The Wednesday letters page hopes that FromSoftware’s next game is set during the modern day, as one reader asks for a PlayStation vs. Xbox fighting game.

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Real-world graphics
Interesting to hear that ex-Rockstar developer talk about GTA 6 probably not being much different than GTA 5, which I imagine is probably true, since none of the games are very different to each other. What I don’t really believe though is that anyone is going to be disappointed by it at first, despite what he said.

I’m sure there’ll be a backlash in time, as there is for almost anything, but I really think that the graphics being amazing will be enough for most people. We’ve seen arguments in both directions recently, when it comes to the importance of graphics but, let’s face it, it was all anyone was talking about after the trailer.

It’s especially important for GTA 6 because the whole series is about the realism and the immersion, and even when the gameplay was bad it didn’t matter because it’s always been the closest you can get to a simulation of a real-world city. It seems obvious to me that GTA 6 is going to do that better than ever, so I really can’t see it being a disappointment.
Ansel

Small differences
I see that the Concord beta has been a flop on Steam, which is going to be unfortunate for Sony, given that Helldivers 2 was more popular on PC than PlayStation. As someone that thought Helldivers 2 was not that interesting (it’s fine, I just gave up on it pretty quick) I’d still say that it was a lot more unique than Concord, which really could just be an alternative universe Overwatch for all the difference it made.

If I was Sony, the lesson I would take here is that you don’t have to be that different from the competition to do well but you do have to have at least something that no other game does. To most people being original doesn’t mean a completely new idea, just presenting an existing one in a new light. I don’t feel Concord meets even that relatively modest level.
Collins

Ultimate crossover
Count me as another person that has no real skill at fighting games, and so doesn’t play them often, but does admire both the games themselves and the people that play them. I also find the art and character designs to be very strong and interesting, even in Mortal Kombat.

There is something about a good crossover that makes it extra exciting though, even as games like Fortnite leave me completely cold with their constant cameos. I guess it’s because the game has actually been made with the mash-up in mind, rather than just being the new skin addition of the week, but it’s just a cool thing to see. Plus, if Microsoft goes fully multiformat how long till we can have a PlayStation vs. Xbox game?
Zeiss

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Imperfect timing
Microsoft betting its future on streaming is all well and good but I still don’t understand how they’re going to get round the problem that people’s broadband just isn’t up to it. My sister lives in a major city in the UK and even her broadband isn’t that great, so I don’t like to think what it must be like for rural areas.

Especially as it’s Microsoft, this seems like one of those occasions where the company Is just going to completely ignore the reality of the situation and put something out too early, that is going to sour everyone on the idea for far longer than the period of time they needed to wait in the first place. I expect to be able to say ‘I told you so within the next 12 months.’
Doshin

Fluctuating prices
I follow the sales every week on the Xbox Store. One thing I’ve noticed over the years is that the sale price of a game often fluctuates up and down. I picked up Mortal Kombat XL for £10.50 (years ago) for example, but the last time I saw it was on sale recently it was £15-ish. I’ve noticed this happen with quite a few games.

I’ve often waited for a game to be cheaper in the next sale and it’s actually gone up in price (on sale) so it would’ve often been better to buy the first it was on offer.

It should be easy to assume that each time a game goes on sale that either the price stays similar or gets cheaper each time it’s offered on sale but that’s not always the case with games on the Xbox Store and I wonder why.
Chaosphere
PS: There is a huge summer sale on the Xbox store with hundreds of games on offer. I’ve noticed that GC will usually cover a PlayStation store sale as a news story but not usually an Xbox store sale.

GC: We didn’t know there was one.

Bloodborne 2024 AD
Everyone says that FromSoftware should do a sci-fi game for their next game but how about something set in the modern day, instead? That doesn’t mean it can’t have supernatural elements, given Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice did and that was supposed to be a ninja sim, but I think I’d be more interested in seeing From push the clock forward beyond Bloodborne – which has their most modern settings so far.

It could even be Bloodborne 2, which would be an interesting thought. You could have modern guns but they’re still only to soften up enemies and it’s melee weapons that are used for the heavy work. There’s plenty of Gothic looking cities they could set it in, or just make one up, so the tone wouldn’t even be that different, you’d just be switching it up a bit.

I like the idea of something that’s been going on for centuries too and this is just the latest hunt, to try and keep the eldritch horrors away. I don’t know where vampire castles and the like fit into that but probably skyscraper penthouse suites?

Personally, I always like it when films try and bring classic monster types in the modern world but that’s not something you get much in games. I think it would be a cool idea for at least someone to try.
St1nger

Bad start
I get why Microsoft put Modern Warfare 3 on Game Pass first – it’s the most recent game, with the most number of people playing it – but what a start. Wouldn’t it have been a good idea to at least put Modern Warfare 1 and 2 on at the same time? Then you could say it was the whole trilogy? Even though Modern Warfare 3 is more a spin-off and there’s going to be more.

