Publisher News, Tips, Tricks & Ideas

Guild Wars 3 has quietly been confirmed.

Blizzard has published new development notes for Cataclysm Classic beta, which now includes leveling up to 85, dungeons, character copy, and archaeology! Today, we’ve updated the Cataclysm Beta to build 53973, which includes the 80-85 Cataclysm leveling experience, the character copy function, and templates to get you straight into the endgame.At this time, the following features have been added:

Back in 2020 IllFonic released Predator: Hunting Grounds, another take on the asymmetric multiplayer formula they’ve employed with titles like Friday the 13th: The Game and Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed. Somewhat oddly, the game was published by Sony as a PC and PS4 console exclusive. Despite the big-name publisher, the game kind of came and went without too much fanfare, but now it seems IllFonic is preparing the revive the game on current-gen platforms.

The Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077 creators CD Projekt Red have reported their earnings for 2023 (their fiscal year corresponds with the regular calendar year) and it seems it was a good 12 months for the Polish publisher. 2023 was CDPR’s second-best year ever, thanks to the sales of the Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty expansion, which managed to move 5 million copies, which is added to the 20 million in sales for the original Cyberpunk 2077. CDPR has also announced that The Witcher series surpassed 75 million units sold last year. So, yes, if you’re doing the math (75 million for the Witcher, 25 million for Cyberpunk) CDPR has now sold over 100 million games. Not bad!

It’s tough to find a portable battery that’s got some speed in terms of wattage, but that isn’t too big. We found one at Amazon that matches this criteria, and thankfully, it doesn’t cost all that much. Zendure’s 10,000 mAh SuperMini X3 portable battery can keep your handheld topped off, be it a Steam Deck, Nintendo Switch, or an iPad, without being anywhere near as bulky as any of those items. This battery is normally $49.99, but Amazon Prime members can currently pick one up in silver for just $34.99.

Pinocchio Hero: Idle RPG is an upcoming game on Android that drops on the weekend. Developed by PlunderGames and published by Gamepub, it’ll be a free-to-play game. Gamepub has published titles like Magical Girls Idle – 2400gacha, Dark Slayer: AFK RPG and Magic Spear Idle RPG.

A collaboration of developers have announced The Triple-i Initiative, a 45-minute showcase event featuring world premieres, exclusive gameplay, demos, and drops from some of the top independent creators in games. It will take place on April 10 at 10:00 a.m. PT / 1:00 p.m. ET. You will be able to watch it on YouTube, Twitch, bilibili, IGN, and Steam.

Embracer Group finally confirmed that it is selling Borderlands studio Gearbox Entertainment to Take-Two Interactive, but there’s a catch: Embracer Group will retain ownership of Gearbox Publishing.

Look, it’s been a busy time for video game enthusiasts. Rather than easing out of a busy holiday season, the first three months of 2024 have been filled with enormous, high-profile RPGs that can eat up an upwards of 60 hours each. I’m tired. You’re tired. Don’t you just want to play something short and sweet at this point?

Dragon's Dogma 2 DLC might be in the works at Capcom, as the publisher has asked players what they would theoretically pay for new content.

We knew Gearbox Software was about to be sold by Embracer, and today, Take-Two announced it had reached an agreement to purchase the 25-year-old Texan developer for $460 million.

Brandon Sanderson is one of the most successful and prolific fantasy and science fiction authors of all time, with a devoted following that funded the most successful Kickstarter campaign to date and has pledged over $20 million on Backerkit for his latest crowdfunding effort. His expansive bibliography can make it difficult to figure out where to start if you want to jump into his many worlds and series, so we’ve put together a primer to help guide you through the Cosmere and beyond.

More major changes are afoot on the business side of the video game world, as a notable name is changing hands once again. Take-Two Interactive (the parent company of Grand Theft Auto publisher Rockstar and others) has agreed to buy Gearbox Entertainment from the embattled Embracer Group. The deal is worth $460 million in stock and is expected to close by June 30. It had been rumored for several months that Embracer was planning to sell off Gearbox.

