Plus, the Worldslayer expansion is coming in 2022

Today, Outriders developer People Can Fly announced a big update arriving on Nov. 16, or tomorrow, for its loot shooter game. The New Horizon update for Outriders adds a? lot, both for gameplay and quality-of-life, and there's an expansion? on the horizon as well.

The New Horizon update for Outriders will add four new Expedition maps, as well as no-timer Expeditions. The update also boats an improved Loot Drop system and transmog system, the latter of which has no limits, no cost, and no microtransactions. You can find a more detailed breakdown in the update megathread on the Outriders subreddit.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJd4RyEGAwY

Outriders New Horizon update arrives tomorrow, Nov. 16, and will be entirely free fo?r every player, on all platforms.

People Can Fly also revealed its upcoming expansion, Worldslayer. Details here are a bit more scant, as the studio focused most of its presentation on the New Horizon update. There was some pretty cool visuals in the teaser though, and a character entr?ance that seems like it means something for fans of the original game.

Outriders launched earlier this year with an interesting model, foregoing the usual games-as-service structure to provide one straightforward, complete experience. Now, that experience is expanding outwards, and it'll be interesting to see how it adapts. With an influx of players likely after Outriders finally came to Game Pass for PC, this might b??e a good time to hop on the bandwagon if you miss??ed it the first time around.

The Outriders New Horizon update goes live tomorrow, Nov. 16, for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbo??????????????????????????x One, Xbox Series X|S, and Stadia.

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Some really good hidden gems in this month's batch

Today, Microsoft outlined a bunch of games headed to its Xbox Game Pass service as October comes to a close. And whil??e we already knew about a few, there are some really interesting gems hidden among the bunch that seem very worth your time.

Xbox had already either announced a few, like the PC version of Outriders and Age of Empires IV. The star of the lineup though, in my eyes, is The Forgotten City.

It's a time-looping thriller about a paradise whose citizens turn to gold if a crime is ever committed within its borders, and you have to discover who's been setting it off. I spent a few nights enamored with its puzzles and world, and on Game Pass, it's an absolute no-brainer. This is one you can enjoy, and you'll probably get some less gaming-savvy friends into it too. It's just as much fun with a group as it is by yourself.

Meanwhile, Into the Pit looks like a really rad retro-FPS roguelite. And Echo Generation has a fantastic look too, as a day-one laun?ch on Game Pass?.

Dragon Ball FighterZ also hits the lineup for this month, and while I'm not sure what the online scene looks like these days, it's a lot of fun to play local if nothing else. It got a massive patch earlier this year that completely shook up the game, and it has an incredible c??ast, even with plenty?? of Gokus in the mix.

Here's the full lineup of what's coming to Xbox Game Pass, what platforms?, and when for the rest of October??:

• Into the Pit (Cloud, console, PC) - Oct. 19
• Outriders (PC) - Oct. 19
• Dragon Ball FighterZ (Cloud, console) - Oct. 21
• Echo Generation (Cloud, console, PC) - Oct. 21
• Everspace 2 (Game Preview on PC) - Oct. 21
• Age of Empires IV (PC) - Oct. 28
• Alan Wake's American Nightmare (Console, PC) - Oct. 28
• Backbone (Console) - Oct. 28
• Bassmaster Fishing 2022 (Cloud, console, PC) - Oct. 28
• Nongunz: Doppelganger Edition (Cloud, console, PC) - Oct. 28
• The Forgotten City - (Cloud, console, PC) - Oct. 28

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The RPG shooter finally syncs up with its console side

Xbox Game Pass owners got to check out People Can Fly's Outriders at launch, and now, PC players can finally get in on the action too. Outriders is coming to Game Pass ?for PC and Ultimate on Oct. 19.

The RPG loot-shooter hit PlayStation, Xbox, and PC all at once this last April. But only Xbox Game Pass users got to check out Outriders on the service at launch. In a new Xbox Wire post, People Can Fly confirms that the game is?? now coming to the PC side of things as well.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=ml7d4d_FFhI

Outriders, if you've not kept up with it, is an RPG shooter that blends looting and shooting in a futuristic sci-fi setting. There's also space magic??, a strange storm that mutates people, and the remnants of humanity trying to survive after fleeing a doomed Earth.

