Gaming News

 

"It's Re-Rendering the Game!" – It Turns Out Game Artists Don't Love DLSS 5, Despite Nvidia's Claims

Nvidia revealed DLSS 5 earlier this week, working neural rendering into its AI technology suite for graphics cards. The company claimed that game developers were on board, despite some of the drastic changes it seems to make to the game's aesthetic – especially Resident Evil 5. Both Assassins Creed Shadows and Resident Evil Requiem were used to show off the new technology, but it seems like the art teams for Ubisoft and Capcom, respectively, didn't know about it until the trailer debuted, with a developer from the former telling Insider Gaming, "we found out at the same time as the public." Capcom's art team was particularly shocked and worried by Resident Evil's trailer, given the company's anti-AI stance with previous Resident Evil...

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The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales - Here’s What Comes in Each Edition

The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales is set to release on PS5, Switch 2, Xbox, and PC on June 18. It’s a new HD-2D RPG from Square Enix, specifically the makers of Bravely Default and Octopath Traveler. It looks great, with “an epic tale that spans across millennia.” It also features real-time combat, which separates it from its predecessors. It’s available to preorder now in two editions at most of the usual retailers (see it at Amazon). Read on to see what comes in each edition, what preorder bonuses are available, and more. Standard Edition - $59.99 PS5 Get it at Amazon - $59.99 (free double-sided poster) Get it at Best Buy - $59.99 Get it at GameStop - $59.99 Get it at Walmart - $59.99 Get it at PS Store (digital) -...

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Ubisoft Laying Off 100+ Staff and Ending Game Development at Ghost Recon Studio Red Storm Entertainment

Ubisoft has announced yet more layoffs as part of its ongoing cost cutting program, with 105 staff now set to depart veteran Tom Clancy game studio Red Storm Entertainment. Founded in 1996, the North Carolina-based team previously worked on numerous Ghost Recon and Rainbow Six titles. More recently the team had developed several VR games, contributed to the failed live-service shooter XDefiant, and spent years working on the now-cancelled free-to-play spinoff The Division Heartland. Red Storm Entertainment is now being downsized permanently, IGN understands, and game development formally ended at the studio. The developer, which is set to celebrate its 30th anniversary later this year, will remain open — though simply focused on...

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Forza Horizon 6’s Customization Improvements and Crazier-Than-Ever Forza Edition Cars | IGN First

We know that Forza Horizon 6 will arrive with 550 cars on day one, which is the largest number of cars at launch for any previous Forza Horizon game. That number will obviously only continue to grow over the next several years. After all, Forza Horizon 5 arrived with just over 500, and now sports around 900. Whether it’s something brand new to the series, or a previously-seen car cleared for a return appearance, Forza Horizon 6 will no doubt grow weekly. As we’ve learnt in the past, the Forza team is never not building cars. However, moving forward from the Xbox One and Xbox One X generation of consoles has given Playground Games the opportunity to finally pull the trigger on a number of improvements to vehicles; improvements which...

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Crystal Dynamics 'Fully Committed' to Tomb Raider Franchise Despite Fourth Redundancy Round in 12 Months

Tomb Raider: Catalyst developer Crystal Dynamics says it "remains fully committed to the future development" of the Lara Croft franchise despite suffering its fourth redundancy round in the last 12 months. "Today, Crystal Dynamics is reducing its workforce by 20 talented team members, split between some development personnel and some central operations roles," the company announced on LinkedIn. "This is a difficult day for our studio, and we never make these decisions lightly, particularly after the restructuring we underwent last year." At the time of its acquisition by Embracer in 2022, Crystal Dynamics had 273 employees across its Austin, Bellevue, and San Mateo offices. Since then, studio employees have endured three separate...

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Valve Forces Us to Ditch Almost 30 Years of Muscle Memory With This One Huge Change to Counter-Strike 2

Valve is changing how we reload and manage ammo reserves in Counter-Strike 2. Like plenty of other shooters, Counter-Strike games typically let us reload weapons without penalty. Now, however, Valve is bringing "higher stakes" to how and when you reload in CS2 by adopting a Helldivers 2-like approach where if you reload with ammo still in the chamber, you lose it. "When you reload in CS2, the leftover ammo in your magazine is dumped back into an essentially endless reserve supply," the developer wrote in a new update. "And so the decision to reload has never offered significant trade-offs — in a safe position with enough time, you might reload after firing a single bullet, or half a mag, or after firing down to empty, and the rest of...

