Nathan Birch

Last week, on the heels of rampant rumors and speculation, Microsoft announced that while they aren’t porting their biggest games like Starfield to other platforms, they would be bringing four slightly lower-profile games to the competition. At the time, Phil Spencer wouldn't say what these games were, but as of today we now know three of the four. During the latest Nintendo Direct it was announced Grounded and Pentiment are coming to Switch, and now we know Hi-Fi Rush is coming to PS5.

Last week Microsoft provided an update on Xbox exclusivity plans, saying big games like Starfield won’t be going multiplatform, but that a series of four more established or lower-profile games were making the jump. While Phil Spencer wouldn’t say what they were at the time, we now know they’re Grounded, Pentiment, Hi-Fi Rush, and… Sea of Thieves!

After much waiting and hoping, Bandai Namco and FromSoftware promised to finally give us the first trailer for Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree today, and boy did they deliver. This first three-minute look at the expansion focuses heavily on new bosses, and they look like a very intimidating lot – a towering flaming effigy, a twisted Chinese dragon type thing, what appears to be a giant stick bug, and more. This is all lorded over by what would seem to be the new big bad of the expansion, Messmer the Impaler (that’s him in the header image).

The gaming world is eager to get their hands on Nintendo’s next hardware, but it seems plans regarding the Switch 2 have been shifting behind the scenes. We recently heard rumors from numerous reliable sources that while the Switch 2 was originally slated for a late-2024 release, it has now slipped to Q1 2025, and it seems that may have a knock-on effect on how and when Nintendo reveals the hardware.

Microsoft has revealed the titles they’ll be adding to Xbox Game Pass on PC and consoles in late February and very early March, and it’s a varied lineup. Madden NFL 24 released on Game Pass earlier this month, but now it can be played via the cloud. Players can also look forward to Bandai Namco RPG Tales of Arise, Warhammer 40K: Bolt Gun, and more. Of course, if you have kids, your Xbox will likely be monopolized by them playing Bluey: The Video Game.

Criterion Games surprised fans by announcing another year of support for Need for Speed Unbound, 2022's installment in the racing game series. It's partly due to Need for Speed celebrating its 30th anniversary, they said.

Sony’s most recent earnings report wasn’t a great one for the previously-strong-seeming PlayStation brand. As we reported, Sony downgraded their fiscal year 2024 (which runs from the beginning of April 2023 to the end of March 2024) target for PS5 sales from 25 million to 21 million. They also admitted that no major AAA franchise entries will be published over the course of this coming fiscal year. Needless to say, this wasn’t received that well, partly leading to a plunge in Sony stock that subtracted an estimated $10 billion from the Japanese company’s value.

Dying Light 2 Stay Human may be a first-person game, but developer Techland were always insistent it wasn’t a first-person shooter. While there were a few hacked-together firearms in the game, their use was very limited – the game was almost all about melee combat. This was explained in-game by the fact that Dying Light 2 takes place a couple of decades after the first game in a world that’s essentially returned to a feudal society where most mechanical things, including guns, have broken down or been destroyed.

The Epic Games Store officially turned 5 years old in December, and while some of the fiery debate surrounding the storefront has died down, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a success yet. As part of their lawsuit against Google, Epic admitted the EGS still isn’t profitable and now they’ve released their 2023 Year in Review stats, which they obviously try to spin in a positive way, but don’t really look that promising.

When exactly are we going to be getting our hands on Nintendo’s next hardware? We know something’s in the works, and a lot of assumptions have been made that 2024 will be the release year, but nothing has actually been confirmed by Nintendo. Well, according to a new set of rumors, the wait for the Switch 2 may be a big longer than some are anticipating.

Mario vs. Donkey Kong, the new expanded remake of the GBA retro puzzle-platformer, is out now on the Nintendo Switch and the game has plenty of post-game content to unlock and play through. While you can see the credits after playing through the game’s 8 worlds once, there are also a full slate of “Plus” levels, particularly tough “Extra” levels, and even a secret extra boss fight to tackle. Here’s a full rundown of how to access all of Mario vs. Donkey Kong’s endgame goodies…

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is out now, and while the game mostly focuses on action and big boss battles, the game does force you to use you brain now and then too. The Riddler has returned in Kill the Justice League, and there are a number of riddles scattered throughout Metropolis for you to solve. You don’t get any big rewards for this, but you’ll need to solve these riddles in order to get 100 percent completion and earn “The Right Question” and “The Real Deal” trophies/achievements. If you’re looking to clean them up quickly, scroll on down for answers to all 21 of the game’s riddles…

The last 10-days-or-so have been quite the roller coaster for Xbox fans. Team Green was thrown into turmoil earlier this month by rumors that everything from Starfield, to Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, to even Gears of War may be going multiplatform. Granted, some of those rumors were later walked back, but still, the spectre of a third-party future for Xbox was raised.

The last 10-days-or-so have been quite the roller coaster for Xbox fans. Team Green was thrown into turmoil earlier this month by rumors that everything from Starfield, to Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, to even Gears of War may be going multiplatform. Granted, some of those rumors were later walked back, but still, the spectre of a third-party future with Xbox getting out of the hardware business was raised.

Sony has announced the latest lineup of games coming to their PS Plus Extra and Premium tiers this February. Subscribers can look forward to Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, Need for Speed Unbound, four different entries in Bandai Namco’s Tales series, including the most recent Tales of Arise, and more. Premium subscribers have some things to look forward to as well, including newly-enhanced releases of Resistance: Retribution and Jet Moto 2.

Sony and Arrowhead Studios’ Helldivers 2 launched last week on PC and PS5, the rare PlayStation PC/console simultaneously release, and things are working out quite well for the throwback co-op shooter. Hellblade has been a consistent top 10 presence on the Steam charts, with the game peaking at over 200 thousand (203,312 to be exact) players yesterday.

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is out now, and as the game’s title implies, your main challenge is taking out the League, but what comes after that? Well, once you've killed the boy scouts, it’s time to tackle Brainiac!

Konami has handed the keys to one of their most beloved games ever, Silent Hill 2, to Polish developer Bloober Team, which you’d think would indicate the two companies have a close, trusting relationship! Unfortunately, that… doesn’t seem to be the case. Bloober Team has made a number of pointed comments about Konami’s promotion of their Silent Hill 2 remake (or lack thereof) and now they’ve made their sharpest comments yet, outright criticizing the trailer shown during Sony’s most recent State of Play.

The next big update for Baldur’s Gate 3, Patch 6, is on its way and Larian is teasing some of the changes it will usher in. These include new Legendary Actions in Honour Mode, streamlined party management, the ability to prioritize your avatar as the “main speaker” so teammates won’t hog the conversation, and more. The patch will weigh in at a fairly meaty 21 GB, and will launch on PC, Xbox Series X/S, and PS5 simultaneously (Mac users will have to wait for a bit). Here’s a rundown of what Larian has teased for the patch thus far…

Overwatch 2 Season 9, entitled “Champions,” kicks off tomorrow, and while players won’t be getting a new hero, Blizzard is promising some pretty major under-the-hood changes. These include the controversial decision to give all characters passive healing abilities, as well as boosting heroes’ health stats and increasing the actual size of projectiles in order to make shooting more accessible. Competitive play is also getting a full revamp, with all skill ranks being reset. Before we go on to the rest of the details, you can check out a quick trailer for Overwatch 2 Season 9 below.

Over the past week, Xbox fans have been thrown into turmoil by rumors that indicated everything from Starfield, to Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, to the Gears of War franchise may jump to PlayStation and other platforms. Some leakers have since walked those rumors back, saying Starfield making the jump is unlikely, but the horse is already out of the barn and speculation about the future of Xbox is running wild. Microsoft itself hasn’t exactly doused those flames, as they haven’t stepped into deny anything, but instead promised a “business update event” for this week.

