Commander Fury

Hello there, I’m Jesse Houston, CEO and co-founder of Phoenix Labs. I’m excited to announce that Dauntless, our free-to-play Action RPG currently in Open Beta on PC, is coming to PlayStation 4 in April, 2019! Dauntless is the first game from our team, and we can’t wait to introduce it to the PlayStation faithful. Shortly following launch, we’ll have some special in-game goodies for PlayStation Plus subscribers, including an exclusive pack containing cosmetics, potions, and more. We created a new trailer to herald our launch announcement made during The Game Awards, which you can watch above.

So what is Dauntless all about, you ask? Dauntless is a combat-heavy Action RPG where you team up with friends to take on Behemoths, giant beasts threatening humanity’s survival in the Shattered Isles. Cooperating with your teammates to strategize the best approach to each encounter is core to the Dauntless multiplayer experience. The untamed world of Dauntless experienced a cataclysmic event that quite literally shattered the land into disparate islands, and these islands remain afloat thanks to a mysterious energy source known as aether. Players take on the role of Slayers, brave warriors fighting for humanity’s survival.

Come Out Slaying

Hunting Behemoths is the bread and butter of Dauntless. Successfully completing a hunt nets you valuable resources and materials that you take back to the frontier city of Ramsgate to forgenew weapons, armour, supplies, and accessories to take on your next outing. As you progress, you’ll begin harvesting Behemoth parts that imbue elemental attributes and other buffs to your gear, and you can further customize your play-style using the Cell system to socket the way you approach combat and team support.

The only thing standing in your way of gaining all these resources is…actually taking down the Behemoths. We currently have six unique weapon classes, with hundreds of variations and options in each class that can help your prowess depending on the type of Behemoth you’re hunting. Customizing your loadout and collaborating with your team before heading out on a hunt is paramount to success in Dauntless.

With combat being such a huge element of the Dauntless experience, tight controls are of the utmost importance. We like to give our players the option to play the way they’re most comfortable, and you’ll be happy to know that we already have full DualShock 4 support in the game! We joke around the office, but one of our developers actually prefers to play Dauntless on his fightstick as well.

Live Service Meets Free-To-Play

The live service nature of Dauntless and the ever-evolving Shattered Isles allows us to do some interesting things when it comes to tracking down and slaying specific Behemoths and completing quests, ensuring that players always have new challenges awaiting them every time they log in. We’ve greatly expanded that concept with the Hunt Pass, a new way for Slayers to earn rewards in Dauntless. Hunt Pass launches in Dauntless today, so PlayStation 4 players will have a ton of content at their disposal come April.

Along those same lines, I mentioned above that Dauntless is free-to-play. For us, free-to-play means providing our players with awesome free content, with the option to purchase cosmetics like armor skins, dyes, flares and more. If you see someone walking around with a high level weapon or armor set, you can rest assured that they crafted it by defeating Behemoths in the game, and not through a microtransaction.

Join the Hunt

We hope you’re as excited as we are to bring Dauntless to PS4. Stay tuned for more info, and we hope to see you in Ramsgate soon!

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Fond Memories

I got my first job in the game industry in 1999 which is right around the time Crash Team Racing originally launched. I was a huge fan of the Crash Bandicoot series at the time, so you can imagine my excitement when I heard a brand-new kart racing game starring Crash was coming out! I remember how smart I thought it was to introduce an adventure mode in a racing game. There was nothing like it at the time. The amount of time I spent playing that game! The countless hours I spent competing against my girlfriend at the time who had also started in the game industry. It was nothing short of my favorite game!

You’re Kidding, Right?

Fast forward many years. Our studio gets the proposition, ‘’How would you guys feel about remastering CTR?’’. I remember pausing for a second. And then I blurted out: ‘’You’re kidding, right?’’ I felt a sudden rush of adrenaline. That tingling feeling of joy and excitement spreading through your whole body. Throughout the discussions, I remember telling myself: ‘’Please, please, oh please, let this project become real.’’ And here we are! The game we were so eager to reveal to the world has been announced. No turning back now! We’re going full throttle towards June 21st and we’re so excited to show you what we have in store!

Being Authentic

Like myself, we have huge fans of the franchise on the development team. We know how dear the original Crash Team Racing is to so many people, so we’re spending a tremendous amount of time making sure it’s the same great racing experience that fans remember with a level of polish that could only be achieved by today’s standards. Our first design pillar in approaching this game was strikingly obvious: Authenticity. Whatever improvements or bells and whistles we were going to add, we needed to be authentic to the inspiration of the original experience.

Wait, There’s More!

The technology leap of the past 19 years allows us to push the graphical fidelity to a whole new level. As much as CTR is about racing, it is first and foremost about character. We established very early on that we wanted CTR Nitro-Fueled to be brimming with personality both from an environmental and character stand point. Fans will see this attention to detail shine through in every part of the game from the camera work, to the characters’ quirky animations, to the lush environments you’re racing in. The game is called ‘Nitro-Fueled’ for a reason. As die-hard fans of the game, we felt compelled to modernize the experience and infuse it with features that are expected of any great kart racing game. Playing split screen is a lot of fun, but racing online is awesome! In Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled, you will have the opportunity to show your skills to anyone around the world and that’s a first for CTR. Plus, there’s even more that we’re adding to the experience that hasn’t been shown yet, but we can’t wait to reveal soon!

20th Anniversary

By the time Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled ships, I will have been in the industry for 20 years. I can’t help but smile at the idea that CTR will be celebrating its 20th anniversary at the same time as I am. I guess I’ve come full circle!

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Far Cry New Dawn – the standalone sequel to Far Cry 5 coming to PlayStation 4 on February 15, 2019 – takes us to a world that’s just beginning to emerge from global nuclear destruction. Set 17 years after the catastrophe, Far Cry New Dawn unfolds in a drastically transformed Hope County. Nature has bounced back and taken over, giving way to a brilliantly colorful superbloom phenomenon. Survivors have begun to build a new, makeshift community from the ruins, and you may recognize some of them from Far Cry 5 – like Pastor Jerome. This new world isn’t all wildflowers and hope, though, because the Survivors now face a new threat: the Highwaymen, a roving band of scavengers led by a merciless pair of twin sisters, Mickey and Lou.

The Twins were children when the apocalypse hit, and the lessons they learned growing up on the harsh new frontier gave them a vicious, live-for-today outlook – one they share with their followers. The nomadic Highwaymen wander the countryside, stripping the meager resources from every place they visit, and either killing or recruiting everyone they meet. Now, they’ve turned their sights on Hope County, and if the Survivors are going to withstand the onslaught, they’re going to need your help. (And the help of your co-op partner, if you decide to team up with another player.)

Building a defense against the Highwaymen will take more than a quick trigger finger. You’ll need to ally with the Survivors, and help them rebuild the Homebase, called Prosperity. The Homebase is also where you’ll be able to craft makeshift weapons and vehicles, and train a new generation of Guns and Fangs for Hire – including Timber, the Akita who may just become your new best friend. You’ll also be able to use it as a launching point for Expeditions, missions that will take you far beyond the borders of Hope County to explore wetlands, canyons, and other new locations around the country. The Expeditions will be different for every playthrough, meaning there’ll be plenty of unpredictable chances to blow stuff up and wreak havoc among your enemies. The battle against The Twins comes to PS4 on February 15, so get ready to cobble together a DIY arsenal and face the new threat.

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Season 7 has arrived with the smash of a mysterious iceberg! Winter has brought many changes to the Fortnite map for you to explore. Ziplines are a new way to help you travel to and from high terrain. For you chill and thrill seekers, the new Frosty Flights location and Expedition outposts are outfitted with the new Stormwing planes so you can take to the skies. There are tons of new areas to venture to and secrets to uncover, so stay frosty.

A new season also means a brand new Battle Pass. Over 100 new exclusive rewards are ready for you to unlock, and it still costs the same 950 V-bucks. This season, you get the Zenith and Lynx progressive outfits instantly when you purchase the Battle Pass, both of which can level-up to unlock new styles. We’ve also added a new item type: Wraps! These allow you to customize your weapons and vehicles with all new looks to match and complement your favorite outfits.

