July 2023

UK games trade body Ukie's latest diversity campaign, Impact, has revealed the first six individuals selected to "level up the games industry for disabled and neurodiverse people", celebrating their "outstanding passion, success and contribution to disability advocacy".

Impact, which aims to "showcase and celebrate the talents" of six disabled and neurodiverse UK-based games industry professions", launched back in April. The "annual long-term initiative" hopes to feature people from across various areas, specialisms and levels and "have stood out in their career [as] are proud advocates of their identity".

The six individuals selected from 80+ nominations are:

Read more

Hello! Eurogamer's latest week of features celebrating the intersection of LGBTQ+ culture and gaming is nearing its end, but we're not quite done yet! Wrapping things up in style, we've spoken with some of our favourite creators, passed notes among the team, and even delved into the Eurogamer archive to spotlight just a few of our favourite queer and queer-positive games.

Some are joyous, others are intended to disturb and challenge, and maybe even a few are more than just a little bit profound. But hopefully you'll find something here to enjoy, that compels you to investigate further, and if there's something we've missed - after all, it's a far-from-definitive list, given the breadth and richness of queer stories being brought to life by talented studios today - perhaps you'll even share a few of your own favourites in the comments below.

As selected by Gareth Damian Martin, creator of Citizen Sleeper.

Read more

Bokeh Game Studio has given us a fresh look at its upcoming horror-but-not-too-horror game, Slitterhead.

In an all-new developer diary posted to YouTube (see below), Bokeh revealed new details about its inaugural title, including a sneaky peek at some of the game's enemies, abilities, and – surprise! – the ability to play as a dog.

Given "early development footage" is stamped across all snippets of gameplay and most of the action comes from early tests, it's safe to presume that development has moved on since this footage was captured, but nonetheless, it provides a tantalising glimpse at what's in store.

Read more

During the Honkai: Star Rail version 1.2 special program, HoYoVerse revealed its release date. It’ll fall on July 19, 2023. You will likely be able to pre-download the launcher onto your PC or mobile phone before that date so as to start playing immediately. However, mobile players will still need to re-download the updated version of the game from the app store.

You can watch the trailer for Honkai: Star Rail Version 1.2 here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPYqvSRWkx4

You can also watch the Japanese trailer here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lYCWgiW03Q

Luocha will remain in the Warp until Version 1.2 comes out, and the current Stellar Flare event will end then as well. However, due to issues regarding the event, the Belobog museum one will continue all the way to August 2023, and will thus still be available in Version 1.2.

It will introduce the playable versions of Kafka and Blade, as well as continue the story quest. Not only will there be new maps to explore, but there will also be new bosses to fight. There will also be several new events, such as a treasure hunting one that’ll grant awards like Stellar Jades. Version 1.2 will also introduce chat boxes to spruce up your in-game messages to your friends.

During the Honkai: Star Rail Version 1.2 special program, HoYoVerse revealed the order that the new Blade and Kafka banners will come out in. We already learned that both will be the new playable five-stars, as well as the four-star Luka. However, we didn’t know until now which one would be first. Blade will show up initially. Then Kafka and Luka will follow.

Blade is a five-star Wind Destruction playable unit in Honkai: Star Rail. Lore-wise, he’s an immortal mara-struck who can keep it in control thanks to Kafka’s Spirit Whisper. He also has a mysterious past with Dan Heng, and his ultimate goal is to end his eternal existence. Blade is similar to Hu Tao in Genshin Impact in which he consumes his own HP to deal greater damage against enemies, as well as enhancing his Basic Attack. He's voiced by Daman Mills in English.

Like Blade, Kafka is a member of the Stellaron Hunters in Honkai: Star Rail. She’s a five-star Lightning Nihility playable unit. In her lore, Kafka comes from a planet that doesn’t know fear and she also literally doesn’t know fear. So she works for Elio after he promised her that he would incite a change in her. As a playable unit, her kit mostly focuses on dealing Lightning DoT. She can also launch a follow-up attack after an ally’s Basic Attack. She's voiced by Cheryl Texiera in English.

