Now that Steam Next Fest is officially underway, users of the platform can start digging through an endless selection of games and test them out to find the next addition to their library. We gave you a short list of games available during the event, but that doesn’t nearly cover all of them. Luckily for us, some devs are alerting us to their offerings during the event.

In this case, developer and publisher NIRVANA brought its free-to-play tactical strategy RPG Annulus to the Next Fest. In this dark-fantasy game, players are cast in the role of a mercenary captain. They’ll gather weapons and resources, as well as mercenaries they will then train to build their own legion. As they progress, the mercenaries under the player’s command will evolve, with some even taking on new forms inspired by their stories.

Combat in the game is impacted by things like weather, elements, day-night cycles, terrain, and more. In order to progress, players need to take all these factors into account.

As far as the narrative goes, the game boasts multi-path narratives, meaning player choice has an impact.

Between now and March 2, players can check out the game’s demo. There is no official launch date yet, but it shouldn’t be too far off.

MapleStory M, an entry in the MapleStory franchise that has been exclusive to mobile devices, has done pretty well for itself, bringing in more than 75 million registered users globally. But, as with most things, it could always do better, and that’s likely why Nexon is bringing the game to PCs via Steam.

The company announced the free-to-play 2D adventure MMORPG’s upcoming launch on Valve’s platform today. A fully optimized PC version of the game will launch on Steam on March 18, giving PC players the opportunity to experience MapleStory with AFK and offline progression.

Prior to the launch in March, MapleStory M was already available for players to try out as part of Steam Next Fest, which launched today. It will be interesting to see if the Steam version will attract existing MapleStory PC players. My guess is that it might pull those players who have considered trying out the original game but haven’t felt up for the time investment required when joining an MMO that has existed for a while. We shall see.

That said, Nexon has prepared some events to celebrate MapleStory M’s launch on Steam. These include a Wishlist Milestone event. As players wishlist the game on Steam and hit certain milestones, they’ll unlock rewards. Hitting the final goal of 100K wishlists will earn everyone exclusive login rewards.

A second wishlist-related event is the Wishlist Screenshot event. When wishlisting the game on Steam, players will need to take a screenshot and share it on Facebook. Winners will be randomly selected from the submissions on March 18.

Steam Next Fest is kicking off on Monday, and a lot of games have signed up to take part – far too many for us to actually count. Many of those games will be free-to-play offerings, whether that be MMORPGs, action games, MOBAs, or anything else. All of these are games getting ready to release this year, most of them sooner rather than later. All of them will have demos available during Steam Next Fest. We decided to take a look at what’s coming and find some to share with you. Perhaps you’ll find something new to try out.

Spot Zero

Tarta Tech Limited’s Spot Zero is an anime-style ARPG set in a post-apocalyptic world where humans and yokai live and work together. There are only a few towns left, and it's up to the players to take teams made up of both the humans and yokai out into zones controlled by monsters and set up outposts. Players assemble a team of elite investigators and train them.

Each character has its own abilities based on race and weapon type, and players will need to build their teams in ways intended to take advantage of that, swapping the characters out in combat. During combat, players charge energy to be used to freeze the enemy and bring out the entire group to attack at once.

Eon Rush

Eon Rush is a game designed for MOBA and ARPG players and features endgame-level combat from the beginning. The game boasts no grinding to reach endgame and promises that players don’t need to worry about level to play with their friends. There is progression, but it’s not the kind that restricts players from being able to team up. Instead, it gives players more options on how to work together using the game’s Fusion system.

DreamWorld

If you missed it, we’ve written about this game before. DreamWorld is a sandbox MMO where players can build (or destroy) anything they want. They’ll explore different areas, collect resources, build their bases, and hopefully just have a good time. The game makes use of AI text prompts to aid players in their creation, so players should come up with pretty interesting things.

Drone Zone

Euphoria Machine, Drone Zone’s developer and publisher, describes the game as a mix of tactical shooter and MOBA. The other obvious feature of the game is that players control drones to engage in combat, which probably makes the game a lot more vertical than most MOBAs or shooters.

Why drones? Because the world is a radioactive wasteland, humans have to live underground. So, drones do all the fighting and resource acquisition. Each drone has a variety of skills, such as being able to stun the enemy, generate anomalies, and more. Players can make their own unique drones using the resources they’ve gathered, adding better engines, guns, and the like.

Fate Trigger

Speaking of tactical shooters… a new anime-style hero-based version is on the way. Fate Trigger, by Saroasis Studios, features a roster of characters with varying abilities entering an arena to battle it out in different game modes. The game features Battle Royale, team-based defense, and more. The Steam description doesn’t explicitly state it, but based on the sample gifs on the page, it seems players may be able to switch between third-person and first-person combat. Either way, it looks like it might be a good bit of fun.

Only Animals

Looking for something with fewer guns and more critters? Perhaps Only Animals is for you. The game features a “truly endless world” with ongoing procedurally-generated biomes where players can capture and turn into more than 100 animals. Whichever animal the player transforms into dictates how they go about exploring the world.

Don’t fool yourself into thinking it’s all cozy. The game features massive bosses that players will need to fight. That’s not to mention just surviving in general. The good news is you can team up with nine friends to make things easier.

Crystalfall

Ah. The classic loot-centric ARPG. That’s Crystalfall. Players start out the game as a convict trapped in the dungeons of a ruling organization and fight their way through a world that’s not exactly doing well following an asteroid impact. When it hit, the asteroid scattered shards across the world. Now players must contend with mutated beasts and steampunk enemies – because why not steampunk?

The game features a sizeable talent tree as well as lootable skills with their own randomized trees. And yes, there’s plenty of loot for players to collect, use, and sell. The game offers players seasonal content as well as a full endgame experience.

Of course, this is a small selection of all the games that will be taking part in Steam Next Fest. If you’re looking for something specific, you’ll want to take the time to look through the list when it launches.

Whether you’re a Fortnite fan or not, sooner or later, you’ll probably see something you love come to the game at some point. So, I doubt anyone is surprised when their game announces a collaboration with Epic’s free-to-play battle royale, such as Netmarble’s announcement about today’s Solo Leveling: ARISE collaboration launch.

This collaboration isn’t exactly new news. I’ve seen discussions about it over the last couple of days. But today is the official launch date for it. The event will run through March 2, during which time Fortnite players can obtain Solo Leveling: ARISE cosmetics, including outfits, based on their favorite characters.

The collaboration isn’t the only news the Solo Leveling: ARISE team had for us today. The action game is also hosting a few events, including a Valentine’s Day event that will last until March 12, during which time players can earn up to 100 Custom Draw Tickets for logging in. A second Valentine event also offers players daily missions and other activities to take part in to earn even more rewards.

Today, Amazon Games announced plans for a region merge of the Throne and Liberty servers in the Americas. According to the announcement, players on the free-to-play MMORPG's NA-West, NA-East, and SA-East region servers will all be consolidated into one big region simply named “Americas,” and the server time will be adjusted to US Central.

At the same time, EU and APAC PlayStation-only servers will be merged with general servers.

The merge will follow maintenance on March 12. Once it’s completed, the max character cap per region will be adjusted to 6, and all characters that already existed in the previous regions will be brought together.

A merge also means changes to things like the auction house. So, following the merge, the Americas region will have two auction houses. One auction house will be exclusive to the PlayStation-only server, while the other serves everything outside the PlayStation server. At the same time, the Europe and Asia Pacific Northeast servers will each have one auction house, with the PlayStation-specific one being eliminated.

The announcement also contains information on how the changes will impact Siege Warfare, Guilds, and more. It can be found on the Throne and Liberty Steam page.

We’re less than six months away from TennoCon 2026, Digital Extreme’s annual celebration of the free-to-play MMORPGs Warframe and Soulframe. The convention takes place over July 10 and 11, during which time players can expect fun activities and announcements. There will be panels, merch, autograph signings, and even a concert.

Of course, all of this requires tickets. In fact, players have been waiting to find out when those might go on sale. Now we know.

Yesterday, Digital Extremes announced that players will be able to purchase their tickets on February 27, beginning at 4 PM Eastern time. Unless something very strange happens, it is pretty much guaranteed that those tickets will be gone the same day. So, if you’re interested in going, be sure to set your alarm.

If you want details on Path of Exile’s 3.28 expansion, “Mirage”, then you should add the upcoming GGG Live to your schedule. The stream will take place at 11 am Pacific on February 26 and will fully introduce the free-to-play ARPG's new challenge league and its related content. Following the stream, Game Director Mark and Game Designer Octavian will host a Q&A session for players who wish to know more.

Of course, as this is a Twitch stream, players can expect some Drop rewards. What the rewards might be haven’t been revealed yet. Information on that will be available sometime next week.

One thing we don’t have to wait until the stream to find out about the expansion is when it will arrive. According to the post on the PoE forums, the new content will drop on PC and Consoles on March 6.

Those hoping for a closer look at Mistil Games’ third-person shooter Time Takers may be in luck soon. Today, the developer announced the upcoming launch of the free-to-play game’s first closed beta test. (It seems we’re having a lot of tests lately.) The test runs from March 13 to March 21. During that time, players can check out the game’s features, including the Time Energy system.

