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The founders of Call of Duty: WWII studio Sledghammer Games have left the company to take new, executive-level positions at Activision HQ. Sledgehammer Games confirmed in a statement to GameSpot that Michael Condrey and Glen Schofield are moving on, with Sledgehammer veteran Aaron Halon named as the new studio lead. A founding member of Sledgehammer, he most recently served as Director of Product Development.

In a statement, Activision thanked Condrey and Schofield for their contributions to the Call of Duty franchise over the years. Sledgehammer, an Activision subsidiary, was founded in 2009. The studio had an idea for a third-person Call of Duty game set in the Vietnam War, but instead were brought on to co-develop Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 with Infinity Ward after a major shakeup at that studio resulted in numerous developers walking out.

Sledgehammer released Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare in 2014, before going on to enjoy its biggest success to date with the massively popular Call of Duty: WWII in 2017.

Condrey and Schofield are industry veterans. Before setting up Sledgehammer, they were part of the team at the now-shuttered Visceral Games that created Dead Space. It is not immediately clear what spurred the decision to leave Sledgehammer, but moving up the ranks to an executive-level position at Activision sounds like a nice move.

In a statement, Schofield said the new opportunity, which will involve “exploring new game ideas” for Activision, was something that he “couldn’t pass up.” In addition to working on video games, Schofield is an artist whose paintings have included portraits of people like Barack Obama, Lady Gaga, and Gandalf.

As for Condrey, he said in his own statement that working at Sledgehammer was the “greatest experience of [his] professional life.” He added that he’s excited about the “new chapter” of his career at Activision, but he did not provide any specifics or even teases for what he’ll be doing in his new position.

Kotaku first reported the news.

Condrey and Schofield are leaving Sledgehammer as Call of Duty: WWII’s DLC season is still going on. The first expansion, Resistance, came out at the end of January for PS4, while the three upcoming packs will be released later this year. The next Call of Duty game, meanwhile, is rumored to be Call of Duty: Black Ops 4. Just recently, Activision confirmed that Treyarch will be developing Call of Duty 2018, which lends credence to the rumour.

Bethesda has rolled out a new update for the Nintendo Switch version of Doom. Along with a few bug fixes and performance improvements, patch 1.1.1 introduces a couple of new features to the acclaimed first-person shooter, including a “much-requested” option for motion controls.

Following the update, players now have the ability to play Doom with gyroscope aiming. As you can see in the short clip below, courtesy of Bethesda’s official website, the new control method lets players tilt the console around to aim, allowing for more precision than with the control stick alone. Sensitivity can be further adjusted from the in-game menu.

In addition to motion controls, the new update adds a party system to Doom’s multiplayer mode, making it easier for players to form groups and play with those on their friends list. Bethesda has also updated Doom’s Switch icon, bringing it in line with the game’s box art. Finally, the update increases the average resolution “in lower-res areas of the game” and addresses a handful of bugs, including one that could cause the game to crash when using the BFG.

You can read the full patch notes for the new Doom update below or on Bethesda’s website. Doom originally released for PS4, Xbox One, and PC in 2016, with the Nintendo Switch version arriving last November. GameSpot’s Peter Brown called the Switch release “an impressive port that begs you to consider gameplay over graphics,” in our Doom Switch review.

Doom Nintendo Switch Version 1.1.1 Patch Notes

New Features

• Motion Aiming — New control scheme option allows you to tilt the Nintendo Switch for more precise aiming
• Multiplayer Parties — Added new party system, making it easier to group up and play with your friends in multiplayer
• Updated Game Icon — Game icon now matches the Doom for Nintendo Switch boxart

Improvements

• Increased the average resolution in lower-res areas of the game
• Implemented CPU optimizations
• Added Traditional Chinese language support

Fixes

• Fixed an issue that resulted in a possible crash when using the BFG
• Fixed an issue that caused audio issues while playing
• Fixed an issue that caused stretched textures to appear in multiplayer
• Fixed an issue where controls became unresponsive on the game menu
• Fixed an issue where players may have incorrectly received a ban notice in multiplayer

It’s never too early to start anticipating the return of Stranger Things on Netflix. The series has been renewed for a third season and details about the continuation of the thriller series are starting to arrive.

What will it be about? When will it premiere? What about Barb? GameSpot has looked into all of those questions and more. Here is everything we know about Stranger Things Season 3 thus far.

When will it premiere?

While a release date for Season 3 has yet to be announced by Netflix, chances are it won’t be until 2019. As previously reported, production on the third season doesn’t begin until the middle of April.

When you factor in filming and post-production time, it’s unlikely the show would be ready to launch before the end of the year. Star David Harbour also alluded to a later arrival, telling Variety, “You probably won’t get [Season 3] until sometime in 2019.” If that’s the case, 2018 will be the first year with no new episodes of Stranger Things since its 2016 premiere.

