After yesterday’s leak, it looks like the cat is out of the bag now, as Disney has officially announced Disney Classic Games: Aladdin and The Lion King. The collection will contain re-releases of the classics Disney’s Aladdin and The Lion King, and will be coming out this Fall for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and will cost $29.99.

While the company could’ve made this straight and simple, they’ve made the interesting choice to include different versions of both the 16-bit titles. Here’s the list of what’s included:

• Disney’s Aladdin – SEGA Genesis
• Disney’s Aladdin – Game Boy, and Super Game Boy
• Disney’s Aladdin Final Cut-Sega Genesis
• Disney’s Aladdin Trade Show Demo-Sega Genesis
• The Lion King – SEGA Genesis
• The Lion King – Super Nintendo
• The Lion King – Game Boy and Super Game Boy

It’s quite a unique take as far as collections go, especially since we’ve never even heard of the Final Cut or a Trade Show Demo of Disney’s Aladdin. It just goes to show what the developers, Digital Eclipse, are willing to do to ensure that this is more than just a re-release of two of the best side-scrolling games of the 90’s. In addition, all titles will have slightly up-scaled graphics for modern televisions, a rewind feature that lets you turn back time to undo your mistakes while you play, an art gallery, and a music player with songs from both games.

Digital Eclipse is known for their work on other collections, such as the Mega Man Legacy Collection, so we’re pretty sure that these titles are in good hands. No release date was given with the announcement, but since it’s coming out later this year it’s only a matter of time before they reveal that as well. Disney Classic Games: Aladdin and The Lion King launches this Fall for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC.

Disney Classic Games: Aladdin and The Lion King Announcement Trailer: 

Seemingly out of nowhere, a Nintendo Switch Protective Case with an Overwatch theme has been listed on Amazon. Less than 30 minutes after this, the listing was removed from Amazon’s site, but because this is the internet, we’ve already seen it and so has everyone else.

Normally this wouldn’t be such a big deal. Nintendo has made tons of these third-party style cases before. The reason it is, however, is because Overwatch has not been released for the Nintendo Switch, and such a listing is going to point to the only logical conclusion; Overwatch is coming to Nintendo’s console. As of this writing, neither Nintendo nor Blizzard Entertainment has made any official statement, but with BlizzCon 2019 just around the corner, it’s only a matter of time before one of them has to say something.

Easily the most popular title in Blizzards repertoire right now, Overwatch has stampeded its way into the video game market, and has since become one of the most critically acclaimed games in history. Overwatch was also the company’s return to the home console market, and while the PC version is arguably better, it was a wise decision as it opened the flood gates for more players to jump on the Blizzard bandwagon.

It’s hard not to imagine both companies working together again to bring another title to the system. Diablo III was ported to the Switch last year and that was deemed a success, so it wouldn’t surprise us to hear about Overwatch coming to the Switch very soon. As we said earlier, the page has been removed, but keep an eye on that link for the foreseeable future.

It’s hard to believe, but WoW Classic is now less than a few days away from launching world wide. It’s something that many fans never thought would come into existence, especially with how much the landscape has changed in the world of Azeroth. Blizzard recognizes that a lot of the old school players want to return to their glory days of vanilla WoW, where things were a lot different than the current World of Warcraft.

Despite the impending release, a lot of players are still scratching their heads on how this is going to work. Will it be an extension of the current WoW? Or is this a separate title they developed? The answer is both yes and no, as WoW Classic is essentially its own server, isolated from the main public realm of WoW. The company boasts that it’s the definitive WoW experience from the Summer of 2006, right before The Burning Crusade expansion launched. Obviously it’s a little more than that, so we’ll go over some of the things that we know about WoW Classic.

How to access WoW Classic.

You’ll have to gain access through the Battle.net, Blizzards own proprietary game launcher. When you open it you’ll see a list of games on the left side with World of Warcraft usually at the top. Select the game, and then look near the bottom of that page for the Version Menu and choose World of Warcraft Classic. Once this is done, the game will begin to install onto your computer, and when that’s finished you can start playing.

It’s also important to note that anyone who has taken part in the stress tests for the game over the past couple of months won’t be able to bring their characters into Classic. You’ll need to make a brand new one when it releases next week.

How much will the game cost?

Thankfully, WoW Classic will not be a fully priced title. Instead, anyone who has an active subscription to WoW, or active game time will be able to jump right into Classic. If you aren’t subscribed, then it will cost you $14.99 a month to start, with options to pay more than a month’s time if you wish to do so.

Create a Character started already, and it’s possible that your name has been taken.

Last week, Blizzard announced that they were letting players create three characters per account well ahead of Classic’s release. This process officially started on Monday, August 12, which means that right now, you can lock up what class, race, and more importantly, what names you want to give your characters. The downside to this is because it’s been going on for a while now, the chances of claiming your name is much smaller.

Of course if you have a unique trait that you always use, then this probably won’t mean anything. For everyone else who has a simpler, shorter, and very much sought after title, it’s more than likely that it’s been claimed already. In addition you can also pick out which server you want to join when the game starts up. Blizzard has outlined all of the severs for North America, and recently added some from other regions.

To start locking in your characters, you can follow the same steps on How to access WoW Classic. 

You are not prepared: Classic will be much harder than WoW.

A lot of people may not realize this, but World of Warcraft is 15 years old. A lot has changed over the seven expansions, and with those changes came simpler mechanics, and a forgiving system that allows players to jump right back in with little to no consequences. When WoW first came out in 2004, this was not the case. MMORPG’s at the time were normally played by die hard enthusiasts that grew accustomed to the punishing aspects of those games, like Everquest and Runescape.

WoW Classic is being made to look, feel, and play just like it was before the first major expansion came out, and thanks to some of the stress tests, a lot of newer gamers are starting to realize what they’re getting themselves into. Ironically, most of them reported the older features as “bugs.” Blizzard had to come out and say that these features were intentionally implemented, making for a rather humorous moment.

For instance, enemies/creatures respawn at a much lower rate, making farming for EXP and gold that much more difficult. Another example are the Quest Markers and Points of interests not being tracked on the map or mini-map. Little nuances such as these normally wouldn’t be considered game changers, but if you were to look at the full “Not a Bug” List that Blizzards Community Manager put together, it’s actually quite staggering how much of a difference it is.

With all of this in mind, it’s safe to say that WoW Classic will not be for the faint of heart, or the impatient for that matter. Simply put, it’s a long drawn out grind with a higher than usual difficulty, especially at the beginning.

Blizzard will patch the game with six phases of updates.

WoW Classic will launch with the 1.12 patch, which is also known as the Drums of War. According to the company, this patch represents the most complete vanilla WoW experience and was originally released in August of 2006. However, Blizzard is going above and beyond with this idea by updating the game with the exact same patches in the very same manner they did during it’s initial run.

Each patch will introduce new areas to explore, Dungeons and Raids, but won’t tamper with any other types of balances, cementing the gameplay aspect with the 1.12 patch. The company is planning to bring out six different updates over the course of Classic’s lifetime. Blizzard hasn’t stated what the plans will be once these phases are done, but we wouldn’t be surprised if they reintroduced The Burning Crusade expansion to the Classic server as well as the most popular expansion; Wrath of the Lich King.

You can check out the companies Classic Content Plan here.

When does WoW Classic Launch?

WoW Classic launches worldwide on Monday August 26, 3:00 pm PDT/ 6:00 pm EST. As we said earlier, you’ll need the Battle.net launcher to play the game, which you can download here.

NetherRealm Studios has finally let the cat out of the bag, as they have announced the full lineup of fighters for Mortal Kombat 11’s Kombat Pack. We already know that Shang Tsung, Nightwolf and Sindel are in the DLC pack, but we didn’t know who the final three were going to be, until now. Terminator, Spawn, and The Joker were all confirmed by the company today, with the former coming out very soon.

Here is the full list of fighters and when they’re available to play in the game:

• Shang Tsung: Available now
• Nightwolf: Available now
• Terminator: October 8, 2019
• Sindel: November 26, 2019
• Joker: January 28, 2020
• Spawn: March 17: 2020

Shang Tsung and Nightwolf are already out for the game, with the latter being available as recent as last week. Sindel was confirmed a while ago, but did not have a set date until now. Terminator is modeled after the Hollywood star Arnold Schwarzenegger who made the character popular through the Terminator film series. The version we’ll be getting here is based on the upcoming entry Dark Fate, giving the Terminator a much more grizzled look.

The Joker needs no introduction as the most famous arch-villain of Batman, and arguably the most popular villain in DC Comics history. This isn’t Jokers first outing in a Mortal Kombat game. He appeared in 2008’s Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, making him the first guest character to have already been in a previous game in the franchise.

This iteration will be yet another cross promotion to a future film, Joker, which will be portrayed by Joaquin Phoenix. Lastly there’s Spawn, the most famous comic character created by Todd McFarlane. A huge hero (or anti-hero) in his own right, Spawn is often cited as one the best comic book icons from the 1990’s and influenced a whole new generation of fans.

This finishes up the current Kombat Pack, but it’s more than likely that NetherRealm will announce a second one before the year ends. As we said earlier, Shang Tsung and Nightwolf are already out in Mortal Kombat 11. Terminator and Sindel will be released in October and November respectively, while Joker and Spawn don’t launch until early next year.

You can check out the Roster Reveal Trailer here:

Looks like we’re getting those remastered Yakuza games after all. Sega has officially revealed that Yakuza 3, 5, and 5 will all be coming to the West in the form of the Yakuza Remastered Collection. Despite the name, this isn’t exactly a collection, as all three games will be released separately through February 2020. Fans won’t have to wait long for the first game though, as Yakuza 3 is available today for the PlayStation 4.

All three games have been remastered for 1080p and will run at 60 frames per second, giving the slightly aged titles a much needed face lift. It’s important to note that this will not be anything like Yakuza Kiwami and Kiwami 2, as those are complete reworks of the first and second Yakuza titles made from the ground up on a whole new game engine. The franchise has seen a massive resurgence in the States since the critically acclaimed Yakuza 0 came out in 2016, and it’s great to see that Sega acknowledges this.

