Game Informer

Pokémon Go is one of the most popular social gaming experiences out there, but it now needs to scale back the social interactions as the world deals with the COVID-19 pandemic. Last night, developer Niantic issued a statement that addresses the outbreak, and what players can expect from Pokémon Go. The message states that "the safety of our global player community is our top priority. COVID-19 is challenging us and the world to adjust. We’re putting our focus on expanding features and experiences in our games that can be enjoyed in an individual setting and that also encourage exploration!"

Niantic isn't turning off raids or other aspects of the game, but is giving trainers the ability to do more on their own. First up, trainers should go into the Pokémon Go store where they'll find a new incense gift that only costs one gold. This 99 percent discount gives players 30 incense items. When one is put into use, the time it lasts is doubled from 30 minutes to an hour. Incense ups the number of Pokémon players will be able to catch in an area, even if they are out in the middle of nowhere where nothing ever spawns.

All normal Pokémon habitats will generate more spawns, another move that limits the trainer's need to move around.

Next up, you'll still need to walk around with incubators to hatch eggs, but the distance you need to travel to accomplish this feat has been cut in half. A 10k egg only needs to be walked 5.

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On this week's episode of The Game Informer Show, Andy McNamara is joined by Andrew Reiner, Dan "The Jacket" Tack, and I to discuss the bad news of E3's cancellation and what it means for the future of the show. 

But it's not all gloom and doom as we also get to chat about how great Nioh 2, Call of Duty: Warzone, and Ori and the Will of the Wisps are! As always, we then finish the show with an amazing community email section, including two brand-new games brought to us by some awesome fans.

Thanks for listening! Please make sure to leave feedback below, share the episode if you enjoyed it, and follow @therealandymc or me at @Studnik76 to let us know what you think. 

You can watch the video above, subscribe and listen to the audio on iTunes or Google Play, listen on SoundCloud, stream it on Spotify, or download the MP3 at the bottom of the page. Also, be sure to send your questions to podcast@gameinformer.com for a chance to have them answered on the show.

Like clockwork, Overwatch is back with another Archives event, but this one is a little different. Although players will be entering the same Archives Brawls from previous years, extreme modifiers to both the enemies and players should make them play out differently.

In the first week of the event, which kicks off now, two Uprising missions are unlocked. In one, the enemies you square off against will drop lava on death. In the other mission, you have 50 percent of your normal health, yet you deal more damage.

In the second week, players can take on two Retribution missions. The enemies in the first can only be damaged if you land a critical hit. In the second mission, enemies only sustain damage if you are near them.

The final week of Archives brings two Storm Rising missions. The first must be played without support heroes. Don't worry, you can heal yourself by dealing damage. In the second mission, some enemies are enraged. If you kill them, you spread the rage.

All of your wins during this period will help you unlock three legendary skins. For week one, nine wins gets you an epic Holi Symmetra skin. Week two is an epic Rustclad Torbjorn. And week three delivers an epic Bear Mei.

If you have the gold or are lucky in loot crates, you can purchase or unearth five new legendary skins, along with additional icons, emotes, and sprays. You'll have until April 2 to snatch them up. You can see some of skins and sprays below:

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Nintendo and Lego announced some kind of partnership a few days ago, and a newly revealed video sheds some light on just what we can expect from Lego Super Mario. Suffice it to say, it's a little more ambitious than minifigs.

As you can see in the teaser video, the centerpiece of the collaboration is a large Mario build. Players can switch it on, and his eyes and other elements will come to life through animations that appear on several screens. Players can then have the figure interact with a variety of Mario-inspired playsets to earn virtual coins (complete with sound effects), avoid hazards, and perform other actions. Judging from the clip, it looks to have board-game-like elements. 

The sets are due out this year, but details such as pricing and exact release dates are still unannounced.

Football fans have been praying and petitioning for EA’s exclusivity deal with the NFL to end so the public could once again get more than one officially licensed NFL title. The news that 2K will be putting out “non-simulation” NFL titles starting in 2021, however, probably wasn’t what they were envisioning. Although it signals 2K’s return to the gridiron, these upcoming games won’t be competing on the same playing field as Madden.

