Author: Game Infliction

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2’s Photo Mode detailed

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 on PlayStation 5 is a stunning game, filled with jaw-dropping action sequences, breathtaking environments, and intense battles that are perfect for capturing glorious screenshots. With the Swarm Engine taking full advantage of the PlayStation 5 hardware, pushing it to its limits to display hundreds of enemies and rich sceneries all at once, you’ll experience what it means to be a soldier in the galactic war that is Warhammer 40,000 like never before. 

Capture yourself shredding Tyranids as towering structures fall in the background. Fight alongside the relentlessly courageous Imperial Guard as they defend the Recidious solar system. The Warhammer universe has never looked so rich. Whether you’re looking to immortalize a perfectly executed move or showcase the intricate details of your armor, Photo Mode is here to make it happen.

In this guide, we’ll walk you through everything you need to know to become a master photographer in the grim darkness of the far future. Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2’s PlayStation 5 Photo Mode is more than just a tool—it’s your canvas to create epic, dramatic, and awe-inspiring images. Start your journey as a Warhammer photographer!

Getting started with Photo Mode

You can enter Photo Mode directly from the pause screen during any single-player session. All you need to do is press the Square button and the game will automatically stop, giving you all the time you need to frame the perfect shot. Keep in mind that Photo Mode cannot be accessed during CGI or pre-calculated cutscenes, ensuring you don’t miss any crucial moments in the narrative.

Photo Mode offers a suite of intuitive tools to help you capture the perfect image, and it starts with the ways you can customize your Space Marines (and companions) to set them up just right before the money shot:

  • Character Visibility: Celebrating the sheer power and determination of Lieutenant Titus can sometimes require him to be the only subject of your screenshots, so you can choose to show or hide your AI companions with the Character Visibility function. That’s also true for Titus himself, if you’re looking to capture his battle-brothers Chairon and/or Gadriel.
  • Helmet Visibility: Some Space Marines among you like to feel the last breaths of their enemies on their skin during combat while others prefer the extra safety and the fierce look of a Primaris Marine’s helmet. Choose whether or not to equip it in your shots with the Helmet Visibility function.
  • Facial Expressions: Add some personality to all the Space Marines in your shots with customizable facial expressions. Along with the standard Default, Helmet, and a range of intense emotions like an angry stare, a satisfied grin and more are available for you to play with.

Camera controls

Mastering the camera is key to creating stunning images:

  • Free Camera Movement: Move the camera freely on all axes, but note that it cannot stray more than 10 meters from your character or clip through walls.
  • Rotation: Rotate the camera to find the perfect angle.
  • Vertical Movement: Adjust the camera height to get the best perspective.
  • Camera Roll: Turn the camera from -90 to +90 degrees around your characters.
  • Hide UI: Temporarily hide the Photo Mode interface for an unobstructed view.

If you’d like to revert all the changes and adjustments you made since entering Photo Mode, you may press Reset Changes to return to your original framing. When everything is to your taste, all you’ll have to do to snap your picture is hit the Share button and save it using the PlayStation 5 interface you know so well.

Lens adjustments

To achieve the cinematic look you’re after, Photo Mode includes several lens options:

  • Field of View (FOV): Adjust the FOV from 50 to 115 degrees. The default in-game setting is 73.7, but you can experiment with the full range to dramatically change the feel of your shot.
  • Depth of Field (DOF): Control the distance between the closest and furthest objects in focus, ranging from 0.3 to 50.0 (default is 5.0). This setting is crucial for creating those dreamy, blurred backgrounds.
  • Focus Distance: Set the distance at which objects are in sharp focus. The range is from 0.3 to 25.0, with the default set at 3.0.
  • Blur Intensity: Control the intensity of blur for out-of-focus objects, from 0% to 100%, with a default setting of 15%.

Image effects

Fine-tune the mood and style of your screenshots with a variety of effects. For those who may be new to Virtual Photography, there are a few important subtleties we’d like to explain to let you take full advantage of Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2’s Photo Mode.

Brightness will control the overall brightness of the picture, meaning that all colors are affected at once as you brighten or darken your shot. On the contrary, Exposure will only affect the amount of light shining on your subjects and retain the colors’ true tones. Contrast allows you to increase or lower the colors’ sharpness of your shots, with either a clear difference between the bright light tones and deep dark ones or very little. Tweaking your screenshots’ Saturation setting lets you take a different approach. As with Exposure, you will be retaining the true nature of the colors and be able to play with their intensity, but an easy way to think about it is this: the more saturation you have, the less grey is in your colors and the more intense they’ll look. The less you have, the more colors will look faded and grey-ish versions of themselves.

