It's been two years since Mafia developer Hangar 13 confirmed it was working on a new entry in its open-world crime series, and the time has finally come for it to be revealed to the world. It's called Mafia: The Old Country and is heading to PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC next year.

While 2016's Mafia 3 shunted the series forward in time to the late 60s (the first two games spanned the 1930s, 40s, and 50s between them), The Old Country is going backward, presenting players with a "gritty mob story set in the brutal underworld of 1900s Sicily."

"Fight to survive in this dangerous and unforgiving era," teases the scant bit of blurb accompanying today's teaser trailer, "with action brought to life by the authentic realism and rich storytelling that the critically acclaimed Mafia series is known for."

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Developer Ustwo Games has revealed its widely acclaimed Escher-esque puzzler Monument Valley will return for a third outing on 10th December, and it'll be exclusively available to Netflix subscribers on Android and iOS devices.

Monument Valley 3 is described as protagonist Noor's "most extraordinary adventure yet", and it'll see players searching for a new source of power before the light of the world fades forever.

It promises "stunning new art styles and impossible landscapes", alongside "innovative mechanics and fresh ways to approach challenges". And one of its biggest new features comes in the form of sailing, with players able to roam the world - and solve some of its puzzles - by boat.

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ARC Raiders - the free-to-play PvPvE extraction shooter from The Finals developer Embark Studios - has resurfaced following an extended period of retooling, and is now launching as a premium title for PC, Xbox Series X/S, and PlayStation 5 next year.

If you're struggling to remember much about ARC Raiders, that might be because few details have been shared since its announcement back in 2021. It was originally set to release in 2022, but its launch has continued to slip since then - first into 2023 so Embark could focus on The Finals, and latterly while the studio continued to tinker with the title following a genre change.

But it turns out its switch from co-operative third-person shooter to PvPvE extraction shooter (its original form "wasn't really fun", Embark admitted during a recent press event) wasn't to be ARC Raiders' only notable change. It's now been re-announced as a $40 USD premium title, jettisoning its previous free-to-play form, albeit while still remaining a live-service game.

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Civilization 7, the very long-awaited latest instalment in developer Firaxis' beloved 4X strategy series, finally has a release date and will be launching for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, and PC on 11th February next year.

But that's not all! As well as providing a date for strategy fans to furiously circle in their 2025 calenders, Firaxis has shared a first look at Civilization 7 in action following June's moody, if ultimately rather uninformative, cinematic trailer. And today's gameplay debut reveals a new aesthetic somewhere between the vibrantly cartoony (and somewhat divise) artstyle of Civilization 6 and the more realistic approach of earlier titles in the series.

And there's more where that came from; Firaxis will be expanding on the features glimpsed in tonight's trailer as part of a 20-minute gameplay showcase set to air at 9.30pm BST/1.30pm PT on Twitch, shortly after Gamescom Opening Night Live is through. And you might also want to stick around Eurogamer, as we'll have plenty to say about Civilization 7 ourselves.

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It's been nearly four years since Tarsier Studios waved goodbye to Little Nightmares after being snapped up by Embracer Group, giving developer Supermassive a crack at the much-loved Bandai-Namco-owned horror series. So what's Tarsier been doing since then? Well, it turns out the studio hasn't quite shaken off its fascination with spooky kids in scary places, as one look at its latest project, the newly unveiled Reanimal, makes clear.

Reanimal's gloomy nightmare-fairytale aesthetic, its gangly-limbed monsters, and its two young protagonists - all evident in its announcement trailer - are unquestionably reminiscent of Tarsier's Little Nightmares series. And while that's certainly no bad thing given the studio's oft-brilliant work on those games, it's not entirely clear after a half-hour press briefing, just how substantial a departure - beyond two key features - Reanimal will be from what's come before.

Reanimal tells the story of an orphaned brother and sister trapped in hellish version of the island that used to be their home, as they embark on a quest to rescue their three friends. It's a violent world of gloomy forests and decimated buildings, where empty bags of skins hang from trees and hideous, animalistic creatures roam. It's also one that's aiming for a "darker and grittier" tone compared to Tarsier's previous horror games.

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We already knew it was coming, thanks to a post-credits teaser at the end of 2022's The Devil in Me, but developer Supermassive has now confirmed its sci-fi horror outing Directive 8020 will launch for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC next year.

Directive 8020 essentially takes one fist of Alien and another of The Thing then smushes them together, placing players aboard the colony ship Cassiopeia, where its crew must escape an alien organism capable of mimicking its prey.

"Earth is dying and humanity is running out of time," teases Supermassive. "12 light years from home, Tau Ceti f offers a small sliver of hope. When the colony ship Cassiopeia crash lands on the planet, its crew soon realise they are far from being alone... As they battle to survive, they are confronted with the hardest choice of all: to save themselves, they must risk the lives of everyone on Earth."

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Paradox Interactive's streak of game delays continues with the news its Chinese-Room-developed Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 is now targeting a release in the "first half of 2025", rather than its previously announced "late 2024" window.

In a post on its website, Paradox called the delay a "proactive decision" derived from its commitment earlier this year to deliver "high-quality games" to its players. "Though [Bloodlines 2] is in a good enough place that we could have maintained our planned release window," it wrote, "Paradox and The Chinese Room collaboratively decided to prioritise polish."

