Eurogamer

Footage of a prototype for Wumpa League, the long-rumoured multiplayer brawler set in the Crash Bandicoot universe, has been leaked online.

Rumours of the game's existence began in summer, when it was accidentally let slip by Windows Central. Speculation on a new Crash Bandicoot game increased when Toys for Bob teased their 18th game, and fans are expecting to see a new entry in the series announced at The Game Awards next month.

The prototype was leaked yesterday by YouTuber Liam Robertson, for reasons he described as "historical interest". A short snippet of gameplay is shown along with concept arts. Robertson reiterated throughout the video that the footage shown comes from a very early version of the project, and that it is "not representative of what the game could look like if it releases".

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If you're looking to speedrun Pokémon Scarlet or Violet, here's a cheeky strategy for you.

It turns out if you connect two sets of Joy-Con to your Switch, your character will run at double speed when using both left sticks.

The strategy was shared over on reddit with a video of the results.

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A former intern at Sony Santa Monica has said that their work on God of War Ragnarök had gone uncredited.

Sharing her story on Twitter, composer Jessica Mao stated she "worked on the editing/arrangement/implementation of the Freya chase scene" as well as the "Thor boss fight music".

However, despite her input, Mao said her name was not included in the game's end credits as her contribution to Ragnarök didn't hit the "minimum criteria" required (although Mao is unsure what "this criteria could be").

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There's more than a little previewing going on in the latest DF Direct Weekly, as myself, John Linneman and Alex Battaglia share our thoughts and expectations from The Witcher 3's upcoming 'next gen' patch, while initial impressions of the Pokémon Scarlet and Violet release paint a less than positive picture of the new release.

We'll be looking at Pokémon in much more depth later in the week, but the bottom line is that Game Freak delivering two Pokémon titles within the year is perhaps not the best idea: the bugs are memeworthy, the performance is not great generally (circa 22fps to 30fps) while 'in the moment' stutter is obnoxious. There are clear learnings here - but ultimately, Nintendo itself has set the template for successful first-party software: give the developers the time they need to deliver compelling, extremely polished games.

The Witcher 3? We spend some time talking of our hopes for the game but right now, we can offer little more: a stream later in the week should offer up more answers, but as of filming, all we've had to go on is a single image from the remaster, perhaps suggesting the inclusion of ray-traced shadows - a feature also included in the console versions of Cyberpunk 2077. We can't help but hope that the PC version also gets equivalence with Cyberpunk 2077 - we know that DLSS 2 and DLSS 3 are supported, but we'd also hope to see the full suite of RED Engine RT features.

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Nintendo has detailed Mario Kart Deluxe's third wave of extra DLC tracks, which are now confirmed to release on 7th December.

Included in the line-up is stone cold classic course Maple Treeway from Mario Kart Wii, which sees you zooming around the autumnal branches of a giant tree, through leaf piles and around Wiggler caterpillars.

The top-tier Rainbow Road from Mario Kart DS is another notable addition here, alongside that game's popular Peach Gardens.

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An exclusive Pokémon Go gathering will take place in London next Saturday, 26th November, at Somerset House.

The historic building, located by the Thames near Covent Garden, will feature a "visual Ultra Beast experience" from 5pm onwards, with all seven Ultra Beasts released in Pokémon Go thus far set to put in an appearance. It'll be the first time all seven will be catchable all in the same place.

Attendees will also have access to mysterious "special Pokémon encounters" in the wild and earn a commemorative in-game badge, all before the Ultra Beasts themselves emerge between 6pm and 7.30pm.

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Fall Guys' third season will take players away from the starry skies of season two and down to the watery depths in Sunken Secrets.

From tomorrow (22nd November), Fall Guys fans will be presented with five new rounds to get to grips with. These are Blastlantis, Hoop Chute, Puzzle Path, Speed Slider and Kraken Slam.

Blastlantis will task your anatomic beans with navigating a variety of "tilting pathways". This will be made even harder thanks to the Blast Balls that will be, erm, blasted at them as they try to negotiate the path in front of them.

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This weekend's big releases were Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, and the internet has done a lot of talking about them. For reasons.

The game's current state is far from perfect, leading to plenty of glitches, jankiness and sometimes full on Bethesda-level comedy horror.

Personally, I picked up the game precisely for that experience (I am having fun playing the game also!) but sadly I've not encountered anything funkier than a T-pose during my time with Violet so far. Luckily for me, there are countless other people who've been sharing their witness accounts on Twitter.

