Microsoft explored new avenues for its first party and delivered some standout titles this year, while Sony presented a strong line-up of exclusives and a compelling mid-gen console refresh. By comparison, Nintendo is seemingly in a waiting period, with all attention focused on the Switchs successor. Nevertheless, it still offered an incredible range of titles this year, pulling from its wealth of IPs for some unexpected hits. This is in addition to various third-party games that made their mark on the platform. Check out our picks for the 15 best Switch games of 2024.Princess Peach: Showtime!One day, Nintendo woke up, looked back on how underwhelming Super Princess Peach was, and decided to do something about it. The result is Princess Peach: Showtime!, with Peach harnessing multiple forms across various plays to stop the sorceress Grape and her Sour Bunch. With a fun story, enjoyable gameplay, and solid level design, theres much to love, even if the performance would have been better.

A standalone multiplayer Elden Ringexperience may have come out of nowhere for the vast majority of us, but even so, thanks to FromSoftwares track record, when the studio announces something new, you pretty muchhaveto pay attention.Elden Ring: Nighreignis promising a unique roguelike multiplayer action RPG experience that takes the bones of Froms beloved 2022 open world masterpiece and remixes and recontextualizes them in a way thats completely new to the developer- and were quite excited about that. Here, we go over the key details that you, too, should know aboutElden Ring: Nightreign.PREMISEElden RingmeetsMonster Huntersort of begins to capture the idea, but theres much more toNightreignthan that. Directed by FromSoftware veteran Junya Ishizaki,Nightreignis a run-based PvE co-op action RPG that reuses and remixesElden Ringsworld, enemies, weapons, mechanics, and other elements, all repurposed to deliver a new and different multiplayer experience. Movement is faster and nimbler, the structure has been entirely changed, and the focus, of course, is now on multiplayer.LIMVELDElden Ring: Nightreignis set in Limveld, which, FromSoftware has stressed, is not the same asElden Ringssetting, and more of a remixed and parallel version of Limgrave. Players will find plenty of familiar elements in the settings environments, but FromSoftware says the game is a spinoff that is set parallel to the world and events of Elden Ring, which means the two dont intersect or affect each other in any way. And yes, that also meansA Song of Ice and Fireauthor George R.R. Martin the loremaster behind the world and setting ofElden Ring had no involvement inNightreignor its world, as confirmed by game director Junya Ishizaki in an interview with IGN.THREE-DAY STRUCTUREEach run inElden Ring: Nightreignis built around a three-day structure, which, interestingly enough, also makes use of battle royale elements. Making use of a day/night system, the game tasks players with surviving three days while exploring and facing the dangers of Limveld. Each night brings a different boss fight (and yes, you can expect plenty of familiarElden Ringbosses, with a total of eight included in the game), and at the beginning of the following day, a large circle will have shrunk inward, battle royale-style. If you make it to the end of the third-day, you will be faced with the runs final boss, dubbed the Nightlord.PLAYABLE HEROESElden Ring: Nightreignis also taking minor cues from class-based multiplayer experiences, in that it doesnt necessarily have classes, but does allow players to play as one of eight different characters, each equipped with unique abilities, strengths, and weaknesses. FromSoftware has yet to reveal finer details on these playable heroes, but in the aforementioned IGN interview, Ishizaki revealed that one of the eight characters uses a Spirit Ash sort of spiritual buddy as a gameplay mechanic.PROGRESSION AND CUSTOMIZATIONBeing a run-based roguelike,Elden Ring: Nightreign will draw a distinction between run-based and overarching progression, and as far as the former is concerned, you can expect it to deviate fromElden Ringsformula in several ways. Players will spend runs looking for stronger weapons to use against enemies, while at Sites of Graces, youll also be able to level up your character. Leveling up will also bring different stat buffs and advantages based on which of the eight characters youre playing as. The beginning of each run will reset all of this back to zilch, though the game will still allow players to make permanent upgrades. Speaking of whichRELICSThe biggest rewards that players are going to want to keep an eye on during their runs inNightreignare Relics. Relics can be earned in a run regardless of how far you make it, and these provide a variety of unique upgrades that are permanent across all runs. You can upgrade your attack stats, your total HP, or apply a variety of unique buffs that will make future runs easier for both you and your allies.CO-OP OR SOLOElden Ring: Nightreignis designed as a primarily multiplayer experience, being a first for FromSoftware in that regard (even though the studio has, of course, included strong multiplayer elements in plenty of its titles over the years). The intended way to play the game is as a three-player co-op experience, though it has been confirmed that you can also play it solo. Playing in a party of two wont be possible, and as you might imagine, the game and its difficulty will scale based on whether youre playing alone or in a party of three.NOT FULL PRICEDFromSoftware has explicitly dubbedElden Ring: Nightreignis spinoff, and sure enough, the multiplayer title is going to be priced accordingly. Specific detials have yet to be revealed by FromSoftware or publisher Bandai Namco, but Ishizaki has confirmed to PC Gamer that the game wont be full-priced, with pricing instead being comparable toShadow of the Erdtree.The expansion, for reference is sold at a price of $39.99, so presumably, thats what we can expect forNightreign, too.NOT LIVE SERVICEElden Ring: Nightreignis clearly a multiplayer-first title, and while its easy to assume that any multiplayer title coming out now is going to be a live service game, FromSoftware says thats not quite the case withNightreign. Speaking with PC Gamer, Ishizaki made it clear the studio doesnt consider the game a live service experience. With Nightreign, we wanted to have a game that felt like a complete package out of the box on the day of purchase, so everything is unlockable, everything is contained with that purchase. Its not what wed consider a live service game, he said.The director added that though patches and balance updates will obviously be released following launch as and when needed, further plans about post-launch content havent yet been decided. Were concentrating on the release of Nightreign, first and foremost, but we will make considerations after the games release Ishizaki said. Especially in the form of post-release updatesbalance updates, things like this that weve done with previous gamesthis will definitely be a priority going forward. For anything else, were still in the process of thinking about the possibilities.NETWORK TESTNightreignis due out sometime in 2025, and though a specific release date is currently unknown, we do know when players will get their first chance to go hands on with the multiplayer action RPG. A closed network test is scheduled for February. It will feature a portion of the game, and will allow you to play as four of the eight characters. Registrations for the network test are set to open on January 10, FromSoftware has announced.

We all look for different things in a video game, whether its an engaging story, unique mechanics, well-developed characters, or a relaxing atmosphere. Then again, some also want to test themselves, taking on the most challenging endeavors and dying repeatedly. It may seem like torture to those on the outside looking in, but overcoming these is the real reward. The question is: Which titles from 2024 provided that feeling of unrelenting difficulty? As it turns out, quite a few. Check out 15 brutally difficult games from this year.S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of ChornobylGSC Game Worlds sequel isnt a particularly challenging survival experience when managing hunger and radiation. However, patience and endurance are key, whether deducing and defusing anomalies, surviving encounters with Mutants or managing your inventory and dealing with the encumbrance. Doing all this without any fast travel is just the cherry on top. The lethality of firearms also goes both ways, ensuring each gunfight could be fatal with proper preparation.

2024 may stand out as a mixed year for Sony between the mandatory PSN linking for its PC titles, the failure of Concord, and PlayStation VR2 trending downwards. However, its successes are far higher and nowhere is that more apparent than with the PS5s game library. First-party titles were few and far between, but we still witnessed some of the best third-party offerings (many exclusive) and more than a few incredible indie titles. Check out the 20 best PS5 games from 2024 and why you should play them.Horizon Zero Dawn RemasteredSonys Remastered trend hasnt received the warmest reception over the years, but Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered more than earns its flowers. It revamps and improves its environments with more foliage, better lighting and shadows, and over 10 hours of new motion capture animation. Character models are pretty much carried over from Forbidden West and look fantastic. For just $50 ($10 if you own the original), its a pretty good deal.

With the coming months packed with many games, management fans can look forward to Two Point Museum, the latest from Two Point Studios. The objective is to manage a museum, and doing that requires exhibits. Fortunately, you can hire various Experts to embark on expeditions and retrieve them, as outlined in the latest trailer.Its easier said than done, though. The Expert must be trained and equipped with items like the First Aid Kit, which can prevent one potential injury. You can also increase XP with the XP-dition Journal, reduce expeditions costs with the Haggling Handbook, and more.Some expeditions may also present scenarios that require your input. What will you do when a giant snake emerges? How will you manage your team when hunger strikes? Depending on your decisions, there may be significant consequences. Succeed, and your cargo chopper will have another exhibit to add to the museum.Two Point Museum launches on March 4th, 2025, for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC. Those who pre-order can obtain Sonic the Hedgehog items and staff outfits for their museum.

2025 will bring with it the early access launch ofTerminator: Survivors,but it seems like it might not be the only game based on the sci-fi IP to look forward to in the near future. A new title,Terminator 2D: No Fate, could also be unveiled soon enough.Spotted by Gematsu,Terminator 2D: No Fatewas recently rated by Australian Classification for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC. The games name obviously suggests were looking at a lower-scale, 2D experience, but theres not much else to glean. The rating also lists Reef Entertainment the publisher ofTerminator: Resistance as the titles developer and publisher.What exactly this new mystery game is or when we can expect it to be announced is anyones guess, though its classification rating would suggest that it might not be too long before the game is unveiled, and perhaps even released. Either way, stay tuned for further details.

