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WoW Classic: People Are Waiting In Literal Lines To Complete Quests

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World of Warcraft Classic is out now, and the release is proving to be wildly popular. It’s so popular that players are facing lengthy server queues to simply get into the game. Those who do manage to get in are finding other lines to wait in. Social media reports show that players are waiting in literal queues in-game to complete quests.

The images coming out of vanilla WoW are pretty striking. We’ve rounded up a few of the posts we’ve spotted on Twitter, and you can see them at the bottom of this post.

Waiting in line in the starting zones might sound annoying, but some people seem to be taking it all in stride. “All these people waiting patiently in the queue to kill the boss in #WowClassic – this is the politest thing I’ve ever seen in gaming, ever,” wrote Twitter user @Farore13.

The lengthy lines appear to be affecting multiple WoW Classic servers, so there appears to be no escaping the wait. However, your mileage will undoubtedly vary, and wait times will surely decrease with time and as players spread out into Azeroth. After all, WoW Classic was only just released hours ago, so a max influx of players into small areas is to be expected.

A dramatic video posted on Reddit shows off what it looks like when hundreds of players spawn in at the same time. It’s pretty incredible to see.

It’s not a completely new thing for players of online games to wait in literal in-game lines. You may recall that the on launch day for the original The Division, people waited in line to use a laptop.

WoW Classic, as its name suggests, is a re-release of the original MMO from 2004 with some functionality changes. It’s free for existing subscribers of WoW. For more, check out GameSpot’s rundown of everything you need to know about WoW Classic.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/wow-classic-people-are-waiting-in-literal-lines-to/1100-6469399/

WoW Hits 1 Million Viewers On Twitch With Classic Launch; Well Ahead Of Fortnite

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World of Warcraft’s Classic edition is out now, and it’s helping World of Warcraft in general have a massive day on popular game-streaming site Twitch.

World of Warcraft is far and away the most popular game on Twitch today, August 26, and the release of WoW Classic undoubtedly played a major role in that. The game topped 1 million viewers on Twitch today, which is multiple times bigger than all other games.

Twitch’s public stats show that right now, at 10 PM ET, World of Warcraft has 593,000 viewers, which is well ahead of the No. 2 game, Fortnite, which has 120,000 viewers. It’s not surprising that the launch of a much-anticipated game would lead to a huge surge in viewers, and it will be interesting to see if World of Warcraft can continue to stay popular in the days and weeks ahead.

On Mixer, it’s a different story. Fortnite remains the most popular game by viewers, behind the Music category and Fortnite.

The downside to WoW Classic’s popularity is that players are facing lengthy server queues, even though Blizzard added an additional four servers ahead of launch.

WoW Classic, as its name suggests, is a re-release of the original MMO from 2004 with some functionality changes. It’s free for existing subscribers of WoW. For more, check out GameSpot’s rundown of everything you need to know about WoW Classic.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/wow-hits-1-million-viewers-on-twitch-with-classic-/1100-6469398/

Mario Kart Tour Release Date Announced, And It’s Soon

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Fans have called on Nintendo to release Mario Kart on mobile devices for a long time, and it’s finally happening soon. Following a limited closed beta testing period, Nintendo’s next big smartphone game, Mario Kart Tour, will release on September 25. The release date was announced via the game’s brand-new Twitter account. Pre-registration for the game is now available, but it’s unclear if there are any benefits to doing so.

Like Nintendo’s previous Mario mobile games, Dr. Mario World and Super Mario Run, Mario Kart Tour is a free-to-start title that offers optional microtransactions. It’s not clear just yet how the microtransaction system works, but keep checking back with GameSpot for more on that.

Some people who got into the Mario Kart Tour beta, including Ethan Gach of Kotaku, said the microtransaction system brings down an otherwise enjoyable game. All of the previews so far for Mario Kart Tour are based on the unfinished beta that was always subject to change, so it’s possible Nintendo will tweak the in-game economy and microtransaction system for launch.

Mario Kart Tour features a number of familiar courses from previous Mario Kart games, including Choco Island 2 from the SNES game and Dino Dino Jungle from Double Dash for GameCube. You steer your cat by moving your finger left or right. You can also drift to get speed boosts.

There are 30 racers to choose from, while Mario Kart’s iconic items are also in the game. The beta period only featured single-player, and it remains to be seen if the final release will add real-time multiplayer. There were also reports about Mario Kart Tour being locked to vertical screen orientation on iOS and Android devices; it’s unknown if this will continue to be the case for the full launch.