Paradox says the delay will "create a quality assurance buffer, giving more time between testing and launch, ensuring we release the game when it's ready." More specifically, The Chinese Room will use the time to expand Bloodlines 2's story, providing twice as many endings as its predecessor, and to "adjust certain areas" such as Fabien - the voice in its protagonist's head.

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MachineGames' Indiana Jones and the Great Circle will reportedly launch for PlayStation 5 in the early half of 2025, following an Xbox Series X/S and PC release at the end of this year.

That's according to industry insider Nate the Hate (one of the first people to break the news of Microsoft's multi-platform plans at the start of this year) who made the claim on social media. "MachineGames' Indiana Jones and the Great Circle will release on Xbox & PC this holiday (Dec) as a timed console exclusive," they wrote. "After this timed-exclusive window expires, Indiana Jones & the Great Circle is planned to come to PlayStation 5 in the first half of 2025."

Nate the Hate's claim tallies with a report by The Verge back in February, which said Microsoft was planning to go beyond its initial slate of comparatively low-key multi-platform releases by launching some of its flagship games on competing consoles. These were said to include Starfield and MachineGames' Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, with the latter supposedly due to arrive on PS5 "some months" after its Xbox and PC release.

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Nintendo's 135-year history will soon be brought to life inside the walls of a new purpose-built Nintendo Museum in Kyoto, Japan - and ahead of its opening on 2nd October, legendary designer Shigeru Miyamoto has revealed some of its intriguing exhibits in a new video tour.

The Nintendo Museum has been built on the site of the factory where Nintendo originally made its Hanafuda cards, and which was later used for quality checks during the Famicom era. That building and its unremarkable carpark are no longer standing, however, now replaced by a shiny two-floor monument to Nintendo's history and a Mario-themed plaza.

Miyamoto's 13-minute tour begins on the second floor of the museum, where several huge curved glass displays - containing many of the products Nintendo has released since its founding in 1889 - can be found. This whole area is intended to chart the evolution of Nintendo's approach to entertainment, from its earlier non-video game products - including copy machines, baby strollers, RC cars, and pitching machines - into more familiar territory, beginning with 1977's early video game forays, the Color TV-Game 6 and Color TV-Game 15.

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Video gaming's premier horn honker, Trombone Champ, is bringing its comedic rhythm-tooting to virtual reality helmets - meaning PC, PlayStation VR 2, and Meta Quest players might want to pucker up in preparation for a vigorous tromboning session this autumn.

Trombone Champ: Unflattened, as the new VR version of the 2022 rhythm-action sensation is known, is one of the first official VR adaptations from Flat2VR Studios - the developer comprising of modders behind unofficial VR versions of games like Half-Life 2 and Doom.

Created in conjunction with original Trombone Champ developer Holy Wow Studios, Trombone Champ: Unflattened is set to feature more than 50 songs across its single-player campaign, with tracks including Ode to Joy, Sakura Sakura, God Save the King, and more.

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Call of Duty has become an absolute hard drive hog in recent years, with 2023's entry managing to consume over 200GB of storage in some cases. That all might be about to change, however, as Activision has announced major changes to the way it'll be handing installs with this year's Black Ops 6, promising "smaller and more customised downloads" as a result.

Activision shared the news in a post on its Call of Duty blog, explaining its optimisation work will begin with a revamp of "the experience formerly known as Call of Duty HQ". This revamp is set to roll out over the course of several updates ahead of Black Ops 6's October launch, and will promises to introduce a streamlined interface, direct access to games, more control over downloads, and expanded texture streaming technology to reduce file sizes.

A first update to reorganise game content arrives on 21st August. Then, following Black Ops 6's open beta on 30th August, a new user interface and other "remaining updates" are scheduled for mid-October. After these "larger initial updates", Activision says future Call of Duty downloads will decrease in size and existing files will take up less space on players' device.

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Back in June, developer IO Interactive revealed it was resurrecting and reworking Hitman 3's VR mode, first released for PSVR in 2021, exclusively for Meta Quest 3 - and the studio has now shared first gameplay, showcasing this Reloaded edition's various enhancements.

On a basic level, Hitman 3 VR: Reloaded is the same game that earned itself a Eurogamer Recommended badge back in the day, meaning players can don goggles and immersively sneak through likes of Dubai, Dartmoor, Berlin, Chongqing, and Mendoza.

However, Reloaded - which is being developed with XR Games - is more than just a straight port of Hitman 3 VR's scrappy but enjoyable previous release. It also introduces a new flat-shaded artstyle, more "fluid and natural" movement options, an overhauled UI, and - perhaps most notably - dual-wielding, so players can use a different weapon or item in each hand.

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Lonely Mountains: Downhill, the brilliantly serene/controller-snappingly infuriating mountain biking game from developer Megagon Industries, is trading its wheels for a pair of skis later this year, with the arrival of newly announced follow-up, Lonely Mountains: Snow Riders.

Much like its predecessor, Snow Riders is all about getting from up to down as elegantly and/or speedily as possible. This time, though, its gorgeous mountain vistas are blanketed in thick snow and ice, lending a different dimension to proceedings as players attempt to perform tricks, discover shortcuts, and beat their best times with a pair of skis strapped to their feet.

Once again, there'll be challenges to complete and new equipment, outfits, and tricks to unlock during play, but Lonely Mountains: Snow Riders also introduces online competitive and co-operative multiplayer across a variety of modes.

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Flame Fatales, the all-women and femmes charity speedrunning event from Games Done Quick, returns for another week-long programme of impressively swift gaming feats this weekend.

