Understanding terrain is crucial for a commander, and the ability to read a map is crucial for tactical operations.

Terrain influences movement and combat. To gain this knowledge, a commander must utilize the tools at their disposal. Knowledge of terrain will allow units to maneuver and fight.

What types of terrain are there in the game and where can they find information?

First, look at the colors.

Map Colors.

Maps are colored. These colors allow you to determine whether the terrain is forest, open ground, road, or water/river. They also indicate whether the terrain is high (the darker the brown, the higher the terrain) or deep (the darker the blue, the deeper the terrain).

Terrain Types:

Road

A military saying goes: “War is fought along roads.” Roads are the easiest to traverse for both infantry and tanks. But they are also usually the strongly defended. Units move quickly along the road, but they can also fall into ambushes.

Forest

Forests slow down infantry movement and prevent tanks from operating. They limit visibility, but also make your own units less visible. This allows you to approach closer to your target. In forests, it’s easier for the enemy to conceal units from aerial observation.

Ground

Ground means open terrain, you can see far away, but your own units are also visible from a distance.

Built-Up Area

Built-up areas in the game refer to several or a dozen buildings clustered together in one place. They can also refer to towns or cities. Fighting in urban areas is difficult. Tanks are particularly vulnerable to fire, so they require infantry cover.

Steep Slope

The slopes of some hills are so steep that it is very hard for infantry climb them. Climbing exposes troops on observation and fire from hilltop. Climbing troops fire accuracy drops. Steep slopes are unvailable for tanks. To push tanks on tophill the road must be used.

Water

Water is the part of the map that belongs to the sea. Water represents shallow water. This has tactical significance because a support ship/destroyer cannot enter this part of the map; it is inaccessible to them. Water surrounds islands and can vary in width.

Deep Water

Deep water is the part of the map that a fire support ship/destroyer can navigate.

There are several tools for working on the map and gaining knowledge of the terrain.

River

A river is an obstacle for both tanks and infantry. Some rivers won’t be traversable for your units and a bridge will be required to cross it. Pay attention to the intel. A seemingly small stream can block your troops.

There are several tools for working on the map and gaining knowledge of the terrain.

Colors

Looking at the colors allows you to roughly understand the type of terrain on the map and at a given point.

Ruler

This allows you to measure distances. Take a ruler and place it on a spot on the map.

Elevation Measurement

In the MAP TOOLS/TOOLS tab, select the tool for obtaining information about the terrain and its elevation. After turning it on, moving the cursor will display terrain and elevation information.

Displayed coordinate system

You can use the highlighted coordinate system to help you orient yourself on the map. In the MAP TOOLS/TOOLS tab, select the coordinate system icon.

Wishlist the game on Steam.

Season 3 takes an explosive turn with the return of two legendary experiences and more, plus one free week of all-out warfare.

Battlefield 6 Season 3 Free Trial Week Trailer

NEW BATTLEFIELD 6 MAP: CAIRO BAZAAR
A reimagined version of Grand Bazaar from Battlefield 3, this lively marketplace in the heart of Cairo is packed with alleys and innovative tactical opportunities for high-intensity close-quarters combat. All the action takes place in and around a single city block, with an outer perimeter road for small vehicle traffic and flanking opportunities.

With a mirrored map design that grants NATO and Pax Armata similar pathways, shortcuts, and chokepoints, every squad becomes a merchant of destruction.

NEW BATTLEFIELD 6 MODE: OBLITERATION
The iconic BF4 multiplayer experience returns with a new epic evolution. Obliteration is a battle to destroy enemy M-COMs (Military Communications) using bombs placed neutrally on each map. Both sides must risk everything to get the bomb, escort their carrier to the detonation site, and obliterate the enemy.

NEW BATTLEFIELD 6 | REDSEC BONUS PATH EVENT: EXPLOSIVE CHARGE
Stock up on the latest firepower through the limited-time Explosive Charge Bonus Path Event, where you can unlock the PP-19 SMG and several Customization Rewards.