If you know how to use the internet you can find plenty of YouTube vi

Mario Kart Tour was originally expected to launch by the end of March, but Nintendo later delayed the game to Summer 2019. The game’s new September 25 release date is actually two days after Summer ends in the northern hemisphere on September 23, so this is technically another, albeit small, delay.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/mario-kart-tour-release-date-announced-and-its-soo/1100-6469397/

WoW Classic Anniversary Event Adds New Raid And Free Bonuses

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World of Warcraft’s Classic edition is out now, and those playing the up-to-date version are getting a special treat to celebrate the release and the 15th anniversary of the genre-defining MMO.

Blizzard is planning a host of celebrations for the coming months in the regular WoW, the first of which is an in-game event in WoW’s latest expansion, Battle for Azeroth. The event is a “special raid” that challenges players to go up against some of WoW’s most fearsome bosses.

Players must have reached WoW’s current level cap, 110, to take on the raid. Those who successfully take down the bosses will earn the Obsidian Worldbreaker mount. Blizzard said this creature was inspired by the mighty Deathwing the Destroyer.

For those looking for something simpler, Blizzard is giving away a series of “limited-time bonuses” simply for logging into Battle for Azeroth. The items include the Lil’ Nefarian pet, a special in-game achievement, and other bonuses; the full list will be announced in the upcoming weeks.

WoW Classic is proving to be extremely popular, so much so that players are facing lengthy server queues, even though Blizzard added an additional four servers ahead of launch.

WoW Classic, as its name suggests, is a re-release of the original MMO from 2004 with some functionality changes. It’s free for existing subscribers of WoW. For more, check out GameSpot’s rundown of everything you need to know about WoW Classic.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/wow-classic-anniversary-event-adds-new-raid-and-fr/1100-6469396/

WoW Classic Queue Times Are Very Long

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World of Warcraft Classic goes live today, though players are finding it rather difficult to get into the game’s servers. Apparently, the virtual line to get in is very, very long.

With only a few hours to go before WoW Classic’s launch, a large number of the available servers are full. Given World of Warcraft‘s popularity, a quick look at Twitch reveals over 900 thousand people logging in to watch the game, it’s not surprising that so many people want in on WoW Classic. However, it is impressive that so many of the game’s servers filled so quickly–especially since Classic’s servers hold thousands more than the original WoW’s servers did. For an idea of just how long it’s taking, look at the image below. It’s taken from our attempt to get into WoW Classic.

Even with queue times so long–and getting longer–Blizzard isn’t in a rush to add more servers to the game. Instead, the studio is aiming to create a successful groundwork from which WoW Classic can expand. “Our top priority in planning for WoW Classic’s launch has been ensuring that we are laying the groundwork for strong realm communities that will endure over the months and years to follow, which is why we’re cautiously opening new servers to meet demand,” Blizzard told Polygon.

Ahead of WoW Classic’s launch, Blizzard warned that the queue times would be a lot longer than most people may think, and outlined ways for players to avoid having to wait too long. “We urge players on realms marked Full or High to plan to play on one of these new realms to avoid the longest queues, and to help spread the player population as evenly as possible and provide the best play experience for everyone,” the studio said.

WoW Classic is basically a remake of the original WoW, featuring the same character models, combat mechanics, and skill trees of the original game as they were at launch 10 years ago. A standard WoW subscription fee is needed to access WoW Classic.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/wow-classic-queue-times-are-very-long/1100-6469395/

WoW Classic “Not A Bug” List Details Issues That Look Like Bugs But Aren’t

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World of Warcraft Classic, the re-release of Blizzard’s genre-defining MMO, brings players back in time to replicate the WoW experience as it was more than a decade ago–and that includes warts and all.

Blizzard has now published a “not a bug list” that covers things that appear to be a bug but are actually accurate and representative of WoW as it was years ago. “The nature of WoW Classic sometimes invokes different memories for different players, and this leads to certain misconceptions for some about what is or isn’t working as intended,” Blizzard said in a blog post.

One example of something that might look like a bug but is actually working as intended is how pet aggro works–the aggro radius very inconsistent, and that’s exactly how it was in the vanilla WoW. Additionally, WoW Classic players may notice that available quests don’t appear with a “!” on the mini-map, and that’s not a bug. Additionally, quests with long descriptions don’t have text wrapping, and that’s how it’s supposed to be. On top of that, quest objectives and points of interest are not shown on maps, but that’s the way it was for the original WoW.