On top of that, Sega will also be giving the collection a physical release on February 11 2020, when Yakuza 5 launches. The collection will come in a special steel blu ray case with the Dragon of Dojima symbol surrounding it, as well as an actual PS3 case for Yakuza 5. The reason for this is because this marks the first time that Yakuza 5 will be available physically in the States. Sega hasn’t stated whether the collection will be ported to PC like the other Yakuza titles, but we don’t expect them to make that transition any time soon.

The Yakuza Remastered Collection will launch physically on February 11, 2020 for the PlaySation 4. Yakuza 3 is available through the PlayStation Store today. Yakuza 4 and 5 will launch on October 29 2019 and February 11, 2020 respectively.

You can check out the announcement trailer here:

Talk about coming out of nowhere. During the Opening Night ceremony of Gamescom, THQ Nordic announced a brand new IP, a complete revival of a long forgotten franchise, Comanche. Whats Comanche you ask? Well it’s one of the original air combat simulators, particularly helicopters. The game is being developed by Nukklear, a studio under THQ Nordic, and they are giving the series a huge face lift, and it looks absolutely beautiful.

From what we can tell the game will have an emphasis for online multiplayer and feature team-based combat and strategy. You’ll be able to switch from a third-person perspective to a first person one, switching from being able to see the actual Comanche to looking from within the cockpit. You can also use drones to dogfight in close quarters as well as sabotage the enemies base and secure it for yourself.

No specific platform/console was announced for Comanche, but it will more than likely be coming out for PC at the very least, with the possibility of other systems later. Comanche will be available for Early Access starting sometime in 2020, with the Alpha and possibly the Beta scheduled for later this year.

You can watch the reveal trailer here:

Gamescom 2019 is in full swing as we’ve already seen some awesome reveals today. Google’s turn was up next, and with their Stadia Connect presentation, they showed off more games that will eventually become available for the Stadia when it launches later this year. Yet for some reason, Google decided to showcase games that were already announced for their service, as recent as E3 2019.

Regardless of this, we did see some new titles announced for the lineup, as well as some unexpected sequels as well. Here is the list of games announced today for the Google Stadia.

• Cyberpunk 2077
• Kine
• Orcs Must Die 3 (Exclusive)
• Windjammers 2
• Destroy All Humans! 
• Superhot
• Attack on Titan 2: Final Battle

Cyberpunk 2077 needs no introduction as it is already the most anticipated video game of this generation. At this point, it’s been announced for nearly every system, so it’s no surprise that Google was able to get their hands on it. Kine is a very unique puzzle like platformer that has you travel around with various musical instruments as your only means or traversing, similar to Crash Bandicoot except you can’t jump.

Orcs Must Die 3 was one of the bigger surprises during the presentation, especially as an exclusive to the Google Stadia. The series hasn’t seen a proper sequel in years, and fans will be delighted, or horrified, that Google has picked it up for their library. More than likely, the game will be released on other platforms sometime after it’s initial release, but for now, you’ll have to get trhe Stadia to play the newest entry.

Windjammers 2 has been in development for a long time now, while Attack on Titan 2: Final Battle is an expansion of sorts for the original game that came out last year. Destroy all Humans! is a full remake of the PlayStation 2 classic, and Superhot is one of the most talked about PC games in the last few years. Speaking of Superhot, Google took full advantage of having the game for the Stadia by teasing another entry for the franchise, Superhot: Mind Control Delete, which has been in Early Access on Steam since 2017.

Google didn’t really show off a whole lot here, but at least we have a better idea of what will be accessible when the Stadia comes out this year. The Google Stadia will launch in November with the Founders Edition, with the Pro and Base editions releasing in 2020.

You can watch the entire Google Stadia Connect presentation here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVYW5KWLk0w

Europe’s equivalent to North America’s E3, Gamescom 2019 is all set to begin this week in Cologne, Germany from August 20 to 24. The event will see announcements on brand new IP’s as well as updates to existing ones as the video game community awaits with bated breath. Just like E3, a lot of those reveals have been leaked across the internet over the past few weeks, giving us some insight on what the developers have been working on.

Some companies are holding special events and conferences the day before on August 19, usually to spruce up the products a bit before the convention attendees get their hands on them to try out. The major difference between E3 and Gamescom is that it tends to keep the AAA titles to a minimum and allows more smaller, unknown indie games to shine during the event. Still, it’s a great way for gamers to get a good idea of how the rest of the year will be for them, and in 2020 as well. So without further ado, here are some of the major announcements we can expect from Gamescom 2019.

Nintendo Unveils More Indie Titles for the Switch

Nintendo will be the first company to show off new games on August 19 for the Switch, but it won’t be like other Nintendo Directs. Dubbed the Nintendo Indie World Showcase, the company will be announcing a bevy of new games, mostly third party, for their system. Most of these titles will probably launch later this year, in fact, some will more than likely be shadow dropped that very day.

The one game that has been making the rounds in the rumor mill has been Ori and the Blind Forest, which has been a huge success particularly for Microsoft. This seems like an obvious one for Nintendo to get their hands on which will only make the Switch library that much more enticing. Other than this, don’t expect too much from Nintendo this week.

The Nintendo Indie World Showcase will begin on August 19 at 6 AM PST/9 AM EST. You can watch it when it goes live here.

Microsoft Shows Off More Gameplay for Already Established Titles

Of all the companies attending Gamescom 2019, Microsoft is set to reveal the most from their AAA lineup. The company will be using their monthly Inside Xbox event to present more gameplay footage and trailers for basically everything and anything they’ve been working on. This includes Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Breakpoint, Destiny 2 Shadowkeep, Blair Witch, Vigor, and of course Gears 5.

In addition, Microsoft will also talk about its upcoming X019 event later this year, and reveal more titles being added to the Xbox Game Pass Program. We don’t expect anything earth shattering to be announced, but it’s always worth checking in to see if the company wants to shake things up.

The Inside Xbox will begin on August 19 at 8 AM PST/11 AM EST. You can watch it when it goes live here.

Google Announces More Games for the Stadia

We’ve already gone over Google and the Stadia Connect event that was announced a couple of weeks ago, but now we have a better idea of what to look forward to. The company will be looking to reveal more titles that will be featured on their service. Google has been absolutely silent on what those games will be, but expect that list to be updated this week when they host the second ever Stadia Connect.

We don’t see Google going over the actual technology any more than they already have, and since attendees will be able to demo the Stadia themselves we’re sure to have more information from that throughout the week.

The Stadia Connect will begin on August 19 at 10 AM PST/1 PM EST. You can watch it when it goes live here.

Opening Night Will Feature Numerous Reveals From Many Companies

As if all of this wasn’t enough, Gamescom 2019 will even have its own special ceremony to officially kick things off. Hosted by none other than Geoff Keighly, Opening Night’s presentation will detail a plethora of game announcements and amendments to current ones. A who’s who of developers and companies have already been confirmed by Keighly himself, and the card is stacked to say the least with over 25 games and 2 hours of content planned for all to see.

We can expect to see many announcements such as more information on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, the Gears 5 Campaign reveal, the Need for Speed Heat gameplay reveal, the Borderlands 3 End Game reveal, and some more information from Hideo Kojima about Death Stranding. Some developers are also planning to show up for the ceremony and disclose their own tidbits of reveals including Sega, Square Enix, Ubisoft, Capcom, and many more.

The Opening Night will begin on August 19 at 11 AM PST/2 PM EST. You can watch it when it goes live here.

A new site owned by Sega has popped up out of nowhere and it appears to be teasing a brand new title ahead of Gamescom 2019. Titled HMKD, the website only has a heart rate monitor in the background with the words “Be the First to Know” in the center. Clicking on this will ask for an email address for those who want to be informed of any updates regarding the website and its purpose.

The letters are clearly a play on the word Humankind, which has been a long rumored title that Sega has been developing since last year. No other details have been given in regards to the mystery game, but with Gamescom around the corner, the company is sure to unveil a whole lot of information on us very soon. The medical facet featured here could also mean the return of the long forgotten franchise Trauma Center, which is a popular surgeon simulator where you attempt to save patients from dying.

However, it’s more than likely that Sega will be showing off their new AAA title at the event. The last Trauma Center game released in 2010 for the Nintendo Wii, and Sega hasn’t shown any interest in reviving the series since. Along with this new title, Sega will also be showcasing gameplay from Catherine: Full Body, Two Point Hospital, and the Sega Genesis Mini. Gamescom 2019 runs from August 20 to 24 in Cologne, Germany. You can watch the Opening Night Live on the official Twitch Channel which is set the day before on August 19 at 11:00 am PST/2:00 pm EST.

The Epic Games Store has definitely generated some controversy this year, but they’ve also implemented some really cool features to try and bring in more gamers to use their launcher. One of these is the free games they offer up every now and then with the next batch being two of the best indie titles in recent memory, Hyper Light Drifter and Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden.

Hyper Light Drifter

A beautiful side scrolling game that pays tribute to the 16-bit era, Hyper Light Drifter is a challenging yet welcoming game that encourages the player to explore as much as possible. It was originally available only for PC, but has since been ported to numerous platforms, with the most recent being the Nintendo Switch. Not terribly high on story, Hyper Light Drifter lets it’s visuals do the talking.

Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden

Mutant Year Zero is an isometric squad based title similar to the Xcom series, with a little more humor. Instead of controlling human soldiers, you command anthropomorphic animals to flank, stealth, and force their way through enemy territory. Same as the Xcom franchise, you can also spam the save feature (save-scumming) to ensure that any mistake you make is instantly history.

Usually the company gives away one game each month, but recently they’ve been offering two for just one week. Both titles are available from now until August 22, which is next Thursday. After that another indie darling, Fez, will be free to download. If you have any interest in these games, you can’t go wrong with the price of free.

You can get these two free titles by heading over to Epic Games and downloading the launcher in the blue link on the top right corner that says “Get Epic Games.”  You’ll need the Epic Launcher to play the free games, but you can also claim them from the website as well by clicking on the game page and clicking the “get” button, similar to other online storefronts.  You can also do this from the store tab in the Epic Games Launcher.

Once you’ve installed the Epic Games Launcher you will find the free titles in your library.

