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Overwatch 2 Season 15 Now Live via Update 3.95; Patch Notes and More Listed

by Alex Co

February 18, 2025 3:15 pm in Title Updates and Patches

[summaraize]

What Blizzard Entertainment calls Overwatch 2′s “boldest gameplay evolution” is now live with the launch of Season 15: Honor & Glory! Those on consoles, you should see this as Overwatch 2 update 3.95 on last-gen (PS4/XB1), and OW2 download version 1.000.059 for those on PS5/XSX.

Players can expect Competitive Play updates, the return of loot boxes, the introduction of Perks and more. This is one of the biggest gameplay updates we’ve seen from the game, and the complete patch notes prove it.

Overwatch 2 Season 15 Brings the Biggest Gameplay Update for the Game

HIGHLIGHTS:

Upgrade. Adapt. Dominate… with Perks! Season 15 introduces Perks, the biggest evolution to Overwatch 2’s gameplay yet! Perks are available for all 42 heroes encompassing a total of 168 Perks to choose from that add depth, strategy, and a whole lot of excitement to every match.
A New Competitive Year Begins Start fresh with a rank reset! Everyone has a fresh slate to prove their skill and climb the ladder. Earn your bragging rights and show off every hard-fought victory with incredible rewards like Galactic Weapon Skins and all-new Weapon Charms.
Get Perked Up! Get ready for the Perked Up Event, a season-long celebration of the new Perks system and everything that makes Overwatch 2 special. The event includes weekly challenges to unlock up to 10 Loot Boxes and multiple opportunities to earn skins.
Premium Battle Pass: Locked and Loaded with Loot The Season 15 Premium Battle Pass is packed with new content that’ll make every match feel like a win. With the Premium Battle Pass, you can play with the fully customizable Mythic Pixiu Zenyatta skin, five Legendary skins, an epic skin and open two Legendary Loot Boxes.

Season 15 – Honor And Glory

Season 15 introduces Perks, Overwatch 2’s groundbreaking new gameplay feature that lets players unlock mid-match hero upgrades, providing more choice and strategy. With the launch of the 2025 Competitive Year, fresh rewards like Galactic Weapon Skins and exclusive charms await those who climb the ranks. Plus, weekly challenges in the Perked Up event offer exciting treasures, including Rainy Day Mercy and Legendary Loot Boxes. Don’t miss out on Mythic Pixiu Zenyatta and more as Overwatch 2 takes bold steps into its most exciting season yet!

New Mythic Skin – Pixiu Zenyatta

Inspired by the golden dragon Pixiu, the Mythic Pixiu Zenyatta skin combines godly beauty with unique customizations. This skin evolves as you do, featuring four progression levels, thematic sound effects, and an optional Gilded Aspect so you can dominate the battlefield in true divine style.

Loot Boxes Are Back

Get ready for the return of Loot Boxes, loaded with loot and surprises to expand your arsenal and bring the hype. Whether you’re new or a veteran hero, you’ll love the thrill of Loot Boxes to unlock new content as you progress through the Premium Battle Pass or when you earn loot boxes as you complete games every week! There will be two types of Loot Boxes that you’ll be able to earn, Loot Boxes and Legendary Loot Boxes.

Starting in Season 15, you can earn up to three Loot Boxes every week by completing up to 27 games each week with wins counting as double.
Starting in Season 15, you can earn a free Legendary Loot Box in the free track of the Battle Pass and an additional two Legendary Loot Boxes in the Premium Track of the Battle Pass.

Every Loot Box draws from a curated collection of Overwatch and Overwatch 2 cosmetic items.
Each box will drop four items when opened. The items you get are now randomly selected at the time of box opening.
Loot Boxes will prioritize giving you items you don’t already own.
If a Loot Box can’t avoid giving you any items you already own, the loot box will instead grant progress towards a bonus Loot Box.
At the start of each season, any unopened boxes from previous seasons will be automatically opened and all items dropped from them are added to your collection.

Drop Rates

On average, each rarity has the following chances of dropping per one Loot Box opened.

Legendary: 5.1%
Epic: 21.93%
Rare: 96.26%
Common: 97.97%

Guaranteed Drops

A Legendary item is guaranteed to drop within 20 consecutive box openings.
An Epic item is guaranteed to drop within five consecutive box openings.
At least one Rare item or better is guaranteed to drop in every box.

Each Legendary Loot Box is guaranteed to contain at least one Legendary item.

Drops Rates

On average, each rarity has the following chances of dropping per one Legendary Box opened.

Legendary: 100%
Epic: 21.93%
Rare: 96.26%
Common: 97.97%

Competitive Play Updates

It’s a whole new year for Competitive with Perks reshaping strategy, rank resets leveling the playing field, and stellar new Galactic Weapon Skins plus Weapon Charm rewards waiting at the top. Are you ready to rise? Show the world your skill and climb the ladder like never before—victory awaits.

Skill Rank Reset

The highest Ranks (Master, Grandmaster, and Champion) have been tuned to include a higher percentage of the player population once players are well calibrated.
Given the addition of Perks and the tuning of higher Tiers, this reset is designed to put players on an even playing field and give them a chance to climb even higher than ever before.
All ranks in Role Queue and Open Queue in Competitive Play have been reset to Unranked and all players will need to complete their respective 10 placement matches for each role.

Competitive Rewards

Galactic Weapon Variants can now be unlocked with Competitive Points, allowing you to reach for the stars while you rank up.
Jade Weapon Variants join Gold Weapon Variants as Legacy Rewards.
Legacy Rewards can be purchased with Legacy Competitive Points.
Competitive Weapon Charms will be awarded to players in Platinum and above in Season 16 based on your performance in Season 15.
End-of-season titles for Competitive Role Queue now include the role the rank was achieved in. Examples include Champion Tank, Champion Support, Champion Damage, and Open Queue Champion.

Competitive Point Conversion

All Competitive Points earned in the 2024 Competitive Year have been converted into Legacy Competitive Points.
Competitive Points can now be manually converted into Legacy Competitive Points when purchasing Weapon Variants.

Ranks on Portraits

Competitive Hero Portraits return to Competitive Play with Overwatch 2’s Rank icons, giving players that share their gameplay new opportunities to show off their skill.

Map Pool

Clash Maps Hanaoka and Throne of Anubis are removed from the Competitive Play pool.
All players can still play on all Escort, Hybrid, Control, Push, and Flashpoint maps.

General Updates

Voice Lines

Refactored ultimate voice lines to allow custom player-specific voice lines instead also being heard by opponents.
Mode-specific ultimate lines are now enabled to play game-wide for players with relevant skins equipped (ex. Warlock Ashe, Greek Gods skins, etc).
Custom ultimate lines are now enabled for several Mythic skins, with more to come in future patches.
Previously unused custom ultimate lines are now available for several other skins.

Emotes

Emotes can now be cancelled mid-animation shortly after they are activated.

Introducing Perks

Take your gameplay to the next level with Perks—Overwatch 2’s dynamic new mid-match upgrade system for Quickplay and Competitive. As the action heats up, unlock and choose game-changing abilities to amplify your hero’s power and evolve your strategy in real time. Adapt to every challenge, counter your enemies, and turn the tide of battle in your favor.

Perks are now enabled in Quick Play and Competitive modes.

How to gain Perk progress

Perk progress is gained by dealing damage, securing eliminations, and healing your allies. • Throughout the match, the rate at which you gain Perks will gradually increase. • When you eliminate an enemy who is at a higher perk level than you (full level), that elimination is also worth more Perk progress.

Swapping Heroes

When you swap heroes, your new hero will be set to level 1 with zero perk progress.
Your progress will be saved on any heroes that you play throughout the round though. So, if you played Tracer to Level 3 and got her Major Perk, when you switch back to Tracer you will be at Level 3 with your perks equipped.

Selecting Perks

There are multiple options available to select your perks into fit your personal play style.

Standard Selection: Hold down Left Alt on keyboard or up on the directional pad for controller, then aim at the left or right perk or press your shoulder buttons on controller to select.
Quick Selection: You can also set your own bindings to select your perks without bringing up the Perk selection user interface, which is great for once you’ve really gotten your perks down and don’t need the menu.
You can also bind your perk selection to be a toggle instead of holding by default.

Celebrate In Our Perked-Up Event

Celebrate the debut of Overwatch 2’s game-changing Perks system with the Perked Up Event, available all season long. Take on challenges to snag weekly rewards, including up to 10 Loot Boxes per week and Rainy Day Mercy! Plus, team up with the community via Twitch Drops and Support a Streamer to unlock Rainy Day Mei and Tracer. This limited time event runs from February 18 to April 22.

For season 15 only, players can earn up to an additional 10 loot boxes each week by completing up to 15 games with wins counting as double.
Challenges for Loot Boxes reset every week, so any loot boxes not earned in that week are missed out.

Hero Perks

Instead of hero balance updates, we’re opening up Season 15 with adding Hero Perks to all 41 heroes. Our intention is to give you some time to adapt to such a large shift for the game, but we’ll be monitoring to see if any perks need immediate tuning. So, check out each new perk and plan out new strategies and playstyles that can benefit your playstyle.

