Larian CEO and founder Swen Vincke thinks he's cracked the first act of his next game, but 'it's not what you think and this is not an teaser for an announcement'

The creator of The Binding of Isaac, one of the most iconic roguelike games ever made, has said that he thinks his next game "will be seen as my best work."

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Developer Mintrocket, known for its work on Dave the Diver, has unveiled its next title. Dubbed Wakerunners, the upcoming game is a fast-paced 4-on-4 and 5-on-5 MOBA in the vein of genre classics like League of Legends or Dota 2.

The Baldur's Gate 3 creative director, Swen Vincke, stated that acquiring good video game content might be more challenging if subscriptions become the dominant model in the industry. The Baldur's Gate 3 creative director's comments were in response to recent statements from a Ubisoft executive who suggested that gamers may need to adjust to not owning their games as video game subscriptions gain popularity.

The makers of Baldur’s Gate 3 have made it pretty clear that the game won’t be coming to subscription services like Xbox Game Pass any time soon, saying they believe the amount they charge for the game is fair. Now in a new statement responding to Ubisoft saying we should get used to no longer owning games, Larian boss Swen Vincke has gone a step further.

Over the last decade or so, the entertainment industry has seen many rises and falls across all brands. These changes have affected music, TV, movies, and even video games. Things “for sure never going to fail” started to fail. Then, things that “could never work” have done well and made many wonder if things could go further down that path. One such path is that of the “game subscription service,” which was punctuated by the Xbox Game Pass, which has done wonders for Microsoft. However, Larian Studios isn’t on board with this notion, nor with notions of such services made by fellow game developers.

The director of Baldur's Gate 3 has discussed the possibility of their games heading to subscription services, sharing: "Direct from developer to players is the way."

With the debate around the future of video game subscriptions heating up, one high-profile developer has come out strongly on the side of the traditional method of selling games.

Dave the Diver developer MintRocket has revealed its next game, a PVP team-based arena battler called Wakerunners. The studio’s first project,released in mid-2023, is a whimsical pixel-based adventure game. Its appealing gameplay loop sucked players in, leading Dave the Diver to be an unexpected viral success, surprising even the developer.

Dave The Diver was one of last year's surprise hits, but though some called it an indie game, it was actually the work of Mintrocket, a subsidiary of Korean publisher Nexon. Now Mintrocket have announced their next game and it seems less likely to cause such confusion. It's called Wakerunners, and it's a team-based "battle action game" about heroes smashing at each other.

Yet another returning character has been revealed for Tekken 8, with the tomb keeper Zafina ready to unleash an ancient evil upon her unlucky opponents. The next chapter of Bandai Namco’s hard-hitting 3D fighting franchise is now only a few weeks from release, and there has been plenty of inspired marketing during the run-up to Tekken 8. For example, Succession star Brian Cox recently appeared in a trailer recapping the Tekken story so far, reminding fans of the dark and twisted rivalry of the Mishima family and its three most prominent members ahead of Kazuya Mishima and Jin Kazama’s next epic clash.

By Jon Porter, a reporter with five years of experience covering consumer tech releases, EU tech policy, online platforms, and mechanical keyboards.