Gaming in county Early. Reviews, Walkthroughs, News

Pax Dei will enter Early Access this spring, Mainframe Industries announced today. Their cloud-based sandbox also got an Early Access trailer at this morning’s Nvidia presentation, as the game will launch with DLSS 3 support.

After being revealed at the Las Vegas Final Fantasy Fest in July, and then detailed at the London Fan Fest in October, the Final Fantasy XVI crossover event is scheduled to hit the popular MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV in Early April. We’ve known the event was in the works for a while now, but this is the first time we’re seeing an actual release timeframe. The event will launch with the current expansion, Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker, ahead of the release of the new one Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail.

Publisher Game Source Entertainment updated plans on a handful of titles, including deck-building roguelite Lost in Fantaland (via Gematsu). The isometric strategy game is currently in Early Access on PC, and it’s coming to PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch this June. 

Sim smash hit Satisfactory has sold more than five million copies to date.

Asynchronous multiplayer roguelike game Phantom Abyss will leave Early Access and launch for Xbox Series and PC via Steam and Humble Store on January 25, publisher Devolver Digital and developer Team WIBY announced.

Supernature Games-developed roguelite deckbuilder Lost in Fantaland will launch for PlayStation 5 and Switch in June, global publisher Game Source Entertainment announced.

Definitely-not-an-indie-game Dave the Diver has reeled in an impressive sales milestone, just six months after the mix of fishing sim, restaurant management game and slice-of-life RPG exited Early Access.

Total sales for single-player adventure RPG DAVE THE DIVER have surpassed three million units, developer MINTROCKET announced.

On January 1, Steamboat Willie, the cartoon that introduced the world to Mickey Mouse, entered the public domain, meaning the first version of Disney’s iconic mascot is (mostly) free to use by anyone. And just like when the film Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey took advantage of that whimsical character entering the public domain, someone has already started making a twisted, horrifying version of Mickey. In this case, it’s a video game.

Throughout 2023 the overseas shipping crisis more or less resolved itself, allowing the busy board game release schedule to resume full-throttle. Consuming all of these titles, however, is like drinking from a fire hose, and 2024 looks to be just as splashy and bombastic as the year that came before. Here are eight promising new board games that have caught our eye.

I already had a mountain of games from 2023 left to get through, and it seems another must-play for me quietly snuck out just before year's end. Dino Hazard: Chronos Blackout is a '90s-style JRPG that looks to be equal parts Undertale, Jurassic Park, and Phantasy Star, and it's almost like it was engineered to appeal to me, specifically.

Mickey Mouse is now playable in a video game! Which is to say, the public domain version of Mickey Mouse just got added to a game.

is a remake of, but it hasn't been afraid to make changes where they've been needed. A lot of the changes that have been made are for the sake of balance, helping to prevent items from being as overpowered as they were in, and therefore forcing survivors to come up with new strategies when fighting beasts or other tribes. However, even changes that seem small end up having big effects regarding how the game is played and what strategies work the best.

Infestation 88 was announced by developers Nightmare Forge Games yesterday (January 1) in the New Year celebrations as the iconic black and white cartoon character Steamboat Willie (an older version of Mickey Mouse) is now in the public domain. 

Of the many, many dormant IP Microsoft now owns, one of the ones that fans have been dreaming of a revival for the longest is Banjo-Kazooie. In an official capacity, though the demand for a new Banjo game has certainly not gone unacknowledged, there has been little concrete evidence to suggest that one might actually been in the works- though unofficially, that’s exactly what rumours seem to be claiming.

2024 is finally here, and with it comes the realization that Steamboat Willie, the earliest version of Mickey Mouse, is now in the public domain. That means the character can legally be used in other forms of media without the permission of Disney, similar to how Winnie the Pooh became part of the public domain back in 2023. Just like with Pooh, horror creators are having a field day with Steamboat Willie.

Last week Digital Extremes CEO Steve Sinclair went live on twitch, showing off Soulframe in its pre-alpha “preludes” state. The stream lasted about an hour and showed off some of the early basics such as character models, world design, and combat.

Turn-based strategy game Rising Lords will release on January 18, 2024 after nearly three years in Early Access. The hybrid of PC turn-based strategy with more traditional board game and card game design focuses around strategically expanding a medieval fiefdom's economy while raising armies to defend yourself against—or conquer—your neighbors.

The PC Master Race has been a meme for a good 15 years now, but it’s truer than ever in 2023. A top tier gaming PC might be horrendously expensive when stacked up against a PS5 or Xbox Series X|S, but these days it gives you the best of all worlds. Almost.

The Day Before, one of the most controversial and catastrophic games in recent memory, will have its servers shut down in January 2024, just 45 days after the game launched in Early Access.

