GamersHeroes Wednesday, March 11, 2026 12:58 PM A narrative-driven experience with farming elements, players will be able to experience a village shaped by connection and conflict in Cinnadev and Serenity Forge's newly revealed Delphinium. The post Narrative Farming Sim Delphinium Revealed at GDC 2026 appeared first on GamersHeroes. |
Kotaku Wednesday, March 11, 2026 7:56 PM  Nintendo's lead developers on the Switch 2 hit detail the design philosophy behind its voxel destruction |
Kotaku Wednesday, March 11, 2026 5:17 PM  Star Wars: First Assault's Xbox 360 technical beta has been revived by fans online |
Kotaku Wednesday, March 11, 2026 4:31 PM  The cozy life sim is one of the best games in Pokémon's 30 years |
Kotaku Wednesday, March 11, 2026 4:25 PM  Also: A leaked Lego set, Fortnite's original mode goes free-to-play, a creepy crab game, and AI-generated guidebooks |
Kotaku Wednesday, March 11, 2026 2:01 PM  During its GDC 2026 talk, Xbox also revealed more features coming to PC and plans to bring back old games |
Kotaku Wednesday, March 11, 2026 1:45 PM  The Trump administration used Yugi's face and voice to celebrate killing people in Iran |
Kotaku Wednesday, March 11, 2026 1:30 PM  The company behind Steam also pushed back on claims made by the New York AG about video games and violence |
Kotaku Wednesday, March 11, 2026 12:55 PM  March 2026's PS Plus Extra and Premium freebies also include Madden, Tekken, Astroneer, and a Lord of the Rings game |
Kotaku Wednesday, March 11, 2026 12:44 PM  The physical copies were a Kickstarter stretch goal for the widely liked 2022 retro RPG |
Kotaku Wednesday, March 11, 2026 12:10 PM  The hacker reportedly bypassed various security measures just by providing some basic information to PSN's support chat |
PCGamesN Wednesday, March 11, 2026 1:43 PM Learn how to play as The Regent in Slay the Spire 2 by taking full advantage of the Stars and Forge mechanics to defeat every enemy lurking in the Spire. |
PCGamesN Wednesday, March 11, 2026 1:40 PM Learn the inner workings of The Necrobinder, the brand new necromancer who can create a boss-sized ally in Slay the Spire 2. |
PCGamesN Wednesday, March 11, 2026 1:35 PM Is your PC on fire, or is it just a case of the Marathon servers being down? We'll help you narrow the cause of your issue down right here. |
PCGamesN Wednesday, March 11, 2026 1:26 PM If you've encountered the Architext at the end of Act 3, here's how he fits into the story and whether he can be beaten. |
PCGamesN Wednesday, March 11, 2026 1:02 PM Get ahead in the biggest Roblox revival of the year with the latest Anime Fighters Simulator codes, grabbing anything from Shiny Potions to Dungeon Tokens. |
PCGamesN Wednesday, March 11, 2026 1:02 PM The Phase, from Pixelpaw Labs, is a mouse without a scroll wheel that can split into two controllers, seemingly for the worst of all worlds. |
PCGamesN Wednesday, March 11, 2026 1:00 PM If you're looking for a simple but fun zombie FPS, you can do a lot worse than giving John Carpenter's Toxic Commando a try. |
PCGamesN Wednesday, March 11, 2026 12:44 PM New details for the first Mewgenics DLC have been teased, and it looks like it will be a considerably bigger offering than implied. |
PCGamesN Wednesday, March 11, 2026 12:11 PM Improve your gameplay experience with the best Resident Evil Requiem mods to unlock bonus items, fix the FOV, and even fight Shrek. |
Rock Paper Shotgun Latest Articles Feed Wednesday, March 11, 2026 4:15 PM  In an unusual show of candour, Valve have spoken out publicly against a lawsuit filed in New York, USA that accuses them of "letting children and adults alike illegally gamble" via loot boxes in Counter-Strike 2, Dota 2, and Team Fortress 2. With the caveat that I am no Atticus Finch-esque legal expert or even a Louis Tully-grade bumbler, I find Valve's rebuttal to be a mixture of whataboutery and tactical mitigation, with a couple of fair points. It basically sidesteps what I think is the lawsuit's most important argument – that lootbox mechanics are fundamentally manipulative. You can read the thing in full here, or you can read my slapdash summary-with-notes, below. |
Rock Paper Shotgun Latest Articles Feed Wednesday, March 11, 2026 2:30 PM  Many moons ago, Mewgenics developer Edmund McMillen successfully lured the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals into developing a vegan parody version of Super Meat Boy, Team Meat's gut-slathered 2D platformer. Team Meat responded by triumphantly adding a spoof vegan character to Super Meat Boy, the puny and crater-eyed Tofu Boy. As McMillen himself recently recalled on MechaMusk.com, "I personally trolled the peta forums for months seeding info about this 'ground breaking new indie game coming out soon that must be stopped!; I never thought they would actually take the bait but it was amazing to see and a very fun exchange." Well, McMillen and PETA are at it again. PETA have just released a video honouring a character in Mewgenics, which very much isn't a game that promotes the ethical treatment of animals, or of beings in general. |
Rock Paper Shotgun Latest Articles Feed Wednesday, March 11, 2026 1:17 PM  Spectrum48's Philip Sinclair has spent 15 years rewilding a field, "rewilding" being a process of restoring ecosystems to something like a state of 'natural' equilibrium. Now, he's making a videogame about it. That game is Grow Wild, which is currently accepting playtest sign-ups. It sees you restoring biomes across the globe, touching down on sickly square arcadias like an avenging angel equipped with a trowel, magnifying glass, and probably some tartan-pattern slippers, out of shot. It makes me think a little of Viva Pinata, but it's populated by representations of non-digital creatures, flowers and trees with convincing growth cycles. There are some lovely 'time lapse' shots in the trailer, below. |
Siliconera Wednesday, March 11, 2026 5:00 PM
Nippon Ichi Software (NIS) shared more information on new and upcoming games, with three of the newest updates being a new installment in The Witch and the Hundred Knight series and the original titles Gobble and Prinny Sugoroku. Everything came up during the March 11, 2026 Nippon Ichi Software Untitled stream on YouTube.
