Fortnite’s rocket launch was a once-ever event, and players throughout the game were quick to call truces and hold viewing parties in order to see the rocket live. But not everyone wants to abide by the social contract, and one player took the opportunity to set a new solo kill record by offing a bunch of hapless rocket-watchers.
During one match, players joined forces to build a massive ramp for the best possible angle to see the rocket. One player, by the name of Elemental_Ray, chopped out that ramp from underneath, sending over 40 players to their untimely dooms. Elemental_Ray ended that match with a total of 48 kills - a new all-time kill record for a solo game.
Build the spirit of cooperation (and griefing) with the .
Now, I don’t want to cast too many dispersions since I’m not especially good at Fortnite, but Elemental_Ray isn’t a particularly notable Fortnite player, either. He’s got a 1% win percentage according to , and apparently had a K/D ratio of just 0.47 at the time of his record - though that’s improved to 0.81 since the 48 kill match. He didn’t end up winning this one, either.
Naturally, not everyone’s happy about the method by which the record was achieved, but Elemental_Ray appears to be enjoying the newfound fame. He’s started a Twitch channel and now proclaims himself “THE MOST HATED MAN” in the game via his profile. (And he did at least wait for the rocket to land before knocking the ramp down.)
Update, July 2: Fallout 76 cosmetics can be earned in-game, as well as purchased.
We know Fallout 76 will offer microtransactions for cosmetic items, and now we know you won’t actually have to spend money if you want access to those options. Todd Howard says that whatever the form Fallout 76’s real money currency takes, you’ll be able to earn it in-game. Howard says the two main goals for the game’s microtransactions are to avoid pay-to-win mechanics and allow any such items to be earned in-game.
With, er, pioneering experience in the field going all the way back to horse armour, Bethesda’s done a fair amount both right and wrong when it comes to add-on content, and Howard says that learning has helped them balance the design of Fallout 76’s purchase options. The developers don’t want to split the playerbase by offering exclusive bits of DLC, and these cosmetic items are intended to keep additional features free while bringing in additional revenue for continued development.
We're hoping Fallout 76 ends up being one of the on PC.
This comes from a interview - translated via - in which Howard also discussed the return of radiant quests in Fallout 76.
We first heard microtransactions would "only come in the form of cosmetics" through Noclip's Danny O'Dwyer, who has had extensive access to developer Bethesda. Moreover, "any purchaseable cosmetics available will also be available to earn through gameplay." Bethesda says this will be a crucial element in supporting dedicated servers and keeping DLC free.
Fallout 76 is going to offer an array of things to do, and that means the return of Bethesda’s radiant quest system. In addition to the handcrafted quests, you’ll also have an array of generated errands to go on as you make your way in the wastes so you never run out of stuff to do. Or settlements to help.
In previous Bethesda titles like Skyrim and Fallout 4, radiant quests have been goals distributed by certain NPCs, which give you simple tasks in exchange for straightforward rewards. That might be clearing out a bandit camp or, yes, helping another settlement, and while these objectives might get a hair repetitive they at least keep you supplied with things to do.
Stay alive with the .
Todd Howard tells German outlet - coming to us via - that will include both objectives in the radiant system as well as the hand-crafted missions we might hope for. 76’s multiplayer focus means that players will need an even bigger variety of repeatable content, so radiant quests will fill an important role there.
Get some more details on what we know about Fallout 76 below.
If you’ve played GTA Online over the past week, you may have noticed a peculiar message: “GTA VI Coming 2019.” If you’re wondering why the game industry isn’t exploding over the sudden revelation that the next Grand Theft Auto will be out next year, it’s because there’s been no such announcement - the message going up in GTA Online is a hoax.
The impromptu announcement has only appeared in the PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 versions of the game, which happen to be way more open to playing online with hacked games. It seems this is exactly what’s happened here - a hacker’s figured out how Rockstar’s announcement system works, and managed to put out an intriguing message about the developer’s next game.
Open your world with the .
Slim as it is, there is a chance the message is real, but don’t take any bets on it unless you like some real long odds. Red Dead Redemption 2 is out this year, five years after GTA5’s original release. Unless Rockstar’s shrunk its development process down from a half-decade to a single year, the is probably a bit further off.
What is coming soon is a Red Dead sequel, and - yes, I’m going to harp on this again - it still hasn’t been announced for PC. Maybe that’s a good thing, though. If a PC version got similarly hacked, I’d have to write this story all over again for Red Dead 3, and nobody wants that.