Though it might sound similar to Destiny in some ways, one way in which it's not is the service model. People Can Fly were adamant from the start that it's not using the games-as-service model, and it's essentially a complete package campa??ign, to loot and shoot your way ??through either solo or with friends.

Our impressions at the time were that it's a good, sometimes-flawed shooter with some neat guns and co-op fun to be had. For those who are already subbed to Game Pass, Outriders seems like a solid social shoot-em-up. Alongside recent launches like Back 4 Blood, it's a pre?tty decent time to be a co-op f?an with Game Pass.

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31-hour average playtime

Outriders came just a week after Monster Hunter Rise, and man, do we have a lot o??f looter-type lifestyle ??games at this point.

While the two games have nothing to do with each other on many levels, there is one common denominator: time! One only has so many hours in the day to balance all of these lengthy loot-chasers, but People Can Fly is reporting that a good chunk of folks did indeed answer the call of Outriders.

As? their main Twitter account notes, they have "surpassed 3.5 million unique players in the first month after launch." Platform breakdowns were not given, which in this case would be super helpful since it launched day one on Xbox Game Pass. But still, a 31-hour average playtime is nothing to ?sneeze at. The top, most-dedicated player invested "797 hours" into the game.

Amazingly, the studio also reveals that the class breakdown is pretty close together, with the Trickster clocking in at 27.9% as the most-used option, followed by Pyromancer (best class) at 26.3%, Technomancer at 23.9%, and Devastator in a commanding last with 21.9%. There's a bunch of other useless stats flung aro??und too, but the most popular legendary weapons are the Deathshield and Funeral Pyre.

How many active players does it still have? Th??at information wasn't provided. But we'll see what they have planned in the coming months and whether or not they can keep p??eople invested.

Outriders [Twitter]

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Groups B and C are happening now

When the Outriders packed up for their mission to a deadly? planet, they had no idea they were going to face the most formidable foe of all: data corruption!

In case you haven't heard, some Outriders players have been having issues with their character and inventor??y being wiped. It's kind of a big problem! But efforts are being made to make it right, and?? here's the deal.

As of yesterday, the team is making huge strides in terms of what is going to be restored. "Group B" is being worked on now, and will be complete basically any day now. "Up to 20 legendary items" will be restored?, for folks who lost an item through Ap??ril 20.

The interesting thing is that you may not have even noticed a bug stealing an item for you. If that did happen, you'll just kind of get a legendary item or two when ?you login next time, as that could have struck you via a vendor bug. Group A was worked on and completed roughly two days ago, so you may?? have already been impacted.

Also note this caveat: "If your inventory is already full, restored items will be held server side until there is space in you??r inventory and you have logged out and back in again." So thankfully, they're in the blank void until? you're ready.

Weird! Modern games can strike without warning. Destiny 2 had something similar happen in the past, and it's probably one of the most annoying things about always-online looter shooters: the idea that loot can randomly just? disappear.

Outriders [Twitter]

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Polish developer increases U.S. presence

Polish studio People Can Fly, fresh off of the success of its sci-fi shooter Outriders, has announced that it has acquired U.S. outfit Phosphor Studios. The Chicago-based outfit is the?? third American studio in People Can Fly's portf?olio, and its seventh overall acquisition.

"Taking over the Phosphor Games' team is simply an execution of our strategy," announced PCF CEO Sebastian Wojciechowski. "With the variety of ongoing projects, we need well-seasoned, ambitious professionals to bring our plans to fruition. Considering Phosphor's team experience and quality I'm sure they will be a great addi??tion to the PCF family and will facilitate our growth. Welcom??e on board!"

Phosphor Studios, which describes itself as a purveyor of "dark, quirky, and whimsical games," is known for creepy titles such as 2011's Dark Meadow and 2017's The Brookhaven Experiment. The studio will now work with People Can Fly on its ??upcoming releases and projects under the new moniker of People Can Fly Chicago.

"A new chapter opens for our team," said Phosphor CEO Justin Corcoran of the ac??quisition. "We are very excited to be joining People Can Fly to open a brand new studio. Our goal is to strengthen PCF's presence in the US and help build People Can Fly as a glob??al brand."

Welcome PCF Chicago!

