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
Visual Concepts has released another new patch for the current-gen versions of NBA 2K25 (PS5, Xbox Series and PC), which is tagged as version 1.5. NBA 2K25 new update 1.007 brings a short list of fixes to the game, though the developers have also promised more patches are on the way before Season 2 starts.
NBA 2K25 New Update 1.007 Patch Notes for September 26:
Fixed a number of user-reported hang/stability issues when playing in MyCareer or in the City.
Fixed a hang that some users were reporting when loading into a MyCareer save.
Fixed a user-reported issue that prevented advancement during the offseason in MyCareer.
Removed the 1.5 REP bonus that was erroneously attached to certain clothing items in MyCareer.
Resolved an issue in MyTeam that allowed for players to be subbed in at ineligible positions.
Alongside today’s patch, Visual Concepts also confirmed that they are releasing another patch before Season 2 starts, and this will be focused on fixes and improvements spanning the entire game and not just MyCareer.
No word yet if any patches are in store for the last-gen versions of the game, though given the new features are exclusive to the current-gen versions, we’re not expecting a lot of updates to the PS4, Xbox One, Switch versions unless they are game-breaking.
Our review of NBA 2K25 is live, where we state, “NBA 2K25 has course corrected and given us one of the better entries of this generation. There still may not be any drastic changes this years, but the new gameplay mechanics and upgrades to each game mode come together to create a very authentic and satisfying experience in NBA 2K25.”
Nexon has pushed out The First Descendant update 1.022 for hotfix 1.1.3, and this was handed to players maintenance-free this September 26! Those on last-gen consoles will see this as TFD update version 1.22 which was the same changes made available in the complete patch notes below.
The First Descendant Update 1.022 | 1.22 Patch Notes:
Hagios – The Haven (Normal, Hard), Old Mystery (Normal, Hard)
– The amount of HP orbs and ammo dropped by scout monsters roaming the field, has increased.
(2) Descendants
– Yujin’s ‘Hyperreactive Healing Ground’ skill now heals HP after granting Purification, rather than before.
– Improved certain skills of Freyna, Kyle, and Esiemo.
Descendant Name
Improvements
Freyna
ㆍRoom 0 Trauma
– Fixed an issue where the “Room 0 Trauma” was set as “Poison,” making it impossible to deal damage to the Toxic Colossus.
ㆍContagion Links
– The effects of ‘Contagion Links’ have been changed as follows:
ㄴ Killing an enemy inflicted with ‘Room 0 Trauma’ has chances to spawn a ‘Toxic Puddle’
on the place where the enemy was killed.
ㄴ Enemies receive damage and get inflicted with ‘Room 0 Trauma’ upon contact with the ‘Toxic Puddle.’
– The damage of ‘Room 0 Trauma’ has been increased, and it has been adjusted to apply the ‘Toxic Reaction’ effect instead of ‘Poison.’
ㄴThe ‘Toxic Reaction’ effect deals more damage compared to the previous ‘Poison’ effect and can be applied simultaneously with ‘Panic,’ ‘Despair,’ ‘Decay,’ and ‘Nightmare’ effects.
ㆍVenom Trauma
– Increased the damage of ‘Room 0 Trauma,’ and it now inflicts ‘Panic’ rather than ‘Poison.’
ㄴ The ‘Panic’ effect deals more damage than ‘Poison’ did previously, and can be inflicted together with ‘Toxic Reaction’, ‘Despair,’ ‘Decay,’ and ‘Nightmare.’
– Increased the damage of the projectile.
– Increased the duration and range of ‘Toxic Puddle’ and added ‘continuous damage.’
ㆍ’Defense Mechanism’ and ‘Toxic Stimulation’
– Increased the damage of ‘Room 0 Trauma,’ and it now inflicts ‘Despair’ rather than ‘Poison.’
ㄴ The ‘Despair’ effect deals more damage than ‘Poison’ did previously, and can be inflicted together with ‘Toxic Reaction’ ‘Panic,’ ‘Decay,’ and ‘Nightmare.’
– Increased the chance to inflict ‘Room 0 Trauma.’
ㆍ ‘Putrid Venom’ and ‘Venom Synthesis’
– ‘Toxic Swamp’ and ‘Toxic Footprint’ now inflict ‘Room 0 Trauma’ instead of ‘Poison,’ and ‘Room 0 Trauma’ now inflict ‘Decay’ rather than ‘Poison.’
ㄴ The ‘Decay’ effect deals more damage than ‘Poison’ did previously, and can be inflicted together with ‘Toxic Reaction,’’Panic,’ ‘Despair,’ and ‘Nightmare.’
ㆍVenom Baptism
– Increased the damage of ‘Unique Weapon.’
– Decreased the damage of ‘Room 0 Trauma,’ and it now inflicts ‘Nightmare’ rather than ‘Poison.’
ㄴ The ‘Nightmare’ effect deals less damage than ‘Poison’ did previously, and can be inflicted together with ‘Toxic Reaction,’’Panic,’ ‘Despair,’ and ‘Decay.’
