Gaming Bolt News, Tips, Tricks, Ideas

Yesterday’s Indie World Showcase may have led to disappointment (yet again) for Hollow Knight fans, but the announcement of SteamWorld Heist 2 is still noteworthy. Thunderful’s sequel retains the turn-based tactical shooting of the original, but with a pirate setting, naval combat, free exploration and a new Job system to customize crewmate abilities in new ways.

Techland’s massive Update 1.16 for Dying Light 2 Stay Human is live and introduces the new, most challenging difficulty yet – Nightmare Mode. Check out the trailer below for quick bullet points on what to expect.

Developer Thekla has revealed that the launch for Braid: Anniversary Edition is being pushed back from its originally-planned April 30 release date for the PC, PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch, and Netflix versions to May 14. The Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S versions are also being delayed, albeit to one day later at May 15.

Octopath Traveler was abruptly delisted from the Nintendo Switch eShop last month, though amid confusing surrounding why the RPG was no longer available for digital purchase on the system, Square Enix provided assurances that the delisting was only temporary.

Warhorse Studios will be announcing its next game today, and reports indicate it’s a sequel to Kingdom Come: Deliverance, its open-world medieval action RPG. Said reports appear legitimate, with an IGN video preview seemingly going live early. It’s since been pulled, but you can check it out courtesy of Reddit.

NOTE: There are spoilers ahead for Amazon Prime’s Fallout series.

Bethesda Game Studios has promised some significant updated for Starfield in 2024, from “new ways” of travelling to new gameplay features to the launch of its first expansion, Shattered Steel. Thus far, however, more than a quarter of our way into the year, details on those updates have remained scant, even if the space RPG has received a couple of patches.

Thunderful’s SteamWorld Heist 2 is the next title in the critically acclaimed series, venturing to Carribea as Captain Leeway and his crew investigate a mysterious crisis. The classic precision-based turn-based combat returns, but it also features a Job system for equipping characters with any weapon and mixing and matching abilities.

While it announced details and sign-ups for the upcoming technical test, Hades 2 recently received some surprise gameplay from the build. Supergiant Games’ Greg Kasavin and Amir Rao are on hand, playing through the first area and showcasing new weapons, enemies and gameplay features.

Slavic Magic’s Manor Lords, a medieval strategy city-builder with battles, has garnered much attention recently, with an impressive two million Steam wishlists on Steam as of January 18th. Ahead of early access, however, it wanted to clarify a few things and set expectations ahead of the same.

World of Warcraft is celebrating its 20th anniversary this coming November, which, incidentally, is coinciding with its next expansion, The War Within, which is due out next year and will kick off a new trilogy dubbed the Worldsoul Saga. In commemoration of both milestones, Blizzard Entertainment has unveiled the World of Warcraft: The War Within 20th Anniversary Collector’s Edition.

Supergiant Games streamed roughly three hours of the upcoming technical test for Hades 2, showcasing the combat and the initial first section of the game. However, it also highlighted the new and returning characters alongside some Boons.

The latest update for Final Fantasy 16 is now available to download before the launch of The Rising Tide on April 18th. It’s necessary to purchase and install the second paid expansion, so ensure it’s ready before venturing to Mysidia.

Atari and WayForward had one of the more surprising announcements at the recent Indie World Showcase – Yars Rising. As a reboot of the former’s classic shoot ’em up series, it’s out this year for Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PS4, PS5, PC and Nintendo Switch. Check out the first gameplay trailer below.

Sea of Thieves has turned into a juggernaut following a somewhat rough launch over the last six years, and it refuses to shed any of its momentum. In fact, developer Rare has announced that the game recently surpassed another major milestone where its player numbers are concerned.

Dambuster Studios’ second paid expansion for Dead Island 2, SoLA, is available now on Xbox Series X/S, PS5 and PC. It takes place in a music festival called, shockingly, SoLA, but while the vibes are immaculate, the Beat of the Autophage invites something more terrifying from “beyond”. Check out some of its horrors below.

Simogo of Year Walk and Sayonara Wild Hearts fame has announced that its next title, Lorelei and the Laser Eyes, launches on May 16th for Nintendo Switch and PC via Steam. The latest trailer showcases even more of the title and some of the trials that players will face. Check it out below.

