Game Informer

Are you ready to get brainpunk? Scarlet Nexus is out in just a few days on June 25. Is it a good choice for your gaming library? Join Dan Tack today on Game Informer live for a discussion all about the game. Got a question? Ask away, cause we'll be fielding all the queries you can conjure up! When is it all happening? 2 PM CT on Twitch! Like, share, and subscribe!

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"Scarlet Nexus transports players into a “brainpunk” anime world where psionic powers and bizarre otherworldly creatures threaten humanity. What does brainpunk mean? In this somewhat modern era, massive advances in mind technology have led to the use of incredible psychic abilities," I said in my Game Informer review.  "Of course, not everything is as it seems, and a mystery unravels over the course of the journey. Scarlet Nexus excels at selling its stylish and unique world, crafting combat that’s a joy to play and watch, pitting players against weird, wonderful bosses. However, some elements – like character dialogue, relationship building, and level design – weigh down an otherwise excellent experience."

James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad is slated to be a three-way mix of hilarity, ridiculousness, and intense (likely graphic) action. Previous cinematics have given us fun glimpses at the movie’s irreverent jokes and completely destructible set pieces, but a new trailer gives us a bit more background into Idris Elba’s role: Bloodsport, the leader of the team. 

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Real name: Robert DuBois, Bloodsport is sent to jail for hospitalizing Superman after shooting him with a Kryptonite-laced bullet. Amanda Waller, the director of A.R.G.U.S., recruits Bloodsport by leveraging his daughter’s court date. As you can guess, this angers the ex-mercenary, but he soon joins The Suicide Squad to help save the world nevertheless. You can watch the trailer above. The Suicide Squad’s synopsis reads as follows: 

Back in October, we talked about how a possible Mass Effect adaptation would work better as a TV series rather than a movie. This conversation was sparked by a Mass Effect movie that has been held in limbo for years, only to be eventually scrapped. With the Mass Effect Legendary Edition bringing an entirely new wave of fans aboard the Normandy, BioWare's Mac Walters recently shed some light on the canceled movie adaptation and why a TV series format makes more sense. 

The Mass Effect movie in question was in the works back in 2010 under Legendary Pictures and Warner Bros., but it was never able to pick up enough traction to get the project moving forward at full speed ahead. Then, Legendary had a shakeup on the leadership level; the question came into play of "movie or TV?" Unfortunately, that question ended up draining any interest. But now that the remaster has the community alive and well once more, anything is possible.

Xbox’s cloud-gaming platform, Game Pass (and Ultimate), continue to bring a stream-lined experience to millions of gamers everyday. The monthly subscription is leagues ahead of most other cloud services out there because of its sheer number of readily available games to play as well as its monthly cycle of titles. Additionally, Microsoft is truly committing to Game Pass by bringing a bevy of its upcoming, highly-anticipated titles to the catalog on respective launch days. Another Xbox cloud update has gone live, affecting the visual and technical prowess of Game Pass titles.

According to Ars Techica’s Sam Machkovech, the upgrade seems to be more prevalent on Game Pass titles being activated on web browsers or through the Android app. This is to make the games play, feel, and look as if they were booted up on an Xbox Series X console:

A new D&D Live is just around the corner and this time, we've got a few WWE Superstars jumping into the Dungeons & Dragons fray. The upcoming D&D Live session with G4TV, we've got Tyler Breeze, Ember Moon, Mace, and Xavier Woods diving straight into The Chaos Carnival for a new campaign with Aabria Lyengar as the Dungeon Master. 

It's not so strange to see these names pop up for D&D Live, each has their own passionate history with Dungeons & Dragons' expansive tabletop experience, including being in several D&D books. It's all going down soon, kicking off on July 16 and 17: 

The game formerly known as just Aliens: Fireteam has been rebranded to Aliens: Fireteam Elite and it’s coming in August. We first learned about the game back in March, and it’s a co-op bug hunt that, as its title implies, draws heavy inspiration from Xenomorph-laden action of Aliens. 

