Call Of Duty Mobile Adds Gunsmith And A Fan-Favorite Map This Week

While Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and the battle royale game Warzone are getting a lot of attention these days, Activision continues to update and support Call of Duty: Mobile, too.

A new blog post from Activision outlines what’s new in CoD: Mobile this week, and fans are getting some good stuff. Starting off, the popular Gunsmith feature from the console/PC Call of Duty games is now in the mobile edition.

In Gunsmith, players can customize their weapons with up to nine gameplay attachments and four cosmetic attachments. In total, there are more than 50 attachments available in Gunsmith, including 20 reticles. There are 60 weapon levels to move through, so the introduction of Gunsmith should provide yet another reason for CoD: Mobile players to keep grinding.

In addition to Gunsmith, CoD: Mobile introduces a new map this week, and it’s called Shipment 1944. The map was originally introduced to Call of Duty in 2007’s Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, where it was known as Shipment. It’s a close-quarters map that requires players to check their corners constantly. You can see an overview of the map in the video above.

As for Modern Warfare and Warzone, they are getting new modes and playlists this week, along with new store bundles. You can check out GameSpot’s rundown to find out what’s new.

All of this is happening as Activision is gearing up to announce this year’s new Call of Duty game, which is rumored to be Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War. Recent teasers have suggested that Activision may have something more to share about the new game this Friday, August 14. However, the official reveal of the new game is expected to come later.

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One Game Studio Has Announced Plans To Work From Home Until Mid-2021

Earlier this year, as the COVID-19 pandemic spread around the world, a number of game studios (including 343 Industries, Bungie, and even Nintendo) implemented remote work policies to prevent the virus from spreading within the workplace. While some games were delayed due to the transition period, studios have for the most part adapted well to having their developers working from home.

Now, Wargaming Sydney in Australia has announced that the work from home arrangements for their staff will continue until at least June 2021, giving staff some certainty that they won’t be expected to shift back into the office any time soon.

While Australia’s current outbreak is mostly limited to the state of Victoria, Sydney still has some cases of community transmission as businesses continue the process of re-opening.

The announcement has drawn comment from other devs, with Tami Sigmund, an employee at Blizzard, saying that more studios should confirm that work from home arrangements will be ongoing. “I really don’t think anyone in games is going back into an office until next summer at the earliest,” Sigmund said.

While the pandemic hasn’t been smooth sailing for the games industry, it’s definitely come out better than other parts of the entertainment world. Though trade events such as E3 and GDC had to be cancelled or moved online, gaming has seen a surge of interest and income as people stuck at home look for new ways to entertain themselves.

Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 Delayed to 2021

Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 has been delayed to 2021.

The news was revealed by the official Bloodlines 2 Twitter account, which posted a statement saying that Paradox Interactive and Hardsuit Labs have delayed Bloodlines 2 in order to “deliver the best game possible,” and a “worthy successor to the original Bloodlines game.”

“Due to the quality bar and ambitions we have set for ourselves, we have made the difficult decision that we need more time,” the statement reads. “This means that our goal to release in 2020 is no longer possible. Moving launch is one of the changes we are making to ensure the best player experience possible.”

The tweet also notes that we should hear more information about launch timing “and other organizational changes” in the coming months, but a new release date is not set in stone right now.

“We understand this will be a disappointment to many of you, but we also appreciate how our ambition is echoed through many parts of the community,” the statement ends.

Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 was previously delayed beyond its initial Q1 2020 launch window back in October of 2019. It will now launch at an indeterminate point in 2021 for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X. You can check out our preview of the game from E3 2019 here.

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Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.

Watch This Impressive Fall Guys Hex-A-Gone Finish

If you are one of the 2 million people now playing Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout on Steam, you might be looking for ways to up your game and take home the coveted crown. This Hex-A-Gone gameplay proves that, despite its cute and cuddly aesthetic, Fall Guys winners are just as likely to be stone-cold killers as you might find in Call of Duty: Warzone.

Posted by Twitch streamer Barret Courtney, the video shows that a flawless victory in Hex-A-Gone isn’t just about staying alive–it’s about eliminating the competition. Have a watch for yourself.

