Game Informer

This past weekend was the 25th anniversary of the Pokémon franchise, and The Pokémon Company, Game Freak, and Nintendo pulled out all the stops to mark the occasion. On top of the announcements of Pokémon Legends: Arceus and Pokémon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl (plus a better look at New Pokémon Snap), The Pokémon Company also held a virtual concert starring Post Malone on Saturday night. At the end of the virtual performance, it was revealed that Pokémon is receiving a special star-studded musical album to celebrate its 25th anniversary. 

Hood: Outlaws & Legends is an intriguing multiplayer project, blending PvP and PvE (or PvPvE) while remixing classic Robin Hood lore. In preparation for its launch this May, developer Sumo Digital has released the first of four videos detailing the game’s four classes. First up: the Ranger.

The Ranger serves as a reimagined proxy for Robin Hood himself. As such, long-ranged bow attacks are this character’s bread and butter. By sniping targets from afar, the Ranger is ideal for stealthier approaches, allowing players to pick off enemies in relatively quiet fashion. Of course, if you need to go in guns, er, I mean bows blazing, the Ranger can provide covering fire for teammates during loud skirmishes, blind enemies, and blow them to bits using explosive arrows. The video below gives a great look at the class in action.  

From Software fans have been begging for a new look at Elden Ring, and while news has been mum, it looks like a month-old trailer has been circulating online – and a source has confirmed to me that it is real. While not a high-quality video, the internet immediately exploded in excitement over the latest crumb for the new game with the Elden Ring trailer. 

"I can only imagine what drives you to seek the Elden Ring," says an inquiring voice in the video linked at the bottom of the article. "I suppose you can't be talked into turning back. Very well then!" I was able to confirm with one of my sources with close ties to the studio that the trailer is legitimate, though a few of the responding screenshots that have been circulating are fake. 

First spotted by VGC, the trailer first began making its rounds in Discords, showing off a phone recording of the Elden Ring trailer. VGC's Andy Robinson added on Twitter, "I understand Elden Ring's development has (unsurprisingly) been significantly disrupted by the pandemic like so many big-budget games in production right now. It's unclear if it will make it out this year. One source told me they were expecting to release in 2022." 

Hu Tao is the spooky 77th director of the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor, presiding over all manner of funeral services in Liyue, and she's coming to Genshin Impact soon. Hu Tao is a polearm wielder and pyro element, so she'll likely take over a spot in your crew that's currently being filled by Diluc or Xiangling. Of course, that's if you're lucky enough to get her out of the gacha. Hu Tao has an adorable little ghost companion that syncs up and synergizes with her core mechanics, which seem to hinge around self-injury for massive damage boosts. Don't worry, Hu Tao can heal herself via regeneration with her skillset as well. Before we dial down into specifics, check out Hu Tao's teaser trailer below!

With the recent confirmation from Sony Interactive Entertainment head Jim Ryan stating that more PlayStation games will be making the jump to PC, starting with Days Gone this Spring, it got us thinking: what other PlayStation adventures would we want to see make the leap onto the mod-friendly platform? While we could easily just say Bloodborne across the board (which we are very tempted to, mind you), here is an actual list of 10 PlayStation games we'd like to see on PC. 

While there is always the PlayStation Now service, it's not quite the same as an actual PC port. Modding Horizon Zero Dawn and Death Stranding when both games made their way to PC was so much fun, and to have that freedom with more titles in addition to an excuse for another playthrough would be amazing. 

Let's get started with our first pick: Bloodborne. 

Stonefly the eye-catching new project from Flight School Studios, makers behind the 2019 indie title Creature in the Well. The game blends two disparate yet inherently fun elements, armored mech suits and giant bugs, to create a neat looking adventure coming this summer. 

Stonefly centers Annika, a young but brilliant inventor who is on a quest to recover her father’s lost mech armor. To do so, Annika will have to do her best Tony Stark impersonation and craft an insect-like suit of armor of her own. Doing so involves gathering materials to craft into parts, which you’ll find scattered through the beautiful, hand-crafted forest. The sense of scale gives a sense that Annika is a small human in a big world, as she walks over street-sized branches and soars over leaves at least twice the size of her mech.  Or maybe she’s a normally proportioned human and the environment is just really, really huge. 

