Full details on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III and Warzone Season 3, launching April 3

Rally your squad for the biggest season update yet! Introducing new maps, a new Zombies mission and Rift, the return of Rebirth Island, and much more, Season 3 is stacked with new experiences.


Full details on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III and Warzone Season 3, launching April 3

Season 3 of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III and Call of Duty: Warzone launches on April 3 on PS4 and PS5. 

Multiplayer Overview

Core 6v6 Maps 

6 Star (Launch): Battle atop the Hadiqa 6 Star resort in Dubai, catering to ultra-rich guests with an infinity pool, skybridge, and exclusive club.

Emergency (Launch): Deploy to a wing of the State Disease Control Agency in the wake of a disaster, set around the red sandstone of Sedona, Arizona.

Growhouse (Launch): A re-imagined take on Sphere from Call of Duty®: Vanguard. Fight mid- to long-ranged battles above ground and close up underground.

Tanked (Launch): Drop into Vondel Zoo after hours in this fast-paced, mid-sized map centered around the aquarium and reptile exhibits.

Mid-Season Maps: Play the rundown Grime map next to a derelict canal, plus Checkpoint based on Rebirth Island’s Stronghold.

New Game Modes

Capture the Flag (Launch): Steal the enemy’s flag and return it to your home base while yours is still in place.

Minefield (Launch): Defeated players drop a Proximity Mine where they fall. The mine is only deadly to their team, setting up wild combos. Applied to a variety of game modes.

One in the Chamber (Launch): Start with three lives and a one-hit-kill bullet. Earn another bullet for each elimination. If you’re out, go for the melee finish. 

Plus, Ranked Play: Compete in Ranked Play Season 3, featuring all-new Seasonal and Skill Division rewards.

Zombies Overview

New Rift, New Mission (Mid-Season): Embark on a rescue mission in the third Dark Aether Rift to save Dr. Ava Jansen.

New Challenges, Schematics (Mid-Season): Tackle new Prestige Calling Card and Camo challenges, and face down enemies with three new earnable schematics:

New Warlord (Mid-Season): Warlord Rainmaker has commandeered a fortress on Rahaa Island. Approach the artillery and demolitions expert with caution.

Call of Duty: Warzone Overview

Welcome Back to Rebirth Island (Launch)

Rebirth Island returns, the main destination of your Resurgence matches and Season 3 Ranked Play.

Modes: Along with Rebirth Resurgence, other Season 3 modes include Rebirth Lockdown, Rebirth Resurgence Loaded, and High Trip Resurgence.

Public Events and Contracts: Compete in Public Events like Gulag: Climb and Punishment and Heavy Armor. Take on the new Spy Drones Contract. Attempt the Rebirth Island Champion’s Quest.

New Features: Buff your squad with the Squad Rage Field Upgrade and gear up with the Military Box. See future gas circles with the Foresight Killstreak and improve your abilities with the hard-to-find Specialist Perk Package.

Season 3 Battle Pass

Earn 100+ tiers of content, including four new weapons, eight new Aftermarket Parts, and new Operators like Vladimir Makarov and Snoop Dogg. Up your game with the “Stasis BlackCell” Operator and more with BlackCell premium content.

New Store Offerings: Get new bundles like Tracer Pack: Cheech and Chong, several Godzilla x Kong: New Empire bundles, Tracer Pack: Big Brain Ultra Skin, and more.

Season 3 Combat Pack for PlayStation Plus members

Available on April 10, the Season 3 Combat Pack grants Élodie, “Lockpick” a new Operator Skin “Starry Nightmare”.

PlayStation Plus members will also receive the following: the “Rembrandt Rifle” Assault Rifle Blueprint, the “Raphael Rival” SMG Blueprint, the “Cerulean Enigma” Weapon Charm, the “Cobalt Conspirator” Calling Card, the “Azure Avenger” Weapon Sticker, and the “Anonymous Artist” Emblem.

Plus, PlayStation Players will receive a 2XP Player boost in-game from 4/18 – 4/19.

New Challenges and Events

Along with new Weekly Challenges, play seasonal events like Godzilla x Kong: Battle for Hollow Earth, Blaze Up, High Trip, and Vortex, with four more events arriving in the mid-season.

