World of Warcraft “Plunderstorm” Pirate-Themed Battle Royale Surprise-Drops Today

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III and Warzone Season 3 has arrived, and as usual, it’s packed with plenty of new content to keep players busy. The core CoD: Modern Warfare III multiplayer experience is getting a bunch of all-new maps, Warzone is bringing back the Rebirth Island Resurgence map with a bunch of updates, and more crossover content is on the way, including Godzilla x Kong cosmetics, and… Cheech and Chong as Operators? Sure, man, groovy. Check out the launch trailer for CoD: Modern Warfare III/Warzone Season 3, below.

The “Pokemon with guns” phenomenon Palworld has dropped its latest update, and it’s a fairly beefy one. The big addition is Palworld’s first raid boss, Bellanoir, an intense battle you can adjust the difficulty on for some big rewards. In addition to that, the update brings a number of improvements to building, a bunch of new handy items, and more. You can check out a quick teaser trailer for Bellanoir, below.

Market research and data tracking firm NewZoo has released their 2023 PC and Console Gaming Report, and it provides an interesting snapshot of an industry in a bit of a transitional mode. The gaming industry saw out-of-control growth during the pandemic, which fizzled a bit in 2022, but 2023 saw a return to modest growth with the PC/console market reaching $93.5 billion, up 2.3 percent year-on-year. This growth was largely driven by the PC market, which was up 3.9 percent year-on-year, while the console market was up 1.7 percent YoY. The PC market accounted for 43 percent of industry revenue, while consoles were 57 percent.

In a recent announcement, Blizzard confirmed the imminent addition of trios to World of Warcraft's Plunderstorm battle royale game mode. The introduction of this battle royale mode via Patch 10.2.6 seems to have garnered an overall positive response from the community, prompting World of Warcraft's developers to take this progressive step forward.

For the past four-years-plus, animal lovers have been able to live out their dreams on PC with Frontier Developments’ acclaimed Planet Zoo, and now, Xbox Series X/S and PS5 owners can get in on the fun. It seems like Frontier has gone the extra mile with this port, as it features full support for both controllers and keyboard-and-mouse, and the ability to share zoos between XSX and PS5. The console port will also have a “zoo complexity meter” which will allow you to keep an eye on the scope of your zoo to make sure performance stays high (very large zoos could get quite demanding on PC). You can check out a new trailer for the console version of Planet Zoo, below.

In recent months, there’s been a lot of debate and concern about the future of the Xbox brand, with Microsoft seemingly tip-toeing away from exclusives and the traditional console business. In a recent “business update,” Xbox boss Phil Spencer and other execs sought to calm fears, saying major exclusives like Starfield are staying put (for now) and Microsoft is working on powerful new hardware, but fans have been skeptical in the face of “flatlining” demand for Xbox consoles.

We’ve known Final Fantasy XVI would be getting a pair of story expansions for some time now, with the first one, Echoes of the Fallen being more of a bite-sized experience. Thankfully, the second, The Rising Tide, will be much meatier, and today at a panel at PAX West, Square Enix pulled the curtain back on what to expect. The DLC will introduce a new area, the coastal land of Mysidia, an additional ally for your team named Shula, and the powerful water Eikon, Leviathan. You can check out a trailer for Final Fantasy XVI - The Rising Tide, below.

Needless to say, Baldur’s Gate 3 has been a success beyond anybody’s wildest expectations, racking of GOTY awards and over 10 million in sales, so what’s next for the game’s developer Larian Studios? More content for Baldur’s Gate 3 followed by Baldur’s Gate 4, right? Strike while the iron’s hot!

Some hotfixes have applied some ability tuning to the Plunderstorm Battle Royale which includes a nerf to Fire Whirl. Edit #1: This article originally said players «move at 70% of normal movement speed». It has been updated to the correct text as «move 70% faster».

Pirates make everything better, so if Blizzard's announcement that World of Warcraft now has a standalone battle royale mode isn't enough to get your tootsies twitching with excitement, then how about this: it's called Plunderstorm and is all about the piratical booty.

Blizzard has introduced a new game mode to World of Warcraft. Titled Plunderstorm, it is essentially a new battle royale-styled PvP game mode. Check out the trailer celebrating the launch of the new mode below.

Blizzard has been hinting that something pirate-y is coming to World of Warcraft for weeks now, sneaking little Jolly Roger flags into road maps. We don’t have room for a full pirate expansion, not with the Worldsoul Saga scheduled to take up the next three slots for expansion packs. Instead, we’re getting something highly experimental — a new six week battle royale called Plunderstorm.