Genshin Impact Lantern Rite 2023 Guide

This guide will be updated periodically as the rest of the events are not active yet.
Another year, another Genshin Impact Lunar New Year celebration. This year’s in-game Lantern Rite festival is back and better than ever, featuring a Liyue-focused plotline and fun activities filled with tons of rewards and gacha opportunities.
The Exquisite Night Chimes/Lantern Rite 2023 will last from today until 6th February GMT+8. Here are a number of walkthroughs and video guides to help you on your auspicious journey.
Genshin Impact Lantern Rite 2023 Event Guide
Unlike most quests, you can skip the prerequisite questlines of this event by confirming the Quick Start option. With that out of the way, you can continue on with the A Thousand Miles for an Enigmatic Tune quest.
Here’s a video walkthrough on how to proceed. You’re basically following quest markers, and even get to play as Yelan for a bit.

The next few parts will only be out after 4am GMT+8, so check back daily to see updates.
After finishing part 1 of the Lantern Rite 2023 questline, you can now access the following minigames via the Event tab:

Radiant Sparks – Run, dash, and glide to the finish line while collecting as many coins as possible.
Paper Theater – Switch slides to make your main character in the play reach their goal.
Vigilance At Sea – Sail on the Waverider while collecting coins and avoiding hazards.
Behind The Scenes – Kill enemies in an area, then travel to two different spots to do the same.

Here’s a video walkthrough with timestamps on how each minigame plays out. You can earn Festive Fever points which will let you buy big rewards on the Lantern Rite Event page.


Apex Legends Player Hijacks Airport Monitor For A Quick Fix While In Transit

Have you ever had the urge to play your favourite games at places that you shouldn’t or can’t? Sure, you can game on mobile or the Nintendo Switch, but some games are only available on consoles or PC. Recently, a gamer couldn’t stand waiting for his flight that he actually hooked up his freaking PS4 to an airport monitor.
While waiting for his flight on 16 January 2020, a dude at Portland International Airport decided to grab a seat in front of the board that details all the departures and stuff. He took his PS4 and hijacked one of the monitors to play a match of Apex Legends.
I don’t know how long he was able to do this for, but he couldn’t even finish a single match since airport security confronted him. Even then, he reportedly asked if he could politely finish the game, before being forced to unplug and turn it off because of the information on the terminal was essential to other passengers.

It’s amazing how dedicated (or obsessed) this gamer is when it comes to Apex Legends, so much so that he couldn’t even patiently wait for his flight like any other normal person. Still, I have to applaud him for how nonchalantly he just hooked up his PS4 to the airport monitor.
I recommend that the guy get himself a Nintendo Switch or something to stave off his gaming urges during times like these. I’m sure he’ll survive a day or two without Apex Legends. Perhaps all Apex Legends players (or battle royale fans, for that matter) are secretly like this, we’ll never know for sure.
(Image Credits: Stefan Dietz for The Oregonian via KXL)


MAGFest 2022 Discloses Dozens Of COVID-19 Exposures

2022 may not be a good time to host a public event, no matter how awesome it is.
Recently, MAGFest organizers announced that several dozen attendees for MAGFest 2022 in National Harbor, Maryland in USA, have tested positive for COVID-19/coronavirus. The official website has listed 75 different exposed events and locations. This includes a party room that had a “Cum Over” sign on the windows. Yes, really.
That’s a lot of rooms and places, so it’s no surprise that a majority of event-goers may have traces of COVID-19 latched onto them. So far, 59 out of the 10,581 attendees have tested positive for COVID-19. 25 of them were vaccine boosted while 34 of them weren’t. All attendees are encouraged to submit a self-report form for positive test results.
Of course, this isn’t going to deter other gaming festivals from happening. These include DICE Summit, Game Developers Conference, Gamescom, and PAX East.Â The full list of COVID-19-exposed MAGFest 2022 venues and rooms are below:

Panels:

Opening Ceremonies (Thursday, 12pm-1pm)

Before the (Space)War (Thursday, 4pm-5pm)

Ping Me: High Performance Communication in Competitive Gaming (Thursday, 6:30pm-7pm)

Intro to Vtubing (Thursday, 8:30pm-9:30pm)

Learning to DJ panel (Thursday, 10pm-11pm)

Video Game Lawsuit panel (Friday, 11:30am-12:30pm)

Parenting a Toxic Gamer (Friday, 1pm-2pm)

Magfest 21+ panel (Friday, 1:30pm-2:30pm)

Designing a Tabletop Roleplaying Game (Friday, 3pm-4pm, Riverview Ballroom)

Capt Crabs panel (Friday, 5pm-6pm)

MAGFest Versus (Friday, 6pm-9pm)

Narrative Storytelling in Game Design (Friday, 6:30pm-7pm)

Dungeon Creation & Adventure Writing 101 (Friday, 7pm-8pm, Riverview Ballroom)

â€œStrange New Worldsâ€: Othering in Video Game Music (Friday, 8pm-8:45pm)

Super Art Fight (Friday, 9pm-11pm)

Salty Bet Live (Friday, 11pm-1am)

Sea Shanties (Saturday, 1am-2am)

3rd Annual Team Rocket Summit (Saturday, 1am-2am)

Rediscovering Pump It Up (Saturday, 2pm-3pm)

Animal Crossing panel (Saturday, 3pm-6pm)

Nintendo’s Finest Commercials panels (Saturday, 6:30pm-7:30pm)

Music Production & Mixing with Richie Beretta (Saturday, 5:30pm-6:30pm)

BrentalFloss panel (Saturday, 6:30pm-7:30pm)

Video Game Name That Tune (Saturday, 10pm-11:30pm)

“Mom, the gacha stole my credit card” (Saturday, 10:30pm-11:30pm)

Charity Auction (Sunday, 11am-2pm)

Makerspace:

Resin Casting for Cosplay (Friday, 7pm-8pm)

Armor Academy: Chainmail (Friday, 6:30pm-7:30pm)

Advanced Propmaking (Saturday, 4pm-5pm)

Armor Academy: Plate Armor (Saturday, 7:30pm-9pm)

Soapbox (Saturday, 11pm-3am)

Cosplay Photoshoots:

Fire Emblem photoshoot (Friday, 4pm-5pm)

Arknights photoshoot (Friday, 5pm-6pm)

Spike Chunsoft photoshoot (Saturday, 8:30pm-9:30pm)

Square Enix photoshoot (Saturday, 7pm-8:30pm)

Mainstage Concerts:

Lacey Johnson (Thursday, 8pm-9pm)

Triforce Quartet (Friday, 5pm-6pm)

Negativland + SUE-C (Friday, 9pm-10pm)

Bit Brigade (Friday, 11:15pm-12am)

Super Guitar Bros (Saturday, 5pm-6pm)

Paladin (Saturday, 9pm-10pm, especially in mosh pit)

Mega Ran (Saturday, 10pm-11pm)

The Megas (Saturday, 11pm-12am)

Chiprave (Saturday/Sunday early AM, 12am-3:30am)

POSE/Replay Rooftop Bar:

Thursday, Friday, Saturday, 6pm-2am

Other Music:

POSE/Replay Rooftop Bar (Thursday, Friday, Saturday)

Jam Clinic open jams (Thursday, Friday, Saturday)

Jam Clinic bandaoke (Saturday, 6pm-9pm)

Jampod outside Maryland Ballroom (Friday evening)

Room Parties at Gaylord Rooms:

4013

4329

6325

7228

8320

9028

10058

10215

11219

12036

19130

the room with the “Cum Over” message on the windows (sorry)

Tabletop:

Freeplay (Thursday, 12am-2am; Friday, 2pm-8pm; Saturday, 9pm-11pm; Sunday, 1pm-4pm)

Are you a werewolf? (Thurs 2pm-11pm; Friday 2pm-11pm; Saturday 2pm-11pm)

Roll One Out (Friday, 1pm-2pm)

Designing a Tabletop Roleplaying Game (Friday, 3pm-4pm, Riverview Ballroom)

Dungeon Creation & Adventure Writing 101 (Friday, 7pm-8pm)

LAN:

Jackbox Party (Thursday, 9pm-10:30pm)

Valorant tournament (Friday, 7pm-12am)

Rocket League tournament (Saturday, 1pm-4pm)

Simulations (Starship Horizons):

Thursday: 12pm, 5pm-6pm, 10pm

Friday: 10am-11am, 12pm, 2pm-4:30pm

Saturday: 12pm, 6pm-7pm

Museum:

Thursday, 5pm-5:30pm

Other Gaming:

CCG tournaments including MTG Modern tournament (Thursday, 5pm-8pm)

VR Zone (Thursday, 6:30pm)


AESF Announces Full Member Associations With Several Glaring Absences

On 7 January 2020, the AESF (Asian Electronic Sports Federation) conducted a special ceremony in Bangkok, Thailand to announce the first batch of member associations from different countries in Asia. This means that the AESF now has 16 full members, with seven pending applications currently in review to join the organization.
Check out the full list of member associations below:
East Asia:

Hong Kong: E-Sports Association Hong Kong (ESAHK)
Japan: Japan esports Union (JeSU)
Korea: Korea e-Sports Association (KeSPA)
Chinese Taipei: Chinese Taipei Esports Association (CTESA)

South & Central Asia:

India: Electronic Sports Federation of India (ESFI)
Sri Lanka: Sri Lanka eSports Association (SLESA)
Nepal: Nepal Esports Association (NESA)

South-East Asia

Brunei: Esports Association Brunei (ESB)
Cambodia: E-Sport Federation Cambodia (EFC)
Indonesia: Indonesia Esports Association (IeSPA)
Laos: Lao e-Sports Federation (LeSF)
Myanmar: Myanmar e-Sports Federation (MeSF)
Thailand: Thailand e-Sports Federation (TESF)
Singapore: Singapore Esports Association (SGEA)
Vietnam: Vietnam Recreational and Electronic Sport Association (VIRESA)

West Asia

Syria: Syrian Esports Association (SESA)

Unfortunately, there are some glaring omissions in the list above. Where are the esports bodies from countries like Malaysia, the Philippines and even China? Despite the fact that these countries are also included on the AESF’s official list of recognised members, their esports associations have not yet been inducted.
However, those aforementioned seven pending applications might include the currently-missing esports bodies from these other countries. Is Malaysia’s ESM (Esports Malaysia) one of them? Possibly, but it remains to be seen.
It’s also important to note that the esports associations from Singapore, Brunei and Vietnam were only given full membership this month, in January 2020. Other esports bodies may still be inducted as full members in the near future, as the AESF approves more member associations.
In order for national Esports bodies to become a full AESF member, the criteria include an affiliation with the NOC or any competent national sport governing body, esports programs and events, as well as administration, governance and compliance with integrity requirements.
With the upcoming AESF e-Masters Chengdu 2020 (set to take place from 22 February to 1 March 2020) inching closer, they need the support and full membership of more national esports bodies to ensure the smooth cooperation of all parties.
(Image Credits: AESF)


Rune Factory 5 Will Be Out In English In Early 2022

Good news, fans of farming, action RPG, and fantasy waifu dating. The game that lets you do all that will be out in English next year.
Rune Factory 5, the Marvelous-made game that’s a Harvest Moon spin-off, will be out in Early 2022 for Nintendo Switch. The trailer below features English dubbing, so if you’re into that sort of thing, check it out.

