Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Valve’s venerable squad-based esport FPS, has recently done a couple of very interesting things. The first is that it’s gone free-to-play in a major update released on December 6, 2018. The second is that, in this same update, a brand new game mode was released called Danger Zone, Valve’s response to the ridonkulous success of recent battle royale games such as PUBG and Fortnite.

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CSGO’s Danger Zone mode is a new competitor in the Battle Royale genre, but it turns out it does quite a lot different, not least because of its tiny-but-meticulously-detailed map, Blacksite. After spending an unhealthy number of hours in Blacksite, I’ve put together the below Danger Zone guide on the best locations for loot and safety in Blacksite.

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ANOTHER ONE. I know. But wait! Counter-Strike: Global Offensive‘s battle royale mode might be the most interesting take on the genre I’ve yet seen. It’s snappier, shoppier, and laces every moment with a tension stemming from one eternally nagging question. Do you peek at the Ipad that tells you roughly where your enemies are, or nah?

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We all know the coming of Christmas means the goose is getting fat, but what about the chicken? She’s warm and cosy, as Counter-Strike: Global Offensive has kicked off its festivities by giving chickens wee Christmas jumpers. These jumpers are #2 on the definitive ranking of CS:GO chicken costumes so that’s certainly something to celebrate. Other Christmas festivities include piles of snowballs in spawn points to lob at folks, the return of Militia’s snowy variant, giftwrapped C4, and a new coin trinket for veterans who’ve been Counter-Striking for ten years. But mostly it’s about the chickens.

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Esports stalwart shooter Counter-Strike: Global Offensive has gone free-to-play, accompanied by a new quickfire eighteen-player battle royale mode called Danger Zone. Seemingly out of nowhere Valve have announced that the game is free for everyone on Steam, with previous owners being upgraded to ‘Prime’ account status and awarded a “commemorative Loyalty Badge”. Prime players get matched with their own kind, so the influx of new blood shouldn’t disturb the old pros. New mode Danger Zone’s page makes it sound speedy compared to other battle royales too.

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I, Alice Bee, have returned from a week off and everything has changed. Matt is in the office now, and complained about having to get up at 8.15am. This complaint made me furious and I am telling everyone. My desk has been moved. There is no milk in the fridge. I am confused, and I can’t remember all the HTML codes to write this very post. It’s going to take ages. The new world is terrifying. But we always have the Steam Charts, even when John is away on his> holidays.

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Several video games industry associations have reacted to the news that the USA’s Federal Trade Commission (FTC) are planning to investigate loot boxes over concerns about potential impact on children. America’s Entertainment Software Association (ESA), whose duties include running the E3 games show, have repeated their stance that loot boxes “can enhance the experience” and aren’t gambling and they’re fine okay just leave it. The International Game Developers Association (IGDA), on the other hand, have said it’s time for the industry to step up and self-regulate before more governments follow Belgium and restrict loot boxes by law.

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Several government bodies around the world are continuing to eye loot boxes with suspicion, with yesterday alone bringing news that the USA’s Federal Trade Commission is investigating them and an Australian Senate committee has concluded that the government should take a closer look. No, neither of those steps is close to sparking actual industry-wide changes to exploitative loot boxes, but it’s potentially laying groundwork for legislation to build upon. Or they’ll decide all’s fine. The uncertain promise of the future…!

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Is… is it over yet? Are the Black Friday and Cyber Monday PC gaming deals finally finished? Just a couple more hours to go now, you can do it deals herald, you can get through this. You’ve got a week and a half holiday coming up soon, just get through the afternoon and then you can go and lie in a dark room and not dream about Cyber Monday graphics card deals you might have missed for the seventh night running.

Ahem. Sorry, I don’t know what came over me there. Probably the Cyber Monday PC gaming deals fatigue settling in, or the Black Friday fever dream I seem to have been living this past fortnight. But your deals herald is stronger than that. Nay, THE DEALER is stronger than that, and with a renewed sense of vigor that may in fact be frenzied despair, I thus present to you the final monolithic installment of our Black Friday and Cyber Monday PC deals bonanza. Gone are the deals swept away by the ever-grabbing hands of internet shoppers. All that’s left is the best of the best that are still up for grabs, from graphics cards and monitors to SSDs, gaming headsets, CPUs and mice and keyboards and more. If you’ve yet to do your Cyber Monday shopping, act fast, as these PC gaming deals won’t be around for long.

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Beep boop. I am the SteamChartBot, and welcome to the CYBERCHARTS. They’re like the regular charts, but they have the word “CYBER” shouted at the start, and that makes them really bloody cool.

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