Just Why UPDATE: Fortnite's now letting people squad up with a Darth Vader AI chatbot for, sigh, reasons, so of course streamers have already made it swear and talk about boobs Heads up: if you're under 13 (this varies by region), you'll need to get your parents' permission to ask this thing why it exists. Image credit: Epic News by Mark Warren Senior Staff Writer Updated on May 16, 2025 UPDATE (16/05/25, 5:20 PM BST): Kotaku's Ethan Gach reports that Epic Games has already pushed an update to try and stop people being able to make AI Vader say the F word. "We pushed a hot fix within 30 minutes of this happening in-game, so this shouldn’t happen again," the publisher said. I'm so tired. Here we go. It's 2025, so Fortnite now includes a Darth Vader chatbot you can have stilted AI-powered conversations with after recruiting him into your squad. Naturally, a streamer has already managed to get it to say a bad word and talk about boobs. I shouldn't be surprised. This game already has Tesla's shitty Cybertruck in it. At least people in the US who only game on their Iphones are being spared for now. To see this content please enable targeting cookies. "Strategize with the ultimate Sith Lord. With your voice. And he’ll respond back using conversational AI," reads Epic's announcement that this - which uses Google’s Gemini 2.0 Flash model and ElevenLabs’ Flash v2.5 model to deliver AI-generated chatter using James Earl Jones' actual voice - is a thing. Perhaps the one silver lining, though it's not really a silver lining because it helps normalise this kind of thing, is that the late actor's estate has given its permission to let Epic do this. "James Earl felt that the voice of Darth Vader was inseparable from the story of Star Wars, and he always wanted fans of all ages to continue to experience it," reads a statement from Jones' family, "We hope that this collaboration with Fortnite will allow both longtime fans of Darth Vader and newer generations to share in the enjoyment of this iconic character." "Ask him all your pressing questions about the Force, the Galactic Empire... or you know, a good strat for the last Storm circle. The Sith Lord has opinions," Epic says. So, what are people asking him? Well, Australian streamer Loserfruit has already managed to get the Vader chatbot to swear, call them "Mummy", and talk about breasts, the latter of which you can see in the clip below. To see this content please enable targeting cookies. It's also enquired if a Rebel Alliance of Skibidi Toilets exists in a chat with another player. To see this content please enable targeting cookies. It's still early days too, and you can only imagine the kinds of things certain people are and will be trying to get it to say. Oh, it's also worth noting that because laws exist, Epic's Vader chatbot FAQ makes it clear that "players under 13 or their country’s age of digital consent, whichever is higher" will need to get their parents' permission to be able to talk to AI Vader. It's like a depressingly 2025 version of getting your mum to approve you hopping on Club Penguin, except this time they're saying yes to a parental control to “allow voice and written communication with AI Features” Epic's added to the game's settings and some other places detailed in the FAQ. That's it. This is a thing.

Fortnite now lets you chat with Darth Vader using generative AI speech UPDATE: Epic issues swift update after players get Sith lord to swear. Image credit: Epic Games News by Tom Phillips Editor-in-Chief Updated on May 16, 2025 UPDATE 4.45pm UK: Well, that didn't take long. Kotaku report Ethan Gach has reported that Epic Games has issued a swift update after players quickly got Darth Vader to start swearing. "We pushed a hot fix within 30 minutes of this happening in-game," Epic said, "so this shouldn't happen again." ORIGINAL STORY 4.15pm UK: Fortnite now lets you chat with Darth Vader, who wields the fully operational AI-generated power of the late James Earl Jones. This isn't the first time Fortnite has featured the digital recreation of a now-deceased individual. Last year, it held a pop concert fronted by Juice Wrld, the young rapper and Fortnite fan who sadly died of an overdose in 2019. But this is the first time Fortnite has let you voice chat with a character - any character, living or dead - and have them respond to you via generative AI. Here's a look at how it works: To see this content please enable targeting cookies. And of course, people are already doing terrible things with it, such as getting Vader to say swears. Here's Epic Games' closely allied streamer LoserFruit, who has a skin in the