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The Tomb Raider franchise is coming back in a big way. Multiple games are planned, and a TV series starring Game of Thrones star Sophie Turner is also not far from being released. At Summer Game Fest, I got the chance to play 20 minutes of one of those games, Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis. This game is a reimagining of Lara Croft’s first adventure and will serve as an anniversary game (though it will miss 2026 by a few months) The demo opens in a lush jungle, which looks hugely dense and visually impressive. I was quickly introduced to Lara’s new scanner, which points out objects in the environment that can be used as part of puzzles. This feels like a reaction to the visual fidelity of the new game. If everything looks like a high-quality piece of scenery, it’s hard to intuit what is actually interactable. Read More... View the full article

While Crimson Desert received mixed reviews over its initial performance at launch, consistent updates and hotfixes from Pearl Abyss have View the full article

This patch also has shopkeepers collecting and reselling lost rare equipment. View the full article

Pearl Abyss continues to release new updates for its hit open world title, Crimson Desert, and with Patch 1.11, players have a new challenge system to check out along with a variety of other fixes and major improvements. Despited mixed reviews at launch earlier this year, Crimson Desert has proven to be a gamer with legs as its developer, Pearl Abyss, hasn't been shy about fixing and adding things almost on a weekly basis. View the full article

We are still gluttons for punishment, it seems. A mere week after the launch of Gothic Remake, the RPG has already hit the 500k sales milestone, and Steam user reviews make it clear that we still love some eurojank... Read more.View the full article

The demo of PengPong has hooked me in quite fiercely, with it's clever combination of game mechanics that combine Brotato with a form of pinball. Read the full article here: [Hidden Content] View the full article

Destiny 2's Monuments of Triumph is here, the final update for the game and potentially the last Destiny anything. Even This Week In Destiny, my weekly ritual for over a decade now, is coming to an end. To that end, Bungie has crammed in as much of a conclusion as possible, given we're actually at the start of a brand-new saga... Read more.View the full article

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June's update for the GTA+ membership adds Grand Theft Auto 5's Story Mode to the subscription's game library. One of the highest-grossing games of all time, Grand Theft Auto 5 ranks alongside Minecraft and Tetris among the best-selling video games ever made. The game typically costs about $30 to $40 USD, depending on the platform, but GTA+ members can now access it at no additional cost. View the full article