It’s hard to believe but Diablo III is more than seven years old now. Blizzard has kept the dungeon crawling RPG title going with numerous Seasoned Events and a plethora of updates up to this point, and it looks like we can expect more of the same. The company has detailed the future of Diablo III in a blog post, as well as what their plans are going forward with the series.

More Seasoned Events are on The Way for Diablo III

When Diablo III first came out it didn’t offer too much besides the initial campaign. Blizzard’s resolution for this was the Seasonal Events, with each one offering new gear to unlock with a time limit. They furthered this by creating special themes for each one, starting with the 14th Season. This took the expected gameplay aspects that we all knew and threw it out the window, essentially making a brand new experience each and every time you played Diablo III.

According to the company, they’ve taken in a lot of feedback on which themes were favored by the fans and which ones weren’t, with the most popular one being Season 16: The Season of Grandeur which was earlier this year. Based on this information, the developers have stated that they will continue to add themed events for each Season. They also mentioned new updates for the base game, although most of these won’t be available right away.

Diablo III Will Continue to use a Condensed PTR For Upcoming Content

Speaking of Season 16, Blizzard mentions that they started something new before they launched it, a condensed PTR. Apparently, this was met with huge success as players only had one week to try out the new builds before they went public. Until this change, Diablo III had a normal PTR where new updates were available weeks before they officially launched for players. The developers have decided to keep this new shorter PTR as opposed to the regular one, with immediate and more accurate feedback being the main reason.

They also want to ensure that the changes made due to the PTR are highlighted in the public server. How this will be implemented is anyone’s guess, but knowing the development team they’ll be sure to show off what alterations they make thanks to the players utilizing the new mechanics.

Blizzard Will Keep Diablo III Going, While Also Preparing for New Things

Lastly, Blizzard wanted to briefly mention what their current intentions are for the franchise. The obvious one being Diablo 4, but the developers are staying quiet on that for the time being. Instead, they stated that this specific blog post is the first of many ways that they will be communicating on the future of the franchise, and that they’ll continue to use the PTR, new forums, and directly interacting with players to determine what the best course of action is.

With the recent news of StarCraft not being on Blizzards list of franchises that they are currently developing, it’s no surprise that the Diablo III team felt that they needed to try and clear the air. Transparency is of the utmost importance right now, and the more they divulge on what they’re creating, the better. Of course they won’t give us everything, especially with BlizzCon 2019 coming up, but those types of announcements are meant for the big stage.

As for Diablo III, Season 17 is almost done, wrapping up on August 18. We sill don’t know when Season 18 will start, but it shouldn’t be too long once the current one finishes up.

One of the greatest action horror games of all time is getting some much needed love as developer Nightdive Studios has announced that they are now working on an Enhanced Edition of System Shock 2. Despite the lack of information with the reveal, a lot of fans are sure to be excited over this new version of the classic title.

No release date was announced for System Shock 2

For those who don’t know, System Shock 2 was originally released in 1999 by Looking Glass Studios. The game was a perfect blend of an action FPS and a horror simulation, mixed with a plethora of areas to explore, as well as constantly keeping the players on their toes. While the game didn’t meet sales expectations, it was critically acclaimed by reviewers and fans. This has only been emphasized over the years, with many in the gaming community stating that the title was well ahead of its time.

Since then, most of the former System Shock developers would go onto form Irrational Game Studios, which was headed by Ken Levine, the lead designer of System Shock 2. This would become an integral aspect for the studio, as their most well known title, Bioshock, was influenced greatly by the series. Arkane Studios Prey is also a prime example of how it was shaped by System Shock 2, as it takes place in a desolate space station in a horror setting.

System Shock 2 was beloved by fans and critics when it released back in 1999

System Shock 2 was re-released in 2013 by Nightdive Studios without any modifications, and in 2015 they released an Enhanced Edition of the first System Shock. It’s safe to say that Nightdive has a huge passion for the franchise, and we have little to no doubt that they will do the game justice with this Enhanced Edition. As we said earlier, no concrete information was given with this announcement, but hopefully the developer provides us with some more news sooner than later.

There’s an old saying that’s used everywhere in all walks of life; nothing lasts forever. This is arguably the truest of all statements as things tend to fade away after a certain time. This also applies to video games, and with a market that is evolving from one thing to another, a lot of games aren’t able to survive after their prime has passed.

Is the most popular RTS on its way out?

Enter StarCraft, without a doubt the most dominant Real Time Strategy game series in history. Blizzard Entertainment’s baby took the world by storm way back in 1998, and ever since it’s been looked at as the shining example of how to make a perfect RTS title. It’s also taken its place in the annals of history as it was one of the first games to really spearhead the video game competition landscape, better known today as esports.

StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty came out in 2010 after years of development with its parallel episodes Heart of the Swarm and Legacy of the Void following a few years after that. The sequel titles pushed the envelope in terms of the RTS mechanics and overall presentation, and while a lot of fans still prefer the original title, they definitely left their mark on the genre.

Blizzard isn’t promoting Starcraft to investors at this point

So why bring all of this up? Well Activision Blizzard’s Second-Quarter 2019 Financial Results were recently revealed. Despite being a numbers heavy report, the most important aspect to take away here is a specific excerpt that was pointed out by Kotakus Jason Schreier: “Across Call of Duty, Candy Crush, Warcraft, Hearthstone, Overwatch, and Diablo, we are expanding our development teams so that we can accelerate the delivery of content in our pipeline, pursue new business models, broaden our communities, and delight our players.”

At first glance, this seems like your generic company report on what they are going to be working on in the foreseeable future. Well that’s the problem, it lists what games they will be developing, and StarCraft is clearly not listed here. Now this could be interpreted in a couple of ways.

The first is that the company might be withholding information about new content for the franchise and is waiting for this years BlizzCon to make such reveals. The second is the more likely one; they simply don’t have anything new for the series. Unfortunately, the latter here has some evidence to back it up, all of which took place this year.

It started when the company canceled what was going to be a StarCraft First Person Shooter, a project that apparently was in development for more than two years. It was bad enough that this new IP was scrapped, but it was also revealed that the reasoning behind this was to reinforce the development of the upcoming Diablo titles, as well as a rumored new Overwatch game.

From a business standpoint, this makes sense, as the company has investors to please as well as taking a real close look at what could be a better choice financially. However, I can’t help but think about how a brand new, fresh take on the StarCraft universe could be considered a serious money making prospect. Blizzard actually attempted this before with the infamous StarCraft Ghost, a game that was nearly completed before being canned altogether.

There have only been a couple major content updates in recent years

From a fans perspective, this is probably looked at as another nail in the coffin, maybe the final nail. StarCraft’s fanbase is legendary, with their never say die attitude and refusal to give up on the game that they have devoted their lives to. However, such a thing has little meaning in the world of corporations and politics, and thanks to this we haven’t seen a whole lot of significant updates or new games.

In the past couple of years, the StarCraft franchise has received two major content updates. The most important of these was StarCraft Remastered, which released in 2017. A complete visual rework of the original that also kept the RTS gameplay intact, fans of the series were overjoyed with this title, and it brought the franchise back to the mainstream audience, albeit for a brief time. The other was very recent, last month in fact. StarCraft: Cartooned, launched for Remastered and is a graphical overhaul that makes literally everything in the game a Carbot Animations visual.

Other than these two big pieces, the series hasn’t really had anything noteworthy to boast about. Just last year, during the 20th anniversary of StarCraft, all we got were some special portraits, icons, sprays, and co-op commanders. There was no major celebration for the game that seemingly frog-leaped Blizzard to the top of the stratosphere at the end of the 20th century.

When a series starts to become stale and overly repetitive, the most common thing to do is look elsewhere for a fun time. When this becomes evident the company needs to inject some life into their IP. Looking forward to new and exciting things for a video game franchise is what being a fan is all about.

Maybe Blizz-Con 2019 will paint a clearer picture of what’s to come

Sadly, this doesn’t seem to be the case with StarCraft. While we will more than likely have some new updates leading up to BlizzCon 2019, don’t expect Blizzard to unveil anything spectacular. Though it does beg the question, how long until the StarCraft World Championships is abolished? We already had to suffer though the cancellation of the Heroes Global Championship, which was the esport circuit for Heroes of the Storm. On top of that, the development team was shortened significantly, all due to the game not being as popular as Overwatch or Hearthstone.

This is what StarCraft’s fate is looking like. Sure it could continue to function for those who play it every day, and it most likely will. Still, the writing is on the wall, and Activision Blizzard isn’t necessarily shying away from that in this recent financial report. StarCraft’s impact on the video game industry is without question, which makes me very sad as I come to the most logical conclusion; the company has given up on StarCraft.

When Konami inexplicably revealed the TurboGrafx-16 Mini, we were a little skeptic to say the least. But it turns out that the company is going all in with this one, as we reported last month that the console across both the English and Japanese versions will house 50 games. In a special trailer, Konami has unveiled an additional 7 games that will be included when it launches in March 2020.

Here are the newly announced titles.

• Serie Senshi Spriggan
• Spriggan Mark 2
• Dragon Spirit
• Galaga ’88
• The Genji and the Heike Clans
• The Legend of Valkrie
• Splatterhouse

As you can see, most of the titles revealed were specifically released only in Japan when they originally launched. With the exception of Splatterhouse, it’s more than likely that a lot of gamers won’t recognize them. Truthfully, the TurboGrafx-16 is sort of a niche system in an of itself. Named the PC Engine in Japan, it came out in the West as the TurboGrafx-16. Billed as a step up from the 8-bit console era, the system boasted some impressive graphics at the time, along with a great lineup of games.

However, once the Sega Genesis and the Super Nintendo came out the famous Console Wars began, and the TurboGrafx-16 faded into history. Despite the console’s lack of a giant fanbase, Konami appears to think that the market is ripe for it’s return, and so here we are. The TurboGrafx-16 Mini launches on March 19, 2020 and is being sold exclusively through Amazon, which you can pre-order here.

You can check out the Final Lineup trailer here:

The European version of E3, Gamescom 2019, is right around the corner. We already know that their’s going to be approximately 15 publishers showing off new IP’s and updates to existing titles, but we also just learned that Google will be bringing back their Stadia Connect for the event. The company announced this earlier today, and in addition, attendees at Gamescom will also be able to see first-hand how the service works.

