My method for gauging a game’s popularity doesn’t hinge on parsing sales figures from NPD or concurrent player lists from SteamDB. Nope, my tell is pass-fail: whether or not my mom has texted me about it. Over the past week or so, my mother has asked me more about “the cat game” than any other game I’ve ever covered.…
The ultra-premium Thrustmaster TCA Yoke Pack is getting a steep discount today, as its regular list price has been knocked down by $100 at Amazon. Regularly listed for $500, you can snag the flight controller for just $400--the lowest price we’ve seen all year. If you're a big Microsoft Flight Simulator player, the TCA Yoke Pack Boeing Edition is definitely worth considering.
While we haven't tested the TCA Yoke Pack just yet, it holds a very high user rating average at Amazon. For more controller options for Microsoft Flight Simulator and other aerial games, check out our roundup of the best flight sticks, which includes several other Thrustmaster products. But now that this flight stick is getting a $100 price cut, no doubt it’s a great option for dedicated virtual pilots. And if you don’t have Microsoft Flight Simulator (or Xbox Game Pass), you can snag an Xbox Series X copy for just $40 right now.
2K Games and Firaxis Games revealed another video about the turn-based tactical game Marvel’s Midnight Suns, dedicated to one of its playable superheroes.
This time around we get the introduction of Doctor Strange, A.K.A. neurosurgeon-turned-magician extraordinaire Steven Strange.
While the video is pretty brief, we’re still getting the gist of Doctor’s Strange magical powers. Of course, given his nature, he’s right at home in this game with its arcane focus, unlike more tech or science-based superheroes.
Given the pattern of previous videos, we can expect a much more extensive video explaining the powers in detail on top of another on the history behind Doctor Strange himself across the next few days.
In the meanwhile, you can check this one out below.
Every Monday, Super Auto Pets shakes its big bag of animals and draws a fresh selection for its 'Weekly Pack' mode. SAP is my favourite auto-battler, and offering a whole new meta every week has me coming back long after I would've stopped playing. I do enjoy the flow across a week as builds rise and fall on an accelerated timescale before everything is wiped clean and starts over on Monday. Which makes me wonder: what's the best day of your gaming week, reader dear?
Developer Game Island has announced Serum, a first-person survival game for PC in which you must craft, hunt, adapt, and survive in a forest that's been posioned by the titular serum.
Game Island says there will be safe zones and shelters where you can craft weapons and traps and prepare to stave off the wilds. Meanwhile, you'll need to fight off the serum-infected mutant animals in the forest.
A hook, though, is that you have to inject the serum into your own system in order to stay alive; even though it will change you physically and mentally, you will die if you don't get more of it every few minutes. But every living thing is a potential serum source, as you can harvest the serum from enemies and other entities.
Serum does not yet have a release date, but it will be released on Steam when it's ready.
Ryan McCaffrey is IGN's executive editor of previews and host of both IGN's weekly Xbox show, Podcast Unlocked, as well as our monthly(-ish) interview show, IGN Unfiltered. He's a North Jersey guy, so it's "Taylor ham," not "pork roll." Debate it with him on Twitter at @DMC_Ryan.
SuperGroupies unveiled its new Kingdom Hearts collection, with preorders open in North America and Japan. Shipping to Europe is available through WorldShopping. The fashion line includes watches, wallets, umbrellas, backpacks, and jackets, with designs based on nine of the game's iconic characters. Each order will also come with exclusive postcard art from creator Nomura Tetsuya. Pre-orders will be open until August 14, 2022, at 8 PM PST.
The Kingdom Hearts fashion line initially appeared at the Kingdom Hearts 20th-anniversary event held in Tokyo earlier this year. The announcement revealed that the fashion line would somehow incorporate nine characters from the series into wristwatch designs: Sora, Riku, Kairi, Roxas, Axel, Xion, Ventus, Aqua, and Terra. We now know that each character would not only get their own watches but would also get other fashion items such as backpacks and jackets.
https://twitter.com/SuperGroupiesUS/status/1551487049697734657?s=20&t=BJS7YJ6Ht2TAo0fEA2b0RA
Each item incorporates various references to the character it represents. Sora's wristwatch, for example, features his crown symbol and his keyblade as the hour hand. Axel's jacket features some similarities to his Organization XIII outfit and also has the Organization symbol on the chest. While prices for the watches, umbrellas, wallets, and backpacks are all the same regardless of character, jacket prices vary.
