The Maw: what’s new in PC games this week?

All the PC game news from 24th June-1st July 2024

Image credit:Internet Archive Book Images

Happy Monday all! Yes, I wrote that with total sincerity. We all deserve a happy Monday - perhaps video games can help with that. As you’d expect, Elden Ring ’s recently released Shadow Of The Erdtree DLC remains this week’s Big Kahuna, with no obvious mega releases in the offing to break its chokehold on the discourse, but I have dipped my latex-gloved hand into the gestation pools and fished out a few promising oddities.

Monday 24th June kicks off with bone-throwing dungeon solitaire Dice & Fold . On Tuesday 25th June, we’ve got the remake of mystical 90s point-and-clicker Riven - now with real-time 3D environments, shock - together with magic realist high school visual novel Until Then and Argentinian folk horror Pomberito , in which a farmer must survive five nights while investigating a local beastie. Skipping forward to Thursday 27th June, there’s some Orpheus DLC for RPG musical Stray Gods , and the early access launch of 30 player last-person-stand ’em up Battle Crush . On Friday 28th June, there’s the early access release of tornado-chasing simulation OUTBRK , which has you monitoring rogue weather on a 625 square kilometre map.

Here at the RPS Treehouse we’ll be spending a fair bit of the week feeding the Maw freshly-hewn pieces of Erdtree, but we’ll also be running our mitts over a co-op anime shooter I won’t spoil, dredging up long-forgotten Aliens games, and possibly finding time for a stylised retro FPS or two. The Maw would typically consider this spartan fare, but there’s so much molten Elden Ring DLC running through its cyclopean veins I think we’ll get away with it. Even the Maw needs time to digest.

Our live coverage of this event has finished.

• 08:00 am 06/28/2024 ES IST FREITAG
• 08:02 am 06/27/2024 E’ GIOVEDÌ
• 08:03 am 06/26/2024 ES MIÉRCOLES
• 08:01 am 06/25/2024 C’EST MARDI
• 09:50 am 06/24/2024 IT IS MONDAY

IT IS MONDAY

Bamco have some advice for struggling Shadow Of The Erdtree players.

This is a suggestion to level up your Scadutree Blessing — Bandai Namco US (@BandaiNamcoUS) June 22, 2024

Slay The Princess devs Black Tabby Games have said they’re OK with you pirating their game if you can’t afford it. The game is currently enjoying a boost thanks to a Markiplier video over the weekend.

Or if you can’t afford the game in general, pirate it! No skin off our back, and you can always buy a copy later if you think the game was worth your money. And then watch Mr. Plier. :) — Slay the Princess - The Pristine Cut Era (@blacktabbygames) June 22, 2024

Post-apoc city-builder New Cycle, which Sin wasn’t wholly convinced by , hath a new early access roadmap . “Cormac McCarthy’s The Roadmap”, they should call roadmaps for post-apoc games. Planned additions include squints “luxury consumer goods”? Apocalyptic indeed.

Image credit:Daedalic Entertainment

Via PCGamer - yes, there are actually two dudes wearing that horrible lion costume in Elden Ring: Shadow Of The Erdtree.

Erstwhile Days Gone creative director John Garvin is back on the horn with tweets about his pitch for a sequel, which game director Jeff Ross has said will “never happen”.

Dude, never say never… management at Sony could have a change of heart and bring me and @JakeRocket back into the fold to do a sequel … I’m not holding my breath … though I gotta say, I had a full outline for the sequel, and world map that expanded the game, all done https://t.co/qVLMXgxz9E — John Garvin (@John_Garvin) June 24, 2024

Klei’s Invisible Inc turns 10 this week. To celebrate, you can get the full game plus the soundtrack and Contingency Plan DLC for the practically invisible price of £2.30, $3, or 3€.

Diablo 4 is getting a wave-based rogue-lite Infernal Hordes mode in Season 5 - more here .

War Thunder developers Gaijin Entertainment have apologised for using a picture of the real-life Challenger shuttle disaster, in which seven people died, in artwork promoting its latest update for the aerial combat MMO.

