New Nintendo Switch Eshop Sale Discounts Assassin’s Creed Series And More

May is finally here, bringing with it a new wave of deals across all the different gaming platforms. The Nintendo Switch Eshop recently wrapped up its big spring sale, but it’s still offering some fantastic deals this week, giving you new games to play if you’re bored and stuck inside. The “Action & Adventure Sale” is the latest Eshop promotion, offering markdowns on a sprinkling of popular Ubisoft titles, including the Assassin’s Creed franchise.

Like Xbox Live, the Nintendo Switch Eshop is discounting Assassin’s Creed games this week, perfect timing for those who are hyped about Assassin’s Creed Valhalla and want to experience the series for the first time or revisit old favorites on Switch. Notably, you can snag Assassin’s Creed: The Rebel Collection on sale for $24. Normally selling for $40, this collection includes two games: Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag and Assassin’s Creed Rogue. You’ll also find a great deal on Assassin’s Creed III Remastered, which is on sale for $16 (usually $40).

The Ubisoft sale also includes Rayman Legends Definitive Edition for $10 and Child of Light Ultimate Edition for just $5. You’ll also find South Park: The Stick of Truth for just $12, while The Fractured But Whole is going for $15.

More Switch deals this week:

There’s still time to claim Star Wars game deals leftover from May the 4th. On Nintendo Switch, you can buy Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast for $7.49 and the more recently released Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy for $17. Star Wars Pinball is also on sale for $21. The Star Wars Day deals are ending soon–this Wednesday, May 6, is the last day to take advantage of these offers.

We’ve rounded up the best Switch deals on the Eshop this week below. You’ll find lingering deals from last week as well, including Splatoon 2 for only $42 ahead of this month’s Splatfest and Deadly Premonition Origins for $15 to celebrate its upcoming sequel, Deadly Premonition 2.

Best Switch deals on the Eshop this week:

Now Playing: Evolution of Assassin’s Creed, From The Holy Land To Valhalla

Oculus Quest Is Once Again Back In Stock

Half-Life: Alyx has taken the VR world by storm, and if you want to get in on it, the Oculus Quest is a great, versatile VR headset that’s compatible with Valve’s latest game and a bunch of other great titles. Oculus itself has restocked its website with both versions of the headset. If you order now, the $500 128GB model ships July 7, while the $400 64GB model ships July 9. If you’re in Canada, you can snag one from Oculus or Best Buy–unfortunately, Best Buy USA does not currently have any in stock.

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Oculus:

Best Buy Canada:

The all-in-one Oculus Quest is a completely wireless device, giving you the freedom to experience and play VR games anywhere you want. However, it’s also compatible with Half-Life: Alyx if you plug it into your PC. This is possible through Oculus Link, a technology that lets you plug your Quest into a PC with a high-speed USB-C cable and play Steam and Rift games as if it was a PC VR headset. Of course, you’ll need a high-quality cable to do this. We recommend Anker’s Powerline+ USB-C to USB 3.0 cable, which is what I use with Half-Life: Alyx.

The Oculus Quest is one of the best VR headsets out there, thanks to that versatility. In addition to Half-Life: Alyx, it’s capable of playing pretty much every VR game out there–except for PlayStation VR exclusives. If you’re looking for something to keep you busy while you’re stuck inside, the Quest VR headset is a great way to escape reality.

While you kill time until your VR headset arrives, be sure to check out all of the free games you can claim right now and the best TV, movies, and games for social distancing.

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Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare Double XP Event Now Live For A Limited Time

Developer Infinity Ward is rolling out a new update for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare soon, which will refresh the game’s playlists and introduce a brand-new mode called Demolition. That’s not the only reason to jump into the game this week, however; the studio is also offering double XP.

To make up for the bug fixes it needed to make this past weekend, Infinity Ward is running a double XP event in Modern Warfare and Warzone for a limited time. Until Friday, May 8, you’ll earn twice the normal amount of XP, weapon XP, and battle pass XP in the online shooter.

The aforementioned new game mode, Demolition, will arrive as part of this week’s Modern Warfare update. Infinity Ward describes it as similar to Search and Destroy, and it’ll have you “attempt[ing] to outsmart and overpower the other team.” Meanwhile, the refreshed playlists include the “all-blueprint battle” mode, Gun Game Reloaded, as well as Shipment 24/7, Blood Money Trios in Warzone, and more.

Beyond that, this week’s update will also disable helicopters in Warzone. Infinity Ward hasn’t provided a reason for this change, but players on the Warzone subreddit have reported that the vehicles are prone to glitching, affecting the game’s balance.

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Score a Lifetime of VPN Protection for Only $15 Right Now

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We all spend a lot of time at home these days, racking up hours and hours of online activity. Whether it’s watching your favorite streamer, video conferencing with a group of friends, or shopping digitally, it’s now more important than ever to protect yourself when using the internet. A Virtual Private Network, or VPN, provides you with enhanced security online among a variety of other benefits. FastestVPN is a top-notch option for those looking to protect themselves online, and lifetime subscriptions are on sale at bedrock prices today, starting at $14.99 for two devices, $19.99 for five devices, and $34.99 for ten devices.

