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New Official Switch Screenshots of Super Mario 3D World Released

By
Aletheia
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Excited fans who have been looking forward to the release of Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury this February 12 have been treated to a fresh batch of new screenshots that give them an exciting new look at what they can expect once the game is released.

These screenshots, which have been posted on Nintendo UK’s official website, show off the capabilities of the game’s new and improved photo mode, along with screenshots from Bowser’s Fury’s moment-to-moment gameplay.

Originally launched for the Wii U, the upcoming Nintendo Switch port of the popular Super Mario 3D World was revealed last September 2020, with its developers promising to include a plethora of new features and content for the dedicated fans of the long-running franchise to enjoy.

Needless to say that these additions will be more of a bonus to a game that has already received praise and recognition for its replayability and range of content the first time around. What made fans even more excited is the addition of Bowser’s Fury, as it made this upcoming title more than just a Nintendo Switch port of a classic game. This could be a great example to other Wii U games that want to port to the Nintendo Switch in the future, especially those titles that didn’t sell as well as it could have due to the low-selling console.

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Ever since Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury was announced, Nintendo has done a great job in releasing a steady stream of updates about what fans can look forward to once the game launches next month. This includes the confirmation that Captain Toad courses will support co-op, Bowser’s Fury will feature open-world gameplay, as well as a new photo mode that players can tinker around with.

This time around, Nintendo UK has offered a different kind of update in the form of screenshots. The new screenshots provide players with a better look at the upcoming game’s characters, environment, and even gameplay.

What’s more, it appears that this latest batch of screenshots was taken using the built-in Snapshot Mode, which seems to work similarly to Super Mario Odyssey’s photo mode. For some reason, though, these new images are noticeably missing from Nintendo of America’s website.

There’s only a few weeks left before Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury will be officially available to purchase, download, and play. As such, we doubt that the company will release any other major update about the upcoming game at this point in time. However, minor updates such as this will probably be more prominent, offering a better glimpse of what the game has to offer.

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It’s great that these screenshots offers a better look at Bowser’s Fury form as well, as the new screenshots has a bunch of shots of the fan-favorite villain wreaking havoc on Lake Lapcat.

Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury‘s theme revolving around cats will most likely receive the spotlight more often than not, especially since it’s a vital part of this expansion. It’s a great addition that will definitely get cat lovers and non-cat lovers alike hyped for the upcoming title.

Twitch Bans AverageHarry Permanently

By
Aletheia
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0
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Twitch is probably the most popular online streaming service on the internet right now, with more or less 15 million active users and 3 million monthly streamers. Needless to say, it’s a massive platform, even though it has strong competitors like YouTube, among others.

However, it’s not all sunshine and rainbows. With Twitch’s ever-increasing community follows controversy for various reasons. Most of the time, its issues stem from the way the platform bans users—sometimes for miniscule things—and it appears that one popular streamer has fallen victim to this.

Streamer AverageHarry has been permanently banned by Twitch due to the fact that he created his account before he was even 13 years old. Now that he’s a young boy of 15, Twitch denied Harry’s partnership application after he waited 72 days for a reply from the company. Even though his account has been permanently removed from the platform, the streamer states that Twitch will allow him to create a brand-new account and start from scratch, but that would mean he lost 90,000 followers from his first account.

Naturally, this made the community heavily criticize Twitch by saying that the platform’s actions were hypocritical. Some gamers in the community said that one popular Twitch channel by a 16-year-old hadn’t faced any repercussions like AverageHarry had, even though the user’s account was allegedly made when they were still 11.

There’s a bunch of Fortnite streamers who didn’t receive the same kind of treatment as well, including Bugha who more or less has 3.8 million followers on his Twitch channel. The owners of these popular channels were also underaged when their accounts were first made, which is why many were confused why AverageHarry had to be permanently banned for such reasons.

