The Final Step-timsIt's modding on steroids Skyblivion project lead talks progress towards a 2025 release, those official Oblivion remake rumours, and if Fallout: London offers any lessonsThe massive Skyrim mod that'll offer a revamped take on The Elder Scrolls 4 being "nearly in a releasable state is a miracle", says its lead dev.Image credit: The Skyblivion team. Article by Mark Warren Senior Staff Writer Published on Feb. 21, 2025 We should finally get to play Skyblivion this year. The massive modding project thats remaking The Elder Scrolls IV in Skyrims engine has been in the works since 2012, and now it's seemingly on the home stretch.It's not had a full release date penned in yet, but we'll be getting to see a bit more of it via a showcase from the Skyblivion team at a fan-run Bethesda community event called Community Creations Con - or C3 - this weekend. So, ahead of that, VG247 caught up with the massive mod's project lead, Kyle 'Rebelzize' Rebel, to ask a few questions about how things are going for the project as it builds to that 2025 release.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. "I am feeling good about our progress, everyone is pulling their weight and focussing on the last pillars we need to overcome [to make a release possible]," the modder tells me, "Of course, with this being a volunteer project we can't guarantee this level of commitment throughout the year, but for now we are on the right track."Naturally, as rumours about an official Elder Scrolls 4 remake or remaster - something that was mentioned in an internal Microsoft document leaked during the company's legal battle with the FTC in 2023 - have continued to crop up and circulate, Rebel and the Skyblivion team have receieved plenty of messages from fans wondering what such a thing potentially being real could mean for the modding project."I think whether the rumours are true or not doesn't affect us much," the project lead says, "If they are true I hope it will give people even more of a reason to try out our iteration of it. If it's not true then this will be the best way to re-experience the game [with] a new coat of paint."At the end of the day, we are not trying to sell a game and make a profit. I dedicated 10+ years to bring this game to the fans and I feel this is a typical case of 't's about the journey, not the destination'. The fact Skyblivion is nearly in a releasable state is a miracle, as we all went into this blindly and in some cases failed our way to the finish line. There are at least four major events that could have easily wrecked the project and caused it to be abandoned, but we're still here. The destination might be a welcome sight if you're trekking to frigid Bruma, but the adventure's getting there. | Image credit: The Skyblivion team."I am just excited to be able to see everyones hard work pay off and as a bonus see others finally playing this. I often think about how I would have been able to release this mod years ago [if I'd had] all the knowledge we have now, but unfortunately that's not the way life works. You achieve your goals through hard work, failure and the rare breakthrough, which we ended up doing."In terms of whether Skyblivion can learn anything that might help with its own release from massive Fallout 4 mod Fallout: London, which came out last year following delays - some of which its developers could do nothing to prevent - and was plagued by some pretty serious bugs prior to patches arriving, Rebel says the answer is "yes and no"."FOLON is a very impressive mod, but it's apples and oranges in lots of ways," he explains, "Distribution of the mod has always been a big discussion internally and FOLON's release definitely made us think of alternative ways to let people access the game when the time comes."Finally, since I'd recently seen Bethesda Game Studios acknowledge Skyblivion's upcoming C3 stream in a tweet from its official account, I asked the modder if Skyblivion's team has had any communication from the studio, since Fallout: London's leads were pretty open last year about not getting as much as they'd have ideally liked. Skyblivion's team have spent years dilligently painting their masterpiece, and soon they'll unveil it to the world. | Image credit: The Skyblivion team."We have had plenty of contact with Bethesda over the years," Rebel says, "I'd like to think we are on very good terms with them. Generally speaking, Bethesda has been one of the most supporting communities when it comes to modding, so it only makes sense to support behemoths such as our project that in a lot of ways encapsulate everything Bethesda's games stand for."We are a multicultural group of fans from all over the world that came together to make something unreasonably complicated and far fetched. It's modding on steroids."As mentioned earlier, that unreasonably complicated and far fetched thing is currently set to open its Oblivion gates to players before this year's out, so here's hoping Rebel and the Skyblivion folks are able to navigate the tricky roads ahead on their modding adventure through Cyrodiil.

Writer's Bayle-ockGeorge R.R. Martin says there's been "some talk" about an Elden Ring movie, but he might have to slam out a few more chapters if he's to play a big part in itIt's ok, George, I'm sure you can just end the thing on a cliffhanger and get on with writing the Radahn RomCom.Image credit: FromSoftware News by Mark Warren Senior Staff Writer Published on Feb. 21, 2025 George R.R. Martin, creator of Game of Thrones and acclaimed writer of books you'd shrivel up and die halfway through if you attempted to get through one during a single bath, says there's been some chatter about possibly doing an Elden Ring movie. How much involvement the writer'd have if that were to happen remains to be seen, though.Martin, who worked on the lore of FromSoft's 2022 masterpiece about rolling around the big lad or lass until either it squishes you or you squish it with your big sword, was asked by IGN if he'd be open to returning for a potential sequel to that game, and delivered a pretty nifty verbal side-step. Like, the kind of side-step a Tarnished would be proud of.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. "I can't say too much about it," he said, "but there is some talk about making a movie out of Elden Ring." Is there, now, Mr Martin? We'd not heard. The author continued that if indeed such an adapdation does become a thing, he doesn't know the extent of the involvement he'd have in it, due to one complicating factor. "I'm a few years behind with my latest book, so that also limits the amount of things that I can do," he said.He just like me fr. Sure, people actually care about Martin's writing, as he grinds out The Winds of Winter, so that his A Song of Ice and Fire series will finally have six bits of the seven he previously outlined, and one with a title that fufils the chilly vibes mentioned in the moniker given to the collection. The sentiment's the same though. We just can't finish. Stop giggling.I feel bad for the guy, to be honest. Even if its first network test initially left a bunch of folks kinda regretting breaking off their engagements to get smashed by large individuals, Elden Ring Nightreign's probably gonna distract Martin for a few months later this year. Well, assuming he doesn't find it weird to interact with things he had a hand in creating.

Helldivers 2 studio is seemingly working on a mysterious fresh crossover, and judging by how the latest major order to battle some spooky foes in the space fog looks to be going, players could probably do with extra firepower for their fights in the Gloom. Read more

Hannibal LectureYou may soon be able to try a "dating app that matches you with games", rather than serving stilted conversations with potential serial killersActually, to be fair, I've never met any of these experts in real life, so I can't promise you they don't lounge around the house in human skin suits.Image credit: The Ludocene team. News by Mark Warren Senior Staff Writer Published on Feb. 21, 2025 Do you struggle to find reccommendations of games you might tolerate for 10 hours, before inevitably slipping back into the thousandth playthrough of some comfortable old s**t? Well, there's a new app that'll be aiming to be, among other taglines, a "dating app that matches you with games rather than people", provided it hits its Kickstarter goal.It's called Ludocene, and is the work of a team led by freelance game journalist Andy Robertson, who writes that the app is also a "deck-builder that discerns your next favourite game" and a "recommendation engine powered by experts you know and trust".To see this content please enable targeting cookies. Basically, it deals you cards with some info about a game on them, and you swipe up or down to say whether or not you'd like to add them to a deck of reccomemndations that you'll definitely play when you get the time, for realsies, they're not just going in your endless backlog, you swear.Think Tinder, but the only pictures of people you get to judge are selfies of a team of "experts" - which for transparency's sake includes VG247's own Alex Donaldson, wearing his other hat as Director of RPG Site - who you can summon to spice up your deck with their shitty opinions of what you should play. In Donaldson's case, I assume that guaruntees you at least one Final Fantasy game per summoning, regardless of what else you've told the app you like.As of writing, Ludocene's raised 6,331 of its 26,280 goal, with 20 days left to go in its fundraiser. I'll be honest, I'm not sure it's something I'd use, given I've long preferred to choose which games I play by clicking on a random genre's tab on various storefronts, and licking the screen to see which game listing offers what I can only describe as the best 'vibe mouthfeel'.Do not try that at home please, it only works for me because I once made a deal with a troll under a bridge found in a dodgy backwater of the Steam store.

