Twitch is expanding the number of freebies it’s giving to Twitch Prime subscribers every month. The company announced a new initiative today called Free Games with Prime, which does exactly what it says: It gives members free games as part of their Prime subscription. Next month, Free Games with Prime will offer Tales from the Borderlands, SteamWorld Dig 2, Kingsway, Tokyo 42 and Dubwars. According to a post on the company’s blog, Twitch Prime subscribers can keep those games forever. Twitch lau

Anyone who’s read Hogwarts: A History — or Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban — knows that wizards and witches can’t apparate or disapparate onto Hogwarts grounds. [Warning: The following contains minor spoilers for Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald.] The only rules that we know about Hogwarts are from Harry Potter’s time there during the ’90s. Dumbledore later became the great wizard that Harry Potter came to know, while Grindelwald became consumed by a hatred for muggles. Fanta

“Who Shot Mr. Burns?” may be The Simpsons’ best-known episode to date, but the decision to make Maggie Simpson the shooter wasn’t set in stone from the get-go. Josh Weinstein, one of the credited writers on the episode and a Simpsons showrunner between 1995 and 1999, recently tweeted the original pitch sheet for the episode. Weinstein says it’s “neat” to see how the episode developed, as the team tried to figure out who the suspects could have been. Summary of our pitch for “Who Shot Mr. Burns”

Anyone who’s read Hogwarts: A History — or Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban — knows that wizards and witches can’t apparate or disapparate onto Hogwarts grounds. [Warning: The following contains minor spoilers for Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald.] The only rules that we know about Hogwarts are from Harry Potter’s time there during the ’90s. Dumbledore later became the great wizard that Harry Potter came to know, while Grindelwald became consumed by a hatred for muggles. Fanta

This week on The History of Fun, special guest Clayton Ashley fills in for Chris Plante on paternity leave. His task: to inform Allegra and Russ of the origins of Lego, from their humble building block beginnings in a wood shop to the multimedia juggernaut they are today. Enjoying The History of Fun? New to The History of Fun? Every Monday, Russ Frushtick, Allegra Frank and Chris Plante explore the hidden backstories behind the things we love to do.

Former executive producer on the Halo franchise, Josh Holmes, brings a new indie studio called Midwinter Entertainment out of stealth mode today. Its first project is called Scavengers, and it will be the spiritual successor of the Warzone game mode from Halo 5: Guardians. In Warzone, 24 players fought over a massive Halo 5 multiplayer map. In the promotional video for Scavengers, embedded above, Holmes said that his team had a lot of plans for Warzone in Halo 5, but was ultimately limited by th

Speedruns pop up in mainstream coverage of games from time to time when something massive happens, but it’s rare that anyone outside of true enthusiasts can chart the evolution of how runners tackle certain games. Doing so requires a deep knowledge of the game being discussed as well as a firm grasp on the history of record-breaking runs for that title. The above video from Summoning Salt breaks down the history of Metroid speedruns in just over 27 minutes, and the result is much more interestin

Speedruns pop up in mainstream coverage of games from time to time when something massive happens, but it’s rare that anyone outside of true enthusiasts can chart the evolution of how runners tackle certain games. Doing so requires a deep knowledge of the game being discussed as well as a firm grasp on the history of record-breaking runs for that title. The above video from Summoning Salt breaks down the history of Metroid speedruns in just over 27 minutes, and the result is much more interestin

That changes with the game’s latest update, which is out now in the test server. PUBG Corp. has expanded the field of view for the 2x scope, and Reddit users are really noticing the difference. The difference is that the outer ring of the scope is a whole lot thinner, with more real estate given to the magnified image. Aside from the thick outer ring, players often called the circular reticle “blurry” or said they experienced a frustrating glare with it. It sounds like the update has really impr

That changes with the game’s latest update, which is out now in the test server. PUBG Corp. has expanded the field of view for the 2x scope, and Reddit users are really noticing the difference. The difference is that the outer ring of the scope is a whole lot thinner, with more real estate given to the magnified image. Aside from the thick outer ring, players often called the circular reticle “blurry” or said they experienced a frustrating glare with it. It sounds like the update has really impr

