The past few weeks in video game news have been filled with leaks and rumors about Nintendo’s next console, rumored to be Switch 2. Nintendo has promised to reveal this new system to the public before April 2025, and the internet can’t stop talking about it.
If you’re tired of waiting amid all the leaks, the most recent reports state the reveal is happening this week!
If you ever wondered how the "Nintendo Ninjas" do their work at finding hackers, modders, and pirates, well, wonder no more, as Nintendo has revealed in a recent court case how they managed to find someone who was not only selling mod chips to circumvent Nintendo Switch's hardware to play pirated games but also selling copies of those pirated games directly to customers.
Will the Nintendo Switch 2 Be Revealed This Thursday?
According to reliable leaker Nate The Hate, the announcement could happen as early as this Thursday, January 16. “I can share with you that Nintendo Switch 2 will be revealed in the coming week… I have been told Switch 2 will be revealed on Thursday, January 16… just a few days from now,” they said.
Adding to the speculation, Tom Warren from The Verge also wrote on X/Twitter: “In case it wasn’t obvious from my tease in Notepad last week, I’ve heard it should be the Switch 2 reveal this week.” Similarly, Eurogamer has also backed these claims, stating that industry whispers they’ve heard also point to a Thursday reveal.
Good news for Nintendo Switch owners and gamers in general: Nintendo has confirmed that its next console, which most have dubbed as "Switch 2" will indeed play Switch games.
The reveal is reportedly focused almost entirely on the hardware itself, with little to no focus on games. While gameplay might be showcased in the background or during a trailer, the presentation is not expected to highlight software.
This aligns with reports from VGC, whose sources suggest that Nintendo might repeat its 2016 strategy for the original Switch announcement: a two-part reveal, with the initial presentation dedicated to the console and a later one focused on games.
The podcast also speculates that the Switch 2 could launch between May and June this year. Among the anticipated launch titles are a new Mario Kart game, with a 3D Mario platformer potentially releasing by late 2025.
As always, this kind of information should be taken with a grain of salt until Nintendo confirms it officially. If true, more details should emerge soon, as the console’s reveal is allegedly just days away.
Back in September 2023, a Bethesda release schedule was leaked, mentioning Dishonored 3, a new DOOM game, and even a remake/remaster of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.
Back in September 2023, a Bethesda release schedule was leaked, mentioning Dishonored 3, a new DOOM game, and even a remake/remaster of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. While Bethesda has yet to officially announce the Oblivion remake, reliable leaker Nate The Hate mentioned it again this month in his latest podcast stating that it’s set to be released in June of this year.
Today, we can confirm the project is indeed real. A mistake made by a former Virtuos employee has provided us with not just confirmation of its existence, but also insights into gameplay improvements set to be implemented to the original game.
As we approach 2025, PlayStation is getting ready with first-party releases like Ghost of Yotei and Marathon, the latter heavily rumored for next year despite no official confirmation.
A Return to Cyrodiil in Unreal Engine 5
The information comes from the website of a former Virtuos employee, whose name we won’t disclose for privacy reasons, and who worked on the game from 2023 to 2024. Before this, the individual worked on games such as Epic Mickey: Rebrushed, Call of Duty: Warzone and more.
A description of the project provided on the site confirms that the title is being developed using Unreal Engine 5 and will be “fully remade,” hinting at significant changes in this reimagining compared to the original game. Brief descriptions of six gameplay systems that will be reworked are also provided: Stamina, Sneak, Blocking, Archery, Hit Reaction, and HUD.
For the Blocking system, ideas to improve it were taken from Souls-like and “ACT” games (we’re not sure which games this refers to, but our guess is theAssassin’s Creed Ezio Trilogy as pointed out by many, ACT is short for action game.), as the original system was considered too “boring” and “frustrating.” The Sneak icons are now highlighted in the improved Sneak system, and the damage calculation methods were reworked. The stamina system was modified to be less frustrating for the player, making the knockdown that occurs when stamina is depleted more difficult to activate through changes in calculation methods. The HUD was changed to make it easier to understand and more aesthetically appealing to young players. Hit reactions were also added to improve the response to damage inflicted on the player and NPCs. Finally, Archery was improved to make it more playable and modern in both third and first-person viewpoints.
Currently, PlayStation Studios has a large number of unannounced projects in the works, one of them being a single-player narrative horror project developed by the studio Firesprite, which was acquired by Sony in 2021.
These pieces of information dispel any doubt that this is merely a port to another graphic engine like Grove Street Games did with the “Definitive Edition” of the old Grand Theft Auto trilogy. Instead, it will be a full-fledged remake that reworks everything seen in the original title. These doubts make sense if we recall an old list of Microsoft vs. FTC documents from 2022, which listed an “Oblivion Remaster” that we assume eventually transformed into the remake.
With the Xbox Developer Direct Event set to take place on January 23, and Microsoft teased in the announcement image that it will feature the participation of an unannounced “brand new game,” some might be wondering if this remake is the game being alluded to. Unfortunately, that won’t be the case, as some insiders claim it won’t be shown at the event. This was collaborated with our own sources, who also said The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion remake won’t be at the upcoming Xbox direct show airing January 23. However, if we follow NateTheHate’s report stating that the game is planned for release in June this year, we shouldn’t have to wait long for an official announcement.
In 2021 Turtle Rock Studios launched Back 4 Blood, a spiritual successor to the acclaimed zombie franchise Left 4 Dead, created by some of the studio's original developers.
Grinding Gear Games has released a new patch for Path of Exile 2 that aims to fix a few nagging issues affecting Corrupted Skill Gem Level Modifiers not working, client crashes and more.
This is the third hotfix released after the patch released on January 8. We’ve included all the fixes released after in this patch that GGG calls 0.1 of Hotfix 3.
Path of Exile 2’s Recent Hotfixes Changelog
0.1.0f Hotfix 3
Fixed a bug where the Corrupted Skill Gem Level Modifier wasn’t applying.
Fixed a bug where inherent Weapon Skills weren’t showing when linked in chat or trade windows.
Fixed a client crash related to Power Siphon.
0.1.0f Hotfix 2
Fixed a bug introduced in Patch 0.1.0f where players could lose Life or Energy Shield from actions such as using flasks.
0.1.0f Hotfix
Adjusted thread priorities to reduce CPU over-utilization. This can help prevent crashes under specific circumstances.
Fixed a client crash that could occur in Ultimatums.
Bear in mind, some patches do not require a restart of the servers or an actual client download, as fixes can be applied via server-side. Once Grinding Gear Games releases another patch, we’ll let our readers know.
Following a tumultuous 2024 that saw multiple studios lay off employees and even shut down entirely, the start of 2025 isn’t faring any better, as three studios have already announced they are closing up shop permanently.
The studios affected include Toadman Interactive, Counterplay Games and Freejam.
Multiple Game Studios Are Shutting Down in the First Month of 2025
Enad Global 7, parent company of Toadman, announced not only announced that the studio is shutting down, but also confirmed that MechWarrior 5: Clans developer Piranha Games is also laying off staff.
Toadman Interactive’s latest released game was multiplayer shooter EvilVEvil, which failed to pique player interest after its release in July 2024. The studio also did support work for Helldivers 2, PlanetSide 2, and Warhammer: Verminitide, among others.
Piranha Games, meanwhile, will be laying off staff after MechWarrior 5 underperformed commercially. Enad CEO Ji Ham said (via Game Developer) the latest MechWarrior game sold “below expectations,” and added the layoffs will “ensure [the studio] continues to operate with a sound profitability while being able to ship new content according to plan.”
As for Counterplay Games, the studio is known for developing Godfall, a PS5-exclusive release title, though the game was released on other platforms two years later. The report first surfaced on PlayStation LifeStyle, who took a screenshot of a Jackalyptic employee that mentioned, “Unfortunately we were unable to continue our partnership into the new year and CPG was disbanded.” However, going back to the Jackalyptic person’s (which we’ll refrain from linking so as not to give them unwanted attention) LinkedIn profile, they have now committed the “disbanded” part.
Godfall Developer Apparently Has “Disbanded”
We have emailed Counterplay Games and will update the article if we hear a statement in response.
Another studio confirmed to have shutdown this year is Freejam, the developer behind the Robocraft franchise. In a message on the official Robocraft Discord server (via Techraptr), Freejam’s Rawxas states, “the current market conditions and the server costs required” to keep Robocraft 2 running mean that the studio is unable to launch the game’s 1.0 version or continue development.”
This means that Robocraft 2, Robocraft, and even the cardboard survival game CardLife will all be sunsetting soon.
Another studio that’s greeting 2025 with bad news is Splash Damage (Brink). The studio relayed a message last week that Transformers: Reactivate’s development ceasing, but they are also laying off employees. The studio’s announcement notes, “a number of roles across the studio are now potentially at risk of redundancy,” though it’s not specified how many jobs will be affected.
Transformers: Reactivate was announced in 2023 and was in development as an online multiplayer game based on the Transformers license.
