April 2022

Rogue Legacy 2 has arrived, following an extended period of being in Steam Early Access. Like the first game, the adventure revolves around a family of heroes all pursuing the same goal, with randomized traits that can make your runs easier, harder, or even just funnier. It takes a whole family and dozens of generations to take down the ultimate evil, so here are some tips to get you started in Rogue Legacy 2.

Familiarize yourself with new powers

When you start a new run, you'll have your new standard weapon, along with two other abilities. These usually follow a pattern set by your class, but they can also be randomized. The last thing you need is to hit a button expecting a certain power to proc and then finding yourself surprised by some completely different effect. So before you start exploring the castle in earnest, take a few moments to familiarize yourself with your abilities, possibly even triggering them to get a feel for their range and speed.

Invest in skill tree unlocks that earn money

Money makes the world go around in Rogue Legacy 2, and the more money you can make and keep between runs means the faster you'll be able to upgrade everything else. For that reason, it's important to prioritize money-making. Obviously you'll need to invest in other unlocks like new classes, passive upgrades, and gear. But if an opportunity to enhance your cashflow presents itself, get that one first.

Activision has officially begun teasing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, claiming that the game will deliver a "new era" for Call of Duty. As we wait on more concrete details on 2022's new entry, let's break down the rumors and everything we know so far about this year's return to modernized Call of Duty.

Call of Duty 2022's developer, title, and logo revealed

Back in February, Activision confirmed Infinity Ward as the developer for 2022's Call of Duty game. Modern Warfare 2019 was a huge success for Call of Duty, so it's no real surprise that Infinity Ward would return to the series for their next release. Activision also officially announced the title and logo for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 on April 28.

The animated logo revealed by the Call of Duty Twitter account meshes the "M" and the "W" and the "II" together, while the included hashtag reads the title as Modern Warfare 2. The logo's animation does offer a subtle teaser as well. As pointed out on Twitter by Chaosxsilencer, Modern Warfare's iconic Task Force 141 logo can be seen when you slow the animation down.

Apex Legends Season 13: Saviors launches May 10, and as always, Respawn Entertainment is kicking things off ahead of time with the newest episode in the Stories from the Outlands web series. This season, it's a family affair.

Entitled "Hero," the animated short gives players the scoop on what exactly Bangalore's brother Jackson--known in the game as Newcastle--has been up to since he went missing and faked his own death. It turns out Jackson's been living in a settlement named Harris Valley, which has evidently been sold to a gang known as the "Forgotten Families" by the real Newcastle--that's right, Jackson is a fake who is standing in for someone else.

We see how this transpired in the trailer. Jackson is revealed to have a new family--a wife, teenage son, and young daughter. After his daughter loses her stuffed Newcastle toy, Jackson sets out to find it and stumbles upon Newcastle being attacked by a trio of members of the Forgotten Families.

It's here where we learn the reason for why it took someone as apparently skilled as Jackson so many attempts to get into the Apex Games--the real Newcastle was the one who was trying out before, and he was not doing a particularly good job (as evidenced by the fact that he immediately blames his string of losses on "crappy teammates"). Those first failed qualifying matches were played by the real Newcastle, who has now come under attack by the Forgotten Families due to his inability to gain access to the Apex Games. It seems he owes the gang a large amount of cash, and had hoped to use his Apex winnings to pay it off and save Harris Valley.

With the death of Godrick the Grafted in Elden Ring, you've bested your first demigod and claimed a Great Rune--a major step on the path to becoming Elden Lord. That solidifies your place in the Roundtable Hold and opens up more of the Lands Between to you. Next, we'll head north to Liurnia of the Lakes, the land beyond Stormveil Castle and home to the Academy of Raya Lucaria, where sorcerers learn mystic arts that are separate from those taught by the adherents of the Golden Order.

In Liurnia, you can learn a lot more about the demigod children of Radagon and Rennala, as well as major parts of the history of the Lands Between, and pursue one of the game's endings. It also opens the path to the east, allowing you to reach Leyndell, the Erdtree capital, and Mt. Gelmir. Here's everything that happens as you make your way in Liurnia to claim a second Great Rune, and what you need to know about the sorcerers who have taken control of it. Of course, you're going to find spoilers in this article as we try to explain the story of Liurnia.

For more context on the history, lore, and story of Elden Ring, check out our other explainers.

