Month: March 2019

Now that Respawn has shared more details on the new character, Octane, and the first Apex Legends battle pass, it’s confirmed that the battle pass doesn’t feature any Fortnite-style challenges. In a blog post, Respawn said it might consider adding challenges or quests in future battle passes, but not in the first one because the studio wanted to instead give players more time to learn and experiment with the initial roster of characters.

“You’ll notice the first version isn’t built around a complex quest system where you need to do a 720 backflip off of Watchtower Artemis and get two Wingman headshots before hitting the ground,” Respawn said in a sentence that appears to be referencing Fortnite. “While we think there’s really cool design space in quests and challenges for future Battle Passes, we wanted the initial version to allow our players to just play and learn the game.”

While there are no challenges in the first Apex Legends battle pass, which is called the Wild Frontier Battle Pass, there is a progression system that rewards players who try out a number of different characters. “This season is about exploring the new meta and variety of team comps driven by the launch of our first new Legend, Octane,” Respawn said.

Respawn also confirmed that almost everything in Apex Legends’ first battle pass will be forever exclusive to Season 1. The only exception is that Apex Packs will be available every season, and their content won’t be exclusive to any one season.

Looking ahead, Respawn said you can expect future Apex Legends battle passes to include more “improvements, updates, and tweaks.” The studio teased that it has a “lot of cool ideas in the works,” and you can expect those to release over time.

For more on the first Apex Legends battle pass and Octane, check out the stories below.

While large batches of PlayStation and Xbox games are discounted on a weekly basis, it’s not as common to see hundreds of Steam games marked down at once. Luckily, Fanatical‘s spring sale is here to fill that gap and save PC gamers money on some of the best games on Steam. The retailer, which sells Steam keys that are officially licensed from game publishers, has been posting new game deals throughout the month, with the latest batch of deals going live today. Please note you must have a Steam account to take advantage of them.

Even better: Fanatical is offering a coupon code that lets you take an additional 10% off the site price (with the exception of pre-orders, bundles, and Star deals). The promo code is FANATICAL10 and will help you save even more money on these discounted games.

One of the most notable deals is Devil May Cry 5, the latest game in the hack-and-slash demon hunting series. Released less than two weeks ago, the Capcom title is discounted by 20% as part of Fanatical’s sale, so you can grab a Steam key for it for just $48 (it’s still $60 at all major retailers). Unfortunately, this is the one game you can’t use the promo code on, but $12 off is still a hefty discount for a brand new, highly rated game.

In GameSpot’s Devil May Cry 5 review, the game received a 9/10. “Rarely does the game stumble, consistently leveraging its spectacle and mechanical depth to push aside any small frustrations,” wrote GameSpot’s Matt Espineli. “All the while, the story exudes a charismatic charm that keeps you constantly intrigued as you’re refining your skills.”

Tons of other great PC games are on sale over the next two weeks, including Civilization VI, which you can get for $16.20; Frostpunk, which is discounted at $15.20; the entire XCOM 2 collection, which is $31.50; and Yakuza 0, which is selling for $11.51.

Shop Fanatical’s spring sale »

See some of our picks on the best Steam deals below, and take note of the day and time each deal ends. The below prices include the coupon code discount.

• Assassin’s Creed Origins — $16.20 (ends 3/31, 11 AM ET)
• Battletech — $21.60 (ends 3/24, 4 AM ET)
• Batman: Arkham Knight – Premium Edition — $9 (ends 3/26, 4 AM ET)
• Borderlands 2 – Game of the Year Edition — $7.20 (ends 3/20, 8 PM ET)
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 — $9 (ends 3/27, 4 AM ET)
• Cities: Skylines — $6.74 (ends 3/26, 4 AM ET)
• Civilization VI — $16.20 (ends 3/27, 4 AM ET)
• Civilization VI – Gold Edition — $27.90 (ends 3/27, 4 AM ET)
• Darksiders II – Deathinitive Edition — $6.74 (ends 3/26, 4 AM ET)
• Deadlight — $0.94 (ends 4/2, 3 AM ET)
• Devil May Cry 5* — $48 (ends 3/23, 4 AM ET)
• Frostpunk — $15.20 (ends 3/31, 3 AM ET)
• Hitman 2 — $56.70 (3/26, 4 AM ET)
• Jackbox Party Pack 5 — $16.28 (ends 3/28, 4 AM ET)
• Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes — $3.60 (ends 3/26, 4 AM ET)
• Middle-Earth: Shadow of War — $14.84 (ends 3/26, 4 AM ET)
• Opus Magnum — $12 (ends 4/2, 3 AM ET)
• Rome: Total War – Collection — $3.74 (ends 3/29, 12 PM ET)
• Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun — $14.40 (ends 4/2, 3 AM ET)
• Shenmue I & II — $17 (ends 3/25, 12 PM ET)
• Two Point Hospital — $19.68 (ends 3/25, 12 PM ET)
• Valkyria Chronicles — $5.75 (ends 3/25, 12 PM ET)
• Valkyria Chronicles 4 — $25.37 (ends 3/25, 12 PM ET)
• Vampyr — $22.50 (ends 3/26, 4 AM ET)
• Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War III — $9 (ends 3/26, 4 PM ET)
• XCOM 2 – Collection — $31.50 (ends 3/20, 7:59 PM ET)
• Yakuza 0 — $11.51 (ends 3/25, 12 PM ET)

*coupon code cannot be used

Nintendo is broadcasting another Direct-style presentation this week, this one focusing on indie games. The annual spring Nindies Showcase airs on Wednesday, March 20, and it’ll offer a glimpse at a number of indie titles on the way to Switch in the near future.

