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[Update #2]: Guild Wars 2's October 4th update will empower old specializations and rebalance classes for PvP.
[Update]: Tower of Nightmares, Guild Wars 2's long-lost Season 1 episode, has now been reborn
After many years of rumors and teasers, the day has finally come - Guild Wars 2 has now made its way over to Steam! Much like the standalone version of the game, all of the base content in the Steam edition of Guild Wars 2 is entirely free to play. After you're done with that you can continue your adventures by grabbing the Heart of Thorns & Path of Fire expansion bundle, going for the newest End of Dragons expansion, or the freshly added pack containing all of the Living World mini-episodes. Personally, I'd stick to the main story and go for the double expansion bundle first.
Since this is also Guild Wars 2's tenth anniversary, ArenaNet has unleashed a bunch of boosts for both PvP and PvE content, as well as a new set of achievements for both veterans and newcomers alike. These new achievements will guide you across the entirety of Guild Wars 2's world and offer you a chance to score a bunch of fancy new armor and weapons.
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[Update #2]: It's finally time! The next MultiVersus character will be Rick Sanchez!
[Update]: MultiVersus Update 1.02 has added Gizmo from Gremlins and overhauled character hitboxes.
As a part of the recent Season 1 update MultiVersus added the very first Battle Pass, two new game modes (Classic Arcade & Ranked), as well as a whole host of balance changes. Most excitingly, the MultiVersus team also released brief teasers for four of the upcoming characters: Morty, Rick, Black Adam and Stripe.
A week has gone by since then, and I'm happy to say that Morty and all of his fury have now been unleashed upon the world! The game classifies Morty as a Bruiser which would indicate he's best when fighting enemies face to face, but in practice I'd say Morty's playstyle is more Mage-like than anything else. Not that the classification matters, mind you, but I just wanted to let you know what you're getting yourself into.
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[Update #2]: Dota 2 has launched Update 7.23c to fix up any balance issues before The International 2022 starts.
[Update]: As expected, Dota 2's Patch 7.32b has now arrived to fix up some of the recently introduced balance issues and bugs.
With The International Regional Qualifiers now over and The International still a distant spec on the horizon, it's pretty much the perfect time to release a big update and really shake up the meta. Valve seems to agree as they have now unleashed Dota 2's long-awaited Patch 7.32 alongside a massive array of changes!
Experience required for level ups and experience gained from streaks has been rebalanced, mid lanes have lost their all-important small camp, while the Dire side of the map has underwent some minor changes in order to make more in line with the Radiant side. Most importantly of all, Patch 7.32 has added a brand new lane creep - the Flagbearer.
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[Update]: Path of Exile's Update 3.20 is making rare monsters more rewarding, easier to understand and less hectic to fight.
After a brief round of teasers, Path of Exile's chunky new Lake of Kalandra expansion has now been released. As befitting the name, the Lake of Kalandra is heavily themed around mirrors and reflections. As such, you can use Mirrored Tablets scattered throughout the world in order to create and customize your very own dungeon by placing reflections of dangerous encounters at specific locations.
The further the monsters are from the dungeon's entrance, the greater the difficulty and reward will be. As you progress through the new league you'll also be able to unlock the ability to skip, reroll or exile the choices you're offered, so towards the end you'll be able to shape the perfect murder-dungeon for you to struggle through in pursuit of shiny loot.
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When it first launched back in 2018 Realm Royale was incredibly popular and seemed poised to become one of the major Battle Royale games. However, after a variety of misguided updates that messed up the gameplay formula and overall balance, Realm Royale found itself losing the vast majority of its playerbase, and with it the resources needed to keep releasing new updates.
Usually this would be where the story ends, but in a refreshing twist a small Hi-Rez team has decided to give Realm Royale one more chance with the Reforged update. As you might expect, Realm Royale: Reforged brings back many of the mechanics and gameplay styles from the original version of the game, while simultaneously building up on those ideas and adding even more new toys to play around with.
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[Update]: Immortal Empires has now been unleashed alongside Total War: Warhammer 3's biggest update ever!
After many months of waiting, and a seemingly never-ending stream of previews, Total War: Warhammer 3's biggest update yet will be launching later today (August 23rd). It'll bring with it the greatly anticipated Immortal Empires combined campaign map, the very first post-launch DLC featuring four powerful Chaos champions, a major rework of the Warriors of Chaos faction, numerous buffs and tweaks to Total War: Warhammer 2 factions and lords, as well as a whole host of other tweaks, improvements and additions.
While it's basically impossible to summarize everything coming with the Immortal Empires update due to its sheer size, Creative Assembly has still decided to give it a crack and has now released one final preview. So if you're curious what some of the new stuff looks like in action, you'll find what you seek below:
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[Update]: The crossover patch has now been unleashed, and as expected, the big reward is a fancy new scarf!
I have no idea why the Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night team has suddenly started doing wacky crossovers, but I'm all for it! A while back they added Aurora from Child of Light as a fully playable character, and this August 23rd we'll be getting a brand new level inspired by thatgamecompany's Journey!
The new section of the castle, The Tunnels, will be themed after the imagery and level design of Journey, though with a Bloodstained twist. Hidden behind a secret entrance, The Tunnels will be a large and potentially complex area to explore, with a Guardian-inspired boss waiting for you at the very end. Should you manage to succeed you'll get a special Journey-inspired equippable item - probably the iconic scarf.
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[Update]: The remastered version of Chasm: The Rift has now arrived, and it looks like it has the approval of the dev behind Dusk!
Instead of an announcement for a fancy new boomer shooter, today I have something a bit different to share with you - a modern remaster of a very old one! More specifically, an improved version of the 1997 first-person shooter Chasm: The Rift is heading over to PC via Steam and GOG at some point this October 2022.
The Chasm remaster will bring with it enhanced graphics, support for modern resolutions, improved sound design, as well as the usual batch of Steam features like achievements. What all of this looks like in action, however, that you can find out through the trailer below. Have a gander:
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In order to gauge whether people would actually be interested in a remake of Gothic 1, the janky yet incredibly ambitious action-RPG from Piranha Bytes, THQ Nordic released a playable teaser back in 2019. While the whole thing was unfortunately a bit messy, it still ended up being a huge success and so the Gothic 1 Remake was put into full production.
A fair bit of time has gone by since then and I'm pleased to say that the revamped version is looking a whole lot better now, especially when it comes to the atmosphere! But don't just take my word for it - here's the recent preview showing off the Old Mine:
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[Update #2]: Warcraft 3: Reforged's Patch 1.35 is adding custom campaigns alongside a bunch of balance changes.
[Update]: Nearly three years after launch, Warcraft 3: Reforged's Patch 1.34 has finally added clans and separated AT/RT matchmaking.
After what feels like an eternity of waiting, Blizzard has finally returned to Warcraft 3: Reforged with a sizable update in their hands. The freshly released Patch 1.33 brings with it ranked play, leaderboards, player profiles, as well as a variety of balance changes for both multiplayer and singleplayer.
The way the new ranked play system works should be instantly familiar if you've played some of Blizzard's other competitive games. Basically, the ranked ladder consists of seven tiers you'll have to slowly progress through (Combatant, Challenger, Rival, Duelist, Elite, Gladiator, Champion), with each rung of the ladder bringing with it tougher and tougher competition for you to contend with. Most importantly, at least in my eyes, your matchmaking rating will be separated by race (including random), so mixing things up every once in a while is highly encouraged as it won't impact your 'main' rank.