Game Informer

Arkane Studios is well-known for its love of systemic game design, which allows players to approach combat encounters and puzzles in myriad ways. Titles like Arx Fatalis, Dark Messiah of Might and Magic, and Dishonored helped the studio build a sizable cult following, and now the team is taking its artistic approach to game design and building something new: Deathloop.

Set on the chilly island of Blackreef, Deathloop is a story about a secret society that invents an eternal timeloop. There is just one catch: Most of the people caught in the cycle don’t have any memory of previous loops. Colt Vahn is the hapless hero who actually remembers everything that happens from one day to the next, and if he wants to escape this torment, he must assassinate the eight leaders of the program. Unfortunately, everyone on the island is also out to kill him.

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During this morning’s Monster Hunter Twitch showcase, Capcom announced that Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin is launching worldwide on July 9 to Switch and, surprisingly, PC via Steam. A new trailer gives us another look at the story-focused game’ narrative as well as teases of the game’s new features. 

Players control a custom Monster Rider, child of the legendary Rider Red. After Rathalos disappears from the world, players must uncover the truth behind a mysterious prophecy centering on the Wings of Ruin. They’ll be joined by Wyverian Ena and the returning Felyne hero Navirou. 

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Super Nintendo World officially has a grand opening date in Japan for March 18, 2021. The opening has been up in the air regarding when was safe to do so given the issues due to the ongoing pandemic with COVID-19. While the other locations, including Florida's opening in the United States, are still under review regarding any opening dates, folks in Japan can dive into the fun later this month. 

The grand opening was originally slated to happen during Summer 2020, but COVID-19 had other plans. The date then moved to February 4, but another delay was unavoidable for similar reasons. Now, it looks like everything is finally set in stone. 

While this is exciting, I am a little sad that the marketing team missed the opportunity to have fun with "Mario Day" references that would have been allowed with a March 10 (MAR10) opening. Ah, what could have been.

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Back in September of 2020, Microsoft revealed it was in the process of acquiring ZeniMax Media and all of the studios under that umbrella. With this acquisition comes many beloved franchises such as Doom, Fallout, The Elder Scrolls, Wolfenstein, and more. While what that means for all future games on the horizon (as we're still seeing PlayStation announcements for games under ZeniMax) remains to be seen, the European Commission (EU) has officially approved the $7.5 billion deal. 

The approval comes with the added notation that there are no "serious doubts as to its compatibility with the common market," meaning that the acquisition has no added conditions for this process. 

“The Commission concluded that the proposed acquisition would raise no competition concerns, given the combined entity’s limited market position upstream and the presence of strong downstream competitors in the distribution of video games,” reads the European Commission statement regarding the approval. “The transaction was examined under the normal merger review procedure.”

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Monster Hunter Rise is on the way and to celebrate, Capcom just revealed a brand new trailer for fans of the series to enjoy, including new monsters on the way. In addition to the Monster Hunter Rise gameplay trailer, we've also got confirmation about the next demo for the upcoming game. But first, the trailer. 

New Monster Hunter Rise gameplay trailer and features

In our latest look at Monster Hunter Rise, Capcom showed off a new Rampage quest type as Hunters work alongside the citizens of Kamura Village to prepare them for survival against hordes of hungry monsters. With the new trailer also comes a first look at some new gameplay features, including the Silkbind Attacks that all four weapon types will be able to utilize and the Switch Skills for each weapon's progression. 

Monster Hunter Rise will also include dynamic difficulty scaling for multiplayer that will automatically adjust for new players as they come and go out of the online experience. 

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Popular survival game Rust is coming to consoles this spring. The game has long been one of the most played games on Steam since it first launched in Early Access in 2013 (and hit 1.0 in 2018) and now PlayStation 4 and Xbox One players will finally have a chance to see what the fuss is all about.

Before Rust officially launches, a closed beta is currently taking place and will last for the next few weeks. If you’re a console player who always wondered what exactly Rust is, it tasks players with surviving an unforgiving world inhabited by other players where rules are more or less non-existent. While you still need to combat thirst, hunger, and weather by crafting tools, weapons, and shelters, the game’s core appeal comes from encountering other players (up to 100) and the emergent stories that come out of these interactions. 