Battle Pass owners will also get early access to their own island in Creative: a brand new place for you to build your dream Fortnite with your friends.

The Epic Games team will be taking its own holiday break this winter, so Season 7 will be extended by two weeks and end on February 28. We’ll still have new updates coming out during that break period bringing new items and challenges. You can plan on more holiday cheer to hit before the New Year as well!

Thank you for showing your passion and creativity within Fortnite!

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Hello again, GT fans. Available starting today is our free December update for GT Sport, patch 1.31 (Internet connection required). It features a selection of seven stunning vehicles, including European supercars, elegant saloons and some old-school American muscle. All of which are ready to race against the backdrop of a new Tokyo-based track.

New Vehicles

Ringing in the season at Brand Central are seven new vehicles, from limited edition Ferraris to Gran Turismo Award winners.

• Ferrari F50 ’95（N500)
• McLaren P1 GTR ’16（Gr.X)
• BMW M3 Coupé ’07（N400)
• Tesla Motors Model S Signature Performance ’12（Gr.X)
• Pontiac Firebird Trans Am ’78（N200)
• Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray Sport Coupe (C2) ’63（N400)
• GReddy Fugu Z (N300)

December Update Highlight Vehicle – GReddy Fugu Z (N300)

The winner of the 2015 Gran Turismo Awards at SEMA was an S30 Datsun Z, nicknamed the ‘Fugu Z’. The car was built by the actor Sung Kang, known for his role in the ‘Fast and the Furious’ movie series. It is based on a 1973 240Z which he bought in a stock state, and it was custom built to his desired specifications. The most notable feature of the exterior is the Rocket Bunny body kit consisting of very wide fenders and front/rear spoilers. And of course, the car is not just for looks. The engine is the famed RB26DETT from the Skyline GTR converted to natural aspiration, with mechanical tuning bringing its power up to 216 BHP. Using E85 Indy car fuel, it can produce about 295 BHP. To withstand this power, a roll cage is welded to the interior. In order to reduce weight, the dashboard and console are custom made by CarbonSignal.

New Track – Tokyo Expressway South Route

A new ‘South Route’ layout has been added to the Tokyo Expressway street course, which is based on the Shuto Expressway of Tokyo.

With a home straight lining up next to the high-speed railway and a series of mid to high-speed S curves, this track has a very different character to the Central and East routes – sure to put experienced drivers through their paces. In addition to the Outer Loop layout, there’s also an Inner Loop layout that passes through a scenically gritty shipping terminal, with some tough hairpins and chicanes.

GT League: This month, we’ve mixed things up a little, and added seven new rounds to four fan-favorite League events.

Beginner League: Two new rounds have been added to the Nissan GT-R cup event.

Amateur League: Two new rounds have been added to the Real Circuit Tours event.

Professional League: Two new rounds have been added to the Mercedes AMG Grand Prix event.

Endurance League: One new round has been added to the Gr. 3 Endurance League event.

In addition, the Catalunya Circuit Grand Prix Layout has been added to the Circuit Experience, and we’ve added a dedicated FIA section to the Museum. Finally, in Scapes mode we’ve added Peugeot-related spots to Brand Central, and a special “Season’s Greetings” backdrop to help with those holiday-themed snaps.

Please enjoy this month’s update, and remember you can find all the latest GT info here on PlayStation Blog and on the official Gran Turismo website. Until next time, drivers, we’ll see you out on the track.

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God of War was built around three core pillars that would influence all design decisions for the project: Combat, Father/Son, and Exploration. When I started at Santa Monica Studio in May 2015, the Exploration pillar was the least defined. The franchise had traditionally been a solely linear experience, but the team was hoping to add ten additional hours of optional content outside of the critical path.

To accomplish that goal, a team focused on the “Exploration” portion of the game was formed. I was tasked with helping them define what the content would be, and ultimately, to design the quests that would help entice the player into participating in these optional activities.

Establishing Constraints

One of the first challenges we faced when thinking about quests was that we had a game world devoid of friendly NPCs. There were no towns or bustling hubs, and the characters we did have (Brok, Sindri, Freya) were all heavily tied to the core narrative, which was still in flux. I set out to create a quest giver that was light-weight, but also flexible enough to be used in multiple locations, while providing a varied suite of quest activities. My initial prototype was a burial circle with an interact that popped in a ghost guy from Helheim. The “wayward spirits” gave a human voice to the mythical world around you. Being able to tell stories from people who lived in this world made it feel more alive, which is ironic since they were all dead.

As the project moved forward, we started defining buckets in which these quests would fit. Each bucket was defined by the amount of work required to bring the quest to a finished state:

“A” Quests

• Full levels of dedicated content
• Cinematic support, heavy narrative
• Quests acquired through an established cast member (Brok and Sindri)

“B” Quests

• Encourage exploration to the islands and beaches in the Lake of Nine
• No cinematic support, moderate narrative support
• Quests acquired through the wayward spirit module

“C” Quests

• Provide additional discoverability and reward exploration
• Light, non-critical narrative support
• Utilize gameplay modules such as Treasure Maps and Artifacts

“D” Quests

• Checklists, milestones, stat counters
• No narrative support
• Labors, Ravens, Challenges

“Got time for a favor?”

While focusing on our “A” and “B” quests, one of the first steps was defining how the player would interact with the NPCs to start their quest. We settled on a flow that looked something like this:

This flow obviously went through a ton of iteration, mostly in response to problems we identified in playtesting:

• Initially, there was no in-world icon callout until after the greeting had finished playing. Players were routinely running past quest givers, not realizing that a quest was available. The interact icon was changed to be available immediately, allowing players to interrupt the greeting and start the quest briefing.
• The briefing is typically the meat of the interaction, explaining to the player exactly what they need to do. Because so much of this is informational, there is little room for narrative without locking the player down for too long. An optional briefing follow-up was added to fit in additional narrative and lore. We ended up doing the same thing for the completion too.
• Speaking of locking the player down, this was a point of contention. When giving the player a briefing or completion dialogue, what are they doing? Are they completely locked down, unable to move? Can they run off at any time and interrupt the briefing? We eventually settled on a system where we would lock you down within a range, with a custom camera, and a forced slow walk. That way, the player still maintained a measure of control, while ensuring they heard the relevant information.
• There were still people who wanted to do the quest for the reward, but didn’t care about the narrative. We added the ability to skip lines late in the project.

Filling in the Blanks

By the time we actually starting writing and implementing our quests, most of our exploration spaces were already laid out by Level Design:

• Large Levels: Konunsgaard, Viethurgaard
• Dungeons: Volundr Mines, Landsuther Mines, Fafnir’s Storeroom, Northri Stronghold
• Islands & Beaches: Lookout Tower, Iron Cove, Isle of Death, Forgotten Caverns, Stone Falls, Cliffs of the Raven, The Mason’s Channel, Ruins of the Ancient, Buri’s Storeroom

Starting with our “A” quest givers, Brok and Sindri, we began assigning these spaces to their respective quest lines. I knew I wanted both Brok and Sindri to each have a short quest-line that culminated with a shared quest after their reunion. With four dungeons, we gave the two mines to Brok and the other two dungeons to Sindri, reserving Konunsgaard for their penultimate quest.

Our “B” quest givers, the wayward spirits, were used to encourage exploration around the islands and beaches, which had two distinct states as the water dropped. We wanted players to explore all the Lake of Nine had to offer at both water drops and designed the quests to help naturally drive you around the islands. Every one of these quests and their components served a very specific purpose. Some areas, such as Viethurgaard were meant to be purely discoverable, so a quest may have been positioned nearby, but it was still up to the player to explore and discover on their own… which in itself is a very rewarding experience.

If the quest didn’t serve a definitive purpose, it didn’t make it into the final game. This was the case with the very first quest we built, “Oh Brother, My Brother.” In the quest, a spirit asked you to find his brother who was dead, but didn’t know it. After telling the brother he was dead, he got upset and cursed his brother’s name. You return to the initial quest giver, only to find out… wait for it… he didn’t know he was dead either. It was an interesting narrative twist, but at its core, it was a glorified fetch quest with no gameplay. We all felt strongly about not having content for the sake of having content. Sometimes cutting content actually makes the game stronger and, more importantly, we learned some valuable lessons from this initial attempt.