As Edwin shared earlier: Diablo 4’s Season 5 will add a roguelike horde mode . It’s called Infernal Horders and you can give it a go from tomorrow in the Public Test Realm.

C’EST MARDI

Original Fallout producer Tim Cain has posted a video about the cancellation of Project van Buren, aka Interplay’s Fallout 3, in the early noughties. As summarised by PCGamer , Cain (who had by that time left Interplay) describes being invited by the studio’s vice president to play a WIP build and give thoughts on whether it could be completed in half a year: “He thought it couldn’t be done in six months; I just confirmed that to him.”

Voice chat is “on the list” for Ubisoft shooter XDefiant.

Very likely just not sure when at the moment. It’s on the list. — Mark Rubin (@PixelsofMark) June 24, 2024

Chinese martial arts RPG Wandering Sword is getting a chunky update including paid mounts and free story DLC . We didn’t get round to this one, but it’s mustered an enthusiastic following. It looks a bit like Octopath Traveller.

As commenter Durkonkell pointed out last night, Valve are running a rare sale on the original, LCD-screened Steam Deck, knocking 15% off both the 64GB and 512GB models . Looks like they’re both out of stock in the UK, but still up for grabs via the US store.

The Steam Summer Sale is going to begin this week, say the bargain astrologers at Valve. They decree on Xitter that it begins on Thursday at 10am Pacific Time / 6pm British Summer Time.

In the event that live service support for Helldivers 2 is pulled, Arrowhead will take steps to ensure it remains playable, studio CEO Johan Pilestedt has said.

Hey! IF we stop supporting Helldivers at any point. We will automate systems to ensure it keeps being playable. But, our ambition is to support and build the game for many more years - we have so much cool stuff in store. — Pilestedt (@Pilestedt) June 18, 2024

Ahh! Slitterhead , the upcoming horror game directed by former Silent Hill head Keiichiro Toyama, confirms it is definitely inspired by his other previous game, PlayStation 2 horror Forbidden Siren (or just “Siren” for US readers). “[The] fundamental concept is to reinterpret Siren as a modern action game,” he said in a press event as translated by Automaton . He also promised you can’t hurt the dog .

As reported by Game File and passed on by Eurogamer , there has been no legal action for breach of intellectual property rights from Nintendo and the Pokémon Company with regard to the obviously Pokémon-inspired Palworld.

Payday 3’s long-awaited solo mode arrives in beta form on 27th June.

Groundpounding paint ’em up Disney Epic Mickey: Rebrushed has got a release date. So burp publishers THQ Nordic in a trailer for the remastered platformer . It’s coming to PC on September 24th, they say. Good news for those who want to replay Warren Spector’s best-selling game .

ES MIÉRCOLES

From Gamemeca as translated by VGC , ShiftUp CEO Kim Hyung-Tae has said that “we are considering a PC version of Stellar Blade, but we cannot comment on the exact timing or whether or not it will be released due to the contractual relationship.”

The Nightingale devs have popped up a video with their current plans for the early access fantasy survival sim. Topics covered include a grapple ability, charms of brawling, online to offline mode migration, a Steam Deck offline mode and Steam cloud saves.

Arrowhead are most pleased with the speculation surrounding Helldivers 2’s recently added black hole . They’ve put together a community update on Steam which includes highlights from Joel the Game Master’s time as interplanetary Machiavelli alongside the revelation that there will be fewer and bigger Helldivers 2 updates in future.

The original Resident Evil 1 from 1996 is now once again avilable on PC via seller of ye olde games, GOG. If you wish to be terrified by polygonal dogs with mishapen heads, it’s selling for £9/$10 .

I like the looks of Mystiques. Bio: “a game about the four worst women you’ve ever met running a failing antique store. also it is haunted.” Check out that Polly Pocket inventory system.

we are working on the world’s most girlypop inventory system pic.twitter.com/nUPqbXMHYd — Mystiques (@mystiquesgame) June 26, 2024

Hex-strategy Shields of Loyalty has a new trailer ahead of its 1.0 release. It looks neat and complex, and Steam reviews suggest a well-regarded game, if one with a small audience.