Video games get delisted often, mostly for banal reasons like an expired music licensing agreement or a publishing agreement running out. But the recent delisting of Adult Swim Games en masse feels a bit different.

Don't Nod has announced a new studio organisation structured around its three genres of predilection: RPG, narrative adventure, and action adventure.

Troubled gaming conglomerate Embracer announced Thursday that it has agreed to sell Gearbox Entertainment, the studio behind the Borderlands games, to Grand Theft Auto publisher Take-Two for $460 million.

Embracer Group has sold Borderlands developer Gearbox for $460 million USD, after acquiring the developer for roughly $1.3 billion just over three years ago.

US publishing giant Take-Two has acquired Gearbox Entertainment for $460 million, entirely in new stock. 

Japanese publishing giant Sega is selling strategy specialist Relic Entertainment as part of yet another huge shakeup.

Gearbox is now part of the Take-Two Interactive Family, in a deal that’s a fraction of what Embracer paid to originally acquire them.

Take-Two Interactive Software will acquire The Gearbox Entertainment Company from Embracer Group in a $460 million deal, the companies announced (2).

Take-Two will acquire developer Gearbox from Embracer for $460 million.

Embracer Group has officially divested Gearbox Entertainment, selling the division to Take-Two Interactive for $460 million.

Embracer Group has been itching to sell some of its recently acquired studios for quite some time now, having seemingly had eyes bigger than its belly during its spending spree a couple of years ago. Borderlands creator Gearbox Software was one of the developers lined up for a potential sale, and it's now been confirmed that Take-Two is the publisher to have acquired the studio.

Earlier this year, Thunderful Group announced amidst financial struggles that, in addition to laying off a sizeable portion of its workforce, it was also looking to divest some of its assets in order to raise funds. Now, the company has announced the sale of one of its publishing labels.

Plug In Digital’s occult puzzle game Strange Horticulture has finally dropped on Android. Developed by Bad Vikings, the game is currently priced at $5.49 on Android. The game was initially released on Steam in January 2022.

Thunderful Group has entered into an agreement to sell Headup to Microcuts Holding, a company controlled by Headup founder Dieter Schoeller, for a purchase price of €500,000, the company announced.

Keita Takahashi’s surreal gaming masterpiece Katamari Damacymarks its 20th anniversary this year, and publisher Bandai Namco has done something truly meaningful to celebrate: It’s resolved whatever rights issues were keeping the game’s classic soundtrack album off music streaming services, and republished it. Royal rainbow!

Microsoft has published a new patent that showcases a pixel-dimming technology for displays that can be helpful for gamers.

BioWare opened its own digital storefront back in the early 2000s, and the legendary RPG studio had even briefly considered selling third-party games on that store - including The Witcher.

Co-op title It Takes Two has shifted over 16 million copies since its release.

In recent months, there’s been a lot of debate and concern about the future of the Xbox brand, with Microsoft seemingly tip-toeing away from exclusives and the traditional console business. In a recent “business update,” Xbox boss Phil Spencer and other execs sought to calm fears, saying major exclusives like Starfield are staying put (for now) and Microsoft is working on powerful new hardware, but fans have been skeptical in the face of “flatlining” demand for Xbox consoles.

Arm yourself; Dragonflight Season 4 is available on the PTR.

If you missed out on last week's pre-order deal for Princess Peach Showtime! from QVC, you’re in luck. For a limited time, you can save $10 on the new Nintendo Switch platformer at Woot, discounting its usual $60 price to $49.99.

With Season of Discovery Phase 3 datamining we found many different new items, likely connected to the new Sunken Temple level-up raid. Earlier today we published an article detailing everything we know about the new Sunken Temple Raid, which is a 20-player raid with 8 bosses. Blizzard still has some secrets in store, as we're not sure which boss drops each item. There are also new items that form a set for each armor proficiency!