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Crimson Desert is a hit, selling over 6 million copies in less than three months. Despite initial reception at launch being mixed, the sprawling single-player open world action adventure has caught on with fans, who have marveled at the sheer number of updates Pearl Abyss has pumped out on a weekly basis, each one improving the quality of the game and added new content in a meaningful — and often surprising — way. But there’s no sign of Pearl Abyss slowing down. The South Korean studio has said it wants to ensure Crimson Desert receives long-term support, outlining a summer roadmap of content that includes improvements to the core narrative – a recurring criticism of the game. And there’s even DLC in the works. During Summer Game Fest 2026, we sat down with Will Powers, director of marketing and PR for Pearl Abyss, to catch up on the state of things with Crimson Desert. Along with breaking down the game's success in its first months and lessons learned from its suite of post-launch updates, Powers explained how the developers have been able to quickly address feedback and release massive updates to the game in a timely manner since launch. Editor's Note: This interview has been edited for clarity and readability. IGN: The game has been a big hit for Pearl Abyss, and many players have been enjoying exploring its world. How has the player response been overall since launch? Will Powers: Well, Pearl Abyss is built on community, and that's based on our experience in live service with ****** Desert Online. It's in the Pearl Abyss DNA to listen to the community and respond to them; that's been incredibly important to the developers. The momentum going into launch, along with sustained feedback and hours played after its release, is driving the team to keep improving the game. The players are investing in the game, and as they keep playing, we'll keep building it up. It's something like Field of Dreams, that line where he says, "If you build it, they will come." One sort of question we get a lot is asking us, why this is a single-player game with live-service development? And part of it's because we can, [laughs]. We can, and we want to, add more value to the game in the long term. We want to keep improving the experience for players who have been invested in from day one and ensure the game continues to get better. IGN: Has there been a certain type of feedback that's been consistent from the community, one that's been a continuing effort to improve? Will Powers: It's difficult to say specifically, but I will say that one of the things the development team is incredibly proud of is their first-ever console-focused release, and that's a big deal for the company. It's a big deal for the Korean development team, and they want to continue improving the game's console experience. It's one of the few times that Korean development studios have had this level of success on consoles, and that's been such a challenge. In Korea, the platform split for that game is 95% on PC and 5% on consoles, but it's drastically different from the West. So when a Korean studio says, "I want to make a Western-appropriate product," they look at console, obviously, because that's where a lot of the audience is. But in terms of the core game itself, I would say one of the consistent changes from feedback is improvements to the UI, that's definitely a piece of feedback that they're taking in, because they haven't experienced single-player and console game development to this level before, when they are mostly working on MMOs. The UI changes are being made to account for single-player games being designed for players who sit down, relax, and play across a variety of platforms, displays, and more. IGN: With all these updates to the game, is there a big challenge in not overcorrecting it? To the point where the game's identity begins to change in response to community feedback that wants it to be more like other games. Will Powers: Yeah, that's a good question. There are definitely internal conversations about what sort of community feedback to take in. Do you listen to the vocal ********* on things, or spend time figuring out who knows best about system changes with how something's supposed to work in a game, and so on? But it comes down to needing a central filter on what the DNA of the game is before it comes to Crimson Desert, and that comes down to a core producer who takes any proposed changes, whether internal or external, and decides whether they compromise what makes this game at its core. They have to determine whether it is fun as is, or whether it gets in the way of things, because sometimes the opposite is true. It's like, 'Okay, we optimized farming because too many button presses and all that, and this is getting in the way of fun, so let's fix that.' It's all about creating a better, more approachable experience. Players are enjoying this, but let's make it easier for them to enjoy it and have fun. Being receptive to feedback, regardless of where it comes from, is incredibly important. But being able to filter that and make sure that you don't lose focus on the DNA of the game is critical, because that's obviously the risk that you're pointing at. We've made a lot of changes, but not sweeping ones that alter the game's core identity. IGN: On that note, one change that was discussed previously was plans to adjust the storytelling of the existing game. Would you be able to elaborate on what that means exactly, and what sort of feedback you got from the community? Will Powers: Sure, I'll start with what I hope is not a controversial statement: art is subjective, just in general. That's not to discount anyone's experience, and people's different opinions are all valid, whether it's a review or a consumer's impressions. But that's what comes down to the crux of the question: does that mean we're overhauling this story and throwing away what we built for a different story than the one people originally played? No. Does it mean we are making a better effort to maintain story continuity and improve cutscenes to clarify story elements and provide a better onboarding experience? Yes. That's the goal we have with the improved storytelling, and that's ok. Many players