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'Apparently Not Good Enough for Investors' — Crimson Desert Publisher Stock Price Plunges Nearly 30% Amid 78 Metacritic Score

Pearl Abyss, publisher and developer of Crimson Desert, has seen its stock price plunge nearly 30% in what is seen as a reaction to review scores. Reviews for the hotly anticipated open-world action game went live yesterday, March 18. On review aggregator Metacritic, Crimson Desert currently has a Metascore of 78 based on 85 critic reviews. But that number is expected to fluctuate as more reviews come online in the days and weeks following today’s launch. IGN’s Crimson Desert Review So Far, based on playing the PC version, returned a 6/10, although that score is not final. At the time of this article’s publication, the stock price for Korean company Pearl Abyss was down 29.88%, wiping approximately $13 off the value of a share. The...

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Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Devs Made Crazy Bets Before Release on the Game's Final Metacritic Score, and Everyone Lost

By my count, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has now won over 30 different awards across 10 different award shows, as well as our own Game of the Year award and a pile of other nominations. It's settled happily at a 92 critic score on Metacritic and a 9.5 user score. It's a really, really good game. But apparently its developers truly had no idea how good their game was before it was released, as demonstrated by a number of silly bets they made on what the game's metascore would be, all of which they lost. As a result, a number of Expedition 33 devs are on the hook now for dying their hair, doing stand-up comedy, getting tattoos, and more. This comes from our recent interview with Jennifer Svedberg-Yen, a writer on Expedition 33...

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Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Writer Jennifer Svedberg-Yen Joined the Team After Working in Finance, Teaching Cuban Salsa, and a NASA Experiment: 'Maybe

I was really stoked when, ahead of February's DICE Summit in Las Vegas, I was offered the opportunity to chat with Jennifer Svedberg-Yen, one of the writers of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. I already knew Svedberg-Yen had a fascinating story. Past interviews with her talked about her background in finance, how she had barely played video games before signing on with Sandfall Interactive, and how she found the studio incidentally, through responding to a Reddit post. But even that background that did not prepare me for how wonderfully strange her path to game development truly was. Svedberg-Yen and I sat down in a busy hotel Starbucks for over an hour to talk about her and her work. We covered not just her finance background but also a...

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Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Devs Won't Pick a Canon Ending as They Work on a Sequel: 'It Is a Schrodinger's Ending'

If you've finished Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, you probably have some strong opinions about the game's multiple possible endings. I feel like saying anything more about that at the top of this article would be irresponsible, but this is a story about one of the game's writers saying that developer Sandfall Interactive is not going to "canonize" one ending over the other, even as they work on future games set in the same universe. As such, from now on, I'm going to talk as if you have beaten the game and seen at least one of the two endings. Huge spoilers for the ending of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 below the video! Read on at your own risk. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 offers two possible endings no matter how you choose to play the...

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Save up to 67% on Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake Right Now at Amazon

It's that time of year again, when the warmer weather starts rolling in and spring sales start popping up. For those looking to add some new games to their library, this is an excellent time to do it. Ahead of its Big Spring Sale on March 25, Amazon already has some great game deals to check out, including a huge discount on Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake on all platforms. The Xbox Series X version has hit $19.99 at the retailer, while both the PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch versions are down to $29.99. These even mark the lowest-ever prices for Xbox, PS5, and Switch, so what better time to grab it? Save on Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake While the price alone makes Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake well worth picking up right now...

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1348 Ex Voto Review

From its gorgeous landscapes, gripping acting, and historically inspired combat animations, 1348 Ex Voto makes a strong first impression in its opening moments, seeming to promise something bold is about to follow. It doesn’t live up to that promise at all, however, quickly abandoning the interesting bits of its story and leaning most of its gameplay on shallow and shoddy combat and mission structures. Even it’s beauty is compromised by bugs and glitches that make playing through it a burdensome vow to keep. The story of Aeta, the knight errant we pilot through this blood-soaked Black Plague-era hack-and-slash, and her charge Bianca is a bit of a mess. On the whole, it's pretty straightforward: Bianca is meant to be shipped off to a...

