Ubisoft announces December 6th as the launch date for the Lost Between Worlds expansion for Far Cry 6 on all platforms. In the meantime, a free trial of the first-person shooter sequel is now underway. PC users can check out the Windows edition through the Ubisoft Store or the Epic Games Store. Lastly, the new update is now live in the game, adding the promised New Game+ and more. Word is: "Title Update 6 is now available, and players can return to Yara and relive their favorite missions stronger than ever with the highly-anticipated addition of New Game+ mode, allowing them to bring their endgame gear and weapons back to the start of their next playthrough. Title Update 6 also introduces a Completionist Aid feature, providing players with guided assistance in uncovering all of Yara’s hidden secrets." A new trailer highlights the update and the free trial. Here's more:

In Far Cry 6: Lost Between Worlds, players will begin a thrilling new chapter of Dani Rojas’ story, set in a fractured version of Yara. Following their exploration of a mysterious meteorite impact site, Dani will discover themselves in a twisted space between worlds accompanied by a noncorporeal lifeform named Fai. Players will need to repair Fai’s broken spacecraft by collecting five lost shards, each increasing Dani’s overall stats for survivability, bringing them one step closer to escape.

Continue here to read the full story.

Paradox Interactive is declaring Victoria 3 a success, announcing the society simulator tallied more than a half-million sales in 30 days following its launch. This includes a bunch of statistics highlighting just how much time players have spent in the game:

Over the last month, Victoria 3 players have transformed their globe in many different ways. They have:

• 500,000 Copies sold with 14623631 total hours played. (That’s 1669 years of playtime)
• 187 million technologies researched
• Created new countries 380335 times.
• Built 126263 Suez Canals
• Built 39982 Eiffel Towers
• Unified Germany 98082 times
• Constructed the Trans-Siberian Railway 18471 times
• Constructed the Trans-Continental Railway 45614 times
• Turned Prussia Yellow on the Map 83 times

Sega and Two Point Studios announce Space Academy, new DLC coming to Two Point Campus, offering the chance to educate the next generation of space cadets in this school of higher than a kite education. This will arrive for Windows, macOS, Linux, and consoles on December 6th except for the Switch edition, which will launch on December 12th. Here's the Announce Trailer with a captain's log, and here's more:

Space Academy comes with a galaxy of new features, including three stellar campus locations, six student archetypes to welcome aboard, six far-out courses and classrooms, and much, much more.

Players will start their extra-terrestrial adventures in Universe City, as they rebuild Two Point County’s defunct space program to bring it back to its former glory and will need your help on the frontlines of galactic defence, inter-dimensional diplomacy, and preparing the County for foreign life. Space Academy also features Two Point's first out-of-County campus, as you take up base on a suspiciously cheesy asteroid, and pillage it of its natural (and delicious) resources.

Continue here to read the full story.

A new post on Steam has first details on Dominion Malta, the next expansion for Jurassic World Evolution 2, the dinosaur park management sequel. This will come to PC and consoles on December 8th alongside a new Update 5 for the base game. The new add-on will break up the whole "new island/new dinosaur" formula by introducing several new species and no fewer than three new islands. The Announcement Trailer offers a look, and there's a write up on the plans from developer Frontier on the PlayStation.Blog:

In Jurassic World Evolution 2: Dominion Malta Expansion, you’ll establish key buildings, develop your sites, and trade on the dinosaur exchange to acquire more species, eggs, and even genome data. But be warned: the Authorities and the Underground are both taking a keen interest in your operation. Who you choose to align with unlocks more ways to expand your parks, so build trust with these organisations and you’ll earn anything from hatchery upgrades to accessing new islands. There are three in total, and progress is persistent across these islands. Switch between them on the fly, or even bring over dinosaurs on the cargo ship – it’s entirely up to you.

As well as a deep new campaign packed with fresh gameplay features, Jurassic World Evolution 2: Dominion Malta Expansion of course brings you stunning new prehistoric species, variants and skins, as seen in Jurassic World Dominion. Authentically created to mirror their film counterparts, these iconic prehistoric species are ready to give guests an unforgettable experience.

