Month: April 2019

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Barring any last-minute changes, Halo: The Master Chief Collection may finally begin its release for PC in April. Community director Brian Jarrard said on Twitter that the current plan, which could change, is for the first beta tests–or “flights” in the Halo parlance–should begin for Halo: The Master Chief Collection and Halo: Reach sometime in April.

Jarrard made this announcement on April Fool’s Day, but it is no joke, he confirmed in a tweet.

Halo: The Master Chief Collection is coming to PC in stages, beginning with Halo: Reach (which is also releasing for Xbox One) and continuing chronologically from there–Halo: CE, Halo 2, Halo 3, and then Halo 4. The titles will be released first as “flights,” with the aim of testing each title with a limited group of people first before rolling out publicly for everyone. You can sign up for the free Halo Insider program here for a chance to try out the games early.

Halo: Reach is coming to both PC and Xbox One, and it will see a “flight” release first–on each platform–before coming out for everyone, Jarrard said in another tweet. He said he’s not sure if the beta test for Halo: Reach will begin first on PC or Xbox One.

On PC, each title within the Halo: The Master Chief Collection will be sold individually, but the “flights” are free, if you get in. And in a big change for the series, Halo: The Master Chief Collection will be available through Steam.

Halo: The Master Chief Collection originally launched in November 2014 for Xbox One. It faced serious and significant server issues at launch that made the title basically unplayable for some. Microsoft improved the experience significantly over time, and today the title is mostly stable and highly populated with players thanks in part to its inclusion with Xbox Game Pass.

Do you plan to check out Halo: The Master Chief Collection on PC? Let us know in the comments below!

Metro Exodus going exclusive to the Epic Games Store was a controversial move for publisher Deep Silver. Valve called the move “unfair to Steam customers,” apologizing for the short window the company had to inform customers that Metro Exodus wouldn’t be available through its platform. Despite this, Steam keys for the game were sold online, and it turns out that those keys were stolen–and have now been deactivated as a result.

According to an update on the game’s official Steam page, these keys for Metro Exodus on Valve’s platform will no longer work. “These keys have been obtained illegally from the factory where physical key printing had taken place prior to the announcement of exclusivity with Epic Games,” publisher Deep Silver wrote. “Due to the criminal nature of these keys, all unlicensed keys have been deactivated and activation/download of Metro Exodus without the executable file is no longer possible.”

Further, Metro Exodus will be removed from your games library if you got one of these illegal Steam keys. “In addition, the software will be removed from the Steam library of any players using an unauthorized code. The keys being sold on this platform are stolen goods, and are therefore illegal.”

So what’s Deep Silver’s recommendation after the company removes the game from your games library? “If you have been affected we strongly recommend you contact the seller who sold you the unlicensed key and demand a refund,” it said.

Deep Silver says only two distributors were legally authorized to sell Metro Exodus on PC at launch: Humble Bundle and the Razer store. While the game’s currently exclusive to the Epic Games Store, Metro Exodus will be sold on Steam after February 14, 2020.

Metro Exodus recently received a New Game Plus in the Ranger Update, a 6GB update that adds a host of new features and various tweaks. In addition to New Game Plus, the Ranger Update comes with a fourth controller sensitivity preset, platform-specific improvements and additions, addresses numerous bugs and crashes, and adds full Ukrainian localization. The Ranger Update is available now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.

In what seems to be a mistake of setting a web page live a little too early, new details on Valve’s own gaming VR headset, called the Index, have emerged. This includes the minimum and recommended PC hardware requirements, what comes in the packaging, and (apparently) a definitive release date.

The initial Valve Index announcement was made last week with an official Steam page that indicates a May 2019 release window. However, the seemingly leaked store page (which is no longer live) listed a release date of June 15. Note that this could either be a placeholder date or a mistake; or this could be the actual launch for the VR headset.

Update (April 1, 2019): GameSpot’s sister site CNET reports that preorders will begin on May 1 and that Valve Index will launch with the company’s new SteamVR Knuckles controllers.

Additionally, the minimum and recommended PC specs were shown and appear to be in line with the other PC-based VR headsets. You’ll need at least a dual-core CPU with hyper-threading, 8GB of RAM, and a GTX 970 or RX 480 video card–Valve recommends a quad-core CPU and a GTX 1070 video card or better. You will also need DisplayPort 1.2 and USB ports (of course), though the recommended specs say that a USB 3.0 port is required for the headset pass-through camera.

A more detailed look at the Valve Index VR headset.

