The Palestinian Relief Bundle available on itch.io is offering 373 games, soundtracks, comics, and other digital goods worth over $1600 (almost £1300) for a starting donation of just $8 (around £6.50).

Initially, the bundle organiser had hoped to raise $100,000 for the Palestine Children's Relief Fund, but that goal has since been stretched to $250,000.

"Palestinians are being persecuted from their homes in an ongoing genocide. Due to the armed actions of Israel, they lack access to essentials such as food, water, electricity and medical care," the bundle description explains.

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The first time I played Fallout 4 VR was in a tiny little booth after Bethesda's 2016 E3 conference. I called my short time with the game 'underwhelming' back then because the whole experience was little more than a stationary shooting gallery with bottles for targets. Even then though, it was still a thrill to feel like I was actually standing next to a real-life Red Rocket gas station.

Fallout 4 VR finally released in December 2017 to fairly positive reviews, even though there was a lot of criticism about the VR implementation and its lacklustre graphics. Despite these faults however, most helmet-heads on PC were thrilled to have the opportunity to play through the entirety of Fallout 4 in virtual reality. Sure there were some corners cut here and there but still, props to Bethesda for even attempting this port in the first place, I wish more developers and publishers would do the same.

In the roughly 6.5 years since Fallout 4 VR's release, enterprising modders have been attempting to improve the vanilla experience one tiny mod at a time. But there are some, like content creator, GingasVR, who have put together huge mod lists that aim to alter the original version of Fallout 4 VR and bring it up to the standards of something like Half Life: Alyx.

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Oh to be a fly on the wall when they pitched the Street Fighter 6 intro movie. See, there are rules for fighting game cinematics. You need a montage of assorted beefcakes, flexing and strutting for the camera, then coming to blows against the crescendo of a heavy rock track. These conventions are sacrosanct and cannot be broken. Everything from Tekken, to Guilty Gear, to King of Fighters, to Street Fighter 5 follows the same recipe. Only this time Street Fighter 6 decided, no, let's not do that, and instead how about we do a 1970s proto-rap-style piece of rhythmic poetry a la Gil Scott-Heron? With a neon graffiti aesthetic? And in lieu of a social message, let's get really existential about the meaning of strength! Reader, I do not know how this got past upper management. I cannot imagine how they sold it to shareholders. I don't understand why one of the biggest franchises decided to fiddle with the formula. But it's a breath of fresh air and poses that crucial question: What is strength?

This might seem trivial, but in the context of fighting games, it almost makes sense. These games are notoriously difficult. Many use motion inputs, which for newcomers can take days to pull off reliably. Then you have to link them into tightly-timed, multi-hit combos. And then you have to whip out your combos in the middle of a match, all while blocking everything your opponent is hitting you with, desperately looking for an opening, and anticipating whatever sinister mind-game nonsense they'll throw out next. And for what? So you can go online and, maybe, if you're lucky, not get utterly eviscerated by some rando in their bedroom halfway across the planet. Why bother? The SF6 cinematic reaches the only obvious conclusion. 'We're all a bunch of fools'.

I'm a bigger fool than most. For years, I'd get so hyped on fighting game trailers that I'd buy them all at launch. I paid full price for Tekken 7 and Injustice 2 and Samurai Shodown, and each time I'd enter ranked and just get humbled or humiliated or teabagged by Batman. When Street Fighter 5 came out, I wanted to get good so badly I even got a professional arcade stick, angrily rattling it while yet another Ken shoryu'd me in the face. So when I bought Street Fighter 6, I knew it was a mistake. Except, this time, miraculously, it clicked. I don't 100 percent know why this was the one, but it has something to do with Street Fighter 6's wonderful cast of fighting fools.

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21 April 2024 UPDATE: j0nathan has clarified that the image of Cillian Murphy used in his cryptic tease does not mean Murphy will star in the game.

"Attention: I NEVER said Cillian Murphy was going to be in the game. The image means something else," the leaker said.

Original story follows.

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Take-Two has successfully defended itself against a lawsuit in which a tattoo artist claimed the publisher had used their copyright without permission when recreating the likeness of Lebron James' tattoo in NBA 2K.

