Screenshot from Fortnite Season 6 Battle Pass - Now with Pets! / Fortnite / Youtube.com

Season 6 of Fortnite starts today. Here's a rundown of all the updates:

One thing that will stay the same is how the usual Weekly Challenges will be broken up into Free Challenges and Battle Pass Challenges. Before Season 5, Weekly Challenges were only accessible to players with a Battle Pass — now, there will be three Challenges for both pass holders and non-pass holders.

However, the Challenges themselves will present new gameplay. For example, you'll have the option to regain health from a Cozy Campfire in a Free Challenge. Other Free Challenges will include Pickup a Legendary Item in Different Matches and Stage 1: Search Chests. Battle Pass Challenges will include Apply Shields, Stage 1: Land at Junk Junction, Dance Under Streetlight Spotlights, and Eliminate Opponents in different locations.

After completing three Challenges, the player will unlock a mystery loading screen that contains a secret Battle Star. After completing four, the player obtains a bonus of 4,000 XP. Completing extra Challenges will gain you extra XP and Battle Stars, helping you to level up more quickly and encounter free loot, including skins, emotes, gliders, and pickaxes.

The new Battle Pass will include 100 levels and over 100 rewards. Battle Passes will cost 950 V-Bucks, available for purchase either directly in-game or earned through playtime. To gain more V-Bucks, prices in USD include: 1,000 V-Bucks for $9.99, 2,500 for $24.99, and 6,000 V-Bucks for $59.99.

Other than the new Battle Pass, the update will include Pets, little creatures that will travel with you on your adventures. Also introduced are Shadow Stones, new consumables that can be found around the map, which will also be updated. Players will be able to find floating islands, growing crops, and approaching storms.

Fortnite will also introduce a new enemy to its Save The World mode: Riot Husky, a zombie-like masked figure who carries around a refrigerator door for protection. Also, there will be a Cram Session mini-event to earn additional rewards. Other updates will fix general issues and bugs to enhance gameplay.


Amber Wang is a freelancer for Popdust, Gearbrain and various other sites. She is also a student at NYU, a photographer and a marketing intern.


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Gaming

ROLE PLAYGROUND | Ni No Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom

Somehow this game feels both traditional and totally new, and I'm loving it.

It's very easy for a JRPG to become repetitious - it can fall back into the same old tropes and get lost in its faux-grand storyline.

It's not the games aren't trying their best to be original - usually they are, but when you boil everything down it's always the same: Some evil group or person is threatening the kingdom, so a group of ragtag rebels seek to take them down all the while - something eviler lurks beneath the surface.

It's a simple formula, but it's effective. Hell, Final Fantasy has made an entire franchise out recycling that plot over and over and over and over again. But Final Fantasy makes the right changes - they fix up the game play or add a few more elements that previous games have never had before. They attempt to improve.

Level 5's Ni No Kuni II doesn't just attempt to improve - it succeeds. It takes it's simple plot, and packs it with so much fun things to do that you don't even realize that you've definitely played something like it before. Whether your mustering up your troop or building up your town Dark Cloud-style - you'll never stop having fun.

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Gaming

GAMING NEWS | Interview with the CEO & Founder of Utomik, Doki Tops!

I got a chance to share a few emails with the CEO of this fun gaming service.

Utomik

As some of you may know, I dropped some news that Utomik, a gaming subscription service, partnered with Curve Digital - a pretty awesome indie developer. While the platform isn't perfect yet, it definitely has an interesting selection of games that seems to be growing more and more each passing week. And while it doesn't give us an unlimited Netflix-esque experience yet - I feel like it's definitely on it's way. So, I emailed with CEO, Doki Tops, to figure just what makes this service special. 1

First off, tell me about your service, Utomik, in your own words.

In short, we serve people an 'all-you-can-eat' unlimited gaming buffet for a monthly subscription fee. What that means, is that with Utomik people get to play anything they want on our service, as much as they want. With a weekly growing library there's always something new for you to give a try. The beauty of a subscription service like ours is that you're not spending a cent more than the monthly fee. It enables people to go outside their comfort zone and discover something new, something they otherwise probably never have bought in a traditional digital store.

If there's something that appeals to you, you only have to press the 'Play' button and you're usually playing the game within a minute, depending on your internet connection. That's also a thing that no digital store currently offers! With our smart download tech you never have to wait hours for your game to download. Our tech calculates how much of the game you need to start playing, based on your internet connection, so you get to jump in the game really quick. The rest downloads in the background to your PC while you're playing! You can also say goodbye to updating and patching games every week!