Tanks

Hero	Ability	Description
D.Va	Bunny Stomp	Call Mech’s damage radius is increased by 50%.
	Ejection Suit	Eject grants 75 temporary overhealth.
	Shield System	Convert 150 health to shields. Defense Matrix restores shields based on 25% of its damage absorbed.
	Heavy Rockets	Micro Missiles are swapped for Heavy Rockets which fire fewer projectiles with increased damage and explosion size.
Doomfist	One-Two	Hitting an enemy with Rocket Punch reloads all Hand Cannon ammo.
	Survival of the Fittest	The Best Defense grants 25 overhealth from eliminations and its max overhealth is increased by 50.
	Seismic Empowerment	Hitting 3 or more enemies with Seismic Slam empowers Rocket Punch.
	Power Matrix	Power Block absorbs projectiles for the first second of its duration.
Hazard	Off the Top	Violent Leap’s Slash deals 30% more damage to enemies above 250 health.
	Reconstitution	Jagged Wall hits charge Spike Guard with 25 energy, up to 50 extra.
	Anarchic Zeal	Spike Guard’s spikes gain 25% Lifesteal.
	Deep Leap	Violent Leap’s range is increased by 20%.
Junker Queen	Rending Recall	Recalling Jagged Blade from a stuck target refreshes its wound.
	Battle Shout	Commanding Shout fully reloads Scatter Gun and increases allied reload speed by 50%.
	Deep Wounds	Scattergun hits extend your wound durations on those enemies by 0.25 seconds.
	Savage Satiation	Carnage’s impact damage gains 100% lifesteal.
Mauga	Kinetic Bandolier	Overrun reloads up to 150 ammo while charging.
	Two Hearts	While on an objective, Mauga counts as 2 heroes and regenerates 20 health per second.
	Firewalker	Overrun ignites enemies hit.
	Combat Fuel	Critical hits grant Mauga 2 temporary overhealth on Cardiac Overdrive’s next use, up to 100 overhealth.
Orisa	Heat Dissipator	Primary Fire critical hits refund heat.
	Fleeting Bulwark	Fortify briefly grants an additional 100 overhealth when activated.
	Charged Javelin	Hold Secondary Fire to charge Energy Javelin, increasing its speed and knockback. Pierces enemies at full power.
	Protective Barrier	Convert Javelin Spin to instead launch a barrier.
Ramattra	Void Surge	Void Accelerator periodically releases a burst of 6 additional projectiles during continuous fire.
	Prolonged Barrier	Void Barrier’s duration is increased by 25%.
	Nanite Repair	Ramattra is healed for 50 health per second while within Ravenous Vortex.
	Vengeful Vortex	While Ravenous Vortex is airborne, use Secondary Fire again to detonate it, dealing 50 damage and pulling enemies downward.
Reinhardt	Crusader’s Resolve	While using Barrier Field, your passive health regeneration triggers 50% sooner.
	Fiery Uptake	Barrier Field is healed for 100% of Fire Strike’s damage dealt.
	Shield Slam	While Barrier Field is active, use Secondary Fire to damage and knockback enemies.
	Crushing Victory	Charge damage grants temporary overhealth for 50% of the damage dealt.
Roadhog	Scrap Hook	Chain Hook hits reload 2 ammo.
	Hog Toss	Pig Pen’s throw range is increased by 50%.
	Invigorate	Take A Breather rapidly increases Roadhog’s movement speed by 30%.
	Hogdrogen Exposure	Take A Breather also heals nearby allies for 50% of its healing.
Sigma	Kinetic Cycle	Absorbing projectiles with Kinetic Grasp also reduces Accretion’s cooldown.
	Massive Impact	Accretion’s knockdown duration increases to up to 3 seconds based on travel distance.
	Hyper Strike	Every 5 direct hits with Hyperspheres, your next successful Quick Melee levitates and knocks away enemies.
	Levitation	Activate and hold Double Jump to briefly levitate upward.
Winston	Short Circuit	Tesla Cannon deals 30% more damage to deployable objects.
	Heavy Landing	During Primal Rage, Jump Pack’s damage and area increase by up to 75% while airborne.
	Chain Lightning	Fully charged Secondary Fire hits bounce to up to 2 additional targets.
	Revitalizing Barrier	Barrier Projector heals allies within it for 30 health per second.
Wrecking Ball	Steamroller	Roll impacts deal 100% more damage to Tanks.
	Pack Rat	Health Packs heal an additional 100 health.
	Hang Time	Piledriver winds up longer, gaining air control and dealing up to 50% more damage.
	Transfer Efficiency	Reactivating Adaptive Shield reduces its cooldown by 1.5 seconds per ally affected and ally health gained is increased by 33%.
Zarya	Jump-Ups	Secondary Fire’s self-knockback is increased by 75%.
	Graviton Crush	Graviton Surge deals up to 30% of enemy max health as damage over time.
	Energy Lance	Particle Cannon’s beam pierces enemies while over 50 energy.
	Spotter	Projected Barrier activates ally health regeneration and increases their movement speed by 15%.

DAMAGE

Hero	Ability	Effect
Ashe	Rapid Fire	Unscoped shots gain 30% increased attack speed, but deal 15% less damage.
	Sidewinder	Coach Gun pushes Ashe and enemies 20% farther.
	Viper’s Sting	Hitting 2 consecutive scoped shots on a target deals 25 extra damage and reloads 2 ammo.
	Airburst	Dynamite has a 40% increased detonation radius while airborne and refunds 3 ammo when thrown.
Bastion	Smart Bomb	A-36 Tactical Grenade’s self-knockback is increased by 25% and no longer damages you.
	Armored Artillery	Configuration: Artillery grants 300 temporary overhealth.
	Lindholm Explosives	Configuration: Assault’s weapon slowly fires explosive shells instead of a rotary cannon.
	Self-Repair	Press Ability 2 to rapidly heal yourself.
Cassidy	Quick Draw	Fan the Hammer shots are individually controlled and can crit for 50% more damage.
	Past Noon	Deadeye refunds 30% Ultimate Charge if it fully expires.
	Gun Slingin’	Critical hits with Primary Fire reduce the cooldown of Combat Roll by 3 seconds.
	Bang Bang	Cassidy throws a second Flashbang that travels farther, but both Flashbangs deal 30% reduced damage.
Echo	Friendly Imaging	Duplicate can also target allies.
	Enhanced Duplication	During Duplicate, your clone’s first ultimate extends Duplicate’s duration by 3 seconds.
	Full Salvo	Sticky Bombs fires 50% more projectiles, but all Sticky Bombs deal 15% less damage.
	High Beams	Focusing Beam eliminations reset Flight’s cooldown.
Genji	Acrobatics	Swift Strike resets double jump.
	Dragon’s Thirst	Dragonblade swings gain 30% lifesteal.
	Blade Twisting	Swift Strike deals 25 additional damage over time when used shortly after an Elimination.
	Meditation	Regenerate 25 health per second while Deflect is active.
Hanzo	Sonic Disruption	Sonic Arrow hacks nearby Health Packs for 12 seconds.
	Scatter Arrows	Storm Arrows split into 3 new projectiles on their first ricochet and bounce 2 extra times.
	Dragon Fury	After hitting an enemy with Primary Fire, gain 25% attack speed for 1 second.
	Yamagami Technique	Wall Climb accelerates your Lunge cooldown by 250%.
Junkrat	Aluminium Frame	Steel Trap’s throw range is increased by 50%.
	Nitro Boost	During RIP-Tire, use Ability 1 to gain a quick boost of speed. Doing so reduces RIP-Tire’s damage by 50%.
	Frag Cannon	Frag Launcher’s projectile speed is increased by 40%, but its max ammo is reduced by 1.
	Tick Tock	Concussive Mine arms .5 seconds after landing, increasing damage by 50%, explosion radius by 50%, and health by 200%.
Mei	Chilling Reach	Primary Fire’s range is increased by 30%.
	Permafrost	Ice Wall’s duration and cooldown are increased by 2 seconds.
	Biting Cold	Secondary fire hits slow enemies by 15% for 1.5 seconds, stacking up to 30%.
	Cryo-Storm	Cryo-Freeze slows and deals 70 damage per second to nearby enemies.
Pharah	Drift Thrusters	Pharah can move while Barrage is active.
	Helix Shields	Convert 75 health to shields.
	Concussive Implosion	Concussive Blast’s knockback is inverted to a pull in.
	Fuel Stores	Jet Dash grants 50% fuel. Maximum overfuel is increased by 100%.
Reaper	Death’s Shadow	Shadow Step reloads Hellfire Shotguns and has 25% increased range.
	Soul Reaving	Collect Soul Globes from dead enemies to restore 50 health.
	Dire Triggers	Use Secondary Fire to fire a volley with long range accuracy from both Hellfire Shotguns.
	Ravenous Wraith	Leaving Wraith Form grants 40% additional lifesteal for 3 seconds.
Sojourn	Extended Mag	Maximum ammo increased by 15.
	Overcharged	Railgun’s maximum energy is increased by 50 while Overclock is active.
	Dual Thrusters	Power Slide gains an additional charge and its jump height shifts to lateral movement.
	Adhesive Siphon	Disruptor Shot can stick to enemies and generates Railgun energy when dealing damage.
Soldier: 76	Recycled Pulse Munitions	Helix Rockets reload 15 ammo if they damage an enemy.
	Field Emergency	Biotic Field’s healing is increased by 100% on critical health allies.
	Agility Training	Sprint’s speed is increased by 20% and Reload can be performed while Sprint is active.
	Stim Pack	Biotic Field can be used as a Stim Pack, increasing Attack Speed and Reload Speed by 30% while being unhealable for 4 seconds.
Sombra	Viral Efficacy	Virus’ cooldown is reduced by 3 seconds when an enemy affected by Virus is eliminated.
	CTRL ALT ESC	Teleporting with Translocator while at critical health initiates passive health regeneration.
	White Hat	Hack can be used on allies to restore 100 health over 2 seconds.
	Stack Overflow	Hack’s silence duration is increased by 100%, but its range is decreased by 30%.

Hero	Ability	Effect
Symmetra	Sentry Capacity	Sentry Turret gains an additional charge.
	Advanced Teleportation	Teleporter’s range is increased by 50%.
	Perfect Alignment	Primary Fire’s range increases by 15% with each additional charge level.
	Shield Battery	Symmetra regenerates 20 shields per second while within 10 meters of her teleporter.
Torbjörn	Craftsman	Forge Hammer can restore armor health to allies. Turret repair’s heal is increased by 25%.
	Fully Loaded	Activating Overload fully refills Rivet Gun’s ammo.
	Anchor Bolts	Deploy Turret’s throw range is increased by 50% and it can now attach to walls and ceilings.
	Overloaded Turret	Overload upgrades your Turret for 5 seconds, increasing its health and damage.
Tracer	Blink Packs	Health Packs restore 1 Blink charge.
	Blast from the Past	Pulse Bomb’s radius is increased by 50%.
	Flashback	Recall restores all Blink charges.
	Quantum Entanglement	Recall grants 50 overhealth that decays over time.
Venture	Seismic Sense	While underground, Venture can sense enemies within 25 meters.
	Excavation Exhilaration	While Tectonic Shock is active, cooldowns refresh 300% faster.
	SMART-R Excavator	SMART Excavator’s range is increased by 25%.
	Covered In Dirt	Dealing damage with Clobber grants up to 30 Explorer’s Resolve shields.
Widowmaker	Scoped Efficiency	Scoped shots cost 3 ammo instead of 5.
	Focused Aim	Scoped shots charge 50% faster during Infra-sight.
	Escape Plan	Scoped shot hits reduce Grappling Hook’s cooldown by up to 4 seconds.
	Deadly Deux	Venom Mine gains 50% increased damage and a second charge, enabling 2 active mines at a time.