ㆍContagion
– Defeating an enemy now inflicts ‘Room 0 Trauma’ instead of ‘Poison.’
ㄴ This change is applied together with other changes made to skills with this patch.
ㄴ Increased the number of ‘Toxic Puddles’ spawning from ‘Contagion Links.’
ㄴ The ‘Room 0 Trauma’ caused by skills with the ‘Contagion’ module does not inflict ‘Toxic Reaction,’ ‘Panic ‘Panic,’ ‘Despair,’ ‘Decay,’ or ‘Nightmare.’
ㆍNeurotoxin Synthesis
– This change is applied together with other changes made to skills with this patch.
– Increased the damage of ‘Room 0 Trauma.’
Kyle
ㆍExperienced Technician
– Decreased its Shield Recovery. In exchange, the Cooldown has been decreased.
– You now recover a certain amount of Magnetic Force upon the activation even if no enemies are hit by the effect.
Meanwhile, you will recover more Magnetic Force depending on the number of enemies hit.
– Decreased the Stack Cooldown while increasing the Damage.
ㆍ’Magnetic Bulwark’ and ‘Diamagnetic Bulwark’
– While using the skill, you now recover Magnetic Force by a certain percentage of Max Shield over time. The Shield Cost while using the skill has also been slightly increased.
– The barrier from ‘Magnetic Bulwark’ is now affected by Kyle’s Attribute Resistance, and the barrier’s HP is now more proportional to Kyle’s shield.
– Increased the Cooldown of ‘Magnetic Bulwark.’
ㆍ’Magnetism Spurt’ and ‘Self-Directed Eruption’
– Increased the Skill Effect Range.
– The “Magnetism Spurt” skill now heals your shield as well as your allies’ shields. It now costs more Magnetic Force and the Skill Cooldown has been increased.
– Slightly increased the Skill Power Modifier for the damage of ‘Magnetism Spurt’ while slightly decreasing the Additional Damage Magnetic Force Modifier.
– When the ‘Self-Directed Eruption’ skill ends, it no longer heals the shields of allies. It now heals your shield instead, and the duration of traction has been increased.
– Increased the Skill Power Modifier for the damage of ‘Self-Directed Eruption’ while slightly decreasing the Additional Damage Magnetic Force Modifier.
ㆍ’Superconductivity Thrusters’ and ‘Superconductive Bombing’
– Greatly increased the damage of ‘Superconductivity Thrusters’ while increasing the Cooldown.
– The ‘Superconductive Bombing’ skill is now affected by the ‘Skill Duration Increase’ stat. Firing the bomb now costs Magnetic Force as an absolute value rather than a percentage.
– You’re now immune to ‘Knockback’ and ‘Knockdown’ while using ‘Superconductivity Thrusters’ or ‘Superconductive Bombing.’
Esiemo
ㆍ Adventitious Habit
– The effect is now triggered when you are hit instead of when your shield is depleted. Using skills now reduces the Cooldown of ‘Adventitious Habit’ by a certain amount.
– Increased the Cooldown.
ㆍ Time Bomb
– Skills can now be used while sprinting, and the after-cast delay has been adjusted. The projectile speed has also been slightly increased.
ㆍ ‘Blast’ and ‘Cluster Bomb’
– You can now switch to other actions earlier when using the skill.
– It no longer costs MP, and the Cooldown has been decreased.
– The ‘Blast’ skill is now affected by more bombs, and increased the damage based on the number of bombs.
– The ‘Explosives’ that spawn upon using the ‘Cluster Bomb’ skill now explodes earlier than before. The number and damage of ‘Explosives’ have been increased, and the Explosion Range has been reduced.
– The damage of ‘Cluster Bomb’ now increases based on the number of bombs.
ㆍ Guided Landmine
– The skill can now be activated while moving, and you can perform other actions when using the skill, quicker than before.
– An attached bomb now takes longer to automatically explode.
– Slightly increased the travel speed of installed ‘Guided Landmines’ towards enemies. Installed ‘Guided Landmines’ now can also be exploded with ‘Blast.’
ㆍ Arche Explosion
– Simplified the skill’s animation, and now you are immune to ‘Knockback’ and ‘Knockdown’ while using the skill.
– Increased the duration of ‘Madness.’ Its effects now include an increase of Skill Power.
ㆍ Explosive Evade
– Increased the maximum number of ‘Guided Landmines’ that can be installed.
ㆍ Explosive Propaganda
– You can now use the skill while moving.
– The skill can be stacked now, and the Cooldown has decreased slightly.
– An installed ‘Explosive Propaganda’ is now properly affected by Esiemo’s ‘HP’ and ‘DEF,’ and its damage has been slightly reduced.
ㆍ Creative Explosion
– Simplified the skill’s animation, and now you are immune to ‘Knockback’ and ‘Knockdown’ while using the skill.
– The number of bombs that affect the ‘Blast’ skill when equipped with the ‘Creative Explosion’ Skill Module has been increased.
