Activision announces that Season Four Reloaded in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare will get underway tonight at 11:00 pm PDT, which is tomorrow at 2:00 am EDT. This will add new gear and a new locale to the first-person shooter. It also adds 200-player support in the battle in Verdansk in Call of Duty: Warzone, where 50 Quads can now square off in the battle royale game. This post has all the details, and here's an overview:

With this update, Verdansk will now be able to hold up to 200 players in Battle Royale Quads in Warzone. That means 50 Quads of Operators fighting each other and the encroaching circle collapse.

Players who are travelling and fighting their way through the Warzone can now be on the lookout for Supply Run Contracts. Upon activation, players and their squad will be directed to a nearby Buy Station. Reach it within the time limit to get a discount on Buy Station purchases.

Continue here to read the full story.

A harassment statement from Electronic Arts outlines EA's response to reports of abuse, harassment, and misconduct in the game industry (thanks PC Gamer). Here's what they say they are doing about this:

In recent days we’ve seen and heard a number of disturbing stories around sexual harassment, abuse and misconduct in our industry. We want to be very clear on our position: these behaviors are never ok -- not in our communities or any others. Electronic Arts supports everyone that has come forward to report abuse and we are asking anyone who has experienced any kind of harassment or sexual misconduct in our community to come forward.

We take every allegation seriously and we investigate it. We are deeply committed to ensuring there is safe space for people to come forward and taking the right actions on behalf of our community. The stories we’ve heard recently make it clear there is still a lot of work to be done in our industry.

Continue here to read the full story.

A new Prisma Dimensions Website is online, presumably the first official sign of the upcoming Ubisoft game that will reportedly actually be titled Hyper Scape. They offer signups to be among the first to learn more on July 2nd. There is also some Hyper Scape concept art in this tweet from Ubisoft Middle East (thanks DSOGaming). Hyper Scape is supposedly a Battle Royale, and this bit from the new website outlines their reveal plans:

Enter the Hyper Scape
Prisma Dimensions is thrilled to bring you the first iteration of the Hyper Scape on July 2nd - and with it, the pulse-pounding action of Crown Rush! Get ready to drop into the neon-drenched streets of the world’s premiere virtual city, Neo Arcadia. You'll want to hit the ground running, as you’ll need every advantage you can find to give yourself a leg up on the competition. Only the best contenders will make it to the final showdown. Will you claim victory, or fall to the perils of the Hyper Scape?

Britannic: Patroness of the Mediterranean recently left the port on Steam, offering a recreation of this sister ship of the legendarily ill-fated Titanic. This offers a virtual tour of the ship along "with gaming elements." This supports virtual reality, but this is not required, so it can be experienced on a traditional monitor. Here's the official trailer and here's more on what to expect:

HMHS Britannic can now be explored in authentic onboard environments in a wonderous VR and non-VR version. Produced using Unreal® technology you can experience key areas of the fantastic vessel and witness a real-time sinking animation, as well. See if you can escape the ship before she sinks!?! You can roam the decks or use a free-for-all camera to fly around enjoying the rich details. Emphasis has been on historical accuracy and the title has been produced by a talented team of historians in a collaboration with wreck divers, archivists, and other experts to ensure history is brought to life in the most impressive way possible.

Continue here to read the full story.

Recently acquired developer Deck13 announces Vesper, "a stylish platformer set in a mysterious world where you will need to control your enemies to survive." They say this is expected next year, offering an Announcement Teaser with an early look at what to expect. Here's word:

Vesper is a new inspired take on classic-cult 90’s atmospheric platformers, with an emphasis on stealth and modern puzzle mechanics. Seven is a small android, lost in an eerie planet full of perils and traces of an ancient civilization. No powers and no ability to defeat enemies until he finds the Drive Gun, a weapon used to absorb lights, create darkness, and control minds.

Frantic chases from relentless machines force you to take decisions in the blink of an eye. Hide from your pursuers and sneak through enemy lines to reach your objective.

Continue here to read the full story.

