It’s been a couple of weeks now since Arknights: Endfield launched. Since that time, I’ve been playing the game on a fairly regular basis (if you don’t count the week we were without electricity because of a giant ice storm). I’m enjoying it. In some ways, it’s like my usual fare. In other ways, it’s not.

The big difference, of course, is the factory sim portion of the game. I play factory sims and enjoy them quite a bit. But I don’t typically play them as part of my anime wife-collecting RPG games. With Endfield, the factory sim portion of the game isn’t just a major part of the game; it’s necessary. You want to progress, you’re going to build and level factories in whatever region you happen to be in. You’re not going to get very far if you don’t. Want gear? Better make it. Meds? Same thing. Need money for something. Gotta manufacture items for refugees and help them build their settlements. You won’t be able to buy presents for your operators if you don’t.

Basically, you’re going to be spending a lot of time in your factories. And you’re going to hit points in the game’s story where you just kinda have to stop and go back to the factory (or Endfield’s giant ship, where even more production is taking place) in order to be able to progress.

Here’s the thing, though. You’re not doing it 100% alone. Yeah, you’re moving through the story as if you’re the only Endministrator out there. But when you’re out there exploring Talos-II, you’ll come across certain useful facilities set up by other players – mostly things like ziplines, turret weapons, and storage facilities. You can use these shared facilities to navigate your world. That doesn’t mean you can avoid putting down your own, as the ones that appear in your version of the game may change over time. So if you want a consistent system, you’ll have to put in the work. But it can make building out your systems easier.

Of course, this being a factory sim, facilities can wear out, be attacked by enemies or creatures, and just generally need repair. And you run across this a lot as well, including the shared facilities. Realistically, these facilities are not your problem. You didn’t build them. You could use them until your own are all in place and forget about them. But you do have the option to repair them for yourself and other users. And that’s something I find interesting.

Arknights: Endfield, like most gacha-style ARPGs, is a very minimally social game. Yeah, in any of these games: Genshin Impact, Wuthering Waves, Honkai: Star Rail, etc. You may have cause to do co-op with other players. In fact, some of the games are trying to encourage it more, adding events in which players need to team up to receive all their rewards and the like. But, for the most part, you can ignore them completely if you don’t mind not getting the goodies.

Even in MMORPGs, games that are built around the idea of being social and working together, players can choose to ignore each other or content that requires them to interact with others. Although, it’s easily argued that this isn’t the point of playing an MMORPG. Players ostensibly join these games to do things with other people.

But gacha games and factory sims are very often solo affairs. It’s for this reason I believe Arknights: Endfield and other solo games that allow players to interact with each other in subtle ways say some interesting things about the gaming community as a whole. The fact is, if I run across your zipline and it’s on its last legs, I don’t have to spend my materials to repair it. I could just walk past. I could build my own and maintain them. And players certainly don’t have to leave messages for each other explaining how to locate some difficult-to-find treasure or warn each other about danger. But they do.

For another, non-Arknights example: Genshin Impact’s Lantern Rite is underway. If you’re a Genshin player, it’s a pretty big deal. There’s a big quest that impacts the game’s lore, and there are activities typically in the form of mini-games. The quest is solo, and the mini-games may be a mix. And if there is social content, the game typically only requires players to do a small amount to reap all the rewards.

But then there’s the lanterns. It is Lantern Rite after all. So players are given Xiao Lanterns and the ability to use them to send messages to other players. Granted, HoYo’s not letting any of us write anything we want. If we want to be weird and creepy, we can just do that in co-op chat.

Instead, just as with the messages sent in Endfield, the game has set phrases that players can put together to create a message. And they’re all designed to fit the holiday. But as with all social things in the game, we don’t have to put that much effort into them. Drop five lanterns, and you’ve earned your rewards. Yet they give us 20 lanterns to use to drop messages around Liyue, and we can acquire more. Every time I log in, new messages are floating around the harbor waiting to be claimed.

Basically, players are just leaving nice messages for each other because they want to. It’s simply not a requirement to be social to progress in the game.

In Arknights, it benefits players a bit more to be social. There are things like clues that players can send each other, and a stock market-type system as well, that requires players to check their friends for the best buying and selling prices. So, again, in some ways, the game does require a bit of social activity – more than your standard gacha RPG. But there are things that aren’t required, that we choose to do anyway.

It may benefit us in some way, like repairing already existing ziplines. But mostly, I think players just do it because it feels like the good thing to do. I may stumble across that hidden treasure on my own over time. But the minute someone drops one of those notes, they’ve saved me a good bit of trouble.

I’ll be honest. I don’t even really use other people’s ziplines. The ones that appear often aren’t going where I’m heading. But if I run across them and they’re in need of repair, I do it. It just seems like the right thing to do. And it takes so little effort on my part – less effort than optimizing my own factories, for certain.

Speaking of optimizing factories, the game has a system that allows players to share blueprints of their factory setups with each other. This is another one of those things that requires effort (though not a lot) outside of the general gameplay. A player has to choose to create and share the blueprint. Just a couple of weeks in, there’s a site filled with blueprints for people to look through and use. I’ll probably never talk to the people whose blueprints I might decide to make use of. But they’re uploading them, anyway.

It reminds me that despite all the negativity and vitriol we may see around the gaming community, and that often breaks containment, gamers (like everyone else) can be very nice people. (Yes, even the gamers who sometimes seem to spend more time being negative about games they don’t play than playing the games they do.) Sometimes it’s easy to forget that. So here’s your reminder.

If you are a fan of pirate-themed games, Sea of Remnants might have been on your radar since its announcement. This fantastical game is looking to make its mark by going forward and combining the best parts of turn-based free-to-play games, while still making it something fresh and new. With the closed alpha officially setting sail, we got to experience what the game is going to offer players down the line.

Setting Sail and Experiencing a New Tale

Right when you boot up Sea of Remnants, you’re given the perspective of a puppet, lost at sea. But this isn’t the sea that anyone would know of, and as you continue sailing, cryptic scenery is slowly shown off. You find yourself waking up in a whole new world after seeing the moon reflected in a massive waterfall, with another two puppets near you in yet another unfamiliar place.

The game will then take you on a somewhat on-the-rails portion for a bit, allowing you to create your character and take on some brief combat tutorials to acclimate you to the gameplay loop. Surprisingly enough, the character creation is quite well-made and diverse for the most part. While some options are lacking, like having a more muscular or leaner character, that aren’t available, you’ll still be able to choose so many other portions of your character to customize. It allows you to truly create your own unique pirate that can reflect your personality, even without the many options that other games have.

When you finally reach the portion of the game where you get your own ship, the game truly does open itself up for you to explore. You’re given the option to freely sail and explore some of the islands scattered throughout the world. While there aren’t many right away at this stage in the game, there was still plenty to explore and play around with to get a handle on all of the systems offered. The scale of the game in this alpha test is already quite impressive and enjoyable. With the ability to sail around, solving puzzles in the open ocean, or going onto an island and searching for riches and treasure while taking down bosses. It is a common formula, but still very entertaining and worth your time if you’re interested in these games.

Familiar Combat and Premise

The premise in Sea of Remnants is also fairly familiar, with the main character you play as waking up from slumber and discovering that they are suffering from amnesia. While this isn’t anything new, the way it is handled is quite special in its own way. You’re discovering something new with your character, sailing into the unknown with the first companion you meet, RS. Speaking of RS, she is the token unhinged and free spirit character to your down-to-earth and somewhat normal main character. When you first meet, you see how carefree she really is while also learning that her story is tied to your own as well. Both characters combined are two sides of the same coin, keeping each interaction fresh as you continue through the story offered.

Characters all have their own web of other NPCs that they interact with. 400 characters each with their own routines that they perform throughout the day, and social stats. Even if you aren’t interested in exploring the world of the NPCs, it is still quite impressive. While the NPCs of the world may not have the most vibrant designs ever, the playable characters all have a fantastic look to them. From their outfits, animations, and ultimate abilities, they all have something to love about them that reflects their personality and lore.

When going through the combat, you’ll most likely be surprised to hear that the game plays a lot like Honkai Star Rail. Many folks might expect an action game from something that follows the story of pirates adventuring through the seas. But this unexpected turn-based combat is wonderful, and really takes the best parts of other games and runs with them. Each character has an ultimate ability, two abilities that depend on their class, and the option to defend themselves during their turn. The system isn’t as in-depth as something like Persona, for example, but it is still in line with what we’ve seen with some other free-to-play turn-based games. It is a fun system that does allow you to work with different characters and create a party of pirates that really work well together to secure more loot and levels.

Not many games stick with naval combat; there aren’t that many pirate games to think of that commit to it. What might come to mind is something like Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag when you think of ship combat. The naval sections of Sea of Remnants take on a more arcade-style role, with the ability to turn quickly and shoot your cannons consistently. It isn’t bad, it isn’t amazing by any means, but it is still surprisingly enjoyable when you get to partake in these sections. Outrunning a Gorilla manning its own ship while hurling cannonballs your way isn’t something you’d ever imagine being in a game, but it is in this one, and it is hilarious and entertaining in its own way.

Characters also get upgrades as you continue playing. You’ll upgrade their various stats when you return to the main port town and give them even more ways to survive the high seas and dungeons you explore. You’re also able to choose subclasses for them, giving you the option to give them new ways to handle combat. For example, your main character can be an outright DPS character that shreds through enemies, or you can turn them into a tank that soaks damage and heals through taking big hits from your foes. There is a ton of variety, and you’re encouraged to play around with the systems and really learn what party composition and classes work best for you.

Vibrant and Unique World

What is really awesome is that the world in the game is incredibly vibrant and fun to explore. One of the first dungeons you’ll find yourself in is going to be a cave, which shouldn’t be a colorful spot to go through. However, while the cave does lack in colors for the most part, you can find that it does fit the mood and themes that Sea of Remnants provides. Exploring also hit all the same notes as some of the other games you may have played. You’ll run through each area, collect treasure from chests, and gather materials from the enemies you fight.

Another unexpected addition is the music that is delivered in the game. Where you might expect some sea shanties and pirate music in general, you will get the polar opposite. The music isn’t bad by any means in the game, and it's all quite good in its own way as well, but it is almost whiplash when you expect one thing and get some pop music while watching two punk rock pirates engage in a bar fight. Expect the unexpected, as the music has several types of genres sprinkled into the game.

What is surprising about the game is the amount of polish that is there during an alpha test. There are some minor issues, many of which will be fixed as development goes on with the game. Placeholder text is used frequently, and some spelling errors appear in certain item descriptions. These aren’t anything major at this stage, and don’t take away from what the game is showing off during this phase. What you can expect is a fun, over-the-top game about some pirates making their way through the world. Sea of Remnants is shaping up to be a heavy hitter, with amazing characters and wonderful visuals wrapped with a compelling story that looks to make the game shine.

Everyone’s getting into the Lunar New Year spirit, and events are taking place in a lot of games. So, I probably shouldn’t be surprised that Super Animal Royale – a cute battle-royale game filled with cute but violent critters – would happily find a reason to spend almost a month on a holiday that features a new animal every year. As this is the Year of the Horse, the free-to-play game is hosting a “Year of the Super Horse” event.

Already underway, the event will last for three weeks, ending on February 27. During the event, a new Super Horse breed will drop on a weekly basis, beginning with the Super Red Hare based on the steed of Guan Yu. In addition, the SAW Shop is filled with Lunar New Year cosmetics, new emotes, and even a “Stable Boy Bundle”.

During the event, players will find Red Envelopes scattered throughout the island. These restore a bit of health and aid in advancing challenges. Bonus Red Envelopes are also available when matches are completed. There will also be Fireworks that can be found on the island as well. I’m sure you’ll know what to do with those.

The SAW Welcome Center fountain in the Social Hub currently features music for the Lunar New Year, and an event kiosk has the new Super Siamese Cat NPC, who will provide players more information about the Year of the Super Horse.

Players can also earn a selection of challenge rewards for completing different goals during the event. Collecting 1,000 Red Envelopes will earn players Lunar Aviators. Breaking 2 Firework Crates earns 1500 XP. A Lunar Outfit will be the reward for getting 12 kills. 750 Cart Coins is the reward for chopping 75 bamboo bushes. And Landing at the SAW Bamboo Resort will net players a Lunar Umbrella.

After a bit of a wait for players, HoYoverse finally aired the livestream for Honkai: Star Rail’s upcoming Version 4.0 update, “No Aha At Full Moon”. The team has been teasing the Ahaification of the free-to-play ARPG for a while now with crazy trailers and reveals of upcoming characters tied to the update – all of whom, it turns out, are vying for the chance to be Aha for a minute. It might be a little difficult to see what being Aha for a minute could do. But I imagine a god can get a lot done in that amount of time.

The update will take players to the world of Planarcadia, a world in which people survive by way of clout, like the kind you think of when you’re dealing with streamers and social media personalities. Being noticed is literally the only way to live.

Planarcadia also happens to be Himeko’s home world, where she rebuilt the Astral Express. (This might explain her obsession with awful coffee. Maybe that was her form of clout chasing when she lived there.) The planet was, apparently, a flat “World in a Canvas” at one point. But the IPC has long since taken control, and the place is overseen by one of the Ten Stonehearts – Madam Pearl. As such, it’s a pretty lively destination, and with the arrival of half the universe – including one of the generals of the Xianzhou and several of the Stelleron hunters, it’s about to get crazier. Of course, the Astral Express crew is there as well, and the Trailblazer will be representing them in the competition to be Ahaified.

As for new playable characters, 4.0 will introduce two Elation characters: the General of Xianzhou Alliance’s Yuque Yao Guang and Sparxie (who is not to be confused with Sparkle...it seems Sparkle may be a species?). If you’re not sure you remember Yao Guang, that’s probably because until this point, we’ve only heard her voice and seen a glyph representing her via comms on the Loufu.

On an additional note on the character front, the update also enhances Black Swan and the OG Sparkle. Oh, yes, and there will be new outfits. Players will be able to obtain a new skin for Ruan Mei as well as a 20-pull reward for logging in after the version launches on February 13. There are also new outfits and accessories for the Trailblazer. These are free, but they will require time and effort as the outfit and a headband are both obtained via the Gift of Stardust store. The outfits aren’t that different from the standard fit. It’s mostly color and pattern changes, as well as a different shirt. It makes a bit of sense, as the game’s lore pretty much tells you the Trailblazer just keeps a closet full of the same outfit.

