July 2020

It has been, as ever, a very Ubisoft reveal. You know the details well before the official embargo is up: Ubisoft Montreal, along with a flotilla of other Ubisoft studios, is working on a triple-A, free-to-play battle royale. You know the name as well, and you may, like me, still be struggling to get your head around it. Hype Escape? So that's what you call it when another big Ubisoft title leaks ahead of time. Oh, Hyper Scape? Yeah, I'm still not feeling it I'm afraid.

I'm happy to say that, having had a deep dive into the thinking behind Hyper Scape and a handful of matches, there's some real promise here, though, and more than a handful of smart ideas it's bringing to the table. First, the details - Hyper Scape is coming to PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC later this summer, with a tech test that's effectively a closed beta starting on PC today. The premise takes us to the not-so-distant future of 2054, with Hyper Scape's fiction like William Gibson on happy pills. It's a world which gets all its entertainment from the internet and where the virtual space is used for an all-out Battle Royale which keeps people occupied (actually, typing it out, it's not so much a fiction as a mirror of our current world, but there you go).

Amazon is teaming up with the creators of hit sci-fi show Westworld to adapt Bethesda's long-running post-apocalyptic RPG series Fallout for television.

A tease for the new series was posted on Amazon Studios' Twitter feed earlier today, and more substantial details have since been reported by The Hollywood Reporter.

According to the website, Westworld series creators Lisa Joy and Jonah Nolan will oversee the project (Amazon signed a five-year deal with the duo's Kilter Films to produce new shows for its Prime Video streaming service last year), although no writer is currently attached.

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Naughty Dog is trying something new with in-game options

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Sega released the Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA Future Tone Mega Mix DLC alongside a new difficulty level for more tracks.

The post Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA Future Tone Mega Mix DLC Pack and Extra Extreme Difficulty Added appeared first on Siliconera.

Check out our CrossCode interview with director Felix Klein, who took some time to talk to us about port challenges, indies stress, and more!

The post CrossCode Interview: Radical Fish Games on Console Ports and What’s Next appeared first on Siliconera.

Pre-order Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Remastered Edition to get a unique theme for your PlayStation 4.

The post Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Remastered Edition PS4 Theme Comes With Pre-orders appeared first on Siliconera.

Sony is handing out a free static PS4 theme in honor of PlayStation Plus turning ten years old.

Is yellow your favorite color (or at least a top-three contender)? Do you have an affinity for games like BioShock, Destiny, The Last of Us, Bloodborne, and Nioh? You might dig the doodle-based design.

The "10" in the top-right corner is straight out of Sega's playbook. I can't unsee it.

_{Here's what I've been playing in between Last of Us Part II sessions. The sequel is Long.}

It's tough for this one to stand out when we've had so many killer free themes lately (Final Fantasy VII Remake's Tifa theme immediately comes to mind), but if you want a change of scenery, download away.

PlayStation Plus 10th Anniversary Theme [PlayStation Store]

It might be the summer, but I'm not about to hit the beach anytime soon, contrary to the en masse irresponsibility being shown by my fellow countryfolk. Still, at least video games are getting into the spirit of Fun in the Sun. Take for example the new Marine Tour, which is now live in Nintendo's mobile racer Mario Kart Tour.

The Marine Tour brings two new driver variants: the lovely Rosalina, adorned in a Grand Star-spangled swimdress, and main man Mario, rocking his swimming gear from Super Mario Odyssey. Also lodged in the pipe system are two new karts, including a Blue Soda kart and a snorkel-wearing Cheep kart, while new gliders are also available, stylised like deep-sea rays.

A color-shifting puzzle-platformer called Hue is this week's Epic Games Store freebie, and if that sounds like your sorta "finish in one sitting" jam – it got pretty good reviews, and there's colorblind support if needed – then you'll want to claim the PC game by 8:00 a.m. Pacific on Thursday, July 9. Don't forget!

The other previously-announced free game lined up for this week, Conan Exiles, did an about-face. The dongs will have to wait. According to a tweet from Epic, "the Epic Games Store team has decided that Conan Exiles will not be free, but will be available for purchase on the store at a later date."

On the bright side – assuming plans don't change again – next week's free game lineup includes three titles: Killing Floor 2, The Escapist 2, and Lifeless Planet, a Cold War-tinged astronaut adventure with an intriguing sci-fi premise. You'll be able to claim the trio from July 9 to July 16, 2020.

My backlog is bulking up and I haven't spent a cent.

Revolution Software has announced that Beyond a Steel Sky, the sequel to the 1994 adventure classic Beneath a Steel Sky, will launch on PC via Steam July 16, following its debut on the Apple Arcade platform last week.

