Gaming News

Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection Launch Is a Disaster

Aspyr is under fire over the disastrous launch of the highly anticipated Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection, which is plagued with server issues, bugs, and more. Launching today, March 14, the $34.99 Classic Collection — which includes the original two Star Wars: Battlefront games — currently has a "mostly negative" rating on Steam with just 21% of reviews being positive. Headlining most complaints are connectivity issues, with myriad Steam and social media users claiming just three 64-player servers were available at launch for the 9,232 players who logged in on Steam alone. Aspyr seemingly added more servers within a few hours of launch but problems were rampant. "Was only able to join one Heroes versus Villains match and...

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Helldivers 2 Cutting Edge Premium Warbond Goes Live, Adds New Weapons, Gear, and Armor

Helldivers 2’s new Cutting Edge premium Warbond is live now, adding new weapons, gear, and armor to the smash hit PC and PlayStation 5 co-op shooter. The Warbond, which is Helldivers 2’s take on a battle pass, is not time-limited. This means that once you buy it, you’re free to unlock its rewards whenever you like. The previous premium Warbond, Steeled Veterans, remains available. Cutting Edge costs 1,000 Super Credits. While you can earn Super Credits from gameplay and the Warbond itself, you can also buy them for real-world money. Via the in-game shop, 1,000 Super Credits costs $9.99. Helldivers 2 Cutting Edge Warbond contents: The EX Series Prototypes EX-03 Prototype 3 - Includes a rubber underlayer for insulation. Handy...

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Saber Interactive Splits From Embracer, Taking 38 Video Game Projects With It

Saber Interactive has split from Embracer, with at least 38 ongoing game development projects among the divested assets and over 3,000 staff moving across. However, a number of key studios remain at Embracer, including Tripwire, Aspyr, and Beamdog. The deal is initially valued at $247 million, with the buyer named as Beacon Interactive, a company set up and controlled by Saber Interactive co-founder Matthew Karch. As a result, Embracer has ceased all operations in Russia. It appears jobs were secured as part of the deal. There are a number of interesting points in the deal. For example, Beacon Interactive has the option right to acquire Metro developer 4A Games and Pinball developer Zen Studios for a fixed price within a certain time...

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Turtle Beach Is Buying Fortnite Festival Guitar Creator PDP for $118 Million

Turtle Beach is acquiring Performance Designed Products [PDP] in a $118 million deal that brings together two major third-party gaming accessory manufactuers. In a release announcing the merger, Turtle Beach said that it expects the acquisition to "provide additional scale and create future development opportunities." Turtle Beach says it expects the deal to drive 2024 net revenue in the range of $370 million to $380 million. "Acquiring PDP at an attractive valuation multiple relative to the trading multiples of peers implies potential significant upside in market value for the combined company," Turtle Beach said. As part of the deal, Los Angeles-based private equity firm Diversis Capital, currently PDP's major owner, will become...

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Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown Roadmap Will Add Speedrun Mode, Boss Attack, and New Story DLC

In the wake of a successful launch that saw it win acclaim from fans of the Metroidvania genre, Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is set to get even more content as part of a roadmap extending through 2024 Prince of Persia's new post-launch roadmap kicks off on March 20 with free Warrior's Path DLC, including a Speedrun Mode, Permadeath Mode, and new outfits for Sargon. From there Ubisoft will be adding the following content throughout the year. Boss Attack - DLC featuring a Boss Rush mode and more Sargon outfits. It'll be out Spring 2024. Divine Trials - New combat, platform, and puzzle challenges along with items. A brand new story DLC - There's no additional info on this content, but it looks to expand on the main story and is...

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Tribes 3: Rivals Early Access Review In Progress

After spending six hours with Tribes 3: Rivals at its early access release, I could really get used to skiing around at 200 miles per hour while firing a grenade launcher at weaklings with no mind for speed. Channeling all of the silliness and style the series is known for, this lethal game of capture the flag is packed with moments of satisfying exhilaration and devastating defeat, and it largely nails everything I’ve loved about the Tribes games of yore. The trouble is that it only takes a matter of minutes to see all the maps and try out all the classes and weapons currently available, with no alternate game modes or other distractions beyond an extremely long and demanding ranked skill grind for those truly dedicated to their deadly...

