Latest news with #Firaxis
Tom's Guide
08-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Tom's Guide
The best Marvel game you (probably) skipped is free for Prime Day — and it's not the only gaming freebie at Amazon right now
Prime Gaming is one of the best Amazon Prime benefits year-round, but the offerings have gone into overdrive for Prime Day 2025. Right now, you can score 29 free video games via the gaming hub, and that includes the fantastic, and overlooked, Marvel's Midnight Suns. If you're unaware of Prime Gaming, it's included with all Amazon Prime subscribers as standard and offers a rotating selection of completely free PC games. These aren't just little time-wasters or bargain bin picks either. We're talking about major blockbuster games from juggernaut franchises. There are currently 29 free games to choose from, but my pick of the bunch is definitely the brilliant and extremely content-rich Marvel's Midnight Suns. Marvel's Midnight Suns: FREE (w/ Prime) @ AmazonIn Marvel's Midnight Suns, you create your own hero, known as The Hunter, and then set out on a world-saving mission to defeat the fearsome Lilith. Mixing strategic turn-based battles that utilize a customizable deck-building system, with a superhero life sim, Midnight Suns is a unique blend that lets you fight alongside the biggest heroes in Marvel's roster, and then befriend them at your home base. It's a lengthy tactical RPG that Marvel fans won't want to miss. This 2022 superhero title from developer Firaxis mashes together a tactical battle system with surprisingly gripping life-sim elements, letting you team up with some of Marvel's most iconic heroes by day, and then befriend them at your home base in the evening. Because who doesn't want to go fishing with Captain America or play chess against Iron Man and Doctor Strange? In our Marvel's Midnight Suns review, we praised the game for delivering 'satisfying strategic battles, as well as a full-fledged superhero social sim.' Plus, it's jam-packed with Marvel heroes from Wolverine and Spider-Man to Scarlet Witch and Ghost Rider. The cast is expanded further via optional DLC to include fan-favorites like Deadpool, Venom, and the X-Men's Storm. Unfortunately, despite its high-quality and well-conceived mixture of strategic turn-based battles and Persona-like social sim elements, not to mention its meaty length (even a rushed playthrough will take you around 50 hours), the game was a sales disappointment. So, if you skipped it at launch, don't miss your chance to correct that error for free via Amazon Prime Gaming. Not a Marvel fan or already played Midnight Suns? That's no problem, Midnight Suns is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Prime Gaming freebies. Right now, you can also pick up free copies of Football Manager 2024, Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II, Amnesia: The Dark Descent, Saints Row IV: Re-Elected and Tomb Raider I-III Remastered Starring Lara Croft. Amazon Prime: for $139/yearAmazon Prime gives shoppers access to a whole host of benefits, Prime Gaming among them. Also included is free shipping on over 100 million products, plus access to additional services like Prime Video and Prime Music. You can pay an annual $139 fee or choose a monthly plan at $14.99. And these are just some of the 29 PC games currently available for free on Prime Gaming. To claim any (or all of them), head over to the Prime Gaming hub, and then click the 'claim game' button on the title(s) you want, follow the simple on-screen instructions and you'll be playing your free game in no time. Plus, each title is yours to keep even if your Prime subscription expires. Prime Day 2025 is offering a host of excellent gaming deals across PlayStation, Nintendo and Xbox, and while deep discounts are pretty unmissable, it's hard to beat free games. Especially when the free games are of the caliber of Marvel's Midnight Suns. So, even if you're planning to keep your wallet locked down over Prime Day, don't miss these epic gaming freebies on Amazon.
