Fortnite‘s new update, version 10.30, is out now on PS4, Xbox One, PC, Nintendo Switch, and mobile, and it’s as content-heavy as we’ve come to expect. A new Rift Zone has appeared, another has brought back an old location, and there are all the usual tweaks to weapon vaulting–check out all the patch notes below.

The new area is called Moisty Palms, a swampy area in which you can disguise yourself as a prop by simply crouching. Take a look at the video below to see what we mean–it looks like chaos, in a good way.

An old location also returns via a Rift Zone. Greasy Grove appears to much the same as before, but Epic has hinted at one change by saying, “The neighborhood’s favorite food is now tacos. The tacos here are so good that even their smell makes people party!” Raining tacos will cause players to dance uncontrollably, during which time you’ll be impervious to damage and will recover health at 20 HP per second.

This week’s new LTM is named Knock Town, a solo mode where players “use the grappler to jump around and dodge shots as you one-tap enemies in the air with the Flint-Knock Pistol.”

In terms of weapon changes, the Burst SMG has been vaulted, meaning it will no longer be available in-game. However, the Tactical SMG has been unvaulted, so fans of Fortnite’s sub-machine guns will have something to entertain them. For more on the new update, check out the full Battle Royale patch notes below, via Epic Games.

Separate to the new update, Epic states it is testing a new form of Item Shop voting. The system allows players to vote on what items they’d like to see return to the store, so if you missed that cool-looking skin, you might be in luck.

Fortnite: Battle Royale Update 10.30 Patch Notes

Knock Town

Team Type: Solo | Respawning: On

Created by AlanShinohara. Knock Town was a top 3 contender for the LTM Creator Contest!

Use the grappler to jump around and dodge shots as you one-tap enemies in the air with the Flint-Knock Pistol. The player with the most eliminations at the end of the match wins!

Weapons And Items

• Vaulted
  • Burst SMG
• Unvaulted
  • Tactical SMG (Also: now available in Playground!)

Bug Fixes

• Players impulsed by a Shockwave Grenade will no longer destroy a nearby trap without first destroying the building piece it is attached to.
• The Zapper Trap’s info card now shows the appropriate 4 stars (indicating Epic Rarity) rather than 2 (indicating Uncommon Rarity).
• Resolved an issue in which the Zapper Trap would not build properly when thrown on slopes or uneven terrain.
• B.R.U.T.E.s will now be launched away if they touch the Floating Island’s Cube.
• The B.R.U.T.E.’s Stomp attacks now deal consistent damage to other vehicles.
  • Previously, they would deal either double or triple damage to other vehicles.
• The color of the B.R.U.T.E.’s cooldown meter now updates properly to correspond with the cooldown value.

Gameplay

• Mosty Palms
  • The Rift Beacon at Paradise Palms has created this new POI! In addition to its swampy nature, this Rift Zone is known for being a good place to keep a low profile.
    • While in the Rift Zone, crouching will disguise players as a random prop. They can exit the prop state by using the Primary Fire button.
      • Players are still able to take damage while in prop form.
    • ADS lets players lock in place and look around for unsuspecting victims.

• Greasy Grove
  • A Rift Zone has brought back Greasy Grove! But this time, Durrr Burger is out, and Tacos are in!
  • Periodically, Spicy Tacos will rain down from the sky. Their smell is so overwhelmingly appetizing that players in the Zone can’t help but dance!
    • While dancing, players are invulnerable to damage from others and will regenerate health at 20 HP per second.
      • Dancing does not block Storm Damage or regenerate Health in the Storm.
  • Spicy Tacos can be consumed for 10 Effective Health (sum of a player’s Health + Shield) and a temporary increase in movement speed (40% increase for 20 seconds).
    • The Spicy Tacos don’t last long — grab them before they expire!

• Community Choice
  • Players will get to vote on what’s featured in the Item Shop!
  • The first community vote starts this week. For more information about Community Choice, check out our blog post.

Bug Fixes

• POIs no longer load at different distances depending on the angle of approach.
• Resolved an issue in which players would enter edit mode for a building piece that their reticle was not on.
• Reviving a squadmate no longer causes the reviver to get disconnected.

Playground

Bug Fixes

• Resolved an issue in which players were able to damage each other on the Playground Hub.

Performance

• Improved the performance of Shield Bubble collisions.

Art And Animation

• When players’ characters are near a wall, they will lower their weapon while in their idle pose.
  • This is to reduce instances in which the hands of players’ characters appear through walls.