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They can range from something as cool as working alongside strangers to share resources, build elaborate shelters, or even form your own society. Other times, well, I think former Game Informer editor Javy Gwaltney put it best in his 2018 review of the game: 

Fortnite's excellent Zero Point event continues to add characters from other universes. Just a week after introducing Ripley and a Xenomorph from the Aliens films, Epic Games is dipping  into the nearly bottomless Marvel Comics well again to bring Ant-Man to the battle royale.

Epic Games says the Ant-Man suit is designed but Hank Pym, but doesn't say who is in it. We have to assume it's Scott Lang because he is joined by friend Ant-Tonio Banderas, who formed a tight bond with the growing and shrinking hero in the Marvel Cinematic Universe films. This is Fortnite after all, so there could be a sentient banana in the suit as well. Who knows.

Ant-Man also comes with a toopick pickaxe with a large olive on it. The oversized item (and ant friend) are sadly the only items that are the wrong size. Ant-Man can't grow or shrink like he does in the comic books and films. Epic Games is asking its player base to take photos that make him look microscopic in size. If you are up for such a challenge, tag your shots with the Twitter hashtag #Fortography.

Most people can easily rattle off a handful of their favorite games, but comparing every game you’ve ever played against every other one is tough – especially if you’re supposed to rank them. But what if you limit the field a bit? If you only compare the games within a specific series, it gets easier to single out your favorites. With that in mind, I’ve chosen five major franchises in which I’ve played every mainline installment, and then selected the one game from each that deserves to wear the series’ crown. 

Halo Reach fans may remember Moa as an alien species of bird native to planet Reach. The large, flightless bird resembles an emu, and apparently made good burger meat, evidenced by the game's World Cuisine restaurant advertising Moa burgers. If you ever wondered how a fictional bird-turned-hamburger tastes, Pringles of all companies has pulled the curtain back on its limited edition Moa burger flavored chips.

According to Halo’s official Twitter account, the chips are being sold exclusively by Walmart, because when I think of where to get Moa flavored things, I think "Walmart." I mean, they sell everything, so why should this be the exception? What I want to know is how Pringles determined the flavor of an imaginary alien bird. Maybe they taste like a Beyond Meat burger? Or maybe they just taste like potato-y chicken. 

Ask anyone who has been involved with the tabletop role-playing scene for a long time, and they’ll confirm that we’re in the middle of a golden age for the hobby. A number of factors – including livestreamed shows, remote play options, crowdfunded projects, and mature design – have led to an explosion of interest in the role-playing experience.

Without a doubt, the latest version of the original tabletop RPG, Dungeons & Dragons, remains a driving force for the current success across the industry. The excellent 5th edition has done wonders for uniting disparate fan groups of the game around an approachable (but still nuanced) fantasy role-playing system. As a player of various editions of that game since childhood, I’ll be the first to recommend the current edition of D&D to both newcomers and old-timers.

At the same time, the breadth of the hobby has grown so much that I also recommend players consider the tremendous variety of other games on the market today. Even if you desire to stay mostly within the bounds of the fantasy milieu, there’s no shortage of options. And that’s without even stepping beyond into other genres or playstyles, which could easily occupy a whole range of additional articles like this.

Disgaea 6: Defiance of Destiny is launching June 29 exclusively for Switch. The latest title in the quirky turn-based strategy series was announced last September and brings a host of new changes to the long-running franchise.

For one, the game ditches the series’ traditional 2D sprites for fully 3D character models. A 32x mode speeds up battles exponentially, and the level cap has been raised to a staggering 99,999,999. But that’s not all! The release date trailer (posted below) also announces bonus content in the form of four additional characters from Disgaea’s past: Girl Laharl, Asagi, and Disgaea 2’s Adell and Rozalin. They, along with story content surrounding them, will be included in Disgaea 6 free of charge. Check them out in action in the video below and be treated to the bonus site of seeing Nippon Ichi Software president Souhei Niikawa rocking some sweet Prinny gear.  

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Ghost of Tsushima was one of the best games of last year, allowing players to explore the island of Tsushima in an open-world adventure inspired by classic samurai cinema. But it turns out that Sucker Punch's latest project did more than just entertain gamers; it raised awareness of the real-life location, and now the mayor is honoring two members of the development team by naming them tourism ambassadors for Tsushima.

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Game director Nate Fox (who we interviewed last year on the Game Informer Show) and creative director Jason Connell from Sucker Punch will be presented with the award and a letter of appreciation. 