Fall Guys has seen a record-breaking, and sometimes server-breaking, surge of interest since it first released on August 4. This includes game streaming, with Fall Guys taking out the top spot on Twitch more often than not, even while it was still in beta. The kind of gameplay showcased above shows exactly why Fall Guys is just as addictive to watch as it is to play.

The GameSpot review of Fall Guys called it “easily the most approachable and welcoming battle royale yet. Its bursting color and varied game modes do a good job of reeling you in and keeping you hooked, even if a handful feel at odds with the easygoing nature of its premise.”

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Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 Has Been Delayed Until 2021

After a 16-year wait and one previous delay, Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 has been delayed again–this time until 2021. Publisher Paradox Interactive and developer Hardsuit Labs haven’t indicated when in the year the sequel will be likely to release, just that it won’t be dropping any time before the end of 2020.

The responses to the delay have been largely positive–with a wait of 16 years behind them since the original Bloodlines game in 2004, Vampire the Masquerade fans are used to waiting. The reason given for the delay is that the developers need more time to “deliver the best game possible… and deliver a worthy successor to the original Bloodlines game.”

The post promises more information to come, which should give us a new release window to aim for in 2021. While Amazon seems to have temporarily removed the option to pre-order Bloodlines 2, other pre-order options are still available here.

Where the first Bloodlines game was set in Los Angeles, Bloodlines 2 will take the player to the World Of Darkness version of Seattle. The upcoming game has been confirmed for next gen consoles PS5 and Xbox Series X, and will also release on PS4, Xbox One, and PC.

The Vampire: The Masquerade franchise will still get one new game relatively soon, with the Shadow of New York visual novel set to release before the end of 2020.

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In A Rare Move, EA Shareholders Vote Against Compensation Package For Top Executives

Electronic Arts recently came under fire for how much money the company pays to its top executives. An activist investor group, CtW, called out the gigantic sums that EA’s top management is paid, asking for other investors to vote against a proposal regarding compensation.

The EA annual meeting of stockholders took place on August 6, and in a rare move, the investors overwhelmingly voted against the proposed pay packages for EA’s executives. Federal documents show that 170.9 million votes were cast against the proposal, with 59.6 million in favor.

While the proposal for EA’s executive compensation package was rejected, all of EA’s top directors were elected again, as you can see in the chart below.

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Business publication Bloomberg mentioned that this vote against EA’s “say-on-pay” proposal was rare. Only 2.2 percent of the 3,000 biggest companies in the US had their executive pay proposals rejected in 2020.

One investor group, Institutional Shareholder Services, said it had “significant concerns” about the way in which EA pays executives, specifically surrounding stock bonuses.

Dieter Waizenegger, the director of The CtW Investment Group, said earlier EA has “gone too far in terms of executive pay. Waizenegger said EA CFO Blake Jorgensen and CTO Kenneth Moss are paid too much, and it’s an especially poor practice, as EA is laying people off, Waizenegger said.

“While shareholders have benefited from appreciation in the company’s stock price over the long term, we believe that that does not permit the company to indiscriminately pay its executives,” Waizenegger said.

Investors and investment groups also took issue with how EA’s executives are paid multiple rounds of significant bonuses and equity awards on top of their base salaries and normal bonuses structures.

For its part, EA said in a statement to GameSpot that it values the opinions of its shareholders and consider their thoughts going forward as it relates to executive compensation.

“As a company we put a focus on increasing value for all stakeholders, including employees, players, and shareholders,” EA said. “We work constantly to make Electronic Arts a great place to be and work for our people, and in highly competitive talent markets, we work aggressively to keep the great people we have. We value the opinion of our shareholders, and the board and compensation committee will take their feedback into account as part of our ongoing evaluation of our compensation programs.”

It’s not just EA that has come under pressure regarding executive pay. Activision Blizzard is also facing calls to limit the executive pay of its top bosses, including CEO Bobby Kotick. However, in June, Activision Blizzard shareholders approved the company’s executive pay proposals.

