The final chapter in Agent 47’s international journey of political intrigue, espionage, and assassination launched to strong reviews earlier this year.  Despite the main story coming to a close, developer IO Interactive is releasing even more content for players that are looking to take on more missions. The upcoming update includes new weapons, elusive targets, escalation contracts, and —that’s right, you guessed it — Easter bunny eggs. 

Hitman 3 March Roadmap

Escalation Contract

The Lesley Celebration is slated to be Hitman 3’s  next escalation contract. Players must hunt down a number of VIPs within the claustrophobic confines of a crowded Berlin nightclub.  Similar to normal contracts that you can complete, escalation contracts usually require players to neutralize an enemy while adhering to specific objectives and restrictions. These restrictions amplify the stakes and challenge of each mission (e.g., wearing a certain outfit while eliminating a target or using a specific weapon for the duration of the contract). When the deed(s) has been done, the escalation contract’s difficulty will increase which can lead to more nuanced playthroughs that can potentially include extra targets. 

The Lesley Celebration drops on March 4.

Publisher Square Enix has announced that the Outriders demo will be getting an update on March 5 at 7 AM PT / 10 AM ET. The update will implement a few balancing changes and quality-of-life improvements.

The update is largely aimed at eliminating the grind for loot. The Outriders demo has a lootcave run where players can reload over and over to open the same three chests--which, when done enough times, allows you to eventually get some nice loot, including legendary items. The update eliminates this exploit by ensuring chests will no longer drop legendary items.

"While we do not want to prevent farming runs (We get it!), the lootcave discovered via the triple chest-run, as well as the store exploit, do not feel to be within the spirit of the game," the patch notes say. "To that end, we are redirecting farming efforts to mechanics in the game that may be more enjoyable for players to play through and repeat."

The update also nerfs some of the more annoying abilities used by the Captain mobs, which should make them a less frustrating challenge whenever they pop up. Additionally, Gauss, an early optional boss in the demo that you can face off against multiple times, will gain increased health and the ability to heal himself on subsequent runs, ensuring he remains a challenge and never becomes too easy.

Game developer Lars Doucet offers a comprehensive deep dive into Artifact's economy using the "four currencies" model, plus a fifth -- Skill. ...

Space Jam: A New Legacy—or as I will be referring to it for the rest of this blog Space Jam 2—is coming out later this year. Thanks to a new story from Entertainment Weekly we now know what the movie is actually about and folks, it’s some wild shit involving VR, Casablanca, Don Cheadle playing a CGI character named AI…

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The Old Guard meets Blackhawk Down

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Valve is no longer planning to continue development of its rebooted card battler Artifact, announcing via a blog today that its active player counts are too low to justify the work. ...

People Can Fly, the developer behind the upcoming looter-shooter, Outriders, announced today that over 2 million people downloaded the recently released demo for the game in its first week of availability.

While the Outriders demo is free and it doesn’t translate to any actual money yet, it’s a sign that there is a tremendous amount of interest at least in the game.

In addition to the pat on the ol’ back, PCF also announced what updates players can expect for the demo and for the full release on April 1.

Valve has announced it's ending development on its reboot of beleaguered card-battler Artifact, and will be making both existing version of the game free for everyone to play.

The original version of Artifact, designed by Magic: The Gathering creator Richard Garfield, failed to make much of an impact following its launch in 2018. Players rejected everything from its perceived complexity to its pricing mode (requiring both an upfront purchase and payment for additional cards), and it was barely seeing 100 players online in a 24-hour period by July.

Then, in May last year, after almost a year of silence, Valve confirmed it was embarking on a major overhaul of the game called Artifact 2.0 - which include a new three-lane view, a new draft mode, and, most significantly, would drop the ability to purchase cards and packs.

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Artifact has now failed twice. After a messy launch and a failed attempt to reboot it last year, Valve announced today it’s calling it quits on the beleaguered Dota 2 card game.

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Before Your Eyes is a unique narrative adventure that you control by blinking your eyes. Yes, as in with your actual eyeballs. You're probably asking yourself "How the heck does that work?" Read on to find out what this eye-catching indie title has in store. 

The game is described as a “personal tale of self-discovery” as players embark on a journey guided by The Ferryman, a feline (or canine?) boat captain who shepherds departed souls to the afterlife. The debut trailer shows off various stages in one’s life, such as playing games with loved ones, traveling to other countries, and, eventually, death. To relive these memories, players must physically blink and those movements are detected by your webcam and registered as inputs. 