Activision and developer Infinity Ward have revealed the logo and teaser animation for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, and it's been discovered that the latter might be hiding some clues about what to expect.

At around 7 seconds in the animation, the emblem for Task Force 141 can be seen. This is the international special ops team at the heart of the Modern Warfare games. It would be no surprise to see 141 get back together for Modern Warfare 2, given the heavy suggestion at the end of Modern Warfare 2019 that the group's mission was not yet complete.

Barry Sloane, the actor who plays Captain Price in Modern Warfare, shared the MW2 announcement today on his Twitter page with the looking-eyes emoji, which might be a tease about his involvement.

Additionally, Tom Henderson on Twitter spotted the coordinates 1.3521° N. 103.8198° E. in a flash of the video. This points to Singapore, which could be a potential location featured in Modern Warfare 2. Henderson said he's seen an image from MW2 and it shows a soldier rappeling down a building. If this is indeed Singapore, the famous Marina Bay Sands would be an obvious choice for a sequence like this.

Sony has reportedly disabled PlayStation Plus pre-paid code redemption for existing subscribers ahead of the transition to the new tiered version of PlayStation Plus in June.

As reported by Eurogamer and PushSquare, some users are unable to redeem their prepaid PS Plus and PS Now subscription cards, presumably to stop users from locking in the new tiers of PS Plus at a cheaper price. In the FAQ for the new PS Plus, PlayStation states that users who are subscribed to both PS Plus and PS Now will be switched over to the highest tier, PS Plus Premium, when the transition is made. The length of the subscription will be based on whichever subscription is longer. Since the service was announced, users have begun stacking their subscriptions in anticipation of them being converted to the new service.

Now, it seems like PlayStation is blocking users from redeeming cards and from extending their subscriptions digitally as well. GameSpot can confirm that attempting to access an already active PS Plus subscription on a PS5 console results in an error code "CE-117773-6." Attempting to extend a PS Plus subscription on the PlayStation Store website results in an error stating the item can't be added to the cart because "You've already purchased this item."

GameSpot has reached out to Sony for comment.

World of Warcraft's recently announced Dragonflight expansion will introduce new race and class combinations, and will specifically allow all races (aside from the Evoker class-exclusive Dracthyr) to be Rogues, Mages, and Priests.

Via Wowhead, the announcement came as part of an interview with WoW lead combat designer Brian Holinka conducted by WoW content creator MrGM.

"More of this will come over time, but immediately in 10.0 we're gonna be making Rogues, Mages, and Priests available for all races, so everyone will be able to go out and make their sneaky Tauren Rogue tiptoeing on their hooves all around," Holinka said.

While fans will no doubt be happy about any race being able to sling spells as a Mage or heal their allies as a Priest, Tauren Rogues specifically have long been a joke in the WoW community, considering the massive race of cow people don't seem like they would be well-suited for the stealthy combat associated with the Rogue class.

But part of playing a fantasy RPG is being able to make the character you want to make, even if it means breaking conventions. Holinka indicated that the WoW team will seek to continue removing class and race restrictions in the future. Unfortunately, no word yet on when Night Elf Paladins, another fan-requested race and class combination, will be coming.

"I don't wanna make any huge promises but we kinda feel like we want to move towards a world where the race of a character is not a limiter for what they can or what they can become in World of Warcraft," Holinka said.

Crumbling Farum Azula is one of the most foreboding zones in all of Elden Ring, filled with deadly drops, dragons, and bloodthirsty Beastmen around every corner. It's a tough journey, but clearing the area is the last step before you're ready to take on the final bosses of the game back at Leyndell. Only one things stands in your way: Maliketh, the Black Blade.

Maliketh is a relentless foe whose two phases demand drastically different approaches. Luckily, if you know what to look out for--and go into the fight equipped with a few important items--you'll come out victorious in no time.

Preparing for the fight

Unlike other late-game areas in Elden Ring, Crumbling Farum Azula is impossible to get to early (without the use of certain glitches, at least), so you should naturally be at a high level by the time you reach Maliketh. In any case, aim to be at least level 120 (ideally closer to 150 or so), with at least 40 points invested into Vigor. Get your weapon leveled up to the max, as well.

If you're running a range-focused build, this fight is going to be a nightmare to take on solo. Maliketh can (and will) close the gap between you in the blink of an eye, and gives you very little room to breathe from start to finish. If you want to use a bow or cast spells from a distance, you'll definitely want to bring along a Spirit Summon to distract him up close so you can attack from a safe distance. Something big and tanky, like Banished Knight Oleg or Lhutel the Headless, is your best bet.