– Decreased the ‘Skill Power Modifier Increase per Stack.’
– Increased the duration of ‘Madness.’ Also increased the ‘Cooldown Decrease’ effect.
(3) Weapons/Modules
– Two new Modules have been added.
ㆍ Bio Sync Shield
Reduces HP Recovery from HP orbs by a certain amount and instead heals the shield by the said amount.
ㆍ Last Stand
When using a skill to attack enemies, consumes all of your shield to deal additional damage equivalent to a certain percentage of the total damage.
The additional damage has a base value, and the value increases based on the amount of shield consumed.
After activation, recovers Shield by a certain percentage of Max Shield every second for a certain period of time. It has a Cooldown
(4) UI/UX
– Now you can check recommended stats for each Intercept Battle.
Recommended stats include Weapon DPS, Max HP, Max Shield, DEF, and Resistance per Attribute.
– Ultimate Weapons will no longer be filtered as junk regardless of the ‘Exclude from Junk’ settings.
In order to dismantle an Ultimate Weapons, you need to manually designate it as junk.
Max Capacity UP Modules now display Capacity with the ‘+’ sign in the Module UI.
– Tracked Items in the Research UI will no longer be untracked when the Research is completed.
– In No Resurrection Zones of Infiltration Operations, a system message will tell you that you cannot abandon rescue during the DBNO state.
– You can now set whether to run or sprint by default for movement in Game Options.
– The range of possible values for Controller – Dead Zone settings in Game Options has been increased from 20-40 to 0-99.
– You can now set Controller – Vibration Intensity to ‘Weak’ in Game Options.
– Terrain damage in every field now reduces Shield first. (The survival time is the same as before.)
– Customize – Spawn settings have been moved to the Descendant Skins menu.
– The Storage object under the Workbench in Albion has been moved to near the Mailbox above.
(5) Optimization
– [PS5, XSX, XSS] Slightly improved the game’s CPU performance.
– Frame Generation improvements and changes
Fixed an issue where enabling AMD Frame Generation often caused frame drops.
You can now enable AMD Frame Generation on PS4 Pro and XB1X.
Removed a restriction where the option could only be enabled on a 120Hz display on consoles.
You can now choose Frame Generation regardless of the upscale you’re using on PC. (However, Nvidia Frame Generation can only be enabled on GeForce 40 Series or higher.)
(6) Miscellaneous
– Now you can view Spawn/Despawn animations for each Descendant in Customize.
– Added a feature to rewatch cinematics.
You can use this feature by interacting with an Arche Trace in Albion, the camp of a battlefield where the cinematic took place, and the starting point of Infiltration Operations.
Arche Traces can be found in the following locations:
Albion
Kingston – The Destruction
Sterile Land – The Forgottense
Vespers – The Shelter
Echo Swamp – The Chapel
Agna Desert – Miragestone
White-night Gulch – Mystery’s End
Hagios – Old Mystery
Fortress – Heart of the Fortress
Fortress – Quarantine Zone
The infiltration operation cinematic can be viewed again by starting the “Private Operation”.
# Director’s Comments
Since Cinematics provide higher quality lighting compared to the usual gameplay environment, they’re perfectly suited for players to examine their customization. Since players who finished the story cannot see the Ultimate Descendants they’ve farmed or their customized Descendants in cinematics, we’ve added a feature to rewatch them.
Now you can rewatch cinematics after finishing the story with the Hailey you’ve acquired or the Ultimate Descendant you’ve worked hard to get. Get a more vivid look at your own Descendant, customized with various skins and paints, in high-quality cinematics.
– Added the “Preview in Field” button in the Customize UI. Now you can preview the appearance and paint color with an actual field as the background.
(7) Shops
– You can buy the products listed below in the Shop.
Ultimate Lepic Bundle I
Premium Ultimate Lepic Bundle I
Ultimate Viessa Bundle I
Premium Ultimate Viessa Bundle I
Ultimate Ajax Bundle I
Premium Ultimate Ajax Bundle I
Ultimate Bunny Bundle I
Premium Ultimate Bunny Bundle I
Ultimate Gley Bundle I
Premium Ultimate Gley Bundle I
Freyna’s Vulgus Slayer
Gley’s Vampire
Valby’s Glowing Frog
Emergency Oxygen Cylinder
– The ‘Back Attachment’ and ‘Spawn’ included in the ‘Premium Ultimate Descendant Bundle I’ are exclusive to the corresponding Ultimate Descendant and cannot be used by other Descendants.
Bug Fixes
(1) Content Improvements
– Fixed an issue where you cannot acquire a mission object when monsters die before exiting the dimensional gate.
(2) Descendants
– Fixed an issue where the field of view would be locked when changing weapons, while usingBunny’s ‘Speed of Light’ skill. – Fixed an issue where certain effects of Ultimate Bunny would not be displayed on the Descendant List animation screen.
