Category: Games

Sony has revealed a set of open-format fighting tournaments ahead of Evo 2021.

The Evo Community Series was revealed on the PlayStation Blog today. Dubbed “a global celebration of the fighting game community,” the ECS takes place between June 10 and August 3 and will feature more than 120 tournaments around the world, with $74,000 in total prize money available to competitors. PlayStation made a meaningful move into the FGC esports scene when it acquired the Evolution Championship Series in March of 2021, and this is it’s first public move into expanding the event.

Three PlayStation-hosted tournaments will also take place during the ECS, starting with the PlayStation Tournaments FGC Arcade: Evo Edition which runs between June 10 and June 22. North American and European competitors with active PS Plus subscriptions will be able to duke it out for the chance of winning part of a $20,000 prize pool in Granblue Fantasy: Versus, Guilty Gear Strive, Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate and Tekken 7.

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The PlayStation Tournaments Evo 2021 Online Warm-up will then take place between June 26 and July 13, offering a $19,000 prize pool to competitors from North America, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and Asia, playing Guilty Gear Strive, Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate, Street Fighter V: Champion Edition and Tekken 7.

Finally, the PlayStation Tournaments Evo 2021 Online Side Tournaments will follow between July 8 and August 3, allowing players from North America, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, Asia and Japan to fight for a $35,000 prize pool in BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle, Dragon Ball FighterZ, Granblue Fantasy: Versus, Mobile Suit Gundam: Extreme Vs. Maxi Boost ON, Skullgirls 2nd Encore, Soulcalibur VI and Under Night In-Birth Exe:Late[cl-r]

Certain matches from the tournaments will be broadcast on Twitch and Youtube, across PlayStation and Evo’s social streaming channels.

If you think you’re up to the challenge, you can register on PlayStation’s Competition Centre website. Registration for August’s Evo 2021 Online competition also opens today.

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

Following statements last week that had some players confused on whether Far Cry 6 is a “political game,” narrative director Navid Khavari has made things unquestionably clear: Far Cry 6 is a political game.

In a post on the official Ubisoft website, Khavari said that a “story about a modern revolution” has to be political and that Far Cry 6 will contain discussions on topics like fascism, imperialism, forced labor, LGBTQ+ rights, and free elections, though this will be in the context of the fictional Yara nation rather than a real country. The setting was clearly inspired by Cuba, but it’s not directly inspired by Cuba alone, and it’s this distinction that may have led to confusion about the game’s political intentions or lack thereof.

“The conversations and research done on the perspectives of those who fought revolutions in the late 1950s, early 1960s, and beyond are absolutely reflected in our story and characters,” Khavari said. “But if anyone is seeking a simplified, binary political statement specifically on the current political climate in Cuba, they won’t find it.”

There will still be “levity and humor” in Far Cry 6, as it’s a major element in the series, but Ubisoft aimed to also include mature themes and tackle complex political issues in the game, albeit regarding the fictional country.

“My only hope is that we are willing to let the story speak for itself first before forming hard opinions on its political reflections.”

Though Far Cry 5 seemed set to tackle political issues, as well–its box art features an American flag draped over a Last Supper-like table, for Pete’s sake–the game was actually focused on a religious cult and had little topical commentary. It remains to be seen how effective Far Cry 6 is in its about-face, but Khavari’s statements make it sound like the game does have something to say.

The initial confusion came after Khavari said Ubisoft didn’t “want to make a political statement about what’s happening in Cuba specifically,” which some took as a statement on the game’s apolitical nature as a whole. Given Ubisoft’s past shying away from direct political messaging in its games–even overtly political ones like the DC-set The Division 2–the company’s willingness to finally address the elephant in the room is encouraging.

Far Cry 6 releases for Xbox One, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, PS5, Stadia and PC on October 7. We expect to see more of it at Ubisoft Forward on June 12.

Sony executive Sanford Panitch has indicated that Spider-Man: No Way Home will kick off a shared Marvel universe.

Speaking to Variety, Panitch, the president of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, appeared to confirm that “there is actually a plan” to connect Sony’s Spider-Man Universe to the MCU, with Spider-Man 3 possibly opening the door for Peter Parker’s alter-ego to swing between movies and tangle with different characters as part of a shared Marvel universe.

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“There actually is a plan. I think now maybe it’s getting a little more clear for people where we’re headed and I think when No Way Home comes out, even more will be revealed,” Panitch teased while discussing the third Spider-​Man film starring Tom Holland, which represents one of the final films in Marvel and Sony’s current deal to share the web-slinging character.

