Ubisoft’s free-to-play PvP sports game Roller Champions will launch on May 25, the publisher has announced. It will debut that day for Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PS4, PS5, and PC. The game will arrive on Nintendo Switch and via streaming on Stadia and Luna “at a later date.”

Roller Champions is a roller derby-inspired sports game where two teams of three compete to be the first to score five points by tossing a ball into the goal. Players can earn more points by skating around the track more times, provided their team remains in possession of the ball. Players can also tackle foes to knock the ball free and zip up the walls of the arena to avoid others.

Roller Champions has cross-play matchmaking and cross-progression on all platforms, while the game also has a social hub where players can meet up. There is also a battle pass-style system called a Roller Pass that lets players unlock new cosmetic rewards.

Roller Champions is just the latest sports game from Ubisoft, following the launch of Riders Republic in October 2021. For more, check out a new cinematic trailer for Roller Champions above.

Ubisoft has plenty of big games releasing in the next year, including Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, Martio + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope, and Skull and Bones. The company is expected to host a summer showcase of some kind, but it has not yet been announced.

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Nacon has announced that Test Drive Unlimited: Solar Crown has been delayed to 2023 and that the last-gen versions of the game have been canceled. In an update, Nacon said that it was striving to make this entry in the Test Drive series the most polished to date by spending more time on its development. First revealed in 2020, the new Test Drive was originally aiming for a September release this year.

“Finally, with the aim of making the most of the technology in the latest consoles and maximizing the overall quality of the game, Nacon has decided to no longer develop Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One,” the studio wrote in its blog post.

While the primary goal of creating a 1:1 scale replica of Hong Kong in which race luxurious cars hasn’t changed, Nacon added that it wants to also focus on the lifestyle component of the game. This will encompass multiple facets of car ownership, from buying a new set of wheels to using them in a way that builds your reputation up in the Solar Crown racing scene.

This competition boils down to a clan war between two sides of wealthy enthusiasts, the Streets and the Sharps. Each clan wants to impose its signature style on the city, and you’ll have to choose a side while climbing up the social ranks of the racing scene. Each group also has its own headquarters for gathering, celebrating victories together, and finding new missions, as well as a VIP area reserved for the most trusted members of either faction.

Several closed betas are being worked on for Test Drive Unlimited: Solar Crown, although Nacon has yet to pin down a date for when these tests will take place. The publisher also announced Greedfall 2: The Dying World today, a sequel to the 2019 RPG that includes new tactical combat options.

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Halo Infinite’s newest game mode, Last Spartan Standing, is now playable on all four of the game’s Big Team Battle maps.

Initially only playable on the newly-added Breaker map as part of the two-week-long Interference event, Last Spartan Standing now has its own permanent playlist where players can play the mode on launch maps Fragmentation, Deadlock, and High Power as well.

The mode is one of the big new additions in Halo Infinite Season 2, alongside a new battle pass and two new maps. Last Spartan Standing is a battle royale-like mode where 12 players with a limited number of respawns battle for supremacy, with the size of the battlefield shrinking over the course of the match to force players to duke it out.

Rather than scavenging the map for supplies and weapons like in a traditional battle royale, players in Last Spartan Standing can “level up” their loadout by earning kills and assists. There are also powerups in the form of Overshields and Active Camouflage that periodically drop onto the map to fight over.

While Last Spartan Standing isn’t exactly a battle royale, Halo Infinite is rumored to be getting a new, large scale game mode that could be another take on the battle royale formula. The mode is reportedly being worked on by Certain Affinity, a studio formed by ex-Bungie developers and which has long collaborated with both Bungie and 343 Industries on new content for various Halo games throughout the franchise. No official details are known, but Certain Affinity recently said it has “deepened its relationship with 343 and have been entrusted with further evolving Halo Infinite in some new and exciting ways.

Halo Infinite’s second season may have arrived, but fans will still need to wait a little longer for features like online co-op and the Forge custom map creation tool. Online co-op is set to arrive in late August, with an open beta for Forge slated for September.

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Spirittea, a rural life-sim set in East Asia, has been officially announced by developer Cheesemaster Games and publisher No More Robots. Described as a cross between Stardew Valley and the acclaimed anime film Spirited Away, Spirittea tasks you with restoring an old bathhouse that can help restless spirits find peace in the afterlife.