Ubisofts Assassins Creed Shadows fulfills a long-requested fantasy for many fans: Playing as an Assassin in Japan. It stars Naoe, the daughter of Fujibayashi Nagato, and Yasuke, a vassal for Oda Nobunaga in the late Sengoku period. Their paths cross when the daimyo invades the Iga Province, leading to the destruction of Naoes home.Naturally, she seeks vengeance. However, after meeting Yasuke, they begin a crusade to punish the guilty. As creative director Jonathan Dumont revealed to Entertainment Weekly, there is a bit more nuance. For instance, her mother has been absent, and Naoe knows little about her.[Naoe] was shielded by her father from whats happening in the world, and it comes crashing down. She is pushed into war. She doesnt know much about her origins. Her fathers been training her, but she doesnt know much about her mother, whos been gone. But as a cool proverb from Japan says, a frog in a well knows nothing of the sea.She is tossed into the real world, and through that, she will learn that she is not just a shinobi, that there is a little bit of a lineage or at least some mystery about some sort of different type of shinobi. Theyre Assassins, so shes somewhat linked to that.So while revenge is the catalyst, Naoe eventually discovers a world in need, and begins to really value the community values her father taught. Can she make a better world? [She realizes] they are people who cannot defend themselves, which is tied a little bit more to the models of the [Assassin] Brotherhood. She also starts envisioning a better future for Japan through her interactions with a child named Junjiro, though additional details on his backstory are currently unknown.Dumont did confirm that each of Naoes tools connects to her history and training. The Hidden Blade is given by her father, and were going to learn a little bit more about what that means. He also describes her as a panther looking at her prey.Where the Templars, the long-time rivals of the Brotherhood, tie into all this remains to be seen. Then theres Yasuke, whose ultimate fate after the Honn-ji Incident in 1582 may be explored further.Launching on February 14th, 2025, Assassins Creed Shadows launches on Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC. Head here to learn more about the differences between Naoe and Yasuke.

CD Projekt REDs The Witcher 4 has spurred much conversation following its reveal at The Game Awards. Outside of confirming Ciri as the new protagonist and promising new regions and monsters, the development team hasnt delved too much into the story. However, executive producer Magorzata Mitrga has addressed concerns about her overwhelming power at the end of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.Speaking to GamesRadar, Mitrga confirms that something totally happened in-between the two games, addressing the gap between her being totally overpowered at the end of the previous game and now, with the skill set we showed off in the trailer.We had to delve deep to consider how we would address this we have huge respect for the lore, both the books and what made it into our previous games. But this was one of the first questions we found the answer to, and its how we were able to create this original story, which starts with The Witcher 4.How will she play compared to Geralt? Shes faster, more agile but you can still tell that she was raised by Geralt, right? Mitrga also confirmed that the spell wielded in the trailer is called Bolt. Based on what weve seen Geralt pull off with Signs, it seems Ciri is more proficient in magic.Of course, its up to the player how they want her to develop. Game director Sebastian Kalemba previously told IGN about providing more tools for players disposal, to be able to not only play and go with the consequences narratively, but also gameplay-wise. Perhaps those who want to specialize more in magic can do so while others focus on Ciris martial skills. Time will tell.The Witcher 4 is coming to Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC. It doesnt have a release window full production only began last month. Stay tuned for more updates in the meantime.

Palworlds latest and potentially biggest update since, well, the last one, is now live. Feybreak adds the titular island, which is six times larger than Sakurajima, and Terrarias Meowmere, the first piece of content as part of a collaboration (with more coming in 2025). While the latest gameplay trailer touched on several things, the patch notes reveal much more.There are new materials Chromite and Hexolite Quartz to gather. Extremely difficult Predator Pals also spawn defeating them awards rare rewards. Theres also a new Stronghold and Stronghold boss, an increased level cap (now at 60), and the new raid boss is Xenolord, a Dark mech dragon. Sphere Modules have been introduced to change the trajectory of Pal Spheres, which raises the capture rate, while the Metal Detector assists in locating Chromite.You can also craft Revival Potions to revive Pals, unlock Double Jump and Air Dash Boots, increase inventory size with Pouches, and more. Hardcore Mode is also available, though beware the death of both the player and their Pals is permanent.Check out the full patch notes below for more details. Palworld is available for Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PS5, and PC.Feybreak Update NoticeMajor update that adds a ton of new features, new areas, new pals, new buildings, hardcore mode, expeditions, research and more!Update v0.4.11 has been released.New ContentMeowmeow from Terraria! Meowmeow, the first bullet-firing pic.twitter.com/rXRcnCSVb1 Palworld (@Palworld_EN) December 23, 2024

Segas year has been pretty good, especially for role-playing game fans. Ryu Ga Gotoku Studios Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth was one of the more notable, selling over one million copies in its first week and garnering strong critical acclaim. If you havent experienced it yet, a new game trial is available on PlayStation Plus Premium.Since it allows for playing ten hours of the game, PS4 and PS5 players can carry over their progression should they purchase the latter. PlayStations Holiday Sale is ongoing until January 1st, 2025, and the Standard Edition is a whopping 50 percent off, retailing for $34.99.Alongside PS4 and PS5, Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth is playable on Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. You can check out our review, where we gave it a nine out of 10.RGG Studios next title in the series is Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii, focusing on Goro Majima as the protagonist. Its out on February 21st, and though essentially a spin-off, the scale is much larger than Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name.A 10-hour full game trial for Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth is now available for PlayStation Plus Premium subscribers!The standard edition is also 50% off, so give it a try or pick it up to play over the holidays pic.twitter.com/gOynjSpCU1 RGG Studio | Like a Dragon & Yakuza Series (@RGGStudio) December 20, 2024

As the year closes and we look forward to next years big games, its over a year since Rockstar provided a new trailer for Grand Theft Auto 6. Though the eagerly awaited open-world title is out in Fall 2025, theres been very little by way of details other than the team is working on absolutely mind-blowing things.Strauss Zelnick, CEO of Take-Two Interactive (Rockstars parent company), touched on this in a new interview with Conner Mather on YouTube. Our teams are focused on whats new that you havent even thought about. You thought you were anticipating this thing, but this is way bigger, way better, more exciting and more beautiful than you could have possibly thought of.As for fans and their frustration, Zelnick said he understood how they felt but that the company wants to wait for a title to be ready before launching it. He further added that it will be extraordinary, worth waiting for, and breathtaking. While he still doesnt indicate when new details will arrive, at least theres some acknowledgment of the frustration.Grand Theft Auto 6 is in development for Xbox Series X/S and PS5, with Rockstar yet to confirm a PC version. Set in modern-day Vice City, it introduces two new protagonists Lucia and an unknown male (which leaks indicate to be named Jason). Stay tuned for updates, and check out our article on why the next trailer is taking so long.

Xbox has ended the year strong with the launch of theIndiana Jones and the Great Circle, and amidst all the widespread acclaim for the MachineGames-developed first-person action-adventure title, it seems like there might be yet more Indy on the horizon.Thats as per prominent leaker Daniel Richtman and Windows Central journalist Jez Corden, with the former taking to Twitter and writing, Looks like were getting moreIndy games, and the latter responding with a gif saying, Its true.Whether that means Microsoft, Bethesda, and MachineGames are moving forward with sequels toIndiana Jones and the Great Circle or if its other Indiana Jones projects that have entered production at some other studio is unclear, but in either case, Lucasfilm Games clearly wants to keep investing in the IP, at least in the video gaming space. Earlier this month, Lucasfilm Games vice president and general manager Douglas Reilly also spoke about the possibility of more games based on the IP. Read more on that through here.Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is available on Xbox Series X/S and PC, and launches for PS5 in spring 2025. Read our review of the game through here.Looks like were getting more Indy games Daniel Richtman (@DanielRPK) December 22, 2024pic.twitter.com/5ftOEx3emo Jez (@JezCorden) December 22, 2024

CD Projekt RED has expressed on multiple occasions that it intends to ensureThe Witcher 4is at least as big of a game asThe Witcher 3was, if not even more so, but in the aftermath of the action RPGs official announcement, the developer has also spoken about wanting to improve on the seminal 2015 titles in other ways.More specifically, speaking in a recent interview with VGC, narrative director Phillipp Weber talk about how CD Projekt RED is prioritizing crafting a deeper and more immersive open world rather than one that is bigger thanThe Witcher 3smap.The open world doesnt necessarily need to be bigger and bigger and bigger, but the open world can be deeper and more immersive, more systematic, he said. I think thats something thats really exciting to look at.Executive producer Magorzata Mitrga added that thoughThe Witcher 4will of course be a sizable experience, the focus for the studio is more on ambition and immersion.I would say making a feature for the game is not about making the best feature ever, its about making the best feature in the time you have, she said. Its more about the ambition of having really complex and immersive things going on and not necessarily the actual size. Of course, its a single-player, open-world action RPG; its going to be big.Weber concluded by saying that ensuring the game delivers consistently meaningful and interesting content without feeling repetitive will be how it ensures that it doesnt feel too big.We always say that whatever we do we want to have it be meaningful and it means it can be only so much that is actually meaningful and interesting, he said. Once we would have to start repeating stuff I think thats when its too big.For more details onThe Witcher 4, head on over here.

Ubisoft has divulged many new details about Naoe and Yasuke, the protagonists of the upcoming Assassins Creed Shadows. Each feels unique, from differences in mobility and survivability to their dodges. However, for those who favor speed and the rush of the older games, Naoe is touted as the fastest Assassin yet.Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, creative director Jonathan Dumont said, Naoes the fastest Assassin we ever made. She runs super fast. She has a lot of gadgets to keep her stealthy so that she doesnt have to fight often. We wanted to satisfy that for players that come in for that ninja-Assassin game.Interestingly, Naoe also has a sprint that pays homage to the Naruto run, which characters in the manga/anime assumed when traveling at high speeds. We do have a run on top of buildings that has a little bit of a wink-wink to it, said Dumont.Naoes sneaky playstyle is a boon for night-time infiltration, but youre not beholden to playing as her throughout. If a more action-heavy experience is what youre after, you can focus on Yasuke about as much. Best of all, you acquire gear for both characters throughout the story, which means minimal grinding when switching back and forth.Assassins Creed Shadows launches on February 14th, 2025, for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC. Dumont recently said its main journey is comparable to Origins/Odyssey and Valhalla, which could mean anywhere between 30 to 60 hours.

