PC: Celebs Rumors

Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 PC requirements are incredibly important to check before Sledgehammer Games‘ upcoming shooter launches.

Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader has shown off its conviction system that will track players’ responses to crises and determine the game’s ending.Developer Owlcat Games explained the three convictions that will be scored based on player actions – Benevolentia, Hereticus and Imperialis. Check it out below:The Benevolentia conviction rises with benevolent actions, such as saving the population of a dying planet.

Phasmophobia for consoles for the second time as a result of “unforeseen challenges”.Posting to the game’s Steam page, Kinect Games shared how the fire from the summer has changed the way that the team work together on Phasmophobia.“As we still try to adapt to our new remote working life after the fire incident and to establish a new office, we’ve encountered unforeseen challenges in adapting the game for consoles,” it said, ascribing these “combined factors” to the extended development time for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S.Additionally, the entirety of the Maple Lodge Campsite map has been reworked in the interest of optimisation for the PlayStation VR2.It now has a “new reception building, more hiding spots, new decorative assets and better performance across the board”, with the developer offering a brief look at the revised layout in screenshots.Last but not least, Phasmophobia‘s Halloween event – scheduled for on or around October 26 – will task players with the crafting of a potion in Maple Lodge Campsite’s new cauldron. Recipe cards will be scattered in the rest of the maps with instructions on how to brew the potion.“While we had hoped to present you with a special launch alongside the Halloween event, the complexity of our current challenges means we need more time,” continued Kinect Games.“We will keep you updated on our progress and provide a revised release date as soon as we have more information to share.

Pillars Of Eternity and Pillars Of Eternity 2: Deadfire, has said he would develop a third game if it was on a Baldur’s Gate 3 budget.Sawyer talked to Touch Arcade about the anniversary of Pentiment, Obsidian Entertainment‘s medieval murder mystery game, and how the developer’s technology and goals for its games have evolved over the years.Presently, the team is split between the development of Avowed and The Outer Worlds 2, however, there is still a lot of love for Obsidian Entertainment’s older games and a resurgence of enthusiasm in classic role-playing games after the success of Baldur’s Gate 3.When asked whether Sawyer would want to work on Pentiment 2, Pillars Of Eternity 3 or Fallout New Vegas 2 if there were no time or budget restrictions and he was able to recruit anyone he liked, he answered Pillars Of Eternity 3.“I think if it truly was an unlimited budget, I think I would try Pillars 3 because I know what the budget was for Deadfire, which was not a whole lot,” he said.“I have heard from multiple people what the budget was for Baldur’s Gate 3, and I’m not gonna talk about numbers, but if I got that budget, sure, I’ll make Pillars 3.”He added that while he’s pleased with the way that the previous two Pillars entries turned out, it would be “a lot of fun” to make the next Pillars Of Eternity game with no limits.Regarding the hypothetical third game’s combat structure, Sawyer would follow what the fans wanted, but he shared his bias towards turn-based combat.“I just think it’s easier to design more intricate combats. I like games with a lot of stats, obviously,” he elaborated.

Warhammer Age Of Sigmar: Realms Of Ruin has shown off its fourth and final faction ahead of its launch in November: the Disciples of Tzeentch.“Favouring intellect over brute strength, Tzeentch’s minions are gifted with arcane powers and eldritch mutations,” explained Frontier Developments in the announcement on Steam. Check out the video deep dive from the developer below:Though these units are not particularly physically strong, these characters are chaotic, wielding “raw magic, insidious cunning and the worst kind of change”.As spellcasters, the Disciples of Tzeentch are specialised in magical attacks and debuffs.