didn't necessarily understand the character's motivation in the beginning hours, and they felt like characters appeared without them understanding who they were in the story. We can address that, but that won't change the experience of those who already played the game. But does it make it better for people playing for the first time, or for people who want to play again? Yeah, totally. But at the end of the day, we didn't want to compromise on fun, and we also don't want to detract from people who are early adopters for the game as well, so everything that we're doing is a way of rewarding their experience by making it additive to what they've already experienced. IGN: There have also been updates hinting at more changes for Damiane and Oongka, who are Kliff's playable allies in the game. Will there be attempts to make them feel more important and worthwhile within the game's overall experience? Will Powers: We've had conversations about fleshing out the backstories for the additional characters, and the specifics are still to be determined. But obviously, all of that's on the table, and to go on record as saying that the developers do read the feedback that they see across the internet. Players have expressed a desire to see more backstories for the additional playable characters and to understand how these people came to be involved in the main story. But yeah, it remains to be seen whether and how we end up doing it, but that's one of the options we have for continuing to expand the story in Crimson Desert. That's not as much as rewriting the story, but coming in to put more meat on the bones of the story. IGN: There are also plans to add DLC to the game. Can you share any insights or details about what that will entail exactly, whether it's purely a content upgrade or maybe something more sweeping to the core game? Will Powers: I think that remains to be seen about what direction we will take with our upcoming plans for that. But, you know, words are important. So let's be very clear about the difference between the words 'update,' 'DLC,' and 'expansion.' What we've called everything we've done and added to the game right now has been updates. We're calling this upcoming project a DLC, so this will be different from all the updates we've had after the game launched. So that's where I'll go with that. We're calling it something different, and there's a good reason why we're calling it a DLC. IGN: It's been interesting to see what's been added to the game so far. We recently saw a pinball minigame added, and I think what's worked well in Crimson Desert is how it mashes up different fantasy RPG styles. It's high fantasy and steampunk as well, and that seems to have given the developers a lot of freedom to expand things as they see fit. Will Powers: Yeah, it's a type of power fantasy. Like, how do these things make sense in the world? There's been a lot of conversations internally leading into launch about, 'Okay, well, how do dragons, mechs, trains, and dinosaurs like raptors, all make sense in the same environment?' And it just all comes down to this being a fantasy game, and it's a big freaking world. So when you play it, it does make sense, and I think that's what you hit the nail on the head of, that's the beauty of Crimson Desert. It's so massive, and you can play with what makes sense in the different regions with different cultures and environments, and that presents the artistic liberty to do whatever the hell you want. It then becomes the question of, 'What do we want to do?' rather than, 'What do we have to do?' and that's a fun question. IGN: Has there been any consideration to add mod support for Crimson Desert? Will Powers: Yeah, I don't have a good answer for that, but I would say my impulsive response is that we're trying to maintain a consistent experience across all Crimson Desert platforms. We just announced cross-save for the game, and we're gonna have cross-side support for all versions, so I'm not sure how you do that well by splitting features that can change one version of the game. The community's already doing it for the PC version, but as a publisher, I don't see an official way to do that. That said, we like seeing players engage with the game to build their community and everything related to it, which is really great. I like seeing players talk about their experiences playing the game and talking about what they uncovered. IGN: Going back to the game's broader appeal, it's been interesting to see just how much support has been given to a single-player game like this in such a short time, and players have certainly been keeping up with it. Do you feel the success of this game speaks to a larger trend that audiences want more engaging single-player games? Will Powers: I don't see a single variable for this game's success. I think there are many factors at play, but it certainly helps to have a good game. The other elements that threw us for a loop internally were that we had to rethink how we have a community for a single-player RPG. Like, Pearl Abyss didn't have community managers for a single-player game, but we did for live-service games. We have to work at retaining a community around this game to support it. They want more and more content because they're enjoying living in this world, which feels like a live-service game in scope, but it's very different. Like when you purchase this game, you buy it once, and it's yours. We also wanted to reward players who have been there the whole time by avoiding sudden discounts for early adopters. Typically, in video games, the first discount is 90 days or so. We haven't discounted the game, but that's not because we're really greedy by any means. We want to add more value, so we're continuing not to take away anything but make it a better experience with more value for the people who spent not just their hard-earned money but also their time, because that's probably the biggest factor right now for many people who want to play the game. We're asking you to play 100+ hours, which is a significant time investment. But if you're going to spend your money, we want to reward that experience by giving you a ton of things to do and making it more rewarding. 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

