Developer Firaxis updated its 4X strategy game Civilization VI with Poland and Viking Scenario Packs, which arrive this week alongside a wide range of bugfixes and balance tweaks.
In addition to serving as a backdrop for the Scenario Pack, Poland emerges as a playable Civilization with Firaxis’ latest update, giving veteran players a new challenge based on 14th-century historical events.
Civilization VI‘s new Poland Civilization & Scenario Pack puts players in control of Jadwiga, Poland’s first female monarch. In addition to getting a new playable civilization, players who purchase the content pack will also unlock the Jadwiga’s Legacy scenario, the Winged Hussar unit, and the Sukiennice building type.
Jadwiga players will enjoy a variety of exclusive perks on the battlefield, including a “Golden Liberty” ability that enables automatic territory expansion upon building a fort or encampment. The Golden Liberty skill additionally allows players to spread their religions to nearby territories, expanding their reign while ensuring bonus faith, culture, and gold resources.
Also available for purchase this week is the Vikings Scenario Pack, which introduces “the most detailed scenario released yet for Civilization VI,” along with three new natural wonders and six new city-states.
This week’s free Winter Update further tweaks the core Civilization VI experience with new features like an “alert” action that puts friendly units to sleep until they spot an enemy unit, giving players more options during battle. Other additions arriving alongside the Winter Update include a brand-new Earth map, a scenario setup menu, and a replay option for wonder completion movies.
The Vikings Scenario Pack and the Poland Civilization & Scenario Pack are priced at $5 apiece and are included as part of the Civilization VI Digital Deluxe Edition.
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.