If you need more previews of Rune Factory 5’s gameplay, check out the gameplay footage below that details the farming, the action RPG bits and dungeoneering, and the waifus/husbandos you can date and marry.


Xbox Is Already Working On New Consoles Beyond Series X/S

Microsoft is already working on the successors to the next-gen Xbox Series X and S, which only launched late last year in November 2020.
According to Xbox Gaming Experiences And Platforms CVP Liz Hamren (via GamesRadar), while Microsoft is pushing cloud services like Xbox Game Pass cloud streaming, consoles will remain at the centre of the Xbox brand. What that means is that new consoles will still be in the works.
She said:
“Cloud is key to our hardware and Game Pass roadmaps, but no one should think we’re slowing down on our core console engineering.
In fact, we’re accelerating it.
We’re already hard at work on new hardware and platforms, some of which won’t come to light for years.
But even as we build for the future, we’re focused on extending the Xbox experience to more devices today so we can reach more people.”
What’s surprising is that Xbox is also working on introducing the Xbox experience to TVs. She added:
“We’re working with global TV manufacturers to embed the Game Pass experience directly into internet-connected TVs so all you’ll need to play is a controller.
Beyond that, we’re also developing standalone streaming devices that you can plug into a TV or monitor, so if you have a strong internet connection, you can stream your Xbox experience.”
It looks like Xbox fans need not worry about Microsoft abandoning the hardware side of the Xbox brand. Currently, the brand is celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2021 with various activities and special content.


Axiata Group Berhad Launches Axiata Game Hero 2022 Football Edition Esports Tournament

Axiata Group Berhad (“Axiata”) a leading regional mobile and digital conglomerate across ASEAN and South Asia, in partnership with Leet Technology  Inc. (“Leet”), an eSports technology company that provides a platform for competitive gaming, have announced the launch of the Axiata Game Hero 2022 – Football Edition. This year,  Axiata Game Hero is back with a total prize pool of US$80,000 featuring three different game  tracks which are Konami’s eFootball, Football Arcade Challenge and Team Manager.
“We are pleased to be partnering with Leet Technology Inc in kicking off the start of World Cup season with Axiata Game Hero 2022 – Football Edition to provide a new opportunity for fans  to connect through eSports. We have been running the Axiata Game Hero since 2019.
Popular  game titles such as Free Fire and PUBG were featured and were very well received by  gamers. Given the huge football fan base in Southeast Asia and South Asia, we believe that subscribers across four Axiata territories will enjoy the games offered and hope to see more  players come on board to battle and represent their countries,” said Axiata Head of Product  Innovation and Partnerships, Peggie Lim.
Keith Long, CEO of Leet Technology Inc. said “We are excited to partner with Axiata Group  Berhad for this year’s edition to feature an all-football themed competition across four Asian territories, powered by Leet’s Maverick eSports platform. Our Maverick white label product  provides Axiata a platform to bring together tournaments for the casual and professional  gamers, to connect players and elevate their experiences by creating more ways to win and  have fun.”
About Axiata Game Hero (AGH)
Axiata Game Hero is a tournament by Axiata Group for its 6 operating companies in Southeast Asia and South Asia. Axiata Game Hero 2022 offers an immersive football themed tournament in three parts:

eFootball by Konami

eFootball tournament will start on June 15, 2022, coinciding with the 2022 FIFA World Cup, and end  at the Regional Grand Finals from December 13-14, 2022. The tournament will span across four  countries, namely, Malaysia, Indonesia, Cambodia and Bangladesh with participation of subscribers of Boost Malaysia, XL Indonesia, Robi Bangladesh and Smart Cambodia. The tournament will have four  distinct levels for each country, with top players vying for a spot in the Elite Lounge, then the Country  League Qualifiers, and finally the Regional Grand Finals, on a double elimination style. The tournament  offers a series of cash and merchandise prizes totaling US$60,000.

Football Arcade Challenge

Football Arcade Challenge features hypercasual yet competitive mini games in four country tournaments that will start on June 12, 2022, and end on November 26, 2022. 6 games will be played over six months,  refreshed every two weeks. The top 30 players on each game leaderboard will receive cash and  merchandise prizes totaling US$10,000.

Team Manager

Team Manager is a one-month fantasy football tournament based on 2022 FIFA World Cup fixtures where each player receives a $100 million virtual budget, picks the best formation and the best 11 players and four playing substitutes. Team Manager features variable game boosters such as triple  captain booster, bench-boost booster, free-hit booster and wildcard booster. The tournaments offer a  series of cash and merchandise prizes totaling US$10,000 including football club jerseys.
To keep up to date with all the latest news from Axiata Game Hero 2022 – Football Edition, you can visit www.axiatagamehero.gg.


New Bleach: Thousand-Year War Anime Trailer Shows Off The Sternritter Quincy

Viz Media reveals the newest trailer for the anime adaptation of Bleach’s final story manga arc: the Thousand-Year Blood War. The video below highlights the antagonists of the arc: the Sternritter (Star Knights), which are a group of incredibly powerful Quincy (Uryu Ishida’s race) who plan to wipe out the Shinigami (Ichigo’s pals and associated group) using special techniques.

Viz Media also revealed the key art for the anime featuring both the Shinigamis and Sternritters.

The anime will premiere on TV Tokyo in October, with the entire series covering the original manga up through its ending. An advanced screening of the first two episodes will be held in Tokyo on 11th September. The show will be directed by Tomohisa Taguchi, with Masashi Kudo returning as character designer and Shiro Sagisu on music.
Here’s the full Japanese VO cast:

Masakazu Morita as Ichigo Kurosaki
Fumiko Orikasa as Rukia Kuchiki
Noriaki Sugiyama as Ury? Ishida
Yuki Matsuoka as Orihime Inoue
Hiroki Yasumoto as Yasutora Sado
Kentaro Ito as Renji Abarai
Shinichiro Miki as Kisuke Urahara
Satsuki Yukino as Yoruichi Shih?in
Binbin Takaoka (replacing Masaaki Tsukada) as Genry?sai Shigekuni Yamamoto
Houko Kuwashima as Suì-F?ng
Shouto Kashii as R?j?r? ?toribashi
Aya Hisakawa as Retsu Unohana
Masaya Onosaka as Shinji Hirako
Ryotaro Okiayu as Byakuya Kuchiki
Tetsu Inada as Sajin Komamura
Akio Ohtsuka as Shunsui Ky?raku
Tomokazu Sugita as Kensei Muguruma
Romi Park as Toshiro Hitsugaya
Fumihiko Tachiki as Kenpachi Zaraki
Ryusei Nakao as Mayuri Kurotsuchi
Hideo Ishikawa as Jushiro Ukitake
Naomi Kusumi as Ichibe Hyosube
Y?ji Ueda as ?etsu Mimaiya
Tomoyuki Shimura as Tenjir? Kirinji
Rina Satou as Senjumaru Shutara
Ayumi Tsunematsu as Kirio Hikifune
Takayuki Sugo as Yhwach
Yuichiro Umehara as Jugram Haschwalth
Shunsuke Takeuchi as Askin Nakk Le Vaar
Ayana Taketatsu as Bambietta Basterbine
Y?ki Ono as Bazz-B
Yumi Uchiyama as Candice Catnipp
Natsuki Hanae as Gremmy Thoumeaux
Satoshi Hino as Lille Barro

The trailer definitely did its job as it only showed a third (or fourth) of the entire anime arc. There’s actually a lot more in store if you’ve kept up with the manga.


Asus ROG Phone 7 Series Will Be Out This May; Features Ray-Tracing, AMOLED Screen, The Works

Asus Republic Of Gamers is taking mobile gaming to the next level with its 7th mothership gaming phone.
Announced during its For Those Who Dare virtual launch event, the Asus ROG Phone 7 Series features no-compromise performance, no-compromise power efficiency, and no-compromise gaming.
The phone’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform and 16GB RAM, along with a 165Hz Samsung AMOLED display mean that it’s a powerful piece of phone/gaming/smart device hardware with a lovely brightly-lit screen with all the colours out in full fashion. It also features real-time hardware-accelerated ray tracing, meaning hyper-realistic reflections that “add new dimension to the gaming experience”. The phone’s advanced CPU tuning and thermal design also make it an energy-efficient gaming phone.
Probably the real selling point is the phone’s subwoofer in AeroActive Cooler 7 for that strong audio, and AirTrigger haptic controls that makes playing games on the screen very responsive without needing to buy unnecessary joystick attachments. The sleek white and black designs are also quite a looker.

The Asus ROG Phone 7 Series will be on sale in Malaysia on 10th May. Prices will be announced soon, but don’t expect it to go below or within budget. For comparison’s sake, the Asus ROG Phone 6 costs close to RM3,000.


Modders Are Recreating Morrowind With The Skyrim Engine

The strongest examples of “fine, I’ll do it myself” are often found in the video game industry, specifically in the modding community. The Elder Scrolls Renewal: Skywind is the latest and possibly the most ambitious mod to ever appear in the history of The Elder Scrolls. The goal? A total recreation of The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind built using theÂ Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim engine.
The first official gameplay demo was recently shown at Gamescom 2019. Beginning in the city of Balmore, the demo takes us through one of the assassination quests from Morrowind: Writ for Sarayn Sadus.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O85xF9lzgTg&w=560&h=315]
From the get go, we get to see a glimpse of how amazingly detailed the landscapes of Morrowind have become thanks to the hard work of the core team and many, many volunteers working on Skywind. Buildings, monsters, and NPCs are all taken straight from Morrowind but now in HD and better textures.
It’s not just looks, even the voice acting and sound design are being built from the ground up. Getting the writ from Ethasi Rilvayn, we hear a clear and well-acted voice coming from her. Of course, they didn’t keep the gigantic text boxes from the original game and opted to maintain Skyrim‘s limited but still very fluid dialogue system.

Even Morrowind fans would agree that they wouldn’t simply want a 1-to-1 replication of the original game, just with better graphics. Morrowind‘s broken and wonky combat system and dependency on bunny hopping as the main method of travel are definitely getting fixed.
We’ll be getting Skyrim‘s combat system plus new weapons like spears and crossbows, and also a configurable fast travel system that will allow players to choose whether they’d want to save time or put their bunny hopping skills to use.

For now, there’s still no definite release date yet as the mod is still far from completion but if you’re interested in getting it, you have to first make sure that you have both Morrowind and Skyrim on your PC.
For more information, update, volunteer submissions, and more, check out Skywind‘s official website.
By the way, there’s also a project that’s doing the same thing but for The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, check it out here.


