Warzone’s DMZ extraction mode, for all the love it continues to receive from the player base, has come in for some criticism of late. Players have highlighted cheating and glitches as serious issues but, as we approach Season 5, a far more serious duplication exploit is causing havoc.

DMZ has encountered duplication glitches in the past, letting players spawn multiple versions of a desirable item or weapon. However, we’re not sure there’s ever been one like this.

With Call of Duty’s DMZ extraction mode well established within Warzone and incorporating aspects of The Boys in the form of the Temp V Field Upgrade, I wanted to don my developer hat and conceive of five truly ludicrous things Activision could do with the mode in the future.

The inclusion of the aforementioned Temp V has been controversial, with some loving it and treating it as an excellent anti-camper device and others adamant that superpowers do no belong in the mode at all.

As part of the crossover with Amazon Prime’s The Boys TV show, the Temp V Field Upgrade has been parachuted into Warzone and its modes. While its inclusion has largely been questioned and canned by players, it turns out it can be used as a ruthlessly efficient counter to campers.

Season 4 Reloaded, dropping on July 12, brought a major pop culture crossover to Warzone in Activision’s collaboration with The Boys. Among Homelander, Black Noir and Starlight skins, it also introduced the Temp V Field Upgrade, a spin off of the show’s Compound V.

Booting up the pre-release version of EA Sports FC 24, I was strangely excited and curious to find out what was waiting. I’ve played every FIFA since about 2010 so, despite being more taken with some and less with others, there’s always been a degree of certainty about what you’re going to get from a new one. Sure, there’ll be upgrades and tweaks, but seasoned players know what to expect. With EA FC 24, there was little of that.

I was immediately reassured by the menus (bear with me). The FC 24 logo comes up first, clean and minimalist. The more I’ve thought about this branding and name change, the more I’ve liked it. Especially as the largest portion of the player base (myself too) spends most of their time with Ultimate Team, recent FIFA iterations have felt more and more like building your own football club. What better name than FC, then?

After much anticipation and the gradual inclusion of women’s football into the FIFA series, EA’s FC 24 will officially incorporate female players into its ultra-popular Ultimate Team mode. Speaking at the game’s official reveal, the developers have explained why now was the time to make the significant change.

Women’s football has been growing in prominence in the FIFA series for some time, with the Women’s UCL dropping in FIFA 23. Women’s national teams first debuted in FIFA 16 and, with the baton passing from ‘FIFA’ to ‘EA FC 24’ it’s been confirmed that over 1,600 women players will be joining Ultimate Team. 

The developers at EA Sports have responded to criticism of FC 24’s graphics following the release of the Ultimate Edition cover. 

EA Sports’ FC 24 will usher in a new era for EA’s football simulation games, replacing the FIFA series after the company’s exclusivity partnership with the FIFA governing body ended.

Microsoft, in the midst of its attempts to acquire Activision-Blizzard, have confirmed that Xbox Live Gold will be discontinued as of September 2023. It will be replaced by Xbox Game Pass Core, launching on Sept. 14.

The move towards Game Pass has been a steady march for Microsoft and Xbox gamers over the last few years. Instead of players purchasing games as and when they choose, the subscription service essentially opens up multiple titles that are downloadable and playable to subscribers.

EA FC’s reveal livestream confirmed that, in line with leaks surrounding EA Sports’ brand new football simulation series, the Ultimate Edition will launch a week before the Standard Edition. There was no word on prices, but they have been leaked and would put the FC as the most expensive iteration from EA yet.

For the first time in decades, the new football season won’t bring a new FIFA video game. Instead, we’ll receive the first installment of the EA Sports FC series.

A major change with Warzone Season 4 Reloaded will see DMZ players punished for killing too many real-life opponents, in a serious shake up to the extraction mode.

When the Season 4 Reloaded overview dropped on July 11, Activision promised changes to DMZ’s ‘Plea for Help’ mechanic, as well as to ‘squads specifically hunting other players’. We now know the form those changes take thanks to the full patch notes.

Warzone’s DMZ playerbase have been responding to the reveal of Season 4 Reloaded (S4R) on July 10, with one new item in particular coming in for some criticism.

Activision’s reveal of S4R, two days before it is expected to launch on July 12, featured little on DMZ. Instead, it focused on The Boys crossover, a new automatic shotgun and a new Vondel Waterfront map.

Valorant’s 7.01 Patch follows on from June 27’s update, which ushered in Act 1 of Episode 7. Releasing on July 11, here are the full 7.01 update patch notes, including the launch of Ignition Stage and player behavior changes.