Currently, the test is only open to players in the Americas. The primary regions are the US, Canada, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Chile, Colombia, and Peru, with the servers being optimized for these regions. The test does allow for players from outside these regions, but they will need to go through extra steps to take part and are warned about possible latency issues.

Players will have to schedule appropriately to take part in this test, as it’s not 24/7. Instead, servers will be accessible for eight hours each day – 4 pm to midnight Pacific. That’s still a decent amount of time, so everyone should be able to get some time in.

As for how to sign up, head to Steam and click “Request Access” on the game’s page. It’s also suggested that you wishlist the game.

MMORPGs are one of the most popular gaming genres in existence, offering players communities full of individuals to interact with in-game, flashy and entertaining combat systems, unique worlds to explore, and interesting stories to experience through quests. However, if there is something that can set MMORPGs apart, it is the level of character customization one has access to.

After all, building a custom character is very important to gaming enthusiasts. Furthermore, it’s always a bonus when titles with good character customization can be downloaded and played for free. Keeping that in mind, we’ve rounded up seven free-to-play MMORPG games with the best character customization options.

Dungeons & Dragons Online

Dungeons & Dragons Online (DDO) has some of the best character creation when it comes to free-to-play MMOs, enabling almost endless possibilities. Players choose from Melee, Spell, or Specialist, and then select one of several classes from each of these roles. Then, you get to choose from a pre-determined path of Feats, Spells, and Skills, or build your own from scratch. And that’s all before you get to creating the physical side of your character!

Players can then, of course, choose their gender and Race, with over ten different racial options to choose from. When it comes to appearance editing, you can customize your character’s hairstyle, facial hair, eyebrow style, hair color, eye geometry, eye color, nose geometry, lip geometry, and facial details. Lastly, you can tie everything together by picking out a name and alignment for your character.

Lost Ark

The character creation options of Lost Ark offer deep customization that makes it very appealing for those looking for a free-to-play MMO. Players first select one of 25 base presets or generate a random one. From here, they can then select a face preset or generate a random one and then modify it to their liking. There are over twenty varying hairstyle options for each class, each of which has further customization.

Then, players can edit eyes and skin to their liking. Lastly, there are makeup and accessory options to pick from, including lipstick, tattoos, and facial hair. Players can then customize their outfit by purchasing different options from the in-game marketplace. There are hundreds of options available across many different styles and aesthetics, so there’s likely something suited to every kind of character you could come up with. There are also communities that share character presets for different themes and aesthetics, if you’re looking for some help coming up with the perfect design.

MapleStory

MapleStory has great character customization because not only can you customize your character, but you can also create up to 3 custom characters per week, for a total of 20 maximum custom characters per world. For each character you create, you get to choose a class, select your gender, and then customize your face, hair, outfit, shoes, weapons, and more.

There are also heaps of customizable pieces that can be unlocked in-game through different methods, such as purchases, events, and more. In fact, there is such a variety of options available that there are even websites dedicated to the community sharing their designs with one another, providing listings of each item in the outfit.

Guild Wars 2

When it comes to character customization in Guild Wars 2, players can choose a gender and select from five different race options – Human, Asura, Sylvari, Charr, and Norn. From here, there are nine different professions to choose from. Following this, players can then start customizing the physical appearance of their character. This includes body features, head options, facial details, and armor dyes. Next, players will answer a questionnaire about themselves to determine the background of the character.

Phantasy Star Online 2 New Genesis

The character customization in Phantasy Star Online 2 New Genesis is definitely impressive, making it one of the best free-to-play options for such criteria. Players can choose from heaps of different base presets. There are multiple body types to choose from, including more cybernetic/robotic options. Players can then choose simple creation or detailed creation to choose which level of customization input they’d like to have over their character, which is a really nice touch.

Players can edit their body, face shape, hair style and color, iris pattern and color, eyebrow shape and color, eyelashes, ear shape, horns, teeth style, skin tone, body paint, outfit, accessories, voice, motions/stances/animations – and that’s all within just the simple creation! The character creator offers a pretty generous amount of options to start off, with the ability to unlock more customization options as you progress, and then edit your character down the line.

Where Winds Meet

Where Winds Meet is one of the most popular free-to-play MMOs in recent years, having gained massive attention throughout 2025. Aside from looking absolutely gorgeous and having customizable combat and intriguing exploration, there are also quite a few strengths in the character creation department, helping to keep players invested in the world of Wuxia. If fans really want to, they can also forgo the traditional step-by-step character creation and have the Where Winds Meet smart creation generate their character from an image. This is fun if you’re looking to base your design on either yourself or any existing character.

Players start by choosing their character’s gender. They can then choose between elegant or realistic portraits, each one offering a range of pre-built designs to start with. You can then customize your character by sculpting their face to your liking. Players then apply makeup to their character, which includes eye makeup, lip makeup, blush, facial accessories, and facial hair. After selecting one of the hairstyle options, players then have the ability to select their character’s voice, either from a range of presets or by recording their own to generate a voice for their character. To complete the process, players then choose one of the available outfits, with the option to unlock more through gameplay.

Throne and Liberty

To complete the list, we have Throne and Liberty. While the game may have faced its fair share of highs and lows, the character creation mechanics offer some of the most in-depth options available in a free-to-play MMO. There are randomization options, an easy face maker option, and of course, detail-oriented options for those looking to take their customization to the next level. Heck, there’s even a surprising amount of tutorials online showing fans how to recreate some of the most notable characters from other franchises.

Presets are available, but players also have the chance to change nearly anything they’d like. This includes face, skin, cheekbones, jaw, bone structure, chin, expression, eyebrows, eye color and shape, mouth, hair, makeup and warpaint, outfits and armor, and so much more. Plus, you can customize every little detail on each one of these aspects, letting players really perfect their designs and bring their ideas to life with accuracy.

I didn’t have “space extraction-action game” from Gaijin on my bingo card for today, but that’s what we’re getting. The company announced its new free-to-play multiplayer game, Star Wrath, today, and then went a step further. Not only did they kick off closed beta testing signups, but the CBT is already live.

As you’d expect from the description, Star Wrath is an extraction game set in space – or more specifically, the edge of a destroyed solar system. Players roam the region in spaceships, fighting each other for resources and DNA samples from pilots. The DNA is used to acquire the abilities of fallen pilots and modify the player’s character. The character isn’t the only thing modifiable; players can also build their own ships using modules. These modifications can be done free-style, or players can use preset blueprints.

Of course, the idea is to collect as much as you can, eliminate all the enemies you can, and be the one to make it out alive. The email the press release came in describes the game as being “Escape from Tarkov meets Elite Dangerous” only with explosive space battles, DNA shenanigans, and the like.

As mentioned above, the game is already in closed beta. Players can sign up for the test using a Gaijin.Net account. Invitations will go out in waves. Founder’s Packs are available, and yes, they do include guaranteed access. More information on the new game can be found on the official site or the Steam page.

Today, Warframe launched globally on Android devices. I’m pretty sure that’s the only platform the free-to-play MMO shooter wasn’t already available, and now it is. To grab the game, just head to the Play Store. Of course, your device will need to meet certain requirements, such as running Android OS 12.0 or higher.

If you’ve been playing Warframe on another device, you can link your Android account with the existing Warframe account. Also know that all the standard features will be available in the Android version, and that it will follow the same update schedule as all the other platforms.

If you’re worried about hard drive space, the app will take up about 14 GB. The initial install will consist of the tutorial experience and will be about 4 GB. After completing that, players will be prompted to download the other 10.

To celebrate the launch, Digital Extremes is offering players who log in on Android devices between now and March 4 a special pack containing the Cirrus Armor Bundle, Cumulus Syandana, Stratus Pistol Skin, Spektaka Color Palette, and a 3-Day Resource Booster.

What happens when you combine Kart-style racing with battle royales and add a whole bunch of creepy-cute animals to the mix? Mayhem, apparently. And, a new game from developers Look Mister and Tevaera Labs.

DeGen Rivals is an 8-player Kart-based battle royale inspired by games like Twitsted Metal. Only, it’s cuter – likely because it’s set in a world where a mad scientist just kinda threw everything they found sitting around (like pizza and cats) into some DNA experiments to create the “DeGens” players will be competing as. During matches, players can use a variety of weapons, including their own vehicle, to defeat their opponent. Game modes include “Cops n Robbers”, “Loot Smash”, and more.

The game is scheduled to release on PC and mobile devices in March. Before that, players will have the opportunity to check it out during Steam Next Fest next week.

A new, open-world sandbox MMO is getting ready to make its debut via Early Access on Steam. Described as a “next-generation Sandbox MMO”, Dreamworld (Developed by DreamWorld Realities Inc.) is an MMO built to allow all players to exist in “a single, infinite, fully shared world”. That means that there are no servers, worlds, or shards – anything that generally breaks an MMO’s community up into smaller communities.

According to the press release, it’s built on Unreal Engine 5 and is “designed as a creator-driven platform”. It features a building system that allows players to build pretty much anything they can think of, ranging from fortresses to mini-games to cities. The game also features an AI text-to-3D model generation system that allows for the creation of custom structures.

