Author: Trafficblast

Minecraft with RTX is now available for all Windows 10 players. You can download it and still play games with players on other platforms while enjoying the visual improvements that RTX brings to the table.

The feature has been available via an official beta since April, but now it’s available in the main Minecraft client. Microsoft and Nvidia are releasing two new worlds that are compatible with RTX to celebrate.

“Using the power of ray tracing and Physically Based Rendering, you can build incredible scenes with lighting, shadows and effects running at previously-unseen levels of detail and accuracy,” reads a post on Nvidia’s official site. “Helping you craft wondrous worlds that’ll make jaws drop.”

Nvidia worked with two creators to “demonstrate the possibilities of Minecraft’s ray tracing” by releasing new worlds that players can download in Minecraft’s Marketplace. The first is a recreation of Rome’s Colosseum while the second, unreleased world is a dungeon crawler set in a “beautiful medieval countryside.” You can see images of each world with and without RTX on Nvidia’s site.

Mojang released Minecraft Star Wars DLC last month. It includes Baby Yoda, other content from The Mandalorian, as well as characters and content from A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi. You can purchase it at the Marketplace for 1340 minecoins (roughly $8).

After a leak last week that revealed its Western launch date and trailer, Persona 5 Strikers has been officially announced and its February 2021 release date has been confirmed. The game is a continuation of the story that concluded in the original Persona 5 (not Royal) and sees the return of its cast of characters in the Phantom Thieves along with some new faces. It’s also an action-RPG musuo-style take on the traditional Persona formula, as its being developed by Omega Force, the studio behind the Dynasty Warriors games and several other adaptations (such as Fire Emblem Warriors and Hyrule Warriors).

Persona 5 Strikers maintains its party-based dynamic in combat and elemental affinities along with some Persona trademarks like all-out attacks, persona abilities, spell casting, and its lavish art style. Strikers also includes the social simulation side of things as you’ll get explore cities across Japan (and beyond Tokyo this time) and spend time with your fellow Phantom Thieves. We got hands-on with the Japanese demo earlier this year and you can watch our impressions and gameplay in the video below.

Like the original RPG, Strikers will include Japanese and English audio with the return of the original voice casts. New characters get involved in the mix, such as a detective from Kyoto named Zenkichi Hasegawa and mysterious girl from the metaverse named Sophia, and become playable characters as well as, which can be seen in the pre-release materials from the Japanese version.

Two versions of the game will be available; the digital deluxe edition gives players early access to the full version of the game on February 19, 2021 while the standard edition launches on February 23, 2021. Along with getting to play the game four days early, the digital deluxe version comes with bonus content like a digital artbook, the soundtrack with over 40 songs, behind the scenes videos, Persona legacy soundtracks for the game (Persona 1 through 4 Golden), and in-game items. Physical versions from GameStop include a pin and Steelbook copies will be available at Best Buy for the Switch version.

This will be the first time a Persona 5 game releases on Nintendo Switch and PC (via Steam), and the PS4 version will be backwards compatible for PS5. Atlus has been making a push to port its games to PC as we’ve seen with Persona 4 Golden earlier this year and Catherine back in 2019.

For more on Persona 5 Strikers, be sure to read my impressions of the action-RPG combat system and how it’s a great fit for the series based on my time with the Japanese demo. You should also be excited for more Persona music as Strikers will feature remixes of original songs and new tracks, too–I even said that “The Last Surprise” remix in P5S might be better than the original song. You can also check out the official Western reveal trailer below.

A free update for Forza Horizon 4 is out today, adding stunt races to PlayGround Games’ recreation of the British countryside. Titled Super7, the new mode is all about leaping off big ramps and hurtling around obstacle courses.

The free update was announced during the latest Forza Monthly developer stream. While rumours swirled before the stream that PlayGround Games was set to reveal the next Forza Horizon game, it ended up being about more Forza Horizon 4.

Super7 builds upon the game’s existing track creator by allowing players to create challenge courses featuring air, drift, and speed sections. The new Blueprint Builder lets you can design stunts and place a number of structures throughout the course, which can be placed anywhere on Forza Horizon 4’s expansive map.

As the name suggests, there are seven curated stunts that greet you when entering the mode for the first time. These consist of randomly selected challenges and completing all seven will reward you with new in-game rewards, including the 1924 Austin Seven and 1979 Triumph TR7 Roadster.

If you’re playing on Xbox Series X|S, Forza Horizon 4 also received a number of next-gen enhancements last month. The racer now runs at 4K and 60 frames per second, and has dramatically improved load times.

While there’s no shortage of Black Panther comics on the shelves, it’s much more rare to see T’Challa make the jump to the world of prose fiction. But with the release of Black Panther: Tales of Wakanda, fans will get to see new sides of T’Challa and his supporting cast.

