Riot Games has releasedValorant update 1.000.029 on consoles, which is for patch 10.03. It’s a small update addressing mostly bug fixes and a few other things.
Here are the full details of today’s Valorant update.
Despite Amazon being one of the largest companies on the planet, with a near-endless amount of resources and money, their gaming venture hasn't turned out as successful as they'd hoped for it to be.
All slows consistently slow dashes across the whole agent ecosystem now to match behavior we made in patches 9.10 and 9.11 for Vyse and Concuss effects.
This means it now affects Chamber, Skye, and Harbor’s slows.
GAMEPLAY SYSTEMS UPDATES
Minimap visual language has been updated for increased gameplay clarity & fidelity.
Here’s an example using Icebox:
BUG FIXES
General
Fixed issues where explosive damaging utility could kill Sentinel trap abilities like Vyse’s Arc Rose from vastly outside its intended radius.
NOTE: New explosive damage functionality was toggled off for 10.01/10.02 while this was being investigated and fixed. We’ll be monitoring these changes to ensure there are no other issues requiring a toggle.
Gameplay Systems
Fixed an issue where you could not move/use the buy menu while the remake vote screen is displayed. This new voting widget also color corrects the confirmation button to be green and the decline button to be red.
While HexWorks' Lords of the Fallen has sold well enough for a sequel, and the game is still constantly getting updates, the game's community should be happy with how things are going, right?
Apparently, that hasn't been the case lately, and it has all to do with one particular game update that renamed a few things.
CONSOLE ONLY
SOCIAL UPDATES
You can now add and edit friend notes for your Riot friends.
We’ve added a way to search your friends list.
You can use the friends list search field to filter your friends list by player name or tag.
When you have more than four party invites, the friends list will now hide them so you can still see your friends. You can click ‘Show More’ to display any hidden invites.
BUG FIXES
Competitive
Fixed an issue where Remake-ended matches in Competitive queue would display incorrect end-of-game screens after the game.
Fixed an issue where navigating players on the Leaderboard would sometimes highlight multiple players.
PC ONLY
BUG FIXES
Premier
Fixed an issue on the tournament bracket screen where match score was occasionally displayed in black.
Fixed an issue where the tournament bracket was not properly centered on some ultrawide displays.
That’s all for today’s Valorant update! Till next time!
A gamer at heart, James has been working for MP1st for the last decade to do exactly what he loves, writing about video games and having fun doing it. Growing up in the 90's gaming has been in his DNA since the days of NES. One day he hopes to develop his own game.
A week ago, Mojang released a massive patch for Minecraft that experimental features and more. As we’ve guessed given the patch’s scope. a few bugs cropped up that needs to be squashed. Mojang and 4J Studios have released Minecraft new update 3.06 today, and this is for Bedrock version 1.21.61.
For those on current-gen platforms, you’ll be prompted to download Minectaft version 1.013, which has the same changelog as last-gen and PC. Read on for the full list of fixes included in today’s patch.
Despite Amazon being one of the largest companies on the planet, with a near-endless amount of resources and money, their gaming venture hasn't turned out as successful as they'd hoped for it to be.
Minecraft Bedrock 1.21.61 Brings Fixes Error Message and More With New Update
Fixes and Features:
General
Fixed an issue that could cause players to see an error message when attempting to join their Realm
User Interface
Keep Inventory is back to being a cheat on all difficulties. (BDS-19921)
Touch controls: Fixed a bug where a player could stay moving diagonally after opening a menu (MCPE-190308)
Stability and Performance
Fixed a crash that would occur while loading or creating a project in the editor due to custom blocks accessing material instances before they were loaded.
Mobs
Hoglins and Zoglins can now be consistently hit by projectiles again
Blocks
Fixed an issue where the Lectern would randomly tick and emit a Redstone signal
That’s about it in terms of today’s patch. Once Mojang releases another patch, we’ll let our readers know.
Despite Amazon being one of the largest companies on the planet, with a near-endless amount of resources and money, their gaming venture hasn’t turned out as successful as they’d hoped for it to be. Specifically, going up against Steam, which they invested over 15 years trying to beat the platform and win over gamers simply because they were the much bigger company.
It turns out that just because you have the resources and money to invest more than the competitor doesn’t mean you can brute force your way in, which has been a hard lesson that a former vice president of Amazon recently acknowledged.
In October 2023, Amazon and Nintendo filed a joint lawsuit against a group of sellers accused of illegally selling counterfeit Nintendo products, including amiibo figures and fake video game cartridges.
Amazon Learns That Not Everything Can Be Bought
If you’re a PC gamer, you likely use Steam as your main gaming platform for purchasing and playing video games. I know I do, and it’s been my platform of choice for as long as I can remember it being open on PC. That’s not to say that there haven’t been some other major platforms that have come to the scene recently, with the Epic Games Store probably being the closest alternative storefront that offers similar features (even that’s a stretch.) But just a few years ago, there was another major player, Amazon, that tried to do what Steam was doing, but “better,” with streaming services such as Luna, Twitch, and their own Amazon gaming storefront if there was a company that was going to outdo Steam, then it would have likely been Amazon considering the amount of resources they have.
Of course, we all know how that ended up going, with Luna eventually shutting down and multiple other attempts by Amazon ultimately failing.
It seemed like a lesson that Amazon couldn’t master, which is what the former vice president of Amazon Prime Gaming, Ethan Evans, alluded to. He says that despite being Goliath, they underestimated just how powerful David (Steam) was.
As VP of Prime Gaming at Amazon, we failed multiple times to disrupt the game platform Steam. We were at least 250x bigger, and we tried everything. But ultimately, Goliath lost. Here’s why:
The 15+ year long attempt to challenge Steam started before I was VP of Prime Gaming, but we never cracked the code. Not under my leadership or anyone else’s. The first way we tried to enter the online-game-store market was through acquisition. We acquired Reflexive Entertainment (a small PC game store) and tried to scale it. It went nowhere.
Then, after buying Twitch, we created our own PC games store. Our assumption was that gamers would naturally buy from us because they were already using Twitch. Wrong. Finally, we built “Luna,” a game streaming service that let people play without a high-end PC. Around the same time, Google tried the same thing with their product “Stadia.” Neither gained significant traction. The whole time, Steam dominated despite being a relatively small company (compared to Amazon and Google).
The mistake was that we underestimated what made consumers use Steam.
It was a store, a social network, a library, and a trophy case all in one. And it worked well.
At Amazon, we assumed that size and visibility would be enough to attract customers, but we underestimated the power of existing user habits. We never validated our core assumptions before investing heavily in solutions. The truth is that gamers already had the solution to their problems, and they weren’t going to switch platforms just because a new one was available.
We needed to build something dramatically better, but we failed to do so. And we needed to validate our assumptions about our customers before starting to build. But we never really did that either.
Just because you are big enough to build something doesn’t mean people will use it.
He then reflects that Amazon should have learned to understand customers before making these big moves to try and get them. They failed to do so and threw money into their venture, which made them believe that gamers would flock to them, all because they were the bigger company that could have squashed the much smaller competitor. As he says, they severely underestimated just how big Steam was as a platform.
It’s a very interesting look at behind the scenes that Evans provided, a rather helpful one that should serve as a warning to any major publisher thinking they could just brute force their way into a market. Though I can’t imagine Steam ever being toppled, the alternatives could still learn much from Amazon’s mistakes if they ever want to be at least successful.
Amazon's Fallout Season 1 is a prime (heh) example of how you do video game adaptations, staying faithful to the source material while expanding on the universe with an original tale.
A gamer at heart, James has been working for MP1st for the last decade to do exactly what he loves, writing about video games and having fun doing it. Growing up in the 90's gaming has been in his DNA since the days of NES. One day he hopes to develop his own game.
Supergiant Games has released the second major update for Hades 2, which is out on PC via Early Access. The Hades 2 new update for February 19 is called the Warsong update; this brings the final confrontation, a new Olympian, a new familiar, revamped boons, and more!
There’s a ton of take in, so go watch the trailer and check out the complete patch notes below.
Yesterday, the gaming scene was rocked when members of the Marvel Rivals US development team in Seattle revealed that they were let go by NetEase.
Hades 2 New Update Brings Warsong Content
Highlights
The Final Confrontation: Battle to the summit of Mount Olympus and discover what awaits…
New Olympian: Meet the god of war himself, and choose from his many Boons
New Familiar: Find one last animal companion to join your journey and aid you in battle
Revamped Boons: Gain many powerful new and improved blessings from various Olympians
Revamped Altar of Ashes: Activate several reworked effects, and each Card now has all-new artwork
Revamped Resource Gathering: Worry no more about which resources you can collect
Revamped Menus: Look for new and improved animations across many menu screens
Expanded Story: Discuss the final confrontation and more with many different characters
General Gameplay
· You no longer prioritize Gathering Tools in the Training Grounds, though still can harvest any type of resource as long as you have unlocked each Tool; resource appearance rates adjusted as part of this
· Psyche can no longer be found as a Location Reward; Bones may now be found sooner instead
· All Guardians and Wardens with Guardian-style Life Bars now are resistant to the slowing effect of your Casts; previously this applied only to some of them
· Any damage resistance effects you have no longer affect any Armor you have
· Adjusted requirements for certain key events early on; as a result, it should be possible to reach the surface earlier than before
Nocturnal Arms & Abilities
· Witch’s Staff: Attack sequence is faster and the final strike is stronger; Omega Attack is stronger; reworked Special is a fast powerful shot that pierces foes
· Argent Skull: reworked Attack fires straight ahead; Omega Attack is stronger; Special now retrieves Shells in the surrounding area
· Black Coat: increased Omega Attack damage; your Dash no longer cancels channeling your Omega Attack and causes you to perform the move right after
Altar of Ashes
· All Cards now have unique illustrations; swapped or adjusted themes of several Cards, noted below
· Eternity: theme changed from Night; reworked — now makes everything slower while you channel Omega moves; note this effect is no longer on Silver Wheel (Hecate)
· The Messenger: reworked — your Casts briefly make you impervious and move faster
· The Swift Runner: your Sprint now also makes you phase through foes
· Night: reduced Grasp cost; theme changed from Death
· The Wayward Son: no longer provides doubled recovery at low Life; base recovery improved
· Death: theme changed from Eternity
· Persistence: theme changed from The Titan
· The Enchantress: theme changed from The Fates
· The Fates: theme changed from The Seer
· Grasp upgrade costs re-scaled as part of changes to resource gathering
Oath of the Unseen
· Added new Testaments for the final confrontation
· Vow of Shadow: adjusted various encounters with this
📢 Vow of Fangs: removed certain combinations of Perks that were unusually cruel…
📢 Fear requirements for some Testaments re-scaled to reduce jumps in difficulty; reduced Fear requirements in some cases
Boons & Blessings
· Added Ares, with many of his own blessings, including a new Duo with each other primary Boon-giver
· Zeus: his Blitz Curse now activates at the end of the duration if not activated by dealing damage
· Storm Ring (Zeus): slightly reduced rate of lightning strikes
· Thunder Rush (Zeus): no longer requires Magick to strike foes with lightning; formerly Thunder Sprint
· Electric Overload (Zeus): reworked — your chain-lightning effects are stronger and bounce to more foes
· Toasting Fork (Zeus): cut from game; replaced with…
· Arc Flash (Zeus): new! Your Omega Moves activate your Blitz effects and make them stronger
· Romantic Spark (Zeus x Aphrodite): reduced damage bonus
· Hera: the Queen of the Olympians now has Boons of all four elemental affinities, not solely Earth
· Engagement Ring (Hera): reworked — now deals immediate damage for each foe in the binding circle
· Bridal Glow (Hera): reworked — upgrades a random Boon to Heroic Rarity and gives it bonus Pom Lv.