Earlier this month, developer Pocketpair announced thatPalworldssecond major update would be going live later in December, and the update has now gone live, bringing a host of new content for the survival titles fans to dive into.Chief among the updates new additions is the eponymous Feybreak island, which is six times as large as the previous updates new region, Sakurajima. On top of that, the update also adds a new faction, a new raid, and several new Pals.Several gameplay mechanics and features have also been added in, such as criminal NPCs scattered everywhere that players can track down for bounties, sending Pals out on expeditions to gather resources, or conducting research to unlock permanent passive boosts. Check out the updates newest gameplay trailer below for another look at what it brings.Alongside all of its additions, the Feybreak update also addsTerrariasMeowmere, a teaser for the upcoming 2025 collaboration. Read more on that through here.Palworldis available on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, and PC.

Palworldssecond major update, the Feybreak update, has gone live, and on top of all of its headlining additions from a new island and raid to several new Pals and more it has also offered a first glimpse at an upcoming collaboration event.Earlier this month, Pocketpair announced that 2025 would seePalworldgettingTerraria-themed content courtesy of a collaboration with developer Re-Logic, and the first taste of that has arrived with the aforementioned Feybreak update.Specifically, the update adds in the games first bullet-firing melee weapon in the form ofTerrariasMeowmere. Check out the teaser below for a glimpse of what that looks (and sounds) like. Unsurprisingly, theres plenty of meowing.Pocketpair has yet to share a specific date for whenthe aforementioned collab content will arrive in full, nor do we yet know what exactly it will entail, but hopefully, it wont be too long before those details are shared.Palworldis available on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, and PC.

Another year, another Game Awards in the bin. Between the extensive ads, genuine surprises (Onimusha and Okami hype), and winners, there was more than enough to process and discuss among various fandoms.However, as noteworthy as the show felt for all the games that were present in some form or another, it was all the more sobering for those that were absent. And no, were not talking about Hollow Knight: Silksong, whose fans have somehow entered a new realm of suffering before the year is out, or Wonder Woman, which has received nothing since its announcement in 2021, or even the release date for Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater.Were talking about Grand Theft Auto 6. You know the one Rockstar Norths next magnum opus. The open-world game that will seemingly redefine the genre. It did appear at The Game Awards but only to win the Most Anticipated Game award, beating the likes of Ghost of Yotei and Monster Hunter Wilds. There was otherwise no new trailer or even a tease.And to be fair, this isnt unexpected. Before it unveiled the first trailer roughly one year ago, Rockstar informed fans in advance that it was dropping. Were not concerned because we expected something that it never really promised. No, the trepidation comes from the lack of a new trailer over a year since the first debuted.It probably shouldnt be such a big deal, even as Rockstars parent company Take-Two Interactive between selling off Private Division and shuttering developers said its confident in the Fall 2025 release more than once. Besides, a representative from the studio said the team is working on absolutely mind-blowing things after accepting the award for you guessed it Most Wanted Game at the Golden Joystick Awards. More to come, as they say. Yet, its a month later with no updates. As we near the holidays, the likelihood of any new trailer is growing bleaker.To be fair once more, a release of the magnitude of Grand Theft Auto 6 requires time and polish. As desperate as fans are for a release date, if only to count down the days and schedule sick days in advance, thats not the primary concern. At least, not right now as we near Fall 2025, desperation will likely set in, but the fact that there have been no updates or new details or anything all year is surprising.Is Rockstar obligated to provide an update? Probably not, but look at other releases from Take-Twos publishing label, 2K. Borderlands 4 received an announcement trailer in August, an in-game trailer showcasing the new setting of Kairos and new enemies like the Timekeeper alongside a look at its new Vault Hunters. Its gameplay is also set to debut in early 2025.Then theres Mafia: The Old Country, also announced in August, and a gameplay reveal recently. We know about the new protagonist, and Hangar 13 has outlined several details about the gameplay, from its structure thats more in line with the first two games, more tactical and deliberate combat, and much more. On a lesser note is Civilization 7, which has also received reveals, details and livestreams, the most recent showcasing the third age that players will dive into when it launches in February 2025.Meanwhile, the first trailer for Grand Theft Auto 6 has crossed 227 million views before the year is out. Even if we assume that Mafia: The Old Country launches in August, GTA 6 would be just a few months out and has received almost nothing by way of new details in comparison. We dont know if the other protagonist alongside Lucia is actually named Jason. We dont know if we can surf or play beach volleyball. Its justsilence.There are several conclusions to draw from all this, the most obvious being that development isnt currently at a stage where Rockstar or Take-Two wants to build further on the hype. It may even internally be considering a delay, if not by a couple of weeks, to push into Winter 2025, then maybe straight into 2026. With how important it is for Take-Two Interactive, which has recorded pretty significant losses this year, any hint of a delay could have serious financial ramifications.Again, nothing is confirmed or even rumored in that regard. The team may have other plans besides simply dropping a new trailer, including previews and interviews with various outlets, which is when the marketing will really kick in. Look at Assassins Creed Shadows, for example. The delay from November 2024 to February 2025 may only be a few months, but the team cancelled hands-on previews and even pulled its gameplay from Tokyo Game Show 2024. From the development side, its about presenting a playable build that can generate more favorable impressions, which will then segue into the marketing side to generate positive hype.So while from our perspective, it may look like Rockstar wants to keep its cards close and not reveal too much before launch, it very likely needs other things in place before it can start hyping the release. Even if it doesnt reveal a release until roughly two months before launch, the team needs to be in a position before that where it can field questions from fans and provide concrete answers. Otherwise, you risk ending up in a similar position to Cyberpunk 2077 back in 2020 promising things that wont be available at launch.Of course, we could also devolve into straight panic and say that development is facing problems. Some might mention that report by Rockstar Magazine in 2021 about development allegedly being restarted in early 2021.Others may point to the leaks from September 2022 and how they actually affected development despite Take-Two saying the opposite. There may even be a few criticizing current-generation hardware and how Rockstar is struggling to really deliver the game without any major compromises. Any one of those could be legitimate, but as the industry has taught us over the years, development trouble could apply to every single release in some form or fashion. For Grand Theft Auto 6, it seems a given.However, the fact remains the first trailer dropped in December 2023, and theres been nothing else ever since. When seasons greetings are sent out, Rockstar may provide a small update, assuring fans that work continues unabetted and that it appreciates the support. Heck, it could even promise that more details are coming soon. It would still be nothing in terms of actual new content, but at least the thought counts.Regardless of what it does, the development team must be aware that the clock starts ticking in 2025. The spectre of Fall 2025 may not seem that prominent at the start, but it will continue to loom as each day passes and more fans become anxious at the lack of information. Or maybe itll drop a sick new trailer when the year kicks off, assuaging all concerns and sending us into a brand new spiral of discerning new details and hyper-analyzing everything. Whatever the case, the astronomical levels of hype and pressure will only grow from here on.Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

The medium of video games is particularly susceptible to aging, with rapid technological advances often making many titles feel obsolete in just a few years. While elements like visuals and scope can quickly become outdated, certain aspects such as design and mechanics can help games maintain their appeal over time. These qualities allow some games to remain enjoyable long after their release. In this feature, we will be taking a look at 15 first-person shooters that still hold up 15 years later.BlackCriterion Games might be best known for its work on the Need for Speed series, but its 2006 release Black also deserves a fair amount of appreciation. Despite being a far cry from what the developer was used to, Black was a compelling first-person shooter with some of the best visuals of its time. The story might not be something to write home about, but a solid set of shooting mechanics and thrilling firefights make Black a noteworthy game nevertheless and it holds surprisingly well to this date.

Despite its rather uninspired name, Supernatural is one of the more unique indie horror titles available now thanks in large part to its premise. Made by a single developer, Supernatural hopes to offer a unique kind of horror experience where the game actively reacts to the players actions. For example, the game has a feature where the player can interact with the supernatural entity that theyre investigating by making use of their microphone. Couple that with a compelling mystery that the player has to solve and things get a lot more interesting that ensures Supernatural is not just another horror game.Lets get a few things out of the way: Supernatural follows in the footsteps of horror titles that revolve more around investigation and stealth rather than offering up some action set pieces in the vein of games like Resident Evil. Its also worth noting that investigation is a big part of Supernatural, to the extent where aside from being scared, youll be spending most of your time with the game solving puzzles to figure out the mysteries behind the story.Supernatural is a game I can best describe as a mix of some incredibly interesting ideas wrapped up in a package that might be extremely appealing as many wouldnt believe. Supernatural has a lot of great things going for it, and some of its more investigative and puzzle-solving aspects are downright fantastic. Unfortunately, the game felt like a bit of a let down because, try as I might, I just couldnt get the game to recognize my microphone.This isnt a small problem either. The reactivity of the game to the players voice through the microphone is a big part of the games selling point. Without this feature working properly, Supernatural doesnt really have much in the way of interesting things that havent already been explored in titles like Phasmophobia. The fact that the game allows players to have full-on conversations with a paranormal creature, with the extra step of the game also reacting by adding or subtracting frights depending on how you sound has been a most wanted feature for fans of the survival horror genre, and its a shame that I couldnt get it working with my setup.Aside from the stuff with the microphone issues, Supernatural feels like a competent puzzle horror game. It features plenty of frights on its own, thanks in large part to its unique animations for the titular supernatural entity, as well as some of the hallucinations that players can face throughout their time with the title.Supernatural puts players in the shoes of Detective Wyatt, who has been tasked with figuring out the mysteries surrounding the disappearance of a housemaid. The game largely revolves around players going from room to room to try and piece together just what happened there. This takes the form of hallucinations, frights, and even puzzles. Theres little in the way of action here, with one memorable moment being unfortunately spoiled by the games trailer. Instead, you will spend most of your time creeping around the house trying to follow blood trails and figure out puzzles."Supernatural feels like a competent puzzle horror game."Interestingly, and this does come with a warning for players that might not have the stomach for some of the games violent aspects, Supernatural has a lot of gore with copious amounts of blood all over the place. While it never really gets into same ballpark as something like Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, Supernatural certainly gets close to offering up the same level of gore and then some.A core theme of Supernatural seems to be Wyatts own tenuous grasp on reality. The fact that these hallucinations are happening at all is a big tell that the protagonist isnt quite feeling right and some of the interactions that are possible with the entity tend to further reinforce this interpretation of the games story. This might change, however, if you happen to have a microphone with you while playing the game. Supernatural brags about featuring unique gameplay any time you start it up, and even claims to have three endings. Unfortunately, I could only really find one in the time I was able to spend with the game.Replayability also seems to be one of Supernaturals core tenets. Since it allows for multiple forms of horror thanks to its interactivity, as well as multiple endings, the games relatively short run time is fantastic for players. Each play time is clocked at between 2 and 3 hours, offering plenty of incentive for players to revisit the game to find more clues, and perhaps, a better ending for their character."Each play time is clocked at between 2 and 3 hours"While gameplay is an important part of horror games, the genre tends to live or die based on its visuals and audio, and this is an aspect where Supernatural delivers in spades. Visually, the games environments look downright gorgeous, and some of the gory tableaus it often presents feel almost artful if they didnt look so disgusting. The only real downer here is the supernatural housemaid itself, which, while fine and scary from a distance, starts to veer off into the realm of comedy the closer you get to them. Thankfully, the animations do a great job of doing the heavy lifting here, and the creepy ways they sometimes move can be enough to make anyone feel weird.When it comes to audio, Supernatural once again hits it out of the park. While there isnt much of a soundtrack here, what is present does a lot to enhance the already creepy atmosphere of the game. As you explore the hallways of the house, youll often hear voices of people or even objects being thrown around right around the corner, only to find no one there. These low-key spooky moments are then punctuated with an emphasis on the bass when you come face-to-face with the housemaid, who is just as likely to toy with you with cryptic hints and vague directions before trying to outright kill you.The fact that Supernatural is a relatively short game does it a great service, since youll never really end up playing the game long enough for it to ever start getting on your nerves or feel tedious. The short runtime means that Supernatural can be a great way to spend an evening for fans of horror games. Even though, I personally had trouble with getting one of the games core features working, Supernatural is definitely worth a look for fans of the genre.This game was reviewed on PC.

