Sports News, Tips, Tricks & Ideas

Konami has released the opening movie for Powerful Pro Baseball 2024-2025, featuring the theme song “RELAY” sung by Mikei Fujiwara with music and arrangement by Naoyuki Sato.

I need to take all the opportunities to write about Fall Guys that I can get, given how much time I spend playing it with my son. This is a pretty good opportunity, too: a set of Star Wars skins are coming to the bean battle royale, as announced yesterday on May 4th, and they coincide with some major changes to Fall Guys' platforming physics.

Activision reportedly rejected a pitch for Tony Hawk’s 3 + 4, preferring Vicarious Visions to work as a Call of Duty support studio.

The latest episode of Skate’s The Board Room has premiered, showing the reboot’s character customisation options.

Roll7, developers of bright skateboarding games OlliOlli World and dual-wielding bloodsport Rollerdrome, are being closed down as part of large scale layoffs by parent corp Take-Two Interactive, according to documents seen by Bloomberg. The British studio has been responsible for some great stuff over the years but the report says they'll be following the fate of Kerbal Space Program 2 developers in being laid off.

Popular WWE 2k24 modder Status was banned from the game and their creations taken offline earlier this week, with an in-game message stating that the cause was violation of the game's End User License Agreement. Today, Status has been reinstated, after backlash to the decision caused #FreeStatus to trend on X for several days, with at least some of his mods due to return.

2K and WWE Games have unbanned WhatsTheStatus, a popular modder who was indefinitely restricted from the online portion of WWE 2K24 last week.

eFootball has hit another major download milestone, according publisher Konami.

EA has announced the EA Sports FC 24 Team of the Season for the Premier League and Women’s Super League.

2K is facing a community backlash, following its decision to ban a popular WWE 2K24 creator.

I often regret that I didn't get into football as a kid (note for people across the pond: football is what we call soccer in these here accursed, eternally post-imperial isles). The trouble was, all my friends liked football and I have an abiding hatred of popular things, a hatred that has obviously served me well during my later career as an online news journalist. I played hockey instead, which is the superior sport in that you get a big nasty stick, but also relatively niche because you need more equipment.

Former developers of futuristic racing classic WipEout - including the series’ co-creator - have formed a new studio with the co-creator of Skate to work on a new sci-fi sports game.

Although its relationship with video games goes all the way back to Pong, tennis has seemingly always been a tricky sport to properly nail in digital form.

Take-Two has successfully defended itself against a lawsuit in which a tattoo artist claimed the publisher had used their copyright without permission when recreating the likeness of Lebron James' tattoo in NBA 2K.

F1 Manager developer Frontier has been accused of mismanagement in a new report in the wake of layoffs at the company.

LawBreakers — the hero shooter from Cliff 'CliffyB' Bleszinski that was shut down after a poor launch — is making a bit of a comeback thanks to a group of dedicated fans.

Five years after LawBreakers shut down, we're getting to play the gravity-defying multiplayer FPS again thanks to fans. LawBreakers was the first game from Boss Key Productions, a studio co-founded by Gears Of Wars lead designer Cliff Bleszinski, and it had delightful ultraviolence beneath its uninspiring genric look. Alas, it did not sell well. Boss Key closed less than a year after launch, and the game soon followed. But after years of work, a group of fans this weekend successfully ran the first public test for a workaround to play the game again. While there's no clear launch plan yet, more playtesting will follow.

It's not every day you get to use both the 'sports' and 'horror' tags for the same game. Pool of Madness, an upcoming eldritch pool game where your surroundings get more bizarre and maddening the longer you play, is the latest game to crowbar Lovecraft into a place where no Lovecraft existed previously. It’s also the latest game to make me, someone who’s ostensibly had enough Lovecraft for one lifetime think: actually, yes, go on then.

Everybody’s Golf series and Easy Come Easy Golf developer Clap Hanz has announced Ultimate Swing Golf for Quest 2, Quest 3, and Quest Pro. It will launch on May 16 for $29.99 / 2,990 yen with support for up to four players online.

Today is Tuesday, statistically the day of the week least rife with wacky hijinks, whimsical calamity, or even, dare I say, madcap antics. However, if you want to buck tradition, you could do worse than playing What the Car?, the upcoming absurdist physics game from What the Golf? and What the Bat? devs Triband. You can do it right now, actually. It’s just gotten a free demo on Steam, alongside a proper release date of September 5th 2024. Don’t do it if you’re actually driving, though. That’d be lunacy. We only promote the fun kind of lunacy here, like the type shown off in What the Car?’s trailer at the Triple-i initiative.

Powerful Pro Baseball 2024-2025 will launch for PlayStation 4 and Switch on July 18 in Japan for 7,700 yen (8,470 yen with tax), Konami announced. Physical edition pre-orders are now available.