The reveal of Pokémon Legends: Arceus stole the show during this morning's Pokémon Presents presentation. The upcoming open-world game launches on Switch early next year and transports players back in time to the feudal period of the Sinnoh region. Trainers are let loose to explore a seemingly vast open-world teeming with Pokémon across several generations. Per the title, the game is headlined by the legendary Arceus who, from what I understand, is basically God? So far Pokémon Legends Arceus looks great (if not a bit choppy) but what does it actually entail, and most importantly, what do we as players want to see from it?

Fortnite and DC Comics have crossed over in the past, including giving players a chance to live out those fantasies of becoming key icons like the Joker, Cat Woman, and Batman himself, but now the two universes will meet again for a new adventure: a new comic series. The latest Fortnite x DC crossover is a new Batman comic series that will feature the battle royale title in an entirely different way. 

While a crossover in itself isn't at all surprising (seriously, the list of mashups is almost too long to count at this point), the fact that it's via a new comic series is a little unexpected. The new comic series is called Batman/Fortnite: Zero Point and will offer six issues for a new storyline centering around yet another tear in reality. 

A new rift rips Gotham's sky asunder in the new miniseries and drops Batman dead center into an unfamiliar world. Batman invaded the game, now he's invading the entire universe, as he tries to escape an endless loop of nonsensical chaos while meeting other characters from the Fortnite-verse like Renegade Raider, Fishstick, and more. 

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Season 2 just launched, and alongside its arrival comes the new Outbreak mode, which is an open-world twist on the series' beloved zombie mode offerings. Outbreak tasks up to four players to complete the daunting Operation Threshold, an all-new mission that is set across several regions in the Ural Mountains of Russia, wherein the squad must explore designated hot zones and compete in a variety of challenges. The official Call of Duty blog post states that each mission "begins with a Requiem strike team entering one of these regions via helicopter, armed with a custom starting weapon and Field Upgrade." The article then describes how players will navigate to their primary objective, with a waypoint marking the location on on the in-game map and mini-map. 

In September of last year, it was confirmed that the industry was moving toward a $70 price tag for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X games, and it likely only a matter of time until it becomes the norm. It looks like Final Fantasy VII Remake is joining the ranks of $70 games with its PS5 version, officially called Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade. 

PlayStation fans got a first look at how the Final Fantasy VII remake plays on the PS5 earlier this week during the most recent State of Play showcase. In addition to the Yuffie episode, Square Enix shared the differences players can expect with PS5 upgrades. What we didn't know until after the showcase was that the price was getting an upgrade as well. 

The standalone digital and physical versions of Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade will both retail at $69.99. The new Yuffie episode is included in that package, but for those who want a little more, there is also a Digital Deluxe version of Intergrade that will come with goodies like a digital artbook, a digital mini soundtrack, and a Cacstar weapon for those that pre-order through the PlayStation Store. For those that want that option, the Deluxe version will retail for $89.99.

The upcoming release of Monster Hunter Rise is an exciting launch for longtime fans of the RPG series from Capcom, bringing with it more combat, more palicoes, and even some good puppers. While the Switch release is set in stone for March 26, Capcom has confirmed that a Monster Hunter Rise PC port is on the way but will be a staggered launch like games in the past. Much like Monster Hunter World, Rise is slated for a PC date sometime in 2022. 

With Monster Hunter Rise dropping soon next month, many PC fans wondered if and when the game would be making it over onto a more moddable platform. Capcom has confirmed yes following several leaks in a recent interview with GamesRadar. During the interview, series producer Ryozo Tsujimoto confirmed that a PC release is in the cards, but it won't be happening this year. 

During the interview, Tsujimoto confirmed that a PC port is already developing because Capcom gets "many fan requests" for this platform. When Capcom brought Monster Hunter World to PC, especially with Iceborne, the community grew exponentially, and the feedback was overwhelmingly positive after the initial launch once the initial technical issues were taken care of. Because of that, Monster Hunter Rise will also make a solid PC port, in terms of player interest, and will open up possibilities for more fans to be able to enjoy the continuation of this franchise. 

This week, Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War got a new Zombie mode, Outbreak. Well, “mode” is kind of treating this experiment lightly, because it very well could be the framework of an entirely new Zombies experience - and one that’s far more compelling for folks that aren’t already immersed in the round-based puzzle-hunting and metasolving that Zombies is known for. In short, Outbreak is an open-world, co-op romp that draws upon many, many enjoyable elements that you can find in other CoD games and modes, today’s looter shooters, ARPGs, and even roguelites. Now, I don’t think what’s there in Outbreak is the final, realized version of what this mode can be, but rather some nascent aether where a breakout, big deal mode (or even game) could one day be. Let’s dive in.