After accidentally drinking from an old mystical teapot, the protagonist of Spirittea gains the ability to see the spirit world. Players will find local NPCs and spirits to help as they live through each day, take part in different hobbies that range from bug catching to karaoke, and upgrade their bathhouse.

Once a spirit arrives at your inn, you can offer them towels, salts, snacks, and a hot soak. More upgrades mean better amenities, and you’ll be able to add new furniture, rooms, and baths to your little getaway which in turn attracts more fascinating and powerful spirits.

Spirittea

Spirittea will launch later this year on PC and console. If you’re planning to grab it on PC, the Steam Page for Spirittea is now live.

For similar feel-good games, it’ll be worth seeing what this year’s Wholesome Direct will have to announce. Like several other publishers and initiatives, this showcase of gentle and charming games will take place in June, and if you want to stay up to date on everything, you can check out our Not-E3 Press Conference schedule.

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V Rising is the newest survival-crafting game on the market and it has players both perplexed and intrigued at the same time. The game offers some tutorials at the start in the form of missions. Players must complete several missions in order to understand the basics of how to equip gear, heal, and build a starting base. For the most part, these tutorials are fairly simple to understand and complete. New vampires will start out scavenging for crafting supplies and end up with a full suit of armor and weapons along with a fully-functioning base and enhancements to set players up for the long haul.

However, some parts of the survival game aren’t explained as well as others. One of the most common questions players have in the early game is how they can avoid the giant ball of fire in the sky that’s causing them to lose health points at a rapid pace. The sun plays a huge role in V Rising and the game doesn’t necessarily offer any explanation as to how to avoid it or why players are taking damage when they are out in the open during the daytime.

For a full rundown of how the sun works and how to avoid it in V Rising, check out the explanation below.

Getting out of the sun

As some players might have guessed, the reason the sun deals damage to players the longer they stay exposed to it is because they are role-playing as a vampire. Vampires don’t do well in the sun, as canon tells us, and this is no different in V Rising. If players stay in the middle of the sun during the daytime, they will quickly lose 10 points of damage every second. The warning signs of impending sun damage include small bits of fire emitting from the player’s body followed by a beam of light coming down from the sky and the player’s screen growing brighter. The game gives players around three or four seconds to get out of the sun before damage starts being dealt.

To avoid this, players simply need to get to a place with shade. Even if it’s under a small tree or rock, as long as it’s shaded, this will reset the timer on the sun’s impending damage and protect players. Although, V Rising has a realistic clock, as shown in the top right of the screen. As the clock progresses, the sun’s position in the sky will move. In turn, this means that places that were in the shade previously might not be in a few minutes due to the sun’s new position.

There are a few ways to counteract this. The first is to simply ensure that you’re underneath a tree or rock formation as much as possible. While there might be the occasional wide-open bridge that needs crossing, as long as players are quick enough, they should avoid any sun damage. Of course, if players choose to fight enemies out in the open, they might succumb to some damage if they’re not careful. Enemies should be avoided at all costs during the daytime unless players are confident they can deal with them quickly enough or they’re in a well-shaded area.

The Mist Brazier is active and keeping out the sun during the afternoon hours.

If players are back at their base and want to avoid the sun, they can actually build a device to make sure the area is shaded at all times. This device is called the Mist Brazier and can be found with the Build menu under the “Foundation” tab. The Mist Brazier, when given Bones, produces a mist that encompasses an area, which blocks out any sun rays. This should be one of the first items that players place in their base, as it allows players to work freely during sunny hours. The Mist Brazier only costs 120 Stone to craft and can be placed in different areas for maximum coverage in a player’s base. However, players need to remember to stock the braziers with Bones, otherwise, the mist will dissipate and the sun will be free to shine down again.

Aside from the Mist Brazier, players can also build a roof on top of their base to keep out all sunlight. However, players won’t get access to a roof until later on in V Rising, so a Mist Brazier or two is the best solution for the early game. Aside from that and keeping to the shady parts of the map, there’s not much else players can do to avoid the sun. Sometimes, players might have to accept their fate if the sun is shining bright and they have nowhere to run.

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French eyewear specialist Jean-François Rey has teamed up with video game designer Hideo Kojima to produce a line of sunglasses inspired by Death Stranding. Four pieces from the collaboration have been announced, with the overall design being heavily inspired by the post-apocalyptic fashion of the Kojima Productions game.

