نویسنده: post bot

XDefiant’s final hours have arrived, and I’m sad to see Ubisoft’s FPS go

XDefiant was a game that always had the odds stacked against it, despite the wealth of FPS experience on its development team and major IP like Far Cry and Assassin’s Creed it could lean on. Ubisoft was already on a run of putting out underperforming games. The general live service space is a brutal, unforgiving one. The demand for new, fresh content is painfully high. And then it had to face off against one of the best annual Call of Duty launches we’ve seen in years with Black Ops 6. When you lay everything out in such a way, a rapid shutdown – which arrives this week just over a year after launching – always seemed highly likely. Inevitable, to some. But that doesn’t mean it was a bad FPS game by any stretch. While not perfect, I’ll remember XDefiant as a game that provided me with a few months of fun and a welcome reminder of the glory days of Call of Duty.

While I’m properly satisfied with Black Ops 6 right now, CoD had been something of a dull, uninspiring streak in the years prior. That’s my opinion, anyway. Modern Warfare 2, leading straight into a somewhat improved but still samey Modern Warfare 3, had me yearning for the golden era of the series. XDefiant was pitching itself as just that. Smaller and more traditional three-lane maps, slick gunplay, a refined loadout system, and some class-based abilities to master. Lovely.

After some disappointing (and rather bizarre) setbacks in trying to get XDefiant out the door, the FPS game finally dropped in May last year, right when Modern Warfare 3 was really fizzling out. Even though it was suffering from some issues – the most notable being its dodgy hit registration – I was immediately gripped and enjoying the shooter that many had already written off.

Season 1 was a blast, despite the technical gremlins. I knew that the hours I was sinking into it wouldn’t sustain, especially not with a new CoD on the horizon and other shooters like Destiny 2, Apex Legends, and The Finals all flailing their hands in the air, trying to regain my attention. But I could certainly see it entering my rotation of multiplayer titles going forward.

Alas, things quickly started to unravel towards the end of 2024. With Black Ops 6 breathing some new life into CoD and XDefiant still carrying some unresolved issues, players (myself included) began to drift away. The pressure was mounting on the team behind the game considerably, with reports in October (just after the launch of Season 2) claiming that XDefiant had just two seasons to show some progress and upwards momentum or face being canned. In reality, it got even less than that.

In December, Ubisoft confirmed that it would be sunsetting XDefiant. On the same day as the announcement, it stripped the game from storefronts. However, anyone that had already downloaded it would get another six months to play its third and final season – which was, in effect, a massive content dump of everything that was waiting in the wings for future seasons.

Knowing that today, June 2, would be the final full day of XDefiant before the plug is pulled at some point on June 3, I hopped on for a few final games ahead of this writeup. I expected to feel a pang of nostalgia, but to also acknowledge that its time has come. To be honest, I just felt sad. Despite having not played for months, I immediately settled back into XDefiant’s rhythm, such is its approachability compared to other FPS games. It felt smooth. It felt satisfying. It felt… bright, despite the impending darkness. Full of energy, even though it was hours from death.

With no player stats on hand, I can’t speak to whether there’s been a massive uplift in players returning, like myself, to give XDefiant a final send off. But all I can say is that it didn’t take me long at all to find matches, and I’m seeing lots of farewell posts online. For many, XDefiant will be another memed ‘Ubisoft flop,’ and I can understand why you might take that stance. However, despite its flaws, it did a lot of things right, and it deserved a longer run than it got. For me, it’s a game that was never going to ‘kill’ Call of Duty and its fellow FPS rivals, but it certainly taught them some valuable lessons when it came to not taking itself too seriously and drawing on the past in the right way.

So, that’s the end of the line for XDefiant. You’ll be missed, old chum. Well, young chum, in truth. Whether you were an XDefiant enjoy or not, there are at least plenty of other free PC games and competitive multiplayer games to turn to instead.

You can follow us on Google News for daily PC games news, reviews, and guides. We’ve also got a vibrant community Discord server, where you can chat about this story with members of the team and fellow readers.

