Today I wanted to talk about a totally new type of game that’s gaining a lot of popularity. In late 2018, a totally new type of game called I’m on Observation Duty got released on Steam. Recently, these type of games are exploding on Steam. A spin-off called The Exit 8 gave a totally new spin on the formula. The games are actually a scary spin on the spot the difference style of gameplay. But, what does attract players so much into this formula? Let’s talk about a few titles, and maybe we find an answer to that in this article. Now, feel free to leave a comment in the comment section down below with your thoughts and/or opinions on these games, similar games and/or the content of this article.

Two main gameplay styles

There are actually two major styles in this genre. A lot of streamers call, one style Observation Duty and the other style Exit 8. Both styles have the same core concept. You need to first look at a room and then notice if anything changes or anomalies appear. The way how you deal with these anomalies differs in both styles.

In Observation Duty style games, the idea is mostly always that you are a security guard watching camera’s. You have to flip through camera’s and report the anomalies before there are too much present in the area. In Exit 8 type games, you play through them while walking through the rooms themselves. You have to walk one direction when there is no difference and another direction when there is a difference. The difference is that you have to make a certain amount of correct judgements in a row. One wrong judgement and you are sent back to level 0.

The gameplay is tricky to explain in words and in an article. I wanted to write this article several times, but I was unable to describe it properly. The best way to describe it in my opinion is a non casual spot the difference game.

Ever since, “I am on Observation Duty” and “The Exit 8” hit the scene… A lot of horror game streamers played through them. They gained a lot more popularity. A lot of new titles came out in a rapid pace with different spins on the genre and interesting innovations. I think it will become more clear when I talk about the games I played through or watched my favorite streamers play through.

The Exit 8 – The Platform 8

During the summer of this year, Klamath and I streamed through these two titles. The Exit 8 is one of the earliest games to my knowledge in the 3D style.

The idea is that you are trapped in a looping metro hallway where you have to reach the 8th exit. Travelers are advised to continue walking when nothing out of the ordinary happens. But when suddenly a poster changed or something else changed, you need to turn back.

Like I said in the introduction, when you make one mistake, you start at level 0 again. The first passage through the hallway is always safe. After that, you have to do 8 correct answers in a row. Now, at least 8, since if your 8th run has an anomaly, you need to turn back. You can only win if you have a hallway that has no strange thing, and you are above the 8th hallway.

Something really nice that this game does is, it doesn’t repeat anomalies. When you defeat a certain anomaly, it won’t repeat until you see all of them or reset the game. This makes the game more unpredictable and replayable.

The anomalies in this game range from extremely obvious like suddenly the hallway flooding… But others are sneaky, like a camera that moved location to the other side of the hallway. So, it was a puzzle. Is this room really the same, or did something change. Since you couldn’t go back to check. And there were various details that added to the complexity of the game.

In May of this year, we got the follow-up to this game called The Platform 8. If you thought that was more of the same, think again. This time, you are in the actual metro, and you have to survive 8 carts. The big change is that you can’t fail with an anomaly this time around since the exit door is locked if you need to find the anomaly first.

It’s a change that didn’t sit well with me at first, but I totally understand why. This game is now turned into a more tense game where you have to survive the crazy things that the game throws at you. The game is shorter than The Exit 8, but I’ll say… This game had me spooked and jump several times.

That’s Not My Neighbor

At it’s core, this game is an Observation Duty game. But with a big twist. You are a security guard at the entrance of a building. There are imposters out there, trying to look like your neighbor, and you have to keep them out.

This game tests your reasoning skills and tests you if you can look at all the clues. The best I can describe this game is: a mixture between Papers Please, and I am on Observation Duty. The added layer of difficulty is that you have a lot to keep track of. Who did you let already inside? Who is on the list and for who do you better call their apartment first?

This game is getting frequent updates with more lore and more modes. Each time I see this game being played by the streamers I watch, the new update impresses me. And I totally understand why this game got so big.

There is this extremely catchy song by longestsoloever. The amount of times I played it on repeat is just getting silly. Give it a listen if you like electronic music, but I warn you. It’s an earworm.

Confabulation

Confabulation, noun. Confabulation is a memory error consisting of the production of fabricated, distorted, or misinterpreted memories about oneself or the world.

This game does a very interesting take on the actual formula. Instead of explaining the differences and anomalies with unexplained events, in this game it’s caused by a mental illness.

The flow of each play trough of this game is the same. But, the puzzles, the changing objects amongst other things are randomized. It’s up to you to make sure that you avoid you going insane and finding the truth of what happened.

This is an Observation Duty style game, but you can walk around in the area instead of watching at camera feeds. There is an extra layer added with the puzzles that add more information and lore of what happened.

I could talk about it more, but I highly recommend you play this game as blind as possible. The story, scares and impact is that much stronger when you don’t know what’s coming and let yourself be surprised. Watch the candles since they give you amazing hints on where to look next.

ATTA -Spot the Oddities in the Strange Hotel-

What if you have to count the amount of differences in a hallway instead of deciding there is a difference or not? Well, then you describe “ATTA, -Spot the Oddities in the Strange Hotel-“.

This game is an Exit 8 type of game with multiple rooms, where you have to count all the errors in a hallway… While various strange things happen. Like a train suddenly appearing and you have to duck for cover.

The atmosphere this game has, where it leaves you with an open ending that raises more questions than it answers, is the cherry on the cake. It’s a more intense game than your usual games. It may be a short run, but it’s a wild and pleasant ride all the way through.

Hospital 666

The final game I want to talk about today is called Hospital 666. In this game, you try to escape a cursed hospital. The first level has you running down a looping hallway. The second level, has one side room open.

Now, an impressive option that the game gives you is that you can choose if you want anomalies in the hallway or not. So, if you are in the second level, you can choose if you want things in the hallway to change or only focus on the new room.

Something impressive that this game does as well, is when you make a mistake, you can go back to the hallway to see what the mistake was that you made. You still start from the lowest floor of that level, but being able to see what got you is amazing. Since this game has very crazy anomalies but also various very sneaky ones. Like one is that some smiles faces appear on the wall.

In between the levels, there is a boss fight/puzzle that separates the floors from each other. They can be a bit janky, but the developer has updated and optimized the game quite a lot, and it is a lot better. Now, he is currently creating a sequel taking place in a school. And as somebody who works in education, I can’t wait to play through that.

Final thoughts

These games are only a handful of games in the genre. I have given a quick rundown of the games mentioned in this article, but if you are interested, I’m willing to talk more in depth about these titles. My intention with this article is to promote these titles.

Each game listed here is between 5 to €10 and is an amazing ride. These games are short little romps but are bursting to the seams with creativity. I always think, now, I have almost seen everything this genre has to offer. But, then I’m surprised with a new gameplay mechanic or a new setting that changes the atmosphere completely.

So, depending on how well this article does… I might write more of these. If you found amazing titles like this, feel free to send them my way or leave them in the comment section down below. But, for now, I’m going to leave you with my usual outro. Thank you so much for reading this article and I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. I hope to be able to welcome you in another one, but until then, have a great rest of your day and take care.

Wikipedia – Nintendo Microsite

After the release of Tears of the Kingdom, I was afraid that we would never see a new game in the style of the 2D Zelda game. Yet, I have been proven wrong when this game was announced. To be very honest, I didn’t have very high hopes for this game. Especially since this game was announced this summer and released in late September. I felt that this game going to be a game to fill a gap while the developers are working on a much larger game. Now, the game is released, and I have played through a fair chunk of it. So, what is my opinion on this game? Well, that’s what I’m going to tell you in this first impressions article, while I all invite you to leave a comment of your thoughts and/or opinions in the comment section down below.

Renewing the Echoes

After a short introduction where you play as Link, the main story of this game is introduced. There are all consuming interdimensional rifts appearing all over Hyrule, and it’s eating various people in the kingdom.

