November 2023

Cities: Skylines 2 studio Colossal Order has pledged not to release paid DLC for its city building sequel until its heavily criticised performance issues have been "fixed to our standards".

Performance concerns have, of course, dogged Cities: Skylines 2 even before its release, with Colossal Order and publisher Paradox Interactive taking the unprecedented step of warning potential buyers that it had "not achieved the benchmark we targeted" prior to launch - but then going ahead and releasing it anyway because "releasing now is the best way forward."

In the weeks since, Colossal Order has continued to chip away at Cities: Skylines 2's performance issues and bugs (even the ones definitely not related to teeth), and it's now followed-up last week's patch with a new blog detailing some of the changes to come.

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PlayStation integration with X (formerly known as Twitter) is ending for PS5 and PS4 next week via a new update. That means users will no longer be able to directly upload screenshots and video clips from the console to the social media site.

An announcement update posted to the PlayStation Support page states that on Monday, November 13, X integration will end, which includes the ability to “view any content published on X on PS5/PS4, and the ability to post and view content, trophies, and other gameplay-related activities on X directly from PS5/PS4 (or link an X account to do so).”

While a bummer for those who make frequent use of this feature, which offers a simple method of posting gameplay content to the platform, there are a couple of more involved alternatives depending on your platform. If you’re a PS5 user, you can still use the PlayStation mobile app to upload gameplay captures to then post on X. You can read how to do that here. PS4 users have to rely on ShareFactory and do a bit more work, and you can read those steps here.

An achievement added to Baldur’s Gate 3’s GOG release has teased the possible addition of a new permadeath mode for the D&D RPG - meaning that if your whole party dies, your save will be permanently wiped. In a game where play time counts can end up in the hundreds of hours, that’s a fairly terrifying prospect.

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On Monday, during the first day of the Epic v. Google legal showdown over app store fees, both companies gave their opening statements and began poking at each other’s witnesses. And during the day, Epic admitted that its digital PC game store still isn’t profitable.

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Square Enix confirmed the Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince online multiplayer options. There will be ranked and casual friend matches, as well as opportunities to hold tournaments, as well as an online shop to visit.

Some of the online options involve being actually present and around other people virtually. The Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince online multiplayer Friend Matches, Ranked Matches, and Multiplayer Tournaments all fall into these categories. The two match options are one-on-one and involve either facing people registered as friends or strangers at similar rankings. The tournaments involve eight friends or strangers fighting together. 

The Quickfire Contest works a bit differently. This taps into data collected by Square Enix. It compiles 30 players’ monster information to immediately run a contest to give you rewards based on your stats and their analysis. This option is limited, however. While the other online opportunities can happen multiple times, you can only take part in Quickfire Contest once every day with your team of characters.

As for the online shop, it involves using virtual currency you earn by playing. However, every day what it sells will change. It has no real-cash items in it.

Crunchyroll and Sony Pictures Entertainment will bring SPY x FAMILY Code: White, the first movie based on the series, to the big screen internationally in 2024. This film will be a standalone story about the secret agent Twilight and his family of eccentrics, which consists of his skilled assassin wife Yor and his telepathic daughter Anya.

The film will be available for viewings in both Japanese with English subtitles and an English dub. Not only will it arrive in North America, but Crunchyroll acquired the rights for Latin America, Australia, New Zealand, and Europe. Austria, Benelux, France, Germany, Italy, the Nordics, Portugal, Spain, and Switzerland are the confirmed European countries.

You can check out the key art and some stills from the film in the gallery below:

Following the new Zenless Zone Zero trailer, HoYoVerse revealed the identity of new character Grace Howard. She will be playable and is aligned with Belobog Heavy Industries.

Three images were released alongside the character showing details about her. Characters named Gear, Oil, Screw, and Wrench all offered “testimonials” about her. She’s mentioned as being caring, logical, and smart. 

