Month: May 2020

Bethesda has released Update 19 for Fallout 76, and it adds a significant amount of new content to its multiplayer take on the beloved RPG series. For one, you can now finally customize the clothes that your allies wear by sharing your wardrobe with them. These outfits are purely cosmetic, however, and they cannot wear power armor or carry specific weapons.

The patch adds support for some upcoming limited-time events on the Fallout 76 calendar. Starting May 21, players can hunt Mole Miners in order to obtain their loot, which is sorted into three different tiers of rarity. Soon after that, the Fasnacht Parade will make its return, which tasks players with protecting marchers in a parade route. Additionally, the patch introduces more challenges for Nuclear Winter, which is 76’s 52-player battle royale mode.

As with previous patches, Update 19 tweaks a large number of small aspects of the game, fixing many bugs and adjusting quests. For example, when players craft new weapons and armors, the automatically-generated names should now follow a more consistent pattern, and changing your backpack skin is a lot easier now.

This latest patch follows in the wake of Wastelanders, the massive free update that added human NPCs and quest-givers to the game, among many other changes. Soon, according to a recent roadmap, the game will shift into a season pass model that Bethesda plans to roll out with Update 20, with progression marked on a board game-like menu and rewarded with unique gear. In a recent Reddit AMA, project lead Jeff Gardiner said that Bethesda might soon add pets to the game’s companion’s system, though he confirmed they will not be edible.

Full patch notes below:

Customize Your Allies

Starting today, you can now share your wardrobe with your Allies and swap their outfits to your heart’s content with Ally Customization.

• When interacting with an Ally in your C.A.M.P., a new “customize” option will now appear that you can use to change their clothing.
  • Outfits, Headwear, Costumes, Armor—If you can wear it, then so can your Ally! The only current exceptions are Power Armor and Weapons.
  • Anything you dress your Ally in is purely cosmetic. They will not receive any buffs or bonuses from the apparel they wear.
• Additionally, when viewing another player’s Ally, its name will be adjusted to include the name of the C.A.M.P. owner, e.g.: ’s Ally.
• Please note that scrapping an Ally Station will revert that Ally to their default outfit. Allies will also appear to be in their default outfit if they are in an instance with you.

Hunt for the Treasure Hunter

Mole Miners are searching for riches around Appalachia, and you can hunt them down to claim their loot for yourself in a new series of limited-time “Hunt for the Treasure Hunter” events we’re introducing with Update 19.

Treasure Hunter Mole Miners

• Use your keen tracking senses to hunt down Treasure Hunter Mole Miners to collect their Mole Miner Pails, which contain all of the loot they’ve been hoarding.
  • Treasure Hunter Mole Miners are legendary creatures, and you will hear them when they’re nearby.
• Treasure Hunter Mole Miners can drop rewards from one of three different tiers: Dusty Mole Miner Pails (low), Mole Miner Pails (medium), and Ornate Mole Miner Pails (high).
  • The higher quality the Pail, the better chances for rare loot, including Outfits, Mounted Head Plans, a new Backpack Plan, and the Marine Armor Helmet Plan.
  • Pails can be traded and sold to other players, but cannot be sold to NPC vendors.

Craft Your Own Mole Miner Pails

• While a Treasure Hunter event is live, Vendors around Appalachia will sell Empty Mole Miner Pails in exchange for Caps.
  • Use Empty Pails, along with a few additional materials, to craft full Mole Miner Pails of low, medium, or high-quality.
  • You can give or sell crafted Pails to other players, or keep them for yourself.

Head to the Ash Heap on May 21!

• The first Hunt for the Treasure Hunter event will take place from May 21 – 25 in the Ash Heap region of Appalachia.
• Future Hunt for the Treasure Hunter events will each occur in a different region.

Fasnacht Parade Marches Back to Helvetia

Starting next week, you can travel to Helvetia to take part in the Fasnacht Seasonal Event by helping the local Protectrons prepare for the town’s annual celebration and parade.

• Help the bots by hanging decorations, gathering ingredients for a feast, or playing musical instruments, among other activities, before the timer expires.
  • If you and your event mates complete the preparations in time, the bots will line up at the center of town to begin the parade.
• Successfully guide the marchers to the end of their parade route, and you will be rewarded with loot!
  • The more marchers who survive, the higher your chances at rare loot, which may include Fasnacht-themed C.A.M.P. plans and a chance to earn a fancy Fasnacht mask.
  • We’ve added a number of festive new masks this year, and adjusted their drop rates following community feedback. While some are still less common than others, they should drop more often this time.
  • You can also trade your Fasnacht Masks to other players, if you wish.
• Fasnacht Parade will begin every hour at the top of the hour starting on May 25. The event will last for a full week, so you’ll have plenty of chances join in the celebration!