The presentation is scheduled to begin at 9 AM PT / 12 PM ET / 4 PM GMT. As usual, you’ll be able to stream it on Nintendo’s website, Twitch, and YouTube channels. You’ll also be able to tune in right here on GameSpot when the time comes and watch the broadcast below.

Nintendo hasn’t shared any further details about this week’s Nindies Showcase, so we don’t yet know what games will be featured. However, the company has confirmed the presentation will run approximately 30 minutes–longer than most typical Nintendo Directs–which suggests it’ll be packed with news and reveals.

Nintendo of Europe aired its own indie-focused presentation back in January, which included the announcement of SteamWorld Quest: Hand of Gilgamech, the newest game in Image & Form’s acclaimed series. That presentation was also followed by the surprise release of several titles, including When Ski Lifts Go Wrong and Unruly Heroes.

The Nindies Showcase follows a few weeks after Nintendo’s big February Direct, which gave us our first glimpse at Super Mario Maker 2, a Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening remake, and more. Nintendo and The Pokemon Company also recently revealed Pokemon Sword and Shield, the series’ upcoming “core” installments for Switch, during their own Pokemon-focused Direct at the end of February.

Google is expected to reveal some kind of gaming news at the Game Developers Conference on March 19. Exactly what that will be remains to be seen, although some kind of cloud gaming service and/or hardware has been the suspicion since the company first teased an announcement for GDC 2019.

This being Google, it could be major news–cloud gaming is a big part of gaming’s future, and a massive company getting involved has the potential to shake things up for the industry. With all of that in mind, we’ve rounded up some of the essential information regarding both Google’s event and some things to know about cloud gaming. We’ll update this once the news from Google, whatever it turns out to be, is announced.

Google GDC Livestream And Time

Provided you’re eager to find out what Google is up to as soon as possible, you’ll be able to watch a Google keynote livestream of the event. It takes place on March 19 at 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET / 5 PM GMT (4 AM AET on March 20).

As for what to expect, Google recently shared a teaser video showing off various environments. It also said the event would “unveil Google’s vision for the future of gaming.”

Why Is Cloud Gaming A Big Deal?

Cloud gaming isn’t new by any means; PlayStation Now, for instance, has been around for a while. But we’re finally reaching the point at which it stands to become a more significant component of how games are distributed. That doesn’t necessarily mean cloud gaming will replace consoles and dedicated hardware, as it could be a matter of complementing those things. To get you up to speed, we’ve put together an explainer on why cloud gaming is the future.

Jade Raymond Is (Probably) Involved

Just ahead of GDC, Jade Raymond announced that she has joined Google as a vice president. We don’t yet know exactly what Raymond–who is best known for her work as a producer on Assassin’s Creed–will be doing, but it seems fair to assume that she’ll be helping to spearhead whatever this “future of gaming” is that Google has in mind.

Who’s The Competition?

As noted above, PlayStation Now already exists, and Microsoft just recently showcased its xCloud streaming technology, with Forza Horizon 4 being played on a phone. Microsoft also announced plans to begin public testing this year. To help you keep track of all this, we’ve assembled a list of the top companies in the cloud gaming space.

With matches for this year’s Wrestlemania not finalized, everyone is wondering what the final card for the show is going to look like. And that’s when the rumors start pouring in. What surprises can we expect and what are industry insiders talking about?

Looking through the biggest rumors so far, there are a lot of questions about who Kurt Angle and John Cena will face at the biggest show of the year, and not so much talk about The Undertaker–probably because he’s being booked at Starrcast, the companion event for AEW‘s Double or Nothing, in May. Here’s the hottest rumors right now. And we’ll make sure to keep you updated on how all of these pan out.

The Demon At Mania? (Probably not)

Could Finn Balor show up to Wrestlemania as “The Demon?” That’s what everyone’s talking about after a Wrestlemania, which you can see in the alleged WWE advert above. However, it’s fanmade. It comes from MStudio on Instagram, a graphic designer. Trust me, I’d love to see The Demon make his return to the ring as well, but this poster is not confirmation in any way of this. Regardless, MStudio does some pretty fantastic work.

Beth And Natalya

The women’s tag division is still a very new thing, and there are many people speculating that Beth Phoenix and Natalya will team up to take on champions Sasha Banks and Bayley for the titles. Phoenix has been involved in a social media battle with Nia Jax, after their recent brawl with each other at Fastlane. Does this mean Banks and Bayley will drop the titles before the event or will this be a triple threat because Nia Jax and Tamina have to be involved.

Who Will Kurt Fight?

Kurt Angle is having his final match at Wrestlemania 35, but who will he fight? Let’s get to speculating! Many people believe he’ll take on John Cena one more time, as Angle was Cena’s first opponent on Smackdown. There is also talk of Shelton Benjamin and Angle duking it out, as they’ve been talking to each other on Twitter and Instagram about it. While both matches seem to be solid, the latter is the real winner because of Angle and Shelton’s working relationship in the past.

Dean Ambrose’s Final Match

Shield member Dean Ambrose has still not resigned with WWE, as far as we knew, so that means Wrestlemania 35 will likely be his final match with the company. According to Bleacher report, Ambrose may team with Roman Reigns to take on Drew McIntyre and Baron Corbin at the PPV. Meanwhile, the third member of The Shield, Roman Reigns, will be taking on Brock Lesnar for the Universal Championship.

We’ll keep you updated on these rumors as the weeks progress, and make sure to come back to GameSpot on Sunday, April 7 for live coverage and review of Wrestlemania.