Category: News

After some beta tests earlier this month, Microsoft Studios and Iron Galaxy have finally released Killer Instinct on Steam. This version of Killer Instinct comes will all 29 characters, all 20 stages, every character color and skin, as well all single and multiplayer modes. KI players on Steam can also play users on both Xbox One and Windows 10 in Exhibition matches, Lobbies, and Shadow Lords multiplayer, expanding the number of Killer Instinct players to over 10 million.

If you already own Killer Instinct on either Xbox One or Windows 10, you will have to double-dip if you want to play the Steam version. As a bonus to everyone who bought the Definitive Edition of KI on either platform, you will receive every Gold and Terror skin pack for free, along with Shin Hisako, Kilgore, and Eagle.

For additional details on the Steam version of Killer Instinct, check out the official Q&A over on Ultra Combo. Otherwise, you can purchase it over on Steam for $39.99.

Source: Ultra Combo

It seems that the gear deletion issue isn’t the only thing that’s affected Injustice 2 after the recent patch. This next bit of news, however, is a bit of a positive — if you’re on Xbox One, at least. Mortal Kombat guest character Raiden, who is officially supposed to come out in October, has for some reason come out early on Microsoft’s console.

Raiden being downloadable was first reported on Injustice 2‘s official forum yesterday. Meanwhile, players over a competitive NRS fan forum Test Your Might have put up a thread dedicated to exploring the character.

As for whether or not this was a mistake, or intentional on either NetherRealm or Microsoft’s part, is as of yet unknown. NetherRealm and WB Games have yet to reply to players pointing this out in either their forums or social media, as of this writing.

Sources: WB Games Community; Test Your Might

Agreement promises improved pay and working conditions for video game voice actors.

After more than a year, SAG-AFTRA — a union representing a multitude of entertainment professionals including actors, announcers, broadcast journalists, voice-over artists and many more — has rallied against 11 different video game companies for improved treatment and financial compensation of the voice actors in many of our favorite games. The strike included Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, publishers of Injustice 2 and other NetherRealm Studios titles. We first reported on the strike back in October 2016.

It seems now that a tentative agreement has been reached, and the strike may at last come to an end. As stated by SAG-AFTRA:

The terms of the tentative agreement, which was reached early Saturday morning, include a new bonus structure that provides an additional payment to performers. The bonus payment, which is due no later than the release date of the game, is based on the number of sessions worked on each game, beginning with a $75 payment on the first session and totaling $2,100 after 10 sessions worked.  

“This is an important advance in this critical industry space. We secured a number of gains including for the first time, a secondary payment structure which was one of the members’ key concerns,” said SAG-AFTRA President Gabrielle Carteris. “The courage of our members and their fortitude these many months has been admirable and I salute them. We are always stronger together.”

Keythe Farley, chair of the SAG-AFTRA Interactive Negotiating Committee, said the strike delivered key victories for member performers in the video game community.

“The bonus payments we have now are significantly larger now than what we had 11 months ago. And the existence of additional payments beyond your session fee is in the video game world for good, both in our high-budget and independent promulgated agreements,” said Farley. “Those are the victories that this strike has brought us.”

The deal also contains an employer commitment to continue working with SAG-AFTRA on the issue of vocal stress during the term of the agreement. Moreover, the agreement does not include several proposals sought by management, including a provision that would have fined performers for being late or distracted at session, another that would have required agents to submit performers for low-paying “atmospheric voice” sessions or face fines, and a possible revocation of their union franchise, and another that would have allowed employers to use their permanent staff to do covered work outside of the collective bargaining agreement.  

The contract will next be reviewed by the SAG-AFTRA National Board at its October meeting.

Source: SAG-AFTRA [press release]

The new update seems to have brought a new — and alarming — bug along for the ride.

Injustice 2 players are reporting on social media that the new October patch for the game is having an unintended (and unpleasant) side-effect: the loss of various Gear, Shaders, even abilities for one or more of their characters. The lost items have apparently included Legendary and paid content as well, in some cases.

While the cause is currently unknown (outside of it being related to the patch), the publisher has indicated on Twitter that they are aware of the problem, and are looking into it.

To our players – we’re aware of the issues with Gear and are currently investigating. Thank you for your patience!

— Injustice2 (@InjusticeGame) September 26, 2017

Discussion of the problem continues in response to the tweet. No word yet as to when players can expect a fix.

Source: Injustice 2 (Twitter) [via tip from circuscancel]

The October update for Injustice 2 is now live, bringing with it a myriad of bug fixes for both characters and stages — as well as opening new Legendary Multiverses — while also making the newest level of Gear slightly easier to obtain.

Arkham Asylum, Atlantis, Metropolis, and the Red Sun Prison have seen adjustments to remove bugs that would allow players to go outside the stage’s natural environment boundaries, as well as a hitbox adjustment on bomb placements utilized by Gadget characters. Superman will also now remain inside the Red Son Prison should players decided to use the Bizarro Premier Skin!