Blinking can move time forward by a few days or a few years. Certain interactions are also triggered by blinking, shown in the trailer when the Ferryman instructs players to blink over his hand or when viewing a photo album. The idea is that life is literally flashing before your eyes, and I can’t think of a more immersive and organic method of getting that point across. 

Niantic is holding a bonus event for Pokemon Go Tour: Kanto ticket holders starting tomorrow, March 5. Beginning at 10 AM local time, players who had purchased a ticket to the Pokemon Go Tour: Kanto event will have a chance to complete more event-exclusive Timed Research tasks, with a variety of rewards up for grabs.

According to Niantic, you'll be able to earn the following items by completing the aforementioned Timed Research:

• 30 Ultra Balls
• A Lure Module
• A Poffin
• A Super Incubator
• A Lucky Egg
• Three Silver Pinap Berries
• A Star Piece
• An Elite Fast TM
• An Elite Charged TM
• A Charged TM
• A Fast TM
• 100 Mew Candy

These Timed Research tasks will be available for ticket holders until 10 AM local time on April 5. Niantic will also offer a free bundle containing three Remote Raid Passes in Pokemon Go's in-game shop. You can read more details about the event on the official Pokemon Go blog.

The original Pokemon Go Tour: Kanto event took place on February 20 and was a paid event. Players were required to purchase a ticket in order to gain access to most of the event's features, but due to technical issues, some users were able to access the event without paying. Niantic is holding this bonus event as a make-good to those who did buy a ticket.

Lo-fi is one of my favorite music stylings to listen to throughout the workday, so when Square Enix added some chill Final Fantasy lo-fi sounds to Spotify, my heart got really happy really quickly. The company recently just added a ton of new tunes to the music streaming service, including a "Chill Out" tracklist specifically designed to help relax and unwind. 

"Introducing new chill-out arrangements of music from Square Enix’s popular game titles," says Square Enix about the Spotify "Chill Out" album. "This album features a selection of classic tracks, mainly taken from Squaresoft’s 1980s releases, such as Final Fantasy, Final Fantasy II, Final Fantasy Legend, Final Fantasy Legend II, Final Fantasy Legend III, and Final Fantasy Adventure."

The Dota card game refresh is no longer in development

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Today, Valve announced that development on the Artifact reboot, previously known as Artifact 2.0, has ceased. That beta version of the game is now available alongside the original artifact for free. Since these are two different games, with Artifact 2.0 having a multitude of changes, players can elect to download and play either game at this point for free. The original can be played as Artifact Classic, while the newer version is known as Artifact Foundry. Both can be found on Steam.  Players can no longer spend money on either game (like on card packs or the classic client, for example), since they are both 100-percent free at this time. In an official blog post today, The Artifact team commented on the reboot:

"While we're reasonably satisfied we accomplished most of our game-side goals, we haven't managed to get the active player numbers to a level that justifies further development at this time. As such, we've made the tough decision to stop development on the Artifact 2.0 Beta."

No further game updates are planned for either version of Artifact.

Valve has officially stopped development on Artifact, its struggling collectible card game based on the DOTA universe.

Valve made the announcement Thursday, citing poor player count following the game’s launch in 2018 and subsequent reboot, Artifact 2.0 beta.

“While we're reasonably satisfied we accomplished most of our game-side goals, we haven't managed to get the active player numbers to a level that justifies further development at this time,” the Artifact team writes. “As such, we've made the tough decision to stop development on the Artifact 2.0 Beta.”

For those Artifact players still hanging on (or for those who never gave it a shot), Valve is making both versions of Artifact free for all, and players will be able to access all cards for free. Card packs will no longer be available to purchase.

For players who purchased card packs in Artifact Classic in the past, they’ll see their cards converted into special Collector’s Edition versions, which will remain marketable between players. That said, marketplace integration is being removed from the game. Players who previously paid for the base game of Artifact will continue to receive Collector’s Edition cards for playing, while players who got Artifact for free will not. Players can read full details here.

Valve has decided to cease development on its Dota 2-based card game Artifact and its revamp, Artifact 2.0, citing issues with growing the player base necessary to justify the development.

In a Steam blog post, Valve wrote that while it's proud of the work it managed to accomplish on Artifact's reboot, the studio wasn't satisfied with the size of the game's current player base.

"It's now been about a year and a half since the current Artifact team began work on a reboot in earnest," Valve wrote. "While we're reasonably satisfied we accomplished most of our game-side goals, we haven't managed to get the active player numbers to a level that justifies further development at this time."

