Developer News, Tips, Tricks & Ideas

Tom Clancy's XDefiant is almost upon us. Ubisoft is releasing the free-to-play first-person shooter on May 21 for the Xbox Series X|S, the PS5 and PC through Ubisoft Connect. The developer is kicking things off with the preseason version of the game, which is scheduled to last for six weeks before XDefiant's first season officially starts. Ubisoft announced the game way back in 2021, promising team-based matches with a focus on gunplay that will include elements from other games in the Tom Clancy universe.

Redfall's one year anniversary came and went on May 2, 2024 with no word from publisher Bethesda despite the widely panned game receiving no updates in six months and owners of the $100 edition still awaiting additional content.

Take-Two Interactive recently joined the ever-growing list of video game companies implementing layoffs, with the company announcing that it was cutting 5% of its workforce (roughly 600 jobs) as part of a wider cost-saving initiative that would also see projects being cancelled. Unfortunately, it seems one publishing label operating under the company has been hit the hardest.

Recently Pocket Gamer Connects celebrated its tenth anniversary as part of the annual flagship event Pocket Gamer Connects London. However, we're not stopping there, as next up we returned to Dubai for The Very Big Indie Pitch at The GameExpo Summit 2024 powered by PG Connects.

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night will receive its final update this month as developer ArtPlay finally adds all the additional features promised in its Kickstarter Campaign from 2015.

NVIDIA has announced an update to the NvRTX branch of Epic's Unreal Engine 5. The major new feature is the addition of experimental support for ReSTIR Global Illumination, the ray tracing algorithm first discussed by NVIDIA researchers in the seminal paper Spatiotemporal Reservoir Resampling for Real-Time Ray Tracing with Dynamic Direct Lighting released at ACM SIGGRAPH 2020.

A reliable Capcom insider who originally reported that Resident Evil 9 might have been hit with an internal delay has now suggested that's not the case and that it should still be releasing in 2025.

The upcoming "Let Loose" event on May 7th has sparked intrigue for its unexpected timing. Despite the proximity to Apple's annual Worldwide Developer Conference, the tech giant deemed it necessary to host a standalone affair. With a spotlight on iPads, particularly the iPad Pro and iPad Air, attention is also directed towards the neglected Apple Pencil, hinted at by the event's invitation.

Yesterday, independent game developer Fun Dog Studios (composed of industry veterans who worked on such games as Horizon: Zero Dawn, DOOM Eternal, Killzone, Hawken, The Witcher 3, and Mass Effect) shared the debut gameplay trailer for their first game, The Forever Winter.

Endless Ocean Luminous, the latest in Nintendo and developer Arika’s cult aquatic exploration games, is out now, and it might not be quite what some folks are expecting. The game features a number of mechanics that may be somewhat confusing at first, but don’t worry, we’re here to clarify things.

Endless Ocean Luminous, the latest in Nintendo and developer Arika’s cult aquatic exploration games, is out now, and it might not be quite what some folks are expecting. The game features a number of mechanics that may be somewhat confusing at first, but don’t worry, we’re here to clarify things.

Lords of the Fallen, last year's action RPG from developer Hexworks, is said to be coming to Xbox Game Pass later this month.

Garena Free Fire MAX Redeem Codes for May 3: Garena Free Fire Max, an improved version of the popular game, has won over Indian players with its lively graphics and exciting gameplay. Thanks to regular releases of redeem codes by developers, 111 Dot Studios, players can enjoy even more perks.

In a noteworthy development for the AI PC landscape, Intel has announced the optimization of more than 500 AI models for its latest Intel Core Ultra processors. This achievement signals Intel's commitment to enhancing AI capabilities within PC systems, without promotional flair.

Blizzard has posted the full video of today's Developer Update Livestream, outlining the massive changes to itemization, gameplay systems, and more coming to Diablo 4 in Season 4: Loot Reborn! There are tons of changes coming to the game in Season 4 — what's got you most excited? Let us know in the comments below! Diablo 4 Season 4 Developer Update Livestream Summary Diablo 4 Season 4 Patch 1.4.0 Patch Notes

Blizzard has posted development notes for War Within Alpha #3, giving details on why they made the talent changes in this build.

