Tagged: Black Lion Trading Company

Reviewed on: PlayStation 5 Platform: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC Publisher: 2K Games Developer: Visual Concepts Release: March 14, 2025 Rating: Teen

Quality is subjective, but if you ask WWE fans about the state of the product in recent years, many will tell you it’s the best it’s been in ages. The company is enjoying a boom period in quality and mainstream popularity not seen since the Attitude Era, and it almost feels scripted that the WWE 2K video games have been on a similar upward trajectory during the same time frame. WWE 2K25 retains everything that has worked in the recent entries while opening up the roster in a welcomed way due to the long-overdue introduction of intergender matches. Although the game’s most prominent new mode, The Island, is a questionable addition, 2K25 puts on another strong performance.

For the first time in a long time, the 300-plus superstar roster can slam each other as equals now that male and female superstars can finally compete in any match type together. This is my favorite new addition; I only spent significant playtime with half the roster in previous games since the online community tends to favor playing the men. Now, I can finally use my neglected favorites like Asuka or Rhea Ripley without twisting a buddy’s arm to pick one of the ladies to play with me. Intergender matches also raise the possible combinations of match-ups exponentially since men's and women’s abilities are on a level playing field. Liv Morgan can take down Roman Reigns as effectively as the boys, giving 2K25 a fun, arcade-like vibe. 

The exceptional grappling includes the return of chain wrestling, a triggerable mini-game in which players execute a cinematic series of counters and tie-ups to gain the upper hand. I haven’t missed this feature since its last appearance in a 2K game, and 2K25 doesn’t make me feel wrong for that. The mechanic works fine, but it is sometimes a chore due to how long it can go on, so it’s not something I go out of my way to execute and falls squarely in the “neat” category. 

I enjoy the addition of the Underground Match, the MMA-style contest where you must win by knockout or submission inside a ropeless ring surrounded by bystanders. Bloodlines Rules is perhaps the most entertaining stipulation in some time. The match is essentially a street fight that lets you summon up to three superstars to perform run-ins on your behalf à la Cody vs Roman at Wrestlemania XL. This match is delightfully chaotic, and it’s even more amusing when using non-Bloodline-related superstars just to see who runs out. The allies either fit that wrestler's on-screen relationships or are hilariously random, like Stone Cold receiving help from Roddy Piper, Ricky Steamboat, and The Ultimate Warrior. Regardless of the match, WWE 2K25 remains an entertaining hold-for-hold experience. However, I’m beyond ready to move on from hearing the action called by the long-outdated commentary team of Michael Cole, Corey Graves, and Byron Saxton. 

The Bloodline, WWE’s faction of wrestlers hailing from the legendary Anoaʻi/Maivia family dynasty, dominates 2K25, culminating in a brand new mode called The Island. This is WWE 2K’s spin on NBA 2K’s MyCareer, letting players create a custom superstar to explore a WWE theme park-like hub world. From cleverly designed destinations like the lucha libre-inspired Temple of the Ancients and a Japanese arcade themed after the members of Damage CTRL, The Island is fun to gawk at, especially since it's filled with inside nods and easter eggs for hardcore fans. Unfortunately, text-based conversations mean interactions with superstars feel flat, and the minimal ambient sound effects make the Island more lifeless than it looks. Exploring is a literal pain due to constantly holding the trigger button to execute a weirdly sluggish run to get around marginally faster. Additionally, the lack of a map means a lot of aimless searching for where to go, and the small in-game mission indicators don’t stand out enough from the crowd. 

The Island challenges players to complete matches and other tasks to earn a WWE contract (and the acknowledgment of Roman Reigns) while engaging in goofy sidequests like finding the haunted scattered pieces of an urn or obtaining mech suit parts from WWE’s gamer wrestlers. These missions are broadly fine, eliciting a chuckle in some cases. 

The main reward for doing them is earning VC, 2K’s premium currency, to pump up your character, but the Island would prefer that you spend real money to speed up the process. My earlier theme park analogy rings most true in how much the Island tries to tempt players to open their wallets via stores selling cosmetic pieces (some branded, e.g. Nike). While easy to ignore, it still feels a bit icky given that a single piece of attire, such as a pair of shoes or a shirt, costs $5 minimum, and it will take a lot of playtime to earn enough VC to unlock even a few complete outfits purely by playing. This is especially egregious since the same currency is used to improve your character’s attributes, and budgeting real money to balance attire and performance upgrades isn’t fun. 