Netflix's The Witcher season 2 is back in production after a few delays, including an injury involving Geralt's actor, Henry Cavill. Several delays have been an unfortunate occurrence for the show's new season due to COVID-19 and Work From Home orders, but the show continues on with a brand new castmate in tow. According to recent reports, Netflix's The Witcher season 2 casts Downton Abbey actor Kevin Doyle. 

As reported by Redanian Intelligence, a property that has provided a number of onsite images and a plethora of insider information, the newest cast member will reportedly be playing a character by the name of Ba'Lian. Known for his portrayal of Mr. Molesley on the period series, he's also contributed his talents to other shows like The Tudors, Hawaii Five-0, and Happy Valley.

If you're among the people that we know are asking "who," you're not alone in your confusion about who Ba'Lian is. This character does not appear in any of the novels from Andrzej Sapkowski, the source material behind the show that eventually spawned CD Projekt Red's hit The Witcher game adaptation. This will be an all-new character to meet somewhere during the season 2 narrative. 

Since the cryptic cinematic reveal in 2019, players haven't heard or seen anything official from From Software's Elden Ring. With the dynamite success of Sekiro, Dark Souls III, and the rest of the Souls saga, expectations are high for From Software's next contribution to the subgenre they put on the map with Demon's Souls a decade ago. Recently, some blurry snippets of what's purported to be Elden Ring footage have leaked, as these things sometimes do. Bloodborne aka Project Beast was famously leaked prior to release, showing off what would be an incredible and horrific dive into the unknown.

Earlier this week, Bungie removed Trials of Osiris from Destiny 2: Season of the Chosen following the revelation that that players were "win-trading" in order to get those coveted rewards. While the studio gave us some good news regarding the hilariously fun 12-player raid glitch, Bungie also confirmed that Trials of Osiris is disabled indefinitely. 

In the most recent This Week In Bungie blog post, Cozmo offered up an update for those players curious about when Trials would return. The update was short, not so sweet, and to the point: "Last weekend, Trials of Osiris was disabled due to unexpected issues. While these issues are being investigated, Trials of Osiris will be unavailable to players. We will have more information when it becomes available." 

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Almost a full year after the game's release, Call of Duty: Warzone remains one of the biggest titles on the planet. But as far as I know, the Game Informer team has yet to produce a win on stream in that time. Will that change today?

Join Game Informer as we squad up and try our best to produce that coveted win (or dub as the kids call it) and have a fun fraggin' Friday stream with the GI community.

If at first we don't succeed in Warzone, we're going to be going on a tour of some of the other modes in Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War as well. Will we be able to survive the treacherous zombie hordes in the game's new Outbreak mode? How will Reiner, Tack, Blake, and I fare as a squad in more tactical game types like Search and Destroy? You can only know by tuning in. 

Marvel's Avengers has an incredible single-player story, which made it very odd that Square Enix chose to market the Crystal Dynamics game heavily as a multiplayer experience. With so much of a focus on playing with friends, the endgame component of the Marvel game left little to be desired. Many felt that the grind was not worth the effort, a problem that games like Destiny 2 have faced, and with the response to those complaints being to make the title even more of a grind, we couldn't help but wonder what the heck the studio is doing and offer up a few things we'd like to see to help them turn it around. 

How can Square Enix and Crystal Dynamics make Marvel's Avengers good again? 

The single-player story of Marvel's Avengers, despite initial reservations over character models, was a pretty big hit for many players. It offered a different perspective of some of our favorite heroes and it also gave the "adorkably" charming Kamala Khan a spotlight that this character deserved. The story wasn't the problem. The problem was that Square Enix shoved the story aside when marketing the title pre-launch so when it eventually did release, players were expecting this breathtaking, fully fleshed-out multiplayer endgame experience. What they got was an endless repetitious cycle that didn't feel like there was any real payoff. The grind was real. It was also Real Boring™. 

The wild ride that is Epic Games vs. Apple began back in August 2020 when Fortnite was pulled from the iOS store as a result of an ongoing battle between Epic Games and Apple. Epic Games tried to cheat the rules that Apple has in place for third-party apps by circumventing the required payout for all third-party businesses, so the tech company removed the game. Epic Games fired back saying that Apple adopts a favoritism model regarding business support, which prompted the Orwellian 1984-styled #FreeFortnite campaign. Even Valve was pulled into the mix, something that the PC giant is also fighting. Now, the UK government is looking a bit more closely at Apple over "anti-competitive behavior" concerns. 