Prinny Sugoroku is a new upcoming game connected to the Disgaea series. This is a party game that will come out in Fall 2026 for the PS5, Switch, Switch 2, and PC. According to the description, it'll be a crazy experience that'll flip the concept of sugoroku on its head. As a refresher, that is a type of board game along the lines of Mario Party and Dokapon Kingdom.
Another big announcement involved the release date for Gobble. It'll come out on September 24, 2026. During the stream, NIS showed off the first promotional video for this game, and you can watch it here:
Another announcement involved Nippon Ichi PC Games. This is a Nippon Ichi Software-exclusive application, allowing you to play games from your PC after purchasing them via its online shop. It's basically a launcher for the company's titles. For example, if people don't want to or can't get the game via Steam, they can use this. It will also add older games, with The Liar Princess and the Blind Prince being the first addition. The game is also available (with a discounted price) on Steam.
Here are all the games that showed up during the stream. Note that all dates apply to Japanese debuts.
The full archive of the stream is available on the Nippon Ichi Software YouTube account, and its next release will be Curse Warrior on March 26, 2026.
The post New NIS Games Include Witch and the Hundred Night, Gobble appeared first on Siliconera. |
Siliconera Wednesday, March 11, 2026 4:00 PM
HoYoVerse used drip marketing to share the second Elation character who will be playable in Honkai: Star Rail in the next few months, and it is Evanescia. She'll show up in 4.2, just like the new Silver Wolf alt.
Evanescia will be a five-star unit in the game. She'll be Elation, which means her attacks and skills will built up Punchline to bring Aha into fights. When she hits foes, she'll deal Physical damage.
Here's her full official art, which confirms that Evanescia will be yet another five-star Elation character in Honkai: Star Rail.
Evanescia bears quite a resemblance to two other HoYoVerse characters, in terms of design. She looks most like Yae Sakura, the rabbit-themed member of the 13 Flame Chasers in Honkai Impact 3rd. This also means she resembles Yae Miko from Genshin Impact, the Grand Narukami Shrine kitsune.
It will be a while before we learn more about Evanescia, but we will discover more details about another new character headed to the game soon. Ashveil will join in the 4.1 update. He follows The Hunt path and deals lightning damage. He'll be one of the featured units discussed during the 4.1 Special Program on March 13, 2026.
Honkai: Star Rail is available on the PS5, PC, and mobile devices, and Evanescia will appear in 4.2.
The post Evanescia Joins Honkai: Star Rail as an Elation Character appeared first on Siliconera. |
Siliconera Wednesday, March 11, 2026 3:00 PM
Natsume announced another entry in its original line of farming sims under the Harvest Moon name, and the game is called Harvest Moon: Echoes of Teradea. There's no release window yet. However, the company did confirm it will be on all current platforms, so we'll see it on the Switch, Switch 2, PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC when it does debut. This follows Harvest Moon: Home Sweet Home Special Edition, which debuted on consoles in August 2025.
Harvest Moon: Echoes of Teradea will be one of those entries that spans multiple villages. Players start out in Bloomfield, and end up meeting the guardian wolf that lives outside of there. After they do, they end up visiting other places, like Maplehill, Quarrytop, and Tidewind, to meet their guardian spirits and address environmental issues keeping those towns down. In so doing, the Forest of Echoes' fog and influence will fade, the Harvest Goddess will flourish, and you'll also get to raise crops, animals, and relationship values with bachelors and bachelorettes.
Here are the first screenshots for the new Harvest Moon game.
Harvest Moon: Echoes of Teradea is in development for the Switch, Switch 2, PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC, and there's no release window yet.
The post Harvest Moon: Echoes of Teradea Is Natsume's New Game appeared first on Siliconera. |
Siliconera Wednesday, March 11, 2026 2:00 PM
Takara Tomy announced one of its next Pokemon gacha collections will involve digital Mega Stone watches. They are expected to debut in Japan in April 2026. Six styles will appear, and it will be 400円 (~$2.50) per try. There's no worldwide release set.
This collection is designed to resemble the bands we see our avatar wear in games like Pokemon Legends: Z-A and other titles. In fact, all of the characters do appear in that game. The front of each of the watches shows the Mega Stone for the Pokemon, while the Mega Evolved form appears on the face of the watcha nd the band. Each watch is a digital one, and the band is about 9 inches long (23cm). The official page also confirmed you can replace the battery.
Here's the full list of all the featured characters:
And here's the teaser image showing off all six styles.
This is the second recent run of gacha watches from Takara Tomy based on Nintendo properties in Japan. Earlier in 2026, there were Animal Crossing: New Horizons ones. These were based on characters from the game, showing them on the face and an icon tied to them on the cover. Those have also yet to appear outside of Japan.
The Pokemon Mega Stone watches will launch in Japan in capsule machines in April 2026, and Pokemon Legends: Z-A is available on the Switch and Switch 2 worldwide.
The post New Pokemon Mega Stone Watches Launch in April appeared first on Siliconera. |
Siliconera Wednesday, March 11, 2026 1:00 PM
We're nearing the end of Dissidia Duellum Final Fantasy launch character trailers, and that means we get to see Kain Highwind from FFIV. It's an opportunity to see how the melee unit's dragoon abilities are represented in the title, due to the use of assorted jumps and lunges.
As usual, this character trailer begins by comparing Kain Highwind's old FFIV look to his new one in Dissidia Duellum Final Fantasy. It also confirmed he'll still be voiced by Koichi Yamadera. He first took up the role for the DS remake of that installment, then also voiced him in other Dissidia spin-offs. He's also known for being Donald Duck in the Kingdom Hearts games, Shun Akiyama in Yakuza entries, and Beerus in Dragon Ball anime and game adaptations.