Heelflip Hint?Tony Hawk's Pro Skater announcement looks to be being teased in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, as the Birdman himself ollies in to drop a cheeky pair of eyesIt's a thing in a very unobvious map, definitely not one that's literally a skatepark or anything.Image credit: Activision/Vicarious Visions News by Mark Warren Senior Staff Writer Published on Feb. 21, 2025 There's now been another sick trick added to the combo of stuff which seems to be hinting at a new gaming-related Tony Hawk thing being in the works. A teaser that looks very much to be for something potentially Pro Skatery has popped up in one of Black Ops 6's maps, and it's even caught the attention of a certain Mr Anthony Birdman.If you're out of the loop, this comes after Hawk revealed last year - while chowing down on Chinese chicken salad and spaghetti bolognese - that he'd "been talking to Activision again" and that the two parties were "working on something" which "the fans will truly appreciate".To see this content please enable targeting cookies. Now, he's said another thing, but via a single emoji. To be fair, the thing players have found in the skate shop of the remastered version of classic CoD map Grind that's just been added into Black Ops 6 as part of Season 02 Reloaded does plenty of talking.It looks to be a poster, just chilling near a nice indoor plant, which reads "03.04.25" - there's also a little logo of a skater directly above those numbers. Naturally, folks immediately started speculating that it's hinting at something Tony Hawk game-ish being released on March 4 this year.A new Tony Hawk game announcement incoming on March 4![image or embed] Charlie Intel (@charlieintel.bsky.social) 20 February 2025 at 17:41To see this content please enable targeting cookies.The Birdman responding to a post about it by CharlieIntel with a pair of eyes, as you can see above, has only added fuel to the fire.Add in the fact that pro skater Tyshawn Jones, who featured in 2023's Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2, said on a podcast earlier this week: "Im in a Tony Hawk coming out, thats cool. They got a new one they remastering so thats about to come out, I was in the last one," and you've got a full blown blaze going.What are you hoping this THPS tease - if indeed it is what it looks like - turns out to be? Let us know below!

Things have been a little quiet in the realm of Diablo 4 of late. Blizzard continued releasing updates after the launch of Season of Witchcraft, but they mostly revolved around fixing bugs - some of which were introduced with the new season. Read more

Straight Postin it2XKO game director speaks out about the next "much smaller" online play test, a new fuse, and more ahead of February updateThe team has apparently been enjoying the "crazy memes and the hysteria" ahead of the February update.Image credit: Riot Games News by Connor Makar Staff Writer Published on Feb. 21, 2025 2XKO game director Shaun "unconkable" Rivera has posted a lengthy statement online (first on Reddit, later on X) shutting down speculation and misinformation regarding the game and its upcoming online play test. This includes the fact that the next play test will be "much smaller" than the first Alpha Lab test.The entire statement, which you can read here, kicks off by acknowledging the "crazy memes and hysteria" of the game's official subreddit, before revealing the team were initially planning on running a larger-scale play test next month, with the February update covering this event. However, it looks like plans have changed to a smaller play test instead, while the team builds up infrastructure for a larger influx of players later this year.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. Rivera also addressed the Pulse Fuse, as there have been discussions among the community of it going away. This fuse, for those who can't remember, allowed for players to mash a single button and perform a decent combo (while retaining all their usual attacks). This, it seems, has been replaced with an auto-combo setting selectable during character select. Instead, Rivera reveals more about a new fuse: Sidekick. This basically removes the ability for the two playable characters to switch at all, instead providing the point character with more health and providing the second player more of a "support" role. Think of it like Yummi in League of Legends, who is attached to another champion and assists them by throwing out abilities (in 2XKO, assists) that aid in their assault.This information seems to have been suddenly posted in response to leaks that had appeared online earlier this month (we obviously can't link to 'em here), which explains the sudden and largely unexpected post by Rivera here. He doesn't provide a date for the February update, which remains the main topic of speculation in the minds of 2XKO fans.Obviously, this post raises a bunch of questions. The first, and most pressing in my mind, is how much smaller the upcoming play test will be? The first alpha lab proved popular, with flocks of new and experienced fighting game players rushing for access. It also begs the question of why a smaller test? If I may speculate, it could be to gather data on a specific user base, perhaps to better balance the game for a wider net of players. For example, they're adding the Sidekick fuse, right? So maybe they want a smaller test aimed at a control group of 50/50 experienced and totally new testers? It's something I'm personally keen to learn more about.Then there's the decision to build infrastructure for an increased number of future players, which itself is interesting. Perhaps, given the popularity of the first Alpha Lab, the team is anticipating a very significant increase in sign ups for a future test. This on its face makes sense, we saw plenty of players left in the cold last time, and these sorts of slow builds to release tend to gain interest the closer they get to that long-awated 1.0 launch date. However the cookie crumbles, it's February 21 as of writing, which means it shouldn't be too long until we know for certain what the deal is. Still, an interesting peek into what's going on, even if it was sudden.What do you think of this new info? Does Sidekick sound like a cool new addition to you? Let us know below!

Bad BloodAlien: Romulus director Fede lvarez knows how he'd like to approach an Alien vs. Predator movie, but it'd be a hard trick to pull offSecrets are a thing of the past.Image credit: 20th Century Studios News by Fran Ruiz Contributor Published on Feb. 20, 2025 Most people agreed that last year's Alien: Romulus was a return to form for the long-running sci-fi horror franchise, nightmare CG Ian Holm aside. Now, with a follow-up practically confirmed after its box office success, director and co-writer Fede lvarez is discussing his vision for more stories set in that universe, and whether they could lead to a new Alien vs. Predator event movie.Even 20th Century Studios head Steve Asbell openly admitted in late 2024 that a new AvP is potentially on the cards, so hearing lvarez talk about his ideas for a tentative refresh of the iconic crossover born in the realm of comic books (and which later produced a number of quality video games) isn't too surprising.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. His new comments arrived via a Q&A session with the filmmaker after a Collider-hosted special IMAX screening of his Alien interquel. Of course, the sequel that's now in the works (which may or may not be a direct one) was brought up, but eventually, the conversation moved into the uncharted waters of a potential AvP crossover now that both Alien and Predator are healthier than they were less than 10 years ago."I can't speak for Dan. At some point, once there's another Alien, and I know he's working on a sequel to Prey, one day if we feel like, Yeah, that's what we cannot wait to see, I think that's a movie we could do," he admitted. Dan Trachtenberg, who's currently hard at work on this year's Predator: Badlands, has yet to publicly acknowledge all the buzz that's surrounding a potential return to the galaxy's deadliest crossover. On other hand, lvarez was already toying with the idea around the time Alien: Romulus was released."The best AVP will be the one that you don't know is AVP until the other guy shows up. You think you're watching a Predator movie, and then they land in some place and there are creatures, and f**king hell, it's a Xenomorph. That would get me. F**k yeah! You'd go crazy. Or vice versa, you're in an Alien movie, and then suddenly a mysterious creature is there, and you can hear that sound, and you see the cloak, and you go, Is that a f**king Predator? And then turns out it is," he added. Though such an approach would be an incredibly hard thing to pull off in the age of leaks and spoilers (plus studios wanting to be as transparent as possible with the marketing), it's not entirely out of the realm of possibility.Steve Asbell already expressed interest in the idea of not putting out a movie that's just titled 'Alien vs. Predator: Whatever' but again, you gotta put butts in seats, especially with Disney footing the bills. So, it's hard to imagine a scenario in which a new Alien vs. Predator would be a cloaked twist in a seemingly normal flick of either franchise.For all we know, Predator: Badlands could already introduce a small tease (a la Predator 2) pointing in the general direction of an AvP reboot, as Trachtenberg's second Predator movie won't be a follow-up to Prey. Instead, it's set in the future and on an alien planet. Would you like to see that happen?

