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Fallout 5 is in preproduction at Bethesda as the studio prioritizes The Elder Scrolls 6. Bethesda broke its silence today, releasing a lengthy look at the studio's pipeline and the plans for its biggest franchises. Fallout is a key focus, with Fallout 5 essentially simmering in the background. "Our teams are now developing The Elder Scrolls VI and Fallout 5 on Creation Engine 3, a shared technology platform we've been building since Starfield's launch," Bethesda explains. "It allows our teams to support multiple projects simultaneously with new tools, rendering, and systems that define our games. "Fallout 5 is currently in preproduction. The Elder Scrolls VI is our primary development focus today, with the majority of our team currently working on the next chapter of the franchise." This story is developing. [/url]View the full article

Knowledge is power, and that's true in games of Warhammer 40k as much as it is in any other area of human competition. The better you know the game and the scenario you're playing, the better the decisions you will make, and the more likely you are to emerge victorious. If you want to speed up the process of mastering the battlefields of 11th edition, there's a handy new community-made web tool to help you on your way - the Map Distance Calculator. Read the full story on Wargamer: Get the edge in Warhammer 40k 11th edition with another ingenious, community-made tool View the full article

A grand total of 79 Magic: The Gathering Secret Lair cards were revealed at MagicCon Amsterdam today, with a sackful of superdrops that fans will be able to buy from the Secret Lair website in the coming weeks. Read the full story on Wargamer: New MTG Stardew Valley and Hatsune Miku Secret Lairs revealed, with 79 cards total! View the full article

You've just left the cinema, but The Odyssey still beckons. But what if I told you there were four incredible games you can play to recapture a taste of the adventure? From the most beautiful and best open-world games to RPGs set among the Greek isles, I've picked these games because of how each draws upon different aspects of what makes The Odyssey so thrilling. There's sword-and-sandals combat action to be found in one, if it's the glory of battle you crave, while others have a tighter focus on the myths and legends that have fueled Homer's classic for thousands of years. There's even a bit of a wildcard entry that might confuse you entirely, since it features neither gods nor Greeks, but I think the common theme of long, laboring journeys more than makes up for it. If you're in need of a little refresher before you get stuck in here, check out our beginner's guide to The Odyssey to help you pick out your favorite aspects of the film – it will help narrow down your search, trust me. So what are you waiting for? Here are four games to play after experiencing The Odyssey! The best games to play after watching The Odyssey, starting with...Hades 2 (Image credit: Supergiant Games) Release date: September 25, 2025 Developer: Supergiant Games Platform(s): Switch 2, PC, PS5, Xbox Series X A no-brainer game to play after watching The Odyssey is "godlike roguelike" Hades 2. The game features Odysseus himself as a Shade (aka a ghost) as well as a host of connected characters. His sea monster nemesis Scylla has been reimagined here as a glam rock siren, guarding the deepest layer of Oceanus with her bandmates Jetty and Roxy. Charybdis the Kraken also shows face, both as a randomized miniboss encounter and as a special guest in Scylla's band. Melinoë also runs into the goddess Circe on the isle of Aiaia during her Surface runs, and can even engineer a meeting between her and Odysseus so he can make amends for his treatment of her in life. Oh, and the voice of Greek poet Homer narrates Mel's quest throughout! Hades 2 is one of the best roguelikes ever for its expert blending of snappy isometric combat and beautifully scripted storylines, and I can't recommend it highly enough for any fan of The Odyssey's mythical roots. Mythwrecked: Ambrosia Island (Image credit: Whitehorn Games) Release date: December 5, 2024 Developer: Polygon Treehouse Platform(s): Switch, PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X If you want your odyssey to be lighter on the violence yet heavier on the Greek pantheon itself, Mythwrecked is the game you should play after watching Christopher Nolan's latest and greatest. Shipwrecked on an island dotted with amnesic gods, it's your job to help recover their memories and make some powerful new friends on the way. Mythwrecked is a narrative-heavy experience, drawing on the rich mythology and lore of The Odyssey while giving it a more modern twist. Unfortunately, you cannot romance any of these divine beings (*cough* Hades 2 is where you want to be), but this gorgeous PG-13 indie is the perfect fix for those who'd prefer their next great adventure to be a bit less bloody. Assassin's Creed Odyssey (Image credit: Ubisoft) Release date: October 5, 2018 Developer: Ubisoft Platform(s): PC, PS5, Xbox Series X The film name's in the game title, after all. Assassin's Creed Odyssey, set among the Greek islands during the Peloponnesian War, places you in the sandals of mercenary twins Kassandra or Alexios of Kefalonia as you unravel a nationwide conspiracy with decidedly Templar links – or as they were known back then, the Order of the Ancients. Much of the action in this RPG takes place between the warring Athenian and Spartan armies. However, between ganking the Templar Order and lending either army a hand in battle, the thing that really makes AC Odyssey feel like The Odyssey is the amount of Greek mythology you encounter. Expect to go head-to-head with Medusa, the Bull of Minos, and even a cyclops as you uncover the glorious open world, with plenty of naval travel and combat if you're keen to ride the waves between each island. No other game on this list offers a third-person Ancient Greek experience, making it the most thematically and contextually similar to Nolan's new film of the bunch. Death Stranding 2: On The Beach (Image credit: Sony) Release date: June 26, 2025 Developer: Kojima Productions Platform(s): PC, PS5 Now this might be a hot take, but Death Stranding 2 actually has a lot more in common with The Odyssey than you might think. At first glance, Sam's journey as a courier in a postapocalyptic Australia sounds about as far from the aftermath of the ******* War as you can get. But think about it: Death Stranding is a long, arduous journey – an odyssey, you might say, albeit on foot – with plenty of pit stops along the way. It too features a central protagonist with numerous other faces he encounters on his journey, all the while moving toward a single endpoint that somehow gets only further away the more he moves toward it. It's a grueling feat of a video game that perfectly encapsulates the relentless slog of The Odyssey (check out our Death Stranding 2 review for more), though this time, you'll be fending off BTs instead of sirens. The Odyssey is out in cinemas now. For more information on Nolan's latest, check out our glowing The Odyssey review. [/url]View the full article