You can see the full “not a bug” list below, as written by Blizzard.

WoW Classic does have some real bugs, however, and these span almost all aspects of the game. These issues were detailed by Blizzard in a separate post, and you can see a roundup of all the known WoW Classic issues here.

WoW Classic is proving to be extremely popular, so much so that players are facing lengthy server queues, even though Blizzard added an additional four servers ahead of launch.

WoW Classic, as its name suggests, is a re-release of the original genre-defining MMO from 2004 with some functionality changes. It’s free for existing subscribers of WoW. For more, check out GameSpot’s rundown of everything you need to know about WoW Classic.

WoW Classic “Not A Bug” List:

  • Tauren’s hitboxes and their melee reach is slightly larger than other races.
  • Being critically struck while using /sit to sit does not cause abilities like Enrage, Blood Craze, and Reckoning to activate.
  • Using the “Automatic Quest Tracking” option does not auto-track newly accepted quests. (It instead will start to track an existing quest once progress towards an objective is started.)
  • Warrior health Regeneration is working at the expected rate.
  • Quests objectives and points of interests are not tracked on the map or minimap.
  • Completed quests are marked on the minimap with a dot. (and not a “?”)
  • Feared players and NPCs run fast.
  • Standing on top of other players while facing away allows spells and attacks to be used.
  • Creature respawn rates are much slower than in Battle for Azeroth.
  • NPCs which offer multiple quests may inconsistently display them as a dot or a “!” on the available quests list. They were inconsistent in 1.12, and we’ve reproduced the exact inconsistency they had back then.
  • Quests that are too low level for do not show up as a “!” in the game world.
  • Available quests do not display a “!” on the minimap.
  • On level up, the message: “Your skill in Protection increased to 15” was added in 1.12.1, and we’re intending to keep that.
  • You are unable to Polymorph enemy targets that are tapped by players with whom you are not grouped.
  • At all levels of player characters and enemies, aggro radius is set to the intended distance.
  • Long quest objectives don’t have text wrapping.
  • Fall damage is equivalent to expected and verified values.
  • Broadcast text can be seen multiple times if multiple players interact with the same NPC.
  • WANTED signs do not have “!”, and are also not highlighted.
  • Player characters do not animate when looting/interacting with quest objects (e.g. collecting pumpkins).
  • Gnomes and Taurens are the correct size.
  • “Melee leeway” is working as intended in both PvE and PvP.
  • Cone of Cold is behaving consistently with the reference client.
  • Arcane Missiles does not put the caster in combat .
  • A Hunter’s Frost Trap ground effect will break Rogues out of stealth.
  • The Berserking Troll racial ability is behaving as expected and matches the reference client.
  • The pet that a Warlock has when initially logging into the game world does not restore a Soul Shard when dismissed by taking a flight path or moving out of range.
  • The trigger range on Hunter’s traps are reduced by Stealth when the stealthed player is a similar or higher level than the Hunter.
  • Soul Link cannot be dispelled by dispelling the Warlock’s pet.
  • A Warlock’s Succubus and Felhunter pet cannot cast spells if they are out of line of sight of the target.
  • Manually cancelling Stealth after using Vanish will remove the Vanish buff as well as the Stealth buff.
  • Escape Artist has a very small chance to fail when used to escape an effect that has a decreased chance to be dispelled (e.g. a Rogue’s Vile Poisons talent).
  • Rogues are not broken out of stealth by Blizzard until they take damage.
  • Taunting Hunter pets that are set to Aggressive or Defensive mode will cause them to attack the taunting player.
  • The threat generated by Battle Shout is not capped at 5 party members and is increased when affecting targets such as Hunter and Warlock pets within the same party.
  • The chest at the end of the encounter with The Seven in Blackrock Depths does not prompt a loot roll. Beware of Ninjas!
  • Other players do not see a Hunter’s quiver on their back.
  • Shield Slam and other off-hand abilities does not proc extra attacks from Windfury.
  • Logging into World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth while playing WoW Classic on the same game account will disconnect you from WoW Classic. This is true in reverse as well.

