News:: NetherRealm's mobile games get new characters for Mortal Kombat's 25th!

You'd think that touch screen controls and fighting game inputs wouldn't go together well, but somehow NeatherRealm Studios managed to pull off multiple fighting games on mobile devices. While they are basically heavily compromised versions of their console counterparts, WWE Immortals is actually a fairly original take on tag battles with outlandish approximations of WWE superstars. What more could you ask for?

More characters? Well, ask and you shall receive. To commemorate the 25th anniversary of Mortal Kombat, Klassic Scorpion will be heading to Injustice, Xavier Woods will be getting a Raiden costume in WWE Immortals, Raiden will be heading to Injustice 2 and Shao Khan will be heading to Mortal Kombat X alongside two versions of Goro (Klassic and Tigar Fury). That may not be a large amount of characters, but having Scorpion in more games is never a problem. Also, Xavier Woods looks pretty bad ass as Raiden.

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News:: Nintendo Switch firmware 4.0 finally allows video capture

When Nintendo unveiled the Switch, one of the promised features for the system was the ability to capture video. Nintendo never gave a specific date for that update, but it looks like it has suddenly appeared out of nowhere! With the Switch's 4.0 firmware update, you can now record 30 second clips (in select games) to your system which can then be edited and shared online without having to use external software!

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News:: inXile is now 'exploring ideas' for Nintendo Switch

Wasteland 2 and Torment: Tides of Numenera developer inXile Entertainment doesn't have any Nintendo Switch announcements to make quite yet, but we're one critical step closer to that happening.

According to inXile CEO Brian Fargo, the developers have been "approved" for Switch.

We are now approved Nintendo Switch Developers.... stay tuned for future news. We are fans of the Switch and our devs are exploring ideas.

— Brian Fargo (@BrianFargo) October 18, 2017

It's worth noting that The Bard's Tale IV and Wasteland 3 are in production for 2018 and 2019, respectively, and the latter game is planned for release on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.

I'm of the opinion that basically all Switch port news is good news, but this stands out somewhat; inXile makes a particular type of game that isn't as well-represented on Nintendo's platform.

Brian Fargo [Twitter]

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News:: Those mini PS4 controllers are coming to North America

We touched on Hori's upcoming Mini Wired Gamepad for PlayStation 4 and a number of you fine folks expressed interest in the device for either yourself or your little loved ones. While these controllers were originally announced for Europe, they've since been confirmed for North America, too.

The gamepads are 40 percent smaller than the standard DualShock 4 and they have a 10-foot cable. Sony notes that they do lack a touch pad, light bar, stereo headset jack, speaker, vibration, and motion sensing, but apparently "certain touch pad inputs can be simulated via the left or right sticks."

The Mini Gamepads will be out in the US and Canada "this holiday" for $29.99 USD and $39.99 CAD.

Introducing the Mini Wired Gamepad for PS4 [PlayStation Blog]

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News:: ‘Lawbreakers’ adds new content despite few players

Despite a player count that's bottomed out at ten people in the last week, Lawbreakers is forging ahead with a content release that includes two new maps and the launch of competitive mode, Boss League. The number of players has been reliably under a hundred every night, but studio Boss Key Productions is keeping its promise to continue on its roadmap of DLC.

Source: Lawbreakers

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News:: Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle's new DLC is intimidating

Every week or so I feel like I hear someone else casually mention they've full-cleared Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle. If that describes you and you have gaming time to spare before Super Mario Odyssey monopolizes your Nintendo Switch for the foreseeable future, hey, this might be relevant!

The season pass continues this week with the Ultra Challenge Pack (available standalone for $6.99), which adds eight Ultra Hard challenges and a five-map cooperative campaign. If you're ready and willing, you'll be able to take on these new challenges in each world's secret chapter.

The next batch of DLC -- some "unexpected" new story content -- is scheduled for 2018.

I'm planning on Kingdom Battle being one of those mid- to late-December games you get around to once everything else has slowed to a crawl. I want to take my sweet time for a few weeks.