We're excited to announce that we are taking over @phosphorgames development team with a newly established compan?y - People Can?? Fly Chicago. It's our 7th location, 3rd in North America.

Read more and fly with us://t.co/yNGCWI0cPA pic.twitter.com/UlXxWRBfiO

— People Can Fly (@PCFPeopleCanFly) April 23, 2021

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No more 'warning, cross-play might be busted' menu screen

Outriders launched with cross-play. Kinda! Since day one players were greeted with a messag?e stating that the system may not work with certain platforms, but now those issues have been smoothed over, developer People Can Fly confi??rms.

Taking to Twitter, the official account for the game explains that the Xbox version of the game has been pat??ched to account for the ??cross-play problems, and that you can now properly cross-play between PC, PlayStation, and Xbox platforms.

But there's another lingering issue: inventory wipes. Recently some players have been reporting inventory bugs, and People Can Fly are "continuing to monitor perfor??mance and feedback." There are aware of the inventory wipe issue, and are attempting to resolve it both on the server and game-side of things.

Now, there is a silver lining. The stud??io says that they are planning a "restoration for all affected accounts," which is great news as long as they follow through. Annoying and inconvenient for sure to have to deal with such a big bug, but at least all hope isn't lost.

If you're impacted, you can find new context here. The inventory wipe bug is now the "top priority" of?? the team.

Outriders [Twitter]

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A little sign of appreciation

People Can Fly's Outriders went live last week, and it had some trouble keeping servers up right out of the gate. Though the situation has mostly stabilized since then, the developer announced today that it's sending launch window Outriders players an "appreciation package."

In a lengthy Reddit post outlining the first major updates to Outriders after its launch, the studio says it's disappointed the launch didn't go as planned. As a show of appreciation to those who stuck it out and sent messages of support, the team is sending out a special package of in-game gifts to players who either played between March 31 and April 11, or who experienced an automatic inventory wipe restoration.

The items are a level-appropriate Legendary Weapon and quantity of Titanium, as well as a "Frustration" emote tha?t is, for the time being, unattainable aside from this package.

There will also be a balance patch, which amon??g other things addresses a Legendary exploit and tunes down the power of the "Vulnerable" status and the Trickster's Twisted Rounds. In the case of the latter, People Can Fly says it wants the infinite bullet uptime build to be "high risk, high reward," but it sounds like it was mostly just high reward and little to no risk.

Despite these issues, Outriders appears to be going strong. It's a pretty alright loot-shooter, and the number of players hopping online and slamming the servers is also a testament to how many folks want to play the game. It will be interesting seeing how Outriders develops over the coming months, considering the studio's stance against it being a "games-as-a-service" game.

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Raynor's Raiders, roll out

There's a good chunk of games (especially from big publishers) I kind of avoid until ??they're basically out. "No, I don't want to watch this NPC backstory video. Call me when ?it's out!"

Our own Jordan Devore can't count the number of times I've asked "is [x] out yet?" whenever he's tasked with covering a specific beat. It's weird to think about now, but Fortnite was a big one. When it was just the "Save the World" edition I ?never really bothered to pay attention to its development process until it was finally out.

Outriders is another big one. It's one of those huge releases that is whis??pered in the wind, and I'll see it when I see it. Well, I saw it! And it's better than some of the other ill-fated looter shooters in rece??nt memory, but it still has plenty of issues.

Outriders (PC, PS4, PS5 [reviewed], Xbox One, Xbox Series X)
Developer: People Can Fly
Publisher: Square Enix
Released: April 1, 2021
MSRP: $59.99 (also on Xbox Game Pass)

It’s been a while since we’ve seen what People Can F??ly can really do.

Their last major original game was....probably Bulletstorm in 2011, in earnest. So when Outriders was announced, I was curious. But what is it, exactly? Well, it's a co-op third-person cover-based shooter with RPG elements; with a Mad Max meets Destiny theme. Full?? stop, it's not even a proper live service game, it's a complete shooter with a baked-in endgame that has an ac??tual end.

It takes place in a world (Planet Enoch, which humanity flocked to after the destruction of Earth) shaken by "the ??anomaly," which created evolved versions of man and beast alike. And given that the main? language People Can Fly speaks is "shooting," that's how most of the tale is told. There is a story, but you're chiefly shooting stuff while people bark at you. Outside of a fun little twist at the start, you're mostly going from place to place, shooting, listening, then shooting new threats.

