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I hope your wallet is ready, because the season of summer sales is officially underway. The Epic Games Store has just recently launched their big sale, and already GOG has responded with an even more massive assortment of discounted games.
So if you're looking for some interesting games to mess around with, or simply to fill out your backlog, you should hop on over to GOG and see if something strikes your fancy. If you don't know what to pick, however, allow me to highlight a couple of my favorites from multiple genres:
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[Update #2]: The Blizzcon Online convention will also be entirely free to watch this February.
[Update]: Blizzard's massive Blizzcon Online convention will be taking place from February 19-20, 2021.
Given the current ban on large public gatherings, and the low chance of things changing in the coming months, Blizzard has now decided to officially cancel BlizzCon 2020. As expected, they will be transitioning the whole event to an online format, though this won't be easy or fast given the current state of things.
"We’d want to do this as soon as we could, but given that this is new-ish territory and the different factors involved, it will most likely be sometime early next year," reads the official announcement. "BlizzCon is also a stage for big esports events in Blizzard games each year, so we’re also looking into alternatives for supporting some of the high-level competition that would normally take place at the show."
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If you're looking for some way to shake up your Age of Wonders: Planetfall experience, you might be interested to hear a brand new expansion has now landed - Invasion. As the name would imply, the expansion features a full-blown invasion by a highly militaristic race of Lizardmen that love to use trickery and holographic technology to soften up opposition before moving in for the finishing blow.
Expect to also see a brand new Voidbringer incursion as an end-game challenge, as well as twenty different environmental catastrophes to contend with... or perhaps even exploit. These events will range from simple things like pirate attacks, to potentially back-breaking catastrophes like solar flares that knock out all technology or superstorms that blanket large swaths of the world. Dealing with them won't be easy, but with plenty of variety between the events, it should spice up your playthrough quite nicely.
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[Update]: Valve is ceasing all development on Artifact and Artifact 2.0.
After realizing that the original version of Artifact was beyond salvaging with a simple patch or two, Valve went dark in order to recreate their unique card game from the ground up. Over a year has gone by since then, and if you're eager to find out just what Valve has cooked up, you'll be happy to hear that the Artifact 2.0 beta has now finally begun.
This initial version is only available to a small number of players that have purchased Artifact before March 30, 2020. If you fit those requirements and would like to give it a try for yourself, you can throw your proverbial hat into the ring over at the official website and hope Valve send you a beta key in the near future. The keys are likely to be in short supply for a while, though don't worry, the beta will be expanding greatly as time goes on so everyone will eventually get a chance to check it out.
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[Update #2]: Minecraft's strategy focused spin-off Minecraft Legends will be launching in Spring 2023!
[Update]: Mojang has now announced their plans for future Minecraft: Dungeons updates and DLCs.
After going through a little bit of a delay, Minecraft: Dungeons has now finally arrived for PC, Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch. So if you're in the mood for a more relaxed and colorful take on the classic Diablo ARPG formula, you might want to give it a closer look.
Speaking of which, in a bizarre new twist Minecraft Dungeons has also released its launch trailer on the exact day of its launch! So for those of you curious about what it might have to offer in terms of gameplay, as well as what it even looks like visually, you'll find what you seek in the trailer below. Have a gander:
Dota 2's The International 10 Battle Pass has arrived with a ton of new features and fancy cosmetics
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While the fate of Dota 2's massive The International tournament is still up in the air due to the ongoing pandemic, you might be pleased to hear that the accompanying Battle Pass has now arrived. It brings with it the ability to create guilds and undertake group assignments, a variety of quests and bounties to complete in exchange for Battle Pass points, as well as a ton of new cosmetics like custom terrains, voice lines, and fun new animations.
Perhaps most importantly, at least as far as blinging out your hero is concerned, this year's Battle Pass is bringing five new major and Arcana tier skins! Pudge has been transformed into an adorable stuffed toy, Anti-Mage has turned female and grown an amazing set of hair, Queen of Pain and Windranger have received a straight up upgrade to their original style, and most importantly of all, Wraith King has finally been given a cosmetic that transforms him back into the Skeleton King!
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In a bit of an unexpected announcement, the god-based MOBA Smite will be adding the madness-inducing Cthulhu as its next character. This is a significant departure from the usual norm because while Smite is no stranger to gods among its roster, what with that being its entire shtick, this will be the first time they've added a more contemporary deity. So the big question is - could this mean that even more modern characters, including other elder gods, are in the running now?
Whatever the answer may be, Cthulhu's Smite incarnation will be capable of driving enemy gods insane, causing them to experience a variety of negative effects - including a brand new set of audio/visual hallucinations. Cthulhu will also be able to prey on the madness of the other gods, and should he manage to successfully break their minds, will even become permanently stronger.
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[Update]: All three games have now landed onto Steam alongside free demos.
After being exclusive to the Epic Games Store for a little while now, the PC versions of Heavy Rain, Beyond Two Souls and Detroit: Become Human will be making their way to Steam on June 18, 2020. They'll bring with it support for 4K resolutions and 60 fps, the ability to play with a gamepad or keyboard & mouse combo, as well as a variety of minor improvements and tweaks.
Best of all, each of the three games already have a free demo available. So if you're curious about what they're all about, or if you're just wondering about the quality of the PC port, you can easily check by visiting the Steam pages for each game: Heavy Rain, Beyond Two Souls and Detroit: Become Human.
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[Update]: Warcraft 3: Reforged devs have shared a preview of the upcoming Player Profiles.
While Warcraft 3: Reforged has been a bit of a disappointment, there is still hope for it. After all, the base gameplay is still the amazing Warcraft 3 action many of us fell in love with years ago, so as long as Blizzard doesn't give up on it, Warcraft 3 really does have a chance to shine once more.
With that in mind, I'm quite pleased to say Blizzard has now unleashed an absolutely massive balance patch onto the PTR. The experimental update brings with it changes to some of the least used heroes and ultimates, as well as offers a comprehensive rebalance of mercenary camps and the units they sell to the players.
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If you loved Mortal Kombat 11's campaign and you're itching for even more over-the-top cheese, you might be glad to hear that the very first major expansion Aftermath has now arrived. It brings with it a new cinematic storyline focused around the Fire God Liu Kang, who as you might imagine, is attempting to save the world once more by pitting the various fighters against each other in a series of brutal duels.
To make things a little bit more interesting, Aftermath is also adding three new playable characters to mess around with - Sheeva, Fujin and the guest star Robocop. There will also be three new skin packs, though only the very first pack is available right now. On the positive side, the titular Eternal Klash skin pack does feature some rather nifty skins for Scorpion, Sub-Zero and Frost!