Cartoon Network announces Ben 10: Power Trip, a game based on the cartoon series from developer PHL Collective and publisher Outright Games that will come to Windows and consoles on October 9th. Here's the brief Announce Trailer and here's the pitch:

"Ben 10: Power Trip" takes place in the animated universe of Ben Tennyson, where he uses his trusted Omnitrix to transform into different alien creatures and save the world. The game tells a unique story where Ben must uncover the truth behind four mysterious crystals that threaten to take over his world. Players will be able to transform into powerful aliens and work together to battle fearsome foes in this co-op adventure.

Continue here to read the full story.

• Humble Book Bundle: Circuits & Electronics by Morgan & Claypool (pay what you want and help charity).*

*Blue's News may receive a commission on sales of this item

• Dumb As Wizards Release Trailer.

• Global Game Jam in turmoil following Black Lives Matter silence.

• Xbox Insider - Alpha (2007.200626-0000).
• Xbox Insiders - Alpha Skip-Ahead (2008.200626).

• All of Samsung's upcoming flagships will reportedly come with a Snapdragon 865+.
• Asus’ ROG Zephyrus G14 is now available with a hidden LED display on its lid. Thanks Neutronbeam.
• Stellaris: Galaxy Command (iOS/Android) - Announcement Trailer.
• A Seamless Open World Adventure Awaits in Noah’s Heart.

• Trump Twitch channel, pro-Trump Reddit group cited for hate speech.
• Microsoft has paused ads on Facebook and Instagram.
• Facebook July ad suspension: Ford, Adidas and Denny's join.
• Twitch Confronts Its Role in Streaming’s #MeToo Reckoning. Thanks Neutronbeam.
• Could a boycott kill Facebook?

• Unannounced Nvidia GTX 1650 Ultra Graphics Card Listed Online.
• Facebook reveals holographic optics for thin and light VR headsets.
• AMD B550 Motherboards Spotted Running Zen and Zen+ CPUs.
• An Infrastructure Arms Race Is Fueling the Future of Gaming. Thanks Neutronbeam.
• AMD Ryzen 4000 'Vermeer' Desktop CPUs With Zen 3 Cores Hitting Mass Production Soon.
• Redshift 3.0 Massive Performance Boost Tested – Comparing Redshift 2.6 & NVIDIA Optix.
• Sabrent unleashes world's first 8TB external SSD- 2.7GB/sec reads - TweakTown. Thanks Neutronbeam.

• India bans TikTok, dozens of other Chinese apps. Thanks Neutronbeam.
• Vulnerability Summary for the Week of June 22, 2020 - CISA. Thanks Ant.
• TikTok 'didn't store' iPhone clipboard data.

• A Persona trading card game from 1997 is being ported to PC…

Last Link of the Day: Swimming Baby Bear Rescued From Plastic Tub by Family. Thanks Boing Boing.

Obituary: Obituary: AIAS founding director and former Sunsoft EVP Rita Zimmerer.

Today is the 20th anniversary Diablo II, as Blizzard's action/RPG sequel was first released on June 29, 2000. This post discusses what they are doing to celebrate the occasion, which includes a new video from your best friend Carbot, a retrospective article, a Lord of Terror bust, a wings giveaway in Diablo III, and more:

In the process, we’ve dreamed up some cool stuff, and we hope you’ll check it out and celebrate with us.

• To start, watch Baal Runz 101, a video developed by animation sorcerer Carbot Studios that we think is among his funniest work yet—and maybe the truest depiction of battling the Lord of Destruction.
• Read our Diablo II retrospective, with comments from Blizzard employees who’ve grown up developing, playing, and hanging out in the world of Sanctuary.
• Follow speedrun record-setter MrLlamaSC on a day-long live speedrun through Diablo II beginning at 9 am PT today. He’ll be playing through the entire game up to and including the Pandemonium event and conquering the “Uber” bosses.
• Bear witness to the unspeakable evil that is this limited-edition Lord of Terror bust. It looms 9” wide by 7-1/8” deep by 10-1/2” tall–the perfect size to desecrate your computer desk. Diablo’s never looked more terrifying (or more enthusiastic).
• Log in to Diablo III any time after June 29 to unlock your own tendinous Prime Evil Wings and represent the legacy you forged on Arreat Summit. Baal—as we saw in him in Diablo II—did not have wings, but try to imagine what they would’ve looked like if he did, and if you could’ve fastened them to your hero’s shoulders.

