Funimation and Crunchyroll, two competing anime streaming services, merged in 2021 and announced in 2022 that all of the content would eventually combine under the Crunchyroll banner. That event officially has a date, and it's April 2.

For Funimation subscribers, you will have to go through the process of merging your account before the April 2 date, and, frustratingly, any shows that were outright purchased through Funimation will not transfer to Crunchyroll. Just another reminder that when you purchase digital content, true ownership does not technically exist and you will always be at the mercy of the platform holders when it comes to access.

Crunchyroll subscribers do not need to make any changes, but the price of the subscription will rise to $100 a year soon. The merger officially going through does mean Crunchyroll will feature more content, but a price increase will always be frustrating.

Alongside this merger finally completing, Crunchyroll is also entering the video game space as a publisher. It remains to be seen what kind of video tames the anime company will help produce, but you can check out this package it sent over on Game Informer's TikTok account.

Turn 10 Studios has released an initial outline of the changes it's making to car progression in Forza Motorsport.

The progression system has been heavily criticised by players since Forza Motorsport released in October 2023, and has been a frequent topic of discussion on the Forza Forums suggestions board.

The new changes are "thanks to your feedback", Turn 10 said in its Forza Motorsport car progression update announcement.

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Elias Toufexis, voice actor for Deus Ex: Human Revolution and Mankind Divided's cyborg protagonist Adam Jensen, has bid a formal "goodbye, but hopefully not farewell" to the character, expressing hopes that somebody with a lot of money will buy the license and restore poor moody Adam to our screens. Toufexis also shared a few parting speculations about the unannounced Deus Ex sequel from Eidos Montreal that was reported cancelled last week. Toufexis wasn't involved with this one, and according to him, it likely wasn't a continuation of Jensen's story from Mankind Divided.

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The Knuckles TV show from Paramount finally has a full trailer and release date.

The six-episode series will debut in one swing on Paramount Plus on 26th April for the US, with additional territories following the next day. Idris Elba returns in the title role after his turn in the Sonic the Hedgehog 2 film.

You can check out the trailer below, including the reveal of a new villain played by Game of Thrones actor Rory McCann.

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The Sonic the Hedgehog Movie spinoff series, Knuckles, is premiering April 26, and ahead of its streaming debut, Paramount has released a trailer. The series officially takes place between the second and third movie and will apparently follow Knuckles (Idris Elba) has he helps Wade (Adam Pally), Tom Wachowski's (James Marsden) bumbling police partner, become a true warrior. The trailer also reveals the antagonist will be played by Rory McCann, who is best known for playing Sandor 'The Hound' Clegane in Game of Thrones, and features a two-thirds Human Giant reunion cameo with Rob Huebel and Paul Scheer. Curiously, they're sitting at an ESPN8 The Ocho desk, a gag born from the 2004 film Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story that eventually became a real thing.

Other interesting details from the trailer? Jim Carrey does not appear, nor does James Marsden, but both Sonic and Tails appear and are played by film voice actors, Ben Schwarz and Colleen O'Shaughnessey.

The series, simply titled Knuckles, will be six episodes long and begins streaming on April 26 on Paramount+. For more on the Sonic the Hedgehog Movie universe, you can read our review of the second film here.

A manga version of Octopath Traveler: Champions of the Continent has opened for pre-orders. Octopath Traveler: Champions of the Continent - The Bargello Family will come out on April 6, 2024 and will cost 730 JPY ($4.90).

This is a prequel to the events of the game, which is itself a prequel to the original Octopath Traveler. There is no summary on the store page for the book. However, Square Enix Tweeted that this is the story of a young man who has not made a name for himself yet, and it will depict his meetings and farewells.

It will likely focus on Bargello, who is the main character of the Master of Wealth path. He also plays a major role in the Bestower of Wealth and the Bestower of All storylines. Bargello is the leader of the New Mafia, or the Bargello Family. The story will likely depict how he came to hold this position.

UPDATE 13/2/2024: Following comments from Discworld game developer Gregg Barnett, in which the designer suggested some sort of rerelease could be on the horizon, Rhianna Pratchett has shed more light on the situation.

