Gadgets 360 News, Tips, Tricks, Ideas

2K has announced the release date, roster and a few more details about the upcoming TopSpin 2K25. The revival of the popular tennis sim series will launch on April 26, across PS5, PS4, Xbox Series S/X, Xbox One and PC. 2K also confirmed some of the tennis stars who will be present in the game, as part of a roster of 24 playable pros. TopSpin 2K25 received a new trailer, showing off gameplay and tennis icons like Roger Federer and Serena Williams in action.

Detective Dotson, a mystery-adventure game for PC by Ahmedabad-based independent game studio Masala Games, was announced on Monday. A demo of the game has been added to Steam and is now available to play. Its full version will be released later this year. The 2D platformer game, which is set in modern India, is influenced by Bollywood and Indian TV shows like CID, as per the publishers. Masala Games has previously released Word Mess, a word game, for iOS and iPadOS.

The MSI Claw has been launched and is now available to buy in the US and a few other select markets. The handheld gaming PC was first unveiled at CES 2024 in January as a new entrant into the handheld gaming space. The MSI Claw will compete with the Steam Deck, Asus ROG Ally, Lenovo Legion Go and other handhelds in a burgeoning product category. The base variant of the handheld, A1M-052US, comes with the Intel Core Ultra 5-135H processor and runs on Windows 11 Home. There are two higher-end variants, as well, powered by Core Ultra 7 processor, which will be available to buy on March 12.

Under pressure from European regulators, Apple took a step back in its feud with Epic Games on Friday, clearing the way for Epic to put its own game store on iPhones and iPads in Europe.

Apple escalated its feud with Epic Games on Wednesday, blocking the Fortnite video-game maker from launching its own online marketplace on iPhones and iPads in Europe.

Marvel's Spider-Man 2 has received the version 1.002.000 update, finally bringing the much-requested New Game+ mode, new suits for the two heroes, and a host of new quality-of-life features. The latest patch also adds the ability to replay missions, change the in-game time of day, and some handy accessibility options. The Spider-Man 2 update, however, has also brought an unintended bug. Developer Insomniac Games confirmed that the patch could grant players access to a development game menu, which could end up impacting save files and trophy progress.

Ghost of Tsushima Director's Cut, the open-world action-adventure game from Sucker Punch, is coming to PC, continuing the trend of first-party PlayStation titles releasing on Windows. The game will launch with the expected suite of PC features on May 16. The port, predictably, is helmed by veterans Nixxes Software, the Sony-owned studio that has previously worked on PC ports for first-party PlayStation titles like Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered and Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart.

Horizon Forbidden West Complete Edition is set to arrive on PC on March 21. Ahead of its launch, developer Nixxes Software has released a detailed list of PC system requirements for the game. The studio, tasked with porting the PlayStation exclusive to PC, has also detailed the customisation options that will be available at launch. Horizon Forbidden West is one of the best-looking games on PS5, but Nixxes has opted for an approach that would allow the visually demanding game to run “on a wide variety of PC hardware.”

Warner Bros. Games remains undeterred by the sub-par critical and commercial performance of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League and plans to further lean into the live service model for its games going forward. J.B. Perrette, CEO and President, Global Streaming and Games at Warner Bros. Discovery, laid out the company's games strategy at a recent Morgan Stanley speaking event, reiterating the studio's intentions to invest more in 'games as a service' model, free-to-play games and mobile titles, and expressing doubts about the “volatile” business of bespoke triple-A games on consoles.

Hades, the acclaimed roguelike from Supergiant Games, is coming to iOS as part of Netflix Games on March 19. The streaming giant confirmed the release date on Apple's mobile platform Tuesday, with pre-registrations open for the action title. Hades was first released on the Nintendo Switch, PC and Mac in 2020 and launched on PlayStation and Xbox platforms a year later. All Netflix subscribers will be able to access the game for free on iOS devices.

I've been a fan of gaming laptops ever since my first gaming laptop - the Alienware M11x- almost a decade ago. They're unique and powerful but expensive. I've owned a couple of gaming laptops, mostly Alienware's, and have spent a fair share of my younger years building gaming PCs. The Asus ROG Strix Scar 16 takes me back to the days when I could stay up all night playing games. Asus' laptop is big, flashy, and a gaming powerhouse. Yes, there's also RGB lighting that screams, ‘I'm a gamer'.

Swedish gaming company Embracer Group AB will sell one of its largest subsidiaries, Saber Interactive, to a group of private investors in a deal worth up to $500 million (roughly Rs. 4,142 crore), according to a person familiar with the transaction.

