Gaming News

During today's Xbox Developer Direct, we just got another in-depth look at Obsidian's upcoming RPG Avowed, alongside a release window of this fall.The new footage we saw today shows off more of Avowed's combat, specifically focusing on customizable loadouts and speedy swapping between them to adapt to different situations. Players will be able to move quickly between spellcasting, sharpshooting, and melee combat as necessary to tackle enemies with different specializations. Some are healers, some have defensive focuses, and some are incredibly challenging, per Obsidian.We also got a look at some of how Avowed will handle choice and consequences, via a quest where the player finds the bodies of fallen soldiers. Players can confront...

Microsoft is starting the year with its 2024 Xbox Developer Direct, where we're expecting to see more on Indiana Jones, Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2, and a lot more.Xbox's first Developer Direct took place last January, and that presentation was highlighted by the surprise shadow drop of Tango Gameworks' Hi-Fi Rush. While we know not to expect any shadow drops for today's presentation, we're still hoping for some solid details about Xbox's upcoming 2024 slate. Read on to learn about everything announced during today's Developer Direct, live as it happens. And, to tune in for yourself, check out our article on how to watch the Xbox Developer Direct and what to expect.Obsidian Gives a Deep Dive on Avowed, Release Window RevealedAvowed...

Nightingale wasn’t always a shared-world survival crafting RPG. Though it’s always retained its gaslamp fantasy flair during its nearly five years in development, at one point, Nightingale could have been an MMO. That change came from the natural progression of developer Inflexion’s preferences and vision, but much more has changed because of consistent, constructive feedback from thousands of players during closed alpha playtests over the last year.Inflexion CEO Aaryn Flynn has been so impressed by the experience he said, “I don’t know how you go back and do it more old school like we used to do it.” Where the traditional way of game dev includes getting plenty of smart, creative people in a room, doing their best with what they...

Rockstar is looking to the horizon as it begins to “approach the limits of what’s possible” on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, and it’s starting by removing the Rockstar Editor from those versions of Grand Theft Auto Online.The Grand Theft Auto maker announced plans to make a shift toward the future in a news post on its website. It says that, while the Rockstar Editor will survive on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X | S, players on last-gen consoles will lose access come February 20, 2024. The editor’s removal is said to be part of the “necessary steps” that Rockstar is taking to ensure GTA Online additions continue to roll out on PS4 and Xbox One.“This update will help to ensure the stability of these platforms and keep them...

Bethesda has released Starfield's first major update in 2024 into beta, with "over a hundred fixes and adjustments" introduced, most of which address fixing quests and adding quality-of-life improvements to the company's space RPG.In a blog post, Bethesda detailed every change coming to Starfield as part of update 1.9.47.0. Some of the tweaks that immediately stand out include improved widescreen support, allowing for the game to now support 32:9, 21:9, and 16:10 aspect ratios, and fixes to the Eye of the Storm Quest. The latter has been one of the quests some have been unable to complete, most notably when the player reaches the data transfer section.Bethesda further reiterated that it will "continue to have a steady stream of...

Nothing about what Palworld attempts to do seems like it should work in the slightest. A thinly veiled Pokémon clone where you and your collectible monsters shoot people in the face with literal guns? A base building survival game where you use your kidnapped creatures as laborers, and are then forced to cook and eat those unpaid employees when times get tough? An open-world co-op adventure where you and your friends thwack helpless sheep over the head with a baseball bat to harvest their wool? Defying the odds, this wholly irreverent, gun-toting take on the creature collection genre has proven unrelentingly fun for the 15 hours I’ve binged so far. Its survival mechanics are intuitive and deep, its action-packed combat is silly and...

Potentially dangerous accessibility features present in the Tekken 8 demo will be removed both there and in the full game, seemingly by launch on January 26.As reported by PC Gamer, Tekken 8 director Katushiro Harada said at the Tekken World Tour 2023 Finals that the accessibility features had been tweaked "quite a bit" to address concerns. As Harada spoke about these changes in past tense, changes will seemingly be ready for launch, though the demo update isn't available yet.A now deleted Twitter/X post initially flagged the dangerous settings, where a player had combined striped black and white characters with a mostly white background. Accessibility experts were quick to point out the dangers of such settings, with consultant...

Hogwarts Legacy was the best-selling video game in the U.S. in 2023, the first time a non-Call of Duty or Rockstar game was best-selling game of the year since 2008’s Rockband.Mat Piscatella, executive director of video games at Circana, noted Hogwarts Legacy was the best selling game of the year in the U.S. by dollar sales on PlayStation platforms, ranked second on Xbox platforms, and placed fifth on Nintendo platforms.Hogwarts Legacy beat Activision’s Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 to the top spot. EA’s Madden NFL 24 came in third, Sony’s Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 fourth, and Nintendo’s The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is fifth.Circana’s report does not include download sales from some publishers, including Nintendo...

