The free-to-play PUBG Lite is being shut down, according to its developer, Krafton. The game, meant to be a less technically demanding version of Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds, launched in 2019 in Thailand in beta form before arriving in Europe that October. 

Kraton states that the game will wrap up for good on April 29. The developer has already axed the game’s webpage, player support and has disabled any new downloads. You can still play the game and spend the remaining in-game credits as normal until the shutdown. 

Kraton doesn’t cite a specific reason for the shutdown, but left this message on its blog: 

“We are deeply grateful for the passion and support from the astounding number of PUBG Lite fans that have been with us. During the strenuous times of the COVID-19 pandemic, we hope that PUBG Lite was able to provide our fans a fun way to stay safe. Unfortunately, we have made the difficult decision to close service after much deliberation, and the time has come for our journey to end. We regretfully inform you that service of PUBG Lite is scheduled to end on April 29th, 2021.”

As it does, No Man's Sky has expanded its universe with a biggo new update. This time, it's beefed up with a brand new game mode called Expeditions. A bit like a seasonal event, Expeditions give players a bunch of time-limited goals and set them off along the same path together. They seem like they'll channel the energy of some massive community scavenger hunt, everyone knocking around close to one another as they zip from goal to goal, which actually sounds like good fun. The first Expedition has just kicked off and is set to run for two months.

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Today Focus Home Interactive released a new trailer of its upcoming multiplayer medieval heist game Hood: Outlaws & Legends.

The video showcases one of the maps included in the game, specifically the Marshland resulted from the state’s influence turning Middleton into a ravaged landscape.

You can check it out below.

Hood: Outlaws & Legends releases on May 10 for PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PS4, Xbox One, and PC. Pre-orders grant an early access period starting on May 7.

The April 2021 PlayStation Plus lineup will include the PS4 game Days Gone and the PS5 game Oddworld: Soulstorm.

The post PlayStation Plus April 2021 Lineup Includes Days Gone appeared first on Siliconera.

Borderlands 3 is still trucking along, with that patented string of Gearbox DLC and monetization.

It's crazy to think that it actually came out in 2019, but here we are, still getting paid add-ons for it. The Director's Cut is on the way, and will add a ton of content like more story missions and a new raid boss. But beyond that, it's also bringing in vault cards and diamond keys. 

The former are basically talismans that add loot and XP bonuses, and are granted via owning the Director's Cut add-on, which is still slated for April 8. "Three" cards are slated for launch "by the end of 2021," and you get the first one day one. Basically, you level up the cards for rewards, just like the system in Marvel's Avengers.

Diamond keys are like a new evolution of golden keys. Billed as a "full room of loot" (not just a chest, like how the golden keys interact with the game), you'll access the "diamond armory" to use them (which has been added to the hub below the bridge). Once you open a chest, you have a specific amount of time to grab one item from it. Then you get a guaranteed piece of legendary gear.

It's all sort of confusing and very skinner box-like: just like Gearbox wants it to be. But at least we know how it works ahead of time.

Vault Cards and Diamond Keys Quick Guide [Borderlands]

‘If I take one more step, it’ll be the farthest away from home I’ve been since 2020’

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The Analogue Pocket, a new machine that can play a breadth of portable games, is delaying shipments due to a shortage of necessary components.

Analogue confirmed in an announcement that the current global state of affairs has created supply chain challenges outside the company's control. The new shipping window for the Pocket is set for Oct. 2021.

"There have been sudden and severe electrical component shortages as well as logistical issues leading to a domino effect of challenges for nearly everyone in the industry," the blog says. It also backlinks two news stories, including one about the Ever Given, the boat that was stuck in the Suez Canal.

Analogue says it is working to get the Pocket out as fast as possible, and that those who pre-ordered and would like to cancel for a full refund should reach out to Analogue Support.

The Pocket was revealed in 2019 as a multi-video-game-system portable handheld. It's set to be able to play Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy Advance games out of the box, and adapters will allow it to play other systems' games, including the Game Gear and Neo Geo Pocket Color. 

It's also set to have the ability to dock and connect to an HDTV, and on the console itself, it will have a 615ppi LCD with 1600x1440 resolution. Basically, a super-powered Game Boy.

Fighting EX Layer: Another Dash is out in Japan now, and it'll appear worldwide in the middle of April 2021.

