Microsoft has announced a nice new deal for Sea of Thieves that lets you invite friends to play for free for a limited time. If you own the game--or possess an active Xbox Game Pass subscription--you can gift copies of the pirate-themed game to three people, who can then play for free until February 13.The offer starts on February 6. All you need to do is visit the Sea of Thieves website to grab your codes. After the promotion ends on February 13, anyone who received free play codes can purchase the game permanently at a 35% discount. Note your friends will need an Xbox Live Gold subscription to play on either Xbox One or PC.Developer Rare has also teased "big news" for Sea of Thieves scheduled for its one-year anniversary on March 20. The company has continued to support the multiplayer adventure since launch last year with all sorts of free DLC.Elsewhere in today's Inside Xbox briefing, Microsoft revealed the free February Xbox Game Pass titles. Crackdown 3 is the headliner of the month, and like other first-party games it will be included on its release date, February 15, for Game Pass subscribers. Shadow of the Tomb Raider and more will also be added as the month progresses.Info from Gamespot.com

Electronic Arts has offered a tease about bringing a subscription service to a new platform, and it could be EA Access for PlayStation 4. During the company's latest earnings call, management said, "In the year ahead we plan to offer a subscription service on another major platform."No further specifics were divulged, but EA Access for PlayStation 4 lines up with the tease. It is one of EA's subscription services, and PS4 certainly is a "major platform."EA Access launched in 2014 on Xbox One, before coming to PC in 2016 under the name Origin Access. A Sony representative said in 2014 that EA Access "does not bring the kind of value PlayStation customers have come to expect.""We don't think asking our fans to pay an additional $5 a month for this EA-specific program represents good value to the PlayStation gamer," Sony said at the time.That's a hard line against EA Access, but Sony also initially refused to allow cross-play before eventually allowing it for Fortnite and later Rocket League. Things can change.Reached for comment, an EA representative told GameSpot that the company has "no further details to share at this point" regarding the tease made during the earnings call. Keep checking back with GameSpot for the latest.EA Access is a subscription service that, for $5/ month or $30/year, gets subscribers access to a growing library of free games, along with discounts on all EA digital content. Not only that, but members can play EA's upcoming games ahead of time. Because no version of EA Access is on PS4, it's the only platform where the game is unplayable perform launch. There are also perks like bonuses in new EA games like Apex Legends.EA is also working on a new streaming subscription service of its own as part of its ridiculously ambitious-sounding Project Atlas platform. However, the comment from the earnings call about the subscription service coming to "another" platform suggests it's an existing service not a new one.Would you be interested in EA Access on PS4? Let us know in the comments below!Info from Gamespot.com

Video game giant Electronic Arts reported earnings today for its fiscal third quarter ended December 31, and it could have gone better during the all-important holiday period. While EA did post gains in revenue and profit, the company said in its official remarks that it was a "difficult quarter" that saw the company fail to meet its commercial expectations.CFO Blake Jorgensen said in prepared remarks that 2018 was a "tumultuous" year for the gaming industry overall. Though he did not share any specifics, he might have been referring to the way in which the absolute juggernaut Fortnite shook up the industry in the past year. Not only that, but Red Dead Redemption 2's release in October might have impacted sales of EA's games.While it might not have been the quarter EA wanted, Jorgensen said EA is "making adjustments to improve execution and we're refocusing on R&D." EA CEO Andrew Wilson said the company is looking to "sharpen" its execution going forward.One title that struggled during the period was Battlefield 5. The World War II shooter sold a massive 7.3 million copies, but this was 1 million shy of what EA expected. For more on this underperformance, you can check out this story that explains the downturn.EA just recently launched the free-to-play Titanfall battle royale game Apex Legends, and it's off to a fantastic start with 2.5 million players and 600,000 concurrent users after just one day. Beyond that, EA will launch BioWare's new game, Anthem, later in February, and it's expected to sell as many as 6 million copies by the end of March. Additionally, EA is working on new Plants vs. Zombies and Need for Speed games, along with Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order for this year. On top of that, more Titanfall is coming, while all of the usual sports games are expected as well.This is all to say that while EA's latest financial quarter might not have been the rosiest, the company is still doing just fine and it has a pipeline of major titles in the works. It made $1.29 billion in revenue over the three-month period and a profit of $262 million; both figures are up year-over-year. Despite those gains, EA's stock price is free-falling; it's down more than 15 percent in after-hours trading currently.Info from Gamespot.com

In the first Kombat Kast livestream since the reveal of the upcoming fighting game Mortal Kombat 11, the NetherRealm team unveiled that Kabal is returning to the roster. In addition, D'Vorah was announced to be another returning character during the Inside Xbox stream. However, it may come as a disappointment to some that NetherRealm confirmed Shaggy of Scooby Doo fame will not be a guest character, regardless of how loud you scream the memes.Mortal Kombat creator Ed Boon himself got in on the meme when he tweeted a fan art mock up of "Hack and Slash Shaggy variation" hitting Scorpion with a brutal knee. But today during the Kombat Kast, community manager Tyler Lansdown stated, "Shaggy will not be in the game, ever, sorry, dead meme!" The series has a strong history of bringing in guest characters with the likes of Leatherface and Jason, but Shaggy will not be using any percentage of his power for Mortal Kombat 11.Hack and Slash Shaggy variation 🤣pic.twitter.com/TGFhfwAVkX — Ed Boon (@noobde) February 1, 2019#RIPShaggy — Mortal Kombat 11 (@MortalKombat) February 5, 2019If you're not caught up on what's going on with the latest sequel in the long-running franchise, be sure to check out every character confirmed so far, our compilation of fatalities of the initial seven announced characters, or see all the wild things happening in Mortal Kombat 11's story mode. We also caught up with Ed Boon during the reveal event to pick his brain about how fatalities are made and what microtransactions will look like for the game.Props to everyone who tried to let their memes not be dreams. Mortal Kombat 11 is set to launch on April 23 this year for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PC, and Nintendo Switch.Info from Gamespot.com

