications while this maintenance is carried out. You will not be able to access PlayStation Video, PlayStation Store, and Account Management during this maintenance. We apologise for any inconvenience. We recommend activating your PS4™ as your primary console before maintenance begins so you can continue to play most games and use 3rd party services during maintenance.
Sony hasn’t made clear what exactly this maintenance is for. Perhaps it’s implementing preparations for the 5.0 update? Or maybe not.
Click here for the current PlayStation Network service status.
Coming together for an interview with PlayStation, developers from the three studios working on Star Wars Battlefront II sat down for a chat about the next installment.
The 20-minute interview can be watched below. Craig McLeod of DICE, Mark Thompson of Motive, and Matt Webster of Criterion first reflect on the 2015 franchise reboot, before turning their focus to Battlefront II and what’s next for players.
The developers explain that something they are “really trying to make sure [they] nail in this new game” is to give players “long-term goals.”
DICE producer Craig McLeod described how ambitious Battlefront II is: “The ambition here that we’ve managed to achieve is something I never thought would be able to be realized when I worked in games. I am just incredibly proud of that.”
Star Wars Battlefront II is set to launch on November 17 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.
Are you looking forward to the game and achieving some of those “long-term goals?”
Professional gamers keep on making bank! At The International 7 Dota 2 tournament, Team Liquid has claimed victory over the $24 million prize pool and will collect the team’s share of $10.8m!
Coming through the loser’s bracket, Team Liquid managed to sweep (3-0) Team Newbee, and is also the first team to win after losing in the first round of the winner’s bracket. You can watch a clip of the finals match win in the Twitch embed below.
Who’d have thought one-time mod Dota (Defense of the Ancients) would be this big, no? I knew I should have stuck around to playing Dota! Mind, I’d doubt I’d stand a chance against any random pubstomper, let alone pro gamers, but one can dream.
You can also watch the entire finals match in the video below, though it’s nine hours long, so better make sure to bring snacks, drinks and maybe a pillow.
Congrats, Team Liquid! See you again in The International 2018!
While we reported on LawBreakers‘ less-than-impressive player count numbers at launch, it seems the studio behind it, Boss Key Productions — or at least the studio’s CEO, Cliff Bleszinski, — isn’t that worried about it so far.
In an interview with Eurogamer, Bleszinski was asked about how there doesn’t seem to be enough people playing LawBreakers, to which Bleszinski mentions how it’s “a marathon not a sprint.”
People do seem to be enjoying it. The problem seems to be there aren’t enough people playing it. There were 1500 concurrents when I last looked – that’s quite low.
Cliff Bleszinski: It’s like I said, it’s a marathon not a sprint. I’d rather be the underhyped game that slowly ramps up into something that people adore than something that comes out with way too much hype that there’s a backlash for, which is why I think the Steam reviews are so positive. We’re going to continue to raise awareness, continue to support the product – if you look at the phenomenon that was League of Legends, it built off a Warcraft 3 mod then slowly but surely blossomed into this immense amazing thing, and I’d rather be the game that comes up and has that hockey stick ramp with a slow burn and builds up rather than the triple-A hype machine where you have a bazillion people playing it month one and it goes down exponentially then they follow up with an annual product.
Bleszinski does have a point, no? Just because a game doesn’t catch on fire out of the gate doesn’t mean it’s dead. Of course, that doesn’t mean it’s guaranteed to bounce back, either, but at this day and age, calling a game dead just because it didn’t set sales records and have 100,000 concurrent players might be too premature.
In case you want to know why LawBreakers failed to captivate audiences at launch, go check out our latest video feature on it.
While this year’s Call of Duty is returning to the olden days of World War II, it’s still employing an army-load of modern techniques to make the visuals pop, the audio rumble, and the gameplay stand out.
Speaking to Gamesmaster, Michael Condrey expressed that he hopes Call of Duty: WWII will be gaming’s Saving Private Ryan. To achieve this, Sledgehammer Games is pushing current-gen hardware to the edge.
We hope so. It’s a new generation of console games. A horsepower we hadn’t had access to when we were last in WWII. So we can do things to immerse players. It’s pretty exciting for players who haven’t played Call of Duty WWII games as their first experience. We absolutely hope this is that iconic reference point in their minds. In some ways, if it becomes to gamers what Saving Private Ryan was for me that would be an amazing accomplishment. That’s what we’re striving for.
It’s a new lighting system, new audio system, new facial system, new destruction system. It’s been a really great push for us. Now we really squeeze every ounce of horsepower out of these platforms, so we’re really proud of how it looks.
Glen Schofield also used the Saving Private Ryan comparison, and mentioned how far things have come since Call of Duty: World at War.
As far as videogames go, I don’t know if anything could capture the epic scope and nature of these battles as well as PlayStation 4 and Xbox One right now. We couldn’t have done it about five years ago, the way we wanted to do it now, and it’s pretty damn amazing…
The truth of the matter is that some of those bombs they were dropping were gigantic. So in just seeing the way we did it, it feels more modern.
