[Updated] MPL Singapore Season 5 – Teams, Schedule & Results

MPL Singapore is back with its fifth season! It’s starting on 11 March and will run all the way until 16 April. The regular season will end on 1 April. We’ve got some new teams in the league, some with a new name and others we’ve never seen before. Don’t worry though, I’ve got you covered with all the details you need to know about the regular season.
NOTE: All Times & Dates will be in (UTC+8)

Details

Date: 11 March – 16 April (UTC+8)
Prize Pool: SG$100,000
Venue: Zenway Productions, 53 Ubi Ave 1, #05-02, Singapore 408934

Format

Regular Season: 11 March – 2 April

Single Round Robin
All Matches are Best of 3

Earned 3 points for winning 2-0 games
Earned 2 points for winning 2-1 games
Earned 1 point for losing 1-2 games
No points earned for losing 0-2 games

Top 4 advance to Upper Bracket
Bottom 4 advances to Lower Bracket

Playoffs: 14–16 April

Double Elimination
All Matches are Best of 3
Lower and Upper Bracket Final are Best of 5
Grand Final are Best of 7

Final Results

Place
Prize
Qualifies To
Participant

1
SG$30,000
MSC 2023
RSG Slate SG

2
SG$15,000
–
Team Flash

3
SG$5,000
–
Bleed Esports

4
SG$4,000
–
Evil

5-6

SG$2,500

–

Team SMG SG

Stellark SG

7-8

SG$1,500

–

Revival

Alchemy SG

Teams

RSG Slate SG – RSG Singapore partnered with Slate Esports, rebranded as RSG Slate SG
Bleed Esports – Bleed Esports acquired the slot of Slate Esports
Evil
Revival
Stellark SG
Team SMG SG
Team Flash – Qualifier
Alchemy SG – Qualifier

GROUP STAGE RESULTS

Standings

1
RSG Slate SG
6-0
12-0
12
18p

2
Bleed Esports
5-1
10-5
5
12p

3
Team SMG SG
4-2
9-5
4
12p

4
Revival
3-3
6-7
-1
8p

5
Team Flash
3-3
6-7
-1
8p

6
Stellark SG
2-4
6-9
-3
7p

7
Evil
1-5
4-10
-6
5p

8
Alchemy SG
0-6
2-12
-10
2p

Matches
Regular Season – Week 1
11 March

10:00 AM (UTC+8) – Bleed Esports [2] vs [0] Team Flash
1:00 PM (UTC+8) – Alchemy SG [0] vs [2] Team SMG SG
4:00 PM (UTC+8) – Revival [0] vs [2] RSG Slate SG
7:00 PM (UTC+8) – Evil [0] vs [2] Stellark SG
12 March

10:00 AM (UTC+8) – Stellark SG [2] vs [1] Alchemy SG
1:00 PM (UTC+8) – RSG Slate SG [2] vs [0] Evil
4:00 PM (UTC+8) – Team Flash [0] vs [2] Revival
7:00 PM (UTC+8) – Team SMG SG [1] vs [2] Bleed Esports
Regular Season – Week 2
18 March

10:00 AM (UTC+8) – Evil [0] vs [2] Team Flash
1:00 PM (UTC+8) – Revival [0] vs [2] Team SMG SG
4:00 PM (UTC+8) – Alchemy SG [0] vs [2] Bleed Esports
7:00 PM (UTC+8) – Stellark SG [0] vs [2] RSG Slate SG
19 March

10:00 AM (UTC+8) – Bleed Esports [0] vs [2] Revival
1:00 PM (UTC+8) – Team Flash [2] vs [1] Stellark SG
4:00 PM (UTC+8) – Team SMG SG [2] vs [1] Evil
7:00 PM (UTC+8) – RSG Slate SG [2] vs [0] Alchemy SG
Regular Season – Week 3
25 March

10:00 AM (UTC+8) – Alchemy SG [1] vs [2] Revival
1:00 PM (UTC+8) – Evil [1] vs [2] Bleed Esports
4:00 PM (UTC+8) – Stellark SG [0] vs [2] Team SMG SG
7:00 PM (UTC+8) – RSG Slate SG [2] vs [0] Team Flash
26 March

10:00 AM (UTC+8) – Bleed Esports [2] vs [1] Stellark SG
1:00 PM (UTC+8) – Team SMG SG [0] vs [2] RSG Slate SG
4:00 PM (UTC+8) – Team Flash [2] vs [0] HomeBois
7:00 PM (UTC+8) – Revival [0] vs [2] Evil
Regular Season – Week 4
1 April

10:00 AM (UTC+8) – Stellark SG [1] vs [2] Revival
1:00 PM (UTC+8) – Alchemy SG [2] vs [0] Evil
4:00 PM (UTC+8) – RSG Slate SG [0] vs [2] Bleed Esports
7:00 PM (UTC+8) – Team Flash [2] vs [0] Team SMG SG
Playoffs
14 April

10:00 AM (UTC+8) – Revival [0] vs [2] Evil (Lower Bracket Round 1)
1:00 PM (UTC+8) – Stellark SG [2] vs [1] Alchemy SG (Lower Bracket Round 1)
4:00 PM (UTC+8) – RSG Slate SG [2] vs [0] Team Flash (Upper Bracket Semifinal)
7:00 PM (UTC+8) – Bleed Esports [2] vs [1] Team SMG SG (Upper Bracket Semifinal)
15 April

10:00 AM (UTC+8) – Team SMG SG [0] vs [2] Evil (Lower Bracket Quarterfinal)
1:00 PM (UTC+8) – Team Flash [2] vs [0] Stellark SG (Lower Bracket Quarterfinal)
4:00 PM (UTC+8) – RSG Slate SG [3] vs [2] Bleed Esports (Upper Bracket Final)

7:30 PM (UTC+8) – Evil [0] vs [2] Team Flash (Lower Bracket Semifinal)
16 April

10:00 AM (UTC+8) – Bleed Esports [1] vs [3] Team Flash (Lower Bracket Final)
4:30 PM (UTC+8) – RSG Slate SG [4] vs [1] Team Flash (Grand Final)

Where to Watch?
YouTube / Facebook / TikTok / Twitch

MPL Philippines Season 11 – Teams, Schedule & Results
MPL Indonesia Season 11 – Teams, Schedule & Results
MPL Malaysia Season 11 – Teams, Schedule & Results


All The News Announced In PokÃ©mon Direct January 2020

Nintendo is starting off 2020 with a bang. With Pokemon Sword & Shield being one of the Nintendo Switch’s most popular games, they let it take the spotlight for this year’s first Nintendo Direct, aptly called PokÃ©mon Direct 1.9.2020.
Here’s everything that was announced in the livestream:
PokÃ©mon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2R_1HEbxYhA&w=560&h=315]
It’s been about four years since the release of the last Pokemon Mystery Dungeon game. We’re finally getting a remake this year in the form of PokÃ©mon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX.
The game will be a Switch exclusive (duh) and is coming out on 6 March 2020. It will feature the return of the roguelike dungeon-crawling experience fans of the series have come to love.
If you’re interested in trying it out, a demo is now available on the Nintendo e-Shop so go try it out!
Expansion Passes For PokÃ©mon Sword And PokÃ©mon Shield

Your adventure in the new PokÃ©mon games aren’t over yet. Game Freak has announced an expansion pass for each version of the game. Buying the pass will let you access both of the game’s upcoming DLCs: the Isle of Armor and the Crown Tundra.
Both DLCs are named after the new regions that are unlocked by those who purchase them. More than 200 PokÃ©mon will be added to game through the DLCs. That includes PokÃ©mon from past games who didn’t appear in Sword & Shield and new ones.
The expansion passes can be pre-ordered right now for US$29.99 (~RM125). The Isle of Armor will arrive in June 2020 while the Crown Tundra is expected to drop later in fall 2020.
The Isle Of Armor
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TD2WBl2JB2A&w=560&h=315]
Coming in June 2020, the Isle of Armor will add a ton of new exciting content to the game. There will be a new dojo for players to apprentice at and of course, a new mentor. You’ll be training under the tutelage of Mustard, a former champion who is also Leon’s mentor.
That package wouldn’t be complete without a new rival and the Isle of Armor will give you one based on the version you’re playing. Sword players will get poison-type user Klara as their new rival while Shield players will get psychic-type user Avery.

The true highlight of the Isle of Armor is the addition of a new legendary PokÃ©mon called Kubfu, a fighting-type PokÃ©mon. It can be evolved into Urshifu, a PokÃ©mon with two combat styles: Single-Strike Style (dark-type damage) and Rapid-Strike Style (water-type damage).
Urshifu will also have two distinct gigantamax forms based on his combat style. Each one has a different appearance and a different g-max move. Once you’ve completed your training under Mustard, you can bring Urshifu to online battles and official competitions.

Love is also being shown to the original game’s starter PokÃ©mon. Rillaboom, Cinderace, and Inteleon are all getting new gigantamax forms and new g-max moves. Last but not least, there will be new clothing items and accessories for your bicycle.
The Crown Tundra
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veJHgqXCCag&w=560&h=315]
If you’ve been itching for a winter-themed map for PokÃ©mon Sword & Shield, then the Crown Tundra will satisfy that craving. You’ll be making your way to the icy region to lead an exploration team. Expect to find a mysterious temple and even a giant tree.
As how the Isle of Armor is getting Kubfu, the Crown Tundra will give players another new legendary PokÃ©mon in the form of Calyrex. Not much details have been revealed about it besides that it’s a psychic-type and grass-type PokÃ©mon.

Crown Tundra’s cool new feature is the introduction of a co-op play that lets you and friends explore PokÃ©mon dens. You’ll see PokÃ©mon dynamaxing right before your eyes. The best part is that you can even catch past legendary PokÃ©mon!
Similar to Isle of Armor, this DLC will add a bunch of new clothing items and accessories.
PokÃ©mon Home

Ever felt like bringing over the PokÃ©mon you caught in Let’s Go Pikachu or Let’s Go Eevee? Well, soon you can!
A cloud service called PokÃ©mon Home will be introduced in February 2020. It will allow players to add PokÃ©mon from the two games mentioned above plus the PokÃ©mon Bank. However, this isn’t free. You’ll need to pay to have access to PokÃ©mon Home. How much? That will be revealed soon.
New Software Update

Soon after the end of PokÃ©mon Direct, a new software update will go live. There is a bunch of cool new content that will come in the update so make sure you check it out.
One of the more interesting endgame changes is that there will be a higher chance for players to run into gigantamax versions of Coalossal, Lapras, and Flapple or Appletun in Wild Area max raid battles.
To get players even more excited for the upcoming expansions, players will get a special encounter at Wedgehurst station. You’ll bump into your future Isle of Armor rivals and also a Galarian Slowpoke. You can catch it and evolve it later in the expansions into a Slowbro or Slowking.