As light as the year has been for triple-A releases, there have been some quality single-player titles, from Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree and Silent Hill 2 remake to Astro Bot and Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth. However, there are certain things wed like to see more of, regardless of practicality. Check out 15 things single-player AAA games should bring back.More Original IPsOriginal IPs are a bit muddled because while creating brand-new settings, stories and characters is encouraged, theres nothing wrong with leveraging existing properties for fresh adventures in the gaming space. Less Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League and more of Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay or Escape from Dark Athena would be ideal. Heck, even Helldivers 2 takes its fair share of inspiration from Starship Troopers but creates something wholly unique.

With every game that launches and meets (or surpasses) expectations, there will always be several other titles that fall short. They could have the most extensive marketing budget, the sharpest visuals or the biggest IP behind them things just dont come together in a compelling, much less enjoyable way. Of course, other titles could disappoint simply due to trends and being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Regardless, here are our 15 picks for the most disappointing games of 2024.Star Wars OutlawsAs iffy as certain things looked before launch, there was still some hope for Star Wars Outlaws from Massive Entertainments involvement alone. The Reputation and Wanted system, more organic exploration, and focus on single-player were all the right moves, but it didnt land for consumers. Those who took the plunge suffered numerous bugs and issues with movement, combat, AI, stealth, and so on. Its a better game now, but Outlaws still needs work.Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice LeagueEven with successes like Helldivers 2, this year just wasnt it for live-service titles. However, the negative response to Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League began well prior, with many criticizing the looter shooters format. The release sadly did nothing to rise to the occasion, featuring a horrendous story that falls off a cliff, insufferable characters, and the same dreary games-as-a-service mission structure seen hundreds of times before. With a $200 million impact on Warner Bros. Discoverys revenue, Suicide Squad clearly didnt meet expectations.Skull and BonesAlleged reboots, high-profile departures, constant delays, and a ballooning budget Ubisofts Skull and Bones had all the key ingredients for a potential disaster. Adding in all the live-service staples like seasons, always-online gameplay, a focus on multiplayer, and whatnot hastened the games doom (calling it a quadruple-A title also didnt help). With player numbers reportedly coming in at less than a million around launch, it was a failure before it even got started.Planet Coaster 2Incredible visuals and the studios penchant for attention to detail did little to make a difference for Planet Coaster 2, which is, by all accounts, a hotly awaited sequel, that much more palatable. The awful UI, pathing issues, lackluster pools, awful characters and various bugs were just too significant to ignore, even with the better campaign. Frontier has rolled out improvements, and it will likely excel in the long run, but for now, Planet Coaster 2 is an underwhelming ride.Farming Simulator 25After the failure of Farming Simulator 23 (at least on Nintendo Switch), Farming Simulator 25 marked a return for the franchise to consoles and PC. It shipped with extensive bugs, an annoying user interface, jarring physics, and multitudes of other issues that remain. Thats on top of the unoptimized performance on PC, which hinders the otherwise strong environmental effects and textures. Mods will likely make it a better experience over time but at this point, fans would appreciate a strong title out of the gate (which certainly applies to our next choice).Starfield: Shattered SpaceStarfield had its share of mixed impressions after launching last year and Shattered Space seemed like the perfect opportunity to address many issues while offering a fresh slate. However, the hand-crafted planet of Varuunkai delivered the most rudimentary content and barren surroundings to go with lackluster characters and story-telling. Even the intriguing gravity anomalies barely appear after a point.A Quiet Place: The Road AheadI was excited about Stormind Games first-person horror, especially with how it leveraged the films and their mechanics. Unfortunately, A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead is a hugely linear, highly scripted experience with bizarre AI, questionable design decisions, and a predictable story that fails to really leverage its endearing characters.ConcordSonys biggest first-party failure in years, Concord was seemingly doomed from its first proper reveal, especially when the hero shooter elements became apparent. After a beta with abysmal numbers, it would launch to middling reviews and reportedly sold only 25,000 copies. Sony initially pulled the title from sale and shut down servers before eventually shuttering it and Firewalk Studio.Rise of the RoninDirector Fumihiko Yasuda revealed around June that Rise of the Ronin was Koei Tecmos best-selling game so far, with the publisher even reporting higher sales than Nioh. Thats all great, but the game itself fell short of what we expected in terms of open-world activities and storytelling. At least the combat remains enjoyable, and Team Ninja has provided some extensive post-launch content for free.Dragon Age: The VeilguardThe first Dragon Age title in ten years was bound to have astronomical expectations, especially with all the rumors and reports of reboots. Combat was sharp despite pivoting to a real-time hack-and-slash approach and the environments are gorgeous, without a doubt. Its everything else that either whelmed or disappointed, from the uneven characterization and writing to the mission structure. Though it wasnt BioWares worst, its far from being its best.Call of Duty: Black Ops 6Significant improvements over last years game dont excuse Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 from disappointing in other ways. Despite a superior campaign, its story ultimately felt flat (and continued the same cliffhanger approach), while multiplayer fell short with its map design. Zombies is surprisingly good despite some balance issues, and while the overall experience classifies as good, its nowhere near the series heights.Unknown 9: AwakeningTheres always some skepticism when a developer gets ahead itself and plans out an entire universe for its IP before the first game even launches. Unfortunately, Unknown 9: Awakening loaded its bland premise with dull writing and boring combat, while various bugs and performance issues weighed even heavier. Suffice it to say that with an all-time peak concurrent player count of 285 on Steam at launch, Unknown 9: Awakening failed to meet any expectations heaped on it.MultiVersusFrom promising platform fighter to being pulled and relaunching earlier this year in a worse form, MultiVersus has had quite the journey. Its hard to pinpoint all the issues, be it the sheer lack of quality-of-life features at launch or how underwhelming Rifts felt after they finally went live, but above all else, the feel and fluidity from the open beta felt like it was missing. And unfortunately, Player First Games hasnt been able to capture the magic ever since.XDefiantInitially revealed as part of the Tom Clancy series, XDefiant would become a standalone entity while still crossing over with the publishers various other titles. However, despite some responsive shooting, it couldnt match the features and content of other free-to-play shooters at launch. Various issues like network performance also affected it, causing a sharp downturn. Maybe theres still time to right the ship, but based on the companys other live-service endeavors, XDefiants days could be numbered.Outcast: A New BeginningDeveloping a sequel to a niche title from the late 90s is unusual on its own, but perhaps Outcast: The New Beginning could cater to long-time fans. What it offered was a massive world with nothing exciting, loading up players with menial tasks and awful writing. Appealing as it may be for those seeking more old-school-style titles, A New Beginning felt more like an awkward continuation for a cult-classic series.

