To date, we’ve deployed a number of updates, but more needs to be done. For this reason, we have decided to reschedule the start of Season Two across Warzone Pacific and Vanguard to February 14. We will use this additional development time to deliver updates, including optimizations to gameplay, game balancing (including weapon and equipment balancing), to fix game stability and bugs, and to ensure an overall level of polish to improve the experience for players across Vanguard, Warzone Pacific, Black Ops Cold War, and Modern Warfare.

Upcoming implementations will address several concerns raised by the community and other quality-of-life improvements. Adjusting the core gameplay loop, mechanics, and balance is a continuing and important focus. Fixes will apply to your platform of choice — two generations of consoles and PC — as well as gameplay in general across all five systems.

• Activision Blizzard CEO to get $390 million payout.
• Microsoft’s Activision acquisition: What franchises does it own now?
• "The deal that will change the industry forever": Analysts on Microsoft's Activision acquisition.
• Reports: “Graceful exit” for Kotick helped convince CEO to sell Activision.
• EA wanted to acquire Activision Blizzard says Bobby Kotick.

The global release of the Project_Hel DLC will be delayed to March 3rd. We appreciate your understanding and want all our fans to know that we will use this bonus time to make even more worthwhile improvements while ensuring the health & safety of our team and global partners.

• Ex-Dragon Age Dev Says Famed 'BioWare Magic' Causes Crunch.

• Brain Tickler Bundle (pay what you want and help charity).*

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

• God of War - Patch v1.0.2 released.
• Halo Infinite Campaign Release Notes (Updated Jan 19).

• Today's Halo Infinite BTB hotfix does not appear to be the outcome we expected.
• Monster Hunter Rise PC save bugs are still being investigated “as a priority.”

• Battle Pass Season 5 Launch Trailer.
• Season 4 Episode 2: The Contractor - Trailer - The Crew 2.

• Dying Light 2 On Nintendo Switch Delayed.

• Autonomous battery-powered rail cars could steal shipments from truckers.
• FAA clears Boeing 777 and other planes after 5G warning halted some flights.

• Google to free G Suite users: Pay up or lose your account.
• Twitch streamers campaign for Disability Pride Month.
• Amazon’s The Lord of the Rings TV series gets a name and a teaser video.
• 1Password raises $620 million in latest funding round.
• NoScript..V.11.2.15..Jan. 19-22. Thanks DSLReports via Ant.

• Optane Rides Again: New Intel Datacenter Drives Incoming.
• Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22538.
• V. helpful resources for CC apps - Adobe Support Community.
• Evernote version 10.29.7.

• IRS Will Soon Require Selfies for Online Access.
• Report: U.S. is top target of phishing attacks worldwide.
• Watch Ukrainian partners' messages carefully, says US govt.
• Bugcrowd reports increase in critical vulnerabilities found in 2021.
• Use Twitter as well as CVSS to prioritize security patches.

• Biden signs cybersecurity memorandum for Defense Department, intelligence agencies.

• Rainbow Six Extraction Review "Buy, Wait for Sale, Gamepass" - AGC (video).
• Rainbow Six Extraction review - Siege goes PvE with surprisingly brilliant results - Dexerto.
• Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Extraction review - EGM.
• Rainbow Six Extraction Review - Get In, Get Out - GameSpot.
• Rainbow Six Extraction review – “A solid shooter held back by its source material” - GamesRadar+.
• Rainbow Six Extraction Review - IGN.
• Rainbow Six Extraction Review (PS5)- Quarantine Required - MP1ST.
• 'Rainbow Six Extraction' review: a compelling alien shooter from the bones of 'Siege' - NME.
• Rainbow Six Extraction review - PC Gamer.
• Rainbow Six Extraction review in progress – dead ringer - PCGamesN.
• Rainbow Six Extraction review in progress - PC Invasion.
• Rainbow Six Extraction review: endless grind without the payoff - Polygon.
• Rainbow Six Extraction review: far more than a Siege spin-off - Rock Paper Shotgun.
• Rainbow Six Extraction review - TechRadar.
• Rainbow Six- Extraction Review - Sleeper Hit Or Dead By Next Week, It’s Hard To Say - TheGamer.
• Rainbow Six- Extraction review: Ubisoft’s experimental shooter tries its best, but it’s still under Siege - VG247.

