As expected, Epic Games Store has prepared a big hit for the first day of Christmas.  The game was developed by the Kojima Productions studio and published by 505 Games. In a break from family gatherings, PC players will have an opportunity to play as courier in the post-apocalyptic world for free. From December 25 to December 26, each Epic Games Store account holder can assign and download Death Stranding. The giveaway appears just as Kojima Productions announced the next installment in the series with a working title “Death Stranding 2”. What should be noted however is that the version that is currently available for free is not the Director’s Cut that was released this year, but the original version from 2020. System recommended specs list GeForce GTX 1060 6GB or Radeon RX 590 GPUs for good 1080p experience at 60 FPS. However, this game already supports NVIDIA DLSS2, so the performance may vary depending on support for this technology. Meanwhile, AMD FSR 2 and Intel XeSS ...

  Amazon's games division will publish the next big  Tomb Raider  sequel, a press release revealed today. The game will be developed by Crystal Dynamics—the same studio that made the reboot trilogy that included 2013's  Tomb Raider , 2015's  Rise of the Tomb Raider , and 2018's  Shadow of the Tomb Raider . Crystal Dynamics used to live under the umbrella of large, Japan-based international publisher Square-Enix, but the parent company sold Crystal Dynamics and the Tomb Raider intellectual property to Swedish holding company Embracer Group earlier this year. That sale also included the  Deus Ex ,  Thief , and  Legacy of Kain  franchises and associated studios—in other words, most of Square-Enix's Western studios and properties. It's a surprise to see Amazon publishing the next  Tomb Raider  game because Embracer owns its own publishers of games. But Crystal Dynamics studio head Scot Amos said in a statement t...

  Last week, it was The Game Awards. This annual event is a chance for developers and publishers to showcase their upcoming slate of games, with a smattering of awards in there as well. However, following this year's show, many couldn't help but notice that Microsoft's offerings seemed remarkably sparse. In fact, all we really got was a little 'games here and games coming in 2023' teaser from the team, but nothing particularly firm. Despite this being the ideal opportunity to do so, we still have not had specific release dates announced for the likes of Starfield or Redfall - two of Xbox's biggest upcoming exclusives. Xbox has now addressed those feeling a bit let down, promising that despite appearances 2023 will be an "incredibly exciting year" for its fans. Resharing Microsoft's promotional Game Pass reel, Xbox exec Aaron Greenberg stated the team has "a lot planned to show and share" for next year. "Appreciate folks are eager to ...

Elden Ring is one of the biggest video game success stories of 2022, but now its developer, FromSoftware, is making headlines due to rumors of crunch and low pay at its development studio. FromSoftware's latest title earned  widespread critical acclaim , and its quality has been  reflected in the sales charts as well . The game broke into the mainstream in a big way, having one of the  biggest game launches on YouTube ever . Unfortunately, like so many wildly successful AAA video game titles, it didn't take long for conversations of crunch, long overtime hours, and low salaries to surround developer FromSoftware. The discourse began in March, shortly after Elden Ring's release. First spotted by  The Gamer , it turns out that a handful of FromSoftware employees were turning to a Japanese job board called Career Connection to discuss poor working conditions and low pay. For context, Career Connection is essentially a Japanese version of Glassdoor, where ...

  ElAnalistaDeBits and Cycu1 have released comparison videos between the Next-Gen Update and the Original versions of The Witcher 3. These videos will give you a glimpse at the graphical enhancements that the Next-Gen Update brings to the table. As we’ve already reported, The Witcher 3 Next-Gen will feature dozens of visual, performance, and technical enhancements over the original. Alongside RT, the game will include a variety of mods from the get-go. From what we know so far, CDPR will include the HD Rework Project. CD Projekt RED has also detailed the Ray Tracing effects for PC. The game will have RTGI and RTAO. Furthermore, CDPR has added some new Ultra+ settings that will push/stress a lot of GPUs, and has improved the game’s SSR. Not only that but there will be support for both NVIDIA DLSS 2 and AMD FSR 2.0. It will be interesting to see whether the Next-Gen Update will be compatible with all of the game’s mods that are already available. The Witcher 3 Next-Gen will...

