This week has seen some fantastic advancements in gaming. Here's our top 3 picks of the week. 1. Pokemon GO has finally been released in select countries to critical praise! In the mobile game you can become a real life Pokemon trainer. The app sees Pokemon tied to regions, meaning you will have to get up and explore to catch em all! The pokemon can be found in thousand of unique real world locations, but don't worry! The Dev team have promised you won't find any rare Pokemon inside a volcano or in the middle of a busy road. 2. Red Dead Redemption has been opened up for backward compatibility play. Red Dead is a fan fave and was one of the most requested games to be brought back along with early call of duty games and Skyrim. The game is available to download and some of the critically acclaimed expansions are free of charge. 3. The eagerly anticipated and often delayed No Man's Sky has finally and officially been completed by Hello Games. The game takes place inside an entire procedurally generated Universe, allowing you to explore literally trillions of planets and leave your own mark for every other player to explore alongside with you. If you discover a planet, you get to name it. The game will launch for PC and PS4 in August. We all hope the delays were worth it. We'll see you all next week!

Phil Spencer of Microsoft has confirmed that Microsoft games will be coming to Steam once again. This comes in partnership with the new Microsoft “ Play Anywhere” scheme which involves buying a game once and being able to play cross platform. The app stores on windows computers have proven to not be the most popular platforms for buying and playing games. Most gamers are often confused as to where to get games from, as the Microsoft app store isn’t a very intuitive place to find a game and just expect releases to appear on Steam, or perhaps Origin. Phil Spencer talked about this in detail; "I look at Steam today, it's on an incredible growth trajectory. It's a massive force in gaming; a positive force. I think it will be bigger a year from now than it is today. And five years later it will still be bigger again," Outlined Spencer. "I look at Valve as an important independent software vendor for us on Windows. They are a critical part of gaming's success on Windows. I don't think Valve's hurt by not having our first-party games in their store right now. They're doing incredibly well. We will ship games on Steam again." He discussed how the Microsoft stores haven’t been as successful as they would have hoped. However, they hope to work on the popularity of their store and don’t promise all games to be released on steam. He said “I think they're doing fine without Quantum Break in their store,”. You could expect the big games such as Halo and Gears to appear on Steam, as it would make sense from a business point of view to get their biggest games on the biggest platforms where they would gain the most popularity and exposure, and in turn, sales. Are you pleased about Microsoft games coming to Steam? What previous Microsoft Studios games would you like to see?

EA’s conference started with a bubbly presenter laying out the plans for the conference. But you’re here for the games. TITANFALL 2: The game presented its crystal clear graphics which aims to deliver a robust experience. The game has 6 unique Titan’s with depth and a deep progression system. One of the biggest shocks of the conference is the announcement of a Single Player mode, which the first installment was lacking. We were presented with a breath-taking array of visuals in a single player trailer which highlighted the relationship between Titan and Pilot. The game will be released on XboxOne, PS4 and PC. The game is set for release October 28th 2016. MADDEN 2017: Nothing much to say about this game. It has beautiful graphics as expected. Madden will feature balanced game play, new Franchise modes, and up to date commentary teams. The game aims to take competition to the next level. This game was presented with EA sponsored gaming events. There are three stages which allow most gamers to engage in pro tournaments from their homes. MASS EFFECT: ANDROMEDA: How far will we go? In the game you are part of an expedition helping humanity find a new home. You travel millions of miles into the Andromeda. This is a galaxy where you are the alien. They’re building on the amazing stories and game play, and now they’re allowing their imagination to run wild, with a new cast of memorable characters. The game runs on the new Frostbite engine. The concept art and models shown during the conference is among some of the most beautiful ever seen. The animations and face capture really seem to push gaming to its limits. They’ve created a Universe we will lose ourselves in. FE: A personal narrative about a relationship with nature. It’s a story about how the world is connected, but constantly under thread. You play as a young cub, with no knowledge of your life, where you came from, or who you are. There is a language of strange and beautiful music, each unique to a song sung by each creature and plant. Each song will open up new parts of the forest. Every step helps you discover who you are. The enemy is “the silence”. Grotesque creatures who want to destroy all life. The game sets the stage, but sets you out on your experience. Your discoveries are your own. The game is one of the most unique IP’s I have ever seen. This game represents the true magic of gaming. It has been created by a Swedish studio called Zoink who are supported by the EA Originals program.

