Whenever a developer decides to throw Australia into the pool of cultural insensitivity that videogames can sometimes be, I get a little scared. The trepidation is caused as much by patriotism as it is by the opposite of that: I don’t want my glorious nation to be represented by a slouch-hatted cattle drover whose key trait is ‘mateship’, but on the other hand, leave us alone we’re boring!The latest Premium DLC for Civilization 6 brings the great southern land into the fray for the first time in the series’ quarter-century history. At the helm is our 14th Prime Minister, John Curtin, who’s perhaps best known for leading the country in its defense against the Japanese during World War II, and having been the only PM to go to jail. He was no doubt chosen due to the former of these two facts, as Curtin’s unique ability triggers a production boom whenever war is declared on Australia, or when it liberates another civ’s city.

The Aussie portrayal in this game preys on both my fears: it is at once dripping with stereotypes, and grossly incongruent with the history books. There is something unnerving about sending your ‘Diggers’, fresh from bumming around an ‘Outback Station’, to storm the beaches of a distant land at the request of an overly-powerful ally. On the other hand, it’s even more peculiar to play as some Anglo-looking brutes romping around Canberra in the year 4000 BC, eventually researching mass production, signing off on extensive foreign trade agreements, and rising to the height of modernity well before Australia was even due to be colonised in 1788. However, this goofy dissonance is a cornerstone of the Civilization series and shouldn’t be taken personally. The joy of this game doesn’t have to come from some attempt at a realistic play-by-play of historical events—atomically-aggressive Gandhi should have made this clear by now. Instead, it can be found in the forging of your own civilization from a melting pot of randomised events and bad decisions, and the specialities that come with your chosen civ can just as easily be exploited as ignored. In fact, it’s fair to say that the region in which your first settler is randomly plopped is probably going to be a more significant factor in your complete annihilation at the hands of Montezuma (that leafy bastard) than your civ’s strengths and weaknesses will be.The perks and uniquities of any particular civ is more akin to the playable races found in Skyrim, where there are obvious advantages to choosing a sneaky Khajiit if you want to pickpocket your way across the province, but with a tiny bit more effort you can become a cat with a battleaxe. See what you miss out on when you play by the rules?

As dry as a dead dingo's donger

Now that we’ve dealt with historical purists who only play videogames to get off on the gritty realism, let’s talk details. Australia’s unique unit is the Digger, a burly alternative to the standard infantry of the modern era, who excels at fighting on foreign soil and coastal tiles. This makes for some supreme Gallipoli-style shore assaults (except more successful), as well as a pretty handy boon when defending your own coastal cities—which you will have a lot of due to the extra housing Australia’s unique ability provides. 

While there are rich rewards for founding a city on the coast, especially if it happens to be surrounded by sheep, cattle, and horses, Australia is also able to make use of its vast sunburnt plains thanks to the Outback Station tile improvement. This dusty domicile is at its dinkum-est when within range of a cluster of pastures (which themselves set off a ‘culture bomb’ when improved—much better than it sounds) or more outback stations. So when you see some precious resource in the middle of the desert surrounded by shit-all else, it may still be a viable settling location. Alongside conquering the globe with your regime of mateship, there’s a new scenario to play that goes by the name ‘Outback Tycoon’ (okay guys, we get it). This is a purely peaceful scenario and is surprisingly fun in spite of this. It was a pleasant change to be forced to focus on economics and expansion and not even be given the option of conflict, considering my generally bloodthirsty approach to the game. You can choose to play as the premier of Victoria, South Australia, Queensland, or Western Australia, and each have their own leadership bonuses like any other civilization, although they are a little less powerful. You set off from New South Wales in the year 1814 AD and immediately begin the process of exploring and settling the vast continent—and it truly is massive, complete with aptly located natural wonders and resources. You then have 60 turns to blossom into a booming business state, with the dollars that you rake in every turn counting as your score.Generally I find that you’re either a scenario person or you’re not, and even though I’m in the latter camp, this was by far one of the better and more involved scenarios I’ve played in strategy games over the years. It felt genuinely specialised and non-tokenistic, with relevant civic policy, research, worker units, and even these adorable messages that would pop up and tell me that my explorer has permanently lost a movement point because he was “harassed by dingoes”. 