It’s good that Nintendo let Game Freak hog all the spotlight because there’s a lot of exciting stuff coming for Sword & Shield players. The Isle of Armor expansion is five months away but it’s already a painful wait.
You can watch the entire stream here:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5afasEAiN0&w=560&h=315]


Playstation Japan Ad Rips Off A Lot Of Artists

Just a few days ago, PlayStation Japan released a colourful and cheerful video showing off a lineup of the latest PS4 games. We really liked it, but it looks like some animators and artists have started to notice something really off about the video.
[wpvideo Uh9aCdVz]
Animation website Catsuka uploaded a video showing a side-by-side comparison of the PS Japan PS4 lineup music video and a compilation of footage that appears to be the original works that the PS Japan video allegedly plagiarises. A lot of the scenes appear to be one-to-one copies so it’s hard to just consider this as coincidence.
The music video was directed by Kevin Bao who was hired by Eallin Animation to produce the video. The studio tweeted out a statement clarifying that they’ve immediately ceased working with him and have contacted him for a response.
It looks like Bao know he’s done something wrong. All of his social media accounts including Instagram, Vimeo, and Tumblr have all been deleted.
Some of the first people to notice the plagiarised work were animators themselves. At least four seconds of 2D animator Oleg Kositsyn’s work was used and OK K.O.! creator Ian Jones-Quartey pointed out Takafumi Hori’s work in Steven Universe The Movie was traced.

It appears that @PlayStation_jp made a promo that swiped some of @porigoshi's animation from Steven Universe The Movie. This looks to be more of a direct trace than an homage:
(Steven Universe: The Movie first, @PlayStation Promo second) pic.twitter.com/k8Ru2IjION
— ianjq (@ianjq) December 4, 2019

cool animation, thanks for perpetuating ??https://t.co/f5uDBKK2hr pic.twitter.com/nE0eJe434G
— bbwb anim (@_bbwb_) December 2, 2019

It’s heartbreaking to see something so cool turn out to be a piece of work that profited off other people’s ideas. Here’s hoping Kevin Bao gets the reprimand he deserves if he’s guilty, and all the original animators are given the appreciation they deserve.
Thanks, Kotaku and Cartoon Brew.


How Big Is The PS5? Here’s A Size Comparison Between All PlayStation Consoles

Ever wonder how big the PS5 is? Its official specs are 15.4 inches tall, 10.24 inches deep and 4.09 inches wide. But how does it stack up with the rest of its siblings?
Here’s a picture (via IGN) that showcases all the PlayStation consoles from each gaming generation, from the original PlayStation to the awesomely rhombus-shaped PS4.

Brings a tear to one’s eye, eh?
As you can clearly tell, the PlayStation 5 is the largest among the lot, even bigger than the previous size title holder PS3. The original PS2 comes in third, while the PS4 comes in fourth place. If we’re just counting original versions of the console, the PS1 is technically the smallest among the PlayStation consoles.
So in order of size from smallest to biggest, we have PlayStation 1, PS4, PS2, PS3, and PS5. Congratulations, PlayStation 5, you are the chunkiest of the lot!
For comparison’s sake, here’s the Xbox Series X lined up with every old Xbox out there (also via IGN).

dav
For more on Xbox Series X and S sizes, do check out our unboxing and size comparison vids.Â


VTuber Rushia Is Terminated From Hololive For Leaking Private Info

VTuber Uruha Rushia, known for being the “boing boing” girl, recently had her contract with Hololive Production terminated for allegedly violating it and leaking private information.
Hololive Production stated the following about the termination:
Regarding â€˜Uruha Rushia,â€™ it has been apparent for some time that she has been distributing false information to third parties and has been leaking information, including communications regarding business matters. We have been investigating the facts related to these matters.
With respect to the above, we were able to confirm that she engaged in acts that: violated her contract by leaking information that she acquired from the company as well as communication over SNS [social media], both of which she has a responsibility to protect; and caused the company to suffer reputational damage, such as by publicizing falsehoods to various related parties. As a result, we, as a company, have determined that it has become difficult to continue managing and supporting her and have elected to make this decision.
How did this happen? Turns out that Rushia may have had a relationship with online singer Mafumafu, to the point where she allegedly divulged personal info with the male singer (via Anime News Network). Mafumafu clarified that he is just good friends with Rushia through games (Apex Legends).
Here’s a breakdown of it; it’s in Japanese but the comments in the video can help clarify it. Basically Rushia talked to Mafumafu and another YouTuber, and somehow the info leaked and people involved in making the VTuber do her thing are doxxed.

It’s sad that her contract is terminated like this, but that’s the price you pay if you’re not careful. Before all this, Rushia has made bank as a 3rd generation Hololive talent, with her earnings from Superchat being US$3.2 million in total.


Netflix’s Narcos Is Getting An XCOM-Like Game

I knew that Firaxis’ XCOM franchise is like strategy gaming cocaine for gamers, but I never thought that the actual cocaine trade would become an XCOM game. What am I talking about? Well, a Narcos game was initially announced last year, and now we know what kind of game it’s going to be.
Narcos: Rise Of The Cartels is a tactical turn-based strategy game Ã  la XCOM based on Netflix’s Narcos series by publisher Curve Digital and developer Kuju Entertainment. It is slated to release for the PS4, Xbox One and PC sometime in fall 2019, with a physical release scheduled for Q4 2019.
The upcoming game will allow players to relive the events of the first season of Netflix’s Narcos, taking the side of either the Medellin Cartel or the DEA in two distinct story campaigns. You can choose to either help the Narcosâ€™ drug empire rise to the top under the watchful eye of El PatrÃ³n or topple the growing criminal enterprise alongside Steve Murphy as the DEA.
According to the developers, Narcos: Rise Of The Cartels will introduce its own unique mechanics into the XCOM-like gameplay, with the ability for units on both sides to move simultaneously and allowing players to take direct third-person command over their units during critical moments.
Check out the two trailers for the game below, for each side respectively.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aI9NIvSneO4&w=560&h=315]
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSNn9cHkwj0&w=560&h=315]


Dave Bautista Joins Other Meatheads in Gears 5

The idea of a Gears of War movie has been a talking point since the first Gears game and whenever we’re talking about a movie adaptation for a game full of angry brawny men, Dave Bautista’s has always been a popular choice to play main man Marcus Fenix.
Bautista still isn’t confirmed be filling that role in a Gears movie but it seems that he’ll be making an even cooler appearance in the game’s universe, as himself. That’s right, the WWE Superstar and the man who plays Drax in the MCU will be playable in Gears of War 5.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqlYKgYFS1Q&w=560&h=315]
Announcing through his Twitter account, Bautista says that “it’s about damn time” that they get him into Gears and yeah, we all totally agree. He’s physique and personality is pretty much perfect for the deadly world of Gears of War.

Itâ€™s about damn time. Play as me in #Gears5 starting Sept 15 after @WWE Clash of Champions. @XBox @GearsofWar #DreamChaser pic.twitter.com/bCU4ZIjdw1
â€” Dave Bautista (@DaveBautista) September 3, 2019
His appearance in the game is also a part of a collaboration between WWE and Xbox, intended to promote the game. The partnership will allow fans to watch behind-the-scenes videos and more on WWE’s gaming channel UpUpDownDown which will be uploaded progressively as a special countdown towards the WWE Clash of Champions event happening on 15 September 2019.
You can unlock Bautista as a playable character on any version of Gears 5 (including with your Xbox Game Pass membership) starting on 15 September 2019. The promotion ends on 28 October 2019.


Riot Games Teases VALORANT’s New Oni 2.0 Skin Bundle

Gamers and fans of the popular first-person shooter game VALORANT are in for a treat. Riot Games has been dropping hints about the upcoming skin collection, and fans are speculating that it could be another addition to the Oni skin collection.
A sneak peek of the new skin collection was shared on VALORANT’s official Twitter account on Sunday, 26 February. The tweet hinted at a skin revival with the caption “again.” In the image, four blades were buried in the ground beneath a beautiful cherry blossom tree with the sun shining behind them.

?? pic.twitter.com/AC6IKOchzg
— VALORANT (@PlayVALORANT) February 26, 2023

This alone was enough to send fans into a frenzy, but VALORLeaks, a well-known source of leaks related to the game, confirmed speculation of a second Oni skin bundle just a minute later with a tweet revealing that the bundle would contain a vandal and a katana as melee weapons.

Next Bundle is Oni 2.0 | #VALORANT
It will contain a vandal and a katana as the melee. pic.twitter.com/plAic9BIS8
— Mike | Valorant Leaks & News (@ValorLeaks) February 26, 2023

The previous Oni skin collection, released in July 2020, included a Bucky, Guardian, Phantom, Shorty, and a Claw melee weapon in its bundle. Fans of the game have been eagerly waiting for a new addition to this collection, and it seems their wishes may soon come true.
While there’s no official release date for the new skin collection yet, VALORANT players are already preparing their wallets. The game’s developers have a reputation for creating high-quality skins that are not only visually appealing but also add a unique touch to the gameplay experience. With the Oni 2.0 skin bundle on the horizon, fans of the game have even more reason to be excited about what’s coming next.


Genshin Impact Trailer Shows Off The Dendro Element In Full

Genshin Impact’s seventh element in its fantasy anime RPG world will be playable soon, as evident in this new developer diary-style trailer from Hoyoverse/Mihoyo.
The new trailer showcases the Traveler using Dendro powers which is lets you shoot leaves & wood(?) onto enemies weak to it, interact with the wildlife of the upcoming new continent of Sumeru (like plant trampolines & vine-swinging), and summon flying plant pods for assists. The developers stated that the key words for the Dendro Element are catalysis, wisdom, and life. Dendro will feature two new effects: Bloom and Catalyze. Bloom will focus on healing and growth passive effects and environmental interactions, while Catalyze will debuff enemies and interact with Pyro, Hydro, and Electro elements to devastating effects.

The new Dendro powers will be accessible in Genshin Impact’s 3.0 update. Personally, I’m excited to see how else the new element will interact with existing elements and also in the new continent.


Live A Live Endings Guide

Live A Live is a Square Enix JRPG featuring multiple protagonists in different eras and time periods, all culminating into one grand final arc. The game’s narrative ties this together with a recurring malevolent force that serves as each era’s final boss.
You can check out our spoiler-free review of Live A Live here; it’s one of this year’s best JRPG remakes made for the Nintendo Switch. It improves upon most of its game mechanics while also revving up the visuals and original score to greater heights. The game’s stellar voice acting also helps elevate it further.
As such, you can expect different outcomes for Live A Live. Here’s a guide to get each of them. Note that since we’re dealing with endings, there will be spoilers so here’s your warning.

After completing all seven selectable character’s stories, you will gain access to The Middle Ages chapter. After you complete that, you’ll unlock the final scenario called The Dominion of Hate.
False Ending Guide
To pick the evil ending, pick Oersted. For reasons obvious to you once you’ve played all eight chapters, Oersted’s final scenario is different.

Oersted will spend his finale wiping out the other seven characters in the name of evil. When the chapter starts, simply walk down from the Archon’s Roost into the Seat of the Betrayers whereupon Odio (formerly Oersted) will use his powers to ensure victory for those who were cheated out of their rightful path. Once you defeat each “boss” you’ve unlocked the false ending.
True Ending Guide

To get the regular ending, pick the other seven characters and not Orsted. Since they’re the good guys, you will unlock the good ending by defeating all versions of Oersted and Odio.
To get the true ending, do the following:
-Recruit all seven main characters, then head to the Archon’s Roost for the final battle.
-After defeating the final boss, opt to spare him.
-Then walk back the way you came. You will go through a boss gauntlet defeating all the incarnations of Odio, and then fight the Nintendo Switch exclusive final form of Odio.
Voila: you’ve triggered the best ending of Live A Live.
How To Find Each Character In The Dominion Of Hate

Pogo: Pogo starts in a flowerbed that is just a little bit south of the Condemned Village (Fugalia Village), in the Silent Wood. To recruit him, you must play a game of hide-and-seek in the flowerbed area and then defeat him in battle. If she became the new Shifu Master, Lei doesn’t have to fight him, and skips the battle.

