Watch Dogs: Legion – Title Update 4.5 Coming June 1st, Bloodline Expansion Delayed

watch dogs legion

Title Update 4.0 offered some substantial new content for Watch Dogs: Legion in both the campaign and multiplayer. Nevertheless, the development team is working hard on Title Update 4.5 which will include a new 60 FPS performance mode for PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. The update is out on June 1st and new details have been revealed, including support for cross-gen play on the same family of consoles.

This means that Xbox One players will be able to team up with those on Xbox Series X/S while PS4 players can group with PS5 players. Interestingly, a new Operative is also being added – Helen, the elderly, retired spy who garnered attention with the game's initial reveal. There are some delays though.

Invasion and Extraction PvP modes will now be coming in August as Ubisoft devotes more time to improving public and private matchmaking. Furthermore, Watch Dogs: Legion – Bloodline has been delayed from late June to early July. It adds Aiden Pearce from Watch Dogs and Wrench from Watch Dogs 2, offering new story missions to play through. Of course, you can also experience the base game's campaign with both DLC characters.

Stay tuned for more details on their respective abilities and traits in the coming weeks. Watch Dogs: Legion is currently available for Xbox One, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, PS5, PC and Google Stadia.

Returnal Developer Wants to Develop "Bigger Types of Experiences"

Returnal_05

For Housemarque, Returnal serves as some kind of catharsis. The developer famously proclaimed the death of the arcade genre after titles like Nex Machina and Matterfall failed to generate any real sales buzz. It also briefly veered into developing a battle royale title with Stormdivers (which was subsequently put on hold for developing Returnal).

But after the positive reception to Returnal, the studio feels that it's more than just a "Resogun-studio." Marketing director Mikael Haveri spoke a bit about the future to GameReactor, noting that, "Yes, we've been working on two projects previously, and now with Returnal we have of course only one project. It's hard to say if we will continue with one or two projects in the future, but the idea of us now being able to establish ourselves with Returnal will be defining the future type of titles we want to make.

"The idea is that we now want to show we're not just a 'Resogun-studio.' We can do all kinds of things, and from our studio's perspective that means that we want to go for these bigger types of experiences. Now, we still love arcade. We still love smaller games as well. Who knows? Maybe 26 years in the future we'll do more of that as well. But that really depends on how successful we are able to build ourselves with the types of experiences that Returnal now is representing."

This doesn't necessarily have to mean a sequel or another rogue-lite, though Housemarque has expressed interest in developing additional content and updates for Returnal. And though it hasn't completely sworn off smaller budget games, we can likely expect its next big title to have higher production values. Time will tell though so stay tuned for more details.

Returnal is currently available for PS5. Check out our official review for it here.

Destiny 2 Xur Exotics – Monte Carlo, Gemini Jester, Dunemarchers

Destiny 2 Xur

The Vault of Glass debuts in Destiny 2 later today, though many will be returning to a raid that released with the original game. Before that, Exotic vendor Xur can be found in the Tower's Hangar on the staircase behind Dead Orbit. He'll remain there until the next weekly reset.

This week's Exotic weapon is Monte Carlo, a primary auto rifle costing 29 Legendary Shards. Dealing damage with it will reduce melee cooldown with a chance for kills to fully recharge one's melee ability. As you rack up kills, the damage starts increasing and melee kills will provide ammo.

On the Exotic gear side is Gemini Jester (Hunter legs), Dunemarchers (Titan boots) and Astrocyte Verse (Warlock helm), each for 23 Legendary Shards. Dunemarchers will increase sprint speed and also cause sprinting to build up a static charge. Hitting an enemy with melee attacks once the charge is built up will chain damage to nearby foes. Astrocyte Verse allows for blinking further and more frequently. One's weapon is also readied faster when exiting Blink.

Gemini Jester can disorient nearby foes on and temporarily disable their radar. Though nerfed, it's still a potent PvP Exotic.

What Can We Expect From Nintendo's E3 Show This Year?

E3 is back this year after a hiatus in 2020, but much of what we might see in its big comeback remains a mystery. While we know that a lot of big companies plan on hawking their wares at the online-only event, any further specifics are much murkier. On one level, that obviously makes things significantly more exciting – after all, being surprised by game announcements is often the best kind of hype that fans of this medium can have. But on the other, for those who like to obsess over every tease and pore over hints and, this lack of anything concrete can be a bit unnerving.

