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Clever Plays, a Montreal-based indie game studio, showed off Happy Bastards, its irreverent open-world tactical RPG, with a new combat trailer during Sunday’s PC Gaming Show at Summer Games Fest. In conjunction with the showcase, the studio also posted a playable combat demo on Steam to provide a hands-on look at the turn-based combat highlighted in the trailer. “We’ve really been having fun with the combat aspect of the game, working closely with our insider community and playtesting to get the feel of the combat just right,” said Mattieu Bégin, creative director for Clever Plays, in a statement. “So we didn’t want to wait to share the combat demo with a larger audience. That said, we’ve planned a more robust demo that shows off all aspects of the game, including the real-time open-world exploration, toward the end of this year.” Previously revealed by the Future Games Show during Summer Game Fest 2024, Happy Bastards is an open-world tactical RPG with turn-based combat in which players assemble an unruly squad to help make them a legend through reckless adventuring, bloody fights, lucrative looting, and dirty dealings. Let the bastards do the dirty work while you give the orders, reap the rewards, and enjoy the high life. This morally bankrupt mercenary sandbox with tactical combat, RPG progression, and a world that reacts to player choices encourages players to become famous by any means necessary. Happy Bastards delivers all the gameplay and features that fans of the turn-based tactical RPG genre expect — enlisting, evolving, and equipping a group of combatants to take part in a campaign of turn- and grid-based battles with plenty of strategic options; resource management, and an abundance of classes, stats, and abilities and upgrades; and an open-world filled with choices, and a large variety of enemies, NPCs, locations and treasures to encounter. All of this is set against a bawdy and boisterous backdrop and the quest for fame at any cost. When fame is the prize, everything’s fair game. While much of the game is yet to come, the demo released today simulates a dungeon delve, including combat and exploration. Here are four main features that make Happy Bastards’ combat system deep and unique: ● Tactics-heavy battlefields – Turn-based combat takes place on small terrains with a square grid, with tactical options such as elevation, line of sight, positional bonuses, control zones, tile effects, traps, shoving and falling, and orthogonal targeting that make positioning and facing really meaningful. ● Commands – While players control their mercenaries as in any other game, here they do so from the sidelines as the main character, barking commands, and contributing to combat from a shared pool of abilities – several of which can be used each round in addition to the mercs’ abilities, creating a lot of tactical flexibility. ● Tag-team system – One Command, the Tag-Team Swap, redefines squad building and combat dynamics by letting you swap specialized combatants mid-fight, so you always use the “right tool for the right job” even with only three mercenaries on the field at once. ● Living characters – Despite the name, the Happy Bastards are NOT perfectly docile soldiers who stoically accept their fate. Quite the contrary! They will react, speak their mind, and impose their battle whims – from simple quips and combat modifiers, to panicking or fleeing. It’s a viable strategy to try to make the enemy team implode in panic. “We’re looking forward to sharing more of the game in the coming months, but hope people will join us on our development journey,” said Bégin, in a statement. “People can still sign up for our Insider Program within the Discord, so they’ll be the first to know when we begin testing the open world play. Wishlist and download the Happy Bastards combat demo on Steam. Founded in 2013 as a husband-and-wife team, Clever Plays is a 10-person indie development studio based in Montreal. The team is driven by a mission to create innovative games that combine solid gameplay and unique worlds, while striving to conquer new challenges with each game. Clever Plays’ most recent title was Operation: Tango, a stylistic co-op espionage game that won numerous Best Multiplayer Awards and accolades for Art Direction, Game Design, and more. The studio’s previous game, the 2016 Leap of Fate, a fast-paced rogue-lite in a magical cyberpunk setting, earned a Metacritic score of 80. The post Clever Plays shows off Happy Bastards open-world tactical RPG appeared first on GamesBeat. View the full article