Arc System Works is giving fans of Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls their best opportunity to check out the game before launch, with an open beta that is stuffed with game modes and characters to try out. Following its surprising reveal last year, Arc System Works has been heavily reliant on player feedback to help drive development on Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls. Thanks in large part to previous closed beta tests as well as feedback from conventions, the game has seen plenty of changes, tweaks, and additions ahead of its launch in August. View the full article

PAW Patrolis headed back to the big screen this summer with PAW Patrol: The Dino Movie, and this won't be the franchise's only venture into a prehistoric extravaganza. Ahead of the film's launch, the heroic puppies will be dealing with dinosaur troubles in PAW Patrol: Dino World, a game set to launch on July 31 across all major platforms. View the full article

Palworld recently got its long-awaited 1.0 update, with patch notes so big they can only be described as monstrous – and boy, has it brought in a lot of players. In fact, the survival gem saw its new full release spur enormous player numbers – and loads of positive reviews on Steam to boot. In fact, Pocketpair's game has even managed to overtake Valve's own Counter-Strike 2 in terms of its concurrent players a couple of times on roundups of Steam's most-played games. Fans have caught sight of Palworld doing so over on Reddit and the like… but they're not alone. The developers have evidently noticed its climb up the Steam charts, too. We officially have reached #1 on Steam!!!! from r/Palworld Head of Pocketpair publishing and communications John "Bucky" Buckley acknowledges the feat over on Twitter, showcasing a screenshot of Steam's most-played charts – and Palworld's spot right at the top, with Counter-Strike 2 and Dota 2 following right behind it. "Pause," writes the lead. "Let me enjoy this moment for just a little longer." A well-deserved moment, too, if I do say so myself, considering the sheer amount of content 1.0 boasts. Pause.Let me enjoy this moment for just a little longer. pic.twitter.com/SDfuYLBJLVJuly 16, 2026 Fellow industry heads are chiming in as well, with Pearl Abyss (the studio behind Crimson Desert and ****** Desert Online) PR and marketing director Will Powers commenting, "It's a good feeling. Well deserved." In response, Bucky says, "Thank you, gamer." In a separate post, Pocketpair CEO Takuro Mizobe celebrates the game's achievement, sharing his thanks with fans and expressing how glad he is that players are enjoying it. It's wholesome, and it's nice to see a team that started as an indie group now thriving. Pocketpair's not done with Palworld yet, either, with more for the game and beyond up its sleeve. There's still the Stardew Valley-esque farming sim Palfarm to look forward to, which will be a nice cozy counterpart to Pocketpair's flagship title, and the admittedly cursed Palworld dating sim that's also underway at the company. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a base to go build, and Pals to command – those trees aren't going to chop themselves, after all, and I'm in dire need of more wood to use on my virtual home. Palworld would collab with Ark, No Man's Sky, and Enshrouded "tomorrow" if "we could make it make sense," says publishing chief. [/url]View the full article

