Eurogamer

WashBear Studio's charming, thoroughly enjoyable dinosaur park management sim Parkasaurus is looking to wow guests with a whole new, decidedly more acquatic, selection of exhibits from today, 11th August, with the arrival of its new Sea Monsters DLC on PC.

Building on Parkasaurus' core management action - which takes obvious inspiration from the likes of Theme Park and DinoPark Tycoon - the new Sea Monsters DLC introduces 11 aquatic reptiles and fish, as well as corresponding flooded enclosures, for players to install on their quest to create the ultimate dino-flavoured tourist attraction.

If you're looking for specifics, those new dinos are Elasmosaurus, Plesiosaurus, Mosasaurus, Atopodentatus, Sarcosuchus, Archelon, Dunkleosteus, Liopleurodon, Ichthyosaurus, Placodus, and Megalodon. But Sea Monsters also introduces three new campaign missions, three new biomes, and 20+ exhibit items and hats - all of which will cost £5.19/$6.99 USD on Steam.

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If plain old football doesn't quite do it for you, but your interest is piqued when I say football but melded to a silly, sprawling action-RPG, then allow me to introduce you to Soccer Story from publisher No More Robots and Not Tonight developer PanicBarn, coming to Steam, Switch, PlayStation, Xbox, and Game Pass "soon".

Soccer Story (which, despite the name and similar premise, is unrelated to developer Sidebar Games' magnificent Golf Story) is a single-player "physics-based" adventure in which players must quest, puzzle, and sport their way to restoring football - and, thus, peace and harmony - in a world where it's been banned.

Soccer Story promises an adventure packed with "quirky characters, quests, rogue refs, and wack soccer-adjacent sports", where every problem - from solving puzzles to finding secrets - can be overcome with the help of your magic football.

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Metal Slug Tactics, developer Leikir Studio's turn-based tactical twist on SNK's classic run-and-gun series, has been delayed and is now due to release on PC and Switch sometime next year.

Announced last June, Metal Slug Tactics reunites familiar faces Marco, Eri, Fio, and Tarma as they lead the Peregrine Falcon Squad onto a different kind of battlefield, where the series' classic side-scrolling action makes way for "dynamic, strategic combat" on a grid-based map.

Skill trees, perks, and a "super attack-fueling" adrenaline system have all been been promised upon Metal Slug Tactics' arrival, which was originally expected to occur at some point this year.

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Inflexion Games, the studio founded by former BioWare boss Aaryn Flynn, has announced a delay for its Victorian fantasy adventure Nightingale, with the game now expected to enter early access some time next year.

Nightingale, described as a "shared world survival crafting game", was initially announced a few years back, but got its first proper unveiling at last year's The Game Awards. Its reveal was accompanied by an eye-catching trailer in which well-dressed ladies and gents travelled through portals to strange new worlds, full of wonderfully unsettling eldritch creatures.

Inflexion was initially aiming to launch Nightingale into early access at some point this year, but the developer has now revised that plan, pushing the game's early access release back into the "first half of 2023".

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This week on the Eurogamer Newscast, we discuss the ongoing fallout from Microsoft and Sony's squabbling over Activision Blizzard and it's blockbuster franchise Call of Duty.

If you've been living under a rock for the last six months, this all stems from Microsoft's intent to buy Activision for 68.7bn, which Sony isn't too happy about. Recently we've heard arguments from Sony offering some of its views on the deal - that it would be bad news for PlayStation, essentially - and now Microsoft itself has hit back.

Microsoft has reiterated that it does not want to make Call of Duty an Xbox exclusive - for now, at least - and even said it would be an unprofitable move if it did so. Even more remarkably, it has also hit out at Sony for suggesting the Microsoft-Activision deal would stifle competition - and claimed PlayStation itself pays out money to block games coming to Xbox Game Pass.

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Yesterday's Nintendo Direct featured all things Splatoon 3, and had plenty for returning players and newcomers to get excited about.

People are especially hyped for Deep Cut, the new idol group that'll act as hosts throughout the game.