Yesterday, Friday 19th April, a jury in Ohio returned the verdict that Take-Two had not infringed on tattoo artist Jimmy Hayden's copyright after Take-Two's lawyers convinced the jury that – as it had secured permission to use James' likeness – that included the basketball star's tattoos, too.

As reported by Reuters (thanks, VGC), Take-Two's attorney Dale Cendali claimed the case was a victory for "anyone who has ever gotten a tattoo and might have otherwise worried about their freedom to share their bodies with their tattoos".

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Sonic x Shadow Generations has been rated in South Korea.

The South Korean Game Content Rating Committee didn't have much else to say about the game when it published the rating yesterday, but did at least confirm the "action" game was suitable for "all" users.

Perhaps more interestingly, though, the publication of yet another rating for the recently-announced remaster will go some way to confirm to fans that the release window remains on schedule, and the game would appear to still be on track to release in autumn (Q3) this year.

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No Rest for the Wicked's first early access hotfix has been rolled out, and a second patch is "already in progress".

As Victoria summarised for us yesterday, the Diablo-like game from Ori and the Blind Forest developer Moon Studios released to mixed reviews on Steam, but already the team is on the case in a bid to address "balance, durability, stamina, loot, stability, and immediate Quality of Life".

In a lengthy update on the game's social media accounts, the team said: "Thank you again to all of you for making our Early Access launch so amazing. Today's hotfix is the first of many upcoming patches and updates to improve No Rest for the Wicked on the road to our 1.0 release.

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Bloober Team has seemingly amended the face of James Sunderland in its highly-anticipated Silent Hill 2 Remake.

The switch came to light via an updated icon on SteamDB, leading some fans to speculate that the studio revised James' face in response to community feedback.

Whilst it's not been confirmed by Bloober itself – or been replicated on any other of the game's storefront assets or screenshots – James' haggard, grief-soaked face has been smoothed out to make for a less tense, more youthful, look.

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Sea of Thieves stared off life as an Xbox exclusive, growing over time into a genuine hit with a large, committed community. Now, in an effort to increase its audience still futher, it's become a key part of Microsoft's multi-platform push. Yes, Rare's pirate co-op title is headed to PlayStation 5, kicking off with an open beta last weekend. So just how good is the port and to what extent does the experience vary between PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series hardware? This has been an interesting project for Digital Foundry, not just because of the new version - but also because we missed out on covering the game in its transition to current-gen hardware, so we also took a look at the game to see how it has evolved up against Xbox One X.

The most interesting place to start is with a look at the brand-new PS5 version. To reiterate, we looked at beta code, and there may be changes when the game launches on April 30th, but it does seem quite polished at the moment. First impressions suggest a game that is very similar to its Series X counterpart - but when we look a bit closer, there are some differences. Shadows look quite a bit different on PS5, with a sharper outline and more visible detail. This holds true both up-close and at a distance, with far away shadows resolving more softly on the Series machine. This is definitely an odd change, and falls in line with a similar tweak found in the PS5 version of Hi-Fi Rush.

If we boot up the PC version at max settings, the PS5 version more closely resembles the highest shadow quality option, though neither console is a perfect fit. The PS5 and PC exhibit similar looking shadow detail, with slightly stronger filtering on PC, but if we step down to the legendary setting, both consoles clearly offer better and cleaner shadow rendering. I can't quite tell if this just comes down to a difference in shadow filtering or if the PS5's shadow resolution has been upgraded relative to Series X, but it is very curious for sure. I tended to prefer the PS5's shadow rendering for what it's worth, though it's not a difference I'd fixate on outside of head-to-heads.

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Sony has confirmed LittleBigPlanet 3's servers will remain "offline indefinitely".

The servers were taken down in January, although it was hoped at the time that it would be a "temporary" situation.

Now, however, "ongoing technical issues" mean the servers will not be coming back online and all online services – including access to other players' creations – "are no longer available".

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There's something quietly quite exciting happening, and I wonder where it's going to lead. Earlier this week, Grounded - the Honey I Shrunk the Kids backyard survival game - arrived on PlayStation, and at the end of the month (30th April) pirating game Sea of Thieves arrives on PlayStation too. It's a momentous occasion, even though it might not sound it, because we've never had games conceived as Xbox exclusives arrive on PlayStation before. It's an unprecedented new approach by Microsoft and, should it work, it could open a whole Mary Poppins bag of possibility.

