Hammond might be a cute hamster hiding in a spider robot suit

The popular shooter Overwatch will soon get a new character that Blizzard has already started teasing. It did it through brief videos that misled the players at first, but the studio eventually revealed who the new hero will be. He is called Hammond, is a hamster, and is wearing a huge spider robot costume.

Is Hammond an ape or a hamster?

The first teasers misled everyone into thinking Hammond was an ape. According to the story, it escaped from the Horizon Lunar Colony and started wandering together with Winston, another hero from the game. However, Blizzard later revealed the hero was a cute hamster fighting in a robotic spider-like armor.

This robot suit might offer Hammond plenty of advantages in the game. One of the videos showed how the robot could fold its legs inside and roll directly on the ground. If Blizzard keeps this ability available during gameplay, it could give the little hamster a lot of valuable skills.

However, Blizzard doesn’t put the hamster and the name of Hammond together. Even so, everyone is more than sure this is the character we have been expecting. He might have escaped together with the primate Winston, but more hints seem to be pointing out to a hamster.

Hammond comes in the game with a few new features

If you’re willing to hear Hammond talk, we’re not sure if this will happen. The teaser video only shows him giggling, so the hero might be able to talk. However, there are plenty of characters that make different noises while they can’t speak English, so we don’t know what to expect.

The release of the new hero comes at the same time with other Overwatch features. These new options will let you create a team with more ease. If you can select your teammates, the risk of facing toxic behavior in the game gets significantly smaller.

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Fallout 76 has a revenge system that lets you pay back to your harassers

During this year’s E3, Bethesda offered us some of the most interesting titles we could have expected. Among them, there is Fallout 76, a clever mix between a single-player shooter in a shared world. While not everyone was happy to hear about this combination, the game is striking at least for its strategies against harassment.

Fallout 76 sports a really interesting combination of features

Bethesda’s vice president, Pete Hines, revealed quite a lot of information on Fallout 76. He revealed what the developers expect from the players or how they would experience the whole gameplay. However, the most important thing is player harassment. Not everyone behaves properly in an online game, so the studio found a strategy to prevent people from disturbing the gaming experience of others.

Fallout 76 is meant to be a game that has it all. When developers created it, they didn’t want the players to fulfill one specific role. The universe should be complex and gather everything you can find in a shooter. Therefore, it should make you happy regardless of the type of campaign you like to play, since it has everything.

Bethesda invented an anti-harassment method for Fallout 76

However, too much of this freedom isn’t always good. Of course, the studio wants people to engage in whatever role they want. However, when they do that, they shouldn’t disturb a different player’s experience. To make sure this happens, Bethesda took special measures.

This anti-harassment strategy is called the revenge mechanic. Whenever you stumble upon a player that attacks you and, eventually, kills you. If you want to take revenge on him, the game will give you a small reward if you choose an extra duel. However, there’s something you should keep in mind. Fallout 76 doesn’t have a player-vs-player format. This is just a small feature in case someone appears to destroy your experience.

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Mighty Bear managed to raise an impressive sum of money for the release of its first title

Mighty Bear, a videogame studio that has risen from the ashes of King.com, is now getting ready to release its first title. The game that will come in mobile form has just received some new funds that will secure its flawless development. This adds to another successful fundraising campaign that ended at the beginning of last year.

Mighty Bear raised a lot of money in a short period of time

Mighty Bear is a videogame startup founded by four members of the now-closed Singapore office of King.com. To start their activity, these members needed some funding that they actually managed to raise in 2017. Back then, they achieved $775,000, which helped them start their first development sessions and hire 14 more members with experience.

The future looks bright for the studio, as it managed to strike a deal for another funding contract. So far, the Mighty Bear founders didn’t reveal any details, but the sum most likely has seven figures. Some rumors suggested an actual sum of $2.5 million, but the startup didn’t confirm anything.

So far, Mighty Bear has received the support of famous investors from Asia and Europe. However, if the founders wanted their games to start strong on the market, they needed connections everywhere in the world. Therefore, they started negotiating with North American companies, so they obtained this important deal.

The startup is preparing its first two titles

Now, the studio can take care of all the details before the release of their first title. We don’t know much about it, but the Mighty Bear founders revealed it would be a MMORPG. At the moment, they are running some functionality tests on Indian and Filipino users, but the game should arrive on both Android and iOS before the end of the year.

They are also working on a second title that should also launch soon. This strategy is really interesting, as the studio is planning to release both games more or less at the same time. Their audiences might coincide, so this will be an interesting movement to observe.

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Four Steam titles violated the Dutch law on loot boxes

Several countries do not approve of the presence of loot boxes in video games, as they regard it as a form of gambling. Therefore, these countries decided to ban them, as they think they encourage this wrong behavior among minors. The Dutch Gaming Authority, Kansspelautoriteit, discovered four Steam titles that violated the regulations of the country, so it forced the platform to change the games to agree with the regulations.