Hunter concerns:

  • Hunter “dead zone” is working as expected and is consistent with the Reference Client.
  • A wolf pet’s Howl buff is consumed by anything that causes damage, even if it does not benefit from the buff.
  • A Hunter pet’s Bite and Claw ability damage will not change in the tooltip based on the happiness of the pet. The tooltip will always display the damage as if the pet were Content (yellow). This is consistent with the Reference client.
  • Traps can sometimes not be triggered if a player moves over them very quickly (i.e. a Warrior’s Charge ability). This behavior is consistent with the Reference client.
  • Auto Shot does not make a sound when cast during the animation of Hunter’s Mark and certain other abilities.
  • Scatter Shot, Wyvern Sting, and Freezing Trap share diminishing returns.
  • A Hunter’s Frost Trap ground effect will break players out of stealth.
  • The rate at which pet focus regenerates is not always consistent.
    • Note: While the actual amount of focus that can be generated per tick is inconsistent, the total amount generated over time is flat and consistent. There are slight variations in the time between ticks that cause this to display inconsistently.
  • Pet aggro radius is working properly and as expected. This is to say, it was extremely inconsistent in original WoW, and it remains inconsistent in WoW Classic.
  • Pets “remember” targets that they have been instructed to attack previously and when sending a pet to attack a different target, the pet will return to attack any remaining targets they were previously instructed to attack when the currently engaged target dies.
  • Pets that have been instructed to attack dead targets with a special ability or attack will attempt to approach and attack the dead target, but will return to the hunter’s side when the ability fails.
  • Other players do not see a Hunter’s quiver on their back.
  • Hunters can sometimes experience a slight delay before recasting Auto Shot after moving.
    • Note: There is a hidden “retry” timer that occurs if the hunter is moving when the normal swing timer finishes. This timer checks for hunter movement before trying to resume auto shot, and this timer refreshes every 500ms when the hunter is moving. This means that if a Hunter is moving and stops moving just after this timer refreshes, you need to wait until the retry timer checks again to validate that you are no longer moving and can resume casting auto shot. This is not a result of spell batching or server heartbeats, and is specific to the functionality of a Hunter’s Auto Shot. This is consistent with Auto Shot functionality on the Reference client.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/wow-classic-not-a-bug-list-details-issues-that-loo/1100-6469394/

WoW Classic: Here’s All The Known Issues

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World of Warcraft‘s much-anticipated “Classic” edition has finally arrived. The release wasn’t without problems, however, as Blizzard has now disclosed a long list of “known issues” for launch.

In a blog post, Blizzard said it hopes to fix these problems in due course, but the company also acknowledged that it can’t say when or even if any individual bug will be addressed. The known issues span a number of different aspects of WoW Classic, including art, animation, and sound; combat; creatures and NPCs; UI; and spells, buffs, and talents.

You can see a list of all the known issues below; they’re accurate as of August 26. Additionally, Blizzard said the list is not comprehensive, but instead it is a “sampling” of some of the issues it anticipates players may experience “with some regularity.”

Importantly, this list of known issues for WoW Classic is separate from another list of “not bugs,” which are things that might look like bugs but are actually accurate to the Classic experience.

WoW Classic, as its name suggests, is a re-release of the original genre-defining MMO from 2004 with some functionality changes. It’s free for existing subscribers of WoW. For more, check out GameSpot’s rundown of everything you need to know about WoW Classic.

Launch is just the beginning for WoW Classic, as Blizzard plans to release new features and activities including the raid Blackwing Lair, the PvP battleground Warsong Gulch, and server-wide events like the Scourge Invasion, among other things.

WoW Classic Known Issues (as of August 26)

Art, Animation, and Sound

  • The Warlock’s Imp pet is using an incorrect spell casting animation
  • Some belts are displaying extra textures on non-belt areas of the body
  • There are multiple display issues with the Egan’s Blaster quest item
  • The quiver model is not displaying on the Hunter’s back if you have an ammo pouch in your bags
  • The player character’s upper torso/head is locked forward while strafing left and right with something targeted
  • Players can become stuck in a ready animation when activating Shoot or Auto Shot more than once in rapid succession
  • Characters will rotate their lower body too responsively while in the combat ready stance
  • Food and drink objects do not fade correctly when a stealthed character is eating or drinking
  • Casting Shoot immediately after casting another spell can cause the wand animation to become delayed
  • Noggenfogger Elixir does not retain the skeleton model on a shapeshifted Druid
  • A Hunter’s Auto-Shot does not animate, display a missile, or play a sound when it fires immediately after Aimed Shot or Multi-Shot
  • Several spell visuals for Hunter, Warlock, and Paladin abilities will incorrectly continue to loop after the initial spell cast or impact
  • A Hunter’s Freezing Trap is missing a ring visual above the trap
  • The Warrior skill Recklessness has a persistent visual throughout its duration, which did not occur in Original WoW
  • Several player spells and abilities can occasionally play additional overlapping sound effects when used
  • Sheathing and unsheathing weapons does not play a sound.