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News:: Five Hit Fighters - A card game I have been dreaming up

_{[Taterchimp has been working on a card game called Five Hit Fighters, and he’d like to hear some feedback from the Destructoid community. It’s a really cool concept, and I’d love to give it a shot some day! It's always fun hearing about the crazy projects that folks can cook up. – Kevin]}

If you follow my quick posts lately, you can tell that I have been obsessed with the strategy RPG genre. I started with SteamWorld Heist - a game that I picked up on some Steam sale (irony) and finally got around to playing. I quickly found myself devoting all my time off work to playing it. After I beat it, I knew that I wanted to play more and more but didn’t want to jump right back into a NG+ or higher difficulty, so I looked in my library for similar games, and oh, hey XCOM. How you doing? So I started XCOM: Enemy Unknown and quickly became engrossed in that. See, I love games where I have to learn. A proxy for education, I guess. I researched every facet of that game and beat it in a short 20 hours. Then I picked up XCOM 2 which went on sale, literally, the day after I beat the first one. I’m now 50 hours into XCOM 2, so I have a passion.

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News:: Review: The Evil Within 2

In one of The Evil Within 2's early chapters, Sebastian Castellanos stumbles onto a familiar scene. As he wanders through darkened corridors, chasing leads in desperate hope of recovering his missing daughter, the former detective enters a room that's best described as a stand-in for Twin Peak's Red Room. Rich, velvety curtains hang in front of him. Black and white patterned tiling spills out beneath his feet, not unlike the Room's chevron flooring. This location is a far cry from his previous surroundings. It's a transient place, existing somewhere between Sebastian's waking world and the shared reality created by connected minds at the center of The Evil Within's fiction.

This allusion defines one aspect of The Evil Within 2. Like its predecessor, the survival horror game can't resist nodding and emulating elements of other franchises. Its DNA is muddy, mixing gameplay systems and tonal stylings with abandon. If you examine it from one angle, The Evil Within 2 is a strange mashup of horror's greatest hits held together by a leash of semi-open exploration. From another, it's a remarkable mood piece that draws players in with familiarity only to subtly shift attention towards something altogether new. There aren't many games like this one, even though it sometimes feels like it's all been done before.

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News:: LawBreakers lands ranked mode and multi-region queuing tomorrow

Despite a dwindling player base, Boss Key Productions is still coming out with updates for LawBreakers.

The latest one, the All-Star Update, centers on a new competitive ranked mode called Boss Leagues. After making it through ten placement matches, players will fall into one of six tiers (from Bronze all the way up to Boss). The first season is actually Beta Season 0, allowing the developers the time needed "to collect feedback from participants to help improve the mode." Ranked is all well and good, but you can't talk about any of this stuff without acknowledging how few people are playing right now.

Worth noting: Boss Key is adding "improved tutorials" and "multi-region queuing."

When the update goes live tomorrow at 10:00am Pacific, LawBreakers players will also get a new Blitzball arena map, Gateway, and a "Blood Moon" variant of the existing Redfalls map.

I'd love to see this game make a comeback but gosh is it getting hard to envision that scenario.

All-Star Update [LawBreakers]

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News:: Destiny 2's first Prestige raid spruces things up, but doesn't fix fundamental issues

Today marks the launch of Destiny 2's "Prestige" mode for its sole raid -- Leviathan. If you're confused it's because this new hard version was delayed for a week and a day due to exploits, and it lives up to its namesake.

It's definitely tougher and more fun for those who are seeking a bigger challenge, but there's one major problem: the rewards are still unsatisfying.

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News:: South Park: The Fractured but Whole shuts down cheaters by clowning on the New England Patriots

South Park: The Fractured but Whole has a way of deflating the spirits of shortcut-takers. There's a rudimentary puzzle early on where you're supposed to find a keycode by looking through Cartman's diary. It's memorable enough in that the password is "Fuck you, mom."

