Author: Trafficblast

Even though it’s mid-May and the days are growing warmer, you can pretend it’s still winter and conquer snowy mountains in Steep, an extreme sports game that’s 100% free to claim from the Ubisoft Store right now. The game normally sells for $30, but you can grab it for $0 and it’ll be yours to keep as long as you claim the title before 6 PM (your local time) on Tuesday, May 21.

To claim the free game, just click the green text that says “Get it for free before 5/21,” and you’ll be prompted to either launch Uplay (Ubisoft’s PC games platform) or download it for free if you don’t have it already. Once in Uplay, you’ll be able to claim the deal, and Steep will automatically be added to your Ubisoft account so you can play immediately.

GET STEEP FOR FREE ON UPLAY »

(And here’s an alternative link, just in case.)

In Steep, you’ll take to the snowy Alps to ride, perform stunts, and compete with other players. There are four unique ways to travel around: skis, wingsuit, snowboard, and paraglider. You can create your own tricks and challenge friends to beat your records, or just ride around exploring the snowy mountain terrain, discovering secret spots and enjoying the spectacular view.

“Steep’s reflective moments and the sheer joy of its exploration can outweigh some of its rougher points, and some of the most fun it offers comes from simply traveling to undiscovered locations–just you against the mountain,” wrote critic Leif Johnson in GameSpot’s Steep review.

Speaking of free PC games: The latest free game from the Epic Games Store, Stories Untold, is also available to claim now on PC. You can claim it at no cost until May 30.

Gotham City can’t seem to catch a break from the villainy. That’s the case once again for the CW’s latest superhero series, Batwoman, which just launched its first full trailer and an extended clip from the pilot.

The female Caped Crusader is joining the Arrow-verse full time, and she has her sights set on cleaning up the streets along the way. In the three-minute trailer, Kate Kane (Ruby Rose) is introduced as coming home to Gotham and picking up where her cousin Bruce Wayne left off. She quickly integrates herself into the city, before suiting up and donning a cowl.

According to a synopsis for the show, what brings Kate back to Gotham is the Alice in Wonderland gang targeting her father. The crew is headed by Alice (Rachel Skarsten), who is one of Batwoman’s biggest comic book villains, and maybe the nearest thing she’s ever had to her own version of The Joker.

The synopsis continues, “With the help of her compassionate stepsister, Mary (Nicole Kang), and the crafty Luke Fox (Camrus Johnson), the son of Wayne Enterprises’ tech guru Lucius Fox, Kate Kane continues the legacy of her missing cousin, Bruce Wayne, as Batwoman. Still holding a flame for her ex-girlfriend, Sophie, Kate uses everything in her power to combat the dark machinations of the psychotic Alice, who’s always somewhere slipping between sane and insane. Armed with a passion for social justice and a flair for speaking her mind, Kate soars through the shadowed streets of Gotham as Batwoman. But don’t call her a hero yet. In a city desperate for a savior, she must first overcome her own demons before embracing the call to be Gotham’s symbol of hope.”

While a premiere date has not been announced for the series, The CW has revealed it will air Sundays at 8 PM. Additionally, though it hasn’t been confirmed, it’s likely that the show will be featured in the upcoming Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover.

Microsoft and Sony have announced plans for a strategic partnership that will include technology and information sharing, as well as shared infrastuctures for some of their initiatives. While the announcement doesn’t mention the Xbox or PlayStation brands specifically, it does suggest the partnership will focus on consumer entertainment platforms including gaming.

Specifically the agreement says that the two will jointly develop future cloud solutions within Microsoft Azure. It also says that Sony will use Microsoft Azure for its own game and content-streaming services, including a push to build better tools for content creators. The two are also committing to work together on semiconductors and artificial intelligence.

“PlayStation itself came about through the integration of creativity and technology,” Sony president Kenichiro Yoshida said in the announcement. “Our mission is to seamlessly evolve this platform as one that continues to deliver the best and most immersive entertainment experiences, together with a cloud environment that ensures the best possible experience, anytime, anywhere. For many years, Microsoft has been a key business partner for us, though of course the two companies have also been competing in some areas. I believe that our joint development of future cloud solutions will contribute greatly to the advancement of interactive content.”

“Sony has always been a leader in both entertainment and technology, and the collaboration we announced today builds on this history of innovation,” added Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. “Our partnership brings the power of Azure and Azure AI to Sony to deliver new gaming and entertainment experiences for customers.”

