EA might be skipping its usual E3 press conference this year, but it'll still be flashing its upcoming wares across the internet, via a series of game-specific livestream presentations - and the full schedule has now been revealed.

While EA's press conference is no more, the publisher is still holding its annual pre-E3 fan event, EA Play, this year, and its livestream is intended to complement the show. Proceedings get underway on Saturday 8th June and can be watched via YouTube and Twitch.

If you're planning on tuning in for the whole livestream affair, you'll want to settle down prior to 5:15pm in the UK (9:15am PDT), when the scheduled Countdown to EA Play begins. That's immediately followed by 30 mins of Respawn Entertainment's highly anticipated Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order at 5:30pm (9:30am PDT), which is likely to be the main event for most people. Half an hour of Apex Legends follows from 6pm (10am PDT).

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Anthem's long-awaited Cataclysm event will finally be revealed tomorrow, 30th May, according to BioWare.

The news comes alongside Anthem's 1.2.0 update, which is now live on Xbox One, PS4, and PC. Back in April, BioWare revealed that it would be prioritising "bug fixes, stability, and game flow" over new content and, true to its word, update 1.2.0 is primarily focussed on core improvements. However, the developer also notes that it brings "under the hood content you won't see right away, but is setting things up for a future update, the Cataclysm".

Cataclysm was trumpeted as one of Anthem's defining post-launch features prior to release, with BioWare calling the limited-time activities "massive, world-changing events" and the "most ambitious and challenging content" available to players. They promise extreme weather, hostile enemies, and "new mysteries to solve".

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Activision has teased a new Call of Duty announcement coming tomorrow - lining up with Eurogamer's earlier report that a full reveal of the next Call of Duty game would be held on 30th May.

Confirmation of that date comes courtesy of a new tweet from the official Call of Duty Twitter page, featuring the message "Going Dark" and a swift, not particularly illuminating video.

There's not a huge amount of official information out in the wild about this year's Call of Duty right now, of course - beyond the fact that it's being developed by Infinity Ward and that a full story campaign will be included this time around. However, sources, including Eurogamer's own, have indicated that it'll be titled Call of Duty: Modern Warfare - and, despite its extremely familiar name, will very much be a new game.

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More than two years after the project was first announced, Square Enix will finally show off its Marvel's Avengers game at E3 this year.

You'll be able to watch the reveal during Square Enix's E3 live event, set for 10th June at 6pm Pacific (that's 2am on the 11th here in Blighty).

What do we know? Well, the game has been bubbling away at Tomb Raider studio Crystal Dynamics now for well over two years.

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Worlds Adrift, the promising air pirate MMO which looked a bit like Skies of Arcadia, shuts down for good in July.

In an open letter to fans, developer and publisher Bossa Studios admitted the game simply hadn't attracted enough players to keep it online and financially viable.

Bossa will throw an End of the World Party on an exact date still to be announced during July 2019. The event will be livestreamed on Twitch.

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EA has a brand new Need for Speed game due out by Christmas, but you won't get to see it at E3, or anywhere else, in June.

The publisher has told NFS fans it will keep the car game under wraps for a while longer, despite the series' tradition for E3 appearances.

EA has yet to say anything at all about the game, other than tell investors that it exists and will launch in time for the busy end of year sales season.

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Remember the end of Fortnite season eight when a large lump of volcanic rock struck the side of Polar Peak? It was just for drama and had no consequences at all... right?

The latest twist in Fortnite's ever-evolving narrative is that a giant monster eye has popped open underneath Polar Peak. This thing is massive: it tracks player movement and the pupil even dilates when a player gets too close. I'm just glad it's still frozen behind sheet eyes (for now).

Of course, a number of theories have emerged on Reddit and Twitter seeking to explain this monstrosity. Inspired by a purported "leak" from this time last year, some argue the eye signals the introduction of a Leviathan-themed LTM where players have to take down a monster boss. But, by now, this has simply become a meme.

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A former Rockstar employee has come forward and shared their story of how they were sexually assaulted by a member of the studio's top executive team.

The incident, which occurred back in 2014 but has come to light now after a thorough Kotaku investigation, involves Jeronimo Barrera, who was Rockstar's vice president of product development.

Barrera quietly left Rockstar after 20 years last December, but during his time at the company he was feared by staff as a volatile boss happy to dole out threats of firings - and actual firings - on a whim.

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Developer Ice-Pick Lodge will, following criticism, soon be adding a difficulty slider to its recently released, wilfully inscrutable plague horror follow-up, Pathologic 2 - but it would rather you didn't use it, thank you very much.

Pathologic 2, which charts the bleak deterioration of a plague-ridden town through the eyes of three characters, is something of a re-imagining of Ice-Pick's idiosyncratic, rough-around-the-edges 2005 cult-favourite horror original. But while Pathologic 2 is slicker and prettier than its predecessor, it's still punishingly difficult - and, following its launch last week, players have aimed particular criticism at its hunger mechanics, requiring so much upkeep that it's tough to find time to explore the game's fascinating narrative.

Now, Ice-Pick has addressed that feedback, while also offering extended thoughts on its own design philosophy. "We've always believed that games are a medium capable of delivering all kinds of compelling experiences - and that said experiences don't need to be conventionally pleasant to be interesting and fulfilling," the developer wrote on Steam. "Pathologic 2 was always intended to be gruelling, stressful, and bleak; we believe in ludonarrative cohesion and aren't too fond of stories that are only dark and hurtful on the cover."

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Journey, developer ThatGameCompany's seminal desert meanderer, is, after seven years of PlayStation exclusivity, out next week on PC, arriving on 6th June.

For those unfamiliar (boy, do you have a treat in store), Journey charts the unwavering march of a nameless, red-scarfed protagonist on pilgrimage across the desert toward a distant mountain, forever visible on the horizon. What follows is something akin to a puzzle platformer, but that's underselling it considerably.

Unfortunately, as scant as that description is, it's hard to reveal too much more without robbing the experience of some of its power; suffice to say, it's a masterful example of atmospherics and mechanics operating in full service of story - and the combined force of Journey's assured design and stunning audio-visual presentation is never less than breathtaking.

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