How many episodes will there be?

As with the first, the third season will be comprised of eight episodes. While Season 2 upped the ante to nine installments, Episode 7 was widely criticized by critics. Perhaps eight episodes is the sweet spot for Stranger Things.

What will it be about?

Naturally, the Duffer brothers, who co-created the series, are keeping plot details under wraps. However, some details have leaked out.

For instance, executive producer Shawn Levy says that Will Byers (Noah Schnapp) will not be the Upside Down’s vessel in Season 3. “We’re going to give Will a break,” he explained to Glamour. “We’re not going to put Will through hell for a third season in a row. He’ll be dealing with stuff, but he won’t be at rock bottom the way we forced the amazing Noah Schnapp to play.”

After binging Season 2, GameSpot has plenty of theories about what the third season could be about. Possibilities range from yet another Dungeons & Dragons-inspired monster to the Shadow Monster permanently bringing the Upside Down into the real world.

What about Eleven’s sister?

While Season 2, Episode 7–“The Lost Sister”–may not have been the most beloved installment of Stranger Things, it did introduce a character that looks to play a much larger role in the future of the series. Kali (Linnea Berthelsen), otherwise known as Eight, is something of a long-lost sister to Eleven. Like the young girl, she has mental powers and could be a major force against the Upside Down, should she team with her sister.

While it hasn’t been confirmed that Kali would return for Season 3, the Duffers seem sure it’ll happen. “It feels weird to me that we wouldn’t solve [her] storyline,” Matt Duffer told The Hollywood Reporter. “I would say chances are very high she comes back.”

And what about Papa?

Another piece of Eleven’s bizarre family made an appearance in Season 2, as well. Though it was believed that he was killed in Season 1, Martin Brenner (Matthew Modine), otherwise known as Papa, appeared in the latest season in flashback form. However, Eleven was also told he’s not actually dead. While it could have simply been a distraction for the character, Levy confirms to Collider that Brenner is still out there somewhere.

Whether his return will happen in Season 3 remains to be seen, but it’s possible a new cast member might have spoiled the surprise. Amy Brenneman, who starred with Modine in the 1995 movie Bye Bye Love, tweeted a photo with the actor. “Many years ago I played Matthew Modine’s wife,” she captioned the photo. “I am lucky enough to be doing it again. Beautiful man, and my kids think I’m a badass because of [Stranger Things].”

That certainly seems to confirm that not only will Brenner be back, but viewers will meet his wife, as well.

Who’s definitely dead?

While there’s a lot of mystery surrounding Stranger Things, two deaths are set in stone. Both Barb (Shannon Purser) and Bob (Sean Astin) were killed by beings from the Upside Down, and there’s no real way to bring them back. The town of Hawkins will just have to move on without them.

Echoing last week’s story on a GTX 1060, a lot can be said about the state of the PC hardware market when a video card being sold for close to regular retail price is a news story. But such is the case right now with cryptocurrency mining driving a price surge and scarcity in GPUs. Those on the lookout for a decent price on a few mid-range cards can look to MSI models for both the Nvidia GTX 1060 ($330 USD) and AMD RX 580 ($320) video cards. They’re currently available on Newegg, but these tend to sell out quickly.

The MSI’s 6GB GTX 1060 OCV1 sports a dual-fan design to help keep this overclocked card cool, as opposed to the single-fan version that was available last week. It runs a core clock of 1544MHz and boost clock of 1759MHz with 1280 CUDA cores and 6GB of GDDR5 video memory. GTX 1060s are well suited to run modern PC games competently at 1080p. This particular model has one HDMI 2.0 port, one DisplayPort 1.4, and one DVI-D port. It is recommended to have a power supply that provides at least 400 watts. Before cryptocurrency mining was huge, 6GB GTX 1060 cards tended to go for under $300 depending on the specific model and retailer. As a result, $330 for a factory overclocked, dual-fan version is relatively reasonable.

When it comes to AMD’s card, the MSI 4GB Radeon RX 580 Armor OC also rocks a dual-fan cooling system and higher clock speeds out of the box. It runs a 1366MHz boost clock frequency with 2304 stream processors, which make for great performance for games at 1080p. You’ll find two HDMI ports, two DisplayPorts, and one for DVI-D. The RX 580 requires a little bit more juice as a 500-watt power supply is recommended to run this card. Note that this model is equipped with 4GB of GDDR5 video memory, and have generally sold for around $230. When it comes to the 8GB model, the cheapest on Newegg currently goes for $530 with many other models going for well over $700.

MSI 6GB GTX 1060 OCV1 (left), MSI 4GB RX 580 Armor OC (right).

