Gamespot

In Sony's upcoming PlayStation 4 exclusive, Ghost of Tsushima, horseback riding is very important. It's the most efficient way to get around the map, the developers say. And now, they have also confirmed one very important detail about your horse--it cannot die.

"Your horse is not gonna die," Sucker Punch creative director Jason Connell told USGamer. "Your horse will get scared and run away. You may not be able to bring them back for a brief, brief moment, but nobody's gonna in combat, in gameplay, kill your horse."

Animals play a part in Ghost of Tsushima, helping your character find shrines--but you can't kill them. There is no hunting system in the game, Connell added.

Actor Josh Gad's quarantine show, Reunited Apart, is seemingly going to feature a Lord of the Rings reunion for a future episode. Gad teased the news in a tweet.

There is no word yet on when the episode will air or who may feature in it, but presumably it will be actors from Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings and Hobbit trilogies. Frodo actor Elijah Wood has already appeared in a show that spawned from quarantine, Star Wars writer Gary Whitta's Animal Talking. It's possible some behind-the-camera talent could appear, like Peter Jackson.

Gad's Reunited Apart series has already released reunion videos for Back to the Future, featuring Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd; Splash, featuring Tom Hanks and Daryl Hannah; and The Goonies, featuring the main cast of the movie including Sean Astin, Corey Feldman, and Josh Brolin.

Hot on the heels of Hi-Rez Studios' announcement regarding the latest Smite Final Boss Battle Pass is news that Cthulu will be officially announced as the MOBA's next god. Smite will be showing off their next big update, called The Great Dreamer, as part of a streamed show on May 26 at 3PM ET. The stream will give fans a better idea of what's to come.

The Great Dreamer update show will debut on Smite's official Twitch channel, offering players a chance to catch their very first glimpse of Cthulu in action. Cthulu will be the first god in the Old Ones pantheon added to Smite, and others could be introduced over time.

The fact that the pantheon is called the Great Old Ones likely signals that there will be more Lovecraftian horrors to look forward to in the future. Cthulu is going to be available for players to access from early June, which will give those who haven't quite familiarised themselves with the Smite battleground a chance to git gud.

PlayStation Plus members can snag another round of free PS4 games from the PlayStation Store until the end of the month. As usual, May 2020's PS Plus lineup consists of two PS4 games: Cities: Skylines and Farming Simulator 19. You can also download one of June 2020's free games, Call of Duty: WWII, before the new month even begins.

Cities: Skylines is an acclaimed city-building sim in which you plan and develop a metropolis. The game offers a realistic take on the genre, giving you full control over zoning neighborhoods and letting you establish districts and policies.

Farming Simulator 19, meanwhile, has you running a farm business. You'll need to plant and harvest crops, invest your money in new equipment and land, and take care of livestock.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is getting some new vehicle skins, and who better to help you pimp your ride than Xzibit? Yes, the latest Warzone ad stars the rapper and broadcaster flexing some of his signature personality as he talks about you "staying frosty" and ruling the multiplayer streets with some fresh decals.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is launching the Plunder Pack, which seems designed to enhance your ability to flex on everyone that you play with. According to the ad, filmed like a Pimp My Ride rerun, you'll be able to equip any whip with gold trim and metallic finishings, tinted windows, and a bunch of other luxury trimmings to make you the envy of any 150-player map.

The Plunder Pack carries skins for every vehicle in the game, accessible across the Warzone, Multiplayer, and Special Ops modes. This is the first bundle available on the store of this size, and yes, when we say "every vehicle" we do genuinely mean every vehicle.

Somehow, we're already nearing the end of May, and while the month is bringing longer days and warmer weather, it's also bringing a slew of new digital game deals and free games, which is probably a bigger benefit for those who are still mostly stuck indoors. PC games storefront Fanatical is known for offering blowout sales with thousands of discounts--many of which are on Steam games--and it's back with a new one for May. The May Madness Sale is live now at Fanatical and currently has over 6,000 deals on games as well as a free game offer.

Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition, an updated version of one of the best RPGs for the Wii, releases on Nintendo Switch this Friday, May 29. Whether you're planning on diving in for the first time or revisiting the modern classic in its updated form, you should take a look at the pre-order deal at Amazon. Right now, you can pre-order Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition for $49.94, which is a savings of $10.

