Category: Games

After bursting onto the scene in July 2015 and having a free demo for a few years, Lab Zero Games’ Indivisible has finally nailed down a release date for this year. The forthcoming action-RPG/platformer hybrid is set to launch on October 8 for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.

Along with the release date announcement came a new trailer that highlights Indivisible’s hand-drawn and animated art style as the trailer jumps between gorgeously-rendered cutscenes and vibrant gameplay environments. Despite the rest of the consoles getting definitive release dates, the Nintendo Switch version is said to be “coming soon.” Check out the announcement trailer below.

Indivisible is available to pre-order now on PC, with console pre-orders “coming soon.” Pre-ordering on Steam nets you the “Follow me, Roti!” bonus, allowing the protagonist’s pet tapir, Roti, to follow you around during your treacherous adventure to challenge the darkness and harness the cosmos. You’ll also receive character skins based on popular Valve games like Half-Life, Portal and Team Fortress 2. Lastly, pre-ordering Indivisible on Steam gives you a Portal Companion Cube.

Developed by Skullgirls creator Lab Zero Games (the core team from the now-defunct Reverge Labs), Indivisible follows Ajna as her life becomes chaotic when her home is attacked and a mysterious power awakens within her. After checking out a hands-on demo of Indivisible earlier this year, we said, “What we’ve seen already is a promising start, blending genres in a new way that makes the marriage of fighting and RPG elements feel natural.”

4. Freaky Stories

Nintendo has revealed the next batch of NES titles coming to the Nintendo Switch Online service. This month adds another pair of legacy games to the system’s slowly expanding NES library, one of which has never been officially re-released before.

August’s free NES titles are the co-op beat-’em-up Kung-Fu Heroes and the action game Vice: Project Doom. The latter is particularly notable, as it hasn’t appeared on any other console since it first released on NES in 1991, making this its first official port in nearly 30 years. You can see a trailer for the games below.

Both titles will join the service on August 21, bringing the system’s NES software count up to 48. Nintendo adds a handful of classic titles to the NES library each month; July brought Donkey Kong 3 and Wrecking Crew (as well as a helpful rewind feature), while June’s additions included Double Dragon II and City Connection.

The NES library is one of the perks included in the Nintendo Switch Online service. Subscriptions run for US $4 / £3.49 / AU $6 for one month, US $8 / £7 / AU $12 for three months, and US $20 / £18 / AU $30 for one year. Nintendo also offers an annual Family Membership, which costs US $35 / £31.49 / AU $55 and covers up to eight Nintendo Accounts, even on different Switch systems.

In addition to the free NES games, Nintendo Switch Online subscribers can now pick up a freebie for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Nintendo is also holding a free trial period for Mario Tennis Aces. NSO members can play the sports game at no charge until August 13. The game will also be on sale in the Eshop until August 20, and any progress you make during the free period will carry over to the full title.

Following the multiple mass shootings that occurred over the August 3 weekend, well-established sports channel ESPN has pulled an upcoming Apex Legends tournament from its time slot. According to an email sent out by ABC, the EXP Invitational Apex Legends at X Games tournament will no longer broadcast on the television network.

Esports journalist Rod Breslau broke the news on Twitter, saying the tournament “that was scheduled for this weekend” has been pulled. The EXP Invinitational Apex Legends at X Games was originally scheduled to air on Sunday, August 11 from 3-4 PM PT / 4-5 PM ET, but will now be replaced by E:60 – Forever Broncos. ABC wrote that the decision was made “out of respect for the victims and all those impacted by the recent shootings.” Breslau reported that the tournament will air at a later date and confirmed that it can be viewed on ESPN’s esports YouTube channel.

ESPN2 will air the tournament “on three nights in October,” according to Bloomberg’s unidentified source familiar with the matter. Though no longer airing across its television networks–including ABC and ESPNews–Bloomberg reports that the tournament will still stream this weekend on ESPN’s digital channels and the ESPN app.

Earlier this week, President Donald Trump said “the gruesome and grisly video games that are now commonplace” are why mass shootings are becoming normalized. Take-Two Interactive’s CEO responded, calling the President’s comments “disrespectful and irresponsible.” The Entertainment Software Association (the organization behind E3) refuted the President’s statement, saying “numerous scientific studies have established that there is no causal connection between video games and violence.”

The voice chat app Discord is adding a new feature soon, which will allow streaming in a limited capacity. The Go Live feature will let you share your gameplay with up to 10 friends over the voice channel. The new feature is set to launch on August 15.

Go Live will let you broadcast on PC with low latency for a more social experience. Nitro subscribers will get some extra features too. Nitro Classic users will be able to stream up to 1080p and 60 FPS, and Nitro users can stream in 4K at 60 FPS. Nitro is a subscription service for PC games, offering a curated library for $10 per month.