Link gets eaten by one of those rifts while freeing Zelda and when Zelda tells her father, the king, about these rifts… A new rift appears and replaces the king with an evil clone of himself. Zelda gets thrown in the dungeon and there she meets a fairy named Tri. This fairy gives Zelda a special staff where she can summon objects into the world using echoes. With those echoes, she escapes the dungeon and sets out on an adventure to save Hyrule from doom before the land is fully consumed by the rifts.

Something I always love about the Zelda games is that there is a different core mechanic at the base of the game. In this game, we get two things. We got the rifts to another dark world, but we also got the magical staff, which we can use to summon various echoes into the world. These echoes mean you can tackle this game in various different ways. But I’ll talk more about that later in this article.

In terms of story, this game is hitting all the same beats as your typical Legend of Zelda game. It might be disappointing, to some, that in this game there is no voice acting anymore apart from the grunts and various emotional noises. Personally, I think it adds to the charm of this game. That’s because the characters in this game are way more expressive. While the story isn’t going to leave you at the edge of your seat of “what’s going to happen next”, it’s still well quite enjoyable, and the more expressive characters add quite a lot to the charm and atmosphere of the game.

Something I really like is how in this game, you are free to explore the world at your own peace. This game isn’t limiting you to go in a certain order. While this game isn’t fully open world like Breath of the Wild or Tears of the Kingdom, it’s somewhere in between. You can tackle parts in a different order. Like the first two major dungeons can be done out of order. Each area is its self-contained puzzle, and everything you need can be found in that general area.

In my introduction of this article, I said that I was afraid that was afraid that this game would be a short one where you were able to beat it in a few hours. That it was going to be a game that’s supposed to hold players over for the “next big 3D Zelda title”. To my surprise, this game is rather lengthy for a 2,5D Zelda game. It clocks in at 25 hours of casual playtime, which is, to my knowledge, one of the longest 2,5D Zelda games.

Climbing with beds

Something I find myself doing quite a lot while playing this game was climbing the area with beds. I summoned various beds stacked on top of each other to climb a wall. Since, I wanted to know if the developers hid a secret on that cliff face.

The exploration of this version of Hyrule is a blast to do. While you visit a lot of familiar places and meet your usual suspects like the Zora and the Gerudo, it’s a treat seeing them again. The only thing I missed a bit is showing the impact of the rifts. Something that this game only tells through dialogue was how things got impacted by the rifts. I wish it was shown a bit more visually. Like different animations of the characters before and after. But maybe, Tears of the Kingdom set the bar a bit too high for those expectations where each major area had a certain curse.

In terms of gameplay, this game really leans into the echoes mechanic. It also remembers that Zelda is a princess and didn’t really have combat training. So, you have to use summoned enemies to your advantage to let them fight for you. Now, you do have a sword, but you can only use it when your power meter has charge. I always reserved that for the dungeon bosses or when the situation got pretty dicey. Since recharging that meter is either done with potions or by defeating monsters from the rift world. These enemies aren’t exactly common in the overworld, and the energy bar drains fast.

In general, this game hits the same general gameplay beats as all other Zelda games. You go from dungeon to dungeon, learning a new technique or skill, defeating the boos and moving forward to another dungeon. There are also side quests in this game, that give you a nice reward. In this game, you also have a nice system to keep track of these side quests, like in Tears of the Kingdom. Something they also brought over from that game is the cooking system to a degree.

That’s something I personally feel mixed about. Maybe it’s me, but I feel the ingredients are quite rare to come by and there is no real way to farm certain ingredients like in Breath of the Wild. I have to admit that it adds a certain charm to this game, but I feel it’s a bit under implemented here. Like when you first meet the potion creators Deku shrubs, they talk about recipes… And I had a hard time finding any.

Like in Tears of the Kingdom, you can also eat most of the ingredients without cooking them. While I personally dislike the fact you have to do two clicks to consume an item, I do understand why they did it. To avoid you consuming them too much. Yet, this is a change from the two previous games and I honestly really feel it’s a set backwards. A fine solution would be to give the player an option to switch between both systems.

Grezzo playset

This game was co-developed by Grezzo. Their previous original Zelda game was Tri Force Heroes. But, this game looks very similar in graphical style to the remake of Link’s Awakening on the Nintendo Switch from late 2019.

This game looks like a plastic toy set and it looks amazing. While I was playing this game, I felt amazed at how expressive they were able to make everything without breaking the illusion that this is a toy set brought to live by our imagination. I don’t have a lot of complaints about the visuals and animations. And most of my complaints aren’t that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things.

Just like, I don’t have any complaints about the music and sound design of this game. If you take the music and sound design in a vacuum, you would say that it sounds just like very other Zelda game. It sounds like a remix of the familiar melodies we all know and love from the Zelda games. But, this isn’t a problem, since it sells the illusion that you are a child playing with a sort of Playmobil toy set of Hyrule and trying to recreate the sound effects and music of the game.

In terms of controls, this game plays like a dream. I rarely had problems with the controls and something I really like is the fact that with one press of a stick, you can see a view from on top when you feel the camera is blocking something. Now, there is one thing that I do have some things to criticize about. And that’s about the jumping.

It’s pretty difficult sometimes to judge how high Zelda can jump. I had moments in combat where I wasn’t aware I could jump on a higher ledge until I saw an enemy jumping backwards on that ledge. I also got tripped up several times with how far Zelda can jump. Her jump is shorter than I think, and the amount of times I jumped into a pit misjudging the jump is quite a lot. Something that would have helped is something a small landing shadow when Zelda was coming down. Then again, that must have been a nightmare to implement… So, maybe I should keep her shorter jump just better in mind.

Now, something else. Something I really like is how this game has two difficulty modes. I’m playing through this game on the normal difficulty setting and I have to say, I’m happy that I did. This game can lure you into a false sense of security. I wouldn’t say that this game is hard, but it isn’t a cakewalk either. You really need to keep your wits about you and think fast sometimes.

Being aware of what’s around you is also quite important since this game loves to hide things in little side area’s and using the map system is a must. I love how you can put pins and such on the map. Yet, I have to admit that I still keep notes in my phone like: “treasure in Gerudo dungeon, need to check later”.

The more I play through this game, the more I realize that the critiques I can make about this game are more on the minor side. Like how it feels like a waste of time when you are scrolling through a long list of echoes when you just want to find one. An easy solution would be to give the player an ability to favorite certain echoes. But then again, the sort function in the quick menu has “most used”, “recently learned” … So, it’s kinda that.

Now, you have two save slots in this game. So, you can play through this game and let a friend or a sibling play through a different slot. Now, this game also autosaves for you frequently, in case you forget to save. The game also keeps like several autosaves in case you want to return to an earlier point.

Something I really like is how this game also has a quick travel system. The system works similarly like an owl statue in Majora’s Mask or a water vane in Link Between Worlds. It makes it easy when you feel stumped by a puzzle and want to return later. The fast travel locations are very fairly placed all over the land.

While I went quite critical in this game, the more I played it, the more it won me over. This game is a new 2,5D Zelda adventure game I hope we were going to see again. The last new, non remake 2,5D Zelda game was released almost 11 years ago. And, I’m so happy to see a return to this style. I’d love to see a this style also making an appearance very so often since it’s clear there are still various unique ways to explore Hyrule and tell a story about the Hyrule legend without going fully 3D.

Apart from a few small complaints you read in this article, I honestly don’t have any major complaints about this game. This is a game I’m going to finish for sure, since I’m enjoying my time with this title quite a lot. If you are into the series, I highly recommend this title to you. If you enjoy exploration and playing with unique mechanics, I also think this game is for you. This game is totally worth it’s price tag and it pleasantly surprised me.

And with that said, I have said everything I wanted to say about this game for now. I hope you enjoyed reading this article as much as I enjoyed writing it. I hope to be able to welcome you in another one, but until then, have a great rest of your day and take care.

Trailer – Steam store page

Today, I want to talk about a new game that’s going to come out later this year. It’s called Cave Hikers. It’s being developed by Porcupine Parkour. This small Croatian based studio reached out to me to review their demo in July. I would have written an article about it before, but I have been suffering from a writing burnout. Thankfully, I’m slowly getting back in the groove. And I’m going to make it up to the developers by publishing an article on their game today. Let’s take a look at the demo together, shall we? And I have a small surprise in store later.