Blizzard has posted additional developer commentary explaining some of the new Warrior changes in this week's Alpha build for The War Within, from redefining Arms AoE rotation, to punching up Fury's Bloodthirst, and major buffs for Bladestorm! There are a few Warrior updates in today’s Alpha build. After giving Arms and Fury access to both Bladestorm and Ravager, it was clear that Ravager had strong advantages in all situations. We’d like Bladestorm to be a strong pick for burst AOE, so we’re buffing its damage significantly, and reducing Ravager’s damage slightly. This should help make the choice between these abilities more meaningful and let each ability shine in different situations. Arms We’ve heard the feedback that the Arms AOE rotation lacks definition, so we’re making adjustments to Cleave to make it the centerpiece of Arms’ AOE rotation in The War Within.

Blizzard has posted a substantial breakdown of the Demonology Warlock changes in today's War Within Alpha build going over Demonic Cores, Resources, and Cooldowns!

Blizzard has posted a large breakdown of the Arcane Mage changes in today's War Within Alpha build going over Complexity, Radiant Spark and more!

Blizzard has posted War Within Alpha development notes for today which includes Arcane Mage and Demonology Warlock reworks!

Since its launch into early access, Manor Lords has taken the simulation game scene by storm, with players absolutely relishing this new city-building experience.

Less than half of developers questioned in a new survey say their company has an in-game credits policy.

The VR space is still somewhat niche compared to traditional console and PC gaming but has advanced very quickly from its early experiments.

Ubisoft’s XDefiant, a first-person shooter meant to take on the likes of Call of Duty, will finally get a wide release and enter its Preseason on May 21.

Blizzard has shared parts of the upcoming class tuning adjustments during their Developer Update livestream that were applied through learnings from the PTR. While additional patch notes are incoming, players can preview the full changes with these tweaks! Season 4: Loot Reborn — Developer Update Summary The below changes are PTR learnings applied to the previously reported PTR Patch 1.4.0 changes. These changes only make up a small portion of what is to come for all classes with Patch 1.4.0 on May 14. We will report on the full Patch 1.4.0 patch notes as soon as they become available.

The Diablo 4 Season 4: Loot Reborn Developer Update Livestream has concluded. In this article, we have summarized all of the most interesting content, features, and quality-of-life improvements coming to Diablo 4 Season 4 on May 14th!

The Diablo 4 Season 4: Loot Reborn Developer Update Livestream has begun! In this article, we will summarize all of the most interesting content, features, and quality-of-life improvements coming to Diablo 4 Season 4 on May 14th! This is a liveblog, so make sure to refresh often for the most recent information regarding Diablo 4 Season 4!

Blizzard has released an Inside the Game video for Diablo 4 Season 4: Loot Reborn, giving more details about massive changes coming to multiple gameplay systems like Crafting, Aspects, Helltides, and more! When does Diablo 4 Season 4 Start? Diablo 4 Season 4 Developer Update Summary What is the most important change coming with Season 4 in your opinion? Will the massive overhaul to all these systems be able to turn Diablo around? Let us know in the comments!

Playdigious is selling some of its best games at a discount right now. One of them is Teslagrad. The price of this hand-drawn magnetic puzzle has plummeted from $6.99 to just $0.70! Yeah, you read that right. Interested in learning more about the Teslagrad price drop? Keep reading!

Despite having the best-selling game of all time in Grand Theft Auto V, and GTA VI on the way, mega publisher Take-Two Interactive have been going through some belt-tightening, recently cutting 5 percent of its workforce and canceling some projects. When the news of the cuts were first announced, we didn’t know exactly who was impacted or which games had been canned, but we may now have a better idea.

The physical 'Deluxe Edition' of Baldur's Gate 3 was scheduled to ship this month, but it's been hit with an unfortunate delay. As outlined by developer Larian on social media, the delay will specifically impact PS5 and Xbox buyers in North America, and it's down to «production issues» which are apparently out of the studio's control.

Amazon Prime’s Fallout TV show has supercharged excitement in the Fallout IP, leading to a significant surge in player counts across a variety of Fallout titles on Steam, but also for Fallout London, a fan-created mod for Fallout 4 that may as well be an entirely new entry in the series due to the breadth and scope of the project.

11 bit studios kicked off its beta for its post-apocalyptic city-builder, Frostpunk 2, this week for those who have pre-ordered the Deluxe Edition of the game. The beta runs through April 22.

A brand-new update is in the works for PlayStation 5 that will allow users to join parties using a QR code.

