The next ‘Battlefield’ drops you in WWI, launches on October 21st

EA and developer Dice today revealed the next major entry in the venerable warfare series Battlefield. Just as the rumor mill believed, the game will be set in World War I — and the new game, appropriately, is titled Battlefield 1. “We chose the name because we’re going back to the true dawn of all out warfare,” lead game designer Daniel Berlin said at a private event near San Francisco for press and fans, “and this is the genesis of what modern warfare is today.” The game will be out on Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC starting on October 21st, and an open beta will take place later this year.

This marks the first time the Battlefield series will dive into WWI, and judging from the trailer shown off, the game takes full advantage of next-gen console power to make both combat and environments bigger, more varied and (naturally) more violent. Some rumors made it sound as if the game would present an alternate-reality version of WWI, but it looks as if Battlefield 1 is reasonably faithful to its source material. It was a time when historical warfare tactics and weapons collided with a totally new technology, and as such the game naturally presents a variety of different combat colliding all at once.

“This was probably the most technically divergent war ever,” Berlin said. “You have cavalry fighting side by side with tanks, biplanes flying above you, hellfights in muddy trenches where hand to hand becomes just as viable as using firearms.” Indeed, the trailer showed off all of that and more — there’s plenty of firearm combat, but also some incredibly violent up-close action, plenty of tanks around the European countryside, some pretty amazing-looking plane dogfights and horseback battles in the deserts of Arabia. And there’s a new melee system in the game to bring the era’s interplay between hand-to-hand and weapons combat to life properly.

The variety of combat styles, vehicles and landscapes all were quite impressively rendered — it’s hard to say what actually playing this game will be like just yet, but there’s no doubt that the footage shown today both gorgeous and terrifying in its realism. The trailer notes that we were watching “pre-alpha” gameplay, so obviously things can change a lot between now and launch, but if Dice manages to get the whole game looking as good as the trailer did, it’ll likely be worth a look just for the graphics alone.

As is always the case with the Battlefield series, multiplayer is the main attraction here. This time out, though, the Dice team says that vast scale and scope of the game means that trying to go “lone wolf” style is going to be a lot harder. “We wanted teamplay to be the recipe for victory,” Berlin said. “It’s important to feel like you’re a critical asset to your team but also that your team is an asset to you.”

Battlefield 1 will also include a single-player campaign that’ll likely be looked at as an afterthought by the franchise’s fanbase — it wasn’t even mentioned until 45 minutes through the hour-long presentation. There weren’t many details revealed just yet, but Berlin did say that the campaign would “push more variety, add more vehicle gameplay, and… introduce larger environments and more player chocie in those large environments.”

We should learn more on both the campaign and multiplayer fronts by this June — the game will be playable at the EA Play event taking place at E3. If you’re already sold, you can pre-order the standard, “early enlister” deluxe edition and the incredibly expensive collector’s edition now on Amazon.

Twitch starts rolling out access to its ‘Friends’ feature

Last month, Twitch continued its transformation into a fully fledged social network with a feature called “Friends.” And now the streaming service is opening it up to users, albeit in limited beta form. The list, which can have up to 500 people per account, will let you see who’s online and, if need be, send private messages (aka Whispers) with a single click. Right now, Twitch says it has activated accounts for anyone who signed up at PAX East in April, as well as a few other members of the community.

But keep in mind sending a friend request does double as a beta invite, so be sure to share the love with your amigos on the platform. Unfortunately, Twitch didn’t offer a timeline for when Friends will be available to everyone, only going as far as noting that it’ll happen “soon.”

Via: TechCrunch

Source: Twitch

Sign up to play futuristic cops vs robbers in ‘LawBreakers’ now

If you can’t get enough of online brawls by way of Blizzard’s Overwatch and Gearbox Software’s Battleborn, there’s a third contender out there. It’s called LawBreakers, and it’s the brainchild of Gears of War creator Cliff Bleszinski. The arena-based multiplayer shooter from developer Boss Key Productions is now offering registration for alpha testing to anyone who wants to get down and start breakin’ the law, breakin’ the law.
Simply head to the official LawBreakers website to sign up, and you’ll be notified via email with further instructions on how to access the game, which is exclusive to Steam. Alternatively, you can add the game to your Steam Wishlist to be considered for the alpha test.