The UK government has declared that the Competition and Markets Authority is looking into reports regarding Apple's practices, including the 30% pay cut on all payouts to third-party companies. This investigation is tied to the ongoing battle between Apple and Epic Games, because that feud is far from over. 

Last week, we wrote a piece about the Destiny 2 12-player raid bug that completely changed the way the game felt and how much we ourselves were loving it. We waited until Bungie was aware of the bug before writing it to prolong that joy a little further, but turns out we don't have to. Guardians were shocked to see that a fix for the unintentionally hilarious and amazing glitch weren't included in this week's patch notes. That was intentional. Good news, friends! Bungie isn't quite ready to part with the Destiny 2 12-player raid bug either quite yet. 

In the latest "This Week At Bungie" blog post, Cozmo updated fans awaiting news about the double-the-Guardian-double-the-fun glitch. According to him, the team is loving watching everybody having so much fun, he even went so far to say that if you haven't cheesed a raid, dungeon, or Presage yet to go ahead and do so now. 

The final chapter in Agent 47’s international journey of political intrigue, espionage, and assassination launched to strong reviews earlier this year.  Despite the main story coming to a close, developer IO Interactive is releasing even more content for players that are looking to take on more missions. The upcoming update includes new weapons, elusive targets, escalation contracts, and —that’s right, you guessed it — Easter bunny eggs. 

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Hitman 3 March Roadmap

Escalation Contract

The Lesley Celebration is slated to be Hitman 3’s  next escalation contract. Players must hunt down a number of VIPs within the claustrophobic confines of a crowded Berlin nightclub.  Similar to normal contracts that you can complete, escalation contracts usually require players to neutralize an enemy while adhering to specific objectives and restrictions. These restrictions amplify the stakes and challenge of each mission (e.g., wearing a certain outfit while eliminating a target or using a specific weapon for the duration of the contract). When the deed(s) has been done, the escalation contract’s difficulty will increase which can lead to more nuanced playthroughs that can potentially include extra targets. 

The Lesley Celebration drops on March 4.

Before Your Eyes is a unique narrative adventure that you control by blinking your eyes. Yes, as in with your actual eyeballs. You're probably asking yourself "How the heck does that work?" Read on to find out what this eye-catching indie title has in store. 

The game is described as a “personal tale of self-discovery” as players embark on a journey guided by The Ferryman, a feline (or canine?) boat captain who shepherds departed souls to the afterlife. The debut trailer shows off various stages in one’s life, such as playing games with loved ones, traveling to other countries, and, eventually, death. To relive these memories, players must physically blink and those movements are detected by your webcam and registered as inputs. 

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Blinking can move time forward by a few days or a few years. Certain interactions are also triggered by blinking, shown in the trailer when the Ferryman instructs players to blink over his hand or when viewing a photo album. The idea is that life is literally flashing before your eyes, and I can’t think of a more immersive and organic method of getting that point across. 

Lo-fi is one of my favorite music stylings to listen to throughout the workday, so when Square Enix added some chill Final Fantasy lo-fi sounds to Spotify, my heart got really happy really quickly. The company recently just added a ton of new tunes to the music streaming service, including a "Chill Out" tracklist specifically designed to help relax and unwind. 

"Introducing new chill-out arrangements of music from Square Enix’s popular game titles," says Square Enix about the Spotify "Chill Out" album. "This album features a selection of classic tracks, mainly taken from Squaresoft’s 1980s releases, such as Final Fantasy, Final Fantasy II, Final Fantasy Legend, Final Fantasy Legend II, Final Fantasy Legend III, and Final Fantasy Adventure."

Today, Valve announced that development on the Artifact reboot, previously known as Artifact 2.0, has ceased. That beta version of the game is now available alongside the original artifact for free. Since these are two different games, with Artifact 2.0 having a multitude of changes, players can elect to download and play either game at this point for free. The original can be played as Artifact Classic, while the newer version is known as Artifact Foundry. Both can be found on Steam.  Players can no longer spend money on either game (like on card packs or the classic client, for example), since they are both 100-percent free at this time. In an official blog post today, The Artifact team commented on the reboot:

"While we're reasonably satisfied we accomplished most of our game-side goals, we haven't managed to get the active player numbers to a level that justifies further development at this time. As such, we've made the tough decision to stop development on the Artifact 2.0 Beta."