I don't want to talk about the colder business case for it, because that's not what excites me. What excites me is what it means for players and, I suppose, for the games themselves. How wonderful it feels to be excited about these games again, which are now a number of years old. We first played Sea of Thieves in early 2018, and Grounded in mid-2020, and they were terrifically exciting then, but now they're not. They've been with us so long they've become familiar. No one's pulling you aside and asking you, raw enthusiasm in their eyes, if you've played them yet.

Well, not yet.

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As the calendar continues its ceaseless onward march, Epic has announced its next batch of weekly Epic Games Store freebies, which this time look very much like Cold War shooter Industria and post-apocalyptic RPG bundle Lisa: Definitive Edition.

Both games are free to add to your Epic Games Store library starting Thursday, 25th April, and if you need a nudge toward the 'download' button, here's what you can expect from each:

Industria, coming from developer Bleakmill, describes itself as an atmospheric first-person shooter set in Cold War-era East Berlin. "Unravel the secrets of a mysterious parallel dimension while searching for a missing colleague," goes the official blurb. "Explore a haunting reality where the truth awaits. Discover the dark past that lies beyond."

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Telltale Games' long-in-the-works The Wolf Among Us 2 has resurfaced with new screenshots following last year's delay, with the studio saying it's "been heads down" on the project.

The Wolf Among Us 2 - again set in the world of Bill Willingham's Fables comics - was originally announced back in 2017, but development halted when Telltale Games shut its doors the following year. That appeared to be the end for the sequel, until 2019 brought the news Telltale was being resurrected under new management - a surprise development that would eventually see The Wolf Among Us 2 re-announced.

Our first proper look at the sequel arrived in the form of a trailer in 2022, but as its 2023 release date drew near, Telltale announced it was delaying the game in order to avoid burnout and crunch. Unfortunately, it looked like the project might have run aground a second time last October when reports suggested development had been heavily impacted by Telltale layoffs.

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If you've been eager to watch the animated Ark: Survival Evolved TV series, but your attempts have so far been thwarted by your failure to live in the US or Canada, there's some good news: it's now officially available in 11 other countries, including the UK, via Paramount+.

Ark: The Animated Series follows the adventures of 21st century palaeontologist Helena Walker after she finds herself resurrected on a mysterious island populated by prehistoric beasts. "She must learn to survive with new allies from throughout time," explains the official blurb, "while trying to uncover the true nature of their strange new world."

Ark's animated series has somehow managed to secure itself an impressive cast (presumably that 'somehow' is 'several extremely large buckets of money'), with the likes of Oscar winner Michelle Yeoh, Russell Crowe, Gerard Butler, Jeffrey Wright, Elliot Page, Madeleine Madden, Karl Urban, and David Tennant all lending their vocal talents to proceedings. Vin Diesel is also on board - he's a big Ark fan, apparently - ahead of his appearance in the delayed Ark 2.

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Everyone has their favourite Mario Kart character to play as, but is there really a best option? A choice which will actually give you an edge to beat your rivals - to go just a little bit faster, or recover that little bit quicker?

Well, yes - some characters are mathmatically better than others. This is even true when you factor in the many different kart pieces - bodies, wheels and gliders - which you can mix and match to tweak your overall racer stat. So how do you pick?

According to a fasincating and beautifully put together piece of research by data scientist Antoine Mayerowitz, there are 703,560 different build options to choose from when you cater to all the different characters and kart pieces. But many of these are carbon copies of each other - so you can quickly whittle that down to just 25,704 distinct statistical options.

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Kena: Bridge of Spirits, the gorgeous action-adventure from developer Ember Lab, looks to be making the leap to Xbox Series X/S, according to a newly spotted rating on the ESRB website.

Kena: Bridge of Spirits initially launched in 2021 amid various timed exclusivity agreements: Sony snapped it up for PS5 and PS4, while the Epic Games Store snagged exclusivity on PC. Kena released on Steam the following year, but an Xbox version is yet to be seen.

While no official announcement has been made by Ember Lab pointing to Kena's imminent arrival on Microsoft's platform, a newly discovered Xbox Series X/S classification by the US Entertainment Software Rating Board (thanks VGC) suggests Xbox owners wanting to sink into Kena's striking action shouldn't have too long to wait.