Source link

03/06/2025
Universal Piece Trello and Wiki Links
Universal Piece has a vast array of powers, fruits, styles, and weapons for you to customize your character. A Wiki and Trello board will help you keep track of everything and get informed on what each one does. Here are the Universal Piece Trello and Wiki links.

Universal Piece Wiki and Trello Guide

Screenshot by The Escapist

Here are all the community HUB links you need to stay informed on all-things Universal Piece:

I highly recommend starting with the Trello and Wiki since there you can find pretty much anything you need for the game. It helps to have all the styles, powers, and weapons in one place so that you can see all abilities and moves. The Trello and Wiki have info on:
- All Islands
- A Beginner’s Guide
- UP Codes
- All Materials
- All Fruits
- All Styles
- All Swords
- All Powers
- All Utilities
- All Items
- All Enemies and Bosses
- All NPCs
- Balance Changes
- All Raids
- Accessories and Currencies
- All Game Features like Armament Force, Instinct Sense, Flash Step, etc.
Once you’ve checked those out the Discord server is also a great place to keep in touch with. You can find the latest announcements about the game there. With RPGs it’s crucial to stay up to date on the latest patches, buffs, nerfs, reworks, and new content. Styles, powers, fruits, and weapons can change fast or new ones can be added.

Best of all, it’s a place where you can check about the best options within all categories and discuss tier lists. Also, experienced players can answer your questions in the chat channels so make full use of those.

That’s it for my Universal Piece Wiki and Trello guide. Check out our Universal Piece fruit and power tier list.

The Escapist is supported by our audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn a small affiliate commission. Learn more about our Affiliate Policy
Source link
02/06/2025
Diablo Immortal celebrates its birthday with loads of events and freebies

With Diablo 4 Season 8, Path of Exile 2 0.2.0, and Last Epoch Season 2 all well underway, we’re spoilt for choice when it comes to ARPGs at the moment. This is undoubtedly a good thing, but sometimes we just want to try something new or retreat to the familiar instead. So whether you’re all caught up on where the genre is right now, or just fancy something a little different, Blizzard’s Diablo Immortal is here to answer the call. To celebrate the game’s third anniversary, you can nab some freebies and participate in special limited-time events, so now’s the time to jump back in.

There’s a lot going on in Diablo Immortal throughout June, so I’m going to break it down for you. For starters, you can get involved with the Trial of True Evils event. This is a gauntlet of the most fearsome bosses from across Immortal’s history, as The Butcher, Baal, Skarn, and Diablo itself are all going to try and take you out. You can challenge a new boss every few days up until Thursday June 19, and then fight them all back-to-back. It doesn’t matter exactly how strong you are, either, as each of the bosses will scale to your power (at level 30 and above), too.

Trial of True Evils isn’t the only limited-time event, either. Running from Wednesday June 4 to Wednesday July 2 is Infernal Trials, where you’ll earn points in the Survivor’s Bane, Trial of the Hordes, Fractured Plane, and Wild Brawl events. If you get enough points throughout the RPG, you can nab rewards like Telluric Pearls, Legendary items, 1-Star Legendary Gems, and more.

You also have a way to convert your surplus Set items into an amplified version of themselves with the Set Gear Reforging event. Running until June 19, you can take three of the same Set item and reforge them into one version of it with up to three attributes and three affixes, recycling them into an even better item.

It’s not just events, though, as you can nab yourself some freebies in the free PC game throughout the anniversary event. From now until Wednesday June 19, there’s a Baby Butcher Transmog for your pet, an anniversary avatar frame, Legendary Crests, random Set items, random Legendary items, and more. Then, starting on June 19 and running up until June 2, you can nab the Blood Floe Legendary Gem. Blizzard says you need to be level 30 or above and link your Immortal and Battle.net accounts, but teases that it’s “coated in crimson and foretold to be introduced in our next major update.”

Blizzard is starting the Diablo Immortal third anniversary celebrations on Sunday June 1, so you’ll want to drop in soon to get all the goodies. You can brush up on all of the Immortal celebrations here.

If you want even more, we’ve got all the best games like Diablo you can play today, alongside some truly excellent fantasy games.

You can follow us on Google News for daily PC games news, reviews, and guides. We’ve also got a vibrant community Discord server, where you can chat about this story with members of the team and fellow readers.

