A new update for Mortal Kombat 11 has arrived, and it’s a big one. The new update, which is available now on PS4 (and is coming to Xbox One, Switch, and PC soon), fixes exploits and issues, makes changes to matchmaking, introduces some AI adjustments, and a lot more. You can see the full patch notes posted at the bottom of this story.

In addition to the update, today marks the release of developer NetherRealm’s response to the Mortal Kombat 11 microtransaction controversy. The studio maintains that it does not want to artificially push people toward spending money on microtransactions.

And in a “thank you” effort and a measure of good faith, the company is releasing a free in-game currency bundle for all Mortal Kombat 11 players. This bundle–which includes 500,000 Koins, 500 Hearts, 1,000 Souls, and 1,000 Time Crystals. The bundle is coming to PS4 with the new update today, and should arrive on other systems soon.

You can see the full patch notes below, as posted by NetherRealm on Reddit.

“There’s a diverse roster of interesting characters and playstyles, and the story mode is an entertaining romp,” Edmond Tran wrote in GameSpot’s Mortal Kombat 11 review-in-progress. “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.”

Mortal Kombat 11 Patch Notes:

• Fixed an exploit that allowed for more than one variation of a character to be set as default, which could then result in an online desync when trying to select that character

• Fixed a rare issue that occurred if the user lost internet connectivity while customizing their character, which would sometimes result in that variation being saved with some items being locked

• Fixed a rare issue that was affecting some user progression after using Kenshi’s blindfold in the Krypt to fully drain their Soul Fragments

• Move list and frame data corrections

• Integrated launch day gameplay server-side data

• Tweaks to online matchmaking

• AI adjustments

• Fixed a rare crash involving trying to use quick moves list in story mode

• Fixed a rare crash in the Totem Pole tower in The Gauntlet

• Fixed a crash related to pausing and unpausing the game

• Corrected some incorrect instruction text in tutorial mode

• Enabled Dev Slayer functionality

• Kitana’s Fans will no longer sometimes remain invisible if she is interrupted out of Edenian Fade with specific timing

• Hotfix server data will no longer sometimes become invalid when the game is booted up online

• Fixed a rare crash involving using a consumable near a chest in The Krypt

• Increased rewards for breakables in The Krypt

• Adjusted rewards from AI Battle mode

• Increased Koin rewards for winning Ranked Matches

Towers of Time Adjustments

• Adjusted AI difficulty curve

• Further opponent health reductions in higher level Towers

• Performing a Fatal Blow while standing in an active modifier will no longer sometimes cause unexpected behavior or a crash

• Ice based modifiers will no longer attempt to freeze players during invalid states

• Adjusted and removed modifiers from many Daily Towers

• Increased Koin Rewards for kompleting Towers and Tower Platforms

• Increased Dragon Challenge Koin rewards

• Increased post fight Koin rewards

• Increased amount of Hearts earned from Fatalities, Brutalities, and Mercies

• Lowered modifier damage for many modifiers

• Adjusted the lifespan of several modifiers

• Dramatically increased cooldowns on Tag Assist modifiers

• Fixed a missing Reduced Damage modifier in The Gauntlet

• Several Gift/Curse Modifiers are now considered projectiles allowing them to interact with moves that effect projectiles as intended

• Adjusted Gauntlet difficulty and progression requirements

• Disabler Konsumables now work with all intended modifiers

• Improved targeting for several Konsumables

• Sektor Hunter Killer Protocol Modifier is now disabled by the Rocket Disabler Konsumable

• Corrected some multipliers on Augments for some characters which were inconsistent with others

• Fixed incorrect Armor interactions with some Modifiers

• Decreased Konsumable cooldowns for players

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/new-mortal-kombat-11-patch-out-now-heres-everythin/1100-6466546/

Game developer Markus “Notch” Persson, who created the Minecraft franchise and sold it to Microsoft for $2.5 billion USD, will not be involved with the franchise’s upcoming 10th anniversary celebration event. A spokesperson for Microsoft told Variety that they are excluding him due to his “comments and opinions.”

“His comments and opinions do not reflect those of Microsoft or Mojang and are not representative of Minecraft,” a representative told the site.

As part of Microsoft’s acquisition of Minecraft and developer Mojang, Persson stepped away from the series. The Microsoft spokesperson confirmed that this remains the case; he hasn’t worked on the franchise since he sold it to Microsoft years ago.

Microsoft did not point to any specific comments or opinions from Persson that led to his exclusion from the event, but a number of his tweets and comments on a variety of subjects have garnered criticism.

Persson reportedly owned 70 percent of Mojang, so he could have made more than $1.5 billion in the Microsoft buyout between cash and shares. He spent $70 million on a Beverly Hills mansion that Beyonce and Jay-Z were also eyeing.

Persson’s exclusion from the May 17 Minecraft celebration event in Stockholm is not the first instance of Microsoft distancing itself from Persson. In March, an update to Minecraft removed a reference to Persson, though he is still listed as the game’s creator in the credits.

As for the upcoming Minecraft event, it aims to give fans a look at the “past, present, and exciting future of the decade-old franchise.”