As a fan of the yearly Showcase mode, centering it on The Bloodline’s long lineage is an appealing choice, and it covers a nice breadth of the family tree. From Peter Maivia to Yokozuna to the Usos to Nia Jax, Showcase is thematically interesting but disjointed in execution. Instead of only presenting a faithful documentary-style recreation of matches, several bouts offer fantasy match-ups, like The Wild Samoans vs The Dudley Boyz, which is a bit odd for the historian in me. 

Vintage matches are sometimes held in modern arenas instead of recreating era-appropriate venues, creating another thematic disconnect. Showcase’s match order also feels haphazard as the family history lesson (narrated by Paul Heyman, who does an unsurprisingly great job) jumps back and forth between the different family generations, making it trickier to grasp if you’re unaware of the Bloodline’s heritage. The 2024 Bloodline vs Bloodline WarGames match, for example, seems like an obvious and fitting final bout, but it’s strangely the penultimate contest to a random and far less significant tag match from yesteryear. Showcase is still an enjoyable summary of the Bloodline’s decades-long greatness, but it’s a weaker overall showing than previous iterations.

The story-driven MyRise pushes intergender gameplay further by featuring a single, branching storyline that stars a male and female superstar that players switch between. I appreciate the streamlined approach of doing away with social-media-based match-ups to bouts. With only Story quests and optional live events designed for grinding skill points, MyRise is less bloated and more manageable. This year’s storyline of an NXT invasion of the main roster, a la 2001’s WCW/ECW Alliance angle, is hilariously absurd when you factor in that at least 90 percent of the main roster consists of NXT alumni. Still, that silliness is what makes MyRise’s often ridiculous plots fun in a dumb way. Despite several flat performances from some voiced superstars (including what sounds like a tired CM Punk in a primary role), MyRise remains a fun little romp I still enjoy partaking in.  

MyGM, a favorite destination of mine, is essentially the same this year but makes up for the lack of innovation by finally introducing much-requested online play for up to four players. My long-time disinterest in the card-collecting MyFaction remains unchanged; it’s still okay for those who like it, but playing it does nothing to inspire more engagement beyond the obligatory check-in. The Creation Suite and, to a lesser extent, MyUniverse don’t feature any substantial changes, but they’re still entertaining time sinks for dedicated players. 

But what matters most is when the bell rings, and taking control of this massive roster and mixing it up – regardless of gender – across a now-impressive selection of stipulations is a blast. Although it’s the only real game in town, WWE 2K25 retains its title as the best and most substantial pro wrestling sim fans can buy. 

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Platform: PlayStation 5, PlayStation VR2, PC Publisher: Fast Travel Games Developer: MoonHood Release: May 8, 2025

After watching about 45 minutes of gameplay of The Midnight Walk during a recent demo, I got the chance to inquire about the game's stop-motion art style. It's not true stop-motion – all the animation is done digitally – but the developers mentioned that they sculpted every figure in the game by hand. To explain, co-director Olov Redmalm switches his Discord camera to his phone and walks across the office, showing a workspace littered with handcrafted figures of characters and environments. He ends up at a small, well-lit white box, where he says they can scan sculpted pieces into a digital format. In fact, phone cameras have become so advanced in recent years that they just use their mobile devices as scanners. 

When I ask why they don't just use a 3D modelling program to generate the assets, they give two answers: First, you can't replicate the little details and imperfections that come from hand-sculpting. Second, it's apparently easier this way, a response I found equal parts simple and surprising..

The Midnight Walk is a first-person, narrative-driven puzzle game with a creepy aesthetic. As the Burnt One, you embark on the titular journey with caution, avoiding monsters and bringing light back to the world. The developers claim the game has themes of light vs. darkness in its visuals and mechanics, and this is immediately apparent; the first thing they do in their playthrough is receive a pair of eyes, transforming the blurry visuals to a clear view of the grim, clay environment. The Midnight Walk even has a dedicated button to close your eyes, either to blink and reveal secrets or to will away particularly dangerous creatures, as if the player was a child convincing themselves it was all a dream.

The theme of light is also represented by matches, a core mechanic used to light torches and solve puzzles. To achieve that stop-motion aesthetic, which is usually done by animating toy-sized figures, matches are large, two-handed tools. When you light them, they realistically burn down the matchstick, creating what the developers refer to as a built-in timer, a convenient restraint to make puzzles more challenging.

