Weekly Recap #406 May 8th – Population Zero EA, Total War Goes CCG, and Fortnite Throws a Party

JamesBl0nde recaps the MMO gaming news for the week of May 8, 2020! Transcript & timestamps follow.

Cuisine Royale unleashed its latest update titled Heaven’s Wrath, World of Tanks recreates the battle of Berlin, we see a new collectible card game based on the Total War series and Fortnite goes from battle royale to party royale.

Whats up guys! JamesBl0nde here with the weekly recap for gaming news and announcements for the week of May 8th 2020.

CPMStar StartEngine Funding: Support and Invest in MMOHuts!: 0:19

Real quick before we kick off the news, I want to let you know that BionicLogic Inc, the parent company of MMOHuts and CPMStar, has launched an equity crowdfunding campaign. Support the best MMO coverage out there and become an investor and partial owner of MMOHuts at the link below: startengine.com/bioniclogic-inc. But with that said, not a lot of news this week if you don’t count battle royale games so…

Population Zero Launches Steam Early Access: 0:49

Kicking us off this week, the sci-fi survival MMO Population Zero has kicked off its early access on Steam. If you haven’t been following this MMO, it’s an action-based combat system with two factions that affect the character’s physical biology, an expansive world with in depth crafting, tech, and building systems, and more. This one’s been on the radar for a couple of years now so it’s good to see it getting closer to release. This was pretty much how Ark survival evolved started out and it eventually worked out for the game. And just like Ark originally, Early Access costs $30 to pick up and the price of the game is supposed to go up after release. Steam reviews are a bit mixed so make sure to do your research if you’re thinking about buying in.

Total War: Elysium Closed Beta Trailer: 1:35

Next up, there’s a new trailer for Total War: Elysium this week showcasing gameplay for the first time. This is a free to play collectible card game based on the Total War series which is an interesting take though it looks like it will be crossing historical lines to feature commanders from different time lines. Currently the game’s in closed beta on Android but it will launch on iOS and PC too when it’s ready. There’s no ETA on the release yet so make sure to keep an eye out if this is your kind of game.

Cuisine Royale: Heaven’s Wrath Trailer: 2:02

Not to be forgotten in the world of Battle Royales, Cuisine Royale has unleashed its latest update titled Heaven’s Wrath. The key feature in this update is the introduction of light armored combat vehicles, which feature gunner’s seats for mobile artillery in a match. To make things fair Gaijin has also introduced items that will detect nearby combat vehicles, which include… tiger and leopard panties? Well I guess you have to hone your instincts somehow. There’s other new weapons and changes in this patch so make sure to hit the link below for all the info.

Fortnite: Welcome to Party Royale: 2:33

Miss going out during this pandemic? Fortnite’s got you covered this Friday night, May 8th, with the premiere of Party Royale. This party features live performances from Dillon Francis, Steve Aoki, and deadmau5 in back to back sets starting at 9pm Eastern. The show will also be rebroadcast on Saturday May 9 from 2pm to 3pm Eastern. Anyone who logs in this weekend will also get a free Neon Wings Back Bling to celebrate. The Party Royale is a non-combat space which also features aerial obstacle courses, boat races, and more. This is a really cool event, leave it up to Fortnite to pull it off.

Vigor – Update 3.1 Overview: 3:13

Meanwhile Vigor has just launched its 3.1 Rivals update, aimed at offering some quality of life improvements to the Rivals season. Now the game has another new batch of titles to earn, a ping system for teammates to help point out points (or persons) of interest, and some heavy changes to the game engine and UI to make the game better to play. There’s also  a new Phone Duel encounter, where you can pick up a phone and dial out – if someone answers on the other end, you both get marked on each other’s map. Telephone with bullets, now that’s a new idea.

World of Tanks: Berlin Map Preview: 3:50

World of Tanks on the other hand is getting prepared for Update 1.9.1 and this week they’ve shown off a brand new map for Random battles: Berlin. This is a highly detailed map based on historical research, meant to reflect the final moments in the German capital at the end of World War II. Divided into four main areas, every vehicle should find a way to take advantage of the landscape in battle. The update also plans to add new vehicle customization, including progressive decals and tweakable styles.

Deals of the Week: 4:19

Finally let’s round up this pretty quiet week with the deals of the week. On Steam, the stealth-action-horror game Showdown Bandit is free to keep if you download it before June 1st. Also free on steam through the weekend is The Golf Club 2019 featuring PGA World Tour, so you can continue practicing social distancing and avoid allergies by playing virtual golf instead. Epic Games’ Store is offering Death Coming for free this week, which is a pixel-styled puzzle game where you harvest human souls. And as always you can grab May’s free games on Twitch Prime, plus a lot of in-game loot including a new Zofia operator set in Rainbow Six Siege and a “Roll Player” head for Borderlands 3. I think I saw a pretty ridiculous DOOM slayer skin in there as well for those of you playing DOOM Eternal. This is probably what I’m going to look like coming out of self quarantine.

And with that said, that’s about it for all the major news and announcements for this week. Be sure to stay safe, and keep your families healthy! Like always you can find more information on the news topics, linked in the description below, feel free to discuss the news or even more news in the comments below and don’t forget to like, subscribe, wash your hands a bunch, hit that little bell icon to get notifications and of course share this video! But until next time guys that’s going to be it for me… I’m JamesBl0nde… see ya out there gamers!