https://www.thegamer.com TheGamer brings you all the news for your favourite live-service games, from season events to new expansions. Wed, 31 May 2023 20:40:52 GMT en-US hourly 60 Earlier this month, Fortnite vaulted Trios in what was seen as a pretty baffling move from Epic Games, even among those unfamiliar with the game itself. To make matters worse, Epic offered up very little in way of an explanation as to why Trios was taken away, leaving fans pretty peeved considering a lot of people were made to play in Squads and forced to find an extra player if they wanted to keep their gang together.

]]> Wed, 31 May 2023 20:40:52 GMT https://www.thegamer.com/fortnite-unvaulting-trios-ranked/ Blizzard has been doing some truly bizarre promotions in preparation for the launch of Diablo 4. First, it was a partnership with KFC where anyone who ordered a Double Down "sandwich" would get access to an exclusive beta test. Before that, it was a partnership with Thumbtack that would send people to your house to clean and do chores while you spent all weekend slaying the minions of hell.

]]> Wed, 31 May 2023 18:46:33 GMT https://www.thegamer.com/diablo-4-second-kfc-crossover/ Last December, The Witcher developer CD Projekt Red announced plans to end official support for Gwent: The Witcher Card Game in 2023. While the Polish publisher agreed to continue hosting tournaments and release three new expansions in April, July, and September, the plan was to transition Gwent "into the hands of the community" by 2024.

]]> Wed, 31 May 2023 18:44:17 GMT https://www.thegamer.com/cd-projekt-red-gwent-the-witcher-layoffs/ Following Diablo 4’s server slam weekend, Blizzard says that it’s ready for the game’s launch.

]]> Wed, 31 May 2023 13:36:28 GMT https://www.thegamer.com/diablo-4-servers-prepared-for-launch-traffic/ Overwatch 2 is celebrating Pride Month with a themed event that brings with it a whole host of cosmetics, but senior game producer Brandy Stiles has stated that the event will be blocked in certain countries.

]]> Wed, 31 May 2023 12:13:59 GMT https://www.thegamer.com/overwatch-2-pride-event-blocked-specific-countries/ Overwatch 2's yearly Pride event is set to begin next month, and Blizzard has already begun getting players nice and ready by outlining exactly what they can expect from next month's update. Alongside in-game gifts such as Player Icons and Name Cards, Blizzard has given Pharah x Mercy shippers the greatest gift of all - the confirmation that Pharah is a lesbian.

]]> Tue, 30 May 2023 23:14:13 GMT https://www.thegamer.com/overwatch-2-pride-pharah-lesbian/ Silent Hill: Ascension just received its first real trailer since the "interactive experience" was announced during Konami's Silent Hill showcase last October.

]]> Tue, 30 May 2023 13:18:47 GMT https://www.thegamer.com/silent-hill-ascension-trailer/ Last Thursday, Future Games Show hosted a Q&A session with Diablo 4 game director Joseph Piepiora and art director John Mueller. The questions themselves were banal and the answers uninteresting, but what was more interesting were the accounts where the questions supposedly came from.

]]> Mon, 29 May 2023 15:51:26 GMT https://www.thegamer.com/blizzard-accused-making-fake-accounts-diablo-4-qa/ FIFA 23's latest squad update has removed Brentford striker Ivan Toney from the game after he was hit with an eight month ban by England's Football Association for betting against his own team. According to Sky News, Toney bet against his own team 13 times between August 2017 and March 2018 – 11 times against former team, Newcastle United, and twice against the team he was loaned to, Wigan.

]]> Sun, 28 May 2023 10:16:18 GMT https://www.thegamer.com/fifa-23-selling-loot-boxes-removed-ivan-toney-over-gambling/ Epic really hasn't been having much luck when it comes to adding new items to Fortnite during its current chapter. After waving goodbye to the Shockwave Hammer, the studio attempted to introduce the Kinetic Blade. Now that has been vaulted too, possibly for good, and players aren't happy about it for a number of reasons.

]]> Fri, 26 May 2023 12:50:09 GMT https://www.thegamer.com/fortnite-fans-unhappy-kinetic-blade-vaulted/ Well over a year after Microsoft announced plans to buy Activision Blizzard for almost $70 billion, the saga rages on. An unexpected twist appeared in its tale last month as the UK's CMA blocked the deal while the European Commission approved it. The latter has now explained why its views don't align with the CMA's, citing why it has no reason to believe Xbox owning the Call of Duty studio will give it a leg up on PlayStation.

]]> Fri, 26 May 2023 12:11:17 GMT https://www.thegamer.com/xbox-owning-call-of-duty-not-unfair-playstation-eu/ Most weapons in Fortnite have been nerfed and buffed multiple times over the years, but not the grenade. Five years on, Fortnite's grenades have dealt the same amount of damage to players and buildings as they always have. That's until now as Epic has rolled out its first nerf in half a decade.

]]> Thu, 25 May 2023 09:09:38 GMT https://www.thegamer.com/fortnite-nerfs-grenades-after-five-years/ Bungie has given us our first teaser for The Final Shape, Destiny 2's final expansion following Lightfall. According to the teaser, we'll learn more during the Destiny showcase later in August. Oh, and also, Cayde's back.