The pleasure you get out of this DLC will boil down to how seriously you take it, and how seriously you already take the Civilization franchise. For some of us, it may be a little ‘too real’ having to decide if 2017-Australia should support and expand its mining industry in order to satisfy international trading partners, even if it means sacrificing some of the globe's last remaining national parks and all hope at conservationism—all while a fiddle and a didgeridoo slowly drone through a somber rendition of Waltzing Matilda. But for others, they’ll just nuke France then go to bed.Oh, and the flag is a kangaroo.

Update (March 21): CCP Games has since published a new post adding further clarity to some of the changes discussed below. Though PLEX can be divided into smaller bits, subscription time will not. The smallest portion of subscription time that can be purchased will remain 30 days. Also, CCP has said that they will now convert Aurum balances under 1000 but only three months after the changes are live and balances over 1000 are converted. This is to prevent destabilizing the market with an influx of new PLEX. No release date has been given but CCP has said their looking at "late spring or early summer." 

Original story: One of the things that keeps EVE Online's player-driven market turning is the premium item known as PLEX. Purchased for real money or in-game ISK, PLEX can be converted into 30-days of subscription time or sold on the in-game markets. With real money on the line, it's an extremely delicate economy and any tweaks to its value makes players understandably nervous. That's exactly what seems to be happening as the result of proposed changes to the system meant to simplify EVE Online's microtransactions and make PLEX less intimidating to handle for new players.

Currently players can buy PLEX from CCP for $19.99 and then add the item into a character's in-game inventory to decide what to do with it. What complicates things further is Aurum, a totally separate premium currency used to purchase cosmetic ship skins and clothing for your avatar. As executive producer Andie Nordgren says, "We want the whole ecosystem of things that you can buy from CCP to be easier to understand." 

To do this, CCP is making three major changes to EVE's microtransactions. The first is that each single item of PLEX will be broken up into 500 units. In that same vein, 30 days of subscription time or any other service that cost a single PLEX (like transferring a character between accounts) will likewise soon cost 500 PLEX. "By making PLEX more granular like this, we can give people more options because we can sell PLEX at smaller price points than now," Nordgren explains.

Along with that change, CCP will also be adding a PLEX vault in players' inventory that will help them better manage their PLEX across all characters on a single account. By dragging their PLEX from their inventory into the vault, they can spend it on services or subscription time. More importantly, they can use the vault to prevent PLEX from being destroyed entirely. It's unclear, however, whether PLEX placed in the vault can be later taken out and traded to other players. 

Up in smoke

One of the most unique aspects of PLEX is that it's an item that is carried around in your ship's hull like any other commodity. If someone destroys your ship, the PLEX is either destroyed or dropped for other players to loot. This design has created an incredible phenomenon in EVE as players are frequently destroyed with hundreds of dollars worth of PLEX in their hull. Hauling PLEX improperly is one of the stupidest and most costly mistakes you can make in EVE Online.

But new players don't always understand that moving PLEX in your ship comes with extreme risk. It makes sense that CCP wants to create a system that more clearly communicates how PLEX works and how players can keep it safe from the missiles of those who would take it from them. But to do that, CCP Is also installing a huge safety net that softens some of EVE's brutality by letting players avoid that risk entirely. This alone has stirred up some controversy in the community, which prides itself on the hardcore nature of the game.

"PLEX tanking [a disparaging term for people who try to haul PLEX in inadequately protected ships] is historically something that separates idiots from other players," writes player Sam Guivenne on the forums. "And as you get punished for being an idiot on every other part of the game, why not get punished here?"

Others are criticizing the new system for making things more complicated than before. "So, 500 PLEX works out to be [one hour, 26 minutes, 24 seconds] of game time per PLEX. Why not convert them all to 720 units, which will make every PLEX exactly 1 hour of game time?" Argues Def Monk, who goes on to suggest that trying to buy a week's worth of game time requires unnecessarily complicated math.

But it's CCP Games' third change to PLEX that has the community really riled up. With PLEX now broken up into granular units, there's no real need for Aurum, that second premium currency. Aurum will be completely phased out and replaced by PLEX. But here's where things get shady: While CCP is going to be converting Aurum balances over 1000 to its equivalent value in PLEX, every Aurum balance under 1000 will be erased. 

Right now, players can purchase 900 Aurum for $4.99 directly through EVE's store. But if they don't spend that Aurum by the time the update goes live later this spring, it'll disappear forever. The community is obviously pissed. "In what world is it acceptable to straight up remove the balance of a customer? If a bank did this when converting from [pounds] to [euros] for all balances under £5 there would have been fucking uproar," writes 'cap__qu' on Reddit.

Adding salt to the wound, CCP gifted players 300 Aurum for Christmas. It's a small enough amount that many were holding onto it for a rainy day. Now, a mere four months later, players learn that this gift will essentially be revoked. The only way to not lose your Aurum (whether purchased or gifted) is to purchase more to get the balance over 1000. That's not exactly a consumer-friendly solution.

There is hope that these points will be addressed, however. CCP Games is pretty good at soliciting feedback from its players and adapting to their opinions. As part of the announcement, a forum thread was created where anyone can leave their feedback on the proposal. Already players have found much more reasonable solutions like converting Aurum balances under 1000 into the equivalent value of subscription time.

The proposed changes haven't yet had a dramatic impact on the market, but the player response seems to be largely negative—especially in response to the plans for the PLEX vault and Aurum. Hopefully further updates clarifying the proposal and addressing some of the bigger concerns will arrive in the following weeks. For now, EVE Online's market tycoons are waiting with bated breath. 

Back in December, Grim Dawn developer Crate Entertainment announced that two new classes would be coming to the game in an expansion scheduled for release later this year. The first, the Inquisitor, was revealed as part of the initial announcement, while the second was unveiled today as the dreaded Necromancer. 

"Following a period of steep decline, the rulers of Arkovia needed a scapegoat to distract the disgruntled populace from the corruption threatening to topple the once great empire. Necromancers proved to be a perfect target," Crate explained in the Necro-nouncement. "Already detested by most citizens, the Arkovian Oligarchs banned the practice of necromancy outright and condemned its practitioners to the prison known as the Steps of Torment. One of the last necromancers to be captured was the mysterious Uroboruuk. But he was unlike any other, for he could not be killed by any means employed by the Arkovian executioners." 

That bit of fiction was previously established as part of Grim Dawn's somewhat complicated backstory, in which the Uroboruuk-worshipping Order of Death's Vigil is generally regarded as bad news but also handy in a fight, and is therefore tolerated as a possible ally. (And a better choice that those Kymon's Chosen fanatics, if you ask me.) The Steps of Torment is also present as one of the game's "Challenge Dungeons." But with the release of the expansion, the Necromancer will become a fully playable class. 

The details are still being nailed down, but Crate said the class will excel at the use of Aether and Vitality magic. "Drain Essence" will allow necromancers to siphon the life force of enemies to restore their own, and of course they'll also be able to raise skeletons—and possibly more powerful minions at higher levels—to do their bidding. Despite their focus on magic, Necromancers will also be capable in physical confrontations, particularly when taking advantage of powers like Necrotic Edge, which makes every wound just a little bit more disgusting. 