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is out now, and as the game’s title implies, one of the toughest challenges you’ll face during the game’s campaign is… killing the Justice League. The second Squad member you’ll have to take out is Green Lantern, which may actually be the most epic boss fight in the game given all the extra artillery he can summon. Don’t worry though, with our tips you’ll be able to take down space cop without too much trouble…

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is out now, and as the game’s title implies, one of the toughest challenges you’ll face during the game’s campaign is… killing the Justice League. The third Squad member you’ll have to take out is Batman, and his boss fight is quite different from the other ones in the game. The Dark Knight douses you with fear gas, and you’ll have to navigate a hallucinatory Batcave before you can take him down. This may throw you off a bit, but don’t worry, with our tips you’ll be able to take down Batsy without too much trouble…

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is out now, and as the game’s title implies, one of the toughest challenges you’ll face during the game’s campaign is… killing the Justice League. The final Squad member you’ll have to take on is the big man himself, Superman. This fight isn’t actually that much different than some that have come before, particularly the Flash battle, but it’s a real war of attrition that can be tough to overcome if you don’t know what you’re doing. Don’t worry yourself though, with our tips you’ll be able to take down the Man of Steel without too much trouble…

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is out now, and as the game’s title implies, one of the toughest challenges you’ll face during the game’s campaign is… killing the Justice League. The first of the Squad members you’ll have to take out is the Flash, who serves as a sort of crash course for how most of the boss battles in Kill the Justice League work. As such, he may give new players a bit of trouble, but with our tips you should be take down the Scarlet Speedster without too much trouble…

Last week the gaming world was thrown into a grade-A tizzy, when XboxEra reported the rumor that Starfield would be going to PlayStation and other platforms. In short order, rumors that Indiana Jones and the Great Circle and even Gears of War were being considered for multiplatform releases began to make the rounds, raising the specter of Microsoft going fully third party.

Hideo Kojima has a lot of stuff on his plate, including Death Stranding 2 and the Xbox cloud-powered horror game OD, but perhaps the most exciting project for longtime fans is Physint, a new “action espionage” game in the vein of Metal Gear Solid. Since parting ways with Konami, Kojima has seemingly avoided a return to the stealth genre, so what convinced him to return?

Microsoft’s decision to lay off over 1,900 employees across Xbox and Activision Blizzard only three months after acquiring the latter has been cause for plenty of debate, and it seems U.S. government officials were definitely keeping an eye on the situation. While the Activision Blizzard acquisition has officially gone through, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission has not given up their fight against it, filing appeals to block and reverse the deal as recently as this past December, and now they’ve filed a complaint about the recent Activision Blizzard layoffs. According to the FTC, the layoffs directly contradict statements that Microsoft made to them that Acti-Blizz would be operated independently at arm’s length, with no redundancies between the two companies.

Ubisoft has reported their earnings for the third quarter of their fiscal year 2024 (which runs from the beginning of April 2023 to the end of March 2024) and things are looking somewhat up for the Assassin’s Creed publisher following rough patches over the last few years. With revenue of €606 million, Q3 was down a bit year-on-year, likely due to somewhat disappointing performance of Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, but Ubisoft is expecting a good Q4 due to Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown and Skull and Bones with Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot somewhat questionably referring to the latter as a “AAAA” game.

These days games suffering last-minute delays has become routine, but don’t worry – while the release date for Nightingale is changing, it’s not a delay. Today the Inflexion Games, the new Edmonton-based studio founded by former BioWare general manager Aaryn Flynn, announced that Nightingale will actually be coming out two days earlier than expected. Wisely, this change has been made to ensure the co-op survival game will be running smoothly by the weekend, which is likely when most people will be jumping in.

The WWE 2K franchise has spent the last couple of years finding its feet again after the disastrously received WWE 2K20, with last year’s WWE 2K23 being quite a solid effort in my estimation, even if it wasn’t quite the cohesive overall package I was hoping for. This year’s WWE 2K24 looks to build on that sturdy foundation with a wider array of new features than last year, including a new 2K Showcase celebrating WrestleMania’s 40th birthday, several new match types, gameplay updates like Super Finishers, and more (you can check out my full hands-on impressions here).

Nintendo recently shared their earnings for the third quarter of their 2024 fiscal year (which runs from April 1, 2023 to March 31, 2024) and, as we reported, it was a good three months for the company with the Switch inching closer to edging out the PS2 as the best-selling console ever. Overall, the first three quarters of FY2024 have set a record for the company, with them bringing in ¥408 billion (or about $2.8 billion). But what about what comes next?

