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Blizzard is a legendary RTS developer, which is easy to forget in 2023. Along with Westwood, it effectively built the genre, establishing its foundations and designing mechanics and features that modern RTS games still stick with today. With that in mind, it’s pretty tragic to see how little attention Blizzard is giving the genre these days. 

Aside from a rather poor remaster of Warcraft 3 back in 2020, it seems to have had no interest in making the kind of games that put the studio on the map. StarCraft 2, its last big RTS push, launched in 2010, and while it had a long life thanks to expansions and esports, Blizzard stopped working on it three years ago.

I should be giddy, then, that a new Blizzard RTS appeared last night, a day ahead of its expected launch during BlizzCon. But lamentably this is not a game in the spirit of its former heavy-hitters like Warcraft and StarCraft; no, Warcraft Rumble is a free-to-play mobile game with microtransactions which distils the RTS formula down to something you can play with your finger.

You collect minis based on units, creatures and heroes from the Warcraft universe, plonk them down in your deployment zones, and j…

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Homeworld 3’s mothership needs just a bit more time in spacedock before heading out for places unknown. Gearbox announced on Wednesday that Homeworld 3 is being delayed by two months, from its planned March 8 release date to May 13, 2024. 

In a statement about the delay, Gearbox and Blackbird Interactive said that they recently brought in playtesters from outside their studios to play the campaign in its entirety. “After careful analysis of feedback, we made the decision to delay the global launch of Homeworld 3 until May 13, with advanced access set for May 10, to ensure that we’re making the final tweaks needed to deliver at the level of quality that we strive for and you deserve,” the developers said.

The space RTS has been on a long journey to release, starting with a crowdfunding campaign on now-shuttered investment site Fig that originally pegged a 2022 release. That slipped to 2023, then February 2024, then March. I have a feeling the May 13 date will be the one to finally stick.

“To say that you as a community of players have been waiting patiently for this next installment would be an understatement, and we are deeply appreciative of that,” …

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Bungie has good news and bad news for Destiny 2 players: The good news is that the studio has figured out what caused a “high number” of player names to be randomly changed by its automated moderation tool, but the bad news is that it’s going to take a while to fix.

The problem first came to light when players began reporting that their names had been changed for no apparent reason. Bungie will do that to player names that violate its naming policies: Names are run through a “character filtration and offensive term moderation system,” and any that are found to break the rules “will be changed to ‘Guardian[Random Number]’.”

Some players whose names were changed said on Reddit that they were initially told by moderators that their handles must have violated the policies somehow, but the sheer scale and randomness of the problem seemed to make that unlikely. Then yesterday, Bungie acknowledged that something, somewhere, had gone terribly wrong.

“We are tracking an issue where a high number of account names have been changed by our Bungie name moderation tool,” the Destiny 2 Team wrote. “We are actively investigating and expect to have more information tomorrow, in…

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The Nightdive Studios website makes its mission clear: “Bringing lost and forgotten gaming treasures back from the depths.” And so it has, through outstanding updates of games including Quake and Quake 2, System Shock, Turok 3, and Dark Forces. But it’s not just the games that Nightdive aims to bring back from the past: Maintaining the totality of their history is a major part of what the studio aims to do.

“I think the issue of games as art has been answered more than enough,” Nightdive director of business development Larry Kuperman said in an interview with PC Gamer at GDC. “But taking it to the next level, if we all agree that games are art, then the people that make games are artists and deserve to be remembered that way and deserve to have their names incorporated into what we do going forward.”

Nightdive CEO Stephen Kick said that aspect of the studio’s work was “synthesized” while working with Bethesda on the Quake remasters. The updated version of Quake 2, for instance, has a “vault” option in the main menu that gives players a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the game, with material like concept art, early and discard enemies, videos, and even playab…

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Earlier this week, Wudijo, who found Diablo 4 fame during the beta by soloing the world boss, became the first player to reach level 100 in the game’s Hardcore mode entirely on his own. But glory is short-lived, and so too was Wudijo, who has been killed in a throwdown with the game’s toughest boss.

Wudijo wasn’t the first person to reach Hardcore 100—that honor went to cArn_, who claimed the crown on June 5. But cArn_ did so with a supporting team—Zizaran, Steelmage, and Nugiyen—who helped him push past Wudijo and other players in the final stretch of the race. Wudijo, on the other hand, did the whole thing on his own, so even though he’s not first to reach the top, it is by some measures an even more impressive accomplishment.