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In my humble opinion - or not so humble if you know me well enough - the Fallout series on Amazon Prime has struck an admirable balance between satire, absurdity, and ultra violence that epitomises its wasteland. Lucy, The Ghoul, and Maximus are the three archetypes of the characters you'll find in Fallout: the vault dweller, wasteland wanderer, and Brotherhood of Steel follower. So, if you'd rather be those characters rather than just meet them in your adventures, I am here. I've put together a character build for Lucy, the Ghoul, and Maximus so you can recreate the chaos of Amazon's Fallout in Fallout 4.

Please forgive my very poor excuses for these character's lookalikes in the character creator, as it leaves a lot to be desired. However, if you're like me and play Fallout 4 in first-person then you won't see the face that much - so you won't be haunted by these... mimics.

This is specifically for unmodded Fallout 4, we should note, but if you head over to Nexus Mods and have Fallout 4 on the PC I know you'll be able to find Fallout TV show-inspired mods that'll do wonders for these builds... Anyway, let's jingle jangle jingle on together.

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Arrowhead has a steady line it needs to walk with Helldivers 2. The developer needs to ensure it both fixes any bugs (not Terminids, the glitchy kind) while also adding new featurs and content to the game in order to "stay relevant".

That's coming from Arrowhead CEO Johan Pilestedt, who replied to a post on reddit (thanks IGN) saying the "competitiveness of this industry" meant the team had to ensure it did both to ensure the longevity of its game.

"Arrowhead is independently owned by people working at the studio and not swayed by shareholders in the traditional sense," the Helldivers 2 head said. "Of course we are in a great partnership with Sony where we agree on targets to hit etc. But there isn't a forcing function or requirement per se.

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Prison Architect 2 has been delayed once again. The upcoming jail sim sequel will now arrive this autumn, following the discovery of "unexpected issues occurring too often".

Originally due to arrive in March this year, and then later pushed back to May, Prison Architect 2 will now arrive on 3rd September.

The game's publisher Paradox Interactive said in a statement today it had noted issues related to memory usage were impacting the stability of the game. Despite having a version of Prison Architect 2 ready to go on all platforms, it has opted to delay the game now to ensure it arrives in the best possible state.

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Capcom will release a new update for Dragon's Dogma 2 which will make some changes to Dragonsplague and adjust some Pawn behaviours, making them less prone to falling off the side of cliffs in the process.

First off, let's talk about Dragonsplague, the affliction that can consume Pawns, resulting in some pretty devastating consequences. Capcom said its next patch will reduce the infection frequency of Dragonsplague, and also make it easier to spot.

"For example, when infected, glowing eyes will be more noticeable," the developer explained.

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Netflix will no longer publicly share its subscriber numbers, the streaming giant has announced, as it reaps the rewards of its recent password-sharing crackdown.

In a business update, Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters said the move was due to the ongoing evolution of its business model to incorporate revenue from advertising and from subscribers who now have to pay extra to add-on access for friends and family outside their primary household.

This meant that deriving Netflix's success purely from subscriber figures was now "historical" maths, Peters said.

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No Rest For the Wicked launched in early access yesterday, but has unfortunately hit a few bumps on its debut.

The Diablo-like game from Ori and the Blind Forest developer Moon Studios currently holds a mixed review average on Steam, with the top comment stating that while there are definitely the bones of a good release here, its developer "still needs to cook".

"I want to like this, but the performance is just not in a good enough place for me to recommend it right now," one player wrote, while another adds: "Wait till further development/release if you have any self control."

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The upcoming Donkey Kong Country-themed expansion to Super Nintendo World at Universal Studios Japan has been struck by a delay.

The huge new area, themed around Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong, will now be fully bolted-on to the existing Mushroom Kingdom park in "late 2024", Universal Studios said today.

That's a delay of around six months, as the Donkey Kong area was previously set to open sometime this spring. Readjust your holiday plans appropriately!

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Hello! Our Game of the Week is Life Eater, and let's just look again at that opening sentence from Bertie's review: "Few game ideas will turn your head quicker than one about abducting people and murdering them." That feels fair! There are lots of games about murdering people, sure, but the rest of it?

Bertie wasn't entirely convinced by Life Eater, I gather, but I think he remains pleased that it exists. And that brings me nicely to the topic of this week's column: I am incredibly glad that Life Eater's developer, Strange Scaffold, exists. And I'm going to try and explain why I feel that so strongly.

