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Take a trip to the depths of the world's biggest underwater sinkhole
In 1971, underwater explorer and ocean conservationist Jacques Cousteau parked his ship in the middle of Lighthouse Reef, some 40 miles off the coast of Belize, to dive what would become one of the world's premiere scuba destinations: The Great Blue Hole. Now, some 47 years after his grandfather's famed expedition, Fabien Cousteau is returning to the site with the latest and greatest in survey equipment to further explore the mysteries of the world's largest under sea sinkhole. And he's bringing Richard Branson along for the ride.
'PUBG Mobile' update adds Sanhok map and new weapons
PUBG Mobile's recruited 20 million daily active users (outside of Korea, Japan, and China) in just six months. To celebrate, Bluehole is giving gamers a massive update led by the arrival of the Sanhok map. That also means new weapons (Flare Gun, QBZ, Muscle Car and Bulletproof UAZ), along with a new Season Page that shows all your data -- including titles, highest tier reached and more -- and the usual gameplay improvements, this time tweaking the chat system, clan rankings, air drop items, and friends list, among others.
'PUBG' creators drop lawsuit over 'Fortnite' battle royale mode
If you were hoping PUBG Corp's lawsuit against Epic Games over Fortnite would be a knock-down drag-out fight to determine which battle royale game emerges triumphant... well, you'll be disappointed. The PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds developer has dropped the South Korean lawsuit, which alleged that Epic was imitating its interface and in-game items through Fortnite's Battle Royale mode. PUBG declined to explain the reason for the change of heart (we've asked Epic for comment), but there are a few potential candidates.
'PUBG' creators sue Epic Games over 'Fortnite' battle royale mode
The developers of PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds haven't been shy about accusing Epic Games of riding their bandwagon with Fortnite, and now they're taking legal action. Bluehole's PUBG Corp has confirmed that it sued Epic in South Korea this January for allegedly violating the studio's copyright with Fortnite's Battle Royale mode, particularly its interface and in-game items. Epic has declined to comment, but it's safe to say the situation is... complicated.
'PUBG' roadmap includes new maps and more stable gameplay
PlayerUnknown's BattleGrounds left beta this past December, adding a second map and instant replay feature to the 1.0 release, which also came to Xbox One in the same month. Since then, developer Bluehole has made various improvements, like spawning players in different locations to cut down on server load and pre-match mayhem and easier ways to report cheaters. Now, creator Brendan Greene has published the game's roadmap for the next year, promising a much more realistic and stable game with major updates set for every two months.
'PUBG' update makes it easy to report cheaters from replays
Cheating in PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds is getting to be a problem. What started on the third-person servers has started invading first-person ones as well. As such, PUBGCorp is releasing an update for the battle royale game that gives additional options for reporting nefarious players. "Starting with the current test build ... you will be able to report players directly from the replay feature of our game," according to the Steam Community page. "This means that you no longer need to be killed by a suspected cheater for you to be able to use the in-game reporting tool." As Polygon writes, when you right-click on a name in the player list or while observing them in follow mode, you'll find the new report button.
'PUBG' is quietly changing video games with its 3D replay technology
The new replay tools offered in PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds are so much more than standard video-capture technology. In fact, it isn't video capture at all -- it's data capture. The 3D replay tools allow players to zoom around the map after a match, tracking their own character, following enemies' movements, slowing down time and setting up cinematic shots of their favorite kills, all within a 1-kilometer radius of their avatar. It's filled with statistics, fresh perspectives and infinite data points to dissect. This isn't just a visual replay; it's a slice of the actual game, perfectly preserved, inviting combatants to play God.
'PUBG' sets new record with three million simultaneous players
In case you needed further proof that people really, really, really like PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG), Steam has your back. Today, the game shattered its previous concurrent-players record by more than double the amount, peaking at 3,106,358 this morning, according to Valve's game-selling platform. As of this month, PUBG had some 25 million players on PC overall. In September, the game peaked at 1,342,857 concurrent players.
'PUBG' reveals its second map, Miramar (updated)
As PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds creeps towards version 1.0 and its console debut on Xbox One next week, it's about to double its number of maps. "Miramar" has a desert setting intended to serve as the opposite of its first map Erangel which was set in the forest. Sparse terrain dotted by dense urban areas should force players to mix up their strategies if they want to make it to the end of the Battle Royale. It will be playable in the "final test round" before 1.0, so we are expecting to see it this month, and there will be a gameplay preview shown during tonight's Game Awards show. Update: The trailer has been revealed, showing that the game's action is still just as exciting in the desert and that it will be live on test servers Friday morning (12/8) at 3 AM ET. Further, version 1.0 on PC is scheduled for release on December 20th, however, the game's price will stay the same as it was in Early Access and all new maps will be free. Click here to watch it or just scroll down and press play.
'PUBG' console version will run at 60 fps on Xbox One X (update)
In a magazine interview, PlayerUnknown himself Brendan Greene dropped a few details about the console version of his popular shooter. One tidbit is that when PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds arrives in Game Preview December 12th, developers are expecting to have it running at 60 fps on Microsoft's just-released Xbox One X, however it may be lower on Xbox One. From the November 194 issue of Games™ (via Wccftech): On Xbox One, we're not sure. We may have to limit it at 30FPS, maybe, but the last time I saw it, it was running at about 30 to 40. We're still constantly improving it so, you know, the aim is to get to 60. That's why we're doing Game Preview, because I think the great thing about console is it's a locked hardware system, so we can do really specific tweaks that tune it for those systems.
'PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds' arrives on Xbox One December 12th
For Xbox One owners, the wait to play PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG) will end December 12th. The battle royale game consistently racks up 2 million daily players on Steam, and in just over a month it will transition to the Xbox Game Preview program as a work in progress, with studio Bluehole leaning on players to help guide the game's development. "We can use it like Steam Early Access where we can develop on console with the community, and that's going to be really essential -- in our view -- for getting a really great version on console," creator Brendan Greene told Engadget.
‘PUBG’ has banned over 150,000 cheaters since March
PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds has become incredibly popular in the few months it has been available on Steam Early Access. In August, it overtook Dota 2 as the game with the most simultaneous players and by the start of this month it had sold over 10 million units. But along with those large -- and growing -- player numbers come a lot of cheaters.
‘PUBG’ has 10 million people aiming for your skull
Last month, PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds overtook Dota 2 as the game with the most simultaneous players on Steam and on September 1st, it hit another milestone. Today, Bluehole announced that the game has sold over 10 million units on Steam Early Access since its March launch.
'PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds' knocks 'Dota 2' off its Steam throne
It's no secret that PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds is selling well even in its Early Access form, but it just crossed an important (if symbolic) milestone. On the morning of August 27th, the battle royale shooter overtook Dota 2 as the game with the most simultaneous players on Steam, with 877,844 fighting at once -- yes, it was more popular than the blockbuster title from the company that created Steam. It was a short-lived victory (PUBG is down to 'just' 450,000 as of this writing), but it's no mean feat when PlayerUnknown and crew were happy to have broken 500,000 just a few weeks earlier.
The best PC-gaming gear for students
While many of you will likely make your school computer some sort of all-purpose laptop, a few of you need something that can also withstand extensive gameplay sessions. For that reason, we've included in our back-to-school guide a handful of gaming-specific notebooks along with three GPUs, should your existing rig be due for an upgrade. Already have a system you're happy with? Treat yourself to a mouse, keyboard, or a game or three.
'PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds' gets the polish it sorely needs
PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds is one of the hottest games in the PC multiplayer scene (it dominates Twitch streams), but calling it unfinished would be an understatement. There's one map, limited movement options and many bugs -- we've seen games where all the buildings disappeared, for starters. However, the game is growing up quickly. In an interview with PC Gamer, Bluehole's Brendan Greene (aka PlayerUnknown himself) has shown off previously teased upgrades to the last-one-standing shooter that should flesh out its experience.
Skycastles coming to TERA on February 24
Have you recently come home to TERA? OK, maybe you never left. Either way, En Masse is betting you'll get excited about the Skycastle guild housing system that's heading your way on February 24th. The castles float above major cities and are available "to the top-ranking guilds on each server via two new ongoing four-week guild competitions that track guild points earned from dungeons, battlegrounds, and guild-vs.-guild battles," according to an En Masse press blurb. The patch will also include a new dungeon set aboard the Sky Cruiser Endeavor as well as a hard-mode version of Bathysmal Rise. [Source: En Masse press release]
Choose My Adventure: A bit of TERA sightseeing
There's no question that TERA is one of the most beautiful MMOs on the market. Its open world features gorgeous terrain, cool set pieces, and lots of variation for the screenshot-obsessed. So when Choose My Adventure's voters elected to send me exploring last week, I was more than happy to oblige. I wouldn't accomplish much Fate of Arun stuff, but at least I'd get to see some sights! I also, somehow, learned a bit more about the Warrior class and how to effectively deploy it in combat. It's been a long, hard crawl, but I think I'm finally starting to get the hang of my combo abilities and my evasion techniques. I'm definitely dying less and even occasionally having moments when I feel totally in control of the actions my character is taking and the reasoning behind them. I almost feel... good. Until the next BAM smacks me down, of course.
Sky castles and a gun-using class coming to TERA in 2015
Peer into the ball, strange bear thing with a skull cowboy hat, and tell us what future TERA holds. Or better yet, we could just read the brand-new producer's letter with all sorts of spoilers about the coming year! But the ball, that's cool too. The team is gearing up for an ambitious 2015, if this letter is any indication. Plans for February include sky castles for guilds, the Sky Cruiser Endeavor dungeon, and a 5v5 version of Champions' Skyring. Past that, TERA will host more frequent small events, a community costume design contest, the opening of the Dreadspire, and a brand new "gun-toting" class. Finally, the team promises to be better about talking to its playerbase. "As for our communication of the process -- yes, it has to get better, and it'll start with me," Producer Treeshark said.
Choose My Adventure: Air travel is not very safe in TERA
Massively multiplayer online games are collections of interlocking systems. A character's skills allow her to interact with the world, interacting with the world gives her experience points, experience points give her levels, levels give her skills, and so on. Inventory, items, professions, quests, and social interactions are also systems, layered on top of the core combat and gameplay mechanics. When you have mastery over an MMO, you don't just have mastery over skill rotations; you have mastery over all of the systems underneath. By the time a normal person hits 60 in En Masse's TERA, for example, that person can probably tell the difference between good gear and bad gear, organize a character's inventory, and use the game's menus. This is the stuff you take for granted when you've been playing an MMO for weeks, months, or years. Leaping into expansion content with a near-max-level character but little core game experience is, thus, not very smart. But I did it anyway, charging into TERA's Fate of Arun with a brand-new-yet-level-60 Castanic Warrior for Choose My Adventure. It went okay.