Demo review

In this demo, you get an introduction to the gameplay. If you ever played a game like My Brother Rabbit, you will feel right at home in this game. This is a point and click game where you go from screen to screen. Each screen has a small puzzle or hidden object moment for you to take part in.

This game feels like playing through a children book. The voice of the narrator sounds like a (grand)father telling a story to their children. It’s extremely charming, and the story book art style really helps to sell this story.

Overall, there is no real tutorial in this game. Yet, the gameplay is quite simple. You learn quite quickly that this game is controlled with only the mouse. The menu system exists out of icons that make the game a lot easier to localize.

The demo is rather short but gives a very good impression of the full game. This game looks like it’s something I’m going to play. It’s a charming point-and-click game with hidden objects that feels nostalgic. Since the demo is so short, I don’t have a lot to talk about in terms of feedback.

The art style, voice acting, animation is all pretty well done. I only have a few minor complaints. The first complaint is that clicking to unmute the music or sound effects can’t be done right away. It doesn’t always register right away. And the second complaint is the in some rare spots, like with the red crystal at the end of the demo, the hitbox of placing it in the crusher is too tiny.

So, the game describes itself as:

Cave Hikers is a relaxing and humorous 2D interactive cartoon mockumentary that follows three characters through a cavernous world, on a quest to find the mystical “cave with an infinite ceiling”.

And I think it fits the game pretty well. Like I have been saying, the humor and charm of this game is there, and it’s pretty clear that maybe from some very minor things, this game is going to be an extremely charming game.

Now, how interesting would it be if I asked some questions to the developers of this game? Well, I had a few interesting questions in mind, so I went and asked them. Here are their replies.

Interview with the developers

– What games inspired you take to make this one?

It was mostly HOPA style games, which are usually made by much larger companies with inexpensive artists and a pseudo-realistic and kitsch-y style. So we went more in line with our own kind of art style, with some inspiration from Amanita games.

– What’s your process in creating puzzles?

It’s a strange process. As we started making the game in our free time for fun between odd jobs and more “serious” projects, we made a number of locations, creatures and simple mechanics. First we take a look at what already exists on the screen, then we intertwine the narrative with some clicking and potential puzzle elements. Then we play around with it until we are happy with the amount of “work” the player needs to do before accomplishing the goal.

Sometimes it includes a bit of moon logic. First, we make it clearer through conversation clouds and drawings. Then, whatever is unclear or hard to find for testers, we explain further through the Narrator.

– What are the funniest bugs or whoopies that happened during development?

For a while, we had a splash screen that looked exactly like the main menu, which created a lot of confusion! That was because the engine was upgraded, and also we started working with a much better programmer, we consolidated it into a coherent menu.

As for actually funny bugs, at one point we had Valeriano’s secret twin showing up at the cutscene. It took a while to realize we accidentally put two Valerianos of which one was outside the camera view.

– What engine did you use and why?

It’s Construct 3. At first, we made this project for fun and the Animator wasn’t exactly a programmer, so he used a really simple engine. (Un)fortunately, the project got out of hand and got some funding. Now we have a real programmer, but he had to learn Construct with all its limitations, but it’s also a really simple engine so we can still make a lot of the game without much hassle.

– What are some things you learned during developing this game?

Something that we re-learned time and time again… a game is easier to build if you have the whole team and a proper plan. Because otherwise you leave a lot of work and frustration for “future you”. We also learned that Construct can be a lot stronger than we initially thought… but also that it can be really stubborn in some areas.

– How many people worked on this game?

It first started with Sven the illustrator and Zvonimir the animator. At first, we were building a completely wordless game. But some testers were a bit confused at what the characters are really doing. So we hired Tom Bennet as the narrator and also Lea Konjetić to compose original music for the game. In the last six months, Fabjan the programmer also joined the team and superpowered our development process. All in all, five people, excluding all the translators.

Final thoughts

I’m very happy that games like these are getting more attention. Hidden object games have a strange reputation of being “too casual” or “boring”. Yet, I dare to argue there is something to love in these games. Especially when a game is created with this much passion and love.

I want to apologize to the developers again for taking such a long time in creating and article about the demo. But, I’m happy I did today. Since, if you have any interest in playing this game after reading this article, go and play the demo. Or share this article with somebody you think will enjoy playing this game. The demo takes roughly 15 minutes to finish.

I wish the developers a lot of luck and success with their game and when it’s fully released, I’m going to play this game and most likely review it on my blog. And with that said, I have said everything I wanted to say about this game for now. Thank you so much for reading this article, and I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed making it. I hope to welcome you in another article, but until then, have a great rest of your day and take care.

Genshin Impact is bringing its fantastical world to the Xbox this fall. During Gamescom 2024, developer HoYoverse announced that the free-to-play open-world game will be available on Xbox Series X|S and Xbox Cloud Gaming beginning on November 20.

With that release, Xbox players will receive all the same updates, cross-play and cross-progression as Genshin has on other platforms. It can be wishlisted today and Xbox Game Pass players can pre-install it today as well.

Since its debut in September 2020, Genshin Impact has gotten many content updates, arrived on additional platforms, and even spawned an anime series. HoYoverse followed up this international success with a similar science fiction title, Honkai: Star Rail, last spring and then with Zenless Zone Zero this spring.

Firaxis Games announced the release date and shared gameplay for Sid Meier's Civilization VII at Gamescom 2024. The strategy game will launch on February 11, 2025. It's been a long wait for fans since Civilization VI arrived back in 2016, and today's announcements at Gamescom mark a few departures for the storied empire-building series.

For starters, the game will be released across platforms. It will be available on PC, Mac, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox and Nintendo Switch at launch. Past entries in the series have arrived on console much later post-release, and sometimes with very clunky ports. Hopefully this approach means a better console experience for Civ VII.

There are also some big changes in gameplay that the team highlighted during a Gamescom livestream. In previous Civilization games, you'd pick one famed leader from history and stick with them for the scenario, guiding their single empire across the decades and centuries. With Civ VII, you'll pick a new civilization at the start of each age that will continue building on what you've already accomplished.

Your options at the start of a new age will vary based on historical context and what you've already done with your current civilization. A full game will have three time periods – the Antiquity Age, the Exploration Age and the Modern Age – or you can opt to play a single-age scenario. For even more variety, players will also be able to mix and match, picking from the whole roster of potential leaders and pairing them with historically inaccurate locations. This should yield a whole new array of intriguing and entertaining situations for players to create.

Don't Nod's spiritual successor to its popular video game series Life is Strange, Lost Records: Bloom & Rage, is confirmed to launch in two parts, and the first gameplay trailer is being revealed. The first part, Tape 1, will launch on February 18, 2025. You can expect Tape 2 to come out exactly one month later, on March 18, 2025.

Earlier this year, Don't Nod decided to delay the game’s release from late 2024 to early 2025. The primary reason is Square Enix and Deck Nine Games are working on Life is Strange: Double Exposure, a new game in the series. It’s planned for an October release on PC, Xbox Series X/S and PS5. Gamers on the Switch will have to wait.

It’s safe to say that the delay of Lost Records: Bloom & Rage is to prevent it from competing with the new Life is Strange title, as they would share similar audiences. Having some breathing room between the two would also allow fans to play them at comfier pace.

The new trailer showcases gameplay from Lost Records: Bloom & Rage, which allows the main character, Swann, to switch between 1995 and 2022 timelines. The game will feature a dynamic dialog system, which changes dialog based on where players look or what they choose to say. Performing or ignoring actions will also affect outcomes.

Lost Records: Bloom & Rage will be available on PC, Xbox Series X/S and PS5. There’s currently no word about a Switch version. Don’t Nod also announced plans for physical PS5 copies, but there’s no release date set for them yet.

If you happen to be at Gamescom 2024, feel free to check out Don't Nod's space in the B2B and B2C areas. Besides a photo booth themed after Lost Records: Bloom & Rage, you might even bring a keepsake home.

