Kingdom Hearts: Missing-Link, a mobile action RPG announced in 2022, has been cancelled. Originally planned to be released last year, it faced several delays. Square Enix said recently on Twitter that it “worked hard on developing and adjusting the game in the hope that it would be enjoyed by lots of players.” However, it eventually realized, “It would be difficult for us to offer a service that players would find satisfactory over a long period, leading us to the decision to cancel development.” The development team is “hard at work” on the next installment in the series, Kingdom Hearts 4. Announced in April 2022 along with Missing-Link, the sequel is developed on Unreal Engine 5. Further information like platforms, a release window, and so on remain unconfirmed. Though the cancellation of Kingdom Hearts: Missing-Link may be surprising, Square Enix has a reputation for launching mobile titles and shutting down support soon after. These include Echoes of Mana, Bravely Default: Brilliant Lights, and Final Fantasy 7: The First Soldier. As for the future of its business, Square Enix recently announced a three-year reboot plan focusing on a new R&D division for AI-focused development tools. It also reemphasized its multiplatform approach and will continue cancelling projects that aren’t progressing at the desired rate. Head here for more details. An important announcement regarding KINGDOM HEARTS Missing-Link. pic.twitter.com/pXL2ULBV8k— Official KINGDOM HEARTS Missing-LinkMay 14, 2025 #kingdom #hearts #missinglink #cancelled #square

NetherRealm Studios has revealed Mortal Kombat 1: Definitive Edition, which contains the 2023 fighting game and all content released post-launch, like Kombat Pack 1, the Khaos Reigns expansion, and more. Check out the launch trailer below. Retailing for the Definitive Edition also includes Shang Tsung, six Kameo Fighters, the MK2 Movie Skin Pack, and the Tournament Liu Kang skin. You also get six Premier skins, instant unlocks for the Kameo Pack and Havik, and 1250 Dragon Krystals. The base game’s price has also dropped to A paid upgrade option for the Definitive Edition is also available. Mortal Kombat 1 is available for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, PC, and Nintendo Switch. Though director Ed Boon promised extensive post-launch support, rumors indicate that Khaos Reigns sold poorly. A second story expansion and Kombat Pack 3 were also allegedly cancelled. As for what’s next for the studio, stay tuned for updates. #mortal #kombat #definitive #edition #out

News Blades of Fire Demo Goes Live on May 15th The demo lets players experience the initial hours of MercurySteam's next title, with progress transferring when it launches on May 22nd. Posted By Ravi Sinha | On 15th, May. 2025 After promising to release a demo “soon” for Blades of Fire, MercurySteam has confirmed that it will be available on May 15th for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC. According to the developer on BlueSky, it includes the first few hours of the hack-and-slash action RPG. Your progress will also transfer to the game when it launches next week, which means this is based on the final product. Blades of Fire is available on March 22nd for consoles and PC and focuses on Aran de Lira as he embarks on a quest to defeat Queen Nerea. The latter ascended the throne after her father’s passing and has been on a reign of terror, cursing the kingdom’s steel into stone. Wielding a mystic Forge hammer, Aran can create his own weapons to fight back. The blacksmithing portion is more than just a crafting exercise. It’s a full-fledged system that deeply influences combat and tactics. Head here for more details and check out our feature on the tile. Tagged With: Elden Ring: Nightreign Publisher:Bandai Namco Developer:FromSoftware Platforms:PS5, Xbox Series X, PS4, Xbox One, PCView More DOOM: The Dark Ages Publisher:Bethesda Softworks Developer:id Software Platforms:Xbox Series X, PS5, PCView More Death Stranding 2: On the Beach Publisher:Sony Developer:Kojima Productions Platforms:PS5View More Amazing Articles You Might Want To Check Out! Blades of Fire Demo Goes Live on May 15th The demo lets players experience the initial hours of MercurySteam's next title, with progress transferring wh... Sand Land, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Legends of the Zone Trilogy, and More Coming to PS Plus Extra/Premium Other titles include Soul Hackers 2, Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising, Humankind, Five Nights at Freddy's: Help... EA Motive is Hiring a Level Designer to Create “Major Single-Player Levels” For Iron Man The job listing also reaffirms that Iron Man is being developed using Unreal Engine 5, asking for the applican... Mortal Kombat 1: Definitive Edition is Out Now for It includes the base games, Kombat Pack 1, Khaos Reigns, all Kameo Fighters, Shang Tsung, the Premier skins, a... Helldivers 2 is Seemingly Getting a Major Update on May 20 The update, reportedly dubbed Heart of Democracy, revolves around Super Earth being in danger and Helldivers h... Kingdom Hearts: Missing-Link Cancelled, Square Enix “Hard at Work” on Kingdom Hearts 4 "It would be difficult for us to offer a service that players would find satisfactory over a long period," the... View More #blades #fire #demo #goes #live