]]> Wed, 24 May 2023 21:42:14 GMT https://www.thegamer.com/cayde-returns-in-destiny-2-the-final-shape/ Fortnite's Star Wars season is over as we say hello to Miles Morales and Spider-Man 2099, but while many are busy swinging through Mega City and summoning Spider-Ham for a cartoon mallet, others are wondering what happened with the Droid tease.

]]> Wed, 24 May 2023 09:53:18 GMT https://www.thegamer.com/fortnite-star-wars-droid-tease-fans-confused-reddit/ Activision Blizzard has been fined €5000 for failing to disclose the presence of loot boxes to the PEGI rating agency in Diablo Immortal. Hunt: Showdown publisher Plaion was fined the same amount for the same reason.

]]> Tue, 23 May 2023 19:08:09 GMT https://www.thegamer.com/activision-blizzard-fined-diablo-immortal-loot-boxes-pegi/ An Apex Legends player in an all-women tournament was accused of transphobia leading to the disqualification of a team with trans players. That disqualification was later rescinded and the team remains in contention for a $100,000 grand prize. The team accused of transphobia, however, was later disqualified after the incident was investigated.

]]> Tue, 23 May 2023 18:13:14 GMT https://www.thegamer.com/apex-legends-all-women-team-transphobia/ Activision has seemingly shut down long-running mod projects used to improve online play in the original Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. X Labs, which describes itself as a modding "laboratory", says it has been issued a cease and desist, forcing it to shut down its mods, including fan-run Modern Warfare 2 servers.

]]> Tue, 23 May 2023 12:12:53 GMT https://www.thegamer.com/x-labs-call-of-duty-modern-warfare-2-shut-down-mods-servers/ It's perhaps the nightmare of many parents. Waking up to see a notification that thousands have somehow been deducted from the bank account. Thoughts might turn to scammers, even to some errant purchase made late at night, only to realise that it was someone in your own household who managed to spend so much in so little time. But this is what happened to one mum from Denbighshire, Wales, in the United Kingdom as her daughter racked up spending on the popular games site Roblox.

]]> Tue, 23 May 2023 10:59:10 GMT https://www.thegamer.com/ten-year-old-spends-2500-on-roblox/ If you're an avid player of Final Fantasy 14 and you and your party are up for a challenge, you can't really go wrong with The Omega Protocol (Ultimate) raid. It's the game's latest Ultimate Raid and is essentially a six phase boss fight that has to be tackled with a full party, meaning it's probably the most difficult task that Final Fantasy 14 players can set out to accomplish at the moment. There are a lot of players out there that don't even bother with them, that's how rough they can be.

]]> Sat, 20 May 2023 13:00:16 GMT https://www.thegamer.com/final-fantasy-14-the-omega-protocol-ultimate-raid-clear-no-healers/ Overwatch 2's PvE story missions have been canned, despite being featured so prominently in the game's reveal back in 2019. Now, it turns out that they were in development even longer than many of us had thought, with Overwatch director Aaron Keller revealing that the team had been working on PvE since 2016.

]]> Sat, 20 May 2023 11:54:15 GMT https://www.thegamer.com/overwatch-pve-and-mmo-cancelled-development-since-2016/ The Lord of the Rings is getting a new MMO, but as many fans know, it already had one. In fact, it's had one since 2007, and it's still going. Amazon, however, sounds a lot less impressed by this feat, and believes that players of this 16-year-old MMO will ditch it in favour of something new.

]]> Fri, 19 May 2023 15:42:12 GMT https://www.thegamer.com/amazon-boss-wants-fans-to-move-on-from-the-lord-of-the-rings-online/ We're less than two weeks away from the most colorful time of the year. Pride is right around the corner, and that means it's time for League of Legends to start the celebration of all things queer with a few unlockable rewards like emotes like Pride-themed emotes and icons. There's also going to be a new backdrop image featuring everyone's favorite LGTBQ+ League of Legends champs.

]]> Fri, 19 May 2023 15:25:22 GMT https://www.thegamer.com/league-of-legends-lol-dont-assume-characters-are-straight/ Fortnite's Across the Spider-Verse collaboration includes a skin for Miguel O'Hara, better known as Spider-Man 2099, and thirsty fans are noticing just how caked-up he is.

]]> Thu, 18 May 2023 16:18:28 GMT https://www.thegamer.com/spider-man-2099-miguel-o-hara-fortnite-caked-up-booty-skin-big-butt/ Ever since Niantic changed Pokemon Go's Remote Raid Passes to be more expensive and limited to five per day, Pokemon Go fans have been in an uproar. Angry posts, petitions, and even a player strike have so far failed to sway Niantic's course. And it doesn't look like Niantic will ever change its mind.

]]> Thu, 18 May 2023 15:58:45 GMT https://www.thegamer.com/pokemon-go-niantic-remote-raid-pass-changes-were-painful-to-make/ Despite the controversy surrounding its reigning in of remote raid passes, the Pokemon Go machine rolls on. Today, Niantic confirmed the addition of an all-new feature called shadow raids. Naturally linked to Team Go Rocket, the mobile game's villains will be able to overthrow gyms starting next week. However, you will need to visit these under-siege gyms in person to access them as your remote raid passes won't be compatible.

]]> Thu, 18 May 2023 14:15:19 GMT https://www.thegamer.com/pokemon-go-remote-raid-passes-cant-be-used-shadow-raids/ Nicolas Cage will be in Dead by Daylight, according to a new teaser from developer Behavior Interactive. We have absolutely no idea why Nic Cage is coming to Dead By Daylight, but we do know he'll be a survivor, and we'll get more information later this summer.

