Nathan Birch

Ubisoft’s crossover Call-of-Duty-esque multiplayer shooter XDefiant has been in various forms of testing for over a year and delayed multiple times, but it seems the game is finally launching for real this month. XDefiant will be a free-to-play live-service game with regular updates, but it will launch with a variety of “preseason” content, including five factions, 14 maps, and multiple modes. Here’s a rundown of the launch content.

For a while in the late 2010/early 2020s, it seemed liked gaming subscriptions may be the future of the hobby. Microsoft certainly wanted us to think it was the future, pushing Xbox Game Pass every chance they got, and Sony eventually joined the party with their own expanded PlayStation Plus service.

Xbox fans and some employees were blindsided earlier this morning when Microsoft announced a number of their studios were being shuttered, including Arkane Austin (Prey, Redfall), Tango Gameworks (The Evil Within, Hi-Fi Rush), Alpha Dog Games, and Roundhouse Studios. In the hours since then, additional rumors and details about what’s going on behind the scenes with some Xbox teams have emerged.

Electronic Arts has released its Q4 2024 earnings, and overall, it was a solid 12 months for the company. Overall, EA has brought in revenue or $7.43 billion, up 1 percent over FY2023, with both EA Sports FC 24 and Madden NFL 24 having record-setting years in terms of revenue generated (Madden was the best-selling entry in the series since the early 2000s).

Today opened with rather shocking news, as Microsoft announced a number of their studios were being shuttered including Arkane Austin (Prey, Redfall), Tango Gameworks (The Evil Within, Hi-Fi Rush), Alpha Dog Games, and Roundhouse Studios. Considering the recent success of some of these studios (Hi-Fi Rush was the most widely-acclaimed game Xbox had put out in recent years) and the general pro-developer message Phil Spencer and other Xbox execs tried to send while on their studio shopping spree over the pass few years, this has caught many off guard.

Anticipated roguelike sequel Hades II was announced back in 2022, and we knew an early access launch was coming sometime in mid-2024, but a specific release date hadn’t been provided by developer Supergiant Games. Well, surprise! Following some technical tests, Hades II officially launches into early access… today! You can check out a new trailer for the early access version of the game, below.

Like previous entries in the series, Mortal Kombat 1 is rolling out plenty of DLC fighters, with the game’s first “Kombat Pack” so far serving up Omni-Man from Invincible, Quan Chi, Peacemaker from Suicide Squad, and Ermac. And now NetherRealm Studios has provided a first peek at the second-to-last Kombat Pack fighter – Homelander from the Amazon series The Boys.

Earlier this year, Nacon generated some excitement with the latest teaser trailer for Terminator: Survivors, a new open-world adventure/survival game that takes place after Judgment Day in a post-apocalyptic setting. The game is apparently launching this year, but there are still plenty of outstanding questions, and thankfully, Nacon has stepped up to answer some of them.

No Rest for the Wicked, the new action-rpg/roguelike from Ori developer Moon Studios is out now in early access and eliciting a mix of responses. Most have been struck by the game’s obvious potential, but some have also complained the game is a bit overly demanding when it comes to PC performance, particularly considering it’s an isometric Diablo-like (albeit a very nice-looking one).

Endless Ocean Luminous, the latest in Nintendo and developer Arika’s cult aquatic exploration games, is out now, and it might not be quite what some folks are expecting. The game features a number of mechanics that may be somewhat confusing at first, but don’t worry, we’re here to clarify things.

Endless Ocean Luminous, the latest in Nintendo and developer Arika’s cult aquatic exploration games, is out now, and it might not be quite what some folks are expecting. The game features a number of mechanics that may be somewhat confusing at first, but don’t worry, we’re here to clarify things.

Endless Ocean Luminous, the latest in Nintendo and developer Arika’s cult aquatic exploration games, is out now, and it might not be quite what some folks are expecting. The game features a number of mechanics that may be somewhat confusing at first, but don’t worry, we’re here to clarify things.

