Apex Legends and Rainbow Six Siege are coming to PlayStation Open Series

By Emily Morrow August 30, 2021

Apex Legends and Rainbow Six Siege are joining the PlayStation Tournaments: Open Series group of games. In a tweet and accompanying blog post, Sony announced the two games’ arrival with the intent of “expanding the FPS competition genre” via the PlayStation Tournaments feature. Apex Legends will be available for competition starting on Wednesday, September 1, while Rainbow Six Siege will arrive on Thursday, September 2.

PlayStation Tournaments: Open Series is a way for players to engage in low-stakes competitions with friends and win prizes. Anyone who is an active PlayStation Plus subscriber can participate as long as they register beforehand. While professional esports include only the very best players in a given game, the Open Series is a way for the everyday player to get a taste of pro gaming glory.

Apex Legends and Rainbow Six Siege join the PlayStation Tournaments: Open Series lineup, expanding the FPS competition genre. Squad up later this week: https://t.co/5IaqNGvxWC pic.twitter.com/bYDIFoe0jF

— PlayStation (@PlayStation) August 30, 2021

Each game will have its matches set up in a different way. Apex Legends participants will compete in standard battle royale matches in custom Open Series lobbies. The more kills players get and the higher they rank, the more likely they are to be placed in the Monthly Final, which awards cash prizes to the winners. Even if they don’t make it to the Monthly Final, entrants can still receive unique themes and avatars for participating.

In Rainbow Six Siege, rounds will consists of 5v5 TDM Bomb objective matches. Like in the Apex Legends competition, players can receive exclusive themes, avatars, and even cash for the highest placements. Both games give players the opportunity to squad up with friends and take on the competition together.

Other games in the Open Series lineup include Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, NBA 2K21, and FIFA 21. The first Apex Legends and Rainbow Six Siege tournaments will take place in September.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Emily Morrow is a games journalist and narrative designer who has written for a variety of online publications. If she’s…

Gaming

Sony’s cloud handheld, the PlayStation Portal, will only stream certain games

Astro's Playroom booting up on the PlayStation Portal.

Sony has unveiled the price for its upcoming cloud gaming handheld, as well as an official name for the device: PlayStation Portal. However, one significant caveat to its functionality might sour people's interest in the handheld: It only supports PS4 and PS5 native games that the owner purchased.
PlayStation VR2 games can't be streamed to PlayStation Portal, which does make sense. More bafflingly, though, is the fact that the PlayStation Blog post states that "games that are streamed through PlayStation Plus Premium’s cloud streaming are not supported." That means you shouldn't pick up PlayStation Portal expecting to stream some PS3 and PS4 games available through PlayStation Plus Premium to the device. That's certainly an odd omission when it's currently PlayStation's most notable cloud gaming effort.
Although Microsoft is more closely associated with cloud gaming, Sony beat it to releasing a dedicated cloud gaming device. PlayStation Portal was first teased as Project Q during May's PlayStation showcase, but now, a PlayStation Blog post more clearly explains what we can actually expect from the handheld. Most importantly, we learned that PlayStation Portal will cost $200, which puts it underneath the cost of a Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series S, and other cloud gaming devices like the Logitech G Cloud Handheld.
As for what you're getting for that price tag, it's essentially a decent screen attached to two halves of a DualSense controller. The controllers on each side share all the functionality of the DualSense, including things like haptic feedback and adaptive triggers. In-between is an 8-inch LCD screen that streams games over Wi-Fi at up to a 1080p resolution and 60 frames per second. All in all, that's fairly solid for a cloud gaming handheld that is this cheap.
Sony confirmed that the PlayStation Portal will have a 3.5mm audio jack, but also used the same blog post to unveil two new wireless audio options. There's the Pulse Elite wireless headset that features a retractable boom mic and a charging hanger and Pulse Explore wireless earbuds that offer similar audio quality in earbud form.
None of these products are available for preorder or have a specific release date just yet, but they are all expected to launch before the end of the year.

Gaming

PlayStation 5 Slim: All rumors and speculation

A PS5 stands on a table.

It's at around this point in a console's life cycle that companies like to release a new, slim model to reinvigorate sales, cut costs, and experiment with a new design. Sony has been trimming down its home consoles since the PS2, with each home console getting a slimmer, sometimes cheaper replacement a few years after launch. We're closing in on the PlayStation 5's third birthday and rumors abound about both a PS5 Pro and a PS5 Slim model, and yet Sony's remained tight-lipped about any iterations on the base unit. Still, some of these rumors and potential leaks may hold some weight and are fun to follow regardless to see how accurate they end up being.
Will there be a PS5 Slim? Here's what we know
Before getting into the rumors and leaks, know that until Sony itself confirms the existence of a PS5 Slim, everything that follows is speculative and should be taken as such.

The first rumors of a new PS5 model centered around a diskless version that could be paired with a detachable disk drive you could buy separately in another step away from physical media. This was speculated to be coming out sometime in fall 2023, but has been rolled into the idea of the PS5 Slim. This potentially imminent release date also lines up with statements Microsoft made about a new PS5 Slim releasing this year for $400 during the Federal Trace Commission (FTC) hearing.

Gaming

The most exciting PlayStation Showcase trailers you shouldn’t miss

A planet floats in the sky in Marathon.

Sony returned to its long-form PlayStation Showcase format today with an hourlong reveal stream showing off what's next for the PlayStation 5. The stream was filled with plenty of exciting announcements, from a remake of Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater to a spectacular Marvel's Spider-Man 2 trailer. Those were just a few of the games shown off during the stream though, which was packed with trailers.

There was a lot to see and no one would blame you if you missed a few things during the hour. From astonishing indie games from celebrated studios to a mysterious new project from Bungie, these are the trailers you need to catch up on if you missed the show.
Marvel's Spider-Man 2
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 | Gameplay Reveal