Necromancers seem to be all the rage these days: Blizzard recently offered a closer look at the revamped Diablo 2 Necro that it's working to bring to Diablo 3. A release date for Grim Dawn's take on the class hasn't been announced, but Crate said more will be revealed (about the expansion, not necessarily the Necromancer) in the next developer update on April 3.   

Thomas Brush, the creator of Skinny and Coma—both available and very well-regarded on Newgrounds—went to Kickstarter last year in search of $28,000 to fund his next project, Pinstripe, a 2D adventure about an ex-minister who journeys to Hell in search of his daughter. He ended up with more than $106,000, which enabled him to expand its scope considerably, adding voice acting, an "adventure+" mode, and a bonus level set in Heaven. Today, just a hair over a year after the campaign concluded, he announced that work is almost complete, and the game will be out on April 25. 

Pinstripe promises to tell a "chillingly somber and darkly comical" tale set in an underworld realm of "captivating beauty, strange characters, and lost secrets." Teddy, the former minister at the heart of the adventure, must "use his wits, tools and intrepid dog to solve intriguing puzzles and fend off fearsome creatures in a desperate quest to uncover the mysteries of his past and confront his shadowy nemesis, Mr. Pinstripe." 

It's a legitimately interesting premise, and the screens and trailer are lovely. But what makes Pinstripe particularly interesting is that the entire thing, minus the voice acting, was created by Brush alone. The purpose of his solo act, he said, was to create a game that is "100 percent cohesive" in every aspect.

"Creating a uniform and cohesive project with a team is obviously possible, but it’s especially challenging as an indie creator. When money is tight, talent is remote and scarce, and commitment is shaky, artistically cohesive games are tough to pull off," he explained. "Working solo on a project is not the smartest move, since the lack of a support system can make it easy to get demotivated and bored. But my confidence level in this project was holding steady, so I stuck with it, and I’m so glad I did." 

"I’ve lived in South Carolina my entire life, where religious themes permeate the entire culture. The topics of Hell, salvation, and morality are pretty much in my blood, for better or for worse," he continued. "Honestly, I made this game for me, simply as a way to artistically explore a topic that fascinates me. I like to think most people are interested in exploring the concept of the afterlife as well, and would be intrigued to play an indie title about it." 

Brush said he's not sure what he'll get up to once Pinstripe is complete, although he said he's going to continue writing music, illustrating, designing, and telling stories. "I’m more than happy handing off a project’s development work, since that’s not my strong suit, and why Pinstripe took so long to make. But players seem to really enjoy the idea that a project in its entirety was created by a single person," he said. "I also want to encourage other devs who might think it’s impossible to make a quality game solo. It’s possible! It just takes diligence, hard-work... and an unhealthy obsession doesn’t hurt either." 

Find out more about Pinstripe at pinstripegame.com. 

Update: The article originally stated that Pinstripe will be out on April 18. It's actually coming on April 25.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt topped our Top 100 games list last year, and we also heaped praise on its Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine expansions. Today, CD Projekt Red's flare for storytelling and world creation is almost unrivalled, however the Polish outfit started out as "passionate gamers" who "had no clue how to make games".

That's according to the developer's co-founder Marcin Iwiński who, while chatting to Glixel, explains how he and high school pal Michał Kiciński went from selling imported CD ROM games in Poland to starting up a company and eventually falling into games development. 

"I started the company with a friend from high school, Michał Kiciński," says Iwiński. "We started as game distributors, but in all honesty, we weren't very good at distribution. We were very good at games, at picking games and being the first to localize them for Poland. Initially, the big part of our motivation to start the company was that we would have access to new titles. 

"It sounds super silly, but we were gods. We were the lords who were deciding what was being distributed in Poland and what was not. So we were getting access to all this stuff. I found one of the first ads that we placed in a Polish gaming mag, and our hours were from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. And I scratched my head and thought, 'What were we doing?' Of course! We were closing early to play games."

Iwiński then explains that he and Kiciński "learned from the other side" as far as videogame development is concerned and that securing the rights to distribute Warcraft 2 sparked the idea to make games. 

