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poly-lt-wire-logo Rina Takasaki (left), voice of Susato, and Mark Takeshi Ota (left), voice of Ryunosuke in The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles Graphic: James Bareham/Polygon | Source images: Capcom “To be able to understand [Susato] ... it is very helpful that I fully understand Japanese language and culture” By Aug 5, 2021, 9:00am EDT The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles shows main characters Ryunosuke Naruhodo and Susato Mikotoba getting off at a train station in London. Rina Takasaki, the voice behind Susato in the game’s English voice track, says that she could relate to her character’s journey through that moment. “I was also a teenager when I landed in Britain for the first time, full of ambition, determination, and admiration for the foreign culture,” she recalls to me over email. Takasaki still vividly remembers the moment she arrived in the UK, though for her it was through Heathrow Airport rather than Victorian-era King’s Cross Station. After getting into her shiny black cab feeling ecstatic, she saw the vast capital as she was driven around the city, much like how Susato rode a horse-drawn vehicle towards the Whitehall Supreme Court in the game. “I instantly loved the music and the pictures that have a 19th century feel that portray a beautiful collaboration of Japanese and Western worlds of the era,” Takasaki says of The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles. She was excited when she was offered the part; she says she could almost smell the fumes of the steamship, the leathery smell of old furniture, and the burning candles. Image: Capcom via Polygon Mark Takeshi Ota, Ryunosuke’s English voice actor, relates to his character through being a foreigner. Ota is Japanese-German, and he has lived in Great Britain for the past nine years. He says to me in an email, “Before coming to the UK, I lived for one year in the US, six years in the Netherlands, and one year in Japan.” Similarly to Ryunosuke’s character, Ota thinks that there is a lot of excitement in discovering new things and meeting different people. He remembers feeling that way whenever he moved to a new place. “Every little thing is just exciting, because it’s so different from what you’re used to,” he says. “There’s a certain innocence to that, which I guess leaves you after a while, but I suppose I had a chance to rediscover it a bit through Ryunosuke.” Both voice actors were new to the Ace Attorney series. Ota played a couple of the games in the series to get an idea what sort of game it was. He also watched The Great Ace Attorney’s Japanese cutscenes before recording, so he was able to listen to his Japanese voice track counterpart, Hiro Shimo
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And Lost in Harmony developer DigixArt. Embracer Group - the parent company of THQ Nordic, Saber Interactive, Koch Media and Gearbox - has added another eight studios to its bulging collection. Notably, this includes Duke Nukem studio 3D Realms, which currently has six new projects in the works. It, alongside support studio and fellow Danish outfit Slipgate Ironworks, will be folded into Saber.Lost in Harmony and 11-11 Memories Retold developer DigixArt will be folded into Koch Media, meanwhil
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In a bold move that certainly didn't pay off, a pair of PlayStation 5 development kits appeared on eBay yesterday - although the listings didn't last more than a few hours before being removed. As spotted by Twitter user iDCx1337, the listings were for a DFI-D1000AA dev kit and a DFI-T1000AA test kit (thanks, Kotaku). A screenshot of the DFI-D1000AA dev kit, complete with two all-black DualSense controllers, showed that the listing apparently reached a bidding price of €2850 (£2423) before being pulled. PlayStation 5 Teardown Analysis: Inside Sony's Ne
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poly-lt-wire-logo Image: Fullbright Co-founder Steve Gaynor has stepped down following complaints from employees By Aug 4, 2021, 8:55pm EDT Fullbright co-founder Steve Gaynor, known for his work on Gone Home and Tacoma, has stepped down from his role as creative lead on Open Roads following multiple allegations regarding his treatment of Fullbright staff. Development on Open Roads, which was announced in December 2020 and expected to star Keri Russel (The Americans) and Kaitlyn Dever (Booksmart), is behind schedule. Fifteen employees left the studio since development on Open Roads began in 2019; around six staff members remain. Speaking with Polygon, 12 former employees said their departure was at least in part due to Gaynor’s behavior toward workers, specifically women on the team. At least 10 of the employees who left since Open Roads production began were women. Multiple former employees, who spoke with Polygon anonymously out of fear of retaliation, described the Fullbright work environment as “controlling,” a place in which staffers felt undermined and demeaned by Gaynor. Because of Gaynor’s status as the co-founder of a beloved indie darling, some former employees say they were worried about being blacklisted from the industry — though some ended up leaving the industry entirely, anyway. These former employees said they did not experience or witness sexual harassment or explicit sexism; instead, they said, the studio’s toxic culture hid behind the veneer of inclusivity, as women were allegedly repeatedly broken down by microaggressions. A Fullbright representative confirmed to Polygon that Gaynor stepped down in March due to the “pattern of women leaving” the company. “Steve stepped down in March 2021 after it became clear that the steps that were already being taken to improve his interactions with the team were only yielding temporary results,” the representative said. “More drastic action was needed for the health of the team.” The repres
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Destiny 2’s PvP community has been up in arms for months. Between rampant cheating in the pinnacle Trials of Osiris game mode and their frustration at a lack of new maps, players focused on the Crucible have felt ignored for quite some time. But ahead of Bungie’s Destiny 2 showcase on Aug. 24 — which will show off season 15 and next year’s Witch Queen expansion — assistant game director Joe Blackburn took to Twitter to announce some planned PvP improvements. First, Blackburn revealed that Trials of Osiris is getting a revamp in season 15, which starts later this month. He didn’t go into detail on what this revamp will improve, but promised players will get more information in the showcase on Aug. 24. Blackburn doesn’t mention anti-cheat anywhere in his thread, so it’s unclear if the cheating issue will play into the company’s upcoming announcement. According to Blackburn, Bungie spent the past year working to build its team for the expressed purpose of creating more Destiny, and PvP players should start to see the fruit of their labor in 2022. Ideally for Blackburn, PvP players should be able to predict when the next new map or mode will come into the game, rather than counting the days since the last new addition. Next year will feature new and returning maps and modes to help breathe life back into the Crucible. When we upgraded our engine with Beyond Light it means we had to hand port all of our Destiny 2 maps and modes. So, while it may seem from the outside like we’re just pushing a button there’s a significant lift from the team to get more of this content back in rotation.— Joe Blackburn (@joegoroth) August 4, 2021 In an effort to get new-ish toys into players’ hands quickly, Bungie will unvault two Crucible maps in season 16. These will be maps that went away last year in Destiny 2: Beyond Light, when Bungie shifted the game’s engine. Because of that technical improvement, getting them back into the game takes more work than players might expect. The following season, season 17, will feature Destiny 2’s first new map in years. Blackburn hinted that it’ll take place in one of Destiny’s new locations, which suggests either Europa from Beyond Light or whatever the new location is for Witch Queen — likely Old Chicago. Season 18 will feature a reprised map from the original Destiny, but one that’s never made the leap to Destiny 2. These kinds additions will hopefully continue through Destiny 2’s life. In addition to maps, the Crucible team is looking into Rift — the original Destiny’s beloved Capture the Flag-type mode. Because of the new pace of Destiny 2, it’s unclear if Rift will actually translate one-to-one from the original game, so Blackburn isn’t able to guarantee its return to the series. The Destiny 2 Crucible team is also working on other new modes outside of Rift, but Blackburn wouldn’t offer any details yet. Blackburn followed up his collection of PvP tweets with a brief tweet about Gambit. The team will start working on new maps soon, but the current focus is on play-testing some larger changes ahead of season 16. Most of these changes are pretty far out, and playe
