Month: January 2019

In 2018, former Hearthstone director Ben Brode and several of his coworkers left Blizzard and founded a new company, now known to be called Second Dinner. The indie studio has announced that it’s begun work on its first title, and it will be a Marvel game.

Second Dinner has received a $30 million investment from NetEase, which will go towards supporting the studio as it develops this first game. Second Dinner has not revealed details about the Marvel game; however, an announcement video did reveal that the studio has been working on the title for six months and already has a working prototype.

The new indie studio is currently composed of Hamilton Chu, Ben Brode, Mike Schweitzer, Yong Woo, and Jomaro Kindred, who each had a hand in creating Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft. Several of their resumes include other games as well, such as Halo 2 and Diablo III.

Marvel had a pretty good 2018, especially in terms of video games with the release of Spider-Man on PS4–one of our favorite games for the year. However, the company saw huge success with its movies as well, with both live-action films like Avengers: Infinity War and animated ones like Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse receiving wide-spread critical acclaim.

Looking forward, 2019 sees the release of the long-awaited Avengers: Endgame as well as Captain Marvel. The writer for the Ms. Marvel comic is also stepping down and passing the series off to someone new, who’s creating a new story for Kamala Khan called The Magnificent Ms. Marvel. A sequel to the beloved Ultimate Alliance video game franchise, titled Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order, is also coming out. And even though we haven’t heard anything about it for a while, there’s still Square Enix’s Marvel game, codenamed The Avengers Project, to look forward to.

Following the Christmas-themed Starlight Celebration, Final Fantasy XIV‘s annual Heavensturn New Year event is back again on PS4 and PC. The festivities are underway from now through to January 15, giving players until then to take on seasonal quests and earn some New Year gear.

To participate in the Heavensturn event, you’ll need to have a character that is at least level 15, then speak to the Inoshishi Bugyo, who can be found in the upper decks of Limsa Lominsa. It appears the residents of the city are unaware of the festival, so you’ll need to help him drum up some interest and sell his rice cakes.

After completing the event quest you’ll be able to earn two different styles of the Inoshishi Kabuto helmet, which features an adorable piglet sitting on top to commemorate the Year of the Pig. You can also get a new seasonal piece of furniture for your home: the Boar’s Head Kadomatsu. Certain items from previous Heavensturn events can be purchased from the seasonal shop as well.

In addition to Heavensturn, a new update is on the way to Final Fantasy XIV very soon. Patch 4.5, A Requiem for Heroes, is scheduled to drop on January 8, and it’s set to introduce a load of new content to the game, including a new main scenario, side quests, and a dungeon.

On top of that, Patch 4.5 will bring a new job class: the Blue Mage. You’ll also be able to acquire new mounts and minions, such as an adorable fishing otter, as well as new hairstyles, emotes, and custom deliveries, among other things. You can read more about the upcoming patch on the official Final Fantasy XIV website.

We’re partway through Season 7 of Epic’s hit battle royale game, Fortnite, and there’s a new batch of challenges to complete on PS4, Xbox One, PC, Nintendo Switch, and mobile devices. Clearing these missions earns you Battle Stars that, in turn, level up your Battle Pass and unlock the new Season 7 rewards. There’s an added incentive to complete all of the challenges from a given week, however: you’ll also clear a related Snowfall challenge, which will net you a special loading screen that features a clue to the whereabouts of a free item.

The item in question will either be a Battle Star–which levels your Battle Pass up by one tier–or a Banner–which can be used as a profile icon–depending on how many weekly sets of challenges you complete. If you finish five weeks’ worth of missions, you’ll be able to get the former. But first, you’ll need to find it.

Fortunately, the loading screen you receive for completing the Week 5 Snowfall challenge will point you in the right direction. As you can see below, the screen features Trog–one of the new skins introduced to Fortnite in Season 7–having a little tea party inside a snowy cave. If you look in the top left-hand corner of the image, however, you’ll be able to spot a Battle Star just above the wooden hut in the background.