We heard recently that Starfield was getting ready to add support for FSR 3 for those who opt into beta testing, and it seems today is the day! A new Starfield Steam Beta update adds FSR 3, which will deliver smoother performance via frame generation, similar to the already-available DLSS 3. Players can also look forward to support for XeSS, some fixes for some vexing save file stability issues, and more.

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 has been a predictably big hit, but despite that, the game has seen surprisingly little in terms of post-launch and content beyond the usual big-fixing patches. A New Game+ mode was promised to arrive before the end of 2023, but was ultimately pushed back to sometime in 2024. Well, it seems that sometime will be early next month, as Insomniac have announced New Game+, some new Spidey suits, and more is coming in early March.

Earlier this morning, Microsoft dropped a bomb, announcing the cutting of 1900 jobs from their Xbox and Activision Blizzard teams – nearly a 10th of their gaming division. It seems Blizzard was hit particularly hard by these layoffs, with president Mike Ybarra resigning and their upcoming survival game “Odyssey” being canceled. Well, we may now know a bit more about who was on the chopping block, and it’s not good news for those still holding onto the dream of physically owning their games.

After countless delays, it seems Skull and Bones is actually launching for real in February, and to solidify that fact, Ubisoft has announced the details of the game’s open beta. Said beta will available on all platforms from February 8 to February 11. Crossplay will be enabled and your progression will carry over to the full game. Players will be able to explore the Red Isle hub and the coast of Africa and East Indies regions and your pirate Infamy will be capped at level 6. Meanwhile, here’s an updated rundown of Skull and Bones’ PC requirements (click the image for full resolution).

Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth is here, and like its predecessor Yakuza: Like a Dragon, the game opts for a turn-based RPG combat system rather than the brawling battles of old. While Infinite Wealth’s combat sticks to the same fundamentals as its predecessor, it also introduces quite a lengthy list of changes. To the point even Like a Dragon veterans will have to readjust their strategies somewhat. Don’t worry though, we’ll got some tips that will get you up to speed and cracking heads quickly…

For some time now, fans of survival games have had their eye on Enshrouded, the new game from the makers of Portal Knights that’s a little bit Zelda, and more than a little bit Valheim. Well, following a Steam Next Fest demo, Enshrouded has officially launched via Steam Early Access. You can check out an Early Access launch trailer, below.

The “Pokemon with guns” open-world survival game Palworld has been on one a hell of a run since launching last week, smashing records and generating plenty of controversy, but once all the fevered excitement dies down just a little, what comes next? Palworld is still in early access, so there are plenty more updates to come, and today developer PocketPair provided a bit of a roadmap.

Atlus and Nintendo have a long history, with many of the Persona maker’s games coming to Nintendo platforms (often exclusively) over the decades. That said, in recent years new Atlus games being on Nintendo platforms has ceased to be a lock, with games like Soul Hackers 2 and upcoming titles like Persona 3 Reload and Metaphor: ReFantazio skipping the Switch. Has the relationship between Atlus and Nintendo soured? Not so fast.

Another Code: Recollection is the new Switch remake of the Nintendo-published DS and Wii cult-classic story-driven adventure games Another Code: Two Memories (known as Trace Memory in North America) and Another Code: R – A Journey into Lost Memories. Beyond the expected visual updates, Another Code: Recollection also completely remixes the games’ puzzles, meaning even those familiar with the originals will find themselves on new ground.

Another Code: Recollection is the new Switch remake of the Nintendo-published DS and Wii cult-classic story-driven adventure games Another Code: Two Memories (known as Trace Memory in North America) and Another Code: R – A Journey into Lost Memories. Beyond the expected visual updates, Another Code: Recollection also completely remixes the games’ puzzles, meaning even those familiar with the originals will find themselves on new ground.

If you’ve been on the Internet the last few days, you know that Palworld, the “Pokémon with guns” style open-world survival game, has been a smashing success selling over 6 million copies and knocking down record after record on Steam, but it’s also been controversial. Some would say the game isn’t just inspired by Pokémon, it ventures into rip-off territory, something only exacerbated by things like the recently-teased Pokémon mod, leading some to wonder how much Nintendo and The Pokémon Company are willing to put up with.