“I am no errand boy.”

A lot of the narrative for our quests began with questions about the characters’ motivations. For Brok and Sindri, it was logical that legendary blacksmiths would want to craft legendary weapons and armor. To fit the quest structure, we decided that they would both be searching for the tools to craft the Dwarven Armor of Legend and that they wouldn’t find what they were looking for until the second quest in the chain. We intentionally structured the first quests in their respective chains to end with an item acquire, but not the item you were looking for. This helped us to build in a time gap between quests 1 and 2 as the dwarves examined the items you found.

After finishing the second quest for both Brok and Sindri and retrieving their legendary crafting tools, you could embark on their shared penultimate quest, Hail to the King. That quest ended with the acquisition of ingredients that could be used to craft the armor set from either Brok or Sindri. The armor served as the player motivation for undertaking these quests, but we failed in effectively communicating from the start that the four quests would pay off with a high level armor set. If we had done a better job communicating this, I think we would have seen less people waiting until the end of the game to do these quests.

The harder question for us to answer was Kratos’ motivation. As a character, Kratos is not the type to go out of his way to help a stranger. When doing a favor for Brok and Sindri, we always tried to hammer home the idea that Kratos was doing this to craft better gear to help with his journey. This was less clear with the wayward spirits, but Atreus’ naiveté and kind-hearted nature leant itself well to wanting to help the spirits. The wayward spirit quests were all written with the theme of Kratos teaching his son a lesson, which helped clarify Kratos’ motivation support the Father/Son pillar. This idea of using quests as a teaching opportunity became core to all of our “B” quests. We knew this content would not receive the same support as the main game, but with the narrative being such a core part of the game and this theme tying all the quests together, we were able to build light-weight, optional content that felt worthwhile.

Tying Everything Together

Now that the game is in the wild, I see a number of factors as being key to our success:

• “Let’s explore!” These lines that were added for Atreus meant so much to us. It was just a small handful of lines, but it clearly let the player know they were at a point where they could continue down the critical path or head off and explore. The addition of these lines had measurable impact on Exploration engagement.
• Density & Placement: We always tried to put a little bit of everything into each Exploration space. In the ideal scenario, you would be doing an “A” quest, find a Treasure Map that leads you past a “B” quest, stumble upon a chained dragon, all while collecting Artifacts, finding lore, and killing ravens along the way.
• Player Freedom: It was important to us that players could experience the exploration at their own pace. We knew we never wanted a quest to expire after becoming available, but that presented some challenges. When Atreus learns he is a god, his attitude changes and side quests are locked out for a brief time to avoid an awkward shift in tone. We also had to account for players who went off exploring without the quest. Entry stones and Jormungandr’s body were used as gating mechanisms to ensure the player didn’t boat down a path for 10 minutes only to find a dead end.
• Loot: We saw a direct correlation between the reward players received for completing a quest and the scores they gave the quests in playtests. When we play tested with placeholder rewards, scores were quite low. After giving players better loot, scores went way up. Credit to Cory and leadership for not panicking and overhauling the quest when all we needed was a better reward.

Working on these quests was an extremely rewarding experience for me. The team here at Santa Monica has a dedication to their craft that I’ve rarely seen anywhere else. We put everything we had into creating some enjoyable and memorable experiences for all of you. I can only hope you all enjoyed playing it half as much as I enjoyed working on it.

God of War is now $39.99. Hit the PlayStation Store to experience a new beginning.

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After 20-odd games, Resident Evil is one of gaming’s most storied series… but all those offshoots, reinventions, and remakes make it hard to nail down what, exactly, gaming’s original survival-horror series stands for.

But I bring good news: following nearly three hours of hands-on gameplay, I predict that the PS4 Resident Evil 2 remake is going to make old-school Resident Evil fans very, very happy.

On a purely visual scale, this PS4 incarnation or RE2 is a knockout. I played on the original PS4, and the game’s grimy, rain-slicked world glistens with atmospheric lighting effects that made me jump at shadows. The characters all look hyper realistic, from the rain droplets pitter-pattering on Leon’s shoulders to the pores and small freckles etched on his face.

The gore level is admirably gag-inducing, too. Slashing or shooting advancing zombies opens up gushing flesh wounds that would make George A. Romero blush.

As in the 1998 original, Resident Evil 2 on PS4 offers two playable characters split across two separate playthroughs: rookie Raccoon City cop Leon Kennedy is just trying to survive, while Claire Redfield is searching for her missing brother.

My play time was split across both Leon and Claire’s chapters. And it was was soon clear that this remake seeks to pay homage to the original RE2, not create a soulless monument.

From what I played, Leon’s sequences veered closer to the white-knuckle action-horror of RE4. His triple-burst “Matilda” handgun, shotgun, and magnum pistol all provided ample stopping power, but ammo was tight and enemies were numerous.

Meanwhile, my experience with Claire skewed closer to “traditional” RE2 gameplay, with a focus on non-linear exploration, puzzle solving, and inventory management. I fought off (or avoided) Lickers and zombies using Claire’s snubnosed 9mm revolver and grenade launcher, complete with acid and flame rounds.

Then there’s Ada, who pops up as a third playable character during parts of Leon’s campaign. Her sequences seemed especially tense given that she packs only a snubnosed pistol and a handful of rounds, relying more on her wireless hacking device, which can peer through walls to breach security systems that reveal new routes. Ada’s new tech is not only cutting edge for the game’s 1998 setting, but also highlights her mysterious connections.

Capcom clearly worked to deliver an intuitive control scheme here. The directional pad handles weapon selection, Triangle opens your inventory, and holding L1 activates your secondary weapon, whether it’s a knife slash or tossing a flash grenade (note: you can use these to escape the clutches of a zombie as in 2002’s Resident Evil remake). Though I did slightly reduce the analog stick sensitivity, I didn’t ever find myself fighting the controls – a testament to the strong UX work here.

I noticed that series mainstays like healing herbs and typewriters made the jump; I didn’t see any ink ribbons, so saving at the iconic typewriters may be unlimited. And ala RE3 and RE7, I could craft more ammo by collecting and combining various gunpowder pickups scattered throughout the environments.

So far, so good! I’m dying to play more of Resident Evil 2 when it officially launches on PS4 January 25, i.e. less than two months from now!

Let me know any questions and I’ll work to answer in the comments below.

Bonus: Watch us play 20 minutes of Resident Evil 2 in our recent episode of PlayStation Underground

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Greetings Earthlings! And all other apropos felicitations… Greg Johnson here, director of Humanature Studios and co-creator of the funkadelic ToeJam & Earl games. We’re super happy to announce that after… *looks at watch*… Woah! After nearly 28 years, our all new, rogue-like adventure game, ToeJam & Earl: Back in the Groove, is landing early 2019! Lemme tell ya ’bout it…

So waaay back in 1991, we released the original ToeJam & Earl game. It was a “rogue-like,” which wasn’t really even a term yet back then! Like Rogue, ToeJam & Earl had randomly generated levels, unidentified power-ups, hidden corridors, friendlies as well as bad guys… lots of Rogue-ish elements. But ToeJam & Earl also had cooperative multiplayer, dynamic split screen, musical rhythm play with a kickin’ funky soundtrack, and of course, funky aliens!

We made two sequels, Panic on Funkotron and Mission to Earth, but they were very different from that first rogue-like. Same chill vibe but totally different gameplay.

ToeJam & Earl: Back in the Groove is what I’ve been wanting to do for the series for over two decades. We’ve got awesome throwbacks, and tons of new features, but most importantly, it plays like a sequel to the original game and we know new players and old fans alike will love it.

Starting today, you can pre-order your own copy of ToeJam & Earl: Back in the Groove ($19.99) at PlayStation Store. With your pre-order, you’ll also receive the funk-tastic ToeJam & Earl PS4 dynamic theme! HIGH FIVE!

