Kingdom Two Crowns Is Free To Play On Xbox This Weekend

Microsoft is continuing its Free Play Days event series this weekend. Xbox users who have Xbox Live Gold or are subscribed to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate can try Kingdom Two Crowns for free for the next few days.

Eligible Xbox players can pick up Kingdom Two Crowns starting today. The game will remain free to play through Sunday, April 18. Anyone that wants to keep Kingdom Two Crowns after trying it out during this period will have to purchase it. Thankfully, the game and its DLC are currently heavily discounted. The standard edition of Kingdom Two Crowns is 40% off, bringing its total price down to $11.99. The game’s New Lands DLC is discounted by a whopping 70%, leaving it at $4.49.

To pick up Kingdom Two Crowns for free, you can follow this link to Xbox Store. If you aren’t already, sign in with an account that has either an Xbox Live Gold or Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription. Once you’re logged in, click on the subscriptions tab in the Xbox Store and navigate to the Gold member area where you’ll find the Free Play Days collection.

Kingdom Two Crowns is a strategy game that puts players in control of a crumbling, pixelated kingdom. To build their realm back to glory, players will have to explore the game’s 2D world, discovering monsters, mysteries, and friends alike. If you already have Kingdom Two Crowns and are looking for more content, the game is receiving an update on April 20 titled Never Alone that will introduce new and more difficult challenges.

It’s worth noting that Kingdom Two Crowns is the only game being made available during this weekend’s Free Play Days event. Previous Free Play Days events have featured multiple titles. Last year, one weekend’s Free Play Days event included Yakuza 0, Kingdom Come: Deliverance, and Sonic Mania.

Cyberpunk 2077 Patch Reportedly Contains Unreleased DLC Quest Files

The 1.2 update patch for Cyberpunk 2077 reportedly contains a collection of quest files that seem to point towards some unreleased DLC.

As reported by Eurogamer, a data miner has discovered references to “episode one” quests that appear to largely take part in the Pacifica region of Night City.

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The report describes a variety of quest files and descriptions that have been discovered in the patch 1.2 files, extracted using a modding tool. Within Cyberpunk’s files, main quests are labelled either q00x, q10x, or q20x, which denotes their location in either the prologue, act 1, or epilogue of the game. Within patch 1.2, though, files labelled q301 can be found, which would put these quests beyond the boundaries of Cyberpunk’s original story. They are also labelled “Story-ep1”, suggesting that the (possibly placeholder) name for upcoming quests could be “episode one”. These file names have also been confirmed to IGN by a separate source.

Our source explained that files referencing these additional quests have been present since Cyberpunk 2077’s launch version – v1.03 – but the Eurogamer report reveals that an additional 215 files referencing “ep1” have been added in the 1.2 update. The contents and descriptions for many of these files feature links to Mr. Hands, the NPC Fixer who provides side quests in the Pacifica region of Night City.

While many of the files apparently contain just placeholder text, some include descriptions, objectives, or even email messages between characters. Among the quest details discovered through these files is a storyline in which the player is apparently asked to rescue a character called Anthony Anderson from the Scavengers gang. There are also descriptions and some objectives for quests involving a hostage situation and finding a den of hidden netrunners.

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Eurogamer’s data miner source notes that new Cyberpunk files are normally written in Polish, but their translation into English could point to them being closer to completion.

As well as seemingly being a step towards DLC, Cyberpunk 2077 v1.2 is also a step towards bringing the game back to PlayStation Store, from which it was removed from sale shortly after launch. The update also introduced a host of new bugs, but a 1.21 hotfix has recently been deployed to help counter this.

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Matt Purslow is IGN’s UK News and Entertainment Writer. 

Apple’s Tim Cook, Epic’s Tim Sweeney To Testify During Fortnite Trial In May

The antitrust lawsuit between Epic Games and Apple is getting closer, and the witness lists include two high-profile figures set to take the stand: Epic CEO Tim Sweeney and Apple CEO Tim Cook. Sweeney will testify for almost eight hours while Cook will be examined for approximately two hours.

VGC reports that the two CEOs are expected to testify about very different but broad topics. Sweeney is likely to focus on Epic’s business model and discussions with Apple and Google, as well as its relationship with competitor Samsung. Cook is said to focus on the App Store and its competitors, as well as more broadly about Apple’s corporate values.

The tentative witness list also includes executives from other tech companies including Microsoft, Facebook, and Nvidia. Apple previously attempted to block Epic from publicly calling some witnesses, but that request was denied. The trial is set to begin on May 3, with plans to last about three weeks.