No further game updates are planned for either version of Artifact.

Loop Hero hits Steam today, a little indie gem that combines some different genre styles and mechanisms for a fairly compelling effect. While it’s a different sort of beast than many of today’s other deckbuilding roguelikes such as Slay the Spire or Monster Train, I’m guessing the same crowd is going to be rather enthralled with Loop Hero. Essentially, it combines deckbuilding, townbuilding, and… dungeon building. And idling. Yeah. You don’t control your hero at all. Instead, you make the major decisions that determine the hero’s future by creating a world around them, a loop that they’ll walk around until you either summon and defeat a boss or die. 

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I'm not sure if people travel to Iowa's "Field of Dreams" to attend a baseball game played in a cornfield, or if they are there to see ghosts. It's probably a mix of both. This unique setting is a part of MLB The Show 21. Holding true to the popular line "If you build it, he will come" from the Field of Dreams movie, you'll get the chance to build your own stadium and plant your own cornfield using The Show's new stadium creator. While this destination looks like the iconic Iowa location, I doubt you'll see the spirits of legendary baseball players on the field, but we'll have to wait to see what Sony has planned.

The stadium creator gives you a high level of freedom to make each ballpark distinct. Using 1,000 different pieces, you can pick the wall types (determining their height and distance on the fly), set where the foul poles are, and also design the stands, including props positioned inside and outside of the stadium. As the trailer above shows, you can even make the skyline look like a scene from an alien invasion movie with spacecraft floating menacingly over the city.

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Dragon Ball Demon Breaker is a fan-driven project that aims to revitalize the Dragon Ball franchise in the gaming space and a new demo is on the way soon. From the team over at SaiyaSlash, the upcoming game is a hack 'n slash adventure that places players in the role of Trunks. A Dragon Ball Demon Breaker demo trailer has arrived ahead of the early play period dropping this March to tease fans of the anime about what's ahead. 

Like most demos, the Dragon Ball Demon Breaker early access period will be a limited portion of the game for gamers to try out. It will allow those interested a chance to check out what it's like to become Trunks as he faces off against hordes of demons when taking on Saiyan Palace. 

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The demo trailer above (via GameRant) is just a small tease starring Future Trunks and shows off that players will be able to take to battle with his base form and his Super Saiyan form. Being able to swap between the two forms seems effortless enough, though I wish we could have seen more features in the trailer since most of this centers around things we've already known. 

The latest fighter to join the Super Smash Bros. roster is available today with Pyra and her alternate form, Mythra. Game director Masahiro Sakurai showed off what the latest arrival brings to the fighting game, including a new stage and some more sprites for players to enjoy. Also revealed, outside of the Xenoblade focus, were the new Monster Hunter-inspired Mii costumes. 

We've had some pretty cool Mii costumes in the past, even if previous revelations led to the disappointment that the actual characters themselves weren't arriving (we're still mourning the unofficial inclusion of Undertale), and the latest additions arrive ahead of Monster Hunter Rise. 

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In the latest Super Smash Bros. Ultimate showcase (at time marker 31:56), we see the different direction that Nintendo decided to take when introducing the newest Mii costumes, pivoting away from Xenoblade to celebrate Monster Hunter. The four newest costumes include: 

Lovecraftian horror game The Sinking City has once again been pulled from Steam as part of the ongoing (and increasingly ugly) publishing dispute between the game's developer, Frogwares, and its publisher, Nacon. The game released in June 2019, but was pulled from Steam and several other digital storefronts for months as a result of the legal conflict. The French courts eventually allowed Nacon to sell The Sinking City again while a final decision on whether or not Frogwares is legally obligated to deliver the Steam version of the game was still pending.  

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Earlier this week, Blizzard confirmed that there will be at least two chances for players to get their hands on Diablo II: Resurrected with alpha tests but now the company is warning players of fakes trying to capitalize on the excitement. 

Adam Fletcher, Blizzard's community development lead, took to Twitter to warn that the company is already being made aware of a few different fake alpha invites floating around following the reveal. "Just a heads-up to everyone interested in Diablo II: Resurrected and the tech alpha," begins his warning. "Don't fall for scams. I've seen numerous places state they are running contests or giving away access. That isn't true." 