game, encouraging Vader's potty mouth: To see this content please enable targeting cookies. This frankly bizarre addition comes amidst Fortnite's ongoing Star Wars season, and after seminal Darth Vader voice actor James Earl Jones signed over the rights of his voice to Disney to enable the iconic villain's voice to continue. In the world of TV, this has already been used to generate Vader's voice for the Disney+ show Obi-Wan Kenobi. Now, Fortnite has partnered with Google's Gemini AI bot and ElevenLabs' Flash audio model to provide the late actor's vocals for players in real-time. "James Earl felt that the voice of Darth Vader was inseparable from the story of Star Wars, and he always wanted fans of all ages to continue to experience it," reads a statement issued today from the family of James Earl Jones. "We hope that this collaboration with Fortnite will allow both longtime fans of Darth Vader and newer generations to share in the enjoyment of this iconic character." Players aged under 13 will receive a prompt asking for parental permission to chat with Darth Vader, an Epic Games FAQ page states. You can also report Darth Vader, if he says something you don't like. "When you talk with Darth Vader, we securely send voice audio to Gemini to generate Darth Vader's response," Epic Games wrote. "Your voice audio and transcriptions of it are not stored. If you report something Darth Vader says, we will only receive Darth Vader's responses." For now, Darth Vader only understands and responds in English, the FAQ continues. *insert Wookie noise here* The development comes after significant pushback by established (human, living) voice actors over the encroachment of AI in video games. Earlier this year, Eurogamer chatted with Commander Shepard voice actor Jennifer Hale to find out the latest developments in the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike, with AI a key issue. Earlier today, Epic Games announced that Fortnite would be going offline on iPhone for the forseeable future after Apple had "blocked" its return via the App Store in the US.

New Yeee-Hardware? Red Dead Redemption 2 is reportedly coming to Switch 2, which would give GameChat a chance to prove its worth via yelling about Tahiti and horse balls 'Guys, Dutch clearly has a plan, why wouldn't I trust him?' said the Switch 2 player to their fellow chatters. Image credit: Nintendo/Rockstar Games News by Mark Warren Senior Staff Writer Published on May 16, 2025 Everyone's favourite game about a gang of rootin', tootin' outlaws slowly getting more and more depressed as they scamper around a very big map is reportedly set to come to Nintendo Switch 2. This is according to Gamereactor, with the site claiming it's heard from sources close to Rockstar that the game could be rocking up on Nintendo's latest game-playing box "as soon as later this year". It cites Spanish publication Nintendúo as having corroborated this claim via different sources. To see this content please enable targeting cookies. Gamereactor also alleges having heard that a graphics and performance improvement-focused update to RDR2 to make it really sing on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S is also coming, potentially around the same time as the cowboy adventure hits Switch 2. Big Take-Two published games Borderlands 4, Civilization 7, NBA 2K, and WWE 2K are all already slated to hit Switch 2, so lobbing something from Rockstar in there would mean a fifth. In a recent inteview with The Game Business, the publisher's CEO Strauss Zelnick acknowledged those four games coming to Switch for launch, saying that it "remains to be seen how those games do on the plaform, but adding that he's "a big believer". "Historically, Nintendo has done a better and more supportive job with first-party titles," Zelnick added, "But I think they are aiming to change that. And we have basically risen to the challenge and opportunity, and we’ll see how it goes. We voted with our feet. Nintendo has asked us to be supportive, and we do believe we’re doing that. Now we will see what happens." If RDR2 does hit Switch 2, it should at the very least prove to be a pretty strenous test of Ninty's GameChat feature, with folks getting together to belt out all of the meme lines and point out every instance of horse balls changing size because someone rode way up north into the cold. It'll be like a Minecraft movie screening, but with slightly more stagecoach theft and random encounters with the Ku Klux Klan. Will you play RDR2 on Switch 2 if indeed that becomes a thing you can do? Let us know below, and sorry for getting a bit weird with the rhyming there.