"APK" is an extremely common term in the Android world, and it's an even more important part of the Android operating system. We'll share some information about APK files, show you how to install them on your Android device, and how to check if they're safe to download.

I don’t always use gaming headsets, but when I do, I make sure it's the Steelseries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless. The Nova Pro Wireless pairs outstanding build quality and sound with some unique quality-of-life features that make this headset stand out among its peers. Currently, you can pick up this $349.99 headset from Amazon for around $281, matching its lowest price to date.

Two Tencent-owned studios are reportedly creating games to rival smash-hit survival game Palworld.

When the PlayStation 5 console launched in 2020, we introduced Game Help to enable players to easily access hints, tips, or walkthrough videos without leaving the game to help them progress through a level, obtain a trophy, or find a coveted hidden item.

“The math on [making] a game has definitely changed,” said Phil Spencer, CEO of Gaming at Microsoft.

We've already known for a while thanks to former Bethesda Head of Publishing Pete Hines that The Elder Scrolls VI had at long last entered early development. The news was shared just as Starfield was about to launch.

Crop Circle Games has been closed down by its parent company Prytania Media.

In September last year, developer Weta Workshop and publisher Private Division announced Tales of the Shire: A Lord of the Rings Game, describing it as a “heartwarming” game that will see players experiencing “a cozy Hobbit life”. Details on the title beyond those initial tidbits have been scant, but that will soon be changing with a new trailer.

Lucifer showrunner Joe Henderson is returning to comics alongside former Lucifer comic artist Lee Garbett, colorist Lee Loughridge of DSTLRY's hit comic Somna, and letterer Simon Bowland for The Big Burn, the story of two demolition lovers enacting a hellish heist to steal their souls back from the devil himself. 

While Microsoft has tried to put a happy face on things, the future of Xbox – at least Xbox as a distinct brand with its own hardware and exclusives – has never been more in question. Last month Microsoft tried to calm worries with an Xbox Business Update, in which they revealed several older, smaller-scale games were going multiplatform, but that others, like Starfield, aren’t for now. Furthermore, they vowed to continue working on new hardware which will, apparently, deliver the “largest technical leap ever” (how they plan to deliver on that boast, I don’t know).

Earlier this year, a slick, visually arresting turn-based strategy game called Howl arrived on PC and consoles to general critical acclaim. 

A brand-new trailer and key visual were released on Friday to announce the upcoming continuation of the Overlord anime project, which aired its fourth and most recent season back in Summer 2022. The anime continues with Overlord: The Sacred Kingdom, an anime movie set to debut this Fall, and in addition to new cast members, the main staff working on the film's production were also announced in the trailer, which can be seen below.

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Ostia Pirates on Kickstarter is in its final 24 hours and the campaign has done incredibly well. With over 400,000 CAD raised, it’s further proof that even lesser known publishers can make a big impact on the board game space, and highlights how important Kickstarter and GameFound are.

Larian has announced that it will not be sticking with Baldur's Gate 3 for an expansion or a sequel, but that doesn't mean we won't ever see our favourite party members again. This was just confirmed by Larian CEO Swen Vincke, making it clear that the studio doesn't own the characters it created, as they instead belong to the D&D rights holder, Wizards of the Coast.

I toyed around with the idea of whether or not Garden Geckos, a game that is yet to be available to the masses, should get a review or a preview. The game was sent over by a fellow Ontarian who created and is publishing the title, and this review is for their upcoming Kickstarter campaign which is set to launch soon! This one from Tin Robot Games is shaping up to be a phenomenal light weight addition to your library. While I wonder how much traction it will get in the hardcore board game space, I cannot think of many better games to introduce to board game novices. Let’s take a look!