The post Fighting EX Layer: Another Dash Will Appear Outside Japan in April appeared first on Siliconera.

Tokyo Game Show is the latest in a growing crowd of industry events that will once again be held online in 2021. As COVID-19 continues to render mass gatherings unsafe environments, the decision was made by organizers CESA, Dentsu, and Nikkei BP to return to an online format similar to that used for the previous TGS event, held back in September 2020.

TGS 2021 will still offer up news and previews of a catalog of upcoming releases, and will offer online interviews between developers and press. The organizers are looking into ways to roll out demos online, and will also host a small, socially distanced, in-person event to allow members of the gaming press to try out games and hardware. Viewers at home will be able to check out all of the action through various social media outlets.

This year will see the Tokyo Game Show celebrate its 25th anniversary, and will run TGS 2021 under the banner theme of "We'll Always Have Games." It's a shame that this marked occasion will have to be held in an online capacity, but it's definitely the right thing to do given the ongoing uncertainty of the current global climate.

Tokyo Game Show 2021 will take place between Thursday, September 30 and Sunday, October 3.

Tokyo Game Show will be online-only in 2021 [Gematsu]

Giant weapons, magic powers, and Lu Bu all make appearances 

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In this 2019 GDC talk, Uken Games' Nick van Vugt ll reviews ways you can work with your community and internal teams to provide the best experience for both parties. ...

Udon picked up the Steins;Gate 0 manga and will release the first of its three volumes in September 2021.

The post Steins;Gate 0 Manga English Volumes Will Begin Appearing in September appeared first on Siliconera.

Dr. Grant was right...those "six-foot turkeys" are ferocious.

Going along with the "Primal" theme of this new season, Fornite just added raptors into the mix. Cleverly, they set the whole thing up with eggs littered about the map beforehand, then decided to hatch them via an update. That very same update that added extra stability for the Switch version of the game.

Raptors will roam the map in pairs and add another wrinkle into the survival mix for the main battle royale mode. They're joined by the existing wildlife of wolves, boars, chickens, and frogs: which all can make up various questlines in Fornite that task players with picking up animal bones and taming them for experience.

It took some time for the primal theme to grow on me, but the spire in the middle really adds a lot of character into the mix. I dearly miss a few locations from the last season (the colosseum especially), but it's always good to shake things up.

And raptors randomly roaming around is a shakeup!

The best Star Wars game that doesn’t involve the player swinging a lightsaber is getting an April 6 release on PlayStation 4 and Switch, but those looking for a physical version of Republic Commando will need to wait until April 16, when the four-week pre-order window opens for Limited Run’s physical version,…

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Torn Banner Studios released another two new trailers of its upcoming medieval combat multiplayer game Chivalry II.

The trailers introduce the two factions, the Agatha Knights and the Mason Order.

On top of the trailers, we learn that pre-orders for the console versions are now open, and will grant access to the cross-platform closed beta from Friday, April 23 at 10:30 am EDT through Monday, April 26 at 10:30 pm EDT.

Incidentally, free upgrade to next-gen versions will be offered for those who purchase the PS4 or Xbox One versions.

You can check out both trailers below.

Developer Ion Lands is returning to the neon-drenched streets of its gorgeous Blade Runner-esque delivery thriller Cloudpunk in a new "sequel-sized" DLC, City of Ghosts.

City of Ghosts introduces a second, fully voiced campaign that serves as a direct sequel to the the main game, once again following protagonist Rania as she zips around the striking open-world metropolis of Nivalis in her trusty flying HOVA. Canine companion Camus is also along for the ride, but this time Rani is joined by a second hero - deadbeat gambler Hayse - with players switching between the pair's interlinking stories as City of Ghosts unfolds.

"As Rania attracts the unwelcome attention of the massive delivery corporation Curzona," explains Ion Lands, "she must also evade a secret society of AI worshipping zealots. Her night gets even worse when the Debt Corps finally track her down, and Rania finds herself trying to outrun her past as well as a homicidal, chimeric cyborg. Meanwhile, drunken gambler Hayse tries to clear his debt before morning, but with an appetite for self-destruction and a bumbling CorpSec android for company, the odds aren't in his favour."

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Today Atlus West released a new trailer of the upcoming JRPG Shin Megami Tensei III Nocturne HD Remaster.