Comprised of members Shiver, Frye and Big Man, Nintendo showed off one of Deep Cut's performances for Splatfest celebrations.

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The world of Dragon Ball is coming to Fortnite, because of course it is.

Fans poking around in Fortnite's game files have known this crossover was coming for some time. Today, Epic Games - fresh from its two-week summer break - began teasing the collaboration.

Fortnite's Dragon Ball event is expected to be a big one, with numerous characters coming to the game as skins, alongside weeks of tie-in challenges.

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EA has confirmed it's sticking with loot boxes for FIFA 23's Ultimate Team mode, after the company was effectively given the green light by the UK government's recent decision not to legislate the controversial in-game monetisation system.

In a statement issued to Eurogamer, EA echoed many of its recent comments on Ultimate Team's card packs, which have come under fire from children's groups and researchers in recent years for their links to gambling, and from players for enabling pay-to-win in competitive modes.

"We wholeheartedly believe that Ultimate Team and FUT Packs, which have been part of the game for more than a decade, are a part of FIFA that players love - fans love that the game reflects the real-world excitement and strategy of building and managing a squad. Giving players the choice to spend if they want to is fair," EA's statement reads.

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Following the launch of Season 14, which is known as Hunted, Apex Legends has seen a new peak player count on Steam.

In fact, over 500,000 concurrent players joined in with Respawn's battle-royale, following the season's release on Tuesday.

This is a first for the shooter, Twitter account AlphaINTEL noted.

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Players can expect plenty of hip-hop in the Street Fighter 6 soundtrack as the game modernises the series, while honouring the past.

In an interview with Spin, producer Shuhei Matsumoto and lead composer Yoshiya Terayama discussed the musical influences on the next game.

"Street Fighter 6 is very respectful of past works, such as the original Street Fighter and Street Fighter 2. We are taking on new challenges while honouring that foundation. Also, you can definitely expect hip hop. We put a lot of effort into how it sounds," said Matsumoto.

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Nintendo has been hit by a fresh worker complaint in the US, which a report suggests is due to the company's response to labour activism.

Both Nintendo of America and Aston Carter, a company Nintendo uses to recruit workers, have been referred to the National Labor Relations Board over the matter, which alleges that a worker suffered over the company's "coercive rules".

The complaint was first reported by Axios, which stated that allegations of this nature typically relate to cases where a worker claims a company has interfered with their right to unionise or discuss working conditions.

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UPDATE 12/08/22: Clara "Keffals" Sorrenti is no longer a suspect in this police investigation.

The streamer tweeted the news, stating: "I talked to the Chief of Police of London Police Services and I am no longer a suspect in the investigation. They are now acknowledging this situation as swatting."

A statement from police chief Steve Williams further confirms this. "As a result of further investigation, we do not believe that the threatening emails received by City Hall officials originated with Ms. Sorrenti," it reads.

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So let me get this straight. I'm somewhere that's not what I would call the Eurogamer office. I'm seeing my name printed on the site. And... oh yeah I'm writing meme round-ups for Eurogamer. Yeah okay that is something I do now.

I'm sorry, I couldn't resist. The latest Forspoken trailer was really asking for it though.

Forspoken last made the headlines when its release date was pushed back from 11th October this year to 24th January 2023. It's back again, though this time for a more light-hearted reason.

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Imagine getting a phone call from a guy called Gary Gygax in America and he's reading a newsletter you wrote for a games business you're running out of a messy flat in London, and he likes it so much he wants to send you a copy of a new game he's working on called Dungeons & Dragons.

You end up loving the game and he likes what you're about, so he grants you exclusive rights to introduce Dungeons & Dragons to the UK, and to Europe, and to sell it there for three years. You can only afford six copies but it doesn't matter: you'll soon be able to afford a lot more.

That's not even the best story my guests have! They've done so much and created so much. That games business they were running? It was only Games Workshop, wasn't it - a business that would change the face of tabletop gaming. But, not content with running only that, this pair would work well into their nights to create a series of game books called Fighting Fantasy, making themselves best-selling authors in the process. The series has sold more than 20 million copies today.