Long before the Suicide Squad went on to try about killing the Justice League, it dug its own grave. The action-adventure shooter from Rocksteady was born with the burden of living up to the lofty standards set by the studio's beloved Batman: Arkham games. Then, it stepped on a rake when last year's gameplay reveal confirmed that the game would be an always-online, live service looter shooter — a departure from Rocksteady's repertoire of narrative-focussed single-player experiences. And when it finally came out in early access ahead of its February 2 release, the developers had to pull it offline due to a bug that led to full story completion just as players logged in to the game for the first time.

The newly launched OnePlus Buds 3 appears as a brand-new product line since OnePlus never launched a Buds 2 truly wireless earphones. Technically, these are closer to the Nord Buds Z2 both in terms of features and in terms of price, so you can say that these buds are the spiritual successors to the Buds Z2. However, their pricing places them just below the premium OnePlus Buds Pro 2 in the OnePlus audio range. OnePlus, with its new Buds 3 truly wireless earphones, claims to deliver premium features at a lower price point. I've been using them for a couple of weeks, and here's why I think they are an excellent choice at Rs. 5,499 in India.

PlayStation Plus monthly games for March have been announced. The lineup of free games for the month includes racing simulator EA Sports F1 23, kung fu beat ‘em up Sifu, online shooter Destiny 2: The Witch Queen and survival horror title Hello Neighbor 2. All four titles will be available to PS Plus subscribers across Essential, Extra and Deluxe/Premium tiers starting March 5. Members can add the monthly free games to their library till April 1.

Electronic Arts will reduce 5 percent of its workforce as part of a restructuring plan that also includes a reduction in real estate, the company said on Wednesday, as the video game industry struggles to grow amid high interest rates.

Sony is rolling out passkey support on PlayStation platforms globally as an alternative way for users to access their PlayStation Network accounts. The company made the announcement Monday and said that passkeys would offer a more secure and convenient way for PlayStation users to sign in and access experiences on the platform. PlayStation offered password-based sign in option until now, along with security features like two-step verification. Passkeys would eliminate the need to remember passwords and would instead tie account and services access to device-specific unique identification like fingerprint scan, Face ID on iPhone, or a PIN.

Japan's Sony is cutting about 900 jobs at its PlayStation unit and shutting a studio in London, it said on Tuesday as the videogame industry struggles to recover from a post-pandemic slump.

Nintendo is said to have delayed the launch of its next-generation console, the successor to the Nintendo Switch. Reports last week claimed that the company was advising game publishers that the Nintendo Switch 2 would be delayed until the early months of 2025. A new report now claims that the Switch successor will be released in March 2025. The Nintendo Switch is now almost seven years old, and a follow-up console was initially expected to launch later this year in the holiday season.

Infinix is looking to launch a new smartphone in 2024. The company teased the flagship gaming phone at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2024 in Barcelona. The phone is said to carry the moniker Infinix GT Ultra and the company has revealed its chipset, display and hardware details. Infinix has also showcased some new technological concepts including ones that will be featured in the gaming phone. It also introduced a prototype technology called E-Color Shift.

PlayStation VR2 is set to get support for VR games on PC this year, Sony has announced. The company confirmed Wednesday that it was testing the ability for PS VR2 to play PC VR games in addition to the already supported titles available via PS5. The PS VR2 launched in international markets in February 2023, and it made its India debut in December. The virtual reality headset is currently only compatible with the PS5 and does not support PS VR content from the previous generation.

Elden Ring, the acclaimed fantasy RPG from FromSoftware, has sold over 23 million copies since its release in 2022, Bandai Namco has confirmed. The publisher revealed the sales figure in wake of the gameplay trailer and release date reveal of the game's first major expansion, Shadow of the Erdtree, on Wednesday. Exactly a year ago, Bandai Namco had announced that Elden Ring had sold 20 million copies worldwide.

Palworld, the action-adventure survival title that broke player count records on Steam at launch, has sold 15 million copies on Valve's platform. Developers Pocketpair announced Thursday that the game's total player count had gone past 25 million, with 15 million players on Steam and 10 million players on Xbox. Since its release last month, Palworld has become a phenomenon, becoming one of the most played games in Steam history even as it has attracted plagiarism accusations over its Pokémon-style in-game creatures that players can capture, train and utilise in combat.

