Call of Duty: WWII multiplayer action is free for everyone this weekend—in fact, the free weekend is live as we speak. To take part, just pop over to Steam, find the “multiplayer free weekend” link (it’s a little hard to see, but you can find it sitting just above the topmost “Buy Call of Duty: WWII” link), and give it a little click. But once that’s done you can play your face off until 1 pm ET on February 25. Any progression, items, and unlockables earned during the free weekend will carry ove

The legal rift between Star Control: Origins developer Stardock and original Star Control creators Fred Ford and Paul Reiche deepened today as Ford and Reiche filed a lawsuit against the publisher alleging that it has infringed on their copyright, and seeking to have Stardock’s Star Control trademark canceled. As Reiche and Ford know, it was Accolade, not them that created Star Control 1 and Star Control,” it says. “We remain fans of Paul and Fred, but have to defend our ownership of the Star Co

It’s not often that a developer takes the words right out of my mouth, but developer Supergonk did just that when they, too, called Trailblazers “F-Zero meets Splatoon.” Trailblazers supports 3v3 online multiplayer and four-player local split-screen multiplayer, though you can also play by yourself in singleplayer challenges. Of course, its painting mechanic is more exciting in multiplayer where you can blaze a trail for your teammates to ride like a slipstream. “Some drivers are paint-focused,

Qualcomm may have the edge when it comes to 4G connected PCs at the moment, but Intel is fighting back. The Santa Clara chip maker said it is collaborating with industry partners to inject Windows laptops with 5G connectivity next year. Upcoming 5G-capable PCs will use Intel’s XMM 8000 series commercial 5G modems to deliver much faster wireless speeds to detachable 2-in-1 devices and laptops. Intel also hinted at there being 5G gaming laptops, as it made a point to extol the benefits of 5G on ga

Hunt: Showdown, the competitive supernatural bounty hunting game that we like very much (even though it suffers from a few issues) is now available to everyone on Steam Early Access. Stats will be tracked on leaderboards, and new stats, lore, and other features will be added as the Early Access period unfolds. “Hunt: Showdown is an Early Access title, and players should note that they will experience crashes, as well as optimization, performance, and balancing issues,” Crytek said. Hunt: Showdow

Just had sex in Kingdom Come: Deliverance, no big deal. In Kingdom Come: Deliverance, sex happens whether you want it to or not, a bizarre concession for a game steeped in player choice. In the opening hours of Kingdom Come, the player-protagonist Henry runs off to Talmberg in order to warn the local lord of an incoming Cuman army. An early sidequest, ‘At Your Service, My Lady’, takes you to Talmberg to assist Lady Stephanie with preparations for a friend’s wedding. I’m having fun with Kingdom C

As it pertains to laptops, this Alienware 15 with a Core i7-7700HQ processor and GeForce GTX 1060 GPU can be had for $1,300. The laptop is on sale for $1,700, down from $1,950. However, if you use coupon code AW400 at checkout, it knocks an additional $400 off the price. To start with, the GeForce GTX 1060 GPU has the full 6GB of GDDR5 allotment, as opposed to the 3GB model. The GeForce GTX 1060 GPU is not to going to manage playable framerates in too many games at 4K, but if you need or want th

Astroneer got a big, free update today—its “biggest update to date,” developer System Era Softworks reckons—that makes significant additions to its base building and power systems. New base platforms are the high point of the update. You can use a small fabricator to print medium platforms straight from your backpack, or print a medium fabricator and plop it down if you need larger objects. System Era says existing bases will automatically be updated to fit these new systems, but advises that yo

Internet service providers and wireless carriers are still bound by net neutrality rules, but only for two more months. That’s because the Federal Communications Commission cut through the last bit of red tape today by publishing the repeal of net neutrality rules in the Federal Register (PDF). At that point, ISPs and wireless carriers will no longer have to adhere to net neutrality rules that were put in place under the previous administration. Opponents of net neutrality also claim that existi

Rhode Island Representative Robert Nardolillo has announced plans to introduce legislation that will add a ten percent tax to all M-rated (or higher) videogames sold in the state. “There is evidence that children exposed to violent videogames at a young age tend to act more aggressively than those who are not,” Nardolillo said, without actually citing any supporting evidence. “This bill would give schools the additional resources needed to help students deal with that aggression in a positive wa

