Gaming News

Deus Ex Dev Eidos-Montréal Announces Mass Layoffs Alongside Departure of Head of Stuido David Anfossi

Deus Ex and Tomb Raider developer Eidos-Montréal has announced a wave of layoffs alongside the departure of head of studio David Anfossi. The Embracer Group developer confirmed the significant reduction to its workforce with a social media post today. Its message comes with confirmation that 124 employees across its production and support teams and is “a result of changing project needs.” “Today is a difficult day for our studio and reflects the need to adapt and concentrate efforts where Eidos-Montréal can be most effective,” Eidos-Montréal’s post says. “We are deeply grateful to the team members impacted; this decision is not a reflection of their talent, dedication, or performance. Supporting those impacted with care and respect...

View full article »

'I Don't Want to Say They Started Panicking…' — Actor Behind Crimson Desert's Kliff Reveals 'Bridge Point' Where Pearl Abyss Realized the Story and Ch

Alec Newman, the actor who plays Crimson Desert protagonist Kliff, has discussed his work on the game, and revealed how the story and characters changed significantly during development. In an interview with Skill Up's Friends Per Second Podcast, (via twiv) Newman, who is no stranger to video game roles having played Cameron "Caz" McLeary in Still Wakes the Deep and Adam Smasher in Cyberpunk 2077, said he worked on Crimson Desert for five years, “recording various iterations of this character at various stages of development for ages.” For the first year-and-a-half of development, Crimson Desert was just a demo, as far as he knew. It wasn’t until nearly two years into recording that he was told that the work would begin in earnest. “I...

View full article »

Nightholme, a New 3-Player Horror Game, Shows Off 9 Minutes of Narrated Gameplay

Join Nightholme creator Alex Amancio (previously the creative director on Assassin's Creed Unity and Assassin's Creed Revelations) as he walks you through his new multiplayer horror game, Nightholme. In it, up to three players join a "multiplayer horror hunt experience that offers dual stealth and action gameplay" and "navigate a corrupted open world, racing to summon and slay the Gloomfiend, while deciding whether to avoid other hunters, or become their fear." Playing as a Grimrunner, you'll begin (either solo or in a team of up to three players) in a Brineheart camp on the edge of town called Last Ground. Up to 12 total players can be in each session. At Last Ground, you will drink your Nocturn, which will determine what you...

View full article »

Arc Raiders Flashpoint Update Breakdown Includes First Look at New Enemy and Map Condition

Embark Studios has offered a breakdown of the Vaporizer Arc unit, the Close Scrutiny map condition, and everything else coming to Arc Raiders with the Flashpoint update. Information on the new update arrived via blog post on the studio’s official website today. It’s a detailed sneak peek at all of the content coming topside ahead of its launch tomorrow, March 31, for players across PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and S. Where the February Shrouded Sky drop brought the flying menace known as the Firefly and the explosive rolling threat known as the Comet, Flashpoint adds just one new Arc. The Vaporizer is yet another drone-like enemy, but instead of spewing fire, this being can be seen using a laser, and, unfortunately for Raiders...

View full article »

Crimson Desert Patches Are Delighting Fans, but Some Say They're Making the Game Too Easy and Now Want a Hard Difficulty Mode

There can be no doubt that the flurry of patches released in the wake of Crimson Desert’s release have improved the experience. From tweaks to the controls to the addition of a storage box, more fast travel points to more summonable mounts, Crimson Desert updates are genuinely game-changing — and user sentiment has become more positive as a result. However, amid the delight that comes with each new quality-of-life change, there is a small subset of players who believe Crimson Desert is getting too easy. The patches — while welcome — are starting to ease some of the challenge Crimson Desert presented at launch, whether that be through balance changes or sweeping changes to its fundamentals. These critics point to nerfs to bosses (some...

View full article »

Xbox Games Showcase Announced for June, Gears of War: E-Day This Year's Headline Title Getting Dedicated Direct

Microsoft will hold its major annual Xbox Games Showcase on June 7, with Gears of War: E-Day getting this year's dedicated post-show Direct. "Sunday, June 7 is locked in," Microsoft's new gaming boss Asha Sharma announced today on social media, alongside an image confirming that the action will kick off at 6pm UK / 1pm Eastern / 10am Pacific. "Xbox Games Showcase 2026 is almost here with a deep dive into Gears of War: E-Day Direct. "In my first month, I heard clearly that our community values Xbox FanFest. As part of the return of Xbox, we made the decision to bring it back to LA to recognize the players who’ve been with us over the years. Looking forward to celebrating together!" Microsoft still holds its traditional June showcase...

