Tuesday gaming news, part two:
EA confirms free-to-play Battlefield 6 battle royale is coming out tomorrow
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/battle-royale/ea-confirms-free-to-play-battlefield-6-battle-royale-is-coming-out-tomorrow/
It's no secret that Battlefield 6 will be getting a battle royale mode: Of course it will, obviously, but also EA has already explicitly said it will. What it hasn't said is when that mode will go live, but now it has--and it's coming tomorrow, October 28, the same day as the launch of Battlefield 6 season 1.
A brainrot-themed Roblox game is taking a brainrot-themed Fortnite game to court for being 'a copy'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/a-brainrot-themed-roblox-game-is-taking-a-brainrot-themed-fortnite-game-to-court-for-being-a-copy/
If there's one thing Roblox players seem to love as of late, it's brainrot. You've got the Plants vs. Zombies-inspired brainrot game, Brainrot Evolution, and one of the biggest brainrot games going, Steal A Brainrot. If that sentence has you feeling about 150 years old, just bear with me, because it's only going to get worse from here.
Steal A Brainrot—a Roblox custom game where you hoard collectible meme characters in exchange for virtual currency, of which PC Gamer evergreen writer Kara Philips said "sensory overload is a complete understatement"—has filed a complaint against Stealing Brainrots, a Fortnite custom game which the Steal a Brainrot team at Spyder Games alleges is "a copy."
>> I know I decided to not post Roblox related news well over a year ago, but this one is so ridiculous that I couldn’t help it.
The Outer Worlds 2 dunks on you with a 'Consumerism' flaw that secretly makes you stupid if you bought its $100 version for early access: 'Promotions and sales have riddled your brain'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/the-outer-worlds-2-dunks-on-you-with-a-consumerism-flaw-that-secretly-makes-you-stupid-if-you-bought-its-usd100-version-for-early-access-promotions-and-sales-have-riddled-your-brain/
Premium editions with early access periods, love 'em or hate 'em (let's be real, you probably hate them), we can't deny the fact that they help make the line go up for studios because, er, well. They keep doing it, so it's clearly profitable enough to tank the negative PR. The Outer Worlds 2, despite getting a solid thumbs up by resident RPG sicko Ted Litchfield in his review, is no exception.
See, the $100 premium edition of the game gives you access to Obsidian's latest five whole days early. Also, to be fair, a few bonuses that are technically worth the price—two future DLCs, access to the artbook and soundtrack, and a couple of bundles with armours and weapons in them. Standard stuff.
Oh, and also the privilege of Obsidian sticking its tongue out at you and going ner-ner.
After OG dev blasted the Halo remake, the 'father of Master Chief' says he thinks it looks just swell, actually: 'Gorgeous in a way I wish we could have built it'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/after-og-dev-blasted-the-halo-remake-the-father-of-master-chief-says-he-thinks-it-looks-just-swell-actually-gorgeous-in-a-way-i-wish-we-could-have-built-it/
It is 2025 and we are, as a society, making Halo again. This has caused no small amount of discourse. Is there any point remaking Halo? Is Unreal Engine 5 the right vessel for a remake? Will God strike us down for putting a Halo game on a Sony console?
All these questions and more arose, along with a bit of controversy. For instance, original Halo designer Jaime Griesemer was vocally disappointed with the new remake, calling it out for mucking with the level design in a way he reckoned was deleterious for the game as a whole.
Well, buckle up, because yet another Halo OG has entered the ring and this one's a lot more positive. Marcus Lehto, art director on Halo 1, 2 and 3 and "father of Master Chief," took to X to declare that he's a fair bit keener on the remake than his former compatriots. "It warms my heart to see Halo CE like this," says the man himself.
>> Different people, different opinions.
EA employees are reportedly frustrated by a mandate to use AI, mocking the policy in Slack and suspecting it's being used as justification for layoffs
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/ea-employees-are-reportedly-frustrated-by-a-mandate-to-use-ai-mocking-the-policy-in-slack-and-suspecting-its-being-used-as-justification-for-layoffs/
The generative AI wave has tech companies foaming at the mouth to get in while the getting's good, and while that might be creating a disastrously huge financial bubble, it's also changing the way companies operate. Microsoft has made it no secret that AI is non-negotiable for its employees, and it seems that EA is following suit, according to a report by Business Insider.
