Phil Spencer unsure "who it helps" Helldivers 2 isn't on Xbox

1 month 1 week ago

As Microsoft opts to launch at least some of its Xbox exclusives on rival consoles, the company's gaming boss Phil Spencer has reflected on Sony's recent, hugely-successful launch of online, cross-platform shooter Helldivers 2 on PC and PlayStation 5.

"I will say, when I look at a game like Helldivers 2 - and it's a great game, kudos to the team shipping on PC and PlayStation - I'm not exactly sure who it helps in the industry by not being on Xbox," Spencer told Game File. "If you try to twist yourself to say, like, somehow that benefited somebody somewhere.

"But I get it. There's a legacy in console gaming that we're going to benefit by shipping games and not putting them on other places. We do the same thing."

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Tom Phillips

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What we've been playing

1 month 1 week ago

Hello! Welcome back to our regular feature where we write a little bit about some of the games we've been playing over the past few days. This week: tombs, maps, and bats.

If you fancy catching up on some of the older editions of What We've Been Playing, here's our archive.

Nothing says Valentine's Day like launching someone you dearly love off of the side of a cliff, which is exactly what I did. Before you get all concerned, my husband is fine; I am of course talking about the one and only Lara Croft.

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Author
Robert Purchese

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Alan Wake 2 fastest-selling Remedy game, but yet to turn a profit

1 month 1 week ago

Alan Wake 2 is developer Remedy's fastest-selling game to date, but the studio is still to recuperate the project's development and marketing costs.

In its latest financial report, Remedy said Alan Wake 2 had now sold 1.3m units, with 1m of those occurring by the end of last year. This equates to 50 percent more copies and over three times more digital copies of Alan Wake 2 sold in the game's first two months than its previous release Control managed in its first four months (though it's worth noting Alan Wake 2 was a digital-only release).

Control has since gone on to sell over 4m units, and Remedy said it expected a similar trend with Alan Wake 2, as "a great game can generate excellent long tail sales". But, of course, games lose value over time - so copies sold after prices drop generate less revenue than at launch.

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Author
Victoria Kennedy

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Narrative RPG Cabernet gives morality systems a vampiric bite

1 month 1 week ago

I've always found the concept of immortality to be horrific. How, as the years churn by, new memories and experiences drown the ones which lie at the foundations of your personality, eroding them until a new person inhabits your skin. You are not yourself anymore. Vampire mythology adds a physical stake to this curse - to be a vampire is to be a monster in body and appetite, but whether you become one in spirit is up to you. Do you try to preserve your humanity or indulge in the hedonism your new form makes so easy? Or become a creature trapped between the two? It’s these questions Cabernet, an upcoming narrative RPG, seeks to explore through its protagonist Liza - recently deceased.

While Cabernet may begin with Liza's funeral, she doesn’t truly comprehend her new vampiric nature until witnessing a fellow creature of the night transform into a bat. From here on, the outlook she takes on her undead existence is in your hands, with many of the dialogue choices and actions Liza can take raising either her humanity or nihilism metre. The differentiation between the two is clear: speaking honestly and treating people kindly increases her humanity as you try to preserve the person Liza once was, while revelling in her new powers and treating humans as mere playthings sees Liza embracing the darkest aspects of being a vampire and, in return, raises her nihilism.

Author
Lottie Lynn

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See How Marvel Animation’s X-Men ’97 Cartoon Looks

1 month 1 week ago

See How Marvel Animation's X-Men '97 Cartoon Looks Like

Marvel Studios shared the first trailer for the upcoming X-Men '97 animated series and confirmed its release date as March 20, 2024. The new series is a sequel to X-Men: The Animated Series, which aired between October 1992 and September 1997.

The new trailer shows the X-Men facing new and familiar threats after Professor X’s passing in the original cartoon, and shows Magneto as his possible successor. The trailer also showed some voice actors reprising their roles in the upcoming new series, such as Cal Dodd as Wolverine, Lenore Zann as Rogue, and George Buza as Beast, and Alison Sealy-Smith as Storm.