Publisher and distributor Selecta Play has unveiled the contents of the upcoming Blasphemous 2 Collector’s Edition. Slated for release on PS5 and Nintendo Switch in early 2024, Blasphemous 2 Collector’s Edition will feature quite a few physical goodies alongside the game itself.

BlazBlue: Entropy Effect will leave Early Access and launch for PC via Steam on January 31, 2024, developer 91Act announced.

91Act has announced that their BlazBlue-flavored rougelite, BlazBlue Entropy Effect, leaves Early Access on PC on January 21, 2024.

While there’s a wealth of boomer shooters on Steam at this time—Cultic to Boltgun, just to mention a few—Ultrakill is still in a category all of its own. This infamy has been underlined further still with Patch 14, which features Layer 7 of Hell itself.

Steam keys for The Day Before, the once highly anticipated game that launched in such a poor state its developer shut down four days later, are being sold online for hundreds of dollars following its delisting.

Next year is shaping up to be a huge year for World of Warcraft fans. In a blog post, Blizzard released the 2024 roadmap for both retail World of Warcraft leading into The War Within expansion as well as the release plans for all things World of Warcraft Classic including Season of Discovery updates and Cataclysm Classic.

Waven , Ankama Games’ deckbuilding RPG is embarking on Chapter 3, Albuera, the conclusion of the Lance Dur season. The new update lets you challenge Lance Dur himself, get a chance to play as the game’s newest hero, the Astramantis, and discover the new islands of Amakna and Albuera. 

Before players meet Rauru in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, they see his arm. At the very beginning of the game, Link doesn’t really know what’s going on, but he wakes up with a mysterious appendage that’s not his — and that allows him to harness incredible powers. It’s not much later that Link meets a spirit version of Rauru, the first king of Hyrule and a character who belongs to a race of creatures called the Zonai. In lending Link his arm, Rauru gave the hero the means to go out into the wide world of Hyrule and realize the carefully laid plans of Princess Zelda.

Developer Pet Project Games has announced the first major content update for its co-op horror shooter RIPOUT. The update, titled the Payload Update, brings with it a new mission type, new levels, as well as a new sidearm in the form of the Machine Pistol. Check out the trailer for RIPOUT‘s Payload Update below.

If you haven’t heard, Baldur’s Gate 3 is a really, really good game. Just, so good. When the semi-regular cast of Beyond was asked to decide our best PlayStation game of 2023, several of us immediately blurted out Baldur’s Gate 3, and no one else had any objections. So, there are plenty of write-ups on IGN and elsewhere about why it’s so great, but I wanted to reflect a little on how it seemingly came out of nowhere. Make no mistake, this game is 100% Game of the Year material. It almost was IGN’s overall pick, losing to Zelda by a handful of votes. That said, it seems like a miracle that such a dense, unabashedly technical entry in a 23-years-dormant franchise would have such widespread appeal.

Godus and Godus Wars are being removed from sale on Steam.

Early in December, Rockstar Games ended years of restless anticipation when it finally officially unveiled Grand Theft Auto 6, and though the game is still a ways off from launch, excitement surrounding it is already at a fever pitch.

In a new blog published to the game’s official site, Andy Tsen, co-founder of Ramen VR, fully officially discussed the prospects of Zenith: The Last City’s 2.0 version. The blog also acknowledges that alpha playtests will be enacted soon. 

As we rampage on through to the end of the year, I think we’re all mentally preparing ourselves for any cathartic release and time off that we’re due. Do you have your gaming plans already lined up? Or are you waiting to see what ends up in your stockings?

Atari and Mega Cat Studios have released Food Fight: Culinary Combat, a multi-player reimagining of the somewhat bizarre 1983 arcade game, into Early Access. The catch is that, right now, it’s exclusively available on the Atari VCS.

After a decade in Early Access, Planet Management God Simulator The Universim is finally set for its full 1.0 release. Developer Crytivo revealed today that the God Sim will leave Early Access on January 22, 2024. Alongside a ton of improvements, the full release also introduces the space age which gives players access to advanced technology including the all-new planet cracker.

Developer Shiro Games has released the first DLC for its tactical open-world RPG Wartales. Titled Pirates of Belerion, the DLC brings with it a host of new features, including sea travel, character options, and new combat mechanics.

Creative Assembly, and specifically the Total War leadership team, posted a lengthy message to the series’ community today recognizing their own missteps while promising adjustments and course corrections, especially in regards to Total War: Pharaoh and Total War: Warhammer 3.