This is the same price Walmart was selling the Definitive Edition for, but Walmart is currently sold out. Amazon already sold out of its Xenoblade pre-orders at this price earlier today, so there's a good chance this offer won't be available for long. If you already placed your pre-order at Amazon at the full $60 price, you'll get the discount thanks to Amazon's pre-order price guarantee.

Another week is upon us, which means more content additions and adjustments are on the way to both Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Warzone on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.

Modern Warfare

First up is Modern Warfare, which is seeing a bevy of changes this week such as some alterations to the game's multiplayer moshpits. Gun Game has its own collection of Gunfight maps now, and two game modes--Deathmatch Domination and Drop Zone--get their own dedicated playlists. Furthermore, two specific maps--Shoot House and Shipment--also have their own 24/7 moshpits that mix and match a variety of modes.

There is also the Tracer Pack: Purple bundle available for purchase in the game's store, which comes with a Legendary AR and SMG, a charm, sticker, vehicle skin, emblem, and calling card. Additionally, Raines now has a purchasable Lumbertactical bundle that features a character skin, a Legendary LMG and shotgun blueprint, and the Hatchet melee weapon.

Razer has a line of mouse pads that sync with its Chroma lighting tech, but if you're a bigger fan of soft mouse pads that offer great friction control and a non-slip rubber bottom, then Razer has just revealed the latest edition of its soft Gigantus mouse pad. The Gigantus V2 features better friction control than its predecessor and is now being offered in a variety of sizes. You can snag the Gigantus V2 in four different sizes--Medium for $10, Large for $15, XXL for $30, and 3XL for $50. You can also customize one of them with art from a specific game, esports team, or Razer itself.

The medium Gigantus V2 sits 14 inches long and 11 inches wide on your desk, roughly the size of a standard mouse pad. If you want it a little bigger, then the large version sits at about 18 inches long and 16 inches wide. The XXL version can house your keyboard and mouse pad, measuring at 37 inches long and 16 inches wide, while the 3XL model can almost cover an entire desk at 47 inches long and 22 inches wide. You can see examples of what each mouse pad would look like on a desk in the images below.

With the ongoing coronavirus pandemic still disrupting in-person gatherings, Blizzard has confirmed that this year's BlizzCon is not happening.

"During this time, we've had many discussions about what holding a convention could look like in light of all the health and safety considerations we'd want to make," BlizzCon's executive producer, Saralyn Smith, wrote in a statement.

"We've also talked about different paths we could take, and how each one could be complicated by fluctuations in national and local health guidelines in the months ahead. Ultimately, after considering our options, we've come to the very difficult decision to not have BlizzCon this year."

If you've yet to jump into Respawn Entertainment's Apex Legends or just want to unlock some new, exclusive gear, the battle royale's new Pathfinder Edition is gearing you and the game's zip-lining robot for action. It will cost you $20.

Out now on PS4, Xbox One, and PC (via EA's Origin), the Pathfinder Edition of Apex Legends features two legendary skins--one for Pathfinder, the other for the Havoc Rifle--as well as an exclusive gun charm and badge. You'll also get 1000 Apex coins (which is around $10 alone) to spend in-game, be it on the recently released character Loba or the game's ongoing battle pass with Season 5.

The full contents of the Pathfinder Edition are:

This is your chance to gain exclusive access to the beta version of KartRider: Drift. The new iteration of the free-to-play franchise brings exciting, skill based gameplay with endlessly customizable characters and iconic karts through an always online, living, and connected gaming experience.

Five thousand winners will take home two key codes, one for Steam and one for Xbox One. These keys will give you access to the beta of KartRider: Drift that will be available only from June 3 till June 10, courtesy of Nexon. And you will be able to redeem them directly on Steam or Xbox.

With the franchise already accumulating over 300 million players, this racing game is designed to satisfy both casual and hardcore kart racing fans, with a slew of modes for pick-up-and-play matches with friends. It also offers a deep competitive experience if you want to prove you’re the fastest to the world.

The Nintendo Switch console might be the most versatile gaming device ever made. You can have house parties where you hook up the Switch to a big-screen TV and play a multiplayer game like Super Smash Bros. Ultimate or Super Mario Party. You can undock it and grind in a single-player game like Fire Emblem: Three Houses while you watch a TV show. You can even take the party outside and play the console in tabletop mode using the wireless Joy-Con controllers. All of these are incredibly fun and valid ways to play the Switch, and with the right Switch accessories, you can make the experience even better.

