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War of the Realms Struggles to Set Up its Finale

War of the Realms is nearing its conclusion, and there’s little sign the series is changing its questionable course now. The book has been and continues to be a fun ride through a war-torn Marvel Universe, one that invites all manner of heroes to join in the fray. But its beauty still runs surface deep. Even issue #5’s halfhearted attempts to re-center the conflict around Thor and his family do little to change that.

This is traditionally the point in any big Marvel crossover where the heroes begin rallying together and beating back the all-powerful threat looming over everything, and War of the realms #5 doesn’t disappoint in that regard. Much of this issue is devoted to hopping from one battle scene to the next, showing readers how a motley lineup of heroes is succeeding where the gods, dwarves and elves of the Ten Realms failed. Jason Aaron and Russell Dauterman focus on delivering one fist-pumping moment of victory after another, with She-Hulk stomping Ulik, Ghost Rider unleashing hell on the Enchantress, Wolverine filling an empty slot in the Warriors Three and various other fun, larger-than-life moments.

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Blizzard Reportedly Cancels Game That Was In The Works For Two Years

It appears Blizzard Entertainment has canceled a project that was in development for at least two years. Game developer David Gibson, who was a senior animator on Overwatch, started working on a mysterious unannounced Blizzard project in July 2017, according to his LinkedIn page. He worked on this game for about two years before announcing his departure from Blizzard this week.

Whatever this project was, it’s reportedly no longer happening. “Unfortunately, you’ll never see what we made over the past two years–that’s [game development],” he said on Twitter.

Game development is a highly iterative, fluid process. It is not uncommon for projects to get canceled midway through development, for a variety of reasons. Gibson did not offer any specifics on why this project was seemingly axed or if his departure from Blizzard is related.

According to Blizzard executive producer Allen Adham, roughly 50 percent of Blizzard’s games are canceled before release. “The truth is, behind the curtain, it’s a horror show. But most people outside of Blizzard don’t realize around half of our titles don’t see the light of day,” he explained to Game Informer. “So, people who think we’re a consistent company, we’re only consistent in that we only release the really amazing games.”

GameSpot has contacted Blizzard in an attempt to get more details.

Gibson didn’t say if he was let go or if he is leaving voluntarily. Whatever the case, Gibson says he has already lined up a new gig.

Blizzard’s new president, J. Allen Brack, has said that Blizzard currently has more projects in development than ever before in the company’s history. It seems it has one fewer now. Recently, Brack teased that Blizzard might be working on some kind of Overwatch spinoff or sequel.

If Blizzard does have new projects to announce, that could happen at the BlizzCon 2019 event in November. Keep checking back with GameSpot for the latest.

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See Battlefield 5’s Next Free Maps, More Info Coming At E3 2019

Battlefield V is getting lots more content this year, including four new maps coming to the game with the Chapter 4: Defying the Odds update that launches on June 27. These maps, like all the ones released already, are completely free as part of Battlefield V’s free expansion campaign. More details on all the new maps are coming at E3 2019 this weekend.

The first of the new maps is Al Sundan, which is based on the Under No Flag single-player mission. It’s set in the North African desert, and it’s a large-scale map supporting 64 players. Next up is the 64-player Marita map, which launches in July. It’s the second map set in Greece, following Mercury that was released at the end of May.

“Marita transports players to a gorgeous mountainside with cobblestone roads overlooking a river, and features infantry-focused combat where Allied forces are making a last stand to halt the Axis army,” reads its description.

The other two maps, Lofoten Island and Provence, are smaller in scale; they’re designed around close-quarters combat. Both of these maps will be released sometime in summer.

Moving ahead, DICE will launch a new map called Operation Underground in October. The map is inspired by Battlefield 3‘s Operation Metro map, and it features a number of different areas such as streets, courtyards, and train platforms.

You can see a glimpse of all the new maps in the video embedded above. All of the new maps for Battlefield V will be shown off during publisher Electronic Arts’ EA Play event this weekend in Los Angeles.

Battlefield V launched in October 2018 and it sold more than 7 million copies in under two months; that was below EA’s commercial expectations.