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The opening of The Fellowship of the Ring finds an elven war-leader ordering his archers to fire, with arrows aimed so precisely they clip his exquisitely braided hair on their way past. We don’t see Elrond, the lord of Rivendell, for another hour — and while it’s been several thousand years, he hasn’t aged a day. 2021 marks The Lord of the Rings movies' 20th anniversary, and we couldn't imagine exploring the trilogy in just one story. So each Wednesday throughout the year, we'll go there and back again, examining how and why the films have endured as modern classics. This is Polygon's Year of the Ring. Jackson and company had to leave many details of Tolkien’s mythos unexplained for the Lord of the Rings movies, but the brilliance of the production is that they never let an opportunity to depict the effects of these details. We don’t need to be told that elves live a very long time because Hugo Weaving looks exactly the same in a multi-millennia flashback. The elves become a fascinating embodiment of this less-is-more approach to exposition. Elves can die — Jackson and Co. give outsize weight to elven deaths during the battle of Helm’s Deep, making sure Aragorn has a good chunk of a moment to honor Haldir’s sacrifice. Elves are strange — they are oddly detached, even campy in their relations to men, dwarves, and hobbits. Elves remember — the great elf-lord Elrond seems to hold a grudge against Aragorn for a weakness he witnessed in his distant ancestor, and puts up a mighty resistance to Aragorn marrying his daughter. Jackson’s elves are alien in ways that are difficult to articulate, but utterly compelling nonetheless. They seem indifferent and helpful, wise and overly judgmental. And for those who want to know more (and there is so much more), the context for these contrasts — the lore that informed the dialogue, acting, even cinematography of the elves of the Lord of the Rings — is all found in Tolkien’s books, often beyond the main trilogy. See, elves can die, and when they do, they get to go to heaven. They can also come back any time they want to. But the real key to understanding elven immortality is understanding that elven heaven is a place. Like, on a map. It’s called Valinor. What is Valinor? What MAY or MAY NOT be a view of Valinor, in a promotional image for Amazon’s Lord of the Rings TV series. Image: Amazon Studios In the far west of Middle-earth, there is a continent called Aman (or at least there used to be, but we’ll come back to that), that was shaped by Middle-earth’s gods, the Valar, as the best place in the world for elves. At the dawn of time, Middle-earth’s supreme creator god, Eru Ilúvatar, created the Valar to be the caretakers of the world, and to shape its form into one that would be good for Ilúvatar’s next creations, Elves. (Men were also in the blueprints for Middle-earth, but not for some eons later.) The Valar were not powerful enough to turn all of Middle-earth into a paradise, so after they made all the birds, and fish,
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Nintendo has now shifted 89.04m Switch consoles worldwide as of 30th June, though sales have slowed compared to this time last year. Shipments of the main Switch console actually increased year-on-year, though a fall for the Switch Lite model offset that, leading to an overall decrease for the last quarter of 21.7 percent. In its latest earnings briefing, Nintendo pointed to last year's sales boom "substantially driven" by Animal Crossing: New Horizons as providing tough comparisons. A further 45.28m Switch games have been sold, including 2.07m copies of New Pokémon Snap, 1.34m copies of Mario Golf: Super Rush and 1.04m copies of Miitopia.Sales of e
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But will remain writer on troubled Open Roads. Steve Gaynor, co-founder of Gone Home and Tacoma developer Fullbright, has stepped down as the studio's creative lead and manager. Fullbright officially announced the change last night, ahead of a Polygon report which detailed an exodus of staff at the company "at least in part due to Gaynor's behaviour toward workers". Gaynor will remain a writer on Open Roads, the upcoming Annapurna-published story of a mother and daughter, which will now no longer be released in 2021. pic.twitter.com/OX11QJo6Qe— Open Roads (@OpenRoadsGame) August 5, 2021 In
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Plus double crown rewards for a limited time. Fall Guys, developer Mediatonic's knockabout battle royale game, is celebrating its first anniversary today, 4th August, with a selection of special, minimally priced birthday cosmetics and a trip down memory lane as it wheels out its original stages.While Fall Guys' fifth, jungled-themed season continues to be the main event, players currently have the option to tumble back to where it all began with the special Anniversary Party show, featuring the game's original roster of rounds.And for those wanting to dress for the occasion, Mediatonic has a
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Pokémon Unite surprised both MOBA and Pokémon fans by being both fun and competent. But a highly competitive game based on a popular property creates an interesting conundrum: do you pick the best Pokémon for your team, or the one you’ve loved since you were seven? Pokémon Unite did a great job adding a variety of popular Pokémon and making them all feel like you’d expect. Charizard flies and breathes fire the way you’d expect. And Gastly uses its massive tongue to pull enemies. As someone who’s been playing Pokémon most of his life, and MOBAs for almost a decade, it’s a treat to see the way Unite executes these characters and their unique kits. But my desire to play Gren
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If you buy something from a Polygon link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics statement. The very concept of the kindergarten was born in Germany, and with it the idea that young children can learn a lot through play. It’s no wonder then that some of the world’s best educational children’s games are made there as well. But how do you go about designing games for five-year-olds? HABA, the German toymaker with bestselling board games like First Orchard and Dragon’s Breath, may have the answer. Parents and educators will likely recognize HABA’s games for their bright yellow boxes all over store shelves. According to game designer Markus Singer, everything begins with a p
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After decades of struggling to find a home outside of rare traveling anthology shows, animated shorts have found a new home on streaming services like with increasing prominence on Netflix and YouTube. But Disney, which has been creating animated shorts since the 1920s, still dominates the field, with series like Pixar’s SparkShorts and Pixar Popcorn and Disney Animation’s At Home With Olaf and Short Circuit keeping the format alive and growing. With the second season of Short Circuit hitting the platform on August 4, brief, yet memorable animated stories are in the zeitgeist right now. “There’s a charm and appeal to something that is snack-sized,” says Short Circuit production
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In "brand-new reimagining" Zool Redimensioned. Eurogamer fans of a certain age, prepare for a swift punch to the nostalgia nubbin; Sumo Digital is resurrecting 90s Amiga mascot Zool for a new platform adventure on PC.Zool, also known as the ninja of the Nth Dimension, returns later this month in Zool Redimensioned, a "brand-new reimagining" of the old-school, Gremlin-Graphics-developed platform series that's been "rebuilt from the ground up for modern audiences"."Help Zool jump, spin and shoot his way across eight alien worlds, taking down menacing bosses and saving the universe from the nefarious influence of Krool," explains the developer on Zool Redimensioned's Steam page. "Beat your speed run times, discover secrets hidden across every level, or go back in time and play the original classic game." Zool Redimensioned - Announce Trailer. Zool Redimensioned - which is more specifically the work of Sumo Digital Academy, a "talent development programme" run by Sumo that's "focused on creating new pathways into the games industry" - promises to retain the spirit of the 1992 Amiga game while introducing a range of quality of life options.There're checkpoints, entirely redesigned boss fights, achievements, a level select screen, accessibility options, and more. But those looking for an experience closer to the original can take on the "true hardcore challenge" of Ultimate Ninja mode or, somewhat peculiarly given Zool's Amiga origins, play the Mega Drive version, which released in 1993.Whatever your preference, Zool Redimensioned - which is said to have been created with guidance from the game's original developers - comes to Steam later this month, although a specific release date is yet to be given. Tangentially related, today was the day I discovered, after nearly 30 years of believing otherwise, Zool is a leathered-up gremlin and not, in fact, some kind of inexplicably green-limbed ant.