It looks like we'll see a Honkai: Star Rail Dan Heng Nendoroid and other figure news at BilibiliWorld 2023. The event is July 21-23, 2023. On Bilibili, the unpainted prototype of this first figure appeared. He'll show up at the event at the game's booth. [Thanks, Genshin Update and 帕姆的收藏夹!]

Here's a closer look at the Honkai: Star Rail Dan Heng Nendoroid. He's equipped Cloud-Piercer in this initial pose. He also features his standard, stoic expression. There's no hint about other expressions or accessories.
[gallery columns="1" size="full" ids="972086" link="file"]

Good Smile Company's made figures for quite a few HoYoVerse games already. There are ones for Honkai Impact 3rd characters like Kiana and Bronya. Genshin Impact Nendoroids, figma, and scale figures also appeared, with some upcoming ones being Zhongli and the Raiden Shogun. In the past, figures based on Aether and Lumine, Venti, and Mona showed up. In fact, Mona appeared as both the first Genshin Impact figma and as a scale figure.

Another Honkai: Star Rail Special Program has come and gone, which means more Stellar Jade codes. It's a tradition for HoYoVerse to share a few at its presentations. For 1.2, there are three codes as usual. Redeeming them all nets you 300 Stellar Jades and other in-game items.

Here is the full list of new Honkai: Star Rail Stellar Jade codes from the Special Program 1.2

• MSPT7HAZTCTX – 100 Stellar Jade, 5 Traveler’s Guides
• 5TPBPGAGBDAK – 100 Stellar Jade, 4 Refined Aether
• 7B6B7GBZTVTB– 100 Stellar Jade, 50,000 Credits

Depending on how you play the game, you'll need to redeem those codes in different ways. So if you play Honkai: Star Rail on a PC, bring up the in-game “phone.” You then tap the Trailblazer Profile button. Underneath it is a button that says “Redemption Code.” Hitting that lets you redeem a code. However, if you’re playing on a mobile device, you’ll need to go to a special website. After logging in, selecting your server, and choosing your character nickname, you can enter all three codes. In both cases, you’ll get messages in your in-game inbox that you need to read to claim the freebies.

Honkai: Star Rail is immediately available on the PC and mobile devices, and the new codes from the 1.2 Special Program are valid only on July 8, 2023. The new version update will come on July 19, 2023.

More storage space is on the way to Diablo 4.

Responding to a fan question on a recent livestream, Diablo 4 associate game director Joe Piepiora confirmed that the team "definitely hears everybody about" the cramped storage allocation.

But whilst confirming that Blizzard had "good plans", Piepiora did admit that the team was "still figuring out how we're going to get that accomplished".

Read more

Every once in a while, we see a developer do something a little different with the hidden object genre. It’s always appreciated. I grew up with Where’s Waldo and appreciate opportunities to see those sorts of puzzles again. Crime O’Clock mixes the idea of picking people out of a crowd with crime solving. You will see a specific crime, such as a theft or murder, and then need to go through different moments in time to track culprits. Crime O’Clock works well, especially on the Switch, but does hit some limitations.

Twitch is introducing a new Stories feature, providing streamers with a further way to reach their followers when not livestreaming.

Stories will last for 24 hours and appear on the Twitch mobile app, similar to other social media platforms.

The news was shared at this year's TwitchCon Paris event, along with other new features joining the platform.

Read more

I haven’t touched a Naruto game since the titles back in the PS2 and GameCube days when I was first getting into the massive manga and anime series. As such, it was exciting getting to play the latest game, Naruto x Boruto Ultimate Ninja Storm Connections, during a preview at Anime Expo 2023.

Set to have the largest roster of all time with more than 130 characters, this preview only included a handful of characters from both Naruto and its sequel Boruto. Immediately, I was taken back to my childhood with the brilliant cel-shaded style art that felt like the anime come to life in a 3D format.

