At Tokyo Game Show 2024, Konami held a Metal Gear Production Hotline digital show featuring Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater. While we didn’t get a release date announcement from it, we did get an 11-minute gameplay demo showcasing some of the game’s mechanics, features and more.
Note that the language, menus, dialogue and whatnot are in Japanese, which is understandable given this is a demo for the primarily Japanese crowd at TGS 2024. Even so, we get to see Naked Snake sneak around in the jungle.
Some details confirmed in the demo include:
MGS Delta now features a small cutscene after Snake drops from the tree branch that shows our protagonist get into position for a codec call. Could there be more of these small cutscenes added throughout the game? (thanks, snack217!)
Photo Mode is confirmed based from the footage.
We see the quick camo change feature in action
There’s a Calorie Mate pose based from the product’s poster where we see Eve as well.
That’s about it. This is a different kind of gameplay demo from what we usually get. There was a story trailer released during the Xbox TGS show which features the game’s cast in all their Unreal Engine 5 glory.
No release date for this one yet, though we’re hoping that will be announced soon. With just a few months before 2024 ends, it looks like Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater won’t be out this year contrary to rumors, though we’d love to be proven wrong.
SNK has revealed the post-launch support fighting game fans can expect from Fatal Fury: City of Wolves when it’s unleashed next year! As expected, new fighters will be released, and a couple are from Capcom’s Street Fighter franchise! Read on for the Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves DLC roadmap.
Per the press release: “For decades, SNK has had deep respect for Capcom, in both genuine admiration and a bit of friendly rivalry,” said FATAL FURY: City of the Wolves Producer Yasuyuki Oda. “It’s an honor to bring the universes of FATAL FURY and Street Fighter together once again. This collaboration is a reflection of that bond, and we hope players share our excitement.”
Fatal Fury: City of Wolves will punch its way out sometime in “early 2025” for the PS4, Xbox One, PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC.
California is taking bold steps with a new law that changes how digital purchases are sold. Starting next year, digital storefronts will have to be more transparent about what you’re really buying when you purchase a game, movie, music or ebook. No more pretending you’re buying something to keep forever when, in reality, you’re just getting a license that can vanish.
Governor Gavin Newsom has signed a new law called AB 2426, which requires digital stores to avoid using terms like “buy” or “purchase” unless they clearly state that consumers are only getting a license for the digital content. This law aims to ensure that consumers understand companies can take away their digital media at any time, without warning. Companies who fail to comply could face charges for false advertising.
This law comes after incidents like Ubisoft’s removal of The Crew from players’ libraries, which showed the need for stronger consumer protections. Assembly member Jacqui Irwin, who wrote the bill, highlighted the need for honesty in digital sales, saying, “I thank the Governor for signing AB 2426, ensuring the false and deceptive advertising from sellers of digital media incorrectly telling consumers they own their purchases becomes a thing of the past.”
While the new law won’t stop companies from pulling your digital purchases, it will force them to be upfront about the fact that your purchase is actually a license. This change is likely to affect how people think about and buy digital products in the future.
All Possible Futures has pushed out The Plucky Squire update 1.007 on consoles this September 26, and this brings in fixes to the charming action-adventure game. Note that this patch was released a few days earlier for PC as version 1.1.
The Plucky Squire Update 1.007 Patch Notes for Sept, 26:
Fixed Fatal Error Crash in cliff descent section in Chapter 2
Fixed Jot not respawning correctly when jumping off the edge of the desk near the candle in Chapter 6
Fixed blockers created by stone block being placed on minecart and moved in Chapter 6
Fixed Jot getting stuck in portal on mine cart when stone block is placed on the portal in Chapter 6
Fixed NPCs not following Jot in Chapter 7 (C07_P1516)
Fixed hammer changing into blue gem if taken back to previous page in Chapter 7
Fixed bubbles occasionally not spawning in Chapter 8 minigame
Fixed overexposed textures in desk scenes
Fixed glitchbird count resetting when reloading a save from Save History menu, ‘Saviour of the Glitchbirds’ achievement can now be completed when using Save History functionality
The studio states that they are working on more improvements to the game, and it seems a lot of people are affected by a progression bug in Chapter 9 which still hasn’t been fixed. Once the devs release a proper outline for the next update, we’ll let our readers know.
If you haven’t played the game yet, you might want to change that. Our review speaks highly of it and states, “Plucky Squire is a story that is certain to have a happy ending, right as it should be, and no evil wizard will be able to do anything about it.”
Nintendo has been one of the biggest publishers in the gaming industry. Whether releasing games or launching consoles, the company has always stayed out of the “console wars” between competitors like Sony and Microsoft. Although the reason remained unclear, legendary game maker Shigeru Miyamoto, recently explained why the company chooses not to get involved in these battles.
In a recent interview with Famitsu, Nintendo Director Shigeru Miyamoto said (translated via DeepL):
I hope that they will understand this way and not involve Nintendo in the ‘console war’ that is said to be about high specs and how to improve the performance of game consoles (laughs).
Miyamoto highlighted that Nintendo prefers to follow its own unique path rather than engage in costly battles over system specifications.
Miyamoto also mentioned that the company recruits around 100-200 new devs each year, providing them with a three-hour discussion about “what is Nintendo.” This discussion is intended to align new devs with the company’s vision and reinforce its commitment to creativity and innovation over competing in hardware performance.
While companies like Sony and Microsoft are constantly competing to dominate the console wars, it is somewhat disappointing to see that Nintendo avoids this debate entirely.
Miyamoto also discussed the Nintendo Museum, which recently opened, aiming to showcase the company’s history and philosophy, not only to employees but to fans of all generations.
I made this because I thought it would be a good opportunity to let people understand that Nintendo will continue to create things that are unique to Nintendo using various technologies in the world today, and that we will continue to do not only games but also videos, and that we are a company that creates various entertainment content.
Nevertheless, it’s reassuring to see that Nintendo has always delivered for its fans. Even though the Switch is several years old, the company is already working on its successor. President Furukawa stated in May 2024 that an announcement regarding the successor to the Nintendo Switch will be made within this fiscal year.
MMA fans can now download EA UFC 5 update 1.014 which adds new fighters for free! In addition to that, there’s also a bunch of gameplay adjustments made. Chase Hooper and Lerone Murphy are the new martial artists that players can play as starting today, and you can check out the complete patch notes below for the full info.
EA UFC 5 Update 1.014 Patch Notes for September 26:
Chase Hooper – You wouldn’t know it by looking at him but Chase Hooper is a very dangerous fighter and once the fight hits the canvas, it’s only a matter of time before his opponents find a barrage of ground and pound coming their way or they’re on the wrong end of a submission attempt. Chase’s nickname is “The Dream” but once he steps into the Octagon in UFC 5, he quickly becomes a nightmare for his opponents.
Lerone Murphy – Lerone “The Miracle” Murphy has had to overcome great adversity to make it to the UFC. Every time he enters the Octagon with a point to prove and has emerged as one of the top Featherweight prospects in the UFC. An explosive and powerful standup game, great takedown defense, and stamina for days is what “The Miracle” brings when you pick him as your fighter in UFC 5
UFC 307 Fight Week Challenges and New Alter Egos
These will be added on October 1, 2024, at 10 am PT.
New Fighters
Chase Hooper
Lerone Murphy
Gameplay Updates
Fixed an issue that allowed a fighter to partially block the special lead hook block counter, after using an advancing slipping rear hook.
Fixed an issue that made the Triangle entry unavailable from Submissive Rubber Guard, when at a large stamina advantage.
Reduced the stamina advantage requirement for some ground transitions:
Smash Pass from Dominant Full Guard to Side Control from 25 to 10.
This happens when the submissive hips out to one side and then the dominant, being the second one to move, transitions to the other side. This requires Wrestling Transitions.
Side Control Sweep from 70 to 50.