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Bloodstained, Last Oasis, Superliminal and more. We're not sure where July went but it's that time again where Humble Bundle has dropped it's Humble Choice bundle for August 2021. If you're an indie game fan, this might be the bundle for you. The three main highlights this month include Bloodstained, Last Oasis and Superliminal. This trio and nine other epic games- can be yours for just £8.69/$12. Led by former Castlevania series producer Koji Igarashi, the unmissable Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is an epic side-scrolling action RPG offering challenging gameplay and stunning art. According to Matt Wales' post, 505 Games has confirmed the game's sequel is in "very early planning stages". The next game featured in the bundle is Last Oasis, an open world survival crafting game that sees you gather resources, battle for survival and build wild-looking contraptions, which double up as a base and transport you across the world. While it didn't have the smoothest of launches and the developers tend to have a habit of wiping the servers, the game has interesting gameplay concepts and it's entering its 4th season on 5th August 2021 (which unfortunately for those already playing the
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"We want New World's launch to be a smooth and fun experience for all players". Amazon's massively multiplayer online title New World has been delayed again but this time only by around a month, with the game now expected to launch on PC on 28th September.Announcing New World's fourth delay in a statement posted to Twitter, Amazon Game Studios wrote, "We are humbled by the support New World received from players around the world throughout closed beta. During beta, more than a million adventurers played more than 16 million total hours... The passion and enthusiasm you've shown for New World validates the work we've put in over the past year, improving the game based on your feedback". "We want New World's launch to be a smooth and fun experience for all players," the studio continued, "and that means making some improvements based on what you encountered during closed beta. So we're going to take a few extra weeks to smash bugs, improve stability, and polish the game." This, it says, means a new global launch date of 28th September. A message from the New World team. pic.twitter.com/oAZdK7dxTn— New World (@playnewworld) August 4, 2021 "This was not an easy decision to make," Amazon concludes. "We know this isn't the first time we've changed our launch date in pursuit of quality, and that it can be disappointing to wait a bit longer. But we want to be sure we deliver the highest quality game possible at launch."It's especially crucial New World makes a good first impression at launch, of course, given it arrives after a string of video game failures for Amazon. Last October saw the company cancel multiplayer action game Crucible - five months after its release and four months after its unprecedented un-release - and this April brought news that Amazon's Lord of the Rings MMO was no longer in development following a dispute with Chinese mega-corp Tencent. New World - Closed Beta Trailer. The good news for Amazon is that, alongside substantial interest in New World's closed beta, early impressions of the MMO have been positive, despite concerns ov
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Games shows might be lacking some of their old-time bombast since the pandemic forced a shift to digital-only presentations, but there's no denying the continuing thrill of a flashy announcement show. And we now have firm details of the next biggie as Geoff Keighley prepares his Keighleymobile and readies to ride out for Gamescom's Opening Night Live.This year's Opening Night Live marks the third annual outing for the show since its debut back in 2019, and the second time it'll be taking the form of a digital-only event. It'll be held on Wednesday 25th August, slightly later than previously announced, and we now know exactly when we'll be expected to grasp snacks and take our seats as things get underway.As confirmed by Keighley, who'll once again be presenting, over on Twitter, the 2021 showcase will run for two hours, with proceedings kicking off at an entirely reasonable 7pm in the UK/11am PT. There's no mention of a pre-show yet, but last year's started half an hour before the main event, so if you just can't resist a good old-fashioned pre-ample, you might want to block out a bit more time in your diary. 3 weeks from today, get a new look at this holiday's biggest upcoming video games and what lies [email protected] Opening Night LiveA live two hour showcaseStreaming & Co-Streaming EverywhereWednesday, August 25 11 am PT / 2 pm ET / 8 pm CET pic.twitter.com/h8C12vtvri— Geoff Keighley (@geoffkeighley) August 4, 2021 As for what we can expect, Keighley is promising a "new look at this holiday's biggest upcoming video games and what lies beyond", which could frankly be absolutely anything given the unpredictable ebb and flow of release dates caused by the ongoing pandemic. Take-Two's previously teased August reveal of an "exciting new franchise" - perhaps Firaxis' rumoured turn-based Marvel game - seems a likely candidate though.Eurogamer will of course be on-hand to report on the evening's happenings so please do join us for what is almost certain to be a show.
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Art of Rally, the gorgeous, chill, and, most importantly, fun racing game that launched on PC last fall, will join the Xbox Game Pass library on Aug. 12, and launch for Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X on the same day. That’s not all; developer Funselektor has a new content update planned for the game the same day, taking racers to Kenya, the game’s sixth locale (joining Finland, Norway, Japan, Germany, and the Italian island of Sardinia). This update will roll out free to those who already own Art of Rally on PC, and be included in the new console versions at their launch on Aug. 12. Funselektor said back in May that it expects a PlayStation 4/PlayStation 5 release this summer also, but it does not yet have a launch date to share. The Kenya Update adds four new cars, tw
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Amazon Game Studios has delayed its upcoming MMO, New World, to fall 2021. The game was previously scheduled to launch at the end of August, but the new release date is Sept. 28, 2021. This is the most recent of multiple delays for the game. “We know that this isn’t the first time we’ve changed our launch date in pursuit of quality, and that it can be disappointing to wait a bit longer,” the developers said. “But we want to be sure we deliver you the highest quality game possible at launch.” The team cited feedback from the closed beta as a factor in pushing back the game. You can read the full statement on New World’s Twitter page here. The aforementioned delays started in April, where the studio cited problems created by the coronavirus lockdowns. In July 2020, the st
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Ghost of Tsushiuma: Legends, the post-launch, multiplayer add-on to Sucker Punch Productions’ 2020 open-world adventure, will be available as a stand-alone product beginning Aug. 20, the same day Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut launches for PlayStation 5 and PS4. Ghost of Tsushima: Legends will be available on both consoles in the PlayStation Store for $19.99. A blog post Wednesday morning promised that it is “the same Legends content accessible by owners of Ghost of Tsushima,” excepting certain cosmetics that are unlocked in the single-player campaign. So that will include everything that’s gone into Ghost of Tsushima: Legends since its October debut, plus several content updates that will begin with an Aug. 20 patch. That patch rebalances Legends’ Survival mode, shortening its session length, and adds new, weekly variations to the Survival Nightmare challenge. This patch is free to everyone who owns the base game Ghost of Tsushima or who buys Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut or Ghost of Tsushima: Legends. On Sept. 3, Ghost of Tsushima: Legends will get a new mode called Rivals, in which two teams of two players compete in a horde mode format. The goal is to wip
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In the vanilla version of Cyberpunk 2077, you may find yourself wearing some absurd clothing combinations just for the sake of your armour stat. Bucket hats and high heels, biking boots and pencil skirts - it all goes on just to increase that number. What you wear in Night City doesn't have much of an impact on your interactions with others, but one modder has introduced a system to make clothes more meaningful. StreetStyle - Immersive Fashion System adds more depth to Cyberpunk's existing clothing system by tying your outfits to the game's skill checks. The PC mod gives each item of clothing specific skill bonuses in Strength, Reflexes, Technical, Intelligence and Cool (with a value between one and five for each category). These combine with your base stats to give you skill boosts that comes in handy for skill checks - such as those found in dialogue and device interactions. Items have been assigned stats according to their actual purpose: wearing Netrunning equipment, for instance, will boost your Intelligence stat - but it won't provide much help with Strength and Reflexes, as the suits are not designed for combat. Cyberpunk 2077 Patch 1.23 PS5 vs Xbox Series X/S Updated! How Does Next-Gen Stack Up Right Now? You can't simply boost your stats into the stratosphere, too: StreetStyle also adjusts the difficulty of skill checks to prevent them from being too easy with the buffs. The mod calculates your clothing bonus by adding up the total of all your clothing items for a single attribute, then dividing that number by seven, and adding it to your base stat. The mod also pairs each item of clothing with one of Cyberpunk 20