EA is reportedly the latest studio to get a slice of the Marvel action, with new claims suggesting it's currently working on a new single-player, open-world game based on the Black Panther series.
That's according to loose-lipped journalist Jeff Grubb who, speaking as part of Giant Bomb's Game Mess Mornings stream, claimed the project will be single-player-only title, with EA's aim being to build on the success of developer Respawn's well-received solo adventure Jedi: Fallen Order.
While details are inevitably limited at this juncture - the title is said to be in "very early development" - Grubb claimed the basic premise is that players will need to complete various challenges in a bid to become the new Black Panther, following the death of an earlier incarnation at the start of the game.
Revealed today is that Daedalic Entertainment and NACON have decided to push the release of The Lord of the Rings: Gollum “in order to deliver the best possible experience.” While the original release date was Sept. 1 of this year, it has been “pushed by a few months,” according to a new press release. Sadly, it hasn’t been given a new date at this time, but “a few months” likely means sometime in December, assuming no further delays. Though, it could mean an early 2023 release if a few months was too generous a window.
The official The Lord of the Rings: Gollum Twitter account also tweeted the delay announcement for anyone to read:
The Lord of the Rings: Gollum was first shown off in March 2019 with the original release date of 2021, which is when a trailer was shown off. It was soon after delayed to its previous release date of Sept. 1, 2022.
The Lord of the Rings: Gollum has been delayed. The upcoming adaptation was scheduled to launch on September 1 (with a Switch port coming sometime later). However, developer Daedalic Entertainment is taking a few more months to polish up Gollum's solo adventure.
Fans have been critical of Gollum's perceived lack of quality, especially after a recent gameplay trailer where the game looked rough around the edges. Daedalic seems to have taken those concerns to heart. The studio didn't reveal a new release date, only saying it's delaying the game "by a few months."
Here is the complete delay statement:
Last week a child was playing chess against a robot when, in the words of one official, something “of course bad” happened. According to Russian media reports and a video of the incident, the robot pinched the seven-year-old’s finger and fractured it. Not great!
Today third-party developers had a relevant aircraft release in store for Microsoft Flight Simulator and new assets to share.
We start with Top Match Studios, which released its F-22A Raptor.
This top-dog fighter can be purchased at Just Flight’s store for $35.99. Below you can find a full list of features and a trailer.
Custom-programmed simulated fly-by-wire control system for virtually carefree flight control
Highly detailed fully custom 3D cockpit modelling with:
We’re back again with another No Sweat Summer quest guide. We have handled carrying signs, racing in boats, and emoting on dance floors. Today it’s time for something that is not quite party related. Here’s how to ring and break doorbells in Fortnite No Sweat Summer.
We must mention that this is a first come, first serve quest. If someone lands with you and uses the doorbell before you do, it gets legitimately broken. This isn’t like one of the typical Fortnite quests where everyone has their own instanced object to interact with for quest completion. This quest allows precisely one player to complete it per location and game.
Players will need to ring and break three doorbells. The good news is that there are four separate locations to do this at and those are shown on the map below.
It’s certainly fair to accuse me of being a latecomer when it comes to Covid-19. Despite the pandemic being my number-one source of crippling anxiety for the last two-and-a-half years, it’s taken me this long to actually contract it all for myself. And pow, it’s taken me out hard. To which I say: Thank God for …
If you're looking forward to playing The Last of Us Part 1 on PC, you may be able to get your hands on it sooner than you thought. According to one Naughty Dog dev, the studio's overhaul of the beloved post-apocalyptic game is expected to launch on PC "very soon" after the PS5 release.
Naughty Dog Senior Environment Texture Artist, Jonathan Benainous, responded to a fan on Twitter (below) to tell them that The Last of Us Part 1's PC version would be coming "very soon" after September's initial PS5 launch.
