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Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora is using an upgraded version of Ubisoft Massive’s Snowdrop engine to create a far more complex game than previously possible – and that includes a system that will apparently create NPCs that more realistically understand and react to changes in the world around them, like weather, or your own progression through the game.

A new tech showcase video for the game shows no new footage, but reveals new details, including the game’s systems for adding far more vegetation to the world, creating more realistic clouds, and more. Later in the video, lead narrative realization designer Alice Rendell touches on some gameplay changes that come from the improved tech:

“The different activities that NPCs can perform in the world, and the different animations they have, can make the world feel really alive. So, for Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora we wanted to take this one step further and created a system where our NPCs understand the state of the world – for example, weather, player progression, or time of day.”

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While the video doesn’t make totally clear how that system works in a practical sense, technical director of programming Nikolay Stefanov gave us an example in a separate interview with IGN. “For the big creatures,” he explains, “whenever they are calm, they would obviously walk around trees and things like that. But when they are fleeing, or attacking you, or whatever, they will just go straight through the bamboo and other vegetation and just completely destroy it. I think it’s really cool to be able to see all of these effects that the NPCs have on the environment, as well as you having an effect on the environment too.”

It’s seemingly not just Na’vi, humans, and Pandoran fauna that will react to the world around them, either – even plant life can react to your presence. Senior technical artist Kunal Luthra explains elsewhere in the video, “The advantage of Snowdrop is that it can handle quite complex shaders. To add life to the vegetation of Pandora, we’ve created many interactive shaders that can be affected by the player, from real-time wind simulations and interactions, to intelligent plants reacting to your presence.” We see a glimpse of a rective plant in the original annoucnement trailer.

It’s clear that Massive is very proud of its work on the technical side of its Avatar game – not least because it’s Ubisoft’s first new-gen only title. We spoke to some of its lead developers about why Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora had to drop last-gen hardware to exist.

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Joe Skrebels is IGN’s Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to [email protected].

Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora will be Ubisoft’s first new-gen-only game, and that remains an unusual choice. Given the sheer number of owners of Xbox One and PS4 out there, it’s simply financially more viable for most developers to work on cross-generation games – something we’ve seen borne out by most of the games released in Xbox Series X/S and PS5’s first year.

It begs the question then – what makes Ubisoft Massive’s Avatar game so much more demanding that it can only run on next-gen hardware, beyond the obvious answer of “it looks nicer”? I spoke to the game’s creative director, Magnus Jansén, and technical director of programming Nikolay Stefanov to find out.

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Flying

Much of Frontiers of Pandora’s reveal trailer takes place with Na’vi heroes riding their Banshee companions. As it turns out, this isn’t just for show – the game will let you take to the skies and travel across them at high speed, and only new hardware allowed the team to couple that mechanic with the detailed world it wanted to present.

“[New consoles allowed] us to have much better object detail up close to you,” explains Stefanove, “but also when you’re flying high up in the air – to have a lovely vista and far-distance rendering, where we can even use the ray tracing to do shadows super far away, you know, three or four kilometers away from you.”

It’s not just that the world needs to look good as you lazily soar over it – it’s that it needs to stay looking good while you travel very, very quickly, as Jansén explains: “You’re flying at enormous high speeds on a Banshee over this very, very detailed landscape. It doesn’t matter how much we can render, unless we can stream it in as fast when we’re moving very fast from one place to another. So just this shift to these newer hard drives, it can’t be underestimated because, and it really has a lot of implications.”

Map Design

One of the less visible benefits of new hardware is in changing not just how the open world looks, but how it’s pieced together. Because of more limited tech, older open world games needed to balance detail with density, which can lead to large areas of relative nothingness between major points of interest (I’m looking at you Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey). It seems that new-gen tech will allow Frontiers of Pandora to be built a little more organically:

“It’s not just the old ‘I’m taking this slow walk as I enter into the place because we have to stream everything in’,” explains Jansén of the benefits to his maps, “it’s little subtle things that people don’t think about, which is how close together are all the places in the world. If you look at, with the old hard drives, they had to be spaced out very far [apart], because you had to stream out the old and stream in the new, so it just created a formulaic world. So, there’s a ton of stuff like that.”

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Enemy and Creature AI

It’s not just graphical power helping Massive’s designers – processing power will help them try new things, too, particularly when it comes to NPCs.

“Technology is everything,” says Jansén, “it’s what allows us to realize our dreams as designers. It’s what allows us to tell our stories, and to create the immersion and the escapism that we want. It’s not just about escapism, it’s about danger as well, because Pandora is a beautiful place, but it’s also a dangerous place. So, the wildlife, the AI, the way that they track you, the way that they attack you, the advances in technology and the way that we are taking advantage of the power with our in-house Snowdrop engine is allowing us [to] do amazing things that would not be possible [otherwise].”

Stefanov steps in to show us exactly what that can mean: “I can give you a specific example of something that you see in the trailer that has to do with the AI systems. For the big creatures, whenever they are calm, they would obviously walk around trees and things like that. But when they are fleeing, or attacking you, or whatever, they will just go straight through the bamboo and other vegetation and just completely destroy it. I think it’s really cool to be able to see all of these effects that the NPCs have on the environment, as well as you having an effect on the environment too.”