Tarsier Studios, creators of the first two Little Nightmares games, is back with another creepy adventure — and its “partially disemboweled talking pig” teaser video looks like it set the proper tone. Announced at Gamescom Opening Night, Reanimal takes two children on an adventure across land and sea as they work together to rescue their missing friends on an island filled with horrifying creatures.

The developer helmed the first two Little Nightmares installments before Supermassive Games took over for part III. The new game promises to up the ante with “a more terrifying journey than ever before.”

The horror-adventure game stars a brother and sister in an “unsettling tale” who “go through hell to rescue their missing friends.” The protagonists are described as broken but resilient, facing fragments of their troubled past in the guise of gruesome beasts. It will somehow explore themes of hope and redemption as they navigate the chilling environment.

Tarsier Studios / THQ Nordic

The game lets you play single-player or co-op (local and online). In an illustration of the creators’ understanding of the horror genre, it uses a shared, directed camera “to maximize claustrophobia and tension.”

Reanimal doesn’t yet have a launch date other than “coming soon,” but we know it will be available on PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC. You can check out the announcement trailer below.

Black Myth: Wukong, considered China’s first true AAA game, has broken Steam’s concurrent players record for a single-player title, passing Cyberpunk 2077 for the single-player record. In addition, it’s now the game with the second-most all-time concurrent players to date (including multiplayer), moving past Palworld. Based on the 16th-century novel Journey to the West, the souls-like action-adventure epic peaked at 2,223,179 players.

Industry analyst Simon Carless of GameDiscoverCo posted on X (Twitter) early on Tuesday an estimate that Black Myth: Wukong’s regional breakdown heavily favored its home country. The agency’s pie graph showed China claiming 88 percent of the game’s players. (In second place was the US at a mere three percent.) Although some interpreted that as potentially showing inflated numbers, the game launched in the middle of the night in the western hemisphere, and Carless’ stats were posted around 5AM ET.

The title’s records come against a backdrop of misogyny and censorship accusations aimed at developer Game Science. Streamers who were granted early access keys were given a (non-legally-binding) document that raised some eyebrows.

Game Science / Sony

The document included a list of banned topics the streamers were to avoid discussing while broadcasting gameplay. The New York Times reported that the off-limits subjects included politics, “feminist propaganda,” COVID-19, China’s gaming industry, and anything else that “instigates negative discourse.” (While streamers were given the list, reviewers weren’t.)

Of course, the COVID mention is easily tied to the nation’s “zero-COVID” restrictions.

As for the “feminist propaganda” restriction for Black Myth: Wukong’s streamers, you can easily draw a straight line from widespread accusations of misogyny from developer Game Science and individuals working there, including some of its cofounders. Among the many instances (summarized in a 2023 IGN story) were Game Science recruitment posters from 2015, one of which implied friends with benefits were an office perk and another featuring a dumbbell with the text (translated) “fatties should fuck off.” (Yikes.) The accusations go on from there.

Game Science / Valve

Game Science has ties to the Chinese government, which is no stranger to accusations of misogyny and censorship. To cite only a few examples, the #MeToo hashtag was censored or blocked on Chinese social platforms during the height of the movement, posts from feminist and LGBTQ+ groups and voices are routinely blocked or deleted on the country’s social media, feminist perspectives are frequently restricted or censored in China’s academic institutions and activists are no strangers to harassment, surveillance or arrests.

Tencent Holdings, a five-percent stakeholder according to The NY Times, has direct ties to Xi’s government. Meanwhile, the game’s publisher, Zhejiang Publishing & Media, is majority-owned by the Zhejiang provincial government. Finally, Hero Games, the company that sent out the streamer keys on Game Science’s behalf, has financial ties to “several state-owned enterprises,” according to The NYT. Hero Games owns around 20 percent of Game Science.

Some streamers supplied with keys (and the attached red tape) decided not to cover the game. “I have never seen anything that shameful in my 15 years doing this job. This is very clearly a document which explains that we must censor ourselves,” the prominent French streamer Benoit Reinier said (translated) in a YouTube video.

In Engadget’s preview of Black Myth: Wukong from earlier this summer (which didn’t include provisions about censored topics like streamers received), Mat Smith found the game visually stunning. We found the demo “elevated by how good the environment looks, the bizarre monster design and the quiet, unsettling soundtrack.” The game is available now on PC and PS5.

What do you get when you make a game influenced by movies like The Running Man and Labyrinth, toss in a bit of flair from professional wrestling (the kind with squared rings, not circular mats) and then throw all that on top of a co-op 3D platformer with user-generated dungeon building? To be honest, I’m not quite sure, but that’s sort of what Amazon Games and developer Glowmade are going for with its next title: King of Meat.

Trying to balance elements from that many properties seems like an impossible task. But after I got a chance to play an early build prior to Gamescom, King of Meat’s world and presentation might be the best thing about it. The game is centered around the Komstruck Koliseum, which is a Battle Royale-esque arena that also serves as the stage for an in-world TV show. Your job is to fight through various stages while helping out your friends and keeping the audience entertained.

Amazon/Glowmade

This is where the WWE inspiration factors in because the audience isn’t simply there for the ambiance, it’s an actual game mechanic. Grabbing gems and beating up foes increases your multiplier, allowing you to earn more points and get higher ranks (like bronze, silver and gold). The better you do and the more bounties you complete (like killing a certain number of specific enemies), the more currency you get, which you can then spend on new weapons, costumes and special attacks called Glory Moves. There’s even an in-game announcer to help keep the hype up.

Stylistically, King of Meat feels like a mix between Fortnite and Castle Crashers (another inspiration for the title), but with a more outlandish and sinister bent. Weapon skins include Cthulhu-like tentacle swords or jagged 8-bit facsimiles while Glory Moves range from silly to shocking, like calling down a giant hoof from the sky or birthing a massive belch to blow enemies away. And behind this over-the-top, energy-drink-fueled facade, there’s a bit of evil lurking in the corners, hinting that the fictional megacorps such as KOMSTRUCT may not be what they seem.

Amazon/Glowmade

As for the gameplay itself, it’s a pretty typical hack-and-slash platformer. You have basic melee attacks using weapons like swords and hammers, a heavier charge-up move, specials and a handy long-ranged sidearm (I used a crossbow, but there’s much more to choose from). You also get a double jump and while there’s some light comboing between moves, from what I saw the game stops short of letting you do more complex things like air juggles. Sadly, this is one of my concerns with the game, because while I only had a chance to play a handful of early levels, it feels like the game’s combat and pacing underdelivers, at least when compared to its over-the-top presentation and visual design.

When playing co-op with four people, there were several times when I just had to stand around while waiting for more enemies to arrive. Jumping across platforms also didn’t feel as tight or responsive compared to a lot of other 3D platformers. And even in the heat of battle, I didn’t get the sense that switching between attacks was much more effective than simply mashing buttons. I also ran into a few bugs where I got stuck in a wall or an enemy disappeared, which prevented our squad from moving on to the next section. That said, this was far from a final build, so hopefully Glowmade can polish things up before release.

Amazon/Glowmade

Unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to try out any dungeon building, which was a bummer since that’s meant to be a huge draw of the game. Out of the box, there will be a number of pre-made stages and a story campaign. But, similar to titles like Super Mario Maker, Glowmade is counting on users to create even more levels, with some of the lead developers saying “We want to reward players for being interesting.” Glowmade says first-party dungeons are built using the same tools players will get access to. This sort of reminds me of the Trackmania community, where even if you’re not the best racer, you can still make major contributions by creating fun courses, or in this case, dungeons. Cross-platform gameplay and dungeon building will also be supported, so you’ll have plenty of options for co-op.

Amazon/Glowmade

I still haven’t fully decided how I feel about King of Meat. It’s got an interesting premise and during my preview session, there were certainly moments where it felt like it was delivering on the spectacle while also scratching the grab-and-smash itch you tend to search for in hack-and-slash platformers. But at the same time, I wasn’t totally hooked either, possibly due to not being able to experience dungeon-building myself or not having a bigger arsenal of weapons and attacks to play around with. That said, since Glowmade’s founders previously worked at studios including Lionhead and Media Molecule and franchises like Fable and Little Big Planet, it feels like they should have the pedigree needed to properly bring King of Meat into the spotlight.

