Category: Gamespot

Blizzard’s MOBA Heroes of the Storm is undergoing some big changes. The developer announced today that it is moving some developers on the game to other projects, while the game’s major competitive tournaments are coming to an end.

In a blog post, Blizzard’s J. Allen Brack and Ray Gresko said the developer is making the “tough choice” to move developers from Heroes of the Storm to other projects.

“We need to take some of our talented developers and bring their skills to other projects,” Blizzard said. “As a result, we’ve made the difficult decision to shift some developers from Heroes of the Storm to other teams, and we’re excited to see the passion, knowledge, and experience that they’ll bring to those projects.”

Brack and Gresko added that this is nothing new for Blizzard. As part of its ongoing evaluation of its own development processes, it regularly makes “hard decisions” like this that can pay dividends down the road.

“We now have more live games and unannounced projects than at any point in the company’s history,” they said, adding that games like World of Warcraft and Overwatch “would not exist” were in not for Blizzard’s decision to scale back other projects.

Even though Blizzard is scaling back development on Heroes of the Storm, the game will still be “actively” supported with more heroes, special events, and “other” new content. However, Blizzard acknowledged that updates might be slower than in the past. The overall goal is for the game to be available over the “long-term” but Blizzard didn’t put any specific dates on how long it plans to support the game.

Another part of the announcement was around Heroes of the Storm competitive tournaments. Blizzard is shutting down the Heroes Global Championship and Heroes of the Dorm tournament series; they won’t be back in 2019.

“This was another very difficult decision for us to make,” Brack and Gresko said. “The love that the community has for these programs is deeply felt by everyone who works on them, but we ultimately feel this is the right decision versus moving forward in a way that would not meet the standards that players and fans have come to expect.”

It is unclear if there were any layoffs at Blizzard as a result of this news. GameSpot has contacted Blizzard in an attempt to get more details and context around Blizzard’s move to scale back Heroes of the Storm.

An in-depth report from Kotaku claims Blizzard management is trying to cut costs and ship more games. Some said they believe that Blizzard’s culture is changing. Blizzard founder and CEO Mike Morhaime left the company in October.

Heroes of thee Storm was released in 2015. The free-to-play multiplayer game features characters from across Blizzard’s suite of series. A 2.0 edition of the game came out in 2017, containing a number of changes. GameSpot’s Heroes of the Storm review scored the game a 9/10, with writer Tyler Hicks saying the game is a “must-play” for MOBA players and Blizzard enthusiasts.

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We’re giving away free PC codes for Call Of Duty: Black Ops 4 Battle Edition to thirty (30) lucky fans! Scroll down to enter.

This is not an instant win. No purchase necessary. Competition ends at 12:00 PM PT on December 19, 2018, in which 30 winners will be chosen at random and emailed a code for the full game (MSRP: $30).

Enter below:

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Two Legendary Pokemon are returning to Pokemon Go for a very limited time. Niantic is bringing Ho-Oh and Lugia, the cover monsters from Pokemon Gold and Silver versions, back to the mobile game as part of a special Raid weekend event, which kicks off this Friday, December 14, at 1 PM PT / 4 PM ET.

All through the weekend, players will be able to encounter the two Johto Legendaries once again as Raid Battles at Gyms. Moreover, Niantic says that Shiny variants of the two Pokemon will also have a chance of appearing. The Legendaries will be available until Monday, December 17, at 1 PM PT / 4 PM ET.

Ho-Oh and Lugia aren’t the only Legendaries appearing again in Pokemon Go. As part of December’s Field Research, players have another chance to capture Articuno, Zapdos, Moltres, Raikou, Entei, or Suicune. Each time they achieve a Research Breakthrough this month, they’ll be rewarded with another encounter with one of the six aforementioned Legendaries.

Meanwhile, Pokemon Go’s latest Gen 4 Legendary, Cresselia, is set to leave the game soon. The Legendary Psychic Pokemon will only appear in Raid Battles until December 18, making this your last opportunity to capture one if you haven’t already.