Speaking with PC Gamer, Pratchett - who is the joint owner of independant production company Narrativia, which was launched by Discworld author Terry Pratchett back in 2012 - clarified the company only has "rights to the characters" rather than the games themselves.

"If we did have the rights, then this would be a whole lot easier. We're genuinely not sure who does own the rights because studios have been bought and sold over the years, along with IP. Last time we investigated this, they were thought to be with Sony, but that's never been fully confirmed," she said, adding the company would "love to see the old games re-released".

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Artisan Studios has announced a new hand-painted RPG, with visuals and music from Final Fantasy veterans.

Lost Hellden is a new Japanese RPG that appears to be taking quite a traditional approach.

Hitoshi Sakimoto (who composed the scores for Final Fantasy 12, Final Fantasy Tactics, and Tactics Ogre among others) is providing music and audio direction, while Takeshi Oga (Gravity Rush, Siren, Final Fantasy 11 and 14) is providing illustrations.

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The team behind the polarizing Halo TV series on Paramount+ really wants to change your mind in season two. In the lead up to the latest season’s debut, everyone from producer Kiki Wolfkill to new showrunner David Wiener and even Master Chief himself (Pablo Schreiber) have told us this is a new angle, not necessarily…

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FromSoftware owner Kadokawa Corporation has acquired Octopath Traveler developer Acquire for an undisclosed sum.

The studio, founded in 1994, has previously worked with Kadokawa subsidiaries on Tenchu (FromSoftware) and Way of the Samurai (Spike Chunsoft), with the Octopath Traveler games published by Square Enix.

"To strengthen the ability to create IP in games as part of our game business strategy, we have made Acquire Corp. into a wholly owned subsidiary," reads a statement from Kadokawa in its latest earnings report.

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Persona 3 Reload is the fastest selling game in Atlus history, with over 1 million sales in its first week. Atlus has posted a thank you Tweet for its fans on both its English and Japanese accounts.

The Tweet shows a picture of the Protagonist, along with “Fastest Atlus Game To Top 1,000,000 Copies Worldwide” at the side of it. This sales number likely takes account of all platforms, including both digital and physical copies. Replies to the English Tweet congratulate Atlus on this milestone, as well as say that the game deserved to sell this many copies in such a short amount of time. The Japanese Tweet has very similar response, as well as someone saying that it’s amazing it accomplished a million sales even though the game isn’t even on the Switch.

Not to denigrate either the efforts of either the comms or dev teams, but when a game has been knocking around my consciousness for a while, eventually I just move it it from a mental box marked "in development" to "probably out now, innit" without any input from anyone else. Inkulinati, a turn-based strategy game where you play a medieval artist duking it out with another artist on the pages of an illuminated manuscript, is one such. It's been kicking about on Steam since at least 2019, and in fairness to me it did launch in January last year - it just went into early access. These factors contributed to me being sort of surprised at the reveal of the actual release date for 1.0, which is February 22nd.

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Persona 3 Reload has reached 1m sales globally less than a week after it released.

This makes it the fastest-selling game not only in the Persona series, but also in the history of developer Atlus.

For comparison, Persona 5 Royal's multi-platform release took two months to reach 1.3m units sold.

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Activision execs offered Infinity Ward staff a 50 percent pay increase and told staff to "take the money and get over it" after the publisher dramatically fired the developer's founders Jason West and Vince Zampella in 2010.

That's according to a fresh account with further details on the fallout from Activision's now-legendary ousting of West and Zampella, as published on LinkedIn by lead designer Paul Sandler (spotted by PC Gamer).

Sandler writes that he was told about the loss of West and Zampella by a fellow employee who rode a scooter around the Infinity Ward office, sharing the news. "I just sat there in stunned silence with my eyes wide open," Sandler wrote. "I stood up from my chair and said: 'What the fuck? ...Why?'"

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Elias Toufexis has said goodbye to his Deus Ex character, Adam Jensen, now that the franchise's in-development next entry has been canned.

Writing on the Deus Ex reddit, Toufexis - who also plays Sam Coe in Starfield - said he wanted to share his gratitude with the series' community. "I wanted to come on here and say thank you for this page, your wonderful messages over the years, and your continued, unbelievably strong support," the actor said.