Metro
19-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Metro
You can buy one of the best games ever for the price of an ice lolly
The GOG summer sale is live and a discount on one of our favourite games is so good it feels almost criminal. We've highlighted some fantastic sales deals for video games recently (such as Sony's Mid-Year Deals sale, which went live yesterday) but we don't think we've ever seen a discount as generous as this one. We've always loved XCOM 2, a strategy game so perfect that we can easily recommend it even nearly 10 years after release and one we still hope developer Firaxis Games will return to with a new sequel. If you've yet to play it yourself, you really have no excuse now, as you can currently buy the game on PC for such a low price that it almost feels insulting to the game. GOG is currently running its annual summer sale, boasting discounts upwards of 95% off, across more than 8,000 PC games. We don't need to see the full list to tell you that XCOM 2's discount is the best deal. Instead of its usual asking price of £34.99, you can buy it for just £1.79. This doesn't include any of the DLC, but almost all of that's discounted too, including the equally excellent War Of The Chosen expansion for just £3.49. Sign up to the GameCentral newsletter for a unique take on the week in gaming, alongside the latest reviews and more. Delivered to your inbox every Saturday morning. That means you can get two 10/10 classics – XCOM 2 and War Of The Chosen – for just £5.28. That's less than the price of a pint of beer in London nowadays. It's such a good deal that we can't help but worry it devalues the game, and gaming in general. When titles of this quality are barely more expensive than a Mars Bar, and cosmetics for Fortnite are 10 times the price, it does feel as if something has gone badly wrong. More Trending No that we're complaining about low prices though, and XCOM 2 is far from the only generous deal at the moment. Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition is almost half off at £34.49 and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Complete Edition is even cheaper at £7. You can view the full list of discounted PC games on GOG's storefront here, but the summer sale is only set to last for a few weeks, until July 9. While there's sadly no sign of Firaxis considering an XCOM 3 yet – in part because a lot of the top developers left after Marvel's Midnight Suns proved a flop – EA looks set to deliver the next best thing with next year's Star Wars Zero Company. It's certainly in good hands since developer Bit Reactor is comprised of former Firaxis staff who have experience with the XCOM games, something Zero Company is taking very obvious inspiration from. Email gamecentral@ leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter. To submit Inbox letters and Reader's Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here. For more stories like this, check our Gaming page. MORE: XCOM: Chimera Squad review – alien collaboration MORE: XCOM 2 Collection Nintendo Switch review – less than perfect MORE: How to make XCOM 3 the perfect strategy game – Reader's Feature
Time of India
11-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Civilisation 7 reveals new map types and features in update 1.2.2
Firaxis Games has shared what's coming in the next big Civ 7 update, and it's packed with new content and upgrades. Scheduled to arrive on June 17, update 1.2.2 introduces larger maps, deeper game settings, more religion options, and new city bonuses to shake up how players build their empire. The update follows months of feedback since the game's February launch. As one of the most ambitious entries in the series, Civ 7 splits gameplay across three distinct ages and focuses heavily on decision-making, exploration, and development. Update 1.2.2 aims to refine those elements even further with both community-requested features and fresh content. Larger maps and more control over your game Make history on Switch VII – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition is available now! Players will finally be able to play on large and huge maps. These new sizes support up to ten civilisations in single-player and eight in multiplayer, offering longer and more strategic matches. Alongside this, several advanced options are being added to let players customise how they want to play. These include the ability to turn Legacy Paths on or off, pick which global crises appear, adjust the AI's difficulty more precisely, and even bypass the default civilisation unlock system. Town upgrades, Steam mods, and new religion bonuses A major part of update 1.2.2 focuses on improving towns. The Urban Centre is being reworked to boost gold and happiness for building upkeep, while a new Resort Town specialisation joins the game. Other towns like Fort Town, Factory Town, and Mining Town will also receive minor balance improvements. Quick update from our team, Civ fans - we've got a significant #Civ7 update on the way, currently scheduled for June 17 (subject to change).Read our full check-in breaking down what's in the update, some items still in progress, and how your feedback is helping guide what's… Steam Workshop support is finally being added, opening the door to player-made mods and creations. Fans will now be able to share their maps, tweaks, and mods directly through the platform. Religion is also getting a big push. The update adds 14 new 'Religious Beliefs' and two fresh Pantheons. Players will also discover 24 new bonuses for City-States across the different Ages. More features coming soon While update 1.2.2 is set for June 17, Firaxis also teased what's in development beyond that. An Auto-Explore feature is being prepared for a potential July release, giving units more freedom to uncover the map on their own. Hotseat Multiplayer is also in the works, although no launch date has been confirmed yet. Other items being polished include specialist balance, treasure fleet upgrades, and the small but amusing news that the Scout Dog will be pettable. Quality-of-life fixes and bug improvements will also ship with the patch. Civilisation 7's next chapter is shaping up to be an exciting one, and this update looks like a strong step toward refining the strategy experience even more.