Design Updates

Automatic Item Name Improvements

With this update, we’ve improved how the game automatically names your weapons and armors based on their mods, legendary attributes, and Atomic Shop paints.

• Going forward, automatically generated names will appear in a much more consistent order, and they will reliably include an item’s main attributes.
  • Additionally, Atomic Shop paint and skin names no longer overwrite the item’s primary legendary effect name.
• Items should now generally follow this naming convention: Primary Legendary Attribute Name + Atomic Shop Cosmetic Name + Mod Name + Weapon Name
  • If you have a legendary Gatling Gun with the Black Knight paint and a Prime Receiver, for example, its automatically generated name should now be: Anti-Armor Black Knight Prime Gatling Gun
• Keep in mind that you can still give your items custom names, which will override their automatically generated names.
• Please note: Given the many combinations that are possible through all the different mods, legendary effects, Atomic Shop paints, and item types, there may cases where new item names appear incorrect.
  • For example, certain elements may appear out of order, or might be missing from the name.
  • These are visual issues, and all your mods should still function correctly. Please let us know if you spot any naming bugs on your gear after today, and we will squash them.

Backpack Appearance Updates

We’ve improved Backpack customization so that you can now apply different appearances to your Backpacks as skins—no more crafting required!

• Head to an Armor Workbench and use the modify menu to swap the appearance of your existing Backpack with any skins you’ve unlocked through quests, events, or the Atomic Shop.
  • Skins can now be applied to Small Backpacks, as well for those who have not yet unlocked the normal Backpack Plan by completing the “Order of the Tadpole” quest.
  • You can apply skins to your existing Backpacks, as well as any new ones you craft.

Art and Animation

• BBQ Grills: Get hungry! When using a BBQ Grill, your character will now appear to flip and grill some tasty steaks.
• Grognak’s Throne: We’ve added a new animation that will play when sitting in Grognak’s Throne so that you can survey your land with the royal confidence.

Items

• Liberty Prime Power Armor: If you’re a strong silent type, you may be pleased to know that we’ve added an alternate version of the Liberty Prime Power Armor helmet that will not play voice lines while you’re wearing it.
  • Players who own the Liberty Prime Power Armor can now craft the silent version of the helmet at a Power Armor Station.

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Nuclear Winter

Limited Time “Survivors” Challenges – Unlock Themed Cosmetics!

• We’ve added 8 Nuclear Winter Challenges that you can complete to earn new “Survivors” themed cosmetic rewards starting today, and lasting until 7:00 p.m. ET on June 11.
  • One new challenge will appear in the Character Challenge menu each day until all 8 are available, and they will remain available until the end of the event.
• You can earn the first reward with 150 Overseer XP, and the last with 2,500 Overseer XP. All others will each require 2,000 Overseer XP.
  • Overseer XP you earn will roll over from one Challenge to the next, but they must be completed one at a time and in order.
• As you complete each Challenge, you’ll be able to claim new themed rewards, like new furniture for your C.A.M.P., “Survivor’s Denim” and Ghillie Suit outfits, as well as skins for Nuclear Winter’s newest weapons: The Bow, Cattle Prod, and Gauss Shotgun.
• You can learn more about this event directly from ZAX and preview the rewards by reading our latest ZAX Transmission article on Fallout.com.

New Items

• New Weapons: The Bow, Cattle Prod, and Gauss Shotgun have been added and tuned for combat in Nuclear Winter matches. Find them in Supply Crates as you scavenge for gear.

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Bug Fixes

Art and Animation

• Animations: Dying while playing an instrument no longer causes the instrument to become invisible after respawning.
• Animations: Fixed an issue that could cause the Overseer to slide out of her chair before standing.
• Animations: Fixed a rare issue that could cause the player to fall through the world during character creation.
• Lighting: Optimized the lighting inside the Overseer’s house and The Wayward to address performance issues.
• Textures: The Clandestine Gauss Pistol skin now appears correct when applied to the Drum Magazine mod.

C.A.M.P. and Workshops

• Allies: No longer sometimes attack the player’s other C.A.M.P. objects and Turrets.
• Build: Moving C.A.M.P. locations now correctly closes the Build Menu for teammates who had it open while in the original build area.
• Collectron Station: The Communist Collectron will now find Propaganda Flyers less often while scavenging.
• Display Cases: Assigning an item to a Display Case no longer sometimes prevents the player from crafting other items of that same type.
• Exploit: Addressed a duplication exploit related to C.A.M.P. objects.
• Exploit: Addressed an C.A.M.P. budget exploit.
• Lights: Bulb Lights no longer consume more C.A.M.P. budget than intended.
• Lights: The Klaxon Wall Light can no longer be turned on if it is not connected to a power source.
• Locks: Locked objects in players’ C.A.M.P.s now better indicate to players who do not own them that they will become Wanted if they pick the lock.
• Trees: Can now be placed on a wider variety of terrain types.
• Turrets: Addressed an issue that could cause C.A.M.P. Turrets to attack each other.
• Workbenches: Players can now correctly use Workbenches immediately after an NPC has used them.
• Workbenches: Exiting a Power Armor Station no longer sometimes causes the controls to temporarily lock up.

