How is the team at Bethesda Game Studios approaching their latest rich, immersive and compelling RPG experience? How are they bringing their core DNA to the next generation of consoles with Starfield? Get fresh insights from Game Director Todd Howard, Design Director Emil Pagliarulo, Lead Quest Designer Will Shen and Lead Artist Istvan Pely in ‘Into the Starfield: Made for Wanderers’ and keep an eye out for future episodes.
Starfield arrives exclusively on Xbox Series X|S and PC in 2023. Play it day one with Xbox Game Pass.
JOIN CONSTELLATION
Join Constellation now and be among the first to receive news and updates on Starfield, including developer interviews and behind-the-scenes looks at the game like the ‘Into the Starfield’ series. You can also join our Bethesda Game Studios Discord for access to exclusive AMAs and community conversations.
What's up, totally cool-muy bueno-fellow party persons? We just wrapped up House Party version 0.21.2, which is a fairly small but much-needed maintenance update that brings the party closer to our ultimate goal of being...dope sickness...on fleek...lit…
Alright, we'll keep it together and give you a quick rundown: We're making good progress toward getting full controller support and an initial version of the female player beta ready for you guys to check out in our next big stable release, so it won't be much longer until you can officially play as House Party's female protagonist! We know you're stoked to test the waters of muy caliente girl-on-girl love gameplay, so we're working hard to get her into the party as soon as possible!
Speaking of hotness at the party, you may have realized your favorite sultry Spanish teacher has been looking a little...well, covered in black bars for the last couple of updates. Unfortunately, Steam updated the rules policy regarding depicting real people in video games, which raised some concerns about Lety's content. To stay on the safe side and not risk having the game or any major part of it completely removed, we were forced to censor her for a short time while we got everything figured out and learned more about the new rules.
If you've read House Party's title screen or any of our interviews, you already know we're not fans of censorship. We weren't happy to censor Lety's content all of the sudden on you guys, so we prioritized getting this fixed as soon as we could. Thankfully, we were able to discuss the content directly with Steam's team and made adjustments to get Lety uncensored again! In this update, she's no longer restricted by those ugly black bars so, as long as you own the Explicit Content DLC, you can now see her again in all of her sexy cool kid extraordinaire glory with this update!
We also have some bonus good news on the anti-censorship side of things. Before this update, we had to censor everything body-wise, at all times, in the non-explicit version of the game. However, in this update, we'll no longer have upper body mosaic censors on characters regardless of explicit DLC ownership or installation. This is a huge win for House Party!
We hope you're looking forward to these changes and thanks for being patient while we fixed this, dudes. We know it was probably shocking and frustrating to have her content unexpectedly blacked out, and we weren't expecting the rules to change on us like that. As a mature game we always have to tread carefully with our content, and as a small development team we appreciate you guys allowing us extra time to get it fixed.
Anyway, onward to the next update! We're running a bit behind on our original timeline estimate, so we've gotta cruise. In the meantime, enjoy the maintenance changes and having your passionate times with Lety back to normal. Remember...no grabbing, guys, NO GRABBING!
Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram for the latest brah-some game updates and announcements. Be sure to join our after party on Discord too!
Note: Older save files may no longer be compatible. Custom stories may no longer function as intended. Note on Controller Support: Controller support is still not yet fully complete in its current state. If you run into significant trouble while using a controller, you may need to temporarily use your keyboard/mouse. Sorry for any inconveniences, doods!
Welcome to the Series 6 Update, officially named Horizon Customs as Forza Horizon 5 celebrates both the creative and racing talents of our amazing players with important upgrades to Horizon Open and EventLab which you can read more about below. Also, we are happy to welcome back our good friend, esteemed drift aficionado Robert Glenn who has arrived in Mexico to setup Drift Club Mexico as you’re invited to push the limits of the 2021 Ford Mustang Mach-E 1400 in our first post-release Horizon Story.
As always, the Festival Playlist is serving up new clothing items, cars, and horns to unlock. All of this and more awaits when Series 6 becomes available to download on Xbox, Windows and Steam from Tuesday, March 29 with seasonal content rolling out in the weeks that follow. Let’s break it down.
Horizon Open Custom Racing
Custom Racing arrives to Horizon Open allowing you to matchmake with likeminded players based on your desired racing parameters, such as PI class and type of race.
We’re also introducing a new stand-alone progression system into Horizon Open. This will apply to Open Racing, Drifting, Playground Games and Custom Racing. It doesn’t count for The Eliminator, and we’ll be moving this game mode from Horizon Open to the Online tab in the pause menu.