The phrase “non-simulation” is, of course, a clear indication that this isn’t the return of the NFL 2K series as we knew it back in 2004 when 2K and EA competed for the football crown. Historically, leaving licensing exceptions for certain kinds of experiences (like an MMORPG) or on specific platforms are common. They allow other companies to make different kinds of games that don’t infringe on the core deal because the audiences are considered different, and therefore they won’t cannibalize sales from the main piece of pie. For instance, when NASCAR handed out its official license to 704Games (then DMi) in 2015 it was just for simulation titles. 

In the case of 2K and the NFL, David Ishmailer, president of 2K said in the announcement’s press release that the upcoming games would be “fun, approachable, and social experiences,” seemingly a clear indication that this is not the return of the 2K NFL series as we know it. Also, that franchise’s developer, Visual Concepts, has not been announced yet as making this new 2K batch of football games.

Update:

The ESA has officially canceled E3, and is currently looking at putting together an online version of the show in June.

Here is the organization's official statement:

After careful consultation with our member companies regarding the health and safety of everyone in our industry – our fans, our employees, our exhibitors and our longtime E3 partners – we have made the difficult decision to cancel E3 2020, scheduled for June 9-11 in Los Angeles.

Following increased and overwhelming concerns about the COVID-19 virus, we felt this was the best way to proceed during such an unprecedented global situation. We are very disappointed that we are unable to hold this event for our fans and supporters.  But we know it’s the right decision based on the information we have today.

Our team will be reaching out directly to exhibitors and attendees with information about providing full refunds.

We are also exploring options with our members to coordinate an online experience to showcase industry announcements and news in June 2020. Updates will be shared on E3expo.com.

We thank everyone who shared their views on reimagining E3 this year.  We look forward to bringing you E3 2021 as a reimagined event that brings fans, media and the industry together in a showcase that celebrates the global video game industry.

Original Story:

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State of Decay 2 released on May 22, 2018 for Xbox One and PC, and was in rough shape when it hit. Game Informer's Jeff Cork gave State of Decay 2 a rating of 6.5 out of 10 and said that it has "a lot to love, but is overwhelmed by legacy issues and a slew of all-new ones that came along for the co-op ride." The game slowly improved through the various DLC offerings, and is now getting a second chance at life through the massive Juggernaut Edition, which is essentially a complete relaunch of State of Decay 2. It's free for people who already own the game.

Juggernaut Edition includes all of the previously released DLC (the Independence Pack, Daybreak, and Heartland), and also offers an all-new map called Providence Ridge, which is described by developer Undead Labs as a "rugged logging town." Providence Ridge features five bases, environmental storytelling, and a Sasquatch named Shaggy Jack. Players who are returning to State of Decay 2 will run into a different tutorial a revised user interface, and improved controls (which assign dodge and stealth to different buttons). Heavy weapons are being added to melee combat. There are 10 different kinds of these slow, but powerful tools, including a double-bit axe, "big ol' shovel," and a sledgehammer.

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The first Nioh was no slouch when it came to difficulty, but apparently it wasn't enough for Team Ninja. Nioh 2 is even more brutal, according to our own Dan Tack, but he was more than up for the challenge. 

In today's NGT, Dan takes Kim, Alex, and me on an in-depth tour of the upcoming Souls-like. You'll get a good look at his overpowered ax build, and also learn more about many of the game's complex, interconnected systems. There's a lot to take in, but Tack makes it look easy. Because of course he does.

Nioh 2 is out on March 13 for PlayStation 4.

PlayStation's head of Worldwide Studios Hermen Hulst today announced via PlayStation Blog that one of the most beloved exclusive titles of the PS4, Horizon Zero Dawn, is coming to PC this summer. Not much more information is available at this time, but Hulst, the former managing director of Horizon Zero Dawn developer Guerrilla Games, tells PlayStation Blog that the new studio directors at Guerrilla will have more details soon.

While bringing first-party titles to PC has become the rule rather than the exception for competitor Xbox, Hulst says this will remain on a case-by-case basis for PlayStation's first-party titles. "[Releasing] one first-party AAA title to PC doesn’t necessarily mean that every game now will come to PC," he says. "In my mind, Horizon Zero Dawn was just a great fit in this particular instance. We don’t have plans for day and date [PC releases], and we remain 100% committed to dedicated hardware."