– Fixed an issue where using Hailey’s ‘Zenith’ skill on an unstable network connection could cause an incorrect field of view when shooting while aiming after the end of the skill.
– Fixed an issue where Ajax’s ‘Body Enhancement’ Skill Module could cause the ‘Void Energy’ UI to display the effect for only one segment.
– Fixed the incorrect icon images for Viessa’s ‘Cold Snap Watch’ and ‘Hypothermia’ Module descriptions.
– Fixed the incorrect icon image for Luna’s ‘Aggressive Melody’ Skill Module description.
– Fixed the incorrect icon image for Lepic and Ultimate Lepic’s ‘Power Unit Change’ Skill Module description.
– Fixed an issue where ‘Shield Recovery Modifier’ did not affect certain Descendants’ skills with a Shield Recovery effect.
Enzo, Yujin, Ajax, and Kyle’s Shield Recovery skills are now properly affected by the said stat.
(3) Weapons/Modules
– Executor’s ‘Executor’s Exaltation’ effect no longer activates when attacking enemies that are immune to the effect or hitting environment objects in Intercept Battles.
– Fixed an issue with the Wave of Light – where the effect of ‘Solar Halo’ remains when changing weapons.
– The effect of the ‘Lethal Finish’ Module is now properly applied per Cooldown when attacking an enemy with the ‘Guardian Lance’ of King’s Guard Lance.
(4) UI/UX
– Fixed an issue with the acquisition info popup for tracked Core Materials in the Access Info UI, where the list would close when you placed the cursor over it.
– Fixed an issue with the acquisition info popup in the Access Info screen under the certain display resolution where tooltips for Amorphous Material would flicker.
– Fixed an issue in the Infiltration Operation UI, where hovering the cursor over the Research Materials in the reward list after hovering over the Amorphous Materials in the Selectable Rewards could cause the tooltip to display the ‘Shape Stabilizer Application Info’ and ‘Amorphous Material Linked Reconstructed Device Info’ buttons.
(5) Miscellaneous
– Changed the barricade height in all Outposts to 2m or higher.
– Fixed an issue leaving the map in the air in the Fortress – Defense Line.
– Fixed an issue where attacking a Colossus when they appear would not increase the Frenzy Gauge.
Don’t forget, we have the second part of Season 1’s patch dropping this October 10. You can stay tuned to all our The First Descendant coverage by bookmarking our game page for it.
When it comes to controller options, I don’t think anyone does it better than Xbox, especially with their Xbox Design Lab program, which allows Xbox gamers to create their own custom controller with several different options. Well, it seems that more options are starting to become available, as a new color option dubbed “Cipher Series” gives the front plate a transparent look.
As announced by Xbox, the Xbox Design Lab has a new series of colors available that will give the controller a see-through look.
Xbox writes:
“With its transparent casing and metallic silver details, the Cipher Series lets you look inside the controller, capturing the spirit of those iconic see-through devices that tech enthusiasts still fondly remember—now making a bold comeback for a new generation of players.
Drawing inspiration from the iconic translucent tech of the ’90s and early 2000s, the Cipher Series brings six stunning transparent top case designs to Xbox Design Lab. These vibrant, candy-colored top cases encapsulate the controller’s metallic frame, showcasing both its external beauty and the advanced engineering within the Elite Series 2 controller.
Each color tells a unique story: Ghost Cipher strips away all color to reveal a fully transparent top case, offering a clear view of the controller’s inner workings; Velocity Cipher pays homage to the iconic Xbox green, made transparent to expose the energized world inside; Astral Cipher captures the mysteries of deep space with a rich, regal shade of purple; Surf Cipher channels the energy of ocean waves with its transparent blue; Candy Cipher offers a dreamy, sweet vision with a playful pink top case; and Pulse Cipher embodies passion and power with a striking transparent red.”
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.
With the official reveal of the Meta Quest 3S happening during today’s Meta Connect 2024 event, Polyarc Games, the developers behind the acclaimed Moss series, revealed that both Moss 1 and Moss 2 would be getting a major update that’ll include several new features and improvements, with he most notable being to the game’s visual.
Moss and Moss 2 Quest 3 and Quest 3S Upgrade
The studio writes about the update in a blog post:
Set to take full advantage of the new hardware, Moss, which hasn’t received an update since its release on Quest 1, will be rendered at 150% of its original resolution, allowing Polyarc to color correct the visuals and create parity with the game’s PC version. Alongside lighting adjustments in the game’s moodier areas, many visual effects will also receive significant updates, including realistic water and animated book pages, to bring Moss in line with Moss 2, which released on Meta’s Quest 2 hardware.
“It’s exciting to be making the first update to Moss on Meta Quest since its launch,” said Josh Stiksma, design director, Polyarc. “While we believe that Moss continues to set a high bar for visuals within VR headsets thanks to the work our team did during its development, new hardware technology has given us an opportunity to deepen the sense of player immersion even more. The updated visual pass on key areas will enhance the water, animate the book pages, and bring additional emphasis to high-quality effects and interaction visuals.”