2024 brought with it a cavalcade of visually stunning games, from long-awaited AAA megatons that took our breath away with their graphical advancements to much smaller productions that popped up out of nowhere and proved that you dont need huge teams and budgets to make games that look great. With the year coming to a close, here, were going to talk about 20 such titles that came out this year and made a mark with their visual prowess.#20. F1 24We tend to include theF1games in our annual lists of games with the best visuals pretty regularly, but thats because the series has this department on lock. Like its predecessors,F1 24is a beautiful game, touting stellar vehicle models with an impressive level of attention to detail, authentic lighting and weather effects lending new life to the courses, and more. Year after year, this series successfully delivers a realistic and comprehensive recreation of the real sport, and the presentation and visual fidelity play an important role in that.#19. BODYCAMBodycamhas a number of shortcomings in its current state that were hoping it will address over the course of its ongoing early access period, but one area where the game deserves all the props in the world is the way it looks. As its name suggests, its played from the first-person perspective of a bodycam on your character, and combines that with a hyper-realistic aesthetic that achieves quite a striking result. The game looks startlingly good at times, and were curious to see how it will continue to improve on the road to its full release.#18. EMPIRE OF THE ANTSHeres another game coming from a small time that ended up surprising a great many people with its graphics.Empire of the Antsis a decidedly small-budget game, but you wouldnt be able to tell from just looking at it. Sporting an impressive photorealistic style, the game transports players to a lush jungle where every single blade of grass, every leaf on the ground, every rock jutting out of the ground, and every single insect and critter that you lay your eyes on looks shockingly lifelike. Obviously, there are some rough edges here and there, but the overall result is nothing short of splendid.#17. GRAY ZONE WARFAREIndie studio Madfinger Games launched its multiplayer open world FPSGray Zone Warfarein early access this year, and though theres plenty of work for the developer to do to address feedback from the community, the games visuals are pretty much unanimously liked. Theres a good amount of rough edges that need sanding out, which is to be expected from a game of this size coming from a smaller team and still being in early access, but its open world map is also full of beautiful sights to see.#16. DRAGON BALL: SPARKING! ZERODragon Ball: Sparking! ZERObrought theBudokai Tenkaichiseries back with a bang this year, and though the list of things in the game worthy of praise is a long one, its graphics are high on it. As youd expect from a Dragon Ballgame,Sparking! ZEROrelies more on its stylized art style than on pure visual fidelity, but one way or another, the effect it achieves instantly catches the eye. In motion, the game looks particularly amazing, and watching explosive, map-destroying fights between colossally powerful characters attacking each other with everything theyve got never loses its charm.#15. LIKE A DRAGON: INFINITE WEALTHTheLike a Dragonseries has always straddled the line between high budget photorealism and mid budget stylization perfectly, andInfinite Wealthdoes the same, producing yet another Dragon Engine game that you cant quite tear your eyes away from. Given the scope of the game, its not surprising that not everything looks spectacular- but a lot of things to do, and everything else looks at least a minimum level of good. Overall,Infinite Wealthbrings its vibrant Hawaii setting to the screen spectacularly, and easily ranks as one of the years better-looking games.#14. STELLAR BLADEStellar Bladetook many by surprise for multiple reasons, but all of it could be boiled down to it coming from a relatively unknown studio with little to no AAA console experience. For it to turn out as well as it did was a pleasant surprise, then, as was the fact that it also ended up looking as gorgeous as it did.Stellar Bladetouts some of the most impressive visuals weve seen in a PS5 exclusive game so far (especially if you play it on a PS5 Pro), with everything from the dilapidated post-apocalyptic environments and the excellently designed monsters you fight to the Eves slick combat animations looking pristine.#13. DRAGON AGE: THE VEILGUARDLike pretty much everything else about the game,Dragon Age: The Veilguardsgraphics divided opinion, with many expressing their dislike of the new, more stylized art style. And though it is clearly a break from the more grimdark style past games used, we fall in the group that ultimately really likes what the game looks like.The Veilguardis a visual stunner in more ways than one, with a bevy of environments that are brimming with vistas that will take your breath away, not to mention some of the most impressive lighting weve seen in a game this year.#12. STAR WARS OUTLAWSCalling Star Wars Outlawsan uneven experience would be a huge understatement, but when the game is at its best, its really,reallygood- and in the graphics department, its definitely at its best. Yes, the game has its fair share of visual glitches and technical hiccups, but little of it detracts from just how stunning it looks more often than not. No matter where you find yourself in its open world multiplanetary setting,Outlawsfinds ways to take your breath away with its sights and sounds. Coming from the studio behindThe Division, that doesnt come as a huge surprise.#11. DRAGONS DOGMA 2Capcom has an admirable habit of cranking out a steady stream of AAA megatons that somehow all look spectacular.Dragons Dogma 2was the companys big centerpiece in 2024, and though it doesnt look as good as, say, the best-lookingResident Evilgames out there, it does look really,reallygood. From the detailed environments of its sprawling open world, to the incredibly lifelike (and vastly varied) roster of monster and creatures that you take on, to, of course, how oppressively impressive the games darkness feels, theres a bevy of things inDragons Dogma 2that illustrate just how visually impressive it is.#10. INDIANA JONES AND THE GREAT CIRCLEIt may have been a while since MachineGames last major full-fledged AAA release, but as a studio that has always delivered visually impressive games, it did not disappoint with its return to the spotlight in the final days of this year withIndiana Jones and the Great Circle, a game that impresses graphically in more ways than one. It crafts its period setting with great alpomb, lets players explore a vast and varied collection of beautiful and highly detailed locations, and of course, does it all while capturing that classic Indiana Jonesaesthetic. It absolutely knocks the ball out of the park in this department.#9. SUICIDE SQUAD: KILL THE JUSTICE LEAGUESuicide Squad: Kill the Justice Leaguewas a disastrous game- theres just no two ways about it. But even the most disastrous games tend to have at least some redeeming qualities, and so, too, didSuicide Squad. Chief among the few was how good it looked, an area where Rocksteady Studios as a developer has never disappointed in the past. The game obviously has crippling issues that make it an absolute drag to play even at the best of times, but visually, theres a lot to be impressed with here, especially if its the games impressive cinematics youre talking about.#8. TEKKEN 8It wouldnt be an exaggeration to callTekken 8one of the best-looking fighting games ever made. Coming earlier this year as one of the biggest current-gen exclusive Unreal Engine 5 games so far, Bandai Namcos acclaimed fighter was promising to be absolutely astounding to look at in the lead up to release, and it unquestionably lived up to that promise. From the stages to the character models to the often explosive effects we see on the screen,Tekken 8has no shortage of tricks up its sleeve to make you stop in your tracks and marvel at its beauty.#7. WARHAMMER 40,000: SPACE MARINE 2Space Marine 2is without a doubt one of the most technically impressive games weve played in a long, long time. For starters, it looks excellent, with gorgeously detailed environments, well-crafted character models, and excellent enemy designs. But of course, whats most impressive about it are the many sequences and moments where you find yourself facing overwhelmingly massive hordes of enemies, when literally hundreds upon hundreds of foes are on-screen together, all barreling in your direction while you stomp around and mow them down. The fact that the game accomplishes all of that without any significant issues with its performance just makes it that much more impressive. Its truly something of a miracle.#6. BLACK MYTH: WUKONGFor about four years prior to its launch, every time we saw more ofBlack Myth: Wukong, one thing that stood out above everything else was just how stunning it looked- something that stood out that much more given the fact that the game was coming from a lesser-known Chinese studio with a nonexistent AAA track record. When it launched in August,Black Mythwas thankfully exactly as gorgeous as it was touted to be. Varied environments, spectacularly designed bosses, and some of the most breathtaking vistas weve seen in games all year all come together in whats easily one of the best-looking games of this generation (even if it does have the odd technical rough edge).#5. FINAL FANTASY 7 REBIRTHTheres no end to the things aboutFinal Fantasy 7 Rebirththat we can praise endlessly, and its visual splendour is high on that list. Obviously, we cant ignore the fact that the game does suffer from some graphical inconsistencies, especially when played on Performance Mode. Even at its worst, however, Rebirthhas a knack of looking impressive, while at its best, its drop-dead gorgeous. Its staggeringly large world is crawling with beautiful sights that are begging to be sought out and taken in, while on a PS5 Pro in particular, it looks absolutely stunning with little to no caveats.#4. SILENT HILL 2Silent Hill 2sremake sparked a good deal of skepticism from many, which, given developer Bloober Teams spotty track record up to that point, was fair to understand, but the one area where even the games biggest skeptics knew it wouldnt disappoint was its graphics. Thats a department that always shines in Bloober games, and sure enough,Silent Hill 2is an absolute looker. The decrepit eponymous town and the horrors that it hide are brought to life in spectacular and terrifying fashion, whileSilent Hill 2sfamiliar cast of characters are given new life by the stellar fidelity that the game now boasts. And yes, the fog looks amazing.#3. MICROSOFT FLIGHT SIMULATOR 2024Microsoft Flight Simulatortook our collective breath away when it launched in 2020, and still stands as one of the best-looking games around on any platform. Appropriately enough,Microsoft Flight SImulator 2024turned out to be somehow even more visually impressive. Marginally gains are definitely setting in, which is unavoidable, but at the end of the day, even the most jaded person cant help but be floored by the stunning level of detail, authenticity, and photorealism with whichFlight Sim 2024brings its grand vision to life.#2. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: HEART OF CHORNOBYLMuch like its predecessors, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2is a little rough around the edges, and with its slate of technical issues and its deliberately punishing nature, its definitely not a game for everyone. But boy oh boy is it a visual delight. GSC Game Worlds open world shooter is easily among the best-looking games to have been released this generation. It boasts a staggering level of detail and fidelity across ahugeworld with impressive consistency. The game deserves all the praise in the world for the lengths to which it goes to make its world feel authentic, and to immerse players in its deadly setting.#1. SENUAS SAGA: HELLBLADE 2Senuas Saga: Hellblade 2certainly has its critics, and there are many who argue that it doesnt hold a candle to its predecessor in a lot of ways that really matter. One area where it unquestionably makes huge strides, however, is the graphics department. Ninja Theory as a studio has always prided itself on pushing the envelope with what it does on the technological side of things, and this time, with the financial backing of Microsoft, the developer really went all out. Whether its its dark and grimy setting or the incredibly lifelike characters and their facial movements, the stellar lighting and the rich atmosphere it helps create or the spectacular animations that allow even gameplay moments to look like gorgeously handcrafted cinematics- from its first moment to its last,Hellblade 2remains a visual delight.

