Squad Busters mashes up Clash of Clans, Brawl Stars and more mobile hits

Microsoft has just announced massive job cuts and studio closures for the Bethesda portion of its gaming business. They impact the teams that made excellent games like Hi-Fi Rush.

Nintendo has finally confirmed two important things that people were speculating about. First off, we learned that another Nintendo Direct showcase will be taking place this June. More importantly, Nintendo finally confirmed that it is working on a Nintendo Switch successor and said we’d learn more about it within this fiscal year.

One of my favorite copypastas on the internet comes from someone complaining about a player using mods to make a FromSoftware game easier. “You cheated not only the game, but yourself,” it reads. “You didn’t grow. You didn’t improve. You took a shortcut and gained nothing. You experienced a hollow victory. Nothing was risked and nothing was gained. It’s sad that you don’t know the difference.”

The barrage of TV — and great TV — continues apace in 2024, with plenty of intriguing new and returning shows launching their seasons this week.

For whatever reason, the internet seems to love mountain-climbing games. Some of the most viral games of the last several years on platforms like Twitch have been titles like Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy and Only Up! — games where it’s difficult to climb up something and the punishment for failure is massive. If you’ve found yourself playing or watching content about those kinds of games, then you’ll want to check out one of the first notable games to come out this May: Surmount.

AI roundup: The first week of May has been a series of AI breakthroughs. Now that the week has ended, let's take a look at the top AI happenings such as Nvidia announcing the integration of Google's Gemma model for its AI chatbot, ChatRTX. In other news, a new report revealed that Apple has a secret AI lab in Europe. Know more about such AI news from this week.

Mario Kart Tour and Candy Crush are built to be addictive, giving you slices of gameplay and nudging you ever so slightly towards their premium currency to keep the fun going, whether it be through lives, characters, or in-game items. They can tempt even the most unlikely of people into throwing away mountains of cash, which is allegedly what one Catholic priest from Pottstown, Pennsylvania managed to do over the course of three years.

I grew up adoring Lego video games, but recent efforts from TT Games like The Skywalker Saga just haven’t gelled with me. That’s why Funko Fusion piqued my interest. It’s the first release from 10:10 Games, a studio founded by TT Games founder Jon Burton and former TT Games Head of Design Arthur Parsons, and is a video game about a popular set of toys themed around certain properties. I got an early look at Funko Fusion ahead of its September 13 release date announcement, and what I saw was equal parts weird and ambitious.

Ubisoft and Apple have confirmed that the iOS-native version of Assassin’s Creed Mirage will launch on June 6.

Stampede: Racing Royale will be added to Xbox Game Preview and Steam Early Access in the summer, Secret Mode and Sumo Leamington have confirmed. Those on the Xbox Insider Program can already get access to the game already. The 60 player racing battle royale game will also be receiving playtests on Steam soon.

Bandai Namco has revealed its roadmap for Tekken 8 throughout the rest of 2024, including the game’s second DLC character, new story, and plenty more.

Clash of Clans studio Supercell has announced that its first major game in five years will be released next month.