Activision is seemingly aware (opens in new tab) of how much of a pain it can be to find space on your console to download its updates for Call of Duty: Warzone and Black Ops Cold War, sharing something of a guide on how to best optimise space on PS4 consoles which only have 500GB of space.

Season 2 of Black Ops Cold War and Warzone launches today and the download is different depending on whether you have the full game or just Warzone installed, and which console you’re playing it on. PS4 users who only have Black Ops Cold War are looking at a 10.5GB update size while those who only have Warzone will be needing to download a 17GB update.

Addressing the issue of download sizes, Activision has shared some information in a blog post on what you can do if you have a 500GB PS4, which after all the updates, game modes, and extras you need, might be starting to run out of space: “Those who own a standard PlayStation 4 with a default hard drive of 500 GB may need to make room if they have the full versions of Modern Warfare/Warzone and Black Ops Cold War with all modes and packs installed” the post reads.

Activision explains that if you do have both games installed and have kept up to date with all the recent patches, you will need to delete some unused content to make space to download the Season Two patch.

To remove this unused game content, you have to launch into the games separately. For Black Ops Cold War, you can press R3 on the main menu which will bring you to the file management screen. From here, you can pick and choose the content packs to remove.

In Modern Warfare and Warzone, you can get to the file management by pressing Options in the main menu and going to the ‘General’ tab to find ‘Game Installs’. Once you’ve navigated to the game installs menu, you can once again pick and choose any content you haven’t played recently or no longer need.

 Call of Duty Warzone tips | Warzone map | Warzone Error codes | Is Warzone down? | Warzone best guns | Warzone best loadouts | Warzone best perks | Warzone bunkers | Best Cold War guns in Warzone | The best guns in Cold War Zombies | Warzone Patch notes 

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Developer Mihoyo is offering Genshin Impact players a chance to get creative and submit their own personal holiday-themed greeting cards, with winners of the best designs being gifted plenty of goodies in the form of Aquaint Fate items.

Players are able to enter the community promotion from now until February 17 and all you have to do is create and share your very own Year of the Ox inspired message for your chance to win.

Acquaint Fates are pretty hard to come by in-game, but you can use them to get wishes in the game, allowing you to unlock more characters in Genshin Impact. Suffice to say, you’ll want to try your best to nab of these rare items for free while you can.

Tweeting about the event, the official Genshin Impact account shared a message: “Happy Year of the Ox, Travelers! As a fun event, Paimon is inviting everyone to craft their own Genshin Impact themed greeting card to wish for a prosperous year!”

After you’ve designed a card, which can be done digitally or by hand, Mihoyo is asking us to share the creations on the game’s official forums (opens in new tab). Once uploaded there, the moderators will be selecting “100 wholesome winners who leave their most heartfelt creation in the comment section”.

Happy Year of the Ox, Travelers!As a fun event, Paimon is inviting everyone to craft their own Genshin Impact themed greeting card to wish for a prosperous year!Take part in the event here:https://t.co/uAHqzRyr9F#GenshinImpact pic.twitter.com/UvbvtYayDOFebruary 5, 2021

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The winners will get five Aquaint Fates items for free, while another 100 other players who don’t submit a card will be selected to get one Aquaint Fate item if they “comment a warm message of blessing under the post”.

The competition winner will be announced on February 19. If you want to get involved, you’ll need to make sure you’re based in America, Europe, Asia, TW, HK, or MO regions, and that your comments and posts are directly linked to the event.

Check out our Genshin Impact tips on how to get ahead in the game

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Former Mass Effect 3 multiplayer senior gameplay designer Patrick Moran spoke to TheGamer (opens in new tab) about the project, which was called Mass Effect: Team Assault. Moran said it was meant to be a downloadable multiplayer FPS “similar in scope to Battlefield 1943,” a partial remake of Battlefield 1942 that came out in 2009. Moran explained that Mass Effect: Team Assault was largely created at BioWare’s then-new Montreal studio, while work on the series had previously centered in Edmonton. 