"One of the first things we saw at [The Consumer Electronics Show] was Warcraft 2. It was in a corner. Michał was very into strategy games and so he said, 'We gotta have it.' So I started talking to them. I still remember, the first agreement, we imported 300 units from their Irish warehouse. And that's how we started representing Blizzard until we sold off our distribution business two or three years ago.

"We started localizing the 'box and docs,' and then localizing the full games. So we learned from the other side. We had the dream of making our own games. But we had no clue how to make games. It was more like passionate gamers who knew how to run a gamer-friendly publishing business starting to develop games, without any knowledge of how to develop games whatsoever. And that was Witcher 1."

And the rest in history. Iwiński's interview with Glixel is absolutely worth reading in its entirety—you can do so over here.  

Kerbal Space Program has been around for a long time in one form or another. It was first playable in mid-2011, and spent two years on Steam Early Access before launching in 2015. It was clearly time well spent—you don't get a 96/100 review score for half-assing it—but despite the brilliantly strong launch, we really haven't heard much about it since. 

Today, however, Squad delivered some pretty big news with the announcement  of the first KSP expansion, Making History. It includes two distinct components: The Mission Builder, a set of "intuitive drag-and-drop" tools that will let players design and share their own missions, and the History Pack, a series of pre-made missions that will recreate historical, real-life missions into space.   

The expansion will also add new parts to the game, including fuel tanks, adapters, decouplers, fairings, and command pods inspired by the American and Soviet space programs, and also Kerbal Personal Parachutes, which can save a Kerbal's life as long as they don't try to use it in the cold void of space. It will also bring scoring to the game, giving players a way to compare their performances at the end of missions.   

Pricing and a release date will be announced later, but Squad confirmed in a separate post that it is standing by its April 2013 promise that all updates and expansions—including this one—will be free for people who bought the game prior to the end of that month.

The goal of reclaiming territory in Fallout 4 is a noble one, and the concept of building safe and livable settlements can make you feel like you're having a positive impact on the world. On the other hand, building multiple settlements is a bit of a pain in the ass since you—and you alone—are responsible for the placement of every single wall, window, door, and stick of furniture. Plus, NPCs arriving at your settlements need to pointed at the specific stalk of corn you want them to harvest and the specific bed you want them to sleep in.

This may be fine if you're into micromanagement, but there's something to be said for a town that takes care of itself and for citizens who take matters into their own hands. That's the idea behind Sim Settlements, a Fallout 4 mod that turns settlements into a SimCity/Cities: Skylines type experience.

Rather than placing foundations, building walls, attaching roofs and doors, and placing every last bit of furniture, you instead just place zones in your settlement for residential housing, commercial and industrial areas, and farming plots. If it's a residential zone, for example, a 'For Rent' sign will appear, and eventually a settler will wander over, claim the plot, and get to work. They'll erect a home, complete with a bed and other furniture, and move in. They'll plant crops or open shops. Their buildings will even level up if the health of your settlement is high enough, so when you return after an adventure or two you may see bigger buildings where once stood humble shacks.

I'm sure this isn't the experience every player wants—many people enjoy hours of building and arranging every last detail of their settlements. I do think it's an interesting take on the settlement system, though, one that requires less direct management from the player while at the same time providing more realism and immersion. Instead of returning to find a settlement exactly how you left it—except for a few new settlers standing around waiting to be assigned to something—you can see actual progress as the settlement you founded grows and thrives. It makes sense, too: while you're off killing mutants and robots, why wouldn't an NPC build a second story onto his home?

A lot of consideration has been put into Sim Settlements, from the randomization of the houses themselves—you'll probably never see two that look exactly the same—right down to the clutter you'll find when a home is built and a settler has moved in. For instance, if a settler has a table they eat their meals at, you may see dishes and bottles on that table, but at other times those items may be put away, as if the citizen tidied up after themselves. It sounds like a neat system that makes settlements feel like real, lived-in places.