Combat

• Stealth: Receiving Stealth from multiple sources at once, like the Escape Artist Perk Card, Stealth Boys, Chameleon Armor, etc. no longer causes enemies to instantly detect the player.
• VATS: Changing the body part selection in VATS while using charging weapons, like a Bow or Gauss Weapon, no longer causes the next shot to hit the previously selected body part.

Enemies

• Blood Eagles: No longer sometimes drop weapons that have Nuclear Winter mods as loot.
• Scorched: Fixed an issue causing more boss Scorched to spawn on top of Thunder Mountain Power Plant than intended.
• Wendigo Colossus: Fixed an issue that could cause the Wendigo Colossus to suddenly stop taking damage.

Challenges

• Daily: Lou’s Mine, Foundation, and Crater now have locations that are considered sub-terranean for Challenges like “Level Up in Caves and Mines.”
• Exploit: Addressed an exploit that could allow players to complete certain Tadpole and Possum Challenges repeatedly for rewards.
• Social: The “Claim Different Workshops” Challenge no longer requires the Spruce Knob Workshop, and the number of Workshops needed to complete the Challenge has been reduced from 20 to 18.
• World: The “Complete Different Daily Quests” now correctly appears in the World category after completing the “Complete an Event While in a Group” Challenge.

Items

• Armor: Secret Service Chest Armor can now be repaired beyond 100% condition using Perk Cards like Fix It Good.
• Exploit: Addressed an Ammo exploit for weapons that use Fusion Cores as ammo.
• Fusion Cores: Fixed several issues that could prevent weapons that use Fusion Cores as ammo, like the Gatling Laser, from firing correctly.
• Gas Masks: Raider Skull Gas Masks now correctly remove other headwear when equipped.
• Headwear: Fixed an issue that could prevent a character’s body from rendering when wearing the Communist Militant Hat.
• Headwear: The Free Radicals Mask is no longer a legendary item, which is now consistent with all other headwear.
• Jet Packs: Fixed an issue allowing Jet Pack Power Armor mods can now only be applied to the torso.
• Outfits: Backpacks now correctly appear while wearing the Mountain Scout Outfit.
• Power Armor: The Settler Vigilante paint no longer removes Rad Resistance from T-51 Power Armor.
• Power Armor: Removed references to Vault 94 when crafting Strangler Heart Power Armor.
• Power Armor: Fixed an issue that could cause another player to appear to be idle inside their Power Armor while they were actively using a Power Armor Station.
• Underarmor: Corrected the name of the Plan to craft Secret Service Underarmor, and moved Secret Service Underarmor to the Underarmor category in the Armor Workbench.
• Weapons: Gauss Shotgun mods now correctly require the Science Master I Perk in order to craft them.
• Weapons: Commander Daguerre’s final quest now correctly awards a level 50 VATS Unknown Alien Blaster to characters over level 50.
• Weapons: Gatling Guns now correctly display a fire rate of 20 in the Pip-Boy.

NPCs

• Allies: Speaking with Commander Daguerre immediately after Fast Traveling during her questline no longer sometimes prevents Emerson from visiting.
• Dialogue: Exiting and quickly re-entering dialogue with an NPC should no longer result in a notification stating “This individual is busy.”
• Frida Madani: No longer sometimes walks away during a conversation with a player.
• Jide: No longer clips into the stairs in front of The Wayward.
• Purveyor Murmrgh: Fixed an issue that could prevent players from interacting with the Purveyor in first-person view.
• Random Encounters: The Settler that shoots at Opossums during a random encounter no longer always spawns at level 1.
• Smiley: If a player has purchased all of Smiley’s Gold Bullion for the week, he will no longer continue to ask if they’re interested in buying more.

Performance and Stability

• Server Stability: Fixed a number of issues that could result in a server crash during normal gameplay.
• Server Stability: Fixed a stability issue caused by large stacks of inventory items.
• Server Stability: Addressed a server crash that could occur when updating players’ quest targets.
• Server Stability: Fixed a server crash that could occur while playing in a Private World.
• Server Stability: Fixed an issue that could cause a server crash in Nuclear Winter.
• Client Stability: Addressed an issue that could result in a client crash during normal gameplay.
• Client Stability: Fixed a rare issue that could result in an infinite loading screen and a crash when loading into a world from the main menu.
• Client Stability: Fixed a crash that could occur when opening a Perk Card Pack.
• Client Stability: Fixed a crash that could occur on Xbox One when building in a C.A.M.P.

