Steam Family Sharing Getting Some Handy Improvements, but Possibly Some New Restrictions

While the name Kareem Choudhry may not be as well-known as, say, Phil Spencer or Matt Booty, Xbox fans who keep abreast with the company’s announcements and showcases are likely to be familiar with his face. As corporate vice president of emerging technologies at Xbox, Choudhry was in charge of a lot of the more innovative things Microsoft’s gaming division offered in recent years, including backward compatibility and Xbox Cloud Gaming.

Sony fans aren’t exactly in a great place this year. The current head of PlayStation, Hiroki Totoki, flat out confirmed that they don’t have any big scale first party AAAs scheduled to release for all of this financial year, and we are at month one of that period.

The “Pokemon with guns” phenomenon Palworld has dropped its latest update, and it’s a fairly beefy one. The big addition is Palworld’s first raid boss, Bellanoir, an intense battle you can adjust the difficulty on for some big rewards. In addition to that, the update brings a number of improvements to building, a bunch of new handy items, and more. You can check out a quick teaser trailer for Bellanoir, below.

Microsoft has revealed the titles they’ll be adding to Xbox Game Pass on PC and consoles in early-to-mid April, and there are some solid things to dip your toes into. Subscribers can look forward to Lego 2K Drive, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, the new-release indie Harold Halibut, and more.

The latest update for Helldivers 2 is here, and it ought to shake up the game in a fairly significant way. The big news is that the level cap is increasing from 50 all the way to 150. Meanwhile, Arrowhead Studios have also added a couple of new planetary hazards (blizzards and sandstorms), rebalanced a long list of weapons, tweaked the specifics of how certain missions work, and more.

Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth just released early this year, but it seems the next entry in what was previously known as the “Yakuza” series is already in full swing. As spotted by Gematsu, Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio announced auditions for the next Like a Dragon game during their latest video update. We don’t know the title of the next Like a Dragon yet, but series director Masayoshi Yokoyama did provide some clarification, saying Like a Dragon: Kiwami 3 (a remake of the third entry in the series) isn’t the next thing on the docket, although it is quite likely to happen someday.

Keeping track of all the latest video games coming out is an increasingly complex task, what with multiple PC storefronts, Xbox One, PS4, Switch, mobile, and more to keep track of, but don’t worry, I’m here to help. Every month I'll be running down the games you need to be keeping an eye on, from the big triple-A headliners, to the indies you might otherwise overlook.

Rise of the Ronin is the latest joint from Team Ninja, and while it’s a large, challenging game, some might be wondering – what happens after I roll credits? Is there a New Game+ I can tackle? Are there are post-game features and content I can unlock? Don’t worry, we’re here to take some of the mystery out of Rise of the Ronin’s endgame…

Overwatch 2 Season 10 kicks off next month, but if you want to try out the season’s hew hero Venture early, you can do it this weekend. Venture, who Blizzard is touting at their first non-binary character, is a Damage hero and, overall, one of the more unique-looking characters Blizzard has served up thus far. Basically, they can burrow under the ground ala Bugs Bunny (or Mario in his Drill Suit I suppose) allowing them to sneak behind enemy lines then burst out to deal damage. You can check Venture out in action, below.

Hellgate: London was a game ahead of its time in a lot of ways, introducing open-world looter and roguelike mechanics before those things became a hot trend. As such, the game is still remembered fairly well despite not being a huge seller at the time. Well, it seems the series may be coming back, because the original game’s producer Bill Roper has announced an Unreal Engine 5 sequel, Hellgate: Redemption, will be produced through his new studio Lunacy Games. Roper had the following to say about the revival…

For the past four-years-plus, animal lovers have been able to live out their dreams on PC with Frontier Developments’ acclaimed Planet Zoo, and now, Xbox Series X/S and PS5 owners can get in on the fun. It seems like Frontier has gone the extra mile with this port, as it features full support for both controllers and keyboard-and-mouse, and the ability to share zoos between XSX and PS5. The console port will also have a “zoo complexity meter” which will allow you to keep an eye on the scope of your zoo to make sure performance stays high (very large zoos could get quite demanding on PC). You can check out a new trailer for the console version of Planet Zoo, below.

We’ve known Final Fantasy XVI would be getting a pair of story expansions for some time now, with the first one, Echoes of the Fallen being more of a bite-sized experience. Thankfully, the second, The Rising Tide, will be much meatier, and today at a panel at PAX West, Square Enix pulled the curtain back on what to expect. The DLC will introduce a new area, the coastal land of Mysidia, an additional ally for your team named Shula, and the powerful water Eikon, Leviathan. You can check out a trailer for Final Fantasy XVI - The Rising Tide, below.