The long awaited sequel to the highly acclaimed Civilization 5 has been revealed today! You can watch the reveal trailer here RELEASE DATE: OCTOBER 21, 2016 Sid Meier’s Civilization VI is the next entry in the award-winning Civilization franchise, which has sold in nearly 33 million units worldwide, including more than 8 million units of Civilization V. Originally created by legendary game designer Sid Meier, Civilization is a turn-based strategy game in which you attempt to build an empire to stand the test of time. Become Ruler of the World by establishing and leading a civilization from the Stone Age to the Information Age. Wage war, conduct diplomacy, advance your culture, and go head-to-head with history’s greatest leaders as you attempt to build the greatest civilization the world has ever known. Civilization VI offers new ways to engage with your world: cities now physically expand across the map, active research in technology and culture unlocks new potential, and competing leaders will pursue their own agendas based on their historical traits as you race for one of five ways to achieve victory in the game. FEATURES EXPANSIVE EMPIRES: See the marvels of your empire spread across the map like never before. Each city spans multiple tiles so you can custom build your cities to take full advantage of the local terrain. ACTIVE RESEARCH: Unlock boosts that speed your civilization’s progress through history. To advance more quickly, use your units to actively explore, develop your environment, and discover new cultures. DYNAMIC DIPLOMACY: Interactions with other civilizations change over the course of the game, from primitive first interactions where conflict is a fact of life, to late game alliances and negotiations. COMBINED ARMS: Expanding on the “one unit per tile” design, support units can now be embedded with other units, like anti-tank support with infantry, or a warrior with settlers. Similar units can also be combined to form powerful “Corps” units. ENHANCED MULTIPLAYER: In addition to traditional multiplayer modes, cooperate and compete with your friends in a wide variety of situations all designed to be easily completed in a single session. A CIV FOR ALL PLAYERS: Civilization VI provides veteran players new ways to build and tune their civilization for the greatest chance of success. New tutorial systems introduce new players to the underlying concepts so they can easily get started.

Battlefield 1 has just been announced for Xbox One, PS4 and PC. The game takes place within a divergent timeline of WW1, involving automatic and bolt weapons, clavary combat, tank combat, air combat, and special combat which we all love and crave for! The reveal trailer was completely mind-blowing and shows how a game doesn't have to be futuristic to be good! You can watch the still love steam here; https://www.twitch.tv/battlefield Stay tuned for more news and highlights.

It has been reported that YouTube are working on a paid subscription service (Something similar to HBO) where customers can pay monthly to have cable TV channels streamed directly to them. This means our predictions of YouTube taking over normal household TV's might soon become a reality as Online streaming is much cheaper than regular cable. The project which will be undertaken by YouTube is rumored to start as early as 2017 (Next year!) YouTube have rumored partnerships with all the major media companies, such as everyone under the Comcast umbrella (NBC, Viacom, Fox, and CBS) but the contracts are yet to be finalized. YouTube already has a premium payment service known as YouTube Red which allows viewers to watch without advertisements, but this new feature will bring the most popular and current TV shows to your PC or Laptop seamlessly. Who else is excited?

As we theorised last week with the leak, it's official, INFINITE WARFARE IS THE NEXT CALL OF DUTY INSTALMENT. The trailer has JUST dropped and the game looks incredible. The trailer was smashed onto YouTube via the official Call of Duty page The day of release is the 4th of November. The game is being developed by one of our all time favourites, Infinity Ward, who created the original games as well as Ghosts. A lot of people are going to be divided about the shown Single Player gameplay, but we think the space battles and general mechanics look AWESOME! The graphics are also pretty sweet. CEO of Activision stated - "Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare is a bold, new vision from the studio that created the original Call of Duty and Modern Warfare, and an adventure on an insanely epic scale that only Call of Duty could deliver. And Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered is one of the most beloved games of all-time, reborn for a new generation." This gives us a glaring hope for the next Call of Duty and we hope it can do what the previous CoD's missed.

Original veteran developers of one of the most beloved games of all time; DOOM, are reaching out for support. John Romero and Adrian Carmack are lookg for around $700,000 ( which converts to£480,000) on Kickstarter to make a game called BLACKROOM! The game is described as paying homage to the original Doom games, being "visceral, varied and violent". Romero and Carmack were two of the founders of iD, the developers behind the new and upcoming DOOM game. They had a hand in creating Wolfenstein, Quake and many other classic games we can all remember playing before graphics were realistic and 60 FPS was the norm. The Kickstarter outlines that the virtual setting of the game will take the player through many environments. This includes Victorian mansions, wild west towns, and also Pirate ships! Boost items in game allow you to "hack" into these environments for extra fun, which keeps in line with the "virtual" setting of the game. The game will also ship with tools to create your own maps and weapons on launch, adding an extra layer to the game. The game will be released in late 2018 for both Windows and Mac computers You can back them on Kickstarter here.