Although it treads on gritty cringe at times, I dig the whole "Raynor's Raiders of StarCraft fame" vibe. It's sci-fi western, it's "meat hooks as fashion accessories," it's...weird sometimes. And that's mostly where Outriders' world shines, when it gets weird. Especially s??ince the entire framework of the game involves you waking up 31 years after a cryo nap to a gigantic war on a planet you s??couted.

Part of that flair is p?resented within the four classes: Technomancer (long-range support), Pyromancer (medium-range), Trickster? (close-range damage), Devastator (close-range tank). Four is a good number as the team made all of them shine in their own way, and didn't bulk up everything with bloated skill trees and a billion abilities. Things are streamlined, but builds are open enough where you can feel like you put your own spin on your character.

[brid video="753415" player="12899" title="Outriders%20Review" duration="339" description="Destructoid's review of Outriders.We're hitting up the planet Enoch in Outriders! Shooting stuff up, gaining cool abilities, and blowing up the stuff we just shot up! But are all the explosive adventures a??ny ??fun? Find out!" uploaddate="2021-04-08" thumbnailurl="//cdn.brid.tv/live/partners/10260/thumb/753415_t_1617903512.jpg" contentUrl="//cdn.brid.tv/live/partners/10260/sd/753415.mp4"]

My "main" for the purposes of this review has been the Pyro class, which has Metal Gear-like burnination powers. I had a ton of fun learning the ropes, chaining my burn abilities into one another to feed into the life leech system: the lifeblood of combat. Think medikits for kills. Instead of slowly healing or injecting yourself with rote healing powers (or the catch-all regenerating shield), you'll get skills healing for kills.

No, it's not a perfect system, but it helps keep things interesting even in trash fights as you powerfully command the battlefield ?and stay in control at all times. It's a mechanic you can ease into to learn but feel Machiavellian with when you master it. There's a lot of potential for combos, especially in multiplayer, as well as stylish stuff like "no look" kills when you whisk an ability off to someone out of view to blow them up.

That's basically what you're going to be doing most of the time too, blowing stuff up. The story has promise, but doesn't really deliver on anything it sets out to do. Which is fine by me! Because you can completely ignore it if you want. But any attempt to emotionally connect players to the world mostly fails. It's simply too hyper, too eager to move to the next big?? plot beat before wrapping up what it already presented. By the time I was done, I had completely forgotten a?bout a huge chunk of the setup.

The linear nature of maps (which are basically bespoke sandboxes) forces you through and doesn't allow you to linger. Once you start getting off the beaten path and doing sidequests though, you get back into that comfortable "blow stuff up" state of mind and it all comes flowing back: the reason why you continue on with Outriders ??in the first place. Gun??play and cool-looking magic powers.

Outriders knows what it wants you to focus on: the action, not the busywork. For those of you who crave more on a macro level, you're going to be disappointed. But so many times when I felt myself slipping and not caring about the world, I dove into a random matchmaking session with two other people and starting going HAM. The boss fights, which are more nuanced affairs, are easily the best delivery system for the action, but a lot of scrappy bouts on higher world tier settings (the sliding difficulty scale that also rewards bett??er loot) can also have an air of strategy to them.

When y??ou add in a fun accolade system that basically works like a free, non-scummy season pass, a flashy but function HUD (that can be customized), and fast load times on PS5, all of the "extras" fall into place. But not everything is going swimmingly in Enoch. The launch weekend was peppered with connection issues, stemmed from the always-online nature of the g?ame. While I was able to get in 90% of the time, my experience wasn't common, and a lot of folks are rightfully pissed that they can't access their single-player experience offline. Which makes perfect sense.

You can finish the main campaign in around 20 hours with some sidequest play, at which point you're funneled into the endgame activity: Expeditions. These are mostly survival-tinted affairs stretched through old environments with new layouts, ?that are mostly geared at three-player squads. You rank up, it gets harder, you get better loot, and then you face the final mission and essentiall??y "win the game."