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With Xbox Project Helix and DLSS 5, the Next Generation Of Gaming Is Going To Be Expensive and Weird

I have been on vacation or sick for most of the last two weeks. In that time, Microsoft soft-announced its next console, Valve gave more information about what the Steam Machine will be able to do, and Nvidia previewed DLSS 5 way before it was ready. Needless to say, a lot of shit has gone down. When you put all of it together, it starts to paint a picture of the next generation of gaming hardware that looks completely different than anything we’ve seen before. Rather than the similar x86 boxes that we got from the PS5 and the Xbox Series X, it seems like every platform is going to be doing its own thing. That’d be awesome in normal times, but the times we’re living through are decidedly not normal. RAM and other hardware shortages...

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Crimson Desert Review So Far

Crimson Desert feels like it was designed in a lab by someone who wanted to combine elements of all their favorite big budget action RPGs into the ultimate video game. It’s got the open-world adventuring of The Witcher 3, the slow horseback conversations of Red Dead Redemption 2, the open-ended puzzle solving of Tears of the Kingdom, and the do-whatever-you-want dynamic world of something like Skyrim or Grand Theft Auto 5. And while it tries to smash all these things I love into one package, it ends up being a jack of all trades but a master of none. The adventuring and combat fall far short of the best open-world RPGs, the dialogue, characters, and story are laughably bad, the puzzles are unintuitive and janky, and the reactivity of...

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Crimson Desert Discussion

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Vice Plots Payday Movie and TV Projects as Part of New Partnership With Starbreeze

Vice Studios could soon help Chains, Dallas, Hoxton, and Wolf break into the movie and TV business after acquiring the film and television rights to the Payday franchise. The company behind Gangs of London announced it was laying the groundwork to bring the popular video game franchise to a new medium as part of a partnership with Starbreeze Entertainment today. No details regarding how the pair will translate co-op heist gameplay for new audiences were revealed, suggesting it will be a while before plans materialize. “PAYDAY has a world that is bigger than the game itself,” president of Vice Amy Powell said in a statement. “There’s mythology behind the masks and a crew of characters with real history that is incredibly exciting to...

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Don't Expect Crimson Desert Xbox Series X or S Gameplay Footage Before Launch

Crimson Desert developer and publisher Pearl Abyss won’t show gameplay footage of the Xbox Series X and S version ahead of its March 19 release date. The hotly anticipated open-world action game is just 24 hours from release (check out the Crimson Desert global release times here to find out when you can play in your timezone), but Pearl Abyss has yet to show it running on either Xbox console, leading some owners of Microsoft’s hardware concerned that the game may run poorly. Pearl Abyss has itself shown the game running on PC. PlayStation 5 Pro was shown off via the tech experts at Digital Foundry, and only this week base PS5 footage was shown on PlayStation Japan’s YouTube channel. But the Xbox versions are conspicuous by their...

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Pragmata: Here’s What Comes in Each Edition

Pragmata is coming to PS5, Switch 2, Xbox, and PC on April 17. This is an original sci-fi game from Capcom, not associated with any existing series. It puts you in the sizable space boots of Hugh Williams, accompanied only by an android girl, as you explore a lunar research base, solving puzzles and fighting enemies. Pragmata is available in two editions that are up for preorder now (see it at Amazon). Below, you’ll find all the info you need, including pricing, where to buy, plus details about the preorder bonus and demo. Let’s take a look. Pragmata - Standard Edition - $59.99 PS5 Get it at Amazon Get it at Best Buy Get it at GameStop Get it at Target Get it at Walmart Get it at PS Store (digital) Switch 2 Get it at Amazon...

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Kiln, the Next Game From Psychonauts Studio Double Fine, Has an April Launch Date and Steam Open Beta

Double Fine's Kiln will launch in April across PC and consoles, following a series of closed playtests and an open beta on Steam. Kiln is a multiplayer party brawler where you create your own characters from pottery, and the latest idea from the team that gave you Psychonauts 2, Costume Quest, Brutal Legend and Stacking. You can sign up now for a series of vaguely mysterious closed playtests (which you have a chance at joining) and the game's general open beta on April 9-11, all of which seems to be Steam-only. After that, Kiln will launch fully across PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S on April 23. Kiln began life back in 2017 as a game concept that Double Fine cooked up in a game jam, then popped on a shelf while it was busy...