Starting in Series 6, any XP earned in Horizon Open contributes towards both the traditional player level and the new Horizon Open level. Each level has a specified XP target, which you can view alongside upcoming rewards in the Horizon Open tile. You’ll also find a new additional XP bar for your Horizon Open level on the post-race screen.
Badges are a new reward type earned by completing special challenges or by levelling up in Horizon Open. These add a small colorful icon beside your Gamertag and are visible in Horizon Life Free Roam, race standings and Leaderboards. Complete challenges to unlock new Badges and redeem those already unlocked via the dedicated Badges menu under the Campaign tab.
Finally, we’re also introducing a new Horizon Open Leaderboard which displays your total Horizon Open XP – it's also a great place to show off your unlocked Badges and compare XP earned with your friends and the global Forza community.
EventLab
New original props are coming to the Blueprint Builder in Series 6 to inspire your creative instincts. Look out for new concrete and plaster walls; concrete, dirt, and asphalt platforms; neon shipping containers and directional arrow decals; a tyre stack wall and concrete pillar, as well as festival-inspired towers and Lunar New Year lanterns.
Within the Rules of Play, a new «Scale Gravity» rule allows creators to either increase or decrease the gravity forces applied to a player car – from 10% impact to 200%.
On Xbox Series X|S and PC, we’ve made improvements to terrain visibility at high altitude to provide a better visual experience when playing elevated EventLab creations.
Drift Club Mexico
Drift Club is expanding to Mexico! Welshman Robert Glenn, a kindred spirit of drifters who share a real love for controlled oversteer, has flown over from Horizon’s Britain, bringing with him a new set of challenges that celebrates the engineering and technical delight of going sideways.
Players who have built the Horizon Rush Outpost will be able to start playing Drift Club Mexico immediately, taking you behind the wheel of seven of the world’s coolest drift cars – each tuned and tweaked to celebrate the past, present and future of drifting.
There are also new Drift Club themed clothing items available to unlock and playing this Horizon Story will contribute to your Festival Playlist completion in Series 6.
Additionally, by completing all six chapters, the all-electric 2021 Ford Mustang Mach-E 1400 will be added to your garage, and you’ll learn some fun insights on just how revolutionary this car is courtesy of Formula Drift champion and RTR Vehicles founder Vaughn Gittin Jr. Players can also seamlessly swap between RWD and AWD at any time when driving it in Forza Horizon 5.
2021 Ford Mustang Mach-E 1400
Complete all six chapters of the Drift Club Mexico Horizon Story.
The future of drifting is here. Packing 1400hp under the hood with seven electric motors and incredible downforce – more than 2,300 lb. at 160mph! – the 2021 Ford Mustang Mach-E 1400 unlocks the true potential of electric vehicles. Created in collaboration between Ford Performance and RTR Vehicles, this car is built for everything RTR founder Vaughn Gittin Jr. loves doing most – from drifting and gymkhana to road racing and time attack. The Mustang Mach-E 1400 is fitted with a unique chassis and powertrain for different layouts, including AWD, RWD and FWD, as well as extreme steering angles for drifting, split power delivery between the front and rear of the car, Brembo brakes akin to the Mustang GT4 and a hydraulic handbrake system. Utilizing a 56.8-kilowatt-hour battery that is cooled while charging, the Mustang Mach-E 1400 reinvigorates the thrill of driving and ensures no moment is wasted on the track.
Festival Playlist
A new Series Update means a new Festival Playlist! Over the next month, look out for new collectible Paint Barrels and miniature T-Rex dinosaurs and in celebration of the Horizon Customs theme, two EventLab events will be featured every week. We’re also giving one Seasonal Championship every week in Series 6 a custom tile featuring community captured photos.
Furthermore, going forward, completing Seasonal PR Stunts will reward Super Wheelspins.
In total, 27 new clothing items are available to acquire from the Series 6 Festival Playlist, Drift Club Mexico and the Customize Character interface. Here’s what you can look forward to:
Drift Club
Horizon Customs
Short Sleeved Shirts
Prosthetic Legs
Tank Tops
Drift Club Tee
Builder’s Outfit
Natural Bird
Farid Rueda Bear
White Leopard
Drift Club Race Helmet
Builder’s Helmet
White Leopard
Colourful Leaf
White Bird
Drift Club Racesuit
Builder’s Gloves
White Leaf
Teal Pattern
Colourful Bird
Creative Tee
Natural Leaf
Red Doodle Pattern
Grey Leopard Pattern
Painter Hoodie
Yellow Pattern
Doodle Pattern
Grey Leopard
Tuning Hoodie
Triangle Pattern
Photo Hoodie
Doodle Pattern
Five new car horns can also be acquired in Series 6:
Mechanical Whizz
Paint Spray
Pinball Machine
Wheelspin Win
Piñata Pop
As always, the Festival Playlist introduces four new cars to Forza Horizon 5 available to unlock throughout Series 6 – including the #NewToForza 2021 McLaren 765LT Coupe, the latest addition to the legendary Longtail family.
