HoYoverse promises Honkai Star Rail character reworks for Kafka and some old fan favorites in version 3.4Bringing a batch of oldies to the modern metaImage credit: HoYoverse News by Josh Broadwell Contributor Published on March 29, 2025 A set of Honkai Star Rail character reworks designed to bring popular, once-powerful characters back to some kind of relevance is coming in HSR 3.4, HoYoverse announced during the RPG's latest livestream. Kafka, Silver Wolf, Blade, and Jingliu will get some kind of overhaul in response to fan requests that these specific characters be revamped, HoYoverse said, but the studio held back on what these changes might consist of.Assuming the game's update schedule remains uninterrupted, HSR 3.4 should go live in early July 2025.Each of the four were considered among the best characters in Honkai Star Rail when they debuted in the game across 2023, and Kafka found new relevance in 2024 when Acheron swept into the game. However, their damage output and team compositions have faded over time. Jingliu requires heavy investment and still dishes out less damage than others in her class; Kafka hasn't had any new damage-over-time characters to work with in months, and recent addition Mydei is essentially Blade 2.0.Old characters fading into irrelevance, colloquially called "powercreep," is nothing new for gacha games like Honkai Star Rail, though HoYoverse's modern games typically don't see their characters lose relevance so quickly. Some of Genshin Impact's high performers from the game's first few years still rank high on popular tier lists and can see players through endgame challenges without issue. Then there's Zenless Zone Zero, where it's feasible to tackle bosses and other tough opponents using the same three, free characters you start the game with. While both games have changed, they haven't left their characters behind.It seems unlikely that HoYoverse has similar plans for other characters, though. Time has left Bailu, Yanqing, Natasha, Hook, and Welt in the dust, so to speak, and there's no suggestion that'll change anytime soon.Speaking of older characters, you'll have a chance to pick one of two free 5-star characters once version 3.2 goes live, either Ruan Mei or Luocha.

DIRECTLYThe Legend of Zelda live-action movie now has a full release date, as Nintendo uses its swanky new app to reveal something directlyThe Miyamoto funny hand gesture prophecy has been fulfilled.Image credit: VG247/Nintendo News by Mark Warren Senior Staff Writer Published on March 28, 2025 It's happened. Nintendo has used the new Nintendo Today app it revealed and rolled out yesterday to announce some news. It's not Nintendo Switch 2 news, though, cos that won't start until next week - instead it's the full release date of that live-action Legend of Zelda movie, which we now know comes out on March 26, 2027Yep, it's only taken a day for the Today app to deliver on what Shigeru Miyamoto said it would - delivering big Nintendo news to you (does hand gesture) DIRECTLY. Outstanding efficiency from the Mario bunch, 10/10.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. All Nintendo Today has revealed is that date, though, there's no additional info about the movie. So, if you're looking for something to tide you over for the just under two years until that day rolls around, you're out of luck unless you happen to interested in other Nintendo things that are going on right now, like the very obscure and low-key new console it's putting out this year. At the very least, this is guaranteed to get boatloads of people to download the Today app anticipating that it'll blast a lot more big Nintendo news into their eyeballs 24/7 for the foreseeable future. To see this content please enable targeting cookies.This live-action Zelda movie was first revealed back in 2023, causing our contributor Oisin Kuhnke to experience an overwhelming sense of disbelief partially brought on by the fact Sony Pictures Entertainment was co-financing the film alongside Nintendo. They pulled themselves together and did the journalism though, because we're all professionals that would deliver you news even if our legs were being sawn off as we came up with shite kickers.I might also need to ask them to pick out my next set of lottery numbers, as they wrote that they'd not expect the Zelda movie "no sooner than 2027" back in November last year, when Nintendo confirmed that it'd at least be coming in a year that started with the numbers two, zero and then another two.Are you excited about seeing the Zelda movie in 2027? Let us know below!

PhwoarAssuming we're not being goofed on, Marvel Rivals is making Venom jiggle his symbiussy next week in celebration of April Fools' dayWell, at least NetEase and the game's modding community are finally on the same page.Image credit: NetEase News by Mark Warren Senior Staff Writer Published on March 28, 2025 Ok, so, it's March 28 as I write this, so I can't be in danger of falling victim to a news writer's worst nightmare aside from a hypothetical 2AM Geoff Keighley showcase that's running head to head with a Nintendo Direct, but NetEase still has me worried.It's revealed - assuming it's not goofing on us all, which looks unlikely if not impossible - that it's celebrating April Fools' day by bringing a Venom twerk emote to Marvel Rivals next week. Yep. You can see why I'm writing this with my fingers crossed, can't you?To see this content please enable targeting cookies. This Symbiote Boogie emote - which will be earnable (again assuming it's not a goof) as an in-game reward from 1AM GMT/8PM ET on April 1/March 31 until April 4 at 1AM GMT, which is 8PM ET on April 3 - was announced via a tweet and post on Marvel Rivals' official Discord server."April Fools is just around the corner, Rivals - and the smoothest symbiote in the Multiverse is ready to celebrate," NetEase wrote, "That's right, it's not a joke - finish Galacta's Cosmic Adventure and collect all 24 rewards on the path to unlock the Symbiote Boogie emote! Because nothing says 'cosmic chaos' like watching your hero bust a slimy move on the battlefield." To see this content please enable targeting cookies.Look, surely this has to be real. The company's posted this well before the morning of April 1 itself, surely you can't annouce a thing that has an in-game debut time that's in the danger zone for some places in the world, but before it starts for others, then retroactively go 'Ha, we got you, suckers'. Right? Come on. Otherwise you could just cheekily reveal an April Fools' joke emote in September the previous year, which would be ludicrous, if also quite funny.Anyway, we've seen this apparent emote well before April 1, and Venom's cheeks are looking a bit like thicc liquorice as he puts his back into throwing it back. His tongue's out too, though to be fair that's just the norm for him. "Venom cake is huge now, Venom mains ganna spam that emote every chance they get", one player on the Rivals Discord server wrote of this bollocks, and I think that pretty much sums up the situation.Are you desperately praying this Venom twerk emote isn't a goof? Let us know below!

If you hopped into Elden Ring Nightreign's network testing back in February, now's your chance to look at some numbers and say 'I contributed to that'. FromSoft's put out some stats about the usual stuff - from boss kills to runes lost. Read more