Source link

02/06/2025

[🐝] Bizzy Bees Swarm Event Guide for Grow A Garden – How to Get Honey, Pets, and New Seeds

The most recent update to Grow A Garden introduces a seasonal feature called Bizzy Bees. As the name implies, the patch revolves around bee-inspired content, including new varieties of seeds, additional pets, unique mutations, and a limited-time event centered on bees. For those who are unfamiliar with the game or uncertain about how the event works, this Grow A Garden Bizzy Bees Swarm Event guide will clarify everything.

All New Pets in the Bizzy Bees Update in Grow A Garden

All the new Pets in the Bizzy bees Swarm Event in Grow A Garden. — Such cuties!

The Bizzy Bees Update introduces five additional pets to Grow A Garden. Each of them offers benefits associated with the newly introduced Pollinated and Honey-glazed mutations.

Pet	Rarity	Passives
Bee	Uncommon (65%)	Every 24 minutes and 37 seconds, it travels to a nearby fruit and triggers the Pollinated mutation by pollinating it.
Honey Bee	Rare (25%)	A slightly better Bee.
Bear Bee	Mythical (5%)	Once every 25 minutes, it approaches a nearby plant and grants its fruit the Honey Glaze mutation.
Petal Bee	Legendary (4%)	Every 24 minutes and 37 seconds, it gently pollinates a nearby fruit, giving it the Pollinated mutation. There’s also a small 1.29% chance that flower-type fruits will stick around even after you harvest them.
Queen Bee	Divine (1%)	Every 24 minutes and 26 seconds, it works its magic by pollinating a nearby fruit, giving it the Pollinated mutation. On top of that, it also helps out your pets by refreshing one of their cooldowns every 29 minutes and 26 seconds.

To add these pets to your collection, you’ll need to pick up a Bee Egg from the Honey Shop, which you can find right in the middle of the playing area.

All New Seeds in the Bizzy Bees Update in Grow A Garden

The new Pets are cool, but the new Seeds and Plants might be even cooler. Hive Fruit and Nectarine can be bought in the Honey Shop with the Honey you called, but there is also a new Seed Pack:

All the new Seeds and Plants in the Bizzy Bees Swarm Event in the Grow A Garden Roblox Experience. — Some real bangers, time to make money!

Similar to the Hive Fruit and Nectarine, the Seed Pack can be purchased for honey in the Honey Shop. It will cost you 10 Honey, and it usually comes in stock of 1 or 2. The most profitable flower is obviously the Sunflower, but it is quite hard to get. If you are looking to make a profit, settling for a Pink Lily or the Purple Dahlia is the most economical option.

Flower	Rarity
Rose	Uncommon (40%)
Foxglove	Rare (25%)
Lilac	Rare (20%)
Pink Lily	Mythical (10%)
Purple Dahlia	Legendary (4.5%)
Sunflower	Divine (0.5%)

All Cosmetic Items in the Bizzy Bees Update

The Bizzy Bees Event brings a bunch of new cosmetic items to help you spruce up your garden with some extra charm. To get your hands on them, just check out the Honey Crate area inside the Honey Shop.

All the new Cosmetics and Decorations in the Bizzy Bees Swarm Event in the Grow A Garden Roblox Experience — Time to make your friends jealous!

In addition to those goodies, there are three more decorative items you can pick up from the Honey Shop: the Bee Chair, Honey Torch, and Honey Walkway. They’re perfect for adding a sweet touch to your garden setup, and they have a fixed cost, so you don’t need to take a chance on getting them.

Item	How to Get	Rarity/Price
Honey Comb	Honey Store	3 Honey
Bee Chair	Honey Store	5 Honey
Honey Torch	Honey Store	5 Honey
Honey Walkway	Honey Store	10 Honey
Honey Pot	Bee Crate	Rare (26%)
BeeHive	Bee Crate	Rare (21%)
Honey Barrel	Bee Crate	Rare (21%)
Honey Pillar	Bee Crate	Mythical (16%)
Bee Podium	Bee Crate	Mythical (11%)
Honey Fountain	Bee Crate	Legendary (5%)

How to get the Pollinated Mutation in Grow A Garden

You can unlock the Pollinated mutation for your plants during the Swarm Event, which takes place every hour in-game. It works a lot like the earlier Moonlit and Bloodlit events. Once the event starts, bees will leave their nest and spend the whole time pollinating nearby plants on their own. The Pollinated Plant will have a Golden glow around it, and you will be able to see it through other plants.