Glad to hear you're hyped man! PC version should come out a bit later, but very soon after the PS5 release!
— Jonathan BENAINOUS (@JonathanBenaino) July 23, 2022
While the PS5 version had been announced for a September 2 release, a PC version had only been listed as "in development". Given the long waits for PC releases for many PlayStation exclusives, some worried that this could be a similar situation – but Benainous may have helped ease that a little.
"Very soon" isn't much to go on, of course, but it sounds like those hoping to play the game on a computer shouldn't have to wait too long after PlayStation fans get to check it out.
Notable is the fact that The Last of Us Part 1 will mark the first time the two-part franchise has landed on a non-PlayStation platform, so the remake's launch on PC adds at least a little bit of credibility to long-standing rumors of The Last of Us Part 2 will eventually receive a port, too. Only time will tell if Naughty Dog has that one in the pipeline.
Hunter x Hunter remains an acclaimed entry in the wider Shonen genre, and for good reason. The series both celebrates and deconstructs common Shonen tropes, championing tropes right before turning them on their heads for the good of the wider plot. This can be great for those who know what they’re in for, but if you’re not, it’d be no surprise if you’ve been left wondering: Is Kastro dead in Hunter x Hunter? Fortunately, we’re here to clear this matter up with an explainer guide.
To cut right to the chase: Yes, Kastro was killed by Hisoka in Hunter x Hunter’s Heaven’s Arena arc.
The reason why can mainly be boiled down to two key factors. The first is that Kastro’s opponent, Hisoka, no longer saw the potential for growth in his abilities. In their previous fight, he didn’t kill Kastro because Kastro had yet to master his specific area of Nen. If he had done so, he could have become an exceptionally powerful Enhancer capable of giving Hisoka a worthwhile fight to the death.
Unfortunately, Kastro was unaware of the necessity of specializing in one’s natural Nen attribute. As a result, he spent his time developing an ability that fell into the Conjurer class. This in turn stunted his potential growth as an Enhancer, and left him far weaker than Hisoka had hoped.
Kotobukiya has opened pre-orders for Genshin Impact figures of Aether and Lumine in Japan. The company has also announced the release window for both products. The 1/7 scale figures of the Traveler protagonists will be available in April 2023.
Both figures will have the same full price tag of 18,480 yen (~$135.5). Kotobukiya's online shop also offers several incentives related to these Genshin Impact figures. It will guarantee stock availability to people who place orders on the website by October 18, 2022. The publisher's store will also add an extra facial expression for each figure in limited amounts.
Kotobukiya first unveiled the 1/7 scale figures of Aether and Lumine on July 20, 2022. Both characters will stand and pose on a specially-made pedestal. The figures' overall height—including the pedestal— will be 270mm (~10.6") for Aether and 255m (~10") for Lumine. The company will use PVC and ABS to produce these figures.
Aether and Lumine are the next Genshin Impact characters in Kotobukiya's lineup of figures after Barbara. Kotobukiya launched a similar pre-order offer for Barbara's figure with a store-exclusive facial expression and guaranteed stock until April 12, 2022. It will release the first figure in September 2022.
Since FIFA 20, popular Italian soccer club Juventus has been called “Piemonte Calcio” in EA Sports’ franchise due to an exclusive partnership with Konami. This is going to end with FIFA 23.
EA Sports has announced that the tables have turned, as it has signed an exclusive multi-year partnership with the club that will start with FIFA 23 and will then continue with the renamed EA Sports FC series once the FIFA license ends this year.
EA SPORTS becomes Juventus’ exclusive sport video gaming partner, which means “a fully authentic in-game integration that will feature Juventus’ stadium, Allianz Stadium, along with the club’s logo and kits.”
On top of these, the club and the developer will work together across “a number of lifestyle and cultural initiatives bringing new opportunities outside of football.”
Alongside the club partnership, former footballer Claudio Marchisio will appear as a FUT Hero and Dušan Vlahović will serve as an ambassador for FIFA 23.
Below you can watch a trailer celebrating the deal.