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V Rising Full Release Date Set for May, PlayStation 5 Later in 2024

Steam Early Access hit V Rising launches fully on PC on May 8 and on PlayStation 5 later in 2024. IGN revealed the release date in a cinematic trailer from developer Stunlock Studios, which shows off the gothic action role-playing game's vampire leads as they take on a new evil. V Rising begins with the player as a fully-customizable vampire waking up after a century-spanning sleep, very weak and in need of blood. But what begins as a survival action game in the vein of Diablo soon turns into a fully open world adventure with base-building, co-op, and versus multiplayer. It immediately got off to a hot start with more than 150,000 concurrent players within its first week, and only being available in Early Access didn't slow its...

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Call of Duty March 13 Patch Rebalances Longbow and Haymaker, Improves Spawns, and More

The latest patch notes for Season 2 of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and Warzone are here and they rebalance the Longbow and Haymaker, improve spawns, and much more. You can read the full patch notes here or below, but some of the highlights include those balance changes to the shotgun known as Haymaker and sniper rifle known as Longbow. First up, the Haymaker got a buff with a roughly 40% increase to minimum hipfire spread, maximum hipfire spread, and tactical stance spread. The Longbow, on the other hand, was taken down a notch due to it being a bit overpowered. In this case, its 30% hipfire spread benefit was removed and aim down sight time has been increased by 21%. On the spawning front, new spawn points have been added in...

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Sea of Stars Celebrates 5 Million Players and Teases 3-Player Couch Co-Op

Sea of Stars developer Sabotage Studio is teasing a couch co-op mode as its critically acclaimed turn-based RPG celebrates reaching five million total players. The studio posted a teaser video for the new mode, called “Single-Player+”, on YouTube, highlighting only eight seconds of footage that shows three player characters seamlessly exploring the world together. Aside from featuring Valere, Zale, and Garl as they take a stroll together, the video reveals that players will have the freedom to grab items while their friends continue on. When we see Valere stray too far away, however, she’s pulled back to her companions via bubble transportation. In the video’s description, Sabotage explains that Single-Player+ will maintain the...

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Conquer, Build, Recruit, and Rebel in the Open-World Survival Game, Bellwright

Bellwright, an open-world survival game set in a medieval realm ruled by a brutal ruler, will hit Steam Early Access in the beginning months of 2024, challenging players to claim the throne and forge a better kingdom for all. Bellwright offers co-op support and features town building, intense combat, an extensive villager recruiting system, a wrongfully accused murder and so much more. Unravel the Truth and Clear Your Name Many open-world survival games are built around you and your friends discovering their secrets. With Bellwright, the developers aim to give the story much more of a spotlight as you soon find yourself framed for the accidental death of the prince and punished with the death sentence. Forced to live...

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The Finals: Season 2 First Look

The first major content update for The Finals is imminent with the forthcoming Season 2. This competitive shooter impressed us in our review with how the destructible environments and tools combined to create jaw-dropping moments, and it looks poised to expand on that with new gadgets, a new level, matchtype, and more. After a few hours playing with all the new toys, one thing is abundantly clear: The Finals are just getting started. The upcoming Season in The Finals is centered around CNS, a hacker collective that infiltrated the Finals game show. Their “what the ‘80s thought a cyber-future would look like” aesthetic fits in perfectly with the digital American Gladiator vibes, and is infused throughout the new content, whether it's...

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Stardew Valley's 1.6 Update Addresses a Long Running Conspiracy Theory

Stardew Valley fans have been left a mix of validated and confused after developer Eric Barone confirmed the existence of a long suspected bug that affects the game’s all important harvesting mechanics in an update 1.6 patch note. Stardew Valley’s passionate fanbase has combed over every facet of Eric Barone’s creation in its eight years since launch, discovering countless quirks, bugs, and secrets while forming the odd conspiracy theory along the way. This borderline forensic fascination with the game’s mechanics brought to light a bug that seemingly allowed players to harvest crops fractionally faster while moving from left to right, as opposed to in the opposite direction. Now, after years of Reddit posts reporting the quirk...