Take note that these cards can go out of stock at any moment. For more on why prices are so high and stock is limited, we looked at cryptocurrency mining and its effects on video cards. If you want to see how these cards perform in games, check out our GTX 1060 review and RX 580 review. Pre-built systems are gaining more traction as they’ve become the cheaper option for those looking at a new gaming PC, so be sure to look at some of the better options out there.

Some links to supporting retailers are automatically made into affiliate links, and GameSpot may receive a small share of those sales.

Mixer has announced plans to introduce a new feature that allows streamers to sell games directly to viewers. Much like what Twitch added last year, this will provide streamers with a cut of the sale and allow you to make a purchase without leaving Mixer itself.

Mixer Direct Purchase has to be specifically enabled by a streamer, and it allows the game currently being streamed to be bought for Xbox One or PC (Windows 10, specifically). Once the process is complete, which can be done without exiting the stream, the new purchase is added directly to your game library without having to redeem a code. This includes anything that’s sold on the Microsoft Store, which spans all games and DLC for Xbox One and Windows 10.

Sales through this process will earn the streamer a 5% cut “at launch” of the program, the phrasing of which suggests it could change in the future. (That 5% matches what Twitch offers to streamers.) Mixer partners will begin having the ability to sell games and DLC “in the next few days.” Others will gain access to this in the months ahead. Streamers can choose whether they’re promoting a purchase of a specific edition, the base game itself, or specific DLC.

Mixer is the streaming service formerly known as Beam. In 2016, Microsoft acquired the company, which distinguishes itself from Twitch with an emphasis on real-time player interaction. Aside from continuing to play that up, it’s also attempted the close the gap with Twitch over the last year-plus, launching a Mixer mobile app and now providing similar incentives for streamers to make use of the service.

The intriguing-sounding “Discovery Tour” mode for Assassin’s Creed: Origins is out now on PS4, Xbox One, and PC. As announced previously, this is an educational tool of sorts that lets you experience Origins’ Ancient Egypt without any combat or danger.

The “Discovery Tour by Assassin’s Creed: Ancient Egypt,” as it’s officially called, is free for people who already own Origins; it’s available from the game’s main menu. On PC, it’s also offered separately in a $20 download on Steam and Ubisoft’s own Uplay store.

In Discovery Tour, you are free to wander throughout the world at your own pace or try out the mode’s 75 “tours” of Ancient Egypt that were created by Ubisoft and history experts. Some of these will focus on things like the Great Pyramids, the mummification process, and Cleopatra’s life.

Ubisoft says the Discovery Tour is a “unique experience at the intersection of entertainment and learning.” Ubisoft’s own in-house historian, Maxime Durand, said in a press release that history teachers might use Discovery Tour in their classrooms.

You can walk or ride a camel or horse throughout Ancient Egypt in the Discovery Tour mode to visit places like Alexandria, Memphis, the Nile delta, the Giza plateau, the Faiyum Oasis, and the Great Sand Seas. You can also swim in the Nile, climb a pyramid, practice parkour, and fly your eagle. In addition to no combat, there is no story and no time limits.

To get a closer look at Discovery Tour, check out 15 minutes of gameplay footage in the video embedded above. More details on Discovery Tour can be found GameSpot’s recent preview and this Ubisoft FAQ.

PSN’s limited-time flash sale is now over, but a new batch of deals have taken its place in the US PlayStation Store. This week, PS4 and PS3 owners have a ton of discounts to choose from thanks to several sales that are going on now in the digital store, which offer some big savings, particularly if you’re a PS Plus subscriber.

First is the PS Plus Specials sale, which offers Plus subscribers exclusive discounts on a bunch of PSVR titles. Resident Evil 7 is $24, Doom VFR is $21, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR is $42, Superhot VR is $18.74, Batman: Arkham VR is $12, Farpoint is $30, Driveclub VR is $6, Megaton Rainfall is $12, PlayStation VR Worlds is $6, PixelJunk VR Dead Hungry is $5, Psychonauts in the Rhombus of Ruin is $10, Rez Infinite is $15, RIGS is $15, Star Trek: Bridge Crew is $25, Super Stardust Ultra VR is $6, Thumper is $6, Touhou Kobuto V: Burst Battle is $18, Until Dawn: Rush of Blood is $6, and Trackmania Turbo is $12.

On top of those deals, a big range of EA games are also on sale this week, with an additional percentage off many of them for Plus members. PS4 owners can pick up Madden NFL 18 for $18 ($24 without PS Plus), FIFA 18 for $19.79 ($36), NBA Live 18: The One Edition for $4.49 ($12), Battlefield 1 Revolution for $19.79 ($30), Star Wars Battlefront II for $24 ($42), Dragon Age: Inquisition – Game of the Year Edition for $10 ($16), Mass Effect: Andromeda for $9.89 ($18), Titanfall 2: Ultimate Edition for $10 ($20), Mirror’s Edge Catalyst for $5 ($10), Need for Speed Payback for $24 ($36), and Unravel for $5 ($8).

