Epic began teasing a Fortnite crossover event with the upcoming blockbuster Avengers: Endgame, releasing an image that showed a character donning Captain America’s iconic shield. Now another piece of famed superhero equipment has been shown off: Thor’s enchanted axe, Stormbreaker.

Like the first teaser, this one quotes the “Whatever it takes” tagline from Endgame and gives a release date of April 25, along with the #FortniteXAvengers hashtag. We see less of the figure this time around, instead just barely seeing the hand clutching the axe. It stands to reason, though, that the event will let players use equipment like Cap’s shield and Stormbreaker, likely in a special limited-time mode.

In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor’s hammer was broken during the events of Thor: Ragnarok. He needed a new weapon to channel his power against Thanos, so he made a special trip to a star forge and helped to craft Stormbreaker. But when it finally came time to use the powerful new weapon, he struck Thanos in the chest, leaving the villain conscious enough to fulfill his plan to decimate half the population of the universe. Whoops!

This will be the second Fortnite crossover event with the MCU. The first introduced a limited-time mode that allowed you to equip the fabled Infinity Gauntlet (which would crash into the map early in a match) and turn into Thanos. But it was so strong that it got nerfed almost immediately.

Avengers: Endgame is releasing on April 26, though some screenings will take place the evening of April 25. Spoilers have started to leak on the Internet, so be sure to follow our very practical advice on how to avoid spoilers in the meantime. Meanwhile, Fortnite is also teasing its next seasonal changeover in-game, with several runes that have begun to slot into a vault at the bottom of Loot Lake.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/fortnite-and-avengers-endgame-event-teased-to-have/1100-6466409/

Will the Halo franchise follow the likes of Call of Duty and Battlefield into the battle royale space? It doesn’t seem like it.

Halo franchise boss Frank O’Connor said recently that the multiplayer modes for Halo Infinite available at launch are not 100 percent locked in yet, but what he can say for sure is that battle royale will not be among them. Writing on ResetEra, O’Connor’s statement came in response to a video from noted Microsoft insider Brad Sams who said 343 was in the early development stages of a battle royale mode for Halo Infinite.

“We will not talk about the launch content of Halo Infinite until we’re ready,” O’Connor said. “I haven’t watched the video so if I am misinterpreting the headline as ‘Halo Infinite is launching with/as a Halo Battle Royale mode’ that is still not the case,” he said. “You can probably make your own Battle Royale mode in Forge even right now though. It’s a mode not a genre. And all the variants out there now are in my opinion quite radically different from my perspective. Apex vs Fortnite is chalk and cheese–one focuses on movement and map traversal and the other on building and budgeting. Like CTF. BTB Super Fiesta (for example) contains a lot of the shenanigans and emergent fun of that kind of large experience but big sandbox modes are not Battle Royale any more than Oddball is CTF.”

O’Connor joked that Halo Infinite will still have BR–the Battle Rifle, that is. And while Halo Infinite may not have a battle royale mode, O’Connor teased that 343 is looking into “big social modes with loads of organic shenanigans.”

“The launch modes for MP are not 100% defined and are subject to change till quite late in the process–but Battle Rifle will still be there,” he said. “So you can have BR. But are we interested in big social modes with loads of organic shenanigans? Yes. Specifically A blimp full of survivors heading to an Island after a (metaphorical) lecture from Beat Takeshi? No. We are NOT doing this as of now–and no plans to–but Battle Royale could be made for any of the Halo games in MCC or [Halo 5] with some content and scripting additions, because it is a mode. It would have limits based on each engine. I’m pointing that out to be clear that it’s one of the ways we think about gameplay possibilities rather than a single direction for a title.”

Brad Sams, who has accurately reported on many unannounced Xbox endeavours, may be accurate in stating Microsoft has done some work on a Halo battle royale game. Game development is highly iterative. So it might be possible that 343 experimented with battle royale and decided not to pursue it further. Given the enduring appeal of the battle royale genre, it makes sense that Microsoft would at least consider a battle royale mode for Halo Infinite.

The Call of Duty franchise added battle royale with Black Ops 4‘s Blackout mode, while Battlefield V‘s battle royale mode is called Firestorm. These are modes within the games, not standalone experiences like popular free-to-play battle royale games like Fortnite and Apex Legends.

Also in the Sams video, he claims a new trailer for Halo Infinite is being prepared for E3 this June. That would be no surprise, as Halo is one of Microsoft’s tentpole franchises, and we’ve already heard that Halo Infinite will be part of the show. He also responded to the recent claim that Halo Infinite has a $500 million budget. He said he’s heard that the actual budget is “in that region.” Given the sizeable investment, Sams added, “Careers will be made or broken on [Halo Infinite].” As Sams understands it, the reported $500 million budget would cover game development and development costs associated with the brand-new engine, Slipspace, that Microsoft created for Halo Infinite. It’s unclear if marketing costs are included.

A spokesperson for Microsoft told GameSpot about the $500 million budget, “We do not comment on speculation and rumor.”

Halo Infinite is in development for Xbox One and PC; a release date hasn’t been announced yet.

In other Halo news, it was recently announced that Orange is the New Black and American Gods actor Pablo Schreiber will play Master Chief in the Showtime Halo TV series. GameSpot and Showtime are owned by CBS.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/halo-infinite-dev-responds-to-battle-royale-rumors/1100-6466406/

The next big PlayStation exclusive game, Days Gone, arrives this week, and ahead of that, the action-adventure games’ official soundtrack has been released. The 25-song soundtrack features music by Nathan Whitehead, who also did the music for movies like The Purge, Keanu, and Transformers: Dark of the Moon.