Since the release of Escape From Tarkov, the extraction shooter genre has largely been the realm of multiplayer games. While there are plenty of elements in the genre that have players take on AI enemies, a lot of the appeal for extraction shooter tends to come from the tension that players have to deal with since theres always a possibility that the loot you worked hard to scavenge might be stolen by another player that happened to sneak into the area and kill you before you could even notice them.It is curious, however, that few developers have tried to capitalize on the potential of the genre to offer up fun and interesting experiences to audiences that would prefer single-player or co-operative experiences. Most extraction shooters tend to emphasize their PvP aspects, and players that might prefer to go at it solo without having to worry about someone else definitely feel like an ignored audience."The core gameplay loop in The Forever Winter will be familiar to players that have experience with titles like Escape From Tarkov."The Forever Winter is a relatively new title, having come out back in September as an Early Access release by veteran developers at Fun Dog Studios that hopes to capitalize on the single-player and co-operative aspects of extraction shooters by doubling down on the tension by going for a more horror-based approach to its art direction. In The Forever Winter, players are put into the shoes of a simple scavenger with little else to their name aside from a gun and some bullets, and are tasked with setting off in a post-apocalyptic world that has been so thoroughly ravaged by war that its impossible to tell who won and who lost.The core gameplay loop in The Forever Winter will be familiar to players that have experience with titles like Escape From Tarkov; scavengers take on missions from various factions and set off into one of many available maps with one simple objective: get as much loot, be it new weapons, ammo, or even crucial supplies like water, and extract out of the map. Dying on one of these excursions means you lose pretty much everything you were carrying on you, including any fancy weapons you may have decided to bring along. Bit by bit, mission by mission, players are able to build out their arsenal, unlock new passive abilities like improved performance with specific weapon types, and better gears, making future outings on missions easier."Dying on one of these excursions means you lose pretty much everything you were carrying on you"With this gameplay loop, taking on regular enemies that goes from being a nightmarish ordeal where you would be better off hiding than fighting them, to instead being simple obstacles that you can take out with a couple of bullets. To keep up with a player getting more powerful, the missions also start getting more challenging, tasking you with taking on tougher enemies like tanks, and even mech suits. In The Forever Winter, despite how powerful you might actually get, death is an inevitability, and the game feels like it was designed around the idea that players might have to restart their progression from scratch, which comes with the territory with extraction shooters.When it comes to the moment-to-moment gameplay, The Forever Winter definitely has quite a bit of room for improvement. The core combat, while serviceable, doesnt quite feel as good as it should from a game where just about every fight you get into is going to be ranged. Unless you make enough progress to be able to buy a replacement for your ironsights, youre not going to find much in the way of accuracy either. The hit indicators also tend to feel off, since they take aspects like bullet drop into account. This means that you often dont know if youve successfully shot an enemy until its too late; the enemy has heard your shot, has called for backup, and is now focusing their attention on taking you down.The progression, on the other hand, doesnt feel too bad. You start off with incredibly weak weapons, but as you start making deeper incursions into the games various levels and take on more challenging quests, youll start getting better weapons not only as loot, but also through your home bases vendors that are constantly updating their stocks.As it currently stands, the enemy AI in the game is a mixed bag. While it can often be quite impressive, with enemy soldiers using complex tactics to try and flush you out of cover you might be hiding behind, at other times, those same soldiers will end up running up to you in a straight line, letting you kill them one after another with well-placed headshots."To keep up with a player getting more powerful, the missions also start getting more challenging, tasking you with taking on tougher enemies like tanks, and even mech suits."In fact, a lot of the games difficulty can be brought down by a considerable degree by simply teaming up with another player. There are obvious benefits to playing The Forever Winter in co-op, since all players get loot, you multiply your carrying capacity by the number of players in a mission, not to mention the fact that you can take on enemies with coordinated tactics.The Forever Winter also takes a curious decision with one of the core resources that players set off to find: water. The game starts out with water being the singularly most important resource you can get for your base, with many base upgrades needing you to have a certain threshold of water to even become available to purchase. Interestingly, water is an ever-dwindling resource, to the extent where your base even has a giant screen to track how many days worth of water you have left. In fact, this resource also dwindles even if youre not playing the game. Whether you decide to take a break from the game or keep playing every day, your water levels will go down, and once it hits zero, the concept of Water Death is kicked off.In the games original incarnation from a couple of months ago, Water Death meant that you have basically failed, and would have to restart from scratch. This means losing essentially every form of progression you might have made in your playthrough, be it character levels, loot, or equipment for a base. At the time, while the concept of Water Death was a novel one, enough of the player base complained about being punished for simply taking a break from the game for a few weeks or a month, and the studio eventually changed up how the mechanic works."In fact, a lot of the games difficulty can be brought down by a considerable degree by simply teaming up with another player."Outside of the water mechanics, progression as a whole in The Forever Winter feels quite solid. While it starts off as an incredibly challenging game, your character also improves with each successful extraction. This allows you to go into their skill trees and get improvements like the ability to have better aim and more damage with SMGs, for example. These improvements can also lean more on the utility side of things, such as the ability to carry more weight with you, allowing you to grab more stuff during a mission.At the time of writing this review, Water Death means that a player who has run out of all water will find their base invaded the next time they play the game. This allows players the ability to fend off Water Death if they can successfully defend their base from this invasion. Failing to defend your base will still mean that you have to start over. However, the current version of Water Death is definitely an improvement over what it was earlier, since players now at least have the chance of hanging on to what they might have worked hard to procure.This change in how Water Death works as a mechanic does highlight one key aspect of The Forever Winter: the studio does seem to have an ear on the pulse of what its players want. While the concept of a resource that dwindles even when the game is not being played is an idea the studio seems quite attached to, the fact that it took player complaints about losing all progress through no fault of their own to heart means that the studio is also likely looking to make other improvements to the game."The studio does seem to have an ear on the pulse of what its players want."While most of the gameplay is filled with interesting ideas like various characters with unique abilities and an enthralling world with cool lore behind it, the game still wears its status as an Early Access title on its sleeves. The minute-to-minute gameplay, while fun and tense, still feels quite stiff. While this matches up with the idea that the player character is far from the concept of a super soldier that can easily use any weapon they pick up, the gunplay feels like it has just enough jankiness to it to make it feel rougher than it should be.The Forever Winter absolutely nails one of its key aspects: art design. The post-apocalyptic world of the game is downright gorgeous in how horrifying things can look at times. While it doesnt really abuse blood and gore as set dressing aside from a couple of rooms in the base, the game is still able to instill a sense of dread in players thanks to other aspects, including enemy designs and the world around them. The strange way some enemies move, the insane scale of the war that still happens to be going around for some reason, and some of the larger things out there, like massive AI automatons, all tend to make for an experience that is as cool to look at as it is terrifying to imagine.The Forever Winter isnt a game thats shy about the fact that its in Early Access right now; in fact, the game seems to revel in it, constantly introducing refinements and new features through updates. While the game hasnt been out for too long yet, the fact it has already seen a major revision to one of its key mechanics owing to player feedback, and the very fact that the studio is keeping an eye on what its players want bodes quite well for the future of the game. It offers a tense solo or co-op experience, with plenty of stakes since you can lose all the fancy loot you found by messing up just once. Coupled with gorgeous art direction and a terrifying setting, The Forever Winter is definitely something fans of co-op shooters want to keep their eye on.This game was reviewed on PC.

Cyberpunk 2077 recently celebrated is four-year anniversary, and though for most single-player games a four-year anniversary would be well past the point where they would still be getting substantial updates (or really, updates of any kind), CD Projekt RED clearly didnt get the memo. Update 2.2 recently went live for the once-troubled first-person action RPG, adding several new features and tweaks that wont change the way you experience the game in any meaningful way by themselves, but do enhance various aspects nonetheless.Primarily, Update 2.2 is focused on adding more options for cosmetic customization on several fronts. Released only for the games PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC versions (as has been the case with the last handful of updates), it adds as many as 112 new customization options for players to choose between when creating or customizing their Vs appearance, in addition to an improved Randomizer. A new feature now also allows customizing your owned vehicles appearance, something that you can even do while youre diving one. Interestingly enough, if you change your cars colour during a police chase and no cops were close enough to see you do so, you can shake them off faster.Beyond that, the update also adds a bunch of additional Photo Mode options and features (like new frames and a Drone Mode), new purchasable vehicles, as well as other neat tweaks that wont affect gameplay, but will definitely to the general vibes of the game, a department Cyberpunk 2077is already pretty strong in. For instance, when driving around, theres a chance that Johnny Silverhand will now appear in the passenger seat next to you, where hell sit and take in the sights while you cruise through the neon-drenched streets of Night City.Again, none of these are updates that will changeCyberpunk 2077sgameplay experience in any meaningful way, but not only is it a substantial enough update in its own right nonetheless. its also an update that no one was expecting, especially for a four-year old single-player game that, according to the gaming history books, has long since completed its redemption arc. And yet, here we are, with CD Projekt RED pushing out a new update that comes as yet another pleasant surprise forCyberpunk 2077fans- and is also indicative of the excellent support that the game has consistently received over a prolonged period of time.Technically, of course, support forCyberpunk 2077was supposed to end with the double punch of Update 2.0 andPhantom Libertya little over a year ago in September 2023. That was the moment that sawCyberpunk 2077finally managing to climb over what once seemed like an insurmountable hump in the form of its disastrous launch and its fallout. CDPR persisted in its support for the game, however, and last year, withPhantom Libertyand Update 2.0 (which came on the back of years of improvements and enhancements), it finally turned Cyberpunk 2077into a legitimately excellent game with no caveats.After that remarkable turnaround, most would have assumed that CD Projekt RED was done with the game at along last, especially with early pre-production also having kicked off on the nextCyberpunkgame, currently codenamedProject Orion. However, not long afterward, the developer released Update 2.1, which was surprisingly substantial as well. The long-requested Metro system was the headlining addition, but the update also brought with it new vehicles, the ability to listen to music while on foot, improvements to boss fights, new accessibility features, and more.At that point, it was clear thatCyberpunk 2077would receive no further patches- or not any major ones, at any rate. A patch did arrive in January of 2024, and then another one in February, both bringing several more minor fixes and additions, but it seemed to be the end of the road. Hell, in March, game director Gabe Amatangelo himself confirmed in an interview withGame File that thoughCyberpunk 2077might receive some small updates here and there, for the most part, work on the title had wrapped up, with the team having moved on to either The Witcher 4or the nextCyberpunk(the former being much further along in production). And then, of course, came Update 2.2, marking the years end with another unexpected boost for CDPRs RPG.Obviously, the ideal scenario forCyberpunk 2077would have been a smooth launch, eliminating the need for CD Projekt RED to have to redeem the game and restore its own heavily damaged redemption entirely. When youre paying full price for a big, long awaited release, as players, you naturally hope for a game that values your time and money, and honestly, nothing is ever going to change the fact that at launch back in 2020,Cyberpunk 2077was a complete and utter disaster. But though it may be all too common for games with tough launches to be abandoned before any real attempt can be made at recovery, CDPR chose to stick with what many deemed to be a lost cause, and managed to truly turn it around into the unequivocally great game it is today. And once that was done, the studio just kept going.Incredibly enough, when you think about it, theresstillroom forCyberpunk 2077to get at least a couple of not-so-insignificant updates in the relatively near future. For instance, one feature that many have been hoping to see added in for a while is New Game Plus, while many have also been hoping to see PS5 Pro enhancements released for what is widely considered one of the most visually impressive and technically impressive games available on modern hardware. We got neither New Game Plus nor PS5 Pro enhancements with Update 2.2, however, which means wecouldget those things with future patches- potentially, at the very least.We realize were being greedy at this point, plain and simple, and honestly, it wouldnt be shocking in the slightest if CDPR chose tofinallymove on entirely fromCyberpunk 2077 and shift its full attention to future projects, of which it has quite a few in varying stages of production. But curiously enough, for the purposes of Update 2.2, CD Projekt RED partnered with Virtuos. An external team coming in to continue enhancingCyberpunk 2077while CDPR itself works on other projects wasnt something that many had given much (or any) thought to, but now that we know thats on the books, we cant help but wonder whether we might see more patches for the game in the future coming courtesy of external partners.The point, however, is that even if we dont,Cyberpunk 2077will have already gone above and beyond with- lets call them its post-post-launch efforts. After already having garner widespread plaudits for its miraculous recovery and the excellent high it ended (or seemingly ended) things on withPhantom Libertyand Update 2.0 last year, the game has continued to expand and improve, even when we keep expecting it to be finally put to bed. Were certainly not complaining, however- as weve learned with time, we (and millions of others) have developed a taste for coming back to Night City again and again and again.Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