Quests and Events

• All That Glitters: Fixed an issue that prevented the “Clear out the Security Forces” objective from completing correctly.
• Ally Quests: Quest markers no longer fail to reappear after logging out and back in while in the middle of an Ally quest.
• Ally Quests: Fixed an issue that could result in duplicate Ally quest items remaining in the world without quest markers after the player logged off.
• Ally: Thicker Than Water: Fixed an issue that could prevent the player from receiving the Thicker Than Water quest after completing An Eagle Flies Free.
• Ally: Narrow Escape: Beckett no longer appears in Rollins Labor Camp when the quest is not running.
• Ally: Thicker Than Water: Animations: Beckett now correctly faces the player when speaking to them during scenes with The Claw.
• Ally: Thicker than Water: Fixed an issue that could allow a player to enter Watoga Civic Center through a locked door.
• Ally: Thicker than Water: Addressed an instancing issue that could occur when progressing this quest while on a team.
• Ally: The Universe Conspires: Fixed an issue that could prevent Emerson from visiting and block progression when attempting to turn in the quest to Commander Daguerre.
• An Ounce of Prevention: Moved the T-Type Fuse from Greg’s Mine Supply to the Charleston Trainyard so that it is easier to find.
• Back on the Beat: Addressed an issue that could prevent this Public Event from starting.
• Buried Treasure: Fixed an issue that could block progression after interacting with the intercom as the raiding party enters the security room.
• Exploit: Addressed a reputation exploit affecting a conversation with Meg.
• Exploit: Addressed an exploit that could allow players to complete the Vital Equipment daily quest multiple times per day.
• From Russia With Lev: Fixed multiple discrepancies between Lev’s subtitles and dialogue.
• Fun and Games: Backing out of a conversation after asking Ra-Ra to enter the Power Armor room no longer causes her to become unresponsive.
• Fun and Games: Ra-Ra no longer becomes unresponsive after destroying the Protectrons she spawns.
• Fun and Games: The Sentry Bot in Grafton Steel Underground can no longer be damaged while it is still in the Fabricator, and will no longer exit the Fabricator early.
• Fun and Games: Ra-Ra will no longer path to nearby Protectron corpses instead of entering the first vent.
• Fun and Games: The “Follow Ra-Ra” objective no longer persists after finding and collecting Bunnabun.
• Fun and Games: A terminal in Grafton Steel Underground that was previously unhackable can now be hacked correctly.
• Heart of the Enemy: The lockpicking skill requirement for door between the Automated Research Program and the Reactor has been reduced from 1 to 0, so that the quest is easier to complete for players who are missing Lockpicking Perk Cards.
• Overseer, Overseen: The Overseer will now exit combat and move toward the player when she is too far away.
• Project Paradise: Fixed an issue that could sometimes prevent Project Paradise from completing after killing the Alpha Predator.
• Random Encounters: Fixed an issue that prevented players from receiving loot during a random encounter with a Settler Apprentice after selecting Raider-themed dialogue options.
• Safe for Work: Players are no longer required to pick the lock on the Medical Center crate to obtain Patrol Tape 04.
• Secrets Revealed: Duchess no longer speaks her post-Vault 79 raid dialogue before the player has completed Secrets Revealed.
• Secrets Revealed: After progressing the “Resolve the Situation with Johnny” objective, the player’s conversation with him will now end correctly.
• Secrets Revealed: The Vault 79 elevator code objective now reappears correctly when returning to the elevator.
• Secrets Revealed: Fixed an issue that could cause team members to be moved outside to Appalachia when the Team Leader entered the elevator to the Gold Operations Center.
• Siding with Crater: Meg no longer forces the player into conversation if they back out before deciding whether to side with the Raiders.
• Strange Bedfellows: Acquiring the Photo of Rosalynn’s Memorial prematurely no longer blocks progression during Strange Bedfellows.
• Strange Bedfellows: Quest items obtained during Strange Bedfellows are now correctly removed after completing the quest.
• Strange Bedfellows: Added a new objective directing players to complete the prerequisite quest Signal Strength before progressing to Strange Bedfellows.
• Strength in Numbers: Polly’s head now correctly deals damage in VATS, and deals increased damage based on how many times it has been charged.
• The Elusive Crane: Mort no longer appears to be standing idle during a scene with Roper in The Wayward.
• The Elusive Crane: Fixed an issue that could cause the “Find Crane’s Treasure” objective to persist in the Pip-Boy’s quest description.
• The Ol’ Weston Shuffle: The Dud Explosive Collar is now correctly removed from character models after completing the quest.
• The New Arrivals: The quest tracker no longer displays two “Talk to the Overseer” objectives under certain conditions.

Sound

• Sound Effects: The Stanley skin for Grognak’s Axe no longer plays its sound effects twice when equipped or when switching between first and third-person view.
• Sound Effects: Repeatedly entering and exiting a Gold Press Machine no longer causes it to play multiple overlapping sound effects.