Lords of the Fallen and Sniper: Ghost Warrior publisher CI Games has laid off 10% of its workforce, with the developers behind the games reportedly affected.Speaking to GI.biz, CI Games said it made the job cuts "to preserve business strength and stability." Though it didn't confirm how its developers were affected directly, sources told GI.biz that Lords of the Fallen developer Hexworks was affected by the layoffs."To preserve business strength and stability, CI Games has made the tough but necessary decision to implement a targeted round of redundancies, affecting approximately 10% of employees across the company," said CEO Marek Tymiński.To preserve business strength and stability, CI Games has made the tough but necessary...

With the acquisition of Call of Duty maker Activision Blizzard, Microsoft can now be a “good publisher” across all platforms, including rival consoles, the boss of the company has said.Speaking to Bloomberg, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said: "We love gaming. In fact, Flight Simulator was created before even Windows. But, we were number three, number four. And now with Activision, I think we have a chance of being a good publisher — quite frankly — on Sony and Nintendo and PCs and Xbox. We’re excited about that acquisition closing and I’m glad we’ve got it through.”Nadella’s comments echo those he made last month, when he similarly said Microsoft plans to release games across all platforms: “We think that now we have the ability to...

The problem with 2021’s Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion was definitely not its name. In fact, I’d argue it has one of the greatest game titles ever, but its absurd sense of humor and cutesy style could only carry its repetitive three-hour campaign so far. Its 2024 sequel, Turnip Boy Robs a Bank, may not have as memorable of a name, but it’s somehow even more ridiculous than its predecessor. See, in order to rob the bank, Turnip Boy gets a gun! A lot of guns in fact! And he’s ready to mow down so many cops and monsters on his way to riches, acceptance, and something far more mysterious. This follow-up may not be much longer, but some much-needed quality of life improvements and cleaned up combat make its more fast-paced action and...

The people who founded Rocksteady Studios have started a new development studio.As reported by Polygon, Rocksteady founders Sefton Hill and Jamie Walker started a new London-based studio called Hundred Star Games, which aims to make AAA games with “only 100 industry veterans and emerging talents”.Polygon found that a number of former Rocksteady staff have joined Hundred Star Games, according to LinkedIn profiles.Rocksteady’s first game was 2006’s Urban Chaos: Riot Response but found critical and commercial success for its Batman Arkham series, which includes 2009’s groundbreaking Batman: Arkham Asylum, 2011’s Batman: Arkham City, and 2015's Batman: Arkham Knight. Batman owner Warner Bros. bought Rocksteady in 2010.Hill and...

Hogwarts Legacy sold 22 million copies last year, approximately 2 million copies were sold during the December holiday season alone. It's clear to see that the game is incredibly popular, becoming one of the best-selling games last year, even striking up a close contest with serial best-sellers Call of Duty and EA Sports FC (formally the FIFA series).If you're still seeking out a copy of the game, then you've come to the right place, as we've found all the best deals for Hogwarts Legacy in the UK for 2024. This includes a monumentally good deal at Argos, where the game can be purchased on PS5 for just £28.99 (see here) (that's £41 off the RRP of £69.99). See the best price on every console just below as well.Its sales numbers...

Payday 3 developer Starbreeze has said it's "well aware" fans still "aren't satisfied" with the heist shooter so have created an internal team dedicated to turning things around.Revealed in a blog post, Starbreeze said this "strike team" is currently planning and deciding which changes are necessary to create the experience fans expected. This dedicated team arrives almost four months after Payday 3 launched with several issues."We’re well aware that many of you aren’t satisfied with the game the way it is in its current state," Starbreeze said. "Since launch, we’ve been reading your valuable feedback in forums, social media, and in video comments in addition to the Feature Upvote page. This helps us massively and is crucial to the...

Here’s a potential crossover we didn’t expect: Call of Duty and Warhammer 40,000.Dataminers did their thing following the release of the troubled Season 1 Reloaded update for Modern Warfare 3 and Warzone, and discovered artwork that reveals the collaboration between Call of Duty and Games Workshop’s grimdark universe set in the far future is potentially on the way.It's worth noting this crossover remains unannounced, so may not happen. But it looks likely given the extent of the files found within the game.The artwork, revealed across varioius accounts including @CODWarfareForum, @SemtexLeaks, and @FumoLeaksMk1, depicts the mysterious Dark Angels chapter of the Space Marines, and the Sisters of Battle.The Dark Angels are...