View full article »

'Let Them Cook' — Astarion Actor Neil Newbon Hopes Baldur's Gate 3 Fans Give HBO TV Show a Chance

It’s fair to say that not all Baldur’s Gate 3 fans were thrilled by last month’s news that not only is a HBO Baldur’s Gate 3 show in the works, but that it will continue the story on from the video game itself. The adaptation will reportedly take place after the events of Larian's much-loved RPG and feature characters from the game. Craig Mazin, who created HBO shows Chernobyl and The Last of Us, is in place as showrunner, with Chris Perkins, the former longtime Head of Story at Hasbro subsidiary Wizards of the Coast, which owns the Dungeons & Dragons universe in which Baldur’s Gate 3 is set, serving as consultant. Many fans still can’t fathom why anyone would want to continue on from the events of Baldur’s Gate 3, given its many...

View full article »

InZOI Boss Reflects on Year 1: 'The Sims Has Been the Biggest for 3 Decades, and I Think I Have Figured Out Why'

InZOI, PUBG maker Krafton's competitor to The Sims, launched a year ago in early access form, and at a recent Q&A session at the studio’s Seoul office, IGN learned all about the struggles and successes of its first 12 months. It’s fair to say it's been an eye-opening experience for the developer, especially Head of inZOI Studio Hyungjun "Kjun" Kim. “Life sim games are difficult to master,” Kim said. “If you asked me if I would turn back time and make it again, I think I would hesitate.” InZoi launched big on Steam with an all-time peak concurrent player count of 87,377. Krafton then announced inZOI had sold an impressive 1 million copies in a week, making it the fastest selling game published by the South Korean megacorp. It rose to...

View full article »

PlayStation Plus Games for April Leak Again, With Another Title Now Seemingly Confirmed

Last week's leak of the main PlayStation Plus Game Catalog addition for April 2026 has today been followed up by the reveal of a second game. As ever, the forthcoming month's additions have been posted ahead of time by reliable leaker billbil-kun from Dealabs — who last week stated that 2023 Souls-like action RPG Lords of the Fallen would headline the forthcoming month's PS Plus catalog additions. Now, the same source has stated that Lords of the Fallen will be joined by Sword Art Online: Fractured Daydream, the 2024 video game installment with MMORPG elements that ties into the franchise's popular anime series. The game features 21 characters from various arcs of the anime, with players organized into one of battle parties eac...

View full article »

Call of Duty Director Shuts Down 'Skill-Based Damage' Claims as Sony Patents System for Maintaining 'Even Playing Field Between Cross-Platform Players

The design director of Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 has refuted claims of "skill-based damage" after a new Sony patent suggested plans to dynamically adjust player skills — both up and down — for "an even playing field" during cross-platform play. The patent, published in 2025, describes a system that monitors two players in a single session. "A first valuation of a performance metric measuring gaming effectiveness is determined for the game play by the first player, a second valuation of the performance metric is determined for the game play by the second player," and if the "difference between the first valuation and the second valuation does not satisfy a threshold band of operation that is based on global skill levels of the first and...

View full article »

Solasta II: How the Sequel Improves on Crown of the Magister

In a post–Baldur’s Gate 3 landscape, it’s fair to say that expectations for the CRPG genre have been firmly elevated. Developer Tactical Adventures is clearly aware of this shift. The studio, best known for the well-received (if somewhat underappreciated) Solasta: Crown of the Magister, has returned with a sequel that builds confidently on its foundations. With Solasta II, the Paris-based team delivers a follow-up that improves upon its predecessor in nearly every way that matters. Oh Hello, Unreal Engine 5 While Solasta: Crown of the Magister pushed Unity impressively far, achieving a true leap in visual fidelity required a more significant technological shift. Enter Unreal Engine 5. Like many modern titles, Solasta II embraces...

View full article »

Resident Evil Requiem Fans Use Photo Mode to Examine Another Possible Code Veronica Easter Egg

Resident Evil fans think they've found yet another hint at a Code Veronica remake, hidden within the recently-launched Requiem. Using the newly-added photo mode in Resident Evil Requiem, players have examined the Wrenwood Hotel's guest register, which can be glimpsed in the game's early stages on a reception desk. Looking down the list of names, Alyssa Ashcroft can of course be seen — as the hotel's final resident — but check back further and there's mention of a Veronica Galibardi. Fans have taken this to be a further hint by Resident Evil developer Capcom at the franchise's widely-expected next release: a full remake of Resident Evil: Code Veronica, which previous reports have suggested will be unveiled later this year and launched...