These days, fighting games live and die based on their online playerbase, and yet, Mortal Kombat 1 did not launch with crossplay support. Thankfully, that will change relatively soon though, as NetherRealm Studios announced in a recent livestream that crossplay between PC, Xbox Series X/S, and PS5 will be coming in early 2024 (perhaps unsurprisingly, the ill-fated Switch version is left out).

[UPDATE] Bethesda Game Studios has now responded to the Starfield update 1.8.88 thread on Reddit to reveal plenty of details on the game's patch roadmap for next year.

The developer of Steam disaster The Day Before has insisted it really is shutting down after scepticism emerged online following what looked like an attempt to change the company name.

Insomniac Games has announced that it is targeting an early 2024 release window for the much-awaited New Game Plus update for Marvel’s Spider-Man 2. The studio, announcing the release window over social media platform X, stated that it needs more more time to test the feature.

Spiders’ 2019 RPG GreedFall is what you would call a diamond in the rough- a game that certainly had its issues, but one that endeared itself massively to those who played it nonetheless. Naturally, then, when GreedFall 2: The Dying World was announced last year, the news was met with plenty of excitement. But with it having been well over a year since the game’s announcement, many are beginning to wonder when we’ll be hearing more news about the RPG.

In case you have not heard, FNTASTIC, the developer behind The Day Before, announced its closure less than a week after launching its zombie game in Early Access.

Earlier today, Fntastic revealed it was closing its doors just days after it launched The Day Before in Early Access. The developer claimed it "failed financially," and by that, it meant the game was refunded by roughly half those who bought and played it. 

Less than a week after The Day Before’s disastrous launch on PC, following multiple delays and becoming the most wishlisted game on Steam, the makers of the zombie-survival shooter have announced their closure.

Sign up for the GI Daily here to get the biggest news straight to your inbox

The Day Before developer Fntastic has shut down one week after the game’s Early Access launch, the company announced, citing the game’s financial failure as reason for the closure.

Ubisoft confirmed last month that it would be adding New Game Plus and a Permadeath mode to Assassin’s Creed Mirage with a free update in December, but it seems those plans have been slightly tweaked. While New Game Plus is arriving as scheduled, Permadeath mode will be added a little later.

A new train game is picking up steam in the train game community, with Railroader picking up 97% positive reviews on Steam since its December 7 Early Access launch. A sim of both driving the trains as well as routing them, choosing cargo, and picking passengers, Railroader looks to appeal to both the sim crowd and the less-hardcore folks who enjoy games like Euro and American Truck Simulator—even roping in a few strategy and transport sim types who enjoy games like Transport Fever.

Forget The Walking Dead; now it’s The Playing Dead, as The Walking Dead: Betrayal is being pulled from Steam and offering a refund.

Baldur’s Gate 3 had a huge night at The Game Awards 2023, winning Game of the Year and then just launching the game on Xbox Series X|S. Surprise!

The saga of The Day Before has been quite a wild and winding tale. One, it seems, without a happy ending. Originally revealed back in 2021, developer Fntastic promised an ambitious open-world looter-shooter zombie MMO along the lines of something like The Division and impressive early “gameplay” trailers earned the project a large following on Steam. Then the delays came, with Fntastic sometimes offering odd excuses for why the game had to be pushed back, including unexplained trademark issues (an explanation they later walked back). Fans also began to pick apart the gameplay showcases we’d seen, accusing them of being mere mockups and not representative of an actual game.

During The Game Awards, Red Barrels showed off a new trailer and provided an official release date for the third release in the Outlast franchise, The Outlast Trials. The game will be available on both PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S and PC. Two digital launch versions will be available that can be pre-ordered on both the Xbox and PlayStation digital stores now. This will include the Grizzly Hazmat Outfit with the pre-order. The Outlast Trials will release on March 5 for all platforms as the game launched in Early Access on PC during May 2023. This will be set in the same universe as the previous games but can be played with a friends in a team of up to four people.

Take-Two publishing label Private Division has announced No Rest for the Wicked, an upcoming action RPG from Ori developer Moon Studios.

Visually stunning Star Wars space battles are coming to Halo: The Master Chief Collection in early 2024 as part of the popular Battlefront pack mod.

Baldur’s Gate 3 had a huge night at The Game Awards 2023, winning Game of the Year and then just launching the game on Xbox Series X|S. Surprise!

Upcoming RTS from developer Frost Giant Studios is set to release in Early Access in the Summer of 2024. The PC-exclusive title had its release date revealed alongside a brief gameplay trailer at The Game Awards. Frost Giant Studios first revealed the RTS last year.

The Xbox Series version of Baldur’s Gate III is now available via Microsoft Store for $69.99, developer Larian Studios announced.

