The usual annual Call Of Duty announcement, like everything, has been out of step this year. But there are signs that it’s about to happen. An alternate reality game aimed at publicising what we believe will be titled Call Of Duty: Black Ops Cold War has been solved, revealing that a reveal is to be revealed.

On Friday, something is happening, but nobody knows what. There is a hint, albeit slight, that this will mean something for Warzone.

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With the “biggest update ever” for GTA Online still promised for later this year, Rockstar today released a smaller content update to tide crimers over. The ‘Los Santos Summer Special’ update, now live, adds news bits and pieces across existing modes and activities rather than something entirely new. That still includes new cars, new F1 race tracks, new PvP maps set inside the Diamond Casino, and more. Some handy quality-of-life changes too, like the Casino’s Lucky Wheel saying when you can next spin again.

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Some former Prey and Dishonored developers are making Weird West, a top-down cowboy action-RPG that’s a bit like an immersive sim. This much we knew, and had already puzzled over. Fondly, like. The dev’s pedigree gained my curiosity, but this interview with Prey and Dishonored creative director Raphael Colantonio has my attention.

Weird West will be an “action-resolved version of something like Fallout meets Ultima 7”, says Colantonio, with “a space of possibilities where no two players have the same playthrough exactly”. He doesn’t let slip much more than that – but he does have some interesting things to say about immersive sim-iness, and why he left Arkane.

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I’ve seen my share of American media that treats postal workers with a patriotic significance. To an extent, it makes sense. Some of the most revolutionary changes to human societies followed rapid developments in communication technology or infrastructure. We’re in the middle of such a period right now, even.

Thousand Threads is a walking simulator with an open world light RPG-ish simulation on top. It is a little bit, like Death Stranding, about how a courier or postman can hold a society together. It’s a vastly more relaxing and low-key game, and about walking in the woods and observing the dynamic behaviour of its many NPCs than rebuilding or fighting or pontificating. There’s not even a story as such. But through playing it over these last few days, I have come to understand that it is not, in fact, the player’s role as a noble postal worker holding this society together. It is Gretchen Anderson.

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The 15-year wait for a Bloodlines sequel will stretch a little longer, because Paradox today announced they’ve delayed the launch of Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 into 2021. While they had never announced a specific release date, the supernatural RPG was expected this year. Now Paradox and developers Hardsuit Labs say they want more time to make sure it lives up to the Bloodlines legacy (and presumably not repeat its mistakes).

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Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse

was the first Shantae game I felt compelled to give a proper chance. I’d played the previous two games for a few minutes each, and while they were okay, they didn’t keep my attention for long.

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Ubisoft have published a new version of their cinematic trailer for Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. It’s mighty similar to the first one we saw, though this one includes music from the official soundtrack instead of modern rock. Oh, and it also swaps out bearded Eivor for not-bearded Eivor, the other half of of Valhalla’s interchangeable protagonist.

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In most RPGs, no matter the arsenal available, I always find myself settling down with that one favourite weapon. Sometimes it has a stat perk I’ve grown accustomed to. Other times it’s a uniquely-named item I can’t bear to part with. Sometimes it just looks pretty. Cyberpunk 2077‘s wide selection of armaments sounds like it will allow you to pick favourites in the same fashion, though CD Projket Red say they want to encourage players to switch things up as well. You can get the breakdown on all the weapon types in a segment from their second Night City Wire livestream.

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Ages ago I learned how to lockpick in real life, and ever since I’ve been so impressed at how video games emulate the feeling of managing to crack a lock open. I think maybe it’s the noise, that signature *clunk* that makes it so satisfying. It’s a staple of RPGs like Skyrim, where lockpicking is literally a skill you can level up. But loads of games have introduced their own unique minigames to let you unlock things, and now you can see most of them in one place thanks to the museum of lockpicking mechanics.

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Unlike your Geralt of Rivias of the RPG world, CD Projekt Red’s next game Cyberpunk 2077 will let you determine more of your protagonist’s personality, including their history. You’ll get to choose one of three backgrounds for your main character V that change who you know and how you’re able to tackle quests throughout the game. In their second Night City Wire livestream, CD Projekt Red give a new look at each of the three Lifepaths available.

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