Sea of Thieves‘ servers are currently down for maintenance, and they will be for some time. Players will be unable to access the game on Xbox One and PC until 6 AM PT / 9 AM ET / 2 PM BST / 11 PM AET.
Developer Rare hasn’t stated a reason for the maintenance, and it isn’t clear whether you’ll be required to download a title update to play following the downtime, as was the case after a similar maintenance window last week. The pirate game has encountered a number of problems since launch, including delayed Achievement unlocks and connectivity issues, and these are listed as ongoing issues on Rare’s website. It’s unclear whether the ongoing maintenance will solve those issues.
Rare has also canceled its planned change of introducing a death cost in Sea of Thieves. The developer had planned to charge a small amount of in-game gold for each time you died, but this has now been canned following fan feedback.
In our Sea of Thieves review, critic Peter Brown awarded the game a 6/10. “There may come a time when Sea of Thieves is able to entice me back,” he wrote. “And I imagine that will be with a mix of new mission types and hopefully the promise of rewards that allow for new types of interactions, if not improve my character’s capabilities. For now, it’s a somewhat hollow game that can be fun for a handful of hours when played with friends, and something worth trying out if you happen to be an Xbox Game Pass subscriber. Even though it’s hard to wholeheartedly recommend, I like enough of what I see to hold out hope that things will eventually improve as the game continues to be patched and updated with new content.”
A new Fortnite update is now available on PC, PS4, and Xbox One, but in addition to checking out the new stuff it has to offer, Battle Royale players have some other things they can now do. Fortnite‘s week 4 challenges recently rolled out for Battle Pass owners, and some of them might prove to be tricky.
The full list of challenges is outlined below; one requires you getting the right weapon and utilizing it efficiently (dealing a specific amount of damage with a sniper rifle), while another has you tracking down chests in the Flush Factory or supply drops around the map. There are two in particular that you might need some help with.
The first of these is not labeled as Hard; you’re told to visit five different ice cream trucks. These are scattered around the map–there are more than five in total, with a handful located right inside major locations like Tomato Town, Pleasant Park, and Retail Row. Others are in less obvious locations, though you can track them all down with this map shared by Reddit user imkairu.
What is labeled as Hard is the challenge that reads, “Search between a Vehicle Tower, Rock Sculpture, and a Circle of Hedges.” That somewhat vague clue is pointing you toward a point in the southeast corner of the map, in the G9 section. It’s just on the edge of some water–you can see it in this screenshot from Reddit user __Kaneda__, or see the map they provided here.
You can check out all of the week 4 challenges below. Keep in mind that, despite being added weekly, you have the entirety of Season 3 to finish these out. That means you can also go back to complete previous weekly challenges. Week 5’s challenges are now available.
Weekly challenges are only available to those who own the new Season 3 Battle Pass, which costs 950 V-Bucks. It expands the number of optional tasks you’re given in Battle Royale and allows you to unlock more items like outfits, gliders, and emotes. The Season 3 Battle Pass also includes new types of items, such as loading screens and Back Bling. Check out our gallery of Battle Pass rewards for a look at everything you can get.
Fortnite: Battle Royale Week 4 Challenges
Deal damage with Sniper Rifles to opponents (500) — 5 Battle Stars
Search Chests in Flush Factory (7) — 5 Battle Stars
Search Supply Drops (3) — 5 Battle Stars
Visit different Ice Cream Trucks (5) — 5 Battle Stars
Hard: Search between a Vehicle Tower, Rock Sculpture, and a Circle of Hedges (1) — 10 Battle Stars
Hard: Trap Eliminations (1) — 10 Battle Stars
Hard: Eliminate opponents in Tomato Town (3) — 10 Battle Stars
The start of spring is a great time to be an Xbox One owner. Microsoft has kicked off its big seasonal sale, introducing some major deals on many of the system’s latest and greatest games. Another great thing about this Spring sale: it’s on for a while. Most deals are available for the next two weeks.
If you’ve been wanted to pick up Call of Duty: WWII, it’s available for download for $49.79 ($45 with Gold). The Digital Deluxe version is $83 ($75), down from $100. There’s also a Call of Duty: WWII and Destiny 2 bundle available for $82.49 (71.49).
One of the biggest games of last year, Assassin’s Creed Origins, is also on sale. You can pick it up for $42 ($36). There are also a deal on the Deluxe Edition for $49 ($42) and the Gold Edition for $70 ($60). If you’re in the mood for even more Assassin’s Creed action, Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag is $15 ($12), Assassin’s Creed Syndicate is $50, Assassin’s Creed: The Ezio Edition is $25 ($20), and Assassin’s Creed Unity is $15 ($12). The Assassin’s Creed Triple Pack, which includes Black Flag, Syndicate, and Unity, is $54 right now ($45).