It’s a lower bar to clear to be sure, but People Can Fly delivered what Bungie and other studios can't seem to do these days: a complete $60 game. Outriders is a flawed looter shooter that can fall into a rut with its core looting loop, but th?e gunplay is fun, and that's a decent-sized win. If you can grab two other people to recruit via Game ??Pass, it's a great way to spend some time.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}

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But Nintendo still dominates the premier league

Well, for a while it was actually a bit different. The past month has seen Monster Hunter Rise, Spider-Man Miles Morales, Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury, and even Supergiant's excellent Hades all hit the number one spot. But normal order has been restored, and Electronic Arts' FIFA has returned to the top of the UK Charts.

The soccer sim managed to successfully push past Square Enix's Outriders to regain the physical sales throne, with the brand new RPG shooter debuting outside of the Top Five at number six. It should be noted that Outriders is also available as part of Xbox's paid gaming service, Xbox Game ??Pass, which will have?? cut into the title's physical launch numbers.

Elsewhere in the Top Ten, it's still The Nintendo Show, with appearances from Animal Crossing: New Horizons - sitting at #2 a full year after release - as well as Switch mainstays Ring Fit Adventure, Minecraft, and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. Super Mario 3D All-Stars enjoyed a final week sales spike, bef?ore being removed from shelves for seemingly no reason other than... to encourage a final week sales spike.

U.K. video game sales chart w/e: April 3, 2021
(Chart reflects in-store physical sales only)

1. FIFA 21 - Electronic Arts
2. Animal Crossing: New Horizons - Nintendo
3. Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury - Nintendo
4. Monster Hunter Rise - Capcom
5. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe - Nintendo
6. Outriders - Square Enix
7. Ring Fit Adventure - Nintendo
8. Super Mario 3D All-Stars - Nintendo
9. Assassin's Creed Valhalla - Ubisoft
10. Minecraft - Nintendo

U.K. video game charts [GamesIndustry.biz]

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The variable difficulty toggle will help you a lot

Outriders, like m??any modern looter shooters, can seem daunting at first. It's really not!

Here are a few quick tips? to help you on your way.

Lea??rn to adjust the World Tier system at all times.

It's very important that you remember that the difficulty of the game is variable at any point. If something is too tough, click down the World Tier and deal with sligh??tly worse (but still good) rewards for even one fight. If it's too easy, click it up.

Change your accessibility settings to pick up all gear (at first)

While turning off "auto junk loot pickup" is useful in the endgame, i??nitially, even basic grey-level gear can be a huge upgrade over greens. Don't sleep on random gear.

You can also loot items wit?h down on the d-pad. You're welcom??e.

Balance your abilities to allow for quick special kills if needed

So in Outiders, kills with abilities will grant you a large amount of life leech, effectively serving as your m??edkits throughout the game. Yo?u might be swayed to take your lengthy-cooldown, heavy-hitting abilities as your three choice powers.

Instead, weigh your options and consider an ability you can constantly use with a low ?cooldown, even in just one slot, so you can heal in a pinch.

Interrupt, interrupt, interrupt

Some enemies will have a little casting bar app?ear above thei?r name like an MMO. This ability is generally reserved for elites, and you can interrupt their abilities with your own powers: just make sure you slot at least one interrupt, which are listed in your skill menu.

This is where you can shine in multiplayer, as each person can rotate their interrupts. Note that like diminishing returns on Tony Hawk tricks, the efficacy of this strategy lessens the more you do it in a particular figh??t.

Go straight for the big nodes in skill trees

So this is kind of an important one. Pick a track to start with and go with it. The skill tree really isn't restrictive, so you don't need to hit all of the a??ttached nodes to power up and unlock a node. Go for the big ones as those are generally the most important powers.

Dismantle all of your gear instead of selling it

Click in the right stick to mark a piece of gear ready to dismantle. By junking it, you'll not only gain materials for crafting and upgrading existing gear, but you'll also unlock mods that grant that gear ext?ra oomph. You can junk gear out in the wild, you don't need to go to a vendor.

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People Can Fly addresses the outages

Outriders went live yesterday, and i?t seems like a lot of people are hopping on, because the servers are having some trouble keeping up. Players are reporting disconnections and troubles staying logged into servers.

Over on the Outriders subreddit and on social media, users have been posting pictures of the start screen. Developer People Can Fly has been openly addressing it though, posting updates on the Outriders Twitter page.