Sword of Convallaria is a Final Fantasy tactics-em-up, with a focus on twisty political machinations. There’s a demo on Steam and a trailer below

While not confirmed for PC (or any platform), a “Deluxe Remaster” of innovative and, dare I say, very good zombie game Dead Rising has been announced by Capcom. Teaser trailer below, though it’s very light on detail. If they mess with the time limits I will riot.

Here’s a bit more on that Dead Rising remaster , as Nic shared a lil earlier!

Final Fantasy XIV is gearing up for this week’s arrival of new expansion Dawntrail by polishing the MMO’s graphics, hiding quest-giver crowds and making stealth quests less annoying in its latest 7.0 patch .

Atari 50’s already generous retro time capsule will add 39 new games in an Expanded Edition this October , offered both as DLC - bringing the total number of games to over 150 - and a new standalone collection.

Palworld devs Pocketpair apparently heard “nothing at all” from the creators of Pokémon despite widespread accusations of plagirism and everyone calling the survival game ‘Pokémon with guns’, according to the studio’s CEO .

E’ GIOVEDÌ

As noticed by Nic, Valve have launched automatic background Steam game recording into beta.

Today we’ve launched Steam Game Recording into Beta. This is a new built-in system for creating and sharing your gameplay footage, that works on any game on Steam. Learn more here: https://t.co/H5z6Reykmx pic.twitter.com/koDAjyUeAe — Steam (@Steam) June 26, 2024

As noticed by Ed, Hades 2 got a brand new bag (patch). It seems copious.

Our third Early Access patch for Hades II is now available on Steam and the Epic Games Store!!🧙‍♀️ This one is packed with improvements to Olympian Boons, plus many new UI icons, several new Cauldron incantations, and more! 🌒Full Patch Notes: https://t.co/EsEdGb5j5O pic.twitter.com/smJYepyo4r — Supergiant Games (@SupergiantGames) June 26, 2024

Hark, a new Strange Scaffold game. It’s called Clickolding , and is about sitting in a motel room clicking a tally counter. There is a strange hooded man with glowing eyes who just wants to watch. Also featuring “weird jazz” and “a locked bathroom door”.

Also as noticed by Ed, there’s a new Dragon’s Dogma 2 patch , which looks to improve performance, nobble a few bugs and introduce a couple of quality-of-life options such as being able to sell and equip items from storage.

SeekerX says: Huh – February’s release Islands of Insight is trying a Content Warning manuever to drum up hype, and is free to keep on Steam for the next 24 hours? That’s maybe a worse sign for a $30 puzzle game than for an $8 streamer-friendly co-op horror game, but I’m not one to look a gift horse in the mouth.

I saw this one go past at launch and liked the concept, but the art direction seemed a little too bright and busy.

Crusader Kings 3 has revealed a few more details about their next big DLC due in September called Roads To Power. They usually make a free update to coincide with these DLC, and this time it will include a small but incredibly useful change: the ability to deeply customise how all messages appear . Don’t want to be pestered about every little pregnancy your spouse has? Set that message type to “Never”!

This is an older story, but - Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is introducing something called “omnimovement”, for which the summary appears to be: what if your character could move in all directions at the same velocity like an ice hockey puck. Wesley Yin-Poole of Ian Games says it “turns COD into Max Payne”.

This morning’s Great Updating continues with the release of a sizeable Palworld patch , featuring a new island, new Pal skills, the promised multiplayer Arena mode, junkyards, meteorites and crude oil.

Ari Buktu and the Anytime Elevator ( Steam link ) is a side-scrolling 3D platformer in the spirit of 80s Hollywood action films, which is being directed by Jeff Ashbrook, one of the minds behind Disneyland’s Millenium Falcon ride. The trailer doesn’t wow me that much, but I’m curious about the overlap between game design and themeparks.

Popular survival game Medieval Dynasty has gotten a co-op mode, so you can now catch and eat wild birds with mates.

