Halo Infinite has had a bit of a week. As one of the most anticipated games of the year, fans eagerly tuned into the Xbox Games Showcase expecting to be blown away. What followed was less than ten minutes of footage that caused some excitement, a lot of vitriol and the inevitable memes. Though the game underneath still looks fun, much of the discussion shifted to the seemingly flat visuals, pop-in and other technical shortcomings....

The publisher and developer confirmed the next-gen version of Halo: The Master Chief Collection would be arriving for Xbox Series XS on November 17 back in October, and now more information has been shared about the ports, too. Fans have been asking 343 about how likely it is that the game will include ray tracing at some point in its life, and senior producer Matt Hohl has said that the studio has at least acknowledged the idea....

According to Kotaku, Hanger 13 studio head Haden Blackman is departing the studio after seven years at the company, as announced by 2K Games earlier this week. The report states that 2K Games wrote in an email to staff that Blackman is going to “pursue his passion at a new endeavor,” and Kotaku believes that the move comes with a new Mafia game in development, supposedly a prequel. “We are grateful for Haden’s leadership in establishing Hangar 13, building and uniting teams in Novato, Brighton and Czech, and releasing multiple studio-defining Mafia games and collections,” wrote 2K in the internal email, as shared by VentureBeat....

In A Plague Tale: Requiem, you will follow Amicia and her brother Hugo on a new quest, as they try to survive an uncaring world as a terrifying curse hunts them down. Currently in development, not much else was revealed about the title, but it is coming to PC, Xbox Game Pass, and Xbox Series X/S. The game will be available at launch on Xbox Game Pass for Consoles, PC and Cloud....

Video games are obviously a breeding ground for challenge, and in games with health, managing to not take a single hit is certainly one of the bigger ones. Now, streamer and YouTuber Hayete Bahadori has been able to do just that, with all 12 mainline Assassin’s Creed games (thanks Kotaku). Bahadori completed this months long challenge in April, uploading the second part of his Assassin’s Creed Valhalla run on April 11....

The accounts for both games were originally shared on Twitter. You can check out the tweet below. As the tweet notes, one of the accounts is followed by a Microsoft employee, while the other is registered to a Microsoft email address. Both of these facts would usually imply a degree of legitimacy that makes the accounts’ existence pretty much indicative of a full-fledged Fable 4. However, Warren clarified in a follow-up tweet that, “Microsoft has confirmed the accounts are genuine, but says they’ve been inactive for years and it’s standard IP protection....

Activision is trying its hardest to prevent the proliferation of advanced cheating software online by eliminating problems before they spread, and as such has forced the developer of the Userviz software to take down the exploit (thanks, Vice). Userviz caught the attention of a vigilant anti-cheat group, who called it “the next generation of cheating” in a tweet. The software itself is platform-agnostic – working across PC, Xbox, and PlayStation – and leveraged features like auto-aim, auto-lock on, and the ability to determine which weapon you are using to automatically reduce recoil and give even the best opponents no chance to counter you....

The updates come in the form of patches, balancing, and a couple of UI changes. This and more is expected in the Winter Update, which will follow the release of a patch that deals with performance fixes and system updates. Released on November 15, the first patch introduced fixes to Xbox Account linking, an issue with Mongol Town Center behavior, performance impacts when panning the camera, and some other tweaks....

Having recently announced that the Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War beta has been extended by one day, developer Treyarch thought it would also be cool to save players some of the grind. All attachments for all of the beta’s weapons have been unlocked for all players. Provided you have the weapon itself unlocked, you can do ahead and experiment with different attachment combinations as you see fit while the beta is live....

The new quick chat option for Among Us allows players to communicate easier, using a wheel. This brings the game up to version 2021.2.21. According to the developers, the wheel is not only easier, but a faster and safer option to play if you’re using text chat. The team also promised form information on the next update is coming soon, and that the “ball is rolling” on it. Also, it is aware of a glitch occurring with lobbies and games on some platforms....

