Category: Games

In terms of Batman villains, Ra’s Al Ghul may not be as famous as someone like The Joker, but he’s definitely no slouch. One of the few enemies to ever learn Bruce Wayne’s identity, Ra’s has been a near constant threat for decades, always toeing the precarious line between full-blown supervillain and deadly rival–a dynamic that makes him the perfect candidate for a featured role in DC’s Year of The Villain event, which showcases some of the world’s most iconic evildoers in a brand new light.

Batman Vs. Ra’s Al Ghul #1, courtesy of DC Comics

Starting this August, Ra’s will star in a new six-issue miniseries written and drawn by his co-creator, comics legend Neal Adams. The story will focus on a Gotham City under siege by terrorists with Ra’s apparently offering his “help” to the officers of the GCPD. Additionally, a mystery uncovered by Boston Brand, otherwise known as Deadman, leads Bruce straight into the sights of the Demon’s Head himself.

To help celebrate the launch of the mini-series, DC will also be re-releasing a “facsimile edition” of Batman #232, which will reprint Ra’s now-iconic first appearance in “The Daughter Of The Demon” in its original format.

Both Batman Vs. Ra’s Al Ghul #1 and the Batman #232 facsimile edition hit shelves August 21.

The Division 2‘s Title Update 3 is now live on PS4, Xbox One, and PC. Not only has the patch brought new features, apparel, and other tweaks to the loot shooter, it’ll kick off the game’s first Raid, Operation Dark Hours, tomorrow, May 16. However, it appears you’ll need to manually squad up with other players if you’re hoping to tackle it.

During the latest State of the Game stream, Ubisoft confirmed that the Operation Dark Hours Raid will not feature matchmaking, contrary to what it has said in the past. Community developer Hamish Bode read a prepared statement about the topic: “We decided to not include matchmaking, as we don’t think this would make a good gameplay experience for random groups. The Raid will test your ability to communicate well, have a good build set up, and will require great teamwork to beat encounters.”

The publisher shared additional details about how Raid groups are formed on the official Division 2 website. The overall eight-player team is comprised of two traditional four-player parties. Moreover, the player who creates the Raid group will be the leader, which means that player is the only one who can initiate the Raid. You don’t need to have a full eight-player team to begin the Raid, but Ubisoft notes the challenge will not scale to your team’s size. All players will also need to be at least level 30 and have reached World Tier 5 to participate.

Operation Dark Hours goes live at 9 AM PT / 12 PM ET / 5 PM BST. The first team to complete the Raid will earn a special reward: their team photo and names will be displayed in The Division 2’s White House. Those who complete the Raid by May 23 will receive a commemorative Arm Patch, while everyone who clears it after that date will earn a clan banner icon and a trophy in their clan space.

In addition to Operation Dark Hours, Title Update 3 has added two new Classified Assignment missions for Year 1 Pass owner. It also introduced an assortment of new outfits, masks, emotes, weapon skins, and more to the game. You can find the full Title Update 3 patch notes on the Division 2 website.

The third Guardians of the Galaxy movie isn’t coming out anytime soon. It doesn’t even have a release date. However, we know for sure that writer/director James Gunn is back on board after being fired and rehired by Disney’s Marvel Studios. Before he heads back to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, though, Gunn is making The Suicide Squad for DC Entertainment.

Still, that doesn’t mean he’s not thinking about what’s to come of the Guardians. In an interview with Deadline that explores his firing, Gunn shares what sounds like the aspect of Guardians Vol. 3 he’s most excited about, and that’s Rocket’s (Bradley Cooper) story.

“I relate to Rocket and I feel compassion for Rocket, but I also feel like his story has not been completed,” he explained. “He has an arc that started in the first movie, continued into the second and goes through Infinity War and Endgame, and then I was set to really finish that arc in Guardians 3. That was a big loss to me—not being able to finish that story—-though I was comforted by the fact that they were still planning to use my script.”

While the Guardians movies–and much of their roles in the larger MCU–have been among the most comedic moments in the franchise, these characters also haven’t shied away from telling serious and sometimes heartbreaking stories. Whether it’s Gamora’s (Zoe Saldana) relationship with her father and sister, or Drax (Dave Bautista) mourning the deaths of his family at the hands of Thanos (Josh Brolin), there’s plenty to feel for in those movies. And while Rocket is, perhaps, the funniest piece of the puzzle, his story has also been a harrowing one.