The first Stadia Connect, which took place during E3 2019, sent some shock waves throughout the industry as well as the gaming community. Along with showing just what the service implied, they were the first to show off Baldurs Gate III, a game that many in the RPG community were wanting for the better part of 20 plus years. Google then went onto announce a plethora of games that will be ready to play once Stadia officially takes off.

If all of this was shown during the first event, we can’t even begin to imagine what Google has planned for the second one. The company is spearheading what many think will be the eventual conclusion to where the industry is headed; games as a service. It’s not such a stretch either, as Netflix has their own ideas for such an avenue down the road, and we wouldn’t be surprised to see more follow suit.

Google’s Stadia Connect will take place during Gamescom 2019 on August 19 at 10 am PDT/7 pm CEST. You can watch it on the official Stadia Youtube channel here.

The sub division within Nintendo, The Pokemon Company, has announced that they will be unveiling new information for their upcoming title Pokemon Sword and Shield. It will take place this Wednesday, August 7, and it’s going to be another Galar Research Update.

Despite the huge tease, no concrete information was given in this announcement, which only begs the question, what are we in for this Wednesday? We’ve already seen when the game comes out and who the legendaries are, not to mention the insane Raid’s that made everyone’s mind explode. In addition, the company also showed us how the Gym’s will work, as well as both versions having their own exclusive Gym’s making the two playthroughs that much more dynamic.

One major possibility is that we could finally see who the evil team will be in Sword and Shield. Every Pokemon game has a dastardly organization, with Team Rocket being the first and most famous, so it wouldn’t be such a stretch for them to reveal who we will be fighting with to try and save the world, or at least the Pokemon world. Another potential reveal may be showing off some brand new Pokemon.

The Galar Research Update will take place on Wednesday, August 7 at 6:00 am PST/9:00 am EST. Pokemon Sword and Shield launches on November 15 for the Nintendo Switch.

After numerous leaks and rumors over the past couple of months, Bandai Namco has finally announced that Janemba will be the next DLC fighter for Dragon Ball FighterZ. The company also confirmed that he’ll be releasing on August 8, which is next week by the way.

For those who don’t know, Janemba is the main antagonist of the Dragon Ball Z movie Fusion Reborn. Most fans often dismiss the villains of the DBZ film series, but Janemba is considered one of the best, right next to Broly. Janemba retains all of his abilities from the movie, utilizing flashy sword techniques as well as some devastating Super Moves to boot.

Janemba will be the fourth character for the Second Fighter Pass, which already includes Jiren, Videl, and Kid Goku (GT). In addition, future DLC fighter Gogeta (SSGSS) was also teased. No date was given, but hopefully we’ll get our hands on him soon.

The announcement came soon after the Dragon Ball FighterZ Grand Finals at EVO 2019 where defending champion Sonic Fox lost a thriller to GO1 in what was arguably the most intense match up of the event so far. As we stated earlier, Janemba will be released for Dragon Ball FighterZ next week on August 8 across multiple platforms.

You can watch Janemba’s reveal trailer here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjxR843v5b0

Of all the titles coming out later this year, The Outer Worlds has the highest potential to be the surprise hit for the Holidays. Obsidian recognizes this, and they’ve pulled everything together to try and recreate the magic that was Fallout New Vegas nearly 10 years ago. That is a lot to deal with in such a short order, but it’s something that the company has readily accepted and is preparing to face.

We were able to sit down and play The Outer Worlds for a special hands-on experience. What we took away from this is that the game is definitely fun and looks amazing, but the company might be trying too hard to make it the spiritual successor to one of their most popular titles. It plays a little too much like Fallout New Vegas, and while a lot of fans might be alright with this, it may alienate others who haven’t played it before. It’s also important to note that we were unable to leave the area or the planet, essentially removing the space exploration aspect from our experience.

Before we go into how the game plays we want to mention the presentation. Obsidian has done an amazing job with the the Unreal Engine 4. We should also mention that we played this on a PC with unspecified specs, but more than enough to run the game at a brisk pace. Thanks to this, we were easily sucked in. The Outer Worlds is definitely an immersive game, and the textures, graphics, and lighting go together perfectly to make this look absolutely stunning.

The game started out a bit further in the storyline with two companions, Parvati and Nyoka. The area, dubbed the Monarch Wildlands, was a cave-like terrain with a few towns nestled in the corners. The first one that stood out was called Fallbrook, while the others were hidden around the area.

The giant cavern was a bit overwhelming, but thanks to the map we were able to traverse around with little to no issue. It didn’t take us long to find some enemies, called Mantisaurs, which were giant insect-like creatures. Stealth is a true option for those who don’t want any confrontation, but we wanted to dive in headfirst when enemies showed up.

Because most enemies have stuff we want (and don’t need) on them, we activated the Tactical Time Dilation (TTD), aimed down our rifle and went to town on them. This special ability allows you to slow down time and aim directly at any vital spots so you can get some critical hits on them.

Now, we know what you’re thinking and yes, it is this game’s version of V.A.T.S, but unlike Fallout’s signature feature, this one has a timer. Once it runs out, it needs to cool down before you can use it again.

The weapons in the game are classified as Handgun, Sniper/Ranged, Heavy, and Melee. Handgun and the Ranged weapons will have more accuracy and are the more ideal weapons to use with the TTD while the Heavy weapons are more equipped for when they’re in your face.

Weapons can also be customized to use elemental damage. Melee weapons will do the most damage up close, but this will have varying effects depending on what the level difference between you and the enemy is.

Speaking of which, while we did have a level advantage on some enemies, it still required a lot of ammo to take them down. They were only a few levels below us, so it wasn’t terribly difficult to eliminate them. It also serves as a lesson for the full game, don’t engage an enemy that is a much higher level than you.

We also observed our companions fight alongside us, which can make or break a hardened battle in the long run. For me, while I sat back sniping enemies, both Parvati and Nyoka went in headfirst with rifles and took the brunt of their attacks. You can adjust their commands to change the way they fight, but we didn’t see any need as this style of run and gun worked out perfectly.

We took quite a beating during the fights, so it’s a good thing we had a nifty healing mechanic that gave us back some health. You can pick up better healing items throughout the game, but it’s always good to have an emergency ability such as this.

Combat is fun, intense, and keeps you busy in the open world. The weapons all handle well with little to no input lag. We could see that Obsidian put a lot of time and effort for this to work, and we’d imagine that there are plenty more weapons to look for throughout the game.

Inventory limitation is unfortunately a normal thing for most RPG’s and it’s back and in full force for The Outer Worlds. You can break down items, weapons, and other objects down for materials to use and sell, which will mitigate the issue, and thankfully it’s a very simple formula. You’ll just have to remember to pause the game, go into your inventory, look at everything inside, and utilize your micromanagement skills.

Obsidian are no strangers to the wonderful features of the Dialogue Box in an RPG. This is where the other major part of the game comes in, the non-combat part. Every character we spoke to had a unique voice over, including our companions.

If you’re like us, you want to have Speech as your highest skill, ensuring that you’ll be able to talk your way out of almost anything. Investing in this early on is almost always a must, and it’s more than evident here in The Outer Worlds.

Combat is fun, intense, and keeps you busy in the open world.

We spoke to a quest giver, Catherine Malin, who was mentioning that she will represents her “nugget of paradise.” The option to use some of our Charm came up in the dialogue box, which turned out to be a joke on that comment. Once selected, she quickly changed her tone and suddenly we were best friends.

This also applies to buying and selling goods, as you’ll be able to barter with a vendor  to lower their prices. However, Dialogue doesn’t solve everything, as some NPC’s will not give you the option to persuade them in your favor. This also applies to anything that will inevitably lead to combat, which takes dialogue out of the equation.

Going into this we knew that morality would be a huge factor here, as Obsidian has stated that the story and the ending will be defined on how you handle certain situations. No major choices were given to us in our session, but every time we went into someone’s home to snoop around, the option to take their stuff was always there.

This is yet another feature that is taken from the Fallout series, and it carries over nicely. If you want to be a total jackass, then by all means, pillage all of the residents of their property. But if you’re going for a goody-two-shoes style then leave that crap alone.

Without a doubt the biggest and most important part of an open world RPG is how much content there is. As we stated earlier, we were contained within this area so only a handful of small side quests and one bigger quest was available to go through. Despite this, it was still a fairly big area, and the map, along with Fast Travel, became an invaluable asset for this part.

The quest we accepted was to remove an armed militia out of a factory, and kill the leader. There was also an option to try and spare them, but we were in the mood for more combat so our crew went straight there.

The story and the ending will be defined on how you handle certain situations.

When we arrived, the factory was surrounded by enemies who were not yet violent towards us. We quickly changed that when we stepped through the gate, sending them into an angry frenzy. What followed was a long drawn out battle in which we won, barely. However, when we tried to enter the building, it stated that we needed a key card.

We looted every single body in the vicinity, but no key card came up. This was a classical case of quest markers not guaranteeing progression, as you will sometimes need a quest item to further the plot. Eventually, we gave up and wandered towards another area. We did discover an area outside Monarch, where the air was filled with pollen and some type of fungus. It was awesome to see a different setting, but other than some more baddies to shoot it was fairly barren.

As we mentioned in the beginning, The Outer Worlds feels a lot like New Vegas, and to the developer’s credit that is what they were going for here. However, one of the biggest features that players loved about New Vegas, and Fallout in general, was that the world was massive and it constantly dared the player to come and explore it.

The more we played through the Monarch Wildlands, the more we began to wonder what the other landscapes and planets were like. Our biggest concern wasn’t what was in front of us, it’s what we didn’t see. Despite this, The Outer Worlds is a fun game to play, and we mean that in the most sincerest way. Obsidian has done a tremendous job utilizing everything at their disposal, and while not all of the mechanics are considered original, it’s still a unique take on the sandbox genre.

We’re not sure if it will blow the minds of the gaming community, but it will definitely please any open world RPG fan. If you absolutely love Obsidian and their IP’s, then chances are you’ll be all over this on day one. The developers at Obsidian are geniuses when it comes to creating worlds and universes, so hopefully our doubts will be laid to rest when we get our hands on the final product.

