Tag: Video Games

Malevento is the new deathmatch map for ‘Overwatch’

Hop on the PC public test realm to get in on the free-for-all action.

Overwatch doesn’t get too many content updates these days, but Malevento, its new deathmatch map, is currently live on the public test realm (PTR). Though as is always the case with PTR updates, it’s only available to PC players at the moment.

This new map challenges players to fight for dominance on the gorgeous cliffsides of Duomo di Malevento. “Circle your opponents beneath the mournful stone eyes of Caterina Pastore, a Renaissance painter with a tragic past,” reads a statement from the Overwatch Team. “Or plot the downfall of your enemies in the mysterious safe house.” Given that Overwatch 2 is the team’s priority right now, there’s a good chance this will be the last deathmatch map Overwatch gets until the sequel. 

Check out some slick screenshots of Malvento for yourself below.

The PTR release of Malevento coincides with back-to-back bits of rough news regarding Overwatch. The first being the controversial decision to rename McCree, its cowboy-themed hero, due to the Activision-Blizzard lawsuits and the cancellation of Overwatch League post-season events. So this new map is a tiny bright spot of fun amid everything else going on regarding the game.

Malevento is set to exit the PTR and come out proper on September 28 for both PC and consoles.

Written by Kyle Campbell on behalf of GLHF. 

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‘Halo Infinite’ developer explains why its campaign wasn’t at Gamescom

Halo Infinite’s multiplayer looks great, but the campaign has been missing in action for a while.

Despite most people’s palpable elation over Halo Infinite’s release date announcement at Gamescom, some are upset that its single-player campaign mode was a no-show. Joseph Staten, head of Creative at 343 Industries, took the time to address those disappointed fans.

“I definitely hear the disappointment about not seeing Campaign gameplay on the broadcast,” said Staten in a blog post on Halo Waypoint. “The whole Halo Infinite team is in shutdown mode. This means we’re done with feature work and focused on crushing high-priority bugs. We’re spending lots of time playing the game, verifying fixes, and generally doing all we can to ensure campaign (and Multiplayer!) plays great on all platforms.”

Much of the disappointment comes from the fact that there hasn’t been a Halo Infinite campaign demo since July 2020. Since then, the game has received several delays, and there have been many reports of development troubles at 343 Industries. A multiplayer trailer was shown off at Gamescom, which Ninja loved, but any concerns over the campaign were still unanswered until this message from Staten.

Check out the multiplayer trailer for yourself below.

“I’ve played Infinite’s campaign multiple times,” said Staten on the same post. “Every time I do, I always find something new tucked away on Zeta Halo. Sometimes these are quiet little bits of environmental storytelling, such as an abandoned but desperately defended Marine recon post, high on a lonely mountainside.”

Here’s to hoping everything works out when Halo Infinite comes out December 8, 2021.

Written by Kyle Campbell on behalf of GLHF. 

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‘Game Of Thrones’ author George R.R. Martin isn’t writing that much of ‘Elden Ring’

Martin penned the backstory and world, but the characters and plot belong to Hidetaka Miyazaki.

Hype for From Software’s Elden Ring is damn near palpable, mainly because of George R.R. Martin’s involvement, but the legendary Game Of Thrones author may not be as involved with the game as everyone thought.

During Elden Ring‘s reveal at E3 2019, half of the excitement surrounding it was the announcement that Martin was helping with the story. After all, it’s not every day that an author of Martin’s stature works on a video game.

However, it sounds like he only helped pen the game’s backstory early on and isn’t writing characters or dialogue like many hoped he would. A recent Entertainment Weekly interview with Yasuhiro Kitao, a producer at From Software, explains how game director Hidetaka Miyazaki had Martin’s blessing to take the story wherever.

“George R.R. Martin wrote the original mythos for this game,” Kitao said through a translator, via Entertainment Weekly. “He created a backstory or a history that takes place many, many years before the events of the game itself, and he wrote this in collaboration with Miyazaki.” 

Kitao continued: “Once that original mythos was complete, George R.R. Martin was kind enough to leave that in our hands, so to speak, and to do with that what we will.”

Kitao goes on to mention that not every character or story beat from Martin’s notes will appear in Elden Ring when it comes out on January 21, 2022.

Given how infamous Martin is for not finishing Winds Of Winter, maybe it’s for the best that he wasn’t too busy working on Elden Ring. After all, everyone wants this game actually to come out, right?

Written by Kyle Campbell on behalf of GLHF. 

‘John Wick’ meets ‘Groundhog Day’ in ‘Deathloop’: What to know about the sensational new shooter

Click heads in style in this Tarantino-inspired run-and-gun.

If there’s one genre that PlayStation has repeatedly failed to nail, it’s the first-person shooter. Shooting its shot with the middling Killzone franchise on PS2 and making a valiant effort with the short-lived Resistance series, Sony’s shooters have failed to find their target, despite giving it the college try.

Thanks to Halo’s runaway success and the utter dominance of Xbox Live, for lovers of virtual gunplay, Xbox is undeniably the place to play.

Now, at the dawn of a new console generation, Sony is hoping to finally change that. Enter the dazzlingly cool PS5 exclusive, Deathloop.

Here’s everything you need to know.

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‘Overwatch’ hero Jesse McCree to be renamed amid Blizzard lawsuit, but not all fans are happy

The cowboy hero is getting a new name due to the ongoing company-wide allegations at Blizzard.

Blizzard will rename Overwatch hero Jesse McCree after a former developer — who the character was named after — left the company. This announcement came several weeks after a lawsuit was filed against Activision Blizzard by California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing over discrimination and sexual harassment of its employees.