SUPPORT

Hero	Ability	Effect
Ana	Groggy	Enemies waking from Sleep Dart are slowed for 2 seconds.
	Biotic Bounce	After exploding, Biotic Grenade bounces and explodes again for 50 damage and healing.
	Headhunter	Biotic Rifle can crit enemies.
	Shrike	Using Nano Boost also casts it on Ana.
Baptiste	Field Medicine	Immortality Field restores 80 health to nearby allies and 40 health to Baptiste when destroyed.
	Automated Healing	After placing Amplification Matrix, Shoulder Turret periodically heals 25 health per shot.
	Assault Burst	Regenerative Burst grants Baptiste 20% attack speed for 4 seconds.
	Rocket Boots	While airborne from Exo Boots, use Jump to dash horizontally.
Brigitte	Barrier Restoration	Shield Bash restores 100 health to Barrier Shield when it hits an enemy.
	Morale Boost	Inspire lasts 3 seconds longer when activated by Whip Shot.
	Quick Fix	Repair Packs instantly heal an additional 35 health to critical health allies.
	Whiplash	Whip Shot’s knockback can slam enemies into walls, dealing 50 extra damage.
Illari	Rapid Construction	Healing Pylon builds 300% faster and its cooldown is reduced by 1.5 seconds.
	Summer Solstice	Illari’s flight time during Captive Sun is increased by 3 seconds and her flight speed is increased by 20%.
	Solar Power	Fully charged Solar Rifle hits grant 12.5% of your max solar energy, overfilling up to 50%.
	Sunburn	Outburst ignites enemies, dealing an additional 70 damage over 3 seconds.
Juno	Familiar Vitals	Pulsar Torpedoes lock onto allies 35% faster.
	Hyper Boost	While using Glide Boost, passing through Hyper Ring pushes you forward.
	Master Blaster	Mediblaster can crit enemies.
	Re-Boots	Activating Glide Boost resets Double Jump.
Kiriko	Urgent Care	Healing Ofuda projectile speed is increased by 50% when seeking critical health allies.
	Fortune Teller	Kunai hits launch 2 Healing Ofuda to an ally in front of you.
	Shuffling	Swift Step can be used again within 4 seconds of its initial cast.
	Foxtrot	Protection Suzu grants 40% movement speed to allies for 2 seconds.
Lifeweaver	Cleansing Grasp	Life Grip cleanses negative effects.
	Life Cycle	While alive, regenerate 10 health per second. Upon death, drop a healing seed that heals allies for 250 health.
	Lifeweaving	Rejuvenating Dash adds 20 healing to your next Healing Blossom within 3 seconds.
	Superbloom	Thorns detonate for 30 extra damage when enough stick within 1.5 seconds.
Lúcio	Bass Blowout	Soundwave’s knockback is increased by 15%.
	Groovin’	Regenerate 4 ammo per second while wall riding.
	Noise Violation	Crossfade’s range is increased by 150% while Amp It Up is active.
	Accelerando	Lucio’s attack speed is increased by 50% while Amp It Up is active.
Mercy	Angelic Recovery	Mercy receives 15 health per second while Caduceus Staff is attached to a full health ally.
	Winged Reach	Guardian Angel’s range is increased by 30%.
	Chain Boost	Secondary Fire links to a second nearby ally.
	Flash Heal	Resurrect can be used on Caduceus Staff’s active target to restore 150 health.
Moira	Vanish	Fade’s duration is increased by 0.5 seconds.
	Uprush	Fade’s jump height is increased by 50%.
	Ethical Nourishment	Biotic Orb’s first 50 healing is instant on each ally it encounters.
	Contamination	Enemies being damaged by Biotic Orb receive 25% reduced healing.
Zenyatta	Zenith Kick	Snap Kick’s knockback distance is increased by 30%.
	Ascendance	Activate and hold Double Jump to hover for up to 3 seconds.
	Focused Destruction	Secondary Fire charges 20% faster and can store 1 extra Orb of Destruction.
	Duality	Zenyatta heals Orb of Harmony targets for 20% of his damage dealt to Orb of Discord targets.

Bug Fixes

General

Fixed a bug where players were unable to rename highlights when saving them.
Fixes a bug where Voice Line Icons would sometimes appear over prestige tiers in the battle pass.
Fixed a bug where the Drives Signature VFX would sometimes extend off the nametag.
Fixed a bug where the final score would sometimes not appear in ranked games.

Heroes

Fixed a bug where Hazard’s Jagged Wall projectiles would not respect barrier.

Given the scope of this patch, I would be very surprised if we don’t get a follow-up update from Blizzard soon, once they’ve checked the feedback.

Tags: Overwatch Overwatch 2

Alex Co

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

Home > Title Updates and Patches

Diablo 4 New Update 1.077 Ushers in Patch 2.1.2 for Base Game, Vessel of Hatred Improvements

by Alex Co

1:28 pm in Title Updates and Patches

[summaraize]

Blizzard has released patch 2.1.2 for Diablo 4 on PC and consoles this February 18, and this is a significant patch that slots in improvements and fixes related to the base game, the Vessel of Hatred DLC, Season of Witchcraft and more. Those on consoles, you should see this as Diablo 4 update 1.077 on PS5, Xbox Series X|S.

For those on PS5 and XB1, you’ll see the file as Diablo 4 download version 1.77, with the official patch notes available below.

Diablo 4’s New Update Released This February 18 Implements Significant Amount of Fixes

Vessel of Hatred

Bug Fixes

Fixed an issue where the Bloodhorn boss at the end of the Forgotten Remains dungeon could become unkillable when transitioning to the second phase of the encounter.
Fixed an issue where Portable Anvils created by a Scroll of Forging could prevent interaction with other interactable objects if placed near one.

Base Game

Game Updates

Season of Witchcraft

A new Nightmare Dungeon Affix has been added to guarantee a Forgotten Altar Spawn. This affix will only be an option on Nightmare Dungeon Sigils for the remainder of Season of Witchcraft.
Dorian the Raven, introduced in Season of the Witchcraft, has welcomed you to his unkindness—you may now pet him.
The tooltip for Decay Augmentation has been adjusted from referencing “Effects” to “Powers” to clarify that the Decay Augmentation specifically works off Witch Powers and not anything modified by a Witch Power.

Miscellaneous

The change in Patch 2.1.1 that prevented movement while channeling the Druid’s Lacerate skill has been reverted.

Developer’s Note: We have heard feedback about how this change limited the desired functionality of Lacerate. The change has been reversed and we’re considering further improvements for Lacerate in the future.

Bug Fixes

Accessibility

Fixed an issue where the Social filter button was not read by the Screen Reader.

Season of Witchcraft

Update 2/14: Fixed an issue where Twilight Warding could cause players to damage to themselves. This power will be re-enabled when this update goes live.
Fixed an issue where the Counter didn’t properly display Harvest Whisper progress.
Fixed an issue where Hex of Whispers cleansed active Ritual effects from a Roothold encounter.
Fixed an issue where the Unique Coven Crate did not always grant a Unique Item.
Fixed an issue where the reward Cache for finishing Chapter IV of the Season Journey incorrectly stated that it would reward a Scroll of Restoration.
Fixed an issue where the Season Journey objective for earning 750 Aether in a single Infernal Hordes run would not be achieved if the final amount of Aether earned was through an Infernal Offer.
Fixed an issue where the Season Journey objective for defeating Lair Bosses while in a party would reset after defeating a Lair Boss while not in a party.
Fixed an issue where Exposed Roots could rarely fail to spawn during Shepard bounties in Headhunt Zones.
Fixed an issue where the Headhunt HUD timer would not be removed if the player teleported into Infernal Hordes from a Headhunt Zone.
Fixed an issue where monsters could spawn in towns near an active Headhunt Zone in certain circumstances.

Gameplay

Fixed an issue where the Unique Power roll for Fractured Winterglass, Malefic Crescent, and Arreat’s Bearing did not benefit from Greater Affixes, and could roll lower than expected.

Developer’s Note: This fix will also retroactively apply to existing instances of these items.

Fixed an issue where the impact warning visual effect for Ashava’s Slam attack did not display properly.
Fixed an issue where the Druid’s Wolves were not applying Fortify with the Ferocious Wolf Pack upgrade.
Fixed an issue where the damage from Ring of Mendeln was not properly scaling with all of the bonuses that it should.
Fixed an issue where completing a Pit run within a certain time that should count for unlocking additional Pit Tiers did not unlock the expected number of Tiers.
Fixed an issue where one Echo attack could immediately follow another in certain scenarios during a Pit boss encounter.
Fixed an issue where Echo of Lilith could repeatedly use her Death from Above ability if Staggered immediately after she landed.

User Interface and User Experience

Fixed an issue where the icon on an item denoting it’s a part of an Armory loadout would persist on items even if they were no longer part of a loadout.
Fixed an issue where items could not be marked as Favorite or Junk if they were part of an Armory Loadout.
Fixed an issue where Party Finder listings for the Pit or Undercity of Kurast appeared joinable while the activity was in-progress.

Developer’s Note: These listings will not be automatically delisted when a run is in progress but can’t be joined during an active run.

Fixed an issue where entering a space in the Character Name field could cause the field to malfunction.
Fixed an issue where bonuses to Minion Damage did not appear correctly in the Character Stats Window.
Fixed an issue where the first input when playing on controller would not function in the Modify Items section of the Wardrobe for Necromancer, Druid, and Sorcerer.
Fixed an issue where Gems could appear as unsalvageable in the Salvage menu.
Fixed an issue where the Modify Pigment button in the Wardrobe did not function properly in certain scenarios.
Fixed an issue where the tooltip for Barbarian’s Aggressive Resistance did not update as it was upgraded.

Miscellaneous

Fixed an issue where the player would be charged currency twice for opening a portal to the Pit.
Various stability, performance, visual, audio, and UI improvements.

That’s the complete list of changes from Bizzard. We’ll let our readers know when another one is released.

Tags: diablo diablo iv

Alex Co

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

Home > News

Rocksteady Developing New Third-Person Open-World Game With Melee Combat, Job Listing Reveals

by Taha

12:10 pm in News

[summaraize]

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.

A job listing by Warner Bros. Discovery seems to suggest this, as it talks about making a third-person action game with an open world and melee combat, which would be a perfect fit for a new Batman title.

Could Rocksteady Be Bringing the Dark Knight Back?

The job listing on the company’s website is for the role of game director for Rocksteady’s next project. Among the required skills, the listing asks for “design leadership and experience across multiple genres, particularly Third-Person Action, Melee Brawlers, and Open World Traversal games.”

This job description matches perfectly with the Batman: Arkham series, but of course, it could also apply to many other types of games, so it’s important to take everything with a grain of salt. However, this job listing further adds support from a Bloomberg report claiming that Rocksteady is working on a new single-player Batman game.

That said, considering that the work on Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League has only recently finished, it’s likely that we will have to wait a few years before we find out what Rocksteady is working on. Last year in September, there was also a rumor that surfaced that Rocksteady was working on a new Batman game as well, which seems more and more likely.

In other news, WB Games President Jean-Briac Perrette stated that the company plans to focus on free-to-play and mobile games. This shift is an effort to move away from the “volatility” of traditional AAA console titles.

Thanks, HMHdunkirk!

Tags: Rocksteady Rocksteady Studios Warner Bros Warner Bros. Games

Taha

Television kills your vision.

Home > News

Shuhei Yoshida Was Forced to Accept Indie Job or Quit Sony; Didn’t Believe Kutaragi Could Succeed With Original PlayStation

by Taha

11:13 am in News

[summaraize]

After 31 years at PlayStation, Shuhei Yoshida left the company on January 15. Before retiring, he was put in charge of the PlayStation Indies section. While he did an excellent job, it turns out this role was not something the former PlayStation executive sought after.

In a recent interview with VentureBeat, Yoshida shared that Jim Ryan pushed him to take over the indie games division, focusing specifically on promoting and supporting indie titles for PlayStation. Yoshida had no other choice but to accept the role or leave the company

Shuhei Yoshida Was Forced to Accept Indie Role

Shuhei Yoshida revealed that he didn’t have much of a choice when Jim Ryan asked him to take over the indie games. He could either accept the role or leave. But Yoshida cared deeply about the future of PlayStation and indie games, and he truly wanted to make a difference.

He explained that the shift from managing internal productions to handling indie games was an even bigger change for him than leaving the company this year. Feeling fortunate, Yoshida found that the indie community, including the publishers and developers he worked with, trusted his ability to help them. As a result, he became a consultant for some of these companies and continues collaborating with respected indie publishers and developers.

Yoshida also explained why Jim Ryan made him take on this role: it was about rebuilding the relationship with indie developers. Ryan needed someone reliable and well-liked to fix the mistakes made during the PS4 era.

In the same interview, Yoshida also reflected on his early days at Sony, revealing that he didn’t initially believe that Ken Kutaragi could pull off his ambitious plan to create workstation-level 3D graphics on a $500 game console. At the time, it seemed like a risky and uncertain venture.

However, Yoshida’s former boss urged him to join the project, and despite his doubts, he decided to take the plunge into the unknown. This decision led him to become one of the first 80 people to work on the PlayStation, a move that would ultimately help shape the future of gaming.

In other news, Former PlayStation CEO Shawn Layden believes the PS6 won’t be completely discless, despite the PS5 Pro’s digital-only version.

Tags: Ken Kutaragi PlayStation Shuhei Yoshida Sony

Taha

Television kills your vision.

Home > News

Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii Review – Shiver Me Timbers!

by James Lara

10:10 am in News

[summaraize]

Ahoy mateys! Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is finally here, and it’s time to swap your Yakuza suit for a pirate’s coat as you set sail for the wildest adventure yet. Say goodbye to the neon lights of Kamurochō and hello to the tropical chaos of Hawaii, where treasure, danger, and a whole new breed of crime await. But who better to lead the charge on this high-seas journey than none other than the Mad Dog himself, Goro Majima? With his unpredictable nature and love for chaos, Majima perfectly fits a pirate’s life.

So hold tight, Kiryu-chan, because I have a feeling we’re not in Kamurochō anymore. From battling rival gangs to uncovering hidden treasures, this game brings the heart-pounding action and quirky humor Yakuza fans love, all set in a vibrant, sun-soaked world. Whether you’re plundering, brawling, or sailing the Pacific, Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is an unexpected adventure that promises to leave you hooked from start to finish.

The Mad Dog of the Sea

Six months after the events of Like a Dragon Infinite Wealth, Goro Majima, the Mad Dog of Shimano, finds himself washed up on the shores of a remote island somewhere outside of Hawaii. How’d he get here? Well, that’s a mystery even to himself, as the now-retired Yakuza has seemingly been struck with a case of amnesia, unable to remember anything of his past life. He doesn’t remember being a Yakuza, managing a construction site and hostess club, or any of the people and friends he met before this moment. Not even his neverending lust for battle with Kazuma Kiryu, the series’ previous protagonist, remains as he’s practically a blank slate outside of his basic instincts and understanding of his situation.

He soon encounters a boy named Noah, and after a brief conversation, the duo is attacked by a ravenous group of pirates. Though pieces of Majima’s past slowly come back to him, he accepts that this is his life now, where he lives in a world of pirates, and to survive, he must become the top dog. To do so, though, he’ll need a pirate ship of his own, along with a crew of loyal and sleazy scumbags, to venture the seven seas in search of the ultimate treasure.

At its heart, Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is as much of a spinoff as you can probably get while still being connected to the main continuity. It’s not Dead Souls, the spinoff Zombie game, or Ishin that saw our main characters taking on the role of historical characters during the Bakumatsu era (set during the 1860s), both spinoffs but non-canon. But it’s also not Like a Dragon: Gaiden, which, while a spinoff, served more as a bridging between Like a Dragon and Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth as it explored what Kazuma Kiryu was doing leading up to Infinite Wealth.

Instead, Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is more of a standalone adventure that briefly touches upon the main continuity. You don’t need prior knowledge of previous games because Majima doesn’t remember anything himself. However, avid fans will come to appreciate the nods and even additional story lore that ties back into Infinite Wealth and past entries. Ultimately, the story of Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii remains mostly a closed-off adventure as it features an entirely new cast of characters outside of Majima.

In many ways, it’s a fresh start for the character, though if you think he’s lost any of the personality he’s garnered throughout the series, you’d be mistaken—those who loved him in both Yakuza 0 and Yakuza Kiwami 2, will undoubtedly love what he brings to the table in this new spinoff.

While Kazuma Kiryu will always remain one of my favorite gaming characters, I’ve always gravitated toward Goro Majima as more relatable. There’s a reason why he’s called the Mad Dog, as his bite is brutally vicious, enacting some of the bloodiest violence we’ve seen from a character in the series. But anyone who’s played the before-mentioned titles knows that deep down, Majima isn’t the bad guy he tries to paint himself as. Underneath his cold stares and bloodlust, there’s a caring man, one who’s been emotionally wounded from past events. He knows what he’s doing is wrong, but he also knows there are lines even he won’t cross. He isn’t afraid to let his emotion show either, and when the time calls, he can be just as noble and heroic as Kiryu. The series has always had him be this chaotic force to Kiryu’s stoic heroism, but when Yakuza 0 was released in 2015, that all changed, and it gave us one of the most tragic characters in the franchise. It gave us a side of Majima that we had never seen before and an understanding of his chaotic nature.

Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii gives us more of that, a character who is conflicted between right and wrong, who knows that sometimes you must do something dirty to achieve something good. He’s a character who protects those who need protection but isn’t afraid to sacrifice his good nature to do so. He’s a force not to be reckoned with.

Though I wish this game served more as a bridge to the next mainline in the Like a Dragon franchise, the amnesia aspect of the story really works in favor of it as it allows Majima to return to a character we’ve not seen in over a decade. He’s emotionally charged, the opposite side of the coin of Kiryu, and if anyone was going to take up the mantle of being the main character, I always thought it would be him. Of course, that mantle belongs to Ichiban from Like a Dragon, but as far as continuing the brawler line of the games, Majima is the perfect successor to take over for the Dragon.

His solo adventure proves that as Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is every bit of what I hoped to see from the character regarding the story. It’s a tale filled with tragedy that, at times, will melt your heart while also offering some of the most fun the series has ever had with a main character. Majima’s electrifying personality steals the show, and the pirate-themed aspect is one that Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio has loads of fun with.

But I do gotta give my pirate hat to the rest of the cast, who all serve as excellent supporting members. Though that’s to be expected of a Yakuza/Like a Dragon game, where they’ll filled with over-the-top soap opera drama that you can’t help but immerse yourself in. And despite this being a spinoff, there are some big names, the most notable being American professional wrestler Samoa Joe. He’s fantastic as the Pirate King Raymond Law, bringing a cold, violent, and calculated villain to life that even has Majima being pushed to the edge of how crazy he has to get.

Usually, I’d play these games with Japanese audio, but I decided to play through the entire game in English this time. There are some rough performances, such as in Infinite Wealth, but Matthew Mercer does knock it out as Majima. There’s a ton of range in his voice that can express many different emotions, and it shows really well here. Mind you, Hidenari Ugaki, who voices Majima in Japanese, brings a level to the character that no one will ever top, but for the English dubbing, Mercer does a great job at capturing that manic range of emotions that Majima can switch from on the fly. Certainly, he gives a better impression than Kiryu’s English dub, especially in karaoke, as Mercer lets it all out, clearly having fun with the character at any chance he can get.

Overall, the story is pretty solid as long as you go in expecting a spinoff tale. Mind you, there are moments where the pacing is off due to some of the forced tutorials. The campaign took me about 16 hours to beat, longer than Gaiden took me but way shorter than Infinite Wealth. I know tutorials and them taking a good chunk of the game have always been a thing in the Yakuza series, but I wish they were shorter and less frequent in a considerably shorter spinoff experience.

Full Sail Ahead

The gameplay is probably the biggest thing that fans are likely looking forward to in this spinoff. I know I was, as we’d finally get to play as Majima again after so many years. The first time we got to play as him was Yakuza 0, followed by Kiwami 2, and the impression he left on the fan base has been one that has had them dreaming of the featured game with him ever since — and we finally got it here, so how does the Mad Dog play? Well, great, but not as perfect as I’d hoped.

For the most part, the combat feels good, with two fighting styles available: Mad Dog and Sea Dog. Mad Dog is your traditional brawler stance that we’ve seen from Majima, where he’s fast and cunning, capable of dodging at a rapid pace while slicing enemies up with razor-sharp knives. Even though Majima is pushing 60 here, his fighting abilities are unwavering, being able to take out a ton of baddies in one fell swoop with his knives. In addition to the series’ staple heat actions, Mad Dog also has what is essentially an ultimate called Doppelgangers, which lets him summon shadow-like clones of himself. In addition to the combos that Majima can perform alone, you can tag team with the Doppelgangers and perform various combos and tag-team attacks.

Sea Dog, as the name suggests, is pirate-based, seeing Majima sporting two swords in combat. Despite Mad Dog being faster-paced, Sea Dog also offers quick action attacks, but they’re more geared towards clearing multiple enemies. His swords have a far wider range of attacks, capable of hitting multiple enemies simultaneously. He can throw them, too, and while they’re spinning around and returning to him like a boomerang would, he can attack enemies with his bare fists to leave you with a way to defend yourself. Sea Dog also has access to a grappling hook and gun, allowing combat to be played at a range while also allowing you to close the gap between enemies. Like Mad Dog, Sea Dog also can summon, though in this case, they’re actually monsters like a hoard of blood thirsty sharks.

Don’t worry; all the wacky and unbelievable stuff is explained, much like how it’s explained that Ichiban is imagining the turned-base combat from Like a Dragon and Like a Dragon Infinite Wealth.

In general, both fighting stances are very welcomed additions to Majima’s crazy persona. They’re exactly how you’d expect them to play, and the sheer hows of combat you’ll play through are pleasantly fun. It gets better once you start tinkering with the skill unlocks, which is similar to how it’s been in past games. Chaining combos and juggling enemies around are reminiscent of Devil May Cry, though not as varied as it is. It’s close, but I felt two mechanics needed more time in the oven: the dodge/quickstep and the jump.

Traditionally, the dodging/quickstep was mapped to X (PlayStation controller, but with Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii, the series introduces jumping for the very first time, taking up the X binding. Dodging is now performed by holding the stance button (R1) and then pressing X. It’s not the most complicated thing, but when you’ve been so used to the way it was before, and how many other brawler/hack and slash games have it mapped to one button, it just feels out of place. I found myself jumping around in combat more times than I wanted to. Sadly, there’s no way to remap this function, as I would have gladly mapped, say grappling, to L2, which occupies the camera reset, which could have been mapped to R3, which has no function and has the dodge just be the circle button instead.

It’s a minor complaint, but it could have made all the difference. One big change in this iteration is that it introduces musou (large battles) style battles, where the enemy count can be anywhere from your traditional few enemies to the twenties and even one hundred at times. It can be chaotic, but the fights themselves are really fun. But the dodge mapping always felt like a constant annoyance.

These battles also highlighted my issue with jumping. While it is a welcomed addition, I dislike how it is a mechanic associated with dodging firearms. It works fine when you’re up against three to five enemies at a time because you can keep an eye on the off-screen enemies, but when there are tens of them all bunched up together, it can become hard to keep track of those longer-range enemies. There is an audio cue that gets played when they’re about to fire, but when you’re dealing with a bunch of enemies up close, shifting from dodging to a jump because they’re mapped on the same button can more times than not cause you to mess up.

In the end, the combat is still very fun, which is about what you’d expect, though I do feel a little more tweaking to the dodging and jumping could have solidified it as the best classic combat in the series. What I will say, though, is that it is undoubtedly the biggest surprise, and personally, my favorite aspect of the game is the naval battles.

The Yakuza/Like a Dragon series has always been a weird one. On the one hand, you have a very serious crime drama unfolding with some of the most emotional moments in gaming. On the other hand, you get things like Carbinent managing, Sicko Snap (a mini-game about taking photos of muscular men in undies while you ride a trolly cart), Suiljimon (pokemon clone, but with real people), and other things. In Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii, you get Assassin’s Creed Black Flag’s naval combat, and surprisingly, it probably has the best maritime battles we’ve seen in a game since Black Flags. This says a lot because this is the most random spinoff game in the series, san Dead Souls, a non-canon zombie spinoff, and it’s out here doing something better than what Ubisoft tried to achieve with Skull and Bones.

