Tomas Franzese

Baldur’s Gate 3 game director Swen Vincke shocked fans of the Dungeons & Dragons RPG when he revealed that the critically acclaimed game would not get any expansions and that Larian Studios would not go right into making Baldur’s Gate 4. Considering how much of a runaway success Baldur’s Gate 3 has been, it seemed like that would be the most logical continuation of things. Larian isn’t the only studio to leave behind a wildly successful game either; Nintendo has confirmed The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom also won’t get any expansions.

Overwatch 2 finally got some of its long-awaited PvE content last August, but it doesn’t look like more is on the way, according to some new reports.

Dragon’s Dogma 2 launched today, and while it had a warm critical reception, players are having a lot of problems with its PC port in particular. Currently, it has an overwhelmingly negative user score on Steam, with over 13,000 reviews as of the writing. Capcom has addressed common criticism of the game in the hopes of quelling the frustration of PC players.

Publisher 11 bit Studios revealed that Indika — a very weird game from Odd Meter Studio that left a strong impression on me during February’s Steam Next Fest — will finally come out on May 8.

The second half of Invincible season 2 is airing weekly on Amazon Prime right now, and one of the new free games on the Epic Games Store perfectly complements it. Between now and March 28, you can get Invincible Presents: Atom Eve for free on the Epic Game Store.

Epic Games affirmed its commitment to bringing the Epic Games Store to iOS and Android before the end of 2024 during its State of Unreal presentation at GDC 2024.

We finally learned the title of the Captain America and Black Panther video game that former Uncharted creative director Amy Hennig is making at Skydance New Media. It’s titled Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra and will come out sometime next year. This was all revealed during Epic Games’ State of Unreal presentation at GDC 2024.

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Cyan’s classic PC adventure game Riven: The Sequel to Myst is getting an Unreal Engine 5 remake later this year. Although Cyan’s last game experienced controversy surrounding the use of AI content, Cyan confirmed to Digital Trends that the Riven remake does not use any “AI-assisted content.”

Microsoft unveiled the batch of titles coming to its gaming subscription service throughout the back half of March. Quite a few awesome titles are making their way to the service, but by far, the most notable addition is Diablo IV, the first Activision Blizzard game being made available on Xbox Game Pass.

Irdeto, the company behind the controversial Denuvo DRM utilized in many PC games, just announced a new technology meant to combat game content leaks in the video game industry.

Sony is reportedly pausing production of the PlayStation VR2 headsets because it has a backlog of unsold headsets.

Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection should have been a slam dunk.

Nvidia revealed in a blog post that Ubisoft’s Star Wars Outlaws will be on GeForce Now and use some of its proprietary technology when it launches sometime this year.

Embracer Group confirmed it is selling Saber Interactive to Beacon Interactive on Thursday morning, following rumors of a sale last month. Saber Interactive is a massive company that not only develops games like Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 and Expeditions: A Mudrunner Game but also owns several studios.

Sony today unveiled the March 2024 lineup of new games for the PlayStation Plus Premium and Extra catalog. Jak and Daxter fans, whom PlayStation and Naughty Dog rarely acknowledge, got a win today as the PSP version of Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier is getting rereleased for the first time via PlayStation Plus Premium on March 19.

Although I enjoy a wide variety of games from different genres, there are still parts of the video game zeitgeist I have little knowledge of. One of those blind spots is Korean MMOs like Nexon’s Vindictus, which attracts lots of players in Asia, but has made less of an impact in the U.S. Thankfully, my lack of familiarity with that space didn’t make the playtest for Vindictus: Defying Fate any less enjoyable.

Summer Game Fest, Geoff Keighley’s annual summer event full of new game reveals and trailers will return for its fifth edition on June 7.

The Finals made a big splash when it launched at The Game Awards 2023, and it has maintained a healthy player base in the months since. Tomorrow, The Finals Season 2 begins and it brings new weapons and gadgets, another battle pass, a new map, and the Power Shift mode with it. Although I dropped from off playing The Finals a few weeks after its release, my early taste of Season 2’s new content was more than enticing enough to draw me back in.

Sony rolled out another beefy PlayStation 5 update today with the main goals of improving the speakers and mic on the DualSense and DualSense Edge controllers and deepening the number of Share Screen viewer interactions.

Baba is You, one of the most mind-bending indie puzzle games I’ve ever played turns five years old today.

After a boom of video game studio foundings, acquisitions, and developer recruiting in the late 2010s and early 2020s, the industry is headed in the opposite direction. Acquisitions have slowed down, layoffs happen multiple times a week, and news of canceled projects and studio closures has overtaken that of studio announcements. During this time, an industry veteran and game director behind titles like God of War 3 and Star Wars Jedi: Survivor has started a new studio

WB Games and Player First Games announced that MultiVersus, their free-to-play fighting game featuring characters from various Warner Bros.’ owned properties, will return on May 28.