Combat

  • Hunter Pets may occasionally get stuck on Follow if the command is issued during Feign Death
  • Extra attacks stored by Reckoning do not expire when the player mounts
  • A Hunter’s Multi-Shot ability can chain more than 10 yards from the primary target
  • A Warlock’s Drain Soul spell does not appropriately deal damage when the channel time is shortened via spell pushback

Creatures and NPCs

  • Loot sparkles do not scale up with creature size
  • Creatures that are affected by a Rogue’s Distract ability do not turn quickly enough
  • Creatures that are affected by a Rogue’s Gouge ability will occasionally turn to face a different direction
  • Battle Companions such as the Battle Chicken may occasionally become frozen after combat and fail to follow the player
  • Gordo may occasionally wander through the side of a bridge and get stuck inside of a tree in Tirisfal Glades
  • The dragon Gyth has multiple animation issues during the Rend Blackhand encounter in Blackrock Spire
  • Taking a flight path from Nethergarde Keep to Morgan’s Vigil will cause the taxi to clip through a building shortly after taking off

Engine and User Interface

  • When within detection range of a friendly stealthed unit, the stealthed unit’s name is incorrectly visible
  • SSAO does not render correctly in Windows 10
  • Macro tooltips do not load in when you first load into the client
  • Some area of effect debuffs like Explosive Trap do not display a duration
  • Several ranks of Warlock and Shaman spells do not display damage variance in their tooltips
  • If Dual Wield is known, One-Hand weapons may be erroneously equipped to the Off-Hand slot if dragged into the Main Hand slot while a Main Hand weapon is equipped
  • The default raid frames do not hide long-term buffs like Power Word: Fortitude while in combat
  • Macros that cast Pet abilities without specifying the rank do not update when the Pet learns a new rank of the ability
  • There is a conflict with some overlays such as Discord and Shadowplay that causes the client to crash when some video settings are adjusted
  • The chat messages that indicate a player’s inebriation level are incorrect

Spells, Buffs, and Talents

  • Players can mount on transports
  • Cleansed Songflower, Cleansed Whipper Root, and Cleansed Night Dragon cannot be simultaneously looted by multiple players
  • Players are not forced to re-purchase ranks of talented abilities that they have bought at least once before

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/wow-classic-heres-all-the-known-issues/1100-6469393/

Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey Review Roundup — What Are The Critics Saying?

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We’re certainly not short on new game releases this week, and the reviews for many of these games are already beginning to roll on in. One, Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey, is seeing a bit of an indecisive divide, with some outlets praising the survival game while others haven’t been as positive.

In Ancestors, you take control of a clan of apes in 10 million BC Africa and you must try and survive long enough for your lineage to endure until 2 million BC. You do this by eating, drinking, sleeping, reproducing, making mistakes, experimenting, and learning long enough until you can evolve and pass what you’ve acquired onto the next generation. The process is slow and dangerous, with both physical ailments and hungry predators repeatedly getting in your way.

Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey launches for PC via the Epic Games Store on August 26. The game is also scheduled to release for Xbox One and PS4 in December. Below, we’ve compiled a list of some of the reviews that have already gone live for Ancestors, including our own. For a wider look at Ancestors’ critical reception, visit GameSpot’s sister site Metacritic.

  • Game: Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey
  • Developer: Panache Digital Games
  • Platform: PC, Xbox One, PS4
  • Release Date: August 27 (December on consoles)
  • Price: $40 USD

GameSpot — 4/10

“Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey lingers for far too long on its most toilsome aspects. The game does reward initial experimentation, but then asks you to repeat processes over and over again without any means of securing your legacy. It’s an absolute grind to reach the closest that Ancestors has to an endgame goal–survive for eight million years–and one costly mistake, whether the game’s or your own, can erase everything you’ve accomplished. What small satisfaction the game does provide is consistently ruined by violent predators, though the threat does lessen once you make it far enough into the neurological network’s expansive skill and perk tree. But as it stands, investing in Ancestors’ journey demands too much effort for too little reward.” — Jordan Ramée [Full review]