Horizon Zero Dawn released in 2017 in close proximity to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Persona 5, and several months before Super Mario Odyssey. Even launching in a year with so many beloved titles, Horizon Zero Dawn was a legitimate Game of the Year contender thanks to its excellent world design, unique encounters, and terrific quests. You can read our review here.

Our long-time publisher, friend, and Game Informer family member Cathy Preston has retired. Her impact on Game Informer can’t be measured. During her 20-year tenure as publisher, our subscriber base grew from hundreds of thousands to over eight million at its height. She believed in me, and believed in every member of our staff. I don’t know where we’d be today without her support of our best (and even our worst) ideas.

Not only was she a great leader, Cathy inspired the culture here at Game Informer as well. Sure, she made decisions that were good for the business, but it was important to her that these decisions were also good for the employees. She cared about us, and respected the balance between our professional responsibilities and personal lives. Her dedication to this vision created a place to work unlike any other.

Yes, Cathy was my boss, but I can’t thank her enough for being my friend. It has been an honor working with her, so from the team here at Game Informer: The scope of our gratitude is impossible to put into words.

Cathy’s retirement comes as we restructure the business unit here at Game Informer. Unfortunately, that means we are also saying goodbye to six other great people who were a part of what makes this place so special and were integral to Game Informer's success story.

Nintendo and Lego are partnering for something Super Mario Related, but the pair have yet to reveal exactly what it might be.

“It’s-a me, LEGO Mario!”
Stay tuned… #LEGO #LEGOSuperMario #Nintendo pic.twitter.com/kSoboRFX2q

— LEGO (@LEGO_Group) March 10, 2020

Nintendo has had a deal with Lego competitor K'Nex, so today's announcement could represent a big shift in the toy-block landscape.

No specific products have been revealed just yet, but we're certainly excited for whatever potential sets come our way.

[Source: Nintendo, Lego]

2K's last officially licensed NFL football video game – ESPN NFL 2K5 – came out in 2004, and since that time fans have clamored for a deal that would bring the league and the publisher back together.

Today 2K has announced that it is indeed renewing its partnership with the NFL through a multi-year deal, although in a slightly different form than back in the glory days of the NFL 2K brand.

2K is planning multiple "non-simulation football game experiences," according to the official press release, which are already early in development and scheduled to release in 2021.

No word on which platforms these titles will appear on or whether NFL 2K series developer Visual Concepts will be back at the helm in any capacity.

"We’re thrilled to be back in business with the NFL in a partnership that will span multiple video games centered on fun, approachable, and social experiences," said David Ismailer, president of 2K.

Although the deal's "non-simulation" stipulation seemingly all but rules out 2K once again challenging Electronic Arts' Madden NFL franchise, it's possible the new deal could pave the way for an NFL Blitz-style, over-the-top take on the sport. In a similar vein, in 2018 2K published the NBA Jam-inspired NBA Playgrounds 2 by Saber Interactive.

GameStop today announced plans to add three new independent directors to its board, who join amid GameStop’s public discussions of ongoing changes to its business strategy.

The new additions include William Simon, who previously served as president and CEO of Walmart U.S., and James Symancyk, who has served as president and CEO of PetSmart. For the gaming audience, however, the most familiar addition to GameStop’s board is undoubtedly Reggie Fils-Aimé, who is best known within the gaming community as the former president and COO of Nintendo of America. Fils-Aimé first became a public figure for many rank-and-file gamers during the years in which he took a starring role in Nintendo’s marketing efforts, including years of Nintendo’s E3 media presentations.

Symancyk and Simon will join the board immediately, and Fils-Aimé will join on April 20. The announcement comes as several other members of GameStop’s board prepare to retire from involvement, including longtime member Dan DeMatteo.

GameStop also announced new plans for the organization of its board in the coming years, with a particular focus on continual refreshment of its members, the further details of which are highlighted in a release from the company.

Disclaimer: GameStop is the parent company of Game Informer

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After months of both speculation and anticipation, Call of Duty: Warzone is finally dropping with two modes, a 150-player count, and a huge map that contains some landmarks fans of the series will be sure to recognize. To celebrate, the Game Informer crew is testing out Infinity Ward's newest entry into the battle royale genre live with the chat.