Red Dead Redemption 2 won’t be out on PC on day one, but with or without a third platform it’s going to sell a hell of a lot of copies. Take a look at October’s release calendar, and you’ll find that other publishers are giving Rockstar’s cowboy epic a wide berth, with games as big as Call of Duty and Assassin’s Creed scooting far earlier than normal.
Everyone’s a little scared of coming out too close to Red Dead, and Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick says “We're running scared too. I think a healthy degree of paranoia and insecurity about releases is probably a good thing. I'm fond of saying that arrogance is the enemy of continued success.”
Someday Red Dead Redemption 2 will be on our list of . (Probably.)
October’s follows the impressive - by some metrics now considered the most profitable entertainment product of all time - so Take-Two has plenty of reason to be excited about the game the company’s about to publish. Still, GTA5 might present some overly lofty expectations.
“It's hard to expect anything to perform as well as the most profitable entertainment product of all time,” Zelnick tells GamesIndustry.biz. “I don't think that's a realistic expectation. Our hope, and also belief, is that Red Dead Redemption 2 will be an extraordinary creative product and that it will do incredibly well. Beyond that I can't say - I don't think anyone can say. We have to release it and see what consumers think.”
Update, July 2: The Game Critics Awards: Best of E3 2018 winners have been revealed.
Every year, E3 presents the Games Critics Awards to recognize the best upcoming titles showcased at the event, and following the announcement of 2018’s nominees the panel's winning selections have been revealed. Selected by a panel of 51 publications worldwide - including your friends at PCGamesN - the awards recognize the best games playable at E3.
This year's best of show winner is the delectably gruesome Resident Evil 2 remake. The best PC game was named as Anthem. PC naturally did well in the strategy category, with the computer-exclusive Total War: Three Kingdoms named the best title in the genre.
Stay current with these titles and many more by following our list of the biggest .
There are plenty of multi-platform winners coming to PC as well. Read on for the full list of nominees, with the winners highlighted in bold.
It's important to distinguish that these games had to be playable by voting publications in order to qualify for nominations. That disqualifies major titles like Cyberpunk 2077, Remedy’s Control, Fallout 76, and quite a few more. These games are still eligible for Special Commendations in graphics, sound, and innovation - and Cyberpunk happened to take several such awards.
Anthem led the nominees with picks in five categories and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice followed with four - both of them qualifying for Best of Show among other honours.
There are 55 PC titles among the nominees, seven more than last year. That puts our preferred platform between the major consoles, with PlayStation 4 titles enjoying 58 nominations and Xbox One games getting 51. Ubisoft leads publisher nominations with 11 titles selected, and EA ties Sony Interactive Entertainment in second place with 10 nominations.
There’s an upcoming film where an elite, secretive task force called Overwatch is tasked with a mission, and the fate of the world is tied to its success. Yet, astoundingly, this one doesn’t feature Tracer and Soldier: 76 - in their place, you’ll find Mark Wahlberg and Ronda Rousey toting somewhat more current weaponry in these covert efforts.
No, Mile 22 doesn’t actually have anything to do with Blizzard’s hero shooter, but hearing trailers filled with lines like “we are Overwatch” still feels a little surreal. The trailers paint a picture of pretty solid action thriller - those martial arts sequences with Iko Uwais look especially hot - but it’s a little surprising nobody did a Google search before naming the organization at the center of it all “Overwatch.” Especially with plans for a full franchise on the way.
No need to head to a theater - the biggest will come to you.
But then, we live in a world where there’s a Mission Impossible sequel straight-up called Fallout, so I guess nobody in the movie or game industries cares about their counterparts at this point. And, in fairness, maybe we should give a few more nods to the XCOM reboot before putting Blizzard’s vision of Overwatch on a pedestal.
Check out a Mile 22 trailer here.
What are the best PC racing games? Whether mastering muddy tracks in Dirt Rally or embracing Forza Horizon 3's Aussie Outback, these are the best racers around.
Picking the very best racing games on PC is no easy task. So many elements contribute: the genre's not only about graphical fidelity and hair-raising sound design - though both certainly help - it's also about pulling you into the action as if you’re there in the driver’s seat, eyes strained as the asphalt whips past at 240kph. From honing your timing for a perfect gear shift to kicking out the back-end for a sublime drift, a quality racing game just feels right.
Prefer survival shooting to suspensions? Check out the .