NEW BATTLEFIELD 6 | REDSEC HARDWARE
PP-19 – New SMG: A formidable SMG reborn: featuring an optional high-capacity helical magazine, the PP-19 is a 9x19mm SMG that carves up squads at short-range. First released in Battlefield 2, with a futuristic version released in Battlefield 2042, the PP-19’s reputation as a steady damage-dealer extends into the past, present, and future.

Handheld Jammer – New Gadget: Jam the enemy signal. The Handheld Jammer is a Recon Gadget that disrupts nearby smart/electronic devices for a short period of time. Once activated, it can either be thrown – or placed – in an area to provide localized malfunctions, or carried around to turn a Recon soldier into a mobile nuisance.

#00 Buckshot – New Attachment: Double-aught buckshot is similar to the standard shot in every Battlefield 6 and REDSEC shotgun, albeit with slightly larger pellets and less pellets per shot. If you rather not shoot a single slug, but still want more range and less spread than regular buckshot, then #00 is your #1 ammunition choice to spend those Attachment Points on.

Cryogenic Barrels – New Attachment: When state-of-the-art cryogenic technology meets a hard steel barrel, it creates a temperature barrier that helps a weapon better withstand standard operating friction and combustion. In other words, Cryogenic Barrels are tempered for better accuracy over sustained fire without being heavier than the factory standard version, which grants soldiers faster aim down sight times compared to using a heavier barrel.

ONE FREE WEEK OF ALL-OUT WARFARE
Now until June 15, experience 5 modes and 4 maps, including Cairo Bazaar and Obliteration, during the Battlefield 6 Free Trial. Squad up and drop into the award-winning Multiplayer for a limited-time through Battlefield REDSEC.

Visit Battlefield.com or Steam for more information.

Today we are excited to share that Veterans: Napoleonic Wars will take part in Steam Next Fest, running from June 15 to June 22. During the festival, players will be able to try a free demo of the game directly on Steam and get their first hands-on experience with the Italian Campaign of 1796–1797.

To mark the occasion, we have also released a brand new trailer for Veterans: Napoleonic Wars.

Brandish your bayonet and step into the boots of a frontline general. No base building, no idle time. Just thousands of soldiers, tens of battalions on screen at once, and the smell of gunpowder in the air.

What’s in the Next Fest demo:

• Real-time combat focused entirely on battlefield tactics, inspired by the first Italian Napoleonic campaigns
• Historically accurate line, column, and square formations
• Unit morale, fatigue, and line of sight that directly shape every engagement
• Dynamic weather, drifting smoke, and fog of war that alter visibility round by round
• Cavalry breakthroughs, flanking maneuvers, and desperate melee charges when the ammo runs dry

Steam Next Fest is the best moment so far to try the game, share feedback with the team, and help shape the experience ahead of Early Access. We hope you will join us on the battlefield.

Wishlist the game on Steam now.

Last week, Ubisoft announced that The Division Resurgence, its new free-to-play third-person shooter RPG, will be available on Steam. Players can Wishlist The Division Resurgence on Steam now.

ABOUT THE DIVISION RESURGENCE:

The Division Resurgence is a mobile-first, free-to-play third-person shooter RPG that brings the acclaimed Tom Clancy’s The Division experience to handheld devices, with upcoming availability on PC via Ubisoft Connect and Steam. Set in the iconic streets of New York City, the game transforms the environment into a shared open world and includes signature PvPvE modes such as Dark Zone and Conflict.

Featuring a brand-new standalone story, players can take on missions solo or team up with up to three others to protect civilians, push back hostile factions, and help restore stability to the city. Players can also enjoy full cross-play and cross-progression across mobile and PC platforms.

The game offers deep RPG progression with extensive gear and weapon customisation, multiple specialisations with signature weapons and unique gadgets, and the flexibility to switch roles at any time to match playstyle or team needs.

Firefly Studios has announced Stronghold 4, the latest installment of its Stronghold ‘castle sim’ series. A demo is to be released on June 23rd, and the game is now available to Wishlist on Steam.