Four Steam games violate the Dutch law on loot boxes

At the beginning of 2018, Kansspelautoriteit decided to perform a brief study. They selected the ten most popular games on Steam that contained loot boxes and checked if they agreed to the current gaming regulations. These rules are gathered in the Dutch Betting and Gambling Act.

From all these ten games, four of them violated these regulations, so Steam had to deal with their loot boxes. Among the four titles, there was Dota 2 and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. Therefore, the Dutch Gaming Authority gave them a deadline to perform the changes in question.

Valve disabled trading on Steam for the respective titles

Initially, this deadline was set for June 20^th, 2018. Now, the authority should check the loot boxes in the games. If they don’t agree with the regulations, they might have to pay huge fines up to $962,000. This is quite a big sum of money, as it represents 10 percent of the revenue of the company.

However, this whole scandal revealed something really interesting that Valve should keep in mind. The company studied the Dutch laws on gaming and discovered a single instance when loot boxes are illegal. If they can be transferred from one user to the other, they might be potential items for gambling.

As a result, Valve disabled the trading and marketplace on Steam for these titles. This isn’t the solution the company desired, but losing the Dutch market would be a serious blow. Therefore, it will continue collaborating with the authorities to offer users the best legal alternatives.

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The most exciting announcement at E3 was the confirmation of The Elder Scrolls VI

E3 2018 was full of exciting announcements, predicting a great year ahead for gamers. Apart from long-awaited titles, gaming enthusiasts were surprised by certain confirmations they definitely didn’t expect. When it came to Bethesda games, everyone was expecting news on Starfield, but the game director made everyone a pleasant surprise. After a long wait, the studio has finally confirmed an upcoming The Elder Scrolls VI game.

Bethesda teases a new Elder Scrolls game

The latest game in The Elder Scrolls series, Skyrim, was released in 2011. Since then, fans have been waiting for a new title, but Bethesda kept silent about it. Therefore, they didn’t expect such a surprise during E3. However, while talking about the release of Starfield, Todd Howard, the game director, offered the info everyone was hoping for. The Elder Scrolls VI is in the making.

However, Bethesda kept teasing its fans. The studio released a teaser trailer for The Elder Scrolls VI that lasts only 37 seconds, and it starts with an aerial view of some mountains surrounded by fog. This whole trailer is really mysterious, as it only reveals a vast landscape. As the frame zoom in on mountains, grass, and then on a castle, the logo of the game appears, accompanied by the popular theme song of the series.

Bethesda has been secretive with the details on The Elder Scrolls VI

Unfortunately, this is what we get at the moment from The Elder Scrolls VI. Bethesda revealed nothing regarding characters, gameplay, or even story. However, Todd Howard gave us a small hint. We cannot say how the game mechanics will work, but the game will require plenty of resources. Those resources provided by PS4 or Xbox One won’t be enough, so the game will probably appear after new consoles are officially out.

Therefore, Bethesda didn’t offer an official release date either. One thing is clear, that Starfield will be released before The Elder Scrolls VI. Since this game is also created for new generation gaming equipment, we’ll still wait a few more years until we can play the exciting game.

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The unknown fan was upset that Super Smash Bros was no longer available in the NYC store

The Nintendo World headquarters in New York fell victim to a really strange incident involving an angry fan. It turns out these headquarters received a bomb threat after this unidentified fan got angry with the company for removing Super Smash Bros from the store. The administrators of the store discovered the threat on Saturday, but it dated back to April.

Super Smash Bros was the reason behind the bomb threat

This weekend, the Nintendo World stores in New York issued a complaint that brought both FBI and NYPD to investigate. The shop administrators stumbled upon a strange bomb threat likely coming from an angry fan. This person was really angry about the removal of Super Smash Bros from the store, so he went on to make dangerous threats.

However, NYPD is still secretive about the details. So far, it hasn’t officially confirmed the involvement of FBI, as well as the real reason behind the bomb threat. According to them, the motive behind the threat is still under investigation. Fortunately for other fans, this didn’t affect the well-functioning of the New York store.

Super Smash Bros, the game of a generation

The Super Smash Bros game was quite a hit for everyone when it came out in 1999. It was the first fighting game with platform elements incorporated, while it also brought together a huge number of lovable Nintendo characters. To their fans’ delight, Nintendo later released this game for more modern consoles.

A few months ago, Nintendo Switch turned one, so the company felt the need to celebrate it. The best way to do it was to announce a new Super Smash Bros game specially designed for this console. During the E3 conference, fans found out more information on this game. It’s called Super Smash Bros Ultimate and will feature 64 of the most popular Nintendo characters.

