Battle royale is everywhere, from Battlefield V to Call of Duty: Black Ops 4. Even Tetris has been infected, with Tetris 99 offering the same every-player-for-themself design in the Tetris universe. While the genre’s overflowing with a myriad of titles, the man who popularized it in the video game space, Brendan “PlayerUnknown” Greene, is moving on to something new.

Greene recently announced that his “new day-to-day focus will be heading up to a new division of PUBG Corp.: PUBG Special Projects.” Green served as both the director and designer of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, and while he’ll “remain as a consulting creative director on PUBG,” he’s leaving the project behind to concentrate on new initiatives for the company. He’s also leaving PUBG Corp.’s headquarters in Seoul, which will continue to work on PUBG, and moving to the newly-established Amsterdam office where he’ll put his attention “on building out an entirely new division to focus on research & game development.”

In a new interview, Greene signaled that he’s also done with the battle royale genre. “The last man standing concept is great, but I’ve done that,” Greene said in a GamesIndustry.biz interview. “I don’t really intend to make PUBG 2. I’ve done battle royale, it’s time to try something else.” Greene also doesn’t have much interest in players killing each other anymore, either. “I think I’ve provided others with a good way of killing each other. But I want to explore some other things.”

So what exactly is Greene doing now? According to GI.Biz, PUBG Corp. CEO Chang Han Kim approached Greene about taking the ideas in his head and “[turning them] into something that may be playable.” Kim’s allowing Greene to form a new team in a new location to create new things. The purpose of Special Projects, it seems, is to experiment. There are no in-depth details “because I don’t have them yet,” Greene said, but he does want to continue “[exploring] online experiences and how to connect people in ways that we haven’t really done before.”

Greene’s considered the father of the battle royale gaming genre. With both H1Z1 and PUBG, Greene’s proved that it’s possible–albeit difficult–to strike gold twice. However, according to Greene, there’s no pressure to strike gold again with Special Projects. “There is no deadline here, this is us with a few years to play,” he said. “Gaming and the industry has become so hard this is a very lucky thing to have. We can genuinely explore and be curious for some time.”

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/playerunknown-is-done-with-battle-royale-wont-make/1100-6465950/

April 1 has arrived, and in the spirit of April Fools’ Day, Ubisoft has kicked off a ridiculous new event in Rainbow Six Siege. The Rainbow Is Magic event is now live across PS4, Xbox One, and PC, and it introduces a special playlist along with an assortment of colorful new cosmetic items in the popular tactical shooter.

For a limited time, players can take on a special rescue mission set in a redesigned, candy-colored version of the Plane map. The object: safely retrieve a VIP teddy bear from the vehicle. For this mission, players will be able to choose between four Operators–Blackbeard, Montagne, Smoke, and Tachanka–and nine “toy soldiers.”

In addition to the special mission, Ubisoft has rolled out a new line of exclusive Rainbow Is Magic cosmetics. The collection consists of 17 colorful items ranging from BDUs to headgear. Players will receive one free Rainbow Is Magic Pack when they log in during the event and can earn additional ones by completing Ubisoft Club Challenges or purchasing them for 300 R6 Credits. As with other Rainbow Six Siege loot packs, there will be no duplicate items.

The Rainbow Is Magic event runs until April 8, while the Rainbow Is Magic cosmetic packs will be available for an additional week until April 15. You can read more details about the event on the official Rainbow Six Siege website and on Xbox Wire.

In addition to Rainbow Six Siege, Ubisoft is holding a ridiculous, 24-hour April Fools’ event in its swordfighting game, For Honor. Until 9 PM PT on April 1 (12 AM ET on April 2), players can take on swarms of Rabbids, and everyone who participates will get a melee pack. You can watch footage of the Rabbids crossover on YouTube and see all the other April Fools’ pranks and events going on in games in our big roundup.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/rainbow-six-siege-kicks-off-ridiculously-colorful-/1100-6465951/

Metro Exodus going exclusive to the Epic Games Store was a controversial move for publisher Deep Silver. Valve called the move “unfair to Steam customers,” apologizing for the short window the company had to inform customers that Metro Exodus wouldn’t be available through its platform. Despite this, Steam keys for the game were sold online, and it turns out that those keys were stolen–and have now been deactivated as a result.