But, as Kotaku notes, the game isn't going to let you get by without a trip upstairs. Try it and New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick comes to degrade you for being a cheater like Tom Brady. (Kind of ironic given that Belichick himself is a documented cheater.)

South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone are no strangers to dunking on the Patriots. Brady's cheating is a motivating factor in the season 19 premiere where Cartman tries to overthrow PC Principal. Everyone broke the rules.

South Park: The Fractured But Whole Yells At You If You Try To Cheat [Kotaku]

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News:: Score extra savings on PSN sales with 10% off store credit

PlayStation gamers should take note as a popular deal from August is back.

We've updated all the prices below and have included some of the more noteworthy titles the 10% off coupon will work on. We've also added some choice picks in the PlayStation Network Halloween sale below. (Note the 10% code is for GMG and not PSN).

You can check out a breakdown of all the deals here.

10% Off PS4 Deals

Use coupon: SUCHWOW10

PSN Store Credit

• $50 PSN Store Credit (Digital Code) — $45  (list price $50)
• $20 PSN Store Credit (Digital Code) — $18  (list price $20)
• $10 PSN Store Credit (Digital Code) — $9  (list price $10)

PS Plus

• PlayStation Plus 12-Month Subscription (Digital Code) — $53.99  (list price $60)
• PlayStation Plus 3-Month Subscription (Digital Code) — $22.49  (list price $25)

Recent & Upcoming Releases

• Gran Turismo Sport (PS4 Download) — $53.99  (list price $60)
• Middle-earth: Shadow of War (PS4 Download) — $53.99  (list price $60)
• Lost Sphear (PS4 Download) — $44.99  (list price $50)
• Secret Of Mana (PS4 Download) — $35.99  (list price $40)

More PS4 DL Deals

• Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite Deluxe Edition (PS4 Download) — $80.99  (list price $90)
• Agents of Mayhem (PS4 Download) — $53.99  (list price $60)
• Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite (PS4 Download) — $53.99  (list price $60)
• NBA 2K18 (PS4 Download) — $53.99  (list price $60)
• Knack 2 (PS4 Download) — $35.99  (list price $40)
• Matterfall (PS4 Download) — $17.99  (list price $20)
• Life is Strange: Before the Storm (PS4 Download) — $15.29  (list price $17)

PSN Halloween Sale

(Note: All prices below require PS Plus)

• Alien: Isolation - The Collection (PS4 Download) — $11.99  (list price $40)
• Dead Island Definitive Collection (PS4 Download) — $11.99  (list price $40)
• Dead Island Definitive Edition (PS4 Download) — $4.99  (list price $20)
• Dead Island Riptide Definitive Edition (PS4 Download) — $4.99  (list price $20)
• Dead Rising (PS4 Download) — $7.99  (list price $20)
• Dead Rising 2 (PS4 Download) — $7.99  (list price $20)
• Dead Rising 2 Off The Record (PS4 Download) — $7.99  (list price $20)
• Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (PS4 Download) — FREE  (list price $20)
• Outlast: Bundle of Terror (PS4 Download) — $7.24  (list price $29)
• Plants vs. Zombies Garden Warfare 2 (PS4 Download) — $7.99  (list price $20)
• Resident Evil 0 HD Remaster (PS4 Download) — $7.99  (list price $20)
• Resident Evil 4 (PS4 Download) — $9.99  (list price $20)
• Resident Evil 5 (PS4 Download) — $7.99  (list price $20)
• Resident Evil 6 (PS4 Download) — $7.99  (list price $20)
• Resident Evil HD Remaster (PS4 Download) — $7.99  (list price $20)
• Sleeping Dogs Definitive Edition (PS4 Download) — $7.49  (list price $30)
• The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Complete Edition (PS4 Download) — $19.99  (list price $40)

Game deals from Dealzon. Sales help support Destructoid.

