It might be time to heed Jack’s advice and go back to the island.
ABC President Karey Burke told reporters today that she is interested in a possible Lost reboot for the network, which was the home of the hit drama series from 2004 to 2010.
According to /Film, Burke clarified that she had not had any discussions with Lost co-creator J.J. Abrams, showrunner Carlton Cuse, or ABC Studios about a reboot. Burke said a potential reboot was “just what I dream about when I go to bed at night.”
ABC isn’t a stranger to the reboot game. Last year, the network brought back the ’90s sitcom Roseanne, which later transformed into The Conners. ABC is also currently working on a possible Bewitched reboot and a sequel to Designing Women.
EA has released its financial report for the third quarter of its current financial year. Although the report began with a rather negative take on EA’s 2018 performance, there was mention of a hopeful future for the company, including the confirmation that Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order is coming this fall.
“Looking forward, we’re delighted to launch Anthem, our new IP, to grow Apex Legends and related Titanfall experiences, to deliver new Plants vs. Zombies and Need for Speed titles, and to add Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order to our sports titles in the fall,” EA COO and CFO Blake Jorgensen said.
At E3 2018, Respawn Entertainment CFO Vince Zampella announced the new Star Wars game is scheduled specifically for 2019’s holiday season. This suggested Fallen Order would arrive in late November or early December. It’s probable this is still the case, although the use of “fall” in the EA financial report instead of “holiday season” could suggest the game is now scheduled to release a little earlier.
Set between the events of Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope, Fallen Order puts you in control of a Jedi Padawan who survived Order 66 and is now on the run. No other plot details or gameplay mechanics have been confirmed, but Zampella did announce that you’ll be able to use a lightsaber.
EA’s history of developing Star Wars games hasn’t been very good recently. Battlefront II, though mechanically sound, was plagued by unfair, pay-to-win microtransactions that players managed convinced EA to drop prior to the game’s launch. Visceral was working on a single-player Star Wars game, but EA shut the developer down and transitioned the project to its Vancouver studio before cancelling the title altogether. Respawn is currently the only known EA studio continuing development on a Star Wars title, which it has been working on alongside the recently released Apex Legends and an unannounced VR title.
Blizzard is kicking off a new Hearthstone community event today that will spread a nifty reward around like a virus. The “Curse of Hakkar” event features a new exclusive card back that has been distributed to a small group of players, but will infect everyone who comes in contact with it.
Playing against a player with the new “Mark of Hakkar” card back will reward you with it. Then you can equip it and begin spreading it to others. You’ll need to play a full match to spread the item, so conceding or leaving immediately won’t get you the reward. If you want to gift it to your friends, you can queue up friendly matches to distribute it to them.
The community event is a reference to one of the cards from the most recent expansion, Rastakhan’s Rumble. Hakkar the Soulflayer is a neutral Legendary card that shuffles “Corrupted Blood” into each player’s deck upon dying. That Corrupted Blood replicates and multiplies itself, so if a match goes on long enough it makes going to fatigue much more risky. It also serves as a hard counter to Mecha’thun, which requires an empty deck to function.
Recently Blizzard announced a new set of balance changes coming to Hearthstone, which strike particularly hard at classic mainstays that have been used in multiple decks across the game’s lifespan. This all comes in advance of the new Standard rotation, which will cycle when the first expansion of 2019 releases. That will rotate out all the cards from Journey to Un’Goro, Knights of the Frozen Throne, and Kobolds and Catacombs, to make room for this year’s new sets.
EA reported its third quarter financial results, expressing disappointment at its performance. But in the process of promising to make-good in the coming year, it quasi-announced two more games: a new Plants vs. Zombies, and a new Need for Speed.
“Looking forward, we’re delighted to launch Anthem, our new IP, to grow Apex Legends and related Titanfall experiences, to deliver new Plants vs. Zombies and Need for Speed titles, and to add Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order to our sports titles in the fall,” said COO and CFO Blake Jorgensen, in the announcement. In a subsequent earnings call, the company confirmed the new PvZ game is a shooter, and the official game account tweeted that it’s coming for PC and consoles.
Last year a retail listing appeared to have leaked Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 3, but no official announcement has been made. In an interview with Edge Magazine (via Xbox Achievements), EA Motive’s Jade Raymond mentioned another PvZ was on its plate, likely assisting PopCap. More recently, though, Raymond left EA Motive altogether, leaving Samantha Ryan (who runs the mobile, BioWare, and Maxis studios) in charge of that studio.
The most recent Need for Speed game was Payback in 2017, which was among our worst-reviewed games of the year of its release. Either or both of these teases could mean mobile games or other spin-offs.
Jorgensen’s comment is also the second recent indicator that another Titanfall is still in the works. Respawn’s Vince Zampella said that the studio is working on “more Titanfall for later in the year,” alongside its new game Apex Legends. Apex takes place within the Titanfall universe, but doesn’t use the series’ mech combat or wall-running.
NetherRealm Studios has confirmed Kabal and D’Vorah will be in Mortal Kombat 11. Following a tease in January, Kabal was fully revealed during the first Kombat Kast, a regular livestream dedicated to the brutal fighting game. According to Mortal Kombat co-creator Ed Boon, Kabal is the first of a few fan-favorite characters that will be added to the roster. In the trailer for him, which you can watch below, Kabal is shown with his iconic meat hooks and puts his Nomad Dash to good use.