You can take a look at the X-Men '97 animated series trailer here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pv3Ss8o9gGQ

Meanwhile, some voice actors that participated in X-Men: The Animated Series will also return, but will voice new characters.

Author
Daniel Bueno

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Sakurai Says His Work on SSBU Ends With Sora amiibo

1 month 1 week ago

sora ssb ultimate amiibo sakurai masahiro

In a social media post about the Sora amiibo, Masahiro Sakurai announced that he has finished all of the work he needs to do for Super Smash Bros Ultimate (SSBU). This is because all of the fighters are now available as an amiibo.

This is a translation of Sakurai’s tweet about the Sora amiibo and game:

Sora’s amiibo comes out today! Thank you to everyone who worked on it (this was an amazing accomplishment). The design was always perfect, and the details and the colors look exactly as intended. The pose and sculpting look good as well. Now that all of the fighters have an amiibo, my work on Super Smash Bros Ultimate is basically done. Thank you for everything.

Sora of Kingdom Hearts debuted in Fighter Pas Vol 2 and is the final DLC character for Super Smash Bros Ultimate. Since SSBU is no longer getting regular updates in the form of season passes or DLC, creating the amiibos for it was likely the last bit of work for Sakurai and the team.

Author
Stephanie Liu

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Phil Spencer says Game Pass now has 34m "fully paid" subscribers

1 month 1 week ago

Microsoft has shared updated Game Pass membership figures for the first time since January 2022, saying the on-demand gaming service now has 34m "fully paid" subscribers, with "significant growth" coming from PC and cloud.

That update comes via Microsoft gaming boss Phil Spencer, speaking to journalist Stephen Totilo for his Game File newsletter (thanks VGC) ahead of this week's hotly anticipated Xbox 'business update' podcast - in which the company finally discussed its much rumoured plans to bring a number of its formerly Xbox-exclusive first-party games to PS5 and Switch.

Discussing Microsoft's latest Game Pass figures, Spencer assured Totilo the 9m subscribers added to the service since January 2022 - when Microsoft announced Game Pass had amassed a total of 25m members - were "fully paid" and did not include promotional players. "Those are people," Spencer reiterated, "fully paid subs."

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Author
Matt Wales

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Microsoft says next Xbox will 'deliver largest technical leap seen in a hardware generation'

1 month 1 week ago

As part of a 'business update' confirming four first-party Xbox exclusives are coming to PlayStation 5 and Switch, Microsoft has moved to assuage fan fears it might be considering abandoning the console market, saying it's planning a new Xbox that will deliver "the largest technical leap...ever seen in a hardware generation."

That's according to Xbox president Sarah Bond, who was speaking on an "Updates on the Xbox Business" edition of the Official Xbox Podcast, alongside Microsoft Gaming boss Phill Spencer and head of Xbox game studios Matt Booty.

According to Bond, Microsoft has hardware plans for Xbox in both the short and longer term. Starting this "holiday", for instance, Microsoft will share "some exciting stuff coming out in hardware". An official Xbox tweet accompanying today's podcast expanded on Bond's comments, saying Microsoft currently has a "robust and innovative multi-year hardware roadmap" that'll include "more console and controller options...this holiday.

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Author
Matt Wales

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Square Enix Details Forest and Sea Chocobo in FFVII Rebirth

1 month 1 week ago

Square Enix Details Forest and Sea Chocobo in FFVII Rebirth

Square Enix shared new details about the Forest and Sea Chocobo in FFVII Rebirth. In the original Final Fantasy VII, these type of Chocobo were known as the Green and Blue Chocobos due to the distinct color of their feathers.