Diablo 4 is sitting at a “mixed” rating from player reviews on Steam following its launch on October 17.Blizzard Entertainment previously announced the game would arrive on Steam at the same time as the Season Of Blood, the second season for the game since its release in June.Season Of Blood added a new narrative chapter through the onslaught of a vampiric invasion of Sanctuary, and it is also the vehicle with which the developer will optimise Diablo 4 in a “five-point strategy”.Yet, it appeared that Steam players were not that impressed with the improved Diablo 4. Of the almost 500 player reviews that have been submitted, over half of them are negative, leading to an overall “mixed” rating for the game.Issues in the end game experience were a common theme in these reviews, as well as criticism of microtransactions and the offerings in the game’s battle pass.Others used their reviews as an opportunity to petition for a Diablo 2 Resurrected release on Steam as it is exclusive to Battle.net for PC players.In documents from the lawsuit between Microsoft and the Federal Trade Commission, it was concluded exclusivity to Battle.net actually acts as a detriment to the number of monthly active users in the game.Positive Steam reviews of Diablo 4 conceded that the game is entertaining but there are a number of missteps like the complexity of the game.“If you want a new ‘turn your brain off and blow up demons’ game, it’s already in a really good state for that.

Gwent: The Witcher Card Game will place the future of the game in the players’ hands as CD Projekt Red steps away from rolling out changes following update 11.10.“This is the last handmade developer-prepared content update for Gwent,” said designer Moleigon of update 11.10 in a video posted to the game’s official YouTube channel. Check it out below:“So after this we won’t be preparing changes to cards any more.

Paradox Interactive has revealed that Cities: Skylines 2 will not use Steam Workshop to support its mods.Instead, Paradox Mods will be the one-stop shop for creative side of Cities: Skylines 2. This will create a cohesive experience for both PC and console players, without those playing on the latter feeling left out by the features available on the former.“One of the core reasons for this is its inclusivity; modding capabilities will be extended to players across platforms – both PC and console – aligning with our commitment to provide as many as possible with the opportunity to modify and enjoy the game,” explained the publisher in a post to its forums.The route to the total integration of Asset Mods across all three versions of Cities: Skylines 2 might lead to teething issues with players, acknowledged the publisher.“As with all major updates, we are fully aware of the learning curve it might present, but we’re committed to providing resources to ensure a smooth transition to Paradox Mods,” it affirmed.Moreover, the in-game editor will be “basic” at launch, but will continue to “expand and enhance” to allow players to let their imagination run rampant with their cities.Cities: Skylines 2 launches for PC and PC Game Pass on October 24, however, the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S versions were delayed to spring 2024.“We have come to realise that we need more time to reach the quality targets we have set,” said Colossal Order and Paradox Interactive back in September.

Don’t Scream has landed.In the game the player’s goal is do precisely what its title states, because if you do scream when scared, the game ends.Inspired by ’90s found footage film horrors including The Blair Witch Project, Don’t Scream challenges the player to explore the fictional Pineview Forest for 18 minutes. However, time only passes when the player moves and through “dozens of dynamic scares” (no two playthroughs will be the same).Check out the trailer for the upcoming game below.What sets Don’t Scream apart from other found-footage horror games is that the player’s microphone must be calibrated to register any sounds that the player makes in real life.“A mere squeak or quiet gasp should be flagged as a scream,” said developer Joure & Joe, but the team of two developers clarified that speaking softly should not trigger the game to end, making it possible for streamers to play with their audience.Developed in Unreal Engine 5, Don’t Scream is expected to enter early access on Steam on October 27.

Post Malone will be collaborating with Apex Legends for “two weeks of beautiful mayhem” in an upcoming crossover event.In the announcement to X, Post Malone was shown in a video to be prone on the floor and then calling out, “Can someone res me? Yo!” in an echoey room. Check it out below:Get ready for two weeks of beautiful mayhem #ApexLegends pic.twitter.com/q4OEzyvmUQ— Post Malone (@PostMalone) October 16, 2023That was the extent of the information about what this event might be about, though it was confirmed to start on November 7 and assumedly end on November 21.Also, the end of the video showed what seemed to be a new Octane skin, though it’s not known whether or not this will be a free addition or unlocked through challenges in the crossover event.Apex Legends has crossed over with a number of other games, films and TV shows, such as Star Wars, Mass Effect, Power Rangers and more.