After months of patient waiting, Dune fans finally have a release date for the much-anticipated Dune Awakening. The MMO survival game will be releasing on May 20 for $49.99 / 49.99. Read more

Getting CloserSkyblivion devs reveal the final region they had to build in the huge Oblivion remake mod is now complete, but there's still stuff to sort ahead of releaseThe entire landscape of Cyrodiil has now had "at least a first pass".Image credit: The Skyblivion team/Bethesda News by Mark Warren Senior Staff Writer Published on Feb. 20, 2025 The developers behind Skyblivion, the massive modding project thats remaking The Elder Scrolls IV in Skyrims engine, have now revealed that they've finished landscaping every region of their map of Cyrodiil.There's still stuff to do before the mod can hit its current 2025 release window, but it sounds like this is a pretty big milestone in getting there.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. "With the Niben Basin and Valley complete, all of Cyrodiil's landscape has had at least a first pass," the team announced in a tweet, "Next up: Improve previously worked areas of the map to bring them to higher standards."This comes after Skyblivion's modders revealed in their update video last month that they were "finalising the world map, with only the Nibenay region on Cyrodiil's Eastern border to left to complete". So, you can check that off. To see this content please enable targeting cookies.Based on what the modders have said thus far, in addition to the extra mapping work outlined in the tweet, odds are there'll still be a bunch of things like navmeshing for different areas left to finalise. Otherwise the mod might be releasing with an environment NPCs would struggle to navigate to broken degree, rather than just getting stuck on the odd tree stump now and again, as they can in vanilla Skyrim or Oblivion.Plus, the team also revealed last month that they're still busy with plenty of interiors, and were "prioritising quest locations which require more time and concepting compared to generic interiors". Six quests also had yet to have work commence on them at that point.Skyblivion's modders are still looking for fresh volunteers with relevant skills to help out with the project, and you can head here if interested.Are you glad to hear this latest Skyblivion update? Let us know below and make sure to check out our coverage of previous Skyblivion showcases!

James SlopAmazon MGM Studios now has full creative control of the James Bond franchise, and you're almost certainly gonna get those spinoffs that you didn't ask forCan't wait for the Young James Bond Adventures.Image credit: Amazon MGM Studios News by Fran Ruiz Contributor Published on Feb. 20, 2025 The future of 007 and the James Bond franchise as a whole has been a point of contention for years now, especially after the MGM library was absorbed by Amazon. After months of back-and-forth regarding the expansion plans for the IP, longtime Bond producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli are "stepping back from the creative process."The news dropped via Deadline, with both the producers and Amazon MGM Studios and Prime Video's Mike Hopkins confirming the new arrangement. "Amazon and the producers have formed a new venture to house the James Bond intellectual property rights", he said, with Wilson and Broccoli remaining on board as co-owners of the franchise.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. Of course, that amy well prove to be elaborate corpo talk for 'We've trampled over the producers that were blocking the franchise from becoming another interchangeable property we can mine to death'. In late 2024, it was reported that Broccoli even went as far as to call Amazon's execs "f**king idiots," which suggests difficult conversations concerning the future of not only the next James Bond, but also potential spinoffs movies and/or shows had been happening for a while."Insiders add that no decisions have been made on the future Bond films including who will star, direct or write the next film," Deadline wrote. Of course, getting a new Bond movie off the ground (something that Broccoli and Wilson were interested in doing in the near future) should be the priority, as No Time To Die, Daniel Craig's final outing as the iconic British spy, was released in late 2021 and will turn four this year. Even if a writing and directing team was locked this year, Amazon would be looking at a 2027 release at the earliest."With the conclusion of No Time to Die and Michael retiring from the films, I feel it is time to focus on my other projects," said Broccoli at the end of her comments. If you can read between the lines, she sounds well aware that a major plundering will now begin. There have been rumblings in the past of Amazon being interested in spinoffs based on other characters from the 'Bond mythos' (since everything must be considered a universe now) and even prequel shows. Broccoli and Wilson, on the other hand, always pushed for Bond to remain a theatrical 'event' movie series.While excitement surrounding a new James Bond and the respective rebooted movie saga remains high no matter what, fans will understandably be more cautious moving forward as Amazon looks for new ways to mine the series for quick profits, and the initial reactions online to this major Hollywood development are anything but positive.

For Five Minutes!GTA 5 on PC's free upgrade to match current-gen consoles finally has a concrete arrival date, giving people a distraction from GTA 6 chatter for all of 0.5 secondsCue the scene of Shrek calmly asking Donkey if he can be quiet for literally five minutes.Image credit: Rockstar Games News by Mark Warren Senior Staff Writer Published on Feb. 20, 2025 There's GTA news! No, sit your bum down, it's not GTA 6 trailer news. It's GTA 5 news. The free update that'll finally bring the PC version of the most lucrative game ever to game has just been given a concrete release date - it's dropping on March 4.Having teased this update was coming towards the end of last year, Rockstar's just revealed the date via a fresh newswire post, in which it details all the sparkly additions and tweaks the new spec will bring PC folks so they can on longer be mocked by their PS5 and Xbox Series X/S cousins.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. So, what are you getting? Well, "a range of new vehicles and upgrades at Haos Special Works", ambient animal encounters, and a "refreshed Landing Page", as well as access to a career progress tracker and the ability to sign up for a GTA+ membership on PC. I'm sure you're absolutely stoked about that last one.Hardware-wise, the update will also bring all or some the following, depending on what kind of rig you're packing:Ray tracing features only available on PC such as ambient occlusion and global illumination plus ray traced shadows and reflections first debuted on consolesSupport for AMD FSR1 and FSR3, and NVIDIA DLSS 3Faster loading times using SSD and DirectStorage on supported devices and configurationsEnhanced support for higher resolutions, higher aspect ratios, and higher frameratesDualSense controller support, with adaptive triggersEnhanced audio with support for Dolby Atmos and improved fidelity of speech, cinematics, and music To see this content please enable targeting cookies."Support for the previous version of GTA V will continue, allowing anyone whose hardware does not currently meet the minimum requirements of the new upgrade to keep playing," Rockstar adds, "This also ensures that support for FiveM will continue uninterrupted while we work to extend support for it on the upgraded version."That said, it makes clear that "the original version of GTA Online on PC will be a separate instance, and players who remain on that version will not be able to play in sessions together with those on the upgraded version". It sounds like if you upgrade, you'll be able to opt to revert to the old version in order to play with mates who're stuck on it.Will you be taking advantage of this excuse to jump back into GTA 5? Did you manage to stop thinking about GTA 6 while reading this article? Let us know below!

More TitansThe next Godzilla x Kong movie recruits Unbroken's Jack O'Connell, who's joining newcomer Kaitlyn Dever and kaiju dentist Dan StevensTitans will be back in roughly two years.Image credit: Netflix News by Fran Ruiz Contributor Published on Feb. 20, 2025 Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire managed to replicate Godzilla vs. Kong's success last year with a $571 million haul on a well-adjusted $135 million budget. It also convinced most moviegoers, who expressed direct opposition to the critical reception. Needless to say, a new huge movie was fast-tracked at Legendary and Warner Bros. shortly after its release. Now, it's already assembling an all-star cast.Grant Sputore (I Am Mother) boarded the project on June, and word is that this new installment will put some of the spotlight back on the humans, which hasn't worked out too well in the past. However, with Toho's Godzilla Minus One crushing it in 2023 and into 2024 as well as the Apple TV+ MonsterVerse series Monarch landing a critical hit by putting human drama front and center, maybe audiences are ready for a bit more meat on those characters' bones. Honestly, it'll all come down to Dave Callaham's (Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse) script.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. Via Deadline, Jack O'Connell (Unbroken, Lady Chatterley's Lover) has been revealed as the latest addition to a cast which had already nabbed Kaitlyn Dever (The Last of Us season 2) as one of the leads and Godzilla x Kong vet (both veteran and veterinarian) Dan Stevens, who joined the previous installment to reunite with director Adam Wingard and co-writer Simon Barrett following The Guest (2014); he seems to be happy enough with the role and paycheck to stick around for more.Plot details are being kept hidden away deep in the Hollow Earth, but (spoilers ahead for Godzilla x Kong) chances are we'll reunite with Kong lording (finally as a King) over members of his species and with newfound kaiju allies. Meanwhile, Godzilla should still be keeping threats at bay on the surface... and destroying countless towns and cities in the process. Warner and Legendary have described the threequel as an 'event film' in the vein of the GvK and GxK, so expect yet another big crossover rumble.We'll be learning more about the cast in the coming weeks and months (we doubt Stevens will be the only returning face), as the movie is targeting a 2025 production start despite its faraway March 26, 2027, release date. Like them or not, Legendary appears to be putting proper care into these.