Players can expect plenty of events and rewards as well, including plenty of chances to get their hands on more Stellar Jades. Another will allow players to pick a free 5-star character. Always a good thing.

For those of you who have been wondering how the delay of this update will impact the game’s cadence, the devs stated during the stream that things would be back on track by 4.2. That said, players can expect 4.1’s release timeline to be adjusted in order to allow for that.

As always, the livestream included redemption codes. These are AHAHAHAHAHAHA (I double-checked the number of “AHs”), QWQXDDLOLOMO, and HITLIKETOBEAHA.

A new free-to-play tactical shooter launched into early access on Steam Today. It’s even free-to-play early access – which is a bit refreshing with all the games out there that will eventually be F2P… After they’re done taking in money for the unfinished version of the game, that is.

The 5v5 shooter, PUBG: BLINDSPOT, is now available to download via Steam. As mentioned above, since this is early access, it’s an unfinished version of the game, but it is far enough along to let everyone in. That means that the devs are still seeking feedback.

The game is top-down, and as players move through rooms, they can get a glimpse of what’s happening in other places. Players need to find ways to take advantage of what can and can’t be seen in order to successfully beat their opponents. Of course, coordinating with team members is important as well – particularly since they may be able to see things you can't.

Alright folks, you know the drill. If you applied to tae part in the closed alpha test for Joker Studio's rather whimsical-looking puppet-pirate adventure, Sea of Remnants, you'll want to check your email -- if you already haven't. And don't forget to look in the spam folder. The test is live on PC and Steam today.

This means that would-be player can hop into the open-world RPG, take on the role of a "puppetfolk sailor", explore the vast ocean, fight strange creatures, and visit the pirate city of Orbtopia -- a city that will change over time based on player actions. In addition, players have more than 400 companion they can form bonds with, meaning they'll leave a real mark on the game's world. One of these companions was featured in a new trailer shared by Joker Studio and publisher NetEase today in honor of the CBT launch. The video can be viewed below.

Today, Kuro Games dropped Wuthering Waves' Version 3.1 update, bringing Rover back to Lahai-Roi to solve another mystery about the region and its silent protector, the Exostrider. This update finally brings Rover together with the mysterious Aemeath, offering the opportunity to get answers to a list of questions. We won't say which questions were answered here -- only that there are some big drops.

The update also includes quality-of-life changes intended to make live easier for players. No, I'm not talking about the bike. Although, I'm sure the new features are going to be of great use. Rather, these changes are intended to make progression easier with faster leveling and improved material farming. The update also implements performance improvements for the free-to-play open-world ARPG on PC and mobile devices and improve visuals as well.

Players can also expect free goodies when logging in. Some will come from a campaign that rewards players for in-game activity. Those who have been playing for a good while should be pleasantly surprised. And, of course, once players complete the new story, they'll receive the new school uniform skin for Rover.

Blizzard is taking a different approach when it comes to storytelling in the Overwatch universe this year. Today, Game Director Aaron Keller shared plans for the future of the free-to-play team shooter in a Spotlight video. The approximately half-hour-long video laid out plans for the game’s narrative, kicking off on February 10. The narrative is unique in Overwatch as it has a full arc that takes place in the span of a year (or six seasons) beginning with Season 1: Conquest.

Titled the "Reign of Talon", the story begins with the cinematic revealed at the beginning of the stream today, in which Vendetta makes her move to take back Talon. Even as someone who doesn’t play Overwatch, I have to say the short is pretty epic. The story will run across all six seasons, and a new story will begin with the first season of 2027.

The story will be told across a variety of media. Of course, there will be in-game content, including special events. And Blizzard is always big on the trailers. So there will be plenty of that as well. Players can also expect short stories and comics to help fill in the rest of the lore. The good news is that all of it will be available in the game. So you don’t have to go hunting for it on websites or elsewhere.

Blizzard is also rolling out all the stops since this year is the tenth anniversary of Overwatch. This starts with the fact that they’re upping the number of hero releases this year to ten. Half of those will drop with Season 1 – including some I know I’ve seen players theorizing about, such as Emre and Anran (Wuyang’s older sister), and some that might be a surprise, such as a fat orange cat with hover tech literally named Jetpack Cat. (I don’t know whether the cat will be a blessing or a curse for Overwatch. We all know about orange cats and their shared braincell.)

Season 1 will introduce sub-roles to the game. DPS will have four sub-roles, while Healer and Tank will have three each. This won’t be a case of picking a character and then deciding which sub-role you’d like to use. Instead, the character chosen determines the sub-role. So, players will want to think about what they want to do before choosing who to play. Each sub-role and its related characters are listed in the patch notes on the Overwatch site.

Oh, and there’ll be an Overwatch x Hello Kitty Collaboration available when Season 1 launches.

The update will also include a major overhaul of the game’s systems, intended to streamline things and address player complaints about things like moving around the menus. For instance, they’re creating a notification hub and the stadium to make things easier to find. There will also be a competitive reset featuring rewards related to Talon.

Finally, you’ll notice I haven’t referred to the game as Overwatch 2. That’s because there was an announcement during the livestream that Blizzard has decided to drop the “2” and will simply be referring to everything related to the Overwatch universe as simply Overwatch. (I’m pretty sure that’s what we were all calling it when we weren’t having to write about it formally anyway.)

A new update is available in Delta Force. Team Jade dropped the patch in the free-to-play shooter yesterday, introducing a new Support Operator by the name of Lina Van der Meer (Codename: Vlinder). Vlinder is a useful individual to have on the team, as just by being there, she extends the downed and dying times of her squadmates. She’s also able to track her allies’ HP status using her butterfly drones and special contact lenses. Speaking of butterflies, her “Flutter Rescue UAVs” can be used to deliver plasma injections to allies within 55 meters of their dispatch spot. Some drones track squadmates and heal them with medical dust. As for offensive abilities, she also utilizes a smoke grenade guided using a gesture-seeking device.

The update also introduced the Aftershock urban warfare map featuring full-scale destruction, several new modes, an Operations Expansion, with a new boss, and improvements requested by players. On the Operations Expansions front, Space City has new areas and introduces swimming mechanics. The new Operations boss is the Efficiency Director, Alonso Hudson, a member of Haavk’s radical faction.

As for the new modes, Flashpoint features a constantly shifting battlefield, and the Firey Owl Hunt in Operations lets players take on the role of the boss Saeed and his guards. A full rundown of these modes can be found on the Delta Force site, along with a list of changes and additions that are too numerous to list here.

Arknights: Endfield seems to be doing pretty okay since it launched. And that’s not just based on general observation – although I can say most of my core gaming group is playing it. Today, Gryphline posted a DEV Comm on the free-to-play RTS ARPG’s site and shared some in-game numbers with players. No, they didn’t give actual player numbers. (Does anyone really do that?) Instead, they dropped a few stats about the activity in-game, particularly around the RTS portion.

According to the post, players have been pretty busy laying power lines, and as of February 1, more than 42 million meters of line had been laid by all the players in the game. Of course, we’ve all been doing work since then, so that number’s gone up. We just don’t know how much. The post also notes that more than 23 million shared facilities (facilities that can be put down in one player’s game instance and be seen, used, and repaired by other players in their games) have been placed. Of those facilities, one in particular has received more than 4 million repairs. So, yeah. Players have been engaged and busy.

The post also informed players of an update that will be taking place tomorrow (February 5). The update features a series of optimizations for things like enemy stats, early game Operator progression support, AIC factory control optimizations, map improvements, and more. These improvements are intended to improve the early game and exploration experience. As a result, enemy levels for exploration levels 6 and 7 will be lowered by ten, but still drop the same loot, and players will receive items needed for crafting gear when hitting specific levels. These changes will obviously benefit those who didn’t push their way through before the update, but it’s still going to be a boon.

One thing that will benefit everyone is the Designation Selection Permit that players will receive for completing the main mission, Chapter I Process I: Break the Siege. This permit will be delivered via in-game mail and allow players to choose one of the six star Operators in the Basic Headhunting banner. That would be the Five Sparks. So, if, like me, you’ve been trying to get a specific character out of that banner and have been receiving anyone but that one, you’ll now be able to claim the one you actually want.

The Winter Wonder: Riffrocin’ New Year update dropped in Palia today, bringing a festive celebration to the free-to-play cozy open-world MMORPG. The update starts the celebration of the game’s “Luna New Year” with festivities at the Fairgrounds as players celebrate the Year of the Riffroc. The celebration includes festive lanterns, new décor, special rewards, and a variety of events – such as the skater activity “Path of the Shred”.

During the festivities, players will be able to find all kinds of goodies in the Maji Treasure Chests, earn rewards from stamp card achievements, and take part in the Hot Pot game. Of course, there’s an event bundle to be obtained as well and plenty of event-related décor, including harvest baskets, tea tins, and Riffroc items. (Yes, there’s a plush.)

The update also brings the Roli to the game. This little critter looks like an armadillo and is good at finding salt crystals that can be used in recipes.

Also introduced in this update is a newly official way to gather the Water Tower from the Players Ranch. This is apparently something players were doing on their own, and the devs decided to make it a thing, allowing players to gather without heading out of bounds.

Oh, and for the cooking fans out there, the 12-day community cooking event, Reth’s Soup-erb Bowl, will run from February 6 to February 18, during which time players will cook soups together in a Super Bowl-inspired event. Players will have to gather ingredients and do everything they can to keep the soup coming, all to meet a shared goal.

Yesterday, The First Descendant team hosted a new devstream introducing players to the game’s next update. Titled “Unveiled Truth,” Season 3 Episode 3 introduces the new Descendant Dia, who was revealed back in December. The new Descendant is a skill dealer who uses a lance, and she brings with her new, ice-related skills. She also brings new mysteries for players to solve.

The new update brings quite a bit of new content to the free-to-play shooter – enough to warrant a three-and-a-half-hour stream. Other content includes the ‘Exposed Undersea Base’ dungeon, which is a Vulgus base on the coast of Axion. The dungeon features an ‘Infiltration Operation’ with new enemy types and a new elite monster boss that provides benefits when a player successfully dodges attacks.

Players also have new weapons to acquire: the E-Buster and the Eye of the Storm. The former features the ability to increase electric skill power, while the latter is a beam rifle that switches between two modes: Typhoon and Storm. Typhoon attacks eight enemies at once. Storm inflicts heavy damage on a single enemy.

Players can also look forward to a selection of balance changes, a new battle pass, and more. The update will go live on February 5.

Today, ArenaNet dropped a new update in Guild Wars 2, adding to the free-to-play MMORPG’s sixth expansion, Visions of Eternity. What the biggest feature of this update is will likely depend on what kind of player you are. For the raiders among you, the introduction of Guardian’s Glade will be a big deal. The raid is designed for squads of 10 players who will fight against one of the Guardians of Castora. Raiders will have three weeks to spend with this before a new challenge mode is introduced.

Continuing with the subject of raiding, the new update introduces raid quickplay and a new overhaul of the raid system. Quickplay will allow players to be matched with nine other players in pre-selected raid encounters. The overhaul, on the other hand, will improve the raid system and introduce new achievements and rewards. Details on the raid system updates can be found in the video below.

For the more fashion-minded players, the new fashion templates might be the headliner feature of this update. These templates allow players to adjust and save the appearances of their gear using templates that can be swapped out on the fly. All playhers get two free template slots as well as free Transmutation Charges that they can use to try out the systems.

The update also updates the Wizard’s Vault with new rewards and objectives. And, as it is that time of year, the Lunar New Year festival is underway.

Heartopia is one of the most recent adorable new games in the life-sim genre, offering cozy gameplay where players can create their character, explore the world, discover new hobbies, design their dream home, make new friends, and more. However, if you’re looking to get started in Heartopia, there are a few beginner tips and tricks that you should know to help make your time in the free-to-play game easier. From build tips to handy details about NPCs and claimable rewards, these pieces of Heartopia knowledge will make all the difference as you stack up more hours of playtime in the game.

Complete Daily Requests

In Heartopia, you will need to increase your DG Member level in order to unlock each of the Hobbies within the game. These hobbies range from fishing and gardening all the way to adopting cats and dogs, so if you want access to these features ASAP, then you will have to do everything you can to grind out those levels as quickly as possible.

One of the best ways to do this is through the daily resident requests system. Daily and weekly challenges will refresh at 6 AM, with the weekly reset day being each Saturday. Uncompleted requests will not be kept, so you need to make sure that you’re clearing these challenges each day. Thankfully, most of them are relatively simple tasks, such as watering plants, collecting common resources and materials, or catching fish, for example.

Completing these quests awards Medals, and after you accumulate enough Medals, you will progress to the next DG Member level. Each level unlocks new features and hobbies such as co-op building, bug catching, plot expansions, and more.

Participate in Rare Weather Events & General Events

The weather can actually be a huge opportunity for players. Rare weather events tend to occur on a semi-regular basis, involving the likes of ‘Rainbow’ and ‘Meteor Shower’ weather. During these times, special conditions will take place around the world, including passive bonuses, special resources that can be discovered to help boost your proficiency during certain hobbies, and there are even special NPC shop items and locations that only happen during these weather events.

Players can plan ahead of time, too. By opening the weather on their watch, they will be able to see what weather events are planned for the current week, from rain and sun to spontaneous meteor showers!

In addition to weather events, other general events can be found in the ‘events’ tab (the planet-shaped icon within the toolbar on the top right of your screen). This lets players complete limited-time quests, earn special rewards, and more. Examples include the Pink Gacha Machine event, Festivals, Life Logs, and the Winter Season Prep event. Some events even introduce new mechanics and hobbies into the game, such as Ice Skating for the winter season, so players will want to make sure they make the most of each opportunity.

Map Waypoints

The minimap is useful for tracking important locations and generally helping you find your way from place A to place B without getting lost. However, there is also a very handy feature to utilize in custom map waypoints. If you discover a location of a rare item spawn that happens to be static, you can simply mark it on your map with a custom waypoint, letting you fast-track your way to that location each day to help you farm those rare resources with ease. It can also be a handy way to mark the specific locations in which rare fish or bugs can be found, if you are hunting for certain species.