Former Blizzard developer McCree was one of a handful of employees photographed inside Blizzard’s “Cosby Suite” in 2013.

“As we continue to discuss how we best live up to our values and to demonstrate our commitment to creating a game world that reflects them,” said the development team in a tweet. “We believe it’s necessary to change the name of the hero currently knowns as McCree to something that better represents what Overwatch stands for.”

Read the entire message for yourself below.

Obviously, McCree is one of Overwatch’s most popular characters, and he was even going to be central to the upcoming story arc. As such, Blizzard is also delaying that content until they figure out what they will rename McCree.

The reaction from fans was slightly mixed over the name change. Some are upset, others are happy, and a whole more are just confused.

Written by Kyle Campbell on behalf of GLHF. 

Blizzard cancels Overwatch League postseason live events in Los Angeles and Dallas

Matches will now take place entirely online for now.

If you were going to attend Overwatch League live events in either Los Angeles or Dallas, it might be best to make new plans. Blizzard recently announced the cancelation of its postseason events in both cities.

“The League announced yesterday that due to significant changes in the environment affecting travel for some teams,” read a statement from Overwatch League on its official site. “We’ve decided to pivot away from originally scheduled live events in Dallas and Los Angeles; instead, postseason competition will return to Hawaii.” It goes on to stress that competition will continue online rather than in person. 

Overwatch League also left a statement on Twitter which you can check out below. 

This news comes as a significant loss to Overwatch fans and players alike, as online play often has connection issues that aren’t present during events like those that were supposed to take place in Los Angeles or Dallas. Though to (hopefully) mitigate those potential issues, teams from the west will travel to Hawaii so that they’re a smidge closer to their European and Asian competition. 

Written by Kyle Campbell on behalf of GLHF. 

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Former ‘Valorant’ pro wins gold in swimming at Tokyo 2020 Paralympics

Doesn’t matter if its Valorant or swimming, Rowan “Magnetbrain” Crothers is a legend all the same.

It’s not every day that an esports star wins Olympic gold, but Rowan “Magnetbrain” Crothers of Valorant fame did just that. On Wednesday, representing Australia, Crothers came in first during the Men’s 50m freestyle S10 Swimming at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.

Known to most gamers for crafty maneuvers in Valorant, Crothers took a break from esports to train for the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. And, well, it certainly worked out as he finished first at a staggeringly impressive 23.21 seconds.

The champ took the time to share a photo of the medal with his head held high, which you can check out below.

“I’ve proved that I’m not just a person with a disability,” said Crothers in an interview with 7Sport. “But I’m also an elite athlete.”

Crothers has dealt with Cerebral Palsy all his life, yet it hasn’t stopped him from becoming a legend in swimming and esports.

The entire Valorant community were ecstatic for Crothers, of course.

How cool is all the support from his esports friends? To say this was an achievement would be quite the understatement.

Written by Kyle Campbell on behalf of GLHF. 

Tyler ‘Ninja’ Blevins teases return to competitive ‘Halo’

The legendary Fortnite content creator might be returning to “Halo” this winter.

Halo Infinite will likely take the esports world by storm when it launches this December, and Tyler “Ninja” Blevins might get in on the action. 

Belvins made a name for himself playing Halo 3 and Halo Reach competitively nearly a decade ago, before he was ever a Fortnite megastar. For long-time fans of his, there have been hopes that he’ll make a return to the scene with Halo Infinite.

Well, that might happen, as Belvins recently teased a return on his personal Twitter. He even busted out a SpongeBob SquarePants meme for good measure, which nobody does unless they are committed to something, of course!

Check out the playful tweet from Blevins for yourself below.

Belvins tease even further by responding to former pro Halo player Faisal “Goofy” Khan later with a suggestive emoji. 

In all likelihood, Belvins is just having some fun amidst all this speculation of a potential return to Halo. At least for now, anyway. We won’t know for sure until there’s an official announcement of some sort. 

Written by Kyle Campbell on behalf of GLHF. 

Fortnite is bringing Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to the game, and I have so many questions

Huh????

No, you didn’t read that headline wrong at all. Yes, the simulation is getting a bit bonkers. Fortnite is really partnering with TIME to bring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. into the game. It’s, uh, pretty wild to say the least.

They’re calling the event a “March Through Time”, per a blog post from Playstation. Players will be able to embark on an “immersive journey” back in time to witness Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech in Washington D.C. circa 1963.

This seems, uh, pretty wild to say the least. I’m not sure anybody saw this coming from Fortnite. Ever, really. And I’ve got questions.

The launch date for ‘Halo: Infinite’ was revealed, and fans went wild

Halomania swept Twitter this morning, here are some of the best reactions.

At long last, Halo Infinite has a release date: December 8, 2021, and fans are going wild. The announcement came today during Opening Night Live at Gamescom, sending Twitter into a frenzy because, well, it’s Halo!

Everyone from prominent industry figures, like Geoff Keighley and Tom Tarren, all the way to content creators, like Alanah Pearce, commented on the release date news.

Some were overjoyed while others dropped a spicy meme or two, though regardless, everyone was plenty excited. After all, back in November of 2001, Halo: Combat Evolved shook the gaming world by making console shooters respectable with its innovative controls and gave Microsoft a certified hit for the original Xbox. 

Check out the Halo-themed buzz for yourself below. 

Even Joseph Staten, one of Halo Infinite’s developers working at 343 industries got in on the hype.

Hard to believe that by the time Halo Infinite is out this December, the series will be over 20 years old. Here’s to hoping this latest entry lives up to expectations.

Written by Kyle Campbell on behalf of GLHF.