Former Dead Cells lead designer Sébastien Benard is none too chuffed about publisher Motion Twin's decision to end development of the well-regarded roguelike Metroidvania. A few days ago, Motion Twin announced that the 35th major Dead Cells update, aptly titled The End Is Near, would be its last. Benard feels this is a betrayal of both the game's community and its current development team, Evil Empire, a spin-off studio who took the reins in 2019.

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Hit comedy game What The Golf? is coming to PlayStation consoles next month.

The game will be available on both PlayStation 4 and 5 from 14th March, in addition to its previous releases on mobile (Apple Arcade), PC (Steam, Epic, GoG), and Switch.

If you haven't played it yet, then, there's really no excuse. It's hilarious stuff.

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Developer Arrowhead has released a new patch for its PC version of Helldivers 2.

With this update in play, users should be able to get into games a little more easily. In addition, this patch addresses some progression issues, with the developer stating it has now "fixed the daily and difficulty progression error".

Arrowhead said many of the issues in Helldivers 2 were being caused by a large number of users in the game and server capacity. Writing on Steam, the developer said this cocktail had created "unexpected behaviours".

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Microsoft's Xbox and PC exclusive Pentiment will make its way to PS5 and Nintendo Switch, alongside the previously-leaked Hi-Fi Rush.

That's according to a new report from The Verge ahead of Thursday's podcast from Microsoft gaming boss Phil Spencer, Xbox president Sarah Bond and head of Xbox game studios Matt Booty, where the trio will reveal Xbox's new business strategy - including, it's believed, the launch of exclusive games on rival platforms.

Sources confirmed to The Verge that Hi-Fi Rush and Pentiment will be the first two games on the way, with Sea of Thieves planned for later this year. Other first-party titles are simply described as being under consideration.

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The Honor Magic V2 RSR Porsche Design is perhaps the most sublimely designed foldable to date. With a bigger battery than competitors, as well as being much thinner, it's one of the first options we've seen that compares well in size and capacity to more standard form factor phones. The standard variant, priced at £1700, is dearer than competitors from Samsung, Google, and OnePlus, and it's expected that this special model will be even dearer when pricing is unveiled at MWC in a couple of weeks time. For the price though, you’re getting a truly incredible phone with a lot to like about it.

For the outlay however, the Magic V2 RSR has quite the capable feature set, with a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor backed with 16GB of RAM, 1TB of internal storage, a sublime triple camera setup with a 50MP main shooter, a 50MP ultrawide and a 20MP telephoto. You of course also get two LTPO OLED displays: a 7.92-inch foldable screen and a 6.43-inch cover display.

The Honor Magic V2 RSR Porsche Design is quite the looker, with a sleek profile that's reminiscent of the vehicular namesake attached to this collaboration. The standard Magic V2 is an excellent looking phone as it is, but this RSR Porsche Design variant takes things to the next level.

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Ragdoll physics! Friendly fire! Connectivity issues! On-the-nose satire! Bugs! Double-A gaming is back, baby. You could argue it never really went anywhere, but still: what a breath of fresh air this one's proven to be.

Helldivers 2 is a blast; a messy, frenetic, straight-into-the-action whirlwind of quickfire jokes quickplay matches (when they're working). If you played even the slightest bit of the first Helldivers, though, none of this should come as a surprise.

"This is also the latest game from Magicka developer Arrowhead Game Studios - a studio, right, whose logo shows an arrow going through somebody's head. In other words, you should expect a few quirks. The biggest of these is friendly fire: it is so terribly easy to shoot your own team-mates in Helldivers. It's so terribly easy to be shot by your own team-mates. Or stepped on by them if they've unlocked mechs. Hell really is other people." That's what we said in our review of the first Helldivers, way back in 2015, a game that was cross-buy across PS3, PS4 and - hold me - the Vita. This could just as easily be describing Helldivers 2, although I've yet to see anyone unlock their own mechs just yet. If anything, the biggest surprise is how little it's changed.

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Cygames announced that Granblue Fantasy Relink has achieved over a million worldwide sales. The game reached this milestone after only eleven days. [Thanks, Wario64!]

