The Epic Games Store has been snatching up exclusivity deals as a shot against the bow of Steam, the biggest digital PC game storefront. The company’s latest score is Borderlands 3, and some fans are not happy about it. So not-happy, in fact, that they’ve resorted to review bombing the older games that made them fans in the first place.

Borderlands, Borderlands 2, and Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel have all suffered a spate of negative reviews on Steam. Each is rated as “Positive” or “Very Positive” for overall reviews, but “Mixed” or “Mostly Negative” in hundreds or thousands of recent reviews. Many of the negative reviews explicitly mention the Epic Store. Tales from the Borderlands, which was developed by Telltale Games instead of Gearbox, has been mostly spared.

Borderlands 3 will be exclusive to the Epic Store until April 2020, giving it a six-month window that is shorter than many of the year-long exclusivity periods. The release date of September 13 had leaked before the official announcement, and in that leak a video also showed an Epic Store logo, conspicuously without a Steam logo.

As part of the suite of announcements surrounding Borderlands 3, Gearbox also announced a remastered Game of the Year Edition for the original game, and a 4K texture pack for the other two. Borderlands 2 also had its various pieces of DLC brought into Borderlands VR.

The latest in the loot-shooter series from Gearbox appears similar to prior entries, right down to having a cast of four diverse Vault Hunters with different abilities. Whether you pick it up on PC or elsewhere, Gearbox is looking into supporting cross-play. For more details, including the loot you can gain by putting down your money early, check out our pre-order guide.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/borderlands-games-getting-review-bombed-over-borde/1100-6466036/

Another week, another set of Fortnite challenges. For those looking to unlock everything in the Season 8 Battle Pass, it’s crucial that all the mini-quests are completed so the Battle Stars needed to level up the pass and get access to the cosmetics are earned. While the majority of Season 8, Week 6’s challenges are fairly straightforward, there’s one that could prove to be quite tricky: Visit the five highest elevations on the island.

The Fortnite island is full of elevated areas, so it may be quite time-consuming to run around guessing which ones are the highest of them all. To speed things up for you, we’ve got a quick breakdown of exactly where you should go. Thankfully, a number of them are located pretty close together, so that makes completing the task even quicker.

The first of the locations is the volcano crater, naturally. After that you’ll need to book it to the west side of the Island. Head towards Snobby Shores but stop on the east side of it because, as you’ll no doubt see, there are two mountains on the way there–simply make your way to the top of those and you’re good to go. After that, it’s time to head south into the colder part of the map. The final two elevated locations are the top of the castle at Polar Peak and then the submarine near frosty flights. Once you’ve been to those locations, it’s done. Good job.

Below you can see a list of where the highest locations can be found. We’ve also put together a video guide (above) to show you exactly where you need to go.

Fortnite’s Five Highest Elevations On The Island

• Volcano crater at grid reference H3
• Mountain northeast of Snobby Shores at grid reference C5
• Second mountain northeast of Snobby Shores at grid reference B5
• Castle at Polar Peak at grid reference C7
• Submarine east of Frosty Flights at grid reference B8

If you’ve still got challenges from previous weeks left over, make sure to head over to our Season 8 challenge guide, which includes tips for all the most difficult challenges every week so far. Use that and you’ll be racking up Battle Stars in no time.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/fortnite-guide-five-highest-elevations-on-the-isla/1100-6466034/

Load up Fortnite because there’s a new batch of challenges to do. We’re now in Season 8, Week 6, which means there are new Battle Stars to be earned. As always, there’s a set of challenges that is available to everyone and then another group of challenges that are exclusively for those who have spent V-Bucks on a Battle Pass.

In the free section for Week 6, players will need to find the highest elevations on the island, visit three specific landmarks, and then take out opponents in Lazy Lagoon or Frosty Flight. If you’ve got the Battle Pass, you’ll need to search where the knife points on the treasure map loading screen, land at five different locations as part of a multi-stage challenge, use throwable items, and bring down enemies with either the Flint-Knock Pistol or Boom Bow. Take a look at the full list of challenges below.

Fortnite Season 8, Week 6 Challenges

Free

• Visit the five highest elevations on the island (5) — 5 Battle Stars
• Visit a Wooden Rabbit, Stone Pig, and a Metal Llama (3) — 5 Battle Stars
• Eliminate enemies at Lazy Lagoon or Frosty Flights (3) — 10 Battle Stars

Battle Pass

• Search where the knife points on the Treasure Map loading screen (1) — 5 Battle Stars
• Stage 1 of 5: Land at Fatal Fields — 1 Battle Star
• Use different throwable items in a match (2) — 10 Battle Stars
• Get an elimination with a Flint-Knock Pistol or Boom Bow (1) — 10 Battle Stars

The final challenge in the Battle Pass section for Week 6 makes good use of one of the newer additions to Fortnite. The Boom Bow was introduced in Fortnite’s 8.20 content update, and uses shotgun shells that explode on impact. Holding fire increases draw strength and will also up the arrow’s speed and the damage. Save the World mode gets its own new weapon as well, the Cannonade Launcher.