Immersion

While this does fall somewhat under the “it looks nice” bracket of technical improvements, Massive is adamant that improving some of the more complex visuals will help players get into the idea that they’re on the Pandora of James Cameron’s original movie, not just another game world.

“It’s a first-person game,” says Jansén. “It’s, to me, the most immersive way of playing. So we’re really going all-in on that vision of, ‘Remember the movie, remember you wanted to go to Pandora.’ Now you can go to Pandora and, to do that, we needed to have the best simulation of weather, rain, animals, and the best rendering, because the more technically excellent it is, the more capable it is of taking you from where you are and into the world of Pandora.”

Stefanov gives some examples of what that can mean to the game: “In terms of a new generation of consoles, the improved [hardware] just gives us so much opportunity to make sure that the game’s as immersive as possible. So a couple of examples, we have a completely new lighting system that is based on ray tracing, and I think it is a dramatic step up in quality that makes you feel like it’s a real place. One tiny example is that it can actually handle the translucency of the leaves […] so it can figure out how much of the light is reflected through the leaves, how tinted it is with the colors and everything else. You get lovely reflections and sights for the water, even down to the volumetric clouds up in the sky – they actually receive the correct lighting as well.”

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Joe Skrebels is IGN’s Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to [email protected].

Microsoft’s first-party shopping spree has continued unabated since we last checked in on Xbox’s stable of studios in 2018. Since then, Microsoft has added none other than the entirety of Bethesda/Zenimax in one fell $7.5 billion swoop, bringing the total number of Xbox Studios members to 23. We’re going to cover most of them here (i.e. not Bethesda’s support studios or Xbox Game Studios Publishing, which handles internal support and third-party exclusive relationships). Let’s see what we either know – or suspect – they’re all up to!

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343 Industries

Current Known Project: Halo Infinite

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It’s been one a hell of a ride for 343 Industries ever since Halo Infinite’s announcement back at E3 2018. After two impressive teasers that showed off the potential of its proprietary new Slipspace graphics engine, and the Xbox Series X announcement at The Game Awards 2019, it was immediately positioned as the flagship day-one launch title for the new console (though it will also come to Xbox One). That launch day status would soon end after a poor gameplay reveal in July 2020 forced Microsoft to rethink its approach to the beloved series, and that included a full year’s delay into Fall 2021. Whether or not it launches on November 15 to hit the exact 20th anniversary of Halo: Combat Evolved, 343 has a ton of pressure on them to hit this entry out of the park after Halo 5’s actual campaign failed to live up to its grandiose marketing campaign. Microsoft took it on the chin by delaying Infinite, but it was the right move, as was announcing Infinite multiplayer being free-to-play and PC getting full launch support. It will now be six years between mainline Halo games, and Infinite cannot fail, lest the franchise be forever damaged. 343 has had ample time and budget to get this right, now they have to deliver.

Arkane Studios

Current Known Projects: Deathloop and Redfall

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Arkane is an Xbox studio that’s currently working on…a PlayStation 5 exclusive. Deathloop is a timed PS5 exclusive thanks to a pre-acquisition deal Bethesda made with Sony. Regardless, Deathloop is an intriguing first-person shooter with a groovy style that seems to incorporate roguelike elements courtesy of its main time loop mechanic. It’s being made by Arkane Lyon in France, while Arkane Austin has a new Xbox-exclusive project up its sleeve: Redfall. It was a surprise reveal at Xbox’s E3 2021 showcase, and it’s an open-world co-op first-person shooter set in a vampire-infested world plunged into darkness. It’s from the team that brought us Dishonored and Prey.

Bethesda Game Studios

Current Known Project: Starfield

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As the crown jewel of Microsoft’s $7.5 billion Bethesda acquisition, Todd Howard’s Bethesda Game Studios team is hard at work on not just their first new game since Fallout 4 in 2015, but their first original franchise since the original Elder Scrolls. That game is Starfield, a space-bound sci-fi RPG where you join the Constellation, and it is the ace up Microsoft’s sleeve: a completely original new game from the creators of Elder Scrolls and Fallout. It’s due out on November 11, 2022, meaning that we already know what Xbox’s biggest Fall game is for both this year and next.

The Coalition

Current Rumored Project: Gears 6

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Microsoft’s Gears studio is almost certainly hard at work on (surprise, surprise) Gears 6. Based on the series’ recent release cadence, we would’ve expected it in Fall 2022. Except The Coalition is basically now telling us that they’re going to need more time as they make the expected but exciting switch to the new Unreal Engine 5. That engine upgrade practically guarantees that, like all of its predecessors, it’ll be a jaw-droppingly gorgeous game. Story-wise, Gears 6 has plenty of loose ends to tie up, as Gears 5 ended on a Kait-tastic cliffhanger after forcing players to make a gut-wrenching decision near the end of its campaign. 