· Nasty Comeback (Hera): cut from game; replaced with…
· Extended Family (Hera): new! Your Olympian damage is stronger for each Olympian you met this night
· Proper Upbringing (Hera): increased activation requirement to include all four elements
· Breaker Rush (Poseidon): reworked — whenever you Sprint, damage and knock away the first foe you run into; formerly Breaker Sprint
· Geyser Spout (Poseidon): reworked — your Omega Cast gains Power and knocks foes away
· Buried Treasure (Poseidon): now also drops Bones, not Ashes or Psyche; formerly Ocean’s Bounty
· Flood Control (Poseidon): cut from game; replaced with…
· High Surf (Poseidon): new! Hit surrounding foes with a splash as they strike, but prime some Magick
· Phoenix Skin (Apollo x Hestia): cut from game; replaced with…
· Warm Breeze (Apollo x Hestia): new! Whenever Dodge or Daze makes foes miss, restore some Life
· Demeter: her Gust effects no longer destroy trees in Erebus or other such obstructions
· Local Climate (Demeter): reworked — your Omega Cast is stronger; bonus doubled in the binding circle
· Plentiful Forage (Demeter): now restores Life whenever you gather any resource
· Rare Crop (Demeter): cut from game; replaced with…
· Steady Growth (Demeter): new! Whenever you clear enough Encounters, a Boon gains Rarity
· Secret Crush (Aphrodite): now also affects Omega Attack
· Tough Gain (Hephaestus): reworked — whenever you take damage, shrug some off and restore Magick
· Flash Fry (Hestia): no longer requires foes to have Scorch to explode when slain; no longer requires a Scorch-related Boon to be offered; formerly Natural Gas
· Burnt Offering (Hestia): reworked — gain max Magick whenever you collect Ashes, and gain some now
· Mean Streak (Hermes): damage bonus no longer automatically ends after Encounters
· Tall Order (Hermes): updated elemental requirement; slightly increased damage bonus
· Travel Deal (Hermes): new! Your first purchase each Location costs less; another item appears after
· Saved Breath (Hermes): cut from game; replaced with…
· Winner’s Circle (Hermes): new! You channel your Casts faster and your Casts expire faster
· Witty Retort (Hermes): cut from game; replaced with…
· Hasty Retreat (Hermes): new! Gain more Dodge chance and move speed the more Boons you have
· Greater Evasion (Hermes): cut from game; replaced with…
· Stutter Step (Hermes): new! You can Dash more frequently
· Midnight Oil (Hermes): cut from game; replaced with…
· Success Rate (Hermes): new! Your chance-based effects are more likely to occur, except Dodge or Daze
· Close Call (Hermes): cut from game; replaced with…
· Paid Dues (Hermes): new Legendary! Whenever you take damage, you lose Gold before you lose Life
· Mental Block (Athena): reduced duration of Impervious effect
· Righteous Pike (Athena): new! Whenever you use enough Magick, several foes are struck by spears
· Killing Stroke (Artemis): new! Your Specials may deal Critical damage, but you prime some Magick
· The Marked Curses inflicted by Artemis and Raki the Raven now will never choose the same target
· Unseen Ire (Hades): the Dark effect and its damage bonus no longer expire after you strike
📢 Barren (Chaos): reduced Curse duration
· Neurotic (Chaos): no longer slows your Dash but still makes it use Magick; formerly Hobbled
· Life Savings (Narcissus): now gives Lotus instead of Deathcaps
· Wealth from the Dead (Medea): you now automatically absorb bonus Gold from slain foes on approach
· Supply Drop (Icarus): slightly reduced frequency of drops, and provides one fewer Pom Slice
· Adjusted names and elemental affinities of some Boons
· Additional minor adjustments to some bonuses from Rarity and Poms of Power
· Further clarifications to descriptions for various Boons
· Other minor fixes and adjustments
Daedalus Hammer Upgrades
· Spiral Knives (Blades): cut from game; replaced with…
· Hidden Knives (Blades): new! Specials are stronger and Omega Special fires more shots than usual
· Fetching Array (Skull): Shells now also automatically return faster; removed penalty to total Shells
· Looming Ignition (Skull): now also affects your Omega Attack; reaches full strength faster
· Possessed Array (Skull): increased Magick cost
· Rocket Bombard (Skull): cut from game since this effect is now innate; replaced with…
· Boosted Ignition (Skull): new! After your Dash or Specials, your Attacks are faster and gain Power
· Counter Barrage: now launches more rockets, more often
· Adjusted names and descriptive text for several Daedalus Hammer upgrades
Keepsakes
· Added a new Keepsake now that Ares decided to show up, which you can gain in the customary way
· Silver Wheel (Hecate): reworked — adds to your Magick limit for the rest of the night
· Fig Leaf (Dionysus): now can only affect one Encounter per Region, but still works if you unequip it
· Engraved Pin (Moros): now counts as a Death Defiance effect
📢 Evil Eye (Nemesis): now targets Prometheus if his Eagle Aetos is the one to vanquish you
Shuhei Yoshida, the former president of Sony Worldwide Studios, said that Sony did not force any studio to develop live service games.
Animal Familiars
· Gale the Polecat: new! Grants Dodge chance and move speed, blocks damage a few times per Region
📢 Toula the Cat: attacks more times successively; falls asleep faster (so she can wake back up faster!)
Resources & Reagents
· Added several new collectable resources found around the final confrontation
· Removed Deathcaps from the game as part of broader changes to resources described further above
Well of Charon
📢 Yarn of Ariadne: no longer consumed when meeting Hades, on whom this has no effect
Shrine of Hermes
· Fresh Sustenance MAX: reduced Life recovery
· Reduced chance of offering Minor Finds over other types of items
Foes & Dangers
· Added a variety of foes for the final surface Region, including new Wardens and a new Guardian
· Prometheus: adjusted behaviors; reduced damage for several moves; now sometimes foresees and dodges attacks, yet overall should be somewhat less punishing than before
· Aetos: reduced viciousness to some extent…
· Sky-Dracon: slightly reduced tracking speed
· Auto-Seeker: slightly reduced tracking speed
· Eris: improved previews of her various attacks
· The Yargonaut: new! Warden added to the Rift of Thessaly
· Charybdis: adjusted Tentacle behaviors; reduced overall difficulty
· Harpy Talon: slightly reduced radius of ranged attack
· Stickler: reduced damage
· Seesword: increased damage
· Blasket: reduced damage
· Infernal Beast: slightly increased Life
· Scylla: slightly increased Life
· Hellifish: new! Warden added to Oceanus · Lurker: gained a defensive back-step maneuver after getting hit
· Headmistress Hecate: slightly increased Life
· Root-Stalker: adjusted behavior of tail; grew a second one
· Various other minor changes to foes and combat encounters
After 31 years at PlayStation, Shuhei Yoshida left the company on January 15.