The PlayStation 5 is an impressive machine, but a big issue has plagued its players across the board: the inability to upgrade its internal storage. The PS5’s SSD only has 667GB of available storage (a lot less than Xbox Series X's 885GB SSD), and with triple-A games typically sizing up at around 50GB to 70GB minimum, managing new game downloads – plus updates – has been a bit of a nightmare for PS5 owners. Thankfully, a new report by Bloomberg indicates that Sony is working on a firmware update that will finally allow PS5 owners to upgrade its internal storage. 

According to Bloomberg’s anonymous sources, Sony's upcoming update will enable the PS5's expansion bay, allowing players to install a second M.2 SSD to the console. If you remove the detachable “fins” covering the PS5, you’ll notice the internal slot meant to house an additional drive. The slot has been disabled since launch, with Sony promising last November that external storage support would come in a future update.

In January, Nintendo announced an Animal Crossing: New Horizons Sanrio crossover would be happening with a new card pack. Still, the company didn't show off exactly what these cards will bring to the calming simulator game. Now, we've got our first look at the adorable Hello Kitty items (plus other Sanrio properties) and villagers coming to our islands when the new pack arrives next month. 

My Meloy, Hello Kitty, and Keroppi are all making their way to islands everywhere with new villagers, items, and styles to don celebrating all things Sanrio. Check out what's on the way next month with the full card reveal below: 

The trailer above reveals a few returning faces from Animal Crossing: New Leaf, including Marty, Etoile, Chai, Toby, Chelsea, and Rilla. Players can also scan the cards over at Harv's island for a few exclusive Sanrio-themed posters as well. 

The Animal Crossing Sanrio Collaboration Pack arrives on March 26 exclusively at Target for those interested. The only problem with this trailer is now I don't know who I'm going to possibly kick off my island because I need more Marty in my life... 

Decisions, decisions. 

Pokémon Diamond and Pearl released in North America in 2007 on Nintendo's DS handheld, and now today's fans will get a chance to revisit these installments with a new, modern makeover. Announced during today's Pokémon Presents festivities, this pair of games – called Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Pokémon Shining Pearl – is coming to Switch later in 2021.

Though it may not have been the biggest reveal during the show (that honor belongs to Pokémon Legends Arceus), it's still an exciting opportunity to jump into the classic Pokémon formula with a fresh spin. 

According to The Pokémon Company's Takato Utsunomiya, Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are "faithful remakes" of the games originally released 15 years ago. The most obvious change is the distinct visual overhaul, but fans can undoubtedly expect other tweaks to the experience while retaining the core elements that made the original releases so well-received.

New Pokémon Snap got some spotlight during today’s 25th anniversary stream, showing off the game in action and how players can lure and capture the best photos. 

The game is set in the Lental region, a biodiverse area where players will explore a jungle, desert, and underwater areas. The world is teeming with wildlife, with various types of Pokémon as far as the eye can see. The game has a who-who of monsters, including legendary and mythical types such as Celebi. Between the creature animations and the game's vibrant presentation, New Pokémon Snap looks very nice as far as visuals go. 

Like the original N64 game, luring Pokémon into the perfect shot involves tossing food to get their attention. You can also use special lures to make any Pokémon glow or change the color of their attacks to really jazz up those shots. While just snapping pics of Pokémon doing their thing will satisfy Professor Mirror to an extent, capturing rare behavior (like a Raichu surfing) nets you more stars upon review. That means determined photographers will have to get creative, and exercise more patience, to immortalize those one-in-a-million moments in film.

Nintendo is celebrating all things Pokémon today and one of the announcements showed off the latest game in the iconic franchise, a title that takes a page from Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild with a stunning open world set in the Sinnoh region for Generation 4. The latest Pokémon adventure is Pokémon Legends Arceus.

One of the coolest aspects of the new game is that trainers aren't just in the "gotta catch 'em all" mindset, now players can ride their Pokémon to ride, to fly on, or to run with. It's an entirely different way to interact with the pocket monsters that we've come to know and love through the years while giving fans even more freedom to roam to their heart's content. 