"As for Jensen, we say goodbye, but hopefully not farewell. Maybe someone else will buy the licence. Maybe we'll make an animated series or finish the game. Elon Musk is a big fan, I think he has some money. Someone ask him!"

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Ah, the video game tie-in. A handful of brilliant games came about as a result of the late 90s-to-early-00s' somewhat ghoulish obsession with cross-market synergy (like Peter Jackson's King Kong, say, or GoldenEye 007) but the majority of them were, at best, forgettable.

As the obsession died down however, a younger, trendier opportunist stepped up and took its place: the anime tie-in game. Naturally, games based on anime aren't anything new. They are, however, popping up with more and more frequency - likely due in part to anime's ever increasing popularity outside of Japan - and one publisher is responsible for the majority of the most popular releases: Bandai Namco. Due to its collaboration with anime publishing giant Shueisha, Bandai Namco has the licensing rights to the most popular anime and manga titles in existence. Dragon Ball, Naruto, Bleach, Gundam, My Hero Academia - if it's an anime you've heard of, Bandai probably owns the rights to turn it into a video game.

But just as the majority of movie tie-in games used to either be cookie-cutter first person shooters or unimaginative third person action adventure games, today the fixation seems to be on arena fighting games - which, unfortunately, brings us to Jujutsu Kaisen: Cursed Clash.

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Disney are taking out a $1.5 billion minority equity stake in Fortnite publisher Epic Games, and have announced "an all-new games and entertainment universe that will further expand the reach of beloved Disney stories and experiences". According to Disney CEO Robert A. Iger, it's "Disney’s biggest entry ever into the world of games". Friends, we are witnessing the birth of a franchising megamoeba of titanic proportions - a new, Unreal Engine-driven "persistent universe" of playing, watching, shopping and other content-tickling opportunities, featuring characters and stories from Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, Avatar "and more". Where are your puny gods now?

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UPDATE 09/02/24: CVC Capital Partners and Haveli Investments have confirmed their agreement to acquire Jagex, though the terms have not been disclosed.

CVC is a Luxembourg-based private equity firm with over €188bn in assets - predominantly in sports. Haveli is a private equity firm in Austin with investments in gaming companies like Omeda Studios and Behaviour Interactive.

"CVC and Haveli will help Jagex build on our portfolio of forever games, furthering our aims of supporting and growing our community of forever fans," said Jagex CEO Phil Mansell. "Together we'll create more of the experiences our fans love, innovate to empower our players further, and build new forever games that capture imaginations.

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Continuing their great prank of pretending they plan to release Skull And Bones, Ubisoft today launched an open beta for their multiplayer open-world pirate boat game. The free beta will run until Sunday night, after which Ubisoft will presumably delay the game for another seventeen years while once again redesigning the whole thing. When you buy your great grandniece Skull And Bones for her 17th birthday, you'll be able to tell her you were there for the mythical open beta of '24.

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Activision Blizzard's Crash Bandicoot and Spyro studio Toys for Bob lose 86 employees as a result of layoffs.

These people are part of the wider round of layoffs Microsoft is undertaking, which will see 1900 employees across Xbox and Activision Blizzard lose their jobs.

The layoffs at Toys for Bob are much higher than previously estimated - a report from two weeks ago claimed between 30 to 40 percent of jobs would be affected, which was estimated to be around 35 people.

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Through dense digital underbrush and up sloping inclines, each quick-fire level within Children of the Sun begins on foot, as The Girl, its unnamed protagonist, runs in a distant arc around her cultist prey. Long hair covering her face, gun slung across her back, head turned down to the dirt - the sense is less of someone scoping their targets, and more that they're simply sensing the right place to finally take their shot.

Of course, it's you in control - sending The Girl left or right along a preset path as you scan the bright shapes in the distance: glowing golden figures amidst dark surroundings, highlighted as if by some sort of sixth sense. Does The Girl have some kind of special powers? Were the cult in question, the Children of the Sun, anything to do with that? The only information you're given on her backstory is that she was once one of their number - willing or not is unclear - before becoming hellbent on their destruction.