We offer a wide variety of genres, so there's something for every type of player. We have AAA classics, retro titles, indie gems, and family-friendly games. Whether you want to play Batman: Arkham Asylum, Saints Row IV, the old Star Wars games, high-quality indies, or a casual time management title, we've got you covered!

Arkham Asylum is one of few AAA titles in the servicemedia.giphy.com

What are your goals for Utomik?

Our mission is to "Unleash Gaming". For us that means giving more people easy access to a big variety of games. That feeling when you discover something cool on Netflix is what we want to bring to gaming. So far with more than 700 games we've come a long way, but we've just started. We want to become a big player in this space. Currently we've been compared to all the big names and have come out on top quite a few times. As a small start-up that makes us really proud.

We will get more and newer content to the platform and will be expanding on our day one release strategy, we recently launched another one of those and the content we release is fresher every week. Also currently we are doing this in the realm of PC but we are looking into other platforms for the future.

What would you say separates Utomik from other game streaming platforms like Jump?

Our diversity, technology and personal approach certainly makes us stand out from the crowd. Our variety lets you play a big open world game, while the next day you want to get a little more philosophical with a deep indie title or play a hidden object game. In a family account, which we support, this becomes even more valuable.

We release a minimum of 5 titles every week to expand our portfolio, and we try to keep in mind different kinds of players. That makes it more exciting to start up Utomik and seeing what's new for you! Our technology lets you get into the game after only downloading a small part of the game. Start playing in a minute, no long downloads or patches.

And finally, unlike many platforms we have a very personal approach. We take our time to talk to every single person that wants to engage with us. Next to our main Facebook page and Twitter account, we have our Facebook Community group, a public Discord channel, four days that we livestream on Twitch, YouTube and Facebook, at two different times a day, and we make YouTube videos in which we recommend games from our library. We also interview indie developers once a week on our livestream, so people can jump in and ask them all their questions and occasionally get a sneak peek of a new project they're working on! We want to share our love of games with everybody that wants to listen. :D

Do you think that a service like Utomik is where gaming is headed?

Definitely! Otherwise we wouldn't be doing this. ;) With so many games nowadays needing very big downloads, updates and patches before you can even start playing, we see a growing request for a service like ours. You just want to click 'Play' and get into a game, not having to wait an hour.

Then there's the trend of on demand in every other entertainment industry. Netflix and Spotify let users engage with content without friction. This lets people listen to new music or unknown films without friction. This is missing in gaming and we believe it is definitely the future.

In this world it's getting harder and harder for gamers to stay up-to-date with every new game getting released. A big chunk of gamers are people with a full time job, maybe a family, and they might have other hobbies next to gaming too. They don't have the time to read every gaming website, watch Let's Plays or livestreams. They just want to sit down and play something like they do with all their other media! We take away the overload of information and let them enjoy themselves for the limited time they might have. And you can be certain that every game that we have on our platform is up to standard due to our curation. Something that can't be said for regular storefronts.

You say you hand pick your titles - how do you decide what kind of games get a spot on your service?

Every game that gets added needs to either be critically acclaimed, loved by players from that genre or niche, or have won awards. Besides that we also look if a certain game fits our audience or if we need to add titles within a certain genre to give our players more choice there. But before a game gets released on Utomik it needs to take one final hurdle: our Ninjas. They're a group of Utomik subscribers that help us curate the titles that get added. Everybody with a Utomik subscription can apply for this program but we try to keep this group as varied as possible so that every type of player is represented. We ask them to play the games we want to add and let us know what they think of them. They don't like it? Then we don't add it! Who knows better what they want to play than your own users, right? We always want to keep that human factor in our selection process. We're very proud and thankful for the group of people we have in our Ninja Squad at the moment.

This partnership with Curve Media is great! Do you want to have more of an independent presence on Utomik? Like, are you going to try for more indie games, or do you want a good mix of both indie and AAA titles?

We keep aiming for a good mix of both but a partnership like the one with Curve definitely helps us cement our position as the leading indie platform. We're being supported by a lot of indie developers and publishers at the moment already. You'll only see this number grow in the future. We push hard to get the best indie titles on our service! I can't wait to show you our upcoming games.

Everybody at Utomik is a big fan of indie games! We're very excited to give them a platform where they can reach a completely new audience, or get rediscovered by people that didn't get to play their game when it originally released.