Its versatility is a huge plus, but the console does have its downsides, such as low battery life, an uncomfortable grip, and a large screen that's vulnerable to cracks. That's where Switch accessories come in to make playing the system safer and more comfortable. We've rounded up some of the best Nintendo Switch accessories to add to your collection in 2020. Whether you've got a launch-edition console, recently picked up the newer model with improved battery life, or plan to buy the smaller, handheld-only Switch Lite and play Switch games on the go, these Switch accessories will definitely make your life easier.

This year's Sonic the Hedgehog film was one of the final blockbuster movies released in theatres before the COVID-19 shutdown. The movie was a big success, surpassing Detective Pikachu to become the highest-grossing video game movie of all-time in the United States.

Sonic Studio's chief brand officer, Ivo Gerscovich, has now commented on the success of the film and how it's shaped the Sonic brand overall. Gerscovich said in a Reddit AMA that the movie helped re-invigorate the Sonic series and help it become even more relevant.

"The success of the film has positively impacted many areas of the brand from bringing in a new generation of fans to reaching fans in places all over the world that may not be as accessible for us alone," he said.

Ubisoft recently revealed Operation Steel Wave, the Year 5, Season 2 update for Rainbow Six Siege that will introduce a panoply of new content to the game. This will include two new operators, the crowd-controlling Melusi and the breaching specialist Ace, as well as a new gadget for defenders called the proximity alarm. As part of this upcoming season, Ubisoft has tried out some changes to Siege on its test server, and we've got the full patch notes below.

The May 25 patch increased the damage of the ACS12 to make it more viable. It also fixed a nasty bug that caused gadget VFX effects to appear empty or missing. The May 26 patch dealt with some more technical issues, particularly two weapon animations not syncing up with their audio. Both patch notes include several known issues that have yet to be fixed, including areas of the House map that aren't supposed to be accessible to players.

Operation Steel Wave is set to release sometime in mid-June. In addition to all the features mentioned above, it will include a complete rework of the game's House map. In other Siege news, Ubisoft successfully removed a free-to-play mobile shooter from Google and Apple's mobile storefronts that the studio claimed was a copycat of Siege.

It may be only May but it's never too early to anticipate great deals, and one of the biggest savings events of the year is coming up in just a few months. Amazon Prime Day 2020 is on the horizon, and while it's happening later than usual this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, it's sure to bring steep discounts on some of the best games for Nintendo Switch, PS4, Xbox One, and PC. Prime Day is also an excellent opportunity to snag consoles and PC hardware at a discount, and you'll also find sweet deals on gaming accessories, merch, Blu-rays, collectibles, and practically anything on your wishlist. Prime Day is known for having deals on par with even Black Friday, so for gamers on a budget, it's an event you don't want to miss.

The key to snagging the deals you want on Amazon Prime Day is to go in prepared. To help you out, we've assembled a guide with everything you need to know about Amazon Prime Day 2020, including when it might start, the best deals to expect, and more.

What is Amazon Prime Day?

Prime Day is a massive sale Amazon puts on each summer for Prime members. It all began in 2015, when Amazon had a sale to celebrate its 20th birthday. In the years since, Prime Day has grown into a shopping extravaganza in its own right, with deep discounts on all kinds of items across the whole store.

A massive group of independent developers and publishers presented a showcase of games with chill vibes. Not to be confused with Nintendo Direct, this presentation was based on the Wholesome Games community on Twitter. The focus of the community is to highlight games that are low stress and contain little violence, and promote positive themes and representations of marginalized groups.

The Wholesome Direct presentation showed a half-hour of footage consisting of new and upcoming games. Check out the roundup below for all of the games presented during the showcase, with descriptions provided by the publishers.

As previously confirmed, Sega's online JRPG Phantasy Star Online 2 will be available to play tomorrow, May 27, on PC. Eager players can download the game for free right now from the Microsoft Store.

After a period of scheduled maintenance set to begin at 5 AM PT / 8 AM ET / 1 PM BST on May 27, PSO2 will be officially available for Windows 10 PC users. Xbox One players who decide to opt for the PC version can retain their progress simply by using the same Microsoft Live ID to login to the game.