Capcom has heavily discounted Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen across all of the platforms it’s available on ahead of the launch of Dragon’s Dogma 2.

Among its many highlights, FinalFantasy VII Rebirth makes simple sidequests a lot more engaging than I had expected. Take an early-game sidequest called When Words Won’t Do. On a surface level, it’s a simple escort mission where players must get a dog from Under Junon to Crow’s Nest unscathed. I did not initially have high hopes for this sidequest due to the poor reputation of escort missions; thankfully, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth defied that fate. To make this optional content more worthwhile, Square Enix gave it a strong narrative backbone.

Electronic Arts owns the rights to a rich back catalog of PC games from series like Populous, Command & Conquer, and Dungeon Keeper, but many of them weren’t readily available on Steam. That changed today as EA brought many of its classic PC games and expansions to Valve’s PC gaming platform today.

Blizzard Entertainment announced that Overwatch 2’s next crossover is with Cowboy Bebop, and a snazzy trailer recreates the anime’s iconic opening with the collaboration’s character skins.

Dune: Part Two has taken theaters by storm after a relatively quiet start to the 2024 box office. It’s getting even more people into this franchise, which is the grandfather of a lot of modern sci-fi stories. Dune also has a more storied history with video games than you may think. If you’re in the mood to return to Arrakis and experience more entertainment set within the Dune universe, you don’t have to wait for Dune: Awakening.

The second-ever Xbox Partner Preview just took place, and it gave us a deeper look at some of the third-party games coming to Xbox. It has been an odd year for the Xbox, as its first-party lineup is finally starting to take shape with titles like Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, while fans are also concerned about the future of its platform in the wake of the decision to bring some of its games to the Nintendo Switch and PS5. This showcase demonstrated that third-party studios are still in full support of Xbox and by showing off some of their games that are on the way to Xbox Game Pass.

Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut is the next first-party PlayStation game to come to PC, Sucker Punch Productions and Nixxes Software have confirmed. It launches on May 16.

We finally learned the release date of 11 Bit Studios’ highly anticipated Frostpunk 2 during the Xbox Partner Preview today. While the game is about surviving and thriving in a frosty postapocalyptic world, Frostpunk 2 is coming out in the middle of summer.

Hades, an exhilarating action roguelike that took the game industry by storm following its 1.0 launch in 2020, earned the #8 spot on Digital Trends’ best video games of all time list. Now coming to a new platform very soon: iOS.

Microsoft revealed on on Xbox Wire all of the Xbox Game Pass catalog additions we can expect between today and March 19. Headliners include Control Ultimate Edition, the complete version of the game Remedy Entertainment made before Alan Wake 2, and MLB The Show 24, a game made by a PlayStation-owned studio.

A Women’s Day Sale, spearheaded by indie game funding organization Wings Interactive, is currently taking place on Steam. Until March 10, a wealth of games starring and made by women are seeing some significant discounts. From mind-bending puzzle games to vibrant action titles, this sale is full of fantastic indies worth a look during Women’s History Month. Here are seven highlights to check out if you’re looking to grab some great games for cheap.

Microsoft will air its second-ever Xbox Partner Preview showcase later this week. It established the format in 2023 as a Nintendo Direct-style presentation where Microsoft can highlight third-party titles coming soon to Xbox platforms. Last year’s show included titles like Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater and The Finals, while this March’s show will feature games like Tales of Kenzera: Zau and Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess.

If you’ve been looking for an excuse to revisit Pokémon X and Y, the announcement of Pokémon Legends: Z-A just gifted you a perfect excuse to do so.

Amid a layoff wave at the end of February, EA canceled a Star Wars first-person shooter that was in development at Apex Legends developer Respawn Entertainment. Considering this is a genre that Star Wars once dominated, as well as Respawn’s mastery with games like Titanfall 2, the news especially stung, even if it’s small potatoes next to all the jobs lost in EA’s layoffs. If you’re yearning for a Star Wars FPS and don’t want to wait for the Star Wars: Battlefront remaster launching later this month, you’re in luck.

Remnant 2, one of the best multiplayer games of 2023, just received an update that added crossplay and is now available at a discounted price of $30 on Steam for a limited time.

Balatro, a poker roguelike that has become a surprise hit after being released last month, will get delisted in some regions after a sudden rating change that claimed the game encouraged gambling.

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is out now, but it’s only available on PlayStation 5.

No Rest for the Wicked has a lot going for it. The upcoming action game already has me charmed me with its distinct sense of style. There’s just one thing that’s yet to win me over, and that’s its sometimes cruel gameplay.