A sneak peek of the dynamic theme for ToeJam & Earl: Back in the Groove — ripped straight from the ‘90s

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The holidays are now upon us! Santa Claus has arrived early this year, because today we’re adding 50 more PlayStation 4 games to the PlayStation Now library, bringing the total to over 275 PS4 games to stream or download, and a total of over 700 PS4, PS3, and PS2 games to stream. We’ve also got some great discount deals happening on our subscriptions, so keep reading to find out more.

Leading the pack of 50 new PS4 games this month is Ubisoft’s epic combat game For Honor. Enter the chaos of war and choose a faction: bold Knights, brutal Vikings, or deadly Samurai. For Honor features 12 base Heroes to choose from and customize, a thrilling solo and co-op story campaign, as well as brutal PvP and multiplayer modes to test your skill in battle (PS Plus not required to play online when playing via your PS Now subscription). Download the game to your PS4 system to enjoy the brand new Marching Fire expansion (sold separately), featuring a brand new faction with four new heroes, as well as new solo/co-op and PvP modes.

Other new PS4 games this month include the open-world Adventure Time: Pirates of the Enchiridion, the classic Super Star Wars, retro-style 2D platformer Dandara, J-RPG Fairy Fencer F: Advent Dark Force, the frantic Raiden V: Director’s Cut, the fast-paced thrill-ride TRON RUN/r, and many more.

Here are the top 10 most streamed and downloaded games in PS Now during the last month:

• Red Dead Redemption
• Mafia III
• NBA 2K16
• WWE 2K16
• Steep
• Sniper Elite IV
• The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited
• Sid Meier’s Civilization Revolution
• Fallout: New Vegas
• Payday 2 Crimewave Edition

Today also marks the start of our holiday price promotion for PlayStation Now. From today through January 8 (8 AM PT), we are bringing back three exciting subscription offers. If you’ve never tried the service before, you can get your first month for just $9.99 with our special intro offer (new subscribers only). Also available is a discount on the 3-month offer, now just $29.99 ($44.99 regular price), and for the best bang for your buck, 12 months for just $79.99 ($99.99 regular price), both available to new and existing subscribers alike. You can also check out the seven-day free trial for PS4 and PC to get started. (Terms apply. New Subscribers only. Credit card required. See here for details.)

Stay tuned for more updates on PS Now. Happy gaming!

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Hey everyone, we are back with another PUBG dev blog! PUBG has had a relatively quick, but intense, journey up until this point. The game has released on other platforms in the last two years with changes throughout the many phases of alpha and beta testing, from performance improvements and optimization, new weapons, new maps, new vehicles, and more.

Now that we’re getting ready to launch the game on PlayStation 4 on December 7, we’d like to reflect on our development and feedback from our community, which has brought PUBG to where it is today.

The Road to Launch

When we first started developing PUBG for console, the game was released as a beta, meaning stability was something we worked very hard to address. After a long beta phase and feedback from the community, optimization and stabilization became key for us. It was quite the challenge for the dev team to juggle our focus on stability while trying not to delay content that our community had been asking for, like newer maps. But this was a challenge that we were willing to take on.

While we’ve grown considerably since our initial introduction on consoles, user experience and stability will always remain a pivotal aspect of our development. We are also focused on adding new content to the game and bringing Custom Matches, Ranked Mode, and Event Mode to the PS4 version after launch. We’ve very excited to take the lessons we’ve learned and share them with the PlayStation community when we launch.

PlayStation Launch Day – December 7

What can you expect on launch day? You’ll get to experience the heart-pounding, last-man standing action of PUBG gameplay on three iconic maps:

• Erangel, the first map of PUBG. An 8×8 km map resembling a Russian military testing facility
• Miramar, the second map created for PUBG. An 8×8 km map set in the deserts of Central and South America
• Sanhok, the smallest map (4×4 km) based in the jungles of the Southeast Asia region

In addition, we’re excited to announce an exclusive gift for our PlayStation community to celebrate the launch. Starting on December 7, simply log into the game to receive the Pixel Art Parachute, inspired by the PlayStation iconic blue.

Pixel Art Parachute

Pre-Order Now

You can still pre-order PUBG before the game releases on PS4 December 7. We have several different bundles to choose from, all of which offer two exclusive pre-order digital skins: The Nathan Drake Desert Outfit from the Uncharted series, and Ellie’s Backpack from The Last of Us. Pre-order and also receive two instant rewards: the PUBG avatar for your PlayStation Network profile as well as a theme.

We offer different editions depending on what you’re looking for. The Survivor’s and Champion’s Editions can be purchased at a discounted rate just for pre-ordering on PlayStation Store!

• Disc Edition: Base Game, Pre-Order Bonuses
• Looter’s Digital Edition: Base Game, Pre-Order Bonuses
• Survivor’s Digital Edition (Save 17% when you pre-order): Base Game, Pre-Order Bonuses, Survivor Pass: Vikendi, 2,300 G-Coin Pack, 20,000 BP
• Champion’s Digital Edition (Save 34% when you pre-order): Base Game, Pre-Order Bonuses, Survivor Pass: Vikendi, 6,000 G-Coin Pack, 20,000 BP

The countdown is on: we now have less than a week left until the official launch. We hope to see many of you at launch and can’t wait to join the PlayStation community on December 7!

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PlayStation Classic launches today! And it us wistfully strolling down memory (card) lane. Many of the 20 titles preloaded onto the miniature console not only changed the medium forever, but impacted each of us as gamers. Everybody comes to the table with a different beloved pick from the legendary lineup, and swapping memories is almost as fun as jumping back into these classics. Join us as we reflect on our favorites from that defining era.

We want to hear your top PS Classic picks, too! Vote for your favorite game via the poll below, and share your own 480i memories in the comments.

Tekken 3

If I could choose just one PlayStation game to play for the rest of my life, it would be Tekken 3. Metal Gear Solid, Resident Evil, and Twisted Metal all left an indelible impression on me, but nothing topped Tekken 3 for endless replayability. So many lost hours, and none of them regretted. I still remember being so, so surprised when I unlocked Dr. B as a playable character…

– Sid Shuman

Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo

Having grown up on Tetris and spent much of my adolescent years in various arcades, Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo will forever be one of my personal all-time classics. Piecing together giant super-blocks and planning ahead to build out the perfect game-winning chain attack is a refreshing change of pace from the “get rid of everything” mindset most puzzle games face players with. And having that massive chain interrupted by a particularly pesky garbage dump from your opponent can end a friendship in an instant — the mark of a truly great competitive puzzler.

– Justin Massongill

Metal Gear Solid

As someone who had spent most of their childhood playing light-hearted platformers on other peoples’ consoles, getting my own original PlayStation and starting Metal Gear Solid felt like graduating to the big leagues. Nothing could prepare me for how deep I would fall into the world of Solid Snake and his cardboard box disguises. The story felt more compelling than any game I had ever played up until that point, and I absolutely trace my love of stealth-action games to the hours I spent playing this.

– Kristen Titus

Resident Evil

First time I was introduced to Capcom’s trend-setting horror, I lost most of a weekend. And, for a time, some friends as well. I’d been invited round to a pal’s for a catch-up but spent a day and night locked in a corner in front of the TV, mute but for the occasional yelp of fear as I explored Spencer mansion. They hadn’t a memory card, so every death meant a full restart. I didn’t care. RE was unlike anything I’d played before. It was a game worth falling out (albeit briefly) with a friend for.

– Fred Dutton

Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee

A lot of gamers will be familiar with Abe’s first outing thanks to the classic Demo Disc that came with the original PlayStation, but the full game had so much to offer: strategy, stealth, puzzles, and flatulence jokes made up one of the most intriguing and, in my opinion, memorable experiences of the generation. I played it again and again, and even revisited it recently with the modern reimagining on PS4.

– Eric Whelan

Ridge Racer Type 4

This was the apex of Namco’s iconic arcade racing series and, for my money, the best arcade racer on the console. Brilliant course design (I instinctively leant into every corner, leant back for every sharp rise) gorgeous visuals (that painterly reproduction of soft, early morning light in some races in particular). And that soundtrack: a sublime fusion of jazz, soul and funk (it’s still on my iPhone to this day).

– Gillen McAllister

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Another month, another tough decision! I’m rather curious to see how this one shakes out, though.

