This month's Humble Choice bundle is now live, featuring the likes of Two Point Hospital, Shadow of War and Dirt Rally 2.0 as some of its biggest inclusions.

If you've not taken a trip over to Humble for a while now, this is the second iteration of the newly launched Humble Choice bundle. It had previously been known as Humble Monthly until a rework in December.

In this new version, instead of being thrown an assortment of mystery games each month, you now get to pick and choose a limited number from a wider selection depending on your subscription level. Basic members can choose three games for 11.99 a month, while Premium members can select nine games for 15.99 a month.

Read more

Microsoft has announced the eight new titles being added to its Xbox Live Game Pass service for July.

Undoubtedly, the two biggest games from the set are relentless zombie whack-em-up Dead Rising 4 and rivalry-brewing Lord of the Rings spin-off Middle-earth: Shadow of War.

More specifically, Middle-earth: Shadow of War will be available on Game Pass from 4th July. It'll be joined by lifestyle sim My Time at Portia and will support play across both console and PC. On the same day, esoteric RPG Undertale will also be added to Game Pass for PC players.

Read more

Today's the day the patch ripping the market and microtransactions out of Middle-earth: Shadow of War will be released. Hooray! Good riddance!

The patch is live on Steam by the looks of things but I'm not sure about PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

After the patch, orcs recruited through Online Vendettas and Ranked Conquests are stored in your Garrison, and you spend Mirian to train, upgrade and customise them.

Read more…

Loot boxes (War Chests) and nearly everything associated with them are being ripped from Middle-earth: Shadow of War.

The ability to spend real-world money on game gold will be removed - for good - 8th May, and gold, War Chests and the Market will be permanently removed 17th July.

The slightly different Loot Chests will remain but you won't be able to buy them; you will only be able to earn them through Online Conquests and Online Vendettas.

Read more…

Warner Bros has released a new story expansion for its orc-themed open-world fantasy adventure, Middle-earth: Shadow of War, and it's joined by number of free new additions designed to improve and expand the core game.

Blade of Galadriel, as the story expansion is known, follows the adventures of new playable protagonist Eltariel - an elite Elven warrior sent to Mordor to hunt the Nazg l. It introduces new combat abilities, skills, and gear - including Eltariel's dual Elven blades and the Light of Galadriel - plus eight unique Legendary Orcs for use in the main story campaign.

"Encounter memorable new Nemesis characters, such as Flint, Tinder and the Slayer of the Dead, while battling the Nazg l and learning more mysteries of their past", says Warner Bros of Blade of Galadriel. And if that's at all enticing, the expansion is available now on PC, Xbox One and PS4 as part of Shadow of War's Expansion Pass, or on its own for 11.99.

Read more…

The great Star Wars debacle - and I'm not talking about The Last Jedi's second act here - dominated video game headlines in the last quarter of 2017. But in truth the year was packed with depressing stories about loot boxes, so many in fact that it has at times felt like our beloved hobby was more about the chance to win a rare item than it was about the chance to play.

It all began with For Honor, Ubisoft's excellent but troubled melee combat game. Soon after For Honor came out in February, a redditor worked out how much money it would cost to unlock all 12 heroes in the game and their associated aesthetic items (2017 would see enterprising redditors work out how much things cost to unlock in a lot of games). It turned out it would cost an eye-watering 585. Ouch.

Ubisoft, sensing a growing resentment among players (growing resentment was a running theme of 2017), said it never intended for players to unlock everything in the game. That was a PR line that didn't go down well (PR lines that didn't go down well was another running theme of 2017).

Read more…

Apple, in what may be a trend-setting decision, now requires any App Store game with loot boxes to disclose the odds of receiving items from them.

"Apps offering 'loot boxes' or other mechanisms that provide randomised virtual items for purchase must disclose the odds of receiving each type of item to customers prior to purchase," a bullet point added to the 3.1.1 in-app purchase clause now reads (via TouchArcade).

Forcing disclosure of odds is something China has required all games to do, by law, since May. It's how we learned Overwatch awards an epic item once every 5.5 loot boxes and a legendary once every 13.5 loot boxes.

Read more…

With Star Wars: Battlefront 2 taking all the current flak for having loot boxes, it's a good time for fellow loot box controversy candidate Middle-earth: Shadow of War to detail all of its upcoming freebies.

Alongside the three DLCs coming as part of Shadow of War's season pass, various new features will be implemented for free over the next few weeks.

First up are Endless Sieges, which as previously announced arrive on 21st November.

Read more…