The multiplayer is fine but anyone thinking about trying it out for the story campaign, just don’t bother.
Gaston

Open mind
Am I the only one looking forward to Star Wars Outlaws? I’ve seen very little talk about it, or adverts or anything, and yet it’s out next month, which seems a bit weird. I know some people have been down on it but everything I’ve seen of it looks pretty good. Multiple open worlds to explore, space combat, no Jedi… what’s not to like?

I’m also optimistic because the same developer’s Avatar game was very good too. Admittedly, I got it on cheap but I was very impressed by the graphics and openness of the game. Sure, it was very similar to Far Cry and other open world games, but I found it to be a very good recreation of the films and a fun open world game in its own right.

Open world games have got quite a bit of criticism in recent years, it seems to me, and there are less of them around in general, but I love the ‘Ubisoft formula’, if you want to call it that, and welcome the idea of playing a new game with great graphics and set in one of my favourite fictional universes.

Not every game needs to be a big new idea or the best thing ever. If Outlaws is fun and epic, with good graphics, I can see myself getting lost in it for many hours and enjoying every minute of it.
Joffery

Inbox also-rans
The new Splatoon 3 amiibos are available to pre-order at the UK Nintendo Store, currently. One is called the Alterna Set with characters Callie and Marie and the other is the Side Order Set with Pearl and Marina.
Andrew J.

That Lego Fortnite Battle Bus is going to be the Tickle Me Emo of Christmas 2024. No wonder it’s not that expensive (for Lego), it’s going to sell by the bucketload.
Inka

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Paris Paloma’s “the warmth” hits you like an echo from another time. Slow crawling with hypnotic strings swimming in echoing harmonies, each flourish is haunting and medieval, a testament to Paloma’s timeless songwriting. History be damned, however, since to her fans, Paloma’s moment is now — a sentiment they, as the singer-songwriter, took the stage at New York City’s Bowery Ballroom for her first US tour.

Sitting in the balcony a few hours before the show begins, I tell her about the fans already waiting for her outside. Dressed in boho chic floor-grazing dresses and lace, a cult-like queue was clearly hoping to get in early and press themselves up against the stage, regardless of the scorching temperatures outside. Paloma is immediately worried about her congregants, wondering if she should instate a no-queuing policy in hopes of keeping them hydrated and safe from fainting during the show. But according to the story she beams as our interview begins, they’re pretty keen to get close to Paloma.

“We had soundcheck around 4 PM and I saw these two girls walking in, and they both had on flowy white skirts,” she laughs. “They’re so sweet, they were not slick. They saw me, they saw the empty room, then they just snuck into the stairwell.” A manager had to politely ask them to leave, though it was clear they were just trying to stake their claim at the front of the stage. Later, as she sings her viral-track-cum-accidental-anthem-for-women’s-rights, “Labour,” and they sing the words, “You make me do too much labor” in unison, the looks on their faces hint at the risk being worth it.

.

Sitting beside PAPER, in an empty pre-show venue, Paloma is in jeans and a t-shirt, a stark contrast to the sheer white billowy dress she’ll be donning on stage. As we chat, her demeanor is meek and giggly, a stark contrast to the big, bright voice I’ll be hearing as it bounces off the walls of the Bowery later that night. The track was released in March of 2023 but has since gone viral again, when Harrison Butker, kicker for the Kansas City Chiefs, made misogynistic remarks (i.e., women should be more excited about marriage and babies than careers, etc.) during a commencement speech.

“Having it take on this second life was so needed for me,” Paloma says. “No one prepares you for that level of virality and visibility online. When it happened the second time, I felt more equipped and had the stability to meet my fans where they’re coming from. The first time it was such an overwhelming feeling. The second time I could appreciate it while it was happening.” The track has created an impassioned response online, reaching 100 million streams on Spotify and soundtracking countless TikTok videos with captions like “oldest daughter,” “mommy issues” and “all day everyday therapist.”

“I’m not really good at diagnosing what people like about my music,” Paloma says when I ask why she thinks the song is resonating with so many people. “I don’t like to think too hard about it. Some people say it’s because of its simplicity. People can find what they need to find in it. There are people who have experiences I’ve never had that are using the song, which is so wonderful. They’re using it to explain their experience. The timing when it came out was also important. It wasn’t intentional but it was at a time when the discussion of the labor balance in relationships was becoming more and more discussed.” Now, playing it live, she gets to thank her fans in real time for the song’s success, likening this to “falling and knowing someone is going to catch you.”