Here is a great example:https://t.co/Czl4vixAPc

When Skylanders and Disney Infinity were flying off of store shelves, Bit Fry Game Studios almost made a toys-to-life sports title. I was shown a prototype of a Wayne Gretzky figure that would be used for the game by Ben Freidlin, Bit Fry's founder and CEO. The hope was to create a game that blended athletes from all major professional sports, whether it was hockey or baseball, to compete in all sports whether they knew how to in real life or not. As development of this title ramped up, the entire toys-to-life category collapsed, and Bit Fry wisely pivoted to adapt its vision to a standard video game format.

The result of that change was the wildly successful Apple Arcade game Ultimate Rivals: The Rink, an arcade-style hockey game that has assembled over 70 recognizable athletes. That entire roster (along with even more stars), are replacing their ice skates for sneakers in the forthcoming game Ultimate Rivals: The Court.

A new Super Smash Bros. Ultimate showcase has game director Masahiro Sakurai front and center once more to break down what Pyra and Mythra bring to the roster ahead of their official arrival in the fighting game. The latest episode of Mr. Sakurai Presents breaks down more about the fighting style of the newest additions as well as a first look at what the adorable Kirby Copy looks like when swallowed whole. 

You can see the entire showcase in all of its Xenoblade x Super Smash Bros. glory in the video below: 

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Among the reveals is our first look at the Cloud Seas of Alrest stage. The game director reveals that the stage itself is set on the back of Azurda (also called Gramps) and it's during the opening scenes that players will learn that this is Rex's home. Players will be able to see other Titans appear at random in the background as the stage floats among the clouds. Also confirmed is that each Titan will have its own geography, making each one special and unique to the play experience. 

The above showcase also shows off Kirby's adorable copy of the character while revealing that Kirby's abilities will differ depending on if he inhales Pyra or her alternate form with Mythra. 

There is a lot happening in the world of Dungeons & Dragons currently. Following the news that actor Hugh Grant is set to play the role of the lead villain in the upcoming D&D movie, new information has arisen about yet another tabletop-inspired project in the works. As confirmed by Wizards of the Coast back in 2019, one of the "seven or eight" projects currently in development is an open-world game from Hidden Path Entertainment. 

In a recent tweet, the studio confirmed the new game with a hiring notice. "We are in development on a AAA, third-person, open-world fantasy RPG that will be taking place inside the Dungeons & Dragons franchise," reads the tweet. 

Hidden Path is hiring! We are in development on a AAA, third-person, open-world fantasy RPG that will be taking place inside the Dungeons & Dragons franchise.
- Graphics Programmer
- Lead Graphics Programmer
- Senior Technical Artist
- Writer
More info:https://t.co/gs8ld6AJL3

Following the news that the upcoming Dungeons & Dragons movie landed its new writer with John Wick creator Derek Kolstad and the reports that Chris Pine is in the film as well, a new casting decision has been announced. Hugh Grant is slated to play the role of the lead villain in the upcoming Dungeons & Dragons movie alongside It's Sophia Lillis. 

In a new report from Deadline, Grant is poised to play the big villain of the upcoming movie. Lillis' role is unclear at this time, though more details are expected to drop soon. As for the rest of the cast, Grant and Lillis both join an impressive roundtable of actors including the aforementioned Pine, Michelle Rodriguez, Rege-Jean Page (Bridgerton), and Justice Smith (Detective Pikachu).

For years, we've been getting reports of a "Nintendo Switch Pro" model that would add extra power and other features meant to appeal to core gamers. While reports of a new Switch model in 2019 ended up pointing toward the handheld-only Switch Lite, the rumors have continued to swirl regarding a potential more powerful Switch console. As recently as last August, reports continued surfacing about a 4K-capable Switch set to launch in 2021.

Today, Bloomberg reports more details on the heavily rumored model than we've ever seen before. The report states the new model will feature a larger Samsung OLED touchscreen on the device for use in handheld and tabletop mode. The screen is said to be a 7-inch OLED panel capable of 720p resolution, with production to get underway as early as June and shipments set to go out to assemblers in July. The current Switch models feature a 6.2-inch screen on the base model and a 5.5-inch screen on the Switch Lite. 