Published by Titan Books in collaboration with Marvel, Black Panther: Tales of Wakanda – A Ground-Breaking Anthology From the African Diaspora features no fewer than 18 short stories set in the world of Wakanda. Check out the book’s cover art below:

Tales of Wakanda is edited by historian and journalist Jesse J. Holland, who also wrote the novelization of Black Panther: Who Is Black Panther. The authors contributing to the book include Nikki Giovanni, Sheree Renée Thomas, Tananarive Due, Caldwell Turnbull, Suyi Davies Okungbowa and Christopher Chambers. Titan teases these stories will focus on T’Challa himself as well as familiar supporting characters like Shuri, Okoye and the Dora Milaje.

“From his inception, the Black Panther inspired an entire audience who never before had seen themselves in a Super Hero universe, as well as heralding a new creative flame in comics, science fiction and literature,” said Holland in Titan’s press release. “These authors involved in Black Panther: Tales of Wakanda took that flame and put their own unique cultural marks on the work. This book represents the pure creativity they brought to the worlds of Wakanda and the Black Panther and takes the reader on a tour of the past, present and future of one of comic’s most enduring and exciting characters.”

Black Panther: Tales of Wakanda is 480 pages and is priced at $25.95. The book will be released on February 2, 2021, timed to the start of Black History Month in the US.

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This book release should help tide over fans eager for the release of Black Panther 2. Despite the tragic passing of star Chadwick Boseman, Marvel Studios is moving forward with the sequel as part of the MCU’s Phase 4 lineup. Production on Black Panther 2 is expected to begin in July 2021, with Letitia Wright’s Shuri expected to play a larger role this time around. It’s unknown how Marvel will handle T’Challa’s role, though the studio won’t be relying on a digital double of Boseman.

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Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.

The Phantom Thieves aren’t done stealing hearts, as Persona 5 Strikers, the western version of Persona 5 Scramble: The Phantom Strikers, will be available in the West on February 23.

Following a leak of the Persona 5 follow-up last week, Atlus officially announced that Strikers is hitting PS4, Nintendo Switch, and PC via Steam on February 23, 2021. Strikers will be available for preorder both digitally and physically on December 10 at 4 pm PT. The PS4 version will be playable on PS5, but improvements for playing on PS5 have not been announced or detailed.

Developed in partnership with Koei Tecmo, Persona 5 Strikers continues the story of the Phantom Thieves following Persona 5, as their planned summer vacation turns into a fight against corruption of hearts spreading throughout the cities of Japan. Players will visit six different Japanese cities, venturing into new Metaverse dungeons and catching up with the core cast of Persona 5. Strikers comes with a new fighting system via the Musou action genre rather than the turn-based RPG nature of the original. However, hallmarks like the All-Out Attack return, and players will also be able to pause the action at times to plan out moves, with every Phantom Thief playable in Strikers.

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Physical preorder bonuses include a Joker pin at GameStop and a Switch steelbook at Best Buy, while a digital deluxe edition includes the following, as well as four days’ early access to the game:

Bonus Content Digital Download

• Digital Art Book
• Digital Soundtrack – Over 40 songs included
• Behind the Scenes Video – Making of the Music “You Are Stronger” and “Towards a Dream”

Persona Legacy BGM

• Persona 1 and Persona 1 PSP remake
• Persona 2 Innocent Sin and Persona 2 Eternal Punishment
• Persona 3 and Persona 3 Portable
• Persona 4 and Persona 4 Golden

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All-out Attack Pack

• Boost Skills Pack
• Basic Affinity Skills Pack
• Ally Buff Skills Pack
• Armor Pack
• Persona Points
• Enemy Debuff Skills Pack

Atlus officially announced P5S for the West earlier this year, months after its original Japanese release this year. But in the meantime, fans did also get Persona 5 Royal this year, an expanded version of the original Persona 5, which IGN reviewed and called a Masterpiece, saying it “takes an all-time great JRPG and makes it even greater. Going above and beyond a re-release or a remaster, almost everything has been expanded and improved with an entire game’s worth of new content and improvements.”

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Jonathon Dornbush is IGN’s Senior News Editor, host of Podcast Beyond!, and PlayStation lead. He’s also a big fan of the Phantom Thieves and can’t believe we’re basically getting a Persona 5 sequel. Talk to him on Twitter @jmdornbush.

An ex-Naughty Dog game designer has joined Zenimax Online to work on a “new, unannounced AAA IP.”

Quentin Cobb previously worked on both The Last of Us and Uncharted 4 as a game designer before joining Zenimax. The unannounced AAA IP mentioned by Cobb in his tweet is yet to be revealed but as well as Cobb, the project has already pulled in veterans of games such as Destiny, Red Dead Redemption, Shadow of Mordor, XCOM and Battlefield.

I am happy to announce that I’ve joined @ZeniMax_Online as a Sr. Designer working with my good friend Ben Jones (@Bagelbeard) on a new, unannounced AAA IP! I’m thrilled this is finally happening and wanted to share a few details.1/4 pic.twitter.com/YBU9YvCenM

— Quentin Cobb (@QTrainCobb) December 7, 2020

Cobb explains that he and the teams have “formed the basis of a new satellite studio for Zenimax Online here in San Diego”. He gives nothing away about the game, but does say that  it’s “easily the most excited I’ve ever been to work on a project since I joined the industry back in 2009”. We’ll be sure to provide any more news about this mysterious game as we hear about it.