We here at MP1st really hope those affected can bounce back as soon as possible. Hopefully, 2025 won’t be as bad as 2024 when it comes to video game industry layoffs.
With the Season 1 patch of Marvel Rivals already installed and enjoyed by countless gamers worldwide, it also brings a new string of code to datamine that gives us a peek at the game’s future.
For the big Season 1 patch datamine, it mentions a slew of X-Men characters joining the game, and even some obscure ones that aren’t household names.
Take note that all the info below are from datamined info and are in no way official. That said, the fact that they were added in to the game’s files mean NetEase is already prepping for the characters, which should mean they’ll be available at some point in the future.
Marvel Rivals Season 1 Data Includes References to Various X-Men Characters
The datamined info comes from reliable dataminer X0X_Leaks, who mention that the following characters have references in the game’s files after Season 1:
Scott Summers (Cyclops) – (Presumably a Damage hero)
Professor X – Support
Jia Jing – Support
Paste Pot Pete – Damage
Colossus – Tank
Locus – Support
While Professor X, Cyclops and Colossus are characters most comic book and even video game fans are familiar with, the same can’t be said for some of the characters listed.
Jia is also a member of the X-Men, and has been activated after the Phoenix dispersion. Some of her abilities include (via Marvel Fandom):
Fairy-Insectoid Physiology: Jia Jing has rocky blue skin and fairy-insectoid wings which enable her to fly
Metamorphosis: She possesses rock hard skin that she can morph as she sees fit, such as making her hands bigger
Super-Strength: After increasing the size of her hands, she appears to have an undefined level of super strength.
Enhanced Endurance: It is also possible that she possess some abilities making her able to restrain herself from sleeping, sleeping only three hours per night and studying the rest of the day.
Peter Petruski who is also known as the Trapster or Paste-Pot Pete, is a villain that has debuted in 1963. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the character doesn’t posses any super powers. However, he has invented a extremely adhesive “multi-polymer” liquid, which he used to create a paste-gun.
Two Marvel characters used the name Locus. The first one was Aaron Verne, who debuted in 1980 and can create geometric energy constructs. The second one is a mutant villainess, introduced as a member of the Mutant Liberation Front. This character can teleport and levitate and can fire energy blasts. Somehow, we think this is the Locus that will appear in the game, as her powers seem spot-on as a Strategist.
This latest crop of Marvel characters are added on top of the previous datamine where characters like Valkyrie, The Hood are on the way. Don’t forget, while Mister Fantastic and Invisible Woman are available now, The Thing and Human Torch will also be released mid-season, and that’s not all. We reported previously that Blade will also be making his way into Marvel Rivals, which makes sense given the Eternal Night theme for Season 1.
Again, worth mentioning that none of these characters have been confirmed to be in the game, and were just spotted in the game’s files. With these amount of characters lined up, Marvel Rivals players have a lot to look forward to in the future.
While the franchise’s next game is actively developing using Unreal Engine 5, fans have been waiting for Halo 5 PC. However, it appears that Xbox is planning to finally release the PC version of the title nearly a decade after its launch.
Lenovo May Have Unintentionally Revealed Halo 5 for PC
As can be seen on the official Lenovo Legion Go S website, the Halo 5 PC port is in the Steam library, suggesting that an official announcement about the port could be made soon.
Since every game of the franchise has already been available on PC and Xbox, fans have been waiting for a long time to try Halo 5 on PC. While recent leaks have suggested that the port was in development at one point but got scrapped, it appears that Xbox has finally heard the fans.
This is a great time for fans of the franchise, as Halo is finally being released to other platforms. However, it’s unsure whether the next entries in the franchise will be timely exclusives to Xbox like other first-party titles from them.
Regarding the announcement, Xbox will be hosting the developers directly later this month, so an official statement could be made during the show. Still, it’s best to take this news with a grain of salt, as nothing has been officially confirmed by the company yet.
Nonetheless, the Halo franchise appears to have a bright future. With rumors of Halo 5 finally arriving on PC and the franchise coming to PlayStation, the franchise will see a great resurgence in players just before the release of the next entry.
Atomfall was first announced in June of last year, and while the game is planned for release later this year, the developers have released the latest trailer showcasing gameplay and additional features.
While we already know that the first-person, single-player action-survival game takes place in 1962 northern Britain, five years after the real-life events of the Windscale disaster, it has been revealed that players wake up in a quarantine zone with amnesia, having no memory of what happened to them or how they ended up there.
Finally, the developers have revealed the game’s difficulty levels, confirming that Atomfall features four types of skill trees.
The Different Skill Trees of Atomfall Revealed
The game’s latest trailer confirms that it will come with four skill trees: Ranged, melee, survival, and conditioning. The trailer further highlights the combat of the game in detail, which looks absolutely stunning.
The trailer also showcases the game’s gameplay mechanics, including the different combat styles like melee and ranged. While not much has been shown yet, the developers will surely release more videos to better understand the combat and different types of skills in Atomfall that players can invest in through skill points.
Players who plan to purchase the game should watch the full seven-minute video released to check out the gameplay and combat in action. The title looks exciting so far, and we hope to hear more information from the developers soon.
Atomfall is set to release on March 27, 2025, and will be available on PlayStation 5, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.
Following last year’s announcement that Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is bound for release on the PS5 this spring, rumors have surfaced that a slew of Xbox exclusives are headed to Sony’s console and even Nintendo’s unannounced Switch 2.
If the rumors are true, this means Microsoft is continuing its efforts to bring Xbox games to more platforms, Xbox head Phil Spencer has called this approach “a strategy that works for us,” though decisions about bringing games to other platforms are still made on a case-by-case basis.
This time around, the games mentioned that are said to be coming to the PS5 are literally the Xbox platforms’ biggest first-party franchises.
More Xbox Games Coming to PS5 and Nintendo Switch 2 This Year
Insider reports and leaks have made their way online pointing to the games supposedly set to arrive on Sony’s current gaming platform. Relatively reliable leaker, Nate The Hate, has shared new details about possible cross-platform releases for 2025.
I suspect the Oblivion Remake is cross-platform—there’s no reason to doubt it. The games I’ve heard coming to other platforms in 2025 include Flight Simulator for PS5 and Switch 2, and Halo: The Master Chief Collection for both PS5 and Switch 2.
Nate also mentioned Microsoft’s growing support for the Nintendo Switch 2, suggesting the company is planning to bring and enhance its existing titles for the new console:
Expect games like Grounded, Pentiment, and the Ori series to be patched for 4K and ported to the Switch 2. There’s also a possibility for titles like Sea of Thieves and Hi-Fi Rush to make their way to the Switch.
Adding weight to Nate’s claims, Windows Central later reported corroborating details from separate sources. They listed additional titles likely to release on the PS5, including Hellblade 2, Age of Mythology, and potentially Gears of War 1 Ultimate Edition.
While the information sounds promising, it is important to remember that plans could change. Microsoft’s strategies for multi-platform releases remain flexible, and some of these anticipated launches could be delayed or canceled altogether. At the end of the day, these are all rumors until confirmed or debunked by Microsoft,
For now, gamers will need to wait for official news to find out which Xbox games will come to other platforms in 2025.
NetEase Games’ Marvel Rivals continue to impress. After over a month of release, the title has managed to break its player record on Steam with the launch of Season 1. It has also avoided any significant drop-offs typically associated with new releases. Moreover, it has retained most of its concurrent daily players since its launch, which is a feat easier said than done these days,given the competition.
Earlier today, NetEase released the Season 1 update for Marvel Rivals, which introduced Mister Fantastic and the Invisible Women, characters from the Fantastic Four series. For many, these characters were what got them into Marvel comics, as Marvel’s first family represented the company’s first superhero team, which would eventually go on to shape the landscape of comics in such a way that many popular comics today could be traced back to them, drawing from inspirations of the family and team dynamic that Marvel brought when they first introduced the characters.
Though they aren’t as popular today as they were in the 1960s, the Fantastic Four—Mister Fantastic, Invisible Women, The Human Torch, and The Thing—have continued to have a significant presence in comics, TV shows, and movies over the years. It seems we can add video games to that list, too. Based on Marvel Rivals, the game has managed to shatter its record for all-time concurrent players on Steam with the release of Season 1.
Marvel Rivals’s Season 1 Launch Sees Record Number of Players on Steam
According to SteamDB and Steam Charts, Marvel Rivals saw over 580,000 players play simultaneously on Steam alone on the launch day of Season 1. This is about a 32% increase over its previous record of roughly 444,000. Important to note that this is only for Steam, and doesn’t even account for the Epic Games Store launcher, the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S player bases.
Talk about an accomplishment! What makes this even more impressive is the player retention the game has managed to hold on to. As of today, the game holds roughly a whopping 93% of its daily peak every day since launch. That’s not a common thing, as oftentimes we see titles peak around release and then see a significant drop off in the weeks to follow, but for Marvel Rivals, that’s the opposite, maintaining a steady, healthy number of players. Mind you, the game is still pretty new, and between launch and now, there haven’t been that many big titles released to pull players away.