This is a circumstantial sweep that stems from the hip-out transition to half-guard. It requires Wrestling Sweeps and was also very rare because of the very high stamina advantage requirement.
As part of today’s scheduled maintenance, Bungie has pushed out the Destiny 2 update for September 26, which the studio calls patch 8.0.5.5. Those on consoles, expect to download Destiny 2 update 3.39 on last-gen, and version 1.134 for current-gen platforms.
This is a fairly short patch, which you can read about below.
Destiny 2 Update for September 26 Patch Notes (Version 3.39 | 1.134):
Activities
Exotic Missions
Encore
Darkness has been removed from both Encore boss encounters on Normal difficulty. On Expert, Darkness is unchanged.
UI/UX
Fireteam Finder
Activity-specific Titles have been added to Exotic Mission: Encore to support players in communicating their goals to potential fireteam members.
Gameplay and Investment
Triumphs
Adjusted enemy density in Skywatch to better support the engram requirements of the Accidental Generosity Triumph.
Eververse
Adjusted the visibility of the Recommendations tile in Eververse.
That’s about it.In terms of Destiny 2 updates, this is a fairly small one, though we’re expecting a bigger one to be released soon.
Those who grew up gaming on the PS2, chances are you’ve heard of the horror game “Siren” or “Forbidden Siren” developed by Project Siren back in 2003. It seems Sony might be bringing the franchise back in some, as it has been rated by the Korean Game Rating Board.
You can check the filing out here, though a huge part of what exactly this is remains a mystery. While the description is similar to the PS2 classic, it’s not specified if this is a re-release, a remake or some other thing.
The description reads as follows (via Google Translate):
A horror adventure game set in the isolated Japanese village of Hanuda. * Excessive violence – When attacking zombies with weapons, red blood stains are excessively displayed. * Excessive disgust and fear – Zombies that suddenly appear and eerie sounds continuously cause fear and disgust. Therefore, in accordance with Article 21 of the Act on the Promotion of the Game Industry and Article 7, Paragraph 4 of the Rating Classification Regulations, the game has been rated “Not available to minors.”
For reference, the original Siren has been available for the PS4 since 2016, it’s strange that this rating surfaces today and with not a lot of info. Could this be a remake? Adding further fuel to the fire, just this August, we ran a report on how Sony first-party studio Firesprite is making a dark horror game from “an established IP.” One of our guesses in that report? The studio is making a new Siren game.
The Siren franchise which debuted back in 2003, saw a follow up titled Siren 2 in 2006, and the last game was called Sire: Blood Curse which was released in 2008 for the PS3. Not only that, but there was even a horror film based on the game released in Japan back in 2006, which coincided with the game’s release.
Behaviour Interactive has released The Casting of Frank Stone update 1.012 on all platforms this September 26, and this brings crash fixes, performance improvements to the horror game.
The Casting of Frank Stone Update 1.012 Patch Notes and What’s New:
Crashes & Blockers
Fixed a crash during game launch
Fixed a crash when accessing another game mode
Fixed issue where some save files would not load properly
Graphics & Performance
Fixed issue where changing motion blur settings caused screen tearing
Fixed minor graphical corruptions and missing VFX
Objects & Environment
Fixed issue where player could fall through the world in the Stormdrain
Fixed issue where player could fall through some metal construction textures
Achievements
All Seeing Trophy fix (pending Sony update) (PS5)
Misc.
Fixed issue causing a disconnect from Epic Games Services (Epic)
Game title now displays correctly for User and Friends’ status (Epic
If you haven’t played the game, you might want to even if you’re not a Dead by Daylight fan. Our review gave it a glowing recommendation and states, “The Casting of Frank Stone is a solid horror game, and could very well be Supermassive’s finest work to date.”
Developer Shift Up has released Stellar Blade update 1.007 which is a surprise patch. While the Nier Automata crossover content was announced during this week’s State of Play, this is not the patch that brings the content over.
Stellar Blade Update 1.007 Patch Notes:
Update 2 (9/27): After a day, Shift Up has revealed the complete patch notes.
You can still enjoy the “Summer Event” at the Oasis by turning on/off the summer event content toggle.
The summer event BGM (Don’t Forget Me) is now available at the camp.
You can mark pins on the map by pressing □ button on the map.
You can use favorites feature on EVE’s equipment.
New item “Ammo Package” is now available for purchase, which allows you to stock up on all ammunitions to max at once.
Purchase confirmation pop-up will be shown when spending over 15,000 golds to prevent any unintentional spend.
Visual improvements of conflicts between EVE’s body.
Various other bug fixes.
Update: Shift Up has not released the official changelog but we added more fixes confirmed via the game’s community.
Shift Up has not revealed what’s new in this patch or if it houses new outfits, though we’re hoping that it changes soon. What we do know is that the devs added the Summer Content toggle in the settings. The Oasis resort feature, but added a toggle to turn it back on if you so wish (via Sarunas_21)
Added Summer Content toggle in settings
Custom map markers added
Loading screen freezing issue fixed
So far, that’s about it. We do know that Photo Mode is incoming as part of the title update for the Neir Automata crossover content. Also of note, it seems the leaked roadmap we reported on back in June seems like the real deal as well given it mentioned the Photo Mode title update was due in August (which obviously has been delayed, but the point still stands).
Once Shift Up releases the changelog, we’ll add it to the article, so sit tight!
Gun Interactive has released The Texas Chain Saw Massacre update for Sept. 26, which shows up as version 1.30 on last-gen, and version 1.000.032 for current-gen platforms. This brings Rush Week into the game alongside bug fixes.
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre Update for Sept. 26 Patch Notes:
Last-Gen Version 1.30 | Current-Gen Version 1.000.032
Folks who have purchased the Content Pass will gain access to ‘Rush Week’ four days earlier. It will be free to everyone on Monday, September 30th, 2024.
As a reminder, in addition to the default cosmetics of Pajamas, Cheerleader, and Nightie, everyone who plays ‘Rush Week’ will unlock the Towel and Laundry Day cosmetics for FREE, for life! But you gotta be quick, as the offer only lasts until our October patch when the two cosmetics will move to the shop at $1.99 each.
Changed: Base Game – Fuse Box Spawn on The Mill
We have changed a potential spawn location for fuse box, to prevent it from spawning too close in proximity to the valve tank
Added fusebox spawn in the Mill Ground Floor
Removed fusebox spawn in the Overgrown Exterior
Fixed: Base Game – Connie’s Focused SFX
In both public and private matches, all players could hear Connie use her Focused ability
Players will no longer be able to hear a Connie pop their Focused ability
Fixed: Base Game – Lockpicking Exploit
Victims were previously able to bypass tool break progression by exiting and reentering the minigame after hitting a checkpoint
Tool break progress will fill and deplete normally now
Fixed: Base Game – Ripstall Cooldown
The Level 2 Hands Ability Tree upgrade, Reduce Ripstall Cooldown, did not give the correct cooldown
With this fix, the cooldown will be 72 seconds if Reduce Ripstall Cooldown has been equipped
Fixed: Base Game – Family Members Stunned
If any 2 Family Members stand near a hiding spot while a Victim bursts out of it, it would result in one Family player being permanently stunned for the rest of the match
This has been fixed so that the stun is the correct duration when a Victim player bursts out of a hiding spot
Fixed: Base Game – ‘Tracker Tagged’ Perk
The Family Perk ‘Tracker Tagged’ would lose functionality mid-match and not highlight Victims after landing a hit
The description for the Tracker Tagged Perk reads as follows: “Hitting a Victim highlights them for all Family members. Highlight duration is 2/3/5 seconds.”