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Since its release just shy of two weeks ago, there has been a lot of chatter about God of War Ragnarök. This has ranged from whether or not there should be a PETA friendly mode included in the game, to Kratos' atonement for his past behaviour.

One thing that has really struck a chord is the amount of help Ragnarök's companions give when players are trying to solve puzzles. Many fans feel that, really, it would be better if said companions just held on to their advice for that little bit longer than they ultimately choose to.

For example, much like many others, I like to venture off the game's main path every so often to see if there are any treasures tucked away I could miss if I left the area too soon. (This is all just standard exploration, not a sign that I don't have a clue what I am doing. Honestly, it is.) Early on in the game I took one step away from Atreus and was swiftly told I was going the wrong way. "I think this wheel over here needs to turn," he called after my retreating footsteps.

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Hideki Kamiya has teased that Bayonetta 4 is already in the works.

In response to fans expressing displeasure with the ending to the latest game, Kamiya notes it wasn't conveyed "correctly" and that Bayonetta 4 will be an unexpected development.

"I didn't think it was unexpected at all, but it seems that the ending of Bayo 3 wasn't conveyed correctly to everyone, so I think Bayo 4 will be an unexpected development for everyone," Kamiya said via Twitter. "After all, when Bayo 4 comes out, I'm sure there will be people who say, 'You added that as an afterthought', so I'll say it now."

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Mortal Kombat boss Ed Boon has teased a return for some of the series' 3D-era characters in the future, following previous hints at the under-wraps Mortal Kombat 12 being in development.

Boon, who loves to tease fans via Twitter, wrote over the weekend that his next game would either be "I3 or MK12" - Injustice 3 or Mortal Kombat 12.

Responding to a fan who asked why so few characters from the franchise's less-popular 3D-era are seen in recent games, Boon stated: "That is something we will soon fix."

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Nintendo has issued copyright strikes against SteamGridDB for images relating to its Switch games.

The site allows users to upload custom images for use in their Steam library. Most of these are alternate cover images to customise a game's appearance in the library, but it's also used when a cover image doesn't exist - typically when playing games through an emulator.

This is why Switch game images have appeared on the site, which has since received a DMCA takedown notice, Games Radar reported.

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The all-digital Xbox Series S is currently the best console deal in the UK thanks to Black Friday deals.

As spotted by our pals over at Digital Foundry, both Amazon and Smyths are selling the Series S for £189.99, nearly a quarter off its usual price of £249.99.

Compared to current-gen consoles and Nintendo Switch, that's quite a steal.

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Impressive physical sales in the UK have made Pokémon Scarlet and Violet the biggest boxed video game launch of the year. Previously, this accolade was held by FIFA 23.

This has also won Scarlet and Violet the title of being the UK's second biggest boxed Pokémon launch of all time. The biggest is still that of the 3DS's Sun and Moon (although, due to sale prices, charts firm GfK states Scarlet and Violet has generated more money than Sun and Moon did during its launch week).

Per GamesIndustry.biz, the first week of sales for Scarlet and Violet (at least physically, as Nintendo does not share digital sales) are 25 percent bigger than those of Sword and Shield, 70 percent bigger than the Diamond and Pearl remakes and 56 percent bigger than this year's other big Pokémon offering, Arceus.

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Sony and Honda are joining forces on new electric vehicles that could incorporate PlayStation 5 consoles.

Sony Honda Mobility was established in September and plans to build electric vehicles with entertainment like music, movies, and the PlayStation 5 in mind.

"Sony has content, services and entertainment technologies that move people. We are adapting these assets to mobility, and this is our strength against Tesla," president Izumi Kawanishi told the Financial Times (thanks TheGamer).

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Remember the codename Nintendo "NX"? Before the Switch's official unveiling, these two letters were how Nintendo referred to its NeXt-generation console.

The NX name was used by Nintendo to refer to the Switch both internally and publicly, as the company began to drum up excitement for the Switch's unveiling. (And because in the Wii U era, there wasn't much else to get excited about.)

But here's one thing we never saw publicly: Nintendo's own internal NX logo used in early versions of games destined for the Switch.

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A cutscene wrapping up Destiny 2's current Season of Plunder has been found by fans and shared online, spoiling the end of the game's current plotline.

If you wish to remain unspoiled - the season is still set to run for another few weeks, until 6th December - then look away now.

The cutscene, voiced by Saint-14, shows Fallen leader Mithrax converting the essence of dead baddie Nezarec into a potion, which is then brewed up and served like a cup of tea.