Microsoft first-party games Pentiment, Grounded, Hi-Fi Rush, and Sea of Thieves will soon be available on Nintendo Switch and Sony PlayStation platforms. Xbox confirmed on Wednesday that much like other popular multi-platform games like Minecraft, Call of Duty, Overwatch and Diablo, players will soon be able to access these exclusive games on their Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 consoles. This move underscores a larger trend in the gaming industry towards greater accessibility and cross-platform interoperability. By adopting this strategy, the company hopes to encourage greater inclusivity and reach a wider range of gamers.

Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree, the first major expansion for the acclaimed action RPG, received a gameplay trailer, detailing a new story, characters, and a new map, and a release date. The DLC will launch June 21 across PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series S/X, with preorders for the game now live across all platforms. Shadow of the Erdtree, which will focus on the story of Miquella, brother of Malenia, is FromSoftware's largest expansion to date and will task players with uncovering a new mystery.

Sony could reportedly release a Pro version of the PlayStation 5 later this year to help PS5 sales find a second wind in the latter half of the current console generation. The PS5 has sold over 50 million units since its launch in November 2020, but the sales for the console are slowing down. Sony is set to miss its PS5 sales target for fiscal year 2023, with the Japanese electronics giant expecting to sell four million units fewer than its 25-million goal for the year.

Elden Ring's long-awaited expansion is finally getting a trailer. Developers FromSoftware confirmed that the first trailer for Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree will be revealed February 21. The trailer, set to be released on Wednesday at 7am PST (or 8.30pm IST), will feature gameplay from the upcoming major expansion. The presentation will also likely provide details about the launch date for the expansion. Shadow of Erdtree was first announced almost a year ago in February 2023.

Nintendo has announced the year's first Nintendo Direct: Partner Showcase, scheduled to take place February 21, at 6am PT (7.30pm IST). The showcase is confirmed to be around 25 minutes long and will focus on games coming to the Nintendo Switch in the first half of 2024. The event will be available to watch on Nintendo's YouTube channel on-demand. There are no further details available about the games that will be presented at the Nintendo Direct: Partner Showcase, but one could expect a few surprises, especially with Microsoft confirming last week that four Xbox-exclusive titles would be released on PS5 and the Switch.

Ubisoft has released a new Invincible mobile game, based on Robert Kirkman's popular comic book series and its hit TV show adaptation. The studio launched Invincible: Guarding the Globe, a free-to-play idle RPG, on Monday. The game is now playable on iOS and Android devices and is also available on the Amazon store. The Invincible mobile game will let players take part in squad-based battles and repel invading alien forces.

Helldivers 2, the latest co-op shooter from Arrowhead Game Studios, is a smash hit. The game, which released February 8 on PS5 and PC, has surpassed popular titles like Grand Theft Auto 5, Destiny 2, Starfield and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim in all-time peak concurrent players on Steam. Owing to its ballooning player count, however, the third-person shooter has faced persistent server issues, with developers working to issue fixes. Now, Arrowhead Games Studios has reportedly capped its concurrent players to around 450,000 to improve server stability.

Nintendo is advising game publishers that its next-generation console will be delayed until the early months of 2025, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

Sony announced February's slate of games coming to PlayStation Plus game catalogue for Extra and Deluxe/Premium tier members last week. This month's PS Plus offerings, announced on the PlayStation blog, are headlined by Need for Speed: Unbound, The Outer Worlds, Tales of Arise and Assassin's Creed Valhalla. The full list of games arriving to the PS Plus game catalogue this month will be playable starting February 20. Sony had also announced February's three free games coming to PS Plus across all membership tiers late last month.

Microsoft shared new details about its plans for Xbox hardware, teasing the next generation of Xbox consoles and providing updates about its gaming business in a special edition of the Official Xbox Podcast Thursday. While the company confirmed that four Xbox-exclusive games would launch on PS5 and Nintendo Switch, it reiterated its commitment to developing Xbox hardware and exclusives titles on the platform. In the podcast, Xbox president Sarah Bond said that Microsoft was focussed on delivering the “largest technical leap” for a new console generation for the next Xbox.

Apple on Thursday announced the arrival of new "spatial games" that are designed to work on the company's recently launched Apple Vision Pro headset. These games are designed to run on visionOS and are available to Apple Arcade subscribers, according to the company. Users will be able to interact with these games using hand gestures, while viewing elements in an immersive mode that uses augmented reality (AR) technology. Meanwhile, a total of 250 non-spatial titles can also be accessed on the mixed reality headset.