How to get Honey in Grow A Garden

The Honey Combpressor in the Bizzy Bees Swarm Event in the Grow A Garden Roblox Experience — Look at him in there.

In Grow A Garden, you can collect Honey by gathering pollinated crops and placing them into the Honey Combpressor machine located in the center of the map. The machine will turn your fruits into Honey, which you can then use to buy different pets and seeds at the Honey Shop, run by the Queen Bee in the same central area. You need to bring 10 KG of Pollinated Plants in order to get 10 Honey. Once you put 10 KG of Pollinated Plants into the Honey Combpressor, they will be processed for 3 minutes, and then you can receive your well-earned Honey.

All Honey Shop Items in the Bizzy Bees Update

The Honey Shop is a charming market where you can purchase honey, bee-themed decorations, Plants, and more. Not all items are available at the same time. Please check regularly to see what is currently in stock. Sometimes it’s the Cosmetics, sometimes it’s the Crates and Eggs, you never know.

The Honey Shop in the new Bizzy Bees Swarm Event in the Grow A Garden Roblox Experience — I need them all!!

Below is a list of all Items in the Honey Store, along with their price:

Item	Price
Flower Seed Pack	10 Honey
Nectarine Seed	40 Honey
Hive Fruit Seed	40 Honey
Honey Sprinkler	TBD
Bee Egg	18 Honey
Bee Crate	10 Honey
Honey Comb	3 Honey
Honey Chair	5 Honey
Honey Torch	5 Honey
Honey Walkway	10 Honey

All of the items are fairly priced, as getting Honey is fairly easy with a good garden. The Honey Sprinkler is not available in the game yet, and does not have a price at this time.

That is all for my Grow A Garden Bizzy Bees Swarm Event Guide. Check out our Grow A Garden Trading Value List to see which plants you can sell for the biggest profit.

The Escapist is supported by our audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn a small affiliate commission. Learn more about our Affiliate Policy

Source link

01/06/2025

Elden Ring Nightreign’s been out less than a day, and a Souls legend is already showing off a duos mod demo for it, because of course they are

Boy, that escalated quickly. Elden Ring Nightreign, as I write this, has been out less than a day. So, of course someone’s already put out a video demonstrating a duos mod for it.

To be fair, I guess Nightreign’s devs had arguably thrown down the gauntlet to the FromSoft modding community when the game’s director admitted that duos play hadn’t been a big focus in development and would only potentially get some TLC further down the line.

Anyway, modder Yui – that’s the same person responsible for Elden Ring‘s Seamless Co-op mod and its various siblings for other FromSoft games – is unsurprisingly the person who’s managed to whip this out in uber-quick fashion.

In the video below spotted by IGN, they demonstrate a mod that’d allow you to hop into a Nightreign session with just two players instead of the usual three or one plucky solo Soulser that’ll have a much easier time once the next patch drops.

Watch on YouTube

“As the modification runs without connecting to the matchmaking server, it is possible to use additional mods during gameplay,” Yui explained in the vid’s description, adding that they “Made it for fun.”

As of right now, they’ve not released this mod to the public meaning you can’t play it. I’d imagine if they do intend to put it out that it’s currently a work-in-progress that’ll need a lot of extra graft to fine-tune the likes of balancing – that being the main thing FromSoft’s had to work on in order to make sure the game works just as well for solo players as it does trios.

After all, more stabby blokes, more stabs inflicted on bosses, therefore bosses need to be able to take more stabs to not die too easily, and vice versa.

If you’re going HAM on Nightreign this weekend, make sure to check out our bunch of handy guides to help you get to grips with it, and our ranking of every Nightlord, The latter’s based on key factors like difficulty, spectacle, and how often they brush their teeth.