Cygames has uploaded a piece of art commemorating this milestone. It shows Gran, Djeeta, Lyria, and Vyrn cheering. The reception for the game has been highly positive as well. As of the writing, there are almost 17,000 Steam reviews and 89% of it have given it a Very Positive score. Most of the reviews praise the party AI, replay value, and presentation. Meanwhile, negative reviews focus on the “grindy” aspect, balance issues, and the localization.

A little boy steps out into the world for the first time. The landscape is full of lush meadows, striking blue rivers, and wildlife gently pottering around. It holds such serenity that I almost feel commanded to stop and drink in every detail.

I played the Europa demo like this at first. I walked slowly along the trodden paths, retracing the same steps the creator of Zee, our android protagonist, took. As Zee's creator narrated the words of his collectible journal pages, it turned out the beautiful world before me hid something darker.

An attempt to terraform Europa into a paradise for humans, and to leave behind Earth in its human-induced environmental destruction, was successful at first. But by the time Zee arrives on Europa, civilisation has fallen, leaving the world feeling empty. Its beauty turned haunting instead, and I was cautious of blasting through the demo for fear of missing out on an intended sadness I was meant to feel.

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Justin Sevakis, a producer at Discotek Media, put out a statement in regards to the company’s English dub of the anime series Lovely Complex, which is also known as Love Com. This is in reference to disparaging statements that Brendan “JelloApocalypse” Blaber had made about the source material.

To summarize it, it states that English dubs of anime usually “punch up comedy and smooth over rough patches” under the original producer's supervision so that the end product provokes the intended response as the original work. Those who wish for a more accurate one-to-one translation of Japanese media should Discotek's subtitled collection. That being said, Discotek is disappointed with Blaber’s “lack of professional discretion” and will no longer work with him in the future.

Blaber’s “lack of professional discretion” comes from a post that he made on his blog, which you can only access via archives. Blaber explains that Sound Cadence obtained the rights to work on Lovely Complex’s dub from Discotek, who did not want to dub it because it is an expensive process. As such, he and many other people who worked on the production were volunteers.

Following a statement from Elira, Vox, and Ike in regards to Selen’s termination from Nijisanji EN, Riku Tazumi, the CEO of Anycolor, made an announcement on the official Nijisanji EN YouTube account. The video is a little over six minutes long.

You can watch the video here:

The video starts with Tazumi bowing at the audience before he says that he wishes to speak about some misunderstandings, as well as address some concerns. He first apologizes about the IR report and the usage of the word “negligible,” saying that it gave off the impression that Anycolor did not value Selen or the impact she had on the company. He also states that he will be rethinking how the company communicates in English going forth. Tazumi acknowledges that Selen's contributions were integral to Nijisanji EN's growth. He deeply regrets how things turned out.

Following the release of a video statement by Nijisanji's Vtubers Elira Pendora, Vox Akuma, and Ike Eveland about the Selen Tatsuki situation, Anycolor released a statement on social media that claimed it “has not made any confidentiality violations” when sharing information from Selen Tatsuki and her lawyer with its livers. It revealed it shared parts of the information as part of an internal investigation.

On February 12, 2024, a video was shared on Elira’s YouTube channel with her, Vox, and Ike speaking about the situation. It noted the three of them had seen the documents provided by the person behind Selen Tatsuki and her lawyer to Nijisanji parent company Anycolor. In the latest announcement, Anycolor claimed “necessary parts of the information” was shared with its performers. It also claimed the Vtubers with the company “are not held to any confidentiality obligation regarding the information shared to them from Anycolor Inc.”

Here is the full statement from social media:

Regarding concerns that have arisen in relation to the current situation.

Vtubers Elira, Ike, and Vox, representing the Anycolor Nijisanji EN branch, put out a video providing more details on the recent controversy about Selen Tatsuki. The whole video is available on Elira’s channel. Anycolor CEO Riku Tazumi has not issued a statement as of time of writing.

Here is the statement shared by Anycolor and its three performers:

To begin with, Elira stated that there are limits on what she and the company Anycolor can disclose, and the three Nijisanji Vtubers that appeared spoke based on their personal experiences. She also reminded viewers that Nijisanji EN does not condone any harassment towards anyone involved, and she volunteered her channel for the stream after discussing it with the other livers. Tazumi will also post a video about the matter.

During Wonder Festival 2024 Winter, Cerevo revealed new details about the Persona 3 Reload Evoker Replica and also showed off an unfinished model of the replica Evoker. Cerevo and Atlus teamed up together to create this 1/1 replica Evoker, and the development of the replica has been supervised by the Persona 3 Reload team. [Thanks, Hobby Watch!]