On November 6, 2023, Cygames announced the World Flipper Japanese version will end on February 20, 2024. The global version will shut down as well, though its end dates haven't been set yet.

This comes after the Cygames announced it would slow down updates for the mobile game. In preparation of the game’s closure, in-app purchases in World Flipper will cease on December 18, 2023. All billing will be suspended. However, items purchased prior to this date can still be used until the end of service date. It is highly recommended that these items are used before the service’s termination to avoid complications with refunding.

As of November 30, 2023, no additional characters or events will be added to the game. Bosses will cease appearing in mid-December 2023.

Despite the unfortunate news, there is a silver lining to the announcement. Cygames plans to update World Flipper after the end of its service to an offline version. This will allow players can still experience the world and characters of the game.

Sony is dropping Twitter integration from its PlayStation consoles starting next Monday, 13th November, mirroring similar decisions made by Xbox and Blizzard earlier this year.

Twitter (or X, if you must) integration has long been a part of PlayStation's operating system, giving users a quick and convenient way to share screenshots, videos, Trophy achievements, and more to social media. Unfortunately, all that's about to end.

"As of November 13, 2023," Sony wrote on its support site, "integration with X...will no longer function on PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4 consoles. This includes the ability to view any content published on X on PS5/PS4, and the ability to post and view content, trophies, and other gameplay-related activities on X directly from PS5/PS4 (or link an X account to do so)."

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Atlus West released the next character trailer for Persona 3 Reload on its official social media account and YouTube channel, and it introduces the reserved and gentle navigator Fuuka Yamagishi.

All of the footage involves new gameplay from the remake. In the new trailer, we get a preview of a few social events with Fuuka. These show her attempting to feed a stray orange cat a bento box, reading science fiction novels, and gardening together with her.

We also get to see Fuuka in combat as well. Lucia is her Persona, who helps her buff her fellow party members from the sidelines. She can also use SP to perform a few skills in Tartarus, such as Jamming. This can help you and your party stay undetected by enemy shadows on the dungeon floor. Her other skills that were shown briefly include Sylphid Aura and Shock Noise. As she's a navigator, she doesn't actually fight. Rather, she's an ever present supporter.

Meet Fuuka Yamagishi by watching the new Persona 3 Reload character trailer below:

Bandai Spirits announced that it will have an Ichiban Kuji lottery for original Gundam Seed and Cup no Fuchiko items. Cup no Fuchiko goods are figures that you can place on the rim of your cup, making it look like they’re posing or in the middle of doing something. [Thanks, Hobby Watch!]

There aren’t any pictures of the Ichiban Kuji items just yet. However, there is a piece of promotional art that Bandai Spirits shared. It shows Fuchiko wearing a spacesuit while hanging upside down from what seems to be the Strike’s head. As for the prizes, you’ll be able to get:

• A Prize: Freedom Gundam x Cup no Fuchiko figure
• B Prize: Kira Yamato cup
• C Prize: Athrun Zala cup
• D Prize: Lacus Kleine cup
• E Prize: Signature scenes glass

A new Project Voltage image is now available via its official Twitter account, depicting Hatsune Miku with Meiko. The Pokemon species with them are Jynx, Oricorio, and Spritzee.

Twitter (X) integration will no longer be available on PS4 or PS5 consoles. This update will go live on November 13, 2023. [Thanks, Wario64!]

Currently, it is possible to directly view and post game activity to Twitter from the PS4 or the PS5. You simply need to click the Share button on the controller when you record a video or take a screenshot, and then you can make a Tweet directly from the console. However, after November 13, 2023, players will have to download their gameplay content and then post to Twitter from their PC. You can also use the PlayStation App to do this. Judging from direct replies to Wario64’s Tweet, it seems that the majority of people already use the PS App method of downloading and uploading clips.

The reason behind Sony’s decision to remove Twitter integration is likely due to the high prices that Elon Musk introduced to the platform in February 2023. As a result, a lot of sites and programs that previously allowed users to log in via Twitter removed the function. The Enterprise tier of pricing, which Sony would need to use, could cost a minimum of $42,000 a month.