The most striking piece is the Ludens Mask, a 3D-printed cover made using selective laser sintering techniques so that adjustable nose-pads and rim-locks for prescription lenses can be fitted on it.

Then there’s the HKxJF03 frame that merges 3D nylon materials with metal parts to create a set of sunglasses that look like they can survive the time-accelerating rain of Death Stranding’s world.

The HKxJF01 is a more down-to-earth set of shades that feature rectangular lenses on top of a rounded spectacle frame to create a combination look, while the HKxJF02 set is a traditional option available in different patterns. This is pricy fashion though, as the Ludens Mask alone costs over $524, and the rest of the range will set you back over $400 per set.

The HKxJF02 and HKxJF03 sunglasses are available now, while the Ludens Mask is scheduled for a Q4 2022 release. For a more affordable taste of Death Stranding, you can now try out the Director’s Cut of the game on PlayStation and PC, which adds a number of improvements and graphical enhancements to Kojima’s first independent project since he left Konami.

For our updated Death Stranding review on PS5, Justin Clark said, “The Director’s Cut still does an admirable job goosing up that experience for maximum immersion. Even while trying to nudge itself towards something more approachable, there is still nothing quite like this game.”

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During 505 Games’ first-ever digital showcase, the publisher revealed its new action RPG, Stray Blade, will be coming to PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC in 2023.

Developed by Point Blank Games, the studio behind the 2017 turn-based strategy game Shock Tactics, Stray Blade will follow the player as a rogue adventurer exploring the Valley of Acrea with their companion, the Xhinnon wolf Boji. Players will be set on the path to “unveil the history of the forgotten valley and master the powers of the three Acrean Metals to restore balance to this war-torn land.”

505 Games released the gameplay trailer during the event, showcasing the game’s third-person combat while various enemies and environments are depicted. Stray Blade will have a full combat control system that allows quick reactions and precise attacks, as well as boss fights in the form of God-Kings. Once defeated, the player will be able to harvest their powers and use them to their benefit.

The RPG will also have a full progression system and both the adventurer and Boji will have separate talent trees. The adventurer is a fighter who gains experience through battle, whereas Boji is a craftsman who increases his experience by finding pieces of ancient lore.

Stray Blade was originally announced last year and was scheduled for a 2022 release, although 505 went quiet on development updates until now.

Right now, those interested are able to register for the Stray Blade Beta and will be among the first players to check out the RPG. All Beta testers will also be featured in the game credits. Fans can also head over to Steam and wishlist the game, but a concrete release date has yet to be confirmed.

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Microsoft Flight Simulator‘s latest free World Update is here, and this time it’s adding plenty of extra detail to the vistas of Italy and Malta. The update is out now, enhancing the region with more detailed geospatial data, including improved “digital elevation modelling, aerial and satellite imagery, and triangulated irregular network (TIN) modeling of 20 cities.”

The new update will let virutual pilot explore some of the region’s most iconic landmarks, including 94 points of interest in Italy, and 11 new points of interest added to Malta. Four airports in the region have also been fully handcrafted, including Palermo Airport (LICJ) in Sicily, Sondrio Airport (LILO) in the southern Tyrol, Marina di Campo Airport (LIRJ) on Elba Island, and the Bolanzo Airport (LIPB) in the southern Tyrol. 100 other airports have been enhanced with new details.

The newly added landmarks include some of the most iconic destinations in the region, such as Mount Vesuvius, the Vatican City, and the Leaning Tower of Pisa, but there are plenty of other landmarks to be explored, whether they’re ancient ruins, modern architecture, or the breathtaking natural geography of the region.

As well as the new landmarks and increased detail, MFS has added three bush trips, three new discovery flights, and three landing challenges to be undertaken in the region.

The Italy and Malta update is the ninth of Microsoft’s free World Updates, with previous iterations adding detail to regions including much of Western Europe, the USA, Australia, Japan, and more.

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As well as the surprise announcement of a Dead By Daylight-themed dating sim, the horror game’s sixth anniversary broadcast also broke the news of two upcoming collaborations for the game–the first an Attack on Titan collection, and the second a brand new Resident Evil chapter.

