Gaming News

Steam Deck Will Begin Officially Shipping to Australia Next Month

Valve has today confirmed that the Steam Deck will begin officially shipping to Australia next month, in November 2024. The announcement comes as Steam marks its first-ever appearance at PAX Australia, where attendees can trial Steam Decks on the show floor. Since March 2022, Valve's handheld gaming computer has been shipping to North America and Europe, as well as Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea, and Taiwan. Now Australia will be added to the regions where Steam Deck can be shipped to, directly from Steam itself. "We've been working on bringing Steam Deck to Australia for a while," the company said in a statement accompanying today's news. "It took a bit more time than we expected, and we're pleased that we can finally make this...

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Red Dead Redemption PC Price Confirmed as Pre-Orders Go Live

Pre-orders went live today for the highly anticipated PC port of Red Dead Redemption, finally revealing the cost: $49.99. That's the price listed across Steam, the Epic Games Store, and Rockstar's own website on Thursday. That $50 will get you the complete single-player experiences of Red Dead Redemption and the Undead Nightmare expansion, as well as bonus content from the Game of the Year Edition (it does not, however, include multiplayer). Rockstar finally announced earlier this week that the PC version will arrive on October 29, a full 14 years after Red Dead Redemption first launched on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 back in 2010. In addition to the aforementioned content, it'll also include the following features: Native 4K...

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Ahead of Black Ops 6’s Launch, Activision Says Call of Duty’s AI-Powered Voice Moderation Has Already Had a Massive Impact on Toxicity

Activision has delivered a report on the work it’s done to combat toxicity in Call of Duty, insisting it’s already made a huge impact ahead of the launch of Black Ops 6. Call of Duty was for years associated with toxic player behavior, both in voice chat and over text message. But Activision has worked to reverse the franchise's thorny reputation, launching 2023's Modern Warfare 3 with in-game voice chat moderation powered by AI. Activision is using ToxMod from Modulate, which uses AI to identify in real-time and enforce against toxic speech including hate speech, discriminatory language, and harassment. Addressing privacy concerns from the Call of Duty community, Activision has insisted voice chat is only monitored and recorded...

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Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero Already Has Double the Peak Player Count of FighterZ on Steam, and It's Not Even Fully Out Yet

Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero is just still in early access, launching in full tomorrow (October 11), but that hasn't stopped fans from pushing it to massive early numbers on Steam. In fact, Sparking! Zero has sped past the peak player counts of every other Dragon Ball game — and it's not even close. SteamDB currently reports a peak player count of 91,005, which was achieved two days ago. As of the writing of this story, the game still has a sizeable amount of players (55,732 currently, with a 24-hour peak of 70,558), sustaining inarguably healthy momentum leading up to its proper release. That's already impressive when you consider that's just players who shelled out $100 or more for Sparking! Zero's Deluxe or Ultimate Editions...

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Amazon Announces Halloween-Themed Prime Gaming October 2024 Lineup

Amazon has announced the October 2024 Prime Gaming lineup of free games (Prime Gaming is a benefit of Amazon Prime membership). There’s a Halloween-theme to this month’s lineup, which includes the likes of BioShock Remastered, Doom Eternal, and Scorn. Other horror games in the deal include Creative Assembly’s Alien: Isolation (fresh from the studio’s announcement that a sequel is in the works), Tormented Souls, a survival horror game inspired by the original Resident Evil and Alone in the Dark series, and Death's Door. Illfonic's Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed is also on the list. October 2024 Prime Gaming lineup in full: Now Available Hive Jump 2: Survivors [GOG Code] – Hive Jump 2: Survivors is a sci-fi, action-packed, bullet...

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Dragon Quest 3 Remake Sets Up a 'Surprise' Ending for the HD-2D Trilogy

Dragon Quest creator Yuji Horii has said players will encounter a "new discovery" if they play through the Dragon Quest HD-2D Remake trilogy in chronological order. As reported by Famitsu and translated by Automaton, Horii teased some fun changes to the trilogy, which strangely begins with Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake on November 14, including a "bit of a surprise." Dragon Quest 3 was, thankfully, a prequel to the first two games, meaning this instruction to play them chronologically also matches the release order. Square Enix announced the third game's remake in 2021 but years later revealed the first two games were also being remade for a collection coming in 2025. Square Enix has already confirmed Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake will...