Strange Scaffold is the development label of Xalavier Nelson Jr., who is one of the most interesting creators in games. The label's made lots of games and it seems to make them quickly. It doesn't feel like it was that long ago that I was reviewing El Paso, Elsewhere, and before that it doesn't seem like it was that long ago that I was playing Skatebird or Space Warlord Organ Trading Simulator.

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PlayStation maker Sony is considering a purchase of movie studio giant Paramount, according to reports.

Both The New York Times and Bloomberg report that Sony is interested in an offer for Paramount, which itself owns MTV, CBS and Nickelodeon, and operates streaming service Paramount+.

Sony, of course, already has its own vast film and television empire, and has bought other movie studios before - most notably Colombia Pictures, home to Spider-Man and Ghostbusters. It's interesting to look at Paramount's franchises in that light, and imagine how PlayStation could elevate one of those in a similar way to how it has championed Spider-Man.

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While Manor Lords may at first glance seem similar to the Total War series, its developer has said the upcoming strategy game should not be seen as a competitor.

Writing on Steam, Manor Lords developer Greg laid out a list of things the game is not. Top of this list are the very plain to see words: Manor Lords is not a Total War competitor.

Rather, developer Slavic Magic said its upcoming game is a "city builder with battles".

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Bethesda has been making headlines left, right and centre for its video games recently. That's right, we simply can't stop talking about...Fallout! Yes, that series hasn't had a new release in many, many years, but thanks to Amazon's hit TV adaptation, has seen a renewed interest from fans.

Starfield, however, has not had the same reception despite being a more recent release and one which Bethesda proclaimed would be its next big thing. But, don't worry. Among all the noise of us falling over Fallout, the studio has finally remembered its space-based RPG actually exists.

Speaking to IGN, Todd Howard confirmed that Bethesda is actually "doing a lot of Starfield work" as well as keeping busy on things such as Elder Scrolls 6 (which the exec said is the "focus as far as new development right now").

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Visions of Mana, the next entry in Square Enix's Mana series, sadly won't have co-operative multiplayer.

1993's Secret of Mana was celebrated for allowing players to join forces against its hordes of squidgy, colourful enemies and many games in the series since have played similarly.

Visions of Mana, though, will be single player only due to the impact multiplayer would have on design and pacing.

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Eiyuden Chronicle developer Rabbit & Bear Studios will continue working on a sequel following the death of its creator Yoshitaka Murayama.

Eiyuden Chronicles: Hundred Heroes is set for release next week across PlayStation, Xbox, PC and Switch, but in a reddit AMA the developer stated it was "moving forward with a sequel".

"That is the aim we are working towards," it said in response to whether a sequel was on the way. "We hope many players support this game."

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Hello! Welcome back to our regular feature where we write a little bit about some of the games we've been playing over the past few days. This week: twin-stick shooters, caving, and ink.

If you fancy catching up on some of the older editions of What We've Been Playing, here's our archive.

On a whim I did the Daily Challenge in Spelunky the other day. It has been years since this was a regular feature of my life. I had lots of Spelunky nerves, a reminder I hadn't played in a while: the toothy plants made me shiver, and a door in Jungle with spike traps on either side was enough to make me doubt my abilities.

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In a surprise to no one, Amazon's Fallout TV series has been officially renewed for a second season.

The news was shared earlier today, with Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy - who executive produce the show via Kilter Films - saying they "can't wait to blow up the world all over again".

"Holy shit," added showrunners Geneva Robertson-Dworet and Graham Wagner. "Thank you to [Nolan], Kilter, Bethesda and Amazon for having the courage to make a show that gravely tackles all of society's most serious problems these days - cannibalism, incest, jello cake."

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You'd think after launching Stardew Valley's massive 1.6 update, creator Eric "ConcernedApe" Barone would want to catch his breath; but nope - Barone has just casually tossed out a new patch that, among other things, adds 40 new mine layouts for players to explore.

Barone confirmed a new update was on the way last week, teasing "a new fishing thing, and some new mining related stuff". Turns out Barone might have been underselling things a bit. Update 1.6.4 kicks off its patch notes with 20 new 'alternate' mine layouts - which can start appearing after players reach the bottom of mines - plus 20 new volcano mine layouts, which can appear after unlocking the shortcut between the caldera and the volcano entrance.