Source link

01/06/2025
Is Elden Ring Nightreign down? Server status and matchmaking fix explained

May 31, 2025: We’ve added a few steps FromSoftware recommends following if you’re having trouble with Elden Ring Nightreign matchmaking.

Is Elden Ring Nightreign down? It isn’t often that you have to check the server status of a FromSoft game, but Nightreign is a different beast completely. While you have the option of taking on the game’s many bosses alone, it’s a much better experience with friends – but for that to happen, the servers need to be online.

Thankfully, if the Elden Ring Nightreign servers are down, you can still jump in solo. As we mentioned in our Elden Ring Nightreign review, the solo experience can feel punishing for those who aren’t already experienced with the roguelike game. Here is the Elden Ring Nightreign server status so you can plan your adventure accordingly.

Elden Ring Nightreign server status

The Elden Ring Nightreign servers are currently online. A large influx of players over the launch weekend may cause server issues, similar to those observed during the first beta test, where many were stuck staring at an offline message until the issue was resolved.

After the disastrous beta test, the Elden Ring X account posted, “We apologize for the inconvenience caused by the game server issues. Work is currently ongoing to improve the stability of the network test.” Giving us hope that a widespread issue like that won’t happen again. Here’s how to play Nightreign solo if you have to, though.

How to fix Elden Ring Nightreign matchmaking issues

If you’re still having trouble matchmaking in Elden Ring Nightreign, FromSoftware’s official player support socials recently put out this relatively simple suggestion that might make all the difference:

“If you encounter issues finding other players when launching an expedition in #ELDENRING #NIGHTREIGN, please try restarting the matchmaking process. Thank you for your patience and understanding.”

With that, we’re hoping that the launch continues to go smoothly so we can all start to master the Nightreign classes. Check out our Nightreign bosses guide for information on each of your major opponents, and our Nightreign skins piece so you can look good while you slay.

Source link

01/06/2025
Day of the Rising Dead OUT NOW ! news
Get ready for an action-packed, cinematic zombie horror experience—straight out of the 1980s!
Day of the Rising Dead is now available to purchase on itch.io

ITCH.IO: Day of the Rising Dead by DayoftheRisingDead

PATREON: Patreon.com

LINK TREE: Linktr.ee

Get ready for an action-packed, cinematic zombie horror experience—straight out of the 1980s!

Step into a gritty, analog film-style world where three survivors must battle their way through a planet overrun by the undead. From the dark alleys of a crumbling city to eerie forests, an abandoned military outpost, and a blood-soaked shopping mall, every step is a fight for survival.

Man has fallen. As the day sets, the dead shall rise!

——————————————————————————–

Features:
- Use a wide range of firearms, melee weapons, and explosives to stay alive
- Dive into a lengthy and challenging campaign—fully immersive and loaded with cinematic moments
- Face off against varied zombie types and terrifying bosses
- Randomized weapons and enemy counts keep each playthrough fresh and unpredictable
- Optimized to run on low-end PCs
- Partial gamepad support (Xbox controllers)
- Customize your visuals: go full analog film, modern digital cinema, or strip away effects for a raw experience
——————————————————————————–

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfRkMv3nOVI
Source link
01/06/2025
New Elden Ring Nightreign mod already adds two-player co-op to the game

While you can play Elden Ring Nightreign solo, Fromsoftware designed it as a three-player co-op experience. You’re supposed to squad up with friends or randoms online and drop into the land of Limveld, working together to get stronger before taking on one of the eight Nightlords and coming out victorious. If you were hoping to play as a duo, however, you can’t. That is, until now, as one of the most prolific Elden Ring and Dark Souls modders around has dropped an alpha version of a Nightreign two-player co-op mod, meaning you don’t have to wait for a third wheel to join your game.

‘Yui’ is by far one of the most recognized Fromsoftware modders out there. They’ve revamped the original Elden Ring and multiple Dark Souls games with Seamless Co-op, which makes playing online with friends infinitely easier. With these mods installed, your multiplayer sessions remain uninterrupted by bosses, fog walls, and death, meaning you can keep playing without repeatedly needing to rejoin each other. Now, Yui has brought this modding experience to Elden Ring Nightreign.