Not Back Yet Fortnite developer Epic accuses Apple of glockblocking its attempts to shoot the game back onto US iOS, then probably hit the griddy Epic says Fortnite on iOS will now "be offline worldwide until Apple unblocks it", as the corporate battle royale continues. Image credit: Epic News by Mark Warren Senior Staff Writer Published on May 16, 2025 Fortnite developer Epic recently suggested the game might become available on iOS in the US for the first time since 2020 soon, but it's now looking like that won't be happening. Why? Well, Epic's accusing Apple, its long-time sparring partner in an ongoing legal battle, of storeblocking. As we reported last week, Epic CEO Tim Sweeney had launched a fresh effort to get Apple to agree to re-admit the game to its App Store following a judge issuing a pretty damning verdict against the fruit company in the latest legal skirmish between the two. This is all about payment options and the cut Apple takes of them via its store, with Epic having decided five years ago that this was something it wouldn't stand for. To see this content please enable targeting cookies. Epic CEO Tim Sweeney has claimed it originally submitted Fortnite for Apple to review on May 9 and then resubmitted a new version on May 14 in order to include a fresh update to the game. Now, the publisher's put out the following statement via the official Fortnite Twitter account: "Apple has blocked our Fortnite submission so we cannot release to the US App Store or to the Epic Games Store for iOS in the European Union. Now, sadly, Fortnite on iOS will be offline worldwide until Apple unblocks it." To see this content please enable targeting cookies. Sweeney himself has also been tweeting, declaring in one post: "Apple’s App Review team should be free to review all submitted apps promptly and accept or reject according to the plain language of their guidelines. App Review shouldn’t be weaponized by senior management as a tool to delay or obstruct competition, due process, or free speech." This all comes after that aforementioned court verdict, which saw Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers rule that Apple was "in wilful violation" of previous court injunction that it had to allow purchases made for iOS games and apps through outside web links. It did, but then instituted a 27% commission on such purchases. "Apple’s response to the Injunction strains credulity," the court's verdict read, "After two sets of evidentiary hearings, the truth emerged Apple, despite knowing its obligations thereunder, thwarted the injunction’s goals, and continued its anticompetitive conduct solely to maintain its revenue stream." We'll just have to see how things go from here, as it looks like this fight is nowhere near a resolution that would see one victor left default dancing, or more realistically a bunch of suits going back to whatever else it is they do with their time.

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Top 50 Club Steam now lets you check out each month's top 50 best-selling games, and scroll all the way back to Half-Life 2's release if you want to feel mega old Valve has given Steam's monthly game charts a big refresh, for those of us who really want to study the most popular games on the platform. Image credit: Valve News by Sherif Saed Contributing Editor Published on May 16, 2025 Steam’s charts continue to be one of the best sources of information across the entire industry when it comes to sales, player activity and a lot more. Steam has always had the big Top Sellers chart, which lists the platform's top-grossing games, and tracks their movements within it each day. You could also see each month’s top-selling games, but thanks to a new update, the monthly lists are a lot more detailed and relevant. To see this content please enable targeting cookies. The big Top Sellers page on Steam has the current chart, weekly, as well as monthly. Valve has refreshed the monthly charts to include 50 games, sorted by revenue. All sales charts across Steam are based on game revenue, which is why free-to-play games often occupy the top spots. The refresh now allows you browse every month from April 2025, all the way back to November 2004 - when Half-Life 2 was initially released. The monthly reports are nicer to look at, too, starting off with a trailer for every game in question. The list can even include pieces of DLC, assuming they’re popular enough to rank among the top 50 games. The new layout will make that clear as you browse. For even more accurate details, you can filter by genre, theme, style, supported feature, or tag. Valve explained that the data is based on the first two weeks of revenue for each title released during that month. Each month is split into three tiers: gold (12 games), silver (next 12), and bronze (all the rest). One of the big advantages of this refresh is that reports will be now be automatically compiled, meaning that you’ll find the previous month’s report exactly 14 days into the next one. The only problem is that, if a game is not available in your region, you won’t be able to see it on the list, even if it’s included in the top 50. Click the link above to see the new layout for yourself, or travel back in time to any month you want. In other Steam news, Valve recently released an official comment regarding an alleged data breach of one of its cloud partners, and it appears there’s no cause for alarm.