Niantic recently rolled out a new update for Pokemon Go, introducing the newly announced PvP Trainer Battle system to the game. Now, all Pokemon Go users who have reached at least level 10 can challenge other players directly to three-on-three Pokemon battles. You can learn more about the new feature in our Pokemon Go PvP guide.

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[UPDATE] Right on schedule, Capcom updated Street Fighter V’s Arcade Edition today with ads. The advertisements on stages, character outfits, and loading screens, are switched on by default, but you can toggled off in the Battle Settings menu. As you probably might have guessed, the Street Fighter subreddit is awash with criticism of the newly launched ads.

The original story is below.

Capcom is trying something new on the business side for Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition. The publisher announced that the game is adding optional “sponsored content” on December 11, and it will come in the form of advertisements to tell you about the Capcom Pro Tour competitive gaming event, content bundles for the game, and extra costumes you can buy.

The ads will show up in “several locations” throughout the game, including loading screens, tournament stages, and even on characters themselves. Specifically, characters will now have a new “Ad Style” option that will display sponsored content on clothing or the character model itself. The ads on stages, meanwhile, will display sponsored content in clear sight. And the loading screen ads are exactly what they sound like; Capcom clarified that the loading screen with ads enabled won’t be longer than when they’re disabled.

An example of Capcom Pro Tour ads in Street Fighter V

The important thing here is that these ads are entirely optional. If you do decide to view the ads, you’ll be rewarded with extra Fight Money (the game’s currency) when you play Ranked and Casual matches. There is an upper limit on the Fight Money payouts, however, though Capcom did not say what it is.

Capcom’s blog post suggests that the sponsored content functionality is switch on by default. It can be toggled off in the Battle Settings menu. You can choose to only see ads where you want them, too; so you could choose to only see the costume ads or the stage and loading screen ads. Go to Capcom’s blog post to learn more.

As Gamasutra reminds us, advertisements in games is nothing new, but what’s notable here is that Street Fighter V is not a free-to-play game. Still, it is not unprecedented for full price games to feature ads. EA’s FIFA franchise displays well-known global brands on the sidelines. Additionally, back in 2008, Barack Obama’s campaign spent money to buy ads in 18 different video games, and he eventually went on to win the Presidency that year.

An example of more ads in Street Fighter V stages

Most major video game publishers are looking at ways to make more money from games in new ways, and in-game advertising is just one of those ways, alongside microtransactions.

Ads in Street Fighter V launch on December 11, and it will interesting to see how players react. We also don’t know yet what other gaming or non-gaming brands might sign up to put ads in Street Fighter V. Another question some may be asking is if Capcom is adding ads to Street Fighter V to make up for how it failed to reach Capcom’s sales targets.

The game was originally released in 2016 for PS4 and PC, while the better-received Arc

Keep checking back with GameSpot for more.

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The new Super Smash Bros. game for Nintendo Switch is off to a fast start, at least in Japan. New sales numbers from Famitsu reveal that Super Smash Bros. Ultimate sold 1.24 million copies over its first weekend (December 7-9).

According to the publication (via Gematsu), this represents the highest launch sales in the history of the Smash Bros. franchise in Japan. Not only that, but it’s the best opening for any Switch game in the island nation, according to the report.

The Famitsu report also states that, as expected, the launch of Smash Bros. Ultimate helped drive console sales. Nintendo sold 278,313 Switch units during the week, which is more than 2.5x more than the 107,450 that Nintendo sold in Japan the week prior.

Sales numbers for Smash Bros. Ultimate in other parts of the world have not been disclosed as of yet, but keep checking back with GameSpot for more.

In other Smash news, the next Ultimate update is coming next week. The full list of patch notes haven’t been released yet, but what we do know already is that it will kill any in-game replays that have been saved.

Despite the already vast fighter roster, Ultimate is getting plenty of post-launch character expansions–including Piranha Plant and Persona 5‘s Joker. We have our own list of characters we want to see.