“The great thing is we have this very excellent relationship with Kevin [Feige],” he added. “There’s an incredible sandbox there to play with. We want those MCU movies to be absolutely huge, because that’s great for us and our Marvel characters, and I think that’s the same thing on their side… There’s lots of opportunities, I think, that are going to happen.”

Sony Pictures Universe of Marvel Characters (or SPUMC for short) is developing several movies based on Marvel characters, with Venom: Let There Be Carnage coming up in 2021, Morbius in 2022, and Kraven the Hunter in 2023 — a film that is expected to fill in another piece of the shared universe puzzle. Avengers: Age of Ultron’s Aaron Taylor-Johnson will be making the jump to the SPUMC to play Kraven.

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Before that though, Spider-Man: No Way Home will debut in theaters. The film is expected to introduce some multiverse elements and may even converge the Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield, and Tom Holland universes together in such a way that it potentially allows Holland to make appearances in both the MCU and the SPUMC in the future.

No Way Home’s casting line-up, confirmed or otherwise, has been teasing a live-action Spider-Verse/multiverse crossover of epic proportions, which could be intertwined with later events in the MCU, particularly Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness. For more on the Doctor Strange sequel and its multiverse concept, read our theories about which characters and worlds may appear in the film.

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Adele Ankers is a Freelance Entertainment Journalist. You can reach her on Twitter.

The 4.5 update for Watch Dogs: Legion introduces a new kind of enemy for testing on PC before rolling out to the wider community. Title update 4.5 adds “Legion of the Dead,” a PvE rogue-lite mode where your plucky band of London citizens attempt to survive against throngs of hostile undead.

The Legion of the Dead mode is only available on PC in Alpha phase right now, but there players can try their survival skills solo or in co-op. You’ll have to plan and strategize how to reach an extraction point while gathering supplies. But this being Watch Dogs Legion, you’ll have the entire citizenry’s equipment and specializations to help you survive.

Aside from the new mode, all platforms will get a few other additions. A second Tactical Op will let you strategize with your friends on how to infiltrate a secret project related to Optik devices. You’ll also get a new 60 FPS Performance Mode option on the new-gen consoles, cross-gen play, a free download of breakout star Helen on June 15, and another free rewards track.

Watch Dogs: Legion’s first tactical op dropped in March with the 3.25 update. More recently, an update in May added new characters and refreshed the season pass. The hook of Watch Dogs: Legion is that you can play as just about anyone you see wandering around the world, which gives way to tons of options when it comes to dealing with its scenarios.

Aliens are on their way to Fortnite–that much we know for sure now. But before they really show up in a big way for next season, another Foreshadowing Quest this week asks you to place warning signs at crop circle. This is the fourth of five Foreshadowing Quests that players can complete ahead of next week’s new season, and note that at time of publishing this challenge isn’t yet live, but it’s expected to go live very soon. If you find yourself looking for this mysterious patterns where corn used to be, don’t fret. Here’s where you can place warning signs at the crop circle in Fortnite.

Fortnite Crop Circle Location

According to dataminers, there’s just going to be the one hexagonal crop circle on the island–this season, anyway. Fortnite Season 7 is right around the corner. That means you’ll just want to head to its location inside Colossal Crops and look for the warning sign interaction prompts scattered around the named location. This is a mission for Farmer Steel, who is very upset with the “pranksters” or “aliens” he believes to be behind the disappearance of some of his crops.

Colossal Crops is named on the map, so it should be easy to drop into. Once you’re there, you’ll be hard-pressed to miss the massive grain-based art project some higher beings seem to have left behind for reasons unknown. Just in case you missed it–or just want to see what it looks like in-game, here it is.

Curiously, the hexagonal pattern of the crop formation seems reminiscent of the Season 6 map, which features six mini-Spires forming a hexagonal perimeter around the central, grander Spire which currently houses The Foundation, albeit rather unwillingly. In real-life alien mythology, some who believe crop circles are signs of extraterrestrials say these formations are used as navigation, like helicopter landing pads perhaps. Without a doubt, UFOs are soon to land on the Fortnite island–though I suppose by then they’ll very much be identified. What these aliens’ motivations are remains unknown, but it’s clear Fortnite Season 7 is about to produce another massive makeover for the game’s map.

Today’s update means all five Foreshadowing Quests are now live in the game, so get in there and finish them off before the new season begins on June 8. You can also check out the incoming Week 12 challenges.