Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, the acclaimed lightsaber twiddling action-adventure sequel from Respawn Entertainment, has been quietly added to EA's EA Play subscription service - but seemingly only for PlayStation at present.

Sharp-eyed PlayStation Store users made the discovery earlier today, after Star Wars Jedi: Survivor's store listing was updated with a note reading, "Included with EA Play" - alongside an option to subscribe to the service rather than buy the game outright.

Since then, the same notice has been spotted on PlayStation Store listings across multiple territories, including the UK, with subscribers reporting success in downloading and playing. At present, however, there's no sign of Star Wars Jedi: Survivor on EA Play for PC or Xbox, and it's yet to be added to the catalogue page on EA's website. The publisher hasn't made any formal announcement regarding its inclusion either.

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Popstar Billie Eilish will be the next music icon joining Fortnite.

The Barbie and Bad Guy singer confirmed her entry into the Fortnite metaverse today on social media, with a first look at her in-game character design. Eilish will headline the next season of Fortnite Festival, the game's Rock Band-inspired rhythm mode, and become available to buy as a character skin.

Eilish's announcement is notable for another reason, however, as it also adds a dollop of authenticity to a purported image posted online last week, which appeared to show Fortnite's full plans for the rest of 2024. The roadmap image correctly included the then-unannounced Eilish, and while this could still have been a lucky guess, today's reveal certainly gives weight to other parts of the image also being correct.

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Following a brief tease in September, the first trailer for Tales of the Shire - the cosy Hobbit game from Wētā Workshop and Private Division - is here.

The trailer gives a quick look at some of the things we can expect on the game's release, including the ability to customise our Hobbit holes to just the way we like them. There will also be the chance to partake in a spot of fishing, go off to gather mushrooms and then cook everything up into a meal worthy of Bilbo Baggins.

You can check out the trailer for Tales of the Shire below.

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A new version of the classic Konami code has been discovered in Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness 25 years after its release.

A sort of director's cut of the infamously foggy Castlevania 64, Legacy of Darkness features multiple characters to play as but these must be unlocked by completing the game.

At least, until now. It turns out the iconic Konami code can be used to unlock all characters, costumes and modes - just in a new form.

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Pokémon Go developer Niantic is taking feedback following the mixed reaction to its recent player avatar refresh.

The game's new-look avatar system went live last week, and replaced all in-game character designs with a more adjustable default option, which now has sliders for weight and specific body parts, as well as more options for skin tones and hair styles.

But the change has received a lukewarm response, with criticism of how the new avatar's faces look, and the sudden change in art style. Over the weekend, the main Pokémon Go reddit was flooded with complaints, while one player who claimed to have been part of an internal beta test where concerns were raised ahead of time said these had not been properly taken on board.

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Manor Lords has surpassed 3m wishlists on Steam ahead of its release later this week.

The medieval city-building strategy game has been top of the most wishlisted games on Steam for some time, but has continued to build in popularity to pass yet another a major milestone.

After the demo released in 2022, the game received 500k wishlists, which jumped to 2m wishlists after its 26th April release date was announced. Seven days ahead of its launch, it hit 2.5m wishlists - and now it's added another 500k on top of that.

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Last week, I took to Eurogamer to announce a Warehouse Sale for Digital Foundry merchandise, and this week we have development: new 'Bespoke' merch has hit the DF Store, featuring a fan-made design that really tickled us given our collective predilection for uttering this phrase.

As well as the long-rumoured Bespoke tee, which comes in a double-sided blue/purple gradient design on a black shirt, you can also pick up a nifty metal pin (pictured above). Finally, the Bespoke Collection also includes a sticker pack, with a DF Approved seal of quality, a DF Retro PVM design and two #stutterstruggle frame-time graphs - including one blank design to chart your very own traversal or shader compilation stutters.

We've been working on these designs for the past three months or so - and significantly longer in the case of the PVM design - so it's great to finally see them go on (virtual) store shelves. I think they've turned out wonderfully, having had the chance to test out some of the early samples, and I'm particularly happy that the excellent Bespoke design by community member Dacvak now has the chance to be appreciated by a wider audience.

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Of all the Metroidvania elements in Tales of Kenzera: Zau, my favourite are the trees. Simply enough, meditating inside a tree provides a health boost. It's here the camera pans out to reveal these great, almost magical, natural structures which provide safety, sanctuary and a moment of reflection. Protagonist Zau is a hot-headed and petulant young man desperate to revive his father, but sat quietly in the trunk of a tree, he's just a boy.

