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The studio behind Call of Duty Mobile and the upcoming Pokemon Unite are staffing up for a new AAA game with big ambitions. The game from Tencent’s TiMi studio is said to be planned to scale across PC, consoles, and mobile devices.

Niko senior analyst Daniel Ahmad posted about the hiring news on Twitter, saying the new game will use Unreal Engine 5. This appears to be a big push for Tencent to expand into the PC and console space, after making its name on successful mobile games. There’s no word what this new game may be, though Ahmad also noted this appears to be more of a shooter than Tencent’s other recent cross-platform success, Genshin Impact.

Call of Duty Mobile has been a boon for Activision, helping the Call of Duty franchise achieve its biggest financial success in 2020. That game successfully translated the basic mechanics of a Call of Duty shooter onto mobile screens.

Pokemon Unite is an upcoming Pokemon MOBA which pits teams of Pokemon against each other for territory control. It’s planned for release on mobile devices and Nintendo Switch.

PlayStation Studios has provided new details on the stadium-creator mode for MLB The Show 21. Exclusive to the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S editions of the baseball game, the stadium-creator is exactly what it sounds like.

Using a catalog of more than 1,000 unique pieces, players can create whatever kind of baseball stadium they want, and it’s not limited to reality. As the video below shows, you can create a stadium with fantastical elements like floating structures in the sky.

You can also create a wonky and weird stadium where the outfield walls don’t line up in any predictable way. There seems to be a great variety of options available, including a corn field background so you can create your version of the Field of Dreams.

Whatever you create, the stadiums can be used in the Diamond Dynasty and Franchise modes, and you can share your creations with the community and play stadiums created by other people.

As mentioned, the stadium-creator is only available on next-gen, so those on PS4 and Xbox One will miss out. Another next-gen exclusive feature is 60fps support.

MLB The Show 21 launches on April 20 for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, as well as PS4 and Xbox One, though people who buy a more expensive edition can start playing four days early.

MLB The Show 21 is the first game in the series to be released on Xbox consoles thanks to an expanded agreement between PlayStation Studios and Major League Baseball. A Jackie Robinson edition of the game will be available, and a portion of game sales will go to the Jackie Robinson Foundation.

In other baseball video game news, the first gameplay trailer for RBI Baseball 21 is out now.

Pokemon Go‘s March Community Day is almost here. The event takes place around the world this Saturday, March 6, and features the Normal/Flying Pokemon Fletchling, the first Gen 6 Pokemon to star in one of the game’s Community Days. To get you up to speed on the event, we’ve rounded up everything you need to know about March 2021’s Community Day below, from its start time to what special Community Day move and other bonuses will be available.

March 2021 Featured Pokemon: Fletchling

This month’s featured Pokemon is Fletchling, a Flying-type first introduced in Pokemon X and Y. Throughout the Community Day, Fletchling will appear in the wild more frequently than usual, making this a good opportunity to stock up on Fletchling Candy. You’ll also have an increased chance to encounter a Shiny Fletchling during the event.

March’s Community Day Move: Incinerate

Not only will Fletchling appear more frequently during March’s Community Day, but its final form, Talonflame, will also be able to learn an event-exclusive move. If you can evolve Fletchinder into Talonflame either during the event or up to two hours afterward, it will automatically know the Fire-type attack Incinerate. This applies to any Fletchinder that evolves during the designated window, even if you caught it prior to March’s Community Day.

March’s Community Day Hours

Like previous events, March’s Community Day will run for six hours, from 11 AM to 5 PM local time. That means you’ll have until 7 PM local time to evolve Fletchinder into a Talonflame that knows Incinerate.

Community Day Special Research

As part of March’s Community Day, Niantic will offer a paid Special Research story revolving around the Flying-type called The Bravest Bird. Tickets to gain access to it will cost $1 USD and can be purchased through Pokemon Go’s in-game shop ahead of the event.

Other Community Day Bonuses

In addition to increased Fletchling spawns, a few other in-game bonuses will be active during March’s Community Day. First, you’ll earn triple the usual amount of XP for catching Pokemon throughout the event. On top of that, any Incense that you use will remain active for three hours rather than the usual 60 minutes.