Continue here to read the full story.

A couple of tweets from esports consultant Rod Breslau spill the beans on Ubisoft's plans to reveal a new AAA battle royale first-person shooter from Ubisoft Montreal (thanks PC Gamer). He offers a screenshot for a game he says is codenamed Prisma Dimensions but will be titled Hyper Scape. His sources tell him this will be a free-to-play game that will enter closed beta next week and will officially launch a week after that on July 12th (which would be odd, being a Sunday). Here's word:

Sources: today Ubisoft will tease a new game code-named "Prisma Dimensions", which is actually a new AAA multiplayer fast-paced FPS Battle Royale from Ubisoft Montreal (R6, AC) named Hyper Scape

Sources: Hyper Scape is a free to play BR FPS set in a futuristic virtual world for both PC and consoles with the console launch coming later this year including crossplay. Hyper Scape goes into closed beta next week with open beta and full launch of the game on July 12th

Epic Games Store tweets that No Straight Roads will launch on the Epic Games Store on August 25th, offering a music-based action-adventure where you lead a musical revolution against an evil EDM empire. This is a delay, as just it was announced just one month ago that this would be released tomorrow. In the meantime there's a free No Straight Roads - Mother & Child DEMO for Windows you can check out right now. "As a huge thank you to our loyal fans who have waited for No Straight Roads, we’ve made a playable demo available today which will give everyone an idea of what to expect with our beloved game," said Daim Dziauddin, creative director of No Straight Roads and co-founder of Metronomik. "We can’t wait for players to experience the full game very soon." Here's a new "BitSummit Gaiden" Trailer and here's word on the game:

Take back Vinyl City - with rock! Embark on a music-based action-adventure as indie rock band members Mayday & Zuke and lead a musical revolution against EDM empire No Straight Roads. After being unfairly rejected in their audition to join No Straight Roads, Mayday & Zuke uncover the evil intentions behind the NSR empire. It’s now down to them to save their city from corruption. Enjoy fast & frenetic combat with a musical twist as these two aspiring rock artists fight back with the power of music!

Continue here to read the full story.

Code Club announces that Wurm Online will launch on Steam on July 24th, offering a new way to connect with this sandbox MMORPG. This game was launched by Rolf Jansson and Markus "Notch" Persson in 2006, and they say the Steam launch is the culmination of eight months of work to improve the game's graphics and user interface. Wurm Online is free-to-play with an optional subscription model. They also announce: "To coincide with the debut of the game on Steam two new servers will launch disconnected from the existing Wurm Online cluster, one PvP and one PvE." Here's more on the game and what the Steam version will offer:

Step into a world born around the idea that sandboxes should give ultimate freedom, Wurm Online aims to hold true to the original sandbox vision.

With sprawling seamless lands with no instances and a true open world experience Wurm Online offers limitless opportunities for you to write your story.

Stake your claim anywhere in the world and build fully custom structures, wage war on our PvP server with kingdom vs kingdom warfare, or focus on crafting and exploration on our PvE servers.

Since 2006 Wurm Online has pushed the boundaries of what it means to be a sandbox MMORPG and stood the test of time. Continually updated and evolving, this Steam launch brings fresh lands to explore and tame.

• GOG.com Weekly Sale: good old games up to 89% off.

• Amnesia The Dark Descent Remaster Mod released, features 4K textures, POM, PBR materials & more.

• Ary and the Secret of Seasons - Developer Walkthrough.
• The Revenant Prince: Developer Commentary.
• 25 Minutes Of Cyberpunk 2077 Gameplay. Thanks VGC.

• HyperX Partners With Esports Stadium Arlington Ahead of July Grand Re-Opening.
• DimensionU Provides Free Esports Summer League for All New Jersey Students.

• No Straight Roads Hands-On Preview - For Those About To Rock, We Salute You - Wccftech.

Thanks Neutronbeam.

• Microsoft: We Could Have Used Variable Clocks for Xbox Series X, But We're Not Interested in TFLOPS Numbers.
• Xbox Series X can beat PS5 — here’s 3 reasons why - Tom's Guide.
• Epic Games calls PS5 a "masterpiece of systems design" in new interview with Official PlayStation Magazine.
• Horizon Forbidden West: how the Decima engine evolves for PS5.
• Ghost of Tsushima - A Storm is Coming Trailer - PS4.
• Bloomberg: Big-budget Harry Potter game coming to PS5, Xbox Series X in late 2021.
• Couch co-op PVP party brawler Bake ‘n Switch is coming to PS4.
• PlayStation Plus July games lineup & a thank you for 10 years of supporting PS Plus.

• Galaxy Watch 3 Leaks in Full Glory and it Looks Amazing.
• Galaxy Note 20's new HOP display tech may still struggle with true 120Hz refresh specs.
• Doomscrolling Is Slowly Eroding Your Mental Health. Thanks Neutronbeam.
• Quibi Does "Princess Bride" At Home Remake. Thanks Ant.
• MapleStory M Summer Content Update Delivers New Dungeon Boss, New Areas & Limited Time Events.

• China Reports Progress in Ultra-Secure Satellite Transmission. Thanks Neutronbeam.
• Starbucks latest to say it will pause social media ads.
• How to move your role-playing game nights online.
• Microsoft pushes out new Edge to Windows 7 users. Thanks Ant.
• Rocket League Streamer Seemingly Shocked By Lightning Strike During Stream.

Thanks Neutronbeam and Ant.

• How Nvidia Went From Gaming to AI to Riding With Mercedes.
• Lenovo Drops Tiny AMD-Based ThinkCentre Mini Desktop for IoT and Industrial Applications.
• Why Did the Turbo Button Slow Down Your PC in the ’90s?
• My First Curved Gaming Monitor - Is Ultrawide Worth It? Video.
• How to Change Mechanical Keyboard Switches in Minutes.
• Notepad++ 7.8.8 release. Thanks DSLReports.
• BlueStacks version 4.215.

• 1Password taps Have I Been Pwned to give enterprises data breach reports.
• HackerOne's 2020 Top 10 public bug bounty programs.

• How hackers extorted $1.14m from University of California, San Francisco.

• Valorant review - exacting, infuriating, sublime • Eurogamer.net.

Thanks Neutronbeam.

• ASUSTOR Lockerstor 10 Pro AS7110T NAS Review - TweakTown.
• Cooler Master SickleFlow 120 Series Case Fan Review - APH Networks.
• XMG Apex 15 Review- Ryzen 9 3950X 16-Core POWER In A Laptop - Insanity, But It Works! - Digital Foundry.
• XMG Apex 15 review- Ryzen 9 3950X in a laptop - and we're not kidding • Eurogamer.net.

• Fans Are Making Their Own Driver Game Since Ubisoft Won't Give Us a New One…
• Saints Row The Third Remastered is a complete mess on the PC right now…
• Brainlab Acquires Medical Video Game Innovator Level Ex…

As I mentioned yesterday I will pick the winners of our Game Key Giveaway today. Supporters will get first crack, but anyone can opt in. Good luck... we're all counting on you.

Always a Sucker for James Bond Links
Thanks Ant and Neutronbeam.

Breakfast Links

• The most expensive stunt in James Bond history.
• How Roger Moore Became a New James Bond for 'Live and Let Die.'

Stories

• With Flights Banned, Son Sails Solo Across Atlantic to Reach Father, 90.

Science

• Physicists calculated the upper limit for the possible quantization of time.
• New DNA Analysis Reveals Ancient Scythian Warrior Was a 13-Year-Old Girl. Thanks Roddy.

Image

• Best Gaming Memes 🎮 on Instagram: "Speed runners have so much dedication."

Media

• SPECTRE - Guinness World Record Explosion.
• Ferris Bueller's Day Off - Reunited Apart with Josh Gad.
• RESPECT – Official Teaser Trailer (Universal Pictures) HD.
• Woman feels sick in plane. Grossness warning.