User Interface

• Controls: Opening the Pip-Boy while attempting to Fast Travel during combat no longer sometimes causes the controls to become unresponsive.
• Crosshairs: Now correctly change to an open square when passing over placed items that the player can interact with or pick up.
• Fanfare: Treasury Notes no longer play legendary item fanfare when removing them from the Stash.
• Login: The password field is now cleared correctly after entering an incorrect password while attempting to link a Bethesda.net account to Fallout 76.
• Menus: Fixed several issues that could cause the Favorites menu to suddenly appear while Emotes menu was open.
• Notifications: Equipping headwear by holding the action button no longer generates an error message stating “Unable to equip item.”
• Pip-Boy: The item stats card no longer persists when switching to an empty tab in the Pip-Boy.
• Press and Hold: Holding the action button to equip, learn, or consume an item in the world now works more consistently.
• Quests: Daily quests the player has rejected in the Pip-Boy no longer automatically reappear after logging out and back in.
• Quests: Fixed an issue causing placeholder text to appear when viewing Miscellaneous quests on the Map.
• Quests: Reclamation Day no longer disappears from the completed section in the Pip-Boy’s Main Quests tab.
• Sorting: The Spoil sorting option now correctly organizes Aid items by their remaining condition.
• Tag for Search: The magnifying glass icon now appears correctly on Junk items in the world that contain components the player has tagged for search.
• Trade: Players can now inspect items when trading with other players.
• Vending Machines: Stacks of U.S. Government Supply Requisition Holotapes or Technical Data no longer sometimes disappear after being assigned to a Vending Machine.
• Workbenches: Radio Vacuum Tube preview images no longer extend beyond the edge of screen in the Tinker’s Workbench.

World

• Cranberry Bog: The Wendigo Colossus no longer gets stuck in the trenches in Cranberry Bog.
• Forest: The Wendigo Colossus no longer gets stuck on the guardrails in the road near Slocum’s Joe.
• Forest: Fixed a terrain issue that could cause players to appear to float in front of Lacey and Isela outside Vault 76.
• Savage Divide: The basement door in the Mountainside Bed & Breakfast no longer locks itself if the player leaves the area and returns.
• Settlements: Yao Guai and Scorched no longer spawn in NPC settlements, like Crater, Foundation, or Big Bend Tunnel East.
• Toxic Valley: Removed a non-functional hatch door from the Clarksburg Pharmacy.
• NPCs: Corrected pathing issues for several NPCs that can be found in the world.

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Nuclear Winter Bug Fixes

• C.A.M.P.: Updated the lists of buildable and non-buildable Atomic Shop objects in Nuclear Winter.
• C.A.M.P.: Removed a non-functional activator from the Scrapbox when it is built in Nuclear Winter.
• Localization: Restored missing characters on the Nuclear Winter Map Voting screen in the Japanese version of the game.
• Perk Packs: Removed Nuclear Winter Perk Card Packs from Adventure Mode quests that were awarding them as currency.

Ghost of Tsushima will be Sucker Punch’s biggest game ever, as the Infamous and Sly Cooper studio sets out to craft an ambitious story and world on the island of Tsushima.

Speaking to IGN after the recent Ghost of Tsushima State of Play, Creative Director and Art Director Jason Connell spoke to the scope of Tsushima.

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“It’s a lot bigger [than Infamous: Second Son]. It’s definitely Sucker Punch’s biggest game we’ve ever made by a landslide, both in the amount of stuff that’s in it and also just sheer landscape, square footage-wise,” Connell, who also told IGN about Ghost of Tsushima’s move away from a karma meter, said.

Connell explained that the team often gets asked about Ghost of Tsushima’s size in terms of length of completing the game, though he noted it’s hard to pinpoint because “completing” can mean various things for people with open-world games. Some people just play the story and others want to find everything. The studio recognized this, and worked “to create a world big enough that has both those opportunities. People that can just play story and people that can go get lost in the environment.”

And as our few looks at that environment have shown, Ghost of Tsushima looks to be a visually beautiful adventure. Given that it’s Sucker Punch’s first full game since Infamous: Second Son in 2014, one of the first first-party games on the PS4, Connell explained how the studio has worked to push the hardware now as, currently, the last PS4 first-party exclusive for the system.

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“We’ve learned a ton and we’ve just built on tech, on tech, on tech, and we have amazing technical rendering gurus at Sucker Punch,” Connell said. “They’ve managed to pull out every little ounce of performance so that we could have our dreams of making this game.

“You can see pretty far in the game as we show off, and that’s not some fabricated thing with hacks. You can just get down from that mountain and go to those places. It’s stunning what they’ve been able to pull off for us from a technical perspective,” he continued, noting the combined work of the many different teams within the studio coming together to produce Tsushima.