On August 24, you and up to two other friends (or AI teammates) can suit up as marines to take on the universe’s greatest hunters in a new adventure set 23 years after the original film trilogy. The story unfolds over four separate campaigns with three missions each. Similar to games like Left 4 Dead, you’ll fend off waves of Xenomorphs with each player taking on one of five specialized classes (gunner, demolisher, recon, technician, and doc). Marines can be customized further with various weapon perks and cosmetics. Concocting the right combination of skills and classes is vital to successfully combat Fireteam Elite’s 11 different Xenomorph types and 20 enemy types overall. Check out the new gameplay trailer below. 

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Worms Rumble arrives on Xbox Game Pass today, but it will soon be joined by even more titles on the horizon. Just like every month, new games will be making their way onto the Xbox Game Pass library and others will be leaving to make room. With so many new additions confirmed during E3 2021, here is what else members can look forward to for the rest of June and the beginning of July. 

For those that may not know, the Xbox Game Pass library is one that continues to evolve. From day one launches of hit games to indie treasures that deserve their time to shine, the Game Pass membership allows players a chance to have instant access to a plethora of games without having to shell out 60 bucks each time. But, before we go into the benefits of Xbox Game Pass, let's look to see what's coming soon. 

Red Dead Redemption II – the prosaic complexity of its narrative, its timeless ensemble cast, and the riveting score, backed by a bevy of notable talent – has been an integral part of my life since its 2018 release. From submitting my amateur review of the title alongside a Game Informer internship application to attaching the brief video essay that I made while attending the internship to get into game design school, Red Dead Redemption II has been tethered to my video-games-industry origin story for as long as I can remember.

It was only natural that my first bonafide press event as an associate editor would be to attend a Rockstar-hosted Red Dead Redemption II music concert at the Tribeca Festival. I sat front and center, complimentary popcorn in my lap, and re-experienced each solitudinal horseback trek, perilous, slo-mo shootout, and reflective fireside interaction through song. Acclaimed musicians like folk-singer Rhiannon Giddens, producer Daniel Lanois, and neo-soul legend D’Angelo made appearances, as an epic montage of the Van der Linde gang roaming the American wilderness played on a jumbotron behind the stage. 

A new Space Jam is on the way into movie theaters soon and to celebrate the return of Bugs Bunny and friends, Xbox teamed up with fans to create a Space Jam: A New Legacy-inspired Arcade game. Now, we're seeing the fruit of that labor a little more closely, as well as three new themed Xbox wireless controllers to celebrate the upcoming release. 

In a new blog post, Xbox's Sarah Bond detailed how this game adaptation came to be. To create the final experience, according to Bond, the team took two ideas from two different gamers, a youth-competition winner named Narayan from India and an adult-competition winner named Ricky from the United States. The two different game ideas came together to become an Arcade homage to Space Jam, both the original and the new film coming out in July. Ricky wanted a classic beat 'em up style adventure, whereas Narayan had their own mechanics in mind, and together? It looks pretty cool! 

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Outriders had a hell of a launch period. While we enjoyed our time with the game, immensely so, seeing the journey after day one was hard to witness at times. With server issues and meta tweaks, the team at People Can Fly has had its hands full but they remained dedicated to polishing the rough edges and with the latest Outriders update? It shows. Most notably is the Legendary drop rate adjustment, increasing drop rates across the board by 100%, but that's not all the latest patch has to offer. 

What's new in Outriders?

Previously, the studio offered an appreciation package to say thank you to players for bearing with the team as they hammered out details of the online game. People Can Fly did update fans in its most recent public post saying that a second appreciation package is on the way after tests on integration conclude.

Tomorrow is officially the 30-year anniversary of the original Sonic the Hedgehog game, and Mojang is celebrating the blue blur by releasing a Sonic-themed DLC pack for Minecraft. This isn’t just a few skins, but an entire adventure based on the Sega icon’s beginnings.

A trailer announcing the new content shows off what kind of adventures players will go on as Sonic and friends speed through classic zones from the original anthology of games. There’s shots of Tails, Knuckles, Shadow, Amy, and Eggman, all of which are playable with their own special abilities. A flash of Super Sonic and a Chaos Emerald spells out some classic secrets are hidden within this impressively built content. Even a group of chao from Sonic Adventure make an appearance!