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News:: Sony to publish indie games on Nintendo Switch and PC

The console wars are not over, but there are some signs that collaboration may yet win out. While Sony continues to opt out of the "Better Together" Minecraft initiative to bring cross-platform play to all platforms, it looks to be making games for non-Sony devices, including the Nintendo Switch. In a Japanese-language press release, the company just announced a new publishing label named Unties, which comes from the idea of unleashing the talents of game creators.

Via: Geek.com

Source: Sony

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News:: Mecha-Zangief in Dead Rising 4 seems like a good idea

Here's a little more on Capcom Heroes, a free new mode in the works for Dead Rising 4 that'll let you don special costumes based on characters from other Capcom series. Last time, I was stoked to see Sissel from Ghost Trick. This time I'm all about that metallic wonder Mecha-Zangief.

Other costumes include Cammy, Akuma, M. Bison, and Ryu -- specifically Hot Ryu. Capcom knows.

Capcom Heroes is targeting a December 5, 2017 launch. It'll be a free update on PC and Xbox One, otherwise, if you're picking up the PS4 edition releasing that same day, the mode will be included.

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News:: PlayStation's latest gamepad is made especially for kids

PlayStation's next step toward console-gaming domination is getting its gamepads in smaller hands. To do that, it has partnered with vaunted accessory-maker Hori on the Mini Wired Gamepad for the PlayStation 4. Sony says that the controller is 40 percent smaller than the standard DualShock 4, and, honestly, a bulk of that size difference probably came from lopping off the DS4's handles. Its 10-foot cables should be long enough to reach most couches, too.

Source: PlayStation Blog, Sony

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News:: Middle-earth: Shadow of War is getting an endless mode for its final chapter

Without explicitly spoiling anything, Middle-earth: Shadow of War has a final chapter (Shadow Wars) that basically serves as an epilogue of sorts. Right now it does have an ending, but Monolith is altering that with a future update that will allow for an endless version. It's called "Infinite Shadow Wars," and will basically just elongate the Nemesis System indefinitely so you can go at it with warring tribes all you want.

This endgame, mind, has sparked a debate among players as to whether or not the grindy nature of it drives you toward loot boxes. While I strongly dislike that they are there in the first place as they have no business in a sandbox action game, I never felt the need to buy any of them.

Rather, Shadow of War's endgame feels just as grindy as a lot of other old school action romps, and I had fun getting through it. I doubt I'll spring for Infinite Shadow Wars, but it's going to be there eventually if you want it.

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News:: New Steam game A Mortician's Tale hopes to make players reflect a little on mortality

A new game by Toronto-based outfit Laundry Bear Games launched on Steam today, where players step into the shoes of a young mortician as she goes about her work, with hopes that experiencing the game and its story may help remove some of the stigma, or fear, of death.

A Mortician's Tale is an isometric, narrative-driven and self-professed "death-positive' game where players take the role of Charlie, a young woman who has recently started work at the Rose & Daughters funeral home. The player will assist Charlie in her daily duties, from tasks such as cleaning and preparing the viewing room, to embalming or cremating cadavers, attending the funerals of the deceased, and speaking with their loved ones.

There is also a window on the monetary aspects of the funeral industry, as Charlie grows in her role with Rose & Daughters, while the company's reputation and stature blooms within the industry.

By blending matter-of-fact physical work with emotional dialogue and even some humor, A Mortician's Tale hopes to help us reflect a little about our own views and fears in regards to mortality, ironically presented in a medium where death itself is often a regular, but throwaway occurrence.

A Mortician's Tale is available now for PC and Mac.

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News:: Tomb Raider's creative director leaves studio before shipping a game

Although the tenure was brief, Crystal Dynamics has lost another important member in shaping Lara Croft's future. Tomb Raider creative director Ian Milham has left to pursue a more independent venture.

Milham announced his departure on Twitter, saying that he's going to team up with old colleagues at Outpost Games. Outpost is made up of former Visceral employees; in his time there, Milham helped create both Dead Space and Battlefield Hardline. Multiplayer survival game SOS is Outpost's current project.