Bug Fixes

• Changed the lace color of the Jets 2019 – 2020 NFL Outfit from white to green to accurately match the real uniforms.
• The Flowerprint wrap no longer appears incorrectly on assault and sniper rifles.
• Damaging a tree no longer places a rock texture on its leaves or causes its wood texture to become transparent.

Audio

• Lowered the volume of the open and close sounds of teammates’ Gliders by 50%.

Bug Fixes

• Resolved an issue in which the Battle Bus’ audio would be silent for a short period of time.

UI

Bug Fixes

• Sending feedback during a replay no longer causes players to get stuck in the Player Reporting or Feedback menu.
• Eliminating another player using a Junk Rift Triceratops will now indicate that they were sent to the Cretaceous period in the elimination feed.
  • Previously, the elimination feed would say that they were sent to the Jurassic period, but Triceratops only existed during the Cretaceous period. We apologize for this Tyrannosaurus Wreck of an oversight.

Replay

• Resolved an issue in which mouse controls would not function properly in some replays.
• Going near ammo no longer causes the “Can’t hold more of this item!” message to appear when this action is shown in replays.

Mobile

• New Settings
  • Building and Editing
    • Players can now adjust the touch sensitivity settings for both building and editing.
  • Toggle Targeting
    • Sets targeting to be an on/off toggle or a hold.
      • Turning this setting off will require players to hold the ADS to aim.
        • The setting is turned on by default.
    • Toggle Aim setting now includes touch as well as controllers on mobile.
  • Edit Confirm On Release
    • This setting will allow players to confirm an edit anytime they release their edit selection.
  • Touch Acceleration multiplier
    • A value of 1 will have full touch look acceleration, and a value of 0 will have no touch look acceleration.
    • This is is not synonymous with sensitivity. Lower values do not necessarily translate to slower look speeds.
• New Button
  • Edit Select Reset button
    • This button is located in the HUD Layout Tool.
    • This will reset the edit state of build pieces upon opening them for editing.
• Added 60 FPS support to the iPhone X.
• Updated autofire reticle to increase visibility when against high value surfaces.
• Autofire adjustments to Drum and Tactical Shotgun.
  • Reduced max autofire range to match effective range of projectiles.

Bug Fixes

• Resolved an issue in which weapons would fire automatically after placing a trap.
• Vending Machines no longer give the incorrect item when using touch input.
  • Known issue: Players using the dedicated pickup button may still receive the wrong item. We are working to resolve this.
• Team Elimination count will show the accurate amount of eliminations.
• Fixed an unopenable chest located northeast of the frozen lake in Greasy Grove.
• Corrected mislabeled B.R.U.T.E. buttons on the HUD.
• Emoting while driving a B.R.U.T.E. won’t mute all sounds and will not lead to a crash.
• Closing the Settings menu while still scrolling won’t make it impossible to scroll again when reopening it.
• Maximum Audio Volume achievable on Android is higher.
• SFX will now play when shots are fired from the Storm Sniper, Green Assault Rifle, Silenced Pistol, and Hand Cannon.
• Quick Heal button won’t persist after using the last healing item while in the Storm. It also won’t disappear upon entering the Storm.
• Low-end devices can see the writing on World Cup trophies.
• Fire Mode screen will not display pink tiles on Android.
• In Team Rumble, quick slot input won’t be blocked by the Goal and Elimination counters.
• We’ve made some graphical and audio improvements for the following:
  • Battle Bus
  • Synapse Outfit
  • B.R.U.T.E. Navigator Outfit
  • Glow Stick Harvesting Tool
  • Renegade Roller Harvesting Tool
  • Axeroni Harvesting Tool
  • Sparkle Supreme Outfit
  • Laser Pick Harvesting Tool
  • Lollipopper Harvesting Tool
  • Star-Spangled Ranger Outfit
  • Freestyle Outfit during Emote animations
  • Rift Edge Harvesting Tool
  • Shifu Outfit
  • Dynamo Outfit
  • The AC/DC Harvesting Tool will play the proper SFX in the Locker.
  • Detonator Backbling will now show on players when equipped.
  • Mauler Pickaxe will show swing trail.

Recap

• From hotfix on September 5
  • Made some balance adjustments. The details of these adjustments can be found in our blog post.
• From hotfix on September 6
  • Teammates’ arrow markers will no longer disappear in large team modes when the teammates are still visible.
• From hotfix on September 6
  • Temporarily disabled Ziplines to resolve an issue.
    • We plan to have this issue resolved in the next update.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/fortnite-patch-notes-update-1030-add-moisty-palms-/1100-6469771/

Video game retailer GameStop has seen better days. In August, the company announced a huge round of layoffs that impacted more than 100 employees, including some members of the Game Informer staff. The company’s stock price is at a near all-time low, trading around $5 per share compared to more than $46 per share back in 2015. GameStop has a plan to turn thing around, and now the retailer has shared more details.