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Happy 25th birthday, Tomb Raider 2. Here's a little piece to celebrate its quarter century.

Every so often I load up a walkthrough of Tomb Raider 2 and take the whole thing in again. Always a walkthrough: I have the game on Steam, but I can never get it to run quite right, and besides, part of me doesn't want to go back in person. These walkthroughs, though! Tomb Raider was a very technical platformer back in the days of the grid system, and some of these players out there are just astonishing. Their virtuosity can get in the way very occasionally, though. More specifically it can get in the way on one occasion in particular: 40 Fathoms.

40 Fathoms is an astonishing video game level, yet when I watch it on Youtube, the audacity of it never comes across in full. That's because 40 Fathoms is actually like a magic trick - you can only really experience it as it's meant to be experienced once. These walkthrough artists are too good: too decisive. They know where to go and they go there. They play 40 Fathoms like it's a video game level. Whereas what it really is, is an audacious riff on the things that video game levels aren't meant to be.

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When given the choice, I always go for the mage. There's just something about shooting magic out of my hands that appeals to me when playing video games, the ultimate power fantasy. Why swing metal when I can manipulate nature itself?

Except with Final Fantasy 14 I went against my instincts, a decision I eventually came to regret. Square Enix's MMORPG has an initially overwhelming choice of Jobs to choose from before you adventure in the land of Eorzea. Your Job is your role in the game. And I chose the wrong one.

The first choice is between a tank, healer, or DPS (damage per second) role. The first two - defending or supporting - come with extra pressure, so damage dealing it was.

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Wales Interactive has announced The Isle Tide Hotel, a new live-action interactive mystery releasing on PC, console, and mobile next year.

Coming to PC, PS4, PS5, Series X/S, Xbox One, Switch, and mobile in spring (Q2) 2023, The Isle Tide Hotel is a FMV mystery about an absent father looking to rescue his teenage daughter from an "eclectic cult".

You can check out the all-new teaser below:

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Numskull Designs has unveiled a new range of Space Invaders miniature arcade cabinets.

Citing Space Invaders' upcoming 45th anniversary next year, Numskull has released two new quarter-scale cabinets to celebrate: Space Invaders and Space Invaders Part 2.

"Space Invaders originally issued in the golden era of arcade gaming and set the bar for those that followed," the company said. "Since its release in 1978 it has gone on to become a global pop-culture phenomenon. Developed by Tomohiro Nishikado, the game has been cited as revolutionising the arcade industry as well as having an influence on many famous video game designs since.

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Blizzard has begun deploying audio transcription to help combat abuse and toxicity in Overwatch 2's voice chat.

Rolling out across "select countries" and currently only for those playing on PC, Blizzard says the new tech is "only for reports of disruptive behaviour" and any "temporary audio recordings" - which "no one listens to" - will be "quickly deleted after being transcribed".

"The audio transcription feature has been added with a limited rollout for PC players in select countries," Blizzard explained via a blog post. "As a piece of our Defense Matrix initiative, audio transcriptions allow us to analyse a transcript from a temporary voice chat recording of a reported player.

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Team Ninja is reportedly rebooting both its Ninja Gaiden and Dead or Alive franchises.

Korean website Ruliweb reports that Fumihiko Yasuda confirmed plans to resurrect the two dormant franchises at a panel at the G-Star Conference earlier this week (thanks, VGC).

Whilst Yasuda stopped short of giving any concrete details, he reportedly said that whilst he couldn't tell us any more right now, he hopes to deliver news we'd like to see "as soon as possible".

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Star Citizen is free to play from now until the end of the month.

As part of the in-game annual Intergalactic Aerospace Expo (IAE), players are welcome to "freely test-fly" 120+ ships, including the Drake Corsair which supports a crew of up to four players and boasts living quarters and "strong armaments".

Players will be able to "explore the digital event as they would any convention, from strolling through fully interactive expo halls and seeing the latest ships on display each day in incredible detail, to meeting up with friends to explore and partake in exciting activities, or chance encounters with strangers that launch new friendships".

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A new Warzone 2.0 bug is seemingly making some players invisible.

This latest glitch - which some may remember also briefly caused havoc in the original Warzone game - came to light over the weekend after players took to Reddit and social media with clips of them being taken out by players they cannot see. Literally.

Whilst its unknown how widespread the issue is, videos posted to social media show plenty have been on the receiving end of the frustrating glitch and it's currently unclear if it's just a random occurrence or something sneaky players can turn on and off at will (thanks, PCGN).

