Assassin's Creed Valhalla is now available on the Epic Games Store and the Ubisoft Store, a new installment that takes the action series on a Viking raid. The Launch Trailer sets the story, and the description notes that buying the game over the next nine days will get you a bonus mission:

In Assassin's Creed® Valhalla, become Eivor, a legendary Viking warrior on a quest for glory. Explore England's Dark Ages as you raid your enemies, grow your settlement, and build your political power.

• Lead epic Viking raids against Saxon troops and fortresses.
• Dual-wield powerful weapons and relive the visceral fighting style of the Vikings.
• Challenge yourself with the most varied collection of enemies ever in Assassin's Creed.
• Shape the growth of your character with each choice and carve a path to glory.
• Explore a Dark Age open world, from the shores of Norway to the kingdoms of England.
• Personalize your experience by growing your clan's settlement.

Purchase the game until November 19th for access to the bonus mission The Way of the Berserker.

Continue here to read the full story.

The Beyond Light expansion is now available for Destiny 2, kicking off Season of the Hunt, Season 2 in the science fiction shooter. The Windows edition can be found on Steam. Word is: "Both Season of the Hunt and the Beyond Light expansion will continue the thrilling narrative featuring Guardians in their ongoing battle to save humanity. In Beyond Light, players will explore the mysteries of Europa as they battle Eramis, the Fallen Kell of Darkness, who is determined to control the new power of Stasis to further her nefarious aims. Meanwhile, in Season of the Hunt, Guardians will engage in exciting Wrathborn Hunt events as they battle the Hive God of War, Xivu Arath." Here's a new trailer, and here's more on what this brings:

Destiny 2: Beyond Light 
A new power is born out of the ancient Pyramid ship above Europa, and a dark empire has risen beneath. In the Destiny 2: Beyond Light expansion, Guardians will explore a changed universe, with a new destination, new adventures, and even new powers to explore.

Continue here to read the full story.

The XIII - Remake is now available, updating the cel-shaded first-person shooter that was originally released almost exactly 17 years ago. This can be picked up for Windows on GOG.com and Steam. An announcement on Steam includes a Launch Trailer and some details:

In this remake of the world-famous cel-shaded FPS from 2003, play as XIII, a man who has lost his memory, trying to uncover his past and is determined to shed light on one of the most astounding conspiracy in the history of the United States.

Get ready for a mysterious and thrilling solo adventure combining action and stealth with 34 levels faithful to the original design.

From Brighton Beach to army bases and even the Grand Canyon Valley, the various environments encountered over the course of XIII’s journey offer many exciting changes of scenery.

Continue here to read the full story.

Yakuza: Like a Dragon for Windows is now available on Steam. Like a dragon, torched for the very first time. Here's the launch trailer and some details on this action/adventure that provides the chance to join the Japanese mob:

Ichiban Kasuga, a low-ranking grunt of a low-ranking yakuza family in Tokyo, faces an 18-year prison sentence after taking the fall for a crime he didn't commit. Never losing faith, he loyally serves his time and returns to society to discover that no one was waiting for him on the outside, and his clan has been destroyed by the man he respected most.
Ichiban sets out to discover the truth behind his family's betrayal and take his life back, drawing a ragtag group of society’s outcasts to his side: Adachi, a rogue cop, Nanba, a homeless ex-nurse, and Saeko, a hostess on a mission. Together, they are drawn into a conflict brewing beneath the surface in Yokohama and must rise to become the heroes they never expected to be.

Continue here to read the full story.

The Football Manager 2021 Beta is now underway, allowing players the chance to kick around the new installment in this association football/soccer management series. This is only available to those who pre-purchase the game, so it can be considered a soft launch in advance of its official release on November 24th. Single-player careers from FM21 Beta can be carried across to the full game. This is available for Windows and macOS on the Epic Games Store and Steam to anyone who purchased through a SEGA Approved Partner. This is what this includes:

The pre-release Beta is a near complete (but not quite final) version of the game, so players may encounter some bugs and issues during play. These can be reported directly to the Sports Interactive team via the 'Report Bug' button on the in-game sidebar. Online play is also enabled, but there will be no access to the Steam Workshop or either the pre-game or in-game editors until the game's full release on November 24th.

FM21 introduces a raft of new features and notable improvements across a wide variety of areas of the game.

Continue here to read the full story.