It's not often that fans' calls for a new entry in a series are ignored, only for an unrelated developer to come along with the perfect answer. And yet that's precisely what we have in Wargroove, an apparent facsimile of the Advance Wars series, which has has been dormant for more than a decade. But while its immediate appeal lies in filling a gap that few games have in recent years, Wargroove introduces smart improvements and impressive custom content tools that make this an experience that stands on its own as a terrific strategy game.Wargroove's most basic gameplay is nearly indistinguishable from that of Advance Wars (a point of comparison that developer Chucklefish itself hasn't avoided). It's a turn-based tactics game set on a tile-based map in which you assemble an army, take control of structures that can build units or generate gold, and (usually) work to eliminate or destroy a particular target. Every action is a significant commitment; because units can't stack on the same tile and buildings can only produce one thing per turn, you have to carefully think through your strategy on each turn. The same is also true of engaging in combat; because damage is dictated by the amount of health a unit has, being aggressive can help ensure you take less damage later. None of this is new, but it serves as a solid base that Chucklefish improves upon.Wargroove rekindles not just the classic gameplay of Advance Wars, but also its visual style. The pixelated, cartoonish maps are filled with small flourishes that help them to feel alive; birds fly overhead, fires burn, and the shadows cast by clouds slowly move along the ground. When combat begins, the action shifts to a 2D side view depicting the two units squaring off and showcasing a great-looking set of animations. The best of these belongs to the dog commander, Caesar, who exhibits a frankly impressive level of nonchalance, scratching himself and enjoying his time as his crossbow-wielding attendants do all the work. (Commendably, despite the presence of dog units--battlepups!--the amount of whining they do when taking damage is kept to a minimum.) For as nice as it all looks, I did find the breakdown of units' strengths and weaknesses--which consists of small, often similar-looking portraits--needlessly difficult to read.Aside from swapping Advance Wars' firearms, jets, and tanks for swords, dragons, and magic, the most obvious change is how commanders work. Rather than serving only as a special ability that can occasionally be wielded, commanders are powerful units on the map you control like any other. In most cases, eliminating the other team's commander is one of the available victory conditions, so you always want to keep yours safe. But what makes commanders so interesting are the ways in which you're encouraged to use them aggressively.Commanders each have a unique ability--the titular Grooves--such as healing nearby units, allowing adjacent units to act again during the current turn, summoning a friendly unit, and so on. These build up passively but are gained much more quickly by eliminating enemies with your commander, who unlike standard units also regains a small amount of health each turn. As a result, you're often wise to push forward with your commander in order to maximize how often you can use your Groove. But this presents you with difficult choices. Does it make sense to hurt but not kill a strong unit with your commander to mitigate the damage it can do and kill a weak enemy with another unit? Or should your commander secure that final blow to get your Groove that much faster, but risk suffering the strong unit's next attack doing heavier damage? Units each have enemies that they are strong and weak against, and terrain can provide defensive buffs or nerfs to account for. Along with that, commanders offer an additional consideration that make even a simple engagement into something you have to more thoughtfully examine.The same can also be said for Wargroove's critical-hit system. Rather than being something that happens randomly, each non-commander unit has a specific criteria for when a critical hit will occur. Pikemen get critical hits when adjacent to a friendly pikeman, rangers when they attack without first moving, trebuchets when their target is at the edge of their attack range, and so on. As a result, you sometimes have to weigh the risk of overextending yourself to get a critical hit against the risk of leaving yourself in a more vulnerable position. In one case, you might put a spearman in danger just to ensure another one lands a critical hit; in another, you might retreat slightly with a knight on one turn so that on the next they can utilize their maximum movement range (triggering a critical hit) to kill an enemy and avoid suffering a counter-attack. The logic behind critical hit requirements is uninspired in some cases--those for naval units merely ask you to be in a certain type of water tile--but they add another welcome layer of depth to combat and an extra point of differentiation for units.How you heal your damaged units is another tricky decision. The primary method requires you to move next to a structure you own and then pay gold that would otherwise be used to buy units or activate certain abilities. But healing like this comes with the downside of trading health from that structure (which slowly regains health each turn) to the unit (which does not). At times this means you won't necessarily be able to heal everyone, even if you have the gold to cover the cost. It also can mean leaving your buildings--and thus your source of income and additional units--susceptible to being lost. There are no easy choices here, and the aforementioned health regeneration of commanders provides you with the risky option of letting them tank damage and hoping they can recover from it for free.Despite having so much to juggle, the action is rarely overwhelming. That's due in part to a manageable number of unit types being available; Wargroove's four factions are different in appearance only, although