“EA really wanted to see a multiplayer experience in the Mass Effect world,” Moran said. “Once it had momentum as a standalone title, the design team in Edmonton advocated for and was able to pull multiplayer back to Edmonton, effectively cancelling Mass Effect: Team Assault.”

Moran cited internal tension between the two BioWare locations as a source of difficulty during the development of Mass Effect: Team Assault, and also a driving reason for his departure before work on Mass Effect 3 was finished. However, he says the final product proves “EA was right to push BioWare for multiplayer in Mass Effect 3”, and it’s most important that Mass Effect fans won out in the end.

“Mass Effect 3 multiplayer turned out really well, given it wasn’t part of the original scope of the title,” Moran said. “Often, marketing mandates from parent companies can result in tacked on features. [Mass Effect 3 director Casey Hudson’s] relentless commitment to quality ensured the final multiplayer feature set and execution exceeded expectations. BioWare supported it in live service for years, and I believe it surprised many of the skeptics.”

Check out the 10 most interesting improvements and features coming to Mass Effect: Legendary Edition. 

Mass Effect romance | Mass Effect keepers | Mass Effect endings | Mass Effect 2 romance | Mass Effect 2 loyalty | Mass Effect 2 weapons | Mass Effect 2 endings | Mass Effect 3 romance | Mass Effect 3 weapons | Mass Effect 3 armor | Mass Effect 3 planet scanning | Mass Effect 3 endings

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The planned acquisition of Codemasters was mentioned in EA’s Q3 earnings call this week (opens in new tab), which also referenced the success of its Star Wars games and the revival of EA Sports College Football.

EA already has a large number of racing franchises under its belt, like Need for Speed and Burnout, but if this planned acquisition of Codemasters goes ahead, it will bring over even more brands and racing series’ to play with, like DIRT.

Recently, Codemasters has acquired the rights to the FIA World Rally Championship, but even before this, the company has been the driving force behind many high-profile racing games with franchises like F1 and Grid, many of which are released annually.

In the earnings call, EA CEO Andrew Willson explains the decision to acquire Codemasters citing that the proposed $1.2 billion deal would help make EA “a global leader in racing entertainment” and “enable EA to release new racing experiences annually”. Looking at EA’s Need for Speed, for example, this series sees releases sporadically over the years with sizable gaps between entries, which seems like a gap EA is pushing to fill.

EA has already entered into a binding agreement with the three directors of Codemasters to initiate a vote supporting the acquisition, a vote which is unanimously recommended that Codemaster’s shareholders support. 

This agreement, which is now binding even if Codemasters is offered a better deal, can only fall through if EA decides to pull the plug on it.

In the same call, we’ve reported on EA’s plan to continue making Star Wars games, which saw the company make $3 billion and 52 million games sold during the time it had exclusive rights to the franchise.

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The long-awaited Snyder Cut will be making its HBO Max debut this March as one super-long film. Additional photography brought back Jared Leto’s Joker – whose new look has been teased in an image by Snyder – and Joe Manganiello’s Deathstroke, and the director has said about 150 minutes of the film have never been seen before. He’s also already speculated that the film would score an R rating: “The movie is insane and so epic and is probably rated R – that’s one thing I think will happen, that it will be an R-rated version, for sure.”

Considering Steppenwolf’s original, spiky design has been restored – a scarier style than the theatrical version – it’s probably fair to assume some of the R-rated violence will be coming from him. Can we expect a more violent Amazons vs Steppenwolf battle, maybe? It also seems a safe bet that we’ll be seeing more from the Knightmare timeline, first glimpsed in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. This is a likely candidate for action worthy of an R rating, especially as this is probably how Joker and Deathstroke are involved in the film.

The rating is a pretty strong sign that the new film is embracing the differences that mark it out from the theatrical version. Back in 2017, an R rating for Justice League was unthinkable.

Of course, this isn’t the first DC film to earn an R rating – Cathy Yan’s Birds of Prey was rated R, and James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad, due for release this August 6, 2021, will also have the rating, per the director himself. Joker was also R rated, and went on to scoop a Best Picture nomination.