The legal battle began when Epic issued an update to Fortnite that circumvented the App Store’s payment mechanism, effectively cutting out Apple’s 30% cut. Apple responded by pulling Fortnite from the App Store, triggering Epic to respond with a ready-made PR campaign including a movie parodying Apple’s famous 1984 commercial and a “Free Fortnite” social media campaign. In a legal filing issued shortly after, Epic claimed Apple’s store represents a monopoly, and requested permission to sell directly to customers a la Netflix–or even to set up its own competing App Store altogether.

Epic also started a lobbying group with some other developers called the Coalition for App Fairness. It has been pushing for bills in various states that would effectively force Apple and Google to allow developers to set up their own payment systems. One such bill recently stalled in the Arizona state senate. Apple, meanwhile, appears to have internal documentation from Epic regarding its PR campaign–which it says was called “Project Liberty”–and that the effort was intended to boost interest in Fortnite.

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Life Is Strange: True Colors Gets Free Comic Book Prequel In August

A free issue of the ongoing Life is Strange comic series, Partners in Time, will be released on August 14, the game’s official Twitter account has revealed. The issue will be published by Titan Comics as a part of Free Comic Book Day 2021–an event created to encourage purchasing comics locally–and contains not only the next chapter of the Partners in Time series, but a prequel to the next entry in the game series, Life is Strange: True Colors. According to the tweet, the issue will be divided into two stories: one centering around Life is Strange veterans Max Caulfield and Chloe Price, and another following the series’ new protagonist, Alex Chen.

The first story is the next chapter in the ongoing Partners in Time series, which follows the aftermath of Life is Strange assuming players selected the game’s “bad” ending and saved Chloe at the expense of Arcadia Bay. Additionally, the story features another returning character, Life is Strange: Before the Storm’s Steph Gringrich, who is confirmed to be in the upcoming True Color game and could indicate the story will bridge the time gap between the events of the first game and the upcoming title.

The second half of the comic provides readers with a first look at the town of Haven Springs and Alex Chen, the telepathic protagonist of Life is Strange: True Colors. The comic is said to cover the events leading up to the game, which is set to release in its entirety–a first for the Life is Strange series–on September 10.

Announced last month, Life is Strange: True Colors is the fifth entry in the Life is Strange series, and the second developed by Deck Nine Games rather than Dontnod Entertainment. Just like in the series’ previous installments, True Colors follows a protagonist with superhuman abilities who uses them to deliver a heartfelt story. For Alex Chen, it’s her power of Empathy, which allows her to experience the emotions of others. While this power is a great tool for understanding the motives and emotions of those around her, this unnatural gift can prove overwhelming for Alex–especially while trying to manage her own grief.

Life is Strange: True Colors is available for preorder now, with the Life is Strange: Remastered Collection included with the Ultimate Edition of the game.

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Solar Opposites Season 2 Trailer Features A Lot Of People Dying Near Cereal

Solar Opposites Season 2 is now available to watch on Hulu and the latest trailer for the show is exceptionally bizarre. While Justin Roiland’s Rick and Morty is about humans traveling to other planets and dimensions, Solar Opposites is about aliens coming here and having to navigate our special human brand of weirdness. While that’s going on, though, the alien known as Yumyulack has a side hobby that involves miniaturizing random people and adding them to his terrarium.

Normally, we’d embed the trailer, but its “Age Restricted” status means you’ll have to click that link above to go view it. While Korvo, Yumyulack, and crew are out in the real world, all of Yumyulack’s hand-picked denizens are eking out an existence in his very own Kandor. Cherie (Christina Hendricks) has her own religion and the Duke (Alfred Molina) is working to maintain control. Meanwhile, Halk (Sterling K. Brown), war hero and former Bones executive producer, finds himself called to action to solve a series of murders.

Solar Opposites is a weird show.

If you’re not watching it, what are you even doing? All of Solar Opposites Season 2 is available right now on Hulu. Roiland co-created the show with former Rick and Morty writer Mike McMahan (who subsequently created Star Trek: Lower Decks). The primary cast features Justin Roiland (Korvo), Thomas Middleditch (Terry), Sean Giambrone (Yumyulack), and Mary Mack (Jesse). Solar Opposites initially received a two-season order, but Hulu greenlit a third season back in June, so you have a lot more to look forward to.

Amazon Prime Now Has 200 Million Subscribers Worldwide

Amazon Prime now has more than 200 million subscribers. As reported by The Hollywood Reporter, the figure was revealed by outgoing CEO Jeff Bezos in a letter to shareholders.

Bezos is about to become the company’s chairman later in the year and is handing CEO duties over to Andy Jassy. In his final letter to shareholders in the company, Bezos revealed the huge subscriber number, which puts it only slightly behind Netflix. In January this year, it was reported that Netflix had increased its subscriber base to 203.66 million in 2020. However, it’s worth remembering that access to Amazon Prime Video is included in a standard Prime subscription, so not every Prime member necessarily watches the video streaming platform.