Fuse-alicious"We wanted to create new ways to experience the game" 2XKO game designer manager breaks down the big changes coming in Alpha Lab 2Clockwork sits down with us for an exclusive interview about the two new Fuses, wider gameplay adjustments, and whether he's the best MvC player on the team.Image credit: Riot Games Article by Connor Makar Staff Writer Published on March 28, 2025 Yesterday, fans of 2XKO were blessed with a lot of news related to the upcoming Alpha Lab 2 test. Not only did we learn about what changes are coming, but also when players will be able to hop back in to 2XKO, as well as a few teases for the future such as the launch number of characters that'll be available at launch.But of course, even with the latest video closing in on an hour in length, there's still plenty of questions surrounding the changes coming this April. So to help peel back the curtain a little, I sat down and talked to one Daniel "Clockw0rk" Maniago from the development team. Below you can find the full 20-ish minute interview, filled with insight on the two new fuses, Fury Break, and more.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. VG247: Let's start with the two new fuses: Juggernaut and Sidekick. Both appear to be attempts to make the onboarding process easier. To start, could you speak to the design philosophy behind Sidekick?Clockwork: "Yeah, we wanted to create new ways to experience the game of course. Sidekick for starters, we wanted to improve the duo experience. The duo experience is really important to us. So we wanted a Fuse that's meant to serve the cohort of duos where one player doesn't want the pressure of being the point and would rather be in a supporter role. So the way the Sidekick Fuse works is that you can't switch champs in combat, but we provide additional tools to the assist character to help the point character.""Sidekick also works for solo players who want to experience the game's assist mechanics, but want to focus on a single champion on point, so Sidekick is a simplified Fuse for those players. I'd also like to mention for this Fuse there's pre-round agency. So at the start of the match you can tag between the characters to play on point. That works for Sidekick too, so if you're playing assist and say "hey, I want to play point this time" you can switch."VG247: One thing I like about Sidekick is the ability for the support champ to time button presses with opponent attacks to lower damage. Where did that idea come from? It seems to me like an effort to make the support role player have more agency, rather than sitting back and spectating.Clockwork: "That's exactly it. With Sidekick and the game in general, we were very cognizant of assist players who were playing duos, we didn't want there to be too much downtime, that they were alt-tabbing to other tabs especially after the KO. So we wanted to make sure they had something to do and stay engaged. Not only stay engaged, but feel like they have a meaningful impact on the match.""It's funny, right when I joined the team they had this idea of like a combo sweetener and a combo softener. It didn't have any gameplay functionality, but it would play a sound when you were in a combo and the opponent was hitting you. It would give you something to do, and that was something that inspired us to add something to Sidekick to give the assist something to do." Both Sidekick and Juggernaut will depend more on the point champion, who'll be granted powerful bonuses. | Image credit: Riot GamesVG247: Given we've got Juggernaut as well now, you said the team got feedback from players who wanted to play solo. How did the team approach making Juggernaut, and how do you balance the desires from those players with the reality that 2XKO is fundamentally a 2v2 game?Clockwork: "So we wanted to provide a game for players who - like you said - wanted to experience the game as a solo champion with no tag mechanics at all. For those who don't typically play tag fighters and want to ease themselves into the game, maybe while they're finding a second champion that they like. Or maybe there are players out there who only like one champion! Even though Sidekick provides a similar experience, we were looking out for those players who don't want to choose another champion, and don't want to be forced to play a champ they don't like. You still do pick another champion and you can still quick tag, but you don't have to.""Obviously in 2XKO you're losing a lot of power if you aren't using a second champion. So we wanted to do something similar to Sidekick, and add some additional power to Juggernaut. The idea is that if you've focused on Juggernaut, we do want to give you some tools to use so it is competitive. We have Eject, additional metre they can work with, and more health."VG247: Would you say you've designed these Fuses are introductory, that for the most part are intended to be moved on from as people become more familiar with the game? Or have they been built to remain powerful in high-end gameplay?Clockwork: "I'd say it's a mix of both. We're expecting a lot of players who play Sidekick and Juggernaut, once they get comfortable with two champions and playing them on point, to move on to other Fuses that have more intricate tag functionality. But we are expecting some players, maybe if they find these two Fuses to be their preferred way to play the game, to stick with it and be competitive. We're really curious to see how it shakes out during Alpha Lab 2 and beyond and what players do with them." Regardless of what Fuse you use, Jinx will be playable from Alpha Lab 2 onwards. | Image credit: Riot GamesVG247: How do you and the team expect it to shake out? How popular do you think they'll be initially compared to the tail end of the Alpha Lab?Clockwork: "I would say Fuses like Double Down, Freestyle, and 2X Assist are really strong and we've seen what players are able to do with these Fuses. Whereas I think we've yet to see the true potential of some of these additional powers we've added with Sidekick and Juggernaut. My general expectation is that the more advanced Fuses will be really strong, but I do expect some breakout performances from Sidekick and Juggernaut. Maybe not dominating the meta by any means, but I am expecting people to put in the work with these Fuses."VG247: I'd like to move onto Fury Break, which is particulary interesting, especially talking to you about it. Clockwork, you're well known for your history with the Marvel Vs Capcom series, and played MvC3 for over a decade. I know you know the conflicting feelings some people had about X-Factor as a come back mechanic. You mentioned that Fury Break is a comeback mechanic added in response to players' feelings that it was hard to make a comeback, but how has the team balanced it so it's not too strong and comebacks don't feel underserved.Clockwork: "From my personal experience, it's maybe not as bombastic as some of the other comeback mechanics you've seen in fighting games, but there's certainly a lot of power there. There's even more power as you learn the intricacies too. For example, in the old Fury Fuse, you could use dash cancels to help your offense and combos. That's been ported over to Fury Break, as well as of course the straight bonuses to damage and defence.""So I think that there's an added layer of strategy here when you get deep into it. Depending on the context you use it, you can use Fury Break still as a regular break to get out of a combo and get some benefit, or you can use it raw. When we first introduced Fury Break to internal testing, players were still using it as a combo breaker, but as players get better and find opportunities to use it offensively for combo extensions or using it raw, I'm expecting Fury stocks to go up." Fury might offer that x factor needed to make a big comeback.Image credit: Riot GamesVG247: I imagine the limit to Fury is that dash cancelling using Fury removed five seconds off the Fury duration right? Do you feel that should adequately limit the power of Fury Break?Clockwork: "Yeah, and really a lot of that has to do with one of our big overarching themes of the updates from Alpha Lab 1 to 2, we want to improve decision making. Not only in combos, but also with Fury. So there are decisions on when to activate Fury, decisions on what you're doing in Fury, and even before your Fury Break is active you have to make decisions on how much you want to save for Fury Break as opposed to the regular break. So it's all about decisions, and different players will make different ones, that's one separates players and play styles."VG247: One thing that was mentioned in the dev update was combos being shortened, or at least combos feeling shorter. Was this an easy decision to make? I know after Alpha Lab 1 there was a big discussion around this, but on the other hand big flashy combos are still a major draw for fighting game fans!Clockwork: "It's a delicate balance. You want to make sure players don't feel like they're stuck in long combos frequently, but you also want to ensure there are flashy combos players can aspire to learn. There were some tough decisions, but there were also some easy decisions. In AL1 we saw a lot of the top end of combos had to do with Double Down and using it multiple times in a combo, so we've limited that. Also, some of the easier bread-and-butter combos Ahri was doing, adjusting that was also an easy decision.""But we do also want there to be juice, and for characters to be performing cool combos that are unique to them." Take Jinx, who'll be using various traps and projectiles for distinct combos. | Image credit: VG247VG247: Given your history and the history of other former players on the team like MarlinPie, how do you ensure that there is still room for some really disgusting stuff?Clockwork: "It's a combination of a lot of different things. One of the core tenets to champion design and combos is we want to make sure the combos you can do are very unique to the champions you're using. So Yasuo is a good example, he can do combos that link together with his special attacks. But maybe some of the combos where you have a lot of light-medium-heavy filler over and over again, those are the things we want to address. So keeping the champions and the champion fantasy intact, and having that reflected in the combos, rather than having these filler combos is important."VG247: Taking a macro view now of Alpha Lab 2, it looks like a lot of these gameplay changes appear to be a helping hand to newer fighting game players, giving them more options to learn, making it easier to see what's going on in regards to blocking / parrying, making it easier to hit certain assists and do wall bounce combos. Was that a major takeaway from the first alpha lab? That more had to be done for that kind of player?Clockwork: "Yeah I think we got a lot of feedback regarding clarity, not knowing why things were happening, or why players got hit with certain things. So gameplay clarity, not just in gameplay but the HUD as well, was something we focused on. Not only that, but also the excitement. Big callouts. We consider a parry to be a huge callout right? So we wanted to make sure that not only that was clear to those playing and watching, but also players making those big callouts were getting rewarded for making those big plays."VG247: One final fun question. Your community manager Ben Forbes has been talking sh*t about how good at Tekken 8 he is. Is he the best Tekken player in the office?Clockwork: (laughs) "So I've never played him in Tekken, but I believe every word that comes out of Ben's mouth word-for-word. So if he says he's the best Tekken player in the office, if he told me he was the best Tekken player in the world, I'd believe him."VG247: That's a very good PR answer. Who's the best Marvel Vs Capcom player in the office?Clockwork: "That's a ridiculous question. It's obviously me. Ask around the office, they'll tell you the same thing (laugh)."The 2XKO Alpha Lab 2 is going live in the Americas on April 18-20. If you're able to play, let us know what you're the most excited to test out below!

Ooh, mysterious...What's the difference between "Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive games" and "Nintendo Switch 2 edition games"? Ninty says all will be revealed next weekIt seems it's always worth reading the fine print.Image credit: Nintendo News by Mark Warren Senior Staff Writer Published on March 28, 2025 What's a Nintendo Switch 2 edition game, and how does it differ from the console exclusives it seems to be separate thing to? That's the question folks have been left contemplating after stumbling across a bit of small print Nintendo's put out there, and the console maker says you'll get your answer next week.Would that be the week that happens to feature a certain Switch 2 Direct? Yes, it is, Inspector Clouseau.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. The bit of fine print that's alerted everyone to Switch 2 edition games existing came attatched to the "Virtual Game Card" system Ninty revealed at yesterday's original Switch-focused Direct - there's more on that here. Naturally, after telling us that feature was coming, Nintendo put a webpage live that offers more info about how it works. "Compatible systems must be linked to a Nintendo Account to use virtual game cards," it reads, "Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive games and Nintendo Switch 2 Edition games can only be loaded on a Nintendo Switch 2 system. To move virtual game cards between two systems, you must pair the systems via local wireless and an internet connection, but only when pairing the systems for the first time. Up to two systems total can be linked per Nintendo Account."Naturally, the big talking point's been what difference between exclusive games and edition games is. The theory that seems most obvious is the edition ones being classic Switch games that end up getting special Switch 2 versions designed to make proper use of all the the hardware as the Switch 2-only exclusives will. That would make playing the regular Switch edition - to use another console for comparision - a bit like playing a PS4 copy of a game on your PS5. Still good, but not all-singing, all-dancing.IGN reached out to Ninty to ask for clarfication as to what the small print means, and reports being told to wait until April 2 - the date of that big Switch 2 Direct. So, you can bet your collection of life-size Mario body pillows we'll learn what a Switch 2 edition game is from Nintendo DIRECTLY then.Do you think Switch 2 edition games will be original Switch games enhanced for Switch 2? Let us know below!