Four Microsoft first-party games will launch on Sony's PlayStation 5 and the Nintendo Switch, the company confirmed late Thursday after weeks of speculation over its exclusive titles releasing on rival platforms. The announcement came on the Official Xbox Podcast from Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer, who also shed further light on the reasons behind Xbox's business decision and confirmed that the next generation of Xbox consoles were in development. Microsoft has not yet revealed the four Xbox exclusives coming to PS5 and Nintendo Switch, but The Verge reported that said games would be Hi-Fi Rush, Pentiment, Sea of Thieves and Grounded.

In the past few years, Metroidvanias and action-adventure platformers have seen a resurgence. Ori and the Blind Forest, Hollow Knight and Dead Cells have breathed new life into the genre, bringing fresh ideas to its established ethos. There's also a renewed appetite for challenging games. Dark Souls came around in 2011 and redefined what one could take away from a video game. They can be fun, sure. But they can be punishing, too. Fast forward a decade, and we now have people playing Elden Ring with a steering wheel. Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, Ubisoft's latest Metroidvania action-adventure platformer, assimilates elements from these games and subgenres to tread familiar ground, but it does so in its own unique ways.

Japan's Sony slashed the full-year sales forecast for its PlayStation 5 console on Wednesday and said it plans to list its financial business next year as it focuses on entertainment and image sensors.

Microsoft will share an update on the Xbox business later this week, the company confirmed Monday after weeks of reports and rumours of its first-party games coming to rival consoles. The Xbox parent will reveal its plans for the platform in a special edition of the Official Xbox Podcast on February 15 at 12pm PT (February 16, 1.30am IST in India), where Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer, Xbox president Sarah Bond and Xbox Game Studios head Matt Booty will share details about the future Xbox roadmap. The confirmation comes after Spencer had promised last Tuesday that Microsoft would share its vision for the “future of Xbox” next week.

Microsoft seems to be shifting its strategy in the gaming space, with reports claiming that the company is mulling the potential launch of its first party titles on rival consoles. Starfield, the space RPG from Microsoft-owned Bethesda Softworks that launched exclusively on Xbox and PC in September last year, could be coming to PS5. The Xbox parent is also considering bringing another upcoming Bethesda title to Sony's console. Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, first revealed at Xbox's Developer Direct showcase last month, could also reportedly launch on PS5.

Since the release of the PlayStation 5, Sony has paraded an army of accessories to pair with the console — headsets, earbuds, charging dock, camera, media remote and more. And then, there's the line of Inzone gaming headsets that offer a little more versatility. The Inzone H3, H7 and H9 are compatible with both PC and PS5 and bring an escalating suite of features across their price points. Sony's newly released Inzone H5 wireless gaming headset sits snugly somewhere in the middle of its kin. The Inzone H5 offers spatial audio capabilities for immersive gameplay, it boasts a long battery life and lightweight design for longer and more comfortable gaming sessions, and it brings both wireless and wired connectivity via a 2.4 GHz wireless connection with a USB Type-A transceiver and a 3.5mm audio jack, respectively.

Take-Two Interactive Software forecast fourth-quarter bookings below market expectations and cut its annual estimates on Thursday, on signs of weak demand for its gaming titles such as NBA 2K, sending its shares plunging 10 percent after the bell.

A day after reports of multiple Microsoft first-party titles possibly making their way to rival platforms, the company said early Tuesday that it would host a business update event next week, detailing the “future of Xbox.” Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer posted the announcement on X (formerly Twitter), promising more details to the Xbox community. While the Xbox chief did not confirm the agenda of the event, Microsoft reportedly will reveal its plan to bring its exclusive titles, said to include Hi-Fi Rush and others, to rival platforms from Sony and Nintendo next week.

Grand Theft Auto 6 is set to release some time in 2025, with developer Rockstar Games announcing the much-awaited title via a trailer late last year. The GTA 6 trailer, which has 174 million views on YouTube at the time of writing, came out December 5, showing off shiny visuals, a dense and detailed Vice City, and a Tom Petty song that has since experienced a 37,000 percent increase in its Spotify streams. But hours before Rockstar was forced to actually put out the trailer, it leaked on the Internet. Now, the CEO of Rockstar owner Take-Two has said that the leak was “disappointing.”

2024 is off to a flying start when it comes to games, with major titles like Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, and Tekken 8 releasing in January. February, too, promises a host of new launches across different genres from big-name developers like Rocksteady Studios, Square Enix, and Ubisoft. Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League kicks off this month, bringing players back into the beloved Arkham universe, albeit with a live service twist. While previous Batman Arkham games were narrative-focussed single player titles, Suicide Squad is co-op looter shooter with colour-coded guns, content drops, and microtransactions.