New Cyberpunk 2077 Weapons, More Call Of Duty Teases, & Last Of Us Part 2 Permadeath Mode | Save State

In this video, Persia talks about the second Night City Wire stream and the weapon showcase for Cyberpunk 2077. We saw a variety pf weapons that specialized in different things like bullets that can ricochet and homing ammunition that can follow targets. Melee weapons and Cyberware were also a part of the arsenal that was featured and will provided multiple ways to play depending on your choice of equipment.

Persia also talks about the recent addition of two trophies that indicate Grounded difficulty and Permadeath mode are coming to The Last Of Us Part II. Grounded difficulty removes your HUD and Listen Mode while also making your enemies stronger and ammunition more scarce. Permadeath is obvious: one life and that’s it. But you can complete the Permadeath mode on any setting for the trophy.

And lastly, Persia talks about the mysterious boxes that streamers and fan sites have been getting that may hint at the next Call of Duty game. There have been may rumors about Black Ops Cold War, but the boxes included old-fashioned projectors and slides that fans say resemble old multiplayer maps like Summit. Treyarch also changed its header image to a picture of snowy mountains, but not official word has been given yet on what all of these teasers really mean.

Don’t forget to check out store.gamespot.com when you get a chance to buy Play For All merch because all the proceeds will be donated to Black Lives Matter and Direct Relief until the end of August!

This is your Save State for Monday, August 10th.

Disney+ Is Rebooting A Classic Movie, With Zac Efron Leading The Cast

His days as a basketball playing theater kid in High School Musical are behind him. Now Zac Efron is returning to a Disney project with a decidedly more grown-up role. Efron will star in a remake of the 1987 comedy Three Men and a Baby.

News of the remake, which will be produced to stream exclusively on Disney+, comes from The Hollywood Reporter. Efron will lead the cast, with Gordon Gray (The Way Back, Secretariat) producing the project.

In the original film, the three men in question were played by Tom Selleck, Steve Guttenberg, and Ted Danson. The trio of friends find themselves taking care of an infant girl. It was followed in 1990 by the sequel Three Man and a Little Lady, in which the three men were still raising the girl, sharing a home with her mother.

It remains to be seen which of the three Efron will be playing, or if the characters will even remain the same. According to THR, the script has been written by Will Reichel (Hot Air), though it has yet to be revealed what about the story has been changed.

A release date has not been given for Disney+’s remake of Three Men and a Baby.

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Hyper Scape Season 1 Patch Notes Revealed, Adds Story Content

Ahead of the official launch of Hyper Scape on August 11, Ubisoft has released the patch notes for the update that’s going live alongside the launch. Notably, the patch makes numerous balance changes to certain weapons and Hacks, and makes a nice adjustment to health regeneration. You can see the full patch notes below.

“Although we find having a slightly faster [time to kill] can be a good thing, we agree it should come more from balancing the Weapons rather than nerfing the Hacks,” Ubisoft writes in the patch notes. “Overall, the v0.5 nerf on Hacks was too severe. Like many of you told us, we also firmly believe the unique pacing and gameplay provided by the Hacks is essential to Hyper Scape, and we do not intend to drift away from that.”

To that end, the Protocol V sniper rifle will once again be a one-shot kill and the Ball, Slam, Teleport, Reveal, Invisibility, Mine, Invincibility (previously called Armor), and Shockwave Hacks all getting lower cooldown times. Shockwave and Mine are also getting noticeable buffs to the damage they dish out. This all should encourage players to close the distance on opponents as quickly as possible and more readily rely on Hacks while in the midst of a fight, not just guns. And to make sure these close-range engagements are a little easier to manage, the time until health regen kicks in has been shortened from 10 seconds to 5.

The patch also pushes live all of Hyper Scape’s Season 1 content, including a battle pass and challenges. A new semi-automatic rifle called the Dragonfly and Hack called Magnet are being added as well. Season 1 will see the start of story content in Hyper Scape too, you’ll be able to discover memory shard collectibles during matches–picking them up unlocks lore about the Hyper Scape universe.