Of course, you can also light fires with Potboy, the cute, pot-headed companion who also acts as the game's mascot. In addition to shooting embers from his scalp to light distant lanterns, he also graciously volunteers to squeeze through small spaces and get fired out of cannon-like pipes. Potboy is, in many ways, the emotional and aesthetic core of The Midnight Walk. He's creepy and cute, smiling and waving on the streets of an otherwise twisted, disturbing landscape. 

The developers describe The Midnight Walk as a "cozy horror" game, a combination of descriptors that seems inherently contradictory. To me, however, it makes sense: Spooky stop-motion is most famously seen in movies for children, like Coraline or The Nightmare Before Christmas, so it's inherently a little nostalgic. Despite their gothic trappings, I can easily imagine many of these characters on a kid's t-shirt, with Potboy being the chief example.

Gameplay for the first half of the experience is relatively straightforward. Co-director Klaus Lyngeled (the one playing the demo) just proceeds along a linear path, avoiding monsters, lighting candles, and shutting his eyes to remove obstacles. Then, they skip further ahead in the build to a later point in the game. Klaus is now equipped with a matchstick gun, which gives him even more candle-lighting range than Potboy provides, but this time, he has to navigate a town crawling with enemies called Grinners. Klaus' purposeful death aside (he wanted to show us the Grinner's horrifying killing animation), the level clearly challenged him, making him retreat and be patient. I enjoy watching developers play their games, and they often play it up for an audience, but seeing Klaus genuinely tensing up at the risk of being caught was entertaining and exciting.

I'm looking forward to The Midnight Walk. Its aesthetics remind me of movies I watched as a kid, and I enjoyed seeing how Moonhood is committed to using that art style to tell a story. Luckily, I'll only have to wait a few weeks for its release on May 8.

Platform: Release: July 17, 2025

For the last several years, I’ve struggled to answer a question that has long plagued me: Where in the world could Nintendo possibly take the Mario Kart and Super Smash Bros. franchises after the culminating entries that appeared on Switch? Both Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate possess similar DNA in that they bring together the majority of content from past games and deliver an experience that feels like not only the best entry in those legendary franchises but also a climax that will require a different approach for the next game. 

When it was revealed that a new Mario Kart game – the first all-new entry in over a decade – was coming to Switch 2, I couldn’t wait to see how Nintendo would approach following up one of its most successful first-party titles of all time. Now that I’ve gone hands-on with Mario Kart World, I’m pleased to report that Nintendo has cracked the code on where to take Mario Kart after 8 Deluxe.

Mario Kart World brings the world of Mario Kart to life through open-world-inspired design. You can drive around in Free Roam, go off-track during races, and compete in massive events that span multiple regions of the world. When you play Grand Prix, you even drive from one track to the next to deliver an immersive feeling of connectivity.

My Mario Kart World session begins with Grand Prix. The course was incredibly intricate and involved, with lakes of lava, twisting tracks, and obstacles galore. With 24 racers in a match, the start of each event feels chaotic as characters fight for position. This also means items are constantly being used, but it never felt overwhelming. In fact, thanks to various indicators to show you where items were approaching you from, I found it easier to avoid incoming attacks. If you do get hit by a shell, Bullet Bill, or other projectile, your driver’s reaction is less of a canned animation and feels more physics-based than ever before seen in the franchise. I also enjoyed grinding on rails during races – I was surprised that it felt more like a Sonic game’s grinding mechanics (complete with the ability to hop between rails) and less like Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater.

With so many characters in each race, Nintendo dug deep into its character roster, with mainstays like Mario, Wario, Peach, and Yoshi being joined by less common characters like Cheep Cheep, Wiggler, Goomba, and even a cow named Cow. At one point, I thought the obvious next step for the Mario Kart franchise was to open the floodgates to other franchises beyond the small crossovers we saw in 8 Deluxe. That would have been a fun idea, but not nearly as fun as these obscure and oddball characters from the Mario franchise.

After completing my Grand Prix race, I move on to a Knockout Tour match. This mode takes the 24 players and pits them against each other in a map-spanning elimination race. Each lengthy segment ends with a checkpoint that accepts a set number of racers, and any player who comes in after the stated placement is eliminated from the match. I breezed through the first checkpoint near the front of the pack, but after taking the lead and holding it for a while, that signature Mario Kart madness unfolded as I was hit by a couple of shells shortly before the next checkpoint, and I arrived at the checkpoint as number 13. The problem? You needed to be 12th or better to continue. 

