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Apex Legends Mobile Now Launches Pre-Registration For iOS In Recent Announcement

As many can gather from the current state of Apex Legends, a new platform is among the growingly popular battle royale: mobile. While initially as a conventional first-person shooter, the game has shifted to smartphones with limited beta testing in select regions with anticipation of the new versions to drop at a global scale very soon. With the game already finding a soft launch in certain territories alongside China enjoying this port of the game for more than a year already, the timing appears to be in favor of other western countries as of recent. In that, pre-registration went up for Google Play Store. However, the App Store is still absent from the support at the time. But in a new announcement more recently, Respawn Entertainment reveals that pre-registration for iOS is now live and users on the platform can sign-up for the pre-registration goodies that will come as a nod to supporting the game ahead of its release for smartphones. More exciting about the anticipatedly soon release for Apex Legends Mobile is the support for cross-platform progression. While you can own the game and play on multiple platforms, you cannot convert your progress to said systems. Currently, progression is unique to one platform with no word on when it will arrive. And thanks to the recent waves of hacking attacks to Respawn titles, the initiative has been further delayed the team told in the past. On another note, it uncertain how the game will be in correspondence to its mobile versions. The game is structured especially different than the ports and it has yet to be confirmed if the mobile iterations will be up to date. This week, the developer revealed Season 13 – Saviors is to ship on May 10th. You can read the full report by heading here. Are you excited for Apex Legends Mobile? Apex Legends is currently available for Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, PC, and Nintendo Switch.

Sony Confirms Subscription Stacking To Be Blocked Ahead Of New Tiers Coming Soon

When it comes to the recent slew of news for PlayStation services, the entirety of PlayStation Plus & PlayStation Now is being restructured to fit a new business model. On one hand, Sony Interactive Entertainment is combining the two into specific tiers with Essential, Extra, and Premium options. However, there is still more progress that could be made. Noted, the Premium tier is said to introduce more to the platform with PlayStation 3 games to be featured for legacy backwards compatibility. But it will be through game streaming rather than native support. Howbeit, it was revealed recently that Sony Interactive Entertainment is building a new game preservation division within the PlayStation firm which could benefit the service later on. In a new update uncovered over on the PlayStation Plus FAQ on the PlayStation website, it reveals that subscription stacking will be effectively blocked. More specifically, it appears the decision was made in anticipation for the new tier options coming in the approaching weeks as a protocol to prevent users from taking advantage of the new business model. “If you currently have a PS Plus or PS Now membership, due to changes we are making to the service prior to launch, you won’t be able to redeem a voucher code for that service until your existing membership expires and deactivates, or after the new PS Plus service launches in your area, whichever happens first,” the firm wrote in the FAQ. For those concerned of currently stacked subscriptions, the firm told it will honor your purchase and be converted to the equivalent of the respected tier(s). “The PS Plus or PS Now voucher you redeem will be converted to a length of time on your current PS Plus membership plan equivalent to the monetary value of the voucher you are redeeming. For example, a 1-month PS Plus voucher will provide access to approximately 3 weeks of PS Plus Extra or approximately 2.5 weeks of PS Plus Premium.” Other moves made on behalf of Sony Interactive Entertainment affects game developers as of late also. In that, a new report reveals that wholesale titles over $34 will now require teams to ship listings with game demos for potential consumers. You can read the full report by heading here. Are you surprised by the move on behalf of the PlayStation firm? Source: PlayStation Plus FAQ

Report: Wholesale Games On PlayStation 5 Will Require A Time-limited Game Trial/Demo

In the recent news wave for PlayStation 5, Sony Interactive Entertainment is preparing the entire family of systems for the new PlayStation Plus/PlayStation Now subscription tiers. Later this June in select regions, the service will introduce the Essential, Extra, and Premium tiers to the platform. Additionally, the most expensive tier is said to debut PlayStation 3 titles – via streaming that is. Elsewhere, President & CEO Jim Ryan told that the firm does not plan to include day one releases to the new business model alike its competitor Xbox Game Pass. It is said to dilute the impression of titles from PlayStation Studios. However, a new report has surfaced suggesting that the firm is preparing more for games that ship on the platform. From Game Developer, Sony Interactive Entertainment is adding a new requirement for all developers that release games on the platform: there must be a time-limited game demo or trial for users to access prior to purchasing. Originally, this was perceived to be a mandatory move for all games retail, but it was later clarified for only wholesale titles. For those unfamiliar with the term, wholesale is defined as a title that is more than $34 in price before it is heavily discounted. So games that sink below that price point will not be required to offer this on the PlayStation Store. The news does come as a surprise from the firm, however, this is not the first time Sony Interactive Entertainment passed a blanketed demand towards game studios. Prior to the release of PlayStation 5, the firm issued a new initiative for all teams making games for PlayStation 4: June 13, 2020 and after will require games to be supported for PlayStation 5 as well. You can read the full report by heading here. Are you surprised by the decision from Sony Interactive Entertainment? Source: Game Developer

Review: Dynasty Warriors 9 Empires

Warriors 9: Empires is the newest entry, focusing on the spin-off, empire-building, and character creation fans love. In the past, Empires has typically focused on sandbox gameplay more than telling a story. From the perspective of many different characters while never delving too deeply into anyone’s account in particular. You would see a few battles from various characters such as Guan Yu, Lu Bu, and countless others. The overall gameplay of DW9 is the same as the past. You are given a roster of characters to choose two officers from for each battle – some rosters are more limited than others depending on the fight. As you play those characters, they gain experience and mastery of their equipped weapons and horses. During the battles, you will collect new weapons and skill points and gems to use to customize your characters even further. Each character has a skill tree which allows you to unlock better stats or new moves to use as the character grows in strength. For instance, you can unlock the passive ability to have a “second wind” when your character’s health reaches zero – they are automatically revived one time during the fight. Another example of upgrades are unlocking multiple special attack gauges that allow you to use the ability multiple times in a row. These aspects are pretty familiar to fans of the genre. In combat, you are able to select four abilities to call upon in battle. These can be buffs which allow you to deal more damage or bolster your defense. They can also be attacking abilities such as sprinting full speed into a group of enemies or performing huge attacks that sweep across the screen. These abilities are usable multiple times but have a short cooldown between uses. This separates older entries that may have relied purely on pressing combinations of light attacks and heavy attacks to perform a variation or special attack.  Weapons are still customizable as in previous Warriors games. Weapons are given ranks, attack stats, and modifiers dictated by the gems you add to a weapon. For instance, you may find a weapon with eight gem slots, and you can pick and choose which modifiers you want to add to a weapon. You may want your glaive to have a more extended range of attack, with a wind element, and when you kill an officer, you gain a buff to your speed for 30 seconds. This is achievable and up to the player to choose how they want to customize their weapons. These gems can also be upgraded to produce more significant effects. The most significant update in empires is the visuals. The characters are beautifully rendered with a cell shading ink that gives new life to the officers we have seen in many entries. The attack animations, combined with the sheer number of enemies on the screen simultaneously, are quite a sight. I had to see at least 100 enemies on the field at a given time, mostly flying through the air as I performed giant attacks to knock them off their feet. Overall, I think there is much to like here with Dynasty Warriors 9 Empires. Fans of the genre will enjoy the updated visuals, and how focused the empire building is compared to the last few games.