BioWare Responds To Report Detailing Anthem’s Troubled Development

BioWare has issued a statement regarding the development of Anthem, in response to an article that explored development troubles that may have contributed to its rocky launch. The response explains its rationale for not participating in the story, addresses some of the criticisms, and rebukes what it suggests is some team members “tearing down one another.”

The spark behind the response was an expose published on Kotaku. It spoke with several developers that either worked on the game or are familiar with the conditions around its development. Their stories included first-hand accounts of stress and burnout, as well as troubles adapting the Frostbite engine and purported warnings to management that went unheeded. BioWare itself chose not to engage with the article, but the statement makes very clear that the expose is what prompted the response.

“We’d like to take a moment to address an article published this morning about BioWare, and Anthem’s development,” the statement reads. It then says it stands behind all of the developers who worked on the game, and that was why it abstained from participating. “We chose not to comment or participate in this story because we felt there was an unfair focus on specific team members and leaders, who did their absolute best to bring this totally new idea to fans. We didn’t want to be part of something that was attempting to bring them down as individuals. We respect them all, and we built this game as a team.”

The statement goes on to give BioWare’s positions on building a healthy workplace culture, and says it will be looking at stress company-wide in feedback and team surveys. It also says that the team collectively accepts criticisms, but also issues a pointed criticism that appears aimed at those who spoke to Kotaku for the article.

“We don’t see the value in tearing down one another, or one another’s work,” it reads. “We don’t believe articles that do that are making our industry and craft better.”

For his part, the expose’s author, Jason Schreier, noted on Twitter that BioWare’s response was written before they could have read the article.

Anthem has suffered from a host of problems since launch, including middling reviews, crash bugs, and refund requests. BioWare has even openly acknowledged the rough launch. Still, BioWare is planning several updates and making quality-of-life quality-of-life adjustments. The game had a strong sales debut, so BioWare has every reason to continue supporting it.

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Black Ops 4’s New Blackout Alcatraz Map Now Live On PS4; Xbox One/PC To Follow

The new Blackout map in Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, titled Alcatraz, has launched on PS4. Alcatraz is expected to release on Xbox One and PC at a later date.

“Alcatraz is a small island, and that means super fast-paced, frenetically fun fighting,” Treyarch studio design director David Vonderhaar said in a video describing the new map–which can be watched in the tweet linked below. Treyarch producer Miles Leslie added, “And our Zombies players might recognize this, but we’ve handcrafted Alcatraz for the Blackout experience.”

“So as an island, we’ve got 40 players in a Quad configuration,” Leslie continued. “So that’s 10 teams battling it out, but the other big thing is respawns.” The video goes on to explain that, when you die, you can respawn 30 seconds later and redeploy back into the game–but only up to five times.

Unlike the traditional battle royale method of deploying from a drop ship that travels in a straight line at the start of the match, in Alcatraz, you and your team deploy from portals stationed at random points above the island. There’s no collapsing zone wall like on Blackout’s original map either. Zombies seem to be more plentiful as well, roaming throughout the map as opposed to being contained to certain buildings and landmarks.

Alcatraz also borrows the Zombies mode’s weapon wall feature–including predetermined locations where you can buy a firearm. “At these locations, you’re guaranteed to find a new weapon every 30 seconds,” Vonderhaar said.

As opposed to Blackout’s horizontal-focused original map, Alcatraz is more vertical. The center of the island contains a massive landmark called the Cell Block, which provides ample opportunities for attacking, looting, and defending. Surrounding the Cell Block are numerous other landmarks, each one descending in elevation until you get to the island’s coast. Alcatraz provides numerous opportunities for players to ascend or descend, from snaking paths to climbable cliffs. There’s even a tram that provides a direct path for you and your team to go from Alcatraz’s outskirts straight to the Cell Block.

Until April 30, Blackout is free on all platforms, allowing you to try out Black Ops 4’s battle royale mode on both maps.

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The Best PS4 Game Deals To Check Out This Week (US)

It’s been a busy few weeks in the PlayStation Store, but now that the Great Indoors Sale has come to an end, the deal selection is slimming down quite a bit this week. That said, we’re still here to fill you in on the game deals worth considering. Some of these discounts will be even greater if you’re a PS Plus member (and if you are, be sure to check out April’s free PS Plus games, which are now live).