Alan Wake 2, has shared that the sequel will receive a “significant” amount of downloadable content (DLC) and that it will be free to all players.Speaking at EGX in London over the weekend, Lake revealed that fans will learn more about what’s in store after Alan Wake 2 has been launched. Check it out below:Sam Lake confirms there is FREE DLC coming to Alan Wake 2 post-launch as well as the paid DLC projects! @EGX @SamLakeRMD #alanwake2 #EGX2023 #HorrorCommunity pic.twitter.com/cH27jO9T7G— John (@TheVoidRetro) October 13, 2023“We do have free DLCs drops coming, and they too are pretty significant,” he said.

Like A Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name will not feature an English dub when it launches on November 9 – this will instead arrive in a post-launch patch.Voice actor Yong Yea, who plays protagonist Kazuma Kiryu in the game, pointed out the fine print on publisher Sega’s official website for Like A Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name in a post to X.Since Like A Dragon: Gaiden is a few weeks away and many may not know about this, thought I should let you know the English dub will not be available on the 11/8 launch date and will release as a post-launch patch (no official date yet).

Counter-Strike 2 players are no longer able to pull off a “Michael Jackson peek” thanks to a game update, but they’ve replaced that with a “Shakira booty dance”.Earlier this week, Counter-Strike 2 players were using a custom control to lean their character’s body out of the way of bullets, and the result looked somewhat similar to Michael Jackson‘s lean in ‘Smooth Criminal’.While it was entertaining, Valve removed the “foot pinning bug” that let players perform the trick in the most recent patch.The update also solved the spaces where players could clip through ceilings in some maps, adjusted Inferno, Mirage, Nuke, Overpass, and Vertigo, improved player visibility and added a few Steam Workshop tools.Yet, it did not take the Counter-Strike 2 community long to find another musical artist to emulate in their matches (via Dot Esports). Repeatedly pressing “A” and “D” on the keyboard causes the player character to sway back and forth.

Hexworks has shared that the PC and PS5 versions of Lords Of The Fallen will launch “as intended” while the Xbox version may not be totally ready.In a post to X (fka Twitter) on October 12, the developer expressed its gratitude for the content creators who have been playing Lords Of The Fallen to identify technical issues ahead of the sequel’s arrival.“We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the content creators who have worked with us to enable the rapid deployment of patches, updates, and performance improvements ahead of tomorrow’s exciting launch of Lords Of The Fallen,” it said.“As such, PC and PlayStation 5 players will be able to enjoy the game as intended.

Starfield modder has made a mod that replaces all of the sci-fi game’s ships with Thomas The Tank Engine.Modder Trainwiz shared that they have a number of Starfield mods in the works and that “some might be serious”. This one, in contrast, causes issues with building ships, flying ships in the third person perspective and any texture related mods that the player might be running.“For his crimes against God and his invention of murder, Thomas was smote, thusly,” read the description for the mod, titled “Really Useful Starfield”, on Nexus Mods.https://t.co/4JIM24WZB0I have replaced all ships in #Starfield with Thomas the Tank Engine.

Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 developers from Sledgehammer Games have spoken to NME about the game’s longer time-to-kill mechanics, along with planned changes to visibility and weapon balance.Last week (October 6), the first beta for Modern Warfare 3 kicked off on PlayStation. As fans got their hands on the upcoming shooter, a few of its features stuck out – one of which was the game’s unusually long time-to-kill (TTK), a measurement that determines how long it takes one player to kill another.While this varies between Call Of Duty games, Modern Warfare 3 has one of the series’ longest to date.

Counter Strike 2 players have discovered a trick that lets them seemingly dodge bullets, and in practice it looks a little like Michael Jackson‘s lean in ‘Smooth Criminal’.Reported by Rock Paper Shotgun, the “Michael Jackson Peek” in Counter-Strike 2 is achieved by running in the game while inputting a custom key bind. It’s as easy as pasting this code into the game’s autoexec file in the player’s Steam folder on their PC.When active, the player’s character leans in a similar way to the lean seen in Michael Jackson’s music video for ‘Smooth Criminal’ in 1988.

