Tag: FPS

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Farlight 84 is a hero-based battle royale shooter from Lilith Games arriving in 2021

Lilith Games has announced that its upcoming battle royale shooter, Farlight 84, is arriving on mobile in 2021. The game combines elements of MOBA with multiplayer shooting, as you bring heroes to battle, and use their abilities to overcome opponents. Imagine something like Apex: Legends combined with Fortnite, as you also have the usual battle royale accouterments of crafting, and vehicles with which to rampage across the map.

In terms of story, Farlight 84 is post-apocalyptic, but more like the colourful post-apocalypse of Farcry: New Dawn than say, The Long Dark. The world has been taken over by zombie-cyborgs – zomborgs for short – and the last remaining heroes of humanity must face off against each other to scavenge what they need to survive.

This makes Farlight sounds pretty grim, but on the contrary, it looks like a fun-filled third-person shooter, channeling those same quirky Fortnite vibes, with fast-paced 40 player matches. Adding to the chaos, players are able to kit themselves out with super-powered weapons, courtesy of Farlight’s ‘Big Four’ arms manufacturers. They’ll also be a fair selection of ways to traverse the map, from multi-legged spider walkers to jet-packs, though players will have to be wary of the game’s energy system when using these.

If you want to see some gameplay for yourself, the new trailer is below:

Farlight 84 also features ‘refuges’ which are places you can hang out inbetween games with your buddies. But in order to construct and personalise these, you’re going to have to earn building matierials from winning matches.

If you want to find out more about Farlight 84, you can stay up to date with news on the official Facebook and Twitter accounts. For more similar recommendations, check out our list of the best mobile multiplayer games!

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PUBG Mobile is returning to India with $100 million local investment

PUBG Mobile is set to make a triumphant return to mobile in India two months after being banned by the government. In September, the Indian government controversially banned PUBG Mobile and around 200 other mobile apps, including social media video app TikTok, due to their ties to China. The government said that the decision was made to protect its people’s privacy.

However, according to a report by TechCrunch, PUBG Corporation has severed ties with Chinese publisher Tencent, and agreed to migrate all player data to Microsoft’s Azure. This should bring PUBG Mobile in line with New Delhi’s strict rules on apps’ links to China. While this is exciting news, it could also be a glimmer of light for other apps looking to bypass India’s ban in the future.

Additionally, PUBG Corporation has announced $100 million of investment into jobs, infrastructure, and tournaments in India. It said in a statement: “thanks to overwhelming community enthusiasm for PUBG esports in India, the company also plans to make investments by hosting India-exclusive esports events, which will feature the biggest tournaments, the largest prize pools, and the best tournament productions.”

The company also said that India would receive a specially-created version of the game, however the ever-reliable Daniel Ahmad notes that this shares a lot of similarities with the Chinese version of PUBG Mobile.

As Ahmad notes, PUBG Mobile was the #1 grossing mobile game in India and had over 50 million monthly active users in the country, so it remains to be seen whether the ban impacts its popularity going forward, or whether players will flock back to the shores of Miramar.

With some major changes at both a publisher level and a gameplay level, as well as a promise of huge funding for Indian esports, PUBG Corporation seems intent on getting back into the market. However, these resources aren’t available to all developers, so it may be difficult for other, smaller apps to follow  PUBG Mobile’s footsteps in returning to the Indian market.

There is no release date yet for the new version of the game, but in the meantime you can check out the best mobile multiplayer games, or reacquaint yourself with the latest PUBG Mobile update while you’re here.

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Badlanders is essentially Escape from Tarkov mobile, now open for pre-registration

October, 1: Badlanders has now opened for pre-registration globally.

Badlanders is a new survival game from mobile behemoth NetEase that recently entered closed beta in select regions. You’re dropped into a warzone and challenged to scavenge for supplies in order to repel enemy forces, with your ultimate goal being to acquire items with the highest value, then make your daring escape.

