Apr 29, 12:00


Kotaku Friday, April 29, 2022 11:05 AM
    

Narrated test footage for Skull and Bones has leaked online, showing off a big part of the blockbuster's transformation since it was last officially shown at E3 2018. It's pretty and also looks like a textbook modern Ubisoft game. Players will collect blueprints, loot materials, and build up their infamy rank to get…

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Kotaku Friday, April 29, 2022 9:45 AM
    

Hope Wallston—an ex-realtor, single mother, and blogger within The Sims 4— has been living inside of fellow Sims Rodney and Kristyn's walls for nearly two months. Her captor, the TikTok account @simslicious, has been documenting all the ups and downs of her imprisonment, which includes a visit from Santa and,…

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PCGamesN Friday, April 29, 2022 11:50 AM
     Genshin Impact 2.7 delay announced by Miyoho

Developer Mihoyo has announced a Genshin Impact 2.7 delay, stating that the next big 2.7 update has been temporarily postponed. The delay is likely at least in part due to the recent COVID-19 lockdown in Shanghai where Mihoyo is based. This means players will have to wait a bit longer for the much anticipated new Genshin Impact characters Yelan and Kuki Shinobu, who are due to arrive in the version 2.7 update.

Fans of the open-world RPG were anticipating a May 11 release date for version 2.7, based on the regular six week development cycle that Genshin Impact updates have mostly stuck to in the past. However, this announcement almost certainly means that the update will be arriving a little later down the line. The official Genshin Impact Twitter account which announced the delay did not give a specific timeframe, but said Mihoyo "will provide the corresponding information to Travellers as soon as possible."

Datamined information for Genshin Impact 2.7 means some of the key components of the update are already out there. Part of the 2.7 trailer has been leaked, though it doesn't give away much new information. New character Yelan's ascension materials are already likely known, so check out our guide if you want to use the extra time provided by the delay to prepare the things you need to level her up when she arrives.

RELATED LINKS: Play Genshin Impact for free, Genshin Impact character tier list, Genshin Impact leveling guide

PCGamesN Friday, April 29, 2022 11:15 AM
     Final Fantasy 16 update: RPG in

Naoki Yoshida, producer on Final Fantasy 16 alongside his work on the hugely successful MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV, has given a Final Fantasy 16 update in an interview with Uniqlo Japan's in-store magazine saying that FF16 is in the final stages of development. Via translation by aitaikimochi on Twitter, Yoshida hopes that players who have drifted away from Final Fantasy will find it to be a game that reinvigorates "the passion that you once had with the series."

It's been a while since we heard much about the development of Final Fantasy XVI, with the upcoming JRPG having its development delayed "by almost half a year" due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Fans were reassured that the game's next big reveal would be due in spring 2022, so this brief nugget of information should come as welcome news as it suggests things are still on track for the time being.

Yoshida's statement, part of an interview for a special 35th Anniversary edition of the Uniqlo magazine, also speaks to their general goals with the project. Yoshida emphasises that Final Fantasy XVI is designed to be a single-player experience which "focuses on the individual player and immerses you in the story."


PCGamesN Friday, April 29, 2022 9:25 AM
     YouTuber beats Minecraft challenge run with no kills

Minecraft challenge runs are a staple of the crafting game's creator community. It's generally not what we'd call a violent game, but you do end up killing a surprising number of enemies in a normal playthrough - whether that's the zombies that bother you at the beginning, farming items from creatures in the Nether, or just slaying the Ender Dragon - and so a pacifist playthrough is trickier than you might think. You enact a lot of violence without ever really planning on it.

You don't have to though, and we know that now because of SwitchBackMongo, a Minecraft YouTuber who mainly plays in Hardcore. SwitchBackMongo decided that the cycle of violence had to end and embarked on a journey to defeat the game without killing any Minecraft mobs. Well, mostly. They technically didn't kill anything, but the explosive beds - that's right - they used around the Ender Dragon definitely did.

Anyone who's played Minecraft before will know that if you're looking for resources, you end up having to defend yourself. When you're deep in the crust of the overworld, skeletons, spiders, and creepers are all going to try and find and kill you, so just avoiding them is a fairly titanic effort. Even the simple act of grabbing some iron can get you into a fight or, y'know, killed. Remember, this is Hardcore, so death isn't an option.