Sailing the sea, exploring the ocean, and visiting islands for lost treasures are things I didn’t expect I’d enjoy so much from a Like a Dragon game, and yet I did. But it was coming into contact with other pirates that I found myself having the most fun, as the epic music would kick in, with me and the rest of my pirate crew sailing head-on against a group of other pirates. Controlling the ship is easy, as is the combat itself. You can even boost and rail into other ships, fire canons, and use machine guns (this is modern-day, after all). You can upgrade your ship with new weapons, such as a flamethrower or laser beams.

There’s a crew system where you can assign crew members to man certain parts of the ship and appear during specific phases of fights. If you take on too much damage, you can step away from controlling the ship to mend your ship mid-battle and assist downed allies. Crew members can earn levels so they become more efficient, though it’s not super crazy by any means. There’s ship boarding, too. Whenever you come in contact with an elite ship, you can board their ship once you’ve done enough damage and take the fight to them.

It’s done so well, and in all honesty, I hope this isn’t something that stays within the spinoff, as it would be very welcomed in a mainline entry. Not that it would be out of place either when you got plenty of mini-games that are just as, if not more, outlandish.

This Will Be the Day You Almost Caught Captain Goro Majima

Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii may not be moving the series forward in much regard to its gameplay and story, but at the end of the day, it does what it sets out to do. It’s fun and provides fans with a wild, over-the-top adventure full of eccentric characters, absurd humor, and dramatic plot twists. If you wanted to spend more time in Hawaii after Infinite Wealth, Like a Dragon Yakuza in Hawaii has you covered, offering a unique spin on the Yakuza formula while keeping things as entertaining and chaotic as ever

Score: 8/10

Pros

It’s a fun spinoff story that brings new ideas to the franchise while expanding on some of the established lore from previous entries.
Though not perfect, the combat is excellent and, most of all, fun.
The naval combat was done surprisingly well. Some of the best we’ve seen in a game since Assassin’s Creed Black Flags.
There are tons of side missions, and anyone who knows anything about the franchise knows just how good these can be.
Goro Majima is the perfect character for this game, further cementing that we need more games with him.
The English dub is overall solid. Somoa Joe is fantastic in his role as the Pirate King.

Cons

Forced tutorials that appear too often and overstay their welcome, especially given how shorter the game is compared to mainline entries.
The visuals are somewhat rough at times. More specifically, the daytime comes off as oversaturated, where it’s super bright. Nighttime, and darker environments, along with cutscenes, don’t have this issue. This may be a bug of sort, and hopefully gets addressed.

Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii review code was provided by the publisher for review purposes. You can read MP1st’s review and scoring policy right here.

Tags: Like a Dragon Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii Review Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio

James Lara

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.

Home > Title Updates and Patches

Valorant Update 10.03 Patch Notes Reveals Everything New

by Alex Co

10:00 am in Title Updates and Patches

[summaraize]

Riot Games has revealed the Valorant update 10.03 patch notes this February 18, though the patch download itself will be available on PCs and consoles tomorrow, February 19.

There are platform-specific changes, Agent updates and more detailed below. While the actual download isn’t live yet, we assume this will show up as version 1.000.029 on consoles once it’s out.

Valorant’s Latest Patch Houses Various Fixes Touching the Gameplay, Agents, and Social System

ALL PLATFORMS

AGENT UPDATES

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.

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.

Again, don’t forget: This patch will not be live on consoles and PCs until tomorrow, February 19, due to a holiday at Riot Games.

Tags: valorant

Alex Co

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

Home > Title Updates and Patches

Rainbow Six Siege Update 2.94 Released for Anti-Cheat Adjustments; Y10S1 Designer Notes Released

by Alex Co

9:40 am in Title Updates and Patches

[summaraize]

Ubisoft has released a hotfix for Rainbow Six Siege this February 18 during the game’s short maintenance downtime. While there is no new content introduced, we are getting updates to the Anti-Cheat. Players should see this as Rainbow Six Siege update 2.94 (version 1.000.099 on PS5/XSX), and should be a small download on all platforms.

Alongside that, Ubisoft has also talked about Y10S1 and why there won’t be balance changes included with the patch.

Rainbow Six Siege’s Anti-Cheat Gets Updates With New Patch Released on February 18, 2025

Ubisoft announced only one thing regarding today’s patch: “A hotfix will be deployed today, February 18th. This update includes multiple Anti-Cheat fixes.”

The downtime is expected to last 60 minutes and should be over by the time you read this.

Players can expect another massive update to be released for the game sometime next month via Operation Prep Phase. It will feature a new Attacker in Rauroa, which uses the D.O.M Launcher as her specialty gadget.

For those looking for another round of balance changes, that won’t be part of the roll out of Season 10. Today, Ubisoft has explained the reasoning behind it with the Y10S1 Designer Notes.

R6 Siege Y10S1 Designer Notes Explain Balance Situation

Ubisoft states, “We have decided to let the game stabilize for a bit longer than usual in preparation for everything coming and start the new Siege era with more stable data overall. Every patch we release, even though we are building towards a fixed direction, adds more entropy into the mix, making it harder to evaluate the impact of every change. ”

The devs add, “When we see operators with very high presence, we see a reduction on variety. Playing and facing the same operators repeatedly can be boring and feel repetitive. Their ideal presence is around 13%, even though we don’t aim strictly for this. If every operator were in their sweet spot data-wise, it would mean that everyone is viable in all situations, making operator selection feel meaningless. This is why we intend to make them situational, so the map, site, intel available, and team composition determine who is the best option. Every operator must be strong in the right situation but with flaws in the wrong one. On the other hand, operators with extremely low presence might be boring, not impactful enough, or simply not fitting into the current meta. And our approach is different depending on the reason.”

You can read the full report of the Designer Notes here.

That’s not all. Siege X has also been announced. The full reveal will last three hours and is set to air on March 13.

Stay tuned for more Rainbow Six Siege coverage here on MP1st, as we’ll be reporting on just what Siege X is once we know more.

Tags: Rainbow Six Rainbow Six Siege

Alex Co

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

Home > Title Updates and Patches

Sniper Elite Resistance Update 1.005 Released for New Content, Comprehensive List of Fixes

by Alex Co

9:20 am in Title Updates and Patches

[summaraize]

Rebellion is back with another patch for Sniper Elite Resistance this February 18. Compared to the patch released last week, Sniper Elite Resistance update 1.005 is a major update, adding new content and a huge list of fixes touching on each mission’s litany of bugs and more.

For the new content, players can expect a couple of new maps all released for free. If you’re still playing on last-gen platforms, this should appear as Sniper Elite Resistance download version 1.05.

Sniper Elite Resistance’s New Update Brings Free New Content via Patch 1.005

New Content

Free all-new Alpine Gorge No Cross map
Free Sniper Elite 5 classic Pest Control Survival map
Free Sniper Elite 5 classic Alpine Resort Deathmatch map

Fixes

General

On PC, mouse and keyboard settings affecting performance and FPS issues have been resolved – this was most commonly reported during Kill Cams
Issue with the player spawning with a low number of bullets has been resolved
Weapon unlock issues resolved for the K98
Fixed weapon visual issues for M1935 and M1911
Improvements to the quality of the localisation
Fixed an issue with the inventory which resolved:
- Key items some being unusable after picking up
- Pickups sometimes registering as the wrong item type
Harry’s contextual dialogue has been reduced to make him less chatty – this does not affect mission specific dialog
Medal and achievement bug fixes including “Pistol Perfectionist” and incorrect labelling on Assault on Fort Rouge
Fixed an issue in which players were not able to pick up the K98 after being dropped by enemies
Fixed an issue with some weapons not appearing on the back of certain character skins
Various UI improvements (fixing overlapping text)
Improvements to game stability on all platforms

Mission 1 – Behind Enemy Lines

Fixed various collision bugs (to resolve the player walking through assets and getting stuck, or to allow the player to traverse somewhere that looks traversable)
Fixed an issue with enemies shooting through a wall
Removed unnecessary traversal prompts
Fixed an issue in which tutorial pop ups were reappearing
Visual improvements to cutscenes
Water has been improved

Mission 2 – Dead Drop

Fixed an issue with a window that could not be climbed through
Fixed various collision bugs (to resolve the player walking through objects and getting stuck, or to allow the player to traverse somewhere that looks traversable)
Added missing vaulting prompts, and removed unnecessary traversal prompts including those that allowed the player to go out of intended play space
Fixed various objects that were floating
Fixed issue with the eagle at the top of the fort not breaking
Fixed issues with invisible walls blocking throws
Fixed a dialogue event issue
Fixed various texture issues
Fixed a number of staircase clipping issues

Mission 3 – Sonderzuge Sabotage

Fixed various collision bugs (to resolve the player walking through assets and getting stuck, or to allow the player to traverse somewhere that looks traversable)
Fixed tagging issues with explosive barrels
Fixed an issue with Claude De Ronde leaving the kill area
Fixed an issue with enemies shooting through a wall
Improved player messaging for “Search for Clues on the Superweapon” objective
Fixed various assets that were floating
Fixed various texture issues

Mission 4 – Collision Course

Fixed unclimbable vine
Fixed an issue in which if you knocked out the scientist and reloaded the save, the mission would be soft-locked
Fixed various collision bugs (to resolve the player walking through objects and getting stuck)
Added missing vaulting prompts, and removed unnecessary traversal prompts
Fixed various texture issues
The visual quality of the water has been improved

Mission 5 – Devil’s Cauldron

Fixed various collision bugs (to resolve the player walking through objects and getting stuck, or to allow the player to traverse somewhere that looks traversable)
Fixed unclimbable net and ladder
Fixed an issue with a seam allowing the player to see out of play space
Added missing vaulting prompts, and removed unnecessary traversal prompts
Fixed various texture issues

Mission 6 – Assault on Fort Rouge

Fixed issue in which NPC’s were spawning on top of each other
Fixed various collision bugs (to resolve the player walking through objects and getting stuck, or to allow the player to traverse somewhere that looks traversable)
Fixed cover at Fortress Gate
Added missing vaulting prompts, and removed unnecessary traversal prompts including those that allowed the player to go out of intended play space
Fixed missing VFX impact issue
Fixed various texture issues
Fixed various assets that were floating
Lighting has been improved in the abbey

Mission 7 – Lock, Stock and Barrels

Player will now not time out of the opportunity to poison the cup in the Kill List challenge
Fixed various collision bugs (to resolve the player walking through assets and getting stuck, or to allow the player to traverse somewhere that looks traversable)
Added missing vaulting prompts, and removed unnecessary traversal prompts including those that allowed the player to go out of intended play space
Fixed a floating objective marker
Fixed various texture issues
Fixed various assets that were floating
Minimap switching issues resolved
Missing satchel charge VFX resolved

Mission 8 – End of the Line

Fixed various collision bugs (to resolve the player walking through objects and getting stuck, or to allow the player to traverse somewhere that looks traversable)
Added missing vaulting prompts, and removed unnecessary traversal prompts
Fixed various objects that were floating
Fixed various texture issues
Fixed an issue with enemies being able to unlock the workbench door from an unintended side leaving the padlock floating

Mission 9 – All or Nothing

Fixed asset clipping
Fixed enemy scope glint being visible through a building

Target Furher – Lights, Camera, Achtung

Fixed various collision bugs (to resolve the player walking through assets and getting stuck, or to allow the player to traverse somewhere that looks traversable)
Added missing vaulting prompts, and removed unnecessary traversal prompts including those that allowed the player to go out of intended play space
Fixed an issue in which special ammo only provided 1 bullet
Fixed various texture issues including an instance of being able to see out of world.
Fixed various assets that were floating
Fixed an issue with enemies being alerted through walls
Fixed an issue with an incorrect key binding prompt

Multiplayer

General

Fixed an issue in which players were able to roll “torpedo” out of No Cross maps
Fixed an issue in which players could still shoot after being killed in multiplayer modes

No Cross – River Front

Fixed various asset clipping and texture issues
Fixed an issue in which a player would instantly die if they went too close to a door in the basement
Fixed exploit where second level of hotel was accessible

Deathmatch – Rail Yard

Added missing vaulting prompts, and removed unnecessary traversal prompts including those that allowed the player to go out of intended play space
Fixed collision bugs (to resolve the player walking through objects and getting stuck, or to allow the player to traverse somewhere that looks traversable)

Deathmatch – Destroyed Town

Fixed various asset clipping and texture issues
Added missing vaulting prompts, and removed unnecessary traversal prompts
Fixed collision bugs (to resolve the player walking through objects and getting stuck, or to allow the player to traverse somewhere that looks traversable)
Minimap abrupt behaviour fixed

Deathmatch – Chateau Grounds

Fixed a collision issue in which the player got stuck near the balcony
Added missing vaulting prompts, and removed unnecessary traversal prompts
Fixed various asset clipping and texture issues

Survival – Mark of the Eagle

Fixed various collision bugs (to resolve the player walking through objects and getting stuck, or to allow the player to traverse somewhere that looks traversable)

Survival – Fortress Command

Fixed various collision bugs (to resolve the player walking through objects and getting stuck, or to allow the player to traverse somewhere that looks traversable)
Fixed various asset clipping and texture issues
Added missing vaulting prompts, and removed unnecessary traversal prompts

That’s it from Rebellion. Once we get another patch, we’ll be sure to let our readers know.