Robot ActionSteel Hunters has an open beta kicking off later today, for all you noble mech lovers out therePlayers can unlock some rewards for the main game, as well as some special goodies for the very best.Image credit: Wargaming News by Connor Makar Staff Writer Published on Feb. 20, 2025 If you've been looking for a new mecha game to mess around in, or consider yourself a fan of more strategic-focused multiplayer shooters, an open beta for Steel Hunters may just be what you've been looking for. Good news! It starts later today.Running from today - the 20th of February - until the 24th, players will be able to try out a selection of varied mechs at no cost whatsover. In addition, all players that take part will be able to work towards a permanent reward for the full release: a skin for the Trenchwalker.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. It goes a little further than that too. Because Wargaming (the developers amd publisher of Steel Hunters) are having a big publisher weekend on Steam, those who land in the top 10 of the daily leaderboards will earn themselves Steam gift cards and some exclusive physical merch. Not a bad prize for those willing to really sink some time in this weekend.I was able to play a bit of Steel Hunters during a closed beta test earlier this year, and while I didn't take the opportunity to sing its praises back then, I will take this opportunity to say the game is quite engaging. It's still got that World of Tanks style DNA spread throughout it - you can feel it as you navigate online matches and pilot the various mechs - but it's also distinct enough to win other those more enticed by Sci-Fi over Mil-Sim games.Give it a try at least over the next few days. Who knows? You might just find your next big timesink.

Last summer, we learned that Talk To Me directors Danny and Michael Philippou had departed the new Street Fighter movie project that's been set at Legendary for years. However, the studio still moved ahead and grabbed a March 20, 2026, release date for the movie. Now, a new director has been attached to it, but we have our doubts about this one being ready in time. Read more

We'll NPCCyberpunk 2077's sequel will boast "the most realistic and reactive crowd system in any game to date" if CD Projekt hits its goals, so no pressure thenIt's ok, whoever lands this encounter design gig, you'll have a systems design team to help you do the thing.Image credit: CD Projekt News by Mark Warren Senior Staff Writer Published on Feb. 20, 2025 If CD Projekt achieves what it aims to with Cyberpunk 2077's currently in-the-works sequel, the game'll feature "the most realistic and reactive crowd system in any game to date".This goal is laid out in one of the job descriptions the publisher's just put out as it seeks to recruit folks to beef up the team working on the Cyberpunk sequel - codenamed Project Orion - at the CD Projekt's relatively new Boston studio.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. Seven fresh roles were shared in total, with the likes of Cyberpunk sequel associate game director Paweł Sasko boosting them in an effort to say 'Hey, come work with me'. As ever, unless you're already in game development, odds are there are few of them you're qualified for or will find interesting, but there is one potentually interesting deal in the listing for a lead encounter designer."Work in close collaboration with the systems design team to create the most realistic and reactive crowd system in any game to date," reads one of this gig's daily responsibilities. It's not that surprising to see CD Projekt looking to up its game in terms of crowds with Cyberpunk 2 - given random NPC behaviour and how they interacted with things like police chases were arguably one of the base game's weaker points at launch (to be clear, I mean unnamed street-walkers there, the game obviously did a lot of cool stuff with its quest character encounters and dialogue). To see this content please enable targeting cookies.However, the specifying that this new crowd system will be aiming to outdo "any game to date" is eye-catching. It's got fans on Reddit debating whether the studio might be able to top what the likes of Rockstar Games has accomplished in terms of open-world detail with the likes of Red Dead Redemption 2.They're not asking whether Cyberpunk 2077's sequel will have horse balls that dynamically grow and shrink, but f**k it, that's very much what I'm now wondering. It does, however, seem like the majority of even the hardcore CD Projekt stans on the Cyberpunk subreddit think the publisher will have a tough time blowing away what Rockstar has done in terms of NPCs, and could raise the game on even further when it drops a little game called GTA 6 later this year.Do you think Cyberpunk's sequel will end up topping anything we've ever seen before crowd system wise? Use your weird hand-feet to type out an answer below.

It's JoelverThe Last of Us has finally locked down its April release date on Max, and the episode count has been confirmed tooA shorter but probably more intense ride.Image credit: HBO News by Fran Ruiz Contributor Published on Feb. 20, 2025 Only a week ago, we were talking about The Last of Us potentially lasting four seasons total and pointed out we somehow hadn't received a definitive premiere date for season 2 yet. Well, the wait is now over (and the real wait begins now).The good news is that it won't be a long one. In fact, TLOU season 2 is less than a month away. HBO has announced the long-anticipated second batch of episodes will kick off on April 13 on Max. That's a little over a week before Star Wars: Andor returns to Disney Plus (April 22) with a second season of its own, so we'll be eating good in late April and into May, it seems.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. HBO and Max jointly announced the release date on Wednesday, February 19. It's the biggest new season of television coming to the streaming service this year so far. With other biggies such as IT: Welcome to Derry, The White Louts, Hacks, Peacemaker, and A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms lined up, it marks the 'beginning' of a hot 2025 for Max.The press release also confirms what co-creator Neil Druckmann (also Naughty Dog honcho) and Craig Mazin had teased in late 2024: Season 2 will consist of seven episodes, making it two chapters shorter than season 1. However, we've been told time and again things will be more intense this time around, and anyone who played The Last of Us: Part II will agree, even if we know we're getting only a fraction of the story this year.New cast members being added this season include Kaitlyn Dever as Abby, Isabela Merced as Dina, Young Mazino as Jesse, Ariela Barer as Mel, Tati Gabrielle as Nora, Spencer Lord as Owen, and Danny Ramirez as Manny. Catherine O'Hara, who we recently loved in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, will also guest star "in an undisclosed role" we can't wait to see. Jeffrey Wright returns as Issac after playing the leader of the brutal Washington Liberation Front (WLF) in the game. They join co-stars Pedro Pascal as Joel, Bella Ramsey as Ellie, and Gabriel Luna as Tommy, among others.

Pikatune InPokemon Day 2025 Pokemon Presents showcase officially announced, and you'll be able to watch it hereTune in to see some, well, Pokemon stuff on Pokemon Day.Image credit: The Pokemon Company News by Mark Warren Senior Staff Writer Published on Feb. 20, 2025 Good news, Poke-heads! The Pokemon Company has officially announced the Pokemon Presents showcase it'll be putting on for this year's Pokemon Day. The date and time you'll need to tune in are all set, so get your calendar that features monthly Pikachus in weirdly seductive poses out.You could also bake a cake that's shaped like a Diglett or something, I don't know. Or just watch the stream with a totally blank expression and say 'Well, those were indeed some Pokemon' when it concludes.Watch on YouTubeAnyway, this Pokemon Day 2025 Pokemon Presents is set to take place on the usual date of February 27, at 2PM GMT, which is 6AM PT, 9AM ET, and 3PM CET, and you'll be able to tune in right here, by clicking play on the video above when the time hits. Seriously, just one button press, and boom, Pokemon doing a thing.What will you see? Well the latest Pokemon news in celebration of Pokemon Day 2025 is the official line being given, which doesn't tell us a whole lot, but given Pokemon TCG Pocket has been uber-popular since it came out, the chances seem pretty damn strong of that at least making some kind of cameo.Especially given that last year's Pokemon Day Pokemon Presents was when TCG Pocket was first announced, alongside Pokemon Legends: Z-A and an event coming to Pokemon Go. So, we're in for a pretty newsworthy time, assuming this year's show packs in as much stuff. Will a new life-sized plush you definitely shouldn't buy second-hand be revealed? Only time will tell.If you're planning on playing a bunch more Pokemon TCG Pocket while you wait for this showcase to start, you can consult our huge array of helpful TCG Pocket guides for expert advice on things like how trading works in its current form and assembling decks based around ex Pokemon ranging from Cresselia to Yanmega.

