Gaming News

Xbox Removes Homestead Arcana Achievement In Unprecedented Move

According to a Eurogamer report, Microsoft has stepped in and removed an Xbox achievement from Homestead Arcana after it was discovered that the achievement was hard. Homestead Arcana initially launched on Xbox Game Pass on April 21, 2023, with over thirty achievements you can unlock by playing the game's story and completing specific tasks. But it didn't take players long to realize that unlocking an achievement called "You Can't Be Too Prepared," which requires you to craft every item in the game, was more difficult than the others because the recipe for Green Ankle Boots didn't appear in-game at all. Players who were trying to unlock You Can't Be Too Prepared soon noticed the achievement had been removed. Those who only had that...

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Diablo 4: Blizzard Confirms Two Expansions in Development

Diablo general manager Rod Fergusson revealed that Diablo IV currently has two expansions in the works. Speaking with Kinda Funny Games, Fergusson said, “As I sit here we're about to launch the main game, we're finishing up season one, we're working on season two, we're working on expansion one, we're kicking off expansion two…we're working on that now and we haven't even launched the game.” Fergusson also adds that the live-service format of Diablo IV allows for more substantial content to be included over time in seasons as opposed to how Diablo III was. Previously, Fergusson mentioned that Diablo IV’s expansions will have narrative questlines and will have richer context around the seasons whereas Diablo III’s was centered on...

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Hideo Kojima Appears at WWDC to Promise Support for Apple Platforms

Hideo Kojima made a surprise appearance during Apple's WWDC 2023 keynote to reveal that Death Stranding: Director's Cut is coming to Mac. The Director's Cut is set to come to Mac sometime this year, but we don't have an exact date yet. Kojima also teased ahead to future Kojima Productions games, saying his studio is "actively working to bring its future titles to Apple platforms". We don't know exactly what future projects Kojima is referring to with that statement. Currently, Kojima Productions' announced upcoming games include Death Stranding 2 — which is currently only confirmed for PlayStation 5 — and the untitled game the studio is developing for Xbox Game Studios. Death Stranding originally released as a PlayStation exclusive...

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Diablo 4 Community Debates 'Dungeon Reset Button' as Players Fight to Get On Blizzard’s Lilith Statue

Diablo 4 isn’t properly out yet but early access players have already hit level 100 on Hardcore mode and secured their place on Blizzard’s Lilith statue, though not without using a controversial method. Action role-playing specialist Carn was first to hit the maximum level in the permadeath-infused Hardcore mode using a method that has sparked debate amongst the Diablo community. This revolves around the difference between playing Diablo 4 solo and playing in a group with other players, as the latter comes with certain advantages. Playing in a group provides a passive bonus to experience point gain, for example, which by default gives those who party up a head start on those who play solo. There’s also the added benefit of...

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Mass Effect: Dark Horse's Sold Out Reaper Sovereign Ship Replica Returns

Dark Horse Direct has lately become the best source for high-end Mass Effect collectibles, including detailed replicas of the iconic ships from the games. And while the Reaper Sovereign Ship Replica sold out following its original release in 2022, Mass Effect fans are being given a second chance to add this impressive piece to their collection. IGN can exclusively reveal the new version of the Mass Effect Reaper Sovereign Ship, which features the same detailed sculpt in a smaller size and die-cast materials. Get a closer look in the slideshow gallery below: This ship replica again features a sculpt by the designers at Gentle Giant Studios. But whereas the original clocked in at 14 inches tall, this version measures a more modest 8...

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Diablo 4's Most Infuriating Foes Appear to Be Its Horses

Diablo 4 players are having a right ‘mare when it comes to the game’s horses. Hell demons, corrupt villagers, and the undead are no match for The Wanderer, but it looks as though some players have met their match when it comes to horse riding. “I keep getting caught on tiny trees or rocks,” said one player who took to Reddit to complain. “Going downwards on the screen is beyond awkward too, making my horse stutter step and waste the charge. They’re still really useful as long as you’re going anywhere other than further down the map lmao” And other players were somewhat less tactful. “The horse is objectively awful. Seems super sensitive to server desync, too. The Elden Ring horse is like a f**king spaceship compared to this turd.”...

