November 2022

Upcoming sci-fi horror game The Callisto Protocol will have 25 death animations locked behind its season pass, but developers Striking Distance Studios have insisted these aren’t being held back for DLC. Striking Distance CEO Glen A. Schofield took to Twitter to try to reassure players that work hadn’t even begun on the animations yet. You can watch The Callisto Protocol’s slightly early launch trailer below.

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The online experience for Samurai Shodown is set to offer more. SNK announced that an update to bring the much-requested rollback to Samurai Shodown is in the works. The update is planned for the PS4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC version available on Steam and the Epic Games Store. That said, testing for the implementation will begin with the Steam PC edition in January 2023.

https://twitter.com/SNKPofficial/status/1595598325608218624

For the uninitiated, rollback is a form of communication protocol that allows two remotely connected computers to "talk" to each other and process input. The more common form of netcode has historically been "delay-based". Delay netcode is generally seen as suboptimal for internet-based matches, because it's less able to handle long distances or higher latency, a common situation for fighting game fans outside Japan. Rollback uses prediction and other techniques to ensure a smoother gameplay experience. In recent years rollback has become increasingly popular to include by default in a new fighting game (like Street Fighter 6), and even older games (like Guilty Gear Xrd REV2) are being retroactively updated for rollback.

CD Projekt Red will deploy its long-awaited next-gen update for The Witcher 3 on 14th December, and with it bring new Performance and Quality modes, a new Photo Mode, and other such quality of life features to the game.

However, it will also bring along with it something that is, perhaps, not quite so welcome.

Why yes, Witcher fans, this next-gen update will also include Netflix's take (at least for its first season) on the Nilfgaardian army's armour.

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As the World Cup kicks off, video game publishers have of course devised strategies to cash-in on the hype. EA has an officially licenced World Cup mode in FIFA 23, while Epic has some not-so-official World Cup skins in Fortnite.

Activision falls under the latter category with what is possibly the most creative (or bizarre) tie-in I have ever seen.

In Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2/Warzone 2.0, players can now vote on which team they think will win future matches. Those who guess correctly get 10,000 XP, that national team's flag as a Calling Card, oh and a remix of their national anthem.

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This week on the Eurogamer Newscast, we're discussing the PlayStation 6 - specifically, Sony's concerns about Call of Duty not being available on the upcoming platform, which we now know will debut sometime from 2027 onwards.

It's been another week dominated by news of Microsoft's $68bn Activision Blizzard takeover attempt, which is currently being scrutinised by the UK's anti-competition regulator. Partially-redacted documentation from this process has now been made public, revealing some eyebrow-raising arguments from Sony - which is trying to block the deal.

Both Sony and Microsoft have gone on the defensive to make themselves look the smaller fish - with Microsoft admitting Sony's exclusives are better and Sony saying any loss of Call of Duty would leave itself "extremely vulnerable", particularly if the series was made available through the popular Xbox Game Pass. So, should Sony be worried - or is this all just performative theatrics? Joining me this week to share their thoughts are Eurogamer's Ed Nightingale, Victoria Kennedy and Ishraq Subhan.

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It’s September 13, and Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio is just over 24 hours away from revealing its big plans for the future.

It’ll be a night of celebrities, game announcements, and an infamous afterparty full of alcohol, confetti, and blaring music. It’ll take over Twitter, and leave more than a few people nursing headaches the following day.

But today, instead of focusing on his big night, studio head Masayoshi Yokoyama is sitting in a conference room talking about why he loves Neon Genesis Evangelion. Read more...

Today Koei Tecmo and Gust had a new reveal in store for their upcoming JRPG Atelier Ryza 3: Alchemist of the End & the Secret Key.

This time around, we get to take a look at the whole playable cast, including the welcome return of three characters from previous games of the series. Patricia “Patty” Abelheim returns from Atelier Ryza 2: Lost Legends & the Secret Fairy, while Lila Decyrus and Empel Vollmer appeared in both past games, but were playable only in the original Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & the Secret Hideout. All three will be playable in the third game, bringing the possible party members up to 11.

Patty is a noble’s daughter from the Royal Capital who Ryza met when she visited in the second game of the series. Empel is Ryza’s former mentor in the art of Alchemy, while Lila is a member of the Oren race and mentored Ryza and her friends in the art of combat.

The party can include up to 5 members at any given time. Three are positioned in the front and two in the rear. Of course, you can switch positions between them, and the transition from exploration to battles is seamless.

We also take a look at Advanced Synthesis, with keys that can be used to enhance recipes. The new Link Call feature allows you to add new effects to synthesized items that were previously impossible to obtain.