It’s easier to stay safe and secure online with the help of this VPN. First off, it works with whatever you already own. It offers a smart, easy-to-use service for all devices, including Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, smart TVs, and your router. Meaning, FastestVPN becomes a seamless addition to how you already use your computer, smartphone, tablet, and more from home, especially since you can use the service on multiple devices at the same time.

Beyond just convenience, FastestVPN comes with online safety measures to enhance your digital security. A NAT firewall safeguards you with an additional layer of protection, malware protection ensures the sites you visit are safe to access, and an adblocker prevents unfavorable ads from popping up on your screen.

On top of all that, it uses military-grade 256-bit encryption on all of its servers and has a no-logging policy to guarantee nobody will ever be able to access your private information. In other words, FastestVPN protects you from the digital deviants who try to breach your safety and privacy online.

FastestVPN operates with 99.9% uptime to provide you with quick and reliable internet use. Upon purchase, you gain immediate access to over 350 high-speed servers around the globe. With them, you can download and stream HD video with zero buffering while also bypassing geo-restrictions to unlock any site you want. Just as great, you gain unlimited server switches and bandwidth with a lifetime subscription to FastestVPN.

Overall, FastestVPN empowers you to stay safe and anonymous online as you browse the internet with lightning-fast speeds. A lifetime subscription for two devices is $14.99, 93% off its original price of $240; five devices is $19.99, 96% off its original price of $600; 10 devices is $34.99, 97% off its original price of $1,200.

How Coronavirus Is Impacting EA, Activision

The novel coronavirus pandemic has had a huge impact on the games industry, from increased activity and demand for games to delays to game releases and cancellations of industry events. Two industry giants, EA and Activision, have released their first financial results since widespread social distancing began, and included notes on how the companies are dealing with the outbreak.

In an investor note, EA reiterated that its entire global workforce has shifted to a work-from-home structure, and touted its “Stay Home, Play Together” initiative to keep players entertained with special livestreams and giveaways. It said this has led to higher levels of engagement and use of live services.

In a statement, chief financial officer Blake Jorgensen explained how EA’s business model is equipped to sustain itself through the current crisis.

“Our results this quarter prove the value of the live-services path we’ve been on now for a decade,” Jorgensen said. “The breadth and depth of our live services give the flexibility we need at times like this to meet player needs. I want to thank everyone at EA for rising to the challenge. People across the company have shown extraordinary innovation, energy and ingenuity. Learnings from this period will forever change the way we work at EA.”

Similarly, Activision has shifted to work-from-home, and noted it’s covering the costs of testing and treatment with increased tele-health resources. It pointed out that this structure “adds complexity and challenges in some areas of the game development process,” but it is still expecting to deliver its planned games this year. It has also made donations, funded therapeutic trials, and added extra funding to its Call of Duty Endowment.

It credits an increasingly digital environment for its game as well as more reliance on recurring income–the kind generated by content like battle passes, for example–as the basis of “substantial flexibility” to handle the current “uncertain environment.”

Previously, Activision CEO Bobby Kotick explained some of these measures in an interview, as well as how he gave out a personal cell phone number to raise any concerns about the company health plan.

Borderlands Movie: Cate Blanchett In Talks to Star as Lilith

Borderlands is one of the most recent video game movie adaptations in the works, with the project making significant progress towards becoming a reality. Variety reports Cate Blanchett is in talks to star as Lilith, one of the main recurring characters from the games.

Lilith is one of the playable characters in the original Borderlands, suggesting the movie may be drawing inspiration from that game more so than its various sequels and spinoffs. Lilith is one of only six female “Sirens” in the Borderlands universe, incredibly powerful, tattooed superhumans drawn to the lawless world of Pandora.

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Lionsgate hasn’t yet confirmed this casting, and Variety’s sources indicate negotiations are still currently ongoing. This would be the latest in a long line of franchise projects for Blanchett, who previously appeared as Queen Galadriel in the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit movies and Hela in Thor: Ragnarok.

The Borderlands movie was first announced in February 2020, with Hostel’s Eli Roth confirmed to direct the film and produce alongside Avi and Ar Arad. Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford and Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick are also executive producing the film, with Chernobyl creator Craig Mazin penning the screenplay.

Roth recently appeared at Gearbox’s PAX East panel, where he revealed he wants to reward dedicated cosplayers by casting them in the movie and killing off their characters.

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For more on what to expect from the Borderlands movie and other high profile projects, here’s a breakdown of every video game movie currently in development.

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Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.

How To Watch Star Wars Movies For Free This Week

Star Wars Day was officially on May the 4th, but you might as well call it Star Wars week at this point. Even though Star Wars Day has passed, plenty of retailers are still offering great deals on Star Wars games, movies, toys, and collectibles. If you’re in the mood to watch some Star Wars movies but don’t have a Disney+ subscription, Sling TV has nine Star Wars movies available to stream for free through May 10.

