[Funcom is finally talking about its Dune open world survival MMO]

Funcom has shown off its Dune project for the first time at Gamescom. Sadly it opted for the CG trailer approach, but we now know that it's an open world survival MMO called Dune Awakening. And that it will have giant sandworms.

The game is set on a "vast and seamless" reimagining of Arrakis, the most hostile planet in the universe, and appropriately enough Awakening is looking to combine the survival genre with the social side of a large-scale persistent MMO. Gameplay mechanics will include building shelter against the constant sandstorms, maintaining and improving your life-sustaining stillsuit, and avoiding death at the maws of the colossal sandworms.

Biomes mentioned include long-abandoned research stations and ancient sietches, though a core mechanic seems to involve gigantic sandstorms 'shifting' the landscape in certain sectors of the map. At this stage the language being used is fuzzy, but mentions "the ever-changing face of Arrakis" before a slightly more specific description of what that may mean: "Head into unmapped sectors and be the first to discover secrets and riches before the coriolis storms once again shift the sands and alter the landscape." Perhaps procedural generation will regularly remake certain sections of the mapp?

Space naturally plays a huge role—it's the whole reason that people are on Arrakis in the first place—and you'll be hunting for spice blooms and harvesting them, while of course other players and factions try to do the same. Funcom promises that you'll "soak the sand in blood as massive battles shift seamlessly from foot to vehicles and from ground to ornithopters in the sky."

This is, of course, all talk at this stage. But it's pretty big talk and Funcom certainly has the resources to throw at the project. The PR accompanying the trailer promises players will be able to tailor every aspect of their character, as well as acquiring abilities through the consumption of spice. The crafting system, meanwhile, will apparently be so in-depth that it will function as entire roles in the economy. 

There's no release date yet for Dune Awakening, but game has a nifty website where scrolling increases the sand blur, which is a nice trick. You can sign up for the beta now, and the game also has a Steam page.

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[Hogwarts Legacy Gamescom trailer introduces wizard zombies]

A new trailer for open-world Harry Potter-verse adventure game Hogwarts Legacy premiered today during Geoff Keighley's Opening Night Live show, and it's easily the darkest look at it yet.

The trailer centers on the dark arts, a forbidden realm of magic that players will apparently become experts in (against the wishes of your professor). We see the player casting Crucio, a spell better known in the wizarding world as the Cruciatus Curse.

According to the Harry Potter wiki, it's one of the three Unforgivable Curses used to inflict "excruciating pain on a victim." It's the spell of choice for those nasty Death Eaters that Harry faces off with in Prisoner of Azkaban, though the Crucio cast by the player in Hogwarts Legacy looks a bit different. This version is red and distinctly evil-looking, which you'd think would be a good hint for our young protagonist to stay the heck away from it. Though, it wouldn't be a Harry Potter story without kids getting tempted into the dark side.

We also see the player face off against what I can only describe as wizard zombies, something I didn't know existed in the world of magic until now (though I really shouldn't be surprised). I don't mind the threat—it might be nice to have a mindless target to unleash super deadly magic on instead of irreversibly injuring my fellow classmates.

In case you missed the delay a few weeks ago, Hogwarts Legacy's new release date is February 10, 2023.

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[Subnautica developer Unknown Worlds wants to make the 'world's best digital miniatures game']

Videogames owe a lot to their tabletop counterparts, especially when it comes to turn-based strategy and tactics, but one of the best parts of fielding armies of little warriors often gets overlooked in the digital realm: model painting. Moonbreaker, from Subnautica studio Unknown Worlds, has rectified this frequent omission and then some, giving us something that feels pure tabletop, but on PC.

Moonbreaker is a sci-fi-fantasy tactics romp where you build a crew of unique characters, paint them just like you would real miniatures, summon them into 12-minute battles and try to defeat the opposing crew's captain. Your goal is simple, then, but beyond that is a whole lot of complexity drawing from diverse sources like Warhammer, Cosmic Encounter and Magic: The Gathering. And the moment you look at it, you'll know you're staring at a tabletop game. The way units move like they're being picked up off the board, and the way the terrain looks like something built for a Warhammer 40k tournament—it's unmistakable.

(Image credit: Unknown Worlds)

"We wanted to make something new," says Unknown Worlds co-founder Charlie Cleveland. "We're Unknown Worlds, we like to try crazy stuff. Maybe not that crazy. But we try to push things forward and keep things fresh. We're making the world's best digital miniatures game. We want to take the miniatures hobby and keep what is amazing about it, which is like all the analogue part of it, the imagination part of it, the tactile, physical nature of it. But we want to remove all the other barriers, which are like this giant investment you have to make in money, time, rules, physical setup—all that stuff. We just want to remove all that. We're trying to streamline and make more accessible the entire tabletop hobby, not just the game, but the hobby itself."

Battles don't play out like your typical tactics game, where you start at full-strength and every turn threatens to weaken you. First you create your roster, with a single captain and 10 crew, "kind of Guardians of the Galaxy or Firefly style", says Cleveland. But you don't get access to your full roster when the battle begins. Instead, you get a randomised selection, which can be called down from your orbiting ship. "So the pace builds up. It's not war, and it's not attrition. It's like you're building up, maybe like StarCraft, or traditional videogame pacing, where it escalates."

The ship plays a role, too. At the beginning of a match, you'll get a couple of ship assists, picked from a larger pool, giving you access to things like healing through the Medical Recall ability, or the Vortex Beam, which pulls allies and enemies alike towards a specific point. These can also synergise nicely with your units' abilities. If you're playing with one that grows more powerful with each attack, for instance, you can use the Medical Recall assist to take them out of the fight, heal them up, and then plonk them back down with all their stats intact, allowing you to ensure that they keep growing and growing.  

(Image credit: Unknown Worlds)

Active abilities cost Cinder, Moonbreaker's magical resource, which is harvested from the cores of moons. Bringing in units also costs Cinder. Passive abilities just happen in the background and cost nothing, but typically have prerequisites. With Cinder being a limited resource, you might want to save them up for some big moves, like firing off a couple of abilities and bringing in another unit all in one turn. You can bank up to three for just such a situation. However! There will also be situations where having no Cinder is a boon. The Cornered ability, for example, gives +2 to attack and increases the distance the unit can travel, but only if you've run out of Cinder.

We're trying to streamline and make more accessible the entire tabletop hobby, not just the game.

Charlie Cleveland, Unknown Worlds

Every unit gets one ability, except captains, who boast three. Extilior, a hulking, heavily armoured captain from the Methedori culture—more on them in a bit—has the Justice passive ability, granting Hope to any allies in range when an enemy is defeated. Hope reduces damage by 1, which could make the difference between life and death.

Hope is also one of Extilior's active abilities, so he can pick a specific unit to buff, even if he's not just defeated someone. The final ability, Valorous Blades, is a nasty spinning attack that damages all units in range. Note that both of these two abilities, unlike the passive, specify "units" and not "enemies" or "allies". You'll see that a lot in Moonbreaker, whether it's a healing ability or an offensive one.

(Image credit: Unknown Worlds)

"Everything in this game basically affects, whenever possible, both sides," Cleveland explains. "We want all abilities to be used in many, many different ways that we've never thought about. So we want to make sure that, yes, it is possible to kill your own units. Sometimes you actually want to. I mean, it's pretty rare, but it does happen."

Culture vulture

All of these characters belong to one of three cultures, with more coming in future seasons. But when you make your roster, you can mix and match—this isn't a culture war. The Methedori are Roman-inspired protectors, which I guess makes them stuffy space cops, and while that also means there's some aesthetic similarities with Warhammer 40k's Imperium, the Methedori are rather less fascist. Then there are the Smugglers, a rag-tag group of crooks and rebels, including some former Methedori characters. The final culture, the Cholek, have more spiritual leanings—though they certainly aren't pacifists—and an aesthetic inspired by Central American cultures.

There's a lot of variety within each culture, too. Making a Smuggler list doesn't mean restricting yourself to Han Solo and Malcolm Reynolds knock-offs. Instead you can recruit Toxoid, a grotesque, flying bug that's dripping with venom; Crankbait, with her hoverbike and mechanical hand/grappling chain, which lets her drag units towards her; and Chuck & Co., a guy riding a mech that mimics his movements, whose speciality is picking units up and throwing them.

All of these cultures exist within the Reaches, a system of tiny but habitable moons, inside which the precious Cinder resides. It blends sci-fi and fantasy, with characters using weapons both mechanical and mystical. This extends to space itself, which is not a vacuum, allowing creatures and open-air ships to travel through it. "You can jump on a flying snake and go moon to moon," says Cleveland, which sounds like a dream holiday. It's evocative of the best D&D setting, Spelljammer, and was created by epic fantasy author Brandon Sanderson.

(Image credit: Unknown Worlds)

Given Sanderson's credentials as a prolific and popular fantasy novelist, it's surprising that Moonbreaker doesn't have a story-driven mode or a campaign. "We tried making a story mode, and we spent way too much time on it," says Cleveland. "We may come back to it. But we basically decided the gameplay was suffering and the story was suffering." But the story and the universe Sanderson has created still comes to the fore via other methods—primarily through audio dramas.

"Every month, approximately, we'll release a new audio drama, which is an acted podcast that you can listen to in a game while you're painting, or out of the game on your phone," says Cleveland. "And you can hear the captains and their stories, and how they're all linked together. They're about 30-minutes long so far. We're still learning how to make them, of course, but we have the full character arcs for literally years. So we're laying the framework for the first three captains in early access, and then every four months or so we're going to release a new season with a new captain, new units and new audio dramas. So, yeah, we've got years and years of this planned."

Whenever I'm painting, I usually have a podcast or TV show on anyway, so this feels like an appropriate way to flesh out the universe. And I suspect I'm going to be spending a lot of time painting in Moonbreaker. Every character has a default paint job, and they look great. Unknown Worlds considered giving players unpainted models as the default, like Warhammer, "to encourage you to paint", but the team ultimately decided that "it just felt too crappy to have a blank unit". But can you really call them your crew if you haven't painted each of them yourself? Absolutely. Screw gatekeeping. But you should paint them anyway.

(Image credit: Unknown Worlds)

All the tools I normally have to dig out of the sarcophagus where I keep my Warhammer stuff have been conveniently recreated digitally, and in ways that make them much easier to use. The absolute bane of my existence is edge-highlighting, which requires good eyes and steady hands. My eyes are knackered and my hands are about as stable as a geriatric alcoholic. In Moonbreaker, you can do it in a few strokes. What's so great about the end result is that it doesn't look perfect. In places, the highlights might not be completely even, or some parts might be a little more faded than others. Some of this is down to the tools trying to emulate human imperfections, but it's also affected by how vigorous or slapdash you are when you're using them. These touches are what make these characters look like physical miniatures instead of regular 3D videogame models.

I just want this to be relaxing.

Charlie Cleveland, Unknown Worlds

There's a basic paint tool, a wash, a dry brush, an airbrush, stippling and decals, and you can even mix colours to create your own. You'll get a lot of different colours to work with without doing that, though, including paints that glow or look like different materials. There's a handy masking tool, too, so if you're trying to paint your gun to give it a metallic look and don't want to also paint the hand, you can make it so that the paint only hits the gun. Everything feels like it's been designed to give you all the tools you'd expect with none of the frustration that comes from not being the world's best miniature painter.

