Soon after EA's announcement that Dragon Age: The Veilguard failed to meet the company's expectations, BioWare staffers revealed that they were laid off, in addition to those moved to other parts of the company. A recent report states that with the collective firings, it leaves BioWare with fewer than 100 staff members remaining.

The reason given by BioWare GM Gary McKay was taking the time to "reimagine" what the studio will look like going forward as a "more agile, focused studio that produces unforgettable RPGs." Bloomberg is reporting that the studio now has fewer than 100 employees, down from more than 200 during the development of Dragon Age: The Veilguard. At its peak, BioWare consisted of three studios with a conservative estimate of 400 employees.

Bloomberg's sources indicate that EA planned to "loan" BioWare developers to other studios as pre-production was planned for the next Mass Effect after Veilguard launched, but the game missed its "engagement" target by 50%. EA did not share specific goal numbers for EA Sports FC 25, simply explaining that it underperformed following two years of growth for the franchise.

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Microsoft has embarked on a new multiplatform direction for several of its Xbox games, and former PlayStation boss Shawn Layden believes that this new initiative could work in the company's favor if handled correctly--much like it has for Sega. Layden believes that Microsoft can benefit from having a wider market to sell its games to as part of its new multiplatform strategy, but the downside to this is that it could possibly make it harder for the company to attract more people to its platform.

"Multiplatform is a strategy, particularly in a world where the cost of development is increasing dramatically," Layden said to YouTube channel Kiwi Talks. "Multiplatform means widening your addressable market, as the marketing guys say. How do you create the fear of missing out, trying to do that by bringing everyone to your platform? Saying, 'If you're not here you're missing out,' but if it's available on all platforms, that's one of your marketing tactics. You can't say it's only available here if it's available everywhere. So it's a balancing act, right? I'm increasing my addressable market, that's good. I'm making it harder to sell only on my platform."

As Layden noted, there was precedent for this shift in business tactics, as following the launch and poor sales of the Dreamcast, Sega dropped out of the console hardware race to focus on developing and publishing video games. "We've seen it before. I mean I was in the business when Sega brought their Dreamcast titles to PlayStation 2. And in time, Sega became a software-only company and have been a great transformation in that respect," Layden said.

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Civilization VII allows you to take over any settlement on the map and find your own settlements in any untaken location. Whether you find a settlement through a settler unit or take an opposing leader's city over, you can amass quite a large empire fairly quickly. However, large towns and cities won't be the only settlements you find in a given world of Civilization 7.

There are also smaller Independent Villages, which present you with a few options regarding what to do about them. One of the options you have with Independents is becoming the Suzerain of them. Of course, this isn't a word you commonly hear, so what is a Suzerain, how do you become one, and what are the benefits of doing so in Civilization VII?

What is a Suzerain in Civilization 7?

You can only become the Suzerain of an Independent Village, which is a one-tile settlement that has no affiliation with any other civilization on the map. You'll randomly stumble into these across any land mass, but one is usually near your capital at the start of a playthrough.

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At the start of a playthrough in Civilization VII, you only have access to some basic military infantry units. These units can't move very far each turn and they're only able to engage in combat from an adjacent tile. You can also unlock the Army Commander during the first stages of the Antiquity Age, but they're only allowed to absorb and deploy units.

After your first taste of combat, you might wonder how to unlock ranged units that other leaders have deployed against you. Ranged units are fantastic since they can attack from two tiles away, essentially allowing you to deal free damage. Well, you don't have to wait long, but there are specific actions you need to take to unlock ranged units in Civilization VII.

Unlocking ranged military units in Civilization 7

Every playthrough of Civilization VII is going to be different based on your difficulty, game length, map type, etc. However, in all of my playthroughs, the first time I was able to unlock the first ranged unit for my military was around turn 70. Playing on the standard game length, this should be roughly 35% through the Antiquity Age. If you start from another age, then you'll already have some ranged units unlocked.

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From the moment you step onto a new map in Civilization VII, you have access to the water. All maps have some kind of water element to them, and how you navigate the ocean plays a huge part in the establishment of your empire. After all, you can't dominate the world from a single patch of land.

However. when you begin Civilization 7, you'll notice that you don't have any access to naval ships and the units that can move over water cannot cross into the open ocean. While staying on the coastlines can help you uncover new parts of your current continent, exploring the seas is what takes your empire to the next level.