each has three commanders with their own unique Groove. While it's disappointing to realize the introduction of a new faction means very little, there are enough unit types and systems at play to keep things interesting. Having to account for dozens of additional unit types would have slowed each turn to a crawl as you try to remember how they all work.Despite having so much to juggle, the action is rarely overwhelming.What does unfortunately slow the action down is the process of determining the danger zone in which you can be attacked. Rather than allowing you to see the full potential attack range of the enemy team, you're only able to see it unit by unit. Especially when managing expensive aerial units who can be easily downed if they end a turn within range of certain anti-air specialists, it's essential to carefully check and re-check these ranges. This adds an unnecessary layer of tedium to every turn, particularly in the large-scale battles that see significant numbers of units in play simultaneously. As a result, turns take more time than they otherwise would in order to facilitate this busywork.Those match times proved to be frustrating on occasion in the campaign. While I found myself having trouble in only a small handful of missions, those I failed often came near the end of 20- to 30-minute matches. With no way to create a mid-mission save, a loss can be dispiriting, especially if it comes as a result of an accidental click (it's far too easy to end a turn or order a unit to wait by mistake) or because you didn't notice an enemy unit and thus didn't account for its attack range.Some of my frustration in those failures stemmed from the fact that I was eager to see what the next mission held. Most offer some new wrinkle, like the introduction of a new type of unit or a different overall mission structure (such as assisting in a retreat). While dialogue is funny at times, the story is forgettable, consisting of a string of conflicts that could be avoided if characters made a real effort to explain why they aren't enemies. The story is not a major part of the experience, though, and much of the world's lore is consigned to a codex. Besides, the consistently fresh ideas the action itself offers are all the reason you need to see the campaign through.Even after completing the campaign, there are plenty of other ways to keep playing. Arcade mode presents you with a series of five battles and a light narrative wrapper for each commander, giving you a light campaign of sorts that you can see through in a single sitting. Puzzle mode more intriguingly presents you with a level that must be completed in a single turn, forcing you to ensure every move maximizes your damage output. Four-player multiplayer, with support for both local play and online, works well and presents a more worthwhile, unpredictable challenge than what the AI can muster. However, the lack of online support for private matches and AI players (available offline) are unfortunate omissions.Wargroove's greatest potential lies in its custom creation tools. These allow you to make not just maps but entire campaigns filled with main missions, side missions, and cutscenes. These can be easily shared and downloaded right through the game. While the creation aspect of Wargroove is initially overwhelming--you're left to discover the many tools at your disposal with zero direction--the end result is the ability to create a campaign on par with the one that the game ships with. Diving into this creation suite won't be for everyone, but everyone stands to benefit from those who do. One minor gripe with this setup: There's no way to jump directly into a new map when browsing for new content, and failing on a standalone map unceremoniously boots you back to the main menu.Outside of campaigns and standard missions, there's also the opportunity for map creators to develop entirely new ways to play. One example of this is baked right into the game with the Chessgroove map, which lines up two teams in a standard chess formation and permits players only a single move per turn. It's an intriguing concept, but one that quickly grows tiresome; because units aren't instantly killed as in chess, you can't quickly evaluate potential moves, turning what should be a relatively fast-paced affair into a boring slog. As disinterested as I was in playing Chessgroove again after my first match, it does offer a glimpse at what kind of outside-the-box concepts people might be able to come up with.That's good news, because Wargroove is a delight to play, and the possibility of an endless supply of content for it is a tantalizing prospect. Chucklefish could have offered up a prettied-up take on Advance Wars with online multiplayer and called it a day. Instead, it's made meaningful improvements that make this both a satisfying answer to starved Advance Wars fans' wishes and a genuinely great experience on its own merits.Info from Gamespot.com

At one point in time, media giant Disney published video games like Disney Infinity and Epic Mickey in-house through its now-defunct Disney Interactive Studios. That's no longer the case, as it now primarily licenses its franchises to outside studios instead. One major partner is Electronic Arts. In 2013, Disney and EA signed a 10-year deal to make EA the exclusive publisher of Star Wars games on console, and now Disney chief Bob Iger has commented on the company's philosophy about publishing games and its relationship with EA.He said on an earnings call that Disney's history of internal development and publishing of games has been shaky, so he's happy that Disney has now shifted to a licensing model."Over the years we've tried our hand in self-publishing, we've bought companies, we've sold companies, we've bought developers, we've closed developers. And we've found over the years that we haven't been particularly good at the self-publishing side, but we've been great at the licensing side which obviously doesn't require that much allocation of capital," Iger said.Regarding EA specifically, Iger said Disney's relationship with the publisher has been "good," despite what could be seen as issues recently."We've had good relationships with some of those we're licensing to, notably EA, and the relationship on the Star Wars properties, and we're probably going to continue to stay on that side of the business and put our capital elsewhere," he said.While Disney has been enormously successful in the areas of making its own movies, theme parks, cruise ships, and TV shows, video games have been a tough nut to crack. "We've never managed to demonstrate much skill on the publishing side of games," Iger said.EA has