Nonetheless, the numbers are impressive. We fully expect these numbers to be broken again during the weekend, especially on Sunday, when most traffic is commonly seen.
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.
Another day, another batch of gaming rumors, this time relating to Square Enix’s PlayStation console-exclusive Final Fantasy 7 Remake. If the reports are to be believed, it seems like Xbox gamers will finally get to experience the first entry in the remake trilogy sometime this year.
As claimed by NateTheHate in his recent podcast, Final Fantasy 7 Remake is coming to Xbox later this year. The sequel, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, is also coming to Xbox, though that won’t be until 2026 if things stick to schedule. However, this is just a rumor, though WIndos Central’s Jez Corden also chimed in, saying that what NateTheHate claims is valid, according to their sources.
Final Fantasy 7 Remake’s Xbox Version Is Long Overdue
As always, take these rumors with a grain of salt. However, even if this rumor turns out to be false, keep in mind that Square Enix seems to be moving toward no longer releasing platform-exclusive titles. IGN Brazil revealed this in December after speaking with the franchises’ producer, Yoshinori Kitase. Kitase said they can’t be exclusive to a single platform anymore.
“While we are confident and pleased that we are reaching a certain level of sales, it is clear that with the modernity of gaming, we cannot be exclusive to a single platform.” Kitase continues, “I think we need to offer the game to as many players as possible.”
So, whether you believe NateTheHate or Jez, I’m leaning towards the games coming to Xbox as a matter of when not if. We’ll likely hear more about these rumors after the release of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth on PC, which is arriving later this month on January 23.
If you’re unsure whether to get it or not, go read our review of the PS5 version where we state, “It is pretty amazing what Square Enix has managed to put together here with this Remake trilogy and I cannot wait to see how they build on Final Fantasy VII Rebirth for the third and final chapter in what is setting up to be one of the greatest gaming trilogies of all time.”
A gamer at heart, James has been working for MP1st for the last decade to do exactly what he loves, writing about video games and having fun doing it. Growing up in the 90's gaming has been in his DNA since the days of NES. One day he hopes to develop his own game.
In the first seasonal update of Marvel Rivals, NetEase brought out the big guns! Not only did we get new heroes to play as, but there are new skins, new maps, a ton of balance changes and more.
However, amid all the additions, there is one slight drawback to the update: the removal mods on the PC version.
Marvel Rivals Mods Do Not Work After the Season 1 Patch
This was confirmed by reliable leaker and dataminer X0X_Leak on Twitter/X, where it’s mentioned, “The latest Marvel Rivals update has introduced Asset hash checking. Due to this, Mods to NOT work anymore until a workaround is found.”
This means that skin mods like Vegeta Iron Man, Hatsune Miku Luna Snow and whatever the community cooks up won’t work. There is a chance that a workaround will be spotted, but if NetEase patches it again, I can see that bumming the modding community out.
Developers plugging the usage of mods is nothing new, as most studios don’t want these type of things in multiplayer games. Not only would it affect revenue from the skins they’re selling, but it also posts as a potential security risk as well.
As someone who plays the game every day, I’d prefer NetEase tackle more important topics, such as bots in Quick Matches, than mods, but I gather that modifying game files — even if they’re just for skins — is the studio’s priority over it.
What’s your stance on mods like this in Marvel Rivals? Should NetEase throw the modding community a bone and let is pass? Leave a comment below and let us know.
Slavic Magic has released the latest update for strategy game Manor Lords this January 10, 2025, and this brings the work done by the devs from the two beta patches into the main branch.
Called Update #4, the Manor Lords new patch for today brings a new playable map, an “overstock” setting, and other new features. There’s a lot to take in since there are also balance changes made, which are all listed below.
Manor Lords Gets a New Update for January 10 That Brings New Features, Balance Adjustments and Technical Fixes
Major Changes:
[Experimental] Cliff system rework
Cliffs should be less ambiguous now. It should be more clear which area is buildable and traversable.
When in build mode and when units are selected, a zigzag pattern will appear over the cliff area.
Gaps between landscape components and cliffs should no longer appear when zooming far away.
Pathfinding errors around cliffs should be fixed.
Worker Restrictions for Stalls: Only the storage building workers can set up marketplace Stalls now. There was too much confusion about who owned what and works where, and it was very difficult for players to understand, for instance, that a gravedigger could have a food stall (selling home vegetable garden produce).
Inventory Source Restriction: Only storage buildings supply the stall inventories and peddle.
Goods Supply Cap: The number of goods a marketplace can supply is capped by the number of stalls (and, therefore, by the number of assigned storage building families). It can now be previewed in the market panel as “granary supply capacity” and “storehouse supply capacity.” As the bars fill up, the supply capacity is reaching a limit, and you need to assign more storage worker families.
Stall Mergers: Fuel Stalls and Fabric Stalls were merged into a General Goods Stall.
Connection Arcs Added: Arcs connecting storage buildings to marketplaces are now being drawn after selecting either one.
Marketplace UI Update: Marketplace supply UI will now show the number of assigned families in the storage buildings.
Instant Stall Assignments: Storage-building families will now try to build or take over a stall as soon as they are assigned.
Reduced Stall Storage Space: Decreased max stall storage space to still have the motivation for a healthy number of stalls on the market.
Abandoned Stalls Exclusion: Abandoned stalls no longer account for marketplace availability.
Market Availability Distribution: Tuned the market availability distribution so that houses reserve only as much variety as they need for the upgrade.
Regional Data Update: All data in the Marketplace supply panel is now regional, including “Free stall locations.”
Disable Stalls Behavior: After you disable “allow market stalls” on a storage building, workers abandon their stalls since they stop contributing to Market Supply.
Granary Direct Consumption: Instead of eating from the marketplace, villagers sometimes eat straight from the granaries to reduce the marketplace supply fluctuations.
Instant Market Supply Calculation: In order for all values to always match, market supply is calculated instantly every time stall storage changes (supply includes what workers are already transporting).
Extra Tooltip Info: Added extra marketplace tooltip info about available and required food variety in the region.
Marketplace Storage Filters: You can now use storage filters on the marketplace to ensure some goods won’t be distributed.
Refueling from Storehouses: To reduce supply fluctuations, plots and workplaces will refuel directly from storehouses if possible.
Instant Stall Setup: When you allow market stall setup, workers will try to build or take over stalls instantly.
Real-Time Overlay Updates: When hovering over any supply category, the overlay colors of burgage plots should now update in real time.
Abandoned Stall Goods Return: Storage workers will bring goods back to storage from abandoned stalls.
Category Reorganization: Moved the Marketplace & Market Carts to the Logistics category.
Ale and Water Distribution Changes:
New Distribution Logic: Ale from taverns and water from wells are now distributed in a similar way as marketplace items.
Reason 1: It’s no longer enough to just have 1 Ale sitting in the tavern to upgrade the whole town.
Reason 2: I wanted to add Well and Tavern upgrades.
New Features
New Playable Maps: Map selection now includes two new playable maps: High Peaks and Winding River.
Overstock Setting Added: Added an “Overstock” setting to the building tab for distributing buildings (Tavern, Marketplace). This setting allows the user to control how many extra goods are placed in the stalls or the tavern that exceed what’s currently needed.
Bridge Building System: A bridge-building system has been added, utilizing the Road Tool.
Stone Well Upgrade: Added a stone well upgrade that provides more water supply (30 plots). The wooden well water supply was reduced to 15 plots.
Level 2 Tavern Upgrade: Added a Level 2 Tavern upgrade and a new visual for the Level 1 Tavern.
Gameplay & Balance
Taxation Approval Change: Approval for taxation will now happen even if there is no money to tax — seems more intuitive for the players.
Stone Well Supply: Stone well supply increased to 50 plots to justify the extra cost.
Restrictions During Droughts:Fishing in ponds during droughts is not allowed anymore.
Charcoal Burning Adjustment: Charcoal burners now try to burn charcoal in stacks of up to 10 firewood at once (per assigned family).
Woodcutter Speed Reduced: Slowed down woodcutter’s debranching by 30%.
Windmill Storage Limitation: Windmills should no longer mill flour if there is no pantry space left.
Flour and Bread Changes: 1 grain makes 1 flour, and bread output doubles (to reduce clogging at the windmill).
[Experimental] Building Costs Rebalance: Balance pass on building and upgrade costs, reducing the amount of Logs and utilizing more Planks, Stone, and Tools to better reflect the look of the building and encourage more diverse resource use.
Tavern Employment Reduction: Tavern (Lvl1) now employs 1 family (reduced from 3).
Tavern Spoilage Reduction Boosts: Tavern (Lvl1) now provides a small boost to spoilage reduction over regular buildings.
Tavern Pantry Capacity Reduced: Tavern (Lvl2) pantry capacity reduced from 100 to 50.