DC are clearly unafraid to go a bit darker with their movies, which could end up being a breath of fresh air as this year is so loaded with superhero films and TV shows.

Zack Snyder’s Justice League arrives March 18, 2021. Until then, check out how to watch DC movies in order for the ultimate movie marathon.

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Over on the official Call of Duty blog (opens in new tab), the new ban wave for cheating players in Call of Duty: Warzone was announced yesterday. The new wave of 60,000 players being banned brings the grand total of banned players in the battle royale game up to 300,000 since launch last year.

“We are also continuing our efforts to identify and address cheat providers at the source, who distribute unauthorized third party software for modding or hacking,” the blog post reads. “We are committed to delivering a fair and fun experience for all players. This is a dedicated focus for our security, enforcement, and technology teams.”

Raven Software then goes on to outline all of the types of cheating they’re keeping an eye out for, including “aimbots, wallhacks, trainers, stat hacks, texture hacks, leaderboard hacks, injectors, hex editors,” and any third-party software. Additionally, the developer announces there will be monthly updates on cheating prevention for Warzone going forward.

This is surely welcome news for the majority of Warzone players. Yesterday, high-profile Call of Duty YouTuber Vikkstar announced he was quitting the game due to ongoing cheating and hacking, and he was hardly alone, as members of team FaZe and others also railed against cheating in Raven Software’s game. These new measures from the developer, as well as the promise of monthly updates, is surely good news for everyone thinking about stepping away from the game.

For our list of the best weapons you can get your hands on in the Call of Duty battle royale game, head over to our Warzone best guns guide for more.

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In a new interview with The Gamer (opens in new tab), BioWare’s Dorian Kieken, who worked as a development director on the Mass Effect series and oversaw Mass Effect 3 multiplayer, discussed the studio’s axed ideas for a spinoff. “We explored a game concept back in 2008, a bit after the shipping of [the first Mass Effect], where you were playing a Han Solo type of character in a Star Control-inspired game in the Mass Effect universe,” he explains. “The game was intended to expand the Mass Effect universe and be done in parallel [with] the trilogy.”

Obviously, this project never got off the ground, but Kieken himself remains interested in the idea of using a morally gray character – not evil, but less righteous than a savior of the galaxy – as a vehicle to explore never-before-seen sides of the Mass Effect universe. He points to modern successes like The Mandalorian and Firefly, which use similar mercenary types to great effect. 

“We all needed to focus on Mass Effect 2, which was the right call at the time,” Kieken says of BioWare’s decision to shelve the spinoff. “I think the concept was really strong, though, and I would definitely like to see a game like that one day.” 

For more from Commander Shepherd and Co, the Mass Effect: Legendary Edition release date has been confirmed.

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The patent (opens in new tab) (via SegmentNext (opens in new tab)), titled “Use of machine learning to increase or decrease level of difficulty in beating video game opponent,” was first published last week. The idea behind is that artificial intelligence would be able to analyse player data when fighting specific opponents “to identify successful and/or unsuccessful methods” used to defeat it, and then alter the difficulty of the fight based on the results.

For players struggling with a particular boss fight, for example, the AI might be a little more forgiving. For more skilled players, however, things would get more difficult, with bosses potentially learning “to circumvent a particular attack or attack pattern waged […] by the particular video game player.” Imagine, for example, a Demon’s Souls boss that learns how to avoid your finely-crafted cheese strat after a few cheap hits.

Sony hopes that its patent will do more than simply tweak a game’s difficulty on the fly, suggesting that the system could make its games more replayable as combat difficulty scales with the player. It could also be a good way to increase accessibility, tailoring gameplay around a player’s ability to push buttons or move joysticks.

Sony has only just published its patent, so even if it’s accepted, it could be many years until we start to see the results of the new system, but with the likes of Demon’s Souls and God of War: Ragnarok on the PS5’s roster, it could find a number of home’s across Sony’s upcoming slate of games.

