Stolen Metro Exodus Steam Keys Deactivated, Game Removed From Owners’ Libraries

Metro Exodus going exclusive to the Epic Games Store was a controversial move for publisher Deep Silver. Valve called the move “unfair to Steam customers,” apologizing for the short window the company had to inform customers that Metro Exodus wouldn’t be available through its platform. Despite this, Steam keys for the game were sold online, and it turns out that those keys were stolen–and have now been deactivated as a result.

According to an update on the game’s official Steam page, these keys for Metro Exodus on Valve’s platform will no longer work. “These keys have been obtained illegally from the factory where physical key printing had taken place prior to the announcement of exclusivity with Epic Games,” publisher Deep Silver wrote. “Due to the criminal nature of these keys, all unlicensed keys have been deactivated and activation/download of Metro Exodus without the executable file is no longer possible.”

Further, Metro Exodus will be removed from your games library if you got one of these illegal Steam keys. “In addition, the software will be removed from the Steam library of any players using an unauthorized code. The keys being sold on this platform are stolen goods, and are therefore illegal.”

So what’s Deep Silver’s recommendation after the company removes the game from your games library? “If you have been affected we strongly recommend you contact the seller who sold you the unlicensed key and demand a refund,” it said.

Deep Silver says only two distributors were legally authorized to sell Metro Exodus on PC at launch: Humble Bundle and the Razer store. While the game’s currently exclusive to the Epic Games Store, Metro Exodus will be sold on Steam after February 14, 2020.

Metro Exodus recently received a New Game Plus in the Ranger Update, a 6GB update that adds a host of new features and various tweaks. In addition to New Game Plus, the Ranger Update comes with a fourth controller sensitivity preset, platform-specific improvements and additions, addresses numerous bugs and crashes, and adds full Ukrainian localization. The Ranger Update is available now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.

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Pokemon Go Brings Back Ash Hat Pikachu For April Fools’ Day

April Fools’ Day is here, and like many other developers, Niantic is celebrating with a special event in Pokemon Go. Last year, the developer memorably replaced the game’s 3D Pokemon models with 8-bit sprites, but this year, it’s giving players another chance to capture a Pikachu wearing Ash Ketchum’s signature hat from the Pokemon anime series.

Throughout the day, you’ll be able to come across a hat-wearing Pikachu when you take pictures using the new Go Snapshot feature. Like Smeargle, the Pikachu–or even Ash himself–will potentially photobomb the pictures you take; if that happens, back out of the mode and the Pikachu will appear in the wild, giving you an opportunity to catch it.

This marks the first time in more than a year that Ash’s hat Pikachu has been available in Pokemon Go. Niantic first introduced it as part of the game’s anniversary event, although there have been numerous other hat-wearing Pikachu since, such as a Santa hat Pikachu during the game’s annual winter event.

This also marks your final chance to catch Giratina in its Altered Forme. The Legendary Gen 4 Pokemon returned to Raid Battles last week following Dialga’s departure. Starting 1 PM PT / 4 PM ET, Giratina will transform into its Origin Forme–the more serpent-like appearance it takes in Pokemon Platinum–until it leaves Raid Battles on April 29. You can find tips on how to catch Giratina here.

Niantic is also kicking off a Bug Out event on April 2, during which Bug-type Pokemon will appear more frequently and Incenses will last twice as long as normal. Following that, the developer is hosting this month’s Pokemon Go Community Day on April 13. The featured Pokemon this time will be Bagon, the base form of the popular Dragon Pokemon Salamence.

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Call Of Duty: Black Ops 4 Adds New Blackout Map, Out On PS4 Tomorrow

Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 is introducing a new map for its battle royale mode, Blackout. The map will be available first on PS4 from April 2. The new map will be slightly smaller than the standard Blackout map that shipped with the game, but it’s based on an iconic location known for its tourism and Nic Cage movie alike: Alcatraz.

Alcatraz the island prison off the coast of San Francisco. The real one closed in 1963 and since then has been a popular tourist destination, and frequently used in pop culture. Black Ops 4’s version will bring close quarters combat to the island, as players fight for survival outside among buildings and watchtowers and inside through cells and tight corridors. Check out the video above to see it.

Blackout is one of three modes in Black Ops 4, alongside competitive multiplayer and the cooperative Zombies mode. This year’s Call of Duty entry opted to forgo the series’ usual single-player campaign mode. Activision has been steadily issuing updates to its modes, most recently adding the St. Patty’s-themed Shamrock and Awe update with new cosmetics and other goodies.

Before that it made some quality-of-life updates like an update to its standard map and a Hardcore game mode. This came with an update that made various changes to the multiplayer and Zombies mode too. Operation Grand Heist was the spring’s big content update, adding a new Specialist, weapons, a Gauntlet mode, and a lot more.

