Month: January 2021

The Hearthstone team today revealed the game’s first “mini-set” – The Darkmoon Races, which is a collection of 35 brand new cards that will be hitting the game on January 21 in NA (January 22 in Asia Pacific). Typically, the Hearthstone team releases three large sets of cards each year, with balance adjustments and special events in-between to help keep the game feeling fresh, so this mid-meta card injection represents a fresh approach.

The cards feature mechanics from all three sets released during the Year of the Phoenix – Ashes of Outland, Scholomance Academy and Madness at the Darkmoon Faire – so that means more dual-class cards, dormant minions, spellburst effects and cards that can be corrupted. The set as a whole contains four legendaries, one epic, 14 rare and 16 common cards and you can see them all below.

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Once the set has been released, the cards will start showing up in Madness at the Darkmoon Faire card packs. Players can also, however, simply purchase the entire set as it will be available as a bundle for either $14.99 USD ($19.95 AUD) or 2000 gold. This will contain 66 cards in total – two copies of each common, rare and epic card, as well as one copy of each legendary card. The bundle will be in the Hearthstone shop until May 11.

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Elsewhere in the world of Blizzard, the Battle.net client has had its first major overhaul in eight years, and we had a hell of a good time with the Diablo Immortal technical alpha.

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Cam Shea is IGN’s AU Studio Lead and has a serious soft spot for rave era breakbeat . He also played more Breath of the Wild than any other game last year. Catch him on Twitter. Maybe.

The Witcher Season 2 is in production. Here’s everything we know about it so far.

Season 1 of Netflix’s The Witcher was immensely popular, enjoyed by fans and casual viewers alike. Not everyone loved it, of course, but no matter how you look at it, Netflix’s live-action Witcher series is here to stay.

Naturally, the streaming service was quick to announce The Witcher Season 2, and they haven’t been stingy with the details. We may have had some gripes with Season 1, but we’re as excited as anyone about the show’s future, especially now that the first season’s structural issues may be left behind–keep reading to find out what we mean, as well as everything else we know about The Witcher Season 2.

The Witcher Season 2 release date

We don’t yet have a concrete release date for The Witcher Season 2, but we do have some idea of when it’s due out. Showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich said during a Reddit AMA last year that she expects the second season to arrive in 2021–although she added that they “don’t want to rush the product” since “that doesn’t benefit anyone.”

While you might expect statements made in early 2020 about an in-production show’s future release date to maybe not be all that accurate anymore thanks to the global COVID-19 pandemic, we also know that Netflix managed to resume production in August last year, so it may actually be on track still.

Season 2 trailer

Netflix has not yet released a full trailer for The Witcher Season 2, but a fun video that debuted around Halloween last year features some creatures from the series that were definitely never seen in Season 1, which fans have taken as a hint of things to come in Season 2.

Season 2 story

The Witcher Season 1’s finale saw Ciri and Geralt finally united, but also left Yennefer’s status unknown following the big battle with Nilfgaard. We can expect Season 2 to continue following Geralt and Ciri as they travel to Geralt’s home, Kaer Morhen, and certainly to address Yenn’s fate as well. It will most likely also continue to draw inspiration from the books, so if you’ve read the source material, you may know roughly what to expect. A page of a script Netflix posted to Twitter late last year even hinted at one particular story to watch out for: “A Grain of Truth.”

Hissrich has also promised that Season 2 will be “much more linear,” referring to the confusing timeline shenanigans in Season 1, which saw storylines featuring the three main characters presented as parallel despite taking place decades apart. The showrunner said the simplified structure will be possible “now that the three characters’ stories have started to intersect.”

Hissrich also revealed one storyline she won’t be adapting from the books: Triss Merigold’s extended illness, about which the showrunner said, “No one wants to see Triss have diarrhea for three episodes.” Fair.

Other than that, all we have is the official plot synopsis from Netflix: “Convinced Yennefer’s life was lost at the Battle of Sodden, Geralt of Rivia brings Princess Cirilla to the safest place he knows, his childhood home of Kaer Morhen. While the Continent’s kings, elves, humans and demons strive for supremacy outside its walls, he must protect the girl from something far more dangerous: the mysterious power she possesses inside.”

Season 2 characters

Obviously, The Witcher’s focus will continue to be on Geralt, Yennefer, and Ciri. We should also expect more of the series’ minor characters, including Jaskier (Dandelion, for those familiar with the Witcher games), Cahir, Triss, and more of Yenn’s fellow sorcerers and sorceresses. Beyond the expected, though, there’s only been one notable story about new Season 2 casting: Victoria actor Basil Eidenbenz as the Witcher Eskel.