The perk will now always highlight Victims for the proper duration for all Family Members after hitting a Victim
Fixed: Base Game – Maria’s Eye Color
Hazel, her eyes are hazel
Nothing to see here
Fixed: Base Game – Sonny Star Sign Ability
When using Sonny’s ability, other players were able to see visual effects
The effect will now only be visible to Sonny
Fixed: Base Game – Family Melee Attack Exploit
The team has patched an exploit where Family players could deal double damage with a single melee attack
Fixed: Private Matches – Crashes
If the host of a private match had the store open while the lobby countdown transitioned to the loading screen, the title would crash for them
The game will no longer crash in this scenario
Fixed: Private Matches – Consecutive Matches
Players were not able to play consecutive private matches as they would encounter an infinite loading screen if four or more players were present
This has now been fixed and players will be able to play back to back private matches regardless of player count
Fixed: Private Matches – Family House – Blood Moon Basement Lighting
We fixed a shader issue on the Family House – Blood Moon map variant that resulted in the basement area being too bright
Players can view this fix in private matches
Fixed: Private Matches – Spectator Overlay
When hosting a private match as a Victim, proximity and hiding spot overlays would not be present for the host in spectator mode
The correct visual effects will now show for the spectating player
Fixed: Private Matches – Family Stamina
Family melee attacks were incorrectly consuming stamina in private matches
Attacking as a Family Member will now consume the proper amount of stamina
Fixed: Private Matches – Attack Animations
Repeated attacks by a Family Member in private matches would have identical animations
Family Member attacks will now smoothly alternate between animations
Fixed: Private Matches – Bone Shards
An issue has been fixed where the host of a private match was able to collect an infinite amount of bone shards from bone piles
Fixed: Private Matches – Fuse Box Minigame
Fuse box minigame would not complete properly resulting in the basement door not opening and the minigame remaining visible to the player
Fuse box minigame will now function as intended when completed
Quick math, on the other hand, can still be difficult
Fixed: Private Matches – Character Levels
Character levels were not displaying accurately to non host players
The appropriate character level will now show for all players when in a private lobby
Fixed: Private Matches – Star Sign Ability Effects
We fixed an issue where the host of a private match could see the Star Sign Ability effects of other characters during a match, regardless of the side they were playing on
Every character is bound to its own set of abilities and will not see the effects of other characters’ Star Sign Abilities during private matches
Fixed: Private Matches – Attribute Points
A fix has been implemented where Attribute Point changes made in the Character Loadout weren’t applying correctly during a private match
The fix made Attribute Points properly reflected in the functionality during a private match
Fixed: Private Matches – Radio Voice Over
An issue has been fixed where the host couldn’t hear the radio voice over when loading into a private match
Radio voice over is now audible for all players when loading into a private match
Fixed: Private Matches – Softlocked
We have fixed a bug where softlock occurred for the host of a private match if they loaded into a match with the Options Menu opened
The host of a private match will now be able to enter a match without getting softlocked
We have implemented a fix where a sound effect that is normally played after a Victim dies was present during the Loading Screen when starting a private match
Victim death sound effects will now only play after a Victim is executed
Fixed: Private Matches – Non-Functional Lobbies
We have resolved an issue where players would get stuck in a non-functional private lobby while attempting to leave immediately after creating it
Players in a Private Match Lobby can now proceed to the main menu without any issues
Fixed: Museum Mode – Photo Opportunity Mode Invisible Collision
When entering Photo Opportunity Mode after finishing Museum Mode, players would encounter invisible collision in the Front Field area
This issue has been fixed
Fixed: Museum Mode – Stuck Spots
In Museum Mode’s Photo Opportunity Mode, if a player tried to change Family Members while standing on top of them in the Car Graveyard, they would get stuck out of bounds
This issue has been fixed
Fixed: Museum Mode – Camera Stuck Spot
The camera in Museum Mode would get stuck in the map environments when attempting to switch characters in a staged photo opportunity in the Basement Area
Player camera will no longer get stuck while switching characters
Fixed: Museum Mode – Inverted Functionality
An issue with inverted functionality in Museum Mode has been fixed
Inverted Look Functionality will now perform in Museum Mode as it does in the base game
The next major update for SnowRunner is here! Focus Entertainment has revealed the full content of what’s in SnowRunner update 1.53 (PS4, Xbox One), 1.034 (PS5, Xbox Series) for what the studio calls Season 14: Reap & Sow! Check out the trailer spotlighting the new content, and we have the official patch notes available too.
SnowRunner Update 1.53 | 1.034 Patch Notes for Season 14:
New content:
DLC:
New region, Austria, Europe
New trucks:
Ankatra 1160
Futom 7290RA
EarthRoamer LTi
EarthRoamer SX
New add-ons and trailers:
Two Futom Log Trailers
Two Crane addons
Counterweight addons for Ankatra and Futom
Portable EarthRoamers Radar
Vehicles improvements:
Rezvani:
The ability to switch to all-wheel drive was added (Rear by default)
Slightly improved the mud cross-country ability of the unique wheels for Rezvani
Damage zones are corrected
Crane socket added to the roof
Fixed a bug with brake lights on Rezvani Tank
Others:
Fixed the position of the speedometer arrow on the Neo Falcon 2000 truck dashboard
Fixed a bug where the Tatra FORCE T815-7 truck attached to the ‘Ramped Towing Platform’ addon could not move through the gateway
Fixed wheel hubs for Zikz 566A, TUZ 166, and GMC MH9500 truck wheels
Fixed a no-hub issue between rims and wheel on any scouts with narrow tires
Fixed a bug with the mount of the Kirovets K-700 truck shifted downwards
Added switchable differential lock for Kirovets trucks
Fixed dashboard arrow textures in the cockpit mode on the Azov 67096 “Atom” truck
Fixed side mirror of the GMC Brigadier 8000 truck
Fixed wheel hubs for Zikz 566A wheels
Fixed the collision issue with the ‘Disassembled Caterpillar 770G’ trailer attached to the Fleetstar F2070A truck
Co-op:
Fixed an issue when it was impossible to reconnect to the co-op session after leaving it and being absent for one minute or more
Fixed a bug with receiving no invitation after trying to invite the friends in the ‘Friend List’ menu on AppStore
Mac version:
Fixed a bug where the unknownPlayer profile folder was created when launching the title without an internet connection on AppStore
Fixed a synchronization issue between iCloud and local saves on AppStore
Fixed a bug where the player’s progress wasn’t saved when exiting the game with an unstable internet connection and if iCloud was enabled on AppStore
Various visual fixes on Mac devices
Other Changes:
Fixed a bug where some contests could not be started in the ‘New Game+’ game with the ‘Day only’ rule in the ‘Time Settings’ tab
Fixed a bug where the “Repair the Repair Station” task could not be finished if the Vehicle Spare Parts were lost on ‘By the Lake’ level
Fixed a bug where the ‘Wide Flatbed 3-Axle Semi-trailer’ was clipping into terrain after restarting the ‘Essential Semi-Trailer’ task
Fixed the missing name of steering wheel presets on the ‘Scroll’ button background in the ‘Truck Store’ menu of the Garage’
Fixed the missing name of steering wheel presets on the ‘Switch Mode’ button background in the ‘Custom Scenarios’ subtab of the ‘New Game’ tab
Fixed flickering textures of the truck tracks after relaunching the level in any region
Fixed a bug where the 8-slot trailer’s winch point couldn’t be connected to a truck behind it
Added Hori Force Feedback Racing Wheel DLX preset
Made some fixes to log trailers
Fixed some issues on PROS portal
Multiple crash fixes
Different collision fixes
Various visual fixes
Localization fixes
Have fun in Austria! Once a new patch is released for SnowRunner, we’ll let our readers know.
It’s Thursday, and Rockstar has pushed out the GTA Online new update for September 26! Same as always, we also list the discounts, the new GTA+ benefits and more all in one place!
