How Dirt 4 Is Rewriting the Rally Rulebook

There’s a real sense of history at Codemasters’ Southam studio – a sprawling campus that’s commandeered a slab of soggy English countryside a short cab ride out of Leamington Spa, about an hour or so north-west of London. The lobby itself is a modest museum of the publisher’s most highly-regarded games. Framed and familiar box art adorns the walls on all sides. I haven’t just played all these games; I still own most of them.  Brian Lara Cricket. The TOCA series and the Race Driver series that followed. Micro Machines. The legendary Colin McRae games. Hell, even Prisoner of War is up there. It’s a reminder not of just how much Codemasters’ general output resonates with me, but for how many decades it’s done so.

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Overwatch Wins Game of the Year at DICE Awards 2017

Overwatch was the big winner at the 20th annual DICE Awards, held in Las Vegas this evening.

The announcement was made at the awards ceremony held at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas after the 2017 DICE Summit. Other notable winners this year were Uncharted 4: A Thief's End and Inside.

Two new awards were introduced to the mix this year: Immersive Reality Game of the Year and Immersive Reality Technical Achievement, primarily focused on VR experiences.

The full list of nominees is below, with the winners in bold.

Outstanding Achievement in Animation

Civilization 6 Adds Australia DLC, Mod Tools Support

A new update for Civilization VI is available today for all Steam users. The update brings several highly-requested new features to the game for all players, including Steam Workshop and modding tools, plus multiplayer team functionality.

Amongst a host of other fixes the update adds a suite of development tools and the Steam Workshop Uploader, allowing players to access mods created by the Steam community and share mods with the Steam community. A large pack of game assets (including models, textures, and interface elements) is also available.

A complete rundown of the new update is available here.

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Capcom Confirms Resident Evil 7 ‘Not A Hero’ DLC

Spoiler warning for the character featured in the DLC ahead. 

As per our suspicions, the upcoming Resident Evil 7 DLC  Not a Hero will star Chris Redfield.

The official Resident Evil Twitter account broke the news, tweeting that "Chris Redfield returns in the free “Not A Hero” DLC for #RE7 this Spring. Who or what is he chasing? Find out soon in this separate story."

Redfield's reappearance was more or less confirmed for anyone who finished Resident Evil 7 - once the main campaign is over, players are treated to a title screen that teases his return.

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Marvel Games to Tell Original Stories, Not Held to Canon

Marvel Games won't force the developers it partners with to squeeze their games into existing storylines throughout Marvel's universes.

Speaking to IGN at DICE 2017, Marvel Games Creative Director Bill Rosemann instead assured that the teams behind games like Spider-Man for PS4 or Guardians of the Galaxy: The Telltale Series are being given the opportunity to create new visions of beloved characters.

"We want to give

freedom to tell their story and we want to make it an original story," Rosemann said.

"We want to give our partners...freedom to look at all of Marvel history and to pick from what interests them. It's a bit like we're saying, 'Hey you're the chef, you're going to make this meal. Here's all of the ingredients. You pick the ingredients that you like and make a new meal."

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Everything You Need to Know About Ghost Recon Wildlands

If you’ve cracked a book, played a game, or gone to the movies over the past few decades, you’re probably familiar with Tom Clancy. Though he’s been gone since 2013, his name lives on through the entertainment properties he created. The next major game to bear his name is Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands, an open-world shooter from Ubisoft.

Since the game is nearing launch, we thought now would be a great time to look back at all the news, videos, and features we’ve devoted to the game to get you ready for its March 7 release date. You can also check out our Ghost Recon Wildlands preorder guide for more detailed information and resources on special editions and preorder bonuses.

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Sunset Overdrive Dev on Lack of a Sequel: ‘Ask Microsoft’

A Sunset Overdrive sequel might still happen, but for now the franchise remains inactive, according to Insomniac president Ted Price.

When asked by Game Informer why there has yet to be a follow-up to the 2014 Xbox One exclusive, Price replied, "You'd have to ask Microsoft."

"We are passionate about that franchise, and we own it, so you may see more Sunset in the future from us," Price continued. "No promises, and no timeline to speak of, but it is something that represents our willingness to create unexpected experiences."

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The Witcher 3 Art Featured in DICE Art Gallery

As part of the annual Into the Pixel gallery, several works of art are currently on display at the 2017 DICE Summit in Las Vegas, Nevada.

This year's display includes art from The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, League of Legends, Dishonored 2, No Man's Sky, and several others, all of which are 2016 contest winners.

You can swipe through the slideshow below to see the images directly from official Into the Pixel site followed by photos of the art on display at DICE.

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Samurai Jack Creator on the Show’s Big Return

The return of Samurai Jack has been a long time coming – 13 years, to be exact. Season 4 of Genndy Tartakovsky's beloved series ended without a resolution for Jack. He never got back to the past, and now, in the show's timeline, it's been 50 years. The world has changed, but Jack hasn't. But neither has the plan for the next chapter of Jack's story. Not really.

"Generally, we wanted to do what we did in the old days, but do it newer, do it better," Tartakovsky remarked during a recent press event for the show.

He explained they still wanted to do the same show, the same style, the same experience, but amped up. "The tone of the story just drove us," Tartakovsky said, "That was really the biggest motivation. The storytelling, because it's this one arc, was more interesting because now we could take our time, we wouldn't have to rush through anything. Where it's going is a really huge arc, and it's hopefully really satisfying at the end."

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