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Ever heard of Blackpink? If not, well, a lot of people sure have - the band was the first K-pop girl group to reach 1bn views on YouTube, and they're currently the most subscribed-to music group on the platform (via Vogue UK). And now the group is coming to PUBG with their very own crossover event. Between 18th August to 7th September players will be able to participate in "special in-game event missions" to earn points to acquire Blackpink-themed items, including a level three helmet and contraband coupons. And there's plenty more in-game items where that came from: 35 distinct items will be on sale in total, and will be purchasable from today until the end of the year. Each of the band members will have their own cosmetic bundles (each of which includes "themed hair, an outfit, a nameplate, helmet, weapon and emote"). Blackpink PUBG teaser PUBG's maps will also see some changes as part of the event. Blackpink-themed decorations such as building decals, plane banners, supply crates and level three helmets will appear from today until 7th September on PC, and from 12th August to 15th September on consoles. On the surface, Blackpink might seem an odd choice for a PUBG collaboration, but it's worth remembering that developer Krafton is also based in South Korea. The game developer is expected to achieve the second-biggest IPO on record in South Korea (via Bloomberg), so I guess it makes sense that one of the country's biggest game
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Disney unveiled prices for its upcoming Star Wars hotel experience, Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser, and by the stars, that’s gonna be a whole lot of credits. The two-night immersive adventure promises a journey into a personalized Star Wars experience, where guests will board a “launch pod” and stay on the Halcyon starcruiser. The full itinerary includes character interactions, lightsaber battles, exploration of the ship and spaces in the Star Wars world, and dining with entertainment. It also includes “unexpected story moments” that aren’t planned, which may whisk guests to he
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The Halo Infinite technical preview debuted to Xbox One, Xbox Series and PC owners last weekend, giving us our first look at how the game has evolved since its controversial real-time debut last year. The reaction has been broadly positive - and rightfully so - while our sampling of the game has been limited to a trio of multiplayer maps, the game plays well and it seems that many of the technical issues seen in last year's gameplay debut have been comprehensively addressed. With some hands-on time under our belts, we're excited about the release of t
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Ghost of Tsushima: Legends, the multiplayer part of Sucker Punch's samurai adventure, will get a standalone release on 3rd September.PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 versions of Legends will be available, priced £16/$20/€20, with the option to then upgrade to the Ghost of Tsushima: Director's Cut if you so choose for £44/$40/€50 (PS4) or £54/$50/€60 (PS5).Legends is also getting some upgrades: a new two-versus-two mode named Rivals you can see in action below, an updated gear mastery progression system, new cosmetics and new Trophies. All of tha
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Capcom revealed Street Fighter 5’s final character, the roster’s 45th fighter, on Tuesday: It’s Luke, a brand-new fighter “that specializes in moving fast and hitting hard.” More importantly, Luke’s reveal was pitched by Capcom as a peek at the future of the Street Fighter series, so don’t be surprised when he shows up as a central character in Street Fighter 6. Gameplay featuring Luke delivering a savage beatdown of Ryu was released on Tuesday, but we don’t know much about Luke’s background or his full move set. Capcom promises to reveal more details about Luke before his release in November. Two other fighters are coming to Street Fighter 5 sooner: Oro from Street Fighter 3 and Akira Kazama from Capcom’s Rival Schools series will be released as paid DLC on Aug. 16.
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Via playable character in Super Monkey Ball. Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania will let you play as Beat from Jet Set Radio.It's a nice nod from one Sega series to another, even if there's not much else going on with Jet Set Radio these days. Beat will be available to unlock for all players for free at launch, Sega revealed via Twitter today. That's in contrast to an array of other retro skins which you will have to pay for. — Super Monkey Ball (@SuperMonkeyBall) August 4, 2021 Meanwhile, Banana Mania's Deluxe Edition includes a set of classic character skins so you can make your monkeys look like their original (and far superior) GameCube designs. You can also play as a Game Gea
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Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania, the latest entry in Sega’s white-knuckle banana-grabbing platform game series, will include a variety of cameos, including Beat from the Jet Set Radio franchise. Sega said Wednesday that Beat is just one of “several iconic guest characters” coming to Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania, and teased more reveals in the weeks to come. Beat is the cover star of the original Jet Set Radio and its sequel, Jet Set Radio Future, the stylish inline skating/graffiti games released for Sega Dreamcast and the original Xbox. Jet Set Radio’s Beat will be a free, unlockable character, obtained through normal gameplay on all platforms, Sega said in a news release. In a nice little touch, when playing as Beat, the in-game bananas will change to yellow cans of spray pai
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Vanguard tease overshadowed by abuse allegations. Activision Blizzard has begun teasing the next big Call of Duty game under the shadow cast by the recently-filed discrimination lawsuit.Yesterday, as Activision Blizzard executives such as boss Bobby Kotick insisted "we will be the company that sets the example for this in our industry" during a financial call aimed at the investor community, a coalition of workers from across multiple Activision Blizzard studios criticised the decision to hire WilmerHale, the same law firm helping Amazon keep its workers from unionising, to review the company.As reported by IGN, the employees, collectively called the ABK Workers Alliance, said Kotick did no
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Ubisoft appears to be planning the return of a major Assassin's Creed character in a forthcoming update for the Viking-set Valhalla. Details of the character are included in datamined quest data and dialogue lines found within Valhalla by the ever-reliable Assassin's Creed leaker J0nathan.WARNING: SPOILERS FOLLOW. Fan-favourite Assassin's Creed Odyssey protagonist Kassandra will apparently meet Eivor in a new questline set in a fresh location: on the Scottish island of Skye.Eivor will hear word of a mysterious person who bears an uncanny resemblance to Ravensthorpe heartthrob Randvi, amid talk of some strange goings on. (This is a reference to how fans said Randvi looked like Kassandra.)We'll leave the finer details of what happens next for you to
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Recently, I've been skateboarding. I've been skating before starting work for the day, and I've skated once I'm all done. Unlike a fair share of my colleagues, I haven't picked up actual skateboarding during the pandemic - I've looked to videogames as wish-fulfilment for that, and my latest obsession is called The Ramp. When I first saw The Ramp, it was via a gif on Twitter - a ramp in front of a blue background, lit by the digital approximation of a low afternoon sun drawing some choice shadows. The skater taking off on the lip of the ramp, gaining speed jumping, a simple nosegrab, repeat. A perfectly cut thing that I must've watched for hours by now. The Ramp was announced to a pretty large echo, not only because it looks very good thanks to bol
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A clutch of Pokémon who debuted in last year's Sword and Shield arrive in Pokémon Go later this month.The game had teased a surprise for its last big summer event and, indeed, this was not what fans were expecting. Pokémon Go features a few Galar-region creatures already, but only forms and evolutions of existing Pokémon such as Zigzagoon and Ponyta. Now, developer Niantic is rolling out more of the Pokémon's Gen 8 - including its signature Legendaries. As seen in the above trailer, this is all the work of Hoopa, the mysterious Mythical creature which appeared at the end of this year's Go Fest and continues to feature on its loading screen. Players had expected to be able to catch Hoopa later this summer... but there's no word on that yet. Inst
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Round and round the merry-go-round.  Grand Theft Auto Online players are walking around in circles while AFK to grind for Tuner RP in the new Los Santos Tuners update. As reported by Kotaku, the update's new reputation system has a huge rank cap of 1000 and reaching the higher levels takes a lot of time. The only way to earn RP is through Tuner races, testing out new cards, and passively by walking around the car meet. Players have figured out the passive RP method can be exploited easily. As long as they can keep their character moving around in the car meet, they won't be booted from a server for inactivity and can get on with something else in the real world. The end result is