Season 3 launches April 3

Purchase Modern Warfare III on PlayStation to enjoy additional benefits and a free in-game bundle each season with the Combat Pack.

Stay frosty.

Ex-Dragon Age director’s new studio teases their new fantasy RPG ahead of a full reveal next week

More than three years after former Dragon Age lead designer Mike Laidlaw was revealed to have joined forces with fellow games industry veterans behind the likes of Assassin’s Creed under newfounded studio Yellow Brick Games, the developers are finally teasing their first game. And yup, it’s definitely a fantasy game!

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Modern Warfare 3 and Warzone 3 Season 3 Details: Rebirth Island, Mobile Integration, and Snoop Dogg

Activision has fully pulled back the curtain on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and Warzone Season 3, including first looks at the return of fan-favorite maps, new weapons, and more.

The Call of Duty team showed off all of the new content in detail in a blog post on its website along with a release date of April 3 at 9 a.m. PT / 12 p.m. ET across all platforms. Per usual, some drops are being held off for the undated mid-season update, but there will still be plenty to dive into next week. Highlights include six Core 6v6 maps – Emergency, Tanked, 6 Star, Growhouse (previously known as Sphere from Call of Duty: Vanguard), Checkpoint (mid-season), and Grime (mid-season) – the long-awaited return of Rebirth Island, new Modes, and Battle Pass Operators that include a playable Snoop Dogg.

Season 3 also brings the full integration of Warzone Mobile, meaning player unlocks and content additions will be shared across all versions of the experience. Activision boasts that Modern Warfare 3 and Warzone Season 3 is “one of the biggest content drops in Call of Duty history. It’s quite the claim, but it’s pretty easy to see why the team is happy to show off. Just looking at the roadmap image alone reveals a lineup of content that’s tough to rival.

Rebirth Island returns

Included in the initial drop are things like Rebirth Island, which has been given a slight facelift thanks to new features to experiment with. These include a Biometric Scanner function, allowing players to check their in-game stats and potentially receive rewards. Another new addition are the more than a dozen Apex Legends-like Smart Displays placed around the map that show high-ranking Operators as well as the location of player hot spots.

Locations on Rebirth Island should be just the same as Operators last left it, though some tweaks will keep it feeling fresh. Weather, for example, will change throughout the season, bringing aesthetic changes that can last temporarily or for an entire match. Predicting weather patterns might prove to be a bit difficult, but the Smart Displays will help with forecasts.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and Warzone’s ever-growing arsenal is expanding more with four new weapons: FJX Horus (SMG), MORS (Sniper Rifle), Gladiator Melee (Punch Knife), and BAL-27 (Assault Rifle, mid-season). A few additional modes are on the way, too, including Capture the Flag and One in the Chamber. Two brand-new modes called Minefield and Escort will drop mid-season, too.

Crossover content is also rolling full steam ahead for Season 3, and that means new tie-ins with Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire that add three skins based on the upcoming monster movie’s creatures as well as something called “Battle for Hollow Earth.” The last time Call of Duty crossed over with the Godzilla universe, it saw players going toe-to-toe with the monsters themselves. While it’s not clear the lengths Activision went to this time, players can look forward to an additional 4/20-themed crossover in the form of Cheech and Chong Operators and a Blaze Up event.

Zombies fans can finally rest east knowing Modern Warfare Zombies content like an additional story mission and a new Dark Aether Rift are on the way. However, it looks fans of the mode will have to wait until the mid-season update to get their hands on what’s in store.

In other Call of Duty news, be sure to read up on how Activision plans to tackle boosting services. Then, make sure you check in on the company’s explanation behind why Warzone mobile includes Verdansk while other versions don’t.

Michael Cripe is a freelance contributor with IGN. He started writing in the industry in 2017 and is best known for his work at outlets such as The Pitch, The Escapist, OnlySP, and Gameranx.

Be sure to give him a follow on Twitter @MikeCripe.