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Silent Hill 2 Remake Mod Switches Pyramid Head for Thomas the Tank Engine, Obviously

A Silent Hill 2 Remake modder has continued the tradition of turning a game's big bad into Thomas the Tank Engine, this time replacing Pyramid Head with the children's cartoon character. The Pyramid the Tank Engine mod from ZombieAli is available to download on Nexus Mods and, as per the description, it simply "replaced Pyramid Head with Thomas the Tank Engine." The pyramid head does remain, however, but comes across more like a bold fashion choice for Thomas as opposed to the focal point of a horrific monster. "As the mod prophecy once foretold, thou shalt always put Thomas into moddable games," ZombieAli said. The trend seemingly began with The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim, when a modder replaced the mighty dragon Alduin with the...

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Sand: The First Preview

If stomping your way across the desert on a giant, leggy, weaponized platform with a few of your best friends sounds like a good time, have I got a game for you. Especially if along the way you want to explore a ruined world, scavenge wrecks and ruins, take pot shots at other scavengers, and get in a few knock-down drag-out landship brawls with hostile crews with their own custom-built Trampler mechs. That's just what goes down in Sand, an upcoming PvPvE survival shooter where you and your crew want to get down to the planet Sophie, get the goods while exploring the surface, and get out—hopefully making a profit in the process. The world is an alternate history before World War 1, so your gear and the world is all this riveted...

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Former Blizzard Boss's New Company Reveals Its Debut Game, a Whimsical Co-Op Strategy Game Called Sunderfolk

Secret Door, one of the two game developers under the umbrella of Dreamhaven, has revealed its first game — a new four-player co-op adventure called Sunderfolk. Billed as a tactical turn-based RPG, Sunderfolk brings players together to complete missions on a top-down map. Secret Door calls it a "streamlined alternative to the traditional tabletop gaming experience" in its official release, saying that it requires "no elaborate setup, rulebooks, or materials," but will include six distinct heroes, deck building, and other familiar RPG elements. To further increase accessibility, Sunderfolk will support phones or tablets to control the onscreen action, calling it as a "new spin on the classic game night experience." “We have a bunch...

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Football Manager 25 Gets Huge Delay in Shock Move, Now Releasing Just Two Months Before the End of the Season

In a shock move for the popular sim, Sega is delaying Football Manager 25 until March 2025, putting its release barely two months before 2025's European Champions League Final. Developer Sports Interactive and Sega released a statement calling it "tough decision" and saying that specific platform dates will follow once confirmed. The statement continued, "In our last Development Update in September, we explained that we needed to push FM25's original release back to give ourselves more time to deliver the best possible experience for this first installment in a new era of Football Manager. This additional time has not been sufficient to ensure the game quality and experience meets your expectations and our very high standards." The...

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Microsoft Picks Up MechWarrior 5: Clans for Day One Xbox Game Pass Launch

MechWarrior 5: Clans launches day one on Microsoft’s subscription service, Game Pass. Piranha Games, best known for MechWarrior Online, releases MechWarrior 5: Clans across PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and S on October 16, and we now know it also hits Xbox Game Pass and PC Game Pass then. MechWarrior 5: Clans is pitched as the long-awaited return to story-based gameplay for the franchise. It’s actually Piranha Games’ third game in the MechWarrior franchise, and follows 2013 MMO MechWarrior Online and 2019 single-player and co-op sandbox game MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries, which sold more than two million units. In contrast, MechWarrior 5: Clans “brings a story rich, linear-based single-player/co-op narrative-driven action game...

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Little Nightmares Becomes a Horror Comic Book in 2025

2025 is shaping up to be a great year for the Little Nightmares franchise. Not only is this unique horror adventure series returning for a third game thanks to developer Supermassive Games, it's also getting a comic book spinoff. IGN can exclusively reveal the first details about Little Nightmares: Descent to Nowhere, a collaboration between Titan Comics and Bandai Namco Entertainment Europe. First, check out the cover art for the first issue below: Little Nightmares: Descent to Nowhere is written by Lonnie Nadler (Cable) and illustrated by Dennis Menheere (Etheres), with Damien Worm providing the cover art to issue #1. Nadler is no stranger to the Little Nightmares franchise, as he also serves as the showrunner and lead writer on...