Oboromaru: Oboromaru starts in the middle of the road towards Archon’s Roost. If you want to recruit him, examine the sign just right before the entrance to Archon’s Roost. Some characters will trigger combat when you try to recruit him.

Earthen Heart Shifu (Recommended): The new Earthen Heart Shifu Master starts at the Last Hero’s Grave (AKA Hero’s Rest) summit. Recruiting Hong requires feeding him before he will join you. You can feed him Balmgrass which can be farmed in the flowerbed area south of the Condemned Village; you’ll have to feed him quite a few of them. The others just join you outright, no questions asked. Make sure you grab the sword on the tomb before you leave if you come to the summit. Regardless of which Shifu you get, they have the most skills and best stats for offense.

Masaru Takahara: Masaru starts and is found inside the Seat of the Betrayers (Lucrece Castle) Prison Cell. Some characters will trigger combat when you try to recruit them.

Akira: Akira will start at the base of Condemned Village (Fugalia Village) in the West. He is one of the easiest characters to recruit if he’s not your protagonist. If you say you don’t trust him, you’ll have to fight him, however.

Cube (Recommended): Cube starts at the rooftop of the Seat of the Betrayers (Lucrece Castle). You will need to find the strange object in the Last Hero’s Grave if you want to recruit Cube – this is the battery that he requires to boot back up. Cube is the best support character in the game and is required in your party in the final dungeon.

Sundown Kid: If you kick the Sundown Kid, his recruiting location with be random. This could be any of the location where you previously encounter him before. Sundown Kid will be marked on the map with a ?. He first appears on the mountains next to the cabin, then in the southeast of the mountains, then at the signpost towards the castle town, then in front of the throne, follow him left where he’ll be in bed and finally once you’ve exited the castle town, he’ll offer to join you.


Here’s How Steam Can Stop Epic Games From Doing Exclusives

Recently, Epic Games boss Tim Sweeney made a tweet regarding a surefire method to end its controversial exclusivity agreements with games like Metro Exodus, Phoenix Point, and Borderlands 3. Hint: it involves money.
Epic Games will end its exclusivity clauses if Steam raises its revenue cut for developers. His tweet stated the following: “If Steam committed to a permanent 88% revenue share for all developers and publishers without major strings attached.”

“Epic would hastily organize a retreat from exclusives (while honouring our partner commitments) and consider putting our own games on Steam.”

If Steam committed to a permanent 88% revenue share for all developers and publishers without major strings attached, Epic would hastily organize a retreat from exclusives (while honoring our partner commitments) and consider putting our own games on Steam.
— Tim Sweeney (@TimSweeneyEpic) April 25, 2019

For comparison’s sake, Steam gives developers between 70-80% of the revenue earned from games depending on sales. Epic Games gives 88%.
Tim also said such a move would be a glorious moment in the history of PC gaming.

“[This] would have a sweeping impact on other platforms for generations to come. Then stores could go back to just being nice places to buy stuff, rather than the Game Developer IRS.”

It’s hard to tell if he’s actively challenging Steam or if this is just a regular Twitter chat to get PC gamers and fans riled up. I’m guessing the latter, though he did cap his series of tweets off with a summary of his vision: to have the spirit of an open platform where the store is just a place to find games and pay for stuff. Ah, to go back to the days of regular brick-and-mortar stores selling physical games.


WoW Classic Adds Season Of Mastery Update Next Month

World of Warcraft ClassicÂ players will get to start fresh with a new character, starting from level one, when theÂ Season of Mastery realms goes live globally at 6am GMT+8 on 17 November 2021.
Similar to WoW Classicâ€™s launch, players will be able to log onto the servers ahead of when theyâ€™re going live to create characters starting from 11 November 2021. This will enable players to reserve their character name and have them ready to go once the servers are up.
At launch, Season of Mastery realms will resemble WoW Classic on day one, but the update phases will be accelerated, so players can expect their favourite dungeons, raids, and features to enter the game more quickly. Players will also be able to re-experience much of this content with more challenging tuning and other quality-of-life changes.
Name Reservation Details
WoW Classic Season of Mastery name reservations will open on 11 November 2021! Players with an active subscription or game time on their World of Warcraft account will be able to create one character per WoW account.

When you reserve a name, youâ€™ll also choose the realm you will play that character on. There are a few additional things to keep in mind as you make your choice:

After WoW Classic Season of Mastery is live, youâ€™ll be able to create additional characters up to a maximum of 50 characters in each of our three games:

Up to 50 characters total in World of Warcraft Classic (includes Season of Mastery)
Up to 50 characters in Burning Crusade Classic
Up to 50 characters in World of Warcraft and World of Warcraft: Shadowlands

Characters that were created for the WoW Classic Season of Mastery Open Beta will not be available to use in WoW Classic Season of Mastery.
For the name reservation period only, we will have a limit on the number of characters that can be reserved on a realm. When the realms go live, the limit will be removed.

To create a character and play WoW Classic Season of Mastery, you will need to download and install the client first.

Open the Battle.net desktop app and selectÂ World of WarcraftÂ in the game selection menu.
SelectÂ World of Warcraft Classic. If you have more than one World of Warcraft account, youâ€™ll see a second dropdown for Account. In that column, select the active account you want to play on.
Click theÂ InstallÂ button. Youâ€™ll see an installation progress bar that will show you when the installation is available to play.
Once the installation is complete, click theÂ PlayÂ button.

Youâ€™ll need to select the Season of Mastery realm you want to play on which will be identified in the Realm list. Then selectÂ Create New Character. Youâ€™ll be able to choose your faction, class, and race, as well as fully customize your new character and name them. If you change your mind about a character and have already reserved one, you will need to delete the one you made. Please note, the name associated with the character you deleted will be immediately available again to be claimed.


Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order Soundtrack Is Now On Spotify

If youâ€™ve playedÂ Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order, you’ll understand what I mean when I say that the epic music is part of what made the game by Respawn Entertainment a great Star Wars game. Well, there is good news for all fans of the game.
In collaboration with Disney and Lucasfilm, EA and Respawn Entertainment have announced that theÂ Star WarsÂ Jedi Fallen OrderÂ original soundtrackÂ is now available on all digital platforms, including Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music Unlimited and more.

Composed by the masterful Gordy Haab and Stephen Barton, and recorded with a world-renowned orchestra at Abbey Road Studios, this critically acclaimed soundtrack includes 44 iconic pieces from the game, including Cal Kestisâ€™ theme, music heard while exploring faraway worlds, and epic scores from the most intense confrontations.
Since the gameâ€™s release in November 2019, the soundtrack has won the SCL award for Outstanding Original Score for Interactive Media, â€œMusic of the Yearâ€ and â€œBest Original Choral Compositionâ€ at the G.A.N.G. awards, â€œVideo Game Score of the Yearâ€ at the 2019 ASCAP Composerâ€™s Choice Awards, and was nominated for â€œBest Music Supervisionâ€ in a Video Game by the Guild of Music Supervisors.
This is not the first time music fromÂ Star WarsÂ Jedi Fallen Order has made waves. Hit single â€œSugaan Essenaâ€ from Mongolian metal band, The Hu, was created for use in the game. Featuring a language created with the band thatâ€™s unique to Star Wars, itsÂ music videoÂ has achieved more than 6.5 million views since the single debuted earlier in February 2020.

Check out our full review of Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order here to find out why we named it one of the best games of 2019.


Ghostwire: Tokyo Gets Visual Novel Prequel

Can’t wait to play Ghostwire: Tokyo later this month? Why not play the free visual novel that serves as its prequel for now?
Publisher Bethesda and developer Tango Gameworks have released the game’s free visual novel –Ghostwire: Tokyo – Prelude– for PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4. The PC version (Steam and Epic) will be out on 8 March.
Here’s a quick overview:
“Dive deeper into the world of Ghostwire with the Ghostwire: Tokyo â€“ Prelude. In this exciting visual novel adventure, players will join the mysterious KK and his team of supernatural detectives as they investigate an unusual disappearance. However, along their journey theyâ€™ll stumble upon something even more sinister. Players can choose different interactions with KKâ€™s associates to piece together their stories in Ghostwireâ€˜s unique prequel.
Ghostwire: Tokyo is an action adventure game that challenges players to master the powerful arts of Ethereal Weaving while working to defeat the menacing Hannya and his followers, the Visitors, who have invaded Tokyo. These supernatural entities roam the stunning world of Ghostwire, creating a stunning atmosphere that is a love letter to Tokyo, its curiosities, and secrets.”
It’s a pretty neat way to hype up your upcoming spooky action game, especially if your visual novel has multiple endings and branching paths. Ghostwire: Tokyo will be out later on 25 March for PS5 and PC.


God Of War Ragnarok Gets Limited Edition DualSense Controller & A New Trailer

PlayStation has announced a new PlayStation 5 DualSense controller tailored after the adventures of Kratos and Atreus.
The controller is white and blue in colour, sporting a wolf and bear emblem on its touchpad. It’s definitely one of the better-looking limited controllers out there that uses the right kind of blue for that cool look.

The controller will be available on 9th November, the same release date as God of War Ragnarok. In related news, there’s also a new gameplay trailer showcasing a ton of gameplay in new realms (with new enemies and bosses of course), more on the Norse God of War Tyr, and a giant wolf that’s possibly Fenrir that will kickstart the titular Ragnarok. Check out the action below:


This Gorgeous Assassin’s Creed Statue Is Expensive AF

Just in time for E3 2019 and a few hours after the Ubisoft press conference, we have this exquisitely detailed and expensive bombshell of a statue announced.

This Assassin’s Creed Altair statue from Ubisoft and Pure Arts:

weighs in at 20 pounds,
is 24-inches tall,
can glow blue via its blue animus detailing on Altair’s right arm and right leg,
will set you back a whopping US$688,
will be out this October, though it only ships to North and South America.

If you’re a huge AC fan and have a pal living in the US willing to ship things your way, this may seem like a nice conversation piece to have on your display.


