Developer Respawn seems to have plans in store for Wattson, one of the more dominant playable characters in Apex Legends. It looks like the studio wants to change how it feels to play as the static defender."[Wattson] outperforms Wraith and Lifeline in winrate (and they have very similar hitboxes to her)," Respawn lead game designer Daniel Klein tweeted in response to a comment that Wattson's abilities are easy to counter. "What is true, I feel, is that her abilities aren't fun to use, and their power isn't felt. We can measure the power in games won; we cannot measure how it feels."Wattson fits into Apex Legends' meta in a similar capacity to Crypto and Rampart, in that her abilities are geared towards preparation, not reaction. Wattson, Crypto, and Rampart excel at using their abilities to prepare for the fight to come, not jumping into the fray like the other 14 characters.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

The developers of Ninjala have announced a special collaboration event with the anime Demon Slayer, in honor of the the "ninja-gum" game's first anniversary. Exclusive to Nintendo Switch, Ninjala features Splatoon-style gameplay and was released in June 2020--which had a memorable West Side Story-themed launch trailer. The Demon Slayer collaboration event will take place in Ninjala from July 19 to August 30.In the crossover event, you can play as a total of nine characters from Demon Slayer, including Tanjiro, Nezuko, Rengoku, and Tomioka. Antagonists, like powerful demon Muzan Kibutsuji, will also be available. Tanjiro's character will also receive a unique gum bottle design. Get a peek of the Demon Slayer characters in Ninajala below.Gallery There will also be nine gum utsusemi that you can morph into and lay as a trap. Tanjiro, Nezuko, Rengoku, Tomioka, and Muzan are among the selections. A tournament will also take place during this event, and give special ippon decorations, emotes, and ninja gum based on ranking.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Stuntwoman Dayna Grant has suffered a life-threatening injury on the set of Amazon Prime's upcoming Lord of the Rings series according to Lord of the Rings fansite TheOneRing.net's Twitter.BREAKING: LOTR stuntwoman Dayna Grant has taken a huge hit on the Amazon set recently, and is now going for emergency surgery on a brain aneurysm and spinal issue. NZ film industry is stepping up to support her family. #LOTRonPrime #WW84 #evildead https://t.co/tzY4qkTZwz — TheOneRing.net (@theoneringnet) June 28, 2021Grant's family has posted to the New Zealand crowdfunding site GiveALittle.co.nz requesting help from Grant's community and fans."World-renowned Stuntwoman Dayna Grant recently sustained a head injury while on set filming for an upcoming series/film," the site reads. Grant exhibited symptoms of Traumatic Brain Injury and after scans was recommended for immediate surgery.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Apex Legends' most famous landmark, Skull Town, returns to the game during the Genesis event as a brand-new Arenas map. However, Skull Town isn't here to stay, leaving the battle royale's 3v3 PvP mode at the end of Genesis, on July 13.On Reddit, Respawn lead level designer Dave Osei said that Skull Town won't remain in Apex Legends after Genesis is over because of "a slight tech limitation.""Currently, all [battle royale] Arena locations are using the full BR map to run," Osei said. "You might notice that they take the longest to load when matchmaking. This saved a ton a dev time during production of Arenas."Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Rainbow Six Extraction, previously titled Rainbow Six Quarantine, will pit highly trained tactical soldiers against an invasive alien species. However, in an interview with The Loadout, game director Patrik Méthé said that players wouldn't be able to go in "guns blazing," like in other PvE co-op titles.According to Méthé, one of the game's core principles was that "guns are not enough" to win. "It means that in order to be successful, you'll have to do proper recon, identify the threats and the opportunities, communicate with your teammates, use the right gadgets at the right time and, most importantly, evaluate when it's time to move forward and when it's time to extract," Méthé continued.Rainbow Six Siege players will feel familiar playing Rainbow Six Extraction. The two games are built around the same mechanics, with different operators having different abilities for example. However, instead of fighting other human operators, players will have to navigate increasingly dangerous areas filled with diverse and deadly alien predators. The experience, according to Méthé, will be "very different" in the ever-expanding field of co-op shooters.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Sea of Thieves is often at its best when it devolves into chaos. After raiding a skeleton ship and loading up your brig with loot, suddenly, a player galleon appears from behind an island, turning its broadside cannons in your direction for a sneak attack. Returning fire, repairing your ship, and desperately turning your sails to make an escape--or firing a crewmate over to the enemy to lay waste to them and steal their stuff--are the moments that make Rare's pirate adventure live game so memorable.But don't discount Rare's ability to make deep, brainy story content, either. Since its launch, Sea of Thieves has come to encompass Tall Tales, lengthy voyages centered on solving riddles and learning about non-player characters that make up the game's lore. It's in this more directed, narrative-driven realm that the game's latest expansion, A Pirate's Life, lies as well. Tying in with Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean film franchise, the expansion provides new stories to uncover that are both fairly delightful for fans of the films and the theme park attraction that spawned them, as well as big, involved new Sea of Thieves locations to explore.A Pirate's Life adds a lot to Sea of Thieves, expanding on its sandbox with new enemies and a new weapon, while providing several hours of story content that's deep enough for experienced players to enjoy and approachable enough for newbies excited to sail the seas with Jack Sparrow. Though it's held back occasionally by bugs and relies on some of Sea of Thieves' weaker elements, like hitchy platforming, the expansion is a great excuse to man the helm of a pirate vessel.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