(Image credit: Unknown Worlds)

"I just want this to be relaxing," says Cleveland. "I learned how to draw over the pandemic. It was using Procreate on my iPad and Apple pencil and I just fell in love with painting and how relaxed I felt. So that's one of the inspirations for this painting setup."

Additional paints, decals, new unit paint jobs and captain skins will come with new seasons, which can be unlocked via the free seasonal track. Other cosmetic upgrades will also be available, letting you eventually gussy up each unit. And then you can give units funky auras by spending another resource, Dust, which might cover them in shadows or fire. Progressing through the season or adding auras doesn't reflect your skill at the game, but there's also a mastery system that gives units ranks and titles for playing and winning with them. Cosmetic flourishes are being considered for this second progression system as well.

Boss rush

So there are a lot of ways for you to show off when you face your opponents, who will typically be other players, though there is a dedicated singleplayer mode known as Cargo Run. "So this is heavily inspired by Dungeon Run for Hearthstone," explains Cleveland. "We've tried a whole bunch of different singleplayer modes, and this is the one that just works by far the best."

(Image credit: Unknown Worlds)

This singleplayer challenge mode pits you against five bosses in a row. These bosses are like "mini captains", Cleveland says, and are unique to the mode. Depending on your captain, you will always start with the same roster, versus a random boss. And each subsequent boss gets more health than the last, ramping up the challenge. To help you out, there are upgrades littering the map, which you can grab to beef up your units. "So you're basically modifying your roster as you play."

Moonbreaker could hardly be more different from Subnautica, but you can still see the familiar Unknown Worlds design philosophy in the way it's trying to create an easy-to-understand, accessible game that's still a great source of tension and challenge. Hopefully it will do for turn-based tactics what Subnautica did for survival games. But I'm just ecstatic that the painting is so good. The last videogame with an excellent model painting system, Might & Magic Showdown, didn't fare so well, but Moonbreaker has one advantage: it's not horrible to play.

You'll be able to fight and paint soon, too, as Moonbreaker is launching in early access on September 29. And while it has quite a bit in common with free-to-play live service games, such as Dota, which Cleveland cites as another inspiration, it's buy to play, with the base game costing $29.99, accompanied by a $24.99 Founders Pack.

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[Sonic Frontiers: Everything we know about open world Sonic]

The eternally memetic Sonic Cycle continues in Sonic Frontiers. With the dust barely having had time to settle on the messy launch of Sonic Origins, Sega is seemingly itching to take the series in a new direction. The next big outing for the blue blur is a less linear, more explorable take on the ‘run fast, grind rails, jump on robots’ formula we know and love. 

I am cautiously hopeful, and despite being a bit of a pessimist, I’ve still had fun with most modern Sonic games. Here’s everything we know so far about Sonic Frontiers, and what makes it stand out (for better or worse) from the dozens of other games starring Sega’s true blue mascot.

What is the release date for Sonic Frontiers? 

Sonic Frontiers is launching on November 8, 2022, Sega announced during Gamescom in August. That does match its latest projection of "Holiday 2022’."

Here's the new Sonic Frontiers trailer from Gamescom

A new trailer for Sonic Frontiers was shown during Opening Night Live at Gamescom, which the team calls a story trailer but also focused on reminding us that the open world Sonic does, in fact, include some traditional running and bouncing platforming sections too. Don't worry, there's some Sonic left in this Sonic game, it seems to reassure.

Will Sonic Frontiers be on PC? 

Yes, and just about every other console around, including the Switch. So far, no system requirements have been announced for Frontiers, but given that the game scales all the way down to the Switch (effectively a mid-spec mobile device) and last-gen consoles like the Xbox One and PS4, you’re unlikely to need a massive machine to run it at lower settings. 

What sets Sonic Frontiers apart from other Sonic games? 

While the Sonic series has gone some weird places over the years (including a rubbish RPG by Bioware and that awkward Werehog one), Frontiers could be one of the biggest shifts for the series yet. While they may have had explorable overworlds, the levels in Sonic Adventure and Sonic ‘06 were largely linear. Sonic Frontiers is leaning towards a much less restrictive open-world format.

Rather than Sonic’s usual abstract and cartoonish worlds, this time he’s exploring a chain of much more natural-looking islands, with fields of flowers, dense forests and jagged cliffs to navigate, although there seem to be grind-rails hovering just about everywhere, providing some additional movement options. It seems that Frontiers has taken some Breath of The Wild inspiration, with devices and mini-puzzles revealing collectible items in the overworld.

Also shown in gameplay footage so far is an increased focus on combat, including rapid melee combos and dodges. Sonic will be able to unlock and learn new combat abilities over the course of the game, including the ability to shoot swarms of energy blades at enemies, and a melee parry move. It’s an unusual change of pace, as Sonic’s usual approach to combat is to bounce on past as quickly as possible, rather than standing and fighting toe-to-toe.

What do we know about the world of Sonic Frontiers? 

For this adventure, Sonic is headed off to the mysterious Starfall Islands, an archipelago that was once home to an advanced (but now lost) civilization. What this means is miles of open, largely unspoilt hills to speed around, punctuated with mysterious techno-ruins, grind-rails and floating platforms. Also ancient killer robots, because that’s just a thing Sonic can’t escape. They are at least cool, abstract-looking murder machines instead of Eggman’s usual designs which look like he (fittingly) lifted them from Kinder Surprise toys.

Thankfully they’re not dropping the linear, speed-focused levels entirely. Recent preview videos have shown off several ‘Cyber Space’ levels inspired by Sonic’s past adventures, and feature returning enemies from older games. These will apparently reward Sonic with keys which may be required to progress in the story. It’s anyone’s guess how heavily the game is weighted towards these more old-school stages.

Of course, this is a Sonic game so they’ve got to introduce yet another marketable buddy character to interact with and eventually pad out IDW’s ever-expanding comic cast. While details are a bit sketchy thanks to being gleaned from leaks, it looks like a mysterious girl named Sage (seemingly some sort of guardian figure with a glitchy red holographic look) will fill that role. Leaks imply that she’ll be antagonistic at first (trying to get Sonic to leave the Starfall islands) but I’d give solid odds of the power of friendship winning out before the credits roll.

It seems equally likely that Sega will forget about the character the moment the game launches.

Where are Sonic’s other friends this time? 

Sadly, the custom make-a-mascot protagonist of Sonic Forces is nowhere to be seen this time, and the rest of the cast are making themselves scarce too. It seems that this time round, Sonic is mostly tackling this job solo. Early hands-on previews mention that Tails & Amy make an appearance during the intro, but the gang are separated after falling through a portal, leaving Sonic alone and searching for the Chaos Emeralds (the ultimate in all-purpose macguffins), guided by a mysterious AI’s voice.

Of course, wherever the Chaos Emeralds can be found (just about anywhere it seems—they’re worse than Dragon Balls) Eggman is involved, and recent clips have shown some of his hardware being set up on the island. Expect to tussle with him and his robot goons at some point. Still, the machines active on the islands already seem a little more menacing. And big.

Who is developing Sonic Frontiers? 

Sonic Frontiers is being developed by Sega’s original Sonic Team, headed up by producer Takashi Iizuka. He’s been key to the series since he was credited as Game Designer on Sonic 3. Despite having some highs (Sonic Generations & Colors) and lows (Sonic Lost World & Forces) few people know the old Blue Blur better than him. 

What’s up with the music? 

As anyone with ears might have noted during the gameplay showcases so far, Sonic Frontiers is also experimenting musically. There’s no goofy Crush 40 vocal tracks or bouncy FM synth jams to be heard so far. Expect moody piano-led pieces for exploring the overworld, and the occasional guitar-and-strings heavy ‘epic’ action piece to accompany boss fights. You can hear the former in IGN’s gameplay footage here, and the latter in the recent Nintendo Direct Mini.

Personally I’m hoping we get some more old-school tunes during the Cyber Space stages, but only time will tell on this front. It does feel weird to not be enthusiastic about a Sonic game’s music. Aside from the Bioware RPG’s notoriously busted soundtrack, the music has always been a high point in these games. Even in the otherwise risible Sonic ‘06! Here’s hoping Sega have some surprises lined up.

(Image credit: Sega)

Why are people unhappy about Sonic Frontiers? 

You don’t have to look far online to find people pessimistic about Sonic Frontiers. While opinions on the game are as diverse and colorful as Sonic’s ever-expanding cast of friends and hangers-on, there have been a few common criticisms leveled at the footage that Sega has shown so far. Among the most obvious is the technical rough edges. There’s a lot of environmental pop-up visible in the open world, especially foliage. Hopefully the PC version allows us to push those draw distances further back with more powerful hardware.

More generally, there’s been broad criticism of the open-world environment. While the clips of Cyber Space levels have helped alleviate this, the broader overworld seems a little bland, and its abstract techno-ruins feel a bit generically JRPG’ish. Personally it reminds me a lot of Phantasy Star Online 2: New Genesis, which is coincidentally another Sonic Team production. It’s not an aesthetic I’m opposed to, but it doesn’t really scream ‘Sonic’ to me.

There have also been some grumbles from Sonic’s most technically-minded of fans, highlighting the strange movement physics shown in the gameplay footage. Sonic seems to be retaining more momentum than he normally would while grinding on rails, while bleeding speed elsewhere. While this is all down to personal taste, the series has been running long enough for people to have a solid idea of what a Sonic game should feel like.

Lastly, one we can file under ‘non-controversy’, it has been reported (thanks, PCGamesN) that some badniks on Steam have been abusing the public tagging system to mark the game as being ‘Not Safe For Work’, as well as containing ‘Sexual content’, ‘Psychological horror’ elements and worse. While this would be an accurate representation of some (okay, many) fan-works out there, it’s not really applicable here.

Whether another round of the Sonic Cycle will cause similar levels of psychic damage is a question only time will answer. 

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[The Callisto Protocol's new trailer has a simple message: Kill fast or die ugly]

Striking Distance Studios boss Glen Schofield made at appearance at today's Opening Night Live showcase for Gamescom to show off some fresh gameplay from the upcoming horror game The Callisto Protocol, and its new system of mutations that will enable enemies to transform into "bigger, badder, faster meaner" opponents if they're not killed quickly.

It's a subtle effect, and the trailer moves pretty quickly, but you can see see the enemies transforming during the fight, sprouting tentacles and even regrowing a skull after it's blown off in appropriately gory fashion. It seems pretty clear that at least some enemies will need to be taken down in a hurry if you want to avoid a prolonged fight, and the suffering that invariably arises from such encounters.

It all ends badly, though, as Callisto Protocol trailers so often do: After an extended ride through a torrent of what I can only assume is untreated sewage and sticky viscera, our hero zigs when he really, really should have zagged. Bad move, bud.

The Callisto Protocol is set to come out on December 2.

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[Hogwarts Legacy: Everything we know about the next Harry Potter game]

Information about Hogwarts Legacy has been a long time coming since its unveiling back in 2020, but this year has given us a substantial amount of info about the Harry Potter RPG from Portkey Games. After a beefy gameplay reveal in March 2022, we've got enough details to conjure a pretty complete image of how Hogwarts Legacy's wizarding world will look when it arrives in 2023, including character customization, companion characters, and lots and lots of magical combat.

