Dead by Daylight fans can check out the Dungeons and Dragons chapter starting today, but Behaviour Interactive teased another high-profile crossover during an anniversary showcase on Tuesday. A Castlevania chapter is on the way to DbD. There aren't any details yet about what that will include, but you just might get to play as Alucard or Simon Belmont in the fog. Behaviour plans to divulge more info about the Castlevania tie-up, which will arrive later this year, in August.
As for the Dungeons and Dragons chapter, which brings a dark fantasy element to DbD for the first time, Behaviour spilled the beans on that during the stream. PC players will be able to try out the chapter on the public test build today before it goes live for everyone on June 3.
The new killer is Vecna (the D&D version rather than the Stranger Things baddie) and stalwart video game actor and Critical Role mastermind Matt Mercer is voicing the character. The latest survivor is actually two identities in one. It's a bard character that you can opt to play as an elf female or human male, bringing a slight element of D&D-style character creation to DbD.
The chapter will also include a new map, which (surprise, surprise) is a dungeon. Whenever you're up against Vecna, you'll be able to find treasure chests which will trigger a roll of a 20-sided die when opened. Rolling a one will net you a nasty surprise while getting a 20 grants you a powerful magical item. Roll any number in between and you'll get a helpful item.
Speaking of maps, there will be larger ones to check out in an upcoming new mode. DbD has long pitted four survivors against one killer. A pair of killers will soon be able to team up and hunt eight survivors. They'll be able to take advantage of team powers too.
There will be a lot of changes for this 2 vs. 8 mode, which will be around for a limited time at first. Perks will be jettisoned in favor of a class system, and there won't be any hooks. Downed survivors will instead go straight to a cage. If a survivor is caged three times, they're out of the game. Behaviour sees this as more of a party mode as opposed to the competitive nature of 1 vs. 4. The 2 vs. 8 mode is slated to arrive later this summer, and you can expect to find out more about it in July.
Behaviour also had some news about several DbD spinoff games that are in the works. The Casting of Frank Stone is a single-player, narrative-focused game set in the DbD universe and developer Supermassive has released the first gameplay trailer.
The spinoff tells the story of a group of young people who venture into a condemned steel mill in 1980 while attempting to film their own horror movie. There, they discover evidence of crimes committed by serial killer Frank Stone.
The gameplay sounds very familiar for those who have experience of previous Supermassive games like Until Dawn and The Quarry. The direction of the story will shift based on your narrative decisions and how you handle environmental puzzles and quick-time events. The Casting of Frank Stone, which is said to be about five to seven hours long, is slated to arrive later this year.
An untitled co-op shooter spinoff from Midwinter Entertainment is still in early development, but it now has a codename: Project T. It'll be a third-person game and unlike the survivors in DbD, you'll actually be able to fight back against enemies using guns. Fans who want to find out more can sign up for an insider program, which will include updates, closed playtests and the chance to provide feedback.
That's not all though, as Behaviour announced yet another DbD spinoff. What the Fog is a two-person co-op roguelike that it developed in-house. The premise is that DbD survivors Claudette and Dwight are sucked into a cursed board game, Jumanji-style. The game is mainly played in third-person, but if you die you'll move into a bird's-eye support mode, where you can help your teammate survive. Just like in DbD, you'll need to interact with a hook to revive your ally. There's a single-player mode, while Feng Min is an unlockable character.
What the Fog shares some elements with DbD. You'll need to pick up tokens called blood points by roaming the map and killing enemies. These let you activate generators so you can escape a room. You'll get a buff from each generator and acquire a weapon upgrade after each round. There are bosses to take down too. What the Fog also has a more cartoony look than DbD's more realistic art style.
I've played a few rounds of the single-player mode and I'm enjoying it quite a bit so far. The metal soundtrack and monster-slaying chaos actually reminds me a bit of the Doom series. After unlocking a door, I'd suggest sticking around in the room a while longer to kill some more enemies and snag a bunch of blood points. That way, you'll be able to repair the next room's generators quickly and power up before taking on a fresh army of monsters.
What the Fog is available now on Steam. The first 2 million copies are available for free, though you'll need a Behaviour account to claim one. If you're not quick enough to snag a free copy or just feel like giving Behavior a few bucks, the game costs $5.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/castlevania-is-coming-to-dead-by-daylight-later-this-year-164509826.html?src=rss In a couple of months, you'll be able to get Microsoft's mobile games from its own store. Xbox President Sarah Bond has revealed at the Bloomberg Technology Summit that the company is launching a web-based store where you can download its mobile games and get add-ons or in-app purchases at a discount. Bond said the company has decided to launch a browser-based store instead of an app to make it "accessible across all devices, all countries, no matter what" so that you don't get "locked to a single ecosystem."
Microsoft will only host its own games to start with, which means it will feature a lot of titles from Activision Blizzard. If you'll recall, it snapped up the gaming developer and publisher in a $70 billion deal that closed last year. You'll most likely find Candy Crush Saga, which has apparently generated $20 billion in revenue since it launched in 2012, and Call of Duty's mobile games in the first batch of titles available for download. Bond said that Minecraft may also be one of the first games you can get.
An Xbox spokesperson told Bloomberg that this is "just the first step in [the company's] journey to building a trusted app store with its roots in gaming." Microsoft plans to open the app store to third-party publishers in the future, though it didn't share a timeline for that goal.
The company first announced its intention to launch a gaming store for Android and iOS devices last year shortly before rules under the EU's Digital Markets Act became applicable. To comply with DMA rules, Apple and Google have to allow third-party app stores to be accessible on their platforms and to offer alternative billing systems for purchases. They're also compelled to allow app sideloading, which will be a massive change for Apple, a company known for its "walled garden" approach to business.
Operators of third-party app stores will get to avoid some of the fees Google and Apple charge, but they'd still have to pay the companies for bypassing their mobile platforms' official stores. Both tech giants have already outlined how they're changing things up to comply with the DMA regulations. The companies' rivals found the changes they're making insufficient, however, prompting the European Commission to start investigating their compliance plans.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/microsofts-web-based-mobile-game-store-opens-in-july-090044359.html?src=rss Sega has announced its latest iteration of the many Sonic titles: a game called Sonic Rumble that will be coming exclusively to mobile devices. The "multiplayer action game" is reminiscent of Mediatonic's Fall Guys, which even offers a version called Sonic's Adventure. Both games can accommodate up to 32 players, have minigames and are battle royale-style, with only one player left standing as the winner. In Sonic Rumble, players can also collect rings to get new costumes and accessories.
Sonic Rumble isn't the first game to compete with Fall Guys. Kitka Games released Stumble Guys (big name change there) globally in early 2021 and has seen massive success. Like Sega, Kitka targeted mobile users — an area Fall Guys avoided.
While Sega doesn't expect to release Sonic Rumble until the winter, you can get in on the action relatively soon. The company is recruiting closed beta testers to try out the game in different time slots between Friday, May 24 and Sunday, May 26. You can register here anytime before Sunday, May 19 at 11:59PM PT, and Sega will email you if you're selected. Until then, you can get a sneak peek of the game in its announcement trailer.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/segas-next-sonic-game-looks-a-lot-like-fall-guys-124524392.html?src=rss