Video Game Rapper Mega Ran Raises US$11k & More For Protesters On Twitch

Last week, two black music veterans Jamila Thomas and Brianna Agyemang urged their peers from making money on 2nd June and reflect on long-standing racism via the #TheShowMustBePaused initiative. Video game rapper and Mega Man fan Mega Ran decided to leverage his popularity on Twitch and raising bail funds instead.
The fundraising was a response to the deaths of George Floyd and other black Americans in police custody. He raised US$11,000 for the Bail Project, a national nonprofit. “The Bail Project is a cause I believe in,” Mega Ran said.

“I challenged my supporters and they came through. It was a pleasant surprise and this is only the beginning. Iâ€™m so proud of the progress weâ€™ve made but as we can see from just watching TV or stepping outside, thereâ€™s more work to be done.”

You can support this by donating to this link: https://tiltify.com/@megaran/the-bailout.
Mega Ran recently released an album called 2 Hands Up in collaborationwith rapper Young RJ. If you want to check out more of Mega Ran’s music, head over to his Band Camp page and see if his songs & rapping skills are your jam.
Here are our favourites from his YouTube page.


The Microsoft Acquisition Of Activision Blizzard Has Been Approved By The EU Commission

One of gaming’s biggest acquisitions might be happening after much contesting.
The European Commission has approved Microsoft’s planned acquisition of Activision Blizzard (and King too); ditto Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Serbia, Chile, Japan, South Africa, and Ukraine. According to Video Games Chronicle, as long as Microsoft complies with a number of commitments related to cloud gaming, the acquisition will go through. As a reminder, this deal is worth US$69 billion.
As icing on the cake, this deal is said to not harm rival consoles and rival multi-game subscription services, though it could harm competition in the distribution of games via cloud gaming streaming services. The EU said the deal will support competition and that Call of Duty is not as important as Sony makes it out to be.
Still, Microsoft will have to win the UK CMA appeal and also win its case against the US FTC in order for the whole deal to go through. In addition, this is what the company is committing to for 10 years in the licensing department:

A free license to consumers in the EEA that would allow them to stream, via any cloud game streaming services of their choice, all current and future Activision Blizzard PC and console games for which they have a license.
A corresponding free license to cloud game streaming service providers to allow EEA-based gamers to stream any Activision Blizzard’s PC and console games.

“These licenses will ensure that gamers that have purchased one or more Activision games on a PC or console store, or that have subscribed to a multi-game subscription service that includes Activision games, have the right to stream those games with any cloud game streaming service of their choice and play them on any device using any operating system. The commitments fully address the competition concerns identified by the Commission and represent a significant improvement for cloud gaming as compared to the current situation.”


Concrete Genie Developer PixelOpus Shuts Down Next Month

Sony Interactive Entertainment is officially shutting down Concrete Genie developer PixelOpus on 2 June 2023.
In a statement, the company said:
“PlayStation Studios regularly evaluates its portfolio and the status of studio projects to ensure they meet the organization’s short and long-term strategic objectives. As part of a recent review process, it has been decided that PixelOpus will close on June 2.”

Dear friends, our PixelOpus adventure has come to an end. As we look to new futures, we wanted to say a heartfelt thank you to the millions of passionate players who have supported us, and our mission to make beautiful, imaginative games with heart.  We are so grateful! ??? pic.twitter.com/rQO2Cgvhnq
— PixelOpus (@Pixelopus) May 5, 2023

PixelOpus originally opened in 2014 and has launched two games. The rhythm game Entwined launched for PS4 in June 2014, followed by PS3 and PS Vita in July 2014. Meanwhile, Concrete Genie launched for PS4 in October 2019.
In the meantime, check out our review of Concrete Genie here. It was a fun but unremarkable indie title.


This VTuber Is Getting Millions Of Views Just From Attempting Apex Legend Master Rank Solo

Apex Legends is a three-player team shooter, but you can attempt to play the game solo and get ranks for it. Many have tried, but what if I told that a VTuber tried her best and got a million views for it?
That’s the case with Minato Aqua, a prominent Hololive VTuber with a “bumbling airhead pigtail girl with a sailor emblem headband” look renowned for her Apex Legends plays. For the whole week since the 15th of March, she has been on an Apex Legends binge, but now doing solo. Apex Legends is tough enough as a co-op battle royale game, but soloing fights is a whole new ball game for some, complete with its own meta. It is an achievement for many a hardcore shooter fan.
Aqua’s last two days of streaming has a YouTube livestream viewer count of 2.2 million views total (thanks Kumikones). The chief reason is because Aqua’s fans are showing their support, as she is very close to reaching Master Rank via soloing. They just want to watch her grind it out, and grind she did!

At the end of the day, however, she didn’t reach Master Rank. But the fact that she was close and the viewcount she received from her streams for the attempt is already a victory in itself. Congratulations on the top-tier play, Aqua!


Overwatch League: NYXL Wins Five Map Thriller Against Seoul Dynasty

The battle at the top of the Overwatch League standings saw the New York Excelsior repeat their Stage 1 results as they defeated the Seoul Dynasty over five sets earlier today. It was a battle of wits and countering counter attacks as both teams implemented strats rarely associated with them in the past. Known for their patient gameplans, the Dynasty were the aggressor in most parts while NYXL whom many see as the more aggressive among the Overwatch League teams found themselves on the defense more than they are accustomed to. With the win, the NYXL all but secured their spot in the Stage playoffs baring a catastrophic slump in their following three matches.
Starting strong by eking a hard fought win on Hanamura despite being on the back foot in terms of time bank twice, their star player was Libero lit up the kill feed, topped by a 5K with Genji. The Dynasty hit back with a strong showing on Nepal as they won the map 2-1 to even the overall score 1-1 heading into half-time. Dynasty’s decision to play their game a little more on the aggressive side while emphasizing on protecting Fleta’s angles and restricting Saebyeolbe’s flanking routes played dividends as they won the third match on Hollywood.
However, Dynasty’s decision revert to their standard reactive stance on the fourth map, Watchpoint Gibraltar bit them back as the NYXL found a way back to halt the payload push for a map win thus forcing the tie-breaker map on Ilios which went in NYXL’s favor. At the end, the Seoul Dynasty were left to rue the missed chances to wrap up the tie and ultimately seal the all important win as they now prepare for Sunday’s cracker of a match against another all-Korean team, and their long-time rivals since the APEX days, the boys of London Spitfire.


Overwatch League Season 1 Finale: Grand Finals Preview

It is finally here.
After eight months of competition, 240 regular season matches, ten stage final matches and twelve exhilarating playoff contests, we are down to two teams competing for the big prize in the inaugural Overwatch League season’s Grand Finals.
In one corner, we have the Philadelphia Fusion; a rag-tag team consisting a bunch of established players without title success to their names along with several unknowns; a team whose journey to the season’s biggest stage started in the worst case possible, by missing out on pre-season and had one of their expected tank starters suspended.
On the other end, we have the London Spitfire. They are a superteam of sorts which combined a group of proven winners who just prior to the Overwatch League stamped their mark in the Korean Overwatch scene.
Since day one of OWL competition, both teams faced their own ups and downs as they charted their own unique path towards immortality. Both faced slumps in the season but somehow dug deep enough to find ways to book their tickets and with that, a shot at the cool US$1million prize money. Regardless of which team that walks out of the Barclays Center in Brooklyn as winners this weekend, it would be a story of redemption and triumph when the odds were stacked against them.
This is a preview of the Overwatch League Grand Finals, which will be airing on Twitch this weekend, 27th and 28th July.
Quick Recap: Past Meets – Tied 2-2 for regular season, Fusion leads 3-2 overall

Philadelphia Fusion
No one would have predicted to see the Philadelphia Fusion hit big time this season, let alone reach the Grand Finals. Having missed out on the pre-season due to the team’s inability to field a complete squad, their preparation was disrupted even more with the 30-game suspension of main tank, Su-Min ‘Sado’ Kim for account boosting.Â Â That left them with only one main tank – Fragi who was normally seen sharing tanking duties with flex-tank and D.Va Bomb expert, Poko.
No one gave them much hope and even predicted them to finish amongst the bottom third of the final league standings. Boy, were we proven wrong.

Expected Starters: Boombox, Neptuno, Sado, Poko, Carpe, Eqo
Style
The Philadelphia Fusion are easily one of the most fun teams to watch in the Overwatch League thanks to their super aggro playstyle which focuses a lot on using their dive to disrupt their opponents’ backline. They are one of the teams who practice the mantra ‘go big or go home’ and just like another (fictional) Philly native, Rocky Balboa, are a hard team to beat.
They’ve unearthed some diamonds in the rough throughout the season as well, with the likes of Snillo and Eqo dislodging ShaDowBurn off the second DPS role. The return of Sado in Stage 4 gave the Fusion a new lease of life in their hunt for the playoff spot and the shift to sniper-heavy meta allowed the team to flourish even more.
StrengthsÂ
Their ability to prolong teamfights even when the odds are against them makes them one of the neutrals’ favorite to watch throughout the season. But that’s not to say they are always on the defensive. In Fusion we have one of the most potent DPS corps which has grown from strength to strength. Led by Jae-Hyeok ‘Carpe’ Lee who is a monster on Widowmaker, McCree and Genji, the Fusion has got a huge array of DPS talent at the disposal such as ShaDowBurn, EQO and Snillo.
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One of if not the deadliest when it comes to hitscan heroes, Carpe’s superhuman ability to hit unreal shots is even scarier when paired with ShaDowBurn’s wide range of heroes, Snillo’s Tracer or EQO’s Genji plays.
Keys to Victory

Carpe winning his Widowmaker duels
Eqo surviving long enough to inflict significant damage and disruption to Spitfire’s backline
Silencing opposition tanks early
Not choking in the big stage

London Spitfire
While their opponents were pretty much the story of nobodies skyrocketing to stardom, the story of London Spitfire was the complete opposite. It was almost a half-season-long turmoil for the all-Korean team and the fact that they overcame it to reach the Grand Finals is astounding. Formed consisting of two of the most storied Overwatch squads in OGN Apex’s history – KongDoo Panthera and GC Busan, many expected the London Spitfire to be among the frontrunners once the Overwatch League gets underway. And many were right considering the Spitfire’s 7-3 finish in Stage 1 coupled with their epic comeback win in the Stage Finals against NYXL.
However, since then, the team’s fortune went the opposite direction -not only they parted ways with their coach, they also made some questionable roster movements, mostly which involved dismantling of the super team with the departure of ex-KongDoo players inÂ Rascal to Dallas and Fissure to Gladiators. As part of their streamlining their team and a bid to correct their course following abysmal showings in Stage 3, they’ve also parted ways with almost half of the remaining roster leaving only seven players left in the squad.