We went live earlier, but be sure to check out the full stream archive above. If you can't get enough New Gameplay Today and all of our other shows, remember to subscribe on YouTube, Twitch, Mixer, Twitter, or Facebook to get notified when we go live each week! Thanks and enjoy the show!

Last year, Respawn Entertainment's Apex Legends was announced and immediately released. Activision is following suit this year with the surprise announcement and release of Call of Duty: Warzone, a new free-to-play battle royale game that delivers massive 150-player battles. Call of Duty: Warzone launches tomorrow at 8 a.m. PDT on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.

The Modes
Players can jump into two different avenues of play: Battle Royale, which unfolds exactly as you would expect with a gas cloud slowly grouping everyone together until only one team is left standing, and Plunder, a new style of play that pushes teams to collect as much cash as they can before the match ends. To earn money in Plunder, you can sneak off on your own and loot to your heart's content, complete in-match contracts, and hunt down other players and steal the hauls they've gathered.

The Map
Players drop into Verdansk, a thriving city turned battlefield that Activision says has over 300 points of interest. These locations include Gora Dam and Gorengard Lumberyard. Verdansk is a sprawling coastal city that just happens to be set at the foot of a giant mountain. Sections of the map offer long sight lines, and other areas push players to use close-quarters tactics to dart in and out of buildings.

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Update:

Activision has confirmed Warzone and announced that it's coming out tomorrow. Details below such as the 150 player count, Plunder mode, and that you don't have to own the full game are correct.

Warzone goes live on March 10, 8 AM (PDT) for existing Modern Warfare owners, and later at 12 PM (PDT) for everyone.

The company's official blog has more details about Warzone, including its city location – Verdansk, the vehicles involved, Contract objectives, progression, and more.

Also stay tuned for our livestream of the mode tomorrow.

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Todd McFarlane's Spawn is coming to Mortal Kombat 11 starting next week, bringing his arsenal of chains, guns, and battle axes to the ring. A new gameplay trailer shows how the character, voiced by Keith David, fares against a fellow chain-wielder, Scorpion.

Spawn's appearance marks the end of the game's Kombat Pack DLC bundle, which also includes The Joker, Sindel, the Terminator T-800, Nightwolf, and Shang Tsung. If you have the pack, Spawn will be available for download starting March 17, and he'll be accessible as an individual download on March 24.

If you like the way Spawn looks in the trailer, McFarlane Toys is releasing a figure based on his Mortal Kombat appearance starting today.  

This isn't the first time Spawn has flexed his powers in a video game. Back in 2003, he was an Xbox-exclusive character for Soulcalibur II. If you want to get a nice reminder of how far games have come visually over the past few decades, it's worth pulling up a clip of his cameo on YouTube for a little comparison.

Just because a game offers a fun play experience, it doesn’t always necessarily follow that it holds up to repeated replay. Board game developers must wrestle with that challenge at every step of the creation process. A big surprise element of play in the first game can be wonderful, but that same dynamic can feel stale three playthroughs later.

The creative team at Orange Nebula clearly had that dilemma at the center of their minds when crafting Vindication. This is a rich, high-end board game built for dedicated hobbyists, filled with gorgeous components, evocative art, and a creative premise. But after many months exploring the game, the feature that impresses me the most is Vindication’s comprehensive and layered approach to replayability. Vindication is a game that begs to be played on repeat, in which players rotate optional elements in and out, and rediscover the game with each playthrough. Thanks to an array of interacting systems and mechanics, it’s a tabletop experience that genuinely maintains that sheen of newness, even after returning to the game many times.

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This generation of Microsoft hardware has produced some truly amazing gaming experiences, with Ori and the Blind Forest being one of them. It's been five years since we've seen Moon Studio's Spirit Guardian exploring the enchanted forest of Nibel, but that all changes on March 11 when Ori and the Will of the Wisps finally release for Xbox One and PC. Andrew Reiner, Ben Reeves, and I are giving you an early look at the Microsoft indie sequel and are answering your questions live on stream.

We went live earlier, but you can catch the archive of the stream above. If you can't get enough New Gameplay Today and our other shows, remember to subscribe on YouTube, Twitch, Mixer, Twitter, or Facebook to get notified when we go live each week! Thanks and enjoy the show!