King of Meat will be available on PC, PS5, Xbox X/S and the Nintendo Switch, though Amazon and Glowmade have yet to set an official release date.

A game developer called Amazing Seasun Games is demonstrating NVIDIA's Avatar Cloud Engine (ACE) technology through its upcoming multiplayer mecha game Mecha BREAK at Gamescom this year. NVIDIA unveiled ACE at Computer 2023, presenting it as a "custom AI model foundry service" that developers can use to make their games more interactive. Specifically, it will allow players to interact with NPCs without the constraints of pre-programmed conversations and will be able to give them appropriate responses. 

When NVIDIA launched the technology, it showed a player talking to an NPC called Jin at a ramen shop. The player asked how the character was, and Jin was able to respond naturally to tell them about his worries about his city's rising crime rates. NVIDIA said the developer will use its technology to bring Mecha BREAK's "characters to life and provide a more dynamic and immersive gameplay experience on GeForce RTX AI PCs."

The chipmaker also said that more developers are incorporating ACE into their creations. Perfect World Games, a Chinese developer, is using the technology to power its demo for Legends. In that game, or at least the demo of it, a character is able to identify people and objects in the real world through the computer's camera, thanks to ChatGPT-4o. 

In addition to the ACE demo in Mecha BREAK, NVIDIA has also announced that PC Game Pass access on GeForce NOW will become seamless starting on August 22. Players will only have to link their Xbox profile once to be able to easily stream Game Pass titles in the future. 

The now venerable Nintendo Switch turned things around for the games company. Before the hybrid console appeared, the Wii U was languishing well in third place in the console wars and, after considerable pressure, the company was making its first steps into mobile gaming with Miitomo and Super Mario Run. Seven years on, Nintendo continues to sell millions of Switch units each year, with tweaks on the hardware formula introducing handheld-only models like the Switch Lite and a premium Switch with an OLED screen.

With an ever-growing game library of in-house games (Zelda, Mario, Kirby and more) and uncharacteristically strong third-party support, the console hits the sweet spot between casual and die-hard gamers. Over the years, the console has curated an incredibly strong collection of indie games, too. Whether you’ve had your Nintendo Switch for many years or you just bought one, there are plenty of great titles to try for the first time. We’ve collected our favorite Nintendo Switch games here, in a list we’re constantly reevaluating. And don’t worry if you have a Switch Lite — every game on the list is fully supported by all Switch models.

PC gamers have had to bide their time for the long-promised port of Final Fantasy XVI to hit their preferred platform, but the wait is almost over. The action RPG will hit Steam and the Epic Games Store on September 17. Both paid expansions, which are included in the complete edition, will be available on the same day.

Until now, the game has only been available on PlayStation 5. PC players can get a taste of what’s in store for them right now by checking out a demo that just went live on Steam and the Epic store.

Final Fantasy XVI forged a new path for the series by switching up the classic turn-based combat and opting for more action and hack-and-slash fighting. This helped make the game more approachable for those who don’t much care for the more tactics-based format, but the shift rankled some long-time fans.

In any case, Final Fantasy XVI is fun, though it's relatively easy. The cast deliver strong performances and the massive boss battles mesh well with the epic cinematic scope. The combat system, which is based on elemental attacks, helps make your fights look exciting too.

Last fall, amidst the ongoing national Adderall shortage, I decided it was time to start playing video games every day. That's because I learned about a new game called EndeavorOTC, which was in the process of gaining FDA clearance as a potential alternative treatment for ADHD. — Read the rest

The post A video game just got FDA clearance as an ADHD treatment appeared first on Boing Boing.

Sora and Roxas exist in a unique duality in the Kingdom Hearts series… two distinct beings originally connected by a single heart and seeking control of their own destiny. As the “Nobody” that was created when Sora briefly became a Heartless, Roxas simply wanted to live his own life in his own way… but his will was at odds with the destiny Sora possessed. It was only when Roxas chose to yield his body and be absorbed into Sora’s purpose that he finally found what he was looking for… a life and meaning beyond simply existing.

Much like the struggle between Sora and Roxas, we will all find a war within us each day for control of our thoughts and actions, and this duality can make us feel like competing minds in one body trying to live two different lives. Fighting a war from within may seem impossible to win, and without the power of Christ it is a battle we are doomed to lose. But when we willingly submit our minds and bodies to the will of Christ in these times of conflict, a solution can be found… only by bending our knee to His Spirit and denying our desires do we become who we were truly meant to be.

Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? James 4:1

I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! Romans 7:21-25

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Axel might’ve began his journey on the villains side in the Kingdom Hearts series, but he is the poster child for starting wrong yet still finishing strong. Despite serving Organization XIII and antagonizing Sora and his party for much of the series, he experienced a change of heart (which is hard to do when you are a Heartless) and chose to serve as an ally to those he once persecuted going forward. While his past left much to be desired, he was meant to wield a Keyblade of his own all along… and Axel’s redemptive journey gives hope to all who have “lost heart” due to the sins of their past.

If you are anything like me, it can be difficult to forget our “unworthy” past and serve the Lord in the presence of those who knew what we once were… but our redemption is meant to give hope to those who share a challenging backstory like ours and are searching for more than just forgiveness and absolution. We aren’t meant to simply embrace His grace and sit on the sidelines… we were given a fresh start as well as a Keyblade of our own so we can push back against the same darkness that once oppressed us and set our fellow Heartless free.

He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins. Colossians 1:13-14

And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight. Colossians 1:21-22

“There was a certain creditor who had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. And when they had nothing with which to repay, he freely forgave them both. Tell Me, therefore, which of them will love him more?” Simon answered and said, “I suppose the one whom he forgave more.” And He said to him, “You have rightly judged.” Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.” Luke 7:41-43, 47

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In most of my favorite video games I find that the famous “less is more” adage typically applies… I appreciate when a game sticks to what it does best and avoids the temptation to artificially pad the length of the game with broken mini-games or pointless fluff.  While side quests that add to the lore of the world are fun, excessive filler content or meaningless “follow this guy” missions only water down an otherwise excellent gaming experience… and may even dilute the story so much that a fantastic game is completely unenjoyable.

In our real world we often find “less is more” as well… each and every word we speak or write carries resonance far beyond what we may have intended, and even a well-meaning point of view can be diminished by the unintended context of the words that surround it.  The words we speak are powerful, and when we exhibit self-control over our written and spoken words we can deliver a message from the Lord with His love, grace, and clarity.  If we struggle with “opening our mouth and inserting our feet”, remember that short and sweet ensures His words are heard clear and complete.

In the multitude of words sin is not lacking, but he who restrains his lips is wise. Proverbs 10:19

But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. James 3:17-18

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Over the years I have developed a very consistent and methodical approach to my multiplayer games… I use the same load outs, I rush in the same predetermined order towards specific capture points, and I try to force my opponent to play to my strengths.  If you want to defeat me, the answer is simple… disrupt my game plan.  As long as I get to stick to my “script”, the odds are pretty good that my team and I will stand victorious at the end of the match.  If my teammates or my opposition throw me off of my “routine”, my comfort zone implodes… and my defeat is much more likely.

We all have routines in life that provide us with a sense of peace and comfort, and our enemy knows those preferences and has plans each day to disrupt them and destroy our peace.  If maintaining our peace requires life to adhere to a perfectly choreographed rhythm, the truth is we won’t have many peaceful days.  Only a peace that comes from faith in Christ and His control over our drama will keep us calm when things go sideways.  Let’s expect that things may go differently than the plan today… and trust that the Lord is with us through it all.

You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You. Isaiah 26:3

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths. Proverbs 3:5-6

Now may the Lord of peace Himself give you peace always in every way. The Lord be with you all. 2 Thessalonians 3:16

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Launching a new console is neither easy nor cheap, and in order to remain relevant in the “console wars” a continuing price has to be paid… a price that Microsoft learned the hard way. But while hardware developers like Sega and Google were unwilling to pay the ongoing price and watched their dreams crumble as a result, Xbox doubled-down and continued to invest deeply in their commitment to the home console market every year… because while each iteration of their hardware has sold at a net loss, the only path to the treasure they are seeking is to see the road through to the end.