Beyond a Steel Sky sees semi-retired problem solver Robert Foster forced out of his quiet wasteland lifestyle and back within the solid steel walls of Union City, on the trail of a missing child that was snatched from his enclave for mysterious reasons. Although the high-tech metropolis looks a helluva lot cleaner and happier than Foster remains, our hero will soon learn how beauty is often only skin deep, as he becomes embroiled in another technological nightmare of conspiracy and greed.

Today, Ubisoft formally unveiled its take on the battle royale space, Hyper Scape. Hyper Scape is a futuristic, sci-fi battle royale game that on the surface may appear similar to something like Apex Legends, but does have a few quirks to set it apart.

Hyper Scape takes place in a virtual city known as Neo-Arcadia which is filled with advanced weaponry and abilities known as hacks, that can be looted by players competing in the city’s battle royale competition. Hacks can allow your player to do some crazy moves such as power slam onto the ground, or morph into a ball.

What’s particularly interesting is that all weapons and hacks can be upgraded & evolved by looting duplicates of on the map. Instead of just ignoring loot you already have, the duplicates will power up and alter your weapon and hack into something better.

You can see the gameplay in action below. Hyper Scape will feature a Solo and Squad mode and up to 100 players.

Square Enix has been bringing back some of the most popular collaboration events that graced Final Fantasy XIV in the past, and another is coming this month.

The event in question is the one that brought the world of Dragon Quest X to Eorzea a few years ago titled “Breaking Brick Mountains.”

According to the press release sent by the publisher, it’ll return on July 27.

Starting the questline will require speaking with Havak Alvak in Ul’dah. Completing a FATE event will be required to earn themed prizes.

• Thug’s Mug headgear
• Wind-up Brickman minion
• King Slime Crown headgear

Below you can check out images of the prizes and of the golems you’ll have to fight.

If memory serves, the quest for this event was particularly hilarious, so it’s going to be a good time for everyone involved.

Byron Bernstein, a popular and skilled World of Warcraft PvP player and streamer, has passed away at the age of 31. This information has been confirmed by his ex-girlfriend and also his roommate. According to Forbes, the cause of death is suicide.

Bernstein, whom was well known online by his gaming ID Reckful, was among the best WoW PvP players during his prime and continued his success into streaming and was among the most popular WoW streamers up until his passing.

That said, a memorial stream of sorts is running right now as of the time of this writing and is playing replays of past streams if you wanted to check that out. And in-game memorials are taking place as well.

Bernstein’s passing is extremely tragic and sad. Twinfinite offers our condolences to his family, friends, and his fans.

With the much-anticipated launch of Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us Part II, the sequel to one of the most critically acclaimed games of all time, it was a forgone conclusion that a vast multitude of fans and critics alike would compare the two.

Part II is a brilliant game in its own right, and a highwater mark for the industry, but it ultimately falls short of achieving the lofty heights set by its predecessor. That’s high praise indeed, considering what came before.

It should go without saying, but this article will contain MAJOR SPOILERS for both The Last of Us and The Last of Us Part II.

It’s also worth noting that you should absolutely play both of these games, even if you fell victim to the unfortunate leaks and spoilers that came out ahead of the launch of Part II.

There is an entire galaxy of difference between reading what happens, and actually experiencing it for yourself. The tension, acting, and direction throughout is second to none.

To co-inside with the 4th of July celebrations, Infinity Ward has announced that double XP will be live in Modern Warfare and Warzone from today.

Starting now and ending on July 7 at 1pm ET, you will earn Double XP, Double Weapon XP, and 2X Tier Progression as you play any multiplayer mode or jump into Verdansk in battle royale.

This will not only help you reach the upper tiers of the battle pass quickly but it’ll also help you level up weapons, maybe unlocking new attachments for the new Rytec AMR sniper if you’ve managed to unlock it already.

War never changes, but prestige TV sure can. Today, Bethesda announced that Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy, creators of HBO’s Westworld, are taking their cinematic lens to Fallout, working with Amazon Studios to create a post-apocalyptic telly show based on the long-running nuke ’em up RPG. Hold on, though – a darkly comic show about robot cowboys, deserts and conspiracies? Sounds quite a leap for the folks behind Westworld.

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I dread any ‘soulslike’ game arriving in my inbox, as it normally means having to make a video based on the first fight shot from different angles, as I couldn’t get any further. So it speaks to the appeal of Cold Symmetry’s Mortal Shell that I persevered long enough to put together an entire video preview, and find a delightful lute to jam on in the middle of a swamp. Less loot, more lutes: the campaign starts here.