There's a lot to it, and a series of videos from the modder, kinggath, does a good job at explaining the various features, and what may be added in the future. It's also highly customizable with a number of features that can be turned on or off. Sim Settlements is still a work in progress, but you can find the latest build here at Nexus Mods.

The Rising Storm series, like the Red Orchestra series before it, is about authenticity, teamwork, and hesitating to shoot because you're not sure if that guy is on your team or—ah, crap, he shot you.

It takes some time to get used to—there are few shooters quite like these—but at least in the previous games, it's always been worth learning the ropes for the stories of mass rushes, danger close artillery strikes, and last stands.

We're still evaluating the series' latest, but here's a chance to join us and try it out yourself: Tripwire has sent over 200 codes for Rising Storm 2: Vietnam's closed beta to give away to our readers. Just enter your email address in the form below (we'll never see it, and Godankey doesn't keep it) and when the raffle ends tonight at 10:30 pm EDT, 200 randomly selected winners will be emailed their Steam key. 

The current closed beta period is going on right now, runs through the 22nd. The key will also grant winners access to the second closed beta period, which starts April 4. Good luck!

This article was originally published in PC Gamer issue 302. For more quality articles about all things PC gaming, you can subscribe now in the UK and the US. 

The MMO genre is a hard one to review. A game launches, then we have to score it even as it shifts in shape and quality before our eyes. The Elder Scrolls Online had an especially tough start, as servers melted, quests bugged out and those initial weeks dragged into a merciless grind. And yet in the time since its arrival on my PC, a new justice system, vast story DLC packs and the abolition of level restrictions on exploration have changed ESO more than any other MMO I can recall. The next step will take us even deeper into gold-plated nostalgia territory.

I know it’s going to work the first time I set eyes on ESO’s spanking new Seyda Neen. The opening section of the now 15-year-old Elder Scrolls III returns as a starting zone for the sizeable new landmass of Vvardenfell. The team at Zenimax took the height map of the 2001 original and placed it directly in the existing mass of ESO’s Tamriel. Gorgeously detailed, it’s also hearteningly familiar, complete with NPC ancestors of memorable characters to chat with.

Rather than a straight rehash, this Vvardenfell is set 700 years prior to the events of TESIII, so while there are homages by the dozen, there’s also a ton of new things to discover. Vivec City has only three cantons, the rest still under construction and explorable in their varying dredged-out states. The volcano at the centre of the island isn’t nearly as catastrophically encompassing of its surroundings. Get close and there’s ash galore, but also lush mushroom-bedecked forests and coastal regions as yet unmolested by the choking air. ZeniMax has worked closely with parent publisher Bethesda in its bid to tickle our nostalgia glands.

"This is Bethesda’s baby, right?" creative director Rich Lambert tells me. "TESIII is the thing that put them on the map. So we’ve had to work really closely with them to make sure that the things we’re doing and the stories we’re telling do TESIII justice, and work with what Bethesda originally envisioned."

Lambert is quick to emphasise that this is not an ‘expansion’ in the traditional sense. ZeniMax sees ESO: Morrowind as a fresh standalone entry point into its world, true to its One Tamriel philosophy that all content should be available to all players at all times. 

Equally, Lambert doesn’t want new players who climbed aboard the Elder Scrolls ship via Skyrim or Oblivion to feel left out. "The story we’ve written and the content we’ve got stands on its own," he says. "It’s not just nostalgia. It’s a really strong story and the writers have gone to painstaking detail. Even if you don’t know any of the history you’re gonna get a bit of a lesson." 

Perhaps this is where the true allure of a return to Morrowind lies. It’s hard, in the sharp contemporary gaming landscape of 2017, to make those who weren’t there understand just how formative TESIII was. The past 15 years have not been kind to it. While a full-blown official remake is almost certainly off the cards, ESO seems like the perfect place for new players to discover Vvardenfell without stabbing themselves in the retinas with the jagged edges of the ancient Bethesda game engine.

