Apex Legends Players Are Dominating Solos Mode By Teaming Up

The new Solos mode in Apex Legends is a free-for-all, every-person-for-themselves affair, where there can be only one winner.

The new mode, which launched alongside the Iron Crown event, is a traditional battle royale set-up, where 60 players are dropped onto the map and only one ultimately survives. Everyone is in it for themselves in this mode — at least in theory. As it turns out, many people are teaming up before the match has started, making pacts to work together to make it to the final circle.

Posts on Reddit (like this one) point towards an issue with players teaming up, giving them a huge advantage over players who are legitimately playing solo. As Eurogamer discovered, queuing up at the same time as a friend so as to end up in the same Solos round is not difficult – they were able to do it four times out of five.

Solos mode is intended as a limited-time event, but the game is also in hot water with fans for some expensive weapons that have been introduced for the Iron Crown event – the Raven’s Crown axe will cost you the equivalent of $170, according to Kotaku. Because of this, a lot of Apex Legends fans are unhappy with the game this week.

Whether or not restrictions will be introduced for Solos, or matchmaking will be changed, remains to be seen. You can track the changes being made to Apex Legends through the game’s public Trello board.

Toy Story 4 Earns $1 Billion, Becomes Fifth Disney Film to Do so in 2019

Toy Story 4 has officially earned over $1 billion at the global box office, making it the fifth Disney film of 2019 to cross the milestone.

As reported by THR, this achievement has allowed Disney to beat its previous record of four films in one year to earn $1 billion globally, and Toy Story has also become the fourth Pixar film to reach this coveted amount alongside Incredibles 2, Finding Dory, and Toy Story 3.

Toy Story 4 grossed $421.8 million domestically and $579.9 million internationally for a grand total of $1.002 billion through Wednesday, August 14, reaching the billion mark 55 days after its theatrical release on June 21, 2019.

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‘SUPERHOT Presents’, A New Indie Fund, Is Assisting With Two Very Interesting Australian Indie Games

SUPERHOT studio has announced ‘SUPERHOT Presents‘, a new fund aimed at helping independent developers make and release small, unusual games. According to the announcement, the team wanted to assist in the creation of other people’s games, and to start off with they’ve signed on to assist with two games that are nothing like their own output. The games in question are the Frog Detective series, developed by Grace Bruxner and her new studio Worm Club, and Knuckle Sandwich, developed by Andrew Brophy. Both games are being developed in Australia.

So far one game has been released in the Frog Detective series, ‘The Haunted Island’. SUPERHOT studio has this to say of the game: “It’s simple. It’s perfect. We love how wholesome and warm and funny it is, we enjoy the game, we like the team, so we offered to help.” The trailer, below, should give you some idea of the game’s tone. A sequel, Frog Detective 2: The Case of the Invisible Wizard, is currently in the works.

Knuckle Sandwich is developer Andrew Brophy’s RPG “about a boy looking for work in a new city,” styled after old Game Boy Advance titles. It’s a weird, distinctive title, and it features both a missing persons mystery and a cult, according to its Steam page. The game is, according to Brophy, reaching the final stages of development, although a release date has not yet been set.

SUPERHOT is not becoming a publisher, but instead wants to help indie developers who “just need some finishing (or starting) funds,” along with some mentoring and advice. Assistance will be offered by the four “businessy types” SUPERHOT studio currently employs, alongside the funds offered.

SUPERHOT studios is more famous for the game that the studio was named after. In his 8/10 review of the game back in 2016, Peter Brown praised the game’s storytelling: “while the core gameplay didn’t evolve drastically, the story that drives it did, taking me along for a ride that I never saw coming.