Compulsion Games

Current Rumored Project: Unknown

The Montreal-based studio shipped We Happy Few to generally mixed reviews for publisher Gearbox back in 2018. Now they’ve folded into the Xbox family, and barring a massive staff-up, they’ll remain a medium-sized studio. As such, it’s probably not wise to expect anything from them anytime soon, as their last game before that was Contrast back in 2013. If we were betting on it, we’d look for a new IP in the second or third wave of the Series X generation.

Double Fine

Current Known Project: Psychonauts 2

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Legendary game designer Tim Schafer and his team at Double Fine were already neck-deep in work on the sequel to Schafer’s 2005 original-Xbox cult-classic Psychonauts prior to their acquisition by Microsoft in 2019. Now they’re nearing the finish line on Raz’s new telekinetic adventure, with Schafer telling IGN in a December 2020 Podcast Unlocked interview that the studio was likely to do something completely new afterwards (read: not a sequel or game based on any other Microsoft-owned property). Psychonauts 2 will be released on August 25.

The Initiative

Current Known Project: Perfect Dark

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So, the rumors were true. Microsoft’s new Santa Monica-based ‘AAAA’ studio is working on a reboot of Rare’s Perfect Dark, a first-person spy shooter that appears to be mixing in a bit of Mirror’s Edge in this version as well, if its cinematic reveal trailer from the 2020 Game Awards is anything to go by. Perfect Dark was being directed by Sunset Overdrive director Drew Murray before he returned to Insomniac earlier this year. The idea remains an intriguing one, though. Perfect Dark was beloved on the Nintendo 64, but Perfect Dark Zero stopped the franchise in its tracks before this latest attempt. Here’s hoping The Initiative can hit a homer in its first official at-bat. 

id Software

Current Known Project: Unknown

Most of the original Hall of Fame talent that changed gaming forever with Wolfenstein, Doom, and Quake has long since moved on, but a new generation of id Software developers, led by creative director Hugo Martin – himself raised on Doom – have returned id to the short list of the game industry’s most talented development studios. Doom Eternal was brilliant, and its recent DLC, The Ancient Gods, seemed to conclude the Doomslayer’s story. Will Doom continue, or will id turn its attention to resurrecting and reimagining another of the old studio’s creations? Quake, anyone? We are eager to find out.

inXile Entertainment

Current Rumored Projects: Unknown

Revered RPG developer Brian Fargo and his team recently finished Wasteland 3, an old-school RPG that was Kickstarted prior to Microsoft’s acquisition of inXile. Now the team is working on not one but two new Unreal Engine 5-powered RPGs. We have no idea what they are, including whether or not they’re original games or if the studio is dusting off one of the old IPs in Microsoft’s vault (if they are, please be Shadowrun!). But the bottom line is that this studio knows good RPG mechanics, and now that it has the financial backing of Microsoft, we should see its full potential unleashed. 

MachineGames

Current Known Project: Indiana Jones

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You’ve seen how talented MachineGames is if you’ve played any of their impeccably good, narrative-driven Wolfenstein revivals, but this team’s talent goes back even further than that: the core crew here was also the team responsible for the Xbox classic – and title-holder for Best Movie-Based Game Ever – The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay. The announcement that MachineGames is working on an Indiana Jones game – and that Todd Howard is directing it – caught us by quite the pleasant surprise. Will it be first-person (which is all Machine has ever done)? Will it use the idTech graphics engine (which is what the Wolfenstein games are all built off of)? We’re not expecting to see or hear any more about this project for a while, but our whips and fedoras are on standby for when they’re ready to tell us more.

Mojang

Current Known Project: Minecraft

Minecraft, always Minecraft. Sometimes some Minecraft spinoffs, like the pretty-darn-good Minecraft Dungeons.

Ninja Theory

Current Known Projects: Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2, Project Mara, The Insight Project

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Ninja Theory’s Hellblade sequel was officially the first Xbox Series X game ever announced, as it was revealed alongside the console itself at The Game Awards 2019. We’ve since learned that it will be powered by Unreal Engine 5, but beyond that, we don’t know much else. It’s highly unlikely to ship anytime soon, given that its engine isn’t even done yet. But when it does, it should bring the interactive exploration of mental health to a whole new, larger audience. Ninja Theory’s other two known projects, Project Mara and The Insight Project, are also focusing on mental health as their themes. 

Obsidian Entertainment

Current Known Projects: Avowed, Grounded, The Outer Worlds 2

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The studio best known for Fallout: New Vegas has been on a heck of a roll lately. Obsidian has a burgeoning community with their Early Access survival game Grounded, which is basically a playable version of Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, while another team at the studio is hard at work on Avowed, a first-person open-world RPG – seemingly in the vein of New Vegas – that’s set in the Pillars of Eternity universe. And they just announced The Outer Worlds 2, a first-person sci-fi RPG sequel that will now be exclusive to Xbox.

Playground Games

Current Known Projects: Fable and Forza Horizon 5

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Playground expanded from one studio – the seemingly infinitely talented creators of the sublime Forza Horizon driving game series – to two, with the new crew tasked with rebooting Fable, the beloved Xbox action/adventure/RPG series that went into hibernation when Lionhead, the studio that originally developed it, shuttered. The new Fable’s reveal teaser succeeded in showing everyone that Playground understands the whimsical, charming tone Fable should have, and we also know that it will be built on the same open-world game engine that Forza Horizon is. So expect, at the very least, some glorious four-season weather effects.