Forest Chocobos show their strength by jumping on large mushrooms and sliding down the branches of large trees in the forest. Thanks to these Chocobo Cloud and company can enjoy exploring dense forests, where it would be easy to get lost otherwise.

https://twitter.com/ffviir_cloud/status/1757965453673001258

Meanwhile, Sea Chocobos can move freely above the surface of the sea and rivers by spraying powerful water jets from their talons. Sea Chocobos can take players to secret areas that are unavailable by foot

https://twitter.com/ffviir_cloud/status/1757962946641043884

Author
Daniel Bueno

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This refurbished 850W Corsair Shift PSU is £84 vs £150 new from Scan UK

1 month 1 week ago

Corsair's Shift series of power supplies are one of my go-to recommendations, thanks to their reliable power delivery and convenient side-mounted connectors, and now you can pick up a factory refurbished 850W 80+ Gold unit for just £84 from Scan, versus £145 for the very same PSU new at Amazon or £150 at Scan. That's a huge, nearly 50% saving, and well worth it - even for a factory refurb unit with a 12-month warranty.

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Author
Will Judd

How To Take Down The Tough-Guy Chargers In Helldivers 2

1 month 1 week ago

Online co-op shooter Helldivers 2 contains a number of nasty enemies across its Terminid and Automaton factions. The Chargers are one such foe: Large, heavily armored Terminids, they will happily charge toward you and your party to send you all to your deaths. They can prove quite a challenge if you’re not prepared,…

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Author
Claire Jackson

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Diablo 4 will make a hellish addition to Xbox Game Pass this March

1 month 1 week ago

Diablo 4 is coming to Game Pass this March.

Xbox's Sarah Bond made the announcement this evening, as part of the company's business update podcast.

In a follow up post on social media, Xbox said Diablo 4's upcoming Game Pass debut is part of Microsoft's "promise to offer Activision Blizzard games" on the subscription service, following its acquisition of the Diablo and Call of Duty makers last year.

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Author
Victoria Kennedy

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Logitech's excellent G915 TKL low-profile wireless mechanical gaming keyboard is 55% off at Amazon UK

1 month 1 week ago

The Logitech G915 Lightspeed TKL is a phenomenal gaming keyboard with low-profile mechanical switches, reliable Lightspeed wireless and a compact layout, yet Logitech normally ask well over £100 for it - and double that when it first launched! Today though, the G915 TKL Lightspeed is 55% off, dropping it to the more reasonable price of £99.

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Author
Will Judd

Sonic Superstars Gets Shadow the Hedgehog Costume DLC

1 month 1 week ago

Sonic Superstars Gets Shadow the Hedgehog Costume DLC

There’s new cosmetic DLC for Sonic Superstars, and it puts Sonic the Hedgehog into a Shadow costume. It is now free on all platforms for consoles and PCs. [Thanks, Wario64!]

Note that the add-on isn’t a part of a patch or official update. You actually need to visit the eShop, PlayStation Store, Steam, or Xbox Store to download it first. Then, once you’re in-game, you will see it as an option in when you’re picking your character. After you choose who you want to be, say that would be Sonic, you can then select Shadow.

Here’s the official art of the Sonic Superstars DLC from Steam, which shows it will put Sonic the Hedgehog in a Shadow costume, rather than transform him into the other character. 

Author
Jenni Lada

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Four Xbox-exclusive games heading to PS5 and Switch, confirms Phil Spencer

1 month 1 week ago

Following mounting reports Xbox is preparing for some kind of multiplatform future, Microsoft has confirmed it'll be bringing four previously Xbox-exclusive first-party titles to PlayStation 5 and Switch later this year, with more likely to come in the future.

Reports that Microsoft was preparing to release a number of first-party games on competing consoles - namely Sea of Thieves and Hi-Fi Rush - first surfaced at the start of this year, but it wasn't until last week's claims high-profile exclusives such as Starfield and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle would also be going multiplatform that Microsoft broke its silence, promising to reveal more in a podcast this week.

And now, as reported by The Verge - which was pre-briefed by Microsoft ahead of tonight's reveal - Xbox gaming boss Phil Spencer has confirmed the company has "made the decision that we're going to take four games to the other consoles". Bafflingly, Spencer does not name the games directly, only saying two are community-driven titles and two are smaller games.

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Author
Matt Wales

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Tales of Arise Heading to Xbox Game Pass and PS Plus Game Catalog

1 month 1 week ago

Tales of Arise Heading to Xbox Game Pass and PS Plus Game Catalog

Bandai Namco announced that Tales of Arise will join the Xbox Game Pass catalog in Japan on February 19, 2024, as well as the PS Plus Game Catalog on February 20, 2024. Other Tales titles will be joining the PS Plus Game Catalog as well.