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Ray tracing is the big buzz word of 2020 in PC gaming, so we’ve created this list of all the confirmed ray tracing games you can play on PC right now, as well which this year’s [cms-block] will get ray tracing support in the future. And because ray tracing tends to go hand in hand with Nvidia’s performance-boosting DLSS tech these days, we’ve also listed all the games that support DLSS, too.

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In this week's episode of The Game Informer Show, several members of the Game Informer family say, "Goodbye." Sadly, this is my last week as Game Informer's editor in chief. Coincidentally, senior editor Matthew Kato and video producer Leo Vader are also moving on to the next stage of their careers as well, and will no longer call GI home. While this is sad for many of us, we take the chance to celebrate their contributions and wish them well. 

We continue to do this show from our homes as we hunker down in quarantine, so please forgive us for any audio or video hiccups as we deliver content outside the studio.

Thanks for listening! Please make sure to leave feedback below, share the episode if you enjoyed it, and follow me @therealandymc, or Matthew @MattKato, and Leo @leovader to let them know how much you love them. 

We recently had the amazing opportunity to go hands-on with Cyberpunk 2077, which you can read about in our full playthrough impressions as well as our biggest takeaways article. We also sat down with some of CD Projekt Red’s talented developers, learning more about their creative process and how they approached this ambitious project. One topic that consistently surfaced was the team's signature shades-of-gray storytelling and how it enhances the experience.

During our four-hour demo, we wrestled with who to trust, never feeling completely confident in our decisions or what the consequences would be. If you played CD Projekt Red’s Witcher series, you know this feeling all too well, but with each passing project, the developers only seem to be getting better at keeping you on your toes and making you second-guess your actions. To learn how much care and thought goes into these interactions, we asked lead quest designer Paweł Sasko for more insight into the complicated process. 

Outriders is the upcoming cooperative shooter/RPG from developer People Can Fly and publisher Square Enix, and the companies are giving eager players a new look at the game in action. The latest video dives into how Outriders' world and quests are structured.

Today, former top World of Warcraft player and longtime Twitch streamer Byron “Reckful” Bernstein died.

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Backlash to criticism of The Last of Us: Part II only adds to toxicity around discussing the game, says contributing editor Bryant Francis. ...

In this 2018 GDC talk Criterion Games' Matthew Harris explore good principles for video game vehicle design that can apply to everything from racecars and X-Wings. ...

Fanatical is currently in the midst of its Red Hot Sale, with over 5000 games on offer and rolling flash deals launching every 24 hours at the digital PC retailer.

The main highlighted deals right now include the Borderlands 3 Super Deluxe Edition for £38.24. This version of the zany looter-shooter comes with the season pass (four DLC expansions) and Deluxe Bonus Content Pack (loads of cosmetics) included.

Then there's Life is Strange 2 - Complete Season for £11.21. The sequel didn't seem to become a phenomenon in the same way Max and Chloe's story did, but Tom thought it was “a bolder, more mature sequel” in his Life is Strange 2 review. All five episodes for a little over a £10 sounds great to me.

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It’s another horrible round of Polygon Draws

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• 00:00:00 Welcome!
• 00:02:52 Min Min impressions and ranking the Smash DLC
• 00:27:46 Nintendo apologizes for Joy-Con drift
• 00:34:51 More news!
• 00:45:16 Games out this week
• 00:49:58 What we're playing
• 01:02:22 Question Block!

• Yes, Your Grace - 6/26 $20
• The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III - 6/30, $60
• Biped - 7/2, $15

• OJ: Smash, Xenoblade
• Brian: Clubhouse Games
• Zach: Mr. Driller Drill Land!

NVC is available on your preferred platform!

Horizon Forbidden West, the sequel to 2017’s Horizon: Zero Dawn, promises to continue the adventures of Aloy as she journeys across the post-post-apocalyptic U.S., fighting robot dinosaurs, and exploring sunken ruins. With PlayStation and Sony announcing the game at their June 2020 PlayStation 5 reveal event, the speculation train has officially left the station.

[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/06/18/everything-we-know-about-horizon-forbidden-west-so-far"]

We’ve gone ahead and rounded up everything we know about Horizon Forbidden West, including release date, story, new gameplay, and new machine creatures Aloy will encounter, and more.

When Halo 3 launches on PC as part of the latest Halo: Master Chief Collection addition, it's going come equipped with a modifier that the original Xbox 360 game never had.

In its most recent Master Chief Collection update post, developer 343 Industries explains that it's implementing a jetpack skull into Halo 3. The game's flight just ended, as early invites played and identified bugs and glitches to help the PC port take shape. Along the way, some members of 343 wanted to find a unique way to commemorate the PC launch. So, they gave more meaning to the term "flight."