If you are using an internet-connected Western Digital My Book Live or My Book Live Duo personal cloud storage device, you would be wise to disconnect it immediately. The company has determined that a cyber-attack can compromise these drives, completing resetting them and erasing all stored data in the process. "Western Digital has determined that some My Book Live and My Book Live Duo devices are being compromised through exploitation of a remote command execution vulnerability," a note on the official support page said. "In some cases, this compromise has led to a factory reset that appears to erase all data on the device."Neither drive has received a firmware update in six years, and that will probably have to change pretty soon if users want to safely connect the devices again. They're designed to create personal storage clouds for multiple devices in your home, backing up your PCs, streaming media to your TVs, and centralizing files across several computers. Should you be using it for something like old game saves, such a compromise could erase your progress for good. Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Microsoft officially revealed Windows 11 yesterday after supposed leaks of the OS made their way around the internet last week. Of the changes coming with the latest iteration of Windows, Microsoft also announced a way for app developers to keep a big chunk of their revenue. Unfortunately for game developers, that revenue split won't apply to games.In a post on the Windows blog, Microsoft shared its pricing splits across the Microsoft Commerce platform. According to the post, starting on July 28, app developers will be able to "bring their own or a third-party commerce platform in their apps, and if they do so they don't need to pay Microsoft any fee. They can keep 100% of their revenue."Initially, this gave the impression that game developers putting their games out on the Microsoft Store would be able to claim all of the revenue from any microtransactions or other in-game purchases. However, a second post from the Windows blog clarified that that isn't exactly the case. "You will also have more revenue sharing options," reads the post, "such as keeping 100% when you bring your own commerce platform for the Store for your app (this does not include PC games)."Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

As the GOG summer sale starts to wind down, the digital storefront is ending its latest promotion with a killer deal: the Shadowrun trilogy for free.From now until the end of the weekend, you'll have a chance to grab the excellent trilogy of tactical RPG games, which includes 2013's Shadowrun Returns, 2014's Shadowrun: Dragonfall, and 2015's Shadowrun: Hong Kong. Buying each game on its own would normally wind up costing you around $70 for the set, but you just can't beat a 100% discount during this brief window of opportunity. Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Apple TV+ has finally dropped the first official trailer for Schmigadoon, an upcoming musical series starring Keegan-Michael Key and Cecily Strong as a couple on the outs who suddenly find themselves in a magical town that looks like a musical from the 1940s, full of people singing. However, the couple is unable to leave until they find their true love. The six-episode comedy hits the streaming service on July 16.In addition to Key and Strong, the trailer also showcases roles from Alan Cumming, Kristin Chenoweth, Aaron Tveit, Dove Cameron, Ariana DeBose, Fred Armisen, Jaime Camil, Jane Krakowski, Ann Harada, and Martin Short. The show, full of original songs and a great over-the-top premise, will certainly pack the performers to execute it expertly. Check out the trailer below and see for yourself.Co-created by Ken Daurio and Cinco Paul (who together wrote the screenplays for the Despicable Me trilogy), who serves as showrunner and wrote all of the original songs, Schmigadoon is also executive produced and directed by Barry Sonnenfeld (Men in Black trilogy). Lorne Michaels is also a co-executive producer. In addition to starring, Strong also produces. Schmigadoon will air weekly starting July 16 through to August 13.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