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One Btn Bosses Announced for PC

One Btn Bosses is a clever boss rush game for PC from developer Midnight Munchies that gives you exactly what the name promises: bosses that can be fought and defeated with just one button. But you're going to have to be smart about it. Check out the announcement trailer above and the first screenshots in the gallery below. Midnight Munchies describes One Btn Bosses' gameplay like this: "Players control a spaceship that orbits around the enemy. The longer players wait to press the button, the faster the spaceship moves and attacks the boss. Behind its simplicity lies a strategically rich experience that will put the skills of even the most hardcore players to the test." One Btn Bosses promises a four-hour campaign along with an...

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Resident Evil 2 Remake Mod Lets Players Shift the Perspective to Fixed Camera

If you want to add more replay value to the Resident Evil 2 remake then a mod that shifts the perspective from third-person to the traditional fixed camera might do the trick. Roughly five years after the Resident Evil 2 Remake was released, a modder has finally added fixed camera angles to the PC version. NexusMods user alphaZomega's RE2R Classic mod allows players to shift to fixed camera angles, bringing back the original perspective from the 1998 survival horror classic. The mod's listing page notes that "over 1,700 fixed cameras are all fully placed" and users who install it can complete the game from start to finish in this perspective. As you can see from the screenshots above, the mod greatly changes the mood of the...

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Persona 3 Reload: Episode Aigis DLC Won't Be Sold Outside the Expansion Pass

Persona 3 Reload publisher Atlus will not release the controversial Episode Aigis expansion by itself, meaning players have to buy it through the $35 expansion pass. Speaking to Push Square, an Atlus spokesperson said "the three parts of the expansion pass will not be available separately, and only available as part of the full pass". These three waves include more background music from Persona 4 Golden and Persona 5 Royal, additional costumes, and the Episode Aigis expansion, which included around 30 hours of extra content in the original Persona 3 which Reload remade. While this poses no problem for Xbox Game Pass subscribers, who get the expansion pass free, those on PlayStation and PC will be required to purchase the full $35...

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Enshrouded 2024 Roadmap Includes World Events and More Biomes But No Full Launch

The 2024 roadmap for online survival role-playing game Enshrouded has revealed world events, more biomes, and potted plants are all coming to the game this year — but its departure from Early Access is not. Developer Keen Games announced several new features coming to Enshrouded including in its first major content update coming later in March. The community's Feature Upvote system was instrumental in deciding which features would be added, the developer said, but noted the roadmap overall is subject to change. The roadmap "doesn't have a linear form yet", Keen Games said, meaning it hasn't decided when these myriad features will be released exactly, though it said its March update would be outlined soon. Overall in 2024, however...

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The Resident Evil Game That Can't Be Remade

With Resident Evil 4’s release last year, Capcom’s project to remake the glory years of its survival horror series is complete. But, as the game’s post-credits scene suggests, the remakes aren’t over. And so the big question is: where next? The obvious answer is a remake of Resident Evil 5. But on the game’s 15th anniversary, it’s clear that moving forward chronologically will take Capcom’s remakes into the series’ weakest era – an era of gameplay and narrative decisions best left in the past. Resident Evil 5 simply can’t be remade, at least not to the standards of Capcom’s best work. And so the answer is not to remake, but to rewrite. Resident Evil is a survival horror series, not that you’d know that playing Resident Evil 5. Sure...

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Classic Resident Evil Mod Aims to Bridge the Gap Between Resident Evil 2 and 3

While Capcom’s attention is firmly on Resident Evil remakes as well as brand new games in the series, modders are still breathing new life into the classic Resident Evil games. Veteran Resident Evil modder komizo_lab unveiled their next project in a YouTube video and described it as a “2 and 3 crossover” developed using “the knowledge I have gained through the development of Resident Evil 2 Overhaul MOD, Resident Evil 3 Overhaul MOD, and Nemesis Scenario MOD.” The mod revolves around Brad Vickers, who komizo_lab called “the person who got Chris and Jill involved in the mansion incident, and who can be said to be the origin of the Resident Evil series. ”Brad Vickers was a member of the Raccoon Police Department's S.T.A.R.S. Alpha...

