Ubisoft has officially revealed a new Rainbow Six Siege Operation called Heavy Mettle. Year 8 Season 3 for Siege will bring a brand new Korean Operator, Ram. Alongside a new attacker coming to the roster, the title is set to receive many changes that will overhaul multiple aspects of the game.

With a shifting meta and many changes coming to the play, fans are in for a treat with Operation Heavy Mettle. This article will briefly list all the changes coming to Rainbow Six Siege with Year 8 Season 3.

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New Attacker Ram is Coming to Rainbow Six Siege

Ram is the upcoming addition to the Siege roster, introducing a brand-new gadget to the game. Her Bu-Gi drone is a mobile destruction device capable of destroying soft surfaces in the game. You can also use her device to remove defender utilities like deployable shields and bulletproof cameras.

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Ubisoft went for a highly grounded concept when designing Ram's character model. According to the developers, she is part of an all-female elite special force with a highly complicated recruiting history. Moreover, her details are also redacted as of now. However, to know more about Ram's life, you can look at her bio upon Operations Heavy Mettle's full launch. While picking Ram, you can switch between two primary weapons: R4C and LMG-E. On the flip side, she can choose between two secondary weapons: MK19mm and ITA12s Shotgun. You will also be able to pick between her secondary gadgets, which are a Hard Breach charge and two Stun Grenades. Ram is expected to be a meta-shifting Operator as her device is one of the unique ones introduced in Year 8. You can try her out on the official Test Servers until the end of August.

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What other changes are coming to Operation Heavy Mettle?

Alongside a new attacker, Ubisoft has also announced changes for multiple Operators in Heavy Mettle. Fuze and Grim are in for minor changes, buffing their gadgets, whereas Frost receives a significant rework to her Welcome Mats. Moreover, Siege is set to overhaul the casual playlist with Quick Match 2.0, offering an experience more suitable for the casual audience. The Unranked playlist is also changed to Standard, offering the player base a sweet spot between competitive and casual gameplay.

Lastly, a new Player Commendation system is also coming to Siege, where you can finally commend your teammates and receive them back based on your performance in a game. This will help encourage team morale and team play in the competitive environment of Rainbow Six.  

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IO Interactive, the studio that was behind the development of the popular Hitman series, hopes its upcoming James Bond origin story could start a trilogy. While speaking to IGN, IO boss Hakan Abrak said the team feels like it's had "20 plus years of training for the agent fantasy," courtesy of Hitman.

Indeed, Agent 47 is very Bond-like with his endless talents and ability to handle any weapon you can think of. "But obviously James Bond is a different IP. It's a huge IP. It's not our IP. It's actually the first IP that is not our original IP from the ground up," Abrak told the publication.

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IO Interactive To Bring James Bond’s Origin Story

"So it's not a gamification of a movie," Abrak continued. "It's completely beginning and becoming a story, hopefully for a big trilogy out there in the future. And equally important and exciting, it's a new Bond. It's a Bond we built from the ground up for gamers. It's extremely exciting with all the tradition and all the history there is... to work on this together with the family [and create] a Bond that the gamers can call their own and grow with."

"It's been, what, almost 15 years since the last game. So it's been a long time," Abrak added. "It definitely is something that is not overexposed in gaming. We actually see that as a strength... There are a lot of people out there who think about GoldenEye as the classic... I don't want to speak too big about it, but I just hope we'll do a thing that will define James Bond in gaming for years to come. And that is not only one game but that we create a universe for gamers to own for many years to come that we can grow with that next to the Bond on the movies."

Speaking of when fans will get to see the output of IO Interactive’s efforts, that’s still to be seen for now. It’s anyone's guess when the story of the decorated British spy will hit the consoles.

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James Bond Fans Will Have To Wait A Little Longer

"I don't have an update today, but believe me, it's itching here as well to be talking about it soon," Abrak admitted. "So we are following our plans. The production's going amazingly well and we will soon be talking more about it. I know it was a little teaser, not a lot of information, but there's a lot of cool stuff coming up."

IO first announced its James Bond title back in 2021. Very little has been given out about the game since, although some information has come out of the cracks.

But while fans will have to wait a little longer to hear anything more concrete on IO’s James Bond, the studio has also announced it’s taking on publishing duties for MindsEye, the expensive action adventure in development from former Rockstar executive Leslie Benzies.

If you are someone who loves the Call of Duty series so much that you wish to have it available on every surface, Microsoft has some good news for you. The company has brought its new Black Ops 6 Accessories Collection - featuring two customizable Call of Duty: Black Ops 6-themed controller variants, and a matching Xbox Series X wrap.