Expected Starters: NUS, Bdosin, Gesture, Fury, Profit, birdring
StyleÂ
True to their name, the London Spitfire is one of the deadliest teams when attacking. They spew hot lead like it’s running out of style and once they click, not even the best defensive teams in the league such as Seoul Dynasty, LA Valiant & NYXL are able to cope with their firepower. The team is decisive and very coordinated in their attacks and once the floodgates open, you rarely see any of the opposing team players standing alive. Similar to the Fusion, they are a dive-heavy team but with much less reliance on their DPS despite having a more potent duo in Birdring and Profit.
StrengthsÂ
The Spitfire is one of the most cohesive units in the league with heavy reliance on tanks to open up space for their DPS players to wreck havoc. Many questioned the Spitfire when they traded away Fissure who was regarded by many to be the best tank in the league. But these people always forgot the player who outshone him in the Spitfire. Gesture has been one of the best players to be often overlooked but has been immense in paving the way for his teammates. Selfless and not the sort who’d go for glory, his team-oriented approach has brought his team to the Grand Finals.
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The rest of the Spitfire crew ain’t that bad either. Collectively more talented than their opponents, the Spitfire also possess a better adaptability and chemistry with each other having played alongside for a longer period. In support, NUS and Bdosin have a knack of not only keeping their tanks and DPS players alive longer, they also have higher survival rate thanks to their effective partnership in the backline.
Keys to Victory

Profit effectively disrupting Fusion’s backlines (Support & Carpe’s Widowmaker)
Effective diving – Gesture allowed to do his work
Nullifying Sado early in team fights
Capitalizing on Neptuno’s high-risk Mercy plays

Our Prediction
It has to be the London Spitfire.
Now before you shout “Korean bias!”, hear us out.
The team is on a roll and appears to have grasped the current meta comfortably. Unlike Fusion whose win condition mostly relying on Carpe popping off, the Spitfire have plenty in their arsenal to shift the match to their favor. If Birdring is able to silence Carpe for long periods of time, rest assured that the rest of the Spitfire would not have much issues cleaning house.
The Spitfire are more adaptable as well and with Fury’s ability to flex to either tank or DPS on a fly, should catch the Fusion off-guard. Many would point out Profit to be the star player in the finals but we’d keep a close eye to Gesture whose dives would be pivotal in shifting the momentum to London.
Final Score: 2-0 to the London SpitfireÂ
You can catch the Overwatch League Grand Finals featuring the London Spitfire vs Philadelphia Fusion live on Twitch at Overwatch League’s official channel starting 7am Malaysia/ SG/ HK or 6am for Jakarta on Saturday, 28th July 2018 and on the same channel starting 4am (3am for Jakarta) on Sunday.
It will be a best-of-three maps format, with the first team to win two maps being crowned winner, and the first ever Overwatch League Grand Final Champion.

Which team do you think would win? Sound off in the comments section below.


These Spider-Man Far From Home Banners Feature All Three Suits

We’re only about one month away from the release of Spider-Man From Home and anticipation is swinging high for the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s follow-up to the events of Avengers Endgame. New international banners (via Slash Film) for the upcoming movie have been released, showcasing all three suits set to be worn by Spidey.
Iron Spider Suit

As seen in the trailers, Peter Parker will likely begin in Spider-Man Far From Home wearing the same Iron Spider suit given to him by Tony Stark in Avengers Infinity War (and which he was still wearing when revived in Avengers Endgame).
From the looks of it, he will leave the Iron Spider suit behind in New York to go on vacation with his friends in Europe. Furthermore, wearing the suit must be weighing heavily on Peter nowadays, ever since Tony’s death in Avengers Endgame.
Stealth Suit

As seen in the trailers, Nick Fury gives Peter this new stealth suit sometime during the movie, perhaps to avoid Spider-Man being recognized in a foreign country. At this point, we know nothing much about this suit but it seems to be highly inspired by the iconic Spider-Man Noir design from the comics.
New Red-And-Black Suit

This is the new suit seen in the trailers and promotional material for Spider-Man Far From Home. Unlike his suit in 2016’s Captain America Civil War and 2017’s Spider-Man Homecoming (which was made by Tony Stark), this suit looks more comics-accurate, especially true to the late Steve Ditko‘s original and earliest designs for Spidey.
In the most recent trailer, Happy Hogan catches Peter tinkering with some suit-building technology, which will presumably be how he makes this new suit. If that turns out to be true, it’ll be great to finally have a Spider-Man who’s not dependant on Iron Man for all his tricks.
Spider-Man: Far From Home is slated to arrive in cinemas on 4 July 2019.


Kerbal Space Program 2 Video Reveals How The Devs Made Improved Planets

In the latest Kerbal Space Program 2 developer video, the team at Intercept Games ponders the strange anomalies of our galaxy and how these unique mysteries have influenced the design behind the planets and other celestial bodies of the dynamic space simulation sequel.

With new advanced scatter and terrain details, there is something special to discover on every planet. Featuring a wide range of environments from vast deserts to towering mountain ranges, the celestial bodies are more complex than ever before, providing unique challenges and unforgettable journeys for all players. This is especially compelling for returning Kerbal Space Program 1 players, many of whom will be left in awe at the leaps forward in design from the original game.

In the developer video below, youâ€™ll find in-depth details about exploring the celestial bodies in Kerbal Space Program 2, learning about the varied planets you might discover on your voyage to the stars. Perhaps the most interesting part is that all of these fictional planets are not just potentially real in our own galaxy, but are even based on guidance from astrophysicists such as Dr. Joel Green, who is featured in the video.
Kerbal Space Program 2 is slated to release for the PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and PC sometime in 2022.


CoD Warzone Season 5 Games Of Summer Event Is Dropping Later This Week

Later this week, the Call Of Duty Modern Warfare & Warzone Season 5: Reloaded will drop the Games Of Summer event update, which will add new modes, maps, operators, and more.

Tonight's update will begin deploying across all platforms at 11PM PDT! In the meantime, click the link to see patch notes, playlist updates, and download information for tonight's launch of Season Five Reloaded! https://t.co/vvToJ1Mx1H pic.twitter.com/3570cHlkC8— Infinity Ward (@InfinityWard) August 25, 2020

The Games of Summer event will run from 28 August to 7 September 2020.
PS4:Â 10.6 GB
Xbox One:Â 14.09 GB
PC:Â 11.3 GB (F2P) / 17.6 GB (Premium)

Both Call Of DutyÂ WarzoneÂ andÂ Modern WarfareÂ players can enter a series of five single-player Trials, competing for points and medals. Players will compete on behalf of their country in various shooting galleries.
Infinity Ward will launch the Trials on different dates:
Gun Course (28 August 2020) â€” clear the course, eliminate enemies, spare civilians.Priceâ€™s Alley (29 August 2020) â€” clear endless targets with a handgun, spare civilians.Risky Parkour (30 August 2020) â€” run through toxic gas to clear the course.Shooting Range (31 August 2020) â€” destroy all targets in the area.Marksman Challenge (1 September 2020) â€” quickly kill long-distance targets with a sniper rifle.
The various Trials offer different rewards for each tier of medal a player wins. Infinity Ward hasnâ€™t revealed them all yet, but rewards include vehicle skins, XP tokens, vehicle horns, calling cards, and Legendary weapon blueprints. Players who earn a gold medal on each trial can earn the Legendary Juliet assault rifle blueprint.
These medals will also contribute toward their country, each of which Infinity Ward has weighted by how many participants they have. At the end of the Summer Games, Infinity Ward will declare one country to be the champion, based on how many medals its residents have earned.
Season 5: Reloaded also brings a new weapon toÂ WarzoneÂ andÂ Modern Warfare: the FiNN LMG. Players can earn the weapon via in-game challenges or purchase the Mainframe bundle for a special blueprint. The FiNN LMG is a cross between an assault rifle and light machine gun, with more accuracy.
WarzoneÂ players can look forward to a new mode called King Slayer; a team deathmatch mode inside the battle royale. The circle doesnâ€™t get smaller, but it does move around the map. There will be multiple teams in King Slayer, and the top player in the top five teams will be â€œkings.â€ Killing the king rewards bonus points and offers a free Killstreak.
WarzoneÂ players will also get a Gunfight Tournament during the Games of Summer event. The mode will take place on a new map designed after the Verdansk stadiumâ€™s pitch. AllÂ WarzoneÂ players will have free access to Gunfight from 28 August to 2 September 2020 for the tournament.
Meanwhile, Modern WarfareÂ will receive a Ground War variant called Ground War Reinforce. Players need to capture three flags in the middle of the map to win the round. However, players do not revive when they die and must spectate until their team captures a flag.
Last but not least, the cosmetic store will be updated, including the addition of Morte, a new Italian operator. Infinity Ward will launch Call Of Duty Modern Warfare and Warzone Season 5: Reloaded on all platforms at 2pm GMT+8 on 25 August 2020.


Deathloop’s Framerate Stuttering Is Now Fixed

Arkane has just released a big update for its hit shooter Deathloop.Â
The update is 11GB on PC and it fixes the frustrating frame rate skipping issue. It also adds NVidia DLSS support and a number of bug fixes. Here’s a list:

Improved performance and stability, especially with ray tracing.
Improved NPC pathing and reactions to the player
Improved audio mix quality.
Fixed laser mines, turrets and fireworks for both Colt and Julianna players.
Fixed unlock issue with â€œOopsâ€ and â€œDeathday Suitâ€ achievements.
Fixed issue that could cause Coltâ€™s progression to be reset even if player chose â€˜noâ€™ on confirmation.
Fixed crash issue when a player unlocks a feat using Havoc while playing as Julianna.
Fixed Aleksis Dorsey reactions, making him easier to identify among his party guests.
Fixed issue that was causing assassinations to glitch sometimes while playing as Julianna.
Juliannaâ€™s actions will no longer directly unlock achievements for Colt.
Julianna players will no longer hear radio conversations meant for only Colt.
Fixed issue with leaning inconsistency (inputs will no longer be ignored sporadically).

Arkane also added support for AMD’s FidelityFX Super Resolution, the ability for RTX graphics cards to use NVidia’s DLSS to improve framerate and resolution, have Julianna’s taunts play through the DualSense speaker when using the PS5 controller on PC, and a UI element to warn you about poor internet connections during online games. Using your mouse wheel to switch weapons will no longer drop them, so that’s great for keyboard and mouse players.
The update is getting a positive reception online, stating that Deathloop now feels like a better game with its newfound stability.
Deathloop is out right now; we highly recommend it.