Bungie confirms Marathon uses "unauthorised" artwork, is undertaking review of in-game assets The developer vowed to "do right" by the artist in question Image credit: Bungie News by Samuel Roberts Editorial Director Published on May 16, 2025 Bungie confirmed its recent alpha for Marathon used 'unauthorised' decals and designs, after the developer was accused of lifting assets from posters designed in 2017. Artist Antireal pointed out the use of her artwork in-game on social media, while tagging in the developer and franchise art director Joseph Cross. To see this content please enable targeting cookies. "Bungie is of course not obligated to hire me when making a game that draws overwhelmingly from the same design language I have refined for the last decade, but clearly my work was good enough to pillage for ideas and plaster all over their game without pay or attribution," Antireal said. "In 10 years I have never made a consistent income from this work and I am tired of designers from huge companies moodboarding and parasitising my designs while I struggle to make a living," added Antireal. Bungie responded via its MarathonDevTeam account on Twitter, taking responsibility for the incident. "We immediately investigated a concern regarding unauthorised use of artist decals in Marathon and confirmed that a former Bungie artist included these in a texture sheet that was ultimately used in-game." The studio said this issue was unknown by its existing art team, and that it's reached out to "do right" by the artist. "As a matter of policy, we do not use the work of artists without their permission," the account said. "To prevent similar issues in the future, we are conducting a thorough review of our in-game assets, specifically those done by the former Bungie artist, and implementing stricter checks to document all artist contributions." Bungie has been accused of lifting artwork four times now. Last year, an artist accused the studio of borrowing its designs for a Destiny 2 Nerf gun, which was amicably resolved. In 2023, an artist pointed out the similarities between their artwork and a piece that appeared in a Destiny 2 cutscene. Bungie resolved this by compensating and crediting the artist. In 2021, fan art was used in a trailer, which Bungie again resolved after reaching out to the artist in question.

Internet Roadtrip is Twitch Plays Pokémon meets Google Maps, from the creator of Infinite Craft Maine event. Image credit: Internet Roadtrip News by Tom Phillips Editor-in-Chief Published on May 15, 2025 The internet is currently driving to Canada via Google Maps, and I'm along for the ride. This is Internet Roadtrip, the next browser-based creation from Infinite Craft developer Neal Agarwal, which launched last week and has since picked up momentum. 1610 so-called "drivers" are currently online, traversing the highways of New England via images from Google Streetview that update every 10 seconds. Just as with internet phenomenon Twitch Plays Pokémon, viewers can collectively vote to determine which direction the car heads next. Internet Roadtrip launched with its car initially placed upon the streets of Boston - there's a handy map to show the virtual vehicle's full journey to date - but after a brief foray to the city's southern suburbs it has been driven north ever since. Eight days later and Internet Roadtrip is now enjoying a slow drive north through the picturesque state of Maine, and there's currently discussion in its chat feed about stopping off at the tourist hotspot of Bar Harbor (which, to be fair, is lovely this time of year). In a brilliant turn of events, Internet Roadtrip's journey through Maine has caught the attention of a local student-run radio station (WBOR), which spent some time curating songs to be picked up on the in-game FM radio. A radio station in Maine (WBOR) is currently curating songs for us in the in-game radio[image or embed]— Neal Agarwal (@neal.fun) May 12, 2025 at 8:56 PM To see this content please enable targeting cookies. Just as with Twitch Plays Pokémon, there's a fun community building in the chat - and a general consensus that the vehicle is headed north of the US border to Canada. Will it get there? And where will it go next? I'll be keeping an eye. For now, viewers are having fun remarking on some of the grandiose place names Maine features for some of its tiny rural towns. Travelling from state capital Augusta up to the border you can pass through Calais, Cambridge, China, Denmark, Lebanon, Madrid, Mexico and Moscow. As I write this, Internet Roadtrip is currently in South China, Maine. "What a pleasure to be able to peer into others' imaginations like this," Christian Donlan wrote of Agarwhal's brilliant creation Infinite Craft upon its launch last year. "It really does feel like a chance to see how your friends' brains truly work."