As you’d expect from an open-world MMO, DreamWorld features biomes where players can collect the resources they need for their projects, as well as craft weapons and spells, among other things. Players can also expect a variety of options when it comes to getting around in the game’s world, including flying, diving, and mounts.

For those interested, the devs and their partner MARBLEX, a subsidiary of Netmarble, have entered DreamWorld as one of the games taking part in Steam Next Fest on February 23. At that point, players can try out the game for free. As for whether it will be fully free-to-play or not, it is listed as such on Steam. However, when I inquired, I'd been told that monetization hasn’t been decided on as of yet and that players can likely expect premium founder's packs for Early Access. So, be aware that the status may change.

Star Trek Online is celebrating its Sweet 16 the way only an online game can…with new content. The free-to-play MMORPG’s latest update, Corruption, is live on PC and slated to launch on consoles on March 10, bringing Nicole do Boer back to reprise her role as Captain Ezri Dax of the U.S.S. Aventine.

In the new episode, titled Curse of Phrygia, Dax summons players to the MIDAS Array to fight the Chimerans threatening the array – and subsequently the galaxy. This means that players will be taking on a new TFO – Belly of the Beast – and fight their way through waves of psionic beacons and the enemy reinforcements they’re calling in. To take back the array, they’ll also have to deal with the invasion once they’ve boarded.

In addition to the new Episode and TFO, the update also includes a new event with the same name as the update. Once again, players must deal with an infestation of Chimerans who have been sabotaging Alliance structures.

Another bit of new content in the update consists of a gift for players. If you’re looking to change your style, you have two new hairstyles to work with. And they’re free. The first is a pixie cut, obviously inspired by Dax. The other goes completely in the other direction with shaggy hair. There are several new items in the store as well.

Gameforge is preparing to release a new Aion Classic EU update relatively soon. While we don’t know the exact date, we do know that it will be rolled out in “Early 2026”. As we’re already in February, that shouldn’t leave players with a very long wait.

Titled ‘Ignite’, Update 4.5 will introduce a new mid-range magical DPS to the MMORPG. The Phoenix wields Flame Revolvers in combat, executing rapid-fire combos. The class also excels at area control and burst windows in any type of combat. They feature a signature mechanic titled ‘Overcharge Energy’ that builds with each critical hit and allows them to enter a combat state that enhances their magical skill output.

The update also improves things for new players and those who have decided to come back after some time away. It removes the legacy base class system and allows players to begin playing as the advanced class. It also adjusts where players begin their story. Now, instead of spending time in a starter zone, players will go right to the main city, where they can easily access various services and get acquainted with the game’s systems.

Other changes being introduced in the new update are a new open-world progression zone and expanded endgame progression. The new zone, Teva, is a large-scale zone that functions as a central progression hub for the update, featuring rotating anomalies, field missions, rare monster encounters, and more. Players will also find a new monster taming feature in this area.

As for the endgame progression, it introduces new systems such as the battle armor gear line, Arcamant, and high-tier manastones. The first is an evolving equipment path, with higher-tier Battle-Hardened and Battle-Seasoned armor offering stat upgrades. Arcamant is an equipable progression system that introduces combat-enhancing stats. And, the high-tier manastones will allow players even more customization.

The game will also receive a skill overhaul, RvR refinements, and general quality-of-life updates.

Marvel Rivals Season 6.5 has arrived, with plenty of new things for players to enjoy. Elsa Bloodstone has joined the playable hero roster on the Duelist role. There are new events to participate in, new hero skins to unlock, and of course, a new round of hero buffs, nerfs, and adjustments that have been put in place for the remainder of the Competitive Play season.

The hero balance changes for Season 6.5 involve a few minor character nerfs, a couple of readjustments, a decent handful of buffs to various heroes, and even some major new changes, such as brand-new abilities, new effects occurring with the use of existing abilities, and overall changes to the hero kits of notable picks on the roster. If you’re looking for a breakdown of some of the most significant hero balance changes kicking off this season, we’ve rounded up the seven most notable changes affecting heroes in this patch – including Adam Warlock, Storm, Thor, Moon Knight, Loki, and more.

Adam Warlock Can Now Fly & Gains Additional Buffs

Adam Warlock players and even those who don’t play him have been begging the Marvel Rivals devs to add a flight ability to Adam, or at the very least, a significant movement ability to his kit, ever since the game released. After all, it is a core part of his powers in the Marvel universe, and Adam is one of the only Strategist characters with no movement ability or CC ability to make up for the lack of mobility.

Finally, as of Season 6.5, Adam Warlock has a new flight ability, making him a much more valuable pick moving forward. In addition to this, his Soul Bond ability gets buffed with new effects, enabling him to now hover and attack during the ability’s duration. This could potentially help Adam Warlock break away from relying on a triple Strategist lineup and help bring more value to his team as an individual pick. Either way, these are some great changes to the character that should see his popularity rise across the season.

Storm Gains New Effects & Changes

Storm has been in a bit of a weird spot for a while now. In Season 6.5, she is gaining several significant buffs and bonus effects to the abilities in her kit, helping her to hopefully secure more value as a team pick and bring more utility to the field.

Storm has a new Torndao effect. Using Wind Blade and Bolt Rush under this aura now grants Storm Bonus Health (Damage Conversion Ratio: 25%, up to a max of 75 Bonus Health). That’s not all, though – there are also new effects for Thunder, too. Under this aura, Wind Blade hits reduce Bolt Rush cooldown by 0.5s (only once per cast, even if hitting multiple enemies), and increase Bolt Rush spell field range radius from 1m to 1.5m. Lastly, buffs she supplies allies now decay 2 seconds after leaving Storm’s aura, rather than immediately. Finally, Storm’s animations have been ironed out to reduce lag when using Weather Control.

Phoenix & Moon Knight Affected By Survivability Nerfs

Both Phoenix and Moon Knight can be a problem in the right hands. Moon Knight can spam-build his Ultimate easily through narrow chokepoints and grouped-up enemies, while Phoenix is a deadly hitscan pick that can shut down support Ultimates such as Rocket’s Amplifyer, snipe people across the map, apply CC with her stun, and chain explosion damage across grouped enemies.

To help remedy their level of threat, both of them are taking hits to their survivability. Moon Knight is being affected via his Bonus Max Health provided by Moon Blade, which is being reduced from 100 to 75. Phoenix, on the other hand, is having her base health reduced from 275 to 250.

Star-Lord’s Ultimate Cost Got a Generous Reduction

Star-Lord has always been a pretty consistent character, usually swaying around the middle-to-top section of the META. After all, Star-Lord has good hitscan weapons, great mobility, and is a brilliant pick for flanking and applying backline pressure. It also definitely helps that he has continued to keep his Rocket Network Team-Up with Rocket Raccoon, and now also Mister Fantastic.

Star-Lord has a very strong Ultimate, which grants him free-flight and the ability to lock on to enemies that he targets with an aimbot for his pistols. However, this Ultimate can also be quite easily survived or countered with the likes of stuns/CC, shield characters such as Magneto or Doctor Strange, and strong healing Ultimates such as Luna Snow, Cloak & Dagger, and Invisible Woman. To help make Star-Lord more of a threat, Season 6.5 is reducing his Ultimate Charge from 3400 to 3100. This means he will be able to get additional Ultimates per game, providing more frequent chances for turning team fights and securing multiple picks.

Thor Gains New Hammer Throw Effect & Additional Rebalancing

In Marvel Rivals Season 6.5, Thor gains some rebalancing tweaks, following the prior buffs and bonus effects that took place across the last two seasonal updates. First of all, Thor gains a new bonus effect on his Hammer Throw ability, with hits granting 50 Bonus Health. This ability triggers once per throw, even if it hits multiple enemies with the one use.

To compensate for this new Bonus Health ability, Thor is also getting some changes to his Storm Surge Bonus Health. Bonus Health provided by Storm Surge has now been reduced from 75 to 50, meaning Thor’s survivability takes a small hit, but shouldn’t be enough to drastically affect his presence on the frontline.

Loki & Invisible Woman Hit With Minor Nerfs on the Strategist Roster

Another round of minor nerfs and adjustments has been made to the Strategist roster, this time affecting both Loki and Invisible Woman. This does make sense, as Invisible Woman has been one of the most overwhelmingly powerful characters on the Strategist roster following her previous self-shielding buff (even after the nerfs that followed!), and Loki recently gained buffs in the season prior that brought him close to the original value/place in the META where he had been lingering before the significant nerfs that took him out of action for a while.

Season 6.5 aims to adjust these characters slightly while still keeping them as viable picks. Invisible Woman’s buffs are related to her cooldowns, with the cooldown of Force Physics being reduced from 8s to 10s. This is quite an important, yet fair nerf, as her push and pull are some of the strongest and most frustrating displacement abilities in the game. Meanwhile, Loki has his primary fire nerfed slightly, with Mystical Missile charges reduced from 12 to 10. This is a minor adjustment that means he will need to reload more frequently.

Ultron Buffed With Extra Range

Lastly, Ultron also gains some changes on the Strategist roster. However, rather than minor nerfs, Ultron is getting some minor adjustments in favor of a buff. Specifically, Ultron is gaining an increased drone detachment range from 30m to 35m.