Borderlands 3may not have launched with cross-play support, but it did eventually end up adding it in, whileTiny Tinas Wonderlandssupported the feature right out the gate. Unsurprisingly, its been confirmed that you can expect the same withBorderlands 4.Asked about the games co-op offerings in an interview with Famitsu, Gearbox Entertainment boss Randy Pitchford confirmed thatBorderlands 4will feature cross-platform multiplayer support at launch, which means PlayStation, Xbox, and PC players will be able to play with each other.Gearbox has also confirmed that the looter shooter will feature two-player splitscreen support. Meanwhile, if you had a problem with the excessive toilet humour inBorderlands 3, you can also expect the next one to tone things down in that department.Borderlands 4is due out sometime in 2025 for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. A new trailer for the RPG shooter was premiered at The Game Awards earlier this month. Check it out through here.

2025 is looking like a packed year for Xbox, with several major first-party titles lined up to release over the course of the year, though journalist Tom Warren of The Verge is claiming Microsoft has yet more games coming out during the year that the company hasnt yet publicly confirmed.Thus far, Microsoft hasFable, Avowed, The Outer Worlds 2, South of Midnight, DOOM: The Dark Ages,and the full release ofTowerborneofficially scheduled for 2025. Taking to BlueSky, Warren has claimed that in addition to those titles, the company also has additional games coming in 2025 that we dont yet officially know about.Leaks have claimed that an Xbox Developer Direct presentation is planned for January, where the rumoured remake ofThe Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivionwill be unveiled ahead of a 2025 release. Meanwhile, previously leaks have also suggested thatGears of War: E-Daycould be targeting a 2025 launch.and more Tom Warren (@tomwarren.co.uk) 2024-12-19T23:30:26.901Z

Octopath Travelerhas grown into one of Square Enixs bigger and more successful properties over the course of the last few years, and it continues to attract players in decent numbers. As announced by Square Enix, the series has hit another major sales milestone.Taking to Twitter, the publisher announced that theOctopath Travelerseries has collectively sold over 5 million units worldwide across all platforms. The company hasnt provided specific, individual sales figures for the titles, but at last count, the originalOctopath Travelerhad hit 3 million units sold as of 2022, while last year, Square Enix announcedOctopath Traveler 2had hit 1 million units sold.Given the critical and commercial success the HD-2D turn-based RPG series has consistently enjoyed, its safe to say well be seeing moreOctopath Travelergames down the line, but for now, Square Enixs pipeline has plenty of HD-2D content.Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remakelaunched in November, andDragon Quest 1 and 2 HD-2D Remakeis due out sometime next year.#500 #2https://t.co/jinSDSFmhJ pic.twitter.com/h6itndyZN2 II (OCTOPATH TRAVELER II) (@OCTOPATH_PR) December 21, 2024

Soulslikes very rarely offer difficulty options, that being a particular eccentricity of the subgenre, and sure enough, thats exactly what developer Neople had intended with its upcoming action RPGThe First Berserker: Khazan. In the lead-up to its release, the developer has insisted that that the game wouldnt feature difficulty options, but plans may have changed on that front.When asked about the same, Neople told GamingBolt in a recent interview that based on feedback from the community, the studio has started testing and reviewing an easy mode. Whether such a mode will be included in the final game is still up in the air, but at the very least, the developer is looking into whether thats even on the table.While we originally stated that there are no plans for difficulty options, we are now testing a mode with lowered difficulty within the team, Neople told GamingBolt. Our primary goal was for players to become fully engaged with the character and sympathize with his difficult circumstances; however, there were requests for difficulty settings. It is still unclear whether there will be an easy or story mode, but we want to encourage more players to participate in the game and discover its fundamental fun. Details are being tested and reviewed, and we plan to do several internal tests before real deployment.The First Berserker: Khazanlaunches on March 27, 2025 for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC, with a demo launching on January 16. Our full interview with Neople will be live soon, so stay tuned for that.

WhenCronos: The New Dawnlaunches next year, itll be available on PC and current-gen consoles, and given the sort of visual fidelity that developer Bloober Team is going for once again, it goes without saying that a Nintendo Switch port of the sci-fi survival horror title is impossible at best. That said, can we expect it to release for Nintendos upcoming unannounced next-gen console at some point?According to producer and game director Jacek Ziba, its not out of the question. Speaking in a recent interview with GamingBolt, when asked about a potential Switch 2 release forCronos,though he didnt offer any concrete confirmations, Ziba didnt shoot down the possibility either.With the current Switch, we saw some wild magic with game ports (The Witcher 3!?), so who know what can be possible on the new one. We will see what future holds, he said.Bloober Team has, of course, released multiple titles on the Switch over recent years, including the likes ofLayers of Fear, Observer, Blair Witch,and a cloud version ofThe Medium, so clearly, the studio has enough of an audience on Nintendos platform that a Switch 2 version ofCronosat some point seems quite likely.During the interview, Ziba also spoke with us aboutCronos: The New Dawnscombat and level design, comparing it to Capcoms modernResident Evilremakes. Read more on that through here.Cronos: The New Dawnis due out sometime in 2025 for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. Our full interview with Ziba will go live soon, so stay tuned for that.

After delivering several outstanding stealth strategy titles in the form ofShadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun, Desperados 3,andShadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew,developer Mimimi Games took everyone by surprise when it announced last year that it would be shutting down in spite of the success of its titles, with the co-founders citing a heavy personal toll. In the aftermath, the future ofShadow Gambit: The CursedCrewin particular looked uncertain, being Mimimi Games only self-published title, though things are now looking much more secure.Manor Lordspublisher Hooded Horse has announced that it has acquired the publishing rights forShadow Gambit: The Cursed Crewacross all platforms. Going forward, the game will be published, distributed, and handled in general by Hooded Horse.We are honored and humbled that Mimimi chose us to be a part of Shadow Gambits journey, says Hooded Horse CEO Tim Bender. This game is the pinnacle of stealth strategy games, and were looking forward to helping it maintain the long-term success it deserves.Shadow Gambit is in its final form, and were excited to be partnering with Hooded Horse for its ongoing commercial needs, says Mimimi Co-Founder Johannes Roth. Were very impressed by their approach to indie publishing and are confident they will help the game reach even more players.In our review ofShadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew,we awarded it a score of 9/10, saying, Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew is an excellent game. With its wonderfully realized fantasy pirate setting, it instantly pulls you into its world, and with a combination of tight and perfectly implemented mechanics, excellently designed stealth sandboxes, and a colourful cast of characters thats an absolute blast to play as, it delivers a consistently fun and inventive adventure where the stealth, tactics, and experimentation never lose any of their charm, right up until the credits roll. Read the full review through here.Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crewis available on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.