The list of available movies includes every live-action Star Wars film outside of The Rise of Skywalker (available on Disney+) and Solo: A Star Wars Story (available on Netflix). So that means you can stream the first eight mainline movies as well as Rogue One under the “May the 4th Be With You” section of Sling TV. All you have to do is create a free Sling account–you won’t have to enter in any payment information.

Free Star Wars movies on Sling

  • The Phantom Menace
  • Attack of the Clones
  • Revenge of the Sith
  • A New Hope
  • The Empire Strikes Back
  • Return of the Jedi
  • The Force Awakens
  • The Last Jedi
  • Rogue One

You also have a chance to win an autographed Mace Windu lightsaber by watching Star Wars movies on Sling. The rules are simple: the more you watch, the more entries you get in the sweepstakes.

In addition to free Star Wars movies, Sling TV is currently letting users stream more than 50 live channels for free every night to promote social distancing. When you’re finished with your Star Wars binge, there’s plenty more to watch on networks such as FX, TNT, USA, AMC, and A&E.

Best Star Wars deals this week

Sony Releasing Imax Cuts Of Movies On Digital Release

With the coronavirus pandemic wreaking havoc on the film industry, production companies and distributors have been forced to rethink traditional theater and at-home release models. The latest business that’s shown itself willing to expand its offerings is Sony Pictures Entertainment, which has announced that it’s working in partnership with Imax to bring its catalog to the latter company’s Imax Enhanced platform.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Sony Pictures “has committed to releasing hundreds of new titles in the Imax format over the next two years, including all upcoming SPE and Imax theatrical releases.” The movies will be available through Imax Enhanced, which releases films that have undergone Imax’s digital remastering process for at-home viewing. As part of the deal, SPE films like Spider-Man: Far From Home, Jumanji: The Next Level, Bad Boys for Life, and Venom will be available in 4K HDR, DTS audio, and Imax’s expanded aspect ratio, designed to be viewed on high-end home theater devices.

Imax Enhanced films are currently available for streaming in the United States on the FandangoNOW service, on Rakuten TV in Europe, and Tsutaya in Japan. The company writes on its website that “Imax Enhanced will continue to expand across new streaming platforms in the coming months.”

For now, the most interesting news is likely just that SPE has demonstrated an increased interest in providing at-home releases for even its most recent films. This news comes amidst a lot of (very silly) turmoil between distributors and theater chains trying to figure out how to navigate a movie industry badly affected by the pandemic. Last week, following the successful on-demand release of Trolls: World Tour, AMC and Regal Cinemas announced they would no longer show films from distributor Universal Pictures in retaliation.

For more updates on the latest in entertainment, check out GameSpot’s weekly TV series and movies-focused podcast, You Should Be Watching. New episodes premiere every Wednesday and can either be watched as videos over on GameSpot Universe or listened to in audio versions on Spotify, Stitcher, Google Play, and Apple Podcasts.

Pokemon Go Remote Raids: How To Get Remote Raid Passes And Join Raids From Home

Remote Raid Passes have arrived in Pokemon Go. Like regular Raid Passes, these let you join Raid Battles except from the comfort of home, so you don’t need to travel to a Gym to battle the Raid boss. If you’re not exactly sure how the new items work, here’s an explainer on how to get and use Remote Raid Passes.

How To Get Remote Raid Passes

For a limited time, you can get three Remote Raid Passes from Pokemon Go’s in-game shop as part of a one-PokeCoin bundle. You can only claim this bundle once, however; if you want additional Remote Raid Passes, you’ll need to purchase them separately. One Remote Raid Pass costs 100 PokeCoins, while a bundle of three costs a slightly discounted 250 PokeCoins.

How To Join Raids Remotely

Once you have a Remote Raid Pass in your inventory, you can use it to join any Raid that appears on the Nearby screen. Simply tap the Raid you wish to join and you’ll see the option to battle via your Remote Raid Pass.

Raid Battles largely work the same whether you join them physically or remotely, but there are a few caveats to keep in mind while using Remote Raid Passes. First, while up to 20 players can join the same raid, only a maximum of five can join it via a Remote Raid Pass. If you try to participate in a Raid that already has five remote players, you’ll be added to a new lobby.

Another thing to be aware of: Remote players’ Pokemon will have lower attack power than those of players who are physically at the Gym, so they won’t deal as much damage as they normally would. Niantic says this reduction “may be temporarily adjusted during specified time periods,” but it will presumably be in effect most of the time.

Shiny Legendaries

To celebrate the launch of Remote Raid Passes, Niantic is bringing three Legendary Pokemon back to the game for a limited time: Darkrai, Altered Forme Giratina, and Virizion. Each will appear as a five-star Raid boss for a week, and you’ll have a chance to catch their Shiny forms. You can see the Legendary Pokemon Raid schedule below:

Darkrai

  • April 28 – May 5

Altered Forme Giratina

  • May 5 – May 12

Virizion

  • May 12 – May 19

Now Playing: Pokemon GO – GO Battle League Dev Insights

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