PC Gamer — 5.8/10

“Alas, the lineage of the Chunky Monkeys were wiped out about million years later after losing a few fights and running out of fertile females, and my next two clans didn’t fare much better. Starting Ancestors over again from the beginning is a major drag, having to re-discover every leaf and plant I’ve already long since grown tired of gathering, sniffing, and tasting—not to mention repeating all those endless, ulterior backrubs. I haven’t completed Ancestors yet, but I’ve definitely had enough of it.” — Christopher Livingston [Full review]

Rock, Paper, Shotgun — No Score

“I wrote most of this review, then felt maybe I was being too harsh. So I took a break and went back. I wanted to enjoy it. This time I’d play slower, explore a bit, find new foods, new tools and places. For a while I did that, and thought: maybe this is just a game that rewards people with more patience. But it was not long before I was being devoured by a forest lion because of the crap dodge mechanic. That ape was the last primateperson of my lineage, and although I could continue by going back to the main menu and trying again from a checkpoint, I decided to let the future human race die out. In many ways, it was a relief to be so thoroughly digested. Thank you, big cat. You can keep this jungle, I don’t want it.” — Brendan Caldwell [Full review]

Polygon — No Score

“Trying to break down Ancestors’ many systems would be a mighty task for a review, and to be honest, I don’t understand enough of them to try, even with about 10 hours’ worth of play under my belt. The strongest motivation I found to try new things was boredom — and I mean that in a flattering way. I could stay near my clan, and eat and drink and sleep as a contented hominid for as long as I’d like, but why would you play any kind of game if you didn’t want to go on an adventure?” — Ben Kuchera [Full review]

VG247 — No Score

“Ancestors feels wilfully stubborn. Even after developing my memory neurons, form recognition and sense of smell, my avatar was still forgetting what a dead branch looked like every 50 feet, or the sound of a hissing snake. It doesn’t really feel like it’s about evolution at all, as each generation only remembers the skills you’ve reinforced and will forget the rest, which means you need to repeat the same actions for millions of in-game years. There is a direction of sorts – expand and evolve – but the lack of colour, repetitive noises and actions all blend into one. It’s initially interesting, but its bundle of ideas and systems stumble between clever and stupid, intuitive and clunky. Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey needs more time to evolve.” — Lauren Aitken [Full review]

IGN — 7/10

“Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey’s greatest challenge is working out – or simply Googling – how its basic survival, crafting, and combat mechanics work. Once you understand them they become mostly trivial, and the main appeal becomes appreciating the exploration of the huge and lush prehistoric African map. Evolving your tribe’s abilities feels artificially drawn out, but it’s hard not to develop a soft spot for these disposable apes because of their authentic animations.” — Dan Stapleton [Full review]

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/ancestors-the-humankind-odyssey-review-roundup-wha/1100-6469391/

Overwatch Switch Port Possibly Revealed By Amazon In A Roundabout Way

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Overwatch may be coming to Nintendo Switch. There’s been no confirmation, but a leak via Amazon could suggest an announcement of a Switch port might be coming soon.

Reset Era user Lady Bow discovered an Amazon listing for an Overwatch-themed Switch protection case. The listing has since been pulled, so we’ve reached out to the supposed creators of the case, PowerA, and Overwatch developer Blizzard, to determine its authenticity.

Alone, this might be very little. But in an interview with GameSpot last year, Blizzard senior producer Pete Stilwell said that the studio used the process of porting Diablo III to Switch as an opportunity to familiarize itself with the capabilities of Nintendo’s current hardware. At the time, Stilwell was adamant that Blizzard came away from the experience deciding to only work on a Switch port for Diablo III. However, he did go on to say that a Switch port for Overwatch is “feasible,” unlike StarCraft II.

An Overwatch-themed Switch case might be made without a port–especially since Amazon has a history of leaking products by listing tie-ins early–but it’s also totally possible. The leak could also just be fake, so take our speculation with a grain of salt. However, these clues do seem to at least suggest it’s possible Blizzard might be getting ready to announce a new Overwatch Switch port at BlizzCon 2019. The next most opportune venue for a big announcement such as this would be BlizzCon 2019, which is scheduled to begin on November 1. That’s just close enough that Blizzard may have already reached out to third-party vendors like PowerA to begin production on a Switch case to go with the new port.