Xbox will likely undergo studio shutdowns and consider ad-supported subscription models following newly-installed CEO Asha Sharma's blunt warning that a corporate "reset" was now necessary, gaming analysts have told IGN. Sharma's memo to Xbox employees, subsequently published publicly online, painted an unflinching portrait of the problems facing Microsoft's gaming division — and made it clear that difficult decisions were now necessary in the coming days. Indeed, the memo's arrival prompted a report by Bloomberg that suggested a wave of layoffs would arrive as soon as next month — bringing excitement around the brand crashing back to earth after an encouraging Xbox Games Showcase, which included peeks at numerous upcoming blockbusters and some games being earmarked as console exclusives. "The company stopped sharing detailed Xbox sales data in 2013, so Asha mentioning the 3% profit margin now is actually big news to justify what is coming soon," said Dr. Serkan Toto, CEO of consultancy firm Kantan Games, noting Sharma's public reveal of Xbox's "accountability margin" spoke volumes. "The business is clearly not working: Microsoft could make more money just leaving its cash to the bank, as the interest rate for corporations in the U.S. is over 3.6% currently." "Considering Xbox was one of the biggest spenders over the past decade, buying up ZeniMax Media and ABK [Activision Blizzard King], it is now looking for ways to capture a return on that investment," agreed Joost van Dreunen, video game industry researcher and professor at the NYU Stern School of Business. "It is common practice for firms to reduce headcount in the wake of an acquisition, but in this case, we can identify several other unavoidable catalysts. First, the RAMpocalypse is real. Xbox had already started to derisk its hardware business by partnering with third-parties and creating a partner network. The tripling of hardware component costs has further catalyzed that effort, yet hardware remains a low-margin part of the business." Changes made during the first 100 days of Sharma's reign have also likely eaten into Xbox's balance sheet, van Dreunen suggested, such as the cuts to the price of Xbox Game Pass subscriptions, and the decision to give up PS5 revenue for Gears of War: E-Day and Clockwork Revolution. These choices might prove popular among fans, but must also ultimately be balanced financially. "Game Pass was too expensive, and monetizing players via a monthly subscription clearly has a ceiling. [Sharma has] also signaled the return to exclusives as a central part of its platform strategy. But the honeymoon phase of new management is going to come to an end soon, and we’ll start seeing the real work that goes into turning a $25 billion gaming titan around," van Dreunen continued. "Before Xbox rolls out additional revenue streams around user-generated content markets and in-game advertising in a long-term, sustainable way, it will be forced to lower its overhead to maintain the 30% margin that Satya Nadella will expect." Sadly, layoffs now seem likely. Sharma has suggested that the brand's biggest franchises would now be the company's priority, leaving employees not working on core IP such as Halo, Forza Horizon, Gears of War, and Minecraft, likely feeling nervous about the future. "A 3% accountability margin, down year-on-year, against $20 billion of investment over five years — while revenue actually fell — is a line written for investors," said Rhys Elliott, head of market analysis at Alinea Analytics. "It's bad. My read is that the strategy becomes 'Xbox doesn't need to make all the games.' [The company will] concentrate first-party spend on the handful of industry-defining, entertainment-scale IP – the franchises now extending into TV and film – and push the smaller, indie-adjacent bets out to third-party partners instead of funding them in-house." "Beloved, talent-dense, critically adored, and small [studios] are on the chopping block..." Pointing back to Sharma's memo, Elliot said the CEO essentially said as much when stating that Xbox expanded its studio system for a multi-strategy content pipeline it no longer needed, now that content was cheap and plentiful. "Which means the studios most exposed are the ones that are brilliant for prestige and rotten for the spreadsheet," Elliot continued. "The Double Fines and Ninja Theories of the portfolio – beloved, talent-dense, critically adored, and small – are on the chopping block. They’re wonderful for hearts and minds, but hard to defend in a margin review." "Microsoft will run through its Xbox business with a bulldozer this year," Toto said, bluntly. "I hope I am wrong, but it looks like we can expect not only staff cuts but also studio shutdowns. The memo sounds like Asha might even change how Xbox is structured fundamentally. One thing is clear: Xbox at the end of this year will be totally different from the Phil Spencer times." Structurally that may be correct, though the looming impact of layoffs feels sadly familiar. "I'm genuinely worried about that tier of studio given the rhetoric in the memo," Elliot said, of Xbox's smaller development teams. "They were acquired in an era of growth-at-all-costs, and that era is explicitly what this memo is unwinding. And again, it’s not new, either. In 2024, Xbox shut Tango Gameworks, fresh off Hi-Fi Rush, and closed Arkane Austin too. Those studios were prestige-rich, talent-dense, modest on the balance sheet. The memo's 'we expanded the studio system... [and] found ourselves over extended' is the same logic that ended Tango under Booty and Spencer." Will exclusive games help turn Xbox's business around? Analysts seem unsure, and Elliot believes Xbox's statement that exclusivity decisions will be made on a 'case by case' basis gives the company significant leeway to make the rules up as it goes along. "[A] PS5 version of Gears was clearly in development, retailers were lining up pre-orders, and it got yanked late enough that their own staff were blindsided. Pulling a Halo trailer from a PlayStation event is the same instinct – symbolic, relationship-damaging, and revenue-negative. I’m not sure how worth it the exclusivity change is in the long term – and I expect there to be some backtracking once the revenue numbers come in." "If the data is any guide, the titles that stay Xbox-first or Xbox-only will mostly be the ones a sliver of the PlayStation audience would have bought anyway," Elliot continued, "so nobody is really losing sleep over that math. Exclusivity handled 'case by case' is a polite way of saying 'symbolic where it's cheap, abandoned where it's expensive.' The tell will be the third or fourth notable title after Gears: E-Day and Clockwork Revolution. If those quietly turn up on PS5 – framed, of course, as a thoughtful 'case-by-case' decision – then the reversal has already begun, and the exclusivity push was always a hearts-and-minds gesture with a shelf life. I'd expect any backtracking to land after a quarter or two of revenue numbers, once the cost of walking away from 90M-plus PS5 owners shows up in a report someone has to present. That's the moment the spreadsheet wins the argument it always