2K Games is rolling out a new season pass for Sid Meier’s Civilization VI that will bring a significant amount of new content to the game.
The New Frontier Pass expansion will see eight new civilizations, nine new leaders, and six new game modes introduced to the title. And while that’s a sizable expansion worthy of note for any game, it’s an especially strong vote of confidence for one that was released in 2016.
“It’s been four years since we first announced Civilization VI, and the support from fans and players has been overwhelming,” Ed Beach, franchise lead designer at Firaxis Games, said in a statement.
The New Frontier Pass will begin dropping new content on May 21, then release more on a bimonthly basis through March 2021, the publisher said. All totaled, there will be six pieces of DLC. The pass will cost players $40 and is available on all platforms.
The first bundle will bring leaders from the Mayan and Gran Colombian civilizations, along with new city-states, resources, and natural wonders. The DLC will also include a new game mode called Apocalypse.
In July, players will receive the Ethiopia pack, which will include one additional leader and another game mode (called Secret Societies). Note that to take advantage of the new game modes, you’ll need to own the previous Rise and Fall or Gathering Storm expansions (or both).
To spur subscriptions, 2K is offering new looks and abilities to two existing leaders — Teddy Roosevelt and Catherine de’ Medici — which will ship alongside the second add-on pack.
But you don’t have to buy the expansion pack to see some changes in the game. 2K Games says that in addition to the paid DLC, it will deploy six free updates for all Civ VI players in between releases of the New Frontier Pass. Those changes will affect game balance and add some new free content.
Civilization VI has been a monster hit for the company, selling nearly 6 million copies to date as of last November, the most recent figures available. The game is the fastest-selling edition in the history of the series.
Acer’s Predator Atlas 8 finally has a US release date and price, several months after the company first showed off the handheld in May. The highlight is the Intel Arc G3 Extreme chip inside, which has been adopted by only a couple of other consoles besides the Atlas 8. This version will go on sale exclusively at Best Buy on November 1 for $1,299.99.
Acer originally said the Atlas 8 would arrive in North America in October, but left pricing open at the time. The launch came amid the ongoing DRAM crunch, which has made memory more expensive across the PC industry and complicated pricing for hardware makers.
Gaming laptops and I have a complicated relationship. One of my first gaming rigs was an Acer Predator that was already outdated when I bought it. I was a broke college kid, and that was the best I could afford. So trying out high-end gaming laptops is always fun. But ASUS' ROG Zephyrus G14 is a lot more than a laptop that can run AAA games. It is portable, so you're not lugging around a 2.5kg machine everywhere you go. It is built well, none of that plastic chassis, and can even function as a normal laptop outside of just gaming.
Google Play is borrowing one of the Nintendo Switch’s most useful little tricks. A new Sidekick tool called Playbacks captures a short clip after something interesting has already happened, sparing players from running a screen recorder throughout an entire game.
Playbacks is part of Google Play Store v53.8 and keeps saved clips on the phone. Google first announced it earlier this month, but the new Play Store update marks its arrival for players. Anyone who has watched a perfect win vanish because the record button came too late already understands the appeal.