The usual suspects were out in force in the Game Developers Choice Awards 2024 nominees, with The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and Baldur's Gate 3 leading the way with seven nominees apiece. But there were also some big surprises in the Game of the Year category, with Alan Wake 2 missing out in favor of Dave the Diver and Dredge.Instead, Alan Wake 2 got the nod as an honorable mention in the list of finalists, which are voted on by game developers throughout the industry. Remedy's sequel wasn't entirely shut out though, earning nods in categories including Best Narrative and Best Visual Art. Marvel's Spider-Man 2, Tears of the Kingdom, COCOON, and Baldur's Gate 3 rounded out the rest of the Game of the Year nominees.As...

Even if you've lurked here for not very long, you probably already know I love Lego and co-op-centric games. Obviously, the venn diagram meets perfectly on anything made by TT Games, and there are some cracking discounts on some of their studliest efforts. If you've never played one, grab a few pieces of stock, because I'm sure they're going to click with you.In retro news, Gravity Rush 2 gets a seven candle cake today. The most overriding memory I have of playing it is one of sheer joy of movement, thanks to an enhanced suite of gravity-defying styles for Kat. The icing on the cake was that it was three times the runtime of its predecessor and had a sandbox 2.5 times larger. Still a pretty unique sort of action-adventure experience...

Pocketpair wants fans to know Palyworld, its new game popularly described as "Pokémon With Guns," is definitely not a scam.The assurance is part of a frequently asked questions post put out by developer Pocketpair on the Steam page of their upcoming creature collecting survival game. The slightly unusual inclusion of this section in their FAQ comes in the wake of titles like The Day Before, which has created increased distrust between players and early access developers on Steam.The question reads: "Is this game a scam? Or is it a money-making MMO or virtual currency game?" to which the developer answers: "It is not a scam and will definitely be released on January 19th. PalWorld is a typical Steam game, you buy it once and it is...

Last week, the Xbox community was sent into a tizzy over rumors that Xbox exclusives Hi-Fi Rush and Sea of Thieves might soon be exclusive no more.The rumors remain unproven, but an imminent Xbox Developer Direct has given these reports extra weight. And beneath Xbox console fans’ outcry over the potential loss of more exclusives to other consoles, there is an interesting question rising from the dust of the console war battlefield. For the last console generation, Xbox has been pursuing a markedly different strategy to its competitors: while Nintendo and Sony were busy selling tens of millions of console units on the power of first-party exclusives, Xbox has been trying to build an ecosystem of software that transcends a single box...

Call of Duty: Warzone players excited to jump into Season 1 Reloaded are running into new issues that are leaving the game almost unplayable.The Season 1 refresh update dropped for all players today, bringing new cosmetics, multiplayer maps, changes to the Zombies formula, anti-cheat improvements, and more across the entire Call of Duty experience. They’re enticing additions that many battle royale fans aren’t getting to enjoy. Those who hop into the open-world FPS mode are being met with intense visual and gameplay glitches if they are able to make it into a match at all.Social media sites like X/Twitter are already filled with clips and reports of lackluster experiences. A notorious clip making the rounds sees streamer Fifakill...

Nightingale is a stylish, shared-world survival crafting RPG built by a team of ex-BioWare developers, and its fantastical setting is home to many interesting, beautiful, and horrific beasts. One such class is the Apex Creature, a collection of fierce foes that serves as a boss of sorts for their particular biomes. We got a look at the Sun Giant in a Gamescom trailer back in August, but during our recent visit to Inflexion Games, we experienced battles with two more: the dragon-like Humbaba and the giant tree-like Eoten.You can watch a full battle with a Humbaba in the video above, but we also had the opportunity to speak about these impressive creatures’ designs with Neil Thompson, Nightingale’s art director and head of audio; and...

GTA 6's debut trailer quickly overtook the likes of Red Dead Redemption 2 and Cyberpunk 2077 but has now overtaken Minecraft to become the second most-watched video game trailer of all time. The GTA 6 trailer is still far from the top spot though, which is held by a rather surprising title.The GTA 6 trailer published on December 4, 2023 now has more than 168 million views, or 168,609,505 to be specific. Minecraft's trailer, which was published more than a decade before GTA 6's on December 6, 2011, has 167,800,171.This puts GTA 6, which is set to launch on consoles in 2025, as the second most-watched video game trailer also above the likes of Clash of Clans, Team Fortress 2, and its own predecessor Grand Theft Auto 5.But the GTA...