Yahoo
28-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Civilization 7's first in-game event postponed so Firaxis can 'prioritize quality-of-life improvements'
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Civilization 7 had a rougher-than-expected launch, thanks largely to changes that made it, as we said in our 76% review, "the most streamlined and pared-back the series has been in a long time"—and not always in a good way. The backlash was strong enough that developer Firaxis committed to fixes and improvements before Civ 7 was even in full release, and in a "check-in" posted today it shared details on what players can look forward to over the next couple months. The 1.1.0 update is set to go live on March 4 and will make further adjustments and fixes to Civilization 7's UI, which Firaxis said in February was the studio's "top priority." A number of gameplay changes will also be made, including "significant changes to the Modern Age's Cultural Legacy Path and Victory," and AI leaders will be better able to complete Cultural Victories. The update will also see the first half of the Crossroads of the World Collection go live, adding the new leader Ada Lovelace, the new civs Great Britain (Modern Age) and Carthage (Antiquity Age), and the Natural Wonder Pack including four new Natural Wonders: Machapuchare, Mount Fuji, Vihren, and Vinicunca to the game. All of this unfortunately means that the first in-game event, "Natural Wonder Battle," which was set to go live with the update on March 4, has been postponed "to allow us more time to prioritize quality-of-life improvements for players worldwide." A new date for the event hasn't been set but Firaxis said it will share more information when it can. The 1.1.1 update is scheduled to follow on March 25, and will include further UI updates and other changes. "Ongoing improvements to the User Interface continues to be a top priority for the development team," Firaxis wrote. "The updates being introduced on March 25 are just one part of a much larger plan that aims to improve the UI over the next several months." Bigger changes are also in the works: New map sizes, resource types, support for teams in multiplayer, a "One More Turn" button that will let players continue past the end of the Modern Age, mod tools and Steam Workshop support, and—you guessed it—still more UI improvements. Firaxis said it's currently "scoping the work" required to get it all done, and while some could arrive as early as April, other promised features and changes will take longer: "As always in development, plans can change and we'll have more details to share here in the weeks and months ahead as plans solidify." To be clear, Civilization 7 isn't a bad game, but it is something of a letdown, at least at this stage. As PC Gamer's Tyler Wilde pointed out, our 76% review score marks it as a good and recommended game, but it's a far cry from the 93% scores we bestowed on Civilization 5 and Civ 6, marking them both as among the best of the best. A more pronounced ambivalence is visible on Steam: Civilization 7's user rating remains stubbornly "mixed" and has actually been in a very slight decline through most of February, and there are still more people playing Civilization 6 on Steam than Civ 7. So there's no cause for panic at this point, but there's definitely work to be done. Civilization 7 review: Our verdictCiv 7 performance analysis: How it runsCiv 7 victory guide: All win conditionsHow Civ 7 towns/cities work: Settlements guideCiv 7 age transitions guide: Everything that changesView Deal
Yahoo
17-02-2025
- Yahoo
There are already Civilization 7 mods that improve the UI, unlock all civs, and add 'ludicrous'-sized maps
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Civilization 7 is officially here, and with it comes (at least for now) a "Mixed" review status on Steam and a lot of complaints about the 4X strategy's UI. While we're keeping up with all the latest Civ 7 news and developments, the community has been busy too: the first Civ 7 mods have arrived on the same day as the game's global launch. This is the rare occasion where I'm not directing you to Nexus Mods: the early mods that have appeared for Civ 7 are over at the forums. There aren't a ton of them yet, but there are definitely a few to point out. Right out of the gate, there are a couple of mods that address one of the biggest complaints about Civ 7: the UI. Civ 7's interface is taking a serious pounding: I've seen Steam reviewers calling it "buggy," "inconsistent," "junk," "a total disaster," and most damningly, "somehow worse than Civ 6." Firaxis has already issued a patch to address a few of the complaints about the UI and I suspect there will be more coming, but in the meantime you might check out Sukritact's Simple UI Adjustments. I haven't tried it myself yet, but it's got nothing but 5-star ratings in the forums. Here's a quick rundown on its features: Diplomacy with other Civs and IPs can now be initiated by clicking on the city banner (provided you have met them). Plot Yield icons are smaller on tiles that are not improved/worked Tooltips are enhanced. The default improvement is now shown on unimproved tiles. All Constructibles now display their icon. Wonders receive a large fancy icon with description. Buildings now note if they are damaged or in-progress or ageless. Another mod is also focused on improving the UI: TCS Improved Plot Tooltop adds tons more info so it's easier to find what you need, including leader relationship status, settlement ownership, flags for obsolete or unique buildings, district types, and other useful tidbits you can spy at a glance. If you're an eager beaver and are interested in instant gratification, check out the Civ 7 Unlock All Civs mod. With it, you no longer have to meet the requirements to access civilizations when you reach the Exploration and Modern Ages, they're all immediately available to you. Work is already underway on bringing you bigger maps, with a beta of Larger Map, TSL, Continents++ available to download. It unlocks "large" and "huge" map sizes and adds a "massive" (128x80) map. The mod also lists experimental (not playable) "giant" maps (180x94) and "ludicrous" maps (230x116) to test out. That's not bad for a game that only just came out, and you can find more mods at the Civ Fanatic forums. Make sure you carefully read the installation instructions on each mod's page before downloading. Civilization 7 review: Our verdictCiv 7 performance analysis: How it runsCiv 7 victory guide: All win conditionsHow Civ 7 towns/cities work: Settlements guideCiv 7 age transitions guide: Everything that changesView Deal
