Red Matter is a story-driven VR puzzle adventure game set during a dystopian sci-fi Cold War. Take on the role of an astronaut dispatched to an abandoned moon base on a frozen, faraway planet, to investigate a shady top secret research project.
Razer debuts keyboard and mouse duo designed for the Xbox One
Razer and Microsoft are collaborating to release a wireless keyboard and mouse combo designed specifically for the Xbox One.
This news comes after Microsoft finally brought mouse and keyboard support to the console last month, although the new feature seems to only be available to Xbox Insiders.
It will eventually be opened up to all players, but at an unspecified date.
Dubbed the Razer Turret, it features a full-size mechanical keyboard with a dedicated Xbox key that pulls up the Xbox One dashboard.
The mouse is modeled after the Razer Mamba wireless mouse, and can sit on a retractable base that slides out from the keyboard.
Predictably, the Turret is also compatible with PC so players can switch back and forth between platforms as they wish.
Realm Royale Enters Closed Beta on Xbox One with Founder’s Pack Launch
Heroic Leap Games is proud to announce the next phase of our fantasy battle royale game — Realm Royale is now in closed beta on Xbox One. We’ve been hard at work bringing the game to Xbox One, and we’re excited for players to dive into our closed beta for a firsthand look at the fresh spin on the battle royale experience that we’ve crafted.
We think that Realm looks and plays great on Xbox One, so we feel that fans anticipating our launch since it was announced this past Summer will agree that it was worth the wait. If you’re just hearing about Realm Royale for the first time, we hope that you’ll join us as we continue to work hard to create the best battle royale experience possible on Xbox One.
Featuring versatile class-based gameplay and craftable gear and abilities, Realm Royale plunges players into fast-paced battle royale gameplay in a unique fantasy setting. This realm wasn’t just meant to be explored on foot – summon a trusty steed and mount up to explore the world, as well as riding into (or away from!) combat in style.
Compete with up to 99 other players in solo mode, or team up with friends to engage in duo or squad combat. Triumph over your adversaries in the realm to win a coveted Crown Royale victory!
The Steam Community has spoken, and we are proud to announce the finalists for The Steam Awards 2018 — but we still need your help choosing the winners!
Voting will open on December 20th, at the start of the 12th annual Steam Winter Sale. Vote in each of our 8 categories to share your top Steam games and developers from 2018 and obtain this year’s set of trading cards.
Voting closes January 3rd and winners will be announced early February 2019. Good luck to all of our nominees!
Nominees for Game of the Year
PLAYERUNKNOWN’S BATTLEGROUNDS
MONSTER HUNTER: WORLD
Kingdom Come: Deliverance
HITMAN™ 2
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey
Nominees for VR Game of the Year
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR
VRChat
Beat Saber
Fallout 4 VR
SUPERHOT VR
Nominees for Labor of Love
Dota 2
Grand Theft Auto V
No Man’s Sky
Path of Exile
Stardew Valley
Nominees for Best Environment
The Witcher® 3: Wild Hunt
Subnautica
Shadow of the Tomb Raider
Far Cry 5
DARK SOULS™ III
Nominees for Better with Friends
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six® Siege
PAYDAY 2
Dead by Daylight
Overcooked! 2
Nominees for Best Alternate History
Wolfeinstein II: The New Colossus
Assassin’s Creed® Odyssey
Hearts of Iron IV
Sid Meier’s Civilization® VI
Fallout 4
Nominees for Most Fun with a Machine
Euro Truck Simulator 2
Rocket League
NieR:Automata
Factorio
Space Engineers
Nominees for Best Developer
CD PROJEKT RED
Ubisoft
Bethesda
Rockstar Games
Digital Extremes Ltd.
Square Enix
Capcom
Paradox Interactive
BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment
Klei
Notes on Best Developer category:
“Best Developer” proved to be a highly-contested category with a lot of close calls among the top nominees. As a result, we expanded the set of nominees to 10. In addition, we’ve excluded ourselves from this category. We appreciate the love you’ve shown us, but we want to honor the other awesome developers on Steam, so we have excluded Valve from the final tally.
The Izanami Forge has been discovered in the wreckage of the Exodus Black. New adventures await and more slick weaponry is available for those who can repair and reignite the ancient forge.
We have more in store for you after the New Year. The community is currently solving puzzles and uncovering the secrets of the forges and the families who created them. Niobe Labs is set to go live on January 8. It’s not a dungeon, but an event that will ultimately unlock the final forge. Good luck!
Happy Holidays
The Dawning is still going strong. Ovens are roaring in the Tower and across the solar system as Guardians cook up sweet treats and deliver them to hungry vendors. The great Guardian bake off will continue for the rest of the year until the reset at 9 AM on January 1, 2019. So power up that new Sparrow with holiday cheer before the event comes to an end.
In preparation for the holidays, several TWABs ago we asked the community to use their artistic talents to create a Bungie Holiday card for 2018. We received a lot of incredible entries and it was hard to choose just one. In the end we selected this fine piece created by Micah Bell.