In a statement, studio head S???ebastian Wojciechowski says that Square Enix is working to fix the server issues as soon as possible.

"As developers, who've been working super hard for the last five years to make this game awesome, we really hope that you will judge the game rather than those teething troubles re??lated to server issues," said Wojciechowski. "It is frustrating for you and it is frustrating for us."

Launch server outages are hardly a new story in video games, with lots of online-enabled multiplayer games struggling to deal with sudden surges of popularity. Outriders also seems to be garnering a lot of players, given the Steam numbers it's been putting up despite the outages.

The team says it's going to do the "mother of all turn-it-off-and-on-agains," which will take all servers offline for a short duration. Hopefully kicking the plug out completely will give Squa?re Enix a good chance to rebuild and be ready for the player influx.

[Update: Looks like servers are back online. Time to get back to shootin', lootin', and wranglin' the wilds of ??Enoch.]

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It's flexible for a reason

The time has finally come for Outriders' launch, and all of us can stop farming gear in the demo and jump into the real thing.

It's been...interesting so far! While some of the core loop has the potential to get stale, it's fun jumping into games with random people and seeing how class synergy works. The moment to moment gunplay is fun, and I'm actually experimenting with different builds without feeling overwhelmed. Oh, and the lack of live service nonsense or loot boxes helps. It has a baked-in season pass type system to ramp up and unlock cosmetics, but it is not? monetized. Praise be.

One big thing I've been messing with during my playthrough is the world tier system, and I think a lot of people are going to like it. In short, it's a sliding difficulty scale that also dictates the quality of your loot. Now, this isn't new. Even the term is old hat. But typically, a lot of games ask you to set your world tier before you do a mission, or in certain zones. Outriders lets you do it whenever.

Remember that! You can pause the game whenever you want, solo, and set your tier. The game even c??learly and cleverly labels their difficulty, starting with "story," then ramping to "easy, normal, hard, expert, master, legend..." and so on.

The thing is, the penalties for ramping down aren't that massive early on (the difference between loot rarity is only 10 percentage points in the first three levels), and you can dynamically swap as needed. Having trouble with a boss? Roll down and best them. You won't get as good of a loot table, but hey, y??ou won't be banging your head against the w??all for an hour straight.

Likewise, do you have an area down and want to reap the rewards? R?oll it up. It's flexible like that and should accommodate a wide variety of players, from casual fans who just want to stroll through the story to veteran loot-heads who want all o??f the legendary drops possible. It's there. Use it! No matter what side of the fence you're on.

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That means you, Tommy

The launch date for Outriders is fast approaching, but before a host of new players descend on the servers, Square Enix and People Can Fly are laying down the law for any wou??ld-be cheaters.

In a post on the Outriders Steam page, the team lays ??out its plans for launch, including a day-one patch, bug fixes for issues noted during the game's demo period, and a "Quick Mark" utility for your inventory, addressing concerns and requests brought forth by players. Unfortunately for cheaters, Square Enix has also taken notice of you.

"At the time when we reached around 2 million players, we identified 200 players who had clearly cheated," the team writes. "In percentage terms, that's 0.01%." They even call out one person who gave themselves 600 Legendary Weapons, and while the team says it doesn't expect the percentage to? grow by much past ??launch, there will be steps taken against cheaters.

According to the blog, if you're caught cheating, you will not be able to matchmake with non-cheaters, and so matchmaking will likely t?ake longer, though you can still play solo. Most notably, in the future, cheaters' heads-up displays will have a "discreet but visible watermark" on it, so any footage created using the account can be readily identified.

"Any account logs found to have evidence of cheating on them on or aft?er launch day will be permanently branded," the blog says. 

There is one ounce of leeway being given to demo cheaters thinking about changing their ways: the Outriders team says that if you wish to join the main game without the watermark, you have to delete all characters and items on the entire account in order to wipe the slate clean. This means absolutely no carryover in any form from the demo into Outriders proper.

Listed cheats include using a variety of programs, like trainers, aimbots, and wallhacks, as well as modifying game files o??r running the game without Easy Anti Cheat on. The blog does specify that using performance tweaking software or farming does not constitute cheating.

This is a pretty firm stance, though the studio says it reserves the right to update and change the policy in the future. But bas??ically, it's what I like to call a "Don't Be That Guy" rule: don't cheat, and you won't have an ugly watermark forever branded on your account.