The trailer focuses on introducing the dark setting of the game and is narrated in English. The game will come with both English and Japanese voice tracks.

You can watch it below.

Perhaps we'll come to see these years as a golden age of destruction. Between the roguelikelike witchery of Noita and the heists of Teardown, it's a great time for games where simulated materials and physics come together for destruction that's so much more than decorative. Now, after leaving early access in October, Noita has released its final major update, and it's another big'un with more ways to destroy and be destroyed.

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And immediately turned away, because comics are confusing

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Atelier Ryza and Atelier Ryza 2 will get free matching dresses as DLC to celebrate the entries passing 1 million copies shipped. Here's how they look.

The post Atelier Ryza and Atelier Ryza 2 Free DLC Costumes Revealed appeared first on Siliconera.

During CD Projekt Red's company strategy video yesterday, the studio covered all sorts of ways in which they feel they got things wrong during Cyberpunk 2077's development. Not just development, but Cyberpunk's marketing too. In the future, they say they'll wait until much closer to a game's launch to start firing up trailers and demos and in depth looks at gameplay. That means if there's another big Witcher game out there on the horizon, we may not hear about it for quite a while yet. Honestly? Good.

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Today Hello Games released another free update for its ever-growing space exploration game No Man’s Sky, titled “Expeditions.”

The update introduces a new game mode, the titular expeditions. Each of them starts at a fixed point in the universe, facilitating social interaction between players.

They will have a seasonal progression and a set of milestones that players will have to complete, letting you earn rewards and experiment with new ways of playing.

Milestones vary from simple to extremely challenges and can be completed in any order. Each grants certain rewards and you can track them in the mission log.

They’re grouped into “Phases” that also grant exclusive rewards to those who participated, and those who will complete the entire expedition will also get additional goodies.

Rendezvous Planets for expeditions will create hubs of activity, and new expeditions will begin regularly. Durations will vary.

On top of the Expeditions, we also get a rework of space station missions, that will now have greater depth and offer rebalanced rewards, especially at higher levels. Mission boards have been overhauled as well.

Explorer-class starships have received enhanced models and textures, and weekend events have been added for further interaction and rewards.

Mission locations won’t simply be found by following a marker. Finding them will require using a new tracking feature, which will also serve to find rare resources.

Sentinels have been improved in a variety of ways depending on their class.

The ability to receive in-game rewards for watching No Man’s Sky played on Twitch has also been added.

There’s a lot more, and you can read it all on the announcement’s page, on top of watching a trailer below.

Days Gone and Zombie Army 4: Dead War are your PS4 PlayStation Plus games for April, with Oddworld: Soulstorm also available for PS5: https://t.co/WlVLGGMOQg pic.twitter.com/nRH2euYAn1

Mamma MIA!

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April will mark another solid month for PS Plus subscribers looking forward to another batch of freebie games. PlayStation has today announced that the upcoming next installment of the Oddworld franchise, Soulstorm, headlines April on PS5.

Oddworld Soulstorm promises to deliver the grandest of Abe’s many adventures yet with production and scope far beyond what we’ve seen from the series before. It’s available only for those with PS5 consoles.

Over on PS4, meanwhile, Bend’s open-world zombie game Days Gone is available for download throughout April. While PS5 owners are likely to lament that a title from the PS Collection has made the cut, it’s a nice for those on PS4 who missed out on the game to catch up.

Twinfinite wasn’t hugely impressed with Days Gone when it launched in early 2018 (review here), but a number of patches and content updates have improved the package since launch. It might be a little generic, but Days Gone still thrills occasionally.

Finally, if you’re really in the mood for even more zombie killing, Zombie Army 4: Dead War should prove the hot ticket.

You can check out PlayStation Accesses’ latest video announcing the lineup below for a glimpse at the action to come.

The Witcher 3

The Witcher 3 is one of the best RPGs of not only this generation, but any generation, is a must-play for any Xbox One owner that is a fan of massive open-world RPGs.

Dragon Age: Inquisition

Our game of the year for 2014, Dragon Age: Inquisition, is another excellent open-world RPG that puts together what was good about each of the first two games into a complete package that finally satisfies the majority of the series’ fans.

