free to play

Blizzard is to unlock new heroes in Overwatch 2. This is big news, as players regularly complain about in the live-service shooter. Currently, people get new heroes by paying for and grinding through a battle pass, buying them outright or waiting until they become available as a reward for winning a certain number of games. That changes with the forthcoming season 10, as the company will make new and old heroes available for free to all players.This not only pertains to Venture, a new hero created for season 10, but all…

After finding massive success in a limited beta, The Finals launched and instantly became one of the most popular free-to-play shooters on all platforms. Mixing the visual styling of Mirror’s Edge and the destructibility of a Battlefield title, this squad-based shooter has all the ingredients to be a hit for years to come. However, there’s one question that could put that future into question: Is it crossplay? Without a big enough player base, even a game like The Finals will die off since playing online is the only…

At this point, the number of skins and outfits available in Fortnite is almost comical. With so many characters appearing from other media, it can be easy to forget about some original outfits in the game. The Redcap skin is one of the latest fresh additions that you may not be seeing all that often, but not because it doesn’t look cool. This skin is completely free, however, not everyone will go out of their way to learn how to get it. If you want to roll into battle as a ninja mushroom person before it disappears,…

Before you can jump into the spotlight and start competing in the twisted gameshow-style shooter that is The Finals, you will need to pick what type of character you will play as. While this title stands out for its fast and fluid movement and sports-style presentation, it does follow plenty of familiar trends of other competitive shooters, including multiple classes. Being focused on teams of three, it makes sense then that there are three class types to choose — Light, Medium, and Heavy. Your choice of class not…

Honkai: Star Rail is advertised as a free-to-play game, yet many warn about the dangers of spending on it. That might be because of its status as a gacha game, one that gives you characters and weapons based on chance. You pull for characters and weapon-like cards called Light Cones from banners. However, you might not get the one you want, even over a hundred pulls later. Players often fawn over particular characters and weapons because of their stories and strengths. Still, HoYoverse says that the game is…

If you’re a fan of Disney, the Animal Crossing games, or better yet, both, then you’ve no doubt at least heard about Disney Dreamlight Valley. This original title lets you create a custom character that can enter the titular valley to meet a wide range of your favorite Disney characters. The game launched into early access in 2022, but with a price tag of $30 to play. For those who would rather wait until the game is complete to join in on the fun of helping out all your favorite childhood characters, there’s the…

Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0 has struggled to retain players due to odd gameplay decisions and controversial mechanics that have divided the community. A new feature, though, has players especially up in arms. Recently, publisher Activision released an in-game store bundle that some players consider a “pay-to-win” option, stirring up criticism once again. The paid bundle, “Roze and Thorn,” gives DMZ players a free unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that temporarily reveals the locations of enemy players at the start of a…

In 2023’s most surprising news so far, Counter-Strike 2 is coming. The competitive shooter isn’t just a follow-up to the massively popular Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, but an upgrade to that game using the new Source 2 engine. A beta is already underway, with the full game scheduled to come sometime this summer. With how Valve is handling the project, I can’t help but think of how Blizzard rolled out its own recent shooter sequel: Overwatch 2. Both games are highly popular, competitive, and live-service style…

The eShops on the 3DS and Wii U will shut down on March 27, so players are splurging on great games that they want to pick up in the final days of each storefront’s life span. If you can’t drop any cash on games for these systems before then though, you’re probably wondering what’s available from them for free. For the most part, it’s demos, as the 3DS and Wii U weren’t really known for their free-to-play offerings. Even then, many of the available free-to-play games — or “free-to-start” titles as Nintendo called…

Microsoft is planning to bring advertisements to free-to-play Xbox games and is currently evaluating adtech companies that could help manage the new in-game ad inventory and work with ad agencies, according to a report. The purported move would allow developers working on free games to sell ad space. It would also be likely to help Microsoft attract more developers to build new free-to-play games for Xbox, as they would get ad revenue through the new model.Citing two people familiar with the development, Insider reports…