Much of the connection Paloma has with fans — particularly US fans who are seeing her for the first time during this tour — has happened online (she even released a version of “Labour” featuring more than 100 vocals from fans). However, there have been times when the message she sends out doesn’t quite reach the audience she intends to hear it. “There was a moment when transphobes were having a moment on social media when they were attempting to use ‘Labour.’ Luckily my listeners know that’s not something I stand by, that I would crush as soon as possible, and all my trans followers know that.”

On August 30, Paloma will be releasing her debut album Cacophony, and she’s been teasing some of tracks during her live performances. “I keep forgetting that aren’t singles that people aren’t familiar with. There’s always a degree of curiosity when you’re releasing new music. Seeing what people may identify with and whether they’ll take what you were feeling when you wrote the song or if it will be some other exciting thing.”

Paloma has been working on her debut for the last two years, so it took piecing together the story that was “already there” to decide which tracks would make the cut and in what order.

“It’s almost like therapy,” she says. “The story is already there you’re just seeing what it means to yourself and by extension, other people.” Speaking of therapy and vulnerability, I wonder: Are any tracks she’s nervous to share with the world, after having it to herself for so long? “There’s a song called ‘Pleaser’ on the album that I produced myself,” she says. “There’s a degree of nerves because I’ve worked with so many amazing producers and this is the one I worked on by myself with my own production techniques. I had no budget and made it from my [university] room. I wanted to do that as a nod to where I started. ‘Pleaser’ is also a song written at a sad time in my life, and looking back on it with a lot more self-awareness is funny. It’s about feeling like you’re perpetually giving more and loving more in relationships and never having your cup filled by people you choose to love. Looking back on it, I would say it has everything to do with who I was choosing to pursue friendships and relationships with. That comes from not knowing yourself very well.”

Listeners of Cacophony will be able to hear the stories behind Paloma’s first two years of adulthood; right before she got “out of the woods,” she tells me of some things she was working through regarding her life and mental health. “It’s not linear,” she adds. “It’s going to continue going and there will be new difficulties, I’m sure. But this is a story about my mental growth and working through things that happened in my teens and young adulthood and the grief and pain and immense self-questioning that we start with. It kind of follows the hero’s journey and reaches a place of hope, acceptance, and warmth at the end.”

As city sirens echo outside the window and our interview runs to a close, I ask her how she hopes people feel when they hear her debut. “I want people to feel held,” she says. I” think that music’s purpose is to sit with people in their loneliness, in those emotions that make you feel isolated and unheard. But when you listen to music you’re being held by another person. That’s the point.”

Photography: Erica Snyder

A mysterious image has been posted on the Fallout London Patreon page, and fans are now hard at work deciphering it, in case it reveals the release date.

Bethesda is planning to release Fallout 5 at some point, but not until after they’ve launched a Skyrim sequel, which recent reports say is now in an early playable build. Unfortunately, that means fans of the former will have to wait a number of years to play the next chapter in the post-apocalyptic story.

Luckily, there are a number of Fallout fan mods to fill the void, either just released, like the Fallout 2 mod Fallout Yesterday – Van Buren, or about to launch, such as the Fallout London fan project.

The Fallout London lead developer revealed a lot about the upcoming Fallout 4 mod when talking to GameCentral last week, but couldn’t tell us the release date. A cryptic image sent to their Patreon backers, however, has fans theorising about the exact day the mod is coming out.

After getting the green light from publisher GOG last week, Fallout London is now working on the final touches before releasing the download. Despite launch appearing so close, there is no release date, leaving fans to speculate.

That speculation has multiplied now that the Fallout London team has posted an image of an in-game character holding up five fingers.

There is no added message to the post and fans believe the number five says something about when Fallout London is coming out.

‘5th of August?,’ Mr. Pill says on Reddit, where the image has been reuploaded.

‘Maybe five days?,’ says Spiderclone, pointing out that that would mean this Friday.

Some are also wondering if it means new information is coming out at five o’clock, but there doesn’t seem to be a single favourite theory among fans.

One fan thinks it’s because the Fallout London Discord server was put into five minute slow mode the day before, which means members can only message once every five minutes.

It was lead developer Dean Carter (Prilladog on Discord) who informed fans about the delay, saying it’s because they’re anticipating a big increase in members once Fallout London releases.

There are also a good amount of jokes in the Reddit thread, laying into how long it’s taken for the mod to be released.

Fallout London was planned to launch on April 23, but Bethesda released a next gen update for Fallout 4, which made the mod unplayable.

The Fallout London team had to delay the launch, and when they couldn’t get the mod to work anymore decided to add a downgrader, which will remove the next gen update, so that the mod can be played.

Fans’ lack of patience is understandable, as Fallout London looks very promising but has been in development since 2019.

