Nathan Grayson

Overwatch Is Getting Some Big Balance Changes

A new patch just went live on Overwatch’s public test servers, and it’s a doozy. It introduces Ana, the new support sniper/Mom of the Century, but that’s just the beginning. The patch notes are quite a journey, but the gist is that a bunch of heroes’ ults now take more effort to charge because self-heals…

Morning Men is a story-driven RPG set in a desert world full of intrigue, lies, and junk. While it might look like a riff on Mad-Max-style post-apocalyptica, its developers cite movies like The Fifth Element as their primary influences. It’s currently on Steam Greenlight, but it already looks and sounds great.

Rocket League Adding Crates, Skipping Steam Market Features To Avoid Gambling Issues

If you were a human with functional Internet access last week, you probably heard about the big Counter-Strike gambling scandal. Despite a secondary market’s potential to help bring in big bucks, Rocket League’s developers don’t want a slice of that increasingly tainted pie. In a post confirming that, yes, loot crates are coming to Soccer…

Valve Making Changes To Team Fortress 2‘s New Casual Mode After Widespread Criticism

Last week, Valve launched Team Fortress 2‘s big competitive mode update and, with it, a new casual mode that took the place of classic quick play. So far, people… don’t exactly love it. The new 12 vs 12 unranked matchmaking mode has players angrily spitting out their sandviches for quite a few reasons, most prominent…

Despite Last-Second Drama, UFC 200 Was Everything It Needed To Be

For a little while, UFC 200 seemed cursed. The “best card ever” lost its original main event to a squabble between Conor McGregor and the UFC. Then, two days before the big show, Jon Jones got busted for a doping violation, scrapping yet another main event and sending the UFC scrambling. Don’t get me wrong:…

Evolve Cracks Steam’s Top 20 After Going Free To Play

It’s the year 2016, and people are actually playing Evolve. What a world. Yesterday, Turtle Rock released Evolve Stage 2, a free-to-play, you know, evolution of the 4v1 multiplayer monster mash. Stage 2 also refreshes the game with a new progression system and mechanics. For now, it’s only on PC. This has resulted in an…

The Counter-Strike Gambling Scandal, Explained

The past week has seen the world of online games rocked by a major gambling scandal. Two YouTubers with millions of subscribers, Trevor ‘TmarTn’ Martin and Tom ‘ProSyndicate’ Cassell, were revealed to be owners of a site they repeatedly promoted sans overt disclosure. The potential ramifications are not pretty. Roll the bones This is not…

The Plan One Guy Used To Get The World’s Highest Steam Level Overnight

The PalmDesert dynasty is, at least for now, over. As of today, a new guy has the world’s highest Steam level, and he managed it almost over night. His handle? St4ck. As for how he did it, well, it’s quite a story. St4ck’s current Steam level is 1,113, making it officially the highest in the…

The Strange History Of The Word ‘Pokemon’

Turns out, Pokémon didn’t start with Nintendo and Game Freak. Or at least, the word didn’t. This piece originally appeared 5/22/15. Pokémon, as you likely know, is short for Pocket Monsters. The global sensation has captured the hearts, minds, and other organs—all of which presumably say their own names and evolve into better organs—for two…

YouTubers Behind Counter-Strike Gambling Scandal Get Sued

In the wake of a scandal where it came to light that two prominent YouTubers, Trevor ‘TmarTn’ Martin and Tom ‘ProSyndicate’ Cassell, promoted a Counter-Strike gambling site they founded and owned sans overt disclosure, the two have been sued. Polygon reports that Martin and Cassell, as well as CSGO Lotto and its business partners, have…

Blizzard Is Changing Overwatch‘s Controversial Sudden Death Mode

Overwatch’s competitive mode has proven a contentious subject, to say the least. One thing pretty much everyone agrees on, however, is that the sudden death tiebreaker mode needs a serious overhaul. The good news: it’s getting one! The bad news: in the near future, tweaks will be slight. Blizzard isn’t Pharah ulting it into oblivion…

XCOM 2‘s Last DLC Is Also Its Best

XCOM 2 is a phenomenal strategy game. The DLC Firaxis has released in its wake, on the other hand, has mostly been middling. Thankfully, Shen’s Last Gift is straight-up good. It lets you improve the shit out of your squad. With mechs. Like Alien Hunters before it, Shen’s Last Gift is comprised of two portions.…

YouTuber Trevor ‘TmarTn’ Martin has issued an “apology” over the CSGO Lotto scandal. In it, he claims his connection to the site was always a matter of public record and says he’s sorry that some people “felt like that was not made clear enough.” Check out my now updated story on the scandal for more…

Team Fortress 2 Finally Getting Competitive Mode Update

Team Fortress 2‘s last big update came in December, but now, finally, Valve is about to shake things up again. Much like TF2’s biggest inspiration, Blizzard’s Overwatch, Valve’s undying team shooter is adding a competitive mode. The Meet Your Match update, which will likely launch sometime this week, adds a ranked competitive mode to the…

Ikenfell is an RPG that takes place at a school for witches and wizards. Interestingly, the main character, Maritte, does not have magical powers. The game is inspired by everything from Paper Mario to Harry Potter, and it’s got a soundtrack by folks who’ve worked on Steven Universe. It’s on Kickstarter

Just Cause 3 Is Getting A Multiplayer Mod

Just Cause 3 has been out for a while now, but it’s still… missing something. Just Cause 2, you might remember, only reached its true potential when fans created a multiplayer mod that let hundreds of people blow shit up and fly whales together. The Just Cause 3 version, which is being made by the…

Popular YouTubers Revealed As Owners Of Counter-Strike Gambling Site They Promote [UPDATE]

Over the holiday weekend, a whole load of dirt got thrown into the already murky waters of the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive gambling scene. Popular YouTubers Trevor ‘TmarTn’ Martin and Tom ‘ProSyndicate’ Cassell were revealed to be key staff of a skin gambling site they’ve promoted (sans overt disclosure of that fact) on multiple occasions. CSGO…

Overwatch‘s Competitive Mode Is At Odds With The Rest Of The Game

Overwatch’s competitive mode has been in the wild for a few days now, and well, let’s just say that Blizzard should maybe consider changing their name. Related: what do you call a snowstorm, except it’s made entirely of salt? I should preface this by saying that I don’t think Overwatch’s competitive mode is all that…

Overwatch Honors Fan Who Passed Away One Day Before The Game Came Out

Hongyu Wu was a 20 year-old university student who passed away the day before Overwatch, a game he was eagerly anticipating, came out. He was reportedly trying to catch a thief who stole his friend’s motorbike. As part of a recent Overwatch patch, Blizzard paid him tribute. On the Control Center portion of Lijang Tower,…

Scorn is an open-ended horror adventure set in a world made of flesh and bone. Cords of ropy muscle wrap around cold steel machinery while meat towers glisten in the distance. Even guns are made of guts and gristle. It is all so compellingly strange. H.R. Giger would be proud. Scorn will be out on…