Despite having the best-selling game of all time in Grand Theft Auto V, and GTA VI on the way, mega publisher Take-Two Interactive have been going through some belt-tightening, recently cutting 5 percent of its workforce and canceling some projects. When the news of the cuts were first announced, we didn’t know exactly who was impacted or which games had been canned, but we may now have a better idea.

Sand Land, the new open-world action-adventure based on one of Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama’s lesser-known works is out now, and its surprisingly complex for an anime adaptation. One of things you’re going to want to do early on to make your life easier is upgrade your home base of Spino Town. While it may not the very most important upgrade, the Furniture Shop is fun, as it allows you to decorate your very own Animal-Crossing-style room. You’ll have to complete a series of sidequests in order to get the Furniture Shop, but don’t worry, we’ll walk you through it…

Sand Land, the new open-world action-adventure based on one of Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama’s lesser-known works is out now, and its surprisingly complex for an anime adaptation. One of things you’re going to want to do early on to make your life easier is upgrade your home base of Spino Town. One of first and most important updates for Spino is the Workshop, which will allow you to forge special materials right in town, which makes crafting new vehicles and parts less of a hassle. You’ll have to complete a series of sidequests in order to get the Workshop, but don’t worry, we’ll walk you through it…

Bethesda has been promising the next update for Starfield would be a big one, and it turns out they weren’t exaggerating! The latest Starfield update lands in mid-May, although it’s available in beta right now and brings a lot of requested improvements. You can check out a video running down all the improvements below, or scroll on for our rundown.

The former NPD Group (now named “Circana”) has released its full North American sales data for March, and it seems like it was an up-and-down month for the industry. Players spent $4.9 billion on games, additional content, and hardware in March, up 4 percent year-on-year. This increase came from mobile and software spending, as hardware sales were down 31 percent year-on-year with PS5 #1 in terms of unit and dollar sales, Switch #2 in terms of unit sales, and Xbox Series X/S #2 in terms of dollar sales.

Keeping track of all the latest video games coming out is an increasingly complex task, what with multiple PC storefronts, Xbox One, PS4, Switch, mobile, and more to keep track of, but don’t worry, I’m here to help. Every month I'll be running down the games you need to be keeping an eye on, from the big triple-A headliners, to the intriguing indies you might overlook.

The big “E3” announcement season (E3 is dead, but you know what I mean) is almost here, and Microsoft has officially staked out their spot. Taking place in early June, the Xbox Games Showcase will feature games from Microsoft’s full portfolio of developers, including “Activision, Blizzard, Bethesda, Xbox Game Studios” and even some third-party publishers. Interestingly, like last year with Starfield, this will be a “double feature” with a main showcase, and a “Direct” which will dive deeper on a specific game.

Palworld has been on one a hell of a run since launching earlier this year, breaking records and generating plenty of conversation, and developer Pocket Pair has been busy teasing new content. The most recent of these teases came during today’s ID@Xbox indie showcase, which gave us a peek at what we can expect from the game’s big summer update. The teaser showed off four new Pokemon-esque Pals, as well as a flamethrower weapon. There’s sure to be a lot more included in the update, but this gave us a nice taste of what kind of things are being focused on. Check out the teaser for yourself, below.

Helldivers 2 has dropped its latest update, and while it mostly focuses on balance changes, there are a lot of balance changes to talk about. Well over half the weapons in the game have received changes, with some, like the LAS-99 Quasar Cannon and R-36 Eruptor, getting pretty significant nerfs.