Tactical first-person shooter Ready or Not will leave Early Access and launch for PC via Steam on December 13 for $49.99 / €49.99 / £44.99, developer VOID Interactive announced.

Cooperative survival horror game The Outlast Trials will launch for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC via Steam and Epic Games Store on March 5, 2024, developer Red Barrels announced. It will be priced at $39.99 for the standard edition and $49.99 for the Deluxe Edition. The latter includes the “Reagent Starter Pack.” Pre-orders for both editions include the bonus “Legendary Grizzly Hazmat Outfit.”

The developer behind Ori and the Blind Forest thinks action RPGs have room for improvement, and aims to «reinvent the genre» with its new game No Rest for the Wicked.

The Day Before Launched today, two-and-a-half hours ago at the time of writing. I really have no interest in it. I didn’t even know it existed until today, and my job is to keep up with this stuff. However, that’s probably for the best because it already has around 1900 negative reviews on Steam out of 2200.

Today, My.Games opens up a cross-play PC/console beta for itsthird-person PvPvE extraction shooter, Hawked (stylized as HAWKED ). The game, which is in Early Access on PC, lets you play in both solo and squad modes to shoot, loot, and extract valuable artifacts.

Apple's iPad shipments have declined in the past quarter as the company failed to bring new changes. The entire iPad lineup is expected to be upgraded next year, which includes the iPad Pro, iPad Air, iPad mini, and the entry-level iPad. Today, industry analyst Mark Gurman reported that Apple is expected to launch two variants of the iPad Air alongside OLED iPad Pro models in the first half of 2024.

Tomorrow, players will finally be able to check out The Day Before when it opens in Early Access. 

We've seen a few games that use stop-motion animation, but Harold Halibut might be the most impressive to date. Officially heading to PS5 early next year, everything in this sci-fi narrative adventure was physically made by hand and then 3D scanned to bring it into the digital realm, resulting in a stunning look.

Treehouse Games has announced open-world survival crafting game Voyagers of Nera. It will launch in Early Access for PC via Steam in 2024.

In a statement, League of Geeks—developers of Armello, the upcoming Solium Infernum, and Jumplight Odyssey—have stated that they’ve had to “say goodbye” to over half their staff. As a result, Jumplight Odyssey, a game that’s currently in Early Access, is being placed on indefinite pause.

As part of the Wholesome Snack Showcase, Armor Games Studios and Bluecurse Studios announced that Snacko, the cat-fronted farming game, is set to enter Early Access… now. Right now! Go look!

Open-world farming adventure game Lightyear Frontier will launch in Early Access for Xbox Series and PC via Steam and Microsoft Store in March 2024, publisher Amplifier Game Invest and developer FRAME BREAK announced.

Snacko is now available in Early Access for PC via Steam, publisher Armor Games Studios and developer Bluecurse Studios announced. A full launch will follow for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Switch, and PC via Steam in 2024.

Thanks to an Early Access release, The Day Before release time is coming a great deal before many of us likely imagined. 

The churn of Netflix content makes it almost inevitable that occasionally disparate movies and TV shows will share similar titles. It’s decidedly less typical for two different films bearing the exact same title to arrive on the service at roughly the same time. But that happened in late 2023: One movie called Leo arrived on the service on Nov. 21, followed by another movie called Leo just a week later.

Australian studio League of Geeks is pausing development on Jumplight Odyssey indefinitely after making over 50 percent of its workforce redundant.

Racing games come and go, but the best of them manage to combine memorable visuals with fantastic handling and game modes. New Star GP is a racer that looks firmly to the past while crafting a racing game of the future, with retro-influenced visuals – think Sega classics like Virtua Racing and Daytona – but a thoroughly modern outlook. While it’s currently out in Early Access on PC, you can hop into a brand new demo on Xbox right now, all in preparation for the game’s release in 2024.

Armello developer League of Geeks has just announced that it's laying off 50% of its staff.

Gearbox Publishing and developer Magic Design Studios have released side-scrolling roguelite action game Have a Nice Death for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One for $24.99, the companies announced.

Like many people, I became aware of Beyoncé as a director in 2016, when she released an hourlong video experience for Lemonade, labeled a “visual album.” It wasn’t her first visual album: She’d released one for 2013’s Beyoncé. And she wasn’t the only director on Lemonade: Six fellow directors worked with her. But still, it made an impression on me.Lemonade is a short film of unprecedented ambition, supported by a level of resources Black woman creators rarely get to access. It’s a poetic fever dream, both a broader story about Black women’s strength, suffering, joy, and healing in the United States, and an intimate portrayal of Beyoncé’s personal pain. When the final shot faded out, I turned to my sister and said, “That is one of the best movies I’ve seen all year.”