A new set of Season 9 content has arrived in Fortnite. We’re now in Week 2 of the new season, and that means there’s a new assortment of challenges to complete across PS4, Xbox One, PC, Nintendo Switch, and mobile devices. As usual, clearing this week’s tasks will reward you with Battle Stars, which in turn will level your Battle Pass up and unlock the new Season 9 rewards.

That’s not all you can get by completing challenges, however. Epic has an extra reward in store for players who manage to finish all seven tasks from a given week: a special loading screen. These screens all feature a cool piece of artwork, but the real reason you want to get them is because they hold a clue pointing you to a free item hidden somewhere around the island.

In past seasons, completing all the even-number weekly challenges would give you a chance to collect a free Banner, which could be used as a profile icon. However, Epic is doing things a little differently this season. If you finish two weekly sets of challenges, you’ll still unlock a special loading screen; however, this one won’t point you to a free Banner, but rather a Fortbyte, a new type of collectible introduced this season. Fortbytes resemble small, glowing computer chips, and they can be found by meeting certain criteria, such as completing a certain number of challenges.

The reward for completing two weeks’ worth of Season 9 challenges is the Neochasers loading screen pictured above. This time, however, the clue isn’t hidden within the loading screen itself, but rather its description, which reads, “Last seen at battling at Dino Park outhouse, these two can’t be stopped.” That’s where you’ll find Fortbyte #13. Head south of Paradise Palms, near the three dinosaur statues, and find the port-a-potty there. Destroy it to reveal the Fortbyte, which is now all yours for the taking.

Unlike previous Utopia challenges, you don’t need to unlock the aforementioned loading screen to find this Fortbyte; you simply need to have purchased a Season 9 Battle Pass to collect it, so if you fall into that category, you can go straight to its location and pick it up without completing any of Week 2’s challenges. If you still need help finding the chip, we’ve marked its location on the map below. You can also watch us walk you through the challenge in the video at the top of this guide.

If you still need to complete any challenges from earlier in the season, you can find tips for all the trickier ones in our full Fortnite Season 9 challenges guide. And if you want to take a look at all the new cosmetics up for grabs, you can see all of the Fortnite Season 9 Battle Pass rewards in our gallery.

Week 2’s challenges arrive shortly after the release of Fortnite’s 9.01 update, which introduced yet another new weapon to the battle royale game: the tactical assault rifle, a fully automatic gun with a 30-round magazine. However, to make room for it, Epic has vaulted an older weapon: the combat SMG. You can see everything else that’s new in the full patch notes on the official Fortnite website.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/fortnite-week-2-guide-where-to-find-fortbyte-13-se/1100-6466964/

PS4 first-person shooter The Persistence will receive a free update that removes the necessity to play the game in VR. Dubbed “the Complete Edition,” The Persistence will make the jump from the PlayStation VR to “flat screen TVs.”

Firesprite’s game director Stuart Tilley took to the PlayStation Blog to make the announcement. “The Complete Edition is going to be the next free update for everyone that already owns the game,” Tilley wrote. “And for the first time ever, this update will make The Persistence playable on what we now fondly call ‘flat screen TVs.'” Tilley also discussed a few additional enhancements launching alongside The Persistence: Complete Edition.

In the graphics department, The Persistence: Complete Edition will “deliver 4K at 60 frames per second on the PS4 Pro, and 1080p at 60 frames per second on PS4.” Lighting and particle effects will also be improved and will include “entirely new technical visual effects such as Motion Blur and Chromatic Aberration.”

Since The Persistence: Complete Edition can be played without the PSVR, camera animations had to get retooled. According to Tilley, the game’s camera will now feature “subtle head movement when moving, and transitions between different poses–such as crouching and standing–are now animated to add a greater sense of situational awareness.”

Going from controlling in PSVR to controlling on a PS4 controller can be an awkward transition for some, but Tilley and the Firesprite team is looking to address any of these concerns in this free update. “There is also a brand-new way to interact with objects and collect pick-ups.” Some weapons, like the Gravity Hook, will have “new ways to fire them when you are playing on your TV.”