The rest of the footage gets into how his fights go. We see his various attacks, then some of his special abilities. Featured ones include Dragon Scourge, Dragoon's Pride, Spiral Blow, and Vigilant. It ends with a story scene where he says, "Courage is not something that can be forged overnight."
Here's the full Kain Highwind Dissidia Duellum Final Fantasy trailer.
In case you missed some of the other character trailers that appeared so far, here are ones for the other eight members of the cast.
No representatives from FFII or FFIII are present in Dissidia Duellum Final Fantasy at launch, so the final trailer should appear tomorrow and look at Warrior of Light. Square Enix hasn't mentioned when we might see additional characters join the cast.
Dissidia Duellum Final Fantasy pre-registration is open now, and the game will debut in March 2026 for Android and Apple iOS mobile devices.
The post Watch Kain Highwind in Dissidia Duellum Final Fantasy appeared first on Siliconera. |
Destructoid Wednesday, March 11, 2026 7:09 PM
Monster Hunter Stories 3 Twisted Reflection is coming soon to PC and consoles, and not long is left for the game to go live.
The third chapter in the Stories series will look to enhance the same formula that we have had in the two previous games. But first, let's look at when the game goes live so that you don't waste any minute trying to enjoy the content.
Table of contents
Monster Hunter Stories 3 Twisted Reflection release countdown
Monster Hunter Stories 3 Twisted Reflection goes live globally on Friday, March 13. The following countdown will expire once the game goes live worldwide.
The countdown is based on the following timings.
This is based on the official information from Capcom. Certain parts of the United States and Mexico will have the game launch on Thursday evening. These timings are applicable if you're playing on a PC. Console launch will follow a regional schedule.
What to expect from Monster Hunter Stories 3 Twisted Reflection
The third chapter of the Stories series will put you in charge as a rider. The old civil war between the two countries is about to flare up once again, amidst two Rathalos with historic markings. You and your Rathalos will have the task to find out the truth about the war and your monstie's origin.
While the core goal is to take care of your monsters and use them to defeat other creatures, the job is easier said than done. There's a brilliant story waiting for you to be explored, but that's not all. Some of the core mechanics have also undergone a change, and this will force you to think differently about how you train and breed your monsters.
The game is currently available for pre-order, but you can also check out a demo that's available for free.
The post Monster Hunter Stories 3 Twisted Reflection release countdown: Exact date and time appeared first on Destructoid. |
Destructoid Wednesday, March 11, 2026 6:24 PM
The new Paradox Junction map in Call of Duty Black Ops 7 has several easter eggs to crack, and you can unlock a new song by finding three Mister Peeks headphones from different locations.
Just like the two other maps, the three headphones are hidden from plain sight. You'll also need to travel to the past to find a couple of them. Let's quickly look at the locations of all three headphones so that you can unlock the bonus song for the new map.
Table of contents
How to find all Mister Peeks headphones in Black Ops 7 Zombies Paradox Junction
The first task is to survive for seven rounds, as you'll need to travel through the past. Two of the three locations will be locked until you've returned to the normal version of Nuketown. To do so, surviving for the first seven rounds is non-negotiable.
To find the headphones, you'll also need to interact with the truck with the key. This will remove the truck (everything happens in the past version of the map) and allow you to unlock the Pack-A-Punch machine on the Paradox Junction map.
Headphone 1
The first headphone can be found in the normal version of the Yellow House. It's located on a nightstand in the bedroom. If you enter from the window, the nightstand is just around the right corner from the bedroom door. If you enter through the door using the stairs, the nightstand is just around the corner to your left.
It's easy to miss the headphone (refer to the image above) as the area is really dark.
Headphone 2
The second headphone can also be found on the normal version of the Nuketown map. Head to the area where the perk machine is located on Trinity Avenue. Look at the left corner, and you'll find the headphone visible through a gap in the nearby white fence.
Headphone 3
For the final one, return to the destroyed version of Nuketown. You'll need to spend 3,000 Essence. Once you've returned, go past the truck that was earlier blocking your path to Trinity Avenue (the one that you moved with the key).
You'll find another destroyed truck beside it. Go to the back, and peek at its left corner (refer to the image above). This will complete the musical easter egg that's exclusive to the Paradox Junction map, and it will play the Come Back Down song by Kevin Sherwood and Megan Rice.
The post All Mister Peeks headphone locations in Black Ops 7 Zombies Paradox Junction (Music Easter Egg) appeared first on Destructoid. |
Destructoid Wednesday, March 11, 2026 5:11 PM
The Blundergat is truly a 'wonder weapon' in Black Ops 7 Zombies, and you can upgrade it further to turn it into the Sundergat.
The Sundergat isn't a standalone weapon. Instead, it's the main upgrade for the Blundergat that radically transforms the potential of the gun. Let's look at how to upgrade your Blundergat to Sundergat to chop down the hordes of undead in Paradox Junction.
How to get the Sundergat upgrade in Black Ops 7 Zombies Paradox Junction
The first step, and the most crucial one at that, is to acquire the Blundergat. We have covered all the steps in our detailed guide about how you can craft it using four different parts.
Once you've acquired the Blundergat, complete a round. At one point, a zombie will spawn that will be surrounded by a fire tornado. The fire tornado makes it easy for you to identify it from the other undead. You can release the zombie from the fire trap
When it spawns, don't kill it. If there are other undead, eliminate those instead. Your objective is to draw this blue flame-covered zmbe to the bench in Cul-de-Sac (the one that's used to craft the Blundergat). Once the zombie is close to the bench, eliminate it with the Blundergat. Make sure that it's near the bench.
Another zombie stuck in a fire tornado will appear. Repeat the process, and be careful not to let them die prematurely in the hands of other zombies. Once you've eliminated both of them, you'll encounter a tortured Mimic.
