Hellpoint (horror game) launch delayed

The launch of horror game Hellpoint has been delayed due to the coronavirus

Hellpoint is a horror sci-fi Souls-like set aboard the space station Irid Novo, a once-bustling hub of human activity that's now overrun by hostile aliens from another dimension. A February trailer was thoroughly dark and unpleasant in all the right ways, but unfortunately the April release date it delivered isn't going to work out.

"In light of the unprecedented events facing the world, we have been forced to postpone the launch of the game," Cradle Games creative director Matt Boudreau said. "We plan to use the additional development time not just for polishing, but also to address the feedback we’ve gathered and make Hellpoint an even better gaming experience for everybody! The feedback of the community had such enthusiasm and energy."

The Souls-like gameplay aboard a derelict space station is enhanced by Hellpoint's "Quantic system" that makes minor adjustments to the game world every time you die, and also triggers events based on the station's 21-hour rotation around a black hole. It also supports local and online co-op and PvP multiplayer.

Hellpoint doesn't currently have a set release date, but the delay should be relatively short, as it's now slated to be out by the end of June 2020. It's available for wishlisting on Steam

Gears 5 currently giving an offer

Gears 5 is currently free on Steam and Windows 10

Gears 5 is temporarily free on both the Windows Store and Steam, meaning you can probably complete the campaign and dabble in multiplayer without spending a cent. The offer runs until April 12, so you've got until the end of Sunday to get involved.

  The offer is part of Microsoft's Xbox Free Play Days, which is usually an initiative restricted to Xbox Live Gold or Game Pass Ultimate members. While that appears to be the case if you're playing on an Xbox One, the rule doesn't apply if you grab the game on Steam. So, go on then, grab away.

It's a good time to get acquainted with the game's multiplayer component. The new Operation 3 Gridiron update rolled out earlier this month, introducing a gridiron inspired mode that vaguely takes the form of capture the flag.

Also, if you play the game between now and April 20 you'll get a Batista Bomb execution and in-game skin. It's based on Dave Bautista, an actor and professional wrestler. You can check out footage of it below.

Valorant had brakes the record

Valorant had a record-breaking day on Twitch

 Riot’s latest game had a record-breaking day on Twitch — despite the fact that it isn’t even out yet. Yesterday the studio’s new shooter Valorant launch in a limited closed beta, and viewers flocked to watch streams of the game. According to Twitch, the game broke the “single-day hours watched record in a single game category” with 34 million hours watched. Meanwhile, the game hit a peak concurrent viewer total of 1.7 million, which is second only to the 2019 League of Legends World Championship.

One of the main driving factors behind Valorant’s huge day is the way the closed beta works. In order to get a key to play, viewers had to watch specific streams on Twitch. Riot recruited many of the biggest shooter players on the platform, including the likes of Jaryd “summit1g” Lazar, whose stream topped more than 200,000 viewers at one point. Other big-name streamers included Timothy “TimTheTatman” Betar, Félix “xQc” Lengyel, Imane “Pokimane” Anys, and Guy “Dr Disrespect” Beahm.

Valorant — which blends elements of Overwatch and Counter-Strike — is slated to launch in full later this summer on PC. It’s Riot’s first major PC release following a decade focused on the continuously popular strategy game League of Legends.

Stats of League after Week 9

Who are the Overwatch League coaches' top teams after Week 9?

The Dallas Fuel finally made their return in the second weekend of online-only games for the Overwatch League, and it was an extremely Dallas Fuel kind of series. First, the boys in blue got 3-0'd by the Los Angeles Gladiators, who seem to be shaping up as potential championship contenders. After that, though, the Fuel recovered and eked out an exciting 3-2 win against a quality Los Angeles Valiant team. As a result, they're moving on up in our weekly Overwatch League coaches poll.

Meanwhile, the San Francisco Shock made a convincing return to form, beating the Valiant 3-1 a week after losing to both Los Angeles teams. The Philadelphia Fusion took care of business as well, but are any of them capable of knocking off the Seoul Dynasty as the coaches' top team?

The Overwatch League coaches poll is built off the responses from coaches from across the Overwatch League. Voters rank the teams from best to worst, and those votes are compiled into aggregate rankings. The coaches poll will come out weekly during the OWL season.

The rankings

1. Seoul Dynasty

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2. Philadelphia Fusion 1

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3. New York Excelsior 2

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4. San Francisco Shock 1

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5. Vancouver Titans 3

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6. Atlanta Reign

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7 (tie). Shanghai Dragons

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7. L.A. Gladiators 1

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9. Paris Eternal

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10 (tie). Hangzhou Spark 1

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10. Guangzhou Charge 2

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12. L.A. Valiant 2

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13. Chengdu Hunters

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14. Dallas Fuel 3

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15. London Spitfire 1

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16. Toronto Defiant 3

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17. Florida Mayhem 3

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18. Houston Outlaws 3

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19. Washington Justice 2

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20. Boston Uprising

The Witcher 3 progress as compared to 2019

The Witcher 3 sold nearly as well in 2019 did as its did in its launch year

In its fifth year on the market, CD Projekt's Witcher 3 came within a few million sales of replicating its launch numbers. Geralt just refuses to slow down in his old age.

CD Projekt's 2019 financial report shows sales of approximately 7 million copies of The Witcher 3 last year. That's its second best year so far, as only 2015 did better when it sold approximately 9.5 million upon release. Sure, an estimated 2.5 million sales is still a sizable gulf, but it's still pretty impressive considering how high the annual figures are and how far past launch it is.