Alas, the epic tale has come to an end. The good news, such as it is, is that unlike cArn_, who lost his Hardcore hero to a glitch, Wudijo went down swinging in Diablo 4’s toughest fight: The Echo of Lilith, an ultra-powerful pinnacle boss designed to give max-level, fully-equipped players something to worry about.

Which isn’t to say the death wasn’t frustrating: As soon as his character goes down, Wudijo asks, “What h…

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Microtransactions in fully-priced games are (unfortunately) here to stay for as long as they keep working—that’s a bitter pill I’ve swallowed at this point, though every now and then something comes along to make it sting all over again. As is the case with Diablo 4’s recent “Dark Pathways” pack, which wants you to shell out $20 for some portal reskins (and $10 for some coins). 

As spotted by our friends over at GamesRadar, the pack has made several waves in the game’s subreddit over the past couple of weeks for being a solid way to waste your money—here’s the most recent thread, though there are complaints stretching back to the pack’s inception. “This doesn’t make sense lol”, writes one flabbergasted player, staring down the barrel of a $40 CAD price point for some pretty portals and pocket change.

$20 for different color portals? LMFAO Blizz! from r/diablo4

This doesn’t make sense lol from r/diablo4

I’m a little staggered myself. Not just by the price point, but at the fact you’ve gotta shell out almost $10 extra just to get access to them. Sure, you’re getting…

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You may have forgotten about The Day Before by now. It was first announced in January 2021 as “an open-world MMO survival” game, and then in April of that year we got a 10-minute gameplay video. And that’s really been it—nothing of substance has been heard about the game since.

That situation will soon change, though, as developer Fntastic says that it will reveal “raw gameplay footage” from The Day Before later this month.

“We are pleased to inform you that the wait for news regarding our game release is coming to an end,” Fntastic wrote in a Discord announcement. “After careful consideration and discussions with our leadership team, we have received approval to share the information you have been eagerly anticipating.

“This month, we will be releasing raw gameplay footage, as per the numerous requests received from our community. This footage will showcase a majority of the features and gameplay elements requested by our community and will provide a clear glimpse into the current state of development for The Day Before.”

It’s not all that terribly unusual for a studio to go quiet in the midst of game development. What makes The Day Before situatio…

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William Murray Hawkins III, better-known as Trip Hawkins, has had a long and incredibly impactful career in games. Hawkins founded Electronic Arts in 1982, and led the company through its trailblazing first decade, establishing certain specialities like sports that the publishing giant was built on. Then Hawkins went on to launch the ill-fated 3DO, a powerful console kneecapped by a high price, before founding Digital Chocolate and spending the 2000s in casual games (like Mafia Wars).

Now, Trip’s back! Don’t get excited. In a move that has strong 69-year-old executive vibes, Hawkins has announced he’s joining a Web3 startup as co-founder and strategy chief. Games for a Living (GFAL) is based in Barcelona and all about that crypto, aiming to create experiences that can compete with famous blockchain games like… err… Axie Infinity (the subject of one of 2022’s biggest crypto hacks).

Naturally the company has its own token, the $GFAL, which will apparently launch in March. There will be a total of ten billion $GFAL tokens issued, yes that’s billion with a ‘b’, and as with all these things it will be used to pay for all these services and tool…

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PC Gamer’s all-singing all-dancing all-action 30th anniversary issue is on-sale today, and includes a slew of major interviews with the creatives that have shaped our industry and some of the most important games in history. PCG’s editor Robert Jones sat down with Warren Spector and Paul Neurath, key members of the original System Shock team, which is generally considered the first game you could call an immersive sim, with its influence is still prevalent in the contemporary industry across the likes of Arkane’s various titles and 2K’s Bioshock series.

The origins of the game go back to its lead programmer Doug Church who, while Warren Spector was polishing up a proposal for something called Alien Commander, shared how bored he was with the then-industry’s over-reliance on genre tropes. 

“Doug Church was hanging out in my office one day, and we were both talking about how sick we were of fantasy games, and dungeons, and rescuing princesses, and heroes that were built like the Mighty Thor,” says Spector. “He and Paul [Neurath] were working—I didn’t know—on another similar project. They were sick of that as well, as I understand it. Doug came to…

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It is now official: In a farewell message to employees, Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick has confirmed that he will be leaving the company.