Since the Mimic is harder to kill, you'll find it easier to draw it to the bench once it's close, and eliminate it near the bench with the Blundergat.
Now, return to the normal version of the Nuketown map in the past, and melee the same bench. Then, place the Blundergat on it. Return to the present (destroyed version), and an upgrade animation will play out as your Blundergat will turn into a Sundergat.
The post How to upgrade the Blundergat to Sundergat in Black Ops 7 Zombies Paradox Junction appeared first on Destructoid. |
Destructoid Wednesday, March 11, 2026 4:57 PM
Game preservation has become a hot topic these days, and some companies, and Xbox in particular, want to put in the extra effort needed to ensure games of the past are kept alive and available even if technology constantly moves ahead of them.
During today's GDC panel, Xbox's Next Generation VP highlighted the importance of game preservation for him personally and for folks at Xbox itself. "I fundamentally believe that great games are timeless," he said, adding that it's a personal matter to him, since his son sometimes plays titles that came out way before he was born, making them entirely new experiences in his eyes, even if they're old for Ronald himself.
And those games deserve to be treated well, with players given opportunities to play them in familiar ways, rather than being forced to embrace the old ways, even when they're quite archaic (which often ends up being the case).
"Not only do we want to preserve those games, but we also want to take advantage of the latest technology to enable them to be played in entirely new ways," Ronald said.
"I think about features like auto HDR as an example. Being able to put HDR on top of a game that was created before HDR even existed, it feels entirely new, it feels very fresh. I think about features like FPS Boost, where we take games that were originally designed to run at a certain frame rate, and now we're able to run them at a significantly higher frame rate. It almost feels like a remaster for a lot of players."
Xbox also enables cloud streaming of retro games, allowing folks to play old titles on their smartphones, something that would have been unheard of when those games were made. Not even HD existed when these games were developed, and smartphones were borderline unimaginable, Ronald said.
"The developers that built the games could have never imagined a future 25 years later where their game is being streamed from the cloud to a smartphone."
Ronald softly announced what could be remakes or remasters coming this year as part of Xbox's 25th anniversary celebration. Rumor has it that a New Vegas remaster or remake is in development, and since Microsoft now owns both Xbox and Obsidian (and myriad other studios), one of these planned releases could very well be the reimagined version of that Fallout title.
They could even come as a surprise shadow drop, like the Oblivion remaster last year. The anniversary is on Nov. 15, so we'll have to wait and see.
"The game preservation team has been working very hard in the background for a number of years. As part of our 25th anniversary later this year, they will release some iconic games from the past that are now going to be able to be played in an entirely new way," Ronald said.
He reiterated that these decisions and moves prove Xbox's commitment to preserving games, and with the release of the upcoming Xbox Mode, we're likely going to see even more software solutions that enhance retro gaming in meaningful ways. Though I certainly hope a lot of it is optional, since there's a special charm in enjoying a game as it was, rather than modifying it to suit current standards.
Either way, though, game preservation is a crucial component of contemporary video games. Or it should be, anyway. Just as books and other media are considered cultural heritage, video games can deserve the same treatment.
They reflect the moments in time when they were made and give us a glimpse into the minds of the people who played and created them. Not all games are culturally important, but we should still strive to keep them alive for as long as possible, allowing future generations to sort out which ones really meant something.
The post 'This is a passion project for all of us here': Xbox keeps pushing the envelope on preservation efforts appeared first on Destructoid. |
Destructoid Wednesday, March 11, 2026 4:30 PM
Valve is no stranger to lawsuits. From small-scale litigation to full-blown class-action cases, Valve has been somewhat of a court magnet, with both individuals and governments coming after the company on various grounds. One of the more recent cases is the one brought by New York's attorney general, who is pursuing action against the company's loot boxes, which it describes as "gambling."
But what is truly rare is Valve speaking out about it. In the majority of lawsuits that came across its desks, Valve never really went out in public to speak about them, no matter what the basis for them was. Now, however, the company found it apt to defend its position, especially its use of microtransactions (loot boxes) in games like Dota 2 and Counter-Strike 2.
The New York attorney general (NYAG) first contacted Valve in 2023, seemingly to try to strike a deal with the company that'd make it comply with NY law. However, Valve says that the NYAG requested the company to make significant changes to its business operation, which, while nominally tied to loot boxes, would have impacted everyone who used Steam in the world, including both gamers and developers.
Primarily, Valve argued that its loot boxes are akin to real-world card packs, which people can purchase just about everywhere and then open to gain random cards. These cards, like the skins in Valve's games, can be freely sold or traded for other items.
"On the physical side, popular products used in this way include baseball cards, Pokémon, Magic the Gathering, and Labubu. In the game space, digital packs similar to our boxes date back to 2004 and are in widespread use," Valve stated.
"Players don't have to open mystery boxes to play Valve games. In fact, most of you don't open any boxes at all and just play the games."
Valve also said that it had shown to the NYAG that it did everything in its power to stop gambling, either through shutting down sites, banning users who engage in it, or implementing trading mechanisms. Gambling companies are also barred from sponsoring tournaments where Valve games are played.
"To date we've locked over one million Steam accounts that were being misused by third parties in connection with gambling, fraud, and theft," Valve explained.
However, despite all of their efforts to curb gambling and explain how microtransactions work in its games, Valve was allegedly met with requests from the NYAG that it refused to comply with. "We have serious concerns with many of the alterations the NYAG claims are necessary to make to our games," Valve said.
Firstly, the NYAG supposedly asked Valve to remove the ability for users to trade and sell the things they get in loot boxes. However, Valve thinks "transferability is a right we believe should not be taken away" and "refuse[s] to do that."
Furthermore, Valve was seemingly asked to collect extra information on users so as to pinpoint the exact locations of potential New York residents who have been hiding their location via apps like VPNs, which the company said required "invasive technologies" to be implemented worldwide, affecting everyone's privacy and security.
More data collection was also requested for the purpose of additional age verification, even though payment methods necessary to engage in purchases on Steam are already a form of age verification themselves.