The soundtrack also features artists like Jack Savoretti, Billy Raffoul, and Zander Reese, while singer-songwriter Lewis Capaldi is featured with the song “Days Gone Quiet.”

“The ideas that define the score are the tenacity of the human spirit and the value of relationship,” Whitehead said in a release.

Whitehead worked with Sony Bend creative director John Garvin on the music. Garvin told Whitehead that the theme of Days Gone the game is not just about surviving, but also why people like main character Deacon want to survive in the first place.

“When I heard that, I was instantly excited about all the places the music could go,” Whitehead said. “I found it really interesting to be navigating the survival aspect and also this introspective aspect at the same time. The Pacific Northwest setting is absolutely beautiful and it really felt like the score needed to connect to this environment as well. Deacon and the environment seemed to call for an organic, lived-in sound with a touch of Americana.”

Days Gone follows the story of a bounty hunter named Deacon St. John, who travels through the Pacific Northwest in a world two years removed from a “global pandemic.”

Days Gone launches on April 26. Keep checking back with GameSpot for more.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/days-gone-soundtrack-is-out-now/1100-6466398/

Mortal Kombat 11 launches this week, following months of NetherRealm slowly teasing out the full character roster a character or two at a time. With the launch so close, the studio revealed one more surprise inclusion, a hidden character who can only be accessed by progressing through the story campaign: Frost.

A character debut trailer gives Frost her moment to shine with some banter against her mentor, the series’ other ice-themed character, Sub-Zero. Then the two get down to whacking each other around with ice for a while, before we get a little preview of her grisly Fatality animation. You might say she gives him some wicked brain freeze. Haha! (But seriously it’s very gross.)

Frost has been in several games since her introduction in Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, but this is her first time as a playable character since the series reboot in 2011. She’s made cameos and NPC appearances in this new continuity, but this is the first time players can get their icy grip on her for themselves.

Mortal Kombat 11 is getting high marks ahead of its imminent release. GameSpot’s own review-in-progress found some spots a little weak, but gave it high praise on the whole.

“MK11 isn’t just a sequel for series fans and Netherrealm devotees, it’s a gateway into the realm of fighting games for anyone who has a passing interest in watching ruthless warriors beat each other silly,” critic Edmond Tran wrote. “Streamlined mechanics keep the act of fighting furiously exciting no matter what your skill level, and comprehensive tutorials encourage you to dig into the nitty-gritty. There’s a diverse roster of interesting characters and playstyles, and the story mode is an entertaining romp. The unfulfilling approaches to the game’s dynamic single-player content and progression may feel like they’ve totally whiffed (at least at this early stage), but Mortal Kombat 11 hits where it matters.”

Check out our pre-order guide for more details while you wait for the bone-crunching to get started.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/mortal-kombat-11s-final-character-is-so-cool/1100-6466394/

With the latest, and likely biggest, movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe on the way this week, Epic Games has teased the next crossover event for Fortnite: Battle Royale. Much as it did last year to tie in with the release of Avengers: Infinity War, some kind of event or game mode will debut in Fortnite later this week. A tweet from the game’s account with the hashtag #FortniteXAvengers quotes the “Whatever it takes” tagline of Avengers: Endgame and gives a release date of April 25, the day of the first public screenings for the movie.

The tweet was accompanied by the image you see below, with a Fortnite character holding Captain America’s iconic shield. Epic unfortunately didn’t provide any specific details about what to expect, but it would be a surprise if Cap’s shield doesn’t show up in the battle royale game in some capacity. We might be able to look at how Epic approached last year’s Infinity Gauntlet mode, which did not include any Avengers skins. (If any are added this time, expect them to be premium items on the in-game store, not something added into the current season’s Battle Pass, which is nearing its end.)

That crossover event coincided with Infinity War’s release. The game mode allowed you to equip the fabled Infinity Gauntlet (which would crash into the map early in a match) and transform into Thanos, allowing you to play as the big bad from the MCU. But while you’d expect the Infinity Gauntlet to be strong, it was deemed far too powerful and got nerfed almost immediately, helping to ensure more players would have a fair shake to get their hand on it. Still, this mode allowed Epic to embrace a much different way of playing the game, as instead of the standard battle royale flow, players would rush to get their hands on the Gauntlet’s powers.

The community had suggested that the limited-time mode Infinity Gauntlet mode could come back for Endgame’s release. This teaser doesn’t confirm the return of that LTM to the game, but it does at least show that Fortnite isn’t letting the conclusion of the Infinity Saga pass by unnoticed.

Epic introduced the Infinity Gauntlet mode after the Russo brothers, directors of Infinity War (and Endgame), reached out to the company about the possibility of a collaboration. The two had become fans of the battle royale game during the editing process on IW. These types of crossovers have not been common for the free-to-play battle royale game, although there have been things like an in-game DJ Marshmello concert.

Avengers Endgame is coming on April 26, with some screenings scheduled for the evening of April 25. Spoilers have begun to leak on the Internet, making this a very perilous couple of days for fans who want to be surprised when they see the conclusion of this decade-long story. The film’s directors have politely asked everyone not to spoil the fun for others, but we’ve also put together some practical advice on how to avoid being spoiled.

Meanwhile, Fortnite is preparing for its next big seasonal changeover–marking the end of Season 8 and start of Season 9–with runes that have appeared around the island. Over the weekend they began slotting into chambers in a giant vault underneath Loot Lake, heralding the arrival of something. We’ll just have to wait to find out what. In the meantime, you can keep playing and completing challenges to earn what you can from the current Battle Pass, which will go away once Season 8 ends.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/fortnite-epic-teases-avengers-endgame-crossover-ev/1100-6466388/