Tavern Spoilage Boost at Lvl2: Tavern (Lvl2) now provides a small boost to spoilage reduction over Lvl1.
Iron Deposit Size Increased: Iron Normal Deposits minimum size increased by 60%; maximum size increased by 28%.
Stone Deposit Size Increased: Stone Normal Deposits minimum size increased by 20%; maximum size increased by 20%.
Balance Adjustments
Apiary: Planks increased from 2 to 4.
Stonecutter: Logs decreased from 2 to 1; Planks increased from 0 to 4.
Mining Pit: Logs decreased from 1 to 0; Planks increased from 0 to 4.
Tavern (Level 1): Logs decreased from 5 to 3; Planks increased from 0 to 4.
Mill: Logs decreased from 4 to 2; Planks increased from 0 to 8.
Communal Oven: Logs remain 2; Planks increased from 0 to 4; Stone increased from 0 to 10.
Bloomery: Logs decreased from 2 to 1; Planks increased from 0 to 6.
Smithy: Logs decreased from 2 to 1; Planks increased from 0 to 4; Stone increased from 0 to 6.
Clay Furnace: Logs decreased from 2 to 1; Planks increased from 0 to 6; Stone increased from 5 to 8.
Malthouse: Logs decreased from 4 to 2; Planks increased from 0 to 6; Stone increased from 0 to 12.
Tannery: Logs decreased from 4 to 2; Planks increased from 0 to 6.
Granary (Level 2): Logs decreased from 5 to 2; Planks increased from 10 to 12; Stone remains 5.
Storehouse (Level 2): Logs decreased from 5 to 2; Planks increased from 10 to 16.
Stable: Planks increased from 2 to 4.
Burgage Plot (Level 2): Logs decreased from 4 to 2; Planks increased from 0 to 8.
Burgage Plot (Level 3): Logs increased from 4 to 3; Planks increased from 8 to 12; Tiles and Wealth remain unchanged.
Well (Level 2): Planks increased from 2 to 4; Stone remains 10.
Tavern (Level 2): Logs remain 2; Planks increased from 5 to 8; Stone increased from 2 to 10.
Church (Level 2): Logs decreased from 5 to 4; Planks increased from 10 to 16; Stone increased from 20 to 25; Tiles remain unchanged.
Chicken Coop: Planks increased from 0 to 2; Wealth decreased from 25 to 15.
Bakery: Planks increased from 5 to 6; Wealth increased from 5 to 10.
Tailor: Planks increased from 5 to 6; Wealth increased from 5 to 10; Tools increased from 0 to 1.
Armorer: Planks increased from 4 to 8; Wealth increased from 10 to 20; Tools increased from 0 to 2.
Blacksmith: Planks increased from 5 to 8; Wealth increased from 5 to 20; Tools increased from 0 to 2.
Cobbler: Planks increased from 5 to 6; Wealth increased from 5 to 10; Tools increased from 0 to 1.
Bowyer: Planks increased from 4 to 6; Wealth increased from 0 to 10.
Brewery: Planks increased from 5 to 6; Wealth increased from 5 to 10.
Joiner: Planks increased from 4 to 6; Wealth increased from 0 to 10; Tools increased from 0 to 1.
Butcher: Planks increased from 4 to 6; Wealth increased from 0 to 10; Tools increased from 0 to 1.
[Experimental] Food Consumption Adjustment: Instead of picking random food types to eat, families now try to consume all foods equally.
[Experimental] Region Strength Selection Change: Instead of choosing a random one, regions are now picked from a finite pool. This ensures, for instance, no rolls with zero rich iron deposits.
Minor Changes
[Experimental] Pickup Location Randomization: Pickup location randomization for fields to make collecting crops smoother.
[Experimental] Unit Formation Dragging and Collision: Dragging and projecting a unit formation, instead of skipping columns, will stick to the obstacle edge if a collision is detected.
[Experimental] Virtual Supply Distribution Adjustment: Virtual supply distribution is clamped to a number of active workers. Example: There are two taverns. In theory, 1 tavern is enough to supply all houses so that the other tavern would stop all work. After the change, both taverns will still try to share some work.
Missing Floater Icons Added: Added missing floater icons (when you hold TAB) to the tavern, trading post, and the marketplace.
Building Access Limits Adjusted: Adjusted building access limits to have fewer villagers “waiting” as the building gets too many transport requests at the same time.
Deep Mine Animation Changes: Instead of doing the mining animation on the surface, Deep Mineworkers will actually go underground and bring mined resources on their way out.
Retainers Excluded from Approval Ratings: Because it’s impossible for the player to manage, retainers will no longer affect the resident’s approval rating, including from taxation.
Construction Goods Banner Added: Added a problem banner “construction goods missing” for where the player blocks themself by exporting construction resources or reserving them for crafting (e.g., by unpausing a sawpit that has logs in it that were meant for construction).
[Experimental] Disabled FSR: Disabled FSR cause it potentially causes a GPU Crash even when it’s disabled.
Stamina Regeneration for Disbanded Soldiers: Added stamina regen for disbanded soldiers.
AI Command Improvement: Improved AI unit command indecisiveness in tight spaces.
Pathfinding Emergency Mode Fixes: Pathfinding emergency mode will no longer ignore water obstacles.
Burgage Plot Info Displayed in Region Panel: Burgage Plots now display “total,” “occupied,” and “under construction” in the Region Panel.
Granaries Limited for Tithe Goods Collection: Tithe goods will only be collected from the Granaries to avoid causing extra market supply fluctuations.
Unit Cards Reordering Added: Added the ability to drag and drop unit cards to change their order.
[Experimental] Task Failure Messages Updated: “Access limit reached” will show in the task description when a task failed because too many people tried to access a single building at the same time.
Region Names Adjusted: Renamed the regions in Germanic Valley to better fit their meanings in German.
[Experimental] FOV Adjustments: FOV changes now depend on the camera zoom level.
[Experimental] Unit Formation Improvements: When sending a unit by single clicking on a road (or a bridge), the unit will try to form a narrow formation and align the formation direction with the road direction.
Inventory Grid Widget Optimization: Cleaned inventory grid widget generation to remove flickering tooltips and improve optimization.
Burgage Plot Numbers Added to Region Panel: Number of burgage plots is now displayed in the Region Panel.
Living Space Availability Displayed: Living Space displays what is Available rather than Total in the Region Panel.
Smoother Camera Interpolation: Smoother camera height interpolation.
Marketplace Dirt Erosion: Optimized the eroding marketplace dirt functions.
[Experimental] Unit Ground Collision: Further optimized unit ground collision checks.
Crashfixes
GPU Crash Fix Attempt: Fix attempt for the UE5 crashing on some PCs with a “GPU Crash Triggered” message.
Animal Death Crash Fixed: Fixed a crash when animals are killed, for instance, by arrow fire, while being traded.
Bugfixes
Brigand Behavior Fix: Fixed brigands not leaving their camp sometimes when the enemy troops are near.
Pathfinding Fix on “Winding River”: Fixed oxen and traders getting stuck off the map on “Winding River” due to insufficient pathfinding data in the non-playable area.
Oxen Order Management Fix: Fixed oxen orders get lost after the player demolishes or relocates the building.
Coat of Arms Display Fix: Fixed orange tint sometimes appears in the player’s Coat of Arms in the Lord’s panel.
Granary Navigation Fix: Fixed villagers trying to navigate to the closed-off portion of the small granary.
Bridge Pathfinding Fix: Fixed gaps in the bridge pathfinding obstacle leading to soldiers “falling” off the bridge.
Small Stable Pathfinding Adjustment: Changed how oxen rest in the Small Stable to reduce failed pathfinding requests for guides wanting to stand next to them (in a wall).
Soldier Animation Fix: Fixed soldiers still pick running animation sometimes when only slightly pushed due to overoptimization.
Warehouse Transport Fix: Fixed warehouse workers not transporting excess goods from the trading post if there are over 10 transport requests.
Cliff Road Placement Fix: Fixed cliffs not blocking road placement.
Retinue Editor Color Fix: Fixed Retinue colors not updating in the Retinue Editor.
Wool Yield Limit Fix: Fixed wool yield accumulating indefinitely on sheep (instead of being limited to 1 until collected by the sheep farm worker).
Sheep Wool Drop Fix: Fixed sheep dropping wool when startled by raiders.
Sheep Shearing Logic Fix: Fixed sheep herders shearing wool even when their workplace storage is full.
Tavern Visitor Seating Fix: Fixed tavern visitors sometimes sitting in the air after upgrading the tavern to lv2.
Clay Furnace Operation Fix: Fixed the clay furnace working even when not refueled.
Tavern Upgrade Seating Fix: Tavern visitors sit in the air after hitting “upgrade” while people are drinking.
Encamping Raiders Issue Fixed: Fixed raiders encamping while at full strength instead of raiding if any bandit squad was wiped out to 0 before.
Enemy Units Encamping Outside Map Fixed: Fixed enemy units being able to encamp outside the map area.