A PlayStation store leak has given validity to a leak over the past week on Reddit which showed the cover art of the new CoD game, titled; "Infinity warfare". Not only is this big news for CoD fans that our beloved Infinity Ward will be making the next game, but the game may also come with a HD remaster of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. Modern Warfare was one of the most popular CoD games and is what launched the Franchise into every household in the world. The PlayStation store leak was the where the title reveal came from. November 4, 2016. Last night, the game’s name was displayed in the PS Store before being taken down. We're actually approaching the time of year when Activision announce the newest Call of Duty, so these leaks are more than likely true! How many of you would love to see Modern Warfare remastered?

Starting a YouTube channel is a daunting process. You have to compete with people that already have established fan bases and millions of subscribers! But don't worry... everyone that has a successful started somewhere; and we've identified what they all had in common. There is a clever trick to this which is more obvious than may first appear! Let us share this little secret trick with you. Have A Regular Upload Schedule So when you first start your channel, unless you get very lucky, the views will be slow to build, and the subscriber count even slower. What you can do to build on these numbers very early on is to have regular uploads at regular times, so that the early subscribers are more likely to pass you onto their friends. Basically, you will not be forgotten about. Reminding fans on your social media accounts about your schedule, and importing your schedule into either channel art or the videos themselves will give fans a reminder of when to next tune in! Don't Expect To Get In The Big Leagues Straight Away Starting your channel should be about having fun and creating great entertainment. You shouldn't start a YouTube channel because you want to make money. You need to build an audience based on fun, amazing content before you start worrying about ways to rake money from your hard work. Be Original To be able to bring in the subscribers and views you really want, you're going to have to do something brand new. You can still pull influences form different channels and do similar things, but make your style, production, and delivery your own. There is no need to rush into creating videos. Take your time to develop ideas and the viewers will come. Brand Yourself This last tip follows on form all the others. The most important step as a new YouTuber is to get some great graphics or channel art that people will remember you by? Someone is more likely to follow someone with a sick display picture on Twitter than someone with the default blue and white egg. Hopefully these quick four tips help you with starting your YouTube channel. If you follow these four rules, it will help you have the best possible start on YouTube! Get Inspired To keep up with all things #YouTube including tips, tricks and interesting articles, head over to to the Ritual Blog. You may even find yourself inspired to create and grow your own audience! You can also sign up for our FREE academy and get expert guidance on all things YouTube.

Ever since we posted our tutorials and tips on how to improve your content and fan base we get asked a lot of questions about utilizing Facebook. Well, we told you videos can help promote you and your channel, but now they will help you even more. In a world driven by video it's always nice when companies like Facebook continue pushing forward with new features which can help content creators from all walks of social media improve their presence. As of today, you can now go LIVE in groups and events; meaning if you have a specific YouTube fan page or event for a stream, you can go LIVE! and have a super snappy announcement which will give all liked and interested fans a notification, as well as appearing on their news feed. This will not only garner great online presence but give you a chance to interact with your fans "face to face", as so far as you can on the internet! Not only is this feature now accessible, but there are WIDE range of reactions to use exclusively for live videos, meaning your audience can react with you better, meaning you can learn an adapt to what your audience enjoys. Or doesn't enjoy... The videos also have a cool filter feature! Move over Instagram.

Have you wanted to be sponsored by a brand on YouTube? Do you consider it to be the next step? As markets change and develop, brands are very careful in choosing who represents their products. BRANDS ARE SELECTIVE! You’ll get the most interest from brands if your content is original, top-quality, have an engaged and active audience, and have a family-friendly channel. This not only exposes their content to engaged consumers but also has their brand promoted by a professional and high-quality content creator. So how can you attract brands? REGULAR UPLOADS! Make sure you content is consistent in quality, as well as coming out on a regularly schedule. Maybe a few times a week. BE SAFE! Make sure that a brand will be comfortable advertising on your channels. Try to aim for PG-13 content and avoid those R-ratings. MAKE GREAT VIDEOS! You can read our other articles on how to make the very best content you can, but this is a self-explanatory point! LOOK BEYOND YOUTUBE! Make sure you engage with your users across social media platforms, including Instagram, Twitter, Vine, and also Snapchat if you’re not shy! You can read our recent announcement regarding EPOXY to get the latest on social media cross-action. BE PERSONAL! Brands love when you can give their products their own personality from your point of view. Incorporate products into your videos! FACE TIME! Showing your face will give Brands more trust in you and make it more likely for your pitches of sponsorship to succeed. Try to keep these points in mind when looking for partnerships with brands, but keep an open mind and be aware not every brand is the same! But don’t stop trying. The more effort you put in, the more likely success will come your way!