David Jackson, VP of brand for EA SPORTS FIFA accompanied the press release with a statement:
A new Apex Legends Stories from the Outlands animated short gives a look at Vantage before she is set to join the Apex Games in the upcoming Season 14. The name Vantage seems to come from a crashed prisoner transport ship called the GDS Vantage”. The video teaches us that Vantage’s true name is Mara.
Vantage will be a Recon type character in Apex Legends, and her introduction seems to finally add a character who is sniping focused. This is a nice update in adding specialized characters, seeing as the Battle Royale already has a shotgun character with Mad Maggie and an LMG (light machine gun) character with Rampart.
You can watch the Stories from the Outlands short titled ‘Survive’ below.
We will be getting an actual season 14 launch trailer on July 28, so keep an eye out for our coverage on it.
Every new season of Apex Legends has introduced a new character, in Season 13, it was Newcastle. It is currently unknown if a new weapon will also be added to the Apex Legends armory in Season 14.
Last weekend, Marvel fans rejoiced, as they got a boatload of exciting news for the next phase of the MCU, including a trailer and release date for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Today, there’s even more interesting news floating around regarding that franchise, as it seems that Electronic Arts is working on a single-player Black Panther game.
The news comes according to Jeff Grubb, via ResetEra, who discussed details surrounding the game during a recent Giant Bomb Twitch stream.
Roblox planned numerous concessions to Chinese state censorship and expected its game be hacked and cloned by Chinese companies as part of its launch in the country, an astonishing cache of leaked internal documents has revealed.
The details, published by Vice, come from documents recently obtained by a hacker and held to ransom, before being posted online. Vice has said it has published these details to shine a light on the lengths that Western companies can be forced to go to if they decide to enter the Chinese market.
Revelations revealed in the report include instructions to Roblox employees in one internal presentation to "expect that hacking has already started" and that it would "ramp up after a deal is signed, possibly even by [Roblox's] partner".
Stray may have only recently been released, but someone has already deciphered the game's mysterious language.
This language uses a substitution cipher to make the world in Stray more cryptic and mysterious. (A substitution cipher is a used to encrypt text by swapping each letter or symbol within said text with a different symbol, that can then be unscrambled with a key.)
And now, HalfGlassGaming's Josh Wirtanen has cracked Stray's cipher, and shared how we too can do the same (thanks, RockPaperShotgun). I have embedded some photos from the game within this article, so if you are yet to play or are keen to avoid spoilers, please take this as your cue to read something else on Eurogamer.
Shortly after GameStop launched its NFT marketplace earlier this month, one creator started selling an NFT called “Falling Man” mimicking the infamous photograph from September 11, 2001. It changed hands dozens of times, eventually fetching hundreds of dollars, until GameStop quietly removed it sometime over the…
Xbox Insider testers noticed a faster boot-up time for their consoles, revealing Microsoft’s recent initiatives to get players into their games quicker. According to The Verge, the cold boot-up time is now estimated to be around 5 seconds. The trick to the faster time lies in a shorter animation.
Can confirm - worked with @harrisonhoffman and @jakerose27 to create a shorter boot up animation (~4s) from the original boot up animation (~9s), helping to reduce the overall startup time.
— Josh Munsee (@joshmunsee) July 23, 2022
The director of Integrated Marketing at Xbox stated (see above) worked alongside the principal product manager for connected TV apps, Harrison Hoffman, and senior product manager lead Jake Rosenberg to “create a shorter boot up animation (~4s) from the original boot up animation (~9s), helping to reduce the overall startup time.” However, there is a catch. You’ll have to set your Series X/S to Energy Saver mode to benefit from the faster boot-up. This means the console will completely power off when you decide to put the controller down and do something else. Nevertheless, this benefits the environment and helps drop the monetary load of electricity bills.
With the recent trailer for the film, many dedicated MCU fans are wondering if Chadwick Boseman will be in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever in some way, shape, or form. While we don’t have specifics on the exact situation, we do at least know a few things about his character, T’Challa, in regards to what is happening with him in the film. Here is everything you need to know.
The answer is, yes, Chadwick Boseman will be in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever but only in the form of a tribute. Based on what we saw from the trailer, it seems Chadwick Boseman’s T’Challa is only in the film on a mural, as we can see it during the video above, while two drummers perform.