Every Marvel Cinematic Universe Movie Ranked From Worst to Best

10 years, huh? Who knew that Iron Man movie would end up starting film’s most successful and long-running cinematic universes of all time? Thanks to Marvel and Disney, we are now knee-deep in superheroics on moving pictures.
But which Marvel film is the best? Which one is the worst in its high-yet-familiar template and standards?Â We at Kakuchopurei will rank all 21 films from bad to godlike. This list is strictly opinionated but well-researched, so chances are we’re right about most things.
Let’s go!
#23. Thor: The Dark World

A boring-ass sequel that hardly entertains and is widely considered to be the weakest MCU movie due to its uninspired story and bland plot. The usually-fantastic (Any Whovians here?) Christopher Eccleston was completely wasted as the villain Malekith the Accursed, with all the wit and charm of cardboard.
Heck, even a Power Rangers monster could have made more of a lasting impression.
NEXT


Valheim Guide: How To Survive The Norse Wasteland

Valheim just came out a couple of days ago under Steam’s Early Access program, and it’s already the talk of the town.
As of 7th February 2021, it’s the most-played PC game on the platform that’s garnering rave reviews: imagine an open-world viking game where you and 9 others cooperate to survive the Norse landscape filled with mythic monsters in the afterlife. Think AC Valhalla and Skyrim but co-op, online, and with more emphasis on crafting.
That’s a potent combination alongside the game’s aesthetics. Sounds like another big hit from Coffee Stain Publishing, the same folks who also published Deep Rook Galactic.
Bet you’re gearing to jump into Valheim, right? Well, while the tutorial from the talking raven is helpful and all, you are generally left to your own devices on how to fend for yourself. The game isn’t planning on telling you everything; that’s how these games are, and we’re all in for it.
Still, it’ll be nice to get a push in the right direction. Let’s do that with our short guide. Besides, the game is still in Early Access; we may need to update this guide if the game is getting more major fixes & upgrades down the line.
You Can Sail Your Raft Using The WASD Keys

This won’t be so obvious the first time you set sail, so here’s a quick tip: just wait for a prompt to use the rudder at the rear right corner of your raft, then press the E key. After holding the rudder, you can adjust the speed of the raft using the W and S keys: you have slow, medium, and fast, with fast letting you drop the sails to go full speed ahead.
Since you need to use wind currents to sail, keep an eye on the white arrow on your minimap and the icons below the minimap to know the direction of the wind, so you can sail properly and fast. In the event you fall off the boat, you can climb on the small ladder on the rear end of the boat, opposite the side of the rudder.
Assimilate Old Buildings To Harvest Wood Quickly
If you see old-as-heck small shacks and hovels, you should destroy them to gather wood to help you in your Valheim survival game. However, you should not use a weapon for this. Instead, create a workbench using your crafting hammer, drop it inside the middle of the target shack, and then destroy the building using the middle mouse button using your craft hammer. Once you’re done gathering the wood you need, disassemble your workbench and go to the next farming spot.
The best part about this tactic? There’s a good chance you’ll find a treasure chest or two in these run-down places!
You Can Upgrade Your Workbench By Building A Chopping Block and Tanning Rack
Speaking of which, you need to upgrade your workbench whenever possible since that’s your lifeblood in Valheim to getting stronger. Build a Chopping Block and Tanning Rack to upgrade it to Level 2 and Level 3 respectively. Those two structures can’t be used individually; they serve as add-ons whereas you do all the work on the workbench.
Keep Your Gear Pristine
Valheim does not need you to spend additional resources to repair your weapons and armour. So if you feel that your gear needs repair, just head to your workbench, click the small square image of a hammer next to your items in the Craft/Upgrade tab, and then click away.
Need The Pickaxe? Kill The First Boss

You need to kill bosses in Valheim to survive and open up more crafting options. To get the pickaxe, which you need to mine for stones & ores for better crafting opportunities, you need to kill Eikthyr the mighty badass stage.
To actually summon it for a fight, you need to place two deer trophies on his altar. You need to gear up for this fight with tunic, pants, a helmet, and pristine weapons (plus a shield) if you wish to stand a chance against the mighty stag. The boss has a lot of HP, but your shield can effectively block its attacks. Just keep blocking and dodging its attacks, strafe around to its rear to get a few hits in, then repeat. You can’t power your way through it; you just have to be patient and whittle its life away.
Once it’s finally dead, collect its antlers to unlock the recipe for the pickaxe.
Need Help Finding The Other Bosses? Here’s A Quick Guide
There are three other bosses you can challenge in Valheim. Here’s the breakdown:
The Elder

Large tree monster that attacks with vines.
Visit the Burial Chambers to get the Rune Stone needed to get the summoning location of the beast. The area looks like a flat, square stone monument with pillars in each corner and a brazier in the center.
After that, harvest for three ancient seeds, then head to the sacrificial altar location in the Black Forest to summon it.
For this fight, get ready plenty of fire arrows. The Elder is a treefolk; kill it with fire, literally.

The Bonemass

A large sludge undead mass.
You can summon it at the swamp; you need 10 wither bones to do so at its skull altar.
Prepare blunt weapons and ice arrows before fighting the Bonemass; it’s susceptible to these.
Also, use Poison Resistance mead to protect yourself from its poison attacks.

Moder

A large black dragon.
You need to bring three Dragon Eggs to the sacrificial altar in the mountains biome to summon it.

Need To Fish? Talk To The Trader
Fishing in Valheim is also pretty important. To get a fishing rod, you need to find a random NP called the trader. He’s found in the Black Forest.
To find the Black Forest, you may need to start your search from the centre of the map at an area called The Meadows. As you venture further, you’ll see a change in the environment where pine trees and fir trees take up the landscape. Oh, and there will be more skeletons and trolls running around the area. That’s the Black Forest.
Since all of Valheim’s locations are randomly/procedurally generated, the trader can be anywhere in the Black Forest. Once you find him, buy the fishing rod to start fishing at lake/river spots.

You Only Have So Much Inventory Space, So Build House Crates
Being a survival game, you need to keep track of how much you can carry. As of now, you cannot increase your current inventory space. And trust us: once you’re out there in the wilds for a few hours that bag will fill up mighty quick.
The game is still in Early Access, so maybe there might be satchel and pouch upgrades oncoming. As for now, just create extra storage crates in your home and dump your excess items there.Â  If you aren’t happy with the inventory space, just give the devs a heads up. Just be polite and courteous about it, please.
Snap Pretty Photos & Screencaps
Valheim has a lot of pretty visuals and vistas for players to take a picture of. To get rid of the HUD for these moments, press Ctrl+F3. Snap a picture, then press Ctrl+F3 again to bring the HUD back in. Easy!


Manchester United & 9 More Teams Join eFootball.Pro PES Esports Series

Konami has announced the return of the eFootball League PES esports series for the 2019/20 season. It’s a competition that includes the eFootball.Pro, a 3v3 regular-season league for pro players representing international clubs to compete in eFootball PES 2020.
These are the ten teams confirmed the join the eFootball League 2019/2020 season:

FC Barcelona
Manchester United FC
FC Bayern
Juventus
Arsenal FC
Celtic FC
AS Monaco
FC Schalke 04
Boavista FC
FC Nantes

Each football team will be represented by a 3-man roster for the upcoming eFootball League season. It comprises the eFootball.Pro and eFootball.Open tournaments, as well as the newly announced eFootball Season Program.
The first match of the pro-only eFootball.Pro league will kick off on 14 December 2019 in Barcelona, Spain.
In the eFootball.Open, and eFootball Season Program, players can pick one of the 10 teams listed above to play for as part of the franchise’s new Matchday feature, a special timed online match played each week.
Notably, Manchester United and Arsenal will be the first two English Premier League (EPL) teams to field PES players. This is in comparison to other EPL teams who have only signed up for EA’s FIFA esports programmes, such as Manchester City, West Ham United, and Wolverhampton Wanderers.
This occasion also marks the first time in history that Bayern Munich from the German Bundesliga has ever fielded an esports team. Konami Digital Senior Director of Brand & Business Development Jonas Lygaard said:

â€œThis is an incredibly exciting moment for the future of esports and eFootball more specifically.
To secure the participation of 10 of the worldâ€™s most well-known football clubs is a testament to the quality of eFootball PES 2020 and its ability to connect clubs to their fans in new and dynamic ways.
With authentic squads and professional players, eFootball.Pro will be one to watch.â€


Xbox’s Phil Spencer Is Focused On Company’s Wider Game Market Strategy

Is Xbox’s direction focused too much on PC and less on consoles? Turns out that the answer is a bit more complicated.
Microsoft’s head of gaming said that the company needs to focus on the wider gaming market if it wants to be successful, despite the Xbox console being the core of the brand (it’s in the name). That means more than just making great games, because that alone will not change Xbox console market share (via Kinda Funny Games). Simply put, Xbox’s plan is to be focused on fulfilling developer’s vision of enabling customers to play their games on any console.
“We’re not in the business of out-consoling Sony or out-consoling Nintendo. There isn’t really a great solution or win for us. And I know that will upset a ton of people, but it’s just the truth of the matter that when you’re third place in the console marketplace and the top two players are as strong as they are, and have in certain cases a very, very discrete focus on doing deals and other things that kind of make being Xbox hard for us as a team, [and] that’s on us, not on anybody else.
I see commentary that if you just built great games everything would turn around. It’s just not true that if we go off and build great games then all of a sudden you’re going to see console share shift in some dramatic way.
We lost the worst generation to lose in the Xbox One generation where everybody built their digital library of games. So, when you go and you’re building on Xbox, we want our Xbox community to feel awesome, but this idea that if we just focused more on great games on our console that somehow we’re going to win the console race, I think doesn’t really lay into the reality of most people.”
In the same interview, Phil Spencer apologised for the launch state of Xbox’s latest first-party game Redfall, made by Arkane Studios. Despite that, he is enthusiastic about the upcoming June showcase.


Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Earthblood’s Trailer Is Full Of Metal & Fur

Want to transform into a werewolf and kick ass? Then you’ll find no better game than the upcoming Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Earthblood.
Created byÂ  Bigben, this action RPGÂ  is based on the World of Darkness tabletop RPG universe shared by the Vampire: The Masquerade games. Check out the metal trailer below.

There’s not a lot to go on here, but it seems to promise werewolf carnage, transformations galore, and maybe some metalcore. Based on some early previews, it’s sounding like a third-person action RPG in the veins of Darksiders, but with werewolves and an eco-friendly message. Basically, you’re here to protect earth and Gaia from the world, whatever it takes, hence the lycanthropy bits.
Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Earthblood will be out 2020.


Win A Real-Life Platinum Trophy In This PlayStation Contest…

Sony Interactive Entertainment has launched the PlayStation Player Celebration in order to celebrate the more than 100 million players in the worldwide community.
By joining the program and working toward a shared set of goals, players can win exclusive PS4 themes and PSN avatars, as well as a chance to win a PlayStation kit, which includes a real-life PlayStation Platinum Trophy engraved with your personal PSN ID.
Sign-ups begin today and the PlayStation Player Celebration program will end when all goals are reached, or at 10am GMT+8 on 17 March 2020; whichever happens first. Here’s how you can participate:

First, register with your sign-in ID on the official website here. You will start contributing to any upcoming goals as soon as the goal period starts.
Every PS4 game you play and PS4 Trophy you earn contributes to the community goal. When the community hits the target, everybody who signed up before the goal started wins!
Every individual game you play for at least one hour (across as many sessions as you like) counts towards the goal.
Every Trophy you earn in any game you play is counted â€“ and multiplayer game Trophies count as double (up to a limit of six Trophies per day)!
Youâ€™ll earn exclusive themes and avatars for reaching each community goal. Youâ€™ll also have the chance to win an exclusive PlayStation kit â€“ which includes a real-life engraved Platinum Trophy â€“ just for signing up.