That work has gone into producing the ambitious island of Tsushima, inspired by the real-life location, though set hundreds of years ago. Connell explained that while the team sought to honor and respect the real-life setting — the in-game landmass is pretty much geographically the same shape as the real-world Tsushima — it’s not meant to be a one-to-one recreation, especially given the setting’s period.

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“When it comes to some of the biomes and places that you go to, it’s so long ago, there’s not a perfect map of forestry of what was where,” Connell said, noting Sucker Punch’s similar approach with Second Son to capture the essence of Seattle without necessarily recreating it building by building.

One of the biggest aspects in creating this open, engaging space involved making the many areas of Tsushima artistically unique, as Connell pointed to the Golden Forest seen on the horizon during Tsushima’s State of Play. Connell didn’t offer an exact number of the distinct regions, but counted the giant fields showcased at Tsushima’s last E3 reveal, a bamboo forest, a swamp-like area, and more among Tsushima’s biomes.

“We try really hard from an art direction perspective to make [each area] feel distinctly different and try not to muddy things up,” he said.

“And while that may feel a little bit loud, when you approach it, it feels very memorable. I can remember where it is, I can see it from everywhere on the island. And that’s important to us because the island’s big and so, and we’re not putting markers all over the place, so you have to come up with other visual anchors to keep your directionality intact.”

As for whether players can explore the entire island from the start, Connell remained coy on exactly how much would be available to explore, but from the sound of it, Tsushima will focus players in on Jin’s story first before opening the wider world.

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“As a story as big as ours and a game as big as ours, it is incredibly important to us that people understand Jin’s journey first. It’s a lot to take in. So the first part, we want to make sure that you understand who he is, what’s happened to this island. So there’s a little bit of setup,” he said. “It’s really important to do that before we just open the flood gates. But then once you get to that point, then it’s pretty open.”

It sounds like a model not unlike some other major open world games have taken, similar to how Horizon Zero Dawn opens up dramatically after The Proving early in its story.

For more on Ghost of Tsushima, which is set to be released on PS4 July 17, be sure to read everything we learned from the Ghost of Tsushima State of Play, and find out why the Ghost of Tsushima showcase wowed us on the latest episode of our weekly PlayStation show, Podcast Beyond!.

Stay tuned to IGN for more from our interview with Jason Connell.

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Editor’s note: Former IGN employee Andrew Goldfarb is currently working for Ghost of Tsushima developer Sucker Punch.

Jonathon Dornbush is IGN’s Senior News Editor, host of Podcast Beyond!, and PlayStation lead. Find him on Twitter @jmdornbush.

New Super Lucky’s Tale, the Switch updated version of Xbox One exclusive Super Lucky’s Tale–which was itself a new version of VR title Lucky’s Tale–is coming to PS4 and Xbox One. The game, which greatly expands on the original, will release on systems other than Switch for the first time.

Developer Playful Studios announced the game’s impending release on Twitter, although a date is not available yet.

In a follow-up tweet, the New Super Lucky’s Tale account addressed a fan who owned the original game on Xbox One, and was wondering if the “New” version would be available as an update. New Super Lucky’s Tale is being treated as a “new” game, though, as quite a bit has been changed–so fans of the original will need to buy this version of the game anew.

“We rebuilt the game from the ground up…new levels, expanded story, fully rotatable camera, tighter controls, and improvements to nearly ever other aspect of the game,” the tweet reads. “So it’s essentially a new game.”

Back in January, Playful Studios was hit by significant layoffs. Around the same time, Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze lead designer Stephen Dupree left the company to return to Donkey Kong and Metroid Prime developer Retro Studios.

The latest patch for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and the battle royale game Warzone is out now, bringing with it new maps and a series of changes. The update dropped on PS4, Xbox One, and PC at 11 PM PT, so if you don’t have it already, it’ll be here soon. It weighs in at a whopping 30.86 GB on Xbox One, and is around the same size on PC and PS4 too–although it’ll be smaller if you only have Warzone, and not Modern Warfare.

Ahead of that, Infinity Ward has posted the full patch notes, which you can see below.

The biggest new additions in the update include a new Gunfight map for Modern Warfare called Aisle 9, and a new Modern Warfare multiplayer map called Hardhat. Coinciding with the release of the new maps, Modern Warfare is getting a special 24/7 playlist for Hardhat and a Face Off Moshpit playlist for Aisle 9.

Additionally, a new DLC pack, “Fearless”, is available for the Call of Duty Endowment charity, with all proceeds going towards helping veterans find work. Spec Ops also gets a new mode with “Modified” missions that include special variants like headshots-only and more.

The Warzone battle royale mode adds a number of new features with this update, including an Armor Box that players can find as loot or purchase through Buy Stations. This box resupplies your entire team’s armor, so it could prove to be very useful on the battlefield. Additionally, Most Wanted contracts have returned, while there are now more Gulag loadouts including six different assault rifles and four SMGs.