Hogwarts Legacy will be a jaunt backwards in wizarding history, taking place in the late 19th century before Harry and most of the book's characters were born. Dumbledore's just about the only character old enough to have a chance of appearing, and even then he'd just be a child—potentially even a classmate? Either way, the older era should give offer enough creative freedom to make a Hogwarts pupil that's fully your own, without being burdened down by existing storytelling as you explore the world and uncover the secrets of ancient magic.

Hogwarts Legacy is landing at a fraught time for the wizarding universe. Book series author J.K. Rowling has double, triple, and quadrupled down on her public transphobia, while a middling response to the latest Fantastic Beasts film seemingly has Warner Bros. shying away from continuing the series. What role Hogwarts Legacy will play in the state of the Harry Potter world remains to be seen.

For more details and screens for Hogwarts Legacy, plus what news there is about when it might arrive, take a look below.

Hogwarts Legacy release date

When is the Hogwarts Legacy release date?

Hogwarts Legacy will release on February 10, 2023.

Despite the conventional wisdom about wizards arriving precisely when they mean to, Hogwarts Legacy has undergone two delays—the first pushed its intended release out of 2021 and into 2022, and the most recent knocked its holiday 2022 release window into the first quarter of 2023.

"The team is excited for you to play, but we need a little more time to deliver the best possible game experience," Portkey Games said on the Hogwarts Legacy Twitter while announcing the latest delay.

Check out the new Hogwarts Legacy trailer from Gamescom

Fresh off its most recent delay announcement, Hogwarts Legacy showed off an new trailer during the Opening Night Live presentation at Gamescom. This time it was a story trailer focused on Slytherin student Sebastian Sallow teaching the rest of the characters about curses for self defense and the conflict it starts with Hogwarts professors.

Hogwarts Legacy trailers and screenshots

The initial reveal trailer above for Hogwarts Legacy gave us just a brief look at what the big wizarding RPG would involve, but it definitely made clear what a pretty game it's going to be. From the initial trailer we saw just a bit of combat and lore, though we now know a lot more about both.

Check out these Hogwarts Legacy reveal screenshots

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(Image credit: Warner Bros., Avalanche)

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(Image credit: Warner Bros., Avalanche)

Above are some screenshots from the Hogwarts Legacy reveal trailer to get a look at how Portkey games has designed its 1800s version of Hogwarts. 

Hogwarts Legacy gameplay & combat

What do we know about the Hogwarts Legacy gameplay?

When it was first revealed, Portkey Games called Hogwarts Legacy an "immersive, open-world action RPG." The studio also explains that, "[Players] will grow their character’s abilities as they master powerful spells, hone combat skills and select companions to help them face off against deadly enemies," Portkey Games says. "Players will also encounter missions and scenarios that will pose difficult choices and determine what they stand for."

From the lengthy gameplay reveal in March 2022, we've seen a lot more of what that actually means. 

Portkey Games has shown off how you'll explore Hogwarts castle itself, solving puzzles with your spells and abilities to unlock secret rooms and dungeons. You'll also be able to fly around on your broom.

As a student, you'll also be attending classes like Herbology, Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts, or Potions. From what we've seen so far, some classes will involve interactive minigames.

We've also briefly seen the talent points system where you can invest points into categories like the Room of Requirement, stealth, and your "core" abilities. The other two categories were unnamed, but I'd be that one of them is related to combat.

(Image credit: Portkey Games, Warner Bros.)

Is there combat in Hogwarts Legacy?

It sure looks like there's going to be a lot of combat in Hogwarts Legacy. You may be just a student, but you'll be battling magical creatures, dueling your classmates, and fighting against ne'er-do-well adult wizards too. 

You'll learn all sorts of spells for combat and the gameplay reveal showed off quite a lot of them. Some spells can stun enemies, pull them towards you, or toss them in the air. Elemental spells can summon fire for an area of effect. It all appears pretty action-y, spells and effects flying as you face several enemies at once armed mostly with your wand.

You will have other tools too, including special plants and animals. Portkey has shown off how plants like screaming Mandrakes can be used offensively to stun enemies while other small plants can keep an enemy's attention while you attack.

There's also a stealth system, which we've seen used to sneak up on unsuspecting enemy wizards.

(Image credit: Portkey Games, Warner Bros.)

What's the Room of Requirement for?

The Room of Requirement is a special room in Hogwarts castle that only appears to someone in great need of it. As a fifth year transfer student, apparently you qualify. The Room of Requirement appears to function as a sort of customizable base and crafting hub for your student. 

You'll be able to unlock crafting stations for plants and potions or raise animals as friends there. From what we've seen, potions and plants and other stations all appear to take time to produce—though whether that's real world time or only time spent playing isn't clear so far.

Hogwarts Legacy story and setting

(Image credit: Portkey Games, Warner Bros.)

What is the Hogwarts Legacy story?

Avalanche Software and Portkey Games say that Hogwarts Legacy follows the wizarding world lore set out in the original Harry Potter novels but is an original story from the studio, not written by J.K. Rowling. 

You'll play as a student attending Hogwarts in the late 1890, attending classes and learning magic alongside other students. "You have received a late acceptance to the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and soon discover that you are no ordinary student: you possess an unusual ability to perceive and master Ancient Magic," the studio says. "Only you can decide if you will protect this secret for the good of all, or yield to the temptation of more sinister magic."

You'll meet the mysterious Professor Fig to figure out answers to your special abilities. There's also the matter of a some kind of rebellion led by a goblin named Ranrock. You'll be fighting Ranrock's goblins, dark witches and wizards, and magical beasts too.

Which locations are in Hogwarts Legacy?

There may not be familiar faces in Hogwarts Legacy due to the time period it's set in, but it looks like we can definitely expect some standard places. Avalanche say that it's an open world game, so there will likely be plenty of exploring to do in and out of the castle. Throughout your school year, seasons will come and go as you explore areas outside the castle as well.

Hogwarts Castle
It should come as no surprise that we'll be spending a lot of time in Hogwarts Castle itself as students. In the reveal trailer we got a good look at the expansive great hall and a look at the exterior we know so well too.

Hogsmeade
The nearby village of Hogsmeade seems like it's going to be prominent. Parts of the story will take place there, as will buying potion ingredients and outfits for your character.

Forbidden Forest
Also from the reveal trailer we can spot a venture into the Forbidden Forest where a student is fighting against those unknown dark wizards.

Hogwarts Legacy characters and companions

(Image credit: Portkey Games, Warner Bros.)

Is Harry Potter in Hogwarts Legacy?

Nope! Remember, this is set in the 1800s so the kid who lived is several generations from being born. Harry Potter won't be in Hogwarts Legacy but since you can create your own character you could probably design a wizard student who looks like him if you really want to.

Familiar faces will likely be few and far between, given the time period, but the gameplay reveal did show a very short clip of a student chatting with Nearly Headless Nick the ghost. Perhaps some other less-corporeal cameos are in order.

Here's what we know about character creation

We've seen just a bit of character customization so far in the gameplay reveal, showing the ability to change characteristics like hairstyles and color, skin color, and scars. After choosing your appearance, you'll also be able to select the Hogwarts house your student is sorted into. 

Past that, Portkey Games also goes over mid-game customization through outfit choices you can buy and equip from visiting shops in Hogsmeade.

According to a Bloomberg report in 2021, Hogwarts Legacy will let you choose a masculine or feminine voice, body type, and dorm placement as "witch" or "wizard" independently when creating a student. 

"Some members of the Hogwarts Legacy development team have fought to make the game as inclusive as possible, pushing for the character customization and even for a transgender character to be added," Bloomberg says. "There was resistance from management at first, the people familiar with the project said, but currently the character customization is included in the game."

A Hogwarts Legacy presentation at 2022's Autodesk Vision series gave us a more complete look at the game's character creation screen. Official screenshots from the event haven't yet been released, but fan-captured screenshots are available on unofficial news Twitter accounts and the Hogwarts Legacy subreddit.

Character Customisation #HogwartsLegacy pic.twitter.com/m0pqMB0XgXAugust 3, 2022

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Who are your companions?

Portkey Games has explained that certain students in the story have their own personal stories that you can be involved with and that they'll eventually be able to accompany you around the world and in combat. Here's who we know about so far:

Natsai Onai: a Gryffindor and "a brave adventurer driven by the justice she seeks."

Poppy Sweeting: a Hufflepuff who has "a kind heart and loves magical beasts."

Sebastian Sallow: a Slytherin "unafraid of detention or breaking the rules."

Hogwarts Legacy's development and influences

There's reason to be skeptical of Hogwarts Legacy's attempts at inclusive representation

Hogwarts Legacy is going back in wizarding world history, but the game is coming with a fair bit of real world history that's worth knowing about. 

In recent years, J.K. Rowling has made a series of transphobic remarks that have upset many longtime Harry Potter fans, making her connection to Hogwarts Legacy a significant question. The story of Hogwarts Legacy is a Portkey Games creation, and on an FAQ on its website WB Games says "J.K. Rowling is not directly involved in the creation of the game, however, her extraordinary body of writing is the foundation of all projects in the Wizarding World." 

When Kotaku asked Warner Bros. whether Rowling would receive royalties from sales of Hogwarts Legacy, a representative declined to comment.

Some fans also raised concerns over videos created by Hogwarts Legacy lead designer Troy Leavitt, who formerly ran an anti-social justice YouTube channel. Leavitt's videos included his opinions supportive of Gamergate and references to the #MeToo movement as a "moral panic."

"I’m happy to say that, even though I disclosed my YouTube channel to WB Games, it didn’t appear to be an issue for them," Leavitt said in a video from 2018. "Not that they endorse anything that I’ve said, of course, but at least they seem more concerned with making good games than with pushing some kind of a social justice agenda, so there is hope."

On March 4, two weeks after the videos recirculated online, Leavitt tweeted "I have made the decision to part ways with Avalanche Software. I have nothing but good things to say about the game, the dev team, and WB Games."

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[Gearbox's attempt at a Telltale game releases in October]

New Tales from the Borderlands comes to PC and consoles on October 21, 2022. That's right, the new Tales from the Borderlands game is just called "New Tales From The Borderlands." Easy to remember!

New Tales From The Borderlands is another episodic narrative adventure game, but it's not made by Telltale—or "new Telltale," you might call it, since the old Telltale went bankrupt and was later resurrected. Instead, this one comes from main Borderlands series developer Gearbox Software.

New Tales from the Borderlands also isn't a direct continuation of the story from Tales from the Borderlands. It's about three new characters, Anu, Octavio, and Fran, who are facing off against Tediore and their talking guns with legs.

As with all the other Borderlands games, the Gamescom reveal suggests we'll be subjected to bizarre characters, annoyingly funny one-liners, references to places like Buttsville, and the series' typical anti-corporate themes. Alongside the new fresh faces, expect to see a few familiar friends and foes, too—nobody actually important ever seems to stay permanently dead in Borderlands, and the characters from Telltale's game have apparently not been swallowed by the swamp of intellectual property licensing. I spotted Rhys and his 'frack' moustache in the trailer, but I personally hope to see ultra-ripped nerd, Vaughn, especially after his fortune changed in Borderlands 3.

Rather than being all looty-shooty, New Tales from the Borderlands is mainly about deciding where the story goes, whether you want to talk your way out of a situation or throw frogurt in someone's face and flee.

"The decisions you make determine how your story ends in unexpected ways," says Gearbox. "Whether it's Anu's vision of a universe that markets more than weapons, Octavio's dreams of fame and fortune, or Fran's frosty plot for revenge, their success or failure depends on you."