Many of AverageHarry’s fans have been trying to reach out to Twitch to try and explain the situation, hoping to make the company rethink its decision. That being said, it’s possible that Twitch may have had other reasons as to why his channel was removed permanently. Perhaps it has something to do with a clause that can be found on the platform’s terms of services.

If this theory is true, then this is most likely the reason why AverageHarry’s channel was removed but not others. However, at the same time, the terms of services also clearly state that the minimum age requirement in order to create a Twitch account is at least 13 years old. In this case, many of the other young channels should’ve been banned too.

Twitch is no stranger to banning popular streamers. Just a couple of days ago, the platform removed the account of virtual streamer CodeMiko. This actually isn’t the first time that their channel was removed, although this time, the reasons were unclear.

Twitch was acquired by Amazon back in 2014 for an incredible $970 million, which clearly shows just how big the platform has become. While many thought that Google was the one that bought the platform, it appears that it may have backed out at the last minute.

Genshin Impact Drops Special Video of Barbara as a Vtuber

By
Aletheia
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0
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At this point in time, fans of miHoyo’s free-to-play Genshin Impact are probably gearing up for the game’s upcoming update, with the developer recently dropping a brand-new trailer for Version 1.3 as a teaser of what’s to come once it launches on February 3, 2021.

For starters, a new character named Xiao will be joining the fray with his very own summoning banner. Aside from that, though, Chinese developer miHoYo also paid special attention to one other fan-favorite playable character from the game.

The adorable Barbara is a Hydro character with healing abilities. Not only is she the Deaconess of the Favonius Church, but as per the official Genshin Impact website, Barbara is also a “shining starlet adored by all.”

Although players have the option to obtain Barbara through the game’s gacha or Wish system, they can actually earn her for free through the “Baptism of Song” event that was made available to all players last November 9, 2020.

Given her adorable looks, it doesn’t come as a surprise that many fans have grown quite attached to the Hydro user. Now, it seems that miHoYo is really milking her popularity by releasing a Special Video.

The video, entitled “Barbara’s Special Video: An Idol’s Healing Magic,” was published on the game’s official YouTube account last week. It essentially transforms Barbara into a Virtual YouTube aka VTuber, who interacts with the audience (or the Traveler) in a more animated form. This interaction, albeit a one-sided one, suggests that the Traveler went to Barbara asking for advice on what to do because they were “feeling down.”

Barbara shows the Traveler her journal in exchange for 100 Spicy Dried Fish. The journal supposedly contains every piece of hope, criticism, and compliment that has been given to Barbara, which gives her a “reason to endure.”

The virtual interaction was cute and charming, and ends with Barbara seemingly getting teased by the Traveler about how they want to write something in her journal, too. In the end, the adorable character says that the Traveler can talk to her any time.

Laura Stahl, Barbara’s English VA, shared the video on her Twitter account and captioned it with “A little Barbara time to brighten your day.” The recent video was more of an experimental one by developer miHoYo, but it was unsurprisingly a massive hit.

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VTubers have been incredibly popular since last year, so much so that countless VTubers on Twitch and YouTube have been earning a lot of money since then. In fact, even content creators like Pokimane joined the trend and made 3D anime-like avatars of their own. As such, it makes sense that miHoYo would want to join this trend as well as a form of connecting with the fans.

That being said, miHoYo isn’t the only developer that got in on the trend. In December of last year, developer Riot Games also made VTuber versions of the popular League of Legends’ virtual K-Pop group known as K/DA. Although, many fans criticized the company for its attempts at making its virtual characters seem more like human celebrities, especially with Seraphine having mental health struggles when she was initially launched back in November 2020.

In miHoYo’s case, the developer’s video was more on the cute side and didn’t cause any harm. With that in mind, we can’t wait to see if miHoYo decides to post more of these videos featuring other fan-favorite characters in the future.