It was an impressive month for PlayStation VR, with Tetris Effect melting minds, Beat Saber melting calories, and Déraciné melting hearts. The PS4 lineup was similarly strong, with big names like Spyro, Hitman and Battlefield returning to the fold.

Sadly, only one new game can claim to be the best, and that’s where you come in. Below you’ll find a poll — you probably know how those work by now, so I won’t bore you with the details. We’ll close ’em Sunday night at 11:59pm Pacific, so get to it before then!

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With Battlefield V, launch really is just the beginning. Starting December 4, you can continue your World War 2 journey in the Tides of War Chapter 1: Overture.

What is the Tides of War?

If you’re a Battlefield fan, you’re probably pretty familiar with terms like “Premium Pass” and “Expansion Packs.” Battlefield V does away with those concepts, creating a single, evolving voyage for all our players — at no extra cost. This voyage is known as the Tides of War. Each Tides of War Chapter will introduce new gameplay, improvements, and battlefields. From maps and modes to weekly events and rewards, your ongoing Battlefield V experience is just beginning.

New Experiences

Want to spend a little quality time getting to know the weapons and vehicles of Battlefield V? You could take your chances on one of the regular multiplayer maps, but you may end up spending more time spawning than fighting. Instead, we’d suggest heading to the Practice Range, introduced with Chapter 1.

Start by selecting the Shooting Trial or Driving Trial. Both will give you a chance to practice your aim or driving skills against pop-up targets on a modified version of the Hamada map; the more you take out, the higher your score. Try different Shooting Exercises to increase your accuracy, and up the difficulty to really challenge yourself. Hop into a Churchill Tank and take it for a spin, or climb to new heights in a Spitfire.

Overture unveils a brand-new single-player War Story, “The Last Tiger.” In it, the war is winding down, and the once seemingly unstoppable Axis forces are being driven to their inevitable defeat. Desperately trying to defend their homeland, a lone Tiger I Tank crew must attempt a last stand against overwhelming Allied forces while beginning to question the ideology that brought them to that point.

How will you use this legend of the German war machine to stay alive? Its heavy armor offers you some protection, but you’ll need to keep moving and play smart to make it through this War Story.

An Expanding Battlefield

And speaking of tanks, we’re also unleashing the massive mechanized beasts on an all-new map called Panzerstorm. Loosely based on the Battle of Hannut, Axis forces are pummeling British defenses in Belgium during the spring of 1940. The scenic rolling hills are now littered with the husks of damaged and abandoned tanks, ripe for the picking.

This vast map allows up to 17 tanks (and three more Reinforcements) to prowl its once-idyllic town, farms, and forests. Prefer to try your luck on foot? There are plenty of opportunities for Infantry ambushes with abundant Fortifications and trenches throughout. And don’t forget to look up – air support can make or break your team’s chances.

Evolving Gameplay

We’re introducing even more customization options with Chapter 1. Until now, players have been limited to tweaking the look of the soldiers and weapons of their Company. With Overture, they’ll be able to change the appearance of their vehicles, making for even more memorable moments on the battlefield.

Customizations only change the appearance of the vehicles, not how they perform in combat, but are a great way to make sure you stand out amidst the chaos. The right nose art on your fighter as you swoop in to strafe an enemy position can really leave an impression. Make sure your enemies know who’s coming for them with these new options.

Chapter 1 includes weekly events, too, which will help you learn some of the finer details of Battlefield V gameplay, earn rewards, and progress your Company. Playing any game mode during the course of a Chapter will help you gain rewards and Chapter Ranks. As your Rank increases, you’ll have access to both new gameplay items and cosmetic items. The more you play, the more you’ll unlock.

Launch is Just the Beginning

Overture is just the tip of the iceberg, as new modes, maps, gameplay experiences, and more are on the way. Every Chapter brings a changed battlefield — and more only in Battlefield moments — so don’t miss out.

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So you’re sick of skydiving, bored with base jumping, and have had it with being hunted by billionaires for sport. You need a new way to flood your central nervous system with adrenaline. Well good news, wingsuiting is just the sport for you!

Rush VR is the ultimate wingsuiting experience. Living up to its name, Rush VR provides the downhill thrills of wingsuiting but with a significantly lower chance of grisly death (depending on where you’ve set up your VR unit, I guess).

But what is wingsuiting exactly? You could find out by playing the game, but if you’d rather read about the history of this insane hobby, please continue.

A Brief History of Poor Decision Making

Wingsuiting was invented by Franz Reichelt. He first tested his invention by leaping from the Eiffel Tower in 1912. This was also the last test. Rest in Power, Franz. A few more foolhardy souls follow Reichelt’s lead, mostly meeting the same unfortunate end, and the hobby died off. It wasn’t until the 1990s that technology and design had advanced far enough that wingsuiting became viable, and from there things really took off (pun intended).

Wingsuit Basics

A wingsuit is, and prepare your brain for this next part, a suit with wings. Still with me? Good.

Specifically, it’s a skydiving suit with material webbing stretching from the wrists to the ankles, and between the legs. These membranes catch the wind when the limbs are extended, essentially turning the wingsuiter into one large airfoil wing. Think flying squirrels, or sugar gliders. While this “membrane wing” design does not generate enough lift for true flight, it does drastically increase the ‘glide ratio’ of the wingsuiter, allowing them to soar for great distances.

To make the wing work, the first thing a wingsuiter needs is velocity, usually achieved by jumping from a plane, or BASE jumping from a tall structure (Rest in Pizzarolls, Franz.) Once a sufficient speed is reached, the wingsuiter can begin to control their movement with their arms (or in the case of Rush VR, five other control options as well, because not everyone plummets screaming to the ground in the same way).

But sometimes the adrenaline rush of almost dying isn’t enough. Sometimes you want checkpoints to race through, speed boosts for daring flyers, multiplayer modes and scoring challenges and leaderboards. Well good news, friend!

More Thrills Than a Haunted House on a Rollercoaster

Rush VR was designed to simulate the visceral thrill one gets when hurtling down a mountainside at breakneck speed. The sensation of speed is palpable, with the perilously close canyon walls hurtling by, flecks of water and snow colliding with your visor, and the breathtaking drop as you crest over a hill and see the world spread out beneath you. But Rush VR isn’t just a wingsuiting sim, it’s also a racing game, so we’ve included some additional elements to increase enjoyment.

Boost Your Way to Success (or into the side of a tree)

Fill the ever-important boost meter by grinding as close as possible to the walls, floor, or any obstacles you can find. Yes this will dramatically increase your odds of wiping out, but in a downhill race like Rush VR it’s a case of who dares wins.

Admire the View (while also watching out for that damn tree)

Mother nature is amazing, and we think we’ve done her justice with Rush VR. We’ve created four gorgeous environments in which to race, each with dozens of different routes, from beginner to nightmarish, and a whole array of weather and day/night conditions to boot. Want to race during an epic thunderstorm? Or through a canyon as the rising sun casts everything a deep, burning red? We got you.

A Friend at Speed is a Friend Indeed

Sure, bots can be crafty opponents, but there is no sweeter victory than that you snatch away from your friends at the last second. Team up with up to seven of your best and hit the jump. Communicate with the extensive hand gestures, shout at them through voice chat, fly in front of them so your smoke obscures their vision: all’s fair in wingsuiting and war.

It’s Physics, Jim

Physics. Do we really need to say more? Everyone loves extraneous VR physics. We have nerf guns, basketball hoops, beach balls, paddles, you can even crack a soda while you wait; anything you want to kill a little time while waiting for that one picky friend to choose their suit skin (of which we have plenty). Guaranteed you will spend way too much time shooting each other with nerf darts. It’s basically half the game at this point.

Conclusion?

And there you have it, your intro into the wild world of wingsuiting. If any part of you is interested in trying wingsuiting for real after reading this guide, then godspeed you brave fool. For the rest of us there is the high-flying, death-defying, adrenaline-pumping action of Rush VR. All of the excitement, none of the splatter. Download it for PSVR and feel the rush! Rush VR releases tomorrow with a 20% launch discount for PlayStation Plus members for the first two weeks of release.