Valve went on to say that instead of deactivating the servers, both games will remain as they are--they will just go to a free-to-play model. Valve noted that Artifact 2.0, now called Artifact Foundry as part of this free-to-play transition, remains "an unfinished product." According to Valve, "the core gameplay is all there" and all that's missing in the game is polish and art. Both games will stay playable for the foreseeable future, but Valve won't release any future updates.

As a result of making OG Artifact (or Artifact Classic) and Artifact Foundry free-to-play, Valve is dropping one final set of changes to both titles. This includes giving players access to every card for free (no purchase of any kind required), turning paid cards into special Collector's Editions versions, removing paid event tickets, and continuing to give those who bought Artifact Classic packs of Collector's Editions cards for playing the game. One specific change to Artifact Foundry, meanwhile, is adding all final card art that was in the works to the game.

Today, via Steam, Dota 2 developer Steam announced that they will be ceasing development on all versions of Artifact, a card game based in the Dota 2 universe.

There are currently two playable versions of Artifact: Classic and Foundry. Classic was the original version of the game, and Foundry was a work-in-progress reboot of Classic taking into account player and developer feedback.

However, while Valve has been working to reboot Artifact since Classic launched in 2018, a rapidly dwindling player base has essentially made development a fruitless endeavor.

Here’s what Valve had to say:

Artifact, the Dota 2 card game, shipped in November of 2018. Despite good initial sales, our player count fell off pretty dramatically. This warranted a shift from the service/update development model we’d planned to a full reevaluation of the game’s mechanics and economy.

It’s now been about a year and a half since the current Artifact team began work on a reboot in earnest. While we’re reasonably satisfied we accomplished most of our game-side goals, we haven’t managed to get the active player numbers to a level that justifies further development at this time. As such, we’ve made the tough decision to stop development on the Artifact 2.0 Beta.

While it may only be nine episodes in total, WandaVision’s first season has been full of so many twists and turns that the finale feels like it’s been a long time coming. A lot of that is thanks in part to the fact that there’s already been a slew of movies to help build the show’s foundation upon.

In fact, the movies are so important to fully understanding and enjoying WandaVision, that Marvel went out of their way to create an entire watchlist devoted to the show. You can see the list in the form of an old-timey newspaper below:

Six years after its announcement, Super Nintendo World at Universal Studios Japan is finally poised for its official opening, meaning thoughts are increasingly turning to versions in the west; work continues apace on Super Nintendo World California, but a new report suggests the Orlando version is now unlikely to open until 2025, two years later than planned.

To date, Super Nintendo Worlds have been confirmed for Universal Studios in Japan, Singapore, Orlando, and California, and construction on the latter park, situated within Universal Studios Hollywood, began last August. InsideTheMagic has been charting its progress, if you're curious, with its latest update showing progress on theming and housing for Bowser's Castle and its Mario Kart ride.

Despite construction now seemingly well underway, Universal is yet to give any indication of when Super Nintendo World Hollywood will likely to be complete. It'll almost certainly be the first of the US parks to open, however, given a new report suggests work on the Orlando version, to be located in Universal's new Epic Universe park, is now two years behind schedule.

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The Marvel's Avengers (lack of) XP curve and cosmetics' randomness issues will both be addressed with game updates.

The post Marvel’s Avengers XP Requirements and Cosmetics Randomness Will Change appeared first on Siliconera.

Thursday’s Best Deals | Kinja Deals

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Developer JanduSoft has released a new trailer for its psychological horror title Evil Inside--and it looks very similar to the infamously delisted PlayStation 4-exclusive P.T. The trailer sets Evil Inside's mood before the game drops on March 25 for PC, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5.

The trailer is brief, clocking in at a little under two minutes in length, and it's incredibly eerie. There's an unsettling melody playing in the background as the protagonist Mark walks through the corridors of a house that periodically oscillates from the horrific to the normal.

Evil Inside puts players in the shoes of Mark, a teenage boy watching over his little brother, as he attempts to piece together by their dad murdered their mom Rose. To do this, Mark must collect fragments of the Spiritual board to connect Rose and get her side of the story. The story takes place inside one place, not unlike other walking simulators like P.T and Gone Home.

Though promoted on PlayStation's official YouTube channel, Evil Inside is also coming to Steam on March 25. Check below to see the PC hardware necessary to run the game.