Support For

• Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six® Extraction
• AMD Radeon™ RX 6500 XT Graphics
  AMD Radeon™ RX 6500M Graphics
• AMD Radeon™ RX 6400 Graphics
• AMD Radeon™ RX 6300M Graphics

• A GPU you might be able to buy… But shouldn’t. - Linus Tech Tips (video).
• AMD RX 6500 XT is Worse Than 2016's GPUs: Benchmarks vs. GTX 1060, 970, 960, & RX 580 - Gamers Nexus (video).
• Radeon RX 6500 XT review - Guru3D.
• AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT Review- Budget RDNA 2-Powered Gaming - HotHardware.
• AMD RX 6500 XT Review - WTF is AMD thinking? - KitGuruTech (video). Thanks Neutronbeam.
• AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT review- A weird graphics card you might actually afford - PCWorld.
• AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT review - TechRadar.
• AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT PCI-Express Scaling - TechPowerUp.
• ASUS Radeon RX 6500 XT TUF Gaming Review - World's First 6 Nanometer GPU - TechPowerUp.
• AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT Review- A Bad, Really Bad Graphics Card - TechSpot.
• AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT Review- The Return of the 'Budget' GPU - Tom's Hardware.
• Gigabyte Radeon RX 6500 XT Eagle 4G Review - PCMag.
• Worst GPU: Radeon RX 6500 XT Review, Corner Cutting Edition - Hardware Unboxed (video). Thanks Simon.

A new campaign map and one of the most interesting periods of our history makes an enticing combination. The rise of the Roman Republic during the 3rd century BCE unfolds against the background of other major events. The Roman wars with the Samnites and Etruscans and later the powerful Carthaginian Empire, the slow decline of the successor states left after the breakdown of the Alexandrian Empire, or the tensions caused by tribes migrating to more hospitable regions of Europe.
The game can be played as any of the 25 states on a huge map of 5000 tiles.

The DLC however brings much more than just a new map. Imperiums: Rome vs Carthage is in fact an extension of the recently released Age of Alexander expansion pack, which means that all of the mechanics introduced there will be also included in Rome vs Carthage.
Plus, it will come with its own new mechanics such as migrating tribes, specific historical and multiturn events (e.g. plague outbreak, rebellions, etc.) and so called mandatory objectives (detailed info on the Steam page).

“As game genres of all-types see refreshed takes in this new generation of technology, one thing is clear in that turn-based tactic games have been greatly overlooked and have an enormous amount of room for innovation,” said Greg Foertsch, co-founder and CEO, Bit Reactor. “We have a very team-oriented culture and we’ve assembled an amazing group of talented, experienced and dedicated game developers to inject rich storytelling, immersive presentation and rock solid game mechanics to give this genre it’s rightful time to shine - a golden age of turn-based games is upon us.”

Bit Reactor’s central vision is to define the future of turn-based tactics games by weaving in the high-end production values, riveting storytelling and innovative design for a best-in-class gameplay experience for gamers worldwide. The studio already has unannounced titles in development and is actively recruiting experienced developers for multiple programming, design, and creative roles both for the studio in Maryland, as well as remote talent.

• Microsoft has "significant work to do" to build a healthier culture at Activision Blizzard, says Satya Nadella.
• Bobby Kotick considered buying game sites Kotaku and PC Gamer, it’s claimed. Wow.
• Activision pursued a Facebook buyout before selling to Microsoft, report claims.

• Midweek Sale: a mix of electrifying games up to 80% off - GOG.com.

• How to fix Vanguard's "right stick not working" glitch.
• Warzone hackers bring flying cars to Caldera. Putting the bang bang in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

• RAIDIANT AND PSYONIX ANNOUNCE RAIDIANT ROCKET LEAGUE TOURNAMENT. Women only.

• Total War- Warhammer 3: The Final Preview - IGN.
• Battlefield 2042 Scoreboard Refresh In Update 3.3 we will refresh our existing Scoreboard UI.

• Sony stock drops $20 billion thanks to Microsoft-Activision Xbox deal.
• Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel Is Now Available For Xbox One And Xbox Series X-S.
• DYSMANTLE Is Now Available For Xbox One And Xbox Series X-S.