Special Encounters
📢 Reworked Heracles combat encounters — vanquish specially-marked foes for a bounty in Gold
· Aetos will no longer swoop in to attack more than once prior to facing Prometheus
· Slightly increased appearance rate of Moon Monuments and Unseen Sigils on the surface
· Slightly increased difficulty of Moon Monument foes
📢 Moon Monuments no longer offer Path of Stars rewards if your Hex is fully upgraded
📢 Athena more consistently vanquishes Revenants from the Vow of Return (Oath)
· Minor adjustments to Artemis, Heracles, and Icarus appearance rates on the surface route
· Two Arachne Cocoon encounters can no longer occur very close together in some cases
· Family Disputes, formerly called Trials of the Gods, now can include Ares; several Olympians put up more of a fight than before…
Level Design & Environments
· Added the final confrontation on the surface route and various new Locations within it
· The Olympus Region has one fewer Location to traverse before the Guardian
· Encounters in the Rift of Thessaly that had too many waves (of foes) should now be more reasonable
📢 Optional rooms in Ephyra become more likely if you haven’t found many that night
· Reduced damage of Lone Shades freed from Ephyra Pylons
· You now must use the Fountain if you haven’t already done so prior to leaving the Ephyra main square
· Resources can appear in more places in the Ephyra main square
· Removed Bat Cage nearest to the initial entrance to the Ephyra main square
· Added another Location that can randomly appear in Erebus
· Added another Location that can randomly appear in Oceanus
· Added another Location that can randomly appear in Ephyra
· The final battle prior to the Guardian of each of Region should no longer get replaced by Fountain chambers or character encounters
· Adjusted resource points in some Locations, especially those close enough to exits that you could leave by accident while trying to harvest
· Various minor fixes and improvements to various Locations
Chaos Trials
📢 You now reappear before the Pitch-Black Stone upon returning from a Chaos Trial
· Trial of Thunder: new! Zeus-themed Trial set in Erebus
· Trial of Glory: new! Hera-themed Trial set on Olympus
· Trial of the Fall: new! Demeter-themed Trial set in the Mourning Fields
· Trial of Slaughter: new! Ares-themed Trial set in Ephyra
· Trial of Destiny: new! Chaos-themed Trial set on Olympus
· Trial of Strife: new! Eris-themed Trial set in Thessaly
· Minor fixes and changes to several Trials
The Crossroads Renewal Project
· Updated Crossroads main grounds with new points of interest; the taverna now is easier to traverse
· Artemis now sometimes provides musical accompaniment in the Crossroads
· Added numerous new unlockable decorative items once the Renewal Project is available
· Some decorative items now unlocked from a new spot in the taverna
· Various forms of wildlife now may appear throughout the Crossroads
· Some groups of Shades in the Crossroads now have captions when you Salute them
· Recently-pacified Shades that appear in the Training Grounds now have varying appearances
· Melinoë will sometimes cover up the family portrait in her tent after brooding too much
· Odysseus will sometimes offer resources you may need; can sometimes be found seated in the taverna
· Eris will no longer litter in the midst of conversation with others
· The witch attendants of Hecate now are absent when she is
· Improved presentation around plants that can be harvested in the Garden
· Supply Shipments no longer prompt you to interact as frequently
· The moon now shows different phases in the Training Grounds vista scene
Cauldron Incantations
· Rage of the Elements: new! Lets you activate the statues on Olympus to defend you
· Path to Desired Blessings: new! Lets you track requirements for Boons listed in the Book of Shadows
· Acceptance of Another Fate: new! Salute the Oath of the Unseen to reset that night’s random events
· Shuffling of Noted Ballads: new! Lets the Music Maker make music choices for you if you wish
· Deathly Fortune: now introduced later and no longer lets you exchange plants for Bones(only fish…)
· Psychic Slivers of Clarity: removed from the game as part of resource system changes
· Bones of Arcane Wisdom: now makes Bones raise Magick limit rather than adding Armor; formerly Bones of Burnished Bronze
Fated List of Minor Prophecies
· The Arms of Night: new! Rewards you for unlocking each of the Main Weapons
· Master of War: new! Rewards you for choosing various Boons of Ares
· Storm in the Heavens: new! Rewards you for prevailing on the surface route
· Sword of the Night: new! Rewards you for clearing the surface route with each Main Weapon
· Power Beyond Legend: new! Rewards you for choosing all Legendary Boons; these are no longer included with each Olympian’s Boon prophecy
Book of Shadows
· Added new entries for various additions in this update
· Updated relationship status display for relevant characters after the Incantation Empath’s Intuition
Menus & UI
· Updated Main Menu to reflect this Major Update
· Added art for all Arcana and adjusted layout in the Altar of Ashes screen
· Added animations for the Crossroads Cauldron screen
· Added animations for the Pitch-Black Stone screen
· Added animations for the Wretched Broker screen
· Added animations for the Fated List screen
· Added animations for the Inventory screen
· Added art for the Crossroads Renewal screen
· Added art and adjusted layout for the Music Maker screen
· Added art and adjusted layout for the Archived Trivia screen
· Added art and adjusted layout for the Past Deeds screen
· Added art for the Gifts of the Moon screen
· Added animations for info banners, such as when entering Locations or vanquishing Guardians
· Added animations to the Main Menu and related sub-screens such as the Pause menu
· Updated art and animations for Book of Shadows prompts
· Updated art and animations for Fated List prompts
· Updated art and animations for Incantation Learned and similar prompts
· Updated look of many in-world status icons
📢 You now can see your Change of Fate count when choosing Boons
📢 You now can exchange resources for Prestige more freely, with a new warning if you still need them
📢 The Victory Screen now has theming differences depending on which route you cleared
· Improved feedback in the Altar of Ashes for when you fully upgrade your Grasp
· Improved presentation when multiple Incantations are revealed at once in the Crossroads Cauldron
· Improved text descriptions for Animal Familiar upgrades
· Adjusted Godhood Gained presentation after failing in God Mode; the presentation no longer occurs once you reach the damage resistance limit
· Damage numbers that come from environmental effects and traps now have a distinct color
· Updated prompts on a number of menu screens
· Various other fixes and improvements
Art & Visual FX
· Updated environment art in various places in the Crossroads
· Updated the look of Shades in various Regions, including ones you can pacify with the Tablet of Peace
· Updated some visual FX for improved clarity in the heat of battle (this work is ongoing)
· Updated visual FX for Scalding Vapor (Poseidon x Hestia)
· Updated visual FX for when foes with Armor are struck
· Updated teleportation visual FX for Animal Familiars, Artemis, and others
· Updated some visual FX for Umbral Flames (Moros)
· Updated presentation during narrative flashback sequences
· Updated narrative background art in Erebus
· Added narrative background art for Selene
· Added character animations for Hermes
· Added alternate portrait for Melinoë
· Added alternate portrait for Odysseus
· Adjusted portrait for Zeus
· Adjusted portrait for Artemis
· Added death animations for Charybdis Tentacles
· Various other minor visual improvements
Voice & Narrative
· Added more than 2,000 new voice lines, including new dialogue events for many characters
· Added more narrated Homer outcomes after a successful clear
· Chronos will give you a piece of his mind in more situations when leaving Erebus
· More characters react to resource-gathering and other interactions
· Numerous minor adjustments to requirements and content for various events
Music & SFX
· Added new music pieces for the final confrontation and the lead-up to it
· Added music theme for Icarus
· Added music theme for Echo
· Added a song from Artemis
· Added unlockable versions of each of these to the Music Maker
· Added new victory music stingers for each of the two routes
· Music from the Music Maker now grows softer during dialogue events
· Added new sound effects for the Main Menu
· Added new sound effects for the Crossroads Cauldron
· Added new sound effects for the Wretched Broker
· Updated sound effects for Staff Special
· Updated sound effects for some foes and encounters
· Other minor changes and improvements
During PlayStation's recent State of Play, it was confirmed that Days Gone will receive a remaster.
Settings
📢 God Mode Limit: new! You now can reduce the effect of God Mode if you wish
Miscellaneous
· Updated Development Roadmap to reflect our progress and plans for the next Major Update
· Clear times in the Past Deeds screen for the Surface route have been reset now that it is extended
· Adjusted presentation when Death Defiance effects activate
· Adjusted presentation when leaving the Training Grounds for the night
· Adjusted presentation when trying to attack while out-of-Shells with the Argent Skull
· Some Wardens’ Life Bars now follow their movements more closely
· Improved timing of Polyphemus knockout sequence
· Minor improvements to Charybdis fight intro
· Improved presentation choosing Boon Boon Boon (Echo)
· Added several Commendation messages that may appear on the Victory Screen
· Added more error messaging we hope no one will ever see
· Updated Credits with several additional contributors
· Updates and fixes to translations in all languages
Bug Fixes
· Fixed Rapture Ring (Aphrodite) not damaging foes at the edge of the binding circle
· Fixed Moon Monuments sometimes appearing unexpectedly if you had no Hex of Selene
· Fixed Icarus missing his targets unexpectedly (unless you’re his father and expect disappointment)
· Fixed optional rooms in Ephyra counting against Encounters needed to clear Chaos Curses
· Fixed unexpected delays prior to pre-fight dialogue against Hecate, Polyphemus, and Eris
📢 Fixed Gameplay Timer not pausing in some instances while pacifying Lost Shades
📢 Fixed Moonstone Axe (Thanatos) full-charge sound re-playing when entering new Locations
· Fixed Nemesis sometimes getting stuck wandering the Mourning Fields
· Fixed Evil Eye (Nemesis) switching targets after clearing Chaos Trials
· Fixed Dual Moonshot (Daedalus – Staff) sounds not playing for each shot
· Fixed foes playing hurt sound effects when taking damage to their Armor rather than their Life
· Many other minor fixes
Given the scope of this title update, don’t be surprised to see a follow-up patch be released by Supergiant Games to fix any issues that arises.
After the failure of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, which is a live service game that departed from developer Rocksteady's usual output, some might be hoping that the studio returns to its roots.
Shuhei Yoshida, the former president of Sony Worldwide Studios, said that Sony did not force any studio to develop live service games. Instead, it was likely a decision made together by the studios and the company.
In a recent interview on the Sacred Symbols+ podcast (behind a paywall on Patreon), Yoshida explained, “From my experience, when studios see the company has a big initiative, they understand riding on that gives them a better chance of getting a project approved and supported.”
While Firewalk's Concord might be one of the biggest gaming busts in history, it seems it's not enough for Sony to halt development of live service games (Games as a Service or GaaS).
Sony Not Forcing Studios to Develop Live Service Games
“So it’s not like the current head of PlayStation Studios, Hermen Hulst is telling teams they need to make live service games, it’s likely mutual,” he added.
When it was pointed out that many of the live service projects Sony had planned were canceled, Yoshida didn’t want to comment on specific projects. He simply said that it was a shame.
Shuhei Yoshida, the former president of Sony Worldwide Studios and a key figure in PlayStation’s history, recently commented on Microsoft’s recent shift in gaming strategy and the arrival of Xbox games on the PS5. He called this change a “win” for PlayStation owners, saying it is a big benefit for them.
In a recent interview on the Sacred Symbols+ podcast (behind a paywall on Patreon), Yoshida explained that he thinks Microsoft has become the “biggest publisher for PlayStation” because of the low sales of Xbox consoles and Microsoft’s focus on software and cloud services.
The PlayStation 5 is experiencing a significant surge in sales in China, with recent data showing it is selling twice as fast as the PlayStation 4 did.
Microsoft Is the Biggest Publisher on PlayStation, Says Shuhei Yoshida
Yoshida shared, “I suspect Microsoft is the biggest publisher on PlayStation,” laughing. “Looking at the install base of Xbox, I think it’s natural to understand what they’re doing.”