Mortal Kombat 1, it turns out, is the perfect canvas upon which modders can ruin childhoods. Instead of the likes of Sub-Zero, Scorpion, and Liu Kang tearing each other to shreds, how about Woody from Toy Story, Mr. Incredible from The Incredibles and… Carl Fredricksen from Up?It sounds like a recipe for disaster, but that’s exactly what modder Toasted Shoes has created for NetherRealm’s fighting game. Toasted has built a series of mods for Mortal Kombat 1 that replace existing characters with famous ones from various Disney, Pixar, and Dreamworks properties, as well as characters from the likes of Rick & Morty and Family Guy, among many others.Seeing the likes of Woody and Jesse from Toy Story team up to go full Mortal Kombat on...

Developer/publisher Aurora Studios has announced HARM: Weather Warfare, a new story-driven first-person survival game in which you play a father who must save his daughter amidst a slew of devastating, unpredictable, and unseasonable weather anomalies. And to make matters worse, you'll have to battle a deranged cult that's taken over the abandoned HARM base. It's due out in Steam Early Access later this year. Check out the reveal trailer (with actual gameplay) above, and the first batch of screenshots in the gallery below.Aurora describes the player's situation as the game begins: "The cabin where they were supposed to stay burned down with all their equipment, and the car was destroyed. They are forced to create makeshift shelter...

Dave the Diver developer Mintrocket has unveiled its next game: a multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) called Wakerunners.Wakerunners, which is clearly nothing at all like Dave the Diver, is a fast-paced 4v4 and 5v5 top-down multiplayer team battler set in a dystopian sci-fi future.“A ravaged Earth is now the site of skirmishes between surviving factions," reads the official blurb. "The fast-paced gameplay features combat at close-quarters, while combatants glide across battle arenas at high speeds, using a unique acceleration and deceleration mechanic. Wakerunners offers a variety of characters, each with unique abilities, personas, and battle styles. Players have the ability to swap characters mid-battle, which allows them to...

Bandai Namco is putting the Nintendo Switch on the highway to the danger zone, announcing that Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown Deluxe Edition will be coming to Nintendo's hybrid console on July 11.According to the official release, the Switch version will include "all original content and faithfully recreates the fast-paced action of the original." It will also include the original release's 2-8 player multiplayer gameplay, and will bring with it six DLC packs and bonuses from the original game.In addition to the base game, the full list of content available for Nintendo Switch includes:Three original aircraft sets + three single-player missions Part 1 “ACE COMBAT 7: SKIES UNKNOWN – ADF-11F Raven Set” Part 2 “ACE COMBAT 7: SKIES...

With the debate around the future of video game subscriptions heating up, one high-profile developer has come out strongly on the side of the traditional method of selling games.Multiple subscription services have emerged in recent years, with the likes of Microsoft Game Pass, Sony’s PlayStation Plus, and Nintendo’s Nintendo Switch Online all providing access to a library of games for a monthly fee. But the potential dominance of subscription services from just a handful of companies has sparked concern about video game ownership, visibility, and preservation.The thorny issue of video game subscription services was once again thrust into the headlines this week after an executive at Assassin’s Creed maker Ubisoft said gamers would...

Activision has issued a warning to Call of Duty players: it will now close the game down it it detects aim assist on mouse and keyboard.In a tweet, Activision said Call of Duty’s anti-cheat tech, dubbed Ricochet, will now close the game app on PC if it detects if a mouse and keyboard player activate aim assist. This works across Modern Warfare 3, Modern Warfare 2, and Warzone.“Our security detection systems now target players using tools to activate aim assist while using a mouse and keyboard,” reads the statement. “The Call of Duty application will close if detected. Repeated use of these tools may lead to further account action.”Aim assist is one of the hottest topics within the competitive shooter space. It is designed to...

Activision has warned Call of Duty fans anxious to jump straight into Modern Warfare 3 Ranked Play after the Season 1 Reloaded update goes live that the new feature will not be available immediately.In a tweet from the official Call of Duty Updates account, Activision said Ranked Play will not be available immediately after the Season 1 Reloaded update goes live today, January 17, at 9am Pacific / 12noon Eastern / 5pm UK across all platforms. The developers want to “perform checks” before enabling the mode, Activision said.“Heads up competitors, Modern Warfare 3 Ranked Play will not be available immediately after players receive the Season 1 Reloaded update," Activision said. “The Ranked Play team will be performing checks before...

The Finals gets its big update 1.5 today, January 17, and it makes some significant changes.The update makes balance changes, bug fixes, adds a bigger store, better security, new outfits, and Solo Bank It, The Finals’ first limited-time game mode. Developer Embark Studios described Solo Bank It as an “experimental” game mode, where you play against 11 other players in a race to earn the most cash.That’s all we have on update 1.5 for now, but Embark Studios is expected to publish the patch notes in full as soon as the update goes live.The Finals is a free-to-play competitive first-person shooter made by former Battlefield developers. It launched with a huge concurrent player count on Steam, where it’s still going strong and...