Zenimax Online is known for The Elder Scrolls Online, and previously contributed to Fallout 76 and the cancelled Commander Keen mobile game. Of course, the studio was folded into Microsoft in September of this year as part of a $7.5 billion acquisition of its parent company, Zenimax Media.

In other Naughty Dog-related news, Creative Director Neil Druckmann was recently promoted, becoming co-president of the development studio.

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Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.

With just a few weeks left until its January 2021 release, Hitman 3 developer IO Interactive has revealed new gameplay for its assassination sandbox. Like previous games in the series, each level will require Agent 47 to move unseen through various locations, adopting disguises and using distractions until he reaches his target and eliminates them. While you’re able to use tried and tested methods to execute your mark, there’ll also be numerous opportunities to make their untimely demise look like a freak accident.

You can view Agent 47 plying his deadly trade through this trailer link, if you’re 18 or older

On PlayStation 5, Hitman 3 will make use of the DualSense controller’s adaptive triggers to create a more “authentic sensation,” IO Interactive communications manager Travis Barbour explained in a PS Blog post. This will result in automatic weapons with simulated recoil, as well as unique haptic feedback profiles for every other firearm available in the game.

One specific example of this that Barbour gave was that the sniper rifle’s Focus effect, which kicks in when the R2 button is gently squeezed, will now have a tension point that you’ll need to apply pressure to for it to activate. Pushing past that tension point will allow you to feel the click of the trigger as you fire the weapon.

IO Interactive also confirmed that Hitman 3 will feature full VR support, allowing you to explore every level in the game from a first-person view. If you own the previous two Hitman games, you’ll also be able to play through locations such as Sapienza or Hawke’s Bay in full VR. No PC VR options have been announced yet.

IO Interactive also revealed two editions of Hitman 3 that will be available. Pre-ordering the standard edition will unlock the Trinity Pack of cosmetic suits for Agent 47, while the Deluxe Edition has a wider selection of extra features. You’ll be able to access the Trinity Pack, digital soundtracks for all three Hitman games, director commentary mission introduction, a digital artbook, deluxe Escalation missions, deluxe suits, and more items.

Hitman 3 launches on January 20, 2021 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Stadia. Stages seen so far include a Dubai skyscraper, Thornbridge Manor within England’s Dartmoor region, and the neon-lit streets of Chongqing, a Chinese transportation hub.

For more on Agent 47’s next adventure and its next-gen upgrades, you can check out our Hitman 3 preorder guide right here.

Humble Bundle has teamed up with EA to distribute access to EA Play Pro as part of December’s $14.99/ £11.24 Humble Choice Premium deal.

As well as a lineup of games, those who sign up for the service before December 11 will get access to a month of EA Play Pro, which is essentially EA’s version of Xbox Game Pass. You get access to all of the publisher’s games when they drop, as well as a back catalogue of games that includes titles like Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and FIFA 20.

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The full Humble Choice lineup for December is below, and includes Overcooked 2, Children of Morta, Frog Detective 1 + 2 and many more. If you do subscribe you’ll get a voucher to claim a month of EA Play Pro on the Humble Store.

• Overcooked! 2 + Too Many Cooks + Surf ‘n’ Turf Pack
• Children of Morta
• One Step from Eden
• The Beast Inside
• Indivisible
• Zwei: The Ilvard Insurrection + The Arges Adventure
• Frog Detective 1 + 2
• Still There
• Struggling
• Tabletop Playground
• Shining Resonance Refrain
• Path of Giants

In other EA Play news, the service was integrated into the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate in November of this year, meaning that subscribers to Xbox’s top-tier subscription service will also get access to EA’s library of games.

Disclosure: Humble Bundle is owned by Ziff Davis, the parent company of IGN. Humble Bundle and IGN operate completely independently, and no special consideration is given to Humble Bundle announcements or promotions for coverage.

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Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.

Call of the Sea is now available on Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC, and is also included in Xbox Game Pass. The story-driven adventure marks the debut for Spanish developer Out of the Blue.

Set in 1934 in the far reaches of the South Pacific, you play as a character called Norah who finds herself on a lush island paradise in the search for her missing husband. The nameless island is dotted with remnants of a lost civilisation, with its tropical forests and sandy shores intertwined with ancient ruins and occult mysteries.

Call of the Sea is heavily influenced by the works of author H.P. Lovecraft, albeit with a twist. Out of the Blue co-founder Tatiana Delgado said earlier this year that the studio is “trying to focus on the surreal and the oneiric more than the horrific and the grim. In short, Call of the Sea isn’t a descent into madness but a rise to sanity. Losing your mind makes you see a dream-like, colorful world.”

The developer also set its sights on next-gen early in development, with Delgado saying the team wanted to specifically “target the next gen” with Call of the Sea.

“As soon as we saw what was possible, we wanted to do it because–although we have a stylized, visual style, so it’s not realistic–we wanted to get as much as possible from the graphics side,” Delgado said. “And I think we can benefit a lot from the next-gen and, we’re kind of different for what you would expect from a next-gen game.”

Call of the Sea is now available for $20, or as part of an Xbox Game Pass subscription.