TODAY: PlayStation 5 will be quite affordable if Amazon leaks are true — Star Wars: Squadron will feature VR crossplay on PC and console — New Minecraft update lets you make even crazier Rube Goldberg devices

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EA announces Positive Play Charter

EA is introducing the Positive Play Charter after consulting with its various game communities.

The goal of the initiative is to deal with “threats, harassment and other toxic or unlawful behaviour” on the publisher's platforms and services and ensure that they are “safe, fun, inclusive environments”. Repeated or severe violations could lead to permanent bans and loss of account privileges.

The Positive Play Charter has four simple goals:

• Treat others as they would like to be treated
• Keep Things Fair
• Share Clean Content
• Follow Local Laws

“The last few weeks have been a stark reminder that we have a responsibility to stay vigilant in this effort. We won’t tolerate racism, sexism, homophobia, harassment or any form of abuse,” EA said in a statement. There is more information about the Positive Play Charter on the EA's website.

Time For A Quick Daily Quiz?

Which Madden game was the first not to feature John Madden on the cover?

• John Madden Football '93
• Madden NFL 98
• Madden NFL 06
• Madden NFL 09

The answer will be revealed at the bottom of today's issue. Join up with our community on Twitter and Facebook to discuss what the answer could be.

Daily Fact

One Piece: Romance Dawn is very rare

Namco Bandai launched a special limited edition of One Piece: Romance Dawn for 3DS in North America in 2014, which was sold exclusively through retailer Gamestop, EB Canada and Namco Bandai’s own online store Club Namco.

Only 16,800 units were printed, and the numbered special edition features exclusive holographic packaging. It's pretty hard to come by, but it has one flaw: It doesn't feature the opening theme "Eternal Waves" by TRIPLANE.

Join up with our community on Twitter and Facebook to discuss today's fact.

PlayStation 5 Price?

Amazon leaks PlayStation 5 details

Amazon is leaking like a sieve these days, and it looks like their French arm has just leaked the release date and price point for PlayStation 5.

The listing has been scrubbed of sensitive info, but if the screenshots are real, PlayStation 5 will be available on November 20th. The standard console will be €499 while the Digital Edition without the BluRay player costs €399.

Black Friday: That suggests dollar prices of $559 and $447 respectively, while Brits will need to cough up £446 or £357. November 20th is just before the Black Friday sale, and although it's unlikely to be discounted, it makes sense to launch the console ahead of the biggest shopping weekend of the year.

Unconfirmed: Of course, the information could just be a placeholder and nothing is certain since Sony has remained tight-lipped about both launch date and price tag. The console itself was only revealed one week ago.

VR Bits

VR crossplay for Star Wars: Squadrons

Star Wars: Squadrons will support VR headsets on PC and PlayStation 4, and features crossplay, making it one of the very first cross-play VR games.

Motive Studios Creative Director Ian S. Frazier has also announced that the PC version will support joysticks and HOTAS, so check out the gameplay reveal at EA Play 2020 tonight. Star Wars: Squadrons is scheduled to launch on October 2nd for PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

Pistol Whip hits PSVR next month

Pistol Whip is a rhythm game best described as John Wick meets Beat Saber, and it's finally appearing on PlayStation VR on July 28th along with all DLC. The developers revealed their roadmap for the rest of the year at the Upload VR Showcase last night.

First out is the Heartbreaker update in August, a free update which adds three new music tracks, before the fourth quarter Concierge update adds new weapons, enemies and mechanics.

Horde mode announced for The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners

Skydance Interactive is adding the much-requested Horde mode to The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners as part of next month's Meatgrinder Update.

The wave-based mode is called The Trail, and will be fast-paced and arcade-like in contrast to the tense campaign. There will also be new difficulty settings for both the campaign and horde mode. The Meatgrinder update will launch for PC and PlayStation 4 in July.

Deal Spotlight

70% off NordVPN

If you care about online privacy, or just need to pop over to another territory for a bit, have you considered using a virtual private network, or VPN?

NordVPN offers a 3-year deal at 70% off right now, with over 5,600 servers around the world and unlimited bandwidth. It's ideal for keeping your data to yourself while you work, watch streams or play games.

NordVPN doesn't log any activity, so no private data is collected while you browse. Your real IP and location are safely hidden, fooling websites and platforms into believing you are somewhere else. One account can be used across 6 devices with a user-friendly app.

Every sign-up through our NordVPN link provides a small commission to DailyBits, so you’d be helping us too!

Minecraft Nether News

Big Nether update coming to Minecraft

One of the biggest Minecraft updates ever will be launched on June 23rd according to developer Mojang.

It will be available for both the Bedrock and Java versions of Minecraft, and it overhauls the long-feared but generally pointless Nether areas in the game. The update introduces biomes to the Nether and will bring more variation and life to the standard areas.

Piglin vs. Hoglin: New NPCs will also be introduced to the Nether, with Piglins appearing as neutral denizens while Hoglins will be enemies. A new material called netherite will also be introduced, replacing diamond as the hardest and most durable material in the game.

Update breakdown: Redstone engineers will appreciate the new Target Block, which activates redstone when struck by an arrow and will enable a whole new class of contraptions. If you want to know more, you should watch Mojang's Nether Update video video on the official Minecraft YouTube channel.

What Else Happened Today?

• Petroglyph will add final touches to Command & Conquer Remastered Collection in an update delivering bug fixes and features requested by the community
• Cyberpunk 2077 has been delayed again, pushing it back from 17th September until 19th November, 2020. CD Projekt explains...
• New Horizon Forbidden West developer video highlights the game world, which the game director claims has “virtually no loading screens”, and that it will launch in 2021
• Watch EA Play Live today at 4.00pm PT or 0.00am BST to see EA’s upcoming titles (https://www.ea.com/ea-play-live) alongside “community content”
• Nintendo reaches highest stock price in over a decade at ¥50,000 per share thanks to new Pokémon titles and worries about further lockdown
• 11bit Studios’ This War of Mine included in Polish national education and will be part of the official reading list for the 2020/21 academic year

Quiz Answer - Did You Get It Right?

Which Madden game was the first not to feature John Madden on the cover?

Answer: Madden NFL 06!

Younger American football fans may not know who the Madden series is named after, namely sports commentator John Madden.

From 1989 until 2005, John Madden was literally the face of the popular series and appeared on the game covers. In 2001, EA decided to feature NFL players and include a John Madden endorsement rather than his rugged mug. In 2006, the endorsement was removed and the covers began showcasing a new NFL player every year.

While removing Madden from the covers made sense as his popularity diminished, it led to the so-called Madden curse: A superstition saying that the performance of any player who appeared on a Madden cover would suffer. Maybe they should have kept old John after all?

Today's issue of DailyBits was written by Gavin Herman, Erlend Grefsrud, Simon Priest, Christian Vaz and Jamie Davey.