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A new Pokémon Scarlet and Violet mod removes all traces of Ed Sheeran from the game.

As spotted by GamesRadar+, the newly released mod - simply called "Remove Sheeran" - does exactly what it says on the tin, deleting Sheeran's tracks from the credits and replacing it with a track from the late notable Japanese singer, Wada Koji.

"Removes Ed Sheeran from the game and replaces him with Wada Koji (may he rest in peace)," explains the mod's creator, before adding that as they only own Violet, the mod has yet to be tested on Scarlet. It should still work, though.

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Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 developer Infinity Ward is investigating a matchmaking issue for Xbox players.

As detailed on the developer's social media channels, it seems as though Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 players on Xbox are experiencing lengthy queues whilst matchmaking if there are more than three people in a party.

"We're investigating an issue where some Xbox players in a party of more than three are having issues queuing up/matchmaking," the developer tweeted earlier today. "Stay tuned for further updates."

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Game of the Week goes out to all of our supporters as part of the Eurogamer Essentials newsletter. There's going to be a slight shake-up of the supporters program in the near future (don't worry - it's all good news) so stay tuned for more details, and thanks as ever for your support - it's much appreciated.

It’s been a whirlwind around here the past few days, but after a quiet year for major new releases a welcome one. The popularity of Warzone 2.0’s release isn’t exactly a surprise to anyone who’s been paying attention (and for anyone with a decent memory the technical difficulties that have blighted its launch won’t be much of a surprise either), though the level of hype has taken me aback a little.

Maybe it's the result of being in a couple of WhatsApp groups getting starry-eyed about every new discovery in Al Mazrah, and maybe it's the warming feeling of seeing some decent traffic on the site after what's at times been a challenging year, but I've not seen this kind of buzz around a game since those heady early days of Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

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Bitmap Books' recently released I'm Too Young To Die is a slick, beautifully produced rundown of some of the most seminal years for first-person shooters, chronicling the genre from 1992 to 2002 with insight from key creatives. In this excerpt, author Stuart Maine unpicks some of the key games in an incredible year for the form.

Even if id Software didn’t invent the FPS, Wolfenstein 3D was certainly the moment the genre crossed into the mainstream. Tight gameplay, a compelling theme and the shock of such realistic graphics were critical, of course, but something else that helped Wolfenstein to reach so many players was that it was distributed as shareware.

As hobby products, early videogames had no formal distribution network and were sold through computer stores or software clubs, usually as a disk or tape with photocopied instructions. As a result, there was a certain amount of luck involved in choosing a game; word-of-mouth recommendations were essential. Over time this evolved into more polished boxed products and magazine reviews, but people still had to pay up front for their games and hope they liked them.

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Warzone 2.0 players have discovered a bug that's reportedly locking them out of the free-to-play game unless they own Modern Warfare 2.

Whilst the issue was posted on the game's subreddit community earlier this week and seems to have been resolved for some, others are still adding to - and upvoting - the post, suggesting that it's yet to be resolved. At the time of writing, there's been no formal word from Infinity Ward or Raven Software, either.

"Since yesterday, I played probably around six Warzone 2.0 matches with no problem," commented u/Unf0cused (thanks, NME).

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The Elder Scrolls Online: Firesong DLC is finally here for console players.

Whilst arriving a little later than its PC sibling, this new story DLC allows players to explore the "untamed island of Galen, the westernmost island of the Systres Archipelago" where players can "dive deep into the lives and culture of the druids, and fight to defend Tamriel from the threats within".

"In The Elder Scrolls Online: Firesong, players will finally confront the Ascendant Lord and conclude their Legacy of the Bretons yearlong adventure," the team teases.

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Striking Distance and publisher Krafton have unveiled a new teaser for its upcoming horror, The Callisto Protocol.

Imaginatively entitled "official launch trailer UK", it packs a lot of action into just under two minutes of footage, most of which we've seen before, but some that will be new to those who have been tracking the game's development. You can watch every slimy, gory second of it below:

The trailer also features the exclusive song Lost Again by Kings Elliot and confirms that the penultimate episode of the game's six-part audio series, The Callisto Protocol: Helix Station, is also now available, along with the final part of the Engineering Horror docuseries, too.

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Amplitude has confirmed it is opening up a second round of testing for its new roguelite tactical tower defense game, Endless Dungeon.

Free to enter and "much less limited" than prior tests, Amplitude invites interested candidates to sign up at OpenDev to experience a "series of time-limited, targeted, pre-release gameplay scenarios" to "help shape the game".