Sand Land, the new open-world action-adventure based on one of Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama’s lesser-known works is out now, and its surprisingly complex for an anime adaptation. A big focus of Sand Land is upgrading your combat abilities by leveling up main character Beelzebub and his party and collecting crafting materials to upgrade your vehicles. So, what’s the best way to collect XP, money, and materials so you can power up quickly? Here are some quick tips…

Sand Land, the new open-world action-adventure based on one of Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama’s lesser-known works is out now, and its surprisingly complex for an anime adaptation. Combat is a big part of Sand Land, with players taking on countless enemies in both hand-to-hand combat as main character Beelzebub or while piloting a variety of different vehicles. It might be slightly overwhelming at first, but don’t worry, we have some tips for dominating the dunes…

Excitement has been slowly building for Manor Lords, a unique Middle-Ages-set combination of city building and real-time-strategy, for some time now, and now it seems it’s the latest big indie success. Manor Lords launched into early access today, and peaked at just a hair shy of 160,000 concurrent players on Steam, good for a top 5 place on the charts, even displacing the suddenly-hot Fallout 4 at times. It’s also the top-seller on Steam right now. And these stats don’t capture the whole picture, as Manor Lords isn’t a Steam exclusive – it’s also available via Game Pass on PC and Xbox Series X/S. For those who haven’t been keeping up, here’s a look at Manor Lords in action.

When are we finally going to get a release date for the Silent Hill 2 remake? The game is widely expected to launch sometime in 2024, but PR from Konami has been spotty at best. We got a somewhat-questionable trailer back in February (that even developer Bloober Team criticized as not representative of the final game) and as we head deeper into the year, there’s still a lot to be nailed down. The game’s been rated by the ESRB and there are rumors it may pop up at a PlayStation Showcase next month, but Konami themselves have remained silent.

Microsoft has reported their results for Q3 2024 (which ran from the beginning of January to the end of March of this year) and it throws into very stark relief two narratives unfolding for Team Green. On the one hand, Microsoft Gaming revenue is up significantly overall following the purchase of Activision Blizzard, but the rest of the Xbox business has continued to suffer with console sales down badly year-on-year.

Nintendo and its fans usually get a long pretty well, with the Paper Mario franchise being an unusual bone of contention. For many years Nintendo has stubbornly attempted to dial down the quirky stories, unique characters, and RPG elements that defined early entries in the series, much to the chagrin of a particular cadre of fans. As perhaps the last true RPG in the series, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door has taken on a certain symbolic importance to those spurned fans even though it was never a particularly big hit, selling fewer than 2 million copies on Gamecube.

In recent years, it’s become common for AAA games to hold back their New Game+ modes, often rolling them out as part of a “big update” weeks or months after launch. Well, apparently, that won’t be the case with the upcoming PS5 exclusive Stellar Blade, which will have New Game+ available from launch, and it sounds pretty meaty. In addition to tackling the game at a higher difficulty, players can look forward to learning new skills and earning a bunch of NG+ exclusive outfits for Eve (a hefty 34 all!) We have more details about NG+ below, but first, check out Stellar Blade’s stylish launch trailer.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III and Warzone recently dropped their Season 3 update, which introduced a half-dozen MP maps, brought back Rebirth Island, let you play as Cheech and Chong (yes, really) and more. Of course, as usual, Activision is rolling out even more content, with Season 3 Reloaded coming in early May. This refresh will include a couple more MP maps, modes, another Zombies story missions, NBA star Devin Booker as a operator, and more. You can get more details, below.

Prior to release, all indications were that Stellar Blade would be an unusually technically polished current-gen launch, with the game’s demo leaving many impressed. But, of course, demos aren’t always indicative of the final game, with devs sometimes taking a thin slice of gameplay and give it more polish than the rest of the game. Well, the review embargo for Stellar Blade has arrived, and it seems it’s not only a good time in terms of action (check out Wccftech’s positive review here) but according to the tech heads at Digital Foundry, the full game is every bit as technically sound as the demo. You can check out Digital Foundry’s full video analysis below, provided you have around 20 minutes to spare, or you can scroll down for our rundown of the salient points.