Or maybe Nintendo will just announce that Tracer is coming to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Who knows?

Overwatch is available on Xbox One, PS4, and PC. In GameSpot’s Overwatch review, Mike Mahardy wrote, “Overwatch encourages a more tangible sort of progression: that of filling a critical role on your team and understanding its intricacies the more you play, adapt, and grow. There is a genuine learning process here. There is real value to the time you spend understanding these overlapping systems. It’s that intoxicating path of discovery that makes Overwatch so varied, so rewarding, and ultimately another seminal release from developer Blizzard. Overwatch is an intelligent cascade of disparate ideas, supporting one another, pouring into one another, and coiling around themselves as they flow into the brilliant shooter underneath.”

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/overwatch-switch-port-possibly-revealed-by-amazon-/1100-6469390/

Star Wars Battlefront 2 Dev Reflects On Loot Box Fallout And The Game’s Growth Since Then

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Star Wars Battlefront II design director Dennis Brännvall feels that the first-person shooter is in a good place. Having been the subject of a major loot box controversy when it launched in 2017, Battlefront II has slowly been regaining its player base over the past two years thanks to well-received updates and much-needed patches. In 2019, Battlefront II is almost a completely different game–on the multiplayer side anyway–and Brännvall believes players are truly beginning to see it.

“We hit rock bottom in terms of player sentiment but now it’s climbing every month,” Brännvall said in an interview with GamesIndustry.biz. “We’re delivering more content this year than we did in the first year, which is also a sign of a healthy game. The community’s happier than it’s ever been, especially with the big announcement yesterday. I think we had to take a step back, the team had to look at itself in the mirror a little bit, pick ourselves up from a really rough Christmas for everyone and then just get back to work.”

The announcement Brännvall is referring to is the massive series of content updates that are scheduled to hit Battlefront II before the end of 2019. This month, Republic Venator and Separatist Dreadnought warships are being added to Heroes vs. Villains. Changes are also being made to the interior of capital ships in Capital Supremacy–the 40-person game mode that combines land and space battles in the same arena. In both Capital Supremacy and Instant Action, you’ll also gain the option to spawn on command posts as well, not just squadmates or respawn points. Droids are also getting new cosmetics appearances to earn and unlock.

In terms of larger changes coming later in the year, Battlefront II is getting Republic Commandos as playable characters, a brand-new planet to play on, and a new co-op focused PvE experience that’s similar to 2005 Battlefront 2‘s beloved Galactic Conquest mode. There are a few more things scheduled for 2019 as well and, surprisingly, DICE is looking at more Battlefront II content in 2020 as opposed to moving production towards a new Battlefield.

“DICE has been on the sequel treadmill for quite a while, and I think the industry is changing rapidly,” Brännvall said. “We felt that, and we know that we want to build communities rather than customers. That’s been a change in our approach. We want to stick with our games a lot longer, and we want our communities to feel like they’re well taken care of.”

“It makes no sense to constantly try to stop them playing the game they like and make them play the new game they also should like just because we don’t want to work on the old game anymore. It’s not good for the community, and in this age, if it’s not good for the community it’s probably not going to be good for business either. That’s why we’re sticking with it.”

Battlefront II’s redemption is one of the most well-earned comebacks in the game industry in the past few years. Though the single-player story campaign still isn’t very good, the multiplayer has seen huge updates that have drastically changed the game for the better. All of Battlefront II’s updates have also been free and on a near-constant monthly basis as opposed to the costly quarterly updates seen in the first DICE Battlefront. In respect to the community, DICE has structured many of these updates around the most beloved aspects of the recent Star Wars lore, such as The Clone Wars, and fan-favorite games like Republic Commando. As someone who dropped Battlefront II within a month of its release, the past year of content drops has completely changed my opinion on the shooter. If you haven’t played Battlefront II in a while, you should reconsider trying it again.

“Not a week goes by without us thinking, ‘Imagine if we hadn’t launched with loot boxes the way we did,'” Brännvall said. “We would have been a different place, that’s for sure, because we truly believe the game is a worthy sequel to Battlefront 1 and lives up to the legacy of the Battlefront franchise.”

Battlefront II is available for Xbox One, PS4, and PC. The game comes included in an EA Access/EA Play subscription on Xbox One/PC.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/star-wars-battlefront-2-dev-reflects-on-loot-box-f/1100-6469388/