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Street Fighter 5's final character is Luke, who is due out in November.Capcom described the brand new character as someone who "will help expand the world of Street Fighter".The teaser video is below: Based on Capcom's language there, the suggestion is Luke will play a starring role in the as-yet unannounced Street Fighter 6.Here's the official blurb from Capcom:"From what we can see, Luke appears to focus on moving fast and hitting hard. His punches even shoot beam-like projectiles at an alarming speed! Luke will step into the ring November 2021, and we can't wait to share more info about him soon!"Luke is the final DLC character for Street Fighter 5, and arrives five-and-a-half years after the fighting game first launched.I think it's fair to say
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With "true directional 360� movement". If you ever felt like Skyrim's third-person gameplay could do with an update to give it a more modern action-RPG feel, this could be just the ticket. "True Directional Movement - Modernised Third Person Gameplay" is a mod by Ershin for Skyrim: Special Edition that, well, does exactly what it says on the tin. The mod overhauls Skyrim's third-person gameplay to allow you to move and attack from any direction, while there's also a target lock component to help you keep track of enemies. This target lock comes with an animated health bar widget above enemies, with bosses getting their own (much larger) health bars. Here's a demonstration of what all this
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Fortnite is adding Cammy and Guile of Street Fighter fame.The two fighters land in Fortnite's Item Shop on 8th August, at its daily 1am UK time reset.This latest crossover is dubbed "Round 2", as both Ryu and Chun-Li joined first earlier this year. Guile, a cross between an Action Man and a cheesestring, wears his classic green clothes worn in Street Fighter 2. An alternative style sees him wearing a beach-ready vest and towel. Cammy features classic and tactical camo variants. Both characters have built-in emotes - Guile combs his mop-head hair, while Cammy does a spinny kick and pose - and there will be a bundle for the pair and a load of associated items. All of this, of course, is nothing to do with the Ariana Grande concert experience headed t
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I know what you're going to say... I know what you're going to say: "They have!" And yes, they have. There have been lots of Olympics games. Even Mario & Sonic put aside old rivalries to compete, though it's obviously unfair having those characters against each other because Mario is always going to win a plumb-off. And actually, while it says they're at the Olympic Games, I've been watching and they're not, you know, they're not there. So that's a lie, Sega. A big fat lie.But I don't mean that kind of Olympics game. I don't mean the kind of game that's filled with mini-games you have to button-mash your way to victory in, although I do rather enjoy this because everyone looks s
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Follow our ongoing coverage Contributors: Polygon Staff Activision Blizzard, the maker of massive titles such as Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, Diablo, and Candy Crush, is the subject of a lawsuit filed in July by California that alleges that the company has fostered a “pervasive ‘frat boy’ workplace culture” with “constant sexual harassment” of its female employees. The civil suit, filed by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing after a two-year investigation, includes claims for gender-based discrimination, unequal pay, sexual harassment, and other violations of the state’s civil rights laws. The lawsuit has kicked off a reckoning within Activision Blizzard and across the game industry, with hundreds of Activision Blizzard employees participating in a walkout at the end of July to protest the company’s initial response to the lawsuit and demand changes from leadership. Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick eventually issued a new statement calling the company’s original comments “tone deaf” and pledging to implement sweeping changes. One of the first major ones came on Aug. 3, when Blizzard Entertainment president J. Allen Brack — who is named in the lawsuit as an enabler of an alleged harasser at the studio — stepped down from his role. Follow our ongoing coverage of this developing story in our StoryStream below.
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poly-lt-wire-logo Photo: Warner Bros Place your bets, maybe they’re better than mine By Aug 3, 2021, 5:11pm EDT Part of the fun of a movie like The Suicide Squad is the idea that no one is safe. The premise — a team of convicted super-criminals go on impossible missions with bombs in their necks to keep them in line — is great for high-stakes action and surprising twists. It’s also good for making public predictions that you can be smug about later. Because I thought it would be fun, I made a list of characters that I think would die in The Suicide Squad and showed it to my bosses and coworkers, partly to keep me honest and also to give them ample time to think of a creative punishment if I get this super wrong. Most likely nothing will come of that, except maybe a mildly embarrassing update to this blog. Some notes on parameters here: I’m writing this before I see The Suicide Squad, having only seen the trailers and not read any reviews ahead of time. Given that there are reviews out there, I have seen Tweets about reviews, and because of that I’m aware that the movie is “violent” and “funny,” two things I figured would be true roughly since the movie was announced. I haven’t interviewed anyone nor spent any more time thinking about the Suicide Squad than I nor
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Activision Blizzard boss Bobby Kotick, along with a number of other senior executives, has spoken again as the company remains embroiled in controversy following the recent California Department of Fair Employment and Housing lawsuit alleging sexual harassment, discrimination, and a "frat boy" work culture at Blizzard. Addressing investors during Activision Blizzard's Q2 2021 results call this evening, Kotick said, "I want to start by making clear to everyone that there's no place in our company where discrimination, harassment, or unequal treatment of any kind will be tolerated. Nowhere. "We so appreciate the current and former employees who've come forward in past recent days with courage and I want to reiterate the commitments we've made to you. Our work environment, everywhere we operate, will not permit discrimination, harassment, or unequal treatment. We will be the company that sets the example for this in our industry." After reintroducing new Blizzard co-leaders Jen Oneal and Mike Ybarra, alongside studio co-founder Allen Adham, now leading new product and incubation efforts at the company, Kotick continued, "Each of these individuals brings vast industry experience and tremendous integrity to their roles. They're the very best examples of leadership with character and accountability. I'm confident this team will ensure that Blizzard provides a welcoming, comfortable, and safe workplace that is essential to foster creativity and inspiration." "In addition," Kotick continued, "we'll continue to investigate each and every claim and complaint that we receive. When we learn of shortcomings, we will take decisive action, and to strengthen our capabilities in this area, we'll be adding additional staff and resources. People will be held accountable for their actions. "That commitment means that we will not just terminate employees where appropriate, but will also terminate any manager or leader found to have impeded the integrity of our processes for evaluating claims, and imposing appropriate consequences. "Because our work cannot be successful without diverse voices, views, and talents, we made a
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Free update out now on all platforms. Left 4 Dead 2's iconic survivor line-up is embarking on another undead adventure, this time appearing as playable characters in developer Rebellion's Zombie Army 4: Dead War.Coach, Ellis, Nick, and Rochelle - who debuted in Valve's seminal co-operative FPS sequel all the way back in 2009 (and who finally returned to action in 2020's official The Last Stand update) - come to Zombie Army 4 as part of Rebellion's free Left 4 Dead Character Pack 2, available now on all platforms. They follow the original Left 4 Dead's cast, who joined Zombie Army 4 as playable characters earlier this year.The new group's arrival coincides with Zombie Army 4's Season 3 finale, which wraps up its current storyline in new campaign mission Return to Hell. "Our intrepid squad [are thrust] back into the underworld," teases Rebellion, "but this time it is a haunted manifestation of Schweiger's mind which they must survive in order to free him from Baron Umbra." Zombie Army 4 - Return to Hell and Left4Dead DLC Pack Trailer. This final episode is part of Zombie Army 4's new Return to Hell Pack, which is included in the game's Season Pass 3 (costing £29.99/
