July 2021

Blizzard’s recently publicized sexual harassment and discrimination lawsuit filed by the state of California is just the latest in a long string of controversies. Between massive layoffs, numerous reports on its toxic workplace, and highly anticipated launches reportedly sabotaged by mismanagement, the last few years have dramatically altered the perception of what used to be PC gaming’s darling developer. This timeline covers Blizzard’s most notable controversies and high-profile departures since 2018. These events help paint a broad picture of Blizzard’s recent turmoil over the past few years and can also give some useful context in its changing corporate culture and…

The PCI Express Gen 4 interface is rapidly approaching default status, especially if you’re talking new as opposed to installed hardware. Intel’s latest desktop and mobile CPUs support it, AMD having jumped on the PCIe 4.0 wagon back in 2019. The Xbox Series X/S and Playstation 5 also support the standard. As for solid-state drives, we’re now well through the early adopter stage, with numerous high-end PCIe 4.0 drives available, plus several value drives. The new ADATA XPG Gammix S50 Lite, sampled here in 2TB configuration and M.2 2280 format, falls into the latter category. But where some Gen 4…

From 2010 to 2014 Richard Cobbett wrote Crapshoot, a column about rolling the dice to bring random obscure games back into the light. This week, a Russian adventure that’s not as porny as it sounds, but whose surrealism might make you gag in a very different way… Sorry. Normally I try to find something interesting and a little bit unusual for you. This week though, I’m afraid we’re going to have to resort to that most tired and cliched of gaming staples: secret agents struggling with sexual inadequacy after being bitten on the penis by a poisoned penguin. And they…

It’s a big deal for Halo that Halo Infinite’s multiplayer includes bots. It’s a first for the 20-year-old series, aside from the PvE Firefight mode that debuted with Halo ODST and the bots in a single game mode in Halo 5 called Warzone that was cool in theory, but also saddled with microtransactions. Bots being available in every multiplayer mode means Halo newcomers can practice against easier opponents, and players who love Capture the Flag but don’t want to deal with other human beings online can just jam by themselves. I expected all of this going into Infinite’s technical test,…

The needler never gets the respect it deserves. Halo fans have always raved about the Halo 1 pistol and the battle rifle, or the plasma sword or the Halo Reach grenade launcher or even the Covenant carbine, but dammit: I love the needler. And it looks like the combat designers for Halo Infinite do, too, because after a couple hours of hands-on with the multiplayer technical test, I think this might be the strongest the needler’s ever been. I love the tiktiktiktik sound it makes as it fires out a quick sequence of razorlike purple crystals. I love that it…

Valve has not had great luck making hardware. The Steam Controller failed to revolutionize the controller scene despite its innovative design, the Steam Link worked well but was muscled out by a less-impressive app, and the ballyhooed Steam Machines basically faceplanted right out of the gate. The Index is an impressive unit, but hasn’t sparked a meaningful uptick in VR adoption since its release. We said earlier this month that Steam Machines could be seen as a cautionary tale for early proponents of the Steam Deck, Valve’s upcoming handheld gaming device. But in an interview with IGN, Valve designers Greg…

Epic has announced new details on the exclusive Fortnite Crew skin for August. It looks like subscribers will be treated to a version of season 2’s Skye character, dressed up in appropriately summery shorts and a T-shirt. We’ve got all the details you need to know, including what other cosmetics Fortnite Crew subscribers are getting in August, when Summer Skye is releasing, and more. Don’t forget that if you want July’s Fortnite Crew skin, Marvel’s Loki, you’ll need to subscribe before the end of the month or risk losing out on it forever. Fortnite Crew August: Summer Skye skinHere’s a…