WHAT’S HAPPENING IN THE WORLD OF FUN.
downtime
A new Lord of the Rings
MMO is about to get
a helping hand from
Amazon
One does not simply play into Mordor...
L
ast September Athlon Games announced it was working on a free The
Lord of the Rings MMO. You’d be forgiven for not having the date and
news etched into your memory, but the whole thing just got a lot more
interesting with the news that Amazon – and its very deep pockets – is
joining the project.
Amazon Game Studios – which has so far launched The Grand Tour Game and a
number of Amazon App Store titles – will “jointly develop the game for PC and
consoles” with Athlon Games. We know from Athlon’s original announcement that
the game will be set way before all the shenanigans with Frodo Baggins and
Gollum.
“You won’t see human characters from The Lord of the Rings in our game,” Dave
Miller, president of Athlon Games, told Gamesbeat when the game was originally
announced. “I wouldn’t say it’s First Age because that is more gods and monsters.”
“We’re committed to bringing customers games of the highest quality, both with
our own original IP as well as beloved cultural pillars like The Lord of the Rings,”
said Amazon Game Studios’ Christoph Hartmann in a statement.The Division 2’s first big free DLC will add
new missions, Exotics, and big skill changes
THE DLC WILL BE FREE TO ALL PLAYERS, BUT YEAR 1 PASS OWNERS WILL GET ACCESS
A WEEK EARLY.
The next chapter in The Division 2 is Episode 1 – DC Outskirts: Expeditions, and as Ubisoft
and Massive announced today, this free DLC will arrive on July 23 for Year 1 Pass owners
and July 30 for all players. Aside from myriad fixes and balance changes, Episode 1 will
introduce two new main missions, the Expeditions game mode, new gear including two
Exotics, and two more Classified Assignments. The Operation Dark Hours raid is also
getting a lowered “Discovery” difficulty (with reduced rewards), and even amongst the
many balance changes, skill overhauls stand out.
The new missions are set in Camp White Oak and the Manning National Zoo, and
star President Andrew Ellis and Outcast leader Emeline Shaw, respectively. Expeditions,
meanwhile, will take players to Kenly College. Unlike missions, Expeditions will be split
into three “wings,” with new wings released on a weekly basis. “Completing all three
wings grants access to an exclusive treasure room full of rewards,” Massive said in a
statement. The new Classified Assignments, meanwhile, are set in Washington’s Central
Aquarium and NSA Site B13, and are exclusive to the Year 1 Pass.Netflix announces
animated Cuphead TV
series, The Cuphead Show!
CUPHEAD AND HIS BROTHER
MUGMAN RETURN.
Cuphead is coming to Netflix!
The streaming service announced
that a TV series, based on the popular
(yet devilishly difficult) video game, is
being developed in conjunction with
King Features and Cuphead developer
Studio MDHR. Titled The Cuphead Show!,
the comedy series will expand on the
world first shown in the independently
produced video game.
Fallout 76’s upcoming
patch will make life in the
wasteland slightly easier
for new and low-level
characters
THE PATCH AIMS TO CREATE “A SMOOTHER
PATH FOR NEW CHARACTERS”.
Bethesda recently released a blog post
with a preview of the next big upcoming
patch for Fallout 76. One of the biggest
takeaways of the highlights given for
Patch 11, which is due to be added in
mid-July, is that it’s set to help new and
low-level characters have a smoother
introduction to the wasteland after
emerging from the Vault for the first
time.
“Lots of new Dwellers have been
leaving Vault 76 for the first time over
the past few weeks and, in Patch 11,
we’re looking to make a few adjustments
to help new and low-level characters
have more gradual introductions to
some of the game’s mechanics and
challenges,” the post states.