Here’s the full line-up:
2012 Ascari KZ1R
Earn 20 PTS during the Summer “Wet” Season on the Series 6 Festival Playlist from March 31 – April 6.
A track-tuned version of the race-bred supercar of the road, the KZ1R is capable of a top speed of 200 mph and 0-60 acceleration of three seconds. Ascari cars are hand-built on a state-of-the-art, carbon-fiber, monocoque adding to their potential as track superstar. Powered by the naturally aspirated BMW M5, 5.0-liter V8 and feather light at less than 3,000 lbs., despite luxury appointments such as electric windows, the KZR1 delivers an intensely exciting ride. The interior is all business and stripped to the bare essentials while still providing comfort inside the built-in safety cage. Outside, the front splitter and rear-wing generate additional downforce while complimenting the aerodynamic smoothness of the elegant body. Ascari built only 50 KZ1R models so the best way to enjoy this magnificent track toy is in Forza Horizon 5.
2021 McLaren 765LT Coupe
Earn 20 PTS during the Autumn “Storm” Season on the Series 6 Festival Playlist from April 7 – April 13.
A new legend to live up to the Longtail name. That’s what McLaren delivers with the 2021 McLaren 765LT Coupe – a car that is entirely focused on the driver. Iterated upon the iconic 720S, this new addition to the Longtail line innovates across every facet of the car. It’s a lighter supercar that weighs 80kg less than the already lean 720S and more powerful with 765PS and 800Nm of torque from a 4.0 litre twin-turbocharged V8. With optimized aerodynamics, a perfect mid-engine, rear wheel drive balance and track-focused dynamics, the most innovative McLaren LT ever made will have your pulse bouncing with 0-62mph speeds of 6.2 seconds and 0-124mph in only seven seconds. As indicated by the name, only 765 models will ever be produced, and for those lucky few, a sensational driving experience like no other awaits.
2018 ATS GT
Earn 20 PTS during the Winter “Dry” Season on the Series 6 Festival Playlist from April 14 – April 20.
In 1961, eight technicians and engineers were fired by Enzo Ferrari. They went on to build their own race team and production cars under the name Automobili Turismo e Sport. While the Formula 1 team failed, they did develop one of the first mid-engine road cars. There were 12 and they were called the 2500 GT. The new ATS GT was designed to re-envision that original groundbreaking design. At the heart of the new ATS GT is a McLaren 650S, a very capable V8 engine that allows this beast to accelerate from 0-60 in 2.9 seconds. What sets it apart is the unique styling details such as the opaque engine cover and a token shape in the rear pillar that presents the aerodynamic profile of the original 2500 GT.
2014 McLaren 650S Spider
Earn 20 PTS during the Spring “Hot” Season on the Series 6 Festival Playlist from April 21 – April 27.
Some might call the 650S a McLaren 12C with a facelift, but that would sell its performance far too short. With the 650S, McLaren delivers a car that is even more refined than the 12C. The 650S is lighter, faster, and nimbler than the 12C and draws cues from the now legendary P1. In the supercar horsepower battle the 650S stands its ground with horsepower worthy of its namesake (641 to be exact). True to McLaren form, acceleration is at the forefront, with 60 mph achieved in less than three seconds and more than 120 mph in a little over eight seconds. With features like brake-steering, an F1-influenced drag reduction system, and a body that increases downforce by 40 percent at speeds of 150 mph and above, the 650S is at the top of its game. It’s also a convertible, so put down the roof, take in the natural sights and enjoy a cool Mexican breeze on your next road-trip.
Car Pass Calendar
Forza Horizon 5 Car Pass holders can look forward to four new cars in Series 6. Here are the rides you can look forward to adding to your garage over the next four weeks – and they’re all #NewToForza:
1966 Oldsmobile Toronado
Available March 31 in the Forza Horizon 5 Car Pass.