Minecraft remains one of the most popular games ever. Available on basically every platform that plays games, Minecraft has 91 million monthly players as of October 2018, which is many millions more than Fortnite has.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/minecraft-creator-wont-be-involved-with-upcoming-e/1100-6466542/

Besides access to online multiplayer and exclusive game discounts, another perk Xbox Live Gold members enjoy is free monthly games for Xbox One and Xbox 360–and the latest freebies for May 2019 have just been announced. Gold members, here are the titles you can download and keep for free next month:

Available May 1: Kicking things off is Marooners, a hectic party game with local or online co-op where you and your friends play as quirky Marooners. You’ll be dropped into intense minigames, where you can pull some shenanigans and pester each other as you compete (and even haunt each other after you die). You can grab Marooners on Xbox One. Then there’s Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon, an EDF spin-off where you take down waves of deadly aliens and giant insects invading Earth. The third-person shooter includes over 300 weapons, jetpacks, and tactical armor, and thanks to backwards compatibility, you can play it on both Xbox One and Xbox 360.

Available May 16: Spring is officially here, but if you can’t make it out to the links, pick up The Gold Club 2019 midway through the month. Available on Xbox One, The Golf Club 2019 features the new PGA Tour Career Mode that lets you play on famous real-world courses and participate in PGA Tour events like the John Deere Classic. Finally, there’s Comic Jumper, our second Xbox 360/Xbox One game that follows the adventures of Captain Smiley, a failed comic book character who jumps into other comics to explore why they’re so popular. Gameplay involves defeating enemies and platforming as Captain Smiley makes his way through various genres, his design and weaponry changing throughout to match each comic’s aesthetic.

Xbox Live Games with Gold for May 2019

• Marooners (Xbox One) — May 1 – 31
• Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon (Xbox One, Xbox 360) — May 1 – 15
• The Golf Club 2019 (Xbox One) — May 16 – June 15
• Comic Jumper (Xbox One, Xbox 360) — May 16 – 31

Xbox Live Games with Gold for April 2019

Last chance to grab The Technomancer and Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter 2 from last month’s batch of games! You’ll have another two weeks to download Outcast: Second Contact if you want it.

• The Technomancer (Xbox One) — April 1 – 30
• Outcast: Second Contact (Xbox One) — April 16 – May 15
• Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter 2 (Xbox One, Xbox 360) — April 16 – 30

Not an Xbox Live Gold member? Get a one-month subscription for only $1 »

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/may-2019-games-with-gold-announced-xbox-one-xbox-3/1100-6466534/

Season 9 of Fortnite is quickly approaching, but Epic Games still has at least one more update in store for the hit battle royale title before Season 8 officially wraps up. The developer hasn’t yet announced when the update will go live, but we’ve now gotten an early look at a new item it’ll presumably introduce.

Fortnite’s in-game News feed has begun advertising a new item called the Shadow Bomb. The grenade is listed in the feed as “coming soon,” suggesting it’ll presumably arrive as part of this week’s update, as Epic likes to tease new weapons and items ahead of its weekly patches. Little info about the item was revealed, but the accompany description reads, “Stealth and utility make for a surprise.”

Epic has been adding new weapons and items to Fortnite on a near-weekly basis, although last week’s 8.50 update didn’t introduce anything to the game’s arsenal. Instead, that patch marked the start of Fortnite’s Avengers: Endgame crossover event, which encompasses a new Endgame limited-time mode with its own assortment of challenges to complete and Avengers-inspired rewards to unlock.

The Endgame LTM divides players up into two teams: those aligned with Thanos and the Chitauri, and the heroes who must stop them. Players on Team Thanos will need to score the island for the Infinity Stones to power up the Mad Titan, while the heroes will need to follow treasure maps to find the Avengers’ iconic weapons, including Thor’s hammer and Captain America’s shield. The event will run through the end of Season 8.

With Season 9 just around the corner, some unusual events have begun unfolding in Fortnite. Recently, players have discovered a series of mysterious runes around the game’s map, which have been slotting into an alien vault beneath Loot Lake. After the fourth rune was inserted this past weekend, however, plumes of smoke began emerging from the volcano, suggesting an eruption may be imminent.

What this means remains anyone’s guess at this point, but with Season 9 only a few days away, we likely won’t need to wait too long to find out. In the meantime, you can still complete any remaining Season 8 challenges and unlock the last few Battle Pass rewards. If you need help doing that, we’ve put together tips and guides in our complete Season 8 challenges roundup.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/fortnite-teasing-new-shadow-bomb-item/1100-6466525/

Fortnite is appearing to continue teasing the arrival of Season 9, with a few new world events that may be connected. First, the fourth in a series of mysterious runes has slotted into place in the vault underneath Loot Lake. Shortly after, the island’s volcano has started to emit plumes of smoke, suggesting an eruption may be imminent.

Users on the Fortnite subreddit have captured both in action. The fourth rune is the latest to slot into place as they’ve been approaching one-by-one over the last several days. The volcanic smoke was confused as a “tornado” but appears to be heralding something destructive.

All of this appears to be laying the groundwork for the next big world event, which will accompany the seasonal changeover. The next season should be coming within a few weeks, so now is the time to start teasing the event. Fortnite tends to accompany its season changes with world events that disrupt the map and add new gameplay elements. A volcanic eruption would certainly fit the bill, but the game has been known to throw a curveball and have events trigger something unexpected.

Meanwhile, a limited-time mode has been added to celebrate the release of Avengers: Endgame, the latest MCU blockbuster. You can equip the Infinity Gauntlet and several pieces of iconic Avengers gear, and complete challenges that will grant you special themed rewards. The mode won’t last forever, though, so if you want to try it out or earn some of those snazzy rewards, you should get right on it.

Fortnite has become known for offering frequent updates, both with special LTMs like the Avengers event and with large-scale seasonal changeovers. Epic Games has reportedly adopted a crunch culture to rapidly iterate on the massive game, which means that all these events comes at a cost.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/fortnite-rune-appears-to-activate-volcano-ahead-of/1100-6466532/