Beginning with his genetic enhancement, which is called being “torn apart and put back together over and over again and turned into some little monster,” the character has been a tragic one. And his relationship with Groot (Vin Diesel) makes him an incredibly sympathetic figure.

While Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) losing Peter Parker (Tom Holland) in Avengers: Infinity War was seen as the movie’s most emotional moment, Rocket watching Groot turn to dust and blow away, at which he offered a mortified “No…” is heart-wrenching.

Given that Gunn wrote the script for Vol. 3 before he was fired, he’s clearly known where Rocket would end up for some time. Now it’ll be interesting to see what resolution looks like for a character that has been put through so much.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 does not have a release date. However, there is a slew of Marvel dates on the upcoming Disney slate of films.

Ubisoft has released a new trailer for one of its two new Operators coming to Rainbow Six Siege in Operation Phantom Sight. The new trailer (which can be watched above) showcases Danish Jægerkorpset Operator Nøkk and teases her unique gadget ability.

The trailer begins with identifying Nøkk as an Attacker before cutting to an underground location. Though the video occasionally glitches out, the shimmering outline of a person can be seen. It appears as if Nøkk has some form of cloaking technology, which makes her nearly invisible save for a Predator-like outline. Later on in the video, Nøkk stops moving and completely disappears, which may imply that she can go fully invisible while going prone or remaining motionless. The trailer ends with a close-up of Nøkk, but her hood shrouds her face from view.

In a blog post, Ubisoft revealed additional details surrounding Nøkk and announced Operation Phantom Sight’s full reveal will occur May 19, during the Pro League Finals in Milan (which takes place May 18-19). “[Nøkk’s] gadget is just the icing on the cake for an already dangerous operative,” the post reads. “The HEL, which she worked on to improve with specialist Grace ‘Dokkaebi’ Nam, makes Nøkk nothing short of a ghost, and leaves her opponents looking over their shoulders.”

Ubisoft first teased Operation Phantom Sight’s new Operators with a tweet (seen below) that showcased one sneaking up on the other. We now know the one doing the sneaking is Nøkk, and the yellow glow in her hand is her HEL gadget. The image of the two Operators is structured like a yin-yang symbol, with Nøkk shrouded in darkness and the other Operator looking towards the light. So perhaps, just as Nøkk is someone who uses her glowing yellow gadget to hide in the shadows, the other Operator use his glowing blue gadget to bring attention to–illuminate, if you will–the position of Operators geared towards stealth.

In Rainbow Six Siege’s latest update, Ubisoft reversed the effects of friendly fire. The hope is that the update curbs the game’s team-killing problem. Thanks to the update, shooting an ally will now cause all the damage you deal to be inflicted on yourself. The effects aren’t immediate, so accidentally shooting a teammate won’t net you any punishment. However, continuing to shoot a teammate will cause the reverse friendly fire to take effect. The update affects all primary and secondary weapons, as well as direct hits from most unique Operator weapons and gadgets. Explosives are affected too, although there are several exceptions. It’s not the final version of the system, according to Ubisoft, and patches are already planned for the next season as part of Ubisoft’s new policy to push out game updates more regularly.

Rainbow Six: Siege is available for Xbox One, PS4, and PC.

The battle between the Epic Store and Steam continues to grow hotter, with a plethora of developers choosing the former over the latter because of the 88/12% revenue split and exclusivity deals with Epic. While enticing to some, Terraria developer Re-Logic has vowed not to make its games Epic Store exclusives.

According to a tweet by Re-Logic’s vice president Whitney Spinks, nothing the indie studio develops will ever be exclusive to the Epic Store. Spinks goes so far as to say the studio won’t “sell our souls” but is sympathetic to those who opt for the guaranteed cash from an exclusivity deal. Whether this

Spinks was responding to concerns from Terraria players about the studio making an appearance at the PC Gaming Show at this year’s E3, which is scheduled for Monday, June 10 at 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET. Because the Epic Store is involved with the PC Gaming Show, fans thought either Terraria or whatever Re-Logic is working on next may get the Epic Store exclusivity treatment. Spinks has otherwise dispelled this by saying, “There is no amount of money we could be offered to sell our souls.”