He noted that Microsoft has shifted its focus from selling Xbox hardware to expanding Game Pass, aiming to make it available on all devices, much like Office 365 has expanded to mobile devices and Macs.
“Microsoft looks like it’s been shifting its focus to Game Pass, which perhaps comes from the DNA of the company,” Yoshida said. “They’re a software company; a cloud company. So, their products, like Office 365, are available everywhere – on Mac, on mobile, on Windows. They are probably hoping Game Pass will be available everywhere in the future.”
“I think it’s a win for PlayStation owners. They’re going to access to games they didn’t previously have access to,” Yoshida added.
While cloud technology is getting better and better each year, will it reach a point that it will replace traditional gaming consoles? Sony's PlayStation boss doesn't think that's happening anytime soon.
EA has released Madden 25 update 1.14 on last-gen, current-gen platforms and PC, and this is for Seaosn 6: Record Breakers. This also brings in the last update to Superstars and X-Factors given the season is done.
Read on for what’s new, though there don’t seem to have been any gameplay bug fixes or adjustments.
Madden 25 New Update for February 19 Brings It to Verison 1.14
Ultimate Team™ Programs
NFL Combine
It might be the NFL offseason, but Madden NFL 25 Ultimate Team is in full swing with the NFL Combine event. Look for all-new player items added to the item pool for rookie players who got high grades in this year’s Combine, former Combine standouts that became NFL superstars, and more. You can even earn upgrade tokens that make Combine item stats shine even more. Rookies will have team chemistry with all 32 NFL teams, since they won’t have a team until the NFL Draft.
Team of the Year
The Madden NFL 25 community voted on the Team of the Year, and the winners are coming to Ultimate Team on March 6. The winning players will get new items released into the Ultimate Team item pool throughout the event, with the top-voted Defensive, Offensive, and Specialist players getting Champion items. 1 Offensive, 1 Defensive, and 1 Specialist will be named Most Valuable Virtual Players (MVVPs) and get their own new player items. TOTY Honorable Mentions will also be released during the event.
You can also earn TOTY tokens to unlock various players via Sets. Players who go out of their way to collect every possible Champion and Honorable Mention can use them in Completion Sets to earn an MVVP Player!
Free Agency
Welcome to Free Agency! See where your favorite stars might end up next season. Will your team find the missing piece their roster needs? Check out new player items added to the item pool for the league’s hottest free agents, speculate on their eventual decisions, and more. Get two upgrade players just for logging in during the event, earn and upgrade another player item in a Solo Event, and more.
Ring of Honor
Ring of Honor is back in Madden NFL 25! This is where we celebrate NFL players who have had a major impact on the sport not only in real life, but also in Madden and Ultimate Team. Each year, we select 5 players to join the ROH and be immortalized in Ultimate Team forever. Log in during the event to snag a Ring of Honor token used to upgrade player items. Play Challenges, complete Sets, and more earn Ring of Honor players and other rewards.
Madden NFL 25’s Final Superstar and X-Factor Update Now Live This February 19, 2025
Superstars and X-Factors
New X-Factor Players
Joe Mixon
Wrecking Ball
Derek Stingley Jr.
Shutdown
Terry McLaurin
Double Me
Jayden Daniels
Escape Artist
Vita Vea
Fearmonger
Xavier McKinney
Shutdown
Budda Baker
Reinforcement
Bijan Robinson
First One Free
New Superstar Players
Jahmyr Gibbs
Brian Branch
Quinn Meinerz
Trey McBride
Brock Bowers
Zack Baun
Dallas Goedert
Quinyon Mitchell
Brian Thomas Jr.
Jonathan Greenard
Andrew Van Ginkel
Christian Gonzalez
James Cook
Kyren Williams
Josh Jacobs
Tee Higgins
Ladd McConkey
Drake London
Greg Rousseau
Kerby Joseph
Will Anderson Jr.
Demoted X-Factor Players
Davante Adams
Marshon Lattimore
Deebo Samuel
CJ Stroud
Nick Chubb
DK Metcalf
Cooper Kupp
Lavonte David
Demoted Superstar Players
Travis Etienne Jr.
Justin Tucker
Keenan Allen
Amari Cooper
Brandon Aiyuk
Rashan Gary
Breece Hall
TJ Hockenson
Haason Reddick
Jaylen Waddle
Trevon Diggs
Zack Martin
Isiah Pacheco
That’s about it. Don’t expect updates to be released anytime soon, barring any bugs that needs to be squashed, as EA is looking ahead to the next Madden game.
As the NFL season winds down, this means another chapter in the latest Madden game is also coming to a close. EA has today released Madden NFL 25 update 1.017 on consoles and PC, and this is the final Superstar and X-Factor update players can expect for the game.
While EA has announced nothing, expect this to be one of the last title updates for Madden 25 released since the dev team will transition to the latest one, which will be released closer to the start of the new NFL season.
Madden NFL 25 Update 1.017 Brings Season 6 Into the Game
Ultimate Team™ Programs
NFL Combine
It might be the NFL offseason, but Madden NFL 25 Ultimate Team is in full swing with the NFL Combine event. Look for all-new player items added to the item pool for rookie players who got high grades in this year’s Combine, former Combine standouts that became NFL superstars, and more. You can even earn upgrade tokens that make Combine item stats shine even more. Rookies will have team chemistry with all 32 NFL teams, since they won’t have a team until the NFL Draft.
Team of the Year
The Madden NFL 25 community voted on the Team of the Year, and the winners are coming to Ultimate Team on March 6. The winning players will get new items released into the Ultimate Team item pool throughout the event, with the top-voted Defensive, Offensive, and Specialist players getting Champion items. 1 Offensive, 1 Defensive, and 1 Specialist will be named Most Valuable Virtual Players (MVVPs) and get their own new player items. TOTY Honorable Mentions will also be released during the event.
You can also earn TOTY tokens to unlock various players via Sets. Players who go out of their way to collect every possible Champion and Honorable Mention can use them in Completion Sets to earn an MVVP Player!
Free Agency
Welcome to Free Agency! See where your favorite stars might end up next season. Will your team find the missing piece their roster needs? Check out new player items added to the item pool for the league’s hottest free agents, speculate on their eventual decisions, and more. Get two upgrade players just for logging in during the event, earn and upgrade another player item in a Solo Event, and more.
Ring of Honor
Ring of Honor is back in Madden NFL 25! This is where we celebrate NFL players who have had a major impact on the sport not only in real life, but also in Madden and Ultimate Team. Each year, we select 5 players to join the ROH and be immortalized in Ultimate Team forever. Log in during the event to snag a Ring of Honor token used to upgrade player items. Play Challenges, complete Sets, and more earn Ring of Honor players and other rewards.
Madden NFL 25’s Final Superstar and X-Factor Update Now Live This February 19, 2025
Superstars and X-Factors
New X-Factor Players
Joe Mixon
Wrecking Ball
Derek Stingley Jr.
Shutdown
Terry McLaurin
Double Me
Jayden Daniels
Escape Artist
Vita Vea
Fearmonger
Xavier McKinney
Shutdown
Budda Baker
Reinforcement
Bijan Robinson
First One Free
New Superstar Players
Jahmyr Gibbs
Brian Branch
Quinn Meinerz
Trey McBride
Brock Bowers
Zack Baun
Dallas Goedert
Quinyon Mitchell
Brian Thomas Jr.
Jonathan Greenard
Andrew Van Ginkel
Christian Gonzalez
James Cook
Kyren Williams
Josh Jacobs
Tee Higgins
Ladd McConkey
Drake London
Greg Rousseau
Kerby Joseph
Will Anderson Jr.
Demoted X-Factor Players
Davante Adams
Marshon Lattimore
Deebo Samuel
CJ Stroud
Nick Chubb
DK Metcalf
Cooper Kupp
Lavonte David
Demoted Superstar Players
Travis Etienne Jr.
Justin Tucker
Keenan Allen
Amari Cooper
Brandon Aiyuk
Rashan Gary
Breece Hall
TJ Hockenson
Haason Reddick
Jaylen Waddle
Trevon Diggs
Zack Martin
Isiah Pacheco
That’s about it. Don’t expect updates to be released anytime soon, barring any bugs that needs to be squashed, as EA is looking ahead to the next Madden game.
Sony has launched the latest PlayStation Store sale called “Extended Play,” and this one houses a good amount of AAA titles. While this sale isn’t as big as your usual PSN sale, it does offer a good amount of new-ish games.
There are around 750 titles discounted, and the complete list and recommendations are available below.
Yesterday, the gaming scene was rocked when members of the Marvel Rivals US development team in Seattle revealed that they were let go by NetEase.
PlayStation Store “Extended Play” Sale – Ends 3/5/25
Note: Given the huge list, we have enabled a collapsible table for the games. To see the games in each list, click on the black arrow and/or the letters (A – E, F – J, K – O, P – T, U – Z).
We’ll be updating the article with our recommendations, so watch out for it.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Alien: Rogue Incursion Deluxe -25% $37.49 – For PSVR2, but said to be quite good. It’s an Alien horror game but in VR!
Assassin’s Creed Legendary Collection -80% $39.99 – If you want to play the franchise’s past entries, this is a good deal. Includes Assassin’s Creed 4 Black Flag®, Assassin’s Creed Rogue Remastered, Assassin’s Creed Unity, Assassin’s Creed Syndicate, Assassin’s Creed Origins, and Assassin’s Creed Odyssey
Blasphemous 2 – Mea Culpa Edition -20% $30.39 – Side-scrolling Metroidvania game that’s still getting a good amount of support.
Bloodborne The Old Hunters -50% $9.99 – Have not played this, but loads of people swear how good this is. Rarely goes on sale for an old DLC too.
Castlevania Anniversary Collection -80% $3.99 – Includes Castlevania, Castlevania II Simon’s Quest, Castlevania III Dracula’s Curse, Super Castlevania IV, Castlevania The Adventure, Castlevania II Belmont’s Revenge, Castlevania Bloodlines. Kid Dracula (never released in English before), History of Castlevania – Book of the Crescent Moon. Old games but at that price? Might be worth it for old-school fans.