GTA Online New Update for Sept. 26:
Double GTA$ and RP on Assault on ATT-16, Madrazo Hits, and Extraction
GTA$100K bonus for eliminating three Madrazo targets
Oktoberfest Gifts: Free Pißwasser Good Time Tee, Gold Pißwasser Shorts, Alpine Outfit, plus limited-time liveries for the Übermacht Cypher (Drift) and the Übermacht Sentinel Classic Widebody (Drift) for playing any time through October 9
This week at Simeon’s Premium Deluxe Motorsport Showroom: The Pegassi Torero, Karin 190z, Vapid Hustler, Vapid Riata, and Dinka Thrust
On Display at the Luxury Autos Showroom: The Canis Castigator and Bollokan Envisage
HSW Premium Test Ride: The Übermacht Niobe
Place Top 3 in the LS Car Meet Series fo four days in a row to earn a free Obey 8F Drafter
LS Car Meet Test Rides: The Vapid FMJ, Übermacht Revolter, and Vapid Clique
Lucky Wheel Top Prize: The Pfister Neon
Vehicle Discounts: 40% off the HVY Barrage, Kurtz 31 Patrol Boat, P-45 Nokota, Grotti Furia, and Benefactor LM87, 30% off the Karin 190z, Pegassi Torero, Vapid Clique, Gallivanter Baller ST-D, Übermacht Revolter and Vapid FMJ, 25% off the Bollokan Envisage
Gun Van Discounts: 50% off the Compact Rifle and 30% off the Minigun (For GTA+ Members)
GTA+ Benefits: Earn quadruple GTA$ and RP on Madrazo Hits this week, plus New Blue Prismatic Pearl Chameleon Paint and Dark Blue Pearl Chameleon Wheel Paint, a free Enus Deity with the Golden Leaf Livery, and much more
This week, get new Blue Prismatic Pearl Chameleon Paint and Dark Blue Pearl Chameleon Wheel Paint, plus returning Dark Holographic and White Prismatic Pearl Chameleon Paint as part of the Special Weekly Rewards event for GTA+ Members.
GTA+ Members can also claim their free Enus Deity (Sedan) with the Golden Leaf livery, and get GTA$ deposited automatically into their Maze Bank account each month, access to a rotating selection of classic Rockstar Games titles, and much more.
Guardians, Bungie has thrown a monkey wrench into your plans to save the galaxy, as the Destiny 2 servers have been pulled down for maintenance this September 26. Players might notice that instead of your regular Tuesday downtime, Bungie is doing its server clean up on a Thursday.
There’s also a patch set to be released later today once maintenance is close to being finished and it’s version 8.0.5.5.
Saber Interactive has pushed out Warhammer 40K: Space Marine 2 update 1.003.001, which the studio calls Patch 3.0! This brings new features such as ultrawide monitor support,. private lobbies in Operations and more. There’s a lot to take in, so read on for the official patch notes for Space Marine 2’s September 26 title update below.
Warhammer 40K: Space Marine 2 Update 1.003.001 Patch Notes:
New features
The Hub Sparring Arena, a new special arena on the Battlebarge available in Operations & Eternal War Game mode where players can compete in friendly PvP with the players in their squad.
Ultrawide support for PC
Private mode for Operation mode that gives players ability to play operation alone with bots or alongside one friend without being matchmaked with random players during the mission.
Added What’s New & Message of the Day
Added option to reset custom colour presets
Gameplay and balancing tweaks
The marking tool has been updated:
– Improved responsiveness and comfort of Social Wheel control with a mouse
– Disabled unnecessary objects that do not require highlighting and worked poorly with it
– Several minor bug fixes
Power Fist: Damage for fully charged attacks has been greatly increased
Heavy Plasma: Base ammo increased by 5. Blast damage radious increased. Owerheat per shoot drastically decreased from 50 to 30 for charged shoots and from 20 to 15 for base shooting. Base damage slightly increased by 10%.
Med Stims restore contested health in addition to actual healing
Aux grenade launcher ammo now can be refilled only with the Ammo Boxes and can not be refilled from the infinite Ammo Cache
Campaign
Difficulty:
Enemy aggressiveness on Veteran Difficulty in Campaign decreased for better singleplayer experience.
Player’s health on Veteran Difficulty in Campaign is slightly reduced to compensate for AI aggressiveness and armor management updates
Bots:
Various inhibiting restrictions were lifted, allowing bots to be more helpful and effective, while still not beating the game for the player
Bots will now help focus-firing zoanthropes when the player attacks them.
Heavily eased restrictions on bots finishing of enemies instead of leaving them for the player, to reduce annoyance.
Bots are now allowed to help with Gargoyle objectives
– Fixed a variety of bugs related to bots getting stuck
– Fixed a bug where bots can run out of ammo on weapons without a magazine
Operations Mode
Tweaked AI Director and spawn rules of Chaos enemies in Operations mode:
– Max number of Tzaangors With Shield on the arena at the same time reduced from 10 to 4
– Max number of Cultists Snipers on the arena at the same time reduced from 10 to 3
– Max number of Tzaangors on the arena at the same time reduced from 30 to 20
– Max number of Rubric Marines with Boltguns on the arena at the same time reduced from 8 to 5
– Max number of Rubric Marines with Warpflamers on the arena at the same time reduced from 4 to 3
Perfect parry has been updated, now restores armour for killing minoris, not only for countering their special attacks
Regarding Block and Fencing Weapons, a bug has been fixedin perfect parry window for fencing weapons. Now it has 20 frames window for perfect parry and 10 fames of vulnerability at the end of animation, instead of 30 frames of perfect parry for full animation as it was intended originally.
Assault Class: Base groundpound damage increased by 30%
Armor boost drops from destructible crates are now less common (cooldown raised from 30 secs to 60 secs)
PVP
Improved player spawn system. It should make spawn killing more difficult
Reworked Vanguard’s Grapnel Launcher in PVP. Instead of full stun it will now stagger enemy and will slow him down drastically.
AI
Reduced ability to stunlock enemies with ranged attacks across all AI characters
Accuracy of ranged enemies is reduced when attacking from off-screen and accuracy of ranged enemies is reduced when attacking melee-engaged players
Regarding Hormagaunts and Tzaangors: Melee damage now deals specific amount damage instead of removing 1 complete armour segment per attack
Zoanthrope:
– Increased psychic scream damage sparsing time from 0.5s to 2s to prevent one shoot damage
– Psychic scream damage reduced from 11 to 8
– Psychic scream effective range reduced from 50 to 40m
– Psychic scream cast range is reduced by 10m
Termagant: –Fleshborer spray attack damage reduced from 1 to 0.5
– Flashborer spray attack damage reduced from 0.3 to 0.1
Tyranid Warrior with Devourer: Projectile damage reduced from 0.9 to 0.6 per projectile
Rubric Marine With Warpflamer: –Icon of flame damage reduced from 9 to 6
– Flamer burst damage reduced from 6 to 4 per shoot
– Flamer shooting damage reduced from 6 to 4 per projectile Health reduced by 10%
Rubric Marine with Boltgun: –Spray attack damage reduced from 1.5 to 1
– Precise shot attack (with red indicator) damage reduced from 4 to 2 per projectile
– Reduced frequency of teleports used to disengage players to make them less annoying to fight Health reduced by 10%
Tzaangor With Shield: HP greatly reduced
Carnifex:
– Rage phase updated, carnifex becomes faster and more aggressive
– Taunt frequency reduced
– Fixed a bug where his cone of thorns attack wouldn’t fire projectiles
Hive Tyrant: –Health slightly increased.
– Resistance to explosives and melta weapons increased by 20%.