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Hello everyone! I’m Alexandre Pernot Lopes, co-founder at Trebuchet, a studio of seven awesome people based in Montréal, Canada. We are proud to announce the upcoming release of our first game Prison Boss VR to PlayStation VR tomorrow, updated with the brand new Boss Mode.

For those who don’t know Prison Boss, it’s a game about crafting contraband in jail as fast as you can without getting caught by the patrolling guards. The game is about thinking and planning your nights of crafting to be able to answer to the ever demanding black market. In this very cartoony prison environment, you’ll be rolling cigarettes, fermenting alcohol but also preparing cookies and crafting “creepy bears” out of metal bits and some pieces of fabric.

Home Sweet Home: The Jail Cell

The whole game takes place in your jail cell, which quickly becomes a full-on contraband workshop as you buy more furniture to store your materials and your stacks of money (a good contrabandist is a loaded contrabandist). The original idea of the game came from trying to design a VR experience using no artificial movement at all so that the player is more comfortable with his surroundings.

We went on thinking: “In what context does someone spend a lot of time at the same place without moving much? -In prison!” We also took inspiration from VR games that we enjoyed like Job Simulator and we merged it with our love for management and tycoon-like games. Mix all of these things up, add Humpty-Dumpty-esque characters, and you’ve got yourself Prison Boss VR!

VR Crafting In a Nutshell

We thought each crafting recipe as a distinct challenge. When planning your crafting night, you have to consider the varying cost of the materials needed for your items while guessing how many you’ll be able to complete with your skills. There are 11 different items, each made from a sequence of actions you will need to memorize and execute as fast as you can. For example, the cigarette goes like this: Step 1, Tear a piece of paper. Step 2, pour tobacco on the paper. Pause! Did you just hear a guard coming? No. Continue! Step 3, roll the cigarette by mashing the Move button. Step 4, lick the paper by bringing the controller to your face. Ta-da! You’ve made a cigarette! Now hide it if you want to get rich.

New Boss Mode: For Intense Crafters

Originally, the game was structured in four different prisons, each offering its own set of crafting recipes for you to master. The progression through the prisons serves as an introduction to all of the 11 crafting recipes. We’ve been thinking for a long time about adding a sandbox mode that would allow players to toy with all the recipes in the same level. Once you feel like you mastered the game, the Boss Mode awaits you. The goal is to make as much profit as possible while not being caught by the guards. Try to get the highest score possible with a “build” that you refine by carefully choosing which items you unlock in which order.

New Comfort Features Enhance the Crafting Experience

One major improvement we’ve developed for PS VR is the addition of comfort features. The game now adapts to your height and allows you to do swift rotations to face the four walls of your cell. We also added distance grabbing, but, more importantly, DISTANCE THROW! (shout as you read for maximum effect) Now objects are projected away from you relative to the spot you are aiming towards with your Move controllers. Releasing the trigger with an object in hand will now propel it with the right amount of force to reach the target you’re aiming at (cool stuff).

The game started as a student project we did while finishing our Masters degree in game design. After we finished school, we moved to our teacher’s office to work day and night for a whole summer in order to make Prison Boss become a full-fledged VR experience. Since then, we worked really hard on the game, learning a lot on the road. We have reviewed the core aspects of the game to bring it on PS VR. It means a whole lot for us to release on PlayStation, so we hope you’ll enjoy Prison Boss VR, out tomorrow!

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The game that helped spark the battle royale phenomenon comes to PlayStation 4 this week. Drop into the world of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds and dig in for a tense, no-holds-barred survival experience.

Developed by PUBG Corporation, this trend-setting multiplayer title pits players against one another in a massive, last-person-standing excursion. Loot the sprawling map for weapons and supplies, all while watching your back for any enemies gunning for you and your gear. Team up with friends in squads of four to increase your odds of survival with cooperative tactics. Survive long enough to be the last one standing and that delicious chicken dinner can be yours.

For a full list of new games coming to PlayStation next week, read on. And enjoy The Drop!

The information above is subject to change without notice.

Fallout 76 Playlist

The 1975 – A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships

David Bowie – Glastonbury 2000

Mission: Impossible – Fallout

The House With a Clock In Its Walls

The Happytime Murders

Celebrate the season with holiday classics on AMC

Watch holiday favorites all season long starting Saturday, December 1 on Freeform

Series Premiere Sunday, December 2 at 10PM PT on Syfy

The information above is subject to change without notice.

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Email us at blogcast@sony.com!

Subscribe via iTunes, Spotify, Google or RSS, or download here

In this week’s episode, Justin and Kristen reveal next week’s new release highlights, talk a whole bunch about Beat Saber and Tetris, and deliberate their “Holiday Games” for 2018. Enjoy!

Stuff We Talked About

• Holiday gaming plans
• Beat Saber
• Spyro Reignited Trilogy
• Sid commits to trying out Observer
• Spoilers! No specific ones, just the overall concept

The Cast

Justin Massongill – Social Media Manager, SIEA
Kristen Titus – Social Media Specialist, SIEA

Thanks to Cory Schmitz for our beautiful logo and Dormilón for our rad theme song and show music.

[Editor’s note: PSN game release dates are subject to change without notice. Game details are gathered from press releases from their individual publishers and/or ESRB rating descriptions.]

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Black Friday may be over but the savings are just getting started at PlayStation Store. We’re kicking off the weekend with a flash sale – and savings up to 70% on Hitman – Game of the Year Edition, Hello Neighbor, SIMS 4 Seasons and more.

Scope out the full lineup below then head over to PS Store before deals end December 3 at 8 a.m. PST.

Note: All pricing is for U.S. only and subject to change.

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It’s not always easy knowing what to give during the holidays, but if you’re looking for that perfect grab-and-go bundle of PlayStation inspired products, then look no further. These boxes are 100% giftwrap friendly and stuffed with PlayStation inspired goodies that are sure to delight. A variety of PlayStation collectible boxes are available now for purchase at major retail chains including GameStop, Walmart, and Target.

Anxious for more God of War lore beautifully illustrated and insightfully written? Well then, you’re in luck this holiday season! Our friends at Dark Horse have recently released the first issue of the new God of War comic series! Learn more at Dark Horse’s website.

Five Stocking-Friendly Favorites

When it comes to stocking stuffers, these compact products are where the rubber meets the road, or more appropriately, where the skis meet the snow! Here’s a list of some of our favorites to inspire your holiday shopping.

Totaku Collection: Bloodborne Hunter Figure (Only at GameStop)

This Bloodborne Hunter figure stands 10cm tall, but is huge in presence! Get it at GameStop.

God of War FiGPiN – Gold Kratos (Only at GameStop)

FiGPiN is a popular collectible among PlayStation and God of War fans alike. This Gold Kratos FiGPiN is available only at GameStop.

PlayStation Crew Socks 3 Pair

These socks are both festive and stocking friendly! Best of all, they come in a pack of 3 which helps fill the stocking faster. Get it at Box Lunch.

Kidrobot God of War Vinyl Mini-Series

Square boxes are just easier to wrap, am I right? These eight highly collectible figures come individually packaged in… you guessed it, a square box! You can order these blind boxes now on the Kidrobot website.

Stubbins Plush Toy – Clank

Our gift giving list wouldn’t be complete without a plush toy. Among the many PlayStation plush pals, we think this Clank plush is among the cutest!

Coming Soon

Here’s a sneak peek…

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Starting today, the Red Dead Online Beta is open to everyone who owns Red Dead Redemption 2 on PlayStation 4, jump in now to experience the vast and deeply detailed landscapes, cities, towns and habitats of Red Dead Redemption 2 in a new, living online world ready to be shared by multiple players.

Built from the ground up for the latest hardware, Red Dead Online blends the classic multiplayer of the original Red Dead Redemption with the best of everything Rockstar Games has learned about creating deep multiplayer experiences. The result is something completely new and fun, and an experience that will continue to expand and evolve over time.