According to an update on the game’s official Steam page, these keys for Metro Exodus on Valve’s platform will no longer work. “These keys have been obtained illegally from the factory where physical key printing had taken place prior to the announcement of exclusivity with Epic Games,” publisher Deep Silver wrote. “Due to the criminal nature of these keys, all unlicensed keys have been deactivated and activation/download of Metro Exodus without the executable file is no longer possible.”

Further, Metro Exodus will be removed from your games library if you got one of these illegal Steam keys. “In addition, the software will be removed from the Steam library of any players using an unauthorized code. The keys being sold on this platform are stolen goods, and are therefore illegal.”

So what’s Deep Silver’s recommendation after the company removes the game from your games library? “If you have been affected we strongly recommend you contact the seller who sold you the unlicensed key and demand a refund,” it said.

Deep Silver says only two distributors were legally authorized to sell Metro Exodus on PC at launch: Humble Bundle and the Razer store. While the game’s currently exclusive to the Epic Games Store, Metro Exodus will be sold on Steam after February 14, 2020.

Metro Exodus recently received a New Game Plus in the Ranger Update, a 6GB update that adds a host of new features and various tweaks. In addition to New Game Plus, the Ranger Update comes with a fourth controller sensitivity preset, platform-specific improvements and additions, addresses numerous bugs and crashes, and adds full Ukrainian localization. The Ranger Update is available now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/stolen-metro-exodus-steam-keys-deactivated-game-re/1100-6465945/

April Fools’ Day is here, and like many other developers, Niantic is celebrating with a special event in Pokemon Go. Last year, the developer memorably replaced the game’s 3D Pokemon models with 8-bit sprites, but this year, it’s giving players another chance to capture a Pikachu wearing Ash Ketchum’s signature hat from the Pokemon anime series.

Throughout the day, you’ll be able to come across a hat-wearing Pikachu when you take pictures using the new Go Snapshot feature. Like Smeargle, the Pikachu–or even Ash himself–will potentially photobomb the pictures you take; if that happens, back out of the mode and the Pikachu will appear in the wild, giving you an opportunity to catch it.

This marks the first time in more than a year that Ash’s hat Pikachu has been available in Pokemon Go. Niantic first introduced it as part of the game’s anniversary event, although there have been numerous other hat-wearing Pikachu since, such as a Santa hat Pikachu during the game’s annual winter event.

This also marks your final chance to catch Giratina in its Altered Forme. The Legendary Gen 4 Pokemon returned to Raid Battles last week following Dialga’s departure. Starting 1 PM PT / 4 PM ET, Giratina will transform into its Origin Forme–the more serpent-like appearance it takes in Pokemon Platinum–until it leaves Raid Battles on April 29. You can find tips on how to catch Giratina here.

Niantic is also kicking off a Bug Out event on April 2, during which Bug-type Pokemon will appear more frequently and Incenses will last twice as long as normal. Following that, the developer is hosting this month’s Pokemon Go Community Day on April 13. The featured Pokemon this time will be Bagon, the base form of the popular Dragon Pokemon Salamence.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/pokemon-go-brings-back-ash-hat-pikachu-for-april-f/1100-6465947/

Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 is introducing a new map for its battle royale mode, Blackout. The map will be available first on PS4 from April 2. The new map will be slightly smaller than the standard Blackout map that shipped with the game, but it’s based on an iconic location known for its tourism and Nic Cage movie alike: Alcatraz.

Alcatraz the island prison off the coast of San Francisco. The real one closed in 1963 and since then has been a popular tourist destination, and frequently used in pop culture. Black Ops 4’s version will bring close quarters combat to the island, as players fight for survival outside among buildings and watchtowers and inside through cells and tight corridors. Check out the video above to see it.

Blackout is one of three modes in Black Ops 4, alongside competitive multiplayer and the cooperative Zombies mode. This year’s Call of Duty entry opted to forgo the series’ usual single-player campaign mode. Activision has been steadily issuing updates to its modes, most recently adding the St. Patty’s-themed Shamrock and Awe update with new cosmetics and other goodies.

Before that it made some quality-of-life updates like an update to its standard map and a Hardcore game mode. This came with an update that made various changes to the multiplayer and Zombies mode too. Operation Grand Heist was the spring’s big content update, adding a new Specialist, weapons, a Gauntlet mode, and a lot more.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/call-of-duty-black-ops-4-adds-new-blackout-map-out/1100-6465941/