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Blizzard Entertainment said it now plans to release Diablo Immortal, the company’s mobile action RPG, sometime in the first half of 2022. The company had planned to release the game sometime this year, but updates to PvP and endgame content, as well as a new option for controller support, mean Diablo Immortal won’t meet its previously communicated release window. On the game’s official website, the Diablo Immortal team said in a development update, Following feedback provided by test participants of the Closed Alpha, our team has been tuning core and endgame features. For example, we’re iterating on PvP content like the Cycle of Strife to make it more accessible, alongside late-game PvE content like the Helliquary to make it more engaging. We’re also working to provide controller support for those who want to play our game in a different way. However, these changes and additional opportunities to improve our gameplay experience will not be realized in the 2021 timeframe we had previously communicated. So, the game is now planned for release in the first half of 2022, which will allow us to add substantial improvements to the whole game. Those improvements include adding new PvE raids in Diablo Immortal’s Helliquary where bosses are now designed as a challenge for raids of eight players to overcome, and updates to Challenge Rifts that will reward new upgrade materials that can’t be obtained in other modes. Blizzard also said it plans to improve the PvP Battleground mode: “We’ll evaluate matchmaking, earning rankings, class balance, time to kill, and other defining elements to improve the Battleground in Diablo Immortal.” Blizzard said it’s “still working through the challenges of adapting the touch screen controls to a controller seamlessly,” with accessibility “top of mind.” On Diablo Immortal’s endgame and associated gear, Blizzard said it’s “evaluating more ways to make top tier and legendary gear exciting and sought after, especially for players who’ve surpassed max level on their character(s). After hitting level cap, Paragon levels increase your character’s power. In Diablo Immortal, we want this end-game progress
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The popular manga series My Hero Academia just got an unwelcome twist: its creepiest character might have come out as bisexual. Written by Kohei Horikoshi, My Hero Academia is an ongoing action anime and manga series where everyday people have superpowers called quirks, enabling a thriving culture of formally trained superheroes. The story follows Izuku “Deku” Midoriya, an earnest boy who goes to an ultra-elite academy for the city’s most promising young heroes called U.A. High School. One of his classmates there is Minoru Mineta, a short boy with purple hair styled into four round buns. On the battlefield, Mineta is a crybaby. In the classroom, he’s a terror. He’s constantly drooling over his female counterparts, staring at their boobs, and trying to see them naked. For this reason, Mineta is a largely unpopular character in the fandom — it’s so normal to hate him that fans even made a trend out of removing him from their posters. Fans were all but okay with tolerating his presence, until the latest chapter of the manga. In chapter 321, a giant battle roars up and Mineta flails around during a fight. In the throes of battle, he remembers Deku and says, “I fell for you...When you were scared and sweating buckets...” To many, it appeared that Mineta was confessing his love to Deku, making him the first canonically LGBTQ+ character in the series. While the meaning of the line of dialogue is still up for debate — one person pointed out that it’s possible there isn’t romantic intent there — even the possibility for Mineta to be the series’ first canonical LBGTQ+ representation was enough to spark an absolute tidal wave of commentary online. It’s not that fans don’t want LGBTQ+ representation, it’s that they don’t want this character to be it. Since so many fans feel really upset, they’re dealing with it in the way they know best: making memes. Here’s a deep cut: It’s a Supernatural meme that references an old ship between two of its characters, Dean Winchester and Castiel. This poster jokes that Mineta being bisexual has divided them between their “gay” and “homophobic” sides. Another string of memes joke
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Fortnite is getting two more characters from Street Fighter. Guile and Cammy are coming to Fortnite as unique outfits that players can buy from the in-game store, Epic Games announced Tuesday. Guile will come with his signature costume as well as an alternate outfit that puts him in a black tank top and shorts. He’ll also get an emote and K.O. back bling. Meanwhile, Cammy comes with her classic costume and an alternate called Tactical Cammy. Cammy will also have a Borealis Backer back bling, and an emote. Buying the bundle with both characters will also unlock a loading screen with them t
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Following the news that Blizzard Entertainment president J. Allen Brack has left the company, Bloomberg News reported that a top-level human resources employee is out, too. Jesse Meschuk, whose title was SVP and senior people officer for Blizzard Entertainment and Activision Blizzard, left “this week,” Activision Blizzard confirmed to Bloomberg News. No further details were given regarding Meschuk’s departure, but it comes after California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing filed a lawsuit on July 22 that said Activision Blizzard’s female employees were subject to “cons
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Image: Disney It’s harder to get a ride movie right than you might imagine By Aug 3, 2021, 2:36pm EDT There are enough theme-park-based movies to make up a ranked list, but the way different movies handle the ride question varies drastically. Pirates of the Caribbean didn’t acknowledge much about the ride it was based on, and many don’t even realize the ride came decades before the movie. In Tomorrowland, by contrast, characters outright reference Disney. Jungle Cruise does include many references to the ride, but more importantly, it captures the specific feeling and energy of the attraction. It’s one of the few ride-based films that doesn’t just feel gratuitous. The Jungle Cruise ride sits in the Adventureland portion of Disneyland, Magic Kingdom, Tokyo Disneyland, and Hong Kong Disneyland. Its first iteration debuted with Disneyland in 1955, and while each park has slight variations on the actual route involved (with the Hong Kong version culminating in a battle between jungle gods), the premise is pretty much the same: Guests get on a boat that’s supposedly cruising down various famous rivers, from the Nile to the Amazon, and watch some animatronic animals while a skipper narrates the journey. The ride isn’t a serious nature tour — it’s about 10 straight minutes of intentionally horrible, corny puns and gags. The Hong Kong version is more serious, keeping in line with the ride’s original concept of an informative animal tour, but the other versions of the ride are notable for just being one extended Dad joke. The exact gags vary from ride to ride, but there are some recurring classics. For instance, after pointing at a large rock, the skipper will sometimes say, “This formation on the right is actually sandstone. Most people take it for granite. It’s one of our boulder attractions here in the park.” “Take as many pictures as you’d like,” they might also say, when encountering some elephan
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Telecom T-Mobile appears to have withdrawn its sponsorship of Activision Blizzard’s Overwatch League and Call of Duty League amid controversy at the game publisher, which was recently sued by California regulators over sexual harassment and gender discrimination claims. News of T-Mobile’s withdrawal from Activision Blizzard’s esports leagues was first reported by Dexerto. Polygon has reached out to T-Mobile and Blizzard Entertainment for confirmation of T-Mobile’s decision, but did not hear back. However, T-Mobile’s logo was pulled from both the Overwatch League and COD League’s lists of sponsorship partners. Mention of T-Mobile has also been excluded from recent tweets from the Overwatch League’s Twitter account and in a recent broadcast. T-Mobile was previously listed as the official 5G Sponsor of the COD League and offered “T-Mobile Weekly Drops” for fans. However, as noted by Dexerto, T-Mobile appears to have canceled the latest 5G T-Mobile Drop without explanation. A more obvious indicator of T-Mobile’s decision comes from the Call of Duty League, where during a recent match featuring the New York Subliners, that team wore stickers over their jerseys apparently to obscure the telecom’s logo (they also wore duct tape to less elegantly obscure a Draft Kings sponsorship logo). Image: Call of Duty League via YouTube T-Mobile still appears on the Overwatch League’s 2021 rewards guide, which is branded with a T-Mobile Perks logo, but a tweet posted Monday from the OWL about those perks makes no mention of the sponsor. Similarly, T-Mobi
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Stitch’s plan is almost complete in the new trailer for Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War and Warzone’s newest season. We know that Stitch is working to achieve Perseus’ goal of a Great Russia, and after he destroyed the military base on Yamantau, it seems the next step in his convoluted plan involves a mind-control broadcast. Along with the new trailer, Treyarch also announced on Tuesday that season 5 will begin on Aug. 12. The new trailer features a few teases of the season to come, including a likely new Operator wearing an eye patch and uploading Stitch’s broadcast signal. The signal finishes uploading just as a squad of soldiers, led by Woods, arrives to stop the mysterious new character. But they’re moments too late, and the broadcast signal turns the soldiers against each other and Woods, starting a massive brawl. During the chaos of the fight, it’s possible to pick out a few potential new weapons for the season, including TEC-9s, which seem like a perfect new pistol, and possibly a new rifle. On top of that, it’s even possible that this new broadcast signal could be teasing some kind of mind-control Killstreak, but we’ll have to wait for more information to find out. With season 5 on the way soon, Treyarch and Raven Software will probably tease new features over the next several days before everything is revealed early next week.