This year's Flame Fatales (which will be the event's fourth outing since its launch back in 2021) gets underway on Sunday, 16th August. More specifically, things kick off at 6:15pm BST, with a Horizon Forbidden West Burning Shores 100% speedrun by RE_doc19.

Seven days - and more than 50 speedruns - later - this year's Femme Fatales comes to a close at 4:06am BST with a Super Mario Odyssey Talkatoo% speedrun by CheeseJay. In between, you can expect speedruns for the likes of Persona Dancing, Sonic CD, Broken Age, Stray, the Resident Evil 2 remake, Rez, and plenty more - as outlined in this year's full schedule.

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New World: Aeternum, the latest expansion/do-over for Amazon's middling MMO New World, is having an open beta on 13th September ahead of its full PC and console release in October.

Aeternum, if you're unfamiliar, emerged back in June, amid some confused messaging that didn't entirely make it clear exactly what it was. And, truthfully, Amazon's marketing remains as baffling as ever. The gist, though, is that this is the same MMORPG released back in 2021, albeit with new features and a bit of finessing ahead of its debut on Xbox Series X/S and PS5.

It's got a pacier story (told through in-game cinematics and pre-rendered cut-scenes), combat improvements, cross-platform play, enhanced controller support, and more - while still retaining its other MMO bits like classes, crafting, and questing. Then there's New World's first-ever large-scale PvP zone, a new 10-player raid, end-game solo trials, and other additions.

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UPDATE 20/8/24: Well, there you go. Following last week's Deadline report, Amazon has officially unveiled Secret Level, a new "adult-animated anthology series featuring original stories set within the worlds of some of the most beloved video games".

It's a 15-episode series from the creators of Love, Death & Robots, and it'll feature stories inspired by Armored Core, Concord, Crossfire, Dungeons & Dragons, Exodus, Honor of Kings, Mega Man, New World: Aeternum, PAC-MAN, Sifu, Spelunky, The Outer Worlds, Unreal Tournament, Warhammer 40,000, and a variety of PlayStation Studios games.

And if that takes your fancy, you'll be wanting to circle 10th December on your calendar - which is when the series arrives on Prime Video - then check out its teaser trailer below.

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Springloaded Software, the developer behind 2021's animal-splicing tycoon game Let's Build a Zoo, has unveiled Let's Build a Dungeon - a new "multi-layered" management sim in which players attempt to run a game development studio while creating their own MMORPG.

Let's Build a Dungeon's first layer comes in the form of studio management, with players needing to recruit staff (including artists, programmers, planners, and testers); manage project deadlines, advertising campaigns, and press relationships; negotiate with shareholders, and pitch to publishers, all in the hope of rising from indie start-up to mega-blockbuster studio.

But alongside the business stuff, players also need to get creative and build their own fantasy MMO - which could be anything from a creature-catching RPG to a cosy farming sim - filling it with towns, monsters, dungeons, and quests, all tailored to satisfy their virtual playerbase's demands and expand its audience. And it's even possible to jump into your creation at any time to experience it through the eyes of your players.

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Activision sure is dragging out its reveal of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6's Zombies mode. But if you're sucker for the undead stuff, there's more where last week's trailer and gameplay reveal came from, with developer Treyarch having now offered a tour of Zombies' Terminus map.

Terminus Island is one of two maps that'll be available at launch (the other being the West Virginian town of Liberty Falls), and Treyarch calls it "one of the largest round-based Zombies maps ever created". Black Ops 6's Zombies mode takes place in the early 90s - five years after the events of Black Ops Cold War's Zombies mode - and Terminus Island serves as a prison for some familiar Requiem faces. After their liberation early at the start of the story, players can explore the prison itself before moving out to investigate its tropical island surroundings.

There's a secret research facility specialising in "weird science" (in case you were wondering where the zombies might spring up from this time), as well as the ocean, and assorted smaller islands - all of which players will visit as part of Terminus' main quest. It's described as a "living world" full of scripted encounters, ranging from zombies smashing out of vats and prison guards still trying to control the undead threat, to less fortunate souls being chomped on.

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With just a couple of weeks to go until the release of Star Wars Outlaws, Ubisoft has shared a post-launch content roadmap which, among other things, confirms Lando Calrissian and Hondo Ohnaka will appears as part of the game's paid Season Pass.

Star Wars Outlaws launches on 30th August, and owners of its Season Pass - which comes bundled into the game's £95 Gold Edition and £115 Ultimate Edition - immediately gain access to the Vessel Runner Character Pack (also a pre-order bonus), containing cosmetics for protagonist Kay and companion Nix, plus the exclusive Jabba’s Gambit mission.

Ubisoft moved to assure players Jabba the Hutt would also make an appear in Outlaws' base game earlier this year, after fans grew concerned one of Star Wars' most iconic villains would be locked behind a paid season pass. Lando Calrissian and Hondo Ohnaka's newly confirmed inclusion in Outlaws' Season Pass may prove similarly controversial, especially as Ubisoft is yet to confirm whether they star in the base game too.

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Monster Hunter Wilds might not be out until next year, but Capcom has just given the hype handle a tiny tweak with the release of three new videos detailing some of the mechanial additions and refinements players can expect when this latest series entry shows up in 2025.