New Raya And The Last Dragon Poster Unveiled Ahead Of Trailer Tomorrow

Disney has released a new promotional poster forÂ Raya And The Last DragonÂ in anticipation of the unveiling of its first-ever trailer tomorrow. Check out the awesome poster below (courtesy of GSC Cinemas):

The synopsis for the movie reads:
Long ago, in the fantasy world of Kumandra, humans and dragons lived together in harmony. But when sinister monsters known as the Druun threatened the land, the dragons sacrificed themselves to save humanity. Now, 500 years later, those same monsters have returned and itâ€™s up to a lone warrior, Raya, to track down the last dragon in order to finally stop the Druun for good. However, along her journey, sheâ€™ll learn that itâ€™ll take more than dragon magic to save the world; itâ€™s going to take trust as well.
Raya And The Last DragonÂ will feature the voices of Awkwafina as Raya and Cassie Steele as Sisu the dragon. However, no additional details have been revealed as of yet. While the movie is inspired by Southeast Asian legends and folklore (as well as written by Malaysian-born screenwriter Adele Lim), itâ€™s unclear from which country the main premise of the movie originates from.
Earlier this year, Disney delayed their upcoming animated movieÂ Raya And The Last DragonÂ to 12 March 2021, due to the uncertainty of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. This means that we wonâ€™t be getting a single feature film from Walt Disney Animation Studios in 2020 (if we donâ€™t count Pixarâ€™sÂ OnwardÂ and the upcoming Pixarâ€™sÂ Soul).


Watch The Final Leg Of The ACE Championship Season 2 Dota 2 & MLBB Playoffs This Weekend

Want to see the best Dota 2 action the campuses of Malaysia can muster? Then you should check out the eGG Network’s Alliance of Campus Esports Season 2 (or ACE Championship Season 2) Dota 2 & Mobile Legends tournament happening this weekend.
The top 8 teams will be fighting tooth and nail (and claw and spells) in the playoffs this 29th and 30th June to win a huge chunk of the RM38,000 prize pool. Here are the details:
Date: 29-30 June
Venue: Sunway Velocity Mall
Time: 11am onwards, both days
This is the team lineup:
Mobile Legends (29 June)

University Sains Malaysia (North)
University of Malaya (Central)
Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka (South)
Universiti Malaysia Sabah Kampus Antarabangsa Labuan (East)

Dota 2 (30 June)

UTAR Kampar (North)
Sunway University (Central)
Multimedia University (MMU) Malacca
Curtin University

Casters who will be commentating for each battle include KBCSensei and Flava for Dota 2, and OzoraVeki, Quavo Gaming, Daddy Fidz, Meyy Godz Entertainment, and Kuja for Mobile Legends. If you tune into the eGG Network and its affiliates, we’re very sure these esoteric names sound familiar to you.
For more information, head over to the official Facebook Event Page.


Ubisoft Has No Plans For Assassin’s Creed Mirage DLC

Ubisoft has revealed that they have no plans to release post-launch DLC for Assassin’s Creed Mirage. Assassin’s Creed Mirage creative director Stéphane Boudon revealed the news in a recent Reddit AMA.
He said:
“For now, Mirage has no plan for DLC or extensive post-launch [support].”
Assassin’s Creed will launch on 12 October 2023 for the PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and PC.
In the meantime, check out our full review of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla here, or head on over here for our guide on how to be the best Viking in the game.
Last month, Ubisoft released a new behind-the-scenes look at development for Assassin’s Creed Mirage. The video reveals that the game’s parkour and assassinations have been directly taken or inspired by the Ezio titles (Assassin’s Creed 2, Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood, etc.).
Senior Game Designer Marco Maresca said:
“Our approach is closer to the Ezio games, where it’s all about keeping the flow and momentum going, with the design centered around verticality.
Many elements from past games are making a return. We have the corner swing, the ability to vault over objects, elevators to quickly reach high ground, with also new ingredients, such as the pole vault, allowing you to cross large gaps between two rooftops.”


The Nintendo 3DS Is Pretty Much Dead…

So long, Nintendo’s long-living handheld device. We hardly knew ye…
While the Big N hasn’t really declared the device as “dead”, it might as well have based on the latest investor briefing.Â The company has not announced any new first-party 3DS games and anything regarding the 3DS business in the briefing.

“We have nothing new to announce regarding first-party software for the Nintendo 3DS family of systems,” said Nintendo. “We can confirm that new software is coming from third-party publishers.”

What does this mean? Simple:

Nintendo will still keep the 3DS and 2DS on sale and on shelves. With a plethora of games on the system, it will still be a hot commodity for players who want a cheaper alternative to the Nintendo Switch. Can you say “discounted 3DS”?
Speaking of games, there won’t be any new ones from Nintendo. Apart from Kirby’s Epic Yarn, that’s it. All other titles will be third-party fares.
The rumour about Nintendo releasing a Switch-compatible handheld around June is turning out to be a reality.

While it’s sad that there isn’t going to be any more work done on the 3DS, the handheld has definitely run its course.


Next-Gen First Party Xbox Games To Be Compatible With Xbox One

Backwards compatibility is being touted as a major feature of both upcoming major consoles, the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. This has generated a lot of discussion on how it will work and whether or not it will affect the sales of next-gen consoles.
Another topic of interest is cross-generation play. It’s safe to assume that a significant portion of PS4 and Xbox One owners won’t immediately move to next-gen. In that case, it’s important to know how developers will release their games to cater to both generations.

In a recent interview with MCVUK, head of Xbox Game Studios Matt Booty shared some details that shed light on Xbox and cross-gen capability. Booty emphasises that Microsoft is definitely doing whatever they can to ensure that everyone in the Xbox family is able to play together.

“As our content comes out over the next year, two years, all of our games, sort of like PC, will play up and down that family of devices. Our approach is to pick one or two IP that weâ€™re going to focus on and make sure that theyâ€™re there at the launch of the console, taking advantage of all the features. And for us thatâ€™s going to be Halo Infinite, which is a big opportunity.”
– Matt Booty, head of Xbox Game Studios
What this tells us is that Microsoft is changing their idea of what an exclusive title is. Instead of focusing on churning out games just for the new Xbox, they want it to be accessible to people with the XB1 and also PC which are regarded as family members of the Microsoft Xbox ecosystem.
Head of Xbox Game Studios, Matt Booty.
Honestly, this sounds like a decent idea but it doesn’t really solidify their chances of winning against PlayStation’s strong first-party support. People will want to get the PS5 to play PS5 games but why bother getting the new Xbox if you can just play the same games on XB1 and PC?
In the same interview, Booty says that he’s “staying away from framing things as a head-to-head bout with Sony” which is quite interesting. In other words, the Console War will shift from “Xbox vs. PlayStation” to “Xbox & PC vs. PlayStation”.

There’s also the fear that in their efforts to ensure their games are playable on the XB1, developers will have to hold back even on the Xbox Series X version. Games such as Dragon Age: Inquisition, the first Destiny, and a few others faced this problem.
For now, we’ll have to wait and see how Microsoft maneuvers through these difficult times. The Xbox One didn’t do very well when compared to the PS4 and Nintendo Switch. I’m not betting that the Xbox Series X will do any better but I’d loved to be proven wrong.


Warlander Looks Like A Promising Castle-Raiding Online Game With Big Teams

2022 now has a medieval online battle fix that isn’t called Chivalry 2. And it’s from the same folks who gave us the Nier Replicant remake.
Enter the aptly-named Warlander, a free-to-play multiplayer title that pits 40 players (and more) against each other in team-based combat and castle-sieging, but streamlined in a way that it feels great as a pick-up-and-play experience. You enter a game, get assigned into teams, then a class plus loadout, then go fight and storm the opponent’s castle by damaging and destroying the faction’s orb housed within. You can speed up the process by building catapults, taking over towers for more respawn points closer to enemy territory, and getting a cataclysm spell that lets you cast a devastating meteor shower to hamper opposing defenses.
Think 40-players skirmishes between two armies (and even five armies for bigger 100-people games), with combinations of For Honor, Chivalry, and any multiplayer online title: that’s pretty much Warlander. And it’s a heckaton of fun so far.
For King And Country

We played a couple of rounds of the open beta build of Warlander, with the online process being easy enough. Throughout our playtest of an hour or two, we noticed that the game runs very, VERY smoothly. Considering I’m playing the game all the way from Asia and most of my journalist/content creator contemporaries are playing in Europe and US of A, the fact that Warlander runs smoothly is a testament to the game’s massive scale netcode. It remains to be seen if it’ll hold up with the rest of the world since our playing conditions are of a smaller scale, but it shows promise.
The game itself is fun, fast, and chaotic at times. You can pick between starting classes Warrior or Cleric -one hits hard and the other supports- with each of them having both melee and ranged attacks you can switch between with the middle mouse button wheel. If you want better and beefier classes, you can do so but you need to gather up Valor. That means you need to get kills, complete quests, and just help your team in meaningful ways to gather those points.
You have a loadout deck where you can determine your starting classes and Valor Leveled classes; the former are basic roles while the latter are higher-leveled classes with better attacks and powerups. Gathering up those Valor points will net you a Wizard class that can deal ranged damage and can even snipe foes from afar with specific spells. Of course, Wizards will die fast from melee attacks, so keep your distance and let your teammates take the front.
Our 40-man skirmishes were pretty chaotic, especially when it comes to taking the front gates where we are either defending heavily or attacking the front while attempting to flank the castle. Sometimes, we have to chase down a single target who has a cataclysm spell and is getting away with it -for balancing’s sake the game will tell the opposing team who has the cataclysm spell since it’s a huge tide-turner item.
On my side of things, I managed to save a number of people with my Warrior, just slashing and attacking people from the back while they were distracted with their objectives. But honestly, I’m better as a support to help leaders in the squad to complete objectives, be it building catapults for easier sieging to fortifying towers for closer respawn points.
Your team composition and individual roles may vary depending on the situation, but you are free to adopt a particular playstyle if it helps your group and team in the long run. There’s no one-man army situation here, as class hit points aren’t as generous and team play is highly encouraged.
And we haven’t even experienced the 100-man battles, where teams of 5 duke it out to be the last team remaining. That’s a five-way fort-invasion session that can last minutes and even to an hour, depending on skill level. Of course, you can form temporary alliances with the other team(s) to take down opposing enemies, but if friendly fire comes into play, you can break off the truce just as easily.
Beyond The Wall

This being Toylogic’s free-to-play venture, how will it earn its money back from development? Microtransactions! But it’s all cosmetics, emblems, armour parts for style, and anything that isn’t affected by gameplay and in-game mechanics. Toylogic has gone on record during the hands-on session that the company is strongly against pay-to-win. They’ve even stated that the game is being worked on by 90 people and is a high-priority title for the company, with the team working hard to also get feedback from open beta players and users on how to improve the game further.
If you ask me, I do hope the team can sort out how the chaotic nature of the battlefield can be, well, less messy. As fun as it is to dogpile onto ongoing skirmishes mid-match as this is an unavoidable situation in most online games, it’ll be great to have clearer indicators on who is on my team and who isn’t.
For now, Warlander is a combination of every multiplayer trope: attack, defend, capture, all rolled into one medieval-esque castle-storming game. On the marketing front, it’s part Dota 2, part For Honor, part battle royale, and part multiplayer shooter. But for now? Call it a good time with weapons sort of deal, provided you have friends who fancy a familiar-yet-entertaining multiplayer action game that’s easy to get into.
Warlander’s open beta is out now on PC (Steam).


Navel Laser Hero Yuga Aoyama To Join My Hero One’s Justice 2

Bandai Namco and Byking have announced (via the Weekly Shonen Jump magazine in Japan) that the next DLC character to join My Hero Ones Justice 2 will be none other than Yuga Aoyama.
Fans will know the character Yuga Aoyama as one of the students in Class 1-A at U.A. High School, training to become a Pro Hero, alongside Deku and the others. Yuga’s Quirk allows him to shoot a powerful sparkling laser cannon from his navel. It is so powerful, it can blast through two meters of solid concrete.
My Hero One’s Justice 2 is available now for PS4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC via Steam. In the meantime, head on over here for my full review of the game.