The competitive shooter was originally poised to take the free-to-play route, but that’s since changed as Bleszinski opted to revamp LawBreakers for a pay-to-play release instead. Players can fight on the side of the “Law” or opt to suit up as “Breakers” across the Grand Canyon, Mount Rushmore and even the Santa Monica coastline in a “rebuilt America.” If you’re interested in adding a third competitive shooter to your PC repertoire, you might want to get in while the getting’s good.

Source: Twitter

West Ham United signs its first FIFA eSports pro

The FIFA video game franchise has grown into a hotly contested eSports discipline. Just like League of Legends, Dota 2 or Counter-Strike, players travel around the world to compete for coveted titles and cash prizes. Now, FIFA professional Sean “Dragonn” Allen has been signed by a legitimate football (or “soccer,” as my American colleagues like to call it) club — West Ham United, the same team that has Dimitri Payet and Cheikhou Kouyate among its ranks. Of course, Allen won’t be competing in the Premier League — he’ll be representing the club at FIFA tournaments instead.

His first outing in a claret and blue shirt will be at Gfinity’s “Play Like a Legend Grand Final” this weekend. He’ll be competing for a $15,000 prize pool alongside 15 other players, who represent teams such as Epsilon, Millennium and Team Vitality. Just like a regular football game, fans will be able to watch online or at Gfinity’s arena in Fulham Broadway, London.

The 24-year-old isn’t the first FIFA player to sign for an established football club, however. VFL Wolfsburg made a similar move in May 2015, signing Benedikt “Salzor” Saltzer and Daniel “Dani” Fink through the gaming agency Stark eSports. The partnership was taken a step further in January, when the club signed David “DaveBtw” Bytheway, a 22-year-old Brit.

Right now, these sorts of signings feel like a novelty. But in the future, should eSports prove sustainable, it’s possible more teams will take FIFA seriously and sign their own players. Then, if enough people are representing official clubs, it might be possible to create a FIFA “mirror” of real-life football, with countless pros competing in national tournaments like the Premier League and La Liga. Imagine that. Maybe they could play outdoors too, sat on the grass with wireless controllers in hand.

Source: West Ham

The second ‘XCOM 2’ DLC pack arrives May 12th

The second DLC pack for XCOM 2 is set to drop on May 12th and will come bursting at the seams with new content like a Xenomorph cub desperately chewing its way to freedom. The new pack will cost $10 unless you’ve already picked up the Reinforcements Pack, in which case save your money because the new content is already on its way.

The biggest addition are the expansion’s three new Ruler aliens. These bosses will randomly hunt your team during campaigns (assuming you’ve cleared the new narrative sections already) and offer unique powers and tactics — they’ll even retreat if you don’t blast them fast enough. Luckily, players will have access to four new “prototype” weapons including a single shot rifle, a throwable axe, a pistol that automatically hides dead bodies and a freeze grenade to better battle these badass bosses. Additionally, players can pick up three new armor sets — each forged from the carcass of Ruler-class alien — that will send their extraterrestrial minions scurrying. The DLC will also include a smattering of bug fixes and gameplay rebalances.

Source: XCOM

‘Overwatch’ beta signups live throughout the weekend

Overwatch, Blizzard Entertainment’s team-based shooter, is now available as an open beta for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC. So if you’ve been seeing the endless stream of commercials online and were curious about what the World of Warcraft developer had to offer with this raucous adventure, you can get in on it now for free.
While previously the beta was open this week to those who had preordered the full version, anyone can hop online and join the fight now through May 9th. There’s a pretty large spread of content to wade through too, with all 21 heroes available upon download and Quick Play, Play vs. AI, Custom Game and Weekly Brawl modes on tap for maximum carnage. If that’s not enough, you can hone your craft with Tutorial, Practice Range and Practice vs. AI modes as well.

As far as duking it out with other players, there’s a selection of 12 maps and four multiplayer modes. For Assault, you can head to Hanamura, Temple of Anubis and Voskaya Industries. For Escort games, there’s Dorado, Route 66 and Watchpoint: Gibraltar. If you’re into Assault/Escort mode, you can hit up Hollywood, King’s Row and Numbani. Lastly, for Control games, you’ll be exploring Ilios, Lijiang Tower and Nepal.

The full version of Overwatch comes out on May 24th, so if you’re interested in previewing it ahead of the end of the month, you’d better jump on it fast. It should make for a good weekend play.

Source: Blizzard Entertainment