These requests go "far beyond what existing New York law requires and even beyond New York itself."
Valve concludes by saying it could have struck a deal with the NYAG, but that it "would have been bad for users and other game developers and impacted our ability to innovate in game design."
The NYAG's comments about video games and violence were addressed by Valve, which said that "Those extraneous comments are a distraction and a mischaracterization we've all heard before. Numerous studies throughout the years have concluded there is no link between media (movies, TV, books, comics, music, and games) and real-world violence."
Many of Valve's games contain loot box mechanics, which have been regularly construed as gambling by gamers for years. They aren't exclusive to Valve, of course, as similar mechanics can be found in most modern live-service games, such as League of Legends, EA FC 26 (and most of its predecessors), and many others.
EA had previously been pursued by Belgium, a country unique among governments of the world with proper loot box laws, so the fact that Valve is now the target of similar litigation isn't exactly surprising.
It's a company that makes billions from its boxes, but even so, this could set a precedent that'd see the downfall of trading card games like the ones named above, as, in principle, both function in the same way.
The post Valve speaks out about New York loot box lawsuit in rare attempt at damage control, saying 'it would have been bad for users and other game developers' to preempt situation appeared first on Destructoid. |
Destructoid Wednesday, March 11, 2026 3:54 PM
Black Ops 7 continues its seasonal content with the Season Two Reloaded update, which adds a lot of new stuff to do, including an all-new battle royale mode in Warzone.
Black Ops Royale is a Blackout-inspired take on Warzone, which increases the movement capabilities and swaps out loadouts to focus on ground loot, and it's changing the way BR is played in BO7. As part of the release, a new limited-time event is here with a bunch of free rewards to earn.
Here's everything there is to know about the newest BO7 event in Season Two Reloaded, Altitude Tactics.
BO7 Altitude Tactics challenges and rewards
Altitude Tactics is an XP progression event in Black Ops 7, and progress in multiplayer, Zombies, Endgame, and Warzone (including the new Black Ops Royale mode) will count towards your challenges.
The final mastery reward is the new Voyak KT-3 assault rifle, but there's also a universal weapon camo, emote, reticle, and more to earn for free. There's nothing to really focus on outside of playing the game and earning XP, so feel free to use some double XP tokens to get the rewards quicker.
Here's what you can get:
Once you've reached every XP threshold during the week-long event and unlocked the above six rewards, you gain access to the new AR, plus all of its camos and attachments:
The post All challenges and rewards in BO7 and Warzone's Altitude Tactics event appeared first on Destructoid. |
Destructoid Wednesday, March 11, 2026 3:51 PM
We've all convinced ourselves of something at some point in our lives. Reality is often disappointing, as one of Josh Brolin's characters would say, and we're simply forced to live in our own subjective worlds, shaped by our own perception, no matter how "incorrect" it might be.
And delusions can spring out of all sorts of circumstances, but seldom do we see collective madness formed by the inactivity of a gaming megacorporation whose rivals are making Rivals and giving their fans everything they could ask for. Such is the case of the DC Allies crowd, a bunch of DC Comics fans who have collectively decided that enough was enough and started deluding themselves into believing that there is, indeed, a DC counterpart to the wildly successful Marvel Rivals.
The roleplay they're going into is actually rather impressive. The game, which does not exist, has a complete roster of heroes and characters, build guides, counters, strategies, tactics, you name it. It's as fully-fledged an experience as it could be, only it isn't actually real. But it's real enough to them.
It even goes a step further. The RP involves denying the existence of Marvel Rivals itself, and so a lot of memes from that game have poured over, being treated in-universe on the same level as real-life views of DC Allies. It's actually incredible, because the amount of effort and care going into this LARP is a lot more than most developers would put into their live-service title.
It has been brewing for a couple of months now, and it's reached a new level of popularity that, at least to me, signifies how huge a DC game based around the same formula as Marvel Rivals would be.
Some of the posts on the DC Allies subreddit have over 10,000 upvotes, and I've seen Instagram reels about this fictional title reaching well over 50,000 likes, indicating literal millions of views. It's a pop culture phenomenon that only lives within the collective consciousness of its own fans, and Warner Bros. really needs to pay attention to this.
The corporation has sat inert ever since the cataclysmic catastrophe that was Kill the Justice League, instead of outsourcing the IP to other developers and letting them do all the work. Marvel Rivals was produced by China-based NetEase, which subsequently fired most of its US-based staff, despite the fact that Disney, an American company, owns most of the Marvel brand.
There is little preventing WB from following suit, but I will admit that the reported $200m loss of KTJL justified their steering away from DC Games.
So until WB comes to its senses, we've got splash art, concepts, abilities, and genuine discussions about DC Allies and its hero roster, with people sharing experiences and moment-to-moment gameplay, all happening somewhere in the Dream Worlds, where megacorporations do not sit on their ass, hoping their billion-dollar IP buyout will make itself a worthy investment.
Anyhow, I think you're just about done reading my rambling about corpos. Here's what the DC Allies roster looks like so far in its "Year One," not that any modern gaming company would launch a game with this many heroes at release.
The post DC fans have a completely made up game called 'DC Allies,' and the roleplay is so strong that Warner Bros really should just go and make it real appeared first on Destructoid. |
Destructoid Wednesday, March 11, 2026 3:39 PM
The Paradox Junction map has arrived on Call of Duty Black Ops 7, and with it comes the Blundergat.
The brand new wonder weapon has to be crafted live in a round, but the steps are relatively easier than things we have had in the past. To craft the weapon, you have to find four of its parts, and this guide will help you out with all the required instructions.
How to craft the Blundergat in Black Ops 7 Zombies Paradox Junction
To craft the Blundergat, you have to get four of its parts.
Some of the parts are easier to get than the rest. Also, there might not be any order, so you can get all four parts in your own way (I am in the process of verifying this, so stay tuned).