If you plan on fighting Maliketh with a melee weapon, we highly recommend bringing along a shield. There are certain attacks during phase one of the fight that are unpredictable and extremely difficult to dodge, but can be blocked at little cost to your stamina. Any shield with 100% Physical damage reduction will work fine.

The River City series is going (imagine Huey Lewis' voice here) back in time. Arc System Works has announced River City Saga: Three Kingdoms, a goofy brawler take on the classic novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, is coming to the West on July 21. It will be available on PC via Steam, PS4, and Nintendo Switch.

The trailer shows off what you might expect from a River City game: squat, pixelated muscle-men beating the spit out of each other, including some large crowds dispatched with super-moves like you might expect in a Dynasty Warriors game. Which is appropriate enough, considering that game series is also based on the Three Kingdoms historical text. It's said to include 4-player co-op and a total of 24 playable characters.

It's a big year for River City, as Arc also released River City Girls Zero--a remastered version of the 1994 Super Famicom game that introduced Kunio and Riki as playable characters. Those two would go on to be the stars of the criminally under-appreciated River City Girls in 2020, which is getting a sequel called River City Girls 2 this year.

River City Girls and its sequel both feature an updated visual style, while this River City Saga game is very much based on the classic look you may remember from the NES original. We can only hope that means historical figures will shout "BARF" when they get socked in the breadbasket.

“There is a realm of existence so far beyond your own you cannot even imagine it. I am beyond your comprehension. I am Sovereign.” It’s time to take control of the controller, as Dark Horse Direct is creating an amazing replica of Mass Effect’s original Reaper, Sovereign.

Standing in at 14 inches tall and weighing nine pounds, this figure shows off everyone’s OG Reaper in all of its terrifying glory. You can check out the official description and some photos of the Mass Effect Reaper Sovereign statue below:

Today, Lillymo Games’ 2D shoot’em up, Habroxia 2, has finally made its way to the PS5. This news came by way of Twitter, where Co-Owner Colin Moriarty revealed that the title would be arriving on the platform and that PS4 owners would also get a copy for free.

Alongside this news, Moriarty also revealed that Habroxia 2 has sold over 15,000 copies. While that might not sound like a large milestone, it’s important to note that the team behind the game isn’t very large.

For more on Habroxia 2, check out a brief description of the game and its features right down below.

The official Genshin Impact Twitter account has just recently announced that the game’s upcoming version 2.7 update will be delayed. The tweet mentions that there will be player compensation for the delay and that more details are on the way for those who are looking to get a grasp on the situation.

New version updates typically go live after the final character banner of the current version. In this case, the end of the Ayaka banner would usually signal the start of version 2.7 on or around May 11.

There’s no new date for the update just yet but, as mentioned in the tweet, more announcements will be coming soon. At this time, we’re still unsure of whether or not Ayaka’s banner will get extended, or simply end at its scheduled time and date.

Nintendo Switch Sports is out now (29th of April). It's a reboot of the classic Wii Sports game, and is available to play on Nintendo Switch and Switch OLED, but it won't work on Nintendo Switch Lite.

Wii Sports became a staple in living rooms back in 2006 thanks to its easy-to-play selection of sports that required skill to master, were a lot of fun, and could be played with others. Nintendo Switch Sports is brining back two of the sports from the Wii version, Tennis and Bowling, and is adding four new sports with Chambara, Football (Or Soccer), Badminton, and Volleyball. A Golf mode will also make it's way into the game as a free update in the autumn.

The Nintendo Switch has been out for five years now, and with the Joy-Con controllers having motion sensors in them it always felt like a Wii Sports style of game was a big miss from the Nintendo Switch library. Now it's finally here you can get back to challenging your family and friends in a variety of sports. Find out where to buy it in the UK and US below.

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Sony has confirmed it has removed the ability for existing PlayStation Plus subscribers to extend their subscription - blocking the ability for anyone to stack future membership via pre-paid cards - until the revamped service arrives in late June.

This week, PlayStation Plus subscribers found they were unable to redeem pre-paid voucher cards and extend their subscription time - even if it was about to run out. Bewildered customers were told the situation was "temporary", but not given further explanation.