This is a small change, but one that helps Ultron’s playstyle thrive even more, as it allows him to maintain additional distance from his allies in order for his drones to remain in play. This makes it even easier for Ultron to reposition himself, play behind natural cover, and make the most of poke damage and healing to bring more value to his team.

A new update for Soulframe’s Closed Alpha test is now available, and this one brings an overhaul of the free-to-play MMORPG’s player progression system. It also introduces improvements to the face and hair customization, as well as new content.

The Virtue system has been changed in ways that allow the Courage, Spirit, and Grace player stats to have more of an impact in gameplay. The stats will grow as characters are leveled up and will no longer require players to allocate points. This doesn’t mean players have no control over point allocation, however. Instead, equipping Virtue Prisms attuned to a desired Virtue will redistribute points. Armor with Virtue attunement will also have an impact.

On the cosmetic end of things, players can pick up new customization options from the rat witch Ancestor, Verminia. There are also ten new face shapes to be found, along with almost two dozen new hairstyles. Players can also pick up three new customizable weapons.

And, of course, there’s more to do. A new mission type will have players facing off against the “plague doctor of the stars,” Medis Gyon, and his massive polluter machines built on Dendrit towers. The towers are scattered across Midrath, allowing the machines known as The Organs to pollute the air and alter it for the Ode. It’s the players’ job to eliminate the towers and stop the smoke.

Another bit of new content is a more challenging version of the Bromius Omen Beast boss fight. The fight features a new Agari boss, the Vadagar Bear, who can be found roaming the overworld after completing the Fable of the Waste Bear quest. Speaking of quests, players can now more easily access side quests using Boards on existing World Trees.

More information about the update can be found in the last Dev Stream, viewable below.

It hasn’t been all that long since ArenaNet implemented Fashion Templates in Guild Wars 2. Since then, it seems players have been offering feedback, and the devs are taking it seriously, posting a thread on the free-to-play MMORPG’s forums detailing what is being done. The thread breaks the changes down by the amount of time expected to be needed to implement them, beginning with two changes that are already live.

Already live is a fix that prevents changing skins in Fashion Templates from needing a Transmutation Charge if the new skin and the current skin match. The other live change is that first-time-experience popups for Fashion Templates reflect the new behavior of the Get Equipped Fashion option.

The rest of the changes will take place between now and the quarterly update in May. Prior to March, the devs will make UI changes intended to make accessing various parts of the Fashion Templates less click-heavy and easier to find. In March and April, they’ll adjust the tutorial to make it “more concise and helpful”. Finally, in May, a “Current” tab will be introduced, allowing players to easily make changes to their current outfit without the need to access Fashion Templates. Once it’s all done, players should have a smoother experience when applying their new fashion.

XD’s open-world cozy RPG Heartopia kicked off its first-ever collaboration over the weekend, welcoming the world of Equestria. The Heartopia X My Little Pony collaboration event is live now and will run until March 15. During that time, players will be working to send the Tree of Harmony, which has appeared on Cloud Island – home to Equestria. To do this, they’ll need to Sense at its base, earning the elements of harmony. These elements are then used to water the tree, increasing an Energy Progress Bar. As the bar increases, players will earn rewards, including resources.

Watering the trill will also earn players Badge Pull Tokens that can be used to obtain special event-themed badges. Completing three sets of these badges will allow players to obtain ten Time-Limited Exhibition Passes. Obtaining all of the Plny Series badges will get them the Town Collaboration Series badges.

The event also features six different gacha pools corresponding to the six main characters of the animated series. The pools contain outfit pieces and character-themed vehicles. Claiming all six vehicles will earn players the Harmony Core sports car.

While I think there are a lot of things that Epic Games doesn’t do right, there is one thing that they’re better at than other devs. I’m speaking policy-wise. Unlike most developers, they’re not locking their old games away forever, preventing those who would preserve them from being able to do so.

As an example, PC Gamer reported over the weekend that Unreal Tournament 2004 is now available to play for free. Moreover, the shooter is now available on the Internet Archive, thanks to the efforts of a community project named OldUnreal. The team’s goal is preserve Epic’s shooters. To that end, they’ve also updated the game to make it playable on current PCs.

As is noted in PC Gamer’s article, it will take more effort to install this than it would a normal game, beginning with downloading it from the Internet Archive. A trip to GitHub will also be necessary to obtain the patch before getting the game running. This is the first public patch in over two decades, and it brings improvements, but the team does warn that there may still be bugs.

Still, a little extra work to install and some bugs are still better than the game disappearing forever.

If you don’t get a second chance to make a first impression, then what about a third chance?

That’s where Blizzard finds itself regarding Overwatch, which launched its most ambitious update on Tuesday, as well as outlining its ambitious plans for the future in last week’s Spotlight video.

The original Overwatch launched in 2016. Its rebirth as Overwatch 2 came in 2022, and, with this week’s update, the game’s official title has reverted back to just plain Overwatch. Considering all the goodwill that has slowly melted away over the last decade, it’s understandable if many people don’t want to give this new-old version of the game the time of day.

But if they were ever going to, if they were ever into Overwatch in the past, now’s the best time to give it another shot. I’ll first list some of the tangible, content-related reasons, but there’s more to it than that, which I’ll get to closer to the end.

The story so far

Let’s get one unpleasant thing out of the way first: There is no more plan for robust PvE. That was supposed to be the entire reason for a sequel, and it failed utterly. A watered-down version of the original plan was released a couple of years ago, and it went nowhere. If that was your only reason for being excited about Overwatch 2, then you’ll still be disappointed. Sorry.

With that out of the way, there are likely a number of other reasons people abandoned Overwatch during its “2” era. For the most part, Blizzard has addressed those concerns, not with promises but with tangible action.

Unlocking heroes. While new free-to-play accounts still need to play a certain number of matches to unlock all heroes, you no longer need to progress through the battle pass or spend real money to unlock newly added heroes. That was a controversial point in OW2’s early days and was (rightfully) seen as removing something that had always been the case in OW1 – new heroes were free and instantly available – to charge money for the privilege. The new system has been in place since April 2024.

New heroes have been added to the game every two seasons – about four months – since the launch of Overwatch 2. That changed with Tuesday’s update, which added five new heroes, with five more planned throughout the next year. With one tank, two damage, and two support characters, that’s enough to make a full team of new heroes with one patch, unless you prefer 6v6 gameplay.

Wait, what?

6v6 is back. While it seemed to make sense at first, removing a tank from team composition and focusing the game around a 5v5 experience has had its positives and negatives. The single remaining tank player is often the focus of abuse – both from enemies and allies – and tank synergy, like Zarya bubbling Reinhardt, is dead in 5v5.

In response to all this, Blizzard brought back a 6v6 game mode, utilizing all the new heroes on the new maps. While it doesn’t offer all the functionality of the core OW1 mode, you can still hop in and make a go of it, even if only for nostalgia’s sake.

New modes. When PvE was still in the works, Blizzard showed off various upgrades you’d be able to buy for your heroes as you progressed. The skeleton of that system was adapted to the main game in the form of perks, upgrades you pick for your hero twice during a match that offer greater power or alternate abilities.

Even more transformative is Stadium, a new game mode that pits two teams in a best-of-seven contest where they score points during a match and then choose from a wide array of upgrades between rounds, some of which are truly mind-boggling. Flying Reinhardt? Three hyperspheres for Sigma? Self-healing for Genji? (Maybe that will finally shut him up.) The variety of different builds makes every game unpredictable and exciting, provided you can handle the chaos.

The future is now

Considering all the tumult that the game and its parent company were embroiled in around 2020 to 2022, it’s fair to think that the direction of the game suffered. Game Director Aaron Keller admitted as much in a recent post: “After we pivoted away from PvE content, it took some time for us to find our footing and refocus on what we truly wanted Overwatch to be.”

The lack of content, game director change, failure of the Overwatch League, underwhelming rebrand, gutting of PvE, and larger concerns, like Blizzard’s sexual harassment lawsuits and the COVID pandemic, sapped players’ wills and sent plenty of players in search of alternatives like Valorant and, more recently, Marvel Rivals.

I’ve always been skeptical of game developers (and, well, people in general) who make a promise, break it, and then say, “Don’t worry, next time we’ll mean it, trust us!”

Why should I? That was the situation I was in when Overwatch 2 launched. My interest waned soon after, and I pursued other interests. It was going to take time and the proper fulfillment of promises to bring me fully back into the fold.

That’s generally come to pass. The roadmaps have been executed as outlined, new heroes and new content have been added regularly, and the recent update has invigorated not only me, but the entire community. The game peaked at over 164,000 players on the day of the new patch, up from the previous high of 75,000 it clocked in August 2023. Anecdotally, I’ve played with a few people who have said, “I haven’t played in years but came back this week.”

Three years ago, the promise of 10 new heroes in a year would have left me so skeptical that Winston could have heard my sigh all the way up on the moon. Now, I’m fully on board and have actual hope for the future of the game, something I couldn’t have said in 2022.

Speaking of the future, Blizzard’s been going heavy on the lore videos and narrated comics lately, which has got some people theorizing that something bigger is on the horizon. That’s one possibility I won’t quite hold out for yet, but the notion of an Arcane-like series featuring Overwatch characters is tantalizing.

