Hasta La Gadget!

According to a pair of content creators, the wait for a new Valve game is almost over: A third-person hero shooter called Deadlock is in closed alpha and an announcement seems imminent.

The game has apparently been in the works since 2018, with IceFrog, a developer synonymous with the original DotA mod, in charge. It’s reportedly what became of the Neon Prime project that has been rumored for a couple of years. Tyler McVicker, a veteran Valve reporter, and the content creator Gabe Follower, have this week both independently confirmed the game is in an advanced state of development.

“In terms of scope,” McVicker says, “this is meant to be Valve’s next major competitive game. The next Counter-Strike. The next Dota.” He describes it as Valve’s attempt to bring the company’s various game communities together, with precise gunplay and the laning objectives of a MOBA. McVicker describes it as looking “like Valorant, Overwatch, Dota 2 and Team Fortress 2 had a baby.”

The new title is apparently based in a “fantasy setting mixed with steampunk,” a marked shift from prior reports on the project that described Neon Prime as sci-fi inspired. Gabe Follower posted four screenshots on X which show something a little more subdued than the Overwatch and Valorant comparisons might imply.

The images show six vs. six gameplay across four lanes — suggesting a mix of solo lanes and two vs. two action across the map. It also shows ‘transit lines’ that can get players back to lane faster, like League of Legends’ hex gates. McVicker says these transit lines are inspired by BioShock: Infinite’s Sky-Hook system.

Outside of Counter-Strike 2 and Half-Life: Alyx, it’s been a hell of a long time since Valve released an all-new, big-scope title, and it’s been even longer since the company launched an all-new IP. McVicker says Deadlock is currently in a closed alpha, with “hundreds” of people playing. Of course, this is Valve, so it’s never too late for the project to be killed. But with June traditionally being a big month for video game news, it’s not impossible we’ll hear something official soon.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/valves-next-game-appears-to-be-deadlock-a-moba-hero-shooter-185418880.html?src=rss

Prime Video’s Fallout series has been a hit with critics and audiences, but Microsoft and Bethesda weren’t ready to fully capitalize on its success. Fallout 4 rocketed up the sales charts and Bethesda updated it for current-gen consoles, but there was no new Fallout game ready to go. In fact, the next Fallout title is several years away. Bethesda won’t properly get to work on it until The Elder Scrolls 6 is done.

But there’s another gaming entity ready to make the most of Fallout’s upswing in popularity — Fortnite. The battle royale’s X account teased a crossover ahead of the new Fortnite season, which is dubbed “Wrecked” and will go live on May 24. Epic shared an image of the Brotherhood of Steel’s power armor.

It’s too early to tell exactly what the Fallout crossover will entail, but Fortnite has already begun setting the stage for a possible post-apocalyptic version of the island as a sandstorm appears to be on the way. Maybe you’ll be able to use Fallout-inspired weapons like mini nukes.

This is just the latest example of Epic being tapped into the zeitgeist better than just about any other publisher or studio. Meanwhile, vaulting — the term Epic uses for the act of removing items from Fortnite — could be about to get a whole new meaning if fallout shelters start popping up on the island.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/a-fallout-crossover-is-coming-to-fortnite-165853292.html?src=rss

This Anker Nano 10K power bank is on sale for $32 via Amazon. That’s a discount of 20 percent on one of our most recommended chargers. Anker makes good stuff and its products are all over our list of the best power banks.

One of the nifty features of this particular power bank is that it has a USB-C cable built right into the unit, so you won’t ever have to curse yourself when forgetting to bring along an extra. There’s also a handy display that shows the current charging status, which is always a nice add-on.

This thing is called Nano for a reason. It’s tiny, at four inches tall, making it easy to throw in a bag and forget about it until needed. The 10,000mAh capacity is enough to supply around two full charges to a modern smartphone, though results may vary depending on the make and model of your phone.

To that end, this is a USB-C charger, so it’s only useful for the latest Apple iPhone 15 line of smartphones, though it’s good for Android handsets going back years. It’ll be future proof for Apple products, however, as forthcoming iPhones will all be equipped with USB-C ports. The only downside? The battery itself doesn’t provide the fastest charge in the world, but it gets the job done.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/this-anker-nano-10k-power-bank-is-on-sale-for-just-32-151128977.html?src=rss

This Anker Nano 10K power bank is on sale for $32 via Amazon. That’s a discount of 20 percent on one of our most recommended chargers. Anker makes good stuff and its products are all over our list of the best power banks.

One of the nifty features of this particular power bank is that it has a USB-C cable built right into the unit, so you won’t ever have to curse yourself when forgetting to bring along an extra. There’s also a handy display that shows the current charging status, which is always a nice add-on.

This thing is called Nano for a reason. It’s tiny, at four inches tall, making it easy to throw in a bag and forget about it until needed. The 10,000mAh capacity is enough to supply around two full charges to a modern smartphone, though results may vary depending on the make and model of your phone.

To that end, this is a USB-C charger, so it’s only useful for the latest Apple iPhone 15 line of smartphones, though it’s good for Android handsets going back years. It’ll be future proof for Apple products, however, as forthcoming iPhones will all be equipped with USB-C ports. The only downside? The battery itself doesn’t provide the fastest charge in the world, but it gets the job done.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/this-anker-nano-10k-power-bank-is-on-sale-for-just-32-151128977.html?src=rss

Twitter officially went through a rebranding almost a year ago, but most of its pages still used Twitter in their URL until now. Now, Elon Musk has announced that the social network is done moving all of its core systems on X.com, which means it’s done transitioning into its new identity and scrubbing all traces of the name Twitter and its iconic blue bird logo. As The Verge notes, the website has also edited its landing and log-in page with a note at the bottom that says: “Welcome to x.com! We are letting you know that we are changing our URL, but your privacy and data protection settings remain the same.” It then links to its Privacy page, which now uses x.com in its address.

Over the past year, the company has been shedding its pre-Elon Musk identity little by little. It changed its official handle from @Twitter to @X and replaced the Twitter logo on its headquarters building. Its website changed favicons, which initially triggered some browsers’ security safeguards, while its apps switched over to the new X logo from its previous blue bird design. Tweetdeck has been renamed into XPro and Twitter Blue became X Premium. The company has slowly been moving its pages to x.com, as well — slow enough that the move became something of a security risk, since bad actors could take advantage of the inconsistent URL to phish victims. Well, now the company is done moving to its new URL, and it’s time to say goodbye to one of the last remaining parts of a website that helped shape the social media landscape.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/twitter-has-officially-moved-to-xcom-120028269.html?src=rss