Interestingly, it wasn't the 2019 Witcher 3 Switch port that really pushed the numbers higher. The breakdown provided by this chart (found on page 52 of the financial report) shows that the PC version did most of the heavy lifting, and that Switch accounted for something like 770,000 copies:

Granted, revenue surely wasn't anywhere near what it was in 2015. A separate bar graph states 82 percent of 2019's Witcher 3 sales were through digital channels. Deep discounts on GOG and Steam are almost certainly responsible for a good number of the sales. Still, CD Projekt had a fine year as overall revenue rose 44 percent over 2018, landing at approximately $125 million.

The other notable tidbit from CD Projekt's recap and forecast concerns that big game everyone's looking forward to. Despite all the COVID-19 disruptions (and subsequent-yet-inevitably game delays), president and CEO Adam Kiciński insists that Cyberpunk 2077 isn't in any jeopardy of missing its new September 2020 release date. Although everyone at the studio is working from home, Kiciński says "Our plans haven't changed -- we're steaming towards the September release of Cyberpunk."

CD Projekt Looks Back at 2019 [CD Projekt]

Streets Of Rage 4 Release Date Leaks

Streets of Rage 4 Release Date Leaks, Developers Say Confirmed Date "Coming Soon"

 A release date of April 23 for Dotemu's upcoming Streets of Rage 4 has appeared in the European Nintendo eShop. First spotted by Twitter user Wario64, Dotemu quickly posted that it "cannot confirm" that release date yet.

 Dotemu has also released a new trailer for the game, which reveals its inclusion of retro tracks and characters from the previous Streets of Rage games, 16-bit sprites and all. The game will cost $25 and will come out "soon" for Switch, PC, Xbox One, and PS4.

 The sequel have focused on the game's soundtrack, which is being composed by several contributors to the original games, including the much-heralded Yuzo Koshiro. They've also highlighted the game's new characters, including the Jax-inspired Floyd Iraia, complete with robotic arms and a ground pound.

 

Play this game according to Science

Play Borderlands 3... For Science!

You can play a game within a game starting today. Inside Borderlands 3, there is a new experience - Borderlands Science. Essentially, what this does is let you play a game and it helps out science. At the same time!

Specifically, playing the game helps out researchers putting together actual scientific applications by utilizing date harnessed from mapping microbes. Pretty wild, hunh? The experience is rooted within gut microbes and DNA and all kinds of cool stuff. What it all amounts to is that you're playing a game and solving puzzles, which helps map the human gut microbiome. Oh, and you also earn rewards for Borderlands 3 by playing/contributing!

COD : Modern Warfare Season 3 Update

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Season 3 Update Teased

A marketing email has been sent out earlier than usual to some players and it teases the message ‘Worlds Collide” as the new update. Tweeted by CharlieIntel, the emailer reads, “Operators return, New gear arrives, and worlds collide.” The image included, as seen above, shows a new character skin for Alex, who comes as a surprise for players due to the events of the campaign.

Season 3’s update will include new content for multiplayer and Spec Ops mode, and updates for the battle royale game Warzone. 

Pubg Mobile is Not Suspending It's Services

Relax, PUBG Mobile is Not Suspending Services in India: Here’s The Reality

PUBG Mobile servers are not shutting down in India and the notice was only meant for countries including China, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan.

If you do a quick search on PUBG Mobile on Google, the first few stories will mention how Tencent is shutting PUBG Mobile for a day. While that is true, what most well-known publications are not confirming is the fact that the servers were shut down in only a few countries.

Yes, PUBG Mobile servers were in fact shut from April 4, 12 AM until April 15, 12 AM. Tencent Games had sent out a post on Chinese social media Weibo, announcing the shutdown of servers and confirming that PUBG Mobile will not be available for a day. The company said that it is shutting servers to honour the memory of and offer condolences to the people who have been actively fighting against the  Coronavirus pandemic.

The translated post says:

“To express deep condolences to the martyrs and compatriots who died in the fight against New Crown Pneumonia, Tencent Games will be suspended for one day from 0:00 on April 4 thin, including mainland China and Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan regions. May the dead rest in peace, may the living work hard, and may the motherland flourish.”

COD league will resume online play

Call of Duty League will resume play online April 10

Activision Blizzard announced on Monday that the Call of Duty League will resume this Friday, April 10.

Matches will follow the original Call of Duty League schedule, beginning with the Dallas Empire homestand that was supposed to take place on March 28-29, but was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. The eight teams in attendance will be the Chicago Huntsmen, Dallas Empire, Florida Mutineers, Los Angeles Guerrillas, Minnesota RØKKR, Paris Legion, Seattle Surge and Toronto Ultra.

All matches will take place online and the broadcast operations will be completely remote, similar to what Activision Blizzard has done for the Overwatch League over the past two weeks. They will take place Friday through Sunday and will start at 4 p.m. ET on Fridays, 1 p.m. ET on Saturdays, and 4 p.m. ET on Sundays

Despite rumors that the league would go to a league format with all teams, or have all teams attend every online tournament weekend, the rest of the original homestand schedule will continue as it had been originally scheduled, with all matches taking place online as opposed to LAN.

The Call of Duty Challengers and City Circuits also will move to online play. Five additional Challengers events will be added to the broadcast schedule, with a prize pool of $50,000 each.

There are some concerns about holding online matches, especially around server latency and player disconnections, after a few hiccups during two exhibition matches between the London Royal Ravens and Florida Mutineers and the Paris Legion and Los Angeles Guerrillas this past weekend. The league released a Q&A that addressed these issues, stating that they had tested new dedicated servers around the country to try to mitigate them.

The Call of Duty League went on hiatus following the Los Angeles homestand on March 7-8 due to the coronavirus pandemic.