Like the Telltale original, New Tales from the Borderlands will be singleplayer and episodic; it's a "five-part story," Gearbox says. The original Tales was one of Telltale's better games, and arguably contains the best storytelling the Borderlands universe has seen. Whether Gearbox can do compelling interactive fiction without its usual bazillion guns to fall back on is an open question, but some of the original Telltale writers are working on this one, according to Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford.

We'll be able to play Gearbox's attempt at the modern adventure game on October 21. Pre-orders are available now: There's a New Tales from the Borderlands standard edition available for $40/£35, and a Deluxe version for $50/£45, which includes the original Tales from the Borderlands. It's not clear yet whether all episodes will be released at once, or if they're releasing over time.

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[The Callisto Protocol: Everything we know about the sci-fi survival horror from Dead Space veterans]

The Callisto Protocol is a forthcoming survival horror game in development at Striking Distance, a studio founded in 2019 by former Dead Space lead Glen Schofield. As a result of that connection, The Callisto Protocol has generated quite a bit of buzz. It no doubt helps that, from what we've seen so far, The Callisto Protocol looks very Dead Space.

So what do we know about The Callisto Protocol? Here's the broad strokes: it's a "story-driven, singleplayer survival game," and for a while at least, it was primed to be set in the PUBG universe (Striking Distance and PUBG Studios are both owned by Krafton). It's a third-person survival horror game, with plenty of aliens and alien/human hybrids. And it's got a horrifying amount of their saliva.

What is the Callisto Protocol release date?

The Callisto Protocol will release on December 2, 2022. It's worth noting that Striking Distance Studios opened in mid-2019. If the December release date holds true, and it seems like it will, that's a quick turnaround for a newly founded studio—albeit one with a lot of proven experience in the genre.

Check out the new Callisto Protocol trailer from Gamescom

Striking Distance Studios brought a new Callisto Protocol gameplay trailer to Gamescom in August showing off a mutating enemy type in the first half and a sewer escape in the second half.

Here are all the Callisto Protocol trailers we've seen

We first saw The Callisto Protocol reveal trailer back in the heady days of December 2020. It's a cinematic trailer with no actual gameplay footage, but it makes abundantly clear that The Callisto Protocol will be gory sci-fi horror in the Dead Space mold, complete with eerie flickering corridors, ominous holographic transmissions, and, yeah, an extremely unpleasant looking alien. 

A prisoner wakes in a less-than-ideal prison cell, before being attacked (presumably fatally) by the aforementioned alien. Our point of view then shifts to a closed circuit camera witnessing this event, and keeps zooming out until we see the figure watching that footage, who then wanders off to a window overlooking a bleak landscape that is definitely not planet Earth.

In the official gameplay reveal trailer, we're given a sense of protagonist Jacob Lee's circumstances: apparently, crash-landing a little too close to the maximum security prison on the 'dead moon' of Callisto is enough to earn yourself a sentence. For Jacob, that sentence seems to mostly entail stomping, bludgeoning, and shooting his way through buckets worth of bodily fluids, either human or alien. Or both at once.

What will The Callisto Protocol gameplay be like? Have we seen any?

This first look at gameplay footage for The Callisto Protocol should give Dead Space fans plenty to rejoice. It's got your heavy, thudding protagonist, malformed alien-human hybrids lurking in poorly-lit space hallways, high-recoil firearms for blasting off enemy extremities. The Callisto Protocol is very much one of those, down to the gruesome death animations.

The Callisto Protocol definitely seems heavy on the third-person combat, in both melee and shooting flavors, and with all the splattered viscera you'd expect. Hacking off limbs is a valuable tactical option, as is hurling enemies into environmental hazards using a gravity weapon called The Grip. Otherwise, it remains to be seen what sorts of mechanics surround all that splattering. If the obvious Dead Space parallels hold true, it'll belong to the survival horror school of "yeah, you can shoot the baddies, but we're not gonna make it easy."

Where is The Callisto Protocol set?

It's set on a dead moon. Specifically, a dead moon of Jupiter called Callisto, which actually exists in real life. In The Callisto Protocol an organization called the United Jupiter Company has built a prison colony there called Black Iron. If a privately-owned prison installation wasn't evil enough, protagonist Jacob Lee wakes up one day to find the prison overrun with hostile aliens. 

It's an exquisitely "eff this 'frack'" situation that sounds as indebted to the Alien films as it is to the Dead Space games. "Prison is a really scary place," Schofield somewhat redundantly pronounced in a 2020 Discord Q&A, before adding, "And a prison on Jupiter's dead moon is terrifying. Can't think of anything more desolate and isolated than that." 

(Do you think Dark Souls 2 is the best Souls game? If yes, think of how desolate and isolated you feel, and multiply that by thousands.)

Schofield said during the same Q&A that he wants The Callisto Protocol to be "the most terrifying game of all time," which is an incredibly ambitious undertaking, given we live in a world with games like Visage, Silent Hill 2, Murder House, Alien Isolation, and indeed the original Dead Space.

(Image credit: Striking Distance Studios)

So is The Callisto Protocol part of the PUBG universe or not?

It's not! Though for a little while, it was. In an August 2021 interview, director Glen Schofield said that The Callisto Protocol was indeed part of the PUBG universe. "The funny thing is, I came in with this story when I went and met with the PUBG people for the first time and started talking about [The Callisto Protocol] and building a studio," Schofield said. "I presented this game to them, and so what we did was we made it fit within the PUBG storyline."

It makes a little bit of (business) sense, since Striking Distance Studios is owned by Krafton, the same parent company who oversees PUBG Studios. But much to the relief of some, and probably to the great disappointment of others invested in PUBG lore, that has since changed.

Glen Schofield tweeted in May 2022 that The Callisto Protocol is now "its own story and world. It no longer takes place in the PUBG Universe. It was originally part of the PUBG timeline, but grew into its own world. PUBG is awesome, and we will still have little surprises for fans, but TCP is its own world, story and universe."

What do you actually do in The Callisto Protocol?

The Callisto Protocol definitely seems heavy on the third-person combat, in both melee and shooting flavors, and with all the splattered viscera you'd expect from a sci-fi horror game. And owing to its Dead Space lineage, hacking off limbs is a valuable tactical option.

Otherwise, it remains to be seen what sorts of mechanics surround all that splattering. If the obvious Dead Space parallels hold true, it'll belong to the survival horror school of "yeah, you can shoot the baddies, but we're not gonna make it easy."

Coincidentally, the website does mention being able to use a "gravity weapon," which is never a bad thing.

Does The Callisto Protocol have co-op?

No, The Callisto Protocol will not have co-op. Dead moon prisons just aren't scary enough with a friend by your side. 

"There's a story that we want to tell, and the best way we could tell it was being a singleplayer game," Glen Schofield explained on Discord last year. "Sometimes when you get into co-op, you don't follow directions and you're not following the story as well, and not only that, we wanted this to be—we wanted you to be alone. That's what makes this really scary."

Sounds cool, but I want Dead Space instead, please.

The future of the Dead Space series continues to remain up in the air, but the original game is getting a thorough revamp. The Dead Space remake is set to release in 2023.

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[Bungie will no longer sunset whole expansions from Destiny 2]

Slipped in quietly amidst today's big news about the next major Destiny 2 expansion, Lightfall, and the new Season of the Plunder that started today, Bungie has announced that it will no longer remove expansions from the game in the future.

The practice of culling content from Destiny 2 was announced in 2020 as a way of dealing with bloat: Destiny 2 is a huge game, and with plans to continue growing it for the indefinite future, Bungie decided that the only way to keep it manageable, for developers and players alike, was to shunt older content into the Content Vault. Going forward, that's going to change.

"We've also been working on the Destiny engine behind the scenes, preparing our technology and our game to last for many, many years to come," general manager Justin Truman said during the showcase. "Because Destiny 2 is not going anywhere, and neither are your expansions. We want this story, since we first communed with the Darkness on the Moon, to be fully playable start to finish.

"We're happy to announce today that we are not planning to sunset any more expansions. We want the Destiny universe to grow, and we're going to continue to do everything that we can behind the scenes to keep that possible within our game engine."

The Content Vault isn't going away entirely: The showcase recap clarifies that "seasonal content will continue to stay throughout the current expansion year and then move to the Destiny Content Vault when a new Expansion launches." But the expansions themselves—the bits that keep players up to speed on everything that's happened so far—will remain available. 

In practice that should mean that major destination spaces, such as The Moon and Savathûn's Throne World (which were added in Shadowfall and The Witchqueen, respectively), will be staying in perpetuity.

It's definitely good news for Destiny fans, but bear in mind that this only applies to current and future expansions: Shadowkeep, Beyond Light, The Witch Queen, Lightfall, and whatever comes next. There's no word on the possibility of permanent Vault removal for older expansions, like for instance Forsaken, the one where Cayde-6 gets put down for good—an important part of the overall Destiny 2 narrative by any measure. We'll have to wait and see how that works out.

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[Sample the student life in Two Point Campus]

Every self-respecting student—especially those studying the arts—knows that getting a degree isn't really about setting yourself up for a career, but about the friendships, romantic dalliances, and debauchery you get up to along the way. Two Point Campus understands that as well as any institution, which is why it offers its students a vibrant life beyond the classroom.

Every student in Two Point Campus is a simmering cauldron of young adult energy, complex emotions, and needs. Students not only need to eat, sleep, and wash, but also crave excitement, adventure, and that electric crackle you feel when you meet someone you really connect with.

One of the best ways to get students bonding is to organise parties in the Student Union (or Student Lounge if you don't yet have the dosh for a full-on union). Set up a party near the start of the school year, and students will gain a spring in their step for some time, as well as establish those tentative early connections with their peers.

To some extent, students will form their own bonds. They'll chat before lectures, come up with silly handshakes at the gym, and throw down shapes together on the dance floor. But you—as the campus Cupid—can weave some magic to bring students even closer together.

(Image credit: SEGA)

For a start, you can create romantic hotspots for your students. Decorate an outdoor area with trees and rosebeds, put down a Lover's Bench or Tree Benches (perhaps surrounding a Statue of Love), and watch the sparks start to fly. You could even set up a couple of cool Cadillac dining tables away from the crowd so that students can stare adoringly at each other over the tops of oversized milkshakes.

Then, once those love hooks bring a couple of blissful students together, let them take the leap from 'Sweethearts' to 'Soulmates' on the Double Jump Bed. And what do you do on this bubblegum-pink double bed adorned with love hearts? Why, jump around on it, of course.

Beyond the intoxicating haze of romance, there are other invaluable experiences for students on your campus. Once you can afford it, a concert stage in your Student Union can attract some of Two Point County's most famous acts, like DJ Sue Chef and the Boogie Knights. More competitive students, meanwhile, can compete in Cheeseball matches or County Cook-Offs against rival colleges. Hosting all these memorable events will make your college a vibrant buzzing place, which will be a big boost when the end-of-year awards come around.

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There are more laid back ways for students to spend their time too. A nice movie in a lecture theatre, games rooms, or simply hanging out in the dormitory. Admittedly, the dorms are usually a bit more packed in Two Point Campus than the ones you may have experienced, but hey, five students to a bed (not at the same time) is a lesson that nothing—whether it's education or privacy—comes free in life. This is a university campus, not some glamping holiday.