In the guide below, we'll tell you everything you need to know about sailing the blue waters of Civilization 7.

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Across all three ages in Civilization VII, you'll find yourself constantly acquiring new settlements in one way or another. Maybe you just won a war against another leader and took over their districts or one of your settlers discovered a location on their own. In any case, as you stack up more settlements in your empire, you'll eventually want to make most, if not all of them, cities.

Settlements start as towns, which can only be expanded up to a certain point and carry a specialization with them if you choose. Cities, on the other hand, are generally larger and act as more of a focal point in the grand scheme of your empire. Below, we'll show you how to upgrade towns into cities and the pros and cons of doing so in Civilization VII.

How to turn towns into cities in Civilization 7

Fortunately, the process of converting a town into a city is quite simple. The process can begin once you have founded or acquired a new settlement from another leader. Even if the settlement you took over from another leader was an existing city in their empire, it reverts back to a town once you take control.

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Resources are what drive your individual settlements forward in Civilization VII. Not only do they improve all of the pertinent stats your empire needs to sustain itself, but they also improve relations with neighboring leaders. The more resources your civilization has access to, the better off you'll be.

The best way to acquire resources outside your settlements owning resource tiles is by establishing trade routes. Trade routes can only be established by merchants, who are individual units you can produce or purchase in a city or town. However, the process of using your merchants is not as simple as it sounds in Civilization 7.

How to get Merchants in Civilization 7The message that grants you access to Merchants

Merchants are one of the earlier units you can produce in Civilization VII. In our initial playthrough, we were first able to produce a merchant at the 50% mark of the Antiquity Age. You'll know you can start producing merchants when you see the first "Trade Opportunity" message appear during one of your turns. The message will state that a neighboring leader has abundant resources, and you should send a merchant to set up a trade route with them.

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It's not always rainbows and roses in your Civilization VII empire. Sometimes, the various towns and cities you rule over will become susceptible to the plague. This most commonly happens during the Exploration Age, as ships crossing the ocean between continents can bring back diseases to your homeland settlements. The plague causes your settlements to go into a state of "unrest," where their happiness hits all-time lows and citizens can die.

To stop the plague from ravaging your empire in Civilization VII, check out the guide below.

What is the plague in Civilization 7?

You'll immediately notice that a town or city has gotten the plague if you see green clouds of smoke engulf the capital and surrounding tiles. If you see the green clouds, you can click on the settlement to see that it's likely in a state of unrest. This means you can't produce anything or spend gold on the settlement until balance has been restored.

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During the Exploration Age of you Civilization VII playthrough, you might stumble across a special kind of ship called the Treasure Fleet. This is only granted to you by procuring a specific type of resource and it's required to complete some objectives for the Economic Advisor. However, beyond that, the game doesn't truly explain what the fleets are used for or how they work.

Fortunately, we played enough Civilization 7 to understand the Treasure Fleets, and they are a goldmine if used properly. Below, we'll show you exactly what to do with Treasure Fleets and how to make boatloads of gold with them.

How to get Treasure Fleets in Civilization 7

For starters, let's talk about how to acquire your first Treasure Fleet. This type of ship is only given to you if you procure the Silver resource, which is indicated by the silver pot and orange background icon. You need to have this resource within one of your settlement's borders and then build a mine on the resource tile when you get the chance to grow your settlement. It's also required to have the silver resource be connected to a settlement with a coastal border.

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Civilization 7 starts you off with one lowly settlement in the Antiquity Age, but as you progress, you can amass an entire empire's worth of towns and cities. Your cities are the powerhouses of the empire, producing massive structures, while the towns can specialize in one type of production to aid the capital of your civilization.

However, to get to the point of ruling over dozens of settlements, you need to first learn how to acquire them. There are roughly four main methods to get more settlements in Civilization VII, and you can see what they are in the guide below.

How to get more settlements in Civilization 7

All settlements, except for your capital, will usually start as a town. Then, as your empire grows, you can convert the towns into cities, which comes with various pros and cons. Civilization VII doesn't just hand you towns and cities on a silver platter, though. You have to work for them and put in plenty of time, effort, and resources into acquiring settlements one by one.