Braun Strowman Arriving To WWE Undefeated Next Month

By
Christian Allen Tandoc
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0
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Braun Strowman, former strongman turned professional wrestler, is arriving in WWE Undefeated next month, a tweet from the official Twitter account of the game has revealed. Braun will join WWE superstars who are already part of the game, such as Roman Reigns and The Rock.

Since its launch a few months ago, the iOS and Android game has consistently been adding a potent roster of popular ring warriors to its ranks. Last month saw WWE Undefeated introducing fan-favorite John Cena to the game, and just a few hours ago it was revealed that Stone Cold Steve Austin will also be added to the game.

The game puts fans into multiplayer PvP matches where they fight off as their preferred WWE wrestlers in vicious battles and features loot boxes and leveling up mechanics Android and iOS players have come to anticipate from mobile games.

While WWE Undefeated started its life with largely mixed reviews, the frequent additions to its list of playable characters can only help to enhance the reputation of the game. If this is the goal, introducing Braun Strowman surely appears like a step in the correct direction.

As a present-day wrestler with a real-life undefeated streak back in 2016 and 2017, Braun Strowman has a huge following and might be the ideal wrestler to charm some WWE fans into the mobile gaming app. A few weeks ago, the game utilized an identical tactic by adding Triple H into the game’s roster. While Triple H may be considered an old school wrestler, he has appeared on recent WWE events such as Survivor Series 2019 and is still popular with all WWE fans.

Since the game’s launch back in December, WWE Undefeated has been introducing a myriad of new pro wrestlers and shows no signs of slowing down. Even though it does rely on the common loot box method present in most mobile games, fans have a lot to look forward to in the game’s future if it continues to introduce popular wrestlers after popular wrestlers to its consistently growing roster.

Apex Legends Season 8 Releases Along With New Launch Trailer

By
Christian Allen Tandoc
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0
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The newest playable character en route to Apex Legends has quite completely crash-landed into King’s Canyon as part of the final reveal for the 8th Season. Fuse, an Australian-sounding gentleman first announced to players in the Good as Gold story trailer several days ago, is a violent champion carrying a massive rocket launcher as a finishing move.

He comes from Salvo, a borderline planet rumored to be centered on explosions. After undergoing political manipulation, the planet is siding with a more civilized society, and Fuse is joining the Apex Games as part of the ritual. He’s arriving in February along with Apex Legends Season 8 – Mayhem.

Apex Legends: Seasons 5, 6, 7, and 8 already in development | GLHF.gg

Apex Legend’s latest season coincides with Respawn Entertainment’s battle royale’s second anniversary, and the game has grown considerably since 2019. Constant season drops have broadened out the roster of characters to fifteen competitors, with Fuse soon to keep the number going.

There are three maps routinely on rotation alongside a few unique game modes that periodically pop up and favorite weapons added in from the Titanfall franchise. There aren’t any giant mechs to pilot, but the new map added a three-man vehicle to the game, which is one step towards that elusive goal.

As for what fans can anticipate with Season Eight and Fuse, they got a quick glimpse with the new Mayhem Launch Trailer posted this week. It features Fuse entering King’s Canyon only to be stopped by Maggie, his fellow warrior as depicted in the Good as Gold story trailer.

She turns the weapons of Fuse’s ship against him, firing into the crowd assembled to see his debut and compelling him to overwhelm the vessel and run for his life. The ship falls into the canyon, which should foretell changes coming to the map in Season 8.

Gameplay-wise, Fuse’s ultimate skill is a large area of effect rocket launcher, and his tactical choice is a projectile grenade, although the exact information of both skills are still under wraps for now. Aside from the new map and new hero, Season Eight will also introduce a new weapon to the game – the 30-30 Repeater.

This gun is a lever-action rifle, so it will be a perfect sniping option with the help of a good scope and other attachments. Season Eight will also bring a new battle pass as anyone can expect, so existing players are encouraged to get their games in before February to get those final levels and say goodbye to King’s Canyon as they know it.