Hyper Scape Season 1 Update Patch Notes

Weapons

  • Dragonfly
    • Damage Across Fusion: 18/18/18/18/21
    • Clip size Across Fusion: 12/14/16/18/20
  • Harpy
    • Damage Across Fusion: 7/7/7/7/8
    • Rate of Fire: 740 RPM (previously 800)
    • Clip size Across Fusion: 30/33/36/39/45
  • Hexfire
    • Damage Across Fusion: 4/4/4/4/5
    • Clip size Across Fusion: 150/180/210/240/270
  • Ripper
    • Damage Across Fusion: 11/11/11/11/14 (previously 12/12/12/12/15)
    • Clip size Across Fusion: 24/26/28/30/36
  • Riot 1
    • Damage Across Fusion: 26/28/31/34/38 (previously 29/31/33/35/39)
    • Clip size Across Fusion: 6/6/6/6/6
  • D-Tap
    • Damage Across Fusion: 5/5/5/5/6
    • Clip size Across Fusion: 15/17/18/20/23
  • Protocol V
    • Damage Across Fusion: 50/55/62/70/80 (previously 50/54/58/62/67)
    • Clip size Across Fusion: 3/3/3/3/3
  • Mammoth
    • Damage per Pellet Across Fusion: 5/5/5/5/7 (previously 6/6/6/6/7)
    • Clip size Across Fusion: 5/6/7/8/9
  • Skybreaker
    • Damage Across Fusion: 40/44/50/56/64 (previously 50/54/58/62/67)
    • Clip size Across Fusion: 1/1/1/1/1
    • Min Range for Full Damage & Full Explosion AoE: 20m
  • Komodo
    • Damage Across Fusion: 29/29/29/29/34
    • Clip size Across Fusion: 5/6/7/8/9 (previously 4/5/6/7/8)
    • Min Range for Full Damage: 15m
  • Salvo
    • Damage Across Fusion: 23/23/23/23/28 (previously 20/20/20/20/24)
    • Clip size Across Fusion: 6/7/8/9/10 (previously 5/6/7/8/9)

Hacks

  • Magnet
    • Cooldown Across Fusion: 14/13/12/11/9s
    • Max Active Magnets: 1
  • Ball
    • Cooldown Across Fusion: 12/11/10/9/7s (previously 14/13/12/11/9s)
    • Hit Points: 65
  • Slam
    • Cooldown Across Fusion: 12/11/10/9/7s (previously 14/13/12/11/9s)
    • Damage Across Fusion: 20/20/20/20/30
  • Teleport
    • Cooldown Across Fusion: 12/11/10/9/7s (previously 14/13/12/11/9s)
  • Reveal
    • Cooldown Across Fusion: 12/11/10/9/7s (previously 14/13/12/11/9s)
  • Wall
    • Cooldown Across Fusion: 12/11/10/9/7s
    • Hit Points: 250
    • Effect Duration: 9s
    • Max Active Walls: 2
  • Invisibilty
    • Cooldown Across Fusion: 14/13/12/11/9s (previously 16/15/14/13/11s)
    • Effect Duration: 5s
    • Key fix: A bug where Invisible players made no footstep noise has been fixed.
  • Mine
    • Cooldown Across Fusion: 14/13/12/11/9s (previously 16/15/14/13/11s)
    • Damage Across Fusion: 30/30/30/30/45
    • Detection Radius: 15m (previously 12m)
    • Mine Chase Duration: 8s
    • Max Active Mines: 1
  • Invulnerable
    • Cooldown Across Fusion: 14/13/12/11/9s (previously 16/15/14/13/11s)
    • Effect Duration: 5s
  • Heal
    • Cooldown Across Fusion: 14/13/12/11/9s
    • Effect Duration: 9s
    • Max Active Heals: 1
  • Shockwave
    • Cooldown Across Fusion: 12/11/10/9/7s (previously 14/13/12/11/9s)
    • Damage Across Fusion: 20/20/20/20/30 (previously 10/10/10/10/15)
    • Key fix: The bug where Shockwave would fail to trigger a jump when aiming down at your feet has been fixed.