April 2I'm not saying Hollow Knight: Silksong fans aren't fine after that Nintendo Direct, but one has slammed out a 779 word all-caps text wall that's just the Switch 2 Direct dateAPRIL 2, APRIL 2, APRIL 2, APRIL 2, APRIL 2, APRIL 2, APRIL 2, (inhale), APRIL 2, APRIL 2, APRIL 2...Image credit: Team Cherry News by Mark Warren Senior Staff Writer Published on March 28, 2025 Sorry, Hollow Knight: Silksong fans. My heart goes out to you. Your game didn't show up at yesterday's Nintendo Direct, so now I guess you'll just have to shift your hopes to next week's Switch 2 Direct. Actually, let's just see how you're copin-.....oh.One of you has written out the Switch 2 Direct's date in all caps more times than I can count. Ok, then. I'm sure they just used a lot of copy and paste, there's not way they've written all 779 words of this out, and oh wait there are some instances when they've accidentally stopped short in a way that makes it seem like they might have done just that.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. Alright, I'll cut the bollocks. What I'm talking about is a post on the Silksong subreddit by a user with the handle Spiritual-Hippo7393, whose bio reads: "Life is a soup, and I am a fork." Immediately after yesterday's Nintendo Direct concluded without a Silksong appearance, they authored a post.Its title? "APRIL 2ND APRIL 2NDAPRIL 2NDAPRIL 2NDAPRIL 2NDAPRIL 2NDAPRIL 2NDAPRIL 2NDAPRIL 2NDAPRIL 2ND APRIL 2NDAPRIL 2NDAPRIL 2NDAPRIL 2NDAPRIL 2NDAPRIL 2NDAPRIL 2NDAPRIL 2NDAPRIL 2ND APRIL 2NDAPRIL 2NDAPRIL 2NDAPRIL 2NDAPRIL 2NDAPRIL 2NDAPRIL 2NDAPRIL APRIL 2ND APRIL 2NDAPRIL 2NDAPRIL 2NDAPRIL 2NDAPRIL 2NDAP". Snappy. To the point. Mysterious, if you don't know that's that date of next week's Nintendo Switch 2 Direct. The body? it's that same thing repeated so many times I tried counting and had to stop because it was going to take me all morning. However, I can confirm that without the cheeky "new Tomodachi Life though" that Spiritual-Hippo7393 added at the very end, the parts of the post that solely consist of "APRIL 2ND" or incomplete versions of it like "AP" or just "APRIL" add up to 850 words in total.To put that in context, the 'About this game' section of Silksong's steam page currently adds up to 267 words, meaning that this post is nearly three times its length. If you're truly unhinged and try to copy every single word on that Steam page as it's displayed on browser - including all of the usual Steam store accoutrements like the search bar, system requirements and links at the bottom - you'll get something like 742 words, which is still less than 779. Damn, Spiritual-Hippo7393.Safe to say the Skong (it's a nonsense meme word they've taken to saying) nation is now looking forward to and pinning their hopes on that April 2 Switch 2 Direct, then. It may be foolish, but they've heard about stuff like those recent Silksong Steam updates and the thing Jeff Grubb said the other day which now looks like it probably wasn't about Silksong unless Ninty's plans changed. There's no going back. APRIL 2ND.APRIL 2ND? Do you think Silksong will show up at that Switch 2 Direct? Or are the Silksongers doomed to more dissappointment? Let us know below!

Double Digits2XKO will have "a smaller number than you would expect" when it comes to champions at launch, but there's a good reason whyAs part of a dev Q&A in the official Discord, game director Shaun Rivera has dropped the long-speculated launch roster figure.Image credit: Riot Games News by Connor Makar Staff Writer Published on March 28, 2025 After years of speculation and fanatical guess work from the community, we finally know how many champions will be in 2XKO at launch. Ten playable characters will be present when the game finally comes out some time this year.In a dev Q&A hosted in the official 2XKO discord following yesterday's dev diary, several staff from the 2XKO team responded to community questions left unanswered. In response to a query regarding the launch roster, game director Shaun Rivera spilled the beans on the final figure.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. "We will have 10 playable champions at launch. We know it is a smaller number than you would expect, but when faced with a trade-off of including even more champions resulting in delaying the release date vs getting it into your hands sooner, we are excited about the latter."We also believe that experiencing these champions through solo/duo play via a number of different fuses provide a lot for folks to dig into early on. The fact that we are a live service game means that it will only get better from there via new champion releases and gameplay updates."It is certainly a small number, especially when compared to the game's peers in the genre. However, as Shaun states, it's entirely possible that the Fuse system will help keep the game fresh despite this lesser scope, given that each drastically alters the way the game is played. Plus, we've little information at all on the post-launch release schedule. If 2XKO can match the pace that other developers like Capcom, Bandai Namco, etc have when it comes to releasing new champions, maybe this is a flaw that'll fade away in good time.For those not keeping track, now that we know 10 champions are coming on launch, that means we've got three reveals left before the game is released proper. Now, one can be expected at Evo this August. That's a safe bet, given Riot has revealed Yasuo and Braum around this event over the past two years. As for the other two reveals and when they'll come, it's harder to predict.And who will they be? We know Katarina exists in this weird amalgamated form right now, used as a testing dummy for mechanics and special moves that have warped her far from what you'd expect from her. But, given that info was released by the team at Evo last year, maybe she's been fixed up to a degree where she's ready for the launch roster. The others are total question marks, but I'm hoping for at least one weirdo. We've seen a lot of "poster" champions hit the 2XKO roster and I'd like at least one Fiddlesticks, Reksai, Skarner, etc.What do you think of this roster number? Is it enough, or are you left wanting more? Let us know below!

Birds and BizAssassins Creed, Far Cry and Rainbow Six will soon have their developments "spearheaded" by Ubisoft and Tencent's new 4 billion babyWhen two mega-corps love each other very much...Image credit: Ubisoft News by Mark Warren Senior Staff Writer Published on March 28, 2025 Well, there you go. After all the chatter about Ubisoft and Tencent possibly doing a business thing together, the mega-corps have gone and done one. It's a deal to create a new mini-Ubisoft subsidiary that'll "spearhead development" on the Assassin's Creed, Far Cry and Rainbow Six series.As outlined in Ubisoft's press release about this deal, Tencent has agreed to invest 1.16bn for a "minority stake" of around 25% in the new subsidiary, which has been left unnamed for now and is valued at around 4 billion. To see this content please enable targeting cookies. It'll "remain exclusively controlled and consolidated by Ubisoft", and include teams working on Assassins Creed, Far Cry and Rainbow Six "based in Montral, Quebec, Sherbrooke, Saguenay, Barcelona, and Sofia as well as the back-catalog and any new games currently under development or to be developed." Ubisoft added that it'll grant "a worldwide, exclusive, irrevocable, perpetual license" to those three franchises to the subsidiary in exchange for a royalty.As for what this new business will do with that stuff, the answer from Ubisoft that it'll "focus on building game ecosystems designed to become truly evergreen and multi-platform". "Backed by greater investment and boosted creative capacities," the publisher added, "it will drive further increases in quality of narrative solo experiences, expand multiplayer offerings with increased frequency of content release, introduce free-to-play touchpoints, and integrate more social features."We'll have to see what that actually ends up looking like in terms of a concrete effect on the futures of AC, Far Cry and the Tom Clancy-inspired shooters."Today Ubisoft is opening a new chapter in its history, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot said of the deal, "As we accelerate the companys transformation, this is a foundational step in changing Ubisofts operating model that will enable us to be both agile and ambitious. We are focused on building strong game ecosystems designed to become evergreen, growing high-performing brands and creating new IPs powered by cutting-edge and emerging technologies.Ubisoft added that as this subsidiary becomes a thing, it'll "focus on nurturing the development of iconic franchises including Tom Clancys Ghost Recon and The Division, accelerating the growth of top performing titles and leveraging disruptive technologies on selected new IPs, while continuing to deliver state-of-the-art production game engines and online services." Yep, those are some words, but at least we can all adopt the phrase disruptive technologies as a posh way to to refer to whoopee cushions from now on.How do you feel about Ubisoft and Tencent striking this deal? Do you think it'll be a good thing for AC, Far Cry, and the Rainbow Six games? Let us know below!