A real-life Platinum Trophy, engraved with your PSN ID
RM 400 PlayStation Store Voucher
Voucher codes for a selection of our greatest PS4 games

When the PlayStation Player Celebration program ends at 10am GMT+8 on 17 March 2020, players must then answer the skill-based question (which will be available on the same page that they registered) for their chance to win the exclusive PlayStation kit.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQJknv5DyFA&w=560&h=315]


League of Legends Wild Rift SEA Icon Series Summer Super Cup Playoffs: Full Schedule

The best League of Legends: Wild Rift teams in Southeast Asia will be fighting this June in the region’s prominent mobile MOBA tournament in the region. The prize pool is US$150,000, with the lion’s share going to the top player. The winner will also get seeding points for the Wild Rift 2021 SEA Championship – Last Chance Qualifier.
Here are the teams:

Berjaya Dragons (Malaysia)
Geek Fam (Malaysia)
MVP (Hong Kong)
QWQ (Hong Kong)
Onic Esports (Indonesia)
Bigetron Infinity (Indonesia)
Amihan Esports (Philippines)
Team Secret (Philippines)
ONE Team (Taiwan)
Flash Wolves (Taiwan)
EVOS Esports TH (Thailand)
Buriram United Esports (Thailand)
Alliance (Singapore)
Impunity Esports (Singapore)
SBTC Esports (Vietnam)
CERBERUS Esports (Vietnam)

Playoffs Schedule
25 June
Alliance vs Onic Esports (3-0)
SBTC Esports vs Bigetron Infinity (3-0)
MVP vs Team Secret (1-3)
ONE Team vs Buriram United (3-1)
26 June – 27 June
EVOS Esports TH vs Alliance
Amihan Esports vs SBTC Esports
CERBERUS Esports vs Team Secret
Flash Wolves vs ONE Team
Group Stage Rankings
Group A
EVOS Esports TH (5-1)
SBTC Esports (3-3)
Team Secret (3-3)
QWQ (1-5)
Group B
Amihan Esports (5-1)
Alliance (4-2)
Bigetron Infinity (2-4)
Geek Fam (1-5)
Group C
CERBERUS Esports (5-1)
ONE Team (4-2)
Onic Esports (3-3)
Impunity (0-6)
Group D
Flash Wolves (6-0)
MVP (3-3)
Buriram United Esports (2-4)
Berjaya Dragons (1-5)
How To Watch
You can tune into the livestream on YouTube, Twitch, and Facebook. Watch the replays below.
Playoffs Day 1

Group Stage Fights


Sony Distances Itself From Days Gone Director For Recent Comments

A while ago this week, Days Gone writer and director John Garvin has made some controversial comments regarding the game being misjudged by “woke reviewers”; his Twitter account has been protected as of late. Check out the screencap below for a refresher:

As a result, Sony’s Bend Studio has distanced itself from his comments. An official Twitter statement said that it doesn’t share Garvin’s opinions, nor does this reflect the views of the team.
“Our studio is immensely proud of the work we accomplished on Days Gone and are thankful to every developer who poured their heart and soul into it. We are incredibly humbled by the support of our Days Gone community and we will continue to share your enthusiasm for our world and characters as we look toward the future.”

pic.twitter.com/BgnMUgqyN8
— Bend Studio (@BendStudio) December 8, 2022

For the record, John Garvin and game director Jeff Ross left Bend in December 2020. They were the most senior creatives behind Days Gone, and have been with the studio since the mid-90s when they made Syphon Filter and its sequels. Oh, and also the infamous Bubsy 3D.


Resident Evil 2 Remake Sales Numbers Past 11 Million Mark; RE3 Remake Past 6 Million

Capcom has updated its Platinum Titles list; it’s the company’s most-coveted games that sold over 1 million units like Street Fighter 2.
To sum up the update that highlights new sales numbers as of 31 December 2022, the Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3 remakes have gone up in sales numbers. The former is now at 11.2 million units sold (an additional 1.1 million), while the latter is at 6.4 million units (an additional 600,000).
We’re guessing this is why Capcom wanted to remake Resident Evil 4; to achieve more future sales by remaking a cherished survival horror action title. And these recent sales results that are still continuing on mean the gravy train won’t be stopping anytime soon. Additional sales numbers are below:

Resident Evil Village (PS5, Xbox Series, PS4, Xbox One, PC) has sold 7.4 million units (600,000 additional units).
Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak (Switch, PC) has sold 4.9 million units (500,000 million additional units).
Monster Hunter Rise (Switch, PC) has sold 11.7 million units (500,000 additional units).
Devil May Cry 5 (PS4, Xbox One, PC) has sold 6.5 million units (400,000 additional units).
Resident Evil 7 biohazard (PS5, Xbox Series, PS4, Xbox One, PC) has sold 11.7 million units (400,000 additional units).
Monster Hunter World: Iceborne (PS4, Xbox One, PC) has sold 10 million units (300,000 additional units).
Street Fighter 5 (PS4, PC) has sold seven million copies (200,000 additional units).
Monster Hunter World (PS4, Xbox One, PC) has sold 18.6 million units (100,000 additional units ).
Devil May Cry HD Collection (PS4, Xbox One, PC) has sold 1.3 million units (100,000 additional units).


This Doom Slayer McFarlane Toys Figure Looks Hellishly Good

With the upcoming release of Doom Eternal, the hype for the franchise is currently at an all-time high. McFarlane Toys is bringing fans a figure of the iconic Doom Slayer, the protagonist from the games.
It’s a detailed 7-inch scale figure of the Doom Slayer in his most recent iteration of his Space Marine Armor and it comes equipped with a base, the Supershotgun, Extended Arm Blade, and Sheathed Arm Blade.
The Doom Slayer figure is also capable of ultra articulation with 22 moving parts and can be showcased in a Doom-themed window box packaging. It is expected to ship starting in September 2019, but pre-orders are open now at a price of only US$22.
That’s only several months before the highly-anticipated release of Doom Eternal for the PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC on 22 November 2019. In the meantime, feast your eyes on the Doom Slayer McFarlane Toys figure below.


Fan Favorites to Join Dragon Ball Fighter Z Roster

Bandai NamcoÂ  today unveiled that fan favorites Gotenks, along with adult Gohan and Kid BuuÂ  will be joining the Dragon Ball Fighter Z roster. However details are a bit sketchy as whether we are able to choose from all of Gotenks’ three forms, or just the Super Saiyan 3 which he used to fight against Kid Buu in the comics. Also shown are his signature moves including the volleyball combo technique and the ghost kamikaze attack.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MO_3fbXtFZ8&w=560&h=315]
The reveal of both adult Gohan and Kid Buu were less of a fanfare as only stills were released. Check them out in the gallery below:

Dragon Ball FighterZ release January 26 on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC.


How to Fix Metal Gear Survive

I’m just dropping it here, Konami.
Harsh truth: Metal Gear Survive ain’t gonna survive the month. Review scores are underwhelming, your player numbers compare to about 5% of what Metal Gear Solid: The Phantom Pain was at during launch week, and you’ve consigned the biggest gaming franchise to the dumps.
You had every opportunity to turn doubters into fans again with what you had in hand post-Kojima, yet you wasted them all. The Fox engine is one of the most brilliant, versatile game engines in the market and we’ve seen what it is capable of doing with MGSV.
And you present us with this? Poking crystal-headed zombiesÂ  with a stick?

We are appalled, Konami. Contrary to popular belief, the hate and anger has nothing to do with how you treated Hideo Kojima (maybe a smidge). But it’s more due to how you squandered the chance to make Metal Gear relevant again. If you folks somehow came up with a game that brilliantly (albeit expectedly) capitalized on the Metal Gear lore, while at the same time do justice to the Fox engine, the negative sentiment would not have reached the heights they are at right now.
So today, we are going to share an idea on how to flip your fortunes around; not only to salvage whatever you can, but to also make your brand relevant again in the gaming world.
It’s simple.
Jump on the Battle Royale hype train.Â
Go with the times, man. “Battle Royale” is the in-thing right now and believe it or not, there’s no definitive game for that genre despite the popularity of the two most-played titles: PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds and Fortnite. It’s still the Wild West out there since both games have their own issues to contend with. This is where you slip in and be the definitive leader in this highly played genre.
Konami, you have so many Metal Gear assets that you can use to create your own take on the battle royale genre, and be way ahead of the curve. Heck – I’d gladly pay RM130 (retail price for Metal Gear Survive) for a copy of ‘Metal Gear: Battle Royale‘ and then some.
You folks can’t let go of that lootbox and in-game purchases model eh? Plonk in the skins as lootbox items and watch your profits grow. We guarantee. Cuz we would gladly pay if they are worth it.Â Folks would gladly pay for a non-stat-affecting skins of Solid Snake, Big Boss, and even Revolver Ocelot which will make even the most casual of players whip out their credit cards. You have the physics of the weapons and vehicles down to pat as showcased in MGS:GZ and MGS: TPP, so it’s just a matter of asset flipping, along with adjusting how these items are accessible in-game.
Too lazy to start from scratch and afraid to miss the battle royale boat? Then just add a brand new Battle Royale mode to MGSV Online just like what Epic Games did for Fortnite! On top of the already solid player base there, make the online mode free to download for new players and watch your player base grow overnight. It ain’t rocket science.

Combine all of these and you have a game that’s prettier, more reliable and stable than PUBG and Fortnite combined. Do it, Konami!


No Public Show Booths For EA & Activision At E3 2019

E3 2019 is less than a month away, and the plans (or lack thereof) of game developers/publishers are coming to light. The official show floor plans for the upcoming event has revealed that both Activision and EA will not have a public show booth for the first time in years (via Variety).
While both companies have opted out of public show booths, they will still have a presence at E3 2019 by holding private meetings with the media instead, just like it was before the event starting becoming open to the public several years ago.
Speaking with GameIndustry.biz, an Activision representative said:

“While we won’t have a traditional space on the show floor, we look forward to participating at E3 across a number of activities.”

Although Activision’s plans sound vague at this point, EA already has plans for an exclusive live-stream event called EA Play, which will take place from 7 to 9 June 2019 at the Hollywood Palladium, merely days before E3 2019 is scheduled to take place from 10 to 13 June at the Los Angeles Convention Center.
With two major publishers like Activision and EA deciding not to have their traditional presence at E3 2019, not to mention Sony’s move to skip the event entirely, it brings to mind questions about whether the event remains relevant.
The waning interest of video game developers and publishers for what was once the biggest gaming event in the world (and arguably still is) may mean that the event won’t be as important as it was all these years.
Will E3 2019 still prove to be significant enough with the absence of all these major companies in the games industry? We’ll soon have the answer to that next month.