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The Seven Deadly Sins: Origin Review So Far

If you don’t know The Seven Deadly Sins series – which, for context, includes over 40 volumes of manga, five seasons of TV, multiple movies, and a handful of other games (and that’s before I get into the spin-offs) – then The Seven Deadly Sins: Origin might seem like just another gacha game you can easily skip. However, despite such a sizable backlog of source material, this sprawling adventure is a lot more beginner-friendly than you may expect. And, after spending around 20 hours trawling through its secret-littered map, interacting with its inhabitants, and fighting off a sinister blight, it still feels like I’m only skimming the surface. And what I’ve seen so far has made me keen to search every nook and cranny of this arresting...

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The Seven Deadly Sins: Origin Available to Play Now on PS5 and Steam

Free-to-play anime open-world RPG The Seven Deadly Sins: Origin is available to play now on PlayStation 5 and Steam, giving you an early chance to dive into a new adventure before it launches on mobile on March 23. The game is set in the same world as The Seven Deadly Sins manga and anime, and for those of you familiar with the massively popular series, it’s set between The Seven Deadly Sins and its sequel, Four Knights of the Apocalypse. It focuses on Tristan, the son of main characters Meliodas and Elizabeth from the original series, and it’s built in Unreal Engine 5 to deliver quality visuals that make you feel like you’ve stepped directly into the anime. But if you don’t know the series and don’t recognize any of those names we...

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Starfield Is Coming to PS5, Here’s Where You Can Preorder a Physical Copy

Ready your spaceships, as Starfield is making the journey over to PlayStation 5 this year. For those hoping to scoop up a copy to play on Sony's console, preorders are live right now for both its Standard Edition and Premium Edition on PS5. These are listed for $49.99 and $69.99, respectively, and set to be released on April 7, so the wait isn't too long for it. Below, we've broken down where physical PS5 copies are available to preorder right now alongside details on what comes with each version of the game and what preorder bonuses you'll get to enjoy for ordering early. Preorder Starfield (PS5) Standard Edition See at Amazon See at Best Buy See at GameStop For $49.99, the standard edition of Starfield on PS5 just comes with the...

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Daredevil Star Charlie Cox Working on New Video Game Following Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Success

Daredevil actor Charlie Cox is working on a new video game project, following his award-nominated turn as Gustave in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. Speaking to YouTube channel Agents of Fandom, Cox said the role — his first in the realm of video games — had "opened a new avenue for my professional work" and inspired him to take on another video game project this year, one that he was "much more involved" in. For Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Cox only provided the voice of Gustave rather than full performance capture for the character — something which meant his time actually spent recording for the project was minimal, while motion capture was separately filmed by another actor. For his next video game project, however, Cox suggested...

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Never’s End Preview: Holy Cow Does This FF Tactics-Like RPG Make a Huge First Impression

If it can hold up against the staggering, expansive weight of its complex systems, Never's End might be an all-timer. Big words, I know, but playing even just half an hour of this Final Fantasy Tactics-style tactical RPG with its director left me buzzing. It’s painted in a charming, 2D-meets-3D art style and set in an expansive world, and even my demo held hours of content to explore that I only scratched the surface of. Developer Hypersect knows it's stepping up next to giants. So it employed a kingmaker in Masayoshi Nishimura, the original character artist behind Octopath Traveler and Triangle Strategy, to get that distinct East-meets-West look this genre’s known for. Transformed into detailed sprite-like 3D models, Nishimura’s art...