Here’s how the Homeworld 3 devs are improving the game after delaying release over demo feedback

After delaying the launch of Homeworld 3 by two months to address criticism of the spacefleet shoot-o-strategy game’s demo, developers Blackbird Interactive have now laid out what they’re changing. Improved controls, tougher ships, more useful formations, better Attack Move command, more HUD options, and more types of War Games mode objectives are among the tweaks and improvements detailed by game director Lance Mueller in a 3000-word blogblast. “This past month, everyone was heads down discussing every post we saw from Steam, social, Reddit, Discord and beyond,” he explained. They have plans.

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Site News: So, Where’s Our MLB The Show 24 Review?

Don’t buy it on Switch for the moment.

This year’s edition of MLB The Show has been out for over a week at the time of writing, and some of you may be wondering where our review has gotten to. We’ve taken a look at each previous release of the Sony-helmed series that came to Switch starting in 2022, and you’d be right in assuming we would take to the field with this one, as well.

Unfortunately, we’ve hit exactly the same snag that many Switch owners have, it seems — namely, we can’t access the Diamond Dynasty mode without the game crashing. Sony San Diego Studio hasn’t made any official announcement on the issue, with a brief forum response being the only public acknowledgement we can find:

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

Indie Selects for March 2024: The ID@Xbox Team Serves Up Another Batch of Outstanding Indies

It’s been a month since our first round of Indie Selects were announced, and we’re back again with another great batch of games that we think you’ll love. As a reminder (or introduction if you’re new to this program), Indie Selects are chosen from recently launched Xbox games that the ID@Xbox team considers to be indie and that aren’t available with Game Pass. The whole team votes and the top six vote winners are our Indie Selects for the month.

The selects for March 2024 run the gamut from the return of an old favorite, a brilliant new take on a very old card game, and an intense horror experience. Here’s the list (in no particular order):

Balatro

Balatro Image Asset

It’s just video poker, right? You’d be forgiven for thinking that by just glancing at it, but you’d be very wrong. It takes the rather simplistic poker framework and reinvents it as a deep, engaging and utterly addictive roguelike. You start with a basic deck and play hands to beat a target number of chips for each round. But where it gets fun is unlocking bonus and special cards that make your choices much more complex and interesting. Leveling up “three of a kind” and playing it with a Spade bonus can make it more valuable than even a Royal Flush. And you can unlock new Jokers and other cards after each run to create new options for the next run. And…suddenly it’s 3:00 AM and you’re still playing.

Tomb Raider I – III Remastered Starring Lara Croft

Tomb Raider Remastered Image Asset

The first Tomb Raider came out in 1996 and took the gaming world by storm. It’s an absolute classic from start to finish. This remaster of the first three games is a love letter to the origins of the series, featuring all three original adventures, including the expansions and secret levels, improved graphics, and the choice to play with classic or modern controls. The classic “tank” controls might seem a bit alarming and strange to anybody under 35, but playing that way certainly took us back to our youth and thrill of tomb raiding with Lara.

As with many games from the ‘90s, they’re not considered particularly easy by modern standards, but finding your way through platforming-based puzzles and figuring out the best solutions is incredibly rewarding. Does a remaster compilation of games that were undeniably “triple A” back in their day count as “indie”? Great question. Who knows for sure. We decided that it counts since the developer behind the remaster, Aspyr, generally fits the bill. But instead of getting bogged down in that thought experiment, go play the games. You can thank me later.

The Outlast Trials

Outlast Trials Image Asset

The original Outlast and its sequel, Outlast 2, were terrifying first-person adventure survival games, where, with no way to defend yourself, you survived by hiding, sliding, creeping, crouching, and running through the levels, staying one step ahead of whoever was trying to kill you at that particular moment.

The Outlast Trials takes that formula and adds four player co-op, and radically over-the-top villains, who hunt you and buddies down in a series of outrageous death games. After each run you can upgrade your character through various class-based skill trees, before you and your friends jump back into the next terrifying experience. It can be as hysterically funny as it is terrifying, while the gameplay loop of surviving, solving puzzles, and finding an escape is incredibly compelling. The game can be played solo, but it’s much more fun if you can find some friends to brave the experience with you.

Rounds

Rounders Image Asset

Landfall created the delightfully wacky Totally Accurate Battle Simulator, and Stickfight, The Game. With Rounds, they’ve created probably the world’s first 1v1 roguelike combat game. At the start of the game, each player uses their noodle arms to select a card containing a power-up. You’re given a half dozen to choose from out of 65 or so overall. Powerups can let you shoot straighter, make bullets explode on impact, let your bullets push enemies back, or give you all kinds of other slight advantages.