Valorant’s 7.0 Patch dropped back on June 27, seeing the commencement of Episode 7. Among the swathes of changes were a new Agent, Deadlock, a new Team Deathmatch mode and major updates to the shooter’s progression system. 7.01 is smaller, building on the new Episode as we’ve come to expect.

The 2022-23 season is in the books and means football fans are looking forwards to the 2023-24 season. Here are the top 10 players we expect to receive major downgrades when EA Sports FC Ultimate Team rolls around.

The release of player ratings is a big moment in the build-up to any FIFA game. This year is a little different though, with EA Sports’ infamous football simulation franchise being rebranded as EA Sports FC. This is as a result of the company’s exclusivity deal with the FIFA governing body wrapping up, which looks set to continue the FIFA video game series on its own.

With another season in the books, gamers are looking forward to EA Sports FC and a series of new superstars to play with and enjoy. Here are the top 10 players we expect to receive major upgrades in EA Sports FC Ultimate Team.

FIFA player ratings are a big event every year, especially in the build-up to a new instalment’s release. That’s even more true in 2023, with EA Sports FC set to launch a new era in EA-developed football simulation titles.

Over the years, annual Call of Duty installments have featured different weapons of different strengths. Some are perpetually weak but others are at the opposite end of the scale: so strong they can be considered overpowered. Here, we’re taking a trip down memory lane and picking the top 10 most overpowered weapons in Call of Duty history. 

For this list, we’re trying to ignore good weapons and focus on those that were so strong, at least for a period of time, they qualified as OP. Not all were dominant for months, with the respective devs generally quick to nerf standout guns. However, some were at the height of their powers for inexplicably long periods so, without further ado, here are our picks. 

The XDefiant Open Session gave FPS fans another opportunity to dive into Ubisoft San Francisco’s arena shooter but, as quickly at it opened up, it’s closed and players have to wait for the full release later this summer. As a result, we’re looking at opportunities to fill the void.

We don’t have a specific release date for XDefiant just yet, with the devs only promising a summer 2023 release. They’ve already revealed a pre-season and Year 1 though, so there’s a huge amount to look forward to. However, it’s not here yet so the fans waiting for it will likely be looking for games to play in the meantime. That’s where we can help. Here are 7 first-person shooters you can play while we wait for XDefiant to launch.

F1 23 on PS5

In a world where video games seem to be slowly moving towards longer life cycles and seasonal content, annual sporting instalments could become a thing of the past. F1 23, I’m pleased to report, does more than enough to justify its existence. It builds on F1 22 in a solid if unspectacular manner and, most of all, dials up the stakes, immersion and Formula One racing experience.

Wax and Polish

It’s probably taken as a given at this point that an EA-led (Codemasters developed) title will be refined and detailed in its approach. It shouldn’t be taken for granted in general though, with plenty of recent releases finding their way into the public domain without being ready for it. I was reminded of EA Sports’ PGA Tour in the granular detail and wealth of options F1 23 threw my way before I even got close to a racetrack.

Warzone’s DMZ extraction mode has been immensely popular with a portion of the player base since it launched in late 2022. While there’s huge variance in the missions players can complete and the items they need to extract with, the majority of tasks center around finding and extracting with a valuable item. That’s why the exfil helicopter is so important.

The helicopter is essentially players’ safe passage out of whichever exclusion zone they find themselves in. In Warzone Season 4, that’s one of Building 21, Al Mazrah, Ashika Island or Vondel. You just need to find your way to an exfil location, call in the chopper and survive through to its arrival. It’ll then airlift you and your contraband to safety. It might not be that simple anymore, though.

Bethesda’s Todd Howard has revealed just how many of Starfield’s planets will support their own life forms – and it’s very good news for the explorers among the playerbase.

Starfield is set to be one of the biggest launches in recent memory when it drops in early September 2023. Bethesda are drip feeding fans details as its launch approaches and, in a June 22 interview with Kinda Funny Games, Game Director Todd Howard delved deeper into the game’s intricate universe and planet systems.

June 21’s Nintendo Direct gave us another look at Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince as the next spin-off installment in Square Enix’s ultra-popular RPG series.

Since Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age released back in 2017, Square Enix’s franchise has lay dormant, with players patiently awaiting another title.

June 21’s Nintendo Direct revealed a series of upcoming titles for Switch players of all persuasions, including Palia. The long-anticipated MMO has been described by its devs as a “cosy community sim MMO set in a high fantasy world”. We now have a detailed look at some official gameplay, as well as confirmation of a release window.

Teasing players that “a cosy life is just around the corner”, Palia promises to slow down the ultra-fast-paced video game and let players take it at their own pace in an open-world environment fit for anyone.