If you’re still on the fence about the game, check out our review to see why it’s worth a look.

Tags: Sniper Elite Sniper Elite: Resistance

Alex Co

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

Home > Title Updates and Patches

NBA 2K25 Patch 1.09 Delivers Season 5 Data to Players

by Alex Co

7:06 am in Title Updates and Patches

[summaraize]

While Season 5 of NBA 2K25 won’t start until Friday, February 21, Visual Concepts has now released NBA 2K25 patch 1.09 on last-gen platforms (also available on current-gen, and this brings updated uniforms, likenesses and more.

Please note that some features of NBA 2K25 aren’t available for last-gen platforms, so the changes listed below might not completely apply to the game.

NBA 2K25 Update 1.09 Now Out on PS4, Xbox One and Switch

GENERAL

Preparations for NBA 2K25 Season 5, launching on Friday, February 21st, at 8AM PT/11AM ET/4PM GMT. Stay tuned for what we have in store!
Addressed an issue that could cause disconnects in multiplayer games when defensive settings are adjusted
Resolved an issue preventing the “Baaaaaaah!” trophy/achievement in Play Now Online from unlocking correctly
The official sponsor patch has been added to the back of all referee uniforms

The following current-day uniforms have been updated (will be reflected after the next roster update):

Cleveland Cavaliers (sponsor patch update)
Detroit Pistons (sponsor patch update)
Miami Heat (sponsor patch update)
Orlando Magic (sponsor patch update)
Utah Jazz (secondary uniform update)

The following players or coaches have received likeness updates:

Jaelyn Brown (dynamic hair)
Julie Vanloo (dynamic hair)
Jae Crowder (dynamic hair)
Emily Engstler (dynamic hair)
Noelle Quinn (dynamic hair)
Victoria Vivians (dynamic hair)
Gabby Williams (dynamic hair)

CITY/PRO-AM/REC/THEATER / PROVING GROUNDS

Various improvements to performance, stability, and visuals have been made to enhance the overall experience in the City
Fixed a reported disconnect that could occur during Starting 5 games

MyTEAM

The base color of Galaxy Opal has been updated from gray to green. Some of your existing Player Cards may be more colorful!
The city ambiance sounds have been removed from Breakout
The “World Tour” trophy/achievement will now unlock as intended
Resolved various rare hangs and minor visual issues in MyTEAM menus

MyNBA/The W

Various stability fixes and improvements have been made for MYNBA, MYNBA Online, and The W

PC

Resolved an issue on systems with specific hardware configurations that could prevent entry to Starting 5 games when the Vertical Sync option has been turned off

That’s it for the Season 5 patch. Stay tuned for the Season 5 content and more incoming in the next few days.

Tags: nba NBA 2K NBA 2K25 NBA 2K25 MyTeam Mobile

Alex Co

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

Home > Title Updates and Patches

Helldivers 2 Update 1.002.105 Out for Several Crash Fixes

by Damien Seeto

5:43 am in Title Updates and Patches

[summaraize]

A new update has dropped for all players of Helldivers 2 on PC and PS5. This is Helldivers 2 update 1.002.105 and it comes with several crash fixes. It’s a minor patch so don’t expect any new content today.

Read on for the new patch notes down below.

Helldivers 2 Update 1.002.105 Has Crash Fixes

Overview

Crash fixes
Ship module purchase issue

Fixes

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

When a newer patch is out, we will alert our readers about it very soon.

[Source: Steam]

Tags: Helldivers helldivers 2

Damien Seeto

Home > Title Updates and Patches

NBA 2K25 Update 1.011 Dribbles Out for Season 5 Data

by Alex Co

5:40 am in Title Updates and Patches

[summaraize]

Visual Concepts is about to kick off Season 5 of NBA 2K25 later this week, but before that, players can download the date for it today. NBA 2K25 update 1.011 is live now for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, with PC players getting it sometime this week.

Those on last-gen (PS4/XB1/Switch), no word on when you’ll get the patch download, but I assume sometime this week. While the patch is available for download now, Season 5 starts on February 21.

NBA 2K25’s Season 5 Data Now Out as Download 1.011

GENERAL

Preparations for NBA 2K25 Season 5, launching on Friday, February 21st, at 8AM PT/11AM ET/4PM GMT. Stay tuned for what we have in store!
Addressed an issue that could cause disconnects in multiplayer games when defensive settings are adjusted
Resolved an issue preventing the “Baaaaaaah!” trophy/achievement in Play Now Online from unlocking correctly
The official sponsor patch has been added to the back of all referee uniforms

The following current-day uniforms have been updated (will be reflected after the next roster update):

Cleveland Cavaliers (sponsor patch update)
Detroit Pistons (sponsor patch update)
Miami Heat (sponsor patch update)
Orlando Magic (sponsor patch update)
Utah Jazz (secondary uniform update)

The following players or coaches have received likeness updates:

Jaelyn Brown (dynamic hair)
Julie Vanloo (dynamic hair)
Jae Crowder (dynamic hair)
Emily Engstler (dynamic hair)
Noelle Quinn (dynamic hair)
Victoria Vivians (dynamic hair)
Gabby Williams (dynamic hair)

CITY/PRO-AM/REC/THEATER / PROVING GROUNDS

Various improvements to performance, stability, and visuals have been made to enhance the overall experience in the City
Fixed a reported disconnect that could occur during Starting 5 games

MyTEAM

The base color of Galaxy Opal has been updated from gray to green. Some of your existing Player Cards may be more colorful!
The city ambiance sounds have been removed from Breakout
The “World Tour” trophy/achievement will now unlock as intended
Resolved various rare hangs and minor visual issues in MyTEAM menus

MyNBA/The W

Various stability fixes and improvements have been made for MYNBA, MYNBA Online, and The W

PC

Resolved an issue on systems with specific hardware configurations that could prevent entry to Starting 5 games when the Vertical Sync option has been turned off

That’s about it. Once the PS4, Xbox One patch is out, we’ll let our readers know.

Tags: nba NBA 2K NBA 2K25

Alex Co

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

Home > Title Updates and Patches

Battlefield 2042 Update 1.000.069 for Patch 8.5.0 Brings Loading Screen Improvements and More

by Alex Co

3:10 am in Title Updates and Patches

[summaraize]

DICE has issued another small patch for Battlefield 2042 on all platforms this February 18, for version 8.5.0. You should see those on consoles as Battlefield 2042 update 1.000.069 on PS5/XSX, and download version 1.66 on PS4/XB1.

Players can expect this patch to bring an improved loading screen, various vehicle adjustments and more. Again, this is a small patch that’s aimed at fixing a few known issues more than anything else.

Battlefield 2042’s New Update for February 18 Brings Short List of Fixes

Here’s what’s new per EA:

General

Fixed overlapping input prompts on the deploy screen.

AI soldiers should no longer die out of bounds when fighting in the shipwreck.

Vehicles

Added insertion sequence for the UH-60 Black Hawk.
Camera transition should now be smoother when switching views in seats while in a vehicle.
Fixed a bug where projectiles would despawn when firing from above the air vehicle max height.

Progression

Fixed an issue where players were unable to purchase the accelerated event pass if all levels were completed before the purchase.

Given DICE is hard at work on the next entry in the franchise, which we’re hoping is released this year, don’t expect a lot more updates for BF2042 outside of fixes, and maybe Vault content drops from time to time.

Tags: Battlefield Battlefield 2042 DICE

Alex Co

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

Home > Title Updates and Patches

Tekken 8 Update 1.012.001 Brings New Shop Items and More

by James Lara

February 17, 2025 9:17 pm in Title Updates and Patches

Tekken 8 update 1.012.001 has begun distribution, as Bandai takes the servers down for maintance in order to bring some new shop items, adjustments, options, and more.

Here’s everything included in today’s Tekken 8 update.

New Tekken 8 Update Adds Maid Outfit, Amongst Other Things

#Application Date and Time
[JST] From around 11:00 on Wednesday, January 15th, applied sequentially
[CET] From around 3:00 on Wednesday, January 15th, applied sequentially
[PST] From around 18:00 on Tuesday, January 14th, applied sequentially

#Maintenance Date and Time
[JST] Wednesday, January 15th, 10:30 – 14:00
[CET] Wednesday, January 15th, 2:30 – 6:00
[PST] Tuesday, January 14th, 17:30 – 21:00

# “TEKKEN SHOP”

* “TEKKEN FIGHT PASS – SPECIAL ROUND -” Added
– Added a special FIGHT PASS commemorating the 30th anniversary of the Tekken series

Note: About “TEKKEN FIGHT PASS”
– Complete missions within the period to level up and earn various items
– Available in both free “FREE” and paid “PREMIUM” versions, with “PREMIUM” offering more items
– “FREE” allows you to earn up to 100 “TEKKEN COINS”
– “PREMIUM” allows you to earn up to 300 additional “TEKKEN COINS” on top of the 100 from “FREE,” for a total of 400 “TEKKEN COINS”

* “Maid Outfit Pack” Added
– A shared costume pack containing the following items:
– Maid Outfit (Upper Body)
– Maid Shoes (Knee-High Socks) (Shoes)
– Maid Headdress (Accessory)
– Heart Eyes (Eyes)

* “TEKKEN SPECIAL DEAL” Available
– Selected items available at special prices during the event period.