This year's Mobile World Congress will kickstart on February 26 with several brands showcasing latest trends and innovations in the mobile technology landscape. As the event date nears, Tecno, owned by China's Transsion Holdings, confirmed its presence at the event. The company will showcase an AR gaming set with AR glasses and a robot dog at MWC. Tecno will also unveil a new Pova series smartphone at the event. It will also showcase its Universal Tone technology and an improved version of the rollable concept phone.

Sony has announced the pack of free games coming to PlayStation Plus in February. The monthly games lineup includes the new 4v4 online party shooter Foamstars, shooter-skater hybrid Rollerdrome and the Soulslike action-RPG Steelrising. The three titles will be playable for PS Plus Essential, Extra, and Deluxe/ Premium members starting February 6. PS Plus subscribers can add the free games to their game library till March 4. Once added to the library, all three titles will be accessible as long as users have an active PS Plus subscription.

Roblox has built an artificial intelligence (AI) tool that can translate supporting languages in chats in almost real-time. There is a latency of roughly about 100 milliseconds, claims the company. The online gaming platform, which has more than 70 million daily active users, created a native large language model (LLM) to build the tool that can translate any combination of 16 languages. The foundational model behind the feature puts a heavy emphasis on accuracy, fluency, as well as the context of the rest of the sentence to find the best translation.

Marvel's Spider-Man 2 is set to receive a title update in March, which will include the much-requested New Game+ mode, developer Insomniac Games confirmed Wednesday. The update will also bring new suits for Peter Parker and Miles Morales and a few more changes, details of which will be revealed closer to the update's release. The post-launch update was initially planned for late 2023 but was confirmed to be delayed to early 2024 in December last year.

Walt Disney is acquiring a $1.5 billion (roughly Rs. 12,400 crore) equity stake in Fortnite maker Epic Games as part of a collaboration involving Disney properties like Star Wars, Marvel and Avatar, the companies said Wednesday.

PlayStation hosted the year's first State of Play games showcase early Thursday, bringing a host of new announcements, reveals and updates on upcoming releases. Sony presented a deep dive into two of its first-party titles, with extended gameplay trailers for Rise of the Ronin and Stellar Blade. The latter also finally received a release date — Shift Up's action-adventure title is arriving April 26. Team Ninja's Rise of the Ronin received a detailed gameplay trailer, showing off sword combat, special weapons, and traversal. We also got to know a bit more about the Edo period setting of the game, which takes right in the middle of the Japanese revolution.

Death Stranding Director's Cut is now out on the App Store on iPhone, iPad and Mac computers. The surreal package delivery game from Kojima Productions can be played on the A17 Pro-powered iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max, and iPad models and macOS devices running on the M1 chip or later. Death Stranding, which first launched as a PlayStation exclusive in 2019 and later ported to PC, was first announced for Apple platforms at the company's WWDC event in June last year.

PlayStation has announced the year's first State of Play games showcase event, set to stream January 31. The 40-minute showcase will feature extended looks at Shift Up's action-adventure title Stellar Blade and Team Ninja's action-RPG Rise of the Ronin, both of which will arrive on the PS5 this year. The State of Play event will cover over 15 games in total, providing more details on PS5 and PS VR2 titles releasing in 2024 and beyond. The event will be livestreamed on PlayStation's YouTube, Twitch and TikTok channels, starting Wednesday, January 31 at 2pm PT / 5pm ET / 10pm GMT, or 3:30am on Thursday in India.

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth received an in-depth look at PlayStation's latest State of Play showcase, where publisher Square Enix announced that a demo for the game will be made available Wednesday on the PS5. The playable demo, currently available to download on the PlayStation Store, will allow players to take control of both the protagonist Cloud Strife and the antagonist Sephiroth in an early section of the game. Along with the announcement, Square Enix also debuted an 11-minute-long gameplay footage from the upcoming action RPG, showcasing the world map, modes of traversal, minigames and more.

Horizon Forbidden West, the sprawling action-adventure title from Guerilla Games, is finally getting a PC port. PlayStation announced last week that the Complete Edition of the sci-fi open-world epic, which includes the Burning Shores expansion from 2023, will arrive on PC on March 21. The PC port will be helmed by Nixxes Software, the Sony-owned studio that has previously worked on PC ports for first-party PlayStation titles like Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered and Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart. The Horizon Forbidden West Complete Edition PC port comes two years after the main game' initial release on the PS4 and the PS5 in 2022, keeping in line with Sony's PC release timeline for its exclusive games.

