The Division 2 is already out in head start for those who preordered the game and it will be out for everyone on March 15th. In the latest developer blog, Ubisoft developers talk about the living world. “Our goal for the sequel was to create experiences for you as the player that would not only surprise you, but also keep you coming back for more,” the blog begins. Setting the stage, devs talk about what has happened in Washington while agents were in New York “cleaning up the streets”.
PlayStation 4 fans rejoice! Grinding Gear has finally announced the Path of Exile PS4 release date. You can look for PoE in the PlayStation Store starting March 26th. The game will come with all expansions including the most recent “Synthesis” league.
On Thursday, March 14th, Lord of the Rings Online players on the Legendary Server will be able to head into the heart of Middle-earth as the doors of Moria swing open. The level cap will rise to 60. Players will find that “many of the items, armors and other rewards in Moria have been updated to modern standards”. There will be a ton of new Deeds and awards and much more.
The SMITE site has been updated with a brief post inviting artsy types to create this year’s Community Skin. Submissions are being accepted through March 26th after which the Hi-Rez team will “narrow down all the submissions to a final short list”. Once done, the community will be presented with the list so they can “vote on their favorite concept and we’ll make it happen”.
The first weekend in March saw a massive, one-day, Super Smash Bros. event take place from Norwalk, California, in the form of Ultimate Nimbus. Being solely focused on Super Smash Bros. Melee and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate with both Singles and Doubles events, there was plenty of action. Most notably, the highest-placing Ultimate player received a special invitation to last weekend’s Smash Ultimate Summit.
Gearbox is teasing what appears to be Borderlands 3 that will happen on March 28th during PAX East. It’s “teasing” in the same way that being hit over the head with a bat is “gentle”, leaving little room for doubt that Borderlands 3 is precisely what we’ll hear more about during its presser on March 28th at 11:00 am Pacific / 2:00 pm Eastern.
A few days ago, longtime San Antonio, Texas FGC member (and a personal friend of mine) Anthony Dwayne Garcia was found unresponsive in his room by his parents. He has suffered a severe stroke, placing him into the ICU — where he unfortunately has not yet woken up. To make matters worse, Anthony is currently uninsured, which will place tremendous financial strife on him and his family.
The fighting game community has risen to the aid of their fellow community member in his literal fight for his life: to start, the San Antonio FGC has come together to try to raise funds for Anthony and his family this month. A GoFundMe page has been set up by his friend Adam Aldana; so far about $1,500 has been contributed to help with medical costs, but the goal is still a long way away. In addition to this, at San Antonio’s upcoming tournament event River City Rushdown, which will be taking place March 30, 2019, all venue, pot, and raffle ticket fees will be donated to Anthony’s family at the end of the event.
Anthony’s friends ask that even if you can’t offer financial assistance to his cause, please at least spread the word by sharing the news on social media platforms, and show how the FGC is a family for one another in times of need. Any help at all is of the upmost importance to save Anthony’s life.
The March update to EVE Online has been released into the game. This patch brings a number of new features into the game including the “Skills on Demand” alongside skill price reductions coming later this week. In addition, CCP has placed all level 4 and 5 missions “behind the requirement to have an Omega state account” in an effort to decrease RMT.
Get ready for another season of great Tekken action!
Bandai Namco have officially announced the 2019 TEKKEN WORLD TOUR today with a new trailer — and some information on what will be different for this season. Expect to see some new locations as Tekken 7 competition explodes at over more than 25 tournament stops this year!
Competition will be divided into a number of different categories this year, including an all-new category for 2019:
Tournament Categories
Master+: TEKKEN World Tour’s max value tournament category will be held exclusively at the Evolution Championship Series (Evo) in Las Vegas from August 2-4, 2019 at the Mandalay Bay Resort. The Master+ tournament will award Ranking Points to players placing 1st through 49th place.
Master: Offering high-level points for top-tier competitive players throughout the world, these tournaments are the pillars from which TEKKEN World Tour will be built for 2019. Master tournament events are expected to draw international competition and will award Ranking Points to players placing 1st through 25th place.
Challenger: These regional tournaments focus on offering Ranking Point earning opportunities to locations not served by Master tournaments. Challenger tournaments award Ranking Points to players placing 1st through 13th place.
Dojo: Brand new for TEKKEN World Tour 2019 are Dojo tournaments. In an effort to promote competitive participation to TEKKEN 7 players at a more local and grassroots level, TEKKEN World Tour is establishing this new opt-in tournament category. Dojo tournaments will enable tournament organizers from around the world to apply for their tournaments to be awarded TEKKEN World Tour Ranking Points. The Ranking Points available at Dojo tournaments will scale based on tournament size. This opt-in system creates opportunities for players to compete for Ranking Points outside of Master and Challenger class events. All Dojo tournament applicants must use the TEKKEN World Tour opt-in system on smash.gg and register their tournament for consideration. Depending on the bracket size, Dojo tournaments can award Ranking Points to players placing 1st through 9th place.
Ranking Points Distribution
Points earned at TEKKEN World Tour tournaments are awarded according to a player’s tournament placements. Each placement at a TEKKEN World Tour tournament, from Master+ to Dojo, is worth a different number of Ranking Points. Players’ point aggregation will be taken from their best three results from Master+ or Master events, best three results from Challenger events, and best four results from Dojo events. At the end of the year, the top 19 players awarded the most TEKKEN World Tour Ranking Points will be invited to compete at the TEKKEN World Tour Finals. Travel and lodging considerations for invited players will be covered by TEKKEN World Tour. The TEKKEN World Tour leaderboard will be viewable on www.tekkenworldtour.com and via the TEKKEN World Tour’s league page on smash.gg.
From the official press release:
TEKKEN World Tour 2019 kicks off on April 20th, at MIXUP in Lyon, France then continues throughout the year with additional North American based stops in Georgia, New Jersey, Texas, Illinois, Florida, Washington, California, and Toronto, Canada. International tour stops will include Japan, Malaysia, South Korea, Australia, Dubai, United Kingdom, Germany, Poland, Italy, Argentina, Peru, South Africa, and more. The TEKKEN World Tour Finals will make its return to Asia in 2019 when the world’s best TEKKEN 7 players converge upon Bangkok, Thailand to determine who is the true “King of the Iron Fist Tournament” – more information will be shared at a later date. Prospective competitors can register to compete through each regional event’s registration page to begin their fight to the top of TEKKEN World Tour’s leaderboard.
“Now entering its third season, TEKKEN World Tour for 2019 is going to be bigger, reach more players with its innovative Dojo tournaments, and generate more excitement than ever!” said Eric Hartness, Vice President of Marketing at BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment America Inc. “Every year, the TEKKEN World Tour has set the stage for some of the most dramatic stories to come out of the esports world and we look forward to entertaining the millions of fighting game fans around the globe with another great season of high-level competitive TEKKEN 7 play!”
“Fighting games represent the roots of esports, the early days of fans gathering in arcades and living rooms and making competitive gaming a shared community viewing experience,” said Richard Thiher, Product Manager at Twitch. “As the premier destination for esports, we are proud to carry on that tradition by bringing fans together from all around the world to watch, chat, and experience the best plays TEKKEN 7 has to offer.”
Source: Bandai Namco Entertainment [press release]