A Vibrant Open World

The Red Dead Online world is open to explore solo or with friends. You can ride with friends in a Posse, set up your Camp, embark on cooperative story-based missions or go head-to-head in competitive series, find strangers throughout the world to help (or hurt), tackle spontaneous Free Roam challenges, go hunting, fishing, bond with your horse, explore with friends or on your own (but look out for ambushes), and much more.

Honor and Outlaws

In Red Dead Online, your honor will shift high and low based on your decisions and behavior. You’ll shape your honor through your choices: from life or death decisions to natural interactions such as caring for your horse.

In addition to the world responding to you in subtly different ways, you’ll also notice the nature of certain missions will reveal themselves to you based on your current honor state.

To see this in action, check out the cooperative multi-part series of missions called A Land of Opportunities, where you’ll be faced with honor decisions on a larger journey to seek truth and justice, or revenge. You’ll also find a healthy reward upon completing it.

Competition and Showdown Series

Of course, Red Dead Online comes packed with all new competitive game play. The Beta includes 5 new modes at launch that are part of a larger series of Showdowns, and you can also enter your trusted steed into races including point-to-point, lap and open races strewn across the map.

Enter one of the Showdown Series Markers for fast matchmaking into a variety of modes:

Shootout & Team Shootout

Classic gunfight modes with unlimited lives. Compete to rack up the most kills before the timer runs out. Sudden death will trigger in the event of a tie: whoever gets the first kill wins.

Make it Count

A true test of resourcefulness in two game modes: use nothing but a bow and a handful of arrows or throwing knives to be the last one standing. With a gradually shrinking player area, there’s nowhere to run.

Most Wanted

A tactical race to the top. Every kill pushes you up the scoreboard, but watch out: the closer to the top you are, the more points everyone else gets for killing you.

Hostile Territory

Work in teams to control the land. Capture a territory to start racking up points: the team with most points wins – or you can win outright by capturing every territory.

Name your Weapon

Demonstrate your personal specialty in this free-for-all or team based match: the trickier the weapon you use to land the killing blow, the more points you get.

PlayStation Early Access Content

Red Dead Online includes exciting PlayStation benefits after you complete the introduction:

Grizzlies Outlaw outfit

To pick up this slick but rugged look, open up your satchel by holding the left directional button to open the catalog. Navigate to the outfits and claim this outfit for free. You can put it on at your Camp’s wardrobe.

Red Chestnut Arabian Horse and Alligator Skin Ranch Cutter Saddle

Known for its speed and handling, the Red Chestnut Arabian Horse is yours to claim at any Stable. If you’re just getting started, you can free up your stall space by discarding the horse you acquired for free in the introduction; this will be a nice upgrade. You can then browse the Stable’s menu to get the Red Chestnut Arabian Horse for free.

In addition, you can equip the Alligator Skin Ranch Cutter Saddle that includes core Health and Stamina boosts for your horse by claiming it from the Special Saddle section of the Tack and Services menu.

High Roller Double-Action Revolver

This polished steel and beautifully engraved revolver is available at Fences. Swing by to pick this up for free.

Stay tuned for more updates to Red Dead Online over the coming weeks and months.

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While characters in our favorite games run through a range of emotions, we love when players stop and pose for the perfect shot. From serious stealthy poses to funny gestures, here are our favorite poses you shared using #PS4share and #PSBlog:

@seekers_sanctuary posed Aloy stealthily in a tree in Horizon Zero Dawn.

A soldier from Battlefield V poses with their rifle in this share from @screenmaniiac.

@sniperwolf_lmsb strikes this dastardly pose from Red Dead Redemption 2.

@IxionVII shows off a heroic pose with a trident in Assassin’s Creed Odyssey.

@devilmaypie0 shared a sultry pose from Valkyria Chronicles 4.

An enemy poses in the midst of battle in this Assassin’s Creed Origins share from @ahmedzafar99.

Search #PS4Share and #PSBlog on Twitter or Instagram to see more entries to this week’s theme. Want to be featured in next week’s Share of the Week?

Theme: Warframe
Share by: 9am Pacific on Wednesday, December 5

Next week, emerge from cryo-sleep to save a solar system engulfed in the flames of war in Warframe. Make sure to share your best shots using #PS4share and #PSBlog.

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Hey everyone! We have lots of exciting Rain World news for you. We’re happy to announce that Rain World will be receiving a PlayStation content update on December 21. This update includes new game modes and local multiplayer. The update will also be accompanied by a physical release through Limited Run games.

For those unfamiliar with Rain World: Rain World is a survival platformer inspired by the simplicity of 16-bit classics. You are a Slugcat, the world around you is full of danger, and you must face it — alone. Search for your missing family in a cruel world filled with predators ready to eat you on sight. Survive by eating, hibernating and navigating your way through a huge map of over 1,600 rooms. Rain World is filled with otherworldly beauty and countless mysteries that provide hours of exploration.

New Game Modes

Rain World is a game that challenges players’ survival skills against a cruel, uncaring ecosystem. We’ve added two new game modes to accommodate different play styles. We’ve added The Monk mode for players who prefer a slower, kinder experience. When playing as the Monk, there are fewer enemies and more food for your Slugcat. It’s less intense, but don’t expect it to be easy. This is still Rain World, after all!

Next up is The Hunter. The Hunter takes the Rain World experience a step further than the base game mode. The Hunter is for players who like the intensity and difficulty of Rain World and want even more. We’ve upped the amount of food required to hibernate and added unique enemies. For Souls-like players looking for a new challenge: look no further than The Hunter.

Multiplayer and Sandbox

Multiplayer prototypes of Rain World have existed for a while. We brought this feature to Steam last year and we’re now bringing it to PlayStation. Play with friends in a fully customizable arena that lets you choose everything from the types of monster, the level of monster aggression and amount of time before the dreaded rain destroys everyone. Once you’ve created the arena you’re ready to outwit and out-survive other Slugcats. Avoid monsters and eat as much food as you can, or, just stab your Slugcat friends with a spear. It’s up to you!

Multiplayer also doubles as Sandbox mode, where you can play alone in an arena of your creation. One of the most unique and entertaining aspects of Rain World are the interactions between monsters. These are rare, special occurrences within the game but they can be orchestrated by players in Sandbox mode. What happens when a Vulture and three sea monsters are in the same area? Now you can find out and with Rain World’s unique procedural generation, your games will never play the same way twice.

Physical Edition

Last but certainly not least, we are thrilled to announce that we are partnering with Limited Run games to release a physical edition of Rain World PS4. Now you can showcase the game with its gorgeous jacket art in your home.

In addition to the physical release, Black Screen records is also bringing us the soundtrack on Vinyl. Not to brag, but the soundtrack was named the best game soundtrack of 2017 by multiple outlets, so you don’t want to sleep on this. In other exciting Rain World merch news, Sanshee just restocked their long sold-out Slugcat plushies. If you don’t have one yet, get one now. They won’t be around forever.

If you’re thinking “wow that’s a lot of cool stuff I wonder if they’re making a collector’s edition” — you’re right: we’re also releasing a collector’s edition with Limited Run Games. The collector’s edition will include the game, an exclusive art print, a Slugcat plushie, and the vinyl soundtrack. The Limited Run pre-purchase period starts December 21. There will be limited copies of these available so set an alarm now!

We can’t wait to share the content update and physical edition with PlayStation players. Rain World is available now from PlayStation Store. Save a Slugcat and play today!

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When I was in college, I decided it was time to finally play all the acclaimed PlayStation exclusives I had heard so much about. Like many college students, my main problem was money, so I did the next best thing I could think of: I went to an electronics rental store, filled out my three references for a background check, and took a PS4 home for only a week. At the time, I had no idea how much of an impact that week of binge-gaming would have on my life — but it has now led to releasing my own game, The First Tree, tomorrow on PS4.

The two games which had the biggest influence on me by far were Journey and Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture. I loved the visuals, music, and story that unfolded through poignant words or no words at all. I explored a new place and simultaneously learned something new about myself. I needed to make something beautiful like that. A few years back, my dad passed away unexpectedly from a heart attack. I wasn’t one to talk about it and had a hard time opening up, but I still wanted to communicate with others who had suffered loss — so that they could tell me it would be okay, and that I could tell them the same. I combined the inspiration I received from those aforementioned games and all the feelings of loss I had into my own story about a fox and a son.