Square Enix and Applibot announced that FFVII Ever Crisis will be host a Final Fantasy IX crossover event starting on November 9, 2023. It will feature costumes and enemies inspired by the other entry.

The upcoming Final Fantasy IX crossover event in FFVII Ever Crisis will feature Black Waltz as the boss. It will also include a new costume for Cloud based off of Zidane Tribal's outfit and a costume for Tifa based off of Amarant Coral's outfit. The crossover event will also feature new weapons, an original story, and battles with crossover-exclusive bosses based on Final Fantasy IX. There are also other unannounced campaigns that will come during the upcoming crossover event period.

Square Enix shared a video of the upcoming Final Fantasy IX event featuring the Black Waltz battle, as well as Cloud and Tifa's outfits. The video from social media can can be viewed below:

A group of former BioWare testers plan to protest outside the company's Edmonton headquarters today, after being laid off from contract studio Keywords last month.

The group has chosen today - 7th November - as it is BioWare's N7 Day, an annual celebration of the developer's Mass Effect franchise.

13 former testers were employed by Keywords Studios but seconded to BioWare to work on 2021's brilliant Mass Effect Legendary Edition trilogy remaster. This group then worked on the upcoming Dragon Age Dreadwolf - before a dispute erupted over their continuing ability to work remotely.

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The open beta for The Finals - the upcoming destruction-heavy PvP FPS from Ex-EA and DICE exec Patrick Söderlund's Embark Studios - is now over, and it seems to have been remarkably successful.

Following its conclusion, Embark announced that a whopping 7.5 million players joined the beta to battle it out among the masses.

"It's been a thrilling week for the entire team, one that we'll never forget. We're utterly dazzled by your kindness, openness, and excitement throughout the entire Open Beta period," it wrote in a blog post over on Steam.

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The Epic Games Store still isn't profitable.

That's according to Epic Games Store boss Steve Allison, who was speaking during a court hearing on Monday.

As reported by The Verge, the exec was talking during the current Epic vs Google court case. Here, Allison said while the Epic Games Store still isn't profitable, the company's focus remains on "growth". Additionally, according to emails shared during the trial, Epic had hoped to claim half of all gaming revenue for PC games.

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Nintendo's Switch console has now passed 132m units sold, but the company is remaining silent on its successor.

According to Nintendo's latest report detailing sales over the last financial quarter, Switch sales are still going strong. Unit sales for the Switch family of consoles rose 2.4 percent year-on-year, with the OLED model the most popular. A further 4.69m Switch OLEDs were sold, as clearly players are willing to spend extra on the improved screen, or to simply upgrade from the older model.

On a conference call after the earnings release, Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa refused to comment on plans for a Switch successor, despite rumours of a 2024 release.

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The Switch continues to inch closer to becoming Nintendo's best-selling hardware ever, as it has now surpassed 132 million units sold. It did so thanks to great software sales for new first-party games released this year like The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and Pikmin 4. 

This news comes from Nintendo's Fiscal Year 2024 second quarter financial results, which ended September 30. In it, we learn the Switch has officially reached 132.46 million units sold, getting it closer to the company's best-selling hardware, the Nintendo DS at 154.02 million units sold. The only other console above the DS overall is the PlayStation 2 at roughly 158 million units sold. 

People who play videogames want "new content literally almost every single day", according to Blizzard president Mike Ybarra - indeed, "they want new stuff every day, every hour". I do not want new stuff every day, every hour, Mike. Frankly, the idea makes me want to burn my possessions and go spend the rest of my life under a pine tree.

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Stranger Things has returned to Dead by Daylight.

The chapter, based on the Netflix series, includes The Demogorgon as a Killer, Nancy and Steve as Survivors, and the Underground Complex Map.