Take-Two is closing two game studios under their Private Division label, with Kerbal Space Program 2 developer Intercept Games shutting down (as we already knew) and OlliOlli and Rollerdrome studio Roll7 following them into the twilight.

The boss of Level-5, the developer behind family friendly titles such as Professor Layton, Ni No Kuni, and Yokai Watch, wants to create a violent and erotic video game one day.

Starfield will have a big year as the space RPG approaches its first anniversary. Beyond the massive May update, Bethesda Game Studios previously confirmed it is working on a DLC titled Shattered Space. Though details on the paid expansion are slim, Bethesda seemingly confirmed it focuses on the House Va'ruun.

Things are ramping up on the Terminid front in Helldivers 2 as players have discovered giant, ominous tunnels that seem almost endless when dove into. The leading theory right now is that these are being dug by the Hive Lords, bugs from the first game who are so powerful that they can break through a planet's crust.

EVE Online needs little introduction. Created by Icelandic studio CCP Games, for over 20 years it’s been the poster child for the immersive, community-driven MMO scene.

We don't know about you, but anytime we've ever played Jackbox Party Pack, it's only ever been with people in their late 20s or older. While the successful series of party titles are typically aimed at a broad audience, featuring games suitable for all ages, it seems as though a lot of players are treating it like a game purely for adults. That's the feedback developer Jackbox Games was getting, anyway, and thus we end up here: Jackbox Naughty Pack.

Today marks a momentous occasion for Sea of Thieves: it expands to all-new platforms with a PS5 release, Season 12 content expands the game for all players (Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC), and developer Rare makes its debut on a PlayStation console. Early access players have been testing the PS5 version for the past five days now, but in just a short amount of time, the standard edition releases and opens the floodgates for all.

Take-Two will shut down OlliOlli World and Rollerdrome studio Roll7 as well as Kerbal Space Program team Intercept Games as it looks to cut five per cent of its workforce. The news was revealed by Bloomberg after the outlet obtained documentation indicating Roll7 will close and offer severance agreements to staff. Meanwhile, a notice has been filed with the Washington State Employment Security Department to close a Seattle office, where Intercept Games is based.

Update: Sucker Punch says it's put a stop to the freezing problem that's been plaguing Ghost of Tsushima since the release of its latest update. Patch 2.19 adds support for crossplay, but after installing it, players were quick to report a stuttering and hitching issue that occurred frequently during gameplay. For some, it was so bad that the title basically became unplayable, across both the single-player adventure and the Legends co-op mode.

PlayStation's Shuhei Yoshida and Greg Rice will present the headlining keynote at the Develop: Brighton gaming expo in July, it's been confirmed. A conference designed for game developers, the two indie experts will host the «Supporting Indies and Creativity in Game Development» keynote in Brighton, UK on 11th July 2024.

The highly rated co-op adventure that is Sea of Thieves has arrived on PS5, marking developer Rare's first ever release on PlayStation platforms, if you can believe it. The game first launched for Xbox One and PC back in 2018, and it's been heavily updated over the years, to the point where it's managed to maintain a very healthy community.

Despite the love it received from core gamers and critics alike, Remedy's recent effort, Alan Wake 2, has yet to make back its development and marketing budget. This surprising situation has plenty of contributing factors, which we first covered in December, but the reality is that sales are soft. No doubt striking while the irons are hot, Chinese multinational holding company Tencent, the largest video game company in the world, has increased its stake in the Finnish developer from 5% to 15%, securing additional shares and voting rights.

Revolutionary RPG Baldur's Gate 3 was the surpise hit of 2023; a confluence of contributing factors that led to Larian's creating a once-in-a-generation level experience. But Larian has left the building, moving onwards and upwards, and ultimate IP holder Hasbro has already made a $1 billion bet on internal game development.

Square Enix appears to have cancelled or at least rescoped the size of multiple unannounced games as a result of an internal review into its development process, with a «content disposal» loss totalling 22.1 billion yen, or $141 million. As a result of the investigation, the publisher shall «revise the Group’s approach to the development of high-definition (HD) games with the intention of being more selective and focused in the allocation of development resources».

After almost seven years at the studio, Alex Barnes, director of PSVR2 spinoff Horizon: Call of the Mountain, has been made redundant by Liverpoool-based developer Firesprite. In March, a report from Eurogamer alleged that a toxic work culture had been allowed to develop at the PlayStation first-party developer.