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A new page has appeared on PlayStation's website dedicated to its games for PC.

This page, which you can see here, does exactly what is says on the tin.

Here you will find information on all of PlayStation's games that have been introduced to PC, such as Days Gone, God of War and Horizon Zero Dawn - but also details on upcoming releases.

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Kirby's Dream Buffet launches next week, on Wednesday 17th August, priced at £13.49.

As a reminder, this is the all-new downloadable Kirby game set for the Nintendo Switch eShop, which got announced just a month ago.

A spin-off from the pink puffball's regular platforming antics, Dream Buffet sees up to four players roll around levels as different-coloured Kirby characters, gobbling up types of food and sweet treats. Whoever eats the most, wins!

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Making Call of Duty exclusive to Xbox "simply wouldn't be profitable", Microsoft has said.

The claim comes as part of a fresh war of words between Xbox and PlayStation, as Microsoft seeks to finalise its eye-opening $68.7bn buyout of Activision Blizzard.

Specifically, it comes in response to Sony's recent objections to the deal - in which it argued that Call of Duty could not be rivalled, and that the franchise was vitally important to PlayStation as it influenced players' choice of console.

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Along with the upcoming demo for Splatoon 3, Nintendo is also offering Switch users a pretty awesome little perk.

To get access to the demo, you will need to have a Nintendo Switch Online subscription. However, not everyone who has a Switch necessarily wants to subscribe to NSO.

To negate this, Nintendo is offering everyone who downloads the demo a code that will give them a seven day trial of its subscription service.

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Following the introduction of government-mandated gaming restrictions, 54 percent of Chinese youth are reportedly playing games within regulated hours.

That's according to a new 2022 China Youth Gamers report from Niko Partners (thanks GamesIndustry.biz).

The study found that 77 percent of youth are at least playing fewer hours per week, even though only 54 percent are within approved hours.

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When PowerWash Simulator came out of Early Access, it became quite a hit amongst the team here at Eurogamer. I was curious to see whether I'd enjoy it too, so I cashed in the free month of Game Pass that came with my new PC to give it a try.

I enjoy it a lot. In the game's career mode, there is no pressure to finish a level quickly or efficiently and that's what I love about it. You can ignore the time and leave the hose running for as long as it takes you, and that's all part of the appeal. Bertie expertly summed it up in his review.: "This is not a game about rushing towards an end," he wrote. "This is a game about the sedate pleasures of repetitive work - a slower game about the satisfaction of a job well done. It's relaxing and calming, and that's a powerful quality."

But this inevitably got me wondering about the other end of the gameplay spectrum in PowerWash Simulator. Speed and efficiency, rather than leisure. True, you can already play the game's time-limited and water-limited modes, but they weren't as extreme as what I was imagining. I'm talking speedwashing. Was there anyone out there playing like that?

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The actors playing brothers Henry and Sam in HBO's adaptation of The Last of Us have been announced.

IGN has revealed that Henry will be played by Lamar Johnson, while his younger brother Sam will be played by Keivonn Woodard. Johnson's previous credits include Canadian police drama Rookie Blue and Your Honor with Bryan Cranston. Woodard has no previous acting credits.

Along with this news, some upcoming plot elements were also revealed. If you are keen to avoid spoilers, please stop reading here.

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Reservations to visit London's Pokémon Center pop-up store are now open.

The store will be running alongside the Pokémon World Championships, which is being held at ExCeL London from 17th to 21st August.

Anyone wishing to visit the store can now reserve themselves a timeslot via the appointment manager.

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Flat screen to VR mods are easily the most exciting thing happening in the virtual reality gaming sphere right now and, thanks to a host of talented modders, they just keep on coming!

On this week's VR Corner, you can watch me try out Luke Ross' new R.E.A.L. VR mod for Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade and it's an absolute treat for the eyes! Honestly, if you though this game looked beautiful in 2D, just you wait until you see it in glorious 6DoF VR. It'll take your breath away!