The Feudal Japan stylization of this new game is a nice touch, giving that open-world exploration even more of a beautiful edge when becoming the very best. The idea of going back in time with the franchise is also an interesting take, especially when looking at the recent years for this series. Based on the trailer, Legends Arceus looks like it could be an incredibly peaceful adventure for those looking to explore, while still providing familiar gameplay that fans know and love. 

February is officially coming to a close and just like with every new month, Sony is offering active PlayStation Plus members a chance to snag a few free games. While February's freebies are available for a little while longer, the free PS Plus March 2021 games lineup has just been revealed for the month ahead. 

PS Plus March 2021 Games

The month of March has a pretty stellar lineup, including one game that was a major focus for the most recent State of Play. Earlier this week, Sony revealed more about the Yuffie-driven episode of Final Fantasy VII as well as what the remake looks like on current gen titles. That segway was absolutely perfect going into the March PS Plus games, because the remake for PlayStation 4 is one of the free titles being offered. 

Whether it's the social media countdown, a collaboration with Levi's, or the announcement of a digital concert headlined by Post Malone, The Pokémon Company has recently been building the hype around the 25th anniversary of one of the world's most recognizable entertainment franchises. While I love the song Sunflower as much as the next webhead, it hasn't become abundantly clear how gamers will be able to celebrate their love for the iconic series. That all (hopefully) changes today.

The Pokémon Company is set to premiere a Pokémon Presents update that they say fans of all things Pikachu won't want to miss. While there are sure to be updates on Pokémon projects outside of games, there are plenty of titles in the works fans hope to get an update on.

The Monster Hunter series is more popular than ever, thanks to recent entries Monster Hunter: World and its Iceborne expansion. Meanwhile, Nintendo fans have had to wait patiently for their time to shine. Thankfully, that time is close at hand. Monster Hunter Rise is an all-new adventure for Nintendo Switch, giving hunters another excuse to hit the field (and a host of monsters). In this episode of NGT, we take a look at what’s ahead, including a look at the returning fan favorite (?), the Khezu.

We start out with a quick look at Monster Hunter Rise’s cooking system. Unlike World’s kitchen, which featured drool-worthy entrees and dishes, Rise seems to be more about indulging your hunter’s sweet tooth. Players can mix and match different combinations of mochi, and you can see the Palico’s pounding out the delicious desert – and presenting it with a wonderfully catchy tune. (Skip to the end of the video to hear it without our commentary; it’s worth a listen.)

From there, we take a look at a battle against the returning Khezu wyvern. They’re virtually blind, they’re nasty looking, and people apparently can’t get enough of them. That’s what Tack keeps trying to tell us, at least. We also get to see an extended rodeo-riding session, which is used to bring two monsters together for some kaiju-style action. 

Fortnite's newest season, Zero Point, is uniting some of the greatest hunters in movies, games, and comic books for an epic battle royale showdown. This event kicked off with The Mandalorian and his child companion leaping through a dimensional rift, and almost every week after has brought new hunters like the Terminator, Predator, and this week's addition of Ripley from the Alien films. Unfortunately for her (but fortunately for us) she didn't emerge from the rift alone. A Xenomorph also made it through.

Both Ripley and the Xenomorph are now available for purchase. You can get both of them together for 2,200 V-Bucks, or you can get Ripley on her own for 1,500, and the Xenomorph for 1,600. Ripley has two looks you can switch between, and the Xenomorph has a built in emote. The Alien fun is rounded out with the P-500 Power Loader Arm Pickaxe, Jonesy the Cat in a carrier, a Cheyenne Dropship Glider, and a chest-burster emote.

343 Industries has taken to offering up regular monthly check-ups on the status of Halo Infinite as it steers toward its much anticipated launch later in 2021. After earlier looks into art, graphics, and the work of the live team, this month the team is shining a spotlight on the setting itself. The Zeta Halo is a massive explorable environment that seems to dramatically outstrip the scope of many previous games in the series, especially in terms of freedom and discoverability.

One of the big focuses for creating the game world for Halo Infinite is described as focusing on two central tenets – legacy and simplicity. “For 'Legacy' we really want players to feel like they are experiencing a game that they remember fondly (Halo: Combat Evolved), but with modernized graphics of course,” says Justin Dinges, the campaign art lead on the project. “As far as 'Simplicity' is concerned, we wanted to ensure that we steer away from overly noisy designs and details which is a key takeaway for the team coming off Halo 5.” That’s a welcome message for longtime fans of the series, as Halo has always found a way to balance a modern sci-fi aesthetic with natural beauty.