There are various kinds of keys, and you can obtain them in battle or by visiting landmarks. By equipping a key in your keyring you can use it both in combat and while you explore. Some keys can even be directly equipped, providing a variety of bonuses.

You can take a look at the trailer below.

Update: the English version of the trailer has been published by the western arms of Koei Tecmo.

Netflix seems to be keeping its record of offering interesting anime going. Today, a trailer dropped for the upcoming second season of Record of Ragnarok. We also now know that the new season’s premiere isn’t all that far away, either. The 15-episode season will be broken into two parts, with the first ten episodes arriving on Jan. 26. There hasn’t been any further information on when the latter five episodes will be available.

This new season will again be produced by studios Graphinica and Yumeta Company, the same partnership that created the Muv-Luv Alternative anime. Record of Ragnarok is a battle anime full of terrific fights between humans and gods. If you’re in the mood for action, it’s a good watch.

Record of Ragnarok is adapted from the manga from writers Shinya Umemura and Takumi Fukui, with art by Ajichika.

It’s fair to say that Mass Effect 2 is well-known for its romantic branching storylines. In fact, there are a staggering nine different characters that you can woo in BioWare’s critically acclaimed sophomore outing. But did you know that there’s a secret alternate ending that was created as an in-joke by one of the members of the development team behind closed doors?

Well, today we can finally witness the wonder that is undoubtedly and officially the canonical ending of Mass Effect 2. Go ahead and check out the new footage down below:

ASMR videos are all the rage nowadays, and Warner Bros. Games shared one dedicated to the upcoming Wizarding World game Hogwarts Legacy.

Even if you don’t care too much about resorting to YouTube videos to relax, this specific one really looks awesome and provides a further glimpse into the environments we can expect to enjoy in the game.

While the game offers an extremely detailed rendition of Hogwarts that will certainly please many fans, it’s also an open-world game portraying vast surroundings and natural environments in which you can adventure, fight monsters, and hurl spells around with a little less concern for the safety of other students.

We see the close surroundings of Hogwarts, but also further flung places like farms, villages, and ruins.

You can check it out below.

Hogwarts Legacy is coming on February 10, 2023 (following a recent delay) for PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC.

As the rest of Team Kotaku are off chasing turkeys through their local Macy’s (I’ve done more research about what a Thanksgiving is this year), once more I have the keys to the site, have locked everyone out, and then immediately lost those keys. While I’m stuck here, I figure I should tell you about some…

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The endlessly silly debacle between Microsoft and Sony, regarding the former’s attempt to buy Activision Blizzard King, offers us a new lowlight every day. Yesterday we had Microsoft declaring that it has rubbish exclusive titles compared to Sony, and today Sony has just loudly dissed EA’s Battlefield franchise in an…

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It’s that time of the week again, when the Epic Games Store reveal what new games they’ll be giving away for free next Thursday. If you haven’t jumped on it straight away, then you can nab EA Motive’s decent sci-fi dogfighting sim Star Wars: Squadrons for precisely nowt until December 1st. Starting from December 1st, you’ll have the opportunity to claim game creation tool RPG In A Box and fantasy turn-based strategy Fort Triumph.

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This year’s Black Friday season is awash with early deals on gaming monitors, and there’s one I want to highlight before it sells out – which might be imminently, if its stock tracker is accurate. It’s the NZXT Canvas 27Q, which I recently called the best 1440p gaming monitor you can buy. And that was before it felt the force of a 30% Black Friday saving, with £116 sliced off the RRP.

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Back in the day, I could get lost in The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind for days, when I could get it to stop crashing anyway. There’s loads more Morrowind in 2022 than I could’ve imagined as a teenager though, as the Tamriel Rebuilt mod project has been working for decades to add other areas of the Elder Scrolls’ provincial mainland into the game. Their latest release, 22.11, landed this week, adding a huge one-two punch of expansions. You can see some of one of those, Dominions Of Dust, in the trailer below.

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Upgrading to an AMD Ryzen 5 7600X or Ryzen 7 7700X could prove trickier than with an Intel equivalent, as while the latest Core CPUs give you a choice of using DDR4 or DDR5 memory, the Ryzen 7000 family is only compatible with the newer and more expensive DDR5. There’s no re-using old DDR4 sticks with AMD’s latest and greatest, then, but with this week’s Black Friday deals you could get a brand new DDR5 kit for less.

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Today is a sad occasion on The Electronic Wireless Show, as Matthew is leaving the podcast, and we take the opportunity to go on a short hiatus while we search for a replacement by making staffers perform tricks for our amusement, reality competition style. But though it be sad, it is an occasion nonetheless, which means Matthew is going out in style as we build the ideal video game character dinner party. Spoilers: there is a giant ant and a boat full of cocaine.