April Fools’ Day has come and gone. This year’s event happened to fall on the same day as Easter, which made for an unusually early rollout of jokes from various video game and entertainment companies seeking to avoid having their efforts missed on a proper holiday. As a result, it was easy to miss some of what was out there.
Below, we’ve rounded up many of the jokes that were shared this year, including those centered around battle royale (all the craze, thanks to Fortnite and PUBG), nostalgia, and dating games, among other things. We also had a gag of our own with Hyrule’s Funniest Home Videos. Be sure to let us know your favorite gags of 2018 and any we missed in the comments. You can see 2017’s pranks here.
Hyrule’s Funniest Home Videos
Rather than do something like trick people into thinking they can pilot a Guardian in Zelda: Breath of the Wild again, we here at GameSpot went a different route this year. Behold Hyrule’s Funniest Home Videos, a BotW-inspired take on America’s Funniest Home videos. You can watch it at the top of this post.
In a move that some people would likely have been excited to hear on any day of the year, Niantic announced that Pokemon Go would introduce new, 8-bit graphics. Rather than keep this to just a few images online, it did actually release an update adding these to the game.
Epic Games is constantly rolling out new content Fortnite: Battle Royale. Its April Fools’ joke involved increasing the effects of two items: The Boogie Bomb (which forces players to dance) allowed dancers to jump much higher than normal, while the Impulse Grenade (which knocks players back without doing damage) pushed people much further than usual.
In another uncommon instance of an April Fools’ joke manifesting in some real way, Sega announced the Sanic Collection, a selection of four items featuring the Sanic meme. You can buy a t-shirt, mug, or phone case featuring Sanic himself for a limited time.
Aspyr Media, the company responsible for bringing Civilization games to mobile, announced it was bringing the latest game, Civilization VI, to a much different platform: smart watches. “Civilization VI on smart watches features Revolutionary Index Finger Control (RIFC),” a press release touts. “Simply swipe up to declare war, scroll down to build a library, double tap to initiate a religious inquisition, swipe right to fire catapults, or tap and hold to research pottery.”
New World of Warcraft Micro Holidays
Blizzard teased that it would expand World of Warcraft‘s calendar of micro holiday to offer something every day. Highlights include Looking for Queue, a day where you can only join a dungeon queue by having your character physically wait in line outside of the dungeon, and The Yes-Fly Zone, when ground-based transport will be disallowed.
Following in the footsteps of Pokemon Go, Square Enix announced an expansion for MMO Final Fantasy XIV. This would take the form of FFXIV Online Go, a mobile app that lets you gather resources while exploring the real world, Pokemon Go style.
With dating games like Hatoful Boyfriend proving to be quite successful, Capcom announced its own spin on the genre starring Mega Man. Mega Man: Date My Robot Master sends you to school and allows you to forge relationships with a variety of classmates.
Card games are another genre that’s proven popular, and Capcom offered a take on it as well. The company revealed a Street Fighter card game called Hado Stone.
Capcom wasn’t the only one with dating games on the brain, as Grasshopper and GungHo announced Let It Date, which is described as a “full-fledged dating simulator spin-off” of free-to-play action game Let It Die. “Let It Date players can enjoy the underworld of Let It Die in a new sensual and casual way where they get to know their favorite characters on a deeper, romantic level–like Uncle Death. Let It Date invites a new audience to experience the witty and charming dialogue in the Tower of Barbs, who may not be a fan of the hardcore action genre.”
Ascenders, Follow-Up To Descenders
Downhill freeriding game Descenders went in the opposite direction for April Fools’. The developer released a special mode that allows you to tackle the game in a much different way.
Battle royale is enjoying a massive wave of popularity, and Path of Exile got in on the fun with a special mode called Path of Exile: Royale. The announcement reveals that the developers have “abandoned” the action RPG genre it’s known for in favor of something that was created with “one day of development.”
While Android users continue to await word of when they’ll get access, Epic Games has wrapped up its invite-only iOS test for Fortnite Mobile. Everyone with a supported iOS device can now dive into the wildly popular game, which is playable in its entirety for free on phones and tablets.
Fortnite has been a free download on the iOS App Store since the debut of the test in March, though only those who were granted access (by Epic or through the subsequent round of friend invites) could actually log in. If you haven’t already, you can head to Epic’s website to create an account. To play, you’ll need one of the following devices:
Fortnite Mobile Supported iOS Devices
iPhone SE
iPhone 6S
iPhone 7
iPhone 8
iPhone X
iPad Mini 4
iPad Air 2
iPad 2017
iPad Pro
Fortnite Mobile doesn’t support devices like the iPhone 5S, 6, 6 Plus; the iPad Air, Mini 2, Mini 3; or the iPod Touch. While that’s unfortunate for owners of those, if you do have the proper hardware, Fortnite Mobile presents a surprisingly complete version of the game–weekly challenges and all. That’s necessary, given the presence of optional cross-play with other platforms, but the game even holds up decently in comparison with the Xbox One X version.