In the meantime, you can listen to what the UK’s former Speak of the House, John Bercow, will sound like in Fallout London once it finally comes out.

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Xbox has confirmed rumours that the first Call Of Duty game to be added to Game Pass will appear this week, but it’s hardly the best one to start with.

It’s been rumoured for weeks now, but Xbox has confirmed that Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 will be available via Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass, and Xbox Game Pass for Console from Wednesday, July 24.

It’s the first time one of the Call Of Duty games has been available via Games Pass and while it’s logical that it should be the most recent, it’s unfortunate that last year’s game is widely viewed as the worst in recent history.

Rumours suggest that the campaign for Modern Warfare 3 was only ever intended to be DLC and the whole package was slapped together at short notice, which is certainly what it feels like. Thankfully though, while it will be the first entry on the service it won’t be the last.

Since Microsoft’s purchase of Activision Blizzard makes it a first party game, this year’s Call Of Duty: Black Ops 6 will be available day one for every tier of Game Pass, except for the cheaper Xbox Game Pass Standard.

The Standard tier doesn’t start until September 12, but Modern Warfare 3 would almost certainly be available through it anyway, because it’s an older title.

It’s assumed that all Call Of Duty games will become available via the service eventually, although Microsoft has given no indication how long that might take to happen.

Rumours of Modern Warfare 3 coming to Game Pass this week has been leaked multiple times but the other rumour that accompanied it was that the beta version of Valorant on consoles would also become available on Friday, July 26.

There’s no sign of that so far but that’s not believed to be exclusive to Xbox or any other console. Since Valorant is free-to-play it doesn’t need Game Pass either, so it should be available for anyone to download, just in time for the weekend.

In theory, Xbox could make any Activision Blizzard game available via Game Pass but as the changes to the subscription tiers imply, they’ve released that that cuts into their full-price sales.

So far, Diablo 4 is the only other major title to appear on the service, since the $69 billion acquisition, and it remains unclear what else can be expected.

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I’m huddled with MUNA against the side of Pitchfork’s red stage, convened around a small plastic picnic table. Chicago’s summer heat is sweltering and the ambient thrash of Model/Actriz playing mere feet away isn’t instilling a calm vibe. Plus, President Joe Biden has just announced he would not be running for re-election just a few hours prior. There’s a lot of chaos that could have made this Pitchfork fest feel like a chaotic riot, but somehow, MUNA and I are suspiciously calm.

I get the sense that MUNA isn’t really phased by much. The band — comprised of singer Katie Gavin, guitarist Naomi McPherson, and guitarist and synth-wiz, Josette Maskin — has been making music for 10 years together. Throughout that time they encountered their fair share of what Maskin calls “little failures.” But these days, those obstacles are looking miniscule when compared to the gargantuan success they’ve seen since signing to Phoebe Bridgers’s Secretly Canadian imprint Saddest Factory Records and releasing a self-titled album which includes the still-ubiquitous summer siren call, “Silk Chiffon.”

It couldn’t have been any other way. Before their self-titled album they were signed to RCA for two records. Those projects helped the band gain a buzzy, queer following, but they didn’t necessarily align with the mega-scale of a major label framework. Working with Bridgers, a major indie mover, allowed them to build things from the ground up. And build they did. Since they released MUNA two years ago, the band has been constantly on tour, including a support slot of Taylor Swift’s record-breaking Eras Tour and two nights in Los Angeles’ Greek Theater, a performance which has been etched in stone through MUNA’s most recent release, Live at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles.

In the end, they probably did end up reaching the level of mainstream notoriety a major label would pine for, but doing it indie allowed MUNA to have more control and foster a deep, enduring relationship with their audience. “Once you get to a certain point, it’s not in your control how big something gets,” Gavin tells me. “So I’m very grateful that even at the end, playing two shows at the Greek, it still felt like our people.” “Those people,” the MUNA fans, understand the band better than most fans do. They have a uniquely large amount of access points to the trio — be it via their irreverent podcast, Gayotic, where the three talk off the cuff about their lives as queer artists or via their ever-humming online lives.

Their fans especially can appreciate the significance of MUNA playing Pitchfork fest. The band received a 7.7 score for their sophomore album, Saves The World, a score artist Shamir noted as being the “essential gay listening’ bat signal” (other members of the 7.7 club include Charli XCX’s how i’m feeling now, Lana Del Rey’s Blue Bannister’s, and Mitski’s Bury Me at Makeout Creek). 7.7 is not nothing, but the band was “sure they’d get Best New Music [with their next record, MUNA],” as Gavin told me. Well, MUNA did get an improved score … of 7.8. They took it all in stride, though and even got that sacred 7.7 as matching tattoos. But regardless of Pitchfork’s scoring, when it was later time for MUNA to take the stage, they performed for an ocean of people in Union Park, many of whom seemed to be tried and true MUNA fans, a rare feat at a busy music festival where folks are coming for all sorts of acts.