Video number one, titled Basic Mechanics Overview, whizzes through some of the most fundamental aspects of Monster Hunter gameplay before introducing Wilds' new bird-like dino-mount, the Seikret. This (alas) replaces Monster Hunter Rise's awesome dog-like Canyne, serving as a new way to speed about the place.

The Seikret can automatically guide Hunters directly to their target if desired, and players are free to gather items from the environment, drink potions to recover their health, sharpen their blade, or switch between primary and secondary weapons ready for battle while in the saddle. The returning Slinger has also had a bit of an upgrade in Monster Hunter Wilds; as well as being able to launch different ammo types found around the map, it can gather items from a distance, and yank loose bits of scenery (rock, for instance) onto monsters' heads.

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Salt and Sanctuary, from Ska Studios, is a bit bloody good, serving up an enormously enjoyable, Dark Souls-inspired slice of 2D action-adventure. It's also now eight years old - but that hasn't stopped it from getting a surprise update this week, adding a tough new Randomiser mode.

Salt and Sanctuary, which initially released for PlayStation 4 and PC back in 2016, is a fairly explicit attempt to translate From Software's now oft-replicated dark fantasy RPG formula, complete with considered combat and corpse runs, into two dimensions. It begins on the shores of a vast and broodily enigmatic kingdom, which players - in the role of the Saltborn - must explore and overcome, tackling enemies and imposing bosses along the way.

It's good stuff, and not exactly a walk in the park, but it just got a whole lot tougher thanks to its new Randomiser mode. As detailed over on Steam, Salt and Sanctuary players looking to give themselves a real challenge can now select from three randomiser options: Item Randomiser, Monster Randomiser, and Scaling Monster Randomiser.

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Somehow, it's that time of the year again already! THQ Nordic's annual gaming showcase has returned to offer a look at its upcoming slate of releases, both previously known and newly announced. This time around, the long-awaited Gothic 1 Remake and Titan Quest 2 both got gameplay reveals, and Epic Mickey: Rebrushed popped up to remind us all it's coming out relatively soon. As for the new stuff, Wreckfest is getting a sequel, Little Nightmares studio Tarsier's creepy new game has been teased (as has a new Darksiders), while strikingly animated platforming adventure The Eternal Life of Goldman looks like a real gem.

So if you didn't catch the showcase and are curious to see what you missed, you'll find a full round-up - augmented by a few additional details from an earlier press briefing - below.

We were big fans of 2018 demolition derby racer Wreckfest ("Wreckfest offers primal pleasures," wrote Martin Robinson, "with little by way of pretension), and developer Bugbear Entertainment is ready to do it all over again in the newly announced Wreckfest 2. Details are relatively scant at this early juncture, but it promises "unmatched deformation and physical damage models" as its high-octane single-player and multiplayer racing unfolds.

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Activision and Microsoft have reportedly approved the creation of a new "smaller" team within Blizzard Entertainment - mostly comprised of employees from Activision's mobile-focused King division - to develop new "AA" games based on existing Blizzard properties.

That's according to Windows Central's Jez Corden, whose sources say the new initiative reflects an eagerness at Microsoft to "explore and experiment" with smaller teams within the larger organisation, in response to the "monstrously ballooning costs" of AAA game development.

Corden notes Microsoft has seen success with the likes of Sea of Thieves and Grounded, both built by comparatively small teams - and, of course, 2023's Hi-Fi Rush, created by a small team within Tango Gameworks, was heralded as a "break out hit" by Microsoft after its release.

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Following yesterday's mass layoffs at Destiny 2 developer Bungie - in which 220 employees lost their jobs - a new report has claimed the cuts were a result of Bungie leadership 'overstating the studio's financial prospects' to Sony, which acquired the developer in 2022.

That's according to sources interviewed by journalist Stephen Totilo, who, writing in his GameFile newsletter, reports yesterday's job cuts were necessary to stem Bungie's continued financial losses. The studio is said to have repeatedly missed financial targets promised to Sony, and has reportedly lost money since the release of Destiny 2 expansion Lightfall in 2023.

Totilo claims yesterday's layoffs - the second round of job cuts in less than a year - had long been planned, and "couldn't be avoided" even if this year's Destiny 2 expansion, The Final Shape, had "blockbuster performance". Bungie management reportedly concluded last year - amid poor sales and a dwindling Destiny 2 player base - it would need to "make deep cuts to show Sony's executives that it was taking its finances seriously", with the studio's autonomy - and management jobs - seemingly on the line if it failed to meet its targets.

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It barely feels like five minutes since the last one, but, somehow, Gamescom is almost upon us again. Which means publishers are starting to detail their plans for the show - and in Microsoft's case, we now know that'll include daily livestreams for those at home, plus over 50 playable games for anyone wandering the Koelnmesse's halls.

Attendees visiting Microsoft's Hall 7 Gamescom booth in person will find 50 games from Xbox Game Studios, Blizzard, Bethesda, and third-party partners, playable across 240 gaming stations. These include Age of Mythology: Retold, Ara: History Untold, Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred, Fallout 76: Milepost Zero, The Elder Scrolls Online: Gold Road, and Towerborne.

Playable third-party games, meanwhile, include Star Wars Outlaws, Space Marine 2, and the long-awaited Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl. A full list of games at the booth can be found here.

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UPDATE 10.06pm: Following a bit of an "oopsy" on developer FuturLab's part, Steam users now have an additional two PowerWash Simulator levels to blast into a state of cleanliness alongside today's intended cruise ship release.