In the video below, I make my way from the very start of the game, all the way through to the Shinra Reactor boss fight, the ruins of Sector 1, and finally to a meeting with Tifa in the Seventh Heaven bar.

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id Software is consolidating its games on Steam to improve the shopping experience.

The news comes from a blog post on Steam that details how its library of games is being simplified under specific titles from 10th August.

"Spanning across multiple decades, id Software's library of work is as vast as it is full of amazing games," reads the post.

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My fireteam and I - hitherto committed to PUBG but casually on the lookout for something else, so unhappy were we with the lack of communication, infrequent updates, and all-too-common disconnects - had been on the hunt for a new team-based shooter, and Apex Legends scratched an itch that neither Fortnite nor PUBG could reach. Fun, chaotic, and built on fantastically snappy gunplay, Respawn's surprise battle royale hit the floor running, and we fell for it faster than Bangalore drop, shock and locks. Apex Legends' arrival was smooth, too, immediately feeling polished, and it offered a frantic, pacey twist on the battle royale formula. It became our go-to game, not for a few weeks or months, but for years.

The wheels started to fall off for us when Apex Legends introduced skill-based matchmaking (often shortened to SBMM). Yes, yes, I know it's an unpopular view and something Respawn is unlikely to change, but I loathe SBMM in unranked play. I know it's there to balance out lobbies and make it easier for newbies to get acclimated. But if you're only a little above average in the game - or play with someone who is - your slightly-better-than-average arse is continually up against "Apex Predators" who melt you from across the map should you so much as glance in their direction.

In a lengthy document submitted to the Brazilian government as part of its investigation into Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard, Microsoft has claimed Sony pays developers "blocking rights" to prevent games from appearing on Xbox Game Pass.

The accusation appears in a 27-page rebuttal of Sony's recent objections to Microsoft's Activision Blizzard buyout, made to Brazil's Administrative Council for Economic Defense (CADE) as part of its investigation. Much of Sony's argument had focused on Call of Duty - which it claimed had "no rival" and was "so popular that it influences users' choice of console" - with the PlayStation maker suggesting, among other things, that the inclusion of Call of Duty on Microsoft's Game Pass service would hamper its ability to compete.

Microsoft's response is as wide-ranging as Sony's initial objections, touching on everything from the fact it has previously managed to grow Game Pass without Activision Blizzard's titles - suggesting Call of Duty mightn't be quite as "essential" as Sony claims - to a reiteration of its assurances that it won't be making Call of Duty an Xbox console exclusive.

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Betrayal At Club Low - the latest jazz-infused odyssey from The Norwood Suite developer Cosmo D - finally has a release date, and will be swinging open its murderous doors for some woozily surreal adventure on 9th September.

Folding into the broader narrative of Cosmo D's interconnected Off-Peak City games (so far consisting of 2015's Off-Peak, 2017's The Norwood Suite, and its 2020 follow-up Tales from Off-Peak City Vol. 1), Betrayal At Club Low sees players going undercover to attempt a rescue mission of sorts by infiltrating a "deceptively dangerous" nightclub/former coffin factory/"haven for wild-limbed dancing, mind-altering music and shady characters".

While previous games in the series were largely focussed on relaxed roaming and light puzzling as players soaked up their deliciously off-kilter sensibilities, Betrayal at Club Low does things a little differently, drawing inspiration from "short, punchy, independent zine RPGs" in order to evoke the feel of a one-off tabletop session.

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The embargo for the highly anticipated Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered lifted today and you may be wondering where the Digital Foundry coverage is - we received the game a while back along with most other outlets. Well, the truth is that developer Nixxes is still hard at work with the game, patches are still incoming (the latest arriving a few hours ago) and we're intent on delivering coverage that accurately reflects the state of the game you'll be playing on day oneas best as we can manage. Right now, the port is looking exceptionally impressive in many regards but to briefly sum up, it plays brilliant on higher-end PCs, it also works very nicely on Steam Deck, but we've experienced some problems with low to mid-range GPUs. In fact, the very latest update to the game seeks to address those very issues - with some success.