Continue here to read the full story.

In Nightmare is now available for Windows on Steam, allowing PC gamers the chance to play this narrative horror/adventure first released for PlayStation. A new PC Launch Trailer takes a look at gameplay. Here's an explanation:

In Nightmare follows a young boy who closes himself off from the world around him and falls into a deep sleep, during which his inner nightmares take over. Heartbroken about his family’s troubles, the boy escapes reality into a dark, whimsical world created from his own memories. This sets him on a journey to uncover a web of truths within a haunting world of deception. With the help of his dream spirit, the boy will seek out ways to sneak past enemies, overcome intricate puzzles and embrace his fears so that he may finally be able to awaken.

Continue here to read the full story.

Microids announces a new release date for Scrap Riders, saying the throwback cyberpunk adventure will arrive on Steam and Switch on January 9th. The launch was planned for this year, but what's nine days between friends? A new Release Date Trailer celebrates the news in the game's signature pixel-art style. Here's word on this scrappy title:

Scrap Riders is a pixel art beat’em up adventure game set in a cyberpunk future, developed by Spanish studio Games for Tutti. You play as Rast, a member of the outlaw bikers gang Scrap Riders, and make your way through the wastelands as well as a big metropolis controlled by corporations. Act as a smuggler with caustic humor to survive in this post-apocalyptic world.

Fight your way through this 2D beat them up using your fists and guns, but beware: the wastelands are not for the faint of heart. There, violence is always the answer, but it won’t be enough! Without your wits you won't last long. Talk to the right people, gather clues, and kick bad guys’ butts!

Continue here to read the full story.

• How much does From Software crunch?
• Wildlife confirms layoffs described as "massive."

• Second Trailer: "The Super Mario Bros. Movie." Thanks Ant.

Official patches.

• Hearthstone — 25.0 Patch Notes.
• Marvel's Avengers - New Hero- The Winter Soldier Available Now.

Official trailers.

• Far Cry 6: Lost Between Worlds Reveal Livestream.
• Mato Anomalies - Release Date Trailer.

• Introducing the Trackmania World Tour 2023.

• PlayStation Tournaments on PS5 officially launches today.

• Google's security team says companies need to get better at patching Android.

• Musk’s Twitter abandons COVID misinfo policy, shirking “huge responsibility.”
• Can age verification stop children seeing pornography?

Thanks Console General.

• Visual Studio 2022 version 17.4.2.
• VLC Media Player v3.0.18.

• Acer fixes major laptop bug that hackers can use to disable secure boot.

• Mapping out how the Humble community is bringing water to those in need…

Last Link of the Day: Happy birthday Pong, as according to Wikipedia the seminal arcade game turns 50 today. Thanks Frans.

Obituary: Clarence Gilyard Jr- Top Gun and Die Hard actor dead at 66. Thanks Console General.

Blizzard announces Dragonflight has taken flight in World of Warcraft, offering the latest expansion to the long-running MMORPG. This introduces new zones, new content, and (drumroll), the ability to ride dragons. Here's the previously released Take to the Skies Launch Cinematic and a Survival Guide to help players get started. Read on for more:

The new Dragon Isles continent is comprised of five vibrant zones, which are some of the largest by area in the history of WoW: the Forbidden Reach, the new starting zone for the dracthyr race; the primordial Waking Shores, an untamed land brimming with elemental energies; the windswept Ohn’ahran Plains, home to proud centaur clans; the expansive Azure Span, where tuskarr fish amidst arcane ruins; and gleaming Thaldrazsus, the seat of power for the dragon aspects and home of the dragon capital city Valdrakken.

Dragonflight introduces the first ever race/class combo for World of Warcraft, the dracthyr Evoker. Featuring an abundance of character customization options and starting out at level 58, dracthyr Evokers are the first ranged damage class to be added to World of Warcraft since the game’s launch 18 years ago. Players can channel the magics of the dragon flights, maneuvering across battlefields as they heal their allies or damage their foes while utilizing all-new Empowered spellcasting.

Continue here to read the full story.