Prioritize Making Gold

Gold is the main currency that you will use to buy almost everything, from new clothes to items, upgrades, and even using fast travel waypoints through the bus stop system. However, when you are getting started, making lots of gold can be a little bit tricky. Selling food can be one of the best ways to accumulate money. As you are starting out, you can get some cash by selling fresh fish that you catch. However, by cooking a Fish and Chips dish, you can bring in upwards of 300 Gold per plate, which makes it much more worthwhile. Jam is another good way to make money from food, with Raspberry Jam fetching the highest price per unit.

If you have Wishing Stars, you can use them to purchase some Fireworks. Albert is willing to pay a pretty penny for each bundle of Fireworks in your inventory, providing thousands of Gold at a time.

Unlock and Use Cooking ASAP

As mentioned above, cooking can be one of the best ways to quickly and consistently accumulate Gold in Heartopia. For this reason, you want to start utilizing the cooking hobby as soon as you unlock it. It is recommended to keep Gold aside for purchasing multiple stoves, this way you can cook multiple dishes at once and maximize your profits when you sell them all to town residents.

The best layout for cooking involves using four stoves, positioned around each side of one blank space in the middle. You can then jump into the middle, making managing the cooking of all four dishes an absolute breeze. This will also help you to quickly level up your cooking hobby, too, so it’s a relatively handy method to consider.

Check Your Mailbox & Claim Rewards Daily

Lastly, some new players may be neglecting their mailboxes! By checking your mailbox at your home plot on a daily basis, you can gain all sorts of different rewards for free. This can be from NPCs, gifts from friends, and even freebies/giveaways from the Heartopia devs for situations such as offline maintenance periods or limited-time events. You’ll be surprised by just how many free goodies you’ll find stacked up in your mailbox if you don’t check it daily, and considering they’re all claimed with a simple tap of a button, it’s a short but important stop to make during your daily session of gameplay.

A little later today – in about three hours as of this writing – Kuro Games’ post-apocalyptic action game, Punishing Gray Raven, will be launching on Steam. If you haven’t heard about this game before, it’s not completely new. It actually launched globally on mobile devices in 2021 and has been available on PC via its own launcher since 2023. That means it predates Kuro’s other popular free-to-play title, Wuthering Waves.

It’s not just the Steam launch that’s interesting about the PGR news, however. The Steam drop coincides with the release of a game-changing patch named Withering Crown. The update introduces the new Breaker class to the game, creating a new tank role that does more than just standing in the front and taking all the hits. This particular tank also focuses on wearing the enemy down so that the rest of the team can do real damage. Apparently, this will change the way a lot of players approach the game. Of course, this is a gacha game, so that new class comes in the form of a new character – or in PGR’s terminology: an S-rank Dark Construct named Rosetta: Arete.

Withering Crown also expands on core game systems, introducing a new memory set, kicking off a new companion story, adding a new boss, and more.

The Legacy of Phrecia has returned to Path of Exile, and things may feel a bit strange. During the event, all 19 of the ARPG’s Ascendancy classes are replaced with different ones. Players will be able to take on the role of a Servant of Arakaali to raise spiders – as one does. Or, they could become a Daughter of Oshabi and control the powers of nature, or become a Harbinger. As with the previous Legacy of Phrecia event, there are plenty of options to choose from.

If you participated in the previous version of this event, you’ll probably notice that a few things have changed. The latest version includes some balance changes. It also introduces a new set of modifiers for the Settlers League and Atlas Memories and completely disables modifiers for Breach. Players can mix and match mechanics to create an endgame experience they enjoy.

Other changes include the addition of mechanics players can’t control, such as each area having a random number of map modifiers, with the number increasing in relation to the area level. Campaign bosses also have some new mechanics of their own.

Of course, the event comes with rewards. Players receive rewards automatically for hitting levels 50 and 90 in the form of a Third Edict Mystery Box. Those who already have every item from that box will receive two Atlantis Mystery Boxes instead. (There’s no word as to what will happen if players happen to have everything from those boxes.)

As this is a returning event, Grinding Gear Games has elected to bring back the cosmetic bundles associated with it. So, if you missed out on those particular goodies before, you can pick them up now. There’s a good chance of the bundle containing a full armor set and extra effects, and players can expect a sizeable discount too.

While we wait for the next Honkai: Star Rail update, there are Trailblaze things happening in other places. One of those places is Epic Games’ free-to-play battle-royale Fortnite – a game known for hosting collaborations with just about.. well… everything. Over the weekend, the EGS Twitter account shared a post with an image of two swords, as seen above, and the test “Who’s trailblazing heir way to Fortnite?”.

This is one of those tricky things. If you’re a Honkai: Star Rail player, you know exactly what’s happening, and you recognize those two swords as belonging to two of our favorite Stellaron Hunters: Kafka and Blade. Those who aren’t familiar with the game, on the other hand, ended up making some pretty wild guesses. (And then there are those who are probably just guessing wildly to troll.)

Aside from the image of the two swords, we don’t really know what from Star Rail will be making its way to Fortnite. But, we can guess that the collaboration will include outfit skins – probably for the two characters and maybe for some others, art, voice packs, and maybe some music or other items. We’re sure to find out soon enough.

In fact, we may find out on Friday when HoYoverse hosts the Version 4.0 livestream that all Star Rail fans have been waiting on. If you’re looking for a canon reason for the Star Rail gang to visit Fortnite, just blame it on Aha. (That would be one of the gods in the game who lives for what THEY consider a good joke.)

Marvel Rivals had a pretty massive first year between 2024-2025. There was the addition of many new heroes, new game modes, limited-time events, and new features to enjoy along the way. However, as the free-to-play shooter heads into its second year from 2025 to the end of 2026, there are hundreds of ideas that fans would love to see the developers add. While not every concept can make it into the game, some ideas being discussed are quite popular among the community. Here are 10 things Marvel Rivals could add in 2026 to continue building on the success of the game.

More Villains

Marvel Rivals already has quite an extensive roster. However, only a tiny percent of this roster consists of villains. With a whole new year of character additions to come, a pivot to include a handful of villains throughout the year would satisfy a lot of fans. Plus, it would also add some really fun and interesting hero interactions, as well as the potential for some unique Team-Ups to come from the more antagonistic individuals across the franchise. Some of the most popular picks from the community for villains that they would like to see in the game include Thanos, Doctor Doom, Mystique, and Doc Ock, among others. As for if any of them will actually appear on the roster anytime soon...well, players will simply have to wait and see!

More Main Gameplay Mode Maps

Maps are a highly important aspect of the game. After all, things start to feel repetitive and boring if every match tends to take place in the same location. However, most recent new maps added to the game have been tied to new game modes, which are usually limited to arcade. Most recently, the one Resource Rumble map was removed entirely as of Season 6, due to being overwhelmingly unpopular with the community.

With seasonal map pool rotations, it can grow tiresome to have your match limited to just a handful of different locations every other season. There are just a few maps for each main Quick Play/Competitive gameplay mode, so it would be nice to see new maps roll out for these modes on a more regular basis, as opposed to being tied to arcade.

More Interactive Emotes & Universal Emotes

Emotes are a fun way for players to express themselves and get a laugh in-game, whether it be after making a play in your matches, or while hanging out in Times Square. Some of the most popular emotes to date have been the universal emotes and the interactive emotes. Universal emotes are dynamic poses or animations that can be added to any (or at least a large selection) of characters on the roster. Interactive emotes are emotes that two or more players can use in a combined action – such as the Emma Frost and Jeff the Land Shark cuddles emote, or the volleyball emote that came paired with the summer skins event a few seasons ago.

It would be great to see more emotes such as these, encouraging positive player interactions. There’s also quite literally endless potential for the stuff they could come up with – a Deadpool and Wolverine interactive emote, romantic gestures between some of the couples on the roster, silly universal dance emotes that can be used to craft the perfect Times Square dance mob...It’s often little things like this that bring a surprising amount of joy to players.

Optional Role Queue

One of the biggest divides between the Marvel Rivals community is whether the game should implement a Role Queue or not. Personally, I’m on the side where I don’t think this would improve the game, as it would alter queue times (as seen with Overwatch 2) and drastically affect many team comps and Team-Up abilities. The fact that you can flex your team as needed to work with Team-Ups is one of the unique aspects of Rivals, and Role Queue would limit how many Team-Ups could be put into play due to the 2-2-2 standard.

However, I do think a good in between would be to implement an optional role queue, where players can queue for a specific role, and if the matchmaking times take too long, it will automatically reassign them to the ‘flex’/regular queue, where they will be able to select any role as per usual. This would let players who really want to play Role Queue dive into some games, but also have less of a hindrance on the game as a whole, as things would ultimately need some serious changes and rebalancing if Role Queue was to arrive.

More Narrators/Announcers (Other Than Galacta)

Galacta is the Marvel Rivals match announcer always yapping on about the players getting on the payload or contesting the objective. Most Marvel Rivals players have become fed up with the classic “Another epic victory, biiiiiig win!” or in some unfortunate situations, repetitive instances “Well, you can’t win them all...”

If you’ve found yourself wishing there were other options to cycle through other than Galacta, you’re not alone. This could perhaps be on a per-map basis, or even additional unlockables that players could purchase with Accessory Points or yet another earnable currency. We’ve already seen that this is possible with the addition of Khonshu as the announcer for the Marvel Rivals zombies mode, so it really would be great to see some more options. Popular characters that fans have discussed wanting to see as in-game announcers include Galactus, Doctor Door, Khonshu (for non-zombies modes), Spider-Ham, and more.

More Interactive Team-Ups

When Marvel Rivals launched, the concept of Team-Ups was one of the biggest selling points of the game, letting players combine their hero picks to unlock new abilities or interactions that can be used in combat. However, as the seasons have progressed, Team-Ups have become more ‘anchor hero unlocks a new ability for the partner hero’, rather than introducing her interactive mechanics.

Some of the best Team-Ups in the game are ones in which characters interact with one another to perform an action or special move. Rather than continuing the pattern of ability-based Team-Ups such as Hela and Namor, or Cloak & Dagger and Hawkeye, it would be phenomenal to see more interactive Team-Ups making their way into the game, much like Hulk and Wolverine, Captain America and Winter Soldier, or Groot, Jeff, and Rocket’s Team-Ups involve both players actually interacting with one another and working together.

More Alternate Variation Skins (Lady Loki)

Lastly, Marvel Rivals players love a good skin. The sheer number of different skins that are available and released throughout each season truly does keep the community coming back for more. If there’s one skin of 2025 that truly shone, it would be the Lady Loki skin, the first of its kind to completely change a hero's 3D model and voice acting.

However, with the release of this skin, many fans have immediately started discussing whether this could open up the doors for other similar concepts to make their way into the game. For example, some possible additions could be She-Hulk for Hulk, Gwen/Ghost Spider for Spider-Man, Captain Carter for Captain America, and Kate Bishop for Hawkeye, among numerous other possibilities.

Today, HoYoverse revealed Zenless Zone Zero's Version 2.6 update, "Encore for an Old Dream". The update launches on February 6, taking the Proxies back home to Sixth Street just in time to take part in the annual Gilded Carrot Day fun and cheer on their friends, the Angels of Delusion as they kick off their idol career. Two of them, Sunna and Aria, will even join the free-to-play action RPG's roster of playable Agents. The group will perform at the 404 Error music venue on Sixth Street. Finally, we'll be able to get a look at the place that's been shuttered since we began our adventures.

In fact, players will be able to go backstage as supporting staff for the Angels, managing their schedules and social media, and taking part in rhythm-based gameplay. There will also be a new Marcel Adventure.

Speaking of new things, a new game mode, Operation Matrix, is being introduced. The mode features rotating themed stages where teams consisting of three primary agents, an auxiliary agent, and a Bangboo. There are also new Resonia and Gears that players will find useful.

Of course, it won't all be just celebrations and fun. While the city prepares for Gilded Carrot Day, Phaethon will take on a new commission involving an "illegal intelligent entity" that requires them to team up with Jane Doe. (I wonder if we're about to meet one of the other three super-intelligent AI like Fairy.)

As far as what else is available in the update, players will want to watch the most recent livestream to learn about it all.

A new update has hit The Finals, bringing with it bug fixes, general improvements, and tweaks to Point Break. Among these changes is the introduction of a new set of rules for players’ Embark ID Display Names intended to help eliminate problem players in the free-to-play shooter. This may result in automatic name changes for players who don’t fit the new rules.

The update also brings the new world tour event, “Orbital Breach”. The event has been enabled in the Arena and combines Hackout, which allows players to see opponents through walls, and orbital lasers. This means the players can easily target the enemy, and that anyone lingering in one place for too long is at risk of being taken out. So, it’s best to keep moving.

The update also introduces changes to the Point Break game mode, new weapons, new store items, and more. Information on all of these can be found in the announcement on The Finals Steam Page.

A new update is now available for Throne & Liberty. Update 3.19.0 introduces the randomly-generated “Tower of Greed” to the free-to-play MMORPG. The tower is a PvE activity designed for one to six players. It features rooms with unique mechanics and quests. Players can save their progress or form parties at checkpoints. To access the tower, players will need to complete a special quest first.

The update also brings the Lucky Mystic Portal to the game. During the event, which lasts until February 12, it offers daily login rewards that contain keys needed to unlock Mystic Portals, where players can hunt for treasure.

In addition, the update also revamps Amitoi Expeditions and housing. Details on these changes can be found in the patch notes on the game’s site.

If you’ve been hoping for more information on Wargaming’s upcoming free-to-play shooter World of Tanks: HEAT, the developer has announced the “Foundations” video series. The first episode of the series, titled “The Source of HEAT”, is already available.

The video provides a detailed look at HEAT’s alternative post-World War II timeline setting, as well as the game’s warfare. This means players will get a look at the world’s experimental tech and armored combat.

Players will also get a look at the game’s environments and core game modes. Currently, there are four modes to look at: the 10v10 Conquest mode and the 5v5 Kill Confirmed, Hardpoint, and Control modes.