However, the truth is, even though we may lack concrete leaks and rumours, there have been rumblings in the last few months – those, coupled with the application of some basic common sense, can help us figure out what we may be about to see soon come E3 in early June. We already had a look at what we might be able to expect from Microsoft's event at E3 recently. Now let's take a look at what we hope to see from the other big platform holder bringing the hype to the big annual convention this year.

ANNOUNCEMENTS AND UPDATES ON THIRD PARTY GAMES

The Nintendo Switch has seen an incredible amount of uptake with third parties, which has finally started to manifest in the form of some big name exclusives for the platform in the last few years. Right now, it doesn't seem like that's about to stop any time soon either. We already know major upcoming third party games are scheduled for the system, such as Shin Megami Tensei V, Monster Hunter Stories 2, and Triangle Strategy; there's every possibility we get more information on each of those at E3 as well, including, presumably, a release date (or at least month) for Shin Megami Tensei V, which Nintendo and Atlus promised last year would get a full simultaneous release this year.

shin megami tensei 5

That apart, E3 2021 would also be the right time for Capcom to announce Resident Evil Outrage, the new Resident Evil title that Capcom has developed for the Switch as a lead platform, and which Nintendo apparently has marketing rights for. It's unclear whether or not the game is a Switch timed exclusive – we know that others versions of the game exist, but we're not entirely clear on whether or not they'll launch alongside the Switch version. Regardless of the status of those other versions, the Switch version is, by all accounts, due out early next year, and due to be announced very soon now that Village is released, and Capcom is no longer concerned with focusing marketing on it. Now would be the time for us to see it, and it would be a pretty impressive announcement, too.

NEW FIRST PARTY GAME ANNOUNCEMENTS

Nintendo's first party teams have been very quiet for a while; we know they've been working on a lot of upcoming games for the back half of this year, a lot of which got pushed back because of COVID-19, but after such a long period of silence from the company, it may be time to lift the curtain – at least a little. For example, a new 2D Metroid game has been rumoured to be in development for a long time now – apparently it even finished development a while ago. And what reason Nintendo may have had for holding it back (if it exists) is unclear, but if the game is real, announcing it at E3 for a release date for later this year will win Nintendo a lot of goodwill. Metroid is a franchise with a lot of cachet with enthusiast fans of the medium, and the IP has been dormant for a good while – unveiling a new 2D game will probably help placate fans who are getting antsy owing to the prolonged development cycle of Metroid Prime 4, as well as those are perplexed at the continual absence of Metroid Prime Trilogy from the platform.

We might get to see the next Monolith Soft title as well. Whatever that game is, even if it's a new concept entirely, is likely to be branded Xenoblade, given that we have been told by Monolith Soft themselves that Nintendo is hoping to build that brand as a core pillar; that said, it's not entirely necessary we see that game this year at E3. While Monolith's last full fledged release was almost four years ago, since then they have released two expansion-sized games, one remaster, and continue to assist on the development of other Nintendo titles as well.

metroid samus returns

Finally, we have heard that Nintendo apparently went ahead and acquired the full stake to the Astral Chain IP. The original game, which launched in 2019, was fairly well received, and went on to sell over a million copies. It was also envisioned as the first game in a trilogy, so there is every possibility that more games are planned – and if they are, maybe we can see something this E3 from that? This one is a bit of a long shot, unlike the other possibilities raised so far, but since Nintendo was actively pursuing stakes in the IP as recently as a few months ago, who knows?

DONKEY KONG

One big rumoured first party game announcement from Nintendo is Donkey Kong. A brand new Donkey Kong platform developed not by Retro, or any other outsourced partner, but Nintendo EPD themselves. EPD is, of course, the master of platforming games, and seeing them tackle Nintendo's resident primate for the first time ever is an exciting proposition-particularly since the same team that got us Super Mario Odyssey is supposed to be working on Donkey Kong as well.

