GSC Game World has released Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl Update 1.5, and the massive June 2025 update brings improvements to the A-Life system, adds new anomalies, and includes a variety of other gameplay changes. Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl was first announced in 2010 and finally came out in November 2024 as a first-person shooter with survival horror elements. View the full article
Elden Ring Nightreign’s next Enhanced boss is Fulghor, Champion of Nightglow, developers From Software have confirmed. You’ll be able to get your teeth into him from June 26th at 4pm Central European Summer Time, 7am Pacific Daylight Time, or 11pm Japan Standard Time. These timezone distinctions are meaningless, of course, because there is only one timezone in which Fulghor operates, and that timezone is Butt Kicking Time. He’s one of the co-op RPG’s harder scraps, and he’ll be all the worse for being Enhanced. Read more View the full article
One of the fun things about the eternal, universal furore around Baldur's Gate 3 is that the game's actors clearly love it just as much as the fans do. Dip into the BG3 category on Twitch and your odds are pretty good that one or more of the streamers you find will have voiced a major character or two... Read more.View the full article
The second paid DLC character pack for WWE 2K25 is available today. The Dunk & Destruction Pack is the second of five announced DLC packs for the game, and adds five tall wrestlers to the game – two wrestling ‘giants’ and three guest NBA basketball players. Retired NBA star and four-time NBA Champion Shaquille O’Neal is the first playable ‘wrestler’ in the new DLC. Shaq previously fought in a battle royale match at WrestleMania 32. Read More... View the full article
During a new livestream event, Bungie detailed the new Dark Matter abilities that players will be able to use while exploring Kepler in The Edge of Fate expansion for Destiny 2. Formerly part of the mysterious Codename Frontiers phase of Destiny 2, the Edge of Fate marks the start of a new evolution of the popular and long-running online shooter. View the full article
The Chronicle update launched for Phasmophobia on June 24, and it's by far one of the most game-changing content expansions we've seen since it first launched back in 2020. It reworked some key gameplay systems, and I'm wondering how everyone is feeling about these changes. At first glance, the Chronicle update doesn't seem like it has much new content outside of the Sound Recorder, but as soon as you start investigating, you'll find that everything feels different and new. I'm in awe of how much this update modified key gameplay systems, but after so many years with the old systems in place, I can also see them being a bit controversial. Screenshot by Destructoid I've been playing since 2020, and the Chronicle update is the first time I've genuinely felt a bit spooked by Phasmophobia in years. Loud, evil laughter, a scream telling me to "GET OUT," and a door shaking and closing violently are just a few of the many new terrifying encounters I had during my first fresh Chronicle investigations. The Sound Recorder and new means of capturing evidence brought a fresh life to my investigations, and I'm beyond thrilled with most of the new changes. Evidence finally feels meaningful and rewarding, urging me to stay longer in each contract to capture as much as I can. It's a bit dangerous, really, as I spend way too much time trying to provoke the ghost so I can capture unique evidence now, but it's much more fun this way. The changes included in this update are pretty massive, so I'm not too surprised to see that some players aren't happy with it. One fan posted their thoughts on Reddit, calling the update "frustrating" due to how "time-consuming" the news systems are. If you're someone who seeks to execute a perfect investigation in every round, I can certainly see how it might quickly become exhausting trying to fill up the journal with photos, recorded audio, and video evidence. As someone who doesn't worry too much about that, though, and instead just gets whatever I can done, I'm really enjoying the new features, especially since they fill in time where I'd otherwise likely just be standing around waiting for the ghost to do something. Screenshot by Destructoid I'm not sold on all of the features included in this update, though, especially the media deletion limit. Although this isn't a new feature, I am surprised it wasn't removed with the new evidence system. Since there are limited slots for capturing evidence, and a limit to how many pieces of evidence you can throw away to make room for more, it often feels too punishing. I want to capture as much evidence as I like without fear of running out of space or being unable to make room for more. It also feels silly to me to put the same expectations for a perfect investigation on just one player versus four. This system needs to be updated to make it easier for individual players to get in and get out with all requirements checked off, because Chronicle's changes now make it way more work than it's worth for single players. Overall, I'm a big fan of the new sounds, the improved evidence collection system, and the Sound Recorder, but I do think there needs to be some slight tweaking to make these systems work better for all players. It's definitely an improvement on what we had before, but I hope we see even more updates to address players' concerns in the future. So, what do you think of the update, Destructoid? Are you a fan of the Sound Recorder and new evidence collection systems, or have you found them to be a bit annoying to deal with? Let us know your thoughts down in the comments. The post POLL: What do you think of Phasmophobia’s Chronicle update? appeared first on Destructoid. View the full article