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Sid Meier's Civilization is known for being one of the most brutal strategy games you can play at the highest difficulty level. Of course, if you're looking for a more laid-back experience or you're a new player, the franchise has always let you swap to a lower difficulty. Civilization VII has brought back the difficulty levels and options from previous games, but they're not a copy-and-paste list of settings.

There are several difficulty levels, different map types and lengths, and other advanced settings that you'll want to know about before hopping into Civilization VII. The guide below explains how to change your difficulty level and everything about customizing your game.

How to change difficulty in Civilization 7The difficulty options in Civilization VII

First and foremost, let's go over how and where to change between the game's various difficulty levels. Unlike other games, this can't be done by going to the settings menu and flipping between the different levels. Instead, you have to start up a new game and go through a few menus before you're able to customize the difficulty level and other options in Civilization VII.

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Sonic the Hedgehog 3 has finished another successful weekend in theaters, going on to achieve a new milestone at the box office. The film has now earned $462 million worldwide, surpassing Pokemon: Detective Pikachu ($450 million) to become the No. 2 highest-grossing video game movie of all time.

Sonic the Hedgehog 3's performance at the box office is split nearly evenly between domestic ($230.6 million) and international ($232 million). For comparison, Detective Pikachu skewed much more heavily to the international crowd ($306 million) compared to domestic ($144 million).

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is not going to reach No. 1, though, as The Super Mario Bros. Movie made $1.36 billion globally and will remain the top video game movie for at least the time being. The Super Mario Bros. Movie was so big that it's actually the No. 17 highest-grossing movie in history, not adjusted for inflation, surpassing Black Panther, Aquaman, Iron Man 3, Frozen, Deadpool & Wolverine, Iron Man 3, and more. Sonic the Hedgehog 3, meanwhile, sits at No. 294 all time, which is also very impressive.

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Marvel actor Simu Liu has revealed that he is attempting to revive the Sleeping Dogs series with a movie and a sequel to the 2012 game. Liu, who starred in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, said on social media that it's been a "tiring" process to pitch Sleeping Dogs to executives, going on to note how only a small percentage of film projects that are pitched ever get made.

"Everyone's overwhelming love of Sleeping Dogs here has give us life," he said, referring to the social media campaign to get a Sleeping Dogs movie off the ground. Liu said his plan is to make a Sleeping Dogs movie first, "then a sequel game for everyone," or at least, "that's always been the dream."

A source told IGN that a Sleeping Dogs movie is actually in development, with Liu on board to play the lead role of Wei Shen. A movie being in "development" doesn't mean it'll ever get made, though, only that pre-production work is being done in some capacity.

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A new month has begun, and that means a variety of new events are on the horizon for Pokemon Go. The mobile game is closing out its Dual Destiny season with several big activities in February, including a Hoopa Unbound Raid Day and a Road to Unova event leading up to the Pokemon Go Tour: Unova celebration early next month.

On top of that, the game will feature new Spotlight Hours and raid bosses this month, as well as a special Community Day starring two Pokemon. You can see all of the biggest Pokemon Go events happening in February below.

Table of Contents [hide]

• February Raid Schedule

February Raid Schedule

Pokemon Go is refreshing its raid rotation once again in February.

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Way back in the day, the original Mass Effect was my favorite video game. I played it more than a dozen times before Mass Effect 2 came out, eager to immerse myself in BioWare's slick new space opera and its cosmic mysteries. I was pretty young back then in 2007, still a college kid who wasn't old enough to legally drink alcohol, and a longtime Star Wars nerd dealing with how much I hated the prequel movies. Mass Effect hit the spot.

Cut to a couple decades later. I've just finished reading a series of novels, dubbed the Revelation Space series after the first book, by Welsh author Alastair Reynolds. In the early Aughts, Reynolds released a trilogy of these books along with a standalone side novel, a prequel novel, a pair of novellas, and a bunch of short stories. All of these works were set in his own original and extremely weird science-fiction universe that seems to have been extraordinarily influential on the games industry. Having now read them, it's difficult not to see the way that some of Reynolds' best and strangest ideas made their way into all sorts of games--Stellaris, Destiny, Dead Space, Knights of the Old Republic and Mass Effect are some that immediately spring to mind.