C-Smash VRS — last year's well-recieved PSVR2 update of Sega's cult 2001 arcade and Dreamcast sci-fi sports game Cosmic Smash — is wiggling out of its headset to get a non-VR edition on PlayStation 5, also available to existing owners, later this year.

The critically acclaimed VR game C-Smash VRS is getting a non-VR release on PlayStation 5.

Total downloads for the Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road Worldwide Beta Test Demo have surpassed 500,000 worldwide, developer LEVEL-5 announced.

A new trailer has been released for C-Smash VRS, which shows the game running on Meta Quest 3.

LEVEL-5 will release the Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road Worldwide Beta Test Demo for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, and PC via Steam to test cross-play, the developer announced. Details such as a release date will be announced at a later time.

PlayStation has released a digital Jim Ryan bobblehead to commemorate the exec's time at the company.

Konami has announced Professional Baseball Spirits 2024-2025 for PlayStation 5 and PC (Steam) in celebration of the series’ 20th anniversary. It will launch in 2024 in Japan.

Velan Studios' director of marketing, Josh Harrison, has one recommendation for studios looking to close down or «sunset» a live-service game: «make a private hosted version of your game».

A third of staff are at risk of losing their jobs at Velan Studios, the company behind Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit and shutdown dodgeball game Knockout City.

The Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road Worldwide Beta Test Demo will launch for Switch on March 28 at 4:00 a.m. PT / 7:00 a.m. ET / 20:00 JST, LEVEL-5 announced. It will support English, Japanese, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, French, Italian, German, Spanish, and Portuguese (Brazil) language options.

2K has revealed the Top Spin 2K25 roster ahead of the game’s release next month.

The UK's Advertising Standards Authority has upheld complaints against EA, Jagex, and Miniclip for failing to disclose the presence of loot boxes in their adverts.

Microsoft have confirmed the waves of games coming to Game Pass in late March and early April, headlined by the expected addition of Diablo IV. This is the first Activision Blizzard game coming to Game Pass since Microsoft's ridiculous $69 billion acquisition, with more due to follow. Beyond that, look forward to games including mech-riding farming game Lightyear Frontier and the colossal alien invasion strategy game from the XCOM Long War team, Terra Invicta.

Epic has revealed the next batch of freebies heading to the Epic Games Store, with Call of the Wild: The Angler and Invincible Presents: Atom Eve both free to download from 21st March.

Sony has revealed the games joining its PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium catalogue in March, with Capcom's Resident Evil remake and Firaxis' stellar superhero strategy game Marvel's Midnight Suns leading the charge.

TopSpin 2k25 was announced in January, the first entry in the tennis series since 2011. It turns out there's not long to wait before it's served up either, as it now has a release date of April 26th.

TopSpin 2K25 will launch for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC via Steam on April 26, publisher 2K and developer Hangar 13 announced.

2K has given the first full details on Top Spin 2K25, including the game’s release date.

Three more classic Mario Game Boy games are coming to Switch Online.

Koei Tecmo will release a demo for Winning Post 10 2024 for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Switch, and PC via Steam on March 14 in Japan, the company announced.

Details of the Epic Games Store’s Spring Sale have leaked ahead of its official announcement.

Electronic Arts CEO Andrew Wilson has outlined the transformative impact he believes generative artificial intelligence can have on the company and the wider games business over the next five years.

WWE 2K24 players have discovered footage of former WWE boss Vince McMahon has been blurred out in the game, following confirmation he would not be a playable wrestler.

WWE 2K24 has censored archival footage of Vince McMahon during certain sections of its Showcase mode.

Turbo Golf Racing will leave Early Access and launch for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, Xbox One, and PC via Steam and Microsoft Store on April 4, publisher Secret Mode and developer Hugecalf Studios announced. The PlayStation 5 version is newly announced.

Xbox recently updated its Game Pass page, revealing three games that will be leaving the service soon.

“Evolution is a mystery, full of change that no one sees”. So go the lyrics to the theme music for Evolution, one of the WWE’s greatest ever factions.

In an unexpected twist, a large amount of my time is now spent playing Fall Guys, the rubberised, free-to-play competitive bean racing game. I am therefore well equipped to tell you about its Survival Update, released this week, which adds new levels, new powerups and makes it possible to create survival rounds via the in-game level editor.

F1 24, the latest instalment in EA's annual racing series, is launching for PlayStation 5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, and PC (via Steam, Epic, and the EA App) on 31st May.

2K Sports has detailed its plans for the five DLC packs set to be added to WWE 2K24.

What the Golf? developer Triband is bringing its absurdist racing game What the Car? to Steam later this year, following its debut last May as an Apple Arcade exclusive.

The indie studio behind last year's incredible Saltsea Chronicles has halted production entirely, citing difficulty securing funding.