Whether you’re new or not, there’s a whole lot of game tucked away inside the Morrowind ‘chapter’. On top of the new map, which is the biggest single landmass ZeniMax has ever built, 30 percent bigger than Orsinium, there’s a new class, a new 12-person Trial, two new dungeons, and an all-new set of PvP modes and maps: Battlegrounds.

The Warden fills out a slot much sought-after in ESO’s preexisting range of classes, offering a druidic array of skill sets. You can opt to plough points into three new skill paths as you progress. Choose Green Balance skills and you’ll earn a bunch of healing abilities, from actively aimed frontal cone bursts of heal-over-time buffs to a full area-of-effect ultimate skill that causes ethereal blue flora to burst from the ground around you and your allies. Over in the Winter’s Embrace skill tree are the class’s tankier moves, letting you summon icy armour and control the battlefield with snares that whip enemies around. The showstopper is the Animal Companion skill set. Here you’ll find abilities that summon an array of spirit-form pets to deal out DPS. Most, like the infamous Cliff Racers, themed around Morrowind itself. 

Your ultimate ability on this path summons a permanent bear to tank damage for you. In the development build I was shown there were no pet control commands, but I’m told these are being worked on for the final game.For someone returning to the game after that initial rocky launch period, the Warden is a prime example of how many small changes have been implemented, how many small design decisions have been reached, over the last two years. The mantra that any class can wear any armour, for example, initially made player avatars hard to read at a glance. Is that a knight barrelling towards me over the hillocks of Cyrodiil, or is it a sorcerer with delusions of grandeur? Too many other games manage to avoid this readability problem for me not to whinge about it here.

The Warden is so very clear to read. Each of its abilities leaves a glowing blue aura around the character model. Whether it’s huge butterfly wings, icy steam emerging from his dual daggers, or spiny tendrils poking out of his back, so many little touches have been added to the skills’ animations and colour schemes in order to make this dream of all weapons/all armour/all classes actually work and still be clear amid even the most chaotic of player masses.I’m also shown the new PvE dungeon Trial. Its Clockwork City setting will be familiar as a concept to TESIII veterans, being the globular mini-Nirn rebuilt by one of Vvardenfell’s Tribunals inside a tiny orb. The new Trial takes us inside this tiny city, complete with alien half-metal half-flesh monsters, an unnerving cog-filled skybox and a lush interlocking verticality that brings Dark Souls’ woven level design to mind.

Those aforementioned PvP Battlegrounds complete the package, with additional plans for three new maps upon which to battle with buds. These smaller scale arenas offer the kind of elf-on-orc action that’s currently missing in the all-out warfare of ESO’s Cyrodiil PvP area. Here combat is limited to a more manageable 4 vs 4 vs 4 affair. Team Deathmatches and Capture The Flag (or Capture The Scroll) are two modes I’ve seen in action. Rather than featureless bowls for teams to duel it out across, each arena feels like it has been built to enable each class to thrive tactically. Daedric ruins feature plenty of line-of-sight blockers to help sneakier types get the drop on their foes, while a verdant Dwemer fort map has towers with better views of its surroundings for those with long-range skills to fight over.

For those with fond memories of the original, the allure of ESO’s Morrowind lies in that PvE experience. Since launch this MMO has reinvigorated its base game with the sense of discovery and exploration that the series’ singleplayer efforts have thrived on. In ESO: Morrowind, I get the sense that ZeniMax finally knows what its take on the MMO genre is, and that it has found the perfect setting with which to demonstrate that to those who bounced off the game the first time around.

It’s a busy weekend in the world of electronic sports and it’s not just League of Legends that aims to have fans excited. There’s plenty of action from the CS:GO at StarLadder to the Rocket League: Championship Series. We even have the Hearthstone: Trinity Series finals to look forward to. All the details on this weekend’s events can be found below.