Since Saving Private Ryan and since Call of Duty: World at War, a lot of stuff has been declassified and we can go through a bunch of that information. Just the power alone allows us to get a lot more in. We have a lot of proprietary tools that we use. We use photogrammetry to help get realism in a lot of objects…all the latest techniques we can get.
It’s not long now until Call of Duty: WWII is in the hands of players. The game is set to launch on November 3, for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. (Expect news of beta access before then, though!)
Those yearning for PUBG new map information may be happy to hear about the changes planned for the existing play area. PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds Creative Director, Brendan Greene, described how he wanted to “sort of remake” the original map. Ultimately, he wants to see the island identify as Russian or Crimean.
These changes to “Erangel” (the original map’s name, FYI) won’t be coming for some time yet, however, with Greene explaining, “[It’s] our plan in maybe a year’s time to go back to Erangel and sort of remake the map and give it that identity of this kind of Russian or Crimean island.”
It can be argued that the varying geographical zones and installations seen on Erangel lessen the overall feel of realism. Sure, they provide a range of different environments to fight within, but it comes at the cost of believability. This is apparently a concern for Greene, too, with him stating that, “There’s a volcanic rock in the middle of fields and stuff, which really shouldn’t be there.”
Would you want Erangel overhauled? Or is it fine just the way it is? Let us know.
The latest issue of Edge Magazine contains lots of new info on Destiny 2. The key things to note are the 80+ PvE missions and activities, how energy weapons are going to change, and the time limits being added to some Nightfall strikes.
Here’s the summary of new details that Reddit user kapowaz kindly put together:
‘The beta did not contain the final implementation of how Energy weapons work against AI combatants with elemental shields; when the shield is depleted, it explodes, nuking any enemies that happen to be nearby’
Nightfall strikes now have a time limit (varying by Strike; one example was 13 minutes) so efficiency and settling on a strategy beforehand will be important
There are over 80 missions and (PVE) activities, and each is substantial in length, challenge, story and reward
There’s so much new content that at one point in development they realised they had more content than progression (something they’ve subsequently fixed)
That final point has been further expanded upon, with the developer explaining that, at one point in development, game testers were maxing out character progression at around the 55-hour mark, when there was still more PvE content left to experience.
Apparently, Edge was also shown something that involves the Hunter class that “left the reviewers happy that the class will shape up well.” Additionally, supers and grenades have been tweaked to recharge faster than they did in the beta.
Looks like Destiny 2 is going launch with a lot more content than the original game did. Are you excited to jump back into the Destiny universe?
If you missed the news on the changes being made to the PC Beta, click here.
Call of Duty and eSports fans have a lot to look forward to this weekend, as the Call of Duty World League Championship 2017 has already begun, and that means lots of professional fragging.
The prize pot for the event is a cool $1.5 million, which will be fought over by 32 teams. It’s once again hosted by Major League Gaming (MLG) in partnership with Activision and will showcase the best Call of Duty players from North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific.
You can can watch the action unfold live via the official MLG site or in the Twitch stream below.
It’s no secret that everyone and their mothers are playing PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, and that amount of players results in a massive amount of kills (and deaths!).
It’s pretty difficult to imagine just how much chaos and destruction has been caused since the game’s early access launch back in March. Thankfully, the folks over at Bluehole were kind enough to give IGN a peek at the hidden statistics, revealing just how many players have been beaten by pistol fire, died outside the zone, and achieved the rare crossbow kill. There’s a bunch more stats to check out, so go ahead and click the through the slideshow below.
Did any of the statistics surprise you? I found it interesting how the number of AWM kills closely match that of the M24. Vehicles contribute to a lot more deaths than I would have thought, too!
If you’ve been AFK for a little too long, here’s info on the latest PUBG update.
Following LawBreakers‘ disappointing PC launch numbers, I went ahead and put together a video feature listing the reasons which may have caused the game to have failed. These include the low interest at launch, the genre being tired, the free access to trial the game, and more.
Sure, it’s early days, and the game could well attract more interest further down the road, but right now the future is looking bleak.
Anyway, give the video a watch, and let me know your thoughts in the comments below. Am I speaking too soon? Is LawBreakers going to start off slow, before picking up steam and growing in popularity? Or is it a failed launch that’s only going to get worse? Do share what you think!
For more video content, be sure to subscribe to the Pixel Enemy YouTube channel. And, of course, stay tuned to MP1st for all of your multiplayer gaming news, features, reviews, previews, and more!
When No Man’s Sky launched, many players were hoping to explore the universe and search for other players. Finding another being in the game’s universe was described as being next to impossible.
“The chances of two players ever crossing paths in a universe this large is pretty much zero.”
Of course, gamers being gamers proved the “almost impossible” to be perfectly doable, with two players heading to the exact same spot, excited to see what would happen. Well, it turned out that nothing happened, as neither player could see the other.