Amazon’s Marvelous Mrs. Maisel Day Causes Chaos in Los Angeles

In support of their Emmy-nominated comedy The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Amazon kicked off “Maisel Day” on August 15 in sunny Los Angeles by offering dozens of discounts around the city. The deals were part of a promotion allowing locals to experience the prices they would’ve paid for the same conveniences in 1959, the setting of the Rachel Brosnahan-led series. Some offerings included pastrami sandwiches for 99 cents at Canter’s Deli, movie tickets for 51 cents, Drybar and Blushington beauty treatments between $2.00 and $3.00, and a night at the swanky Hollywood Roosevelt hotel for only $40.

But the best “Maisel Day” offering was the gasoline: The Chevron gas station on Cloverfield in Santa Monica was offering gas for 30 cents That’s right, for $6.00 you could drive away with 20 gallons of gas! Apparently, this was so attractive to Los Angeles residents the police had to intervene. According to ABC7’s anchor and reporter John Gregory, the police had to “suspend” sales at the gas station until they could get traffic under control.

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Fortnite Added The Controversial B.R.U.T.E. Mechs To Help Players Who Were Struggling To Earn Eliminations

A new post on Fortnite’s website, credited to ‘The Fortnite Team’, explains why the B.R.U.T.E. mechs were added to the game and the impact they’ve had so far.

The post acknowledges that the mechs have been controversial, but explains that they were added because one of the goals of Fortnite is “to bring players of all skill levels together to have a fun experience where anyone can win.” The random nature of the mechs, which could give any player a massive unexpected advantage, gives less-experienced players a greater chance of racking up eliminations, or even a Victory Royale. “Right now, we know there are players out there who have never had that opportunity,” the post says. They also want to provide “spectacle and entertainment”, which means trying new things and introducing interesting wrinkles.

The post also contains two charts, showing how many eliminations B.R.U.T.E. mechs are typically racking up during a match, both as a number and then as a percentage of total kills.

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These two charts show that the mechs, while significant, are not necessarily dominant in an average match of the game. “B.R.U.T.E. encounters should feel like a unique engagement and not be the dominant experience during a game,” the post says. The B.R.U.T.E. was adjusted slightly in update 10.10, and now has an aiming laser so other players can see where they are pointing. They’ve also been tweaked to spawn less often in competitive Arena modes, hence the much lower percentages we see in the charts above.

Fortnite’s tenth season is likely to run until early October.

Ewan McGregor Reportedly May Return for Obi-Wan Kenobi Series for Disney+

Ewan McGregor is reportedly in talks to return as Obi-Wan Kenobi in a brand-new Disney+ series.

THR has reported that McGregor is “in negotiations to reprise the role in a Kenobi-centered series for Disney+,” while Deadline has said the “actor is in talks about reprising his role as the heartfelt but headstrong Jedi Master known as Obi-Wan Kenobi in a yet-to-be-titled Disney+ series.”

McGregor first played the role of Jedi master Obi-Wan Kenobi in 1999’s Star Wars – Episode 1: The Phantom Menace, and reprised his role in 2002’s Star Wars – Episode 2: Attack of the Clones and 2005’s Star Wars – Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith. He also made a voice-only cameo in Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

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Yooka-Laylee And The Impossible Lair Is Releasing In October

Playtonic has, in its own cheeky way, announced a release window for Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair, the upcoming second game in the series.

The game will release in October, although a specific day within October has not been clarified. The news came via a video tweeted out by the official Playtonic Twitter account, along with the caption “Good things are coming in October…” In a follow-up tweet, the developer said that the music in the original video was from a new Grant Kirkhope track that will be released in full next week.

The new game, announced in June, is a 2.5D platformer created by many of the key talents who were behind the original Donkey Kong Country. It’ll mix platforming and puzzles, and a sidescrolling platforming sections with a 3D top-down overworld. If it’s anything like the original Yooka-Laylee, it’ll be full of retro throwbacks. The game is coming to Nintendo Switch, PS4, Xbox One and PC.

In her 6/10 review of the original Yooka-Laylee, Kallie Plagge said that “despite attempts at modernizing the formula, its style of gameplay is still outdated, and it doesn’t stay challenging or interesting for long as a result.”