Renowned CAPCOM leaker Dusk Golem has revealed that the publisher's next major projects, Resident Evil 9 and Monster Hunter Wilds, will both follow in the footsteps of Dragon's Dogma 2 with an open world design. Here's what Dusk Golem wrote on Twitter:

Swen Vincke, director of Baldur's Gate 3 and founder of developer Larian Studios, used the opportunity afforded by winning big at the Game Developer's Conference (GDC) to blame the industry's current state on rampant corporate greed, a sentiment we can get behind. Plenty of developers made their voices heard at the Independent Games Festival Awards and Games Developers Choice Awards (held as part of GDC). Still, Vincke directed his ire at a specific part of the industry: publishers, those companies that proliferate games and allow them to reach a wider audience, for a price.

Dragon’s Dogma 2, by all accounts a sensational RPG, is getting obliterated for adding microtransactions on launch day. These, we must stress, were unavailable to purchase during the review period but were mentioned in a media guide; they’ve since been made available for sale on the release’s launch day. Already it’s prompted a cavalcade of negativity on Steam, where the otherwise critically acclaimed escapade carries a ‘Mostly Negative’ review rating.

Dragon's Dogma 2 is finally here, and whether you love it or hate it, you can't deny the fact that it's Capcom's most ambitious open world project to date. It's a publisher known for experimentation, using its big blockbuster IP to push boundaries and deliver consistently new experiences to keep things fresh and exciting. Now that Capcom is experimenting with open world tech, it's been claimed that the publisher plans to use Resident Evil to build upon it.

It's no secret that D&D is getting new core rulebooks this year, and new details have just been revealed about how its classes will work… but if one D&D designer had their way, some would be very different.

If you’ve already been down the road of ice-sliding puzzles way too many times, you may raise an eyebrow at The Chronos Principle at first glance. But take it from me, it’s worth trying at least once. Now, why am I suddenly bringing up this game? That’s because it’s currently available at its lowest price ever, which is, $0!

Have you heard about Howl? It’s a turn-based tactical game with a folktale twist that became quite popular on Steam. It has dropped on Android this week as a free-to-play game. It’s being published by Astragon and developed by Mi’pu’mi.

Pathfinder is one of our favorite alternatives toDungeons & Dragons, featuring a variety of strange, awesome settings, like a steampunk Old West. We recommend that you give the second-edition Pathfinder system a try, especially since it won’t cost you much today.Humble is offering a colossal package of Pathfinder texts, along with all of the content for the Outlaws of Alkenstar adventure path, for just $30.

Capcom took the number one spot in 2023 for Metacritic's game publisher rankings.

The price of the Meta Quest 2 has been all over the place in the past two years. In 2022, Meta raised the cost of this VR headset from $299.99 to a shocking $399.99 due to component shortages. Then the price sank to $249.99 in late 2023, just after the company’s $499.99 Quest 3 came out. Now, it’s sitting cozy at $199.99 at multiple retailers, with most of them offering some sort of freebie with your purchase that’d otherwise cost you an extra $50 or so. I don’t foresee the cost sinking below this and, frankly, it doesn’t need to; the Quest 2 is a phenomenal value at this price.

I toyed around with the idea of whether or not Garden Geckos, a game that is yet to be available to the masses, should get a review or a preview. The game was sent over by a fellow Ontarian who created and is publishing the title, and this review is for their upcoming Kickstarter campaign which is set to launch soon! This one from Tin Robot Games is shaping up to be a phenomenal light weight addition to your library. While I wonder how much traction it will get in the hardcore board game space, I cannot think of many better games to introduce to board game novices. Let’s take a look!

Following Nintendo's decision to sue Yuzu, the popular Switch emulator, and the consequent shutdown of the project (with a massive $2.4 million to be paid in damages), two main forks have appeared: Suyu and Nuzu. While the latter turned out to be vaporware, Suyu is a real project with many dedicated developers behind it.

Publisher PLAION (formerly Koch Media/Deep Silver) and developer Dambuster Studios have announced the release date for the second Dead Island 2 expansion. Titled SoLA, it will be available on PC via Epic Games Store, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series S|X on April 17. Five days later, the whole game will also launch on Steam after the year of exclusivity on the Epic Games Store.