That’s how it should be, honestly. The first few years of Overwatch were times of promise and joy, when there were no limitations on what it could become. We might not reach those heights again, but we’re about as close as we ever have been, and fans finally have reason to believe.

Hotta Studio’s ambitious project, Neverness to Everness, kicked off the Co-Ex Test about a week ago. This test followed the Containment test and introduced new gameplay features for everyone to try out – including some “Prison Gameplay”. The developer was nice enough to invite us to try the game out this time around, and I’ve logged quite a few hours in it over the last few days.

I have to say, I’m pretty excited to tell you about it. That said. I should start by reminding you that this is a beta impression. So, things may change by the time the game launches. This also means I ran into some hiccups in some areas of the game. But while it was frustrating in the sense that I couldn’t fairly tell you about some features at the moment, it didn’t squash my enthusiasm for playing the game. (I’ve obviously spoiled a chunk of the story for myself when I start playing the game at launch.)

For any who might be unfamiliar, Neverness to Everness (or NTE) is a free-to-play action game that takes place in an open-world urban environment. While the city of Heathreau might look like a normal city from the outside, the reality is that it has some very unique issues.

As has been shown in gameplay trailers, the game begins with the player’s character being discovered at the site of an ongoing disaster event. An anomaly hangs in the sky, and all conventional wisdom states not to look directly at it. It’s a bit like looking at the sun, only instead of going blind, you’re changed. Conventional wisdom, however, does not seem to apply to you, and since there’s obviously something different about you, the official on the scene decides it’s best to take you back to the local authority tasked with handling all things related to anomalies, the BAC (Bureau of Anomaly Control).

After a bit, you’re brought before the Director, who has determined that you’re (mostly) not a threat and that you might even be useful. So, you – and your amnesia – are sent out into the big bad world where you’ll meet the people with whom you’ll be living and working. Think of it like the Trailblazer joining the Astral Express in Honkai: Star Rail, only the instant family you’ve been given has a lot more actual kids and not people the mother figure just likes referring to as kids.

Similar to the player character, the individuals in your new home of Eibon Antique Shop are Espers – or individuals with awakened supernatural abilities. Like anomalies, Espers are tracked by the BAC. Of course, many of them are employed by the organization. Just about everyone the main character – known as Esper Zero – interacts with is either an Esper or an anomaly who has been granted citizenship. So, pretty much everyone you know falls under the organization’s oversight.

Esper abilities are unique to each individual and have a pretty wide range. Some are definitely what you’d expect for combat use. Others are things like being a walking database. Esper Zero’s particular ability is being able to see the true essence of Anomalies and talk to them. It doesn’t make you strong, but it does make you useful. Still, it’s a good thing you know how to fight, because you’re doing a lot of that.

Speaking of combat, I’ve seen many describe NTE’s as being like Wuthering Waves'. This isn’t wrong. Players build a team of four and swap between the characters as needed. When an indicator appears on a character icon, you can swap to them and trigger the related effect. Regular, chain attacks are done using the mouse, while the skill and the ultimate are tied to the E and Q keys.

As far as I’ve been able to discern, based on the characters I have, roles consist of Damage, Survival, and Buff. These are each broken down into subroles. So, as an example, Damage features Burst DPS, Main DPS, and DoT, while Survival includes Healing and Shield, and Buff includes various boosts. Some characters will only have one subrole, and others will have more. Some subroles will also appear on characters of different roles. Used wisely, this can help assemble a competent party.

Those looking for even more depth can take a peek at the game’s Esper Ability Attributes (Elements), putting specific Attributes on a team together will activate Esper Cycles, creating additional effects. That said, the characters need to be leveled and features unlocked before that can happen.

As for the game’s narrative, I can only say that I’m enjoying it. The world is interesting, the lore well-defined, and there’s plenty of humor. If you’re the kind of person who wants the world to behave in a more realistic way, the humor might not be just right for you. Some of it consists of visual gags, such as your character turning into a chibi version when being thrown out of a car. That said, most of the humor is story-based. You’re dealing with a lot of eccentric characters – and unruly children who are bound to bring the trouble to you.

The story’s told through the main quest and a lot of side content. The main story is broken down into Episodes. Then there are spinoffs, which are full story quests that aren’t tied directly to the main story, but like the Episodes require players to have hit a certain level before being available. Guides also offer story content. Then, there are the Bond quests, which are basically little dates or hangouts.

Players will also run into individuals they know out in the city and get to know a bit more about them that way. Of course, there are plenty of sidequests to pick out while roaming the map, along with fight encounters, collectible items that need to be turned in, and other activities.

Some of these activities are related to the City Tycoon portion of the game. For a simple explanation, City Tycoon grants players access to different features and activities as they level it up. Leveling requires meeting specific requirements, such as completing commissions or having acquired certain resources. As players level up in City Tycoon, they’ll unlock things like the garage, the ability to own property, and a hunter exchange.

The game has several hobbies, all of which are listed under City Tycoon. They consist of racing, fishing, Majong games at the Little Sparrow maid cafe, delivery, heists, and more. At the time of this writing, I’ve only managed to unlock the first three.

Of course, the game has repeatable boss fights as well, to help with progressing your character.

One of the other features introduced in this update is the game’s prison system. Just for y’all, I put in a bit of effort in crime. Just a little low-level joyriding and picking a fight with some cops trying to stop me – mostly because they apparently had to knock me out before taking me in.

I was locked up for six days; during that time, I had choices. I could simply pay my fine and get out, do actual work, or… I could try to escape. There’s also the option of waiting around for things to happen. The prison functions on an actual schedule, moving you from one place to another, and you’re always being observed. If you ask to work, they actually put you to work. If you go for the escape route, you have to be very stealthy. In the end, I just paid my fine.

Finally, we should probably talk about the game’s gacha mechanic for a moment, what they call the “Fair”. Similar to other gacha games, NTE has two banners running at once, one for the limited-time S-Class and one for the S-Class you can roll on for a good while. Both have their own roll tallies and offer a guaranteed A-Class at 10 rolls and an S-Class at 90 rolls. The difference is that the limited-time S-Rank is guaranteed to be the 90 roll pity S-Class.

The other difference between NTE’s and other games’ gacha systems is that NTE turned theirs into a board game. I know this isn’t completely unheard of. But it’s not exactly the norm. When you’re rolling, you can see exactly where you need to end up to get the character you want. Chests provide A-Class and S-Class Arcs (this game’s weapons).

As you move around the board, there’s a possibility for the board to change or for a small event to happen. The end result is that the gacha is a bit more fun, and therefore possibly a bit more addictive.

As far as the visuals go, I love running around looking at all the scenery. Heathreau is a beautiful city, and the devs did a really good job of making it feel lived in. I haven’t experienced snow yet in the game (though I know it exists), but I can say I was surprised when I zoomed in far enough on my character and saw all the little droplets of water on his hair.

Once Hotta works the beta kinks out – which for me consisted mostly of getting mobs to span in certain situations – I think players are really going to enjoy their time in Neverness to Everness. Of course, whether it’s the game for you or not depends on what you’re looking for.

Here we all were, thinking we had this Wild Hunt thing handled. Nah… We knew better. Things are never that easy for the Traveler.

This morning, HoYoverse hosted the latest Genshin Impact Special Program, offering players of the free-to-play open-world ARPG a look at what’s to come in Version Luna V: “Homeward, He Who Caught the Wind”. As you can tell from the title, it’s back to Mondstadt. I don’t think any of us are too surprised about that. Varka has been in the process of sending troops home and wrapping things up in Nod-Krai. So, now it’s finally time for him to go home – and more than likely mess up everything Jean’s kept in order.

Unfortunately, someone (and something) else is making the journey from Nod-Krai as well. It’s time for a visit from the Wild Hunt, which seems to be in Mondstadt for the Great Wolf King of the North. Varka, being the Grand Master of the Knights of Favonius and having a special tie to the Wolf as the Knight of Boreas, is intent on handling things. Although it won’t be easy, what with the Bloodstained Knight making an appearance.

With the new update, the Traveler will be spending a lot of time with some of their oldest friends. The good news is that they’re not just getting together to deal with the Wild Hunt – although that’s a big part of it. Players can also spend time with them on a more casual level, as the Knights have put together a special event intended to bring back memories of when the Traveler first arrived in the city.

The “Echoes of Memory” update replicates some familiar sights, with a twist. It’s up to the Traveler to figure out what’s not right. (Are you telling me the Statue of Seven in Mondstadt wasn’t always Klee?) Players will also have the opportunity to craft drinks for friends. They’ll need to listen to various characters and determine what drink would be best for them. Completing these activities will earn players a special item, the “Phantasmal Gift: Star Omen” weapon appearance, which can be used to change the appearance of Catalyst weapons.

As for upcoming Wish Banners and new characters, Varka is up. The dual-claymore-wielding knight is an animo character. However, possibly because he’s using two weapons, he’s actually able to use more than one element at a time. Animo is constant, while the other element is determined by the individuals in his party. And, like any other character who has had personal dealings with Alice and the Hexenzirkel (Basically anyone they consider to be under their personal care), he also has a special Hexenrei buff waiting for him once he does his homework. He will also have his own Story Quest.

