Total War: Troy official artwork and logo

[Update #2]: Total War: Troy's Amazons DLC is charging in on September 24th and will be free for two weeks!

[Update]: Total War: Troy has been unleashed, and it is indeed entirely free to grab for the first 24 hours!

In a bit of a departure from how the rest of the series was handled, Total War: Troy will be launching this August 13th exclusively for the Epic Games Store. While this might be considered a major downside to some, it's also well worth mentioning that Troy will be entirely free to grab for 24 hours after launch!

The good news doesn't end there, however, as Creative Assembly has now announced that Troy's very first DLC will also be a freebie. So once the all-female Amazons arrive at some point this September, you'll be able to grab them for free through Total War Access, much like some of Total War: Warhammer 2's free DLCs.

Starcraft 2 artwork showing the three races

While Starcraft 2's Map Editor is quite impressive and far more advanced than its Warcraft 3 counterpart, it unfortunately has one rather crippling issue - it is too complex for beginners. The best example of this is the process to change a single character model. In Warcraft 3 this was as simple as going to a drop-down menu and selecting what you like, whereas in Starcraft 2 you pretty much need an online guide in order to figure out what in the world you're even looking for.

With that in mind, I am very happy to say that this newest update has now greatly improved and simplified the Map Editor. While it may have taken Blizzard far too many years to do this, the Starcraft 2 editor has now finally taken cues from the Warcraft 3 one and offers a variety of functions and features through easy-to-use menus. So if you ever wanted to make your own map but didn't even know where to start, this new update is definitely worth checking out.

Gates of Ahn'Qiraj artwork for World of Warcraft

[Update]: After a successful beta, World of Warcraft Classic's fresh servers are coming this November 16 with the Season of Mastery.

Out of all the events throughout all of World of Warcraft, the original opening of the Gates of Ahn'Qiraj is probably the most memorable. Not only did it require the combined efforts of an entire server in order to kickstart the invasion, but it also brought in two highly mysterious and long-awaited raids.

While the mystery is sadly long gone at this point, what with us knowing everything including C'thun's favorite brand of eyeliner, you can at least experience a bit of that oldschool excitement now! In other words, as a part of the latest World of Warcraft: Classic update, the Ahn'Qiraj event has just returned in all of its glory!

Total War: Warhammer 2 artwork for the new Wood Elf DLC

[Update #2]: Total War: Warhammer 2's The Twisted & The Twilight DLC is bringing in goodies for Wood Elves and Skaven.

[Update]: The massive Wood Elf focused DLC has been pinned for a December 2020 release date.

Much like the Beastmen that came before them, Total War: Warhammer 2's Wood Elves suffer from being one of the earliest pieces of Total War: Warhammer DLC. While their units are an absolute joy to play around with, their campaign mechanics are tragically outdated and infuriating to deal with, especially the whole Amber nonsense given how it limits army creativity and diversity.

Thankfully, the next DLC and free update will be sorting all of this out, just like how the recent patch has sorted out the now-amazing Greenskins. While the details are unfortunately still shrouded in mystery, the free update will add a brand new hero, the aforementioned rework of the Wood Elves, as well as major improvements to one of the Total War: Warhammer 2 races.

Prey (2017) screenshot of the mimic enemies

In a bit of a surprising turn of events, the Prey (2017) developers have now come to announce that they have removed the somewhat controversial Denuvo DRM from the Steam version. This now make the Steam copy the same as the one found on other storefronts like GOG or the Microsoft Store.

When it comes to concrete improvements, however, there is a chance this will make your Steam version load slightly faster, suffer from slightly fewer crashes, as well as sport slightly better performance. The reason I'm so conservative in my estimates here is that all of this will heavily depend on your individual PC, so don't be shocked if you either see a gigantic shift or barely any changes at all.

Valorant artwork for agent Killjoy

[Update]: The newest patch has added Agent Killjoy, deathmatch, and Raze nerfs!

If there is one thing FPS players seem to universally hate, it would be automated turrets. This is a fact that even the Valorant developers themselves are clearly aware of given that the newly announced and turret-placing Agent is rather cheekily named Killjoy.

When it comes to abilities, Killjoy has the aforementioned turret that can cover a fairly large area, though its damage output is thankfully not all that high. If that's just not enough protection for you, however, Killjoy also sports a stationary alarm bot that can explode and make enemies more vulnerable to damage, thus directly synergizing with both the turret and Killjoy herself.

Overwatch Genji screenshot of him fighting assassins

[Update]: The latest patch has brought in experimental Assault (2CP) changes and Genji nerfs.

Due to the recent shuriken buffs, Genji has quickly become one of the most powerful heroes in all of Overwatch. In order to put a stop to his rampage and make it so ranked games revolve around more than just nano-blades, Blizzard has quite recently issued a small but reasonable nerf to his damage.

However, it would appear that Genji has become even more powerful than anyone could've expected as he has just straight up deflected these nerfs right back into Blizzard's face! And so, in a move that doesn't happen all that often with Overwatch, Blizzard has pulled back the update and will be releasing it again in the near future.

Warhammer 40k: Darktide screenshot of the squad from the trailer

[Update #2]: After playing for about 50 hours now I've decided to create a beginner's guide covering some of the basic concepts and combat strategies. So if you'd like your first run through Darktide to be a nice and pleasant one, I'd welcome you to give it a look.

[Update]: Warhammer 40,000: Darktide is already looking like new and improved version of Vermintide.

After making one of the best depictions of the Warhammer Fantasy universe, Vermintide studio Fatshark is now setting their sights on Warhammer 40,000. While the details on the upcoming Darktide are unfortunately few and far between, it will once again be a four-player co-op action game that will have you face off against hordes upon hordes of Chaos fanatics and monstrosities!

You can get a little bit of an idea of what to expect, as well as what sort of malformed enemies you'll be fighting against, through the recently posted trailer. Have a gander, and just remember, these four unfortunate saps won't be the playable characters:

Screenshot of Steam's new beta access tools

If you've ever participated in a beta for a game on Steam, or simply had access to a preview build, you're likely well aware that the whole process is a bit messy. First of all, there is no way to sign up for the beta itself through Steam, so you'll likely have to create an account on some other website and sign up through that.

And then, even if you're chosen, the developers either have to give you a brand new Steam key for a different version of the game, or a password for the beta build which can potentially be shared with others. Either way, it's not exactly an elegant solution.

Overwatch artwork showing off Genji

[Update #2]: The latest patch has brought in experimental Assault (2CP) changes and Genji nerfs.

[Update]: It seems like the Moira changes are being pulled back for now, though she will be going through another round of testing in the future.

Blizzard has attempted to change Moira in some way through quite a few of the recent updates, but unfortunately, not a single one of the tweaks ever worked because they were mostly focused around the numbers. With this most recent update, however, Blizzard has chosen to take things in a bit of a different direction.

As such, under the new experimental system, Moira's fade now also fades all nearby allies once she exits. Additionally, Blizzard has greatly reduced her primary fire lock-on radius and changed the damage orbs so that they now have a stronger effect the closer you are to them. The goal, as you might imagine, is to promote more skillful play from both Moira and her targets.