Early access to Final Fantasy XIV's latest expansion, Shadowbringers, went live earlier this week, but a significant DDoS attack on North American servers caused "extended waiting times" for players trying to get an early peek at the new content.

The attack caused a number of access issues, including disconnections from the North America data center Worlds, difficulty logging in, and difficulty accessing, sending, and receiving data from NA data centers.

"During the time below, we experienced network technical difficulties caused by DDoS attacks," an update on the official Final Fantasy XIV website said (thanks, PC Gamer). "Players may have experienced the listed issues as a result, but we are happy to inform that the game can now be played as normal."

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Not to be outdone by Mario Royale - wait, I mean Infringio Royale - another unlikely gaming icon has jumped onto the battle royale bandwagon: Flappy Bird.

No, Flappy hasn't suddenly strapped on a bullet-proof vest and picked up a Spitfire - Flappy Royale is the original Flappy Bird game, only instead of desperately trying to beat your own BP, instead you're pitting yourself against 99 other players. As you might expect, the bird that survives the longest wins the game.

Designed by programmer Orta Therox and Em Lazer Walker (thanks, PCGN), Flappy Royale also boasts additional customisation choices, such as hats and outfits.

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Apex Legends developer Respawn has detailed what's coming in the battle royale's second season.

In a lengthy post on the official EA website, Apex's lead product manager, Lee Horn, said the team has revised the Battle Pass progression structure for Season 2 so it will feel "way more rewarding" than its lacklustre predecessor.

"We heard your feedback on the Season 1 grind and created a system which should allow for significantly greater Battle Pass progress with less grind over less time for players who return on a regular basis and maximize their Challenge resets," Horn wrote.

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Halo: Reach PC players found "illegally distributing" the first PC test for the sci-fi shooter will be banned, says developer 343 industries.

An exclusive test featuring the Halo: Reach level Tip of the Spear went live on Friday. Though it's only running until tomorrow, less than 1,000 fans were invited to play via the new Halo Insider program. Consequently, some fans are now attempting to illegally access the game.

"It has come to our attention that the Halo Insider flight has been illegally distributed online," said a brief update on the official Halo forums (thanks, PC Gamer).

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Bandai Namco has revealed Blue Protocol, a new action-RPG coming to PC.

Developed by Project Sky Blue - a team that comprises of both Bandai Namco Online and Bandai Namco Studios developers - the game is reportedly set in a world with "overwhelming graphics along the lines of anime movies". It will include multiplayer, "the qualities of an online game", and uses Unreal Engine 4.

"The world is on the brink of devastation, now is the time to unite," the rhyming game description says (thanks, Gematsu). "March on with friends and strangers, and defeat foes beyond your might. Travel through space and time, to change the future beyond this fight!"

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Be warned: the following article contains major spoilers for the first and second acts of We Happy Few.

The first time you encounter Sally Boyle, We Happy Few's second playable character, it's through the eyes of a man. She strikes a dainty figure at the end of an alleyway, slick and trim in black latex and white felt, a jockey's helmet puckishly screwed down over thickly made-up elvish features. Within the game's 1960s British dystopia, Sally has become a sex and fashion icon, cast in the image of starlets like Edie Sedgwick, her apartment decorated with Pop Art prints of her own face. She's like something out of a fever dream, delightful yet abrasive and you sense, as reliable as the wind, hanging off your arm as she teases you about your clothes.

Sally's ditziness isn't entirely her own doing, however: the scene is as much a commentary on Arthur, the hapless dork doing the looking, as it is Sally. One of We Happy Few's more inspired tricks is that its protagonists perceive conversations with each other differently, the pulse of their emotions altering what is said and how. In the course of three parallel stories, played one after the other, you witness the same cutscenes from each perspective, with altered wording, performances and animations. It's tempting to say that there's no definitive account, but to my mind, the steady unfurling of the theme of censorship in Arthur's story (he once worked for the state's Department of Archives, Printing, & Recycling) makes his the least trustworthy. His impressions of Sally, specifically, are soured by resentment: the pair grew up together as foster siblings and were almost sweethearts, but fell apart when Arthur's dad coerced Sally into sleeping with him.

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Forge and Theater for Halo: Reach will be available for Xbox One at launch but will come later for PC, 343 has confirmed.

Explaining the decision in a post on Halo Waypoint, Michael Fahrny, lead producer on Master Chief Collection PC, said making Forge a "true PC first experience" would be a lot of work.

"When you look specifically at Forge and what it truly is, it is a 3D editing tool that was built completely for console," Fahrny said.

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As FIFA 19 nears the end of its lifecycle, EA Sports has added one of the more fun objectives the game has seen: Sweeper Keepers.

One of this week's FIFA Ultimate Team objectives tasks players with winning three online single matches using only goalkeepers.

That's right - everyone on your team has to be a goalkeeper.

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UPDATE 3rd July 2019: Split-screen returns to Blackout 9th July, Treyarch has announced.

In a tweet, the developer said split-screen returns in all Blackout modes as part of the Operation Apocalypse Z update, which goes live on 9th July.

ORIGINAL STORY 29th July 2019: An odd thing happened to Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 this week: Blackout split-screen was removed from the game and developer Treyarch didn't tell anyone.

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It looks like Nightwolf is the next DLC character to come out for Mortal Kombat 11.

NetherRealm chief Ed Boon took to Twitter to tease Nightwolf's release with an image showing his his trademark tomahawk.

Nightwolf is an officially confirmed character due out as part of fighting game's first Kombat Pack. The first DLC character to be released was Shang Tsung. The other confirmed characters are Sindel and guest character Spawn.

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