Conquest has players fighting to capture and hold multiple zones. In Kill Confirmed teams, collect tokens from both eliminated enemies and allies. Hardpoint is a fight for control of a base. And, finally, in Control, players must secure uninterrupted control of a captured zone.

If Pokémon and Genshin Impact had a baby, it would look like Aniimo. That’s not to say that the free-to-play creature-collecting MMO from developer Pawprint Studio will ever be as big as either of those two franchises, but if you’re looking for something that combines creature-collecting with open-world exploration and puzzle-solving, Aniimo scratches that specific set of itches.

You begin the game as a beginner student for the Polaris Institute. After making it through the initial story and tutorial, you’ll be set loose in the world of Idyll to make your mark as a Pathfinder, catching and training Aniimo while exploring the world and discovering it secrets.

Out in the open world, you’re free to explore a vast area full of treasures, challenges, and other Aniimo to catch. In fine tradition, this is accomplished via throwing a tiny item at them – in this case, a cube called an Aniipod – and hoping to score the capture. You can sneak up behind an Aniimo, catch it while it’s sleeping, or weaken it in battle to increase your capture chance.

Fine twining

You always have an Aniimo at your side as you explore. You can direct it to use its attack on a target or “twine” with it to merge your forms and take control directly. I found that, in battle, it’s best to be untwined so your Aniimo could attack while you used special skills or attacked on your own, while puzzle-solving typically required the precision of twining to make sure you hit your mark. There are both basic Aniimo to fight and capture along with “alphas” that are more akin to boss battles that take time and skill to defeat.

Throughout the world, you’ll find various challenges that you’ll need your Aniimo to overcome. Each Aniimo has a special ability based on its element that you can use while twined to overcome obstacles. These can be as simple as a treasure chest covered in vines that you need to burn away with a flame attack, or places you have to burrow underground or float through the sky to reach. You can activate the abilities manually, though some, like gliding and swimming, are automatically enabled when you need them, which is a convenient touch.

There are also sanctums, closed-off “dungeons” where you have to use your Aniimo’s special abilities to reach the end. At least in the early part of the game that I experience, they’re pretty simple – mostly “burn this to progress” – but I can see the potential for working in more complex puzzles using a wide variety of Aniimo as the game progresses.

Creature comforts

I’m impressed with the level of detail that went into creating the game’s 88 Aniimos, or at least the ones I encountered. They’re all distinctive and show personality in their idle animations to the point that I found myself saying “awww” more than a few times. It’s probably too late for them to become household names like Pokémon, but if you’re not picky about brands, you’ll probably be able to pick out a favorite or two.

I spent my time in the game’s first zone, Nimbus Fields, and even this low-level area was enough to show promise. There’s enough to do even in this small of an area that I was entertained, and the addictive nature of battling and capturing and leveling up your little creatures is as strong as ever, so good job by the devs in nailing that aspect of the game. Later gameplay elements include an RV for socializing and travel and a “homeland” where you can set up crops and an amusement park for your Aniimo.

Aniimo plays less like an MMORPG and more like an RPG with optional multiplayer. You’ll only discover new players in outposts or if you take someone with you out into the world. This is probably for the best, as you likely don’t want other players stomping around when you’re trying to capture a particular Aniimo, but don’t go into the game expecting to see lots of players wandering the world. Even if you treat it as a single-player RPG with no multiplayer elements, it’s enjoyable enough.

Aniimo brings with it several of what I feel are the downsides of the new wave of gacha-inspired games, though I’ll admit to having something of an antiquated opinion regarding that sort of thing. You’ll get achievements galore that will flood you with plenty of currencies that you’ll likely have no idea what to do with early in the game. It’s not as bad as others in the genre, but it can still be a little overwhelming.

Speaking of currencies, the cash shop doesn’t seem to be implemented yet, so I can’t give any impression of how that will go. I have to believe that it won’t be egregious in making it so you can buy rare Aniimo rather than catching them in the field, since that’s the entire purpose for the game’s existence. The currencies I did accumulate let me buy various cosmetics for my Pathfinder or Aniimo, so I’m hopeful that will be the limit when the game finally launches, though I could see the rarer, more powerful, Aniipods being offered.

While Aniimo does have many elements copied from other games, there’s also enough charm and originality to make it stand out. I’m always skeptical of perceived “copycat” games, and while Aniimo certainly borrows from other titles, I think it’s got enough to stand on its own furry four legs. I didn’t expect much when I booted it up, but it was unexpectedly pleasant enough to make me want to check it out later when it launches for real.

That will be later in 2026 on PC, Xbox Series X|S, and mobile devices. For now, you can sign up for the closed beta at aniimo.com.

EverQuest and EverQuest 2 players have noticed something missing and weren’t pleased with the response when they asked where they were at. The missing items in question are the 2026 roadmaps for the free-to-play MMORPGs.

When players began to inquire as to the status of the roadmaps, a senior community manager took to the forums to explain, letting players know their questions had been seen and that the team has “chosen to forgo a roadmap this year” as they “would like to knock out the redundancy in posting the same information repeatedly and would much prefer to post articles closer to when things will be occurring”.

As you might expect, player response was less than positive, with many pointing out that less communication isn’t better. Others noted that many players don’t bother with individual updates and that the roadmap was the only way they know what’s up with the game.

This prompted studio head Jenn Chan to add a post to the games’ forums sharing some plans for the year. This includes two game updates for EQ2, new content on the Origin servers, and various quality-of-life updates. Based on the post, it seems things aren’t as dire as players were imagining. Although they’re probably right about not keeping up with regular news posts on the games’ sites.

Fans of Cryptic Studios’ games will be interested to know that a familiar face is returning to the company. The developer of popular free-to-play MMORPGs like Star Trek Online, Champions Online, and Neverwinter announced the return of Jack Emmert as the company’s new CEO. Emmert is intimately familiar with all of these projects, having led the studio during their creation.

Emmert’s goal upon returning to Cryptic is to “recapture the spirit and ambition that once made the studio a genre-defining force”. His plans are to focus on Cryptic’s legacy and “restore the studio to its full potential”.

To share his plans with players, Emmert will be hosting a live Q&A session on Cryptic’s Twitch channel. The stream is scheduled to take place on Tuesday, February 3 at 11:00 am Pacific time. In addition, he will also host AMAs on the Neverwinter and Star Trek Online subreddits. The first will begin at 9:00 am Pacific time on February 4. The second will be held the same day, beginning at 11:00 am Pacific time.

Yesterday, SEGA hosted the first NGS Headline Wave of 2026, offering Phantasy Star Online: New Genesis players a look at their plans for the free-to-play MMORPG. The stream details content updates coming to the game, including a level cap raise to 115 and new mini-episodes.

The mini-episodes will drop on February 4 and will feature companions sharing their feelings following the battle with Vael. Some episodes will feature Nadereh and Manon discussing music found in the Nameless City.

Speaking of the Nameless City, players can look forward to a new exploration quest in the region. Specifically, players will explore the district of the Neon City, where they will gather as many exploration points as they can in a specific amount of time.

The stream covered several other bits of content coming to the game as well. Those interested can find more details in the VOD below.

WEBZEN is preparing to launch a new MU Online speed server in February. At the same time, they will be dropping the renewed Rune Mage class. To prepare players of the free-to-play MMORPG for both, the developer is hosting a “pre-event”.

The event will provide new players as well as those who have been away for a while with useful items intended to give them a bit of a head start when the server launches. This includes login rewards such as Golden Channel Tickets, Bless of Light, and boosters. Other items are earned by reaching various milestones.

In addition, special gifts such as the Rune Mage Character Card will be given to players who pre-register. This item will help players get started with the renewed Rune Mage class. More details can be found on the MU Online site.

Yesterday, Wildlight Entertainment released its PvP raid shooter, Highguard. Since then, the game has accumulated more than 15,000 reviews on Steam, and things are not looking good.

Don’t get us wrong. There are some positive reviews for the free-to-play game. And since the game is free-to-play, it won’t hurt you to try it if you really want to.

That said, more than 60% of the game’s reviews are negative, with most of them having legitimate complaints. These include the size of the game’s map, which is too big for 3v3 play, connectivity issues, and that the game is simply boring. That last one makes sense if the map is too big to meet other players on.

Other complaints include blurry visuals and “surface-level gameplay” with a lack of things (or NPCs) to interact with. One reviewer even stated that they “mostly just feel bad for the devs”, as they believe the game wasn’t intended "for this level of scrutiny".

The question now is what the developers plan to do in response to the fallout, or if they can do anything that will matter at this point. As of now, it seems players feel like they’ve been delivered an incomplete game. That’s a bit difficult to overcome.

The arrival of Marvel Rivals Season 6 has seen the introduction of Deadpool to the free-to-play game's hero roster. As the first ever character in the game who is playable on all three roles, Deadpool certainly is one of the most unique roster additions to date. If you’re looking to get started with playing this hero, knowing how his abilities work across the roles will certainly come in handy. Luckily, this guide covers everything you need to know about Deadpool’s hero kit, team-ups, and gameplay tips for Marvel Rivals.

Deadpool’s Hero Kit & Abilities, Explained

Deadpool is the first ‘flex’ hero to join the game, being playable on any of the three roles. Depending on whether you choose Vanguard Deadpool, Duelist Deadpool, or Strategist Deadpool, the character will have slight ability variations from his primary kit.

In addition to this, Deadpool can gain charge during gameplay that can then be used to open his book and upgrade abilities. To gain charge, you will need to deal damage to the enemy, secure kills, or accumulate heals on your teammates. Each upgrade will strengthen one ability of your choice from Deadpool’s kit into a stronger variation, meaning you get rewarded with power-ups when executing his kit/playstyle well.

Some of Deadpool's abilities are also shared across all three of his kits. Here is a breakdown of every ability that remains the same, or almost the same, on all three roles:

Hazardous Hijinks – Secondary Fire

Dash to an enemy, knocking them down on a hit. On a successful hit, refresh the ability up to 2 times, for three Hazardous Hijinks hits in total. On Support Deadpool, Hazardous Hijinks also applies 45 heal.

Upgrade! – F ability

Deadpool accumulates XP by healing his allies, hitting enemies, and securing kills. He can then use that XP to level up abilities through his upgrade book. In addition to this, whenever Deadpool lands a kill on an enemy, he has the potential to strike a selfie with their corpse. Deadpool can become immune for a couple of seconds when taking a selfie with the enemy, which makes it incredibly valuable for surviving certain ultimates. However, in order to take a selfie, you must kill an enemy player and secure the final hit, resulting in their death. Upon doing so, the F prompt will appear over their body.

Deadpool in Your Area – E Ability

Apply a taunt to enemies, applying Deadpool-themed visual clutter to their screen, and apply chip damage to their health. During this phase, Deadpool's swords and pistols go 'turbo', applying increased firing rate/higher damage output as a result.

Bunny Bounce / Healing Hop – Space

Deadpool can perform a double jump in midair and spring off walls. During the Big Test ultimate, he can also bounce off enemy or ally heals, or walls to reset the ability cooldown. On Strategist Deadpool, this ability becomes Healing Hop, and also applies healing and transforms the next katana base attack to a Stab.

Healing Factor – Passive Ability

When Deadpool has been out of combat for 5 seconds, Healing Factor will kick in, restoring 25 health per second. If Deadpool takes more than 200 damage within a two-second window, his Healing Factor is immediately activated with a boosted heal rate of 50 health per second.

Maximum Flair – Passive Ability

The ultimate ability can be unleashed after reaching an S rating. The rating is cleared if Deadpool is defeated. Deadpool accumulates his Ultimate purely through style points. Each time you land an ability on an enemy, you gain style points, which raise the rank of your Ultimate ability. After reaching an S rating, you can unleash the Ultimate on everyone. However, if you die, the rating will be restarted.

Deadpool Vanguard Abilities

Here is a complete breakdown of each one of Deadpool’s abilities when he is being played on the Vanguard role:

Dual-Desert Eagles: Vanguard – Primary Fire

Rapid-fire projectile, 30 ammunition, 36 damage per round.

Kickass Katana – Primary Fire

Melee weapon, 30 damage per hit.

Magical Unicorn Shield – Secondary Fire

Deploy a plushie that releases a safety bubble to block incoming damage around a selected area.

Deadpool Duelist Abilities

Here is a complete breakdown of each one of Deadpool’s abilities when he is being played on the Duelist role:

Dual-Desert Eagles: Duelist – Primary Fire

Rapid-fire projectile, 38 damage per hit, 30 ammo, 2.5 rounds per second.

Kickass Katana – Primary Fire

Melee, 40 dmg per hit.

Headshot! Duelist – Secondary Fire

Deadpool casts out a projectile that goes through enemies, applying damage, before returning to his location. It has a delayed impact and also generates a spell field, dealing damage both when being sent out and on the return.

Deadpool Strategist Abilities

Here is a complete breakdown of each one of Deadpool’s abilities when he is being played on the Strategist role:

Dual-Desert Eagles: Strategist – Primary Fire

Rapid-fire projectile, 2.5 rounds per second with 30 ammo. 25 damage per round on enemies, 45 healing per round on allies.

Kickass Katana – Primary Fire

Melee, 30 damage per hit, 32 healing.

Bouncing Bobblehead – Secondary Fire

Send out a single-cast projectile that also generates a spell field. The projectile damages enemies and heals allies it connects with. Projectile damage 20 on cast and return, projectile healing 40 on cast and return. Spell field damage is 10/s, whilst spell field healing is 40/s.

Deadpool’s Ultimate Abilities, Explained

Unlike other heroes, Deadpool does not accumulate his Ultimate through regular Ult. Charge. Instead, he gains his Ultimate by raising the level in combat. For healing done, hits delivered, and kills secured, Deadpool builds up XP, which will raise the letter grade. This can be seen on his Ultimate button. Once you reach S, Deadpool can unleash his Ultimate.

There are a few important things to consider. Firstly, Deadpool’s Ultimate works on a ‘use it or lose it’ basis, meaning that if you die, you will need to restart your XP grind. However, on the upside, if you continue to stay alive, you can continuously farm your Ult. For multiple uses per life.