Microsoft will let go of 1,900 employees at Activision Blizzard and Xbox this week, it said on Thursday, the latest cuts in the technology sector that has extended massive layoffs over the past years into 2024.

Palworld, the viral hit action-adventure survival title that has come under intense scrutiny over the alleged likeness of its in-game creatures to the cute monsters from Pokémon, could be staring at legal trouble. The Pokémon Company, which manages the iconic franchise, has finally released an official statement addressing the swirling plagiarism accusations against Palworld, albeit without naming the game directly. Palworld released in early access on January 19 and quickly took the Steam charts by storm, with developers Pocketpair confirming Thursday that the game had sold over eight million copies.

Death Stranding, Hideo Kojima's surreal package delivery title that first launched as a PlayStation exclusive in 2019 and later ported to PC, has a new release date on Apple devices. The Director's Cut version of the game is arriving January 30 on iPhone, iPad and Mac, with pre-orders currently open, 505 Games announced Tuesday. The studio, which was also responsible for the PC port, will bring the Kojima Productions' title to compatible apple devices. These include the A17 Pro-powered iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max, and iPad and macOS devices running on M1 chip or later. Death Standing was first announced for Apple platforms at the company's WWDC event in June last year, where Kojima showed off Mac gameplay and promised support for future titles.

WWE 2K24, the next instalment in 2K's popular annual wrestling video game franchise, has officially been announced. The newest WWE 2K title will launch March 8, across PC (via Steam), PS5, PS4, Xbox One and Xbox Series S/X. Along with the release date, 2K also revealed the cover stars for the title. Cody Rhodes will feature on the front cover of the Standard Edition, while Women's Royal Rumble winners Bianca Belair and Rhea Ripley will share the spotlight on the Deluxe Edition cover. WWE 2K24 also marks 40 years of WrestleMania and will be available in a special Forty Years of WrestleMania Edition, featuring iconic wrestlers from the event's history, including The Rock, The Undertaker, Hulk Hogan, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, and more, on the cover.

As Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League nears its launch, developer Rocksteady has confirmed that the game's post-launch DLC will bring iconic DC villain Joker as a playable character. The studio made the announcement Monday in the third episode of its Suicide Squad Insider developer diary series, detailing its plans for delivering free post-launch seasonal content to players who buy the game, multiversal concepts and a few multiplayer features that will be present at launch. According to Rocksteady, each post-launch season will feature two episodes and will follow the theme of a DC villain, bringing new ways to play. The new announcement follows the developers teasing hundreds of character builds and distinct loadouts earlier this month.

Palworld, the viral hit action-adventure survival title from Japanese developers Pocketpair, has taken the gaming industry by storm, climbing to the top of Steam charts and selling six million copies in just four days of release. But as the game's player count balloons, it has found itself embroiled in a plagiarism controversy, with many on the Internet pointing out alleged similarities between the designs of Palworld's creatures and those in popular Pokémon games. A user on social media platform X has gone as far as to compare in-game 3D models from both Palworld and Pokémon, claiming evidence of outright plagiarism.

Tencent Holdings' Riot Games plans to lay off 530 employees, or about 11 percent of its staff globally, the online gaming company said on Monday in a blog that included a letter to employees from CEO Dylan Jadeja.

Palworld, an open-world action-adventure title where players can combat and capture Pokemon-like creatures, has become a phenomenon, rising to the top of Steam charts days within launch. The game, which also incorporates elements of the survival genre, now has the fifth-highest peak concurrent players in the history of the Valve storefront, going past heavyweight titles like Cyberpunk 2077, Elden Ring and Hogwarts Legacy. Palword developers Pocketpair also confirmed Monday that the game has sold over five million copies within three days of launch.

The Amazon Great Republic Day sale, which began January 13 for all customers, is offering deep discounts on a wide range of products. The sale was supposed to end on January 18, but was extended for another day. Today is the last day of the Amazon sale, so it's the last chance to grab the best deals on products across different categories. The sale brings lucrative offers on mobile phones, tablets, laptops, ACs, washing machines, PC accessories and more. Gamers, too, have a lot to pick from during the Great Republic Day sale. We have already curated a list of best gaming laptop deals during the sale. Here, we'll look at the best gaming accessories, from controllers to keyboards, available during the sale.