The Seattle area has been a particular area of concern for the growing threat of the COVID-19 coronavirus in the United States, and a number of tech and gaming companies have made the challenging decision to adjust their work policies as a result. In just the last couple of days, many of these companies have begun to encourage its employees in the Seattle area (and surrounding cities) to work from home, or have closed up their offices entirely while continuing work remotely.

Yesterday, Bungie announced that it has enacted a plan for a “fully remote work infrastructure” for all its workers worldwide, including its Bellevue studio, which normally acts as the employment home base for several hundred workers. Bungie acknowledges in its statement that the new remote work plan could “affect patching cadence in the short term“ for Destiny 2, and the team’s goal is to keep players informed about shifting schedules. However, the impending launch of the next season of the game on March 10, and the Trials of Osiris relaunch on March 13, should be unaffected.

Other companies are also adjusting plans. Microsoft has encouraged workers to work from home through March 25. Nintendo told Kotaku in a recent statement that it has taken the precaution to allow workers in California and Washington state to work from home.

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At one point, comic book games were reserved for lackluster movie tie-ins and the occasional hidden gem. Rocksteady's Arkham series changed all that by telling a mature story centered on Bruce Wayne and company, and revolutionizing the way we play as our favorite caped crusaders. Join Andrew Reiner, Ben Reeves, Jeff Cork, and me as we explore the grimy yet glowing streets of Gotham in Batman: Arkham City.

We were live earlier, but you can still catch the full archive of the stream above. If you can't get enough Replay and our other shows, remember to subscribe on YouTube, Twitch, Mixer, Twitter, or Facebook to get notified when we go live each week! Thanks and enjoy the show!

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Bethesda Softworks and id Software released a new trailer that shows the assembly and recording of a heavy metal choir for Doom Eternal's soundtrack. This choir features a variety of different singers and musicians from bands like Ministry and The World I Knew, and is the brain child of Doom Eternal's composer Mick Gordon and lead audio designer Chad Mossholder.

To get the singers in the mood, Gordon and company tinted the lights red and placed a number of candles in the recording space. The end product sounds cool as hell, which you can hear for yourself at the end of  trailer.

Doom Eternal launches on March 20 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC, and Stadia. A Switch version is also in the works, but it arrives at a later date in 2020.

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Frictional Games picked up steam the last few days, teasing its next project, treating fans to found footage and audio clips to piece together. Today, the acclaimed horror developer, best known for hits like Amnesia: The Dark Descent and Soma, finally unveiled its upcoming game: Amnesia: Rebirth. The game is set to come out later this year.

Amnesia: Rebirth is a brand new story set in the world of Amnesia: The Dark Descent. This time around, you retrace the journey of Tasi Trianon through the desolate Algerian desert. It's said her quest will "explore the limits of human resilience." Details are light on specifics, but here are some tidbits from the press release: you pull together fragments of a shattered past, time is against you, and if you fail, you will lose everything. To get a glimpse at the game, you can watch the reveal trailer above, which focuses on a downed airplane.

Right now, Amnesia Rebirth is set to come out this fall on PS4 and PC. 

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Collectibles can be expensive, especially if you are looking to line your shelves with statues. Sideshow and PCS Collectibles are creating a statue based on Insomniac Games' wonderful Spider-Man game that won't empty your wallet. Standing in at 7.35" in height (1:10 scale), fans can get an Advanced Suit Spider-Man statue for $84.99, which is quite a bit less than the $1,100 alternative Sideshow is selling.

The statue is made of resin and is slated to ship between this November and next January. You can find out more details at Sideshow's website and see the statue in the images below:

You may already have hundreds of fights under your belt, but Pokémon Go's Battle League was only in its preseason. The official start to the Battle League kicks off on Friday, March 13 at 1 p.m. PDT. This first season of play allows you to complete seven sets of battles a day (meaning you can fight 35 times if you have the time on your hands). If you win all five battles in a set, you receive a Premium Battle Pass. Raising your rank also brings different rewards like increased Stardust, various Charged and Fast TMs, as well as the Pokémon you can catch at specific tiers.

