Month: August 2020

It seems cars are finally arriving in Fortnite this week. The game’s “Joy Ride” update will roll out on Wednesday, August 5, developer Epic announced on Twitter, and it appears the patch will introduce the long-absent vehicles to the battle royale shooter.

Epic hasn’t shared any other details about the Joy Ride update beyond its release date, although the announcement was accompanied by an image showing off a blue and red car. “It’s not just a name. It’s a warning,” the tweet reads, effectively confirming that cars will be the focal point of the update.

We’ve known that cars were coming to Fortnite since Season 3 kicked off back in June, but up until now, the vehicles weren’t actually available in the game. Epic had previously said that more areas and features would begin appearing as the water that flooded Season 3’s map gradually receded, but it wasn’t clear exactly when cars would be added; back on July 23, Epic said the vehicles still wouldn’t be ready for “a few weeks.”

Cars aren’t the only new addition to Fortnite this week; the receding floodwaters also recently revealed a new area called Coral Castle, which is basically Fortnite’s version of Atlantis. The area is located north of Sweaty Sands, and its centerpiece is an ornate castle that’s full of chests to plunder.

There are still a few weeks left in Season 3 of Fortnite, which means Epic still has plenty of challenges in store for players before the season wraps up. If you need help completing them, be sure to check out our Fortnite Season 3 challenges roundup for our maps and guides.

Project Cars 3 is releasing August 25 for PS4, Xbox One, and PC, and a new trailer is here to build up your hype for taking to the tarmac. The trailer showcases the game’s gorgeous graphics, and asks a loaded question–what drives you, the player?

The trailer is made to show off the customization options, which will let you put livery on your car and tinker under the hood however you see fit, and asks you to consider what it is about a racing game journey you’re after. The implication is, of course, that Project Cars 3 can cater to everyone.

You can watch the trailer below.

The game will have a Season Pass too, with four content releases coming after launch. It’s also aiming to be more welcoming to new players than past entries were.

For more, check out our interview with production designer Pete Morrish about how the game overhauls the racing sim series.

Nowhere Prophet recently released on Switch, PS4, and Xbox One, following the deck-building its 2019 release on PC, and it marks the first time that publisher No More Robots has released a game for Sony’s system. The publisher also has Descenders coming to PS4 on August 25–but if sales of their first release are an indicator of what to expect, the publisher might withdraw from releasing on Sony systems completely.

Kotaku Australia picked up on tweets from Mike Rose, the owner of No More Robots, indicating that sales for Nowhere Prophet on PS4 have been terrible. Although he does not provide specific figures, sales were much, much higher on Switch than PS4–20 times higher, in fact.

In another tweet, Rose said that the Xbox One and Switch ports made enough money to cover the cost of porting within hours of release, but the PS4 version has struggled so much that Rose can’t see the publisher releasing more games on the system in the future.

While the game carried a launch discount on Switch and Xbox One, Sony was reportedly “too busy” to allow this for Nowhere Prophet.

Nowhere Prophet is, like Descenders before it, available on Game Pass. Rose has previously said that this actually leads to much higher sales, rather than preventing them. This can even carry over onto other consoles–sales of Death Squared saw a bump on Switch after the game launched on Game Pass.

It’s well-known that indie games tend to sell better on Switch–Shovel Knight was released across nine systems, yet 25% of sales were on Switch, for instance. Meanwhile, AAA titles continue to sell well on Sony’s system–Ghost of Tsushima just broke records for a new IP.

EA Sports has published a new blog post about what’s coming to Madden NFL 22. That is not a typo. Even before the release of Madden NFL 21, the developer has begun to discuss some its plans for next year’s game as part of a new level of transparency at the studio.

Producer Seann Graddy said in the blog post that, while it’s “still very early” for Madden NFL 22, the development team is already planning for areas they would like to focus on.

With the caveat that Madden NFL 22 is only in pre-production, Graddy outlined some of the areas that EA Sports may address, but isn’t committing to definitively just yet.

These areas include:

• Coaching and staff management
• Scouting improvements
• New scenario engine enhancements
• New team chemistry system
• Commissioner Tools improvements
• MORE CONTENT – Examples: Relocation/Branding Assets for Franchise – New uniforms, names, and logos to relocation options for more variety and depth in deeper careers.

There will be “other key additions” for Madden NFL 22 that EA will announce later, Graddy said.

On the more immediate horizon, Graddy gave an overview for the post-launch support planned for Madden NFL 21, though again, he said these items are subject to change. The list includes things like basic player tuning, a refresh of the broadcast package for the Playoffs and Super Bowl, improved UI for career stats, and new commissioner tools that give players the ability to undo transactions and approve trades, among other things.

MADDEN NFL 21 – Post Launch Support

• TUNING – Improved progression and regression of players. Improve core player progression into the future such that X-Factors and other abilities for older players work well with incoming rookie classes.
• AI PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT – The AI will make better team management decisions in the draft, free agency and trades.
• PLAYOFF and SUPER BOWL PRESENTATION – Improve and refresh.
• X-FACTOR / SUPERSTAR ABILITY CUSTOMIZATION – Introduce the ability to customize X-Factor and Abilities on all players, allowing you to customize your roster as you see fit.
• CAREERS STATS UI – Improved UI showing historical player performances. More immersion and depth on how players have progressed in your Franchise.
• TRADE LOGIC – More fidelity, depth, and authenticity.
• RETIREMENT UI – Better insight into retirements each season to allow players to react/manage.
• PLAYOFFS UPDATE – Add an authentic playoff bracket screen to see who’s in, who’s won and who’s up next.