Castlevania Requiem: Symphony of the Night & Rondo of Blood -80% $3.99 – Possibly the two greatest games in the entire franchise. I personally loved Symphony of the Night and even replayed it after a decade.
Cult of the Lamb – Unholy Pack Bundle -35% $15.59 – Who knew building a cult could be this much fun? Part sim game, part action. Loads of charm and deeper gameplay than its graphics suggest. Will never not recommend this.
Dead Island 2 Ultimate Edition -60% $27.99 – Houses the two expansions. Pssoibly the only game from Embracer that didn’t flop that I can think of.
DEATHLOOP + Ghostwire: Tokyo Bundle -67% $32.99 – Deathloop is peak Arkane. Time-bending without being stupid. Ghostwire might not be for everyone. I suggest YouTubing it.
Detroit: Become Human Digital Deluxe Edition -50% $14.99 – Deluxe items aren’t really worth it. Game is same as with any Quantic title. It’s more of an interactive movie, but I dig those. If you do, give this a go.
Dishonored: Death of the Outsider™ – Deluxe Bundle -80% $11.99 – Standalone expansion following Dishonored 2.
Ghost of Tsushima DIRECTOR’S CUT -58% $29.39 – Includes the expansion. One of my favorite open-world game of all-time. It is a gorgeous setting, the combat is exciting, and the story is awesome as well. You need to play this if you haven’t.
Kena: Bridge of Spirits Digital Deluxe PS4 & PS5 -60% $19.99 – Adventure game that received a lot of acclaim. Was a PS5 exclusive and got a good amount of updates introducing new hats.
Marvel’s Spider-Man: Game of the Year Edition -50% $19.99 – Includes a bunch of add-ons. Adding this here to remind people this is only the PS4 version, so buyer beware.
Metro Saga Bundle -75% $14.99 – For those thinking of jumping into the Metor franchise, this includes Metro 2033 Redux, Metro: Last Light Redux and Metro Exodus Gold Edition (featuring all bonus DLC).
Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 -75% $12.49 – Doesn’t seem to get as much support as the first game. It’s Smash Bros. with Nick characters.
Remnant 2 – Deluxe Edition -50% $29.99 – . Fun game, though a bit irritating sometimes. Puzzles are well thought out. Loads of classes to try.
Sniper Elite 5 Complete Edition -70% $32.99– Includes two Season Passes. Not the newest in the franchise, but the latest in the mainline numberered one. You shoot stuff, you see people unalive in slow-motion. AA fare that doesn’t overstay its welcome.
The Callisto Protocol – Digital Deluxe Edition PS5 -80% $17.99 – Does NOT contain the Final Transmission DLC. Game is OK, but not in the same level of Resident Evil, Dead Space. Loads of updates that made it easier and more fun to play.
The Outlast Trials Deluxe Edition -60% $19.99 – In my opinion, the add-ons are not worth it. Wait for the vanilla game to go on sale.
UNCHARTED: Legacy of Thieves Collection -60% $19.99 – Includes Uncharted 4 and The Lost Legacy standalone game featuring Chloe.
UNCHARTED The Nathan Drake Collection -50% $9.99 – Houses Naughty Dog’s finest works in my opinion. Uncharted 1-3. No idea why Sony just didn’t bundle the fourth game with this one and call it the Nathan Drake Final Bundle or whatever.
Wolfenstein: Alt History Collection -80% $11.99 – Includes Wolfenstein: The New Order, Wolfenstein: The Old Blood, Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus, and the co-op Wolfenstein: Youngblood. All stellar games by MachineGames.
After the failure of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, which is a live service game that departed from developer Rocksteady's usual output, some might be hoping that the studio returns to its roots.
Techland has brought back Tower Raid into Dying Light 2 as part of today’s patch. Console owners will see this as Dying Light 2 update 1.063 on PS5/Xbox Series X|S, while last-gen owners will see it as download version 1.63.
This patch is part of the game’s 10th Anniversary celebration for the Dying Light franchise, which kicked off with a patch earlier this month.
Yesterday, the gaming scene was rocked when members of the Marvel Rivals US development team in Seattle revealed that they were let go by NetEase.
Dying Light 2’s 10th Anniversary Update Brings Back Tower Raid Permanently via Patch 1.063:
Per Techland, here’s what they said about today’s Tower Raid roll out:
Four Different Classes — Round up a squad in up to 4-player co-op. Pick from the Tank, Brawler, Ranger or Specialist classes; each one has its own unique skill set. And if you really want to push yourself, you can always go in alone.
New Mode — Decide how tough you want it. There will be three modes to choose from: Quick, Normal and Elite. Just remember that during your rougelite adventures, every run will be unique with a new combination of floors and challenges.
New Progression System — Fail. Get tougher. Repeat. Even after you get taken out, you’ll get new skills and become more powerful, as well as capable of arming yourself for the next run.
New Rewards — Trade with Sola at the Raid Hub. You’ll encounter a woman who may have just the thing you need. Push on to obtain new exclusive rewards, such as the Office Day Outfit, the Kuai Dagger, or the Silenced Pistol.
Got all that? Good. Now raid that tower by selecting “Raid Hub” from the Main Menu. And good luck! Lastly, we’re open to receiving feedback from you as we continue to update Tower Raid with further focus on rebalancing features and more.
The Anniversary patch released earlier this month includes a new frame for Photo Mode and new cosmetics. Speaking of which, the studio announced the last call for the Anniversary activities for the cosmetics, which ends next week.
“This is your last call to participate in our franchise anniversary activities in Dying Light 2: Stay Human. You have until February 26 to complete the four new bounties added to Pilgrim Outpost and earn the Psycho Marksman Rifle and 10Y Charm,” the studio announced today.
Yesterday, the gaming scene was rocked when members of the Marvel Rivals US development team in Seattle revealed that they were let go by NetEase. This is quite surprising given the tremendous success the game has achieved since it launched in December 2024.
With what happened yesterday, we contacted NetEase to ask for a statement on the recent staff developments.
A few weeks ago, we reported on what appears to be a Kraken-like creature spotted in the Marvel Rivals update files, suggesting PvE (Player vs.
NetEase Promises They Are “Investing More, Not Less” Into Evolution and Growth of Marvel Rivals
Here’s the statement sent to MP1st by a NetEase representative:
We recently made the difficult decision to adjust Marvel Rivals’ development team structure for organizational reasons and to optimize development efficiency for the game. This resulted in a reduction of a design team based in Seattle that is part of a larger global design function in support of Marvel Rivals. We appreciate the hard work and dedication of those affected and will be treating them confidentially and respectfully with recognition for their individual contributions.
We want to reassure our fanbase that the core development team for Marvel Rivals, which continues to be led by Lead Producer Weicong Wu and Game Creative Director Guangyun Chen in Guangzhou, China, remains fully committed to delivering an exceptional experience. We are investing more, not less, into the evolution and growth of this game. We’re excited to deliver new super hero characters, maps, features, and content to ensure an engaging live service experience for our worldwide player base.
While we’re still scratching our heads on why a super-successful game is shedding employees just a few months after launch, hopefully, NetEase knows what it’s doing.
In other Marvel Rivals news, the game will be getting its mid-season patch on February 21, which will not only bring The Thing and Human Torch into the game, but also implement a significant amount of balance changes, which you can read about here.
With today's Spring Festival patch for Marvel Rivals, not only did NetEase deliver a new mode, hero adjustments, and new cosmetics, but the data also brought in code for a bunch of unannounced heroes and even the abilities.
Delta Force released at the end of last year, and we liked what we saw. Team Jade has been busy putting the finishing touches on the game’s cinematic, co-op campaign, Black Hawk Down, based on the 2001 movie of the same name. MP1st was invited to Tencent’s Los Angeles office (publisher TiMi Studio Group is a subsidiary of Tencent) to get our hands on a select slice of the campaign, and we have our impressions ready now.
After Electronic Arts' recent announcement of Battlefield Labs, it looks like more information about it is coming out of the woodwork.
As Cinematic as It Gets
From the first frame of the first cinematic of the first mission, it is clear that the production values in Black Hawk Down are aiming very high. Whereas the Unreal Engine 4 was used for Delta Force’s multiplayer component, the Unreal Engine 5 is used here, to great effect. I got the sense that these cutscenes were pre-rendered, but if so, at least on the rigs we were on (Ryzen Threadripper PRO 5975WX paired with an RTX 4090 and plenty of RAM), the transitions into gameplay were smooth. All of the maps we sampled looked great, with verticality as well as dense areas, usually filled with enemies around every corner.
Black Hawk Down, the movie, went with a gritty, mostly realistic depiction of war, and this campaign is looking to follow suit. Any single enemy can easily take you out, but the opposite is also true – there were no bullet sponges to be found, as most enemies could be taken out with a headshot or a couple of well-placed body shots. Enemies do seem to have great vision, however, and you should expect to duck and crawl your way around most windows, or else you’ll end up needing to be resuscitated by your teammates.
Squabble Squad Up
Team play is important in a lot of squad-based shooters, and Delta Force keeps that spirit alive in the Black Hawk Down campaign. In fact, Team Jade’s own developers have yet to complete the entire campaign solo, despite that mode being the only time you’re given extra health and ammunition compared to the standard loadouts you are offered when playing in groups of two or more. This can be seen even in the game’s HUD – when a team member is down, there is only a single, timed white icon that shows their location. It doesn’t flash, nor turn colors as it gets closer to expiring. You have to pay attention to what the game, if not your teammate yelling at you over Discord, is telling you, because in the heat of battle it can be real easy to miss that you’re down a member.
We tried, and failed to pass, three different missions, multiple times. Two were evacuation missions, and one was a defense mission. Death came swiftly in many cases. Could the Black Hawk Down campaign be too difficult? With no difficulty sliders to work with, some people may say yes. But then, Delta Force is known for being a hardcore sim shooter, and the movie upon which the campaign is based is known for showing a hardcore angle of war. So, it’s fitting that this campaign represents a big challenge.
Solo Isn’t Much Easier!