The DLC itself contains a hub where you can control Sonic and crew through familiar settings. It starts off in a tutorial teaching the player how to jump, collect (square) rings, and even spin dash. It turns out this is Tail’s Lab, which is filled with items and memorabilia from the series. Sonic can travel through portals within the lab to classic levels like Green Hill Zone; complete with appropriate sound effects, music, and enemies. Everything one would expect from a Sonic game is present in these recreated zones including, most importantly, the speed. Sonic can run through speed boosts, loops, and jump on any Badniks that get in his way. Rings collected in each zone can be spent to purchase more characters to play with or extra lives.

It's-a me, LEGO Mario! And LEGO Luigi! And now the two can play together because LEGO Super Mario is getting some co-op action. Nintendo shared a new video showcasing how the co-op aspect of LEGO Super Mario will work, marking this as the first time that LEGO Mario and Luigi are being connected together in a playable way within the LEGO Super Mario universe. 

The co-op adventure kicks off on August 1 and will allow Nintendo fans to play together for a couch co-op experience that is fun for all ages. Players can take to the world of LEGO to collect extra in-game goodies like coins, sync up with one another and work in tandem to take out dangerous Mario-verse foes and complete challenges for some sweet rewards. 

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You should never need an excuse to play Overwatch, but Blizzard delivered a great one today: Cross-platform play is now live. Overwatch crossplay going live allows players to team up and compete against one another on PlayStation, Xbox, PC, and Switch platforms.

PC players can jump into crossplay immediately, but console players will first need to connect to a Battle.net account to enable this new feature. Complete cross-platform play is allowed in Quick Play, Arcade, and Custom matches, but Competitive brings a major roadblock for the PC crowd. Given the control and speed advantages that a mouse and keyboard bring, Blizzard isn't uniting PC and console for ranked matches. PC players will always be matched with other PC players. That said, Switch, PlayStation, and Xbox players can come together through crossplay for Competitive matches.

If you are returning to the game to check out crossplay, you'll also run into Ashe's Deadlock Challenge, a new event that runs from June 22 to July 5. If you play 27 matches, you'll unlock a legendary skin for Ashe and B.O.B. Leading up to that goal, nine matches nets you a player icon, and 18 games rewards a spray. You can earn additional sprays by watching Overwatch on Twitch for two, four, and six hours.

After numerous teaser images and a behind-the-scenes look during E3 2021, we've got our first official colorized image from the upcoming Borderlands movie with Eli Roth at the helm. Even better, everyone's favorite robot that they love to hate comes bearing a message: "That's a wrap!" 

The Borderlands movie has officially finished filming, which means it won't be long now until we get a trailer to see how the cast takes to the world of Pandora. But, before we get too ahead of ourselves, let's start with our first on-set image that isn't just a vague black shape: 

Game Informer via Gearbox

For those that may be needing a little refresher course, the upcoming Borderlands movie will be a live-action take from Eli Roth with an all-star cast that includes names like Kevin Hart, Cate Blanchett, Jack Black, and more. 

If you subscribe to Game Informer's digital edition, you can now read our extended coverage of Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy. Following last week's cover reveal, our digital issue is now live to subscribers on web browsers, iPad/iPhone, and Android devices. Individual issues will be available for purchase later today. You can download the apps to view the issue by following this link. All of these digital options are included in a standard subscription.

The issue launches later this week on our third-party subscription apps including Kindle and Nook.

Not a digital subscriber yet? Convert your existing print subscription or start a new subscription here.

Ahoy me hearties. Let me spin you a yarn. A tale of stormy seas and how a sea-faring group of sailors (developers) weathered a rocky start and put together an adventurous romp in Sea of Thieves. The folks over at Rare have spent the last few years tuning and updating Sea of Thieves and have turned the pirate adventure into a fun and engaging space for the game's players.