You can also play with Bloom to blend colors at the edges of your characters and decor to obtain a blurry effect affecting your whole picture, making it distinct from the depth of field that really controls where you decide you set your primary focus and how deep you want it. Think of Bloom as how greasy do you want your camera’s lens to be  Let’s close this section with the Hue, Vignette and Film Grain settings. The first will allow you to shift all the colors in your shot at once while retaining their relative positions on the color spectrum. Your screenshots may look very different color-wise but all details will be kept. The second simply lets you add a dark tone at the edges of your picture that creeps inwards as you increase it. It’s a great way to focus people’s attention on the center of your frame while hiding some of the less interesting details around the sides. Finally, the last lets you add that authentic grainy look that you may know so well if you ever watch old motion pictures shot on film.

Filters and Overlays

In addition to the lens setting, the PlayStation 5 Photo Mode comes with a set of pre-set filters and customizable overlays:

  • Filters: Choose from Default, Monochrome, Sepia, Cold, or Warm filters to change the overall tone of your image.
  • Frames: Select from various frames like Letterbox, Bloody or Toxic to add a dramatic border to your shot.
  • Logos: Proudly display the Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 or the Saber Interactive logos.

Saving Your Presets

Once you’ve found the perfect combination of settings, don’t worry about losing them. Photo Mode automatically saves your adjustments within the same game session. So you can exit and re-enter without losing your hard work.

When your screenshots are ready

Share your screenshots of the 41st millennium with your PlayStation friends or show your undying bravery to the world by sharing your bloodiest, most gruesome executions with the Share button on your DualSense controller. You may even post your creations directly to your social media accounts for all of the Space Marine 2 community to see! Once you’re back in the action, enjoy stunning 4K resolution at locked 30 frames per second with Space Marine 2’s Quality Mode or opt for a smooth 60 frames per second with our Performance Mode. This combination of visual fidelity and fluid performance not only enhances the gameplay experience but also elevates the potential of Photo Mode, as you may switch between the two to increase the level of detail and overall quality.

We can’t wait to see what creations you’ll come up with, Astartes.

For the Emperor!

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 releases on PlayStation 5 on September 9. Pre-order the Gold or Ultra Editions to play up to 4 days early and receive new cosmetics after release by purchasing the game’s Season Pass.

Deadlock Gets Major Patch Adding Wall Jumping and Much More

Valve has released a major patch for its invite only hero shooter Deadlock which adds wall jumping and much more.

Though it only comes in at 683MB, the patch includes a long list of changes large and small. Wall jumping is perhaps the most notable and exciting additions, and players can do so without consuming stamina by pushing their input direction away from the wall.

In addition, four teleporters have changed locations and will now remain closed for the first 10 minutes, two bounce pads have been added next to sideland walkers at the cultural center and courthouse, and several buildings have changed size to make their rooftops out of bounds. The full patch notes are available below.

Deadlock is a six versus six, third person hero shooter with a Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) twist, taking inspiration from genre classics such as Leage of Legends, Dota 2, and Heroes of the Storm.

Valve seemingly looked to keep it a secret for weeks despite data showing that thousands of players were already online, but has now acknowledged its existence proper with an official Steam page. It’s still invite only, however, with players only able to join if invited directly by Valve or referred by someone already playing.

It’s a certified hit despite this, having already crossed 100,000 concurrent players. Data from player tracking website SteamDB shows Deadlock crossed the 100,000 milestone on August 29, 2024, with exactly 106,447 players online at the same time

Deadlock 8-29-24 Update Patch Notes

[ General Changes ]