The trees are a key example of how Tales of Kenzera transposes the genre to its African setting, but also where its heart lies: with the relationship between a father and son. The game's creator, voice actor Abubakar Salim (best known for his portrayal of Bayek in Assassin's Creed: Origins), has been particularly open about the personal inspiration behind the game: his own experience of grief following the death of his father. There's even a moving short film released ahead of the game. Yet even without knowing this, Tales of Kenzera itself exudes passion and love.

It's a story-within-a-story set in the fictional Afro-futurist land of Kenzera, and it tells the tale of desperate shaman Zau who bargains with Kalunga, god of death, following the passing of his father. Zau must deliver three spirits to win back his father and, along the way of his adventure, he learns to cope with his feelings of grief. Kalunga becomes his father-figure guide who speaks in proverbs and commands Zau with stern yet comforting lessons; Zau in return listens, rebels, argues, and accepts.

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Developers from the original PS1 classic WipEout have formed a new studio, with a futuristic sports game on the way.

Starlight Games is a new studio based in Liverpool, UK, founded by former Psygnosis developer Gary Nichols.

He's joined by co-creator of WipEout Nick Burcombe, and Skate co-creator and former Horizon: Call of the Mountain director Andy Santos.

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Like a lot of people right now, I've been bitten by the radiocative bug that is the Fallout TV show. Because of this, I've been diving into Bethesda's back catalogue of games in order to get my Fallout fix now that I've binged my way through the series.

On yesterday's VR Corner for instance, I installed a hefty mod list for Fallout 4 VR in order to try and create the most immersive experience possible. Unfortunately however, I'm basically computer illiterate and things didn't exactly go according to plan...

For today's live stream though, I've decided to revisit Fallout 76, a game that I bounced off of quite hard back when it first released. The answer to the question that I've posed in the headline to this video post really does depend on personal opinion but (spoilers for the stream) I've actually been really enjoying my return to Appalachia and have probably put about 20 hours into Bethesda's MMO over the past week. Playing it solo as a kind of 'Fallout 4.5' experience has really been scratching that itch for me so it might be that now is the perfect time for you to go back to it too!

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PowerWash Simulator has passed an impressive player milestone, really proving that a little dirt won't hurt. In fact, it has given us a quite a lot of dirt, and we are more than ok with that.

Earlier today, developer Futurlab announced that 12 million players had donned their overalls, grabbed their hoses, and washed away more grime than I ever thought possible since the game's early access release in 2021.

This, Futurlab said, was all thanks to a number of DLC expansions, which include the likes of Warhammer 40K, Final Fantasy 7 and SpongeBob SquarePants.

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Final Fantasy 14 producer and director Naoki Yoshida has promised the forthcoming graphical update will fix a number of issues spotted in the recent Dawntrail benchmark tool.

The tool was released last week and allows players to create a character and test out how the game will run on their PC once the graphical update arrives alongside next expansion Dawntrail this summer.

However, not everyone was happy with the changes as various issues were pointed out on social media. In a new blog post, Yoshida explained the character creator is over 10 years old and a number of issues will be resolved once the graphical update arrives.

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Spoiler warning: This article contains many details about the Ashlands update - now available to test publicly - that some players may wish to keep a surprise. You have been warned!

For those who have journeyed through Valheim's biomes, the prospect of facing a gruelling challenge in the upcoming Ashlands update will not be a major shock. Its predecessor, the Mistlands, brought with it formidable foes, steep cliffs and visibility challenges - and with only the Ashlands and Deep North left to conquer in Valheim's storyline, it's almost a given that both these biomes will be tough to beat. Yet somewhat alarmingly, the dangers of the Ashlands begin before you've even set foot on dry land. As I sail towards the Ashlands in a preview session with Iron Gate lead artist Robin Eyre and senior developer Jonathan Smårs, the sea boils around us, red lightning flashes overhead, and a forest of pointed rocks hamper our progress towards the mainland. Birds mob our ship, and while carefully navigating a narrow passage, a terrifying bone serpent emerges from the deep. "It's going to be a really difficult, challenging place to go," Smårs admits. "It's going to be endgame."

Our journey is made possible thanks to a heavy-duty boat: a massive ship called the Drakkar, which in typical Valheim fashion, can only be crafted with ingredients acquired from defeating the Mistlands' final boss. The Drakkar is immune to damage from the boiling water, which regular wooden ships cannot withstand for long before being destroyed. This is a lethal lesson I imagine some curious souls will learn first-hand, should they attempt to reach the Ashlands before they are ready. Unusually for a Valheim biome, the Ashlands does not border any other environments, and can only be accessed by sea. This difficult journey makes reaching the Ashlands a "chapter in itself," as Smårs explains it, but it also gives this biome a uniquely dangerous feel. There's no easy way of getting in - and once you arrive, there's no easy way of getting out.

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Fallout creator Tim Cain has plenty of praise for Amazon's recent TV adaptation.