Xbox kicked off its 2024 with a jam-packed Developer Direct showcase, bringing reveals and updates on four upcoming releases from four studios, plus a bonus update from Square Enix. The 45-minute presentation, streamed live on YouTube and Xbox's other social channels late Thursday, took the covers off MachineGames' upcoming Indiana Jones game, provided a release date for the highly anticipated Senua's Saga, and revealed a release window for Avowed, Obsidian's next big fantasy RPG.

Top Spin, the beloved tennis video game franchise that has not seen a release in over a decade, is getting a revival. Publisher 2K revealed Tuesday that TopSpin 2K25 will arrive soon, pairing the announcement with a teaser trailer. The development also comes in the heels of the ongoing Australian Open, capitalising on the tennis fever the first Grand Slam of the year brings with it. TopSpin 2K25 will be helmed by Hangar 13, the 2K-owned studio behind the recent Mafia games. 2K have not specified a release date or a window, with the game slated to be “coming soon.” With the 2K25 moniker, however, one can expect a release sometime later this year, as is the norm with other 2K sports game franchises.

The US Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to hear a challenge by Apple to a lower court's decision requiring changes to certain rules in its lucrative App Store, as the justices shunned the lengthy legal battle between the iPhone maker and Epic Games, maker of the popular video game Fortnite.

Foamstars, Square Enix's Splatoon-like 4v4 online party shooter announced last year, is coming next month. The PlayStation exclusive will release February 6 as a day-one launch title on PS Plus, Sony and Square Enix confirmed Tuesday. The game will be available to download for free on PS5 and PS4 as part of the PlayStation Plus Monthly Games lineup for next month, starting February 6 through March 4. Foamstars was announced at a PlayStation Showcase in May last year, showing off soapy shooting and colourful characters, both heavily inspired by Nintendo's Splatoon games. A PS Plus release will likely attract more players to the multiplayer title in its early days.

Halo has had a period of tumultuous recent years under the development umbrella of 343 Industries. The iconic Xbox franchise, that laid down the blueprint for first-person multiplayer shooters during its heyday, has faltered with recent releases. Halo Infinite, which came out in 2021, received critical acclaim at launch, but fans cooled off on the title as 343 scrambled to push out timely seasonal multiplayer updates to keep players hooked. While Halo Infinite saw a resurgence in player count when its season 5 content launched late last year, the game's unannounced battle royale mode has reportedly been cancelled.

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is merely weeks away from launch and ahead of that, Rocksteady has teased ‘hundreds' of build possibilities for its lead characters. The details come from the game's official Discord server, where director Axel Rydby explained that the endgame portion was based around complete Mastery, forcing players to switch out builds based on rising difficulty. It's too early to tell whether one could easily plough through fights with an overpowered build they found in the early game, but the developer has promised eight loadout slots for easy access to gear — all of which trigger unique status effects and can be upgraded.

Sony might be launching an updated version of its PS5 DualSense controller. A now-deleted listing on the Canadian Best Buy store revealed a V2 PlayStation gamepad, which does appear normal on the surface but comes with an ‘exceptional 12-hour battery life' at maximum charge (via The Verge). This would be a massive upgrade from the existing DualSense controller, which comes with roughly 7-8 hours of juice, depending on the game. Priced at CAD 89.99 (about Rs. 5,580), the post also mentioned a click-in charging station that would be included within the box, making it convenient to play for longer hours and tuck it away neatly.

The Amazon Great Republic Day sale will kick off January 13, around noontime, for all users. Prime members, however, will get a head start at midnight tonight. The sale promises to bring discounts across all manners of products and electronic devices. As always, gamers are likely to find deals on consoles, games, accessories and more, and handheld gaming consoles are no exception. The Asus ROG Ally, which launched in India last year in July, will be available during the sale with a Rs. 10,000 discount.

Resident Evil 2 leads the pack of new titles coming to the PlayStation Plus Extra and Deluxe/ Premium game catalogue, this month. Starting January 16, all higher-tier PS Plus members can head into their first day of work at the Raccoon City Police Department as the pretty boy rookie cop Leon S. Kennedy, only to be pit against hordes of flesh-eating zombies. As a remake of the original 1998 game, it features an additional pathway where you experience the story through the eyes of college student Claire Redfield, looking to reunite with her missing brother, before getting plunged into a conspiracy involving bizarre experiments and sinister corporations. Resident Evil 2 will be available to play on both PS4 and PS5.