The Outer Worlds launches on October 25 for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC through the Epic Game Store and the Microsoft Store. The Nintendo Switch version will be released at a later date.

The roster for Mortal Kombat 11 continues to expand as NetherRealm Studios has revealed the next DLC fighter, and it’s none other than Nightwolf. The spiritual warrior looks to be in tip top shape, and he’s brought his signature tomahawk along for extra intimidation.

Just like the other Kombatants, Nightwolf retains most of his well known abilities from the older games in the series. This includes the Shoulder Charge, Projectile Reflector, Spirit Arrow, and the Tomahawk Throw. In addition, he can also summon his spirit animals to attack his opponent which consist of a bear, hawk, and a wolf, go figure. He also gains a unique machete that is embedded with spiritual powers. His Fatal Blow is the stuff of nightmares, firing three spirit arrows into his opponents chest then plunging his tomahawk right their head. He then summons lightning to charge into the tomahawk for good measure.

However, just like every single fighter in this game, his Fatality steals the show. Nightwolf straight up swings the tomahawk into his opponents jugular, severing the lower jaw from their face. He then proceeds to pull on the dismembered jaw, and pulls their entire chest off in the process! Nightwolf finishes them off with a two-handed tomahawk throw that cuts the heart in half. What a way to go. With moves like that, Nightwolf shows why he is a revered, and feared, fighter in Mortal Kombat.

Nightwolf will be available on August 13 for those who purchased the Kombat Pack which also includes Shang Tsung, along with future fighters Sindel and Spawn. He’ll be available for everyone else on August 20. Mortal Kombat 11 is now available for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC.

You can check out Nightwolf’s reveal here:

With a little more than a couple of months left before it releases, Obsidian has announced that there upcoming open world RPG title, The Outer Worlds, will be launching for the Nintendo Switch. However, it won’t be releasing on the same day as the already announced systems, October 25. Instead it will come out sometime later, presumably during the Holidays.

Senior Producer, Matthew Singh elaborated that the game is being officially ported over to the Switch via a third party company called Vitruous. The company has been responsible for numerous ports of games and compilations such as Batman: Return to Arkham, Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age, Dark Souls Remastered for the Switch, and L.A. Noire.

While this is exciting news, the Nintendo Switch isn’t exactly known for its graphical prowess. With such a huge open world atmosphere, The Outer Worlds might suffer in terms of texture reduction and lower resolution for those looking for their 4K fix. The same reservations are currently surrounding another AAA title being ported to the Switch, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.

Regardless, Nintendo seems to be dead set on bringing more big titles to the Switch. The Outer Worlds is just the next game to be brought over, so where the company looks next is anyone’s guess. The Outer Worlds will launch first on October 25 for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC with a later date for the Nintendo Switch.

You can watch the announcement trailer here:

Blizzards MOBA, Heroes of the Storm may not be the juggernaut it used to be, but it certainly isn’t a dead game by any means. Fueled by a passionate fan base as well as community driven tournaments that even Blizzard is acknowledging, the company is rewarding them with the second original character to come directly out of the Nexus, and her name is Qhira.

Qhira is the newest Melee Assassin, which means she’ll bring a ton of damage and wave clear for her team. As we said earlier, she’s the second Hero to be born from the Nexus, meaning she isn’t from any existing Blizzard IP. Orphea, who was introduced to us at last years BlizzCon, was the first. With the exception of one talent, all of Qhira’s abilities stem from her intimidating one-armed weapon called the Chain Blade.

Her trait ability, Grappling Hook, pulls her towards anything it comes into contact with. This includes enemies which deals a slight 36 damage, but increases to 112 when Qhira lands on them. Her standard engage, Carnage, is a great poke attack as she lunges her blade forward in a single line. If anyone is hit by this it will cause 31 damage continuously as long as they are still standing in the line of fire.

Qhira’s second ability is where she becomes something of a wild card for her team. Blood Rage has two types of offensive capabilities. The passive way in which her basic and spell damage cause enemies to lose 46 health over 4 seconds and can stack up to 5 times. Qhira can then activate this ability manually, which will increase the damage given as well as heal her per hit on each enemy hero. As if that wasn’t enough, this ability stacks thanks to the passive aspect, as she will now heal an additional 50% for each hit on a hero.

Her third main ability, Revolving Sweep, is the ultimate chase technique. Qhira launches her blade at an opponent, which latches onto them. She then uses them as a post to spin around to move in front of them, preventing their escape. In addition, Qhira now avoids all standard attacks and is immune to any and all debuffs. You can reactivate this ability to automatically send Qhira to the original targets location to stun them for less than 1 second.

As always, each hero in the game has two Ultimate abilities call Heroic. Qhiras first one is called Unrelenting Strikes where she unloads a barrage of attacks from her Chain Blade dealing 46 every .5 second for just under 3 seconds. At the end, she’ll unleash a final strike that does 86 damage in the area as well as stunning enemies for just under 1 second. Her second Heroic, Final Strike, is much simpler, but can be absolutely devastating. Qhira lunges her chain into the ground where it strikes all enemies in a single line that deals 432 damage. This attack is amplified by 25% if anyone in range has less than 50% health.

Qhira’s ability to poke and stun will be an invaluable asset for any team composition. However, she also seems like a high risk. If any of her attacks miss, or if her Grappling Hook doesn’t land in the right spot, she’s left wide open for an attack. Playing Qhira with a big soaking Tank will ensure that she has all of the poke in the world, double that if there is a Ranged Assassin in the back lane dealing additional damage. It’s too early to tell how she’ll fare against the current meta, but for now, Qhira will be welcome to the game with open arms by the players.

Qhira is available to play in the PTR (Public Testing Region) for Heroes of the Storm if you want to check her out. New heroes are usually there for about two weeks before Blizzard deems them ready for the public servers, so don’t be surprised if she is ready to go by mid to late August. Heroes of the Storm is free-to-play for PC through Blizzards game launcher, Battle.net.

You check out Qhiras reveal video here:

Leave it to Nintendo bring out an awesome surprise like this. The company has announced that they will have a special presentation for the upcoming DLC fighter, Hero, for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate on July 30 at 6 am PST/9am EST which is this Tuesday. As if this wasn’t enough, they also revealed that the series directer, Masahiro Sakurai, will be there as well to showcase Hero, and announce when he will officially join the roster.

Prior to this reveal, rumors swirled the internet for close to two weeks as to when Nintendo was going to announce Hero’s release date. Along with Banjo-Kazooie, Hero is one of the most anticipated fighters for Ultimate, a game that is already jam-packed with a whos-who of Nintendo, and non-Nintendo related characters. In fact, it wouldn’t surprise us if the company decided to shadow drop Hero at the conclusion of the presentation, although we still have to wait and see.

It’s also important to reiterate that this presentation will be for Hero and no other upcoming DLC fighter. So for those who are waiting for Banjo-Kazooie’s release date, just hang in there a bit longer. Hero’s inclusion also makes him the first Dragon Quest character to be featured in series. In addition, what makes him unique among his peers is that his colors/skins will be some of the other Heroes in the Dragon Quest games.

As we stated earlier, the presentation for Hero will take place on Tuesday, July 30 at 6am PST/9am EST. You can watch it on Nintendo’s official Youtube and Twitch channels.

id Software didn’t waste any time during the QuakeCon Keynote as it showcased some new features for the upcoming Doom Eternal which launches on November 22. One of these was a brand new demon for the single player campaign, while the other was a boatload of information that pertained to the games multiplayer mode.

The company showed us some new gameplay, and while there wasn’t a whole lot more to show since E3 last month, we did get a glimpse of a brand new enemy: The Doom Hunter. It’s safe to say that this guy looks like a total badass, and it’s also safe to assume that he will be your worst nightmare while you traverse through each mission. The company didn’t say when or where the Doom Slayer will have to contend with him, but we’re very fearful of running into him in a dark alleyway, let alone within the confines of Hell.

The other part of the keynote was a further explanation of Doom’s multiplayer aspect, Battle Mode. The new mode will not be a standard Team Deathmatch that most FPS titles are accustomed to. Instead, three players will fight on map, one playing as the Doom Slayer, and the other two as Demons in a Two vs One deathmatch. In addition, the matches will be fought in a best-of-five, with each new round giving the players a significant boost to use against their opponent.

Three players will fight on map, one playing as the Doom Slayer, and the other two as Demons in a Two vs One deathmatch

While the Doom Slayer is the most recognizable character in this, the players who use the demons have a few options to go from, each with their own unique arsenal. The Revenant can use a jetpack to fly around, while the Pain Elemental can also fly, but has a shield to protect himself with. The Mancubus is the big boy that has heavy cannons and a huge amount of health. Later in the keynote, two more demons were revealed: the Maurader and the Archvile.

Maurader has the appearance of a knight as he swings around a giant red axe, while Archvile attacks from afar similar to the Wizards from Destiny. On top of all that, the demons can also utilize special traps that manipulate the environment to their advantage, as well as summoning lower demons to attack the Doom Slayer. You’d think that with this many choices the Doom Slayer doesn’t stand much of a chance.

Turns out, the Slayer might be the better pick as he will be armed to the teeth with literally all of his signature weapons right out of the gate, with the option to obtain the BFG as a bonus in between rounds. Gory kills will also refresh the Slayers ammo and other resources. If the Slayer takes out one of the demon players, then he has only a small amount of time to eliminate the other one, turning the match into a time-induced frenzy for survival. If he fails this, the first demon will respawn with half health.

The Battle Mode will launch with six maps. id Software stated that it will be looking into adding more content post-launch which will be absolutely free. We got a lot more information on the Battle Mode here, and while we would’ve loved some more gameplay from the single player campaign, this should be more than enough to satiate us for the time being.

Doom Eternal launches on November 22 for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC, and Google Stadia. You can check out the Battle Mode trailer from the keynote here:

Piranha Games has announced that the release for their upcoming PC game, MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries, has been slightly delayed. Instead of the original date, September 10, the game will now officially launch on December 10, with a closed Beta taking place on November 5. The company also announced that the game will now launch exclusively through the Epic Games Store.

