Much like Call of Duty, The Finals has aim assist support for people who play on consoles as well as on PC with controllers. And, again, much like Call of Duty, aim assist has become divisive within the The Finals community. So, today, we’re here to discuss what the solution is for aim assist within The Finals.

To start things off, it’s important to clarify the two different kinds of aim assist that exists in The Finals. First, you have ‘aim snapping’ when aiming down sites near an opponent and your reticle will smoothly snap onto the target with some extra tracking for a half second afterwards. Second, exists the kind of aim assist that most are familiar with that also make up the brunt of videos on the The Finals subreddit.

I greet news of the completion of a Unity remaster for The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall with equal parts excitement and horror. Excitement because I have never played Daggerfall and it is one of the weirder, more fantastical Elder Scrolls RPGs - the one with multiple endings which sequels have explained away as somehow all being canon thanks to a metaphysical event called a Dragon Break, whereby timelines branch and reconnect. And horror because I have never played Daggerfall, which is said to be 620,000 square miles in size, and I'm getting to that point in life where I seriously ask myself whether I can finish certain games before I perish.

Still the journey is more important than reaching the destination, right? Perhaps I can treat it like an occasional walking sim.

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I greet news of the completion of a Unity remaster for The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall with equal parts excitement and horror. Excitement because I have never played Daggerfall and it is one of the weirder, more fantastical Elder Scrolls RPGs - the one with multiple endings which sequels have explained away as somehow all being canon thanks to a metaphysical event called a Dragon Break, whereby timelines branch and reconnect. And horror because I have never played Daggerfall, which is said to be 620,000 square miles in size, and I'm getting to that point in life where I seriously ask myself whether I can finish certain games before I perish.

Still the journey is more important than reaching the destination, right? Perhaps I can treat it like an occasional walking sim.

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Dave the Diver has surpassed 3 million units sold, developer Mintrocket has revealed. The studio announced this achievement on X today, alongside some new art from the game to celebrate the milestone. Selling 3 million units is no small feat, especially considering Dave the Diver is Mintrocket's first game. 

In Dave the Diver, players control Dave as he dives during the day to find treasure, fish, complete quests, and more. At night, Dave runs a sushi restaurant, and the game mixes its adventure gameplay with its simulation gameplay really well – read more about that in Game Informer's Dave the Diver review. 

🌊3 million global sales of Dave the Diver!🤿
Thank you so much for the support and love!🐳 pic.twitter.com/YzfUSOrHxd

Ukrainian studio Frogwares is now the sole publisher of Lovecraft-inspired detective adventure The Sinking City. This follows the conclusion of a legal dispute with publisher Nacon, in which Frogwares accused the company of claiming copyright of The Sinking City after its release, withholding milestone payments, and owing the developer unpaid royalties.

The dispute between the two companies saw Frogwares attempting to remove The Sinking City from PC storefront Steam in a bid to sever its ties to Nacon. In February 2021, Frogwares then told people not to buy its game from Steam and the following month it issued The Sinking City with a DMCA takedown. At this time, it claimed Nacon had "illegally" uploaded a hacked version to Valve's platform.

Now, Frogwares is the sole publisher of The Sinking City across all platforms. In a post appropriately shared on Steam, the studio said it was "happy to put this whole thing behind" it, and is now looking forward to "sharing more news about the future of the franchise down the line".

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Ukrainian studio Frogwares is now the sole publisher of Lovecraft-inspired detective adventure The Sinking City. This follows the conclusion of a legal dispute with publisher Nacon, in which Frogwares accused the company of claiming copyright of The Sinking City after its release, withholding milestone payments, and owing the developer unpaid royalties.

The dispute between the two companies saw Frogwares attempting to remove The Sinking City from PC storefront Steam in a bid to sever its ties to Nacon. In February 2021, Frogwares then told people not to buy its game from Steam and the following month it issued The Sinking City with a DMCA takedown. At this time, it claimed Nacon had "illegally" uploaded a hacked version to Valve's platform.

Now, Frogwares is the sole publisher of The Sinking City across all platforms. In a post appropriately shared on Steam, the studio said it was "happy to put this whole thing behind" it, and is now looking forward to "sharing more news about the future of the franchise down the line".

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ID@Xbox has been accused of using AI art to promote indie games.

On December 27, ID@Xbox shared a post asking its followers what their favourite indie games of 2023 were, accompanied by an image of a wintery scene.

The post was subsequently removed following a poor reception, but the post was screenshotted and shared by other users to highlight the suspected use of AI.

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Jack Black is reportedly set to take on the role of Minecraft's Steve in the upcoming film adaptation.

Deadline states that Black - who has also lent his talents to The Super Mario Bros. Movie and the forthcoming Borderlands adaptation - recently joined the cast of the Jason Momoa-fronted film.