It sounds like Korean developer Shift Up may revert its controversial Stellar Blade outfit changes, as it’s told fans to “stay tuned for updates” and thanked players for their “passion and feedback”. For those out of the loop, a petition went viral this weekend after gamers noticed some alterations to a couple of the release’s costumes, incorporated by the release’s day one patch.

The Helldivers 2 community isn't entirely impressed with developer Arrowhead's latest patch, 01.000.300, which, according to some, significantly nerfed players' fun. In the patch notes, a fix for the seemingly busted way shrapnel ricochets was alleged, but the community has since proved the problem still exists, although it's actually the Eruptor that's to blame.

Skyrim was 2011. Fallout 4 was 2015. Starfield was 2023. Development cycles are growing longer all across the industry, but for Bethesda in particular, it's felt like the company has really struggled to create a consistent pipeline — especially in the last decade or so. This is even more apparent when you factor in projects like The Elder Scrolls 6, which was barely a concept when it was first announced in 2018.

There are a lot of things to discover in Stellar Blade, but the primary type of collectible is cans. As you explore the PS5 console exclusive’s Naytiba-inhabited world, you’ll discover all sorts of tins, ranging from iced coffee to soda. All of these brands, however, are fictional – because Korean developer Shift Up wasn’t able to secure a partnership with a real-life manufacturer like Pepsi or Coca-Cola.

Deliver Us the Moon, Deliver Us Mars developer KeokeN Interactive has laid off its entire team due to a lack of publishing options — a worrying sign of things to come. Co-founder and CEO Koen Deetman warned last month that this might be the case following the frosty reception many smaller studios seeking funding received at this year's Game Developers Conference (GDC).

Stellar Blade’s boss battles are among its most memorable moments, so it’s perhaps no surprise to learn that developer Shift Up is plotting a kind of boss rush mode for its PS5 debut. Teased by director Hyung-Tae Kim in an interview with Korean publication Nate, he revealed that some kind of arcade-style back-to-back boss challenge option is currently in the early stages of production.

Anticipation is building as Diablo 4's fourth Season, Loot Reborn, is only a few weeks away. While much is already known about the changes coming with the release of Season 4, there is still new information being released regularly. In the recent Blizzard blog post, alongside other new information, the Seasonal Blessings were revealed! Galvanize your Legend in Diablo 4 Season 4: Loot Reborn Diablo 4 Developer Update Livestream on May 2 — Season 4 Launch, PTR Learnings, and More

Helldivers 2 developer Arrowhead has unveiled the game’s next premium Warbond, called Polar Patriots, alongside a May 9 release date.

Bloomberg reports that Grand Theft Auto publisher Take-Two Interactive will close two game studios as part of a recently announced plan to lay off 5% of its workforce.

The interactive story game genre hasn’t had many wins in recent years. Not when you compare new titles like The Quarry and Life is Strange versus classics like Detroit: Become Human, Heavy Rain, Max Payne 1, and Half-Life. Heavy Rain, which essentially kick-started a whole genre back in 2010, was universally praised for its unique concept. Isn’t it time for Heavy Rain 2?

Always in motion is the future of the Star Wars universe… at least when it comes to movies and television, where well more than half of the projects currently in development still have no publicly available release date. The world of Star Wars tabletop games, on the other hand, is a bit more predictable. Both this year and last, it seems like new releases have been coming down the Pyke just about every few months. Taken together with some excellent older titles still in print, it’s clear to me that we’re living in a golden age of Star Wars board games — especially if you roll in card games, TTRPGs, and miniatures games as well. Here are the very best ones.

Hell yeah, Hellblade fans, Hellblade 2 developer Ninja Theory is drip-feeding new Hellblade 2 content every day this week.

Todd Howard says Starfield's criticism is "perfectly understandable" as the RPG is a "different experience" to Bethesda's other games. 

Elden Ring's Shadow of the Erdtree DLC will be the RPG's only expansion, but developer FromSoftware isn't ruling out other full games in The Lands Between.

Helldivers 2 players think they've discovered what could be "Hive Lord tunnels," in what they believe might be the prelude to the return of the gigantic enemies from the original game.

Elden Ring's Shadow of the Erdtree DLC apparently has no definitive ending, and won't impact the plot of the main game.