Obviously this decision will make a lot of fans irate, and the company seems to be fully aware of this as they are currently offering full refunds to anyone who pre ordered the game regardless of which edition it was. On top of that, Piranha Games also stated that any of the MechWarrior Online content that you have redeemed by pre ordering MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries will not be removed from your online account.

However, Piranha also made an important note near the end of the press release saying that anyone who does get a refund will “forfeit their access to the full game” in addition to not being able to participate in the Beta. Canceling a pre order should be a cut and dry message that you don’t plan on playing the game when it releases, but for some reason the company wants to drive that point home.

This may have something to do with the game’s exclusivity to the Epic Games Store, as a lot of people in the gaming community have a serious issue with the way they do business. Regardless, this is the best stance the company could take, and anyone who truly wants their money back has the option to do so as long as it’s on or before September 1. Chances are that the game will be kept as an Epic Games exclusive for approximately one year. After that, it will more than likely pop up on Steam, GOG, Humble Bundle, etc. You can check out the updated FAQ here.

MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries launches on December 10 for PC through the Epic Games Store.

It’s been a long time since we heard anything from the Rune Factory series, but that changed back in February during a Nintendo Direct where Marvelous revealed Rune Factory 5 for the Nintendo Switch. Today, the company has reaffirmed that the game is launching in 2020, which came in the form a brand new teaser trailer. The video itself doesn’t show any actual gameplay, as it’s more of a tribute to the series as a whole, but we did get a bit of a tease for the protagonists at the end.

For those who don’t know, Rune Factory is a spin off series to the popular Harvest Moon franchise. However, the main difference between the two is that in Rune Factory you have actual battles with monsters in dungeons, and in some cases, bringing them to your side for various tasks. These include assisting you in future fights, farming crops, or producing goods for you to sell. Think of it as an RPG dungeon crawler, where you also maintain a farm while building relationships with the local townsfolk.

Originally developed by Neverland Company, Rune Factory got its start on the Nintendo DS in 2006. It’s sequels, Rune Factory 2 and 3 followed suit, while 4 was released for the Nintendo 3DS in 2012. Unfortunately Neverland filed for bankruptcy soon after, and the future of the franchise was questionable at best. The publisher of the series, Marvelous, came in and took over the development process, and has since announced Rune Factory 5.

Hopefully we’ll get more information as the year goes on, specifically a full release date. Rune Factory 5 launches sometime in 2020 for the Nintendo Switch. You can watch the teaser trailer here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zee5-T4EFqs

Well that didn’t take long. Blizzard has wasted no time in putting it’s newest Hero in the Public Test Region (PTR) for Overwatch. Sigma is now available for anyone who plays in the PTR, which serves as Blizzards testing grounds for new updates and content. In addition, the company has given Sigma his own page, complete his background and more importantly, his in-game abilities.

Sigma is the games newest Tank Hero, and with such an imposing presence on the battlefield, it’s no surprise that he has been classified as such. Tanks are usually at the front line, taking the brunt of the enemy teams attacks. They aren’t defenseless though, and Sigma has a very impressive looking arsenal that will be on full display.

Hypherspheres is Sigma’s standard offensive move. He launches two gravitic charges that bounce before exploding, similar to Junkrat. The main difference though is that Sigma doesn’t reload his primary fire. Experimental Barrier is Sigma’s defensive move, where he throws out a barrier with 1500 health. The cool part about this ability is that Sigma can place stop it manually, and then redirect it to a different spot.

Kinetic Grasp looks to be a high skill move which will require perfect timing as it stops incoming attacks and re purposes them as shields. It’s important to note that this does not absorb the attack’s, merely converting them to the shield part of your health bar. Accretion is where Sigma throws rocks at a single enemy and knocks them back momentarily.

Finally we have Sigma’s Ultimate, Gravitic Flux. Sigma launches into the air and use his powers to lift his opponents up and then slam them back down to a designated area. This can be a crippling blow to any team composition, as it can be a great set up for Sigma’s team to follow up and annihilate there opponents in one fell swoop.

While it is great to see Sigma in the PTR so quickly, Blizzard still hasn’t stated when he’ll be released for the regular server. Heroes are normally in the PTR for two weeks, so we wouldn’t be surprised if Sigma is primed and ready by mid-August. If you’re curious about Overwatch’s newest Hero, you can sign into the PTR directly through Blizzards launcher, Battle.net.

You can watch the Introduction Video on Sigma here:

After teasing the heck out of its fanbase this past week, Blizzard has finally unveiled the newest Hero for Overwatch, and his name is Sigma. Not to be confused with the main antagonist of Mega Man X, Sigma is a human scientist who has the ability to manipulate gravity. His appearance is intimidating to say the least, and the same can be said for his Origin Story, which is arguably the bleakest of the Heroes.

The video shows Sigma researching and attempting to obtain the powers of a Black Hole, which is always a great idea. Things go wrong and Sigma is sent to a hospital where he starts to lose his mind. Questioning his hypothesis and being mesmerized by a certain song, Sigma unravels and becomes the weaponized fighter we know now. He joins the terrorist organization Talon, which is comprised of Doomfist, Reaper, Widowmaker, and Sombra.

No official gameplay was shown of Sigma besides a teaser at the end, but now that his Origin Story is out, it’s only a matter of time until Jeff and company show us what he’s capable of. From what we can tell he’ll most likely serve as the newest Tank for the game, given his size and stature. Hopefully we won’t be waiting long, but this is easily an unforgettable impression on Sigma, possibly the darkest Hero in the game.

You can check out Sigma’s Origin Story here:

With just a little more than a week to go for the Evolution Championship Series (EVO), the event’s Finals order has finally been unveiled. Announced by EVO President Joey Cuellar AKA Mr.Wizard, the Finals will begin on August 2, Friday and finish up on August 4, Sunday. As expected, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate will close out the show as the last game to be played in the competition.

Here is the Finals game order for this years EVO:

Friday:

• Soul Calibur VI

Saturday:

• Under Night In-Birth Exe:Late[st]
• Dragon Ball FighterZ
• Samurai Shodown
• Mortal Kombat 11

Sunday:

• BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle
• Street Fighter V Arcade Edition
• Tekken 7
• Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Soul Calibur VI will be the sole title to be played on the first day of the event, while Saturday and Sunday are filled with four different tournaments throughout each day. Despite Dragon Ball FighterZ continuing to be big in the fighting game community, it has definitely dropped quite a bit in the esports circuit. Taking up those reigns is Arc System Works newer title, BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle, which has risen up among the fighting game competitors as a must play.

Street Fighter V Arcade Edition and Tekken 7 are still the most played of the standard 3D fighting games, but Super Smash Bros. Ultimate has become a phenomenon for this years EVO. The last day of the event is usually reserved for Super Smash Bros. Melee, arguably the most popular game in the events history. However, this time Melee isn’t even featured at the event, and it seems that all of the veteran players have migrated over to Ultimate’s bracket instead, making it the game with the highest amount of registrants this year.

Despite Ultimate’s domination, their is still plenty to see at all three days of EVO 2019. Every tournament bracket will undoubtedly be filled with some of the most intense, emotional, nail-biting fights you’ll ever see in an esport competition. EVO 2019 goes from August 2, Friday to August 4, Sunday at The Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas Nevada.

Blizzard Entertainment Co-Founder Frank Pearce has announced that he will be retiring from the company. Pearce, who has been with the company for over 28 years, is just the second of the co-founders to depart the company, as former President and CEO Mike Morhaime announced that he would step down from his position last year. This leaves Allen Adham as the last of the founders in the company, although the current President and CEO is J. Allen Brack, who was handpicked by Morhaime himself.

Pearce revealed his resignation in a lengthy post on Blizzard’s site, briefly reflecting on his amazing career with the company while thanking everyone that he has worked with. “The time has come for me to step away from Blizzard and pass the torch to the next generation of leaders….Words cannot express the gratitude I feel to have been involved with Blizzard, our games, our employees, and most importantly our community. Before Blizzard I struggled to find a place in which I felt I belonged. Now I know I will always have a place, as will many other people. Thank you to all of you for providing me the sense of inclusion I require as a person.”

In the same post, J. Allen Brack spoke fondly about Pearce, whom he refers to as one of his heroes: “When I moved into my new position last year, Frank stepped into an advisory role to help with the transition, specifically working with Ray Gresko and me on our games, culture, and the future of Blizzard. His support has been invaluable to us and to say we’re going to miss him is an understatement.

Pearce, along with Morhaime and Adham took a huge gamble way back in 1991 and formed there own video game studio, Silicon and Synapse. They had little to no money, but there passion and hard work made all the difference. The SNES game, The Lost Vikings, was a moderate hit and kept the company afloat for a couple of years. However, it was in 1994 when they created what would become the flagship series of the company with Warcraft: Orcs and Humans.

From there, Pearce, Adham, and Morhaime made one more name change to the company, to Blizzard Entertainment, and has since become one of the biggest video game studios in the world. Most of the titles they’ve released has gone onto enjoy enormous success including World of Warcraft, StarCraft, Diablo, and Overwatch. Pearce was the acting Vice President for most of his tenure at Blizzard, assisting Morhaime and Adham who were the CEO and Executive Producer/SVP respectively.

Pearce did not state if he would have any future video game development endeavors, although he did mention that he would try to enjoy some his hobbies a bit more now that he has some free time. While we are sad to see him leave the company, he more than deserves his retirement.

Overwatch is easily one of the biggest online multiplayer games out there. Since it launched in 2016, it’s been on an almost nonstop train ride of dominance. Blizzard has tried to keep things exciting with new updates, heroes, and game modes. They haven’t changed the formula, but honestly, their isn’t any reason to. With that said, something did need to change, the hero selection process. Blizzard finally acknowledged this when they introduced the Role Queue, a brand new feature for the game where it gives you the chance to actually pick which type of Hero you want to play as BEFORE you enter the queue for a match.

The upcoming feature will essentially stop players from leaning towards whatever the current meta is, and instead engage in an ease-of-access type of matchmaking. This will also ensure that you’ll get to play as the DPS, Healer, or Tank you want rather than rushing at the selection screen with only 30 seconds before the match begins. There will be three different queues to get into a game, one for each class type. Depending on how heavy the traffic is online, there may be a longer wait time for certain classes, but that should be ironed out over time.