View full article »

Epic Games Boss Tim Sweeny Responds After Fortnite Layoffs Revealed to Include Employee With Terminal Cancer Who Will Lose Life Insurance

Epic Games has said it will "solve" the insurance of a former Fortnite employee living with terminal cancer, following widespread criticism of the company's decision to lay them off. Mike Prinke, a programmer who had worked at Epic Games for seven years, was one of the many staff members caught up in Epic Games' most recent mass layoffs, which resulted in more than 1,000 employees out of work. Prinke also has terminal brain cancer, something his wife Jenni has helped publicize online, following his loss of life insurance. The situation quickly stoked further fury from fans at the staff cuts, and has now prompted a response from Epic Games boss Tim Sweeney, who said the company was now "in contact with the family [to] solve the...

View full article »

Avatar Fighting Game Avatar Legends Has a Release Date and a Confirmed Price

Avatar Legends: The Fighting Game is set to launch on July 2 across PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and S, Nintendo Switch 1 and 2, and PC via Steam. Gameplay Group International and PM Studios’ 1v1 2D fighting game based on the phenomenally popular animated series, Avatar: The Last Airbender, is priced $29.99, and will feature crossplay at launch. Avatar Legends: The Fighting Game is described as being “rooted in the spirit of elemental mastery.” Its official blurb continues: “Designed for both newcomers and veterans, it channels the energy of classic fighting games while breaking new ground in movement, style, and combat expression. Built with a focus on fluidity, responsiveness, and online integrity, the game invites players to...

View full article »

'We Understand This May Not Be the Outcome Many of You Were Hoping For' — PUBG Spinoff Shuts Down Before Leaving Early Access

PUBG: Blindspot is closing down later today (March 30) after just 53 days, meaning it won't leave early access. The 5v5 top-down tactical shooter built on "clever positioning, tight teamwork, and shared vision," only launched on February 5, but despite the PUBG branding and being free-to-play, developer Arc Team said it had "come to the conclusion that we are no longer able to sustainably provide the level of experience we set out to deliver through Early Access." "We place player experience at the center of every decision we make, and it is based on that principle that we have made this decision," ARC Team's Sequoia Yang said. "As a result, PUBG: Blindspot Early Access service will come to an end on Monday, March 30." As the update...

View full article »

Invincible VS Launch Roster of Playable Fighters Is Complete, First 2 DLC Characters Confirmed

Invincible VS has confirmed Conquest as the 18th playable character in the upcoming 3v3 tag fighting game, completing the launch roster. With the April 30 release date coming up, Skybound Entertainment and developer Quarter Up also revealed open beta information and the first two DLC characters. The open beta runs on consoles April 9-11, with three modes available (Tutorial, Practice and Ranked), and there's a bonus Omni-Man skin for all participants. Quarter Up said the first two DLC characters, Universa and the Immortal, arrive this summer. Here’s the official blurb on Conquest, who anyone up to date with the Prime Video Invincible show will know well: In gameplay terms, Conquest is considered a ‘Striker,’ which means he can...

View full article »

Darwin's Paradox! Review

Darwin's Paradox! really taps into the joy and simplicity of a fun cartoon for its quirky alien invasion adventure. With a simple setup of an octopus clumsily trying to survive on land, it gives way to some wacky, slapstick platforming encounters that totally capture the fun, charming vibe of a Saturday morning cartoon. Developer ZDT Studio offers up a plucky puzzle-platformer that carries a lot of energy, but it often struggles to maintain those good times when it gets hung up on overly long, clunky encounters that drag down this otherwise fun jaunt. Set in a stylized cartoon world that feels in step with Pixar's Finding Nemo, Darwin's Paradox! follows a clever and oddly lucky octopus who is thrust into increasingly zany encounters...

View full article »

Crimson Desert Hits New Steam Concurrent Player Peak as Latest Game-Changing Update Kicks In

Crimson Desert has hit a new Steam concurrent player peak during its second weekend, after another game-changing update brought a raft of improvements to the open world action adventure. Developer Pearl Abyss released update 1.01.00 (patch notes, courtesy of Steam, are below) this morning, sparking excitement within the Crimson Desert community as a number of significant changes kicked into gear. For example, the patch added five summonable mounts (the lack of summonable mounts was a big criticism in the wake of the game’s release), decreased loading times for fast travel and revival, and improved the controls further. But these are just a few examples of the positive changes — the patch includes a long list of pretty meaningful tweaks...