Customization
Fixed icon colour for the Administratum Grey, Auric Armour Gold and Celestra Grey colours
Fixed several issues with default colors being wrong on some chapters(i.e. Iron Warrior Losers)
Vanguard Relic Right Greave part now requires 29 victories instead of 36
Added a Colour pattern called “Greaves Pattern” allowing the player to customize bottom and top half of the leg separately
Maps
Fixed several issues that were preventing players from progressing within some levels
Fixed a lot of minor collision issues
Tweaked dust storm density and duration in Ballistic Engine operation
Tweaked Heldrake fire timings on the bridge in Reliquary operation
Trials can be now accessed via Hypnomat in Armoury
General fixes
Fixed a bug where changing loadout mid operation would restore your health
Improved Jump Pack Ability responsiveness
Fixed several issues in Trials
Fixed a bug where in some rare cases controls would stop working after performing a finisher
Fixed a bug where player does not receive armor data from Hellbrute spawned from chaos portal
Fixed a bug that caused Vanguard’s “Adrenaline Rush” perk description to show 1% instead of actual 10%
Fixed Announcer spam in Eternal War mode
Fixed multiple ways of duplicating ammo in Operations mode
Fixed a bug where Grapnel Launcher would get canceled if overlapped by small geometry
Fixed a bug where Tactical perk EMPEROR’S VENGEANCE did not work with Plasma Incinerator.
Fixed a bug where several weapons could restore more than actual contested health (i.e. Meltas, AoE weapons etc)
Fixed several issues that were causing loss of saves
Fixed an unidentified voice at the end of the story that was assigned to the wrong character.
Lots of minor UI fixes and improvements
Lots of minor animation fixes and improvements
Localization fixes
This update brings the AI improvements mentioned in the community FAQ that was pushed out earlier last week.
Blizzard Entertainment has announced an exciting collaboration between Overwatch 2 and the popular anime My Hero Academia during the Xbox Tokyo Game Show 2024 event today.
In the trailer, players can see the heroes of Overwatch 2 dressed in skins inspired by characters from My Hero Academia. This collaboration is set to bring a fresh look and feel to the game, giving fans of both franchises something to look forward to.
Watch the trailer here:
Here’s a list of the featured characters and their corresponding heroes in the game:
Izuku Midoriya (Deku) – Tracer
Ochaco Uraraka (Uravity) – Juno
All Might – Reinhardt
Tomura Shigaraki – Reaper
Himoko Toga – Kiriko
The My Hero Academia collaboration event will begin on October 18, and chances are, this will be accompanied by a title update. Once we know more about that, we’ll let our readers know.
Back in September of 2023, Saber Interactive announced that development of any new features and content for Evil Dead: The Game is ceasing, though the servers will remain up for players to enjoy the multiplayer game. In a rather surprising development, the studio has today released Evil Dead: The Game update 1.53 (version 1.005.300 on current-gen consoles) on all platforms!
Just what’s new in thee Evil Dead: The Game’s new patch? Here’s the change per the studio:
Added Quick Match game mode that allows players to search for a game without choosing a role.
Yep, that’s about it. Given the game’s state, don’t expect any new content or a load of features to be added. Frankly, we’re surprised a patch was even released at all. Back when it was released, the game exploded right out of the gate, though failed to maintain the momentum for more than a year.
Our review of the game is a bit mixed about it as we’ve noted the fun that was there, but it was bogged down by technical issues. Will we see another game update? We wouldn’t bet on it, but stranger things have happened.
At Xbox’s Tokyo Game Show 2024 broadcast, Konami showed off the Metal Gear Sold Delta story trailer where we see Big Boss alongside familiar faces from Snake Eater make an appearance.
However, this time around, thanks to Unreal Engine 5, the characters look infinitely better.
At the end, we see Eva marking the first time we see the character in the updated version of Snake Eater. No word on a release date yet, but there is a Metal Gear Solid broadcast happening at TGS, and we’re expecting it to be announced then. Retailer GameStop listed it for November 17, though that could be an error on their part.
Rare has released yet another new update for Sea of Thieves during the game’s maintenance period. This is update 1.340.217 and it’s available on all platforms. Check out the details below.
Sea of Thieves Update 1.340.217 Patch Notes:
Rare has not posted official patch notes for this update yet, but you can read the maintenance announcement on X below.
The Sea of Thieves servers are now offline for essential maintenance. Grab a snack, preferably a banana, or maybe some worms, and we'll let you know when it's safe to set sail again. pic.twitter.com/aUyRypU85W
In related news, Rare announced on the official website that the Season 13 Style of Thieves contest is happening in the game very soon. Check out the full announcement below.
Season 13’s Style of Thieves Theme Reveal!
Rummage through your pirate’s forgotten threads for our recurring costume contest!
Season 13 has sure been a hot one, and not just because it ran over actual real-world summer. In game, the Burning Blade and its huge fireballs burst onto the seas, offering a brand new type of World Event and spreading heat-tinged combat in its wake. Elsewhere, the heat continued with Production Director Drew delivering information often referred to as containing some level of spice, with a change to the blunderbuss being considered high on the Scoville charts.
It’s time to bring the heat down a few notches, however, as we clear through the final notes of the Season’s to-do list. Nope, we’re not here to reveal the Season 14 date or accidentally post the next SoT News early, those are a few points below this. We’re in fact here to let you know that the next #StyleOfThieves contest will be taking place from September 30th–October 3rd, and we’ll even reveal the themes while we’re here. Surprise! For anyone reading this who somehow missed the headline…
Yes, #StyleOfThieves, working the same way it has for a fair few contests now; we’ll create a unique post on each of those days, Sept 30th–Oct 3rd, announcing that a theme is open to enter. You lovely lot then take to posting your screenshots of your pirates all dressed up to the thematically appropriate nines, including the name of the theme you’re entering and any other relevant information. Scroll down and read the How to Enter section for a rundown of the full rules, as well as some handy pointers.
As the final seconds of a theme’s 24-hour entry period tick into the history of humanity, our courageous crew will begin their crawl through the increasing suite of digital catwalks and pick out the pirates they feel donned the most appropriate attire. That list is then encrypted through at least three unique ciphers before being planted by dead drop inside the final clue of an undisclosed escape room somewhere in the Midlands.
A member of our Art team will then receive a surprise invitation to said location and, assuming they can effectively solve the room with zero assistance, they will get to have the final decision on the pirates who win this Season’s Style of Thieves prizes! Once they solve the ciphers, that is. If they don’t… well, we’ll cross that bridge should it present itself, but really you can’t be overly careful with these things.
There will be three winning entries per category, meaning 12 winners total, but as one category calls for two participants to be pictured, there are up to 15 pairs of Fashionista’s Finery Gloves up for grabs this time. Winning pirates will be announced via Sea of Thieves social channels on October 10th, a week after the final theme takes place. And as always, a necessary reminder that even if you don’t win Style of Thieves, as with all of our social media contests, it’s intended to be about the fun of taking part first and foremost. So go and explore your pirate’s customisation chests – you may find a new style you really like!
And now, without any more repeated preamble, here are Season 13’s #StyleOfThieves themes:
The Themes
Each theme will start at 10am UTC on the dates detailed below, with entries accepted via a variety of social media channels for a full 24 hours.
Gothic
Embrace darker tones and demonic dress as you style a scoundrel fit for performing rituals, reading morbid poetry and playing your favourite shanty in a minor key. Entry date: September 30th
Couples Costumes
Combine forces with another pirate to concoct co-ordinated clothing replicating an iconic duo, pushing it all the way from superheroes and sidekicks to salt and pepper (the seasoning). Entry date: October 1st
Academic
From teacher to student, find a fit for your marauder that suggests they’re in the mood to learn. Or at least to carry around a heavy stack of books, regardless of their ability to read. Entry date: October 2nd
Cosy
With the weather in the real world getting colder, we want to see how your pirates would stay snug against the chill, in a world where they don’t just set their ship on fire.
Entry date: October 3rd
How to Enter
Now into the part of the article that’s the same every time, including the sentence you just read. We’ve got eyes everywhere, in a nice ‘enter however you feel comfortable’ kind of way, so you’re free to submit on a variety of social channels. That said, each comes with its own quirks as follows:
To enter on X/Twitter, make sure you include @SeaOfThieves and #StyleOfThieves in your post.