The Evoker replica features a number of different functions. With its built-in LED lights, the replica Evoker will light up blue when in its normal mode, but can also shift into Theurgy Mode, which will change the LED lights in the Evoker to red. It will also play Persona summoning voice lines from the various SEES members from the game. It is also said that it will replicate the sensation of "blowback" or the recoil experienced when using the Evoker. Cerevo is planning to add additional functions to the Evoker replica.

The replica Evoker will come inside a special carrying case, and will also come with a holster that can be worn by people intending to use the replica for cosplay. Cerevo and Atlus first revealed the Evoker replica during a special livestream held on January 31, 2024.

Some images of the unfinished model of the Persona 3 Reload Evoker replica from Hobby Watch can be viewed below:

The Thaumaturge, an upcoming narrative-focused, turn-based RPG, was planned to launch in just a few days on February 20. However, the game has now been delayed until March as the developers and publishers hope to avoid a “busy” February and give the game more “breathing room.”

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Sanrio is collaborating with Welcome to Demon School Iruma-kun to release new merchandise at their Character Shop in the Ikebukuro P'PARCO starting on Valentine's Day. The character shop will be open from February 14, 2024, to March 3, 2024.

The new character shop will feature Welcome to Demon School Iruma-kun characters with Sanrio characters, including the following pairs: Iruma with Cinnamoroll, Asmodeus with My Melody, Clara with Hangyodon, Kalego with Bad Badtz-Maru, Opera with Hello Kitty, Jazz with Kuromi, and Lead with Pompompurin.

The following items will be sold at the Ikebukuro P'PARCO Character Shop:

• Can Badge (Blind) Sweets Version - ¥550 (~$4 USD)
• Acrylic Magnet (Blind) Sweets Version - ¥550 (~$4 USD)
• Die-Cut Stickers Sweets Version - ¥550 (~$4 USD)
• Mini Towel Sweets Version - ¥1,100 (~$7 USD)
• Big Keychain Sweets Version - ¥1,320 (~$9 USD)

There was one Rebuild of Evangelion figure announcement among the Good Smile Company WonHobby 38 reveals, and that was a model of the AAA Wunder. A PLAMAX model kit of the ship is in development.

The image at the official site shows that it is very early on in development. Only the image render of the ship appeared. It did note that it is a plastic model and showed a plain, grey, unpainted version of the ship. 

Here’s a closer look at the announcement image of the Evangelion model kit:

During Super Bowl LVIII, a teaser trailer dropped that baffled a lot of viewers—it wasn’t the Despicable Me 4 one making fun of AI, but an action-packed Twister teaser. The trailer showcased the July 2024 movie starring Normal People’s Daisy Edgar Jones and Top Gun: Maverick’s Glen Powell as storm chasers. It featured…

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Recently, the games industry has been shaken by news that could change the dynamic between console giants Xbox and PlayStation. A number of recent leaks suggested that Microsoft may be planning to put aside exclusivity and bring its catalog of titles like Halo to rival platforms…even to the PS5 This fans of this rumor…

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Last week, thanks to the Final Fantasy VII Rebirth demo, some old video game discourse returned and overtook social media: The use of yellow paint to mark certain in-game objects or ledges. All it took was a now-viral tweet of Cloud climbing some yellow rocks in the new demo and a comment about how yellow paint was a…

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SSD prices have been on the uptick recently, following a record-breaking 2023 where oversupply caused the best deals on high-capacity SSDs we've ever seen. That means that current prices aren't going to beat out last year's Black Friday deals, but there are still some decent options that carve out a better value proposition than their peers. One example is the Kingston NV2, a 1TB PCIe 4.0 SSD going for just £50 on Amazon UK at the moment - some £14 below its UK RRP.

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Microsoft's gaming top brass are expected to lay out their plans to publish some Xbox games on PlayStation and Nintendo platforms via a business update released this week as a podcast.

The podcast episode will be made available this Thursday, 15th February at 8pm UK time - that's 3pm Eastern or noon Pacific.

Microsoft gaming boss Phil Spencer, Xbox president Sarah Bond and head of Xbox game studios Matt Booty - the company's top Triforce of gaming division decision makers - will share "updates on the Xbox business", according to a post from the platform holder on X.