The first reward encounter will be against Metagross. At rank 4, Beldum is thrown into the mix. Rank 7 brings the chance of a Rufflet encounter (who will later be available at the Safari Zone Philadelphia event). If you win enough fights to reach rank 10, you will earn a guaranteed encounter against Pikachu Libre. Scraggy will also appear more often as a random encounter in the battle tier.

At the end of Battle League's first season (which concludes on May 1), if you reach rank 7, you will earn an Elite Charged TM. If you hit rank 10, you also will receive avatar items and a pose inspired by Pokémon League Champion Steven.

Overwatch's 21st season of Competitive Play kicks off today with four popular heroes on the bench. Hanzo, Mei, Orisa, and Baptiste will begin the season blocked off to players. If one of these heroes is your main, you'll have to find someone else to play as for a week. This is Blizzard's first attempt to shake up Overwatch's meta. Each week a different pool of heroes will be blocked off, so if you love playing as Mei, she should be back next week.

Overwatch's principle game designer Scott Mercer says that the team got feedback from players that the meta was stagnant for too long. "Especially at the highest ranks of the game, like Master and Grandmaster, we’ve seen the meta become more defined," he says. "The better you are at the game, the more you start to see the effects of what players deem are the strongest heroes. Even after our decision to switch team compositions to 2-2-2, creating change in the meta is a hard thing to do. We started being more aggressive with hero balancing with the hope that it would affect the meta, but we still worried that it wouldn’t shift enough for players. Hero Pools are part of a solution to address players’ desire to have a constantly shifting meta."

As interesting as it is to see Blizzard experiment with the game's balance at this point in its life, it is disappointing that it means some players won't get to experience the game the way they want to due to the hero pool removals. It is just one week, but it still stings.

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On this week's episode of The Game Informer Show, I am joined by Dan "The Jacket" Tack, Jeff Cork, and Leo Vader to discuss Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Valorant, and whether we think the coronavirus will cancel E3. We finish with the always entertaining and enlightening community emails.

Thanks for listening! Please make sure to leave feedback below, share the episode if you enjoyed it, and follow me @therealandymc to let me know what you think. 

You can watch the video above, subscribe and listen to the audio on iTunes or Google Play, listen on SoundCloud, stream it on Spotify, or download the MP3 at the bottom of the page. Also, be sure to send your questions to podcast@gameinformer.com for a chance to have them answered on the show.

Our thanks to the talented Super Marcato Bros. for The Game Informer Show's intro song. You can hear more of their original tunes and awesome video game music podcast at their website.

The Last of Us writer/creative director Neil Druckmann and acclaimed Chernobyl creator Craig Mazin are teaming up for an HBO series based on the hit video game.

Naughty Dog president Evan Wells and Carolyn Strauss (executive producer of Chernobyl, among other HBO properties) will also serve as executive producers, and the TV series will be the first from PlayStation Productions. 

"Neil Druckmann is without question the finest storyteller working in the video game medium, and The Last of Us is his magnum opus," Mazin told The Hollywood Reporter. "Getting a chance to adapt this breathtaking work of art has been a dream of mine for years, and I'm so honored to do it in partnership with Neil."

"From the first time I sat down to talk with Craig I was equally blown away by his approach to narrative and his love and deep understanding of The Last of Us," said Druckmann in a statement.

Although the exact shape of the series is still coming together, The Hollywood Reporter says that the show covers the 2013 game and could feature content from this year's sequel, The Last of Us Part II, which Druckmann directed and co-wrote.

Druckmann wrote a script for a possible The Last of Us movie, but in 2018 his interest in the project had cooled.

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Sucker Punch’s Ghost of Tsushima is a gorgeous Samurai-film inspired open world game, and we can't wait to play it. Fortunately, we don't have to wait long. We've been excited about the game since it was announced, and we'll be able to get our hands on it in a few months. 

Today, Sony's PlayStation Blog announced a June 26 release date alongside a story-focused trailer where hero Jin Sakai prepares for a long, hard battle. We also get to meet a few of Jin's allies and enemies. Check it out. 

[Source: PlayStation Blog]

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Original released for Japan's Super Famicom in 1995 under the name Seiken Densetsu 3, Trials of Mana is an ambitious remake that will release on Switch, PlayStation 4, and PC on April 24. Square Enix today dropped a short gameplay trailer for Trials of Mana that shows off the flow of combat, the different heroes, and how leveling up works.