Stardew Valley fans are waiting with bated breath for the official announcement of the 1.7 update, which will introduce brand-new content and further expand Pelican Town with two new marriage candidates: Clint and Sandy. Creator Eric "ConcernedApe" Barone has also teased additional social interactions, new events, and other surprises while keeping much of the update intentionally under wraps ahead of launch. View the full article

Nexon America has officially launched Arcana: Martial Hearts, a sizable summer update for its fantasy MMORPG, Mabinogi. Eligible players can play immediately, embarking on fresh quests to unlock two new Arcana classes: the tactical Melodic Puppeteer and the Blazing Brawler. According to a press release, by fusing the strengths of two distinct Grandmaster talents, “Arcana allows veteran players to wield an unmatched hybrid power.” Adventurers can start their journey today by completing the newly added Arcana guide quests, unlocking new storyline scenarios and game-changing progression mechanics. [Hidden Content] The Melodic Puppeteer combines the music of a Bard with the control of a Puppeteer, allowing players to deal massive damage from mid-to long-range. In order to acquire Melodic Puppeteer, players must meet the following prerequisites: Reach cumulative level of 20,000 or higherAcquire the Grandmaster Idol Talent titleComplete the quest “Melodic Puppeteer Cutting the Chord” Melodic Puppeteers gain access to a symphony of unique skills which can be equipped with a control bar, including: Downbeat Drop: An attack that summons a puppet to the target’s location to attack enemies.Wireless Connection: A passive skill that allows one to summon and control multiple puppets through subtle shifts in vocal tone without the need for any kind of manual manipulation. Showstopper: A powerful attack that summons the Pierrot, Colossus, and Echo Marionettes to unleash a brilliantly choreographed attack that’ll leave enemies seeing stars. Live Wire: Lays down wire traps that make enemies take extra damage from your puppets. Unlocking Arcana Links (Levels 1 to 10) gives permanent stat boosts. At Level 1, players get extra HP, MP, and Stamina. Reaching Level 10 lets you conduct absolute chaos on the battlefield, instantly empowering your Marionettes with the Act 9: Invigorating Encore effect whenever a Music Buff is active. Blazing Brawler: Introducing “Ater” The Blazing Brawler fuses close combat with martial arts, letting players deal rapid, high-impact melee damage. In order to acquire Blazing Brawler, players must meet the following prerequisites: Reach cumulative level of 20,000 or higherAcquire the Grandmaster Brawler Talent titleComplete the quest “Blazing Brawler: Fist of the South Sands” Blazing Brawlers channel their combat-driven rage into explosive physical power through exclusive skills, which can be equipped with knuckles, including: Ignite: Flurry of Fists: Assaults a target and nearby foes with a barrage of swift strikes.Ignite: Cyclone Drive: A high-speed charge that blitzes toward a target, scattering any enemies caught in the path.Ignite: Hammerblow: A devastating leap-attack that delivers a mighty slam, sending shockwaves to nearby enemies.Berserker’s Fury: Releases Fury, the violent combative energy that powers a Blazing Brawler’s martial onslaught to bolster one’s own body.Fire Within: A passive skill rooted in ascetic meditation that allows players to efficiently accumulate and channel their Fury. Blazing Brawler Arcana Links reward aggressive playstyles. At Level 1, players generate increased Fury from skill usage, scaling up to Level 10, which expands the range of your Combo: Charging Strike and increases all Martial Arts combo skill ranges by 2 meters. With the arrival of two new classes, the Total Arcana Level cap has been officially expanded from Level 350 to Level 450. Every 10 total levels achieved will permanently raise a player’s maximum stat caps, allowing for uncapped character growth. A growing roster also means the Arcana Association headquarters is expanding, literally doubling its castle space. Players can dive into two fresh Vignette questlines offered by Laoire, earning exclusive rewards while exploring the charming, behind-the-scenes interactions of their favorite Arcana members. Alongside the new combat abilities, Mabinogi is making high-end character progression much more accessible. Stat boosts have been seamlessly integrated directly onto new Outfits and Titles, streamlining the gearing process. Furthermore, player-favorite dungeon reward pools have been upgraded: New reward boxes have been added to the Alby Shineseeker Dungeon.The highly coveted Special Erinn Spirit item can now drop from several dungeon difficulties (with drop rates scaling higher based on dungeon difficulty).Players who collect 10 Special Erinn Spirits can exchange them to receive random Title Coupons. For more information about Mabinogi and the Arcana: Martial Hearts update, check out the official patch notes here. The post Nexon unveils Arcana: The Martial Hearts update for MMORPG Mabinogi appeared first on GamesBeat. View the full article

