Smite 2 has just entered open beta and is now free-to-play, meaning that the game is finally moving ahead at full speed. As with the original game, you can expect plenty of character cosmetics and profile customizations are on the way — and some of it is already here. From now until Sunday, January 19, you can earn a collection of new in-game items by simply watching the Smite 2 Twitch stream during the Founder’s Series Championship. Here’s what you need to know about getting this cool new stuff.
Before you can score any of the Smite 2 Founder’s Series Twitch drops, you’ll need to link your Twitch account to your Smite 2 account. This will allow the rewards to be automatically applied to your game as you unlock them.
Below is the schedule for the Founder’s Series Twitch drops. Just watch the stream for the specified number of hours each day to earn the in-game rewards.
Up to 4 cosmetics – Watch the Smite 2 stream on Twitch for 4 hours
Founder’s Ace Title – Watch the Smite 2 stream on Twitch for 2 hours
Order Champion Badge – Watch the Smite 2 stream on Twitch for 4 hours
Chaos Champion Badge – Watch the Smite 2 stream on Twitch for 2 hours
Up the Ante Global Emote – Watch the Smite 2 stream on Twitch for 4 hours
Founder’s Vegas Series Card Effect – Watch the Smite 2 stream on Twitch for 2 hours
Jade Dragons Bellona Skin – Watch the Smite 2 stream on Twitch for 4 hours
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 One of my first gaming rigs was an Acer Predator that was already outdated when I bought it.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.