The act of “taking up our cross” involves more than a one-time event of accepting Christ and His grace… it is an ongoing, self-sacrificial journey that will continue for the rest of our lives. Each step we take as we carry our cross will compel us to shed the layers of selfishness that once defined us, and it is a process that is guaranteed to be uncomfortable… crosses are costly, not cozy. But it is in our choice to carry a cross that we’d rather not carry that shows we’re actually following in His footsteps… and that is where the true treasure is finally found.

Whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it – lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish’? So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple. Luke 14:27-30, 33

And He was withdrawn from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and prayed, saying, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.” Luke 22:41-42

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One of the best features Xbox added before their competitors did was the ability to join an Xbox Live “party” with your friends and bounce from one game to another without ever leaving the group. But while this was an incredibly convenient feature to keep players together, the truth is not every player was able or willing to move forward with the party to the next game. Maybe it wasn’t a game they owned or wanted to play, or perhaps while some moved on to play Call of Duty, others preferred to continue running raids on Destiny. It didn’t mean we were no longer friends… it just meant this was the place where our paths diverged because not every teammate was meant to join us on the next part of our adventures.

Christ had 72 who served as ministers for Him, 12 who followed Him closely as disciples, and 3 who He trusted to accompany Him in His garden of prayer… because each was meant to join Him for different parts of His journey. Not every friend is meant to take the next step in our story with us, but let’s not become bitter of disappointed when these times come. Their destiny just lies on a different path than ours

To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven: a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; Ecclesiastes 3:1, 4-5

And when He got into the boat, he who had been demon-possessed begged Him that he might be with Him. However, Jesus did not permit him, but said to him, “Go home to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He has had compassion on you.” And he departed and began to proclaim in Decapolis all that Jesus had done for him; and all marveled. Mark 5:18-20

As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, He said to the ruler of the synagogue, “Do not be afraid; only believe.” And He permitted no one to follow Him except Peter, James, and John the brother of James. Mark 5:36-37 

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As most new consoles typically do, the original Xbox console launched with an entirely new design for their controller that was… well, let’s just say it was unique. The “Duke”, as it was affectionately nicknamed, was nearly THREE times the size of Sony’s PlayStation controller, making it incredibly bulky and difficult to use for gamers with smaller hands. While this over-sized controller certainly had its’ fans (and still does), it wasn’t a fit for every gamer’s hands, forcing Microsoft to pivot to the smaller and more universally accessible “Controller S”. The best games in the world still wouldn’t bring new players to their platform until they made a controller that every player could hold.

In His time here on earth, Christ routinely broke down complicated spiritual concepts by using parables to make His messages accessible to all who were seeking truth, and He’s called us to do the same. As the ambassadors of Christ on earth, we are called to submit ourselves to the Holy Spirit’s leading and share His truth in a manner that fits the learning needs of others, not our personal preferences. Let’s be the light that makes finding Him easier for others today.

For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win the more; and to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews; to those who are under the law, as under the law, that I might win those who are under the law; to those who are without law, as without law (not being without law toward God, but under law toward Christ), that I might win those who are without law; to the weak I became as weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. Now this I do for the gospel’s sake, that I may be partaker of it with you. 1 Corinthians 9:19-23

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When Microsoft purchased Mojang, the studio responsible for Minecraft, fans were worried this would mean that this incredibly popular series would become an Xbox exclusive going forward. But Microsoft didn’t purchase this franchise to remove its’ access from other consoles… instead, they saw the value in continuing to support the growth of Minecraft on every platform available, including those they are technically “competing” against. Their goal wasn’t just to grow their Xbox brand… they wanted Minecraft to be successful no matter where or how someone chose to play it.

We are each called to unique ministries and services to the Lord, but we’re all on the same side regardless of our “platform”… to shine the light of Christ in the darkness. Some may be called to positions that offer a larger audience with millions of views and thousands of “likes”, while others of us will quietly plant seeds in places that offer little recognition on this side of eternity… but we’re all working in the same field, just in different positions. Whether we plant or water, let’s serve with joy and support each other as we mine this field together.

I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor. For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building. 1 Corinthians 3:6-9

There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. Ephesians 4:4-6

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Microsoft made several expensive investments into the future with their GamePass service, but giving away their newest games such as Halo Infinite and Starfield on their launch days represents one of the most costly offerings they could make. While Sony waits to place their first-party titles on their PS Plus service for a time that is more convenient to them (and when the games are less relevant), Xbox demonstrates that they are fully invested in by giving every GamePass member the very best games that they possess on “Day One”.

Each day we will be brought into positions to give the Lord the best of our time, energy, and capabilities for the growth of His kingdom, and this honor will rarely come at a moment that we prefer or consider convenient. Following Christ will always come at a cost, and delaying in our obedience is the most expensive choice we can make. In our actions today, are we truly giving Him the best of what we possess or just the rest of what feel we can afford? It is in the price we are willing to pay to obey Him that our love and devotion is demonstrated… let’s give Him the best of ourselves in all we do today.

Then the king said to Araunah, “No, but I will surely buy it from you for a price; nor will I offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God with that which costs me nothing.” 2 Samuel 24:24a

For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” Esther 4:14

Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.” Matthew 16:24

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Anyone who has played a cooperative game has most likely experienced this… a teammate swooping in to “save” us, only to inadvertently cause our demise.  I have attempted playing “the hero” on many occasions, only to have the completely undesired opposite impact.  Even though my heart was in the right place, when my good intentions aren’t aligned with their willingness to receive my help, the only result is frustration and disappointment for all sides.  Our desire to help our teammate must be matched with their willingness to receive it. 

It can be very discouraging when our good intentions and well-meaning actions are misunderstood or rejected by those closest to us… but we can be encouraged knowing that we are experiencing the same reaction Christ Himself received.  Let’s not take it personally if those we love the most are the least receptive to our mission… even Christ’s family didn’t accept or appreciate His. The battleground we were given may result in reaching someone else’s family, and that person may be the one to reach ours… and we will work together in harmony to reach all of them for the Lord!

“Is this not the carpenter, the Son of Mary, and brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? And are not His sisters here with us?” So they were offended at Him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own country, among his own relatives, and in his own house.” Mark 6:3-4

And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. Galatians 6:9

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After months of speculation, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle has finally been given a release date. Well, a release date on PC and Xbox Series X|S, at least.

PC and Xbox Release Date For Indiana Jones and the Great Circle

The release date for Indiana Jones and the Great Circle was revealed at the Gamescom Opening Night Live event. As the game is being published by Bethesda, which is owned by Microsoft, it’s coming to PC and Xbox Series X|S ahead of PlayStation 5. All things considered, this is still decent news for Sony fans, as some recent Bethesda titles, namely Starfield, haven’t come to PlayStation consoles at all after release.

The current release date for Indiana Jones and the Great Circle on PC and Xbox Series X|S is Dec. 9, 2024. This was the expected release window for the upcoming action-adventure game, as it falls right between some major launches, giving it a solid chance to succeed in terms of sales. It’s likely going to be the biggest game release during the holiday season, as few other games are launching in December.

PS5 Release Window For Indiana Jones and the Great Circle

Moving on to the PS5 release date, we only have a seasonal window right now. Bethesda has stated that “Spring 2025” is the current release window for Indiana Jones and the Great Circle on PS5. As there’s no concrete release date yet, this window could change depending on how the PC/Xbox launch goes. If there are major issues with the game in December, that might delay the launch on PS5 until summer 2025 or beyond.

Spring 2025 means we could see Indiana Jones and the Great Circle on PS5 as early as March or as late as May. April or May would be the more likely release months, but that’s pure speculation.

I’ll continue to update this article with any further news on the release date for Indiana Jones and the Great Circle on PC, Xbox Series X|S, and PS5.