This March’s new games are a lot more niche than those released so far in 2024, but they are shaping up to be some of the best in their respective genres. Princess Peach is getting her first starring role in a game in over 18 years, while franchises like Alone in the Dark and Dragon’s Dogma are making a comeback after long dormancies. March 22, in particular, looks like it will be a busy day with three AAA games all launching alongside each other.

Saber Interactive, the game developer and publisher behind highly anticipated upcoming games like the remake of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2, is reportedly being sold by its parent company, Embracer Group.

Activision studio Toys for Bob — best known for its work on franchises like Crash Bandicoot, Skylanders, and Spyro — is separating from Microsoft and going independent. It isn’t completely leaving Xbox and Activision behind, though, as the studio is looking to form a partnership with those companies.

EA announced that it will lay off 5% of its workforce by the end of March as part of an initiative that will also see it move away from making a lot of externally licensed games in the future.

Remedy Entertainment, the developer behind 2019’s Control and critically acclaimed games like Alan Wake 2, now fully owns the rights to the Control franchise. That means the Finnish studio now has full, for the lack of a better word, control over the future of this series, including its sequel and multiplayer spin-off.

Activision’s popular battle royale game Call of Duty: Warzone is making the jump to mobile in March. Specifically, it launches for iOS and Android devices on March 21.

In most survival crafting games, there’s one large world filled with multiple biomes for players to explore. That’s not the case with Nightingale. While there are procedurally generated realms to explore, players are the ones who craft them with an innovative Realm Card system. Anytime players feel like they’ve amply explored the realm they are in or feel like they need to go to a new one to gather resources, a portal must be found or built.

The Pokémon Company revealed during today’s Pokémon Presents showcase that Pokémon Z-A will be released in 2025.

Sony is the latest company in the video game industry to announce massive layoffs in 2024. We’ve learned that Sony Interactive Entertainment is letting go of about 900 people across several studios; PlayStation’s London Studio will shut down as a result.

Tchia will leave the PlayStation Plus Premium and Extra game catalog on March 19. And you really need to play this charming open-world adventure that I called “a new coming-of-age classic” in a four-star review before it’s gone.

Helldivers 2 has been the surprise hit of February, but it has also been surprisingly hard to get into the game. Server issues are frequent, and while Arrowhead Game Studios is actively working to resolve these issues, Helldivers 2’s online experience is far from perfect. If you’re frustrated at not being able to play Helldivers 2, but want to play something similar, there’s another fantastic option.

Pokémon Day is almost here, and with it comes another Pokémon Presents presentation. During this showcase, the Pokémon company will highlight its plans for the massive franchise over the next year. It will be particularly exciting to tune into this Pokémon Presents because we’ll finally get to see what Pokémon content is on the way in 2024, in the wake of the massive success of Palworld in January. Fans of Pokémon will definitely want to tune in and see what’s next for their favorite franchise. If you’re not sure how or where to tune in, we’ve rounded up all of that information right here for you.

With the launches of Helldivers 2, Nightingale, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, Foamstars, and Skull & Bones, February 2024 has been packed with new multiplayer games planned to have live service tails.

Microsoft and World’s Edge gave us our first glimpse of its upcoming remaster of real-time strategy game Age of Mythology: Retold during Friday’s New Year, New Age livestream. They also confirmed that it will launch on PC and Xbox later this year.

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Riot Games announced the title of its free-to-playLeague of Legends fighting game, which it had previously referred to as Project L: 2XKO.

To celebrate the first anniversary of the PlayStation VR2, Sony revealed a new batch of games coming to its virtual reality headset and confirmed that it’s testing a feature that would let people play PC VR games on their PSVR2.

One year ago, I took my first step into virtual reality with the PlayStation VR2. One year later, I haven’t walked much further.

Microsoft has finally laid out when people can expect Sea of Thieves, Hi-Fi Rush, Pentiment, and Grounded to go fully multiplatform.

During Wednesday’s Nintendo Direct: Partner Showcase, we learned about two of the Xbox Game Studios titles that are going multiplatform. The games in question are Obsidian Entertainment’s Grounded and Pentiment, and the latter will launch tomorrow on Nintendo Switch.

Microsoft and Bethesda finally confirmed that Hi-Fi Rush is going multiplatform. In particular, it was announced that the rhythm action game is coming to the PS5 next month.

We finally got our first full look at Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree, the expansion for FromSoftware’s critically acclaimed 2022 open-world game. Thankfully, we don’t have to wait too much longer for it, as publisher Bandai Namco Entertainment confirmed a June 21 release date.

Helldivers 2 is a PlayStation console exclusive, so it’s not available on Xbox Series X or S. Not only has Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer voiced his disappointment in this, but so have many Helldivers 2 players, who are asking for more backup in the fight against the Terminids and Automatons.

When video game developers and publishers constantly hunt for their own live service white whale, many of them fail. Even fewer of those get second chances like Gigantic is about to.