It’s not Hollow Knight: Silksong, but today’s Indie World Showcase ended on a high note with the announcement of SteamWorld Heist 2. As a follow-up to Image and Form Games’ 2016 turn-based strategy, the sequel takes to the high seas with a more pirate-themed setting. Check out the first trailer below.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles games have come in many different shapes and sizes over the years, leaving no genre untouched. Last year, we got a roguelike in the form of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate, which released in May for Apple Arcade. Soon, the game will be making the jump to Nintendo Switch.

Ghost of Tsushima’s PC port has remained elusive far longer than many have expected, but Sucker Punch’s acclaimed open world samurai epic is not far away from jumping over to the platform. Last month, Sony announced that the game would be launching for PC in May, and the publisher has now revealed further details about the port, including its system requirements.

As PlayStation’s presence on PC has continued to grow with an increasing number of ports, many have wondered how long it’ll be before Sony brings full integration of things such as PlayStation Network and in-game Trophies to the platform, something that’s only been compounded with multiple reports over the last couple of years that have suggested the same.

NetherRealm’s latest DLC fighter for Mortal Kombat 1, Ermac, is now available in “early access.” Those who own the Kombat Pack can play him now, while others need to wait for his worldwide launch on April 23rd.

Baldur’s Gate fans have had to wait an exceptionally long time for the beloved series to make its long-awaited comeback. After BioWare developed its duology of Baldur’s Gate titles, we had to wait 23 years before Larian Studios came out with the widely acclaimed Baldur’s Gate 3. But with Larian having confirmed that its next game isn’t going to be Baldur’s Gate 4 (or connected to Dungeons and Dragons at all, for that matter), what does the future of the franchise look like? Well, apparently, Hasbro – parent company of Dungeons and Dragons owner Wizards of the Coast – is already looking into where to take things from here- and more importantly, with whom.

Microsoft’s rollout of first-party titles on non-Xbox consoles is continuing. Hi-Fi Rush and Pentiment have been made available on rival platforms in recent weeks, and the next to join that list is Grounded. Obsidian Entertainment’s survival game has now launched for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, and PlayStation 4, bringing with it support for full cross-platform multiplayer, as well as a host of new content and features.

A new patch is live in Arrowhead Game Studios’ Helldivers 2, and as promised, it fixes the passive for the CE-27 Ground Breaker armor. It will now provide the Engineer perk, which grants your character two additional grenades and reduces recoil when crouching or prone.

Embark Studios has released a new update for THE FINALS, updating the store with new weapon skins and the Lurkfin La Goon monster head for players. Check out the trailer below to see how they look.

Honkai: Star Rail’s Version 2.1, “Into the Yawning Chasm,” is still ongoing but receives its second new five-star character today. A major star in the ongoing Penacony storyline, Aventurine is a Preservation unit that deals Imaginary damage. He’s also a gambler who risks everything to win big. Check out his animated teaser below.

PC players can now help test the mod editor for the PC version of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, CD Projekt RED has announced. Players can download The Witcher 3 REDkit through Steam to try and make mods for the game that can range from something as simple as creating new items and weapons, to full-fledged quests and characters.

Red Barrels has announced that a new limited-time event is live inThe Outlast Trials. Toxic Shock sees players collecting rats for “tissue analysis” while dealing with lethal gas in the Trial. The event is live until May 7th – check out the launch trailer below.

Developer Appeal Studios and publisher THQ Nordic have released a new trailer for open-world action/adventure title Outcast – A New Beginning. The trailer, released a little over a month after the game’s launch, celebrates the title by highlighting some of the positive reviews that it has gotten. Check it out below.

New characters for upcoming arena fighter Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero have been revealed. Spotted by X (formerly Twitter) user @SLOplays, the characters were shown off through an issue of Japanese publication V-jump magazine.

Publisher Sega and developer Creative Assembly have revealed that the next expansion for Total War: Warhammer 3, titled Thrones of Decay, will be releasing on PC on April 30.

Amid delays and rumors of development troubles for XDefiant, Ubisoft has announced a server test session for the competitive shooter. It starts on April 19th, 10 AM PT and runs till April 21st for Xbox Series X/S, PS5 and PC. The pre-load is now available, with all players free to participate.