Raider Movement Towards Player Fixed: Fixed raiders not moving towards the player’s region if there’s a bandit camp near them and the army think it’s all encamped.
Units Walking Underground Fixed: Fixed units walking underground near streams.
Livestock Traders Importing Dead Animals Fixed: Fixed livestock traders trying to import dead animals.
Combat Lag Spikes Reduced: Fixed lag spikes occurring when combat is happening in hard-to-navigate spaces.
Bandit Camp Spawning Fixed: Added another check to fix bandit camps spawning on ponds.
Disabled Sawpit Oxen Task Fixed: Fixed oxen not getting logs from the sawpit even though it’s disabled.
Tavern Visit Issue Fixed: Fixed: If the nearest tavern is taken or empty, villagers will refuse to go to another one.
Soldiers Locomotion Animation Fixed: Fixed soldiers sometimes triggering wrong locomotion animation, e.g., using the running animation when actually moving slow, or using the standing animation when actually moving fast.
Regional Good Surplus Update Fixed: Fixed assigning the first worker family and unassigning the last worker family not updating regional good surplus, even though it doesn’t count as reserved for crafting when you unassign all workers from the workplace.
Surface Mine Construction Fixed: Fixed the surface mine sometimes gets stuck and construction never finishes.
Granary Workers Collecting Non-Pantry Items Fixed: Fixed granary workers collecting non-pantry stored items from the Trading Posts when the player disables all export of them.
Flexible Plot Snapping Fixed: Fixed: Flexible plot might not snap to the point closest to the cursor.
Unit Command Exploit Fixed: Fixed the player being able to force units into a pond or a river by issuing commands furiously.
Retreating Units Getting Stuck Fixed: Fixed units get stuck on obstacles while retreating if they are in permanent collision with their own squad members.
Hunters Bow Equip Issue Fixed: Fixed hunters not unequipping bows before going to fetch water from the well.
Large Characters Movement Improved: Increased the distance large characters (animals, horse riders, handcart pullers) count as near to the camera to reduce the chances of them visibly going sideways due to overoptimization.
Cursor Spyglass Change Fixed: Fixed the cursor changing to spyglass sometimes while the pause menu is visible.
Problem Banner Cycling Fixed: Fixed clicking on a problem banner does not always cycle through all the affected buildings or villagers.
Excessive Water Collection Fixed: Fixed residents bringing too much water home if their task update synchronized perfectly by chance, possibly leading to clogged wells in large cities.
Camera Diving Underwater Fixed: Fixed the camera being able to dive underwater in a pond after the snow melts and turns pond ground collision off.
Armament Delivery Trigger Fixed: Fixed armament delivery does not trigger when the player upgrades the storehouse before finishing 5 cottages.
Villager Storage Limit Respect Fixed: Fix attempts for villagers not respecting storage limits because of a rare chance the items are marked as belonging to the target building, but the villager does not have a transport task just yet.
Invisible Crossbowmen Items Fixed: Fixed: Invisible Crossbowmen items stored in Burgage plots when the unit flees from combat.
Array Error During Spoilage Fixed: Fixed a possible error when the array was changed during iteration when spoilage destroyed a supply dump holding only food.
Audio + Sound
Town Ambience Adjustments: Tweaked town ambiance levels + added new ambient sounds.
Cosmetics
Snow Displacement Disabled: Disabled snow displacement cause sadly it kept glitching.
Drinking Mug Added: Added the missing drinking mug during the drinking action in the taverns.
[WIP] Deep Mine Rework: Work in progress on a Deep Mine rework.
[WIP] Cloud and Atmosphere Tweaks: Work in progress on tweaks to clouds and atmosphere to create some dark, stormy skies.
Cliffs Added to Parchment Map: Cliffs now show on the parchment map.
Residential Expansion Visuals Updated: Updated visuals of Residential Expansions (Level 1 and Level 2).
[Experimental] Abandoned Stall Covers Removed: Brought back abandoned stalls having no cloth covers.
That’s one hefty patch! If Slavic releases another one, we’ll let our readers know.
In a Q&A with investors, CI Games was asked how Lords of the Fallen 2 will differ from the first game.
Lords of The Fallen 2’s Story Will Be More “Westernized”
According to Ryan Hill, Marketing Director at CI Games, “Project 3 will address all core player feedback from Lords of the Fallen (2023) while also doubling down on the features players loved most. It will take a quality over quantity approach, with greater appeal to a wider addressable market with improved onboarding, a more inviting visual style, and westernised storytelling.”
For reference, the story of Lords of the Fallen (2023) is (via Wikipedia):
“After eons under the rule of Adyr, dark god of the demonic Rhogar, the followers of Orious the radiance god rose against him; unable to kill him, they sealed him away. One of Orious’ finest warriors, Judge Cleric, established the order of the Hallowed Sentinels to watch over five magic beacons in the land of Mournstead to prevent Adyr from reviving. Over the ages, however, the once-righteous Sentinels become corrupted and tyrannical themselves.
Over a thousand years after Adyr’s defeat, his return looms nearer as the beacons become tainted by his influence, and the Rhogar begin to infest the land. A sect of the Sentinels, the Dark Crusaders, acquires a powerful artifact to prevent this: the Umbral Lamp, which has the power to resurrect its user, allow them to travel between the realms of the living (Axiom) and the dead (Umbral), pull the souls out of enemies, and activate Stigmas, fragments of past events. However, when its previous bearer is killed, it comes into the possession of the main character: the Lamp Bearer. Exacter Dunmire, head of the Crusaders, recruits them to travel across Mournstead and cleanse the beacons with the Lamp, using it to absorb Adyr’s essence at each one.”
When Hill says more “westernized,” I am unsure what they mean, though that should be good, right? In terms of features, developer HexWorks ahs been quite steadfast in applying updates and making adjustments that the community wants, so the claims from CI should be legit.
Heads up, Descendants! Nexon has deployed yet another patch for the game this January 10, 2025! Those on consoles will see this as The First Descendant patch 1.43 (version 1.043 on PS5/XSX), and this is the third title update for the game released this week.
This patch is called Hotfix 1.2.3c by the developers, and should be live now on all platforms. Don’t expect anything major changes from this, as the patch was released for a quick fix more than anything else.
The First Descendant Gets Third Patch of the Week
There’s only one lone fix in the patch notes listed:
– Fixed an issue where the M1 log was being excessively stored on some devices, causing abnormal increases in file size during gameplay.
For the changes in Hotfix 1.2.3b, here’s what got fixed:
– Fixed an issue with abnormal objects placed in Albion.
– Fixed an issue with Special Operations: Hard showing only “Sterile Land – Block Kuiper Mining”
– Fixed an issue with Ultimate Descendant skin displayed as “End of Sale” in [Customize > Descendant Skins].
The main hotfix patch version 1.2.3 included a host of gameplay content improvements, which are outlined here.
Expect Nexon to push out more updates, especially since a new Descendant is set to be introduced next week.
The first season of Marvel Rivals is finally here! Before we can dive into the new content, NetEase has to pull the servers down first to conduct maintenance, and during this time, players will be prompted to download Marvel Rivals patch 1.000.005 with a download size of 8.9GB (PS5). In Season 1: Eternal Night Falls, players will be able to play as Mister Fantastic and Invisible Woman starting today, with The Thing and Human Torch available in the mid-season update.
Alongside introducing new heroes, new game modes and maps are available. Regarding hero adjustments, NetEase has rolled out the first significant balance pass, which affects all classes. The meta will be shaken up a bit as Hawkeye and Hela both got nerfed, while a good number of Vanguards got buffed.
Marvel Rivals New Patch Version 1.000.005 Ushers in New Content and Balance Changes
1. New Content
1.1 All Platforms
Heroes and Costumes
– Mister Fantastic and the Invisible Woman join Marvel Rivals!
– New Costumes: Mister Fantastic – The Maker; Invisible Woman – Malice!
– Explore the new Convoy map – Empire of Eternal Night: Midtown.
– Prepare for the thrilling arcade mode (Doom Match) and its map (Sanctum Sanctorum): 8-12 players will engage in battle, with the top 50% emerging victorious.
– New feature: In Convoy and Convergence, both sides can transition to the next spawn room sometime after the attacking side completes the current target.
– Enhanced feature: During the loading phase of a Quick Match, you can now view the Nameplates of both sides.
Season & Store
– Unlock a dazzling shiny new Battle Pass featuring 10 brand new sets of heroic costumes!
– Embark on the first thrilling half of the Midnight Features Season Event!
– Dive into the latest Twitch Drops event, featuring rewards such as the Hela – Will of Galacta costume. (Stay tuned for official announcements for specific times)
– We have revised the refresh times for various in-game content. Beginning with Season 1, the unlock time for daily missions, the availability of new items in the store, and the start time for most events have been adjusted from 7:00 (UTC+0) to 9:00 (UTC+0).
– Additionally, we have optimized the mission types and removed some of the more challenging ones.