Stronghold 4 Announcement Trailer

Immerse yourself in a cinematic campaign, hone your siegecraft with new mechanics in skirmish mode and customise your castles with a wide selection of castle pieces and cosmetics.

Follow the tale of Penryn of Wethel as his simple shepherd’s life is upended and he is forced through trial by fire to become the leader he sees within himself.

Feel the impact of a living medieval world on your castle economy and siegecraft, as you battle against hostile outlaws, rival lords and the elements themselves, with the bloody sieges and grand warfare of Stronghold feeling more epic than ever before!

New Features

• DISCOVER THE ORIGINS of Stronghold and live the tale of Penryn of Wethel, in this narrative prequel with new music from Robert L. Euvino.
• ASCEND TO GREATNESS in a cinematic 22-mission campaign, featuring original larger-than-life characters alongside familiar favourites.
• CUSTOMISE YOUR CASTLE with cosmetics and feudal details. Balance honour, taxes, food and more to keep peace amongst the peasantry!
• SHARPEN YOUR SIEGECRAFT with unique tactical military structures and units as well as popular classics like moats and tunnelers.
• CONQUER THE BATTLEFRONT using enhanced medieval war mechanics, forcing you to consider weather, army composition and more.
• MARCH WITHOUT FEAR into a fully-featured skirmish mode with 8 fearsome CPU opponents at launch!
• CARVE YOUR OWN LEGEND through additional solo modes and content including a full skirmish trail, free build and custom skirmish modes.

Latest main battle tanks and dozens of other new vehicles are joining the fight

Gaijin Entertainment announces that the next major content update “Heavy Cavalry” will be available for the military online action game War Thunder in mid-June. It will feature the very latest modern MBTs, such as the American M1A2С Abrams, the true knights of the modern battlefield. Dozens of other new vehicles are coming to the game including Yak-130 and M-346FA light combat/trainer aircraft and the immense North Carolina battleship. The game environment, objects, buildings, and roads have been completely redesigned for the classic 38th Parallel and Ash River locations, and a new version of the winter Ardennes map will be added.

‘Heavy Cavalry’ Update Trailer

The M1A2C, the most advanced production variant of the U.S. Abrams main battle tank, arrives in War Thunder as the new peak of the M1A2 line. Building on the SEP v2 family, this modernized Abrams features significantly improved frontal turret protection, making its turret cheeks extremely difficult to penetrate at medium and long ranges, while the researchable TUSK package adds ARAT 2 explosive reactive armor to the hull and turret sides for extra protection against ATGMs. Its firepower is also upgraded with the powerful M829A3 APFSDS round, designed to perform better against certain types of explosive reactive armor, while the U.S. version also gains the XM1147 high-explosive round with a programmable fuse.

The Yak-130 is a compact and highly agile modern Russian strike aircraft, bringing impressive handling, strong thrust-to-weight ratio and a surprisingly diverse suspended arsenal. Developed from the same early training aircraft project that later led to Italy’s M-346 family, the Yak-130 will be joined in the same update by Italian M-346FA, giving players two related but distinctly different aircraft to master.

The Yak-130 is powered by two turbofan engines, capable of reaching around 1,050 km/h at sea level while remaining exceptionally responsive in flight. It does not carry radar or air-to-air guided missiles, but makes up for this with a wide selection of ground-attack ordnance, including several types of unguided rockets, free-fall and TV-guided bombs for precision strikes. Small, fast and easy to control, the Yak-130 should become a dangerous support aircraft for players who enjoy aggressive low-altitude attacks and precise strikes against ground targets.

One of the new features debuting in the update is the addition of arresting gear at ground airfields. An aircraft equipped with an arresting hook attaches to one or more sequentially arranged cables, significantly reducing the landing run on short airfields. Attention to small but important details like this makes War Thunder battles even more realistic with each update. More information on the new content and features in the “Heavy Cavalry” update is available at the official War Thunder website.

Relic Entertainment announces Company of Heroes – Definitive Edition, a comprehensive modernization of the landmark 2006 real-time strategy game that redefined the genre. Launching Fall 2026, the Definitive Edition brings one of the highest-rated strategy games of all time into the modern era, fully enhanced for Today’s hardware while staying true to the gritty atmosphere, squad-level tactics, and immersive WWII battlefields that made the original a classic.