After the Helldivers 2 x Killzone 2 crossover launched, Arrowhead received backlash for the high price of each item. The cost is especially egregious considering its only the first part, and both used to be part of a Premium Warbond. In response, the second part, originally meant to go live on December 23rd, will be free for all players.As this was our first crossover offering, weve been listening to the response, and the feedback weve received from our community surveys is that crossover content is really high up on your wishlists. At the same time, some of you are not happy with the prices of the items, and we will revisit this, the developer said on Twitter.The second part of the crossover content is available in the Superstore, including the AC-2 Obedient armor set, the PLAS-39 Accelerator Rifle, the StA-11 SMG, and the Defender of Our Dream cape and player banner. Furthermore, the duration of the previous items in the store has been extended from five to ten days. The development team is also looking at solutions to bring these items back permanently in the future.Finally, a Major Order is available that enables all players to unlock the W.A.S.P. Stratagem. The latter will be familiar to Killzone 3 players as the StA-X3 W.A.S.P. Launcher, which fires multiple rockets after locking on. Based on early impressions, its incredibly potent and can instantly kill Illuminate Overseers.Seasons greetings, Helldivers!As Helldivers x Killzone was our first crossover offering, weve been listening to the response, and the feedback weve received from our community surveys.Because of all this, in partnership with our friends at Guerrilla (and as were in the pic.twitter.com/myvOgRTlDE HELLDIVERS 2 (@helldivers2) December 19, 2024

Even in a year as packed with remarkable indie releases as 2024 has been, Red Candle GamesNine Solsstands out as one of the years best, and though it has until now only been available digitally, physical collectors will be able to get their hands on it soon enough- on one platform, at least.Taking to Twitter, Red Candle Games has announced thatNine Solswill get a physical release on the Nintendo Switch at some point in 2025, courtesy of a partnership with Fangamer. When exactly it will launch next year or whether physical releases are also planned for other platforms is unknown. Red Candle Games also says Fangamer is currently the exclusive retailer forNine Solsphysical Switch release.In our review ofNine Sols, we awarded it a score of 9/10, saying, Whether you seek an addictive platformer, a substantial action experience with incredible presentation, or a new challenge, Nine Sols offers all this and more. Read the full review through here.Nine Solsis available on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC. We are thrilled to announce our partnership with @Fangamer to release the physical edition of Nine Sols for the Nintendo Switch! Please note that @Fangamer is currently the exclusive retailer for the Nintendo Switch physical copy. Stay tuned for our latest updates! pic.twitter.com/JXnmklAQa0 redcandlegames (@redcandlegames) December 17, 2024

GSC Game World is closing the year with a major patch for S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl, but details on the future are coming soon. Along with reaffirming continued updates for the open-world shooter, it will provide a content roadmap when 2025 starts.The first round of A-Life 2.0 updates went live with yesterdays patch, so its a given that there will be more improvements. Two story expansions are also in the works, so perhaps GSC Game World has release windows and potential features to outline in its roadmap.Interestingly, the development team is also updating S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Legends of the Zone Trilogy, the re-release of its original trilogy. It will receive a next-gen patch for consoles, while the PC version will receive more updates. Stay tuned for exact dates in the coming months.S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl is available for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC. Check out our review, where we gave it a nine out of ten despite its various issues. Its sold one million copies in the first few days, with many more players joining through Game Pass.The nd of the year message from the GSC Game World team about plans for 2025. pic.twitter.com/vxzNWXIocc S.T.A.L.K.E.R. OFFICIAL (@stalker_thegame) December 20, 2024

Polish studio 11 bit studios, best known forFrostpunkandThis War of Mine, has cancelled a game, codenamedProject 8, that had been in development for years.Described as a narrative-rich game that would also serve as the developers first console-centric title, 11 bit studios has announced that it has cancelled the development of Project 8. Starting development in 2018, by September 30, its development team had expanded to 37 people, while 11 bits investments into the project had grown to PLN 48.4 million (which is roughly $11.79 million).Our vision for Project 8, which was intended to be our first title designed specifically for console gamers, was bold and exciting, says 11 bit studios president Przemysaw Marsza. However, it was conceived under very different market conditions, when narrative-driven, story-rich games held stronger appeal.He went on to speak aboutthe challenges thatProject 8faced during development, from the COVID-19 pandemic to a growing budget to the aforementioned changing market conditions, all of which ultimately raised significant doubts about the projects overall profitability.WithProject 8, we experienced both breakthroughs and setbacks. During the COVID-19 pandemic, stabilising the development team proved particularly difficult, yet progress continued, he explained. While we achieved noticeable quality improvements in certain areas, several critical aspects of the game and its development process remained problematic despite multiple iterations. Over time, delays accumulated, and with each milestone, the projects budget grew.When assessing a project, the Management Board always considers its development progress, including internal reviews and independent surveys, Marsza added. We also factor in market analyses and the games sales and marketing potential. Unfortunately, in this case, our findings revealed unresolved issues and challenges that would require further extensions of the production timeline and corresponding budget increases to address. This, coupled with revised sales forecasts, largely reflecting the changing market environment, raised significant doubts about the projects overall profitability.11 bit studios says it will have to recognize an impairment loss of PLN 48.4 million due toProject 8scancellaton, while the studio is also facing layoffs as a result, with the development team working on the project being made redundant.Whether the entire teams roles are being cut or if some will be transferred to other projects within the studio hasnt been mentioned. 11 bit says it will offer severance packages and assistance in seeking new employment to those affected, and that its currently auditing the assets developed forProject 8 to assess their potential application in other initiatives.2024 saw the launch of 11 bit studiosFrostpunk 2for PC, which is also coming to PS5 and Xbox Series X/S in 2025. Next year will also see the release of the studios sci-fi survival titleThe Alters.

Marvel Rivals first seasonal event, Winter Celebration, is now live. It brings new hero outfits, including a free skin for Jeff the Land Shark. Check out the trailer below to see it in action alongside the new mode, Jeffs Winter Splash Festival.Set on Yggsgard: Royal Palace, the new mode sees two teams of Jeff players spreading snowflakes throughout the map. On top of completing missions to unlock his free skin, completing missions also earn decorations for creating a custom greeting card. As for other heroes, Groot, Rocket Raccoon, Venom, and Magik get new outfits, though they must be purchased from the in-game store. Theyre available until January 17th, 2025.Marvel Rival is available for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC, having crossed 20 million players since launch. Check out our review here. Season 1 kicks off in January and will bring new maps and heroes with a Luxury Battle Pass featuring new cosmetics.

The year has seen many bizarre titles, big and small, and Bokeh Game Studios Slitterhead undoubtedly ranks among them. If you ever wanted to take the plunge, a free demo is now available for PC, PS4, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.The demo includes the first chapter and save data transfers to the game. For those who enjoy the demo and want more, Slitterhead is discounted on the PlayStation Store, Steam and Epic Games Store thanks to ongoing Holiday sales, retailing for $34.99. Unfortunately, since theres no sale for Xbox, Series X/S players will have to settle for full price.Directed by Keiichiro Toyama, who created horror classics like Silent Hill and Siren, Slitterhead is about Hyoki, who roams the streets of Kowlong in pursuit of the Slitterheads. Though lacking a form, he can possess humans known as Rarities and use their unique abilities to fight back. Check out our review of the game here.Slitterhead Demo & Holiday Sale now available!!!DEMOSlitterhead Demo is available on all platforms now!Play the first chapter including tutorial and your save data will carry over to the full version if you purchase it.HOLIDAY SALEHoliday sale is now live pic.twitter.com/QiowvRaqLn Bokeh Game Studio (@BokehGameStudio) December 20, 2024

Nintendo has released a new video for Donkey Kong Country Returns HD, its enhanced port of the 2010 Wii platformer. Its a remade version of the intro, which sees the Tiki Tak Tribe emerging and immediately brainwashing the jungles animals into stealing all the Kongs bananas. Check it out below.While various creatures do their bidding, the song and dance routine doesnt work on Donkey Kong, who sets out with Diddy Kong to recover his hoard. Alongside improved, higher-resolution textures, the intro is much snappier than the original, getting players to the action faster.Donkey Kong Country Returns HD launches for Nintendo Switch on January 16th, 2025. Check out the overview trailer here, which outlines the gameplay loop and features from the Nintendo 3DS port, like Modern Mode. Compared to the difficulty of Classic Mode, it offers more Hearts and benefits like Crash Guard to prevent damage from a few Mine Cart collisions.

Frame Breaks Lightyear Frontier had a strong launch into early access this year alongside some new updates, but what does the future hold? For starters, a larger open world. In a new Steam Community post, the developer said this would allow more farming space and the team to explore bigger experimental features and changes together with you.Its also polishing the feel of ones Farmech, making it heavier without affecting the speed. By utilizing visual and sound effects, the developer wants to emphasize the mechs size, making it feel much more powerful. Then theres the prospect of building your own farmhouse, decorating its interiors and the outside. Its under investigation, but initial results look promising.Frame Break will return with more in January, so stay tuned for further updates. Lightyear Frontier is currently available for PC via Steam Early Access it had 700,000 players in its launch week. Check out our review when it first entered early access we gave it a seven out of 10 for its visuals, progression, and relaxing atmosphere.

Despite mixed reactions at launch and reportedly less than one million players at launch, Ubisofts Skull and Bones will reportedly receive a second year of content. Insider Gamings Tom Henderson spoke to sources with knowledge of the plans and Season 1 is allegedly coming early next year. This comes after Ubisoft announced the end of support for XDefiant while laying off multiple employees and shuttering Ubisoft San Francisco and Osaka.It will seemingly include new points of interest, PvP modes and World Tiers. Ubisoft is also allegedly looking into premium crossover events a trend among live service titles like Overwatch 2 and Fortnite. Assassins Creed 4: Black Flag is apparently one such event, planned for when the alleged remake arrives.As for why its receiving more content, this is allegedly due to Ubisoft fully committing to support. Despite the relatively poor launch, current player numbers will apparently surprise people, though Henderson couldnt verify them independently.Time will tell if Year 2 plans for the title pan out, so stay tuned for updates. Skull and Bones is available for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC. Check out our review here.

Falcoms Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter, a remake of The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky FC, will launch worldwide in Fall 2025. Instead of NIS America, GungHo Online Entertainment will handle publishing duties. Check out the latest trailer below, showcasing iconic environments, other playable characters, and combat.Along with fully 3D visuals in the developers proprietary engine, the remake features the combat system introduced in Trails through Daybreak. Players can attack enemies in real-time with Field Action, unleashing attacks and Crafts, or enter into turn-based Command Battles. It even includes team-up attacks introduced in Trails in the Sky SC.Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter is the first title in the series to launch simultaneously worldwide. Its confirmed that English and Japanese audio will be available alongside English, Japanese, German, and French subtitles. Stay tuned for further details on the remake in the new year.Of course, fans can also look forward to The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak 2, which launches on February 14th, 2025, for PS4, PS5, PC, and Nintendo Switch.