These two parts are relatively simple and easy to complete. Obtaining the Hammer and the Stock is significantly more difficult.
Hammer
Go upstairs in the Destroyed Yellow House, where you'll find the SO3 Vial. Then, head to the sink in the Destroyed Green House. Here, you'll find the H2SO4 vial by interacting with the sink and filling up the SO3 vial.
Once you've filled the H2SO4 vial, start approaching the mannequins in the normal (past) version of the maps. The correct one will emit a noise. Remember its location, and return to the normal version of Nuketown. Approach the same mannequin and pour the H2SO4 on it. Then, return to the destroyed version, and you'll find the Hammer at the location. If you don't find the Hammer, chances are that you chose the wrong mannequin.
The H2SO4 vial can be used up to three times before the need arises for you to refill it.
Stock
You'll come across black goo in the walls when roaming the destroyed version of the map. The location will be random, but remember where you found it. Destroy the goo on the wall at the same location after returning to the normal version of the map.
You'll make a hole in the wall, and the Stock will be available for you to pick up in the destroyed version of the map.
Finally, melee the bench in the truck in the destroyed version of the map at Cul-de-Sac. This will allow you to use the four parts and craft the Blundergat.
The post How to get the Blundergat wonder weapon in Black Ops 7 Zombies Paradox Junction appeared first on Destructoid. |
Destructoid Wednesday, March 11, 2026 3:09 PM
During GDC 2026, Xbox held a panel speaking about the future of the company, explaining how its console will reshape gaming in the years to come. Though the hardware itself won't come before at least late 2027, Xbox's software side won't sit idly and will instead come to all Windows devices starting this April.
That was confirmed by Jason Ronald, Xbox's VP of Next Generation, during today's GDC panel. He said that the release of the ROG Xbox Ally last year significantly informed the company's subsequent decisions, as fans who purchased that device got the chance to experience Xbox's software innovations first-hand. Primarily, however, it appears fans were surprised by the quality of the device's "Xbox Mode," which runs on top of its underlying Windows operating system, simulating a console-like experience.
"So even though the ROG Xbox Ally is powered by Windows under the covers, I never see Windows. I jump into a direct Xbox-first experience that allows me to see all of my games in my library," Ronald explained. "I am proud to announce that Xbox Mode will be coming to Windows 11 in select markets starting in April," he added.
He further said that this allows Microsoft to significantly improve the gaming experience in Windows 11, which would help gamers get the most out of the operating system no matter their device of choice. It's essentially turning everything into a big ol' console, not much unlike what Steam Big Picture does (and has been doing for a very long time now).
Other features from the ROG Xbox Ally, such as the Advanced Shader Delivery technology that helps offset wait times for shader compilation in modern games, will also arrive alongside this new Xbox Mode. Ronald said the company was significantly "leaning into" the feedback it received from ROG Xbox Ally users, deciding ultimately to implement that across the board.
Xbox Mode will also allow you to download and install games from other stores and platforms but doesn't require you to actually ever leave the experience. It's a gaming-focused mode that places your titles front and center, as Ronald explains, and so it serves a similar purpose to GOG Galaxy and its attempts to "unify" your gaming.
All of your games, no matter where you've installed them or what platform they're from, will be available then and there, alongside other quality-of-life improvements such as most-recently played titles being on the front page.
"What the team's been doing behind the scenes is they're doing a lot of work to really deliver a consistent experience," Ronald said. "It feels very familiar, and it feels very distinctly Xbox, no matter where you are actually choosing to play."
"Because as a player, if I choose to move between screens, I shouldn't have to learn new user interfaces just based on the screen that I'm on," he said.
This information somewhat implies that Project Helix, some of whose details we also got to see during today's Xbox panel, will be a PC-based console instead of its own separate platform. We wrote about those leaks a few days ago, comparing this new device to the Steam Machine, even if it was likely in development much before Valve unveiled its upcoming tech. No matter what, however, it's probably going to be a push toward establishing an Xbox device ecosystem, much like what Valve's trying to do.
The console isn't supposed to enter the alpha stage of development before 2027, however, so we'll have to wait a little longer to actually see how the thing looks and what it'll do.
In the meantime, though, we'll have Xbox Mode powering devices across the board, bringing the console vibe over to the PC.
The post Everything can be a console in a few weeks' time as Microsoft plans to bring an 'Xbox Mode' to all Windows devices appeared first on Destructoid. |
Destructoid Wednesday, March 11, 2026 2:43 PM
Marvel Rivals' aggressive pace of adding a new character every month for almost a year now keeps the game fresh, but also creates some issues with game balance.
If you talk to most Rivals players at any given time, they could list off a bunch of complaints about who's overpowered, who needs a buff, and so on. The same can be said about any competitive game, really, but with a live-service title, it's always going to be a hot-button topic.
Marvel Rivals' executive producer Danny Koo spoke with Destructoid's Editor-in-Chief Rachel Samples at GDC this week, and he had some interesting things to say about how the game is balanced, and how NetEase Games even measures and determines "fun."
"Once a new hero is out there, and a new meta is formed in the game, there are two things to balance," Koo said. "So one set of things is that we have those play data and see what the pressure points are, and what the complaints and feedback from the players are. That's one set of things to balance. The other side is perception. So, for example, different brackets of player proficiency have a different take on what is overpowered, what is imbalanced. So, we have to be very careful with that portion. So all in all, with this combination, we collect the data, we tune it, and it does take several weeks to verify that it doesn't break anything else before we deploy the balancing. So, we are balancing consistently, but one thing is common: across all balancing, we first and foremost always balance for fun. So, if a character is no longer fun, then we're not doing our job."
Fun is subjective, of course, but Koo said that NetEase Games utilizes something it calls "a time to kill," which is like the time to a player's action in any given time, and that's a crucial indicator (but one of several) when it comes to how the devs measure how much fun is being had.