Company of Heroes – Definitive Edition Announcement Trailer

The Definitive Edition includes all content in the base game and Opposing Fronts and Tales of Valor expansions, delivering three cinematic campaigns, four unique armies, and more than 50 multiplayer & skirmish maps.

At the heart of the Definitive Edition is a commitment to preserving what made Company of Heroes iconic. The game has been fully upgraded to a 64-bit platform to support modern systems, with faithfully enhanced visuals — including improved lighting, shadows, water, and reflections — while maintaining the original art direction and tone. Improved rendering features and increased draw distance bring greater battlefield immersion without compromising the look and feel players remember.

The iconic squad-based gameplay, destructible environments, and cinematic WWII storytelling remain intact.

Modernized for Today’s Players

The Definitive Edition introduces a range of quality-of-life and technical improvements for both new players and returning veterans:

• Enhanced A.I. delivers a more dynamic and challenging experience, with a new Ruthless difficulty option for the most hardened strategists
• Modernized User Interface and controls, including grid key support and fully customizable hotkeys
• Gameplay improvements such as vehicle reversing and automatic unit reinforcement at HQ
• Widescreen and ultrawide support with an optimized HUD and screen layout
• Full mod compatibility, supporting a 20-year catalogue of community-created content

Celebrating 20 Years of Company of Heroes

The Definitive Edition serves as the centerpiece of a franchise-wide 20th Anniversary celebration. As part of the 20th Anniversary, Relic will also be introducing exciting new modes and content for Company of Heroes 3, as well as a series of community initiatives honoring two decades of strategic innovation.

Company of Heroes – Definitive Edition is set to release Fall 2026 on PC. Release date and pricing details will be announced at a later date.

Check out the Steam Listing HERE.

BULKHEAD & Team17 have revealed a brand-new gameplay trailer for WARDOGS, their upcoming Tactical All Out Warfare FPS, during the Future Games Show Summer Showcase.

Watch the trailer HERE.

The new gameplay trailer gives players the clearest look yet at WARDOGS in action. Set around the high-stakes Control Zone, 100 players and three rival teams fight to dominate the battlefield. WARDOGS combines tactical gunplay, combined-arms combat, construction, destruction, and large-scale team play, creating a warzone where coordination matters, risk pays off, and cash is king.

The reveal comes as WARDOGS recently passed 500,000 Wishlist’s on Steam, a major milestone for the independent studio, offering a clear signal that players are hungry for a different kind of large-scale shooter.

Following recent hands-on playtests, BULKHEAD is opening sign-ups for the next WARDOGS playtest.

Players can sign up now at community.wardogs.com/signup/community.

For BULKHEAD, playtesting has never been a marketing beat with a feedback form bolted on. It’s a real opportunity for players to push the systems, expose the cracks, test the chaos, and help shape WARDOGS into the all-out warfare experience they have been asking for.

The WARDOGS party isn’t over yet. Head to WARDOGS.com now for an exclusive extended gameplay reveal stream with live footage taken during a team playtest earlier this week. Then, tune into the PC Gamer show tomorrow for a deeper look at what’s coming next.

WARDOGS arrives on Steam Early Access this summer and is available to Wishlist now.

WARDOGS is an All-Out Warfare FPS that combines tactical gunplay and combined arms combat with building and destruction mechanics in a large-scale, up to 100-player militaristic sandbox.

Cash persists from match to match, so spending big on better gear, equipment, or a vehicle at the right time has the potential to turn the tide of battle and could yield massive returns.