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Cyberpunk 2077 Player Discovers Easter Egg Hidden in the Main Menu

A Cyberpunk 2077 player has discovered an Easter egg hidden by CD Projekt Red in the main menu. While the role-playing game features layers upon layers of open-world exploration with all manner of references hidden throughout, fans were perhaps overlooking this one, which was available from the moment they booted up the game. Shared by @crushovitz_b on X/Twitter, below, players can discover the Easter egg for themselves by clicking on the version number, which is currently 2.12, in the top right corner. The number flicks between several different symbols and numbers before unfolding into 2.0.77. "Good find, I started to doubt you chooms will ever find it!" game director Paweł Sasko tweeted in response. "Was hidden way too well."...

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A Single Alone in the Dark Playthrough Takes 8 Hours if You Rush, but That’s Not the Whole Story

A single playthrough of the new Alone in the Dark game will take you around eight hours if you rush, but that doesn’t tell the whole story. Literally. In Steam post, 40-person developer Pieces Interactive said players should keep in mind they’ll need at least two playthroughs to get the whole story thanks to its dual protagonists: Edward and Emily. “If you rush through the main story, a playthrough will take approximately eight hours, but keep in mind that you will need at least two playthroughs to get the whole story (one as Edward, one as Emily),” Pieces Interactive said. Alone in the Dark is a reimagining of the original 1992 horror game and stars Hollywood actors David Harbour as private investigator Edward Carnby, and Jodie...

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Helldivers 2 Just Quietly Added Flying Bugs, CEO Insists 'Bugs Can't Fly'

Helldivers 2 got a pretty important patch this week, making those pesky Chargers and Bile Titans easier to deal with. But developer Arrowhead quietly added a new Terminid enemy you'll have to look above the battlefield to find. Shortly after the patch, some players were surprised to encounter flying Terminids, posting screenshots on Reddit. It's quite the surprise, given the fact that there was no mention of them in the patch notes. Having even more fun with these new flying enemies was Arrowhead CEO and Helldivers 2 Creative Director Johan Pilestedt, who took to X/Twitter to spread some propandga on behalf of the Ministry of Truth. Typical! "I've heard rumors of flying bugs in @helldivers2. I want to officially refute such...

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Final Fantasy 14 Director Says the Game's Become Too Relaxed, Will Increase the Challenge Going Forward

Final Fantasy 14 director Naoki Yoshida has said the massively multiplayer online game has become too relaxed in the last few years, so he and developer Square Enix are looking to increase the difficulty going forward. In an interview with Famitsu, translated by IGN, Yoshida likened Final Fantasy 14 to a side-scrolling action game where there aren't any gaps to fall through, and therefore had lost some of the challenge and fun. "From now on, we’ll keep working to surprise players and surpass their expectations," Yoshida said. "But there is one thing I’ve been reflecting on. As we’ve continued to operate Final Fantasy 14, we’ve made the game more approachable, so that it can be played without stress. But looking back on the last 10...

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Tasty Triple Packs Reductions, Mario Switch Titles Slashed, Sonic Frontiers Under 40, and More!

Today I'm all about bang-for-your-buck bundle deals. Because why spend heaps on a hot and current AAA when you can score a low-cost cluster of classics? A Sega Mega Drive Collection, a gaggle of Trines, three Batman games actually worth giving a damn about, every Expanded Universe Star Wars game under the sun—these are the smart plays, my friend. In retro news, I'm celebrating the 16th birthday of Army of Two. It's a now extinct co-op shooter that made scary face masks + warfighters cool before Modern Warfare 2's 'Ghost' was even a twinkle in Infinity Ward's eye. AoT managed to belt out a three game run and almost a Michael Mann written and directed movie, then it all went FUBAR. Would play a remaster of these, EA. This Day in...

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System Shock Remake Is Coming to Consoles This May

System Shock fans who lack a gaming PC will be able to play the remake of the first game pretty soon. A new trailer for the System Shock remake console ports revealed that the game will be released on May 21, 2024, for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. You can check out the new trailer below. Unfortunately, Nightdive Studios did not provide any details on when Linux and MacOS users can expect their respective ports to be released. The announcement comes nearly a year after Nightdive Studios released System Shock Remake on Windows PCs. The console release has been a long time coming for PlayStation and Xbox players itching to play the remake of this influential '90s sci-fi shooter. A few days after the PC version was released...