This news is in stark contrast to the multitude of games skipping Steam. Big titles, such as Detroit: Become Human (as well as other Quantic Dream games Beyond: Two Souls and Heavy Rain) and Metro Exodus, have chosen to forgo Steam for the Epic Store. Ubisoft’s recently-released The Division 2 and newly-announced Ghost Recon Breakpoint are opting for Epic Store exclusivity. Even Mike Bithell, developer of Thomas Was Alone and Volume, is placing John Wick Hex on the Epic Store exclusively.

Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney said that if Steam changes its revenue shares, the Epic Store will alter its exclusivity policy. “If Steam committed to a permanent 88% revenue share for all developers and publishers without major strings attached,” he said, “Epic would hastily organize a retreat from exclusives (while honoring our partner commitments) and consider putting our own games on Steam.”

While Apex Legends is free-to-play for all PS4 owners, including those without PlayStation Plus, those who are subscribed to Sony’s premium membership program can get additional perks at no cost. A new Apex Legends Play Pack is available now in the PlayStation Store, and it’s exclusive to PS Plus members.

The newest Play Pack includes new customizations for Lifeline and Mirage, namely two characters skins and two banners. It also comes with two weapon skins for the Eva-8 and R-99. To claim the Play Pack bonuses on PS4, just go to the Apex Legends store page, click into the Add-Ons section, and add the Play Pack to your cart. You can “complete the purchase” for free, and afterward, you’ll be able to find the new skins and banners when customizing your Legend.

Get the free Apex Legends PlayStation Plus Play Pack »

Apex Legends released just over three months ago and quickly climbed to 50 million players, a huge milestone for the free-to-play battle royale game. EA recently confirmed Apex Legends is coming to mobile, and more info about future plans for Apex will be unveiled during EA’s pre-E3 show in June, including the upcoming Season 2 Battle Pass.

And speaking of free things, be sure to check out May’s PS Plus free PS4 games, which subscribers can download and keep as long as they claim the titles this month.

The next WWE PPV is days away. Money in the Bank is coming on Sunday, May 19. The MITB match card is stacked, featuring numerous title defenses and two eight-superstar ladder matches where the winner receives a title match contract. There are numerous ways to watch this event, and we’re breaking them down for you.

This year’s event takes place at the XL Center in Hartford, Connecticut, and the main card begins at 4 PM PT / 7 PM ET / 12 AM BST (May 20) / 9 AM AET (May 20), with a Kickoff Show starting one hour prior on WWE’s YouTube page. Normally, there is at least one match on pre-show, so you’ll probably want to watch.

There are two ways to watch. The first is the traditional route, ordering the event through your local cable or satellite provider. This is the pricier way to go. DirectTV has the event listed at $55, and other providers will be around the same price for the PPV. Considering some areas of the United States don’t have access to high-speed internet, this is the only route for them to go.

If you are lucky enough to live in a part of the world with high speed internet, you can watch MITB on the WWE Network. The streaming service costs $10 and gives users access to live events and thousands of hours or content including matches and original programming. However, if you’re new to the service, you can sign up for one month free. You can watch MITB for free, then cancel afterwards if you like, and your total spent to watch this WWE would be zero.

The WWE Network is available a variety of ways. You can use your gaming consoles, streaming devices, your computer, or certain smart TVs to access the service. Check out the full list of ways to watch the WWE Network below, but keep in mind you will have to download a WWE app to your device to access the service.

Consoles:

• PlayStation 3
• PlayStation 4
• Xbox 360
• Xbox One

Compatible Devices:

• Mobile Devices
• Amazon Kindle Fire
• Android Devices
• Apple iPhones & iPads
• Computers ‐ PC & Mac
• Windows 10 Devices

Smart TVs:

• LG Smart TV
• Panasonic Life+Screen Smart TV
• Samsung Smart TV
• Sony Internet-Connected TV

Streaming Devices:

• Amazon Fire TV
• Apple TV
• Google Chromecast
• Roku
• Samsung Blu-ray Player
• Sony Blu-ray Player
• TiVo

Make sure to come back to GameSpot on May 19 for live coverage and a review of the show. For more on MITB, check out our predictions for the event, 13 Facts About The Match, and Every Money In The Bank Winner.