[Updated] Microsoft Increases Price of Xbox Live Gold

By
Christian Allen Tandoc
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Update: Xbox fans rejoice! A few hours after announcing the controversial price increase for Xbox Live Gold, Microsoft has taken back the decision after hearing fans’ outcry.

Xbox Live Gold has been catering to gamers with digital media delivery and online multiplayer across three eras of consoles for the past 2 decades. Every so often, Microsoft looks at the pricing of the subscription and makes adjustments. Now, Microsoft revealed that a few regions will soon be receiving a price increase for Xbox Live Gold.

Fortunately, Microsoft’s revamped membership plans are not a big change, so players likely won’t fee a significant hit to their pockets. According to the company, 1-month Gold memberships will have a $1 increase and a $5 increase on the 3-month membership. This means the 1-month subscription will be at $11, 3-months at $30, and a 6-month for $60.

Existing 6-month and 12-month Xbox Live Gold subscribers will not be affected by the price increase until they renew their membership. In addition, anyone who upgrades their Xbox Game Pass Ultimate membership will have their remaining Gold time converted.

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Existing members will have already been informed in the affected regions by the price increase either via a message center notification or email, and Microsoft notes that the prices won’t be adjusted until at least 45 days after getting the messages.

An Xbox Live Gold membership has long been a staple of Xbox console ownership. Aside from providing online multiplayer, it comes with a plethora of perks, with one of the best being Games with Gold, which grants members at least four free games every month. This month’s Games with Gold include Breakdown, The King of Fighters 13, Dead Rising, and Little Nightmares.

Microsoft has already revealed the Games with Gold for February, and it includes several solid games such as Indiana Jones, Resident Evil, and Gears 5. Emperor’s Tomb will also be added in the first half of February, followed by two more unrevealed games in the second half.

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Aside from the usual free games available every month, the service sometimes offers additional benefits. During the holiday season last year, players who upgraded to the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate received free 30 days subscription for Disney+.

For a limited time, three free games were provided last week to members of Xbox Live Gold in addition to the games already offered by the subscription. These games were Yooka-Laylee, Dragon Ball FighterZ, and Star Wars: Squadrons.

As the price increase shows, Microsoft services will consistently change and evolve. The largest changes could be arriving soon, now that the company’s next-gen console is available. The games on offer with Games with Gold are Xbox One, Xbox 360, and Xbox, but as fans transition to the Xbox Series X, the subscription will have to grow. This leaves many to think about what the future of Xbox Live Gold in 2021 may look like.

Hitman 3 Receives Most Successful Digital Launch In Series History

By
Christian Allen Tandoc
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0
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Hitman 3 by IO Interactive released last January 30, bringing fans the much-anticipated finale to its World of Assassination trilogy. While Hitman 3 has undergone server problems, it appears those came as a result of the high traffic amassed by the game’s huge success, as this was the biggest digital launch in the series’ history according to the developers.

This latest installment in the famous stealth-based franchise narrating the assassination attempts of Agent 47 across the world has been critically acclaimed by fans and critics despite its technical problems, and already a decent fan base is building up around the title.

One player has already completed a speedrun of Hitman 3’s first stage, and famous streamer Dr. Disrespect went so far as to sport a bald cap when he started playing in unity with the titular barcoded hitman.

The sales success of Hitman 3 thus far, as well as a compilation of its good review scores, was posted on the official Twitter account of developer IO Interactive a few hours ago. However, the developer didn’t indicate how much the title has sold since its release but it’s safe to say that if the numbers are as high as the tweet implies, it will likely be paraded out sometime in the near future to help market the game.

Though this is a great reason for the Danish video game developer to celebrate, IO Interactive still has a big amount of work ahead of it addressing the problems players have been encountering. The abovementioned crashing servers have caused other issues such as players having a hard time transferring their Hitman 1 and Hitman 2 progressions into Hitman 3.