Can We Fix It?RoadCraft is Snowrunner meets everything that makes Bob the Builders crane arm extend, and its in the latest Steam Next FestLook, it lets you make big tarmac pancakes with a steamroller, what more could you want?Image credit: Saber Interactive/VG247 Article by Mark Warren Senior Staff Writer Published on Feb. 19, 2025 S**t.The trucks come a cropper on that same bend for the third time. Its not my fault. Ive now moved the rocks that were blocking the way, so it wouldnt try to drive over them on two wheels like an episode of The Dukes of Hazzard in which everyones wearing high-vis tops.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. I mean, it is very much my fault that the piles of sand Ive accidentally dumped right in the same spot while clearing out the rocks with a dump truck because I was too lazy to fetch a dozer or a crane lorry are still in the way. Thats a problem for a few minutes time though, when I snap out of the chunkily-tyred ego trip triggered by having created my own stretch of road, and go Oh, right. I should probably move that.RoadCraft is a bit like its weird, bovril-drinking siblings - SnowRunner, Expeditions, the other ones. You know, those Saber Interactive games. The ones in which youre given a big vehicle thats often stocked with stuff that could hilariously fall out if you tip over, and pointed at a thing halfway across a big map. More pot-holes than the average UK council estate always await, as part of something like 30 minutes to eight hours of bullying from mother nature.Its Steam Next Fest demo gives you a taste of about three to four hours worth of this kind of muddy bottom-kicking. Or five to six if youre like me, have decided to play solo, and refuse to learn any of the lessons the driving game version of the Dark Souls series has tried to teach you so far. Its a bit different this time, though, because RoadCrafts spin-off calling card is going more in-depth on letting you pretend to be Bob the Builder. As with making flapjacks, the key is to make sure you get the right mixture of chewiness and hard crust. | Image credit: Saber InteractiveTheres some of the usual trucking and scouting involved, but the meat and potatoes being kept lukewarm in a glove box next to Johnny Cashs greatest hits this time are a bit different. Get ready to build your own roads, chop down trees, and lay electrical cables with heavy machinery. Youll learn what mulching is, and slap some stumps to bits with a giant spinning cutter panel in wonderfully satsifying fashion if you know whats good for you, sonny.Ill be honest, Im probably making it sound a bit more like wacky mayhem than it is. Much like all of its siblings, RoadCraft adopts a very serious and kind of lifeless simulatory tone, you switching one virtual pipe for another and ending up stalled upside down in the process is something that requires a stoic expression at all times. Saber will let you hop into the drivers seat of a big scrapyard crane thats basically a claw machine youve got to fill out a 50 page risk assessment to move an inch, but you should not be smiling while youre in there.As mentioned, there is a decent amount of fresh stuff to dig into across the demo's three levels, even if the central loops a pretty familiar one. The road building mechanics are a nice excuse to watch big vehicles drive backwards and forwards while you pretend you can smell the tarmac going down. Then, youve got the challenge of having to make sure youve done a good enough job of both road, er, crafting and moving general debris thats been strewn about that the AI can follow a route youve pinpointed for it without coming a cropper. Its an interesting twist, given so often these games boil down to whether you yourself, with your lack of concept of things that shouldnt work, can find a way to overcome obstacles by pulling the kind of nonsense that only a real human could. Relax, I've got this - I once nabbed three stuffed toys in three goes in a Yakuza game. | Image credit: Saber InteractiveThat said, you get plenty of exactly that kind of terrain shithousery when doing things like laying cable - you can only put down wires on soft ground, meaning mud and grass, so youre barred from using the paved roads. What followed in this case for me was dragging a vehicle thats a very unwieldy shape, but admittedly can drive over anything thanks to its tracks, through the backwoods. Is it ok in real life if electrical wires are just casually laid by someone driving through the middle of a river or swampy pool? Shouldnt they be somewhere easier to get at than in the middle of some woods a hundred miles from a road for maintenance purposes? Probably not, but it works here.Fitting a valve, however, proved incredibly difficult. I spent a good hour trying to slot it into place with my crane after lugging it all the way to the pipe from a random scrap yard, and I couldnt for the life of me get it to snap into place properly. I couldnt find anything in the codex to work out what I was doing wrong, especially as the regular pipe sections Id had to replace had snapped right in once Id taken out the bits they were subbing in for. In the end, I gave up, but I could try again tomorrow, have it immediately sort itself and that wouldnt be the first time thats happened to me with this series.Theres a decent selection of fresh and interesting vehicles in the demo to try these kinds of jobs with, but the real test for RoadCraft will be whether it does enough different when the full thing arrives to prove it deserves to exist as a separate thing to its predecessors. If it can, its something I can see being a cult hit, but if it doesnt I can see the initial charm of being a slightly inept Bob the Builder being rapidly swept away, like a pile of sand in front of a dozers scoop.

Ok ThenEx-PlayStation exec says studios aren't forced into live-service stuff, they just, er, feel it gives them "a better chance of getting a project approved and supported"We're not forcing you to do a thing, we're just overseeing an environment in which you reckon it might be better if you don't pitch us something else.Image credit: PlayStation News by Mark Warren Senior Staff Writer Published on Feb. 19, 2025 It's ok everyone, former PlayStation exec Shuhei Yoshida has said that - to his knowledge - none of the first-party studios under the console maker's command have been forced into making live-service games. They've more likely just chosen to get on board with the "big initiative", for the small reason of thinking it'd give them a better chance of having a project actually be picked up and supported.The soon to be voice of a duck mascot said this stuff in an interview with Sacred Symbols+ (thanks, Push Square), and it's interesting, if, to be fair, just the kind of thing you'd expect someone who's been a boss at a big company like this to say.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. After saying the bit about studios not being forced into doing live-service things, Yoshida outlined: "From my experience, when studios see the company has a big initiative, [they realise] riding on that gives them a better chance of getting a project approved and supported.""Its not like [current PlayStation Studios boss Hermen Hulst] is telling teams they need to make live service games," he continued, "Its likely mutual."While you can't say he's not technically right, it does seem like Yoshida's dipping into corpospeak here. After all, if you're suggesting that studios are seeing their bosses get really into a certain thing, and concluding that just going along with it will impact their chances of not ending up in the kind of perilous limbo we hear about studios who end up having multiple pitches rejected having to deal with, surely that's not the healthiest thing in the world for a company, and something execs should be trying to mitigate.I know it's a bit idealistic, but surely companies like PlayStation should be aiming to foster an environment in which their flagship studios feel they've got the trust of the higher-ups and can pitch whatever they feel based on their expertise is the right game for their unique talents and can fit into the market best? You know, rather than everyone getting swept up in a company-wide bandwagon and crowding up a space which, in the case of live-service stuff prior to PlayStation's largely ill-fated big push, was already pretty tough to break into and score a big hit.I don't know. To be fair, I've not spent the past 30 years or so playing a big role in leading one of he biggest companies in gaming. Plus, to be fair to Yoshida, he doesn't appear to be saying this a good thing neccesarily, just pointing out that it happens.He also said regarding the live-service projects PlayStation's recently canned: "Yeah, it sucks".

Get In HereRiot co-founder teases a mysterious 2XKO solution to one of the fighting game genres biggest problemsIn an interview with Stephen Totilo, Marc Merrill hints towards something truly tantalizing.Image credit: Riot Games News by Connor Makar Staff Writer Published on Feb. 19, 2025 Marc Merrill has hinted towards something exciting in 2XKO, that would appear to tackle one of the biggest problems in the fighting game genre. That problem being, how to onboard eager newbies into fighting games, which have gained somewhat of a reputation for being arduous to get into.This comes from an interview with Merrill on Game File. In this article, journalist Stephen Totilo asks the Riot co-founder about the upcoming fighting game. While he sidstepped a question about a release date, he was willing to hint towards innovations towards the game's lobby system, as well as its potential for community building. To see this content please enable targeting cookies. "We know a lot of the FGC veterans and incredible pros, as an example, they want the next generation to come in [...] and we think were bringing some solutions to bear that will hopefully enable some of that. According to Totilo, Merill is keen to offer a game that's "tailored for veterens to mentor new players".The act of getting new players involved has proven a tricky one. We've all been there, egging our friend on to download the latest Street Fighter or Mortal Kombat only to see them overwhelmed by the amount of training they have to do. Outside of 2XKO, we've seen community-driven events like the Sajam Slam attempt to show the joy of this learning process through inviting influencers of various skill levels to hop in and battle it out. For Riot's part, the game's 2v2 format certainly encourages experienced players to play directly with their lesser-skilled friends, rather than the traditional over-the-shoulder coaching that has become the norm.Merrill also mentioned something interesting regarding launch when poked for more info on a release date by Totilo. Merrill states: "There's also the question of what exactly is launch, which on its own may not stand out as especailly intriguing. But, combine this with a line later in the piece: "but Merrill believes that a focus on live service support can help Riots game stand out." It begs the question, what exactly will 2XKO's launch look like?As of writing we don't know! We know from Alpha Lab that the foundation appears to be an experience focused around the online lobby system, with a collection of just under 10 characters to play with at the moment. Will this plus a few extra characters make up the release package, or will there be more on offer when the game actually comes out? Well, with a new update on the game's devlopment coming at some point this month, maybe this is something we'll learn more about soon.If you want to read more about Merrill's thoughts about 2XKO and more, including Riot's in-development MMO, you can subscribe to the Game File newsletter. There's way more in there than we've mentioned here, and it's a good read!