You can experience the life and legacy of one of history’s greatest artists through the eyes of those who knew him best – a touching adventure from Thatgamecompany, the makers of the massively influential indie game Journey and popular MMO Sky: Children of the Light. Dear Van Gogh is now available for all to play in Sky! It’s a brand new “game-within-a-game” playable in Sky, the free-to-play “cozy MMO” (available on iOS, Android, PC via Steam, PlayStation, and Nintendo Switch) that’s been downloaded more than 300 million times since launching in 2019. Over the span of about two hours, players will explore the tragic yet richly compelling life of Vincent van Gogh, his adoring brother Theo, and sister-in-law Johanna, who ensured Vincent’s legacy lived on after his suicide at age 37. [Hidden Content] Players will explore some of Vincent’s most famous paintings, recreated as explorable 3D spaces, and help restore their beauty with Sky’s in-game brush mechanic, all while learning more about the painter’s life, family and what compelled those around him to see such emotion in his works. No need to play other parts of Sky. The Dear Van Gogh experience unlocks after you complete the brief tutorial! You can watch the gorgeous new launch trailer on YouTube. The post Thatgamecompany launches Dear Van Gogh season for Sky: Children of the Light appeared first on GamesBeat. View the full article

Doom: The Dark Ages director and id Software co-studio director Hugo Martin has acknowledged the layoffs the studio is facing, and says things aren't as dire as they sound. As part of a Slayers Club Live stream on the Bethesda YouTube channel (spotted by Kotaku), Martin says: "There's been reports that we've been 'nerfed into the ground' and 'gutted' and we have 50 people and that’s not true." These reports came from a mixture of places. Derek Best, a principal VFX artist at the studio, talked of Xbox "nuking a team into the dirt," while a WARN notice filed in Texas suggested that 136 of the 185 developers at the studio were let go. [Hidden Content] Martin continues, "We're the size we were when we made Doom 2016 and id Tech is very much alive and well." Reports also claimed that the id Tech team was decimated at the Texas studio, but Martin says: "You have to understand we have id Tech engineers both in Frankfurt and at MachineGames. We collaborate quite a bit." Furthermore, he adds: "The id Tech is there, the Doom team is here, and we're excited to share with you guys more of what we're working on in the future when it is appropriate and approved." After the layoffs occurred, former employees claimed Martin had proposed a "Gun Fu" action game inspired by the likes of John Wick, while Perfect Dark, a western robot survival game, and multiple Doom projects were also rumoured to have been pitched. Martin says "the fact that we made a game that people like and is critical and commercially successful – like I said, it's doing very well related to the forecast and stuff – that's good for everyone, for the people at the studio, for the people who, unfortunately, we had to say goodbye to." He adds: "But what matters the most is that the games are good and I'm so happy that people, I don't know… It's just a good thing for everybody, it's going to help. So we are really here to just play the game now and celebrate the work." If anything, Martin's note that Doom was critically and commercially successful just makes Microsoft's layoffs more mind boggling. A legendary studio which created some of the most iconic shooter franchises in history – ones Xbox is reportedly pushing Bethesda to make more of – facing layoffs at this scale while also being successful and owned by one of the most affluent companies in history is difficult to explain, to put it lightly. Laid-off id Software devs "cannot imagine a path forward where they make another game in id Tech," despite the Doom studio's claims. [/url]View the full article

Square Enix and Lightspeed have confirmed that FF14 Mobile will end service in September, bringing an early stop to the MMO adaptation. Read the full story on PCGamesN: FF14 Mobile is officially dead, will shut down in September View the full article

A game called Deceive Inc., which launched on PC and consoles in March 2023, has decided to rebuild its backend to help fans keep it alive now that the developer has closed its doors. While Deceive Inc. isn't the first game to put its future in the hands of its PC players, it has earned plenty of respect from gamers for going the extra mile and reworking its entire backend to avoid a shutdown. View the full article

