Call Of Duty: Black Ops 6 Multiplayer Weekend Betas Announced

Call Of Duty: Black Ops 6 Multiplayer Weekend Betas Announced

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 launches in October, but players can get in early via a pair of open betas. Activision is running two of these beta periods during consecutive weekends, and the dates and times for each have been revealed. 

Here is when you can jump into each beta: 

Weekend 1: Early Access (for preorder customers/Xbox Game Pass subscribers) – August 30 at 10 a.m. PT to September 4 at 10 a.m. PT

Weekend 2: Open Beta (for everyone) – September 6 at 10 a.m. PT to September 9 at 10 a.m. PT

Both betas are multiplayer only and will feature several online modes, weapons, equipment, and perks for players to tinker with. 

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 launches on October 25 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. Set in 1991 during the Gulf War, the espionage-themed campaign centers on a mysterious organization’s infiltration of the U.S. government. The Black Ops agents must go rogue to stop this threat, which takes players across the globe with new faces and returning favorites like Woods and Adler. You can learn more about the game by checking out our Summer Game Fest preview here.

The Casting Of Frank Stone Terrorizes Players This September

The Casting Of Frank Stone Terrorizes Players This September

The Casting of Frank Stone, Supermassive Games’ single-player narrative-driven horror game set in the Dead by Daylight universe, has a release date. This intriguing horror collaboration will arrive on September 3, and a new trailer provides a proper introduction of the main cast. 

Developed by Supermassive (Until Dawn, The Quarry) and published by Dead by Daylight developer Behaviour Interactive, The Casting of Frank Stone stars five teenagers – Christine Gordon, Jaime Rivera, Linda Castle, Robert Green, and Bonnie Rivera – who film their own horror movie in an abandoned steel mill. Unfortunately, this mill has ties to a notorious murderer named Frank Stone, and the youth’s innocent art project goes horribly wrong.

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We still don’t know much about the narrative other than that it is set within the world of Dead by Daylight and takes place in the town of Cedar Mills during the summer of 1980. Gameplay-wise, The Casting of Frank Stone follows a similar blueprint to Supermassive’s previous horror titles in that it’s a choice-driven adventure where characters can be permanently killed off based on your decisions. You can check out a recent gameplay trailer here to see it in action. 

The Casting of Frank Stone is coming to PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. 

Xbox 360 ‘Blades’ Interface Returns As Dynamic Background Ahead Of Digital Store Closure

Xbox 360 ‘Blades’ Interface Returns As Dynamic Background Ahead Of Digital Store Closure

The Xbox 360 digital store shuts down later this month on July 26. Amid a wave of price reductions and other end-of-life updates, nostalgic fans can relive the console’s earliest days via a new dynamic background modeled after the old “Blades” interface.

For those too young to remember or didn’t get an Xbox 360 until years later, the Blades interface was the console’s first dashboard design. It was the first thing players saw from the console’s launch in 2005 until it was updated to an entirely different interface in 2008. Navigating it felt smooth as butter, and some diehards still believe it’s the best UI of any Xbox console. 

Although it’s less detailed, and you can’t flip through the Blades of this dynamic background and hear that satisfying “whoosh” sound, it’s nice to see Microsoft acknowledge the 360’s like this. Here’s how you to make the Blades your Xbox background:

  • Press the Xbox button on your controller to open the guide.
  • Navigate to Profile & system > Settings > General > Personalization > My background > Dynamic backgrounds.
  • Choose Xbox 360 Blades under Featured or Xbox dynamic backgrounds
  • Select the background art you want using the A button.

You can read more about the impending Xbox 360 store closure and final updates by visiting this Xbox Wire article.

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Dead By Deadlight Gets Lara Croft Survivor Today, 2v8 Mode And Cross Progression On The Way

Dead by Daylight’s 8th-anniversary stream revealed a few big updates for the popular asymmetrical horror game. The most immediate is the addition of Lara Croft as the game’s latest crossover survivor along with the impending addition of the much-requested 2v8 mode. 

Tomb Raider Chapter

Lara Croft (the 2013 reboot version, specifically) joins DBD today, and though she lacks her pistols and bow, she sports three new perks highlighting her adventuring prowess. Here’s an explanation of each per DBD’s website:

  • Finesse: Your fast vaults are faster when healthy, with a cooldown after a successful use.
  • Hardened: When you open a Chest and cleanse or bless a Totem, Hardened activates for the duration of the Trial. From that point, every time you scream, you’ll instead reveal the Killer’s Aura.
  • Specialist: When you open or rummage through a Chest, gain 1 Token (up to 3). When you do a Great Skill Check, consume a Token to reduce the max required Generator progress.

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2v8 Mode

On July 25, a new 2v8 multiplayer mode descends into the game. This pits two Killers against eight survivors in expanded versions of five classic maps. The number of generators has been doubled, and Survivors must now repair 8 out of 13 to escape. Captive Survivors are now sent directly into cages, and Survivor perks have been reworked into a new role system designed to encourage teamwork. 

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Cross-Progression

Cross-progression is being implemented on July 22. This means players can now sync their progress across multiple owned versions of the game. Everything can be shared across any platform except for Switch, which has a few restrictions as you can see in the chart below. 

Dead By Deadlight Gets Lara Croft Survivor Today, 2v8 Mode And Cross Progression On The Way

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Today’s stream also revealed a new trailer and the release date for The Casting of Frank Stone, the single-player DBD game developed by Supermassive Games (Until Dawn, The Quarry). You can read all about that here.

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