As for the other character on the banner, Flins is getting a rerun. It makes some sense as the two really hit things off during the Nod-Krai exploits. He also appears in the trailer for the new update, which seems to mean he came to help. Speaking of people helping, Vice Captain Lohen appears in the trailer as well. Although his banner was not announced. Rather, the second banner of the update will be a rerun of Skirk and Escoffier.

The Version Luna V update will drop on February 25 (or late February 24 for those of us in the Americas). As always, the Special Program contained some redemption codes. Those are: Homeward, VarkaArrives, and VisitWonderland.

Honkai: Star Rail's Version 4.0 update has arrived. After averting world-ending crises and watching our friends and frienemies suffer, a world associated with Elation seems like a nice enough vacation. Although we probably would have said the same thing about Penacony until everything went down. Surely this won’t end up like that, right? (Yeah. We’re all a little traumatized at this point.)

So, a trip to Planarcadia it is. Welcome to a world where the Masked Fools gather and discuss… Well, whatever it is Masked Fools believe to be important. The domain of the Elation, Planarcadia, is a silly (and somewhat dark) place. You know what they say about what’s hidden behind every smile. It’s also Himeko’s homeworld – the place where she repaired the crashed Astral Express.

MMOBomb was offered a chance at an early peek at the free-to-play ARPG's new update. Of course, we’re not going to go too deeply into all of the story stuff. In this house, we don’t believe in spoilers.

What everyone does already know is that the Astral Express family’s next destination is Planarcadia and that they’re visiting during The Phantasmoon Games at the invitation of the IPC, who oversee the planet. Specifically, one of the Ten Stone Hearts, Pearl, is charged with Planarcadia’s care. As you can probably imagine, there’s a bit of tension between the followers of Aha and the followers of Qilpoth.

Add to that mix The Hunt, a bit of Harmony, and the Trailblaze, and things are going to heat up. We’re not just talking about the Games. As always, everyone has their own agenda. And there are mysteries to be solved, too.

So, what can we tell you about the new update without being too vague? As you’d expect, almost everything about this planet is silly. There really is a cheery moon, which I expect suffered some brain damage due to the rocket in its head, hanging in the sky. (I like to think that the moon is inspired by the 1902 French silent film “A Trip to the Moon”, which features a moon that looks equally silly but a good bit more terrifying.)

The city is filled with “imagenae”, beings from paintings come to life and are integrated into everyday working society. It’s a bit like creating an imaginary friend and telling them they have to get a job. Oh, yes, and the Nameless really are just that famous. It’s a bit of a problem.

Since this is a silly world, getting around is equally silly. The little Mario-esque platforming levels shown in the Special Program are a pretty common way to make it from one place to another in the world, including the Masked Fools hangout, The Tavern, which is quite a bit bigger than any sensible tavern should be.

There are other platforming games as well. Players will find consoles in each of the zone’s main areas. These are for the Star Rabbit game. These can be played at any time. Although in the beginning, players will only be able to play on Hell Mode. There is a Cheat Mode, but it needs to be unlocked by collecting little jelly-like cube-shaped creatures known as nameless wispae.

The update also introduces two story-focused bits of side content – both of which were shown in the special program. The first is a dice/card game that’s pretty easy to play. During gameplay, each player has a character card with hit points and attack and defense stats. Roll the dice and try to get the highest rolls possible in order to attack your opponent or defend against the attack. The mode also has a variety of modifiers to make things a bit more interesting. Aside from the story content related to the game, players can challenge NPCs out in the wild, provided they have the marker over their head.

The other content involves a bunch of trouble makers known as Furbos: imagenae trying to make a living as paparazzi. It’s up to the Trailblazer to help them out. Of course, both activities offer quite a few rewards, including Stellar Jades and Lightcones. So they’re worth doing.

What would a new Honkai: Star Rail update be without new banners? As we know, we’re getting some Elation characters, starting with General Yao Guang, Seer Strategist, and head of the Xianzhou Yuque. The other is Sparxie, a very popular livestreamer on Planarcadia. As Elation characters, both are subject to the “Aha Instant”, an effect that causes them to use their Elation skill and push other characters in the team into the “Certified Banger” state, which lasts two turns.

Of course, I had to test this out and put both Madam Yao and Sparxie on a team, together with the Trailblazer and Sunday. Then they all went to beat up Sunday boss form, because we all like tormenting Sunday. After throwing around buffs and abusing Sparxie’s Skill a couple of times, the Elation skills kicked in, and it was all over. I didn’t even really have time to smash the train into Sunday’s face.

I should note that in this case, I was using fully maxed E6 characters with fully superimposed lightcones. That said, on my first try, I’d forgotten to apply a lightcone, relics, or Eidelons to Sparxie, and she still flattened him when the Elation skill came up. I do believe these Elation characters are not to be messed with.

The update also buffs Black Swan and the OG Sparkle. Unfortunately, I’ve not really played as either of those characters and can’t really offer an educated opinion as to how the changes feel compared to before. And while there are plenty of events in the update, we didn’t get to try them out since they’re not live until the update launches.

All that said, the Version 4.0 update is a bit of a romp. I got quite a few laughs out of the main story and continued to as I tried out some of the side content. But it wasn’t all giggles. There are some serious things going on in Planarcadia. There will be a few true shocks and surprises. And there were in this update. Although they (mostly) just added to the mystery.

Having lived through Penacony and Amphoreus, I’m steeled for trauma at some point. But not immediately. For now, just have a good time on this deeply weird planet that almost makes Penacony look normal.

**Note: Images in this piece were taken from the beta client and may have changed in the live version.**

It’s been right around two weeks since Highguard launched, to less-than-glowing reviews. As I pointed out in the article about the game’s reception, there were some positive reviews, but the vast majority of the negative ones I found had rather legitimate and reasonable complaints.

Of course, legitimate or not, the real test of a game is whether people keep playing it. Particularly when we’re talking about competitive shooters that need people in them for the game to be any fun.

Based on the latest news, Highguard hasn’t passed that test. As a result, the company has begun laying people off. News of the layoffs broke yesterday when Wario64 on Twitter shared a LinkedIn post from a now-former Wildlight employee, Alex Graner, stating they’d been laid off “along with most of the team”. The post also goes on to state that “there was a lot of unreleased content” that the team had designed for players that they were looking forward to everyone seeing.

The layoffs were confirmed by Wildlight about an hour later in a statement on Twitter saying:

”Today, we made an incredibly difficult decision to part ways with a number of our team members while keeping a core group of developers to continue innovating and supporting the game.

”We’re proud of the team, talent, and the product we’ve created together. We’re also grateful for players who gave the game a shot, and those who continue to be a part of our community.”

As is always the case in these situations, we hope that those laid off are picked up by other companies before too long – and that in the meantime, Wildlight is doing something to help with the transition.

The Finals is celebrating the Year of the Horse starting today. The Lunar New Year event brings the fan-favorite 12-player PvP mode ‘Bank It’ back to the free-to-play shooter. The mode pits three teams of four players against each other. The task is simple. Eliminate the enemy, collect coins, and take them to the vault to earn points. And yes, there are rewards, including free Legendary cosmetics.

During the event, which lasts until March 5, the game will feature Lunar New Year-themed versions of maps, including Faingwai City, Las Vegas, Monaco, Seoul, and Fortune Stadium. As for the game’s rewards, players will be able to unlock one reward of their choice daily over a period of 14 days, with a Legendary final set being unlocked at the end. Players need to collect 12 of the 14 rewards to earn the Legendary Set.

It’s been a while since we’ve covered Nexon’s zombie apocalypse survival game Nakwon: Last Paradise – almost a year, in fact. Before that, we covered the game’s pre-alpha test two years ago. Today, we’re here to let you know that you can sign up for the game’s closed alpha test, which will be available via Steam in March.

If you’re a fan of zombie games, Nakwon looks like it will be worth checking out. Of course, you’re killing zombies. That’s kind of the point. You’ll also be managing your own shelter – making it a bit homey – at least as homey as something can be when the undead are wandering around outside like a new type of wildlife that needs culling.

The new test will allow players to try out the improved survival action and life-simulation content. The housing system is also new.

To take part in the test, players need to visit the game’s Steam page. From there, just click “Request Access”. This is something you can do now. You’ll just have to wait for them to start sending invites out closer to the test to know if you got in.

Is it really time for another Genshin Impact Special Program? It doesn’t seem like it’s been that long yet. Either way, one is happening on Friday, and based on the key art, it seems we’re headed back to Mondstadt, or more Mondstatians are headed to Nod-Krai? I’m going with the former since we know Varka’s slowly been sending troops home with the intention of following them as soon as he handles some other business.

Of course, players of the free-to-play ARPG are going to see some familiar faces. Jean and Diluc. They both appear in the art with Varka, who will likely be the first banner in the new update. Two new faces appear as well. These two characters are also tied to Mondstadt. In fact, players will probably think the mask of one individual looks familiar if they pay close attention to the game’s artifact sets. It looks very much like the Bloodstained Iron Mask, which would make this character the Bloodstained Knight of Mondstadt and Nod-Krai lore. The other character is believed to be the Knights of Favonius’ Vice Captain of the 5 th Company, Lohen.

