Ubisoft Prepares Assassin’s Creed Valhalla for the Yule Festival in New Update

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December 14, 2020

The recently concluded The Game Awards 2020 featured more footage for the upcoming Monster Hunter Rise, announcing that the developers will be releasing a free demo in January 2021. Monster Hunter Rise is the next main entry in the franchise after Monster Hunter World recently completed its game updates with its final monster.

There is still little known about the upcoming game such as various new mechanics that will improve the tide of battle and navigation throughout its world. The new Palamute helpers will assist players in traveling the world easier and aid them in battling monsters.

The featured mechanic for the demo will be the wirebug, which lets players discover the map Spider-Man style and even allows for new slick moves with weapons. Together, these gameplay mechanics will possibly make a unique experience within the Monster Hunter series which is extremely exciting given how constant Capcom is willing to recreate or innovate the franchise.

The trailer shown during this year’s The Game Awards announced various new information about the game including new and returning monsters. However, the most significant detail unveiled during the show was that a free demo will be launched on the Nintendo Switch this January.

The trailer also mentions that the demo will only be available for a limited time, but it’s uncertain how long that availability period will linger. Demos for previous Monster Hunter games, like Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate, are still available for download from the Nintendo eShop until today, so this is somewhat a unique practice compared to precedents set by past games.

The demo also further fortifies the fact about contents in the massive Capcom leak that happened last month. The demo for Monster Hunter Rise is noted as both a January and March release in the leak, so it’s possible that this is associated with the demo being available for a limited time.

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Along with the demo announcement, the trailer also featured what appeared like a new kind of quest in which players will utilize siege weapons such as cannons and ballista to defend a village from a “rampage.” A group of angry monsters is shown rushing towards the town, and it is still unknown if the goal is to repel or kill them.

Having to face a bunch of monsters at once using siege weapons is yet another exciting new addition to the series, and should this kind of quest be featured in the upcoming demo, it would give fans a glimpse of what’s about to come from this Monster Hunter entry.

While the restricted availability is a possible point of concern, especially given the recent limited releases of Nintendo, there is no certainty that many are looking forward to the Monster Hunter Rise demo next month.

Vin Diesel Confirmed To Be Working On Ark 2’s Development And Not Just An Actor In The Game

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December 14, 2020

The fact that Vin Diesel will be acting in Ark 2 caught everyone by surprise, but it appears that his involvement in the upcoming game runs deeper than just that. As a matter of fact, it has been confirmed that Diesel is also working on the game’s development as well.

Ark 2 is a direct sequel to Ark: Survival Evolved — a game that was recently revealed during The Game Awards 2020 and is expected to release some time in 2022. Developed by Studio Wildcard, the Ark franchise has significantly grown and improved throughout the years.

The first dinosaur survival game was released in Early Access back in 2015, and Studio Wildcard didn’t fully launch the title until two years later. Since that time, however, Ark has thrived along with the release of several DLCs. In fact, the latest DLC brings David Tennant on board, a famous Doctor Who actor.

As for Vin Diesel’s involvement in Ark 2, fans were able to get a glimpse of that in the trailer that was unveiled during The Game Awards 2020. The actor plays a brand-new character named Santiago in Ark 2 who happens to be the leader of their tribe.

While seeing him in the trailer was undoubtedly a surprise, to say the least, what’s even more surprising is the fact that he’s more than just an actor in this circumstance. According to a press release sent to PC Gamer, Vin Diesel is the executive producer of Ark 2 and the Ark animated series, which is set to come out in 2022 as well.

As a result, Diesel now holds a new title as Studio Wildcard’s “President of Creative Convergence.” That being said, the actor is no stranger to starring in video games. In fact, Diesel was a voice actor in the early 2000s to well-received Chronicles of Riddick titles.

Not only that, he played as Dominic Toretto in Fast and Furious: Crossroads, a racing and action-RPG that was released only this year. Unfortunately, this game was severely criticized, which made it one of the most disappointing games this year as a result.

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While many fans are skeptical and believe that Studio Wildcard is only utilizing Diesel’s name as a marketing strategy, the studio reassures fans that Diesel has a deep understanding of the Ark franchise. As a matter of fact, the actor has reportedly clocked in thousands of hours just playing the original game, providing the game’s developers with “direct feedback.”

For instance, the official Ark Twitter account announced in March of this year that the bug wherein berries tame the Ferox will be fixed in an upcoming update. Now, Studio Wildcard revealed that the person who reported the bug was, in fact, Vin Diesel himself.

Seeing as Diesel now has a newfound position in the studio, we can’t wait to see what kind of changes will be made in Ark 2 and what effect the actor will have on the franchise’s future in general.

After all, the fact that Studio Wildcard still has plans to include more content in the original Ark: Survival Evolved, along with the upcoming animated series and sequel, just goes to show that the company is investing in the franchise and will be supporting it for a long time.

