Crytek has released the first “performance patch” for Hunt: Showdown, and says it should address “most of the severe performance issues” that players have reported so far. Some players may see a big jump in framerate but the studio said the goal with this update is to improve overall performance for everyone so all players have “a more stable and stutter-free experience.” Servers should be more reliable, and upgrades to the backend technology “pave the way for further improvements to debugging u

But seriously, despite all that buzz, despite those tectonic shifts in cultural cachet, Fortnite hasn’t taken over the world, because Fortnite has yet to launch in China. It’s safe to say that when Fortnite does eventually launch in China, it’ll be gearing up for another fight. “Tencent is already confirmed to be the publisher of Fortnite in China later this year. Overall, Ahmad is hopeful for the future of Fortnite in China, but he also offers a faint warning. “However, competition is really he

Licensed music can be a fantastic tool for bringing game worlds to life. Grand Theft Auto 4 will soon suffer those wounds of loss as well, as Rockstar has confirmed a Kotaku UK report that some of the radio station music we know and love will soon be removed from the game. “Due to music licensing restrictions, we are required to remove certain songs from the in-game soundtrack of Grand Theft Auto IV and its Episodes, in particular a large portion of the Russian pop station, Vladivostok FM,” a Ro

The Chinese Room cofounder and composer Jessica Curry summarises her initial pitch for a live performance of Dear Esther in a typically humorous manner: “I’ve had this possibly really bad and commercially unviable idea—how would you feel about it?!” One of the key challenges was that the live performance would require Dear Esther to be rebuilt. That said, in game form Curry had been able to exert absolute control over how Dear Esther sounded at any given point. Live performance also introduces t

Amazon is slashing 20 percent off the price of several already discounted wireless-AC routers that are sold and shipped through its Amazon Warehouse division. The 20 percent discount applies to models listed as “Like New,” which Amazon says are in “perfect condition” except for the packaging. “A ‘like new’ item sold on Amazon Warehouse is in perfect condition, however, due to the condition of the packaging, it does not meet Amazon.com standards for new product. The discount on top of a discount

Edelenbosch, a current Swede originating from the Netherlands who streams as Svennoss on Twitch , is currently first in the world for total solo Victory Royales on PC. Building, building, building”Building is 90 percent of the game,” he says, repeating a reprise echoed by pretty much every above-average Fortnite player. If this is done correctly you should have all the time in the world to get above him and set up. As anyone who’s made it to the final circle knows, high-level Fortnite is a compl

EVE Online has no shortage of dangers and mysteries, but its new expansion will be adding more of both in the form of a deadly alien race, the Triglavians. When it releases, players will be able to venture into Abyssal Deadspace, pockets of hostile space that focus on survival, exploration, and combat against the deadly Triglavian Collective. For several weeks now, players have been unraveling the mystery of this new alien race that has EVE’s other big-bads, the Drifters, running for their lives

A new Galactic Civilizations 3 expansion called Intrigue brings what sounds like a touch of Civilization to the 4X interstellar empire-building game. “In Intrigue, once you settle your second planet, your people begin to demand some sort of government that recognizes that you have a significant offworld population. This adds a completely new element to the Galactic Civilizations that fans know and love,” Stardock CEO Brad Wardell explained. The full rundown of the Galactic Civilizations 3 3.0 up

Empires of EVE author Andrew Groen has successfully crowdfunded the second volume of his non-fiction ‘A History of the Great Wars of EVE Online’ series. Launched on Kickstarter earlier today—the opening day of EVE Fanfest 2018—the project reached its £8,813/$12,500 goal in just a few hours. Billed as a “chronicle of the incredible history of EVE Online” from 2009-2016, Empires of EVE’s Volume 2 is a standalone sequel to the events of its forerunner. “Readers do not need to be EVE players to enjo

Forgotton Anne is an indie game that looks like a Studio Ghibli movie, as we said last year when we spoke to the team at ThroughLine Games about its creation. Forgotton Anne will launch on Steam for $20 on May 15, as revealed in the latest trailer. You play as Anne, a human enforcer trapped in the Forgotten Lands, a fantastical world populated by Forgotlings, forgotten objects come to life. In her quest to return to the human world, Anne encounters and aids all manner of Forgotlings, from clothe