Here are some comparison shots that really show the improvements:
Additionally, several quality-of-life improvements and fixes will also be available in the updates, with both games also getting a new feature to skip combat. This update will be free to all owners and will launch on October 15, the same day as the Quest 3S
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.
Batman: Arkham Shadow release date has officially been confirmed for October 22! That’s not all; it’ll also be included, completely free, in brand-new Quest 3 and Quest 3S bundles.
The news comes from today’s reveal of the Quest 3S during the Meta Connect 2024 event. While no new gameplay of Batman: Arkham Shadow was revealed (we expect that to arrive on the second day of the event), we did get confirmation that the title will officially be available on Quest 3 and Quest 3S starting October 22!
The bundles are as follows:
128GB Quest 3S for $299.99
256GB Quest 3S for $399.99
512GB Quest 3 for $499.99
For those who already own a Quest 3, Batman: Arkham Shadow will have to be purchased for $49.99. It’s no surprise, considering that Asgard’s Wrath 2 was previously offered for free and bundled with the Quest 3.
Batman: Arkham Shadow Key Features:
Experience the world of Batman like never before
Immerse yourself in all the grit of Gotham City with the power of VR, and take down its most notorious criminals.
Hard-hitting Arkham Combat
Realized exclusively for VR—choose from fan favorite gadgets and bold fighting styles reimagined from the beloved Arkham franchise.
Friends, foes and other familiar faces
Meet Dr.’s Quinzel and Crane before they became Harley Quinn and Scarecrow, as well as other iconic characters including Harvey Dent, Jim Gordon, and Ratcatcher.
Return to Gotham
Enter Gotham City in fully immersive VR. Set after the events of Batman: Arkham Origins, experience a new entry in the Arkham franchise like never before.
Not
Explore iconic Gotham locations
Prowl the dark alleys of Gotham City, then descend into its underbelly. Explore iconic locations like the Monarch Theatre and Bowery from an all-new perspective in your journey to bring the Rat King to justice.
Though Batman: Arkham Shadows isn’t being developed by Rocksteady, the studio that created the Arkhamverse, the game has been confirmed to be set within the same universe as those games. It’s said to take place between Origins and Asylum, with the plot focusing on a new threat known as the Rat King. Speaking of Rocksteady, the studio is reportedly developing another Batman game again.
Batman: Arkham Shadow will be available exclusively on the Quest 3 and Quest 3S on October 22.
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.
While Bandai Namco has already revealed that Heichai Mishima isn’t exactly dead (surprise!) and is gearing up for his return to Tekken 8, we now have a date to mark down for it, as well as info on what other new stuff we can look forward. First off, the Tekken 8 Heihachi update (which is tagged as patch version 1.08) is scheduled for October 1 (September 30 for those in the West) on all platforms!
While Heihachi will be a premium (read: paid) new fighter, grandpa evil will drop to players in a title update bring along new stuff that’s available for everyone. Here are the confirmed new stuff incoming:
Tekken 8 Heihachi Update Version 1.08 Preview:
Patch Roll Out: September 30 (PDT)/October 1 (EDT)
New Fighter – Heihachi Mishima
New DLC Battle Stage – Genmaji Temple
Both the Day & Evening versions can be played, and the evening versions transistion into the night version throughout round progression.
New Feature – Main Menu Character customization
New Feature – “Online Practice”
New “TEKKEN DOJO” feature where two players can now practice online in the Fight Lounge – time to prove who’s best amongst friends.
New Content – Free Story DLC – “Unforgotten Echoes”
Heihachi was not, in fact, completely dead. How did the King of Iron Fist survive against Kazuya?
Follow Eddy, Lidia & Heihachi* in this story running parallel to the main storyline.
Notet that in the new story content, players can play DLC characters for free.
Update Details for Version 1.08 (Not Patch Notes):
Note the info below is from the latest Tekken Talk devstream and summarized by -PVL93-!
Battle Pass Round 3 rewards Nike collaboration items for customization. New “Grimp Reaper” and “Seductive” customization packs on the other hand will be sold in the Tekken Shop. Some of the items released previously will also become available again at a discount
New Story chapter “Unforgotten Echoes” primarily features Eddy, Lidia and Heihachi, with its events unfolding around the same time as main Tekken 8 story mode. This gives people an opportunity to try out the Season 1 DLC characters thus far for free
Right after the Tekken Talk aired, a media embargo was lifted for various gaming news outlets articles to be published, which feature the overviews of Patch 1.08, its content, and several interviews with the developer team
the Nike x Tekken collaboration includes Jin and Kazuya themed sneakers, which can be obtained in the free track of the new Battle Pass. Some of the ads on the Urban Square stage were temporarily changed to reflect this update. No further updates on availability of the IRL versions of these shoes
the Gentle Monster x Tekken collaboration features new sunglasses worn by Kazuya. The sunglasses will become purchasable irl starting from September 28th for 500$ a piece, or obtainable in-game via Tekken Shop starting from September 30th
A new option in the Screen Settings will be added that allows players to select any character they wish as the main menu background. This option isn’t limited to just the default costumes but also any of the existing presets. Different characters react differently to the camera positions and let the developers really demonstrate their lighting implementation
Tekken Fight Lounge is getting two feature additions – an ability to change the arcade cabinet layout in any of the existing areas like Battle Area, and an Online Training mode accessible via the Tekken Dojo area
In the Online version both players can play from the same preferred side, as well as access most of features the Offline version already offers, including resetting the practice at a different situation.