Secret World Legends has had an interesting history as a MMORPG in a market full of would-be World of Warcraft killers and big budget blockbusters. The game originally launched in 2012 under the title The Secret World, with a price tag and monthly subscription. From there, The Secret World floundered, with player counts dropping to under 1,000 per month. In summer 2017, Funcom announced that it would relaunch the game as Secret World Legends, a free-to-play title with loot box microtransactions

Secret World Legends has had an interesting history as a MMORPG in a market full of would-be World of Warcraft killers and big budget blockbusters. The game originally launched in 2012 under the title The Secret World, with a price tag and monthly subscription. From there, The Secret World floundered, with player counts dropping to under 1,000 per month. In summer 2017, Funcom announced that it would relaunch the game as Secret World Legends, a free-to-play title with loot box microtransactions

There is one crucially important thing you’ll need to master in Sea of Thieves. Step 1: Raising the anchorRaising the anchor is easy and just requires that you turn a big wheel for a while. If you’ve got helpful crew mates, you can ask them to turn it with you, which will get the job done faster. There are three sail positions you’ll want to lower for maximum speed — at the front, middle and back of the ship (behind the wheel). If you think you’re going to have to leave in a hurry, you can also

To the Movies is making dreams come true; or if not dreams, at least the potential of that long-ago failed Superman movie, Superman Lives! Nicolas Cage will voice the role of Superman in the animated film, based on Cartoon Network’s Teen Titans Go!, reports USA Today. He was also in the running to play Superman in the notoriously troubled film production of Superman Lives!, spun up in the late ‘90s around a Kevin Smith script that featuring Lex Luthor, Braniac and the resurrection of Superman. T

The Harry Potter universe is ushering in a new age of evil as seen in the first Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald teaser trailer. The Crimes of Grindelwald continues where the first Fantastic Beasts finished: the wizarding world reeling from the realization that Graves (Colin Farrell) was actually the monstrous Grindelwald (Johnny Depp). The Crimes of Grindelwald will explore the dark wizard’s attempt to create an army of pure-blooded beings that rule over all non-magical — or nonmaj —

It’s no surprise that HBO is planning to do whatever it takes to keep the Game of Thrones train rolling. “We are going big.”Orsi said HBO is planning between three and five spinoffs, but that doesn’t mean each spinoff will make it into the development phase. HBO first announced its partnership with four writers on four different spinoffs last May. Although HBO is already looking ahead to spinoffs, it hasn’t forgotten about Game of Thrones final season. Then there was applause that lasted 15 minu

It’s no surprise that HBO is planning to do whatever it takes to keep the Game of Thrones train rolling. “We are going big.”Orsi said HBO is planning between three and five spinoffs, but that doesn’t mean each spinoff will make it into the development phase. HBO first announced its partnership with four writers on four different spinoffs last May. Although HBO is already looking ahead to spinoffs, it hasn’t forgotten about Game of Thrones final season. Then there was applause that lasted 15 minu

“Who Shot Mr. Burns?” may be The Simpsons’ best known episode to date, but the decision to make Maggie Simpson the shooter wasn’t set in stone from the get-go. Josh Weinstein, one of the credited writers on the episode and a Simpsons showrunner between 1995 and 1999, recently tweeted the original pitch sheet for the episode. Weinstein says it’s “neat” to see how the episode developed, as the team tried to figure out who the suspects could have been. Summary of our pitch for “Who Shot Mr. Burns”

To the Movies is making dreams come true; or if not dreams, at least the potential of that long-ago failed Superman movie, Superman Lives! Nicolas Cage will voice the role of Superman in the animated film, based on Cartoon Network’s Teen Titans Go!, reports USA Today. He was also in the running to play Superman in the notoriously troubled film production of Superman Lives!, spun up in the late ‘90s around a Kevin Smith script that featuring Lex Luthor, Braniac and the resurrection of Superman. T

The Harry Potter universe is ushering in a new age of evil as seen in the first Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald teaser trailer. The Crimes of Grindelwald continues where the first Fantastic Beasts finished: the wizarding world reeling from the realization that Graves (Colin Farrell) was actually the monstrous Grindelwald (Johnny Depp). The Crimes of Grindelwald will explore the dark wizard’s attempt to create an army of pure-blooded beings that rule over all non-magical — or nonmaj —