Back Once Again2XKO Alpha Lab 2 is adding ranked lobbies, two new fuses and more, but us sad Europeans won't be able to play with them just yetThe bad news is, only those in Canada, America, and Brazil will be able to play in April. Sorry, fellow Euros.Image credit: Riot Games News by Connor Makar Staff Writer Published on March 27, 2025 A massive 2XKO update video has just been released going over the game's second Alpha Lab test. In it, we learn about two new fuses: Juggernaut and Sidekick, ranked lobbies, champion mastery, and other gameplay changes. It'll kick off on April 18 - 20 for those living in Canada, the USA, and Brazil. Bad luck everyone else, maybe next time.The Alpha Lab test will also feature Jinx, who will be playable by the general public for the first time. With her, this marks seven characters fully finished and in the game as we near 2XKO's eventual release date later this year. Tom Cannon expressed this smaller scale test was done sa to not delay the game any longer, though the team has also expressed that future tests are on the way, so hang in there.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. Okay, let's break down all the new additions. First up, the new Fuses. Sidekick was revealed officialy by Shaun Rivera last month, but we have more details about it now. It makes it so your point champion and back-up champion can't switch places, but grant a health and defense boost to your point champ while below 30% HP. In addition, by using the Sidekick Fuse you get access to Double Down (allowing you to chain supers), and immediate access to super assist and fury break at the start of rounds.Sidekick also adds a fun ability for the player controling the supporting champion to time button presses with enemy attacks to reduce damage dealt, which seems like a fun little gimmick that'll keep support players active even if they're not taking the lead in matches. There's also Juggernaut, another new Fuse coming to the next Alpha Lab. This is kind of like the other side of the coin to Sidekick, as it removes the ability to tag or interact with the secondary character entirely. Instead, you focus on one champion, which - like Sidekick - gets a health boost, a defense boost while under 30% HP, and access to fury break at the round start.However, it also gets some unique quirks - like Eject - which forces your opponent to tag in their back-up champion. You also get a special solo version of Double Down, so you can pop a super and then pop another super right after that all on your lonesome. This Fuse seems like a tool to help folks train on a single champion rather than figure out two at once. Which hey, I struggled with that during Alpha Lab 1, so I'm keen to see how it holds up! My Darius was okay during the first Alpha Lab, but my Ahri was lacking. Here's hoping Juggernaut can solve my problem! | Image credit: Riot GamesWe've mentioned Fury Break as a universal new mechanic added to the game in these two new fuses. This has been added in place of the Fury Fuse, which has been removed entirely. Instead, all players regardless of what Fuse they pick will be able to activate Fury Break once one of their champions gets knocked out. It provides a 25% damage and damage reduction boost when activated, and has additional effects depending on when you use it. If you use it to dash-cancel normal or special attacks, the duration of the Fury Break buff is decreased by five seconds!In a similar vein, the Pulse Combo Fuse has been replaced with an optional Pulse combo setting you can turn on during champion select. This allows you to do auto combos by pressing light, medium, or heavy buttons. This means newer players can still do auto combos while accessing the other fuses.Okay, now there's Ranked Lobbies, which come alongside a ranking system which will be familiar to those who've played League of Legends. It goes from Aspirant to Challenger, and the stated goal is to give players a method to reliably match up against those of a similar skill level. An important addition! In the original Alpha Lab, both fighting game experts and newcomers were thrown into the same pot, so hopefully this will allow folks to avoid unfair match-ups with 40-year-olds who've been playing fighting games since the arcade days.These are the major gameplay changes you can expect in Alpha Lab 2. Though, there are a variety of additional changes that have been made including Push Assist, the removal of Last Stand in favour of super assists, and the ability to still use assists when one of your champions is dead. There's also limit strike combo enders which provide powerful bonuses like extra damage or meter gain when used at the end of combos. Other changes can be found in the dev update post.That's not all! The control scheme has been changed to make things a little easier, visual clarity has been improved, and public / private lobbies have been touched up as well! On top of all that, there are new cosmetics too. Not only is there another battle pass, an in-game store will be added where players can spend their allocated currency on a variety of cosmetics and finishers, including Pool Party skins for all Ahri, Darius, and Jinx.Finally, there are Mastery rewards. For completing select missions for champions, you can unlock some cosmetics for your favourite fighter. These include Avatar clothing, taunts, stickers, a mastery reward chroma, and more. So get to grinding folks.It's good to finally have 2XKO back in the hands of players, even if I'm sure those of us not living in the Americas are going to be a little saddened by the news. Still, it'll be interesting to see the tester's response to the sweep of gameplay changes that have been added to the game. What I'm personally the most interested in is the new Fuses. They both seem laser targeted at helping to onboard players in two drastically different ways. I'd be curious to learn whether or not player retention among those with little fighting game experience improves after this Alpha Lab concludes.What do you think of this announcement? Are you excited to jump in next month? Let us know below!

Help, my retinasNintendo announces Nintendo Today, a new app that'll beam Switch 2 news directly into your eyeballs 24/7, plus a "Virtual Game Card" systemShigeru Miyamoto popped up at the end of today's Direct to deliver exactly the thing we were all expecting.Image credit: Nintendo News by Mark Warren Senior Staff Writer Published on March 27, 2025 You. Yes, you. Do you get enough Nintendo Switch 2 news and updates on the daily for your liking? Do you long for another Nintendo thing to look at when you're not actually playing Switch games or being dragged away from the cousin of death by the cries of your Alarmo? Well, as announced at today's Nintendo Direct, you're getting it in the form of Nintendo Today.Yep, Nintendo was sort of telling porkies when it suggested that today's showcase wouldn't feature anything Switch 2-y (to be fair, there were no games or for or proper updates on the new console, which is what it actually meant), because that what next week's Switch 2 Direct is for.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. Right at the end of the broadcast, Shigeru Miaymoto popped up to announce Nintendo Today, which is a new mobile app the company's launching today (puns), essentially to give you a thing to aggressively stare at until some news about the Switch 2 pops up. Hey, you can already do that here, and in that case it comes with the added boon of having to endure the, er, unique personalities of me and my cherished colleagues.Regardless, Ninty's decided this needs to be a thing and was worth rolling big Shigeru out for. "Since 2011 Nintendo Direct has delivered Nintendo news directly to you and now these presentations have grown into an event that many people watch," he said, "We'll continue to broadcast Nintendo Direct presentations but we're also launching a new channel based on the concept of delivering information to you directly."I've quoted that mainly because I wanted you, the reader, to get a proper sense of how excruciating this punning was to hear in real time. Miyamoto also did a funny hand pose each time he said the word directly. To see this content please enable targeting cookies.Anyway, the app is available today via the Apple and Google Play stores, though you will need a Nintendo account to use it. For now, it'll deliver you Switch news daily, and after the big Switch 2 Direct on April 2, it'll deliver you Switch 2 news as well - with the latter clearly being the big selling point here.Aside from that, Nintendo did announce one other thing related to its hardware in this Direct - a "Virtual Game Card" system that'll be deployed via an OG Switch system update in April. Basically, when you buy a digital Switch game and load it as a "digital game card" which can then be loaded up on s second Switch console too. You can also lend out games to Switch Family Group members locally using it.Do you like recieving Switch 2 info DIRECTLY? Let us know below!

Pokemon Legends Z-A has been shown off during today's Nintendo Direct, showing off some more antics in its Lumiose City and re-emphasising the late 2025 release window it got earlier this year. Read more

Primed to FireMetroid Prime 4: Beyond shows up at Nintendo Direct, and shows off Samus' swanky mind-bending psychic abilitiesSamus rocked up at today's showcase looking as big and blasty as ever, but still without a full release date.Image credit: Nintendo News by Mark Warren Senior Staff Writer Published on March 27, 2025 Metroid fans, gather round. Metroid Prime 4: Beyond has popped up at today's Nintendo Direct showcase, with a fresh trailer but no proper release date. The game is still set to arrive at some point in 2025, though.In today's fresh look at the game, we got some gameplay Samus walking around the jungle planet Viewros, scanning stone figures and relics, before blasting away a surprise alien attack. We were then introduced to her psychic abilities, which let her open doors and control her beam with her mind - those abilities sound like they'll be pretty central to the plot, but aside from that, Ninty's keeping its cards close to its chest.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. It's not that long since were were pretty starved for Metroid Prime 4 updates, but then it showed up as the final game of last June's Direct with a cool gameplay trailer and that release window of 2025 - that's the year we're now in. To see this content please enable targeting cookies.It was also confirmed back then to be releasing on the original Nintendo Switch, so you wouldn't have to worry about picking up a new console just to play it, with the Switch 2 backwards compatibility we've learned about since then having fully evaporated those fears into nothingness.So, there you go, a look at Metroid prime 4, which drops some time this year. Tell your Nintendo-loving mates, even though they definitely already know. Screw it, tell your dad - he probably played the first few entries in the series back in the day, when games were good and you could smoke in pubs and I'm just saying all of this to prepare you for what he might reply with.Also, make sure to tune in to next week's Switch 2 Direct on April 2. You know you want to.

Yep, it's happened. Monster Hunter Wilds finally has its first Thomas the Tank Engine mod, and it's arrived just before the game turns a month old. Rather than turning a monster battle into a surreal train fight, it makes sure you'll be able to choo-choo your way through the game, by swapping Sir Topham Hat's best loco in for your trusty Seikret. Read more

Maybe? Finally?The Hollow Knight: Silksong horde is stirring up again amid claims todays Nintendo Direct will feature a third-party game that will cause a lot of conversationHow many times has the world got to teach you this lesson, veteran skongers?Image credit: Nintendo/Team Cherry News by Mark Warren Senior Staff Writer Published on March 27, 2025 Yep, they're letting themselves be set up for potential heartbreak again. It's the gang of folks who just really want to play Hollow Knight: Silksong, and this time a mysterious comment that may or may not be hinting at their game showing up at today's March 27 Nintendo Direct.That said, they've at least got more than just these words as a reson to think something Silksongy might actually be about to happen - possibly, maybe, potentially, perhaps, there is a less than 0% chance. Remember, Xbox recently mentioned Silksong in cheeky blog post fashion, and then there were those Steam updates that, among other things, suggested it'll be coming to GeForce Now.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. So, what's kicked Hornet's nest this time? Well, it's that pesky Jeff Grubb from Giant Bomb, with his funny jokes and nice smile. During a recent Power Block livestream, about 20 minutes in, he said the following regarding today's March 27 Nintendo showcase: "I wonder how I can phrase this. The reason I heard about a [Nintendo] Direct originally is because of a a partner game and I think that when we get out of this Direct if, no matter what is the most exciting game there will be one game that causes the most conversation and it won't be about Nintendo necessarily. That's all I can say, I'm sorry for teasing it." Could this be Silksong? byu/Smart-Pension-5198 inSilksongTo see this content please enable targeting cookies.Naturally, the Silksong hive have assumed this comment to be about Team Cherry's game, since it fits the billing of being a third-party game set to hit the Switch that would have a reason to cause a lot of chatter - that being that it has already throughout this whole up and down saga of waiting for any news on it. Cue posts yelling things like "Could this be Silksong?" and sharing memes to that effect. There's also one poster urging the hive of skongers to "Please be normal if the game isn't shown tomorrow."No chance mate. They've been waiting since at least 2019, to be fair, and endured stuff like cake theories. They will not chill out, they will not be un-hyped. They're on this rollercoaster until the game's out or for life if never does, and you will not stop them from pre-emptively going 'Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee' every time they get to a climb that feels like it could be teeing up a plunge into the fast bit they've been waiting for.Have you hopped on the Silksong hope rollercoaster ahead of today's Direct, and do you think it'll show up? Let us know below!