Call of Duty Warzone & Black Ops Cold War Season 1 Battle Pass Revealed

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December 14, 2020

Activision has just revealed its season one battle pass for Call of Duty Warzone and Black Ops Cold War. The newest installment in the yearly FPS series is set to receive its first season content this December 16.

In addition to this new unlockable content, Treyarch has already revealed that the first season will integrate gameplay tuning updates for multiple weapons, efficiently shaking up the meta for players who are getting too familiar with the game.

It’s been over a month since Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War was launched in the market and Activision already has its eyes set on the future with the first season. New content is being added across the board, even in the game’s main story campaign.

A recently released trailer shows off the post-campaign content players can anticipate, circling a menacing ex-KGB agent called Viktor “Stitch” Kuzmin, a treacherous man with a grudge against Russell Adler. Players can also expect the return of Nova 6, a monstrous chemical agent introduced in the past Black Ops games.

Multiplayer fans are surely aren’t being left in the dark, though as the developers are preparing them for the first season’s release by outlining the battle pass on the official Call of Duty blog. Players who purchase the battle pass will get access to the nefarious Stitch as a new playable operator.

Stitch will be immediately available at tier 0 and will come with an exclusive set of multiplayer objectives that will unlock new skins. The battle pass also introduces two new weapons. First, fans will be able to obtain the Mac-10 SMG, a new gun with a faster fire rate compared to any of the five SMGs currently available in the game. It’s an efficient close combat gun but does have a lot of recoil.

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Second, players will also be getting access to the Groza assault rifle, a great long-range option with a decent fire rate and bullet velocity. Both of these guns should cause a lot of chaos in both Warzone and Black Ops Cold War.

While there are surely be plenty of Call of Duty players who are hyped by the upcoming new content, there is no lack of controversy for the development team to overcome too. Countless players have rallied to criticize the game’s Skill Based Matchmaking system, which prioritizes skill level when gathering players together for a multiplayer match.

While various previous Call of Duty games utilize SBMM, multiple modern players have denounced that the system is particularly arduous in both Black Ops Cold War and Warzone, and are demanding its removal.

Prepare to Cross the Country in Adventure Game ‘Road 96’

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December 14, 2020

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The Game Awards 2020 took place a few days ago, but we’re all still reeling from the incredible announcements and content reveals that took place during the big event. No matter what kind of genre a gamer is into, there were different games that catered to everyone — from fantasy RPG to survival-horror games.

While many were glued to news regarding highly-anticipated titles, The Game Awards 2020 also revealed several titles that aren’t as well-known. Now, one game by developer and publisher Digixart caught our attention, seeing as it was one of the more emotional titles.

Road 96 an adventure title that puts a lot of emphasis on its narrative, which is basically about a character who decides to go on a road trip in an attempt to run away from a country with an authoritarian ruler.

During this journey towards freedom, you will be able to learn and discover more and more about Road 96’s main character as well as the different NPCs encountered along the way.

Like most games these days, the choices you make play a huge role and every single decision you make or action you move has a consequence in some form or another. In other words, the outcome of your particular playthrough depends on the in-game characters you choose to interact with, the responses you give, as well as the roads you take.

The fact that you don’t know how the game will end is what makes Road 96 so thrilling. In addition, the title doesn’t skimp on the choices — there’s a bunch of choices you can make and that’s half the appeal of the game. Again, all of these choices can impact how your playthrough turns out.

Most of the time, games such as Road 96 wherein players have to tread through sensitive or difficult subjects have a big and impactful effect, and players mostly come out of the other side a changed person.

Without a doubt, we expect that Road 96 will require players to make incredibly difficult choices that will get them thinking deeply — similar to how Telltale Games develops its games. If you are fortunate enough to make the right choices and make it through, then get ready to strap in for an amazing road trip ahead of you where the main character gets to meet all kinds of people.

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Road 96 only has one goal, and that’s to cross the border to ensure that the character is far away as possible from horrible tyrannical rule. Along the way, you’ll get to encounter a variety of characters with different personalities and motives.

Some will be pure of heart while others are the complete opposite, as they have no intention of helping you reach safety. As such, it’s completely up to you to decide if someone is worth trusting or not.

If you’re the type of gamer who’s into narrative-based games, then Road 96 is definitely something you should consider getting as soon as it’s released in 2021. The game’s storyline seems interesting and emotional enough to touch the hearts of those who are playing.

Oculus Quest 2 Now Sold Out, Restock Arriving Next Year

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December 14, 2020

It’s an exciting yet at the same time disappointing time to be an enthusiastic video gaming fan. With a wave of new devices rolling in, gamers of all kinds have had new gadgets to look forward to, but like most of them, the Oculus Quest 2 likely won’t be sitting under the Christmas tree this holiday season.

