Here’s a breakdown of the key stats from the post, which you can read in full here: 194 million users on PC, up 34m from 2020. 31.1m peak daily active users, 13.2m peak concurrent. 917 games for sale, nearly double from 2020. $840m spent through the store, up 20%. 36% of sales are third-party games; $300m of spending, up 12%. 765 million free copies claimed in 2021 from 89 free games....

Epic introduced the new payment system as a way to get V-Bucks cheaper, which obviously was exciting to Fortnite players. Then once the game was removed from stores because of this, Epic launched lawsuits accusing Apple and Google of “monopolistic” and “anti-competitive” behaviour and screened a propaganda video in Fortnite’s in-game cinema. “Join the fight to stop 2020 from becoming ‘1984’,” Epic’s video implores viewers. It lampoons an old Apple Mac ad which borrowed fascist imagery from George Orwell’s 1984 to present Apple as anti-conformist heroes....

Arena’s backstory pits players as gladiators fighting battles around Tarkov city, which are organised by a group of Arena Masters led by someone known only as the Host. Battlestate explain that you’ll be able to play as your character from the main Escape From Tarkov game and that all of it “beloved hardcore game mechanics” will still be there, too, along with new PvP and PvE modes. Matt (RPS in Peace) thought the base version of Escape From Tarkov was exhausting when he took a shot at it back in 2019....

If you need to catch up on other E3 goings on, keep an eye on our news feed, and check our round ups of the other big shows. We’ve got tonight’s Xbox and Bethesda showcase, the Square Enix stream, the the Ubisoft Forward stream, plus all the games from Netflix’s Geeked Week, Geoff’s Summer Game Fest, and a Double Fine’s Day Of The Devs. Naraka: Bladepoint - new giant anachronous chainsaw weapon Naraka is a 60 player battle royale game that we have, in fairness, seen a lot of trailers for....

Okay, let’s take these one by one, beginning with Warhammer’s first ever CRPG. Rogue Trader is being made by Owlcat Games, who have a long history making the Pathfinder RPGs. Players will take on the role of the latest explorer in a dynasty of privateers, heading out into uncharted worlds, looking for treasure in the name of the Emperor, and shooting a bunch of aliens in the process - although there’s some hints you might be able to “consort” with them instead, which is an intriguing verb....

So it will probably be either like Roblox or like Second Life, then? Hopefully we’ll get a greater sense of which by the time it’s out, which will be in 2023. The teaser trailer is a montage of stuff happening quickly in the shape of the logo. I wish I could give you more opinions about, well, anything to do with Everywhere. It has deserts, forests, and a big futuristic city....

“The story is about how you all adjust to a world that works differently from everything you’re used to - and the friendships and romances you form while there,” creative director Emily Short said in a press release. “There’s no sunlight. Not all of your new neighbours are human. Parliament is underwater, and the mysterious Masters Of The Bazaar are now in charge.” Sounds pretty tense, though I did read one time that being scared near your significant other actually draws you closer....

But I can largely do my own thing. Like when I inadvertantly ended up far from my camp in an unfamiliar spot and walked all the way home. I doubtless walked past a dozen ‘quest’ bits, and could have run off to do some events, or looked up an achievement or challenge or whatever to make some numbers go up. But instead, I figured I’d take the opportunity to explore and get to know the land better....

Now, Reddit user “papabanano” has devoted the entire space of their farm in Stardew Valley to recreate one of the most famous of the Nazca Lines. No wheat yield or intensively farmed pumpkins to be found here, no: only the Hummingbird. I am in love with papabanano’s effort for several reasons. Firstly, the accuracy. It’s a really dead on version of the Nazca Line known as the Hummingbird (although it may not, in fact, be a hummingbird, and, further fun fact, a few years ago Greenpeace damaged the area around the Hummingbird by putting up a big banner next to it, and had to apologise to Peru for being massive fuckups)....

Seriously, check out this trailer. I don’t know what the significance of a lot of things in it are, but I can tell that they are significant. It’s giving me secondhand hype. Final Fantasy 14 has been praised a lot for its story over the past few years, which has been expanding since A Realm Reborn launched back in 2013. Where most expansions to the game have continued that story with a significant new chapter, and then wrapped up that chapter over a handful of subsequent updates, Endwalker is bringing the whole story to a close when it launches in autumn with update 6....