Where it gets interesting is at the end of each, uh, round the loser gets to pick a new card with a new ability. And since abilities stack, by the end of each five-round game, you can create an overwhelmingly powerful custom build (assuming, of course, that you lose a lot). This mechanic turns an otherwise simple, level-based combat game into a sophisticated roguelike where each player can build their strengths against the other player’s weaknesses. The game is never the same from one round to the next.

Slave Zero X

Slave Zero X Image Asset

Slave Zero, a cult favorite 1999 Windows and Dreamcast game, cast the player as a giant, rampaging robot in a third person shooter. A quarter century later, Ziggurat brings us a prequel to that game, in a stylish 2.5D world. But unlike the original, Slave Zero X plays out as a brawler blended with the precise gameplay mechanics of a fighting game.

It’s the kind of game that can drive you to toss your controller through a window, but in the next breadth has you climbing through the window to retrieve it because you just can’t stop playing. The art and music are both fantastic and do a lot to help serve up the rich cyberpunk world. Hard? Yes. A bit unfair at times? Maybe. Rewarding, addictive and compelling? Absolutely.

Choice of Life: Middle Ages 2

Choice of Life: Middle Ages 2 Image Asset

Finally, this month we have something completely different. Choice of Life: Middle Ages 2 is a medieval choose-your-own-adventure experience, where you play your cards to direct your choices. Each decision you make leads to seemingly endless twists and turns. There are apparently over a thousand different events that you can encounter in the game, along with over 99 ways to do, but you’d have to go through many different playthroughs to find them all.

It’s a relaxing, casual experience that encourages you to play around with your choices to see where your kingdom will end up. At the end of the first playthrough (which might be very short, since death is constantly right around the corner) you’ll almost certainly find yourself wanting to jump in and see where else fate, and your decisions, will take you.

The post Indie Selects for March 2024: The ID@Xbox Team Serves Up Another Batch of Outstanding Indies appeared first on Xbox Wire.

PlayStation Plus Monthly Games for April: Immortals of Aveum, Minecraft Legends, Skul: The Hero Slayer

Blast magic, embark on a (blocky) fantasy adventure and free your demon brethren with April’s Monthly Games lineup for PlayStation Plus. Immortals of Aveum, Minecraft Legends, Skul: The Hero Slayer will be available to play for PlayStation Plus members* from Tuesday, April 2 until Monday May 6. 

Let’s take a closer look at each game in turn. 

Immortals of Aveum | PS5

This single-player first-person magic shooter tells the story of Jak as he joins an elite order of battlemages to save a world on the edge of an abyss. Magic is at the core of both your offense and defence. Experience fast, fluid, first-person spell-based combat. Unlock and upgrade more than 25 Spells and 80 Talents. Discover, upgrade and craft hundreds of pieces of magical gear, refine your playstyle across three forces of magic and become Aveum’s most powerful Triarch Magnus. 

Minecraft Legends | PS4, PS5

Discover the mysteries of Minecraft Legends. In this action strategy game. Explore a gentle land of rich resources and lush biomes on the brink of destruction. The ravaging piglins have arrived, and it’s up to you to form alliances with new friends and familiar mobs, then lead the charge in epic battles against the fierce piglins to defend the Overworld. You can challenge your friends or team up in intense battles in online play for up to eight players, as you defend your village while leading your units to destroy your opponents’ settlements.

Skul: The Hero Slayer | PS4

An attack on the Demon King’s castle by a heroic band of adventurers has seen all but one of its denizens captured and imprisoned. Now, as a lowly skeleton Skul, you must save your demonic brethren. This 2D action platformer boasts rogue-like features, with an ever-changing map and a growing arsenal of abilities, each with its own unique attack range, speed and power. Equip two types at a time to fit your play style, and switch out during combat to find the best strategy to defeat your foes. 

The Overwatch 2 Mega Bundle, exclusive to PlayStation Plus members

Don’t miss out on the free Legendary Beekeeper Sigma, Legendary Art Deco Symmetra, seven Epic Skins, and five Battle Pass Tier Skips. This bundle is available for a limited time for all PlayStation Plus members.