The game's developer Behaviour Interactive pulled this content from the game back in November 2021 due to an expiration of its licensing agreement with Netflix.

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Square Enix has reported a drop in profits, despite a boost from sales of its most recent Final Fantasy games. However, 2024 is likely to be a stronger year by comparison.

According to its latest financial report from April to September 2023, company operating income has dropped by 33 percent and ordinary income by 42 percent.

That's despite an increase in sales for its HD Games, owing to the releases of Final Fantasy 16 and the Final Fantasy Pixel Remasters.

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Baldur's Gate 3 looks set to receive a new difficulty mode which will restrict players to one save file and permadeath.

A new achievement for the game called Foehammer, which references an Honour mode, has been spotted on the GOG launcher and shared on the game's subreddit. Fans of developer Larian Studios have recognised Honour mode from its previous appearances in Divinity: Original Sin Enhanced Edition and Divinity: Original Sin 2.

In the Divinity games, Honour mode only allows players one save, regardless of whether it was a manual, auto, or quick save. Permadeath is enabled, and if the player's entire party dies the save is erased. That's all on top of the extra difficulty added by Tactician mode, the second most difficult option after Honour mode.

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Ubisoft has finally allowed you to explore Assassin's Creed Mirage without its chromatic aberration visual effect permanently switched on.

An update for Mirage launches today for PC, PlayStation and Xbox which adds a toggle for the visual effect. There had been numerous fan complaints that it was simply too distracting, and many requests for it to be switched off or toned down.

You can download the update (version 1.0.5) from 1pm UK time and try the option for yourself. Download sizes for the update range from around 3 to 5GB, depending on platform.

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What makes a rally game? Speed helps, as do puddles, and patches of muddy track. Long drifts are essential, and the thing has to look right. You want to thunder into woodland and over ice. The cars, with their glaring sponsorships, should resemble sculpted dollops of Colgate wrapped in Christmas lights - or futuristic toys. Oh, and those racks of headlamps, as if a vampire hunter were competing, are a must. With EA Sports WRC, Codemasters supplies all of this. Plus, the studio, constitutionally incapable of making a bad driving game, is now armed with the official World Rally Championship licence.

The new game centres on a career mode, in which you are assailed not only by curves of gravel-topped treachery, high in the mountains, but by the tight turnarounds of the calendar. You can only choose one activity per week: a race, a rest, a motor show, a talent hire. But opting for one means missing the rest. You make your plans, and the pressure mounts. To begin, you have a choice between Junior WRC, WRC2, or the unfiltered punishment of pure WRC. You then pick a driver, and are acquainted with the disembodied Keith Taylor, your chief engineer. "Pleasure to meet you in person, finally," he says, as the camera lingers over a laptop in a vacant office.

Kadokawa has opened up a popularity poll for Sword Art Online: Last Recollection. The poll will close on November 12, 2023. [Thanks, Dengeki Online!]

This poll is to commemorate the release of Sword Art Online: Last Recollection, which came out on October 6, 2023. Bandai Namco also developed and released the game for the tenth anniversary of the Sword Art Online games. For reference, the first game for the light novel, anime, and manga series, Infinity Moment, came out in 2013.

As for the poll itself, there are fifty characters to choose from. Users nominated these fifty characters, which includes game original characters. When Kadokawa announces the results of the poll, it will release the Top 20, as well as a ranking specifically for game original characters. Though it doesn’t seem like you can vote more than once, you can vote for more than a single character.

SNK confirmed the release date for the final Season 2 DLC character in The King of Fighters XV. Hinako Shijo will appear in KOF XV on November 14, 2023. The sumo-practicing schoolgirl who debuted in KOF 2000 will return with Akane Tamura replacing Ayako Kawasumi as her voice actress.

The full pre-release trailer for the KOF XV DLC character Hinako Shijo is available to watch right below:

SNK initially revealed Hinako in October 2023 with a Winter release window. The finalized release date of November 14, 2023, means that the company has pushed the actual release forward. The Winter window would usually go from December to February, while November is still part of the Fall season.