Lastly, along with graphical and camera adjustments, the game’s UI will get “updated to make them super intuitive for flat screen displays.” There’s no word on when The Persistence: Complete Edition will launch, but Tilley did confirm that the “free update is getting close to being complete.” The Persistence is out now on PS4.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/ps4-shooter-removes-mandatory-vr-requirement-throu/1100-6466965/

Microsoft and Sony have announced plans for a strategic partnership that will include technology and information sharing, as well as shared infrastuctures for some of their initiatives. While the announcement doesn’t mention the Xbox or PlayStation brands specifically, it does suggest the partnership will focus on consumer entertainment platforms including gaming.

Specifically the agreement says that the two will jointly develop future cloud solutions within Microsoft Azure. It also says that Sony will use Microsoft Azure for its own game and content-streaming services, including a push to build better tools for content creators. The two are also committing to work together on semiconductors and artificial intelligence.

“PlayStation itself came about through the integration of creativity and technology,” Sony president Kenichiro Yoshida said in the announcement. “Our mission is to seamlessly evolve this platform as one that continues to deliver the best and most immersive entertainment experiences, together with a cloud environment that ensures the best possible experience, anytime, anywhere. For many years, Microsoft has been a key business partner for us, though of course the two companies have also been competing in some areas. I believe that our joint development of future cloud solutions will contribute greatly to the advancement of interactive content.”

“Sony has always been a leader in both entertainment and technology, and the collaboration we announced today builds on this history of innovation,” added Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. “Our partnership brings the power of Azure and Azure AI to Sony to deliver new gaming and entertainment experiences for customers.”

Xbox head Phil Spencer and Nadella also followed up with tweets that stressed the entertainment and gaming aspect of the partnership.

The partnership has only just been announced, so any results from it could take a while to manifest. The mention of Microsoft’s cloud solutions in gaming comes just as Microsoft is planning its own streaming platform, xCloud., which will compete directly with Google Stadia. It’s unclear how this could impact PlayStation’s streaming platform, PlayStation Now.

With E3 2019 only weeks away, it’s unclear if this new strategic partnership will be discussed. We do know Microsoft is planning to “go big” while Sony has opted out of the show altogether. Check out the full schedule of press conferences for more details.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/microsoft-and-sony-announce-partnership-for-gaming/1100-6466963/

The Epic Games Store launched its first storewide sale today, and to mark the occasion, Epic is converting its biweekly game giveaways to weekly now through June 13, the duration of the Mega Sale. Starting today, Stories Untold is the newest free game you can claim from the Epic Store, and while you’ll still have two weeks to claim it as usual, another freebie will be available starting next Thursday, May 30. To claim Epic’s game giveaways, all you need is a free Epic account.

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Stories Untold is a genre-mixing anthology of four stories that bring in elements of psychological horror, sci-fi, suspense, and 80s retro nostalgia set to a synthwave soundtrack. Released in 2017, the game incorporates classic text adventure, point-and-click puzzle-solving, and other types of gameplay in each episode, which come together in a mysterious, yet cohesive package. Its unsettling commentary on technology is very Black Mirror-esque, if you’re into that type of thing.

“This is a unique package with a strong sense of identity, one that finds a new, exciting way to weaponize nostalgia,” wrote critic James O’Connor in GameSpot’s Stories Untold review. “Just know that you might not look at the old Spectrum or Commodore 64 you’ve got packed away in the attic quite the same way again after playing.”

Rime, a puzzle-adventure set on a mysterious island, is the next free game on Epic’s docket and will become available to download and keep starting next Thursday, May 23. In the meantime, be sure to check out the rest of the deals going on in the Epic Store right now. Not only are many PC games discounted, but Epic is also offering an additional $10 off any game over $15, including pre-orders on games like Borderlands 3. If you’ve purchased from the Epic Store in the past two weeks, you’ll receive a refund for the difference between what you paid and the sale price, and if you’ve pre-ordered a game from them over $15, you’ll be refunded $10 sometime in the next two weeks.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/the-latest-free-game-from-the-epic-store-is-availa/1100-6466958/