Cities Skylines 2 publisher refunds DLC and admits: "We let you down"

Got some nice rain for you today. Second-Loop is an upcoming sci-fi shooter featuring mechs, physics puzzles, and at least one freaky umbilical-corded being struggling against the confines of a horrific laboratory womb. Video games! All of that sounds interesting. But it's the moody reflections on the rain-slick surfaces and the game's bodycam-style presentation that's really got me going "oooooo". Don't you want to say "oooooo" too? C'mere and see.

In its continuing quest to become Everything to Everyone, Fortnite has shapeshifted, The Thing-like, into a new Lego Star Wars game. The Lego Fortnite survival mode has been expanded with a new, permanent Star Wars world, with this weekend - which includes May the Fourth, don’tcha know - also kicking off a new battle pass and bringing additions to every other part of Fortnite: whether you’re playing it as a battle royale shooter (remember that?), racing game or music-rhythm successor to Guitar Hero.

11 bit studios kicked off its beta for its post-apocalyptic city-builder, Frostpunk 2, this week for those who have pre-ordered the Deluxe Edition of the game. The beta runs through April 22.

For someone who’s spent an embarrassing amount of my life staring at virtual maps, I am a downright directionless dunce when it comes to geography. Not ‘the country of Africa’ bad, but certainly not good enough that you’d want me on your pub quiz team. Also, I still do the Shredded Wheat rhyme internally when I have to follow directions. However, I do enjoy making maps turn a different colour in strategy games, Total War chiefly among them. Well, one such map is expanding before my confused idiot eyes, that being Total War: Pharaoh’s. It’s getting a new, distinctly Mesopotamia and Aegea-shaped bit. I believe that’s just south of Eastopotamia and Wegea.

Ravenlok and five other games are leaving Xbox Game Pass later today, April 30. This wave of outgoing titles will round off an uncharacteristically busy month for Xbox Game Pass in terms of departures.

Armadillos, the grumpy pistachio nuts of the animal kingdom, have been added to Minecraft in a recent mob update. You can brush them to harvest "scutes", the boney armour plating of the animal's back, which you can then use to craft armour for pet wolves. Speaking of wolves, this update also sees an explosion in canine diversity, with eight varieties of the wolf now appearing across different biomes. Awoooooo!

It seems that Prison Architect 2 is going method in its approach to launching the 3D sequel to the jailhouse management game, as - like its inmates - it just can’t seem to secure a solid release. Originally due to arrive in March, before being pushed into May, developers Double Eleven have now shunted it all the way back to September.

Here’s a heads-up on a sweet deal you might not want to miss. Down in Bermuda, the puzzle game by Yak & Co has just dropped its price from $4.99 to $1.49. Yup, you read that right. You can dive into the mysterious Bermuda at a much cheaper price than usual.

11 bit Studios’ Frostpunk 2 isn’t even out yet but is garnering praise for its recent beta. A new accolades trailer highlights what critics think of the social survival sequel. Check it out below.

Prison Architect 2 has been delayed once again. The upcoming jail sim sequel will now arrive this autumn, following the discovery of «unexpected issues occurring too often».

Snail Games has just launched one of its popular PC titles on Android. It’s Dark and Light Mobile, the mobile version of the original Dark and Light PC game that dropped in 2017. If you’re in the United States, Europe or Southeast Asia, you can get a sneak peek at this survival game on Android.

While Cities: Skylines 2 has made progress on the performance front, not everything about the troubled citybuilder is on the up. In fact, player reception to the recently released Beach Properties DLC has proven so un-sunny that both developers Colossal Order and publishers Paradox Interactive have issued a joint statement apologising for the state it launched in.