Black, meanwhile, has seemingly confirmed this report with a playful social media post. The performer shared an image of himself reading a Minecraft Basics textbook, captioning it: "An actor prepares."

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Jack Black is reportedly set to take on the role of Minecraft's Steve in the upcoming film adaptation.

Deadline states that Black - who has also lent his talents to The Super Mario Bros. Movie and the forthcoming Borderlands adaptation - recently joined the cast of the Jason Momoa-fronted film.

Black, meanwhile, has seemingly confirmed this report with a playful social media post. The performer shared an image of himself reading a Minecraft Basics textbook, captioning it: "An actor prepares."

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Tech startup Unicorn Factory Lisboa has launched a new coworking space in Portugal's capital, in partnership with Fortis Games.

Known as The Gaming Hub, the building is divided on two floors with 13 private rooms and 12 coworking spaces, as reported by GamesBeat.

Fortis Games will occupy one floor, and is accompanied by other studios including OnTop Studios, GameDev Técnico (composed of 50 university students), and 18 virtual staff members from Volt Games, Infinity Games, and Didimo.

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China approved more games for release in 2023 than in the previous two years, with over 1,000 titles granted a publishing licence during the past year.

As reported yesterday, 105 games were approved in December, with South China Morning Post reporting that this was the highest monthly total since July 2022.

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The winners of 2023's Steam Awards were announced today, with Baldur's Gate 3 taking home the most awards.

Larian's title won Game of the Year and Outstanding Story-Rich Game, and was the only game to score two wins. Meanwhile, Starfield was awarded Most Innovative Gameplay and Dave the Diver received the Sit Back and Relax accolade.

Red Dead Redemption 2 was recognised as a Labour of Love, while Hogwarts Legacy was deemed to be the Best Game on Steam Deck.

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Two new additions to the VShojo Vtuber Ironmouse and Gloomy Bear crossover merchandise line are now available to pre-order ahead of their eventual May 2024 debut. They are a limited edition Ironmouse plush and a Gloomy Bear plush available now on the Gloomy Bear online store for $45 and $60, respectively.

These collaboration plushes feature new designs for Ironmouse and Gloomy Bear illustrated by the original artist Mori Chack. Ironmouse has been drawn in a simplistic art style, and Gloomy Bear’s design has him dressed with horns, wings, and other motifs from the VShojo Vtuber. The Ironmouse Human plush measures ten inches in height, while the Gloomy Bear plush stands 12 inches tall.

You can view the official announcement from the Gloomy Bear social media account below:

Hogwarts Legacy ends 2023 as the UK’s biggest physical video game.

It means EA Sports FC 24 was unable to catch Warner Bros' Harry Potter spin-off. Hogwarts Legacy launched in February on PS5, PC and Xbox Series S and X, while EA’s football title landed in September.

It is the first time in a decade that EA’s football game, previously operating under the FIFA licence, isn’t the UK’s top boxed game. The last time this happened was in 2013 when Grand Theft Auto 5 took the top spot.

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Aladdin X announced that Suika Game (Watermelon Game) is now available on the Japanese iOS App Store. The game costs 240 yen (or approximately $1.70) and is published by popIn Inc.

Since Suika Game became available on the global Nintendo Switch store on October 21, 2023, it is likely that the game will also appear on the global iOS App Store. After the success of the original game, there have been plenty of unofficial knock-off versions releasing on mobile devices and consoles.

One example includes an unofficial release called The Suika Game, which appears to be headed to the PlayStation Store soon. In addition, developer Aladdin X recently warned of fake merchandise plushies of the titular watermelon has started to circulate as prizes on crane machines in Japan.

An introduction to me, Kevin Zuhn

Hey there! I’m Kevin Zuhn, the creative director and head writer at Young Horses Games. My notable work includes Bugsnax and Octodad: Dadliest Catch, which you’ve probably watched a steamer play at some point.

When it comes to games, I have a voracious appetite. By my count, in the year of 2023 I played over 170 games in total. How do I do it? I pretend it’s research!

But having played what my friends and coworkers call an ‘upsetting amount of games’ I find it harder than ever to narrow things down to a Top 10. After all, if I’d only played 10 games this year, the list would write itself! So this is me digging deep into what I love and what I find value in, and I hope that you find value in these games, too.

Triple-A Tentpoles!

Look, do you really need me to tell you that the biggest, most successful, and most beloved games of this year were good?

…You do??

Well alright, then.

Sega will release a Luminasta figure of Ayanami Rei from Neon Genesis Evangelion in a racing get-up. This is a prize figure that you’ll be able to get from crane game machines. [Thanks, Hobby Dengeki!]

The full name of this figure is Ayanami Rei Pit Walk. The outfit is based on what the motorsports models (race queen is the Japanese term) for Evangelion Racing wear. These outfits usually resemble the plugsuits that the pilots wear in the show. As for what Evangelion Racing is, it’s a real, official racing team that was first created to promote Rebuild of Evangelion in 2010.

