Sloclap’s foot-to-ball game Rematch is very good, and has been doing very well, with over three million sales to date, but some of us yet grieve for a time when kicks were reserved for torsos and limbs. Which is to say, some of us have been hoping that Sloclap might return to the martial arts realm in which it has hitherto made waves.
The post Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 and Warzone Season 04 Reloaded – Full Debriefing appeared first on Xbox Wire.
Greetings, scientists! July 22 fast approaches, a date which was forecast by our analysts and tested again and again deep in the labs of our facility! That’s right, we’ve been working on Abiotic Factor, a one-of-a kind co-op adventure. Go it alone or with up to 5 friends as enthusiastic eggheads trapped in a secret underground research and containment facility following an invasion by militant crusaders bent on bringing their science to an unceremonious halt.
Use brains – not brawn – to survive, inventing and hacking your way sector by sector, inter-dimensional portal by inter-dimensional portal, to finally – hopefully – escape.
When you start your first day at the GATE Cascade Research Facility, it’s bedlam in the laboratories. Starting in the quaint Office Sector, it’s up to you and your friends to take matters into your own hands, quite literally.
Take care of your basic needs, from raiding vending machines and sleeping on couches to preparing meals from alien meats and breaking into the executive restroom on the coveted third floor… And that’s if the hazardous radiation spills don’t get you first.
Build yourself a home inside the sprawling facility, a base or shelter using whatever you can scrap together! Stay cozy and stay safe amidst the scenic vistas of vacant cubicles and machinations of science and paranormal alike. Whether it’s adding an office water cooler to your living room, an advanced power system to keep everything running, or a dozen laser turrets to fend off foes, there’s always something more to invent, build, discover, and explore.
Craft the equipment you need to combat a huge range of enemies from this world and a dozen other anteverses. Use destroyed computer parts, salvaged office equipment, alien artifacts and things your tiny human brain can barely comprehend – but it won’t stop you from trying. What are you, a coward? No, you’re a scientist.
When you’re not fighting anomalous entities, you’re farming your hydroponics. When you’re not farming, you’re cooking up that meat just right or sitting around a makeshift heater with your pals… or trying to steal an abandoned forklift.
As you scour the halls you may find yourself fighting for your life, but instead of fleeing like the scrawny egghead you might feel you are deep down inside, use that big wrinkly brain and science your way through enemy encounters to gain the upper hand, because if there’s one thing you have that they don’t, it’s the power of science at your very fingertips, right next to your calculator wristwatch. Upgrade your weapons at the Enhancement Bench and take a sip of coffee for a job well done.
Traveling with friends? Take on the team role that suits you, whether it’s forager, fighter, chef, builder or explorer, there’s a dozen ways to play Abiotic Factor – and a dozen more that you might just invent along the way. Just don’t forget to stay hydrated, okay?
The GATE Cascade Research Facility is an immense and interconnected underground world.
Open up its bizarre secrets and anomalous wonders, chamber by chamber. Create shortcuts and explore every nook and cranny – we have both. Do this all while building up an ever-expanding bag of tricks to deal with the uncanny challenges that each new sector brings, and meet other scientific experts along the way who may help – or hinder – as you strive for ultimate survival.
You’ll soon realize that the adventure goes far beyond the facility – to a myriad of strange worlds and distant, supernatural realms unlocked by science and other forces yet unknown to us mere clipboard-clutching mortals.
Whether you’re tackling your challenges as a mad scientist, or act as a more reserved researcher, through trial and error, you can survive. Just be sure to bring your favorite labcoat – and maybe a few colleagues as well.
However you do it, you can discover the wonders, trials, and the triumph of Abiotic Factor on July 22, Day 1 as part of the PlayStation Plus Game Catalog. We’ll see you soon in the GATE Cascade Research Facility.
Onwards, to science!
Right, so, you’ve read the headline. There’s now a Cyberpunk 2077 mod that adds a rubbish chute to Megabuilding H10 with full animations and everything, so that you can exit V’s default flat via a big slide down to ground level.
It’s a totally unnecessary thing for someone to have spend time adding to a video game. It’s a totally unnecessary thing for a person to download and add to a video game they’ve bought. It’s also totally glorious, to the point that none of that other stuff matters a jot.
A Fortnite player who consistently cheated in competitive tournaments has been handed a huge fine and banned from the game “forever,” developer Epic Games has said.
Sebastian Araujo from Lomita, California, was sued by Epic after participating in 839 cash tournaments within just four months, while using a device designed to evade Fortnite’s anti-cheat detection.
According to Epic, which won its legal action against Araujo this week after he attempted to ignore the lawsuit, the player’s winnings amounted to “at least $6,850.” That’s no small amount, but his fine now is 25 times higher: an enormous $175,521.
