Sea of Thieves is often at its best when it devolves into chaos. After raiding a skeleton ship and loading up your brig with loot, suddenly, a player galleon appears from behind an island, turning its broadside cannons in your direction for a sneak attack. Returning fire, repairing your ship, and desperately turning your sails to make an escape--or firing a crewmate over to the enemy to lay waste to them and steal their stuff--are the moments that make Rare's pirate adventure live game so memorable.But don't discount Rare's ability to make deep, brainy story content, either. Since its launch, Sea of Thieves has come to encompass Tall Tales, lengthy voyages centered on solving riddles and learning about non-player characters that make up the game's lore. It's in this more directed, narrative-driven realm that the game's latest expansion, A Pirate's Life, lies as well. Tying in with Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean film franchise, the expansion provides new stories to uncover that are both fairly delightful for fans of the films and the theme park attraction that spawned them, as well as big, involved new Sea of Thieves locations to explore.A Pirate's Life adds a lot to Sea of Thieves, expanding on its sandbox with new enemies and a new weapon, while providing several hours of story content that's deep enough for experienced players to enjoy and approachable enough for newbies excited to sail the seas with Jack Sparrow. Though it's held back occasionally by bugs and relies on some of Sea of Thieves' weaker elements, like hitchy platforming, the expansion is a great excuse to man the helm of a pirate vessel.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

If you are using an internet-connected Western Digital My Book Live or My Book Live Duo personal cloud storage device, you would be wise to disconnect it immediately. The company has determined that a cyber-attack can compromise these drives, completing resetting them and erasing all stored data in the process. "Western Digital has determined that some My Book Live and My Book Live Duo devices are being compromised through exploitation of a remote command execution vulnerability," a note on the official support page said. "In some cases, this compromise has led to a factory reset that appears to erase all data on the device."Neither drive has received a firmware update in six years, and that will probably have to change pretty soon if users want to safely connect the devices again. They're designed to create personal storage clouds for multiple devices in your home, backing up your PCs, streaming media to your TVs, and centralizing files across several computers. Should you be using it for something like old game saves, such a compromise could erase your progress for good. Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Microsoft officially revealed Windows 11 yesterday after supposed leaks of the OS made their way around the internet last week. Of the changes coming with the latest iteration of Windows, Microsoft also announced a way for app developers to keep a big chunk of their revenue. Unfortunately for game developers, that revenue split won't apply to games.In a post on the Windows blog, Microsoft shared its pricing splits across the Microsoft Commerce platform. According to the post, starting on July 28, app developers will be able to "bring their own or a third-party commerce platform in their apps, and if they do so they don't need to pay Microsoft any fee. They can keep 100% of their revenue."Initially, this gave the impression that game developers putting their games out on the Microsoft Store would be able to claim all of the revenue from any microtransactions or other in-game purchases. However, a second post from the Windows blog clarified that that isn't exactly the case. "You will also have more revenue sharing options," reads the post, "such as keeping 100% when you bring your own commerce platform for the Store for your app (this does not include PC games)."Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

As the GOG summer sale starts to wind down, the digital storefront is ending its latest promotion with a killer deal: the Shadowrun trilogy for free.From now until the end of the weekend, you'll have a chance to grab the excellent trilogy of tactical RPG games, which includes 2013's Shadowrun Returns, 2014's Shadowrun: Dragonfall, and 2015's Shadowrun: Hong Kong. Buying each game on its own would normally wind up costing you around $70 for the set, but you just can't beat a 100% discount during this brief window of opportunity. Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Apple TV+ has finally dropped the first official trailer for Schmigadoon, an upcoming musical series starring Keegan-Michael Key and Cecily Strong as a couple on the outs who suddenly find themselves in a magical town that looks like a musical from the 1940s, full of people singing. However, the couple is unable to leave until they find their true love. The six-episode comedy hits the streaming service on July 16.In addition to Key and Strong, the trailer also showcases roles from Alan Cumming, Kristin Chenoweth, Aaron Tveit, Dove Cameron, Ariana DeBose, Fred Armisen, Jaime Camil, Jane Krakowski, Ann Harada, and Martin Short. The show, full of original songs and a great over-the-top premise, will certainly pack the performers to execute it expertly. Check out the trailer below and see for yourself.Co-created by Ken Daurio and Cinco Paul (who together wrote the screenplays for the Despicable Me trilogy), who serves as showrunner and wrote all of the original songs, Schmigadoon is also executive produced and directed by Barry Sonnenfeld (Men in Black trilogy). Lorne Michaels is also a co-executive producer. In addition to starring, Strong also produces. Schmigadoon will air weekly starting July 16 through to August 13.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

