Fallout 76 official artwork showing a Brotherhood of Steel helmet

After thousands upon thousands of requests, Bethesda has now finally released a multiplayer-focused version of Fallout - Fallout 76. However, unlike all of its predecessors, Fallout 76 features very little in terms of storytelling or character interaction, choosing to instead orient almost all of its gameplay around combat and base-building. The end result, as I'm sure you're well aware by this point, is an experience that can often feel quite disconnected from the rest of the series, be that for the better or worse.

If you're wondering how all of this translates into gameplay, as well as what the whole premise behind Fallout 76 even is, allow me to share with you the official trailer. It's unfortunately a bit light on gameplay, but given the similarities to Fallout 4 I think you'll be able to get a good idea of what to expect regardless. Have a look:

Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion screenshot of ships locked in combat

If you have a lot of free time and a love for strategy games, you might be interested to hear that Humble Bundle is currently giving away the 4X strategy game Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion. Simply head on over to the Humble Store, click on that giant "get the game" button, and you'll be vanquishing aliens in no time.

Besides having to subscribe to the newsletter, the one catch behind this giveaway is that it will only last for a very limited time. More specifically, the offer will end on November 18th at 10am PST, so do make sure to grab yourself a copy as soon as possible.

Hitman 2 screenshot of Agent 47 in a mascot suit

After quite a few teasers and even scares about its cancellation, Hitman 2 has now finally made its way to both PC and consoles. Perhaps most importantly, at least as far as my tastes are concerned, Hitman 2 did not follow its predecessor's episodic format, choosing to instead release as a fully finished game with numerous levels and challenges to undertake from the get-go!

If you're wondering what exactly the new Hitman has to offer, as well as what sort of exotic locations we'll be sent to make a mess out of, allow me to share with you the recently posted trailer. Have a gander:

Screenshot of Ashe and B.O.B. from Overwatch

This shouldn't come as too much of a shock given that Blizzard wasn't exactly being subtle with her release date, but Overwatch 29th hero Ashe has now made her way to the live servers alongside her trusty Omnic sidekick B.O.B. What might come as quite a surprise, however, is that this update has also brought in some much-needed performance improvements for both PC and consoles!

As an additional little bonus, the update has also added in some much needed buffs to my boy Roadhog, as well as to Reaper, Mercy and Symmetra. You'll find all of the details over at the official website, but for now, allow me to share with you all of the most important hero balance changes:

Screenshot of a massive car crash in Wreckfest

[Update]: It took a while, but Coffee Stains have now unleashed Goat Simulator 3 for PC and consoles.

For a company that has seemingly appeared out of nowhere, THQ Nordic sure has managed to establish itself in the gaming world. Just in the past year or so they've revived the Darksiders series by announcing a new sequel, acquired Deep Silver and its rights to Metro and Saints Row games, as well as grabbed some cult classic IPs like TimeSplitters and Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning

With all of that in mind, I'm sure it won't come as too much of a surprise to hear that they have now acquired two additional studios: Wreckfest developer Bugbear Entertainment, as well as Coffee Stain Studios which are most famous for Goat Simulator and Sanctum. What exactly the future will hold for these two studios, nobody currently knows, but THQ Nordic has stated that they will leave them fairly independent.

World of Warcraft: Classic gryphon rider artwork

After what feels like an eternity of waiting, World of Warcraft: Classic finally saw the light of day during this year's Blizzcon. However, due to the Blizzcon demo being a bit limited, players were only able to explore the Barrens and Westfall, with the rest of the world being entirely walled off.

So if you're like me and you're wondering when exactly you'll be unleashed upon the entire world, you might just be glad to hear that World of Warcraft: Classic will be arriving in the summer of 2019, though no exact date has been given just yet. Perhaps most importantly of all, WoW: Classic will be available as a part of the current WoW subscription!

MTG Arena artwork featuring Vraska

While MTG Arena is a highly enjoyable game, and one that has consumed the better part of my free time these past two weeks, it unfortunately has a bit of a problem when it comes to its in-game economy. To be more specific, right now acquiring a 5th copy of a rare or mythic card feels absolutely awful. Instead of getting a brand new toy to play around with, opening a 5th copy of a card only gives you a very small amount of Vault progress, which when fully completed barely gives you any new Wildcards to use.

Given that this is currently the most complained about problem in the entire game, I am delighted to announce that MTG Arena developers have now not only acknowledged all of the concerns, but also outlined what they're planning to do in order to correct the issue. You'll find the full developer post over at the official website, but if you're looking for the short version, here's a couple of choice quotes:

Artifact game screenshot of the Axe hero

After a lengthy and far too secretive beta, it would appear that Valve and Richard Garfield's card game Artifact is now just about ready to release. To be more specific, you'll be able to experience experiencing a Dota 2 match from a bit of a different perspective this November 28th at a €18 price tag.

Your initial purchase will include 10 card packs filled with 12 cards from the Call to Arms set, 5 event tickets that you can use to enter the various game modes, as well as two complete starter decks: Red/Green Brawler and Blue/Black Control. Everything else you will need to acquire by either purchasing card packs, winning games in the Expert Gauntlet modes, or just by buying and selling individual cards on the Community Market. There will be no player-to-player trading at launch, so if you're planning on buying Artifact, do bear in mind that building a good deck will likely require you to open up your wallet once more.

Vermintide 2 Back to Ubersreik DLC screenshot of a rat ogre attack

While the initial updates were a bit mediocre, it would appear that Fatshark has now finally hit their stride with Vermintide 2. Not only have they recently released the Big Balance Beta that has rebalanced or reworked just about every single career, enemy and weapon in the game, but they now have also announced a brand new DLC - Back to Ubersreik!

As you might imagine from the name alone, Back to Ubersreik will have us revisit three classic Vermintide 1 maps, all updated and tweaked with Vermintide 2 in mind. The details are currently few and far between, but what I can tell you is that one of these maps will be the Horn of Magnus, and that according to Fatshark, it will be more than just a nostalgic revisiting of Ubersreik.

Official artwork and logo for Pillars of Eternity 2

It has been rumored for quite a while now that Microsoft is planning to acquire Obsidian Entertainment (Pillars of Eternity, Fallout: New Vegas, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 2), so it shouldn't come as too much of a surprise to hear that the deal has now gone through successfully. What might come as a rather big surprise is that Microsoft has also suddenly acquired inXile Entertainment (Wasteland 2, Torment: Tides of Numenera, The Bard's Tale IV)!

What exactly this means for the future of both studios, nobody currently knows, but chances are that both inXile and Obsidian will continue on with their previous plans for the time being. After all, Microsoft has had a pretty hands-off relationship with Compulsion Games and their latest game We Happy Few, so I wouldn't be too worried about the future of Wasteland 3. Once the current projects are completed, however, odds are that both inXile and Obsidian will be set to work on Xbox One and Windows exclusive games.