2024’s brutal wave of games industry layoffs has seen the likes of Microsoft, EA, Sony, Riot Games, Sega, and many others cutting significant amounts of jobs, and another major name has now joined that list with Take-Two Interactive.

Sony routinely adds new games to the PlayStation Plus Game Catalog, a curated library of PS4 and PS5 titles that’s accessible to those subscribed to PlayStation Plus’ Extra and Premium tiers at no additional cost. As is the case with all such subscription services though, the PS Plus Game Catalog’s library of games is a rolling one that also routinely sees games being removed.

Remember Mortal Kombat 1’s fourth season of Invasions? Regardless, Season 5 or the Season of Storms, is live and features a more distinct antagonist. It’s Dark Raiden, a corrupted and decidedly more aggressive version of the Thunder God seeking to destroy threats to Earthrealm. Check out the trailer below.

Hades 2 is progressing towards its early access launch on PC this year for Steam and the Epic Games Store, with sign-ups now available for an upcoming technical test. Interestingly, Supergiant Games revealed that it doesn’t know how long the test will be. The current estimate is “longer than a week, shorter than a month.”

Microsoft has revealed the lineup of games that will be added to the Game Pass catalog over the next couple of weeks, and subscribers have some notable titles to look forward to. Most prominent among them is probably Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes, Rabbit and Bear Studios’ long-awaited Suikoden spiritual successor, which launches April 23 and will also be available with Game Pass on PC, console, and cloud at launch.

If you’re not one of the reported five million (and counting) players to have tried out Assassin’s Creed Mirage, a free trial is live now. It’s available until April 30th for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5 and PC and allows for two hours of playtime with progress transferring over to the game.

Supergiant Games is prepping for the launch of Hades 2 into early access later this year, but in the meantime, it’s inviting participants for a technical test. Interested parties can go to its Steam page and press the “Request Access” button to register their interest.

Despite not being officially announced, the PS5 Pro has seen several details leak over the past month or so, starting with a video by Moore’s Law is Dead, which Insider Gaming corroborated. The Verge’s Tom Warren is adding to the pile after obtaining a “full list of specs” for the console. Many of these are already known, like the 576 GB/s system memory bandwidth, a CPU with a “High Frequency Mode” to run at 3.8 GHz and more.

Summer is right around the corner, which means we’re entering the time of year when major showcases and events will reveal new details on upcoming games. Another one of these shows has now been confirmed.

Square Enix recently released a patch for Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth that fixed an issue preventing the Platinum Trophy unlocking for some players, though it turns out the update also fixed another minor issue that players have discovered in the last few days.

Shift Up’s Stellar Blade is just ten days away, meaning the time is right for a new trailer. On top of highlighting the visual fidelity and fast-paced action, perhaps most noteworthy is that it showcases the game’s Japanese voice acting. Check it out below.

Developer Hangar 13 is gearing up to launch TopSpin 2K25 later this month, but it’s not the only game the studio is working on. In 2022, the developer officially confirmed that it was working on the next instalment in the Mafia franchise, and allegedly, it’s going to be announced soon.

Nintendo has announced a new Indie World Showcase for April 17th at 7 AM PT, featuring roughly 20 minutes of announcements and updates on upcoming indie games for the Nintendo Switch in 2024.

Developer Fatshark has announced that its next major update for Warhammer 40,000: Darktide, titled Path of Redemption, will be released later today. Celebrating the update, the studio has released a new trailer that showcases some of the new content coming to the game. Check it out below.

Atlus recently announced that Metaphor: ReFantazio, the next big role-playing game from Persona 5 director Katsura Hashino, would receive a showcase on April 22nd, 3 PM PT. In a separate tweet (translated from DeepL), Studio Zero revealed that it will run for 30 minutes, with the developer sharing “the appeal of this title with the world.”

Blizzard has kicked off registrations for the beta for World of Warcraft‘s upcoming expansion, The War Within. Players can register for the expansion’s beta through the official website. The company is yet to confirm when the beta for World of Warcraft: The War Within will go live, however.

Arrowhead Game Studios CEO Johann Pilestedt has revealed that Helldivers 2 will not be getting a transmog system. Pilestedt, who also works as creative director on Helldivers 2, took to social media platform X (formerly Twitter) to talk about why a transmog system doesn’t make sense for the game.