Bungie confirmed earlier today that Destiny 2: The Witch Queen has been pushed back until 2022. You can read the heartfelt post about that right here with our previous coverage, but the team also confirmed when players can finally expect transmog in addition to changes expected for the way rewards work in-game. 

Ada-1 returns to the Tower in Season 14, the very next season following Chosen. With her return comes the ability to finally ‘think Destiny 2 but then make it fashion’ with the ability to transmogrify those "lewks." 

Currently, players can go to the in-game Collections tab to change up how their Guardian looks by reacquiring certain gear and any unlocked shaders, but it's still pretty limited. There are also ornaments that can alter the way certain items look, but again; limited. With the newly implemented transmog system, called Armor Synthesis, arriving with Season 14, players will be able to take any armor they have in their Collections and turn it into a universal ornament with no limitations. 

"Every season Ada will offer players a set of bounties that highlight various activity types," explains the most recent blog post. "Players can complete these quests and receive the materials they need to power up Ada’s Loom, which can turn any piece of armor in your collection into a permanent universal ornament. Players short on time will also be able to purchase Synthesis tokens for Silver."

If you thought the one-two punch announcement of Final Fantasy VII coming to PS5 and its Yuffie-focused content was all the new stuff you were getting from the series, think again! Square Enix took to Twitter right after State of Play wrapped up to announce not one but two different Final Fantasy VII related titles for mobile devices.

The first is Final Fantasy VII The First Soldier. It’s a battle royale (you read that right) set in Midgar before the events of the game, where you control a candidate for Soldier and battle an unknown number of other players. Players use a combination of third-person melee, gunplay, spellcasting, and even summons to take out opposing players and be the last Soldier standing. In addition to other human players, it looks like you face off against A.I. enemies as well. The game launches later this year for iOS and Android.

Final Fantasy VII Remake was one of the best RPGs of 2020, and Square Enix is building on that success by releasing a new episode featuring Yuffie – one of the party members from the 1997 original who did not appear in last year’s game. And if you're excited to see what Yuffie can do, you won't have long to wait.

The new content is part of the PS5-enhanced version of the game, called Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade. As revealed during PlayStation's State of Play event, the whole package releases this summer on June 10. According to a Square Enix press release, Intergrade "comes bundled with the brand new episode featuring Yuffie as the main character, which introduces an exhilarating new story arc and numerous gameplay additions for players to enjoy."

While a few cryptic early videos have teased the atmosphere and visual potential of Returnal, Housemarque’s new game has remained largely a mystery since its announcement. But after a recent hands-off demo I had the chance to check out, and its appearance at today's State of Play event, my anticipation for the project skyrocketed.

An action game like Returnal lives or dies by how tight the controller play feels, and of course, that’s one element that I can’t speak to with authority until I get hands-on. As such, I’m not ready yet to crown the game as my new shooter obsession until I play it in full on PlayStation 5 for the April 30 release. But independent of gameplay feel, Returnal has a lot in its favor as it nears release in a couple of months.

At today's State of Play, the upcoming Deathloop from Arkane Studios and Bethesda got a spiffy new trailer, full of James Bond vibes. The time-looping title is scheduled to arrive on May 21 this year. Inside the trailer, not only do we get to immerse ourselves in a Bond-title-card homage, but we get to see quite a bit of action. Inside, we get a peek at a neon-tinged world where there's plenty of assassination happening, from throwing knives to heavy explosives to standard guns. There are some other curious weapons around too that don't look anything like a standard arsenal.  Check out the trailer right here!

Protagonists Colt and Julianna are both prominently featured in the trailer, taking on a variety of colorful foes in a number of environments. Strange, cult-like masked foes make up some of the enemy composition. So far, we know the game is something of an assassination tour, with Cole tasked with taking out a certain number of big bads before time runs out. Because of the loop mechanic, players are tasked with trying to hit the perfect run, taking out all the targets and surviving. If Colt fails, you're back to the start of another loop, though some aspects are likely to be retained from loop to loop. How it all plays out in the end we have yet to see.

Final Fantasy VII Remake is coming to the PlayStation 5 with upgraded visuals, faster load times, and new features such as a photo mode, developer-publisher Square Enix announced today during Sony's latest State of Play livestream. The game is expected to be re-released on June 10 under the new name Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade.

While the port comes with the standard upgrades people have come to expect, such as updated textures, fog, and lighting effects, a few quality of life improvements to note are the inclusion of faster load times, the option to choose between a graphics mode (which displays at 4K resolution) or a performance mode (running at 60 frames-per-second), and a new Normal (Classic) difficulty mode, which allows the player to automatically attack and defend. Previously, this playstyle was only available for the game's Easy difficulty. Lastly, Square Enix unveiled that Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade will feature a photo mode, though it's unclear if this is exclusive to the PlayStation 5 version of the game. 

Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade will be available as a free upgrade on PlayStation 5 for anyone that already bought the game on PlayStation 4. 

Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee was a beloved cult classic from the original PlayStation generation, and while that game received a handful of sequels, creator Lorne Lanning says that those titles didn’t really captures his original vision for the series. Fortunately, Lanning is getting a second bite at the apple with Soulstorm, a true sequel to Oddysee, which is set to release in a matter of weeks.

In Soulstorm, players reprise the role of Abe, a strange-looking Mudokon slave who escaped RuptureFarms’ meat processing factory and helped liberate his fellow workers. Abe grows to become a leader of this rebellion, and Soulstorm follows his continued adventures.

In this 2.5D action platformer, players lead Abe as he unites his fellow Mudokon’s and sneaks past – or otherwise does battle with – the evil Glukkons. Over the course of the game, you can rescue over 1,000 companions, who help you solve puzzles and navigate combat sequences. If you wish, you can complete the game as a pacifist or an agent of chaos. The PS5 version even makes use of the Sony’s DualSense controllers, allowing you to feel Abe’s heartbeat during tense situations.

Last year, a State of Play stream brought us the our first look of a new Five Nights at Freddy's game called Security Breach. While the announcement was more or less just a sneak-peek teaser trailer of the newest entry in the popular frightful franchise, today's State of Play stream gave us a better look, plus further confirmation that Five Nights at Freddy's: Security Breach is coming to PlayStation 5 this year.

We still don't have a ton of details, but the trailer shows the poor player-character running through children's play area in a mall full of deranged, living animatronic monsters. The PlayStation 5 version utilizes ray tracing, but if you still haven't gotten your hands on Sony's hard-to-obtain new-gen console, don't worry, it's also coming to PlayStation 4 and PC.

Five Nights at Freddy's: Security Breach comes to PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, and PC sometime in 2021. Check out the new trailer below and let us know your thoughts on the new Five Nights at Freddy's game in the comments section below!

Sifu premiered today during Sony’s State of Play showcase. Developed by indie dev studio Sloclap (the creators of 2017's Absolver), Sifu is an intense third-person action game where players take on waves of enemies in various environments — from housing complexes to death arenas — using an array of martial-arts techniques. Players can use the environment to their advantage by pinning enemies to walls for devastating attacks. Some of the adversaries in your path will attempt to strike you down with deadly weapons like pipes and knives, but the fighting mechanics allow for interesting counterattacks and opportunities for players to use unique weapons of their own. 

Last year, Ember Lab made the difficult decision to delay its debut game, Kena: Bridge of Spirits, from a planned release around the PlayStation 5 launch to a date sometime in 2021. At today’s State of Play event, the indie studio revealed when, exactly, players will be able to finally experience the delightful action-adventure for themselves. What are your plans around the end of August? 

More specifically, Kena: Bridge of Spirits is coming to PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, and PC (via the Epic Games Store) on August 24. Preorders go live starting today, giving players who get in early a crack at some special cosmetics. You get access to a pair of silly hats regardless of whether you preorder the standard digital edition ($39.99) or the deluxe digital edition ($49.99). The headwear gives you a chance to show your festive side by equipping your Rot companions with party hats or a head-mounted celebratory cake – complete with Kena’s name. 

Solar Ash is a game about movement through a dangerous world filled to the brim with exploration opportunities. Players will be tasked with trying to save the planet and during the most recent State of Play, Sony showed off more about the game, including enemy encounters, traversal movements, and so much more. 

From massive Sentinels with their elongated bodies and hungry appetites to the smaller enemies players will face, Solar Ash blends beauty, danger, and an adventurous spirit for those looking for a new world to get lost in. Take a look at the latest gameplay reveal, with commentary from the creative director, in the video below: 

For those that enjoyed Hyper Light Drifter, the team is sticking pretty true to the art style that many fell in love with. Solar Ash looks like a more peaceful version of that game with many surprises hidden around each corner. According to the studio over at Heart Machine, "Players will find a surreal, vivid, and highly stylized world filled with wild high-speed traversal, endearing characters, and massive enemy encounters. The Void is calling…"

When Bungie added cross-progression to Destiny 2, Guardians were excited to be able to have more freedom regarding the platforms of choice. That being said, cross-progression is still limited to platforms that the player owns. For those that want to play with friends regardless of platform, the studio has confirmed that Destiny 2 crossplay is officially slated to launch with the release of Season 15. 

Currently, Destiny 2: Beyond Light is in its 13th season with Season of the Chosen, so we still have a little further to go before crossplay is implemented. The studio took to the Bungie blog to provide a little more context for crossplay as part of the team's effort to make Destiny 2 more community-friendly. 

"With Destiny now committed to being an everlasting evolving world, we want to make sure we are still taking the time to upgrade the systemic foundation of Destiny 2 to support everything we want to do in the future," reads the blog post. "Our ultimate vision for Destiny 2 still stands – a definitive action-MMO, a unified global community where you can play Destiny anywhere with your friends."

Assistant game director Joe Blackburn took to the Bungie blog today to give fans an update on what's next for Destiny 2, specifically The Witch Queen release date. While the team has a lot in the works, including crossplay coming in Season 15 and transmog in Season 14, Bungie did have to make the difficult decision to push back the launch of The Witch Queen due to a couple of different factors. 

The blog post started out as wholesome as can be, with Blackburn opening up about being a fan of the game and knowing that his passion for it was enough to drive him to want to be a part of its growth in an official capacity. Now, he works at Bungie, and the work is far from over with ongoing content and the future ahead. With Season of the Chosen out now and so many enjoying the newly added features like Battlegrounds, Bungie is heads down when working on what's next. While there is much to look forward to, a few dates have been changed and largely due to the ongoing pandemic and Work From Home orders.

What's turning out to be one of the busiest video game news weeks of the year continues with the fire as Sony now takes center stage. On top of its announcements of the new PlayStation VR, Days Gone, and other games coming to PC, and a new lineup of free titles, PlayStation is set to host a new State of Play stream to highlight what's coming for both the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5. But what will the house of Kratos have to show on this fine day?

While there's no confirmation as of yet, Insomniac Games recently announced that Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart will be coming to the PS5 on June 11, and the company's first digital presentation of 2021 seems like a fitting time to give an update on one of the biggest releases of the year.

Sony is scaling back its Sony Japan Studio, letting go of a majority of its staff, with key people within the company leaving, Videogames Chronicle (VGC) reported on Thursday. According to the outlet, citing sources, this decision, in part, stems from the development studio not being profitable enough in recent years and having a Japan-first development mentality. 

Bioware recently cancelled its planned reboot of Anthem, stating that no further updates were coming to the beleaguered multiplayer title. Though not surprising for that game, the news had a ripple effect by making Dragon Age fans fear that the upcoming fourth game in that series could follow the fate since it was reportedly adopting a similar live-service model.  According to a new report by Bloomberg, though, Dragon Age 4’s development has seen a major pivot, ditching its multiplayer-centric designs for a more single-player focused experience.

Night Dive Studios’ System Shock Remastered has been in the works since 2016, when pre-alpha footage was shown. The original System Shock, released back in 1994, was critically acclaimed and would go on to inspire the revolutionary Bioshock franchise. System Shock follows the first-person exploits of a nameless hacker, charged with disabling a malevolent AI system named Shodan. System Shock Remastered takes this classic adventure and upgrades it with the help of cutting-edge Unreal Engine capabilities. Today, the remaster got an exciting new teaser trailer in the wake of its eventual release.

The trailer, while short, is still very evocative of its predecessor — the terrifying atmosphere and visuals are particularly apparent and Shodan’s automated, glitchy voice adds to the overall sense of dread. Melee weapons and explosives rip limbs apart and hulking automata lurk in the shadows of the space station. You can see the footage above.