From there, I spent some time in Free Roam. I didn’t snap any photo mode pictures, but I explored a vast field with flowers you can bounce on and a ravine where I dropped down, floated along, and found a star and a pile of coins. To exit, I found a giant pipe, which transported me up to the main road. Though I didn’t discover anything earth-shattering during my Free Roam session, I love the idea of rewarding exploration with fun discoveries like these. The ability to go anywhere has me so excited about what the creative team of Mario Kart developers can come up with.

Mario Kart World feels like it walks a tightrope of delivering something completely new while still feeling definitively like Mario Kart and not feeling like a step backward from Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. With Mario Kart World, Nintendo appears to have followed up its most successful title from the Switch in superb fashion, giving Switch 1 owners an intensely enticing reason to upgrade to Switch 2 as soon as possible.

Mario Kart World arrives exclusively on Nintendo Switch 2 on launch day, June 5. Ahead of that, we’ll learn more about the flagship Switch 2 launch title through a dedicated Mario Kart World Direct on April 17.

Developer: Nintendo

The Nintendo Switch launched on March 3, 2017, not only pulling gaming’s most iconic name out of its Wii U downturn but also revitalizing and revolutionizing the handheld gaming market due to its innovative hybrid nature. Now, more than eight years later, Nintendo has finally pulled back the curtains on its direct successor, Nintendo Switch 2.

Though the elevator pitch is that it’s a bigger and more powerful version of the system that has sold more than 150 million units in its eight-plus years of life, I walked away from my recent extended hands-on session with Nintendo Switch 2 rather impressed.

The sleek design of the Nintendo Switch 2 immediately catches the eye, whether behind a display case like my first encounter with the upcoming console or resting in my hands as I play the hotly anticipated launch title Mario Kart World. The 7.9-inch LCD screen looks big even when compared to the 7-inch Switch OLED model, and it absolutely dwarfs the 6.2-inch screen of the original Switch model.

I was initially concerned when I heard it was an LCD screen instead of what should be the industry standard for handheld devices going forward in OLED, but the system’s creators are confident in their display decision.

“There are a lot of advancements that have been made in LCD technology,” Nintendo Switch 2 hardware design lead Tetsuya Sasaki says during a Switch 2 developer roundtable. “During the development, we took a look at the LCD technology that was available to us now, and after a lot of consideration, we decided to stick with LCD.”

My initial fears were immediately dashed away as I fired up Mario Kart World during my first hands-on session. The 1080p resolution and smooth framerate look terrific on such a small screen. With support for up to 120 frames per second, it delivers exceptional performance in a form factor that is the same thickness as the original Nintendo Switch. However, the biggest differentiator in my time with Nintendo Switch 2 is its ability to display more vibrant colors and lighting thanks to its HDR capabilities. 

“Even with the OLED version of Nintendo Switch, we hadn’t had support for HDR, but that’s something we have support for now,” Nintendo Switch 2 producer Kouichi Kawamoto says. 

Most of my demos took place in docked TV mode, but Mario Kart World looks terrific on the Switch 2 screen. Nintendo also touts better speakers in Switch 2, though it was difficult to test that out due to a loud gameplay environment. 

If you’d prefer to play in Tabletop mode, the kickstand is substantially more durable and adjustable than that of the original Switch, making Tabletop mode much more versatile and viable. I don’t anticipate worrying that I’ll accidentally snap this stand off or that it’ll be unstable in any way. 

Though the ability to play on the go is one of Switch and Switch 2’s main attractions, I typically enjoy my games on the TV, and that is precisely where most of my gameplay sessions take place. Removing the Joy-Cons from the Switch 2 is not quite as easy as the rail-based system of the original Switch, but the button-release magnet system that holds the Joy-Con 2s in place feels much sturdier than the Switch 1’s rails. Removing and replacing the Joy-Con 2s to the Switch 2 has a tiny learning curve, but after completing the process a few times (and learning that it’s easier if you connect the bottom of the Joy-Con, and then the top), I had the process down.

I didn’t get the opportunity to try out GameChat or any of the social elements involving the built-in microphone or the additional camera, but I did spend some time playing camera-based games in the Nintendo Switch 2 Edition of Super Mario Party Jamboree. These games, which involve squatting and standing when the Talking Flower from Super Mario Bros. Wonder tells you to, waving your hand to hit a block as many times as possible in a short period, or just moving and making as much noise as possible, work well. The camera aptly separated each of the four players in their side-by-side playspaces, removed the background, and transposed each person to the in-game environment as individual entities. 