One More Level and publisher 505 Games have revealed ‘Aerial Assault’ from Daniel Deluxe, which will be included in Ghostrunner 2‘s soundtrack.Deluxe will return to feature on the anticipated cyberpunk action game’s soundtrack, as well as Arek Reikowski, Dan Terminus, Gost and We Are Magonia. Check it out below:Ghostrunner 2 will include “incredible boss fights, a deeper exploration of the world beyond Dharma Tower, worthwhile combat improvements, nonlinear levels with complex motorbike sections, exciting new modes, and all the action you loved about Ghostrunner“, said 505 Games.Set one year after the events of Ghostrunner, the last of the survivors are under threat from exiled Ghostrunners who would see humanity eradicated in a new world order.The Interface Council is the only ally left and the player will assist these characters in the restoration of hope for humanity in a desperately deprived cyberpunk city.Ghostrunner 2 will be released for PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X|S on October 26.There are three editions on sale – Standard, Deluxe and Brutal.

Valve has been in contact with several game developers who were hit by hackers who used a vulnerability to hide malware in their games on Steam.The hackers’ intention was to play the malware off as an update to the installed game on players’ PCs, then infecting them when the “new build” was downloaded.Fortunately, less than 100 players had these compromised games installed on their systems and they were also contacted by Valve to notify them of the security breach.Wondering why Steam devs will have to confirm via SMS before publishing new game versions or adding users? (https://t.co/EIyLHyA02N….) Looks like it's related to hackers taking over Steam dev accounts & adding malware to game builds. (Screenshot via @SteamDB from Sept.

Blizzard Entertainment has shared how it will overhaul Diablo 4 through game changes in Season Of Blood to ensure that fan feedback has been heard.While Diablo 4 was off to a strong start in June, patch 1.1.0 led to significant decreases in player damage output and capabilities in what was already a challenging game to play.The responses from fans were so disastrous that Diablo 4 developers held an emergency Campfire Chat – a livestreamed event where the team run through the latest changes to the game – in July in order to apologise.Though the sentiment towards Diablo 4 from its fans has been gradually getting warmer and warmer, Blizzard Entertainment wanted them to know that the feedback has been actually acted upon in the upcoming Season Of Blood. Season Of Blood, which kicks off on October 17, will involve a “five point strategy” that “[focuses] on addressing player feedback and making systemic improvements”, as said in the most recent Campfire Chat.The five points are “update elemental resistances”, “make uniques more exciting and impactful”, “class improvements to address commonly talked about issues”, “update damage buckets” and ensuring that all of these changes feel like bonuses to players.Community lead Adam Fletcher and designers Adam Jackson and Charles Dunn talked through these points, starting with the fact that resistances will now be additive up to a 70 per cent limit in Season Of Blood. Furthermore, uniques have been subject to a “giant pass” that has altered almost every unique in Diablo 4 with new statistics and larger ranges, for example.The full list of changes in patch 1.2.0 are available on Blizzard Entertainment’s website.In other gaming news, Rocket League players were dismayed to discover that

Baldur’s Gate 3 actors Samantha Béart and Neil Newbon have pulled together Spotify playlists that reflect their respective characters.Spoilers for Baldur’s Gate 3 follow.In the game, Béart played Karlach and Newbon played Astarion, two characters who have won over scores of fans for their personalities and arcs across the sprawling storyline.As a result of her heart being replaced with an infernal engine, Karlach is slowly dying. In spite of this, she remains compassionate, comical and fiercely defensive of those in need or those who have the odds stacked against them.Astarion, on the other hand, is initially manipulative and self-serving and it is difficult for players who are sticking to a good alignment to get him to like their character.