Fallout 4

Like Bethesda games are one to allow you to do, you can lose hundreds of hours just working on side quests. And that’s before even touching the compelling main story about a parent searching for their son after a nuclear apocalypse. It’s definitely one of the best RPGs available on Xbox One.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition

This is another Bethesda classic. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim might be on a quest to be on every platform under the sun, but it doesn’t take away from the fact that it’s one of the best RPGs of the last decade.

Assassin’s Creed Origins

Assassin’s Creed went on a much-needed hiatus for a year to give the series a chance to reinvigorate itself, and luckily for fans, Ubisoft succeeded. Assassin’s Creed Origins is one of the best RPGs released in 2017, and it’s on Xbox One.

Dark Souls III

Dark Souls III is the fitting end to a journey that started way back with Demon’s Souls. FromSoftware, the originators of games now known as Souls-Like, has done it again.  Dark Souls III is the culmination of their efforts and expertise.

Diablo III

Although it got off to a rough start on PC, Diablo III found itself before releasing on the Xbox One and is now one of the most fun dungeon-crawler RPGs on the console. There’s bonus fun to be had if you play locally with friends.

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Neko Works' Twitter account shared details about the upcoming Nekopara: Catboys Paradise otome game inspired by its 2019 April Fools' joke.

The post Nekopara: Catboys Paradise Otome Game Announced appeared first on Siliconera.

Starting today, you’ll be able to play more than a dozen Xbox and Xbox 360 games via cloud streaming, Microsoft announced in a blog post. As with other game streaming, the perk is only available to members of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.

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When Graham asked me to write a strategy games column, my first challenge was of course to think of how to annoy as many people as possible. "I won't stretch the definition of 'strategy'", I thought, "I'll warp spacetime itself until all points within it are 'strategy'". You have to set goals with these things. But what game would irk the most readers? "The hardcore strategy of Among Us", maybe. Is there a Mario game on PC? I could get dark gags out of lives as strategic resources. Call Of Duty would surely make it too obvious?

I left those questions to my brain while I had a go at something I'd had my eye on already anyway. It's called Shadow Empire. It is a grand strategy 4X wargame. I have been playing it almost every day since. It is as strategy as strategy gets, and it is so excellent it has ruined everything.

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PUBG Lite, a low-end version of the popular battle royale shooter designed for those without access to expensive hardware, is being shut down. ...

People Can Fly's Outriders RPG-shooter-hybrid is out tomorrow and we thought we'd celebrate by causing a little chaos of our own. We had a lot of fun with the game's demo that's out now, and it's definitely a looter shooter that harks back to fond memories of games like Borderlands, Destiny, Fallout, and People Can Fly's own Bulletstorm. So strap in tight, because we're going live! 

You can take to the world of Outriders solo or with friends to build up skills, explore untold dangers, make a new future for humanity, and figure out just what the heck that mystery signal really means. We loved our time with the shooter, which you can learn more about right here with our hands-on impressions, and we can't wait to see what this game has to offer beyond what the demo showcased. 

Today Dead or Alive 6 Producer Yohei Shimbori announced on Twitter that he retired from Koei Tecmo.

Shimbori-san mentions in the tweet that he has worked at the company for 16 years. While there have been times in which he was pleased for the results, he admits that there have also been times in which he believes he has not met expectations.

He’d like to take this opportunity to express his gratitude to those who supported him.

Shimbori-san worked mostly on the Dead or Alive series since Dead or Alive: Ultimate, including Xtreme 2 and 3.

His latest known role was on Dead or Alive 6, on which he served both as producer and director until after release, when he moved on to focusing on the producer role.

Dead or Alive 6  is available for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC, and if you want to learn more about the game, you can read our review.

Sony has announced April 2021's PlayStation Plus titles, all of which will be available to download from 6th April to 3rd May.

First up, Oddworld: Soulstorm, which as we knew already will launch on 6th April directly into PlayStation Plus.

Soulstorm is the second chapter in Abe's quintology (Oddworld: New 'n' Tasty, a full HD remake of Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee, is considered the first game in the quintology). You reprise the role of Abe the Mudokon, the accidental hero turned leader of a growing revolution.

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April’s PlayStation Plus games are here, and they aren’t bad! As always, these games are only “free” if you have an active PlayStation Plus membership.

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Backward compatibility reaches the cloud

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