Corsair today announced the Obsidian 500D, a new mid-tower case that retains the brushed aluminum design of other Obsidian cases, but adds “smoked” tempered glass side panels. I haven’t spent any time with Corsair’s new case, but it looks to be the same way. “With its clean exterior lines, smoked tempered glass side panels and a curved aluminum front, the Obsidian 500D combines minimalist design with the best in premium materials. Corsair calls the darkened glass smoked, we say tinted. You can i

X-Com gave us a space invasion and an invasion from the sea, but there are a cluster of upcoming games that take their own angle on the formula. We played a combat demo at the PC Gamer Weekender recently (see Julian’s full presentation here), and it’s shaping up very well indeed. Phantom DoctrineIt’s exciting to see the XCOM formula applied to different themes. It sure sounds XCOM-like, promising a turn-based tactical game, in addition to managing resources and uncovering new tech on a ‘rediscov

In fact, the fog of multiple wars made me almost forget about Total War: Arena—the online-only 10v10 competitive battler that Wargaming is overseeing. Its open beta kicks off today. “Together with beta testers, we’ve crafted a game that easily lets newcomers jump in and start battling, while fulfilling the promise to seasoned veteran strategy players who have been at war for years.” We can’t wait for new players to try out this unique Total War multiplayer experience, while we work on more facti

I’m curious where the hardcore Arc System Works fans will find the competitive depth and longevity for this game, compared to previous BlazBlue games? Ishiwatari: Among the games developed inside Arc System Works, there are some universal themes and systems very familiar to people playing any Arc System Works game. Wes: On the PC, what has it been like for Arc System Works to start bringing their games to Steam? Wes: How does it feel to have, is it three Arc System Works games that are going to

Final Fantasy 15 stormed the PC Gamer Weekender 2018 with a trio of trailers detailing its base game, Comrades multiplayer expansion, and scope for adorable civilian Cactuar mods. If you fancied any of that, the JRPG’s incoming Windows Edition is getting a complimentary demo next week. Bringing with it the entirety of chapter one, it’s available to download on Monday, February 26. “If you pre-purchase or purchase FF15 Windows Edition on Steam before 1st May 2018, you can claim the Half-Life pack

With this in mind, the University of Cambridge’s Bad News is a game designed to help players spot falsified stories online. In conversation with the BBC, Dr Sander van der Linden, the director of the University of Cambridge’s Social Decision-Making Laboratory, underscored how the game reflects reality. “These techniques are out there, they are being used by real people,” van der Linden says. Van der Linden suggests Bad News aims to maintain an ideological balance by including both left and right

Yume Nikki’s Dream Diary sequel kicked off a suitably cryptic, weird and haunting teaser campaign last month. It’s just about ready for public consumption—due to launch on Steam tomorrow—and has now dropped some wonderfully terrifying in-game footage. Here’s that:Against its 16-bit source material, I’m digging Dream Diary’s gruesome Inside-meets-Pathologic-esque aesthetic. Yume Nikki Dream Diary is set to arrive on Steam tomorrow, February 23. For more Yume Nikki reading, check out this fascinat

Following last week’s lovestruck special and this week’s Battle Pass season three announcement, Fortnite’s update v3.0.0 lands today. Focused on building improvements for the most part, loads of changes befall both Battle Royale and its Save the World counterpart. Turbo Building, says Epic in this blog post, lets players hold down their primary fire button and continuously place a pre-selected building piece. With this in mind, Epic notes that it’s changed Battle Royale’s netcode so that switchi

I empathise with Mina, but most of all I empathise with her love for food. Battle Chef Brigade is unabashedly carnivorous. I’m not too invested in the storyline, where Mina and the Brigade set out to cure a mutation that’s affecting the monsters. Being a puzzle game, there’s more to Battle Chef Brigade than being a culinary whiz. I’m enjoying Battle Chef Brigade, but I just have one important question: does it make me a bad person that I really want to eat dragon heart now?

Blizzard’s efforts to demonstrate the longevity of Warcraft III continue, with a Warcraft III invitational set to take place on February 27 and 28. That PTR was launched just last year – 15 years after Reign of Chaos originally released. That PTR launch was accompanied by a patch, and here’s another one “coming” as well, according to the community post. The Invitational will be hosted by Back2Warcraft’s Neo and Remo on the Back2Warcraft Twitch channel. These rumours re-surfaced last week when so