May 2021

Later this week, Rocket League players will be able to deck themselves out in cars and cosmetics themed after stock car oval racing. On May 6, the NASCAR Fan Pack will be released with three new cars and a bunch of other items.

The highlight of this fan pack is, of course, the NASCAR cars. Purchasing the pack will grant you access to a Ford Mustang, Toyota Camry, and Chevrolet Camaro, all detailed to look like stock cars. In addition, the pack includes decals that you can use to make the cars look like real-life counterparts. The full list of items is at the bottom of this article.

You can get the NASCAR Fan Pack for 2000 credits, which is between $15-20 USD. It's the first of two planned DLC packs coming in Rocket League's Season 3, which is all about auto racing. The other pack will highlight Formula 1 racing.

Season 3 ushered in a big new update as well as some events, a new stadium, and a new Rocket Pass that includes the Tyranno vehicle. You can see the full list of content and changes added to Rocket League in the Season 3 patch notes.

A leaked document from the ongoing Epic Games v. Apple lawsuit appears to reveal the number of downloads that each free game offered on the Epic Game Store amassed, as well as the lump sum paid to each developer. The document was posted on Twitter by GameDiscoverCo founder (and former Gamasutra editor) Simon Carless, and the numbers run for nine months, from January to September 2019.

As usual with these sort of leaked documents, we can't speak to the absolute veracity of these numbers, but considering the sort of info that has to be prepared for large lawsuits, it's definitely plausible. Carless said that he obtained the document from the public Apple vs. Epic document repository hosted on the cloud content site Box.

The numbers themselves give a rare look into the cost of "free" games. For example, according to the document, Epic paid Warner Bros. $1.5 million to offer the Batman Arkham series as a temporarily free game on the Epic Games Store. Most of the fees are in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, including hit indie games like Subnautica and Celeste, though Metro: 2033 Redux was apparently given for $0.

Niantic is holding a new Limited Research event in Pokemon Go this Sunday, May 9. This event runs from 8 AM to 10 PM local time and gives you more chances to catch the Water/Fairy Pokemon Marill, including its Shiny variant.

Throughout the Limited Research event, Niantic will offer event-exclusive Field and Timed Research tasks that will lead to encounters with Marill, giving you more opportunities to catch the Water Mouse Pokemon. On top of that, Niantic says that Shiny Marill will be available during the event. You can read more details on the official Pokemon Go blog.

In the meantime, Niantic is kicking off the Luminous Legends X event starting May 4. That event introduces a handful of new Dragon and Fairy Gen 6 Pokemon to the game, including Spritzee, Swirlix, Goomy, and the Legendary Xerneas. The latter will appear as a five-star Raid boss until May 18.

Niantic is following that with a Luminous Legends Y event from May 18-31. While the studio hasn't shared many details on that event just yet, it did confirm that the Legendary Pokemon Yveltal will be featured in five-star Raids, and it seems there will be increased Team Go Rocket activity.

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War's upcoming DLC weapon, the CARV.2 tactical rifle, isn't officially available yet, but players are getting their hands on it early. Releasing with Cold War's weekly Thursday update on May 6, the tactical rifle is already showing up in some player's matches.

Activision describes this new burst-fire weapon as one that "stands out in the tactical rifle class with its high bullet velocity output, offering powerful damage, solid recoil control, and a large ammo pool from the start." It's unclear if there's a licensing issue that changes the name, but the gun is very reminiscent of the burst-fire G11 assault rifle from Black Ops 1.

Players have been successful in testing out the CARV.2 in both Warzone and Cold War's Zombies mode, but both methods are pretty random and fated by RNG.