NVIDIA reveals details about Portal RTX, the recently announced version of Valve's classic puzzle game with support for advanced graphics features, including full ray tracing and NVIDIA DLSS 3. This is now slated to arrive on Steam on December 8th, and will be offered as free DLC for all owners of the original game (which is still on sale for $0.99 for another hot minute or two). There will be a launch party to mark the occasion, and presumably there will be cake. This will include the chance to win some hardware to crush this with, as there will be GeForce 40-series giveaways along the way. This page has all the news on the game and the party as well as system specifications. Here's the previously released World Premiere Trailer and here's a new trailer showing the game in 4K with NVIDIA DLSS 3 enabled and disabled. Here's more on the project:

Every frame of gameplay is upgraded with stunning full ray tracing, new, hand-crafted hi-res physically-based textures, and new, enhanced high-poly models evocative of the originals.

To achieve the stunning new look, Portal with RTX utilizes a suite of demanding graphics techniques that are accelerated by NVIDIA DLSS technology. DLSS 3 allows 40 Series GPU users to get over a 2.8X increase in performance, making the game incredibly smooth and responsive compared to native rendering, while 30 series GPU users will benefit from DLSS 2, bringing the game to a playable experience.

Continue here to read the full story.

Rebellion is gearing up to celebrate its 30th anniversary, but rather than receiving gifts, the plan is to hand some out. This page outlines the release of a new Airborne Elite content pack for Sniper Elite 5 players as well as a new survival map which is free as well. Here's a trailer with a look at what to expect, and here's more:

Rebellion is turning 30! To celebrate this momentous milestone we're gifting our incredible Sniper Elite 5 Community a FREE content pack alongside the final Season Pass One update.

Available now, the FREE Airborne Elite Pack pays tribute to Rebellion's British heritage and includes the iconic British Paratrooper character skin, the much-requested Lee No. 4 bolt-action rifle and a Union Jack weapon skin for the Welrod pistol. Additionally, the final content for Season Pass One, including a thrilling mission called Conqueror, is also available now as is a new Survival Map called Tide of War, which is available for free to all players.

Remember in September when Ziggurat Interactive announced World Championship Boxing Manager 2 would arrive for Windows this year? Well that was so three months ago, as a new announcement reveals the PC edition will launch on January 17, 2023. That's a near miss, however, so the judges may not even deduct any points. In the meantime there's a playable demo on Steam if you want to go a few rounds for free and teaser trailer with a look. Here's an outline of this sports management sequel:

Brought to life with hand-drawn 32-bit visuals, World Championship Boxing Manager™ 2 is the official sequel to its 1991 predecessor. Players will enlist promising amateur competitive fighters and train them from the ground up on their path to the world championship. They’ll manage their training schedules — including fitness training — to create the best balance for their roster. To keep them on the path to glory, they’ll also need to hire the best staff, gain supporters at all levels, and promote their fighters. The game features former pro boxers Rocky Marciano™, Sugar Ray Robinson™, and Sue “Tiger Lily” Fox as coaches within the game, along with a roster of fantastic fictional fighters, coaches, and training staff. A well-managed team will rise to the top, but one misstep will lead to a TKO!

• Cyberpunk 2077 Fans Think They've Unraveled A Big DLC Secret.
• Rumor - Call Of Duty Is Getting A Simon 'Ghost' Riley Spinoff Campaign.

• Criterion Has No "Immediate Plans" For A New Burnout, Though It's A Series The Studio Would Happily Return To.

• Release- 8 great classics from Throwback Entertainment with discounts up to -75%! - GOG.com.*

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

• Microsoft Buyout Of Activision Blizzard Approved In Another Region.
• Microsoft could offer concessions to encourage EU regulators to approve their Activision Blizzard buyout.

• APICO - Papilio 2.1.0.
• "The Ritualist" - Eville Update 1.2.
• PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS -- Patch Notes - Update 21.1.
• Sable - It's time to fish??? 🐟 Explore Midden in this new update for Sable.
• Steam Beta Client Update.
• Steam Deck Beta Client Update - November 28th.
• World of Warcraft — Hotfixes: November 28, 2022.