Starf TrekRemember Starfield? Well, a new mod makes ship to ship teleportation a thing in it, so you can rudely phase into someone's zero-gravity living room like that Spock guyAt least tell them you're coming once you've blasted their shields to bits, so they can do a nanosecond of tidying up.Image credit: Bethesda News by Mark Warren Senior Staff Writer Published on Feb. 19, 2025 Starfield still exists, believe it or not, and has just gotten an interesting mod that's made me consider re-installing it just so I can roleplay as some kind of intergalactic version of Monty Python's Spanish Inquisition.It's Neeher's 'Ship to Ship Transporter' and it's one of those mods that you look at and think to yourself 'Hang on, how have I ever lived without something like this?' Or at the very least, 'Well, there's a nice alternative to just blasting everything out of the sky and taking forever to dock'.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. As you might've guessed by the name, it's a mod for PC and Xbox that lets you teleport from the inside of your ship into the interior of a hostile vessel, so you can finish off a battle by blasting a crew to bits in-person. After all, if there's one thing Starfield needs, it's the ability to see the faces of more people before you add them to the massive blob of bodies you see every time you shut your eyes because someone's put you to sleep with chatter about Starborn again.As they demonstrate in the video below, Neeher's created two new transporter habs of slightly different sizes, and to install one you'll need to have rank one of the starship design skill.Watch on YouTubeOnce you've bought one and fitted it to your ship at the Deimos staryard, the next time you're in a ship battle and manage to take out the shields of an enemy, you should be able to hop out of the pilot's seat, head over to the transporter and boom, you've phased into the bunk bed of someone you're trying to kill. Assuming the entire crew's not standing right next to where you spawn, you'll have a shot and taking them all out and nicking their stuff.Or, I mean, you can just politely say hello. This is a nice ship you've got here. I'm really digging where you've put the toilet that's specially designed to avoid flinging a bunch of s**t everywhere if the gravity generator fails. Say, have you folks got a minute to hear about our lord and saviour Todd Howard?They'll probably shoot you in the face, but you can try.If nothing else, it's something to do if you're not currently busy with another big RPG like Avowed, which I've just kicked off the world's first bare bum any% speedrun of.

Big Mobile MoneyThis game you've probably never heard of has made $1 billionPixonic's mobile mech shooter has been seriously popping off.Image credit: Pixonic News by Connor Makar Staff Writer Published on Feb. 19, 2025 War Robots - a PvP tactical Sci-Fi shooter from Pixonic - has managed to make over $1 billion in lifetime revenue. This came from an official post on the Pixonic website, which declared the grand financial victory for the mobile game.Now, you may not have heard about War Robots! It's a mobile only game at the moment, though a version of the game is coming to consoles and PC later this year (War Robots Frontiers). But what this news shows is that while some of us (including me, I'll admit) have been laser-focused on other platforms, mobile has continued to show its capability as a home for hugely popular titles.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. Pixonic is an Amsterdam-based developer founded in 2009, and first introduced War Robots to the world back in 2014. So if you thought this was one of those stories of a sudden explosive release, you'd be dead wrong! It looks as though Pixonic has managed to steadily grow War Robots over the years, bringing in a growing community of players who in turn have proven eager to spend a little cash on the game now and then. So much so that, over the past decade, the game has accured over a billion dollars with over 250 million registered users. Nuts.As for how the game is monetised, well, taking a look at various community hubs for the game has shown some level of disatisfaction in regard to pay-to-win aspects of the game. Take the Ultimate versions of weapons and robots, which seem to be vastly improved versions of legacy gear that is only attainable from ultimate luck events (basically loot boxes - check out this guy rolling over and over again) and can perform far above what regular variants of the same weapons / robots. So, it may be worth thinking about how Pixonic managed to make its billion.Anyway, let us know what you think. Have you played War Robots? Are you excited for Frontiers? Is it pay to win? Let us know down below.

Is thereEager to get your hands on Riot Games' in-development MMO? Marc Merrill hopes to get you in before humans land on MarsGame File's Stephen Totilo questioned the Riot founder on the whens and whys of Riot's far out project.Image credit: Riot Games News by Connor Makar Staff Writer Published on Feb. 19, 2025 Riot Game's Co-Founder Marc Merrill has sat down and answered a few questions about the company's in-development Runeterra MMO during this year's DICE Summit. Sitting down with Game File's Stephen Totilo who published the interview, Merrill jokingly remarked that he hopes the game comes out before we go to Mars. If you're excited for this game, you may want to hunker down for a while.Merill also answered a question on why the company is making an MMO in the first place. MMOs are infamously hard to make. They take a long time, a lot of money, and more often than not break themselves upon the rocks of pre-established giants in the genre. Especially today, when players are locking themselves down to a selection of old-faithfuls, it's a perilous venture. To see this content please enable targeting cookies. Merrill responded with the following (though the full quote can be seen by subscribing to The Game File), "I can go through all the laundry list of why its hard, but, you know, I think Riot's exactly the type of company that should go after those types of opportunities, if were trying to make it better for the player."Merrill continues, And with the League IP, we've been investing so much for so long, over time, sort of growing this world and adding dimensions. People want to run around the world of Runeterra. And so we want to help them do that, in ways that are worth it and meaningful to them.It's true that the story of Riot Games over the past few years has been a gigantic push across the entirety of its Runeterra roster of games to expand and enhance the IP as a whole. Arcane proved itself to be a particularly powerful component to this, bringing waves of new people to the IP. League of Legends has recently attempted to capatalize on this increased interest, releasing a new season themed around Noxus (where a future animated series will take place) and having Arcane animation studio Fortiche create a dedicated cinematic trailer for it linking the game back to the Netflix series.As for the MMO, we still aren't entirely clear on how far along it is - though Merrill's statement above indicates it's still very far out from a full release. Back in 2023 Greg Street stepped down from an executive producer role on the game and left to work on a totally different MMO over at Fantastic Pixel Castle.When do you think the Riot MMO will eventually come out? Let us know below!

Go May Join Go if GoPokemon Go and Monopoly Go could reportedly soon be under the same Saudi-owned umbrella, if Scopely and Niantic press go on a dealWe may soon witness the formation of a terrifying 'pretty addictive mobile things with go in the name' singularity.Image credit: Niantic/Scopely News by Mark Warren Senior Staff Writer Published on Feb. 19, 2025 It's a Wednesday, and I'm here to bring you news that - as far as I'm aware - two of the world's most well-known mobile games with Go in the name could be about to be owned by the same company, which doesn't also have go in the name, and is owned by Saudi Arabia's Savvy Games Group.According to a report from Bloomberg, Pokemon Go developer Niantic is in talks with Monopoly Go publisher Scopely over a deal for the latter to buy the former's video games business element. About $3.5 billion, so several volumes more cash than you or I will ever see in our lives, is the repoted price tag currently being discussed.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. Bloomberg adds that any agreement - if one is indeed reached - would almost certainly include Pokemon Go. As you might remember, Go was massive back in the days when TCG Pocket was yet to even become a glint in the eye of the bit TPC that's dedicated to making lucrative things involving putting together an army of cute fake animals who'll then fight to the death on your behalf, you monster.However, Niantic has struggled to replicate that kind of success in recent yers, despite the likes of Monster Hunter Now and Pikmin Bloom doing pretty decently for it. MH Now, for example, has helped one of my coworkers realise he actually likes his mates.Enter Scopely, which is owned by the Savvy Games Group that's part of Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, and is riding the wave of Monopoly Go generating more cash than you'd need to buy the entire board several times over.As you may be aware, Savvy's growing wave of investments across the games industry - including stakes in the likes of EA and Take-Two Interactive - have proven controversial due to the PIF being the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia, whose ruler Mohammed bin Salman and government have been criticised for the country's human rights record. Bin Salman has also been accused of ordering the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018.

