Tech2.Games S01 E09: Dragon punches, absurd eSports prize pools, banhammers and some free trials

By Videep Vijay KumarLet’s start with some good news for Gran Turismo fans. It was announced on the PlayStation blog earlier this week that Gran Turismo Sport will launch on 17 October in North America and 18 October in Europe and Australia. Given that it’s been over four years since GT6 came out, Sport should fill the void in our lives quite nicely. In other news, Valve banned over 40,000 players in the immediate aftermath of the Steam Summer Sale because of several accounts being flagged by Valve’s Anti-Cheat (VAC) system. Cheap prices during the sale meant that players created new accounts to experiment with cheats and exploits without the danger of their primary accounts being perma-banned. And before we get to the good stuff, let’s take a moment to appreciate the USD 85 million Logitech spent to acquire headset maker Astro Gaming.Evo 2017 is here!Las Vegas welcomes the players of fighting games from across the world. Evo events first started in the mid-nineties and have been going from strength to strength with each subsequent event. This year’s event takes place over the weekend of 14 and 16 July in a variety of fighting games. Check out the full schedule posted by the competition’s official twitter handle.Evo’s Twitch covers the bulk of events across the nine official games of the tournament: Super Smash Bros, Super Smash Bros Melee, Street Fighter V, Tekken 7, Guilty Gear Xrd Rev 2, Injustice 2, Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, BlazBlue: Central Fiction and The King of Fighters XIV.https://www.twitch.tv/evoHead to Campcomfighters’ Twitch for all Street Fighter V matches. Street Fighter events are usually the most popular at Evo.https://www.twitch.tv/capcomfightersYou can catch all Injustice 2 matches on NetherRealm’s Twitch.https://www.twitch.tv/netherrealmSundered releases on 28 July on all platforms, Jotun is free now Steam/GOGThunder Lotus Games’ hand-drawn side-scroller Sundered comes out on all platforms later this month, and to celebrate, you can grab (and keep) a copy of the developers’ previous title, Jotun. The visual style in both games is similar, and if you’re into hand-drawn exploration/combat games you’re likely to find both rather interesting.Add Jotun: Valhalla Edition to your Steam Library at this link.Dota 2 The International’s prize pool is officially insaneAt the time of writing, the current prize fool for Dota 2’s The International tournament stands at a whopping $21,149,016 which is a mere few hundred k’s more than last year’s pot of USD 20.8 million. In addition to sponsorships, 25 percent of sales process from The International Battle Pass adds to the prize pool of this annual tournament.18 teams will face off in Seattle next month to earn a piece of this pie baked in gold. For a sneak peek into the world of competitive Dota 2, check out the video above (it isn’t from The International, but the Kiev Majors).You can now pre-load the Destiny 2 betaIf you’ve purchased a digital copy of Destiny 2, you can head straight to the digital marketplace on your platform of choice and pre-load the beta. If you’ve picked up a physical copy, you should receive your codes in an email. These are the start times for the beta:Destiny 2 PS4 Beta (for pre-orders) - July 18th, 10:30 PM ISTDestiny 2 Xbox One Beta (for pre-orders) - July 19th, 10:30 PM ISTDestiny 2 Open Beta - July 21st, 10:30 PM ISTDestiny 2 Windows Beta: An unknown date in August.The beta ends on 24 July , 9 AM IST for everyone. In the meantime, check out the gameplay video featuring the new Hunter subclass, the Arcstrider set to John Williams’ “Duel of the Fates” from the Phantom Menace (with lightsaber sound effects!) courtesy YouTube user Falconbox.More Days Gone footage you may not have seenGameplay from biker-zombie game Days Gone looked impressive at E3 last month. In a new video released earlier this week, Creative Director John Garvin and the actor who plays the game’s protagonist Deacon St. John, Sam Witwer talk us through an entirely different approach which can be taken to playing the same section of the demo.There’s no word on the release date of the game at the time of writing.First-Person lobbies coming to PlayerUnknown’s BattlegroundsIf the official twitter handle of PUBG is to be believed, the game’s next monthly update will feature first-person-only servers.The first-person update will come to NA/EU solo and duo games first and will subsequently be expanded to other regions and modes. Of course, these will be entirely optional, as players can pick regular third-person lobbies as well. The next update is also expected to add an Field of View slider to the game.Play 10-hours of Mass Effect: Andromeda for freeWhile the internet would have you believe that Mass Effect: Andromeda was a pile of garbage, EA and Bioware and giving you the unique opportunity to verify this yourself.The game has evolved significantly since launch, with lots of free multiplayer content added in addition to patches, bug fixes and reworked animations (yes, those animations are better now). You should be able to experience a decent chunk of content in 10-hours and get in some game time with the multiplayer as well (the netcode has been improved since launch as well).Star Wars Battlefront 2 beta on 4 OctoberIf you’ve pre-ordered Star Wars Battlefront 2, the beta will be available for you starting 4 October. If you haven’t, the public beta starts on 6 October. Two modes will be featured in the beta, starting with Naboo: Theed in Galactic Assault, which set on the streets surrounding the loyal palace where Republic clone troopers and Separatist battle droids. You will be able to take control of hero characters in this mode.Starfighter Assault is another mode which will be available, expect it to be similar to Battlefront’s Fighter Squadron. The beta will run through until 9 October.