Aspyr are remaking Star Wars: Bounty Hunter, one of the quintessential 6/10 games, which my brother played so much the Gamecube disc became entirely non-reflective. I think he’s now using it to prop up a wonky desk.

Payday 3’s new update arrives today, adding a much-requested “solo mode” , but alas it still requires an initial internet connection.

The Steam summer sale is now live . Try to resist the siren song of FOMO, and remember all the games you already own but haven’t yet had the time to play.

After four years in the wilderness of expired licenses, Alpha Protocol returned to GOG back in April. Now it’s back on Steam as well .

Survival citybuilder Frostpunk 2 has been delayed until September , so that its developers can address the beta feedback gathered earlier this year.

ES IST FREITAG

As announced by Yves Guillemot in an Ubisoft.com interview , Ubisoft are working on several Assassin’s Creed remakes, in a neat continuation of Assassin’s Creed’s own premise of history eating itself.

Via WCCFtech , CD Projekt RED are promising through their tears that thanks to setting up a whole new studio in North America, the next Cyberpunk game will finally get the manhole covers right.

The Long Dark’s new Cougar has been temporarily removed . Seemingly this comes down to a couple of quibbles: people don’t like the reliance on HUD notifications to communicate its movements, and people don’t like that it’s a scripted event rather than an in-game entity they can hunt down.

Decade-old sim Universe Sandbox is getting a big graphics update. Look at those moons go.

The fascinating mass ticking and unticking of One Million Checkboxes continues. A third faction has emerged in the passive aggressive war between checkists and the uncheckists - the artists. Here is an image of a whale.

Update: The whale is being drowned.

You can now see the most popular games played on Steam deck , thanks to a new store page created by Valve. Elden Ring is there. And oh look, Stardew Valley. And there’s Hades 2! It’s a who’s who of good games to play with a large rectangular flashlight.

Sound the klaxons, Capcom have announced that you can play two whole hours of Dragon’s Dogma 2 for free via Steam from now till 19th July.

The whale is dead. We have One Million Checkboxes, yet we could not save a single whale.

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All 75 Arc Raiders Blueprints and where to get them

These areas have the highest chance of giving you Blueprints

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Looking for more Arc Raiders Blueprints? It’s a special day when you find a Blueprint, as they’re among the most valuable items in Arc Raiders. If you find a Blueprint that you haven’t already found, then you must make sure you hold onto it at all costs, because Blueprints are the key to one of the most important and powerful systems of meta-progression in the game.

This guide aims to be the very best guide on Blueprints you can find, starting with a primer on what exactly they are and how they work in Arc Raiders, before delving into exactly where to get Blueprints and the very best farming spots for you to take in your search.

We’ll also go over how to get Blueprints from other unlikely activities, such as destroying Surveyors and completing specific quests. And you’ll also find the full list of all 75 Blueprints in Arc Raiders on this page (including the newest Blueprints added with the Cold Snap update , such as the Deadline Blueprint and Firework Box Blueprint), giving you all the information you need to expand your own crafting repertoire.

In this guide:

• What are Blueprints in Arc Raiders?
• Full Blueprint list: All crafting recipes
• Where to find Blueprints in Arc Raiders Blueprints obtained from quests Blueprints obtained from Trials Best Blueprint farming locations

What are Blueprints in Arc Raiders?

Blueprints in Arc Raiders are special items which, if you manage to extract with them, you can expend to permanently unlock a new crafting recipe in your Workshop. If you manage to extract from a raid with an Anvil Blueprint, for example, you can unlock the ability to craft your very own Anvil Pistol, as many times as you like (as long as you have the crafting materials).

To use a Blueprint, simply open your Inventory while in the lobby, then right-click on the Blueprint and click “Learn And Consume” . This will permanently unlock the recipe for that item in your Workshop. As of the Stella Montis update, there are allegedly 75 different Blueprints to unlock - although only 68 are confirmed to be in the game so far. You can see all the Blueprints you’ve found and unlocked by going to the Workshop menu, and hitting “R” to bring up the Blueprint screen.