LayoffsMarvel Rivals US developers laid off despite having helped make a big hit, as NetEase says it's "investing more, not less, into the evolution and growth of this game"Publisher says cutting jobs from its US Rivals team was a "difficult decision" designed to "to optimize development efficiency for the game".Image credit: NetEase News by Mark Warren Senior Staff Writer Published on Feb. 19, 2025 Despite Marvel Rivals having been about as big a hit as you could really hope for since it arrived on the scene late last year, publisher NetEase has just laid off staff from the game's US development team.News of these job cuts broke when Rivals devs at NetEase's Seattle-based studio began revealing they'd been let go, with the likes of game director Thaddeus Sasser plus level designers Garry McGee and Jack Burrows posting on LinkedIn about having been laid off.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. "This is such a weird industry," Sasser wrote, "My stellar, talented team just helped deliver an incredibly successful new franchise in Marvel Rivals for NetEase Games... and were just laid off!"NetEase has since released a statement confirming that layoffs at its US Rivals studio have taken place, but it doesn't appear to have shared exact numbers in terms of those affected, but has confirmed to PC Gamer that Marvel Rivals now has no Seattle-based developers working on it. The Chinese publisher wrote that the "reduction" of the Seattle-based team was a "difficult decision" taken "to optimize development efficiency for the game"."We appreciate the hard work and dedication of those affected and will be treating them confidentially and respectfully with recognition for their individual contributions," NetEase continued, adding that Rivals' "core development team" in China "remains fully committed to delivering an exceptional experience". To see this content please enable targeting cookies."We are investing more, not less, into the evolution and growth of this game," it concluded, "Were excited to deliver new super hero characters, maps, features, and content to ensure an engaging live service experience for our worldwide player base."If you're wondering why NetEase has suddenly jettisoned a bunch of devs that helped it make what's been an undeniably successful game to this point, it appears that this may not be a call that's come in isolation, with Daniel Ahmad - games industry analyst at Niko Partners - having tweeted that it's "part of a broader reconsideration of NetEases overseas investments and studios"."The firm has pulled funding from a number of overseas teams over the past year," he added, writing that "the reevaluation, which is still ongoing, is being undertaken for multiple reasons."

And A Bottle Of SakeLike a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii review: a swashbuckling success with strange showeringRGG Studios latest spin-off somehow pulls off being both a great pirate game and a pretty damn good Yakuza game.Image credit: SEGA/VG247 Review by Mark Warren Senior Staff Writer Published on Feb. 18, 2025 12 copies of the same photo book have just been sold to the same loveable idiot. Thankfully, hes got a pirate ship to store them on.Its crewed by a mishmash of weirdos from all walks of life, wholl actually become better at the whole swashbuckling thing if theyre gifted one of these tomes. But thatll have to wait.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. Goro Majima and a woman hes trying to invite to a party which at one point will revolve around a middle-aged man showering while gripping a dandelion between his teeth step off the boat onto a remote island. As they chill out on the beach, tells her hes helping a kid live the dream an adventure on the high seas thatd shiver anyones timbers.Things get quite touching for a moment. Then, a gang of pirates attack. Majima goes to whip them into shape by chucking his trusty boomerang cutlasses, and hes got backup he doesnt expect. Shes pulled a full-size sniper rifle out of thin air, and is blasting away in a fashion thatd make Danny DeVito proud. Naturally, hell later recruit her into his seafaring Kiryu Clan as a laser cannoneer.Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii does this kind of thing often. Its a Yakuza game, a pirate game, a pirate Yakuza game, and a Yakuza pirate game. It switches between these identities more smoothly than Goro Majima switches outfits in the pink phone box-sized changing rooms at his various hangouts. It revels in the inherent ridiculousness of this duality, and yet if you let yourself be brought along for the ride, youll still find it has a solid smattering of more serious and characterful moments.There were a few points in its main story which sees the iconic series charismatic mad dog washed up with amnesia on the shores of an island off the coast of Hawaii, and evolves into a hunt for a hidden treasure horde with all the scheming intrigue that you get whenever things go pear-shaped for the Tojo Clan when I found myself wondering if Pirate Yakuza truly felt like a Majima story. If you were to plug Like A Dragon namesake Kazuma Kiryu in there, would things play out all that differently? Theres certainly some crossover - theyre both tough, ageing yakuza blokes whose carefully cultivated underworld mannerisms give way to an inner warmth. A little bit of treasure can Majimake your day. | Image credit: SEGA/VG247But this is a Majima story not just because it takes the series weirdness knob and cranks it up to maximum when it makes sense to do so but because it conveys a different viewpoint on life to any of Kiryus adventures, especially the gritty Like A Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name. What at first you can easily mistake for carefree, childlike lust for life that might border on a nihilistic ducking of responsibility, as Majima seems to dismiss all that hes forgotten in his desire to keep the rush of rampaging adventure flowing, rounds out into something more than that. Sure, both Kiryu and Majima have lost their sense of identity at the start of these refreshingly short tales theres a shared alienation, a sense of having to reconnect with the world but it comes in unique forms.Kiryus fighting not to drown in the real, and to find something worth believing in thatll power him onwards in his new life. Majimas having to mature and drag himself away from the allure of living a fantasy, while not losing his wild horse soul.That fantasys encapsulated by the pirate lifestyle he merrily stumbles into, and begins to get lost in the trappings of. As a pirate game, Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is the most fun Ive had single-player swashbuckling since Assassins Creed Black Flag and I dont just say that because the formers sailing and ship combat feels like its deliberately drawn plenty of inspiration from what Ubisoft executed so well.The controls, the feel of manoeuvring your vessel to deliver another broadside blast, the picking away from afar with side-weapons. Its all in there, and its like slipping back into a nice, warm rum bath. Theres not as much of as focus on ramming to dish out big damage something I feel like Black Flag totally nailed but you can have plenty of fun with the array of gatling guns, RPGs, and elemental armaments Pirate Yakuza uses to take things to a ridiculous and very Like A Dragon level. Your ship also has the ability to boost and drift about, like a big dragon kart with sails, because of course it does. Sadly, sticking a massage machine on the bow of your frigate doesn't grant you additional ramming abilities. | Image credit: SEGA/VG247That said, it did feel like a lot of the early-to-mid-game ship battle difficulty curve was negated by the fact I could craft some laser cannons pretty quickly with their short, sustained bursts doing a hefty chunk of damage compared to the blasts of more regular cannons, and the recharge time not feeling like it offered too much of a penalty to counteract the added firepower. Its only once I started running into the real cream of the crop at the Pirates Coliseum the battle arena thats the centrepiece of Pirate Yakuzas main new addition to the setting of established Infinite Wealth locations Honolulu and Nele Island that I felt in any danger of being sunk.RGGs no stranger to a good battle arena, and the coliseum feels like one of its best. Not just a place to grind up your crews levels and cash to upgrade or customise your ship, but as the place you come to harden yourself ahead of a key main story battle or a dungeon run of treasure islands often guarded by the tough Devil Flags a notoriously rowdy pirate armada youre tasked with dismantling as one the games main sub-plots.Meanwhile, when youre on land, youll be rampaging about on foot in the more typical Like A Dragon style. Majimas two fighting styles a mad dog stance thatd definitely give early Yakuza series Kiryu PTSD and a sea dog stance thats, as youve probably guessed, piratey are both very satisfying, if perhaps a bit overpowered when it comes to their top line heat and madness abilities, especially when coupled with Majima's ability to rapidly move and jump around in a way that his enemies just can't. Its much more noticeable early on, especially if youre on the standard difficulty, with the likes of the mad dog Majima cloning ability you can activate when you fill up the wonderfully-named madness gauge in that style being able to summon multiple clones that can easily knock full bars of health off of boss enemies while you just chill.The sea dog style ultimate abilities of playing brilliantly weird cursed instruments that summon spectral animals are similarly powerful, and can also feel like a cheat code if youre not facing a huge horde of enemies or someone especially tough. That said, especially in the likes of pirate crew deck brawls and treasure island runs, youll be unable to pause and down some trusty Staminan, which does help make things feel better balanced. Sometimes you do actually need a huge ghost monkey summoned by strumming a riff, you know? In addition to summoning one by channeling Majimi Hendrix, you can also set up a little zoo with a monkey in it. | Image credit: SEGAThe on-foot sections of the game do a commendable job of not feeling as out of whack with the sailing as they easily could have. While some of the Honolulu activities which have just been pulled over from Infinite Wealth, like the photo rallies and yelling hello at people in the street to fill up your Aloha Links friend list, dont fit nearly as well here as they did with that games wonderfully cheesy summer holiday vibe, theyre largely the exception.RGGs also embraced visual customisation in a more in-depth manner than it ever has before here not just with your ship, but with putting together custom outfits for Majima thatre mix-and-matchable, rather than rigidly set. Youll spend most of your time in your getup of choice, ticking off suitably piratey sub-stories and goals in order to recruit new crewmates, as well as hunting down bounty targets pulled from IWs array of different enemy categories to beef up your bank balance in refreshingly ungrindy chunks.That said, there was one side bit of the game that didnt feel like it belonged. Its the ending to the pretty major and otherwise perfectly pirate Yakuza Minato Girls sub-story (which I kicked this review off by describing an encounter from). Suddenly, the game cuts away to a bunch of live-action filmed skits with the voice actor of Majimas crewmate Masato awkwardly failing to seduce the five ladies youve gotten to come to his party. I could get the jokes Japanese comedian Ryji Akiyama was trying to tell, but the sudden change in format took me out of it, and the punchlines didnt land as well as they might have if Id for example been watching a guy crack wise about having love juice put in his hair via a classic Yakuza animated cutscene or bit of dialogue.Aside from that, though, you might not be blown away by any of its individual pieces in terms of seeing them as steps forward for the series or the gaming industry, as can probably be expected from a spin-off, but to borrow a quote from a certain short guy, it all just works. You can see exactly what the devs are going for with each choice and mechanic, why theyve done it, and have as much loveably idiotic pirate Yakuza fun as youd want to.Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii releases on February 21, 2025 for PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, and PC via Steam. This review was conducted on PS5 using a code provided by the publisher.