  • Added a new Profile page that displays a breakdown of recent matches and all-time player and hero statistics (Note: the newly added stats ‘Souls Collected’ and ‘Healing’ are starting at 0 for all players)
  • Added Report button to ESC menu player list to allow reporting of teammates in-game
  • Improved visibility of report button on post-game screen
  • You can now drag-and-drop items between categories in Builds
  • Added search to the Public Builds list, you can search by keyword within build names
  • Newly published hero builds now store the language of the build
  • Added ‘Show All Languages’ checkbox in Public Builds list, can be unchecked to only see builds in your language
  • Fixed issue with builds list not updating when changing between heroes in sandbox
  • Added localization support for German, Polish, and Korean.
  • Matchmaking window is now open 1 hour earlier on weekdays and weekends
  • Players can only pause once per game
  • A team can only pause at most 3 times in total amongst all the players
  • The game application now flashes when the game is unpaused
  • Various client and server performance improvements
  • Added streamer setting to the options panel. Causes player names in the game UI panels to be hidden.
  • Added a Melee Trainer bot in the ‘gym’ area of hero sandbox
  • Added new “Game out of Date” status message at the top of the hud, so you can quickly know when there is an update rather than finding out at queue time
  • Added a checkbox on the post game survey to make it not show again in the future
  • Items now show their spirit power impact when using alt
  • Fixed profile match history not remembering the history page you were on
  • Added Heal Amp and Debuff Resist to the Vitality stats in the shop
  • Hero details on the dashboard now show spirit information with alt, rather than requiring you to be in-game (this was added in a hotfix patch recently)
  • The game will now prevent any quick ability upgrades for 2 seconds after death, to help prevent against accidental upgrades
  • Can now reliably spectate a friend’s game via the Friendlist
  • Miscellaneous fixes to friends and party menus
  • Added unavailable state to Zipline UI when zipline is on damage cooldown
  • Spectating controls now use Left/Right mouse buttons to switch between players on a team and space to switch teams. This now works with free cursor mode, and you can still click on portraits/minimap to spectate individual heroes.
  • Added new respawn countdown music 5 seconds before respawn
  • Added alternate shop music which plays in the neutral shop
  • Spectator count is now shown in-game
  • Player names are now shown to spectators
  • Added object motion blur
  • Optimized performance of distance field ambient occlusion
  • Fixed selling an item not removing charges correctly. Now you can’t buy Extra Charge and immediately sell it and keep that readied charge.
  • Fixed some tooltips not showing golden statue bonuses if it wasn’t the direct stat (i.e. you got fire rate but bullets per second didn’t show the golden statue)
  • Fixed Sharpshooter showing up in stats for bullet velocity even though it doesn’t increase your bullet velocity
  • Fixed a bug that caused items in the build page to not be dimmed when the shop was out of range
  • Fixed bug with Lash not hearing his own Ground Strike impact explosion sound
  • Added new effects for Withering Whip
  • Updated Ethereal Shift effects
  • Fixed the disarmed spinner not showing up on your crosshair when you get disarmed
  • Fixed parts of Shiv’s coat being considered a headshot
  • Build list will now refresh if you change heroes in the sandbox
  • Fixed Zipline speed from Base Guardian killing and Zip booster ability not stacking properly
  • Fixed Base Guardian boost not properly doing its ramp up and instead instantly being fast
  • Added custom effects for Abram’s Seismic Impact T3 buff
  • Fixed a bug where someone could be holding down M1 and still be attacking when the magic carpet arrives
  • Updated Lash Grapple cast sound
  • Added Decay impact sound
  • Removed wind and city ambient looping sounds
  • Volume and playback tweaks to one shot ambient sounds
  • Removed vent sounds in places where vents had been removed
  • Fixed some spectator music bugs
  • Updated negative feedback sound for clarity
  • Added hit confirm audio functionality to Warden’s Alchemical Flask
  • Updated Majestic Leap sound
  • Updated bounce pad sound
  • Improved some Binding Word effects to be less noisy
  • Increased charged melee volume and falloff for victims
  • Reduced likelihood of irrelevant announcer and hero dialog lines playing during combat exchanges
  • Improved clarity of Dynamo Singularity sound for team and opponents
  • Updated Viscous primary fire sound
  • Soul jar return effect tinted red like minimap to make it more clear it’s the return location
  • Player’s low health screen effect more visible for longer if you’re below 20% of your max HP
  • Teleporter model and effect updated
  • Updated Alchemical Flask projectile effect
  • Fixed Bebop being able to sprint while his gun is spun up
  • Added new voice content for Seven and Lash
  • Added Shadow Weave cast and ambush sounds
  • Fixed bullets hitting the world immediately when looking sharply upward
  • Fixed Sinner’s Sacrifice not always correctly animating
  • Fixed an issue where some kill lines that were only intended for the killer were playing for the victim as well (killstreak taunts still play for everyone)
  • Some heroes can now comment on being alone in enemy territory, losing sight of an injured enemy, or leaving their teammates alone in a lane
  • Fixed a bunch of minor typos / grammar errors in various texts
  • Added ‘Express’ state to zipline indicators when speed had increased from defeating Enemy Base Guardians

[ Misc Gameplay ]