It’s possible to find duplicates of past Blueprints you’ve already unlocked. If you find these, then you can either sell them, or - if you like to play with friends - you can take it into a match and gift it to your friend so they can unlock that recipe for themselves. Another option is to keep hold of them until the time comes to donate them to the Expedition.

Full Blueprint list: All crafting recipes

Below is the full list of all the Blueprints that are currently available to find in Arc Raiders, and the crafting recipe required for each item:

Note: The missing Blueprints in this list likely have not actually been added to the game at the time of writing, because none of the playerbase has managed to find any of them. As they are added to the game, I will update this page with the most relevant information so you know exactly how to get all 75 Arc Raiders Blueprints.

Where to find Blueprints in Arc Raiders

Below is a list of all containers, modifiers, and events which maximise your chances of finding Blueprints:

• Certain quests reward you with specific Blueprints .
• Completing Trials has a high chance of offering Blueprints as rewards.
• Surveyors have a decent chance of dropping Blueprints on death.
• High loot value areas tend to have a greater chance of spawning Blueprints.
• Night Raids and Storms may increase rare Blueprint spawn chances in containers.
• Containers with higher numbers of items may have a higher tendency to spawn Blueprints. As a result, Blue Gate (which has many “large” containers containing multiple items) may give you a higher chance of spawning Blueprints.
• Raider containers (Raider Caches, Weapon Boxes, Medical Bags, Grenade Tubes) have increased Blueprint drop rates. As a result, the Uncovered Caches event gives you a high chance of finding Blueprints.
• Security Lockers have a higher than average chance of containing Blueprints.
• Certain Blueprints only seem to spawn under specific circumstances: Tempest Blueprint only spawns during Night Raid events. Vulcano Blueprint only spawns during Hidden Bunker events. Jupiter and Equaliser Blueprints only spawn during Harvester events.

Raider Caches, Weapon Boxes, and other raider-oriented container types have a good chance of offering Blueprints. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blueprints have a very low chance of spawning in any container in Arc Raiders, around 1-2% on average. However, there is a higher chance of finding Blueprints in particular container types. Specifically, you can find more Blueprints in Raider containers and security lockers.

Beyond this, if you’re looking for Blueprints you should focus on regions of the map which are marked as having particularly high-value loot. Areas such as the Control Tower in Dam Battlegrounds, the Arrival and Departure Buildings in Spaceport, and Pilgrim’s Peak in Blue Gate all have a better-than-average chance of spawning Blueprints somewhere amongst all their containers. Night Raids and Electromagnetic Storm events also increase the drop chances of certain Blueprints .

In addition to these containers, you can often loot Blueprints from destroyed Surveyors - the largest of the rolling ball ARC. Surveyors are more commonly found on the later maps - Spaceport and Blue Gate - and if one spawns in your match, you’ll likely see it by the blue laser beam that it casts into the sky while “surveying”.

Surveyors are quite well-armoured and will very speedily run away from you once it notices you, but if you can take one down then make sure you loot all its parts for a chance of obtaining certain unusual Blueprints.

Blueprints obtained from quests

One way in which you can get Blueprints is by completing certain quests for the vendors in Speranza. Some quests will reward you with a specific item Blueprint upon completion, so as long as you work through all the quests in Arc Raiders, you are guaranteed those Blueprints.

Here is the full list of all Blueprints you can get from quest rewards:

• Trigger Nade Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Sparks Fly”.
• Lure Grenade Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Greasing Her Palms”.
• Burletta Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Industrial Espionage”.
• Hullcracker Blueprint (and Launcher Ammo Blueprint): Rewarded after completing “The Major’s Footlocker”.

Alas, that’s only 4 Blueprints out of a total of 75 to unlock, so for the vast majority you will need to find them yourself during a raid. If you’re intent on farming Blueprints, then it’s best to equip yourself with cheap gear in case you lose it, but don’t use a free loadout because then you won’t get a safe pocket to stash any new Blueprint you find. No pain in Arc Raiders is sharper than failing to extract with a new Blueprint you’ve been after for a dozen hours already.