For some time now, we’ve known Ubisoft has two big Assassin’s Creed projects in the works – the more traditional Japanese ninja and samurai epic Codename Red, and the more experimental Codename Hexe. In development at Ubisoft Montreal, we know Assassin’s Creed Hexe will be a “different type of game” with a dark witchcraft-focused storyline and perhaps a more linear structure, but beyond that, we haven’t heard much about what’s cooking.

Unreal Engine 5 is increasingly the go-to option for current-gen development, and now, the latest version of Epic’s software is here. We got a taste of Unreal Engine 5.4 during last month’s State of Unreal GDC 2024 showcase, but now the software is in developers’ hands.

Valheim developer Iron Gate Studio have been teasing the new Ashlands biome for a long time, since early 2023 at least, and lo and behold, it’s finally arrived! The Ashlands are a rather interesting mashup of spooky land of the dead and volcanic themes, with plenty of lava and twisted monstrosities to deal with. The pleasant scenery of earlier Valheim biomes has definitely been left far behind. You can check out a quick trailer for Ashlands, below.

Final Fantasy XVI: The Rising Tide story expansion is out now, and one of the big advertised features was the addition of the water-themed Leviathan Ikon, but it turns out there’s actually a second new Eikon and set of moves included in The Rising Tide – Ultima. But how do you unlock this semi-secret new Eikon? Scroll on down to find out…

Final Fantasy XVI: The Rising Tide story expansion is out now, which introduces the new region Mysidia. At the center of this region is the town of Haven, but when you first arrive there, it’s kind of useless. There’s no shop, no blacksmith’s foundry. Thankfully, by completing certain sidequests, you can unlock the blacksmith and shop in Haven, and you’ll want to do that, as they offer some of the best gear and craftable weapons in the game. Here’s how to do so…

Final Fantasy XVI: The Rising Tide story expansion is out now, and as you’d expect, it includes some new gear, including the best weapons in the game thus far. One of these is the Tonberry Knife, which isn’t the most powerful in the game in terms of raw damage, but is the most best in terms of inflicting “Will” or stagger damage. For those familiar with FF16’s combat system, staggering enemies frequently is arguably more important than just dealing raw damage, so you’re going to want to get your hands on the Tonberry Knife. Here’s how to do so…

While Atlus has largely become synonymous with the Persona and Shin Megami Tensei series, their next big RPG is actually a new IP – Metaphor: ReFantazio. Developed by a team led by many of the minds that created Persona 3 through Persona 5, Metaphor looks to expand that trademark Atlus RPG style with a more expansive dark fantasy world. Well, today Atlus announced Metaphor: ReFantazio will be launching in October of this year. You can check out a fresh trailer for the game, below.

The venerable hero shooter Team Fortress 2 has been around for a very, very long time (coming up on 17 years) but that doesn’t mean Valve isn’t still showing the game a bit of love. Case in point, Valve just dropped an update that finally adds 64-bit support for Team Fortress 2. No, believe it or not, that was not a thing until now. In addition to dragging TF2 kicking and screaming into the modern day, the jump to 64-bit should result in improved performance. Whether it has any real effect on other issues facing the game, like bots, remains to be seen. Here are the patch notes for the update…

Final Fantasy XVI: The Rising Tide story expansion is out now, and unlike the game’s first DLC, Echoes of the Fallen, this one adds the all-new region of Mysidia to explore. That’s great, but as you’re exploring you may notice something – you can’t ride your trusty Chocobo steed Ambrosia! Is it just not an option in this DLC? Don't worry, you can ride your Chocobo, but you have to complete some tasks before you’re able to do so. Here’s what you have to do…

Final Fantasy XVI is no small game, but for those who want more, Square Enix has also rolled out a pair of story expansions for the RPG – last year’s Echoes of the Fallen, and the just-released The Rising Tide. But how does one play this new DLC? It isn’t a simple matter of just hopping into the new content from the main menu, there are some pre-requisites. Also, how leveled up should your party be before you take on this new challenge? Don’t worry, we have the answers for you…

Recently Larian Studios made the surprise announcement that Baldur’s Gate 3 would not be getting any major story-driven DLC, as they’re moving on to a pair of original projects, but that doesn’t necessarily mean updates are ending. In fact, in a new blog post Larian has provided some fresh details about what players can expect from Baldur’s Gate 3 Update 7, which is currently in the works.