The Mafia series has been out of commission for quite a while now, with the lukewarm reception of Mafia 3 turning fans away. It looks like we’re going back to basics, however, with the surprise announcement of Mafia: The Old Country to close out the first night of Gamescom.

While details are still rather sparse about this apparent reimagining of the Mafia franchise, we’ll be playing at an undisclosed point in 1900s Sicily, bringing the Italian roots even closer to the core of the experience. Could we be partaking in the earliest forming of what would later be known as the Mafia, or has this family already been established? We’ll need to tune in sometime in December 2024 for more details about this new addition to the Mafia family.

While plenty of players didn’t exactly love the tonal shift of Mafia 3, I still thought it was a strong addition to the franchise, offering some of the best characters that the series had to that date. And the twist ending? Mama Mia, that was a spicy meatball. However, it still paled in comparison to the first two games, and I’m hoping that Mafia: The Old Country can rekindle the magic that Hangar 13 had the first time around. This seems like an offer we can’t refuse.

Featuring plenty of religious imagery in its first-look trailer, we can expect that faith and family will have plenty to do with the motivations behind the currently unknown family that we’ll be a part of. I’m already drooling thinking about the setting, especially since Hangar 13 has been known to create some of the most dense and detail-rich open worlds that we’ve seen on any generation of systems. Let’s just hope that they don’t massacre our boy this time around, shall we?

Mafia: The Old Country does not have a release window yet, but will be available on Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC.

In May 2024, Sony showed off an intriguing dress-up/exploration game called Infinity Nikki. Now, a new trailer has debuted during Gamescom, as well as news on the pre-registration for the Infinity Nikki Beta.

You can watch the new video for Infinity Nikki below:

That video was a fever dream mixed with a killer soundtrack. I am all for it.

It was also announced that signups are now open for the Closed Beta test, which is a very exciting development. Players can pre-register for the Beta on the Google Play and Apple App Store (sorry, console owners) and earn plenty of rewards, including an outfit and plenty of crystals. The full game will launch on PlayStation 5, PC, Android, and iOS, so even for those who don’t get into the Beta, there will be plenty of time to grind the title on any of the major platforms.

Related: Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2’s Release Date Has Been Delayed Again

If you are lucky enough to be attending Gamescom, you can play a demo for Infinity Nikki on the show floor. You will be able to explore the nations of Miraland as the stylist, Nikki, and her feline companion, Momo. Former The Legend of Zelda director Kentaro Tominaga is behind the title, so expect a fair bit of exploration, platforming, and puzzle-solving. There’s never too much of that in the gaming world.

As for what else to expect from Gamescom, there have been some major announcements, such as information about the highly anticipated Call of Duty: Black Op 6, Borderlands 4, Dune: Awakening, Persona 3 Reload, and much more. The event runs all week, though, so there are sure to be more reveals that will shake the gaming world. Unfortunately, not all of them will involve Nikki, which is a shame because she looks like a really cool person.

Infinity Nikki is set to release on PlayStation 5, PC, Android, and iOS.

During Gamescom Opening Night Live, it was revealed the Persona 3 Reload: Expansion Pass will include a DLC boss fight with Joker from Persona 5.

Take a look at a teaser for the battle below:

The pass will include the DLC Episode Aigis: The Answer, which was part of Persona 3 FES back in 2007. The Answer takes place after the best ending of Persona 3 Reload. The SEES team sees itself stuck at the dorm in a time loop. A new character Metis shows up to join forces, who is a robot like Aegis. It sounds just like the plot of Happy Death Day.

In addition, a Challenge Battle with Joker will be available. It looks like he wields Arsène and other Personas to make your fight against him a living nightmare. If you played Persona 5 Royal, you would know these Challenge Battles are nothing new. In that title, you could face off against the protagonists of Persona 3 and Persona 4. Maybe we will see a scuffle between the future hero of Persona 6 against the cast of Persona 4 whenever that game gets remade.

The Persona 3 Reload: Expansion Pass will launch on September 10.

Dune: Awakening looks to be one of the most promising MMOs of all time, placing players directly on the sands of Arrakis while offering a plethora of… interesting ideas. Thanks to Gamescom, we’ve learned more information about this upcoming title in the Dune universe, and one feature caught my eye in particular.

One specific feature caught my ears at the right time, so I needed to swing around just to make sure that I heard that right, and I actually did. An item called the Blood Purifier can be used to turn the harvested blood of your enemies into drinkable water, and that’s not even the wildest thing that was shown today. Joinable factions, small scale wars, player intractability, classes and more were showcased, and Dune: Awakening continues to look more phenomenal than ever before.

Related: Dune: Awakening Will Try to Show Players Variety is the Spice of Life [Preview]

While there is likely still even more to be revealed before its release, Dune: Awakening is slowly becoming one of my most anticipated games. Every time it’s shown off, it looks more and more promising, and with the promise of being able to pledge your alliance to your favorite House while drinking the actual blood of your enemies, this one looks like it’s going to be a wild ride.

Beyond all of the new features shown off during Gamescom, we also finally got an idea of when we’ll be able to jump into the world of Dune: Awakening, with a PC release set to embark into the world unknown in Early 2025. While there is still a chance that this could be moved once again, I’m already eager to upgrade my PC a bit more to experience Arrakis in its full glory.

Dune: Awakening will be available on PC in Early 2025.

You encounter several bosses in the first hour or two of Black Myth: Wukong. While the game makes it seem like all these bosses are meant to be defeated as soon as you meet them, there’s one you should hold off on killing until you progress a little further.

Why You Shouldn’t Beat Wandering Wight Early in Black Myth: Wukong

As you traverse the Forest of Wolves, there’s a good chance you’ll stumble across the Wandering Wight. This boss is a large blue troll-like creature with a large head and a permanent, tranquil smile that belies just how hard he can hit. You likely encountered him after passing the second Keeper’s Shrine in Black Myth: Wukong.

While you actually need to get past Wandering Wight to find the next area of the game, you don’t need to beat him to get past him, though it’s completely possible to do so. The reason you should skip the fight with the Wandering Wight is because it drops a spirit after you beat it. This spirit can’t be absorbed until you unlock the Blessed Gourd, which doesn’t occur until after you beat a couple more bosses in Black Myth: Wukong. Talk about suffering from success.

What To Do After Meeting the Wandering Wight

If you find Wandering Wight, simply run past it and head down the narrow path on the other end of its clearing. This will lead you down some wooden scaffolding and into the next area, where you will battle a boss named Lingxuzi.

After defeating Lingxuzi, you can progress through a temple and enter the second area of Black Wind Mountain, which is the first major region of the game. The second area is called Bamboo Grove, and you need to reach a specific location in Bamboo Grove called the Snake Trail. At the Snake Trail, you need to ascend the stairs and reach a man who is standing on the side of a path.

The man is the Gourd Master, and they can give you the Blessed Gourd upgrade, which allows you to absorb spirits. With the Blessed Gourd, you can now head back the way you came and defeat Wandering Wight. Once Wandering Wight is defeated, it will drop a spirit that you can now absorb. Absorbing spirits offers a variety of bonuses, including passive boosts to your character.

If you’re someone who has already defeated Wandering Wight and couldn’t absorb its spirit, fear not. Once you acquire the Blessed Gourd, you can head to a Keeper’s Shrine and collect the spirit from there. Of course, it’s much easier if you wait to get the Blessed Gourd and then go back to to smack it down.

Black Myth: Wukong is available to play now.

Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2, already five years in development, has been delayed once again and won’t be arriving until the first half of 2025.

This bloodsucking action RPG sequel has had a troubled history, to say the least. Announced in 2019, it was scheduled for a 2020 release. Developed by Hardsuit Labs, Publisher Paradox Interactive later took it out of their hands and gave it to The Chinese Room, the team behind Still Wakes the Deep and more.

But now, Paradox and The Chinese Room have confirmed that they’re extending their development time. In a new developer update (which goes out of its way not to mention the word “delay”), the two explain the thinking behind pushing the game back.

The general explanation the update gives, along with Paradox’s website post, is that the game, currently in a “..late production phase,” needs more polish. That’s based partly on feedback from the game’s internal playtest, and comments from the gameplaying public.

