Blizzard has announced the next expansion coming to Hearthstone, Scholomance Academy. The school for fledgeling witches and wizards takes a jauntier tone than the dark and edgy Ashes of Outland, and introduces a few new spell-based mechanics along with a few other surprises. It will add 135 new cards in all, and it's set to launch in early August.Scholomance Academy's biggest addition comes in the form of 40 new Dual-Class Cards. Each class has been matched with two others that share certain aspects, like Druid and Hunter's affinity for Beasts. The Dual-Class Cards are split down the middle with the color-code for each of its classes, and these cards can be added to decks of either of the classes. Longtime players may recognize the mechanic as similar to the tri-class gangs in Mean Streets of Gadgetzan.A new Spellburst keyword will also accent the spell-focused flavor of the expansion. The new keyword will trigger a one-time effect from a minion the first time you cast a spell. Some will be ideally triggered on the same turn they're played, while others will get the best effect if you wait and keep the minion on the board for a subsequent turn. It works like a delayed-action Battlecry, letting you choose when the impact enters play.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Monster Hunter World: Iceborne's newest monster is incredibly difficult, in all the wrong ways. The black dragon Alatreon, added recently as part of Title Update 4, is a fearsome opponent, but a gimmick makes the fight more frustrating than challenging.Alatreon is a force to be reckoned with in all the ways Monster Hunter players would expect. It hits harder, moves faster, and takes more damage to slay than previous monsters, giving you a new challenge to take on. However, Alatreon has a built-in DPS check, and if failed, it instakills all players. The Escaton Judgement attack is unavoidable, so if you don't deal enough damage before about the ten-minute mark, you will be wiped. If you do clear it, the attack will do less damage, but you will still need to use healing items to avoid wiping and you have to continually hit the damage requirement to avoid the instakill until Alatreon is defeated.The DPS check isn't entirely new, as most recently, the Master Rank version of Kulve Taroth had one too, but Alatreon is different. Its requirement is based purely on elemental damage, which is where the frustration stems from. And the elemental damage requirement is so high that it renders several weapon types, like Hammers and Gunlances, nearly useless.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Video game investor ZeniMax Media has outlined this year's QuakeCon. The event, which is scheduled to run from August 7-9, will be completely virtual and features an assortment of livestreams, tournaments, and more you can experience from the comfort of your home during the surging coronavirus pandemic.Dubbed QuakeCon at Home, this year's all-digital event will kick off with a Global Super Stream that starts on August 7 at 9 AM PT / 12 PM ET / 6 PM CEST / 2 AM AEST. The broadcast will feature "round-the-clock programming with special influencer streams, surprises, and our very own Bethesda Community teams from around the globe--all streaming from home in support of charitable causes." More information, as well as a full stream scheduled, will be divulged in the coming weeks, ZeniMax Media said.QuakeCon at Home will also have the QuakeCon Twitch Team, where community members can participate in games via Twitch to raise money for the QuakeCon-supported charities. Details on how to join the QuakeCon at Home Twitch Team will be revealed soon.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Sony recently revealed its ever-so-slight box art redesign for its PlayStation 5 titles, using Spider-Man: Miles Morales to show off the new white border that will accompany each retail box. Microsoft hasn't announced anything as radically different for their next-gen games, but you'll know you're looking at one when you see one big, obnoxious sticker."Optimized for Xbox Series X" is a way for Microsoft to communicate that a game is supported on both the Xbox One and Xbox Series X, but that it also includes enhancements for its next-generation console. Problem is that the sticker takes up so much real estate on the actual box that it comes off as more annoying than anything, obscuring whatever eye-catching design the game's developer was aiming for.Combine that with text near the top indicating resolution support, features such as HDR, and advertising for Smart Delivery, and you've got a very busy-looking box art template. The only other difference between generations is the removal of "One" from the top border, since Microsoft is pushing the idea of a single unified Xbox ecosystem.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

WWE Extreme Rules is almost here, and it's going to be a horror show. At least, WWE claims it will be a "horror show" as that's the tagline for the 2020 event. That means there are going to be some over-the-top and maybe scary moments, like Rey Mysterio and Seth Rollins trying to literally remove someone's eye from its socket.This wild ride will happen on Sunday, July 19. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the PPV will take place at the Performance Center in Florida. Raw, Smackdown, and NXT are all currently taping there for the foreseeable future. However, Extreme Rules viewers will be taking a field trip during the show, as one of the matches will take place in a spooky swamp. This is the horror show, so a spooky swamp is a must.This thread is ... horrifying 😱😱😱😱😱 #ExtremeRules --------------@BraunStrowman vs. @WWEBrayWyatt Wyatt Swamp Fight pic.twitter.com/GJuoPlbFl9 — WWE (@WWE) July 14, 2020Depending on where you live in the world, the show will air at various times. Apologies to all the wrestling fans in the UK, as every PPV airs at midnight. Check out the start times below.