June 2020

eFootball PES 2020's free UEFA Euro 2020 DLC drops today as part of Data Pack 7.0, despite the tournament being delayed until 2021, Konami announced. The DLC pack is free for anyone to download and has been tweaked due to the tournament's delay.

The DLC includes all 55 UEFA teams, rosters, and uniforms, an official UEFA Euro 2020 tournament mode, and more. It's intended to celebrate the tournament, which will still be called UEFA EURO 2020 when it takes place in Summer 2021. There will also be featured players, themed Matchdays, and other in-game events that will be detailed at a later date.

Data Pack 7.0 also includes new seasonal uniforms from South American teams, like Sao Paulo FC, SC Internacional, and Cruziero. It also includes seven new Iconic Moment Series Legends, including Roberto Carlos da Silva Rocha, (May 15, 2002) and Dennis Bergkamp (March 2, 2020).

Development of the sequel to Kerbal Space Program has continued at a Take-Two studio, after its previously contracted independent developers closed its doors earlier this year. But according to a Bloomberg report, most of its staff was poached by Take-Two in the months prior.

The report details the chaotic final few months within Star Theory Games, the now-defunct developer previously contracted to work on Kerbal Space Program 2 by Take-Two. The Grand Theft Auto V and Red Dead Redemption 2 publishers had purchased the rights to the franchise from its previous owners (another independent studio called Squad, who developed the acclaimed first game), before contracting Star Theory to work on it.

Development was reportedly going well until negotiations between Star Theory's founders and Take-Two over a potential studio purchase fell through. The day after, most of Star Theory's staff were contacted by Take-Two's publishing label, Private Division, with job offers at a new studio called Intercept Games. What made the offer puzzling to its recipients was the mention of the studio's current project, Kerbal Space Program 2--the very game they were thought to still be working on at Star Theory.

June is officially here, and there's a lot happening in Pokemon Go this month. In addition to all the events Niantic has lined up for the game over the next few weeks, a new batch of Field Research tasks is now live, giving you a chance to earn a new Research Breakthrough reward.

Unlike Special Research questlines, which are assigned by Professor Willow, Field Research tasks are distributed via PokeStops. You'll receive a random task when you spin the Photo Disc. These can run the gamut from catching certain types of Pokemon to winning a Raid, and you'll earn various rewards for completing them, including berries, Poke Balls, and even Pokemon encounters.

The first Field Research task you complete each day will also net you a stamp. If you amass seven of these, you'll achieve a Research Breakthrough, which will unlock even more rewards, including a chance to catch a special Pokemon. This month's Research Breakthrough encounter is Trapinch, a Ground type and the first form of Flygon. You'll also earn bonus Trapinch Candy for capturing it.

Following the official reveal of Project Cars 3, developer Slightly Mad Studios has confirmed that the upcoming racing simulator--due out this summer for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One--will be "much more welcoming" than previous entries in the series.

In an interview with IGN, Slightly Mad's Joe Barron (marketing and esports manager) and Pete Morrish (director of production) talked about some of the new changes made to Project Cars 3 to ensure that newcomers feel supported during their sessions. This includes things like rebuilding the Career campaign, tweaking the Custom and Multiplayer modes, implementing new car customization features, adding more racing locations like Havana and Shanghai, and much more. All of these improvements should help buyers feel more comfortable picking up Project Cars 3 over Project Cars 2.

"In that situation, when you've got somebody in a store--looking at the two copies and thinking which one to go for--kinda by definition they're not in the initial target market of Project Cars 2, which was very much towards racing fans and simulation heads and people that were fans of motorsport and so on," Morrish said. "So there are certain things that we've done in Project Cars 3 that make the new version the version that that particular person should go for, at the drop of a hat.

Both the upcoming Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 will be powered by the next-generation of AMD's graphics processing architecture, RDNA 2. But before both consoles launch during the holiday season, AMD might be launching its new graphics cards to PC gamers.

In a recent Bank of America Global Technology Conference webcast (via RockPaperShotgun), AMD CFO Devinder Kumar confirmed that the company plans to launch its new range of RDNA 2 GPUs and Ryzen 3 CPUs in late 2020, but that the GPUs would launch before they appear in Microsoft and Sony's new consoles. Although no specific window was mentioned, an Autumn release to coincide with Nvidia's suspected launch of its Ampere-powered RTX 3000 cards is suspected.