Ahead of her playable debut in Genshin Impact, HoYoVerse uploaded a character demo for Furina. She will appear in the first phase of Version 4.2, which will go live on November 8, 2023.

You can watch Furina’s character demo here:

As one might be able to imagine from the title “All the World’s a Stage,” as well as from Fontaine’s story thus far, the Furina trailer for Genshin Impact Version 4.2 has a very theatrical feel. It intersperses scenes of her acting on a stage with scenes of her fighting in battle. Furina’s animations in battle look like she’s performing, which fits with both her role in the story and Fontaine’s plot.

For reference, HoYoVerse revealed some information on Furina’s kit during the Version 4.2 special program. She will be able to switch between Ousia and Pneuma, which will make it more convenient when solving puzzles in Fontaine. She is very versatile, as her Skill can change depending on which alignment she’s in. When she’s Ousia, she can deal AoE Hydro DMG, and when she’s Pneuma, she can heal her allies. While her Skill is active, she can walk on water. Her Burst can deal damage, as well as buff party members.

Reviewed on: PlayStation 5
Platform: PC
Publisher: Keen Games
Developer: Keen Games

When the original Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl came out in 2021, it was a relatively bare-bones experience, but those bones were solid. Despite lacking many single-player modes, items, and even character voices, the core gameplay was good enough to keep the game afloat until it received refinements via online updates over the next two years. Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2, however, comes packaged with all those improvements and more. Developer Fair Play Labs has learned its lessons, and while the game isn't without its faults, it's a more-than-worthy follow-up.

Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 starts you off with 25 characters, which is the same amount currently available in its predecessor if you include DLC. A surprisingly large number of characters do not return for the second entry, however; only 14 fighters return, meaning 11 were replaced. If one of your favorites was cut, you have every right to be disappointed, but it's a blessing as well. For one, notable exceptions from the first game, like Squidward and Jimmy Neutron, are included here. A new roster also means the team at Fair Play has more opportunities to be creative with character mechanics, and the game feels more novel, even though the basic gameplay is similar.

Lords of the Fallen, the spiritual successor to 2014's Soulslike with the same name, hit PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC last month – you can read Game Informer's Lords of the Fallen review here. After a recent patch a few weeks ago that made the game easier and added in some Halloween festivity, developer Hexworks and publisher CI Games have released its schedule of content for the game and it includes new questlines, two new events, more armor and weapons, and more. 

The roadmap also includes a "regular weekly cadence of updates focusing on bringing further stability, performance optimization, and balancing improvements to the game, including its online crossplay experience." 

Remedy Entertainment launched Alan Wake 2, its Alan Wake sequel 13 years in the making, last month to the delight of both critics and fans – you can read Game Informer's Alan Wake 2 review here. Since its October 27 release, Remedy has released three updates, including its biggest yet last week, for the game so far. And now, a fourth update is live and while it's one of the smallest yet, it fixes a few key issues.

Alan Wake 2 Update 1.0.9 

• PlayStation 5: Update 1.00.09
• Xbox Series X/S: Update 1.0.0.9
• PC: Update 1.0.9

Xbox Series – A workaround fix for the issue where the audio cut out intermittently in the Prologue. We are expecting a full fix for this issue in an upcoming update.

Room 665 – Fixed an issue (again) with the Echo scene not aligning and unlocking correctly (this was fixed in the previous update, but Echo hell still persisted)  

Local Girl – Fixed an issue with a mouse (with a big presence) blocking progress.

Laid-off Dragon Age: Dreadwolf and Mass Effect developers are attempting to turn this year's "N7 Day" of Mass Effect-themed festivities into a day of mass revolt. The developers in question are a mixture of former full-time staff and former Keywords Studios QA testers who have worked on Dreadwolf under contract. They've organised pickets outside BioWare Edmonton's offices in Canada, and are calling on BioWare fans to get involved on social media, while trying to engage current BioWare staff in conversation about unionisation.