The remake takes advantage of the current-gen hardware, and features an all-new combat system, a remastered soundtrack, an expanded story, and spoken dialogue. If you're new to the Mana series, you can check out the original game, and the SNES version of Trials of Mana in the Collection of Mana bundle that released last June on Switch. For more on Trials of Mana check out our "Decades in the Making" preview that outlines 11 things you should know about the game.

Electronic Arts' next Star Wars title is a "smaller, more unusual project at EA Motive," known as Star Wars: Project Maverick.

The title was first discovered after twitter account PSN PSN Releases (via Resetera user Soulzonik), which automatically monitors additions to the PSN store database, tweeted about the game with the art shown above. 

Although Electronic Arts – who has the official Star Wars video games license – has not officially confirmed the project, Kotaku is reporting that Project Maverick is one of two Star Wars titles the company is working on. Kotaku describes the game as a "smaller, more unusual project at EA Motive in Montreal, Canada." The other, according to the site, is a Jedi: Fallen Order sequel by Respawn.

No matter the intended size of the game, just releasing another Star Wars game would be a minor victory for EA, as games like EA Motive's open-world Star Wars title have been outright canceled.

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You can call upon a Marvel superhero for almost any type of game on mobile, be it matching colored blocks or battling villains through turn-based combat. At this year's PAX East convention, Marvel held a mystery panel that revealed Marvel: Future Revolution, the company's first open-world role-playing game for mobile. The game is in development at Netmarble, the studio behind the successful mobile action/RPG Marvel: Future Fight.

At PAX, Marvel showed off a number of videos that give a brief look into the world, combat, heroes, and villains. As you can see directly below, combat is handled from a close-over-the-shoulder viewpoint. The action appears to deliver a mix of hand-to-hand combat with special abilities, but we don't know how players initiate these moves yet, or even handle movement within the sprawling worlds.

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I'm famously not much of a fan of boss fights. The way they're implemented so often feels like a low point of my interest in a game. But in the video above, I break down why Outriders' different approach to these gaming staples sold me on the game's approach to them and got me excited to play more.

Enjoy the video, and that's it for our month of Outriders coverage! Thanks everyone for tuning in, I hope we helped you learn about and get excited for the game. To get caught up on our exclusive coverage, check out our now complete hub of video and written features below!

We talked about the Tomogunchi all the way back when we got our first look at Call of Duty: Modern Warfare during our cover story extravaganza last year, and now it's finally here. This little pet you wear on your watch, clearly inspired by the Tamagotchi, comes with all manner of interactions while you bust people up in multiplayer modes from Hardpoint to Team Deathmatch. The cute little guy can evolve and has a multitude of quips and chirps to fire off as you dominate from map to map, game to game. Check out the cool retro trailer below for a look at the adorable lil thing.

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It's been 26 years since we last saw Axel, Blaze, and the rest of the Streets of Rage crew beating up seedy city-dwellers, but 2020 marks the return of the classic brawler franchise. Join Leo Vader, Ben Reeves, Matt Miller, and me as we play Streets of Rage 4 and delight in the chaotic mayhem of its four-player co-op. 

If you're craving a classic brawler, rejoice because you don't have long to wait. Streets of Rage 4 releases on PC, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4 this Spring.

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Yesterday, Ubisoft unexpectedly dropped the newest expansion for The Division 2 and we dove right in on our livestream. While players could somewhat explore the desolate New York City, the story missions were glitched and we were limited on what we could show. With today being the actual release day and the bugs taken care of, Leo Vader and I are diving back into Warlords of New York live and taking a deeper look at all the new story content.

We went live earlier but you can still catch the show in the archive above. Enjoying our streams? You can subscribe on YouTube, Twitch, Mixer, Twitter, or Facebook to get notified when we go live in the future! Thanks for watching!

Valve has been incredibly bullish on virtual reality. The company has not only created VR headsets, it's taken one of its premier franchises and created an entire game built around the technology. While many are still hoping for a traditional Half-Life shooter, we’re also thankful that Valve is creating the kinds of long-form VR experiences that might draw new users to VR. So to get a better understanding about how this project came to be and what this means for the series’ future, we talked to Valve developer Robin Walker. 

Tell us about the origin of this project. How did you settle on VR?