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'Sea of Thieves' is free this week, if you have friends
Sea of Thieves fans can convince their hesitant friends to dive into the murky depths with them for free this week. From February 6th to 13th, anyone who owns Sea of Thieves or has played it via an active Game Pass subscription can invite up to three friends to play for free. Just visit the website, grab your codes and hit the high seas.
A battle royale game is coming from the creators of 'Titanfall'
Rumors have swirled all weekend of Titanfall creator Respawn developing its own battle royale game, and... well, they're true. Geoff Keighley and pro player Myth have confirmed the existence of Apex Legends, a last-one-standing game to be unveiled and released on February 4th. They're not saying more at this stage, to no one's surprise, but esports consultant Rod Breslau understood it would be a free-to-play game with classes, up to 60 players in total, three players per team and no Titans -- sorry, folks, you won't pilot a giant robot to victory.
Xbox One 'black screen' issue prevented consoles from starting up (updated)
We hope you didn't take the day off for an extended Xbox game session. Microsoft has acknowledged widespread reports of Xbox One consoles suddenly failing. In many cases, the systems start up to a black screen that makes them unusable. There have also been issues with sign-ins, title updates and unresponsive Guides.
BioWare addresses 'Anthem' VIP demo glitches
The Anthem VIP demo didn't exactly launch according to plan between flaky connections and neverending loads, assuming you can even log in. However, BioWare has at least heard players' cries. In an update, the studio's Chad Robertson said the company was addressing the chronic issues with this first wave of public previews. It's continuing to "apply fixes" to connection problems (some of which might wait for the open demo), and believes it has addressed most issues where a "specific combination" of pre-order perks and demo access prevented people from getting in. Robertson warned that it was "difficult" to resolve the infinite loading screen issue and that it might not be fixed before the VIP weekend was over.
'Fortnite' eliminates blind loot boxes in its PvE mode
Epic Games has kept paid blind loot boxes out of Fortnite's signature battle royale mode, but now it's clearing them out of the cooperative Save the World mode, too. As of the 7.30 update, Epic has ditched V-Buck Llamas in favor of X-Ray Llamas that show you what you'll get when you shell out 50 V-Bucks. You won't spend real money on a set you don't want, in other words. If you don't like what's on offer (and aren't prepared to earn it through gameplay), you can wait until the following day.
'Anthem' demo is available to pre-load on all platforms
BioWare's Anthem is less than a month away, but before then players will get a taste of the shared-world shooter thanks to a pre-release demo. This being EA, however, the timings are a tad complicated.
Turn-based strategy game 'Wargroove' arrives on Switch February 1st
Wargroove, a turn-based strategy game from the publisher of Stardew Valley, is coming to the Nintendo Switch on February 1st. That's also when it will land on Steam and Xbox One for $19.99. Strangely, developer Chucklefish is saving the PS4 release date for a future announcement.
'Fortnite' Ice Storm event blankets the map in snow
Fortnite has had its share of map-changing events, but its latest might be the most conspicuous to date. Epic kicked off its Ice Storm event on January 19th through an in-game spectacle where the mysterious ice sphere (added with the recent 7.20 patch) broke open to reveal the Ice King, who promptly blanketed the entire map in snow and populated it with undead Ice Fiends. Unlike some events, it won't matter where you prefer to drop -- you'll be more conspicuous (unless you have the right outfit, that is) and may have to fend off zombie adversaries.
'Sea of Thieves' will take up less space after pending update
There is good news and bad news for Sea of Thieves players regarding the game's next update. The bad news is you'll have to download and reinstall the entire game. The good news is, as a result of some behind the scenes improvements made by developer Rare, the game installation size will be cut by nearly half on all platforms.
'Black Ops 4' battle royale is free for a week starting January 17th
Were you too busy playing Red Dead or Spider-Man over the holidays to give other games a look? Activision would like to talk. It's running a free, week-long trial of Call of Duty: Black Ops 4's tentpole Blackout mode between January 17th and January 24th on PC, PS4 and Xbox One. If you've wondered whether or not BO4's battle royale was good enough to tear you away from Fortnite or PUBG, you'll have plenty of time to get a feel for it.
'Rocket League' supports cross-play on every console, even PS4
Sony announced today that Rocket League has entered the PlayStation Cross-Play Beta program, meaning the popular game now has full cross-platform support. Players on PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and Steam PC can now team up or play against one another in all online match types, including casual and competitive modes.