Finally, Niantic will be selling a special Fletchling Community Day bundle in Pokemon Go’s in-game shop. The bundle will cost 1,280 PokeCoins and includes the following items:

• 50 Ultra Balls
• 5 Lucky Eggs
• 1 Poffin
• 1 Elite Fast TM

Developer Arc System Works has dropped a new Guilty Gear Strive trailer that showcases some gameplay for two of the 2D fighter’s latest roster additions: Anji Mito and I-No.

Both characters are iconic to the Guilty Gear franchise, with Anji first appearing in the sequel title Guilty Gear X and I-No showing up as a boss in the follow-up, 2002’s Guilty Gear X2. Neither were playable in the game’s recent beta, so this is the first look at them in action.

The video shows both characters’ movesets. There’s a brief Anji montage before the video switches over to I-No, who pummels opponents with her mint-colored Yamaha-looking guitar.

Guilty Gear Strive was pushed out of its April 9 release date so that Arc System Works could “polish some aspects of the game” like online lobbies and server stability following the beta’s conclusion. The 2D fighter now drops on PC, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5 on June 11.

Respawn has released the full patch notes for the Apex Legends Chaos Theory Collection Event update, which will launch on March 9 alongside the battle royale’s release on Switch. There are a lot of substantial changes in this update.

The really big stuff is displayed in the trailer for the Chaos Theory Collection Event: Caustic’s town takeover is replacing Kings Canyon’s Water Treatment, Heat Shields are being added as a solution for temporarily surviving outside the ring, Bangalore is getting an heirloom, and a new Ring Fury limited-time mode will replace standard Trios and Duos. But there are tons of quality-of-life changes beyond these ones which will have significant impacts on Apex Legends’ in-match meta.

Changes To Characters

This update takes a stab at reworking the defender class, with balance changes for Wattson, Caustic, Gibraltar, and Rampart. The change to Wattson–she now passively regenerates shields, similarly to how Octane regenerates health–is an interesting one. As the smallest defender, Wattson is the only one to take extra damage on account of her Low Profile perk. Assumedly, this update is to address that weakness, stacking on top of the shield regeneration provided by her Intercept Pylon to further solidify her as someone who always bunkers down. She’ll likely now be able to survive just a little bit longer, passively healing between fights as she reestablishes her defenses.

Beyond the defenders, Pathfinder, Horizon, and Revenant will be changed too. The adjustments to Horizon and Revenant are pretty small (she gets a small nerf, he gets a tiny buff) but Pathfinder mains will likely rejoice at his changes. Pathfinder is undergoing the same transformation that Revenant did back in Season 4: he’s losing the Low Profile passive. Both robots are tall, skinny bois, so losing Low Profile just makes them hard-to-shoot targets that don’t take extra damage. This change did wonders for Revenant back in Season 4; it stands to reason the same will apply for Pathfinder here.

Changes To Weapons

This update takes a much needed stab at nerfing some of the weapons that have become far too dominant in recent seasons. Most notably, the Mastiff shotgun’s pellet damage is being decreased from 13 to 11 and the fire rate is being increased from 1.0 to 1.1. So it’s (thankfully) both weaker and slower. “The goal of these changes are to place this weapon’s identity between the fast fire EVA-8 and the heavy hitting Peacekeeper,” Respawn writes in the patch notes. The Hemlock is also getting an increase to its hip fire spread which should decrease the assault rifle’s dominance in close quarters, shifting the gun back to a mid-range option.

Gold weapons are also being changed. All gold assault rifles and LMGs are changing so their default sight is the 2x Bruiser–which is one of the best scopes in the game. It’s a far better option to have than the previous default: the 1x – 2x Variable Holo Sight. On top of that, you’ll now be able to (finally) remove and change the sights for gold weapons and most crate weapons. The Kraber is the one exception–even though pros can use it as a close-range shotgun, it doesn’t mean Respawn wants folks to regularly do so.