released two Star Wars console games, Star Wars: Battlefront and Star Wars: Battlefront II, since its licensing deal with Disney began in 2013. The next one is Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order from Titanfall developer Respawn that is due out this fall. In other news, it was recently reported that EA canceled an open-world Star Wars game, with its developer EA Vancouver, now focusing on a smaller-scale project that can be released sooner. EA maintains that it is "fully committed" to making more Star Wars games as part of its deal with Disney.2015's Star Wars: Battlefront was an enormous success, shipping more than 14 million copies. The sequel, which was criticised for its loot box mechanics, shipped 9 million copies at launch.Assuming EA's deal with Disney for Star Wars video games hasn't been updated, it runs until 2023. Unlike wholly owned franchises like Battlefield and Dragon Age, EA must pay Disney a licensing fee for its Star Wars games. However, the specific terms of the licensing agreement between Disney and EA is unknown. Info from Gamespot.com

Disney has announced that Captain Marvel, scheduled to premiere in theaters on March 8, will be the first of the company's films to not come to Netflix. Instead, sometime after exiting theaters, Captain Marvel will debut on the upcoming Disney+ streaming service.According to Deadline, Disney CFO Christine McCarthy predicts the decision to keep Captain Marvel, and all other 2019 Disney movies, off of Netflix will cut the company's operating income for the year by about $150 million USD. "What we're basically trying to do here is invest in our future," Disney CEO Bob Iger said. "It's almost the equivalent of deploying capital to build out our theme parks. This is a bet on the future of this business."No exact launch date has been confirmed for Disney+ as of yet, but the service is scheduled to release sometime in 2019. Disney+ will become the new streaming home for all of the company's existing movies and TV series, as well as the platform that hosts new content. Disney already has three new series scheduled for the service. All three will be live action, with one starring Tom Hiddleston reprising his MCU role of Loki, another focusing on Scarlet Witch and Vision, and the third acting as a prequel to Rogue One: A Star Wars Story that stars Diego Luna reprising his role as Cassian Andor.Captain Marvel is far from the only Disney movie scheduled for 2019, nor will it probably be the biggest. After Captain Marvel, Disney sees the debut of Toy Story 4, The Lion King, Avengers: Endgame, and a few other films. Avengers: Endgame will probably be the biggest superhero film of the decade, which concludes the overarching Infinity Stones-focused arc that began in 2008's Iron Man. Avengers: Endgame is scheduled to premiere April 26.Info from Gamespot.com

It's a new month, and that means Nintendo Switch Online subscribers are getting even more free classic NES games to play. Available from February 13 will be Super Mario Bros. 2 and Kirby's Adventure, Nintendo announced today.These follow on from January's new additions, which included Zelda II: The Adventures of Link and Blaster Master in North America. Last month, players in Japan got a third game, Joy Mech Fight, but it's not immediately clear if there is a Japan-exclusive game this month.Super Mario Bros. 2 and Kirby’s Adventure are coming to #NintendoSwitchOnline – Nintendo Entertainment System. Set up your membership now and start playing on 2/13! https://t.co/74HzxjRR0T pic.twitter.com/kxx8x9vzkI — Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) February 6, 2019The NES library for Switch Online subscribers launched with 20 big-name games, including Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda, Dr. Mario, Ice Climber, Metroid, and Donkey Kong. As you can tell from January and the titles coming in February, the catalog is adding some great games.Nintendo Switch Online costs $4 USD/month or $8 USD for three months. A 12-month subscription goes for $20 USD, while a Family Membership for up to eight Nintendo Account members costs $35 USD for a year. New subscribers can sign up with a seven-day free trial. In addition to free NES games, subscribers get access to cloud saves, and online play for many titles such as Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and Mario Kart 8 Ultimate.Nintendo recently confirmed that Nintendo Switch Online had reached 8 million members, and teased that it will "expand" the service. "Nintendo Switch Online has had a good start," president Shuntaro Furukawa said. "In keeping with the goal of providing Nintendo Switch owners with 'More Games. More Features. More Fun,' we are working on continuing to expand the service offerings."Info from Gamespot.com

In battle royale games, winning is a pretty big deal. The very nature of the shooter genre puts extreme emphasis on victory because it's so hard to come by. It requires being the last one standing of an often-huge number of players or teams, and it's possible to go a long time--maybe forever--without winning one of these tough matches. So the fact that winning in battle royale games is often kind of boring is pretty strange.Apex Legends, Respawn Entertainment's Titanfall-linked squad shooter, is only the latest game to suffer from dull wins. Surviving skirmishes with 19 other three-player teams earns you a big "Champion" sprawled across your screen, and other players see your squad's names and characters, but there's really not much else. You might get a little recognition later, if you're designated top-ranked champion squad in the next match, but Apex Legends' minor celebration for a hard-fought victory right now leaves something to be desired.It's weird that battle royale games don't make a bigger deal of victory, really. Fortnite has learned that lesson a bit, adding confetti effects and music to the celebration at the end of a match, but there's still not an especially high degree of fanfare. By contrast, PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, which could be credited with popularizing the whole BR trend, more or less made a gag out of how dull its wins are with the "Winner Winner Chicken Dinner" note that appears in the corner of the victor's screen. The game makes so little deal out of winning that you might almost think you actually lost. It's certainly not much of an ego boost after fighting like mad to survive.But Apex Legends brings a level of shooter polish and pedigree to battle royale that it hasn't really had up to now. The win screen is another place where Respawn could differentiate itself from PUBG, Fortnite, and others in the genre.And since