Bethesda Updates Doom Ports To Address Annoying Login Requirements

Bethesda surprised gamers with releases of Doom, Doom 2, and Doom 3 for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One during QuakeCon 2019. While exciting, fans quickly discovered that all three re-releases required a Bethesda.net account to access the game and/or certain features. A new patch now provides the option to skip the login altogether.

Bethesda tweeted that a new update for Doom and Doom 2 lets you skip the Bethesda login screen. The patch will also remove the message that you have disconnected from the server during gameplay, letting you slaughter demons in heavy metal peace.

While there isn’t a release date yet, Bethesda says it’s working on a permanent fix to “reduce [the login’s] visibility.” Bethesda notes that the login is optional, though several outlets–including Eurogamer and Kotaku–have pointed out that though Doom and Doom 2 can be played offline, an internet connection and a Bethesda account are required once before playing either title offline.

Bethesda and developer Id Software are gearing up for the hellish release of Doom Eternal, which is expected to launch for Google Stadia, Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on November 22. It serves as a direct sequel to 2016’s Doom and aims to be a “fantasy combat puzzle,” a phrase creative director Hugo Martin used to describe the “well-crafted experience” the team’s making.

Power Stone Producer “Would Love” To Make Sequel

Though dormant for over a decade, Power Stone remains one of the most memorable games Capcom has ever released. There may not be any definitive plans to bring back the series, but the game’s producer would love to see the quirky 3D brawler make a return–especially on Nintendo Switch.

In an interview with The Guardian, designer Hideaki Itsuno broke down how Power Stone came into existence. By assembling arcade and console developers for a project way outside Capcom’s usual wheelhouse, the Dreamcast brawler aimed to be “something that would be well received by players other than just hardcore fighting fans,” according to Itsuno. It seems to have worked, as Power Stone producer Takeshi Tezuka reports “still get[ting] messages from fans” about the much-loved series.

Tezuka says some of these messages come in the form requests for him to bring Power Stone back. “People tweet requests to me to make another Power Stone, which I’d love to do if I got the chance,” Tezuka told the Guardian. “It would be a particularly great fit for the Nintendo Switch.”

Power Stone debuted in 1999 for arcades and the Sega Dreamcast. The game made such a splash for Capcom that an anime adaptation was approved and aired from April to September of 1999. About a year and a half later, the sequel, Power Stone 2, made its way to the same platforms. Six years later, in October/November 2006, the PlayStation Portable saw the Power Stone Collection, a two-pack featuring ports of both Power Stone titles.

In our Power Stone review, we said, “All in all, Power Stone is a very fun and unconventional fighter. However, the excitement is short lived.”

In our Power Stone 2 review, we said, “Fans of the original Power Stone will be pleased with the similar, yet definitely enhanced feel of Power Stone 2. As a four-player game, it’s definitely one of the wildest fighters to come to the Dreamcast.”

Anthem Lead Producer Leaving BioWare For New Company

Ben Irving, the lead producer on BioWare’s action-RPG Anthem, has announced he’s leaving the company. In a statement on Twitter, Irving said that he has accepted a position with another company and that the game still has a “bright future” under current leadership.

In his series of tweets, Irving says BioWare was his “dream place” to work since the first time he played Baldur’s Gate. He thanks the Anthem community for being so engaged “through the good times and the tough times,” and says they’re in good hands with Jesse Anderson and Andrew Johnson. It’s unclear, from his statement, who will be filling the lead producer role for future Anthem updates. He also referenced an opportunity at a new developer, but has not specified where.

Irving has been with BioWare since 2011, serving a variety of roles including lead development director for The Old Republic franchise and the lead producer on Star Wars: The Old Republic. Anthem struggled with a rocky launch, and recently launched its anticipated Cataclysm update.

GameSpot has reached out to EA for comment.