There was only one occasion where the camera had difficulty recognizing that one of the players stood up at the correct time, but it could have been because the player’s shirt color was nearly identical to the wall behind us. The applications of the camera and microphone outside of GameChat give me a lot of hope for ideas developers might come up with in future titles, and after this short demo, the camera went from a potential pick-up at launch to a must-have for me.

As well-utilized as the camera is, the Joy-Con 2 mouse functionality was perhaps the most pleasant surprise of my entire demo. By turning the Joy-Con 2 sideways, you can instantly activate its mouse capabilities where supported. Switch 2 versions of games like Civilization VII and Metroid Prime 4: Beyond allow you to use the mouse functionality, but rather than going into a menu to select it, you simply turn the Joy-Con 2 sideways and place it directly onto the table or even your legs. I was shocked at how I could go from traditional controls in Civ VII to using a combined control scheme where my left Joy-Con functioned almost as a PC’s WASD while my right Joy-Con turned into a mouse with a simple turning of my wrist. Similarly, my gameplay session of Metroid Prime 4: Beyond allowed me to go from traditional FPS controls with motion controls for fine-tuned aiming to mouse-style aiming with no menus whatsoever. 

Not only is it simple to activate in those cases, but it works remarkably well. And with small pads on the sides of the Joy-Con 2s, I never felt like I was in any danger of damaging the controller, even with aggressive mouse movements like with the wheelchair basketball game Drag x Drive or the newly added Super Mario Party Jamboree mouse minigames. 

For the other games I checked out, I used the Switch 2 Pro Controller, which feels similar to that of the original Switch with two changes: the inclusion of the C-button for GameChat and the addition of two mappable back buttons similar to those found on high-end controllers. The back buttons weren’t mapped in my gameplay sessions, but as someone who often uses those back buttons on my Xbox Elite Controller, I’m excited to have more options with this new Pro Controller. However, if you already have a Switch Pro Controller and don’t want to drop additional money just for the back buttons and C-button, all Switch 1 accessories work with Switch 2.

When you combine my hands-on impressions of the Nintendo Switch 2 with the proven track record for the Switch brand, an excellent opening game-lineup salvo, and other features like 256 GB of internal storage, sweeping backward compatibility, and bigger SL and SR buttons for more comfortable sideways Joy-Con play, the Nintendo Switch 2 feels like a worthy successor to one of the best-selling video game systems of all time. With just around two months to go until launch, I’m already eagerly anticipating getting my hands on my own Switch 2 and beginning this long-awaited next era for Nintendo.

Nintendo Switch 2 arrives on June 5.

From the moment Nintendo announced it was going to make a follow-up to the Switch consoles, speculation about what its name could be had been rampant. One of the most common expectations for what we now know as the Switch 2 was that it would be called the Super Switch, following the naming structure established with the update from the Nintendo Entertainment System to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System.

In a long interview on Nintendo’s website with producer, entertainment planning and development department Kouichi Kawamoto, senior director entertainment planning and development department Takuhiro Dohta, and general manager technology development division Tetsuya Sasaki, Kawamoto explained the naming decision.

“There were a lot of ideas for the name, and we really struggled to find the right one,” Kawamoto says in the interview. “We even considered ideas like ‘Super Nintendo Switch.’ However, Super NES, which came out after the NES, couldn’t play NES games. Since Switch 2 can play Switch games, it didn't feel right to use the same naming convention as Super NES. Switch 2 is a new system with improved performance, but we'd like players who get their hands on it not to focus on the specs, but rather to think of it as the latest system developed by Nintendo.”

You can read the full discussion that dives deep into all things Switch 2 right here.