Meanwhile, Forza Horizon 5 was a surprise announcement at E3 2021 and will be released on November 9. It’s set in Mexico and will feature the largest game world Horizon has ever seen. It’s upping the ante by including major weather events like dust storms and live volcanoes. 

Rare

Current Known Project: Everwild

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Sea of Thieves sails on with more of a tailwind than ever thanks to the new Pirates of the Caribbean tie-in, but Rare also has a new game in the works: Everwild. It’s been shown twice so far, but we haven’t seen a proper gameplay demo, nor is there a public release window as of yet. From those trailers, it looks like it might borrow at least some of the Sea of Thieves framework, but it’s otherwise tough to glean much from its fantastical setting. As fans continue to call for the classic Rare IPs, like Banjo Kazooie, to be dusted off, Rare seems more interested in forging new paths. With the continued success of Sea of Thieves, it’s hard to argue with them.

Tango Gameworks

Current Known Project: Ghostwire: Tokyo

In Tango Gameworks, Microsoft finally has its own Japanese game development studio. Shinji Mikami’s team created two critically acclaimed Evil Within survival horror games, but Tango has now moved on to Ghostwire Tokyo, a first-person…well, we’re not sure yet. Combat director Shinichiro Hara describes it as “karate meets magic.” Paradoxically, this one is another timed PlayStation 5 exclusive like Deathloop thanks to a deal Bethesda made with Sony prior to being acquired by Microsoft.

Turn 10

Current Known Project: Forza Motorsport

Turn 10 had turned around new Forza Motorsport games on a predictable biannual cadence for years, but that ended after Forza Motorsport 7 in 2017. Instead, the talented team at Turn 10 has been busy rebooting its venerable simulation racing game, rebuilding ForzaTech from the ground up for Xbox Series X and S as well as PC; it’s not confirmed, but all signs point to Xbox One being left behind so that the new hardware can be pushed as far as possible. Will the new, simply named Forza Motorsport get sequels every two years as before, or will Motorsport simply become an umbrella under which all future content updates will live? That remains to be seen but is somewhat likely, given the direction the industry has moved in recent years. After Turn 10 recently solicited community playtesters, though, don’t expect the studio to stay quiet for too much longer.

Undead Labs

Current Known Project: State of Decay 3

All we know about State of Decay 3 is that it exists. Is it finally the realization of “Class4,” the codename Undead Labs assigned the better part of a decade ago to a planned massively multiplayer online sequel to “Class3,” aka State of Decay? Maybe, but regardless, what we’re really hoping for is for State of Decay 3 to finally deliver the AAA polished experience that this brilliant concept deserves. Both State of Decay 1 and 2 were incredible zombie-RPG simulations masquerading as open-world games, but both were done on relative shoestring budgets and both suffered from technical problems and general jankiness that dragged the otherwise great gameplay down. Now they have the full power of Microsoft behind them as a first-party studio, so it’s time for them to shine.

Zenimax Online Studios

Current Known Project: The Elder Scrolls Online

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The Elder Scrolls Online recently celebrated its seventh anniversary, and it has grown and improved tremendously in that time. It has added Morrowind and Skyrim, among many other things, and it now officially supports the Xbox Series X and its 12.1-teraflops of horsepower. However, studio head Matt Firor recently reconfirmed to IGN in an upcoming IGN Unfiltered interview that the studio is also in the early stages of a new next-gen project. Firor’s comments in the same interview seemed to suggest that it won’t be Fallout Online. Hmm…

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As you can see, Microsoft is playing to win the next generation by fortifying and reenergizing their first-party stable of studios. How this massive pile of first-party games turns out remains to be seen, but with any luck, the Xbox’s best days are still ahead of it.

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Ryan McCaffrey is IGN’s Executive Editor of Features and host of Podcast Unlocked.

The cultural chokehold vampires–Lady Dimitrescu, for example–have over us continues: Anne Rice’s iconic Interview with a Vampire is coming to AMC.

Casting hasn’t begun yet, but AMC and it’s streaming arm, AMC+, plan to launch the first eight-episode season in 2022. Producer Mark Johnson, known for Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, will be on board the project. Co-creator of HBO’s Perry Mason, Rolin Jones, will co-create, write, and run the new Interview with a Vampire series. Rice and her son, Christopher Rice, will also participate as non-writing executive producers.

AMC acquired the rights to 18 of Rice’s works, back in May 2020, which includes the popular Vampire Chronicles and Mayfair Witches series.

Interview with a Vampire follows the tale of Louis, Lestat, Claudia, and their complicated, intertwined lives as immortal vampires. The series previously received a film adaptation in 1994, famously starring Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise, and Kirsten Dunst.

Rice’s Interview with a Vampire series already has a built-in fan-base, and it’s clear AMC hopes to compete with other content platforms by building another IP hit like The Walking Dead.