Kumar mentioned that "enthusiasts love to buy the best, and we are certainly working on giving them the best," later stating that the new RDNA 2 GPUs will be the first products with the architecture available to consumers. This is expected to fill a gap left open by AMD currently, with Nvidia's RTX 2080 and 2080Ti going largely unchallenged by its only rival.

If you've ever wanted to try the game that jumpstarted the battle royale craze, then you have your chance now. Playerunknown's Battlegrounds is free to play on Steam from now until Sunday, June 8, at 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET, and if you want to continue playing PUBG after the weekend, then you can buy it at a pretty great discount. PUBG is $15, down from $30, until June 8. Unfortunately, it's unclear when exactly the deal ends that day, so you should pick it up as soon as you know you want to keep playing.

All you need to do to play PUBG for free this weekend is mosey on over to its Steam page and then click the "Play Game" button. Once it finishes installing on your PC, you're good to go. No microtransactions or other purchases will be available until the game is purchased, but otherwise, you'll have access to everything PUBG offers, gameplay-wise. PUBG is also available on PS4 and Xbox One, but neither platform is hosting a free weekend.

One of the modes players will be able to test out is the newly added Ranked Mode. Developer PUBG Corp says this mode "provides an additional challenge for experienced players, allowing them to climb the ranks and see where they stand among other players." The mode aims to offer a way to measure players' skill levels as well as provide a suitable environment for players who want to take the game more seriously.

Minecraft Dungeons is a family-friendly dungeon crawler, but there's more to it than might be immediately obvious from a casual run through the game. It actually houses a handful of hidden levels, which are great opportunities for more loot and gems. Like regular stages, these hidden stages can be repeated as often as you'd like, but you'll have to find and unlock them first.

There are five hidden stages in all, in addition to the nine standard campaign stages, for a total of 14. One element that makes the hidden stages difficult to find is that the levels in Minecraft Dungeons are randomly generated. The entrances to these dungeons can be difficult to pin down to one location, and they don't even populate into a stage consistently. That means you could enter a stage that doesn't actually have the entrance at all, and not realize it until you've searched high and low and come up empty.

Generally, though, the hidden stage entrances are marked by some telltale signs and tend to populate in a few reliable areas. We've outlined where to look below, and if you don't see it, just exit back to Camp and try again. These can be found on any difficulty and that will unlock them across all difficulty levels, so set it to the easiest difficulty so you can rush through to look for the entrance without worrying too much about enemies. And if you need to comb a level thoroughly, as is the case in some, make sure to turn on your semi-transparent mini-map and don't follow the yellow directional arrow.

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The dust is finally settling on the Epic Games Store’s giveaways. After a wild few weeks of big sales, surprise drops and store-crashing mystery guests, Epic are playing it safe by putting Overcooked back up for grabs. Almost a year on, the cooperative kitchen calamity is once again your freebie for the week, available to download and keep forever until this time next Thursday.

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With very rare exceptions, EA have long been shy about bringing their games to Steam. But over the last year or so, the two massive firms have slowly shown signs of making amends. It started with last year’s Jedi: Fallen Order, and this week saw the fruits of that partnership properly come to pass as a ton of EA games, old and new, made their way over to the house of Valve – alongside some hefty discounts and hints at a Steam debut for subscription service EA Access.

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A handful of new Electronic Arts published games have shown up on Steam alongside a reminder that EA Access is soon to arrive on the Valve-owned storefront. ...

As the popularity of global multiplayer games continues to rise, game companies often face a difficult trade off on how to spend their developer resources - build the next great game, or manage backend infrastructure? ...

The Outer Worlds is wonderful. The RPG from developer Obsidian Entertainment and publisher Private Division was one of the best and most talked about games when it launched on PS4, Xbox One, and PC in 2019. The companies partnered with the studio Virtuos to create a Switch port, which releases tomorrow, June 5. However, if you were waiting for the Switch version to check out The Outer Worlds, you may want to reconsider.

As you can see from the comparison video above, The Outer Worlds is not at its best on Switch, since the visuals and performance take a serious hit on the system. The textures, framerate, lighting, and more have been downgraded to run on the hardware. 