All The Games From Gamescom 2021 Xbox Livestream Showcase

Gamescom 2021 has started, with Xbox leading the charge. Here are the new games, Xbox Game Pass news, and updates they have announced so far.
Dying Light 2

The Techland folks showcased some new Dying Light 2 gameplay. It’s a lot more parkour, combat, and zombie-killing, which is fine by us. The game will still be out later this December.
Microsoft Flight Simulator
The Top Gun Maverick DLC is still on the way; the game’s creative director JÃ¶rg Neumann said that the movie is still under wraps, so they can’t say more beyond reminding us that it’s coming out later in 2021. The latest update beefs up the European and German regions of the game in celebration of Gamescom 2021.
The game’s Reno Air Race DLC will be out Fall 2021; players can race against each other in a new competitive mode.
Into The Pit

It’s Doom with wizard powers and roguelike elements. Out this 19th October.
A S***Load Of Indie Games Ready At Launch
The following titles will be on Xbox Game Pass Day One.
-Archvale
-Next Space Rebels
-Midnight Fight Express
-Dodgeball Academia
-Bushiden
-Flynn
-unpacking
-Signalis
-Unsighted
-Chinatown Detective Agency
Age of Empire IV

Age of Empire IV just released a new trebuchet video that teaches people why this weapon of history kicked ass back in the day. The game is coming out on 24th October.
Wasteland 3 DLC

Titled Cult of The Holy Detonation, Inxile is working hard to make this a packed DLC for Wasteland 3. The storyline this time is about the Cheyenne Mountain Complex and its new denizens: the DLC title’s cult that want to share their radiation powers to the world, whether they want to or not.
Of course, you need to stop them. You can access the DLC once your character is at level 16. It’ll also feature epic boss battles and more creative missions that require your ranger’s coordination and teamwork. The base game is available now on Xbox Game Pass, so you can pick up the DLC on 5th October.
Sea of Thieves’ New Borderlands-Influenced Ship

Starting today until 7th September, you can get your hands on a new pirate ship that’s Borderlands-themed via the Making Mayhem event.
State of Decay 2: Homecoming

New weapons, 6 new maps, and new zombies will be the new features for this upcoming State of Decay 2 expansion. It will be out this 1st September.
Stray Blade

An action-packed RPG in the veins of Dark Souls and From Software titles. Features customizable characters & combat styles, epic boss fights, a time cycle where the world goes forward and advances even if you die and resurrect yourself via magic. Coming next year, 2022.
Crusader Kings 3

Not a port, by the way. This version of Crusader Kings 3 is going to have console controls.
Psychonauts 2

Just a launch trailer for you to enjoy, spy motifs and all. Here’s what we thought about the game.
The Gunk

From the folks who made the Steamworld games (Steamworld Dig, Steamworld Heist, and so forth) are making an Xbox exclusive 3D platformer called The Gunk. You play as someone who is given cleanup duty, tasked with getting rid of the Gunk that’s polluted and tainted the former paradise of the planet you’re on.
Looks promising, though we’d rather see more of its hooks & features. The Gunk will be out this December.
Forza Horizon 5

You can preorder this Forza Horizon 5 Xbox Series controller right now. Also, here are the game’s cover cars in action: the Mercedes-AMG One, and the 2021 Ford Bronco Badlands.

Best friends that break 100 mph together stay together – say hi to Forza Horizon 5’s Cover Cars pic.twitter.com/PsnQVriLPT
— Xbox (@Xbox) August 24, 2021


Atomic Heart Surpasses $2 Million In Sales

Singaporean game publisher 4Divinity, a subsidiary of GCL Asia, has achieved a huge milestone in Asia with their co-published single-player first-person shooter game, Atomic Heart. The game has been a great success and within just two hours of its release on 21 February, it made an impressive US$2 Million in sales, surpassing initial expectations. 4Divinity’s excellent marketing strategy played a big role in generating hype for the game in the gaming community.

Atomic Heart, developed by Mundfish and co-published by Focus Entertainment in the EU and US markets, sold close to 300,000 physical and digital copies across various Asian markets through 4Divinity, which made up a massive 49.6% of the total global sales as of April 2023. The game has been popular in 11 strong gaming markets in the region, including Singapore, China, Japan, Hong Kong, Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia, and Macau. Recently, it was launched on PS4 and PS5 consoles in Japan, featuring a new Japanese voice dub with popular voice actors, including Akio Otsuka and Tomokazu Sugita.
Released worldwide on 21 February 2023, Atomic Heart is a single-player first-person shooter video game set in an alternate history Soviet Union, where robots have replaced most manual labour. When the project gets mysteriously sabotaged, leading to a violent robot uprising, Agent P-3 is sent in to rectify the situation, uncovering the project’s various secrets in the process.
The game has been praised for its imaginative setting and ambitious gameplay, receiving an 8 out of 10 from leading games publication IGN, as well as a 75 from review aggregator Metacritic. It also scored well in the Asian market, receiving an 8.7 from Hong Kong publication UCG, and a 7.6 from aggregator Gamersky, among others.
Jacky Choo, Group Chairman and Founder of GCL Asia, expressed pride in Atomic Heart’s success, which is a remarkable milestone for not just their company but any games publisher or distributor in the region. Historically, the EU and US markets have had the larger share of sales for games, but Atomic Heart has managed to amass almost the same volume of total sales and revenue within a month.
Prior to its launch, Atomic Heart generated a lot of anticipation, with over 1 million gamers on Steam adding it to their wishlists before its launch in February. Within 3 weeks of its release, the game surpassed 5 million players across all platforms, hitting an all-time peak of 38,469 concurrent players on Steam. The game is expected to continue its strong sales trajectory in the years to come.
4Divinity has published other popular game titles such as Figment 2: Creed Valley, Windstorm Collection, and Life in Willowdale under its banner. Mundfish secured significant investments from Chinese multinational conglomerate Tencent for their inaugural game, which led their series B funding round. GCL Asia plans to expand even further in the coming years by forming partnerships and acquiring new games to distribute across their markets, becoming the largest games distributor in Singapore and subsequently in Asia.


[Rumour] Diablo Immortal May Be Getting A Seventh New Class, Brand New To The Lore

Diablo Immortal started out as a controversial conversation topic at BlizzCon 2018, but it’s turning into a promising mobile game RPG hit if its closed beta reception is of any indication.
The project is getting a lot of time poured in for improvements, hence the delays and the fact the game will be in open beta later this year. That also includes bringing up a never-seen-before class in the Diablo franchise. According to recent datamined information (via Wowhead), Diablo Immortal will have a seventh playable class: The Blood Knight.

The Blood Knight will be a spear-wielding battlemage who uses vampiric magic. The Blood Knight’s arsenal features blood and shadow magic, with a good mix of ranged and melee attacks in the mix. This new class will join the six classes in Diablo Immortal: Barbarian, Crusader, Demon Hunter, Monk, Necromancer, and Wizard. In Diablo lore, the Blood Knights were ex-royal guards of King Leoric/Skeleton King before they saw the errors of their ways and chose to protect Sanctuary from the evils they used to ally with.
We’ve tried out Diablo Immortal’s closed beta session, and it looks promising for a high-level mobile RPG title that’s using the free-to-play business model. For more Diablo Immortal, check out our beta guide.Â


Xenoblade Chronicles 2’s Prequel Will Make Veterans Swoon

Platform: Nintendo Switch
Genre: JRPG, Anime
Last year’s Xenoblade Chronicles 2 came out on the tail end of 2017 and ended up becoming quite a gem of a JRPG. It’s kinda old-school but has a lot of nuances to make the 100+ hour slog bearable, it gets better after the 20-hour mark, its combat system is fun, and its heroes & villains are endearing if a tad shonen anime stock.
And yeah, the music is incredible. But really, the last thing I expected from this year’s E3 2018 was an announcement of a prequel. Everything in XC2 was wrapped up tight, so it only made sense to go back to the beginning, specifically 500 years before all this Aegis mess came about.

Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna ~ The Golden Age makes a few new and welcome changes in the original while also preserving some of its quirks, which you may like or hate depending on whether you enjoyed XC2 for what it is. However, if you choose to forgo the 100 hours you spent on XC2 and jump right into the prequel, you won’t get much out of it. I’ll point out why.
Relatable Characters, Even If They’re Shonen Supermen
The prequel pits you in the shoes the duo Lorna and Jin as they sort out a crisis happening in their country of Torna. Keep in mind that this is a world where sentient beings of servitude called Blades exist, who usually serve a humanoid owner dubbed a Driver. Oh, and a rogue Blade named Malos is going around wreaking havoc.
Of course, if you’ve finished Xenoblade Chronicles 2 last year or earlier this year, you know that Torna is just a faction of a few disgruntled Blades. And that Jin is a bad guy. And you’ll see a ton of familiar faces, Lorna including. And also see how certain events in this prequel hold significance in XC2.

Here, you get to find out how all that went down; how a guy whose goal was to protect his Driver Lorna ended up on a dark path.
Lorna herself is a heartfelt individual, who makes it out of life with conviction and drive despite coming out from a broken home. Your other compatriots Prince Adam and Emperor Hugo also have their own emotional pieces of baggage that resonate with most people. For people with so much power, they are trapped with their obligations and responsibilities and just want to go back to the good old days of adventuring.
Long story short: XC2 veterans will get a kick out of how these characters and their ancestors fared.
Combat Is Still Fun
The basic MMO-esque combo-driven combat is still just as fun as ever. Here’s a refresher course courtesy of Reddit.

Now it comes with one cool feature: tag-team switching. When you fight, you still have your Driver and Blade fighting, with the Driver taking point. To make things a lot more engaging, your Driver and Blade can switch between vanguard and rear positions, which means you can see your Blade taking point in combat.
While this adds a lot more visual flair to the chaotic-yet-fun nature of the game’s combat, it’s also a tactic worth noting. See, after you tag in your partner, he or she comes in with a special tag assist attack -with status attacks like Topple andÂ  Knockback- and with fully-ready Arts. The catch is it takes a few seconds before you can tag your pals in again. Also, your previous partner can recover red life instantaneously, which is the possible amount you can recover if you’re damaged.
With XC2’s existing Chain Combo system -now looking less messy and more streamlined- this tag team feature slightly improves what already worked in the last game. Monsters you fight will still grind you to a pulp if you’re still not sure about how combat works, but at least you have a large playground like the map of Gormott and Alette to level up and get the hang of it. You’ll have loads of fun experimenting with different Blade combinations and unlocking different skills and abilities via the Character screen, just for the sake of making your team broken AF.

Veterans will appreciate the changes here, in other words. All the fights end up being faster, frenetic, and more exhilarating as a result.Â

It’s About 20 Hours Long
It’s rather surprising, jarring even, to see the game start off with bright colours and a jazz number as a combat theme as you control the duo fighting bears and wolves. And in the thick of things. Part of why this is welcome is because of the original XC2‘s worldbuilding and lore-explaining; once that is out of the way the game is smooth sailing from there.