]]> Wed, 17 May 2023 16:49:57 GMT https://www.thegamer.com/nicholas-cage-to-dead-by-daylight/ Redfall continues to lose players after its disastrous launch roughly two weeks ago. With just over 6,000 concurrent players on Steam 24 hours after launching on May 2, that number has dwindled to just under 200 players.

]]> Wed, 17 May 2023 13:56:32 GMT https://www.thegamer.com/redfall-falls-under-200-concurrent-players-steam/ Across The Spider-Verse hits cinemas next month and in preparation for the sequel's release, Miles Morales and Spider-Man 2099 skins have been added to Fortnite. Both naturally come with a few cosmetics too, including an emote that technically means Spider-Ham has also made their Fortnite debut via today's v24.40 update.

]]> Wed, 17 May 2023 13:48:24 GMT https://www.thegamer.com/fortnite-miles-morales-crossover-spider-ham-cameo/ Fortnite's v24.40 update went live today and brought some exciting changes along with it. It has also done something that has angered a lot of you though as Trios has been unexpectedly vaulted. There is officially no way to play Fortnite in a team of three starting today as Trios appears to have made way for ranked in both the core battle royale and Zero Build modes.

]]> Wed, 17 May 2023 10:54:37 GMT https://www.thegamer.com/fortnite-fans-unhappy-trios-vaulted/ Miles Morales is finally swinging into Fortnite when today's update goes live, and he's bringing something a lot of us have been waiting a long time for. His web shooters. Peter Parker's Spider-Man introduced the mythic item to the game in 2021, and now that Fortnite is getting an all-new Spidey skin, the ability to swing around the map is coming back.

]]> Wed, 17 May 2023 10:20:29 GMT https://www.thegamer.com/fortnite-spider-man-web-shooters-unvaulted-return/ Battle royales have been a money spinner in the video game world for quite a few years now, but the formula doesn't work for everything. Namco gave Pac-Man the BR treatment in 2021, launching Pac-Man 99. However, two years later, Nintendo has confirmed the BR take on the iconic video game will be shut down and delisted later this year.

]]> Wed, 17 May 2023 09:39:56 GMT https://www.thegamer.com/pac-man-99-delisted/ Fortnite's v24.40 update goes live today and with it comes the game's new ranked mode. You might have assumed a game with a competitive scene as active as Fortnite's would already have some sort of ranking system, but no. Not until today, and if you log on after today's update has been applied, you'll be able to dive into the new system.

]]> Wed, 17 May 2023 08:56:39 GMT https://www.thegamer.com/fortnite-ranked-mode/ For the longest time, Overwatch fans have been putting up with Blizzard's shenanigans regarding monetization and a fairly unecessary sequel because of the promise that a fully fleshed out PvE mode was around the corner. It was going to include fully reworked characters, separate progression, and talent trees, but Blizzard has now announced that it "can't deliver" on these promises. This mode has now been cancelled in favor of smaller, seasonal Story Missions, and Overwatch 2 players are as furious as you're probably expecting.

]]> Tue, 16 May 2023 20:52:23 GMT https://www.thegamer.com/overwatch-2-fans-furious-over-pve-changes/ Back when Overwatch 2 first launched last October, Blizzard had to apologize to fans upset that the promised single-player campaign mode didn't arrive along with it. Instead, Overwatch 2 launched as a multiplayer-only title similar to Overwatch 1, with fans being told they "may have to wait a bit" for the single-player campaign to arrive.

]]> Tue, 16 May 2023 19:24:09 GMT https://www.thegamer.com/overwatch-2-story-mode-season-6-content-cut/ Yesterday, we got the surprising announcement that Amazon's attempt to get an MMO based on The Lord of the Rings off the ground is back on the cards. This follows the last LOTR MMO it was working on getting cancelled several years into development, following some messy behind-the-scenes legal drama. While this is good news for anyone looking for another fantasy MMO to get stuck into, LOTR fans aren't convinced that the game will do the world of Middle-earth justice.

]]> Tue, 16 May 2023 14:19:26 GMT https://www.thegamer.com/the-lord-of-the-rings-mmo-amazon-fan-reaction-mmo/ While Niantic has missed the mark on numerous occasions when it comes to making sure Pokemon Go remains popular, its gradual rollout of Pokemon and features has remained impressive. It's why, almost seven years after launch, it's still so popular. An example of that restraint manifested again today as Niantic confirmed Master Balls are finally coming to the game.

]]> Tue, 16 May 2023 13:32:43 GMT https://www.thegamer.com/pokemon-go-master-balls/ Death in World of Warcraft Classic is about to become a somewhat more harrowing experience, Blizzard having just revealed plans to introduce official "hardcore" servers at some point later this summer. Inspired by the popular fan made game mode, the feature aims to inject new life into World of Warcraft Classic, something which has recently been dwindling in popularity.

]]> Mon, 15 May 2023 22:24:26 GMT https://www.thegamer.com/world-of-warcraft-classic-hardcore-servers-permadeath/ Just over two years since it was cancelled, Amazon is reviving its attempt to launch a Lord of the Rings MMO. This comes as Amazon Games and franchise rights holders Middle-earth Enterprises manage to come to a deal, with behind-the-scenes drama causing the last Lord of the Rings MMO to be scrapped in 2021.