How has Epic landed on such a figure? Court documentation shared with IGN shows the developer demanded the statutory minimum $200 fine for each violation of the game’s copyright for all 839 tournaments Araujo took part in — for a total of $167,800. The remainder of the fine is then mostly attorney fees and costs.
“While the Court notes the amount sought by Plaintiff exceedingly surpasses Defendant’s alleged actual gain, $6,850, Defendant took significant measures to conceal the true scope of his cheating activities by creating multiple fake accounts and employing a hardware spoofer to circumvent detections,” the court documentation reads.
Further examination shows Epic had pushed for an even higher fine — with an additional $100,000 penalty in statutory damages for copyright infringement — though it’s here that the judge decided this amount would have been “excessive” versus Araujo’s actual ill-gotten gains.
If it feels like Epic is making an example out of Araujo, then it wouldn’t be the first time. Back in February 2025, Epic humiliated another Fortnite tournament cheater by forcing them to post a public apology video acknowledging they had cheated, and were similarly now banned for life.
As with that case, the money Araujo must now pay will be donated by Epic to Child’s Play, a charity dedicated to improving the lives of children by providing access to toys and games.
Both cases follow a promise made back in November 2024, when Epic said it was “ramping up legal action against both players who cheat and cheat sellers,” as it sought to bolster “competitive integrity in tournaments.”
This latest public announcement, eye-watering fine and lifetime ban are all likely designed to act as deterrants for any other players with ideas of doing the same.
Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
Ok, so you remember how Stellar Blade arrived on PC and immediately there were more smutty mods than you could shake a fleshy stick at?
Well, the new Zone Kit modding tools Stalker 2 got as part of yesterday’s big patch have done something similar, but with memey jank.
Tamagotchi Plaza! Ruffy and the Riverside! Locomoto!
Yes, it’s back! The latest Nintendo Download update for North America has arrived, delivering a host of new games to the eShop in North America. No, we didn’t forget about it over the past few weeks, it’s just a little thing called the Switch 2 has kept us faaaairly busy.
As always, be sure to drop a vote in our poll and comment down below with your potential picks for the week. Enjoy!
Read the full article on nintendolife.com
Warhammer 40,000: Darktide has seen a big boost in players after launching its first new class, but complaints over monetization have continued especially after developer Fatshark released a version of the Arbitrator’s default helmet with its visor up for $5.
This week’s Battle for Tertium update, which arrived alongside the new Adeptus Arbites class DLC, reworked the core player experience to provide a new, clearer narrative focus for the co-op first-person melee / shooter hybrid.
Players now experience a linear campaign with new mission debriefs and embedded cinematics. It’s designed to “ease in new players and gradually unlock features that were previously gated by character level,” Fatshark has said.
But the big draw for veteran players was the release of the Adeptus Arbites class, and it appears to have done the trick. This $11.99 DLC looks like it’s sparked the interest of players who have stuck with the game since its troubled launch, as well as convinced lapsed players to dip back in.
Following the launch, Darktide hit a peak concurrent player count of just over 43,000 on Steam, the highest it’s been on Valve’s platform for over two years. And this doesn’t even paint the whole picture of the game’s success, given it’s also out on console.
In a statement provided to IGN, Product Marketing Manager Rodrigue Delrue said Fatshark had noticed the uptick, but failed to say exactly how many were playing Darktide across PC and console.
“We’ve seen a high level of engagement across all platforms, even if we don’t have exact numbers to share at this time,” Delrue said. “What’s important is that the community remains active and passionate, and we’re incredibly thankful for that.”
However, there is one sticking point: monetization. Darktide’s Adeptus Arbites DLC launched alongside a fresh round of premium cosmetics, bought with the in-game currency called Aquilas (the Aquila is the ancient symbol of the Imperium of Man in the Warhammer 40,000 universe). And within that monetization debate, one item in particular has set the community off: a helmet with its visor up.
This helmet, specifically for the Arbitrator, is identical to the default visor-down helmet you get with the new class. So, you’re paying 900 Aquilas (approx. $5) just to lift your visor up.
As you’d imagine, this hasn’t gone down well with some Darktide players. “We’ve reached the current peak of Fatshark greed,” reads one thread on the Darktide subreddit, upvoted 3,000 times.
“Yeah, it’s bulls**t that this wasn’t just included alongside the otherwise identical default visor-down helmet,” said one player. “Just give me a button push that lets me do this,” suggested another. “I’m just glad the visor up isn’t default and they make you pay for down,” joked one fan. “You mean I have to pay extra to actually see my character’s ugly face? I was buying skins to cover it up.”