Baldur’s Gate 3 has been a massive success for developer Larian Studios, but the developer recently made the surprising announcement they won’t be following up with Baldur’s Gate 4, or even DLC for BG3. Instead, they’ve vowed to focus on new original IP and projects. That’s a noble, albeit risky, goal, although beyond some musing about likely doing the early access thing again, we haven’t heard much about what this next step for Larian will entail.

Homeworld 3 has suffered a number of delays on its road to launch, but it seems the game is actually sticking to its May release date. In fact, publisher Gearbox is detailing the game’s post-launch content, which will focus on the game’s roguelike-flavored multiplayer mode, War Games, with additional free challenges and three paid DLC content drops which you can acquire via the game’s $20 Year One Pass.

Publisher Bohemia Interactive has had a large impact on PC gaming over the past decade or so, with major genre-defining titles like Arma and DayZ to their name. But did you know Bohemia also has another major game it’s currently supporting that’s never been on PC? Initially released back in 2019, the free-to-play Vigor has attracted over 20 million players on Xbox, PlayStation, and Switch, but it's never been released on PC. Why? Honestly, I don’t know! Obviously, not every game has to come to PC, but Vigor is the type of experience that specifically does well on the platform, so it doesn’t make much sense.

Like previous entries in the series, Mortal Kombat 1 is rolling out plenty of DLC fighters, with the game’s first “Kombat Pack” including Omni-Man from Invincible, Quan Chi, Peacemaker from Suicide Squad, Ermac, Homelander from The Boys, and Takahashi Takeda.

Earlier this year, Microsoft announced that certain first-party Xbox titles would be going multiplatform, including Obsidian’s charming “Honey I Shrunk the Kids” style co-op survival game Grounded. Well, today Grounded: Fully Yoked Edition officially hits PS4, PS5, and Switch. That said, there’s no reason for you Xbox owners to feel left out – the Fully Yoked edition comes with a number of new features, which you’ll be getting right alongside folks on the new platforms. These features include New Game+, queen ants, extra goodies to collect, and more. Sadly, this will be the last major update for Grounded, but it sounds like a meaty one at least. You can check out a trailer for Grounded: Fully Yoked Edition, below.

While Sony has yet to make any sort of official announcement, rumors about the upcoming PlayStation 5 Pro are coming hot-and-heavy. We recently heard that developers will need to include PS5 Pro compatibility in their games to get certified as soon as this August, and now The Verge has provided some more details about what a game needs to do to earn the “PS5 Pro Enhanced” label.

After over a decade of development, the gorgeous stop-motion narrative adventure Harold Halibut has finally arrived. For the most part, the game doesn’t focus that heavily on puzzles and guides you by the hand through its story, but there still are a few parts in the game where you might find yourself a bit lost.

After over a decade of development, the gorgeous stop-motion narrative adventure Harold Halibut has finally arrived. For the most part, the game doesn’t focus that heavily on puzzles and guides you by the hand through its story, but there still are a few parts in the game where you might find yourself a bit lost.

Gamescom may be the most significant gaming convention and trade show in Europe (and probably the world following the death of E3), but Nintendo is a bit hit-and-miss with their attendance. They skipped 2022, but they were there in 2023, and, in fact, it was rumored they may have shown the Switch 2 for the first time behind closed doors while there. Unfortunately, it seems we won’t be getting a repeat in 2024, as Nintendo has confirmed they’ll be skipping the show in a statement provided to Eurogamer…

Overwatch 2, Season 10, entitled “Venture Forth” arrives tomorrow and Blizzard has fully spelled out what it will entail. The season will introduce new drill-wielding, underground burrowing hero Venture, but that’s not all. Players can look forward to the “Mirrorwatch” event, which sees several characters swap alignment from hero to villain, and vice-versa, resulting in new looks and tweaked movesets, the launch of the capture point Clash mode, big changes to how heroes are accessed (they’re all free immediately upon release now), and more. You can check out the Overwatch 2 Season 10 launch trailer, below.