  • Added wall jumping (does not consume stamina, requires input direction away from the wall, can be done once)
  • Moved a flex slot from “Set of enemy Base Guardians” to “All Enemy Lane Guardians”
  • Added ropes to some buildings to let you climb up (hold jump button to latch onto them). Can shoot while hanging on them.
  • A pair of teleporters has been added to the outer lanes at the midpoint (near the three red neutral creeps)
  • Four teleporters have changed locations
  • The upper floor teleporters have moved to the street level
  • The interior teleporters have moved to the Bodega building and the Theater
  • Teleporters are closed for the first 10 minutes (they look visually closed)
  • Guardians no longer give 1 AP
  • AP is now added to the following Soul levels: 3500, 5200, 8000, 9700
  • Parry cooldown reduced from 6s to 5s
  • Urn delivery sprint bonus increased from +2 to +3
  • Walker min range to attack increased from 30m to 32m
  • Golden Statues drop rate increased by 6%
  • Replaced some bounce pads with ropes if the purpose was to go straight up
  • Added two bounce pads next to sidelane walkers at cultural center and courthouse
  • Added bounce pad from the Amber Orange/Sapphire Blue Walker walkway to the low roofs toward the Walker.
  • Removed some rooftop zap volumes that damage players
  • Several buildings have been made taller to make their rooftops out of bounds
  • Several buildings have been made shorter to make them more accessible
  • A few of the buildings have new passageways at higher floors that are along the way to the rooftop
  • Breakable containers have been added to the new playable rooftops
  • Juke closets have replaced the previous location of the upper floor teleporters
  • The half of the underground tunnel towards the outer lanes has been made wider
  • Tunnel walls now have the color of the lane that the exit is closest to
  • Removed the archway leading to the underground shop
  • Placed temporary signage for interior buildings and storefronts for future reference
  • Two upper floor juke spots have been converted to passages through buildings
  • Added a new upper floor juke spot to each side
  • Stairwell from Amber Orange/Sapphire Blue Walker catwalk to the courtyard now less cramped
  • Lowered the statue pedestals in the inner lanes outside of Mid

[ Weapon Items ]

  • Monster Rounds: Bullet Resist vs NPC increased from 30% to 35%
  • Hollow Point Rounds: Spirit Shield increased from +80 to +85
  • Restorative Shot: Heal from heroes increased from 30 to 35
  • High-Velocity Mag: Bullet Velocity reduced from +35% to +30% (now has an upgrade)
  • Active Reload: Lifesteal reduced from 30% to 22%
  • Active Reload: Buff duration reduced from 8s to 7s
  • Kinetic Dash: Active Fire Rate reduced from 30% to 25%
  • Long Range: Now grants +90 Bullet Shield
  • Melee Charge: Now grants +1 HP regen
  • Swift Striker: Now grants +10% Ammo
  • Titanic Magazine: Bullet Armor increased from 10% to 15%
  • Toxic Bullets: Heal Reduction increased from -55% to -65%
  • Toxic Bullets: Bleed damage reduced from 6% to 5%
  • Toxic Bullets: Now grants +100 Health
  • Intensifying Magazine: Now steadily ramps back down to 0% when you stop shooting rather than instantly emptying
  • Warp Stone: Active Bullet Resistance reduced from 40% to 30%
  • Sharpshooter: Now grants +175 Bullet Shield
  • Sharpshooter: No longer provides bonus headshot damage
  • Sharpshooter: Weapon damage increased from 60% to 70%
  • Burst Fire: Active duration increased from 3s to 4s
  • Escalating Resilience: Max Bullet Resist increased from 36% to 40%
  • Alchemical Fire: Cooldown reduced from 28s to 26s
  • Heroic Aura: Active duration increased from 5s to 6s
  • Added new T3 Weapon Item, Headhunter: Requires High-Velocity Mag. Grants +50% Bullet Velocity, +15% Weapon Damage and +150 Bullet Shield. Passive cooldown: Landing a headshot on heroes deals bonus +140 Damage, heals you for +8% Max HP and grants +2 m/s for 3 seconds. Cooldown: 6 seconds.
  • Siphon Bullets: Weapon Damage reduced from 40% to 28%
  • Frenzy: Ammo increased from +9 to +12
  • Lucky Shot: Proc chance increased from 30% to 35%
  • Ricochet: Bounce damage increased from 50% to 60%
  • Ricochet: Fixed not applying spirit bonus damage from Vindicta and Wraith abilities

[ Vitality Items ]