Xbox head Phil Spencer and Nadella also followed up with tweets that stressed the entertainment and gaming aspect of the partnership.

The partnership has only just been announced, so any results from it could take a while to manifest. The mention of Microsoft’s cloud solutions in gaming comes just as Microsoft is planning its own streaming platform, xCloud., which will compete directly with Google Stadia. It’s unclear how this could impact PlayStation’s streaming platform, PlayStation Now.

With E3 2019 only weeks away, it’s unclear if this new strategic partnership will be discussed. We do know Microsoft is planning to “go big” while Sony has opted out of the show altogether. Check out the full schedule of press conferences for more details.

Total War: Three Kingdoms, the 12th and latest installment in the Total War strategy series, is releasing next Thursday, May 23 on Windows PC, and if you’re planning to pick up the game, you might as well save yourself some money. The upcoming game is already marked down to $49.19 at Fanatical as part of its huge May Madness sale, and the digital store is offering GameSpot readers an exclusive promo code that slashes an additional 5% from the price, bringing it down to $46.79 (22% off). That’s a solid deal for a brand-new game launching at $60 on Steam and elsewhere. This promo ends at midnight ET / 5 AM BST / 2 PM AET on May 27 (and 9 PM PT on May 26).

To claim Total War: Three Kingdoms at that sale price, head to the game’s store page on Fanatical, where you’ll see it’s currently discounted by 18%. Add the game to your cart, and in the right-hand sidebar, enter the promo code TWTKGAMESPOT to see the full discount applied. You’ll receive your officially licensed Steam key right after purchase, and you can redeem it on Steam immediately.

GET TOTAL WAR: THREE KINGDOMS FOR $46.79 »

Besides saving some cash, you’ll also earn the Yellow Turban Rebellion DLC for pre-ordering or purchasing during the first week. The DLC includes:

• A new sub-culture to play as: the Yellow Turban Rebellion
• Three new playable warlords: He Yi, Gong Du, and Huang Shao
• New weapons and armor
• Three new hero classes: Healer, Scholar, and Veteran
• New character skills based on the virtues of Taoism: frugality, compassion, and humility
• New approach to technology
• New unit roster

Total War: Three Kingdoms is set during the Three Kingdoms period in China, beginning in 190 AD. You’ll play as one of 12 legendary warlords, each of whom intends to conquer the entire realm and unite China under their rule. Like other Total War titles, Three Kingdoms is a mix of turn-based strategy and real-time battles between your forces and enemy squadrons. Besides the military aspect, Total War: Three Kingdoms also involves expanding cities, managing population growth, and other strategic elements.

The game earned an 8/10 in GameSpot’s Total War: Three Kingdoms review. “Three Kingdoms feels like a breath of fresh air,” wrote critic Ginny Woo. “This is the most ambitious that Total War has ever been, from the variety of different ways that you can enjoy the game to the sheer scope of the stories that they’ve weaved around each unique character’s playable experience. Three Kingdoms feels like the rightful evolution of the series, pulling from its roots in historical military tactics to come up with an engrossing modern strategy game that is always a delight, even in its less well-oiled moments.”

E3 2019 is just around the corner. The annual trade show returns on June 11, but before then, a number of the industry’s biggest publishers will hold press conferences showcasing some of the new games they have in the pipeline. That includes Bethesda, which confirmed it is hosting its own E3 press conference again this year just a couple of days ahead of the expo proper.

This year, Bethesda’s press conference takes place on Sunday, June 9, a few hours after Microsoft’s E3 Xbox One briefing. The presentation is set to kick off at 5:30 PM PT / 8:30 PM ET (1:30 AM BST on June 10) and will be broadcast online for viewers at home via Bethesda’s Twitch channel and other places.

As for what we can expect from the conference, Bethesda has been very tight-lipped. During last year’s briefing, the publisher unveiled a number of huge titles, including Rage 2, Doom Eternal, The Elder Scrolls VI, and a brand-new property, Starfield. So far the publisher has only confirmed that Doom Eternal will have a presence at this year’s conference, but it certainly won’t be the only game the company shows off. We know DLC for Rage 2 is on the way, so we may get our first glimpse at that during this year’s briefing.