Though the limited viewership means Discord’s feature isn’t exactly a match for streaming services like YouTube, Twitch, and Mixer that allow you to cultivate large audiences, the limitation appears aimed at making smaller social experiences among groups of friends.

Last year, Discord also announced plans to undercut Epic’s revenue sharing model by offering devs 90% of revenue on sales through its store. Epic has already been providing competition with Steam by offering an 88/12 split as opposed to Steam’s 70/30, so Discord’s would provide further competition in the market. Discord hasn’t made further announcements regarding these plans since then, however.

Last week saw a banner visit by Destiny 2‘s Xur. The weekend vendor who supplies players with Exotic weapons and armor hasn’t offered anything new in a long time, but the armor it offers comes with random perks–and last week, Xur offered an awesome Exotic helmet for Titans. The rolls aren’t as good this week, but there are a few things on-hand that might help you knock out the requirements to earn your Majestic Solstice armor.

Check out the video above to see where you can find Xur and what he’s selling. He’s got a particularly useful version of Shards of Galanor that packs a couple of useful perks that make it worth picking up. You’ll find a few other useful items for gathering orbs during the Solstice of Heroes, as well.

Bungie laid out this week exactly when it’ll be adding cross save to the game. That capability will allow players to transfer characters between PC, Xbox One, and PS4, to play on any of them. We also know when to expect the game to move from Battle.net to Steam on PC–which makes this a great chance to get new stuff from Xur ahead of the moves.

The Xbox One S may not be able to deliver 4K gaming, but it is able to take advantage of 4K displays with its 4K Blu-Ray player. If this interests you, then Best Buy’s latest bundle deal might be a good option.

Right now, Best Buy is offering a discounted Xbox One S and 4K TV bundle. That’s a Toshiba 43-inch 4K TV with HDR, an Xbox One S bundle, and a complimentary copy of Madden NFL 20 for $130 off. The final total is $500 USD at check-out, down from $630. As for the Xbox One S bundles, you have a few to choose from. You can see a list below. Unfortunately, these are a part of the deal as long as supplies last, and at the time of writing this story, the Battle Royale Special Edition was sold out.

See it at Best Buy

However, if 4K gaming is what you’re looking for, then Best Buy has a deal for the Xbox One X as well. If you add a Battlefield 5 Xbox One X bundle or an NBA 2K19 Xbox One X bundle to your cart, then an extra controller and copy of Halo 5: Guardians will be added automatically, completely free of charge.

In addition to these bundled deals, Best Buy is currently discounting select Xbox One controllers by $10 to $16, depending on the pad. You can check out the Xbox One controller deal here, but you will need to add them to your cart before the exact discount is revealed.

Though Annapurna Interactive has a bevy of award-winning games under its belt, including Donut County, Florence, Gorogoa, and What Remains of Edith Finch, the publisher’s parent company seems to be in a financial bind, The Hollywood Reporter reports. Annapurna Pictures, the film production company best known for popular hits like 2013’s Her (starring Joaquin Phoenix) and 2014’s Foxcatcher (starring Steve Carell), has retained a law firm to explore bankruptcy protection.

According to THR’s report, Annapurna Pictures could “no longer sustain the [bleeding of money]” from lackluster box office performers like 2016’s black comedy thriller The Bad Batch (starring Keanu Reeves), 2017’s crime drama Detroit (starring John Boyega), 2019’s animated adventure Missing Link (starring Hugh Jackman), and more. An Annapurna spokesperson told THR that the company “is in negotiations to restructure [its] deals with the banks [but] are dedicated to Annapurna’s future.”

The company, founded in 2011 by the daughter of Oracle Corporation’s co-founder Larry Ellison, has several arms under its umbrella, including prolific indie publisher Annapurna Interactive. Company founder Megan Ellison, following THR’s report, sent a note to her staff, saying, “Restructuring deals with financial institutions is not uncommon, [but] the truth is that we [Annapurna Pictures] are well on our continued path toward success.” She said that giving a “sense of security” is paramount to her and the company as a whole. “I believe in what we make and have no intention of stopping any time soon,” Megan wrote. “We have a lot of exciting things on the horizon and I have no doubt all of our hard work will continue to show Annapurna’s unique and powerful place in this industry.”

As Gamasutra notes, It’s unclear how the company’s “restructuring” will affect Annapurna Interactive. There’s also no clarification on how well the publisher’s games have been doing as of late.

Annapurna Interactive recently announced its haunting adventure title Twelve Minutes on Xbox’s stage during E3 2019. The studio’s latest publishing credits, Outer Wilds, launched on PC and Xbox One in May 2019. In our Outer Wilds review, we said, “By letting you chart your own course and piece together its mystery at your own pace, Outer Wilds makes each of its expeditions feel incredibly personal and absolutely unmissable.”