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We’ve all been there. You see a chair in a game. It prompts you to sit. Curious, you oblige. 

Your digital butt meets the seat, and…nothing. You just sit and stare for a few seconds before rising and continuing your adventure. More often than not, sitting does not result in a cutscene, reward, character dialogue, or, in some cases, even a good view of your surroundings. You just sit. 

You could be slaying a mighty dragon.

You could be rescuing your captive friends.

You could be discovering the true meaning behind your existence and your place in the cosmos.

But instead, you sit. 

With some exceptions, taking a seat in games equates to a whole lot of nothing. And yet, it remains a regularly recurring mechanic. So why do we sit? Do you like to sit? How long do you sit? Should sitting still be a thing in games? Please take a seat and discuss your stance in the comments below.

The Asus ROG Ally has dropped in price in response to the release of the Steam Deck OLED, and now a 10% off code at Very makes this handheld gaming PC even better value. You can now get the top-spec ROG Ally with the Z1 Extreme chipset and 512GB of PCIe 4.0 storage for just £539 with code VTQ8C, a brilliant price that puts it in direct competition with the 512GB Steam Deck OLED.

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Independent Vtuber Dokibird released her first schedule on social media, and it includes collabs with fellow Vtubers Unnämed, Dtto, and Amatsuka Uto. This is her first set schedule since she returned with a February 7, 2024 stream. However, Dokibird cut her Neopets stream short due to Nijisanji EN making an announcement through its talents to consult with her lawyer.

The first collab stream will be on February 15, 2024. Both dtto and Uto will appear with her to play Apex Legends Ranked. That will happen at 7pm PT/10pm ET.

The second of the two Dokibird collabs will be on February 16, 2024. That’s when Unnämed will appear alongside Dokibird. That stream is dubbed “Inside the Backrooms.” It will happen at 6pm PT/9pm ET.

Here’s the full schedule for Dokibird for the week of February 12, 2024:

• February 12, 2024 at 5pm PT/8pm ET: Neopets - Cut short due to needing to consult her legal team.

Helldivers 2 has become the biggest PlayStation game released on PC yet, at least going by the number of simultaneous players on Steam, as it doubled the previous record of concurrent players set by God of War.

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After over a week of swirling rumors that have sent the Xbox community into meltdown over the future of the console and its exclusive games, the company is ready to clear the air on what’s to come. The Xbox Twitter account posted today that it will be releasing a special edition of the Official Xbox Podcast on…

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The Thaumaturge, the detective CRPG blending together eastern-European fantasy, alt-history Warsaw and even a bit of Pokémon (or Persona, if you prefer), has been pushed back from its planned release date next week to the start of March. With development said to be finished, creators Fool’s Theory say that it’s simply to let the game breathe a bit easier.

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Super Bowl LVIII, with its thrilling overtime finish and luxury box shots of Taylor Swift and Blake Lively, has come and gone, and so now we must honor those generous corporate patrons who shell out millions so Tom Brady can stay on television. This is all we have, for the staff of The A.V. Club has spent far more…

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Two Urusei Yatsura figures of Lum appeared at WonHobby 38, with one being a PLAMAX plastic model kit figure and the other a Nendoroid. The two are at various stages of development.

The PLAMAX Lum is the one that is further along. It appeared as a painted prototype at the event. It features the heroine in her trademark Oni bikini.

Here’s how that one is looking:

As for the Nendoroid, it seems like it will show Lum in her school uniform. She wears this once she gets to Earth and starts living there and attending Ataru’s school.

A group of developers with credits across a number of Final Fantasy games - including the composer of Final Fantasy XII and a former Final Fantasy XIV artist - have unveiled their own upcoming JRPG headed to PC next year.

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Last week, amid rumors about Xbox exclusives coming to other platforms, Phil Spencer announced an event that would detail the future of Xbox. While we're no closer to knowing the exact details of the event, we now know the "where" and "when": the announcement will happen on the official Xbox podcast this Thursday, February 15. The episode will be posted at 12 PM Pacific/3 PM Eastern

Please join us for a special edition of the Official Xbox Podcast.