  • Melee Lifesteal: Effectiveness vs non-heroes increased from 35% to 40%
  • Healing Rite: Cooldown reduced from 65s to 60s
  • Divine Barrier: No longer grants +7% Bullet Resist
  • Divine Barrier: No longer grants +1.5 Health Regen
  • Divine Barrier: Now grants +1 Sprint
  • Divine Barrier: Now grants +75 Health
  • Divine Barrier: Now grants +8% Ability Range
  • Combat Barrier: Now also grants +8% Fire Rate while active
  • Enchanter’s Barrer: Now also grants +8% Cooldown Reduction while active
  • Reactive Barrier: Duration reduced from 13s to 9s
  • Healing Booster: Now has also 15% Heal Reduction Resist (Leech no longer has it)
  • Healing Booster: No longer has +6% Bullet Resist
  • Superior Stamina: Air Jump/Dash Distance reduced from +40% to +30%
  • Metal Skin: Cooldown reduced from 25s to 22s
  • Rescue Beam: Channel duration reduced from 3s to 2.5s
  • Lifestrike: Effectiveness vs non-heroes increased from 35% to 40%
  • Fortitude: Damage taken duration threshold reduced from 12s to 11s
  • Veil Walker: Cooldown reduced from 18s to 17s
  • Majestic Leap: Cooldown reduced from 26s to 24s
  • Leech: No longer has 30% Heal Reduction Resist
  • Unstoppable: Can now be cast while channeling
  • Unstoppable: Cooldown reduced from 65s to 60s
  • Soul Rebirth: Cooldown reduction increased from +15% to +18%
  • Soul Rebirth: Now grants +12 Spirit
  • Soul Rebirth: Fixed being able to purchase globally during its brief respawn period
  • Soul Rebirth: Fixed the camera moving away from the player if you will respawn, rather than following the ragdoll
  • Colossus: Slow increased from 25% to 35%
  • Shadow Weave: Spirit Shield health increased from +200 to +300
  • Shadow Weave: Spot radius reduced from 20m to 18m
  • Phantom Strike: Cast range reduced from 30m to 25m

[ Spirit Items ]

  • Ammo Scavenger: Health increased from +50 to +60
  • Extra Charge: Cooldown reduction increased from +8% to +10%
  • Spirit Strike: Debuff duration increased from 8s to 13s
  • Spirit Strike: Spirit Shield increased from +85 to +100
  • Extra Spirit: Health increased from +25 to +35
  • Withering Whip: No longer grants +20% Ammo
  • Withering Whip: Now grants +8% Fire Rate
  • Withering Whip: Fire Rate slow reduced from -40% to -30%
  • Withering Whip: Cooldown reduced from 40s to 25s
  • Quicksilver: No longer has +10% Reload Time
  • Suppressor: Health regen reduced from 3 to 2.5
  • Suppressor: Fire Rate reduction reduced from -30% to -25%
  • Improved Cooldown: Cooldown Reduction increased from 15% to 16%
  • Duration Extender: Health regen increased from 1.5 to 1.75
  • Slowing Hex: Projectile speed increased by 30%
  • Slowing Hex: Cooldown reduced from 27s to 25s
  • Rapid Recharge: Charge count reduced from +3 to +2
  • Rapid Recharge: Faster Time Between Charges increased from +40% to +55%
  • Rapid Recharge: Cooldown for charged abilities increased from +20% to +25%
  • Knockdown: Delay reduced from 3s to 2s
  • Knockdown: Stun reduced from 1.25s to 0.9s
  • Knockdown: Cast range increased from 35m to 45m
  • Silence Glyph: Duration reduced from 3.5s to 3s
  • Torment Pulse: Spirit damage scaling increased from 0.2 to 0.24
  • Surge of Power: Imbued Ability Spirit Power increased from +28 to +34
  • Superior Duration: Non-Imbued duration increased from +24% to +26%
  • Improved Spirit: Health Regen increased from 2 to 3
  • Improved Spirit: Health increased from +75 to +100
  • Improved Reach: Spirit Resist increased from +10% to +12%
  • Curse: Duration reduced from 3.5 to 3.25
  • Magic Carpet: You are now unslowable while on the Magic Carpet
  • Magic Carpet: Cooldown reduced from 40s to 30s
  • Magic Carpet: Barriers now last for 16s
  • Echo Shard: Now grants +8 Spirit Power
  • Escalating Exposure: Base Spirit Resist reduction increased from -12% to -15%
  • Refresher: Now grants +8% Bullet Resist
  • Boundless Spirit: Sprint reduced from +4 to +3
  • Boundless Spirit: Now grants +25% Weapon Damage

[ Heroes ]