View full article »

The Best Deals Today: Death Stranding 2, Switch 2 Games, Chainsaw Man Blu-ray, and More

A new weekend has arrived, and today, you can save big on Death Stranding 2: On The Beach, Code Vein II, My Hero Academia: All's Justice, Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter, LEGO R2-D2, and more. Check out our top picks for Sunday, March 29, below. Amazon's Big Spring Sale is also live this weekend, so check out our full roundup for even more deals. Death Stranding 2: On The Beach for $29.99 Death Stranding 2: On the Beach for the PlayStation 5 just dropped to $29.99 as part of the Amazon Spring Sale. Previously, the lowest we've seen physical PS5 copies was $49.99, so this marks a new low price. DS2 has hundreds of hours of content with an incredible narrative, extensive gameplay mechanics, and much more. Enter Australia as Sam Porter...

View full article »

Death Stranding 2: On the Beach for PS5 Drops to Just $29.99 During the Amazon Spring Sale

Heads up: Death Stranding 2: On the Beach for the PlayStation 5 just dropped to $29.99. This is the best video game deal right now during the Amazon Spring Sale and beats out the $49.99 price I saw during Black Friday. I played and beat DS2 right after it came out. It might not appeal to everyone, but this was my top #2 game of 2025. From the "nonsensical" story to the "grind" of delivery packages - I loved every minute of it. Update: If Amazon is out of stock, you can get it for the same price at Best Buy. Death Stranding 2: On the Beach for PS5 Death Stranding 2 resumes the story of Sam Porter in his ongoing mission to deliver packages for a greater good while taking care of his newly adopted kid, Lou. The epic story is absolutely...

View full article »

DLSS 5 Isn't Anywhere Near As Impressive As V-Rally 3 on the Game Boy Advance

A classic Nintendo handheld turned 25 this week amidst an ongoing bust-up about the very future of graphics tech, an anniversary that reminds us how hollow the pursuit of ever increasing graphical fidelity is when all the post-processed path tracing in the world can’t make the driving in Cyberpunk 2077 feel as good as V-Rally 3 on the Game Boy Advance. Look at it. Squeezing every bit of horsepower out of the GBA’s dinky 16MHz processor, a system explicitly designed to run sprite-based 2D games, V-Rally 3 represents an incredible feat of software engineering: a fully 3D racer conjured from textured polygons, clever art direction, and three entire volts of copper-topped power. This was damn close to PS1 quality gaming you could enjoy on...

View full article »

The Best Deals Today: My Hero Academia: All's Justice, LEGO Star Wars R2-D2, Code Vein II, and More

A new weekend has arrived, and today, you can save big on Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake, Code Vein II, My Hero Academia: All's Justice, Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter, LEGO R2-D2, and more. Check out our top picks for Saturday, March 28, below. Amazon's Big Spring Sale is also live this weekend, so check out our full roundup for even more deals. Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake for $24.99 As its name implies, Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake utilizes Square Enix's HD-2D art style, which looks absolutely incredible. The blend of modern art design with crisp 2D sprites is endlessly charming, and the lighting systems in place really do wonders. Despite being the third game in the series, it is recommended that players begin with Dragon Quest...

View full article »

How 1348 Ex Voto Leans Into Authenticity To Create A Grounded, Revenge-filled Tale

Aside from enjoying a well-earned status as one of the best open-world RPGs money can buy, the Kingdom Come: Deliverance games bring something else to the table: they feel authentic. Not just historically inspired, but genuinely palpably real, a grounded depiction of medieval life from a period that sits many hundreds of years in the rear-view mirror. From the design of the weapons and armour, to the gorgeously realised landscape of medieval Bohemia, it often felt as though developer Warhorse Studios had a veritable finger on the pulse of what it might have been like to walk those roads and take part in conflicts that unfolded more than six hundred years ago. And though I still maintain there aren’t nearly enough games that take a...

View full article »

Win Big on Board Game Deals During Amazon’s Spring Sale

We’re a few days into Amazon’s Big Spring Sale. From ‘3 for 2’ deals on books, Blu-rays, vinyl, and other physical media to major Kindle and video game discounts, there’s a whole lot of stuff to shop for. But I’ve got one more thing to add to your list: board games. You can enjoy major savings on popular games and hidden gems for kids and adults, or even both. The Best Board Game Deals Whether you’re looking for some top family-friendly board games, something fun to bring along on group vacays, or classics that everyone should have in their collection, there’s sure to be something for just about anyone. I’ve selected a whole bunch of my favorites, but be sure to scroll through the entire board game sale yourself, as hundreds are...