IGN put the complaints about this cosmetic and Darktide’s monetization generally to Fatshark, and Delrue explained the studio needs to sell items in order to continue working on the game, but took the feedback on board.
“Cosmetic pricing is always a balancing act,” Delrue said. “As a live service game we want to be able to keep working on the game while respecting what players feel is fair value. We appreciate when these topics are brought up, these conversations help us better understand what the community values and helps inform how we approach cosmetics going forward.”
The question now is, how much longer will Fatshark continue to work on adding new content to Darktide, which is approaching its third birthday? Delrue pointed to the studio’s continued support of the even older Warhammer game, Vermintide, as evidence of its commitment to its players, and even confirmed more new classes are on the way.
“Since launch, we’ve continuously supported Darktide with free updates — and that commitment isn’t changing,” Delrue said. “As we’ve shown with Vermintide, we’re in this for the long haul. Players can naturally expect ongoing support, including new classes and additional free content as the game continues to evolve.”
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
Funcom is updating Dune: Awakening almost faster than we can write about it. No sooner had we introduced you to its Public Test Client and news that the studio was trialling extending the PvE zone of the Deep Desert from about 10% of the map to 50%, Funcom has dropped an update to confirm that the change will be rolling out for all players from today, June 26.
“The PvE area has been adjusted to encompass the entire southern half of the Deep Desert map,” Funcom confirmed in its latest patch notes, below. “This means that players who have no interest in PvP should be able to find what they want without engaging in PvP. Imperial Testing Stations, caves, and so forth found in this area are thus now PvE.”
“Rest assured that we will continue to listen to your feedback and make adjustments in the future,” the team said.
It follows an AMA in which the studio told players frustrated by the endgame experience that it was “formulating a plan” to improve PvP in the Deep Desert. Previously, players branded the endgame as “toxic” due to griefing even after patching out the ability for players to squish other people with their Ornithopter
“We want PvE players to be able to play the endgame and have access to the content of the endgame,” said creative director Joel Bylos. “Our goal is not to force PvE players to interact with a PvP system that they may have no interest in.
“We still believe in the core concept of the Deep Desert — an endlessly renewing location that resets every week and creates an activity loop for great rewards. The tension of heading out there, head on a swivel, eyes peeled for foes as you enter the most dangerous part of the most dangerous planet in the universe. Our wish was that players would embrace this loop, forming guilds to work together to overcome the bleakness of the Deep Desert.”
For those wondering, yes, Control Points and Shipwrecks will continue to be PvP “throughout the entire map,” which means you will find “localized pockets of PvP within the PvE section still. Similar to how Shipwrecks are PvP in Hagga Basin.” Work has also begun on changing the Ornithopters; equipping a rocket launcher module will now decrease the top speed of your Scout Orni by 20%, and Assault Ornis by 10%.
After the patch has been applied, players will also be able to report other players’ messages from the text chat or report them by using the Inspect menu.
As outlined in A message from the Creative Director on PvE and PVP » Dune: Awakening, this hotfix will see the first iteration of the changes to the balance between PvE and PvP in the Deep Desert. Rest assured that we will continue to listen to your feedback and make adjustments in the future.
Dune: Awakening has enjoyed a superb launch, with a ‘very positive’ user review rating on Steam. Within hours of going live on June 10, Funcom’s survival MMO had clocked up over 142,000 concurrent players on Valve’s platform, and hit a new high earlier this month of 189,333 players. And it’s already clocked up over 1 million players, too, making it Funcom’s fastest-selling game ever, and securing a Great 8/10 in our review.
If all that’s got you interested but you’re not sure where to start, make sure to check out all the Dune: Awakening classes you can choose from, and keep an eye on our Dune: Awakening walkthrough for a step-by-step guide to the story. We’ve also got Dune: Awakening resource guides that’ll help you find iron, steel, aluminium, and a Dune: Awakening Trainers locations guide to help you survive on Arrakis.
Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world’s biggest gaming sites and publications. She’s also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.
French studio Don’t Nod have laid off workers across multiple departments. The full number is unconfirmed, but multiple affected staff have posted about their departures on LinkedIn, including Lost Records: Bloom & Rage principal cinematic artist Mary Pouliot, technical artist Laurent Dufrense, and QA lead Sandra Cormier.
It’s been a rocky year or so for Don’t Nod’s staff. Last September, the studio paused two unannounced games and said they’re altering others, also unannounced, to be more appealing to a “wider audience”, following warnings about an 11% decline in operating revenue for the first half of 2024. Chairman and CEO Oskar Guilbert attributed this to (the excellent) Jusant and Banishers: Ghosts Of New Eden performing “well below expectations” commercially.