Now, Sony has updated its FAQ page for its upcoming PlayStation Plus changes and ackwnowledged the move - and said that, for now, you'll only be able to redeem pre-paid vouchers you have bought after your current Plus membership expires.

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Stardew Valley players are competing in a meme to mod grandpa's bed.

If you're unfamiliar with the farming sim, the game opens with you inheriting land from your grandpa who has sadly passed away - shown in a brief scene at the start.

However, modders are now altering the scene to show grandpa in a variety of new... situations.

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New release windows have been revealed for several upcoming indie games, including Stray and Cult of the Lamb.

In a tweet from PlayStation, that also comes with a colourful teaser, the company revealed that Stray will be coming to consoles this summer. Previously we had been given an "early 2022" window but, given that we are now into Q2 and not been told a more concrete date, this new timeframe isn't exactly a surprise.

Along with Stray, We are OFK will also be releasing this summer. Meanwhile Cult of the Lamb, which was previously only slated for a release "later this year" will be coming our way this autumn.

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UPDATE 4pm UK: Ubisoft has acknowledged today leak of Skull and Bones test footage, and told fans to keep an eye on the horizon for official news.

A short clip of footage from the game was posted by Ubisoft to Twitter this afternoon, hours after the leaked footage begain circulating. More on all that below.

ORIGINAL STORY 2.30pm UK: Footage of Ubisoft's unreleased pirate game Skull & Bones has leaked.

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Narrated test footage for Skull and Bones has leaked online, showing off a big part of the blockbuster’s transformation since it was last officially shown at E3 2018. It’s pretty and also looks like a textbook modern Ubisoft game. Players will collect blueprints, loot materials, and build up their infamy rank to get…

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Hope Wallston—an ex-realtor, single mother, and blogger within The Sims 4— has been living inside of fellow Sims Rodney and Kristyn’s walls for nearly two months. Her captor, the TikTok account @simslicious, has been documenting all the ups and downs of her imprisonment, which includes a visit from Santa and,…

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Battle royale spinoff and subtitle collector Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodhunt launched this week , following a delay to address feedback from its early access phase. That included ample reports of performance issues, but fortunately, what I’ve played over the past couple of days points towards a much more stable brand of last-vamp-standing shootery. Let’s take a look, then, at Bloodhunt’s PC performance, system requirements and the best settings to tweak.

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QA contractors working directly on the next Dragon Age with BioWare Edmonton have filed to unionise, just the latest in a string of such decisions affecting high-profile companies throughout the industry. The workers are employed by the internationally-operating contract services company Keywords Studios but contracted out to BioWare. They’ve now formed the KWS Edmonton United group and have named low pay and concern at being instructed back into the office while Covid-19 remains a danger as their reasons to seek collective bargaining.

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If you’ve ever looked at your Xbox Series S and thought to yourself, ‘this is cool but what if the giant, green, one-eyed octopus thing named Gargantos from Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness was on it instead,’ then today is your lucky day. 

That’s because Microsoft has unveiled just that: a custom Xbox Series S console with Gargantos on it that you can win in a new giveaway. Plus, Xbox has created four custom controllers based on upcoming characters in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness: Doctor Strange, Scarlet Witch, Wong, and America Chavez. Microsoft says that each controller will feature distinctive and recognizable components and textures from the characters’ costumes. 

You can enter for a chance to win this custom Xbox Series S console and all four of the custom Xbox controllers by retweeting the official Xbox sweepstakes tweet below.

Today aNCHOR announced that the Muv-Luv Alternative manga has become available on the popular online reading portal and app INKR.

All 16 volumes localized so far in English are already available, with the first five chapters readable for free. The full manga is included in INKR Extra subscriptions, while non-subscribers can purchase it separately.

The manga by Azusa Makishima includes 17 volumes in total. It’s known for lovely art and for expanding on the beloved story of the original visual novel.

The press release came with a comment from INKR head of operations Hieu Tran:

“We are super excited to be collaborating with aNCHOR to bring Muv-Luv to our fans here at INKR. Many here at INKR have been fans since its original run back in 2003, so to finally have the opportunity to feature it on our site has been surreal for us and hopefully our readers too!”    

To celebrate the launch, a giveaway has also been started, promising Steam keys of Muv-Luv and Muv-Luv alternatives to 25 INKR users.

If you’re interested in the Muv-Luv series in general, you should definitely read our recent interview with production manager Sho Hamanaga and brand producer Kazutoshi “Tororo” Matsumura, in which they talked about the plans for the franchise.

