Month: August 2020

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate has just received a new patch with Update 8.1.0, and it has made a surprising addition–a new stage. Small Battlefield–which is like Battlefield, but smaller–is now available for all players.

As of this update, you will be able to pick Small Battlefield as a preferred rule for online matches, which is good if you want a tighter arena for you and your opponent to battle on. You can also now pick any usually stage-specific music for this level, as well as Battlefield, Big Battlefield, and Final Destination.

This update includes some adjustments to online, including a lower eligibility to qualify for Elite Smash in the quickplay menu. This means that more players will be allowed into this mode. “Additionally, the way initial values for Global Smash Power are calculated has also been adjusted,” the update reads.

Beyond this, several other tweaks have been made, but the patch notes do not get into specifics.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate’s last major update was 8.0.0, which added Min-Min from Arms as a new fighter.

Quantic Dream’s latest game, Detroit: Become Human, has reached a new sales milestone. The French developer said in a news release that the game passed 5 million sales across all platforms following its release on Steam. The game launched earlier on PC through the Epic Games Store.

Detroit started out as a PS4-exclusive, but Quantic Dream has since ended its publishing agreement with Sony and is now planning to be a multiplatform game developer and “boutique” publisher.

Quantic Dream also announced that Detroit’s Twitch extension, Community Play, was a big success. Nearly 500 streamers used the Twitch overlay to call on their viewers to vote for what decisions should be made in the game. In total, more than 1.5 million votes were cast.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

Diablo Immortal, the mobile spin-off Diablo game, is still in the works despite lots of blowback from fans, and Activision Blizzard has spoken more about it in the context of their mobile strategy. As part of second quarter calendar 2020 results conference call, CFO Dennis Durkin has spoken about Activision’s mobile slate, citing the success of Call of Duty Mobile as a good model.

PC Gamer picked up on the comments from Durkin, who said that “there’s a lot more to come” for Activision’s mobile releases. “CoD Mobile is off to a really great start, but we’re just scratching the surface of what that franchise can be on mobile,” he says, in direct response to a question about Diablo Immortal and how Call of Duty has impacted it.

Durkin says that the success of Call of Duty on mobile serves as a good indicator of the success of franchise releases on mobile. “And it certainly applies to a lot of other franchises that we have,” he says. “We see that our current players really want more ways to engage with their favorite IP, be it through mobile or other platforms, and that offering authentic and really deep experiences on new platforms can drive much much higher engagement.”

Continue Reading at GameSpot

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and the battle royale game Warzone are set to grow again, and in a big way, with the launch of the huge Season 5 update on August 5.

The update will go live by way of a very large patch. If history is any indication, the patch should start to arrive on PS4, Xbox One, and PC at around 11 PM PT on August 4. The patch notes will be released this evening, senior communications manager Ashton Williams said on Twitter.

The Season 5 update adds new multiplayer maps for Modern Warfare, a new Ground War map, and a new Mini Royale mode for Warzone. There is also a new Battle Pass and more Operators, while the Warzone mode is getting refreshed with new areas and a freight train.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

Amazon’s big-budget Lord of the Rings TV show is one of the most-anticipated and most secretive projects in Hollywood right now. Actress Nazanin Boniadi has now shared a tiny morsel of insight on the show, saying in an interview that she and the rest of the cast are “very excited” about where the show is headed. “It’s really magical,” Boniadi told SBJCT.

“You can expect a lot of secrecy. My lips are sealed. But I can tell you that we had already started production before New Zealand had to lockdown because of the pandemic. We are all so very excited about what we’ve seen and experienced so far. It’s really magical. Just beyond. Ugh, I so wish I could share more. This is torture!” she said of her experience on the show so far.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

Wargroove, a turn-based strategy game in the vein of Advance Wars, received free DLC earlier this year–but only on Switch, Xbox One, and PC. The Double Trouble expansion, which added a co-op campaign, was missing from Sony’s system back in February, but now, six months later, that has been rectified.

The Double Trouble update has come to the PS4 version of Wargroove, adding a new, lengthy campaign, three new Commanders, two new units, and several other features to the game. Developer Chucklefish says that the campaign takes about 15 hours to complete, and it supports both couch and online co-op.

The DLC also contains new arcade missions, a volcano map theme, and new music.

Furthermore, the PS4 version now finally has cross-play. This feature was available at launch for the Switch, Xbox One, and PC versions, but PS4 players missed out until now. This means that players diving into the DLC will be able to team up with their friends on other systems.

“We’re very happy to finally complete our vision of one big happy Wargroove community as PS4 Wargroove players can now play with those on Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and PC,” Wargroove lead programmer Rodrigo Braz Monteiro said in a statement. “Thanks for your patience, and hope you’ll have fun!”

Wargroove received an 8/10 in GameSpot’s review, well before the free DLC launched. “Chucklefish could have offered up a prettied-up take on Advance Wars with online multiplayer and called it a day,” wrote reviewer Chris Pereira. “Instead, it’s made meaningful improvements that make this both a satisfying answer to starved Advance Wars fans’ wishes and a genuinely great experience on its own merits.”