Changes To Maps

Mirage Voyage is blasting off again. This fan-favorite landmark used to be on World’s Edge before settling into the crater on Kings Canyon where Skull Town once stood. Its departure makes me a little nervous. Mirage Voyage acted as a major draw, helping to spread squads off the initial drop. Alongside the new landmarks added at the start of Season 8, Mirage Voyage helped make Kings Canyon feel bigger and less crowded. Without it, the map may feel too small again.

Chaos Theory Collection Event Update Patch Notes

Legend Updates

• Caustic
  • Nox Gas Grenade cooldown increased from 2.5 minutes to 3.5 minutes.
  • Nox Gas damages at a flat rate of 5hp per tick instead of ramping up from 6hp → 12hp.
  • Dev note: Caustic is brutally effective at slowing down engagements. The entirety of his kit revolves around gas with a large area of effect, slow, vision obstruction, and direct health damage. It’s proven to be too oppressive in too many scenarios especially considering teammates can play in gas relatively unimpaired. Significantly reducing gas damage (without taking it away completely or having it affect armor instead) seems like a fair compromise that stays true to the character while making him less oppressive on the receiving end. We will be monitoring the data and gameplay closely. If these changes hit Caustic’s appeal or effectiveness too hard we will revisit accordingly.
• Pathfinder
  • Removed Low Profile
  • Dev Note: Low Profile has been used as a balancing tool for both mobile and/or small legends. Although Path is still mobile, his hitbox is large. While his overall win rate and encounter win rate is by no means low, it’s hard to justify keeping Low Profile on a hitbox of his size.
• Gibraltar
  • Removed 15% faster heal item usage while in Dome of Protection.
• Horizon
  • Increased Black Hole cooldown from 2 minutes to 3 minutes
• Revenant
  • Revenant’s Silence now disables Mirage’s cloaked revive & respawn as well as Octane’s Swift Mend.
• Wattson
  • Wattson now has passive shield regen at 0.5 hp/s (half of Octane’s current health regen rate).
• Rampart
  • Explosives damage Amped Cover normally, instead of inflicting 200 damage.
  • Explosives damage Sheila normally, instead of inflicting 175 damage.
  • Dev Note: Walls should be beefy and powerful once built. Before Rampart shipped, we were worried that her nests would be too oppressive and so we gave enemy players the option to quickly clear them out with grenades. This wasn’t necessary, as it turns out, so we’re removing increased damage from grenades against Amped Cover and Sheila.

Weapon Updates

• Weapon Optics
  • All gold AR and LMG default optics updated to 2x Bruiser.
• Mastiff
  • Pellet damage decreased from 13 → 11. Fire rate increased from 1.0 → 1.1.
  • Dev Note: The goal of these changes are to place this weapon’s identity between the fast fire EVA-8 and the heavy hitting Peacekeeper. The Mastiff has consistently been dominant in close quarters combat given its forgiving spread pattern and high damage spikes with each shot. This change reduces that high damage potential in order to limit the amount of two pumps players experience on the receiving end.
• Wingman
  • +1 bullet to every magazine size, including base.
• Hemlok
  • Increased hip-fire spread.
  • Dev Note: The burst damage from the Hemlok’s hip-fire was feeling a little too consistent for an AR that should excel at medium range. This change mitigates the Hemlok’s close quarters damage spikes that felt bad on the receiving end.