For the Offline version, there’s the aforementioned character health display change, pressing on the different areas of the touchpad (for console versions) will now serve as a shortcut to reset in the left/center/right side of the stage, and the training dummy can now be set to punish/counter you after a specific number of attacks received or blocked, from 1 up to 5
Special Style will expand and improve upon the juggle combo routes, including from after doing a low parry
Ranked Match is receiving matchmaking adjustments based on your preset – e.g. finding opponents closer to your rank, ensuring found opponents are within the parameters, or slightly narrowing the totla range if no restriction is set. Points obtained/lost when there is a difference in ranks will also be tuned
You will now be able to access a Replay of the match directly from the post-match screen in both Ranked and Quick Match modes, as well as look at the profiles of both players involved. This is done to improve the flow into the Replay Takeover feature
Miscellaneous Stuff
The final Master-tier event within Tekken World Tour 2024, Thaiger Uppecut, is scheduled to take place next weekend, on October 4th-6th. This is the last tournament of the season before the Global Finals in early December. No confirmation yet whether Heihachi will be legal to use at this tournament however
A reminder that the Tekken World Tour Finals are taking place on December 7th-8th as part of the Excellent Tekken Festival in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan. Make sure to book your attendance if you’re planning to be there as a competitor or just as a spectator
Another reminder that the Fanart and Photo Mode campaigns are still up and people can send their submissions with the #TEKKEN30th hashtag on social media up until October 31st. The works that will be deemed best by Bandai Namco may appear not only in Tekken 8 itself after upcoming patches to be used for VS screens and whatnot, but also during intermissions at official TWT events and broadcasts
An update on two new SHFigureartsaction figures featuring Nina and King. The Nina one is going up for pre-orders starting from October 1st at 65$ a piece (according to current Yen<->USD exchange rate), while the King one is in the planning stages
Jin and Kazuya themed watches by Angel Clover are getting a limited 150-piece global release, both priced at ~300$ (also according to the current Yen<->USD exchange rate)
The actual patch notes will be shared at a later date. As one can expect, more updates are planned after Winter, though this might be the final patch until the final Season 1 character is released. Expect more news about that at the Tekken World Tour Finals later this year.
It looks like the rumors are true, as the Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster collection has leaked for the Xbox ahead of Xbox’s Tokyo Game Show event tomorrow, September 26.
The leak comes via Reddit, where user D4RONx89 shared a captured image of the Xbox store featuring a banner for the collection.
This all but confirms it, and we expect to see the official reveal happening during tomorrow’s TGS presser. In the meantime, for those wondering which Final Fantasy games are included in this collection, they are as followed:
FINAL FANTASY
FINAL FANTASY II
FINAL FANTASY III
FINAL FANTASY IV
FINAL FANTASY V
FINAL FANTASY VI
A breakdown of features and improvements (via Steam) can also be found below.
Beautifully revived with new graphics and sound!
Universally updated 2D pixel graphics, including the iconic FINAL FANTASY character pixel designs created by Kazuko Shibuya, the original artist and current collaborator.
Beautifully rearranged soundtrack in a faithful FINAL FANTASY style, overseen by original composer Nobuo Uematsu.
Improved gameplay!
Including modernized UI, auto-battle options, and more.
Switch the soundtrack between the rearranged version, created for the pixel remaster, or the original version, capturing the sound of the original game.
Now possible to switch between different fonts, including the default font and a pixel-based font based on the atmosphere of the original game.
Additional boost features to expand gameplay options, including switching off random encounters and adjusting experience gained multipliers between 0 and 4.
Dive into the world of the game with supplemental extras like the bestiary, illustration gallery, and music player.
No release date yet, but don’t be surprised if this is released tomorrow with the announcement. Now the question is, will this be the only Final Fantasy announcement for Xbox tomorrow, or can we expect another? I guess we’ll find out soon!
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.
The original Dead Rising released all the way back in 2006, as an Xbox 360 exclusive. While the tenth anniversary of one of Capcom’s best-selling franchises saw a re-release on multiple platforms, this time around the game has been remastered, as in built from the ground up with enhanced visuals, a steady frame rate, and some modern flourishes which today’s players expect out of their games. Is Frank West ready to make a whole new generation of fans? Find out in our Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster PS5 review.