SpacewimmerNo Man's Sky's latest update, Relics, lets you become the space version of Ross from Friends by collecting big dead alien fossils(Pushes up the visor of space helmet to reveal look of utter depression) "Hi..."Image credit: Hello Games News by Mark Warren Senior Staff Writer Published on March 26, 2025 Good news, if you've ever wanted to fire up No Man's Sky and roleplay as a guy who likes dinosaurs so much he's made it a career and also somehow managed to shag Jennifer Aniston, today's your lucky day. Developer Hello Games has just deployed the Relics update, and its big thing is letting you collect big alien fossils.This follows the second bit of massive Worlds update arriving in the game back in Jaunary, brining with it "billions of new stars and planets" including huge gas giants and trippy flying squid mums that'd slap you up for fishing just too damn hard.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. As outlined in the blog post about the Relics update and the video below, its big thing is introducing space palaeontology. You know, that thing Ross Geller from Friends does for a living, when he's not being a depressed lump, freaking out about a sandwich, or dressing as a holiday armadillo.Now you too can David Schwim your way through the galaxy on a journey to "unearth hundreds of unique bones" and assemble them in your museum to try and work out how these old, dead things used to look. Can you deliberately stick bum bones where skulls should be and convince NMS' array of fun living aliens that they're all descended from a race of ugly technologically-advanced folks with very bad breath called the Fartongueians? I don't know, but it seems worth a go.Watch on YouTubeOoh, actually on second thought, maybe not. The update also adds Reanimated Guardians, which are "hulking stone lifeforms [which] slumber by planetary fossil beds, defending these ancient burial grounds from Travellers who would seek to disturb them". They also look more like your cool stone robot things than creatures with bums for faces, so there goes my theory. There are also Living Stone Sentries and Colossal Stone Effigies, with the latter being seemingly dormant "monumental stone figures, vestiges of long-dead alien civilisations" that watch over relic worlds.You might also run into some still living fossils, with Titanic Boneworms and "skeletal fauna" roaming around planets where bones can be found and in some purple star systems. Meanwhile, you can "visit Fossil Collectors aboard Space Stations to sell your created fossil exhibits - or trade some of your bones for any of their broad selection of fossils" and cook stuff with bones.You'll also want to sign up for the Galactic Palaeology Society and head off on the new expedition Relics adds, which rewards you with a jetpack made of sentient rock, the ability to override your character's appearance to look like a sentient rock, and a skeletal animal as a companion.Have you longed to be space Ross for ages? Let us know below!

2 Swift 2 SwitchiousNintendo Direct featuring original Switch games and absolutely no Switch 2-ness whatsoever locked in, and you can watch it hereDon't worry, you'll get your Switch 2 fix (checks notes) literally next week.Image credit: VG247/Nintendo News by Mark Warren Senior Staff Writer Updated on March 26, 2025 Heads up, Nintendo has just locked in a Direct showcase for March 27, which is tomorrow as I write this. With a Switch 2 Direct already penned in for next week, it might not surprise you to learn that this freshly announced one is gonna be all about games for the original Switch.Why are we getting an OG Switch-centric showcase so close to the big Switch 2 one, you ask? I've got no idea, maybe it's a nice farewell party type of deal where you get you wallet out one final time and drop some cash on the spouse you're about to forsake for something with sexier joy-cons.Watch on YouTubeYou'll be able to tune into this original Switch Nintendo Direct via the video above on March 27, 2025. It's set to kick off at 2PM GMT, which is 7AM PT, 10AM ET, and 3PM CET. Just press play at that time wherever you are and boom, video games for a console you definitely weren't possibly about to try and sell on some crappy marketplace in the near future so you can afford a Switch 2.As for what you'll see, literally all Nintendo's said is that there'll be "around 30 minutes of upcoming games for Nintendo Switch", and absolutely "no updates about Nintendo Switch 2 during this presentation". To that end, the Nintendo UK tweet about this was literally followed-up by another one proting that aforementioned April Switch 2 Direct, so Ninty's taking no chances here. To see this content please enable targeting cookies.Given what's happened lately, dare we dream of seeing Hollow Knight: Silksong? Maybe, but the likes of Metroid Prime 4 and Pokemon Legends: Z-A feel like potentially safer bets that're at least less likely to result in you seriously considering theories that involve cake.Whatever happens, we know the Switch 2 is backwards compatible, so you should be able to play whatever's announced for original Switch on it too. Well, aside from Silksong if it turns out to not be a game and rather just a collective fever dream we've all been having.

Leo Pointing MemeXbox's Indiana Jones and Forza Horizon 5 are currently reigning atop PlayStation's PS5 preorder charts, and you can see why Phil and co have opted to deploy them nowYou know, aside from wanting to drive and whip PS5 owners to ecstasy cos money.Image credit: PlayStation/MachineGames/Playground Games News by Mark Warren Senior Staff Writer Published on March 26, 2025 You know how both Indiana Jones and the Great Circle and Forza Horizon 5 are set to arrive on PS5 next month, as part of Xbox's ongoing efforts to turn everything including your toaster into an Xbox? Well, they're currently reiging right at the top of the PlayStation Store pre-order charts, having valiantly outdueled, er, Days Gone Remastered.Ok, so I'm maybe being a bit facetious towards motorbike guys that've been given a new coat of paint with that last bit, but you can see why Phil Spencer and his gang of people dressed in green have opted to put out these two games that'd almost certainly have been big deals regardless onto PS5 within a couple of weeks of each other.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. As a ResetEra user's spotted, heading to the best selling pre-order randings of a while bunch of regional variants of the PlayStation Store will serve you some combination of Indy and FH5's various editions either locking out the top spots, or all pretty close to them.For instance, on the UK version of the store, Indy's standard edition currently leads the way, followed by its premium edition, with Forza's premium edition sitting third, while its standard edition sits fifth, behind Atomfall - which isn't an Xbox exclusive, but is hitting Game Pass day one. In the US, it's Indy premium ruling the roost, then regular Indy, with Forza premium anmd Forza regular following directly on to lock out the top four spots. That post I've linked also cites a fair few more countries where the rankings are similar, including Germany, France, and Canada.So, what does this mean? Well, that a bunch of people want to play these big games when they arrive on a new console as of April 17 (Indy) and April 29 (Forza). However, as I mentioned, it's also likely the result of Phil and co having great timing.In terms of PlayStation studio-developed stuff, the next couple of months are pretty damn quiet, with Days Gone Remastered being the sole exception on April 25. Meanwhile, the big releases that're aiming to dominate the summer on the console - your Doom: The Dark Ages, Elden Ring Nightreign and Death Stranding 2: On the Beach - are all currently at least a month and a bit away from release.So, while those games do feature heavily in these pre-order rankings just behind or in and around the Indys and Forzas, they're not quite at the point where they're gathering full pre-order steam right before dropping. So, Xbox's big stuff's more immediate competition right now is games like the aforementioned Atomfall, The First Berserker: Khazan, and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 alongside Days Gone. All popular games you've almost definitely heard of, but not great big oxygen-soaking monsters at this point.That said, even with that being the case, Forza and Indy wouldn't be top without PS5 players having a serious appetite to play them, and why wouldn't they? F**k, how do I close this out without just sounding like I want to give Phil Spenny a cringey high-five? Ah well, bring your sweaty mitts here, big Phillip.

Just like two weeks ago, Capcom has rolled out the first of several new Event Quests to all Monster Hunter Wilds players. Event Quests are available for a limited time, and they task players with taking down certain monsters to earn unique rewards. Read more

Erupting With Fury"I'm honestly heartbroken..." Helldivers 2's latest patch upsets lovers of a gun that once caused accidental self-murders so much that they're drawing MS Paint diagramsIf you're still wondering which weapon it is, I have one word for you - shrapnel.Image credit: Arrowhead News by Mark Warren Senior Staff Writer Published on March 26, 2025 Uh oh. The pretty titchy Helldivers 2 patch that dropped yesterday has managed to earn the ire of players who love a certain gun. It's the Eruptor, and as you might have guessed if you're a HD2 veteran, the tweak that's caused the aggro is to the shrapnel the gun kicks out in order to do a lot of its damage.For the folks who don't have an empirical knowledge of every weapon and stratagem in Helldivers 2, the Eruptor and its shrapnel made headlines last year because the rogue bits of metal turned out to be behind a wave of weird instances of divers suddenly dying to their own gunfire. What followed was the removal of shrapnel by Arrowhead, something Eruptor fans weren't best pleased about, before the gun finally got a proper revamp heading into autumn.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. Since then, it's been earning pretty good reviews, even getting a handy buff to its armour penetration in last week's big balancing update. However, the comparatively titchy patch 01.002.201 that Arrowhead put out yesterday made one tweak that seems to instantly evaporated a lot of the good vibes folks had about the gun."Fixed an issue where shrapnel from surface-hits was forced in a roughly south-west direction," the change in question reads, "Shrapnel should now properly fly out in a 180-ish arc in the direction of the surface hit." Sounds fine, but according to a bunch of Eruptor hardcores on the game's subreddit, this has resulted in the gun's performance being nerfed to a noticeable degree. The Eruptor's shrapnel now explodes away from the target byu/MrIDoK inHelldiversTo see this content please enable targeting cookies."I initially thought it meant that shrapnel would go in the same direction you're shooting, but after trying it in game it seems like it's the opposite," wrote one player who's gone as far as opening up and MS Paint and whacking together some crude diagrams that aim to indicate how they reckon the shrapnel's now behaving, "Shrapnel goes away from the hit point. So, while before I was able to one shot brood commanders, now it mostly doesn't happen even if I get a headshot, all the shrapnel just explodes back towards you and away from the target.""By the wording of it, it seems unclear as to whether this change is intended to apply to enemy hits or just surfaces such as the ground," reads another post, "If it is just the latter then ostensibly the wording makes perfect sense, but currently in-game even on direct hits on the enemy the shrapnel just flies backwards which both looks and feels nonsensical and cartoonish."If anyone at Arrowhead sees this (I have formally submitted a bug report as this does not logically seem intended with the wording) we need some clarification as to whether or not this is meant to apply to enemy (not surface) hits or not. Regardless, I would sincerely request a full reversion until a proper fix can be implemented as this has rendered the weapon nearly worthless in my matches."We'll have to see if the studio does say anything about this tweak and whether it's working as intended. Have you given the Eruptor a go since this patch dropped, and how did it perform? Let us know below!