Once you have picked The Girl's position, each level then transitions to its main event: trigger pulled, the bullet fires via Sniper Elite-style slow-motion tracking shot through the air - barrelling towards its first target. Cue blood spurts, and then - on you go, again as if by magic, with a chance now to suddenly change the bullet's angle to take down a second cultist, and then a third, and a fourth... But where are they all? Regardless of where you take that original shot, each level in Children of the Sun is a miniature maze for you to navigate in bullet time. Around corners, through windows into buildings, hiding in the trees. Get your path right, and no one is safe.

UPDATE 9/2/24: Microsoft has responded to the FTC's claim that its planned layoff of 1900 people across Xbox and Activision Blizzard goes against what was said in court last year, in regards to how Activision would remain structurally independent.

"In continuing its opposition to the deal, the FTC ignores the reality that the deal itself has substantially changed," a Microsoft spokesperson said in a statement to Eurogamer.

"Since the FTC lost in court last July, Microsoft was required by the UK competition authority to restructure the acquisition globally and therefore did not acquire the cloud streaming rights to Activision Blizzard games in the United States. Additionally, Sony and Microsoft signed a binding agreement to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation on even better terms than Sony had before."

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Homeworld 3's release date has been pushed back from March 8th to May 13th 2024, in order to build on player feedback to this week's Steam Next Fest War Games demo, which will be available till February 12th, 10am PT or 6pm GMT. The associated joint statement from developers Blackbird Interactive and publishers Gearbox arrived within hours of me posting about said Homeworld 3 demo and saying that while I am fully onboard with many aspects of the new space strategy game, I do have reservations about its controls.

Naturally, and self-flatteringly, I'm now petrified that I'm single-handedly responsible for the delay. Please come back, Homeworld 3! I didn't mean it! I'm pretty sure I'll acclimatise to the control scheme with practice! True-3D starfleet management is always a bit fiddly! Besides which, I might not get to review it now!! I'm moving flat in May!!!

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Take-Two Interactive and 2K Games have said that virtual currencies within games are "fictions created by game publishers" during a lawsuit which alleges that money is effectively stolen from players when games are shut down.

The lawsuit, originally filed in November by a Californian minor and his mother, alleges that Take-Two is guilty of civil theft and unfair business practicies for closing down servers for various NBA 2K, WWE 2K and PGA Tour 2K titles, causing players to lose access to any remaining in-game funds they have paid for.

"VC [virtual currency] is not plaintiff's property," a Take-Two lawyer stated this week, as reported by Game File. "Instead, in-game VC are fictions created by game publishers, subject to the publishers’ terms of service and user agreements."

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If you're on the lookout for a powerful yet inexpensive CPU cooler, this discounted option from Thermalright might be a good shout. It's down to £15.90 from £18.90, turning an already good value CPU cooler equipped with two fans into an absolute bargain.

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Lenovo's Legion Go is the most powerful and specced out PC handheld we've seen yet, with a mammoth 8-inch 1600p 144Hz screen, Z1 Extreme chipset and detachable controllers - one of which turns into a pseudo-mouse for FPS action. The Legion Go debuted at £699, a price at which we found it largely compelling, but now it's dropped to something a bit more reasonable - £649.

That £50 discount doesn't make it a budget option by any means, especially with the most affordable Steam Deck at £349 and an OLED model at £479, but it's still a welcome price drop on one of the most intriguing PC handhelds we've seen yet.

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A city tour demonstrating the architecture of New York usually doesn't need to specify that it's "pacifist." But when it takes place in Tom Clancy's: The Division, avoiding violence is difficult. The digital tourists in Total Refusal's film Operation Jane Walk carry rifles and tactical gear, whether they want to use them or not. As they move towards Franklin D. Roosevelt Drive to discuss the work of urban planner Robert Moses and theorist Jane Jacobs, they have to avoid and ignore incoming fire. Next, they pause to watch an NPC endlessly beat something that looks suspiciously like a human corpse.

"If we don't disturb him, he'll continue his performance forever," says the tour guide.