Ranked
– Introducing the Celestial Rank, a tier above Grandmaster and below Eternity, consisting of 3 divisions.
– Rank Reset: based on your final Season 0 rank, ranks will be demoted by 7 divisions. For example, if you ended Season 0 at Platinum I, your Season 1 journey begins at Silver II.
Tournaments
– Newly added automatic follow function for tournament sign-ups: Faction members can opt to follow the captain on the sign-up page. When the captain/coach initiates or cancels the sign-up process, following members will automatically confirm. Please note, this feature, once activated, is effective for the current season only.
– New faction reporting function: Report factions for perceived misconduct in the same tournament within the past 90 days.
– New spectating channel: Chat in real-time with fellow rivals while spectating the same match.
– When spectating, the target player’s hotkeys and crosshair settings will be prominently displayed.
– New setting option: Block all active invitations and faction join requests.
General
– Streaming Mode: In Settings – Social, new settings have been added under the social setting allowing streamers to conceal their name as needed (only effective locally; other players in the same match can still see it).
1.2 PC
Graphics and Settings
– Enhanced and optimized graphics settings for improved performance:
· New: Added a new “Off” option under “Anti-Aliasing”.
· New: Included a “Performance” option for “Model Detail”.
· New: Integrated a new “Off” option under “Global Illumination”.
· New: Added a new “Off” option for “Reflection Quality”.
· Optimization: Adjusted and optimized various parameters within the graphics settings.
– Mouse Settings: Under Settings, the Keyboard – Combat category now includes new settings for mouse smoothing and mouse acceleration, enabling customization as required.
– Support Intel® XeSS 2: With Intel® Xe Super Sampling 2 (XeSS 2), experience faster, smoother gameplay with higher image quality and a more connected playing experience with Intel® Xe Frame Generation (XeFG), Intel® Xe Low Latency (XeLL).
2. Fixes and Optimizations
2.1 All Platforms
General
– Resolved numerous issues related to notifications.
– Rectified various text errors.
Maps and Modes
– Solved several terrain issues causing characters to become stuck or move to unusual locations. Such issues will continue to be monitored and addressed. We have also added a “get unstuck” feature: if a character is stuck in terrain for a specific duration, you can now control it to return to the spawn room.
– Fixed various issues including floating broken objects, collision errors, etc.
– Fixed various map sound problems.
– Resolved an extremely rare issue where overtime couldn’t be triggered or wouldn’t end.
– Also resolved an exceptionally rare abnormal draw occurrence issue.
Heroes
– Corrected minor movement ability discrepancies for certain heroes (like Doctor Strange and Magik) at both low and high frame rates.
– Addressed occasional malfunctions with, or inability to use Wolverine’s team-up ability.
– Fixed occasional incorrect resets of Winter Soldier’s ultimate ability.
– Fixed an issue where the Winter Soldier’s ultimate ability would sometimes fail to hit targets within its range.
– Corrected instances where Iron Man’s ultimate ability would sometimes pass through Hela during her ultimate ability.
– Resolved occasional synchronization issues for Venom and Spider-Man after swinging and wall-crawling.
– Rectified a situation where Rocket Raccoon, while on Groot’s shoulders, could irregularly place Battle Rebirth Beacons (B.R.B.) in abnormal map locations, trapping teammates after revival.
– Fixed occasional camera irregularities after Loki transformed into certain characters during his ultimate ability.
– Fixed a visibility issue that could sometimes occur when Adam Warlock/Mantis/Star-Lord were in soul form within the mist on Wakanda maps where they couldn’t see or be seen by others.
– Rectified instances where Squirrel Girl’s ultimate ability could get stuck on specific terrain.
– Fixed occasional damage loss in Rocket Raccoon’s primary attack.
– Addressed irregularities and occasional failure to end Wolverine’s Feral Leap, along with occasional abnormal behavior.
– Resolved instances where Luna Snow’s ultimate ability occasionally failed to heal teammates.
– Fixed occasional sound irregularities that could occur after being consumed by the Jeff the Land Shark’s ultimate ability.
– Addressed various ability sound and voice errors for several heroes.
– Optimized the playback rules for hero ability voices during combat to reduce auditory confusion.
2.2 Console
– Resolved an issue where after console matchmaking, teammates on Xbox were incorrectly shown as muted on other platforms, necessitating manual unmuting to remove the status display.
– Rectified instances where for some heroes, when the Field of View changed, the auxiliary sight intensity and crosshair sensitivity did not adjust accordingly.
– Resolved an issue where certain button settings were not taking effect as intended.
– The global focus switching algorithm has been optimized for smoother overall operation.
Marvel Rivals Balance Changes for Season 1:
ADJUSTMENTS
VANGUARD
Captain America
Steve will receive some enhanced survivability, allowing more frequent entering and exiting of the combat.
– Reduce the delay time for shield restoration after releasing Living Legend from 3s to 2s.
– Reduce Liberty Rush cooldown from 12s to 10s.
– Increase base health from 650 to 675.
– Reduce the energy cost for releasing Freedom Charge (ultimate ability) from 3400 to 3100; Reduce the additional health provided per second to self after releasing it from 110 to 100.
Doctor Strange
We’ll be reducing the threat range and increasing the defense window of the Sorcerer Supreme.
– Add damage falloff to Maelstrom of Madness and Gamma Maelstrom. Starting at 5 meters and reducing to 70% at 8 meters.
– Slightly decrease the shield value recovery rate after releasing Shield of the Seraphim from 80/s to 70/s.
Thor
The God of Thunder could use some slightly increased survivability and improved the success rate to his ultimate ability.
– Increase base health from 500 to 525.
– Added immunity to control effects during God of Thunder (ultimate ability).
Hulk
Dr. Banner has been dominant, but some decreased sustained combat capability upon entering the battlefield will bring him more in line with other Vanguards.
– Reduce the Indestructible Guard gamma shield value for Hero Hulk from 250 to 200.
Venom
With increased survivability and the threat of his ultimate ability, the symbiote menace will strike fear into the backlines of all enemy teams.
– Increase the Symbiotic Resilience bonus health ratio gained per lost health point from 1 to 1.2.
– Increase the base damage of Feast of the Abyss (ultimate ability) from 40 to 50.
DUELIST
Black Panther
We’re slightly decreasing T’Challa’s combat survivability.
– Reduce the additional health provided to self after refreshing Vibranium Marks with Spirit Rend from 40 to 30, and the upper limit of additional health provided from 120 to 75.
Black Widow
Natasha was very much in need of optimization when evaluating the release experience of her abilities as well as a slightly increase to the threat of her ultimate ability,
– Increase the range of the first effect of Edge Dancer from a 3-meter radius to a 5-meter radius.
– Reduce the time required for Fleet Foot to recover from 0 stamina to full from 12s to 4s.
– Reduce the time required for Electro-Plasma Explosion (ultimate ability) to reach maximum power from 1s to 0.6s.
Hawkeye
We’ll be decreasing the medium-long range damage capability, reducing the threatening combat radius, and slightly improving the close combat resistance for the avenging archer.
– Slightly reduce the spread angle between every two Blast Arrows.
– Reduce the triggering distance of passive ability Archer’s Focus from 60 meters to 40 meters. Reduce the maximum additional damage of the passive from 80 to 70.
Hela
The Goddess of Death has been a menace and we’ll slightly decreasing her combat strength.
– Reduce base health from 275 to 250.
Magik
The Queen of Limbo needed an Increase to her threat after unleashing her ultimate ability.
– Increase Umbral Incursion damage in Darkchild form from 115 to 135.
Moon Knight
The Hand of Khonshu will receive a slight increase to the threat of his ultimate ability.
– Increase the number of talons generated by Hand of Khonshu (ultimate ability) from 10 to 14.
– Increase the explosion radius of each talon from 4 meters to 5 meters.
Namor
We’re optimizing the throwing feel of Namor’s eggs!
– Adjust the throwing feel of Monstro Spawn and Frozen Spawn. Now, Namor can more accurately throw them to the desired location.
Psylocke
We’ll be providing more options for other heroes to counter the demon slayer’s ultimate.
– Now Dance of the Butterfly (ultimate ability) will check for barriers (including Magneto’s Metal Bulwark, Hulk’s Indestructible Guard, etc.).
The Punisher
We’re slightly increasing the damage capability of Frank’s weapons.
– Slightly reduce the spread of Deliverance and Adjudication.
Scarlet Witch
We’re Increasing Wanda’s combat strength when she’s facing Duelists or Strategists.
– Increase Chaos Control’s fixed damage from 50/s to 60/s.
– Reduce the percentage damage per second from 5% to 3%.
– Increase Chthonian Burst’s projectile damage from 30 to 35.
Storm
The Weather Witch needed an overall increase to her damage capability; We’re also optimizing the feel of her left-click projectile and the release experience of her ultimate ability.
– Increase Wind Blade projectile speed from 100m/s to 150m/s and left-click damage from 50 to 55.
– Increase Bolt Rush damage from 70 to 80.