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Street Fighter 6 Hits Over 1 Million Players During Opening Weekend

Street Fighter 6 has reached over one million players across its opening weekend, Capcom announced on the official Japanese Street Fighter Twitter account. The fighting game launched on June 2 to critical acclaim (with IGN's 9/10 review calling it a knockout) and plenty of players seem to be enjoying it too. With the launch of Street Fighter 6, the series has sold over 50 million copies, and Capcom celebrated the achievement by gifting all players the “Just Picked Up SF6” profile title. Street Fighter 6 also got off to a strong start on PC where it became Steam’s most-played fighting game of all time by concurrent player count, beating out the likes of Mortal Kombat 11, Tekken 7, and predecessor Street Fighter 5 on Valve's...

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RoboCop: Rogue City Hands-On Preview

Over 35 years since he first stomped the streets of Detroit, RoboCop returns to the frontlines. Teyon, the studio behind Terminator: Resistance and Rambo: The Video Game, is primed for its most ambitious ‘80s action movie revival yet. Set between the events of RoboCop 2 and 3, with Peter Weller reprising his iconic role, RoboCop: Rogue City takes us back to Old Detroit once again to clean up the streets. Promising familiar faces, a huge helping of explosive violence, and the franchise’s gloriously stilted, cheesy humor, Rogue City is a bloody first-person shooter that takes us on an authentic trip to Alex Murphy’s old haunts to chase a new threat. Rogue City opens with a now-familiar satirical news segment, which is interrupted by a...

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Amnesia: The Bunker Review

Amnesia: The Dark Descent changed the face of horror games 13 years ago, and 2020's Amnesia: Rebirth seemed to bring the story seeds it planted to a bone-chilling and climactic final bloom. So Amnesia: The Bunker, a smaller and more self-contained chapter, has its work cut out for it in getting me excited about this frightening franchise again. And while a lot of the fundamentals of its stealth and exploration have stayed the same as they were when I woke up as Daniel more than a decade ago, this gloomy, open-ended cat-and-mouse thriller proves you can teach an old hellbeast some new tricks. Set in a dim, doomed World War I bunker in 1916, we take on the role of a French soldier who is wounded in battle, and wakes to find the exits...

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Diablo 4 Players Have Already Hit Level 100 but the Hardcore Race Is Still On

The race to hit max level in Diablo 4's Hardcore mode is hotting up, with one player in particular close to the impressive feat. Blizzard’s action role-playing game doesn’t launch until June 6, but early access kicked off on June 1 and in just a few days players hit level 100. Twitch streamer Rob2628 appears to be the first Diablo 4 player to hit max level, using the Barbarian class and a focus on the Whirlwind skill to get there. Some Diablo 4 players are upping their chances by using a trick to boost experience that involves the lead player of a group leaving the party and triggering a dungeon reset in the process, though it seems likely Blizzard will address this in a future patch. Of more interest is the race to 100 for a...

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60 Buck Bracket Drops for God of War Ragnarok, Jedi Survivor, DualSenses, and $120 off a Meta Quest 2!

Welcome to another week of me saving you hundreds if not thousands of dollars on gaming goodness. That's right, nothing but ownables—a complete detour past gaming... badness. Case in point: if you own a PlayStation, scoop up Psychonauts for under 4 bucks. As far as well-written, 3D platformers go, it's a fine one. Hell, I'd go so far as to call it double fine. This Day in Gaming Aussie birthdays for notable games. - Panzer Dragoon Saga (SAT) 1998. - Mass Effect (PC) 2008. Get - State of Decay (PC, X360) 2013. Sequel Table of Contents Nintendo Switch PC Xbox PlayStation Nice Savings for Nintendo Switch Expiring Deals From Yesterday Hardware Watch How much to make the switch to Switch? Back to top Purchase Cheaply for PC...

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Diablo 4 Interactive Map

This vast land of Diablo 4's Sanctuary is teeming with enemies and secret places to explore. Whether you are just focusing on the Main Quest, or are delving into the Side Quests, Cellars, Dungeons, and Strongholds, our Diablo 4 Interactive Map is the perfect tool to help you keep track of where you’re going and remind you of where you’ve been. As we progress further into the game, we will continue to update the Interactive Map with new information and points of interest. See the full Diablo 4 Interactive Map with all updates! Latest Updates to the Diablo IV Map Diablo 4 Fractured Peaks Map On the Diablo 4 Interactive Map Page, you can: Filter by map marker Locations Services Collectibles Enemies Items Quests Other Check off...