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An Activision Blizzard shareholder on Tuesday filed a lawsuit against the video games publisher, roiled over the past two weeks by a state investigation into alleged workplace harassment. The suit, which seeks class action status, says the negligent oversight of chief executive Bobby Kotick and other corporate leaders caused the company’s share price to lose substantial value. California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing announced July 22 that it had filed suit against Activision Blizzard over a years-long pattern of workplace discrimination, harassment, and “frat boy” culture to which female employees were subjected. In the 11 days since, statements from Kotick and corporate leadership have done little to help the company’s image. On July 26, 800 employees wrote a public letter to Activision Blizzard’s officers, calling their response to the California suit “abhorrent and insulting.” That referenced the initial reaction from Fran Townsend, the company’s chief compliance officer, who called the state’s complaint “truly meritless and irresponsible” in an internal memo. On July 27, thousands of employees signed an open letter supporting the California DFEH action against their company, and followed that by walking off the job in protest on July 28. Activision Blizzard’s share price lost $6.09 (about 6.7%) on July 27, the same day Kotick released a letter to employees that apologized for the company’s “tone deaf” response to the crisis. Since July 27, Activision Blizzard’s share price has slid even further, trading at $78.90 as of publication time, another 6% drop on top of the July 27 losses. The plaintiff in the shareholder lawsuit is Gary Cheng, who bought Activision Blizzard stock sometime in the past five years. Cheng is represented by The Rosen Law Firm of Los Angeles, a company that touts itself as the best in the United States for “Number of Securities Class Action Settlements.” The complaint, filed in federal court for the Central District of California, alleges that Activision Blizzard’s routine, unaudited quarterly filings — statements that declare potential risks that could affect the company’s share price — contained statements that are now “materially false” in light of the California DFEH lawsuit. The complaint references Kotick’s July 27 statement and the employees’ July 28 walkout. “As a result of Defendants’ wrongful acts and omissions, and the precipitous decline in the market value of the Company’s common shares, Plaintiff and other Class members have suffered significant losses and damages,” reads the lawsuit. The other defendants named are Dennis Durkin, Activision Blizzard’s chief financial officer, and Spencer Neumann, the company’s CFO from May 2017 to January 2019. Activision Blizzard has a quarterly earnings conference call with investors scheduled for 4:30 p.m. EDT on Tuesday. Also on Tuesday, J. Allen Brack, the president of Blizzard Entertainment, announced he had stepped down from his position, leaving studio executives Jen Oneal and Mike Ybarra to lead that part of the company.
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If you buy something from a Polygon link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics statement. Most Marvel post-credit scenes hint at the future. Loki opted for a blunter approach: the God of Mischief would return in season 2. Based on the final turn of events, there was really no other choice: Loki (Tom Hiddleston), having journeyed to the furthest point in spacetime with his variant Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino) to meet the founder of the TVA, a scientist-turned-survivor-of-multiversal-war known as He Who Remains (Jonathan Majors), finds himself zapped into a new reality when his lady self slays the omnipresent being. The mind reels! Creator Michael Waldron takes delight in the endless possibilities of Loki’s core premise. And as a veteran of Rick and Morty, he knows what anchors a mind-bending show, and what will keep Hiddleston’s character hurtling through his chaotic, rewritten future. Below, Polygon talks to Waldron about landing on the key choices of Loki season 1, what to expect from season 2, and a bit on his next project, the wrestling drama Heels, which is set to premiere on Aug. 15. Did you know there’d be a second season of Loki from the beginning or was that choice made later in the process? Michael Waldron: We always knew that it was a possibility. We always knew that we wanted to propel Loki and these characters out into the MCU after this, into further stories. But that didn’t really crystallize as a sure thing until we were in production and everything. And as we were really figuring out the finale. So you were still cracking the ending as you shot the show? There was a hiatus due to the pandemic. So things were constantly being retooled because of that. I think, by and large, everything with He Who Remains and the Sylvie-Loki conflict was always there. But that cliffhanger was the sort of thing that suddenly became a really appealing opportunity, a chance for that to lead into a second season. Image: Marvel Studios What element of the series helped you crack the macro story of Loki, and made all the other pieces fall into place? Each episode almost feels like a standalone adventure, similar to Rick and Morty, but what helped it all click? The first couple of weeks in the writers room was just laying out the individual episodes. It was very important to me that each episode stood on its own, and you could say “This is the Lamentis episode,” “This is the apocalypse moon episode,” “This is the Void episode.” I didn’t want it to just be cut up chapters and have one long continuous story. Obviously, we had to figure out the time travel for things to slot into place. I think a big idea for us was the way you get around the TVA by hiding in apocalypses. That felt like such a big, cool, exciting idea that it drove the action of episode 2, episode 3, and in a way it’s like Alioth is the ultimate apocalypse that He Who Remains is hiding behind. That sci-fi idea cracked a lot open for us. I know that after we had that I went home and I slept a little sounder. Did adding the multiverse to the
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On PC, Xbox, and PlayStation. World War Z, the smash-hit co-operative zombie shooter from Saber Interactive, will embarking on adventures in exotic (and undead-infested) new locales starting 21st September, with the arrival of its major Aftermath expansion for Xbox, PlayStation, and PC.Aftermath, which will be available as a paid update for existing World War Z owners and as all-in standalone release for newcomers, is intended to give the two-year-old zombie shooter a significant shot in the arm. It contains everything previously released as part of World War Z's Game of the Year edition, in
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Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is finally getting a follow-up, but probably not in the form you think. On Tuesday, Disney announced the voice cast for Lego Star Wars Terrifying Tales, an animated Halloween special that will pick up after the last movie in the Skywalker Saga — but it won’t necessarily be canon. The movie will take place on Mustafar, according to Disney's announcement, in one of the Star Wars universe’s most mysterious and creepy locations: Darth Vader’s castle. The story will follow Poe Dameron (Jake Green) and BB-8 as the pair make an emergency landing on Vader’s planet, shortly after the events of Rise of Skywalker. Once they arrive, they meet a Hutt named Gr
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Red Dead Online’s Blood Money update is still fresh, but Rockstar is adding a few more missions for cowboys to explore. Blood Money introduced a new mission type called Opportunities, and a new one of these is on the way. Players will get to chase down a precious yellow diamond, called Il Sovrano, which is currently in Rhodes. A group of “monied elite are meeting,” which makes this an excellent opportunity for a robbery. It’s up to you whether you go in nice and sneaky-like, or just pull out a shotgun and do things dirty. This Opportunity can be repeated on higher difficulties; completing it on Ruthless difficulty allows you to purchase a Duplessis Top Hat from Collector guide Mad
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Alongside big free "Kenya" update for all platforms. Developer Funselektor Labs acclaimed minimalist racer, Art of Rally, will finally be making its way to Switch and Xbox next Thursday, 12th August.Art of Rally, which initially launched on PC toward the end of last year, delivers a top-down, faintly retro twist on the rally racing formula, sending players careening across low-poly renditions of Finland, Germany, Japan, Norway, and Sardinia as they tackle its 60 rally stages.It features 61 "iconic" rally cars from the 60s to the 80s, and includes daily and weekly leaderboard challenges, ghost
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First, there was the ultimate soda drinking experience, Soda Drinker Pro. Now, creator Will Brierly has a new concept: Beach volleyball, but with naked old men. It’s Retired Men’s Nude Beach Volleyball League, created in collaboration with illustrator Rachel Olson and Aaron Bleyaert, the host of Conan O’Brien’s Clueless Gamer series. Retired Men’s Nude Beach Volleyball League is, essentially, what is says on the tin. You’ll play as Len, an older gentleman enrolled in a nude beach volleyball league specifically for older gentlemen. The game is, largely speaking, volleyball, played with a nude ref who sometimes makes bad calls. There’s a story underneath it all, though, told t
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Driving a car is OK, I guess, but it’s not a very “gamer” activity. Thankfully, Google’s navigation app Waze has a newly announced feature that will allow drivers to activate a Halo theme. Drivers can pick between either the Banished War Chief Escharum or my boy Master Chief, who will offer gruff navigation guidance and color commentary. This limited-time feature promotes the upcoming Halo Infinite, which is currently planned for a holiday 2021 release on Windows PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X. Not only will the tones of Master Chief or Escharum guide you along roads, but drivers can also change their in-app car icon to a Warthog or Ghost, and apply one of the two characters to
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Hades for �19, Outriders for �25 and Biomutant for �28. Can you believe we're over halfway through 2021? If like me, you have a huge backlog of this year's games to catch up on, there are some great Nintendo Switch, PlayStation and Xbox titles dropping down in price right now. To help you find the cheapest offers, we've rounded up a selection of some of the best games you can grab for £30 or less. If you can't find the game you're after in our roundup, we've also noted where you can shop the latest sales - that way you can check if it's also been reduced. Currys has added quite a few games to its clearance page with some fairly decent price cuts:Biomutant on PS4 for £27.99, and on Xbox One for £32.97 at Currys with code FNDDGAME Bravely Default 2 on Switch for £24.95 Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 & 2 on PS4 for £24.99, and on Xbox for £24.97 Outriders on PS4 and PS5 for £24.97 eBay is treating customers to yet another promotional code allowing you to save on a wide range of selected sellers including Boss Deals. This can be used against this month's upcoming releases such as Aliens: Fireteam Elite and Hades on PS4, PS5 and Xbox, as well as other 2021 releases: Scarlet Nexus on PS4 and Xbox for £29.74, and on PS5 for £31.44 Aliens: Fireteam Elite on PS4, PS5 and Xbox for £25.37 Hades on PS4 and Xbox for £18.69, and on PS5 for £19.42 Guilty Gear Strive on PS4 and PS5 for £31.32 Shin Megami Tensei 3 Nocturne HD Remaster on PS4 for £25.37 Foreclosed on PS4, PS5 and Xbox for £19.85, and on Switch for £18.69 Base also has a sale on right now with a number of games you might like to check out for less: Shin Megami Tensei 3 Nocturne HD Remaster on Switch for £28.85 Blue Fire for £24.85 on Switch Dungeons and Dragons: Dark Alliance on PS4 for £22.85, and on PS5 and Xbox for £23.85 Necromunda: Hired Gun on PS4, PS5 and Xbox for £29.85 Alex Kidd In Miracle World DX for £22.49 That's all we've found so far this week but as always, we'll keep you updated on any other bargains we find! Also, please let us know in the comments if you've spotted a deal we've missed and we'll take a look! We highlight even more gaming and tech offers at our Jelly Deals website and over on our Twitter, so be sure to check out our Jelly Deals site or give us a follow on Twitter so you don't miss out on savings.