The only other hint has been Hissrich’s continued commitment to “color-blind casting,” which ensures the best actor will be chosen for any new roles, regardless of their race or skin color. Lastly, we’ve seen Season 2 images featuring a new look for Ciri as well as new armor for Geralt.

How many episodes?

The Witcher Season 1 had 8 episodes, but Netflix hasn’t yet announced an episode count for Season 2. During the same Reddit AMA referenced above, Hissrich referred to Season 2’s length without giving any concrete answers. She said Season 1’s eight-episode length “felt like the magic number” to get the per-episode budget she wanted while telling the story she wanted to tell.

She’s approaching Season 2 similarly, asking questions like, “What are the stories [author Andrzej Sapkowski] was telling, and why? What building blocks do we need to set up future stories? Is there anything we missed from S1 that we want to include? And what will work on television?”

Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town will release exclusively for Nintendo Switch on March 23. The farm life sim will be available in two different editions, one of which includes a buffalo plushie that’s so adorable it may sway your purchasing decision. It’s up for preorder now at a number of retailers (see it at Amazon).

Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town Premium Edition

• Get it at Amazon – $59.99
• Get it at Best Buy – $59.99
• Get it at GameStop – $59.99

The premium edition of Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town comes with the game, plus the following physical items:

• Buffalo Pocket Plushie (2.5″ x 4″)
• Cloth Poster (13.5″ x 24″)

Preorder Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town

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• Get it at Amazon – $49.99
• Get it at Best Buy – $49.99
• Get it at GameStop – $49.99
• See it at Nintendo eShop – Not yet available

If you’re not into posters and plushies, you can get the standard edition for $10 less. Not too shabby.

What is Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town?

Like its predecessors, Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town finds the protagonist (male or female–your choice) retreating to a peaceful pastoral town to run a farm. You have full control over the place, so you’ll have to maintain it, and you can customize the crops to your heart’s content. You can also collect and process materials, customize your outfits, and improve your tools and facilities to work more efficiently.

When you’re not busy on the farm, you can skip over to nearby Olive Town, where you’ll find a colorful cast of characters and frequent events to participate in. A number of the residents are also potential marriage candidates, so strike up a conversation if one catches your eye.

If you’re a newcomer to the series and you find yourself in over your head, you can play on Seedling Mode to make things easier. Assuming it’s like the previous Story of Seasons games, it’ll have plenty to do to keep you occupied.

Other Preorder Guides

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Chris Reed is a commerce editor and deals expert at IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @_chrislreed.

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Multiplayer survival game Rust has skyrocketed in popularity recently, which has seen a load of huge Twitch streamers return to it. That’s led to the streaming platform teaming up with Rust for a selection of Twitch Drops. Rust Twitch drops are sets of in-game gear, which you can unlock after linking your Steam account and your Twitch account.

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How to Unlock Rust Twitch Drops

First, you’ll need to link your Steam account and Twitch account. To do this, go to the Twitch Connections page, and click “Connect” in the Steam section. From here, enter your Steam login details and your accounts will be linked.

Once this is done, you need to watch the specific streamer for four hours to unlock their specific gear. These drops are only available between January 7th, 10:00am PT/1:00pm ET to January 14th 3:30pm PT/6:30pm ET so you’ll want to hop on them quick! Here is a list of Twitch streamers you can watch and the Rust drops they unlock:

• Juanguarnizo – Chest Plate
• Mizkif – Sleeping Bag
• IlloJuan – Garage Door
• MoistCr1tikal – Jacket
• Alexby11 – Metal Door
• Rubius – Crate
• Aroyitt – Garage Door

There’s also a set of generic Rust Twitch Drops, which you’ll unlock by watching any Rust stream with the Drops Enabled tag. Each item here requires a different amount of time to watch, so you’ll have to put in the time to earn everything.

• Nebula Pants – 2 hours
• Kitten Face Mask – 2 hours
• Nebula Hoodie – 4 hours
• Ornate Tempered Revolver – 8 hours

If you found this article helpful, make sure to check out our guide on how to play Rust with friends.

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Actor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, who starred on Game of Thrones as Jaime Lannister is working with Netflix for his next film. Coster-Waldau will star in a new survival movie alongside Joe Cole from Peaky Blinders. The movie is called Against The Ice, and it’s an adaptation of the Danish novel Two Against The Ice.