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Diablo 4 Received Its First Big Patch and It's All About Class Balance

Diablo 4 has received its first big patch and it's mostly about balancing the five starting classes that players can choose to take down Lilith and save Sanctuary with. Blizzard shared the patch notes and some reasoning behind the changes in a blog, and it shared that the team is mostly happy with where the characters are currently at. However, the team knows there is "always room for improvement." To that end, it has revealed the three categories these changes fall into; While we want players to both feel and be truly powerful, some Class builds and synergies are outside of our bounds for what is reasonable for the health of the game, so we are reducing their effectiveness. As an example, we generally want to avoid creating...

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The 15 Best Free-to-Play Games on Xbox Right Now

The term “free-to-play” has slowly lost the negative connotation it once held, thanks to the rise of high-quality titles like Fortnite, Rocket League, and Apex Legends. Free-to-play games have come to dominate the medium by providing players access to some of the best online gaming experiences from some of the industry’s top development studios. For those looking to get the most out of their Xbox console while saving a buck (or 70), we’ve compiled this list of the 15 best free-to-play Xbox games available in 2023. All games on this list are available on Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One. For paid options, check out our picks for the best Xbox Series X games right now. Apex Legends Since its release in 2019, Apex Legends has been one of...

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How to Play the Final Fantasy Games in Order

For 35 years, the Final Fantasy franchise has captivated fans with its anthology style of storytelling, keeping things fresh with new characters and stories. It even has a tendency to set the time periods somewhere between past and future in each game while keeping them connected with the same plot: a group of young heroes gathering to fight a great evil threatening their world while they exploring their internal struggles and relationships with each other — a universal theme that people can relate to. If you’re new and want to get into the Final Fantasy series, there are 15 numbered games (with Final Fantasy XVI on the way), a few direct sequels, and a prequel to the first game. It sounds like a lot, but we’re here to help you make...

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System Shock Remake Is an Essential History Lesson for BioShock’s Biggest Fans

The quietly humming corridors of Citadel Station are littered with corpses. They are silent, but each tells their own story. Torn bodies lie inches away from an audio log recorded just moments before their final stand. A file from a woman tells of her final days as she succumbs to a spreading sickness. A pile of mangled remains, entangled in their own guts, look up with dead eyes at a graffiti mural that depicts the artificial intelligence that they worshipped like a god. If this nightmare sounds like a new BioShock game, then you’re only half wrong. These are all moments from System Shock, the game that began the Shock lineage back in 1994. One of history’s most important games, the original is almost unplayable by today’s standards...

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Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 2 Restored Content DLC for Switch Canceled

Aspyr Media announced that it is canceling the Restored Content DLC for the Switch version of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II - The Sith Lords. “Sadly, today we’re announcing that the Restored Content DLC for the Nintendo Switch version of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II - The Sith Lords will not be moving forward for release,” Aspyr revealed in a statement on Twitter. However, Aspyr is trying to do right by fans by letting those who purchased the game before this announcement receive a complimentary game on Switch. The complimentary games include: Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, Star Wars: Republic Commando, Star Wars: Episode 1 Racer, Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy...

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Street Fighter 6 Has Already Broken a Major Steam Fighting Game Record

Street Fighter 6 hasn't even been out for a full day, and it's already off to a flaming hot start. Capcom's latest entry in the Street Fighter franchise has already become Steam's most-played fighting game of all time by concurrent player count. At 9 a.m. PT this morning, SteamDB's numbers show that 66,317 people were playing Street Fighter 6 on Steam alone. According to industry analyst Benji-Sales on Twitter, this figure has broken Steam's all-time concurrent players record for a fighting game by nearly double. For context, concurrent player count means the number of people playing a game at the same time. Here are some of the other numbers: Street Fighter 6: 66,317 Mortal Kombat 11 - 35,147 Tekken 7 - 18,966 Mortal Kombat X -...