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Today is a special day for fans of nautical nonsense as Rare's open-world pirate title is getting one of its biggest updates yet with one hell of a familiar face. A Pirate's Life marks the entrance of some of cinema's most iconic swashbucklers in the one and only Captain Jack Sparrow, Davy Jones, and more from the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. The update was announced last week as a part of Microsoft's huge E3 showing and fans will get the opportunity to sail the seven seas with the Disney characters starting right now!

So get in landlubbers, we're going sailing. Blake Hester, Alex Van Aken, and Alex Stadnik are answering the call of the sea and checking out the latest update for Sea of Thieves! We went live yesterday, but you can still join us as we take on the new enemies, challenges, and more from Rare's latest game update!

With vaccinations continuing to roll out, PAX West 2021 will be among the gaming events returning to offer in-person community celebrations. Not only will the event be returning in a more familiar form outside of a digital alternative, but ReedPop also has detailed safety precautions that are being implemented for those planning on attending. 

PAX West 2021 will be returning to the Washington State Convention Center in Seattle, WA, from Friday, September 3 through Monday, September 6. Badges for the upcoming convention will be going on sale "in the next two weeks," with options to also get PAX Online 2021 access, as well. PAX Online will be taking place on Thursday, July 15, through Sunday, July 18. 

Leading up to PAX West, ReedPop has canceled six consecutive in-person events. Now that we are dipping our toes back into any sort of normalcy, ReedPop wants to assure gamers that it is taking safety precautions seriously. This means health patterns will be tracked, and a reduced event capacity number has been implemented. More detailed precautions are coming at a later date. 

"It’s been almost two years since the last PAX West, and it's been surreal to imagine its triumphant return,” said Jerry Holkins, co-founder of Penny Arcade and PAX. “I can't think of a better excuse to leave the house than PAX West."

The Last of Us Part II isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but we can probably all agree that Ellie and Abby’s journals were pretty cool, right? If you think so and want a cool collectible or are just a general stationary aficionado (they exist), luxury design store Cook and Becker and Naughty Dog have something for you. The two companies have put together limited edition replicas of the two characters’ notebooks and packaged them alongside with other goodies.

The two premium notebooks feature character art and illustrations pulled straight from the game, such as Ellie’s sketches. You can still write in it yourself, of course, with plenty of lined blank pages. Abby’s book even includes a blank workout schedule.

No journal is complete without a good writing instrument, so the set includes a black graphite pencil for Ellie and a red carpenters pencil for Abby. Cook and Becker also tosses in a fine art print, post-it notes shaped like Molotov cocktails, stickers, a guitar pick, and a guitar-shaped paperclip. It all comes packaged in a fancy box bearing an appropriate cordyceps fungus warning message, which will likely deter unwanted eyes from prying into your box. Probably. 

When buying a next-gen console, there are more considerations to make other than which controllers or headsets will work with your new system. The Xbox Series X and the PlayStation 5 have features that your current TV or monitor might not be able to support. Does it have Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) features like FreeSync? Will it support HDR? How about 120hz for buttery-smooth gameplay while at 4K resolution? Microsoft is making it easier to find out which screens will bring out the best in the newest generation of consoles by expanding its "Designed for Xbox" program.

The key to knowing whether a TV will support these new features is if the display has HDMI 2.1 ports. This newer configuration of HDMI allows for a higher bandwidth of information to flow between the console and TV at faster speeds, which makes all those breathtaking features above possible to do, not just separately, but at the same time!  

Microsoft has announced Phillips, Asus, and Acer are making some of the first monitors to have the “Gaming Features For Xbox” sticker slapped on the box, all of which are sporting HDMI 2.1 ports. Phillips is bringing out a 55” television this summer with a built-in soundbar which will support AMD FreeSync for reduced screen tearing and 4K resolution at 120hz.

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DMCA music strikes have become an even bigger problem over the past few years, and with a game like Guardians of the Galaxy that centers around well-known oldies, the concern for streamers is great. One way studios are combating the content restriction has been to offer a specifically tailored Streaming Mode to make it safe for creators to share their play experience with their community without fear of a strike. Eidos Montreal is offering a Streaming Mode for its upcoming Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy game, offering a way for players to stream without having to worry about consequences. 