Taking a more global look at the conversion though, there's much to commend Nixxes' efforts. The game supports all aspects ratios we could test, from the 16:9 of most modern screens to the 21:9 and 32:9 ultra-wide variants, the 16:10 of Steam Deck and even 4:3 for those interested in an old-school CRT experience. On top of this, there's adjustable field of view support too.

A fan-made Half-Life 2 VR mod nearly eight years in the making will finally be getting a public release next month in the form of an open beta.

Eurogamer first reported on the Source VR Mod Team's Half-Life 2: VR mod in 2017, but that version was actually an extension of an earlier mod released for Razer Hydra back in 2013. Some time after the new version's announcement, the project appeared to stall - it entered "its own kind of development hell and was all but abandoned", according to the team's website - but it re-emerged in 2021 and is slowly approaching the finish line.

Half-Life 2: VR - one of several attempts to bring Valve's seminal shooter sequel to virtual reality headsets - promises a range of features, including room scale VR, the ability to manipulate items and weapons directly with your hands, full locomotion, a weapon selection menu inspired by Valve's Half-Life: Alyx, and tweaked vehicle rides intended to help reduce motion sickness.

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Xbox cloud streaming options advertised for Elden Ring and Grand Theft Auto 5 were a "bug", Microsoft has told Eurogamer.

Last night, fans spotted games such as Soul Hackers 2, GTA5 and Elden Ring were listed with an option to play via cloud streaming. Some speculated this was being rolled out now, in advance of a Gamescom announcement later this month.

But Microsoft has now said that the games' listings - which also flagged them as being part of Xbox Game Pass - were bugged, and that the issue has now been fixed.

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PlayStation has announced the games coming to its PS Plus subscription service on 16th August.

Last month the company set out a plan to add eight Yakuza games to the service this year - that begins this month with Yakuza 0, Yakuza Kiwami, and Yakuza Kiwami 2 on PS Plus for Premium and Extra subscribers. That's on top of Yakuza: Like A Dragon that's already been added to Essential.

Also coming for Premium and Extra subscribers are Dead by Daylight, Bugsnax, and Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Wildlands.

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Technological constraints meant that the original Monkey Island game saw 25 percent of its dialogue text cut before it was released.

Talking to Sony Santa Monica's Alanah Pearce, writer Tim Schafer revealed that The Secret of Monkey Island was originally too long and had to get some heavy editing.

"We were writing on Monkey Island, and we were told 'you guys, we can't go on six floppies. We have to go on five. We have too much text,'" Schafer recalled before remarking how strange that sort of thing is to imagine now.

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To me, the best moments of a city-building game are always the beginnings, when there's nothing but potential ahead of you. Things are manageable, the world is unspoiled, the pace is slow. To me, that's idyllic. And if ever a game understood that, it's Farthest Frontier.

It's a game about a group of working class people fed up with being shat on by the rich, in the big city where they live, so they strike out for the literal farthest frontier to make it on their own. It's that fantasy. The era is the birth of the Industrial Revolution, maybe - it's not explicitly clear. And that's how it begins: a dozen people and a caravan and an endless wilderness around them to tame.

What I love about what comes next is how unhurriedly it happens, and how small-scale it continues to be. Farthest Frontier is not about going from dozens to thousands, from village to sprawling metropolis, and that zooming out you then feel as the person in charge. It's about staying small and staying close to the people you're caring for. It's probably wrong to call it a city-builder at all but rather a town-builder, because even many hours in, from what I've read, settlements are still only a few hundred people big (apparently the game struggles performance-wise past that, but it is Early Access).

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Splatoon 3 just got a serious deep dive thanks to this afternoon's Nintendo Direct, revealing new levels, new weapons and an all-new approach to Splatfests that will introduce three-way fights into the series for the first time.