so much effort is put into teamwork, it also makes sense to put a greater emphasis on recognizing a team's accomplishments in working together--not just in racking up kills. Right now, with kills and damage being two of the main stats portrayed during wins, it's very easy to look like the member of a team who was getting carried, even though there's often a lot more to a victory than getting the final shot on opponents. Apex Legends does track other stats, and you can show them off by unlocking trackers for your character's banner that show, say, how many revives you notched over time. But that information is general and spread out over your career, rather than being reflective of your contribution in your last match.Giving a winning team more things to congratulate each other about helps incentivize teams to stay and work together. And showing other players the impressive stuff a winning team does, even if that's not gunning down opponents, can help encourage them to jump into more games, even if their talents aren't in becoming the next kill leader.Consider Overwatch by comparison. The team-based shooter's influence on Apex Legends is obvious, with the focus on individual characters, team dynamics, and some of its in-game fanfare. But Overwatch leans into its post-match celebrations. Its Play of the Game video that grabs a key moment from the just-finished match is one of its best features, and something that made a big splash when Blizzard's shooter arrived on the scene. And end-of-match readouts don't just focus on who had the most kills, but show a variety of top stats. Making wins feel good and teamwork feel like it's worth it are two things Overwatch does extremely well.Play of the Game footage might be untenable for Apex Legends (grabbing footage from 60 players in every match is a lot for servers to handle, one assumes), but the things Overwatch does at the end of its matches are at least in the right headspace. The emphasis of much of Respawn's game is on making players feel like victorious gladiators in a giant sport, and most of its mechanics are about encouraging smart teamwork. Spicing up those victory moments is right in line with what Respawn is already trying to do, and highlighting more ways that squads contribute to one another is only going to make chasing those wins feel all the better. Info from Gamespot.com

Would you like to hear a Tale of Terror or a Sky-Story? Relay some Salon-Stewed Gossip or pass on a Savage Secret? The names given to the various forms of currency exchanged across Sunless Skies give you a good idea of what sort of game it is. This is a world where words flow like water and stories hydrate whole planets. Where a turn of phrase is just as likely to unlock a door as the turn of a key.Sunless Skies is a narrative-heavy adventure where every dramatic event is conveyed through beautifully written text. A delicate, customizable layer of "rogue-lite" action and survival encases a beating heart of vivid location descriptions, verbal flights of fancy, and giddy, spiraling story paths. Developer Failbetter Games has cleverly built upon the foundation of Sunless Sea, designing a sequel that improves core mechanics and spins its world into imaginative new orbits while easing the avenue of entry for new players. You're welcome here as long as you love words.The British Empire, headed by Empress Victoria, has boarded its steam-powered engines and, improbably, made for the stars. There, amid the floating drifts of rock snaking across the sky, it has founded New Albion and, by remaking the Sun, it hopes to start again. It's an eccentric vision of outer space as alien territory where polar winds blow through ice-crusted canyons, hive-shaped asteroids drip honey, and myriad fungal spores glitter like stars. You play the captain of Her Majesty's Locomotive, the Orphean, newly inherited after the untimely death of the previous captain, and your ambition is to travel the stars seeking fame, fortune, or the truth.Dotted around the New Wilderness, which is composed of four maps you may travel between once you've earned the appropriate permits, are dozens of busy ports and isolated homesteads. You pilot the Orphean between them, revealing new points of interest on the top-down 2D map and working to ensure you've packed enough fuel and supplies to make it to your destination. While docked you can repair and re-supply your engine, purchase any available upgrades, and visit the bazaar to claim prospects and earn additional revenue through trade.Once that admin is out of the way, you can take your time to explore. Each port is well-stocked with fascinating locations and idiosyncratic characters. Buy a ticket to Polmear & Plenty's Circus and enjoy a show where the clowns can't juggle and the trapeze artist has lost their partner. Encounter an Inadvisably Big Dog at Port Prosper while seeking to aid the establishment Stove-pipes in their civil war against the revolutionary Tacketies. Travel to Hybras in search of a lost filmmaker and discover an entire colony of seniors has mysteriously vanished. There's a new captivating story to be found every step of the way.As you follow each new narrative thread you're called upon to make choices and meet certain requirements. You might find a dying captain whose engine ran aground. Do you: end his suffering, return him home for one last glimpse of London, or escort him and try to complete his final, failed mission? There's something odd about that Repentant Devil you picked up at the previous port, but you'll need to track down some tea before he'll open up to you and reveal his true motivations. The decisions you make can see you gain or lose favor with a host of rival factions as you chart a course through the political struggles of this new frontier.Every time you are presented with a path of action or choice to make, it's always clear how you have unlocked it. Some are based on having the correct items, purchased at a port or found in an earlier part of the story, while others provide a percentage chance of success depending on one of your character's core attributes. Actions you cannot yet take are grayed out but visible, allowing you to note that you need to find another Vision of the Heavens to make that selection or come back later once you've increased your Hearts attribute and boosted those odds in your favor. It's a clever setup in that you always have the information you need about your immediate options and enough of a nudge towards how to open up new sets of paths.Between ports, however, things can slow down. Exploring an uncharted region of the map can be tense, especially as you venture into the outskirts and encounter