In a new interview with VentureBeat, senior narrative director Mary DeMarle talked a little bit about how music plays a role in the upcoming Guardians game, including classic hits that fans can expect to see, including how 80s the soundtrack is going to get. "Everything from Iron Maiden to Rick Astley to KISS to Wham to Blondie," she told the site. 

BlueBox Game Studio has been at the epicenter of rumors over the past month for its upcoming horror adventure called Abandoned. There have been many theories as to what Abandoned would be, but one of the most prevalent rumors links it back to being a Silent Hill project that Hideo Kojima is keeping hidden. Some of the fan theories out there are pretty wild and the studio itself has tried to clarify them, but any clarification has been met with skepticism and has had some feeling that the "deflection" is "proof" that it's Silent Hill. Now, the studio's director is definitively saying the studio's truth and putting a "face" to the person in a new video.

Hasan Kahraman took to Twitter to provide a short and to-the-point video about the upcoming Abandoned game. The very nature of the studio has been a hot topic, given that it is a smaller indie company that not a lot is known about. Kahraman himself has been a huge source of conspiracy theories, with some even claiming that he's an actor covering up for Kojima. With so much hype surrounding Abandoned and expectations being placed upon the small indie team, it has been entertaining, worrisome, and bizarre watching the events unfold. Theories and fan speculation aside, Kahraman did not beat around the bush when it came to speaking straight from the heart and squashing the bigger rumors out there: 

SLIGHT SPOILER: A world of trouble is teased within Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom's final moments. Director Colin Trevorrow shows us what happens next in the little-known short film Battle at Big Rock, which gives the thunder lizards new territory to explore. We’ll have to wait until next June to see how this story concludes in Jurassic World: Dominion, but can soon play through another of this story’s chapters within the video game, Jurassic World Evolution 2.

Frontier Developments says that this sequel will have more of an authentic story that shows us what is happening within the United States. This isn’t just a theme park building experience. You’ll be pushed to contain dinosaur threats in different ways as this narrative unfolds.

People selling emblem codes online is nothing new but with Bungie Day right around the corner, there is a small warning from the studio to try to save Destiny 2 players a couple of bucks. The long and short of it? Don't buy the Spicy Ramen Coupon emblem. It's not a scam in relation to phishing info, it's just a crappy thing to do with a gift that's meant to be free for the community. 

The senior community manager for Bungie took to Twitter to do two things: warn players against paying money for something that is going to be free, and to ask dataminers to please — for the millionth time — stop spoiling surprise content. 

Don't buy the Spicy Ramen Coupon emblem.

It's meant to be a free gift on Bungie Day, from us to you.

Dataminers - please stop spoiling content, whether it be story or emblem codes. I know it can be exciting to be the first person with cool info, but please respect the fun.

So many games are getting movie and television adaptations, and one more just got added to that growing list. Final Fantasy 9 is the latest gaming adventure to get its own animated series. The company in charge of production promises that it will be a kid-friendly adventure that fans will love. 

The Final Fantasy 9 animated series is being developed by French Cyber Group Studios alongside Square Enix. The goal for the studio is to begin production at the end of 2021, or the beginning of 2022 at the latest. “The games have a strong co-viewing potential,” said Pierre Sissmann, the CEO of Cyber Group Studios, to Kidscreen.  He added that this series will appeal to both those familiar with Final Fantasy and for those just coming to it, giving both a chance to immerse themselves within a beloved universe.

After a delay on the decision, Activision Shareholders have reached a consensus regarding the company's Say-on-Pay proposal. The Board of Directors has also seen mass re-elections across the company with an average of 96% of votes. 

The decision regarding Say-on-Pay was delayed initially after a complaint was lodged about "misleading information" surrounding the proposal. According to the company, that information was allegedly a swaying factor in whether or not shareholders would pass the compensation plan. This conversation is ongoing, especially in relation to Bobby Kotick's salary, the current Chief Executive Officer, and how those profits are filtered going forward.  

