Weekly Recap #359 May 3rd – IKON, Eden Rising, Borderlands 3 & More!

Weekly Gaming News summary for the week of May 3rd (April 26th – May 3rd)

IKON Is a New PC Service To Create Challenges Online: 0:18

IKON is an all new gaming challenge platform, it’s a software you download, that gives players the ability to create challenges for their friends! IKON uses seamless turn-key recording and a robust editing suite to showcase their biggest moments in game with fans and friends. Right now the list of supported games only includes League of Legends and PUBG, with CS:GO, Fortnite, Apex Legends & Hearthstone coming soon, but fans can expect the list to grow as time goes on. These challenges will provide a new way for fans to support their favorite content creators, so that means if a fan creates a challenge such as, getting 3 kills in less than a min in CS:GO using a pistol, I don’t know I just made that one up, the content creator gets rewarded, monetarily some how, but Launching challenges like these allow creators to interact and engage with their communities, even when they aren’t creating content. The software itself records gameplay and detects highlights so you can prove the challenge was met and have some cool footage to upload to social media in the process. Its an interesting idea for a platform, its really new apparently but its ready to download for anyone who wants to check it out.

Black Desert Online Releases New Mount for PC, and Announces Xbox One Game Pass Support: 1:39

Next up in the news, Black Desert Online has a pair of news announcements this week, one for the Xbox One edition and one for PC. On the PC front, the new mount arrives after a recent maintenance patch: The Dream Horse named Doom. It’s unique skill “Dark Sprint” leaves a trail of fire behind it, and burns nearby opponents as it blazes about on the battlefield. It’s obtained by training then awakening a Tier 8 Level 30 courser, with a Krogdalo’s Origin Stone via the NPC Guila of Stonetail Horse Ranch. To help players, there will be a +100% EXP boost for mount/training EXP which will run for two weeks from April 30th to May 15th. On the Xbox One front, starting May 9th, Black Desert will be available on Xbox Game Pass with special perks for subscribers, 10 unique classes, and the all-new Valencia region to explore, all new for the console that is. Xbox Game Pass members will receive a 20% discount on the Standard, Deluxe, or Ultimate Edition bundles as well as a 10% discount on all consumables.

Bless Unleashed Reveals Priest Class: 2:39

On a slightly similar note, Bandai-Namco revealed a new trailer this week for Bless Unleashed showing off the Priest class! The Priest is both a healer and a warrior, offering a unique skillset for the field of battle. Priests can release a furious set of attacks from afar, as well as offer buffs and heals for themselves and allies.

Eden Rising Will Feature a Free-to-Play Option at Launch: 2:58

Also in the news, Nvizzio Creations announced this past week that their upcoming title Eden Rising, a buy to play game, will also offer a free-to-play option at launch. This blend of Tower Defense and Open World will offer a fresh multiplayer experience, and the F2P option, will let players join the servers of paid players to experience high-level content, and gain high-level loot. The full launch will arrive on the first-year anniversary of entering Early Access, which is May 17th and the differences in the Free-to-Play edition (Explorer Edition) and the Paid Purchase Edition (Ascendant Edition) is mainly the areas you can explore. Nvizzio also confirmed the Explorer Edition will contain no microtransactions in the game. The Ascendant Edition will unlock an additional four zones, all siege and armor dyes, as well as increased server benefits. Cool setup, could be fun to try out that way and if you like what you see, $25 unlocks all the benefits with the Ascendant Edition.

MapleStory X Line Friends Event Guide: 3:55

Mentioned in past recaps, MapleStory gears up to celebrate their 14th anniversary! To commemorate the milestone, MapleStory has partnered with Line Friends for a fun and exciting collaboration. This new event allows players to experience Maple World in a way they never have alongside popular characters like CONY, BROWN, LEONARD, and the rest of the Line Friends cast! The event will run from now until May 21st. You’ll be able to take pictures with the flashy InstaCam, find memorable souvenirs, and earn wonderful Line Friends themed gift boxes and prizes! To learn more about the event, check out the link in the description.

SMITE Launches First-Ever Dual-God Release: Horus and Set: 4:32

Up next, SMITE’s latest update, Sands and Skies, is live and with it comes the first ever dual-god release of Horus and Set! Their feud kicks off with the “Battle for Olympus” event in which Set murders Horus to claim the throne. Can Horus, son of Osiris, reclaim his birthright? Only time will tell. Set is an assassin that uses multiple sand clones to frustrate and eliminate enemies, while Horus is a powerful warrior who can teleport his allies and provide healing and protection for them. I’ve been waiting patiently for the release of set, guess I’ll need to get even better at playing assassins. Check out MMOHuts Jason trying his hand at Horus in the video linked below.

Ashes of Creation Reveals World-Building Tool Dev Blog: 5:14

Also this past week, The latest Ashes of Creation developer diary dropped earlier, and with it, they go into how they built the world. This particular video goes into the building technology that they use, to construct the world of Verra that players will explore. For those of you interested in game design and game dev tools, you won’t want to miss this one.  In this video, Devin Lafontaine (Senior Environment Artist) and Steven Sharif (CEO/Creative Director) discuss the creation of their tools, and how it will affect the world itself. Pretty cool stuff!

MTG: War of the Spark Thoughts: 5:46
On the other hand, MTG fans have the War of the Spark release to be thrilled about this week, with the expansion set to drop today, Friday, may 3rd. Jason received a bunch of new cards from the set to review from Wizards of the Coast, and you can view his full writeup over on MMOHuts.com! Some highlights from the new set include powerful new Passive abilities for Planeswalker cards, as well as a series of Planeswalkers that are Uncommon instead of the usual Mythic Rare. This means that they’ll show up much more often in booster packs, making them easier to obtain than ever before.

Final Fantasy XIV’s ‘Heavensward’ Expansion Available Free For a Limited Time: 6:22

And as for our last bit of news, Square Enix announced that starting this week until June 27th, the owners of Final Fantasy XIV Starter Edition will be able to add the Heavensward expansion to their account to keep for free. This is a great way to continue forward in the story and be prepared for the launch of Shadowbringers, the game’s next expansion. The Heavensward expansion opens new areas, and adds flying mounts alongside three brand new classes for players to experiment with in the Dark Knight, Astrologian, and Machinist. Lapsed players can also play for free with the Free Login campaign for up to seven days until the campaign ends on June 17th.

Gearbox reveals gameplay for Borderlands 3: 7:02

Well before we go actually, I can’t help but mention that Borderlands 3 gameplay reveal! So much hype for me on that, I love the wacky alternate fire modes with the weapons, the instance based loot system, the environmental effects, the new swapable skills with skill trees, and even the ability to grab ledges and stuff to pull yourself up over obsticles! I mean that was something I was looking forward to regardless of knowing it was there. It all looks freaking amazing ah man I can’t wait. IGN says you can complete the game in 30 hours… if you beeline it… so apparently its bigger than we even thought. Fans wanted more borderlands… this is definitely more borderlands.