– After releasing Omega Hurricane (ultimate ability), the bonus health provided for herself will be increased from 350 to 450. Moreover, following its conclusion, the extra health will no longer vanish instantly but will instead diminish at a rate of 100 per second.
Squirrel Girl
We’re increasing the threat of Doreen and her furry friends in their ultimate ability.
– Addition of a new effect to the Unbeatable Squirrel Tsunami (ultimate ability): the squirrels will rush towards the nearest enemy after bouncing instead of bouncing randomly.
– Reduce the squirrel tsunami health from 600 to 300.
Winter Soldier
We’ll be adjusting Bucky by decreasing his long-range combat strength and increasing his survivability in medium-close range combat.
– Increase the bonus health provided by Bionic Hook and Tainted Voltage from 30 to 40.
– Increase Roterstern’s projectile damage from 70 to 75.
– Reduce the area damage from 70 to 65 and reduce damage decay from 65% at 40 meters to 60%.
– Increase base health from 250 to 275.
Wolverine
Logan will receive an increase to basic combat strength, but a slight decrease to the additional survivability after activating Undying Animal.
– Increase base health from 300 to 350.
– Reduce the damage reduction ratio provided by Undying Animal from 50% to 40%.
STRATEGIST
Cloak & Dagger
Ty and Tandy will receive an increase to their healing capability as well as an expansion to the coverage area of their ultimate ability.
– Reduce Dagger Storm cooldown from 15s to 12s.
– Increase the number of dashes in Eternal Bond (ultimate ability) from 3 to 4.
Jeff the Land Shark
We’ll be adjusting the range for his ultimate ability so it now better fits the warning marker. In addition, we’ll also be increasing his healing capability.
– Adjust It’s Jeff! (ultimate ability) range from a 10m sphere to a 10m radius, 5m high cylindrical spell field.
– Increase the healing of Joyful Splash from 140/s to 150/s.
Luna Snow
While we’ve enjoyed her dropping the bass, we’ve made adjustments to Luna’s ultimate ability to prevent players from abusing its healing capabilities.
– Increase the interval for switching between healing and damage in Fate of Both Worlds from 0.1s to 0.5s.
Mantis
We’ll be making Mantis a bit less fleet-footed, reducing her roaming support capability.
– Reduce Nature’s Favor (passive) movement boost from 2.5m/s to 1.5m/s.
Rocket Raccoon
Rocket could use an enhancement to his healing capability.
– Increase the healing of Repair Mode from 60 per/s to 70 per/s.
TEAM-UP ABILITIES
Hawkeye – Black Widow
To further tone down Hawkeye’s oppression, we’ ll be reducing his seasonal buff.
– Reduce Hawkeye’s season bonus from 20% to 15%.
Hela – Thor – Loki
Much like Hawkeye, Hela’s overwhelming power will be receiving a slight reduction.
– Reduce Hela’s season bonus from 20% to 15%.
Luna Snow- Namor
We’ll be increasing the threat of Namor’s Frozen Spawn.
– Increase Frozen Spawn damage from 25 to 27.
– Increase Frozen Spawn slowing effect applied to hit enemies from 25% to 30%.
– Increase berserk state Frozen Spawn damage from 16 to 18.
Rocket Raccoon – The Punisher – Winter Soldier
One of Rocket’s best tools will be available more often!
– Reduce the cooldown of Ammo Invention from 45s to 40s.
Scarlet Witch – Magneto
A bit underwhelming, the damage capability of this father-daughter Team-Up ability will be enhanced.
– Increase Metallic Fusion projectile damage from 55 to 60.
– Increase Metallic Fusion spell field damage from 30 to 35.
Thor – Storm – Captain America
We’ll be enhancing the damage capability of Storm’s side of this Team-Up ability.
– Reduce the cooldown of Charged Gale from 20s to 15s.
– Increase the damage of Charged Gale from 50 to 55.
That’s one massive patch! Don’t forget, we are getting a mid-season patch at some point, so there’s more content on the way.
Less than a year after V Rising was released (May 2024 on PC, Jne 2024 on PS5), Stunlock Studios has announced that the title has sold over five million copies!
The studio isn’t taking that success for granted, either. They vow to continue supporting the game with planned content, including an expansion to arrive later this year.
A Big V Rising Update Is Planned for 2025, Promising a Redefining Experience
Survival action RPG, V Rising. had quite a big 2024, as Stunlock Studios revealed today that the title has surpassed 5 million copies in sales across all platforms. Quite an incredible feat for the relatively small Sweden studio, especially considering some of the other big games released last year. However, the sales are well-earned, as the title currently has an impressive 89% positive score on Steam, with many critics being generally favorable to the title in reviews.
With that milestone reached, many were curious about what’s next for the studio, and it seems that they aren’t quite done with V Rising just yet, as they’ve confirmed new content arriving this year.
“Hitting 5 million sales isn’t just a number, it’s a testament to the passion and dedication of our team and our incredible community,” said Rickard Frisegård, CEO at Stunlock Studios. “Our player’s enthusiasm drives us to push boundaries and deliver even more unforgettable experiences. We’re excited to build on this success and deliver thrilling new experiences and content in 2025.”
The press release notes that a big update planned for 2025 will “redefine” the vampire experience. A brand-new biome, a deadly new faction, and ancient technologies will be confirmed. In addition to the new content, the game will receive several new updates focused on revamping progression systems, a new forge system, risk-free PvP options like dueling, customizable castle arenas, and much more.
I cannot wait to see what the studio cooks for V Rising in 2025! Let’s just hope the wait isn’t too long for the reveal.
V Rising is currently available to play on PS5 and PC (via Steam)
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.
Hyper Light Breaker early access is officially kicking out next week! But before you all get the chance to dive back into the world of Hyper Light, you may want to familiarize yourself with the heroes, aka Breakers, that you’ll get to play as, along with the Crowns, who serve as the game’s big bad bosses.
Hyper Light Breaker Shows Off The Breaker’s Greatest Foes, the Crowns
While Heart Machine has already revealed the Breakers in previous trailers and blog posts, the latest trailer, dubbed “Breaker and Crowns,” will give you a bit of a refresher on them, while also revealing the Crowns, which are essentially the game’s bosses. All these heroes (playable) and villains will be available at early access launch, with more planned to arrive.
Early access for Hyper Light Breaker launches on January 14 on Steam. For those planning on purchasing the early access for a limited time (1/14-1/28), you’ll get Hyper Light Drifter for free! I strongly recommend playing through the title if you haven’t, as it’s one of the best games I’ve played. However, for those wondering, you do not need to play Hyper Light Drifter in order to understand Breaker. Both games play completely differently from one another, and from a story perspective, they each tell a unique tale set in the same universe, though Drifter does occur later in the timeline than the other. It’s not exactly a sequel, nor is it a prequel, but trust me, it’s very worth playing through if you haven’t.
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.
As PC gaming continues to evolve, so do the requirements to play games, and one of the big ones in recent years has been memory. While it used to be fine to run games with just 16GB of RAM, it seems more and more titles are starting to push for higher requirements, with 16GB now becoming more of a baseline rather than a recommendation. It’s not much of an issue for the everyday desktop gamer, but for those who have purchased a gaming laptop over the last few years, that costly expense has quickly started to lose more and more value.
Luckily, PNY has just revealed a new DDR5 SODIMM kit to put new life into those DDR5-equipped laptops.
PNY 32GB and 64GB DDR5 SODIMM Kits Can Help Breath New Life Into Gaming Laptops
One of the best things about owning a gaming desktop is its upgradability, which allows you to swap out several components without having to buy an entire new system. Unfortunately, gaming laptops don’t have that luxury, limiting upgradability to a few components, such as storage and, at times, memory. That’s sort of the sacrifice you get, though, when you’re getting a laptop that essentially has the same power as your gaming tower, though at a fraction of the size, allowing you to take it anywhere you want without any hassle.
Still, as powerful as your laptop may be, if you’re stuck with one that only has 16GB of memory, you may have noticed, as of late, a bit of a struggle to keep up with some of the most demanding games. Lucky for you, PYN has you covered with their new kits. Here’s a breakdown of what they have to offer (via press release)
Next Generation Technology
PNY Performance DDR5 is built to support the growing lineup of motherboards compatible with the new DDR5 memory standard. This cutting-edge technology introduces a host of new features previously unavailable or limited in earlier generations of notebook memory. DDR5 enables higher-density modules, with capacities up to four times greater per module than DDR4 and supports faster standard frequencies. PNY’s Performance DDR5 memory offers speeds of 5600MHz for outstanding performance and is available in 64GB (2x32GB) and 32GB (2x16GB) kits.3
Packed with Features
The DDR5 modules will operate at ultra-low 1.1 volts and feature on-die ECC support which increases efficiency. Existing DDR4 memory relies on the motherboard to handle voltage conversion, but DDR5 supports that conversion on-module resulting in lower voltage wear and less noise generation. Thanks to the on-module PMIC (Power Management IC), DDR5 provides enhanced power management with higher headroom for voltage adjustments and improved efficiency.