• Statement by President Biden on 5G Agreement - The White House.
• We Are One Step Closer to Incredibly Compact, Powerful Quantum Batteries. Thanks Simon.
• OLED iPad panel production could start on Wednesday. Thanks Max.
• Samsung Exynos 2200 chip has a GPU based on AMD's RDNA 2. Thanks Slashdot.
• Smart goggles and electric jumpsuits: the future of wearables. Smuggled spy footage shows all.
• The Rise And Fall Of BlackBerry (video). Thanks Ant.

• Volcano cuts Tonga fiber-optic cable, blocking communication to the world (may require registration or subscription).
• Some Roku smart TVs are now showing banner ads over live TV. Thanks Slashdot.
• Star Wars: The Bad Batch Season 2 Reveals Release Date Window. Thanks Max.
• Pale Moon for Windows version 29.4.4. Thanks DSLReports.
• How to stop Microsoft Teams from automatically loading on your PC.
• How to look your best on a video call.
• Our Flag Means Death Trailer: Taika Waititi's Pirate Comedy.
• Logan Paul denies faking $3.5m Pokémon card scandal for clicks. How dare you accuse him of attention-seeking.

• AMD, Intel and NVIDIA processors and graphics cards will become more expensive in 2022 - all because of rising manufacturing costs.
• Japanese Mystery Boxes Could Make You Win A High-End NVIDIA GeForce or AMD Radeon Graphics Card For As Low As $100 US. Thanks Simon.
• WINE 7.0 released. Thanks Ant. Recommended by our sommelier.
• AMD hides 2020 blogpost claiming 4GB VRAM is ‘not enough for today’s games.’
• 2022 TV features explained: HDR, HDMI 2.1, VRR, and more.
• How to Seamlessly Switch to Linux from Windows.
• How to get Microsoft Office on Linux.
• How to Talk to a Real Human in Customer Service Without Waiting on Hold Forever.
• This person fully automated their $90K IT job and the boss still hasn't noticed.

• Facebook Messenger: The battle over end-to-end encryption.
• Gloucester Council cyber attack linked to Russian hackers.
• This new ransomware comes with a small but dangerous payload.
• McAfee Enterprise and FireEye are now called Trellix. After all those brand-building efforts by the late John McAfee?
• Should bad science be censored on social media?

• Xbox Activision Blizzard Acquisition Shouldn't Break Antitrust Laws, Legal Expert Says.
• FTC and DOJ crowdsourcing for merger guidelines.
• US Rep Touts "Encouraging" Assurances From Microsoft On Activision Blizzard Acquisition.
• Adblocking Does Not Constitute Copyright Infringement, Court Rules. Thanks Reddit.
• Singapore probes bank after massive phishing scam. Thanks DSLReports.
• U.S. Citizen Charged with Conspiring to Provide Electronic Equipment and Technology to the Government of Iran.
• The 'Dune' NFT Copyright Fiasco Is the Least of Crypto's Legal Worries (may require registration or subscription).

• Expeditions: Rome mixes historical grand strategy with an epic RPG - PCGamesN.
• Expeditions- Rome review - Rock Paper Shotgun.
• Rewrite+ - Christ Centered Gamer.

• CPU Cooler: Intel Core i5-12400F Review - The AMD Challenger - TechPowerUp.
• Headset: Asus Rog Delta S Animate Headset Review- Lights It Up Like Dynamite - Tom's Hardware.
• Misc: New EnGenius ECW220v2 WiFi 6 Access Point Review - Modders Inc.
• Motherboard: ASRock Z690 PG Velocita Motherboard Review - TweakTown.

Living Doll Round-up
Thanks Ant and Neutronbeam.

Breakfast Link

• Star Trek Fan Recreates Voyager's Concept Tricorder.

Stories

• Biden administration to distribute 400 million N95 masks to the public for free.
• A California city has been overtaken by birds. Lasers may be the solution to end it.

Science
Thanks Max.

• Eco-friendly plastics made from sugars boast "unprecedented" properties. Like deliciousness.
• Powerful New Superpower Molecule Could Revolutionize Science.
• Scientists spot the world's deepest squid roaming more than 6 km below surface.
• Cannabis and Psychosis: New Research.

Image

• Woman appears to snap selfie on top of car as it sinks into river of ice. When life gives you lemons. Thanks brother19.

Media

• Playing banjo for a wild fox! He came back for an encore! Thanks VideoSift.
• Why This Zig-Zag Coast Guard Search Pattern is Actually Genius - Smarter Every Day 268. Thanks Simon.