In addition to this, Deadpool has two different Ultimates for each Role – one for his pistols and one for his katanas. This means that in total, he has six different Ultimate abilities, each with slightly differing side effects. A complete summary of them has been included below

The Ban Hammer – Vanguard Pistol Ultimate

Deadpool places a Taunt on one person, gaining bonus HP and healing. If the target misses their abilities, they take 80 damage per missed shot/ability, and Deadpool gains bonus HP.

The Big Test – Vanguard Katana Ultimate

Gains speed and healing buffs, as well as bonus Hazardous Hijinks dashes and bonus HP for himself and all nearby allies. If you apply enough hits to enemies, you will unlock 'mega' speed and healing, as well as reset the cooldown for Healing Factor.

Skill Issue – Duelist Pistol Ultimate

Pick an enemy and apply a taunt. If the enemy misses an ability/shot, they get hit for 60 damage per ability/shot missed.

Pop Quiz! – Duelist Katana Ultimate

Boost your speed and healing output upon using Pop Quiz! Then, hit enough abilities on enemies/allies within the timeframe to unlock bonus speed and healing. The challenge lasts 12 seconds, with the maximum boost lasting 6 seconds from challenge completion.

Pwnage Pound – Strategist Pistol Ultimate

Deadpool gets bonus HP and healing after applying a taunt to an enemy. If the enemy misses their abilities or shots, they take 80 damage per missed ability or shot, and Deadpool gains bonus HP.

Final Exam – Strategist Katana Ultimate

Deadpool gains bonus Healing Hijinks charges, bonus healing output, bonus speed, and applies bonus HP to himself and allies within range. If he hits enough enemies and allies within the challenge period (12s from Ultimate use), he gains a bonus speed and healing for 6s following this.

Deadpool Team-Up Abilities

Mr. Pool’s Interdimensional Toolbix / Commical Chaos – Deadpool + Jeff the Land Shark

Deadpool provides Jeff the Land Shark with a new 'plushie' ability to use. Jeff can cast this plushie on the map, causing an AOE healing field for allies, and apply Deadpool-themed visual clutter to the screen of enemies. Deadpool gains 5% healing bonus on Strategist, 5% damage boost on Duelist, or +50 Max Health on Vanguard

Deadpool Tips & Tricks

• Deadpool’s Photo Mode can be used to sustain massive amounts of damage for a short time, which makes it perfect for living through/’tanking’ certain Ultimates. This includes Magneto, Namor, Iron Man, Phoenix, and more.
• Learning when to swap between Deadpool’s weapon types is key. This enables you to create different combos as you dash in and out of the mid-close range. His pistols are great for applying pressure from poke behind cover or taking out flyers, while his katanas are brilliant for dashing in and finishing off kills.
• Vanguard Deadpool can improve his firing rate with weapons after hitting his E ability, which enables him to temporarily apply even more pressure to the enemies for a while.
• While each team can only select one Deadpool role to play, whoever is playing Deadpool is free to switch between any of his three roles at any given point of the match. This lets you adjust your team comp as needed, whilst keeping the same sort of ability kit in play

Warframe’s got a busy couple of months ahead if today’s announcements are anything to go by. Not only is the new update, “The Shadowgrapher,” planned to release in March, but the game will be dropping on Android on February 18, and new ways to experience the game on Switch 2 will be hitting sometime in Q1. In addition to that, the devs are busy scheduling convention appearances, kicking things off at PAX East, which will also include a celebration of the game’s 13th anniversary. This will be followed by the first -ever TennoVIP community event in São Paulo, Brazil, on May 1 and TennoCon in July. The TennoCon tickets will go on sale on February 27. As we said, they’re busy.

Today, Digital Extremes covered the details on all of this in the January Devsteam. The important things to know about the Android Warframe launch, aside from the date, are that Canadian residents can get in early via a region-specific soft launch on February 11 and that the game is compatible with devices running 64-bit Android on an ARM4 processor with Android OS 12.0 or higher.

As for the upcoming “The Shadowgrapher” update, it will introduce the free-to-play sci-fi shooter's 64th Warframe, the inkblot-inspired Follie. The update will also introduce a new game mode in a haunted painting, as well as graphical improvements.

Full details on the update and the Android drop, as well as everything you need to know about all the upcoming conventions and other events, can be found in the stream embedded below.

Today, Kuro Games hosted the Version 3.1 Special Program for its free-to-play anime-style action RPG, Wuthering Waves. The program detailed what’s to come in the game’s next update and offered players a look at improvements and optimizations coming to the game as well.

Following the conclusion of the last update, Lahai-Roi now has a new sun in the form of the Helios, but the Fractidus is still up to its shenanigans, and the Spacetrek Collective needs to inspect the fallen Reactor Drive. Of course, while we may have forgotten about it with everything else that’s been going on, Rover still has to figure out what’s stealing their Frequency. And then there’s the question of the Exostrider – Lahai-Roi’s non-sentinel sentinel – and the mysterious pink-haired girl Aemeath.

The 3.1 update will begin with the new main quest titled “The Star that Voyages Far” on February 5. The story will take Rover into the Frostlands and answer questions about Aemeath, the Exostrider, and this region’s Threnodian. Of course, the Fractidus will be attempting to execute their own plans as well. Following that, we’ll get an afterstory titled “All that Sunlight Touches,” which will delve into the past of Startorch Academy’s resident doctor, Luuk Herssen. That story will be available on February 26.

Aemeath and Luuk are the two new five-star Resonators being introduced in Version 3.1. Aemeath is a Fusion Sword wielder who also happens to be the chosen Resonator of the Extostrider. She uses mechs and music in battle, and as the Exostrider’s Resonator has the ability to switch between states, one of which is “digital ghost”. The other is the “Exostrider Armament”, which can also be deployed separately. She’s also capable of flight in the Armament state. And her ultimate summons the Exostrider itself – or at least a version of it.

The other five-star Resonator, Luuk, is a Spectro Gauntlet user. He literally wields his own blood in combat. Or rather, he uses the Ichor that’s been infused into his body over time to create weapons, specifically a scalpel that can be detonated from a distance and scythe forms named Dissection and Resection. The scythes are mid-air abilities.

Rover will be traveling to the Roya Frostlands with both Aemeath and Luuk. Luuk is on his way there for work, but as it’s the same direction, he’ll serve as Rover’s guide on the journey. The Frostlands are above Lahai-Roi and used to be a forest, but the Lament changed the climate. As a result, players will have to contend with the dangerous weather patterns when visiting. To get there, players will be taking the massive vertical track found in the Research Institute.

As we’re visiting a frosty new zone, the bike will be getting an upgrade – specifically one that will allow us to drive on open water. This should improve exploration. The update will also introduce a new All-Terrain Tactics module. It will offer several benefits, such as snow tires increasing driving speed when using the Glacier Track.

The update will also introduce new gameplay modes and events. Some familiar events will be returning as well. As for this update’s Convenes, the first one will feature Aemeath, Chisa, Lupa, and their related weapons simultaneously. The second will feature Luuk Herssen, Galbrena, and their related weapons.

As an added surprise, the livestream also showed off some new cosmetics for Rover. Players can get a new crystal crown (Although, I’m not removing my birthday crown.), and when players complete the 3.1 story, they’ll also earn a new outfit, which is effectively Rover’s uniform for the Spacetrek Academy. Players will also receive 1,600 Astrites just for logging into the game between February 17 and March 19.

Of course, the stream included several reward codes. These can be redeemed via the game’s menu and are: PAPERPLANE, WARMSUNGLIGHT, and JOURNEYWELL.

While we still don’t have a solid launch date for Pawprint Studio’s upcoming open-world creature-catching game, Aniimo (other than sometime this year), we know we’re a step closer. Today, the developer kicked off the game’s second beta test, offering everyone a look at the game. Yes, even those who didn’t get in. There’s no NDA, so chances are you can find a streamer you enjoy playing it.

If you signed up for the test but haven’t received an email and aren’t sure if you got in, there’s an easy way to check. Simply head to the Aniimo site and click the “Am I In?” button on the bottom right-hand side. Fill in your email address, and it will give you the answer.

If you were lucky enough to get in, know that what device you can play on will be determined by what level of access you have to the game. If you have iOS TestFlight access, you can play on iOS and PC. However, if you don’t, then you’ll be going PC only. A full FAQ and guide can be found on the game’s site as well.

If you missed out on the early days of Nexon’s classic 2D anime MMORPG MapleStory. Well, that’s what MapleStory Classic World is for. When the game launches, it’ll offer players a taste of 2026 MapleStory. To give players an idea as to what that’s going to be like, Nexon recently posted a short video titled “MapleStory Classic World Origins” offering a look at the game in action. In the two-minute video (I know, it’s not very long.), players get a peek at the game’s market, community features, character creation, and gameplay elements like combat.

On an additional note, if you happen to be anywhere near Los Angeles, you can sign up for an in-person, limited-time public test. The event is already underway and will run until Friday, February 13. Players can book their spot via the Nexon site.

Skate. has faced a bit of a bumpy road since releasing in Early Access back in September 2025. It's a hit with some players, but many fans of the previous entries believe it falls flat in comparison. However, with the game only being in Early Access, there are a series of changes that could still be made throughout the rest of development. Keeping that in mind, here are 9 things Skate could add to improve the game throughout 2026.

Clothing Marketplace / Design Your Own Clothing

Skate. has a variety of different clothing options that can be acquired by players through various methods. Some are tied to completing challenges, some are earned through loot boxes purchased with earnable in-game currency, and some are only available through the in-game Skate Shop with real-world currencies. Additionally, there are also occasional event clothing items that can be obtained by spending event currency, earned by completing seasonal challenges.

However, some players aren’t satisfied with the clothing options currently available in Skate. Others have suggested they’d like to see a marketplace of sorts, where players can design their own clothing items. These items could then be sold to others for in-game currency, letting players make a profit that they can then go on and spend on other clothes that take their interest. Alternatively, some fans have also stated that a more frequent and consistent variety of Skate. collaborations could be enough to satisfy them in terms of cosmetics.

Design Your Own Challenges

Taking things a step further from clothing customization, players have also felt some frustrations towards the lack of new challenges in the game. To remedy this, a mode where players can create challenges could be a very interesting move for the devs to make. Imagine being able to set up your own challenges and goals, and then share them with your friends and the community. A leaderboard system would add a fun sense of competitiveness to the challenges among players and would bring more gameplay customization to the hands of players.

Custom Parks – Make Your Own Park

Technically, custom parks/design your own skate park features have already been somewhat confirmed for the game. However, the devs have stated that this is to come in “Season 3, or beyond”, with no definitive information on just when this addition may arrive. As this is the most highly anticipated content addition for Skate. among the community, it makes sense that players are currently trying not to get their hopes up. Instead, if this feature were simply to arrive within 2026, many would feel that it is a win, rather than “beyond” continuing to stretch further and further onwards without any more updates.

New Expansions & Areas to Skate

The Skate. map already has four main divisions that you can skate within San Van, each containing their own skate parks and different challenges to uncover. However, some players have reported that after extensive time on the game, the city of San Van can feel a little dull and repetitive. Of course, certain updates, such as the Season 2 lighting changes, bring some nice little breaths of fresh air into the game, but players are seeking more. Seeing new suburbs or areas being added to the San Van map throughout 2026 would be one of the more exciting gameplay changes that could be made, or perhaps, if we want to dream big, eventually, additional maps featuring entirely different cities to skate through.

Tags/Sprays

This one is a minor addition, but perhaps that means it's more realistic than bigger concepts on this list. Players love a sense of customization, so being able to unlock and collect different graffiti tags or sprays would be a fun little way for players to leave their mark around the city. They could also make decent rewards for limited-time events and Battle Pass tiers. Eventually being able to customize or design your own sprays would also be interesting, similar to the concept of a clothing marketplace.

More Limited-Time Events With Earnable Rewards

Skate. has only launched a small handful of limited-time events, such as the Halloween and Winter seasonal events. These enable players to complete event challenges and earn limited-time currencies. These currencies can then be used to purchase special items from a section of the Skate. Shop. However, these events often have limited or unappealing items compared to the premium options, which cost San Van Bucks. It would be nice to see more regular limited-time events, even if they are for random themes or celebrations rather than annual seasonal conditions. This way, there will be more event challenges and more themed items up for grabs, which will give players a reason to jump back into the game and complete some challenges.

Spotify Link & Custom Playlist Sharing

There are some absolute hidden gems on the Skate. in-game playlists. However, while players are free to listen to these mixes as they’d like, favorite tracks, and shuffle their playlists, some players wish they had more control over the music they are listening to while they skate around. Simply put, not everyone will have the same taste, so why not let players listen to their own stuff? Spotify integration would be a nice little feature for Skate., enabling players to import their Spotify playlists to use in-game, potentially even sharing their own skate mixes with the community.

More Ways to Earn Tix & Unlock Battle Pass Rewards

One of the biggest complaints from the community about the game currently is how few rewards are given out for seasonal tasks. Tix are the currency used to purchase Battle Passes (‘Skate. Pass’), as well as all rewards and tiers within each pass. Unfortunately, they are also quite grindy to complete, with each set of daily tasks providing a limited amount of Tix. In order to complete the Skate. Pass each season, players must spend quite a consistent amount of time in the game completing challenges on a daily and weekly basis. If they made the pass a little less grindy and Tix easier to earn, it would ultimately feel more satisfying to the player.

Better Challenge Rewards

Touching on the above, while making Tix easier to obtain would be a step in the right direction, challenge rewards in general could do with a bit of tweaking. Each challenge completed only gives a handful of Rip Chips, which players then use to unlock loot boxes from the shop. However, the game could either do with additional ways to earn Rip Chips or provide more Rip Chips for challenges. Sometimes, players just want to free skate around the city or take on their friends in Throwdowns. If additional ways of earning Rip Chips could be added to these functions, this would be a positive change for the game. Perhaps players could gain a small amount of Rip Chips when discovering hidden locations for the first time, or additional Rip Chips when placing well in Throwdowns.

If you haven’t played the anime-style MMORPG Crystal of Atlan recently, you may have missed the recent drop of the “Sandstorm Journey” update, which kicked off a new adventure in the main quest chapter “Floating Settlement” and introduced a new co-op dungeon for players to explore. The update also raised the player level cap to 70, once players complete a level breakthrough quest, of course.