Solo Leveling has quickly become a global phenomenon, with A-1 Pictures' adaptation shattering streaming records and dominating anime awards around the globe. As such, Sung Jinwoo fans are eagerly awaiting the continuation of his journey following the announcement of Solo Leveling: Beyond the System. While a third season has yet to receive a firm premiere date, the franchise's future remains bright as the upcoming film is expected to bridge the gap before the anime eventually returns. View the full article

While Electronic Arts has not officially announced EA Sports FC 27 yet, a new leak has revealed when players can View the full article

id Software creative director Hugo Martin has commented on the Xbox layoffs that have affected the legendary Doom developer, insisting it’s still alive and kicking. A WARN notice filed in Texas last week and reported by Game Developer confirmed that 96 workers had been laid off in Richardson, Texas, home of id Software, with a further 40 remote roles cut. The cuts, estimated to have affected half the id Software staff, were part of new Xbox CEO Asha Sharma’s “reset” of Microsoft’s gaming business, which began with 1,600 staff losing their jobs. Another 1,600 will be let go during the rest of the current financial year. Four Xbox studios are already out the door, with another hot on their heels. Last week, id Software issued a statement responding to the layoffs, saying it was now at the staffing level it had back when it made the much-loved 2016 Doom reboot. It also insisted it was still capable of making “great games,” and pushed back on the suggestion that there’s essentially no-one left at the company working on id Tech, the game engine it and fellow Bethesda-owned studio MachineGames uses to build their games. Xbox confirmed to IGN that "there are dozens of people working on id Tech across multiple locations," and that previous reports that there was only one person left in Texas are "inaccurate." First reported by Kotaku, during a livestream playthrough of Doom: The Dark Ages DLC, Revelations, Martin addressed the layoffs, pushing back against reports of the studio’s demise and promising to announce what it’s working on next in due time. “There’s been reports that we’ve been ‘nerfed into the ground’ and ‘gutted’ and we have 50 people, and that’s not true,” Martin said. “We’re the size we were when we made Doom 2016, and id Tech is very much alive and well. You have to understand, we have id Tech engineers both in Frankfurt and at MachineGames. We collaborate quite a bit. The id Tech is there, the Doom team is here, and we’re excited to share with you guys more of what we’re working on in the future when it is appropriate and approved.” Martin then suggested Doom: The Dark Ages, the prequel to 2016's Doom and 2020's Doom Eternal, was meeting commercial expectations. “Look, the fact that we made a game that people like and is critical and commercially successful — like I said, it’s doing very well related to the forecast and stuff — that’s good for everyone, for the people at the studio, for the people who unfortunately we had to say goodbye to. I think that helps everyone and we really appreciate your support,” he said. “But what matters the most is that the games are good, and I’m so happy that people, I don’t know… It’s just a good thing for everybody, and I know it’s going to help.” Martin's comments come as laid off staff protest outside Bethesda offices, including id Software's. According to Kera News, dozens of workers attended a “Save our Devs” rally outside id Software's Richardson office building on Wednesday, as part of an event organized in several cities across the country and Canada by workers represented by the Communications Workers of America union. The CWA is currently negotiating an exit agreement with Microsoft. id Software co-founders John Romero and John Carmack have both issued statements on the layoffs at the studio. John Romero took to social media to offer affected id Software staff his support, and to call on the studio’s recent legacy to be preserved. “Doom, Quake, and Wolfenstein are not easy names to carry on, especially in today’s industry,” he said. “The last few games showed real care, skill and respect for what those worlds mean to people.” Carmack, however, expressed sadness but not “anger or outrage," questioning whether id Software's games had sold well enough to prevent the layoffs. So, what will id Software make next? According to GamesBeat, id Software was formulating new game ideas, such as a John Wick-style original IP, a new Perfect Dark game, and a multiplayer / co-op Doom game before the layoffs hit. The Verge’s Tom Warren has said id Software is now working on a new Doom game. Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at *****@*****.tld. View the full article

Steam users have discovered that a game called Killer Queen ******, which was delisted in 2022, has suddenly reappeared on the storefront, this time as a free-to-play title. Initially released in 2019, Killer Queen ****** was forced to shut down its servers on all platforms, including Steam, after Amazon decided to end its GameSparks service, which the game's multiplayer features relied on. View the full article