As it's his last day, Matthew also does a fiendishly difficult Cavern Of Lies themed around secret endings. Which of us will end up dead and loaded onto the cocaine boat while the others beat a retreat?

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The latest installment of Pokemon is a certified blockbuster. According to Nintendo, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet sales figures breached the 10 million mark in just three days on sale. The numbers break all manner of records, both for the Pokemon franchise and Nintendo as a whole. The games launched on November 18, 2022.

Nintendo's press release revealed that the Pokemon Scarlet and Violet sales figures cover the global numbers for the games. However, more than 4 million copies (of the 10 million total) were sold in Japan alone. Nintendo said that the launch is the "highest number ever" for worldwide launch sales of a Nintendo title, over all Nintendo consoles. The same figures make Scarlet and Violet the biggest-ever launch for a Pokemon game and a Switch game, too.

As we mentioned before, sales are in full effect. For those just getting started with Black Friday deals on November 24-25, 2022, many retailers kicked off PS4 and PS5 game deals. Here are some of the best ones available. All of them apply to physical copies you can find in-store or online at places like Amazon, Best Buy, GameStop, Target, and Walmart.

Today Cloud Imperium Games released the first look at the next large spaceship that will join the lineup of the game.

The RSI Galaxy is not designed like a warship, but it comes with the weapons it needs for a multi-role ship. It also has a very cool aggressive arrow-shaped look.

It has a spacious interior able to accommodate six players with a full habitation section, captain’s office, engineering section, hangar, and a modular area that can be fitted for different operational needs.

The three available modules are a cargo module that increases the freight capacity significantly, a refinement module that lets you pick up canisters from mining ships via tractor beam and refine the materials they gathered, and a medical module with several beds.

The ship is designed to work well for a group of friends that want to experience different aspects of Star Citizen’s gameplay.

Tiy can see what it looks like in the video below, including a handy comparison shot with a Constellation, appearing to be pretty much twice as long.

Another brand new ship is the Anvil C8R Pisces, which has just been made available and is a variant of the existing Pisces but it’s basically designed as a small space ambulance.

Incidentally, with the current event going on, you can try the game for free until Nov. 30.

Today SNK announced new details about the new DLC season coming to its popular fighting game The King of Fighters XV.

We learn that the season (which was originally revealed at EVO in August) will launch in January, albeit no specific release date has been announced just yet.

The first DLC will include Shingo Yabuki. At the moment, we don’t know for sure if he’ll be on his own, but it’s worth mentioning that he indeed debuted as a single non-affiliated character in The King of Fighters ’97, so it shouldn’t be surprising if the same happens now. That being said, he’s been part of a couple of different teams in following entries of the series.

We already know that he’ll be followed by Kim Kaphwan, while today we learn that all of the existing characters will be tweaked for balance when the season launches. On top of that, more DLC characters will come down the line. The trailer shows 5 silhouettes, so it’s very possible that’s the number of fighters that will be added on top of Shingo and Kaphwan.

The spring will also see an open beta for the new crossplay feature, which will see players able to play together across all platforms including PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, and PC, both in its Steam and Epic Games Store incarnations.

You can take a look at the trailer below, while we wait for more information about the other game SNK is currently working on, which was also announced at EVO, a brand new Fatal Fury.

Disenchanted and WandaVision may not be set in the same universe or related to each other in any way shape or form, and yet, strangely, there are a whole bunch of similarities between the two. From the core themes of their stories to the motivations that shape character development throughout, the crossover is almost uncanny. So much so, in fact, that all these repeat elements had me rubbing my eyes to make sure I hadn’t crossed over into some sort of parallel dimension myself!

Let’s take a look at some of the most glaring parallels between Disenchanted and MCU’s WandaVision and shine a light on why, at their core, the two stories are near identical.

It's barely been a week since American Truck Simulator thundered across the Texan border, but already SCS Software is setting course for a new destination, with the developer having now confirmed Oklahoma as the trucking sim's next DLC expansion.

Oklahoma will be American Truck Simulator's 12th explorable state, joining California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Oregon, Washington, Utah, Idaho, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, and Texas - and its announcement isn't all that unexpected given SCS' continued left-to-right march across the US, and Oklahoma slotting so neatly above the recently released Texas.

"While Oklahoma tends to have an unfortunate reputation of being a rather arid place," SCS writes in its announcement post, "sometimes it's much better to avoid judging a book by its cover. The state is home to wonderful national parks, several natural marvels, and historical places full of mysteries and legends. And if you are looking for something more practical instead, the local road network and a strong economy will keep every trucker properly busy."