The new questline “Floating Settlement” begins with players trying to solve Navigator Yudora’s disappearance and find the Kraken Key. Along the way, players will experience new stories, Elite Dungeons, and new exploration areas, among other things.

There’s also the level 70 Epic co-op dungeon, “Duskfeather Lair”. The dungeon comes in Solo, Story, Elite, and Legend modes, and clearing any of them will earn players rare rewards, including Level 65 Epic gear.

Since the update’s launch, a login event has been underway. The good news is that if you haven’t been in the game recently, you can still take advantage of it. It doesn’t end until March 12. During that time, players can claim Level 60 Advancer’s Resources and a Level 60 Epic Gear box just by logging in.

It’s that time. Arknights: Endfield has officially launched, and it’s time to enter the world of Talos-II to begin our journey in the free-to-play RTS ARPG. Take on the role of the Endiministrator of Endfield Industries and, with the help of the Five Sparks – and a whole lot of other Operators, work to expand humanity’s presence beyond the Civilization Band.

With the game’s launch, the “Scars of the Forge” character banner is live, offering players a rate-up on their first six-star Operator, Laevatain. A limited-time sign-in event also accompanies the launch, granting players rewards for signing in across multiple days.

Those who played in the Arknights: Endfield tests will also notice a variety of changes. These include improvements to leveling and the weapons and gear system. New story content has been introduced, along with new gameplay features like the “Clue Collection”. A full list of changes can be found in the game’s launch notes.

If you pre-registered for the game, you’ll be receiving your rewards in-game via mail. Also note that if you’re taking part in the Final Prep Orders event on the game’s site, you can claim rewards from it as well. That being said, the event is still running, and as of this writing, there’s at least one more collection opportunity. As you can only select a few of the items from the draws to take into the game, it might be best to wait until you complete all the draws to decide.

As Darkpaw works toward rolling out the Frostreaver server in EverQuest, they’re really taking what players of the free-to-play MMORPG want into account. As a result, when the new server launches, it will have a set of rules determined by the players in a series of polls. Last week, the devs shared the results of those polls, which covered three main topics: expansion unlocks, special rules, and bonuses.

The expansion unlocks cover what will be available at server launch, whether or not the server should stop unlocking expansions, standard unlock periods, and more. For those wondering, Standard - Scars of Velious Launch will be available when the server opens, and expansion unlocks will continue until the server catches up with the live version of the game. In addition, expansions will unlock every 8 weeks.

As for special rules, the server will not have Truebox, and clients per computer will be unrestricted. The server will not have open PvP and will have Encounter Locking. Experience gain will be as fast as possible, and levels will not be locked. Players also voted to have evolving bonuses, randomized loot, challenge achievements, and more.

You might have missed the recent launch of Duet Night Abyss on Steam a couple of days ago. That may partially be because the press release rolled out a bit after the fact. Either way, the fact remains that the free-to-play action RPG is now available on the Valve platform. And, yes, if you’ve already been playing, you can easily log in with your existing account. So, if having everything in one place is what you’re going for, you’re in luck.

In addition to the Steam launch, Pan Studio also announced the release of the game’s next update on January 23, “The Wind Awakening – Part II”. The update continues the players' adventures in Huaxu and introduces a new playable character, a Lumino-attribute swordsman by the name of Kezhou. Like other characters, Kezhou can be obtained by collecting Secret Letter shards through the Immersive Theatre and Cover Commission game modes.

The update will also kick off a new Immersive Theatre rotation. A special login event is also underway. During the run of this event, players can receive 10 Prismatic Hourglasses.

Where Winds Meet has a variety of boss fights that you can challenge daily to secure some new gear and various other rewards, with most being tied to story content that your character experiences throughout their journey. The Supreme Freedom fight comes from an update with the same name, and proves to be one of the most challenging fights that the game has to offer.

Preparing for Supreme Freedom

To get started, you are going to need to get some gear sets that complement your playstyle. Upgrade and tune all of your weapons and high-level gear as well, as this will close the gap on how difficult this boss fight can be. What matters is having a nice set of passives that will work well together, and they can be in any order you’d like as long as your gear has them. For example, the Ivorybloom set is a solid set to go with to increase your crit rate with your weapons, while using the Whirlsnow set for your armor increases your overall defense.

As long as you have a few set bonuses active and have them at least close to the same level as your character, you should be ready to take on the Supreme Freedom fight. This challenge is available daily after you’ve initially taken down the boss, so it is good to get used to what this boss has to offer. You’re going to fight four different bosses, each one entering the arena after the last has fallen. The bosses you’ll fight will all be from previous story quests as well, giving you phantom versions of the Dao Lord, Zheng the Frostwing, River Master, and Murong Yuan to fight.

Phantom Dao Lord

First found within the Unbound Cavern questline, the Dao Lord will have a variety of attacks and split into 3 enemies with their own health bars. However, for this fight, the boss will only have 1 form and be one of the more straightforward bosses that you’ll encounter. When they enter the arena, you’ll be met with an aerial attack where the boss will jump into the air, landing directly where you are standing, and tunneling into the arena. The process will repeat three times before the Dao Lord will emerge from the ground and become open for attacks from you.

After the initial attack, you’ll be met with a variety of slow and wide sweeping attacks from the boss. Most of these can be parried to deal damage to their stance, eventually allowing you to perform a finisher on them. The Golden Attack that you’ll deal with from this boss is a bit harder to spot, though, with Dao Lord placing their weapon low and nearly behind their massive body. Keep an eye out for when they drop low and almost slither through the arena with their weapon glowing gold. Dodging in any direction can work, with dodging to the left being the most consistent. Of the four bosses, Dao Lord is going to be the easiest to take care of due to their smaller health pool and predictable weapon patterns.

Phantom Zheng E

The Ever-normal Granery once again makes an appearance with this fight as well, with Zheng E being summoned as a phantom to fight you. His moveset is going to be mostly unchanged as well, with a mix of his phase 1 and 2 attacks that are easily recognizable. This phantom will attack with his fan, sword, and spear movesets to make him just as unpredictable as before. However, like the previous boss, some attacks from the initial moves will also be missing. For example, this version of Zheng E will not summon a pillar that you need to parry an attack to break, but retain his Golden Attack that will grab your character and slam them into the ground. He will also no longer have the ability to use projectiles that eject from the ground to hurt you after his combos, so you can be a bit more aggressive after he has attacked.

The best offense for this fight, and the remaining fights as well, is going to be to parry as much as possible to stun them. During the stun window, you’ll want to hit Zheng E with as much as you can before he stands back up, and perform a finisher once the timer is almost depleted. Zheng E’s most dangerous moves will be his 6-hit fan combo that can end with his Golden Attack, as well as his attack where he floats in the air before projectiles will track you. His projectile attack will have you dodging the initial orbs, spears raining down immediately after, and his waves thrown from his spear. When he does start floating, you’ll need to be prepared to move to your left or right, and don’t stop until the mechanic itself has been resolved.

Phantom River Master

River Master is initially found during the Heavensfall questline, and their moveset will be a bit easier to deal with when compared to the original. The boss fight here will be based on phase 2 of River Master’s fight, meaning you will not have to deal with Dragon King this time around. He will perform aggressive combos with his sword, but most of his original moves will be missing. Instead of a Golden Charging Attack, the phantom will instead lift the sword above their head before slamming it down onto the ground, causing a shockwave from the impact. He will also have another Golden Attack where he will swing his sword up in an uppercut, forcing you to dodge in the opposite direction to avoid damage.

The attacks from this boss are easier to read than you’d expect, allowing you to parry and stun the River Master fairly quickly. Being aggressive during his slower combos, parrying when an attack is about to hit, and repeating the pattern will be key to taking him down quickly so that you can move to the next boss. Always keep an eye out for that golden glow, as you’ll want to avoid unnecessary damage as much as possible to guarantee that you have enough healing for the final boss in this boss rush.

Phantom Murong Yuan

Murong Yuan is originally part of the Jinming Pool: Petalfall Banquet questline. She will perform quick and incredibly aggressive attacks with her swords, forcing you to focus on defense for the entirety of your fight with her. Much like her original fight, there is little room for you to breathe. She will have a variety of flurry attacks, where you will be tracked easily while she is attacking. This is the one fight where you do not want to avoid parrying, as it is essential to stunning Murong Yuan so that she is finally susceptible to attacks on your end.

There will be two Golden Attacks for this fight that you’ll need to keep your eyes open for. The first of them will result in Murong Yuan lifting her swords over her shoulder after a short combo. This brief pause in her attacks is the giveaway on the move, even starting before the golden hue covers her weapons, so you will need to dodge and avoid the incoming attack. The second Golden Attack will be a bit harder to dodge. Murong Yuan will cross her arms, bringing her swords just over each shoulder, and dash at you while creating an X-shaped wave that cuts through the air in front of her.

The Supreme Freedom series of fights is a huge change of pace in comparison to the majority of the fights you encounter in the game. You’ll face four bosses back-to-back and be forced to play defensively to keep your resources for the later fights. Each boss will spawn in a random order, meaning you can’t effectively plan on how to handle them in general. Sometimes you’ll get the boss you think is the hardest first, sometimes they’ll be the last, and the order will never be what you’d expect. The only plan you can bring into this fight is to be patient, parry for stuns, and bring the best possible gear to complement your playstyle.

If you have nothing going on on January 30 and you’re a fan of 5v5 sports games, you might want to sign up for the upcoming Freestyle Football 2 closed beta test. The game, developed by WOORE, features a “1 player, 1 character” control system, meaning players will have to work in teams rather than control an entire team on their own. Currently, there are seven playable characters.

The upcoming closed beta test will be used to put the finishing touches on the game’s cross-platform play and test server stability. Of course, they’re also looking for players to provide feedback. The test will be available between January 30 and February 2, but it will be broken up into regional windows. So, North American players can expect to log in between 8:00 PM and 12:00 AM Eastern. European players will be able to play between 20:00 and 24:00 CET. And players in Asia between 20:00 and 24:00 KST. So, basically, everyone can log in for four hours between 8:00 PM and Midnight their time.

Signups are open on the Freestyle Football 2 site.

We only have a couple of days until Hotta’s free-to-play strategy RPG, Arknights: Endfield, launches on PC, consoles, and mobile devices on January 22. To get players into the game as quickly as possible, the developer is allowing everyone to pre-install the client today on their platform of choice – whether it be the App Store or Google Play for mobile devices, PlayStation 5, or on PC via the game’s site, Google Play Games, or the Epic Games Store.

Over 35 million people have pre-registered for the game, and as a result, players will be receiving items like T-Creds, Combat Record, and Permits, as well as a five-star character and five-star weapon for meeting the various pre-registration milestones. But that’s not all the developers plan to send players to Talos II with. Currently, folks planning to play can take part in the Pre-draw event on the game’s official site to earn more rewards.

Just click the Pre-Draw button in the upper right-hand corner of the site. And it will take you to a page listing three teams. The first team, “Dijiang,” will be unlocked. The other two will require completing tasks such as inviting friends to join or following a link to the game’s various social accounts to unlock. For each one, unlocked players will receive a certain number of “Special Supplies” every so often. Once claimed, these can be used in the Supply Hub to draw for materials. Additional items can be unlocked by completing a specific number of draws, and players who successfully invite friends to join will receive a chance at “Lucky Draws” for both in-game and real-world items.

Overwatch 2 has a diverse roster of characters from different locations around the world, spanning across the three in-game roles of Tank, DPS, and Support. This roster of lovable characters is one of the most important aspects of the game to fans, which makes new hero additions even more exciting and important. As we head into 2026, fans are starting to wonder what the year may bring in terms of new playable heroes (and villains), with opportunities for long-time names in the lore and old concepts to make a revival. Without further ado, here are ten characters from the Overwatch lore that would make brilliant playable character additions in 2026.

Emre Sarioglu

Emre is a Turkish soldier who joined Overwatch following the Omnic Crisis, being the first high-profile recruit to join the organization. Notably, he is included in a photo from Overwatch’s past that features other core members such as Reinhardt, young Pharah, Ana, Soldier: 76, Gabriel (aka Reaper), Torbjorn, Mercy, Cassidy, and Sojourn. As of Sojourn’s release in early OW2, this leaves Emre as the last core member from this photo to have not made it to the in-game roster...yet.

That’s not to say that we won’t ever see Emre in Overwatch 2, though. In fact, recent seasons of the game seem to point in the other direction, with new lore entries and other characters being introduced with links to his character. Most notably, Freja, who released on DPS in Season 16, has a connection to Emre. He was mentioned in her origin story, as Freja used to work as an Overwatch SAR operative, but ultimately found a new role as a bounty hunter following the collapse of the organization. However, it was also revealed in Freja’s hero trailer, "The Hunt Begins’ that Emre, for whatever reason, is one of her bounty targets – having been contracted by Maximilien. Considering next to nothing is known about Emre other than a few voicelines shared by other characters and the one iconic photo fans know well by now, there’s finally the potential to learn more about this hero. Plus, getting to see some kind of comic or cinematic battle between Freja and Emre as they dive deeper into their past ties to Overwatch would be one heck of a way to get fans hyped for his character.

Anran Ye

Anran is the sister of the recent Overwatch 2 Support hero addition, Wuyang. When Wuyang dropped, the new location of Wuxing University was revealed as part of his lore. This location is a unique school in which students go to study elemental powers. While Wuyang faced troubles in his studies and ended up on a different path to his family in the Water College, his sister Anran continues the family Fire College legacy. The two have been seen to have a little bit of a hiccup in their relationship. But ultimately, Anran saw Wuyang in a new light when he used his Water College powers (which are traditionally medicinal, not combative) to save her in battle.

Anran would honestly be such a fun addition to the roster, possibly under the DPS role. Being able to wield elemental fire as part of her kit would feel flashy and fresh to play, and there is so much opportunity to learn more about Wuxing, as apparently the elemental powers studied there are not a source of ‘magic’, but something else entirely. Plus, it would just be great to have another set of siblings on the roster, other than Hanzo and Genji. They even share slight Zuko and Azula vibes in their personalities and characteristics...just much more wholesome, and much less crazy.