AMC Networks and AMC Studios Dan McDermott commented, “[Interview with a Vampire] already has millions of fans in the U.S. and around the world. We can’t wait to share this new interpretation of the classic brought to life by Rolin and Mark, as we continue to work on developing the entire collection. With The Walking Dead, this Anne Rice collection and our majority stake in Agatha Christie Limited through our own Acorn TV, we are proud to have the stewardship of three unique, fan-forward and beloved franchises and universes, which we are only just beginning to explore. We are also thrilled to have Mark, a world-class producer we have previously worked with on iconic series like Breaking Bad, Rectify, Halt and Catch Fire and Better Call Saul on board at the helm of our efforts to develop an entire Anne Rice universe, with significant aspirations for these beloved stories and characters.”

The cast for Damien Chazelle’s new movie Babylon, set in 1920’s Hollywood during the movie industry’s transition from silent films to talkies, is now further expanding to include Olivia Wilde (House), director Spike Jonze (Her), Phoebe Tonkin (The Vampire Diaries), and Tobey Maguire (Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy), according to The Hollywood Reporter. Babylon is expected to hit theaters on Christmas Day in 2022.

These names, impressive on their own, join an already swelling ensemble that earlier this month added Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, Flea from Red Hot Chili Peppers, and The Handmaid’s Tale’s Max Minghella. While the movie’s plot is still largely under wraps, it has been confirmed that the Paramount film will carry an R rating.

Chazelle is the writer-director behind Whiplash and La La Land. Given the increasingly high-profile nature of his projects, all that’s known about Babylon at this point is a lengthy list of names and a loose premise–joining the likes of Knives Out 2, which is similarly swirled in mystery but commanding marquee names. Although, in many ways, Babylon is certainly shaping up to be much stranger–its cast boasts both Flea and Eric Roberts.

As you’re pondering those questions and more about Babylon, you can also plan how you’ll pass the time this year with the biggest movies to watch still ahead in 2021.

Valve is cracking down on folks who take advantage of region-hopping to get a cheaper price on digital PC games.

According to SteamDB, Valve has placed a limit on how often you can change the country associated with your Steam account. You’ll now only be able to update your account’s country once every three months.

In a further crack down on people buying games in cheaper regions, Valve added a limit on how often you can change your Steam account’s country.

Country may not be updated more than once every 3 months. Purchases can be completed using a payment method from your current region.

— Steam Database (@SteamDB) June 23, 2021

Steam allows for regional pricing, meaning publishers can set different prices for games for different regions based on the cost of living there. This means some areas will get games set at a lower price, and those looking for a deal can take advantage of this and change their region to also buy a game at said price.

The newest changes are just the latest updates Valve has made to combat this practice. Steam has already placed restrictions on what payment methods are allowed to be used during transactions as well as restrictions on VPN usage.

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The limits on region changes mean that if you’re really desperate to get a game for a lower price, you can only do so four times a year which hardly seems worth it. Not when there are events like the Steam Summer Sale happening right now.

Still, if you’re a deal-hunter on Steam, this is likely Valve’s most recent efforts to curb region-hopping.

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Matt T.M. Kim is IGN’s News Editor.

The original Apex Legends hot drop location, Skull Town, as featured on the game’s battle royale map Kings Canyon, is back, now in the form of a self-contained Arenas map. It’s just one part of the game’s new Genesis event, which will also revert Kings Canyon and World’s Edge back to their original layouts for a limited time starting on June 29.

“We heard you,” the game’s patch notes read. “Five minutes after we announced Arenas, we were seeing pleas for a Skull Town Arena. Well, here it is!”

Apex Legends’ Genesis event will also be adding a number of new cosmetics for players to unlock, ranging from a scythe heirloom for Revenant to legendary skins for both the Charge Rifle and EVA-8 shotgun.

Balance updates are coming to the game as well. Revenant has had his hitbox size reduced and received some changes both positive and negative to his abilities, while Lifeline’s hitbox has been slightly increased. Bloodhound is receiving nerfs to their “Eye of the Allfather” scanning ability as well as their “Beast of the Hunt” ultimate, with the devs stating the character has remained “a popular and powerful pick for multiple seasons now.”

One of the game’s more dominant weapons, the Spitfire, has received a nerf, with the LMG now being less accurate when fired from the hip. Other weapons, like the Longbow, P2020 pistol, and 30-30 Repeater have been slightly buffed.

A number of balance updates are also coming to the 3v3 Arenas mode, with prices for a number of weapons and upgrades being tweaked. Care packages will start landing five seconds earlier than before in order to make the loot within a more viable option before a round ends, while from round 3 onward, players will start with a shield battery in addition to two syringes and two shield cells. Character specific changes will be coming too, such as Pathfinder’s starting Grapple charges being reduced and and the cooldown for Octane’s Launch Pad being increased to every other round.

The Apex Legends Genesis event goes live June 29 and runs until July 13. Full patch notes are below:

LEGEND BALANCE UPDATES

Octane

• Launch Pad cooldown increased from 60 seconds to 90 seconds.

Dev Note: Octane remains the most popular legend by a large margin even after the stim nerf. Turns out jump pads are fun, but with the added utility from the two launch options, it’s only fair to bump up the cooldown.