'Battlefield V' does a better job of explaining why you died
The latest Battlefield V update might not include a truckload of content, but it could still have a dramatic impact on how you play the game. The initial Chapter 2: Lightning Strikes update has arrived, and it makes significant changes to the "death experience" to clearly explain why you died. There's now a camera that tracks your killer, and you'll see their name in the game world when they take you down. It should be clearer when you're under threat, too -- tracer rounds should consistently appear as if they're coming from the shooter, and directional damage indicators are more accurate. These sound like simple changes, but they could make a huge difference for Battlefield newcomers (who may be frustrated with seemingly arbitrary deaths) as well as veterans hoping to learn from their mistakes.
'Red Dead Online' gets a 32-player battle royale mode
Rockstar continues to expand the Red Dead Online beta, and its latest update will seem particularly familiar. The studio has added a Gun Rush mode that's effectively a one-for-one parallel to the battle royale modes you see in Fortnite, PUBG and numerous other titles from the past two to three years. You or your team have to scrounge for weapons while fighting to remain the last one standing in an ever shrinking play area. If there's a major difference, it's the scale -- with a maximum of 32 players, you'll probably finish rounds sooner than you would in the 100-player brawls that define other battle royale titles.
Razer’s Turret for Xbox One brings the keyboard to the couch
With mouse and keyboard support coming to Xbox One last November, the walls between PC and console are coming down. Nearly any modern wired or wireless mouse should work with the Xbox One, but while lots of living room gamers may be ready to jump into the fray with the added precision of a mouse, most keyboard/mouse setups are not made to be easily used from the couch.
'Hitman: Absolution' and 'Blood Money' remasters arrive January 11th
Following the success of Hitman and Hitman 2, Warner Bros. and IO Interactive are looking to strike while enthusiasm is high by releasing a remastered collection of older games in the series. The Hitman HD Enhanced Collection includes Hitman: Absolution and Hitman: Blood Money, and it will be available on PS4 and Xbox One on January 11th for $60. There's no word as yet on a PC release date, however.
Microsoft's first webcams in years might include Xbox One support
Microsoft hasn't been in the webcam game for a long time, but it might come roaring back -- and with some thoroughly modern hardware, to boot. Sources talking to Paul Thurrott (well-known for his Microsoft connections) claim Microsoft wants to return to webcams in 2019 with two 4K models, "at least one" of which would support Xbox One consoles in addition to Windows 10. This wouldn't necessarily replace the Kinect (you'd need depth sensing for that), but it could offer multi-user automatic sign-ins, Skype video chats and other features that either went away or require a third-party camera.
Bethesda says sorry to 'Fallout 76' players with free games
Bethesda is continuing its apology tour of sorts for Fallout 76's rough state on launch, and this time you don't need to have spent a lot to receive compensation. The developer is promising a free copy of Fallout Classics Collection (1, 2 and Tactics) on PC for everyone who has logged into the full Fallout 76 in 2018, whether they played on a computer or console. You should have access to your freebie in early January, Bethesda said.
The Xbox One's original indie game is finally here
Patience. Below is a game steeped in time, from creation to consumption, and it demands patience from developers and players alike. Capybara Games revealed Below during the Xbox E3 conference in 2013, suggesting this beautiful, dark and expansive adventure game would be out soon. So, fans waited. And waited. Another trailer dropped, showing a tiny character fighting its way through massive dungeons filled with supernatural secrets, but no release date appeared. Fans waited some more.
Xbox is poised to dominate the next console generation
Well, this is certainly a surprise. Xbox has been the bumbling underdog of the eighth console generation, playing catch-up to Sony's PlayStation 4 and watching from a distance as the Nintendo Switch reignited the passion of video game fans worldwide. However, over the past five years, Microsoft has doggedly climbed its way out of a PR and reputation pit with items like the Xbox One X and the Adaptive Controller as well as its public support of cross-console play. Today, Microsoft is better positioned than any other video game company to take control of the coming hardware cycle, which is expected to kick off in 2020.
Razer unveils the first keyboard and mouse combo for Xbox One
Razer has finally shown off the first wireless keyboard-and-mouse combo for the Xbox One, and... it's exactly what you'd expect. The company has unveiled an Xbox One version of its Turret bundle that mates a mechanical, RGB-lit keyboard with a seven-button, 16,000DPI mouse that sits on a retractable pad inside its fellow peripheral. You can play games like Fortnite or Warframe much as you would on a home theater PC, including (for some titles) Chroma and Xbox Dynamic Lighting effects.