Eurogamer reports, by way of a tweet from FireMonkey, that Epic has sent some Fortnite players surveys exploring the possibility of adding paid monthly subscription plans to Fortnite. They asked Epic about this, and the company declined to comment on the rumor. Here's a bit of what they say:

What you'd pay for this subscription is one of the things developer Epic Games is keen to hear feedback on - with suggested options from between $5 and $16 per month.

Signing up would get you a monthly stipend of 1000 V-Bucks in-game currency (worth $8, or £6.50 here in the UK), a free skin set released early to subscribers, and the current season's battle pass.

Presumably whenever a new season's battle pass is released, you'd get that too. Fortnite's seasons are typically around three months long, although this can vary considerably.

Numerous Fortnite players reported receiving the survey (thanks, Firemonkey) and there's a generally positive response for the option. Some have suggested the price of a battle pass (£7.99) but recurring every month would not be too much, although others have pointed out 1000 V-Bucks really does not get you very much in the game at all. (Uncommon shop items cost 800, Rare cost 1200, Epic cost 1500 and Legendary cost 2000.)

Paradox Interactive now offers Star Kings, the third expansion for Age of Wonders: Planetfall, the 4X space strategy game developed by Triumph Studios. This can be picked up on the Paradox Store, GOG.com, Microsoft Store, and Steam, as well as for Xbox One and PlayStation 4. Along with the add-on comes a new patch that brings improvements to the base game. Here's the Release Trailer and here's why it's good to be the star king:

Star Kings introduces a new playable faction, the Oathbound who, among many other things, can see into the future and command giant mechs. They’ll need both too. Did we mention they need to save the galaxy? No pressure. No pressure at all.

Additionally, there will be a free update available for all Planetfall players adding tons of new content including the ability to build your own custom galactic empire.

Continue here to read the full story.

FUSER is now available for Windows and consoles, and the PC edition of Harmonix's new rhythm game is on the Epic Games Store and Steam. Here's a recent trailer along with what it will take to beat the game:

From the creators of Rock Band™ and Dance Central™ comes FUSER™ - a nonstop digital music festival where you control the music! Combine elements of the world’s most popular songs to create your own sound or partner with friends on epic collaborations, then share your amazing mixes and headlining performances with the world! #PlayFUSER

Continue here to read the full story.

Cyanide Studio recently revealed new information about Blood Bowl 3, the upcoming third iteration of their computer adaptation of Games Workshop's tabletop game of fantasy-themed tackle football. This is the video of the panel, but this is all in French, so they were kind enough to provide a translation for those of us who don't parlez. Here's the summary:

Project lead Gautier Brésard and game designer Basile Bastian first detailed the 12 teams available at the game's launch. The indispensable Human, Orc, Dark Elf, Elven Union, Skaven, Dwarf, Nurgle and Chaos Chosen teams will of course be available. Four new teams will be added, including two from the new edition of the board game: the Black Orcs and the Imperial Nobility. The latter can limit the movement of opponents through dedicated skills. The last two teams are none other than the Old World Alliance, which includes dwarves and humans, and the Chaos Renegades, which is made up of players so dirty and cheating that no other team wanted them. Each team will have different strategies based on passing, dodging or beating opponents to the ground.

Continue here to read the full story.

• Humble Fall VR Bundle (pay what you want and help charity).*
• Humble Book Bundle: Be the Change Supporting the American Library Association (pay what you want and help charity).*

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

• Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout - SEASON 2.5 UPDATE IS LIVE.
• Genshin Impact version 1.1.
• Microsoft Flight Simulator Release Notes (1.10.11.0) Update #6 Now Available.
• Neverwinter Patch Notes: Version: NW.122.20201025a.3.
• VALORANT Patch Notes 1.12.

• Hyper Scape: The Floor is Lava Trailer.

• Impulse Neuro-Controller for PC Gaming by Brink Bionics — Kickstarter.

• Xbox Live goes down on Xbox Series X launch day.
• Xbox Series X- Sold-out console posted on eBay for up to £5,000.
• Sony says PS5 currently doesn't support 1440p because it wants to "prioritise support for TVs."

• Apple unveils first Mac computers powered by its own M1 chip.
• Night Descends on Call of Duty: Mobile in Going Dark, the Latest Season Launching November 11.

• YouTube Premium members can get Stadia Premiere Edition for free.
• Alphabet delivers wireless Internet over light beams from 20km away. Thanks Neutronbeam.
• Tor Browser version 10.0.4. Thanks ConsoleGenRL.
• -Umbrella Academy: Renewed For Season Three.

Thanks ConsoleGenRL.

