Month: June 2019

Numantian Games’ They Are Billions has been out for a couple of years now, launching on Steam Early Access back in December 2017. Since then, despite receiving a “very positive” reception on Steam, the post-apocalyptic RTS has lacked a full campaign mode–until now. They Are Billions’ campaign will arrive just after E3 for free to those who own the game.

The news comes via a tweet from the independent studio. The campaign for They Are Billions, titled The New Empire, launches on June 18. Check out the official two-minute trailer below.

Alongside the campaign addition, They Are Billions will receive two new scenarios for its Survival Mode: The Deep Forest and The Caustic Lands. The Deep Forest is the easier of the two, while The Caustic Lands will provide more of a challenge with players facing the Doom Colony that can take up to 30 percent of the map, according to the game’s Steam store page.

In a separate tweet, Numantian announced that They Are Billions will make its way to PS4 and Xbox One on July 1. Porting studio BlitWorks–who’s responsible for ports of Bastion, Fez, Spelunky, Wargroove, and many more–will handle the console port of They Are Billions.

Back in March 2018, we wrote that They Are Billions picks up where Starcraft 2 left off. We said that the game “took the PC world by surprise, providing fantastic real-time strategy elements and a nuanced take on the seemingly endless horde of zombie games,” and our editor Mike Mahardy argued that They Are Billions continues the legacy of stellar RTS games like Age of Empires and Command & Conquer.

E3 is just a couple days away. Google already held its Stadia Connect Event, and EA Play starts on Saturday, June 8. The official show kicks off with Xbox’s press conference on Sunday, June 9 at 1 PM PT / 4 PM ET / 9 PM BST (6 AM AET on June 10).

The Epic Mega Sale kicked off a few weeks ago with some great discounts on PC games, and it’s also been giving away a free game on a weekly basis. The latest freebie is available now: Kingdom: New Lands, which builds on the story and gameplay of 2015’s Kingdom. Kingdom: New Lands is selling for $15 elsewhere, but you can claim it at no cost from now until June 13, which is also the last day for the Epic Mega Sale. You’ll just need a free Epic account to claim the game.

Kingdom: New Lands released in 2016 as a new, updated version of Kingdom with added content and various gameplay improvements. The game is a kingdom-building simulator where you control a monarch who must build up their kingdom across six unique islands, traveling via boat or various mounts. The screen is two-dimensional, and you can only move the monarch left or right, gathering coins and resources as you go. Exploration is key, but the further you move away from your central kingdom, the more dangerous the environments become.

Starting June 13, Kingdom: New Lands will be replaced by Epic’s next free game, Enter the Gungeon. At that point, Epic will resume giving away free titles every two weeks, rather than every week, as it’s done during the Mega Sale. So go ahead and grab Kingdom: New Lands while it’s available; once it’s added to your account, it’ll be yours to keep.

Get Kingdom: New Lands for free »

Create a free Epic Store account »

And if you haven’t checked out the Epic Mega Sale yet, don’t miss out on the great PC game deals available for just one more week. The store is offering discounts of up to 75% off some games, and all games over $15 are available for $10 off. That includes pre-orders for upcoming games, like Borderlands 3, Control, and Afterparty.

Last year’s reboot of the classic horror Halloween was one of 2018’s biggest horror movies, making more than $225 million at the worldwide box office. Given this was already the 11th movie in the long running franchise, it’s expected that producers Blumhouse Films will want to make another one. Now, studio boss Jason Blum and star Jamie Lee Curtis have hinted that work has started on a sequel.

Blum posted an image on Twitter of him and Curtis with the caption “We’re discussing stuff,” as Curtis holds a doll of her character Laurie Strode. While it doesn’t necessarily mean they’re discussing a new Halloween movie, let’s face it, it’s a very high possibility. Check it out below:

This isn’t the first time that a Halloween sequel has been (possibly) discussed. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly last year, co-writer Danny McBride spoke about how he and director David Gordon Green had initially considered shooting two Halloween movies simultaneously.

“We were going to shoot two of them back-to-back,” he said. “Then we were like, ‘Well, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. This could come out, and everyone could hate us, and we’d never work again. So, let’s not have to sit around for a year while we wait for another movie to come out that we know people aren’t going to like.’ So, we were like, ‘Let’s learn from this, and see what works, and what doesn’t.’ But we definitely have an idea of where we would go [with] this branch of the story and hopefully we get a chance to do it.”

Curtis herself has spoken about returning to the role that she first played back in 1978, in John Carpenter’s hugely influential first Halloween, but admitted that finding a reason for the character to appear in yet another movie might be an issue.

“I’d be happy to do it, sure,” she told EW in December. “This 2018 40th anniversary [movie] was Laurie’s story, and obviously there are now other people’s stories that would need to get told. But Laurie’s story was told beautifully this year, and I would have no way of knowing how they would incorporate her into future.”

For more on Halloween, check out our list of Michael Myer’s most brutal kills and our ranking of every movie in the series.

Google has revealed much more about its Stadia video game streaming service, including price, launch information, and a partial game lineup. You can get in on the ground floor by getting a Founder’s Edition to launch this November. But if you do put down your money, what you can you expect right out of the box?