What's even more exciting is that at least one of these rumours pegs this new game as being a 3D platformer. We haven't had a 3D Donkey Kong game in over 20 years, so you can imagine why that prospect is so mouth watering to so many fans of platforms and Donkey Kong alike. The rumours peg this game as releasing later this year, so Nintendo can't really announce it any later than at E3 – which means we may be about to see the big gorillas triumphant homecoming in very short order.

UPDATES ON PREVIOUSLY ANNOUNCED AND RELEASED GAMES

While Nintendo hasn't made a lot of major announcements for first party games in a while, there still are a few that have been announced ahead of E3 that we will probably see at E3 this year. Splatoon 3 is due to launch next year, and we can probably expect to see it get at least a bit of a blowout at Nintendo's event. Mario Golf and Skyward Sword HD are both due to launch just a bit after E3, which means we are almost certainly getting to see more of those during Nintendo's show as well. And while Pokemon typically holds its own event separately from Nintendo, upcoming Pokemon games still do get featured in Nintendo's E3 events – even if only as passing mentions. Which means we can probably expect to see at the very least Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, if not Pokemon Legends: Arceus as well, come Nintendo's E3 show.

pokemon legends arceus

Beyond that, we will probably also get some announcements of updates for existing games. A new update for Animal Crossing New Horizon being detailed at the show is probably a given, and we will almost certainly see the announcement of the next character for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as well (though who knows who that will be at this point). The last few E3 character announcements for Smash have really brought the hype, though – Ridley in 2018, and Hero and Banjo Kazooie in 2019. So whoever it is who ends up getting announced this year will probably be a pretty big deal as well.

UPDATED GLIMPSES AT METROID PRIME 4 AND BAYONETTA 3?

This one is honestly more pie in the sky than anything. We know both games are in development, but neither are presumably due for release any time soon. Metroid Prime 4 restarted development in 2019, and while that's been enough time for Retro Studios to show off something, it's also important to remember that most of the time since has been spent in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, and so development may simply not be as far along as we may expect or want or like. Hopefully, they're able to show us a short glimpse at the game, but CG trailers are typically not Nintendo's style, so hopefully the game is in a state where some gameplay footage can be shown off – even if Nintendo is not willing to commit to a release, well, year, for now.

Bayonetta 3 is also in a similar situation. While we don't have as many specific insights into its development, we do have reason to suspect it's been rougher than expected, and with COVID disrupting that as well, it's not as much of a given that we'll get to see it as it may have been in other circumstances. That said, hopefully Platinum do have something to show us for it – even a short trailer will probably go a long way towards placating fan concerns.

THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: BREATH OF THE WILD 2

This one is an absolute, total shoe in. The new Zelda game will be shown off at Nintendo's E3 event, and presumably, it will be given a final name and a release window as well. It's unclear when that release window might be – while originally I would have insisted on it releasing as Nintendo's Holiday game this year, and to align with Zelda's 35th anniversary, Nintendo has shown no sign of actually acknowledging that anniversary, and, well, we have rumblings (as well as basic common sense) suggesting that COVID may have delayed its development, and that it may be likelier to launch next year – presumably early next year – than this one.

Regardless of when it's releasing, though, we do expect to get a good look at the game. We'll presumably get the setup for its story, see what the major hook for this game is, see how the gameplay and mechanics have evolved since Breath of the Wild, and see how the world map has changed as well. It's likely to be among the most exciting things shown off at E3 this year – I just hope that it's also, against all odds, confirmed for a release this year too.

The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild sequel

WHAT WON'T BE THERE

While it's not necessarily within the scope of this discussion, it's probably not a bad idea to step back from the hype and calibrate expectations to rule out things that will almost certainly not be at E3 this year. The most obvious one – Hollow Knight Silksong. The follow up to Team Cherry's seminal metroidvania game is launching exclusively on PC and Switch, and while it, too, has been long in the coming, Team Cherry has explicitly confirmed the game will not be shown off at E3 this year. So… that sucks, but strike it off the list.

The rumours that continue to circulate about a new Mario Kart game are also almost certainly just those, rumours, and a new Mario Kart game is extremely unlikely to be launched on the Switch, given how Mario Kart 8 Deluxe continues to break every sales record in the book more than four years from its release. While, obviously, one day a new Mario Kart game will exist, it will probably be held back for the Switch successor – not the Switch Pro, the Switch 2, proper, presumably in hopes of recreating the kind of early push the Switch got from Mario Kart.