It includes co-op with other to three players, all of whom will share resources, new monsters, weapons, new environment the Labour Colony, and new hero Shroom.

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Frontier Foundry and Petroglyph have unveiled an all-new first-look gameplay trailer for its upcoming strategy game, The Great War: Western Front.

The teaser introduces us "to the role of Theatre Commander" and provides an initial overview of the Campaign map. You can check it out below:

"Today, players can experience an extended look, offering even more detail on the decisions they will be called to make as they lead their forces throughout the course of World War 1, in a conflict which will force them to fight for every inch as they seek to relive history, or redefine it," the development team tells us.

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Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales is a lot like the expansion pack of old: the same characters, a new story, a visual revamp and a small dose of new technology. For the PC version of the PS5 launch game, developer Nixxes builds on all of the great work it did with its port of Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered, the new release benefiting from the various optimisations and revisions made over time - while the addition of ray-traced shadows adds further to the PC version's already impressive upgrades over the PS5 version.

As it's built on the same fundamental technology, the game runs much like Remastered - and has the exact same recommended system specifications. However, there's an argument that city performance may be marginally improved (I measured a circa five percent increase) but that's likely down to the revamped winter city, with the small changes to art this entails - like the lack of leaves on the trees, for example.

In putting together optimised settings and the PlayStation 5 comparisons you'll see in the embedded video below, the changes Nixxes has made allow me to get a better lock on what some of the settings actually do - and now all of them actually seem fully functional. It wasn't clear what crowd and traffic density settings actually did at the launch of Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered, but now they do seem to work - as does the HBAO+ ambient occlusion alternative to the SSAO solution ported over from the PlayStation code.

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Warzone players have taken to Reddit to complain that the battle royale currently prohibits players from rejoining matches when they get disconnected.

As highlighted by u/AHappyPandaBear - and upvoted hundreds of times - players point out that although Apex Legends and PUBG Battlegrounds permit players to return mid-game following crashes or internet issues, Warzone does not, making it "a massive L" for the community.

The issue is particularly troublesome for DMZ players, who say they are losing "so much" loot and contraband without the chance to rejoin the session.

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The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom - AKA Breath of the Wild 2 - has been rated in Korea.

As spotted by Gematsu, the rating request submitted to the board and published yesterday includes a brief summary of the game (in Korean, naturally) and a 12+ age rating.

According to Google Translate, Tears of the Kingdom has been described as a "role-playing game for Nintendo Switch in which the stage of the adventure to find Zelda expands into the sky".

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Assassin's Creed Valhalla will not be getting a New Game+ mode, even though it's a "highly requested feature".

Whilst developer Ubisoft acknowledged that the "news will come as a disappointment" to some players, because of Valhalla's "very different structure from its predecessors", the open-world Viking game will be the first Assassin's Creed game not to feature an option to boot up a New Game+ run.

"Assassin's Creed Valhalla has been built as a unique Assassin’s Creed experience, one that is very different from its predecessors in its structure, offering new ways of engaging with the world and its characters," Ubisoft explained in a blog post.

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Knockout City's eighth season, High Society Heist, is slated for release on 29th November, 2022.

Running until 5th December, High Society Heist heralds new content, including new Poison Special Ball, new cosmetic type "Brags", and yes, more Teenage Mutant Ninja/Hero Turtles stuff, including TMNT Villains Behop and Rocksteady amongst new Player icons, those aforementioned Brags, and custom intro poses, too.

"In High Society Heist, the Red Hand Crew is stirring up trouble in Knockout City, and Commissioner Chase is on the case," explains the accompanying blurb. "The notorious Red Hand Crew – Voxanne, Mugshot, Hax and The Shadow – are chasing their latest heist and zeroing in on their newest target: the multi-millionaire Malcolm Magpie. Players can decide which side they want to be on – become one of the craftiest criminals around as a member of the Red Hand Crew or crack the case as Commissioner Chase.

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Cooking Mama IP owner Office Create Corp has revealed a court has ruled in its favour following a legal tussle with the publisher of Cooking Mama: Cookstar.

Cookstar has been embroiled in trouble ever since its release on Switch in March 2020, which saw it quickly disappear from Nintendo's eShop and physical stores - a move later revealed to be due to a licensing dispute between Office Create and publisher Planet Entertainment.

Office Create claimed Planet Entertainment had refused to correct what it saw as a "wide range of deficiencies affecting the overall feel, quality and content of the game" during development, despite being contractually obligated to do so, and had instead proceeded to release Cooking Mama: Cookstar without Office Create's approval.

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