Another Code: Recollection is the new Switch remake of the Nintendo-published DS and Wii cult-classic story-driven adventure games Another Code: Two Memories (known as Trace Memory in North America) and Another Code: R – A Journey into Lost Memories. Beyond the expected visual updates, Another Code: Recollection also completely remixes the games’ puzzles, meaning even those familiar with the originals will find themselves on new ground.

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is a live service game, there’s no escaping that, but details surrounding what you’ll actually do after you complete the main campaign have remained sketchy. Obviously, endgame content is key to keeping a live-service alive and kicking, so while we’ve got a few scattered details, players are looking for more. Thankfully, today Rocksteady detailed their “Elseworlds” approach to post launch content in a new Suicide Squad Insider video, which you can check out below.

A new year means another entry in the industry’s flagship wrestling franchise, and today 2K and Visual Concepts have pulled the curtain back on WWE 2K24. This year, the face on the cover will be Cody Rhodes, or at least he will be if you buy the standard edition. The Deluxe Edition will be fronted by the pair of Bianca Belair and Rhea Ripley, and the 40 Years of WrestleMania premium edition will feature an array of WWE legends on the cover. You can check out the first teaser trailer for WWE 2K24, below.

Another Code: Recollection is the new Switch remake of the Nintendo-published DS and Wii cult-classic story-driven adventure games Another Code: Two Memories (known as Trace Memory in North America) and Another Code: R – A Journey into Lost Memories. Beyond the expected visual updates, Another Code: Recollection also completely remixes the games’ puzzles, meaning even those familiar with the originals will find themselves on new ground.

Yesterday Microsoft served up their latest Xbox Developer Direct, which offered reveals and information for a number of games, including Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, Avowed, and Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II, but it seems there was actually another game teased during the show – Quake 6.

Yesterday we got the big reveal of Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, and Bethesda and MachineGames didn’t hold back, revealing quite a bit of first-person gameplay and other info about the game’s approach and story. That said, there were a few lingering questions after the presentation, such as, who’s playing Indy and what kind of tech is powering the game? Well, we now have answers on both.

Another Code: Recollection is the new Switch remake of the Nintendo-published DS and Wii cult-classic story-driven adventure games Another Code: Two Memories (known as Trace Memory in North America) and Another Code: R – A Journey into Lost Memories. Beyond the expected visual updates, Another Code: Recollection also completely remixes the games’ puzzles, meaning even those familiar with the originals will find themselves on new ground.

Another Code: Recollection is the new Switch remake of the Nintendo-published DS and Wii cult-classic story-driven adventure games Another Code: Two Memories (known as Trace Memory in North America) and Another Code: R – A Journey into Lost Memories. Beyond the expected visual updates, Another Code: Recollection also completely remixes the games’ puzzles, meaning even those familiar with the originals will find themselves on new ground.

Another Code: Recollection is the new Switch remake of the Nintendo-published DS and Wii cult-classic story-driven adventure games Another Code: Two Memories (known as Trace Memory in North America) and Another Code: R – A Journey into Lost Memories. Beyond the expected visual updates, Another Code: Recollection also completely remixes the games’ puzzles, meaning even those familiar with the originals will find themselves on new ground.

Another Code: Recollection is the new Switch remake of the Nintendo-published DS and Wii cult-classic story-driven adventure games Another Code: Two Memories (known as Trace Memory in North America) and Another Code: R – A Journey into Lost Memories. Beyond the expected visual updates, Another Code: Recollection also completely remixes the games’ puzzles, meaning even those familiar with the originals will find themselves on new ground.

Another Code: Recollection is the new Switch remake of the Nintendo-published DS and Wii cult-classic story-driven adventure games Another Code: Two Memories (known as Trace Memory in North America) and Another Code: R – A Journey into Lost Memories. Beyond the expected visual updates, Another Code: Recollection also completely remixes the games’ puzzles, meaning even those familiar with the originals will find themselves on new ground.