Rematch is a hit—nonchalantly dribbling its way to one million players on its first day of release. It's the latest game by Sloclap, who you might know from Sifu and Absolver—a brawler and a fighting game respectively, if you've been paying attention. The studio's gotten the art of kicking the crap out of someone down pat... Read more.View the full article
In celebration of the game's tenth anniversary, Techland is gearing up to release a major new Dying Light patch known as the "Retouched Update." The update will be released for free on June 26, but Techland wants fans to understand that this is not a Dying Lightremaster or even an overhaul; it's an update that aims to squeeze as much out of the ten-year-old game as Techland possibly can. View the full article
Finally, only about 7 months after the release, Stalker 2 actually now has the A-Life AI system hooked up properly. Read the full article here: [Hidden Content] View the full article
Square Enix has taken note of the incredible success of Sandfall Interactive's RPG Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, with one investor eager to see the next Final Fantasy title embrace turn-based combat once again. As Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 remains a talking point in the gaming community, fans of classic JRPGs are thankful to see its gameplay triggering wider conversations about the potential return of major turn-based games in the future. View the full article
One prominent Helldivers 2 leaker has revealed what seems to be Arrowhead’s plans to add a new Automaton homeworld called New Cyberstan. Helldivers 2 has recently been receiving a ton of new content and activities with the Illuminate invasion and “The Battle for Super Earth,” and Arrowhead still seems to have a lot in store for players. View the full article
Need a quick SSD upgrade to increase your storage? This Samsung gaming SSD deal might be the answer. With 1TB of space on offer, you can grab yourself the Samsung 990 Evo Plus for just $74.99, giving you a huge 32% saving on the list price. Samsung isn't like those unbranded SSD options you'll see flooded on Amazon. This is a brand with a good reputation for PC storage, with several of its models already listed in our best gaming SSD guide. While the Samsung 990 Evo Plus isn't up there with the best of them if you're looking for the quickest PCIe 5.0 speeds, it's still one of the fastest PCIe 4.0 SSD options around, and a steal at this price. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: You don't have long left to grab nine amazing Steam Deck games while saving $180 New AMD Ryzen gaming CPU reportedly smashes 6GHz barrier to "insane" level This hardback book-sized gaming PC has an RTX 5080, costs its weight in silver View the full article
If you stepped away from Palworld, now's the time to come back. Pocketpair's creature catcher has been going from strength to strength since it launched last year, and today marks a huge leap forward. The Palworld Terraria update has arrived, and it marries the two games in a way I'd never quite expected. The patch also introduces a slew of new mechanics to the base game, giving you more places to explore and even more Pals to catch. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: All Palworld bosses in order and how to beat them The Palworld Terraria crossover is already much ******* than a typical update Palworld is changing several key gameplay systems amid Pokemon Company lawsuit View the full article
Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 publisher Paradox Interactive says the game is still on track, despite layoffs at the title's developer, The ******** Room. The sequel to 2004's Bloodlines has had a rough development cycle so far, but it appears its latest setback has not affected its release window. Fans may finally get their hands on Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 later this year, regardless of the recent shakeup. View the full article