During an earnings call on September 10, GameStop shared more details on what it called the “GameStop Reboot” initiative. The overall aim of this is to “improve the financial performance of the business and implement a series of initiatives that will support the long-term success of the business and value creation for stakeholders.”

“We are committed to acting with a sense of urgency to address the areas of the business that are critical to achieving long-term success and value creation for all our stakeholders,” GameStop CEO George Sherman said in a statement. “We will set GameStop on the correct strategic path and fully leverage our unique position and brand in the video game industry. Our strategic plan is anchored on four tenets which include, optimizing the core business by driving efficiency and effectiveness, creating the social and cultural hub of gaming within each GameStop, building compelling digital capabilities, and transforming our vendor and partner relationships for an evolving video game industry.

“This is a compelling new strategic vision for the company, and we’ve already started to execute against all four pillars. We also remain committed to returning capital to shareholders and balancing that opportunity against the need to maintain a strong balance sheet to properly run our business and invest in responsible growth.”

The four main pillars of GameStop’s Reboot initiative include the following (descriptions written by GameStop):

• Optimize the Core: Optimize the core business by improving efficiency and effectiveness across the organization, including cost restructuring, inventory management optimization, adding and growing high margin product categories, and rationalizing the global store base.
• Become the Social / Cultural Hub for Gaming: Create the social and cultural hub of gaming across the GameStop platform by testing and improving existing core assets including the store experience, knowledgeable associates and the PowerUp Rewards loyalty program.
• Build Digital Platform: Build compelling digital capabilities, including the recent relaunch of GameStop.com, to reach customers more broadly across the omni-channel platform and give them the full spectrum of content and access to products they desire.
• Transform Vendor Partnerships: Transform our vendor and partner relationships to unlock additional high-margin revenue streams and optimize the lifetime value of every customer.

Sherman spoke at length about each of the pillars during the earnings call; you can listen to the webcast here to hear everything that Sherman had to say.

GameStop is already moving on its plan to right the ship. Just recently, the company re-launched its website (now with ThinkGeek incorporated), featuring a more streamlined shopping experience that aims to allow customers to find what they want and buy it more smoothly. Additionally, GameStop is testing new pilot stores in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Some of the store concepts are focused on competitive gaming and “home-grown e-leagues.” While other concept stores will exclusively sell retro games and hardware.

Another part of GameStop’s plan to turn things around is to scale down. The retailer confirmed on the earnings call that it plans to close 180-200 “underperforming” stores by the end of the company’s current fiscal year (ending February 2020). The store has 5,700 stores worldwide, so the impending closures–if they reach 200 stores–amount to around 3.5 percent of its total store base. The company added that it expects a “much larger tranche of closures” to follow in the coming 12 to 24 months, though a specific number wasn’t provided.

Management added that it is “rapidly developing a point of view” on how many more stores it will close in the future. The company is taking a “very specific approach” to looking into specific store closures, the company said. Specifically, the company might look to “de-densify” its store base, which means stores with overlapping trade areas might close. GameStop also pointed out that its average store land lease is two years, so the company isn’t generally financially committed to any particular area for an extended period of time.

Don’t expect GameStop to turn things around overnight, however. Sherman said on the call, “This transition will take time.”

As for GameStop’s latest earnings, for the quarter ended August 3, the company saw its total global sales fall 14.3 percent to $1.3 billion. GameStop posted a net loss of $415.3 million for the quarter, which is far worse than the $24.9 million that the company lost during the same period last year.

Every category except Collectibles saw sales decrease year-over-year.

New hardware sales fell a massive 41.1 percent, a downturn that GameStop attributed to the announcement of next-generation consoles coming in 2020. New game sales fell 5.3 percent overall; Nintendo Switch game sales grew, but it wasn’t enough to offset the “weaker title launches” across all systems relative to the same period last year. Accessory sales, meanwhile, fell 9.5 percent, while pre-owned sales fell 17.5 percent. Digital sales fell 11.2 percent “due to weaker title launches.” Collectible sales, however, jumped by 21.2 percent, proving to be the only big bright spot for the retailer.