Another Code: Recollection is the new Switch remake of the Nintendo-published DS and Wii cult-classic story-driven adventure games Another Code: Two Memories (known as Trace Memory in North America) and Another Code: R – A Journey into Lost Memories. Beyond the expected visual updates, Another Code: Recollection also completely remixes the games’ puzzles, meaning even those familiar with the originals will find themselves on new ground.

Another Code: Recollection is the new Switch remake of the Nintendo-published DS and Wii cult-classic story-driven adventure games Another Code: Two Memories (known as Trace Memory in North America) and Another Code: R – A Journey into Lost Memories. Beyond the expected visual updates, Another Code: Recollection also completely remixes the games’ puzzles, meaning even those familiar with the originals will find themselves on new ground.

Another Code: Recollection is the new Switch remake of the Nintendo-published DS and Wii cult-classic story-driven adventure games Another Code: Two Memories (known as Trace Memory in North America) and Another Code: R – A Journey into Lost Memories. Beyond the expected visual updates, Another Code: Recollection also completely remixes the games’ puzzles, meaning even those familiar with the originals will find themselves on new ground.

Another Code: Recollection is the new Switch remake of the Nintendo-published DS and Wii cult-classic story-driven adventure games Another Code: Two Memories (known as Trace Memory in North America) and Another Code: R – A Journey into Lost Memories. Beyond the expected visual updates, Another Code: Recollection also completely remixes the games’ puzzles, meaning even those familiar with the originals will find themselves on new ground.

Back in 2024 Microsoft and Bethesda announced a new Indiana Jones game was coming our way courtesy of producer Todd Howard and Wolfenstein developer MachineGames, but since then, very little else has been revealed. Rumors that the game may be launching this year have been making the rounds, but it’s been radio silence from Microsoft and Bethesda themselves.

2023 wasn’t a banner year for sports or racing games, although it did serve up some solid efforts in the form of the new Forza Motorsport, MLB The Show 23, and more. Will 2024 be a better year? That remains to be seen. It’s always hard to predict what the annualized sports titles will deliver, but we do know the TopSpin franchise is returning, and I’d like to see what MLB The Show 24 pitches us after last year’s addition of the exciting new historical Storylines mode. Lace ‘em and/or gas ‘em up, it’s time for Wccftech’s Most Anticipated Sports and Racing Games of 2024…

Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II was one of the first games announced for the Xbox Series X/S all the way back in 2019, and thankfully, it’s been confirmed we’re finally going to get our hands on the game relatively soon. During today’s latest Xbox Developer Direct we got some fresh insight into what developer Ninja Theory is building and a more precise 2024 release date.

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.

Not too long ago, many publishers went all-in on multiplayer games (also called live service games in most cases), believing it would be the future of gaming.

Platform games have had a standout year. 2023 has been one of the best years for the genre since perhaps 2018 and its catalog of La Mulana 2, among others. As usual, Nintendo’s seal of quality shines through with their representation, but there’s a fair bit to jump and collect regardless of your console (or PC) preference. Metroidvanias took a backseat this year to traditional platformers. While sidescrollers still reign supreme in the genre, Ghostrunner 2 was a pleasant surprise that took that parkour action I loved from the original Mirror’s Edge and cranked it up to a whole new level.

Today, Gunfire Games unveiled The Awakened King, the first DLC for Remnant II. Due on November 14th, it'll be priced at $9.99, though it is also included with the DLC bundle that costs $24.99 and comes with two additional DLCs due to be released in 2024. Owners of the Remnant II Ultimate Edition have the DLC bundle already included.

Super Mario Bros. Wonder seems to be a resounding success for Nintendo. Today, the European Twitter (X) account revealed that the newly released 2D platform game is now the fastest-selling Mario title ever in Europe for the first three days of sale.

New DLSS 3 mods have been released for Assassin's Creed Mirage and Lies of P. The DLSS 3 mod for the latest chapter in the Ubisoft franchise was crafted by PureDark, who released it a few hours ago alongside a demonstration video.

Following the release and enormous success of Baldur's Gate 3, the first cRPG with a triple-A budget, fans of the genre are now also wondering about a similar treatment for games like Pillars of Eternity 3.