And there's more! Barone's mysterious "fishing thing" has revealed itself to be fish frenzies, and they're joined by four new fairy types, as well as a "special cutscene" that triggers after players help their new neighbours grow their family to the max. Additionally, it's now possible to place an extra eight non-fish items into fish tanks, mystery boxes and golden mystery boxes can be traded at Raccoon's shop, vinegar can be poured onto trees to stop them from ever growing moss, and the shaving enhancement now causes tree-specific drops.

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Darkest Dungeon 2, the sequel to developer Red Hook Studios' acclaimed Lovecraftian roguelike RPG, is launching for PlayStation 5 and PS4 on 15th July.

Darkest Dungeon 2 launched for PC last May, after some time in early access, taking players on a grim Lovecraftian road trip - one of bone-juddering carriage rides through nightmarish locales - that Eurogamer contributor Edwin Evans-Thirlwell called a "copious and often brilliant, if not quite unmissable reworking of a powerfully grim fantasy" in his Recommended review.

The original's tactical turn-based combat is back too, of course, described by Edwin as "clearer and snappier and more oriented toward collaboration between party-members" this time around, and PlayStation owners looking to bolster Darkest Dungeon 2's core roster of 12 playable heroes can pick up its Binding Blade DLC alongside the main game come launch day.

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With the world of Dungeons & Dragons now officially behind it, Baldur's Gate 3 developer Larian Studios has confirmed it currently has two new projects in development, both based on its own IPs, which studio founder Swen Vincke has described as "our best work ever."

Vincke revealed Larian was exploring two new games in a conversation with Eurogamer earlier this year, describing them as "big and ambitious" projects "we want to make". That wording suggested things were still up in the air, but it now sounds like plans have solidified following today's announcement Larian is "currently working on two new projects".

Larian shared the news at the end of a Steam blog post detailing Baldur's Gate 3's upcoming patch, which reiterated the studio's previous announcement it "won't be introducing any major new narrative content to the story of Baldur's Gate 3 or its origin characters and companions, nor will we be making expansions or Baldur's Gate 4."

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Warhorse Studios has announced Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, a sequel to its medieval dungeons-and-no-dragons action RPG.

Six years on from the original game, this follow-up will arrive sometime later in 2024 for PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S.

The action once again takes place in an open-world version of early 15th century Bohemia, where you continue to play as peasant-turned-knight Henry of Skillitz.

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The end is approaching for Netflix's uneven The Witcher adaptation; the streaming service has officially renewed the show for a fifth season, which will be its last.

Netflix shared the news on Tudum, its "official companion site", adding that Season 4 and Season 5 will be shot back-to-back, with production of Season 4 already underway in the UK.

The Witcher's final two seasons are set to adapt author Andrzej Sapkowski's three remaining books - Baptism of Fire, The Tower of the Swallow, and Lady of the Lake - with showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich promising "an epic and satisfying conclusion to the series.

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Bethesda really must be feeling very happy right now. Fallout 4 has pip (boyed) its way to the top to became Europe's best-selling game, per sales data from chart numbers company GSD.

As reported by Eurogamer's sister site GamesIndustry.biz, sales of the almost decade-old game rose over 7500 percent week-on-week across Europe. Most of these sales were on PC, which accounted for 69 percent (nice).

The remaining 31 percent was made up across PlayStation and Xbox, although it is worth noting that the game is also on these consoles' subscription services.

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No Rest for the Wicked is out now on early access, giving us our first glimpse at Moon Studios' latest project. The developer's prior offering - Ori and the Blind Forest and Ori and The Will of the Wisps - turned the Metroidvania style of game on its head, offering a powerful, fresh experience that is difficult to forget. And now, four years later, Moon looks set to do the same for action RPGs with No Rest for the Wicked. Simply put, No Rest for the Wicked couples a stunning visual design with elements inspired by From Software's Souls titles, Blizzard's Diablo and even Animal Crossing - and yet the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

At its core, Wicked remains a game rooted in the Unity Engine but with a vast range of customisations transforming it into its own thing, hence the nickname - Moonity. This, however, is used only for the game's presentation layer - the graphics you see on-screen. Moon has also built a new simulation engine - built on top of Exit Games' Quantum Engine - to handle game logic, including a fully deterministic 3D physics system for networking, which No Rest for the Wicked will feature at a later date.