I Played & Saw A Ton Of Crazy Arcade Games & Stuff At JAEPO 2019

In case you couldn’t tell from the Kakuchopurei Instagram page (yes we have that, please follow us kthanxbai), I was down in Tokyo for the JAEPO 2019 game festival arcade esports extravaganza. And there are tons to do if you love games, arcade games, cosplay, anime, and the culture. Like, a TON.
There’s a number of arcade games we saw and checked out. You’ve never heard of these games until now. In fact, these games have been announced a month ago; you just didn’t pay attention to the Japan arcade scene since December was all that game awards nonsense.
But that’s OK; we can talk about it now! There’s a good chance these games might get a console port, so here’s hoping! I’ll also list down the other miscellaneous stuff down on this feature.
JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Last Survivor

I’ll say it right off the bat: this is Bandai Namco’s arcade version of PUBG, but with anime and stands. And it’s really fun simply because its anime look and simple controls make for a great last man standing setting.
You play as one of the main heroes of the game: Jotaro Kujo (Stardust Crusaders), Kakyoin (Stardust Crusaders), Koichi Hirose (Diamond is Unbreakable), Bruno (Golden Wind), and Guido (Golden Wind). Each of them has their own Stand powers and learning curve; heavy-hitters like Jotaro have good range and power while Koichi Hirose has to be sneaky since his Stand lets him temporarily scout ahead and weaken oncoming enemies without them knowing.

The PUBG Battle Royale rules apply: be a camper, head to the centre as the play area shrinks, and kill all who Stand (heh) in your way. Instead of looking for weapons, you look for tarot cards and platinum chips to power your character up so that you can take a few hits or dish out more than usual.
Poker Stadium

Ever wanted to take part in an anime setting where all fights are settled with a friendly game of Texas Hold’Em? And instead of just playing as regular humans relying on intuition, manipulation, and luck, you have poker-related superpowers to change your hand in crazy ways?
Well, you’re in luck, because Bandai Namco has created a special arcade game for you. While it may seem like your typical Texas Hold’Em gambling den, the network, aesthetics, and special skills each character has makes all the difference.
Sword Art Online Arcade: Deep Explorer
It’s Diablo but anime. You can switch between three of your party members as you wander the bright isometric countryside killing waves of monsters and completing quests until the timer on the top right runs out. You have directional inputs, 3 buttons, and touch-screen menus that let you activate character skills.

Just like Diablo, you can either team up with people online via the arcade, or play it solo. Either way, you’ll net yourself collectable cards which you can use to either get new party members or new skills & buffs for existing ones.
Simple stuff, really, but it’s the feel of the kills, the flexibility of the combat, and the collectibility aspect that will make you slot 100(?) yen in for every playthrough. It’ll be out 19 March.
Fate Go Online Arcade
This isn’t a new game since it came out mid-2018. However, the queue for this was long but it wasn’t because fans and spectators wanted to play; they wanted to try their luck at the daily gacha the game offered via their account.
Attack On Titan VR Game
Subtitled The Human Race, the game pits you as one of the four Survey Corp members as you outrun the titular titans on horseback. A missed opportunity; why not have a VR setup that mimics the ODM gear?
These Retro Gaming Throwbacks

Square Enix has a giant Space Invaders setup -subtitled Gigamax- where up to 10 players team up and scroll left and/or right to fend off the oncoming alien horde from the top of the screen. It gets trippy after a few seconds with trance music and different-sized invaders trying to kill you.
Elsewhere, we have a Sega Megadrive, Super Famicom, and Famicom setup with a huge addition for your fingers. Or hands: take your pick.

A Number Of Awesome Esports Events

You have a Call of Duty Black Ops IIII tournament courtesy of PlayStation on one end, and an International Challenge Cup tournament in the other, hosted by the Japanese ESports Union (JESU) and the Asian ESports Federation (AESF). On top of that, you have a Splatoon 2 tournament and a Super Smash Bros Ultimate tournament featuring a ton of Japanese players going for gold. Smashing stuff!
This Dance Dance Revolution Anniversary Gold-Plated Machine

Happy 20th anniversary, you Konami-led rhythm game infection you.
This Mega-Large PONG Table

Want to see PONG reimagined as a 2018/2019 product? Look no further than this neon-lit setup.
Splatoon 2â€™s Off the Hook Performance At Niconico Tokaigi 2019
I cap off this hands-on thread with a concert I’ve been dying to see since the first Splatoon: a hologram show featuring the game’s singing hostesses. Splatoon 2’s Pearl and Marina sang their Off The Hook tunes from the main game and the Octo Expansion: Nasty Majesty, Shark Bytes, Fly Octo Fly, and Into The Light.
The full vid’s here, though it’s not the same as experiencing it live in a mob full of lightstick-waving fans wearing Splatoon 2 gear.


This Is Why Cyberpunk 2077 Cancelled Its Multiplayer Mode

CD Projekt Red has finally revealed why they cancelled plans for a multiplayer mode in Cyberpunk 2077.
Speaking with Eurogamer, Cyberpunk 2077 senior quest designer and coordinator Philipp Weber said:
“We really needed to look at what were the priorities for Cyberpunk [after it launched]. The priority was that the main experience will run for the people in a really good state,” he said. “And essentially, the switch of priorities meant that other R&D projects had to go away. With Cyberpunk, we wanted to do many things at the same time, and we just needed to really focus and say, ‘Okay, what’s the important part? Yeah, we will make that part really good.'”
Back in October 2022, CD Projekt Red announced five new projects. These include a new Witcher game codenamed “Sirius” by The Molasses Flood, a new Witcher trilogy by CD Projekt RED themselves, a new Witcher game codenamed “Canis Majoris” by a third-party, new Cyberpunk 2077 game codenamed “Orion” by CD Projekt RED’s new Boston studio, and an entirely new IP codenamed “Hadar” by CD Projekt RED.


Captain America Civil War Characters To Return In Falcon And Winter Soldier Series

It looks like Marvel Studios is going full steam ahead with its upcoming post-Avengers Endgame Disney Plus plans, with multiple ambitious exclusive shows set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). According to Deadline, two characters last seen in 2016’s Captain America Civil War will be returning in the Falcon and Winter Soldier series.
Daniel Bruhl and Emily Van Camp are in talks to reprise their roles as the villain (Baron) Zemo and Sharon Carter AKA Agent 13 (AKA Peggy Carter’s niece), respectively. You might remember that at the end of Captain America Civil War, Zemo was still alive but arrested, while Sharon’s current whereabouts in the MCU remain unknown.

Other details revealed about the Falcon and Winter Soldier series include a possible release date sometime in 2020, and that it will be a six-part miniseries helmed by director Kari Skogland. She is best known for directing episodes from various TV series, including the likes of The Handmaid’s Tale, Netflix’s The Punisher, Vikings and more.
We still haven’t received any details on what the plot for Falcon and Winter Soldier might entail, but it will highly likely focus on Sam Wilson (Falcon) inheriting the mantle and shield of Captain America, with Bucky (Winter Soldier) there to support him or challenge him (well, he was the first person to be Captain America after Steve in the comics).
In the meantime, head on over here for the latest details and information on Disney Plus.


House Of The Dragon Guide: All You Need To Know

The premiere of HBO’s Game Of Thrones prequel spinoff House Of The Dragon is almost here. Before the first episode premieres on 22 August 2022, here’s what you need to know about House Of The Dragon:
What Is House Of The Dragon?

From showrunners, Ryan J. Condal and Miguel Sapochnik, and the mighty imagination of George R. R. Martin, comes House of the Dragon, a gripping saga that takes us deep into the extraordinary world of Westeros and explores the Targaryen family – the all-powerful dragon riders who are the seemingly invincible rulers of the Seven Kingdoms some 200 years (172 years) before the events that captivated global audiences in Game of Thrones.
Bitter rivalries, jealousy, lust, the quest for power, and betrayal will tear the Targaryens apart and threaten to destroy a dynasty that has ruled unchallenged for a century.
Condal, co-creator of the series, describes House of the Dragon as a “complex Shakespearean family drama” and adds: “Game of Thrones was very much about multiple families going to war over justice and decency. There was murder and betrayal and all of those things exist here but this is really about the dissolution of one family and that family happens to be the most powerful in the history of Westeros.”
Sapochnik, Condal’s co-showrunner who also directs several episodes of the first season, adds: “Our story begins with the Targaryens in a secure place because they have the dragons – they have the weapons of mass destruction – and as long as they do it’s hard to imagine how anybody can step up to them. They know this but that hubris could be their downfall.”

The story opens with the ailing King Jaehaerys Targaryen, who knows he is about to die, calling together the Great Council at Harrenhal where the heads of the ruling families will vote to decide his successor. Jaehaerys has outlived both of his sons and the Lords must choose between his grandchildren: Rhaenys (Eve Best), the daughter of his oldest son, and her younger cousin, Viserys (Paddy Considine).
“The Targaryens are at the absolute peak of their powers, it’s like Rome at the height of the Empire” says executive producer Jocelyn Diaz. “They have the dragons – and nobody else has dragons – and that means they have the firepower to control the Seven Kingdoms and there is no real external threat. They have fabulous wealth and influence and enjoy a life of opulence. “And then the Lords must choose an heir to Jaehaerys and the Council votes for Viserys even though Rhaenys has the stronger claim – but she’s a woman and they vote for the man.”
Viserys takes the Iron Throne and Rhaenys will forever be known as the Queen Who Never Was.
Says Eve Best who plays Rhaenys, “When they vote, Rhaenys and Viserys are standing there side by side on a podium…in front of the whole court. And they pick the wrong one. Rhaenys has a better claim to the throne – everything about her temperament, her training, her upbringing, means she is the absolute best but she is overlooked because she is a woman.”
Misogyny and the patriarchy closing ranks against a woman will be a recurring theme and eventually cost the realm in blood as years of stability are shattered by warring factions who will try to claim the Iron Throne, igniting a war where weapons of mass destruction – the dragons – are deployed by both sides.
“So our story, in many ways, is about the overthrow of a very, very ancient patriarchy, and that is one of the main things that drew me to the project because that is a story that is very resonant and very important today,” says Best.

Fourteen years after the Great Council, Viserys – a good man, but that doesn’t necessarily make for a great King – is already troubled by thoughts of his own successor. He has a teenage daughter, Princess Rhaenrya (Milly Alcock) but, crucially, no male heir after his Queen, Emma, has suffered a series of miscarriages.
Viserys’ younger brother, the charismatic but violently unpredictable Prince Daemon (Matt Smith), a formidable warrior and legendary dragon rider, is next in line. The prospect of the unstable Daemon as ruler worries not only his older brother but his closest advisors, including Ser Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans), the Hand of the King.
“Otto really likes Viserys. He thinks Viserys is a good human being. Viserys is kind, he is compassionate and he is fair but those qualities don’t necessarily make for a good king in this world,” says Ifans. “And Otto understands that more than the King does. Otto understands very well that this is a game. And for any kind of notion of stability to flourish or exist that game must be played, and it must be played ruthlessly. Otherwise it descends into chaos.”
King Viserys is in a difficult position, says Paddy Considine of his character, because he loves his younger brother and is constantly forgiving of his frequent transgressions but he knows, too, that Daemon cannot be trusted to rule Westeros.
“Daemon is unpredictable, he’s like an addict in that you never know what he will do next,” says Considine. “And Viserys becoming King has forced a massive wedge between them.”
Conflict within the family, says Condal, begins to cause fault lines that will have devastating consequences.
“Daemon is heir apparent but Viserys has never officially named him heir. Through a series of mistakes, Daemon insults his brother, and the King’s council manoeuvres to keep him off the throne and exploits Daemon’s recklessness to convince Viserys to disinherit his younger brother and name Rhaenyra as heir. And that is breaking all the tradition that was set by the Great Council when the realm said, ‘no, we don’t want a woman.’”