The Oculus Quest 2 released last October but instantaneously began to sell out off retailers. Similar to the PlayStation scalpers, many Oculus Quest 2 VR headsets were secured via bots in order to be resold at extremely higher prices, leaving players hoping to obtain the affordable headsets at a loss.

Now, the stock of available Oculus Quest 2 at the standard price of $299 for the 64GB variant or $399 for the 256GB version are sold out until the end of this year. Whether fans look at sellers or directly from the Oculus website, the devices are out of stock and not foreseen to be returning until the end of 2020, with delivery dates coming in during January 2021 at the earliest.

For those who were expecting until the last minute to secure an order, resellers and scalpers are currently the only options, and fans will likely end up spending a significant amount more on the headset instead of waiting for stock to return at normal prices.

Sadly, this appears to be the reality of the situation across the world for gamers shopping for new gadgets this Christmas season. The Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5 consoles have been sold out due to overwhelming demand, and there is not a sufficient supply of Nvidia 30 graphics cards available to satiate everyone, especially with scalpers grabbing as many units as they can. Many players will likely have to hold on until 2021 before they can upgrade to the latest and newest gaming devices.

While the wait is frustrating, it is a good indication that the Oculus Quest 2 is growing in interest in VR in its entirety. While the Oculus Quest 2 is one of a kind in that it gives for a wireless VR experience, it can also be plugged into gaming PCs, allowing fans to enjoy more technologically stressful titles such as Medal of Honor Above and Beyond and Half-Life Alyx.

Nintendo Switch Outsold The Next-Gen Consoles Last November

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December 14, 2020

The Nintendo Switch has outsold both the Xbox Series X|S and the PlayStation 5 last month according to a report from NPD. Overall, customers in the United States spent over $7 billion on products related to the video gaming industry in November alone, which is a new record for that particular month.

Spending on consoles was up 35% from last year, thanks in large part to the launch of both the Xbox Series X|S and the PlayStation 5. The release of the next-gen consoles also made a 58% increase in hardware sales, adding up to a record $1.4 billion.

The top console in terms of gaining revenue this past month is the PlayStation 5, which is not shocking considering it had the biggest console release in the history of the United States. Sony attempted to beat their own record, which was set by the PlayStation 4, and they absolutely did just that.

US NPD HW – Consumers spent a November record $1.4 billion on new video game hardware, an increase of 58% versus YA. Growth was driven by the launches of the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series. Year-to-date hardware spending reached $4.0 billion, 34% higher than a year ago.

— Mat Piscatella (@MatPiscatella) December 11, 2020

With titles such as Demon’s Souls and the surprise hit Astro’s Playroom releasing along with the console, and the pledge of sequels to Horizon Zero Dawn and God of War nearing its release, fans gathered to get the new system.

However, none of that excitement could still stop the consistent success of the Nintendo Switch, as reported by GameIndustry.biz which is based on the NPD research. Nintendo’s hybrid console sold more than 1.3 million units, the most in November despite in spite of the next-gen release by Sony and Microsoft.

The Nintendo Switch has been the bestselling console for the past couple of years, now surpassing two generations of Xbox and PlayStation systems. While this is almost undoubtedly because of lack of supplies restricting the potential of both PlayStation and Xbox, there is no disagreeing that the Nintendo Switch is still a sales powerhouse that can’t be opposed.

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The NPD report discloses that Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War immediately became the bestselling game of the year upon its release, topping the November charts in the process. It’s the 13^th consecutive launch in the series that has managed to top its release month, proving that there is still a lot left in the tank for Activision’s shooter series.

There are various other factors that helped explain this one of a kind findings. No one needs a meeting that this year has been bizarre, and the global pandemic absolutely threw the typical spending habits of most fans out of the window.

It also compelled both consoles to engage in strange advertising strategies and forced the supply chain that would usually be working overload. Because both the Xbox Series X|S and the PlayStation 5 released worldwide in roughly one week, numbers for both in the United States specifically were extremely under what they could have been under more regular situations. All consoles made were instantly sold, and many buyers are still waiting for an opportunity to secure one of them.

New Apex Legends Glitch Renders Rampart and Her Abilities Useless

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December 14, 2020

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Apex Legends has been home to several bugs recently, and fans have discovered another one wherein one of the Legends becomes almost useless. The Legend in question is Rampart, who was first introduced in Apex Legends Season 6. Recently, many fans have begun noticing that one of Rampart’s abilities consistently breaks and doesn’t do what it’s supposed to do, which makes her an even more unpopular choice as of late.

While the popular Legend Wraith is almost always on the top of the pick rate charts, it has become such a common occurrence to find Rampart at the bottom of that aforementioned list.

Even before this glitch, Rampart isn’t really the first choice for many Apex Legends fans due to the fact that her abilities are more difficult to master compared to others, and most of the time, they are only useful in particular situations. However, the main reason why she’s gotten even more unpopular these days is because her Amped Cover ability is, for lack of a better word, broken.