For Instagram, you just need to post using #StyleOfThieves. Same goes for Bluesky and Threads (yup, we’re keeping an eye on those channels, too).
Add your entry as a reply to that day’s theme post on Facebook.
Post your entry with #StyleOfThieves in the #pirate-fashion channel of our official Discord server.
And regardless of where you’re sharing your entry, be sure to include the name of the theme you’re entering in your post, along with any extra info called for by the theme.
Rules of the Runway
We’ve put together some handy hints and rules to make sure you capture your pirate’s best side and don’t accidentally enter an ineligible picture:
No Costumes on the catwalk – we want to see your creativity and individuality in how you mix and match items, so no all-in-one Costumes.
Complete cosmetic sets are not permitted. Our artists designed those items to go together and, again, we want to see stylish creativity. Ideally, an outfit should contain no more than four items from the same named set, but as long as creativity from multiple styles is evident then your outfit will be accepted.
Unless a theme calls for it, all shots should be solo pirates and not crews. Only the pirate(s) in the picture will be eligible for the prize.
Find a simple or plain background to pose against to let your outfit pop. Backgrounds and locations will not be considered when judging the outfit.
Lighting helps, so find a well-lit spot to fully peacock your picks. Coloured or tactical lighting won’t be considered part of the outfit, and could hurt your chances of consideration.
Toggle off your HUD for a clean snap and avoid a name getting in the way! If you haven’t set it, the Toggle HUD command can be assigned to a button from the HUD category of the Keyboard and Mouse or Controller area of your Settings menu.
Screenshots should be a reflection of the game – no external editing or filters should be applied.
Please try to keep your submissions to a 16:9 or 1:1 ratio, making sure your entire outfit is in shot, including your shoes/toes! This will help us when framing winners, and ensures a degree of parity when comparing submissions.
While you may use any emotes for your shot, any features added to the outfit via the emote (e.g. oars, weapons, sparklers) won’t be taken into consideration as part of an outfit during judging.
One shortlist will be compiled per theme, using entries across all platforms, meaning it’s not necessary to post your submission to all channels. If you make sure you use the correct tags, we will see it!
The unique prize means you can’t win more than once in Style of Thieves, but you’re more than welcome to continue entering for the fun of it!
Right, another #StyleOfThieves announce article done and dusted, and a big hello to anyone reading this far (you’re a real one). Good luck coming up with your costumes, we’re looking forward to observing your efforts as they fill our social media channels from September 30th–October 3rd!
We will update this post as soon as possible if the proper patch notes are revealed later today.
Contestants, it’s time! Embark has unleashed The Finals Season 4 this September 26 on all platforms! Those on consoles will see this as patch version 1.000.051, and we have the goods on what’s new listed down below.
The Finals Season 4 Patch Version 1.000.051 Update Notes:
Welcome to Fortune Stadium! Our sponsors, HOLTOW, ENGIMO, and ISEUL-T, are bringing you this new map in our arena! Traverse the streamlined urban environment which has sectors dedicated to each brand and some highly vertical spaces.
Three New Weapons
.50 Akimbo
HEAVY
These bad boys bring extra firepower and precision to the arena!
Pike-556
MEDIUM
These bad boys bring extra firepower and precision to the arena!
Pike-556
LIGHT
Swiftly master this new pump-action shotgun!
New Feature: Sponsors
This season, our proud sponsors are looking to sign with contestants and support their seasonal journey with swag, money, and fanfare! Players now have the option to sign with either HOLTOW, ENGIMO or ISEUL-T as their sponsor for the duration of Season 4.
Earn Fans by completing Contracts and performing well in the arena. The more Fans you earn, the more rewards your sponsor will offer you! Can you make it all the way and earn everything from your sponsor of choice? Choose wisely though, you only get to sign once!
New Feature: Alternate Sights & Scopes
We’ve added a selection of alternate sights and scopes to some of the existing weapons, allowing you to switch between traditional sights or alternatives like Red Dots or Scopes. These alternative sights are unlocked using VRs via the weapon customization screen.
New World Tour Ranks
For Season 4 we’ve introduced Platinum and Diamond ranks to World Tour! We’ve also heard your feedback on the difficulty of earning Emerald rank, so in Season 4 Emerald will now be unlocked and available to earn from the beginning of the season and will be earned with Win Points, not tournament wins. Expect lots of fun stops along the way as you climb your way to Emerald Tier 1!
New Ranked mode
Ranked Tournaments are back! This Season, you’ll be competing in Cashout with an 8-team, 24-player tournament format. As part of improving the ranked experience, we’re also now seeding tournaments based on the strengths of each team, and your change in Ranked Score will be dependent on where you finish in the tournament as a whole compared to your initial seeding. We believe this will give a clearer and much more authentic tournament experience.
Cashout Rule Variants for Ranked and World Tour
To give the best experience in our competitive Ranked Tournaments and our more casual-friendly World Tour Tournaments we’ve introduced slightly different variants of the Cashout rule set in each mode.
In Ranked Tournaments, the 10% team wipe penalties are active, gameshow events such as ‘Low Gravity,’ for example, are disabled to reduce randomness, and loadout changes are only permitted between rounds of the tournament.
In the World Tour, team wipe penalties are disabled, game show events are still enabled, and players will be able to swap items from their Reserve into their Loadout between team wipes and between rounds. While Ranked Cashout is set in stone, there will be opportunities to change up the World Tour experience in various ways throughout the season!
Improved Player Cards
It’s time to get personal on the Player Cards! For Season 4, we’ve added a new layout, collectible and adjustable badges, borders, and player titles. There are new backgrounds available to collect as well, and we’ve improved the lighting on your character to help showcase your style!
Updated Circuits
Circuits now run in parallel to the World Tour stops and share the same Sponsors, allowing you another way to earn rewards from the show’s benefactors. We’ve also removed the requirement to complete earlier Contracts before you can access later Circuits, hopefully making the experience a little more streamlined.
Two Extra Loadout Slots
Due to popular demand, we’ve added two additional Loadout slots, bringing the total number of slots from six to eight.
New Battle Pass
This season’s Battle Pass has 106 levels of rewards to unlock. It heavily features items from popular sponsor OSPUZE and rewards from new sponsor IVADA.
New Career Levels
We’ve added 10 new levels, complete with rewards, to the Career Level system. These rewards come courtesy of one of the show’s sponsors, ENO+RINO.
Leaderboard Improvements
We’d made some big improvements to leaderboards for Season 4. Players can now filter leaderboards by region, and the World Tour leaderboard also includes filters for the different tour stops.
We’ve introduced leaderboards for Quick Cash, Terminal Attack, Bank It, and Power Shift, and a board tracking the performance of each Sponsor.
New Static Crosshair Setting
THE FINALS’ default crosshair is a dynamic crosshair that will often move as your character animates, for example when running and jumping. We know that some of you prefer a crosshair that stays locked to the center of the screen. We’ve added a new setting to our crosshair customization to turn “in-world crosshair” off, which will create a true static crosshair that stays in the center at all times.
New Feature: Facial Hair Customization
You’ll now have the option to select from a variety of beards and mustaches to give your competitor a more sophisticated look! Check it out in the style tab!
New Feature: First Time Player Experience
In order to welcome new players into the game with more confidence, we’ve made some significant changes to the onboarding experience! These changes include intro videos for each build type, a more advanced Cashout tutorial that shows off destruction, clearer and faster menu systems, and more!
We’re also debuting a brand new set of OSPUZE-branded starting outfits because, let’s be honest, we’d all grown tired of the rookie ‘pajamas!’ Don’t worry veterans, you’ll get them, too!