The First Tree is a third-person exploration game centered around two parallel stories: a fox trying to find her missing family and a son reconnecting with his estranged father in Alaska. Players take control of the fox on a poignant and beautiful journey that crescendos at the source of life. Along the way, players uncover artifacts and stories from the son’s life as he becomes intertwined in the fox’s journey towards The First Tree.

The first impression some people have is that this is a fox simulator, which couldn’t be further from the truth. There are some simple puzzles and platforming sections the fox must overcome on her journey, but the game is mostly a relaxing opportunity to reflect in a beautiful, melancholy world. There are also lots of secrets to uncover in the colorful landscape…

The awesome thing about indie games is that they almost always come from the heart, and I definitely poured mine into this project. I’m grateful for all the talented artists, musicians, and programmers who allow their work to be licensed so a former film-student like myself could somehow finish a game. Big thanks to DO Games for helping me with the porting process as well. In the end each of us have our own journey to the first tree, and I hope you find meaning there like I did.

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Hey Party Pilots! With Override’s release just around the corner, we thought it would be nice to give you some mech-sized tips before the big day, December 4! Our gigantic mechs have a wide range of abilities and personalities, so we can guarantee that you will find the perfect, insanely large fighting robot to suit you! First, let’s dive into some basics.

Override’s combat is easy to learn, hard to master. To build a solid foundation, there are three core mechanics you should be familiar with: basic attacks, charged attacks, and blocking. Each have their strengths and weaknesses, and it is up to you know when to utilize them!

Basic Attacks

Basic attacks consist of your normal punches and kicks, and they are quick and easy to pull off. Although they deal the least amount of damage, basic attacks are great for interrupting charged attacks, chaining combos together and quickly building up your meter for special abilities.

Charged Attacks

While charged attacks take a bit of time to set up, their payoff is huge. A successful charged attack will send your opponent flying, and it will even break your opponent’s guard if they attempt to block it. Plus, it just looks awesome. But, be careful. A quick basic attack will interrupt a charged attack and stun you!

Blocks and Counters

Blocking with your face is a bad idea, so why not block with a cool energy shield instead?! Not only does blocking allow you to take zero damage from basic attacks and small projectiles, it also gives you the opportunity to counter punches and kicks. To execute a devastating punch counter or kick counter, press any punch or kick button respectively while blocking. If you are unsuccessful, however, you will end up in a vulnerable state where your opponent can punish you.

Staying a Step Ahead

Mastering these mechanics means you’ll always have an answer to what your opponent is cooking up. In fact, you can even bait them into punishable situations. For example, you can telegraph a charged attack to bait them into executing a counter-attack. If you cancel out of your charged attack, their counter will whiff and leave them vulnerable to attack.

Specials and Ultimates

As you dish out damage, you’ll build up your Special Meter which will allow you to execute any of four unique abilities with each mech. There are offensive abilities like Vidar’s explosive arrows, or more defensive abilities like Vintage’s EMP that stuns everyone around him.

When you’re low enough on health, you’ll have the ability to pull off a devastating Ultimate Attack to help you make a comeback. You can combo them with certain special attacks to ensure you seal the deal, like stunning an opponent with MetaGeckon’s laser, then following it up with his massive sword strike Ultimate Attack.

We’re super excited for you guys to get your hands on Override! We hoped this brief guide helped and we can’t wait to face off against you guys online. Get ready to bash some mechs in the face!

Bonus! Watch us play Override with the developers in our newest episode of PlayStation Underground

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Eyes up — the Black Armory is preparing to open its doors, and with it a new endgame activity called the “Lost Forges.” Now, we’re as voracious for new Destiny info as the next Guardian, so we reached out to Evan Nikolich, Design Director at Bungie, to learn what makes the Lost Forges tick and how this new activity will fit into the endgame of Destiny 2 once the Black Armory begins to reveal its secrets.

Where do the Lost Forges land in terms of Destiny activities? Is this something that rivals the iconic Escalation Protocol?

The Lost Forges were definitely inspired by activities like Escalation Protocol and Blind Well. That said, we wanted to give you more control over who you play with, so we added a new vector for fireteam coordination. The focus for this activity is on three-player Fireteams. We enabled matchmaking so players always know what they are getting when they engage with the Forges. This new challenge will also require a bit more coordination with throwable relics that will be required to charge the Forge. Since it’s a predictable, matchmade three-player activity, we thought we could add something on top of slaying hordes of enemies to up the challenge.

What was the inspiration for this new activity?

From inception, we always wanted this release to be about the lost weapons and the Golden Age lore about the Black Armory. In creating the activities, we thought about new and interesting ways to acquire Black Armory weapons and gear. We wanted to send players down the path of what it would mean to forge them. We wanted loot acquisition to be tied more directly to the player’s actions and less to random rewards. We wanted the forging process to be something you could enjoy over and over again. Our focus was on creating an experience that would allow players to develop new strategies quickly and feel justly rewarded upon every completion.

What type of player are you building this for? Will lower-level players be able to hop in and contribute, or is this more along the lines of a Raid Lair or Nightfall level activity?

The Lost Forges are definitely an endgame activity. They start at a power level above the current maximum of 600. Players will be able to hop in solo as we provide a matchmaking pool, but you will need to be at power to participate. The Forges will not be as challenging or demanding of a player’s time as a Raid, but if a player is under-powered, it will be an uphill climb. We hope to see players come in the first week, build strategies, grind for power, and have discussions about how to best tackle the Forges. The goal from the outset with the Lost Forges was to add to the endgame ritual play of Destiny.

New Bungie ViDoc details the new weapons, gear, and activities Guardians can look forward to in the Season of the Forge and Black Armory

What kinds of loot will Guardians earn from the Lost Forges? Will players be able to earn max-level loot from it? In the past, these type of activities have had some of the most iconic weapons in Destiny (hello, Ikelos). Will this activity have specific weapons players will want to go after?

Players will be able to earn max-level loot from the Forges, but not initially. There will be a bit of a grind to get to max power over the first few weeks and then get subsequent max power rewards from the Forges. As for iconic weapons, we definitely focused on a few key weapons in an effort to make them noteworthy and fill in what we believe to be some gaps in your arsenal. We’re all really excited about the return of Machine Guns and adding another Exotic Bow to the mix. I want to hold my cards close to my chest, though. We want the community to explore the loot offering and make the final call are what the true god-tier load-outs are.

How are the Forges similar to previous activities like Court of Oryx, Archon’s Forge, or Escalation Protocol? How are they different?

We learned [with previous endgame activities] that players love challenging endgame content that’s easy to tackle and repeat. Not every piece of endgame content has to be tough or as lengthy as a Raid or even a Nightfall Strike. Something you can jump into, be challenged, complete quickly, and then jump back into again is important to the ritual play eco-system of Destiny. We want the Lost Forges to fill that role.

Something else we know that has caused significant frustration with our prior events taking place in public spaces is that matchmaking does not always yield desirable fireteam size results. We are trying something new here by making the activity explicitly matchmade. Once a player launches, they will start searching for other players to fill out their fireteam to create three-player team. Players will know they are getting a three-player team, and because we know the fireteam size we can add bit more complexity to the activity.

Destiny 2: Forsaken Annual Pass

How many players can participate in this activity?

Three-player Fireteams is what we targeted for this activity. If you don’t have a team, we’ll build one for you in matchmaking.

How difficult are these challenges going to be?

Up front, we believe this is going to be challenging content. Players will be under-powered and will have be on top of their game to clear the Forges. As players grow in power and develop strategies, the Forges will become easier to complete. Your initial encounters in Escalation Protocol and Blind Well were stiff challenges. We expect something similar with the Lost Forges.

Will this take place in a public area a la Escalation Protocol / Blind Well, or will it be an instanced event?

It will not be in a public space. The Forges exist in new spaces, secreted away in the destinations you know. Players will launch into private match-made instance of a space with three-player fireteam.

The Season of the Forge has begun in Destiny 2: Forsaken, and owners of the Annual Pass can begin discovering the secrets of the Black Armory and the Lost Forges starting December 4.

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