[caption id="attachment_971688" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Image via Bandai Namco[/caption]

As with past games, this title features fighting-style gameplay in 3D arenas based on popular locations from the series. I had the option to play against the computer for the first two fights, letting me pick my starting fighter and two additional support ones.

Welcome to the latest edition of the Giant Bomb Community Spotlight! I, @zombiepie, am once again honored to be your host as we look back at the best community creations from the previous week.

First, I want to thank all of you for the tributes and commemorative comments on the site and social media related to the tenth anniversary of Ryan Davis' death. It's still impossible to comprehend that it has been ten years, but the heartfelt thanks to the man and his legacy certainly helped with this long coping process many of us are still going through.

And now for something completely different. The staff and site have been exploring social media alternatives to Twitter. The following list is an update of the new social media platforms the staff have joined in the last week.

Warhammer Age Of Sigmar: Realms Of Ruin's open beta is live now. You've got until July 10th if you want to give the Stormcast Eternals or the Orruk Kruleboyz a spin in Frontier's real-time strategy game.

Read more

For the first time in the 25-year-old basketball franchise's history, NBA 2K24 will feature crossplay across PS5 and Xbox Series X/S when it releases worldwide on 8th September.

2K has also revealed that the "18-time All-Star, five-time NBA Champion, two-time Finals MVP, two-time Olympic Gold Medalist, all-time leading scorer for the Los Angeles Lakers and Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer", Kobe Bryant, will be featured as the NBA 2K24 Kobe Bryant Edition and Black Mamba Edition cover athlete.

New features include Bryant's "Mamba Moments" mode, which allows you to channel your "inner-Mamba" and "recreate some of Kobe’s most captivating performances and progress through his transcendent journey from a young phenom to one of the greatest players of all time".

Read more

Magic martial arts, grapple hooks and rooftop-hopping make Naraka: Bladepoint one of the best battle royales on PC. Now it's going free-to-play next week on Thursday, July 13th.

Read more

Yuji Naka, the co-creator of Sonic The Hedgehog, has been found guilty of insider trading. The former Sega and Square Enix developer has been given a suspended sentence of two years and six months, and ordered to pay two fines totalling ¥173 million (around £948,000).

Read more

While scrolling through Reddit I saw this peculiar yet interesting discussion on the Fortnite page: what is the ugliest skin in the game? Not necessarily bad, just ugly. Disgusting. Hideous. It’s a fact that Fortnite has way more creative characters than bad ones, but not all of them are meant to be pleasing to the eyes; some are actually made to trigger nightmares. We’ve already talked enough about great skins and fan-favorite crossovers here, but now it’s time to look at the nastiest outfits in Fortnite.

One of the most impressive aspects of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is the exhaustive list of creative ways to solve your problems in both combat and puzzles. Some enemies are easy to deal with while others are downright annoying, like the Horriblins. Luckily, one fan came up with a simple, yet effective way to end their reign of terror with just a handful of berries.

Reddit user Naydog101 demonstrates their mastery over the cold, but delicious Ice Fruit by using it as a weapon instead of a delicious treat. They made short work of the Horriblin in mere seconds.

The life simulator genre is about to get a whole lot bigger with the highly-anticipated release of Life by You, a game that is considered to be The Sims franchise’s biggest contender for the throne. Although it has yet to launch, Paradox Tectonic has already provided fans with all the juicy details through screenshots, videos, and informational questionnaires. So, if you want to get a head start on your new virtual adventure, here’s 10 exciting features you can look forward to in Life by You.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you may already be aware of the surge of AI-generated content plaguing the Internet. This time, numerous voice actors have expressed their dissatisfaction over the use of their voices in Skyrim NSFW mods.

Earlier this week, Twitter user Robbie92_ posted an image featuring a list of voice actors whose voices had been dumped into AI-voice generator machines. The user argued the modding community has been abusing voice actors by creating and distributing non-consensual deepfake pornographic content via AI-voice cloning.

As expected, the voice actors are not taking this well. Benjamin Diskin, who played several characters in Elder Scrolls Online, commented he did not consent to his biometric data being used for these purposes and asked to be informed if his voice was used.