This is also very similar to how another Blizzard game, Heroes of the Storm, does their Quick Match selection. You select the class type, pick the Hero, then jump into a queue for a match, easy as that. The reason why this is the best thing for Overwatch right now is because of two main factors. First and foremost, it re-balances the game for any one who is sick of trying to go for their preferred hero and ends up settling for another just to satisfy the team composition.

It gives you the chance to actually pick which type of Hero you want to play as BEFORE you enter the queue for a match.

I can’t count how many times I’ve wanted to play as Junkrat, only to end up tanking as Reinhardt or Orisa because no one else went for a tank class. It works the other way too, sometimes the tank class is gobbled up upon loading the selection screen, and the healer side as well. Blizzard took notice of this shortly after it launched, but they obviously couldn’t make such a huge change right away. They had to let the game become acceptable not just by Blizzard Entertainment standards, but the fans too. On top of that, this will also be a great way for new players to check out the game, as well as make it more enticing for returning veterans.

Another reason why this is a big step in the right direction is that the current meta is a complete mess. This is most evident in the Overwatch League, where most teams go into matches with a composition of three healers and three tanks. This leaves the DPS class completely overlooked, which is an injustice to say the least as most of the Heroes in the game are classified as a Damage Dealer. Blizzard also realizes this and will be implementing the changes in the League with the Role Lock. This forces the teams to go with a specific 2-2-2 composition, 2 tanks, 2 DPS, and 2 healers. This nullifies the unnecessary aforementioned meta and finally makes the matches more exciting.

Not everyone will be on-board with this new feature, mainly the players who play Competitive as there will now be three different scores for each role in every Season. That change is a bit questionable, but for those who don’t partake in Competitive that often can just ignore this. Other than this tidbit, the Role Queue is a more than welcome addition to a franchise that is in desperate need of a serious face lift. It will take time, and there will be some challenges, but I believe that Overwatch will benefit greatly from this in the long run, especially the Overwatch League. The feature is live in the PTR (Public Testing Region) and will be brought to the public servers in the form of a Beta from August 13 to September 1.

The longevity of Grand Theft Auto Online is something of a miracle considering that the initial launch was a huge mess. Now, there are so many things to do within the realm of the virtual San Andreas that it seems like Rockstar has done literally everything they could to ensure that people are always entertained. That was the thought until they announced yet another addition to the game, this time a giant diamond studded casino, and it releases next week on July 23.

Appropriately titled the Diamond and Casino Resort, the new expansion allows players to gamble with their hard earned money with classic card game staples such as Three Card Poker, Blackjack, Slot Machines, and betting on Horse Races. In addition, you can head to the top of the building where the Master Penthouse awaits. If you have an exorbitant amount of cash then you can outright buy the penthouse and obtain a special VIP which gets you into the VIP Lounges, High Roller Tables, and other special services.

Similar to other expansions in the game, players will need to pour some of their in game money to access some of the story-related missions, which in turn gives you special rewards and a brand new expansion-only vehicle. If you’re lacking in cash, don’t worry too much. Rockstar has made a deal with Twitch, allowing anyone with a Twitch Prime subscription to get the Master Penthouse for free, as well as $1.25 million in GTA money. If you have an account, then act fast because this deal only goes through the end of July 19, which is tomorrow.

Grand Theft Auto Online Diamond and Casino Resort Launches on Tuesday, July 23 for multiple platforms. You can check out the reveal trailer here:

After speculation on the release date, Nintendo has officially announced that Luigi’s Mansion 3 will launch on October 31, the perfect game to release on Halloween. The Switch exclusive will feature Luigi and company as they try and rescue their friends from a special place called the Last Resort Hotel.

The game has been in development for quite some time, as the first time we got a glimpse of it was back in September 2018 during a Nintendo Direct. We got another look at the game at Nintendo’s E3 2019 Direct, where Luigi showcased his new abilities with the Poltergust Vacuum, as well as brand new coop multiplayer mode.

While there were rumors going around that were speculating different dates for the arrival of Luigi’s Mansion 3, it’s still great to see that Nintendo is pushing forward with a 2019 release. Nintendo already has a fairly crowded release schedule for the upcoming holidays, including The Legend of Zelda: Links Awakening, Daemon X Machina, Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz, and Pokemon Sword and Shield.

Luigi’s Mansion 3’s Halloween date puts it smack dab in the middle of this insanity, making Nintendo the dominant company with the most upcoming 1st party titles for the rest 2019. Fans have been itching to get their hands on this title since the last iteration in 2012, and it won’t be long till they, and Luigi, get to head back into the mansion to avoid the scares of the cute/frighting ghosts in the game.

Luigi’s Mansion 3 officially launches on October 31 for the Nintendo Switch.

Seemingly out of nowhere, Nintendo has just announced another version of the original Nintendo Switch with a much longer battery life while you play it on the go. At the time of this writing, Nintendo has not stated whether this will be released outside of their native region of Japan. However, the newer model is showcased on the American Nintendo website for the Switch, which may hint at an official announcement very soon.

According to the website, the new model will have a much better battery that will extend the 2017 launch systems 2.5-6.5 hours to 4.5-9.0 hours depending on how much it is used and what you’re playing. For those who prefer to play bigger games such as The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Xenoblade Chronicles 2 while you’re on the move, then this version of the Switch is the system for you.

The new model is scheduled to start shipping in Japan in late August, and will have a special logo on the box to minimize confusion between the original and the newer system. One thing that isn’t changing is the price tag, as Nintendo seems keen keeping it the same as the original, which only makes sense as the only major change in the console is the extended battery.

Nintendo is on a roll with updates to the Switch as of late. They announced the Nintendo Switch Lite last week, which itself has a slightly longer battery life, but not quite as long as this newer version. If portability is what they were going for with these new updates to the Switch, they certainly aren’t holding back on it. As we said earlier, Nintendo has not officially announced this for North American or Europe, but expect either a reveal or response sooner than later.

As we inch closer and closer to the Evolution Championship Series (EVO), the numbers of participants have continued to grow. Each game in the lineup has their own tournament to fill up, and while some will obviously be more popular than others, the numbers this year have been staggering to say the least. The president of EVO, Joey Cuellar, has released the final registration numbers, and the game with the most by a long shot was Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

Here is the full lineup with the number of participants for this years EVO:

• Super Smash Bros. Ultimate – 3492
• Street Fighter V Arcade Edition – 1929
• Tekken 7 – 1885
• Samurai Shodown – 1719
• Mortal Kombat 11 – 1567
• Undernight In -Birth – 1156
• DragonBall FighterZ – 1191
• Soul Calibur 6 – 742
• BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle – 640

As you can see, most of the games registration numbers are very close to each other, with the exception of the top title and the bottom two. Despite launching less than a year ago, Soul Calibur VI’s participants numbers are fairly slim. Whereas a new game in the lineup is usually sought after by competitors, the latest entry in the series doesn’t look like it attracted that much attention. Dragon Ball FighterZ fell quite a bit from it’s top spot last year, but the fact that it’s higher than Soul Calibur VI and BlazeBlue: Cross Tag Battle, two titles that released after, shows that it’s still very popular in the fighting game community.

Speaking of long term, it’s no shock that Street Fighter V Arcade Edition continues to be featured in the competition. The franchise is the longest tenured fighting game series in the event’s history, so even if the number of competitors were dwindled down to dead last, their is no way that it would be taken out of it’s rotation. However, one game stands above all in terms of registered competitors, and that’s Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Finishing the list with a whopping 3,492 participants, Nintendo’s brawler has come out to show that it belongs in EVO.

To be fair, the games popular predecessor Melee was removed from the lineup after being included for many years, which more than likely helped it’s ascension to the top of the lineup. But it’s much more than that, as Ultimate is arguably the most complete fighting game out there, with an insane amount of fighters to choose from, and numerous other features that keep players coming back for more. The final numbers have been shown, and soon enough the competitors themselves will be heading out to Las Vegas to claim the top prize in their respective tournaments.

EVO 2019 takes place on August 2 Friday-August 4, Sunday at The Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.

One of the most anticipated games of this year, Call of Duty Modern Warfare is set to release on October 25 to a ridiculous amount of fanfare, and Activision knows this all too well. Earlier today, they attempted to satiate the fans with a taste of some multiplayer, showing off their new 2v2 mode called Gunfighter. But this is just be the tip of the iceberg, as the company announced later that the full global premiere of the online multiplayer will be shown on August 1.

The company also made a statement on their announcement via this post: “We are thrilled to announce a comprehensive, epic, and suitably bombastic Call of Duty: Modern Warfaremultiplayer reveal coming to the community on Thursday, August 1! Activision and Infinity Ward will reveal the multiplayer universe of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare with a deep look at gameplay coming to fans at launch.”

While the and storylines of each Call of Duty game have changed over the years, the franchise has always delivered with their online multiplayer modes. This is due to the fact that they are so addictive, all the way down to the point of just taking someone out in match. The aspects have evolved, and flat out changed over time, but no matter what happens, when a Call of Duty title launches, people will always rush online to do battle with each other that very day.

We’re already pretty excited over this game thanks to the initial batch of information when it was announced, especially about the game having no Season Pass and more post launch content. The multiplayer premiere will take place on Thursday, August 1st at 10:00 am PST. Call of Duty Modern Warfare launches on October 25 for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.

Valve has just made their digital storefront Steam a lot more interesting. The company has announced a brand new feature, called Steam Labs, which will function as a special testing area for services that are still a work in progress. Valve will take any and all feedback from those who participate in the testing, and will make a determination on whether they need more work or not.

The company is making three experimental services available for testing right away, with more to be added later. The first one is called Micro Trailers, which are essentially even shorter game trailers compiled into one video. The second one, The Interactive Recommender, is similar to a searching algorithm as it uses the top games you have played from your library and gives you recommendations for new titles. The third one is titled Automated Show, and as you can guess is one giant video that showcases the newest games in the Steam Store, based again on your algorithm.