Hear from Phil Spencer, Sarah Bond and Matt Booty as they share updates on the Xbox business. pic.twitter.com/TxwWJVUbgx

— Xbox (@Xbox) February 12, 2024

The podcast in question will feature more than just Xbox head Phil Spencer, however. Sarah Bond and Matt Booty, the Presidents of Xbox and Xbox Game studios, respectively, will also give updates on the future of the brand. 

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Last week, Xbox head Phil Spencer announced a “Future of Xbox” event, which we now know is taking place on Thursday, February 15. Speculation has run rampant about what the event entails amid rumors that several first-party Xbox title are making their way to other platforms, with some believing this event will confirm those reports. On the extreme end, others believe Spencer may announce the end of Xbox as a console platform altogether. According to one report, that may not be the case.

Inverse journalist Shannon Liao reported in her weekly gaming newsletter that Spencer held a company town hall last Tuesday and told employees there are no plans to stop making Xbox consoles. Furthermore, it was stated that “Xboxes would continue to be part of a strategy that involves multiple kinds of devices.” Microsoft did not respond to Liao’s request for comment.

Helldivers 2, the third-person shooter that launched on PS5 and PC on February 8, is enjoying a fair bit of popularity. It rocketed to the top of Steam charts shortly after launch, and it quickly soared past God of War’s top concurrent player count to become PlayStation’s biggest PC launch. It’s so popular, in fact,…

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The first Tomb Raider was released in 1996, nearly 30 years ago, and in a few days, developer/publisher Aspyr is bringing the original trilogy back with some much-needed upgrades. The controls have been modernized and the games look better, but thankfully, the original versions of the three games are available as part of the package as well. Join Brian Shea and me as we check out the first levels of the three games, discuss what works about them, and where there are some shortcomings.

Tomb Raider I-III Remastered releases for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PC, and Switch on February 14.

Head over to Game Informer's YouTube channel for more previews, reviews, and discussions of new and upcoming games. Watch other episodes of New Gameplay Today right here.

Sega offered a better look at the digital Demon Slayer board game Demon Slayer: Sweet the Board in a new trailer. It highlights playable characters, gameplay, and some of the minigames available.

Things begin by showing off some of the playable characters. We then see them navigating a few boards as they go through some of the turns. Like a digital board game like Mario Party, this Demon Slayer installment will have players limit how many turns will be played, with the footage here showing 10 turn games. After that, it moves on to the character select screen to show the full cast.

Here’s the full list of characters shown in the character selection portion of the trailer:

• Giyu Tomioka
• Gyomei Himejima
• Inosuke Hashibira
• Kyojuro Rengoku
• Mitsuri Kanroji
• Muichiro Tokito
• Obanai Iguro

The owners of Elden Ring developers FromSoftware have dampened hopes that long-awaited DLC Shadow of the Erdtree might release in time for the soulslike’s second anniversary this month - despite recent rumours and behind-the-scenes Steam updates indicating otherwise.

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Twas brillig, and the RPS editors did gyre and gimble in the wabe: all mimsy were the studio executives, and the guides writers outgrabe. If you’re still reading, congratulations, you’ve either got a dangerously high tolerance for bad literary jokes or you’re really eager to hear about Nightingale, the new survival sim from Inflexion, which launches into early access on 20th February. A quick recap on Nightingale, in case you missed our early access preview today: it's a strongly British-influenced "gaslamp fantasy" experience in which players travel alone or in groups between procedurally generated fairy realms using magic portals. You can build bases in each Realm, go on story quests and hunt the wildlife for crafting materials.

Last week, RPS adventurers Edders, Kiera, Jeremy, Ollie and myself had a chance to play co-op with Aaryn Flynn, Inflexion’s CEO and former general manager at BioWare, while chatting to him about the game over Discord. The resulting, not entirely planned group interview lasted two hours and consisted mostly of people yelling at each other about ice ammo and tree monsters, but we did find time for some proper Q&A. Please find below an abbreviated transcript.

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A new report claims Xbox boss Phil Spencer told employees that Microsoft has no plans to exit the console business. This comes during a large online firestorm around Xbox and its future following rumors that some big exclusives might land on PlayStation 5.

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Watch out, Final Fantasy VII fans. It looks like clips and details about Final Fantasy VII Rebirth are starting to leak out onto the internet. If you’re looking forward to the game and want to go in without any spoilers beyond the incredibly spoiler-filled trailer Square put out at its PlayStation State of Play, log…

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