As for the packaged goods, the headset includes integrated headphones, two face pads (narrow and wide), a cleaning cloth, a power adapter, and tether for DisplayPort and USB connections. With the new image (seen above), you get a clearer view of the two front-facing cameras, which will be used as pass-through, indicated by the recommended specs list. The image also shows what could be two built-in sensors just above the cameras. A separate Steam page also went up for the Valve Index base station; no images were on the page though it simply said that this includes one SteamVR 2.0 base station, one “XX-foot” power cable, and a power adapter. This also had a release date of June 2019 listed. Pricing for Index remains to be a question, however, as neither the official announcement or leaked store page made any indication.

The Steam page with the details discussed above is no longer live, but you can see a screenshot of it below–it’s mostly comprised of ‘lorem ipsum’ filler text. For more on what’s coming for VR gaming in 2019, check out all the details we gathered about the Oculus Rift S and Oculus Quest coming this spring for $400 USD.

Ring of Honor wrestler and leader of The Kingdom Matt Taven has an epic challenge in front of him at ROH/NJPW G1 Supercard on Saturday, April 6 at Madison Square Garden. He’ll be taking on World Champion Jay Lethal and Marty Scurll in a ladder match for the title.

Taven is confident in his ability and truly believes he is the champion to the point where he made his own title, which Jay Lethal destroyed with an axe. The two faced each other at the ROH 17th Anniversary show for the championship, which ended in a time limit draw. This is where Marty Scurll entered the picture, inserting himself into the main event.

Lethal and Taven’s match was a classic, but the leader of the Kingdom knows he can beat the Ring of Honor World Championship in the ladder match. “For what he did in the 60 minute match against me, he sometimes will go for go for it all and risk it all,” Taven told GameSpot. “You saw him try to drop that elbow while I was lying on the ladder, and I was able to get a get out of the way and let Jay Lethal crash and burn. And I think Jay Lethal might get caught up in the moment and try to go for something spectacular and set a goal for the win.”

As for Scurll’s involvement with the match, Taven isn’t worried, even though The Kingdom lost the Six-Man Tag Team Championship to Scurll and Villain Enterprises at a recent Ring of Honor show. “For Marty, he’s a little bit intimidated from the ladder,” Taven continued. “You know, I can’t remember a time when he was in this situation or had that kind of mean streak in his body. But I think that the fact that you’re going to put a foreign object in that ring and let every competitor be able to use it is going to be Marty’s detriment. I don’t think he can be prepared for what I’m going to do to him with a ladder my hands.”

Moving beyond Supercard, if Taven successfully beats his opponents, he plans on making some changes as a leader in the locker room. “First I replace that awful [Ring of Honor World Championship] belt and you know bring back some prestige to that title. I was walking around with the beautiful, glorious, spectacular title that Jay Lethal was just so jealous of that he had to bash it to pieces.

“[His original title] is with me. And what I do with it is my own business. But I was in no way going to try to duct tape it back together, make it look make-shift in any sort of way. That title was, you know, a prize for the to be admired. And when it gets redone, it’ll give it its glory, but also continue the tradition of being the most prestigious title in wrestling. The original one is done, and I have it, but that’s all I’m going to say about it. And you know, it lives in a very soft spot in my heart.”

When Taven discusses bringing prestige back, he wants to be a celebrated champion, as he’s accomplished more than most who have held the World Championship. “I’ve done nothing but put myself in the record book in ways that other people can’t top you know,” Taven explained. There’s not many people say that they are–there’s only one other person that can say they held titles in CMLL [Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre], New Japan, and Ring of Honor. I’ll be one of two to hold all the Ring of Honor title and when I held that TV Title, I held it for the longest reign of anyone in history, and that’s what I want to do with the world title.

“Now there’s some prestigious names on that list and you know that they want to say that Jay Lethal has the most days as World Champion. I think that’s crap because I’ve been the real World Champion for the last nine months and you can scrap that nine months right off his record. But, you know, to me Samoa Joe had the longest reign for Ring of Honor World Champion, and I would like to surpass that.”

You can see if Taven will defeat Lethal and Scurll at ROH/NJPW G1 Supercard on Saturday, April 6 from Madison Square Garden in New York City. The event airs live at 7:30 PM ET / 4:30 PM PT on pay-per-view and streaming free for all HonorClub members. HonorClub content can be streamed via the ROH and FITE apps and at ROHHonorClub.com.

Game of Thrones Season 8 starts on April 14, marking the beginning of the end for the popular television show. The final season is set to wrap up a story that has gripped viewers for eight years now, and the stakes couldn’t be higher.