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Helldivers 2 'Should Feel Like When You Are Going Into a Dark Basement', Dev Says

Helldivers 2’s surprisingly huge launch has already seen millions of players across PlayStation 5 and PC dip into its co-op focused third-person action. It’s a smash hit and easily publisher Sony’s biggest ever PC game launch. But while Helldivers 2 is certainly a game everybody should play, it can often be a brutal, unforgiving experience, with floods of hard-to-kill alien robots and bugs descending upon players in increasingly tough waves. In short, Helldivers 2 sends players down onto dangerous worlds in which death is never far away. It’s called Helldivers for a reason! And on the PlayStation Blog, the boss of developer Arrowhead has explained why that’s exactly how things should be, and why the game’s difficulty encourages co-op...

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Best VR Headsets for PC

The best VR headsets for PC allow you to step into fantasy worlds, create custom workspaces, and blend the digital and physical in service of mind-bending entertainment. Over the years, the burgeoning world of VR has grown from its humble beginnings to wider accessibility. Most recently, tech titan Apple has joined the competition, delivering a sleek take on the format with its Vision Pro headset. To save you from running the gamut of this famously jargon-filled corner of tech purchasing, we’ve collated a list of the top virtual reality headsets for PC. TL;DR - These are the best VR Headsets for PC Valve Index Meta Quest 3 HTC Vive Pro 2 HTC Vive XR Elite There are plenty of exciting features to compare when looking at VR...

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Nobody Wants to Die, a Detective Noir Adventure Set in 2329 New York City, Announced for PC, PS5, and Xbox

It seems that Cyberpunk 2077 might not be the only gorgeous Polish-developed sci-fi game set in the future for much longer, as fellow Poland-based developer Critical Hit Games has announced Nobody Wants to Die, a new detective noir adventure set in New York City in the year 2329. It's due out in 2024 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S. Take a look at the cinematic announcement trailer above and definitely don't miss the first screenshots in the gallery below. Nobody Wants to Die is powered by Unreal Engine 5 and it looks visually stunning so far. In Nobody Wants to Die, you play Mortality Department Detective James Karra as he puts his life on the line pursuing a serial killer targeting the who's who of NYC in the early 24th century...

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My Little Pony Is Getting an Open World Mystery Game Published by the Team Behind TMNT Mutant Mutant Mayhem Game

My Little Pony, the media franchise with fans of all ages, is getting a new game: an open-world mystery game that launches on May 17 for PC, PlayStation, Switch, and Xbox. The new game, My Little Pony: A Zephyr Heights Mystery, will follow the characters from the fifth generation of My Little Pony: Sunny, Izzy, Misty, Pipp, Zipp, and Hitch as they try to uncover the mystery concerning magic and how it is causing a strange disturbance in the kingdom of Zephyr Heights. These characters previously appeared in the 2021 film My Little Pony: A New Generation and the tie-in game My Little Pony: A Maretime Bay Adventure, which helped kick in a renaissance of sorts for the My Little Pony franchise, which has been going strong for over 40...

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Starbreeze CEO Out After Payday 3 Disaster

The CEO of Starbreeze has exited the company following the disastrous launch of Payday 3. Tobias Sjögren was boss of the Swedish developer for three years, overseeing its recovery from near total collapse and the release of co-op shooter Payday 3 in September. Payday 3 was billed as Starbreeze’s next big game, and the developer had high hopes it would enjoy the kind of success that would secure the company’s future for years to come. However, Payday 3 suffered a disastrous launch that was so plagued by server issues that Sjögren was forced to apologize. "We are so sorry that the infrastructure didn't hold up as expected, and although it's impossible to prepare for every scenario — we should be able to do better," he said at the time...

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Persona 3 Reload Fans Slam Expansion Pass as a 'Cash Grab'

Persona 3 Reload players have taken to Steam to express frustration at Atlus announcing a $35 expansion pass one month after promising the game is a "complete experience". Persona 3 Reload's expansion pass has been dubbed a "cash grab" by some fans who spent as much as $200 on the Collector's Edition only to see more content announced just one month later. "Imagine buying a $100 Premium Edition and one month later you have to buy another $35 for what is just cut content," Hourai said in a Steam review. "Awful cash grab," added Zandig. Fans were originally concerned that Atlus would release the base game in 2024 and soon after announce an expanded edition, as it did with the original Persona 3 (with follow-ups called Portable and...

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