Keeping students happy and engaged is crucial to your campus. Give them a time to remember, and they'll give you the grades you want.

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[Destiny 2: Season of Plunder lets you yeet yourself from cannons to fight space pirates]

I hope you like walking planks because as part of its big livestream showcase, Bungie just dropped a trailer for Destiny 2's Season of Plunder, which starts today. Eramis, who you may remember as the Big Bad from the Beyond Light expansion, has broken free of her icy prison and it's up to you to create a ragtag crew to take her out (again). Quite why nobody was guarding her frozen body is anyone's guess.

The highlight of the new stuff for me is that you can turn your guardian into a cannonball and launch yourself between Fallen ketches in the new six-player activity, Ketchcrash. Season of Plunder starts at weekly reset today and runs until December 6.

There's been some leaked information floating around for a while now, so let's clear up those rumours. In Season of Plunder you'll be cosplaying as space pirates, sailing—or is it still flying?—around on a big 'donkey' pirate ship, which is a nice departure from sparrows. There are new expeditions to go on, new pirate hideouts to loot, and the usual gamut of new armor, weapons and fancy exotic items.

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Lost relics are a key motivator this season as you hunt pirate leaders and their loot. Spider, Mithrax and Drifter will be helping you this season as you try to prevent Eramis from getting her hands on all the booty. You can recruit other NPCs throughout the season to do cool pirate stuff with. Of course, Arc 3.0 is also being added, including a sweet new spear-based super for Hunters. It all looks like great news for Riskrunner fans (like me), so get in and start prepping that build to make you an unstoppable menace. 

This season also brings another reprised raid from Destiny 1, which will be free to play for everyone. That's finally been revealed as King's Fall, which will please the veterans, and will become available on August 26 at 10 am PT/ 1 pm ET/ 6 pm BST. It'll be in contest mode for the first 24 hours, meaning your power will be capped, and you'll need to be at 1560 to enter. There's also the Gift of the Thunder Gods, a free collection of Arc-themed gear that includes two exotics and ten legendary items for each class so you can catch up instantly.

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[Destiny 2 is finally getting in-game LFG and loadout systems with Lightfall]

Bungie has announced that with the launch of the new Lightfall expansion it is going to add new loadout systems and LFG to Destiny 2. The news was revealed during the annual Bungie livestream, and honestly, it's a pretty welcome change.

Previously, if players were looking for a fireteam for non-matchmade activities, they'd have to search through the fireteam finder on the Destiny 2 app, but that functionality is finally being introduced to the game. This will let players partner up to try dungeons, raids, and nightfalls. Since a common complaint with Destiny 2 is being unable to find a group for endgame content, Bungie hopes this will create a better new player experience where it's easier to party up.

A new Guardian Commendation system is also coming to the game, and will let you rate other players post-activity. The more commendations you get, the more that other players will know your strengths—it's a bit like Guardian reviews. If you have lots of commendations, other players will know you make for a reliable fireteam member. This system sounds like it could have some potential niggles, but on the plus side, it'll mean you can pick reliable players and guides for tough content.

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The new post-activity commendation screen. (Image credit: Bungie)

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A mockup of the new loadout menu for Destiny 2. (Image credit: Bungie)

The mod menu and loadout system are also getting some much needed love. Currently, you have to change mods individually on every piece of armor, so if you don't use something like Destiny Item Manager, it takes multiple armor sets, or a lot of mod switching if you want to change your build. This is something you frequently need to do for endgame content.

Bungie announced that they are introducing preset loadouts so you can change between armor and weapon sets quickly, and also that the mod menu will receive a complete overhaul to be more in line with the updated cosmetics screen. This will let players change all their mods at once and should make build-crafting a lot simpler.

"The changes we're making make Destiny easier to come into," says Tyson Green, system creative director. "Changes to how you build your characters, changes to how you see what there is to do and what there is to accomplish, and in the year ahead we're actually making it easier to form groups together so you can go and do some of the greatest content Destiny has to offer."

All of this drops alongside Guardian Ranks; a new 11 rank system that guides new players through the initial stages of Destiny 2, and generally shows other players how experienced you are at the game. Along with the reveal of Neptune as a destination, and the new darkness-based subclass, Strand, things are looking pretty exciting for Destiny 2 next year.

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[Destiny 2's new Strand subclass looks like sci-fi Spider-Man with magic green webs]

Earlier today Bungie teased the new darkness-based subclass coming to Destiny 2 called Strand, and it's as much about movement and traversal as combat.

In its showcase, the developer finally detailed the much-rumoured new subclass. Now confirmed to be called Strand, the subclass looks as much about exploring the new city on Neptune with a cosmic grappling hook as it is whipping cabal in the face with ropes of green energy.

"Strand is psychic energy that forms this extra dimension, this sort of matrix that connects everything together. It connects all living beings and all minds, and you the guardian are sort of gaining the knowledge and gaining the power to peer into this alternate psychic universe and begin to pull on these threads and tug on these wires that are connecting all these living beings," Samuel Dunn, senior designer, says.

If you haven't heard already, Bungie also showed off the next big expansion for Destiny 2, Lightfall, during a livestream. It broke down the upcoming subclass changes and new Neptune-based location: a cyberpunk-style city that's been largely untouched by the collapse that has seen most of the known Destiny universe we've played in so far be a ruin of its former glory.

"When you play through Lightfall, you are discovering this power for the first time. No one in the universe, ever in the history of Destiny, has used Strand before," Adam Grantham, narrative director at Bungie, says.

The Strand subclass plays into that new location, with a whole new way to traverse the world unlike anything we've used so far. Harnessing a thread of darkness energy, you'll be able to fling your guardian around the new location. Sort of like a space-age Spider-Man, but actually slightly better. Your grappling hook doesn't need to actually connect with any object to fling you forward, it sticks to a web of magical space energy—because of course it does.

"Since you are seeing into this cosmic web, you are able to grapple at any point because the cosmic web exists everywhere. Even if there is not an object there, it will hook onto that web and pull you forward," Dave Samuel, senior VFX art lead, says.

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In regards to the new map, players will be "using Strand to traverse through it, explore it."

How far the grappling hook will flow into the rest of the existing content is not yet clear, but I imagine it could have fairly wide-reaching implications if, say, you could take it into a raid run. Plenty of cheeses came out of swords back in the day, so I wonder how a whole grappling hook will impact how we play older content. It might be a risky strategy to throw yourself into an abyss and hope a hook will save you, but only those brave enough to risk it all learn cool new tricks.

But Strand isn't all exploration-based. No, it's a fully-fledged subclass that will offer each of the three Guardian classes—Hunter, Warlock, and Titan—a new way to crush alien enemies.

(Image credit: Bungie)

• Warlocks are the "telekinetic master of Strand" and will receive a new missile-based super ability that barrages foes. When these missiles land, they split and unravel.
• Titans get hands-on with some up-close and personal claw hands that offers a spinning and slashing AoE attack.
• Hunters will be whipping Vex right in their milk hearts with a rope dart (also known as a rope javelin). Players will be able to spin and launch this rope dart as they're flipping and sliding around, or whatever Hunters do. 

"We've learned a lot from creating our other subclasses, and we've taken those learnings about combat, about movement, about build crafting, we've put that all into Strand," Eric Smith, senior designer, says.

Bungie says that Strand was initially a Hunter-only kind of deal, though felt it was too fun to restrict to the cape fanciers. And I say that without any sort of envy of what might have been as a Warlock-main.

It all looks absolutely killer, though we'll have to wait and see which super has the most practical use for our respective classes. As a Warlock, I'm wondering how much Strand will play like Nova bomb or a void build, but I'm sure there's a lot more there to shake things up. Beyond Strand, Bungie is also reworking Arc builds with Arc 3.0 launching today, so it's not Strand or nothing.

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[Hearthstone Battlegrounds is adding Quests and a Season Track in a big update coming next week]

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In terms of popularity, there's a case to be made that Hearthstone's Battlegrounds spin-off has superseded the original game, with the arrival of a major new patch to refresh the meta as eagerly anticipated as any card expansion. The next update is due to drop on August 30, and today Blizzard has begun detailing the contents, which include a refresh of the minion and hero pools, Battlegrounds Missions (think: dailies), as well as the addition of a rewards track that will contain new kinds of cosmetics.

Here's a glimpse at Battelgrounds' bespoke season track. It'll contain emotes, hero Skins, strikes and other cosmetics. (Image credit: Blizzard)

The latter is no surprise given that the publisher has been trying hard to monetise the mode's runaway success for some time (it uses a season pass model in the absence of player's needing to buy card packs). You can read the fine detail in the official announcement, but the big new gameplay feature is going to be the Quest mechanic. Here's how it works: At the start of turn four (i.e. when you have six Gold) you'll be presented with three quests to pick from, each with a randomly selected reward. 

Here are the three initial quest and reward examples provided:

Reward name	Reward Descripton	Random Quest
The Smoking Gun	Your minions have +5 Attack.	Play 4 Naga or Demons.
Evil Twin	Start of Combat: Summon a copy of your highest Health minion.	Summon 20 minions.
Another Hidden Body	Discover a minion of your Tavern Tier. (Can be earned endlessly.)	Have a friendly Taunt minion attacked 12 times.

Each game you'll discover three Quest-Reward pairings from which you pick one to complete. (Image credit: Blizzard)

Game designer Mitchell Loewen tells me: "We're hoping that that flexibility gives players more opportunities for skill expression as they decide how they want their games to unfold." Loewen mentions that they tested having the quests appear at various stages of the game, and ultimately found that having too many could be overwhelming. He say six gold felt like the sweet spot because: "You have the ability to buy two minions, so you could make meaningful progress on it. You've also bought a couple of minions already, so kind of already know what you want to do."

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Mitchell Loewen

Game Designer, Blizzard

Loewen joined the Hearthstone team in 2021. He has a Master's Degree in Game Design and previously co-founded Cloudfall Interactive Studios, which successfully funded Captain’s Gambit: Kings of Infinite Space on Kickstarter. 

Note that the quests and rewards are paired randomly. There will be 13 total quests to pair with 24 possible rewards, so you'll quickly need to parse which combination you've been offered best suits your current hero and gameplan. 

Interestingly, Blizzard explains that quests have "have baseline requirements that vary based on which Reward they are paired with. Better reward pairings will make the quest a little harder to complete." So if the quest requires you to, say, summon minions, then the number required will scale up if the reward is particularly juicy. 

We're also told that quest requirements will be affected by the power of the hero you're playing (as indicated by the amount of Armor they begin the game with), and some quests won't appear if the current pool of minion tribes doesn't suit their description. Intriguingly, others won't be offered to certain heroes if they risk enabling "extreme situations". 

We'll be revealing all the remaining quests on PC Gamer, and the two new heroes being added with the patch, exactly an hour from the time of publishing this story. Send your browser here to see them.

Here you can see the combined Quest and Reward screen. (Image credit: Blizzard)

Once you've picked your Quest, an icon will appear over your hero portrait in much the same way that Quests work in the Standard mode, enabling you to check progress at any time. You'll also be able to see how close your opponents are to completion by hovering over their portraits in the scoreboard.

After completion, your Reward will then display in the slot to the left of your portrait that the Buddy Meter previously used. Rewards will apply for the remainder of the game. As for what the other Rewards are, those are being revealed by Hearthstone content creators over the coming days in the build up to release. Patch 24.2 goes live on August 30, preceded by a full set of notes later this week. 