The Night King and his army are closing in on Westeros and, all the while, the figures vying to take their place on the Iron Throne are now more desperate and ruthless than ever. The casualties thus far have been numerous, but the next battle will decide the fate of everyone in Westeros.

At the end of Season 7, Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen’s relationship went from being political and in the name of survival, to one of romance and intimacy. Together they hope to deliver the people to safety, but they’ve got a whole lot of work cut out for them, especially as Cersei Lannister’s selfish ambitions reach new heights. All the while, Sansa Stark’s power is growing and Arya Stark is carving a bloody path through the land. How it’ll all end is anyone’s guess.

Given that the show has a history of making unexpected twists and turns, passionate fans have spent the long wait up until the new seasons start by crafting theories on what could happen. In the video above, we explore some of the most interesting and creative ideas that fans have come up with. There’s a potential double-identity for Bran and Arya Stark, a character who may have faked his death, the fate of everyone’s favorite power couple, and more.

If you want an even closer examination of what lies ahead in Game of Thrones, take a look at our frame-by-frame breakdown of the latest trailer. Our weekly video series, GameSpot of Thrones, will also be returning to provide you with detailed discussions, examinations, theories, and more after each episode. Get ready for it by subscribing to GameSpot Universe on YouTube.

While Season 8 will be the end of the beloved series as we know it, a Game of Thrones prequel show is already in the works. Production is set to begin in the first half of 2019, with Jessica Jones director SJ Clarkson helming the series and X-Men: First Class’ Jane Goldman serving as showrunner. Naomi Watts has been confirmed to star in it.

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With the upcoming arrival of Dark Phoenix, the future of the X-Men film franchise is in a strange position. In the wake of Disney’s purchase of 20th Century Fox, and the rights to the Marvel characters it controlled, it seems to be a foregone conclusion that the team of mutant superheroes would become part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

But what about the universe that’s been built over the last 20 years through X-Men movies? If the continuity of this franchise ends, will fans get a sense of closure from Dark Phoenix? That’s the question GameSpot posed to Dark Phoenix director Simon Kingberg and producer Hutch Parker at WonderCon, during a roundtable interview.

“When I first started talking with Hutch and the studio about the movie, and when I first started writing it, which was three plus years ago–it takes a long time to gestate a movie–long before there was any idea of a Disney acquisition of Fox, I felt as though, and we all did that, this was the culmination of this cycle of X-Men movies,” Kingberg said. “Not necessarily the end, but the culmination. You’ve lived with this family for 20 years now in one form or another, and 10-plus years with the X-Men: First Class family. And that this story, which is the ultimate and most iconic X-Men story was sort of an opportunity to test that family more than they’ve been tested, break that family part like they’ve never been broken apart before, bring them back together, ultimately, in a new configuration. It would feel as though you had culminated where those characters could go within this cycle, and started something really quite new by the end of this movie, as you’ll see. And so yeah, I think fans will feel closure, but not because of the merger. That’s something that happened even after we were shooting, so the movie was in the can already.”

Instead, part of what made him think about giving fans that culmination was the unlikelihood they’d be able to reunite the cast, many of whom have become in-demand stars, again after Dark Phoenix. “I also felt like, this was probably the last time we were going to get Michael [Fassbender] and James [McAvoy] and Jennifer [Lawrence], and Nicholas [Hoult], maybe, for these films,” he continued. “And so there was this feeling of if, in fact, this is the last of this cycle, and it was an if, and it remains an if, then this is the right story to tell to do that.”

For Parker, though, it’s not just about a culmination of the current cycle of the franchise. Some of the closure, in his mind, is due to the creative team’s reluctance to hold anything back. “There’s a tendency when you’re making movies that you know are part of a sequence of movies to hold back and to sort of play it safe to keep some powder dry for the next one. And, and I don’t think these movies can afford that,” the producer explained. “I think you have to kind of go into movies now, given how competitive landscape is, and play everything you’ve got. And that’s part of what was behind certain decisions, maybe shocking traumatic ones of killing off characters, are seeing some of the philosophies run their course or emotional ideas be completed. So for me, there’s a lot of closure just in that, just in feeling like it’s not full of lots of dangling potential winks. It’s really taking ideas and saying we’re going to play them through and that’s a bittersweet quality, but I also think it’s part of what makes the movie feel more emotional and more substantive.”

If anything, it’s been clear from the beginning that this movie was laying it all out on the table, with the first trailer confirming the death of a major character. As for how fans will feel once the film concludes, that remains to be seen. Dark Phoenix arrives in theaters on June 7.