The trailer for WitcherCon has been released. The first-ever virtual Witcher event will be held on July 9 and will give fans updates on both the Netflix series and other Witcher-related media.The trailer mixes footage from both the series and the video games. While it doesn't give away too much in terms of specifics, it does promise "epic reveals and Season 2 surprises" and "interviews, games, and sneak peaks." It also reveals some of the guests who will be attending, including the show's stars Henry Cavill, Freya Allan, and Anya Chalotra, showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich, and developers from CD Projekt Red, which makes the game series. Check it out below:WitcherCon will be streamed live on Twitch and on YouTube. The official website reveals a few more details about what to expect. It states that there will be "deep dives into the making of The Witcher games, live action series, anime film, and merchandise, including exclusive behind-the-scenes footage," plus "interactive panels spotlighting the people who brought The Witcher to life in-game and on-screen, featuring breaking news from the Netflix series, and never-before-seen reveals from across The Witcher franchise."Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

A new Max Raid event is underway right now in Pokemon Sword and Shield. This time, tentacled Pokemon are appearing more frequently in Max Raid dens in both games, including Shiny Grapploct. You'll need to act quickly if you want to catch one, however, as the event only runs until June 27.Throughout the event, you'll be more likely to encounter Grapploct, Malamar, Octillery, and their pre-evolved forms in Max Raid dens across the Wild Area, Isle of Armor, and Crown Tundra. As previously mentioned, you'll also have a chance to find Shiny Grapploct in five-star Max Raids. This variant will be much rarer, however, so you'll need to be persistent and check Raids often if you're hoping to catch one.Some of the featured Pokemon in Sword and Shield's newest eventThe new Max Raid event runs until 4:59 PM PT / 7:59 PM ET / 11:59 PM UTC on Sunday, June 27, giving you only a few days to participate. Before the featured Pokemon can begin appearing in your game, you'll first need to refresh your Max Raid dens. You can do so either by connecting the game online or by selecting Get the Wild Area News from the Mystery Gift menu.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Riders Republic is going all in on being about massive races between large groups of actual players, as the game will not utilize bots to fill its competitions."Competitions will only feature real-world players," Riders Republic game director Arnaud Ragot told GameSpot. So whether you're snowboarding through a 6v6 Tricks Battle or mountain biking in a 64-person Mass Race, you'll always be against other players.Although this is an exciting prospect, there are also potential issues that could crop up with this, especially when it comes to populating a lobby and starting a game.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Shovel Knight recently turned seven years old, and his creators at Yacht Club Games celebrated the occasion by looking back not at his own game, but at the numerous cameos he's made since his debut. We haven't seen ubiquity like this outside of plumbers and hedgehogs.The blog post at Yacht Club Games' website runs down every single time Shovel Knight or one of his compatriots have appeared in other games, from well-known cameos in games like Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and Fall Guys to lesser-known indie titles like Armillo and Creepy Castle. There's even console-specific mentions, including how the Shovel Knight amiibo figures activate power-ups in the Nintendo Switch version of Cyber Shadow.The blog contains videos and pictures of each of the Shovel Knight crew's cameos, including official trailers and gameplay segments. A full list of every cameo Yacht Club mentioned in the blog is below.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

At long last, F9: The Fast Saga is in theaters. We've waited over a year for this moment, and you've hopefully gotten to see the return of Han, the journey to space, and all of the other amazingly ridiculous things that happen in the film--including the ending. There's one thing we definitely need to talk about, though, and that's the introduction of Jakob Toretto (John Cena), the long-lost brother of Dom (Vin Diesel) and Mia (Jordana Brewster).Warning: The following contains spoilers for Fast 9. If you've yet to see the film, turn away now unless you want to know what happens.It's been 20 years since the first movie in the franchise, The Fast and the Furious, debuted in theaters. In all of that time, we never heard a word about Jakob. Now, nine (technically ten, Hobbs and Shaw included) movies in, Dom magically has a little brother? How is that possible?Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

The Boys Season 3 is continuing to take shape, with with the newest announcement being that Laurie Holden (The Walking Dead, The Americans) will join the Prime Video series in a recurring role. According to Variety, Holden will portray the supe known as Crimson Countess.Holden joins other recently announced recurring cast members including Sean Patrick Flanery as Gunpowder, Miles Gaston Villanueva as Supersonic, and Nick Wechsler as Blue Hawk. The first image of Jensen Ackles as fan-favorite Soldier Boy--an "original" superhero who claims to have fought in World War II--was recently released.Season 3 of The Boys will adapt the originating comics story arc known as "Herogasm," which involves the superheroes in The Seven traveling to a resort and engaging in a week-long superhero orgy. So, it sounds like the outrageous show will try and likely succeed at outdoing itself in the next batch of episodes, which still don't yet have a release date. To get up to speed beyond the all-important release date, check out our deep dive on everything we do know about Season 3.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