Bandai Namco went big on little things last night — specifically, Little Nightmares 3, confirming it'll release on October 10. And if that seems very far away, I have good news: anyone who pre-orders a digital version of Little Nightmares 3 will get to revisit the game that started it all with Little Nightmares Enhanced Edition as an early access title between now and launch day. There's also an all-new season of the Little Nightmares themed podcast series on the way, The Sounds of Nightmares, and a comic book — Little Nightmares: Descent to Nowhere — also kicking off in October. Before then, however, a young adult book called Little Nightmares: The Lonely Ones is out in September. Phew. Got all that? The comic book? Published by Titan Comics, Little Nightmares: Descent to Nowhere, follows two parallel stories. Hush, a timid mute girl wakes up in a jail cell. Desperate to escape, she befriends another prisoner, Mono, who understands this world far better than her, they will have to find a way out of a very dark Dungeon. The novel Little Nightmares: The Lonely Ones, on the other hand, is written by E.C. Myers and published by Scholastic. It follows Ruse, a young child, who awakens in an unfamiliar, shaking room with two other kids she doesn't know — a small girl with a frayed rope dangling from her neck and a starved-looking boy wearing a tattered mask over his mouth and nose. And there's another surprise: Bandai Namco also revealed a teaser for a stop motion project developed in collaboration with studio Taller del Chucho. We didn't get much more information, but Bandai says more information will be "unveiled" at a later date. Little Nightmares 3 — the first Little Nightmares game from Supermassive — is scheduled to release on to PC, PS5, Switch 2, Xbox Series X and S, and last-gen systems, including Nintendo Switch. All bar the Switch versions are available to pre-order now (the latter are coming at a "later date") — here's what you get in each edition of Little Nightmares 3 are available for pre-order: All Little Nightmares 3 EditionsStandard Edition — base gameDigital Deluxe Edition, base game and the Secrets of The Spiral - Expansion Pass, and the Residents Costumes PackCollector Mirror Edition, which adds to the Deluxe edition content, a figurine, a metal case, a physical artbook, the OST in digital and physical format, and some stickers Premium Collector Spiral Edition, exclusive to the Bandai Namco Store which, contains the Collector Mirror Edition figurine, enhanced with a music box base, a Nome controller/phone holder and a double-sided coin of Low and Alone. All pre-orders will secure the Dark Six Costumes Set on all platforms as well as the early access to Little Nightmares Enhanced Edition. We also learned that The Secrets of The Spiral — Expansion Pass will include at least two additional chapters to explore. And I'm not even finished — we also got to see a glimpse of all-new VR adventure called Little Nightmares VR: Altered Echoes from Iconik Studios. We thought Little Nightmares 2 was good, awarding it 7/10, writing: "Little Nightmares 2 is every bit as ******, bleak, and eerily beautiful as the original. It’s also just as brief, and although the reintroduction of the Six character as an AI-controlled co-op partner ultimately serves the story well, she’s not used as a vehicle to take the game’s puzzle-solving and stealth to interesting new places, which seems like a real missed opportunity." Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world's biggest gaming sites and publications. She's also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky. View the full article
Throughout the Nature's Calling event in The Sims 4, you have to tackle many unique tasks while exploring out and about in the world. One of the trickier tasks you'll come across asks you to listen to the wind. This isn't an interaction you can usually perform outside of the event, so it can be a bit of a tricky one to solve. Getting it done is essential for finishing all week one event quests, so here's how to listen to the wind in The Sims 4. Listen to the wind in The Sims 4 Nature's Calling event Screenshot by Destructoid You can listen to the wind by selecting the "Listen to the wind" interaction on any park bench in The Sims 4. There are a few essential steps you need to take to complete this process, so here's a full breakdown of how to get this task done for the week one Nature's Calling event quests. Venture to any park lot. This task must be completed at a lot that's classified as a park. You can either visit one that's placed in a world by default, like Magnolia Blossom in Willow Creek or Desert Bloom in Oasis Springs, or place a fresh one down. You can visit a park in any world, including both the base game and DLC lots. Find a park bench. Search around the lot for a bench you can interact with. This includes both regular benches and picnic tables, but not other seating options like chairs. If you can't find a park bench to interact with, you can place one down at the park lot after arriving. Click on the park bench and select "Listen to the wind." Interact with the park bench you find and select the "Listen to the wind" option that appears when you click it. Wait for the interaction to finish. Let your Sim venture over to the park bench, sit down, and listen to the wind. This interaction takes a bit to play out, so be sure to fully let it finish so you can progress to the next event task. You'll know this task is complete when it disappears from the event quest pop-up in the top left corner. Once it's done, you can move on to tackling the next set of tasks in the event, which are the Attuned to the Echoes quests. When you're done working through this and all other available event tasks, you may want to learn when The Sims 4 Enchanted by Nature expansion pack will be released so you can get ready for Fairies to arrive. You also may want to know how to find Debug and Live Edit objects and how to install Custom Content and Mods. The post How to listen to the wind in The Sims 4 appeared first on Destructoid. View the full article