In a YouTube video posted over the weekend, Cain said how much he liked the show, stating it was surreal to see something he had "worked on really hard" realised in real life.

"They had huge sets with amazing production values on them... Amazing props. The acting was phenomenal. It was just surreal to watch Fallout recreated in real life like that," Cain enthused. However, he said the main reason he liked the show so much was because of the way "everything feels like Fallout".

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The huge popularity of Amazon Prime's Fallout TV series is causing traffic problems for top mod download website NexusMods.

NexusMods first issued a warning it was experiencing heavy network traffic that could cause a "degraded experience" last Friday. The site said it had deployed "extra resources" twice over the weekend in order to cope with the extra demand - but problems continue.

As of 8am UK time this morning, NexusMods is still continuing to investigate the issue. According to an official status page, the Nexus Mods website, API, CDN and forum are all currently suffering from a "degraded performance".

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After numerous studio closures and thousands of job losses, embattled publisher Embracer will now split into three distinct entities, including one focused on its big bet to successfully develop games set in the same world as The Lord of the Rings.

Embracer announced details of the plan this morning, and charted how parts of the company would now be named: Middle-earth Enterprises and Friends, Coffee Stain and Friends, and Asmodee Group. Each of the three will be separately listed on the Stockholm stock exchange.

Middle-earth Enterprises and Friends will encompass many of Embracer's biggest studios and brands, including developers such as Crystal Dynamics (Tomb Raider), Eidos Montreal (Guardians of the Galaxy), 4A Games (Metro), Plaion and Deep Silver Dambuster Studios (Dead Island 2), Warhorse (Kingdom Come Deliverance 2), plus Tripwire, Flying Wild Hog, Vertigo Games and Freemode.

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Fallout fever continues to grip the world, with Fallout 4, New Vegas, and Fallout 76 all seeing a resurgence in popularity, and the latter breaking its own concurrent user record on Steam years after it first released.

As noted in SteamDB, the 2018 action RPG – which debuted on Steam in 2020 – has hit 66,045 simultaneous players on Steam, the most concurrent users the game has ever had.

Before this weekend – and, arguably, before the arrival of Amazon's hit Fallout TV show – the RPG had boasted a concurrent record of around 40,000 players, and that doesn't even account for the thousands of players who have likely jumped on on Xbox, as the Fallout series is available to Xbox Game Pass subscribers for no extra cost.

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Helldivers 2 is "suffering a minor outage" that is affecting progress tracking.

Developer Arrowhead confirmed the issue on social media earlier today, announcing that the team was "looking into the issue".

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Stellar Blade will be "uncensored" in all regions, including Japan.

That's according to the game's official social media account on X, which announced the news earlier today.

"Stellar Blade offers the same uncensored version in all countries, including the Japanese version," the tweet said in both English and Japanese, appending the message with a pixellated image with red X emblazoned across it, and the words "uncensored all countries".

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EA Sports FC 24's Team of the Season (TOTS) is now live.

Designed to celebrate the "best and brightest players in the world", EA Sports FC 24 marks "an incredible season of global football" which, for the very first time, will "recognise the most deserving players in women's football", too.

Whilst a long-standing staple in FIFA, this is the first time TOTS has come to EA Sports FC 24.

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7 Days to Die – an open-world zombie game that first released back in December 2013 – is finally leaving early access.

Developer The Fun Pimps says that the next update will not only usher in new gore, challenges, and improved controller support, but also move the 11-year-old game out of early access for the very first time.

It's not all good news, though, particularly if you already own the £30 zombie game on console.

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Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes is exactly what its lofty crowdfunding campaign promised it would be: a Suikoden successor in all but its name, built by a team of veterans who first made that classic in 1995. And so Hundred Heroes is another impossibly massive, turn-based, party-centric RPG. It tells another wartorn story about resisting an empire, cut through with goofball moments where an eyepatched Aussie kangaroo might yell made-up words.

And - because doing anything else would be blasphemy - there's another 100-plus party members to find, cosy up to, and experiment with in your six-character party. Reclusive hunters, kings, talking sharks (shi'arcs here), a literal travel bag with glowing Jawa eyes, your cute auntie who does nothing but bake cherry pies - they're all here, and the cast's staggering size is still what sets the Eiyu-Suiko-den group of games apart.

Trying to catch 'em all recalls the pleasures of a collectathon as you rapidly scan the screen for signs of unusually detailed NPCs to recruit. (No interview process required - everyone's allowed in, accused criminals included.) They can pretty much be found anywhere. You'll get dozens by just following the main quest. Dozens more are in towns on standby mode until you walk into their presence. Some will only appear in the open world when you've progressed to a certain point or met prerequisites.

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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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