]]> Mon, 15 May 2023 16:34:12 GMT https://www.thegamer.com/the-lord-of-the-rings-mmo-amazon/ Five years ago, Hawken died. The free-to-play multiplayer mech shooter from Adhesive Games first arrived on Steam in 2012 before making the leap to consoles in 2016, but by 2018, the PC servers had gone dark. Publisher 505 Games kept the servers alive on Xbox One and PS4, but they're mostly empty these days. A sad end to a truly fun game.

]]> Mon, 15 May 2023 16:04:10 GMT https://www.thegamer.com/hawken-returns-steam-after-five-years/ The Witcher spinoff, currently known only as Project Sirius is struck another blow as multiple developers are laid off. This comes just days after it was revealed that the game's development had been rebooted, following CD Projekt Red's decision earlier in the year to start from scratch.

]]> Mon, 15 May 2023 14:29:41 GMT https://www.thegamer.com/witcher-spin-off-devs-laid-off-days-after-project-sirius-reboot/ EA has confirmed there's a new Battlefield game in development, but it seems like there's a subset of Battlefield "fans" that aren't too happy about it. They've taken to harassing DICE over the announcement, which has led the Battlefield developer to issue a statement asking them to stop.

]]> Mon, 15 May 2023 13:52:10 GMT https://www.thegamer.com/battlefield-2042-asks-fans-stop-harassing-devs-dice-ea/ Fortnite has been around for quite a while now, adding endless modes and new content to keep things fresh ever since the battle royale title first launched back in 2017. However, one thing that hasn't been introduced yet is a fully fleshed out Ranked Mode, something which is becomingly increasingly popular in the live-service scene. That looks like it may be about to change soon though, as Epic Games has now teased the addition of Ranked play.

]]> Sat, 13 May 2023 00:26:23 GMT https://www.thegamer.com/fortnite-ranked-mode-teaser/ It's seems like thing are going from bad to worse for Pokemon Go players, as popular and beloved networking site The Silph Road is ceasing operations after seven years due to "mounting financial constraints" and the "landscape of the game in 2023". Pokemon Go developer Niantic had sponsored the site last year to keep it running, but that sponsorship has now concluded, with no signs that it will continue to fund the site.

]]> Fri, 12 May 2023 21:52:51 GMT https://www.thegamer.com/pokemon-go-the-silph-road-ceasing-operations/ PUBG's upcoming 23.2 update will add a new Apex Legends-style respawn system. This comes after PUBG already added a Gulag-style comeback mechanic for its Taego and Vikendi maps.

]]> Fri, 12 May 2023 15:24:23 GMT https://www.thegamer.com/pubg-new-respawn-system-apex-legends/ We’re two days into Fall Guys Season 4 and developer Mediatonic has already had its beans forcibly spilled thanks to an online leak. All 50 of the new Creative Rounds have been leaked on Reddit, including 40 unreleased Rounds, allowing competitors to practice them prior to their arrival later in the season.

]]> Fri, 12 May 2023 14:41:41 GMT https://www.thegamer.com/fall-guys-creative-leak-40-upcoming-rounds/ It's no secret that Counter-Strike: Global Offensive has a huge gambling problem. Non-affiliated websites offer Counter-Strike players the ability to put up their hard-earned skins for potential prizes, up to and including cold-hard cash. It's for this very reason that CS:GO developer Valve has been accused of facilitating online gambling for minors, but since Valve doesn't own any of the sites, the charges have always been dropped.

]]> Thu, 11 May 2023 18:36:08 GMT https://www.thegamer.com/steam-bans-gambling-counter-strike-global-offensive-csgo/ We know that Diablo 4 would include seasonal content updates, and we know that part of that seasonal content model would include both a free and paid battle pass. As of yesterday's post-launch livestream, Blizzard has revealed more of what fans can expect from the upcoming Diablo sequel.

]]> Thu, 11 May 2023 15:49:09 GMT https://www.thegamer.com/diablo-4-post-launch-battle-pass-season-revealed/ Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0’s next map has seemingly leaked online. A dataminer managed to extract an early-build image of the new map and posted it to Twitter. It didn’t take long for Activision to issue a copyright strike, but that didn’t stop the leak from circulating widely on other social media websites.

]]> Thu, 11 May 2023 14:40:23 GMT https://www.thegamer.com/warzone-2s-map-vondel-leaks/ The Elder Scrolls Online has just dropped a new trailer for the Necrom expansion ahead of its June 5 launch, giving us a further look at Apocrypha and a new expanse of Morrowind. There are spiralling tendrils made of books, luscious mushroom mountains, and swamps filled with spider-like demons. But at the core of it is Hermaeus Mora asking us to change the future.

]]> Thu, 11 May 2023 14:00:19 GMT https://www.thegamer.com/elder-scrolls-online-necrom-trailer-hermaeus-mora-future/ More than a week after launch, Arkane's vampire-hunting co-op shooter Redfall is still a complete mess. If it's not AI that can't figure out how to move around a box, it's floating chimneys, blurry visuals, and hovering vampires that don't seem to know when they've been shot. It's no surprise that this broken game is both Bethesda's and Arkane's lowest-rated game ever and is now in the bottom 15 games on Steam.

]]> Wed, 10 May 2023 15:11:53 GMT https://www.thegamer.com/redfall-gameplay-time-game-pass/ Way back in 2020, Mojang announced a momentous change was coming to Minecraft. Not that Caves and Cliffs update, which was great and everything, but actually an account migration from Mojang to Microsoft. Java Edition of Minecraft would remain exactly as it’d always been--it was just player accounts that needed to move servers.

