Stampede: Racing Royale comes to Xbox Game Preview and Steam Early Access in summer

may not have been the silver bullet Microsoft hoped for. However, it’s still a way for subscribers to play several free games every month. The second half of May sees the arrival of twelve more games, including a major new release.

is developer Supergiant Games' follow-up to 2020's influential and adored roguelike, and to say that expectations are high would be something of an understatement. It's hard to look at a successful roguelike in the wake of and not find some of its fingerprints somewhere in the game's approach, whether it's careful attention paid to world design or an upgrade system that's adjacent to Boons from the the gods of Olympus. Character design, soundtrack, deep mechanics, customizable runs — the original had it all and then some, and still features as a genre touchstone for innovation.

Hades 2 Early Access has reached over 100,000 concurrent players 24 hours after launch, beating Hades' all-time peak player count on Steam. 

Without any warning, Hades 2 has launched into early access on both Steam and the Epic Games Store for players to hack and slash through the levels. 

The Early Access release of Hades 2 has already more than doubled the all-time peak concurrent player count of the first game on Steam.

Hades 2 — the highly anticipated sequel to a roguelike that Digital Trends considers to be one of the best games of all time — is out now.

When No Rest for the Wicked was released in Early Access, there was excitement, bt it wasn't without issue. Initially, the game had a staggeringly unsteady frame rate and other technical issues — which is to be expected from a game in Early Access. But developer Moon Studio has rolled out patch after patch, rectifying these issues and more or less changing the game over a series of weeks. I had the opportunity to play No Rest for the Wicked in its earlier stages, marred by frame drops and freezes, and more recently, as the game itself has evened out. And what I’ve found lies beneath is a game that blends the isometric and action RPG genres together in a tantalizing way that could shape up to be something exciting, even if it isn’t exactly original.

Hades II is now available to purchase as an early access title on both Steam and Epic Games Store, Supergiant Games has announced. For those who have a Steam Deck, the game is verified for that too. The early access version of Hades II has been priced at £24.99/$29.99

Xbox Game Pass subscribers can look forward to the addition of two more games coming this year in the form of Sniper: Ghost Warrior Contracts 2and Lords of the Fallen. It's been a big couple of weeks for Xbox Game Pass users, as last year's hit action adventure masterpiece Star Wars Jedi: Survivor just recently landed on the Ultimate tier of the service. Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition and Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons populate Game Pass' May calendar, all leading up to the long-awaited release of Ninja Theory's Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2 on the 21st.

While fans of the Soulslike genre await the release of 's DLC in June, there are plenty of other games in the genre to tide them over, including indie Soulslike , available on Xbox Game Pass. Developed by Aggro Crab, is a somewhat lighter take on the Souslike genre, with more customizable difficulty options and a more overtly humorous tone than most other games in the genre.

Between Palworld, Helldivers 2, and now Manor Lords, it’s been a year of games coming out of left field and achieving runaway success.

Microsoft has announced an Xbox Games Showcase and a “Redacted” Direct for June.