Wondering how far the new tech could go? Here’s our list of upcoming PS5 games.

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Taking to Vero (opens in new tab), Snyder posted a set photo from his version of Justice League. Presumably, this is part of the small amount of additional photography that took place in late 2020 – one that included Jared Leto. In it, you can see – what else? – a joker card and a tantalizingly out-of-focus shot of the Batman villain.

Amazing character you created. Honored to have our worlds collide. @DavidAyerMovies @JaredLeto pic.twitter.com/6FubzkPh4YFebruary 2, 2021

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Snyder even paid tribute to Suicide Squad director David Ayer, the man who brought this iteration of the character to life back in 2016: “Amazing character you created. Honored to have our worlds collide,” the director said.

But it’s the oh-so-small tease of Joker’s new look that will grab the most attention. Without jumping to conclusions too much (as we’re likely going to have to wait until March to see the finished product), it’s worlds apart from Leto’s Suicide Squad design.

The hair looks longer, almost Ledger-esque, and the eyes are a little more sunken. Snyder previously promised the Joker would adopt a more “road weary” look in his Justice League and that certainly bears out when looking at the rougher, rounder Joker compared to his short stint in Suicide Squad. The divisive tattoos are also not visible.

Zack Snyder’s Justice League, meanwhile, now has an official release date. The four-hour cut is going to land on HBO Max on March 18 and will include over 80% new, unseen footage and even a fresh Superman-themed opening.

In the meantime, find out what else is coming to the streaming service with our guide to what’s new on HBO Max. Tempted to sign up? Then our guide to the latest HBO Max prices and deals is ready to help.

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The film is due to arrive this March, but has been a long time coming – a fan campaign to release Snyder’s cut was launched in the aftermath of the theatrical Justice League, when it became apparent the Joss Whedon-overseen reshoots had substantially changed the film. The Snyder Cut was announced back in May 2020, and was set to be a HBO Max miniseries, but is now arriving to the streamer as one super-long movie.

On Vero, Snyder simply answered, “it is” when asked if the Snyder Cut is finished.

Zack Snyders Justice League IS FINISHED!!!! pic.twitter.com/lHl3T3X4SDJanuary 30, 2021

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Work on Snyder’s version of the movie seems to have mainly revolved around VFX, and some additional photography that brought Jared Leto’s Joker and Joe Manganiello’s Deathstroke back into the fold – however, that additional photography only amounts to four minutes of extra footage. Snyder has revealed that around 150 minutes of his cut have never been seen before.

On Instagram, Tamara Watts Kent, a visual effects producer on the movie, celebrated the cut’s completion with a lengthy caption talking about her experience working on the film (H/T Screen Rant (opens in new tab)). You can read the full post below.

A post shared by Tamara Watts Kent (@tamarakent6) (opens in new tab)

A photo posted by on

Explaining that she first saw the unfinished cut in 2019, Kent wrote: “Nothing like this has ever been done before. We figured it would never happen. Then COVID hit. Zack had a film that was already shot. Post can be done safely at home and the VFX companies needed the work. On April 30th we were surprised and thrilled to hear the film was a go.”

She then reflected on the difficulties the project posed: “It has been the most challenging project I have ever been on. We had 6 months to do 4 hours of effects work. Every shot had to be researched to see if it was a previous Zack final to finish the full-frame, or a work in progress shot from the past that could be unarchived and finished, or a brand new shot. The facilities spent over a month pulling shots & assets from their archives while WB pulled assets from theirs.”

After further discussing working on the movie, she ended with: “I am sad to see this project end, but am so grateful to have the opportunity to be a part of it. I did this for Zack, the Snyder family and DJ, and for the fans that fought for it and deserve to see Zack’s vision.”

So far, it looks like we won’t be seeing any further Snyder installments in the DCEU, but considering hardly anyone expected Zack Snyder’s Justice League to see the light of day, never say never…

Zack Snyder’s Justice League arrives March 18, 2021. In the meantime, check out how to watch DC movies in order for the ultimate movie marathon.

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