Time To MeditateThe Witcher 4's long path to release won't conclude until 2027 at the earliest, CD Projekt says, but there's a chance we could get Witchermon Go to help tide us overStop the car, there's a gang of drowners over by that corner shop that I need to kill.Image credit: CD Projekt/Scopely/Niantic/The Pokemon Company News by Mark Warren Senior Staff Writer Published on March 26, 2025 Hey. If you were expecting or hoping to play The Witcher 4 sometime before 2027 despite it having not been in full production all that long, I've got bad news for you. CD Projekt has said that it's not currently planning on releasing the game before that year at the earliest.Don't worry, though - it looks like a Witcher or Cyberpunk mobile thing we all definitely asked for could potentially drop in the interim. Well, depending on how quickly a freshly-announced partnership between the publisher and Scopely - the Saudi-backed giant that now owns Pokemon Go and Monopoly Go - puts out the game based on an unspecified CD Projekt IP that it's now making.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. First of all, this crumb of info about release timeline currently pencilled in for The Witcher 4 comes from the earnings call CD Projekt conducted alongside the release of its 2024 financial results yesterday. PC Gamer spotted that at one point during the corporate chatter, the studio's CFO Piotr Nielubowicz said regarding the net profit targets attatched to the company's share-based incentive programs for managers: "Even though we do not plan to release The Witcher 4 by the end of 2026, we are still driven by this financial goal."As you'd imagine, this was even picked up on by the investy folks and asked about during the Q & A section of the call, with Nielubowicz adding: "We are not going to announce the precise launch date for the game yet. All we could share now to give more visibility to investors is that the game will not be launched within the time frame of the first target for the incentive program, which ends December 31, 2026." To see this content please enable targeting cookies.So, probably what we could have expected given the game only went into full production late last year - not long before the full reveal at The Game Awards that saw it given its proper name rather than the codename it'd ggone by up to that point, Polaris. There's time for at least a few more Witcher 3 playthroughs yet, even if you might have to dip into REDKit mods to freshen things up if you've logged as many hours in it as I have to this point.Though, we might - and that's a big might - get a weird Pokemon Go or Monopoly Go-ish Witcher or Cyberpunk mobile game in the interim, with CD Projekt having announced that a partnership with publisher Scopely that'll create "a game set within one of CD Projekt's IPs". Which IP that is - one would assume one of the two I mentioned earlier - we've been offered no clue yet, nor any additional details as to when it might be dropping.Ah well, even if we get nothing, it's more time to roam the high seas around Skellige at the helm of a ship I've dubbed The Jankdaw or to wander about as centaur Geralt.

Augmented GrowthWith The Witcher 4 now properly on the way, Cyberpunk 2077 just powered CD Projekt to the best financial results it's ever recorded for a year without any big releasesNaturally, the publisher's teasing that it's got plenty of Cyberpunk stuff "in store" going forwards, including a MacOS port.Image credit: CD Projekt News by Mark Warren Senior Staff Writer Published on March 25, 2025 Things are going pretty good for CD Projekt right now. The publisher has just shared its full financial results for 2024, and revealed that it just recorded its best net profit for a year in which it didn't put out any major releases. Cyberpunk 2077 was the main driver behind this, as it continues to help hold down the fort until The Witcher 4 arrives.This info's detailed in a fresh press release and presentation from the company in which it looks back on its financial results for the whole of 2024. There's also a nice video starring CDPR CFO Piotr Nielubowicz that goes through the highlights.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. "We are very satisfied with the fact that, even in the absence of any major launch, the past year was the third best in the Groups history in terms of net profit," Nielubowicz said in the press release, adding in the video that this marks "the best result we have ever managed in a year which did not include any major releases."Figures wise, that net profit was nearly 470 million Polish złoty, with Cyberpunk's base game and Phantom Liberty DLC being cited in the release as having "generated nearly 600 million [złoty] in earnings", while The Witcher 3 "continues to attract attention and produces a stable revenue stream" despite being 10 years old. As of the end of November base Cyberpunk had shifted 30 million copies over its entire lifespan, while Phantom Liberty expansion had shifted 8 million, which is nice.Watch on YouTubeNaturally, this means the studio's looking to do more Cyberpunk stuff, with the game set to arrive on MacOS at some point this year, and CD Projekt joint CEO Michał Nowakowski adding: "We are also working to expand the Cyberpunk universe. In 2024 we announced a new animation project, which is currently under development, and which will be released on Netflix. And thats just some of what we have in store."As for The Witcher 4, it's still very much in the full production stage it was revealed to have entered late last year, just before it was properly revealed at The Game Awards. CD Projekt seems pretty chuffed with the reception that reveal got, citing data showing that the trailer outdid the likes of Elden Ring Nightreign in terms of trailer views on IGN's channel and overall percentage of press headlines in the 72 hours following TGAs, with "particular attention devoted to Ciri" being protagonist in terms of the latter.The reason for that last bit may well have had something to do with one of those silly discourses that just won't die - that being dickheads saying weird things about Ciri's face, and the rest of us all going 'you what, she just looks like an actual adult woman that's still very attractive'.Anyway, to lighten the mood after thinking about that again, here's a Cyberpunk 2077 mod that'll send you random facts about cats and dogs as you play.

Brown Trousers Time"GTA 6 is basically a huge meteor and we will just stay clear": multiple major publishers are reportedly prepared to delay games to avoid clashing with Rockstar's little thing*Jaws theme starts quietly playing in the background*Image credit: VG247/Rockstar Games News by Mark Warren Senior Staff Writer Published on March 25, 2025 You've probably not heard of it. GTA 6? Ring any bells? No? Well, it's a little indie game that's currently set to drop later this year, in a fashion that's sure to fly under the radar, I swear.Ok, you got me. It's biggest game of the year and several major publishers have now been reported to be prepared to delay their own games if needs be in order to avoid coming out at the same time as Rockstar's "huge meteor".To see this content please enable targeting cookies. This is according to cool new Chris Dring thing The Game Business, which cites three major video game publishers as having told it that they're ready to delay their own games if that ends up being what it takes to avoid running into the GTA 6 time and money buzz-saw.Basically, no one wants to release at exactly the same time as Rockstar's crime fun time, so they're all holding off on locking in their release plans for Q4 this year until they know for sure when that game's coming, with fall 2025 being the current window Take-Two is citing. Studios and publishers which operate top live-service games are also reportedly avoiding planning to drop any significant updates to their titles around the time of GTA 6's release window."Rockstar games always suck a lot of money and, more importantly, time out of the market," The Game Business cites the boss of one of the worlds biggest game publishers as having told it, We dont want to be anywhere near that. We are working up multiple different plans for our titles."Meanwhile, one studio boss put the situation thusly: "GTA 6 is basically a huge meteor and we will just stay clear of the blast zone. We will nudge our releases back or forward three weeks to avoid it. Of course, the problem is everyone is going to do the same. So three to four weeks before or after GTA 6, youre going to get a load of games dropping content in what they believe will be the safe zone."It's the uncertainty that comes with GTA 6 not yet being locked into a concrete date that's causing the most headaches, with publishers fearing that if they opt to delay their stuff into 2026 right now to avoid GTA 6, Rockstar could end up pushing its big shark into next year too, neccessitating more running around from the panicked swimmers at the games industry beach.How will it all play out? We'll just have to see, but you'll now find it a lot harder to fill in the time by exploring an attempted re-creation of GTA 6's map in GTA 5 as a mod attempting to do just that was pulled offline by its creator the other day following a Take-Two YouTube claim. Ah well, off to the GTA Discord server's most unhinged channel it is, then.