Operation Jane Walk is one of Total Refusal's earliest productions. The collective is a group of academics and creatives making thought-provoking art by exploring the seams of AAA video games. Jane Walk captures the twin themes that underlie much of their work. Firstly, it explores how games so often reproduce an uncritical, capitalist, imperialist political perspective. And secondly, it reveals that they're actually completely absurd.

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League Of Geeks's remake of cult strategy game Solium Infernum is having its release date pushed back by a week, the studio have announced. It will now launch on February 22nd, instead of its original date of February 14th - which is a damn shame, if you ask me, as nothing screams "romantic Valentine's night-in" like trying to backstab your other half in a bid to rule hell in Satan's absence. Alas, we'll just have to make do with the altogether more pedestrian date of a regular Thursday in February, as the team need just a bit of extra time to ensure it's "as polished as possible" before release.

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Funimation has announced that it will sunset its app and website on April 2, 2024. This is in compliance to Crunchyroll’s unification that occurred in March 2022.

According to the Funimation statement, this will not have any impact on fans’ access to the anime on Crunchyroll. It then goes into benefits on why you should have a Crunchyroll account and subscription, including simulcast episodes, offline viewing, and exclusive content. Those who have a Funimation subscription will automatically get a Crunchyroll+ account. You will then have the option to combine your Funimation account’s information with your Crunchyroll’s. This includes data such as watch history and queue.

However, the most important thing to note is that if you had digital copies of a DVD or Blu-Ray, you will no longer be able to access it. Crunchyroll does not support Funimation digital copies, and the statement does not seem to imply that it is working on supporting it down the line. It merely explains that it is “continuously working to enhance our content offerings and provide you with an exceptional anime streaming experience.”

Hyte has announced that it will terminate its current projects with Anycolor and Nijisanji. This is in response to the recent controversies involving the company’s firing of Selen Tatsuki.

The full statement is available to read on Hyte’s Twitter (X) account. It starts by thanking the fan community for its support. However, because it is terminating its collaboration with Anycolor, it will cancel and refund all orders of the Nijisanji EN Y60 + Keycap Bundles. Hyte apologizes to fans—specifically FamElira, Rosebuds, and Aloupeeps—and acknowledges that they were excited to receive their products. However, Hyte explains that it wants to stand with other VTuber fans who ceased their support of Nijisanji and Anycolor.

The Y60 + Keycap bundles are still available on Hyte’s website. However, if you try to click in to one of the Nijisanji bundles, it will redirect you back to the main store page. You can still order a plain PC case, or one of Hololive VTubers such as Watson Amelia or Mori Calliope.

In a recent interview with Famitsu, Stellar Blade Director Kim Hyung-tae confirmed that NieR: Automata served as a big source of inspiration for the upcoming action title. The director also talked about other games that have influenced him and the game's creation. [Thanks, Famitsu!]

When asked about the comparisons between Square Enix and PlatinumGames’s titles, director Kim Hyung-tae said that NieR: Automata was the game that made him realize that he wanted to make a game like Stellar Blade.

The developer also mentioned God of War as a game that he loves as a fan and the game that taught him open worlds are not necessary to express the vastness of a world. Some other game series that influenced Kim Hyung-tae in the creation of Stellar Blade include Bayonetta, Sekiro, and Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order.

The Walt Disney Company has announced it's acquiring a $1.5bn USD stake in Epic Games as it launches a multi-year partnership to create an "expansive and open games and entertainment universe connected to Fortnite".

This new Unreal Engine-powered "persistent universe" will "interoperate" with Fortnite to offer a "multitude of opportunities for consumers to play, watch, shop and engage with content, characters and stories" from across Disney's vast IP portfolio.

Explicit mention is made of Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, and Avatar, with users able to "create their own stories and experiences, express their fandom in a distinctly Disney way, and share content with each other in ways that they love."

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Epic Games and The Walt Disney Company have announced a new collaboration that will result in the joint creation of an all-new games and entertainment universe. Alongside the partnership, The Walt Disney Company is investing $1.5 billion to acquire an equity stake in Epic Games. 