We still don’t have any specific word on the Android version of Fortnite Mobile. Epic has said that it’s coming, but we don’t know just how soon to expect it. Presumably, with testing on iOS complete, it can now turn its attention to Android–although ongoing issues still have stats disabled on all platforms.
Week 6 challenges in Fortnite: Battle Royale are now live for Battle Pass owners. As usual, there’s an array of objectives to complete, some of which are not especially straightforward based on the description alone. One such example involves searching for something “between a Metal Bridge, Three Billboards, and a Crashed Bus.” Here’s how to find that and tips on dealing with some of the other challenges this week.
Provided you’re not intimately familiar with the map, seeking out the landmarks in the aforementioned challenge could be very difficult. That’s especially true when everyone else on the map is trying to kill you–and might be worried you’ll do the same while they try to track down this location. Luckily, it’s not all that difficult–you can see the exact spot in the video above. You’ll need to either parachute from the bus or build up to the top of a small mountain located between Shifty Shafts and Salty Springs. It’s just northeast of a bridge near Shifty Shafts. However you get to the top, you’ll see a Battle Star item there for you to pick up (done the same way you’d open a chest). Do that, and you’re done.
In the video, we also run you through another of the less obvious challenges, which tasks you to “summit different Mountains Peaks.” Again, this involves reaching the top of mountains, either by building your way to the top or by parachuting down to one at the start of a match. Only certain areas count–you’ll find many of them in the western half of the map, and we highlight several of them in the video. Once you reach the top, you’ll need to look for a flag icon. Simply approach it and your banner will pop up in its place, indicating that your progress has registered. Fortunately, unlike the recent “visit three gas stations” challenge, this does not need to be done in a single match.
This week’s remaining challenges are more straightforward, such as searching chests in Anarchy Acres. Your best bet, as always, is to check the attics of buildings, as that’s often where chests are hidden. If you’re lucky, you’ll happen upon a Cozy Campfire, an explosive weapon, or an SMG in the process, which will allow you to make progress toward three of this week’s other challenges.
You can see all of the Week 6 challenges below, or see every Fortnite Season 3 challenge in our roundup. Completing challenges helps to level up your Battle Pass more quickly, which in turn lets you unlock the variety of cool Season 3 skins and items that are available. The Battle Pass is available on PC, PS4, Xbox One, and mobile, though you’ll need to purchase it for 950 V-Bucks.
Fortnite Week 6 Challenges
Deal damage with SMGs to opponents (500) — 5 Battle Stars
Search Chests in Anarchy Acres (7) — 5 Battle Stars
Place a Cozy Campfire — 5 Battle Stars
Summit different Mountains Peaks (10) — 5 Battle Stars
Hard: Search between a Metal Bridge, Three Billboards, and a Crashed Bus — 10 Battle Stars
Alongside a new update, Epic Games has released the Week 6 set of challenges in Fortnite: Battle Royale. As is typically the case, there are a total of seven new objectives for Battle Pass owners to complete on PC, PS4, Xbox One, and mobile; you can see how to complete them in the video above. One important note to be aware of before diving in is that the new limited-time mode, Sniper Shootout v2, is not granting rewards, XP, or progress at the time of this writing, but Epic is working on the issue.
A fair number of this week’s challenges are pretty straightforward, though they may require some time and patience. For instance, you’ll need to place a Cozy Campfire, which, of course, first requires you to actually get your hands on one. Be sure to throw it down as soon as you come across one to ensure you get the credit for this.
Other challenges are simply a matter of being in the right place or using the right weapon. You’ll need to deal damage with SMGs, open chests in Anarchy Acres, secure eliminations with explosive weapons (such as the new Guided Missile), and take out enemies in Retail Row. The latter two are labeled as Hard, but spend enough time in those locations and you should eventually have no trouble racking up the 10 Battle Stars offered as rewards for each.
There are two others that are slightly more involved. The first asks you to summit 10 different mountain peaks. In other words, you simply have to reach the top. You can either climb mountains individually or, if you don’t care too much about your starting location, simply land on top of a mountain at the start of each round 10 different times. Take note that you’ll primarily find mountains around the western half of the map.
The other more complex challenge is a Hard one that asks you to “search between a Metal Bridge, Three Billboards, and a Crashed Bus.” As with past objectives like this, it’s simply a matter of tracking down the Battle Star icon that’s hidden in between the stated objects. In this case, you’ll find it on a small mountaintop in the E7 section of the map (marked in the image below). We’ve got a more complete walkthrough here or you can check out the video above.
