Hello and Happy New Year - is it okay to say that now? I'm not sure where the cut-off point is. Some people still have their Christmas trees up. We had ours out before New Year. Welcome back to What We've Been Playing! Or as I like to call this particular edition of it: What We Played Over Christmas, because it's been a couple of weeks since we've talked.
Baldur's Gate 3 developer Larian has changed its stance on generative AI following backlash faced at the end of last year.
January is the month that, where I live, in the south of England, everyone gets serious again. All the paraphernalia of Christmas - all the merriment and cheer and colourful lighting - is cleared away in favour of sobering goals for the year ahead. It's never something that's appealed strongly to me, making goals, but I do feel the allure of wiping a slate clean and starting again. It's like a run in a roguelike game, I like to think. Time for a new me.
Phasmophobia studio Kinetic Games is branching out into indie game publishing, and is actively seeking "creative games from small teams and solo developers globally, who have a clear vision for their title and are 12-18 months from release", a press release said.
The Independent Workers' Union of Great Britain (IWGB) and Rockstar Games have traded more blows following a preliminary tribunal hearing this week. There, the IWGB asked a judge to grant the fired Grand Theft Auto 6 developers interim relief.
Netflix has today confirmed that the fifth and final season of The Witcher will air on the streaming service this year. It follows Season 4 in rapid succession - that series having launched at the end of October last year.
The analyst who forecasted a Witcher 3 expansion release in 2026 has told me they're "100 percent certain [CD Projekt Red] will release significant new content this year".
The Duffer brothers, creators of Stranger Things, have said the final battle of the TV series was partially inspired by Baldur's Gate 3. Matt Duffer was apparently playing the game while devising the showdown.
Troy Baker, one of the most well known actors working in video games, believes generative AI could have a positive effect overall on performing arts. Baker thinks it'll cause a reaction whereby people will seek out "authentic" experiences more - live shows, live theatre - and turn away from "gruel that gets distilled to me through a black mirror".
UPDATE: Sega has officially responded to the passing of David Rosen, saying it's "deeply saddened" to hear of the news.
Polish developer Rebel Wolves has unveiled the main musical theme for its promising dark fantasy role-playing The Blood of Dawnwalker, and surprise surprise, it sounds a lot like The Witcher 3.
Time flies (like a Javelin suit): there are only 10 days left to play BioWare's ill-fated multiplayer game Anthem before the servers are switched off, presumably forever.
UPDATE 4.10PM GMT: CD Projekt Red, for what it's worth, has told me it does not comment on rumour or speculation - the company's usual line.
I think a lot of Dispatch can be distilled into a single moment at the beginning of the game when the player comes face to face with a penis. There it is, dangling visibly between the legs of an unclothed, toxic-drenched super-villain you're about to fight. The camera all but centers on it. There's no way you can miss it unless you've flipped the nudity switch off, in which case it's replaced by an even more conspicuous black box that only amplifies the naughtiness of the part hidden within. But most people don't turn nudity off because they're expecting boobs. That's what we usually see. In Dispatch, however, it's a penis we see waggling unavoidably on our screens.
Obsidian Entertainment, one of gaming's busiest developers, has announced a delay for this year's remaining Avowed update. This was to include a Photo mode and New Game Plus mode, among other things, and it will now be held back - as well as enlarged - for the game's anniversary on 18th February 2026.
More people have downloaded mods for Baldur's Gate 3 than Larian ever expected. "Way more than we ever expected," studio founder and Baldur's Gate 3 director Swen Vincke shared on X. The total downloaded-mods number now stands at more than 350m, the studio revealed, and more than 10,000 mods have been uploaded for other people to play.