Sony also detailed various other games that will be joining the PS Plus Game Catalogue on the same day. The PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium catalogue will include Need for Speed Unbound, and The Outer Worlds: Spacer’s Choice Edition for the PS5.

Tales of Arise, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, and Roguebook will be added to both the PS5 and PS4 catalogues. Meanwhile, LEGO Worlds, LEGO Jurassic World, Rogue Lords, and Tales of Zestiria will be the PS4 games added. The PlayStation Premium Classics catalogue will add Resistance: Retribution, Jet Rider 2, Tales of Symphonia, and Tales of Vesperia.

Author
Daniel Bueno

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Review: GUNVOLT RECORDS: Cychronicle Gives Us a Selection of Gunvolt Songs

1 month 1 week ago

Review: GUNVOLT RECORDS: Cychronicle Gives Us a Selection of Gunvolt Songs

A rhythm game spin-off based on a property known for its great music usually ends up being a fantastic idea, so GUNVOLT RECORDS: Cychronicle pulling from the Gunvolt series library seems like a good fit! However, a small track list that omits some songs to sell later as DLC and rudimentary design with four difficulty levels can leave it feeling a bit lacking.

Author
Jenni Lada

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Xbox Is Bringing Four Mysterious Games To Other Platforms, Starfield And Indiana Jones To Remain Exclusive

1 month 1 week ago

As promised earlier this week, Microsoft and Xbox executives Phil Spencer (head of Xbox), Sarah Bond (president, Xbox) and Matt Booty (Head of Xbox Game Studios) got together today to share some important "updates on the Xbox business." You can check out the full update below, but the headline is that four future formerly Xbox and PC exclusive games are coming to other consoles, but Spencer was not ready to reveal what those games are. They are games that are more than a year old that have been on Xbox and PC for awhile. A couple of the games, Spencer says, are community-driven and service-based games that have reached their full potential on Xbox and PC. They are franchises that Xbox wants to continue to invest in. Two are smaller games that were not built to be platform exclusives. Though he wasn't ready to share the game titles, he did confirm that Starfield and Indiana Jones are not in that group.

According to sources reported by The Verge, it seems the four titles may be Hi-Fi Rush, Pentiment, Sea of Thieves, and Grounded.

Author
Kyle Hilliard

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth Physical Event Will Appear at Tokyo Tower

1 month 1 week ago

Final Fantasy VII FFVII Rebirth event at Tokyo Tower

A Final Fantasy VII Rebirth-themed collaboration event will appear soon at Tokyo Tower. The event will primarily take place at the Co-Lab Tokyo store located on the second floor of the tower's Foot Town. It will run from mid-February 2024 to early March 2024.

To enter the event, children aged 15 or under can purchase a ticket at ¥2,200 (~$14.65), while those aged older will have to pay ¥2,750 (~$18.32). They will then receive a Final Fantasy VII-branded ticket used to access Tokyo Tower's Main Deck, a Word Rally mini-game sheet, and a branded pen.

The Word Rally game will have participants find panels of Cloud, Tifa, Aerith, Yuffie, Zack, and Sephiroth that are scattered inside the Tokyo Tower and jot down the words listed on each of them. After submitting a completed entry, they can win a metallic postcard featuring one of the characters.

The store will also feature new merchandise modeled after Cloud, Zack, and Sephiroth. People who make purchases of over ¥3,000 will also receive a bonus random circular sticker.

The full merchandise list, along with the item prices in Japanese yen, is available right below:

Author
Kite Stenbuck

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Xbox business update podcast: which Microsoft games will launch on PlayStation and Switch?

1 month 1 week ago

Welcome to our live coverage of the big Xbox business update, where Microsoft laid out its plan to launch four first-party Xbox games on Nintendo and PlayStation platforms.