RELATED LINKS: Minecraft console commands, Minecraft skins, Minecraft mods

PCGamesN Friday, April 29, 2022 8:59 AM
     Total Warhammer 3 Immortal Empires release date: not before July

Creative Assembly has published the Total War: Warhammer 3 roadmap for its 2022 DLC releases, which includes two free Regiments of Renown unit packs and a rough window for the Total Warhammer 3 Immortal Empires release date. The RTS game's much-anticipated Immortal Empires DLC is set to release in Q3 2022 (July - September), which is probably later than fans would have hoped given that Warhammer II's Mortal Empires campaign released just a month after the base game's launch. Q3 will also see the arrival of mod tools with the Total War Assembly Kit.

The Total Warhammer III Immortal Empires combined map is scheduled to launch with update 2.0, and will unite all three Total War: Warhammer games into one grand-scale campaign for players that own all three of the titles. The mode will intially be available as an integrated open beta, and Creative Assembly calls it "a monumental undertaking that will continue to grow and evolve" over time.

Update 2.0 will also see overhauls for the remaining races who haven't been brought up to date with Total Warhammer III's newer mechanics. First up will be the Warriors of Chaos, who are likely to see new systems, units, and balance to help bring them up to speed with the current game. Also releasing alongside update 2.0 is the first true DLC pack, currently titled Lord Pack I. This will introduce new legendary lords, heroes, and other units which can be used in both grand campaign and multiplayer modes.

RELATED LINKS: Total War: Warhammer 3 DLC, Total War: Warhammer 3 races, Total War: Warhammer 3 review

PCGamesN Friday, April 29, 2022 7:27 AM
     Bungie's claim against Destiny 2 cheats seller dismissed

The everlasting struggle between game companies and cheat sellers rages on, with recent developments to a complaint filed by Bungie at a Seattle federal court. The FPS game's developer is accusing Destiny 2 cheats seller AimJunkies of both copyright and trademark infringement for its 'Destiny 2 Hacks' toolset. TorrentFreak reports that U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Zilly has now dismissed Bungie's claims of copyright infringement, although the trademark infringement accusations still stand.

Bungie had success in its ongoing fight against cheat manufacturers earlier this year when it successfully sued GatorCheats alongside Valorant developer Riot Games. The lawsuit ended with a £2 million settlement and the shutdown of GatorCheats. However, Bungie's case against AimJunkies has now hit a slight stumbling block with the Judge's ruling that Bungie "has not pleaded sufficient facts to plausibly allege that AimJunkies copied constituent elements of Bungie's work."

This does not mean the end of the case, as Judge Zilly concluded that the trademark infringement case was suitably pled. This refers to AimJunkies' unsolicited use of the Destiny name and logo in a manner which "is likely to cause confusion, mistake, or deception as to the source, origin, or authenticity of the cheat software." The Judge notes Bungie's claim "that it has invested substantial resources in marketing, advertising, and distributing" using the Destiny name and logo, meaning that its "false origin" claim (often tied into trademark infringement) is also being upheld.

RELATED LINKS: Destiny 2: Beyond Light review, Destiny 2 exotics, Play Destiny 2

Rock Paper Shotgun Latest Articles Feed Friday, April 29, 2022 11:36 AM
    

Rarely has the threat to bite your thumb at someone resulted in all-out nuclear armageddon, but one group of Fallout 76 players will prove the exception tomorrow when they perform William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet live in the game. The Wasteland Theatre Company has even built a stage they say is modelled after London's Globe Theatre, renowned for its performances of the Bard's plays. They're a week late to celebrate Shakespeare's birthday, but I won't judge because I can't even add up properly in Freddos.

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Rock Paper Shotgun Latest Articles Feed Friday, April 29, 2022 11:30 AM
    

This is just superb.

I'm not a fan of most fighting games. All too often they have too many elaborate moves, too much memory testing, or they feel like glorified puzzles you have to figure out the one solution to.

Hats Are Not Allowed takes an approach I find far more interesting. Combat is pared down to a few basic principles, and the challenge comes from learning how to combine them, and timing is less about animations than about second guessing your opponent. I can't say it's one of the best dueling games ever, but it's the best one I've played for ages.

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Rock Paper Shotgun Latest Articles Feed Friday, April 29, 2022 10:30 AM
    

Battle royale spinoff and subtitle collector Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodhunt launched this week , following a delay to address feedback from its early access phase. That included ample reports of performance issues, but fortunately, what I've played over the past couple of days points towards a much more stable brand of last-vamp-standing shootery. Let's take a look, then, at Bloodhunt's PC performance, system requirements and the best settings to tweak.

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Rock Paper Shotgun Latest Articles Feed Friday, April 29, 2022 10:30 AM
    

QA contractors working directly on the next Dragon Age with BioWare Edmonton have filed to unionise, just the latest in a string of such decisions affecting high-profile companies throughout the industry. The workers are employed by the internationally-operating contract services company Keywords Studios but contracted out to BioWare. They've now formed the KWS Edmonton United group and have named low pay and concern at being instructed back into the office while Covid-19 remains a danger as their reasons to seek collective bargaining.