The next batch of titles coming to Xbox Game Pass this month was just revealed. Leading the pack of games being added to the subscription service today is Tales of Arise, a critically acclaimed RPG from Bandai Namco Entertainment that Xbox previously leaked was coming to the service.

Bandle Tale: A League of Legends Story is a new game about getting out of your comfort zone and connecting with others. In many ways, that’s also the story of Riot Forge. The publishing label pushed its corporate parent Riot Games out of its AAA design instincts to expand the world of Runterra. There’s only so much narrative you can weave into something like League of Legends, and all of Riot Forge’s games offered unique perspectives that enriched this world. I found fulfillment in that strategy too, as someone who enjoys the world of Runeterra, but didn’t want to play League of Legends itself. It’s a treatment that few well-known franchises get outside comic book universes, Warhammer, and Star Wars.

Of the three games available for no additional cost with a PlayStation Plus Essential subscription this February, the best game isn’t the highest-profile one. A lot of attention is going to Foamstars, the odd multiplayer game Square Enix launched free on PS Plus, but the real gem of February 2024’s PS Plus Essential lineup is Rollerdrome from Roll7 and Private Division.

The wave of layoffs that has happened over the past year in the video game industry is well-documented. Some of the biggest culprits are Embracer Group, which has laid off nearly 1,400 workers across several of its studios since the start of a restructuring program last July, and Microsoft, which laid off 1,900 developers across Xbox, Bethesda, and Activision Blizzard in January. After relative silence around these layoffs, leadership at both companies finally tried to offer more transparently into what happened.

It bugs Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer that Arrowhead Game Studios and Sony Interactive Entertainment’s Helldivers 2 is not on Xbox. In a recent interview with Game File, Spencer stated that he’s “not exactly sure who it helps in the industry by not being on Xbox,” even though he understands that “there’s a legacy in console gaming that we’re going to benefit by shipping games and not putting them on other places.”

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Microsoft finally gave its fans an update on the future of its gaming business during the Official Xbox Podcast today. It clarified some of the speculation around its first-party games going multiplatform, explaining that this move only applies to four titles.

Microsoft just released the latest episode of the Official Xbox Podcast, and it contained lots of crucial details on the future of Xbox. Microsoft addressed everything from how many games it will make multiplatform to the arrival of Activision Blizzard games on Xbox Game Pass to future Xbox hardware.

Hello Games released the Omega update for No Man’s Sky today and is making the sci-fi game free-to-play temporarily to celebrate.

Apple confirmed three more Apple Arcade titles that will get the spatial game treatment for Apple Vision Pro soon: Alto’s Odyssey: The Lost City, Gibbon: Beyond the Trees, and Spire Blast.

The February additions to the PlayStation Plus Premium and Essential were unveiled by Sony on Wednesday morning, and it’s a great batch of games for RPG fans. Thirteen games will hit the service on February 20, many of which come from Bandai Namco Entertainment’s Tales Off series. The most exciting addition for me is The Outer Worlds: Spacer’s Choice Edition, which is the complete version of a fantastic sci-fi RPG from Obsidian Entertainment.

Most companies like to sweep the bad parts of their legacy under the rug. For Nintendo, that includes some The Legend of Zelda games licensed for the Phillips CD-i platform. Frustrating game design, poor animation, and a terrible controller cemented these games as some of the worst ever made, but that doesn’t mean people have ignored them. Some of the earliest “YouTube Poops” were based on footage and dialogue from those games. And now, the new Arzette: The Jewel of Faramore is full-on spiritual successor — and a Phillips CD-i-inspired controller is coming out to go along with it.

The Official Xbox Podcast episode dropping later this week is going to be a big one. Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer, President of Game Content and Studios Matt Booty, and Xbox President Sarah Bond will finally address rumors that have been tearing the Xbox community apart for the past week. After leaks and rumors indicating that titles like Hi-Fi Rush, Sea of Thieves, Starfield, and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle would come to Nintendo Switch or PlayStation 5 began to circulate, people got very confused about what this all means for Xbox as a platform going forward.

The survival crafting game genre is in the middle of a renaissance. Players have been drawn to mainstays like Minecraft and Terreria for well over a decade at this point, but the last couple of months have seen plenty of new contenders enter the market. Lego Fortnite, Palworld, and Enshrouded all recently launched and became some of the biggest surprise hits in the industry in recent months. Now, Nightingale is launching and aims to ride this genre popularity wave to success.

Palworld took the world by storm following its early access launch on January 19. It peaked at over 2.1 million concurrent players on Steam, selling over 12 million copies on that platform alone and amassing at least 7 million more purchases via Xbox Game Pass. That means you’ve probably played it at this point, even if you aren’t playing many other video games right now. Thankfully, the melting pot — or derivative, depending on who you ask — design of Palworld makes it a gateway game to several other amazing titles.