With this said, may are still having fun with their assassination simulator. It has a swarm of specially designed stages each drizzling with atmosphere, including a murder mystery inside an old Victorian mansion, and there are decent chances for players to kill their targets in various ways. Hitman 3 on the Google Stadia also comes with a brand new feature called State Share that lets players give anyone who doesn’t own the game an opportunity to try out bits of the experience.

Overall, the finale of the trilogy which started back in 2016 has apparently been worth the wait, and no doubt fans will get their money’s worth out of replaying levels to see various changes of gameplay. Whether or not IO Interactive continues to add onto the title with expansions going forward will have to be seen.

Cyberpunk 2077 New Update Bring Bug Fixes And Stability Enhancements

By
Christian Allen Tandoc
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0
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CD Projekt Red just released a new update for Cyberpunk 2077 on PC, consoles, and Google Stadia, adding a plethora of bug fixes and stability enhancements. The new update, Patch 1.1, is just on time, too.

Upon revealing a delay for Cyberpunk 2077’s free DLC, studio co-founder Marcin Iwinski pledged another update would go live within 10 days. Now, the development team managed to deliver the new patch on day nine.

The open-world sci-fi game received quite a few main updates following its launch last month. A catalog of significant fixes were essential to bring the experience to a stable state across various platforms.

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However, Xbox One and PlayStation 4 consoles endured the worst at release. Poor graphics, horrible frame rates, and frequent haunted many Cyberpunk 2077 players on last-gen consoles. Before long, CD Projekt Red found itself ensnared in controversy, complete with refund-related drama that caused Sony to expel the much-awaited game from the PlayStation Store. While Sony and CD Projekt Red are working to return the game to the PlayStation storefront, there’s still no word on when such a big change will take effect.

CD Projekt Red’s latest update for Cyberpunk 2077, Patch 1.1, lays the foundation for future fixes. It also guides in a wide variety of bug fixes and stability enhancements. In terms of stability, the new update particularly tackles crashes associated with loading saves and opening/closing the game.

Stability enhancements additionally focus on tweaking memory usage within different game systems including in-game videos, the minimap, street traffic, AI, and so on. Plethora bug fixes should also be fixed now as well.

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Based on the new update’s patch notes, a number of problems regarding the user interface, graphics, and quests were fixed.  Platform-specific problems were in the latest patch, too. For example, PlayStation 4 players will now experience lesser crashes, while Xbox owners got improved memory usage.

Since there’s at least one more massive update scheduled to arrive in the near future, update 1.1 probably won’t address every problem. Still, things should be immensely improved now. Fans aren’t the only ones excited about whether these improvements move the needle, either.

The Polish Office of Competition and Consumer Protection is keeping a close eye on the game’s updates, too. A translated press release from agency spokesperson Malgorzata Cieloch announces that the studio will get a chance to address what went wrong. Should the decision of the agency not favor the developers, though, the studio could get a hefty fine.

WoW Shadowlands: Leveling through Dungeons or Doing Quests?

By
PVP Team
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0
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The new expansion Shadowlands is changing a lot in the World of Warcraft we have got used to. The level system is remade completely: now Level 60 is the peak, for example. But one of the most controversial decisions concerns dungeons. There have always been two ways of upgrading your character: through dungeon raiding and through quests. Which of them is the Shadowlands fastest leveling? Let’s see.

New Dungeons, Old Problems

The problem with dungeons is persistent in WoW. They are not equal, and, while some of the new ten dungeons are real fun (especially the roguelike Torghast), others are just dull. The situation is a bit saved by the fact that now entering a dungeon requires some preparation. You may need to switch your talents to activate those you’d need down there.

As for Torghast, it’s the most interesting dungeon in this game, constantly changing its plan and traps. This rogue-like episode could have been the most popular in the game, but the reward can only be won once a week. Other dungeons are fun in their own way – some easy, some challenging. The problem with all of them is they do not reward you enough to revisit frequently.