It's a great time to be a Nintendo Switch owner. From recent major releases like New Pokemon Snap and Monster Hunter Rise to the ever-growing backlog of hits like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Super Mario Odyssey, there's no shortage of incredible content on the Switch these days. However, as any Switch owner knows, Nintendo games tend to stick at higher prices for much longer than PlayStation or Xbox titles do, so while the console itself is fairly affordable at $300, you can easily rack up the costs paying for $60 games. We're here to help out your wallet by rounding up the best Nintendo Switch deals. From discounts on Switch games and accessories, here are the best savings to take advantage of if you're a Switch owner right now. And if you're considering jumping on the Switch train and picking up the hybrid system for yourself, you can check for any Switch console deals and availability here as well.

Note: The prices reflected below are subject to change due to the ever-fluctuating nature of deals, especially at Amazon. The prices shown were accurate as of our last update.

Apex Legends players on PS4 and PS5 can now pre-load the upcoming Legacy update on both platforms, which goes live May 4. Developer Respawn announced the move on Twitter on Monday, but several players on Twitter, Reddit, and other social media platforms have complained that the pre-load isn't working for them.

We already know a ton about what's coming in the Apex Legends Season 9: Legacy update. As you might expect, it introduces a new character named Valkyrie who specializes in recon and aerial attack. (She has a jetpack, which is pretty wild.) As the patch notes reveal, Legacy makes a ton of changes to the game, including nerfing the recent changes to Lifeline's kit, while also improving her heal drone and care package abilities.

Minecraft shows no signs of slowing down, with Microsoft revealing in an April 2021 earnings call that the popular sandbox game's monthly active users increased by 30% year over year. The title has reached some 140 million users to date.

This latest figure comes from a new fact sheet Microsoft published. It contains various other milestones Minecraft surpassed, including generating more than $350 million to date through selling mods, add-on content, and other experiences. Microsoft also noted that Minecraft has sold more than 238 million copies so far in just about every country and territory in the world. This includes Antarctica and Vatican City.

Other stats include players downloading 1 billion pieces of content from the Minecraft Marketplace, the average player in North America and Europe being 27 years old, and more than half of kids aged 9-11 in the same continents play the game. More telling, 90% of those online in the US are "aware of the Minecraft brand." Also, it was the most-watched game on YouTube in 2020 with over 200 billion views.

There are some stats on the Education Edition, as well, like 35 million students and teachers using the game in 115 countries. According to Microsoft, Minecraft: Education Edition saw a 150% increase in the number of players year over year.

In other Minecraft news, the upcoming Caves & Cliffs expansion has grown in scope, with developer Mojang splitting it into two parts. Part one arrives this summer while the second part, which contains much bigger changes, is planned for the holiday.

So far, it doesn't look like the next major game patch is coming to Fortnite this week, as they usually arrive on Tuesdays with leaks arriving on Mondays. But Fortnite fans still have an update to look forward to by way of today's hotfix, which unvaults two fan-favorite weapons, the Infantry Rifle and Tactical Shotgun, alongside a small list of other fixes.

The Tactical Shotgun was most recently seen in Fortnite Season 5. Meanwhile, the Infantry Rifle has been in the vault since the start of Chapter 2, meaning it's been over a year since players last got their hands on it in Battle Royale. For anyone who jumped in after Chapter 2 kicked off, this will be their introduction to one of the game's most beloved weapons.

Alongside this lethal pair of weapons come some other boons for players scavenging in the game's last-player-standing mode. Epic said it is once again doubling the chance to find crafting parts in floor loot. This was not nerfed since the last tweak to drop rates, meaning the likelihood of players finding crafting parts in this way continues to surge as the season goes on.

Watch Dogs: Legion's first major update drops May 4, and it brings some new content to the game. For Season Pass owners, the patch will introduce a new playable hero character named Mina Sidhu, a former test subject who uses the powers of mind control to manipulate her enemies. Season Pass owners can also play a new DedSec Stories mission that focuses on a minister who is selling London's antiquities to the highest bidder.

For those who don't own the Season Pass, there's still plenty of free content to enjoy, including two new operatives and enhanced operative customization. The online mode also has added three new co-op missions, five new solo assignments, and two co-op gadgets, including offense and defensive drones. Check out the trailer below for more details.