What makes this setup work well is the division between rendering and simulation - basically, input responsiveness is separate from frame-rate so, if you're playing on a lower end platform, like a Steam Deck, at 30fps, the game will still feel as responsive as a game running at a higher frame-rate. The visuals, however, are striking. First and foremost, Wicked supports HDR on day one - this is important as we have largely considered Ori and the Will of the Wisps to stand out as one of the best examples of HDR in any game released to date. The HDR implementation is superb and just as intense and engaging as Ori. It makes a gigantic difference if you use an HDR display.

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This week on the Eurogamer Newscast, after the success of Amazon's Fallout TV series, we discuss the TV and movie adapatations of video games we'd love to see next.

Not every video game series fits an adaptation, and even the ones which do might need some work. You need to adapt the game's story well - such as in HBO's The Last of Us - or find space to tell your own narrative without contradicting the game's own.

So which games do we think might fit the bill? Well, we have a few ideas - and how to go about them. Joining me this week to discuss are Eurogamer's Ed Nightingale and Victoria Kennedy. And if you're reading this, Jeff Bezos, please do give us credit whenever you're commissioning TV series with our ideas - thank you.

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Over two years since its release, Elden Ring players are still completing the game in a variety of weird and wonderful ways.

Earlier this week, Spanish streamer Silithur completed his run of the game using a single button and Morse code. Back in February, he garnered attention when he beat first major boss Margit using this method; now he's done the whole game.

Silithur shared a video on X, formerly Twitter, of his final, exhausted moments against the Elden Beast, which received plenty of praise in response.

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This year, World of Warcraft will get its 10th expansion, the War Within, which as an occurrence is nothing particularly remarkable - there have, after all, been nine of them before. This time though, things seem slightly different. There's an air of change around Blizzard, at least as far as World of Warcraft operations go. It's personified by executive producer and vice president for World of Warcraft, Holly Longdale, who joined the WoW team in 2020 (from EverQuest) and stepped into the EP role about two years ago. She talks - in a presentation at a WoW War Within event in London - about the team trying, for about a year-and-a-half, to be more transparent and share development more openly with the community, then elicit feedback more readily from them. And though team-leaders tend to say things like this, there does seem to be some evidence to back it up. Look on the World of Warcraft website: there's a string of in-development posts about War Within that reveal considerable information about it - there don't seem to be cards held close to chests. There are also posts detailing recent experimental ideas like battle royale mode Plunderstorm, which came out of nowhere, and the equally unexpected new Remix idea, which supercharges an entire previous expansion's content - in this case Mists of Pandaria's - for a speedy recap levelling experience. It sounds like a great idea.

Things have needed to change. World of Warcraft has never faced more competition - not only from other MMOs like Final Fantasy 14, but also from games that might as well be labelled MMOs, such as Fortnite. Whether or not World of Warcraft still rules the roost, I don't know, because Blizzard won't talk numbers, which in itself is probably telling. More importantly, Blizzard has had to weather some ferocious storms. There was the lawsuit that alleged sexual discrimination at the company, which although it was settled last year for multiple-millions, has caused considerable harm. There was also, at the same time, the whole will-they won't-they saga of the Microsoft Activision Blizzard buyout, which has now finally gone through and will bring changes of its own, such as Microsoft-enforced layoffs announced earlier this year.

It's against that backdrop Blizzard tries to answer the not inconsiderable question of how to make a 20-year-old game still feel relevant today. It's a remarkable innings, and it staggers me to think of how many millions of people and lives World of Warcraft has touched during it, but how do you bring those people back? Partially, some of the answer seems to be to go big. The War Within, unlike any previous WoW expansion, will belong to a trilogy - the Worldsoul Saga - which will build and build in scope until we're facing those legendary titans we always hear so much about from the game's foundational lore. Expansions two and three - Midnight, and The Last Titan, respectively - are already in development, and should combine to deliver the most ambitious connected storyline the game has ever seen.

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As you may know, the network this site belongs to is for sale.

To help us with our impending separation from the ReedPop business we are detaching some systems and services from the ReedPop brand.