wins." What of Game Pass, which has returned to growth following price cuts, though only after months of falling subscriber numbers? Analysts agree that a lower-price, ad-funded subscription tier is inevitable, aping similar offerings from streaming services such as Netflix and Disney+. "It's reasonable to assume that ads will become a more significant part of the Xbox business model..." "In terms of business models, ad-supported strategies are an effective way to deliver cheaper access to products and services for those that don’t want to pay significant sums or that are happy to have an ad-based solution in exchange for more value," said Piers Harding-Rolls, games industry analyst at Ampere Analysis. "Ad strategies are working very effectively in the streaming video on demand market to lower subscription costs, are deployed in thousands of mobile games as reward ads used by millions every day and are used to offer cheaper tech to consumers – Amazon’s Kindles spring to mind. I think it’s reasonable to assume that ads will become a more significant part of the Xbox business model mix, likely in Game Pass first, but could be used to deliver cheaper Xbox hardware in the future." It's hard to imagine a tougher time for Xbox to be working on new console hardware, building back from far behind PlayStation and Nintendo in terms of current-gen platform sales, during a component pricing crisis and what feels like a moment of real question around the soul of the brand. It's a situation that Harding-Rolls described as "highly challenging," amid high inflation, the knock-on impact on staffing costs, and the console component cost increases. In an interview this week, Sharma said it was unrealistic to expect any console to succeed with a price point in the thousands of dollars — which is what the current crop of machines are now edging towards after repeated price rises, let alone the next hardware generation. Focusing solely on being the biggest and best console is no longer an option, Sharma continued, and instead there is a need to appeal to as wide an audience as possible. "Xbox is still committed to a next-gen console but is considering how it can deliver something that will be desired by Xbox gamers, while not pricing out huge swaths of gamers and potentially growing the audience," Harding-Rolls said. "It’s also thinking about how it can de-risk itself from the costs of subsidising hardware as component costs continue to escalate. There are a few areas I think Xbox could investigate. Xbox has already partnered with Asus to deliver the ROG Xbox Ally, and this could be extended to next-gen console hardware. This sort of OEM arrangement could help with access to components, preferential pricing for storage and memory, flexible configurations of the same platform and extending distribution. This is not a silver bullet and there are already historical examples in the games space where this strategy hasn’t really worked – such as Valve’s Steam Machines. If this is not the approach the company takes, I think Xbox will be looking to get closer to key component manufacturers to put itself in a better position in terms of supply-chain negotiation and prioritisation. Sony’s long consumer electronics history and its other consumer tech businesses means it is better positioned in this context." "New business models and partnerships for hardware could mean that Xbox stops trying to be the sole one building the box," Elliot agreed. "Expect third-party manufactured hardware – partners building Xbox-branded or Xbox-compatible devices under licence – rather than Microsoft eating the full bill of materials and the subsidy on every unit. The ROG Ally collaboration was the trial balloon for this. And of course mobile is that longer-term North Star. But as for the core, Xbox still wants Helix to converge its console and PC offerings. Windows is the actual platform, and the 'Xbox' you buy becomes one of several doors into the same ecosystem rather than a single loss-leading box Microsoft fabricates itself. But Xbox is appealing to its console fans along the way as it transitions them into the future. That’s why Helix is half-console, half-PC." "You can't tell tens of millions of console loyalists 'the box is dead, move to Windows' overnight..." "You can't tell tens of millions of console loyalists 'the box is dead, move to Windows' overnight without torching the goodwill you just spent 100 days rebuilding – or potentially ******** off 25-year fans," Elliot continued. "So, Xbox is still shipping hardware and keeping some smaller exclusives to keep the core warm, but the actual centre of gravity is quietly sliding to PC, mobile, and cloud. Helix being half-console, half-PC is that compromise made physical. The word 'Helix' is most commonly known in biology to describe human DNA, where two intertwined, spiral strands form a twisted ladder. It’s literally in the name – Xbox is converging console and PC." A focus on third-party hardware seems the most likely route for Xbox following Sharma's most recent comments, though other options are also possible. Microsoft could restart its subsidised console purchase plan, which offered access to Xbox machines via an ongoing subscription — though alternative third-party leasing and payment options now existing make this less likely. The company could also lean into its cloud-streaming offering and re-examine the idea of an Xbox streaming stick. But, as Harding-Rolls points out, "to stream Xbox games, there still needs to be Xbox hardware in data centres to support this model. One of the key challenges that Xbox is dealing with is storage and memory availability and this doesn’t in fact solve this issue." "There's a messier possibility worth naming," Elliot concludes, "that the confident language and candour are masking real strategic uncertainty. The clearest evidence is the contradiction sitting inside the comms – choosing to forgo revenue by pulling games off the biggest install base one week, then lamenting that revenue is too low in the same breath. When you talk out of both sides of your mouth, trust starts to dissolve. The Spencer era had that habit, and the Xbox of new reads like a continuation of it, now with employees being gently primed for another round of layoffs a few months after Booty said: 'To be clear, there are no organisational changes underway for our studios.’ I also note that Xbox said there would be no layoffs after the Activision Blizzard acquisition. There were a lot of layoffs. "A healthy Xbox is good for all of us, competition included, and they're saying a lot of the right things. The candour is real and their diagnosis of the problems are mostly correct. But there’s no easy cure. Trying to be simultaneously the world's largest game publisher and a first-party hardware platform, at a 5x component premium, with a first-party slate that can't yet carry exclusivity on its own – that's the bit I can't make add up." Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images. Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You can reach Tom at [email protected] or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social View the full article