Jeff Strain has a pretty impressive resume, co-founding both Guild Wars developer ArenaNet and State of Decay creators Undead Labs, but things don’t seem to be going as well for him lately. Today it emerged that Possibility Space, one of the new studios Strain has founded with his wife under the larger Prytania Media umbrella, is closing for a rather unusual reason.

While he may not be as well known as, say, Jim Ryan, longtime PlayStation fans will no doubt recognize the name Gio Corsi. As PlayStation’s former senior director of third party production, Corsi spearheaded a lot of initiatives – he was particularly noted as a booster of the PS Vita and was responsible for bringing a lot of Japanese Vita titles to a worldwide audience. He also was responsible for jumpstarting interest in the Yakuza/Like a Dragon franchise worldwide after the series initially kind of sputtered out in the West.

Remnant II developer Gunfire Games have announced the game’s second story expansion, The Forgotten Kingdom, will launch later this month. Much like the first chunk of Remnant II story DLC, The Forgotten Kingdom will add a new playable class, the Invoker, and expand the Yaesha biome with new areas to explore, bosses, and a fresh self-contained storyline. You can check out the first trailer for Remnant II: The Forgotten Kingdom, below.

The Fallout Amazon TV series debuted last night, and to follow up on the hype, Bethesda will be releasing a long-awaited next/current-gen update for Fallout 4. On PS5 and Xbox Series X/S, that means players will now have access to a both a Quality mode and a 60fps Performance mode. What resolution we can expect hasn’t been specified – guess we’ll have to wait for Digital Foundry to weigh in on that. Bethesda is also promising “stability improvements, login and quest fixes” on console.

Palworld has made its name by allowing players to do a lot of things Pokemon would never let you do, but there’s one core Pokemon features it doesn’t have – the ability to take on others in PvP battles. Well, it seems that’s going to change, as during today’s Triple-I Initiative showcase, we got a first peek at the “Pal Arena” PvP mode, coming sometime in 2024.

There are a lot of indie roguelikes and deckbuilders out there now, but few have the pure addictive appeal or cult following as Slay the Spire. Well, surprise, during the Triple-I Initiative showcase, Slay the Spire 2 was announced! The game doesn’t look to be a radical departure from the first game, but it appears to upgrade the experience in most ways, with updated visuals, new cards, enemies, and still-mysterious “new ways to play.” You can check out a cinematic teaser trailer for Slay the Spire 2, below.

Zenless Zone Zero is the latest free-to-play action-RPG from the makers of Genshin Impact, but unlike some of their other games, console players won’t be left waiting to get into the action, as the PC and PlayStation 5 versions of the game will launch at the same time. Despite this, HoYoverse has yet to run any tests on the PS5 (they have run a number of betas on PC).

It’s been quite a roller coaster for Battlefield 2042, which launched in an embarrassing state back in 2021, but managed to scratch and claw its way back to a solid place one update at a time. Well, it seems the Battlefield 2042 story is finally coming to an end, as EA and DICE have announced major support for the game will cease at the end the currently-in-progress Season 7. Maintenance updates and reruns of past events will still happen, but no more major seasonal content is coming.

Like previous entries in the series, Mortal Kombat 1 is rolling out plenty of DLC fighters, with the game’s first “Kombat Pack” so far serving up Omni-Man from Invincible, Quan Chi, and Peacemaker from Suicide Squad. It’s been a rather cameo-heavy list so far, but we’re getting back to a fan-favorite from the actual Mortal Kombat universe next – Ermac.