NetherRealm Studios has revealed Mortal Kombat 1: Definitive Edition, which contains the 2023 fighting game and all content released post-launch, like Kombat Pack 1, the Khaos Reigns expansion, and more. Check out the launch trailer below. Retailing for the Definitive Edition also includes Shang Tsung, six Kameo Fighters, the MK2 Movie Skin Pack, and the Tournament Liu Kang skin. You also get six Premier skins, instant unlocks for the Kameo Pack and Havik, and 1250 Dragon Krystals. The base game’s price has also dropped to A paid upgrade option for the Definitive Edition is also available. Mortal Kombat 1 is available for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, PC, and Nintendo Switch. Though director Ed Boon promised extensive post-launch support, rumors indicate that Khaos Reigns sold poorly. A second story expansion and Kombat Pack 3 were also allegedly cancelled. As for what’s next for the studio, stay tuned for updates. #mortal #kombat #definitive #edition #out

Square Enix states that it believes it would be "difficult for us to offer a service that players would find satisfactory over a long period of time." #kingdom #hearts #missing #link #has

While EA Motive has been quiet about its ongoing development of a game based on the Iron Man franchise, a new job listing has been spotted on EA’s jobs website that indicates that single-player will be a major component of the game. The job listing is for a Level Designer that would be in charge of designing “major singleplayer levels”. Along with designing levels, the responsibilities for the job posting include bringing the levels through every phase of development, from concept all the way up to polishing. The level designer will also need to incorporate feedback from research and playtest data, while also communicating with the rest of the team when it comes to feedback on the levels they design. According to the posting, the position requires a potential level designer to have experience with single-player action RPG titles, as well as creative skills when it comes to conceptualising and designing environments. The posting also requires familiarity with Epic’s Unreal Engine. The last time EA Motive spoke about Iron Man was with general manager Patrick Klaus revealing that the team in the studio working on the game had hit a major internal milestone. In his update, Klaus mentioned that the project, led by Olivier Proulx and Ian Frazier, has laid “a robust foundation for the journey ahead.” The major internal milestone would likely have to do with the pre-production phase of the development of Iron Man. Back in October 2023, Klaus had revealed that EA Motive was still in the early stages of the game’s development, having started work on the title after wrapping up the Dead Space remake earlier that year. “Since, our focus has switched to the Iron Man project, giving us the opportunity to workwith another extraordinary property,” Klaus wrote back then. “We’re still early in pre-production and taking our time to make sure we set the best possible foundation for development. But already, we’re finding so many opportunities to explore story, design and gameplay with Iron Man, and it’s exciting to see the fantasy start coming alive.” While we don’t yet know too much about the Iron Man project, back in 2023, author Ryan North had announced that he was joining the writing team for the game. Nolan, who has worked on a host of comic booksas well as 2022 video game Lost in Random, said that “You are not ready for how amazing this game is going to be.” Owing to the general silence regarding the game, EA had confirmed that development on Iron Man, along with another project based on superhero Black Panther, hadn’t been cancelled. The statement came in light of lay-offs at the time affecting 670 employees throughout the company. Currently, no further details about EA Motive’s Iron Man game have been revealed, including what platforms it would be coming to, or even a potential launch window. Going by EA’s general multiplatform release strategy, however, the title is likely being made for PC and consoles. #motive #hiring #level #designer #create