Micro Trailers and Automated Show can be viewed in a general setting, but for the Interactive Recommender, you’ll need to sign into your own Steam Account. All three are fairly intriguing in their own right, but the real meat and potatoes of this is that Valve is unloading some of their weird, quirky, and unusual features for all of us to try out. In a sense, we have become our own Q&A Testers for Valve and Steam. As we stated earlier, Valve will be accepting all feedback from anyone who tests these experiments out, including whether they should be canceled or not.

Microsoft has updated their Account Activity Policy with the most important change being when they remove inactive accounts. Now instead of the five year policy, the company has changed it to two years of no activity for them to make a judgement and eventually delete an account. This includes access to any and all Microsoft brand services, specifically Xbox Live.

The change is reflected near the beginning of the page, where it clearly states: “Microsoft reserves the right to close all “inactive” Microsoft accounts….Except as provided below, you must sign in to your Microsoft account at least once in a two-year period to keep your account active. If you don’t sign in during this time, Microsoft will consider your account to be inactive.” It’s pretty cut and dry, and while their was not an explicit reason behind the policy update, it could have to do with them adding more services to their repertoire and keeping their customer numbers high. 

The Account Activity Policy update officially becomes effective on August 30 Friday, just a little more than a month away. For those who are worried about their own accounts, as long as you’re actively using the account with any Microsoft brand service, you’ll be alright. If anyone out there doesn’t use their account all that often, or next to never, then just sign in at least once every two years to ensure that your account wont be removed. 

Microsoft has also detailed other exceptions that will extend the account’s lifeline, despite not signing in over the two year expectancy. This includes purchasing products from their online store, renewing subscriptions, adding a balance to your online wallet, or if you are a publisher and need to release games to the online store. While this isn’t a serious situation for most people, it’s still important to know when these types of policies change, as it could affect you in the long run.

With less than a month to go, the hype is starting to build up for the Evolution Championship Series (EVO). The annual fighting competition draws in thousand and thousands of contenders each year, and the event continues to grow bigger as a result. The best part about EVO is that you don’t have to be well known to enter any competition, it’s open to literally anyone who attends, but you do need to register for the respective game that you wish to partake in.

Speaking of which, the games are a major part of the event, usually stemming from the well known classics to newcomers that are thrown in to create some variety for the fans and the applicants. Some titles are seen as “not worthy” of being in the EVO series by the old school fighting game aficionados, but we aren’t going to talk about that. Here we’ll go through each confirmed game for the EVO lineup and see just how much it measures up to the “EVO standard.”

Street Fighter V Arcade Edition

Street Fighter needs no introduction here. The series is the longest running fighting game staple in EVO history, and has been played at every single one. Street Fighter V didn’t exactly have a great launch back in 2016, but it has since rebounded with newer content and the much improved Street Fighter V Arcade Edition. The established V Trigger and fighting mechanics are all still here, but now we have an actual single player arcade mode, something that fans were begging Capcom to release post launch of the original.

While it’s obvious that this iteration was made for esports, it’s still an excellent fighting game and a great starting point for anyone who has been living under a rock for the past 30 years. All of the fighters that were previously available via Season Passes are all gathered here in the Arcade Edition. They’re still bringing out new fighters and content in order for people to continue experiencing this title. The game is still loved by the community, ensuring it’s inclusion into this years EVO.

Mortal Kombat 11

One of the newer entries on the lineup, Mortal Kombat 11 is yet another game that was marred with some controversy upon release. Despite this, the fighting game aspect is easily the strongest it’s ever been in the series. NetherRealm Studios did everything they could to make sure that you felt a bit squeamish when dishing out some brutal Fatalities on your opponents, and vice versa. It also helps that the in game mechanics are fun and very addictive.

Mortal Kombat has only recently been considered part of the EVO lineup, with Mortal Kombat X being one of the most registered games at one point. Now they have a place in the annals of esports, and competitors will be lining up to see how they do with 11’s first outing at the event.

Dragon Ball FighterZ

Last year, Dragon Ball FighterZ was the most popular fighting game out there. In fact, the game had the single most registered applicants for the previous EVO, which dethroned Street Fighter as the long running champion of contenders for the first time ever. As for the game itself, it’s still going strong thanks to its second helping of fighters that were introduced this year.

It’s no surprise that it’s coming back to EVO. Many fighting gamers consider this to be the best game that Arc System Works has ever made, and that’s including Guilty Gear and BlazBlue. The 2D style with easy button combinations and beautiful art style made this a must play for not just Dragon Ball fans, but fighting game fans.

Tekken 7

Speaking of fighting games that haven’t lost any steam, Tekken 7 is arguably the most popular 3D fighting game out there right now. With the release of Dead or Alive 6, many thought that Tekken 7 would be taken off the EVO list this time. However, it seems that the people behind EVO prefer the slower paced technical skilled style over the faster paced one.

The roster for Tekken 7 is insane, especially with the addition of more fighters thanks to DLC. The game has the second biggest roster in the event, next to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Tekken fans are still lining up to play this one, so expect to see a big reception for it once they start going at it.

Soul Calibur VI

Sould Calibur VI marks the franchises grand return to the event for the first time in years. While old school fans prefer the 1999 arcade classic, VI is easily one of the premier fighting games out there. Similar to Tekken and Mortal Kombat, Bandai Namco has increased the roster with DLC, but the game is much more than that.

The developer has added some depth to the fighting mechanics, including the new super moves which can make or break a match. Other than that, the heart and soul, pun intended, of the series is still alive and kicking with a variety of different weapons with each fighter. Fans of the series will be delighted to see the Soul series return to the competition.

Undernight Inbirth EXE Late St

Undernight Inbirth EXE Late St might be the only game in the lineup that most fighting game fans know the least about. Believe it or not, but this is actually the third iteration of the game, whereas the original came out on the PlayStation 3 years ago. A huge hit in Japan, the series has found a fanbase here in the States, albeit a fairly small one.

Another series made by Arc System Works, the game plays very much like their other titles, Guilty Gear and Blazblue with some additional mechanics like multiple super bars. While the game can get a little hectic on screen, due to so many different abilities activating, it plays very well, and it’s easy to see why it’s being added to the EVO lineup.

Samurai Shodown 

Samurai Shodown is the most recent game to launch this year to be included in the EVO lineup. The series has been a part of the event for many years, and this is merely the next addition for them to use in the competition. The game plays a little bit differently than most fighting games. Instead of fast paced combos, you’ll need to learn the mechanics of your samurai and their weapons.

One unique part of the series is the inclusion of blood and fatality like finishers, a rare commodity for an SNK game. The newest version has this in spades, and many fans of the franchise have been waiting for the game to be part of EVO. Their wish has been granted.

BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle 

Yet another Arc System Works title (they make good fighting games) this is a spin off of multiple franchises combined into a unique tag team fighting game. Using fighters from the BlazBlue, Persona, Undernight, and RUBY series, the game has made some waves on the fighting game circuit with it’s easy to learn style despite the crowded roster.

Players use two select fighters in each fight, but you can trade fighters out to keep your opponent on their toes and vice versa. This will be the second EVO for the game, with the first one being right after it was released last year. Regardless of it’s current standing on the amount registered participants, BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle is a welcome game for the event.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Last but not least is the game with the most amount of registered participants for EVO 2019, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. This game needs no introduction, least of all a reason to have it at EVO. The Smash series has always had a presence at the event, specifically Melee which is still considered by many to be the best in the series.

While some might be sad to see it gone from the event, Ultimate will more than make up for it with it’s absolutely massive cast of fighters. Not to mention the classic Smash fighting style that is oh so addicting. Don’t be surprised to see this game be the last one on the lineup to be finished, as EVO always saves the best for last.

What do you think of the EVO lineup? Let us know in the comments below. EVO 2019 goes from August 2 Friday-August 4 Sunday at The Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.

After being announced more than a year ago, the fighting game Kill la Kill IF finally has a release date, and fans around the world will be excited to hear that it comes out very soon. In fact, it launches at the end of the month on July 26 for North America, though most other regions will receive it a day earlier on July 25.

To commemorate this event, Arc System Works has released a new gameplay demo for those who are interested in playing it. However, for us gamers in North America, you’ll need to pre-order the actual game to gain access to the demo. No explicit reason was given as to why we need to jump through an extra hoop to play it a bit earlier, but it might have something to do with the long standing history of niche Japanese fighting games not doing very well in the States, although this is merely a conjecture and not a proven point.

Still, their is some other good news to go along with this, the game will also be releasing on PC through Steam. No information was given on what the requirements would be to run it, but we expect that information to be revealed sooner than later. The game very much plays akin to the Naruto Storm series, where the camera rotates from an over-the-shoulder perspective as you input button combinations to execute attacks and special abilities.

Kill la Kill IF launches on July 26 for the PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and PC through Steam. You can check out a special tutorial video for the game here:

It’s been an interesting couple of days for CD Projekt Red. Yesterday, it was reported by a Polish website that the company was not only developing the highly anticipated Cyberpunk 2077, but that they were also making multiple installments in what looked like potential spin offs for the Cyberpunk universe. This caused quite the frenzy among the video game community, but the company has officially debunked these rumors, stating to multiple outlets that it simply isn’t the case.

Turns out, the original report from the Polish website was based on a translation error from Google Translate, which in turn caused the accidental misrepresentation of what the company was doing. What originally looked like numerous titles is actually multiple studios under the CD Projekt umbrella that are all contributing to the overall game. All of the outlets who reached out to the company received the exact same statement which reads as such:

“We currently have a total of five teams working on a number of projects, with three focusing on the development of Cyberpunk 2077. These include CD Projekt Red Warsaw and Kraków, who are handling the main game, as well as the Wrocław studio, where around 40 industry specialists are engaged in technology R&D. A separate, dedicated team at the Warsaw studio is handling the development of Gwent. The final team is Spokko, which is currently working on a yet unannounced mobile project.”

The company has stated in the past that they would like to give Cyberpunk 2077 the same post-launch treatment that they gave their other popular title, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. This would mean massive expansions that add onto the already insane amount of content, or at least we assume that their will be with a game of this magnitude. Despite the initial reports being incorrect, it’s still an awe-inspiring thing to hear that CD Projekt Red is putting everything it’s got into the title, which only makes us more excited for it.

Cyberpunk 2077 launches on April 16 2020 for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.