Now, just over a year later, players have met up again and have experienced something different. Following the Atlas Rising update, which added a plethora of new features in the game, other players now appear as glowing orbs.
When viewed outside of a vehicle, the orbs are blue, and while spotted outside of a vehicle, they are green.
While we, of course, want more from a “multiplayer experience,” it’s certainly good to see that things have been improved, even just a little.
What do you make of Hello Games’ continued support of the game? Have you jumped back into No Man’s Sky following the patch?
Access to Destiny 2‘s PC beta opens up on August 28, for those who pre-order the game, and August 29, for everyone else. Those on console have already experienced this testing phase, and Bungie has learned a lot from the always vocal community.
One of the big changes is the separate tuning of matchmaking for Quickplay and Competitive modes.
Quickplay – Matchmaking times will be shorter, with less emphasis on Skill. This is the fastest route to a game, but you may face opponents outside of your comfort zone. The winning score in Control has been extended from 75 to 100 to allow for more time to play and use your abilities. Because too many matches were shorter than we expected (some Guardians weren’t even able charge their Super) we’ve extended the trigger for the Mercy rule so it will come into play less often.
Competitive – Matchmaking takes more time to introduce you to players that are closer to you in skill with a good connection. These matchmaking settings may take longer, but we feel that the quality of the gameplay experience will be worth the wait. We have also made improvements to the way we calculate your skill in Countdown to better reflect how you’ll perform against your opponents.
PC players have had to wait a little longer for their go at the beta, but these fixes and tweaks may make it feel worthwhile:
FIXED: Infinite Super Glitch Infinite Supers are all well and good until someone loses an eye.
FIXED: Warlock Glide Glitch This bug was awesome… So awesome it hurt us a little bit to kill it. Thanks to those in the console Beta who helped us track this down.
FIXED: Infinite Grenades Glitch Another issue found with the help of our friends in the console Beta. (Thank you!)
FIXED: Warlocks now have the same Melee Range as all other classes With the exception of where perks directly increase their range, Warlocks will punch like the rest of us. Our PC friends will get a chance to experience a world with consistent base melee ranges. So will the rest of you, when the game launches.
TWEAKED: Globally reduced the time it takes to charge your Super This was a big change that came directly from your feedback during the console beta. We agree it was taking a bit too long to cook up a Super.
TWEAKED: Increased Grenade Damage in PvE Increased damage helps Grenades feel as powerful as they should facing hordes of alien combatants and, more specifically, makes the longer cooldowns more palatable. We want abilities to be slightly more rare, but worth it. In the console Beta, the “worth it” part wasn’t quite there yet.
TWEAKED: Increased Power Ammo drops in PvE This is something we had felt internally and have been slowly tuning up over the last several weeks. The PC beta has been updated with our new values and will provide much more Power ammo in PvE than what was found before. Power ammo can also be directly farmed from all Yellow Bar Combatants. Go big, Guardians!
It’s clear that Bungie gained a lot of knowledge from the console testing, and have worked to quickly implement fixes. Not bad!
For those still enjoying the original Destiny, this weekend is the last time you’ll get to enjoy the Trials of Osiris event. To mark the occasion, Bungie has opened up all 12 original maps to play on.
Who doesn’t want free stuff?! If you use Amazon (or even if you don’t) and an Overwatchjunkie, then you’re in for a treat! Amazon is giving away five free Overwatch loot boxes through its Amazon Twitch Prime service that’s free for Amazon Prime members.
Members can get the free Overwatch loot boxes until September 10, but they aren’t the first Overwatch giveaway by Amazon, nor will it be the last. Five more free Overwatch loot boxes will be given in October. Back in June and July, one free Overwatch Golden loot box with a guaranteed legendary item was given away.
Members or would-be Amazon Prime members can claim their freebies by logging into Twitch, connecting their Amazon Prime account and going to the redemption site. Follow the instructions, and voila!
Just a little tip: Amazon is offering a free one month trial of Prime membership that auto renews after 30 days. It’s a one-time thing, so if you’ve done it before, you’re out of luck. If not, go sign up, redeem the free loot boxes and just cancel when you want to.
Has anyone tried getting the free Overwatch loot boxes from Amazon? What items did you get?
Following the Operation Health initiative, which aimed to fix and balance Rainbow Six Siege for longer term play, Ubisoft now appears ready to release additional DLC content for the game.
Season 3 is going to kick off with “Operation Blood Orchid”, which will bring a new map and three new operators into the fray. Judging from the above image, the new map will be set at a theme park. As for the new operators, there will be two from Hong Kong and one from Poland.
The Operation Blood Orchid map will be freely available to all players on August 29. Season pass owners will also gain access to the new operators on that same day, while those without the pass will have to hold out until September 5.
For more Operation Blood Orchid details, you’ll want to tune into the “Rainbow Six Siege Pro League”, which is being held at this year’s gamescom. Check out the trailer embedded below to get hyped!
For the most recent Rainbow Six Siege update changes, take a look at the patch 2.2.2 details here.