With an estimated play time of around seven hours, and multiple paths to tackling most missions, there is some room for replayability. Each team can only have one person in each role, so you can’t simply pile up into support roles to constantly heal each other, so there is always an opportunity to try out roles you might otherwise overlook. However, once you remember where enemies tend to spawn, things can get at least a little easier.
The Delta Force Black Hawk Down campaign is shaping up to be a cinematic, highly-polished experience with a difficulty curve many will liken to a Souls game. Squadding up is essential for all but the most masochistic of gamers. If you manage to succeed, however, the feeling of achievement is great after countless failures and retries. Of course, I say this as a non-competitive first-person shooter player, and even though no one, including Team Jade devs, has cleared the single-player campaign in a solo run. I’m sure plenty of you out there will clear the campaign by yourself the first day it’s out. For the rest of us, Delta Force Black Hawk Down will have plenty to teach us about checking our corners when it launches just a couple of days from now on February 21, 2025.
Paulmichael has been writing in the gaming industry since 2008. Living just outside of Los Angeles, he has been lucky enough to attend numerous gaming events around the world, including the last ten E3 shows (RIP)! A thoughtful reviewer, every game you see scored by PmC has been given careful attention. Paulmichael is also an aviation fan and an avid snowboarder. Favorite games include: No Man's Sky, Gran Turismo 7, skate., CloverPit.
In case you didn’t know, Delta Force, Team Jade’s new free-to-play military first-person shooter, will have a separate add-on campaign released this week. For those wonder, this won’t be part of the multiplayer experience, and will be a separate download release. Originally planned to be a premium (read: paid experience) the studio announced today that it will be free on day one, February 21.
MP1st was fortunate enough to have been invited by TiMi Studio Group to get some early hands-on time with the Black Hawk Down campaign earlier this month where we managed to not only play the game, but also get more info about it too.
With Battlefield 2042, not only did it not meet publisher Electronic Arts' sales expectations, but it also didn't meet the expectations of a lot of Battlefield fans.
Delta Force Black Hawk Down Campaign Length Is Standard for Military Shooters
During our play session, Team Jade revealed that Delta Force’s single-player campaign will roughly take seven hours to complete from start to finish. Bear in mind, that there will be multiple paths in most missions, so it’ll be up to you how fast (or slow) you’ll finish it.
While some might deem seven hours as too short, it’s perfectly in line with the length of most military first-person shooter campaigns.
For those curious, the campaign features are as follows:
LEGENDARY BATTLE, REIMAGINED – Powered by Unreal Engine 5, BLACK HAWK DOWN delivers breathtaking visuals, immersing you in Mogadishu like never before. With an unparalleled level of detail and a diverse range of missions, every corner of the city tells a story, and every encounter feels visceral and real.
TEST YOUR LIMITS – It takes grit, determination, and sacrifice to become a legend. BLACK HAWK DOWN is the ultimate test of skill, demanding everything you’ve got. This isn’t a shooting gallery—it’s war. Every turn could be your last, and survival is never guaranteed.
A FAITHFUL REBOOT – The BLACK HAWK DOWN co-op campaign is a faithful reboot of the classic 2001 movie and a heartfelt love letter to fans of the original 2003 Delta Force: Black Hawk Down, breathing new life into those legendary stories and moments.
PLAY AS A TEAM – Only the best squads survive. Choose your class, customize your loadout, and—most importantly—move as a unit to overcome the unprecedented challenges ahead.
The Black Hawk Down campaign that’s set to be released this February 21, will be inspired by the 2003 video game of the same name, though this one has been remade using Unreal Engine 5.
Stay tuned for more Delta Force news here on MP1st.
Arrowhead Game Studios has delivered the second patch for Helldivers 2 this week! The new update, version 1.002.106, fixes the Spore Burst Gloom crashing issues. This is after yesterday’s patch, which also fixed crashing issues.
After the failure of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, which is a live service game that departed from developer Rocksteady's usual output, some might be hoping that the studio returns to its roots.
Helldivers 2 Spore Burst Crash Bug Now Fixed in Patch 1.002.106
Overview
Fixed a common crash caused by the Spore Burst Gloom Bugs
Fixes
Fixed a common crash that would occur when too many Spore Burst strain bugs were killed simultaneously in a short time-span
That’s about it for this patch according to Arrowhead Game Studios. As for yesterday’s patch, here’s what it implemented into the game:
Crash Fixes, Hangs and Soft-locks:
Fixed a rare crash that could occur when travelling between planets
Fixed a crash that would occur during the initial language selection
Fixed a crash caused by cancelling specific emotes with another emote
Miscellaneous Fixes
Fixed a bug where ship modules would sometimes not be purchasable even if you had the correct amount of samples
If Arrowhead releases another patch, we’ll let our readers know. Stay tuned to the latest game updates on MP1st.
On February 21, NetEase will release a new patch for Marvel Rivals that brings the mid-season content featuring The Thing and Human Torch into the game. Alongside the new heroes and Competitive Play changes, there are also balance changes on the way adjusting a slew of heroes.
Thankfully, we don’t have to wait, as NetEase has revealed the Marvel Rivals update 1.5 mid-season balance changes ahead of the mid-season refresh.
Steve will receive some enhanced survivability, his Vibranium Energy Saw will feel smoother, and his Ultimate Ability will be more attainable thanks to a reduced energy cost.
– He will be able to shield himself with Living Legend mid-leap.
– Increase Vibranium Energy Saw’s projectile speed from 60m/s to 80m/s, with ricochets ramping up from 100m/s to a supercharged 150m/s.
– Reduce the energy cost of Freedom Charge (ultimate ability) from 3100 to 2800.
– Enhance Captain America’s combat experience by separating Sentinel Strike from melee attacks. Captain America will be able to use melee attacks while his shield is thrown or during the Team-Up Ability Charged Aegis state to activate the first two hits of Sentinel Strike. Additionally, while airborne, using melee attacks will no longer trigger the Super-Soldier Slam ability.
Doctor Strange
Our beloved Sorcerer Supreme will take a modest hit to his survivability.
– Reduce base health from 650 to 600.
Groot
We’ll be increasing the threat range of everyone’s favorite Flora Colossus.
– Increase Thornlash Wall placement range from 15 meters to 18 meters.
Magneto
The Master of Magnetism will experience a slight dip in survivability but will be compensated with a small surge in offensive ability.
– Increase Iron Volley projectile damage from 35 to 40.
– Increase Metallic Curtain’s energy consumption from 50/s to 65/s; Reduce its Maximum Duration from 2s to 1.5s.
Thor
The mighty Asgardian will offer a greater user experience after unleashing Awakening Rune. Unleash the thunder!
– Remove the shared cooldown time after the duration of Awakening Rune ends.
Venom
The symbiote menace will enter the fray more menacing than ever, with a heightened threat upon entering the battle and a leaner energy appetite for his Ultimate Ability.
– Adjust the knock back effect of Frenzied Arrival from vertical to inward, with an inward knockback angle of 75°.
– Reduce the energy cost of Feast of the Abyss (ultimate ability) from 2800 to 2500.
DUELIST
Black Widow
Natasha’s combat effectiveness has been enhanced, increasing the threat level to enemies after using her Ultimate Ability.
– Increase the magazine capacity of the Red Room Rifle from 8 to 15.
– Enhance the slow effect of Electro-Plasma Explosion (Ultimate Ability) on enemies from 80% to 55%. Additionally, it will apply a 15% Vulnerability effect to hit enemies for 4 seconds.
Hawkeye
We’re sharpening Clint’s survival instincts and honing his close-quarters capabilities, while his Ultimate Ability takes aim with greater peril.
– Increase base health from 250 to 275.
– Reduce projectile damage of Blast Arrow from 20 to 15, while the spell field damage will be increased from 25 to 32.
– Reduce the cooldown time for Crescent Slash from 15s to 12s.
– Increase bow draw speed during the duration of Hunter’s Sight (Ultimate Ability) and raise damage multiplier from 1.2 to 1.35.
Hela
The Asgardian goddess of death will cast a longer shadow with an increase to her mid-to-long-range suppression.
– The Damage Falloff of Nightsword Thorn at 30 meters will be changed from 70% to 80%.
Iron Fist
Lin Lie will bring fresh techniques to the martial arts mix, enhancing his Yat Jee Chung Kuen with both fortitude and finesse.
– Reduce the damage of Jeet Kune Do’s 1st, 2nd, and 5th strikes from 32 to 30, while the 3rd and 4th strikes will deal 15 damage instead of 16. The final, devastating 6th strike has been dialed back from 55 to 50. The cooldown reduction for Dragon’s Defense has been extended from 1s to 1.5s. The damage of each hit from Yat Jee Chung Kuen will take a hit, dropping from 19 to 10 flat damage (including during Living Chi). However, each strike from the Yat Jee Chung Kuen now delivers an extra blow, dealing damage equal to 1.7% of the opponent’s maximum health (including during Living Chi).
– Increase the additional maximum health granted by Harmony Recovery from 50 to 150. A new decay mechanism for the extra health has also been introduced: one second after the ability ends, the additional health will deplete at a rate of 25 health per second.
– Increase the maximum Bonus Health converted from damage blocked during Dragon’s Defense from 150 to 200.
– Increase base health from 250 to 300.
Iron Man
Tony will crank up the heat with his Unibeam, ensuring that even without Gamma Overdrive, foes will feel the burn.
– Increase Unibeam damage from 120/s to 140/s.
– Increase Unibeam (Armor Overdrive) damage from 180/s to 190/s.
Magik
The Queen of Limbo will see her damage capability be slightly reduced, but the energy cost to unleash her Ultimate Ability will be slightly lowered. It’s time to behold Darkchild!
– Decrease the damage dealt by Demon’s Rage (regular state) from 80/s to 72/s.
– Reduce the energy cost of Darkchild (ultimate ability) from 3700 to 3400.
Mister Fantastic
Reed will stretch his nuisance factor with a greater impact from his Ultimate Ability.
– Increase the spell field radius after landing from Flexible Elongation from 2.5 meters to 5 meters. Additionally, Flexible Elongation will now feature a knockback effect, launching enemies outward within the area upon landing. The recharge time for a single use of Flexible Elongation will be adjusted from 8s to 10s.