Sega first unveiled this figure in September 2023. The Ayanami Rei Pit Walk figure has her in a white plugsuit-like outfit that shows her midriff. However, a piece of cloth covers up her belly button. In total, the figure stands at about 21 centimeters. She’ll also come with a hexagonal base to stand on.

In the New Year’s round-up at Famitsu with video game developers, Yasuyuki Oda states that SNK is eagerly hiring to work on its new projects. The only game that he explicitly named in his resolution is Art of Fighting. [Thanks, Famitsu!]

Every year, Famitsu does short interviews with major video game developers in the Japanese industry. These developers give some information on their recent activities, as well as what they aspire to aim for in the coming year. In Oda’s case, he and other SNK developers are particularly interested in Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves, which they hope to show more of in 2024. Oda states that SNK’s new office in Shin-Osaka is working on several games such as a new Art of Fighting, and they welcome new talent. Fellow SNK game designer Nobuyuki Kuroki expressed the same sentiment in his own interview.

2024 marks the 30th anniversary of Earthbound and there will be several campaigns, some involving exclusive limited-time merchandise, available throughout the year as celebration.

You can keep track of the Earthbound 30th Anniversary campaigns via the official website or on Twitter (X). As of the time of writing, the website is a page with the logo for the anniversary, as well as the same text as the press release. To summarize it, there will be commemorative merchandise, events that Nintendo and Hobonichi have never done before for Earthbound, and collaboration events. The team doesn’t know all the details just yet, in the sense that they’re still coming out with new ideas. They’ve finished planning out some, whereas they’ve only just secured permissions for others. So they cannot say anything for sure just yet.

I'm a sucker for games where swords are the pointy death delivery devices they truly are, rather than the big, blunt sticks so many turn them into. First Cut: Samurai Duel seems to be aiming its blades at my heart, then. It's a 2D sidescrolling swordfighter in which each connecting blow means instant death, and it has a January 17th release date.

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I'm a sucker for games where swords are the pointy death delivery devices they truly are, rather than the big, blunt sticks so many turn them into. First Cut: Samurai Duel seems to be aiming its blades at my heart, then. It's a 2D sidescrolling swordfighter in which each connecting blow means instant death, and it has a January 17th release date.

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In the 2024 Famitsu New Year Greetings column, Yoko Taro shared that he’s working on a new Bakuken stage play. This will be the fourth stage play in the Bakuken -An Explosion of Swords- series. [Thanks, Famitsu!]

The new Bakuken stage play is subtitled Teikoku Gensou Heidan, and it roughly translates to “Imperial Illusion Army.” Yoko Taro confirmed that he is currently writing the script for the new Bakuken stage play, and said that it will appear sometime before the end of 2024. The first two Bakuken stage plays and the introduction to the third entry are available to watch for free with English subtitles in the Shiro-Kuro official YouTube channel.

Additionally, Yoko Taro shared in the Famitsu column that he has been missing a lot of deadlines throughout 2023. The developer and writer said that he is “surprised at the potential of the human race to be unconcerned about missing deadlines.”

Update: Earlier today, a Disney Parks blog pointed to Star Wars Outlaws releasing in late 2024, but the term "late" has now been removed from the post so that is now reads just 2024. Ubisoft also confirmed to Kotaku that, "the timing was incorrect and has since been amended." So, Star Wars Outlaws' release window has moved from late 2024 back to some general time this year.

Original story:

Star Wars Outlaws, Ubisoft's upcoming open-world Star Wars game, has enjoyed a vague 2024 release window since it was revealed at an Xbox Showcase last year. However, a recent post on Disney's official park blog has given the game a more specific window. According to the blog, Star Wars Outlaws is releasing late 2024. The blog post, which is a collection of 24 exciting Disney-things happening in 2024 reads, "And for Star Wars fans – Star Wars Outlaws, the open-world Star Wars game is set to release late this year."

Frogwares is "now the sole publisher of The Sinking City on all platforms", says the developer. This brings to an end several years of uncertainty and litigation, which saw the Lovecraftian RPG delisted from Steam several times and at one point restored by its publisher via an allegedly pirated version of the game.

The downside is that an updated version of the game is coming to all storefronts in the coming weeks and it won't be compatible with old save files.

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Frogwares is "now the sole publisher of The Sinking City on all platforms", says the developer. This brings to an end several years of uncertainty and litigation, which saw the Lovecraftian RPG delisted from Steam several times and at one point restored by its publisher via an allegedly pirated version of the game.

The downside is that an updated version of the game is coming to all storefronts in the coming weeks and it won't be compatible with old save files.