  Alongside a 14th December release date, CD Projekt Red did actually give us a brief insight into what The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Complete Edition will include. According to the game's official press summary, the enhanced PS5 re-release will sport all of the bells and whistles that you'd expect, while also throwing in some potential surprises. The PS5 edition will feature "dozens of visual, performance, and technical enhancements over the original". This includes things like "ray tracing support" and "faster load times" — but this is where things get interesting. There's mention of "a variety of mods integrated into the experience". Now, The Witcher 3 has always had a healthy modding community on PC, and people have added all kinds of stuff to the game over the years. It  sounds  like some mods may have been cherrypicked and officially added to the adventure. However, there's no indication of how extensive this mod integration wi...

  Chill Season 2022 arrives just in time for you to zone out during those long and sometimes boring family holiday gatherings. CHILL SEASON Splatoon 3   is getting a big update, splashing down on December 1st. Dubbed Chill Season 2022, the update’s adding new weapons, stages, game modes,  and a lot more cool clothes and gear to zhuzh up your octolings . The Salmon Run game mode is also getting a  fish-lift  with the new Big Run game mode. Details on what Big Run is are scarce at the moment, but — according to this hilarious, borderline incomprehensible sentence from the Chill Season 2022 press release — “the first Big Run will take place when the Salmonids invade the Wahoo World stage later this year.” For the more competitive-minded octoling, X Battles are also arriving with the chill update. X Battles happen once players reach a certain  eel-ite  level in Anarchy Battles. Then, they can wager “X Power” to rise through the highest ranks of the leaderb...

It seems the Pokémon developer Creatures could already looking toward the future of the long-running series. A new job listing at the Japanese company for a 3DCG modeler references "research and development for other next-generation hardware". The same application also mentions the use of Unity and Unreal Engine for project development. Creatures Inc. is one of the major Pokémon developers alongside Game Freak and Nintendo. It previously helped out with Pokémon Sword and Shield and Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee! on 3DCG modelling. It also worked on Detective Pikachu and is currently developing a sequel. In September, a senior programmer job profile at Creatures referenced work on "one unannounced project" and  Detective Pikachu 2  which is apparently "nearing release".

The best build for Nahida in Genshin Impact is quite complicated as players need to balance her stat out. So far, Archons in  Genshin Impact  have not been disappointing. Venti is still a top-tier crowd controller, Zhongli is the  best shielder in  Genshin Impact , and Raiden Shogun is a tremendously powerful Sub-DPS and battery. Sadly, while many expect Nahida to take a whole new role, she, like Raiden, is also a Sub-DPS. For the Dendro Archon to become a powerful Sub-DPS, players must be familiar with Nahida’s best build in  Genshin Impact . The best build for Nahida in  Genshin Impact highly relies on her team composition  and how good players’ artifacts are. To put it simply,  Nahida has an obvious diminishing return, so Travelers must consider all sorts of stat buffs from Nahida’s team before determining her best build . This is because Nahida’s fourth-ascension passive (A4) allows her to buff her Skill DMG based on her Elemental Mastery (EM)...

How to unlock the M16 in Modern Warfare 2 Unlocking weapons in Modern Warfare 2 is different from previous titles. Several weapons, such as the M16, are now unlocked by using and levelling weapons within families known as 'Platforms'. In the M16's case,  you have to use the 556 Icarus until it reaches level 12 . To unlock the Icarus to do this, you need to level the M4 to level 15. Quite the process! Once unlocked, you'll be ready to start levelling the M16 to open up its customisation options - it's best to use the M16 for a few matches to level it up and unlock its attachment slots. It's worth noting - many attachments are unlocked by levelling other weapons, both in and outside of the M4 Platform. Additionally, if you own the Vault Edition of Modern Warfare 2, you actually have a head start on this process thanks to the FJX Cinder Pack – with this pack, you'll have access to all the attachments and weapons unlocked within the M4 Platform. Modern Warfare 2...

The most frustrating role in Overwatch 2 may be bogging down LFG Overwatch 2  has a support problem, and a few weeks after launch, the lack of support players seems to be worsening queue times.  Our own Alyssa Mercante said in May that  it sucks being an Overwatch 2 support player , and a non-trivial chunk of the game's community now seems to have come to the same conclusion. Many players, including some of the best, are undeniably making support work for them, but recent discussions around the role are largely negative.  "This game isn't fun for support," argues Blizzard forum user  Darrington (opens in new tab) . "With an overemphasized focus on making damage players happy, and curtailing the 'Tank' role to become 'Bigger DPS,' ' I think that A LOT was lost in the transition." (opens in new tab) LegendZach echoed this point in their own pointed post skewering known-support deleters Genji and Sombra, who many expect to be nerfed relative...