Psyonix has announced player-to-player trading in Rocket League will be removed in December so that it aligns with Epic Games‘ terms for in-game items.“We’re making this change to align with Epic’s overall approach to game cosmetics and item shop policies, where items aren’t tradable, transferrable, or sellable,” explained Psyonix in a post to the game’s official website.It said that the move “opens up future plans” for a selection of Rocket League vehicles to cross over into other offerings from Epic Games, though it was not stated which games these would be.Rocket League and Fortnite crossed over for the first time in 2020 following Psyonix’s buyout by Epic Games in the previous year.This was followed by the High Octane event in 2022, which brought the game’s iconic Octane battlecar to Fortnite and let players pull off stunts to travel across the map and escape from skirmishes.It also allowed Rocket League and Rocket League Sideswipe players to earn the Whiplash car in those games through the completion of High Octane quests on the Rocket League Live Island in Fortnite.Player-to-player trading in the game will end at midnight GMT on December 6.

Fortnite Fortnitemares 2023 event will introduce Alan Wake to the game in its Halloween celebrations as part of the upcoming “Waking Nightmare” cosmetic Set.Alan Wake, portrayed by Ilkka Villi, will be available as an outfit alongside his satchel back bling, a torch pickaxe and a “Find Alice” weapon wrap.He is not the only recognisable face to feature in Fortnitemares. The Nightmare Before Christmas‘ Jack Skellington will arrive with a Santa Jack alternate outfit in The Pumpkin King set, as well as a Zero back bling, peppermint parasol pickaxe, Jack’s sled glider, Jack’s Scary Face emote and Lock, Shock and Barrel’s Tub emote.Michael Myers is also landing in the Fortnite item shop at a later date in The Shape set, containing a stabbed pumpkin back bling, kitchen knife pickaxe and stabby keyboard emote.Fortnitemares began yesterday (October 10) and will last until November 3 so there is a lot of time to watch out for these rare character crossovers.Additionally, Fortnite re-added the Horde Rush game mode with its own collection of quests that unlock unique rewards upon completion.

Assassin’s Creed Mirage has been said to be a tribute to a fan’s pet who passed away before the game was released.In the game, the player is able to pick up and fuss cats that are strolling the streets of Baghdad. Interacting with animals is a feature that has been present in a lot of the Assassin’s Creed games, but Valhalla and Mirage are the only ones that let the character pet the animal for as long as they want.

Daedalic Entertainment‘s apology for the state of The Lord Of The Rings: Gollum on its launch was allegedly the product of an AI prompt.In May, the stealth adventure game launched with an array of technical issues that irritated reviewers and made it a subject of ridicule on social media.As a result, Daedalic Entertainment chose to cancel another Lord of the Rings game that was in development and close the German studio that worked on The Lord Of The Rings: Gollum. A few words from the " The Lord of the Rings: Gollum™ " team pic.twitter.com/adPamy5EjO— The Lord of the Rings: Gollum (@GollumGame) May 26, 2023It also offered an apology for the “underwhelming” quality of the game, adding that The Lord Of The Rings: Gollum “did not meet the expectations we set for ourselves or for our dedicated community”.Yet, in a report from German gaming outlet GameTwo, anonymous ex Daedalic Entertainment staff stated that the apology was apparently AI generated.Specifically, it was claimed that ChatGPT was used by publisher Nacon to produce an apology to give to players.Consequently, Daedalic Entertainment supposedly did not know anything about an apology before it was sent out on social media.While neither Daedalic Entertainment or Nacon have acknowledged what has been said in GameTwo‘s report, fans instantly identified an error in the apology when it was released.In it, the game is referred to “The Lord Of The Ring: Gollum” rather than “The Lord Of The Rings: Gollum“.GameTwo also spoke to technical director and senior developer Paul Schulze who alleged that the game’s budget was too modest at about £13million (€15million).“There were people working on the game that have been developers for 10, 15, 20 years, and they’re good, but they