One of those systems is our reader accounts system which powers profiles, comments, subscriptions, and newsletters on this very website.

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Hot off the heels of its BAFTA wins, developer Larian has given a little tease for Baldur's Gate 3's upcoming "improved" evil endings.

Sharing a community update on Steam, the developer spoke more about its plans for Patch 7 and the game's future. Along with fixing a number of bugs and other more typical fare, this particular patch will also begin introducing official modding tools to Baldur's Gate 3. This, Larian said, will allow players to "overhaul Baldur's Gate 3 into the weird nightmare realm of your dreams".

And, with the mention of nightmare, I will segue into those evil endings. Before I do, though, please be aware of potential Baldur's Gate 3 spoilers.

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Earlier this week Hades 2 developer Supergiant announced its technical test, which players can sign up for now ahead of the game hitting early access.

The developer is "close" to that initial launch, with the technical test providing players a first look at how the game will play. It's not available to all, however, so Supergiant yesterday hosted a livestream to show off what players can expect from the technical test.

So what's new? I won't give too many specific details, but note there will be some light spoilers.

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Cities Skylines 2 publisher Paradox Interactive and developer Colossal Order have issued a stark apology for the state of the game and the release of its recent DLC, admitting to fans: "We let you down".

"We see and understand the disappointment," the companies behind the city sim sequel write in their joint statement - a message which repeatedly apologises for the missteps which led to Cities Skylines 2 being released in such a state, and announces that anyone who purchased the Beach Properties DLC would be refunded. Work on any future paid DLC has now been postponed indefinitely.

"We asked for your patience and support, and you've shown those," the statement reads. "In return, we let you down. We thought we could make up for the shortcomings of the game in a timeframe that was unrealistic, and rushed out a DLC that should not have been published in its current form. For all this, we are truly sorry."

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Booty called, and boy did we answer. Earlier this week, the Sea of Thieves team revealed that 40 million of us had embraced our inner pirate and set sail since the game's debut across Xbox and PC. We seas-ed the day, if you will.

Sharing this "amazing milestone", Sea of Thieves executive producer Joe 'Three Sheets' Neate acknowledged the game's "brilliant, positive and welcoming community, who continue to surprise and impress us with your creativity and antics out on the waves".

A lot of credit and thanks for this milestone also had to go to Sea of Thieves' development team, Neate added, "who've worked so hard to deliver over a hundred free updates since launch and have plenty more excitement and innovation on the horizon".

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There is this little TV show currently making headlines. You may have heard of it. It's called Fallout and it has been met with scores of praise across the board (we awarded it four stars).

Following the show's debut earlier this month, the Fallout games soon saw a boost in player numbers. And, those numbers remain up. At the time of writing, there are 53,650 players making their way around Fallout 4's wasteland. Not bad for a game that came out almost a decade ago.

In addition to boosting player numbers, the show has also inspired a number of new PC mods for Fallout 4. So, I have rounded up some of the best ones to share with you here. Please note, there may be some minor Fallout spoilers included below.

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Destiny developer Bungie was once in talks with Netflix to develop an animated TV series based on its sci-fi franchise.

That's according to a new report by Forbes' Paul Tassi, who said the project never progressed further than its scripting phase.

It's believed the project dated back to a time before Bungie was owned by PlayStation maker Sony - though ambitions to turn Destiny into a transmedia franchise remain.

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An emulator that lets users play thousands of Nintendo games is currently the top free download on the iPhone App Store.

The Delta app currently supports downloaded versions of countless classics from the NES, SNES, N64 home consoles, as well as Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS handhelds.

The app's rapid rise in popularity follows Apple's recent change in app store policy to officially allow video game emulator apps onto its storefront for the first time. The move has been linked to growing pressure on the company by European legislators to make Apple allow third-party app stores and the use of emulators on iPhone without the need to jailbreak devices.

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Todd Howard has assured Fallout fans that the franchise's recently-released TV show does not contradict the games' pre-established lore.

Please note, there will be Fallout spoilers below. If you are still to finish the show and want to keep as much a surprise as possible, this is your cue to head elsewhere.

Earlier this month, questions were raised about Fallout's Shady Sands and the settlement's demise. The show's sixth episode dates this event to the 2280s, which made fans scratch their heads - as they felt this date contradicted mentions of Shady Sands in the video game series set later on.

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