The video that's embedded above shows the unlockable jetpack ability in action. As 343 explains it, there was trepidation going in because adding a new skull could easily break a million other things. But, it turned out to be the rare (mostly) hassle-free game development story. It seems like jetpacks were introduced without too much extra irritation.

This isn't the first time we've seen jetpacks in Halo. They were originally supposed to be a feature in Halo: Combat Evolved, but Bungie cut them while retaining them as a developer tool. Late, Halo: Reach introduced them for the first time. Now, retroactively, they join Halo 3.

Ultimately, they should have two discernible effects (apart from simply being fun to maneuver). First, jetpacks are going to allow PC players to take some incredible screenshots. And, second -- and this is the Spartan side of my brain speaking -- it's never been easier to get into position for a perfect ambush.

Steam and itch.io are a haven for small, strange, experimental horror games – look no further than the outstanding Haunted PS1 Demo Disc 2020 project – but it's harder to find these experiences on consoles. Paratopic, an IGF-winning first-person horror adventure, is jumping to Nintendo Switch.

Out of deference to everyone who requested it, #Paratopic will be coming to Nintendo Switch, in partnership with @BaltoroGames.

Release date Soon ™ pic.twitter.com/lwbDq1Oh4f

— Arbitrary Metric (@arbitrarymetric) July 2, 2020

Arbitrary Metric hasn't settled on a release date (it's just "this year" for now), but the custom-made in-engine teaser video is worth watching. I love it when creators get this pumped about Switch ports.

For more on Paratopic – enough to paint the lo-fi horror scene without divulging too much – here's what Ray had to say about the original PC version in 2018. (No surprise here, he dug it.)

Risk of Rain 2 is worth twenty bucks now, in Early Access, and the roguelike shooter will continue to be worth getting once it reaches 1.0 status and asks for more money. The eventual price? $24.99.

Hopoo Games isn't quite there yet – the most up-to-date launch window for version 1.0 is August 2020 on PC, with the three console versions to follow later this fall – but today's heads-up is appreciated.

Risk of Rain 2 "has grown a tremendous amount, and we think the value of the game is increased," the developers said. The original Risk of Rain was a fan favorite around here, and the sequel has garnered just as much love, if not more. Even if you typically wait for 1.0, it's not too early to start. Genuinely.

Better yet, the game is 20 percent off (knocking it down to $15.99) on Steam right now.

Hopoo Games Development Thoughts #15 [Steam]

Remember the KonoSuba: God’s Blessing on this Wonderful World! JRPG by Entergram that is about to get a “Plus” release for PS4 and Nintendo Switch? Well… This isn’t that game.

Mages is developing another KonoSuba game also for PS4 and Nintendo Switch titled Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku o! Kono Yokubou no Ishou ni Chouai o!

As usual, the title is still a crazy mouthful, but the subtitle means “Love this Costume of Desire.”

The game will launch in Japan on September 24 and it’s defined as a “dress-up adventure.”

The gameplay loop includes assigning a schedule to Kazuma, Aqua, Megumin, and Darkness including part-time jobs and quests to earn money. If you give them a task suitable for their personality, their success rate will increase. 

During the Holidays you can relax at home or interact with various party members or Axel residents to improve your friendship level. 

Jobs and quests let you gather materials and money to fashion various outfits. Convincing the girls to wear them will unlock a variety of events and situations. 

You can check out the trailer below, alongside the first screenshots.

At the moment no western release for this KonoSuba game has been announced (which is another thing this has in common with the other KonoSuba game). 

Bit on the nose, eh? Swords sharpened, muscles glistening, Conan Exiles was ready to make the jump to the Epic Games Store today, arriving with the fanfare of a spot in Epic’s free game rotation. Pity, for the old warrior has been knocked back by a mighty blow. Funcom’s sword-swinging survival sandbox has been pushed out of its new home indefinitely – and when it arrives, it won’t be marching for free.

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Nudist tree-puncher Rust is feeling the need for speed. While Facepunch Studio’s big ol’ murder sandbox has so far let you locomote by foot, horseback or the miracle of flight, today’s update has littered the wilderness with battered old motorcars. They’re filthy, broken, knackered old lemons, but hey – there’s a reason the devs didn’t call the thing “factory-condition”, isn’t there?

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The co-founder and CEO of massive fighting game competition the Evolution Championship Series has been placed on administrative leave following allegations of past sexual misconduct, the organization said on Wednesday evening.

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Netflix’s Floor Is Lava is simply the latest in a long line of TV shows that I can’t believe were greenlit and yet I somehow cannot look away.

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