The cave depicted in the loading screen is located in the southwestern portion of the map, in quadrant B9 between Frosty Flights and Happy Hamlet. Glide to the area at the start of a match and you’ll find a hole leading to the aforementioned cave. Enter it, and you’ll spot the Battle Star exactly where it was teased: atop the wooden hut. Use the stairs to reach the roof and collect the Battle Star to level your Battle Pass up by one tier.

As usual, this Battle Star won’t appear for all Fortnite players. You’ll first need to complete five weeks’ challenges and unlock the corresponding loading screen before the item will show up in the game, so you won’t be able to simply go to the right place and collect it if you haven’t put in the necessary work. If you need more help finding the Battle Star, you can watch us collect it in the video above to see exactly where it’s located.

There are still a few weeks remaining in Season 7, which means you still have plenty of time to complete this season’s challenges and unlock its new rewards. You can find tips for all of this season’s trickier missions in our complete Season 7 challenge guide. You can also find the whereabouts of Season 7’s other free Battle Stars and Banners using the guides below.

Fortnite Season 7 Snowfall Challenge Guides

• Fortnite Secret Battle Star Location: Week 1 Snowfall Challenge Guide
• Fortnite Secret Banner Location: Week 2 Snowfall Challenge Guide
• Fortnite Secret Battle Star Location: Week 3 Snowfall Challenge Guide
• Fortnite Secret Banner Location: Week 4 Snowfall Challenge Guide
• Fortnite Secret Battle Star Location: Week 5 Snowfall Challenge Guide

This week’s challenges offer you a free battle star in a secluded cave near Happy Hamlet. Here’s exactly where to go. Captured on PC.

Nintendo is doing a very un-Nintendo thing on the Eshop this week. Instead of keeping its exclusive titles at a rigid $60 price point, it’s discounting them between now and January 10 as part of a New Year’s sale. These are games that rarely get the discount treatment, so if you’ve been holding off on titles like Octopath Traveler and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, now is a great time to buy. A bunch of other games are on sale this week as well, so let’s take a look.

As for those exclusives, you can get Arms, Hyrule Warriors Definitive Edition, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Splatoon 2, and Octopath Traveler for $42 each. That saves you a cool $18 on some of the most sought-after Switch games around. (For those who prefer physical versions, Target also has these games on sale for the same price).

But this week’s sale is bigger than just those titles. You can save lots of cash on a swath of other games as well. Mega Man Legacy Collection, which bundles the core series’ NES installments (games 1-6), is on sale for $11.25. You can solve murders in 1940s California in LA Noire for $25. And if you’d like to take over the world, Sid Meier’s Civilization VI lets you give it your best shot for $45.

Other notable discounted games include Capcom Beat ‘Em Up Bundle, which comes with seven arcade games from yore, on sale for $16. Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove, which includes the core game and two expansions–and will be getting the King of Cards expansion for free this year–is discounted to $20. Sonic Mania is down to $15, and the digital version of the tabletop game Carcassonne is on sale for $16.

You’ll find more of our picks below, or you can check out the whole list of deals here.

• Arms — $42
• Attack on Titan 2 — $36
• Battlezone Gold Edition — $21
• Blossom Tales: The Sleeping King — $10.50
• Capcom Beat ‘Em Up Bundle — $16
• Carcassonne — $16
• Final Fantasy XV Pocket Edition HD — $20
• Flinthook — $10
• Golf Story — $10
• Hyrule Warriors Definitive Edition — $42
• LA Noire — $25
• Lego DC Super-Villains — $30
• Lego Harry Potter Collection — $25
• Mario Kart 8 Deluxe — $42
• Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle Gold Edition — $26
• Mega Man Legacy Collection — $11.25
• Namco Museum — $15
• NBA 2K Playgrounds 2 — $20
• Octopath Traveler — $42
• Puyo Puyo Tetris — $21
• Sega Ages: Sonic the Hedgehog — $6
• Severed — $10.50
• Shining Resonance Refrain — $25
• Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove — $20
• Sid Meier’s Civilization VI — $45
• Sonic Forces — $20
• Sonic Mania — $15
• Splatoon 2 — $42
• Starlink: Battle for Atlas: Digital Edition — $30
• Valkyria Chronicles — $15
• Valkyria Chronicles 4 — $30
• Warriors Orochi 4 — $48
• WWE 2K18 — $15