It's not entirely clear how the mishap occurred, but it started after Steam users began reporting they were unable to play PowerWash Simulator's cruise ship DLC following its release earlier today. Then, while FuturLab was orchestrating a fix, the game's next update - The Muckingham Files 4 - managed to work its way onto Valve's store ahead of schedule.

As a result, Steam users now have access to two additional PowerWash Simulator jobs: they can hose down crypto enthusiast Devon King's vandalised modern mansion, as well as pilot Floraine Perez' fire plane - which is looking a bit worse for wear after a flight over Mount Rushless.

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June's big Civilization 7 announcement was pretty light - by which I mean completely devoid of - detail. But that's about to change, with developer Firaxis having now revealed it'll be showcasing first gameplay of its latest 4X strategy title later this month.

First, viewers will get a taste of Civ 7 during this year's Gamescom Opening Night Live, which - in case your diary isn't up-to-date - is airing from 7pm BST/11am PT on 20th August.

But! Firaxis will then be airing a far more substantial chunk of gameplay once Opening Night Live comes to an end. Specifically, Civ fans can expect to see "more than" 20 minutes of gameplay - and hear Civ 7's development team share "exclusive insights" on its "innovative new features" - from 9.30pm BST/1.30pm PT on 20th August.

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UPDATE 2/8/24: Following rumours of a delay for Obsidian Entertainment's Avowed, Microsoft has now officially moved the fantasy action-RPG's release out of 2024.

Avowed will now launch for Xbox and PC on 18th February next year, as confirmed in an official infographic shared on social media. The image, featuring release dates and windows for all Xbox's currently announced games, confirmed Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, plus Starfield's Shattered Space Expansion, are still expected to launch this year.

In text accompanying the graphic, Microsoft said it was moving Avowed's release to February 2025 in order to "give players' backlogs some breathing room." In a separate post, Xbox boss Phil Spencer wrote, "We're proud of what the Obsidian team have accomplished with Avowed and want to make sure they have the best launch possible."

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Current and former employees of Destiny 2 developer Bungie have responded to the news of devastating layoffs at the studio - which has seen 220 employees lose their jobs - aiming harsh criticism at the handling of the cuts amid calls for Bungie CEO Pete Parsons to resign.

Parsons announced the studio would be laying off approximately 17 percent of its workforce earlier today, blaming "rising costs of development and industry shifts as well as enduring economic conditions." The news marks the second round of job cuts at the studio in less than a year, with approximately 100 employees having been laid off last October.

Following this latest round of job cuts, former and current Bungie employees took to social media to lambast the decision. Destiny 2's global community lead Dylan Gafner (AKA dmg04) called the move "inexcusable" in a post on X. "Industry leading talent being lost, yet again," he wrote. "Accountability falling upon the workers who have pushed the needle to deliver for our community time and time again."

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With Planet Coaster 2's big reveal out the way, Frontier Developments is ready to start talking specifics - and it's now done just that in the first in a series of developer deep dives, showcasing some of the sequel's new features in 15 minutes of first gameplay.

The big new thing in Planet Coaster 2 is , of course, water - or rather water parks, with the likes of pools, lazy rivers, and flumes. Frontier's deep dive offered a quick walk through the basics here, noting its sparkly new pools can be carved into the earth using geometric or custom shapes, while body flumes - just like rollercoasters - can be constructed piece-by-piece. Expect to see the likes of plughole, sphere, vertical, and boomerang flume pieces, even a six-person raft flume ride, adding variety to the basic flume styles.

Flumes, like any other ride, can be ridden in first-person, and also have their own excitement, nausea, and fear levels that'll determine whether guests want to ride them. Also like other rides, they'll work with Planet Coaster 2's suite of new customisation options, with players able to assign them colours, pre-defined patterns, and more.

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Microsoft is expanding Discord support on Xbox Series X/S and Xbox One with a number of new features - including a consolidated Xbox and Discord friends list - that'll be rolling out to general users in the "coming weeks" following a bit of Insider testing.

Starting with that Xbox Friends list, Discord friends who are gaming or chatting in Discord Voice will soon appear in the "Happening now" tab alongside Xbox friends in parties or games. Additionally, if a friend is talking or streaming a game in a Discord server voice channel, that channel will also be shown in "Happening Now".

Furthermore, once the update is available, it'll be possible to initiate a Discord call, jump straight into a voice channel, or watch a friend streaming directly from the Xbox Friends list.

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Microsoft's ever-expanding line-up of special edition Xbox wireless controllers has increased yet again, this time with the new transparent blue Sky Cipher - which (as well as looking like something straight out of the 90s, when tech wasn't worth a jot if it wasn't at least partially see-through) also heralds the introduction of new eco-friendly controller packaging.

Of course, a new Xbox controller reveal wouldn't be the same without at least some attempt to sex up what's very much just more of the same in a different colour, and the Sky Cipher Special Edition - with its metallic innards visible through blue plastic - is described as "exuding an aura of sophistication and futuristic appeal."

It also sports sky blue metallic triggers, a matching D-pad circled by a ring of dark blue, a set of "two-tone" thumbsticks - sky blue at the base, dark blue near the top - and sky blue rubberised grips on the rear. Battery life should last around 40 hours, it's got the usual 3.5mm audio jack, and works with Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PC, iOS, Android, and Cloud Gaming devices.