Today’s AAA games require a lot of storage, and typically, they only get bigger post-launch as addition content and updates are applied. So, it’s somewhat surprising to report that Forza Motorsport – which launched at a very-meaty 130-GB-plus -- is actually shrinking in size with its latest patch. Forza Motorsport Update 7 will see the game’s file size reduced by around 25 GB on Xbox Series X and 29 GB on PC.

After spending over five years as a PC and Xbox exclusive, Microsoft recently announced that Rare’s well-liked online pirate game Sea of Thieves is setting sail to PlayStation 5 (along with a handful of other previously-exclusive titles). The game arrives in Sony’s harbours later this month, but those who want to try the game out early on PS5 will be able to jump into the game’s open beta this week!

As we head deeper into 2024, the traditional “E3” season (of course, E3 is dead now, but you catch my drift) for gaming announcements and showcases is coming up fast. In recent days we’ve begun to hear some murmurings about Microsoft’s big 2024 showcase, with Gears 6 reportedly being there, and now a few more potential details may have filtered out.

While the name Kareem Choudhry may not be as well-known as, say, Phil Spencer or Matt Booty, Xbox fans who keep abreast with the company’s announcements and showcases are likely to be familiar with his face. As corporate vice president of emerging technologies at Xbox, Choudhry was in charge of a lot of the more innovative things Microsoft’s gaming division offered in recent years, including backward compatibility and Xbox Cloud Gaming.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III and Warzone Season 3 has arrived, and as usual, it’s packed with plenty of new content to keep players busy. The core CoD: Modern Warfare III multiplayer experience is getting a bunch of all-new maps, Warzone is bringing back the Rebirth Island Resurgence map with a bunch of updates, and more crossover content is on the way, including Godzilla x Kong cosmetics, and… Cheech and Chong as Operators? Sure, man, groovy. Check out the launch trailer for CoD: Modern Warfare III/Warzone Season 3, below.

Excitement for the upcoming PS5-exclusive Stellar Blade has been building following the game’s well-received, and refreshingly technically sound, demo dropped, but some folks may still have some questions about the stylish action game. Thankfully, Stellar Blade general director Kim Hyeong-tae and technical director Lee Dong-gi have been doing interviews for various Asian gaming publications that may clear up some of those queries.

The “Pokemon with guns” phenomenon Palworld has dropped its latest update, and it’s a fairly beefy one. The big addition is Palworld’s first raid boss, Bellanoir, an intense battle you can adjust the difficulty on for some big rewards. In addition to that, the update brings a number of improvements to building, a bunch of new handy items, and more. You can check out a quick teaser trailer for Bellanoir, below.

One of the big stories of the past year has been the collapse of Embracer Group, as the failure to secure a major $2 billion investment resulted in the company cutting loose several major studios, either by selling or shuttering them, and laying off 1,400 employees. One of the studios Embracer let go of was Saber Interactive, which was sold to new company Beacon Interactive for a relatively meager $247 million (Embracer originally paid $525 million for them). You’d think the head of Saber might be bitter about this, but instead the company’s founder Matthew Karch is still singing Embracer’s praises in a new GamesIndustry.biz interview.

Market research and data tracking firm NewZoo has released their 2023 PC and Console Gaming Report, and it provides an interesting snapshot of an industry in a bit of a transitional mode. The gaming industry saw out-of-control growth during the pandemic, which fizzled a bit in 2022, but 2023 saw a return to modest growth with the PC/console market reaching $93.5 billion, up 2.3 percent year-on-year. This growth was largely driven by the PC market, which was up 3.9 percent year-on-year, while the console market was up 1.7 percent YoY. The PC market accounted for 43 percent of industry revenue, while consoles were 57 percent.