The Oldsmobile Toronado is renowned by many automotive enthusiasts for being a step forward in car design. It began life as a design painting by Oldsmobile stylist David North in 1962 who created a “Flame Red Car” – a compact sports car that was never intended for production. After Oldsmobile was informed by parent company General Motors that it’d be building a competitor to the Buick Riviera and the Ford Thunderbird, the division opted to go forward with North’s design and the rest of the story is history. Oldsmobile had been developing front-wheel drive since 1958 and the Toronado incorporates this with a “Unitized Power Package” powertrain. It also has an Oldsmobile-produced, performance-boosted “Super Rocket V8” rated at 385hp and 475 lb-ft of torque, as well as automatic transmission fitted as standard – an expectation of U.S.-built luxury cars of the time.
2021 McLaren 620R
Available April 7 in the Forza Horizon 5 Car Pass.
Two worlds collide as the racetrack finally meets the road. That’s the promise of McLaren’s latest supercar, the 620R, which is based on the 570S GT4 – considered the most successful GT race car in the world. Since its 2017 debut, it has won races in every championship across the world, racking up more wins and podiums than any other McLaren to-date. As a race car, the 570S GT4 must adhere to strict motorsport regulations to compete. However, freed from those restrictions, the 620R retains the DNA of the fully homologated track car and is unleashed onto the road. Not only does it look like a race car, but it handles, performs, and feels like one too. It also lives up to McLaren’s lightweight design ethos with adjustable aerodynamic elements – including a carbon fiber rear wing, race suspension components and a powertrain recalibration – all to increase power output to 620PS. Whether you’re on the road or track, the 620R achieves 0-62mph in just 2.9 seconds, which are speeds we’d consider to be lightning fast.
2021 MINI John Cooper Works GP
Available April 14 in the Forza Horizon 5 Car Pass.
MINI vehicles adorned with the John Cooper Works moniker have always embodied the essence of motorsport. In fact, these cars are developed and tested on racetracks like the Nürburgring Nordschleife. The 2021 JCW GP is the fastest MINI ever and has been stripped for maximum acceleration and agility with a top speed of 165mph, 0-62mph in 5.2 seconds and an engine power output of 306 PS. Its dampers, stabilizers and springs have been specifically developed and fine-tuned to suit the vehicle’s handling characteristics. Combined with powerful design elements such as precise lines and edges all throughout the bodywork, the latest MINI makes a confident statement and is certain to impress.
2019 Porsche 911 Speedster
Available April 21 in the Forza Horizon 5 Car Pass.
The last of the 991.2 series 911 GT cars to be produced by Porsche is here. Celebrating the seventieth anniversary of its history in building some of the world’s most iconic sports cars, the 2019 Porsche 911 Speedster is powered by a naturally aspirated, motorsport-based 4.0-liter flat-six engine delivering 502hp and 346 lb-ft of torque. It achieves 0-60mph in just 3.8 seconds, with a top track speed of 192 mph. With a low-cut front windshield and side windows, two carbon fiber streamliners atop the rear decklid as well as a manually operated lightweight fabric top, this Speedster is instantly recognizable and stands out from other 911 models. It’s also the first developed by Porsche Motorsport and characterized by its purist focus on the driving essentials.
To add the Car Pass rides released thus far to your Forza Horizon 5 garage, simply visit any Horizon Festival outpost or Player House and select “Car Pass” under the “Buy & Sell” menu.
The Forza Horizon 5 Car Pass can be purchased separately, and is included in the Deluxe Edition, Premium Edition and Premium Add-ons Bundle. With 34 cars delivered to your game weekly, one per week with an additional eight Formula Drift cars to get you started, there’s no better way to kickstart your Horizon adventure today.
Thanks to everyone who continues to share their feedback and reports with us.
What’s Next
That’s everything you can look forward to in Series 6 when the Horizon Customs Update drops on Tuesday, March 29. Looking ahead, festival organizers at Horizon Mexico are preparing to celebrate Cinco De Mayo in Series 7. Stay tuned for details in April!
Our biggest sale of the year is here! To celebrate March Madness on Steam we have large discounts of 85% on Train Sim World 2 and up to 50% on Train Sim World 2 Add-Ons. With two weekends of streams from the Railfan TV team!
Throughout the weekend we will be live on Steam, broadcasting on the March Madness page. This is your chance to get your very first look at the upcoming S-Bahn Zentralschweiz: Luzern – Sursee by Rivet Games, and another chance to see the Harlem Line for Train Sim World 2! We also have guests joining that include exclusive feature videos from LazerJet, Game Over Gaming, Trainsimulatordriver and more!
Long time no see. As most of already aware of, my country is experiencing difficult times now. It's pretty tough, but fortunately for me not really critical. I'm staying home, safe and sound, away from the major events... hoping for the best!