Sony told investors that it is considering to "pass on" the cost of the US tariffs imposed by the Trump administration to hardware prices—including the PlayStation 5 and affiliated devices—which is currently projected to be a 100 billion yenimpact.As noted during the company‛s investors call around the fiscal report for the 12 months ended March 31, 2025, Sony CFO Lin Tao said that tariffs include the hardware business, which includes games and semiconductors. This is in reference to the 145 percent tariff imposed on China, where Sony manufactures the majority of its hardware, which includes TVs, cameras, microphones, and of course the PlayStation product line. "We‛re not just simply calculating the tariff to come up with 100 billion yen, but thinking about the currently available information and also looking at the market trend, we might pass on to the price and also shipment allocation, so we‛re taking different measures in managing to come up with the 100 billion figure," Tao said via a translator.As pointed out by senior vice president Sadahiko Hayakawa, the 100 billion figure may not be reflecting this week‛s reduction between China and the US. This is referencing an announcement on May 12 that led to a temporary US tariff reduction of 145 to 30 percent on Chinese imports, which will be in effect for 90 days.Related:In addition, president and CEO Hiroki Totoki answered a question regarding the possibility of moving hardware manufacturing to the US, saying that "these hardwaresof course can be produced locally," and that "it would be an efficient strategy.""But PS5 arebeing manufactured in many areas, whether it's going to be manufactured in the US or not it needs to be considered going forward. We‛re not in such a critical situation," he added.Niko Partners analyst Daniel Ahmad recently noted to Game Developer in an interview that Sony has "some" PlayStation 5 console manufacturing in Japan, but that it's "limited." "That will take months to convert everything for US production," he added.He described Sony as being "one year behind" Switch 2 developer Nintendo in terms of diversifying its manufacturing capabilities, with the bulk of its production taking place in China. Nintendo—which is still grappling with the impact of the Trump administration-imposed tariffs—moved much of its US-focused manufacturing to Vietnam after 2019.Sony noted in its presentation that it is "diversifying" PlayStation 5 manufacturing hubs and stockpiling inventory in the US.Related:Throughout the fiscal year ended March 31, 2025, Sony shipped 18.5 million PS5 consoles, bringing the total to 77.7 million lifetime shipments since November 2020. This is down from last year‛s 20.8 million units. The company saw an increase in sales of non-first-party games, including add-on content, as well as sales from network services, resulting in a nine percent increase in the gaming sector. As noted in the previous quarterly fiscal report, first-party titles sales saw a decline.Despite a decline in sales, Sony has already increased the price of the PS5 in other marketsThe decline in PS5 sales traces back to Sony Q1 FY24's fiscal report back in August 2024, a period in which hardware sales totaled 2.4 million units compared to 3.3 million in Q1 FY23. In November 2024, a report stated that Sony is working on a standalone handheld device capable of running PS5 games on the move—as opposed to the PlayStation Portal, which relies on cloud streaming. The company didn't mention the reported console in its plans for the upcoming fiscal year.Meanwhile, the company raised the price of the PS5 in Europe, Australia, New Zealand, EMEA, and the UK in April of this year as a response to a "challenging economic environment," pointing out "high inflation" and "fluctuating exchange rates" in the announcement post. A few days later, Xbox announced an increase in consoles, accessories, and some upcoming first-party titles.Related:When Sony announced the decline in PS5 sales during Q1 FY24, it said that it was offset by first-party game sales. Now, it's third-party games that helped to tip the scale. After the company won't have a projected revenue from several cancelled live service games, it seems it will have to adapt.Upcoming first-party titles includes Bungie's Marathon and Sucker Punch Productions Ghost of Yōtei, in addition to a multiplayer game with live service elements from new first-party studio teamLFG, which was spun out of Bungie. #sony #039pass #on039 #trump #tariffs

Quake 5 dev shots? give me more!Dr. Hingis: Quake 5 was in development at Id on & off during the development of both Doom 4, RAGE and Cancelled during the development of Doom 2016. A while ago I stumbled across a website of a current Id employee who uploaded some of their work on the project onto their gallery. #quake #dev #shots #give #more