Related: Black Myth: Wukong Asks Influencers Not to Talk About Politics or ‘Feminist Propaganda’

So, Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 has been delayed from its most recent Fall 2024 release date (one of several times it’s been delayed) to the first half of 2025. That means we could be getting it as late as June, though Paradox Interactive will no doubt want to ship it while people still remember it exists. Sure, Dead Island 2 survived an eight-year delay and three different developers, but it doesn’t fill me with confidence.

The good news is that the game will be receiving extra endings, double the original amount planned. I’m hoping there’s at least one where, as in the original Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines, you give the whole Camarilla the finger and just walk off.

Could the game be delayed again? It’s possible, but Paradox Interactive has given itself a big release window to work with. Let’s hope that this time next year, we’re all sinking our teeth into mortal necks and playing Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2.

One of the fastest card games gets a super quick card this week with Speed, another addition to Marvel Snap’s Young Avengers season. Is the fastest boy in the MCU worth spending your resources on, you ask? Well, here are the best Speed decks in Marvel Snap.

How Speed Works in Marvel Snap

Speed is a 3 cost 3 power card with an ability that reads: Ongoing:

For every turn that you spend all the energy available (turn 1 is 1 energy, turn 2 is 2 energy, and so on), Speed will have a permanent +1 power. Given that a typical Marvel Snap game lasts 6 turns, Speed can reach 9 power if all your energy is used.

Unlike last week’s release of Wiccan, if you miss spending all your energy on a turn, you can still gain energy for the other turns you do. Do note that Speed will not work if Sunspot absorbs your unspent energy.

As you’d expect for an Ongoing card, Speed has synergy with the likes of Captain America and Onslaught. Otherwise, Speed isn’t a super exciting card that is hard to get a handle on.

Best Speed Decks in Marvel Snap

Speed is a generically good card that could fit into a lot of decks that use up all their energy. For my Collector’s Tokens, I’m betting on Speed taking off in one meta-relevant deck and an outlier that’s looking at a return: Angela Thena list and Spectrum Ongoing. Do note that neither of these have last week’s card, Wiccan, in them, as I believe his ability to grant extra mana will be detrimental to Speed.

• Kitty Pryde
• Thena
• Ravonna Renslayer
• Angela
• Mysterio
• Mystique
• Speed
• Hope Summers
• Gwenpool
• Iron Man
• Mockingbird
• Sasquatch

Click here to copy this list from Untapped.

Thena is an absolute must for this deck and so is Mockingbird, though you can swap Sasquatch out for a less effective Crossbones if you do not have the yeti lookalike.

The goal with this deck is rather straightforward: scale with Angela, Thena, or both before dropping high-powered cards like Mockingbird and Sasquatch. Ravonna Renslayer adds a layer of unpredictability to this list, as you can play Iron Man and Mystique on the final turn. As this deck naturally spends all its mana when it curves out properly, Speed is a much more consistent Cassandra Nova or Sage that loses the benefit of the -1 cost that those two cards receive with Ravonna Renslayer on the board.

This next Ongoing list has seen spikes in popularity over Marvel Snap’s lifespan and I believe it’s rather underplayed at the moment, despite being extremely cheap to build.

• Ant-Man
• Howard the Duck
• Ravonna Renslayer
• US. Agent
• Mystique
• Captain America
• Luke Cage
• Speed
• Ms. Marvel
• Man Thing
• Iron Man
• Spectrum

Click here to copy this list from Untapped.

This list leans into two cards a lot of people skipped: US. Agent and Man Thing. You can replace them with comparable Ongoing cards like Armor or Typhoid Mary. Also, you can swap out other Ongoing cards as you see fit. Goose makes a good replacement for Howard the Duck if you don’t have him, for instance. Cosmo isn’t a bad slot-in either.

The goal here is to use powerful Ongoing effects to interrupt your opponent while spiking power in the proper lanes with Speed, US. Agent, and Man Thing while covering your own negative effects with Luke Cage. Spectrum caps everything off by spreading power to all your cards, especially the likes of Iron Man. This list often runs Ajax but I found him to be counter intuitive with Luke Cage also in the deck.

Speed Counters in Marvel Snap

Speed is easily countered by the likes of Enchantress and Rogue; however, he’s still a 3 power body, so it’s not the end of the world if your opponent targets him rather than a more powerful Ongoing card like Iron Man. Otherwise, your opponent can copy your Ongoing effects with the likes of Super Skrull or limit the lanes you can play him in with Echo.

Who is Speed?

Speed is basically the Marvel version of the Flash if you ignore the fact that Quicksilver also exists. Also known as Thomas Shepard, Speed is one of two twins that were inadvertently created when Scarlet Witch was messing around trying to create two sons for herself, the other being last week’s card Wiccan. Thomas had a rough upbringing before joining the Young Avengers, where he makes use of his superhuman speed and ability to cause vibration-based explosions to save the day.

Is Speed Worth Your Collector’s Tokens or Spotlight Cache Keys?

If you have an abundance of resources, I do think Speed is a good card to pick up for your Marvel Snap Deck; that said, he’s also easily replaceable in most lists I think he will find himself in. Gladiator, for instance, does a similar thing as Speed. At the same time, he’s also replaceable with tech cards like Red Guardian. If you’re unsure, I would hold out for a few days to see if Speed really makes a deck click.

Marvel Snap is available to play here.

It's a lot easier to get hired back (as a contractor or not) with a former employer with which you have a good and established relationship. The contractor already knows the dev team, already knows the kind of games they make, already has experience with the franchise, pipeline, tools, and workflow so there's very little ramp-up time. If the cost of contracting the leader's company for the work is reasonable and within the game's budget, there's little to be lost by hiring them on. This also helps establish legitimacy for the lead's contracting company - having a list of established and satisfied clients looks good to other potential clients, which makes it easier for the contracting company to get hired by other companies in the future.

Contracting at that level also pays a lot more than a salary job working for the studio. A lot of things are open for negotiation when it's company to company, including a percentage of the game's revenues. In many ways, it allows the contracting company to change the risk - reward ratio. The contractor can also take on more risk (e.g. less money paid up front) for more reward (a larger cut of the game revenue once it ships). Masahiro Sakurai of Sora Ltd. does this - he takes no money up front and gets paid entirely based on how well the game he contracted on sells.

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Got a burning question you want answered?

• Short questions: Ask a Game Dev on Twitter
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• Frequent Questions: The FAQ

Voice acting has a lot of associated costs. Specifically, getting the voice acting requires us to pay for:

• The voice actor's time
• The recording studio time
• The voice director's time
• The developer time

These can add up - we pay union voice actors about $2000 per day each according to the current [SAG-AFTRA interactive media contract rates], and we spend at least that much for studio time. We also need to factor in the time the developers are away from the development studio and are at the recording studio because they aren't doing their normal tasks while taking care of this. It isn't uncommon for voice recording to cost over $10,000 per day, all things considered.

In addition to this, voice actors are often quite busy. They often have many roles already scheduled that they have committed to. This means that they might have only one or two days they can commit to recording, then be unavailable for months after that. In such cases, it means that we can't make any modifications or changes to the script after the recording is done because the voice actor isn't available to do those lines anymore. For example, take a look at [Aleks Le's IMDB page]. He did a lot of voicework for games like Persona 3 Reload, Street Fighter 6, Octopath Traveler 2, etc. I count 18 separate projects he recorded for in 2023 alone. If he's one of my voices, I probably wouldn't be able to get him back in the recording studio for several months since his schedule is so packed.

SWTOR is especially difficult to record for because player voice lines need to be recorded once for each character class. That means aligning eight different actors schedules before a hard deadline, and that can be extraordinarily difficult. Anyone who's tried to schedule events knows this - things happen, people change, agreements fall through, things get pushed back. As such, it's a small miracle they're able to keep putting out fresh voiced content like they do.

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Got a burning question you want answered?

• Short questions: Ask a Game Dev on Twitter
• Long questions: Ask a Game Dev on Tumblr
• Frequent Questions: The FAQ

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