The multi-year project aims to create an all-new universe that spans the various Disney properties, including Marvel, Star Wars, Pixar, Avatar, and more. Disney says players will be able to create their own stories and experiences, share content, and express their fandom in experiences powered by Unreal Engine.

"Our exciting relationship with Epic Games will bring together Disney's beloved brands and franchises with the hugely popular Fortnite in a transformational new games and entertainment universe," Disney CEO Bob Iger said in a press release. "This marks Disney's biggest entry ever into the world of games and offers significant opportunities for growth and expansion. We can't wait for fans to experience the Disney stories and worlds they love in groundbreaking new ways."

You can see the announcement trailer below.

If you're a fan of The Sims and Sims-like experiences, it's quite an exciting time; work on The Sims 5, or whatever it'll be called, is officially underway. Then there's the imminent release of Paradox's Life By You following a number of delays, and even the charmingly lo-fi Tiny Life for old-school Sims fans. The game that's generated perhaps the most excitement since its unveiling in 2019, however, is Paralives, and after a long old wait - and five years of crowdfunding support - its developer has announced it'll be entering early access next year.

That bit of information comes via Paralives' new live mode gameplay video (live mode in Sims parlance is the bit where digital chracters actively go about their daily business, as opposed to the customisation-focused build mode) which charts the life of Anisa as she moves into a new apartment and begins to get to know the neighbourhood and her new neighbours.

There's a look at how a Para's personality can be created - initially by raising or lowering their physique, mind, creativity, and charisma attributes, as well as adding a "vibe", social perk, talent, and various lifestyle toggles - and after that it's time to go outside.

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Disney is making its biggest push yet into video games. On February 7, the Mouse House and Fortnite creator Epic Games announced plans to create new games and an entertainment universe where consumers can “play, watch, shop and engage with content, characters and stories from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, Avatar…

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One of the many recent Final Fantasy VII Rebirth announcements from Square Enix is that there will be a FFVII Ever Crisis crossover involving the game. That will kick off on February 15, 2024.

Here’s the trailer for the Final Fantasy VII Rebirth crossover heading to the game. It focuses on the flashback to the early days of Cloud’s encounter with Sephiroth, showing the two of them when they went on a mission to Nibelheim. There are no details about what the event will entail and if it could involve another playable version of Sephiroth.

A GameStop tweet promoting a demo day when folks can come in and play some games on Xbox consoles using “Microsoft Game Pass” has injected more chaos and controversy into the ongoing, apocalyptic Xbox drama—set off by reports of exclusive games like Starfield coming to PS5—currently affecting console warriors and…

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After getting pushed into 2024, we have a release date for the game's next big update. New Game +, new suits, and other upgrades are on March 7. Along with those vague content promises, Insomniac also says it will have a proper list of new features in the future.

❗ OUR NEXT UPDATE IS COMING MARCH 7

Our title update for Marvel's #SpiderMan2PS5 arrives next month and adds highly requested features like New Game+, new suits, and more!

Watch our social media for a complete list of features closer to release. 🕸️🕷️ #BeGreaterTogether pic.twitter.com/qhncOPkUXY

— Insomniac Games (@insomniacgames) February 7, 2024

For more on Marvel's Spider-Man 2, you can read our review here.

When the 2.0 update arrived for Honkai: Star Rail, it also added the four-star Destruction character Misha to the pool of available characters. To help people understand how the new ice-type ally works, there’s a new “Keeping Up with Star Rail” episode discussing him. 

As usual, the video started by showing him a bit in Penacony, before going into combat. His basic attack deals ice damage to a single target. His R-Room Service Skill deals primary ice damage to one enemy and splash damage to the ones next to it. At the same time, it increases the number of hits for his Ultimate by one for each use. His Ultimate G-Gonna Be Late normally hits three times, with the first hitting a designated foe and the other hits hitting random ones. If the Skill was used before it, more random hits are landed. Also, his Ultimate has a chance of applying the Frozen status effect to any enemy it hits. Depending on how many times you use his Skill before his Ultimate, it can hit up to 10 times. 

Here’s the full Misha “Keeping Up with Star Rail” installment that explained the new Honkai: Star Rail character’s moveset.