Microsoft gaming boss Phil Spencer, Xbox president Sarah Bond and head of Xbox game studios Matt Booty - the company's Triforce of gaming top brass - stopped short of officially confirming the quartet of titles set to go multiplatform, but reports online suggest those titles will be Hi-Fi Rush, Pentiment, Sea of Thieves and Grounded.

The podcast also included a brief mention of new Xbox hardware launching later this year, and a tease for the proper next-gen Xbox - you can read all of that below.

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Author
Tom Phillips

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Payday 3 sales "significantly lower" than hoped, but Starbreeze focused on "long-term success"

1 month 1 week ago

Payday 3 developer Starbreeze say their co-op heist 'em up is underperforming both in terms of sales and player numbers. They also say they're committed to turning around that performance, with updates to come in 2024 which will revamp progression, the UI, add a solo mode and an offline mode, and more.

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Author
Graham Smith

Three Fallout games are free on the Epic Store next week

1 month 1 week ago

Post-apocalyptic RPG fans are in luck; the next batch of freebies coming to the Epic Games Store have been revealed, and two bonafide RPG classes - Fallout and Fallout 2 - have made the list alongside Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel.

Fallout 1 and 2, developed by Black Isle Studios and released in 1997 and 1998 respectively, have amassed a fiercely passionate following over the years, and with good reason. "From the unrelentingly bleak, darkly ironic tone to the novelty of the open-world, post-apocalyptic setting," Eurogamer wrote in 2011, "from the inspired, cerebral turn-based combat system to the immense degree of variety and personality in the character-customisation, the superbly-written quests and characters and the gallows humour that underpins the games without lessening their emotional impact, even the well-placed, gritty violence; there's very little about the games that doesn't command as much respect now as they did a decade ago."

As for Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel, released in 2001, it's less widely revered, but still a decently enjoyable time, infusing the post-apocalyptic isometric wasteland setting of its illustrious RPG predecessors with squad-based combat action. And its inclusion means next week's Epic Games Store freebies list is as follows:

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Author
Matt Wales

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KOF 2001 Angel Bishoujo Figure Arrives Later This Year

1 month 1 week ago

KOF Angel Bishoujo Figure

Kotobukiya announced that the KOF 2001 Angel Bishoujo figure is now available to pre-order via Sideshow, with shipping expected late this year. The figure was previously teased back in August 2023, with a painted prototype appearing earlier in February 2024.

The figure will cost $130 or ¥20,146 with shipping dated between November 2024 and January 2025. The design was based on her original appearance in The King of Fighters 2001 and illustrated by Shunya Yamashita with sculpting by ke (comaccow), both of whom have also worked on several other figures in the Bishoujo Line. Made of ABS and PVC, she stands approximately 5.51" or 14 cm tall and purchases are limited to a maximum of 6 per customer.

You can get a look at the KOF 2001 Angel Bishoujo figure in the gallery below:

Author
Elliot Gostick

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Meet the Honkai Impact 3rd AstralOp Character Songque

1 month 1 week ago

Meet the Honkai Impact 3rd AstralOp Character Songque

When Honkai Impact 3rd Part 2 launches at the end of February 2024, we’ll see a new AstralOp character named Songque added to the game. She’s an S-rank unit that people will be able to get from AstralOp Supply banners.

HoYoVerse’s profile described her as a kind person who is also one of the mysterious Seven Shus. She’s trying to become the one for Deception. IIt also notes she’s known for divination. In-battle, she’ll help deal lightning element damage to multiple enemies during a Stellar Burst, will inflict a debuff that increases damage from all elements they take, and any enemy she hits will apparently take on the Paralyze Trauma effect. When there’s no Stellar Outburst, she’ll help Astral Intensity, especially when attacks land, and all enemies will take more damage from elemental attacks.  

There is also a guaranteed drop rate for Songque. Once her banner is live, someone will get her if they pull 60 times on the banner. That offer will be in effect until March 29, 2024.

As a reminder, Songque is the second AstralOp character joining Honkai Impact 3rd in Part 2. The other one debuting in 7.3 is the Dreamseeker. Everyone can earn this character via playing. 