During Summer Games Fest, Ska Studios pulled the curtain back on Salt and Sacrifice, the sequel to the cult favorite, Salt and Sanctuary. The premier trailer provided glimpses of the dark and likely challenging follow-up, but a new gameplay video offers an unnarrated, uninterrupted walkthrough of the game in action.

The footage premiered as a part of GameSpot’s Play For All stream. It shows off the protagonist, a custom created paladin which is one of the game’s eight classes. Gameplay retains the 2D hack n’ slash combat with FromSoftware style trappings. It gives a look at a pair of boss fights, one of which is against a giant pyromancer, and how the character uses a grapple hook to quickly scale environments. 

At one point, the player summons an ally to fight alongside them. Salt and Sacrifice features both local and online co-op, and that assistance will likely be invaluable if the experience is as difficult as its predecessor (which it likely will be). Enjoy the action below. 

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The Death Stranding Director’s Cut was first revealed during Geoff Keighley’s Summer Game Fest. The trailer that was shown gave not-so-subtle nods to Hideo Kojima’s classic Konami franchise, Metal Gear Solid. Death Stranding protagonist, Sam, infiltrates an underground M.U.L.E. base and almost decides to use a Fragile Express cardboard box to sneakily get around the compound; we all remember doing the same thing as Snake back in the day. Moreover, new information about the Director’s Cut rating, console availability, and mechanics (possibly inspired by Kojima’s work on espionage games) have come to light in a recent announcement. 

Death Stranding Director's Cut (PS5) has been rated by the ESRB: https://t.co/avozcRxk0i pic.twitter.com/NFvOwfwIJG

Coming off weeks of speculation over whether their new game Abandoned is a stealth Hideo Kojima project, Blue Box Game Studios has revealed some information about another platform this game might be released on.

Abandoned is currently slated for an exclusive release on PlayStation 5, but according to a couple of tweets from the studio over the weekend, that may only be a matter of console exclusivity. In response to someone claiming they don’t own a PS5, Blue Box responded with, “The PC community will rejoice,” and when asked straight out if Abandoned was coming to PC, “Eventually” was the answer given. It’s unclear whether this is a timed exclusivity deal or if work on the PC version is set to happen at a later date.

Eventually

When DICE shared its first look at Battlefield 2042, the FPS love and hype went through the roof. From weaponized tornados to a rework of how classes operate within the open verticality of some of the largest maps in the franchise's history, it's easy to see why shooter fans are excited to get their hands on the latest adventure. While we still have some time yet to wait, FPS players have been swarming Battlefield 4 to brush up on those aiming skills. So many players, in fact, that the studio has had to increase the server capacity. 

EA provided a notice to Battlefield 4 players, saying that the company has noted the longer queue times and the excitement for what's next. Because of that, the server capacity has been increased in the US West region to compensate for the influx in traffic: 

Earlier this month, Netflix shared a brief teaser trailer for The Witcher season 2 with Ciri front and center. Now it's Geralt's time to take back the spotlight with a new video showcasing the "White Wolf" as shared by the star himself, Henry Cavill. Cavill took to his Instagram to share a new look at the upcoming season, plus a closer inspection of his new and improved armor.

The video is short but, paired with the constant chase for salvation, is incredibly powerful. Following the assumed death of a major character in the first season and the confirmation of their return and a possible Wild Hunt, season 2 is going hard to see how truly dark this series can be. Check out our latest look below to see the latest teaser for the series adaptation: 

Tekken X Street Fighter, the long in-development crossover game that was first announced in 2010, is officially dead according to Tekken director Katsuhiro Harada. Not to be confused with Street Fighter X Tekken, which was revealed at the same time and launched in 2012, Bandai Namco’s side of the crossover coin spent 11 years in development limbo with minimal updates on its status. 

For those of you saying “Well, duh,” remember that the game’s cancellation was never publicly confirmed. Harada insisted for years that the game was still happening. However, on a recent episode of Harada’s Bar, a video talk show the designer launched earlier this year where he chats with guests and answers questions from a secret bar location, the topic of Tekken X Street Fighter arose. 