How is Han alive? That's the main question we've been asking ourselves ever since the character was revealed to be in F9, the ninth movie in the Fast and Furious saga (tenth, if you count Hobbs and Shaw). We had lots of theories: Was Han a robot? Was he secretly a god? Would we really be meeting Han's long-lost brother, Shawn? Now that we've seen F9, we know the truth--and we can share it with you.Warning: Obviously, we're getting into spoilers for F9. If you haven't seen it yet, we advise you to stop reading now and rush to the nearest screen on which it's playing.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Blue Box Game Studios' Abandoned has been the subject of many a conspiracy theory and lots of speculation over the last few weeks, and it appeared some of our questions were going to be answered with a teaser app's release today, June 25. However, director Hasan Kahraman has announced that the app will now not release until August. "The last few weeks were really stressful to us. The team is very tired," Kahraman said in a Twitter video. "We were hoping to release the app today, and I know that a lot of you have been looking forward to it, so thank you so much for that--I really appreciate that. However, I have decided to delay the app until August. That is when the first trailer will also be released."An update from Hasan: pic.twitter.com/vpFN81YDXL — BLUE BOX Game Studios (@BBGameStudios) June 25, 2021Kahraman added that he wants the public's first impression of the game to be "solid" and that the app still had QA and localization to be done. Earlier this week, Nuara studio founder Leo Enin revealed his company is assisting with Abandoned. Though Blue Box Game Studios' online presence and past projects may seem murky, Nuare has a ton of credits on its website, including Halo Infinite, Ghost of Tsushima, The Last of Us Part II, and Death Stranding. Don't read too into that last one, probably. Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

After more than eight years of waiting, fans of Shin Megami Tensei will finally have a new mainline game to play this fall. Shin Megami Tensei V releases November 12 exclusively for Nintendo Switch, Nintendo announced during its E3 2021 Direct presentation. Shin Megami Tensei V is available to preorder now at major retailers, and you can get a cool bonus by ordering early.Shin Megami Tensei V preorder bonusesThe launch edition of Shin Megami Tensei V will come with a steelbook case. In order to secure the steelbook case, you'll probably want to preorder. Subsequent print runs of the game may not come with the steelbook. Preorder Shin Megami Tensei V Steelbook Launch Edition $60 Shin Megami Tensei V's Steelbook Launch edition is available to preorder for $60 at major retailers, including Amazon, Best Buy, and GameStop. Digital preorders aren't live yet, but you can add it to your wishlist on the eShop. See at Amazon See at Best Buy See at GameStop Preorder Shin Megami Tensei V Premium Edition $120 Shin Megami Tensei V's Premium edition is currently sold out at all major retailers, but we've included links below in case it pops back in stock. The $120 Premium edition comes with the following bonuses as well as the steelbook case:Collectible boxTwo-disc soundtrack100-plus page handbookSling bag See at GameStop See at Amazon See at Best Buy Shin Megami Tensei V is set in modern-day Tokyo and stars a teenage protagonist who gets pulled into a wasteland filled with demons. They soon meets up with a mysterious guy named Aogami, and the pair fuse together. Throughout the adventure, Aogami provides advice and commentary. Like previous entries in the Shin Megami series, you'll be able to raise and fuse demons you encounter. The combat system lets you string commands together to aim for vulnerable spots on demons. Of course, instead of fighting a demon you can try to befriend them through conversation.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

The lovingly crafted recreation of the Nintendo 64's GoldenEye 007 in Far Cry 5 has been removed by Ubisoft, reportedly at the behest of James Bond rights-holder MGM. The news was confirmed by its creator, a YouTuber by the name of Krollywood, as well as Ubisoft itself, although there might still be a way that it eventually finds its way back online for download.Krollywood spent over three years recreating the popular shooter using the level-building tools provided within Far Cry 5. The entire game is playable, with accurate level layouts and even a few familiar easter eggs thrown in for fans to enjoy again. Krollywood says he was contacted by Ubisoft to inform him that all the levels were being taken down following a copyright infringement claim by MGM (which was recently purchased by Amazon.)Confirmed, MGM took down the GoldenEye maps from Far Cry 5.I'll update with how to play them on PC soon. pic.twitter.com/p8z5zTMuoA — Graslu00 (@Graslu00) June 24, 2021Ubisoft released its own statement (courtesy of Kotaku) regarding the removal of the levels but didn't specifically name MGM as the reason.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com