Piling UpWreckfest 2 early access is as stripped back as its bumperless bangers, but at least Bugbears bashing together a good chassisTheres no music and youll be racing against the well-honed skills of BOT 29, but the carnage is the thing - and its pretty satisfying.Image credit: VG247 Article by Mark Warren Senior Staff Writer Published on March 25, 2025 My windscreen replaced by a wall of racing-suited flesh and jagged metal, I floor it, mashing the accelerator to push whatever power my battered engine can still muster to wheels that may not even still be attached. The car creeps forwards at about 12 KPH for less than 30 seconds.SLAM. Yep, definitely thats me wrecked. Time to respawn and crash again.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. That was the loop which made the first Wreckfest tick. The FlatOut successor Bugbear Entertainment gradually built up and tweaked into possibly the most fun arcade racer on the market is a lesson in doing what you say in the tin, and doing it brilliantly. In a sea of confused simcades and often pretty dry sims, it knew exactly what kind of battered, rusty hatchback crudely painted to look like a shark it was.Has Bugbear managed to re-capture that feeling and supercharge it with enough new parts to outdo itself with Wreckfest 2 so far? Its hard to say, but at this very early point in early access, Im tending towards yes. It might seem a bit un-Wreckfest to hide behind qualifiers, but the first thing thatll stick out to you if you fire up this would-be successor right now is that its definitely taking the early bit of EA seriously.Theres no music at all, which means a wonderfully terrifying silence hangs in the air as you navigate menus to pick which car youre going to sacrifice to the scrap gods and the venue thats going to play host to that crime. Right now, youve got four rides to choose from, with two being instantly recognisable updated versions of classic original Wreckfest muscle cars - the Roadslayer and the Rocket. The other two are new and their names reflect that, with American 1 being a US-style family sedan that looks very mid-2000s and European 1 basically being a boxy 80s VW Golf in all but name. A crash course in how not to drive. | Image credit: BugbearTrack-wise, its a similar story. The main route of the Savolax Sandpit folk racing ring returns, and one of the two layouts of a new track - the Scrapyard - is basically a revamped version of the first games ever-chaotic jump-heavy figure eight Bonebreaker Valley. Beyond those, theres the main Scrapyard circuit which is the usual kind of banger circuit with some crossovers, a Kingston Raceway-esque asphalt oval that also boasts a figure eight variant and a demolition arena, and the testing grounds.The latters a BeamNG.Drive-style playground of different jumps and hazards designed to let you play around and, well, test Wreckfest 2s physics/damage model, but each event in it is set up like the usual demo derby mechanically, rather than being straight-up free roam.If you hop into a single player race or derby, youll unsurprisingly be battling against AI foes, but dont expect them to have proper names as they do in the full version of Wreckfest. Instead, its BOT 35 smashing into BOT 2, as BOT 15 powerslides past you. Early access, baby. You gotta be skiddin' me. | Image credit: BugbearSo, hows the actual gameplay? Well, in short, I think its the rough foundation of what could very much become a strong step up on the first Wreckfest. One of the first things I noticed, especially when behind the wheel of the throaty muscle cars, is that Wreckfest 2 seems to be a big improvement in the car audio department. Theres not a large pool yet, but each of the cars in the current early access build boasts an engine note that sounds a lot more distinct and richly-delivered than the often kinda samey drones the originals rides had.Both the car models and the environments look to be rendered with greater fidelity and more detailed textures - though that does come with the slight caveat that my view could be skewed a bit by having done most of my OG Wreckfesting on PS4, and these impressions being from PC early access. As for how they feel to drive, the answers pretty good. Theres no simming going on here, but things feel less like your cars just floating along in between the tyre-screeching turns and sudden stops. One thing I did quickly notice is that Wreckfest 2s cars seem to be wired a lot harder towards requiring a very oversteery setup on oval tracks with long, sweeping bends or ones with tight turns.With a controller, I was suffering a boatload of understeer in such corners if I didnt initiate a drift big enough to lose me time, to the point where I went into the settings and tried messing with the dead zone settings in an effort to tighten up my turning circle into something less like a what a cruise ship might have. On a wheel, things were much better, with the ability to go lock-to-lock and deliver proper dabs of oppo when sliding really helping the situation.On more traditional circuits, youll find yourself leaning against other racers in tight packs early on, recreating the classic Wreckfest banger race challenge of trying not to get spun out and picking the path of least resistance past whichever accidents are inevitably taking place at various points in the lap. It's a contact sport, technically. | Image credit: BugbearBut, what about those crashes, those bumps, those scrapes, you ask? Well, Id say the initial moment your car connects with another thats moving at a decently different velocity is maybe a bit less crunchy and explosive compared to the first game. Thats not to say a lot of damage isnt being done and your wheel isnt liable to be thrown out of your hands momentarily if youre not holding on tight enough, but things are maybe a tad less worthy of being accompanied by cartoony BOOM and KER-SLAM splashes.Its very much still possible to get smashed up or smash things up in satisfying fashion - just see the intro to this article, but the damage model feels a bit more complex this time around, something thats added to by the fact the little notifications you get about specific parts being not in the best shape come in a bit more of a variety. Youll still be handily told stuff like oops, a wheel has become detached and oh brother, this engines taken a beating, but I dont recall being told before that my radiator was leaking or that my big end bearings had been damaged. It did seem a bit unclear how much of a tangible impact these extra details were having on my cars performance, but they are things thatre a bit less obvious to notice mid-race/fight than, for example, one of your gears taking longer to click in or suddenly having three round things on your wagon.Delving into a few derbies didnt really aid me in checking this either, possibly not helped by the fact theres nothing big enough in Wreckfest 2s garage at the moment to be a clear tank that can take a lot of damage rolling weapon in the way the likes of the first games MudDigger or Warwagon are. Thats not a new thing, the original Wreckfests early access was without such vehicles to my knowledge, in both cases likely with the intention to stop everyone gravitating to the same car for such events since beefing up your ride via customisation isnt possible yet - unless painting it pink counts. Is this the wheel life? | Image credit: BugbearYou can still have plenty of the usual fun in these events despite this, but suddenly going back to being without the David vs Goliath element latter-stage Wreckfest developed is noticeable. Maybe Im just suffering from school bus vs driveable loo showdown withdrawal, and all of that ridiculousness will no doubt be coming to Wreckfest 2 in time.For now, though, the base online multiplayer and single player modes work as advertised, aside from a bit of frame rate droppage I got in one race around the scrapyard. Playing against real people also comes with the added benefit, at least in my case, of watching someone in the text chat suddenly start typing out the lyrics to a certain Britney Spears song as part of plea to the silent session overlord to give the upcoming race more laps.Ray tracing [is] for big-balled men and Has anyone seen my dad? are some other things Ive seen yelled into the void. Its still a bit too early to tell for definite if Wreckfest 2s interesting changes to the successful formula will result in a finished product that surpasses its predecessor. But hey, at least we know the community of people determined to give you reasons to want to drive into them so fast their knees end up in weird places has successfully made the jump from that game to what feels like a pretty good early access foundation.

UnfortunateTimingCivilization 7 update 1.1.1 is now here, bringing new features and more UI polish, as outlined in this dev video that at one point features some slightly dodgy text spacingTo be fair, the best of us can occasionally miss hitting the space bar when we mean to.Image credit: Firaxis News by Mark Warren Senior Staff Writer Published on March 25, 2025 The second of the two big March updates Civilization 7 developer Firaxis revealed would be coming last month has dropped today, March 25. It adds some new features and continues the effort to fix and change elements of the game folks didn't like, such as the UI.As you might expect, the studio's put out a developer video going through the changes alongside the proper patch notes, and it's a good watch, though there is one bit that fans have picked up on for a pretty awkward reason given the whole UI gripes context. Basically, it features some little text spacing mistakes, which aren't end of the world, but are technically UI things Firaxis hasn't executed that well.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. Yep, towards the end of Civ 7 creative director Ed Beach giving us all the lowdown on this new update, there's a text box about some changes to the Railroad Tycoon legacy path, and as players on the Civ subreddit spotted, it features a few instances of words not being spaced out as they should. There are two bits that read 'increasedfrom' and also a 'givesa'. Nothing too bad, but yeah, not ideal given the game's situation.This bulleted list being centrally aligned is also drawing some criticism from civvers, whose confidence in Firaxis' ability to rectify the in-game UI issues that've been a part of the game's mixed reception so far hasn't exactly been boosted by this. "In the grand scheme of things, this graphic should be a very minor thing," one wrote, "but it speaks to the greater point of Firaxis not knowing literally anything about design."Watch on YouTubeThat aside, when it comes to what Update 1.1.1 includes, the previously announced stuff like more UI improvements and refinements, Mount Everest, improvements to how the AI scouts and settles, and the ability to give your cities and commanders custom names like 'Minecraftmovieland' and 'Jack Black dressed as Steve' are all there. There's also the Quick Move setting, which lets you disable unit movement animations to speed up gameplay, and a restart button you can press from the pause menu if you want to start over "within the first few turns of a new game".As for what the future of the game looks like update-wise from here, Firaxis added that it's "still hard at work on Update 1.2.0, currently planned to deploy in April (subject to change)", and said that "you can expect plenty more major updates in the months to come".If you're still on the fence about trying Civ 7, make sure to check out our review of it, which dissects all the stuff it does differently to its predecessors.