One of the best ways to get Blueprints is by hitting three stars on all five Trials every week. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blueprints obtained from Trials

One of the very best ways to get Blueprints is as rewards for completing Trials in Arc Raiders. Trials are unlocked from Level 15 onwards, and allow you to earn rewards by focusing on certain tasks over the course of several raids. For example, one Trial might task you with dealing damage to Hornets, while another might challenge you to loot Supply Drops.

Trials refresh on a weekly basis, with a new week bringing five new Trials. Each Trial can offer up to three rewards after passing certain score milestones, and it’s possible to receive very high level loot from these reward crates - including Blueprints. So if you want to unlock as many Blueprints as possible, you should make a point of completing as many Trials as possible each week.

Best Blueprint farming locations

The very best way to get Blueprints is to frequent specific areas of the maps which combine high-tier loot pools with the right types of containers to search. Here are my recommendations for where to find Blueprints on every map, so you can always keep the search going for new crafting recipes to unlock.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Dam Battlegrounds

The best places to farm Blueprints on Dam Battlegrounds are the Control Tower, Power Generation Complex, Ruby Residence, and Pale Apartments . The first two regions, despite only being marked on the map as mid-tier loot, contain a phenomenal number of containers to loot. The Control Tower can also contain a couple of high-tier Security Lockers - though of course, you’ll need to have unlocked the Security Breach skill at the end of the Survival tree.

There’s also a lot of reporting amongst the playerbase that the Residential areas in the top-left of the map - Pale Apartments and Ruby Residence - give you a comparatively strong chance of finding Blueprints. Considering their size, there’s a high density of containers to loot in both locations, and they also have the benefit of being fairly out of the way. So you’re more likely to have all the containers to yourself.

Buried City

The best Blueprint farming locations on Buried City are the Santa Maria Houses, Grandioso Apartments, Town Hall, and the various buildings of the New District . Grandioso Apartments has a lower number of containers than the rest, but a high chance of spawning weapon cases - which have good Blueprint drop rates. The others are high-tier loot areas, with plenty of lootable containers - including Security Lockers.

Spaceport

The best places to find Blueprints on Spaceport are the Arrival and Departure Buildings, as well as Control Tower A6 and the Launch Towers . All these areas are labelled as high-value loot regions, and many of them are also very handily connected to one another by the Spaceport wall, which you can use to quickly run from one area to the next. At the tops of most of these buildings you’ll find at least one Security Locker, so this is an excellent farming route for players looking to find Blueprints.

The downside to looting Blueprints on Spaceport is that all these areas are hotly contested, particularly in Duos and Squads. You’ll need to be very focused and fast in order to complete the full farming route.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blue Gate

Blue Gate tends to have a good chance of dropping Blueprints, potentially because it generally has a high number of containers which can hold lots of items; so there’s a higher chance of a Blueprint spawning in each container. In my experience, the best Blueprint farming spots on Blue Gate are Pilgrim’s Peak, Raider’s Refuge, the Ancient Fort, and the Underground Complex beneath the Warehouse .

All of these areas contain a wealth of containers to loot. Raider’s Refuge has less to loot, but the majority of the containers in and around the Refuge are raider containers, which have a high chance of containing Blueprints - particularly during major events.

Stella Montis

On the whole, Stella Montis seems to have a very low drop rate for Blueprints (though a high chance of dropping other high-tier loot). If you do want to try farming Blueprints on this map, the best places to find Blueprints in Stella Montis are Medical Research, Assembly Workshop, and the Business Center . These areas have the highest density of containers to loot on the map.

In addition to this, the Western Tunnel has a few different Security Lockers to loot, so while there’s very little to loot elsewhere in this area of the map, it’s worth hitting those Security Lockers if you spawn there at the start of a match.

That wraps up this primer on how to get all the Blueprints in Arc Raiders as quickly as possible. With the Expedition system constantly resetting a large number of players’ Blueprints, it’s more important than ever to have the most up-to-date information on where to find all these Blueprints.

While you’re here, be sure to check out our Arc Raiders best guns tier list , as well as our primers on the best skills to unlock and all the different Field Depot locations on every map.

ARC Raiders

PS5 , Xbox Series X/S , PC

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