Ares Interactive and AMC Global Media today announced the launch of The Walking Dead: Aftermath, the first free-to-play roguelite game set in the universe of AMC’s television series The Walking Dead. Developed by Swift Games, the Ares Interactive studio behind the mobile powerhouse Heroes vs. Hordes, the title blends frenetic, real-time combat with the brutal decision-making that often defines The Walking Dead franchise. “The Walking Dead is a proven IP with a passionate global fanbase and the perfect narrative fit for roguelite mechanics where survival defines the experience,” said Mike DeLaet, president of Ares Interactive, in a press release. “With The Walking Dead: Aftermath, we’ve combined intense combat, meaningful progression, and base-camp strategy into a loop where every decision carries weight. We’ve applied decades of experience operating hit free-to-play titles to ensure the experience is both rewarding and sustainable for the long term. This is exactly the kind of franchise partnership we build at Ares Interactive, and we can’t wait to see how the players navigate this world.” [Hidden Content] The Walking Dead: Aftermath thrusts players into the boots of legendary survivors like Rick Grimes, Daryl Dixon, and Michonne. In this world, the price of safety is eternal vigilance, so players must navigate harrowing survival missions where any single mistake can be deadly. According to the press release, the game’s key features are: Dynamic Roguelite Combat: Face relentless walker hordes and hostile human factions. Level up in real-time during each run, selecting from three randomized ability upgrades that evolve combat tactics on the fly for each level up.Base Camp Management: When the fighting stops, retreat to fortify and upgrade for the next battle. Build watchtowers, manage resources, and assign survivors to roles that boost the settlement’s output and unlock vital production advantages.Arsenal Progression: Use scavenged materials to permanently improve gear and survivor attributes, ensuring a stronger return after every run.An Ever-Changing Apocalypse: Experience a world that grows through a consistent stream of new storylines, regular content drops, and community events that ensure the fight for the future never stays the same. Additional survivors and fan favorite characters are set to join the fight over time.Boss Arena Challenges: Face off against powerful bosses in recurring limited-time events, earn exclusive rewards, and climb the rankings in asynchronous competition against players from around the world.Alliance Survival: Survivors are stronger together. Form or join an Alliance, coordinate with fellow players to defend your camp, and compete against rival groups for leaderboard dominance and valuable rewards. “A core pillar of The Walking Dead story is that of people learning to adapt and thrive in ever-more-extreme circumstances, and our partners at Ares Interactive have created a game that perfectly captures that feeling,” said Clayton Neuman, head of games and franchise at AMC Global Media, in the same press release. “The Walking Dead: Aftermath allows players to enter a world where the stakes continuously mount with every choice made. Fast-paced, action-packed, and just the right amount of chaos – the end of the world has never been quite so much fun.” Players can now download the game on the App Store and Google Play. The post Ares Interactive and AMC Global Media Unleash the Walker hordes in The Walking Dead: Aftermath appeared first on GamesBeat. View the full article

D&D 5.5e is, in general, an improvement on the original fifth edition. There's a reason I gave it a 9/10 review. Weak points have been addressed, play is more consistent, and the game is more approachable than ever before. The few issues I have with the edition upgrade are nitpicks - but one bothers me more than most. Read the full story on Wargamer: D&D 5.5e is excellent, but one lost 5e feature needs to make a comeback View the full article

Late on Thursday, two brand new Pokémon cards were revealed in Japan: a flashy new version of the living sushi Mega Tatsurgiri ex, and a new trainer card for Pokémon Z-A's Lida. The cards will first be available in promo packs for participants in Pokémon Card Gym battles in Japan, but will make their way to the Western world in a future set. Read the full story on Wargamer: Pokémon TCG reveals a deliciously weird new Mega Tatsugiri ex card, plus a powerful Lida trainer View the full article

The Communications Workers of America (CWA) union and their ********* offshoot CWA Canada have filed unfair labour practice complaints against Microsoft, accusing the company of having mishandled the recent mass layoffs at Xbox. Read more View the full article

Answering concerns that The Sims team may face pressure to reduce support for diversity following the Saudi Arabian-backed buyout of EA, senior character artist Jess Hyland says she's not "heard anything" about such a mandate and, if one were introduced, she "would fight it tooth and nail." Read more View the full article