Strike While the Iron’s Hot
Next week, Lord Saladin will visit the Tower for the final Iron Banner of 2018. He is bringing with him a new set of armor to earn and two Year 1 weapons upgraded to include random rolls.
Iron Banner/Increased Valor
Begins: December 25, 2018
Ends: January 1, 2019
Double Valor will also be live from December 25 through December 28, followed by triple Valor from December 28 through January 1. You can take advantage of these extra gains in Iron Banner, Competitive, or Quickplay.
Microwaved WiFi
This week in Destiny 2 Update 2.1.3, we deployed some new tools from the Security Response Team to help improve the competitive environment of the Crucible.
Beginning soon, players with the most unreliable connections will receive an in-game warning. We know that connection quality is fluid, so don’t worry if you have occasional, temporary issues.
If your connection does not improve after an in-game warning, and we continue detecting a negative impact on other Guardians, restrictions from PvP activities may be applied to your account.
If a restriction is applied to your account, you will be unable to participate in PvP for two weeks. If you continue to play on an unreliable connection that harms the experience of other players, that restriction may be extended.
As always, you can find the latest information on Bungie’s ban and restriction policies at bungie.net/bans.
Support Network
And now for a word from our Player Support experts.
Destiny 2 Update 2.1.3
This week, we deployed Destiny 2 Update 2.1.3 to players. This update resolved several issues which impacted the player experience in Destiny 2. See below for a selection of highlights from this update:
Fixed an issue where players were not properly granted the Scourge of the Past emblem or Triumph for completing the activity within the first 24 hours
Fixed an issue where players weren’t properly being granted Harbinger’s Echo if they destroyed eggs across multiple characters
Fixed an issue that caused weapon frames to be erroneously removed from players’ inventories when completing forges
Fixed an issue where players were not rewarded properly when completing a forge activity that was joined in progress
Fixed an issue which caused the Avalanche Machine Gun to have more recoil than intended
Fixed an issue which caused Season of the Forge shaders to dismantle more slowly than other shaders
For the full list, please visit our Update 2.1.3 patch notes page.
Ghost Projections
Following this week’s deployment of Destiny 2 Update 2.1.3, an issue was discovered which caused a discrepancy between the Rasmussen and Satou Ghost Projections available in this season’s Etched Engram.
We are investigating the cause of this issue, and affected players can expect this to be resolved in a future update.
Izanami Forge
On Tuesday, the Izanami Forge rolled out to players in Destiny 2. Players who have completed the Volundr and Gofannon forges can begin their quest toward unlocking the Izanami Forge by defeating Vex on Nessus.
As players work to unlock this forge, they should make sure that they have space available in their Pursuits inventory. When defeating Vex on Nessus, there is a chance for the Vex Transponder quest item to drop, and players who have a full Pursuits inventory may not see this item in their postmaster.
For players who enter this state, we recommend making room in your Pursuits inventory and returning to Nessus for a chance at another drop.
Destiny 2: Forsaken and Season of the Forge Known Issues
In addition to the items listed above, Destiny Player Support is tracking the latest issues reported by players on the #Help forum. Provided below is a brief overview of the latest known issues in Destiny 2: Forsaken and Season of the Forge.
Like a Diamond Triumph: We are investigating an issue where the Triumph “Like a Diamond” is not unlocking as intended when players complete the Scourge of the Past raid without any member of their fireteam dying.
Veteran of the Hunt Emblem: We are investigating an issue where the “Veteran of the Hunt” emblem, given to eligible players in the Gratitude Package from Commander Zavala, uses incorrect art assets. This has also caused the “Universal Hero” PC-exclusive promotional emblem to not display correctly.
Radiant Matrix Missing from Inventory: We are investigating an issue where the Radiant Matrix will push out of a player’s postmaster and become unobtainable. It is recommended that players check their postmaster to retrieve their Radiant Matrix if it is missing from their inventory.
Weapon Frame Bounties: We are investigating an issue where players are able to purchase weapon frame bounties when a player’s inventory is full, and they don’t go to the postmaster. Additionally, players who carry over weapon frames from prior weeks will lose access to one of the new week’s weapon frames after completion of the old frame in that week.
Cookies for Petra and Spider: Players who do not own Forsaken will be unable to create cookies for Spider and Petra. This will not stop progress being made to fully upgrade the Dawning Cheer sparrow, however some Triumphs will be unavailable to complete.
Black and White Movies
Before MOTW goes into hibernation for a few weeks, here are two more winners. If you are vying to get the emblem, you can continue to submit your videos. Movie of the Week will return in the next TWAB on January 10.
Movie of the Week: Gambit Etiquette
Honorable Mention: Are you saying I can dodge bullets?
As Dmg mentioned last week, the TWAB is taking a few weeks off. Don’t worry, there will still be community managers in the building as we staggered our time off. We’ll still be humbly at your service in all the usual places and back with your weekly update on January 10.