– Increase the damage of Brainiac Bounce (Ultimate Ability) spell from 50 to 70. Increase the energy cost from 2800 to 3400. Additionally, a new damage decay mechanism has been introduced: spell field damage will begin to decrease starting at 3 meters and will reach a maximum reduction of 50 at 10 meters.
Moon Knight
The Hand of Khonshu will offer improved reaction times for foes and an optimized damage logic.
– Reduced the Hand of Khonshu talons falling speed.
– Correct the damage trigger logic for Hand of Khonshu. The previous mechanism that dealt 75 damage when positioned at the center of the spell field has been removed. Increase the damage of each hit from 75 to 150.
Scarlet Witch
We’re boosting her survivability when unleashing her Ultimate Ability.
– Gain an additional 100 Bonus Health upon activating Reality Erasure (Ultimate Ability). After the ability ends or is interrupted, this Bonus Health will decay at a rate of 50/s.
Spider-Man
We’re slightly reducing Web-Cluster cooldown to increase his offense.
– Reduce Web-Cluster energize time from 3s to 2.5s.
Star-Lord
Peter’s mobility is getting a stellar upgrade.
– Increase Rocket Propulsion’s maximum energy from 1200 to 1800.
Storm
We’ve toned down her tempest from long range and recalibrated her bonuses, offering less of a boost to herself but more to her allies in the eye of the storm.
– The Damage Falloff of Wind Blade at 30 meters will be changed from 70% to 60%.
– Reduce Storm’s damage increase from Thunder during Weather Control from 16% to 12%. However, the damage increase for allies within range has been increased from 8% to 10%.
– Reduce Storm’s damage increase from Enhanced Thunder during Weather Control from 30% to 25%.
STRATEGIST
Adam Warlock
Adam’s damage capability will be enhanced, along with a slight increase in healing ability after activating Soul Bond.
Increase the damage of Quantum Magic from 55 to 60. Additionally, the Damage Falloff at 40 meters will be changed from 50% to 60%.
Increase the healing amount provided by Soul Bond to linked allies from 10/s to 15/s.
Cloak & Dagger
Survivability and healing ability during the activation of their Ultimate Ability will be increased, while the frequency, duration, and intensity of the Ultimate Ability reduced. Additionally, Tyrone’s threat level will be enhanced.
· Increase the energy cost to activate Eternal Bond (Ultimate Ability) from 3400 to 4000. The healing amount of each segment will be increased from 220/s to 250/s, the duraiton will be reduced from 10s to 8s, and the pause time between segments decrease from 1s to 0.67s. Now, the healing effect from each segment will not stack; when overlapping, only one healing effect is applied. Additionally, camera control is unlocked during the activation of Eternal Bond.
· Increase the Vulnerability inflicted on enemies by Terror Cape from 20% to 28%.
Invisible Woman
We’re reducing the frequency of her Ultimate Ability.
– Increase the energy cost of Invisible Boundary (ultimate ability) from 4000 to 4300.
Loki
We’re reducing the trickster god’s Ultimate Ability frequency, while slightly enhancing his survivability.
– Increase the energy cost of God of Mischief (ultimate ability) from 3400 to 4000.
– Increase Mystical Missile charges from 10 to 12.
Luna Snow
We’re reducing her Ultimate Ability frequency.
– Increase the energy cost to activate Fate of Both Worlds (Ultimate Ability) from 4000 to 4500.
TEAM-UP ABILITIES
Atlas Bond
We’ll be enhancing the capability of Luna Snow’s side of this Team-Up ability.
– Increase the healing amount of Frozen Chi from 50 to 75, and the slow effect on enemies from 20% to 30%.
Dimensional Shortcut
We’re increasing the sustained combat capabilities of Black Panther and Psylocke.
– Reduced the Rewind Time for Psionic Disc from 5s to 3s. Additionally, the conversion ratio of lost health to blue armor will be increased from 0.5 to 0.8.
– Reduced the Rewind Time for Wakandan Master from 5s to 3s. Additionally, the conversion ratio of lost health to blue armor will be increased from 0.5 to 0.8.
Gamma Charge
We’re reducing the damage capability of Gamma Overdrive, and Hulk’s benefits from the team-up.
– Reduce Unibeam (Gamma Overdrive) damage from 220/s to 200/s.
– Reduce Hulk’s Team-Up Anchor health bonus from 150 to 100.
Lunar Force
We’re enhancing Moon Knight’s survivability after using the Team-Up Ability.
Full Moon New Effect: Continuously heal Moon Knight for 25 health per/s while within the effect area.
Symbiote Bond
Peni Parker and Spider-Man will enjoy enhanced survivability thanks to Suit/Armor Expulsion enhancements.
Reduce Spider-Man’s Suit Expulsion duration from 4s to 1s. Replace the 50% damage reduction effect with a new invincibility effect during the duration.
Reduce Peni Parker’s Armor Expulsion duration from 4s to 2s. Replace the 50% damage reduction effect with a new invincibility effect during the duration.
Expect a list for the bug fixes and other changes to be revealed before the patch is live, and once NetEase releases that, we’ll let our readers know.
Another week has gone by and a new patch has already arrived for The Finals. This is The Finals patch 5.10.0 or update 1.000.074 on current-gen hardware and patch 1.12 on last-gen. Embark Studios has temporarily removed the Stun Gun in this update, and also lots of balance changes have occurred.
Read on to see the full and official patch notes below.
Although AMD continues to keep quite on their upcoming Radeon RX 9070 and 9070 XT GPUs, it seems that they've recently sent out NDAs (non-disclosure agreements) to members of the press, detailing upcoming key dates.
The Finals Update 5.10.0 Has a Temporary Removal of the Stun Gun
Update 5.10.0
Balance changes and an AMA
In this update, the Stun Gun has been temporarily removed as we begin a full rework to refine its role as a true crowd control tool. This change is aimed at improving gameplay balance, especially for new players. Check the attached dev note for more details!
Also of note, we’ve been closely investigating server performance for some time, recognizing that it hasn’t been meeting expectations. After thorough analysis, we believe we’ve identified a key issue, and this fix should significantly improve the experience for a large number of players.
That said, our work isn’t done. We’re committed to making ongoing improvements and will continue rolling out fixes as we identify further opportunities for optimization.
Thank you for your feedback and reports, community input has been invaluable in helping us refine the experience. Please keep sharing your observations, and let us know if you experience a difference after this update.
Join Our AMA!
If you’re looking for real-time interaction with the devs, we’ll be hosting an AMA over on r/thefinals tonight, where some of our directors will be answering your burning questions. Drop by live or post your questions now and check back later to see if you got an answer!
After 31 years at PlayStation, Shuhei Yoshida left the company on January 15.
Balance Changes
Gadgets
Breach Charge
Decreased priming time from 1.9s to 1.5s
Dev Note: With the change to three ammo, the Charge’s priming time now feels a bit slow for its projectile count. This adjustment aims to improve that.
Frag Grenade
Decreased ammo from 2 to 1
Decreased damage from 150 to 140
Increased environmental damage from 600 to 900
Dev Note: Frag Grenades have been outperforming the RPG-7 in damage, ammo, and cooldown, which isn’t ideal. We also recognize that grenades can be a pain point for players. These adjustments aim to bring grenades more in line with other explosives while slightly buffing their impact on the environment.
Additionally, our goal is to increase the readability of grenades in the future, which should help alleviate some of the frustration. When that update arrives, we’ll revisit these changes and make any necessary adjustments.
Stun Gun
Temporarily disabled the Stun Gun’, pending a re-work that will release some time during season 6
Dev Note: The Stun Gun has long been a major pain point for players. Despite multiple adjustments, it remains overly punishing for those on the receiving end.
The gadget was always intended to be primarily for crowd control. However, it instead functions too often as a tool to secure a kill, leaving little room for counterplay. This is especially problematic for new players, as early encounters with the Stun Gun can be frustrating enough to impact their experience and desire to continue playing. To keep the game engaging and fair for all, we need to fix this.
After careful evaluation, we’ve made the call to fully rework the Stun Gun. Our goal is to refine its mechanics, visuals, and overall clarity so that when encountered in the Arena, its role is clear, fair, and impactful. To do this properly, we’re temporarily removing the Stun Gun while we work on delivering a better version that matches our vision.
All progression, skins and unlocks will carry over to the new version of the Stun Gun when it returns. For now, the gadget will be unavailable while we build a true crowd control tool that benefits the whole team and enables clutch plays, without the frustrations that held it back.
We hope to be able to put an improved Stun Gun back into your hands as soon as possible.
Weapons
General
We’ve improved animation timing so that manual actions (such as lever-action or pump-action sequences) now play more quickly after a quick melee attack, reducing dead time between actions. The impact of this change varies depending on the weapon’s specific animation set
Dev Note: Our fix for the manual action cancel exploit unintentionally made these weapons feel less responsive. This update should help improve that. We’re still reviewing manual actions and looking for ways to make them smoother while keeping them balanced.
After the failure of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, which is a live service game that departed from developer Rocksteady's usual output, some might be hoping that the studio returns to its roots.