Revenant

• Slightly slimmed down hitbox (specifically his midsection, arms, and upper legs).

• Stalker climb height significantly increased. It’s not literally unlimited now, but… that boy can really climb.
• Silence duration decreased from 20 seconds to 15 seconds.
• Reduced the duration of death protection by 5 seconds while using the Death Totem.

Dev Note: Revenant’s large frame places him at a significant disadvantage in gunfights, particularly against smaller legends who no longer have Low Profile. We’re shrinking some of his hitboxes to counteract this disadvantage, while also improving his ability to climb up walls and attack from unexpected angles. (We know this can be frustrating given how silent he is, so we’ll continue to monitor and add sound if necessary.) That said, we’re taking this opportunity to reduce some of the frustration that comes when playing against his tactical and ultimate.

Lifeline

• Increased hit box size, mostly in the legs and waist.

Dev Note: Unlike Revenant, Lifeline excels in gunfights given her small hitbox. Even with the res shield gone, it’s no surprise the smallest character in the game saw an uptick in performance with the removal of Low Profile. She remains small, but these hitbox changes bring her closer to the medium sized legends.

Bloodhound

• Eye of the Allfather scan revealed time decreased from 4 seconds to 3 seconds.
• Beast of the Hunt duration decreased from 35 seconds to 30 seconds. Time can still be added by downing enemies.

Dev Note: Bloodhound has remained a popular and powerful pick for multiple seasons now, mostly because of the sheer amount of information that can be gained with one tap of their tactical. Shortening the scan duration still provides a snapshot of information for Bloodhound’s team without stifling all enemies caught anywhere in the large range for a full 4 seconds.

Wattson

• Major Buff: Wattson can now place more than one Nessie on the map at a time with her Epic emote.

Dev Note: There can now be up to 20 Nessies active at once on any given map. Until that cap is reached, any Wattson can place as many as she likes. When the cap is hit, the oldest Nessie belonging to the Wattson who currently owns the most Nessies is removed.

WEAPONS BALANCE UPDATES

P2020

• Increased Fire Rate from 6.25 -> 7.0
• Increased Base Ammo from 12 -> 14
• Increased Lvl 1 Mag from 14 -> 16
• Increased Lvl 2 Mag from 16 -> 18
• Increased Lvl 3 and Lvl 4 Mag from 18 -> 21

Spitfire

• Increased Hip Fire spread

Dev Note: The Spitfire has continued to over perform so we’re hitting it’s close range hip fire accuracy which should help bring it in line.

30-30 Repeater

• Slightly increased projectile speed
• Reduced charge time from 0.5s -> 0.35s

Longbow

• Damage increased from 55 -> 60

ARENAS UPDATES

ARENAS PRICE ADJUSTMENTS

The figures below represent changes to the cost in materials to unlock or upgrade weapons, utilities, and Legend abilities in Arenas matches.

Weapon Prices

• P2020 Lvl 1 Upgrade: 50 -> 25
• P2020 Lvl 2 Upgrade: 125 -> 75
• P2020 Lvl 3 Upgrade: 200 -> 150
• RE45: 250 -> 200
• EVA: 250 -> 300
• Mastiff: 500 -> 400
• R99: 550 -> 500
• Volt: 500 -> 550
• Spitfire: 550 -> 600
• L-Star: 400 -> 500
• R301 Lvl 2 Upgrade: 300 -> 350
• G7 Scout: 350 -> 400
• G7 Scout Lvl 3 Upgrade: 250 -> 200
• 30-30: 350 -> 400
• 30-30 Lvl 3 Upgrade: 250 -> 200

Utility Prices

• Arc Star: 100 -> 125
• Gold Backpack: 250 -> 300

Legend Ability Prices

• Crypto EMP: 600 -> 500
• Crypto Drone: 100 -> 50
• Revenant Death Totem: 600 -> 500
• Lifeline DOC Drone 50 -> 75
• Fuse Knuckle Cluster 150 -> 75
• Bloodhound Ult 350 -> 450

ARENAS BALANCE CHANGES

Legend Ability Adjustments

• Pathfinder’s Grapple starting charges reduced to 2 charges from 3.
• Pathfinder’s Zipline round cooldown increased from every round to every other round.
• Rampart’s Sheila round cooldown reduced from every 3 rounds to every other round.
• Wattson’s Interception Pylon round cooldown increased from every round to every other round.
• Octane’s Launch Pad cooldown increased from every round to every other round.
• Octane’s Stim starting charges reduced to 2 charges from 3.

Other

• Added a scoreboard to the map screen.

• You can now report players by pressing [SPACE / Y] in the map screen

• From Round 3 and onward, you’ll now start with a shield battery in addition to 2 syringes and 2 shield cells.
• Care packages will also land 5s earlier to make the contained weapons a more viable option before the round closes out.
• 6x scope moved from base sniper weapons to Lvl 1 upgrade.

ARENAS MAP ADJUSTMENTS

Party Crasher

• Adjusted circle logic to favor downtown a bit more.
• Simplified the minimap’s visual language.