Blathers has plenty to say about all kinds of critters and creatures in the world of Animal Crossing, but we don’t always want to hear it. For those who do want to learn a bit more though, there’s an encyclopedia based on all of the non-anthropomorphic animals in New Horizon coming out later this year, though unfortunately it’s Japan only (thanks, VGC). Apparently the book will have information on all 235 species that you can find and catalogue, but the pages shown off mostly just show little tidbits of information....

Called the “King Tut Mask” in-game, this headwear has the unique ability of making your villager trip and fall to the ground when you run around. Many players have speculated as to why this might be. Is the King Tut Mask just too heavy? Could it be a joking nod to Tutankhamun’s apparent death from the complications of a broken leg? Or more likely it’s a reference to the Curse of the Pharaohs, where bad luck was said to befall archaeologists that desecrated Egypt’s historic sites....

The new Animal Crossing update adds swimming to the game, which sounds lovely in theory, but actually enables nefarious subterfuge and larceny. One player took to ResetEra in order to share their grievances after having been plundered by scammers in Speedos. The poster is primarily concerned about how the new update allows scammers to circumvent security systems and steal your shit. While you used to be able to cordon off sections of your island using fencing, protecting your money trees, rocks, and more, now people can just throw a pair of togs on and swim around the back....

Along with a look at the new Olympus map in Apex Legends, the trailer shows off the new Trident hovercar, and the new Legend, Horizon, an astrophysicist with a master of gravity. It also shows a quick look a The Clubs feature, which will give players a new way to establish a community and squad up with others. The game is also getting a new Battle Pass which comes with the Legendary Prowler Polished Perfection skin and three new Rare Legends skins....

You read that right. Whiskey. Not the usual energy drink with videogame branding. That said, you can mix the two readily and it doesn’t taste too awful. Trust me. Anyway, my weird concoctions aside, Antheum Studios will release the Assassin’s Creed 15th Anniversary Straight Bourbon Whiskey this August - and even has plans to release a Black Flag-branded spiced rum and Valhalla-branded vodka to the Assassin’s Creed collection this September....

Kjotve the Cruel is defeated, and with the remaining Viking kingdoms falling into line in service of King Harald, it doesn’t look like there’s much left in Norway for Eivor and Sigurd. With their decision to set sail for pastures new in England made, now comes the time to gather allies and supplies. But doing so means leaving home - possibly for good - and starting a new life will be difficult across the ocean....

This card system in Back 4 Blood is handled by the Game Director which will affect your builds, and the amount and types of infected you will have to contend with. The Game Director works behind the scenes monitoring your actions, health, and choices, and responds by choreographing the world around you. This means that no run in the game will be the same. As you jump into a game, the Game Director will play a set of corruption cards....

Today, Microsoft has added 16 original Xbox and Xbox 360 games to cloud gaming on Android phones and tablets, with more games coming soon. This means you will be able to play the following titles on mobile, ranging from original Xbox titles like Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind, to Xbox 360 titles such as Banjo-Kazooie, Fable 2 and Fallout: New Vegas. The company has also added touch controls for Jetpac Refuelled, Viva Pinata, and Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise....

Coming to all platforms on July 20, the game is a remastered version of the 2004 Black Isle Studios-developed title for PlayStation 2 and Xbox. A sequel to Snowblind Studios’ Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance, the title is set in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting of Dungeons & Dragons. Based on the rules of D&D 3rd Edition, the story follows five adventurers attempting to save Baldur’s Gate from evil-doers. They are also determined to learn the fate of the protagonists from the first game....

Information on the patch was provided during the fourth Panel From Hell live show. Baldur’s Gate 3’s sixth and largest major patch, Forging the Arcane, introduces a new playable Sorcerer class, as well as the new region known as Grymforge. Grymforge continues your journey past the previous point where Early Access ended, progressing the story a little further, with new enemies, and new quests and characters to meet. Though Grymforge offers new challenges, it’s across the entire Early Access experience that Baldur’s Gate 3 receives gameplay, visual, and content updates....