Don’t go asking, “How could you forget about Grand Prix Legends! Where’s Geoff Crammond?!” When versions of those games surface on Steam or GOG, we’ll be the first in line to play them again… and inevitably find they haven’t aged as well as we hoped. So for those of you who are just looking to hop in and fire up the engine of a superb racer, whether that’s an intricate sim or an arcade thriller, we've got some breakneck PC racers for you.
These are the best racing games:
When are we going to see the Nvidia GTX 1180? That’s the big question right now, but the new GeForce GPUs are in the works, bringing us the next generation of Nvidia graphics cards.
Nvidia is the only GPU crew to drop brand new gaming-focused graphics cards on us this year, with the GTX 1180 and GTX 1170 likely to be the vanguard of a new generation of GeForce GPUs. Or maybe they'll be named the GTX 2080 and GTX 2070 in favour of a more bombastic marketing opportunity... right now we still don't know. But there are things we do know about Nvidia’s next-gen cards.
You’ll need a quality display to go with a new graphics card, so check out our pick of the around.
Nvidia hasn’t yet announced the naming, let alone the actual GPU architecture, behind its next generation of gaming cards, but we’ve still got a pretty good idea of the technology that’s going to be powering them and now we're pretty confident they're going to be announced before August 20.
Vital stats
Fortnite’s fourth season is winding down but we still have the week 10 challenges left to complete - and now we know what those goals are going to entail. Mostly we’ve got the usual suspects here, though there is a return for a more specialized incentive, with skydiving rings making their way back after a season three debut.
Dataminers have pulled out the full list of challenges, most of which are fairly straightforward. Searching chests and eliminating opponents are probably goals you’re going after anyway, though you’re going to want to make an extra effort for supply drops this time around. You’ll also need to spend some extra time in Junk Junction and Fatal Fields, with goals for searching chests and defeating opponents in each respective location.
You want the ? You got 'em.
Search Chests in Junk Junction - 0/7
Deal damage to opponents structures - 0/5000
Search a Chest, Ammo Box, & Supply Drop in a single match - 0/3
Skydive through floating Rings - 0/20
Search between movie titles - 0/1 (hard)
Eliminate Opponents - 0/10 (hard)
Eliminate opponents in Fatal Fields - 0/3 (hard)
This all comes courtesy of the folks at . As usual, the standard challenges get you five Battle Pass stars, while the hard challenges net you ten.
That’s, of course, assuming you still need to finish ranking up your Battle Pass this close to the end of the season. The is scheduled for next week, and we’re already well on our way thanks to a .
E3 is all well and good, but it’s an event concerned almost wholly with the future - games to come in the months and years ahead. But what about right flipping now? In terms of the famous marshmallow test about instant gratification, we want to fill our faces with pink, doughy treats, and we want to do it yesterday. Then, spitting chunks of sugar, we’ll bellow for the sugariest high of all: PC games. The PC games of July 2018.
If anything, July is the official month of not waiting around. Before January and February stuck their nose in, it was actually fifth up in the calendar. It’s time to do right by July, stop waiting in the queue, and seize these new games the moment they come out.
Can't wait even a week or two? We've got you. Here are the you can play right now.
Seize, because the month is named after Julius Caesar. Yes, we’ve been on Wikipedia. It’s the history book for those who refuse to wait around.
Red Faction: Guerrilla Re-Mars-tered - July 3
We’re returning to the big red planet in this fancy new revamp, the Re-Mars-tered edition. That’s a pun that only really works in southern British accents, so well done on choosing PCGamesN for your gaming news today.
A new hack is doing the rounds in Rainbow Six Siege, allowing the offending players to win the round before it’s technically even begun. The latest hack, which appeared in a Reddit post earlier today, shows attacking players winning the game from their own spawn.
In Rainbow Six Siege’s most popular game mode, Bomb, the attackers need to plant a diffuser in the vicinity of a bomb. Unsurprisingly, defenders are attempting to stop them from doing that. Normally, the diffuser can only be activated in range of the bomb, but the hack has allowed players to find a way around that particular technicality.
Check out our list of the on PC.
In a video, which you can watch at the bottom of this article, you can see that the defenders immediately lose the first round of the game, having “failed to disable the diffuser.” Focus then moves to the perspective of an attacker, who is happily holed up in their spawn, apparently having planted the diffuser right in front of them. After some fairly obvious gloating, the next round begins.
The issue is part of what the Rainbow Six Reddit community suggest is a growing wave of in-game cheating, and this is a particularly egregious example of that. Check the video out on .
