Transmog System 'Doesn't Make Sense' in Helldivers 2, Says CEO | Push Square

All eyes are on Bloober Team as we inch closer to the developer's PS5 remake of Silent Hill 2, a pressure the studio is well aware of. Expected sometime in 2024, and despite a public spat with publisher Konami in February, Bloober Team remains «very confident about the final result.»

Stellar Blade is out today, and fans can finally play the full game to see what all the fuss is about. If you didn't get a chance to try the demo or just wanted to go in fresh, it is worth knowing that the half-second input delay when parrying or dodging is a feature, not a bug, as the game's director recently explained.

Following the collapse of a «verbal agreement» reportedly worth $2 billion with the Saudi-funded Savvy Games, Embracer Group entered into a brutal nine-month restructuring programme that resulted in the loss of some 1,400 employees and the cancellation of dozens of unannounced games. CEO Lars Wingefors, whose actions were recently defended by Saber Interactive CEO Matthew Karch («give Lars a break»), in a new interview, says: «As a leader and an owner, sometimes you need to take the blame.»

The original Shin Megami Tensei 5 on Nintendo Switch is already a long game, clocking in at around 70 hours if you want to see most of what the RPG has to offer — and its expanded re-release, Shin Megami Tensei 5: Vengeance, will apparently double that runtime. That is, if you play through the game twice, since Vengeance's main selling point is the addition of a new storyline that branches off from the existing release.

It seems the protagonist of Konami's Silent Hill 2 remake, currently in development at Bloober Team, has received a quiet redesign or perhaps had a face-lift. It's unclear whether this change comes in response to fan feedback from the trailer shown during the State of Play showcase held earlier this year, the negative response to which Bloober subsequently blamed on Konami.

Final Fantasy is a long running series at this point — it's easily one of the most storied franchises in gaming. But when you're up to the sixteenth mainline entry, you must start wondering whether fresh installments still have the power to pull new players in. Indeed, audience growth will be an important metric for the suits upstairs at Square Enix.

It's fairly common knowledge that Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth enjoyed a relatively smooth development cycle, owing to the fact that Final Fantasy 7 Remake's team was largely kept intact, and the first game had obviously laid the foundations in terms of visuals and gameplay systems. It took Square Enix around three years to craft Rebirth, and it expects the same kind of timeline when it comes to the third (and final) title in the trilogy.

UK studio and publisher Kwalee has revealed recent staff cuts were made to «reshape» the company's business around «significant growth opportunities.» The company has layed off approximately 10% of its workforce, around 40 people, in recent months. Despite that, Kwalee stressed it expects to grow its headcount (currently about 400) to somewhere between 410 and 420.

Atari has announced it's collaborating with Shantae and River City Girls developer WayForward to develop a new entry in the Yars' Revenge series, named Yars Rising. Slated to launch at the end of this year, the title was announced during today's Nintendo Indie World showcase, but will release also for PS5 and PS4. Check out the reveal trailer above.

If you regularly use a PS5 or PS4, there's very little reason not to be using PS Stars. This rewards programme, currently only accessible via the PlayStation mobile app, rewards users with points for PS Store purchases, as well as neat little digital collectibles for completing simple campaigns. Part of the service also allows you to use your accrued points to redeem PS Store credit and, if you have enough, entire games and other digital goodies. It's these PS Stars rewards that have recently been refreshed, and there's some good stuff up for grabs — if you have the points.

Helldivers 2's developer is potentially open to collaborations with others games, but it would be very dependent on which games.

The boss of Helldivers 2 developer Arrowhead has addressed player concern about bugs (not those bugs) as the studio continues to release new content and new premium warbonds.