Playing Elden Ring Nightreign solo is doable, but Yui’s latest iteration of Seamless Co-op lets you go through a run with just one other person instead of two. It’s currently in a rushed alpha state, meaning you’re more than likely going to experience bugs, but it still works. Yui also says they’ll expand it in the future, but notes that for now it only supports two or three player lobbies and has mod compatibility. Using Yui’s mod in the RPG won’t get you banned from playing Nightreign online, either, because it prevents you from connecting to Fromsoftware’s matchmaking servers and uses different save files – so keep that in mind.

As for official two-player co-op in Nightreign, this is actually something Fromsoftware is already looking into. Earlier this year the game’s director, Junya Ishizaki, said balancing runs for just two players is “something we are considering.” There’s no promise that it’ll come to the game at any point, but I’m glad to hear that Fromsoftware is at least aware of the community’s demand for it.

If you’re playing Nightreign on PC, you’ll find Yui’s latest Seamless Co-op mod right here. Make sure you read all the installation instructions before downloading, though.

As you run through Limveld, we’ve got a breakdown of all the Elden Ring Nightreign bosses and how to beat them. We also have everything you need to know about the Elden Ring Nightreign map, like where to go as soon as you drop in.

You can follow us on Google News for daily PC games news, reviews, and guides. We’ve also got a vibrant community Discord server, where you can chat about this story with members of the team and fellow readers.

Source link

31/05/2025
The Woods gameplay video goes live news

After our cinematic video, we’ve completed a gameplay video to show off some of our smooth yet tense gameplay exploring The Woods.

Posted by djinghis on May 23rd, 2025

Not only have we shared some gameplay on our new Youtube channel StarlitForgeGames where you can find all our videos now and in the future, we’ve also launched our very own website starlitforgegames.com

Stay tuned for more progress and feel free to comment on our website, steam, youtube or here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBTPYOZKQkQ

Source link

31/05/2025
The battle to play Borderlands Online continues, as dedicated archivists ask for help in pursuit of the long lost MMO

The Borderlands Online archival saga continues, with the small group of people hoping to get the game playable putting out a call-to-action for those with coding experience (specifically with software like DNSpy and Unity Ripper) in order to break through the game’s character selection screen.

Previously, we covered YouTuber, game designer, and dataminer EpicNNG managing to get to the game’s class selection screen, but it seems he and his small team working on the archival project have hit a brick wall. Not in terms of skill, but in terms of time. They have a version of the game at their finger tips, they just need more hands to get the build working. He states: “Number 1: We know that we have the full game, we have confirmed we have the full game. Number 2: We know that we can get in eventually, it is just a matter of when.”

In this call-to-action, a lengthy video detailing the journey so far, EpicNNG showed the perilous task as his small team went through old Chinese Borderlands Online websites in the search for a way to actually play the game. Doing so, they found ghost links and viruses, so it’s worth emphasising here that you should only really help out with this effort if you know what you’re doing.

The video is covered in statements making it clear that this is purely for archival purposes, and that he nor his team are looking to infringe on 2K’s intelectual property as to avoid the possibility of a cease and desist. However, it’s made equally clear that this project may be nearing a dead end thanks to the release of Borderlands 4 and the potential actions of 2K’s legal team, unless it gets more people on board to help. It’s worth noting that this article was only written following an exchange of DMs with EpicNNG, in which he stated that he understood the potential risks of this call-to-action being further publicised and was happy with it being covered nonetheless.

In the video, EpicNNG acknowledges that time is of the essence here, pointing to Activision’s take down of the H2M Call of Duty mod in fears it would suck attention away from the next Call of Duty. The worry is that, unless the team gets the game working soon, 2K would fear a similar thing with Borderlands 4 and send out a Cease and Desist.

This archival project, if successful, would be somewhat of a white whale for the video game archival scene. Not only is archiving any game difficult, Borderlands Online is a Chinese-only MMORPG that has been dead for years. Getting it working is an admirable goal. Here’s hoping that folks that can help see it and lend a hand before it’s too late. Though, if you’re a greenthumb when it comes to Unity or video game software in general, maybe it’s best to leave it with the experts and wish them luck.

Source link

30/05/2025