some of the more dangerous enemies. It's also never less than beautiful to look at. But combat is simplistic and, much of the time, completely avoidable anyway. And while puttering the often long distances between points of interest, there's not a great deal to do beyond pinging your bat scout to identify random resource deposits and just watching the maze-like scenery wash by.Popping up from time to time, and helping to enliven long journeys, are incidents involving the various officers you've recruited on board and your crew. Like the cast of a Mass Effect, each named officer--and like everyone in this world they all sport wonderfully evocative titles like The Incautious Driver or The Incognito Princess--has their own storyline to follow and they serve up some of the best questlines in the entire game. You'll want to check in with them whenever you can and prioritize their next steps.There's also the ever-lurking concern of the "Terror" itself. As with Sunless Sea, Sunless Skies leans into elements of horror, in particular a kind of horror that draws on the ineffable mystery of the cosmos. Despite reaching the stars in our iron engines, no matter the expertise of all our Phlegmatic Researchers and Romantic Ornithologists, we don't have all the answers. So as you explore the darkest corners of space, and run headlong into the inexplicable, the Terror accumulates. Untreated, the Terror will send your crew, and ultimately you, into madness. But not before you've wasted supplies in a futile effort to placate their fears or lost crew members to horrific accidents.You can die, of course, at which point you reroll as a new captain and inherit (most of) what could be salvaged of the Orphean. Certain character traits can be "passed on" as it were, a nod to your predecessors' achievements, and any banked goods can be retrieved at a major port. However, in what at first feels like a jarring rebuff, all story progress is reset upon death, leading to the retreading of narrative beats and character interactions. But, in combination, the freedom you have to explore the world, the small random elements it throws up, and the sheer speed at which you can breeze through any previously encountered scenario mean such repetition is ultimately only of minor concern.There are small flaws, but each is balanced out. Travel can be dull, yet the passing scenery and shifting soundtrack are never so. Combat isn't interesting, but the decision to fight or flee carries weight, and the choices you make when scavenging through the wreckage can feel momentous. Repeating a quest can feel tedious, but this time you're wiser and, hopefully, better prepared.At its best, Sunless Skies is a triumph. Its writers have crafted a world of endless wonder where seemingly anything is possible. At heart, it's a text adventure that conjures the imagination to send you on a journey as spectacular and memorable as any big-budget graphical blockbuster. Info from Gamespot.com

Ever since its debut at E3 2018, the developers of The Division 2 have focused on the sequel's endgame. It's a recurring topic for many online looter-shooters such as Destiny and Anthem, as it's often seen as the make-or-break point for a game's long term success. That's something the developers of the original Division know all too well. Players who finished its vanilla campaign inevitably hit a slump, leading to a repetitive cycle. Ubisoft eventually overhauled much of the game's mechanics and added in new encounters--leading to an impressive post-launch life for The Division. However, many players still burned out by the original release missed out on the revival once other games came around.With the sequel, Ubisoft is taking steps to ensure that it won't fall into the same traps as the original, while also giving the campaign a greater sense of purpose. We recently spent some time getting an early look at the game's upcoming private beta--playable February 7-10--which offers a tease for what's to come in the early hours of the campaign and the late-game content that follows. After you've established yourself in The Division 2's turbulent setting of post-outbreak Washington D.C. during the campaign, things take a more chaotic turn after the conclusion, forcing you to defend what you've built up in the expanded endgame.During this event, the developers spent some time reflecting on what they learned from the original game and detailed their approach in the sequel."One of the biggest things for The Division 2 is the importance of the endgame and our focus on it," said creative director Julian Gerighty. "We launched The Division 1 with very little in terms of endgame content. It was a great campaign, you reached level 30, the endgame started, but it was lacking in activities. We were trying to operate this live game, yet we saw things that weren't working out for the long term. That's why a very tough decision was made before patch 1.4, which was to stop the development on all of the planned features and the DLCs to be able to focus on the technological debt and on the improvements to get the game to where we wanted it to be. That all fed into how we've set up The Division 2 production-wise, creatively as well."The Division 1 is a vastly different game now than it was at launch, and all for the better. That second wind is something that the developers wanted to carry over into the sequel, which they did in a few important ways. For starters, The Division 2 will incorporate much of the existing game's content from the post-launch updates, which includes update 1.2's bounties, 1.4's world tiers, 1.6's exotic weapons, and 1.8's PvP arena. These features will also be available for all players at launch, and future DLCs for the first year will be free. This is not only to stay consistent with the current game's flow and meta but also to ensure that the community would stay engaged.With the new game, there also comes a fresh start for all players. Whereas the original was set in Manhattan, Division 2 brings a new set of agents to the nation's capital, which introduces new systems and world events that occur in the field--presenting more moments and opportunities to leave a large footprint. At the beginning of the demo, our first mission was to retake the White House from one of the opposing factions, which becomes your base of operations soon after.Over the course of the campaign, the White House increases in influence and followers the more you expand the Agency's reach throughout Washington D.C. In order to reassert control over the city, you'll set up new settlements and interact with key characters who will aid in your rise to power. Some NPCs are recruitable