Hexworks has revealed plans for a digital and physical soundtrack release of its upcoming action game Lords Of The Fallen – check out an exclusive sample below.While Lords Of The Fallen launches this Friday (October 13), fans will be able to listen to its soundtrack slightly early.That’s because Laced Records, part of Keywords Studios, has announced it will launch the soundtrack on music platforms and deluxe vinyl.The score will be released digitally on October 11, and can be pre-saved here. Meanwhile, pre-orders for a three-disc vinyl set are planned to open after Lords Of The Fallen‘s launch.You can check out a sample of the game’s music below.Music for Lords Of The Fallen was created by composers Cris Velasco (God Of War, Bloodborne) and Knut Avenstroup Haugen (Conan Exiles, 2014’s Lords Of The Fallen).“Once I saw the concept art and an early gameplay video, the aesthetics were pretty obvious: this game was going to be scary,” shared Velasco.

Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 will see the return of classics Pack-A-Punch, Perk Colas, the Mystery Box, Wonder Weapon and more in an entirely new twist on the mode.Revealed in Call Of Duty Next, the trailer set the scene for Operation Deadbolt and the continuation of the Dark Aether storyline that originated in Call Of Duty: Black Ops 4 and was last seen in Call Of Duty: Vanguard.Check out the trailer below.As an open world outing, developer Treyarch aimed to deliver the “largest Zombies offering to date” and confirmed that there are other antagonists as well as the undead.Players will mow down scores of Zombies in waves that are much greater in number than before, but multiple squads will be let loose to curtail the threat.Moreover, the Pack-a-Punch Machine will be back, allowing players to upgrade their weapons in exchange for Essence.Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 will be released for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S on November 10.There are two editions available for pre-order – the Standard edition and the Vault edition.

Croteam and publisher Devolver Digital have revealed that The Talos Principle 2 is available as a free demo for players to try out ahead of its release.The Steam demo contains a selection of puzzles from the start of the game and then jumps to the halfway point to show off how its mechanics and world has changed over the course of the story. Check out the trailer for the demo below:As a “specially tailored” slice of the game, players’ progress in it will not transfer to the full game should they purchase and play it.At the moment, there is a 10 per cent discount on the game for pre-orders and another discount on top of this one if the customer already owns the original The Talos Principle.Writers Jonas Kyratzes and Tom Jubert have returned to pen the story of the sequel along with Verena Kyratzes.

Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 multiplayer trailer has shown off the modernised versions of original maps like Rust, High Rise and Terminal in action.The latest trailer for the multiplayer mode of the upcoming game revealed the selection of 16 maps that have been revamped for more modern players. All of these will be available at launch and attempt to marry the nostalgia of the originals with a number of changes to allow for new tactical opportunities.

League of Legends World Championship anthem featuring NewJeans.According to a press release, ‘Gods’ marks the first time a K-pop act has sung the League of Legends World Championship anthem. The song also marks the 10th anniversary of anthems for the annual esports tournament.“The 2023 Worlds music video follows the story of Korean pro player Kim ‘Deft’ Hyuk-kyu, from his discovery of League of Legends in high school, to his run at Worlds 2022 alongside his team that overcame all odds to become World Champions,” the press release reads.‘Gods’ performed by NewJeans, and was written by Riot Games’ principal composer Sebastien Najand along with Mako’s Alex Seaver.

Activision is set to show off the new map for Call Of Duty: Warzone in the upcoming Call of Duty: Next livestream.Per the publisher’s post to X/Twitter, the event will include a new look at Zombies in Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, its other multiplayer modes and new Call Of Duty: Warzone Mobile content.From the looks of it, the map is a port with several container cranes situated along the dockside stretch.