Duty Support lets you play through main scenario instanced duties (that’s dungeons, trials, and such) from A Realm Reborn, Shadowbringers, and Endwalker on your lonesome with the help of NPCs filling out your party. It’s building on Scenario Mode from ye olde Trust system. Some duties let you pick your party, though Realm Reborn duties have fixed parties according to your role. Future updates will expand Duty Support to include duties “for 2....

Foretales is set in a world being ravaged by a “terrible curse”, in which you play as a small-time thief. Through your actions, you’re able to branch the storyline and either save the world or bring about its destruction. The Steam page promises “decksploration gameplay”, whatever that is. I love Foretales’ art most of all. There has been a slew of strategy games over the past couple of years featuring anthro animals, but Foretales’ looks lush in so many ways....

Former Starbreeze Studios chief financial officer Sebastian Ahlskog was convicted of insider trading this Tuesday. This follows from the Swedish Economic Crime Authority raiding the company’s headquarters and at least one private home in December 2018, under suspicion of using insider information to profit from Starbreeze’s financial troubles. According to Dagens Industri, Ahlskog exploited insider knowledge of the developer/publisher’s coming insolvency to sell his shares in November 2018, one month after stepping down from his role, and shortly before Starbreeze applied for reconstruction....

“From April 23-25, blast off into a one of a kind musical journey featuring Travis Scott and the world premiere of a brand new track,” Epic Games say." Astronomical is an other-worldly experience inspired by Cactus Jack’s creations, built from the ground up in Fortnite." During the Astronomical event, you’ll also be able to score new skins and cosmetics. Epic say you’ll earn an Astroworld Cyclone Glider and two loading screens just for attending any of the concerts this weekend....

So the big change is frogs. The hoppy little chaps are one of the new animal mobs being introduced in The Wild update, along with their baby form of tadpoles. Mojang say that frogs are actually three mobs of sorts, as there are frogs, tadpoles and frogspawn. Also arriving with The Wild update is the luminous blue allay, a passive flying mob that can hold items if you give them something....

To combat Covid-19, the German government has extended its ban on public gathering until August 31st (via German-language outlet Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger). That spells trouble for Cologne convention Gamescom which, unfortunately, was scheduled from August 25-29. Even without the ban, it may have been irresponsible to host a convention that last year saw over 370,000 people attend, considering a vaccine for the virus may be at least a year out. While Gamescom organisers gestured at cancellation, today’s statement sealed it....

Of course, with news of live-action Gears Of War comes the opportunity for theoretical casting picks. Just going to go out on a limb here and suggest Dave Bautista for classic Gears protagonist Marcus Fenix, because obvs. Bautista’s already got Netflix form from his performance in Zack Snyder’s middling-to-fair zombie heist movie Army Of The Dead last year. He’s also, for a former professional wrestler, surprisingly competent at veering into the feels when necessary....

From now until November 30th, yearly subscriptions to RPS are 35% off for new subscribers - and all you need to do is head over to our sign up page to get started. No codes or secret password at the Treehouse door required. In case you’re unfamiliar with how the RPS supporter program works, we have two tiers: Standard and Premium. Standard gets you ad-free browsing, discounts on RPS merch and a “Supporter” commenting status, as well as a monthly letter from the editor post (that’s me), where I give you the behind-the-scenes skinny on everything that’s happening at RPS....

To get the discounted price, use code SAVE75 to knock a healthy £75 off the list price. That brings it down to £1054, just £5 more than the UK RRP and a great deal for an OC model. You also get free delivery, with the card slated to arrive just after the upcoming bank holiday. Get the MSI RTX 3080 Ti Ventus 3X OC for £1054 w/ code SAVE75...

Designed to be played in a single sitting, you begin as one of a three-strong family of gibbons swinging joyfully through the dense flora and fauna of South East Asia’s rainforests, the gibbon’s natural home turf. Perhaps appropriately, this game starts by aping the structure of an endless runner. A squeeze of the right trigger (or right arrow key) will propel your primate forward into an automatic swinging motion, for example, while holding down left trigger (or left arrow key) sees them break out into a run....