↑ Official patches. ↓ Unofficial games, patches, and mods.

• Immortal Ka - A great nod to the 16bit classics and it's only a PC prototype.

• Atelier Ryza 3: Alchemist of the End & the Secret Key - Gameplay Features Trailer.

↑ Official trailers. ↓ Content creator videos.

• 10 Underrated Video Games That NEED Sequels - WhatCulture.
• 9 Impossible Video Games Utterly Destroyed By Speedrunners - WhatCulture.

• Game Kickstarter Cancelled In The Most Brutal Way Possible.

• Awaken your wanderlust with open world adventure Sable, out today on PS5.
• This Week's Deals with Gold and Spotlight Sale - Xbox Wire.
• Free PlayStation Plus PS5 And PS4 Games For December 2022 Leaked.

• Apple executes New Year's Eve apps purge in China.
• Milo wearable action communicator ships for outdoor adventurers.

• Twitter staff cuts enabled spam porn deluge that drowned out China protest news. Thanks RedEye9.
• Frontier Airlines gets rid of telephone customer service. You'll have to find another way to get your hold music fix. Thanks Slashdot via Ant.
• Mozilla Firefox 107.0.1, See All New Features, Updates and Fixes. Thanks Frans.

Thanks Console General.

• NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 power limiting and undervolting test shows only 8% performance drop at half the TDP.
• Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 25252.
• Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22621.1020 and 22623.1020.

• Vulnerability Summary for the Week of November 21, 2022 - CISA. Thanks Ant.
• Account takeover attacks spike as fraudsters take aim at fintech and crypto.
• A fake Android app is turning victims' phones into SMS relays.

• Online Safety Bill: Plan to make big tech remove harmful content axed - BBC News.
• The crypto exchange Kraken agrees to pay $360,000 for possibly violating Iran sanctions.

• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 - Warzone 2.0: DLAA vs. DLSS vs. XeSS Comparison Review - TechPowerUp.

• Graphics Card: ZOTAC GAMING GeForce RTX 4080 AMP Extreme AIRO Review - TweakTown.
• RAM: Netac Shadow II DDR5-4800 16GB Dual-Channel Memory Kit Review - TweakTown.
• SSD: Solidigm P44 Pro (1TB-2TB) M.2 NVMe SSD Review - Guru3D.

• MAME version 0.250. Thanks Ant…
• Valve requests Steam Deck user return the turkey fryer it sent…
• Overwatch 2 Ramattra ult rewritten after Blizzard botch up…

Happy Giving Tuesday. Amid all the selling and such, this is another occasion that it's super-easy to get behind. As we head into the teeth of the holiday season it's refreshing to step back and do something for those in need.

Obituary: Virginia Rep. Donald McEachin dies at age 61.

Generous Round-up
Thanks Ant and Neutronbeam.

Breakfast Link

• A Board-Game Auteur Makes His Next Move (may require registration or subscription).

Stories

• WHO renames monkeypox as 'mpox.'
• Robot snake guy gets revenge on CNN by purchasing Mythbusters trademark for $1000.

Science
Thanks Max.

• We're decoding ancient hurricanes' traces on the sea floor – and evidence from millennia of Atlantic storms is not good news. Thanks Acleacius.
• The Brain Uses Calculus to Control Fast Movements.
• Mars Once Had So Much Water, It Could Have Been An Ocean World, Scientists Say.
• Cannabis For Pain Relief- Review of 20 Studies Provides Sobering Results.

Image

• Orion flies far beyond the Moon, returns an instantly iconic photo.

Media
Thanks VideoSift.

• The Riemann Hypothesis, Explained.
• 『ゴジラVSガイガンレクス』 (Godzilla vs. Gigan Rex).

Creature Features

• Fred the Pet Parrot Relaxes in Bed. Sun Conure? Thanks Kxmode.
• Owner’s secret footage catches dog playing and singing at a piano. Feels familiar. Thanks Bent.

The Funnies

• Gregor on Twitter: pushing my buttons.