Author
Jenni Lada

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EA Sports College Football 25 Arrives This Summer, Full Reveal In May

1 month 1 week ago

EA Sports College Football 25 Trailer

It’s been three years since EA announced it was making a new college football game after a years-long hiatus. Dubbed EA Sports College Football 25, not much has materialized about the game since its reveal in the way of updates, but the publisher has broken its silence with a new trailer confirming a release window and promising a bigger look at the title in the near future.

The video heavily leans into the skepticism fans have expressed over College Football’s existence, proudly expressing, “Yes, the game is real” while showing off snippets of behind-the-scenes development footage. The snazzy video doesn’t do much besides that, but it ends with a promise of a full reveal in May and a summer launch window. 

EA Sports College Football 25 is being developed by EA Orlando (formerly known as Tiburon), the team behind the Madden games. This will be the first college football game from the publisher since the demise of its NCAA Football series, the last entry of which was released in 2013. The franchise was shelved due to a 2014 federal lawsuit in which the judge ruled that the NCAA’s long-standing rule prohibiting college athletes from being compensated for their in-game likenesses was unlawful. 

Author
Marcus Stewart

VShojo Vtuber Ironmouse Performing 3D Concert in February 

1 month 1 week ago

VShojo Vtuber Ironmouse Performing 3D Concert in February

VShojo Vtuber Ironmouse announced a 3D concert will be held online on February 29, 2024. Sayton Gang: Attack of the Magic Cloud will air at 6pm PT/9pm ET.

There’s a first trailer that teases the theme and some of the guest appearances on social media. The theme is Vshojo Academy. While Ironmouse is obviously the star of the show, Projekt Melody, Bubi, and GEEGA also appear in clips.

https://twitter.com/ironmouse/status/1757873509756207539

About a year ago, Ironmouse held another dedicated performance like this. She performed the Mouse Birthday Concert 2023 on January 11, 2023. Again, a few other Vtubers showed up for some songs. That full concert is still available to stream on her official YouTube channel. There was an original song performed, in addition to a number of covers of popular songs and themes from different shows.

Author
Jenni Lada

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Disco Elysium standalone expansion reportedly cancelled and quarter of staff facing redundancy at ZA/UM

1 month 1 week ago

UPDATE 16/2/24: A follow-up report by GLHF has added further fuel to the fire engulfing troubled Disco Elysium developer ZA/UM.

Interviews with two named employees have been published discussing the circumstances behind the current wave of layoffs at the studio, with a third of staff reportedly set to be let go following the cancellation of a Disco Elysium standalone expansion.

In one startling quote, principal writer Dora Klindžić compared joining ZA/UM after its takeover by CEO Ilmar Kompus and his brother-in-law Tõnis Haavel to "being born into Yugoslavia in the '90s: you've just missed the party and now all you get is the bloodshed.

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Author
Matt Wales

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V Rising's 1.0 changes to PvP, endgame and armour detailed ahead of spring release

1 month 1 week ago

V Rising remains on track to reach 1.0 in the second quarter of this year, in what finance people call Q2 but I like to call Aprilmayjune. The latest developer blog post goes into detail on some of the new features coming for the full release and in particular its changes to PvP, higher tier weapon and armour, and vampire fashion.

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Author
Graham Smith

Square Enix Preparing Final Fantasy VII Rebirth Magnets and Pins

1 month 1 week ago

Square Enix Preparing Final Fantasy VII Rebirth Magnets and Pins

The Square Enix Store updated with pre-orders for Final Fantasy VII Rebirth magnets and pins. Each listing involves a set of 12 items and is expected to ship in June 2024, which is after the game’s release.

The set of pins costs $59.88. That features faces of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth characters and their names. It primarily involves protagonists, though there is one pin with Sephiroth and another with the game’s logo.

Here’s the list of characters depicted on those pins:

  • Aerith Gainsborough
  • Barret Wallace
  • Cait Sith
  • Cid Highwind
  • Cloud Strife
  • Red XIII
  • Sephiroth
  • Tifa Lockhart
  • Vincent Valentine
  • Yuffie Kisaragi
Author
Jenni Lada

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