Read more

Scaring players has helped put the small team at Red Candle Games on the map. Its first two titles, Detention and Devotion, impressed and terrified fans with frighteningly strong horror chops, but the team is leaving that behind to tackle something completely different in Nine Sols. This side-scrolling action platformer blends sci-fi with Chinese mythology and is Red Candle’s most ambitious project yet. This significant step forward affords an opportunity to look back on the studio’s young history, so we spoke with co-founder Vincent Yang to learn about how a small band of gamers in Taiwan formed one of the industry’s most promising – and, at one time, controversial – indie studios.

Red Candle Games began in 2014 when designer Coffee Yao was developing a prototype for Detention. The side-scrolling horror game features two students exploring a haunted high school in 1960s Taiwan, incorporating local cultural references rarely seen in games. These elements drew the attention of Henry and Light Wang during an indie developer meetup in Taipei. According to Yang, Detention impressed the Wangs enough for them to join the project. As the game grew in scope, the three recruited help from mutual friends – Doy Chiang, Hans Chen, and Yang himself – bumping the yet-to-be-named team to six members by late 2015. After working remotely on Detention for a period, the group decided a physical office was necessary, which led to the official formation of Red Candle Games.

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Frogwares has announced that it is the sole publisher of The Sinking City.

The developer of the 2019 eldritch horror will be publishing the title on all platforms.

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Vampire Survivors was a big enough sensation that it instantly inspired a horde of similar games to spawn. 20 Minutes Till Dawn was one of the more worthy: a topdown, 2D roguelite with a similar sense of spectacle and progression, but with traditional weapon aiming.

It's currently free to keep from the Epic Games Store.

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Vampire Survivors was a big enough sensation that it instantly inspired a horde of similar games to spawn. 20 Minutes Till Dawn was one of the more worthy: a topdown, 2D roguelite with a similar sense of spectacle and progression, but with traditional weapon aiming.

It's currently free to keep from the Epic Games Store.

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If you haven’t heard, the Steamboat Willie version of Mickey Mouse is officially in the public domain, and Nightmare Forge Games wasted no time announcing a horror game starring that version of Disney’s mascot called Infestation 88. However, upon announcement, the team was met with immediate pushback regarding the…

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The player-voted Steam Awards have reached their conclusion, and the results are about as weird as the nominees. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that the weirdest game possible won in several categories, such as Red Dead Redemption 2 for the Labor Of Love award and Starfield for "Most Innovative Gameplay".

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The player-voted Steam Awards have reached their conclusion, and the results are about as weird as the nominees. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that the weirdest game possible won in several categories, such as Red Dead Redemption 2 for the Labor Of Love award and Starfield for "Most Innovative Gameplay".

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The Nintendo DS remains a legendary portable console, both in terms of its hardware sales and the amount of exceptional games it featured. Many of these games are now worth a fortune too, with the console’s resale market remaining strong thanks to people wanting to go back and play them.

As the years have gone by though, said games have skyrocketed in price, and a select few have reached some truly astronomical values. Among them, these are 15 in particular that are worth a fortune and stand as the most financially demanding to go back to.

The New Year's banner for Final Fantasy VII Ever Crisis is now live and features a new weapon and outfit for both Cloud and young Sephiroth. The banner is set to remain available until January 14, 2024, alongside various packs of draw tickets and upgrade materials.

Cloud's new weapon is called Skysplitter, and it is a black and silver katana that boasts a powerful and ATB-intensive ability called Blazing Strike. This attack can be further boosted by his new gear, the Official Festive Garb. It boosts his physical attack and fire ability damage.

Meanwhile, young Sephiroth will be able to equip the Radiant Edge, which has the ability to reduce enemy physical defenses and fire resistance, as well as deal non-elemental physical damage. His Celebratory Garb gear will boost his HP rather than his damage, though it does contain a similar fire ability damage buff.

Both weapons will be available by rolling on the New Year's banner. Meanwhile, the gear is obtained through Ever Crisis' stamp card system.

You can get a closer look at the weapon and outfit additions for both Cloud and young Sephiroth in FFVII Ever Crisis in the gallery below:

Jujutsu Kaisen wrapped up earlier this week after a long and fairly grim season. You won’t be surprised to learn that it’s got another season in the works, once again courtesy of MAPPA.

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Some of you may be surprised that a gay Call of Duty ship is in the top ten of fanfiction site Archive Of Our Own’s annual, unofficial roundup, but I’m not. Not long after the 2022 release of Modern Warfare II, a bevy of TikToks bimbofied Call of Duty character Simon “Ghost” Riley, who is only ever shown in-game…

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Last week, a government official was removed from one of China's regulatory agencies following a dip in gaming stocks in response to new game proposals.

As reported by Reuters, per sources familiar with the matter, the withdrawn individual was head of the publishing unit of the Communist Party’s Publicity Department.

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