Either way, we’ll find out Friday morning. Of course, we’ll be watching. So we’ll fill you in on the important details later in the day.

Beginning today, Warframe players can start picking up some pretty fancy-looking items to celebrate the Lunar New Year. The developers of the free-to-play MMO shooter announced collections available to players until March 11. Specifically, Digital Extremes is offering players two collections: the Year of the Kaithe Collection and the Dagath Yfari Collection.

Year of the Kaithe includes the following items:

• Gynfas Kaithe Skin
• Lunar Renewal Horse Sigil
• Lunar Renewal Theme
• Lunar Renewal Kaithe Flourish (Emote)
• Tanau Sugatra
• 7-Day Affinity Booster
• 20,000 Kuva
• 200,000 Credits

Included in the Dagath Yfari Collection are:</p

• Dagath Yfari (Dagath Deluxe)
• Indomitable Kaithe Floof
• Malaen Ephemera
• 7-Day Resource Booster
• 7-Day Credit Booster
• 30,000 Kuva
• 300,000 Credits
• Zaw Riven Mod
• Kitgun Riven Mod

If you’d like both, then pick up the Lustrous Lunar Renewal Collection, which includes the Dagath Yfari Collection and the Year of the Kaithe Collection as well as the Rifle Riven Mod and the Melee Riven Mod. Other Lunar New Year-themed items can also be found on the game’s store.

There are plenty of characters to check out and play as you get into Deadlock. Whether this is your first MOBA title or one of many that you’ve gotten your hands on, there are guaranteed to be a few characters that mesh with your mindset and playstyle when you get into the game. There are a variety of roles in the game, with the Carry role in Deadlock rewarding a slow start with massive endgame potential. Here are some of the best carry characters you can choose when you start getting into Deadlock.

Victor

This character is one of the most unique characters in the game, along with Lady Geist. Victor’s health is a resource that you’re going to regularly use throughout the match, but early on, you’re going to be somewhat stalled on that growth in his health pool in order to be able to actively use it for a fight. In early gameplay, you’ll want to be very cautious, gradually increasing the aggression in his playstyle with the biggest swings coming in the mid- to late-game phases. He has very little range to his abilities aside from his weapon, so you need to plan to rush into fights headfirst in order to make the most of his kit. You’ll want to snag a few items to heal from using his abilities, but his growth comes full swing very quickly as the later portions of a match begin to approach. If you want to become a raid boss, you’ll most likely enjoy playing as Victor.

Lady Geist

You can’t talk about Victor without bringing up Lady Geist; both feature a similar gimmick but play it very differently. Where Victor uses his health to damage enemies in an aura surrounding him, Lady Geist uses her health to throw grenades and blood shards to harm her foes. She can sap enemy health, heal teammates, and even swap health with enemies when her ultimate is unlocked. Where Victor needs to get in close to use his abilities, Lady Geist can attack at a longer range and still deal some massive damage when properly tuned. She isn’t the weakest character in the early game, but far from the strongest, since her limited health at the start can hamper what abilities you get to use right away. As she is built up, she can become incredibly tanky and more aggressive in each stage of the game, allowing you to turn the tide of a battle almost instantly.

Silver

Silver can be considered a tank as well as a carry; she has a slower early game when items are a finite resource. However, once midgame rolls around, she can be an incredible character who can turn the tide of many team fights. With a variety of builds you can use that are centered around several playstyles, you’ll want to constantly be engaging with your enemies when you’ve unlocked her Werewolf form. She isn’t a standard carry character by any means, as she will become strong quickly with just some standard items. By the end of the match, she will become incredibly powerful and can decimate your foes.

Warden

In terms of how powerful a character is, Warden can be hit or miss, depending on a ton of factors. He is somewhat powerful in the starting phases, but gets noticeably weaker as everyone else gains more tools to fight back against him. By default, Warden can be quite slow, and this goes double when he is using his ultimate ability. You’ll need a nice build that will allow him to have high health, good gun damage, and high spirit damage output so that his ultimate can cause as much mayhem as possible. He’s always been one of the top carry characters who can double as a tank when built correctly.

Seven

Seven is another top-tier carry character that scales well with levels throughout the match, while also having a very all-around great kit to deal damage to your enemies. Out of all of the characters listed, Seven is the one that requires you to farm mobs and spawns throughout the map to begin building his kit. He uses a ball of lightning for area denial when someone tries to hide behind cover, stuns enemies, buffs his own weapon, and creates a massive AoE with his ultimate ability. He is a fantastic choice all around and can be built to be a gun carry or spirit carry character. If any character can be considered an all-rounder, it would be Seven. The match will usually start strong with him, but as it continues, you’ll need to work a bit harder to scale up and continue to do as much damage as possible to the enemy team with him.

Not every character is going to have the same overall set of rules you’ll need to follow, and enemy team compositions may not allow for the desired route you need to take. Many carry characters are going to force players out of their comfort zones if the playstyle isn’t what they’re used to. If you’re looking to get started, you’ll need to apply consistent pressure on your enemies in the early portion of the match, while also backing off often to farm for more levels and items to keep the pressure on in the later portions of the match. Some characters, like Silver, can get away with constant fights to gain more of the items they need.

As promised during a spotlight video last week, the Reign of Talon begins today. The year-long story has begun in Overwatch (formerly Overwatch 2). In addition to being the free-to-play team shooter’s first annual story arc, Season 1: Conquest is also hopping right into things by dropping five new Heroes at once – really getting things rolling to put out a total of ten Heroes before the end of the year. (Yes, that includes the cat.)

In this story, players are asked to choose sides in a five-week faction war. Do you wish to help Overwatch or Talon? The faction war will be affected by how players approach things. Complete missions to progress, unlock lore, and earn faction-specific cosmetics. It’s okay to be a traitor too and switch factions so you can get all the lore and the goodies.

When most people think of Valentine’s Day, they think of things like flowers and chocolate. When the Trove team thinks of it, it seems their mind goes immediately to bugs – specifically, Heckbugs. Once again, the critters have returned to the free-to-play voxel MMORPG, and it’s up to the players to deal with them.

In case you missed the notice, the annual Heckbug event is underway, and players have until February 17to participate. To get started in the Heckbugs in Love event, head to the Hub, where you’ll spot spaceships bringing H.E.C.K ambassadors. (If you’re wondering, the acronym stands for “Helpers of Exotic Creatures...for Karma!) The group is there to ask for assistance, and players can help out by talking with the leader, Hailey.

H.E.C.K wants to “preserve” the bugs, and players are able to help with this using treats, heated blankets, and other items. (I think the bugs are getting better treatment than the players.)

That said, players will also have to deal with the Heckbug Hunter, who isn’t exactly keen on the invasion.

You may or may not remember that about nine months ago, there were reports about a deal between Nexon and Blizzard granting Nexon the rights to create a new game using the StarCraft IP. At the time, reports were vague, and it seemed that the developer might be able to work on multiple StarCraft-related projects.

Whatever the case, it wasn’t outright confirmed what, if anything, Nexon was working on. Now, we may have some idea as to what’s in store. A report from the Korean news outlet Korea Economic Daily and shared by MassivelyOP, indicates that the company could be working on that StarCraft shooter players have been hoping for for…how long now?

According to the report, StarCraft modder Choi Jun-ho may be involved as the project lead. The report goes on to state that the “preliminary preparations” of putting together a team to work on the game have been completed. (Keep in mind, this is what Google Translate gave Massively.)

Of course, until Blizzard confirms or denies this – which they haven’t as of yet – it’s best to remain cautiously optimistic about the whole thing. It’s also worth remembering that if the report is accurate, Nexon is still in the early, early stages and hasn’t even begun development. So, at best, it will be a good while before we see anything.

Blizzard has announced the next Hearthstone update. Arriving in the free-to-play card game on March 17, the Cataclysm expansion asks the all-important question: “What would happen if Deathwing never fell?” In this expansion, Murozond destroyed the Hourglass of Time, opening a portal to a timeline where this is exactly what happened. Now Deathwing and his six Lieutenants are using the opportunity to create havoc once again.

To play this scenario out, the first-ever Deathwing Hero Card is being added to the game. New cards also include Colossal Minions and the five dragonflights. The former will aid Deathwing while the latter will fight on the side of heroes. Both make use of their own keywords, “Herald” for the Colossal minions, and “Shatter” for the five dragonflights.

Prior to the expansion drop, players can expect some free goodies and special events. To start with, simply logging into the game will earn players the Warmaster Blackhorn Legendary card. There’s also an online event, Rally the Dragonflights, which players can take part in to warn a free Legendary Ebyssian and two Signature copies of Envoy of the End. The event lasts until March 17.

As for in-game event, a two wave event has players fighting the Elemental Lords as well as Onyxia and Cho’gal to earn a selection of cards. Details on these events can be found in the patch notes.

The latest Duet Night Abyss update, “The Huaxu: The Wind Awakening”, is available, bringing with it some rather big new features. In addition to the stuff you’d usually expect, such as new characters, the update introduces the open-world ARPG’s mount system and an auto-battler mode.