And lastly, what would you say is the best part of Utomik?

For me it's the great games that I got to discover and play on Utomik. That, together with our staff and the community make it the best. We are lucky to have a very passionate staff and community that helps and supports us in making Utomik the best it can be. Without them we wouldn't be where we are today and I am very thankful for that.

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Gaming

GAMING TOP 10 | Another Top 10 most anticipated video games of 2018

I cannot wait to play these freaking games!

Where The Water Tastes Like Wine - Story Trailer

Earlier last month, esteemed contributor Liam Berry released his Top 10 most anticipated games of 2018 - and I figured I had to put my hat in the ring! Kicking off our newest bi-weekly column, I am going to discuss some games that I am super hyped about that aren't out yet.

2017 was a great year for video games. We had some astounding horror releases, a bunch of amazing queer-oriented games, and some pretty top notch AAA juggernauts. And now that that year has come and went, it's time to take a look at just how amazing the rest of 2018 is going to be. We've got a slew of brilliant titles heading to the market this year, and I am cautiously optimistic about how all of these games are going to turn out!

6. Where the Water Tastes Like Wine (PC) Release Date: ???

This is one of the more unique games on the list, and I almost didn't include it, until I saw that it was made by Fullbright alum and Gone Home programmer, Johnnemann Nordhagen, under his new company, Dum Bulb productions. I'm not totally sure if this game is going to be my cup of tea, but I would be lying if I didn't say that both it's incredibly style and interesting premise to leave me wanting to at least give this new game a try.

What do you think?

10. Marvel' Spider-Man (PS4) Release Date: ???

Listen, I know we've been burned in the past. A good Spider-Man game hasn't been released since the PS2! But, there's no way you can look at this trailer and not think this is going to be amazing. It seems Insomniac is taking Rocksteady and WB Montreal's lead and giving the game an Arkham-esque treatment. It's got all the trimmings to be a fun action-oriented, open-world title with what look to be stealth elements.

But will it be too similar to the Batman series we've all come to love? I don't know, and frankly, I don't care. Not only does this look beautifully vibrant and colorful, but playing as the spunky web-slinger will definitely be a change of pace from the brooding Bruce Wayne.

Am I too excited? Maybe. Could it wind up being terrible? Heck yeah. But I did say I was cautiouslly optimistic.

9. Darksiders III (PC, PS4, XBOX ONE) Release Date: ???

I am die-hard Darksiders fan. I have played both games repeatedly and loved every second of it. I don't know what it is about post-Apocalyptic video games - especially ones with personifications of things like angels and the Four Horsemen - but I can't get enough of them. Are they the best games ever created? No, of course not, but I don't care! They're so much fun.

And the best part about this one is that it has a bad-ass female lead who isn't sexualized. She also appears to be on the same playing field as her other two brothers - and honestly looks like she could kick their asses.

Who else is pumped?

8. Ni No Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom (PS4) Release Date: 3/23/18

Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch was released and immediately became a modern classic - and finally, after years of waiting, we're about get a sequel. I'll always have mixed feelings about Ni No Kuni, but even I cannot deny that it was a beautiful game with an engaging story that can still keep you hooked despite the fact that you're still learning how to play it 60-minutes in.

It seems that Revenant Kingdom is focusing just as much energy on it's characters and visuals as it's predecessor. I can't say too much about anything else, but I can tell you that I'm pretty pumped to play it.

7. Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes (SWITCH) Release Date: ???

NO. MORE. HEROES! One of the most missed games in from Nintendo's Wii era, is getting a sequel and it looks like it's going to pack a pretty hilarious punch. It's been years since I picked up a Wii-mote to slash through the top ten assassins - but I can still remember the unabashed glee the experience gave.

I wish I could say more, but given the meta-humor of the trailer and the fun stylized visuals - I can definitely say that Travis Strikes Back is going to be one helluva ride.

5. System Shock (PC, PS4, XBOX ONE) Release Date: ???

Oh man. Oh man. Oh man. So, I'm a huge fan of System Shock II. Unfortunately, I haven't had the chance to play the original (don't shoot me), but I cannot wait to see this remake come to life. After raising about 1.3 million dollars on Kickstarter, this game is set for release at some point this year. AND DOESN'T IT LOOK TERRIFYING?

I have to say, even if it's Pre-Alpha phase, this game gives you a sense of dread. It's controls look a little funky, but I'm sure that's not going to be a problem during it's full release. I'm glad to see that System Shock make it's comeback into to gaming scene - and I can't wait to boot it up on my PC!