You may have noticed that the header image is a mosaic of previous headers from all of the TWABs over the years. Elliot Gray has created nearly all of those images, and this is his final TWAB as he is moving to a different role at Bungie. We’d like to thank him for helping make our articles look so good for so long.
It’s been a great year, Guardians. We updated the game 29 times in 2018. Some big, some small, but every single one was deployed with the intent to continue improving Destiny 2. Through Warmind, Solstice of Heroes, Forsaken, Crimson Days, Festival of the Lost, the Dawning, and now Season of the Forge, we hope you have enjoyed the content our team has created.
Whatever you are doing and wherever you may be going, we wish you all the best this holiday season.
Fallout 76 Patch Notes Detail New Hotfix Update's Changes
Bethesda has released another update for Fallout 76. This week's patch is fairly minor; it requires no download on PS4 or Xbox One (although players on PC will still need to download it), and it addresses a handful of issues across all platforms, as well as a few specifically related to the PC version.
Most notably, Bethesda has resolved a PC-specific bug that could crash the game when you select the "Exit to Desktop" option. Additionally, the developer says it has "fixed a setting that was left in a debug state." According to the studio, "This could allow out of date clients to connect, breaking gameplay."
In terms of general fixes, Bethesda has added Korean language support to all versions of the game. It has also fixed an exploit that allowed items to be duplicated, as well as a bug that could prevent enemies from taking damage from explosives and other heavy weapons. You can find the full patch notes for the hotfix below.
Bethesda has been releasing a steady stream of updates for Fallout 76 since the game's launch this past November. Last week, the developer made some major CAMP improvements. It also gave players the ability to respec their SPECIAL once they reach level 51.
Korean language support has been added to Fallout 76.
This was added to console versions of the game on December 18.
PC players who have their language set to Korean will see an increased download size of a few hundred megabytes today.
Bug Fixes
Stability and Performance
PC: Addressed an issue that could cause the game client to crash after selecting Exit to Desktop.
PC: Fixed a setting that was left in a debug state. This could allow out of date clients to connect, breaking gameplay.
General
Exploit: Addressed an exploit that could allow items to be duplicated.
Combat
Weapons: Addressed an issue that could prevent high-damage and explosive weapons from dealing damage to enemies, or cause enemies to heal immediately after taking damage.
Pokémon GO Was A Huge Success In 2018, Thanks To Worldwide Consumer Spend
For most of 2018, we’ve heard about how Niantic’s AR mobile game Pokémon GO has been making a lot of money. It’s all tied to the spending habits of users – with millions of dollars being spent on the game each month. So just how well has the mobile sensation performed this year?
According to mobile data and analytics firm App Annie, Go was one of the games mobile users dropped the most coin on in 2018. In fact, it made it into the top ten worldwide consumer spend list. Fate/Grand Order took out the top spot, while GO managed to finish ahead of titles such as Dragon Ball Z Dokkan Battle and Clash of Clans. Take a look at the full list below:
App Annie said mobile game downloads and consumer spending within mobile apps reached new heights this year. Across iOS and Google Play, downloads for mobile apps and games are expected to surpass 113 billion, which is a 10 per cent increase on the previous year. Consumer spending increased year-over-year as well, surpassing $76 billion globally. It was also noted how mobile gaming is the most “popular and profitable” format now.
Are you at all surprised to see GO has made it onto this list? Do you play or spend money on this game? Tell us below.
EA Confirms FIFA 19 FUTMAS Promotional Message On Switch “Wasn’t Intended”
Last week, news surfaced about a Christmas promotion being advertised for the Switch version of FIFA 19 that wasn’t actually available within the game.
The fine print underneath the original EA announcement further highlighted how these themed daily and weekly objectives were not available in the Nintendo version. Despite this, Nintendo of America’s Twitter account promoted the limited-time event and it was even publicised in the news feed on the Switch. Here it is below:
An EA community manager over on the official FIFA forums has since clarified a FUTMAS Squad Building Challenge (SBC) was added, but it is not the same as the promotion on other platforms. As for Advent SBCs, it’s not the outcome Switch players probably wanted to hear:
“It looks as though the messaging that was showing on your [Switch] console wasn’t intended. We’re now working to have it removed (if it wasn’t already). There won’t be Advent Player SBCs on Nintendo Switch. I know this isn’t the news you wanted but wanted to let you know as soon as possible.”
Of course, this official reply has resulted in some backlash from the community – with multiple Switch players not happy it took EA so long to respond. It also left many players wondering why exactly Switch owners miss out, as the platform received the event last year. Below are a few of the community reactions to the news:
BrychanCymru: Thanks for telling us, but it’s really not good enough. There’s no reason as to why these players aren’t on the Switch.
Rotorooter: No reason given. And the advertisement is still up on the switch news page. Seriously? How do we go about complaining to advertisement regulators?
So, if you’re a person who plays FIFA 19 on the Switch, don’t expect to see Advent Player SBCs this holiday season. Also, tell us if this has impacted your own experience with the game in the comments.