The EA sale also encompasses a number of PS3 games, which likewise offer an additional percentage off for Plus subscribers. Mass Effect Trilogy is $9.89 ($18), Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age II are $5 ($8) each, Dead Space: Ultimate Edition is $6.24 ($10), Dead Space 2 and 3: Ultimate Editions are $7.49 ($12) each, Mirror’s Edge is $3.74 ($7.49), Battlefield 4 Premium Edition is $15 ($30), Battlefield: Hardline Ultimate Edition is $17.49 ($35), Need for Speed Rivals is $5 ($10), and FIFA 18 Legacy Edition is $19.79 ($36).

In addition to the EA and PS Plus Specials sales, PS4 and PS3 owners can find deals on the Far Cry series, with all players receiving the same discount, regardless of whether or not you have a Plus subscription. On the newer console, the standard edition of Far Cry 4 is $12, while the standard version of Far Cry Primal is $15. Players can also pick up both together in a bundle for $21. On PS3, Far Cry 4 is $9, Far Cry 3 is $6, Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon is $4.49, Far Cry 2 is $6, and Far Cry Classic is $3.

Vita owners only have two new discounts to choose from this week. Ethan: Meteor Hunter is $2.49 ($3.49 without PS Plus), while Xenon Valkyrie+ is $9. You can find all of the games currently on sale on the PlayStation Store website. Most of the aforementioned deals are only available until 8 AM PT / 11 AM ET on February 27, giving you a week to take advantage of any discounts you might be interested in.

With March drawing near, Microsoft has announced the lineup of games that Xbox Live Gold members will be able to download for free next month. There’s the usual total of four new games being introduced across Xbox One and Xbox 360, with an especially good one up for grabs on the newer console.

On Xbox One, the month starts out with Trials of the Blood Dragon, a more action-oriented take on the Trials series that’s somewhat in the vein of Far Cry 3‘s Blood Dragon spin-off. It will be available for free for the entire month. From March 16 through April 15, Superhot will be free. The excellent shooter sports a distinct visual style and an even more novel concept, as time (mostly) freezes when you stop moving, allowing you to set up some Matrix-style bullet-dodging sequences.

Xbox 360 owners also get two games to download in March. During the first half of the month, it’s Brave: The Video Game, which is based on Disney’s film of the same name and was just added to the Xbox One’s backwards compatibility list. It’s then followed in the second half by Quantum Conundrum, the puzzle-based first-person game from Airtight Games and Kim Swift, one of the key developers behind Portal and Left 4 Dead. As always, both Xbox 360 games are playable on Xbox One through backwards compatibility.

In the meantime, it’s not too late to grab some of February’s free Games With Gold titles. One of the Xbox One games, Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: India, will also remain free for the first half of March. Claiming any of these games allows you to continue playing them for as long as you’re an Xbox Live Gold subscriber.

March 2018 Games With Gold

Xbox One

• Trials of the Blood Dragon (March 1-31)
• Superhot (March 16 – April 15)

Xbox 360 (playable on Xbox One)

• Brave: The Video Game (March 1-15)
• Quantum Conundrum (March 16-31)

Rainbow Six Siege fans who are eager to try out the game’s upcoming limited time co-op mode, Outbreak, can now do so, provided they own the game on PC. Following the launch of the new Chimera Operators on the technical test server, another update has arrived that introduces Outbreak.

Ahead of the big update’s launch in early March, which kicks off Year 3 of Siege, all of its major content is now available to try out on the TTS. That includes both of the new Operators (Lion and Finka) and the Outbreak mode, which is quite unlike anything else in Siege. It’s a three-player mode in which you fight off waves of zombies using select Operators. You can get a glimpse of all this in the video above.

A wave of other changes are also coming to the game, as outlined in the Chimera patch notes. Several Operators are being changed, including a nerf to Ela and some tweaks to Kapkan. Blitz has also been changed to have less armor but be quicker. However, a bug on the TTS is currently causing him to move much too quickly with his shield deployed. Ubisoft is aware of the problem and is in the process of releasing a fix.

As outlined by Ubisoft in Siege’s TTS Reddit page, there are a number of known issues to be aware of if you’re planning to dive in. The bomb defuser can’t be disarmed if a shield falls on it, and players can fire straight immediately after canceling a gadget deploy, even before the gun is in their hands. On the Outbreak side, you might not be properly teleported on Resort after vaulting during the countdown, and you’ll sometimes be mistakenly presented with the Outbreak loadout in the Operator’s screen.

The Chimera update launches for PC, PS4, and Xbox One on March 6. That includes the launch of the Outbreak event, which will be playable until April 3.