Valve has found itself up against some real legal pressure in recent times, with class action lawsuits filed in the US and *** alleging that Steam has been leveraging its market monopoly to beat down pricing competition, while taking excessive cuts from sales. Now, Dutch non-profit group Consumer Competition Claims (CCC) is joining in, suggesting that gamers in the Netherlands have collectively overpaid by "more than €220 million" ($255 million) due to Valve's practices. Read the full story on PCGamesN: New Valve lawsuit wants to pay $150 compensation to Dutch PC gamers for Steam monopoly View the full article

Valve's latest Deadlock update is here, and this week is mostly about hero balance changes, although there are some notable tweaks that should push back against the recent trend for matches to snowball. I've sifted through the patch notes to figure out the big winners and losers, and I'd expect Holliday, Apollo, and Calico players to have big smiles on their faces. If you're more into Graves, Silver, or Seven, however, you might want to look away. Let's dig into all the important stuff you need to know before diving into the MOBA this weekend. Read the full story on PCGamesN: New Deadlock update aims to stop snowballing - and it's looking like Holliday season View the full article

With its inspirations clear to see, it's no surprise that a new creature-collecting game is hitting its stride on Roblox. And with these Blox Monsters codes ready to go, you can speed through the opening areas, or save them to roll a serious contender later down the line. Read the full story on PCGamesN: Blox Monsters codes (June 2026) View the full article