4. Far Cry 5 (PC, PS4, XBOX ONE) Release Date: 3/27/14

I've never been a huge fan of the Far Cry series - I know it's good, but it's never been something I've been super into. I played through Far Cry 4, and while it had some beautiful visuals, I just felt the whole game was a little... "meh." Still, I know that it's a good series, and I understand why people love it as much as they.

Far Cry 5, though, seems to be a bit of departure for the series. Instead of beautiful, exotic locales fighting against warring factions of and war bosses - we're fighting against a militant evangelical cult? This is both a bold and incredibly political choice for Ubisoft, and I can't wait to see if it's paid off.

3. God of War (PS4) Release Date: 4/20/2018

Listen. No, seriously, listen. I have never liked God of War. I have gotten into huge arguments about how it's gratuitous and obnoxiously sexual for no reason - but I'll be damned if this trailer didn't blow me away. Why? Because we're finally seeing something in Kratos, the main character of the series, besides some sort of blood-hungry monster.

There's a lot here that I love: The departure from Greek Mythology and the exploration of the Norse realm; Kratos being compassionate and at least somewhat emotionally vulnerable; Kratos' SON, who looks to be as much of a ball of rage as his father! It's incredible - and a major (but welcome) departure from the usual tone of the incredibly violent series.

1. 2. Red Dead Redemption 2 (PS4, XBOX ONE) Release Date: 10/26/18

So, full disclosure, I have never played Red Dead Redemption. I know, shoot me down and burn me in a pit with the rest of the fake gamers - but I never owned a PS3 and I live on a budget, so the opportunity never arose. I know all about it though. I've seen the many Let's Plays and think pieces about it's ending and it's main character. I am aware that it has a lot of significance in the gaming community (and I'm buying it when I get my next paycheck, okay).

Saying all of that, I understand the hype around it's sequel. But I have to wonder, will it carry the same weight as it's predecessor? It certainly looks beautiful, and the characters definitely kept me engaged throughout the trailer, but time will tell.

After all, this game has a lot to live up to.

1. Kingdom Hearts 3 (PS4, XBOX ONE) Release Date: ???

I'm dead. I have died. After all, that's the only logical explanation for this. There's no way Kingdom Hearts III is actually coming out this year, is there? I mean, it's not like it's been thirteen years since I first played Kingdom Hearts II. It's not like I've played every single goddamned title Square Enix and co. have released on every freaking handheld system. I have to be dreaming, right?

NO. I'M NOT. THIS IS NOT A DRILL PEOPLE. KINGDOM HEARTS III IS SET TO RELEASE THIS YEAR! WHEN? I HAVE NO IDEA, BUT IT'S FINALLY HAPPENING! AND I AM SO PUMPED. I HAVE NEVER BEEN MORE EXCITED FOR A VIDEO GAME IN MY ENTIRE LIFE AND I HOPE THAT YOU'RE AS EXCITED AS I AM!

There you have it folks! My Top 10 most anticipated games of this year. I hope that you agree, and if you do not agree, then please leave me a constructive comment below. You can also go check out Liam's article, and see if your game is there! But let me tell you something, I think 2018 is going to be one of the biggest years for gaming yet - and I'm not just saying that because Kingdom Hearts III is getting released (JK, I totes am).
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Gaming

Top 10 | Popdust's Most Anticipated Video Games of 2018

2018 could be another rockstar year for video games, pun absolutely intended

2017 was a rough year for just about everything, but those are the perfect conditions for creating amazing art, and, yes, video games are art (even you, Call of Duty). Although it's hard to predict the indie gems and breakout success stories that often come to define a year's zeitgeist, like PUBG did for 2017, here are some of the best titles you can look forward to playing (and reading about on Popdust Gaming) in 2018.

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Gaming

VIDEO GAY-MER | Can you believe Fallout was this ahead of the game?

How many of your faves can say that they had gay marriage in their franchise since '98?

Oh Fallout...

I have so many opinions about you - and not all of them are totally positive. Hell, some of them are just downright negative. But even I have to admit that you are an iconic franchise. You took the gaming world by storm, introduced the S.P.E.C.I.A.L. (strength, perception, endurance, charisma, agility, and luck) system, and provided a much needed escape from the fantastical fantasy worlds of other RPGs of the time (okay, Wasteland did it first). Your characters have always been interesting, your lore has always been a delightful mixture of zany and serious - you're a great franchise.

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