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League Episode 1 – Fear is out now, and one of the key pieces of new content included is a new playable version of the Joker. That said, if you’re expecting to jump right in and play as the Clown Prince of Crime, you’re in for a rude awakening – he has to be unlocked, either by playing the game or by spending premium currency. We’re going to assume for now that you’d rather not spend real money to get your hands on Joker, so scroll on down for the in-game method for unlocking him…

Microsoft has revealed the titles they’ll be adding to Xbox Game Pass on PC and consoles in early-to-mid April, and there are some solid things to dip your toes into. Subscribers can look forward to Lego 2K Drive, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, the new-release indie Harold Halibut, and more.

The latest update for Helldivers 2 is here, and it ought to shake up the game in a fairly significant way. The big news is that the level cap is increasing from 50 all the way to 150. Meanwhile, Arrowhead Studios have also added a couple of new planetary hazards (blizzards and sandstorms), rebalanced a long list of weapons, tweaked the specifics of how certain missions work, and more.

It’s the most annoying day of the yeeeeear – yes, in case you haven’t looked at the calendar and are wondering why everyone’s gone crazy, today is April Fools Day. While some gags are fun enough (CDPR’s floppy disc edition of Cyberpunk 2077 is cute) too many are just kind of lame, or worse, promise something kind of cool-sounding, with the punchline being… that it’s not happening. Ho ho!

Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth just released early this year, but it seems the next entry in what was previously known as the “Yakuza” series is already in full swing. As spotted by Gematsu, Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio announced auditions for the next Like a Dragon game during their latest video update. We don’t know the title of the next Like a Dragon yet, but series director Masayoshi Yokoyama did provide some clarification, saying Like a Dragon: Kiwami 3 (a remake of the third entry in the series) isn’t the next thing on the docket, although it is quite likely to happen someday.

Keeping track of all the latest video games coming out is an increasingly complex task, what with multiple PC storefronts, Xbox One, PS4, Switch, mobile, and more to keep track of, but don’t worry, I’m here to help. Every month I'll be running down the games you need to be keeping an eye on, from the big triple-A headliners, to the indies you might otherwise overlook.

Stellar Blade is Sony’s big release for next month, but if you don’t want to wait, you can get a taste of the game today as a demo has just dropped (after being accidentally released for a minute earlier this month). The demo lets you experience the first chapter of the game or around one to two hours of gameplay. Check out a teaser trailer and a bit more detail, below.

Rise of the Ronin is the latest joint from Team Ninja, and while it’s a large, challenging game, some might be wondering – what happens after I roll credits? Is there a New Game+ I can tackle? Are there are post-game features and content I can unlock? Don’t worry, we’re here to take some of the mystery out of Rise of the Ronin’s endgame…

Rise of the Ronin is the latest joint from Team Ninja, and unlike some of their past efforts, the game is surprisingly story-heavy. There are also a number of moments when you’ll be presented with important decisions to make, which begs the question – are their multiple endings? And how does one unlock them all? Scroll on down for the full lowdown on how RotR's story works…

Back in 2020 IllFonic released Predator: Hunting Grounds, another take on the asymmetric multiplayer formula they’ve employed with titles like Friday the 13th: The Game and Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed. Somewhat oddly, the game was published by Sony as a PC and PS4 console exclusive. Despite the big-name publisher, the game kind of came and went without too much fanfare, but now it seems IllFonic is preparing the revive the game on current-gen platforms.

The Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077 creators CD Projekt Red have reported their earnings for 2023 (their fiscal year corresponds with the regular calendar year) and it seems it was a good 12 months for the Polish publisher. 2023 was CDPR’s second-best year ever, thanks to the sales of the Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty expansion, which managed to move 5 million copies, which is added to the 20 million in sales for the original Cyberpunk 2077. CDPR has also announced that The Witcher series surpassed 75 million units sold last year. So, yes, if you’re doing the math (75 million for the Witcher, 25 million for Cyberpunk) CDPR has now sold over 100 million games. Not bad!