Gamers woke up to some very surprising news on Wednesday, May 1. Game Awards creator Geoff Keighley revealed via X that Rocksteady’s beloved Batman: Arkham series was making a comeback. Batman: Arkham Shadow would launch later this year, with more details coming in June during Summer Game Fest. It was a cause for celebration … until people read the fine print.

There’s a hot new RPG on Android, and it’s called Royal Revolt: A Trader’s Tale. This new game is now up for grabs on Android. If the name rings a bell, that’s because it’s based on the hit IP Royal Revolt. Yes, it’s developed by Upright Games who also created Royal Revolt II and Olympus Rising.

Yesterday, Meta announced Batman: Arkham Shadow, a VR-only game coming exclusively to the Meta Quest 3. Batman: Arkham Shadow is in development at Camouflaj, a developer with offices in Bellevue, Washington, and Kamakura, Japan. Camouflaj was founded in 2011 by Ryan Payton, who had previously worked at KONAMI as Assistant Producer on Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots.

Apple has announced the Swift Student Challenge winners which include three students: Dezmond Blair, Elena Galluzzo, and Jawaher Shaman. The challenge was launched in February 2024, during which Apple announced 350 winners from several entries submitted in March. The three students are inspired by their families to change the future of coding. Know more about the Apple Swift Student Challenge and the announced winners.

There are few cozy games as successful and beloved as Stardew Valley, so it’s no wonder it has received regular updates since its 2016 release. If you’re a fan of the game, you’ve no doubt been looking forward to its new 1.6 update, which brings some pretty substantial changes and bug fixes to improve the gameplay experience. Unfortunately for some players, the update has only released on PC so far, meaning console players have been left wondering when they’ll get an opportunity to see all of the fresh changes in the game. Here’s what we know so far about when the Stardew Valley 1.6 update is coming to consoles.

Cyberpunk 2077 has a bunch of things that are trying to turn you into giblets, and CD Projekt Red added even more in Phantom Liberty. Over the past seven months, developer CD Projekt Red has been tracking exactly which enemies have been dishing out the most hurt to players through the course of the expansion, posting the top three killers to the Cyberpunk 2077 Twitter account.

This one's a bummer. Mega-publisher Take-Two Interactive is shuttering Rollerdrome studio Roll7 and Kerbal Space Program 2 team Intercept Games, according to paperwork seen by Bloomberg.

Back when the Fallout show first hit our TV screens, you couldn't move online due to the sheer number of New Vegas fans that had made it halfway through the show before announcing that it had somehow disrespected the game by making changes to the lore. Many claimed that it had somehow removed New Vegas from Fallout canon (it didn't) and that Todd Howard was secretly the mastermind behind the change, all in an effort to get back at developer Obsidian Entertainment for making a good Fallout game.

Helldivers 2 has continued a surprisingly frequent trend over the past couple of years of titles, such as Baldur's Gate 3 and Palworld, that have blown up in popularity more than anyone could have possibly predicted, even the developers themselves. We're yet to get official numbers for just how impressive Helldivers 2's launch has been, but it has been revealed that it's already managed to become one of PlayStation's highest grossing titles in the US.

You know what Doom (1993) really needs? Microtransactions. All those free health and armour packs lying around are a waste. Imagine the big bucks id Software could've made if it had monetised the Cacodemon out of 'em.

I regret to inform you that, despite the best efforts of Helldivers everywhere, the Terminid threat is back and nastier than ever. I’m starting to think that Super Earth command may not know exactly what they’re doing – but, of course, I would never linger on such undemocratic thoughts.

Take-Two is reportedly planning to shut down Private Division studios Roll7 and Intercept Games as part of recently announced restructuring.

The internal testing branch for Diablo 4's expansion Vessel of Hatred seems to have moved out of the Alpha stage, indicating it is now in Beta. Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred Overview Vessel of Hatred's testing branch on Blizzard's CDN (content distribution network), used for internal testing, has been recently updated from 2.0.0alpha.49443 to 2.0.103.52888, which indicates that the expansion has moved out of Alpha into Beta. We do not have any further information and will need to wait to learn more about future developments.

Hasbro has already invested over $1 billion in its internal studios as part of an ambitious long-term strategy, according to Wizards of the Coast head of game studios and publishing Dan Ayoub.

Intercept Games is among the many casualties of Take-Two Interactive's layoffs, as its parent company is laying off 70 people from the developer behind the Kerbal Space Program 2.