The Weekly News Roundup: Bioware, PT, and Fortnite

Hot off the press.

It’s the weekend – hooray! And what better way to start off these two golden days of the week than with our snazzy weekly news roundup. So, as always, grab yourself a cup of something, get back into bed, and catch-up with the stories of the week that you might’ve missed.

Necessary News: Fotrnite Season 5 Arrives

At this point, I’m pretty sure even your friend Roger – who hates games but has an absolute sterling collection of train documentaries – knows what’s going on in Fortnite. But, in case you’ve somehow missed it, Fortnite’s fifth season has arrived this week.

Along with a handful of new weapon types, the new season finally offers players a new way to travel in the form of… a golf buggy. The buggy – or All Terrain Kart as Epic are calling them, will let you whizz about the map and look even more ridiculous.

Another interesting little feature is the inclusion of mysterious rifts opening up at random points on the map. The rifts, which look like bright little tears on the world, will drop players off at specific points in the map; it seems that those drop off points are the same for each session, but do change when a new game begins.

The final big inclusion for the update is the new desert area, handily names Desert Arae. The expanse can be found bordering the Retail Row and Fatal Fields, offering up a new terrain and a handful of sandy suburbs to explore.

Behind the Games: James Ohlen Retires from Bioware

After 22 years at Bioware where he became a key figure in creating new titles, James Ohlen confirmed that he was leaving Bioware on Twitter.

Ohlen, who was a major player on titles like Dragon Age: Origins and Knights of the Old Republic, is pivoting somewhat in his career, as he’s now working on his own book and co-writing a book with another ex-Bioware figurehead in Jesse Skye.

Before his decision to leave Bioware, Ohlen was involved in their upcoming shooter Anthem, but the size of the role he had so far in the game is anyone’s guess.

Shut it Down: Konami Kill Fanmade PT for PC

Cult hit and mother of “what could’ve been” PT won many players over with its terrifying demo all those years ago. And since it was killed off with any new downloads of the teaser also bought to an end, many of us were scrambling for ways to get our fix of the game.

So, when fanmade recreations to PT began popping up, it’s easy to see why they were so popular. One, in particular, seemed to have won over a lot of hearts – that being the recreation by Game Jolt user Qimsar, who – at only 17 – managed to put together PT for PC. The game was a like for like remake of the demo and whilst it was still a work in progress, the project gained quite a bit of attention from players, media, and Konami.

And so it’s a little disappointing, but predictable to hear that Konami contacted Qimsar to shut the project down. But it’s not all bad news for the youngster, because while that project may be dead, he revealed that he was offered an internship by Konami, who (according to Qimsar) are looking to get back into making actual games again.

Of course, this does mean that PT for PC is no longer downloadable, but there are other remakes of the demo still there for you to try. Game Jolt user SmoggyChips’ PT remake, named Corridors, is still available for download – but the latest version does appear to be the final version since all the work he’d done was lost, seemingly killing the project.