In addition, we’ve added a clear set of goals and unlock activities to the main menu in order to guide new players through their first five rounds. We hope this helps ease new players into the game and introduces them to all the fun there is to be had.
Season 3 Rewards Coming Soon
Normally, all ranked rewards are delivered at the start of the next season! This season, however, we will delay the delivery in order to do a final sweep of our leaderboards and ensure that all players have earned their rewards fair and square.
In Season 3, we added new competitive modes and rewards to THE FINALS by introducing Ruby rank in Ranked Terminal Attack and Emerald in World Tour.
We know all of you want to show off your prowess from Season 3 as soon as possible, but we want to be sure that these rewards are handed out correctly, to those who earned them through fair play, these rewards will be handed out in Update 4.2!
DLCs
At the launch of Season 4, we’ll have three new DLC available at three different price points for you to browse through and check out! Do note that, just like last season, the Starter Pack returns as a DLC for this season as well.
Balance Changes
Archetypes
Heavy
Dev Note: We wanted to leave a quick dev note on the state of the Heavy archetype, as we know there have been some frustrations that the Heavy is ‘overly nerfed’ compared to the Light archetype. While the Light (most played) does remain much more played than the Heavy (least played) as of the end of Season 3, across all skill tiers and modes we see that the Heavy is by far the most winning of our three archetypes, with Light the most losing. Our intent with much of the balancing is to bring all of the archetypes’ win rates more closely in line, while also equalizing their pick rates. This ultimately means that, when it comes to the Heavy, we need to work through a process of both making it more balanced in terms of power and making it more fun to play. This will be an ongoing process but is the underlying thought process behind some of the changes made to start Season 4 when it comes to balance and usability of items.
Gadgets
Anti-Gravity Cube
Increased radius from 6m to 7m
Increased height from 11m to 12m
Breach Charge
Increased ammo from 2 to 3
Increased cooldown from 26s to 30s Dev Note: We felt the Breach Charge had become under-used in the current meta and we believe this change will increase its value versus the Thermal Bore
Data Reshaper
Increased range from 15m to 21m
Increased number of charges from 2 to 3
Explosive Mine
Decreased max damage from 140 to 120
Decreased cooldown from 30s to 15s
Decreased ammo count from 2 to 1 (max mines deployed remains at 2)
Dev Note: Our intent for the Explosive Mines has always been to have them be a defensive gadget that covers choke points to help protect an objective, and where placement is a skill. Being able to immediately place two of them back-to-back led to a lot of mine stacking, often right on the objective, and allowed defenses to be set up too quickly. We hope that adding 15s between each deployment and less damage will lead to less stacking and encourage teams to get to the objective location sooner in order to be able to fully set up defenses before combat commences.
Flashbang
Increased the max duration of the Blind status effect from 4s to 4.5s
Increased the max duration of the max intensity of the Blind status effect from 1.8s to 3.5s
Increase the intensity of flashes that explode close to the enemy’s position
Increased the view angle of flashes, causing more intense flashes when the flash goes off by someone’s side or slightly behind them
Flashbangs now only show Hit Indicators on the crosshair if they reach a minimum amount of intensity on a hostile target
Decreased the intensity and duration of the Blind status effect on teammates
Improved the leniency of hit detection of the Flashbang when targeting players, so that it is less likely to be blocked by small objects
Dev Note: We found the Flashbang to have been underutilized and have added some quality of life fixes that will hopefully make them more reliable and effective.
Glitch Trap
Disabled crosshair hit markers when the Glitch Trap attaches to an enemy, so that it can no longer be used to detect players
Decreased ammo from 2 to 1
Decreased cooldown from 30s to 20s
Jump Pad
Added a small amount of variance to the Jump Pad so that objects cannot bounce on them indefinitely
Proximity Sensor
Increased radius from 10m to 11m
RPG-7
Decreased damage from 140 to 100
Increased reload time from 0.9s to 2.15s
Decreased projectile dispersion when aiming down sights from 0.3x to 0.25x
Dev Note: We never really intended the RPG to be an ‘opener’ in combat, even if it is an item that is more accessible to new players, the intent was always that this was for destruction first and foremost. We believe this change makes it still usable as an opener, but a much less valuable one, shifting its focus back to destruction and breaching.
Tracking Dart
Increased magazine size from 2 to 4
Decreased ammunition regeneration rate from 13s to 12s
Decreased tracking duration from 15s to 10s
Zipline
Decreased the height of Ziplines slightly, so that they will better fit through doors
Liftables
Propane Gas Canister
Decreased direct physical impact damage from 50 to 25
Modes
Cashout Modes
Introduced new re-spawn placement logic for teams that are wiped, with the goal of reducing the number of ‘third-party’ fights
Ranked Tournaments (Cashout)
Added Ranked Tournaments
Disabled game show events in Ranked Tournaments
Dev Note: To make Ranked Tournaments a more competitive friendly environment, with less randomness involved, we’ve decided to disable all game show events. We believe this will make matches slightly more consistent, less random, and easier to strategize around.
Increased the cash awarded per Cashout in the final round from $10,000 to $25,000
Increased the cash required to win the final round from $20,000 to $50,000
Terminal Attack
Terminal Attack now uses a best-of-nine-rounds (first to five) format, with a half-time break where level destruction is reset
Terminal Attack (Ranked)
Removed Ranked Terminal Attack and replaced it with Ranked Tournaments
World Tour (Cashout)
Disabled team wipe penalties in World Tour
Dev Note: World Tour is intended to be a more casual tournament experience than our Ranked Tournaments. Our research in Season 3 showed that removing team wipe penalties caused less player frustration and led to closer matches.
Enabled the ability for players to swap items between their Loadout and Reserve between team wipes in World Tour
Dev Note: This is another change aimed at making World Tour more friendly for the casual player, by allowing them to swap items between lives. Ranked Tournaments will continue to only allow swapping between rounds, as we believe counter-picking rival teams and adjusting to maps and map variants should be a skill in competitive play.
Increased the cash awarded per Cashout in the final round from $10,000 to $25,000
Increased the cash required to win the final round from $20,000 to $50,000
Added Diamond and Platinum ranks to World Tour, between the Gold and Emerald ranks.
Emerald rank is now unlocked and available to progress towards from the start of the season
Emerald rank is now earned by collecting Win Points, rather than tournament wins
Updated the required Win Point totals for all World Tour ranked tiers, due to the change in ranks and how they are earned
Specializations
Dematerializer
Improved targeting to reduce the amount of times the dematerializer fails to make a passageway through objects.
Goo Gun
Fire mode changed from semi-automatic to fully automatic
Healing Beam
Decreased healing rate from 50 health per second to 40 health per second
Mesh Shield
Mesh Shield will now enter cooldown either when destroyed or lowered
Dev Note: The Mesh Shield was intended as a Specialization used to shield teammates or to represent the Heavy archetype’s toughness and staying power. We felt the juggling of the shield, constantly raising and lowering it to fire weapons, was hard for some players to understand and very frustrating to play against. We understand this is a significant change and we’ll obviously monitor its impact closely
Decreased Mesh Shield cooldown from 15s to 12s. The cooldown is only 8s if the Shield is undamaged when deactivated
Weapons
93R
Smoothed the vertical recoil to avoid having sharp jumps in intensity, which could previously cause an inconsistent feel
Updated firing animation when aiming down sights to give greater visibility
Increased fire rate from 210 RPM to 220 RPM
Decreased bullet dispersion when firing ‘from the hip’ when crouching, crouch moving, standing still, running, and in ‘uncontrolled’ states such as falling or sliding
Decreased the rate at which bullet dispersion builds up over time when firing for a sustained period
Increased the bullet dispersion recovery speed from 0.45 to 0.65
Dev Note: The 93R has been a difficult weapon for us to balance due to it being a burst fire weapon. Burst fire weapons give players the expectation that all the shots in a burst should be able to hit when aimed well, but this also means potentially doing three bullets worth of damage per ‘shot’ fired, making the weapon also high damage when the full burst hits. Getting this right whilst also differentiating the weapon from the FAMAS has been difficult. We’ve been reluctant to make the 93R a two ‘shot’ weapon versus Lights, because all testing of this scenario has made the weapon game-breaking, but at 72 damage a burst (i.e. three shots, nine bullets to kill a Light) the weapon has repeatedly underperformed, so it constantly sits on this knife’s edge of being too good or very bad. In this update, we’ve focused on making the weapon much more effective when fired ‘from the hip,’ rather than when aiming down sights. We feel this combination of damage and mobility puts the weapon in a better place, but we’d love to get your feedback on it.