There is no word on weather there will be any other scenes with the character, though it can be surmised that his passing will play a heavy role on the film’s plot and that he will be talked about a good amount at the very least. For those unaware, Boseman died due to colon cancer back on Aug. 28, 2020.
The news came as a shock to many, as the actor kept the diagnosis private, even filming several movies while in the midst of battling the disease.
Halo Infinite's long-awaited campaign co-op does not include online matchmaking in either its current beta phase or final version.
As reported by GamesRadar+, 343 Industries has confirmed that the game will not include an option to connect with a stranger online, only including direct user-to-user invites.
"Online matchmaking will not be available with final co-op," an Xbox spokesperson said. "We encourage you to use the Halo [Looking for Group service] and the new Discord voice call feature on Xbox to find players to party up with as you continue playing the beta."
The campaign co-op beta finally went live on July 15 eight months after Halo Infinite was released. It was delayed from the game's initial release date in December last year. 343 later announced another delay to the mode, saying it wouldn't arrive until May 2022 at the earliest, and only in June confirmed a beta would begin in July.
Annapurna Interactive will hold a livestream showcase of upcoming titles on Thursday, July 28.
A message shared by the publisher's Twitter account yesterday states that the presentation begins at 12 p.m. Pacific/3 p.m. Eastern. Other than that, it offers no hints as to what games will appear. Annapurna's last showcase took place just over a year ago, where it highlighted a variety of new titles and game updates, such as Outer Wilds: Echoes of the Eye, The Artful Escape, and more.
this thursday // streaming on our channels + with a few partners // noon PT pic.twitter.com/hxUYXeszjk
Fed up with waiting for big-name console games to come out on PC after they’ve landed on current-gen consoles? Good job that a Naughty Dog artist has said that The Last Of Us Part 1 remake will be launching on our beige box of choice “very soon” after coming to PS5 on September 2nd then. Senior Environment Texture Artist Jonathan Benainous made the comment to a The Last Of Us fan who tweeted at him about the PC version.
Studio Bones announced the My Hero Academia season 6 release date will fall on October 1, 2022. The upcoming season will air on Japanese televisions on the Yomiuri and Nihon Television channels, every Saturday at 5:30 PM Japan Time (1:30 AM PST / 10:30 AM CEST). The availability of an English dub or streaming platform has not yet been confirmed. [Thanks, Livedoor!]
Along with the release date announcement, Bones also revealed the latest key visual for season 6. As with previous trailers and visuals for the season, the poster depicts the heroes ready to face off against the villains of the Paranormal Liberation Front. Furthermore, the announcement Tweet mentions that the upcoming season will cover the "All-Out War" arc of the manga.
It can be difficult keeping track of the various comings and goings in the games industry, which is why we compile them in semi-regular round-ups.
If you have new appointments or transitions in your company that belong here, please send the names of the appointees, new role and company, and prior role and company to newhires@gamesindustry.biz.
Big Fish Games has named Gary Rosenfeld as its head of business development.
Next year's European TwitchCon event will be held in Paris.
It follows the recent TwitchCon Amsterdam event that saw nearly 14,500 people attend, an increase of 65 percent compared to the previous Berlin-held event in 2019.
That popularity is in part testament to the rise of the streaming platform during the pandemic, which now encompasses audiences far outside gaming.
FIFA 23 has the exclusive on Italian super club Juventus after a three-year stint at football rival PES / eFootball.
EA Sports announced it's signed an exclusive, multi-year partnership with the Old Lady, which sees Juventus return to the FIFA fold with full in-game integration that includes Juventus' official club logo and kits and the rights to the Juventus Stadium, Allianz Arena.
There's more: former footballer and Juventus legend Claudio Marchisio is in FIFA 23 as a FUT Hero card for use in Ultimate Team.
It's something of a DF Direct special this week, as regular co-host Alex Battaglia is joined by two insightful guests, longtime games journalist Sam 'samred' Machkovech of Ars Technica and streaming expert Addie of the YouTube channel EposVox.