• Apple Announces The Apple Silicon M1: Ditching x86 - What to Expect, Based on A14.
• USB 4- Everything We Know, Including Apple Support.
• Believe the Nvidia RTX 3060 Ti hype, GPU manufacturers are busy prepping cards right now. Thanks Acleacius.
• AMD RDNA 3 Radeon RX GPUs To Offer Massive Perf Per Watt Gains Over RDNA 2, Zen 4 Ryzen CPUs To Deliver Gains Across The Board With 5nm.
• Computer Scientists Achieve ‘Crown Jewel’ of Cryptography. Thanks Max.
• LinkedIn open-sources Dagli, a machine learning library for Java.
• Microsoft releases Windows 10 builds 19042.630, 18363.1198 - here's what's new.
• Visual Studio 2019 IDE version 16.8.0.
• Evernote version 10.3.6.

• EA Games' Origin client contained privilege escalation vuln that anyone with user-grade access could exploit.
• Microsoft November 2020 Patch Tuesday arrives with fix for Windows zero-day.
• One more reason for Apple to dump Intel processors- Another SGX, kernel data-leak flaw unearthed by experts.
• New Platypus attack can steal data from Intel CPUs.
• Ransomware Group Turns to Facebook Ads.

• Microsoft engineer gets nine years for stealing $10M from Microsoft.

• Ambermoon open source remake in progress of a fantastic CRPG…
• Another World is coming to the C64, first teaser shown…

Last Link of the Day: Reporter drops an extremely relatable F-bomb on live TV.

Take-Two Interactive announces they are going ahead with the acquisition of Codemasters they first mentioned last week. They expect to complete this by the end of Q1 2021 in an all-stock transaction worth a bit under a billion dollars:

Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ:TTWO) today announced that it has reached an agreement with the Board of Codemasters for the recommended acquisition of Codemasters, the UK-based game publisher and developer. In the transaction, Codemasters' shareholders will be entitled to receive 120 pence (*approximately $1.58) in cash and 0.02834 shares of Take-Two common stock for each ordinary share of Codemasters. Based on Take-Two’s closing share price of $168.68 and the exchange rate of US$1.31:£1 on November 5, 2020 (being the day prior to rumors of Take-Two’s possible interest in Codemasters), the transaction values each Codemasters’ share at 485 pence ($6.39) and an implied equity value of approximately £759 million ($994 million). The acquisition is anticipated to be completed in the first quarter of calendar 2021.

Continue here to read the full story.

The Falconeer has taken flight, and is now available for Windows, Xbox Series X|S, and Xbox One. The PC edition is available on multiple stores, including Fanatical, GamersGate, GamesPlanet, Green Man Gaming*, GOG.com, and Steam (). This is the output of solo developer Tomas Sala, and it offers an unusual take on the combat flight simulator, as you pilot a bird, rather than an airplane. Here's a Launch Trailer with a look, and here are some high-flying details:

Become the Falconeer and soar through the skies aboard a devastatingly powerful Warbird. Uncover secrets lost to the sea as you join or oppose different factions and clans scattered throughout The Great Ursee. Take advantage of multiple Falconeer classes with individual stats, weapons and warbirds that can be upgraded through winning battles, completing quests, discovering secrets, or applying Mutagens or Chants. Use ocean thermals and energy to dive, dodge, barrel-roll, and twist to gain an advantage.

The Falconeer is an open-world air combat game, featuring fast, brutal aerial dogfights and deep exploration of an incredible fantasy open-world set not only above the clouds but also amongst the waves and down through the sunken, ocean depths.

*Blue's News may receive a commission on sales of this item. Continue here to read the full story.

Early Access to Prodeus is now underway on Steam, offering the chance to get started with this retro first-person shooter that was announced two years ago and was crowdfunded last year (thanks CthulhuFan). An Early Access Trailer takes a look at this love-letter to the games from the dawning days of this genre. Here's the official description:

Prodeus is a first-person shooter of old, re-imagined using modern rendering techniques. It reaches the quality you expect from a AAA experience while adhering to some of the aesthetic technical limits of older hardware.

The game features a hand-crafted campaign from industry FPS veterans, a fully-integrated level editor, and a built-in community map browser for instantaneous action with nearly limitless levels to play.

Get ready to paint the walls red. This is the Boomer Shooter you’ve been waiting for.

Continue here to read the full story.

Don't cross the steams! Steam now features a release date for Ghostbusters: The Video Game Remastered, saying the single-player action game will start haunting the service on November 17th, over a year after the game's release as an exclusive on the Epic Games Store. Who you gonna call?

The beloved and critically acclaimed Ghostbusters video game is back! Join the Ghostbusters team, fight monsters, capture ghosts, search for artifacts and have a blast destroying almost everything around you in this Remastered version of the third-person adventure Ghostbusters: The Video Game.

The single player campaign will put you through a story full of mystery and adventure. The authentic experience features the voices and in-game likenesses of Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis, and Ernie Hudson in an original story penned by the writers of the original films - Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. Test the team's mettle with large scale boss fights.

Continue here to read the full story.

Headup and AMC announce a November 19th release date for Bridge Constructor: The Walking Dead, the improbable post-apocalyptic construction mashup. This will arrive for Windows, macOS, and Linux on Steam and will also come to Xbox Series X, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Switch (a PS5 version will follow, and will be a free upgrade for owners of the PS4 edition). An Official Gameplay Trailer conveys the concept and the description has more:

Join a group of survivors as they fight against hordes of undead walkers and a hostile human community. Build bridges and other constructions through bleak landscapes and ruined structures. Team up with fan-favorite characters like Daryl, Michonne and Eugene, and create safe passage for iconic vehicles from the series.

Use movable level objects, explosives and baits to your advantage as you lure walkers into lethal traps and guide your survivors to safety. Enjoy the physics-based frenzy and ragdoll animations as walkers succumb to the forces of gravity.

Continue here to read the full story.

Nexon Releases Earnings for Third Quarter 2020, calling this their biggest third quarter ever. The Japanese publisher announces revenue of ¥79.4 billion (~USD$754M) and new income of : ¥16.3 billion (~USD$155M). Here are a few highlights:

Recent Highlights Include:

• Nexon posted the best Q3 revenues of all time, with group revenues of ¥79.4 billion, up 52% year-over-year – within our expected range.
• Mobile game revenues in Q3 account for 42% of Nexon’s group revenues – up 140% year-over-year. Three titles significantly exceeded expectations in Q3 – The Kingdom of the Winds: Yeon, KartRider Rush+ and V4.
• Revenues from PC online games¹ were up 20% year-over-year and account for 58% of Q3 revenues. This performance was driven by multiple franchises in multiple markets including MapleStory across geographies as well as Dungeon&Fighter, Sudden Attack and EA SPORTSTM FIFA ONLINE 4 in Korea.

¹ PC revenues include other revenues besides PC online games and mobile games.

• War Child UK Gaming Armistice Sale on Steam. Save up to 90% on non-violent titles.

• Super Mario 35th Anniversary - SNL. Thanks RedEye9.

• Assassin’s Creed Valhalla Interview- ‘This series still has a lot of possibilities’ - VGC.

• Farming Simulator Team returns for Season 3.
• League of Legends Pro Suspended And Fined For Hate Speech.

In case you forgot today is the launch day for the new Xbox:

• Power Your Dreams- Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S Now Available Worldwide.
• How to buy an Xbox Series X or Xbox Series S on November 10th.
• Amazon is warning some Xbox Series X pre-orders might not arrive until after Christmas.
• Going Beyond - Destiny 2: Beyond Light is Available Now with Xbox Game Pass.
• XIII Is Now Available For Xbox One And Xbox Series X|S.
• Assassin’s Creed Valhalla Available Now for Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One.
• Yakuza: Like A Dragon Is Now Available For Windows 10, Xbox One, And Xbox Series X|S.
• Planet Coaster Is Now Available For Xbox One And Xbox Series X|S.
• The Falconeer Is Now Available For Xbox One And Xbox Series X|S.
• Warhammer: Chaosbane Slayer Edition Is Now Available For Xbox Series X|S.
• Gears Tactics Available Now on Xbox Series X-S with Xbox Game Pass and Smart Delivery.
• Gears 5 Relaunches on Xbox Series X|S and Drops Bombs with WWE’s Batista as Marcus.
• Tetris Effect: Connected Is Now Available For Xbox One And Xbox Series X|S.
• Everything is Game: The Next Generation of NBA 2K21 Now Available Worldwide.
• Tetris Effect: Connected Is Now Available For Xbox One And Xbox Series X|S.
• Observer- System Redux Is Now Available For Xbox Series X|S.
• Ori and the Will of the Wisps Embraces the Power of Xbox Series X|S.
• Overcooked! All You Can Eat Is Now Available For Xbox Series X|S.
• Devil May Cry 5 Special Edition Is Now Available For Xbox Series X|S
• Fuser is the Nonstop Festival Where You and Your Friends Control the Music.
• Six Tips to Start Your Adventure in The Falconeer, Out Today on Xbox Series X|S.
• Bright Memory Is Now Available For Xbox Series X|S.
• Liftoff- Drone Racing Is Now Available For Xbox One And Xbox Series X|S.
• Evergate Is Now Available For Xbox One And Xbox Series X|S.
• Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales Launch Trailer I PS5, PS4.
• Train Sim World 2: Collector's Edition Is Now Available For Xbox One And Xbox Series X|S.
• Slide Stars Is Now Available For Xbox One And Xbox Series X|S.
• Planet Coaster: Console Edition - Launch Trailer.
• This Week's Deals With Gold And Spotlight Sale.
• PlayStation Store: October’s Top Downloads.

• How to clean your laptop keyboard. Thanks Neutronbeam.
• Hyundai Motor Group Selects NVIDIA Infotainment. Thanks Hypothermia.

• Voters Overwhelmingly Back Community Broadband in Chicago and Denver. Thanks Slashdot via Ant.
• Mozilla Thunderbird — Release Notes (78.4.2). Thanks Frans.

• No, Cyberpunk 2077 PC Ray Tracing Isn't Exclusive to Nvidia Graphics Cards.
• Razer expects to be profitable FY20. Thanks Neutronbeam.
• A changing of the guard at AskWoody.com. Thanks RedEye9.
• Freeform Modular Self-Reconfigurable Robot.
• HyperX Now Shipping Cloud II Wireless Gaming Headset.

• Tim Berners-Lee asks everyone to do new biz a Solid and let him have another crack at fixing the Web's privacy.
• Chrome to block tab-nabbing attacks.

• Amazon uses data to thwart competitors, according to EU antitrust suit. Thanks RedEye9.

• Fuser review - PC Gamer.
• Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin PC Review - GameWatcher.
• Yakuza: Like a Dragon Review- An Epic Dragon's Quest - USgamer.

• AMD Ryzen 5 5600X review - PC Gamer.
• ASUS ROG MAXIMUS XII EXTREME Motherboard Review - The FPS Review.
• GIGABYTE M27F GAMING MONITOR UNBOXING And REVIEW - Modders-Inc.
• Mad Catz F.R.E.Q. 2 Headset Review - TechPowerUp.
• Patriot Memory Viper Steel Series DDR4 32GB 3200MHz Memory Kit Review - Mad Shrimps.
• Sabrent Rocket NVMe 4.0 500GB M.2 SSD Review - TweakTown.
• Team Group EX2 Elite Solid State Drive Review - ThinkComputers.org.
• TRENDnet TV-IP1318PI Indoor-Outdoor 8MP 4K H.265 WDR PoE IR Bullet Network Camera Review - Nikk Tech.

I'm in the midst of an odd project after buying a couple of pairs (a pair of pairs?) of new blue jeans for the first time in a decade. I decided to return to the Levi's 501 jeans I used to get in my youth, as these are the only style I ever wore that actually suit my slim build. This inspired me to try the proper shrink-to-fit process that I never bothered with back in the day. Levi's instructions are to wear them in the bathtub and then walk about until they dry. It sounds like a complete nightmare to wear soaking-wet jeans, but luckily I found a more merciful method online, even if it's a bit more complicated. You soak the jeans in a hot tub for an hour, hang them to drip for an hour, blot them with towels, and then wear them. So by the time you put them on they're damp, but this is pretty tolerable. I've got one pair done and today I'll get to the other one. Thankfully it's pretty warm right now for November, so I'm lucky to be able to get this done so late in the year in reasonable comfort. I'm very happy with the quality of the raw denim, and the price point of about $35 a pair is much more in line with my out-of-date idea of what things should cost than the price of typical jeans today.

Shrink-to-Fit Round-up
Thanks Ant and Neutronbeam.

Breakfast Links

• New Attack On Titan Statues Erected In An Excellent Location.
• The Great Hunt for Forrest Fenn’s Hidden Treasure.

Stories

• Meet Launcher, the rocket engine builder with just eight employees.
• Carrier pigeon message found 110 years after it was sent.

Science

• Old Dogs, New Research and the Secrets of Aging. Thanks j.c.f.
• Jupiter's Icy Moon Europa Glows in the Dark.

Media

• Thank You For Everything, Alex - JEOPARDY.
• Jiu Jitsu Trailer #1. Thanks The Daily Caller.
• UFC Golf Battle.