2023 has been a phenomenal year for video games. It feels like exciting releases have been aplenty this year, with fantastic new games at almost every corner. Thanks to titles like the Resident Evil 4 Remake, Street Fighter 6, Final Fantasy XVI, Diablo IV, and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, gamers have been treated like royalty across the first six months of the year.

But would you believe it if you were told that a year like 2023 could get even bigger? The second half of the year feels just as loaded (if not even more so) than what the first half offered up, and there’s gonna be plenty to put your money toward as we approach the Holiday season. Here are 12 upcoming games that we’re heavily anticipating across the rest of 2023.

Witcher 3 has no shortage of romance options, but whenever I inevitably go to replay it, I can’t help but notice a few missed opportunities. Some characters only gave us a brief, but impactful look into their life and left us wanting more. Sure, you’re meant to roleplay as Geralt and by this point he’s essentially a one-woman man, but it doesn’t hurt to imagine other characters we wish could have been romanced in Witcher 3.

10. Tomira, the Herbalist of White Orchard

It’s clear Tomira has no love for Nilfgaard (Get in line, right?), but she certainly cares for White Orchard and its residents. Then there’s her expertise in herbalism, which some people tend to associate with witchcraft. Geralt even manages to unintentionally impress her with his own knowledge, and she also helps him locate buckthorn for baiting a griffin.

The Shinobi world of Naruto is filled with dangerous missions, powerful antagonists, and full-fledged wars, so it’s no surprise that there’s been many tragic losses of character lives along the way. However, among the frequent deaths occurring throughout the ninja lifestyle, there are several instances in Naruto where characters realistically should have lost their lives but somehow managed to escape such a fate. We’ve rounded up the most notable characters that come to mind regarding near-death experiences and defying the odds, so without further ado, here are 10 Naruto characters that should have died.

Over the years, annual Call of Duty installments have featured different weapons of different strengths. Some are perpetually weak but others are at the opposite end of the scale: so strong they can be considered overpowered. Here, we’re taking a trip down memory lane and picking the top 10 most overpowered weapons in Call of Duty history. 

For this list, we’re trying to ignore good weapons and focus on those that were so strong, at least for a period of time, they qualified as OP. Not all were dominant for months, with the respective devs generally quick to nerf standout guns. However, some were at the height of their powers for inexplicably long periods so, without further ado, here are our picks. 

Honorable Mentions 

It wouldn’t be a top ten list without some honorable mentions first. These weapons were all overpowered at some point, but pale in comparison to the other weapons that made the final list. 

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away… in 1977, the first Star Wars film released in theaters. George Lucas introduced moviegoers to a new universe that was clearly expansive and well-thought-out, but few people could have expected it to become what fans see today when they play something like Star Wars Jedi: Survivor. With Star Wars Outlaws peering over the horizon, it’s going to have its work cut out for it in order to fit itself into a galaxy filled with stories new and old.

For Star Wars, the term “world-building” seems like an understatement. Truly, there is an entirely fictional galaxy, consisting of hundreds of planets with thousands of races of people and animals, both intelligent and non-intelligent. On top of that, there are multiple time periods with their own technology, politics and key players that can be traced through various source material. Somehow, throughout all of this, the Star Wars games have to do something that deserves more credit than it receives: staying both grounded and original in a franchise that is filled to the brim with content.

Over the past two years, a slew of game publishers have announced plans to intergrate the blockchain and NFTs into future projects. Sega were among them, registering a trademark last year for Sega NFTs.

Now Sega co-chief operating officer Shuji Utsumi says they'll keep their biggest series away from the blockchain, and called play-to-earn games "boring."

Read more

DOOM is one of the most iconic and long-running first-person shooter franchises of all time. The brainchild of iconic FPS developer id Software, DOOM took the essence of id’s previous franchise, Wolfenstein, and pushed it even further, serving as one of the most important titles in gaming history. Not only did this lead to a massive, lucrative franchise, but the series has continued to grow and enthrall audiences with successive titles.