Bandai Namco Entertainment America Inc. today released a new systems walkthrough trailer, offering a deep-dive into the high-stakes aerial combat, robust aircraft customization, and colossal superweapon battles awaiting players in ACE COMBAT 8: WINGS OF THEVE™. The trailer breaks down the core systems that define the flight shooting experience in the long-awaited sequel, from intense dogfights to new strategic combat mechanics against massive enemies. Developed by Bandai Namco Aces Inc., ACE COMBAT 8: WINGS OF THEVE is the first mainline entry in ACE COMBAT™ in seven years, taking players back to the franchise’s legendary fictitious setting of Strangereal and harnesses the power of Unreal® Engine 5 to deliver an ultra-realistic aerial thrill ride. The title will take to the skies with Early Access available for Deluxe Edition holders on September 29, 2026, and launch for all players on October 2. Preorders are available now on PlayStation®5, XBOX Series X|S, and PC via Steam® in Standard and Deluxe Editions.

ACE COMBAT 8: WINGS OF THEVE Walkthrough Trailer

The walkthrough trailer breaks down the core systems that players will want to learn and master as they take on the role of an ace pilot in ACE COMBAT 8: WINGS OF THEVE. Delivering a fast-paced aerial combat experience built around complete 360-degree flight freedom and dynamic weather effects, the game puts players in the cockpit to engage in intense dogfights. The series’ signature intuitive controls and easy to understand systems drive the high-speed action, where staying on target to achieve objectives while evading incoming missiles with defensive maneuvers, including high-G turns performed in the heat of battle, are the keys to victory. Wingmen also play an important role in combat in ACE COMBAT 8: WINGS OF THEVE, with players issuing tactical commands such as attack and cover orders in real time.

Beyond the action in the skies, preparation plays a key role before every sortie. ACE COMBAT 8: WINGS OF THEVE features a wide selection of real-world aircraft along with original aircraft. Players are encouraged to consider the mission objective and their playstyle to pick the best aircraft for the job and can build fighters tailored to each mission by customizing with upgrade parts and special weapons. Mission briefings provide strategic insight, encouraging players to adapt their aircraft and tactics to each combat scenario.

The trailer also showcases massive enemy superweapons that dominate the battlefield with overwhelming offensive and defensive capabilities. ACE COMBAT 8: WINGS OF THEVE introduces new gameplay mechanics that allow players to damage these colossal targets outside designated target zones. In addition, the giant targets can now strike areas beyond their designated target containers and destroying them can trigger chain reactions as the wreckage of downed enemy weaponry collides with nearby targets, taking out surrounding foes. Players will also face elite ace squadrons that employ coordinated aerial tactics and relentless attacks, creating high stakes encounters that demand precision piloting, strategic thinking, and mastery of aerial combat.

For more information, visit the games official website, or on Steam.

Developer Hypnotic Ants is proud to announce that Medic: Pacific War is available now in Steam Early Access for $9.99 / €9.99 / £8.99, with a 10% launch discount available for a limited time.

Unlike traditional war games, Medic: Pacific War places players in the boots of a combat medic, where success is measured not by enemies defeated, but by soldiers brought home alive. As artillery rains down and gunfire erupts across the battlefield, players must assess injuries, manage pain, stop bleeding, stabilize critical wounds, and evacuate casualties under relentless pressure.

To celebrate TODAY’s launch, Hypnotic Ants has also released a brand-new gameplay trailer showcasing the intense medical procedures, life-or-death decisions, and frontline rescues players will face as they fight to save lives amidst the chaos of World War II’s Pacific campaign.

Medic: Pacific War Official Early Access Trailer

The Early Access launch includes the first two chapters of the game’s story campaign, following young medic trainee Mayers as he begins his journey during the attack on Pearl Harbor before being thrust into the brutal realities of frontline combat in the Philippines. As the war escalates, players will witness Mayers’ transformation from inexperienced recruit to battlefield medic, facing impossible decisions and desperate situations where every second counts.

Alongside the campaign, players can also dive into Lifeline, a highly replayable roguelite mode that offers a fresh challenge with every run. Set across alternate versions of campaign locations, Lifeline features its own progression system, allowing players to complete challenges, earn Challenge Points, and unlock permanent perks that improve future runs. During each deployment, players must develop new skills, manage limited resources, purchase vital equipment, and adapt to ever-changing battlefield conditions as they strive to save as many lives as possible.