Parry-based hand-drawn Metroidvania game DEVIATOR announced for PC

Roguelike action game Ancient Weapon Holly will launch for PlayStation 5, Switch, and PC via Steam on March 8, followed by PlayStation 4 at a later date, publisher and developer ACQUIRE, and publisher Aniplex announced. It will cost 1,980 yen in Japan. It will support English, Japanese, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, and Polish language options. A demo is currently available for PC.

According to a Wall Street Journal report, US President Joe Biden will soon announce subsidies top semiconductor companies like Samsung, Intel, TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co) and others to make advanced chips in the US. The strategy is to keep the US and its allies as ahead of fierce rivals like China as is possible. 

Chinese developer Kuro Game has released new information about its upcoming game, Wuthering Waves, confirming the game's second beta test and PlayStation versions. Kuro Game first announced the game in 2022 as a new action RPG with many fans drawing comparisons to Genshin Impact with its fast-paced and fluid combat. Early trailers saw Wuthering Waves showcase similar gameplay to «hack-and-slash» games, putting an emphasis on difficulty and timing with the players' inputs. Now, excited fans are set to learn more about the game with its second closed beta test.

After detailing the three gameplay styles in Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2, The Chinese Room confirmed that a new gameplay trailer and deep dive would go live on January 31st. The next Dev Diary will arrive in two weeks and delve into the game’s final pillar, “Exploring the World of Darkness.”

The Chinese Room has released a new Dev Diary for Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2, discussing the “Visceral, Immersive Combat.” Project creative director Alex Skidmore says the goal is to “create an action experience that can compete with modern titles.” To that end, players can expect three gameplay styles: Strategic Stalker, Action Brawler and Narrative Adventure.

Apple iPhone was the top-selling smartphone series in China for the first time last year, a surprisingly strong showing in the face of fierce local competition and expanding government prohibitions against the American company's technology. The iPhone ranked first in shipments in the fourth quarter and 2023 overall, market tracker IDC said. It came after several analysts, including Jefferies, said iPhone sales tanked in the fourth quarter due to a lull in enthusiasm for the Cupertino, California company's latest generation of hardware in the world's biggest smartphone market. IDC also noted rising competition from domestic names like a resurgent Huawei Technologies Co., but timely discounts and promotions helped reduce the harm for Apple. 

Earth Defense Force 6 will launch for PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4 on March 14 in Asia with English, Korean, and Chinese audio, and English, Korean, Traditional Chinese, and Simplified Chinese text support, publisher Clouded Leopard Entertainment announced.

A bunch of companies in the technology sector have been laying off some of their employees recently after quickly ramping up hiring during the COVID-19 pandemic while people spent more time and money online. Now, many of them are making job cuts to help lower costs and bolster their bottom lines. Here's some of the companies that have laid of employees of late:

FuRyu subsidiary Studio Lalala has announced Kemono Teatime, a game that combines Kemomimi, cafe management, and ASMR. It will launch for PC via Steam in 2024 with English, Japanese, Traditional Chinese, and Simplified Chinese language support.

Genshin Impact is currently being review-bombed in China, on top of suffering a massive loss of social media followers. Its ongoing difficulties appear to be related to HoYoverse's recent livestream announcing the Genshin Impact 4.4 Banners and some additional events.

Developers SimonCreative and Storia have announced roguelite strategy game Sakura and the Airyvixen for PC (Steam). It will launch in Q2 2024.

Folks, I have seen some games like Hollow Knight in my day. Until this afternoon, I would've told you that the iconic Metroidvania's closest relative is probably Crowsworn, which proudly blends Hollow Knight's style with action games like Devil May Cry to make something that appears meaningfully different. But Crowsworn has now been dethroned by Deviator, a 2D Metroidvania that looks so uncannily similar that I genuinely thought we'd gotten new Hollow Knight Silksong screenshots for a split-second.