Incredibly, the franchise is set to celebrate its 30th anniversary this December. It’s amazing to see it’s lasted this long and, through all the ups and downs, remained one of gaming’s most venerable shooter franchises. Let’s take a look at DOOM’s biggest titles and rank them from worst to best.

EA FC’s reveal livestream confirmed that, in line with leaks surrounding EA Sports’ brand new football simulation series, the Ultimate Edition will launch a week before the Standard Edition. There was no word on prices, but they have been leaked and would put the FC as the most expensive iteration from EA yet.

For the first time in decades, the new football season won’t bring a new FIFA video game. Instead, we’ll receive the first installment of the EA Sports FC series.

As technology exponentially advances, it only makes sense for classic titles from yesteryear to receive the remake treatment. While some are totally remade from-the-ground-up, other offerings net a more rudimentary “spit shine” finish to help bring the experience up to modern standards. With the recent cavalcade of remakes releasing this year, we thought that now would be an ideal time to update our list of best remakes of all time. So, without further ado, let’s shake a leg and get right into it!

The 2022-23 season is in the books and means football fans are looking forwards to the 2023-24 season. Here are the top 10 players we expect to receive major downgrades when EA Sports FC Ultimate Team rolls around.

The release of player ratings is a big moment in the build-up to any FIFA game. This year is a little different though, with EA Sports’ infamous football simulation franchise being rebranded as EA Sports FC. This is as a result of the company’s exclusivity deal with the FIFA governing body wrapping up, which looks set to continue the FIFA video game series on its own.

We’ve already taken a look at the top 10 players set for major upgrades in EAFC but, here, we’re considering the other end of the spectrum. That’s to say players who had poor seasons or just didn’t live up to their FIFA 23 ratings. It’s naturally subjective and in no particular order.

Although Elden Ring has been out for over a year, many players are still not done with beating the game in the weirdest ways. The latest one to join the group was PointCrow’s pet goldfish, Tortellini, who beat Malenia’s first phase like a champ.

The YouTuber set up a machine to translate his goldfish movement into a control input, which in turn made the character move. PointCrow has also streamed his pet’s progress on his Twitch channel so his fans can follow Tortellini’s incredible yet absurd journey.

Of course, PointCrow does not expect his goldfish to beat Elden Ring like a regular human. He installed the Elden Ring Boss Arena mod so his pet can face each boss without the hassle of stumbling around blindly in the Lands Between.

With another season in the books, gamers are looking forward to EA Sports FC and a series of new superstars to play with and enjoy. Here are the top 10 players we expect to receive major upgrades in EA Sports FC Ultimate Team.

FIFA player ratings are a big event every year, especially in the build-up to a new instalment’s release. That’s even more true in 2023, with EA Sports FC set to launch a new era in EA-developed football simulation titles.

The exact algorithms and method to grading players is not known, but video game and football fans love to see who’s rated what ahead of each game. We expect EAFC to follow the same pattern in Ultimate Team, with players’ cards rated at a certain OVR as well as on individual stats. 

Here, we’re going through 10 players we expect to get major upgrades in EA Sports FC’s Ultimate Team. That’s because their past ratings might have proven too low or their real-life performances have exceeded all expectations. It might also be both. 

Naturally, this list is subjective and doesn’t constitute all the players that are set for big upgrades. We’ve just picked 10 exciting players (in no particular order) from across Europe’s top leagues who are all but guaranteed to enjoy a big boost to their OVR and stats. 

The Far Cry series has been one of Ubisoft’s longest running franchises, offering players tight first-person shooter action, sprawling open worlds teeming with missions to complete and bad guys to gun down, and an absolute bucket-load of weapons. Whether you want to go the silent, stealthy route, or make lots of big, big bangs, any and all approaches are welcome as you fight off against the series’ notorious villains. Alas, like lots of things in life, not all Far Cry games were created equal. Some are great, standing the test of time over a decade later, while others… well, they’re better off just being forgotten. After spending dozens upon dozens of hours with the series at this point, we’ve put together our definitive ranking of the best Far Cry games from worst to first.