RE Engine Looking Good
Unlike the last re-release, this remaster has been built using the RE Engine, which has a lot of the latest and greatest rendering pipeline technologies and powers many of Capcom’s other high-profile experiences such as Resident Evil and its various remakes. While not the prettiest zombie action game, the more detailed character models, better lighting, smoother frame rates, and enhanced audio does make this feel more like a game made for contemporary times. The action stays pretty smooth even when dozens of zombies are onscreen, while loading in a new area takes just a couple of seconds.
In case you missed the original game because, you know, maybe you weren’t even BORN when it released, and also missed the 10th anniversary re-release in 2016, the gist of Dead Rising is that you play as photojournalist Frank West, who has received a tip that something major is going down in Williamette, Colorado. He has hitched a helicopter ride into the city, and decides to be set down at the local mall, where a lot of violent attacks of some sort can be seen occurring. You have 72 in-game hours (7.2 hours of real time) in which to uncover the truth of what is going on, rescue as many survivors as you can, and return back to the helipad in order to get the scoop of a lifetime.
Grab Whatever You Can
Since Frank isn’t a trained soldier, one of the major aspects of Dead Rising when it released was the fact that many objects could be used as impromptu weapons. Of course, this being a fictional take on an American city, this mall also sports gun stores, and numerous cops who turned into zombies, ripe for the taking of their weapons. While the repertoire of weapons remains largely unchanged, there are a couple of new camera upgrades for Frank to collect from the camera shops peppered throughout the mall. You can add flash functionality, depth-of-field controls, and more which were not options in earlier versions of the game, and should help out in making your shots extra shareable.
One option included for fans of the original release is the Classic control scheme. This applies the same controls as the 2006 release, which means that the player cannot move while they aim. Otherwise known as “tank” controls, such a scheme is not as popular today because it leaves the player somewhat like a sitting duck whenever they aim. Still, for those who want an authentic experience when they play this remaster, the option is nice to have. Personally, I prefer the modern control scheme because it’s what I’m used to.
Original Jank Included
Another aspect of Dead Rising that remains faithful to the original is the rigid failure logic of the game’s missions. Everything is time-based. As new survivors to try and save are discovered, timers start, and when they deplete that survivor dies. The AI survivors have been programmed with is still not very smart – the best way to try and guarantee their safety is to have them hop on your back as you simply run through hordes of zombies on your way back to the security room. Sure, you can give a survivor a weapon, and while they’ll maybe kill a zombie or two, it won’t be long before you see their life bar drain away and the survivor dies. It’s a frustrating bit of legacy, but then I suppose it wouldn’t feel like Dead Rising without some jank.
Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster is the ultimate release of this now quite-aged zombie game. If you didn’t like the game back when it originally released, then this version isn’t likely to persuade you otherwise, even if the auto-save functionality helps to avoid some pain points. Survivor AI is still hilariously inept, and it’s all too easy to screw yourself over when it comes to certain campaign progress points. But it’s the best-looking version of the game to date, and if you liked whacking zombies with random step ladders, or setting up amusing photos of them with cones on their heads, then picking up a copy of Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster would be a fun time.
Score: 8/10
Pros:
The best-looking and playing version of Dead Rising yet
Choice of control schemes is appreciated
Improved camera options can make for more impressive photos
Paulmichael has been writing in the gaming industry since 2008. Living just outside of Los Angeles, he has been lucky enough to attend numerous gaming events around the world, including the last ten E3 shows (RIP)! A thoughtful reviewer, every game you see scored by PmC has been given careful attention. Paulmichael is also an aviation fan and an avid snowboarder. Favorite games include: No Man's Sky, Gran Turismo 7, skate., CloverPit.
In a surprising move, PlayStation has quietly increased the price of Horizon Zero Dawn: Complete Edition on the PlayStation Store. This price hike follows the recent announcement of a remastered version of the game during the State of Play event.
The cost of Horizon Zero Dawn has doubled from $19.99 to $39.99 on the PlayStation Store, a significant jump from its previous price. This change affects only the PlayStation Store version (regardless of region, it seems), while the PC edition remains unchanged. For players who already own the game, there is an option to upgrade to the remastered version for $10 on both PS5 and PC, allowing them to enjoy the enhanced edition without paying the full price.
Price change history of Horizon Zero Dawn on PlayStation Store. (via GamePittReviews)
Originally part of Sony’s PlayStation Hits lineup—a collection of games usually priced at $20—the sudden increase has raised eyebrows, especially since all the other games in the PlayStation Hits series are still available at their normal prices.
Players looking to buy the game at its original price may still find physical copies available through online retailers. However, for those who prefer digital versions, the higher price may be their only option. We’ve reached out to Sony for a comment on this, and if we hear anything back, we’ll update the article with the info.
Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered will be available for $49.99 when it launches on October 31, 2024.
While Ubisoft has publicly mentioned that Star Wars Outlaws had the biggest marketing budget in company history, it seems that wasn’t enough to propel the game’s sales, as the publisher has confirmed that the Star Wars Outlaws sales numbers underperformed compared to expectations.