Quality Of Life Changes

• Kings Canyon Loot – we’ve done a pass on the loot to bring up the quality across the map, while also maintaining a certain amount of loot after Mirage Voyage has flown away.
  • The wooden shacks across the map should have a few more pieces each, and generally be a little higher quality.
  • Spotted Lake has been reduced to Medium Quality from High.
  • Crash Site has redistributed the loot in the area slightly. The amount stays the same, but the higher quality loot should be in the ship.
  • Caustic Treatment has more loot than Water Treatment, and it remains Hiqh Quality.
• Locked Weapon Optic Swapping – For guns with fully locked attachment slots, like fully-kitted gold weapons and most crate weapons, you can now remove the optic and replace it with a different sight. This does not apply to the Kraber sniper rifle.
• Assists have been added to the in-game HUD, next to kills. This was already present in Ranked and now has been added to unranked. Assists still don’t contribute to XP. This has replaced the Spectator “eye” icon.
• Assists and Knocks have been added to your squad’s banners and will show at the end of a match.
• Club names now appear on Match Summary and Champion screen if all players are part of the same club.
• Items will no longer “stick” to Crafting Replicator when dropped on the Replicator.
• Badge Progress – for badges that have longer amounts of progress, hovering over the badge will show you more information. For example, if you’re trying to get 50 wins as Lifeline, you’ll now see that you have 45 instead of somewhere between 15 and 50.
• Ping My Deathbox – While respawning on a dropship, you can now ping your own deathbox to help locate it easier.
• Gold Backpack – Players being revived by a gold backpack will have a crackle of energy—based on the tier of armor they wear—while the revive is taking place. They will also display the armor heal FX when the revive is finished. This change should help players prioritize pushing a revive in progress.
• Players on PC can now go back to the title screen from the lobby to allow switching of data centers without restarting the game.
• Added numbers to the Advanced Look Controls. This should help people experiment and easily revert back to their favorite settings.
• When scanning a beacon for Ring 6, you should now be able to see the location where Ring 6 finishes.
• Inspect Weapon – Since the Survival Slot took its button on controller (we only have so many buttons!), Inspect Weapon has been moved to the emote wheel by default. It can be bound to any key on PC.

Bug Fixes

• Gibraltar
  • Corrected an issue with Gibraltar not getting hit registrations when simultaneously releasing ADS and shooting while his Gun Shield was up
• Wraith
  • Wraith players can no longer cancel Into the Void by jumping at a wall
  • The New Skydive Emote will now work with Legendary Skins
• Caustic
  • Fixed a bug that was causing Nox Gas to flicker for some players affected by it
• Octane
  • Repeatedly using the same jump pad no longer disables double-jumps
  • Players are no longer allowed to “glide” along a wall after using the jump pad
• Crypto
  • Crypto’s animation to bring out his Drone is no longer skippable by throwing a holospray
  • Crypto can no longer teleport to a replicator
  • Reloading the Mastiff and 30-30 will no longer be faster while in Crypto’s drone
• Loba
  • Fixed a few areas Loba could teleport into that would get her stuck
• Rampart
  • Players can no longer use Sheila to get under the world when placed too close to the Phase Runner in Olympus
• Horizon
  • Fixed the Gravity Lift falling through the floor when used on the train tracks in World’s Edge’s Sorting Factory
  • Using a zipline after a Gravity Lift will no longer increase accuracy
• Fuse
  • Motherload will now damage and destroy jump pads
  • When under a small enclosure, players will no longer be pushed out after using Motherload
  • Players can no longer double their grenades after looting a dead Fuse’s deathbox
• Mastiff
  • Dropping and picking up the Mastiff will no longer cause it to be reloaded
• 3030 Repeater
  • Dropping and picking up the 30-30 will no longer cause it to be reloaded
  • 30-30 will now have spread deviation when ADS firing and jumping

MISC

• Fixed a bug preventing Steam users from sending friend requests to each other
• Usernames now update when a user swaps between the Origin Client to the Steam Client
• Fixed a bug preventing players from creating or joining clubs due to their EA Account already being associated with another platform

The new Madden NFL 21 patch that introduces a series of Franchise mode updates and more is now available on platforms. The big takeaways include the Franchise mode updates, along with fixes for QB freezing, missing Pro Bowl active abilities, and problems with MUT’s UI.

There are separate patches for the PS5/Xbox Series X|S editions of the game, as well as the PS4/Xbox One and PC and Stadia versions.

On next-gen consoles, quarterbacks should no longer freeze during certain play-action plays, while the issue that could cause QBs to repeat an animation is now fixed. There was also a problem when the receiver would run back toward the line of scrimmage during a zig route, but this issue is now fixed with the update.

For Franchise mode, players can look forward to improvements to trade logic and player value, along with a new feature called “League History” that tracks the progress of your Franchise. Notably, this will be the final update for Franchise mode in Madden 21. EA Sports has acknowledged that the game’s Franchise mode did not live up to expectations for everyone, and the studio is promising that Madden 22’s Franchise mode will be better.