Well, PAPER is thrilled to announce some good news for those fans: the band is wrapping up their busy two years of touring MUNA and are preparing to get in the studio to finally “cook.” I smell good things.

PAPER chatted with the band before they took the Pitchfork stage to talk about this wild ride of an album cycle, Katie Gavin’s forthcoming solo record and maintaining a healthy friendship with each other through the chaos of the industry.

Super excited to talk with you! I love MUNA and I know PAPER loves Muna.

Naomi McPherson: Justin [Moran, PAPER’s editor-in-chief] knows how much of a real one he is.

Katie Gavin: Justin was working for BULLETT magazine and he was the first person ever to write about us, so I feel a kinship with PAPER.

That’s wild! I’ve been an active fan since Saves The World, so to see the ascent has felt crazy. We’re two years out from your last record, MUNA, and you just put out your live record from your two performances at The Greek. Was that live record a way of putting a pin on this very crazy era?

McPherson: I think that we did see that as a way to wrap up this album cycle, which lasted longer than we could have possibly imagined. For the Saves The World tour we did in the fall of 2019, when we finished that, we were with our old label, and were like, “We’re not going to tour that record again.” We loved our A&R guy at RCA and never want it to seem like we’re talking shit on them, because we’re not. But we were trying to move on, because there was not enough support behind the album. It wasn’t breaking through to enable us to have a sustained touring career. With this album, we’re still touring it two years later. We achieved a lot of what we wanted to achieve, and knocked a lot of the things off the manifestation list. So it’s time to make a new one, right?

Josette Maskin: We’re gonna turn the page and see what’s next. Which I think is something that we all really like. We obviously love playing live shows, but I think we’re all super creative people, and the concept and the genesis of everything is our bread and butter. So it will be interesting now that we have the time to actually cook. We need to cook for a minute.

Gavin: Something I’m grateful for with that cycle is I think a lot of times in this day and age people are able to have a sense before [success], so they can have a chance to be ready. And I do actually think looking back we were ready [for this success].

Maskin: We were ready, and that’s the most amazing part. We wouldn’t have been able to perform as well on those stages if we hadn’t had all those little failures before.

Gavin: We’ve been grinding. We’ve been cutting our teeth out on the road, and I don’t think that it got to a level that was beyond what we could handle and that’s out of your control. Once you get to a certain point, it’s not in your control with how big something gets. So I’m very grateful that even at the end, playing two shows at the Greek, it still felt like our people and it wasn’t traumatizing.

I think you guys have also done a really good job of maintaining a very close relationship with your audience through the podcast. So I’m curious about how you’re thinking about those extra-musical endeavors?

Maskin: It’s so funny because our manager during the pandemic was like, “Maybe you could have this other way to make money? You need to do something.”

McPherson: We had considered doing podcasts or YouTube series before, because we do have interests outside of music, and when we did press around our first two albums [we felt] that people didn’t really know us, because the music really is so intense, dark and serious. That is a pretty big aspect of who we are as people. But it’s definitely not the only thing that you get from us when you interact with us. We have big personalities and we’re hams and we like to joke and laugh around. So it was a nice way for us to be able to showcase our personalities.

Maskin: You’re selling a product. And, I mean, the product is us. Like, even with music, it’s true. [The band laughs.]

Headline!

Maskin: Yeah, “MUNA: capitalist pigs.” But I mean, it is just true. You need to show people what you’re about, because what else is going to get them invested in you? [You need something] more than [people saying], “Oh, I streamed their song on Spotify. I don’t care about going to shows.” We have active relationships [with our fans].

Gavin: Having the podcast be us talking to each other allows people [to see] behind the curtain in a way that I think is humanizing. I feel like our fans give us space to complain about things that are hard.

McPherson: It’s silly, goofy, but it’s also serious sometimes. We do talk about class-related stuff, and our experience as musicians.

Gavin: And just the troubles of working all the time, and what it really is like to have a career in music. So that’s been nice to feel like we don’t have to put up a front to “be” MUNA.

McPherson: There are people who listen to the podcast and do not enjoy or listen to our music. And there are people who love our music, who probably hate the podcast.

That’s trippy. Y’all are diversified!

Maskin: Yeah, all of our revenue streams [laughs].

Given the podcast and how public you are with your relationship as bandmates, how do you maintain some privacy in this working friendship?

Maskin: We’re working on that. We’re talking about stuff [on the podcast], but I think we’re trying to not share as much …

Gavin: You guys are trying to get me to not share as much.

Maskin: I don’t care what you do. I need to keep some secrets about myself!