Rest assured that I will be picking whichever Reward best enables me to force a Demon comp, regardless of viability.

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[Death Stranding hits even harder in lockdown's aftermath]

We're republishing this article from April 2022 to coincide with Death Stranding's launch on PC Game Pass.

I recently got around to reading Hideo Kojima's The Creative Gene, a collection of essays by the designer on a diverse range of pop culture topics: re-issues of animes he liked watching as a kid, reviews of new science fiction novels, retrospectives on great movies. As anyone with an interest in Kojima's work might expect, it is a book that veers between searing insight and tiresome navel-gazing. You're absorbed on some pages, and your eye's flicking to the next paragraph on others.

While the book is a grab-bag of essays with no real through-line, it does have a theme—loneliness. When Kojima writes about a given topic, his tendency is to connect it to periods in his life, some of which are described in great detail. The book is full of ghosts, Kojima's father in particular, and how Kojima thinks about certain works is bound-up with his first experiences of it in the context of his own life. While the overall tone of things always returns to the triumphal—Kojima never shies from adding in a reference to his own hugely successful oeuvre—it is a book shot-through with feelings of isolation and, in some cases, futile regret.

This was a good staging ground from which to embark once more on Death Stranding's journey across a near-future and wasted landscape. Death Stranding: The Director's Cut adds a whole bunch of new stuff to the game (read about it here), though this all seems mostly backloaded and the first 12 hours or so are familiar from my first playthrough at launch.

Except… the real world's a bit different. Death Stranding was released in November 2019. A month later, a novel virus outbreak was detected in Wuhan, China, and within months almost the entire world had entered some form of coronavirus-related lockdown.

(Image credit: Kojima Productions and 505 Games)

“The world was designed such that Sam almost never sees another human being in the flesh.”

Let's not overdo things here but, like everyone else, I've gone through two-and-a-half years that have been spent mostly at home, the first year almost entirely. I now live in a world where I don't even notice the plastic screens at supermarket checkouts anymore, nevermind find anything unusual about passing dozens of masked individuals on a town walk, and where my kids sometimes come home from school and I have to jam a cotton bud up their nose.

Everyone has gone through some version of this. And so the things that Kojima was noticing about our society, and making core to Death Stranding, have become acutely magnified through this lens. The most obvious point to make is that you play a deliveryman, and we've just gone through a spell where delivery people could be the week's only face-to-face human contact: as Larkin wrote in Aubade, "postmen, like doctors, go from house to house."

Parts of Death Stranding now land differently. The world was designed such that Sam almost never sees another human being in the flesh outside of cutscenes: the vast majority of deliveries are made to functional industrial-style bunkers, where you're thanked by a hologram projection and sent on your way with new deliveries. There's the CODEC calls but Sam is nearly always—with the exception of BB, which we'll come to—alone in a vast landscape.

Thanks to having played it through already, I'm much better at Death Stranding now: one of its nicer elements is that this isn't really a game where the difficulty is skill-based, but more about thinking. I approach deliveries with patience, planning, the right gear, and a bit of knowledge. I plan routes now (I know, I know, I should've been doing this first time).

And while I'm walking slowly along, back loaded-up like a forklift truck, I've been thinking about the interactions Kojima Productions put in. I'd initially forgotten that Sam could shout out to the hills, until a mis-placed 'like' activated it: now, just like when I'm on a walk myself, I every-so-often talk to myself.

(Image credit: Kojima Productions and 505 Games)

“ Thematically at least, Death Stranding is at its weakest when it later adds more traditional elements.”

This world is, to begin with, almost all nature. The human structures that exist are disparate, brutalist blots on the landscape, nibbled-away at their edges by flora. You begin the long trek up a mountain knowing with certainty you won't bump into anyone else on the way. Half the time you forget that BB's even there: until you start fooling around with the 'soothe' interactions, and now I feel guilty if I see a spectacular view and don't treat BB to some photo mode.

I suppose you could describe Death Stranding's arc as Sam, the outcast, becoming the common strand that ultimately binds various groups together. But the game's power doesn't come from that rather pat conclusion. It comes from the fact that Sam is this lonely outsider figure for the most important parts of your experience. Thematically at least, Death Stranding is at its weakest when it later adds more traditional elements, such as shooting sections and more regular 'combat' encounters, because its strongest theme is loneliness.

Kojima made a game that is about how the lifestyle in developed societies is driving us into isolated groups, and how this leads to a collective inability to act on an existential threat like global warming. What happened in the real world with the pandemic, however, seems to me to have made Death Stranding's underlying atmosphere of loneliness the most prominent part of the experience.

(Image credit: Kojima Productions and 505 Games)

A funny thing happened the other day. I live in a semi-rural place, and have to walk up a muddy hill to the nearest stores. I carry it all in a backpack and, as I was coming back down, readjusted the weight on my straps. Just for an instant I felt like Sam, and smiled at the thought of it, returning to home base with the deliveries in S-rank condition.

It made me think of something else, too. In Kojima's book The Creative Gene, he has an essay about Taxi Driver where he writes about how he identified with Travis Bickle: to the extent he started dressing like him. 

"But what moved me to tears was not the story, the direction, or the actors' techniques. It was because, through experiencing Travis's loneliness secondhand, I learned that other people, somewhere out there in the world, were like me.

"I'm not the only one who thinks he's alone! A man with the same kind of feelings of isolation as me is out there driving a taxi. The thought alleviated my loneliness. 

"After the movie was over, I bought the same military jacket as De Niro wore for his performance, put on leather boots, and went out into the city. To complete the imitation, I thrust my hands into my pockets and walked with a slouch. As I walked the streets as Travis, something seemed to have changed. It wasn't that the movie had taught me how to battle my loneliness; Travis taught me how to keep its company."

That moment of imaginative empathy, large or small, seems like a great thing for a game or a movie to leave behind. While I'm a fan of Kojima's work, one has to accept that his games do bludgeon you over the head with 'narrative meaning' at times: but what sticks with me most in Death Stranding is a feeling. It hits even more profoundly years after launch than it did at the time: that moment of loneliness in the world, and whatever it is we doggedly walk towards.

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[Steam Deck's 'production has outperformed' Valve estimates, so it's shipping units out early]

Anyone expecting to see their Steam Deck later this year could be in for a pleasant surprise. Some folks with Q4 reservations should be getting emails to complete their Steam Deck orders way earlier than anticipated since "production has outperformed" estimates, according to Valve. 

"Hi all, a few of you may have received an order email for your “Q4 window” Steam Deck reservation today", wrote Lawrence Yang from Valve on Twitter.  "This wasn’t a mistake! Production has outperformed our estimates, and we’ll be moving more Q4 folks into the Q3 window. 

Valve has been ramping up production, nearly doubling the number of Steam Decks shipped out every week. That's all coming from Yang's personal account, but the Deck developer says an official announcement with more information, will be coming soon.

This still comes as a bit of a surprise since we are still in the middle of Q3 Steam Deck shipments, and at this rate, this hopefully means anyone could order a Steam Deck this holiday season and not have to wait months for one. This news also comes as the Steam Deck becomes available in other parts of the globe, too.

As with previous reservation emails, there's a grace period of a few days for you to complete the order for your Steam Deck. So make sure you check your spam folders for the email, and if you have any issues head to Steam Deck support. 

Yang also notes that the reservation windows have not been updated on the Steam Deck product page, so it may say your shipping date is still in the "Q4 window." 

This should be updated before the next batch of emails goes out on Thursday, so you'll get a more accurate time frame of when you can have a Deck in your hands. 

Hi all, a few of you may have received an order email for your “Q4 window” Steam Deck reservation today. This wasn’t a mistake! Production has outperformed our estimates, and we’ll be moving more Q4 folks into the Q3 window. Official announcement and info coming soon. August 22, 2022

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[Destiny 2: Lightfall will send players to the cyberpunk world of Neptune in February]

After months of anticipation (and a big leak), Bungie has finally unveiled Lightfall, the next major Destiny 2 expansion, which will give Guardians access to an all-new subclass and a very cool looking new destination: The cyberpunk-styled world of Neptune.

Lightfall, the long-awaited conclusion to Destiny 2's Light and Dark saga, will take players to the previously unknown capital city of Neptune, which somehow went unnoticed until now. The main antagonist will be a newly-empowered Calus and his Shadow Legion of Cabal. There will also be new enemies called Tormentors, which come from the Black Fleet of pyramid ships, and a race of Guardian-like beings called Cloudstriders. 

The Guardians will also discover a new Darkness power called Strand, giving them and additional (and very green) subclass. It's a psychic-based power themed around pulling the threads of life and death. Or in other words: you get grappling hooks.

There's a lot going on in this one—we'll update with more detail as it becomes available. Destiny 2: Lightfall is set to go live on February 28, 2023. 

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[JBL Quantum TWS]

I've tested a whole host of different wireless earbuds recently and the JBL Quantum TWS are, for me, the pinnacle. They don't necessarily have the best sound, or the longest battery life, but they are the buds I choose to use on a daily basis out of all the ones I have on offer. And I have amassed quite the collection. The JBLs though are simple, effective and feature-packed. All in all, they just plain work.

That might seem like a given for any product put out by a reasonable company in 2022, but it's not a guarantee by any means.

The JBL Quantums are your classic wireless fare; aping the long-stemmed look of Apple's EarPods, but with a black finish. They come in a magnetic charging case, which helps extend the battery life of the buds themselves, and this case also holds the USB Type-C dongle which allows you to connect to other devices, such as a gaming laptop.

That's one of the features which propels the JBL Quantums ahead of the pack; the fact that it has both Bluetooth 5.2 connectivity and 2.4GHz wireless via a Type-C dongle. And the switching is fast and the connection robust.

Quantum TWS specs

(Image credit: Future)

Drivers: 10mm
Frequency response: 20Hz - 20,000Hz
Weight: 0.4oz | 11g
Connection: Bluetooth 5.2 | 2.4GHz wireless
Battery life: 5 (ANC on) | 16 from charging case
Price: $150 | £129

Once you've paired your buds via Bluetooth, or plugged your dongle into your PC, laptop, or Steam Deck, then it's just a question of pulling the buds from the charging case to turn them on and jamming them into your ear holes. They swiftly power on and connect, and you're up and running in a trice.

Honestly, that's something many of the wireless buds I've tested recently will do, and I'm eternally grateful the bad old days of headset pairing has seemingly long gone. Many of the other wireless earbuds also have touch controls, too, but few as eminently usable as the Quantums.

I do have a soft spot for Creative's Outlier Pro buds—they sound great and the noise cancelling is excellent. But I found myself constantly infuriated by the controls, or rather the complete lack of control as I'm jabbing at the earbuds in order to double tap and get them to just damn well pause for a second so I can buy a bus ticket.

The JBL Quantums, on the other hand, are easy to use and have a basic single tap on the right bud to pause and play, and the same on the left bud to cycle through active noise cancelling, ambient aware, or sound control off. It's straightforward, easy to access, and doesn't frustrate the process.

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(Image credit: Future)

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(Image credit: Future)

That noise cancelling is decent, too, even if it does inevitably cut down the battery life from eight to five hours. Using the JBL phone app you can tune them to your ear canal, to further enhance the ANC as well. I would say, the Outlier Pro buds do have the edge when it comes to completely blocking the outside world, but the Quantum buds are still impressively effective.