Microsoft has just revealed the four games that will be available for players through Games With Gold in May 2022. These games can be played by Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and Xbox Live Gold subscribers at no extra cost.

All four games are playable on Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S, while Xbox 360 users have access to only the last two. Here’s the full list:

• Yoku’s Island Express ($19.99 ERP): Available May 1 to 31
• The Inner World – The Last Wind Monk ($19.99 ERP): Available May 16 to June 15
• Hydro Thunder Hurricane ($9.99 ERP): Available May 1 to 15
• Viva Piñata Party Animals ($9.99 ERP): Available May 16 to 31

For those who don’t know much about the games listed above, Microsoft has also put out their usual Xbox Games With Gold highlight trailer to give a quick look at the four games. You can watch it for yourself below.

There’s still time to redeem this month’s Games With Gold options, for those who missed April’s list of games. We covered those as well, so you can read up on them right here to know what you’re potentially missing out on. And for more Xbox-related coverage, be sure to check out the related articles below.

Today D3 Publisher announced the Japanese release date of their upcoming action game Earth Defense Force 6.

The game will launch in Japan on August 25 for PS5 and PS4. A free upgrade option will be offered from PS4 to PS5.

The standard edition will cost 8,980 yen including taxes, while the Deluxe Edition will cost 12,100 yen including taxes, and it will come with the Season Pass.

That being said, PlayStation Plus subscribers can enjoy a 15% discount if they pre-order.

Pre-order bonuses include a special plasma core, while early adopter bonuses include three decoys. The further images you can see in the gallery below portray more cosmetic retailer-specific bonuses. Purchases before November 30 will be eligible for the early adopter bonuses.

No western release has been announced for the moment, but D3 Publisher has been good at launching its games in North America and Europe, so it’s likely to come at some point. Of course, we’ll let you know as soon as D3 Publisher lets us know anything relevant about this.

In the meanwhile, you can check out a trailer and new gameplay below.

The M1916, introduced in Warzone Pacific and Vanguard Season 3, is a Marksman Rifle that packs a punch.

Even though this weapon hits hard, it’s held back by low bullet velocity, slow fire rate, and general impracticality, especially when compared to other top-tier weapons.

It’s possible developer Raven Software will make this weapon more viable in the future, but for now, there isn’t much reason to use it in a competitive sense.

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The Nikita AVT was first introduced to Warzone and Vanguard as part of the April 2022 Pacific Season 3 update.

Unfortunately, this assault rifle isn’t as competitive as you might’ve hoped, due to its finicky recoil, and slower Time to Kill (TTK).

Despite this, we still recommend giving it a try since developer Raven Software will likely adjust the Nikita later on, as the developer has done with other weapons in the past. It certainly isn’t terrible, and is usable, especially if you’re a skilled player.

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Capcom's been taking the slow and steady approach to revealing more on Monster Hunter Rise's Sunbreak expansion since its initial unveiling last year, but now, with its 30th June release approaching, the news is coming faster, and the publisher is promising "exciting reveals" and more for its next digital event on Tuesday, 10th May.

Precisely what will feature remains a mystery, but, alongside those aforementioned "exciting reveals", Capcom is also promising new gameplay, a look at some new monsters, and other currently unspecified treats. If your interest is suitably piqued, proceedings kick off at 3pm in the UK/7am PDT on 10th May via Twitch, and Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak’s director, Yoshitake Suzuki, will be on presenting duties.

Capcom’s previous Sunbreak digital event was a biggie, giving us a release date, a look at some new monsters, as well as an introduction to the expansion’s new hub area - the bustling port town of Elgado Outpost - and its new map, The Citadel. The latter promises to deliver a diverse range of biomes, including lush forests, icy mountains, and foggy swampland, with a huge ruined castle as its centrepiece - and we got an extended tour in a subsequent video.

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Lego Builder's Journey is a stunning game with a comprehensive ray tracing feature set that gives the title a CG-like quality on a high-end gaming PC. This makes the new PS5 release rather intriguing. Like the PC, it promises ray-traced visuals, unlike last year's release on Xbox Series consoles - so can the PS5 deliver a top-class experience and how does it compare to the conventionally-rendered Xbox versions?