Content and Bug Fixes
Animation
Fixed a rare case where contestants would be stuck in a T-pose when emoting
Audio
Added headshot elimination sound
Characters
We’ve updated the hand model to a new, improved version that looks significantly more realistic and detailed, enhancing the overall immersion
Controller
Fixed an issue where controller navigation would stop working in the main menu for party members who were not the party leader
Fixed an issue where controller navigation was broken in the Recently Played With tab
Cosmetics
Fixed hairstyle compatibility with the following cosmetics
Cabalgata Bolero
Ballad Brim Headwear
Multi-Mood Mask
Gameplay
Fixed an issue where destroying certain friendly gadgets incorrectly granted combat score
Resolved issues preventing item use, including weapons not dealing damage and grenades failing to explode
Doors now open automatically at lower sprint speeds, making movement smoother
Cashouts can now be vaulted and climbed on
Fixed an issue where some grenades and projectiles (e.g., Dome Shield, Anti-Gravity Grenade, Goo Projectiles) were larger than intended
Fixed a bug that could cause extreme respawn timer values for teams
Tournament modes
Fixed an issue where, upon elimination in later tournament rounds, loadout changes could sometimes be overwritten
Bernal
Fixed dark reflections in the foggy weather setting
Adjusted the angle of a rooftop tile that appeared walkable but was too steep to climb
Fixed two instances where multiple doors were overlapping in the same location
Kyoto
Kyoto destruction fix. Increased the floor’s resistance to impulse damage
Power Shift: Fixed an issue where players on the Bamboo Forest side would sometimes spawn in the wrong location at the start of the round
Skyway Stadium
Fixed the floating props in the market
Settings
Updated AMD FSR resolution scaling method to version 3.1.3 (not including Frame Generation which is still being worked on)
Specializations
Winch Claw
Updated the underlying physics of pulled objects, which should make their behaviour more consistent when dragged by the Winch Claw
Reduced the amount of physics force-pulled objects can apply to world objects, preventing them from launching items like Cashout Stations across long distances
Dev Note: We’ve seen players creatively using the Winch Claw to launch objects, sometimes sending Cashout Stations hundreds of meters across the map. While we love the ingenuity, this can disrupt game pacing and make stealing nearly impossible. These changes retain the core gameplay but limit how far objectives can be launched, keeping the flow of the game mode balanced.
Stability & Performance
Fixed a case where some world textures would remain blurry even though there was enough video memory to stream in higher quality
UI
Fixed an issue where some elements of the player cards were not rendered correctly
Fixed an issue where chat messages from club members displayed with double brackets
Updated the gamepad inventory layout for the following presets: Equipment Wheel, Modifier Button Equipping, and Directional Equipping. The new layout better matches the actual gamepad controls. If customized bindings no longer align with the new layout, it will revert to the previous horizontal layout
Fixed an issue where the Play button incorrectly displayed “World Tour” when matchmaking into a different mode
VFX
Fixed an issue where particle effects such as masks could persist on the ground after a contestant was eliminated
Fixed an issue where indestructible objects did not display a visual effect on melee impact to indicate their indestructibility
Security and Anti-cheat
Resolved EAC and OBS incompatibility issue for versions 30.1 and above
Relentless Game Studios has released New World: Aeternum update 1.000.010 today after the game’s downtime. Today’s update contains a small number of bug fixes like preventing players from getting stuck in powder kegs and more.
After the failure of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, which is a live service game that departed from developer Rocksteady's usual output, some might be hoping that the studio returns to its roots.
New World: Aeternum Update 1.000.010 Contains Helpful Bug Fixes
Release Notes
• Fixed an issue where players could get stuck in powder kegs.
• Updated potion consume animation to improve timing consistency.
• Roya appears at the end of the quest A Garden of Iron.
• Fixed a visual only bug that caused the player’s inventory attributes screen show high absorption values after using certain abilities
The developer also announced the following.
On 2/18 at 10 AM PT, worlds scheduled for retirement due to upcoming world merge will undergo maintenance. This will allow us to initiate prep work in advance of the coming merges on 2/25. Following this maintenance, players on retiring worlds will have the option to transfer themselves to another eligible world. Impacted Worlds: * Taurus (EU) * Asterion (EU) * Andrometus (EU) * Siren (EU) * Apus (EU) * Phoenix (EU) * Sagitta (EU) * Aaru (EU) * Cathaysia (US East) * Arctica (US East) * Kalahari (US East) * Kenorland (US East) * Cimmeria (US East) * Maramma (US East) * Bellatrix (US West) * El Nath (US West) * Cursa (SA East) * Pisces (AP Southeast)
Free transfers to other eligible worlds are now available to players on the above worlds. Thank you for your patience during this world merge prep maintenance.
MP1st will notify our readers when another update by Relentless is released.
Although AMD continues to keep quite on their upcoming Radeon RX 9070 and 9070 XT GPUs, it seems that they’ve recently sent out NDAs (non-disclosure agreements) to members of the press, detailing upcoming key dates.
If all is true, we’ll have full details on the upcoming RDNA 4 architecture, and the first AMD Radeon RX 9070 reviews will follow shortly after.
Nvidia has moved beyond just making graphics cards for gaming and is now a big name in AI technology.
It Won’t Be Long Before We Have A Date and Pricing for the RX 9070
We’re just ten days away from March 2025, and despite the silence, AMD plans to launch the RX 9070 early next month. There are so many questions that we’re still waiting for answers to, but the biggest is whether or not AMD can undercut Nvidia’s RTX 5000 series GPUs by offering a lower price tag with far better gains. Well, we might have an answer for that real soon, as NDAs have been sent out to multiple outlets, revealing the big RDNA 4 launch event, supposedly happening on February 28.
This was shared by the tech outlet VideoCardz, which received documentation of the NDA. Along with this date, March 5 is apparently when the review embargo for the RX 9070 is expected to lift, with the card launching on March 6. The docs do not mention if this is solely the RX 9070, or if it also includes the RX 9070 XT, the beefier variant of the RX 9070.
Coincidentally, the review embargo falls the same day as Nvidia’s RTX 5070 launch, which will be retailing for $549. How this card will stack up compared to Nvidia’s RTX 5000 series GPUs, we’ll that will be something we’ll find out soon enough. The general hope in the community is that despite AMD now chasing AI, they’ll be able to offer a GPU with solid specs, at a far more reasonable pricing than what Nvidia is currently offering. AMD’s lack of pricing reveal for the RX 9070 series has had many thinking that they were reconsidering their original MSRP, as if they surely do plan on being competitive with Nvidia, they’ll need to undercut them by a lot, while offering comparable, if not more performance than Nvidia’s mid-range cards in the RTX 5000 series.
It looks like all the rumors are true, as AMD has officially revealed the RX 9000 Series GPUs, which have an architecture built from the ground up to leverage AMD's new fancy AI-powered upscaler, FSR4.
A gamer at heart, James has been working for MP1st for the last decade to do exactly what he loves, writing about video games and having fun doing it. Growing up in the 90's gaming has been in his DNA since the days of NES. One day he hopes to develop his own game.
Surprising news has surfaced today, when members of the Marvel Rivals development team were laid off. Yes, the same Marvel Rivals that has been lording it over the multiplayer scene since it launched in December of last year.
The news surfaced from the LinkedIn profile of Thaddeus Sasser, a game director for Marvel Rivals’ R&D (Research & Development) team, which various members of Sasser’s team then corroborated.
A few weeks ago, we reported on what appears to be a Kraken-like creature spotted in the Marvel Rivals update files, suggesting PvE (Player vs.
Marvel Rivals Still Has a Game Director Contrary to Reports
Sasser’s statement reads:
This is such a weird industry…
My stellar, talented team just helped deliver an incredibly successful new franchise in Marvel Rivals for NetEase Games…
…and were just laid off!
Oh well! Times are tough all over – Let’s find these incredible people new jobs, because we all need to eat, right? 😀
Sasser continues his message in recommending Garry McGee, the Technical Designer of Marvel Rivals.
Now here’s where things get interesting, multiple outlets are reporting that Marvel Rivals has lost its game director, which is technically true and untrue. Confused? While Sasser is technically a game director, he is the director of the US-based team in Seattle, which according to him, was mostly the “R&D branch”
Over on the Marvel Rivals Discord, the game’s Community Manager has commented to provide clarity on the game’s development. While layoffs have indeed happened, the Community Manager named “James” spoke about today’s development to clarify a few things:
Theres only 1 Director, and that is Guangguang, I do not like false rumors being spread discrediting the work our team has poured in ever since development
Lets not reach an conclusion on workplace harassment when you dont even know what the structure is like within the rivals dev team. I’m simply saying this because it is phrased wrongly by the media initially, totally funny
While hearing about the layoffs are no doubt a blow to the game, we just want to clear things up that the game still has a game director. We’ve reached out to NetEase to seek further clarification on the layoffs, and we’ll update the article if we get a statement back.
We hope everyone affected gets to land on their feet as soon as possible.
In other news about Marvel Rivals, the game’s mid-season patch, which brings The Thing and Human Torch into the game, will be released this February 21. Stay tuned to MP1st; we’ll have the patch notes up once it’s live.
With the Season 1 patch of Marvel Rivals already installed and enjoyed by countless gamers worldwide, it also brings a new string of code to datamine that gives us a peek at the game's future.
Although it has been a year since Persona 3 Reload was released, Atlus isn’t quite ready to move from it, as their latest collaboration with PC components and peripherals maker HYTE sees an all-new Persona 3 themed PC gaming case.
Get ready to enter the Dark Hour, as HYTE’s Persona 3 Reload Y70 gaming case has arrived, along with some other Persona 3 Reload themed peripherals.
Hoyoverse is teaming up with PC cases, components, and accessories makers HYTE for an exciting collaboration, as their incredible dual chamber PC Case, the Hyte RDY Y70, is about to get an Honkai: Star Rail-themed makeover based on everyone's favorite hacker, Silver Wolf.
An Already Gorgeous PC Gaming Case Just Got Even Better
Normally, I’m not too big on PC cases with preset skins or wrappers, but even here, I can admire the gorgeous artwork over the glass panes. I think what does it for me, though, is the neon green markings and wording against the black color scheme. The clock on the back side really pops and adds a lot to what is usually left untouched in most cases. Pair this case up with some RGB fans and lighting strips and you got yourself one incredibly gorgeous setup.
So, I bet you’re wondering how much the HYTE Y70 case will set you back. Well, it ain’t the cheapest, as the current MSRP is $269.99. But given that the HYTE Y70 retails at $219.99, the bit of extra might well be worth it. Even so, if you are in a market for a new PC Case, the Y70, though on the expensive side, is an excellent all-rounder gaming case that not only offers a great deal of room to work out of, but also maintains some great airflow to help keep your components running nice and cool.
However, if you are looking for something on the cheaper end, the desk pads you saw in the trailer above both retail for $29.99.
All of these, plus the previous collaboration items (Y60 case and other desk pads) are available right now on the official HYTE website.
A gamer at heart, James has been working for MP1st for the last decade to do exactly what he loves, writing about video games and having fun doing it. Growing up in the 90's gaming has been in his DNA since the days of NES. One day he hopes to develop his own game.