None of this is exactly surprising. At the same time, playing on Switch is better than not playing at all. The Outer Worlds still has great writing, interesting choices, and a delightfully twisted sense of humor. If you have no choice apart from Switch, then this port is worth playing. But if any other options are open to you, explore those instead.

‘Space legs’ are coming in 2021

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Dragon Age, Need for Speed, Command & Conquer, and more are already on Steam

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The upcoming Hyperdimension Neptunia spinoff game VVVTune is coming west under the title Neptunia Virtual Stars.

Idea Factory international just made the announcement via press release, revealing that the game will come to North America and Europe for PS4 in 2021.

For the moment no additional platforms have been mentioned, but the game will come in both physical and digital forms.

Voiceovers will be provided both in Japanese and English with English subtitles.

Below you can see a few screenshots, the key art, and read an official description of Neptunia Virtual Stars for those who missed our coverage so far.

This afternoon Bungie formally revealed the short Destiny 2 trailer featuring Eris Morn that leaked out earlier this week.

The teaser shows Eris Morn truding through some snow on a moon orbiting Jupiter and then either using some kind of item or casting a spell before the trailer cuts out and reaffirms the previously known reveal date of June 9 at 9 A.M. Pacific Time which is this upcoming Tuesday.

Pretty much everything I can say about this trailer I said yesterday and nothing much has changed now and then. It’s very likely that the moon is Europa but that’s all that can be drawn from both of these teasers other than the obvious of Eris Morn and The Drifter being involved.

Last year, Entergram released a dungeon-crawling JRPG dedicated to the KonoSuba: God’s Blessing on this Wonderful World!  anime and light novel series, and now it’s coming back with a “Plus” version.

Titled Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku wo! Kibou no Meikyuu to Tsudoishi Boukenshata Plus, this improved re-releases drop the original PS Vita platform and is coming for PS4 (that already got the original game alongside the portable console) and Nintendo Switch. The Japanese release is scheduled for August 27.

It’ll cost 6,000 yen plus taxes for the standard version and 9,000 for the limited edition.

A new dungeon named “Goblin Cave” has been added, coming with 10 levels, new mechanics, and a fully voices story.

On top of that, we’re getting ne guild quests, costumes, and events featuring the popular characters from the series. New monsters will also be included.

Players will be able to switch between original and rearranged music, and new skills can be learned during special events.

Funnily, some new mechanics have been added to bring the gameplay closer to the anime and light novels.

For instance, there will be moment in which Aqua will panic and stop responding to your commands, while using Explosion magic in narrow corridors will caue friendly fire to your own characters.

The UI has been improved, and several quality of life tweaks have been made.

You can check out plenty of screenshots portraying those new elements of KonoSuba Plus (because there’s no way I’m going to ever type that full title again) below.

The last couple of months of my gaming world have been filled with everything Final Fantasy VII Remake. I’ve been endlessly fawning over the lore, characters, and most of all, the battle system.

Recently, I’ve jumped into another action RPG, Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition on Switch. So far I’ve been having a fantastic time exploring the world and meeting the characters. On the other hand, there are a few aspects of Xenoblade Chronicles’ battle system that have been completely ruined for me thanks to FFVII Remake.

Right off the bat in FFVII Remake, you’re encouraged to try out two different styles of attacking with Cloud. Then they bring Barret into the mix and get you used to switching characters or at least using their ATB bars to supplement your attacks from Cloud.

Today Nihon Falcom released plenty of new screenshots from its upcoming JRPG The Legend of Heroes: Hajimari no Kiseki, which is the newest game of the Trails series.

The images showcase the  New Reverie Corridor which is an extradimensional space in the game that can be unlocked by progressing the main story. There are no restrictions on when you can play it. Once you unlocked it, you can switch between it and the main story whenever you like.

Interestingly, you can use all the characters regardless of their route because the corridor is not tied to the main scenario, so you can form parties that you usually wouldn’t have in the story.

You can also drop Seal Stones that will unlock episodes or minigames tied to specific characters.  On top of that, special Seal Stones let you unlock characters only playable in the New Reverie Corridor.

You can check the screenshots out below.

Pac-Man Championship Edition - Bandai Namco's wonderful reimagining of the arcade classic - is getting a retro redo, courtesy of an official NES-style demake that's heading to Switch soon.