The requirements for obtaining Legendary Gear have been slightly reduced, as now players will only need 1,000 and 3,000 minutes played with each character to complete Legendary Multiverse Events, and the “sacrifice Gear” requirements now accept both Rare or Epic items. Base stats for Legendary Gear have also been increased, and new Legendary Multiverses are now open for Black Adam, Brainiac, Catwoman, Deadshot, Flash, Scarecrow and Supergirl.

A new “Punish” icon has been added to gameplay where applicable, while Aquman, Black Manta, Blue Beetle, Captain Cold, Darkseid, Deadshot, Dr. Fate, Red Hood, Supergirl, Starfire and Swamp Thing received various bug fixes.

As for the minor balance adjustments, Bane’s Legendary Straight Damage Augment now causes damage scaling based on his total health, with 5% for Venom Level 1, 12% for Venom Level 2 and 25% for Venom Level 3. Superman has lost throw immunity on both his  MeterBurned Super Breath, and can now be thrown during the  recovery of his B1 and F2D1 string. Firestorm’s Heat Wave/B3 has had its hit region adjusted against certain crouching characters, who could previously low profile it. You can read the full patch notes for yourself below.

OCTOBER UPDATE

General Gameplay fixes

• General stability and Online stability improvements
• Move list corrections and improvements to AI logic
• Increased the Base Stats on Legendary items
• Legendary Multiverse Portals are now available for Black Adam, Brainiac, Catwoman, Deadshot, Flash, Scarecrow, and Supergirl
• Reduced the “minutes played with” requirements in Legendary Multiverse Events from 3000 & 7000 to 1000 & 3000 respectively
• The “sacrifice gear” requirements in Legendary Multiverse Events now uses Rare or Epic items
• Fixes and Tweaks to some Character Tutorials
• When you are hit during the recovery frames of a move or an attack the gameplay message will display “Punish” instead of “Counter” where applicable
• Added dynamic shadows to some character items which were missing them
• Adjusted the hit region of bomb type Environment Interactions
• Fixed rare bug that could some attacks to have abnormal recovery when hitting Flash while he has Speed Zone character power active with specific timing

Stage Specific Fixes

• Arkham Asylum – Fixed a bug which allowed the bus door interaction to sometimes be swung towards in the wrong direction
• Atlantis – Fix a rare bug when using the console slam interaction which could result in the opponent being out of the environment boundaries
• Metropolis – Fixed a bug that could allow movement outside of the environment boundaries after using electronic sign interaction under certain circumstances
• Red Sun Prison – Fixed an issue with gadget and power characters being able to use a console interaction at the same time causing a misaligned hit region
• Red Sun Prison – The cooldown on laser interaction will no longer sometimes immediately reset when interrupted
• Red Sun Prison – Fixed a visual bug causing the laser interaction’s effects to become misaligned when repeatedly interrupted
• Red Sun Prison – Superman will now still be in the background prison if Bizarro Premier skin is used

Character Specific Fixes

• Aquaman – Fixed a bug that could cause his trident to briefly appear in the wrong hand after missing with a some Environment Interactions

• Bane – Legendary Straight Damage Augment now causes damage that scales based on total health. The amount is now 5% for Venom level 1, 12% for Venom level 2, and 25% for Venom level 3

• Black Manta – Fixes to Character Tutorial
• Black Manta – Fixed a bug which was causing the stat scaling on a few Rare quality items to roll higher than intended

• Blue Beetle – Fixed a bug allowing Legendary Character Power meter to sometimes keep recharging when not intended

• Captain Cold – Fixed a rare bug that allowed characters dying from Frozen Tips damage under certain circumstances to leave arena boundaries

• Darkseid – Fixed a bug that could cause Explosive Parademon to spawn in the foreground in rare circumstances

• Dr. Fate – Fixed visual effects following Dr. Fate if he is punished by a cross-up after missing with his Super move

• Deadshot – Fix a bug which could result in a lingering empty clip from his end of round win animation

• Firestorm – Fixed an issue with the hit region on Heat Wave (Away + Hard) against some crouching characters

• Red Hood – Fixed a bug which was causing the stat scaling on a few Rare quality items to roll higher than intended

• Supergirl – Fixed a bug causing cancelling into Air Lasers and buffering down or back to cost double Character Power meter when input with a specific timing

• Superman – (Away + Light) and (Towards + Medium, Down + Light) are no longer throw immune for part of their recovery frames
• Superman – Super Breath no longer becomes throw immune when MeterBurned
• Superman – Intro Cinematics will now play correctly when the full “House El” Epic Gear Set was worn along with the Bizarro Premier Skin

• Starfire – Fixed a bug which was causing the stat scaling on a few Rare quality items to roll higher than intended

• Sub-Zero – Fixed a bug which was causing the stat scaling on a few Rare quality items to roll higher than intended

• Swamp Thing – Fix to some lingering visual effects when (Away + Hard) and Bio-Fission MeterBurn are interrupted
• Swamp Thing – Abigail’s Garden visual effects will now work correctly against Starfire
• Swamp Thing – Fixed bug causing Harley Quinn to face the wrong way when losing a round to Abigail’s Garden damage while performing Tantrum Stance

Additionally, Raiden and his Black Lightning Premier Skin have been added to the game ahead of their upcoming release next month. New Shaders are also available for all base roster characters.

Source: WB Games