The final rundown of wrestlers playable in WWE 2K24 has now confirmed the removal of Vince McMahon and Brock Lesnar, following allegations surrounding both men surfacing last month.

EA is asking more than 11,000 college football players to opt into being included in the EA Sports College Football roster, with a guaranteed payout of $600.

2K Sports has revealed the final playable roster for WWE 2K24, and it appears to be missing Vince McMahon and Brock Lesnar.

Konami has announced Powerful Pro Baseball 2024-2025 for PlayStation 4 and Switch, marking the 30th anniversary of the Powerful Pro series. It will launch in 2024 in Japan.

Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water, Microsoft are bringing Maneater back to Game Pass. Yesterday they unveiled the next batches of Game Pass additions and two are returnees, with the delightful fighty platformer Indivisible accompanying brutal shark 'em up Maneater. What's more important is that it's adding the game with the cutest little Nurglings, grimdark retro-styled FPS Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun. The rhetoric of 'purging xenos and heretics' surely doesn't apply to these darling babies. Read on for all the games coming to (and going from) Game Pass over the next few weeks.

Award-winning rapper and music producer Post Malone has curated the soundtrack for WWE 2K24, 2K Games has confirmed.

A new teaser trailer for EA Sports College Football has announced that the game will be released in the summer.

2K Sports has confirmed the majority of the matches set to appear in this year’s Showcase mode for WWE 2K24.

Triband will release WHAT THE GOLF? for PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4 on March 14, the developer announced.

Turbo Golf Racing will leave Early Access and launch for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, Xbox One, and PC via Steam and Microsoft Store in Q2 2024, publisher Secret Mode and developer Hugecalf Studios announced. The PlayStation 5 version is newly announced.

The Little Mermaid's Ariel has stopped by Disney Speedstorm, the hero-based combat racing game inspired by Disney and Pixar worlds.

Visual Concepts Austin, the 2K Games studio behind sports franchises including WWE and NBA, as well as last year’s kart racing game Lego 2K Drive, has reportedly laid off a number of employees. The cuts come fewer than six months after the last round of layoffs at the Texas outlet.

Take-Two Interactive and 2K Games have said that virtual currencies within games are «fictions created by game publishers» during a lawsuit which alleges that money is effectively stolen from players when games are shut down.

Futuristic sports game C-Smash VRS will be released for Meta Quest 2 and Quest 3 and Pico 4 headsets on April 4, 2024.

There are no current plans to bring Rec Room — the social VR app that's part meeting place, part mini-game hub featuring sporting events, fantastical quests and even games of Charades — to PlayStation VR2. This is because the studio behind it (also known as Rec Room) simply «can't justify the cost», despite its popularity.

After a successful first outing, RPS Game Club is returning for another year of gaming show-and-tells, and this time, we're publishing the schedule in advance so you know exactly what's coming up and when. Handy, say, if you want to keep an eye on certain sale prices for games you've got your eye on, or you want to clear your calendar so you can join us for our end-of-month liveblog session where we all get together book club-style to talk about the month's pick. Each member of the RPS Treehouse is getting involved this year as well, so read on below to find out what's on the Club docket.

2K Sports has officially announced WWE 2K24.

Publisher 2K and developer Visual Concepts have announced WWE 2K24 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC (Steam). The standard editions will launch on March 8, while the Deluxe and “Forty Years of WrestleMania” editions will launch three days earlier on March 5.

Wrestling series WWE will make its yearly return in March, publisher 2K has announced.

2K is bringing back its tennis series Top Spin with a new instalment, TopSpin 2K25.

Publisher 2K and developer Hangar 13 have announced TopSpin 2K25. Platforms were not announced, but PlayStation Store and Microsoft Store pages are live, confirming PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One versions.

A slide allegedly taken from a Sony presentation has revealed how many units some of the company's biggest first-party games have sold.

These are salad days for fans of novelty golf, from What The Golf? to Desert Golfing to Turbo Golf Racing. Released in 2022, Cursed To Golf set itself apart from the mini genre by being a golflike roguelike - and it's currently free to keep from the Epic Games Store.

Bandai Namco has released the winter update for Ace Angler: Fishing Spirits, which adds the new game mode “Net Sniper.” A new event called “Shark Festival” will also begin in January 2024.

The reboot of noughties gem Jet Set Radio teased with ruthless efficiency during The Game Awards has had a smidge of new information revealed. For being such a small detail, though, it’s a very intriguing - if perhaps a tad predictable - one indeed.

With Christmas barely a week away, it's time to start celebrating my own RPS Christmas traditions. Games to play, songs to time, surprises to spring. Let's start with a wee surprise. Pull on your mittens, fill your flask with cocoa, and clip-click-skkrachk those ski boots, for it is time to play the free downhill slalom game Skeal.

There's a new update for footie fans checking into eFootball 2024 this week.