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It's fair to say Pokémon Scarlet and Violet have caused their share of complaints. Now, fans are upset that a Pokémon is too good.

Fire starter Fuecoco has been branded as "broken" by proponents of Pokémon's "Nuzlocke" style of gameplay - the fan-invented method of playing Pokémon which essentially amounts to permadeath.

Any Pokémon which faints in a Nuzlocke run is considered dead and must be released back into the wild. Additionally, you may only catch the first creature in any area and no other, severely limiting the number of Pokémon at your disposal.

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Ever since the “Red” trailer that Rooster Teeth released around a decade ago, RWBY captivated audiences with its impressive action sequences and charming characters. With a setting rife for writers to play in, a video game adaptation seems like it would be a straightforward process. Yet, despite it being a collaboration between major studios Wayforward and Arc System Works, RWBY: Arrowfell is an ultimately lackluster experience for both fans of and newcomers to the series.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xhsi4qVJUG4

All Pomp and No Circumstance

As a warning, the game does take place during Volume 7 of RWBY, so there are some spoilers. However, it does a fairly good job at explaining who the main characters are, and so even a passing knowledge of the story should be fine when getting by. I stopped watching in Volume 3 and had little trouble keeping up with the story.

RWBY: Arrowfell follows the story of Team RWBY – Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang – after they become fully-fledged Huntresses. Upon finding a mysterious orb on one of their missions, they notice an increase in Grimm – creatures of destruction attracted to negative emotions – activity around Mantle. They investigate the circumstances, while also butting heads with Team BRIR, which is a game-original set of characters. It is a fairly simple narrative that the game splits up into chapters.

In today's New Gameplay Today, your hosts Wesley LeBlanc and Kyle Hilliard jump into Outer Terror, an upcoming pulp action-horror game coming to PC sometime soon. 

The two discuss the game's visual style, how it plays, its similarities to Vampire Survivors, and everything else going on in this exclusive preview. This demo build features a small snippet of one of the game's five volumes and our gameplay showcases how the on-screen action works, the horrors from beyond, and how quests work in Outer Terror. 

Check out Outer Terror for yourself below in this installment of New Gameplay Today: 

As you can see, Outer Terror is shaping up to be a great time, perfect for those moments where you've got 10 or 15 minutes to blitz through hordes of the undead, monsters from beyond, and more. For more about Outer Terror and what to expect from the game, check out our coverage of the game from last month. 

Today the popular new mobile game Goddess of Victory: Nikke was updated with the addition of a new recruitable character and more goodies, and the developers are celebrating with a brand new trailer.

The new heroine is named Laplace, and she’s front and center in the new trailer that comes with a really nice anime style, topped by the song “The Wings of Victory” by AJURIKA.

Of course, Laplace can be obtained via Gacha, with her chance of appearing boosted compared to other characters exactly like with the previous banner that focused on Helm.

That being said, she’s not the only addition with today’s update, as it brought a new chapter for the story and a new boss to fight.

Both elements are also showcased toward the end of the trailer, which you can enjoy below.

The game also received a new event titled “High Tech Toy” for which we have written a handy guide.

Hinterland Studio's superb snowy survival adventure The Long Dark is getting its first paid expansion on 5th December and, ahead of release, the developer has detailed all it'll bring.

Tales from the Far Territory, as the new expansion is known, releases in six parts over the course of 12 months, each arriving approximately every 8-10 weeks. All six parts will focus on The Long Dark's much-loved Survival mode, but there are narrative elements in there and Hinterland is referring to the complete series as a "campaign".

Exactly what will be coming when is currently unclear, but Hinterland has now detailed all the major features it'll be introducing to Survival mode throughout the expansion. There are three new areas, for instance - the Forsaken Airfield, Industrial Mine, and Mountain Pass - all accessible via the Far Range Branchline and Transfer Pass hub.

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The propellers spin down, and I step off the puddle-jumper plane onto the tarmac of the tiniest airport I’ve ever visited. Instantly, I’m overcome by the scent of greenery – lush and humid, with a hint of maybe mint. Jungle surrounds this strip of paved runway in every direction. And I’m here, of all things, to see a video game.

But first, I must explore a place on the other side of the world I hadn’t even heard of a month earlier – a narrow island called Lifou, part of a French territory known as New Caledonia, which sits some 750 miles east of Australia. I’m meeting a small team of game developers who have chosen to find inspiration for their new game in this remote locale. The team is toying with a big idea: Craft a game that’s rewarding in its own right but simultaneously introduces players of the world to a place most of them have never seen. Read more...