The trio tackle the week's news - including the first substantive details on the hotly anticipated Spider-Man Remastered PC port from Insomniac and Nixxes. Elsewhere in PS-adjacent news, The Last Of Us Part 1 has had some footage leaked - and 'no gameplay enhancements' is the description provided. Do the team still have high hopes for the remaster, or does this dampen the mood somewhat?
Meanwhile, it's a good week for PC news, as in addition to the Spider-Man news, Activision has appeared on Steam as an official publisher - a reversal from the previous strategy that saw Call of Duty games distributed via the Blizzard launcher. Some classic PC titles are also available for free via Xbox Insider. John Romero is in the headlines too, heading up development of a new FPS, while Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 was recently confirmed to be still under development at an unnamed studio, following its near-cancellation last year.
British actor David Warner, who voiced dark wizard Jon Irenicus in classic CRPG Baldur’s Gate II: Shadows Of Amn, has died at the age of 80, the BBC reports. The actor also appeared in other games during the late 1990s and early 2000s, mostly on PC. You can hear Warner’s evocative performance as Irenicus in the trailer for Baldur’s Gate II: Enhanced Edition below.
If you're a regular Twitter user and keep up to date with gaming news on the platform, you'll be very aware of the gaming Twitter discourse that happens at least once a month.
At the end of May, indie game coverage (or the lack thereof) was the subject of discourse. The replies from those sharing their thoughts paint a pretty complicated picture, from nuances around the SEO value of indie game coverage to some indie studios lacking the PR resources to get their times out there.
All of this got me thinking about mobile games, which share a lot of the same challenges as indie games when it comes to coverage and representation but have a 60% market share of the global gaming industry, and generate triple the amount of revenue as console and PC/Mac games.
Atlus released a new gallery of screenshots of its upcoming JRPG Soul Hackers 2.
We take a look at the safe house, originally used by Arrow, which will become the base of operations of our party. Here you can rest, interact with your friends, and receive DLC items.
At the safe house, you can also enjoy meals, which you can purchase from shops and vending machines. They have various effects and can be used to prepare for dungeons.
Figue may also devise new types of meals (there are over 30 available).
We also get to take a look at the store Delamancha in Karakucho, which is an obvious parody of Don Quijote in Kabukicho, Shinjuku. Here you can purchase healing and support items. We also meet the clerk, Yume.
Next is Yoyojo in Mansei Realm. Here you can trade materials you find for items that can be used in battle and exploration. The store’s owner is named Lina.
Lastly, we take a look at the new game plus menu and at the difficulty menu, including the “very hard” difficulty which will be included in a free day-one DLC.
You can check out all the screenshots below.
Microsoft will soon implement an Xbox Series X and S update that makes the console boot up faster.
As reported by The Verge, Xbox's director of integrated marketing confirmed on Twitter (below) that the new feature being tested in Xbox Insider builds cuts the console's boot time in half.
Xbox has created a new animation that, while it doesn't seem too different, cuts the original boot time of nine seconds down to a much quicker four, meaning Xbox users can now get into their consoles and games even faster. As it's currently just in a beta testing phase the update isn't available for all Xbox users but will likely be released fully soon.
Can confirm - worked with @harrisonhoffman and @jakerose27 to create a shorter boot up animation (~4s) from the original boot up animation (~9s), helping to reduce the overall startup time.
— Josh Munsee (@joshmunsee) July 23, 2022
The faster time will only be available those who set their consoles to Energy Saver mode - which results in slightly slower start-up overall but is better for the planet and energy bills - as those on Standby mode typically skip the start-up screen altogether.
Want to know when does Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero comes out? Well, wait no longer fans, as an official press release that was released today confirmed a bunch of important information about the upcoming film. Here is everything you need to know about when the next installment in this illustrious franchise hits theaters.
Crunchyroll and Toei Animation have announced that Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero will come to theaters in Canada and the US on August 19. The film will be coming to theaters across the globe on all continents, including North America, Latin America, Europe, Australia/New Zealand, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia (excluding Japan, which will debut the film on June 11, 2022).
We’ve got the full breakdown of all the release dates down below: