Overwatch has been known to be one of the pioneers of loot boxes in the games industry. Now for the first time in its six-year history, Blizzard is officially stopping the sale of loot boxes in the game.
In a recent Overwatch blog update that was published on Tuesday, Blizzard said that the loot boxes sold during the Anniversary Remix Vol. 3 event will no longer be available after the event ends on August 30. Although standard loot boxes will be sold after the event is over, the company still urged players to buy the loot boxes one last time if they’re interested in getting the skins from past Anniversary and seasonal events.
“Earn and purchase Anniversary Loot Boxes throughout the event!” Blizzard said, “Each Loot Box has a chance to contain items from past Anniversary and seasonal events; don’t wait too long to snag those skins you’ve been eyeing for the past year, though — Loot Boxes will no longer be available for sale after the end of the Anniversary Remix Vol. 3 event on August 30. However, you will still be able to earn standard loot boxes after the end of the event.”
https://twitter.com/PlayOverwatch/status/1557166968460959744
The standard loot boxes will be available for a limited time as well. In June, Blizzard announced it is ditching loot boxes in Overwatch 2, which is set to launch on October 4. Instead, it will be using the Battle Pass system, allowing players to earn skins and other items they want via character progression after purchasing the pass. This means that any standard loot boxes that players are sleeping on in Overwatch will automatically open before the sequel comes out.
Studies have found a link between loot boxes and gambling, including a report from the U.K. government urging the games industry to regulate loot boxes themselves following a two-year investigation. Although some game companies implemented policies prohibiting players under 18 from purchasing loot boxes, Activision Blizzard is still putting them in other games, including the controversial Diablo Immortal. Despite it being free-to-play, this game has been banned in the Netherlands and Belgium due to loot box legislation.
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.