"So, if you spend the first 30 seconds doing nothing, that means [time to kill] is empty," Koo said. "We want to get players into battle as soon as possible. That is the fun part about it. You have an encounter, and you have a choice. Either you engage, or you strategize with your team, or you provide cover for your team. So, there's a lot of mechanics in the game that players can employ. Now, if a player just walks out of the spawn point and immediately gets KO'd, that's not fun, right? So, that is the balance of fun. And if we look at players' chatter, player content creation, and you see if they're having fun in their video based on their emotional response or their observation, then that's the subjective portion that we can also collect data."
Dealing with different levels of player skill (brackets, as Koo mentioned), is tricky to navigate, but that's also taken into account when it comes to deploying balance patches, the next of which is coming alongside season seven when it launches next week.
"It's more like that's a barometer of seeing how many people in a certain group versus how many group in a minority," Koo said. "And we use that as a barometer when we look at the data. So, if the data is within the range of acceptable performance, then we look at a bracket and see which bracket most likely happens. If it's in the lower bracket of a competition, then we can take certain action to just do minor changes. But if it affects high-performance stuff, any changes that we do will actually swing the win rate by a lot, which is what we don't want. So, that's why we have the play tests after we adjust it for several weeks to stabilize it."
While Rivals has a competitive esports scene and ranked ladder, there's also a good chunk of players who play the game casually in different modes, like the 18-vs-18 respawn, where players can just kick back and click heads. But that is also taken into account when it comes to balancing and even planning out other modes.
"We know there are players that only want to come in and have fun and not be competitive," he said. "And we also know that there are players that are very sweaty and no matter what, they're going to go battle for hours, right, in ranking. So, that's why we introduced several modes of what we call 'relaxation' to get away from de-stressing, give you something else to do before you jump back to the midst of a battle. And we find that appealing and also able to slow down the discourse."
Marvel Rivals season seven begins next week, and adds a new hero along with it, so the balancing will continue for the foreseeable future.
This interview has been edited for clarity.
The post Marvel Rivals producer on game balance: 'If a character is no longer fun, then we're not doing our job' appeared first on Destructoid. |
Destructoid Wednesday, March 11, 2026 1:50 PM
It feels like there are more games than ever for players to sink their teeth into on any given day, and many of them are all vying for daily player attention.
Marvel Rivals is one of these games, a free-to-play hero shooter with constant updates adding content like maps and characters, which is sustained by microtransactions and keeping players interested. Rivals has largely done that with new characters every month for almost a year now, alongside the strength of the Marvel IP.
With so many games to play and limited hours in the day, it feels like the competition is cutthroat, especially since games are also competing with social media and other outlets for a player's time. For Marvel Rivals executive producer Danny Koo, though, he still believes there's plenty of the pie to go around.
"The perception is there's no room [for multiple live-service games], but there's always room for growth," Koo said at GDC this week in an interview with Destructoid's Editor-in-Chief, Rachel Samples. "The hero shooter genre, as a collective, is not that big. The shooter genre is big, [but the] hero shooter is a subset of it. And some of these shooters have a different specialty, like extraction or survival. It depends on which specialty you are coming in, and whether you can take control of that expertise is totally up to you."
Interestingly, Koo thinks that "home country domination" plays a factor in live-service games, too. With NetEase Games based out of China, as an example, Koo believes that the overall global gaming audience has enough interest across the world to give games a chance if done properly.
"Some hero shooters are dominating a certain country, and then their competition is dominating another country," Koo said. "So, there's always space globally to position your game as well. With all this added complexity, of course, everybody wants everyone to be playing your game. But at the same time, I think having more shooters in the same genre is good for everybody because that just means we're growing this genre to be bigger compared to like, say, RPGs or the action genre."
For new live-service titles entering the space, Koo thinks that first impressions are everything. And after the release and rapid shutdown of a game like Highguard, which had a famously terrible first impression, he may have a point.
"I think the first impression of any game coming in is it has to look good," Koo said. "Second of all, what is the game offering? Is it unique compared to other shooters or games out there? Like, if you haven't seen it done before, what are you offering that is different and fresh? Otherwise, why would they play a game that's exactly the same, right? It's just a reskin."
The first step beyond that is launch, but "then you would need to have a very robust live service offerings, whether it's content drop, or live events, community engagement, or even if your game is broken, how fast you can fix it based on feedback," he said.
Offering advice to a new game trying to enter the already-crowded space, Koo had a harsh but simple suggestion when it comes to feedback: "Do a lot of tests outside of people that you know."
"There's such a thing as implicit bias that sometimes you don't wanna hear stuff that you don't wanna hear," he said. "But if you have a lot of players that you're not familiar with try out and provide the honest feedback, and you take it in stride, and you work towards it, at least you have a good measurement of what the players out there are looking for."
Marvel Rivals went through multiple testing rounds before launching in 2024, and the game is likely better because of it. Along with the Marvel IP, letting players get their hands on the game to help development likely had a large impact on its success since its release.
"It only takes one person to repeat the same chatter, and it just turns snowball into a big deal, right?" Koo said of negative discourse surrounding potential new live-service games. "You have to test large-scale before you even launch the game. Starting 2020 onwards [it has been] the battle of community. You have to have a community there before you launch the game. This way, you will have someone to defend the product if the product is good."
The interview has been edited for clarity.
The post Marvel Rivals executive producer pushes back on idea that live-service scene is running out of room appeared first on Destructoid. |
Destructoid Wednesday, March 11, 2026 1:41 PM
The Paradox Junction map has arrived in Call of Duty Black Ops 7 Zombies as part of Season 2 Reloaded, and the first major business is to get the Pack-A-Punch machine.
While there might be a new map to roam, enemies to kill, and wonder weapons to collect, some things don't change. The Pack-A-Punch will be key to getting upgrades on your weapons and preparing for the latter rounds. Let's look at how to get access to the machine on the new map.