Shoot for the stars12 years (and 2000 hours) later, Warframe remains an MMO like no other2,000 hours and still no Despair drop, by the way - even after the drop rate boost.Image credit: VG247 Article by Connor Makar Staff Writer Published on March 25, 2025 12 years ago, a little game called Warframe was released to the world. I, 15 years old and not yet down bad for sci-fi in general, gave the game a cursorary look to see what was up. I confess, that original version of Warframe did not win me over. I can't remember why, but knowing what I was like back then, I probably saw all those damage numbers and it made me think of my maths exam.These days, I think about going back in time and DDTing my younger self until he bought the founders pack before the game came out for that sweet, sweet Excalibur Prime. You see, future Connor has sunk 2000 hours into Warframe. He's farmed for Ash, the old way. He grinded out the Nechramech alongside dozens of other miserable people, and he found himself awake at 2am gathering Cryotic for the Sibear, only to max it out for a tiny pile of mastery points and throw it away. If none of that makes sense don't panic, it means there's still hope.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. In those 2,000 hours I've had a lot of time to think about why I dig it so much, and I've broken it down to three main factors. These weave around in importance every few months, but right now, it's the community. Warframe has the nicest gaggle of horny weirdos hanging around it I've ever seen. Jumping into a Discord or in-game Clan feels like spending lunch in the school computer lab. I've only been called an asshole once (during a Relic extraction mission where I - knackered as the sun was coming up, disappointed in me - wasted like five minutes of our collective lives). Compare that to wasting five minutes of a World of Warcraft M+ dungeon run and you're comparing a hydrogen bomb to a coughing baby.But there's also the feel of Warframe. It's fast, hella fast. You dart through missions at a breakneck pace that, while I accept may be a bit much for new players, is catnip for oldies. Race through a mission, then do a little dance at the end with the gang. There's nothing like it. But on top of being fast, Warframe is also heavy. You slam into enemies with a thunderous crash, abilities rupture out from techno-organic arms. I could throw my Wolf Sledge at random enemies all day. And sometimes, I do literally do that.I don't know how the team at Digital Extremes manages to blend light movement and heavy action so well, but it's such a sturdy hook to the whole experience. Word is, Steve Sinclair waited for a full moon and took what was left of the Dark Sector money to Ivey Park. There, he gave it to a moose, who agreed to grant the team the wisdom they sought in return for his immortal soul and (a major role in Soulframe). It's unclear whether Rebecca Ford had to do something similar back in 2022, but all in all it seems like a decent trade. 12 years is a long time in gaming. | Image credit: Digital ExtremesFinally there's the look of the whole thing. Warframe is a visual oddity. An astronautical battle-hardened tragicomedic soup, and like all soups built upon a strong mirepoix, a foundation on which the team can just go "Boybands? Yeah sure f*ck it why not". That foundation is rooted deep in sci-fi - in Dune and retro anime. An art direction pioneered by Michael 'Mynki' Brennan (who sadly passed away late last year) and carried on with passion and vigour by a powerful art team. It's the glue that holds it all together.All of these lead me to a personal reality I've long accepted; Warframe is my favourite MMO. Hands down. It's a weird anomaly in the genre. It doesn't play like anything else, it doesn't look like anything else. The game has a voice that is somehow both very contemporary and forward-thinking. To me, it's not a mystery why the game has survived 12 years. During this era of game development, when it feels like there's more pressure ever to conform, to play it safe, Warframe has screamed "no".Here's to another 12 years.

Today is the biggest day in Monster Hunter Wilds brief history since the games monumentous launch. Capcom is bringing back its Showcase series to deliver all the remaining information about the games first major patch. Read more

Off the CombolendarThat new Street Fighter movie has reportedly been pulled from Sony's upcoming release calendar, so it looks to be back in the release date-less voidAll may well not be lost though - we'll have to stay tuned to see if it gets re-scheduled down the line.Image credit: Capcom News by Mark Warren Senior Staff Writer Published on March 25, 2025 The new Street Fighter movie that was first announced back in 2023 looks to be without a release date again, as Sony's reportedly taken the film off its calendar of upcoming releases, meaning it looks like it won't be dropping on the previously announced date of March 20, 2026. Instead, we'll just have to wait and see if it's re-scheduled at some point in the future.According to Variety, this change came as part of some wider tweaks by Sony to its list of upcoming movies that've been penned in for specific dates. Those tweaks also saw upcoming Tommy Wirkola shark thriller Beneath the Storm be re-named Shiver and have its date moved from August 2025 to July 2026, just a few months after the SF movie was previously set to drop.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. It's maybe something we could have seen coming a bit, given that this SF movie from Legendary and Capcom has had a bit of a fun behind-the-scenes lifespan so far. Originally pencilled-in directors Danny and Michael Philippou (Talk To Me) were revealed to have departed the project in summer 2024, leaving it looking for someone else to full that role.That happened last month, with Kitao Sakurai of Eric Andre Show fame being reported to have come on board as a fresh director. The question was how much work had been done on the film while the search had been happening, if it was still going to hit that March 2026 release date. With this change, it looks possible that the answer was not enough.That's not neccessarily a bad thing, assuming the movie does get re-scheduled by Sony for a different date at some point in the future. Giving Sakurai a bit more time to put together something that matches his/the team's vision, rather than having to rush to make sure a rapidly approaching and already set date is hit, sounds like it could be a good plan. I won't dig out the famous Shigeru Miyamoto quote about delayed games that he, er, might not have actually said, but yeah.Here's hoping it does get a new date soon, and that it ends up being as much of a hit as Street Fighter 6, which our fighting game gremlins at VG247 thought was pretty rad.

Still Nata WeirdForget battling Natarkveld, Monster Hunter Wilds modders have now made playable anthropomorphic Arkveld a thing for reasons and used it to replace a certain kidWhy not swap your hunter for Anthrokveld, so you can chat to Arkveld Nata as Arkveld before fighting Arkveld?Image credit: Capcom/XenonValstrax News by Mark Warren Senior Staff Writer Published on March 25, 2025 Warning: Spoilers for Monster Hunter Wilds lie ahead.Hello. Monster Hunter Wilds modders have been getting pretty weird lately, both in the name of bizarre fetishes and the most widespread in-joke the community's developed since this latest MonHun came out. Here's another case of the latter - meet anthropomorphic Arkveld Nata.But, you say, haven't Wilds modders already created a freaky half big murderous beastie, half child who at one point during Wilds confusingly says he's just like that murderous beastie, a line that's since become a source of endless MH community gags? Yes, Natarkveld exists. However, Wilds modders clearly weren't done bringing Nata and Arkveld together in literal ways.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. Enter 'Arkveld Nata', a mod by XenonValstrax which replaces Nata, the arguably kinda annoying "mysterious young boy that accompanies you on your journey" in Wilds, with, er, an anthropomorphic Arkveld.Basically, it's the reverse of the aforementioned Natarkveld mod - Natarkveld slaps Nata's head and hands onto Arkveld's body, Arkveld Nata swaps Arkveld's head and limbs onto Nata's body. Confused? Good, it's not like you wouldn't end up that way anyway when a deadly monster dressed in human clothes suddenly starts talking in a child's voice or gently weeping.To be honest, I think that prospect might be more terrifying than anything Natarkveld or vanilla Akveld could throw at you. It doesn't end there either - that anthro Arkveld model XenonValstrax has used here is one they created for another mod they recently put out: 'Hunter Arkveld' Here's Hunter Arkveld doing a cute little pose. | Image credit: XenonValstrax/CapcomYep, if you hadn't guessed, that one lets you swap out your hunter and play as an anthro Arkveld. It comes in two versions, one of which comes with the risk of making your character's head invisible, just in case you don't think being able to kill Arkveld as Arkveld's weird human-bodied cousin isn't trippy enough. XenonValstrax also warns that "this mod loads a monster model every time in game and might cause performance loss" and adds that it hasn't been tested with female character models.It's also worth noting that both Arkveld Nata and Hunter Arkveld appear not to currently work as intended for folks whose PCs have AMD graphics cards - if you're affected, it's up to you if you view that as a blessing or a curse. For non-AMDers, you'll need Fluffy Mod Manager and REFramework to get these mods working.If you're planning to jump into Monster Hunter Wilds and embrace the surreal Arkveldiness, you can check out the array of helpful guides and tips we've got.

Can't Beat the ValAssassins Creed Shadows couldn't beat Valhalla, but it's officially the second-biggest launch in series historyUbisoft hasn't officially said it, but reports suggest Assassins Creed Shadows is the series' second-biggest launch.Image credit: Ubisoft News by Sherif Saed Contributing Editor Published on March 25, 2025 Whether or not Assassins Creed Shadows is the game Ubisoft needs it to be remains to be seen, but the action RPG has apparently done pretty well for the publisher. Shadows was released less than a week ago, and attracted over 2 million players in its first two days of release.According to new information, however, Shadows has had a solid launch, if a little less headline-worthy.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. In an internal memo obtained by Variety and VGC, Ubisoft revealed that Assassins Creed Shadows has seen record levels of player engagement, and incredibly positive feedback from players.Sources also told the outlets that Shadows has had the second-best day one sales revenue for any Assassins Creed, sitting just behind Valhalla. Its worth noting that Ubisoft did not share hard sales numbers, either publicly or in that internal communication.Ubisoft also noted in the memo that Shadows had the best day one launch out of any of its games on the PlayStation Store. The games performance on PC was also strong, with the platform responsible for 27% of the games player base. Steam is said to have been a major contributor, which is especially notable as Shadows is the first Assassins Creed since 2019 to launch on Steam day-and-date with Ubisofts own store and the Epic Games Store.On Steam, Shadows started out at a decent 41,412 players peak concurrent. The positive word of mouth around the game caused it to gain a lot more players over the weekend, having now peaked at 64,825 (via SteamDB).Assassins Creed Valhalla, of course, enjoyed a big boost as a result of the 2020 pandemic, and came out in the fall, as opposed to March. Nevertheless, this looks to be about the best case scenario for Shadows.