Mcpherson: We started the podcast and thought No one is ever going to listen, so we were gonna talk about whatever we want and who cares? And now it’s like, “God, what have we done?”

Gavin [quietly singing “Pink Pony Club” by Chappelle Roan]: “God what have we done?”

Mcpherson: Yeah, my mom will text me like, “I watched the episode that you did with so and so.” So I’m like, “I thought you didn’t listen to this? Now I need to change my whole energy, because I thought I was talking to my friends?”

Gavin: We’re about to go into a period of time where we have more time blocked up for us to be in the studio together. I think that is going to make a big difference because most of the time, we hang out when it’s being recorded for the podcast.

Maskin: I mean everyone’s just busy doing their shit. [Katie’s] putting out a record. I’m trying to stay at my house as much as possible.

Yeah, Katie, I’m excited about your solo project!

Mcpherson: So there’s huge tensions… [laughs]

Yeah, I was thinking “This is obviously exciting and you are all seemingly fine.” But stereotypically, “going solo” is a “problem” in bands.

Maskin: We’re gonna break up for sure.

Mcpherson: We’re gonna break up before she puts it out, maybe a day before …

Gavin: I feel like we should leave it ambiguous to fan the flames of PR.

Mcpherson: And then next cycle … you’re totally right. We need to save this toxic energy. We need to bottle it.

Gavin: So people can put together a narrative.

Mcpherson: Katie was forced to make a solo album because we said no to too many of her songs.

I mean that just makes sense when you’re creating in a group.

Gavin: There were just too many songs that weren’t for the MUNA world, but I still wanted them to be out. That’s just how I am as a creative; I want stuff I write to be released at some point. We originally thought it was going to come out before MUNA, but it just didn’t work out that way. I signed to Phoebe, and she wanted me to go back in with her producer. And so after, we decided we’ll put it out after the third album. So yeah we’ve been knowing about this and we’ve had time to adjust. I also think when you’ve been a band for 10 years, it’s healthy to have side quests and go on other endeavors, so that you can come back and bring that new energy.

Mcpherson: “Side quests.” You can tell how terminally online we are.

I mean me too, so no worries on that. I want to also ask about the Dance Churches. Your fans gathered to dance to your music throughout Pride.

Maskin: [Our team] pitched us the idea and I think the thing that’s so special about MUNA fans is that they actually are in community with each other. So actually having a physical space where people can go connect, make more friends, or connect with the friends that they already have through online chat groups, is so cool. People can actually meet up and start dating and meet somebody who they feel understands them. So it was a deeper way that we can connect [with fans] without us constantly having to tour.

And is this your first time playing Pitchfork?

Mcpherson: Yeah.

Do you have any specific feelings on that? I know Pitchfork looms large in the minds of musicians.

Maskin: They should have given us a higher Pitchfork score, but other than that …

Mcpherson: Pitchfork haunts me in my dreams. [laughs]

Maskin: They did a review and [we got] tattoos for [the score] 7.7 because it was like “the gay ten.”

Mcpherson: We have to give credit where it’s due, the artist Shamir noticed that all these iconic queer artists got 7.7 so we were like, “LOL. Wouldn’t it be hilarious if we got a 7.7 tattoo, because that’s what Saves The World got?” And then they gave us a 7.8 for MUNA, because they are petty.

Gavin: We were so sure we were gonna get Best New Music.

Mcpherson: We were like, “It’s gonna be an 8.”

Maskin: They know they have beef with us even though we’re here.

Gavin: I would go on Pitchfork because I wanted to be cool to the boys in highschool. But I found a lot of music on Pitchfork.com. And we love to “hate” on Pitchfork, but I’d be sad if they went away.

Okay, I know you have to go, but I think the headline is: “MUNA going back to the studio,” right?

Mcpherson: Pray for us!

Photography: Kimberly Ross

Fortnite leaks show what the new Deadpool and Wolverine skins will look like ahead of the new movie, even though they’re already in the game.

The new Deadpool & Wolverine movie will be out in cinemas on Thursday, July 25, in the UK, and Marvel has already collaborated with Xbox to create controllers shaped like the two characters’ bums.

A leak now suggests that the Merc With A Mouth and Logan are not done promoting their upcoming film within the confines of video games.

The leak claims skins of both Deadpool and Wolverine are coming to Fortnite, based on their appearance in the upcoming film – as opposed to the versions that have already been released.

Regular Fortnite dataminer iFireMonkey posted images showing the skins, suggesting a bundle with the two superheroes will be available soon.

The images also show items that come with the skins, such as their weapons, gliders and back bling, including one that is a poster with Deadpool on it hushing you.

Another Fortnite dataminer, HYPEX, posted an image of the skins too, which included the two character’s emotes.