But what about the audio quality? I've said they're not the best-sounding buds I've tested, but the sound quality is good. I would steer clear of the QuantumSURROUND feature if you're running them from the USB dongle on your desktop PC, though—I almost blew out my eardrums with the unreasonable bass thuds in Red Dead Redemption 2 from just a short gallop through the desert cacti. 

With that off the bass tones are more subtle. And, in fact, I did bump the EQ to Bass over the Bluetooth connection in order to squeeze a little more feeling out of The War on Drugs, but in general they sound better with a flat EQ. The JBL app will also allow you to enable game mode, which helps sync game and video audio, but the fact you can jam the Type-C dongle into your laptop or Steam Deck and play without delay makes the Quantums incredibly versatile.

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(Image credit: Future)

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(Image credit: Future)

And they're affordable, too. Considering that the Audeze Euclids—easily the best-sounding earbuds I've ever used—are $1,200, that the JBLs are more usable on a day-to-day basis and a tenth of the price is pretty astounding. 

I have options for better-sounding, longer-lasting earbuds, but I'm going to stick with the JBL Quantum TWS buds. The still sound good, last a decent amount of time, and are the most versatile and easy-to-use set around. I am most definitely sold.

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[The Shrimp is a 20% gaming keypad that cares not for 'space captain' designs. Or ergonomics]

Such 20% keyboards, or keypads, have been around for a while, but here comes Nordic Game Supply with "The Shrimp" mechanical keyboard to shake things up, or rein them in as the case may be.

When I first spotted this teeny little keyboard from NGS it took me a while to figure out the selling point. As a gaming keypad there are of course the standard benefits: not being relegated to using the WASD keys on your gaming laptop—great for a bunch of reasons including avoiding sweaty fingers in a heatwave—and of course they're a lot more portable than even their 60% counterparts.

But there's something about this keyboard that stands out, something it does differently to a lot of gaming keypads on the market today.

Consider the Razer Tartarus Pro gaming keypad with its super ergonomic wrist rest, thumbstick and pressure sensitive keys; or the frankly immense 26-key, hand-conforming Azeron Gaming Keypad. Both are ergonomic to the max and kitted out with more greebles than a Star Destroyer. But what's different about The Shrimp keyboard is that it's just a standard keyboard chopped in half. 

No frills or funky shapes, just good old fashioned cuboid click clacks.

"The Shrimp gives you the freedom to position your hands as you desire," says product designer Kari Viljanen. "No more twisting your keyboard, hands and shoulders into awkward angles to find a feasible gaming position."

I'm not exactly sure how holding back on ergonomics can make something more ergonomic, let alone be considered a selling point, but there must be a market for it. The keypads out there were getting a little ridiculous, I have to say.

"There have also been keypad sized gaming devices before the Shrimp but they have either been non-standard layout, made to adapt keyboard & mouse on gaming consoles or have had some off-putting futuristic 'space-captain' designs. I believe we have made a design that is both comfortable to use and looks great on your desktop."

(Image credit: Nordic Game Supply)

Perfect peripherals

(Image credit: Colorwave)

Best gaming mouse: the top rodents for gaming
Best gaming keyboard: your PC's best friend...
Best gaming headset: don't ignore in-game audio

The Shrimp comes in a 25-key global keyboard layout, with Cherry profile which means the keycaps are shorter and less angular than that of standard OEM keyboards. There's Gateron G Pro mechanical switches packed in there, and even RGB lighting that shines through some intensely large lettering.

Nordic Game Supply also boasts about The Shrimp keyboard's "Cool gadgety knobs," which is going on my list of potential band names. 

To be fair, multimedia controls are always well received in my book, and I appreciate the snazzy colour ways. These include pink, blue with a monkey on the wrist rest, and one with a sticker-bombed wrist rest. There's still no word on pricing and availability, however.

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[MultiVersus nerfs Iron Giant because he's 'dominating with abnormally high win rates at every skill level']

Warner Bros' free-to-play character brawler MultiVersus has launched to enormous success, attracting over 20 million players so far, and looks set to become something of a cross-platform Smash Bros. It's also created an amusing spectator sport, which is watching the traditional fighting game jargon being applied to a cast list that features characters as diverse as Tom & Jerry, Superman, Arya Stark, and Shaggy. There's just something funny about Velma being called OP.

Pre-launch Multiversus attracted some grumbling for its inclusion of the Iron Giant, a character created for a children's book called The Iron Man by the great author Ted Hughes. This is because the story ultimately shows the gigantic metal man setting an example of pacifism and understanding that leads to world peace.

Thus the Iron Giant may seem like an odd fit for a fighting game. Which is a fair enough perspective though, personally speaking, I don't find that taking a bit of license with a well-known fictional character to be a problem: particularly in a nonsensical cartoon brawler. I mean, we can all still read the book.

Anyway, the Iron Giant has, amusingly enough, turned out to be so powerful that developer Player First Games has been forced to apply some swingeing nerfs to the character. The game will be down today for a short maintenance period, after which it returns with a new patch that also introduces Morty from Rick & Morty.

"Iron Giant is currently dominating with abnormally high win rates at every skill level," reads the notes on the character. "Iron Giant’s Neutral Special with stacked cooldown reduction and Velma are causing too few windows for opponents to counterplay. Updates to Iron Giant, global updates to perks, and Velma updates should help provide more windows of opportunity for opponents against Iron Giant."

See what I mean about this stuff just being quite funny at times? The nerfs amount to increasing Iron Giant's cooldown on certain attacks (the Velma reference above is because she can reduce cooldowns with her abilities), and reducing the rather large hitbox of his upwards air attack. His Air / Ground Up special has also had its damage slightly reduced, and the knockback from its final hit reduced.

We'll see if that's enough to flatten-out the big boy's abnormally high win rate. In addition to the direct nerfs for the Iron Giant, Velma's 'Educated' buff has also been nerfed: where it reduced cooldowns by 75% over 8 seconds, it now does 50% over the same time. There's also been a reduction in how cooldown refunds are calculated for all characters.

The wider picture is probably of most interest to assassin characters, which have seen a major buff across-the-board that means they'll all take less damage. All assassin characters have a passive ability that increases damage taken by 14%, making them high-damage but lower health picks. This 14% is being reduced to 5%, and the developer's notes say it's considering whether to remove it entirely: "We want to take a step towards that while trying to not to go too far too fast. We don’t want to create an assassin dominated meta."

The full patch notes follow:

General

• General
• Morty will be arriving tomorrow! 08/23! He will be our first Plumbus-wielding character!
• This patch is entirely server-side so all updates are Online Only and will not be reflected in local/lab play until the next patch.

General Perks

• Ice To Beat You!: Projectiles will only apply Ice debuff to fighters that are not already debuffed by Ice.
• I’ll Take That: Unstacked cooldown refund decreased from 0.5 seconds to 0.25 seconds. Stacked cooldown refund decreased from 1 second to 0.5 seconds
• Gameplay Systems: Fixed a bug where ability cooldowns may not trigger when projectiles are spawned close to terrain

Characters

• Arya
• + Assassin Passive: Reduced extra damage taken from 14% to 5%.
• We’re evaluating if this passive should be removed entirely. We want to take a step towards that while trying to not to go too far too fast. We don’t want to create an assassin dominated meta.
• Movelist Description of this change will not be updated until the next patch
• Finn
  Since we removed some power from the Backpack on Finn, we’re pushing some additional power into the rest of Finn’s attacks to give him more kill options.
• + Air/Ground Neutral Special: Increased base damage from 5 to 6
• This base damage is increased by holding and charging the attack
• + Air/Ground Down Special (BMO Chop): Increased Damage from 18 to 20
• Increased Knockback Scaling from 18 to 20
• + Assassin Passive:
• Reduced extra damage taken from 14% to 5%.
• We’re evaluating if this passive should be removed entirely. We want to take a step towards that while trying to not to go too far too fast. We don’t want to create an assassin dominated meta.
• Movelist Description of this change will not be updated until the next patch
• Garnet
  Garnet buffs are incoming in the next patch!
• Harley
• + Assassin Passive: Reduced extra damage taken from 14% to 5%.
• We’re evaluating if this passive should be removed entirely. We want to take a step towards that while trying to not to go too far too fast. We don’t want to create an assassin dominated meta.
• Movelist Description of this change will not be updated until the next patch
• Iron Giant
  Iron giant is currently dominating with abnormally high win rates at every skill level. Iron Giant’s Neutral Special with stacked cooldown reduction and Velma are causing too few windows for opponents to counterplay. Updates to Iron Giant, global updates to perks, and Velma updates should help provide more windows of opportunity for opponents against Iron Giant.
• - Air/Ground Neutral Special: Increased cooldown from 23s to 25s
• - Air Up Attack: Hit boxes shrank to more accurate fit the attack visuals
• - Air/Ground Up Special: Reduced damage by 1 and base knockback on final hit of spin
• + Air/Ground Down Special: Allow cancel out of Cannonball if it hits an enemy
• Superman
• Fixed a bug that would allow Superman to grapple enemies that wall bounce even if his hitboxes did not connect.
• Taz
  Taz buffs are incoming in the next patch!
• Velma
• Air/Ground Down Special: Velma Educated buff reduced cooldown return from 75% over 8 seconds to 50% over 8 seconds

In our recent review, Mollie said "MultiVersus has done a bang-up job of laying the foundations for a fantastic platform fighter that has the potential to blossom into something amazing". It's certainly off to a strong start even if, in the case of the Iron Giant, it was maybe a little too strong.

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[Saudi Arabia first country to approve Microsoft's acquisition of Activision]

Saudi Arabia has become the first country in the world to greenlight Microsoft's $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard. The country's General Authority for Competition (GAC) tweeted Sunday that it had no objection to the completion of the "process of economic concentration" between the two companies, making it the first regulatory hurdle Microsoft has cleared in its quest to acquire Activision.

تعلن #الهيئة_العامة_للمنافسة عن عدم ممانعتها من إتمام عملية التركز الاقتصادي بين:-مايكروسوفت كوربوريشن-أكتيفيجن بليزارد إنك pic.twitter.com/lo5scC3F7kAugust 21, 2022

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The GAC didn't go into great detail about how it scrutinised the acquisition, but it's not really a surprise that they've waved it through. Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 plan aims to diversify the country's economy and wean it off its dependency on its unthinkably huge reserves of oil, and investments in the tech sector and videogames are a big part of that plan. In recent years, Saudi Arabia has been doling out billions of dollars in investments to the likes of the Embracer Group, EA, Take-Two and, yes, Activision Blizzard.

Because of Saudi Arabia's appalling human rights record, every one of those investments has been accompanied by some measure of controversy. Nevertheless, enormous games companies continue to accept Saudi billions, and the presence of the House of Saud in the games industry as a whole continues to grow because of it.

The Saudi government says it expects the games industry to make up about 1% of its economy—for a value of around $21 billion—by 2030. For that to be possible, Saudi Arabia needs to be an appealing place for videogame big business to do business. Authorising the Microsoft/Activision deal so quickly sends the larger message that Saudi Arabia wants to be sending right now. Throwing up any barriers would have had the exact opposite effect: indicating to the games industry that doing business in the country comes second to navigating the whims of its princes.