This pack includes:

– Beekeeper Sigma Legendary Skin

– Art Deco Symmetra Legendary Skin

– Runner Sojourn Epic Skin

– Punker Queen Junker Queen Epic Skin 

– Construction Ramattra Epic Skin

– Matsuri Kiriko Epic Skin

– Cassia Lifeweaver Epic Skin

– Amethyst Illari Epic Skin

– Rugby Mauga Epic Skin

– 5x Battle Pass Tier Skips

You’ll be able to find and download this bundle in addition to the PlayStation Plus Monthly Games line up on PlayStation Store**. Download Overwatch 2 from the PlayStation Store to access. Once downloaded, the bundle’s contents will be available in-game immediately, regardless of whether you’re a new or returning player.  

Last chance to download March’s Monthly Games

EA Sports F1 23, Sifu, Hello Neighbor 2 and Destiny 2: Witch Queen are available to add to PlayStation Plus members’ game library until Monday, Monday, April 1. 

*PlayStation Plus Game Catalog lineup may differ in certain regions. Please check the PlayStation Store on launch day for your region’s lineup. 

**Requires Overwatch 2. An internet connection and mobile phone number are required, and your account must be linked to your Battle.net Account to play Overwatch. Tier skips will not apply to any battle pass level beyond level 80 and will not unlock prestige tiers. Any excess tier skips you purchase past level 80 are banked and will be automatically redeemed at launch of the following season.

Sega of America Union Workers Ratify Contract Less Than a Year After Recognition

Today, workers at Sega of America union AEGIS-CWA have announced they have ratified their first contract with Sega, less than a year after their recognition as a legal union.

In a press release, AEGIS-CWA revealed that the worker vote to ratify the contract passed, allowing the contract to go into effect. The contract includes a number of worker protections, including raises for all unit members (roughly 150 full-time and temporary employees), Just Cause protections, layoff protections including a recall list and severance, commitment to crediting all workers on games they work on, and a number of other benefits.

“One of our most notable items is our grievance process,” said Sega localization editor and AEGIS-CWA member Em Geiger. “There’s extra security knowing we have in place a system for bringing issues to the table, such as arguing Just Cause in a potential layoff. If the company wants to do something that the unit doesn’t like, we can grieve it, bargain over it, have our say before anything is finalized. And concerning Just Cause, we’re now the second unit in this industry in North America to have protections against arbitrary discipline and discharge.”

Sega of America workers first announced their desire to unionize in April of last year, citing desires for better pay, improved benefits, and workload balance. The union received legal recognition the following July following a vote, making it the largest multi-department union of organized industry workers, encompassing Brand Marketing, Games as a Service, Localization, Marketing, Product Development Ops, Sales, Quality Assurance, and other divisions.

However, in January of this year, Sega of America laid off 61 staff as it moved to outsource QA and localization, a move which impacted AEGIS-CWA members. At the time, the union said it was able to negotiate to double the number of saved jobs, and offer severance to temporary workers.

“The mass layoffs SOA implemented were an enormous hit to our numbers, and to our overall morale,” Geiger said. “We negotiated severance packages and some employee retention, but there was an undeniable shift once the grief of those losses settled in. But in spite of this, after months of work, we have our contract.”

Unionization remains a hot topic in the games industry as more and more unions form across major studios. Earlier this month, a group of Activision QA workers formed the largest US video game worker union to date. Other unionized teams in the US include the Zenimax QA union, Raven Software, and Blizzard Albany, voice actors have joined SAG-AFTRA, while overseas Avalanche Studios recently unionized, and France has long had Le Syndicat des Travailleurs et Travailleuses du Jeu Video (STJV).

“We are by no means the very first video game company to do what we’ve done,” Geiger concluded. “However, we are among the first, and we know there are others who will unionize and get their contracts in the coming years. Sega is a household name, and what we can do is encourage anyone else who might be thinking about unionizing, or are in the process and haven’t gone public yet, to do so with enthusiasm and pride. You can only benefit from unionizing. We truly, madly, deeply wish for a better standard of work and wage within this industry. And hopefully, our contract can help serve as an example for those who will one day write their own.”

Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.