Twitch Crowncast

  • Lethal Melee Event
    • New Game Event triggered via Viewers’ Vote on Crowncast extension only.
    • Effect: Melee deals massive damage (enough to instantly eliminate an opponent).
    • Event Duration: 50s
  • Kudos
    • New option available to Viewers in the Crowncast extension
    • Twitch Viewers can now use Bits to send Kudos & show their support to their streamer during the match. Kudos are in-game emotes and do not affect gameplay.

Progression, Battle Pass, & Shops

  • Battle Pass & Challenges
    • New 100 Tiers Battle Pass added, with both Free and Premium tracks.
    • Challenges are now always displayed in the World Map
    • Assists are now tracked only when helping an Ally/Squad player eliminate an Enemy player, as designed.
  • Shops
    • Season One items have been added to the Daily Shop.
    • A new Weekly Shop has been added and will propose Item Bundles.
  • Memories
    • Memory Shards Collectibles have been added to the game
    • They will progressively appear during the Season and will provide Lore about the Hyper Scape universe as well as Battle points once discovered.
    • You can read the Lore found with Memories in the Hall of Champions located to your left when you enter the Hyper Scape HUB.

Game Modes & Systems

  • Anti-Cheat & Anti-Toxicity
    • Player Reporting Tool: This first version of the tool allows players to report other players they are in a Squad with. To access the Report option, select the name of the Squad player the Social Menu.
    • Scramble Player Name: A new feature for Streamers and anyone who would like to anonymize themselves in other players’ games.
    • Minor Protection: An option for parents to limit the amount their child can be exposed to other players in game. Enabling Minor Protection enables the following features
      • Scramble Player Name – ON
      • Voice Chat Channel – PARTY ONLY
      • Text Chat Channel – PARTY ONLY
      • Chat Filter – ON
  • Player Health
    • Health Regen Trigger Delay: 5s (previously 10s, but overall time to full HP unchanged)
    • Improved & more progressive Critical Health feedback.
  • Loot Fusion
    • Full Fusion items can now directly spawn from Chests & Crates only, to make the Fusion more progressive during the match; items dropped by players are unchanged, this affect only the Loot spawned at the beginning of the match.
    • Standard Chest (2x items, 10% Fusion chance).
    • Game Event Crates (2x items, 100% Fusion chance).
    • Item pickup radius & comfort has been increased.

Other Systems

  • Added 5 Controller Preset Configurations (No Click, Shoulder Jump, Deploy Master, Hack Master, Button Ping).
  • Added Credits.
  • Added Contender’s Code.
  • Added Ubisoft Club.

Now Playing: Hyper Scape Battle Royale – Victory Match Gameplay

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Xbox 20/20 Is Going Away, But Microsoft Will Share News In Other Ways

Back in May, Microsoft announced a new series of Xbox events that would live under the umbrella of “Xbox 20/20.” Plans have now changed, and Microsoft is doing away with the “Xbox 20/20” branding because it suggested that there would be a monthly Xbox event.

Microsoft may still have Xbox news to share for the rest of the year, but it may not always come in the form of an Xbox-hosted digital event. “We’re going to share that news in a variety of ways. It may sometimes be a dedicated show, YouTube videos, partnering with others, or sharing the latest via Xbox Wire. We want to stay flexible with how we connect with you,” Microsoft said.

The company said it made these changes after “reassessing” its programming for the balance of 2020. Microsoft also explained that it has “so much more” to share regarding the Xbox Series X, Halo Infinite, and streaming with xCloud and Xbox Game Pass.

Microsoft’s biggest show so far in 2020 came in July when the company unveiled Halo Infinite’s gameplay and shared more details on the first-party games lineup for Xbox going forward.

Nothing has been announced for August, but it is rumored that Microsoft will confirm the long-rumored Xbox Series S console at some point this month. Of course, Microsoft still needs to announce the release date and price for the Xbox Series X, so that may be coming soon, too.

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