You can see all of the Week 6 challenges below. As always, you’ll need the Battle Pass to take part in these (except for the existing set of free challenges), and you have the full season to complete them, which gives you through the end of April to do so. Completing challenges rewards you with Battle Stars, leveling up your Battle Pass and giving you a quick route to unlock Season 3’s cosmetic rewards. You can see all the Season 3 challenges here.
Fortnite Week 6 Challenges
Deal damage with SMGs to opponents (500) — 5 Battle Stars
Search Chests in Anarchy Acres (7) — 5 Battle Stars
Place a Cozy Campfire — 5 Battle Stars
Summit different Mountains Peaks (10) — 5 Battle Stars
Hard: Search between a Metal Bridge, Three Billboards, and a Crashed Bus — 10 Battle Stars
Far Cry 5 has charted well in its first week on sale, taking the No.1 spot from Xbox One exclusive Sea of Thieves for the week ending March 31. Sales monitor Chart-Track says Ubisoft’s open-world game is the biggest-selling launch in the franchise’s history and also the biggest launch of 2018 so far.
Elsewhere, Easter sale promotions mean FIFA 18 rises three places to No.2 and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe climbs to No.4. Last week’s No.1, Sea of Thieves, drops to No.3.
The latest in the Far Cry series has been well-received by critics since its launch, and we awarded it a 9/10 in our Far Cry 5 review. “Despite some brief irritations and missed opportunities with its narrative, spending time in the world of Hope County remains absolutely delightful,” wrote critic Edmond Tran. “Far Cry 5 boasts a wonderfully harmonious flow to its adventure, with its smart changes to exploration, discovery, and progression distinctly bolstering the enjoyment of creatively engaging and experimenting with its spectacular open world.”
You can read the full top 10 sales chart below, courtesy of UKIE and GfK Chart-Track. Note this table does not include digital sales data, and so should not be considered representative of all UK game sales.
The next chapter in Kazuma Kiryu’s life sees him balancing a criminal past with raising a baby–the child of his own adopted daughter Haruka, who’s in a coma after a hit-and-run. Kiryu must investigate what happened, all the while throwing down in street fights and engaging in the series’ trademark minigames.
Speaking of taking care of kids, Kratos has a son named Atreus. He’ll accompany the demigod as he battles the Norse pantheon in a new, much more open adventure. There are bigger areas to explore and optional bosses to take down as Kratos finds more outlets for this untamable rage.
Nintendo Labo is a unique concept: build peripherals called Toy-Cons from cardboard, then use them to play minigames. There are cardboard blueprints included, but the real hook is building any contraption you want, then programming it to work with the Joy-Cons using the Toy-Con Garage mode.
On the not-so-kid-friendly side, the latest South Park adventure is coming to Switch this month. This sequel sees the residents of South Park dressing up as superheroes, and as the new kind in town, you can pick your own superpowers and choose a side.
Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Trilogy — April 26
Available on: Switch
The Switch is also getting a port of the popular anime fighting game starring everyone’s favorite ninja. This trilogy includes Ultimate Ninja Storm 1, 2, and 3, plus a bunch of previously DLC costumes and episodes. Note that not every single piece of DLC is included.
The end of the month is quickly approaching, which means Pokemon Go players only have a few more days to catch its current Legendary. The Pokemon Silver mascot Lugia is scheduled to leave the game on April 2, making this your last opportunity to add one to your collection for the foreseeable future.
Lugia was one of the first Legendaries introduced in Pokemon Go, originally appearing as a Raid Battle boss last summer alongside another Legendary bird, Articuno. Niantic reintroduced Lugia to the game earlier this month, although players will find it is slightly different from its initial run.
As before, players will encounter Lugia as a Raid Battle at Gyms. This time around, however, it knows the “newly improved” Flying-type move Sky Attack. Lugia should also prove to be easier to capture than it originally was, although you will still need to defeat it first in order to get that opportunity. You can find tips on how to catch Lugia in our guide.
Niantic hasn’t announced if Lugia will return to the game again in the future, but it certainly wouldn’t be a surprise. Several Legendaries have reappeared in Pokemon Go following their initial run, most recently Groudon and Kyogre, both of which returned as Raid bosses during last month’s Legendary Week event.
April 2 also marks the day Pokemon Go’s Easter Eggstravaganza event ends. Until then, Pokemon that normally hatch from 5 km or 10 km Eggs, such as Wynaut or Ralts, can be hatched from 2 km Eggs. Players will also earn extra Candy for every Egg they hatch during the event.