Pac-Man Championship Edition arrived to much acclaim when it launched on Xbox 360 in 2007. Designed by Toru Iwatani, the man responsible for Pac-Man's original outing, Championship Edition reimagined the arcade classic's iconic maze-based action into a wonderfully compelling time attack frenzy, tasking players with scoring as many points as possible within 5-minutes, with the speed ramping higher and higher as the clock ticked down.

It's a reimagining that, despite its pounding, pulsating presentation, remains remarkably faithful to the arcade original, tweaking, rather than re-inventing the familiar formula. And so in that regard, a retro demake doesn't sound all that absurd - which (as reported be Game Watch and spotted by The Verge) is exactly what Switch owners will be getting when Bandai Namco's new Namcot Collection arrives soon.

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Sometimes you just have to embrace it when the weird stuff happens. For example, how hilariously OP King of Fighters ALLSTAR John Cena is.

The post John Cena Is the Most Powerful King of Fighters Entrant in SNK’s Long History appeared first on Siliconera.

Highlight Reel is taking a break for the week. We’re still answering emails and reaching out for clips and the show will air next week. As always, feel free to send your clips to our email line here.

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In a recent filing with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, an investment group representing some Activision Blizzard shareholders argued that the video game company “finds multiple ways to unnecessarily enrich” chief executive officer Bobby Kotick. More directly, this translates to “Why the fuck is…

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Earlier this week, Sega announced the release of the Game Gear Micro as a part of its 60th anniversary celebration. The ludicrously small handheld console comes in four different colors, each of which has four different games. I’m sad to say that Sonic: Triple Trouble isn’t one of them.

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Kotaku’s Mike Fahey put it best when he said that Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition “makes an excellent third impression.” As a newcomer to the series, I’d like to add to that: It makes an excellent first impression, as well.

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A common argument made by racist-memorabilia-loving white people who still swear to white Jesus that they aren’t racist is that the tearing down of Confederate monuments is an attempt at erasing history.

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The surprisingly wonderful board, card, and mini-game collection Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics will have a free companion app when it launches this Friday, June 5, on Nintendo Switch. We knew this eShop app would let multiple Switch owners play games together locally even if only one of them made the full $40 purchase, but there's a nice bonus inclusion: four free singe-player games.

As Nintendo announced in Japan (via Siliconera), the so-called Pocket Edition of Clubhouse Games also includes access to Dominoes, Four-in-a-Row, Slot Cars, and the card game President. You can play them with the AI or via local wireless an "unlimited number of times," according to Nintendo.

One of my favorite parts of this Switch collection is competing against bots, so that's a cool freebie. Here's footage of the app – known officially as the Local Multiplayer Guest Edition – from NintenDaan.

The Guest Edition also lets you read the rules for all 51 main games. Now, about the full version...

EA is making good on that promise to bring more games to Steam nine years after an exodus from Valve's platform in favor of its own marketplace, EA Origin. This rekindled relationship just took a big step forward as EA added 13 more games to Steam.

This morning, EA put these games on Steam:

Following a round of console ports, the fan-favorite deckbuilding roguelike game Slay the Spire is coming to iOS and Android. It's not my thing – card games generally elude me – but even I think it's worth talking up. It's the type of game that might never leave your phone once it's installed.

The iOS version is officially coming "this month," but Mega Crit has lined up a specific release date announcement for the Guerrilla Collective live-stream that's happening on Saturday, June 6. The Android version of Slay the Spire is further out and doesn't have a public launch window yet.

The good news: this port will be $9.99 – a noticeable drop – and the developers say it's the "complete, spire-climbing experience you have already enjoyed on PC (okay, no anime mods, you got us)."

They haven't mentioned cross-save support or save transfers, so I wouldn't expect either.

Slay the Spire Is Coming to iOS This Month [Steam]

We've heard back that users should once again be able to sign-in. Thanks to everyone that reported this to us! As always, we're here and listening. https://t.co/HpDqwGPSQq

— Xbox Support (@XboxSupport) June 4, 2020

We're aware that some users are unable to sign-in and our teams are investigating. We'll update here & on our status page when we have more info. https://t.co/PzAdjUFMJj

Half-Life

‘s always had horror in its veins. From body-horror aliens lurching down steel corridors to Ravenholme’s infested nest of parasites, sawblades and the living dead, the series has been pushing spooking with its shooting since day one. Sporting more intimate, high-fidelity spooks, Half-Life: Alyx is no exception – and with a modding kit out in the open, it was only a matter of time ’til someone recreated Kojima Productions’ elusive PT in Valve’s new toolbox.