“We were working really hard on that,” says Harada. He goes on to praise the “really nice” models they designed, particularly for female characters like Chun-Li, but says they independently can’t show anything they made due to Capcom owning the Street Fighter cast. 

Speaking to the game’s overall progress, Harada says, “Yeah, development stopped but we got about 30% done.” He then goes on to discuss that the team had seemingly completed motions for certain characters. Harada is particularly proud of how Dhalsim turned out. 

He then goes on to praise the game’s concept art, then laments on how it’s all been wasted. “We wanted to show it but the project died.” 

Doors have been an interesting topic of conversation in games over the past year, including how difficult they are to render during the development process. Now I guess they are done being talked about because doors have gone from being difficult to being downright murderous ... at least when it comes to Call of Duty: Warzone. That's right, death by door is now added to the list of things that can kill you in the battle royale adventure. 

Reddit user Rxelik (as spotted by Kotaku) took to the forums to share a weird glitch where a door just straight-up murders. To be fair, the player did charge into it like a bull in a china shop. When the player bounced off of the door, they didn't recover, instead, they laid dying on the ground hoping for a team revival. Doors are dangerous, friends, the more you know: 

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The door can be seen in the video above with a large black bar marking it as off-limits. Upon coming up on the clearly barred door, one player said "nay-nay," and decided to charge into it regardless because video clips are funny and sometimes you just have to laugh.  

Shin Megami Tensei V has been a long time coming, and we finally know it’s releasing this November. If you’re a fan looking to get more bang for some more buck, Atlus has revealed a pair of special editions for the game that you can pre-order now.

First up is the physical Standard Edition of the game, which you can pre-order now to receive an exclusive steelbook case. It still costs the standard $59.99, but you can only purchase it from either Amazon, Best Buy, or GameStop (disclaimer: GameStop is the parent company of Game Informer). 

If you've got deeper pockets to match your equally deep devotion to this series, feast your eyes on the Fall of Man Premium Edition. This big bundle will set you back $119.99 and includes the following:

When Cyberpunk 2077 launched, the game had more troubles beyond simple bugs and glitches. The road leading up to the game's release was rife with reports of studio crunch, rushed visions, and a cacophony of confusing timelines. That much was evident upon its release with Cyberpunk 2077 giving players a very different experience than what was promised. The disconnect between the product and its promise was so vast, in fact, that Sony quickly took down the game from its storefront and offered up refunds for gamers displeased with what CD Projekt Red had to offer. Sony promised it would return if, and only if, the Polish studio could make right by consumers and deliver the game that was advertised. Now that we've had numerous massive patches go live, the futuristic game is back on the PlayStation Store, but not without a warning for PS4 players. 

Sony took to Twitter to let Cyberpunk hopefuls know that the game is back up on the PlayStation Store. It also came with an addendum, saying: "Work on the PS4 version continues, with fixes and updates to be released throughout the year. For the best experience on PlayStation, playing on PS4 Pro or PS5 consoles is recommended."

As part of Mod Vertical, I love highlighting a variety of different experiences. Small tweaks, quality of life changes, and massive overhaul projects that can make our favorite games feel brand new; there are so many amazing passion projects out there to uncover. I've shared numerous overhaul mods for Bethesda's Fallout universe in the past, but we've got a new experience to look forward to with Fallout: London. Fallout: London expands Fallout 4 beyond the Commonwealth, bringing it into the land of tea, crumpets, and giant mechs that want to kill you where you stand. 

Like any overhaul mod, Fallout: London is massive. It takes what fans loved of the original game and expands upon it in a creative way with no limits. Fallout: London allows survivors to venture out into previously unexplored areas in Fallout 4 while taking on a new storyline, meeting new characters, and exploring pre-war European history through the lens of the Bethesda RPG. Take a look at the reveal trailer below to see what's in store: 

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Netflix's The Witcher season 2 has been done filming for quite some time now and is gearing up for a full trailer first look after a small teaser earlier this month. While we await another peek at what season 2 will have in store, director Stephen Surjik opened up a little bit about his time working on set. 