Outriders will launch on PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S?, PlayStation 4, PS5, an?d Stadia on April 1, 2021.

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More tweets from the Game Pass account

[Update: Confirmed! Microsoft announced it this morning. It ?will be added to the service on April 1 for consoles and android phones/tablets.]

Seein??g big newer and newish games hit Xbox Game Pass is pretty exciting?.

For a lot of folks, it's a way to economically enjoy stuff while it's relevant, but it also helps contribute to a healthy online scene for multiplayer romps. Outriders, a new IP, could ben??efit from both of these perks.

That's why people are so excited that it might hit the Xbox Game Pass line, based on a cryptic tweet that shares a jokey, PR-centric "ema??il." Here's?? the email in full, from the faux Melissa McGamePass account:

"So much news today! Hope you don't mind if I add some more! (Although it's completely unrelated to the other announcements. That new game has been confirmed and is officially coming to the service! As always, keep this confidential. Before I go, I did have something I wanted to ask. Has anyone else noticed a mysterious signal appearing in the distance lately or am I the anomaly in this situation? Weird question, I know."

This lines up with events that take place in the Outriders demo. Whether it'll be there at launch is anyone's guess, but it's somethin?g to be aware of as you eye the game before, during, or after the review period.

Xbox Game Pass [Twitter]

The post (Update) Outriders m??ight come to Xbox Game Pass if this cryptic tease pans out appeared first on Destructoid.

The Other Guys

We are less than a month out from the release of People Can Fly's class-based sci-fi shooter Outriders. Publisher Square Enix has released a short animated trailer offering an abridged version of the events that led to a squad of no-hopers somehow becoming? the makeshift saviors of humanity.

With the Earth on its last legs and the best of society's experts lying in ash, the final hope for mankind lies in an expedition party made up of expendable mercenaries - tasked to explore the planet Enoch in hopes of finding a new world for colonization. Things go awry?? fast, however, when a powerful energy storm blasts the planet's inhabitants, infusing everything i?n its path with powerful elemental abilities, including our unlikely heroes.

Outriders, which launches on PS4, PS5, PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X on April 4, is a co-op heavy squad-based shooter, with an emphasis on classes, gear, and build types. A demo, now available for free on all platforms, has already found favor with an army of fans, which bodes well for the title's official release. You can check out our own Chris Carter's thoughts on said demo right here.

The post There’s no turning back for Outriders’ superhuman outcasts appeared first on Destructoid.

It's nice to see People Can Fly stretch their legs again

It took me a bit, but after the urging of many Destructoid readers, I finally checked out the If Outriders demo.

It's better than I thought it would be!

The prologue, which thankfully can be skipped with subsequent characters after completin?g it once,?? is extremely awkward, though it does the job in terms of setting the world up.

The basic rundown is that you, a member of an elite-esque taskforce called the "Outriders," need to establish a foothold on the planet Enoch, to help usher in a new era for humanity following the devastation of Earth. During that process all hell breaks loose, yadda yadda yadda, you end up in cryosleep for 31 years and wake up in a war, with superpowers. Wait, what? Yeah, that's the mile-a-minute setup. It's actu??ally kind of neat.

To house those powers, you'll pick one of four classes: Technomancer (ranged DPS), Pyromancer (ranged DPS), Trickster (melee DPS)??, and Devastator (tank). For now (something I'll rectify in the review), I gave the Pyromancer a whirl. Within the confines of the demo, you'll have access to a ranged firewall projectile, a burning "grab," and another projectile that turns enemies into an explosive bomb after death.

It's all very easy to acclimate to (L1, L1+R1, and R1 respectively on PS4/PS5), and the ability cooldowns are fast enough. The real key here is that like People Can Fly's other work, constant action is emphasized. Your abili??ties are generally ??tied to your power to heal, so constantly throwing out fire as a Pyromancer directly impacts how quickly you earn your life back.

It creates an interesting waltz of chaos, where you're mashing out fire everywhere and blowing up enemies strategically. Devoid of the loot system entirely, I already found myself being drawn to the flow of combat in Outriders. It's very much over the top and the customization element and (hopefully expansiv?e) talent tree system should facilitate ??that.