AKM
Decreased magazine size from 36 to 32
CL-40
Increased max damage from 93 to 117
Dev Note: This change sounds significant, but keeps the weapon in a place where it still takes two shots to kill a Light and three shots to kill a Medium. The change is mostly aimed at making a Heavy three shots to kill instead of four, as we felt it was unfair to the CL-40 to have to land all four of its available four shots (i.e. 100% accuracy) to kill a Heavy without reloading
Decreased fire rate from 275 RPm to 210 RPM
Dev Note: A small adjustment to offset the significant damage buff a little.
Increased the max damage radius from 9cm to 30cm
Dagger
The Dagger’s backstab secondary attack can now be held, only triggering when the button is released, rather than automatically. During this stance, the player moves at the normal run speed and cannot sprint
Lewis Gun
Smoothed the recoil pattern of the Lewis Gun, reducing the amount of horizontal recoil at some points. The recoil pattern overall remains the same but should be considerably easier to control
LH1
Decreased the damage fall-off start range from 80m to 50m
Decreased the damage fall-off end range from 100m to 55m
Dev Note: With the addition of alternative scopes/sights, we felt the LH1 was starting to stray well into the territory of the SR-84. This change reduces that to some extent.
M60
Increased fire rate from 560 RPM to 580 RPM
Smoothed the recoil pattern of the M60, reducing the amount of horizontal recoil at some points. The recoil pattern overall remains the same but should be considerably easier to control
MGL32
Decreased reload time from 3.1s to 2.8s
Dev Note: The MGL32 is a weapon we’d very much like to re-work at some point, but that will take a more considerable effort. For now, this is a simple and small quality of life adjustment that should make the weapon a little more viable.
Recurve Bow
Increased damage at minimum draw from 55 to 60
Decreased damage ramp-up start time from 0.2s to 0.15s
Decreased the time taken to reach maximum draw from 0.585s to 0.49s
Riot Shield
Increased damage from 84 to 90
SH1900 Shotgun
Decreased reload time from 2.5s to 2.125s
Spear
Increased run speed modifier during secondary spin attack from 65% to 75%
SR-84 Sniper
Updated the SR-84 to now only fire hit-scan rounds up to 40m range. After this point, the shot becomes a projectile with bullet drop from gravity and drag
Dev Note: While the SR-84 is by no means overpowered or overly successful in many of our modes, it has become somewhat oppressive at very long ranges in modes like Terminal Attack and Power Shift, causing frustration for a lot of players. We feel this change limits much of the very long-range harassment that players found frustrating while maintaining the skill level and responsiveness in medium-to-long-range encounters.
Sword
Updated attack sweeps to be more centered on the crosshair, making the weapon more accurate
Increased the range of the secondary lunge from approximately 5m to approximately 6m
Secondary lunge attack now maintains its top speed for slightly longer
Throwing Knives
The Throwing Knives secondary attack can now be held, only triggering when the button is released, rather than automatically. During this stance, the player moves at the normal run speed and cannot sprint
XP-54
Increase the magnification of the XP-54’s sight slightly, as part of the addition of alternate sights/scopes
Decreased damage from 18 to 16
Content and Bug Fixes
Animation
Fixed an issue where players could spawn into a round without the spawn-in animations or FX
Fixed an issue where pairing a Quick Melee action with other actions would make the animations look faulty
Polished the Riot Shield first-person animation where you would perform a phantom strike if you quickly zoomed after a strike
Removed camera animations when previewing first-person animations in the front end since it felt distracting
Fixed an issue where melee weapon animations could sometimes get stuck in the ‘charging’ pose in third-person
Audio
Fixed an issue where the Santa Hat extra VO lines would not play
Career Rank
Added 10 new levels with rewards to the Career Rank
Fixed an issue where stages or circuits that gave XP might not apply them to both the Battle Pass and Career Rank
Characters
Fixed an issue where various hair types could clip with the bucket hat
Gadgets
General
Fixed an issue where deployable gadgets could remain floating in mid-air
Data Reshaper
Fixed an issue where items transmuted by the Data Reshaper would not count as destroyed for certain Contracts
Flashbang
Improved the leniency of hit traces from the Flashbang to target players, so that they are less likely to be blocked by small objects
Vanishing Bomb
Improved the hit detection of the Vanishing Bomb on the player that threw it
Ziplines
Fixed an issue where Ziplines could break instantly upon being placed
Game Modes
Cashout Modes
Fixed an issue where Vaults opened out of bounds, causing the newly spawned Cashbox to be indefinitely stuck out of bounds.
Added notification messages to the HUD that show Cashout Started, Cashout Stolen and Vault Opened to the entire team when a teammate completes said action
Fixed an issue where the Cashout overtime timer could be broken, making sure a cashout being completed during overtime won’t spawn new Vaults
Cashout Tutorial
Introduced a new version of the Cashout tutorial, for a smoother and more fun experience
Fixed various smaller issues with the tutorial flow and components
Fixed an issue where the correct loadout was not alway loaded in the tutorial
Liftables
Fixed an issue that could cause thrown items to stutter
Maps
Seoul
Fixed an issue where the audience jumbotron could glow
Kyoto
Added autumn themed version of Kyoto
Matchmaking
Players will now connect to levels faster, without waiting for other players who have not yet loaded. As a result, players will reach the lobby much faster and will see connecting players represented as a hologram
Movement
Fixed issue where players could lock their cameras to a fixed direction if they died while climbing a ladder
Performance and Optimization
Fixed issue where VOIP would not work as expected if the push-to-talk key was pressed when going back to the main menu
Fixed a rare issue where during the tournament intro/outro sequence, characters could be invisible
Reduced the number of hitches that could occur when selecting items in the customization and drafting screens
Specializations
Goo Gun
Goo will now correctly stick to a Guardian Turret’s base, rather than the barrel, preventing chains of goo from rotating through walls
Guardian Turret
Bullets can now be blocked by the player who owns the turret, just like they can be by friendly players
UI
Added two additional Contestant slots, increasing the maximum from 6 to 8
Added a setting that allows players to disable the in-world crosshair. When set to ‘off’, the crosshair will always be in the center of your screen and static. Otherwise, it will move with camera movement.
Fixed an issue where the lobby screen only showed Defibrillators on all icons when first entering the screen
Fixed an issue where items from previous World Tours could appear in the store
Fixed an issue where the loading screen was occasionally briefly missing
Fixed a bug where “Canceling Matchmaking” was sometimes incorrectly shown in the matchmaking widget.
Fixed an issue where the Play or Reconnect buttons would briefly appear when connecting to a match
Fixed background blurring for Watches in store/battle pass
Weapons
General
Fixed an issue where the character could end up aiming downwards after controlling recoil on high frame rates
Throwing Knives
Fixed an issue where Throwing Knives and arrows could be floating in front of players using the Riot Shield
Riot Shield
The Riot Shield will now block the Winch Claw and prevent the player from being grabbed
Sword
Fixed an issue where the Sword’s lunge animation was not played in third person
Don’t be surprised to see a new update rolled out for The Finals as a response to Season 4’s new content which is normal for live service games these days. Once a new one is released, we’ll be sure to let our readers know