Phase Runner

• Raised cover height on certain props throughout the map to prevent unfair advantages to large rig Legends.
• Added a few trees to reduce the ease of spawn sniping (looking at you, Reptar…).

ARENAS BUG FIXES

• The UI for Purple devotion now shows the attached turbocharger.
• Players will no longer be chosen as Jump Masters during the legend select screen.
• Updated the sniper stock to show an empty slot when needed.
• Can no longer get stuck in the crouch position after dying while reviving a teammate during a round in Arenas.

QUALITY OF LIFE CHANGES

Valkyrie

• Updated fuel gauge UI to better indicate when you’re using fuel and when you’re running low.

Rampart

• Will now have custom animations for LMG reload. These have no impact on her current reload times.

MISC

• Added VO for when your Ultimate is ready, or not ready.
  • When your Ultimate gets to 100%, you’ll be prompted to tell your team with new VO for each Legend.
  • At any point in time, you can ping your Ultimate icon (in your inventory) to show your teammate what percentage you’re at (in quickchat).
• Added VO for when you enter a Replicator, so your teammates know you are crafting and won’t leave you behind! Probably.
• Added VO for pinging a friendly Trident, in addition to the neutral and enemy states that already existed.
• You can now turn off FOV scaling when certain abilities are used. Look in the options.
• Reduced the frequency of Ring endings near out-of-bounds areas (like canyon walls or map edges).
• Healing items will now play the entire healing sound when used by other players, instead of just the beginning and ending.
• Muting players will now also mute text to speech.

BUG FIXES

Bloodhound

• Passive tracker icons will no longer be shown in the end-of-game screen.

Caustic

• Fixed an issue with enemies not getting highlighted when in Caustic’s Nox Gas.

Fuse

• Players can now see the number of grenades in the grenades stack when viewed on floor.
• Fixed the 1P arm color on “Board to Death” to match the 3P view.
• Fuse will no longer produce a third arm when ADS’ing and using the tactical at the same time.

Gibraltar

• Being struck by a direct hit of Fuse’s Knucklecluster will no longer cause Gibraltar’s Gun shield to take unnecessary damage.
• Gibby’s Ultimate will no longer damage a friendly’s Horizon’s Ult.
• Gun Shield will no longer take additional bleed through damage.

Horizon

• Horizon’s tactical will no longer ascend Caustic’s gas traps or Octane’s Jump pads to the heavens.
• Fixed an issue with the appearance of Horizon’s teeth when using the “Golden Boson” skin.

Lifeline

• Lifeline will no longer use Wraith’s animations while in the boxing ring.
• Enemy Care packages will now have loot if the enemy Lifeline leaves the game before it lands.
• Fixed an issue that was preventing Lifeline’s tactical from functioning properly while in Caustic gas.

Loba

• Completed another pass to prevent Loba from getting into unallowed areas.
• Fixed an issue causing Loba’s tactical to improperly fail on the Phase Runner map in Arenas.
• Fixed an issue that caused Loba’s tactical to be improperly disrupted by Horizon’s gravity lift.

Mirage

• Corrected an issue with Mirage flickering while in the Lobby.

Octane

• Fixed obstructed ADSing while using the Compound bow and the 3x sight.

Pathfinder

• Can no longer swap weapons faster if the holster animation is canceled.
• Did a Zipline pass on Arena Maps to prevent Pathfinder getting into unfair positions.

Rampart

• Fixed a logic error when using Wraith’s Portal and Sheila at the same time.
• Did a pass to allow more places to place Amped Walls on Olympus.
• Fixed an audio issue with Rampart’s Tactical when in close quarters.
• Fixed an issue with Sheila disappearing off of Rampart’s back if shot during an emote.
• Players no longer fall under the ground when using Shelia on certain slopes.

Revenant

• Death Totem can now be damaged in Firing Range.

Valkyrie

• Did an environment pass to prevent Valk from entering areas not meant to be entered.
• Amped cover will no longer push players into geo if Skyward Dive is initiated near it.
• Valkyrie’s Ult UI no longer remains on screen if observer switches to another POV.
• First person view no longer obstructed when using a shield battery.
• Fixed an issue with players not being able to cancel being hooked up to Valks Ult.

Wattson

• Wattson no longer uses Wraith’s animation in the boxing ring.
• The Nessie that Watton leaves behind with her Epic emote should no longer fall over dead when using a Legendary skin.

Wraith

• Addressed a bug that sometimes caused Wraith’s portal to improperly appear as open after a player entered it just before it closed.