Three-way fights come as part of the returning Splatfests, with matches during the special timed events being split into two halves, with the first part a traditional 4v4 face-off while the second sees a 4v2v2 fight for territory.

There'll be a chance to sample this particular new flavour of Splatoon during a Splatfest World Premiere that's taking place on 27th August - effectively a free demo where players can sample Splatoon 3 for a limited period, choosing to fight for rock, paper or scissors (it's worth noting that the demo will be playable from 25th August , giving a small window for practice before the Splatfest World Premiere itself).

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A free demo is now available for the next big Square Enix strategy game: The DioField Chronicle.

First announced at the PlayStation State of Play in March, the game is set for release on 22nd September across consoles and PC.

The demo is likewise available on all platforms and includes the game's first chapter, with all progress transferring to the main game once purchased.

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Hello! I'm a cult leader these days. Let me tell you what I've just been doing.

I woke early and cooked some food that gave everyone diarrhea. Then I gave a quick sermon to cheer everyone up. I planted some seeds so I could make some more food that gives everyone diarrhea, disappeared for a bit to play a dice game, donated some mushrooms to an old pal in the woods, and caught up on my fishing before heading over to the Gold Guy. I bought some Tarot cards that were going cheap, one of which promises a lovely health boost whenever it gets dealt. I went on a mission and murdered a lot of nasty things in the woods, harvesting resources and whatnot as I went. I killed a boss, working my way up through a sort of watery forest to the next mega boss. Back to the camp after that to clean up all that diarrhea, build a few beds because my followers are sulking, water and fertilise some seeds, knock up a scarecrow so birds don't eat my seeds, make myself a nice new fleece with lovely perks and then catch the rising sun and do it all over again. I'm tempted, you know, to take up smelting.

Cult of the Lamb is a management game and an action roguelite in which you play an evil sheep. It's astonishingly systems-heavy. You can build dozens of structures to look after your flock, and your flock can grumble and sicken and die and preach behind your back in dozens of ways. You're always after new cult members, each with their own quirks, and you're always after the resources to keep everyone happy, because happy cultists in turn give you the resources to make them even happier - and grow more powerful when you set out on action roguelite runs, working your way through minor bosses to middle-management bosses and then hopefully whoever's at the top.

Microsoft has detailed the line-up of Xbox titles it's bringing to Gamescom in a couple of weeks, including Obsidian exclusive Pentiment, Age of Empires 4, Flight Sim and Grounded.

As a reminder, Microsoft is one of the few companies committed to Gamescom this year - and the only platform holder. Both Sony and Nintendo are sitting out the show's big in-person return, alongside Activision Blizzard and Take-Two.

Ubisoft, Bandai Namco and Embracer are among those also in attendance, though Assassin's Creed fans are expecting all of Ubisoft's big reveals to actually take place online, via a special event due in September.

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The big summer finale to Pokémon Go's season of Go Fest events has been detailed in full.

Due to take place on Saturday 27th August, this full-day event will cap off the game's introduction of Ultra Beasts and (hopefully) see its hunky Professor Willow return after being left dramatically MIA.

The event has plenty for those playing free, or extras for those with a ticket. These premium bits are also included as part of the earlier Global Go Fest weekend back in June - so if you played that, you're covered.

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An enormous cache of cut content from Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 has been posted online, detailing developer Treyarch's early plans for a campaign mode.

Gameplay details, screenshots and design documentation are all included in a post on the infamous GamingLeaksAndRumours reddit by user Purpletoaster20, who states that it is the culmination of "months of research and discussion" with those who knew about the mode before it was ditched.

The post also comes ahead of a 30-minute video on the mode, which the user says they intend to post online next week.

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The Pokémon anime special The Arceus Chronicles is set to receive its English language debut at the Pokémon World Championships in London on 19th August.

Following on from the success of Pokémon Legends: Arceus, the anime sees Ash and co defeating the remnants of Team Galactic after receiving a message from the Mythical Pokémon Arceus.

It also features a topless Brock, if that's your thing.

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