Once you’re done with Week 6’s challenges, you may want to finish up any incomplete challenges from previous weeks. Use our Season 8 Challenge Guide for help with that and you’ll be well on your way to unlocking all the cool new Fortnite skins and other Battle Pass rewards from Season 8.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/fortnite-challenge-list-highest-elevations-wooden-/1100-6466033/

We joined forces with Perfect World Entertainment so two of our readers can get a chance to take home a custom painted Hob Nintendo Switch console and the digital code to download a free copy of Hob: The Definitive Edition, a single-player adventure game that’s coming to the Switch on April 4.

Here are the prizes:

For our two grand prize winners, they will take home the exclusive custom painted Hob Nintendo Switch console plus a copy of the game for Nintendo Switch.

There will also be 10 runner ups who will get a digital code to download Hob: The Definitive Edition on the Nintendo Switch.

To enter for a chance to win, you have to fill out the form below after reading the official rules and accepting the terms and conditions. You also have the option to get extra entries to increase your chances of winning by following us across social media.

If you are having trouble viewing the form please use this link. Good luck!

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/you-could-win-an-exclusive-custom-painted-hob-them/1100-6465984/

Battlefield V launched last year without microtransactions, but they’re coming to the World War II shooter very soon. An update to the shooter set for April 4 will introduce “Battlefield Currency,” which is the name for the virtual currency that is purchased with real money.

Players can spend Battlefield Currency to buy cosmetic items; they do not affect gameplay. Items that can be purchased with Battlefield Currency can also be earned through gameplay.

“The balanced rock-paper-scissors gameplay that has always been the foundation of the Battlefield series isn’t going anywhere,” DICE said. “Player skill will continue to be paramount with the addition of Battlefield Currency, which gives players more ways to acquire items to customize their characters and arsenal in Battlefield V.”

Beginning April 4, DICE will also release new Epic-level rarity items beyond the current Common, Uncommon, and Rare items that you can buy with Battlefield V’s existing Company Coin currency. The wording of the statement suggests that the new Epic items may be only available to buy with real money, at least for now. Here’s how it’s worded:

“Starting April 4, using Battlefield Currency, you’ll get access to new Epic items. Looking ahead, we will continue to release new cosmetic items that can be obtained through direct progression, Company Coins, and/or Battlefield Currency. We want to give every player a chance to access new cosmetic items, whether they choose to spend real-world money or earn content through gameplay.”

Battlefield Currency will be available to buy from within Battlefield V on PS4, Xbox One, and PC, as well as through first-party digital stores. It’ll be available in various quantities, but DICE didn’t share any specifics just yet about the size and cost of the Battlefield Currency bundles.

Looking further out, DICE will release “time-savers” that players can buy with real money; these come in the form of Tier Catch-Ups and XP Boosts. Tier Catch-Ups give you instant access to Chapter Reward items, which are cosmetic only. XP Boosts do just that.

In addition, DICE will release new “Elite” sets for Battlefield V that can be purchased for real money using Battlefield Currency. A first for the Battlefield series, Elites are new characters that you can use in multiplayer and the Firestorm battle royale mode.

“They consist of a themed assortment of cosmetic items, character voice overs, a Best Squad animation, and an exclusive Special Assignment that helps bring to life the story of the Elite and unlocks a signature melee weapon,” DICE said.

These Elites are different in look only; they offer no gameplay advantage.

In addition to all of this, DICE will offer “value bundles” for real money. Only available for a limited time, the bundles come with a mixture of things like cosmetics, currency, time savers, and other items. The full contents of the bundles will be displayed at the buying screen so you know what you’re getting. One example of the bundles are Starter Packs that DICE will begin selling on April 4. These come with allotments of Battlefield Currency, as well as customisation options like face paint and weapon skins.

For more on Battlefield V’s microtransactions, check out this in-depth blog post from DICE.

The direction Battlefield V is taking as it relates to microtransactions is decidedly different from how the series handled microtransactions in the past. In previous titles, DICE offered “Shortcut” kits that allowed players to pay real money to acquire weapons and other perks that provided an instant theoretical advantage on the battlefield for those who spent money. DICE’s Star Wars: Battlefront II was roundly criticised for being too close to a “pay-to-win” scenario with its own loot boxes and microtransactions, so it could be that Battlefield V’s change in direction as it relates to microtransactions is a reaction to that.

Battlefield V has sold more than 7 million copies, but that’s below what publisher Electronic Arts was expecting. The game is no doubt continuing to sell, and the extra revenue coming from microtransactions may improve the game’s overall profitability profile further still. Not only that, but the game just added its battle royale mode, Firestorm, which may improve interest and engagement with Battlefield V overall.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/battlefield-5-microtransactions-arrive-this-week-h/1100-6466029/