For the PS4/Xbox One/PC/Stadia version of Madden 21, the March 4 patch also fixes QB freezing issues, while it also fixes rusher logic in some punt situations. More specifically, it has been too easy to have punts blocked by AI rushers inside the 5-yard line, so this has been changed. Additionally, the update fixes a problem with the hit stick not working properly.

You can see the full Madden NFL 21 March 4 patch notes below, as posted by EA on its website.

In other news, Madden NFL 21 is now available with Game Pass Ultimate, so subscribers can try out the new Madden game at no extra charge.

Madden NFL 21 (Xbox Series X|S & PS5)

Gameplay Updates:

• Fixed an issue causing the QB to freeze after flipping Gun Split Close Play Action plays while also hot routing the HB.
• Fixed an issue causing some QB’s to repeat their pre-play walk-to-line, getting set in the formation animation twice.
• Fixed an issue preventing some abilities from being equipped for players on the Pro Bowl roster.
• Fixed an incorrect route shown in the play-art for the play Gun Tight Doubles Zig Under.
• Fixed an issue sometimes causing the receiver to run back toward the line instead of breaking out when running a zig route.
• Fixed an issue with Hit Sticks not tracking properly for Abilities using Hit Stick accumulation for In the Zone criteria (e.g. Avalanche)

Madden Ultimate Team Updates:

• Various UI Fixes

Franchise Updates:

• NEW: Improvements to Trade Logic and Player Value
• NEW: League History
• Fixed issue where “Backlash” ability was called “Pass Lead Elite”
• Fixed naming of Seahawks stadium to Lumen Field (for new Franchises)

Dev Note: All updates also apply to Gen4 consoles.

Madden NFL 21 (Xbox One, PS4, PC, Stadia)

Gameplay Updates:

• Fixed an issue allowing punts to frequently get blocked by an AI-controlled rusher when lined up inside the 5-yard line.
  • Dev Note: To address this issue, we tuned the logic of the rusher that was blocking the kick. The AI was timing the Dive perfectly and not in a situation where the player rushing the punter would layout and dive due to the blocker between him and the punter.
• Fixed an issue causing the QB to freeze after flipping Gun Split Close Play Action plays while also hot routing the HB.
• Fixed an issue causing some QB’s to repeat their pre-play walk-to-line, getting set in the formation animation twice.
• Fixed an issue preventing some abilities from being equipped for players on the Pro Bowl roster.
• Fixed an issue with Hit Sticks not tracking properly for Abilities using Hit Stick accumulation for In the Zone criteria (e.g. Avalanche)

Nintendo is offering another Super Smash Bros. Ultimate freebie for Switch Online members. For a limited time, subscribers can claim the Spirits Set 1. This pack unlocks two random Spirits in your game: one Legend-class Support Spirit, and one Ace-class Primary Spirit.

To claim the Spirits Set, select the Nintendo Switch Online icon from your system’s home screen and open the Special Offers tab. The Spirits Set will be listed among the other free offers. Alternately, you can grab the freebie directly from the Nintendo eShop by selecting Nintendo Switch Online from the left sidebar.

As was the case with previous Smash Bros. freebies, you can only claim the Spirits Set if you have an active, paid Switch Online membership. The offer isn’t available to those who have a free trial to the service. Individual memberships cost $4 for one month, $8 for three months, and $20 for one year, while an annual family plan runs for $35.

Smash Bros. Ultimate’s next DLC fighters, Pyra and Mythra from Xenoblade Chronicles 2, arrive later today, March 4. The two-in-one character will be added as part of the game’s 11.0.0 update, which will also introduce a handful of new Mii Fighter costumes and make other character adjustments. Pyra and Mythra launch alongside a new stage, Cloud Sea of Alrest, as well as a new Spirit Board and 16 music tracks taken from Xenoblade Chronicles 2.

Like other DLC fighters, Pyra and Mythra’s challenger pack costs $6. The characters are also included in the Fighters Pass Vol. 2, which runs for $30 and covers six characters. Two more DLC fighters are still on the way following Pyra and Mythra, but Nintendo hasn’t offered any hints as to who those will be.