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A new Xbox Wireless Controller is now available for pre-order, and it will ship on Aug. 31. The Aqua Shift Special Edition features a pearlescent blue color scheme, as well as an improved grip texture that wraps the controller’s triggers, bumper buttons, and back casing. The launch model controller for the Xbox Series X has corrugated surfaces on the same parts, but they are part of the plastic casing. Microsoft’s announcement on Tuesday emphasized that the Aqua Shift’s grips are an additional, rubberized component, the first time a standard Xbox Wireless Controller has gotten this tr
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Riot Games has introduced a new event to the world of Runeterra, where the Ruined King Viego scours the world of League of Legends in search of his dead wife’s soul. To send him and his undead army back, an ancient order called the Sentinels of Light rise up. The group’s leaders, Senna and Lucian, gather up an unlikely band of champions to fight back. That storyline culminated Tuesday in a new cinematic called Absolution. In Absolution, the Sentinels finally rock up on Viego’s doorstep to put his dastardly campaign to an end. Viego and his servants face off against the Sentinels, new
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With several Codemasters games heading to EA Play. Microsoft has now published its full list of games arriving on Xbox Game Pass this month, and it seems like a particularly busy one - with several indie darlings and Codemasters games set to join the mix.As previously announced, award-winning roguelike Hades arrives on Xbox Game Pass for PC, cloud and console on 13th August. We named Hades our game of the year for 2020, so if you haven't checked it out yet, now's your chance. Art of Rally, a stylish driving game Martin described as "brilliantly playable", arrives on Game Pass for console, PC and cloud on 12th August. Let's Play Hades - THIS IS FINE A whole bunch of games are due to land on 5th August, including Dodgeball Academia, Curse of the Dead Gods and Lumines Remastered, while Skate (for console) and Skate 3 (on cloud) arrive via EA Play. Katamari Damacy Reroll, the much-beloved game which sees you roll around in a ball of stuff, also arrives on all Game Pass platforms on 5th August. A preview build for construction management sim Starmancer goes live on Game Pass for PC that same day. Later in the month on 17th August, Microsoft Solitaire Collection: Premium Edition - an ad-free version of the classic card game - will be available on PC. Following EA's acquisition of British studio Codemasters, a whole batch of the developer's games are being added to the EA Play roster and Xbox Game Pass. Dirt 4, Dirt Rally, Dirt Rally 2.0, F1 2020 and Grid (2019) will be available on Xbox consoles via EA Play from 10th August. A separate tweet from EA says F1 2020, Dirt 5 and Grid (2019) will be added to the EA Play List at some point in the near future. #GetMoreGame means getting more exclusive benefits to stand out from the crowd.Be sure to log in and claim your EA Play August member benefits from Apex Legends?, Knockout City??, Madden NFL?, and FIFA??! Also, here's a glimpse of what's coming next to the Play List ???. pic.twitter.com/h8Kf8T0E6n— EA Play (@EAPlay) August 2, 2021 On top of all that, it's worth remembering Twelve Minutes and Psychonauts 2 are set to launch on Game Pass on 19th August and 25th August respectively. Phew. As ever, a number of games are also set to leave the service: Ape Out, Darksiders Genesis, Don't Starve, Final Fantasy 7, Crossing Souls and Train Sim World leave on 15th August. GTA 5, meanwhile, is set to leave the subscription service on 8th August. Although by now I'd imagine most of us have had a chance to give it a whirl - last night it was announced that the game has sold a staggering 150m copies since its 2013 launch. You can find the full list of games currently available on Xbox Game Pass over here.
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The spirit of classic, violent racing game series Carmageddon is coming to Wreckfest, Bugbear Entertainment’s demolition derby-themed racing game. A new update adds a new car, two new tracks, and streets filled with zombies (and zombie cows) to plow through. Wreckfest’s latest tournament borrows its visuals from the original Carmageddon, a pixelated mess by modern standards, which gives it a sense of charm. Wreckfest players will be able to race through two vintage Carmageddon tracks (Bleak City and Death Canyon) and ride in the sawblade-adorned Eagle R car, which appeared in 2016’s Carmageddon: Max Damage. The action is certainly less sadistic than the original Carmageddon, which awarded players bonus points for running over innocent pedestrians. Wreckfest’s version of vehicular homicide is more about cleaning up the streets of undead, with palatable splashes of green, pixelated blood splashing across the screen. Wreckfest is available for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X. We called its brand of destruction-filled racing some of the most fun we had in 2019. The Carmageddon series kicked off in 1997, with Stainless Games’ original game for Mac, MS-DOS, and Windows PC. The developer followed that game with a series of sequels, including Carmageddon 2: Carpocalypse Now, Carmageddon TDR 2000, and Carmageddon: Reincarnation.
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FIFA 22's Pro Clubs mode lets you create and play as a woman virtual pro.The FIFA series already lets you play as women footballers, but up until now only with women's international teams via kick-off mode, and the FIFA Street-style Volta mode. Pro Clubs is an online mode in FIFA that lets you create a virtual player and play your position on the pitch with teammates in 11v11 matches.For the first time, in FIFA 22 players will be able to create and customise a female virtual pro in Pro Clubs, and then take that player onto the pitch in mixed 11v11 matches.The video below shows off how this looks: It's a step forward for FIFA, but there's still no word from EA Sports on the inclusion of women's clubs, such as those from the FA Women's Super League.Last month, EA announced Alex Scott is a commentator in FIFA 22.The former professional footballer, who played for Arsenal in the Women's Super League and made 140 appearances for England, is the first female broadcast voice in the series.
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