Microsoft still has plenty of regulators it needs to convince before the Activision deal can go through, although it doesn't seem likely it'll run into too much trouble. While Sony might be complaining to Brazilian regulators about the fallout of making Call of Duty an Xbox-exclusive, it's unlikely anyone will want to rock the boat too much. It's not just Saudi Arabia that wants to stay attractive to big business, after all.

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[Twitch finally allows partners to stream elsewhere]

Contracts between content creators and the websites they publish on have always been a little complicated. To make each site such as YouTube or Twitch feel special, they've often had clauses in the contracts of popular personalities that specify they can't put content elsewhere. Well today, Twitch has finally put an end to partner exclusivity which means if you're a partner on Twitch you can finally stream elsewhere—as long as you're not silly about it.

Twitch streamers previously could not stream on other platforms such as YouTube or Facebook if they had a partner contract with the site. Now those with that all important purple tick will be allowed to stream wherever they wish as long as they're not streaming on Twitch at the same time, which is a practice called multistreaming or simulcasting. The exception to the rule is that streamers can be live on Twitch while also broadcasting to TikTok or Instagram Live, which is a trend that has been growing rapidly over the last year.

This is all in the name of discoverability. These days it's very very hard, if not impossible to get big on Twitch without diversifying your content. That means having clips of your work, livestreams, full edited videos on as many other platforms you can get your hands on. With the trend of Twitch and YouTube reaching streaming agreements with content creators it's not clear if these new changes apply to those with exclusivity agreements. It might just apply to partners that have reached a smaller level of streaming fame.

For those wondering today Twitch announced the end of our exclusivity clause in Partner contracts!This means you can:- do singular streams to YouTube or Facebook- do multi streams (streaming at the same time as you are live) on Instagram Live or TikTokAugust 23, 2022

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Many partners on Twitch may never have streamed elsewhere as YouTube and Facebook are the smaller streaming platforms. But with their continued progress in moulding these websites to cater better to streaming, it gives partners an opportunity to test out new waters.

This change has probably come into place because streamers have been forced to diversify to find any level of success on Twitch in recent years. They're already having to get creative with their work, so it makes virtually no sense to stop streamers performing elsewhere when they're already being forced by these platforms to reupload content from streams just to attract new viewers.

The changes are already in place, so expect to see more Twitch personalities testing out the alternatives.

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[Nexon reveals first trailer for its new looter-shooter, beta test coming in October]

We've known for a little while that Nexon is working on a new looter-shooter called The First Descendant that charges players with protecting humanity from an onslaught of alien invaders backed by very big bosses. It's a classic, some might say overly familiar, tale of super-powered good against relentless evil from space, and it's headed to its first beta test in October. By way of celebration the publisher has also put out a new trailer, which you can watch above.

The First Descendant was actually announced more than a year ago, and it got its first teaser in September 2021, under the working title of Project Magnum. The official title was announced in July of this year, and the Steam page describes it thusly:

The First Descendant is a free third-person cooperative action RPG shooter featuring high-quality graphics. Experience the fun of strategic boss fights through 4-player co-op and various unique characters, exciting gunplay, and looting. A variety of equipment is necessary for growth, and you can obtain them through clearing scenario missions within the game or in the World Missions where cooperation is crucial and battles with huge bosses.

Narratively, it doesn't sound like Nexon is breaking too much new ground here. As "Descendants," players will battle Karel and his army of alien invaders, who for reasons currently unclear are bent on either subjugating or annihilating (that's also unclear) the Ingris Continent, which is the last bastion of humanity.

Fortunately, there's a little more depth on the mechanical side. The First Descendant will support different character classes with unique skill sets, combos, weapons, and skin options, and feature battles against "huge boss monsters with different appearances and abilities." Squads of up to four players can team up for co-op action, and while there's no mention of PvP I'd be surprised if that's not in there somewhere too.

Interestingly, the beta announcement implies that The First Descendant will feature predefined characters rather than completely DIY heroes: The trailer features Lepic (a versatile fighter with powerful guns built into his arm), Viessa (a debuffer who freezes enemies by controlling cold air), Bunny (super-quick nuke with electrical attacks), and Ajax (the tank with space-warping skills), and Nexon said that "more dynamic action can also be seen through additional characters with unique skill sets."

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To my eyes the trailer is competent but not much more than that, and the very big question for Nexon is how (or whether) The First Descendant will find a niche in the looter-shooter ecosystem. The space is dominated by Destiny 2 and to a lesser extent Warframe, and there just doesn't seem to be room for much else. The most recent contender, Outriders, is still chugging along but not likely to usurp Bungie's throne, and we're not even going to talk about what happened with Anthem.

We'll get a closer look at The First Descendant soon enough. A more detailed reveal will take place this week at Gamescom, which runs August 24-28, and a beta test is set to run October 20-26 on Steam—access requests are open now on Steam.

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[I broke Immortal Empires with a Black Ark super fleet in Total War: Warhammer 3]

I wasn't prepared for Immortal Empires. After loading up the game I spent a good 15 minutes paralysed with indecision, scrolling through factions and legendary lords, looking at new start positions and mechanics, unable to decide who I should sample first. In the end I opted for one of my favourite campaigns from Mortal Empires: Lokhir Fellhart. Just like the pirates of the Vampire Coast, Fellhart has a fun playstyle centred around sacking settlements and getting super low upkeep armies from his Black Arks. It occured to me that these floating fortresses might be a great way to see as much of the world as possible.

Since Lokhir has traded the humid jungles of Lustria for a new start position on the coastline of Cathay, I was also eager to see how CA had improved the overly compact region from the Realms of Chaos campaign. Truth be told, I was pretty pleased. Cathay is no longer a box with one route of expansion, but a region almost as expansive as the Empire, filled with winding rivers and ports, wood elves, vampire pirates and other undead pests. It was the perfect playground for Lokhir, and as I blazed a trail of destruction along the coast, I sent my Black Arks inland via the rivers to snatch up even more ports. 

Fellhart gets a new Black Ark for every major port settlement he takes, so by the time I'd wiped out Nakai, Zhao Ming, Miao Ying, and taken most of Cathay by turn 100-ish, I had nine fully upgraded super ships waiting off the coast. Black Arks in Mortal Empires used to require growth points to construct any kind of building and that meant it took a long while to get their best recruitment and upkeep reductions. In Immortal Empires, however, you only need growth for the primary building chain, and that let me upgrade them so fast they effectively made settlement-based recruitment obsolete.

(Image credit: Creative Assembly)

I was also delighted to discover that Black Ark AoE effects seem to stack. For example, I constructed an Arena building in an ark that buffs recruit rank by three for all armies in the ark's AoE, but if I put these in all my Black Arks, every unit I recruited was immediately max rank. This got me scheming: the Prison Wing building increases post-battle and settlement sacking income by 60% in the same AoE, but if that stacks for every ark, I could potentially reach some terrifying numbers. I had to experiment, so I sent my fleet through the sea lanes to the Eastern High Elf colonies, south of the Dark Lands.

When I parked my arks around the Tower of the Sun and sacked it for 140,000 gold, I realised all was not well, and immediately decided to ride this train for every coin I could get. I'd only seen a small fraction of the major port settlements in Immortal Empires, but if I could get a Black Ark from a decent number, while also increasing sacking income by 60% for each, I could potentially create the ultimate sack. I set my sights on Altdorf as a final goal and embarked on my port-eating cruise.

It was shortly after this that the dwarf apocalypse occurred; every dawi in the world decided to gang up on me, which is a little unfair considering I hadn't met a single dwarf faction in Cathay. Maybe someone made a typo in the Great Book of Grudges? Either way, as I traversed the seas, dwarf armies started to gather and nibble at the heels of my mega-fleet. First, I went north to the Dragon Isles and wiped out Ku'gath, then beelined along the coast of the Southlands and around the cape, sacking the Fortress of Dawn, Zlatlan, and Sudenberg.

It was here that I slipped up and lost a couple of arks to crafty Settra, but I realised that he'd actually helped me. My fleet had become a hydra: kill one ark and I could immediately replace it with another, while also re-recruiting the lost ark once it was fixed up, effectively doubling my gains. How does that work in regards to Black Ark capacity? I've no clue.

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Great Turtle Isle (Image credit: Creative Assembly)

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The Blood Hall (Image credit: Creative Assembly)

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When I hit the sunny shores of Lustria, the income was getting tasty. I sacked Great Turtle Isle and Blood Hall (sorry Rakarth!), Altar of the Horned Rat, and The Awakening, each for amounts between 200-250,000 gold. By the time I hit turn 230, I arrived at Galleon's Graveyard with 23 Black Arks in-tow and proceeded to sack it for 420,000 gold. By this stage my fleet was an unstoppable island of terror, but I was still somewhat perturbed by the number of doomstacks chasing me. The dwarfen throng had been following me for around 90 turns at this point; a true testament to dawi stubbornness. Whenever I stopped I made a giant cluster of Black Arks to discourage attack, not that this fully prevented them from doom-yeeting armies at me.

For my last leg, I pinballed between the coasts of Bretonnia and Ulthuan, snatching up a few final arks in preparation for my run down the river Reik. Should I have considered the logistical nightmare of getting 25 Black Arks down a small river? Perhaps. It was slow progress, and worse, some dwarfs decided to cut across land and meet me on the other side. Not that it helped them of course. I had 5,000,000 gold in my treasury, and enough recruitment capacity in my fleet to create eight max rank armies every single turn, so I just started doing that and leaving them in my wake like sea mines. It bought me plenty of time to gather around Altdorf for the final sack.

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Black Arks trying to get down the river Reik (Image credit: Creative Assembly)

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My Black Ark defense island (Image credit: Creative Assembly )

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Sacking Altdorf (Image credit: Creative Assembly)

In the end Altdorf went for 426,000 gold, plus 44,000 post-battle income, and I felt that was a good stopping point. There's only so much sacking a person can take. Are Black Arks OP now? Maybe. But is that the most fun I've had with a Total War campaign in like a year? You bet. Immortal Empires in its current state is a bit buggy and unbalanced, but I think that also makes it a fun time to mess around when stuff like this is possible. Campaign balance is overrated in a trilogy as over-the-top and experimental as this. You better believe I'm going to keep building my mega-fleet and head to Lothern; when I can be bothered reversing all those arks back up the river, that is.

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[Prepare for Dragonflight with a free copy of World of Warcraft: Shadowlands]

If you don't own World of Warcraft's Shadowlands expansion, you can get it free for the next few weeks—as well as a level 50 character boost—though you'll need to claim it by September 5.

Regardless of how you feel about Shadowlands—I actually think Season 4 is pretty great—the next expansion, Dragonflight isn't far off. If you're planning on returning to Azeroth for the pre-patch to check out the new Drakthyr, this is a handy way to get access to the current endgame activities so you can test out the new class in raids, dungeons, or even Torghast. And if you were thinking of leveling a new character, the character boost can help with that too.

Naturally, there are a couple of stipulations. The first one might seem obvious but you can't already own Shadowlands—that applies to any WoW accounts linked to your Battle.net. So if you have, say, a second account for auctioning or crafting, you can't claim a free Shadowlands upgrade if you already have the current expansion on your main WoW account. You'll also need to have any previous expansion license attached to the account you want to upgrade.

If you're eligible to claim a free copy of Shadowlands, you should find a "gift icon" in the top-right corner of the Battle.net desktop app. For more details, check out the post on the official site.

This offer is available now and will run until September 5.

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