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Sega Competition Gives Metaphor ReFantazio Fan a Real Royal Title: 'Hand to the Sovereign Prince of Sealand'

Sega is giving UK fans of its upcoming Persona-esque role-playing game Metaphor ReFantazio the chance to become a member of the royal family of the world's smallest (but unofficially recognized) country: Sealand. Where to begin... Metaphor ReFantazio arrives from the creators of Persona 3, 4, and 5 on October 11 as a fantasy RPG with themes of royal families and knights and so on. To celebrate, publisher Sega is hosting a competition that gives one fan a royal title of their own. "Sega has created a new and never to be repeated noble title: Hand to the Sovereign Prince of Sealand," it boasted. The Principality of Sealand is a sea fort turned country off the coast of England with a population of one. Not one million or 100,000...

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Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero DLC Revealed Via Steam Backend

Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero developers Bandai Namco Games and Spike Chunsoft are seemingly planning some downloadable content for the fan-favorite fighting game not already announced. As reported by ComicBook, the Steam backend has been updated to reference a new DLC called the Martial Arts Pack. This is listed on SteamDB alongside already announced extra content including the Season Pass and Ultimate Edition bonuses, the Anime Music Packs 1 and 2, and the upgrade and preorder packs. No details on what's included in the pack were revealed on the SteamDB page but Reddit user Zeucleio discovered its contents through a companion book released for the game in Japan today, October 10. According to their post, the book contained a bonus...

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EA Sports FC 25’s First ‘Live Tuning’ Update Patches Out Exploit That Was Ruining Competitive Play

EA Sports has issued FC 25's first live tuning update, which patches out an exploit that was ruining competitive play. Live tuning lets EA Sports roll out some changes without requiring a full title update. The developer said it can make tuning changes “faster and with more frequency while working on the balance of the game.” Live Tuning Update #1 reduces ball trajectory height for lobbed passes and crosses in Rush matches (Ultimate Team’s eye-catching new mode for FC 25), and reduces the accuracy of first-time lobbed through passes and lobbed through passes taken at severe angles across all gameplay. But it’s the end of the game-breaking speed boost exploit that will be of most interest to core FC 25 fans. This speed boost glitch...

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Old Rivals Konami and FIFA Sign eFootball Esports Deal Following EA Sports Split

The world of soccer video games took another twist today after Konami and FIFA — for years rivals on the virtual pitch — signed their first deal following the end of EA Sports’ long-running FIFA games. But don't get too excited yet, it's just for esports. Konami's Pro Evolution Soccer series had for years tussled with EA Sports’ all-conquering FIFA series before finally pivoting to the free-to-play eFootball. EA has largely cornered the market, locking up the rights to the Premier League, La Liga, and other popular leagues, with Konami left fighting for scraps. EA dropped the FIFA license in 2022 amid reports that the organization, which serves as the governing body for the various national associations around the world, had asked...

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PlaySide Studios on Kill Knight

With Kill Knight, PlaySide Studios has stepped into the console (and PC) space with a compelling and challenging high score-chasing, twin-stick shooter. We already gave you our thoughts after extensive hands-on time with the game, but we also spent a day at one of PlaySide Studios’ Melbourne offices, chatting with the team about their goals for the game and getting the inside track on how it changed over the course of development. Here are some of the most interesting insights that Ryan McMahon (General Manager of PlaySide’s PC and Console Games Division) and Sean Gabriel (Lead Game Designer on Kill Knight) told us during our visit. The Eldritch Layer Pitch Ryan McMahon: Kill Knight is an ultra-responsive, arcade-inspired isometric...

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Genshin Impact Update 5.1 Lacks English Voice-Over as Video Game Voice Acting Strike Continues

Genshin Impact's version 5.1 update lacks English voice acting in some areas due to "recording arrangements," developer HoYoverse has said. Though the patch notes detailing the missing content don't give a more explicit reason, the lack of English voice over is like due to the ongoing American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) video game voice actor strike. "Due to recording arrangements, some content in version 5.1 does not have English voice overs," HoYoverse said. "We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience caused." The strike began on July 26, 2024 with aims to improve the working conditions of voice actors and highlight their concerns regarding AI. It sings a similar tune to the actor and writer strikes...