As for his stint as Crystal Dynamics, Milham's leaving before any major developments are publicly revealed. He joined in August 2016, which is nearly a year after Rise of the Tomb Raider first released on Xbox One. In Milham's 14 months at the studio, there has been no mention of a new game, except for the possible leak of what might be called Shadow of the Tomb Raider. When something Tomb Raider-related happens, Milham's mark will certainly be on it even if he didn't see the project through to completion.

This is just the latest example of key personnel departing Crystal Dynamics. At the beginning of the year, lead writer Rhianna Pratchet left. Shortly after Rise of the Tomb Raider launched, game director Brian Horton went to Infinity Ward. 

Milham notes that his relatively-brief time at Crystal Dynamics isn't indicative of anything wrong with the studio, however. "Don't infer anything about [Crystal Dynamics] or Tomb Raider based on this, they've been awesome and people should be very excited about what's coming," he says. He seemingly just wants to reunite with some friends.

@Monkey_Pants [Twitter via GamesIndustry International]

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News:: 11 different people came together to create the perfect Mirror's Edge speedrun

As a casual speedrunner, I'm always finding ways to test or better myself.

One idea I came up with long ago, before online steaming popularized it, is "the race." A friend and I would get two identical consoles and two of the same game, and race them side-by-side. We'd mix and match a combination of any% or 100% runs depending on the game, and over the years we picked up on new strategies, chatting about them before our races and incorporating them into our runs.

But the idea of a segmented speedrun is pretty glorious. 11 players got together and decided to create the perfect run for Mirror's Edge, resulting in a 22:40 run of the game that hits every possible trick in the book. For reference, solo world records range anywhere from 28 minutes to 30 minutes or so.

What I love about this is that multiple people had a part in gaming history as a collaborative effort. Every zone demands perfection, and these people were able to individually rise to the occasion and showcase some pretty amazing tech in the process (the walljumps and level of precision in know which jumps are safe and which aren't are insane).

While there are some buggy areas involved, it's also important to note how much of the actual sandboxes can be interacted with or bounded off of. Everyone at DICE who had a hand in making this project should be proud.

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News:: London will see a 'pop-up' Final Fantasy store next month

Covent Garden in London (which for any international readers is a quaint area of hip stores and street acts) is to play host to a 'pop-up' Final Fantasy experience next month, where fans can congregate, play games and pick up exclusive merch.

Running from November 3-5, the store will have playable games from the long-running RPG series, a store selling Square Enix merchandise, as well as adorable FF-decorated mugs, and an opportunity to play the upcoming Dissidia Final Fantasy NT.

The Friday evening will also see Dissidia producer Ichiro Hazama show up to host a tournament on his new brawler, whilst Sunday evening will host  "An Exclusive Evening with Naoki Yoshida", the producer/director of Final Fantasy XIV.

There will be more details forthcoming as the weekend approaches. For anyone wishing to attend, the experience will be located at 21 Slingsby Place, Covent Garden, London. The event runs between 10:00am and 17:00pm from Friday November 3 to Sunday November 5.

Tickets for the Dissidia evenings will apparently become available through various social media channels for Final Fantasy XIV and Dissidia, so keep a close eye out on Facebook and Twitter, as I'm sure they'll be gone in a flash.

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News:: Halo: The Master Chief Collection is getting Xbox One X enhancements, updates

It's crazy to think that Halo: The Master Chief Collection was released in November of 2014, and still needs fixing in the multiplayer department. I still go back through a few of the games by way of Master Chief, but playing online took a major hit when matchmaking problems started to arise.

Now, in 2017, 343 and Microsoft have explained that "Xbox One X enhancements," updates, and fixes are coming...in 2018. It's an odd situation for sure, but it'll give owners a reason to potentially boot it up when that actually happens. If, it happens, and isn't delayed or leads to even more bugs.