This PC port of PSO2 also comes with an assortment of goodies for new and returning players alike, such as a new look for the shopping plaza, tons of commemorative login rewards like consumables and weapons, special EXP and Rare Drop boosts, and more.

Mortal Kombat 11 Aftermath DLC is now available, and it adds five new chapters in the game's story mode, along with new characters and other content. Along with the paid DLC, NetherRealm Studios has pushed a new update that makes many changes to the game.

As the below patch notes reveal, the update adjusts major moves for nearly every character in the game, especially Raiden and Shang Tsung. There's also significant gameplay changes, including which attacks are blockable, and how much damage breakaways inflict. Additionally, the update introduces some fresh content to the game, including new Towers of Time, Krypt events, and Brutalities for intrepid players to find.

The Aftermath DLC includes three new characters: the wind god Fujin, the four-armed Shokan enforcer Sheeva, and the classic Paul Verhoeven character Robocop. Aftermath also brings back the classic Friendship finishing moves that are beloved by fans. It costs $40.

Minecraft Dungeons wears its inspirations on its sleeve, taking a formula popularized by many action role-playing games and giving it an easier, more accessible spin. It's difficult to talk about action RPGs without mentioning Blizzard's Diablo series, with Minecraft Dungeons featuring its own nod to the franchise.

When the first Diablo launched, players were adamant that a secret level featuring just cows existed, waiting to be found. The rumors persisted for so long that Blizzard included the first cow level in Diablo II--a field with an almost insurmountable number of nightmarish bi-pedal cows for you to click into oblivion. It's a joke that persisted through to Diablo III too, and now Minecraft Dungeons can be added to the list.

The steps for getting to Minecraft Dungeons' own cow level is a little involved though. According to RockPaperShotgun, you'll need to complete the campaign and then travel back to nine levels to nab nine runes. Once obtained, you can activate a new portal in your camp which will take you to the blocky cow secret. Just be ready for a challenge.

The upcoming flashy soccer game Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions, based on the 2018 anime remake of the same name, is slated to hit Nintendo Switch, PC, and PlayStation 4 on August 28.

Publisher Bandai Namco Entertainment shared a brand-new release date trailer that shows off the striking visuals you can expect when Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions drops this August. The trailer, below, is as over-the-top as sports anime gets, with characters performing special moves steal the ball and score goals.

Bandai Namco also announced the bonuses you can get for pre-ordering Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions. This includes several uniforms for various players, as well as two goal performances to score points in style.

Sony has announced a new round of its PlayStation 4 tournament series, now with a few key revisions. The new series will feature weekly qualifiers, as well as rewards just for participating and tiered prizes based on results. The PS4 Tournaments: Open Series will begin on June 1.

The tournament series will start with seven games: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, FIFA 20, Mortal Kombat 11, Warface, NBA 2K20, SoulCalibur VI, and BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle. Those tournaments will be open to anyone over 18 with a PlayStation Plus subscription for online matches. The top matches for Modern Warfare, MK11, and FIFA 20 will also be broadcast by PlayStation.

Weekly open matches will lead to a monthly final, and new rewards will be offered every month. Everyone who participates will get something, with prizes stacking based on tourney performance. Everyone will get the PS4 Tournament theme and avatar for their first time participating. Other prizes will include:

The Last of Us 2 is less than a month away now, following multiple delays for reasons ranging from polish to the coronavirus. That means it's only a matter of time before reviews start to weigh in on the anticipated game from Naughty Dog, and now we know exactly when that will be.

The review embargo is Friday, June 12 at 12:01 AM PT / 3:01 AM ET. That means in just over two weeks you'll be able to wake up (or stay up) to see what we think of the game.

Naughty Dog has spent a long time promoting the game, and it isn't done with the reveals yet. Sony recently announced a new State of Play presentation to take place Wednesday, May 27 that will focus exclusively on TLOU 2. If it's anything like the last State of Play, which was similarly laser-focused on Ghost of Tsushima, it should give us a lot more details about the Last of Us sequel.

The free-to-play shooter Warface is getting a spin-off game--and it's launching today.

Warface: Breakout releases today for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, and it's a new competitive first-person online shooter that's inspired by Counter-Strike. Like Warface, Breakout is published by the Russian studio My.Games. It's developed by My.Games' internal studio, Allods Team.