Want to know what the best PC controller is? We’ve tested all the best current game pads to help you make the decision as to which top plug into your gaming PC.
You could argue you've already got the best PC controller plumbed into your machine when you've got a trusty keyboard and mouse. But, sometimes (and only sometimes) having a specific gaming controller to hand can be quite useful. Whether it’s a great wired or wireless pad, an official or third-party device, having a well-built, comfortable controller can really make the difference to your game. So it’s important you make the right choice.
Pads are great, but it’s also important to make sure you’ve got the .
We’ve checked out the official Microsoft Xbox One and Elite pads, as well as the excellent Sony DualShock controller. But the likes of Scuf and Razer are still making decent alternatives if you’re looking to peacock with a funky design or just want a host of different buttons at your thumbs’ disposal.
But there are specific controllers for other game genres too. A flight or space-based sim really demands a quality flightstick, especially one with a separate throttle for those BSG Viper-esque, non-Newtonian dogfights. And if you’re a dedicated racer then a steering wheel, with good force-feedback, can shave valuable seconds off your in-game lap times.
When is the Elder Scrolls 6 release date? The Elder Scrolls 6 announcement happened at E3 2018, so here are all the latest details on the new Elder Scrolls.
While there is no Elder Scrolls 6 release date yet we finally have our first official look at the game courtesy of a short teaser trailer. The trailer opens with the classic Elder Scrolls musical motif and a panning shot of some mountains before the logo appears, confirming The Elder Scrolls 6 is real.
Since our fantasy dreams have been realised, now we need some news about the . Make it happen Bethesda.
The thing is, we have already been twiddling our thumbs like good little Dovahkiins since we ventured into the world of Skyrim for hundreds of hours in 2011. We might have been spoilt by excellent games in the series already, but, frankly, we deserve something fresh. We know that TES 6 is coming and, given Skyrim's success, that isn't a surprise. Here's everything we know about The Elder Scrolls 6.
The Elder Scrolls 6 trailer
Before we crack on with all the juicy news and rumours, here’s the Elder Scrolls 6 trailer:
Judging by the terrain, it looks like TES 6 is taking us to either Hammerfell, home of the Redguard people, or High Rock, which is where the Breton race hail from.
If Jurassic World Evolution proves anything it’s that a lot of work goes into creating a park of genetically engineered dinosaurs. You have to worry about feeding them, keeping them healthy, and oh my goodness please make sure they don’t escape. Watching as your guests are turned into a banquet is terrible for your stress levels.
Then there’s the issue of efficiency and space within your park. On each of The Five Deaths - the islands you build on in the game - you’re given a small patch of land to work with. This means you often have to pair different species together in enclosures as you introduce new dinosaurs to your park. You’ll have to learn to make the best use of every available inch as you demarcate each dinosaur enclosure, then.
Managing dinos too much for you? Try one of the .
Put incompatible species together in the same pen and you’ll suffer the devastating consequences. Your attractions will starve, or worse - get eaten by their much larger and toothier neighbours.
With that in mind, we’ve put together a simple guide to building better enclosures in Jurassic World Evolution. We’ll quickly get you up to speed with which dinosaurs you can house together and how to keep them all happy and healthy.
Making a good herbivore enclosure
Herbivores are the easiest dinosaurs to enclose together. The reason why is obvious: they won’t eat each other. But that doesn’t mean they come without their own problems.
A job listing at Call of Duty: Modern Warfare developer Infinity Ward suggests that whatever comes after Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 will have a campaign mode. The next Call of Duty game, which is being developed by Treyarch Studios, releases later this year, and will have no campaign. However, it looks like the franchise will reintroduce a narrative element next year.
A job listing posted by Infinity Ward, whose last COD outing was 2016’s Infinite Warfare, offers a temporary posting for a narrative scripter at the studio’s California headquarters.
Check out our list of the on PC.
The (via ) is for “a new, exciting, unannounced title for multiple next gen platforms.” The successful candidate will “collaborate with scripters, sound designers, writers, and directors to implement voice-over performances in-game across a wide variety of player experiences.” The listing also mentions “a strong interest and passion for FPS games,” a “broad understanding of both multiplayer and single player game design,” and “a strong desire to bring game characters to life through naturalistic and cinematic implementation of vocal performance.”
News that was met with uncertainty by fans. However, Treyarch says the game will still include narrative elements across multiplayer, zombies, and .
When is the Dying Light 2 release date? Techland announced Dying Light 2 at E3 2018 and we have the all the latest trailer and gameplay details here.
