Category: Games

Update 2: Fortnite’s 7.10 update will be arriving a little later than originally planned. Epic Games announced that it has delayed the rollout of this week’s patch “due to last minute issues discovered within the build.” It’s unclear if the update is still slated to arrive on December 18, but Epic says it will provide further details on the timing of the update once it has more information.

Update: Epic has delayed Fortnite’s new Driftboard vehicle. While the developer had teased that the snowboard would arrive in the game this week, it has now announced it is postponing the vehicle in order to make further quality-of-life improvements to it.

“We know we set the expectation for the Driftboard to release in the coming update,” Epic wrote on Reddit. “Unfortunately, we’ve decided to hold the release of this new vehicle to make some final quality of life changes and other polish improvements.

“We want to get you out there carving up the slopes as soon as possible. However, our goal is to make sure that your experiences on the Driftboard are up to our expectations. We still have tons of quality of life and balance improvements on the way in v7.10.”

The original story follows.

Like clockwork, a new update is on the way for Fortnite. Developer Epic Games confirmed that this week’s 7.10 patch will roll out for all platforms–PS4, Xbox One, PC, Nintendo Switch, and mobile devices–tomorrow, December 18, and it looks like it’s set to introduce the recently teased snowboard to the title.

According to the official Fortnite Twitter account, the 7.10 update is scheduled to go live at 2 AM PT / 5 AM ET / 10 AM GMT. Among other things, it’ll likely add the Driftboard, a brand-new type of vehicle. As its name implies, the Driftboard is a high-tech snowboard; it holds a single player and allows the rider to boost around the map.

Epic hasn’t detailed what else will arrive with the 7.10 update, but it will presumably also mark the start of a new limited-time mode. Until then, players still have a little more time to jump into the game’s current LTM, Team Rumble, which pits two teams against each other in a race to get 100 eliminations.

This will mark the third update Fortnite has received since the start of Season 7 earlier this month. Last week’s update, v7.01, introduced a new Mythic weapon to the game: the Infinity Blade. Much like Thanos’s Infinity Gauntlet, the Infinity Blade grants its wielder an immense power boost. However, the sword was improperly balanced, and as a result, Epic has vaulted it.

“We messed up and rolled out the Infinity Blade overpowered / without good counters, especially in the end game,” Epic said when it announced its decision to remove the sword. “The Infinity Blade has been Vaulted and we are re-evaluating our approach to Mythic items. Thanks for calling us out on this!”

Meanwhile, the next set of Fortnite’s weekly challenges is slated to arrive later this week, on December 20. If you need help completing any of the current challenges, you can find tips in our Season 7 challenges roundup. Clearing these will level your Battle Pass up and unlock the new Season 7 skins and rewards.

Do you have a Steam account? Do you like free games? If you answered yes to both questions, you should probably head to Steam and grab Geneshift immediately. That’s because this early-access title is free to everyone for a limited time. Between now and December 19, you can get a copy to keep and play forever, which is not a bad deal, considering the normal price is $10.

Geneshift is an online battle royale game that’s inspired by 1999’s top-down crime sim Grand Theft Auto 2. In it, players have two minutes to battle for supremacy on a map filled with vehicles, weapons, and power-ups like invisibility and bouncing bullets. The last person standing wins.

But unlike most battle royale games, you can continue making progress after you die. Death turns you into a zombie, but you’ll respawn if you can kill an enemy. Alternately, you can use your zombified character to seek out loot you’ll be able to use in the next round.

As for why the game is free for a limited time, developer Nik Nak Studios says, “I’m doing this to build a playerbase for our multiplayer community. I also just want to see people play my game–I’ve spent nine years on this thing and I’m really excited to get new players. So spread the word, tell your friends and hop on!”

A “Complete Edition DLC” is also available on Steam. It comes with a single-player campaign, five additional PvP modes, cosmetic items, and more. It’s currently on sale for $7 (down from $10).