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Under the direction of the Chief Creative Officer, the Digital Producer will produce interactive content for children across multiple digital platforms, including web sites, online games and apps for both shows. ...

At GDC Summer this August you'll have a rare chance to hear how the fighters in NetherRealm's award-winning Mortal Kombat 11 were supported and defined by canny use of leitmotiv.  ...

We're all expecting World of Warcraft: Shadowlands to arrive sometime this year, and possibly sooner rather than later. Blizzard has decided to give players a taste of what's to come in the Azerothian afterlife by revealing some details from one of the 4 major zones players will be leveling up and exploring in as they make their way to level 60.

At cap, players determine a Shadowlands faction to side up with. Selecting a faction gives you access to a special covenant hall, mount, transmog armor abilities, and much much more - your covenant identity plays a huge role in Shadowlands at both the functional and flavor levels. Right now, they're giving us an early peek at Ardenweald, the realm of the Night Fae. If you're into druids and the Emerald Dream, spirit animals, and all that kind of thing with a touch of winter instead of summer, this is going to be the covenant for you.

Konami has recently expressed an interest in expanding its portfolio by publishing more games by Western developers. This new initiative began on June 3 with the release of Skelattack, an indie platformer developed by Californian studio Ukuza. However, Konami doesn't just want to publish western indie games--the studio has expressed interest in innovative games "regardless of size."

"I guess the reason we're talking about smaller titles is because the first title we announced is Skelattack, which is obviously an indie title," Konami senior European brand and business development manager Richard Jones told GamesIndustry.Biz. "I think one of the reasons we're looking to those types of smaller teams is just that there's so much creativity out there with those guys--you know, teams working on small but ambitious titles. Those guys are the ones daring to do innovative games, and I think that's something very exciting, which we wanted to support as a publisher."

Jones continued: "[But] I think the criteria we're looking for really is similar across all new IP regardless of size. Maybe some of those criteria become amplified with the smaller projects. I'm thinking specifically of people coming with fresh ideas, and teams that are pushing existing genres in new ways, or coming up with something genuinely unique. There's just so much going on in this flourishing indie scene at the moment that I think it's only natural that we're looking at small teams and small titles, as well as other titles."

As the PlayStation Store and Xbox Store launch huge, E3-level sales this week, Steam is offering a nice batch of deals on its own. Notably, EA just released a handful of its games on Steam today, and many of them are on sale. You'll also find a big Resident Evil sale along with discounts on indie games from Chucklefish and more.

From now until July 9, EA is holding a publisher sale on Steam to celebrate many of its titles arriving on the platform. Right now, you can snag the fantastic choice-driven RPG Dragon Age Inquisition - Game of the Year Edition for $20, down from $40. Need for Speed Heat's Deluxe Edition is on sale for $28 instead of its usual $70, and Mirror's Edge Catalyst is discounted to $10 from $20.

The Resident Evil franchise is also seeing discounts across the board, including a Raccoon City Edition bundle that gets you the Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3 remakes for $60. That's a good deal outside of this sale, but considering the games are currently marked down to $20 and $39.59 separately, it doesn't really matter whether you buy them separately or together. You can also grab Resident Evil 7 for $9.89 and several of the older games for 5 bucks each.

Now that Valorant has been fully released, the biggest challenge for Riot Games will be keeping people playing for years. The team-based shooter may be the talk of the industry right now, but new content in the form of heroes, maps, and modes will need to come out continuously in order to sustain the game's player base.

GameSpot sat down with Riot Games' Anna Donlon during the Play for All stream to talk about their plans for how they'll approach Valorant post-launch content. "We're not ready to commit to the exact cadence," she said. "The main reason why we don't want to commit to the exact cadence is we kind of need to see how the game balances itself out as players are playing it."

Valorant left its closed beta phase last week, launching on PC on June 2. The version 1.0 release including some new content like the new Spike Rush mode.