2K’s long-dormant tennis sim series is set to return later this month with TopSpin 2K25, and from its roster of playable pros to the modes and venues it’ll have on offer, it’s looking like it’s going to be quite a full-featured return to the limelight for the franchise. There will, however, be some exceptions to the things it’ll feature at launch- such as online doubles.

Square Enix has released the official benchmark tool for Final Fantasy 14: Dawntrail. The benchmark tool allows Final Fantasy 14 players to see how well their computers can handle the visuals of the upcoming Dawntrail expansion, and even recommends the ideal settings for stable frame rates.

Since its latest story trailer debuted, Massive Entertainment’s Star Wars Outlaws has received some interesting reactions. However, several have spoken out against the Jabba’s Gambit mission, which is playable at launch but only for those who own the Season Pass. The only way to get it is by paying $129.99 for the Ultimate Edition.

Atlus has had a strong start to 2024 with Persona 3 Reload and Vanillaware’s Unicorn Overlord, but the Japanese developer still has another heavyweight waiting in the wings. Fantasy RPG Metaphor: ReFantazio – led by the creative leads of Persona 3, 4, and 5 – has been previously billed by Atlus as its next big property, and the company will soon be revealing more details about it.

The Invincible IP has seen roaring success with its comic books and the Amazon Prime animated series, and it looks like Skybound Entertainment now has its sights set on video games. The company has announced a crowdfunding campaign that will raise partial funds for the development of a AAA Invincible game.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2’s post-credits scene made it abundantly clear that fan-favourite Sonic character Shadow – first introduced in 2001’s Sonic Adventure 2 – would have a major role to play in the next instalment of Paramount Pictures and Sega’s film franchise. Speculation and rumours about who the Ultimate Lifeform would be played by have been rampant since then, and it seems we now have concrete details on that front.

With Bandai Namco’s SAND LAND launching next week, the developer has released a new trailer which features an obvious but seemingly unlikely song choice – Darude’s Sandstorm. Surprisingly, it fits together well and also reveals something important: Beelzebub can kick some serious butt. Check it out below.

Hazelight Studios – the development team behind acclaimed co-op games It Takes Two and A Way Out – is seemingly gearing up to announce its next game sometime later this year. In commemoration of its upcoming 10th anniversary in November, Hazelight Studios briefly touched on its next game in a post on Twitter, writing, “We’ve got new (real good) stuff cooking that we’ll talk more about later this year.”

The beta for 11 bit Studios’ Frostpunk 2, available by pre-ordering the Deluxe Edition, is now live. Alongside it, the developer has released a new gameplay deep dive discussing the larger scale of the sequel and the challenges players will face. Check it out below.

Square Enix’s Final Fantasy 16 will receive its second and final paid DLC this week with The Rising Tide. Clive and friends will venture to a new location, Mysidia, to unravel the mystery of Leviathan, facing new challenges in the process. However, a free update will go live the same day and include new quality-of-life features like Quick Complete and Skill Sets.

Following the launch trailer of No Rest for the Wicked, Moon Studios has outlined pricing for its upcoming action RPG. It will cost $39.99/£34.99/€39.99 for early access, but from launch until May 2nd at 9 AM PST, players can pick it up for $35.99/£31.95/€35.99, a ten percent discount. The price is confirmed to increase once the title leaves early access.

While this year’s schedule of Summer gaming showcases has yet to be outlined, Gamescom 2024 is from August 21st to 25th. Unfortunately, one big name won’t be attending – Nintendo.

We’ve been starved for Hollow Knight: Silksong news for what’s felt like an eternity, but several recent developments have indicated that that could be changing soon. Earlier this month, the game’s official Xbox Store page went live, which was accompanied by ratings by the ESRB in North America and the GRAC in South Korea.

ILCA and Bandai Namco’s turn-based RPG One Piece Odyssey is headed to the Nintendo Switch. It launched for PlayStation, Xbox, and PC in January of last year, and Bandai Namco has now confirmed that it will be releasing for the Nintendo Switch on July 25 in Japan, and a day later, on July 26 in the rest of the world.

Moon Studios’ No Rest for the Wicked will launch for PC via Steam Early Access on April 18th. It’s thus released a new launch trailer showcasing the setting and challenges players will encounter. Check it out below.