# “TEKKEN FIGHT LOUNGE”

* 5 Special Ghosts Appear with Obtainable Character Panels
– Talk to and defeat them to obtain one character panel each
– Character panels are fan art works collected from the “TEKKEN FANDOM Campaign”
– Special ghosts will appear in the lobby until the next update scheduled for March
– These special ghosts will be replaced with different ones in the next update

* Standardization of NPC Interaction Features Across All Areas
– Features available when interacting with NPCs (staff) in the lounge (such as replay and customization) have been standardized to ensure consistent functionality across all areas

# “OPTIONS”

* Tournament Settings Feature Expansion
– When “Game Options Settings” > “Tournament Settings” is set to “ON,” individual settings can be customized from “Tournament Settings Content ”
– If you don’t want to set items individually, selecting “Preset” from bulk settings in “Tournament Settings Content” will apply the same settings as “Tournament Settings” > “ON” in v1.11.00 and earlier

Note:
Since turning “Tournament Settings” to “ON” alone does not enable each function, please either configure individual items from “Tournament Settings Content” or select “Preset” from bulk settings

* Configurable Items
– “Fixed Rule” (First to 3 rounds, 60 seconds)
– “Disable Pause Menu” set to “ON” (Disables pause menu activation)
– “Disable Pause Menu” set to “Hold” (Long press required to open pause menu)
– “Show Confirmation Pop-Up for Rematches” (Shows a confirmation dialog when selecting “Rematch” to prevent accidental rematches from button mashing)
– “Hide Win Streak”
– “Disable Intro/Outro Skipping”
– “Rematch with Random Stage” (Option to “Rematch with Random Stage” becomes available on the result screen)
– “Hide Button Help During Matches” (Button help becomes hidden during matches and on the result screen)

# “RANKED MATCH”

* Matchmaking System Adjustments
– Adjusted to reduce the likelihood of consecutive matches with players where the previous match failed to establish

#“PLAYABLE CHARACTERS”
* Regarding Future Character Move Behavior Fixes and Balance Adjustments
– Balance adjustments in v1.12.01 have been postponed in consideration of major official tournaments scheduled for late February in Europe and Japan.
– Additionally, as we plan to release “Season 2” update with extensive balance adjustments this spring, we will not implement any balance adjustments in v1.13 (scheduled for mid-March) which precedes this update.
– Information about the “Season 2” launch timing, general direction of balance adjustments and ranked match changes, next DLC character, and more will be announced during “TEKKEN Talk Live” events scheduled for February and March. The February “TEKKEN Talk Live” will be held on the following date:

# “TEKKEN Talk Live Season 2 Special”
– YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/live/xmik3NHJGjI
– Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/tekken
[JST] From around 12:00 on Tuesday, 2/25
[CET] From around 4:00 on Tuesday, 2/25
[PST] From around 19:00 on Monday, 2/25

Thank you for your continued support of “TEKKEN 8”.

Source: [Tekken]

Tags: Tekken Tekken 8

James Lara

Home > News

The Blood of Dawnwalker Gives You Enough Freedom to Kill a Lot of “Important NPCs,” Devs Aiming for Campaign to Last 30-40 Hours

by Alex Co

6:41 pm in News

[summaraize]

While we haven’t seen much gameplay in Rebel Wolves’ The Blood of Dawnwalker, the studio, comprised of ex-CD Projekt RED staff, has been willing to share information about the game. The game’s director Mateusz Tomaszkiewicz. who worked as Lead Quest Designer in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, has confirmed that players will be able to kill NPCs (non-player characters) — even important ones.

Contrary to most open-world action games where you can’t kill NPCs unless you’re specifically tasked to, in Blood of Dawnwalker, that won’t be the case.

Expect NPC Blood to Spill in Blood of Dawnwalker

Speaking to Games Radar, Tomaszkiewicz mentioned that while the “narrative sandbox” the developers are aiming for doesn’t offer endless possibilities, given that you are playing the protagonist and the studio has a story to tell, players will be able to shape their own version of Coen.

The game’s quests can branch and twist in different directions, as Tomaszkiewicz explains, “For example, we allow you to kill off a lot of NPCs, and a lot of them can be really important NPCs.”

However, there is a drawback to just sucking the blood out of everyone. “Sometimes this can lead to alternate outcomes or even cut off certain quest lines. And this, of course, ties into our other systems […] you being a Dawnwalker means that you have this blood hunger during the night time, so this can actually lead to these NPCs dying if you’re not careful,” Tomaszkiewicz notes.

It’s unknown whether players can kill important NPCs while traipsing through the game’s open world or whether this needs to be tied somewhat to the game’s story and quests.

Blood of Dawnwalker Is Planned to Be 30-40 Hours Long

In the same chat, Mateusz Tomaszkiewicz mentioned how he doesn’t care whether people call the upcoming RPG as AA, AAA or even AAAA, as he just wants it to be the same level of quality of The Witcher 3, though admits given they are a smaller studio, this will be smaller than CD Projekt RED’s hit RPG.

Tomaszkiewicz states, “In terms of quality, we definitely look at AAA, because this is where we are coming from, the quality level of The Witcher 3. Definitely, our games are not as huge in terms of amount of content and gameplay hours – we are a smaller studio, this is our first project, so we definitely are building something smaller. But we want to build something as robust in terms of quality, maybe a bit shorter.”

While development is not finished, Rebel Wolves aims for the game to be around 30-40 hours long, which isn’t short, but definitely a lot shorter than games like The Witcher 3. Tomaszkiewicz isn’t too concerned about that and mentions how a game’s size shouldn’t be the basis for whether a game is AAA or not. One example he gives is Call of Duty, as the series’ campaign has never reached the 100-hour mark (or even close to it), and it’s classified as a AAA game.

“Comparing something to a behemoth like The Witcher, which we aimed for 100+ hours, but I think a lot of people played 200, 300 hours, is insane. If size is your measure, then yes it’s not the size of a AAA like The Witcher. But I don’t know if size is the measure, to be honest, because there are AAA games like Call of Duty that aren’t 100+ hours gameplay campaigns. And I don’t know if anyone would call them AA, or indie,” Tomaszkiewicz explains.

If The Blood of Dawnwalker can get anywhere near The Witcher 3’s quality, then action-RPG fans are in for a treat. We’ll have to wait until this summer to catch our first real look at gameplay, but so far, Rebel Wolves is hitting all the right notes in terms of design.

The Blood of Dawnwalker is in development for the PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC, but has no release window yet.

Tags: Mateusz Tomaszkiewicz Rebel Wolves The Blood of Dawnwalker

Alex Co

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

Home > News

Dead by Daylight Reveals Quality-of-Life Roadmap for 2025; Expect Matchmaking Rating Update, New Quest System & Much More

by Taha

5:19 pm in News

[summaraize]

Behaviour Entertainment’s Dead by Daylight is getting not just content drops this year, but a whole slate of quality-of-life improvements. Despite many years after its launch, the developers are still actively working on the title to offer the best experience to the fans, and it continues this 2025.

The developers have recently revealed the 2025 quality-of-life updates that will come with matchmaking rating updates, a new quest system, and so much more. Let’s take a look at what fans can expect from Dead by Daylight for the rest of the year.

Dead by Daylight Roadmap of Improvements Starts in April via Phase 1

The developers have disclosed much information about the upcoming quality-of-life roadmap. This initiative has been divided into two phases. The first starts in April and will continue until June.

During the first phase, the game will receive significant gameplay and quality-of-life updates. Some of them have been anticipated by fans for a while. The list of updates is below:

Surrender State -The team has been working on a Surrender feature, which should limit player frustration on both sides. To get it right, we first needed to identify the situations where its use would be most appropriate, leading us to two scenarios:- All remaining Survivors have been slugged (Survivor)
– All remaining Survivors are bots (Killer)Once these instances occur, players will be able to use the Surrender option, ending the Trial while
retaining the Bloodpoints they’ve earned and escaping the Disconnect Penalty.
Gamma Adjustments – Dead by Daylight can get a little dark – not just thematically — and sometimes excessive darkness can
hinder playability. We’re introducing the ability to adjust Gamma settings on all platforms, allowing
you to find a sweet spot without sacrificing the intended artistic direction.
“Go-Next” Prevention – The “Go-Next” expression refers to instances where a Survivor deliberately does everything in their
power to quickly go to their next game – including walking up to the Killer and standing still, running
to a Hook and repeatedly pointing at it, or most commonly, intentionally failing Skill Checks while on
Hook.
Extreme Hiding & Body Blocking Prevention – “Extreme Hiding” refers to Survivors drawing out an unwinnable match by ignoring their objective
and waiting out the clock. To combat this, we’re changing the way AFK Crows operate, so they can more accurately identify
when a player is deliberately avoiding engagement with their gameplay objective. Once a player
receives Crows, their location will be immediately revealed to the Killer.
Map Offerings – Moving forward, Map Offerings will no longer guarantee the appearance of a given Map, but rather
increase its chances by 20%. Note that they will not stack. We’re also looking to make it so Map
Offerings, as well as several other types of Offerings, will remain a secret during load-in – that way,
your decision to remain in the match will not be swayed by external factors.
Spawn Rules – We’re changing the default Survivor Spawn rules to ensure that each Survivor will spawn within 12
meters of one another, on the same floor (if applicable). To accomodate for this change, Shroud
Offerings will be adjusted accordingly.

Not only gameplay updates, but Dead by Daylight will also receive multiple quality-of-life updates, such as bulk blood point spending, a new quest system, more perk presets, a preview of your perks in the lobby, and much more during the initiative’s first phase.

The second phase will begin in July and will also come with significant gameplay updates, such as:

Anti-slugging
Anti-Tunneling
Anti-Camping
MMR Update
Map & Key Item Balancing

Moreover, the game will have multiple quality-of-life updates during the phase, including:

Keyboard and Mouse on Consoles
Custom Game Improvements
Accessibility Improvements
Prestige Rewards
Reduced Login Setups

The second phase will take place from July to December. Therefore, it looks like 2025 is going to be another great year for the title’s fans. The developers have also confirmed that they will work to fix the bugs and glitches in the title.

Same as always, once a new update is out, we’ll have it up here on MP1st.

Tags: Behaviour Interactive behaviour intreractive Dead By Daylight

Taha

Television kills your vision.

Home > News

Craftlings Hands-on Preview – Terraria Meets Lemmings With Laid-Back Style

by Paulmichael Contreras

3:15 pm in News

[summaraize]

Indie games publisher Raw Fury had a handful of upcoming games for MP1st to check out earlier this month. One of those was the charming Lemmings-meets-Terraria game named Craftlings, the debut effort from Ariano Games. We took this upcoming game for a spin, and have our preview ready below.

Nostalgic, Yet New

Style wise, Craftlings immediately will remind older gamers of Lemmings. Adorably stupid creatures, Lemmings would walk at a nearly constant pace, and it was up to you the player to stop them from, say, walking off a cliff to their death. Thankfully, I didn’t see any of the Craftlings doing that. I DID, however, see one grab a stick of dynamite and promptly blow themselves up, so they definitely still need some guidance.

This art style and use of pretty low-spec visual effects means Craftlings should run on just about any computer you have lying around – even the recommended specs simply say all you need is a 2.4 GHz dual core CPU, 2 GB of RAM, and 512 MB of graphics memory, on a GeForce 8600/Radeon HD 4600 or higher. Basically, if you have a computer that was built in the last 15 years, if not longer ago, you should be able to play Craftlings without much hassle.

Some Bumps Expected

That isn’t to say there’s not a lot going on with Craftlings. Besides giving them safe paths to walk, Craftlings must also be given the proper jobs if their town is to collect the right resources. Collecting wood is usually the first order of business, which can be used to create buildings. These buildings can in turn produce other resources, such as pickaxes for the Craftlings to use for mining. Mined resources can be turned in and used to build more advanced buildings, resulting in other resources being created. Repeat this until you can arm some Craftlings with weapons, with which they can defend their homes from skeleton warriors, giant sea creatures, and more things we didn’t get to see during our short time with the game.