Also in the blog post, Graddy addressed some of the concerns people have expressed regarding Madden NFL 21’s Franchise mode being lacklustre. He said EA Sports will be “dedicating a higher percentage of team bandwidth” toward developing new Franchise features for Madden NFL 21 and Madden NFL 22.

“We are passionate Franchise fans, just like you, and we’re placing some of our most-passionate Franchise voices to lead the creative path forward,” Graddy said.

Finally, Graddy pointed out that EA treats the Madden NFL series like a “true live service” that grows and evolves over time with new content and features.

“The game you buy on launch day is only the beginning of the annual Madden NFL 21 journey,” Graddy said. “Our commitment to you is to deliver meaningful change to the game throughout the year. In Madden NFL 21, we’ll expand our dedicated live service team to allow for more focused delivery of Franchise improvements based on your feedback, while continuing to evolve the broader game for our wide cross-section of Madden fans.”

Currently, Graddy said EA is planning to launch “two or three” title updates for Madden NFL 21 over the coming months after launch.

In other news, EA Sports has confirmed that it’s making a last-minute change to Madden NFL 21 to remove the Washington Redskins after the real-world sports team dropped the name that was widely criticized for being racist. The game will be updated with a generic Washington team and logo until the actual sports group decides on and announces a new name.

Madden NFL 21 is coming on August 28 for PC, PS4, and Xbox One. It will also be coming to the next-gen PS5 and Xbox Series X, with free upgrades for current-gen owners through EA’s Dual Entitlement program. For more details, check out our Madden NFL 21 pre-order guide.

Just resigned from Microsoft. For the first time in two decades, I am a free agent. Look out world!
Going to miss all the great people I had the honor of working with over the years, but I’m excited to start the next chapter in my career. Stay tuned…

— Wall of Bill 🏒🥅 (@wcstillwell) August 3, 2020

Frog Fractions: Game of the Decade Edition is available now on Steam, bringing the strange and wonderful Frog Fractions to Steam for the first time. And, lo-and-behold, it secretly contains a whole other game within it–albeit one you’ll have to pay real money for.

Frog Fractions, which famously hides its real intentions behind the veneer of a frog-centric maths game, comes with a piece of DLC on Steam–Hop’s Iconic Hat, which adds a funky new hat to the game’s frog. The $8 hat is priced just high enough to turn people away–but check under the brim and you’ll find a new game.

PC Gamer is reporting that the hat awakens something new in the game. From the menu screen, there is a toggle for whether or not you want Hop to wear the hat. Put it on, and you’ll get a whole new experience–one that PC Gamer doesn’t spoil, and we’ll do the same.

Another Frog Fractions game was hidden away in Glittermitten Grove, and while some contend that this is Frog Fractions 2, others suggest that it’s actually Frog Fractions 3, and the second game was the ARG that led up to this game’s discovery. Perhaps the real Frog Fractions 2 was the friends we made along the way.

PC Gamer contacted series creator Jim Crawford for comment, and he called this ordering his “headcanon”–making Hop’s Iconic Hat, in a way, Frog Fractions 4.

The hat is discounted on Steam until August 9. After that, it will cost $10.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons‘ second summer update has arrived, adding dreaming, save backups, a weekly summer fireworks show, and more to the popular Switch life sim. That’s not all that’s new in the game right now, however; the Nook Shopping catalog has also added some new items to its seasonal collection.

Three new limited-time items are now available to order: the rodeo-style springy ride-on, the Hikoboshi outfit, and the Orihime outfit. You can find these listed under the Seasonal tab in the Nook Shopping terminal, and each one will be available through August 31. The former costs 2,000 bells, while the latter two are each 2,500.

On top of the new seasonal items, August brings a handful of new fish and bugs to catch in the game. Those in the Northern Hemisphere can now reel in moray eels, rays, and soft-shelled turtles–among other critters–from the ocean and river. This month also marks the last chance for Northern Hemisphere players to catch various beetles and other summer insects. You can learn more in our fish guide and bug guide.

As previously mentioned, New Horizons’ recent 1.4.0 update also added a new summer event: fireworks shows. Every Sunday evening starting at 7 PM your time, you’ll be able to watch fireworks in the game with your friends and villagers. Isabelle will be stationed in your town plaza during the show and hand you a free wearable bopper. Redd will also have his own raffle tent, where you’ll be able to win festive items like balloons, pinwheels, and fountain fireworks.

Beyond the in-game activities, update 1.4.0 also finally added the long-promised island backup function. This is only available for Switch Online subscribers, and it lets you back up your New Horizons save data in the event that you lose or damage your Switch. However, this function works a little differently from the typical cloud saves offered through the service; you can learn more in our guide on how to back up your Animal Crossing save.