One of the best ways to convince new people to play Fortnite is by telling them all of the possibilities, such as having Kratos and Ryu on the same team. Or even Chris Redfield and Leon S. Kennedy fighting back-to-back against a zombified squad. What started as a small and colorful battle royale a few years ago is now a playground full of infinite characters and this unique place where you will see crossovers among the most unusual IPs. After rating the best Marvel and DC skins, it’s now time to rank the best Gaming Legends Series outfits in Fortnite. We’ll stick to one person per franchise since many of them have multiple great skins.

Capcom has confirmed that cross-platform party chat will not be available at launch for its upcoming team shooter, Exoprimal.

In a series of tweets, the developer/publisher revealed that whilst it was "investigating ways to allow you to play together with your friends on other platforms", "this may take some time".

"We've seen the Exoprimal community discussions happening regarding the ability to create parties between players on different platforms, and would like to clarify the game's feature set around this at launch," the team explained via its official social media channels.

Read more

Hello! All this week, Eurogamer has been marking Pride with another series of features celebrating the intersection of queer culture and gaming. As ever, it's been both a privilege and pleasure to have so many wonderful writers share their enthusiasm, stories, and visions of a hopeful future throughout the week - and you'll find a complete round-up of this year's features, conveniently assembled for your leisurely perusal, below.

Once again, a massive thank you to our stellar contributors (in order of appearance): James Croft, Ozzy Smith, Ed Nightingale, Sharang Biswas, Eli Cugini, Gareth Damian Martin, Alex Meehan, Ebonix, Nikatine, Lottie Lynn, Llaura McGee, Eve Golden Woods, Wren Brier, Deere, August Aiden Black, and Dr Lloyd (Meadhbh) Houston. Additional thanks go to Christian Donlan for his ever-invaluable behind-the-scenes assistance, and to Malaika Hardy-Fraser for this year's wonderful Pride Week artwork and logo.

We hope you've enjoyed this, Eurogamer's fourth annual Pride Week, and we will, of course, continue celebrating the achievements of, and highlighting the issues affecting, the LGBTQ+ community in gaming throughout the year. We'll be back with another week of Pride celebrations in 2024, and if you've missed out on Eurogamer's previous Pride Week festivities, you can catch up here, here, and here. Until next time!

Read more

"Ultrafast roguelite" Ninja or Die: Shadow of the Sun will launch on PC via Steam on 2nd August 2023.

To celebrate, publisher Marvelous Europe has released a playable demo that can be downloaded on Steam from now until 17th July.

Check out the frenetic action yourself in the teaser below:

Read more

Good news, Resident Evil fans – more remakes could be on the cards.

At its most recent general shareholder meeting Q&A, the publisher/developer was asked directly if it planned to continue "providing high-end visual remakes of only the main numbered entries in the Resident Evil series".

Whilst Capcom wouldn't commit to remaking fan-favourite unnumbered Resident Evil games like Code Veronica, it also didn't rule it out, either.

Read more

The first season of the Oshi no Ko anime adaptation is done and, as anyone who also followed the manga may know, it proceeded a little differently. Namely, the pacing was a bit different. Basically the first volume was covered in its first episode. But considering the nature of the medium and the focus of this telling, it feels appropriate and like it benefits this version of the story.

Square Enix is reportedly "considering" remastering some of its older titles after the success of Final Fantasy 1-VI Pixel Remaster.

Addressing questions at its 43rd Annual Shareholders’ Meeting Q&A, Square Enix's board members "refrained from sharing information about new titles", but did acknowledge that it was "considering various ideas [about remastering older titles] within the company", adding: "we hope that you will look forward to forthcoming announcements".

"Final Fantasy I-VI Pixel Remaster has been well received," posited one shareholder, as spotted by VGC. "Are there plans to remaster other past titles? Personally, I would like to play Xenogears."

Read more