Rhaenyra’s best friend at court is Alicent Hightower (Emily Carey), daughter of the Hand. The girls have grown up together in the rarefied atmosphere of the royal palace, the Red Keep, and are incredibly close, sharing a bond that feels unbreakable until events – manoeuvred by the men around them – conspire to pit them against each other.
“I think friendship between young girls, between the ages of 12 and 15, is a relationship like no other – you become unimaginably close to your friend and sometimes you can’t tell whether it’s platonic or maybe romantic or whether you are like sisters, it’s one of the most complex dynamics, I think,” says Emily Carey who plays Alicent as a teenager. “It’s also one of the most interesting dynamics to explore as an actor.”
Their friendship is tested when Otto Hightower pushes his teenage daughter into the arms of the grieving King Viserys. “Otto is the King’s Hand. As fans of Game of Thrones will know, the Hand is a loyal adviser and dear to the King,” says Ifans. “Otto is a highly intelligent, highly accomplished political animal with a black belt in statecraft. Anything that is going on in Westeros he knows about, either as it’s happening or before it’s happening or just after it’s happened.”
“So yes, he’s Machiavellian but he’s also a pragmatist. He also has the struggles and doubts that come from being a father in this world and, in a position like his, if it means manipulating his own daughter into a position of power he will do it, whatever the potential cost to their well-being.”

As the rift with her friend deepens, so does Princess Rhaenyra’s bond with her wayward uncle Daemon. “I think Daemon is the man that Rhaenyra wishes she could have been had she been a boy,” says Milly Alcock who plays the young princess. “He’s unpredictable, he doesn’t listen to anyone, he does what he wants and there’s something that’s quite seductive about that for her, about having that
power.
“I think they are kindred spirits, they are both outsiders within a world of suits, within a world of royalty, they are both the outcasts and so they both lean on each other.” That underlying connection will play out, with devastating consequences for the Targaryens, later in the story when Rhaenyra, now in her 20s, is played by Emma D’Arcy, and Alicent by Olivia Cooke.
“There’s a key line of dialogue when Rhaenys, the Queen Who Never Was, says to Rhaenyra ‘men would rather put the realm to the torch than see a woman ascend the Iron Throne.’ And that proves prophetic,” says Jocelyn Diaz.
“That’s what the Targaryens are,” says Matt Smith, “they are a family at war. And that’s a story that happens again and again throughout history. In some ways they are a normal family but in others they are a very strange family – with dragons.”
House Of The Dragon Characters
Paddy Considine as King Viserys Targaryen, chosen by the lords of Westeros to succeed the Old King, Jaehaerys Targaryen, at the Great Council at Harrenhal. A warm, kind, and decent man, Viserys only wishes to carry forward his grandfather’s legacy. But good men do not necessarily make for great kings.

Matt Smith as Prince Daemon Targaryen, younger brother to King Viserys and heir to the throne. A peerless warrior and a dragonrider, Daemon possesses the true blood of the dragon. But it is said that whenever a Targaryen is born, the gods toss a coin in the air…

Olivia Cooke as Alicent Hightower, the daughter of Otto Hightower, the Hand of the King, and the most comely woman in the Seven Kingdoms. She was raised in the Red Keep, close to the king and his innermost circle; she possesses both a courtly grace and a keen political acumen.

Emma D’Arcy as Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen, the king’s first-born child, she is of pure Valyrian blood, and she is a dragonrider. Many would say that Rhaenyra was born with everything… but she was not born a man.

Steve Toussaint as Lord Corlys Velaryon, “The Sea Snake.” Lord of House Velaryon, a Valyrian bloodline as old as House Targaryen. As “The Sea Snake,” the most famed nautical adventurer in the history of Westeros, Lord Corlys built his house into a powerful seat that is even richer than the Lannisters and that claims the largest navy in the world.

Eve Best as Princess Rhaenys Targaryen, a dragonrider and wife to Lord Corlys Velaryon, “The Queen Who Never Was” was passed over as heir to the throne at the Great Council because the realm favored her cousin, Viserys, simply for being male.

Fabien Frankel as Ser Criston Cole, of Dornish descent, the common-born son of the steward to the Lord of Blackhaven.  Cole has no claim to land or titles; all he has to his name is his honor and his preternatural skill with a sword.

Sonoya Mizuno as Mysaria, who came to Westeros with nothing, sold more times than she can recall.  She could have wilted… but instead she rose to become the most trusted — and most unlikely — ally of Prince Daemon Targaryen, the heir to the throne.

Rhys Ifans as Otto Hightower. The Hand of the King, Ser Otto loyally and faithfully serves both his king and his realm. As the Hand sees it, the greatest threat to the realm is the king’s brother, Daemon, and his position as heir to the throne.

House Of The Dragon Dragons & Dragonkeepers

In total, there will be 17 dragons that will ultimately feature in the story, from Princess Rhaenyra’s Syrax, who swoops and dives like a golden eagle, Prince Daemon’s unpredictable, moody Caraxes to a cantankerous grand old dame called Vhagar, who is, says visual effects supervisor Angus Bickerton, at 130 years old “the size of a 747 aircraft” and the biggest of them all.
As Ryan Condal, co-showrunner explains, the dragons each have their own character. “There is a humanity in the dragons and they form a bond with their riders and they have a connection with them and each has a distinct personality. At the height of our story there will be 17 dragons and you need to be able to differentiate them and identify them by colour, silhouette, size and age.”
Sapochnik adds: “I remember we had a big conversation with George (R. R. Martin) about the dragons where he said ‘please, please can we make the dragons colourful because that’s how I always imagined them, that you could see them from afar, up in the sky, and know exactly which dragon it is.’ And that’s exactly what we’ve tried to do.”

Months before the cameras started rolling Angus Bickerton and his team were hard at work. First, concept artists Constantine Sekeris and Kirill Barybin, were commissioned to design the dragons.
“They are not worrying about skeletons or muscle architecture,” explains Angus. “They are just creating the shapes of the dragons, like sculpting in clay but in the computer. Miguel and Ryan were very involved at every stage in the process, they had great ideas about how the dragons should look – we had ages and character traits that played into it – and there were a couple of rules. One is that a dragon just keeps on growing, the older it is the bigger it is.
So at the end of that process we had a Usual Suspects line up of our dragons ranging from a very junior animal like Arrax, who is Luke Velaryon’s dragon, and is still quite small, up to our grand old dame called Vhagar who is 130 years old. And the older dragons are heavier and baggier – Vhagar is the size of a 747 – and they are struggling to bear their weight. And they have growths on them and they have symbiotic, parasitic creatures living on them. Obviously we referenced a lot of creatures, especially various types of lizard, and we looked at the symbiotic creatures who live on them, and the growths you see on whales when they have barnacles growing on them. All these things were incorporated into the designs of our dragons.”
As always, Sapochnik and Condal would also refer back to George R. R. Martin’s books as they worked with the special effects crew to develop the dragons and flesh out those individual characters.
“There was a certain amount of information that George has written and then there was a certain amount we had to make up along the way. It’s world-building and that’s what we love to do,” says Sapochnik. “And in our world, there are different kinds of dragons: there are workhorse dragons and more canine-like dragons and there are more dinosaur-like dragons. And we had to come up with their backstory too – how dragons live and what happens to them and whether they ever stop growing.”
And we came up with this idea that dragons continue growing until they die and the reason they die is they simply get too big. Our oldest dragon, Vhagar, is like a cantankerous old lady and she’s grumpy.
So it was all about adding character to the dragons all of this is done in the design process and the animation work. For example, Caraxes, who is Prince Daemon’s dragon, is called a blood worm, and she has a deformed, abnormally long body, which presents all sorts of issues in reality of what would happen if that dragon could actually fly because the bottom half would be drooping. So, along with the animators, we had to look at the laws of physics for that one! Eventually, we put little wings on its feet. Caraxes also has a limp and simple things like that immediately give a dragon character.”

In a world with dragons, there must also be those who take care of the dragons. These are the Dragonkeepers in House Of The Dragon.
Sapochnik also said:
“This show really is a family drama and the dragons are for the most part domesticated. It’s 200 years before Game of Thrones and dragons were at their height — they were their weapons of mass destruction and they also used them to ride around. So it was like having a really cool car that had nukes in it. We approach the dragons as we did in the original show, which is they’re not fantasy, they’re large animals.
But we do go a bit further into dragon lore: we have a group called the Dragonkeepers who basically look after dragons. They’ve been around for thousands of years. They’re almost not affiliated to anything. They just treat the dragons like deities and really big horses and they do everything for dragons. They’ve all got dragonglass daggers on them because if they get burned in the line of duty they can cut their own throat. Basically they’re monks, they only speak Valyrian and then each older Dragonkeeper has an acolyte with them who interprets for them and speaks English.
They all wear clothes that have been handed down over generations so they are really dirty. It’s all about mythology but it has inklings of magic. So we’ve kept the magic alive in that sense, in the mythology of fire and ice, but there’s less magic in this show than there was before.”
He also revealed more about the dragons themselves:
“We spent almost a year working with concept artists, designing each dragon. The dragons are connected to their riders and so we wanted them to both have an aspect of them but also be individually unique in their own way.
Daemon’s dragon Caraxes, for example, is like this deformed dragon. Vhagar, who’s the largest dragon in the world is this cantankerous old lady who is the most powerful dragon there is — but really she just wants to sleep. She’s just a grumpy old sod.
Syrax, who is Rhaenyra’s dragon is this slightly kind of eagle-like, built-for-speed dragon. She’s far more twitchy and fidgety and Rhaenyra has carved stuff in her horns, like jewellery.
So there was a chance to play out this idea that the rider and the dragon have this symbiotic relationship. The rider chooses their dragon. And once a rider has chosen they are paired for life until one of them dies.”
Where To Stream Or Watch House Of The Dragon
You can stream or download House Of The Dragon starting from 22 August 2022 on HBO GO by subscribing online here or the mobile app via the App Store or Play Store for RM23.30 per month. You can also access HBO GO via Astro. HBO GO is also available on Android TV, Apple TV, LG TV and Samsung Smart TV – and comes with AirPlay and Google Cast functionality.