and can even be brought to the White House to upgrade the various areas--leading to new items and perks to acquire.Exploring ruined D.C. offered plenty of opportunities to meet new characters and come across control points that are in constant dispute. Though D.C. doesn't have nearly as strong of an atmosphere and eerie vibe as the original, it does fill that void by presenting more reasons to explore and engage in the various side-missions. Much like in the original, there are ECHOs that allow you to play back moments from the lives of supporting characters. While the original's take felt one-sided since the characters were dead long before you arrived, several of the persons of interest in The Division 2 are alive and reasonably well, and the ECHOs offer more details about their connections to others throughout D.C.Things, however, take a particularly surprising turn in the endgame. A new threat in the form of Black Tusk emerges, leading into the broader endgame that shakes things up. Similar to the Hunters from The Division's 1.8 update, who only appeared in the Survival mode and Underground DLC, Black Tusk is a roaming faction that serves as the antithesis of the Division agency. Possessing an arsenal of high-tech weapons and gadgets that match your own, this new faction invades D.C. and actively tries to retake areas of the city--and even the Dark Zones. In the two endgame missions we played, one in the Air and Space Museum and along with the Federal Emergency Bunker, the Black Tusk proved to be a powerful force to be reckoned with. Along with using robots that look like they come right out of the Boston Dynamics lab--except they actually have guns this time--the endgame faction also uses mini-drones, and have soldiers wearing heavy armor that require strategic shots to open up weak points.During the endgame, you'll unlock new specializations that further enhance your character, which also open up power weapons like the grenade launcher, heavy sniper rifle, and the crossbow. In order to find better loot and gear, you'll have to tackle missions that are several notches more challenging than the campaign. But as is typically the case for endgame content, you'll also be repeating some older missions. The Division 2 does, however, spice things up by introducing a new tier called Invaded missions. During the endgame, all previous missions from the campaign will have a new difficulty that replaces the existing enemies with the Black Tusk. To cut down on repetition, the Invaded missions will also randomize each encounter with Black Tusk in the level, leading to different fights with enemy squads on each playthrough.This new faction also changes the dynamic of the Dark Zones in the endgame, which actively occupies one of the areas. As we detailed in another preview, the Dark Zone's PvPvE (player-versus-player-versus-environment) dynamic has been upgraded for the sequel. In addition to three separate zones, all of which have story missions that allow you to get your feet wet, the endgame will introduce an Occupied Dark Zone. With one Dark Zone under occupation by the Black Tusk faction, which cycles to a different location every week, the occupied zones also remove certain handicaps from the base version of the PvPvE mode, particularly level-balancing and friendly fire.The skirmishes with Black Tusk during the two missions we played were intense and required some solid communication from our team to make it through. However, the invaded missions also felt a bit exhausting as well, leading to some moments where we were trapped in a room for up to 10 minutes dropping squads of bullet-spongy enemies as they funneled in. Though this is often the case for endgame content, it definitely hurt the pacing of some otherwise thrilling missions. Granted, we were just dropped into these missions for the purpose of this demo, which came after the rather brisk early game missions we played at the beginning. They may flow better once you've invested the hours to work your way to this content.However, this also reminded me of some of the larger issues I've felt from The Division 2, in that it comes off a bit too similar to the original. It strongly emulates much of what worked in its predecessor, almost to a fault. Though some of the new innovations make for a more engaging and interesting setting to explore, the general looter-shooter loop itself can be exhausting, and lead to those familiar moments of occasional tedium that bogged down the first game. Having said that, I do feel the new approach to the endgame, though somewhat overwhelming, does offer a more compelling hook that felt absent from the original. By tasking you to defend the place you've been actively building up and investing yourself in throughout the campaign--which can be taken by the enemy faction. It creates a greater sense of urgency in the late-game, which was lacking from the original.Ubisoft seems to be on the right path for The Division 2. Though it's obviously building off of what came before, the new features do seem to be a natural step up that plays to the renewed strength the series saw with its revamped gameplay from the original. Ubisoft's approach with this private beta was a neat way to kick the tires from both ends, and it'll be interesting to see how players--even those that missed out on the revival of the original game--will take to it. The Division 2 is series' second chance, and hopefully it'll be able to make good on it's renewed vigor.For more info on The Division 2, including how the new Dark Zones work and how to get into the private beta, you can check out our features and articles on here on GameSpot.Info from Gamespot.com

Capcom has released its financial results for the quarter ending December 31, 2018, and continued success for Monster Hunter World helped make it one of Capcom's strongest. The latest in the Monster Hunter series has now crossed the 11 million mark, up from the 10 million it had set in August 2018.The company cites its continued Monster Hunter success, along with digital games like Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection and Mega Man 11. It said that as a result, this was the highest level of profit for the end of a third quarter in company history. Seeing as the third quarter overlaps with the traditional gift-giving season, that's no small feat.Monster Hunter World has been an unusually massive success for a series with so many existing entries. In its first few months it sold nearly 8 million units. The continued steady success of the console versions along with a PC launch helped boost it further, up to 10 million. That made it an unprecedented success for Capcom.The game was a critical success too. It helped push Capcom to the top of Metacritic's top publishers of 2018 based partly on the strength of its reception. Now as the game enters its second year, it's in the midst of the Appreciation Fest to celebrate with fans. That event includes special events and gear. An expansion, Iceborne, is due this fall. Capcom noted the Iceborne expansion in its future forecasts, expecting it to do well riding high on the success of the main game.Info from Gamespot.com