The shield saw, the star of last year's Doom: The Dark Ages, was my favorite weapon in Doom's entire bloody history. Not content with just sticking a parry in Doom and going for lunch early, id Software instead delivered the world's deadliest beyblade. A merciless disc of death you could frisbee into a screaming ******, or boomerang through entire hordes. The slowest, most lumbering entry of the new-Doom trilogy also starred a 'shield bash' that sent you rushing across the battlefield and slamming into Hell's finest. Slow? Please. Sonic wishes he could move like this. The shield saw should be patched into Dark Souls immediately. Every other shield in gaming should hang its non-head in shame. What I'm basically trying to get across here is that the shield saw rules. And within the opening hour of Doom: The Dark Ages – Revelations, the FPS' new DLC, id took my shield saw away and snapped it in half. (Image credit: Bethesda Softworks) It's a bold new step forward for the Doom Slayer, but rather than developers being able to celebrate, the studio is already losing half its staff as part of Xbox's ongoing large-scale layoffs. That includes reportedly putting the future of the id Tech engine itself in jeopardy, and leading developers to question the value of Microsoft's purchase of ZeniMax, which included id owner Bethesda, back in 2021 in the first place. That's all before we even had enough time to tell you this Doom: The Dark Ages expansion is actually super rad. Turns out, big business can be more devastating than any BFG – and that's heartbreaking. Sawly Missed (Image credit: Bethesda Softworks) Going dark (Image credit: Xbox/id Software) In our Doom: The Dark Ages review we said that "the joy of blasting cacodemons with a shotgun is never truly lost, and the over-the-top aesthetic will always elevate the experience". The Doom Slayer has been sent to Hell-prison, you see, presumably on about four billion ****** ******* charges. He thankfully gets to keep all the spectacular guns from last year's game, including the one that sprays bone fragments of ****** skulls, the shotgun that sounds like the Earth itself splitting in half when you fire it, and that wonderful chainshot that's essentially the grittiest reboot of ball-and-paddle ever. While it's great to be reunited with all these magnificent *******-toys, the shield saw being taken away truly hurts. Last year this studio trained us to approach Doom in a whole new defensive way, and now it's ripped and torn that option out entirely. Even FromSoftware let us enjoy an entire trilogy of Dark Souls games cowering behind a shield before snatching it away with Sekiro. id barely waited a year. (Image credit: Bethesda Softworks) So what replaces this divine disc of death? The new chain spear, which is so weedy in appearance compared to a shield/chainsaw hybrid that I thought the game was joking. It looks like the kind of thing the Doom Slayer would use as a toothpick. The spear actually shares a surprising amount of the shield's functionality. You can hookshot onto obstacles on enemies, like the shield dash. It can parry green attacks, and it stuns enemies you lob it into – though this effect only lasts until its hookshot has finished dragging you towards your victim. Which means you'll now be standing right next to a monster who's no longer stunned and is ready to get revenge. Gee, thanks. Ah, but I soon discover that where I land is actually in my control. This isn't your bog standard videogame hookshot, wherein you latch onto where you want to go and then simply watch yourself get yanked towards it. No, you're able to swing left, right, and above as you're hooked forward, opening up some sublime new strategies. The cacodemon, the floating megabrain that caused me so much misery in the main campaign, is now basically a hookshot launch pad for me to ascend myself to bullet heaven. I fling myself over it then unload super shotgun blasts into its grey-going-on-red matter the whole way down, landing in a fresh pile of its giblet-y remains. Bloody bliss. Revelations also restores the much-missed dash button from Doom Eternal. Not being able to block isn't so bad when you can hurl yourself around or keep flinging yourself into the sky. Better yet, Revelations starts rewarding daring dodges as much as it rewards parries. Death From Above (Image credit: Bethesda Softworks) Last-second dodges fill a meter you can spend on executing special moves. I initially opt for a ground slam that damages anything stupid enough to be near where I land. That dash works in the air, too, so I can hook myself up and get an impressive amount of kills in before my feet ever get reacquainted with the ground. Doom has rediscovered its love of sending you airborne and developed a newfound romance with keeping you up there. Properly engaging with the weapon wheel is friction I'd sorely missed. Ammo scarcity, something I all but forgot about in The Dark Ages proper, constantly catches me out this time. Probably because all my ammo upgrades from the main campaign are gone, and Revelations is about as difficult as that game's third act right from the starting shot. Not being able to just rely on a couple of guns to get through an encounter, but actually properly engaging with the weapon wheel is friction I'd sorely missed. Oh, I have a weapon called the impaler! Good to see you, old friend. Sorry for, er, completely forgetting you existed. Um… has the shield saw asked about me at all? Doom has also learnt how to keep a secret again. The Dark Ages' main campaign made the bizarre decision to put almost every collectable on the map screen. Then it had the audacity to cheer 'you found a secret area!' when you walked into the clearly signposted 'secret' area. Imagine if I showed you where my bathroom was and then bellowed "SECRET AREA FOUND" as soon as you entered it. You'd be baffled for a number of reasons. Revelations, somewhat ironically, knows to keep things under wraps so finding its secret areas and bonus pickups actually feel like achievements again. (Image credit: Bethesda Softworks) You'll want to seek them out, too, to afford the excellent Chain Spear upgrades. There's Deflection, which makes the spear reflect back automatic weapon fire whenever you dash, the slayer twirling it like a dance baton (where was this in Lollipop Chainsaw?). Tormentor will spin you around an enemy you've got the hook of the spear buried in, perfect for filling them with lead. Upgrade Tormentor again and enemies will also drop ammo and catch fire during that process. Cowards are definitely onto something – shooting someone in the back is immensely satisfying. …What? So, after a steep learning curve, the Chain Spear definitely won me over. But before it did, something odd happened. The saw shield came crawling back. A few hours in, Revelations returns the shield to you, and now you can switch it out with the spear whenever you want. I was really torn about this. Great as it was to have my favorite toy back, I respected the game a lot more when it locked me into a new playstyle. Offense is the Best Defence? (Image credit: Bethesda Softworks) The shield is essentially a safer, steadier bet. Whereas the spear, when used well, can end a brutal battle in seconds. The catch being it can also end the battle for you in seconds. Eventually, you learn when best to switch them out on the fly. Demons who fire automatic guns at me are no match for a spear which can deflect those bullets. Whereas near the end of a long, long onslaught of demons, I appreciate a quick breather behind the shield so I don't lose the last twenty minutes of progress. Once I truly got a handle on the spear, the shield was reduced to mere cameos, but I still think the game would have benefitted from at least another hour of it being my sole option before tempting me back into the more familiar pleasures of the shield saw. (Image credit: Bethesda Softworks) It's a minor pacing complaint with what's otherwise a terrific package, an inspired remix of Dark Ages and Eternal that's as exhilarating as Doom has ever been. It's beautiful, the story is… well, much less crap than the main campaign's, and the puzzles can actually be called puzzles this time without being laughed out of the room. Best of all, the core combat is about as good as FPS gunplay gets. Only Saros threatens this one's perch for single-player shooter of the year. I said single-player, Marathon stans. Put away your shield saws… Imagine owning a studio that can make games of this quality, that last year got three million players on board, and then gutting them more viciously than a ****** on the wrong end of a chain spear. Tragically, Xbox's cruel layoffs that are targeting 3,200 roles across several studios may have finally delivered the killing blow to the Doom Slayer. Let's hope Revelations isn't the swansong to a studio of such incredible talent. Check out our best FPS games ranking for more blasting! [/url]View the full article