Speaking of the controllers, Microsoft’s Black Ops 6 Accessories Collection includes a themed Xbox Wireless Controller as well as a fancied-up Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2.

Both, showcase the company’s overblown marketing strategy, designed to "capture the tension and intrigue of the '90s spy thriller theme" and bring visual elements that "immerse players deeper into the game's world."

The newly launched controllers are available through the company’s Xbox Design Labs website, which means they are fully considerable aside from the mandatory Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 skin.

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Call Of Duty: Black Ops 6 Controllers Price And Features

The standard controller starts at £84.55 in the UK, while the Elite Series 2 starts at £124.99 for the base controller and Black Ops 6 skin. Both controllers can be bought right now, and a matching Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 wrap for Xbox Series X, costing £49.99, is currently available to pre-order ahead of its 23rd October release via the Microsoft Store.

Consumers who pre-order the controller before the end of 22nd October will get a token granting players one hour of double Black Ops 6 XP, but only “while supplies last.”

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 will be released for PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, and PC next Friday, 25th October. It’s also available as part of a PC Game Pass or Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription, but there won’t be any signing up for a free one-month trial to try it out.

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Call of Duty Black Ops 6 Open Beta was the Biggest in Franchise History

Previously, Activision Blizzard confirmed that Call of Duty Black Ops 6 Open Beta was the biggest in the franchise's history through an official X post. The Black Ops 6 Open Beta ended with a massive positive response from gamers, as it showcased various new additions coming to the franchise, including the new movement and human shield features, which were used by players during the beta session.

According to the X post by Activision Blizzard, the Call of Duty Black Ops 6 Open Beta was on top in terms of total players compared to all the past Beta Sessions, alongside maintaining the same ranking in total hours played, playtime per player, and most matches played.

The Halo Infinite battle royale mode which was reportedly scrapped by Microsoft was in fact a real thing, with one developer saying it "could have been a game changer" for the beloved Xbox franchise.

According to GameSpot, Halo Infinite battle royale was mentioned on the LinkedIn page of Mike Clopper, the former game director at Halo support studio Certain Affinity. Clopper is now working for Raven Software.

"I led a large team of designers working on a canceled Battle Royale mode for Halo," Clopper said. "I believe this product could have been a game changer for the franchise. We loved playing it and working on it was a fantastic experience in spite of its cancelation."

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Why Was Halo Battle Royale Scrapped

Though a halo battle royale has been rumored for years following the success of the likes of PUBG and Fortnite, a report in January revealed it had been in development but is now scrapped by Microsoft. Clopper is the first developer to comment on it publicly, however, with everyone else at Certain Affinity, halo Studios, and Xbox all staying quiet.

Certain Affinity president and COO Paul Sams did tease a large project in September 2022 though, and Certain Affinity itself posted on X in April 2022 to say it was "further evolving Halo Infinite in some new and exciting ways."

Halo has otherwise witnessed some drastic changes in the past few years, most recently with developer 343 Industries being rebranded as Halo Studios. This happened after player counts for Halo Infinite dropped dramatically after launch as fans expressed frustration over a lack of content, poor progression systems, monetization, and much more.

Microsoft seems to be trying to restore some excitement to the flagship Xbox franchise with the rebranding. The company also announced a shift to Unreal Engine 5 and said "multiple projects" are in development.

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SuperGaming Launches Indus Battle Royale Game

Indian video game developer SuperGaming has announced the launch of its latest battle royale mobile game, Indus. Slated to launch on October 16 for both Android and iOS, Indus Battle Royale will bring a unique twist to the conventional battle royale gaming style with its dual victory concept. Besides, it will come with a new in-game feature called “Grudge,” which will enable players to track down opponents who have taken them down.

The game is set in the future on the planet Indus, featuring visuals that are inspired by ancient civilizations. Within the game, players will take on the role of Mythwalkers-elite operatives under the command of a powerful criminal syndicate, COVEN.

Players will be given the task of collecting a rare resource called Cosmium while outlasting other players on Virlok, a floating island-style map sent on planet Indus, characterized by shifting terrain. It will also include several Indian-inspired avatars such as Morni, Pokhran, Sirtaj, Heena, and Mech-Balika, alongside various futuristic-style weapons and vehicles.

Netflix’s new games chief seems to be turning things around for the company. Alain Tascan, who became president of games in July, has hired Jeet Shroff for the newly created role of a VP over games tech and portfolio development.