How to access the Paradox Junction Pack-A-Punch in Black Ops 7 Zombies
For starters, begin a fresh round on the Paradox Junction map and keep completing the initial set of quests. Once you clear the first three rounds, you'll be able to get the keys for the truck. The keys can be found on a corpse by the fence.
Once you've picked up the keys, you'll need to clear all the undead until you reach round 7. This will now allow you to go back in time to be teleported to Nuketown before the nukes came. Basically, you'll be time-traveling quite a fair bit.
Follow the quest marker in the older Nuketown to get the truck. Interact with the truck to start its engine and move it forward on the road. Next, the objective will update, and a space-time distortion will appear in the sky.
You'll notice four orbs holding the Pack-A-Punch machine in the air. Your job is to shoot and destroy these orbs, but beware, since there will be undead dropping from them. Clear the undead and destroy all four orbs to get the Pack-A-Punch machine on the Paradox Junction map.
Once done, you can now choose to travel back in time, but you'll have to spend 3,000 creds. At this point, the game will no longer display any more objectives, and you need to solve the easter egg on your own.
The post How to get Pack-A-Punch in Black Ops 7 Zombies Paradox Junction appeared first on Destructoid. |
Destructoid Wednesday, March 11, 2026 12:48 PM
There's a new website where people can ask questions to other real users LARPing as an AI, and the result is beautiful, hilarious, extremely interesting, and, best of all, something with no actual large language model involvement.
Youraislopboresme is an independent project that retakes what we lost when ChatGPT and its clones invaded the Internet and invites regular human users to ask questions or request drawings on whatever subject they feel like. Questions can range from serious to comedic, and so can the replies, because they'll be given by an anonymous user who has asked to play the role of an AI.
Naturally, the human users will not know the answers to all questions and might not have the strongest artistic abilities, but, then again, neither does any AI. The "AI" replies are usually hilarious and will more often than not surprise you, like, for example, this "LLM" that immediately guessed the Gundam character that the user was talking about based on the faintest clue possible.
Try the same with ChatGPT if you want to get a picture of a white robot. Youraislopboresme's "AI" might also know the answer and decide to reply in a silly way, unlike ChatGPT, which is more likely to reply seriously, albeit with incorrect information.
And sometimes you'll just get some beautiful honesty.
Clearly, youraislopboresme might not give you the answer you're looking for, but it might give you the answer you didn't know you needed. That said, despite having cool features that favor better-ranking AI LARPers to improve the flux of interesting and fun output, there are already people trying to poison the well with dangerous messages.
Despite its already impressive user base of over 10,000 concurrent users and strong Twitter/Bluesky virality, the site is young and not backed by a megacorp, so it'll need the community's help and savvy to stay relevant. For the best possible experience, never engage with suspicious links and report anything that feels out of the ordinary.
Even if it gets shut down tomorrow for whatever reason that a big AI company's legal team defends to be completely legitimate, its work has already been done. Youraislopboresme has already helped so many people remember just how much better organic interactions are, even with complete randos just out to have some fun.
The post This viral new website is the best thing we got because of AI appeared first on Destructoid. |
Destructoid Wednesday, March 11, 2026 12:40 PM
The Selection Pressures 3 is a priority contract for the NuCaloric faction in Marathon, and it involves sending certain items back using the DCON on the Dire Marsh map.
There are two tasks to complete, and you'll need to find inert samples and Organic Data Matrix from specific locations. Let's look at how to finish both tasks.
Table of contents
Marathon Selection Pressures 3 contract walkthrough
The Selection Pressures 3 contract can be broken down into two parts.
How to deliver inert samples from across Marsh to DCON
To find the inert samples, you have to go to the West Gate POI. While the official task description says Marsh, you won't find a place with this name. However, I have marked the exact spots where you'll find all three Contagion Samples (inert samples).
The first truck is close to the West Gate building (marked as 1). The second one is at the Intersection POI, standing by a barrier. The final one is at the entrance to the Greenhouse POI. If you move from spot 1, you'll find the two remaining ones in front of you.
All three trucks will be open for you to go inside and get the Contagion Samples. Once you find all three, you can proceed to complete the second task.
How to deliver Organic Data Matrix from Greenhouse to DCON
To find the Organic Data Matrix, head to the marked spot on the location above. You'll find a small building (part of the main structure). Head inside the room, and collect the Data Matrix.
Once done, you'll have to find a DCON to send back all the items you found across both tasks. You can find a DCON near the Greenhouse POI, but there are two more on the map.
The image above has all the DCON spots on Dire Marsh. Interact with one and place the materials in its inventory. Then, wait a few seconds, and you'll finish the Selection Pressures 3 contract.
The post How to deliver Inert Samples and Organic Data to DCON in Marathon – Selection Pressures 3 contract guide appeared first on Destructoid. |
WGB Wednesday, March 11, 2026 5:49 PM ZeniMax Media filed a new trademark for the Quake name, exciting fans as it coincides with the franchise's 30th anniversary. However, this likely represents routine maintenance rather than an immediate announcement for a new game. |
MonsterVine Wednesday, March 11, 2026 3:46 PM Interabang Entertainment and Digital Eclipse have announced the release date for Jay and Silent Bob: Chronic Blunt Punch, and you might be able to guess it given its thematic relevance. The colorful side-scrolling beat-em-up is set to launch for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, and PC on April 20. It can already be […] |
MonsterVine Wednesday, March 11, 2026 3:32 PM During GDC this week, it was announced that Remedy Entertainment's Control Resonant will support NVIDIA DLSS 4.5 and full path tracing at launch. The game will fully support both features when it releases later this year, meaning it will use path-traced effects and RTX Mega Geometry, enhanced by DLSS Ray Reconstruction, and accelerated by DLSS […] |
MonsterVine Wednesday, March 11, 2026 3:12 PM Ahead of its launch later this year, the English voice cast for Danganronpa 2×2 has been released by Spike Chunsoft. Anyone who played the original version of Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair will likely recognize the whole list, as the entire English cast from the game's original release has been reunited for this new take on the […] |