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Nintendo has said that reports detailing the company's actions briefing external game developers on Switch 2 are "untrue".

During an investor briefing held today following the company's latest quarterly financial results, Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa issued a blanket denial to address a swathe of reports that have mapped out the company's progress towards launching its inevitable Switch successor.

Nintendo showcased Switch 2 hardware capabilities to game developers in August around Gamescom in Cologne, Eurogamer reported at the time. Demos included a souped-up version of the original Switch launch title Zelda: Breath of the Wild, meant to show off the Switch 2's improved technical capabilities.

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Lords of the Fallen developer Hexworks has laid out its 2023 roadmap for the Soulslike.

A number of free content additions are in development, but perhaps most intriguing is a new questline event - presumably to extend the core storyline.

The plan also includes ongoing weekly enhancements, including stability, performance, save game fixes, multiplayer improvements, balancing, increased boss difficulty, and other quality of life tweaks.

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The long-rumoured but unannounced Silent Hill: The Short Message has had its plot details leaked by the Australian government's rating body.

The Short Message first popped up in September 2022, when it was rated in South Korea by The Game Rating and Administration Committee of Korea.

Content warning - the rest of this article contains mentions of self-harm and suicide which some may find distressing. The following also contains spoilers for Silent Hill: The Short Message.

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Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3's short campaign may be getting mixed feedback, but it does at least feature a cameo appearance from the series' best canine boy.

Fans have found that there's a pettable dog (of course) featured during the game's Trojan Horse mission, which you are encouraged to go stroke while attempting to blend into the level's crowds.

Linger on and continue looking at said dog after petting it and its name will soon pop up: Riley, the lovable German Shepherd who served as a squad member in Call of Duty Ghosts.

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For more than 30 years, Mario Kart has been going strong, with the series spanning 14 games. The fundamentals of Nintendo’s wacky racer are largely unchanged from the days of the Super Nintendo: You pick a racer, grab some items to chuck at your friends, and zoom past the finish line. But one overlooked installment…

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This year, the Call of Duty series turns 20. Few video game franchises are as popular or successful as Activision’s yearly war shooter series. Even if you don’t like the games or stopped playing them years ago, millions of people around the world continue to buy and play each new entry—and it’s not just because of its…

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The Austrailian Classification Board and Classification Review Board Annual Reports 2022-23 appeared, and it included the Silent Hill: The Short Message rating and story details. However, the description also featured a number of spoilers from the new Silent Hill project. [Thanks, silent-mario on Reddit!]

The game came up during the section discussing Mature Accompanied MA 15+ rated games. This is one of the stronger advisory categories, and it falls between Mature and Restricted R 18+. The rating for it began by noting it featured “strong suicide themes, horror violence, and coarse language.” However, at the end it did note that all of the imagery and content do “not exceed strong in impact,” which is why it didn’t get an R 18+ rating instead.

However, the bulk of the description goes over the plot. It mentions Anita is in a German apartment building called The Villa searching for insight about her friend. It also mentioned this Silent Hill game will be another “exploration-based psychological horror game” when discussing the general story.

Palm-sized figures of Suletta Mercury and Miorine Rembran from Gundam: The Witch from Mercury will be available for pre-orders soon. MegaHouse revealed the G.E.M. series figures, which it will release in 2024 with a regular price tag of 7,920 yen (~$52.60).

There will be an opportunity to get both items worldwide. The figures will also be available on AmiAmi, which supports international shipping with a discounted price of 6,730 yen (~$44.76).

The small figure of Suletta, who is sitting with bent knees, will have an overall height of approximately 90mm (~3.5 inches). Meanwhile, the figure of Miorine who is lying down with her legs bent upwards will be around 120mm (~4.7 inches) long. Each set will come with a pedestal to house the pre-painted figure.