Dotted around the map are some all-important escape points for you to reach. If you manage to hold one down successfully, you’ll leave the battlefield with your gear intact. Niko Partners Senior Analyst Daniel Ahmad likened the game to Escape from Tarkov, a gritty first-person shooter that shot to popularity earlier this year. As Ahmad said in a recent Twitter thread, NetEase is especially skilled at bringing popular PC or console genres to mobile.

There are three distinct trading systems to make use of in Badlanders. Exchange, as the name suggests, allows you to purchase and sell some basic supplies. Prism gives you the chance to acquire more premium loot with enhanced attributes, and Auction lets you set your own prices and trade freely with other players.

Here’s a recent trailer:

It’s all about supply and demand, so you have to be smart about your pricing strategies if you want to make some decent cash. And you’ll need every penny you can get in order to insure your favourite items. Doing so will allow you to regain, for example, your preferred gun after a certain amount of time. That is unless someone steals it from your corpse.

The persistent loot system is largely what will set Badlanders apart from similar games on mobile, and it already sounds like an interesting spin on several established genres. For now, only Android players in the CBT regions can give it a go, but the game has in fact opened for pre-registration globally with a few exceptions. If you’re in Belgium, Taiwan, Vietnam, Mainland China, or any of the CBT areas, you won’t currently be able to pre-register.

Here are some handy links to Badlanders’ App Store and Google Play pages. The former lists its expected release date as October 24th. And, while you’re here, why not check out our list of the best mobile multiplayer games?

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The Garena Free Fire and Money Heist crossover Plan Bermuda is now live

The latest heist in Garena Free Fire is now live in-game. Plan Bermuda is an unlikely crossover between Free Fire and Netflix’s Money Heist, also known as La Casa de Papel. Plan Bermuda introduces a full in-game takeover, a new four-on-four game mode, and a fresh collection of classic outfits inspired by the Money Heist TV show.

As part of the Plan Bermuda update, a new game arrives in Garena Free Fire. Money Heist mode drops on September 19, and sees opposing teams race to collect the most cash before time runs out. The mode is best described as a domination-style game, where you have to gain control of a money printer and defend it to secure the cash. Whichever team reaches the allotted amount of cash inside the time limit wins.

Some other in-game activities arrive on September 6, but the Money Printing event won’t be available until September 12. This event focuses around printing money for prizes, and you can speed up the printing by completing daily events, recruiting friends, and adding Printer Fuel Tokens. The ultimate goal is to earn one million dollars before the event ends on September 22.

If you want to know more, you can watch a trailer for the event below:

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Plan Bermuda will also feature some new cosmetics, such as Money Heist themes, Plan Bermuda parachutes, and Shinobi, Kunoichi, and Street outfits

“Creating memorable experiences for our Free Fire community is key,” says Harold Teo, producer at Garena, regarding the partnership. “There are few better ways to do so than by teaming up with one of the most popular Netflix series, Money Heist.”

If you want to play the event for yourself, you can find Garena Free Fire on Google Play and the App Store. For more similar recommendations, see our list of the best mobile multiplayer games!

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Garena Free Fire adds Jai its first Indian character

Garena, the Singapore based publisher of Free Fire, has unveiled its first Indian playable character based on Bollywood actor Hrithik Roshan. The new character, Jai, also sees the introduction of an exciting new campaign called ‘be the hero’.

This new addition to Free Fire comes after the Indian ministry of information and technology decided to ban over a hundred mobile games and applications, including PUBG Mobile and PUBG Mobile Lite. It is well known that PUBG Mobile has a huge fan base in India, with over 175 million downloads since the game’s launch. Indian PUBG players have been aware of an incoming ban since as early as last year and began looking for battle royale alternatives. Interestingly, Free Fire’s popularity has grown over 880% in India since September 2019, significantly more than PUBG’s growth of 261% over the same period.

Garena is also not under scrutiny from the Indian Government as the ban has only affected Chinese-based mobile applications so far. This new character could be Garena’s opportunity to draw in more players following the widescale ban.

The character collaboration with Hrithik Roshan isn’t Garena’s first either. Alok was another character introduction based upon the popular Brazilian DJ of the same name. Free Fire also recently ran a collaboration the with Netflix series, Money Heist, adding a game mode and a bunch of new outfits.