Speaking of which – the Switch Pro. I'm reasonably confident this thing exists. I'm sure it's launching this year too, in fact. But that said, do not expect it to be at E3 this year. There are several reasons for this – the most important one is that Nintendo does not, and has never, announced a system revision at E3 (or, well, not since the days of the Gameboy Advance, more than 20 years ago). Nintendo typically tends to announce these revisions a few weeks out from release at the most – the Switch Lite, as one example, was announced just a little over two months from release, and conspicuously and decidedly not at E3. Even if the Switch Pro is real, and due to launch this year, it will probably get announced independently a bit down the line – I'd expect late June, early July at the earliest, and late August at the latest.

Which means even when E3 is done, Nintendo fans will have a lot to look forward to this year.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

Victoria 3 Announced for PC, Coming to Xbox Game Pass for PC at Launch

Victoria 3

Paradox Interactive has announced grand strategy sequel Victoria 3, a sequel that fans of the Victoria series have been requesting for years. Victoria 2, the last entry in the series, released in 2010. Victoria 3 will release on PC and on Xbox Game Pass for PC at launch. No release date was announced.

"After years of community requests and curiosity about the future of one of the company's iconic games, Victoria 3 is instantly one of the most highly anticipated grand strategy games in Paradox's history," according to Paradox Interactive. "Victoria 3 is a society simulator set in a time of great change. Track the needs and desires of national populations, each group with its own political and material preferences. Conservative factions may resist political reform as growing numbers of tradespeople and intellectuals push for a greater say in how the nation is run. Trade a wide range of goods on a global scale to make sure that needs are met at home, because if people are hungry and disenfranchised, revolution beckons."

The game promises a deep societal simulation that will allow players to improve the lives of citizens in their country, see the wonders of the Victorian Age, and engage in deep diplomatic, political, and economic systems. Players will be able to choose from one of 183 countries to play as.

You can watch the announcement trailer below:

Romero Games Announces Empire of Sin Expansion

Developer Romero Games and publisher Paradox Interactive announced Make It Count, the first expansion for Empire of Sin. Make It Count will release on all platforms alongside the free Precinct update. The Precinct update introduces a Precinct management mechanic, adds new ways to win, and introduces mod support. Mods will be available to play at launch.

"After all the work we put into patching the game in the past few months, we're ready to explore new aspects of the game to give players more content to sink their teeth into," said Brenda Romero, co-founder of Romero Games, in a press release. "Make it Count, alongside the free Precinct update, brings new ways for players to play, manage and win as they build up their own Empire of Sin!"

According to Paradox, "the expansion will introduce a new boss, Meyer "the Accountant" Lansky, new gangsters, "the Fixers," and their Loan Sharking Racket." Lanksy "excels at economics and creates synergy in combat," and can make peace using his money and connections. Five gangsters known as "The Fixers" are also up for hire. The Fixers come with loan sharking Racket and combat abilities, which allows player to Blackmail other characters and factions.

The expansion will also include several story missions based around Lansky and the Fixers, and several other additions, including "new rackets, new abilities, new gangsters and new missions." Further details will be revealed later.

Empire of Sin is out now on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC and Mac. You can watch a trailer for the expansion below.

Paradox Announces The Royal Court Expansion for Crusader Kings 3

Crusader Kings 3

Paradox Interactive has announced The Royal Court, the first major expansion for Crusader Kings 3. A release date for the expansion was not announced, though there is an announcement trailer.

According to Paradox, the Royal Court will allow "powerful rulers can establish the kind of court that inspires troubadours, decorating it with relics from family history and favoring subjects with the answers to their many problems."

Establishing a court will allow players to "interact with vassals and courtiers as they come to you with their problems, seeking a royal judgment." Players can also increase the quality of life at their own court by upgrading the quality of their food and the trappings of their thrones rooms, which will attract higher quality guests. "Talented artists, craftspeople and thinkers can work on new projects," which will be added to the player's court. Players will also be able to create hybrid cultures and split from their traditional cultures, as well.