The Founder’s Edition is the high-end version of the service and hardware rolled into one package, so if you purchase it you can expect the full functionality of the Stadia service. It will cost you $130, and it’s already available for pre-order. Unlike a traditional console like Xbox or PlayStation, the Founder’s Edition doesn’t include a large hardware box. Instead, it will pack a relatively small Chromecast Ultra streaming dongle and a limited-edition Night Blue Stadia controller–both of which are regularly priced at $70.

Pre-order Stadia Founder’s Edition now »

Since Stadia is a streaming service, the real functionality comes through playing online. Right out of the box, the Stadia should be able to stream any game in its library, either through a direct purchase or through free games included in the three-month Stadia Pro subscription included in the Founder’s bundle (regularly $10 per month). Stadia Pro allows you to stream at 4K and 60fps with 5.1 surround. The only announced game included with Pro so far is Destiny 2, with all previous expansions and an annual pass to include the upcoming Shadowkeep expansion. If you’ve already started Destiny 2 elsewhere, you can import your character to Stadia.

A separate Stadia Base tier won’t launch into 2020. That version will be able to play games at 1080p with stereo sound, and there is no subscription fee. You can just buy your games a la carte, similar to any other digital marketplace, and play them through the cloud. This can be done on any Chrome browser, and you can use most existing controllers or purchase a Stadia controller separately.

Any game in the Stadia launch library will be available to stream on day one. Google has already announced a partial list of its launch games, which you can see below. The company has suggested that more launch games will be announced at a later date, including some from Capcom, EA, and Rockstar at their own discretion.

For more on Google Stadia, check out our wrap-up of all the news out of the recent event.

Google Stadia Launch Games

• Assassin’s Creed Odyssey
• Baldur’s Gate 3
• Borderlands 3
• Darksiders Genesis
• Destiny 2
• Doom 2016
• Doom Eternal
• Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2
• Farming Simulator 19
• Final Fantasy XV
• Football Manager
• Get Packed
• GRID
• Gylt
• Just Dance
• Metro Exodus
• Mortal Kombat 11
• NBA 2K
• Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid
• Rage 2
• Rise of the Tomb Raider
• Samurai Shodown
• Shadow of the Tomb Raider
• The Elder Scrolls Online
• The Crew 2
• Thumper
• Tomb Raider Definitive Edition
• Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Breakpoint
• Tom Clancy’s The Division 2
• Trials Rising
• Wolfenstein: Youngblood

Yooka-Laylee developer Playtionic Games has been relatively quiet since launching the mascot-platformer back in 2017. It’s been two years since Playtonic mentioned working on anything new, and while the independent studio is remaining quite tight-lipped, Playtonic did tease something slated for tomorrow, June 7 ahead of E3.

The tease is nothing substantial. It’s a short, 30-second video of various comments aimed at the indie studio with a similar message: what is Playtonic working on next. Halfway through the clip, a myriad of emoji eyes fills the screen before fading to black. Playtonic isn’t saying anything, other than something of some sort is coming from the studio on Friday, June 7.

This tease suggests Playtonic will unveil something new before the chaos that is E3. This year’s E3 started a little earlier than normal, with Google leading with its Stadia Connect Event. Similarly, EA Play will be held on Saturday, June 8 just before E3. The main show starts with Xbox on June 9 at 1 PM PT / 4 PM ET / 9 PM BST (6 AM AET on June 10).

Yooka-Laylee launched in April 2017 for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One. In December of the same year, the bat-chameleon duo made their way to the Nintendo Switch. The mascot-platformer has surpassed more than 1 million sales since then. In our Yooka-Laylee review, we said, “If you’re looking for a faithful return to the Banjo-Kazooie formula, Yooka-Laylee certainly delivers–from the font to the music to the wealth of collectibles, it’s worthy of the title of spiritual successor.”

Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Breakpoint

Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Breakpoint is the follow-up to 2017’s Ghost Recon: Wildlands, though developer Ubisoft is taking a different approach this time around. Breakpoint will have a darker tone, the developer says, in its new fictional New Zealand-esque setting, Aurora.

Aurora is home to Skell Technology, a corporation specializing in AI drone tech. When communication with the company ceases, you’re sent to the archipelago to investigate. When you arrive, however, you find yourself not in the role of the hunter, but the hunted.

Throughout Breakpoint, you’ll encounter a paramilitary group known as the Wolves, who Ubisoft says are just as skilled on the battlefield as the Ghosts. Because of this, the game places a greater emphasis on stealth. You’ll be able to employ drones and hide the bodies of any enemies you kill. Similarly, you can avoid detection by crouching in foliage or covering yourself with mud. The game also features some survival elements; any injuries you sustain need to be treated, and you need to maintain your weapons. Ghost Recon Breakpoint launches for PS4, Xbox One, and PC on October 4.

Release Date: October 4, 2019

You need a javascript enabled browser to watch videos.

Please use a html5 video capable browser to watch videos.

This video has an invalid file format.

Sorry, but you can’t access this content!