Foundation is Now Available on Steam and is 25% off!*Foundation is a grid-less, laidback medi city-building game with a focus on organic development, monument construction and resource management.*Offer ends February 7 at 10AM Pacific Time

An update to Team Fortress 2 has been released. The update will be applied automatically when you restart Team Fortress 2. The major changes include:Updated the Brain Cane to fix problems with the texture and phong valueUpdated The Battle MusicAdded missing Hat styleFixed the models due to clipping on Heavy's ears and misalignment on EngineerImproved and strengthen the Noise CancellationUpdated the materials to fix it not being shinyUpdated the backpack icon to reflect the materials changeUpdated cp_gravelpit_snowyFixed potential incompatibility with external VScript files (thanks Le Codex!)Re-implemented cubemap reflections in ice caveFixed perch spotsUpdated vsh_distillery, vsh_maul, vsh_nucleus, vsh_outburst, vsh_skirmish, and vsh_tinyrockRestored Hale's resistance to knockback back to 75%Reduced bonus flame damage against Hale from 50% to 25%Hale can now do 1 extra Brave Jump before the Jump Fatigue kicks in (thanks Wendy)Weighdown is no longer blocked by the Jump Fatigue (thanks Wendy)Removed area-of-effect of Hale's normal punches (thanks Wendy)Demoman shields now absorb 70% of Saxton Punch! damage (compared to normal 50%) to make the following launch into the stratosphere survivableFixed Hale taking mini-crits from Direct Hit and Reserve Shooter while underwater (thanks Bradasparky)Fixed airborne mini-crits of Direct Hit and Reserve Shooter applying against the wielder (thanks Bradasparky)Fixed Hale being able to stomp while underwater (thanks Bradasparky)Fixed Sweeping Charge not working against underwater opponentsFixed the bug that prevented Quick-Fix from mirroring a patient's wall climbing (thanks Bradasparky)Fixed Hale's faulty ground detection (thanks Bradasparky)Fixed Baby Face's Blaster's loss of boost not applying correctly (thanks Whurr and MilkMaster72)Fixed the voice lines refusing to play sometimesUpdated pl_patagoniaStage 1Fixed the cart going under the elevator in extremely rare occasions (Thanks Shocked) Fixed sometimes hearing outside soundscapes inside blue spawnFixed being able to build in a very high rooftop after point AFixed being able to build in blue spawnCart elevator is no longer the glitchiest thing in the universeFixed cart not rolling back after completing the elevator descent sequenceNow, if the cart is rolling into the elevator in overtime, the round timer will be set to 5 seconds left, to avoid unfair loses for blue. Timer will resume once the cart reaches the bottom (Thanks I. C. Wiener).Stage 2Removed rollback from the train container ramp in last point (Thanks b4nny)Gave blue more high ground for last pointAdded an additional dropdown for blue for last pointFixed being able to be teleported into red spawn as blue after capping point ARemoved long hill rollback before point CFixed bots getting stuck on the closed train doors after cap BFixed being able to leave stickies inside blue last spawnFixed being able to get stuck in the point C shortcut door for red. If you get trapped, it will kill you.Fixed a pop-in issue relating to areaportals below point BFixed being able to enter the last blue spawn as redBirdie (Thanks Explocivo808)Stage 3Added a fenced section for the long wood cover wall in last point (Thanks b4nny)Mirrored the window sniper spot in last point chokeFixed being able to build behind a displacement rock wall in last pointRemoved troll teleport spot in last point ending rampAll StagesSlightly lowered sun brightness and slightly raised skylight brightnessImproved skybox transitionsThe cart no longer tries to defy the law of physicsNinjaneers have more freedom to be ninjasThe bots have learned how to play the mapGave the cart another coronación de gloria

An update to Team Fortress 2 has been released. The update will be applied automatically when you restart Team Fortress 2. The major changes include:Added missing No Gloves style for the Consigliere's CoverupAdded missing Versus Saxton Hale kill iconsAdded some tournament medalsFixed Taunt: Curtain Call voice lines overlapping with other Spy voice linesFixed the Playful Aurora and Frisky Morning Unusual effects not moving correctlyUpdated Aurora Skies Unusual effect to fix a timing issueUpdated the Necroprancer to fix an issue with the materialsUpdated the Dusk Duster to fix an issue with the materialsUpdated the Dapper NoelRemade normal map to be compatible with OpenGLRe-baked Diffuse & updated backpack icon to reflect above changesRemoved misplaced ambient occlusionFixed problematic face flexesFixed an issue where Engineer's beard was protruding from his gogglesFixed an issue with the jigglebones being disabledRigged Sniper's hat to be compatible with his melee tauntUpdated Scrooge McDocTransparent lenses are rigged to the correct bone (prp_glasses instead of bip_head) so it should now work correctly with taunts that move the glassesImproved scarf rigging and positioning to allow for better compatibility with shirt cosmeticsUpdated the backpack iconUpdated koth_overcast_finalFixed an issue with the models/materialsAdded back snow coverings (now using displacements) to some props that were missing themFixed misaligned textures in various placesFixed weird lighting bug on a wall in blue spawnFixed 'Hotel' sign not displaying properlyAdded back indicators under some health and ammo kits that were missing themUpdated cp_fortezzaRemoved sniper window leading into lastFixed Engineer being able to build in some doorsFixed some props being solidSlight art pass updateUpdated vsh_maulPlayers can no longer hide from Saxton in the darkFixed props inside other propsFixed z-fighting brushesFixed missing particle effects for the water featureFixed orientation of water feature particlesMinor lighting changes around the cinemaAdjusted LOD change distances for Cinema signUpdated VSH logicGrounded levitating propsAligned misaligned texturesFixed mis-textured wallsClipped upper metal beamsFixed clip brushes sticking out from walls that could be walked onPlayers will now be pushed off of the fire bellAdjusted cinema sign shadowUsed spell check on Saxton's Package signUpdated how music is activated and deactivatedFixed clipping on the hanging big ornaments

