Harry Potter RPG in 2021, Fortnite Leaves Early Access

Top Story

Save the World leaves Early Access

Epic has published a State of Development update about Fortnite’s PvE mode Save the World. Most notably, the final version will not be free-to-play as originally intended, but a paid premium game.

If you paid for Founder status, all your Founder’s Packs will be upgraded and all the rewards in them will be unlocked for free. Ultimate Edition owners will receive 8,000 V-bucks and the new Metal Team Leader Pack.

• Save the World will no longer support the latest Battle Royale skins
• Updates for Save the World were few and far between, and Epic says development will slow down after release

Feeling abandoned: Save the World players are not particularly pleased about this, and many have asked for refunds rather than V-bucks because they don’t actually play the Battle Royale mode.

Time For A Quick Daily Quiz?

Who plays the Atlas Corporation CEO in Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare

• Barry Sloane
• Kevin Spacey
• Charles Dance
• Kit Harington

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

Celebrating Twenty Years of Diablo II

Wanna feel old? Diablo II came out 20 years ago. Amazingly, the game is still revered and actively played by hordes of fans. The last patch came out in 2016, adding support for newer versions of Windows and Mac OS.

The latest version available from Battle.net requires Windows 2000, and there’s no way to run the game on a Mac OS version later than 10.15 since Apple dropped 32-bit compatibility. Maybe we will see a remaster if the community keeps up their enthusiasm for another decade?

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

Harry Potter RPG Update

Harry Potter RPG will be out next year

The leaked gameplay footage from the unannounced Harry Potter game in development at Avalanche Software is from 2018, and the full game will launch sometime next year.

The developers are apparently feeling the heat after J.K. Rowling was accused of transphobia on Twitter. Rowling has a finger in every Harry Potter project, though the Avalanche developers insist that she has had “very little direct involvement”.

• The last Harry Potter game was the 2016 Lego Harry Potter Collection
• Warner Bros are planning to reveal the game after showing off the next Batman game at DC FanDome

MuggleNet editor Felicia Grady said: “Based on what I’ve seen from fans, I do believe that Rowling’s comments have had some effect on the level of excitement they have for the Harry Potter RPG or other upcoming content. We’ve seen comments from fans who no longer wish to support Rowling or the brand financially.”

Xbox Series X 20/20 Reveals

Microsoft delays June 20/20 event

Microsoft was planning monthly spotlight events called 20/20 to showcase the upcoming next-gen Xbox, but it looks like the schedule has changed.

The June 20/20 event was supposed to showcase the Lockhart console, but has been delayed until August. The Lockhart is rumoured to be a cheaper, lower-powered version of the next-gen Xbox.

• There have been rumours about Lockhart for a long time, but Microsoft has not commented on them
• While the Lockhart model is expected to be cheaper, no-one knows the price of any of the next-gen models yet

Two-month delay: Microsoft was apparently planning to unveil Lockhart at E3, and still intends to host an event in July showcasing their next-gen first-party titles.

What Else Happened Today?

• Crysis Remastered details leaked from Microsoft Store, including the July 23rd release date and a trailer ahead of first official gameplay trailer which goes live tomorrow
• Blizzard celebrates the 20th anniversary of Diablo II with a blog post about its development and how it came to be one of the most influential RPGs of its time
• Super Smash Bros Ultimate 8.0 update goes live today adding Min Min from ARMS and rebalancing much of the roster
• The new Max Raid Battle is crashing Pokémon Sword & Shield because it rewards players with an item that is not yet available in the game. A patch is expected later this week to fix it
• Mid-season update for Modern Warfare and Warzone today adding new multiplayer mode, new weapons and a 200 player mode for Warzone. Read the patch notes to see what’s included in the 36GB update

Game Review

Demon’s Rise – War for the Deep

Version played: Nintendo Switch

Developer: Wave Light Games

Brave the depths of an ancient city and search for a lost treasure hoard in this turn-based strategy game. Demon’s Rise – War for the Deep puts you in charge of a group of adventurers and pits you against hordes of monsters as you descend into the darkness, and every choice you make can be a matter of life and death.

Originally released for mobile phones in 2015 and now costing only £6.29, Demon’s Rise is definitely a budget title and unsurprisingly it’s a pretty no-frills experience. Mission objects are relayed by block screens with a paragraph of text, there’s no voice-over and the story is threadbare to say the least.

Fortunately, combat is considerably meatier. You can choose between four different warbands, or create your own party of six. Forming your own party can be overwhelming at first, since you have 30 character classes to choose between, and the game can become flat-out impossible if you pick the wrong combination of classes.

You can pick between five difficulty levels, from casual to extreme. Casual lets you get away with making pretty bone-headed mistakes, while extreme punishes the slightest lack of tactical acumen. Using cover and exploiting the environment is key to survival, and you can earn massive advantages by carefully studying the battlefields. All in all, the combat is surprisingly polished considering how basic the game looks.

Unfortunately, all the touchscreen support has been removed from the Switch version, and the control scheme that replaces it is not particularly intuitive. The game is also locked to 30FPS, unless you turn down some graphics settings to allow it to run at 60FPS. It’s not exactly necessary in a turn-based strategy game, but it’s a welcome touch in any case.

Demon’s Rise packs a surprising amount of depth in spite of its budget presentation, but the general lack of polish makes it hard to recommend. It’s a shame, since the combat system is good fun – but there are simply so many other better games on Switch at a similarly low price.

Score: 3/10

DailyBits Deal Spotlight

PowerA Pokemon Joy-Con Comfort Grip for Nintendo Switch

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DailyBits Weekly Giveaway

Command & Conquer Remastered

You have a chance to nab an Origin code for Command & Conquer Remastered Collection if you refer DailyBits to a friend! Use our widget to start earning referrals, which you can build up throughout the year to increase your chance of being selected.

Command & Conquer Remastered Collection is available on Origin and Steam for $19.99 or £17.99, and we’ve got some codes to hand out this week, the first one going out on Wednesday and the next one will be given out on Friday, just in time for the weekend!

Command & Conquer and Red Alert helped define the real-time strategy genre 25 years ago and both have been fully remastered in 4K by the former Westwood Studios team members at Petroglyph Games.

Includes all 3 expansion packs, rebuilt multiplayer, a modernized UI, Map Editor, bonus gallery of unreleased FMV footage, and over 7 hours of legendary remastered music by Frank Klepacki. Welcome back, Commander.

Quiz Answer - Did You Get It Right?

Who plays the Atlas Corporation CEO in Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare?

Answer: Kevin Spacey!

Kevin Spacey as a megalomaniacal billionaire? Wonder if he’s the villain.

He plays Atlas CEO Jonathan Irons in Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, and … hold onto your hats … he was the bad guy all along! His plan is to use a bioweapon Atlas created to turn his company into a literal world power by taking out all opposition – including the US military.

Spacey’s stature has diminished since the sexual assault allegations made against him, and his presence in the game feels a bit uncomfortable – arguably even more awkward than the instant cringe classic “Press F to pay respects”.

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