The worst video game ever made is coming to PS5, Switch and Xbox this month GameCentral Published May 15, 2025 6:05pm Updated May 15, 2025 6:05pm The anti-video game (Playsaurus) An indie classic that spawned an entire genre, despite having virtually no gameplay, is coming to consoles and the best that can be said about it, is that it’s cheap. Given the genre it created is called an indle game, it’s fair to say that Cookie Clicker does not have the deepest gameplay in the gaming world. All you do is click on picture of a cookie, to make more cookies, to buy in-game items to automate the process of clicking on pictures of cookies. To call it inane is to understate on a titanic scale and as far as we’re concerned it’s an anathema to everything video games are about. However, somehow t’s incredibly popular and has sold millions of copies on Steam, with a concurrent peak of 67,806 players. And now it’s coming to consoles. Why it’s taken so long, considering it was originally released in paid form in 2021, isn’t clear but it’s due to arrive on Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X/S, and PlayStation 5 on May 22. French creator Julien Thiennot admitted to having created the game in a single evening, but we can’t blame him for the game’s success as he surely never imagined it going on to have this kind of reception. The game will cost £4.29 on all console formats, which is the same as it is on Steam. Strangely, there are no Xbox One or PlayStation 4 versions, and yet it’s hard to imagine the game would tax their processors too hard. There doesn’t seem to be anything particularly new in the console version, but it will feature over 600 in-game upgrades, various mini-games, a dragon to pet (i.e. click), and music by C418. More Trending Mind you, we wouldn’t pretend to be experts on how much the game has changed since its debut in 2013, and according to publisher DashNet it does include ‘new features’, such as permanent upgrades that mean you can leave the game to play itself even more quickly. For obvious reasons, the idle game genre is most popular on mobile and PC but some of its other big hitters include Make It Rain: The Love Of Money, Clicker Heroes, Shark Game, Kittens Games, and other non-games whose existence we are loathe to acknowledge. If you want to try before you buy the original browser version of Cookie Clicker is still free to play here. We hate it with a passion but if you want to click, that’s up to you. The video game for people who can’t be bothered to play video games (Playsaurus) Email gamecentral@metro.co.uk, leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter, and sign-up to our newsletter. To submit Inbox letters and Reader’s Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here. For more stories like this, check our Gaming page. Arrow MORE: The Precinct review – Hill Streets Blues meets GTA GameCentral Sign up for exclusive analysis, latest releases, and bonus community content. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Your information will be used in line with our Privacy Policy

Staying In Shadows Assassin's Creed Shadows' delay turned out well, so Ubisoft's bigwigs are pushing some of the biggest games it has in the works further down the road If it ain't broke, give it an extra year or so just to allow you to really make sure it ain't broke. Image credit: Ubisoft News by Mark Warren Senior Staff Writer Published on May 15, 2025 Assassin's Creed Shadows was good. So, Ubisoft's decided to do the same thing with some of the "biggest productions" it currently has in the works, pushing several unnannounced games back in the hopes that more development time will yield more success. This was announced in the publisher's latest earnings release, in which it also reflets on what's been a pretty turbulent year for one of the world's premiere providers of massive games with maps chock full of s**t to do, and has seen it produce a weird subsidiary baby with Chinese giant Tencent. To see this content please enable targeting cookies. After bigging up Shadows' launch as a "defining moment" that re-affirmed the entire concept of people liking Assassin's Creed, the release revealed that the publisher's been reviewing the portfoloio of stuff it's currently working on. "After a thorough review of its pipeline that took place from October to December, the Group decided to provide additional development time to some of its biggest productions in order to create the best conditions for success," Ubisoft wrote. "This decision has already been beneficial to the quality of Assassin’s Creed Shadows. As a consequence, FY2026-27 and FY2027-28 will see significant growth vs. FY2025-26 on the back of strong content coming from the Group’s largest brands." Well, at least it's doing the same thing over and over again with the expectation of getting similar results, rather than different results - the latter being the thing Vaas warned us all about repeatedly during the course of Far Cry 3. Is this strategy the definition of sanity? We'll have to see. Meanwhile, Ubisoft declared that the Prince of Persia: Sands of Time remake - the game it teased last year by showing off a 30 second clip of a candle doing candle things - will come out during the current financial year that ends in March 2026. It had already been given a broad 2026 date in that candle teaser, so you can pencil it in for sometime in the first few months of next year. Anno 117: Pax Romana, Rainbow Six Mobile, and The Division Resurgence are all also set to come out in the upcoming biz year, along with some more games that remain unnannounced for now but with these delays, it's looking like there could be a bit of a fallow period after that. Do you think Ubi's on to a winner by applying its Shadows strategy to these other games? Let us know below!