]]> Tue, 09 May 2023 13:41:12 GMT https://www.thegamer.com/minecraft-players-lose-access-migrate-accounts/ It is a tale as old as time, that of rivalry and competition, between two foes duking it out for supremacy. But this particular tale is taking place in a very modern setting, in a very modern way, as two streamers continue to write new chapters in their ongoing rivalry. As Forsen set a blistering time in a Minecraft speedrun back in March, regaining the crown from his arch rival xQc, so now once again the tables have turned with xQc on top.

]]> Mon, 08 May 2023 13:38:28 GMT https://www.thegamer.com/xqc-retakes-minecraft-speedrunning-record-again/ Rockstar has probably beefed up its security after the massive GTA 6 leak. A hacker, who was reportedly only 16 years old, managed to make their way past the developer's online security measures and stole a whole lot of gameplay for the yet unannounced game. While the devs were devastated at the time, it seems like they're owning it now.

]]> Mon, 08 May 2023 06:25:16 GMT https://www.thegamer.com/rockstar-gta-6-reveal-trolling-players/ Bungie has now confirmed that a recent in-game message announcing that Warlocks won the Guardian Games in Destiny 2 had in fact been sent out by accident. The event in question, running from May 2 to 23, is an annual competition between the three different classes of characters in the ever more popular game, these of course being Hunters, Titans, and Warlocks.

]]> Sat, 06 May 2023 19:45:11 GMT https://www.thegamer.com/destiny-2-announces-winner-event-hasnt-ended/ Pokemon is a series full of funny little creatures you can go out and collect, and now that we're nine generations deep, there are quite a lot of them. There's over 1,000 Pokemon now, making the series' over goal of catching 'em all pretty dang difficult. It's even harder for Pokemon Go players that want to catch every Pokemon available to them, especially since the variety of wild spawns is incredibly lacking for a lot of people.

]]> Sat, 06 May 2023 11:00:15 GMT https://www.thegamer.com/pokemon-go-players-fed-up-wild-spawn-variety/ Activision Blizzard has a lot on its plate at the moment. With the UK's CMA blocking the company's acquisition by Microsoft, all hands are probably working on appealing the decision. You can imagine that everybody at the company is on edge, as, should the appeal fail, the deal could be blocked for the next ten years.

]]> Sat, 06 May 2023 08:06:35 GMT https://www.thegamer.com/blizzard-permanent-ban-players-griefing-asmongold-wow-classic-hardcore/ The knocks just keep on coming for poor Redfall. After receiving mixed reviews from both critics and players alike for being an uninspired multiplayer shooter so full of bugs and poor gameplay that it's laughable, Redfall is now one of Steam's lowest-rated games.

]]> Fri, 05 May 2023 16:01:11 GMT https://www.thegamer.com/redfall-steams-top-15-worst-reviewed-games/ Fortnite has built a new "specially designed [...] Creative Island, made to reflect sport shooting competition" for the Olympic Esports, and competitors will vy for the gold medal on June 24.

]]> Fri, 05 May 2023 14:08:16 GMT https://www.thegamer.com/fortnite-olympic-esports-june/ Big changes are coming to Season of the Deep in Destiny 2. Class abilities are getting tuned (RIP Titan shoulder charges), Finest Matterweave and Rainmaker are both being deprecated, and best of all, there's not going to be an increase in the player level cap. There's also going to be a huge overhaul of Destiny's economy, with Exotic Engrams and crafting getting easier to perform.

]]> Fri, 05 May 2023 13:58:45 GMT https://www.thegamer.com/destiny-2-season-pass-price-increases-15/ Bungie is working on new games, and one of them might finally have the Destiny 2 developer ditch the Destiny engine in favor of something that's a little easier to work with. It also might leave its dark and universe-upending stories for something a little more "lighthearted and whimsical."

]]> Thu, 04 May 2023 18:27:46 GMT https://www.thegamer.com/new-bungie-game-genre-unreal-engine-5/ Niantic made the controversial decision to increase the price, and limit the use, of remote raid passes in Pokemon Go recently. The backlash that followed included players going on strike and reports suggesting raid numbers have plummeted since. However, Niantic has claimed the number of players raiding in person has actually increased since the changes were made, implying they will not be reversed despite the pushback.

]]> Thu, 04 May 2023 15:37:48 GMT https://www.thegamer.com/niantic-pokemon-go-raid-numbers-increased-despite-remote-pass-controversy/ Niantic isn't shy about making changes to Pokemon Go that might anger its players. It may have reached new heights in that regard when it followed through with plans to nerf remote raid passes. There was a report this week that Pokemon Go's revenue hit a five-year low in the wake of those changes, but Niantic has claimed that report isn't true,

]]> Thu, 04 May 2023 14:01:07 GMT https://www.thegamer.com/niantic-denies-pokemon-go-revenue-five-year-low/ Counter-Strike: Global Offensive has once again set a record for the most cases sold in a single month. While March saw CS:GO players purchase almost 40 million cases--an all-time high for the 11-year-old game--this month those same players shattered that record with just over 50 million cases purchased.