Unlike Warface, Breakout is a paid title. You can pick up the shooter for $20 USD for the standard edition or $30 USD for a deluxe edition that also includes bonuses like extra skins. The listings are available now on the PlayStation and Xbox online stores, which you can check out below.

We often think of the mobile versions of console or PC games as the lesser ones, sacrificing visual fidelity and performance to run on a portable device. But phone manufacturer OnePlus has made a notable stride in closing the gap. Through a direct partnership with developer Epic Games, the new OnePlus 8 phone is capable of running Fortnite at a higher framerate than even the console versions of the game.

The OnePlus 8 is the company's latest phone and it's the first one that's able to run Fortnite at 90 frames per second, which is no small feat. The phone's Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 processor has the power capabilities, and the display panel's 90Hz refresh rate allows for the higher frame rate. But it's also the work alongside Epic and the necessary optimizations made to the OnePlus-specific build of Fortnite on mobile that make it possible. We got an exclusive look at this particular version of Fortnite before its release to experience it for ourselves.

Mafia III: Definitive Edition, the newly released version of Mafia III that includes all of the game's DLC, seems to include a new asset within it. Files have been discovered within the game that show off a map of Berlin, and although it's missing textures, the full town map seems to be in there.

On YouTube, Sliderv2 has posted a video (as seen on Resetera) exploring the map as Mafia III protagonist Lincoln Clay, showing it from both the air and ground. While the video does not explain how the map was accessed, it lines up with earlier reports about a cancelled game by developer Hanger 13.

A 2018 report on Kotaku about the developer outlined their plans for a new game, Rhapsody, which would be an 80s-set spy game that saw you playing a Russian Jew out for revenge for the murder of their parents.

If becoming as gods and MOBAs are your top interests, then you're probably already familiar with Hi-Rez Studios' Smite. Now, Smite has come out with a new Final Boss Battle Pass to keep players entertained. Whether you want to throw down as Baba Yaga, Hades, or even Cthulu, there's something for you in the upcoming month of June.

The latest Smite Final Boss Battle Pass was released on May 20, bringing with it access to four new skins: Shadow Guan Yu, Legon Hades, Elder Djinn Baba Yaga, and Frost Gorgon Medusa. Chapter 3 of the Grim Omens storyline also went live at the same time, along with the launch of the Galaxy Hero chest for players to purchase. The patch notes for 7.5 on the Smite website go into further detail about what will be launched next, so stay tuned to keep abreast of upcoming content drops.

Players who choose to pick up the Battle Pass will unlock Legion Hades upon purchase, while those opting to shell out for the Battle Pass using Battle Points will unlock Elder Djinn Baba Yaga as well.

EA Sports and the NFL are going to extend their deal to keep making more Madden games for years to come. That's according to a report from Sports Business Daily and information from Albert Breer of MMBQ (see the tweet below). They both say the NFL owners will vote this week to give EA exclusive rights to making simulation football games through the 2025 season. According to the reports, the new deal could extend to the 2026 NFL season if the game series reaches "certain revenue goals."

The deal between EA and the NFL will also reportedly give the game developer non-exclusive rights to arcade-style NFL games in addition to "embedded companion apps/modes." EA's deal with the NFL is currently set to expire at the end of the 2021 season.

Shirley Curry, also known to the internet as Skyrim Grandma, announced earlier this month that she would be cutting back on her famous streams of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim because of comments that she's received on her videos. After gaining an enthusiastic following in the streaming community for her passion for the game and becoming a world record holder as the world's oldest professional streamer, she's now taking a break from the activity.

Curry, who may be featured as an NPC in future Skyrim games, has been an avid player of the title since 2007 according to this article from Senior Planet. While her YouTube channel, active since 2011, was originally just for Curry to interact with other fans of Elder Scrolls V, she began to stream herself playing the game in 2015. However, she became famous almost overnight in late 2015 when she was featured on Reddit, and it's been stardom ever since.

Being a popular streamer isn't just a walk in the park, though. With some streamers being subjected to so much visibility and scrutiny to rival that of Hollywood celebrities, being in the public eye as a content creator can be exhausting.

Like Assassin's Creed Odyssey before it, Assassin's Creed Valhalla will allow players to choose to play as a male or female version of the main character, Eivor. In a new video, narrative director Darby McDevitt says you'll get a full story now matter which you choose to play as.