I myself finally got around to reading these books because they are commonly accepted as inspiration for Mass Effect's Reapers. In Mass Effect, the Reapers are a race of ancient machines who periodically pop up to wipe out any galactic civilization that may have risen up. In Revelation Space, published in 2000, we instead have the Inhibitors, a race of ancient machines who periodically pop up to wipe out any galactic civilization that may have risen up. While sci-fi writers have always loved their ancient space civilizations, these are too specifically similar to ignore.

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Last summer, SAG-AFTRA called for a voice actors strike against video game publishers over numerous issues including AI protections. Although the union has reached deals with a handful of publishers, the strike is still ongoing. Now, Bungie has confirmed that the upcoming Destiny 2: Heresy expansion will include scenes that are missing spoken dialogue because a deal with the actors has yet to be reached.

In an update on Bungie's official site, the developer noted that "certain voice lines" were not recorded because of the actors strike. In those scenes, Destiny 2 will enable subtitles by default in order to carry the narrative forward despite the missing audio. The update also notes that any Heresy activities that are missing voice overs will feature an on-screen warning before starting. However, the update doesn't address whether those lines will be recorded when the strike ends.

Over on Bluesky, a voice actor going by Orchid shared their response to the news by reiterating the actors' desire to "get a fair deal" that addresses their AI concerns.

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Monster Hunter Wilds Standard Edition

$70 on console | Get Steam key for $57.39

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Monster Hunter Wilds Steelbook Edition

$75

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The next entry in Capcom's wildly popular Monster Hunter series is just a few short weeks away. Monster Hunter Wilds releases on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC on February 28. Fans have multiple editions to choose from, including the Monster Hunter Wilds Steelbook Edition for $75--just five bucks more than the standard edition. You can preorder either of the physical editions for console at Amazon, Walmart, Best Buy, and other major retailers. A pair of higher priced digital editions will also be available at launch, and all versions of Monster Hunter Wilds come with in-game preorder bonuses.

Heads up for PC players: Though you can't get the steelbook case with your preorder, you can save big on Monster Hunter Wilds at Fanatical. The PC digital storefront is taking preorders for Steam keys for all three digital editions: standard, deluxe, and premium deluxe. You'll save 18% on your Monster Hunter Wilds Steam preorder with this deal, which equates to roughly $13 for standard, $16 for Deluxe, and $20 for Premium Deluxe.

Monster Hunter Wilds Preorder Deal at Fanatical (Steam Keys)

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Killing Floor 3 Standard Edition

$40

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Killing Floor 3 Deluxe Edition

$60

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Killing Floor 3 Elite Nightfall Edition

$80

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Prepare for more Zeds, as Killing Floor 3 is officially launching on March 25 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X. Fans of the cooperative FPS franchise can sign up for the chance to participate in the February 20-24 closed beta. If you're looking forward to Killing Floor 3, you can secure your preorder now. Three different versions are up for grabs, including a budget-friendly physical edition with a few in-game bonuses.

Killing Floor 3 Preorder Bonuses

All Killing Floor 3 preorders come with with the Flatline Tactical Bundle or the Clamefield Patrol Specialist Skins Pack. The Flatline Tactical Bundle includes the following in-game goodies:

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Just over four years ago, Microsoft purchased the esports tournament organizing platform Start.gg, which was then known as Smash.gg before its rebranding. Now, Start.gg has announced that Microsoft no longer owns the site and stated that it will "be returning to its roots as an independent company supporting grassroots and professional esports communities."

Chris Ogle--the co-founder of Smash.gg--shared the news on Medium and thanked Microsoft and Xbox for their support. He also noted that the site will continue with members from the original Smash.gg team alongside "grassroots tournament organizers, and engineers who are passionate about improving the platform for the communities we support."

One of the biggest changes going forward is that starting on February 14, Start.gg will be charging a registration fee to support the expenses of running the site. In addition to making that change for the sustainability of the business, Start.gg will be upgrading its user interface and tournament support.

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CRKD Neo S: Rocket League Gold Edition Controller

$39 (was $60)

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Rocket League remains one of the most popular online multiplayer games nearly 10 years after its initial release. It's surprising there aren't more officially licensed accessories celebrating the vehicular soccer game, but at least the recently launched CRKD Neo S Rocket League Gold Controller looks very cool. Normally $60, the compact Bluetooth controller is on sale for only $39 at Amazon. This is the best price yet for the controller, and it comes with a matching charging stand.

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