]]> Thu, 04 May 2023 13:55:23 GMT https://www.thegamer.com/csgo-50-million-cases-april-2023/ It's May 4, so naturally Fortnite has expanded its roster of available Star Wars skins. Actually, it added new characters to the mix a couple of days early, welcoming Anakin Skywalker and Darth Maul to the fold. You'd have likely assumed Darth Maul would have come with his iconic double-ended red lightsabers, but no. The Darth Maul skin comes with a halberd for some reason, but thankfully, players with a deeper Fortnite knowledge have (sort of) fixed that.

]]> Thu, 04 May 2023 10:42:15 GMT https://www.thegamer.com/fortnite-players-solve-darth-maul-lightsaber-problem/ The Pokemon TCG is finally getting its big digital upgrade. Pokemon TCG Live is ready to exit its successful year-long beta next month, and it's incentivizing players to make the switch with some sweet freebies.

]]> Wed, 03 May 2023 15:59:56 GMT https://www.thegamer.com/pokemon-tcg-live-launching-next-month/ The gradual addition of Pokemon to Pokemon Go since its launch in 2016, and the reveal of more generations of Pokemon since then, means Niantic still has more to add. The most recent Pokemon to join the party were Larvesta and its evolved form, Volcarona. Trainers aren't all that excited about Larvesta's addition though as the restrictions on how exactly you can find them make it very unlikely you'll get one, and makes it almost impossible to catch enough that you can evolve one into a Volcarona.

]]> Wed, 03 May 2023 14:44:18 GMT https://www.thegamer.com/pokemon-go-players-unhappy-larvesta-hatch-rate/ Arkane's new multiplayer vampire-killing looter shooter Redfall is off to a terrible start. It's Arkane's lowest-rated game by a mile with mostly negative reviews on Steam. A large part of that boils down to terrible technical performance on all platforms, with poor visuals and bad framerates as the key complaints. Throw in abysmal AI that can't figure out how to get around a wooden box, and you can see why fans are upset.

]]> Wed, 03 May 2023 13:58:08 GMT https://www.thegamer.com/redfall-players-cant-stop-counting-bugs/ Niantic appears to be of the mindset that it can do almost anything to Pokemon Go, regardless of how unpopular that anything might be, and not suffer any significant ramifications. Just ride out the backlash and push forward anyway. That may not be the case when it comes to its recent remote raid pass controversy. The mobile game grossed $34.7 million last month, and while that might sound like a lot of money for any game to make in 30 days, it's the worst month for Pokemon Go's revenue in five years.

]]> Wed, 03 May 2023 11:41:48 GMT https://www.thegamer.com/pokemon-go-revenue-five-year-low-remote-raid-pass-controversy/ When you think of Darth Maul, you think of a horned red villain with black markings across his face, adorned in a long robe, wielding a halberd, right? No? That's probably because his signature weapon is a double-sided lightsaber. It was his whole thing back in The Phantom Menace.

]]> Tue, 02 May 2023 11:21:16 GMT https://www.thegamer.com/darth-maul-fortnite-halberd-pickaxe-lightsaber/ Fortnite's map has evolved so much during its almost-six years since launch that not only is it unrecognizable, but just about everything you could imagine has been a part of it. It's only natural Epic start reintroducing elements we've seen before, and the next example of that could be a brand new Fortnite volcano. That's certainly what some of its players think as the theories start to stack up and the datamining discoveries begin to back them up.

]]> Tue, 02 May 2023 10:30:44 GMT https://www.thegamer.com/fortnite-update-hints-another-volcano-eruption-event/ PlayStation has been one of the best studios for single-player story-driven games for a number of years now. Hence why its acquisition of developers that focus largely on live service games, and confirmation it will deliver ten games of that ilk over the next few years, might be a little surprising. Shedding a little light on what to expect from its live service era, PlayStation has made it clear its dectet of upcoming games will all be different genres that will hopefully appeal to entirely different audiences.

]]> Mon, 01 May 2023 12:34:59 GMT https://www.thegamer.com/playstation-ten-live-service-games-different-genres-audiences/ Remember PlayStation's ten live services? They're still in development, and we're finally getting some more details on what these could look like. But perhaps most significantly, we now know that Sony won't be gatekeeping all of them on its own console, as at least one of the projects will be getting a PC release, with further multi-platform releases being hinted at.

]]> Mon, 01 May 2023 12:29:41 GMT https://www.thegamer.com/playstation-live-services-pc-launch-port/ Niantic's bizarre decision to nerf Pokemon Go's Remote Raids has resulted in the community turning against it. Instead of listening to its loyal players, Niantic decided to make fun of them. Well, all of this has resulted in players calling for a strike against the game's in-person raids, and some of them are even taking things too far by threatening devs and streamers.

]]> Mon, 01 May 2023 07:27:13 GMT https://www.thegamer.com/pokemon-go-raid-participation-drops-after-remote-raid-changes/ Honkai: Star Rail launched earlier this week and it's arguably HoYoverse's biggest release since Genshin Impact. This latest Honkai entry, with each game in the series telling mostly separate stories, has been sailing up the top games lists as it has racked up 20 million downloads and counting. It seems HoYoverse has another major hit on its hands, although it is still early days, while players have been busy discussing the game's merits.

]]> Sun, 30 Apr 2023 14:18:39 GMT https://www.thegamer.com/honkai-star-rail-stirs-debate-turn-based-combat/ Chandelure debuted on Pokemon Unite this week, and, while the overall response has been mostly positive, players have criticised the sheer volume of its sound effects.