Last year, actor Keanu Reeves, New York Times bestselling writer Matt Kindt, and artist Ron Garney launched a Kickstarter campaign for BRZRKR, a comic book series about an immortal warrior who is drawn to look like Reeves. The campaign was embraced by over 14,000 people who combined to pledged a whopping $1,400,000 to get this project made.

Supporters of that Kickstarter receive the full story within three hard or softcover books. If you missed out on that campaign, and are interested in this comic, which Reeves co-writes (and kind of stars in), you can pick up the first issue today at your local comic book store. Published by Boom! Studios, BRZRKR is worth tracking down, as almost every page shows Reeves in action, being brutal and effective much like John Wick. Reeves' wavy black hair and low-key attitude are also delivered in almost every frame.

While many island dwellers are currently getting their Super Mario on with the latest event in Animal Crossing, Nintendo just revealed what fans have to look forward to with the upcoming New Horizons St. Patrick's Day update. 

While not a full-on event like some other seasonal activities, the Animal Crossing: New Horizons St. Patrick's Day update does add a few themed items for players to enjoy as they live out their island fantasies. From furnishing that home with a special shamrock rug to chugging down tankards of shamrock soda, there are quite a few ways to celebrate the luck of the Irish while still disappointing all of the villagers that trust you to run the island. 

Oh, is that just me? Alright...

The Shamrock soda, shamrock doorplate, and shamrock rug items will be available from 3/10 to 3/17. One item in the series will be available each day, with selection changing daily. Shamrock day fashion items will also be available at Able Sisters during this time! #ACNH pic.twitter.com/AJpEc7phx5

During the virtual BlizzCon experience back in February, Blizzard Entertainment made an announcement that gave longtime Diablo fans pure joy. With Diablo II: Resurrected dropping sometime this year, fans of the action role-playing classic are eager to know when they can get their hands on the enhanced experience. While we don't have a release date quite yet, the company did confirm that there will be two Alpha play periods available for gamers to check out. 

With the help of Vicarious Visions, the upcoming Diablo II remaster will bring updated 3D graphics to the table as well as new art, more modernized textures, better audio, and improved lighting. Players can check out the improvements for themselves when the first Alpha test drops at an undisclosed date. For those that want to be in the know when the game's early access test period begins, Blizzard has opened up a way to opt-in on alerts for the second that signups goes live. For those interested, you can opt-in right here. 

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The Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope can provide solid scares while playing alone, but anyone who’s played Until Dawn with friends knows there can be something special about having someone else along for the ride. Supermassive and Bandai Namco clearly agree, because as of now, Little Hope owners have access to a free friend’s pass to pass along to a buddy.

The pass allows a player who doesn’t own Little Hope to play a single full playthrough of the game alongside an owner using the Share Story mode. The pass applies to the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC versions of the game and both users must play on the same platform. Once you and your buddy have completed a playthrough, that friend’s pass is used up and can’t be applied again. If that sounds good, you’ll want to wrangle up a partner/victim sooner than later. The friend pass will only be available one month after initial release (which was yesterday), so fire up the game and get going!

Bandai Namco also announced a Curator’s Cut of the game is coming to all players. This new mode adds new, exclusive scenes that offer a new perspective on the narrative once players complete their first playthrough. The game’s soundtrack is also now available to listen to on all major streaming platforms.

Hu Tao is finally available in the new Genshin Impact banner, allowing players to spend wishes or primogems to take a chance and try to add one to their party. Yes, it's a gacha-style system, but players can save up currency over time to spend their primogems and wishes to get the characters they want. The issue is, there are probably a lot of characters that you'd like to have.

In this respect, while Hu Tao seems amazingly cool, she's almost certainly a "primogem sink" because if you've been playing Genshin at all so far, you probably have a high level, high power Xiangling in your team already, who fills the exact same pyro polearm combination. Sure, Hu Tao can push out some massive burst damage and also has a cute ghost sidekick, but is she really worth dumping your hard-earned currency on?

Well, I sure thought so. I mean, she has a ghost. Seriously. Oh, she also has a unique "blink" effect on her dash, so that's likely to be highly useful during fights, I'd love to turn it into my own personal invincibility-frame Dark Souls roll. Anyway, so I decided to hit up my wish bank that I've been saving for a while (Sorry Xiao, I never got around to spending wishes on you...) and take a chance. What happened? You can check it out in the video below!