Valve's Artifact 2.0 remake is heading into Closed Beta next week
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[Update #2]: Valve is ceasing all development on Artifact and Artifact 2.0.
[Update]: The Artifact 2.0 beta has now begun, though only for a small number of players so far.
The original version of Artifact was flawed in pretty much every way, from the in-game economy being extremely exploitative to the balance being heavily reliant on random chance. After seeing that no mere patch could fix things, Valve quickly set out to work on redesigning Artifact from the ground up.
Quite a long time has past since then, but I'm very happy to say that we'll soon be able to see the results of all their effort. According to the newest blog post, Artifact 2.0 will be launching into Closed Beta next week!
Sea of Thieves will be docking onto Steam this June
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[Update]: Sea of Thieves has now landed onto Steam with cross-play between all three versions.
Out of pretty much nowhere, Sea of Thieves recently got its very own Steam page and a brief announcement stating that it'll be coming soon. Well, as it turns out, "soon" really does mean soon in this case as the Steam version of Sea of Thieves has just been pinned for a June 3rd release date!
In order to give everyone an idea of what Sea of Thieves has to offer, as well as how much it has improved over time, the developers have also released a brand new trailer. Have a gander, it's a fairly short and action-packed one:
Total War: Warhammer 2 update has now added High Elf Batman and a morbidly obese Goblin
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[Update #2]: Total War: Warhammer 2's next major update will bring the long-anticipated Wood Elf rework!
[Update]: The newest beta update has greatly beefed up Orcs and their Black Orc Big Boss hero.
If you're a fan of Greenskins in Total War: Warhammer 2, today should be a pretty darn good day. Not only have they received a bunch of new units and mechanics through The Warden & The Paunch DLC, but the accompanying free update has also reworked them into a downright terrifying force.
First things first, the paid "The Warden & The Paunch DLC" has brought in two Legendary Lords - Grom the Paunch for the Greenskins, and his eternally grumpy rival Eltharion the Grim for the High Elves. There's also a whole assortment of new units for both factions, two highly unique campaigns that play noticeably differently from the rest of their race, as well as some rather interesting new start positions for both characters.
You can snatch Civilization VI for free through the Epic Games Store
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[Update]: Epic is now giving away Borderlands: The Handsome Collection which contains Borderlands 2, Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, and all of the DLC released for both games!
The Epic Games Store is currently running a massive sale, and they are doing everything they can in order to get as many eyes on it as possible. Not that I'm complaining, however, as just recently they have given out GTA 5 for free, and now they are doing the same with Civilization VI!
So if you're up for many sleepless nights, endlessly chasing that "one more turn" high, you should head on over to the Epic Games Store and grab yourself a copy of Civilization VI. This promotion will last until May 28th, so while you have plenty of time to do it, I would recommend simply getting a copy now while it's still fresh on your mind.
Riot Games' competitive shooter Valorant is launching in early June
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[Update]: Valorant has now been released for PC, and unsurprisingly, it's a pretty fun shooter.
In an announcement that I must admit comes as quite a shock, Riot Games has now revealed that their competitive 5v5 shooter Valorant will be launching this June 2nd! Some regions like India and the Middle East won't have their own servers at launch, though the team is working on remedying that as soon as possible. Until then, these regions will be combined with their neighbors, the SEA and EU servers in this case.
When it comes to its gameplay style, Valorant is often described as a hybrid between Counter-Strike and Overwatch, though I must admit I highly disagree with that. Outside of unique heroes and abilities, Valorant simply doesn't share much with Overwatch. However, the Counter-Strike comparison is quite apt as Valorant features a very similar gameplay feel, damage to health ratio, as well as map design and objectives. So if you're a fan of CSGO and you're looking for something fresh, Valorant might just be worth a closer look.
Black Desert Online's battle royale spin-off Shadow Arena has now launched on Steam
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After a few rounds of beta testing, Black Desert Online's battle royale cousin Shadow Arena has now been unleashed onto Steam Early Access. As you might imagine given the premise, Shadow Arena allows 40 players to roam across its map in search of monsters and loot, all the while beating each other senseless with a variety of unique characters. Each one has their own special skillset and playstyle, as well as the usual strengths and weaknesses, so learning how to utilize or exploit all of them is going to be where most of the challenge lies.
As for what exactly the combat looks like in action, that you'll find out through one of the character trailers down below. This one is mostly focused on Yeonhwa and her various combo attacks, so it should give you a pretty good impression of what Shadow Arena has to offer. Have a gander:
Amazon's free-to-play shooter Crucible has now landed onto PC via Steam
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[Update #2]: Crucible will be closing down its servers on November 9, 2020.
[Update]: A month after launch, Crucible has now moved back to Closed Beta.
While the team-based shooter craze has slowly given way to the battle royale craze, there is definitely still room in the market for a more focused and organized shooter experience. And that is exactly the type of niche Amazon tried to fill with their newly launched Crucible - a free-to-play shooter with a wide and colorful cast of characters, each armed with their own unique abilities and playstyle.
Since trying to describe shooters through words alone is a bit of a pointless endeavor, allow me to share with you the recently posted overview trailer. It'll give you a pretty good idea of just what Crucible is trying to accomplish. Have a gander: