Gamespot

CrossCode is finally coming to consoles, and Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One owners will be able to check it out soon. The retro-styled action RPG will release for consoles on July 8. The game will cost $20.

The game casts players as Lea, a mute MMO player in the future. The game is reminiscent of classics like Chrono Trigger, but with a more action-orientated battle system.

The game, which was first announced for Switch in January 2019, released for PC in September 2018 after a lengthy Early Access period. The trailer below is in Japanese, but the game has already been fully translated into English.

Crosscode is the debut title from Radical Fish Games, The PC version has an average rating of 86 on Metacritic, and sports "Very Positive" user reviews on Steam.

If you want to test out the game ahead of its console release, you can check out the demo on Steam.

Thatgamecompany's multiplayer mobile game Sky: Children of the Light is nearing the end of its current season, with just under two weeks remaining. The penultimate event in the Season of Enchantment was delayed until June 11 to give the team time to fix a number of bugs present in the previous version of the game. Those fixes have now been released--along with a number of nice bonuses to look forward to in the next month.

The sixth and final Forgotten Ark quest will be released on June 11, enabling players to complete the season and see the ending cutscene--a departure from previous seasons where players would have to unlock all seasonal cosmetics to complete the story.

A new "Days of Rainbow" event will also run from June 10 to June 14, where rainbows will appear in realms as part of daily quests, as well as boasting an extra candle cluster at the rainbow's end. Players in the game's beta version have previewed what this new event will look like.

Players who boot up Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Warzone right now will be prompted to download an update, and it's added a new splash screen to the game announcing support for Black Lives Matter. The screen, reported on by The Verge, contains a message for the Call of Duty player community.

"Our community is hurting," the screen reads. "The systemic inequalities our community experiences are once again center stage. Call of Duty and Infinity Ward stand for equality and inclusion. We stand against the racism and injustice our Black community endures. Until change happens and Black Lives Matter, we will never truly be the community we strive to be."

The screen will appear for all players upon booting the game, and The Verge reports that it is also appearing on loading screens and when you switch between different modes.

Last year, a Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) committee in the UK sat down with executives from major games companies to talk about loot boxes. That committee's report has been released, but the government has decided that more info on loot boxes is needed, and will launch a call for evidence.

The committee on "immersive and addictive technologies" recommended that games with chance-based loot boxes should not be sold to children, and that PEGI guidelines should be updated to reflect this. Since the report was compiled, PEGI has added a new designation for "paid random items", as well as increasing the age recommendation for games featuring "simulated gambling"--a change that was also adopted by ESRB.

However, the UK government has decided this is not quite enough, and will be launching "a review of the Gambling Act 2005, with a particular focus on tackling issues around loot boxes." The new call for evidence on loot boxes comes as part of this review, though details on the call for evidence haven’t yet been released.

Sony Europe--of which Sony Australia is a branch--has today faced charges from the Australian Competition And Consumer Commission (ACCC) for misleading customers about their consumer rights. The Federal Court of Australia has hit Sony with $3.5 million AU (about $2.4 million US) in penalty charges "making false and misleading representations on its website and in dealings with Australian consumers about their Australian Consumer Law (ACL) rights."

The court found that Sony Europe had misled four customers after they purchased games described as "faulty" through the PlayStation Network. Sony informed customers that they were not entitled to a refund if the game had been downloaded, or if 14 days has passed since purchase, which is not in line with Australian consumer laws.

Proceedings for this case began one year ago, and there's precedent for similar cases in Australia, such as the 2014 case against Valve.

Metal Slug, SNK's long-running scrolling shooter series, is due to make a comeback in 2020. The Korean site Inven (which we learned of via Siliconera) has said that SNK CEO Jeon Se-hwan has announced that the series will release new games on console and mobile this year.

The new console Metal Slug game will reportedly be a traditional action experience, much like past entries in the series. The mobile title, which is apparently 80% along in development, will be a "card-type" mobile game. It is being developed for iOS and Android.

Both games are in development at SNK. The report also suggests that a third game, also for mobile, is being developed at TiMi Studios, a subsidiary of Tencent. No screens or further details are available for any of these games at this time.

After J.K. Rowling took to Twitter recently to remark on gender identity, Daniel Radcliffe has now responded in the form of an open letter on the Trevor Project's blog asserting that all transgender women are women.

This open letter follows a series of tweets by Rowling that assumed, among other things, that biological sex is absolute, and that trans women are not women in the same way as cisgender women. Not long after, Katie Leung, famous for playing Cho Chang in the film adaptations of Rowling's books, took to Twitter herself to promote links to organizations that support black trans people.

Radcliffe, who played Harry Potter in the film adaptations of Rowling's books, has directly addressed Rowling's comments, and asserted that trans women are women. A supporter of the Trevor Project--an American non-profit focused on suicide prevention amongst LGBTQIA+ youth-- for a decade, Radcliffe composed a post in response that was then uploaded on the organization's blog.

The United States is currently in the midst of its first economic recession since 2009, but despite that perceivable economic crisis, Microsoft (and Sony for that matter) remain on track to launch their next-generation consoles this year. Xbox boss Phil Spencer spoke about this in a recent interview with the BBC, saying Microsoft wants to make Xbox as affordable as possible this year. Additionally, Spencer said the company's overall goal is not to sell the most consoles this year but instead to get people to sign up for its services.

"It looks like we're moving into a period of of massive economic uncertainty," Spencer said. "The thing I'm probably focused on the most is the macro-economic environment. We see the impact of people getting furloughed and layoffs. It's tough."

Gaming is a "leisure activity," Spencer pointed out. People don't need to play games. But they need to eat food and pay rent, he pointed out. Spencer said Microsoft is keeping this in mind for its next-generation strategy.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons has taken the world by storm, and has meant a lot to many who have been stuck in isolation due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Danny Trejo, the iconic actor who starred in Machete and has featured in Predators, Breaking Bad, and much more, has been putting time into the game too--and now you can take a video tour of his island.

The video, which is part of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story writer Gary Whitta's "Animal Talking" series, gives us some insight into Trejo's island home. He sports a very modest one-room house, and is still on the first iteration of Nook's Cranny, but he's also earned the building permit and has put up roads and fences. For the record, he loves the Nooklings: "They keep giving me money."

Trejo, a famous cinema hardass, releases several butterflies from his pockets during the video, and when asked if he has any grudges against the animals on his island, he responds "they're all really good neighbors." He says that he makes most of his money from fishing and catching bugs.

Dirt 5, which was announced during Microsoft's first Xbox 20/20 presentation, will feature two big names from the world of video game voice acting, and they'll be voicing rival racers. In a new forum post detailing the game's campaign, Codemasters has announced that the game will feature Troy Baker (Joel in The Last of Us) as Alex Janicek, the mentor to the player character, and Nolan North (Nathan Drake in the Uncharted series) as Bruno Durand, Janicek's rival.

Eventually the two characters will race one another, as Codemasters promises that "the fallout from an epic race between these two icons lays the foundation for you to create your own legacy in the sport." You'll be able to choose your path through the game's campaign, which is split into five chapters, and in each one you'll be able to choose which events to take part in. You'll be able to race through every event, if you want--there are 130 in total, split between nine different racing types.

Codemasters released some screenshots of the campaign menus, as well as two new shots of in-game car models--you can view them below.

Microsoft's Halo development team, 343 Industries, is taking a stand against racism. In a statement posted on social media, the developer said the studio "stands united with our black colleagues, friends, players, and communities in the fight against racism. We emphatically believe that Black Lives Matter."

343 is putting its money where its mouth is, too. The company announced that it will donate 100 percent of the revenue from all Halo 5: Guardians microtransaction sales between June 19 and July 19. The money will be given to the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund.

Halo 5's microtransactions come in the form of Req packs. Microtransactions in Halo 5 have proven to be lucrative, so this new charity campaign could bring in a lot of money for the NAACP.

The Last of Us: Part II writer and director Neil Druckmann has reflected on the leaks of the much-anticipated game that's finally launching on June 19 for PS4. Speaking to Eurogamer, Druckmann summed it up succinctly. "They sucked," he said of the leaks.

Druckmann said it was disappointing that something he and his team worked so hard on for so long made its way into the public ahead of time, but it wasn't uncharted territory for Naughty Dog. The ending to the original Last of Us game also leaked, while robbers stole a truck carrying copies of Uncharted 4, and spoilers leaked online. Leaks might be sad and unfortunate for the developers, but Druckmann doesn't sound too worried because nothing can compare to getting your hands on the game itself.

"That didn't take away from anything at the end, because nothing compares to playing it," Druckmann said of the leaks of Naughty Dog's earlier games. "Nothing compares to being Ellie and feeling those moments, not just in cutscenes, but in gameplay, conversations, the music and the emotional effect that has on you. And the story was constructed in such a way that it's really not about twists and turns. It's about slowly ratcheting the crank and feeling the tension with the choices the characters make."

Warframe's Deadlock Protocol update drops this week for PC players, reimagining one of the game's most enduring factions. Deadlock Protocol will re-imagine beloved environments, enhance existing boss fights, and also introduce a new Warframe--Protea.

This update to the seven-year game is free regardless of which platform you own Warframe on, though it will arrive on PC first this week before being gradually rolled out to PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. The update's focus is the Corpus Faction's thirst for power and influence, as well as the decisions that brought them to notoriety in the first place.

As per the trailer above, the Deadlock Protocol represents the most substantial technological advancement since the game's release, and it means that even existing content will see the benefits. There are also additions like a new form of currency--Granum Crowns--aiming to give players even more control over how they wish to play, along with the option to teleport to a Corpus netherrealm.

It was recently reported that Microsoft delayed an Xbox reveal event scheduled for June and pushed it out to August. However, this is not entirely accurate.

Xbox marketing boss Aaron Greenberg confirmed on Twitter that, "We have not pushed anything back." Microsoft's plan remains to hold its next Xbox 20/20 digital show in July. This event will focus on Microsoft's first-party games for Xbox Series X, including Halo Infinite. "Teams are working hard on that," Greenberg said of the July event.

It was reported that Microsoft would use its June event to showcase the long-rumored cheaper next-gen Xbox. However, Microsoft never formally announced a June event and it never told fans what to expect in terms of news in June.

June has finally arrived, and it's another exciting month for games. Despite the cancellation of E3 2020, the month is sure to be packed with big news and game reveals from various channels within the industry--GameSpot even has its own special festivities booked for the occasion called Play For All. But alongside the numerous announcements that are bound to start coming this month, including a confirmed PS5 reveal event with a new and unannounced date, is a slate of new releases, which includes a handful of engrossing experiences, some revisits to the past, and one of the year's most hotly anticipated PS4 games.

To give you a look at what's ahead for PS4, Xbox One, PC, and Switch, we've rounded up all the biggest games of June 2020 below. For a wider look at the titles still to come this year, be sure to check out our list of game release dates in 2020. Otherwise, be sure to check this article often for the latest during this month, as we'll be sure to update it with more new release dates that get announced.

Overwatch is removing Hero Pools from competitive play indefinitely, Blizzard announced. On the game's official forums community manager Molly Fender said that after listening to player feedback, "Hero Pools will be removed indefinitely from Competitive Play, with no tentative date for re-implementation."

The post credits more frequent hero balances and the Experimental Card, a mode where Blizzard tests large balance changes without affecting the main game, with keeping the game fresh enough that Hero Pools are no longer needed.

Hero Pools, a system that removed heroes from the game for an entire week, was implemented in order to deal with stagnant metas. The heroes with highest play rates were more likely to get the ban, but heroes wouldn't get banned for two weeks in a row.

As a result of the ongoing coronavirus epidemic, there is now a worldwide Nintendo Switch shortage. Nintendo's newest console has become hard to come by. Retailers are struggling to keep up with increased demand for the console as millions of people around the world continue to stay at home, looking for something to do. The release of Animal Crossing: New Horizons has likely given a huge boost to console sales as well. The Switch Lite is seeing stock issues as well, particularly for its newly released Coral shade, but thankfully, the handheld-only console is a little easier to find than its larger counterpart.

If you're just looking for any kind of Nintendo Switch, there are a few differences between the Switch and Switch Lite you should know about. The Switch Lite is a handheld-only console--it's smaller, doesn't have motion-sensing Joy-Cons you can detach, and can't be hooked up to a TV. The tradeoff is that you get a proper D-pad (instead of the Joy-Cons' separated directional buttons) and a significantly lower price tag: $200, as opposed to the Switch's $300 price. Apart from some very rare exceptions, both consoles can play all the same games (if you're looking for some recommendations, check out our list of the best Switch games).

Known for its critically acclaimed survival horror game Until Dawn, Supermassive Games kicked off its next project, The Dark Pictures Anthology, last year with Man of Medan, which told the frightening story of a group of college students who find themselves aboard a ghost ship. Now, the next entry in the horror franchise is nearly here. A recent trailer revealed the anthology's next installment, Little Hope, will release on PS4, Xbox One, and PC sometime in summer 2020, nearly one year after Man of Medan. And if you already know it's a day-one purchase for you, Amazon has opened up pre-orders for The Dark Pictures: Little Hope.

Like Until Dawn and the first Dark Pictures game, Little Hope will involve playing as several different characters from a third-person perspective and making decisions as the story progresses that will affect various outcomes. The decisions you make for each character affect how their personality evolves over the course of the game, and those decisions also affect their relationships with each other. As a result, there are multiple endings and different ways that things can play out in Little Hope, and as always, the stakes are high--no one is guaranteed to survive if you don't think carefully about your next move.

There are plenty of exciting games releasing on PS4 and Xbox One this year, but naturally, we're all hungry for new information on the next-generation games launching on Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5. Microsoft's May Inside Xbox stream revealed a slew of upcoming games coming to Xbox Series X--one of them being Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2. Since then, a new trailer has confirmed the game will release on PS5 as well. The dark vampire RPG will release on both next-generation consoles as well as Xbox One, PS4, and PC in late 2020. No exact release date has been confirmed, but the game is up for pre-order with several special editions and pre-order bonuses.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is preparing to launch its new season of content. Last month, a Season 4 teaser trailer dropped some intriguing hints about what to expect--one of the franchise's most iconic characters even made an appearance. Season 4 has since been delayed--it was originally scheduled to kick off on June 3. We will continue to track information on its new start date here.

Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare Season 4 Start Date

Season 4 of Call of Duty was scheduled to begin on June 3, but Activision pushed it back in the wake of the homicide of George Floyd by Minneapolis police, a tragedy that has sparked nationwide protests against police brutality and racism.

A trailer released in May confirmed the return of the fan-favorite character Captain Price. He was also featured in the campaign mode for the reimagined Modern Warfare, serving a crucial role in the game's story and leading into a potential sequel. While a new date has not been announced yet, here's what we do know ahead of its launch.

Call of Duty: Warzone has housed a bunch of secret bunkers that have laid dormant, but now they appear to be opening and supplying vast riches in the process. A recent update has finally given players a way to open the bunkers, and some think it could be a sign of what's to come in Season 4. In this guide, we'll go over how to open bunkers in Call of Duty: Warzone and provide a location guide so you know where to find them all. We'll also go over the more difficult to access Bunker 11.

How To Unlock Call Of Duty: Warzone Bunkers

For the bunkers numbered 1-10, you will need a Red Access Card, found via supply crates. The cards are extremely rare, but once you find one or kill a player holding one, you can get inside all but one of the bunkers.

Valorant is officially out and available to download on PC after a successful closed beta period. Whether or not you were part of the closed beta prior to launch, Valorant is free for all players. Here's our step-by-step guide on how to download and play Valorant right now.

How To Download Valorant

• Step 1. Head to Riot's website and hit the Play Now button, or download it here. If you don't already have a Riot account, you will be prompted to create one.
• Step 2. Download and install the client. This will also install Riot's Vanguard anti-cheat program.
• Step 3. Launch the client and sign-in to your Riot account. You may need to reset your computer to activate Vanguard in order to play.

If you were part of the closed beta and already had Valorant downloaded and installed prior to launch, all you need to do is launch the Valorant client and allow it to download the version 1.0 update. The patch pushed the game live on June 2, bringing with it a new Agent, a new map, and a new game mode.

Valorant is out now on PC after a successful closed beta period that attracted record-breaking Twitch numbers. Its popularity has many fans and potential players wondering about a possible console release. Will Valorant ever come to PS4 and Xbox One, or even Nintendo Switch, as other competitive games like Overwatch have? In GameSpot's Play For All interview with Riot Games, we asked Anna Donlon, Executive Producer of Valorant, to elaborate on the team's plans to bring Valorant to more platforms.

"We are definitely prototyping that right now," Donlon told GameSpot. "But there's a way to play this game and there's a way to experience this game that we're not entirely sure translates completely to console play."

Donlon explained that core to Valorant is its "strong level of competitive integrity," and its designers worry about players feeling like anyone has an unfair advantage based on the platform they're playing on. A potential console version of Valorant would need to capture the same Valorant "experience" for all players, according to Riot.

While Pokemon Sword and Shield regularly hold limited-time events, many fans are still waiting for the pair of expansions set to release later this year to bring them back after finishing the main campaign. Isle of Armor and The Crown Tundra are replacing the pair of follow-up games (such as Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon) that have begun releasing a year or two after a new generation of Pokemon RPGs release. Isle of Armor releases June 17, while The Crown Tundra arrives this fall. The expansions are available to pre-order now through multiple retailers and the Nintendo Eshop.

The expansions will not be sold individually, so you have to buy the Expansion Pass for $30 to gain access to both Isle of Armor and The Crown Tundra. Considering The Pokemon Company and Nintendo previously charged full price for the "definitive" third version of each game, the new model is probably preferable for most fans.

Both expansions feature their own regions and storylines. Isle of Armor takes place on an island off the coast of Galar that houses a dojo led by Leon's former mentor Mustard (yes, that's his actual name). Mustard gives you the Legendary Fighting Pokemon Kubfu, and then you have to train by challenging the Tower of Waters or Tower of Darkness.

Microsoft's latest Inside Xbox stream revealed a slew of third-party games coming to its next-generation console, Xbox Series X. Among them is Yakuza: Like a Dragon, which is now confirmed to release on Series X as well as Xbox One, PS4, and PC later this year (it released in Japan back in January). While we don't have a set release date for Yakuza: Like a Dragon yet, we know it will be a launch title for Xbox Series X, and it's available to pre-order now if you want to secure your copy early.

Like a Dragon supports Xbox Smart Delivery, which means buying the game on Xbox One will get you the Series X version automatically. The game also has cross-save support, so if you start playing on Xbox One, your progress will transfer over to Series X.

While Yakuza has traditionally been a PlayStation-exclusive series, there's been no mention of a PS5 version just yet.

Since it revealed the Xbox Series X at last year's Game Awards, Microsoft has been trickling out information about its next-gen console. We've seen what the Xbox Series X controller looks like, learned details about the console's build and specs, and how the Xbox Series X will handle backward-compatibility. The Xbox Series X is still expected to launch later this year, and while it's not available to pre-order yet, you can sign up for notifications from a number of different retailers. Here's what we know about Xbox Series X's release date, price, and more.

We recently saw Microsoft's first full showcase of the Xbox Series X, showing off a number of games coming to both Xbox One and Series X, with many supporting the company's "Smart Delivery" system. You can also expect more news up until launch, as Microsoft will also be releasing updates every month as part of a new "Xbox 20/20" showcase during their Inside Xbox show.

Over the past year or so, we've learned details about the PlayStation 5 through a steady but slow drip, likely since the company is still releasing two major PS4 games this year: The Last of Us Part 2 and Ghost of Tsushima. The two biggest details we've learned about the PS5 recently is what the PS5 controller, also known as the DualSense, looks like, as well as that production of the PS4 will be slower than that of its predecessor due to novel coronavirus outbreak. We've still got a lot to learn about the upcoming console, including its release date, look, and launch lineup. We're set to learn much more this week, as Sony has announced a PS5 reveal livestream for Thursday, June 11 that should hopefully answer some of our biggest questions about the console.

If you want to be one of the first people to put your money down, several retailers have started sign-ups to notify users when the PS5 will be available to pre-order.

Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga will be the biggest Lego Star Wars adventure yet when it launches later this year, spanning all nine Skywalker saga films, including The Rise of Skywalker. No release date has officially been announced other than "late 2020," but the game's release date may have leaked during May the 4th celebrations, when an October 20, 2020 release date was shown in a video on the official Star Wars YouTube channel and later removed. While we wait for an official release date announcement, Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga is already up for pre-order, and you'll probably want to place your order at Best Buy when you see the retailer's pre-order bonus.

Best Buy is offering an exclusive steelbook case with all console pre-orders of Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga. The silver hardcover case portrays Han Solo encased in carbonite, referencing the event in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. The striking steelbook is available for the Nintendo Switch, PS4, and Xbox One versions of the game, the only difference being the Nintendo Switch case has a thinner border.

It's got some strong competition, but Cyberpunk 2077 might just be the biggest game of 2020. It's the follow-up to developer CD Projekt Red's The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, GameSpot's 2015 Game of the Year. Cyberpunk shifts the developer's focus from the past to the future, but the choice-driven storytelling, strong characters, and evocative world-building CDPR is known for all look to be intact. It also stars Keanu Reeves as Johnny Silverhand, which is pretty cool. Though originally slated for April 16 of this year, CDPR pushed the game back to September 17. If you're looking to pre-order the game on PS4, Xbox One, or PC, there are a few things you may want to consider, such as where you want to get it and what edition you want.

Developers CD Projekt Red showed off extensive gameplay footage of Cyberpunk 2077 during a livestream on last August, where we got a closer look at the combat, customization, setting, and more. You can rewatch the entire broadcast in the video above. We're set to learn more about the game later this month, as CDPR has announced a Cyberpunk 2077 livestream with info on the game set for June 25.

Square Enix and Crystal Dynamics' video game take on Marvel Avengers will finally release this fall. Initially slated to release May 15, the game is now set to arrive on September 4 for PS4, Xbox One, and PC. You can pre-order Marvel's Avengers now to receive guaranteed access to the game's beta and a three-day head start if you pre-order the special editions. Depending on which major retailer you get it from, you can also receive a different extra bonus.

This upcoming Avengers game will give fans the chance to play as their favorite heroes and revisit other familiar characters and settings from the Marvel universe. You'll take on missions as some of the most popular Marvel superheroes: Thor, Black Widow, Iron Man, Hulk, and Captain America. The star of the game, however, is Kamala Khan (Ms. Marvel), who brings the Avengers back together after a disastrous event at the start of the game. Kamala is an Inhuman who discovers she has developed shapeshifting abilities that let her grow in size and strength, adding a unique power to the group of heroes. Depending on which hero you play as, Marvel's Avengers has a wide range of gameplay options available.

In addition to its solo campaign, Marvel's Avengers will include online co-op for up to four players. There will also be various character customization options. For more on the game, check out everything we know about Marvel's Avengers.

HB Studios' The Golf Club games have admirably filled the void left by the absence of EA Sport's long-running Tiger Woods series for years now. But it was only when the PGA Tour license was secured for 2018's The Golf Club Featuring PGA Tour--the first in the series to be published by 2K Sports--that real courses began to make their way into the experience. The latest game in the franchise has adopted the standard naming convention of 2K Sports titles and will make better use of the PGA Tour license. PGA Tour 2K21 releases August 21 on PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC, and Stadia. It's available to pre-order now in two editions, and you can also snag a bonus for buying early.

Just from looking at the cover art, you can see that PGA Tour 2K21 is making a concerted effort to become closer to what we remember from EA Sports' defunct golf series. PGA Tour star Justin Thomas graces the cover, and he will be joined by 11 other pros that will be named at a later date. Unfortunately, you will only compete against the pros in career tournaments; you cannot play as them.

A fantastic action-RPG from 2012 will soon make its way onto modern consoles: Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning (now dubbed Re-Reckoning) will release on PS4, Xbox One, and PC this August. The Kingdoms of Amalur remaster has now officially been announced by publisher THQ Nordic, although multiple listings appeared prior to the announcement on online storefronts like Xbox Live and Amazon. An official release date hasn't been confirmed yet, and there's a slight discrepancy between the release dates retailers are showing--Xbox Live lists the release date as August 11, while Amazon indicates the game will release on August 18. Either way, it seems we can look forward to Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning launching sometime in mid-August.

Another remake of a cult-classic game is about to make its way to modern consoles. Based on the 2005 action-adventure game, Destroy All Humans will release July 28 on PS4, Xbox One, PC, and Stadia. The game is available to pre-order now with several editions and pre-order bonuses available, including an extremely pricey collector's edition clearly aimed at longtime fans of the series.

Destroy All Humans is an open-world game set during the 1950s and parodies Cold War-era alien films. The game follows an alien named Crypto, who is part of a race known as the Furons who clone themselves to continue existing. The game opens with Crypto being sent to harvest human brain stems, which contain precious Furon DNA (due to a previous clash between Furon warriors and humans in ancient times) that's crucial to preserving his species. Crypto is also searching for his predecessor, Sporidium 136, who crash-landed on Earth years prior; now, the humans have him as well as Furon technology. As Crypto, you'll burn cities to the ground with your mighty Death Ray, use your Abducto Beam to toss around tanks, crush a farmer under his own cow using psychokinetic powers, and much more. Generally, you're just causing chaos.

The open-world survival horror game Deadly Premonition has garnered a cult following since its release in 2010; now, exactly 10 years later, it's finally getting a sequel. Deadly Premonition 2: A Blessing in Disguise releases on Nintendo Switch July 10, and you can pre-order it right now.

Like the first game, Deadly Premonition 2 is an open-world, single-player adventure and follows FBI agent Francis York Morgan as he investigates a mysterious serial murder case in the fictional town of Le Carré within New Orleans. You'll be able to travel freely by foot or by skateboard, as in the first game, and there will also be various mini-games like bowling, bayou rides, and skateboard challenges. You'll also be able to customize your character and skateboard.

Deadly Premonition 2 is up for pre-order--thankfully, it's a little cheaper than the standard new Switch release, selling for $50. You can pre-order now at select retailers to get a physical copy by release day; of course, you can always pre-order directly from the Eshop too.

Between Final Fantasy VII Remake and Persona 5 Royal, it's a busy season for hugely popular JRPG remakes, and another classic game just got a modern revival. Square Enix's Trials of Mana released April 24 on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and PC, so fans of the Mana series fan finally return to its imaginative world. And if you've held off on picking up Trials of Mana so far, you can currently grab it for its best price yet on PS4 and Nintendo Switch. Normally $50, Trials of Mana is currently on sale for $40.

If you're not a longtime fan of the series, here's some quick background: Trials of Mana is a remake of Seiken Densetsu 3, the sequel to Secret of Mana and the third game in the Mana series. Seiken Densetsu 3 never released officially in the US, but it finally became available last year as part of Collection of Mana on Nintendo Switch, which compiled the first three Mana games and retitled the third game Trials of Mana.

EA's subscription service, EA Access, is officially making its way to Steam. The news coincides with the release of a handful of new EA-published games on the service, although some of its heaviest hitters--Apex Legends, FIFA 20, Battlefield V, and so on--remain Origin-only on PC.

Notably, the service on Steam will be called EA Access, mimicking the naming convention used for the Xbox One and PS4 versions. PC already has its own version of EA Access, dubbed Origin Access, that operates through the EA-run Origin store.

Origin Access has expanded since its initial launch to offer two versions: Basic and Premier. Basic functions much like EA Access on consoles, offering 10-hour trials to upcoming games, unlimited access to a selection of games in the Vault, and discounts on Origin purchases. Premier, meanwhile, adds in full access to brand-new games.

Hello Games' space exploration title No Man's Sky will be one of the latest additions to the growing catalogue of games available through the Xbox Game Pass subscription service. Launching on the Xbox One version of the service opens up a huge audience for No Man's Sky, as the subscription service has 10 million subscribers and counting. An exact release date for No Man's Sky on Xbox Game Pass has not been announced yet, but we know it's this month. That means you could be able to dive into your own region of a massive universe in mere days or weeks.

Additionally, Hello Games confirmed that No Man's Sky will be released on the Windows PC store. The game was already available on Steam, but this is the first time it'll be available on Microsoft's own store. A release date for the Windows 10 edition has not been confirmed.

No Man's Sky developer Hello Games is planning to support the game with even more ambitious expansions and updates to come in 2020.

Over the past few weeks, a number of posts from prominent Fortnite leakers have suggested that the upcoming Chapter 2 Season 3 will have players dive underwater to battle it out. Now, the most compelling evidence yet has emerged, further suggesting what's to come following the upcoming Doomsday event. Get your swimsuit and flippers ready, because it looks like the game will be heading underwater--at least a little.

A Twitter user recently noticed that the PlayStation Store had mistakenly changed Fortnite's icon on the storefront ahead of time, and it depicts the familiar battle bus slipping beneath the sea. It wouldn't be the first underwater foray for the game, as players were plunged beneath the surface as part of the recent Travis Scott event.

The start date for Fortnite's Season 3 has just been changed again and will begin on June 17. This follows multiple previous delays, with this latest one attributed to the ongoing protests in response to the murder of George Floyd.

Xbox boss Phil Spencer has acknowledged that it's been challenging to demonstrate the true leap that the Xbox Series X will provide over the Xbox One, but it appears that could be changing once people are actually able to try out the systems for themselves in longer gameplay sessions. In Reggie's new podcast, Spencer said one of the most defining characteristics of next-gen games is how they "feel" with faster and more stable frame rates. You haven't seen the true power of Xbox Series X yet, as it appears Microsoft is taking on the persona of a Dragon Ball Z villain still gathering their energy.

It's not possible to demonstrate this with videos, Spencer said. And with physical events canceled or postponed due to COVID-19, Microsoft is facing a new dilemma in trying to communicate the appeal of faster frame rates. This is a new challenge, Spencer said, because for previous console transitions throughout history, the power of new systems was immediately apparent with better graphics.

"One of the things I've talked about publicly ... but it's hard to come across, is the way it feels to play games on a box where frame rates are higher, frame rates are more stable," Spencer said. "The fluidity of it, showing that in video form, is just impossible. How do you show how something feels?"

We're only halfway through 2020, and Sony has already revealed several details regarding the PS5, its next-generation console. We've learned about the console's technical specs, as well as its new DualSense controller and certain games, and the official website is live. We've even seen Unreal Engine 5 gameplay running on the system, and though it was not of a full game, the technical specifications of the system mean we would be approaching photorealism in some games. We've also heard reports of what could very well be this year's new Call of Duty game, which will almost certainly release on PS5.

PS5 planned to launch this holiday season, and though Sony hasn't revealed a final date or price, it will reportedly still arrive in 2020 and the ongoing pandemic is not impacting this timeline. However, a Bloomberg report indicates we may need to prepare for supply shortages at launch, as well as possibly reduced or altered promotion compared to Sony's typical product releases. However, those supply shortages will not directly be due to COVID-19.