The trailer for WitcherCon has been released. The first-ever virtual Witcher event will be held on July 9 and will give fans updates on both the Netflix series and other Witcher-related media.The trailer mixes footage from both the series and the video games. While it doesn't give away too much in terms of specifics, it does promise "epic reveals and Season 2 surprises" and "interviews, games, and sneak peaks." It also reveals some of the guests who will be attending, including the show's stars Henry Cavill, Freya Allan, and Anya Chalotra, showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich, and developers from CD Projekt Red, which makes the game series. Check it out below:WitcherCon will be streamed live on Twitch and on YouTube. The official website reveals a few more details about what to expect. It states that there will be "deep dives into the making of The Witcher games, live action series, anime film, and merchandise, including exclusive behind-the-scenes footage," plus "interactive panels spotlighting the people who brought The Witcher to life in-game and on-screen, featuring breaking news from the Netflix series, and never-before-seen reveals from across The Witcher franchise."Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

A new Max Raid event is underway right now in Pokemon Sword and Shield. This time, tentacled Pokemon are appearing more frequently in Max Raid dens in both games, including Shiny Grapploct. You'll need to act quickly if you want to catch one, however, as the event only runs until June 27.Throughout the event, you'll be more likely to encounter Grapploct, Malamar, Octillery, and their pre-evolved forms in Max Raid dens across the Wild Area, Isle of Armor, and Crown Tundra. As previously mentioned, you'll also have a chance to find Shiny Grapploct in five-star Max Raids. This variant will be much rarer, however, so you'll need to be persistent and check Raids often if you're hoping to catch one.Some of the featured Pokemon in Sword and Shield's newest eventThe new Max Raid event runs until 4:59 PM PT / 7:59 PM ET / 11:59 PM UTC on Sunday, June 27, giving you only a few days to participate. Before the featured Pokemon can begin appearing in your game, you'll first need to refresh your Max Raid dens. You can do so either by connecting the game online or by selecting Get the Wild Area News from the Mystery Gift menu.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Riders Republic is going all in on being about massive races between large groups of actual players, as the game will not utilize bots to fill its competitions."Competitions will only feature real-world players," Riders Republic game director Arnaud Ragot told GameSpot. So whether you're snowboarding through a 6v6 Tricks Battle or mountain biking in a 64-person Mass Race, you'll always be against other players.Although this is an exciting prospect, there are also potential issues that could crop up with this, especially when it comes to populating a lobby and starting a game.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Shovel Knight recently turned seven years old, and his creators at Yacht Club Games celebrated the occasion by looking back not at his own game, but at the numerous cameos he's made since his debut. We haven't seen ubiquity like this outside of plumbers and hedgehogs.The blog post at Yacht Club Games' website runs down every single time Shovel Knight or one of his compatriots have appeared in other games, from well-known cameos in games like Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and Fall Guys to lesser-known indie titles like Armillo and Creepy Castle. There's even console-specific mentions, including how the Shovel Knight amiibo figures activate power-ups in the Nintendo Switch version of Cyber Shadow.The blog contains videos and pictures of each of the Shovel Knight crew's cameos, including official trailers and gameplay segments. A full list of every cameo Yacht Club mentioned in the blog is below.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

At long last, F9: The Fast Saga is in theaters. We've waited over a year for this moment, and you've hopefully gotten to see the return of Han, the journey to space, and all of the other amazingly ridiculous things that happen in the film--including the ending. There's one thing we definitely need to talk about, though, and that's the introduction of Jakob Toretto (John Cena), the long-lost brother of Dom (Vin Diesel) and Mia (Jordana Brewster).Warning: The following contains spoilers for Fast 9. If you've yet to see the film, turn away now unless you want to know what happens.It's been 20 years since the first movie in the franchise, The Fast and the Furious, debuted in theaters. In all of that time, we never heard a word about Jakob. Now, nine (technically ten, Hobbs and Shaw included) movies in, Dom magically has a little brother? How is that possible?Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com