  • Abrams: Infernal Resilience Regeneration Time increased from 16s to 18s (this is a nerf)
  • Abrams: Now does pull ups on the zipline once again (this is a buff)
  • Abrams: Fixed Shoulder Charge sometimes stunning enemies on stairs
  • Abrams: Fixed Seismic Impact sometimes not going to the area selected
  • Bebop: Gun range increased from 30m to 32m
  • Bebop: Hook now only targets enemies when used by default. If you use with alt cast (middle mouse) it will be ally only mode.
  • Bebop: Hyper Beam can now be canceled by using Parry
  • Dynamo: Rejuvenating Aurora can now be canceled by using Parry
  • Dynamo: Fixed Kinetic Pulse not traveling properly when cast near corners
  • Dynamo: Gun damage reduced from 15 to 13
  • Dynamo: Singularity cast time increased from 0.1 to 0.2
  • Dynamo: Singularity range reduced from 9m to 8m
  • Grey Talon: Charged Shot collision size reduced by 8%
  • Grey Talon: Charged Shot base damage reduced from 105 to 100
  • Grey Talon: Charged Shot T2 reduced from +70 to +65
  • Grey Talon: Fire Rate now scales with Spirit (0.25)
  • Grey Talon: Can now use multiple air dashes while using Rain of Fire
  • Grey Talon: Immobilizing Trap root duration reduced from 2s to 1.25s
  • Grey Talon: Immobilizing Trap now applies a 50% movement slow for 1 seconds after the root
  • Grey Talon: Immobilizing Trap T2 changed from +1s Root to +2s Slow
  • Haze: Base bullet damage increased from 5.3 to 5.6
  • Haze: Sleep Dagger impact damage happens immediately, rather than after the brief drowsy period
  • Haze: Sleep Dagger drowsy period before sleep kicks in increased from 0.25 to 0.35
  • Haze: Sleep Dagger cooldown reduced from 27s to 25s
  • Haze: Smoke Bomb radius reduced from 20m to 18m
  • Haze: Fixation T2 max stacks increased from +30 to +40
  • Haze: Bullet Dance now provides +2 Weapon Damage in the base ability (similar to the T1)
  • Infernus: Reduced vertical reach on Flame Dash dps
  • Infernus: Flame Dash speed is now affected by slows
  • Infernus: Flame Dash trail now gets wider with Ability Range bonus
  • Infernus: Flame Dash T1 duration reduced from 7s to 6s
  • Infernus: Catalyst Damage Amplification reduced from 30% to 25%
  • Infernus: Catalyst T3 Damage Amplification increased from +10% to +15%
  • Infernus: Catalyst T2 reduced from +20% Lifesteal to +15%
  • Ivy: Bullet damage growth per boon reduced from 0.55 to 0.5
  • Ivy: Health growth per boon reduced from +41 to +35
  • Ivy: Watcher’s Covenant T2 reduced from +3 m/s to +2
  • Ivy: Air Drop no longer silences allies
  • Ivy: Air Drop now causes allies to deal 50% less damage while being carried
  • Ivy: Air Drop movement adjusted to be a little less frantic
  • Ivy: Fixed Air Drop bomb disappearing if you cancel your ultimate after dropping it but before it lands
  • Ivy: Air Drop self cast cast time increased from 1s to 2s
  • Ivy: Air Drop max move speed reduced from 20 to 18
  • Ivy: During Air Drop flight you can pitch up and down with Dash/Crouch buttons
  • Ivy: Fixed getting stuck under bridges and in buildings while Air Drop flying
  • Kelvin: Bullet radius increased from 5 to 6
  • Kelvin: Base health growth per boon increased from +45 to +50
  • Kelvin: Arctic Beam max slow increased from 60% to 80%
  • Kelvin: Arctic Beam now affects soul orbs (secures/denies them)
  • Kelvin: Arctic Beam T3 range reduced from 15m to 13m
  • Kelvin: Fixed Ice Path jitter
  • Kelvin: Frost Grenade T2 Heal increased from 135 to 145
  • Lash: Improved firing arm position to be a little bit more out of the way from the reticle
  • Lash: Grapple no longer gives a stamina charge on use
  • Paradox: Fixed Paradoxical Swap still going through even if Paradox dies during it
  • Pocket: Barrage amp reduced from 8% to 7% per stack
  • Pocket: Fixed Barrage amp visual not showing properly
  • Seven: Static Charge radius increased from 5m to 6m
  • Seven: Static Charge T2 radius increased from +7m to +8m
  • Seven: Storm Cloud spirit power scaling reduced from 1.1 to 0.8
  • Seven: Storm Cloud time to reach maximum radius reduced from 6s to 3s
  • Seven: Storm Cloud Now provides +20% Bullet Resistance in the base ability
  • Shiv: Bullet damage growth per boon reduced from 0.5 to 0.4
  • Shiv: Gun falloff range reduced by 10%
  • Shiv: Health growth per boon reduced from +41 to +35
  • Shiv: Slice and Dice T2 reduced from +100 to +85
  • Shiv: Slice and Dice T3 now considers creeps for only half value
  • Shiv: Bloodletting deferred damage reduced from 35% to 30%
  • Shiv: The targeting UI for Shiv’s Killing Blow is now more clear about when the target will be killed
  • Vindicta: Stake duration reduced from 2.25s to 2s
  • Vindicta: Crow Familiar Spirit Power duration scaling reduced from 0.05 to 0.04
  • Vindicta: Fixed left clicks sometimes deselecting the ability when charges aren’t ready
  • Viscous: Primary Fire redesigned to make it more usable and have improved damage and scaling
  • Viscous: Now has an Alt Fire that has limited range, but deals AOE damage that cannot headshot
  • Viscous: Splatter Spirit Scaling increased from 1.4 to 1.5
  • Viscous: Splatter Damage on 2nd and 3rd hit increased from 66% and 33% to 70% and 50%
  • Viscous: Puddle Punch damage increased from 100% to 110% of Light Melee
  • Viscous: Puddle Punch T2 is now +50 damage and +20% movement slow (was -10s cooldown)
  • Viscous: Puddle Punch T3 is now -12s cooldown (was +80 damage and +20% movement slow)
  • Viscous: Puddle Punch: delay before punch increased from 0.25s to 0.35s
  • Viscous: Goo Ball Spirit Scaling increased from 1.05 to 1.3
  • Viscous: Goo Ball acceleration increased
  • Viscous: Goo Ball base turn radius and turn radius after bouncing has been increased
  • Viscous: Fixed a bug where Goo Ball would have the direction and trail particle stuck on
  • Warden: Base movement speed reduced from 6.5 to 6
  • Warden: Fire Rate scaling with spirit reduced from 0.375 Fire Rate per Spirit to 0.3
  • Yamato: Power Slash max damage time requirement reduced from 1.5s to 1.4s
  • Yamato: Power Slash collision radius reduced by 8%
  • Yamato: Crimson Slash radius increased from 12m to 13m
  • Yamato: Fixed being able to die during Shadow Transformation if hit by Grey Talon’s Owl
  • Yamato: Fixed some cases where Flying Strike could get into a stuck state
  • Yamato: Fixed some cases where Crimson Slash would appear to be cast when it wasn’t