The May 18 update also fixes a number of bugs, including exploits that could allow players to access points outside of the map. A rare bug in Warzone that traps players in the Gulag for the entire match has also been fixed with this update.

There are some weapon balance changes, too. The FAL and SCAR weapons now have decreased aim-down-sight times, while the penalty for holding your breath too long while using a sniper rifle has been reduced. The VLK Rogue sees its rate of fire increased, while the Holger 26’s recoil has been reduced.

You can see the complete patch notes below, as posted by Infinity Ward.

May 18 Modern Warfare/Warzone Patch Notes:

WHAT’S NEW

• Call of Duty Endowment “Fearless” Pack is now available!
• New Gunfight Map, Aisle 9!
• New Multiplayer Map, Hardhat!
• Modified Special Operations! Replay existing Operations with a twist! Some enemies may charge more frequently or maybe they can only be taken down with headshots. Check out new Modified Special Operations and earn new rewards each week!

PLAYLIST UPDATE

Modern Warfare

• Realism Moshpit with NVG
• Reinfected Ground War
• Core Ground War
• Blueprint Gunfight
• Aisle 9 Face Off Moshpit!
• Hard Hat 24/7!

Warzone

• BR Solos
• BR Trios
• BR Quads
• Blood Money Quads
• Armor Box (available via loot on the ground and purchasable at Buy Stations): Resupply the entire team’s armor
• Added Most Wanted contracts back (in addition to the other 3 contracts, none have been removed)
• Loot Update
  • Added the new SKS (legendary only)
  • Updated 5 New Blueprints:
    • AX-50 – Epic
    • Kilo 141 – Legendary
    • FAL – Epic
    • MP7 – Legendary
    • AUG- Epic
• Gulag Loadouts – the Gulag will now randomly choose from 6 ARs and 4 SMGs. All automatic, no burst or single fire guns included
  • Kilo 141
  • M4
  • AK-47
  • M13
  • SCAR
  • Ram-7
  • MP5
  • AUG
  • P90
  • Striker 45

GENERAL FIXES

• Infected and Gun Game now feature playlist text to reinforce that KDR and win loss are not affected
• Blueprint variants of Gun Game and Gunfight can now be enabled in custom match advanced options for their respective modes
• Added the fire throwing knife to restricted equipment for CDL
• Fix for the ‘Splash Guard’ shotgun weapon camo not applying properly to the weapon
• Fixed a bug where on occasion, your selected Operator would not appear in the squad walk
• Added a ‘Hold to Use’ option that allows you to choose between a hold or a press for the interaction button on keyboard and mouse
• Adjusted the Monitor Distance Coefficient slider option to maximum value from 2.00 to 5.00
• Out of map exploit fixes across various maps
• Fixed a bug where players could take the ATV out of the map on Aniyah Palace
• Fix for an XP exploit in Hardpoint
• Fix for the ‘Time to Reap’ watch not displaying the time
• Fix for the ‘Blue Skies’ watch appearing backwards when worn
• Fix for some players spawning facing a wall while playing FFA on Talsik Backlot
• Demolition: Added VO to alert the defending team a bomb site was destroyed
• One in the Chamber: This mode is now available in custom games!
• Regular Infected playlist now has random care package drops!
• Gun Game Reloaded is now in the Quick Play filter.
• Gunfight:
  • Fire throwing knife is now available in OSP mode
  • Fixes to the Snapshot grenade so it functions as intended in OSP mode
• Reinfected Ground War:
  • Removed IAV and Counter UAV
  • Added a hint to tutorialize how to sky dive in this mode
  • Do not show death icon when a player uses Field Upgrade Tac Insert to skydive
  • Deaths from Field Upgrade Tac Insert (skydive) no longer count as deaths on the scoreboard
    • Kills & Deaths do not count against your lifetime records in this mode, this is purely to reflect the accurate KDR on the scoreboard
  • Lower Juggernaut health in this mode only
  • No longer give killstreak points on kills if the player is in your party
  • Significantly lowered damage from killstreaks if the player called out the killstreak and then moved to the infected team
  • Added ATV visibility on the map to avoid players hiding while riding the ATV

CHALLENGES/MISSIONS

• Fix for Rodion’s Season 3, Objective 3 Mission from not tracking properly (“Purchase the Armor Bundle in Warzone 2 times while using Rodion as your Allegiance Operator”)
• Fix for the “Use the Dead Silence Field Upgrade in 3 different matches” not tracking properly