Surjik directed two episodes while in England and as he reflected on how many days of shooting those two episodes entailed, he looks back on his year and a half in England fondly. With The Witcher and in the role of director, he has more time to prepare for the vision he has in mind. That being said, that didn't mean there weren't moments of restlessness thrown in. "In the case of something like The Witcher, I get all of the prep time, the shooting time, but some days we were shooting just a few shots because it was all special effects," Surjik told ComicSoon.net. There were stunts involved, large crowds, it was difficult to get. I like doing it so that it's properly done, but I like to be able to get done with a decent amount of work in a day, and that's really just because I get bored if it takes too long to shoot." 

Rare surprised Sea of Thieves fans by announcing it had partnered up with Disney to bring the swashbuckling world of Pirates of the Caribbean into the game. While Rare had previously shied away from such crossovers, the move makes sense – and not just because both properties revolve around pirates. Sea of Thieves was always designed with the philosophy of giving players the freedom to forge their own paths and make a name for themselves on the high seas. That defines the pirate’s life, and that freedom is what Captain Jack Sparrow values even more than the shiniest trinket, making him the perfect fit for the adventure.  

A Pirate’s Life launches June 22 as a free expansion that kicks off Season Three of Sea of Thieves. It doesn’t matter if you’re a seasoned player or a curious newcomer enticed by the idea of sailing alongside cinema’s most famous pirate. Rare says anyone can immediately jump into A Pirate’s Life, even describing it as a great starting point for newcomers. If you’re considering taking the plunge, Rare provided a deep dive into the expansion’s narrative premise, its large new areas filled with fearsome foes, and the movie-themed booty players can earn.

EA Sports is trying something new with FIFA Ultimate Team, or FUT, packs during their Festival of FUTball event. Starting today, June 18, the FUT store is swapping out all of the packs with new preview-able versions. None of the potential cards from the packs are changing, but now you can take a peek at the actual contents of a pack in the store before committing to making a purchase.

Here’s how it works according to a post on EA’s FIFA site: “In the FUT Store, you can select a Preview Pack to preview its contents. It’s important to remember that by previewing a pack, you are not yet making a decision to use FUT Coins or FIFA Points to buy the pack. Note the highlighted sections below, which signal that the pack you are selecting is a Preview Pack.”

Looking at a FUT pack’s contents will give the option to buy it or leave it sitting in the shop. Luckily there isn't a cost to preview a pack, though if you decide not to buy one that’s already been scoped out, you’ll have to wait for a timer to expire. Once the time runs up for that pack, it refreshes to a new set of contents. The pack will show some of its cards in the store window to signify it has been previewed. We should also mention that a previewed pack does not display whether its contents are duplicate items the owner may have in their collection, though when you do purchase a pack with duplicates, they can be handled like extras from any other pack.

PlayStation is dropping some new threads and other items in its gear store to celebrate the one year anniversary of The Last of Us Part II’s release. A post on the PlayStation Blog written by Naughty Dog’s Lead Designer of Communications Joshua Bradley runs down some of the items available as of today.

Most impressive on the list of items is one for the collectors out there. A 16” statue featuring a scowling Ellie brandishing a large bowie knife is available to order, though it won’t ship until December. The figure was created using actual in-game assets, an impressive method used to sculpt this collectible. Here’s the product details for this piece:

It’s time to head to Seattle with Ellie from The Last of Us Part II. This Ellie statue shows an angry Ellie with both hands on the machete for extra power ready to strike. Her clothes are ripped and worn but she has revenge on her mind. In-game files were used in creating Ellie (a big thank you to the Naughty Dog team) and she stands approximately 16” tall (i.e. 1:4 scale) from the bottom of the moss covered stone and dirt base to the top of her head. The Ellie statue is made using polystone resin and is skillfully hand-crafted and painted by artisans*. The Ellie statue includes deluxe, full-color packaging, a hand-numbered base and a validation card.

Ellie's new statue is priced at $529.99 while supplies last.