The mount system had been teased on the game’s YouTube channel for a bit, with the developer rolling out videos highlighting different mount options. There are four different types to be had, including the “Mecha-Sable Bi’an” earned via completing in-game tasks.

Other additions include things like being able to send gifts to friends and a regional reward system. The system, known as “Rise to Fame,” offers rewards to players. Players can also earn rewards by taking part in Wishen’s Daring Adventures event.

As for the two new characters, both are Electro-element. The first is a merchant named Zhiliu, who is available now. The latter is the dragon-themed Yuming. They will be made available at a later point.

It’s time for another “Fest” on Steam. It seems a bit like we have one of those every month or so these days, but they’re a great way to introduce players to games they may have missed, and offer some deals too. This time, developers are taking part in the PvPFest, which kicked off today. I’m not even going to bother trying to count the number of games involved in this event, but it’s quite a few. Of course, the usual suspects are taking part…Overwatch, Marvel Rivals, and the like. And of course, a large portion of the games listed are buy-to-play.

But we’re here to talk about free-to-play games. So I decided to take a peek at the free-to-play listings. Luckily, Steam was kind enough to make a separate tab featuring games in the F2P category. So, I used that in the making of this list, which means anyone interested can just hit up the same tab on the event’s page.

Once perusing the F2P section, I narrowed things down by looking for games with a smaller number of but fairly positive reviews. I then cross-checked them against the Steam DB to make sure they’re not completely dead and just have a small audience. Some of these offerings I recognize from having written about them before – although it’s likely been a while. Others are new to me. Either way, if you’re looking for something a bit different to play, you might give some of them a go. As I’ve pointed out before. F2P games only cost you the download time and HD space to try out.

Strinova

Strinova is an anime-style third-person shooter that came out in 2024 and features a mechanic that allows players to switch between three-dimensional and two-dimensional forms to move around the map. This allows players to do things like squeeze between cracks in walls and maneuver through otherwise inaccessible spaces.

I don’t recall the game’s launch being all that big. And it certainly doesn’t have the number of reviews or players of other games. But based on SteamDB, the playerbase is fairly consistent, and the reviews on Steam are mostly positive.

Town of Salem 2

This cartoon-style social deduction game, designed for 7 to 15 players, is set in the town of Salem. You know…the one with the witches. The game features more than 50 playable roles, each with its own abilities and objectives.

Review-wise, Town of Salem 2 isn’t doing badly. That said, its player count isn’t all that high. It peaked at a little under 4,000 players around launch and now manages somewhere between 300 and 500 players on average. That’s not necessarily a sign the game is bad. It could just be that it came out around the same time as a lot of other social deduction games did. It’s still being supported and recently had a backend update.

Century: Age of Ashes

Co-op dragon battles and racing. That’s the game. Actually, it’s more than just that. Century: Age of Ashes features five different modes (4 PvP and 1 PvE). It also offers players their choice of class and the ability to customize their dragons.

Currently, the game is in its third season, which introduced the new rider class: “Rimeblood”, as well as a new map and story content, among other things

Admittedly, the problem with this game is player numbers. As of this writing, SteamDB states that there are 31 players in-game. Perhaps that will go up during PvP Fest.

Hades’ Star

We’ve gone from dragons to space and from team combat to strategy. Hades’ Star is a space strategy game in which players build their own empire in space. Players have an entire, evolving galaxy to work with: establishing a presence, planning out their economy, colonizing planets – all the things you do when you’re building an empire in space.

As far as PvP goes, the system features different types of stars that dictate gameplay. Blue Stars are stars that last for five minutes, during which time five players can send a battleship to take part in a short burst of combat and see who’s left standing.

This is another game with exceedingly low count numbers. But as it’s a strategy game mostly made up of solo-play, that’s probably not the worst thing. PvP only requires five players and last for a short time, so unless everyone’s just busy with the empire building portion of the game, it could easily work out.

Skillshot City

Skillshot City is another game with solid reviews and low player numbers. The PvP Roguelite (also described in the same blurb as a GTA-style battle royale with no queues or downtime) has been around since 2017. It’s still kicking, and there was even an update in January.

Unfortunately, the most consecutive players it’s seen in the last year was right around 60 about a week ago. That said, the game seems to offer some fun features and could be a good time for a bit for players looking for something different.

War Selection

As single-player RTS games with online PvP go, War Selection seems to be faring well enough. It boasts Very Positive reviews, and the concurrent players are somewhere between 300 and 1,000 on a regular basis. Considering the game’s all-time peak was around 2,000 players, it’s probably suffered the least as far as player loss goes.

Granted, RTS games typically appeal to a specific type of player. Interestingly, while the game is single-player, it seems the devs devoted more time to PvP content than a lot of other games in the same genre. The game features several modes, including survival, match, ranked battle, team match, tug of war, and more. Some of the modes are both single-player and PvP.

Unfortunate Spacemen

Look, I made a choice putting this one here. Unfortunate Spacemen isn’t exactly excelling right now. As I’m looking at SteamDB, there are only 8 players in game, and the 24-hour peak is 28. The thing is that the space-based deception game has a good rating, and even among the negative reviews, there wasn’t a lot to work with. One complaint is simply that no one is playing, and that, apparently, when there were a lot of players, people were toxic.

But, well, this post is about games you may have forgotten about. So, obviously, I make no guarantees as to quality.

Onmyoji

How about some turn-based fantasy strategy with PvP as an option? Honestly, looking at the game, I kind of imagine many who play Onmyoji just sticking to the PvE. That said, the game offers players the ability to engage in “semi-real-time battles” with each other by building a team and sending it into battle. Players also have the option to invite their friends to duels.

Blood of Steel

Blood of Steel is built for those players who are big into historical figures. Players take on the role of various generals and lead massive armies into combat. That said, there is a good bit of direct combat between the players’ characters as well. So everyone gets in on the mayhem.

Unfortunately, it may be hard to find players to compete against – unless you bring friends. At the moment, SteamDB is reporting 10 players online with a 156-person 24-hour peak.

Wheelchair Wizards

It seems that the moral of Wheelchair Wizards is that everyone is equal when armed with Wizard Powers. The 2-D platform battle game features 3 maps with 17+ levels, plenty of spells, and upgrades. This game is also the smallest game in the list, taking up 200 MB of space. So, it’ll be an easy one to try out with some friends.

If you are a fan of pirate-themed games, Sea of Remnants might have been on your radar since its announcement. This fantastical open-world RPG is looking to make its mark by going forward and combining the best parts of turn-based free-to-play games while still being something fresh and new. With the closed alpha officially setting sail, we got to experience what the game has 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, 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 two other puppets near you in yet another unfamiliar place.

The game will then take you on a somewhat on-rails journey for a bit, allowing you to create your character and take on some brief combat tutorials to acclimate you to the gameplay loop. The character creation is quite well-designed and diverse for the most part. While some options are lacking (the ability to create a more muscular or leaner character isn't available), there are still many other options for customizing your character. You can truly create your own unique pirate that reflects your personality, even without the many options that other games have.

When you finally reach the stage of the game where you get your own ship, the game truly opens 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 of the game, there was still plenty to explore and play around with to get a handle on all the systems offered. The scale of the game in this alpha test is already quite impressive and enjoyable. Players have the ability to sail around solving puzzles in the open ocean or go to an island to search 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. The characters 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 to 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, the playable characters all have a fantastic look to them. From their outfits, animations, and ultimate abilities, they all have something 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 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, offering the ability to turn quickly and fire 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, offering 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

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 hits many of the same notes as 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 game's music. Where you might expect some sea shanties and pirate music in general, you will get the polar opposite. The music isn’t bad. It's all quite good in its own way. 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 several genres of music are sprinkled into the game.

The game has an incredible amount of polish for something in the alpha test stage. 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. But these aren't major issues at this stage, and don’t take away from what is being shown 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.

It seems the next installment in the Aion franchise is still on track to launch this year. NCSoft revealed the latest development on the path to the game’s eventual release today, announcing that former Amazon Game Studios Regional Franchise Leader Mervin Lee Kwai is joining the company and will be overseeing the global launch of the upcoming MMORPG Aion 2. He will also take charge of existing titles like the original Aion, Blade & Soul, and Lineage II.

According to the press release for NCSoft, the CEO of NC America, Jeonghee “JJ” Jin, stated that Lee Kwai’s “particular blend of game industry executive skills and deep understanding of MMORPGs in the modern market make him the perfect candidate”. Lee Kwai worked on both Lost Ark and Throne and Liberty while at Amazon. The latter means NCSoft is already familiar with how Lee Kwai works.

Amazon isn’t the only MMO developer Lee Kwai has worked with. He’s also worked on projects at Sony Online Entertainment and Trion Worlds. During his time at Sony Online Entertainment, he was the Executive Producer for ArcheAge and Trove. At SOE, he held the positions of Project Manager Localization for Dragon’s Prophet, Wizardry Online, PlanetSide 2, and DC Universe Online, and Project Manager for Free Realms and Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures.

Now that things seem to be moving along, it will be interesting to see what, if anything, is changed for the global version of the game. About four months ago, NCSoft announced the monetization plans for the game, which kind of boiled down to free-to-play with two optional subs. The plan wasn’t exactly met with excitement.

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.

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.