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.

Valve Shooter Deadlock Hits 100,000 Concurrents Despite Being Invite Only

Valve hero shooter Deadlock is a certified hit on Steam, somehow crossing 100,000 concurrent players while still being invite only.

Data from player tracking website SteamDB shows Deadlock crossed the 100,000 milestone on August 29, 2024, with exactly 106,447 players online at the same time. Its popularity has been steadily increasing throughout August and will surely continue to do so, especially as the weekend approaches.

But what makes Deadlock’s success particularly interesting and definitely strange is that it’s not officially out yet. Valve seemingly looked to keep the game a secret for weeks despite, again, SteamDB showing that thousands of players were already online.

It was released in this beta or playtesting equivalent state and still remains that way, with players only able to join if invited directly by Valve or referred by someone already playing. Those who did get in were asked to “not share anything about the game with anyone.”

Valve has actually acknowledged Deadlock’s existence now, however, by taking down that request and unveiling its official Steam page. “Deadlock is a multiplayer game in early development,” it says, still vaguely.

Deadlock is actually a six versus six, third person hero shooter with a Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) twist, taking inspiration from genre classics such as Leage of Legends, Dota 2, and Heroes of the Storm.

Valve hasn’t shared when players can join freely or when a full release may come, but as its numbers grow, the “invite only” status becomes less and less meaningful.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.

A Bunch Of Classic Mario Party Minigames Are Seemingly Returning In Jamboree

Re-roll.

Many of us were so blinded by the announcement that Pauline would be joining Super Mario Party Jamboree that we failed to look closer at the new website’s contents. And yet, coming back to it with a clear head, it seems that a bunch of returning minigames were also teased.

The website highlights a boatload of the 110+ minigames that we can expect to find in Jamboree, the majority of which appear to be new, but there were a couple hidden in the roster that looked strangely familiar. ‘Platform Peril’ from Mario Party 1? ‘Granite Getaway’ and ‘Snow Brawl’ from Mario Party 6? Mario Party 4‘s ‘Three Throw’?! All the following snaps are from the new website, so it looks like we have a couple of returning guests to look forward to.