EA's The Sims is coming to the silver screen.

Dragon's Dogma 2 is finally here, and Capcom has been enjoying quite a lot of praise from both critics and fans in the run-up to launch. Unfortunately, it now seems to have thrown all of that hard-earned goodwill down the drain, as Dragon's Dogma 2 has launched to "Mostly Negative" user reviews on Steam after Capcom has seemingly added a series of "pay-to-win" microtransactions after the game's reviews were published.

Horizon Forbidden West's long-awaited PC port finally hit Steam earlier today, bringing Aloy's second adventure to an entirely new audience. It means that more people than ever can experience one of PlayStation's best titles, but it also means that it's much more at risk of piracy, and publishers are going to start wondering what the heck they have to do for their games to stop being pirated, as Horizon Forbidden West was cracked in just 30 seconds after release.

Everybody seems to be talking about 3 Body Problem, the new Netflix series based on Cixin Liu’s Remembrance of Earth’s Past book trilogy. Fewer people are talking about the two series’ namesake: The unsolvable physics problem of the same name.

Publisher 11 bit Studios revealed that Indika — a very weird game from Odd Meter Studio that left a strong impression on me during February’s Steam Next Fest — will finally come out on May 8.

Red Thread Games and their publisher Spotlight by Quantic Dream have announced that Dustborn will launch on 20th August 2024 across PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PS4, Xbox One and PC. Check out the new gameplay trailer.

There are a fair few games that task you with returning color to the world you play in, but Farewell North lets you do it as a dog - and it's set in the beautiful Scottish Highlands. This game looks inspired by the likes of Journey, Flower, and Okami, and it might just be the wholesome game that makes you want to grab your camping gear and head to Scotland.

Names like Skyrim and Morrowind are so ubiquitous that it’s easy to forget they were once ideas on a whiteboard. But in 1993, the world of Elder Scrolls was still very much a blank slate.

If Helldivers 2 isn’t delivering enough bug stomping for your liking, you might want to check out Humble’s EDF United Bundle. It combines the past nine years’ worth of Earth Defense Force games and their downloadable content in a package for $18. While this bundle doesn’t include the most recent entry in the franchise, Earth Defense Force 6, you’ll find every other game here that’s launched since 2015, including Earth Defense Force 4.1: The Shadow of New Despair.

Miniclip.com, the publisher of Subway Surfers, just dished out a new strategy game called Battle Rivals: Epic Clash. It’s not a global launch though. Battle Rivals: Epic Clash has entered early access in Italy and Portugal on Android for now.

An upcoming cozy Lord of the Rings game has shared a first look at its artwork after being announced in September, and there's "more to come soon."

There's great news for gamers interested in playing Dragon's Dogma 2 without having a beefy PC: NVIDIA has just announced that CAPCOM's open world game will be available at launch via its GeForce NOW cloud platform. Despite the fact that the previous installment is supported on GeForce NOW, the same was far from a given for the sequel. While the Japanese publisher has agreed to add games like Exoprimal, Resident Evil 2, 3, and 7, and Devil May Cry 5 to GFN, Resident Evil Village and Resident Evil 4 are still nowhere to be seen, and the same goes for Street Fighter 6.

Warhammer Age of Sigmar is a great wargame, but it is a little dense - and publisher Games Workshop seems to recognize that, because it's launching a more accessible match type.

French regulators said Wednesday they were fining Google 250 million euros ($272 million) for breaching commitments on paying media companies for reproducing their content online and for using their material for its AI chatbot without telling them.

More than ever, publishers and console makers love to stress how incredibly detailed their games are, with cutting-edge graphics that are driving video game budgets to almost unsustainable levels. Almost every big publisher out there is keen to show off just how realistic and perfect their games look, but one of very few to buck that trend is Nintendo, which regularly pumps out brilliant games despite the limitations of the Switch's hardware.