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Wildermyth, the acclaimed procedural storytelling RPG from developer Worldwalker Games, is - after three years revelling in its many accolades garnered while exclusive to PC - coming to Switch, PlayStaton, and Xbox on 22nd October this year.

At first glance, Wildermyth is pretty familiar stuff, taking players on a fantasy flavoured adventure of party based levelling and tactical turn-based combat. Those bits are all perfectly good, but the real cleverness starts with its procedurally generated story, where campaigns are cunningly, convincingly assembled from beautifully illustrated, wonderfully written narrative fragments and choose-your-own-adventure-style scraps.

And that all builds out from your highly customisable party of characters, who each get distinctly defined traits, personalities, histories, and abilities. And each of them can forge alliances, develop rivalries, fall out, fall in love, die and be reborn is a constantly swirling maelstrom of variables that keep things fresh. And that's without factoring in some of other clever stuff, like the way your journey - passing in days, months, and years - unfolds across a dynamic world map that evolves, not always positively, depending on your actions.

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Arrowead Game Studios has detailed Helldivers 2's latest Premium Warbond. It's called Freedom's Flame and promises new fire-themed armaments and other treats when it launches alongside the bug-splattering, bot-bothering live-service shooter's previously announced "biggest ever update" next Tuesday, 6th August.

"Incinerate everything standing in your path with new weaponry almost too hot to handle," Arrowhead exclaims on the PlayStation Blog. "Survive the heat of battle with lifesaving armour; and burn brightly across the cosmos with fresh emotes, capes, and skins."

If it's specifics you want though, Freedom's Flame includes the SG-451 Cookout as a new primary weapon capable of unleashing a "burst of incendiary phosphorus pellets" at enemies. It also features the FLAM-66 Torcher lightweight flamethrower as a second primary.

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Thank Goodness You're Here opens with an advert for Peans ("Not quite peas, not quite beans, but something delicious in betweens") and finishes with a song. But developer Coal Supper's absurdist comedy adventure is so relentlessly, gleefully unpredictable throughout – so improbably overstuffed with impeccable gags and surreal detours – it's hard to know where to begin.

So let's play it safe and start at the beginning. You are the hero of the piece – a nameless man of indeterminate age and wilfully inconsistent height – who, as the adventure opens, is sent on a work trip to the fictitious Northern England town of Barnsworth for reasons never entirely clear. At which point, Thank Goodness You're Here immediately lets you know what kind of game it is by insisting you exit the boss' office by jumping out the ten-storey window instead of the door. Cue a note-perfect montage of mid-20th-century archival footage – all coal mines, red brick houses, and dour-faced ladies scouring busy market stalls – as bawdy ditty The Marrow Song plinks out, and away we go.

Without wanting to get ahead of myself, Thank Goodness You're Here is, I think, brilliant – a bold bit of masterfully orchestrated comedy that confounds expectations at every conceivable turn. Its very specific brand of surreal, anything-for-a-gag whimsy won't be to everyone's taste, but the way it merrily manipulates form to heighten its impeccable comedic rhythms is a true delight to behold – even if it takes a bit of time to show the method in its mayhem.

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Salt and Sanctuary, from Ska Studios, is a bit bloody good, serving up an enormously enjoyable, Dark Souls-inspired slice of 2D action-adventure. It's also now eight years old - but that hasn't stopped it from getting a surprise update this week, adding a tough new Randomiser mode.

Salt and Sanctuary, which initially released for PlayStation 4 and PC back in 2016, is a fairly explicit attempt to translate From Software's now oft-replicated dark fantasy RPG formula, complete with considered combat and corpse runs, into two dimensions. It begins on the shores of a vast and broodily enigmatic kingdom, which players - in the role of the Saltborn - must explore and overcome, tackling enemies and imposing bosses along the way.

It's good stuff, and not exactly a walk in the park, but it just got a whole lot tougher thanks to its new Randomiser mode. As detailed over on Steam, Salt and Sanctuary players looking to give themselves a real challenge can now select from three randomiser options: Item Randomiser, Monster Randomiser, and Scaling Monster Randomiser.

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Somehow, it's that time of the year again already! THQ Nordic's annual gaming showcase has returned to offer a look at its upcoming slate of releases, both previously known and newly announced. This time around, the long-awaited Gothic 1 Remake and Titan Quest 2 both got gameplay reveals, and Epic Mickey: Rebrushed popped up to remind us all it's coming out relatively soon. As for the new stuff, Wreckfest is getting a sequel, Little Nightmares studio Tarsier's creepy new game has been teased (as has a new Darksiders), while strikingly animated platforming adventure The Eternal Life of Goldman looks like a real gem.

So if you didn't catch the showcase and are curious to see what you missed, you'll find a full round-up - augmented by a few additional details from an earlier press briefing - below.

We were big fans of 2018 demolition derby racer Wreckfest ("Wreckfest offers primal pleasures," wrote Martin Robinson, "with little by way of pretension), and developer Bugbear Entertainment is ready to do it all over again in the newly announced Wreckfest 2. Details are relatively scant at this early juncture, but it promises "unmatched deformation and physical damage models" as its high-octane single-player and multiplayer racing unfolds.

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Activision and Microsoft have reportedly approved the creation of a new "smaller" team within Blizzard Entertainment - mostly comprised of employees from Activision's mobile-focused King division - to develop new "AA" games based on existing Blizzard properties.

That's according to Windows Central's Jez Corden, whose sources say the new initiative reflects an eagerness at Microsoft to "explore and experiment" with smaller teams within the larger organisation, in response to the "monstrously ballooning costs" of AAA game development.