An update to Team Fortress 2 has been released. The update will be applied automatically when you restart Team Fortress 2. The major changes include:Improved matchmaking performanceImproved matchmaker behavior for users with less-than-ideal ping levels. The matchmaker should now be quicker to put you in the best available region.Improved matchmaker decision making for cross-region partiesAdded error messages when being ejected from the matchmaking queue due to connectivity or authentication failures, rather than the queue simply silently vanishingFixed the matchmaking settings dialog frequently failing to display any datacentersFixed multiple cases of in-progress casual matches abruptly terminating or failing to be assigned any new players if the game server ever loses connection to SteamUpdated the Mountebank's Masque, Courtier's Collar, and Harlequin's Hooves cosmetic items to fix issues with their paint regionsUpdated cp_gravelpit_snowyFixed a script issueImproved performanceImproved clipping

An update to Team Fortress 2 has been released. The update will be applied automatically when you restart Team Fortress 2. The major changes include:Reverted BLU Scout pants fix because it conflicts with too many existing cosmeticsUpdated the Fleet Commander again to fix import problems from the previous updateUpdated the Phantom Plague and Haunting Haze Unusual effects to fix sometimes spawning away from the playerUpdated cp_freaky_fairFixed issues related to the gamemode logicReapplied check that was mistakenly removed to check if the player is actively buying upgrades in a station or notImplemented new custom system to refund upgrades to hopefully address inconsistencies both in-round and across roundsImplemented logic to handle mismatches in recorded vs actual currency values when leaving the upgrade trigger and having not accepted de-bought upgradesReverted code to do with Ghosts and Sentry busters to fix bugs related to their effects not de-applyingImplemented a way to force kill players to address edge cases where you could survive as the sentry buster past their explosion (Thanks MilkMaster!)Improved the logic which checks if you can apply a new potion effect to yourself to address bugs where effects can overlapFixed sniper and demo shields not having their upgrades clearedFixed canteens not having their values cleared when refunding whilst not equippedIncreased the height of the skyboxIncreased last point capture time from 6s to 7sChanged some clipping to stop giants from building on roofsSmoothed out a divot (Thanks Midnite!)Updated zi_atoll, zi_blazehattan, zi_devastation_final1, zi_murky, zi_sanitarium, and zi_woodsGeneralRe-encoded all Zombie Infection sound effects as .WAVThis fixes issues with sound effects not playing correctly and spewing errors in the consoleBug fixesFixed a bug that caused Sniper's Spit Pool to deal much more damage than intendedFixed a bug that caused team names to not display correctly when playing on mp_tournament modeFixed a bug where Engineer would sometimes scream like a charging Demoman while throwing an EMP GrenadeZombie ChangesSniper's Spit Pool damage vs Survivors no longer stacks when standing in multiple zonesZombie Heavy is no longer immune to Critical HitsZombie Heavy's max health raised to 525 (from 450)Zombie Pyro's max health raised to 250 (from 175)Zombie Pyro now drops a medium health kit on deathSurvivor ChangesCrossbow weapons no longer have a flat damage multiplier against ZombiesThe B.A.S.E Jumper can no longer be deployed if you are one of the last three survivorsJumper Weapons can no longer store reserve ammunitionUpdated zi_murky (additional changes)Added more respawn room triggers around the new spawn zones