It's the first full week of February, and streaming giant Netflix has some new offerings on its service this week. And the next seven days are filled with Netflix original series and movies for you to check out.Hitting the service this past Sunday was everyone's favorite movie about a spoiled canine who gets lost in Mexico. That's right: Beverly Hills Chihuahua is now available for you to stream. Aside from that, 2009's The Soloist, starring Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey Jr., are the only two non-Netflix originals debuting this week.On the original side of things, Ray Romano returns with his first comedy special in 23 years with Ray Romano: Right Here, Around the Corner, available now. Additionally, Mexico gets its own spin-off of the wildly-entertaining baking series with ¡Nailed It! México coming on February 8. Also headed to Netflix that day is Kevin Hart's Guide to Black History, where the comedic actor highlights black Americans' contributions to the cinematic artform over the years.There is only one movie leaving the series this week, and that's the animated musical Sing. It scampered away on February 3.Below, you'll find the full list for new releases this week, and you can also check out everything coming and going from Netflix for February as well.Avail. 2/3/19Disney's Beverly Hills ChihuahuaAvail. 2/5/19Ray Romano: Right Here, Around the Corner-- NETFLIX ORIGINALAvail. 2/6/19The SoloistAvail. 2/8/19¡Nailed It! México-- NETFLIX ORIGINALEl árbol de la sangre-- NETFLIX FILMHigh Flying Bird-- NETFLIX FILMKevin Hart's Guide to Black History-- NETFLIX ORIGINALOne Day at a Time: Season 3-- NETFLIX ORIGINALReMastered: The Two Killings of Sam Cooke-- NETFLIX ORIGINALThe Epic Tales of Captain Underpants: Season 2-- NETFLIX ORIGINALUnauthorized Living-- NETFLIX ORIGINALAvail. 2/9/19The Break: Season 2-- NETFLIX ORIGINALLeaving 2/3/19Sing Info from Gamespot.com

The idea that Disney might not make a third movie in the Guardian of the Galaxy series, which has grossed more than $1.6 billion worldwide, would have seemed ridiculous less than a year ago. But when writer/director James Gunn was fired by the studio after offensive tweets he made nearly a decade ago resurfaced, it threw the fate of the Guardian of the Galaxy Vol.3 into uncertainty. However, star Chris Pratt has now commented on the future of the series.Pratt was asked about the status of Vol.3 by Variety, and he assured fans that the movie will happen. “I promise there'll be a third movie," he said. "I don't know exactly what that's going to look like, but I know everyone on board is just eager to give the fans what they want and wrap up a trilogy in a meaningful way."While Vol.3 was never given a release date by Marvel, it was expected to go into production in early 2019 ahead of a 2020 release. Dave Bautista, who plays Drax and was the most outspoken about Gunn's firing, stated in August that the movie was "on hold indefinitely," and and he had no interest in appearing in the movie if Gunn was not involved. Pratt and the rest of the cast offered Gunn their support, but stopped short of asking for him to be rehired. Whatever happens, Thor: Ragnarok director Taika Waititi won't be working on the movie. In October last year, it was announced that Gunn had been hired by Marvel's rival DC to write a reboot of Suicide Squad. Last week, it was confirmed the movie, titled The Suicide Squad, will hit theaters on August 6, 2021. It has also been reported that Gunn is in negotiations to direct the movie, and that it will "take the franchise in a new direction with a mostly all-new cast of characters and actors."Whether the third Guardians movie happens or not, we will definitely see some of the cast in the upcoming Avengers: Endgame. The much-anticipated follow-up to Avengers: Infinity War is released in April, and a new trailer was screened during last weekend's Superbowl.Info from Gamespot.com

The Division 2 will have a photo mode, unlike its predecessor, and its inclusion is supposedly thanks to the series' community. After seeing fans of The Division asking for a photo mode, Ubisoft decided it was necessary to add the feature to the sequel."It's something that the community asked for a lot," The Division 2 lead designer Keith Evans said in an interview with USG. "Throughout [The Division's post-launch], there would be these amazing pictures that the hardcore community members would start posting on Twitter. They were just doing it themselves and it was very grassroots."Although the first game didn't have a photo mode, you could download a mod for the PC version, titled Cinematic Tools, that added a camera function to the game. When it was first released, the mod got its creator banned from the game. However, plenty of players used the mod, and that caught the attention of The Division creative director Julian Gerighty. When it came time to develop The Division's sequel, Ubisoft decided to add a photo mode, which will be available in The Division 2 on day one.The Division 2's photo mode works similarly to the one in Assassin's Creed Odyssey, so you'll be able to pretty easily take photos throughout the game without having to mess with settings. After taking the photo, you can also add filters or adjust the depth of field and brightness.You'll be able to try out The Division 2 prior to launch with the game's private beta. The beta starts on February 7 and continues to February 11. In order to participate, you can either pre-order The Division 2 for a guaranteed invite or register on the game's main website for a chance to win one. The Division 2's private beta includes a fair bit of content. On February 7, you'll have access to two story missions, several open-world activities, one of the PvP modes, and one of the three Dark Zones. Starting February 8, endgame content will also be unlocked in the private beta, which allows you to try playing with one of The Division 2's level 30 specialized agents in a late-game Invaded mission.The Division 2 is scheduled to release for Xbox One, PS4, and PC on March 15. The PC version, previously scheduled for Steam, is now releasing on the Epic Games Store instead.Info from Gamespot.com