Part Of The TeamCharlie Cox would love for Daredevil to get the "upgrade" of appearing in Avengers Doomsday or Secret Wars, though you have to wonder if he's just saying that to throw us off the scentLiving up to his name.Image credit: Netflix/ Marvel News by Oisin Kuhnke Contributor Published on Feb. 18, 2025 Daredevil as a character can't exactly keep up with the likes of Thor, but Charlie Cox is still interested in appearing in the next Avengers movies.Despite being quite a popular character, Daredevil has obviously had a bit of a weird go of it, given that he's had a popular Netflix series that eventually got canned, before winding up officially in the MCU through Spider-Man, making a cameo in She-Hulk that apparently won't matter that much, before now finally getting his own show again in the upcoming Born Again. With how popular the Netflix series was, I doubt Daredevil will be getting his own film anytime soon, but he could always appear in one of the movies, and as actor Charlie Cox shared in a recent interview with GQ, he thinks it's "more possible than its ever been."To see this content please enable targeting cookies. The actor went on to share that he would "love to be in one of the Avengers films, or another Spider-Man, or something like that. For a couple of reasons. One, because over the years I have become a geeky fan of the character, and I weirdly, for the characters sake, feel like itd be really cool for him to get that kind of upgrade." That second reason is apparently a bit more personal, with Cox saying that he would "also just love it in terms of what it would do for my chances of getting other movie roles."Cox goes on to talk about how despite some successes along the way he's never quite made it into the big, big time, Daredevil being one of the biggest projects he's been a part of, noting that he's "always had to convince people." Seeing as people love him as the man without fear, so much so that he also reprised his role as the character in the animated, alternate timeline series Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, I imagine very few would need convincing to see him in Doomsday or Secret Wars.Of course, his appearance in Spider-Man: No Way Home was meant to be a bit of a surprise, so his comments about hoping to appear in an Avengers film could just be a way of making us think he won't be in the next couple. Shoot dates have been roughly set for both Doomsday and Secret Wars, so perhaps it's only a matter of time before we find out if Daredevil will be around to help out in either of them.

Sulthing DifferentFallout New Vegas is being re-created in The Sims 2, so I assume we're not long from seeing Mr House's monitor be chucked in a pool by some pesky step-deleting courierVulpes Inculta apparently likes having a kick about with ghouls, the more you know.Image credit: Obsidian/EA/FalloutPropMaster News by Mark Warren Senior Staff Writer Published on Feb. 18, 2025 Ok, so there've been crap tonne of projects which have aimed to bring some of one Fallout game into another Fallout game, but now someone's trying to re-create the best Fallout game to a medium that makes even more sense - The Sims 2. Enter The Sims 2: New Vegas, a fan-made 'Remaster' that if nothing else looks like yet another great example of good things happening when Fallout fans get bored.This is a work-in-progress thing with its own dedicated subreddit spotted by TheGamer, where Baron Pulitzer - who goes by the handle FalloutPropMaster and looks to be the owner of an independent film production company by day - has been documenting their progress for about a week now.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. "I've gotten impatient waiting for a remastered version of Fallout: New Vegas," they wrote in their intro post, "My dream is to have a remaster that also allows us to revisit some cut content that existed during the in-house Beta of Fallout: New Vegas."After finding a few uploads by user 'lilipad' on ModTheSims of a couple of casinos on the New Vegas Strip for The Sims 2, it inspired me to try and remake New Vegas in The Sims 2 to the best of my abilities. I have modded Fallout 3 and New Vegas in the past, but never the Sims, so I will also take this opportunity to learn."Over the past week, I have been able to revisit some programs I used over a decade ago (Milkshape, FOMM, Blender, Nifscope and others), and not only is that a wonderful and bleak blast of nostalgia, but also something new to do with my free time." Bringing Some Familiar Characters Together Before Testing out some new UI and Menus! byu/FalloutPropMaster inTheSims2NewVegasTo see this content please enable targeting cookies.Thus far, they've shown off the likes of them starting to plot out where different buildings will go in their Mojave Wasteland neigbourhood that'll naturally include The Strip and Freeside, as well as their re-creation of Goodsprings' Prospector Saloon - because where else would you start with this kind of project?They've also been working on some characters. There are a couple of shots of everyone's favourite Legion wolf hat guy Vulpes Inculta just chilling with a couple of ghouls and then playing kickball with them, as well as a household of companions who're no doubt bonding over sharing stories of a certain postman casually using them as bullet sponges while running away to inject 50 stimpaks at once.The latest shot also shows off a revamped version of TS2's UI that's very classic Fallout, which is cool.So, something to keep an eye on, especially if you're currently enjoying dipping back into The Sims 2 via the Legacy Collection remaster and have somewhow ended up craving another trip through the Mojave as a cannibal whose aim is to eat Mr House, accidentally become vilified while trying to chomp on some Caesar salad, and then go the independent Vegas route because you're worried the NCR will give you weird looks.

New Predator?Helldivers 2 players are being ordered to venture into the Gloom and I'm sure the new bugs Arrowhead's teasing in horror flick fashion won't be a problemForget that planet-eating black hole for now, apparently, you've got some spore fog to get slapped up in.Image credit: Arrowhead News by Mark Warren Senior Staff Writer Published on Feb. 18, 2025 Helldivers 2 players just handled splattering a lod of bugs with almost terrifying efficiency. So, naturally Arrowhead's decided to take things up a notch with its latest major order - you're gonna fight some more bugs in some spooky spore fog, and it's looking like some of these Terminids will be a fresh strain of nasty space vermin.I know what you're thinking. Isn't there a whole planet-eating Meridia black hole on a path to Super Earth right now that we should probably be dealing with? Nah, don't worry about it. I'm sure that having gobbled up Angel's Venture, it's gonna need a little more time to digest, so there's time for you go on a fuel-based detour.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. This latest bug order has been made possible than to a lab on Turing producing the "first line of prototypes for Gloom-resistant equipment". That's a good thing, Arrowhead says, because: "the astrophysicists on Fori Prime, in their quest for knowledge about Dark Energy and the Meridian Singularity, have been depleting their allocated E-710 at an alarming rate. However, there is a Terminid ecosystem full of untapped potential within reach: the Gloom."At least the "Gloom conditions" you'll be dealing with as you battle to take control of Fori Prime, collect 100 million common samples from it and casually wipe out a billion Terminids are "remarkably favorable at the moment". To see this content please enable targeting cookies.Speaking of killing terminids, the in-game news report footage Arrowhead's shared in its announcement of this order features plenty of horror movie shaky cam, and at least one short of what looks to be a fresh variant of bug, which you might already know about if you keep track of Helldivers 2 leaks.Anyway, the in-character folks in the game's community are posting shots of said fresh bug with captions like "Oh no.... what the hell is that" and "WHAT THE F**K IS THAT!?". The latter the poster has censored themselves, so we here at VG247 thank them for keeping their trouser-filling terror PG.Are you looking forward to heading into the Gloom, or are you keenm to get back to black hole battling ASAP? Let us know below!