Anyway...
Yesterday Smintheus became part of Ukrainian Indie Games Bundle #2. If you wish to support indie developers, then feel free to purchase this bundle full of wonderful games.
As the title suggests progress has been made, but I took a really bumpy road to get here. I'm done with a new update, but even though I mentioned around two weeks multiple times, it took more than a month :/
Big-ish? Or lots of small-ish?
I wanted to release some of the new goodies of the planned expansion pack without spoiling the new content. Just new functionality. For this to happen I had to make a version of the game which is halfway between my current development build and the existing released builds, which took way more time than I originally expected. Silly me. Regardless of not featuring new content, it does bring lots of convenience features and quality of life changes ;)
Teleport to target
There's a new mouse control mode in town: teleport! If you play the game a lot and dislike waiting for the movement animations this will speed it up to be *instantaneous.
Path-finding is still the default option for mouse controls, but you can change your settings within the "Options" menu under the "Mouse" sub-menu using the "Control" entry.
* Only the tile-to-tile movement is changed to be lightning fast. Picking up stuff, fighting battles, or opening chests still animate the same way for the sake of clarity.
Localization
The game has been localized to Polish ( )! I'm hoping I Am Overburdened will be enjoyed by more players in Poland thanks to this. Ahoy from Hungary my dear friends :)
Special thanks to Daniel Oskar Moroz (MorDan) for his awesome work!
This build also includes a bunch of localization text fixes. Typos corrected, a few things renamed, some sentences re-worded, and such in multiple languages.
I would love to add even more supported languages, but at the moment the translation of the updated content is still ongoing. New translations will probably not happen in the near future. I did add support for non-Latin characters/languages (e.g.: Cyrillic or CJK) though, so strides have been made in this direction. Maybe...
Where credit is due
The game officially supports 8 languages already. For this to happen many people contributed and I wanted to honor their work more appropriately. Previously only the translators of the currently selected language were shown in the credits menu, but now there's a menu entry to cycle through the names of everyone who worked on the texts of the game.
Nightmare and Treasury confusion
There was a "discrepancy" between the Main Menu and the Inn area in the way the Treasury game variant and the Nightmare difficulty can be accessed. In the Inn, the Nightmare difficulty (goat-skull statue) worked as a difficulty toggle and the Treasury mode was a special trapdoor.
Personally, I liked the functionality of the Main Menu much better and it made more sense (to me at least). Nightmare being a different more vicious dungeon and Treasury is simply a game alteration toggle (like the Elite variant or the Stash items).
Now the Inn matches the Main Menu. There's a separate trapdoor for Nightmare difficulty and a toggle (golden lock) for the Treasury variant.
Only fools seek their own destruction
From now on Nightmare difficulty can be unlocked and accessed immediately (without completing a dungeon on Normal first). A present for those who are feeling a bit overconfident :P
Quality of life
Quite a few menu changes and fixes found their way into the game with this update.
I re-organized the Help menu screens to (better) describe all the inn entities.
For multiple menu entries, "page-turner" widgets were added for enhancing mouse support. These include the "Language" entry of the Options menu, the "Window" and "Scaling" entries within the Graphics menu, and the "Control" entry in the Mouse menu.
Multiple mouse right-click handling and mouse movement focus handling bugs were fixed (Start and Controls screens).
Is it over?
The change list for this update is, but the work on the big content patch is not yet. I know this must be tiring :( but it is really, really close though. In fact, I'm so close to finishing it, that I don't plan to publish more tiny updates beforehand.
It looks like the next one will be the one and only long-awaited expansion pack which I'm dubbing "The Encumbered Edition" :)
I still don't want to pick a date since I'm super bad with deadlines ( as you can see :D ), but I want to give some structure to its release. I will start preparing and posting more info (+screenshots and gifs) about it in the following days.
As you are well aware, our second Closed Beta started last week on March 16th and so far you have all shown us a lot of enthusiasm for the game. Thank you so much for your support! However, we are conscious of several issues that have been appearing since the beta started and that may have affected your experience with the game. While a new patch has been applied with yesterday's maintenance, not everything seems to have been fixed just yet.
As a result, we have decided to prolong the beta for another two weeks. Closed Beta 2 will then be available until Tuesday, April 19th.
Additionally, you can expect to see more patches being applied throughout the beta, both addressing our ongoing issues and the current balance and economy of the game.
We hope that this news will help sweeten your experience with the beta so far. See you next time, Prospectors. Until then, remember that Fortuna favors the bold!