Railjack 3.0 is on the way

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Today third-party developer Gaya Simulations announced a release date for its upcoming Kristiansand Airport, Kjevik (ENCN) add-on for Microsoft Flight Simulator.

The wait isn’t going to be long, as the date is tomorrow, March 5.

Here’s how the airport is officially described:

“Located in the idyllic southern reaches of Norway, Kristiansand is the largest city in the spectacular Agder region of the Scandinavian nation and what more fitting way to explore it than by air!

Approach over the sea or through a narrow valley, Kristiansand really has it all – not to mention it can cater to all as well, with both ILS and RNAV approaches available for those looking to jet off to Norway for a holiday and service to major hubs and tourism hotspots alike.

Seeing 737s, A320s, E-Jets, Q8s in airline traffic alone, it’s safe to say that ENCN is not the quaint rural field it’s surroundings make it seem like, making this product perfect for simmers who like flying IFR and visiting beautiful airports.

Loop Hero hits Steam today, a little indie gem that combines some different genre styles and mechanisms for a fairly compelling effect. While it’s a different sort of beast than many of today’s other deckbuilding roguelikes such as Slay the Spire or Monster Train, I’m guessing the same crowd is going to be rather enthralled with Loop Hero. Essentially, it combines deckbuilding, townbuilding, and… dungeon building. And idling. Yeah. You don’t control your hero at all. Instead, you make the major decisions that determine the hero’s future by creating a world around them, a loop that they’ll walk around until you either summon and defeat a boss or die. 

The trilogy will come to a close in Fall 2021.

The post Mary Skelter Finale Will Release in the West in Fall 2021 appeared first on Siliconera.

It’s a poppy, fun film — but also an echo of past successes

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Today Marvelous Entertainment released a brand new trailer of the upcoming slice of life JRPG Rune Factory 5.

The trailer focuses on showcasing the many features of the game, which includes plenty of waifus and husbandos to lead to the altar, fishing, farming, monster hunting, and many more.

You can check it out below.

Rune Factory 5 releases in Japan exclusively for Nintendo Switch on May 20, 2021, while for now the western release is slated simply for 2021.

If you’re unfamiliar with the game, here’s an official description.

“Set off on a grand adventure in a fantasy world with the latest entry in the Rune Factory simulation RPG series. After losing their memory, the hero lands in a small town blessed by nature. There, they are recruited into a band of peacekeeping rangers, and their new life begins.

Sick of other players? Go it alone

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I'm not sure if people travel to Iowa's "Field of Dreams" to attend a baseball game played in a cornfield, or if they are there to see ghosts. It's probably a mix of both. This unique setting is a part of MLB The Show 21. Holding true to the popular line "If you build it, he will come" from the Field of Dreams movie, you'll get the chance to build your own stadium and plant your own cornfield using The Show's new stadium creator. While this destination looks like the iconic Iowa location, I doubt you'll see the spirits of legendary baseball players on the field, but we'll have to wait to see what Sony has planned.

The stadium creator gives you a high level of freedom to make each ballpark distinct. Using 1,000 different pieces, you can pick the wall types (determining their height and distance on the fly), set where the foul poles are, and also design the stands, including props positioned inside and outside of the stadium. As the trailer above shows, you can even make the skyline look like a scene from an alien invasion movie with spacecraft floating menacingly over the city.

The messaging has become so much more because it’s right there

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The studio behind Call of Duty Mobile and the upcoming Pokemon Unite are staffing up for a new AAA game with big ambitions. The game from Tencent's TiMi studio is said to be planned to scale across PC, consoles, and mobile devices.

Niko senior analyst Daniel Ahmad posted about the hiring news on Twitter, saying the new game will use Unreal Engine 5. This appears to be a big push for Tencent to expand into the PC and console space, after making its name on successful mobile games. There's no word what this new game may be, though Ahmad also noted this appears to be more of a shooter than Tencent's other recent cross-platform success, Genshin Impact.

Call of Duty Mobile has been a boon for Activision, helping the Call of Duty franchise achieve its biggest financial success in 2020. That game successfully translated the basic mechanics of a Call of Duty shooter onto mobile screens.

Gnosia is a fascinating game with characters you might want to ally with or eliminate. Even when tedious, it might keep you coming back.

The post Review: Gnosia Is Compelling Even When Going in Circles appeared first on Siliconera.

Loop Hero is a lot of things: an RPG, a roguelite, an auto-battler, a card game, a city builder, an evocative visual novel. It’s also excellent, and I can’t stop playing it.

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