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Infinity Ward has changed the name of its controversial "Border War" skin in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Warzone after backlash. The Call of Duty developer changed the name to "Home on the Range" while also changing its in-game description.The studio's use of the skin has been criticized for glorifying the police at a time when protests against police violence are ongoing around the world. It also carries anti-immigration sentiments that some fans have called out on Twitter. The Santa Monica-based studio announced the change, which came via a patch on July 14, with a tweet.A patch is now live across all platforms that fixes: · Renames D-Day’s ‘Border War’ skin and bio· An exploit where players could pick up weapons they dropped before the infil sequence in #Warzone· A Rytec AMR bug where shots were hitting above the crosshairs in their scope — Infinity Ward (@InfinityWard) July 14, 2020The skin's description originally read "show them the error of their ways and make them pay with D-Day's Border War operator skin" and has now been changed to "play along with the deer and the antelope with the Home on the Range D-Day operator skin." Nothing else about the skin was changed.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Apex Legends Season 5 has seen developer Respawn try to tell the ongoing story of the game in a new way, with weekly single-player quests and accompanying lore drops revealing more about the world. The final one of these quests to come during Season 5 is now live, and those who have collected 45 Treasure Packs over the course of the season can dive in--and completing it teases what might be a new character (Ash) and map to come in Season 6.During a mission that unlocks after completing the final Quest, you'll walk into a vault and see the character below, who's believed to be Ash, a simulacrum pilot and antagonist from Titanfall 2. She first appeared in Apex Legends during the Season 4 cinematic launch trailer. You'll find her headless, but you'll be able to approach and replace her head, seemingly bringing her back to life. By showing up in the flesh (such as it is), this may tease her arrival as a playable character.Alongside this, players are treated to a dialogue exchange between Lifeline and Octane, which you can read below. Toward the end, Lifeline mentions, "If we go to Olympus." Olympus is the name of a city on Psamathe, which was first teased as a future map in Apex Legends just prior to the start of Season 4.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Smite's mid-season update 7.7 adds the Avatar: the Last Airbender battle pass and makes changes to the game's main mode, Conquest. Aang, Zuko, and Korra are all being added to the game as skins for existing gods Merlin, Susano, and Skadi, respectively.The Avatar: the Last Airbender battle pass includes two skins for Aang, Zuko, and Korra, along with announcer packs, animated avatars, and more cosmetic items. All of the items are exclusive to the battle pass, which can be purchased for 750 Gems (about $14 USD). Gems can also be earned--slowly--by playing Smite.The Zuko skin is unlocked upon purchasing the battle pass, with the Korra skin unlocked at tier 20 and the Aang skin unlocked at tier 60. The variant skins are all unlocked post tier 60. This is the second crossover battle pass Smite has done, the first being a RWBY crossover back in November 2019.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

EA showed off its new multiplayer shooter, Rocket Arena, in last month's EA Play presentation; now, you can dive in for yourself. Rocket Arena is out today on PS4, Xbox One, and PC, featuring a cartoonish art style and 3v3 competitive matches where you play as distinct heroes, similar to Overwatch. However, it's also akin to Super Smash Bros. in that your goal is to knock your opponent hard enough that they fly off the side of the battlefield. And, of course, there's rockets. Lots of them.Rocket Arena features 10 playable characters, 100 levels of progression, 10 maps, and hundreds of cosmetics at launch, with more content coming to the live game soon. The game also includes 4 PVP modes along with one cooperative mode, and there's an in-game currency ("Rocket Fuel") you'll use to buy season passes, which are called a Blast Pass. Notably, Rocket Arena has launched with full cross-play support across all platforms. Season 1 will officially kick off on July 28, adding a new hero, limited-time events, a ranked season, and more.Is Rocket Arena free?Rocket Arena isn't a free-to-play shooter like Apex Legends or Fortnite. Instead, there's a base game you'll have to purchase, with a slightly pricier edition that gets you digital bonuses. If you're curious to check out Rocket Arena, we've rounded up the purchase options and pricing for it below.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Filming on Lana Wachowski's fourth Matrix film--her first without her sibling and longtime collaborator Lilly Wachowski--has resumed in Berlin. But the film's release date was needfully pushed pack to April 1, 2022, effectively ruining the long prophesied Keanu Reeves double feature with John Wick 4, still scheduled for May 21, 2021. While we wait, however, there's plenty of Matrix gossip to tide us over. For instance, on a recent episode of Roger Deakins' filmmaking podcast, Team Deakins, the cinematographer for the first three Matrix films, Bill Pope, discussed the stark differences between shooting the first Matrix film and the subsequent two, Matrix Reloaded and Matrix Revolutions."Everything that was good about the first experience was not good about the last two," Pope said. "You weren't free anymore. People were looking at you. There was a lot of pressure. In my heart, I just didn't like them. I felt we should be going in another direction. There was a lot of friction and a lot of personal problems, which showed up on screen, to be honest with you. It was not my most elevated moment, nor was it anyone else's. The Wachowskis had read this damn book by Stanley Kubrick that said, 'Actors don't do natural performances until you wear them out.' So let's go to take 90! I want to dig Stanley Kubrick up and kill him.""There is something about making a shoot that long, 276 shoot days, that is mind numbing and soul numbing and it numbs the movie," Pope said of shooting the second and third Matrix films, which were filmed concurrently.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