According to Deadline, which broke the news, the movie is a passion project for Coster-Waldau. He wrote the script alongside Joe Derrick, adapting the 1955 book.

The movie will be made in English and it will be produced by the Iceland-based company Kormákur’s RVK Studios, which previously worked with Netflix on the show Katla.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

When Blizzard outlined its Hearthstone Madness at the Darkmoon Fair expansion, the studio mentioned that it plans to release mini-expansions regularly. It has now unveiled the first of these planned expansions, and it’s already right around the corner.

The mini-expansion is called The Darkmoon Races, and it will introduce 35 new cards when it launches on January 21. As this is considered part of the Darkmoon Faire expansion, you’ll have a chance of opening up the new cards with any regular Darkmoon Faire packs you open. But if you want to bypass all that, you can purchase the full mini-expansion set for $15 or 2,000 gold.

With a very short reveal window, Blizzard is showing off new cards every hour through Twitter. The reveals have already included some high-powered Legendary cards, along with more Dual-Class and Spellburst cards, which were both introduced in the previous expansion, Scholomance Academy.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

After a year and a half of early access, Shattered – Tale of the Forgotten King is officially launching next month. The action RPG will be released for PC on February 17.

As seen in the new launch trailer, Tale of the Forgotten King takes place in a partially open-world, and features challenging combat against difficult enemies and larger-than-life bosses. The game’s story is slowly unlocked bit by bit as you solve the world’s mysteries, eventually culminating in one of five different endings.

Tale of the Forgotten King sees you play as the Wanderer, who travels through a world now devoid of the king that created it. As you traverse through the game, you’ll platform, fight, and puzzle-solve your way through its world, discovering the secrets to its origins.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

Donald Trump won’t be President Trump after President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration on January 20, but he might face an even stiffer loss: getting kicked out of the Screen Actors Guild. On Tuesday, SAG-AFTRA announced that its board has found “probable cause” to expel Trump in a special session due to violations of the organization’s constitution.

The matter has now been referred to the union’s Disciplinary Committee, which could reprimand, censure, fine, or kick out Trump entirely, depending on its finding. Not surprisingly, the charges stem from the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, when Trump incited his supporters to march on the building in an apparent attempt to overthrow the results of the election. The organization also says other factors contributed to the decision, particularly his “sustaining a reckless campaign of misinformation aimed at discrediting and ultimately threatening the safety of journalists, many of whom are SAG-AFTRA members.”

This effort to expel Trump from one of America’s most powerful unions is the latest in a wide-ranging backlash following the events of January 6, when the US Capitol was breached for the first time since the war of 1812. Trump was banned from numerous digital platforms for his support of the riot, including Twitter and Twitch. Recently, even Macaulay Culkin suggested that Trump should be digitally removed from Home Alone 2, where the controversial real estate developer appears in a brief cameo.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

Titans may have lost its original home on the DC Universe streaming service, which shut down last year, but the show has found a new one on HBO Max, where it will debut its third season. The cast of classic DC Comics characters, reimagined in the gritty world of the show, is continuing to grow as Variety reports the addition of Barbara Gordon, played by Savannah Welch (Six).

Barbara, the daughter of police commissioner James Gordon, was famously paralyzed by The Joker in The Killing Joke, which ended her career as Batgirl but set her on a new course: Gotham’s very own information broker and hacker extraordinaire, Oracle. As Oracle, Barbara became the central point of contact for all vigilantes in Gotham, as well as the leader of her own team, the Birds of Prey. She also helped train the new Batgirl, Cassandra Cain, who took over in her stead. Cain–as well as the Birds, sans Barbara–recently appeared in the DCEU’s Harley Quinn-focused Birds of Prey film. Before that, Barbara was played by Dina Meyer in the short-lived Birds of Prey TV show and Yvonne Craig in the cult-classic Batman ’66 TV show.

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EA’s military shooter Battlefield V will be offline briefly tomorrow, January 20, for a round of regular maintenance, the studio has announced.

The maintenance period will begin at 0800 UTC and run for a period of about one hour, ending at 0900 UTC. During this period, all servers for Battlefield V will be down, meaning you can’t play multiplayer.

Should EA need to extend the maintenance period further, the developer will notify players. This downtime appears to be regular maintenance and not in response to a larger issue.

Continue Reading at GameSpot