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If you’re unsure about giving Garena Free Fire a go then check out the new character trailer above. We also have a list of great battle royale games, for anyone affected by the PUBG Mobile India ban.

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Tencent make more than Microsoft and Nintendo combined

Tencent’s revenue in the final quarter of 2019 was around $5.22bn, more than Nintendo and Microsoft combined, according to a report published by ForexSchoolOnline. The report outlines the top performers of the gaming industry in the fourth quarter of last year.

Tencent owns stakes in some of the biggest games companies globally, including Riot Games, a 40% stake in Epic Games, an 84% stake in SuperCell, and minority stakes in Call of Duty, and Assassin’s Creed. It’s also the operator of China’s equivalent of Steam, a platform called WeGame. However, Tencent doesn’t just make money from creating video games, it also owns the third biggest Android app store in China, the Tencent Appstore. The conglomerate also operates WeChat – a social networking and mobile payment app with over a billion monthly active users.

The report revealed that Nintendo came fifth with $2.28bn, Microsoft came in at fourth with $2.83bn, followed by Apple at $2.88bn, with Sony in second place at $3.879bn. A remarkable nine companies recorded over one billion from the final quarter of 2019 alone.

For those of you curious about the report and who the top 20 gaming revenue public companies of Q4 2019 are, then check out the list below:

  • Tencent: $5.23
  • Sony: $3.88
  • Apple: $2.89
  • Microsoft: $2.83
  • Nintendo: $2.29
  • Google: $1.88
  • Activision Blizzard: $1.75
  • NetEase: $1.67
  • EA: $1.59
  • TakeTwo Interactive: $0.93
  • Bandai Namco: $0.72
  • Warner Bros: $0.57
  • 37 Interactive: $0.53
  • Ubisoft: $0.51
  • Century Huatong: $0.48
  • Netmarble: $0.48
  • Square Enix: $0.47
  • Nexon: $0.45
  • NCSoft: $0.42
  • Sea Group: $0.40

All data is in billions.

Are you a fan of Tencent games? Then you should check out our Gameloop download guide, or our PUBG Mobile redeem guide. 

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Apple and Google kick Fortnite off mobile

Fortnite is no longer available to download from the App Store and Google Play following Epic’s latest update, which featured a workaround where you could pay less for V-bucks by avoiding the 30% cut both mobile game stores take whenever you make a purchase. Epic appears to have expected this reaction, as it has also launched a lawsuit against Apple. 

“Apple has become what it once railed against: the behemoth seeking to control markets, block competition, and stifle innovation,” says the injunction. “Apple is bigger, more powerful, more entrenched, and more pernicious than the monopolists of yesteryear. At a market cap of nearly $2 trillion, Apple’s size and reach far exceeds that of any technology monopolist in history.” 

The injunction refers to the 1984 Apple commercial, where the Macintosh is the revolutionary force breaking IBM’s monopoly over the computing market. Using an in-game Fornite parody of the famous advert, Epic suggests that Apple has become what it once vowed to stop – a monopoly, using anti-competitive restraints to choke the market.

If you’ve never seen the original Macintosh Super Bowl advert, you can find it on YouTube. We recommend watching the original first before you check out Fortnite’s parody below.

Epic’s lawsuit explains that it’s not seeking financial compensation or favourable treatment by suing the multi-trillion-dollar conglomerate. Instead, Epic is seeking to relieve what they refer to as the ‘monopoly’ that Apple has over the iOS app distribution market, and the in-app payment processing market.

It’s not clear what the result of the injunction will be, or how long we will have to wait before we see Fortnite readily available on all smartphones again. 

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Garena releases new Free Fire Sushi Menace elite pass

Garena has announced that the latest elite pass for Garena Free Fire is sushi-themed. Sushi Menace brings the world-famous Free Fire series into a quaint little sushi restaurant somewhere in Japan. Although, this is no ordinary sushi shack. It is the neutral meeting ground of two former warring mafia factions, where the fate of this dinner will decide if the partnership continues, or if the factions return to war.