WEAPONS

• Renetti:
  • Reduced the max ammo reserve
  • MK3 Burst Mod – Significant hip spread increase
  • MK3 Burst Mod – Small decrease to damage
  • Reduced damage when Akimbo and MK3 Burst Mod are both equipped
• FAL: Decrease to ADS time
• SCAR: Decrease to ADS time
• LMGS: Lowered ammo count for reload warning on belt fed LMGs
• Reduced penalty for holding breath too long with sniper scopes
• Fix for the level 34 unlock of the Renetti showing the Merc Foregrip
• VLK Rogue
  • Increased rate of fire
  • Increased close damage range for 12 gauge
  • Increased damage range to 6” Revolt barrel
• Holger 26
  • Increased move speed
  • Improved ADS time
  • Slight recoil reduction
  • Attachments:
    • FTAC 8.98” Spitfire Barrel:
      • Improved ADS time
      • Faster movement
      • Reduced hip spread
  • XRK Ultralight Barrel:
    • Improved ads time
  • 30 Round Magazine:
    • Reduced sprint out time
    • Improved ADS time
    • Faster movement
    • Improved hip spread profile
  • Not Stock:
    • Increased sprint out time
    • Faster movement
    • Reduced hip spread
    • Improved ADS time
  • Stippled Grip
    • Improved ADS time

WARZONE

• Fix for a bug where a player could become immune to the gas if they were bought back as the final circle was closing
• Fix for a rare bug that left a player in the Gulag until the end of the match
• PC: Fixed an issue where the gas mask overlay could remain on screen after leaving the gas and entering a vehicle
• Removed the option to “Squad Fill” while in BR Solo
• Fix for voice chat sometimes cutting out during a match
• Reduced the RPG kill radius for players with full armor
• Final circle now moves (BR)
• The Most Wanted contract has had the time reduced from 5 minutes to 3 minutes
• Replaced Shield Turret with Armor Box at Buy Stations (Shield Turret is still in loot)

SPECIAL OPERATIONS

• When players are respawned via the plane their weapons will now start with at least one full magazine each, to fix getting into situations where you could respawn without any ammo
• Operation Headhunter – Fix for the players keeping the Gunship munition if the team wipes during the tank assault section
• Operation Brimstone – Fix for the Extraction Crate appearing to be already open if the team had wiped and restarted earlier in the match

SPECIAL OPERATIONS: SURVIVAL

• PS4: Atlas Superstore has been added to Survival Mode
• Teammates respawned via the ‘Respawn Flare’ item will now come back with full armor, to help them survive their dangerous respawns better
• Disallow usage of the ‘Respawn Flare’ item if no teammates are currently in last stand or spectating, and display why
• Fix for missing dialog, store icons, and sounds during the buy phase
• Fix for missing message display for players attempting to use the minigun at the weapons store
• Fix for the ammo store not filling your magazine, and only your stock, and fix its missing sounds
• Made the assorted stores’ Cash font easier to read on dark screens
• Players now get $10 per hit on enemy helicopters

Kingdom Hearts: Dark Road, the upcoming fast-paced mobile spin-off, has been delayed. The game, which was originally targeting a Spring 2020 release, will now arrive later than expected.

The news of the game’s delay was announced on its official Twitter account, which said that more details will be revealed in June. Kingdom Hearts fans will have to wait a while to find out when Dark Road is releasing, but as the tweet notes, “current conditions” amid the COVID-19 pandemic aren’t ideal for development.

If it still comes out this year, it’ll be the second Kingdom Hearts release of 2020, following Kingdom Hearts III Re:mind. Once it releases, Dark Road will be available within the Kingdom Hearts Union X app, although it’ll be a standalone experience.

The game will explore the pass of villain Xehanort, so fans of Kingdom Hearts’ lore will likely appreciate it. Hopefully we’ll have an updated release window soon.

The latest Madden Bowl competitive gaming tournament took place over the weekend, and Raidel “Joke” Brito won the series and claimed a giant cash prize in addition to bragging rights. It’s notable because, despite being one of the best players on the Madden pro scene, Joke had never won the Bowl. Not only did he win this year’s event, but he claimed the title in the final without throwing a single pass.

That’s right, Joke defeated Daniel “Dcroft” Mycroft by a score of 17-0 with his run-only offense. In fact, Joke won all of his Madden NFL 20 games in the tournament without ever passing the ball, according to ESPN.

Joke employed a unique strategy to secure the victory. He opted to select specialist players, forgoing a true quarterback, and instead chose to run the ball and rely on his defense to win the tournament. The event was conducted virtually this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. You can watch a replay of the competition in the video above.

Joke’s strategy is not entirely unprecedented. The Army college football team almost never throws the ball, and it has a very good winning record.

Joke took home $65,000 for the victory, while he will also receive a 12-pound physical championship belt that consists of 700 Swarovski rhinestones and a 24-karat gold plate.

It was an especially emotional win for Joke, as he dedicated the event to his friend Taylor “SpotMe” Robertson, who was killed in the 2018 mass shooting during a Madden tournament in Florida. “I dedicated this tournament to him, and the fact that I won it … is awesome,” Joke said through tears.