Before we get into the comparisons, let's break down Lego Builder's Journey into its building blocks. This is a rather limited title, essentially a series of small puzzle stages, presented from an isometric perspective with limited camera movement. The original release targeted iPhones and iPads after all, with simple and graphically basic levels that wouldn't look particularly exciting on consoles or PC. But this relative simplicity, along with a conversion from Unity's more limited Universal Render Pipeline to their advanced High Definition Render Pipeline, allowed Light Brick Studio to really scale up the visual quality when it shipped on PC last year. Even without raytracing features the title looked excellent, with carefully implemented SSR, ambient occlusion, subsurface scattering, and volumetric lighting.

Ray tracing, of course, took the title to the next level, solving all the problems inherent to the screen-space techniques and delivering a much more accurate lighting simulation complete with RT for shadows, ambient occlusion, global illumination and reflections. An upgrade like this would likely prove very challenging for a typical AAA title that was built from the ground-up with precalculated solutions in mind, but here, a ray-traced pathway was eminently feasible and produced great results. So how well do these console releases compare to the top-end PC release?

Sky Broadband launched its new full fibre broadband package, Gigafast, in April 2022 and it's their fastest FTTP service yet.

If you and your family or housemates all regularly play online multiplayer games, work from home and often watch content on Netflix, Twitch, Amazon Prime, Disney+ and other streaming services on separate devices - you'll more than likely benefit from all that Sky Broadband Gigafast has to offer. Ahead, we thought we'd share the benefits of the new package and why it might be worth considering switching or upgrading to.

Before we dive in, you can also compare Sky Broadband's other great full fibre offerings, including their Superfast, Ultrafast and Ultrafast Plus services over at our best Sky Broadband deals guide. Our best full fibre (FTTP) broadband deals guide can also help you compare prices and speeds with other popular full fibre providers.

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Choosing between Rogue Legacy 2 classes can be a bit overwhelming with so many options available.

Playing a certain class requires you to unlock it with gold coins first. Even then you can’t just pick the same character for every run, as you only get three random classes pulled from what you have unlocked.

You’re not always guaranteed to get a certain one, but this guide will cover the best classes in Rogue Legacy 2 for both general gameplay and boss fights.

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Memory Fragments in Rogue Legacy 2 are small blue orbs you will come across in your travels throughout the roguelite’s deadly castle.

When you first interact with a Memory Fragment, your character can hear a thousand whispers, but can’t make out a voice. This is because a special item is required to read Memory Fragments.

You need to read Memory Fragments in Rogue Legacy 2 in order to progress with the story, so finding the item needed to translate ‘a thousand whispers’ is essential.

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Yesterday, Genshin Impact developer HoYoverse announced that the latest update for their open world RPG would be delayed, a first for a live service game that’s been reliably consistent for the past two years. The official Twitter account said that version 2.7 would be postponed because of “project progress,” and that…

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If there’s anything that’s going to finally get me back into the terrifying prospect of a crowded, dark room with poor ventilation, it’s Sam Raimi directing a Doctor Strange sequel. But unless Strange PhD has cast another of his wayward spells, I’m going to be spending far too much time staring at the background…

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RIP Wii Sports. Bowling only has ten pins. Boxing is gone. The most anticipated mode—golf—isn’t even available yet. But perhaps the most egregious crime committed by Nintendo Switch Sports is how it totally sidelines Miis, the lovable oddball player-created avatars who’ve defined Nintendo accounts for years. However,…

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The Overwatch 2 beta has arrived, and it’s come bearing gifts for tank and damage players who’ve received a bunch of new bells and whistles to mess around with. But alas, healers, the stalwart cornerstone of the team-based shooter, are feeling left by the wayside. Blizzard just rolled out a patch for the beta, and…

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Finding your niche can often be the key to success for smaller developers, but Swedish team Image & Form refuse to be pigeonholed. Over the last ten years they've tackled every genre, from tower defence to turn-based tactics, RPGs and action platformers. With their latest game, The Gunk, they've finally entered the realm of 3D adventure games. Released on Xbox Game Pass at the tail end of last year, The Gunk was a big step up for the makers of SteamWorld Dig. Not only was it their first game in 3D, and their first time using a new engine, but it was also their first title that had nothing to do with the series they'd built their name on. As it makes its way to Steam today, I sat down with director Ulf Hartelius to talk more about the creation of the game's titular goop, and how the timing of its environmental themes about cleaning up its gunked up planet was much more than just a Death Stranding-style happy accident.

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