PowerA is ridiculously prolific when it comes to officially licensed Nintendo Switch controllers. The controllers themselves are solid, and many of the designs are great--though, the newest one is certainly an exception. PowerA is releasing a Waluigi-themed Nintendo Switch controller on June 4, and it's a bit of an eye sore. But while Nintendo will probably never make Waluigi a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, you will soon be able to play Smash while gripping a controller with his face on it.

To be fair, part of the charm of Waluigi is that he is a bizarre character that Nintendo doesn't seem to care about very much. Unlike Wario (Mario's counterpart), Waluigi has never been a leading man in a Nintendo game. He's been relegated to ensemble cast games like Mario Kart and Mario sports games. This controller design does match Waluigi's personality of being brash and rather unruly. Perhaps this is actually the design Waluigi deserves and his many admirers desire.

It's a new week, and that means Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is getting new playlists, store bundles, and more. Perhaps the most notable new addition this week is a brand-new tactical rifle that certainly looks unique. Activision ran through all the new new content, some of which is also available in Warzone, in a blog post, and we're highlighting the key points here.

New Weapon: CARV.2

The CARV.2 Tactical Rifle is coming to Black Ops Cold War and Warzone this week. To unlock it, you'll need to complete a new in-game challenge, though Activision did not provide any information on what that will entail. Alternatively, players can buy it outright through the "Plastik Prototype" DLC bundle.

"This burst-fire weapon stands out in the tactical rifle class with its high bullet velocity output, offering powerful damage, solid recoil control, and a large ammo pool from the start," Activision said in its description.

New Playlist

A new playlist called Yamantau + Diesel 24/7 arrives this week. As its name suggests, this playlist lets you play the new Season 3 maps to your heart's content. The playlists supports Team Deathmatch, Domination, Kill Confirmed, and Hardpoint.

Which set do you most want to see in real life?

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_{[This community blog from Destructoid's own RiffRaff made me do a double-take, and I had to see what the headline meant. It's a fun one! Who doesn't have a story to share about janky video game moments? -Jordan]}

Howdy all! Hope all is well.

Originally, I intended this question to be a Qpost, but couldn't squeeze it into 255 characters properly so might as well break my blogging dry spell.

The past week I've been really engaged by a game called The Sinking City (I'm playing the Switch port). I'm absolutely loving it despite it being an absolute mess of a game. Animations are stilted, the lip-syncing is all over the place, movement and locomotion is quirky, menus are clunky, load times are long, the writing fluctuates between engaging to unintentional hilarity, and segues into cut-scenes are non-existent.

By all accounts, it's a terrible game, or as the kids like to call it 'absolutely unplayable garbage.' But I'm having fun and I'm immersed into this weird, Lovecraftian world that Frogwares have crafted. I genuinely want to know where the story goes, the side quests are interesting, and I am intrigued by the characters. I'm having a great time despite its faults.

One could say the game is filled with jank? A term used quite often in modern gaming yet with no real definition. So it got me wondering.

What is exactly is jank? Is jank necessarily a bad thing? Is it possible for a game to be completely jank free? What's your jank limits? Have you ever janked it while PhilKen Sebben watches? Is jank something quantifiable? Are bugs jank?

When FC Zenit won the Russian title yesterday, players went up on stage after the game and got their winner’s medals dressed in celebratory shirts. Everyone except for star striker Artem Dzyuba, that is, who decided to get up there in...a full Deadpool costume instead.

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You know how in courtroom dramas an attorney will ask someone if they can point out a vital piece of evidence, and they slowly raise a finger before saying, “This one...it was exhibit B”? In a Very Funny Thing that happened earlier today, Epic boss Tim Sweeney was asked to do just that, only for a bunch of video game…

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It was only a few months ago that we were taking a look at the positive steps Xbox emulation has been making on the PC, but boy, Xbox 360 emulation is also looking very good in 2021.

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