Fortnite is making some big changes to how battle passes work in a couple of weeks. Epic Games already announced that it would be streamlining battle pass progression, but it’s implementing a similar change to its subscription service Fortnite Crew.
In a Wednesday blog post, Epic Games revealed that all battle passes will be available in Fortnite Crew. So not only will all your progression apply to the Music Pass and Lego Pass as well as the Battle Royale Pass but all of those will be included for the same $12 per month fee starting on December 1.
This also applies to any new battle passes released in the future, including the Fortnite OG pass for the new permanent Fortnite OG mode releasing on December 6.
Fortnite Crew, which launched in 2020, previously granted you access to that season’s Battle Royale pass, along with some goodies like 1,000 V-Bucks (essentially reimbursing you the pass’s regular price), Rocket Pass Premium for Rocket League, and monthly outfits and benefits exclusively for Crew subscribers. None of that appears to be changing, but Epic Games is cracking down on how subscribers can claim rewards. Previously, you could claim the pass rewards and then cancel your account. Now, new subscribers can only claim the rewards if their subscription is active or it hasn’t lapsed yet. Current subscribers will work under the same system… unless they cancel.
There’s also a tiny but noteworthy change with the price of the Battle Royale Battle Pass going up from 950 to 1,000 V-Bucks per season. That 50-V-Buck difference isn’t a lot, and how much V-Bucks are worth in real-world money won’t change, but Epic Games has never increased the price of the standard battle pass before. To offset the cost slightly, certain bundles will be more cost effective, like the 25-level battle pass reward bundle, which is down to 1,800 V-Bucks from 1,850. The Lego and Music passes will also cost the same going forward.
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.