“While we experienced sales declines across a number of our categories during the quarter, these trends are consistent with what we have historically observed towards the end of a hardware cycle,” GameStop CFO Jim Bell said. “We will continue to manage the underlying businesses to produce meaningful cash returns, while maintaining a strong balance sheet and investing responsibly in our strategic initiatives.”

Looking ahead, Bell said GameStop expects total sales to continue to be down in multiple consecutive quarters to come, as the industry awaits the launch of next-generation consoles in Holiday 2020. He pointed out that both Xbox Scarlett and the PS5 were announced, at least partially, earlier than in the past. This hurt GameStop, he said, because consumers may hold out on buying systems if they know a new one is coming later, while game releases might slow, too, as developers wait to release titles on the new systems.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/how-gamestop-plans-to-turn-things-around/1100-6469770/

Borderlands 3 is almost here. Gearbox’s next big looter-shooter arrives on September 13 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. Like previous entries in the series, the music is one of its standout features. Music has been very important to the series from the beginning (the opening sequence in Borderlands 1 might have been the first time you heard “Ain’t No Rest For The Wicked”), and this theme continues with Borderlands 3.

GameSpot recently had the opportunity to interview Borderlands 3 composer Jesper Kyd, who spoke to us about many different topics. Having already worked on Borderlands 1 and 2, as well as the Pre-Sequel and Claptastic Voyage, Kyd expanded on the challenges of making new music in a series he’s familiar with, as well as what it was like working with Gearbox, how the music ties together with Borderlands 3, bringing players to multiple planets outside of Pandora this time around.

Kyd also told us more about how Borderlands 3 makes use of a “deep interactive music system” that, through some backend wizardry and randomness, allows the game’s music to sound slightly different each time you play. Additionally, he explained that, at a high level, he wanted to try new things and break from some of the series tradition, while he also described the score as the “most varied” one he’s ever made for the Borderlands series.

“I knew right away the last thing I wanted to do was add the predictable swampy slide guitar on all the music. It just felt too pedestrian for Borderlands 3, it wasn’t out-there enough,” he said.

You can see the full review below. Kyd also composed the music for games in the Hitman, Assassin’s Creed, Darksiders, and State of Decay franchises.

For lots more on the upcoming Borderlands 3 launch, check out GameSpot’s roundup that covers the pre-load details, region unlock times, PC specs, and more. If you’re looking to pick up the game, you can check out GameSpot’s extended pre-order guide to learn more about what’s available.

GameSpot’s Borderlands 3 review scored the looter-shooter an 8/10. “Borderlands 3 has a few stumbling blocks when it comes to bosses, but these fights are overshadowed by the game’s rewarding gunplay and over-the-top humor,” reviewer Jordan Ramee said.

Jesper Kyd

Having worked on previous Borderlands games in the past, can you talk about the challenge of coming up with new ideas for a series you’re already familiar with?

After working on Borderlands 1 and 2, the last Borderlands games I scored were The Pre-Sequel and Claptastic Voyage, which were both science fiction-inspired scores mixed with the distinct feel of Borderlands. With Borderlands 3 we are back to Pandora as well as visiting new worlds such as the Eden-6 planet, which is the planet I scored. Scoring a brand-new addition to the Borderlands universe has been very exciting to work on. Eden-6 is a planet covered in swamplands and thick vegetation, so it was a very different writing experience from scoring the previous four Borderlands games I worked on. It is also the most varied Borderlands score I have written.

“Eden-6 is a planet covered in swamplands and thick vegetation, so it was a very different writing experience from scoring the previous four Borderlands games I worked on.” — Jesper Kyd

What kind of notes did Gearbox give you as it relates to the music they wanted?

They were looking for the music to help make Eden-6 sound unique from the other planets, yet at the same time help define this new unexplored world as a location that belongs in the Borderlands universe. I remember writing one of the cues that opens with a slow atmospheric guitar solo, a la Pink Floyd, and when I talked about this to the Gearbox audio director Raison Varner he mentioned the team was 100% on board with such ideas. The score I wrote doesn’t draw inspiration from any film or game soundtracks, the direction goes much further than that. Naturally the score also needed to support areas such as marshlands and wetlands and this is often mixed up with a high-tech mood, since advanced technology is ever-present.

How much collaboration was there between yourself and the team at Gearbox?

I worked closely with the audio department at Gearbox, specifically Raison Varner. We talked a lot about the different worlds I was working on and he really encouraged me to bring a lot of creativity to the writing. Borderlands is a perfect playground for me to let loose musically and after working on all the previous games and helping to establish the Borderlands sound, I was able to use a lot of my knowledge of the universe and creative energy to help push things much further this time around. That’s the great thing about returning to franchises; since you have already established the sound you can now invest time in pushing that sound further into new territories.