Corden notes Microsoft has seen success with the likes of Sea of Thieves and Grounded, both built by comparatively small teams - and, of course, 2023's Hi-Fi Rush, created by a small team within Tango Gameworks, was heralded as a "break out hit" by Microsoft after its release.

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Following yesterday's mass layoffs at Destiny 2 developer Bungie - in which 220 employees lost their jobs - a new report has claimed the cuts were a result of Bungie leadership 'overstating the studio's financial prospects' to Sony, which acquired the developer in 2022.

That's according to sources interviewed by journalist Stephen Totilo, who, writing in his GameFile newsletter, reports yesterday's job cuts were necessary to stem Bungie's continued financial losses. The studio is said to have repeatedly missed financial targets promised to Sony, and has reportedly lost money since the release of Destiny 2 expansion Lightfall in 2023.

Totilo claims yesterday's layoffs - the second round of job cuts in less than a year - had long been planned, and "couldn't be avoided" even if this year's Destiny 2 expansion, The Final Shape, had "blockbuster performance". Bungie management reportedly concluded last year - amid poor sales and a dwindling Destiny 2 player base - it would need to "make deep cuts to show Sony's executives that it was taking its finances seriously", with the studio's autonomy - and management jobs - seemingly on the line if it failed to meet its targets.

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It barely feels like five minutes since the last one, but, somehow, Gamescom is almost upon us again. Which means publishers are starting to detail their plans for the show - and in Microsoft's case, we now know that'll include daily livestreams for those at home, plus over 50 playable games for anyone wandering the Koelnmesse's halls.

Attendees visiting Microsoft's Hall 7 Gamescom booth in person will find 50 games from Xbox Game Studios, Blizzard, Bethesda, and third-party partners, playable across 240 gaming stations. These include Age of Mythology: Retold, Ara: History Untold, Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred, Fallout 76: Milepost Zero, The Elder Scrolls Online: Gold Road, and Towerborne.

Playable third-party games, meanwhile, include Star Wars Outlaws, Space Marine 2, and the long-awaited Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl. A full list of games at the booth can be found here.

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UPDATE 10.06pm: Following a bit of an "oopsy" on developer FuturLab's part, Steam users now have an additional two PowerWash Simulator levels to blast into a state of cleanliness alongside today's intended cruise ship release.

It's not entirely clear how the mishap occurred, but it started after Steam users began reporting they were unable to play PowerWash Simulator's cruise ship DLC following its release earlier today. Then, while FuturLab was orchestrating a fix, the game's next update - The Muckingham Files 4 - managed to work its way onto Valve's store ahead of schedule.

As a result, Steam users now have access to two additional PowerWash Simulator jobs: they can hose down crypto enthusiast Devon King's vandalised modern mansion, as well as pilot Floraine Perez' fire plane - which is looking a bit worse for wear after a flight over Mount Rushless.

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June's big Civilization 7 announcement was pretty light - by which I mean completely devoid of - detail. But that's about to change, with developer Firaxis having now revealed it'll be showcasing first gameplay of its latest 4X strategy title later this month.

First, viewers will get a taste of Civ 7 during this year's Gamescom Opening Night Live, which - in case your diary isn't up-to-date - is airing from 7pm BST/11am PT on 20th August.

But! Firaxis will then be airing a far more substantial chunk of gameplay once Opening Night Live comes to an end. Specifically, Civ fans can expect to see "more than" 20 minutes of gameplay - and hear Civ 7's development team share "exclusive insights" on its "innovative new features" - from 9.30pm BST/1.30pm PT on 20th August.

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UPDATE 2/8/24: Following rumours of a delay for Obsidian Entertainment's Avowed, Microsoft has now officially moved the fantasy action-RPG's release out of 2024.

Avowed will now launch for Xbox and PC on 18th February next year, as confirmed in an official infographic shared on social media. The image, featuring release dates and windows for all Xbox's currently announced games, confirmed Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, plus Starfield's Shattered Space Expansion, are still expected to launch this year.

In text accompanying the graphic, Microsoft said it was moving Avowed's release to February 2025 in order to "give players' backlogs some breathing room." In a separate post, Xbox boss Phil Spencer wrote, "We're proud of what the Obsidian team have accomplished with Avowed and want to make sure they have the best launch possible."

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Current and former employees of Destiny 2 developer Bungie have responded to the news of devastating layoffs at the studio - which has seen 220 employees lose their jobs - aiming harsh criticism at the handling of the cuts amid calls for Bungie CEO Pete Parsons to resign.

Parsons announced the studio would be laying off approximately 17 percent of its workforce earlier today, blaming "rising costs of development and industry shifts as well as enduring economic conditions." The news marks the second round of job cuts at the studio in less than a year, with approximately 100 employees having been laid off last October.

Following this latest round of job cuts, former and current Bungie employees took to social media to lambast the decision. Destiny 2's global community lead Dylan Gafner (AKA dmg04) called the move "inexcusable" in a post on X. "Industry leading talent being lost, yet again," he wrote. "Accountability falling upon the workers who have pushed the needle to deliver for our community time and time again."

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With Planet Coaster 2's big reveal out the way, Frontier Developments is ready to start talking specifics - and it's now done just that in the first in a series of developer deep dives, showcasing some of the sequel's new features in 15 minutes of first gameplay.