Update: Fortnite’s Driftboard has been delayed. Epic had teased that the new snowboard vehicle would arrive in the game as part of this week’s 7.10 update, but the developer has now announced it is holding their release back a little longer in order to further fine-tune them.

“We know we set the expectation for the Driftboard to release in the coming update,” Epic wrote in a post on Reddit. “Unfortunately, we’ve decided to hold the release of this new vehicle to make some final quality of life changes and other polish improvements.

“We want to get you out there carving up the slopes as soon as possible. However, our goal is to make sure that your experiences on the Driftboard are up to our expectations. We still have tons of quality of life and balance improvements on the way in v7.10.”

The original story follows.

Earlier this month, Fortnite developer Epic shared a series of teaser images leading up to the start of Season 7, each of which featured a new element that was being added to the battle royale game. The studio has already introduced the biplane, ziplines, and the Ice King skin at the start of the season, and now the last of the teased items–snowboards–are finally on the way as well.

Fortnite’s in-game News feed is teasing that a new snowboard-like vehicle called the Driftboard is “coming soon,” presumably as part of this week’s update. According to the accompanying description, the Driftboard is a single-rider vehicle that will allow players to “boost past [their] competition.” You can take a look at it below.

The official Fortnite Twitter account also teased the arrival of the new Driftboard, tweeting out a snowboard emoji. Epic hasn’t explicitly confirmed when the vehicle will be available in the game, but Fortnite’s next update–v7.10–is scheduled to roll out for all platforms on December 18, and the wording of the announcement tweet suggests the Driftboard will arrive as part of that patch.

We’re entering Week 3 of Season 7, and already this season has introduced some big changes to Fortnite. Along with the aforementioned ziplines and the biplane vehicle, Epic added a new arctic region to the game’s map. There are also a slew of new skins, emotes, and other new cosmetics to unlock as part of the Season 7 Battle Pass rewards.

Most notably, last week saw the arrival of the Infinity Blade, a new Mythic sword and Fortnite’s first melee weapon. Much like the Infinity Gauntlet from the limited-time Thanos mode earlier this year, only one Infinity Blade would spawn per match and would grant its holder an immense power boost–so much so that it wreaked havoc on the game’s balance. As a result, Epic has since removed the Infinity Blade and said it will be “re-evaluating [its] approach to Mythic items.”

We’ve crossed December’s halfway point, which means Xbox Live Gold subscribers have new games available to download for free. The titles in question are Never Alone for Xbox One and Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction for Xbox (it’s also playable on Xbox 360 and Xbox One thanks to backwards compatibility). You can add them to your account here.

Never Alone is a side-scrolling puzzle platformer about a girl and a fox. Made in partnership with Native Alaskan Iñupiaq elders and storytellers, it includes actual folklore and history from a culture that’s unfamiliar to many. It’s free to download until January 15.

Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction is actually an original Xbox game from 2005, but it’s compatible with both Xbox 360 and Xbox One. You play as a mercenary tasked with bringing down an evil military regime. The game takes place in an open world that’s filled with vehicles and weapons you can use as you go about your various missions. You can add Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction to your account between now and December 31.

Also available until the end of the year for anyone who hasn’t picked it up yet is the first-person puzzle game QUBE 2. Microsoft hasn’t announced January’s Games with Gold yet, but will likely do so by the end of the year.

December 2018 Games with Gold

Xbox One

• QUBE 2 (December 1-31)
• Never Alone (December 16-January 15)
• Race the Sun (November 16-December 15)

Xbox 360

• Dragon Age II (December 1-15)
• Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction (December 16-31)

2. The old gang is back together

Every major actor from the first film is in the sequel, including Chris Pratt as Emmet (and new character Rex Dangervest), Elizabeth Banks as Wyldstyle, and Will Arnett as Batman.

Morgan Freeman, who played Vitruvius, has not been announced for the sequel, but there’s good reason for that if you saw the first film.

Joining them will be Stephanie Beatriz, who voices antagonist Sweet Mayhem, and Tiffany Haddish, who voices antagonist Queen Watevra Wa-Nabi.