Interestingly, it seems that out of all characters on the list, Anran may be the one we potentially see first. Posts created by long-time trusted Overwatch 2 source on Twitter, OWCavalry, have hinted towards voice lines related to/for Anran being leaked for the game. Specifically, there was an instance of an Echo voiceline for her own Ultimate, which copies the Ultimates of other heroes and yells out their specific voicelines. The line “scorch the sky!” certainly seems to be fitting for Anran over everyone else, which looks good for those hoping to see her soon.

D.Mon

Yuna Lee, otherwise known as D.Mon, is one of the MEKA squad members, known for being tough and protective of her team. She also has a personal connection to D.Va, having previously been on the same esports team, with their matching MEKA handles, D.Va and D.Mon reflecting this dynamic. If one more member of the squad were to join the OW2 roster, D.Mon is the perfect choice. There would be so much potential for fun voice lines with D.Va, and her mech, ‘Beast’, has a really interesting design that would fit into almost any roster role with a couple of tweaks.

Most significantly, the Beast has a sword and shield similar to those of a paladin. This hints that D.Mon and the Beast would be a great secondary Tank MEKA character addition alongside D.Va. However, as OW2 has mostly moved away from 6v6 and runs a single Tank in 5v5, this would leave a lot of missed potential for hero interactions and synergy with her friend and comrade, Hana Song. Perhaps D.Mon could be a fun surprise addition to the DPS or Support roles, as either a brawly mech healer similar to Brigitte, or a defensive DPS that converts damage taken into amplified damage dealt, somehow.

MEKA - Overlord, Casino, or King

If D.Mon ends up being added to the game, that would open up the possibility for the rest of the MEKA squad to eventually make their way to the roster, too. For many fans, this would be the dream scenario, as MEKA’s Overlord, Casino, and King have all been relatively popular characters in the lore, despite not having an overwhelming number of appearances or story beats.

With five different members in the squad, there is definitely room to have MEKA squad members across all three game roles (Tank, DPS, Support). This would mean that hypothetically, one day, fans could run a complete MEKA team comp, too, provided the split ended up being 1 Tank (D.vA), 2 DPS, and 2 Support. D.Mon, Overlord, Casino, and King all have really interesting and unique MEKA designs, too, so there would be the potential to implement all kinds of different playstyles and abilities through their kits. With MEKA, there are nearly limitless possibilities and potential, which has helped keep them at the top as some of the most popular characters from the lore.

Boomslang

With the addition of Hazard on OW2’s Tank roster, a new organization known as the ‘Phreaks’ emerged. Boomslang is one of these Phreaks and a core member of the crew that remains close to Hazard. While she hasn’t been around as long as others, Boomslang has some amazing design elements and a very cool codename (shared with a highly poisonous snake from South Africa). Not only could Boomslang fill the spot as a new South African hero addition, but there’s also potential to play with that snake concept with the rest of her kit – perhaps making her a flashy combat support or DPS that applies poisons to enemies.

In the Hazardous Tactics animated short, Boomslang is seen wielding a gun with green modifications/decals that match the body modifications seen on her legs and ankles. This further points towards the possibility of her fitting into a DPS role, utilizing unique modified weapons in her kit. With the tubing/body modifications being tinted gradient green/yellow, there’s also a possibility that Boomslang quite literally circulates some kind of venom/toxic substance through her body, and uses this to power her weapons.

Jetpack Cat - Mitzi

Jetpack Cat is one of the most iconic and popular fan-favorite character concepts in the Overwatch universe. In addition to this, the character is the result of a previously scrapped hero concept, so there’s always the potential that this could be revisited and tweaked as a future addition for OW2.

Jetpack Cat has some very wacky and endearing lore. Torbjorn and his daughter, Brigitte, are known to have quite a few cats. One cat in particular, a white fluffy critter called Mitzi, would be the chosen one, so to speak. As it turns out, young Brigitte, as she got more into her mechanical skills, started to design custom armors for Mitzi. As you can imagine, this concept resulted in the fully-fledged ‘Jetpack Cat’ idea, where Mitzi would pilot a jetpack mech with those fluffy little paws. Originally deemed ‘too crazy’ an idea even for the OW universe, there is a chance that the strong fanbase for this character could change the course of Jetpack Cat’s fate as a playable hero.

The Yokai – Ryota, Nobuto, or Sakura

Kiriko Kamori quickly became one of the most popular OW characters to date following her release. While she has interesting ties to Hanzo and Genji through her background, there’s even more unexplored potential in the Yokai. The Yokai is a gang that Kiriko founded with some friends to fight back against the Hashimoto, aiming to protect their home of Kanezaka. Not much is currently known about the Yokai right now, other than what was revealed in small lore drops for Kiriko.

This leaves so much untapped potential for the rest of the Yokai members, such as Sakura, Ryota, and Nobuto. There could be fun voicelines and banter between the group members, and it would be a fun way to bring more characters from the same ‘faction’ or organization to multiple roles. Of course, with Kiriko’s ninja skills and her mother’s history of training others, it’s not too far-fetched to believe that the group would inherit some strong ninja-like athletic skills and combat prowess as they spend an extended time as the protectors of Kanezaka. In short, there’s a lot of potential for different martial abilities or ninja tools to create new hero kits for each and every member, eventually.

Maximilien

To date, Maximilien is one of the only ‘big bad villains’ of the Overwatch universe to not currently feature on the in-game roster. Maximilien is a wealthy Omnic and member of Talon’s inner circle, and to put things bluntly, an absolute snake in the grass. Originally seen by the Overwatch as someone weak and soft who would be easy to manipulate, Maximilien not only managed to escape but also negotiated a deal with the group that involved him betraying Doomfist. Later, he would continue working with Doomfist when the latter broke out of prison – as if he had never given him up in the first place. He is a great concept for a slimy, rich, evil sort of villain, and with his deep ties to the story, he would be a welcome addition to the fanbase.

Furthermore, Maximilien also has ties with Freja, having contracted her bounty hunting skills for a hit on Emre. With this more recent info, it seems that Maximilien may be trying to track Emre down either to convert him to Talon’s side or to take him out of the picture entirely. If the latter, is he trying to pick off individuals tied to Overwatch one by one? If so, 2026 could be a really interesting year to see both Emre and Maximilien join the roster, considering how many connections they have to other characters. Plus, there’s also a lack of Omnics currently available, so he would be a nice change, considering we haven’t had an Omnic release since Ramattra at the start of OW2.

Geiger

The Junkers are a really fun group within the Overwatch universe, native to Junker Town. Many of the individuals within this location are known to be scrappers and tinkerers, designing robotic body modifications and weapons out of leftover resources. Geiger is one of the few Junkers known to exist, having taken part in the annual reckoning featured in Junker Queen’s cinematic, alongside Meri and the King.

Honestly, there is very little known about Geiger. However, he just has a really interesting design that tends to stick with viewers. During the Reckoning, Junker Queen chose not to kill Geiger, stating that she wanted him by her side when she became Queen. Well, she’s officially Junker Queen, and she’s been on the roster for a while now, so why not bring Geiger in to join her side as a loyal fighter?

Recluse

Lastly, we have Recluse, who is an unused concept from the pitch meeting of Prometheus, which later became Overwatch 1. While some may think that concepts from this far back would now be irrelevant to OW2, Hazard has proven otherwise, as his new design originates from the concept of ‘Phreak’, who was a character pitched at the same Prometheus meeting.

The design of Recluse features a woman with striking pink hair and extra mechanical, spider-like legs attached to her arms that she uses to walk around. According to her original concept, Recluse’s abilities included a mouth beam and a capability to send out spider bots – perhaps the latter would function similarly to Peni Parker’s kit in Marvel Rivals? While there’s no way to know if Recluse is a definite possibility for the future of OW hero additions, she is certainly one of the most memorable early design concepts, and one fans would be thrilled to see revived, redesigned, or reworked for OW2.

As RuneScape celebrates 25 years in action, Jagex is busy planning the next stage of the MMORPG’s life. Today, the developer dropped a nearly half-hour-long roadmap for 2026, revealing their plans for the year, including an “Integrity Roadmap” titled “The Road to Restoration”.

Jagex describes this as a “commitment from the studio to tackle the game’s biggest and most requested quality-of-life improvements”. The objective is both to keep current players happy and bring more on. The improvement includes UI and visual upgrades, improvements to combat, API plugin support, and more. Players can also look forward to a refresh of character avatars, including updates to models, animation, and styles, as well as the release of the largest area expansion in the game’s history: Havenhythe. There will also be updates to the game’s housing system that offer players more control over their homes. All the details on these and other plans can be found in the video below.

Today, Wargaming dropped World of Warships: Legends’ first content update for the new year. The 8.0 update kicks off the free-to-play naval shooter’s new Born of Battle campaign, Wave 7 of Azure Lane, a new French Navy event, and more.

The Born of Battle campaign runs until February 23, during which time, players can work through 100 milestones and related rewards, including camouflages, crates, and other items. Players who complete the campaign with Admiralty backing will earn the British Tier VIII Premium destroyer Somme, equipped with stealthy long-range torpedoes and the Torpedo Reload Booster.

The new Azure Lane content runs until February 23 as well and introduces five new Azur Lane Commanders, a new Italian Tier VII Premium Battleship, a German Tier VIII Premium cruiser, and other vessels. Then there’s the new French Navy event, which offers players skins for French battleships via special crates.

If you’re a fan of cozy games, I’m sure you know that XD’s cute little “slow-life sim” Heartopia dropped recently. Like many cozy games, the player’s character gets whisked off to a somewhat magical place where they’ll build a new home and help the more permanent citizens complete tasks. Unlike a lot of cozy games, Heartopia drops players into a small town with eleven other players. Interestingly, those players are random, and as you won’t be in the same instance every time you log in, you won’t have the same neighbors every time.

Honestly, you won’t even have the same plot for your house. One day, I was in plot 4. The next, I logged in to find myself on the other side of the map in plot 10. As players log in and out, you’ll see houses disappear from the map to be replaced with those of whoever logs in next.

That said, you can still make friends with the players on your map, and they’ll continue to exist on your friends list, allowing you to send greetings and mail to them. So they won’t just disappear from your life completely.

Rotating neighbors or not, the game will want you to interact with them. Each day, you’ll receive different assignments from the game – little things necessary to earn rewards and currency – and some of those will be doing things like watering your neighbors’ plants. The game will also encourage you to throw parties and take part in different group activities, like ocean fishing and bubble popping on the beach. You don’t have to do them with other players, but that is sort of the idea.

To make making friends easier, the game includes some of the typical social features, such as a text chat and plenty of emotes. Some of those emotes you’ll receive as part of gameplay, or find out in the world. Others can be bought from Annie’s Friendship Store using currency earned in-game.

Annie is also one of the NPCs that will help you get started in the game, introducing you to other villagers as well as the D.G. Member’s Guild. The guild is more or less your progression in-game. You’ll need to increase the levels in it to unlock new housing items, features, blueprints, and even the ability to pick up new hobbies.

You’ll also be able to expand your property over time. Each player’s property can consist of up to eighteen plots in total, which means once they’re all unlocked, they’ll have plenty of room to expand. And, of course, houses can be multiple stories. Staircases are unlocked via the Guild system as well.

In fact, the building system seems pretty robust. Players start out with a beginning house of their choice, but it won’t be long ‘til the game starts teaching them how to make changes. The houses are built using individual items: wall and floor pieces, windows, doors, and staircases. This can be done freely, or players can use blueprints that will tell them how many items they need and create a room or space that can be placed as a set. As for how big the house can be. Well, I did say that players will eventually own pretty sizeable plots, so the house can be pretty big. That said. Leave some room for a garden.

As for what you’ll mostly be doing in the game… Well… Most folks familiar with cozy games can probably guess. As mentioned earlier, the game features “hobbies” that players can learn from the various NPCs. These consist of Gardening, Fishing, Cooking, Birdwatching, Catching Insects, Cat Caring, and Dog Caring. To learn these, you’ll need to level up with the D.G. Member’s Guild and acquire Hobby Expansion Tickets before visiting the associated “mentor”.

Not surprisingly, Fishing and Gardening are the first hobbies you’ll pick up. I personally opted for cooking as my third, as there is an energy system, and you will have to eat in order to keep being active in the game. (Despite having a bed in the house and the ability to lie down on it, it seems sleep is not a way to regenerate energy.) Note that some hobbies will make you wait to unlock them, such as the pet caring ones.

Once a hobby is acquired, players will need to stay active in it in order to level it up. However, it won’t just increase to the next level once enough XP is earned. Hobby Upgrade Tickets are needed to accomplish that. Like the Expansion Tickets, these can be acquired through the Guild. They can also be obtained as Collection Point Rewards.

Other regular activities in the game include completing daily request quests, which typically consist of acquiring specific items for NPCs, or “gossip” quests, which provide a bit of story content about the town and its goings-on. Beyond that, there are general dailies that players can complete. These are found in the game’s menu system.

It’s also worth noting that general gathering in the game does not require any hobby association. Moreover, some gathering doesn’t require energy use. If you’re just pulling items out of bushes, no energy will be spent. Chopping at trees to get lumber or smacking rocks to collect ore does use energy. So, you won’t be able to get away without having food for long.

You can easily locate and travel to anywhere you need, as the game gives you transportation almost immediately in the form of a scooter. Other vehicle options are available in the shop. There’s also a bus you can take if you don’t want to drive.

Another important thing to keep in mind is that the game is designed with mobile devices in mind, so the menus will reflect that – particularly the art for some of the items, which can be pixelated when looking at the larger versions. I’ve actually seen some speculation that this is an indication the game is using AI art, but it’s also just as likely that the devs only made smaller images and didn’t think about what they’d look like when blown up. But if that kind of thing can put you off a game, you should be aware that it exists.

Blade & Soul Neo’s first anniversary is coming up, and players will be able to celebrate by trying out the free-to-play MMORPG’s latest class, the Dark Lancer. The new female character class drops on January 20, along with other playable content such as the new “Dawncrest” zone. This zone is described as “celestial training ground for new field bosses”. Each of these bosses bears the title of Guardian: Guardian of the Forest of Wisdom, Guardian of the Divine Fist Wasteland, and Guardian of the Earthbreaker Mountains. In addition to the new field bosses, players can also look forward to the new Divine Tusked Behemoth world boss and two new dungeons.