In our Super Smash Bros. Ultimate review-in-progress, Edmond Tran gave the game a 9/10, writing, “Situational downers don’t stop Super Smash Bros. Ultimate from shining as a flexible multiplayer game that can be as freewheeling or as firm as you want it to be. Its entertaining single-player content helps keep the game rich with interesting things to do, as well as bolstering its spirit of loving homage to the games that have graced Nintendo consoles. Ultimate’s diverse content is compelling, its strong mechanics are refined, and the encompassing collection is simply superb.”

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The first big content update for World of Warcraft‘s Battle for Azeroth expansion has arrived. Tides of Vengeance is now live in the Americas, bringing a new Warfront, quests, heritage armor, island expeditions, and much more to Blizzard’s long-running MMO.

Headlining the content update is Battle for Darkshore, a brand-new Warfront in which players can unlock “powerful hero transformations” based upon their combat role, Blizzard explained on the official WoW website. The developer has also added new quest lines and World Quests to the game, as well as another chapter in the War Campaign; you can access the latter by going to your ship either in Boralus or Zuldazar.

On top of that, two new island expeditions are now available: Jorundall and Havenswood. Blizzard has also added two new events that players may encounter as they explore the various islands on the Great Sea. Both Jorundall and Havenswood, along with all of the previous island expeditions, feature new enemies, achievements, items, and vendors as well.

Additionally, the Tides of Vengeance update brings a new pet battle dungeon to the game: Gnomeregan. In order to access it, you’ll first need to have earned the All Growns Up achievement, which you can do by raising a pet to level 25. Blizzard has also added two new heritage armor sets for dwarves and blood elves. To get them, you’ll need to be level 120 and complete either the Keep Yer Feet on the Ground or the Pride of the Sin’dorei quests in Ironforge and Silvermoon, respectively.

You can find the full patch notes for the Tides of Vengeance update on the WoW website. There’s even more content on the way to the MMO in the near future. Beginning January 22, players will be able to take part in a new raid, Battle of Dazar’alor. The raid will arrive alongside the start of Season 2 of PvP and Mythic Keystone Dungeons.

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If you’ve logged onto Super Smash Bros. Ultimate recently, you may have noticed a message about Update 1.2.0 coming out “next week.” While we don’t know what it will do, the most important takeaway is that the update will kill any in-game replays that have been saved. There is a process by which you can save your replays, but you’ll have to act before the update comes out.

You need to go to the Vault, click on Replays, and then go to Replay Data. From there, you can convert your replays into videos that are saved to your Switch as opposed to your Ultimate game file. As a warning, videos are saved on your system as opposed to a cloud so they will take up quite a bit of storage space if you try to keep a lot of them. Nintendo hasn’t revealed the exact day that Version 1.2.0 of Ultimate goes live, so it’s probably wise to convert the replays you want to save sooner rather than later.

Nintendo also hasn’t released the patch notes for this newest update so it’s unknown what it will change exactly. Ultimate’s Day One update addressed issues with the replay system though, so this may be a follow-up that fixes any lingering problems.

If you’re struggling with Ultimate, we have a few guides to help you out. If this is your first Smash game or you’re a beginner, we have tips on how to unlock all the characters as quickly as possible. Of the 75 fighters that launched with the game, we’ve recorded all of their Final Smashes so you can see how they work. We’ve also got eight tips that help anyone learn how to dominate their friends at the game.

Despite the already vast fighter roster, Ultimate is getting plenty of post-launch character expansions–including Piranha Plant and Persona 5‘s Joker. We have our own list of characters we want to see.

In our Super Smash Bros. Ultimate review-in-progress, Edmond Tran gave the game a 9/10, writing, “Situational downers don’t stop Super Smash Bros. Ultimate from shining as a flexible multiplayer game that can be as freewheeling or as firm as you want it to be. Its entertaining single-player content helps keep the game rich with interesting things to do, as well as bolstering its spirit of loving homage to the games that have graced Nintendo consoles. Ultimate’s diverse content is compelling, its strong mechanics are refined, and the encompassing collection is simply superb.”

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