While EA Motive has been quiet about its ongoing development of a game based on the Iron Man franchise, a new job listing has been spotted on EA’s jobs website that indicates that single-player will be a major component of the game. The job listing is for a Level Designer that would be in charge of designing “major singleplayer levels”. Along with designing levels, the responsibilities for the job posting include bringing the levels through every phase of development, from concept all the way up to polishing. The level designer will also need to incorporate feedback from research and playtest data, while also communicating with the rest of the team when it comes to feedback on the levels they design. According to the posting, the position requires a potential level designer to have experience with single-player action RPG titles, as well as creative skills when it comes to conceptualising and designing environments. The posting also requires familiarity with Epic’s Unreal Engine. The last time EA Motive spoke about Iron Man was with general manager Patrick Klaus revealing that the team in the studio working on the game had hit a major internal milestone. In his update, Klaus mentioned that the project, led by Olivier Proulx and Ian Frazier, has laid “a robust foundation for the journey ahead.” The major internal milestone would likely have to do with the pre-production phase of the development of Iron Man. Back in October 2023, Klaus had revealed that EA Motive was still in the early stages of the game’s development, having started work on the title after wrapping up the Dead Space remake earlier that year. “Since, our focus has switched to the Iron Man project, giving us the opportunity to workwith another extraordinary property,” Klaus wrote back then. “We’re still early in pre-production and taking our time to make sure we set the best possible foundation for development. But already, we’re finding so many opportunities to explore story, design and gameplay with Iron Man, and it’s exciting to see the fantasy start coming alive.” While we don’t yet know too much about the Iron Man project, back in 2023, author Ryan North had announced that he was joining the writing team for the game. Nolan, who has worked on a host of comic booksas well as 2022 video game Lost in Random, said that “You are not ready for how amazing this game is going to be.” Owing to the general silence regarding the game, EA had confirmed that development on Iron Man, along with another project based on superhero Black Panther, hadn’t been cancelled. The statement came in light of lay-offs at the time affecting 670 employees throughout the company. Currently, no further details about EA Motive’s Iron Man game have been revealed, including what platforms it would be coming to, or even a potential launch window. Going by EA’s general multiplatform release strategy, however, the title is likely being made for PC and consoles. #motive #hiring #level #designer #create

As id Software sits on the verge of releasing DOOM: The Dark Ages to the general public, one of the artists working at the studio has published a host of screenshots on his own website that might give us a hint to what the original concept for DOOM 4: Hell on Earth would have looked like. Along with those, the artist – Thao Le – has also uploaded screenshots that might indicate an early attempt at reimagining the original Quake using modern technology. According to Le’s website, the screenshots feature scenes and models that that were used directly in id Software’s in-house idTech 5 engine, and also doesn’t include finishing touches that you would typically see in a game, like radiosity rendering. According to Le, several of the scenes depicted in the screenshots were created by making use of a combination of existing assets from DOOM as well as original assets. The overall theme for these, as described by Le, is a re-imagined environment from Quake with modern touches. “It has two parts,” explains Le on the website. “The first one is stone and old machinery ‘melted’ into each other in the weird way that is not familiar with human logic. Gears, chains are moving to create dynamicand can be used as game play. The second parthas just stones with very mystery structures in which stones are dynamically float or animated that causes the environments keeps changing during the combat.” When it comes to DOOM 4: Hell on Earth, Le has described the overarching themes of his work on the game’s environments as having to created a city with the key words being “abandoned” and “destruction”. The environments in these screenshots, which you can check out here, were created using idTech 4 that once again doesn’t feature finishing touches like PBR or Substance rendering. According to the resume on his website, Le has been working in the gaming industry since 2001, when he joined Lucas Arts and worked on titles like Gladius and Star Fighter 2. In 2004, Le moved to EA Los Angeles, where he worked on titles like Medal of Honor, a cancelled project dubbed Tiberium, a Lord of the Rings game, and Golden Eye. Since 2008, however, Le has been working with id Software. After having worked as an artist on the cancelled DOOM 4: Hell on Earth, he also worked on other shooters by the studio, including both Rage titles, DOOM, and most recently, Quake Champions. Interestingly, Le hasn’t listed more recent games like DOOM Eternal or the upcoming DOOM: The Dark Ages as projects he has worked on. In the past, various developers from id Software have revealed quite a few details about DOOM 4. Celebrating the release of DOOM, designer Kevin Cloud spoke about the cancelled project, saying that it felt more like a story-based game and less like one that could belong in the DOOM series. “We explored a direction and got to a certain point and felt like this really wasn’t capturing what we felt like was going to be a strong DOOM and what the fans would want from it.” More recently, footage from the cancelled title has been released for the sake of preservation courtesy of id Software and documentary-maker Noclip. #quake #reimagined #with #modern #technology