>> We’re seeing how well does that work with Msoft and Windows, with more bugs than ever. Imagine what may happened with EA games.
Psychopomp is one of the best games you can get for under $10 on Steam, and its newly-revealed sequel looks even better
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/horror/psychopomp-is-one-of-the-best-games-you-can-get-for-under-usd10-on-steam-and-its-newly-revealed-sequel-looks-even-better/
Surreal horror dungeon crawler Psychopomp teased that it would get a sequel before the credits even rolled, but I didn't expect any news on that front for some time. Developer Fading Club just put out the first trailer for Psychopomp 2, about a year after the first game's definitive Gold version launched.
'Valve does not get anywhere near enough criticism': DayZ creator Dean Hall says the 'gambling mechanics' of Valve's monetization strategy 'have absolutely no place' in videogames
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/valve-does-not-get-anywhere-near-enough-criticism-dayz-creator-dean-hall-says-the-gambling-mechanics-of-valves-monetization-strategy-have-absolutely-no-place-in-videogames/
Last week, Valve issued an update to Counter-Strike 2 that, by some estimates, caused the collective secondhand market value of rare CS2 cosmetics to plummet by billions of dollars. While Valve's official policy forbids the third party sale of its games' cosmetics, its loot box monetization fuels a massive ecosystem of gambling and speculation—and in an interview with Eurogamer, DayZ and Icarus creator Dean Hall says Valve isn't getting enough flak for creating its own predatory economy.
Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodhunt is the only battle royale I ever loved, so naturally it's going offline for good in April
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/battle-royale/vampire-the-masquerade-bloodhunt-is-the-only-battle-royale-i-ever-loved-so-naturally-its-going-offline-for-good-in-april/
It was bound to end this way, but even so, this one hurts. Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodhunt, the first and only battle royale I've ever been much good at (and thus the only one I ever really loved), is going away for good in April 2026.
"During these past 4 years, we have been thrilled to see your passion and dedication to Bloodhunt," developer Sharkmob wrote in the closure announcement. "Your feedback, creativity, and enthusiasm for our game has meant the world to us. However, despite you, our amazing community, the current player population has reached a level where keeping the servers running is no longer sustainable. This has led us to make the difficult decision to take Bloodhunt offline.
"The sun is now going to rise over Prague. We will be taking down the Bloodhunt servers on the 28th of April 2026, after which the game will no longer be available."
Civilization 7 will get 'one of the most requested features' since launch: The option to play as one civ from start to finish
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/strategy/civilization-7-will-get-one-of-the-most-requested-features-since-launch-the-option-to-play-as-one-civ-from-start-to-finish/
Firaxis tried something new with Civilization 7's Ages system, and although the studio's willingness to experiment with its decades-old grand strategy series is commendable, the evolution hasn't been the biggest of hits.
As a result, Firaxis has been working on options that remake Civ 7 into something more like its still-popular older siblings, and just announced that "one of the most requested features" is being tested internally: the option to play as one civ from start to finish.
Arc Raiders devs stop players spiralling about unfair 'gear score' matchmaking by confirming that they 'focus on maintaining the split between solos and squads'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/third-person-shooter/arc-raiders-devs-stop-players-spiralling-about-unfair-gear-score-matchmaking-by-confirming-that-they-focus-on-maintaining-the-split-between-solos-and-squads/
Most games will go through a couple of growing pains as the community gets last-minute nerves ahead of release. Some may be wondering whether said game is worth the price point, while others may start realising it might not be all there. But for Arc Raiders players, it looks like a big worry was its matchmaking.
Rumours swirling around what exactly Arc Raiders' matchmaking would look like were brought up in the game's Discord channel, with some freaking out about a supposed 'gear score'-based matchmaking that would revolve around what kind of loot players were bringing into the game.
(...)
But luckily, the devs jumped in and calmed things down as quickly as possible. "We noticed some discussions around loot or 'gear score' matchmaking," Embark representative Ossen says (via GamesRadar). "While it is true that the team has previously evaluated loot/gear-based as well as other types of matchmaking principles, right now the focus is on maintaining the split between solos and squads to keep those groups on an even playing field whenever possible."
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