The prequel follows this and as a result, we have a much leaner game where we can fill in the blanks and sort it out.Â

The Soundtrack Is Still Ace
True, the prequel is using bits and pieces of music from XC2, but the new battle theme is just so cheery and energetic.

There’s Still A Ton Of Non-Combat Busywork
As you travel with your crew, you meet up with a ton of people from Torna, Gormott, and other countries who have problems you need solving. Now, you can sorta keep a checklist of quest-givers and townsfolks via the Community feature, which is just a fancier-looking Excel task sheet. You finish a quest for them, you get the reward, and you add them in your Community circle.
You also get to craft and cook up items and recipes to add to your character’s pouches for combat-boosting properties. You also have the same menus from XC2 to wade through if you want to make the most of your party. Going through the fast travel menu still requires you to go through a couple of screens and button taps. Sigh.
All in all, the prequel doesn’t shake up much for veterans so that they don’t feel alienated.

Should You Buy It?
It’s only RM153+ so far, and you’re getting a good 20 hours of gameplay levelling up, fighting, exploring, and completing sidequests from many villagers and townsfolks. And that’s only if you played XC2 until your eyes bled. You will appreciate the tag-team system and little changes here and there and will get a kick out of seeing XC2‘s world before it became a wasteland of clouds.

While it’s worthy of a standalone purchase, you’ll need to at least invest some time in the original game to fully appreciate Monolith Soft’s throwback. I love what this prequel has done, but I can’t speak for everyone who have yet to wade through the 50-100 hours of last year’s JRPG gem.

I’ll say this though: the prequel still maintains the top tier Scottish and Welsh accents from the past game.
Pros
-Great combat made more fun with the tag-team system.
-Lovely story with protagonists you can relate to.
-Awesome aesthetics.
-20 hours long.
-Welsh cat people.
Cons
-Requires Xenoblade Chronicles 2 context to be fully appreciated.
-Menus are still cumbersome to wade through.
Final Rating: 6/10


For Honor’s Halloween Event Adds Two New PvP Modes

Ubisoft has announced For Honorâ€™s Monsters Of The Otherworld, a special Halloween in-game event that will be available for free for all players on PS4, Xbox One and PC.
The Monsters Of The Otherworld event will start on 22 October 2020 and run for three weeks until 5 November 2020, bringing two frightening PVP game modes inspired by Dominion mode. Players can enjoy Endless March and battle Minions replaced by powerful skeletons, who pose a risky challenge for players to earn rewards of hardpoints.
Meanwhile, from 5 November to 12 November 2020, players can capture zones to gain special boosts and eliminate demons lurking around the map in Spooky Slashers.

In addition, players will have the chance to win new exclusive rewards such as weapons and ornaments, as well as rewards from past Halloween events during the three weeks. New items will also be available in the in-game store including illustrious outfits, masks, and execution modes.
The Monsters Of The Otherworld event comes as part of For Honorâ€™s Year 4 Season 3 Resistance, which tells the story of the rebellious warriors who take a stand to defeat a common enemy: The Warmongers and their regime of terror.


Fairy Tail Forces Unite Mobile Game Is Coming To SEA Soon

Garena, in collaboration with manga publisher Kodansha, have announced that Fairy Tail Forces Unite will be coming soon to Singapore, Malaysia, and the Philippines.
Players can pre-register now via the official website. All players will receive the SS-Class Erza character once the target number of pre-registrations is reached.Â

Fairy Tail Forces Unite will feature the same beloved characters and voice actors from the original FAIRY TAIL animation. Partner up with your favourite FAIRY TAIL characters as you relive the seriesâ€™ iconic storylines and scenes, beautifully recreated for mobile.
Combining turn-based strategy gameplay with classic RPG elements, Fairy Tail Forces Unite will set players on a magical journey together with FAIRY TAILâ€™s strongest guild.

Fairy Tail Forces Unite will feature exciting turn-based combat gameplay. Players will begin their adventure by choosing from eight original characters and nine class types, each with its own distinct traits and abilities.
Your arsenal of skills will include FAIRY TAIL classics such as Natsuâ€™s â€œFire Dragonâ€™s Roarâ€ and Grayâ€™s â€œIce-Make: Lanceâ€.

Pre-register for Fairy Tail Forces Unite now on the official website and stand a chance to receive the SS-Class Erza character.
Whatâ€™s more, pre-registered players can win FAIRY TAIL merchandise by participating in the Wizard Registration event on the official Fairy Tail Forces Unite Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube channels.
Just leave a comment with a screenshot of your successful pre-registration to stand a chance to win.

In the meantime, check out the trailer below:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=x5lWa4V70TY


Good Hunting: Apex Legends Season 2 Preview Drops

It feels like the inaugural season of Apex Legends was released yesterday, and today EA has let a little preview on the upcoming season coming in less than a month.
For starters, Season 2 of Apex Legends is officially known as Legendary Hunt, and I kid you not, it will be legendary. You’ll be rewarded with numerous legendary skins upon completion of the seasonal challenges. Check them out below.
The Epic Master of the Hunt Bloodhound skin
The Legendary Honored Prey R-301 skin and the Legendary Night Terror Wraith skin.
There will also be a limited-time event coming soon. Respawn will be teasing more details about the event next Tuesday.
First Contact
Respawn will also be revealing some of the first details on Season 2 as part of EA PLAY livestream event. It will be happening at 1 am, 9 June local time.
For now, Respawn has shared their plans on improving the second battle pass. They’ve heard a lot from the community and have shared some of the upcoming changes coming in Legendary Hunt.
Daily And Weekly Challenges
There will be a mix of daily and weekly challenges for players to complete. If you missed a week’s challenge or start late, your Weekly Challenges will still be around for you when you return, and you can complete them all at once. This is done to improve the grinding experience.
Rest assured, Respawn won’t be implementing over-the-head challenges like a certain battle royale, but these challenges should give your games some variety.
This addition should allow players who can only dedicate a few hours a week to the game to make a very deep cut into their Battle Pass progression.
More Legendary Cosmetics
Respawn is adding three Legendary items to the battle pass. There will also be a Legendary item every 25 Battle Pass level in the premium track. This includes one at purchase, meaning you’ll get a Legendary on level 1, level 25, level 50, and level 100.
Like the evolving Havoc in Season 1’s Battle Pass, this season will also include an evolving weapon skin on level 100 with a special recolour version for those players who make it to level 110.
New Cosmetic Types
I knew the badge and stat trackers in the first battle pass was a bit too underwhelming as a premium cosmetic.
Respawn has heard our complains and removed badges and basic stat trackers completely from the premium Battle Pass rewards track for Season 2 but has replaced them with a seasonal badge that will evolve over time. It won’t take additional reward slots.
Seasonal win trackers are still available on the free path, and they will all be earnable in the first 10 levels.
Youâ€™ll also be able to earn items from three new content categories in place of badges/trackers. Respawn will be revealing details about these categories closer to the launch of Season 2.
Crafting Materials…
…or the lack thereof. Crafting Metals, or more known as craft mats by the community, have been revised by Respawn since it has an abysmal drop rate back in Season 1, barely enough to craft anything.
The developers have replaced Voice Lines and replaced them with craft mats which can be earned up to 1,200 in the premium pass, enough to craft a Legendary of your choice. You’ll also be able to earn craft mats from the Apex Packs.
If you’re having trouble choosing what to craft, here’s some help to get the gears running.
The Hunt Is Coming
Respawn will be sharing more about Season 2 on their livestream at 1 am, Sunday, 9 June local time.
Personally, I can’t wait to see what improvements they’d bring into the next season of Apex Legends. I’m guessing there will be a new weapon or a new Legend, based on the Year 1 roadmap revealed a few months back.

Anyways, here’s to Respawn and their outstanding battle royale and to more improvements along its lifespan.


Spider-Man Sequel Is Looking A Little Mysterious…

Hold on to your hats, Marvel fans, because we’re about to unleash a spoiler for the upcoming Spider-Man: Far From Home movie slated for 2019.

So remember that time the whole world reported that Jake Gyllenhaal may play a Spider-Man villain named Mysterio in the upcoming film? Yes, the same Mysterio who wears a fishbowl head and uses the power of illusions and SFXs to trick his opponents? Well, turns out that’s true, according to the following set photos.

Spider-Man: Far from Home: Mysterio in Liberec, Czech Republic pic.twitter.com/qfgJDQJQLs
— Marty Knap?? (@CZMARTY7) September 30, 2018

Spider-Man: Far from Home: Mysterio in Liberec, Czech Republic pic.twitter.com/wpWaWe0oRE
— Marty Knap?? (@CZMARTY7) September 30, 2018

These could be doctored for all you know, but if it’s true, this confirms that Mysterio will be a villain in the upcoming Spider-Man film. So will the Chameleon.
If you can’t wait that long for your Spider-Man fix, may we suggest playing the awesome Marvel’s Spider-Man on the PS4? It’s really good!Â


Mortal Kombat 1 Unveils Brutal Fatalities & Gameplay Footage

During Summer Game Fest 2023, NetherRealm Studios revealed the first look at gameplay and fatalities from the upcoming game.
Mortal Kombat 1 is the latest title in the acclaimed Mortal Kombat videogame franchise developed by award-winning NetherRealm Studios. The game will introduce a reborn Mortal Kombat Universe that has been created by the Fire God Liu Kang, featuring reimagined versions of iconic characters as they’ve never been seen before, along with a new fighting system, game modes, bone krushing finishing moves, and more.
Mortal Kombat 1 will feature reimagined fighters as they’ve never been seen before, including Liu Kang, Scorpion, Sub-Zero, Raiden, Kung Lao, Kitana, Mileena, Shang Tsung, Johnny Cage, and many others. Some rivals and sworn enemies from the original are now teaming up. In fact, MK1 introduces Kameo Fighters, which is the equivalent of tag assists where you can summon a pal to do an assist to help you, be it a buff or an attack, or even continue a combo.
Mortal Kombat 1 is slated to release for the PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch and PC on 19 September 2023.
Check it out below:

Sub-Zero's fatality #Mortalkombat #MK1 pic.twitter.com/EbgTeD26f9
— TQT (@TQT1995) June 9, 2023


Armored Core 6 Isn’t Pulling Punches With Its Hardcore Roots

If you think From Software’s next game in its long-revered Armored Core franchise is going to accommodate new players who want it free and breezy, think again.
According to the game’s lead producer Yasunori Ogura and producer Atsuo Yoshimura, Armored Core 6: Fires Of Rubicon is still going to make its player base work for its wins: instilling the satisfaction of overcoming challenging situations and earning hard-won victories. Players are given a great deal of freedom in choosing their approach to each situation using their Armored Core of choice, be it against a mid-boss or a giant-as-heck centipede-like mecha.
At the very least, you can still customize your AC like in past games, and the controls still are as “impactful” as they should be for any game that lets you pilot a heavy death-dealing giant machine.
Build-A-Mech

Which is why Assembly mode in the game is important: it allows you to create your own death-dealing machine and make it as jacked-up as possible. You have to factor in health, defense, Attitude Stability (more on that later), Boost Speed, and Current Load; you cannot load up your Core with too many weapons and also consider whether it has faster boost speed for maneuvering on the battlefield. The leg parts of the Core vary greatly depending on the type and changes the action in the game dramatically; for example, reverse-jointed legs let you move faster than usual. Each hand and shoulder can equip up to four weapons, depending on the limit of the Current Load.
After tinkering around with Assembly, we then check out the presentation’s first mission: liberating a place called Grid 086 which features outside and indoors combat against arms dealers called RaD. The stage has lots of corridors and deathtraps, but luckily your Core has the ability to scan areas ahead to see what enemies are lurking. Since they’re unaware you’re plodding around in the corner, our AC just boosted forth and surprise attack and quickly dispatched the enemies in one fell swoop.
At the tail end of the mission, we also fought a 4-legged Armored Core and giant heavy robot called the Smart Cleaner. The former shrugs off machine gun fire and can only be effectively damaged with melee attacks. The latter is a beast to fight; you need to dodge, fly, and get close to hurt it while avoiding its heavily-telegraphed big swing attacks with its “cleaning” grinders. In boss situations like these, the Impact and Stagger element mechanics are useful, especially since you’ll most likely die in one or two hits from the giant.