Retro platformer Shovel Knight, originally released in June 2014, recently passed two million copies sold. Before that, some more good news: in celebration of this milestone, Shovel Knight is 20 percent off on Steam, GOG and Humble for the next week. Shovel Knight originally released on PC, Nintendo 3DS and Wii U, so it’s no surprise it’s sold the most units on PC (24.4 percent of sales) and 3DS (23.9 percent of sales). But outside of the Switch’s sales spike, PC acts as the best acid test for S

Beneath the marketing, however, these look to be high-end models with a generous 10-year warranty. That means you’re likely to upgrade your PC at least once, if not multiple times, before the warranty expires. Not that Antec is the only one offering a 10-year warranty—Corsair does for some of its PSUs, as does EVGA and Enermax. There are three models available—650W, 750W, and 850W, Each one is 80 Plus Gold certified and uses fully modular cables. Connectors on the 650W model include a 20+4 pin m

Adata has become the second memory maker to achieve 5,000MHz on an overclocked DDR4 RAM kit without resorting to exotic cooling methods. Just as G.Skill did a little over two weeks ago, Adata used air cooling to break the 5,000MHz barrier, rather than liquid nitrogen (LN2). Much of this comes down to theater, as neither company is actually selling a 5,000MHz memory kit. In this case, Adata used its XPG Spectrix D41 RGB memory kit outfitted with cherry-picked Samsung B-die chips. Now it’s a race

Nendoroid has unveiled its own spin on Geralt of Rivia, complete with his now iconic bathtime pose. Due in September this year, this slant on the White Wolf comes with a range of accessories, and is priced at ¥4,815 pre-tax via Good Smiles (which XE loosely converts to £31.50/$44.85 before shipping). For that, expect a pair of steel and silver swords, a hand of Gwent cards and, of course, a wooden bathtub. Check him out:Nendoroid Geralt joins the likes of Portal 2’s Atlas, The Flash and Mario. O

Such is the sensation of exploring Vvardenfell with the Morrowind Rebirth mod installed. Alongside trancemaster’s own work, Morrowind Rebirth incorporates third-party mods, such as Balmora Underworld, which adds a vast subterranean market. It’s worth noting that Morrowind Rebirth doesn’t add many quests. Returning homeAlongside its many additions, Morrowind Rebirth also makes a massive number of balance changes. What I like most about Morrowind Rebirth is how natural all the additions appear.

Fortnite got Port-a-Fort grenades and a Replay system last night, but somewhere along the line it also suffered a database failure of some sort that caused problems for people trying to log into the game. Epic Games was forced to take it offline last night, and as of roughly 11 am ET today, there’s still no ETA for its return. Right now we don’t know how long it will take, but we will update you hourly. More info – https://t.co/DorRRH2eoHApril 12, 2018Epic said it will update the status of the r

Spies come in many forms, so the best spy games on PC could be tense games about intrigue and infiltration, or high octane adventures starring a special agent. The best thing about Alpha Protocol is the branching plot. —Tom SeniorNo One Lives ForeverOne of the few spy games to draw influence from the cheesy Man From Uncle meets Austin Powers 1960s idea of a spy adventure. It’s a difficult game to get hold of, and tough to get fully working on current machines, but it goes down as a great spy gam

Thrones of Britannia makes significant changes to the Total War formula, said Tom of the war series’ first Saga spin-off earlier this year. As showcased in its latest feature spotlight, Thrones also lets you arrange the divorce of an untrustworthy ally before moving in for the kill. Hosted by Creative Assembly content producer Jordan Wright, the following video, named ‘Politics and Intrigue’, explores “the dark arts of politics”. For further Thrones of Britannia reading, I recommend Tom’s tale o

Above: One of the few, early images of Project Nova. Project Nova, the EVE Online spin-off FPS (a kind of spiritual successor to Playstation 3 exclusive Dust 514) was announced back in 2016 before disappearing behind the veil of development. With CCP laying off 100 people last year as it terminated VR development, the future of Project Nova seemed suspect. Most interestingly, Pétursson noted that instead of attempting to integrate Project Nova into the EVE Online universe from launch, the team a

Let me summarize Dead in Vinland a different way—it’s a game about helping a family of lost vikings who are shipwrecked on the distant shores of what is probably Canada. That’s a unique setup for a survival game, but it’s not just the setup that makes Dead in Vinland interesting. If you’ve tried CCCP’s previous game Dead in Bermuda this might sound familiar, even down to the blue-skinned deities, but Dead in Vinland improves on that game in plenty of ways. The biggest difference between the two