There's still a lot of "what ifs," to be sure. The world isn't always a??s interesting as it could be, and at times, it feels sterile and extremely linear: even more than other similar genr??e staples. The loot system could go south in the full version, but for now, the variety of weapons and perks are thrilling enough. The dialogue, story, and voice acting hinge on cringe often, but as long as the shooting core holds, I can deal with that.

Given how expansive the demo is, folks have taken to playing to extremes! It's actually kind of great, even if the team is dialing it back a bit. But that sort of access is refreshing, given how closed off a lot of these shooter looter games can be in recent years. I'm looking forward to seeing what People Can Fly can really do once it ?arrives at the sta?rt of April.

The post If Outriders is anything like the beefy demo, it’ll be in good shape appeared first on Destructoid.

Farming like it's Stardew Valley

[Update: People Can Fly has applied a second update to the Outriders demo in response to complaints about the first. As noted by Eurogamer, the Gauss boss chest will have a chance of dropping Legendary items once again. Ledge gear will remain absent from other chests.]

A lot of people have been enjoying the demo for People Can Fly's team-shooter Outriders??, with an amazing two million players logging in to battle over the wastelands of the planet Enoch over, and over, and over aga??in.

In fact, people have replayed the demo so many times, that they're starting to build up a worryingly powerful arsenal of?? weaponry - so much so that the developer is stepping in to alter the ease with which mercs can bag this devastating firepower. The concern is that this intense method of "farming" top level gear and weaponry will leave players absolutely loa??ded-for-bear once the main game finally hits, and will see them endlessly cream the opposition throughout the main campaign.

Speaking in an official Reddit post, People Can Fly noted that it is well in the player's right to play the demo as often as they want, bagging whatever goo??dies they can along the way, but that this might serve to hamper their enjoyment of the main game, which will a?llow players to carry over their inventory and levels from the demo edition.

The new update - which goes live in the Outriders demo today - will remove all chance of finding Legendary gear in chests, shops, and vendors, though they will remain as rewards for completing side-quests, or as exceptionally lucky drops from defeated enemies. People Can Fly hopes that this will reduce the chance of the entire community rocking up to Outriders akin to Schwarzenegger tooling up on the beach in Commando.

Outriders launches April 1 on PS4??, PS5, PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and Stadia. Stay tuned, as our own Chris Carter's thoughts on the demo should be hitting Destructoid today.

People are farming?? Outriders demo so hard dev?elopers are stepping in [Eurogamer]

The post (Update) Outriders demo gets rebalanced ?after gear-farmers go HAM appeared first on Destructoid.

People Can Fly's looter-shooter spreads its wings

Next week will offer PC and console owners their first opportunity to jump in on People Can Fly's new co-operative shooter, Outriders. In a lengthy thread on Twitter, the studio laid out all of the dates and details as it pertains to the demo - which the developer specifically notes is a demo and not a beta.

The demo will be available to all for free, you don't need to opt-in nor pre-order Outriders, and will launch on PS4, PS5, PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X on February 25/26. PlayStation players will require a PlayStation Plus account. The demo will weigh in at roughly 22-24 GB and there are no plans for a pre-load period. Fortunately, the demo is not time-limited, and is expected to run up to and even beyond the official launch of Outriders, so?? don't sweat it ?if you cannot get to it right away.

The demo itself will offer all four character classes and six character slots. Capping out player characters at Level 7, and allowing gameplay up until the World Tier 5 difficulty setting, the demo should give players ample opportunity to take each character for a test drive and experiment with the evolving gear system. Cross-play will be supported in a beta capacity, and will require manual activation from the options. A special Discord channel will be?? opened for those looking for pals or just wanting to chat about their findings.

Finally, streamers are free to play the demo online, but People Can Fly warns that the demo's end credits feature licensed music. Anyone pulling the trigger (no pun intended) on a full purchase will find their account and progress will carry over into the main game. Outriders launches Ap?ril 1 on PS4, PS5, PC, Xbox One, Xbox S??eries X, and Stadia.

Everything you need to know about the Outriders D??emo.

A Thread. 👇

1/20

— Outriders (@Outriders) February 18, 2021

The post Here’s what you need to know about next week’s Outriders demo appeared first on Destructoid.