The Impact element of an attack can compromise the mech’s Attitude Stability system (its stability in the AC universe), causing the Core to stall temporarily. Any attack received while an enemy is in Stagger is treated as a direct hit, resulting in heavy damage. You generally want to equip weapons that deal decent Impact status, which will then leave them in a Stagger state, enabling you to deal more direct damage. This is similar to filling up the Posture bar in Sekiro, or even depleting an enemy’s defense in a modern Final Fantasy game, resulting in them being Staggered.
We’ve also noticed how aggressive our AC is when dealing with the game’s many, many enemies and “dungeon crawling” levels. It’s now “easier” to close in the gap between enemies as AC6 requires you to be more aggressive than in past games. Yes, you still can die if you’re overconfident as enemies still deal massive damage to you, but your boosting and vertical-movement capabilities are a lot more flexible and varied now.
Remember how cool it is to deal death from above onto enemies below as a giant walking tank in titles like MechWarrior? Armored Core 6 will let you do this 80% of the time, especially with the fact that the Impact and Stagger mechanics complement well with future hit-and-run tactics you can pull off with your AC.
Core Values

If you wonder why the game feels like old-school Armored Core but with beefed-up 2023 graphics, that’s because Armored Core 6 is a soft reboot for the franchise. With that mindset, From Software hopes to bring back the series from obscurity since 2012, introducing a new generation of mecha fans to the joys of customizing your personal Armored Core to the fullest, getting their asses kicked in the first bout, then customizing it again and getting better at the game.
At the same time, Armored Core 6 will promise better and tighter mecha controls, expansive and dynamic maps that give a huge sense of progression, and challenging action battle designs. The developer’s past fantasy titles -Dark Souls trilogy, Elden Ring- already established the latter design mandate for the past decade, so bringing it up yet again in a dystopian sci-fi giant robot-filled setting is only natural.
Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon will be out for PC, Xbox Series, and PlayStation 5 this 25th August.


Win Exclusive Merch & A Years’ Worth Of HBO GO In This Westworld Contest

In conjunction with the upcoming release of Westworld Season 3, HBO Asia has announced a contest for its viewers across Malaysia, Indonesia, and Singapore.
You stand a chance of winning exclusive Westworld premiums/merchandise and even a year’s worth of HBO GO subscription.

The Westworld contest is running from now until 28 February 2020. The rules are simple. All you need to do is:

Head on over to the official HBO Asia Facebook page here and find the password in the video.
Then, go to the official Westworld HBO Asia website here and enter the password.
Next, you will need to answer several questions.
Finally, enter your personal details and you’re done.
Wait for the email notifying the winners.

Westworld Season 3 will premiere at the same time as the US on Monday, 16 March 2020 at 9am, exclusively on HBO GO and HBO (Astro Channel 411/ 431 HD). In the meantime, check out the latest trailer below.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_Vj6u4rlaM&w=560&h=315]


Activision Is Making A Call Of Duty Modern Warfare 3 For 2023, To Nobody’s Surprise

A bunch of new leaks and DMCA strikes have confirmed that Activision is releasing the next Call of Duty game this year.
Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 was reportedly referenced in recent DMCA strikes from publisher Activision by various Twitter users who have been sharing images of the unannounced game. The third game, which is part of the recent Modern Warfare reboot that already has two entries, is developed by Sledgehammer Games.

MODERN WARFARE III https://t.co/6oBsJLL1wB pic.twitter.com/Eh5GZHxI13
— bob. (@BobNetworkUK) July 17, 2023

What’s interesting is that this new Call of Duty was supposed to be a Modern Warfare 2 expansion, but somehow it morphed into a full game (via Bloomberg). Activision has said (according to sources close to the project) that the upcoming game is a standalone full-price title that also feels like an extension of Modern Warfare 2. Whether that feels like market-speak or not (it is), we’ll hear more about the game’s actual release date and gameplay details soon enough.


A Non-Pro Guide to Overwatch

Since Overwatch Free Weekend is back this weekend, we figure it would be of the community’s best interest if us, veterans (but not that great players) in Overwatch to share some in-game wisdom to all you folks planning to dip your toes and try out the game this week. While these tips aren’t surefire ways to win the game, they will definitely improve your playing experience as well as preventing your blood pressure from shooting sky high over the course of the upcoming weekend.
1. There’s More than One Hero Apart from Soldier 76
There are 27. TWENTY SEVEN heroes in Overwatch and we implore you to experiment with at least half a dozen of them. Sure you played traditional shooters in the past but look at you know – are you a pro? Nope.
Perhaps your mechanical skills aren’t up to scratch and are better utilised with other heroes? Give them tanks a try; or even do the community a service and pick support. You never know – underneath that mess of a McCree player probably lies an expert hooker of a Roadhog God.

2. Accept That Not Everyone’s Gifted to Be a DPS
Just because you saw Pine or Fleta pull off sick flicks on McCree and Widowmaker in the Overwatch League, don’t think you can do the same after two rounds of Quickplay. Expanding on what was mentioned in the first point, take time to understand the basic nuances of the game and where you personality suit best.
If you are of the more disciplined sort, maybe experiment with the tanks. If your aiming is terrible but are pretty good with positioning, try Lucio or Mercy. There’s a specific hero tailored for everyone in Overwatch so don’t force yourself to be what you were not meant to be. It’s ok.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLpdvz_mYU0&w=560&h=315]
“BUT THE META SAYS… “
Screw the meta. Unlike the pros who honed their skills to the tippy top of Overwatch while simultaneously playing with the best there is, you are nowhere near them. At least until you’ve reached Master, focus on mastering a handful of heroes which will bestow the necessary game sense to properly utilize your ‘meta-knowledge’ later down the road.
3. Stick to The Objective
On the surface, Overwatch is about shooting the opposing six players in the face. But underneath all that clusterf**k lies intricate strategic plays of cat-and-mouse where both teams try to outmanoeuvre one another to either capture a point or push the payload. Know these modes by heart and play to the map’s objective. That Play of the Game is pointless if ‘DEFEAT’ splashes across your screen at the end of the round.
And no one gives two shits about your Gold Medals if you aren’t helping the team to win – unless you have all five gold medals; then it’s either the opponent is too good, or you’re lumped with a bunch of awful players.
Stick to the objective. We guarantee you that your winning percentage will definitely increase.
Nova Widowmaker
4. Healers Are Your Best Friend(s)
Keep a lookout at your health bar and when the need arises, always be ready to pull out (LOL!) of a fight and sought for the comfort of your healers ahead of scrambling for the health packs.
Remember: healing contributes to their ult charge. In return, ensure their survivability and we assure you that your gaming experience will improve tenfold.
Want to go one up? Then focus on the enemy healers whenever you can. Nothing is sweeter than rolling over an enemy whose healer is respawning after being caught prior to any fight.
[wpvideo GUPUV9HS]
Also, if you’re a tank, don’t panic after getting shot a couple of times. Trust your healers to do their job in healing you. Otherwise, the ‘Avoid as Teammate’ option is just a click away.
5. They Might be ‘Easy’ Heroes – They Are Also One Ticket to Being the Most Hated Player in the Game
Allow me to let you in on a secret. Nobody likes Symmetra and Torbjorn mains. Sure we get the occasional kicks of seeing an unsuspecting enemy Tracer walking into a microwave room but really – once the enemy gets past the turrets, Symmetra and Torbjorn are pretty much useless.
These cheeky tricks may work on lower ranked games early on but as you progress further, we highly suggest you increase your hero pool as to ensure cool heads and a pleasant gaming experience – for you and everyone else around you.
Zatanna Symmetra
6. Just Remember to Have Fun
As Zarya puts it:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcINJAaRYqQ&w=560&h=315]
BUT STICK TO THE FRICKIN’ OBJECTIVE!!!!!


Latest Hot Toys Action Figure Hints At Minor Avengers: Infinity War Spoiler

The latest 1/6th scale action figure from Hot Toys dropped a minor spoiler for the upcoming Avengers: Infinity War movie. If you have been actively avoiding spoilers for the movie, then we highly suggest you to stop reading right now. If you haven’t – well, you’re at the right place.
All cool? OK let’s go.
While we have already seen the new, sleek Iron Man suit Tony Stark (Mark 50?) is gonna be wearing in the movie via promotional pictures as well as the trailers and teasers, few would have thought that the MCU would go beyond referencing Iron Man’s comic book armor design. It comes with similar bells and whistles too!
Part of Hot Toys’ Movie Masterpiece line, the Infinity War Iron Man 1/6th action figure shows a clearer depiction of the armor we will be seeing in the movie which is heavily inspired by the transforming Type-51 a.k.a Model-Prime Armor as seen in the Invincible Iron Man comics.

The MCU version for Infinity War borrows heavily from the design above, most notably with its ability to shapeshift itself into several modes including a blaster arm, articulated air flaps and nano-boosters at the back. We can only imagine all the cool stuff we are going to witness on screen once the movie drops.

The die-cast action figure stands approximately 32-cm tall, comes with about 30 points of articulations, a Robert Downey Jr. Tony Stark headsculpt as well as several pairs of exchangeable hands – as usual for all Hot Toys figurines. Iron Man’s forearm can be swapped as well to accommodate the ‘battle hands’ and there are 21 light-up LED points throughout the armor. Crazy.
While the official retail price vary depending on the market, we estimate it to sell starting from MYR1200 basing on its accessories as well as the current retail prices for other Hot Toys Iron Man figures currently in the market.

Infinity War takes place sometime after Captain America: Civil War, Spider-Man: Homecoming and the more recent Black Panther. To learn how it fits within the timeline, our comics book expert elaborated on it here.


Here’s How Big The Call Of Duty Modern Warfare Season 4 Update Will Be [Update]

Update:
Some players on the Xbox One are reporting over 84GB download sizes for Call Of Duty Modern Warfare Season 4. Publisher Activision has since clarified that this is a mistake, and they’re working on fixing the issue.
As previously reported, the Xbox One file size should be around 44.3GB, and not double that.