"We want our character, Eivor, to exist in a coherent space and have a coherent personality," McDevitt said. "So that by the time you get to the end of our game no matter which little paths you've taken through our game, you always feel that Eivor was Eivor."

"Whether you choose male or female, and both options are valid in our game, you will always feel that Eivor is coherent and complete," he added. "And I think the result will speak for itself. There's a lot of cool mystery and intrigue around the character Eivor, and we can't wait for you to dive into that mystery."

Game of Thrones Beyond the Wall has received another update, adding Jaime Lannister and Melisandre the red priestess to the mobile adventure RPG. While the setting of Beyond the Wall serves as a prequel to the events of the HBO adaptation of George R.R. Martin's acclaimed series, the addition of Jaime and Melisandre comes with content specific to both characters' involvement in iconic skirmishes like the Battle of Winterfell.

Players of Behaviour Interactive's Game of Thrones mobile endeavour can look forward to all-new story content for Jaime and Melisandre. If you fancy playing as the illustrious Westerlanders Commander then you'll be able to re-live the Battle of Goldroad, where the Lannister armies took on the Targaryen dragons and the Dothraki.

If you want to pursue a path that's a little frostier, then playing as the Great Priestess of R'hllor from Assai will give you the opportunity to head to the far reaches of the North. Should you choose to play as Melisandre, you'll be able to take part in the Battle of Winterfell, fighting your way through a key event from the series

XCOM 2 Collection is coming to Switch on May 29, alongside the Borderlands Legendary Collection and BioShock: The Collection. While the latter two are collecting games from the Xbox 360 and PS3, XCOM 2 started life as a PC exclusive before eventually coming to PS4 and Xbox One. In a new interview, port studio Virtuos has talked about how they brought the game to Nintendo's system--and what they think is possible on the system.

Talking to Nintendo Life, Virtuos senior producer Zhang Chengwei has spoken about the process of bringing the game, complete with all its DLC, to Switch. According to Chengwei, they "developed a clever general-purpose rendering library that allows XCOM 2 to be rendered directly on the Switch without changing the original rendering module from Unreal Engine 3," which helped to deal with the Switch's reduced memory (4GB--the PC version requires 7GB). "I’d say that we spent half a year just to optimise the memory, and we used many methods throughout this period, including using more efficient formats for files, removing needless memory usage, and even modifying and optimising the original console's memory system," he says.

Chris Evans' portrayal of Steve Rogers in the Captain America series is the role he is most famous for, but he almost did not take it. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter as part of their Award Chatter podcast, Evans has opened up about his casting in the role, why he almost rejected it, and what convinced him to take up the shield.

Evans recalls playing a superhero, Johnny Storm, in Sony's Fantastic Four movies in 2005 and 2007. As the sequel released, though, he started to suffer from severe anxiety, as he felt that the better movies he was starring in (like Danny Boyle's Sunshine) were flying under the radar. When he experienced panic attacks on the set of 2010's Puncture, he started to worry that acting might not be for him.

When Marvel Studios contacted him about testing for the part of Steve Rogers, and potentially locking into a nine-film deal if he did well, Evans initially declined to come in and test for the part. "My suffering would be my own," he recalls thinking, worrying that his anxiety would grow worse. Although he was offered a modified deal, involving fewer films and more money if he came in for a screen test, Evans continued to turn it down, worrying that the pressure of fame would get the better of him.

Following their release on the Epic Games Store, Quantic Dream's best known games--including Heavy Rain, Beyond: Two Souls, and Detroit: Become Human--are headed to Steam very soon.

The games will be released on Valve's digital storefront on June 18, Quantic Dream has announced. If you're interested in the games but not sure you want to buy them, each game has a free demo available on Steam right now.

Quantic Dream Games On Steam

• Heavy Rain Free Demo
• Beyond: Two Souls Free Demo
• Detroit: Become Human Free Demo

Quantic Dream originally released these games as exclusives for the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 but the French studio was never owned by Sony. The company is now developing multiplatform games and is seeking to also become a "boutique publisher."

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Warzone's Season 3 Battle Pass is nearly finished. The Battle Pass is in its final week, so now is your last chance to progress through the pass to unlock everything.

As usual, you can earn new tiers in the Season 3 Battle Pass through gameplay alone, or you can spend real money to buy tiers. Alternatively, you can buy the entire Battle Pass--containing all 100 tiers--for $10 USD. The Battle Pass includes a new Operator, Alex, along with all kinds of extras such as cosmetics, weapon blueprints, double XP tokens, and more.

