Rocket Science opens new studio in Cardiff

Apple event 2023: Apple's highly anticipated 'Wonderlust' event is set to take place tomorrow, September 12, where the latest generation of iPhones, alongside the Apple Watch Series 9 is expected to be unveiled. This is the second Apple event of the year, following the World Wide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2023 which kicked off on June 5 when Apple revealed iOS 17, alongside the much-talked-about Apple Vision Pro. We could also see some surprise announcements tomorrow such as the Apple Watch Ultra 2, and AirPods 2nd Generation with USB Type-C. With just 24 hours to go, you can watch the Apple 2023 event online from the comfort of your home. Here's how.

When you think of city builders over the last decade, there’s only one name that still comes to mind: Cities: Skylines. The breakout success for Colossal Order and (at the time) the biggest game launch Paradox Interactive had ever seen, it’s effectively came to represent the entire genre, as other city builder franchises faded away. Having gone hands on with the game, Cities: Skylines 2 looks set to repeat the feat and cement itself at the top of the genre.

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 has impressed on several fronts in all that’s been shown of it so far, which, of course, includes how it’s shaping up on a visual and technical level. With the game now a little more than a month away from launch, developer Insomniac has also shared new screenshots to further drive home just how good it’s looking.

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is set to be a much bigger game than its predecessors, with developer Insomniac Games having confirmed that the upcoming sequel’s open world New York will be roughly twice as large as the previous two entries in the series. New boroughs are being added in the form of Queens (where Aunt May’s house can also be visited) and Brooklyn, while Coney Island will also be present– though it seems one notable NYC landmark won’t be present in the game.

WNBA team the New York Liberty is collaborating with Xbox to play on a Starfield-themed court.

Earth, Mars, Luna, and more familiar celestial bodies are present in Starfield and can be freely explored. That said, Earth isn’t in the same state as we know it today, as only a few of humanity’s greatest monuments have stood the test of time.

There are plenty of video games left in 2023 that will excite players and potentially keep the “Game of the Year” race wide open. One such title is Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, which will arrive on October 20th. The game is the long-awaited sequel from Insomniac Games, and they’ve been working hard to deliver a memorable sequel to follow up the original title from PS4 and the spinoff with Miles Morales that helped ring in the PS5. Gamers are looking forward to many of the new gameplay elements and characters that will debut, including Kraven the Hunter’s arrival.

Happy Friday, Polygon readers!

I mean, sometimes the whole story really is in the headline. OpenAI, the software company best-known for the various iterations of its ChatGPT text generator, has announced the acquisition of Global Illumination (GI), which describes itself as «a digital product company based in New York most recently working on Biomes.»

Bethesda Game Studios has revealed that its eagerly-awaited sci-fi RPG Starfield will go live on September 6th, midnight UTC. However, depending on your region, it could be released sooner or later. A new article outlines release timings worldwide, starting September 5th at 5 PM PDT in Los Angeles, with Premium Edition owners receiving early access on August 31st.

Recently, Wordle, the text puzzle where you have to find out the word of the day, completed its 800th game. The game, which became a global sensation, was acquired by the New York Times in 2022. And if you are a fan of Wordle, or text puzzles in general, then you need to know about the most recent game to come out of NYT, which is gaining popularity at an exponential rate. The game is called Connections and it is a very different take on word puzzles. The best part about the game is that now it is available to play on iPhone and Android devices as well.

The gamers behind the Gray Lady have a new game to add into our morning rotations: Connections, which invites the player to categorize 16 words or phrases into four distinct groups of four.