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Fortnite on Switch has already gathered over 2 million downloads

Given the sudden popularity of Fortnite, people expected it to reach all platforms at some point. Some rumors suggested it would soon come to Nintendo Switch, but Epic Games surprised everyone and released the game on the platform immediately after Nintendo’s E3 conference. Players didn’t waste their time, as they brought the number of downloads to a tremendous number in only one day.

Epic Games was quick with releasing Fortnite on Switch

Players barely had time to realize there was now a Fortnite for Switch, but they still reacted accordingly. In less than 24 hours after the release, the game had already gathered over two million downloads. This is an impressive number, showing that Fortnite is bound to remain one of the main gaming sensations of the year.

However, these figures don’t speak only about the supremacy of the game. Most likely, gamers weren’t only interested in Fortnite for Switch. People enjoy the accessibility of the console and all the features it offers. It’s great to play games anywhere and anytime, so any new title that comes on Switch is a reason to celebrate.

This release comes with both good and bad surprises

Fortnite on Switch doesn’t come just like that, as the developers prepared some exclusive surprises for the players. You probably know the Switch console comes with a headphone jack so that you can play games without disturbing anyone. This way, Fortnite comes with enabled voice chat that lets you communicate with other players a lot more easily.

However, not all news about Fortnite on Switch are good news. The console usually enables cross-play with other consoles and PC or mobile versions, but there will be a problem with this particular game. Fortnite players won’t be able to cross-play with a PS4 version of the game. Also, if you already have a PS4 account for the game, you won’t be able to pair it with the Switch.

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The release of Skyrim on Amazon Alexa is no joke

Have you ever thought about playing videogames on completely different platforms? If yes, then Bethesda and Amazon will soon turn this into reality. Through a sketch that looked like a joke, the gaming studio announced the release of the beloved Skyrim on nothing else than Alexa. This is extremely real and sounds like a lot of fun.

Is Bethesda playing jokes on us?

This year’s E3 conference presented by Bethesda was a real delight, which explains why people didn’t take an innocent video seriously. Among dozens of great announcements, the studio also presented a funny sketch that looked nothing more than a joke. Starring the comedian Keegan-Michael Key, the video showed how you could play Skyrim on Alexa by only using your voice.

The whole video looked like a parody, as it made fun both of Alexa and of Bethesda. It ended by announcing people that Skyrim would soon be available on their smart refrigerators so, naturally, people regarded it as a joke. However, the joke was on us, as we will really be able to play Skyrim on Alexa.

You will really get to play Skyrim on Alexa soon enough

This exclusive version is called Skyrim: Very Special Edition, and it’s coming to the most unexpected platform. The whole video and release show what a great sense of humor Bethesda has. Most probably, the entire business is a response of the studio to all the critiques on the Elder Scrolls series. As a result, Bethesda decided to surprise everyone and to bring Skyrim on Alexa.

Of course, there isn’t a big difference between Skyrim on Alexa and the game on any other console. You will be able to use weapons, but also magic spells to explore, help people, and fight dragons. Throughout the game, you can experiment with the exquisite voice control while opening doors to the unknown and fighting evil. Last but not least, you will experience one of the best RPGs on a unique console.

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Pay great attention to the Cyberpunk 2077 trailer

After a long wait, it’s finally here. CD Projekt Red decided to reward its fans with the long-awaited trailer for Cyberpunk 2077. At E3 2018 this weekend, the developer presented an exclusive trailer with a few other surprises embedded in it. It turns out this video contains a hidden message, but you can see it only if you pay attention to all frames.

The trailer for Cyberpunk 2077 is finally here

After a long wait, the Cyberpunk 2077 trailer is finally here. CD Project Red knew fans have been desperately waiting for it, but it came with a quite explanation for it. CD Project Red is also the developer of all Witcher games, so it wanted to release Witcher 3 and its expansions before.

However, it might have been worth the wait, as the Cyberpunk 2077 announcement is one of the best things that happened at E3 2018. CD Project Red said they kept the trailer and any other announcements until they had something meaningful to present. This sounds really interesting and urges everyone to pay attention to the trailer.

Look for the hidden message in the trailer

In case you’re not familiar with Cyberpunk 2077, here’s what you need to know. The game is a single-player RPG that puts a big emphasis on the story. It displays a dark future where America is split between corporations and gangs who control the country. However, the game doesn’t only focus on the story, as you can design your character as you like.

The trailer looks massive, but it’s more to it than it looks like. If you pay attention to all the details, you’ll find some other information inside it. CD Projekt Red wanted to answer a few questions via this trailer, and here they are. Cyberpunk 2077 doesn’t have a release date yet, but it’s going to be big. The game is as massive as you would expect, with even bigger DLCs and no microtransactions.

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