Nvidia‘s offices were raided by the French authorities as part of a larger investigation into anti-trust allegations in the cloud computing sector.The Wall Street Journal (via GamesIndustry.biz) reported that the French Competition Authority was motivated to mobilise the local police as a result of its responsibilities to ensure fair free enterprise.“Large language models (LLM, such as ChatGPT), edge computing, cloud gaming, cybersecurity issues or the growing importance of its environmental footprint can be mentioned, among others,” said the regulator in a report from June about potential threats to this industry.“Competition authorities will have to monitor that established players do not hinder the development of smaller or new players based on these technologies,” it continued.Though it specifically named Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud as the three “hyperscalers” here, Nvidia’s products are widespread throughout the cloud computing sector.In the summer, the company was valued at $1trillion thanks to the rising demand for artificial intelligence chips for gaming, data centres, visualisation and modelling and the automotive and robotics industries.However, Nvidia was the third most under-owned stock in actively managed portfolios as of the end of the second quarter of 2023 in a selection of 15 technology and growth stocks. This is due to the price of the stocks and some residual concerns over the direction that artificial intelligence will take in the future.“You have seen this stock driven up so far, so fast,” said Tallbacken Capital Advisors CEO Michael Purves in analysis provided to Reuters.

Counter-Strike 2 players have aired their aggravation that the sequel is missing a number of features from Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.Counter-Strike 2 was free for all players of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive as an upgrade to Valve‘s Source 2 engine that was already running in its other games like Half-Life Alyx.Through it, the game got significant improvements including sub-tick architecture that instantly registers motion, shots, grenades and more as well as a total visual overhaul.Counter-Strike: Global Offensive was fortunately not deleted by Valve and remained as an offline “demo” in players’ Steam collections.

Starbreeze Studios has claimed that matchmaking issues with Payday 3 have been fixed, following the heist shooter’s rocky launch last month.Following its release on September 21, Payday 3 struggled with significant server issues that prevented players from matchmaking and starting heists. Due to the game’s always-online nature, this meant Payday 3 has been frequently unplayable, and last week Starbreeze claimed a third-party matchmaking partner was responsible for the errors.Today (October 2), a post on Starbreeze’s website announced that “initial matchmaking issues” have since been fixed, and the studio “will now intensify the commercial activities around Payday 3“.Tobias Sjögren, the CEO of Starbreeze Entertainment, also thanked players for their “patience” with Payday‘s launch.“Our community is the engine that drives both our games and our company forward,” he shared.

Creative Assembly, the developer of Total War, has announced that this week’s cancellation of Hyenas has led to layoffs.Sega Sammy stated that it expected “record losses of approximately 14.3 billion yen [£78.6million]” in this fiscal year and as a result, “structural reforms aimed at increasing efficiency” were necessary.Hyenas had a closed beta last month, signifying that the sci-fi extraction shooter was approaching a potential release in some shape or form. However, the game was one of an undisclosed number of titles that were cancelled in order to safeguard the stability of the publisher.In a post to X (previously Twitter), Creative Assembly expressed its regret for these events that have led to losses at the company.Following an internal announcement to our employees, please see the below statement: pic.twitter.com/b6LPonVagV— Creative Assembly (@CAGames) September 28, 2023“We have made the incredibly difficult decision to begin a redundancy consultation process in some areas of our UK operations, alongside ending development of Hyenas,” it said.“We have always aimed to operate as a ‘people-first’ studio; that is foundational to our values and culture.

Valve has stated that those who “associate” with Counter-Strike 2 cheaters will be subjected to penalties too.“When one or more party members get convicted of cheating and permanently banned, all their associates will be penalised with loss of Profile Rank and CS Rating,” Valve said in the Counter-Strike 2 release notes published on Wednesday (September 27) to Steam.This was in and amongst announcements about various changes to the sequel including the Training Day tutorial for new players, correcting footstep sounds in certain locations, separation of casual and deathmatch maps into different groups, animated eyes on player models, and chickens that will finally fall off the Vertigo map.The word “associates”, however, doesn’t offer much clarity about what that might mean. It could be a player that continually and consciously teams up with someone who’s proven to be cheating in order to gain a dishonest advantage in matches.If a player happens to be a part of a team that’s cheating, although they were unaware of that, it’s hoped that they’re not caught in the crossfire of the developer’s sanctions.At the time of writing Valve has not added any explanation on what “associating” with a cheater constitutes.