]]> Sat, 29 Apr 2023 14:00:14 GMT https://www.thegamer.com/pokemon-unite-chandelure-too-loud/ It's hard to quantify the impact that Fortnite has had on the video games industry. It's one of the few modern games that have transcended gaming culture and has made it into general pop culture. Within the industry itself, it – along with PUBG – inspired a deluge of battle Royale games, many of which have not stood the test of time.

]]> Sat, 29 Apr 2023 09:53:20 GMT https://www.thegamer.com/fortnite-streamers-team-up-to-create-battle-royale-project-v/ The purpose statement for Pokemon Go, at least when it launched, was to bring people together. It's not very often that a video game makes people get out of their houses and actually meet other people, and Niantic nailed the formula. Even during the Covid 19 pandemic lockdowns, the devs brought Trainers together via the Remote Raid Pass.

]]> Sat, 29 Apr 2023 07:56:08 GMT https://www.thegamer.com/pokemon-go-streamer-fleeceking-death-threats-remote-raid-boycott/ Steam's latest beta has rolled out an update for the overlay, which drastically improves the screenshot manager, achievement tab, browser, and more, but one feature, in particular, has come in handy with CS:GO players. You can pin notes to the screen so they stay up while you play, meaning you can use a dot to make a crosshair for snipers.

]]> Fri, 28 Apr 2023 10:25:08 GMT https://www.thegamer.com/counter-strike-global-offensive-steam-overlay-beta-notes-no-scoping-reddit/ Last year, Lego and Fortnite announced: "an immersive, creatively inspiring, and engaging digital experience for kids of all ages to enjoy together." We weren’t provided any details on the collaboration, but we were told that it would be "family-friendly" and "empower [kids] to become confident creators."

]]> Thu, 27 Apr 2023 14:00:41 GMT https://www.thegamer.com/fortnite-leaker-lego-crossover-imminent/ Niantic has revealed the first details about this summer's Go Fest, confirming London will be one of three host cities as the annual event heads to the UK for the first time. Despite revealing almost nothing else outside of the dates on which this year's Go Fest will take place, some of you have been hard at work analyzing the little we have to go on, coming to the conclusion that 2023's Go Fest will revolve around Diancie.

]]> Thu, 27 Apr 2023 09:43:15 GMT https://www.thegamer.com/pokemon-go-fest-2023-logo-teasing-diancie/ Pokemon Go players will once again be given the chance to celebrate the game's anniversary via Go Fest this summer as the massively popular AR game turns seven. Hard to believe Pokemon Go has almost been around for seven years already, and even harder to believe Go Fest has never come to the UK during that period. That changes in 2023 as Niantic has confirmed Go Fest is coming to London's Brockwell Park

]]> Thu, 27 Apr 2023 09:06:28 GMT https://www.thegamer.com/first-ever-uk-pokemon-go-fest-2023-london/ Honkai: Star Rail, the next game from Genshin Impact developer HoYoVerse, is out now on PC and mobile platforms (a PlayStation release is expected later this year). Players are already riding the rails of the Astral Express, exploring a brave new universe full of perils, but some might have skipped right over the very first challenge the game presents.

]]> Wed, 26 Apr 2023 13:56:12 GMT https://www.thegamer.com/honkai-star-rail-sassy-character-select/ Counter-Strike: Global Offensive has long been full of Half-Life easter eggs - back in 2015, fans found graffiti of a number that, when Googled, led them to a zipcode reading 'Freeman'. Three years ago, fans also noticed a Black Mesa logo on the Professionals' sleeve buttons. Valve has been hiding Half-Life nods since CS:GO's launch, so it's only fitting that CS2 would feature some new references of its own.

]]> Wed, 26 Apr 2023 12:37:53 GMT https://www.thegamer.com/counter-strike-2-half-life-easter-egg/ Blue Protocol held its final network test at the end of last month, letting participants play through the first chapter, event raids, and an arena mode. In a new breakdown of that beta, developer Bandai Namco has clarified there won't be another.

]]> Wed, 26 Apr 2023 09:31:50 GMT https://www.thegamer.com/blue-protocol-last-network-test-beta-bandai-namco/ Diablo 4 will feature a brand-new story where the Nephalem take on Lilith, the daughter of Mephisto, and the "blessed mother" of all humanity. You'll pursue Lilith across Sanctuary as her hatred consumes the hearts of humanity. From what little footage we've seen of the campaign, it looks like it'll be a fun few hours of gameplay before opening up to end-game activities, or perhaps even harder difficulty levels.

]]> Tue, 25 Apr 2023 17:07:37 GMT https://www.thegamer.com/diablo-4-campaign-skip-might-not-be-free/ Diablo 4 will have a level 100 level cap. That’s 30 levels more than Diablo 3, and one level more than Diablo 2. Getting to level 100 in Diablo 3 will be quite the journey, however, as it’ll take over 150 hours to get there.

]]> Tue, 25 Apr 2023 15:49:13 GMT https://www.thegamer.com/diablo-4-level-cap-150-hours/ Combat, burst, primal, there have been a lot of SMGs in Fortnite since it launched. For most of you though, none of the pretenders that have come since have been able to hold a candle to the original. That's why confirmation the OG SMG has finally been unvaulted has gone down a storm with what appears to be the vast majority of you.