A Good Quest Is Hard to Find

What has changed about quests in Shadowland is that finding a good quest with a decent reward has become way harder. Not that there are too few of them. Quests are still numerous, and (given reviewed level system) they will take less time to get through to the max.

On the other hand, it’s the fun you are playing WoW for, right? And that’s where new quests fail: they are not so much fun as they could have been. The bright side of them is stories now. They are so well-written that you do not want to miss the backstory and proceed to do the quest.

Practice Is the Answer

While the level cap is now reduced to 60, you can take your time and upgrade all of your characters, one by one. It may take more time if you’re an exploring type, taking trips all around. But for those inclined to upgrade, focusing on levels, it will take much less.

Assuming that you are a casual player and give it about 2 hours a day, the whole way from Level 1 to 60 within Shadowlands expansion will take you up to 30 days. Those who have already played WoW and have access to other expansions, may go to Level 50 in down to 12 hours and then return to Shadowlands to reach Level 60.

As for the record breakers, the fastest Level 60 recorded in Shadowlands took less than 10 hours. Des Mephisto, one of the most prominent WoW streamers, has shown how to reach Level 50 in 3 hours 30 minutes, and then reach Level 60 in 5 hours and 37 minutes. What did he do to progress that fast? Well, he mostly followed the campaign but took some quests that promised the biggest reward.

Do as They Say?

Strange as it sounds, it seems that in Shadowlands, the best way to level your character is neither dungeons nor quests (though some of them are still necessary). Campaign is the way. At least the best players show it.

And what do you think about fast leveling? Is it worth a shot at all? Or would you rather give Shadowlands enough time to explore it inside out? Have you reached Level 60, by the way? And what covenant did you choose? Is Shadowlands worth it at all? Drop a comment to share what you think, and share the article not to drop it.

Sarah Connor and The Terminator Officially Arrives In Fortnite

By
Christian Allen Tandoc
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0
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There is no destiny but what developer Epic Games makes for Fortnite, the game that just added both Sarah Connor and the T-800 as depicted in the best sequel in movie history – Terminator 2: Judgment Day.

The rumors have been roaming around the last several days about the possible addition of Skynet’s weapon of mass destruction, and more recent gossips point to the inclusion of Sarah Connor as well. Both have landed in the game in a season that’s already added Darryl and Michonne from The Walking Dead, Green Arrow, Kratos from God of War, Master Chief, The Predator, and jerseys from more than 20 global soccer teams.

This is far from the first that the T-800 and its co-casts have emerged in the world of video games. In the lead-up to the launch of Terminator: Dark Fate in 2019, the character appeared as a playable character in various high profile titles.

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Players can take the T-800 join forces against the COG army in Gears 5 and have Arnold Schwarzenegger himself battle it out with Robocop and Rambo in Mortal Kombat 11. There was also the shockingly well-made Terminator: Resistance releasing that year, using the series as the backdrop for a budget take on Bethesda’s Fallout games. However, out of all its appearances in video games, entering Fortnite’s battle royale has got to be the most over the top.

In the short trailer introducing The Terminator into the wildly growing fiction of Fortnite, John “Jonesy” Jones is seen rescuing the T-800 from his fate at the conclusion of Terminator 2: Judgment Day, dragging him and Sarah Connor through a mystical hole in space-time known as the Zero Point.

The ongoing season of Fortnite is all about seeking out hunters from across the multiverse utilizing this portal, which is the narrative reason for the huge uptick in crossover characters seen over the past several months.

Players interested in getting the Terminator skin bundle in Fortnite have several options. For $20 worth of V-Bucks, players can receive the Terminator and Sarah Connor, themed pickaxes and back bling for the characters, and a flaming thumbs up emote that copies the popular scene at the end of Terminator 2: Judgement Day.

Both skins will also be available separately for those who do not want to go all-in. Sarah Connor’s skin will have two different editions, representing the character at the start of her adventure in the first film and the renegade military woman she becomes in the sequel.

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