View full article »

The Speedrun Spiral at the Heart of Resident Evil’s Spencer Mansion

1996 was a red-letter year for the art of speedrunning. Four years after Doom sparked the scene and months before Quake turned it into a global community, Resident Evil arrived to reward dedicated players for a different kind of virtuosity, one that valued planning, routing, and a deep understanding of the mansion’s layout. Unlockable rocket launchers weren’t the only incentive to clear the intimidating, labyrinth-like Spencer Mansion as fast as possible. In an era where memory cards cost extra, plenty of people tackled this haunted house in a single sitting out of necessity, learning speedrunning without even realizing it. You had to find the most efficient route to beat the game before your folks needed the TV to watch Suddenly...

View full article »

How Resident Evil’s Spencer Mansion Taught Us To Survive Horror

Resident Evil’s Spencer Mansion is a life-or-death slash course in scarcity that wrote a genre’s rulebook in blood and ink ribbons. It’s a clockwork crucible made of stairways and statues that demands mastery to unlock, and its interior was scratched into our cerebellums from the second S.T.A.R.S. slammed shut the front doors. When Resident Evil launched in 1996 there wasn’t a name for what it was trying to be yet. Capcom’s marketing wizards coined the instantly immortal term “survival horror,” but the average PlayStation owner had no idea what that meant, their gaming tastes firmly rooted in power fantasy and forward momentum. And so Resident Evil suddenly had to walk us through complex ideas like route optimization, bottomless item...

View full article »

Pragmata Contains a Stage That's a 'Fake New York Generated by AI,' but It's Entirely Made by Humans

It seems like every few weeks, we're finding out about another developer using generative AI to create assets for their games, or at least strongly considering it. So I'm pretty intrigued at the latest interview from the dev team behind Pragmata, wherein they said they're hand-crafting one of the levels in the game to look like it was AI-generated, despite it being fully made by humans. This comes from an interview published by 4Gamer and translated by Automaton, which has director Cho Yonghee and producer Naoto Oyama from Capcom talking about Pragmata's New York City-like stage, which was designed intentionally to feel AI-generated to the player. (You can see some snippets of this stage in the trailer below.) “For Pragmata, we set...

View full article »

'I Don't Really Want to Do That Again' - Baldur's Gate 3's Astarion Doesn't Want to Keep Rehashing the Same Type of Roles

Neil Newbon's performance as Astarion in Baldur's Gate 3 is among the most memorable in the game, and that's saying a lot given how many amazing actors are in there cooking. And Newbon's rightfully proud of the good work he did as Astarion - but, inspired by David Bowie, he's not interested in rehashing that performance again and again. In an interview with FRVR, Newbon talks about how Bowie was one of his early childhood influences, along with Iggy Pop. “Yes, I think there’s definitely a Bowie rhythm in me. I’d love to play him in Labyrinth or love to do a biopic of him," he said, adding that he would “definitely play Jareth in Labyrinth if someone came at me with that." He says one of the lessons he's taken from Bowie is that...

View full article »

Pearl Abyss Boss Sympathizes With 'Disappointment' Over Crimson Desert's Story: 'It Would Have Been Nice if We Could Have Done a Better Job With It'

Crimson Desert’s story has become the subject of criticism ever since Pearl Abyss’ sprawling open world action adventure launched last week. While some players are perfectly happy treating Crimson Desert as more of a sandbox game than a story-driven adventure, most agree that the actual plot, storyline, and characters leave a lot to be desired. It turns out, Pearl Abyss CEO Heo Jin-young agrees that Crimson Desert’s story could have been better. South Korean media have reported on a Q&A session following Pearl Abyss’ regular general shareholders' meeting held at the company's headquarters in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province on March 27, and there Heo Jin-young answered shareholder’s criticism that Crimson Desert lacks a storyline. "I...

View full article »

Resident Evil Lore Master Reflects on What Requiem Got Right and Wrong as the Franchise Returned to Raccoon City and 'Retconned' Its Destruction

Resident Evil's unofficial lore master has weighed in with his thoughts on Resident Evil Requiem, which adds a sizable new chapter filled with story revelations to Capcom's veteran horror franchise. If you aren't aware of TheBatman, you should be. The architect of an exhaustive timeline document that charts all Resident Evil lore (beginning around 4.5 billion years ago), TheBatman seems to know more about the series and its characters than anyone else on the planet. His timeline now extends to a series of pdf documents arranged in date order, covering the series' events from pre-history up to 2020, with fresh additions to come. Already, the full project runs to thousands of pages, with information sourced from across the series'...

View full article »