Bungie’s Destiny 2 received its latest massive content update, Into the Light, adding Onslaught and a revamped Exotic mission for Whisper of the Worm. There’s more to come, with the raid bosses gauntlet Pantheon going live on April 30th. In the latest “This Week at Destiny,” Bungie confirmed that it includes raid bosses currently in the game, but there are a “few twists on how to approach them.”

A new patch for Pocketpair’s Palworld is available on Steam, fixing an issue that caused attacks from Pals to deal half of their intended damage. You can now take on the new raid boss, Bellanoir, without feeling like your attacks are doing nothing.

From Cyberpunk: Edgerunners to HBO’s The Last of Us, we’ve seen plenty of recent examples of acclaimed game adaptations that have led to tangible, significant boosts in player numbers and sales for the games they’re based on, and another series has now joined that list. Amazon Prime’s Fallout show premiered all eight of its episodes last week, and amidst widespread acclaim, it has also led to several Fallout games enjoying boosted numbers.

Remember GTA+, Rockstar’s subscription service, which provides bonuses for Grand Theft Auto Online players alongside access to select classic games? Without warning, it’s suddenly seen a price increase. As reported by GameSpot and VGC, the subscription service has gone from $5.99/€5.99/£4.99 monthly to $7.99/€7.99/£6.99.

As Bungie released Destiny 2: Into the Light and new gameplay for The Final Shape, a curious rumor emerged aboutDestiny 3. Codenamed “Payback,” it comes from a Reddit user who leaked details about Prismatic subclasses before their official announcement. In a new post, they’ve clarified a few things about Payback, specifically that it is its own game and not a Destiny 2 revamp.

There’s clearly a lot of demand for comedic co-op horror games right now. Lethal Company took the industry by storm when it launched last year, and Totally Accurate Battle Simulator studio Landfall’s Content Warning is now also having its moment in the sun.

Last month, Marvel Games and NetEase Games announced Marvel Rivals, a new 6v6 competitive shooter featuring famous heroes and villains with some inter-dimensional shenanigans. Though it announced Asgard as one of the maps, it’s Yggsgard, a fusion of Asgard and the Yggdrasill, the World Tree due to the “Timestream Entanglement.” Check it out below in the first map teaser.

Following the highly-anticipated release of the Fallout TV show on Amazon Prime, player numbers across all titles in the series are seeing an uptick. Perhaps the most noteworthy is Fallout 76, which peaked at 39,455 concurrent players on PC via Steam per SteamDB. Its previous peak was 32,982 players nearly four years ago (roughly a month after the title’s launch on Steam).

Helldivers 2’s enduring popularity has been surprising to see, with Arrowhead Game Studios and Sony’s co-op shooter continuing to attract players in droves through its excellent live service support even this far from release. In fact, as revealed by Sony’s recently released charts, it was once again the most downloaded PS5 game in both Europe and North America for the month of March, just as was in its launch month of February. 

Bandai Namco is gearing up to roll out the next update for Tekken 8, and has revealed exactly what the patch will bring with it. Set to go live on April 16 (depending on what time zone you’re in), the patch is going to be a relatively minor one, with a couple of notable additions and changes.

It’s been close to a decade and a half since EA Sports released a new instalment in its acclaimed boxing series Fight Night, but though the wait for a new entry has been interminably long, it looks like it could soon be coming to an end, if a recent leak is to be believed.

The games industry continues to hit us with depressing lessons of how fickle digital ownership can be, with everything from DRM to servers being taken down and more serving as constant threats to your ownership of games you’ve purchased with your hard-earned money. Another game is now seemingly hammering that point home.

It’s been a long, long time since we last got a new game in 2K’s Top Spin franchise, but after a prolonged absence, it’s finally set to return when TopSpin 2K25 launches later this month. Developer Hangar 13 has been revealing plenty of new details on the tennis sim in the lead-up to its launch, and in a recent interview with Wccftech, also shed light on what to expect from the game’s performance targets on all platforms.

2016’s Ratchet and Clank remake recently celebrated its eighth anniversary, in commemoration of which Insomniac Games has finally made a fan-favourite weapon available to everyone.

With Star Wars Outlaws, developer Massive Entertainment is looking to deliver the ultimate Star Wars scoundrel fantasy, which, of course, means protagonist Kay Vess (and her adorable companion Nix) will be crossing paths with a number of different factions, the majority of them being criminal syndicates.