Dead By Daylight first collaborated with classic horror franchise Resident Evil this time last year, celebrating its fifth anniversary by adding survivors Jill Valentine and Leon S. Kennedy, as well as villain Nemesis, in a larger Resident Evil-themed chapter. Now, Resident Evil will be the first franchise to appear in Dead By Daylight twice, with a new tie-in chapter titled Resident Evil Chapter: Project W.

Dead by Daylight: Resident Evil™: PROJECT W. New Chapter coming 2022. pic.twitter.com/P90M2zkqHb

— Dead by Daylight (@DeadByBHVR) May 17, 2022

While developer Behaviour Interactive hasn’t confirmed what new characters will be introduced as part of Project W, it’s easy enough to speculate that the chapter’s title refers to the villanous Albert Wesker. All that’s been officially announced is that the new chapter will be “featuring even more characters from the legendary horror franchise.”

Behaviour also announced a new Attack on Titan collection, Dead by Daylight’s first anime collaboration. The AoT tie-in is purely aesthetic, consisting of 10 different outfits for both killers and survivors, which will reskin existing characters as Attack on Titan favorites. The full list hasn’t yet been revealed, but will include Dwight as Eren, Zarina as Hange, and the Oni as the Armored Titan.

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The recent launch of Apex Legends Mobile has brought with it many new features. With new game modes, new in-game currencies, and a new battle pass, it can be easy to overlook the star of Apex Legends Mobile’s debut season: Fade, the newest legend to hop in the dropship.

Fade is only playable on Apex Mobile, but that’s not the only thing making him stand out from the crowd. In addition to being the first-ever legend to appear outside of the console/PC version of the game, he’s also the first legend to debut with virtually no introduction. His silhouette briefly appeared in the launch trailer, but aside from that, players haven’t gotten a good look at him until now.

Unlike the other playable characters in Apex, Fade is the only legend to debut without appearing in a launch trailer, an episode of Stories from the Outlands, or an introductory abilities trailer. He doesn’t even have a bio on EA’s official Apex Legends website. So who exactly is this guy? He does get a very short in-game bio, but uncovering the mystery behind Fade’s history is up to the players themselves.

Fade’s in-game bio and abilities.

Born on Solace, 26-year-old Fade–real name Ignacio Huamani–is the son of two hunters of high-tech curiosities. His parents appear to have operated like Loba’s family, in that their income came from reselling the high-value artifacts they found around the Outlands. Solace is one of the very last planets the IMC withdrew from after the Frontier War, so it’s teeming with interesting archaeological finds to this day (as Loba herself discovered in Season 5’s trailer).

Ignacio’s family eventually tracked down the location of a mysterious bunker, which was home to a “simulacrum suit” with powerful Phase-tech. Moments after Ignacio tried on the suit for the first time, mercenaries stormed the bunker, attacking the family. Fade managed to survive by phasing to safety, but his parents weren’t so lucky. He’s joined the games seeking vengeance for his family’s murder.

It’s hard to ignore the visual similarities between Fade’s simulacrum suit and Revenant’s red, skeletal appearance. They also have similar personalities, each of them overtly rude and frustrated with his own existence. Fade fears the powerful Phase technology generated by his suit and “feels like a prisoner” in it, according to his bio. Revenant resents his lot in life (well, death) as well, feeling trapped in a simulacrum suit he can never take off. Given the fact that there was a giant simulacrum factory hidden beneath Skull Town before Loba blew it to bits, it’s not much of a stretch to imagine Fade and Revenant may be connected in some way. Wraith also escaped from a secret underground lab on Solace, where she gained her Phasing abilities. As Respawn has confirmed that Apex Legends Mobile lore is indeed canon, Fade’s presence in the Games is sure to pique the interest of Ash, Revenant, and Wraith.

The Unleash Punishment event, as seen in Apex Legends Mobile.

But by far, the most unique thing about Fade is his history. His bio gives the overall gist, but it seems there’s quite a bit more to be uncovered–and it’s up to players to do the legwork. Taking part in the Unleash Punishment quest allows players to unlock Fade’s six-part backstory. Fade himself can be unlocked for free using 10 Fade Pieces, a collectible currency unique to this season. Fade pieces can be found in the battle pass, but players who are interested in lore had better get a move on–the Unleash Punishment event only runs until May 27.

Apex Legends Mobile is available for download on iOS and Android.

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