Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery Adds Expensive Pets
The notorious free-to-play mobile game Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery announced it will be adding optional pets — however, they come at a cost.
To obtain the pets, players will need to spend Gems, Hogwarts Mystery's premium currency. Each pet will cost between 160 and 320 Gems, which can generally be purchased in packs of 130 for $4.99. Though gems are obtainable through playing as well, it's a slow process.
The pets included are a toad, cat, owl, and rat. Each will generate some Energy, Hogwarts Mystery's main resource for completing actions, upon waking them up in the morning. Players can keep all four in their dormitory, though only one will be able to follow them around the rest of the school.
Disney Nearing Approval of Fox Acquisition
After a costly bidding war, it appears Disney is set to acquire 21st Century Fox's entertainment assets after winning U.S. antitrust approval.
As reported by Bloomberg, Disney's last major hurdle in acquiring 21st Century Fox's entertainment assets was a series of federal antitrust laws that will be reportedly circumvented by Disney agreeing to "sell assets to resolve competitive harms arising from the merger."
In accordance with this agreement, the U.S. Justice Department is expected to approve the deal in federal court. Following this, Comcast is expected to raise their bid once again in an attempt to acquire the assets.
Fallout 3 Headlines Xbox Game Pass’ New July Titles
Microsoft's Xbox Game Pass service will add nine new titles in July, seven Xbox One games and two Xbox 360 games. Although they may be dated, the two Xbox 360 games – Fallout 3 and The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion – look like they'll be next month's heavy hitters when they arrive on July 1.
The seven Xbox One games, meanwhile, are:
- Abzu, July 1
- DiRT 4, July 1
- Zombie Army Trilogy, July 1
- Shadow Complex: Remastered, July 1
- Human Fall Flat, July 1
- Bomber Crew, July 10
- Warhammer: Vermintide 2, July 11
Warhammer: Vermintide 2's addition to Xbox Game Pass coincides with its release date, while the other eight games are already available on Xbox One right now. In our review of the Warhammer: Vermintide 2 PC version, IGN called Vermintide 2 "a beautifully dark game."
Fortnite V4.5 Patch Brings Dual Pistols
Dual pistols are coming to Battle Royale in Fortnite in the latest patch, along with Playground, and Final Fight Limited Time Modes.
Fortnite patch V4.5 is here and brings new weapons to Battle Royale with Dual Pistols, available in both Epic and Legendary variants. The weapons use medium ammo and will fire simultaneously with one trigger pull. The Dual Pistols don't use first shot accuracy (a "perk" that essentially ensures you'll hit your target if you're not moving, haven't recently fired your weapon, and have lined up your reticule with the enemy).
Players can find the Dual Pistols in Supply Drops, floor loot, and chests.
PlayStation Plus Free Games for July Revealed
Sony today revealed the seven games included in PlayStation Plus' July lineup via a PlayStation Blog post. Next month's games are:
- Heavy Rain (PS4)
- Absolver (PS4)
- Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 (PS4)
- Rayman 3 HD (PS3)
- Deception IV: The Nightmare Princess (PS3)
- Space Overlords (PS Vita)
- Zero Escape: Zero Time Dilemma (PS Vita)
Call of Duty: Black Ops 3's inclusion may sound familiar, as Sony already added it to the roster after revealing it would be joining PlayStation Plus during its E3 2018 media showcase. Described as a "special bonus title" — the service normally has six monthly games, not seven — Black Ops 3 will only be available as a PlayStation Plus download through July 11.
PUBG Event Pass Updated After Fan Outcry
Fan response to PUBG's recent introduction of a paid Event Pass to compete with Fortnite's Battle Pass has been, in a word, ugly. But PUBG Corp. has heard the complaints from its player base, and it's "making some changes based on the feedback received," according to an update posted to Steam today.
PUBG Corp. is raising the daily experience limit from 80 to 120, lowering the minimum playtime required to count toward mission progress from five to two minutes, and dropping the playtime required to build experience from five minutes to two-and-a-half minutes.
Forza Horizon 4: Living the Horizon Life
According to Playground Games, Forza Horizon 4 will feature the biggest campaign the studio has ever delivered.
Dubbed Horizon Life, the campaign component will package up a huge amount of content for different types of Forza players. Forza Horizon 4 has been built to cater for all Horizon fans; not just those who want to race.
“One of the other great things which we’ve always found in Horizon is, because we have a really broad feature set, we end up with a really diverse set of players who play the game in really interesting and different ways,” says principal game designer Mike Brown. “Obviously there are people who come to race, but there’s equally people who don’t really want to race at all, and maybe they’re artistic and they want to express themselves in the livery creator.”
How Fallout: New Vegas Got a Dose of Tabletop-Style Storytelling
Fans of Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas have been arguing over which role-playing adventure is the superior one ever since Obsidian Entertainment got its chance with the franchise, especially considering a portion of the development team worked on the original two Fallout titles. One often-cited strength of Fallout: New Vegas is its more open-ended quest structure, borrowing heavily from Obsidian’s and Interplay’s top-down role-playing games, which are in turn heavily inspired by tabletop games such as Dungeons & Dragons. In this month’s IGN Unfiltered (watch the full episode in the video below), Fallout: New Vegas director Josh Sawyer lays out how the game utilized classic tabletop game design to build a better, more open-ended apocalypse.
First Photo of DiCaprio and Brad Pitt in Tarantino’s New Movie
The first official photo of Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood features Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt.
The actors are sporting 1960s duds in the picture (seen below) for Tarantino's ninth movie. Here's the synopsis for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood:
Quentin Tarantino's ninth feature film is a story that takes place in Los Angeles in 1969, at the height of hippy Hollywood. The two lead characters are Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio), former star of a western TV series, and his longtime stunt double Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt). Both are struggling to make it in a Hollywood they don't recognize anymore. But Rick has a very famous next-door neighbor...Sharon Tate.
Todd McFarlane Thinks a Spawn/Venom Crossover Film Could Happen
Todd McFarlane believes a crossover movie between Spawn and Venom could happen.
Speaking to CBR, McFarlane revealed the crossover would be possible if Sony distributes his upcoming Spawn reboot. McFarlane is also willing to have a conversation with Sony about making it happen.
"Here’s a big 'What If,'" McFarlane said. "What if Sony distributes Spawn? Then is it possible that in the future Sony could have a crossover with Venom and Spawn? It’s possible. So, I will be presenting that possibility to the Sony executives when we get ready."
McFarlane then went on to say the potential crossover would be a no-brainer if the new Venom film starring Tom Hardy and the Spawn reboot become huge hits. McFarlane is also interested directing a movie featuring both characters.