While the Elder Scrolls 25th Anniversary Sale ended this morning, The Elder Scrolls Online is still marked down for another week–you can grab it for just $10 instead of $20. That purchase includes the base game and the Morrowind Chapter.

Battlefield V is 50% off for exactly one more day–you can get it for just $30 until tomorrow, April 3 at 8 AM PT / 11 AM ET. Battlefield V’s free battle royale mode, Firestorm, released last week, so there’s really no better time to pick up the game and see how Firestorm measures up against existing competitors in the battle royale scene.

This week’s small batch of deals includes several pre-order discounts–we’ve limited our below list of deals to the games available now. Note that many of these deals end on different days (always at 8 AM PT / 11 AM ET) rather than next Tuesday as usual. We’ll update this story if other good deals are added throughout the week.

Shop this week’s PS4 game deals »

And see more of our picks below.

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Fortnite Patch Notes (Content Update 8.20): New Bow And More

Fortnite has updated with another weapon and the return of a popular limited-time mode, along with some bug fixes. The patch notes for Content Update 8.20 comes just after a hotfix to address issues that were introduced in the initial 8.20 patch in late March.

The big new draw for many players will be the new Boom Bow weapon. As you might expect, it’s a bow with shotgun shells on its arrow tips, so those will explode upon impact. For that reason it uses shotgun ammo, and holding fire to increase your draw strength will increase both the arrow’s speed and the damage from impact. Explosive damage will be consistently set at 100 regardless. Save The World mode gets its own new weapon as well, the Cannonade Launcher.

The update also marks the return of the Sniper Shootout LTM. This mode limits weapons to sniper rifles only, and reduces Floor Loot spawners by 50% and deactivates reviving “Down But Not Out” teammates in Duos and Squads.

The new update also introduces some bug fixes for Arena. It fixes issues with divisions in Duos, including players being unable to queue and some players not being properly promoted, and some players being charged the incorrect Bus Fare. Creative Mode has lots of its own additions too.

Check out our Season 8 Challenge Guide to unlock all of the nifty new skins and other battle pass rewards. Read up on the full patch notes below.

Fortnite v8.20 Content Update Patch Notes

Limited Time Mode: Sniper Shootout

Summary

  • In this limited time mode, players will do battle using sniper rifles.
  • May the best aim win!

Mode Details

  • Only weapon drops are Sniper Rifles.
  • Floor Loot spawners reduced by 50%
  • Reviving “Down But Not Out” teammates in Duos & Squads is deactivated – be careful peeking!

Weapons + Items

  • Boom Bow
    • Fires Arrows with a Shotgun Shell tip, which explode on impact.
    • Uses Shotgun Ammo
    • The longer you hold the fire keybind down, the stronger the shot! This increases both projectile speed and direct impact damage.
      • Explosive damage is consistent regardless of the power of the shot.
      • The Boom Bow will achieve maximum power after 1.6 seconds of charging.
    • A direct hit will deal both the direct hit damage and the explosion damage to the enemy player it impacts.
      • Direct hit
        • Base damage 15
        • Headshot Multiplier: 2x
      • Explosion
        • 100 damage
  • Peppers
    • Increased duration from 10 seconds to 20 seconds
    • Increased movement speed bonus from 20% to 40%

Events

Bug Fixes

  • Arena
    • Fixed an issue that caused players to be unable to queue for Duos when the party leader was in a lower division.
    • Fixed an issue which caused players to not be promoted to the next division while playing in Duos with a player in a higher division.
      • Note: Hype was still being earned correctly, this was a visual issue only.
    • Fixed an issue where players in Duos were charged Bus Fare based on the party leaders division, rather than their own.

Creative

​​​​​What’s New?

Geometric Galleries
Use this new set of Galleries to add even more unique shapes to your creations!