One of the coolest new weapons to come to Destiny 2 in the Season of Arrivals is the Falling Guillotine, a huge blade that looks like Cloud Strife's Buster Sword and can be spun in a circle like you're imitating Link from The Legend of Zelda. Falling Guillotine does a ton of damage to enemies and is a favorite for eliminating big boss-type creatures at the moment--and it seems part of what made it so good was a bug in how it dished out damage. Destiny 2's latest update does away with the bug, but thankfully, Falling Guillotine seems relatively unscathed.Bungie outlined the details of its new Destiny 2 patch, Update 2.9.1, on its website, and the patch fixes a whole bunch of bugs. One of them was the fact that "Vortex Frame swords" like Falling Guillotine weren't seeing their Heavy attacks ending properly--so they were dishing out more damage than they should have.That bug has been squashed, along with a bunch of others. The good news is, despite what should effectively be a nerf to Falling Guillotine, the sword is still fully capable of ravaging enemies, including the champions who appear during the Contact event. That's a favorite way to use the sword right now, and it still works beautifully.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Watch Dogs: Legion's dystopian depiction of post-Brexit London looks to be one of the more interesting game worlds of 2020. When the DedSec hacking group is framed for a crime it didn't commit by a shadowy entity, London is soon taken over by private military and the city becomes extremely unstable. Since the premise is one of the most intriguing aspects of Watch Dogs: Legion, you may be interested in Watch Dogs Legion: Resistance Report, a companion book that releases October 27, two days before the game arrives on PS4, Xbox One, and PC.6479627 - Watch Dogs Legion Companion Book - Amazon pre-order Watch Dogs Legion Companion Watch Dogs Legion: Resistance Report releases October 27. $30 at Amazon Watch Dogs Legion: Resistance Report is available to pre-order now at Amazon for $30. The book's premise is similarly interesting, too. The 144-page hardcover is set up as an investigation conducted by an American reporter who is looking into the efforts to reclaim London. It even figures to have some narrative drama, since the "very forces he's investigating threaten to encircle him."Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Hearthstone's next expansion, Scholomance Academy, is releasing in August. The new set will introduce 135 new cards including 40 new "Dual-Class" cards, a new Spellburst mechanic, and more. GameSpot spoke with game designers Chadd Nervig and Liv Breeden about the upcoming set, the new normal for how the company is approaching balance adjustments, and how an unused Demon Hunter power from Ashes of Outland helped create the new Spellburst in this set.The last expansion [Ashes of Outland] was very grim and dark and metal. This one is a lot more lighthearted and kind of cute. When you're deciding the order of expansions, how much do you consider what came before and what's coming after to strike a balance?Chadd Nervig: We definitely do keep that in mind. In general, Hearthstone tends to aim for whimsy and charm. Ashes of Outland was one of our darker sets, and this lightened things up. There's still, "What is Kel'thuzad doing in the basement?" There's still some darker undertones here and there.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Overwatch's new event, Sigma's Maestro Challenge, features a new legendary skin for the tank Hero. The event runs from July 14 to July 27 and offers rewards for players who secure enough wins during the challenge.Like previous challenges, Sigma's Maestro is focused exclusively on Sigma, not offering other skins or cosmetics. Overwatch's larger events, like the Anniversary 2020 event, typically offer a wider variety of new item.Overwatch Sigma's Maestro Challenge Rewards3 Wins | 2 Player Icons6 Wins | 1 New Emote9 Wins | 1 New Legendary Skin: Maestro SigmaYou can also earn up to six new sprays by watching between 2 to 6 hours of Overwatch on Twitch during the event. Alongside the challenge Blizzard has released a new soundtrack, Cities and Countries, a collection of themes from Overwatch maps and missions.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Among the first games that'll usher in the PlayStation 5, and thus one of the first to bring on the next console generation, is Counterplay Games' Godfall. We've seen Godfall in action a few times now in trailers and videos, but some of the most intriguing tidbits about the game are things its developers have only mentioned in passing, and which haven't yet made it into trailers or gameplay videos.Perhaps the most interesting thing about Godfall is its combination of genres. Counterplay says it sees Godfall as expanding on action-RPGs and loot game genres to create something new--what it calls a "looter-slasher." GameSpot talked with Godfall director Keith Lee to find out exactly what the looter-slasher is all about, more about how Godfall will play, and what's going on in its strange fantasy world."The vision for making this game was how we can merge [looting with] third-person melee combat, getting really juicy, tight combat mechanics, the moment to moment flow, and that experience, because a lot of the people on our team love skill-based action combat titles," Lee explained. "Yet, also, there are people on our team, given our background having worked on Diablo and working at Blizzard, that we've always had a love for loot-driven action-RPGs. We love playing Borderlands. So really, the original premise and the concept was, can we have a game where it's somewhere in the middle, meaning that it's one part loot-driven, as well as one part skill-driven. It's more like an intrinsic mastery of the combats while the loot is more of an extrinsic reward system for you to be motivated to play the game."Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com