All told, The Royal Court sounds like a good addition to Paradox's strategy title. You can watch a trailer for the expansion below:

Asynchronous Multiplayer Game Phantom Abyss Announced for PC, Gets Trailer

Phantom Abyss

Developer Team WIBY and publisher Developer Digital have announced Phantom Abyss, a massive asynchronous multiplayer title that drops boot into the boots of adventurers exploring procedural generated temples and retrieving their sacred relics. Phantom Abyss will launch in Early Access in June. The game will be updated with new chambers, traps, whips, zones, and additional gameplay features as time goes on.

According to the official description, "Intrepid adventurers will dodge scores of hidden traps, leap treacherous chasms, and flee relentless guardians through branching paths until one of the relics are claimed or the devices of death overwhelm them. Be warned, you only get one attempt at each temple and failure or settling for a lesser relic means you will never see that temple again…"

That doesn't mean you'll be going in completely unprepared, though. "The cleverest players will use the phantom runs of failed attempts from other players to their advantage and avoid the missteps and mistakes that led to their doom. Once the legendary relic at the bottom of each temple is found, the temple goes away forever and becomes the priceless trophy of the skilled adventurer."

Players will also be able to offer their collected treasures to the gods to claim a double jump, glide jump, extended slide, damage protection, and other abilities. They will also be able to upgrade their whip and share "Temple Codes for their failed runs allowing friends to attempt the same temple or share their Adventure Code which yields a playlist of temples that player has attempted in the past."

Honestly, the whole thing looks and sounds very cool, and I'll definitely be checking it out when the game comes to Early Access next month. You can watch a trailer for the game, complete with some gameplay, below:

 

Switch Hardware Sales Beat Xbox Series X|S and PS5 Combined Over the Same Period

nintendo switch

File this one under "unsurprising, but newsworthy anyway": the Nintendo Switch sold more than both the Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5 combined over the same period. That's according to a report from Ampere Analysis, who report that the Switch sold 5.86 million units during Q1 2021, which is a 12% increase from the same period lat year.

By comparison, the Xbox Series X|S sold 1.31 million units during the same period. The PS5, while still behind the Switch, doubled the Xbox Series X|S numbers, coming in 2.83 million units in the same period. It should be noted that people want to buy both the Xbox Series X|S and the PS5. They just can't.

Both consoles are suffering from stock shortages and unpredictable availability, largely due to the semiconductor shortage caused by the OCVID-19 pandemic. Scalping has also become a huge issue. Foxconn CEO Young Liu believes the shortage will last until mid-2022. Sony also doesn't believe that they will meet demand this year. That said, Sony and Microsoft are not the only ones suffering from the only from chip shortages. Nintendo has also confirmed that the shortages have impacted Switch production, so the accomplishment is still impressive.

Sega's Virtua Fighter eSports Game Gets Announcement Livestream on May 27th

Virtua Fighter X eSports

Information about Sega's new Virtua Fighter title has been leaking out for a while now. The company first revealed a teaser trailer for the game at Tokyo Game Show last month, but didn't provide much information about what it was, or if it was even a game at all. At the time, Sega CEO Haruki Satomi described described it as "a project commemorating the 60th year anniversary of [Sega]" that would begin in Japan and would be a "restart" focused on eSports and competitive play."

Then official art appeared on PSN. Now, however, we might finally get some answers about what the future of Virtua Fighter entails. Swega has officially announced the Virtua Fighter x eSports Project Official Announcement livestream on May 27th at 8:00 PM JST (4 AM PST). The livestream will take place on Sega's new Virtua Fighter YouTube channel, which currently shows a teaser for the livestream. Sega also launched a teaser website counting down to the livesteam.

Previous leaks referred to the game as Virtua Fighter 5: Ultimate Showdown, though it's simply known as Virtua Fighter eSports in Japan. The last game in the series was Virtua Fighter 5 Final Showdown, which released on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in 2012. It's reasonable to assume that Ultimate Showdown might be an updated version of that game.

Whatever it is, it would be good to have Virtua Fighter back, even if it is just an alternate version of Final Showdown. The brainchild of legendary OutRun and Shenmue designer Yu Suzuki, who recently suggested he might return to the series, Virtua Fighter was the first 3D fighting game. The series is renowned for its incredible technical depth and excellent design. Virtua Fighter 5 Final Showdown is widely considered one of the greatest fighting games ever made.