]]> Tue, 25 Apr 2023 14:42:23 GMT https://www.thegamer.com/fortnite-finally-unvaults-old-smg/ Apex Legends is getting a new legend. August "Ballistic" Brinkman joins the Apex Games starting next season with the Arsenal update, which brings more than just a new character. But it's Ballistic that has gripped Apex fans for being a dashing older gentleman that joins the games he left in order to save his son.

]]> Tue, 25 Apr 2023 14:33:17 GMT https://www.thegamer.com/apex-legends-ballistic-compare-john-wick-reinhardt-solid-snake/ CS:GO had a record month for case sales this year after players spent over $100 million on them in March, but already, their value has dropped as a result of the new Anubis skins.

]]> Tue, 25 Apr 2023 12:40:23 GMT https://www.thegamer.com/counter-strike-global-offensive-case-value-collapse-steam-marketplace-anubis-skins/ It's no secret that Bungie has been going through a rough patch with Destiny 2. The community has been pretty vocal about its criticism of Lightfall and almost everything else that came with it. Seasoned players know of the devs putting out good expansions on an alternating basis, but even by that standard, the latest one seems like Destiny 2's lowest point.

]]> Sat, 22 Apr 2023 11:14:25 GMT https://www.thegamer.com/fans-think-its-time-for-destiny-3/ Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0's third season launched just over a week ago, and while players have always griped at Warzone's laggy servers, latency issues have become so bad that Infinity Ward has officially acknowledged them on Call of Duty's Twitter account.

]]> Fri, 21 Apr 2023 16:14:29 GMT https://www.thegamer.com/infinity-ward-investigating-warzone-server-issues/ As players have come to expect from both Diablo and other RPGs, Diablo 4 will have a hardcore mode. That's the mode where if you die, you die. You lose everything; your save file gets deleted and all your hard work goes up in digital smoke. And Diablo 4's hardcore mode doesn't care whether death comes from a demon or another player. Death is final, regardless of its source.

]]> Fri, 21 Apr 2023 14:46:14 GMT https://www.thegamer.com/diablo-4-permadeath-hardcore-pvp/ Valve has just unleashed what is likely Dota 2's biggest update ever. It's so big that the patch notes have their own website. And it's not just a page with a few fancy gifs and embedded videos either--this page goes on for miles detailing a new map, major gameplay changes, matchmaking changes, and UI changes.

]]> Fri, 21 Apr 2023 14:05:32 GMT https://www.thegamer.com/dota-2-new-frontiers-update-expanded-map-fourth-hero-attribute/ Capcom's Street Fighter 6 showcase has ended with a big surprise: PlayStation 4 and 5 fighters can download the Street Fighter 6 demo right now. Xbox and PC platforms will have to wait until next week to try Street Fighter 6's World Tour mode and its extensive avatar creator.

]]> Thu, 20 Apr 2023 22:40:00 GMT https://www.thegamer.com/street-fighter-6-demo-available-now/ Diablo 4 is getting another beta prior to its June release. We had a pretty good idea that Diablo 4 would hold another test weekend, given recent remarks from the higher-ups at Blizzard, but now we have a confirmation and date from Diablo general manager Rod Fergusson.

]]> Thu, 20 Apr 2023 19:36:27 GMT https://www.thegamer.com/diablo-4-mothers-day-weekend-beta/ As promised earlier this week, Ubisoft has given us a closer look at The Division Heartland, including new gameplay, classes, and much more. The first thing we get a look at is the game's day/night cycle, in which the world of Heartland gets much more dangerous as the sun goes down. More powerful AI comes out of the woodwork, while you still have to worry about roaming enemy teams out to snatch your loot. The rewards are much higher, but so are the risks.

]]> Thu, 20 Apr 2023 18:40:15 GMT https://www.thegamer.com/the-division-heartland-gameplay-registration/ It's Division Day, and Ubisoft has made a slew of announcements for Tom Clancy's post-apocalyptic universe. The Divsion 2 is entering Year 5, The Division: Heartland has new details, and The Division: Resurgence is getting a new playtest later this summer. And for Resident Evil fans, Ubisoft announced a new crossover is coming to The Division 2 that'll bring some RPD to Washington DC.

]]> Thu, 20 Apr 2023 18:35:47 GMT https://www.thegamer.com/the-division-2-resident-evil-splinter-cell-crossover/ Destiny 2 received its big mid-season update on Tuesday, which brought some big changes to the game's sandbox. Several primary weapons got huge buffs in Destiny's PvE content, including Auto Rifles, Pulse Rifles, Hand Cannons, Sidearms, and Scout Rifles, while Trace Rifles, Rapid-Fire Fusion Rifles, and Rapid-Fire Snipers all got buffs in both PvE and PvP. The patch added the new Best Dressed commendation and fixed a whole lot of bugs, too.

]]> Thu, 20 Apr 2023 14:33:22 GMT https://www.thegamer.com/destiny-2-mid-season-patch-notes-mistakes/ Blizzard is teasing what could be another beta test coming to Diablo 4 ahead of the game's June release.

]]> Thu, 20 Apr 2023 13:50:55 GMT https://www.thegamer.com/diablo-4-teases-another-beta/ Overwatch 2 players are delighted, horrified, titillated, concerned, piqued, and some other emotions in between, by a "moist" sounding Ashe skin that comes with the game's Season 4 battle pass.

]]> Wed, 19 Apr 2023 16:11:52 GMT https://www.thegamer.com/overwatch-2-new-ashe-skin-weirdly-moist/