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'Our Teams Will Have to Pick Up the Pieces' — Fortnite's Remaining Staff Say They 'Cannot Even Fully Understand' the Mass Layoffs Impact on the Game This Year 'And Beyond'

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Fortnite staff who survived yesterday's mass cull of workers say they're unable to comprehend the impact on the game's future this year "and beyond." Yesterday, Epic Games announced it was making 1,000 team members redundant . In a statement, Epic boss Tim Sweeney blamed the job losses on the company "spending significantly more than we're making" amid a downturn in interest in Fortnite — despite it remaining one of the most popular games in the world. In the hours that followed, numerous veteran Epic Games employees took to social media to confirm they were among those impacted. This includes senior and long-standing members such as design director Christopher Pope, principle engineer Evan Kinney, and lead writer Nik Blahunka — all of whom had worked on Fortnite's gameplay, live events and story for years. Vitaliy Naymushin, a character art director who designed some of Fortnite's earliest characters including its default mascot Jones...

Marvel Rivals Devs Won't Introduce Original Characters Anytime Soon, Because There Are Simply Too Many Marvel Characters Already

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NetEase Games has pulled from decades of comic book history to pack Marvel Rivals with 48 playable heroes – but will it ever slow down? We caught up with creative director Guangyun “GuangGuang” Chen and executive producer Danny Koo to learn more about the trajectory of their ongoing superhero hero shooter at GDC. While opening up about how NetEase plans to maintain its one-hero-per-month live-service strategy , the pair touched on whether players could soon see an original character created just for Marvel Rivals. The short answer? Probably not, or at least not anytime soon. “We have so many right now,” Koo said. “It's not the time.” Koo reiterated previous confirmation that the studio has permission to create original characters should the opportunity arise. So, while a NetEase-made hero isn’t off the table, don’t expect them to swoop into Season 8. Meanwhile, the team is preparing to kick off its first real collaboration with the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) Path to ...

Marvel Rivals Devs 'Know What We Can Know' About What Happens in Avengers: Doomsday

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Maybe I'm just making incorrect assumptions here, but in my head, only a very, very small number of people at this time know what's going to happen in Avengers: Doomsday . The film, planned to hit theaters on December 18 of this year, is expected to be a dramatic conclusion to Phase Six of the MCU and features just about every Marvel hero we've seen in the MCU so far that isn't dead (and seemingly at least one who we thought was? Maybe?). Naturally, then, everyone is wildly speculating about what's going to happen in Doomsday, but the only people that know are those working very, very closely on the film itself... ...and also, to an extent, the Marvel Rivals developers. Speaking to IGN at the Game Developers Conference, the Marvel Rivals devs admitted to me that yes, they do actually know some of what's going to happen in Avengers: Doomsday. At least as much as they need to in order to conduct their "Path to Doomsday" series of events. Announced...

Crimson Desert Player Uses a Poor Raccoon to Show… Well… This May Be NSFW

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As players work their way through Crimson Desert , they’re discovering more and more unexpected things they can do in the open world. We’ve seen players learn they can tag team to an extent, cook meat with light from their sword, and even catapult themselves across the map with the power of trees. But this next find… well, I don’t think anyone saw this one coming. Warning! Spoilers… and maybe a NSFW tag for Crimson Desert to follow: Anyone who’s played Crimson Desert will know it’s packed with animals large and small. Many animals you can actually pick up (one early quest tasks you with lugging a sheep across town). Enter StaffProfessional68, who had a thought about the animals I doubt many others would have. In the clip below, we see StaffProfessional68 pick up a raccoon and then submerge it in water. After a dozen seconds, the raccoon dies, letting the player skin it for resources (a small bone, two lean meat, and three thin hides, if you were wondering). Yes, Crimson Desert a...

AliExpress Has Kirby Air Riders for Nintendo Switch 2 for Less Than $40 With Free Delivery

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Switch 2 owners, check out this super low price on a first party Switch 2 exclusive game. Kirby Air Riders , which is normally $69.99 and has yet to be seen on sale for less than $65, can be yours for just $39.37 with free delivery after coupon code: " USAS06 ". This is an import edition, but it will play fine on any US-based console since all Switch 2 games are region-free/unlocked. According to the page, tariff fees are already included as long as you choose "AliExpress Standard Shipping" . Don't choose another service like UPS or FedEx or you'll be dinged with import fees on delivery. Kirby Air Riders (Nintendo Switch 2) for $39.37 On the surface, Kirby Air Riders is a kart racer similar to Mario Kart World but with a different cast of characters including Kirby, Waddle Dee, King Dedede, and Meta Knight. However, they're actually quite different. While both are racing games, Mario Kart World focuses more on the racing mechanics whereas Kirby Air...

Magic: The Gathering's Next Set is Getting a Special Tie-in Novel, and It's Already Discounted at Amazon

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Magic: The Gathering’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle set feels like it just came out (because, really, it did), and we’re already getting excited about Secrets of Strixhaven. This return to one of Magic’s classic planes will launch on April 24, but you can get deep into the lore sooner than that with a tie-in novel called Strixhaven: Omens of Chaos. Better yet, the first edition is seeing a preorder discount at Amazon , bringing it from $29 to $20.99. The new novel comes from Seanan McGuire, who has previously worked on short fiction stories for Wizards of the Coast, and brings her history with the game to this dark academia novel. You can check out the full synopsis below: “Eula Blue was supposed to be a shield mage. That was before the war came—before the fight for the Multiverse devastated Eula’s home, and with it her hopes for a magical education.” “But the destruction of the war also brought something new: the ability to travel to other planes. And when Eula receives an in...

Bungie is 'Watching and Ingesting' Your Feedback About Marathon's Cryo Archive And Looking at 'Solutions' For Players Who Can't Get On During the Weekend 

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Marathon developer Bungie is "watching and ingesting" your thoughts and feedback about its new mode, Cryo Archive. Cryo Archive, which went live over the weekend, was players' first taste of a raid-like experience in Marathon . It contains gameplay mechanics similar to those seen in Destiny raids, including puzzles, in-match events, and evolving sequences of objectives. However, this is not just something that unlocks for all players; there are several requirements you need to meet in order to access Cryo Archive. Players need to be season level 25, have all factions unlocked (completing the initial liaison contracts), and queue in with a loadout value of $5k credits or higher. Oh, and it's only live on weekends, too. Now that the first weekend is done, game director Joe Ziegler said the team had noted a handful of pain points, including issues for players who can't play on the weekend, players who want to jump in without a crew, the RNG of subroutines and ...