The Battle Pass applies to both Modern Warfare and the battle royale game Warzone, because the two titles share progression.

While Activision Blizzard and its studios have not been immune to the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, its biggest game of the year is still on track for its release. The new Call of Duty, which seems to be subtitled Black Ops: Cold War, is still set to release before the end of the year, Activision confirmed as part of its latest earnings report.

During the call, Activision Blizzard president and COO Daniel Alegre shared that employees have adapted to the new changes in society, and that Call of Duty 2020 is still on track for its previously confirmed release this year. Executives at the company explained that the most recent entry in the franchise, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, has exceeded expectations. This is due in part to ongoing events with the seasons and the standalone battle royale game, Warzone--which currently has over 60 million players.

While the details on the next game weren't shared, including any plans for Xbox Series X or PS5, Alegre stated that the CoD franchise remains a key pillar for the company.

After being in a closed beta state for two months, Riot Games' hero shooter Valorant will make its official PC debut on June 2. The tactical FPS, which shares a lot of DNA with Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, will be free-to-play in "a majority of the regions worldwide," including North America and Europe.

With Valorant officially dropping in early June, Riot confirmed that the game's closed beta will end on Thursday, May 28. This will give the studio the opportunity to reset player accounts and patch in new content. When the game hits on June 2, current Valorant players will have to start at the same place as those coming to the tactical FPS for the first time.

Shortly after Valorant's official launch, Riot will deliver a bunch of new content. This includes additional game modes, characters, maps, and more. In addition to this, Riot will deploy more servers to meet the game's demands. These new servers--located in Atlanta, Dallas, London, Madrid, and Warsaw--will help lower Valorant's latency so that the player experience is as smooth as possible.

Free-to-play games can live or die by the quality of their cosmetic content, and Riot's new shooter Valorant is no exception. In a recent blog post, the team behind Valorant revealed how it develops the game's premium skins.

According to the post, the process begins with a brainstorming process to determine the fantasy and genre that the weapon skin promotes, from sci-fi to high fantasy. However, the team sticks to a number of core rules, chief among them that the skin's unique visual effects and animations are only seen by its owner in first-person.

The developers also take great care to ensure that the outline and shape of the specific weapon is still recognizable, for the sake of fair competition. Since the skins in Valorant have unique animations for headshots and reloads, playtesters sample the skins in order to make sure that they aren't too distracting for the user.

Premier League football club Manchester United has filed a lawsuit against Sega and Sports Interactive, the publisher and developer respectively of Football Manager.

The football club is unhappy with how its name, badge, and overall trademark has been used in the game without its consent, despite appearing in Football Manager for decades. According to The Guardian, Manchester United's attorney is also seeking to add player-made mods to the lawsuit, in light of how it claims Sega and Sports Interactive encourage players to use them to recreate clubs in the game.

In a counterargument, Sega claimed that the lawsuit by Manchester United intends to “prevent legitimate competition in the video games field by preventing parties not licensed by the claimant from using the name of the Manchester United football team within such games". It also argues the validity of a lawsuit that seeks to prevent the use of the name "Manchester United" in any context without the authority of the trademark holder.

For nearly 20 years, Frogwares has been the premier developer of games based on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes. Following the release of 2019's The Sinking City, an open-world adventure game inspired by H.P. Lovecraft, the developer jumped straight to work on its follow-up--this time bringing their most well-known character back to his roots in a large setting to explore. In an exclusive with GameSpot, the developers at Frogwares have revealed that is developing and self-publishing Sherlock Holmes: Chapter One, a prequel that will focus on the early exploits of the gentleman sleuth.

Set for release in 2021 for PC, PS4, Xbox One, and next-gen consoles, Sherlock Holmes: Chapter One takes cues from The Sinking City, bringing players into an explorable open-world city filled with characters to meet, disguises to wear, and mysteries to solve. Set in the early years of the detective's career, the game casts you as a 21-year-old Sherlock Holmes who returns to his Mediterranean island hometown following his mother's death. After reacquainting himself with the island, his family manor, and the enigmatic companion Jonathan--who is definitely not Watson--he'll discover that the town has got some secrets, and he'll use his budding yet still brilliant detective skills to uncover a larger conspiracy at work.