Microsoft is returning with an Xbox Developer Direct next week, promising updates on the much anticipated Indiana Jones game, Obsidian's upcoming fantasy RPG Awoved, and more. The presentation is scheduled to go live next Thursday, January 18 at 1:30am IST in India/ 12pm PT in the US, and will be available to watch on Xbox's official YouTube and Twitch channels. True to the name, the event will include both gameplay footage and developer interviews to best illustrate upcoming titles in the ecosystem, a lot of which will be included with Xbox Game Pass. However, it is worth noting that despite the recently completed acquisition, don't expect any Activision Blizzard games to be shown during the broadcast.

HP has introduced the HP Omen Transcend 14 laptop, alongside a lineup of notebooks, at the ongoing Consumer Electronics Show (CES). The latest 14-inch Omen series gaming laptop from HP has been launched alongside HP Omen Transcend 16, Omen 16, and Victus 16.1. HP claims that the Omen Transcend 14 is the world's coolest and lightest 14-inch laptop. The gaming laptop features an OLED display, local AI capabilities, and an RGB backlit keyboard. The Omen Transcend 14 laptop runs on the latest Intel Core Ultra chipsets and comes in two different colour options.

The Last of Us season 2 has found its Abby in Kaitlyn Dever, confirming previous reports. In a tweet, HBO confirmed that the Booksmart star will be playing the second protagonist — some prefer seeing her as a villain — in the post-apocalyptic series, posing a new challenge to Ellie Williams (Bella Ramsey). Interestingly, Dever had a prior connection to the show when fans lobbied the studio to cast her as the 13-year-old Ellie, due to her facial resemblance to the in-game character and her involvement in the Uncharted 4 game — also from developer Naughty Dog. However, co-creator Neil Druckmann and the team opted for a younger actor in Ramsey, who in my opinion, nailed the role.

Hogwarts Legacy, the RPG set within the Potterverse, sold over 22 million copies in 2023. Speaking to Variety, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment president David Haddad claimed that it was the best-selling game of the said year and that about 2 million of those sales were made during the Christmas holiday season, presumably owing to heavy discounts. Despite his statement, several developers in the industry, including Larian Studios (Baldur's Gate 3) and Activision (Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3) have yet to reveal the latest sales numbers; so, take the claims with a grain of salt.

The Gravity Rush movie just got a surprise glimpse during Sony's CES 2024 presentation. No release or plot details were revealed but the footage, a showcase for Torchlight — the company's newest visualisation tech — showed one of the characters leaping off a building, straight into some rubble dominated by a red, winged demon ready to fight back. The video largely cuts between CGI and motion capture clips, proving that previous reports about it being a live-action adaptation were wrong. Anna Mastro (Secret Society of Second Born Royals) was attached to direct the film then, from a script by Emily Jerome (Panopticon), marking her second writing gig.

2024 is finally here, and that means a lot of new video games to look forward to! While 2023 delivered big on games, this year is likely to be quieter. But that doesn't mean that 2024 doesn't have a lineup of interesting titles. Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth is the first that comes to mind, as Cloud and the gang journey out of Midgar and explore expansive environments riding atop their Chocobos. Or you could sail into the Indian Ocean and live out your pirate fantasy in the much-delayed Skull and Bones, don the outfits of DC Comics supervillains to kill the Justice League, take on deadly irradiated anomalies in S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl, and get lost in the hustle and bustle of Hawaii in Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth.

Vivo's real success with its premium X series of smartphones took off with the X70 Pro+, in 2021. Back then, I compared it with Xiaomi's mega Mi 11 Ultra and the X70 Pro+ made good use of its unique gimbal stabilisation system (it also introduced its V1 imaging chip), which provided good stability while shooting video in all types of lighting conditions. Next up was the Vivo X80 Pro, which was a worthy successor to the same, it introduced features like a hand-held astrophotography mode and excelled at low light imaging using all 4 of its rear cameras. The Vivo X90 Pro which followed saw Vivo losing its focus missing some hardware essentials and struggling to deliver on the camera and performance front as well.

What are the biggest movies coming in 2024? Surprisingly, there aren't as many superhero films gracing theatres this year, with DC Studios preparing to launch just one, Joker: Folie à Deux, a sequel to Todd Phillips' grounded Batman universe, introducing a new player into the mix. On the Marvel side, we've got four movies — Kraven the Hunter, Deadpool 3, Venom 3, and Madame Web — all suffered shifting release dates due to the Hollywood labour strikes. Denis Villeneuve's Dune: Part Two was another major casualty of the strikes. Originally set to debut in November last year, it got pushed into March when the actors' union barred its star-studded cast — featuring the likes of Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, and Florence Pugh — from promotional duties and interviews.