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Stardew Valley Creator Teases Long-Requested Update

Stardew Valley allows players to upgrade their tools through a few different methods, with the highest tier for every tool being the rare purple mineral iridium. That is, every tool except one — the scythe only has a standard and gold variant and can't be upgraded to iridium, which has left players with unsatisfyingly incomplete toolbars for years. However, players might soon be able to complete their shiny purple set of tools. On Wednesday, Stardew Valley developer Eric Barone, also known as ConcernedApe, teased the long-requested iridum scythe update in a tweet. If the Stardew community's reaction is any indication of things, this is a big deal. "FINALLY ALL PURPLE," one fan responded. While he didn't officially announce the...

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Days of Play 2023: The Best PS5 Game Deals

Well, PlayStation fans, we made it -- Days of Play 2023 is here. It runs June 2 - 12, and during that time you can save a heap of cash on PS5 and PS4 games, along with a nice PS Plus discount and more. Below, we're tracking all the best deals on PlayStation games across all the retailers. Scroll on down, see what you want, and pick it up before the sale ends. Days of Play 2023 PlayStation Game Deals (Physical) Amazon Best Buy GameStop Walmart Days of Play 2023 Collector's Edition Game Deals GameStop PS Direct God of War Ragnarok CE - $179.99 Horizon Forbidden West CE - $169.99 The Last of Us Part I Firefly Edition (PC) - $80 Days of Play 2023 PlayStation Game Deals (Digital) As you can see, at least for the deals on...

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Destiny 2: Where Is Xur Today? Location and Exotic Items for June 2-6

The cloaked one, Xûr, is now live in Destiny 2 for the weekend until next week's reset. If you're looking to get your some shiny new Exotic armor or weapons for your Guardian, look no further. Each week, Xûr has a random assortment of Exotic armor, one for each Guardian class, as well as a random Exotic Weapon and an Exotic Engram available for purchase. In addition to his Exotic wares, he's got a random collection of Legendary weapons and armor to deck out your Guardians. We've rounded up all the info on Xûr for the week including where to find Xûr, which Exotic weapons and armor are available, as well as which Legendary weapons you should pick up, either for PvE or PvP. Where Is Xûr Located Today? Xûr's location can be found at...

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Blizzard Leadership Interview: Discussing Diablo 4's Endgame and Live-Service Future

In the days before Diablo 4's launch, the leadership team at Blizzard was already all too excited to discuss the endgame and imminent live-service future for their ARPG, which dives into the GaaS model for the first time. Currently in their pre-season phase, Blizzard has mostly been hesitant to discuss what's next with the fires of Hell still burning so fresh, but with teams already hard at work on seasonal content and full expansions, we sat down to talk to Rod Fergusson, the general manager of Diablo, and Zaven Haroutunian, associate game director for Diablo, about their vision for Diablo's endless grind. IGN: Diablo 3 sort of straddled the fence between being a live-service: It had seasons, but no regular content drops, which it...

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PlayStation Players Are Reporting a Diablo 4 Error That Locks Them Out of the Early Access Launch Period

Some PlayStation 5 players who purchased deluxe versions of Diablo 4 are still unable to play the game thanks to a persistent "invalid licence" error. “We are seeing reports regarding PlayStation users experiencing Invalid License errors,” read a tweet from the official Diablo account. “The team is looking into this right now and will update once we have more information.” Diablo 4’s early access period began on June 1 at 4pm Pacific for those who had purchased the $89.99 Digital Deluxe Edition, or the $99.99 Ultimate Edition of the game, but some PlayStation gamers were met with an “unable to find a valid license for Diablo IV” error. "$140 (Canadian) dollars for a game to play early,” read a post from Twitter user @courtlalonde...

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System Shock Review

Trapped in a hell he helped make, a lone hacker aboard a space station far from home sneaks and fights his way through horrible mutants and killer robots in order to take down the monstrous artificial intelligence behind it all: SHODAN, one of the all-time great gaming villains. System Shock pioneered so many first-person shooter concepts back in 1994 that now feel fundamental, simultaneously paving the way for the entire immersive sim genre. Nightdive Studios has done masterful work with this 2023 remake, taking a fantastic game that the years have made hard to play and updating it with modern conveniences that will let it be enjoyed for decades to come. Nominally a shooter, System Shock is more about exploring the labyrinth that is...

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Here's Where to Score Fancy DualSenses for $67, 50% off PS AAAs, PC Freebies and More!