The Sushi Menace elite pass introduces Taku and Shiori, the owners and chefs of the House of Knives. These martial arts experts don’t just know their way around a California roll; they are weapon masters in their own right, with Shiori specialising in pistols and knives, and Taku preferring katanas and rifles.

The owners of the House of Knives take on a comic book-like lifestyle, working days at their sushi restaurant, and nights as the Sushi Menace, a bounty hunting group. The elite pass doesn’t just put sushi on the menu though. There are a load of skins and backpacks, some of which include special effects.

There are plenty of juicy rewards for you to get your hands on in the Sushi Menace elite pass. We’ve listed a few examples of the sushi themed rewards below:

  • Sashimi slasher bundle skin (male)
  • Ramen slayer bundle skin (female)
  • Sashimi boat backpack skin
  • Salmon surfer skin
  • Sushi Menace grenade skin

Fancy looking at the teaser trailer for the Sushi Menace elite pass? Then watch the video below:

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You can download a free copy of Garena Free Fire from the App Store or Google Play.

Or, if you’re looking for the best multiplayer games mobile has to offer, you can check out the best mobile multiplayer games guide.

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VainGlory developer’s new game Catalyst Black launches in early access next month

Super Evil Megacorp has announced that its upcoming game, Catalyst Black, is launching in early access from August 12. The shooter first reared its head back in May, and since then we’ve been trying to work out how much influence Catalyst Black takes from its predecessor. But unlike VainGlory, Super Evil Megacorp’s previous game, Catalyst Black is actually an arena shooter, and has a lot more in common with games like Brawl Stars.

But even that comparison doesn’t really do Catalyst Black justice. The game features ten player teams in a variety of drop-in drop-out modes, and is intended to ‘set a new bar for mobile gaming’. We know that literally every mobile game says that, but Catalyst Black’s unique combo of MOBA and arena shooter elements look to set it apart from many of its peers.

Early access to Catalyst Black is iOS only – once again, sorry Android users! If you want to sign up while there’s still space you can head on over to the ironically named ‘Secret Service‘ to secure your spot on the battlefield.

Super Mega Evil Corp also revealed some gameplay with Catalyst Black’s early access trailer:

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As you can see, it’s somewhat hard to determine exactly what Catalyst Black is – it feels likes a MOBA with elements such as neutral monsters, but it does also capture that same free-for-all feel of an arena battler. We’re excited to see more soon!

Catalyst Black’s drop-in drop-out system is also worth making a note of, as it claims next-to-no match-making times, and if that’s true, Black is sure to be very popular. Game controller support is also going to be offered from launch.

You can find out more info about Catalyst Black on its website. If you want some similar recommendations, check out our lists of the best mobile MOBAs and the best mobile multiplayer games!

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PUBG Mobile’s next map looks like its smallest yet

PUBG Mobile is getting a new map that has been designed with players on the go in mind. That comes from The Verge, which reports that the new map is called Livik and is as large as two kilometres by two kilometres. Matches on Livik support 40 players a game and are intended to last 15 minutes each.

While PUBG Mobile has primarily been designed to bring the PC experience to mobile phone users, Livik has been crafted to accommodate mobile players. That means the design facilitates quick matches you can play on your daily commute to and from work. “We want more people to enjoy PUBG Mobile in a more flexible way,” producer Rick Li explains to The Verge. “The initiative for this map is bringing more flexibility to those players who have tighter schedules and circumstances to accommodate for.”

While the map is notably smaller than others, Li reassures that there are still plenty of points of interest that help games go quicker. The Nordic-themed map features a volcano, hot spring, and a waterfall. While Li didn’t give much else away, he reckons that the current of the waterfall will mix up PUBG Mobile matches. There’s currently no word on when we’ll be able to play Livik, but apparently it’ll be “soon”.

If you’re curious as to what else is happening in the world of Tencent’s battle royale, then you can check out our PUBG Mobile update guide. If you fancy a go yourself, you can find it on iOS and Android.

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We also have a list of the best mobile multiplayer games, so you have more options for games you’d like to play with your friends.