“Adding lots of melodies to the exploration music is something I felt would fit very well with this gameplay type. This is what I feel ties all my music together.” — Jesper Kyd

Borderlands 3 is such a sprawling game with so many different locations, characters, and moments–is there a connective tissue of a kind that ties your music together?

That’s a great observation. I feel my main menu music is a good example of the dynamic type of music I wrote for Borderlands 3. I really focused on adding a lot of melody to my writing. When playing games myself, my favorite musical moments are often those based on melody and this is something I talked a lot to Gearbox about and they loved that idea. Borderlands is such a high-octane experience, even when just exploring the maps, there is a ton of variation and entertainment throughout. So adding lots of melodies to the exploration music is something I felt would fit very well with this gameplay type. This is what I feel ties all my music together.

When you set out to make the music for Borderlands 3, what themes and tones did you want to highlight or accentuate? What kind of instrumentation were you looking to use?

I knew right away the last thing I wanted to do was add the predictable swampy slide guitar on all the music. It just felt too pedestrian for Borderlands 3, it wasn’t out-there enough. We are on an alien planet after all! So I pursued other ideas. There is a track called “Exploring The Dormant Ship” where I play a big Russian zither as well as some really warped pianos through a space echo; this really helped us realize that we could move way beyond just slide guitars and other more traditional bayou instrumentations. I then recorded a lot of vocal parts for the action part of this cue, which helps give the world a more immersive depth and richness of life.

I recently had the opportunity to play Borderlands 3 during a preview session. That dub-step boss was a musical treat; can you talk about how that all came together and what you were setting out to do with it? The way it uses music is so fascinating.

Great! I love that you noticed that. I wrote 10 minutes of end boss music to make all that come together like that. I had this idea of making the end boss music for Eden-6 something that really stands out with an atmosphere that lifts you up. I am a huge fan of boss battles and I’m fascinated with how games use boss music; Japanese games perform these types of gameplay moments especially well. Gearbox was onboard with this approach but when we put it in the game we all realized that we needed something different to set it up before we could give people this crazy melodic lift in spirits.

To make that transition work I wrote a track for the boss battle that’s really heavy and bombastic before introducing such a shift in uplifting mood. So if you ace this epic boss battle right away you’ll move on faster and the game will take you to the next world. But if you take longer in battle the game rewards you with a new level of atmosphere which gives you a feel of rising hope, that you can overcome this challenge. On the album, that track is called “Tranquility Achieved”.

“Borderlands 3 features a really deep interactive music system with many layers and modular pieces that are randomly put together in-game, so the music sounds a bit different every time you play the game.” — Jesper Kyd

I’ve read that you’re challenging yourself to experiment with new sounds for Borderlands 3. What does this mean?

Well, I am always looking at new ways to break the mold of what is expected and then take things further or go in a totally different unexpected direction that really rewards the gamers as well as fitting the game perfectly. There are so many interesting things that can only be done in the games medium and following the path of scoring games more traditionally is a lost opportunity, since I feel we have an opportunity to create something unique or surprising.

For example, once you finally make it to the end part of Eden-6, the music track “Treasures Of The Vault” starts with a set of upbeat motivational combat cues, to get the fun factor going out in full force. It’s like a reward for the game player while at the same time reminding you that you are finally here, that this is what you have been looking for, now fight and go claim your reward. These types of ideas are important to me as a gamer and I always think like a gamer when scoring video games. I really have to give credit to Gearbox and Raison Varner for allowing my creativity to run wild during the making of this score.

What else should people know about the soundtrack for Borderlands 3?

Borderlands 3 features a really deep interactive music system with many layers and modular pieces that are randomly put together in-game, so the music sounds a bit different every time you play the game. In addition to a more unique playing experience, this results in some really interesting soundtrack versions of the music. For example, there are exploration tracks on the soundtrack such as “Enter Floodmoor Basin” which are over nine minutes in duration as well as action music tracks such as “Treasures Of The Vault” which is an eight-minute piece. And these pieces of music never repeat any parts or themes but keep moving forward and developing. So it’s progressive in structure. The soundtrack, which also features music by co-composers Michael McCann, Finishing Move and Raison Varner, is almost six hours long and there’s a vinyl release on the way as well!

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/borderlands-3-composer-on-the-most-varied-score-he/1100-6469469/