Indeed, there does appear to be a lot of moving pieces under the hood, as during our demo, the quest I was on glitched, and a new building that was supposed to be able to be chosen never materialized. We simply had to move along to the next portion of the demo. It’s not uncommon to see bugs like this while playing a preview build of the game, and no doubt such things will get ironed out before the game’s release later this year.

Arriving Later This Year

Earlier this year, however, a free demo of Craftlings was briefly made available on Steam. While it’s now too late to experience that, when it was running, some challenge maps were released. These were timed, no-save maps which tasked players with performing certain tasks, such as crafting as many snowmen as possible, which would blast off into space because why not? This also shows us that the world of Craftlings has different types of biomes, and atypical resources which might have unexpected effects on the world around them. Hopefully this is only a peek at the various surprises and delights developer Ariano Games has planned for their players.

Craftlings looks to bring a mixture of laid-back resource management, with some occasional scuffling, and hilariously nearly-mindless minions to control. It feels reminiscent, while bringing in some modern mechanics that retro games would’ve only dreamed of achieving way back when. Look out for Craftlings when it arrives on PC later this year.

Tags: Ariano Games Craftlings Raw Fury

Paulmichael Contreras

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.

Home > Title Updates and Patches

Delta Force New Update for February 18 Brings Various Adjustments

by Alex Co

1:01 pm in Title Updates and Patches

[summaraize][summaraize]

Team Jade is set to release a small patch for the free-to-play shooter Delta Force on February 18. This patch will bring weapon adjustments and more with no downtime, so don’t expect matchmaking to be interrupted for the download.

For the full info, check out the Delta Force new update patch notes for February 18, straight from the developers.

Delta Force’s Latest Patch Adjusts Weapons and Modes

Weapon and Ammo Balance Adjustments

Weapon Balance Adjustments

● G18C Pistol – Basic damage changed from 22 to 23.
● SMG-45 Submachine Gun – Leg damage multiplier changed from 0.4 to 0.45.

Mode Balance Adjustments

Mode – Attack and Defend

Map: Knife Edge
● Adjusted capture areas for Objectives B1 and C2.
● Optimized spawn locations for both attacking and defending teams at Objectives B1, B2, and C2.

Mode – Capture the Flag

Map: Ascension

● Adjusted the G.T.I. base location in Ascension – Capture the Flag.
● Adjusted the initial vehicle spawn location for G.T.I. in Ascension – Capture the Flag.
● Adjusted the initial infantry spawn location for G.T.I. in Ascension – Capture the Flag.

Mode – Hot Zone

● Adjusted magazine capacity for select pistols in the starting round.
● Adjusted sights and attachments for certain weapon presets.

Bug Fixes & Optimizations

● Fixed a network-related issue allowing Vyron to access out-of-bounds areas in the game

If you’ve to play the game, go read our review why it’s worth the download. A single-player campaign titled “Black Hawk Down” is also set for release this week. Expect that to be a separate client from the main game. Once Team Jade releases another patch for it, we’ll let our readers know.

Tags: Delta Force

Alex Co

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

Home > News

Post Trauma Hands-On Preview – What’s Old Is New Again

by Paulmichael Contreras

12:35 pm in News

[summaraize]

At a recent Raw Fury event earlier this month, MP1st managed to get our hands on developer Red Soul Games’ upcoming survival horror game, Post Trauma. Do we think this game has what it takes to scare us into keeping the lights on? We ventured tepidly into the nightmarish dimension the game takes place in, and have our impressions ready right now.

A Long Time Coming

Originally set for release on October 29, 2024, back on October 3^rd, Red Soul Games made the decision to delay Post Trauma until 2025. Considering some of the screenshots we were sent were dated from December 2022, this project has been several years in the making, so while a lengthy delay isn’t exactly the news most gamers are looking for, it is good news as it speaks to the level of quality that the developer and publisher hope to achieve when they feel the game is ready for release. It is better to not rush things in a genre that is difficult to crack into.

Post Trauma has all of the hallmarks of survival horror. There are mutilated corpses, reanimated corpses, otherworldly enemies to encounter, and occasional oddness such as mannequins that hinder your progress at certain points. Fixed/slightly rotatable camera angles are also used here, to help add to a feeling of claustrophobia/helplessness that the older games in this genre, such as Resident Evil, used to great effect back in the day. However, while this mechanic was used partly because of the nature of those games’ pre-rendered backgrounds which could not react to a dynamic camera, here the decision is an artistic one.

In fact, Post Trauma utilizes the Unreal Engine 5, and it looks great no matter the camera angle, partly because the engine uses modern rendering methods. While we were running the game on newer hardware, the minimum requirements aren’t very steep: You’ll only need a 3^rd-generation Intel i3-3220/AMD FX-6100, paired with a GeForce GTX 650 Ti/Radeon R7 360, with 2 GB of VRAM, or newer chips, to be able to run the game at a decent clip at least. It should be noted that a minimum of 12 GB of RAM is listed, which isn’t that high these days, but is higher than some games’ minimum requirements. Naturally, Post Trauma is also being released on the PS5 and Xbox Series consoles.

Investigation Needed

During our brief hands-on time with Post Trauma, we were injected into the game without much setup – a lot of things had already gone wrong during protagonist Roman’s day to get us to where we were: a dark subway tunnel, in a stopped, unlit, unpowered train. Roman is a middle-aged train conductor, who has suddenly found himself trapped in a surreal, hellish dimension full of otherworldly horrors. Here, the game set the mood with a creepy, reactive soundtrack, and unsettling noises. I walked around as I figured out the game’s control scheme, which also includes a “tank” option for those who enjoy the older control style of games of that era. Flashlight in-hand, I walked from one end of the train to the other, encountering an occasional mannequin at first, then some increasingly disturbing sights the deeper I ventured into the train.

Throughout each train car, posters, maps, and other things could be looked at, with Roman giving his thoughts on what he was seeing. I noticed some shapes scrawled into the floor (made with blood or some other disturbing substance, naturally), and began to put together the clues these markings represented. Combined with pieces of a map I saw on some of the train’s windows, I could eventually figure out the combination to a lock hindering my progress. It felt like just the sort of puzzle you’d expect to see during a horror game’s downtime.

From this initial claustrophobia-inducing setting, we could now explore our surroundings a bit – a simple train/subway station, which was at least partially powered, yet seemingly devoid of life. Red Soul Games was still busily putting bits of even this early section together, or perhaps they were adding more to it thanks to the extra development time they’d been granted, because some captions were still placeholders, or referenced audio/text bits that were not yet included.

Great Promise From a Young Studio

While Post Trauma automatically saves your game at certain points, those are few and far between – after walking for a little while, I came upon a manual save spot, which I decided not to use for some reason. The very first enemy I encountered killed me, which I blame on it being early in the morning, and the game’s tutorial having been skipped, because we had started our demo after that point. Since I didn’t use the save point, that meant I had to start the demo all over again, initial puzzles included. So, this is one part of older horror games that might irk younger or inexperienced gamers, but so long as you always use the save points when you find them, you probably won’t have to do much backtracking.

The second time around, I knew where everything was, and didn’t lose much time in the process. Now that I was used to the controls, I could much more easily take on this first enemy, and killed them without taking much damage. Combat in our demo was melee-only, and we should expect a lot of close-quarters fighting in a game like this. That lone enemy was the only one I faced in this area, and now I was tasked with fixing a power generator. This involved investigating the area, finding various tools I would need to access a locked-off room which housed a fuse I’d need for the junction box I walked by earlier. This section felt like typical stuff as seen in other games in the genre.

Post Trauma passes the vibe check of the many horror games upon which it derives its inspiration. Time will tell if Red Soul Games has found the right mix of jump scares, creepy ambiance, old and new horror game mechanics, to produce a noteworthy game that can stand apart from its peers. But so far, it is already an impressive showing, especially as the debut effort from a new studio. Be on the lookout for Post Trauma when it releases on Steam, PS5 and Xbox Series consoles later this year.

Tags: Post Trauma Raw Fury Red Soul Games

Paulmichael Contreras

Home > News

Days Gone Remaster Won’t Be Available for $10 Upgrade If Claimed via PlayStation Plus

by Taha

10:05 am in News

[summaraize]

During PlayStation’s recent State of Play, it was confirmed that Days Gone will receive a remaster. Like games such as Horizon Zero Dawn, if you already own the PS4 version of Days Gone, you’ll be able to pay just $10 to access the enhanced visuals and new content.

However, it has been revealed that if you obtained the game through PlayStation Plus, you won’t be able to get this upgrade for $10. Instead, you’ll have to pay the full price to enjoy everything this remaster has to offer.

Days Gone Remaster Not Available for $10 Upgrade If Claimed Through PS Plus

days gone remaster 10$ ps plus — *Game redemptions via PlayStation Plus are not eligible for the $10 upgrade.* (Via: Reddit)

Although this information wasn’t disclosed during the State of Play, PlayStation confirmed that Days Gone owners who got their copy through PS Plus cannot pay the $10 fee to upgrade to the remastered version. Instead, they will have to purchase the full version for $49.99 to experience the upgraded features.

This isn’t the first time PlayStation has done this. We’ve seen it before with games like Horizon Zero Dawn and Final Fantasy VII Remake. These games were also on PS Plus, and to get their PlayStation 5 remasters, players had to buy the full version.

Fans will probably not be happy about this decision. PlayStation knows that many players got Days Gone through PS Plus, so they don’t want to lose out on too much revenue from this remaster. However, this might lead to fewer players buying the remastered version.

Days Gone Remastered will be available on PlayStation 5 on April 25, 2025. This new version will feature visual improvements, and full support for the DualSense wireless controller, including haptic feedback and adaptive triggers. It will also add new accessibility features, new game modes like the Horde Assault survival arcade mode, Permadeath mode, and a lot more extra content for players to enjoy.

If you’ve yet to play the game, and the remaster is your first time trekking this zombie-filled world, go check out our review of it to see why it’s worth your time.

Tags: days gone Playstation Plus PS Plus

Taha

Television kills your vision.

Home > Title Updates and Patches

TopSpin 2K25 Season 6 Patch Swings Out as Update 1.019

by Alex Co

9:16 am in Title Updates and Patches

[summaraize]

Developer Hangar 13 has released TopSpin 2K25 update 1.019 (version 1.19 on last-gen), which is for the game’s Season 6 content drop. While this adds new cosmetics and whatnot, there are no gameplay adjustments included.

The patch should be live now on all platforms, while Season 6 officially launches tomorrow, February 18 at 6 am GMT/7 am CET/10 pm PST/1 pm ET.

TopSpin 2K25 Season 6 Download Now Live for Players

Here’s what’s new per the TopSpin 2K Discord channel:

Patch Highlights:

Added Season 6 Center Court Pass and Pro Shop content
Updated server animations for Keys, Agassi and Sampras
Added 3 new Tennis Styles and 10 new Pro Outfits to the Pro Shop
Added “Net Points Won” to the Statistics screen in the Pause Menu
Updated the logic for entering the Player Selectiion screen in Exhibition and 2K Tour modes to randomly select default Pro Outfits
General bug fixes and improvements

Unless Hangar 13 releases a more detailed changelog, it doesn’t look like there are any gameplay-related changes made.

Tags: TopSpin TopSpin 2K TopSpin 2K25

Alex Co

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