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As you may or may not know, Rampart’s Amped Cover is her main skill, so it makes sense that her pick rate would drop after this bug. After all, how can anyone play the game properly if the character they’ve chosen to control doesn’t have a working main skill?

Respawn Entertainment previously confirmed that it’s working on nerfing certain Apex Legends characters, but at this point, releasing an update that will fix Rampart may be just as important.

On the Apex Legends Reddit community, user dadnotthere recently posted a short clip that clearly showcases the glitch, along with a scalding title that goes: “Nobody knows that rampart is broken because nobody uses it.”

As can be seen on the 5-second video, dadnotthere is attempting to make use of Rampart’s Amped Cover ability but no matter what they do, the ability refuses to be utilized. What makes the bug even more frustrating is the fact that the player had to wait while the Legend continued to try and fail at placing the cover onto the empty ground.

At that point, dadnotthere’s character was pretty much free to be shot at, as Rampart could do nothing except hold the cover in her hands. Given the severity of this issue, it’s easy to understand why so many players — dadnotthere included — are so frustrated by this.

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Other Legends seem to experience bugs and glitches that are beneficial to the player, such as when Lifeline’s healing drone became invulnerable, but this sadly isn’t the case for Rampart. User dadnotthere also confirmed on the Reddit post that the same glitch “happens on both maps,” so even playing on Season 7’s new Olympus map won’t spare you.

Many Apex Legends players flocked to the post to convey their dislike for Rampart, with one user who goes by the handle ZorkFireStorm even saying that “Rampart will be a meme for a long time.” Given the existence of this glitch, we’re beginning to agree with that statement.

The main role of Rampart as a character in Apex Legends is to put down turrets that help fortify the area, which can be done with her Amped Cover ability. Once set up, the cover is supposed to block and prevent her from getting damaged while her shots are significantly improved as she fires at enemies from behind the aforementioned cover.

So, the fact that this extremely important ability of hers has been rendered useless is definitely something that Respawn Entertainment needs to fix as soon as possible. Until then, Rampart will most likely remain as unpopular as she is right now.

Grand Theft Auto Online Gives Players the Option to Pilot a Submarine in Cayo Perico Heist

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December 14, 2020

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With December 15 looming closer and closer, fans of Grand Theft Auto Online will finally get the chance to experience the upcoming Cayo Perico Heist during their own playthrough. As showcased in a recent trailer, the expansion introduces a brand-new island and consequently new areas to explore.

Among other things, we couldn’t help but notice that the trailer conspicuously featured a submarine. It has since been confirmed that players will be able to pilot a submarine to assist them on arguably one of the biggest heists in GTA Online to date.

The submarine will be multipurpose — it can function as a mobile headquarters, but players can also use it for combat once the heist is in motion. That being said, players may want to check their wallets because based on how the previous heists worked in Grand Theft Auto Online, they may first have to purchase the aforementioned submarine in-game.

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If fans go ahead and check the Warstock Cache and Carry website, they might come to notice that there are a couple of other vehicles on sale that pretty much work the same way. For example, there’s the Mobile Operations Center semi-truck, the Terrobyte armored truck, and the Avenger military plane.

The great thing about these vehicles available on Warstock Cache and Carry is that they are not as expensive as other vehicles. Plus, they’re perfect for heists because they can be customized in any way players want and can be utilized in different ways.

With that in mind, the release of the highly-awaited Cayo Perico Heist in Grand Theft Auto Online is so close now, but there’s a chance that players will be required to purchase a submarine if they want to successfully finish the heist.

If this submarine in question is just like the other vehicles on the Warstock website, the interiors should be customizable as well and may even have special weapon modifications. Based on the trailer, we can see the submarine shooting out a missile towards enemy helicopters. Thus, it’s safe to assume that the submarine may have a couple of options in regards to weapons.

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Not only that, but the trailer also showcases several heist-related footage that players may encounter, including climbing up walls with the use of a grappling hook, an action-packed shootout while riding on speed boats, as well as stealing gold, cash, and more.

Now, Grand Theft Auto Online’s Cayo Perico Heist will introduce a brand-new mechanic that wasn’t available in previous heists, and that’s the ability to do the heist solo if the player isn’t able to conjure up other players to help.

Similar to other heists, however, it will be completely up to the player how they want to approach and proceed with the current heist. As such, we’re definitely interested to see how the Cayo Perico Heist will be any different if a player goes solo or with a team.

While many are excited to experience what this new heist has to offer, others were disappointed that Rockstar Games didn’t announce Grand Theft Auto 6. In any case, those who are looking forward to all the new content coming to GTA Online don’t have to wait too long now.

Granblue Fantasy: Relink Announces 2022 Release Window

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December 14, 2020