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Rock Paper Shotgun Latest Articles Feed Friday, April 29, 2022 8:30 AM
    

A rooster calls, and the sun rises as I stock the shelves for another day in Winkeltje: The Little Shop, a business management game about running a little store in a fantasy town. I recently inherited Hefford's Hovel and, after a manic start, have managed to become well-known for my loaves of bread. Each day customers charge into the store and raid the various displays, tussling over freshly-baked rolls before scrambling home to slap them on a plate. It's mass hysteria, but what can I say? I make damn good bread.

Fresh meals are just one of six item categories you can sell in Winkeltje, but I don't need to worry about the rest. Over a few in-game days, your store starts to specialise in the goods you stock, so customers will visit expecting to find those same items. When you enter the Hovel, you're greeted with the toasty warmth of the oven as the scent of baking dough drifts through the air. You won't see us preparing potions or crafting clothes, no sir. For that, you'll have to go elsewhere.

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Rock Paper Shotgun Latest Articles Feed Friday, April 29, 2022 8:13 AM
    

Take chess, reduce one side to only the king, fill him with a terrible wrath, hand him a shotgun, then watch him go. That's Shotgun King, a roguelikelike turn-based shooter where units (mostly) move like chess pieces, only our lone king has a shotgun. It might sound like a throwaway joke game but Shotgun King is an interesting and fun challenge, especially when your upgrades also bestow different buffs upon the opposing army. And it has a free early version so you can have a go yourself.

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Rock Paper Shotgun Latest Articles Feed Friday, April 29, 2022 7:56 AM
    

The latest backstory video for Apex Legends has arrived, but it turns out Respawn and EA pulled a fast one on us when they supposedly confirmed the identity of rookie Legend Newcastle as Jackson Miller. So Newcastle isn't the Newcastle that's been in the Apex Legends backstory for ages, yet he is Newcastle. How does that work? Well, Jackson Williams is Newcastle now. He just wasn't always.

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Rock Paper Shotgun Latest Articles Feed Friday, April 29, 2022 6:57 AM
    

Shareholders in Activision Blizzard approved overwhelmingly to accept Microsoft Corporation's offer of $68.7 billion (£54.66 billion) to acquire the company at yesterday's Special Meeting of Stockholders. More than 98% of the shares voted in favour of the buyout offer, Activision Blizzard confirmed in a statement released on their website. The largest payment for a technology company in recorded history, toppling Dell's acquisition of EMC Data Storage from 2016, it's now expected the deal will conclude during Microsoft's fiscal year, which ends on June 30th 2023.

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Twinfinite Friday, April 29, 2022 12:00 PM
     Today aNCHOR announced that the Muv-Luv Alternative manga has become available on the popular online reading portal and app INKR.

Twinfinite Friday, April 29, 2022 11:31 AM
     Microsoft has just revealed the four games that will be available for players through Games With Gold in May 2022. These games can be played by Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and Xbox Live Gold subscribers at no extra cost. All four games are playable on Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S, while Xbox 360 users […]

Twinfinite Friday, April 29, 2022 11:29 AM
     Today D3 Publisher announced the Japanese release date of their upcoming action game Earth Defense Force 6.

Twinfinite Friday, April 29, 2022 10:09 AM
     "There is a realm of existence so far beyond your own you cannot even imagine it. I am beyond your comprehension. I am Sovereign." It's time to take control of the controller, as Dark Horse Direct is creating an amazing replica of Mass Effect's original Reaper, Sovereign. Standing in at 14 inches tall and weighing […]

Twinfinite Friday, April 29, 2022 9:52 AM
     Today, Lillymo Games' 2D shoot'em up, Habroxia 2, has finally made its way to the PS5. This news came by way of Twitter, where Co-Owner Colin Moriarty revealed that the title would be arriving on the platform and that PS4 owners would also get a copy for free. Alongside this news, Moriarty also revealed that […]

Twinfinite Friday, April 29, 2022 9:51 AM
     The official Genshin Impact Twitter account has just recently announced that the game's upcoming version 2.7 update will be delayed. The tweet mentions that there will be player compensation for the delay and that more details are on the way for those who are looking to get a grasp on the situation. New version updates […]

Twinfinite Friday, April 29, 2022 8:44 AM
     Developer 11 Bit Studios has announced that its acclaimed war-torn survival sim, This War of Mine: Final Cut, will be launching on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S next month. The expanded version of the Polish developer's strategy game will officially drop on May 10 and will bring with it a multitude of improvements. Specifically, This […]