This was revealed by Ubisoft in its latest financial report released today. According to Ubisoft, Star Wars Outlaws sales were a lot “softer” than expected. However, the company is doubling down
Despite solid ratings (Metacritic 76) and user scores across the First Party and Epic stores (3.9/5) that reflect an immersive and authentic Star Wars universe, Star Wars Outlaws initial sales proved softer than expected.
This softer sales impact — alongside Assassin’s Creed Shadow’s delayed release — resulted in Ubisoft to revise its net bookings forecast in Fiscal Year 2024-2025, as the company is now expecting net bookings for the second quarter of FY2024-2025 to stand at around €350 ($389M) to €370 ($411M).
However, Ubisoft has a plan to correct the Outlaws ship, as the dev team at Massive Entertainment are “mobilized” to deliver updates to the game to further improve the player experience. Ubisoft is hoping to engage holiday consumers to buy the game, and sees Star Wars Outlaws as a “strong longer-term performer.”
In response to player feedback, Ubisoft’s development teams are currently fully mobilized to swiftly implement a series of updates to polish and improve the player experience in order to engage a large audience during the holiday season to position Star Wars Outlaws as a strong long-term performer.
Star Wars Outlaws will be available on Steam this November 21, which should further add to the game’s sales reach. While the third-person action game might be riding the Star Wars license, it seems gone are the days when a brand alone can move licensed games. In our review of Star Wars Outlaws, we mentioned, “While Star Wars Outlaws ticks off many boxes on what a good Star Wars games should be, it also doesn’t try and innovate beyond those check boxes. To add to it, what you’ll play in Outlaws is probably something you’ve played in another game, though a tad bit better, and executed earlier.”
When it comes to game updates, the dev team pushed out a patch centered on gameplay bug fixes, and we’re hoping more will be released soon. So far, Ubisoft has not mentioned any changes to the game’s roadmap which is good news for existing players. While it’s an uphill climb for Outlaws, Ubisoft can take comfort that they’ve managed to pull this off in some of their other titles like For Honor, The Division 2, and more, which had a rocky launch but managed to find its footing after several game updates were released.
Just yesterday, Sucker Punch Productions unveiled the Ghost of Tsushima sequel we’ve all been waiting for and it’s titled “Ghost of Yotei.” While details about the game are, understandably, a bit scarce, some new info has risen to the surface about the game’s story and the development behind it.
Speaking in an interview with the New York Times (email required), Ghost of Yotei’s Creative Directors Nate Fox and Jason Connell talked about the sequel’s story, ongoing development, and even choosing the correct location. When it comes to the sequel’s tale, not much was shared other than it it is a story of “underdog vengeance,” and how the game’s protagonist — Atsu — would have greater control over her story than in the previous game.
The duo also talked about the choice for the game’s location, and shared how they visited more than a dozen locations for inspiration. This took Sucker Punch two research trips into northern Japan where the image of Mount Yotei reflected across Lake Toya awed the devs that Connell mentioned, “I sat there for two hours just staring at the mountain…it was stunning.”
In addition to that, Fox noted another highlight of the trip(s) which was their visit to Shiretoko National Park on the northeastern tip of Hokkaido. This is the place where the studio recorded nature sounds for the game. Fox noted, ““Inside the park, you have to watch a video telling you about the dangers of bears,” and added, “Being in this incredibly beautiful park with jagged cliffs and water, yet all the time being aware there were dangerous bears, was electrifying.” Fox states that they are striving to bring that into the game, “that feeling of danger.”
Expect more info about Ghost of Yotei to be revealed as we inch nearer to its undisclosed 2025 release date for the PS5.
Originally set for a November 15 release, Assassin’s Creed Shadows has been delayed by Ubisoft for a few months, and will now see the light of day on February 14, 2025. According to the publisher, the delay will help the devs with more time to polish and refine the experience.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows is a dream project for us; finally bringing the series to Feudal Japan with many features developed with our community in mind, such as parkour or the renewed stealth, brought by new technology, all set in a beautiful and immersive world.
This is an ambitious addition to the franchise, a rich experience that can be lived through the eyes of two unique protagonists – but we realize we need more time to polish and refine the experience, pushing further some of our key features.
As such, we’ve made the decision to postpone the release date to February 14, 2025. The game will release on a broad range of platforms, including Steam at launch. Additionally, preorders will be refunded and all future preorders will be granted the first expansion for free.
We understand this decision will come as disappointing news, especially to those who’ve been waiting patiently for an Assassin’s Creed game inspired by Feudal Japan, but we sincerely believe this is in the best interest of the game, and ultimately your experience as a player.
Rest assured we are looking forward to the moment you will embark on a memorable adventure with Naoe and Yasuke.
Until then, we thank you for your ongoing support.
Marc-Alexis Côté, on behalf of all teams working on Assassin’s Creed Shadows.
This news comes after the game’s producer states that a four-year development cycle is is the “ideal” time for a new Assassin’s Creed game. I guess four years isn’t enough time, then. The game has recently seen controversy as well, as Ubisoft was allegedly caught using bots to farm engagement for the game.