Product Specification
Frequency: 5600MHz (PC5-44800)3
Capacities: 64GB Kit (2x32GB), 32GB Kit (2x16GB)
Voltage: 1.1V
CAS Latency: 46
Warranty: Limited Lifetime & 24/7 U.S. Based Technical Support
Product Availability
PNY’s new Performance DDR5 Notebook Memory kits will be available at major retailers in mid-January.
64GB (2x32GB): $149.992
32GB (2x16GB): $82.992
That’s not a bad memory upgrade for DDR5; the kits’ prices are comparable to desktop gaming. No release date has been set outside of a mid-January arrival at participating retailers.
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.
Following yesterday’s massive list of balance changes coming to Marvel Rivals as part of Season 1, NetEase has released the Marvel Rivals Season 1 patch notes part 2, which detail the new content, non-hero changes and improvements.
Even platform-specific adjustments are made, with everything incoming on January 10 listed below.
Marvel Rivals Season 1 Second Part of the Patch Notes Mention Non-Hero Improvements
1. New Content
1.1 All Platforms
Heroes and Costumes
– Mister Fantastic and the Invisible Woman join Marvel Rivals!
– New Costumes: Mister Fantastic – The Maker; Invisible Woman – Malice!
– Explore the new Convoy map – Empire of Eternal Night: Midtown.
– Prepare for the thrilling arcade mode (Doom Match) and its map (Sanctum Sanctorum): 8-12 players will engage in battle, with the top 50% emerging victorious.
– New feature: In Convoy and Convergence, both sides can transition to the next spawn room sometime after the attacking side completes the current target.
– Enhanced feature: During the loading phase of a Quick Match, you can now view the Nameplates of both sides.
Season & Store
– Unlock a dazzling shiny new Battle Pass featuring 10 brand new sets of heroic costumes!
– Embark on the first thrilling half of the Midnight Features Season Event!
– Dive into the latest Twitch Drops event, featuring rewards such as the Hela – Will of Galacta costume. (Stay tuned for official announcements for specific times)
– We have revised the refresh times for various in-game content. Beginning with Season 1, the unlock time for daily missions, the availability of new items in the store, and the start time for most events have been adjusted from 7:00 (UTC+0) to 9:00 (UTC+0).
– Additionally, we have optimized the mission types and removed some of the more challenging ones.
Ranked
– Introducing the Celestial Rank, a tier above Grandmaster and below Eternity, consisting of 3 divisions.
– Rank Reset: based on your final Season 0 rank, ranks will be demoted by 7 divisions. For example, if you ended Season 0 at Platinum I, your Season 1 journey begins at Silver II.
Tournaments
– Newly added automatic follow function for tournament sign-ups: Faction members can opt to follow the captain on the sign-up page. When the captain/coach initiates or cancels the sign-up process, following members will automatically confirm. Please note, this feature, once activated, is effective for the current season only.
– New faction reporting function: Report factions for perceived misconduct in the same tournament within the past 90 days.
– New spectating channel: Chat in real-time with fellow rivals while spectating the same match.
– When spectating, the target player’s hotkeys and crosshair settings will be prominently displayed.
– New setting option: Block all active invitations and faction join requests.
General
– Streaming Mode: In Settings – Social, new settings have been added under the social setting allowing streamers to conceal their name as needed (only effective locally; other players in the same match can still see it).
1.2 PC
Graphics and Settings
– Enhanced and optimized graphics settings for improved performance:
· New: Added a new “Off” option under “Anti-Aliasing”.
· New: Included a “Performance” option for “Model Detail”.
· New: Integrated a new “Off” option under “Global Illumination”.
· New: Added a new “Off” option for “Reflection Quality”.
· Optimization: Adjusted and optimized various parameters within the graphics settings.
– Mouse Settings: Under Settings, the Keyboard – Combat category now includes new settings for mouse smoothing and mouse acceleration, enabling customization as required.
– Support Intel® XeSS 2: With Intel® Xe Super Sampling 2 (XeSS 2), experience faster, smoother gameplay with higher image quality and a more connected playing experience with Intel® Xe Frame Generation (XeFG), Intel® Xe Low Latency (XeLL).
2. Fixes and Optimizations
2.1 All Platforms
General
– Resolved numerous issues related to notifications.
– Rectified various text errors.
Maps and Modes
– Solved several terrain issues causing characters to become stuck or move to unusual locations. Such issues will continue to be monitored and addressed. We have also added a “get unstuck” feature: if a character is stuck in terrain for a specific duration, you can now control it to return to the spawn room.
– Fixed various issues including floating broken objects, collision errors, etc.
– Fixed various map sound problems.
– Resolved an extremely rare issue where overtime couldn’t be triggered or wouldn’t end.
– Also resolved an exceptionally rare abnormal draw occurrence issue.
Heroes
– Corrected minor movement ability discrepancies for certain heroes (like Doctor Strange and Magik) at both low and high frame rates.
– Addressed occasional malfunctions with, or inability to use Wolverine’s team-up ability.
– Fixed occasional incorrect resets of Winter Soldier’s ultimate ability.
– Fixed an issue where the Winter Soldier’s ultimate ability would sometimes fail to hit targets within its range.
– Corrected instances where Iron Man’s ultimate ability would sometimes pass through Hela during her ultimate ability.
– Resolved occasional synchronization issues for Venom and Spider-Man after swinging and wall-crawling.
– Rectified a situation where Rocket Raccoon, while on Groot’s shoulders, could irregularly place Battle Rebirth Beacons (B.R.B.) in abnormal map locations, trapping teammates after revival.
– Fixed occasional camera irregularities after Loki transformed into certain characters during his ultimate ability.
– Fixed a visibility issue that could sometimes occur when Adam Warlock/Mantis/Star-Lord were in soul form within the mist on Wakanda maps where they couldn’t see or be seen by others.
– Rectified instances where Squirrel Girl’s ultimate ability could get stuck on specific terrain.
– Fixed occasional damage loss in Rocket Raccoon’s primary attack.
– Addressed irregularities and occasional failure to end Wolverine’s Feral Leap, along with occasional abnormal behavior.
– Resolved instances where Luna Snow’s ultimate ability occasionally failed to heal teammates.
– Fixed occasional sound irregularities that could occur after being consumed by the Jeff the Land Shark’s ultimate ability.
– Addressed various ability sound and voice errors for several heroes.
– Optimized the playback rules for hero ability voices during combat to reduce auditory confusion.
2.2 Console
– Resolved an issue where after console matchmaking, teammates on Xbox were incorrectly shown as muted on other platforms, necessitating manual unmuting to remove the status display.
– Rectified instances where for some heroes, when the Field of View changed, the auxiliary sight intensity and crosshair sensitivity did not adjust accordingly.
– Resolved an issue where certain button settings were not taking effect as intended.
– The global focus switching algorithm has been optimized for smoother overall operation.
World Makers has pushed out Deceit 2 patch 1.057 on consoles and PC, and this is to bring Season 6: Futures Past into the game. There’s a slew of new cosmetics available, a new Season Pass and more.
Deceit 2 Season 6 Brings a Load of New Items as Part of Update 1.057
New Subject Skins
With each new season, a fresh wave of chaos crashes into the Ritual, bringing with it skins that transcend mere attire—they are the manifestation of the unraveling world, a brutal reminder of the crumbling future that awaits.
Steampunk Nina: Elegance hides madness beneath.
Founding Father Chang: A revolution gone wrong.
Jak 3000: The fusion of flesh and machine—your harbinger of doom.
Cavewoman Rachel: Primal. Ferocious. Ready to strike from the shadows.
McSly Alex: Deceptive, twisted, chaos incarnate.
Terror Skins:
Cyborg Monkey: Where flesh and metal collide in a horrific future.
Flute (Flare): A haunting melody, a luring siren call to your doom.
Spiked Ball & Chain: A weighty reminder of the inevitable.
Pigeon Walkie Talkie: Whisper your secrets—delivered with chilling precision.
Arcane Store: Bag Scanner & Hans
Step into the Arcane Store, where the Bag Scanner and Hans skins await. Cloaked in the essence of the Inbetween, these cosmetics drip with malice—deep reds and purples, twisted patterns and haunting sounds—a reflection of the malevolent beauty surrounding them. Unveil their secrets. Seize your fate. Claim them with gems.
Task Updates
The trials awaiting you in Milhaven and Wurgen have grown even more harrowing. Tasks have been reimagined and reshaped, blending the familiar with the unexpected. Each challenge will test your resolve and push you closer to the brink.
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Milhaven:
NEW: Activate Boiler – Feed the flames, watch it burn.
NEW: Open Winch Door – Paths once sealed now welcome despair.
REWORKED: Close Freezers – A chill precision that cuts deeper now.
REWORKED: Fill Washing Machines – Spins that pull you closer to ruin.
IMPROVED: Phone Call – Connections now more sinister.