The last time we took a look at Battlefield 2042, the beleaguered online shooter had just released its second major update and was, finally, starting to feel like something approaching a finished video game. With Season 3 out this week, it’s now even closer.

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Gene Shift Auto began life as a Geneshift, a topdown, Grand Theft Auto-inspired multiplayer game which dropped into Steam Early Access in 2017. It added a battle royale mode the year after, when we were all drunk on Plunkbat. Now it's changed name and it's going free-to-play on November 28th.

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Warhammer 40,000: Darktide isn't out until November 30th - unless you pre-ordered it, in which case it's playable in beta right now. This also means that it's already being regularly patched and expanded with new features. Today's update, version 1.0.8, introduced "the first element of the crafting system" as well as new cosmetics.

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Dwarf Fortress is coming to Steam on December 6th, which on its own is fantastic news. Even better news: it will have Steam Workshop support from day one.

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It's been a long while since there was a new Splinter Cell game, but you'll soon be able to listen to Splinter Cell on the radio. BBC Radio 4 are producing an eight-part drama series called Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Firewall which will broadcast this December.

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Today Striking Distance Studios and Krafton released the live-action trailer of its upcoming survival horror game The Callisto Protocol.

The trailer showcases protagonist Jacob Lee played by Transformers star Josh Duhamel, as he explores the Black Iron prison, discovering how the other inmates have been horribly mutated.

It’s certainly a good glimpse into the game’s themes, which definitely lean into the gore, brutality, and mutation to elicit a sense of disgust and uneasiness, contrasting with a sense of overwhelming tension to set the atmosphere.

You can see what I mean by taking a look at the trailer below.

The Callisto Protocol releases on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC on December 2, 2022.

If you’re not familiar with the game, it’s directed by Dead Space co-creator Glen Schofield, and the legacy of the defunct studio Visceral Games certainly feels like it’s alive and well.

Despite an avalanche of entries since its original release in 1991, many still consider Sonic the Hedgehog 2 the pinnacle of the series. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 was showered with praise upon release in 1992 and surprisingly, that sterling reputation hasn't faded decades later. We asked the people behind the game's success to share how Sonic's second outing became one of Sega's driving forces in its fight against Nintendo.

Coming off of the massive success of the Japan-developed Sonic the Hedgehog, Sega relocated development efforts for the sequel to the newly founded Sega Technical Institute in the U.S. Sega tapped Mark Cerny to lead the STI, who has since gone on to help create other mascots like Crash Bandicoot and Spyro the Dragon. Key members of the original development team, such as series creator Yuji Naka, moved stateside to work on the sequel to Genesis' flagship title.

"The development team moved to San Francisco when developing Sonic the Hedgehog 2, and we were able to recognize the great [power] of our title in the U.S. and hear opinions from children," Naka says. "I think it was good influence for the development team."

AMD's Ryzen 9 7900X is an awesome gaming processor that also kicks a lot of butt in content creation tasks, but a high asking price means that it's out of reach of many. However, that is slowly changing, with Black Friday Eve bringing a new low price on the high-end CPU: £475, down from a launch RRP of £600. That's a tidy £125 discount and a great price for one of the fastest consumer CPUs money can buy.

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The best budget gaming monitor just got cheaper. Dell have knocked the price of their G2722HS 27-in 1080p 165Hz gaming monitor down to £129, but when you use the code BFUKG2722HS it gets even cheaper: just £116.10. That's a tiny fraction of the original £239 price point, and one heck of a Black Friday discount on one of the best value gaming monitors of recent memory.

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If you have seen the Goblin Slayer anime or read the light novels/manga, you know just what level of spectacle to expect from creator Kumo Kagyu. This time, Kagyu is branching out from the medieval fantasy setting of Goblin Slayer and will instead show how he can handle the sci-fi genre in a futuristic Russian setting that is which will be a cyberpunk take on the Cold War.

This new series is called Moscow 2160 and will be serialized through Big Gangan, the manga imprint that is owned by Square Enix. All of the art will be handled by Sekine Koutarou. The first chapter will come out with the next issue of Big Gangan on Dec. 23. This is, of course, only a Japanese release. We will likely not see an English translation until the first manga volume is translated, which could be a while.

As for the plot, Moscow 2160 is about a world that is still under the tight grip of the Cold War. In Moscow, “mechanized thugs” roam, and conspiracies seem to grow by the day. The story follows someone who is considered a cleaner. Though, we don’t have a full grasp on what exactly that means.