As for the Dark Lancer, she specializes in generating stacks of powerful bursts of Demonic Energy, a resource that has yet to exist in Blade & Soul. The class should appeal to players who enjoy fast-paced play and will make use of her combos and Demonic Energy abilities. The class is also highly customizable for both PvE and PvP.

Marvel Rivals Season 6 kicks off today (January 16 UTC), bringing the much-anticipated Deadpool to the hero roster across all three roles. In addition to this, there is a new Battle Pass, changes to the Hero Progression system, brand-new events and rewards, and a series of seasonal hero balance changes that have occurred. In these Season 6 hero balance changes, several notable buffs, nerfs, and tweaks have been made to picks on Vanguard, Duellist, and Strategist to help make them more viable or less overpowering for this next Competitive Season. Here are the most significant changes happening, and which characters they are related to.

Doctor Strange

Doctor Strange launched as one of the strongest Vanguards on the roster, and has been in a pretty okay spot ever since. However, with more recent Vanguard additions joining and the META changing across the last few seasons, Doctor Strange has fallen off a bit in comparison to the likes of Magneto, Emma Frost, and even Peni Parker (thanks to the Rocket Team-Up) as poke and brawl comps grew in popularity. To help Strange’s pick rate and viability improve across the various Competitive Ranks and team comps, he’s gaining several buffs and interesting changes in Season 6.

Firstly, the Maelstrom of Madness conversion ratio of Dark Magic to damage has been increased from 1.2 to 1.3, significantly improving his frontline presence. Doctor Strange also gains a new effect on his Cloak of Levitation. Re-casting during use now interrupts the ability, preserves current movement speed, and allows for new movement input to change trajectory. This will certainly come in handy for repositioning on a whim, or even landing hits with his Ultimate Ability – as it is a popular tactic to launch Doctor Strange up into the air with Cloak of Levitation, then drop down into the enemies with Eye of Agamotto.

Hulk

There’s no denying the fact that Hulk has been quite underwhelming in recent seasons of Marvel Rivals, primarily relying on Team-Ups abilities that he provides to others in order to be considered a valuable pick. Well, in Season 6, Hulk is getting some very significant buffs to his survivability, helping him take space on the frontline and dive targets with better success – ultimately boosting the value he can bring to the team.

The most important/significant of these buffs is undoubtedly to do with his Monster Hulk form (Ultimate Ability). Now, whilst in Monster Form, Hulk has immunity to launch and knockback effects. To put it simply, he can use his Ultimate to tank the heck out of big bursts of damage, and not need to worry about displacement from the likes of Emma Frost’s kick, Angela’s charge/spear, Spidey’s uppercut, Wolverine’s pounce, and more. In addition to this, Hero Hulk’s Incredible Leap has a reduced minimum charge time from 0.5 to 0.4 seconds, with a maximum charge time from 2 seconds to 1.7 seconds. As Hero Hulk, Gamma Burst cooldown also gets reduced from 8 seconds to 6 seconds, with increased projectile damage from 70 to 75. To say the least, Hulk will certainly be much more of a menace in Season 6, jumping in and out of the frontline and enemy team with much more ease.

Blade

Blade has undergone some really interesting new changes for Marvel Rivals Season 6, all to do with bonus Daylight Walker effects dependent on the choice of weapon you are wielding at the time. When players are using Hunter’s Shotgun, enemies will be slowed by 40% for 1.5 seconds. Additionally, the Hunter’s Shotgun's second hit damage will be boosted from 20 to 50, giving Blade even more potential to secure mid-ranged picks. Alternatively, when players are wielding Blade’s Ancestral Sword, Slow will be removed from enemies, and a 8% healing reduction per strike will be applied instead, up to a maximum total of 32% if all hits are successful. This effect will last 3 seconds, while Blade’s damage per hit has been tuned down from 15 to 8 in order to align with these powerful new effects.

Lastly, he’s also been tweaked to have one less ammunition per round (12 to 11), and damage falloff will begin at 15m instead of 20m. At 30m, the damage falloff drops to 50% of the base value, which was 40%. With these new bonus effects on Blade’s weapons, he becomes a threat at both close-range and mid-range proximity, and gives potential for some handy combos when switching between weapons.

Daredevil

It won’t surprise many players that Daredevil is getting the most significant nerfs out of the bunch to begin Season 6. After all, he has, without a doubt, been the strongest dive hero since his release, and was sitting in a particularly powerful spot during Season 5 and Season 5.5. To put it in the words of the devs, the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen will now be a little less punishing.

Firstly, the Devil’s Chain's serious damage range is being decreased from 80 to 75. Devil’s Throw single projectile damage also gets a slight cut, now sitting at 30 instead of 32.5. This brings the total projectile damage of the ability down from 65 to 60 when applied to a single target. Finally, the Fury gained from Devil’s Latch when grappling a surface also takes a hit, decreased from 2 to 1. Overall, these don’t sound like such heavy changes, but they will make all the difference in Daredevil not feeling overwhelming ‘OP’ in the right hands. The damage nerfs and decreased fury also give squishy targets a slightly better chance to fight back against him before they are completely wiped from one of his deadly lock-on combos.

Namor

Namor is a bit of an interesting character. He’s a poke Duelist who tends to thrive in low elo due to his lock-on turret Monstro Squids, but falls off quite a lot in higher ranks, where deployables are easily taken care of with brilliant aim. Because of his hit-or-miss potential, Namor has found himself the recipient of some of the most powerful Team-Ups across the first year of rivals. He had Gamma Squids with Hulk, and Deep Wrath with Hela – both of which have been some of the most powerful Team-Ups of their season, to the point of Hela and Hulk both being target bans in their respective Seasons in order to take the Team-Up abilities out of the game.

Recent seasons have seen Namor often rely on these ‘overpowered’ Team-Ups to bring value to each match. However, they are so powerful that they have also changed the way people play the poke hero, even opting to take aggressive flank routes or dive approaches. To help place Namor as a more fairly-balanced character, his Team-Up with Hela is being toned down with both longer cooldown times and less damage.

However, to compensate, Namor’s base kit is getting some nice little buffs. Aquatic Dominion's time for a single charge has been reduced from 12s to 10s. Default Monstro Spawn Health has been increased from 100 to 125, and the damage has been raised from 17 to 18. Lastly, Enhanced Monstro Spawn damage has been bumped up from 11 to 12. Namor should now operate much more smoothly with his classic playstyle, especially as poke comps will remain strong heading into Season 6.

Cloak & Dagger

Cloak and Dagger have always been a popular Strategist pick from Marvel Rivals launch, thanks to their low skill floor, yet high skill ceiling. However, in the last couple of Seasons, other Strategist heroes have stepped into the spotlight due to having strong utility in their kit (Gambit) or impressive new buffs (Invisible Woman). Cloak and Dagger are now getting some nice buffs that enable more control over your cooldown management, letting players situationally react to the fight as either Cloak or Dagger with a shared window cooldown.

To start, Dagger Storm’s heal per second has been decreased from 55 to 45. However, the ability now grants a one-time burst heal of 60 when created. Other than that, the ‘window’ abilities (Veil of Lightforce for Dagger, or Terror Cape for Cloak) now have two charges, but share a cooldown. Each charge will take a 10-second cooldown to recharge. Additionally, after using either ability, both will have a brief 2-second cooldown. This is actually a huge change that makes Cloak and Dagger quite viable, as players can now pump out huge heals to sustain a team fight with two windows, or create huge blinds with two Terror Cape windows in a row, as well as still having the ability to alternate them.

Invisible Woman

Invisible Woman definitely took out Marvel Rivals Season 5/5.5 as one of the best characters in the META. This is all following the buffs she gained that season, which included extended primary projectile range and the ability to self-shield. As a result, Invisible Woman became a frequent appearance in nearly all matches, with Competitive teams either insta-locking her (as she was ultimately one of, if not the strongest Strategist in the game), or banning her (to prevent having to play into her at all). To help bring her into a more even place, she gets a few nerfs regarding her shield.

Firstly, Guardian Shield’s HP has been decreased from 250 to 200, which is huge in itself. The shield is incredibly powerful, being able to be deployed to block damage or incoming ults, as well as heal nearby allies or herself. It was such a strong ability that many dive characters, who thrive in 1v1 situations, found themselves struggling in an uphill battle to try to kill Invisible Woman in each team fight. The restoration rate after reclaiming Invisible Woman's shield has also been decreased from 42/s to 34/s, though the total time remains unchanged. Finally, the self-healing from her shield has been split in half from 50/s to 25/s.

Gambit

Gambit launched himself into the game and right into the top of the META in Season 5, equipped with a very complex, yet powerful ability kit. In terms of Strategists, he is perhaps the pick that offers the most utility across the entire roster, with the likes of anti-heal, knockback, and most importantly, cleanse abilities up his sleeve. It won’t be a shocker to players that he’s being hit with a few more nerfs as we head into Season 6, though these are some of the most significant number changes throughout the entire patch notes, so we’ll just have to see how he fares in battle throughout the new Competitive Season.

Big Easy Impact's healing amount per explosion has been reduced from 25 to 15, bringing total damage down from 75 to 45. In addition to this, Ragin' Royal Flush's healing takes a hit, now sitting at 55/s rather than the original 75/s. Finally, Bridge Boost bounces on a single target and is now set to a maximum of 2.

This morning, Gryphline hosted its first Special Program for Arknights: Endfield, the free-to-play anime-style strategy RPG launching next week. The stream lasted a little over an hour, and during that time, the devs offered information on the game’s post-apocalyptic world – Talos-II. During the stream, players can get a look at the characters they’ll be able to roll on at launch, as well as the factory simulation features unique to the game.

As shown in the stream, players will interact with the world in much the same way they would any open-world action RPG. That said, there are key differences, such as needing to build and maintain factories to obtain important resources. The game also has a unique mobility system in which players can build their own zip-line routes. And some of the open-world puzzle elements will also require players to do a bit of building.

At launch, the game will have two zones players can explore as well as more social features. These are all covered in the stream.

For those wondering about the game’s monetization, that was covered as well. The game’s gacha system (or “Headhunting”) is divided into three types: Basic, New Horizons, and Chartered. The stream explains the New Horizons version first since the other two have more similarities.

New Horizons immediately offers the chance to pick up six-star operators, and as Permits for this type of headhunting are earned through completing main missions, players don’t need to worry about spending money on it. Even more, upon completion of the banner, players will earn players one six-star character. So there’s at least one guaranteed.

Basic and Chartered banners both have a pity system in which players are guaranteed a six-star Operator within 80 pulls. In addition, on the Basic banner, players will also be able to obtain a six-star Operator of their choice when hitting 300 pulls. It’s the fairly standard system most gacha players are familiar with.

That said, Chartered does differ in that the current rate up character is guaranteed within 120 pulls. And at 60 attempts, players will receive an item known as a “Headhunting Dossier” that can be converted into a special 10xPermit for the next banner. Even more. If you don’t manage to get the Operator on its banner, it could still drop in the next two banners. It will just won’t have a rate up during the second two banners.

The game will also provide players with a free 10x pull after 30 Chartered Headhunting attempts. This does not count toward the guaranteed six-star, but it doesn’t reset the guarantee if a player manages to pull a six-star using it.

Arknights: Endfield is scheduled to launch around 8 PM Eastern time on January 21. Players will be able to pre-download the client on January 20. If you haven’t preregistered, you can still do so. If you’re planning on playing, you might as well go ahead and do that since the stream also offered two redemption codes: RETURNOFALL and ALLFIELD.

Vindictus’ Winter Update dropped this week, and while it brought a bit of new battle content to the MMORPG, the biggest feature – or features – are the new growth systems: ‘Hero’s Path’ and ‘Hero’s Leap’. These systems are intended to make progression easier for players. For instance, Hero’s Path removes elements that players don’t really need and streamlines things. Equipment stats are balanced automatically, so players don’t have to worry about that, and they can easily take on each boss fight in the order intended.

As for Hero’s Leap, it’s a guide intended to help players get into high-level raids once they’ve reached level 115. This is achieved by dividing missions into different categories: Growth, Deployment, Town, and Challenge, in order to help players learn the game’s various systems, like growth mechanics and battle structure. Players also receive plenty of helpful rewards for making their way through the Hero’s Leap system, including gear, crafting materials, and other items.

Also included in the update is a revamp of the game’s HUD. Unnecessary UI elements are now hidden in town. Players can customize their status effects. Decorations and effects have been simplified. And important combat information is now more visible. More details on this and other improvements can be found on the Vindictus site.

Can you believe it’s time to celebrate 25 years of RuneScape? I know that we have a few MMORPGs in their second decade at this point. But when you consider all the ones that didn’t last even a fraction of that time, it’s a pretty big accomplishment.

Today, Jagex, the developer of the long-running game, announced not just the typical celebrations you’d expect for an online game’s anniversary, but also plans to evolve the game and carry it into the future. The “transformative programme”, as they’re describing it, is intended to set things up for “the most ambitious evolution in RuneScape history, with a strategy focused on more integrity, more value, and more RuneScape”. (I feel like that last bit should be a given, but players will probably still be happy to hear it.)

Of course, achieving these goals requires a good bit of money, which is why Jagex also revealed that the project is “backed by the largest annual investment… to date”. They intend to use the money to focus on the things that players care about, such as upgrading support systems and modernizing the game’s infrastructure”. Some of the funding will also go to live events in the UK and the US.

In addition to the new strategy, Jagex also announced the return of RuneFest, which will take place October 3-4 at the Birmingham NEC. It will be twice as big as the last one, hosting 6,000 players. There will be two permanent stages for live reveals and developer sessions, as well as other activities.

Players can also look forward to a live Deadman Mode competition in the US. The Deadman All-Stars event will be hosted in Chicago on June 20 and is a collaborative project with content creator Solomission. A crator LAN event is in the works as well.

To celebrate the anniversary, Jagex announced the RS25 Anniversary Merch Collection. This includes a deluxe 5-disc vinyl box set, a Lumbridge Castle Miniature Brick Set from Youtooz, and an anniversary desk mat, among other things. The Merch store can be found via the RuneScape site.