Game development in 2017 sure is fun.

Halo [Twitter]

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News:: Videos showcase Sonic Forces 'Rental Avatar' system and Chemical Plant stage

It's only a few weeks before Sonic Forces launches onto PC and consoles, but it seems there's still plenty of features and tidbits to be uncovered before then, as showcased in these videos from Gematsu.

The first video shows the game's "Rental Avatar" system, by which players can switch into other player's custom-made characters, utilising their individual abilities and "wispons" - the colour-coordinated tools of the Sonic Forces universe - to overcome enemies and access secret areas.

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News:: Another cool looking Zelda inspired RPG is coming to Switch

Switch port when? Well, if you had asked that around the launch of the system, the chances of nearly every game you could possibly want to play getting ported was rather slim. But now, every developer and their grandma is eager to get on the system, and for a game that looks explicity Zelda, this one makes a lot of sense.

Moonlighter, which has been announced for an early 2018 release on PC, PS4, and Xbox One, is now set for Switch. The news came with a pretty cool trailer, which showcases exploration, combat, and a boss fight. There's also a cute little Switch cameo at the end.

Thankfully most of these indies are small -- I'd run out of room on my Switch!

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News:: Review: Echo

Echo is one of the most unique games I’ve played in a long time. Its sci-fi setting and twist on the conventional stealth genre make it stand out in an industry where regurgitated formulas are the norm. 

The story is fairly bare-bones. You play as a woman named En as she journeys to a mysterious location, hidden in the depths of space, in a bid to revive a dead man. She’s accompanied by an artificial intelligence named London who helps her on her quest. The first hour is mostly a mixture of walking and exposition, but I found it extremely effective in setting the scene. They are in the middle of nowhere. There is no backup coming. They are on their own. 

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News:: Check out the patch notes for Nintendo's ARMS 3.2 update here

Nintendo's long-limbed arena-fighter ARMS received a pretty hefty update yesterday. Version 3.2 brings a host of bug fixes and changes to the game's UI and mechanics, while also tweaking a few of the attributes pertaining to members of the game's day-glo roster.

I do find this particular note intriguing however: "We’ve identified an interloper who has been disrupting the Grand Prix, going after our fiercest competitors. If encountered, we advise you to dispatch them with prejudice"

Sounds more like a character tease, so keep your eyes (and arms) peeled whilst you're out there scrapping away. The full list of patch notes is as follows:

• Added new “Badge” feature.
  – Receive neat badges as a reward for fulfilling certain conditions.
  – Wear your favorite badge and show it off to your opponent.
• Added new “Recent Replays” feature.
  – Select from a list and view replays of past matches.
  – Replay data is automatically deleted when necessary, starting with the oldest data.
  – Also, future ARMS updates will cause all replay data from past versions to be deleted.
• During replay playback, ZR will no longer switch between targets. The X button instead is used for all camera angle switching.
• During replay playback, + – buttons no longer toggle HP gauge display, and instead now bring up the menu.
• Fixed issue where, at certain timings, follow up attacks after wind attacks would not land.
• Fixed issue where, after suffering an ice attack, players on a snake board could repeatedly jump and the snake board would continuously accelerate.
• Fixed issue where, when battle rules are set to 1-punch KO, under certain conditions fighters would become unable to move.
• We’ve identified an interloper who has been disrupting the Grand Prix, going after our fiercest competitors. If encountered, we advise you to dispatch them with prejudice.
  
  Adjusted the abilities of certain fighters and ARMS as follows:

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News:: I don't know if the world is ready for Junkrat in a MOBA

More Overwatch in Heroes of the Storm is just what everyone wanted, right?

Well, it's what I want (I wouldn't mind if every character was in eventually), but a lot of people have pushed back on it. Some of the power creep -- like the power to move and shoot for some of them -- is a concern, as is the over-saturation of a brand new property like Overwatch.

I don't think Junkrat is going to be earning much ire though. Just pure confusion.

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