Weapons + Items

  • Boom Bow
  • Fires Arrows with a Shotgun Shell tip, which explode on impact.
  • Uses Shotgun Ammo
  • The longer you hold the fire keybind down, the stronger the shot! This increases both projectile speed and direct impact damage.
    • Explosive damage is consistent regardless of the power of the shot.
    • The Boom Bow will achieve maximum power after 1.6 seconds of charging.
  • A direct hit will deal both the direct hit damage and the explosion damage to the enemy player it impacts.
    • Direct hit
      • Base damage 15
      • Headshot Multiplier: 2x
    • Explosion
      • 100 damage

Prefabs

  • Non-Right Square Pyramid Gallery Large
  • Non-Right Triangular Pyramid Gallery Large
  • Right Triangular Prism Gallery Large
  • Seven Point Cube Gallery Large
  • Square Pyramid Gallery Large
  • Triangular Prism Gallery Large
  • Upright Triangular Prism Gallery Large

Save The World

What’s New?

Cannonade Launcher

Loud Noises! Heroes and Husks will have a blast with this new Rapid Rocket Launcher

Weapons + Items

  • Cannonade Launcher
    • A chaotic, rapid-fire, automatic launcher that shoots small explosive rounds.
    • Available in the Weekly Store from April 3 at 8 PM Eastern Time until April 10 at 8 PM Eastern Time.

V8.20.1 Resolved Issues

On March 29 we released a client update to fix some issues that appeared in the v8.20 update. Find all the details on which issues were resolved below!

Battle Royale

  • Fixed an issue where spectator numbers would not update, even after the spectator had left the game.
  • Fixed an issue that caused players to be unable to queue in the correct division level in the Arena game mode when the party leader was in a lower division.
  • Fixed an issue which caused the Poison Dart Trap to be hidden behind certain wall assets.
  • Fixed an issue where trap placement on walls would be blocked if a stair structure was attached to the wall.
  • Fixed an issue that prevented players from getting removed from the Baller when hit by a Boogie Bomb.
  • Fixed an issue preventing friend invites from displaying in the social panel.

Creative

  • Fixed an issue where Creature Spawners wouldn’t activate within the correct range after it has been resized.
  • Fixed an issue where the Phone Tool would emit two beams rather than one after copying multiple times.
  • Fixed an issue that prevented non-damaging traps (Ice Block, Bouncers, etc) from functioning if the Game was not started.
  • Fixed an issue where any Baller vehicle that was placed on an Island prior to v8.20 could not use the boost.
  • Fixed an issue that prevented vehicles from being damaged by Music Sequencer when damage was turned on.

Save the World

  • Re-enabled the X Marks the Spot sub-objective.
  • Fixed an issue where the X Marks the Spot objective was removing items from player inventories.
  • Fixed an issue that was causing B.A.S.E to incorrectly hover over player built structures.

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Assassin’s Creed 3 Removed From Steam, Uplay

Following the launch of Assassin’s Creed III Remastered last month, it appears publisher Ubisoft has delisted the original game from PC retailers such as Steam and Uplay. The game’s Steam page is still visible, but states, “At the request of the publisher, Assassin’s Creed III is no longer available for sale on Steam.”

Assassin’s Creed III Remastered is of course available for purchase for $40 / £34 / AU $60, but unlike the original version this does not include the game’s multiplayer portion. GameSpot has reached out to Ubisoft to confirm why the original version was removed.

It should be noted the delisting does not prevent existing owners of Assassin’s Creed III from downloading or playing the game–it merely prevents anyone else from purchasing it. Assassin’s Creed III Remastered, meanwhile, is included in the season pass for Assassin’s Creed Odyssey.

After launching on PS4, Xbox One, and PC at the end of March, Assassin’s Creed III Remastered is making its way to Nintendo Switch on May 21. The original game, meanwhile, was first released for PS3, Xbox 360, PC, and Wii U in 2012. We awarded it an 8.5/10 in our Assassin’s Creed III review; critic Kevin VanOrd said it “expands the series’ gameplay in enjoyable and sensible ways.”

He added: “Assassin’s Creed III is a big game that gives you a lot to do, some of which is fleshed out relatively well, and some of which isn’t. It is not, however, content to rest on the series’ laurels. It takes chances with its opening, with its story, and with its characters.

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