We’re actively investigating an issue for #ModernWarfare where some players on Xbox are seeing a larger than expected download size for today’s update. Stay tuned for updates
â€” Activision Support (@ATVIAssist) June 11, 2020

Call of Duty Modern Warfare Season 4, Call of Duty Warzone Season 4, and Call Of Duty Mobile Season 7 are slated to launch later today at 11pm PDT on 10 June 2020, or 2pm GMT+8 on 11 June 2020 in Southeast Asian countries like Malaysia.
According to a Call Of Duty Modern Warfare Twitter fan account, here’s how big the file sizes for the update will be depending on the platform:

Xbox One: 44.3GB
PS4: 32.5GB
PC (Warzone only): 39.6GB
PC (Modern Warfare and Warzone combined): 45GB

Call of Duty Warzone and Modern Warfare Season 4 file sizes:
• Xbox One: 44.3GB• PS4: 32.5GB• PC (Warzone only): 39.6GB• PC (MW & Warzone owners): 45GB
2 hours to go. #ModernWarfare pic.twitter.com/ydweiBwxis
— Modern Warfare 2 & Warzone News (@WarzoneIntel) June 11, 2020

This was already corroborated by Senior Communications Manager Ashton Williams last night; that players should expect a massive initial download size. However (in the same tweet), she also clarified that it will ultimately only be 4GB in total when the update finishes installing.

The Season 4 download is going to be large. In order to reduce the overall disc space that MW and WZ take up, we’re compressing a bunch of assets. Once installed, the S4 launch will only take up an additional 4GB on consoles for all of the new content.
â€” Ashton Williams (@ashtonisVULCAN) June 10, 2020
You can check out the trailer below.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOOoRmEIXRs&w=560&h=315]


Here’s Where You Can Watch The PlayStation Awards 2019

The PlayStation Awards (PS Awards) will be returning for its 25th iteration, marking the milestone of PlayStation’s 25th anniversary.
The PS Awards 2019 will officially recognize titles that have been released on the PS4, PS3, and PS Vita from 1 October 2018 to 30 September 2019. Therefore, games like last year’s Red Dead Redemption 2 and this year’s Kingdom Hearts 3 will be included but not upcoming games in 2019 like Death Stranding.
PlayStation users can vote for the PlayStation 25th Anniversary Users Choice Award starting from today. The user who leaves the best comment with their vote for the â€˜PlayStation 25th Anniversary Usersâ€™ Choice Awardâ€™ this year stands a chance to win a PS4 Pro (Jet Black, 1TB).
This year’s iteration will be different as users can only choose the titles that have already previously won in the PS Awards over the last 24 years as their choices for the PlayStation 25th Anniversary Users Choice Award.
Public voting will only be open until 11.59pm JST on 23 October 2019, or 10.59pm GMT+8 on 23 October 2019 for Malaysia and other countries in Southeast Asia.
Besides that, other awards include:

â€˜Gold Prizeâ€™ (titles which have achieved 500,000 or more total sales and downloads),
‘Platinum Prize’ (titles which have achieved over 1 million in the Japan and Asia region)
â€˜PlayStationâ„¢Network Awardâ€™ (titles with the top 3 network sales in the Asia and Japan region)
â€˜PS VR Awardâ€™ (PS VR titles which contributed most to sales and creating excitement on the format)
‘Indies & Developer Award’ (3 titles which most contributed to creating the amazing variety on PlayStation)

The PlayStation Awards 2019 live stream will be available in both Japanese and English. The live stream officially beginsÂ on 3 December 2019 at 3.30pm JST. That translates toÂ 2.30pmÂ GMT+8 on the very same dayÂ in Malaysia and other Southeast Asian countries.
The event will be live-streamed on the PS Awards 2019 Official Site (via YouTube Live). It’s been embedded below for your convenience.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXeLyLYBElU&w=560&h=315]


Diablo 2: Resurrected Loot System Not Modernized; Here’s Why

While the Diablo 2 remaster is updating a lot of the game’s look and feel for 2021, the game’s loot system is still left intact.
According to Blizzard and developer studio Vicarious Visions, the old standard of co-op players sharing a single universal set of spoils still remain. The process of adding a modernized “smart loot” system ala Diablo 3 is complicated to say the least, according to studio design director Rob Gallerani during an interview session.
“When you add a personal loot system to a game, thereâ€™s a lot of other features that people donâ€™t really pay attention to that also have to get added for it to work. So, takeÂ World of Warcraft. Thereâ€™s a concept called Soulbound, meaning your character picked up an item, and, the moment you put it on that character, it canâ€™t be given to anyone else. And that is a way to keep economies in check.
DiabloÂ has none of that. You could literally have an heirloom item that you picked up 21 years ago and you passed it from generation to generation, from hero to hero after all these years. And that works with every single item in the game. If we were to change personal loot, we would also have to start changing those types of things.
[Having a personalized modern loot system] is not out of the question, but it was off the target of us trying to create the most authentic experience.”
Gallerani pointed out that since D2 back in the day is a trade-based system loot-wise, a ton of technical shifts need to be implemented and a lot of core in-game redesigning will need to occur if there is to be a personalized loot system. And that means a ton of headaches that can break the game and possibly delay it altogether.
Diablo 2: Resurrected is out now for PC, Xbox, PlayStation, and Nintendo Switch.


Demon Slayer Movie Breaks Records In Japan

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba: Mugen Train debuted in Japanese cinemas on 16 October 2020 last week, and it has since broken box office records in its first weekend. According to Nikkan Sports (via Crunchyroll), the anime movie is estimated to have garnered over 1.2 billion yen (or roughly RM47.1 million) on the first day of release.
In comparison, 2019’s Weathering with You opened to 1.5 billion yen (or roughly RM58.9 million) over the first weekend.
On Saturday, admissions for the Demon Slayer movie in Japan exceeded that of one million people, which sets a new one-day record for the Japanese box office for any film release.

However, the full box office results for Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba: Mugen Train will be only available early this week. The movie opened in 403 cinemas across Japan, with 365 normal screens, and 38 IMAX screens.
The entire first season of the Demon Slayer anime is now streaming on Netflix Malaysia. Meanwhile, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba: Mugen Train is slated to premiere in Malaysian cinemas on the following dates:
Fan Screening: 5 December 2020 and 23 January 2021General Screening Release Date: 4 February 2021

https://youtube.com/watch?v=ckqEMHDxL5A


Marvel’s What If Season 2 Is Coming In Early 2023

During San Diego Comic-Con 2022, Marvel announced that Season 2 of Marvel Studios’ What If…? is streaming sometime in early 2023 on Disney+ Hotstar.
Confirmed stories and episodes include:

A Hela story
Odin vs The Mandarin
Captain Carter meeting Winter Soldier
Tony Stark on Sakaar with Valkyrie and Hulk

They also confirmed that Season 3 is already in the works.
You can check out my previous breakdown of Marvel’s What If Season 1 Episode 1, Episode 2, Episode 3, Episode 4, Episode 5, Episode 6, Episode 7, Episode 8, and Episode 9 here.
Courtesy of Disney+ Hotstar Malaysia, we were lucky enough to participate in a roundtable interview with Marvels’s What If Executive Producer Brad Winderbaum, Head Writer AC Bradley, and Director Bryan Andrews. You can check out that interview by heading over here.
We also interviewed Marvel’s What If Editors Graham Fisher and Joel Fisher, Animation Supervisor Stephan Franck, and Head of Visual Development and Character Design Ryan Meinerding. You can check out that interview by heading over here.


Riot Games Celebrates Neon By Partnering With Filipino Artists & Brands

Riot Games officially released its first Southeast Asian VALORANT agent, Neon, hailing from the Philippines earlier this month. The speedy duelist has already become aÂ  fan favourite with players and fans around the world. The official Neon trailer, which first dropped on 6 January 2022, has already garnered over 6 million views on YouTube.
 In celebration of VALORANTâ€™s first-ever Filipino agent, Riot Games has rolled out a number of collaborations and activities with Filipino artists and brands such as Ylona Garcia, TeamManila and more.Â
Justin Hulog,Â  General Manager of Southeast Asia, Riot Games, said:
â€œNeon is a landmark moment in VALORANT history that reflects Riotâ€™s commitment to creating truly meaningful player experiences. We are thrilled that VALORANTâ€™s cast of agents now includes a Southeast Asian representative from the Philippines that players around the world can engage with.
We hope our regional communities enjoy the various Neon-related activities weâ€™ve launched in celebration of this moment. But weâ€™re only at the beginning of 2022, so stay tuned as we bring more exciting VALORANT content throughout the year!â€
Riotâ€™s hyperlocal strategy for introducing Neon to the world involved an exciting collaboration with Filipino-Australian singer-songwriter, Ylona Garcia. Ylonaâ€™s original song, â€˜Entertain Meâ€™, was the background track in Neonâ€™s agent trailer (see below at the end of the article).Â Â
Riot also worked with leading Filipino urban streetwear brand, TeamManila, to produce the custom â€˜Team Manila x VALORANT // Neon Collectionâ€™ swag kits. The exclusive kit includes aÂ  basketball jersey, hoodie, bucket hat, designer water bottle and wristband, all inspired by Neon. The kits were gifted to key partners around the region.Â
Fans also have an opportunity to get their hands on these exclusive goodies through giveaways run by press outlets and influencers. There will also be various fan contests on VALORANT social channels that provide an opportunity for fans to win this swag kit. Contests will be announced on the VALORANT Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand Facebook pages.
Joel Guzman, Country Manager for the Philippines, Riot Games, said:
â€œNeon is really a love letter to our amazing Filipino and wider Southeast Asian communities. We have been very touched by the outpouring of love and support from our players and fans for Neon over these past few weeks. Weâ€™ve always known our Filipino community to be one of the most passionate! So weâ€™re delighted to be able to show them how important they are to us through Neon.â€
Riot has also kicked off a number of special community events to ring in Neon. Noteworthy activities include:

Creator Reaction Video – Many beloved Filipino creators wore their sleeves on their hearts when viewing Neonâ€™s agent trailer for the first time. Watch their reactions below:

https://www.facebook.com/VALORANTph/videos/469506161537753

Official Cosplay with Charess – In partnership with Rumble Royale and cosplayer Charess, one of the most renowned cosplay influencers from the Philippines, Neon was brought to life with the support of a full roster of local Filipino artists and talent. Check out the official cosplay photos and a Neon cosplay teaser video on the VALORANT Philippines Facebook page and Charessâ€™ Instagram. Also, check out the behind-the-scenes video for more on how this cosplay was created!Â

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=231419315820755

Behind the Scenes Video with Vanille Velasquez – Hear from the voice of Neon herself! Vanille Velasquez, the voice actor behind Neon, sat down for an exclusive BTSÂ  video where she talked about what Neon means to her and the Filipino community.Â  Watch the video below:

Neon Community Art – Riot commissioned some unique Neon artwork from fourÂ  Filipino artists, Ikayawa, Bricx, Rodney and Jayds/Inkee. Produced along the theme ofÂ  â€œNeon Takes on Manilaâ€, these art pieces reflect each artist’s own interpretation of Neon expressed through their unique art styles. View these unique pieces here:

Ikayawa
Bricx
Rodney
Jayds/InkeeÂ