League of Legends: 2017 EU LCS Spring Split

Week seven of the EU LCS was crucial for the bottom-placed teams and Origen was desperate to pick up their first victory of the season. However, Roccat managed to win key team fights and after a messy back-and-forth game the series went to them. Technical difficulties came up during the Team Vitality vs Giants series and game two had to be replayed due to an Orianna bug. This break unhinged the Giants and Vitality took the victory despite losing a game. Meanwhile, the top teams also had to play each other this week, and H2k remained on top form in their game against Misfits, and Unicorns of Love managed to dominate Fnatic after a game-changing team fight in game two. G2 Esports are still the team to beat and we’ll see if anyone has what it takes to topple them as we enter week eight of play. This week’s schedule and stream can be found over on LoL Esports.

League of Legends: 2017 NA LCS Spring Split

Phoenix1 had another great week and they decimated FlyQuest in both games, and now they’re only two wins away from rivalling Cloud9 for second place. Echo Fox’s series against Team Dignitas was very close, but in the final game jungler Chaser and mid-laner Keane managed to take complete control of the map and applied pressure until Echo Fox crumbled. Team Liquid made changes to their roster once again, but despite adding Doublelift to their line-up they couldn’t quite takedown Cloud9. However, they did manage to win an extremely close game against Envy after a securing Baron. Meanwhile, TSM had a very shaky week which saw them drop two games against both Envy and Immortals, but they did eventually pull through and win both matches. The competition continues to heat up as we enter week eight of play and all teams will be looking to climb the competitive ladder. The full schedule and stream can be found over on LoL Esports.

CS:GO: StarLadder i-League Season 3

The American and European playoffs are taking place this weekend and only the top two teams from each bracket will secure a place in the LAN finals. G2 Esports and Space Soldiers are kicking things off in Europe today at 08:00 PDT / 16:00 CET, while Cloud9 and Renegades clash in America much later at 18:00 PDT / 02:00 CET. With $300,000 up for grabs you can bet that every team will go in guns blazing, and there’s sure to be plenty of high-octane action. The schedule and stream for both playoffs can be found here.

Rocket League: Championship Series

The 16 teams that will be competing in the Rocket League Championship Series over the next six weeks have been decided. There was a big upset in Europe as PENTA Sports will once again miss out on league play after falling 1-3 to RedEye and losing to Mockit eSports in the loser’s bracket. Another surprise was delivered by ZentoX who fought their way through the lower bracket to claim the last available spot in league play. Meanwhile, in North America Radiance managed to take down both Iris and Atelier for the first spot, but the biggest surprise came when Iris was knocked out by Selfless. Make sure you check out RLCS official Twitter handle to receive the latest schedule times and streams.

Hearthstone: Trinity Series

The top four teams from the online portion of the Trinity Series will be participating in the live finals this Saturday. There’s a $150,000 prize pool up for grabs, and the tournament will be hosted at ESL Studios in Burbank, California. So far Team Liquid is the favourite team to secure a place at the final, but the competition is looking extremely close and every player will need to be at the top of their game if they want to take home the title. The upper bracket finals and lower bracket semifinal starts today at 10:00 PDT / 18:00 CET, while the lower bracket finals and grand finals start the same time tomorrow. The official stream can be found over on Twitch.

Heroes of the Storm: Eastern Clash

The top Heroes of the Storm teams from China, Korea, Southeast Asia, and Taiwan will clash in order to crown the best team in Asia. Matches will be played in a double-elimination format and there’s expected to be rivalries between China and Korea, especially between organisations like MVP Black and eStar Gaming. With $100,000 on the line and a chance to claim bragging rights over Asia the Eastern Clash is expected to deliver an action-packed weekend. The full schedule and stream can be found over on heroesofthestorm.com.