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April 2019 Games With Gold For Xbox One, Xbox 360 Are Now Available

Last week, Microsoft revealed the April lineup for Games With Gold, which are free to download for Xbox Live Gold members, and the first of those games are available starting today. In addition to Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 2 (Xbox One), which has been available since March 16 and will be free for another two weeks, two new games are up for grabs: The Technomancer (Xbox One) and Star Wars Battlefront II (Xbox 360, Xbox One). Star Wars Battlefront II will disappear after April 15, while The Technomancer will be available for download all month long.

The Technomancer is an action RPG released in 2016 that’s set 200 years after humans have colonized Mars. The Xbox One game has an in-depth crafting system, multiple fighting styles, skill trees, and a huge world to explore. Plus, don’t miss this chance to get Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 2–the light-hearted shooter expands upon the first Garden Warfare with new modes, characters, and more solo content. Then, on Xbox 360, you’ve got Star Wars Battlefront II, which released in 2005 on the original Xbox. The team-based shooter introduced new space combat maps, new classes, and Jedi as playable characters, but otherwise sticks to the Battlefront series’ tried-and-true formula.

Starting halfway through the month on April 16, two more games will become available: Outcast: Second Contact (Xbox One) and Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter 2 (Xbox 360, Xbox One). Ghost Recon will be free through the end of the month, while Outcast will stick around until May 15.

Free Xbox Games With Gold For April 2019

Xbox One

Xbox 360 (also available on Xbox One)

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PlayStation Store Revises PS4 Refund Policy

Sony has revised the refund and cancellation policies for pre-orders and purchases through the PlayStation Store. Under the new policies, you can refund pre-orders and purchases, under certain criteria.

According to the store cancellation policy, you can cancel a digital purchase within 14 days of purchasing it and receive a refund, as long as you haven’t begun to download it or stream it already. If you have started to use it, the content must be “faulty” to obtain a refund. Pre-orders can be cancelled and refunded anytime before release, or within 14 days after payment was taken for your pre-order even if the release date has passed, with the same restrictions. Finally, the same policy will apply to season passes and promotional bundles.

The site notes that this only applies to consumables ordered directly through the PlayStation Store, since purchasing through a game itself delivers the content immediately and therefore isn’t eligible for refund. It also suggests turning off automatic downloads if you think you may need a refund on a pre-order, since automatically downloading it when it’s available will make you ineligible as well.

Subscription services like PlayStation Plus, PlayStation Now, and Spotify Premium can be refunded within 14 days, even if the subscription has started, but the refund amount could be pro-rata for the time you’ve already had it.

We recently heard reports that Sony was giving refunds to some players who had purchased Anthem on PS4, following a crashing bug. That would be permissible under the defective part of this clearer policy. Those refunds were given through contacting support, which is the method advised in the cancellation policy page.

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Top 10 UK Games Chart: Yoshi’s Crafted World Beats Division 2 And Sekiro To No.1

It’s a somewhat busy time for new game releases, and one of those new titles claims top spot in the UK physical sales chart this week. Nintendo’s new Switch platformer Yoshi’s Crafted World was the best-selling game in the UK for the week ending March 30, according to sales monitor Chart-Track.

Crafted World becomes the first Yoshi game ever to get to No.1 in the UK, though it was a close battle this week–the Switch exclusive beat The Division 2 by just 63 copies, according to GamesIndustry.biz. Below those two games is last week’s No.1, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, which falls two places to No.3.

The other new entries are Assassin’s Creed III: Remastered, which debuts at No.9, Generation Zero at No.19, Telltale’s The Walking Dead: The Final Season at No.23, and Outward at No.24.

Yoshi’s new game has enjoyed a positive critical reception, including an 8/10 in GameSpot’s Yoshi’s Crafted World review. “Yoshi’s Crafted World is at its best when it’s relaxing and pleasant,” wrote Kallie Plagge. “The 2D-to-3D level design keeps you curious while the go-at-your-own-pace approach keeps the pressure off and leaves you to appreciate the small, imaginative details. Its most interesting ideas never evolve past their first introductions and are frequently confined to one or two levels, but individually, those levels both reward your curiosity and your willingness to slow down and look at what’s around you–and it’s those simple pleasures that provide the most joy.”

You can read the full top 10 sales chart for this week below, courtesy of UKIE and GfK Chart-Track. Note this table does not include digital sales data, and so should not be considered representative of all UK game sales.

  1. Yoshi’s Crafted World
  2. The Division 2
  3. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
  4. FIFA 19
  5. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
  6. Far Cry: New Dawn
  7. Red Dead Redemption 2
  8. The Lego Movie 2 Video Game
  9. Assassin’s Creed III: Remastered
  10. Forza Horizon 4

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