Similar to Tascan, Shroff has come from Epic Games, where he served as VP of games development. At Netflix, he will be in charge of promoting consistency across its portfolio of games, both licensed and homegrown.

Netflix has released over 100 games since it started building a games library in 2021, and Shroff’s hiring is a testament to the fact that they all need to meet the company’s standards, whether they come from inside the company or not.

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Netflix Lays Off Some Employees Alongside New Hirings

Alongside hiring, Tascan also had to make some tough decisions. Netflix’s games division conducted layoffs recently. Two people close to Netflix estimated the figure was in the dozens while another person said that it was below 35.

Tascan’s oversight of games has come as Netflix still faces skepticism about its investment in the format from Wall Street experts and company insiders alike. Three years later, the effort has produced few hits, with some  exceptions like 2023's hit "Oxenfree II" and "GTA Trilogy."

Besides, only a small percent of Netflix’s subscribers had played its games as of 2023, per data from analytics firm Apptopia. Netflix recently changed up its gaming leadership by hiring Tascan and moving Mike Verdu, the gaming veteran it originally brought in to build the division, into a new role this summer.

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Netflix Wants To Retain Users With Games

Games is one of the company’s two new areas of development, alongside advertising, under co-CEO Greg Peters. Peters said during Netflix’s Q2 earnings call that the firm was happy with the progress it witnessed, with engagement on games last year.

Besides, Netflix is launching Minesweeper as part of its selection of subscriber-only games, and the game is now available for iOS as well as Android users. The classic puzzle game that most people know from Microsoft Minesweeper, available in Windows 11 and versions dating back to 1990, has fresh colorful graphics and new modes.

Netflix’s take on the classic game looks a whole lot like the old Minesweeper, but it adds a Journey Mode that takes players to different levels across world stages as well as unique daily challenges.

While looking for and flagging sea mines on a grid is a logic puzzle that’s often cloned in plenty of money-seeking games on the Play Store and App Store, Netflix subscribers will not find any in-game ads or microtransactions in the streaming service’s new edition.

Chinese handheld gaming console firm Anbernic has unveiled its first wireless controller, the Rg P01. Adding to its already impressive handheld consoles, the Anbernic RG P01 is fully compatible with PC, Steam, Switch, Android, iOS, and more. It supports Bluetooth 5.3, a 2.4G wireless option for low-latency gaming, and a wired connection.

Anbernic has stated that the semi-automatic and fully automatic TURBO rapid-fire options provide an edge in fast-paced titles. The company notes that the controller features 16 million RGB joystick lighting effects, enabling users to customize their gaming setup to suit their mood or environment.

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Anbernic RG P01 Gaming Controller Features

The Anbernic RG P01 comes with an Xbox-style button layout with Y, B, A, and X buttons, which can be switched to a Nintendo-style layout through software. The RG P01 also includes two macro programming buttons on the back that can be pressed simultaneously for one-click skill execution.

The company has suggested that the controller comes packed with Hall joystick and Hall triggers. It also includes a six-axis gyroscope for playing Nintendo Switch games with motion controls, alongside RGB accent lighting surrounding each joystick, a feature also found in Anbernic’s RG 406V. However, the new controller appears to lack switches on the rear side, limiting trigger travel to enhance reaction times for FPS games.

“Equipped with Hall joysticks and Hall triggers, the RG P01 offers precise control with minimal drift, allowing for accurate movements in even the most demanding games. The built-in six-axis gyroscope enhances this precision, making it a great choice for motion-sensitive titles,” said Anbernic. The company hasn’t revealed the battery life or the release date for the controller.

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Sony Unveils Limited Edition Astro Bot PS5 Controller In India

Sony has announced the launch of the Astro Bot Limited Edition PS5 DualSense controller for the Indian market. The new controller draws inspiration from the newly launched Astro Bot video game. The limited edition controller is available for purchase in India for a price of Rs. 6,280.

The new controller comes in a white and blue color scheme that mirrors the look of the Astro Bot character. Its touchpad shows two blue circles similar to the robot’s eyes, while the rear panel of the controller has a grey Astro Bot logo.
Apart from its unique design aspects, the Astro Bot Limited Edition PS5 DualSense controller comes with all the features seen on the standard PS5 DualSense controller, including haptic feedback, adaptive triggers, and motion controls.

The Astro Bot Limited Edition PS5 DualSense controller is fully compatible with the PlayStation 5 console. Besides, the company is releasing the Astro Bot Limited Edition PS5 DualSense controller through authorized retailers and offline stores across the country.