Wolverine’s emote is him getting his claws out, while Deadpool’s is him acting shocked with his hands on his face, as seen below (or in the top image).

This isn’t the first time Deadpool or Wolverine have been in Fortnite, as they were both added in 2020 – February and August, respectively.

It’s not uncommon for movie characters to be added to Fortnite, for promotional purposes, and the first versions of the characters were based more on their comic book incarnations.

On its own, Marvel has had a catalogue of characters made into skins in Fortnite, including Spider-Man, Miles Morales as Spider-Man, Black Widow, Tony Stark, Captain America, Groot, Venom, and many more.

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MORE : Deadpool dropping into Fortnite later today, confirmed by Deadpool himself

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The petition to have Assassin’s Creed Shadows cancelled seems to be working, with Ubisoft implying they will make changes to the game before release.

The annoucement that this year’s Assassin’s Creed Shadows will feature black samurai Yasuke as one of its lead characters caused considerable controversy in certain quarters.

Earlier this month, a petition from Japanese fans called for the game to be cancelled, because of vaguely described concerns about historical inaccuracy. Now Ubisoft has offered an equally vague apology, that seems to suggest they will be making changes to the game.

Although the original petition never mentioned him by name, most of the argument in the West has centred around playable character Yasuke, who was a real historical figure and whose samurai status Ubisoft now suggests is ‘a matter of debate and discussion’.

While there’s some question as to his exact role, Yasuke was a real person and, as a Japanese scholar has recently pointed out, there’s no doubt that he was a samurai, which is a social status that can encompass a variety of duties.

If anything, it’s the shinobi Naoe who’s the inauthentic one, since ninjas were primarily spies and their portrayal in Shadows seems to be based purely on the romanticised pop culture view of them, rather than anything from historical sources.

Although Ubisoft often likes to pretend the Assassin’s Creed games are historically accurate, they never really have been and in the lengthy Twitter apology, they admit that’Assassin’s Creed games are works of fiction inspired by real historical events and figures.

‘From its inception, the series has taken creative licence and incorporated fantasy elements to craft engaging and immersive experiences. The representation of Yasuke in our game is an illustration of this.’

The tweet also states that ‘We acknowledge that some elements in our promotional materials have caused concern within the Japanese community. For this, we sincerely apologise.’

It’s not at all clear what this is referring to, unless it’s when someone noticed the game’s concept art had accidently used the logo of a reenactment group – but that hardly seems reason for a four-page Twitter apology.

The tweet adds ‘All game footage presented so far is in development and the game will keep evolving until launch.’

Assassin’s Creed Shadows is due out on November 15, so there’s little time to change anything substantial, although the furore will no doubt change Ubisoft’s DLC plans.

Ubisoft boss Yves Guillemot has already complained at ‘malicious and personal’ attacks against the Shadows development team, with the new tweet also imploring ‘fans’ to leave consultants that worked on the game alone – especially as they had nothing to do with any final decisions.

Making a statement like this, this far out from release, is unusual for any publisher and suggests that Ubisoft is concerned about the game’s reception, and the negativity that increasingly surrounds it.

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MORE : Assassin’s Creed Shadows release date leaked… by Ubisoft

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The long-rumoured Lego sets based on Fortnite have finally been unveiled and they are not what you’d expect, including in terms of the price.

Even before the dedicated Lego mode was added to Fortnite, there were rumours of a tie-in toy line, featuring the Battle Bus and a range of the game’s original characters.

Lego has been making a lot of video game-related sets in recent years, including everything from Overwatch to Horizon Zero Dawn and the upcoming Legend Of Zelda model.

That’s made a Fortnite line seem inevitable and now that the first four sets have been officially announced they do look very good and, for Lego, are not actually that expensive.

For a licensed set with 954 pieces, and nine minifigures, the Battle Bus is an impressively good deal at £89.99 and certain to end up in a lot of Christmas stockings this year.

It features a removable roof and is filled with Fortnite related equipment, including Slurp Juice, a grappler, pickaxes, and Slap Juice.

You also get nine separate minifigures, in the form of Adventure Peely, Battalion Brawler, Cuddle Team Leader, Brite Bomber, Cube Assassin, Trespasser Elite, Drift, Meowscles, and Raven.

The Battle Bus is an obvious no-brainer and so is the Supply Llama, which has been recreated in Lego as a 691-piece model filled with accessories including Slap Juice, dynamite, a grappler, Slurp Juice, Rough Ruby, a backpack, and good luck charm.

The Supply Llama is £34.99, while the smallest set is a Durrr Burger – which is only £12.99 and recreates the restaurant mascot that was prominent in the game’s early years.