The long-awaited conclusion to Game of Thrones is just a few days away. Season 8, Episode 6 premieres this Sunday, May 19, marking the end of both this abbreviated season and the show overall. Following the preview trailer that debuted right after Episode 5, HBO has now released photos from the next episode–but they’re a bit different than usual. Spoilers ahead.

HBO is usually quite reticent to spoil the upcoming episode with its previews; these aren’t exactly modern movie trailers giving away major story beats and moments. The brief Episode 6 teaser kept the specifics to a real minimum, and now the preview photos are doing the same. They don’t give away anything that wasn’t already in the trailer, and just as notably, HBO has only shared a mere two images, which is far less than we typically see. Clearly, the network wants whatever is coming to be a surprise (although this does nothing to deal with the possibility of leaks, which have been a problem all season long).

The first of the two photos features Tyrion, who can be seen standing amongst the rubble in King’s Landing. He doesn’t look particularly pleased, just as you’d expect; he put his support behind Daenerys and believed in her, and he even put his life at risk to free Jaime in the hopes of preventing a massacre of innocents in the city. Dany opted to go Mad Queen instead, and now Tyrion is faced with having to live with this reality that Varys tried to stop.

The second photo matches up with a shot from the preview trailer. Dany, standing victorious on the edges of the burning city, faces away from us with her back to the camera as her army stands in formation all around her. If there was any question about how many troops she had remaining after Episode 3’s battle, it looks like she’s doing just fine in that regard.

Her troops appear to be in full support of her, and we know from the preview trailer that the Dothraki in particular seem pleased with the outcome of the battle. But we still haven’t seen Dany’s face in Episode 6, or really, since she made her fateful decision to destroy the city. Seeing if she has any remorse will have to wait for this Sunday, though it’s too late to undo her actions. Queen of the Ashes might be the best she can hope for at this point.

In the meantime, we have Episode 6 theories about where things in the finale and an Episode 5 breakdown. But with the way things have already played out, we know Game of Thrones exists in its darkest timeline.

Ubisoft is planning to increase the pace of its content updates for its upcoming slate of games. Asked if content drops are rapid enough to compete with Fortnite during an investor Q&A, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot said the company is ramping up its efforts. He specifically named Rainbow Six Siege and the upcoming Ghost Recon Breakpoint as examples, but signaled this is a broader strategy going forward.

“It is something we have been working on in the last 24 months. Our teams are getting organized to come more regularly with content and lots of our games are going to come with drops of content and events on a more regular basis,” Guillemot said. “Rainbow Six is increasing its content drop speed a lot already and you will see that this year. Ghost Recon Breakpoint will see content drops on a regular basis because they will also have the PVP, the co-op, and the campaign.

“So you can expect all the products, and not only Rainbow Six, having content drops regularly. It’s the new trend now in the industry and those drops are making lots of people come back to the games and also spend money in them.”

Guillemot didn’t go into further detail, but that may be that some of Ubisoft’s release plans are still under wraps. The financial statements and investor call also revealed three more triple-A games are in development, all releasing by March 31, 2020. Those are said to represent a broad range of game types, as Ubisoft said they’re each “unique experiences.” Ubisoft also announced that its pirate ship combat game, Skull and Bones, is delayed past the March of 2020 and won’t be shown at E3.

Rainbow Six Siege is known for making a dramatic turnaround with live content after a somewhat rocky launch. Ghost Recon Breakpoint appears to be adopting the strategy of regular content updates as well, after Wildlands continued introducing special episodes long after launch. Even single-player games like Assassin’s Creed Odyssey have become notable for their wealth of post-launch content.

Ubisoft has been shifting towards a live game model for some time, and Guillemot’s comments didn’t necessarily commit to updating with the frequency of Fortnite. The studio behind Apex Legends, a battle royale competitor with Fortnite, has explicitly stated it isn’t aiming for weekly content drops to maintain a healthy studio culture. It isn’t clear exactly how frequent Ubisoft intends to update its games, but it will be some degree more than the current pace of Siege.