However, two titles we can safely rule out are Starfield and Elder Scrolls VI. Last month, Bethesda’s Todd Howard confirmed that neither title will be at this year’s show. According to the company, last year’s reveals were just a “sneak peak” at the technology it’s been working on, and that both Starfield and ES6 are still a ways off, so we’ll likely need to wait a little longer to get more details about those games.

Be sure to check out GameSpot’s full coverage of E3 2019 for the latest breaking news. You can also see what all the other publishers have lined up for this year’s show in the full E3 conference schedule.

All The Bethesda Games Confirmed For E3 2019

• Doom Eternal

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A new set of Season 9 content has arrived in Fortnite. We’re now in Week 2 of the new season, and that means there’s a new assortment of challenges to complete across PS4, Xbox One, PC, Nintendo Switch, and mobile devices. As usual, clearing this week’s tasks will reward you with Battle Stars, which in turn will level your Battle Pass up and unlock the new Season 9 rewards.

That’s not all you can get by completing challenges, however. Epic has an extra reward in store for players who manage to finish all seven tasks from a given week: a special loading screen. These screens all feature a cool piece of artwork, but the real reason you want to get them is because they hold a clue pointing you to a free item hidden somewhere around the island.

In past seasons, completing all the even-number weekly challenges would give you a chance to collect a free Banner, which could be used as a profile icon. However, Epic is doing things a little differently this season. If you finish two weekly sets of challenges, you’ll still unlock a special loading screen; however, this one won’t point you to a free Banner, but rather a Fortbyte, a new type of collectible introduced this season. Fortbytes resemble small, glowing computer chips, and they can be found by meeting certain criteria, such as completing a certain number of challenges.

The reward for completing two weeks’ worth of Season 9 challenges is the Neochasers loading screen pictured above. This time, however, the clue isn’t hidden within the loading screen itself, but rather its description, which reads, “Last seen at battling at Dino Park outhouse, these two can’t be stopped.” That’s where you’ll find Fortbyte #13. Head south of Paradise Palms, near the three dinosaur statues, and find the port-a-potty there. Destroy it to reveal the Fortbyte, which is now all yours for the taking.

Unlike previous Utopia challenges, you don’t need to unlock the aforementioned loading screen to find this Fortbyte; you simply need to have purchased a Season 9 Battle Pass to collect it, so if you fall into that category, you can go straight to its location and pick it up without completing any of Week 2’s challenges. If you still need help finding the chip, we’ve marked its location on the map below. You can also watch us walk you through the challenge in the video at the top of this guide.

If you still need to complete any challenges from earlier in the season, you can find tips for all the trickier ones in our full Fortnite Season 9 challenges guide. And if you want to take a look at all the new cosmetics up for grabs, you can see all of the Fortnite Season 9 Battle Pass rewards in our gallery.

Week 2’s challenges arrive shortly after the release of Fortnite’s 9.01 update, which introduced yet another new weapon to the battle royale game: the tactical assault rifle, a fully automatic gun with a 30-round magazine. However, to make room for it, Epic has vaulted an older weapon: the combat SMG. You can see everything else that’s new in the full patch notes on the official Fortnite website.

Uncaged Rage

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Warning: Game of Thrones spoilers within!

Season 8 of Game of Thrones might have been a little thin on character development, and that’s why the latest big twist for Daenerys Targaryen took some viewers by surprise. In Episode 5, “The Bells,” Daenerys finally decided to embrace making the people of Westeros fear her, torching King’s Landing with her last dragon, Drogon, and murdering thousands of innocent people in the process. But the idea that Dany might go all Mad Queen on Westeros isn’t new–it’s something she’s been dealing with her whole life.

Watch the video above as we break down all the ways Game of Thrones has foreshadowed how Dany eventually followed in the footsteps of her father, the Mad King Aerys, and fulfilled his desire to “burn them all.” We’ve gone back through the entire series to date, and we’ve learned one thing: the foreshadowing of the possibility of Daenerys’s eventual fall is not exactly subtle. There’s a whole lot of it.

There’s only one more episode of Game of Thrones left, but we’ve got plenty more coverage to help hold you over while awaiting the finale. Check out our video breakdown of Episode 5, complete with one last stab at theories of how things will finally shake out. You can also read our review of Episode 5, and get a load of all the callbacks and Easter eggs from “The Bells” that you might have missed. We’ve also opined on how Game of Thrones didn’t turn out to be the show we thought it was, and you’re definitely going to want to learn about how the show gave a big hint about what could be Daenerys’s final fate.