The biggest set is aimed more at the game’s older fans, with the 1,414 piece Peely Bone statue recreating one of the game’s most popular character variants. He has moveable arms and brick-built accessories such as a Peely Pick Pickaxe, Paint Launcher, and Banana Bag Back Bling.

Because he doesn’t come with any minifigures he’s the same price as the Battle Bus, at £89.99, despite being made up of a lot more Lego pieces.

All four sets are available to pre-order from the Lego website today but they won’t be released until October 1.

Not only are there Lego sets based on video games, but there are also games based on Lego sets. The next one to be released will be Lego Horizon Adventures this autumn, which rather than being themed around a movie is inspired by the PlayStation exclusive Horizon Zero Dawn – even though it’s being released on Switch as well (but not Xbox).

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MORE : Metallica brings battle stage to Fortnite as band get Lego makeover

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Fortnite has just added the Cybertruck as a usable vehicle, but fans are divided, with some swearing to go out of their way to punish those who use it.

Fortnite owes much of its success to the fact that it is constantly changing its content, with new character skins, weapons, maps, and vehicles.

That goes for all modes, be it Rocket Racing, Fortnite Festival, or Lego Fortnite, which recently introduced a new cosy mode and a permadeath mode.

The latest update, however, is dividing fans as it adds Tesla’s Cybertruck to the game as a usable vehicle, with a portion of the fanbase uniting to aim their guns specifically at those who use it.

The Cybertruck will be included in the Fortnite v30.30 update, which goes live today, at noon UK time.

Fortnite proudly revealed the Cybertruck in a teaser video on Twitter, but many fans aren’t nearly as impressed.

While some are excited, a rebellion has formed to maliciously target those who use the Cybertruck, although the reasons for doing so are mixed.

‘Can we all collectively make a pact that if you ever see it in-game, everyone within that radius stops fighting and targets it,’ says Binej Yeah on Twitter.

The call for unity against Cybertruck users has caught on, with Kaius saying:

‘There’s an unspoken rule amongst a lot of players that they will drop whatever they’re doing to force a Cybertruck user back to the lobby. It’s your civic duty to uphold this honour code.’

The Cybertruck is made by Tesla, which is owned by Elon Musk, who doesn’t exactly have the best reputation in the gaming community.

Earlier this year Musk downplayed a Twitch streamer’s achievement when he beat the infamously difficult Elden Ring using nothing but Morse code, via a one-button device.

He also claimed that he was one of the best Quake players in the world at one point, before the actual best player responded saying ‘he wasn’t very good’.

Fans’ disapproval of Cybertruck’s inclusion in Fortnite is also because vehicles are a divisive feature in the game in general, with streamer Ninja briefly quitting the game because of them, saying it makes the game less confrontational.

If you are planning on using the Cybertruck, be warned that you could be specifically targeted, although that could work out well if you’re looking for action.

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Microsoft is planning even more new tiers for Xbox Game Pass, according to a new report, with the possible return of the Friends & Family Plan.

Microsoft has made big changes to Game Pass this month – provoking complaints from the FTC about the price rises – but the fundamental problem they face is that for many people the core concept of a gaming subscription service isn’t as appealing as expected, with many not having the time or inclination to play unknown games.

It’s a problem Sony has also found with PlayStation Plus, but Microsoft’s future is much more closely tied to Game Pass and a new report suggests that they are looking to shake up the service even further, with a tier based solely around streaming and the return of the Friends & Family Plan.

A cloud-only version of Game Pass is an easy thing to guess at even without rumours, with the only problem being when it is technically viable. According to the report though Microsoft is ‘working towards’ a new tier for people that have no interest in buying a console.

The recent collaborations with Samsung TVs and Amazon Fire sticks are already a step towards a cloud-only future for Xbox, but the new subscription is apparently intended to be ‘cheaper and more approachable’ than Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.

That suggests that Microsoft realises that many casual gamers are actually put off by the choice provided by Game Pass, rather than being attracted by it.

At the same time, the report on Windows Central also suggests that subscribers will be able to buy and own games digitally, and play existing digital games, that they already own, via the streaming service (if the various publishers involved allow it).

The report also claims to have heard ‘very tentative’ rumours of Microsoft bringing back the Friends & Family Plan for Game Pass, as another means to cut costs for customers.

The Friends & Family Plan was trialled for a year in some countries, beginning in September 2022, and allowed five people to share the cost of a Game Pass Ultimate subscription. Microsoft never went through with it fully though and stopped the trial last year.

However, it’s suggested that at the moment Microsoft is not planning an ad-based tier, even though that would’ve allowed them to reduce the price of a subscription too. Microsoft has previously hinted at such a thing but apparently they’ve decided against it for now.

Despite these rumours there’s no indication that there’ll be any new tier announced in the near future, with Microsoft no doubting wanting to make sure the new Standard tier is a success first.

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