I know this is a pretty controversial topic to bring up, but it is one I feel I need to discuss following recent reports and rumors in the gaming industry as a whole, from publishers, indie game makers, and beyond. This topic comes from the recent report that Microsoft is planning to do more major job cuts at the Xbox Gaming Division, a fourth time in as little as 18 months, which feels like the decline, if not death, of a titan that once ruled the industry with its consoles and games. On top of all the other cuts and job losses we have seen, whether it's other publishers, websites like Polygon seeing its near-entire staff let go, and other places shut completely. It really doesn't boost any motivation, I'll tell you that. [Hidden Content] We also have industry veterans like Masahiro Sakurai, the director of the Super Smash Bros. series, coming out to talk about AAA development and how difficult it's become for various reasons, and how he warns the industry is becoming unsustainable and companies might seek out AI in some ways in the future. It's all a very grim outlook. So I wanted to create this article as a means to discuss with you, the reader, whether you are a Destructoid regular or not, the current state of the modern games industry. And if we are currently living through either the decline—or death—of the industry we have known over the last few decades. Obviously, it's not all doom and gloom, though, where big AAA titles are taking years to make and poor decisions are being made by various companies to pivot to live service without any real plan, indies and AA games like Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 are booming. There are also a lot of games on the horizon that seem destined for success, and the Switch 2 is breaking records. But it feels like, monthly, we are hearing people voice their concerns or seeing talented game devs let go, and it doesn't seem to be stopping anytime soon. But perhaps as a person working in the industry, I am being anxious and worried more than I should be. Let me know in the comments, though, what you think. The post Are we witnessing the decline of the modern game industry, Destructoid? appeared first on Destructoid. View the full article
Remedy Entertainment's new first-person shooter FBC: Firebreak is having trouble finding an audience on PC, with the game's peak concurrent player count below 2,000 following its June 17 release. Set in the Control universe, FBC: Firebreak is Remedy's first multiplayer game, and feedback from both players and critics has been mixed so far. View the full article
Blizzard's Diablo 4 Season 9, Sins of the Horadrim, will give its most common endgame activity some much-needed love. The new update for the long-standing ARPG has been in testing via the PTR as Blizzard looks to win back attention from the likes of Path of Exile 2 and Last Epoch. The core mechanics include custom-crafted spells and jewels, but the more impactful, long-term changes are those to Nightmare Dungeons, which will outlast the new season and become a permanent part of the game moving forward. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: Diablo 4 Season 9 release date Diablo 4 Mother's Blessing is back as Blizzard delivers free anniversary rewards Diablo 4 Season 9 spices up Nightmare Dungeons and revives a major boss View the full article
Steel City Interactive has officially unveiled a free content update for Undisputed, and it's coming to PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC via Steam later this week. The latest Undisputedupdate, which will bring the game to version 1.4, will not only include a host of gameplay adjustments, bug fixes, and quality-of-life improvements but will also see three new fighters added to the game along with some other new features for players to check out. View the full article
A huge update for Palworld has arrived with the Tides of Terraria crossover. It's a lot more than just adding bits of Terraria though. Read the full article here: [Hidden Content] View the full article
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Elden Ring Nightreign’s next Enhanced boss is Fulghor, Champion of Nightglow, developers From Software have confirmed. You’ll be able to get your teeth into him from June 26th at 4pm Central European Summer Time, 7am Pacific Daylight Time, or 11pm Japan Standard Time. These timezone distinctions are meaningless, of course, because there is only one timezone in which Fulghor operates, and that timezone is Butt Kicking Time. He’s one of the co-op RPG’s harder scraps, and he’ll be all the worse for being Enhanced. Read more View the full article