At one point he’s shown running off one side of the screen and appearing on the other to deliver his bone-crushing hook slam. He also has his buzz saw blades, which will be handy in controlling space and movement. His Fatality, meanwhile, involves grabbing the enemy and running at high speed with them in tow, before using his hooks to cut them in half.
During the Kombat Kast, Ed Boon also teased the guest character, saying people will “freak out” when they see it. However, he stopped short of announcing the character.
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Mortal Kombat 11 – Kabal Gameplay Reveal Trailer
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Later, during the Inside Xbox stream, Boon confirmed that D’Vorah, a character that made her debut in Mortal Kombat X, will also be in Mortal Kombat 11. However, we didn’t get to see or hear much more about her.
Mortal Kombat 11 was officially announced during The Game Awards, but it was fully unveiled on January 23, when NetherRealm showed off gameplay from it and revealed a few characters. Naturally, Scorpion and Sub-Zero are returning, along with Raiden, Sonya Blade, and Baraka. However, one new character added to the roster is Geras, who is capable of manipulating the time on the clock.
The PS Essentials sale has come to an end, but a new selection of deals are now available in the US PlayStation Store. This week, Ubisoft is holding a sale on a number of its PS4 titles–with an extra percentage off available for PS Plus subscribers–while Epic Games is offering discounts on Fortnite‘s paid Save the World mode.
The Far Cry series is likewise on sale this week. Far Cry 5 is down to $15 for PS Plus members, while its predecessor, Far Cry 4, is $12. You can also pick up Far Cry 3 Classic Edition for $13.49 or Far Cry Primal for $10. Beyond that, Ubisoft’s popular tactical shooter, Rainbow Six Siege, is $12.49, and Ghost Recon Wildlands is $15. Finally, the loot-driven shooter The Division is down to $10 if you’re interested in picking it up before its sequel arrives next month.
In addition to the Ubisoft sale, Epic is holding a sale on Fortnite: Save the World. Unlike the game’s free Battle Royale mode, Save the World is currently only available as a paid download–although Epic has expressed plans to take it free in the future. In the meantime, if you’re interested in jumping in, you can get its various Founder’s Pack–which include access to the game along with other goodies–at a discount. The standard Founder’s Pack, which typically runs for $40, is available this week for $20, while the Deluxe Founder’s Pack is $30.
You can see some other notable deals below; the full list can be found on the PlayStation Store. The Ubisoft sale runs until February 19, while the Fortnite: Save the World discounts will be available until February 13.
Vivox, one of the world’s leading provider of voice and text chat for video games, has announced that developers can now use the company’s software to add console-based voice chat to their games on Nintendo Switch. Titles that support Vivox SDK will allow you to converse with other players by simply plugging a headset into the Switch console, as opposed to going through the mobile app. This system is already live on Fortnite.
“We’ve already seen a great deal of success with Nintendo and the use of our voice services in Fortnite,” said Vivox president Dave Verratti. “We are extremely proud to be a part of the Nintendo ecosystem. We’re happy to help Nintendo continue to push the envelope in their products by bringing gamers together through enhanced communications.”
Additionally, Vivox’s software supports cross-platform voice and text communication. With more titles on Switch supporting cross-play with Xbox One, PS4, and PC–starting with Fortnite and now extending to others such as Rocket League and Dauntless–Vivox could allow those playing a game on Switch to communicate with their friends on other platforms, provided the game supports SDK.
Nintendo’s implementation of voice chat on Switch through a mobile app has been met with a mostly negative reception. In response to the discontentment, Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime said, “We believe the easiest way for you to connect and have a peer-to-peer experience with voice chat is with your mobile phone. It’s always there, it’s always with you.”
He also cited Nintendo’s history of doing things differently, pointing to examples of previous company decisions that seemed bad at the time but turned out alright in hindsight. “We have a much different suite of experiences than our competitors offer, and we do that in a different way,” Fils-Aime said. “This creates a sort of yin and yang for our consumers. They’re excited about cloud saves and legacy content but wish we might deliver voice chat a different way, for example.”
Respawn, the developer behind Titanfall and Titanfall 2, surprised fans by announcing and releasing a new battle royale game, titled Apex Legends, on the same day. Although the game doesn’t support cross-platform play, Respawn has hinted that may not always remain the case.
On the Apex Legends FAQ page, Respawn writes, “We currently don’t support cross-platform play, but are always working on new features and improvements we can add to our game.” So cross-play could come to the Titanfall-themed battle royale game in the future. Given Sony’s decision to reverse its stance on cross-play with Nintendo and Microsoft, Apex could feature cross-platform support across Xbox One, PS4, and PC.
[Update: An earlier version of this article theorized that, through cross-platform support, Apex Legends could offer players shared progression across every system. However, in an interview with Eurogamer, Respawn said that cross-progression will never be possible in Apex “due to the way systems were set up early on” which “can’t [be] reconciled after the fact.” Thus, the portion of this article that mentioned the possibility of cross-progression has been cut.]
Apex Legends has some pretty minor PC system requirements. With it also being free-to-play, you can pretty easily jump into the game’s1 million player communityon a laptop or low-end PC. We’ve outlined the full requirements below.