In his letter, Bezos praised Jassy, who will move from running Amazon Web Services. “Andy is brilliant and has the highest of high standards,” he said. “I guarantee you that Andy won’t let the universe make us typical. He will muster the energy needed to keep alive in us what makes us special. That won’t be easy, but it is critical. I also predict it will be satisfying and oftentimes fun.”

While Netflix and Amazon clearly lead the streaming pack, they are facing increased competition from other platforms. In March, it was reported that total streaming subscriptions had exceeded one billion worldwide. Disney+ now has more than a million subscribers, while the combined number of HBO Max and HBO subscribers exceeds 61 million worldwide. NBCUniveral’s Peacock has also racked up 33 million sign-ups since it launched in May last year, although the cost of securing content means that it lost $914 million in 2020.

For more, check out GameSpot’s guide to the biggest movies and shows hitting Amazon Prime Video in April.

James Bond Director’s New Movie Memory With Liam Neeson Assembles A Cast Of Big Names

The new action movie Memory from James Bond director Martin Campbell (GoldenEye, Casino Royale) will feature some big names. It’s been confirmed by Collider that joining the previously announced star, Liam Neeson, will be Guy Pearce (Memento), Monica Bellucci (Spectre), and Harold Torres (ZeroZeroZero).

Neeson stars in the movie as Alex Lewis, who is described as an “expert assassin with a reputation for discreet precision.” That is familiar territory for Neeson, who played a similar-sounding character in the Taken series.

Monica Belluci in a scene from Spectre
Monica Belluci in a scene from Spectre

Lewis refuses to take a job for a crime organization and then finds himself as the target of a hit, so he must go on the offensive and hunt down his assailants. The twist is that Lewis has memory loss, which complicates his mission at every turn.

Pearce and Taj Atwal (Line of Duty) are set to play FBI agents who track the fallout from Lewis’ actions, while Torres plays the Mexican intelligence officer Hugo Marquez. Bellucci plays a “local tech mogul,” according to the report.

Memory is based on the book De Zaak Alzheimer from Jef Geeraerts and the Belgian movie The Memory of a Killer, adapted for the screen by Dario Scardapane (The Bridge). The movie is currently filming in Bulgaria, but a release date has not been set for the film at this point.

Pokemon Go Holding A New Pokemon Snap Event Starting April 29

To celebrate the launch of New Pokemon Snap, Pokemon Go is holding an event based on the upcoming Switch spin-off later this month. The event kicks off on April 29 and features various Pokemon inspired by the environments of the Lental region, New Pokemon Snap’s setting.

Throughout the event, Lotad, Cacnea, Ducklett, and other Pokemon that you’d find in deserts, jungles, and underwater will appear in the wild more frequently than normal. Smeargle will also be appearing more frequently when you take snapshots, and you’ll have your first chance to catch a Shiny Smeargle in the game during the event.

In addition to the increased wild Pokemon spawns, Vaporeon, Meganium, Trapinch, and other monsters will appear in Raids. There will also be event-exclusive Timed and Field Research tasks to complete. These, fittingly, will be focused around taking snapshots.

Finally, Niantic says it will be adding a new camera avatar item and camera-themed gift sticker to Pokemon Go’s in-game shop. The Pokemon Snap event runs until 8 PM local time on May 2. You can read more details about the event on the official Pokemon Go blog.

New Pokemon Snap itself launches for Nintendo Switch on April 30. Like its N64 predecessor, it’s an on-rails game about photographing Pokemon in their natural habitats. You can read more about the title in our New Pokemon Snap preorder guide.

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Toxic Avenger Reboot Adds Jacob Tremblay

Development on Legendary’s Toxic Avenger reboot continues. Actor Peter Dinklage is already set to play the titular Avenger, and now Jacob Tremblay will join him according to Deadline.

The original 1984 film, produced by Troma Entertainment and co-directed by founders Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz, sports Troma’s trademark low-budget visual effects and grotesque imagery. It tells the story of a man named Melvin who, after being pushed into a vat of toxic waste, transforms into a mutant. He has to save his family and town from organized crime and corrupt officials.

Deadline did not specify Tremblay’s role, but it seems likely that the actor will play Melvin/Toxie’s son. Tremblay is best known for his breakout role starring in Room alongside Brie Larson, as well as his role in Wonder, about a child living with Treacher Collins Syndrome.

Toxic Avenger didn’t get much traction during its initial release, but New York’s midnight cinema scene gave it new life, and Toxie appeared in multiple sequels, a children’s cartoon and toys, and video games on NES, Nintendo Game Boy, and the Sega Genesis. Legendary acquired the license in 2018. Alongside Dinklage and Tremblay, Macon Blair is set to direct, while original co-directors Kaufman and Herz are producing the film.

Legendary has not yet set a release date for Toxic Avenger.

Image credit: Getty Images/Rodin Eckenroth