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Horror Icon John Carpenter Lists His Favorite Video Games of All Time — and 3 He's Really Looking Forward To

John Carpenter is famous for being a horror movie icon, having directed everything from Halloween to The Thing. But he loves his video games, too, and has even put his name in front of one: John Carpenter's Toxic Commando, a co-op first-person shooter that recently launched across PC and consoles. So, we thought we’d ask John himself what his favorite video games of all time are, plus a few he’s really looking forward to. As you’d expect, John Carpenter's Toxic Commando is among them, but there’s also mention of the likes of Fallout, Borderlands, and the odd surprise. John Carpenter’s favorite video games of all time: Borderlands 2, Gearbox Software, 2012 Borderlands 2 stays with you, it has teeth, the characters are strange in...

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Jay and Silent Bob: Chronic Blunt Punch Understands the Assignment, Right Down to the 4/20 Release Date

Just like the movies it's drawing from, Jay and Silent Bob: Chronic Blunt Punch knows exactly what it is. It’s full of crude humor aimed squarely at fans of the originals—and the demographic that sees itself represented in its stars, myself included—and to that end, Chronic Blunt Punch’s sense of humor breathed life into a lot of my recent demo. Similar to that unabashed sense of humor, this is happy to be a classic beat-em-up. I went hands-on with a near-final version of the latest JSB game and was given all but free reign to run wild through New Jersey as the unlikely heroes. Playing solo, I was more or less told that I'd hit a point that was too difficult to try without getting a game over. But, as if I'd been hit by a chronic blunt...

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Diablo: Dawn of Hatred Expands the Lore of Sanctuary

Blizzard Entertainment has established a very rich and detailed mythology in the various Diablo games, and now that mythology is expanding into the comic book realm once more. Titan Comics has partnered with Blizzard to kick off a new four-issue series called Diablo: Dawn of Hatred. IGN can exclusively debut a new preview of Diablo: Dawn of Hatred #1. Check it out in the slideshow gallery below: Diablo: Dawn of Hatred is written by Cullen Bunn (Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe), drawn by Daniele Serra (Hellraiser Anthology), and colored by Jovanna Plata (The Black Monday Murders). The first issue features covers by Adam Gorham, Nick Marinknovich, Dev Pramanik, and Andrea Olimpieri. Here's the official description for the series...

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Pre-Release Version of Death Stranding 2 on PC Leaks Online, Seemingly via Steam

The PC version of Death Stranding 2: On the Beach has reportedly leaked online. It appears that an unencrypted version of the game was briefly available when Steam open up to pre-loading ahead of tomorrow's (March 19) PC launch. While it's not clear how long the unencrypted files were available, they were apparently there long enough for players to grab the 113GB game, circumvent Steam's DRM, and upload the full game to piracy sites. According to PC Gamer, the pirated copy does not bundle all language packs, so some, including Russian, are reportedly missing. As you may well expect, anyone caught disseminating the pirated game is at risk of sanctions, and anyone playing it will not be able to access any of Death Stranding 2's...

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Marathon’s Time To Kill Is Unforgiving, Unfair, and Utterly Brilliant

I left Marathon's pre-release server slam convinced that I was dying too quickly, and that its short "time to kill" jarred with the game's hero shooter identity. What's the point in a smokescreen that turns you invisible, a deployable shield, or a smiling healing drone if your health bar vanishes before you can think about using them? Now, 40 hours later, I've completely changed my mind. Marathon's time to kill (TTK) is, I believe, perfectly tuned for tactical firefights between co-ordinated teams, and it's all because of how shields work. Let me first say that I prefer a shorter TTK in extraction shooters. Fragility is part of the fun. Knowing my gear could instantly vanish forever encourages caution, planning, stealth, and – when...

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Cyberpunk TCG Is Raising So Much Money So Fast on Kickstarter Its Designer Can't Keep Up With the Stretch Goals

An official Cyberpunk Trading Card Game has raised $7.5 million on Kickstarter, hitting its $100,000 goal in just five minutes and becoming the most-funded trading card game (TCG) in the crowdfunding platform's history. Developed by WeirdCo in conjunction with CD Projekt Red, the TCG will bring the Cyberpunk franchise to the "physical trading card space for the first time." The debut Cyberpunk TCG set, Welcome to Night City, is set to launch later this year, and includes iconic characters like V, Jackie Welles, Johnny Silverhand, and Judy Álvarez. Players can mix and match their favorite characters in competitive decks or personal collections, with Set 2 expanding the game further and fully introducing characters from Cyberpunk...

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