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Destiny 2's Red War Campaign Accused of Lifting Plot Elements From Online Story in Louisiana Lawsuit

Former Halo developer Bungie is facing a new lawsuit after a Louisiana man claimed the studio stole plot elements from his story and used them for content in Destiny 2. As first reported by The Game Post, the suit (available to see in full via Scribd) accuses the game company of copyright infringement related to Destiny 2’s 2017 storyline, The Red War. Plaintiff Kelsey Martineau, who in 2013 and 2014 created work under the pen name Caspar Cole, alleges that Bungie lifted elements from a story he published on WordPress.com. “Defendants have deliberately and intentionally copied the characters, storyline, and other protectable expression from Martineau’s works in the Infringing Game,” claims the suit filed on October 2, 2024...

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PlayStation Plus Game Catalog Additions for October 2024 Revealed by Sony

Sony has revealed the full line-up of PlayStation Plus Games Catalog additions for October 2024, which includes Dead Island 2, Two Point Campus, and more. Announced on the PlayStation Blog, a total of 14 games are joining the library, 10 on the PlayStation Plus Extra tier and four on the PlayStation Plus Premium Tier through the Classic Games Catalog and PSVR2 offerings. They're available October 15. Embracing spooky season ahead of Halloween, The Dark Pictures Anthology: The Devil in Me and Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed also arrive alongside the headlining horror title Dead Island 2. PlayStation Plus Games Catalog Additions for October 2024 Dead Island 2 | PS4 + PS5 Two Point Campus | PS4 + PS5 The Dark Pictures Anthology: The...

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Walmart Has the Best Nintendo Switch Memory Card Deal for Prime Day

Here's your chance to get in on the best Prime Day Micro SD card deal for your Steam Deck or Nintendo Switch. As part of its counter Prime Day sale, Walmart is offering a 512B SanDisk Ultra Micro SDXC card for only $19.99. Walmart+ members get automatic free shipping, otherwise you'll need to get your order total to over $35 to get free shipping (just buy two). SanDisk, which is owned by WD, is the most popular brand of flash memory devices. In fact, all of the official Nintendo Switch memory cards are actually rebadged SanDisk Micro SD cards. 512GB SanDisk Ultra Micro SD Card for $19.99 The Nintendo Switch and Switch OLED have 32GB and 64GB of internal storage, respectively, some of it reserved for the OS. To give you an idea of how...

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Dragon Age: The Veilguard Doesn’t Have an Arachnophobia Mode Because It’s the First Game in the Series Without Spiders

Dragon Age: The Veilguard is the first game in the fantasy action role-playing game series not to feature spiders, developer BioWare has confirmed. Fans had wondered about the lack of an arachnophobia mode after BioWare revealed The Veilguard’s accessibility options without one, but it turns out it’s not needed because there are no spiders in the game. “No arachnophobia mode because there's no spiders!” posted associate community manager blackhairvioleteyes in the Dragon Age subreddit. Reaction is mixed. Dragon Age is known for its creepy spiders, which are common throughout all the games. There are even mods that turn the spiders into other animals to help those with arachnophobia. But while some players have said they’re...

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Sony Released (and Pulled) Hotline Miami 2 on PlayStation in Australia Despite It Being Banned There

Sony accidentally released Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number in Australia last year despite the game being banned there, and everyone who bought it has suddenly been refunded as the game disappeared from the PlayStation Store. As reported by Press Start, Australian gamers received an email notifying them of the removal of Hotline Miami 2 from their game libraries and the PlayStation Store. Why? It was never allowed to be released there in the first place. The Australian government famously refused to give Hotline Miami 2 a classification upon its release in 2015 due to a "visual depiction of implied sexual violence," stopping it from being legally sold in the country. This fact somehow slipped through the cracks in October 2023...

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A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead Has Microphone Noise Detection That Lets the Monsters Hear You in Real Life

The developers of A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead have revealed its microphone noise detection, an optional feature that lets the game’s monsters hear sounds players make in real life. A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead is a single-player horror video game based on Paramount Pictures’ popular post-apocalyptic franchise, which revolves around blind extraterrestrial creatures with an acute sense of hearing. The first movie, starring Emily Blunt and John Krasinski, met with criticial and commercial acclaim back in 2018. Here’s how the noise detection works: by activating your microphone, this optional feature lets the game’s deadly creatures detect every sound you make in real life, bringing the horror “right into your room.” Here's the...