Kotick’s future with Activision Blizzard came into question almost as soon as Microsoft announced its intention to acquire the company back in January 2022. The decision appeared to be all but made after that deal was finally closed, as Kotick said Xbox boss Phil Spencer had asked him to stay on as CEO “through the end of 2023,” which isn’t generally the sort of timeline you announce if you’re expecting to stick around. But today’s message makes it a done deal.

“As my last day leading this company inches closer, I marvel at how far the talented people at our company have come toward realizing the great potential of games,” Kotick wrote. “You have transformed a hobbyist form of entertainment into the world’s most engaging medium. It has been the privilege of my lifetime to work alongside you as we broadened the appeal of games.

“Perhaps the most important part of my job has been to help bring talented people together, provide the best resources possible, and foster an environment that encourages inspiration, creati…

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Quickly find your feet in today’s Wordle with a clue written just for the October 21 (854) game, brush up on your general guessing, or simply bask in the warm glow of an easy victory with the answer to today’s puzzle. Whatever your Wordle aims today, we can help you out.

It was only good use of all the grey letters I’d stumbled on previously that saved today’s game, helping me home in on the answer. It wasn’t quick but hey, some days any kind of win is better than none at all. As clever as I felt for finding the answer in the letters left behind, I’d definitely appreciate a few more greens next time. 

Today’s Wordle hint

Wordle today: A hint for Saturday, October 21

Today’s answer refers to a particular kind of smile, the sort with a self-satisfied, smug edge to it rather than any warmth. Four of today’s five letters are consonants. 

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Is there a double letter in Wordle today? 

No letters are used twice in today’s puzzle. 

Wordle help: 3 tips for beating Wordle every day 

If there’s one thing better than playing Wordle, it’s playing Wordle well, which is why I’m g…

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There are people of a certain kind who will play any game which is set in World War 2 and has hexagons at least once. I am one of them. Thus it is with excitement I tell you that Second Front, a tactical, turn-based WW2 strategy wargame from studio Hexdraw and publisher Microprose, will release on January 31, 2023.

Second Front will feature a laundry list of the best stuff in this genre, but emphasizes a competitive AI combined with a strong scenario builder. The AI is to be emergent, allowing it to adapt to player actions rather than to be set for any given scenario. Second Front will also focus on breadth of units, with 40-some infantry units of unique tactical function and 216 pieces of equipment from tanks and vehicles to mortars, anti-tank guns, and flamethrowers. It’ll launch with American, German, and Russian forces.

That might surprise you, because this one has flown mostly under the radar, but it has been in development since 2018, and is one of the revived MicroProse’s first-announced titles. Suffice to say it’s the kind of game for fans of Advanced Squad Leader, with a delightfully big manual already on Steam.

Second Front will have 48 distinct scena…

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At a time when mass layoffs are rampant in the games industry, one company is talking about raises. Capcom announced to investors this week that it’s increasing its base starting salary for new hires in Japan, and giving current employees a raise of “over 5% on average” this year. 

It’s a moderate cost-of-living bump that might not have been notable if so many gaming companies weren’t aggressively cutting costs right now.

The starting salary for new graduates at Capcom Japan, which is headquartered in Osaka, is being raised from ¥235,000 per month to ¥300,000, which is about $2,014 USD a month at the current exchange rate, or $24,168 per year. It’s not a salary that would go far in a US city, which reflects the fact that wages are lower on average in Japan than in the US and a number of other countries. The yen-to-dollar exchange rate has also fallen 34% over the last five years, making Japanese salaries look particularly low in USD.

Current and new employees will also receive “a one-time special payment as an investment in the people who support the future of the company,” and Capcom says it’s introducing “a bonus system more closely linked to the…

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Improve your daily Wordle game with our guides and tips, give your guesses some welcome guidance with today’s clue, or turn your luck around completely and skip straight to the February 12 (603) answer. However much or little help you want with today’s Wordle, you’re sure to find it here.

Today was just one of those days where the greens seemed to appear out of nowhere, and that meant I was able to reveal the answer by my third go. A bit of luck mixed with a dash of an educated guess has got to be the perfect Wordle combo.

Wordle hint

A Wordle hint for Sunday, February 12

“Large”, “huge”, and simply “very big” are all good alternatives to today’s answer. In fairy tales and myths this word’s sometimes used to describe extremely tall humanoid beings. You’ll need to unearth two different vowels today. 

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Is there a double letter in today’s Wordle? 

There is no double letter in today’s puzzle. 

Wordle help: 3 tips for beating Wordle every day 

Anyone can pick up and play Wordle, but if you want to do it well and make all of your guesses count, these quick tips will help get you sta…

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