GW is currently revealing the cost of detachments in the new edition of Warhammer 40k, and some of them are unplayable in games smaller than 2,000 points. I don't meant they're "so bad you can't play them" - literally, rules as written, you can't use them in smaller games. While some players will be content to house-rule this oddity away, I'm genuinely compelled - a new 1,000 point play format with a restricted list of detachments will be completely different from anything we've seen before. Read the full story on Wargamer: Warhammer 40k's new detachment rules have spawned a weird 1,000 point format, and I'm genuinely hyped View the full article

Marvel Rivals has quite a lot of freebies up for grabs, many of which are tied to completing achievements. Most of these tasks can be a bit tricky to figure out, though, as is the case with the Emergence of Greatness achievement. Generally, getting any one of these quests done is fairly straightforward once you understand what needs to be done and where to go for it. The tricky part is figuring out all the requirements, as these missions tend to only give you a vague hint to work with. If you’re stumped by this one, here’s how to get the Emergence of Greatness achievement in Marvel Rivals. Table of contentsHow to complete Emergence of Greatness in Marvel RivalsWhere to find Shou-Lao in Marvel RivalsHeed the ancient wisdom of Shou-Lao in K’un-Lun: Shenloong Arenahttps://embeds.beehiiv.com/a8d62108-86ed-4039-bf49-44877ba62c15 How to complete Emergence of Greatness in Marvel Rivals Screenshot by Destructoid To get the Emergence of Greatness achievement, you need to hear one piece of advice from Shou-Lao while on the K’un-Lun: Shenloong Arena map. There are a few key requirements you must meet to make this happen, which means you may have a bit of a tough time checking this one off. Here’s a full breakdown of how to get it done. Load into an 18v18 Bounty Match. The K’un-Lun: Shenloong Arena map is exclusive to this mode, so start by ensuring you select it. You’ll never venture to this location in a regular Quick Match or Competitive, so choosing the right mode is essential if you want to get it done. Find Shou-Lao. This massive dragon can be found looming over one half of the map. Head outside and over to the edge area near Capture Point A to find him. Make sure you can see Shou-Lao to have the best chance of triggering some advice from him. Wait and listen. The next part of this task is mostly out of your hands. Hang out near Shou-Lao and wait for him to offer wisdom. It might happen right away, or it may instead take a couple of minutes. As soon as you hear any wisdom from him, though, you’re good to go. Where to find Shou-Lao in Marvel Rivals Shou-Lao is a massive dragon hovering over half of the K’un-Lun: Shenloong Arena map, specifically near Capture Point A. This dragon is technically outside the explorable bounds of this location, so you can’t actually reach them. Luckily, you don’t have to, as you simply need to hear some words of wisdom from him to get this quest done. Screenshot by Destructoid Generally, he’s pretty easy to spot once you know what you’re looking for, as he’s absolutely massive. Depending on which point you’re at, though, you might not be able to see him, so you’ll either need to wait until the match reaches this point or set off on your own to explore and find it. Heed the ancient wisdom of Shou-Lao in K’un-Lun: Shenloong Arena To heed the ancient wisdom of Shou-Lao in K’un-Lun: Shenloong Arena, thus finishing the Emergence of Greatness achievement, you need to hear one line of advice from the mighty dragon, such as “All the Capital Cities of Heaven are watching on this day. Fight well!” There’s no way to directly interact with this character to trigger dialogue, so you simply need to get close to Shou-Lao and wait for him to decide to chat with you. I tested this out with three different characters at three different spots close to the edge of the map where he hangs out. All three times, he decided to talk to them fairly quickly, so as long as you can see him, you should be able to get this quest done swiftly. If you’re having trouble, try moving around to a few different spots near him to help move things along. Screenshot by Destructoid Generally, it’s a good idea to head over to an area near him outside of the battle to make sure you can watch, wait, and listen carefully for his wisdom. It can be tricky to catch what he says otherwise, which means you might not be able to tell whether or not you’ve completed the task until after the round ends. If you’re up for it, there are plenty of other maps that have even more tricky achievements to tackle. Next, you might try working on Alchemax’ll Make Ya, Cute, Smart, Clever, Cellblock Chat, Secret Stash, and Shark to Shark. /wp-content/themes/destructoid2025/assets/img/icons/likes-off.png0 The post How to get Emergence of Greatness achievement in Marvel Rivals appeared first on Destructoid. View the full article