Thank your own personal deity, it's Friday. The mid-year / end of financial year sales have heated up again this morning. I've spotted a whole bunch of triple A titles that have gotten the chop. It's also a damn fine time to secure keyboards and controllers too. Stop reading this intro. Go get the deals before they're goneski! This Day in Gaming Aussie birthdays for notable games. This Day in Gaming - The Legend of Zelda (GBA) 2004. - Tekken 7 (PS4, XO) 2017. Table of Contents Nintendo Switch PC Xbox PlayStation Nice Savings for Nintendo Switch Expiring Deals From Yesterday Hardware Watch How much to make the switch to Switch? Back to top Purchase Cheaply for PC Expiring Deals From Yesterday Hardware Watch Slay...

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Starship Troopers: Extermination Early Access Review

If you are a hardcore Starship Troopers fan, chances are I’ve already served with you on the front lines of Valaka in the early days of Starship Troopers: Extermination’s early access launch. For those of us who know who Casper Van Dien is, the long grind, very limited objectives and mission types, and old-school shooting were never going to deter us from doing our part, because working together as a team to blast enormous waves of bugs while building a base and then high-tailing it to safety has a powerful draw. But for those who don’t, there may not be much reason to drop in just yet. Decades after the events of Paul Veerhoven’s cult sci-fi classic Starship Troopers, the arachnid threat still looms large and threatens the safety of...

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Far More Star Wars Jedi: Survivor Players Lowered the Difficulty Rather Than Raised It

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor may have been a bit tough for some players. EA has released some interesting statistics from the recent Star Wars action game, that seems to confirm that more players lowered the game’s difficulty than raised it. The default difficulty, Jedi Knight, was the most popular, played by 52.5% of players. Meanwhile, Story Mode and Jedi Padawan made up 29.5% of the player numbers combined. The harder difficulties, Jedi Master and Jedi Grand Master were much more rare, making for a combined total of just 18%. Only 4% of players played Star Wars Jedi: Survivor on its hardest difficulty. Hilariously, 489 players were defeated by Rick the Door Technician – a sort-of boss that appears early in the game who is felled...

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Meta Quest Gaming Showcase: Everything Announced

The third annual Meta Quest Gaming Showcase has arrived, and it provided an overview of some games that are arriving in the Meta Quest 2 and Pro, and the recently-announced Meta Quest 3, which arrives this Fall for $499.99. If you missed the showcase, don't worry; here's everything announced at today's showcase. Assassin's Creed VR is Officially Named Assassin's Creed Nexus VR Assassin's Creed VR has been renamed Assassin's Creed Nexus VR, and it will launch later this year for Meta Quest VR headsets. Ubisoft announced this project back in 2021, and while we did not get much in the form of information outside of the new subtitle for this VR Assasin's Creed game, we can get a full reveal of Nexus VR later this month at Ubisoft...

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Assassin's Creed VR Gets New Title, Teases Full Reveal at Ubisoft Forward

Assassin's Creed VR has been renamed Assassin's Creed Nexus VR, and it will launch later this year for Meta Quest VR headsets. Announced at the Meta Quest Games Showcase, Assassin's Creed Nexus VR is the first game in the Assassin's Creed franchise to be playable in virtual reality. Originally announced in a blog post in 2021, Assassin's Creed Nexus was one of two VR games Ubisoft announced were in development for the Meta Quest VR headset along with Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell VR. However, it seems only Assassin's Creed Nexus VR will see a release, as Axios reporter Stephen Totilo reported last year that Ubisoft canceled the development of Splinter Cell VR (along with three other games). Ubisoft previously confirmed in the blog post...

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New Action-Adventure-RPG Kromlech Announced With Live-Action Trailer

Developer Czech Perun Creative has announced Kromlech, a new action-adventure RPG with action-adventure elements that's in development for PC. No release date has been announced as of yet. It's not every day that a game is announced with a live-action trailer, but Kromlech has done just that, and you can check out that trailer above. A first batch of concept art is available in the gallery below. Kromlech is set in a fictional world inspired by the early Iron Age Celts, among other cultures. Gameplay-wise, the developers are promising "brutal combat, challenge-based leveling, action-driven player decisions, an immersive world, no copy-paste enemies, roguelite elements," and more. Story-wise, the developers describe Kromlech as such...

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