Other

• Fixed a bug where players have to play one Ranked game after a Season or Split reset for the reset to fully take effect. Note that players who have not played a Ranked game recently before this update will still have to play one more game of Ranked with their RP changing before this bug is completely fixed.
• Matchmaking will be canceled if the party leader changes the playlist to a mode that a party member is not eligible for.
• Fixed an issue preventing Switch users from scrolling through all their emotes while in handheld mode.
• Resolved an issue that was sometimes slowing down controller players’ turn speeds when running at high FPS.
• Addressed some audio issues with Phoenix Kits.
• Entering the Fight Night ring on Olympus should no longer cause you to experience glitches with gunfire audio.
• Solved a performance problem caused by having large numbers of friends via Steam and/or Origin.
• Knocked legends can now open the inner door inside Explosive Holds as normal.
• Your scope sight should no longer flicker when ADSing using the Bocek Bow while riding a Trident.
• Similarly to the above, ADSing with the Bocek Bow while riding a zipline should no longer cause flickering.
• Resolved an issue that was preventing ping VO from playing when at a distance from teammates.
• Fixed an issue that sometimes prevented players from joining a friend’s lobby when using the “join” button from the Friends tab.
• Solved an issue that was preventing Respawn beacon audio from triggering properly.
• Fixed some buttons with weird “hitboxes” in the Clubs tab.
• Rejecting invites from the Clubs tab should now work as expected.
• Fixed an issue that sometimes prevented loot from appearing as expected in death boxes.
• The consumables interface should no longer show up on the podium screen.
• Resolved a rare bug that allowed you to use a Shield Battery even when shields were full.
• Fixed an issue preventing some colorblind settings from appropriately changing the color of enemy HP bars.
• Colorblind settings are now properly applied to trackers in the Legends tab.
• Addressed an issue that sometimes caused the ring to become silent for recently-respawned players.
• Solved a bug with “Death UI” being shown to players who reconnected early in the match.
• The “random” music pack should no longer play default music on the match summary screen or the lobby.
• Fixed some VFX issues with Legendary knockdown shields.

The Video Game History Foundation has shared a look at what the video game black market looked like in the 1990s. On Twitter, the nonprofit organization focused on preserving the history of video games shared images of a mail-order catalog selling bootleg Nintendo cartridges with multiple games on them.

The catalog from Games Unlimited Company offered cartridges with multiple games, ranging from 16 to 110 games on a single cart. The Video Game History Foundation noted that these games were likely coming from Canada because the flier mentions not being able to get the games “without a plane ticket to Canada.” The 110 game cartridge cost $138, which is slightly more than one dollar per game, a steal in the 1990s and in 2021–literally.

The flier also advertises the Game Genie, which was barred from sale in the United States at that time. The organization also shared a Game Genie ad where Camerica “thanked Canada” since that was the only way for an American to acquire the device at the time.

Nintendo was able to stop the majority of bootleg import games from making it into the U.S. Nintendo has been coming after bootleg games, as well as fan-made versions of its games, for a very long time.

Pokemon Go Fest 2021 is only a few weeks away, and developer Niantic has now shared more details about the second day of the event. Whereas day 1 is themed around catching wild Pokemon, day 2 is all about Raids, and you’ll have another chance to encounter every single Legendary that has appeared in Pokemon Go thus far throughout the day.

As detailed on the Pokemon Go blog, every Legendary Pokemon is returning to five-star Raids during the second day of Pokemon Go Fest 2021. Like the virtual habitats running on day 1, there will be different themed Raid hours rotating throughout the day, each of which will feature different types of Legendary Pokemon. You can see the full Raid schedule and the Legendaries that will appear during each hour below:

Pokemon Go Fest Day 2 Raid Schedule

Wind Hour

Times

• 10-11 AM
• 2-3 PM

Legendaries

• Mewtwo
• Ho-Oh
• Latios
• Latias
• Regigigas
• Altered Forme Giratina
• Cresselia
• Therian Forme Tornadus
• Virizion

Lava Hour

Times

• 11 AM – 12 PM
• 3-4 PM

Legendaries

• Motres
• Entei
• Regirock
• Groudon
• Heatran
• Reshiram
• Therian Forme Landorus
• Terrakion
• Yveltal

Frost Hour

Times

• 12-1 PM
• 4-5 PM

Legendaries

• Articuno
• Suicune
• Lugia
• Regice
• Kyogre
• Palkia
• Kyurem
• Azelf, Mesprit, Uxie (in their respective regions)

Thunder Hour

Times

• 1-2 PM
• 5-6 PM

Legendaries

• Zapdos
• Raikou
• Registeel
• Rayquaza
• Dialga
• Therian Forme Thundurus
• Cobalion
• Zekrom
• Xerneas

Niantic notes that Mythical Pokemon, such as Mew and Deoxys, will not be appearing in Raids during Pokemon Go Fest 2021, but a new one will be available. The studio recently confirmed that the Mythical Pokemon Meloetta will debut during day 1 of the event via a new Special Research story quest for Go Fest ticket holders.

Pokemon Go Fest 2021 runs from July 17-18. Like last year, there will be some exclusive benefits and features for those who purchase a ticket for the event, including increased chances to catch Shiny Pokemon and special challenges. You can purchase a Go Fest ticket through the in-game shop for $5 USD.

In the meantime, Pokemon Go’s Bidoof event runs from June 25 to July 1. Bidoof will be appearing much more frequently in the wild and Raid Battles throughout the event, and you’ll have your first chance to catch a Shiny Bidoof in the game. Shortly afterward, July’s Community Day will take place on July 3. The featured Pokemon this time is Tepig, the Fire-type starter from Pokemon Black and White.