Love retro first-person shooters? How about a comedy arena shooter with 1950s B-movie monsters? SPORTAL is a new release out now and it's a real good time. Read the full article here: [Hidden Content] View the full article

What began as a portfolio project has become an interesting take on the soulslike formula. View the full article

What a peculiar game this is. Project P.I.T.T. puts you in charge of sending as many rubber ducks down a deep dark hole as you can. Read the full article here: [Hidden Content] View the full article

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Resident Evil’s overall timeline can be a little hard to follow depending upon your entry point to the series. But producer Yoshiaki Hirabayashi has emphasized that, with Resident Evil Veronica, Capcom is reworking the story to make sure its place in the chronology is clear, while ensuring the remake keeps what fans loved about the original. Japanese news outlet Famitsu reported on a recent Summer Games Fest press conference with Hirabayashi on the Resident Evil – Code: Veronica remake, due out in 2027. The original Code: Veronica was released 27 years ago, and there have been many Resi games released since then. Story-wise, Hirabayashi noted that for the Veronica remake Capcom has been taking into account plotlines in other games that connect back to events in Veronica. In the last decade, the Resident Evil franchise has gained even more story and lore with RE7, RE8: Village, and RE9 (plus the RE2, RE3, and RE4 remakes). “With Resident Evil Veronica, we are planning to restructure the story so that players can clearly feel how all of these titles are part of one cohesive series,” explained Hirabayashi. Asked if Resident Evil Veronica will stick to the source material while implementing bold changes like the Resident Evil 2 remake, Hirabayashi said “yes,” broadly-speaking. However, rest assured that this doesn’t mean change for the sake of change. "What's most important for the dev team at Capcom is putting the players’ memories first, and then rebuilding the game on top of that,” said Hirabayashi. This echoes Requiem producer Kumazawa’s recent comments that future Resident Evil games will "preserve the core elements of the series," and stay true to established characters and settings, while experimenting with different ideas. While Resident Evil 4 catches up with what happens to Leon S. Kennedy after the ending of Resident Evil 2, Veronica covers Claire Redfield’s continuing efforts to locate her brother Chris. “We chose to remake Code: Veronica next after Resident Evil 4 because we want players to experience Claire’s equally important (post RE2) story.” With regard to the Code: Veronica remake, Hirabayashi went on to reassure fans that the devs are aware of the strong fan-following the original has, saying: "The dev team understands that the original Code: Veronica is on par with the numbered titles.” Hirabayashi also confirmed that the team working on the Code: Veronica remake is the same that made the Resident Evil 2 and 4 remakes (Resident Evil 3 Remake and Requiem were made by different teams). Apparently work on Resident Evil Veronica kicked off as soon as Capcom finished the RE4 remake. Like the original, Resident Evil Veronica will be a third-person survival horror, centered on Claire trying to survive Rockfort Island’s T-virus outbreak, so resource management will be key. To shape Resident Evil Veronica, Hirabayashi explained that the team is combining their respect for the original Code: Veronica with player feedback. However, this is not just recent player comments but player feedback from the entire series up to Requiem. Hirabayashi added that the team has even been digging up comments stretching back to when Code: Veronica originally released in 2000 to get a feel for “what gamers enjoyed about it back then.” Resident Evil Code: Veronica debuted on the Dreamcast in 2000, with an updated version Code: Veronica X making its way to the PS2 the following year. Hirabayashi noted that while you don’t need to play the original Code: Veronica to enjoy the remake, “I think you will enjoy it even more if you are familiar with the stories of other games in the Resident Evil series. So I highly recommend playing any past titles that you haven’t played yet.” Time to dig into the backlog... Verity Townsend is a Japan-based freelance writer who previously served as editor, contributor and translator for the game news site Automaton West. She has also written about Japanese culture and movies for various publications. View the full article

Wardens of Avalon features both single-player and co-operative modes, with a focus on isometric action combat, survival crafting, and base-building elements. View the full article

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