Dying Light 2 was announced during Microsoft’s E3 2018 press conference but we don’t yet know Dying Light 2’s release date. We do, on the other hand, know plenty of Dying Light 2 gameplay, setting, and story details. For example, Techland is massively expanding Dying Light 2’s parkour movement, and with industry veteran Chris Avellone in charge of the story it’s safe to say that this isn’t going to be your typical undead shooter.
After more shambling horrors? Here are the .
Dying Light 2 is set in a decaying city that is struggling to keep itself together amid competing factions, so you will have a lot more to deal with than undead monstrosities. Decisions you make and the groups you team up with will shape the world around you, allowing you to reap the ensuing rewards if you can stomach the consequences. Here are all the latest details about Dying Light 2.
Dying Light 2 release date
There is no Dying Light 2 release date yet. But we’ll let you know when you can get back to sprinting away from the undead as soon as we hear more. Techland showed an impressively polished demo at E3 2018, so it would appear that Dying Light 2 is well past pre-production phase.
In yet another report from DigiTimes on falling graphics card demand, industry sources indicate that Nvidia has stockpiled roughly one million unreleased GPUs, all ready to go. If the rumours are true, it would seem Nvidia is well-equipped for the launch of its next-generation graphics cards. Whenever that happens….
We’ve heard numerous reports of graphics cards demand, and subsequent prices, falling drastically for the last couple of months. The latest rumour speculates a 20% average price drop for July alone. Mining demand is in a slump - Bitcoin is currently at ~$6,000 after numerous multi-million dollar heists - and graphics cards prices have often dropped below MSRP as a result.
If you aren’t prepared to wait a moment longer, you can check out all the right here.
This report estimates there are (very) roughly expected to be a few million units still in the channel across worldwide retailers and distributors. Alongside reports of from an unnamed taiwanese graphics card manufacturer, the green team may well be swimming in current-gen graphics silicon.
, from unnamed sources within Nvidia's supply chain, indicates Nvidia is also sitting on a huge quantity of unspecified and unreleased graphics cards. The massive inventory stockpile would make a lot of sense for the green team if the rumoured end of Q3 launch window turns out to be more than just wishful thinking.
Any new game idea to come out of developer FromSoftware is worth dissecting, especially after the unqualified masterpiece that was Bloodborne. And Sekiro isn’t just any idea: it’s the legend of the ninja reworked for a Dark Souls audience.
After watching director Hidetaka Miyazaki and his team filter the castles and steel-plated killers of Western history through their twisted imaginations for years, it’s a terribly exciting prospect to see them do the same with Japanese culture.
Specifically, Sekiro takes us to a fantastical version of late 1500s Sengoku Japan, at a point where tensions are rising and bloody conflict is guaranteed. Sekiro is our protagonist, the “one-armed wolf” - a hard-hearted warrior out to rescue his young noble master and bring revenge to his arch nemesis.
With Sekiro due out next year, here are the other to look out for.
The studio has promised a friendlier and more approachable third-person action game than those in their recent past. But ironically, at least until information on the game becomes a little less scarce, this is the most opaque FromSoftware game around. Read on and we’ll help make things a little clearer.
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice release date
The Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice release date is early 2019. We don’t yet know when exactly, but it’ll be a globally synchronised release and it’s coming to Steam, which aren’t always givens with Japanese games.
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice trailer
Anthem isn’t the first non-RPG BioWare has made. It’s not even the company’s first shooter. But it is sufficiently different from the developer’s stock in trade that it’s suffering a bit of a backlash - particularly in the wake of E3’s revelations.
As it turns out, most of the game’s customisation is reserved for its exosuits, not your character. Conversation and dialogue choices will be mostly absent from the game’s missions. And there will be no RPG-style companions to accompany you, at least not at the game’s launch, which removes the potential for smooching with NPCs. This latter point in particular has upset a faction which, if they were labelled in a codex, would probably be called the Garrus Stans.
In the past, BioWare have produced some of the .
“Oh ffs,” shortly after EA Play’s Anthem reveal. “Why even bother calling it a Bioware game at all then?”
“Because BioWare is making it,” executive producer Mark Darrah answered.
It’s a pithy reply. But what if, instead of just retweeting, we took it as an invitation to dig into the BioWare-ness of ?
To study the available information on this co-op shooter and identify the common links with the studio’s history? Yes, let’s do that.
Swordplay and sanctuary