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

The mommy mechs of The Forever Winter are stomping into early access next month

It is with quiet anticipation (and some nervousness) that I await to be stepped upon by a freaky mech in The Forever Winter. If you missed its announcement in May, The Forever Winter is a co-op extraction shooter set in a grim future where you struggle to survive amid an unending hyperindustrial war. Since that reveal developers Fun Dog Studios have mostly been sending out small “burst transmissions” – essentially footage from the hellfront – like this patriotic beheading and some panicked gunfights. But today they’ve made a longer video revealing an early access release date. And – oh! – it’s quite soon.

Read more

Visions of Mana Dev Reportedly Being Shut Down by NetEase

Chinese video game company NetEase has reportedly laid off most staff at Visions of Mana developer Ouka Studios with plans to shut it down altogether.

Anonymous sources familiar with the situation told Bloomberg that the studio, which only opened in 2020, will be kept afloat by the few remaining members until its final games have been released. Visions of Mana only launched yesterday, August 29, 2024, and earned high critical praise. (IGN’s Visions of Mana review returned an 8/10.)

The closure of Ouka Studios is reportedly due to major Chinese companies like NetEase and its rival Tencent shifting away from a Japan-centric approach.

Bloomberg reported that Tencent is also reconsidering how much it invests in Japanese video game developers and has already backed out of several funding commitments. It had secured the rights to develop and publish the mobile version of anime-inspired game Blue Protocol, for example, but on August 28 Bandai Namco announced Blue Protocol would be shut down altogether and its worldwide release, set to be handled by Amazon Games, was cancelled.

One source said the success of Black Myth Wukong, which sold a staggering 10 million copies in three days and comes from a relatively small Chinese developer, has also inspired NetEase and Tencent to look for investments domestically. These Chinese companies have otherwise found their visions misaligned with the Japanese developers they looked to invest in, according to the report.

NetEase told Bloomberg it had “nothing to announce” regarding the closure of Ouka Studios. Tencent said it is “always making necessary adjustments to reflect market conditions.”

The past two years have seen countless video game industry layoffs as big companies including Microsoft, Sony, and the embattled Embracer Group have not just cut jobs but shut down entire studios.

Microsoft shut down Redfall developer Arkane Austin alongside Hi-Fi Rush and Ghostwire Tokyo developer Tango Gameworks in May 2024 in a move met with shock and anger by industry peers and fans.

Embracer Group shut down Saints Row developer Volition in 2023, while Sony shut down its London Studio in March 2024 amid layoffs affecting 900 staff across the PlayStation business.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.

Konami’s Castlevania Dominus Collection bundles up three DS hits and one arcade remaster for £20 or $25

Here’s one we missed from this week’s release round-up, possibly because Konami appear to have given it precisely zero promotion: the Castlevania Dominus Collection, a four-game bundle spanning PC ports of three well-regarded DS Castlevanias, plus a redesigned version of Castlevania Haunted Castle, the first Castlevania game to grace an arcade machine. It’ll set you back $25, £20 or €25, and my drive-by analysis of the trailer below is that they’ve done a decent job with the ports.

Read more

Darkest Dungeon 2’s free strategy game Kingdoms update is coming in three parts, with the first due in 2024

Darkest Dungeon 2‘s Kingdoms mode – a free turn-based boardgame reimagining of the hellish roguelike roadtrip RPG – will release in three modules, Red Hook have announced. The first of this fearful trio, Hunger Of The Beast Clan, is down to launch in Q4 2024, which translates to sometime during the period 1st October to 31st December.

It’ll accompany a new paid Darkest Dungeon 2 DLC, Inhuman Bondage, which introduces a new region, a new hero with “…unique” mechanics and a fresh faction of seemingly excrement-themed fiends to slaughter.

Read more

Sega’s Sonic Team On Memes: “We Like That People Are Having Fun”

Takashi Iizuka says it’s a “positive thing”.

It’s not every day a video game company embraces memes with open arms, but that’s exactly what’s going on at Sega when it comes to the Sonic the Hedgehog series – in fact, it’s arguably helped revitalize the brand over the years.

Ahead of the release of Sonic X Shadow Generations and the Sonic the Hedgehog 3 movie later this year, Sonic Team head Takashi Iizuka recently touched on all the Shadow and Sonic-related memes during a chat with Polygon. First of all – yes, the team sees fans posting “lots of interesting stuff”.

Read the full article on nintendolife.com