Despite having 15 years between them, Call of Duty: ****** Ops' PS4 and PS5 port is seemingly suffering from the same exploits that its PS3 version has also been a victim of. Activision released both Call of Duty: ****** Ops and ****** Ops 2 for the PS4 and PS5 last week in the form of straightforward ports, not remasters – both games are also on Xbox Series X|S via backward compatibility. While making two fan-favorite games available to more people should've been a slam dunk win for Activision, XP exploits quickly made multiplayer lobbies nearly unplayable for large waves of ****** Ops 1's online population. As spotted by IGN, YouTuber Tdawgsmitty recently chatted with a modder who explained that the problem might actually be a leftover exploit from the original game's PS3 and Xbox 360 days. Right now, there aren't any aimbots and such flooding the game, but people are modding save files to farm more XP than is usually possible by spamming themselves with grenades, say, which is ruining competitive games for regular players. "Essentially, what you're doing is that it's like PS3 where you copy [a save file] to your USB, and there's a website that lets you unencrypt it," the modder says. "The site lets you use a jailbroken PS4/PS5, and it will decrypt it for you. The save data is the exact same as PS3. What sucks about this port is that Iron Galaxy [and] Activision didn't bother changing the encryption on the files, which is the whole reason why this is available right now. That's the only reason why." Activision disabled "select playlists" a few days ago while it investigates reported issues. It then updated some playlists with "a server-wide fix," though the modder suggests other game modes are still exploitable. For now, reminisce with the best Call of Duty games of all time. [/url]View the full article

A brand-new 8-player co-op survival game, where players try to survive a convergence of tornadoes, has hit Steam and received some strong reviews at launch. For anyone who enjoys co-op games on Steam, especially those that lean more toward friendslop, it's a game worth watching. View the full article