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Bandai Namco Tells Struggling Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero Players It's Okay to Lower the Difficulty

Bandai Namco has assured struggling Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero players that it's okay to lower the difficulty as waves are being wrecked by Great Ape Vegeta. The highly anticipated fighting arena game launched on October 8 for anyone who preordered (otherwise launching October 11) and, of all the many characters and arenas and challenges in the game, on is standing out above the rest. Great Ape Vegeta is a fight that comes relatively early on in the story and it's proving tough as nails for many players. The boss has the coveted combination of random, unrelenting, and rapid attacks that all do big damage, though it's perhaps his beam attack spamming that has players pulling their hair out most. Bandai Namco's UK X/Twitter account...

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Early Silent Hill 2 Remake Mods Remove Hair Sheen, the Fog, and Even Turn the Game Into Sunny Hills

It’s early days in the life of the well-received Silent Hill 2 Remake, but already PC players have dug into its backend to create mods that change the game in eye-catching ways. The most popular Silent Hill 2 remake mods on Nexus Mods include those you’d expect, such as fixes for performance and visual issues, but there are a few that stand out for doing perhaps unexpected things with Bloober’s survival horror game. For example, one popular mod, Hair Sheen Removal - No More Oil, makes hair “less distracting” by reducing sheen. Talk about conditioning users to play the game a certain way. Here’s a fun one: FrancisLouis’ Silent Hill 2 HD Collection mod. This joke mod makes the Silent Hill 2 Remake “more faithful” to the much-maligned...

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How Dragon Age: The Veilguard Is Set To Return Players To BioWare’s Golden Era

I don’t think it’s especially unreasonable to posit that if you’ve been a Dragon Age fan since the series started in 2009, the last ten years have not been easy. At all. With the previous game in BioWare’s ongoing RPG franchise, Dragon Age Inquisition, releasing back in 2014 and its successor flirting with the various […] Continue reading...

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Bethesda Design Director Addresses Fan Concern as Starfield DLC Shattered Space Plunges to ‘Mostly Negative’ Steam Review Rating

Starfield’s Shattered Space DLC was meant to usher in a new era for Bethesda’s divisive space game Starfield, rekindling memories of the studio’s great DLCs of the past such as Fallout 4’s Far Harbor. But following its launch last month, things haven’t gone to plan. Sci-fi RPG Starfield launched in September 2023 as Bethesda’s first brand new intellectual property in years and its first mainline single-player game since Microsoft bought parent company ZeniMax Media in March 2021. IGN’s Starfield review returned a 7/10. We said: “Starfield has a lot of forces working against it, but eventually the allure of its expansive roleplaying quests and respectable combat make its gravitational pull difficult to resist.” A year later, Shattered...

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Shroud-Fronted Spectre Divide Isn’t Dead, CEO Insists

The CEO of the developer behind Spectre Divide, a new free-to-play competitive multiplayer shooter fronted by streamer Shroud, has insisted the game isn’t dead despite low player concurrent numbers. Spectre Divide launched early September on PC via Steam, where it saw an encouraging 30,971 peak concurrent players. But that concurrent figure has fallen steadily since on Valve’s platform where it has a ‘mixed’ user review rating. Yesterday, October 8, Spectre Divide had a peak of 2,769 concurrent players. Now, a month on from launch, Mountaintop Studios CEO, Nate Mitchell acknowledged the discourse around Spectre Divide low player numbers, but vowed to stick with the game. It’s true that Spectre’s concurrent player count is lower than...

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Civilization 7 Dev Firaxis Working With Shawnee to Ensure ‘Authentic, Sincere Recreation,’ Acknowledges Past Missteps in Franchise’s Treatment of Hist

Firaxis is working with the Shawnee tribal nation to ensure “an authentic, sincere recreation” in the upcoming Civilization 7. In Civilization 7, Shawnee are an Exploration Age civilization, which means they will have to become another civ in the Modern Age (presumed to be the Lakota or Iroquois). Here’s Firaxis’ official description: Speaking to the Associated Press, producer Andrew Frederiksen revealed that developers from Firaxis had asked the Shawnee to imagine a Shawnee university or library of the future and to create new Shawnee words to describe futuristic concepts for use in the hotly anticipated 4X game. Shawnee Tribe Chief Ben Barnes, already a fan of 1999’s Sid Meier’s Alpha Centauri, jumped at the chance to be...

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