The big new thing in Planet Coaster 2 is , of course, water - or rather water parks, with the likes of pools, lazy rivers, and flumes. Frontier's deep dive offered a quick walk through the basics here, noting its sparkly new pools can be carved into the earth using geometric or custom shapes, while body flumes - just like rollercoasters - can be constructed piece-by-piece. Expect to see the likes of plughole, sphere, vertical, and boomerang flume pieces, even a six-person raft flume ride, adding variety to the basic flume styles.

Flumes, like any other ride, can be ridden in first-person, and also have their own excitement, nausea, and fear levels that'll determine whether guests want to ride them. Also like other rides, they'll work with Planet Coaster 2's suite of new customisation options, with players able to assign them colours, pre-defined patterns, and more.

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Microsoft is expanding Discord support on Xbox Series X/S and Xbox One with a number of new features - including a consolidated Xbox and Discord friends list - that'll be rolling out to general users in the "coming weeks" following a bit of Insider testing.

Starting with that Xbox Friends list, Discord friends who are gaming or chatting in Discord Voice will soon appear in the "Happening now" tab alongside Xbox friends in parties or games. Additionally, if a friend is talking or streaming a game in a Discord server voice channel, that channel will also be shown in "Happening Now".

Furthermore, once the update is available, it'll be possible to initiate a Discord call, jump straight into a voice channel, or watch a friend streaming directly from the Xbox Friends list.

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Microsoft's ever-expanding line-up of special edition Xbox wireless controllers has increased yet again, this time with the new transparent blue Sky Cipher - which (as well as looking like something straight out of the 90s, when tech wasn't worth a jot if it wasn't at least partially see-through) also heralds the introduction of new eco-friendly controller packaging.

Of course, a new Xbox controller reveal wouldn't be the same without at least some attempt to sex up what's very much just more of the same in a different colour, and the Sky Cipher Special Edition - with its metallic innards visible through blue plastic - is described as "exuding an aura of sophistication and futuristic appeal."

It also sports sky blue metallic triggers, a matching D-pad circled by a ring of dark blue, a set of "two-tone" thumbsticks - sky blue at the base, dark blue near the top - and sky blue rubberised grips on the rear. Battery life should last around 40 hours, it's got the usual 3.5mm audio jack, and works with Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PC, iOS, Android, and Cloud Gaming devices.

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Wildermyth, the acclaimed procedural storytelling RPG from developer Worldwalker Games, is - after three years revelling in its many accolades garnered while exclusive to PC - coming to Switch, PlayStaton, and Xbox on 22nd October this year.

At first glance, Wildermyth is pretty familiar stuff, taking players on a fantasy flavoured adventure of party based levelling and tactical turn-based combat. Those bits are all perfectly good, but the real cleverness starts with its procedurally generated story, where campaigns are cunningly, convincingly assembled from beautifully illustrated, wonderfully written narrative fragments and choose-your-own-adventure-style scraps.

And that all builds out from your highly customisable party of characters, who each get distinctly defined traits, personalities, histories, and abilities. And each of them can forge alliances, develop rivalries, fall out, fall in love, die and be reborn is a constantly swirling maelstrom of variables that keep things fresh. And that's without factoring in some of other clever stuff, like the way your journey - passing in days, months, and years - unfolds across a dynamic world map that evolves, not always positively, depending on your actions.

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Arrowead Game Studios has detailed Helldivers 2's latest Premium Warbond. It's called Freedom's Flame and promises new fire-themed armaments and other treats when it launches alongside the bug-splattering, bot-bothering live-service shooter's previously announced "biggest ever update" next Tuesday, 6th August.

"Incinerate everything standing in your path with new weaponry almost too hot to handle," Arrowhead exclaims on the PlayStation Blog. "Survive the heat of battle with lifesaving armour; and burn brightly across the cosmos with fresh emotes, capes, and skins."

If it's specifics you want though, Freedom's Flame includes the SG-451 Cookout as a new primary weapon capable of unleashing a "burst of incendiary phosphorus pellets" at enemies. It also features the FLAM-66 Torcher lightweight flamethrower as a second primary.

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Thank Goodness You're Here opens with an advert for Peans ("Not quite peas, not quite beans, but something delicious in betweens") and finishes with a song. But developer Coal Supper's absurdist comedy adventure is so relentlessly, gleefully unpredictable throughout – so improbably overstuffed with impeccable gags and surreal detours – it's hard to know where to begin.

So let's play it safe and start at the beginning. You are the hero of the piece – a nameless man of indeterminate age and wilfully inconsistent height – who, as the adventure opens, is sent on a work trip to the fictitious Northern England town of Barnsworth for reasons never entirely clear. At which point, Thank Goodness You're Here immediately lets you know what kind of game it is by insisting you exit the boss' office by jumping out the ten-storey window instead of the door. Cue a note-perfect montage of mid-20th-century archival footage – all coal mines, red brick houses, and dour-faced ladies scouring busy market stalls – as bawdy ditty The Marrow Song plinks out, and away we go.

Without wanting to get ahead of myself, Thank Goodness You're Here is, I think, brilliant – a bold bit of masterfully orchestrated comedy that confounds expectations at every conceivable turn. Its very specific brand of surreal, anything-for-a-gag whimsy won't be to everyone's taste, but the way it merrily manipulates form to heighten its impeccable comedic rhythms is a true delight to behold – even if it takes a bit of time to show the method in its mayhem.

Read more