FIFA and Gamefam, the gaming and media company for Gen Z and Alpha communities, today announced the launch of the official FIFA World Cup 2026 event on Roblox. The activation brings the biggest sports event of the year to life on one of the most influential platforms for the next generation of fans, marking one of Roblox’s biggest official sports events to date. FIFA Super Soccer, the official home of FIFA on Roblox, will be transformed into a FIFA World Cup 2026 event hub featuring all 48 participating national teams, a FIFA World Cup 2026 stadium, gameplay quests, exclusive player rewards and connections to the tournament, including live standings and scoreboards. The action in FIFA Super Soccer will be extended across five other games, forming a six-game crossover event that will transform Roblox into a global FIFA World Cup destination where fans can play, compete, collect rewards and celebrate the tournament – all amid the action on the real-world pitch. All 48 FIFA World Cup 2026 National Teams: Every FIFA World Cup 2026 national team, including reigning FIFA World Cup 2022 champions Argentina, will be playable in FIFA Super Soccer, giving fans the chance to represent their country on Roblox. Image credit FIFA / Gamefam “FIFA World Cup 2026 will be the biggest FIFA World Cup ever, and we want fans everywhere to feel part of that excitement before, during and after the matches. This Roblox event gives a new generation of fans a fun, accessible and interactive way to connect with the tournament – from being able to play as one of the 48 national teams in FIFA Super Soccer to celebrating real-world moments with friends through live events, quests and rewards. FIFA is excited to collaborate with Gamefam and continue to expand our exciting football gaming portfolio,” said Christian Volk, director, Gaming and Esports at FIFA, in a press release. The platform-wide event will bring FIFA World Cup 2026 content into six of Gamefam’s Roblox experiences, including some of the platform’s biggest franchises. The six unique games, which record a cumulative 28 million gameplay sessions per week, were selected to reach different audiences with wide-ranging interests. “The FIFA World Cup is one of the few moments where the entire world comes together – across countries, cultures and languages – and Roblox gives that global audience a shared language of play and community,” said Ricardo Briceno, CEO of Gamefam, in the same press release. “As the action unfolds on the pitch, Gen Z and Alpha fans will come together across Roblox to participate in the action, represent their nations, and celebrate with friends in real time. That’s what makes immersive gaming so powerful: it turns global tentpole moments from passive to participatory, at massive scale.” The FIFA World Cup 2026 event across Roblox will begin on Friday, June 5, 2026 and run through Friday, July 31, 2026. While the event will conclude, FIFA Super Soccer will continue to be live operated as the home of soccer on Roblox. Fans across the world can join the action across these six games on Roblox for free on consoles, PCs, mobile, and tablets. The post FIFA and Gamefam launch FIFA World Cup 2026 event in Super Soccer and Roblox appeared first on GamesBeat. View the full article

Few franchises inspire as much debate over official canon changes as Star Wars. Whether it's a new Disney+ series, a novel, a comic book, or a video game, fans will scrutinize every miniscule detail added to the galaxy to figure out how it fits into the larger timeline. While some embrace new worlds, characters, and lore as exciting ways to expand the universe, others are much more critical, especially when new material introduces locations or concepts that could reshape established canon. View the full article

Oh wow - we're getting a real treat now. Atari / Nightdive Studios announced Thief: The Dark Project Remastered bringing the classic up to modern standards. Read the full article here: [Hidden Content] View the full article

Chapter 7 Season 3 brings plenty of new Sprites to discover in Fortnite, and some of them have game-changing abilities. Some of these abilities will significantly raise your chances of success on the island. However, few of them are not as useful as you might think. This guide will help you understand how every Sprite works and which ones are the top choices. Table of contentsComplete Fortnite Chapter 7 Season 3 Sprites tier listS-tierA-tierB-tierhttps://embeds.beehiiv.com/a8d62108-86ed-4039-bf49-44877ba62c15 Complete Fortnite Chapter 7 Season 3 Sprites tier list I have used three tiers to differentiate between the available Sprites. I have also ranked them based on the standard variant. Gold variants will offer you more experience, so you should always use them if possible. S-tier Sprites are the best possible choices in the current meta. A-tier choices are suitable alternatives to S-tier options. However, their abilities are slightly weaker or more situational. B-tier choices are poor options to use. Their in-game abilities aren’t strong enough to be considered in the current meta. S-tier Screenshot by Destructoid SpriteEffectReason****** SpriteGrants shields and health upon eliminationsThe ****** Sprite suits all types of players due to its powerful ability. Whenever you eliminate someone, you’ll get extra shields and health. This can be crucial towards the late game when you’re engaged in gunfights. The recovery amount raises when you level up the Sprite. Ghost SpriteGrants cloak for a duration upon reloadingWhenever you reload, you’ll become invisible for a short window. This can be crucial in an intense gunfight as becoming invisible will make it harder for your enemy to aim. Zero Point SpriteSpawn a Shield Bubble Jr. when you use a healing item on yourselfWhenever you heal during a fight, the Sprite will generate an extra shield to absorb damage. This is immensely useful since it’s like having two layers of protection at all times. You can rely on the shield to heal yourself, and then recharge your shields if required. A-tier Screenshot by Destructoid SpriteEffectReasonPunk SpriteOffers random items and a small chance at getting infinite ammoWhile this Sprite offers some great freebies, it’s RNG-based. Hence, you might end up with an item that you don’t need. Having infinite ammo is always useful, but that’s also not a guaranteed outcome. Duck SpriteGrants you shields when you’re emoting or jammingYou can regain shields by simply jamming or emoting. This works well when there are no remaining enemies around you. However, emoting to generate shields with an enemy nearby is impractical at all. Earth SpriteHigher chances of getting rare loots from chestsThis is perhaps the best starting Sprite to pick. You’ll have better chances of finding those rarer loot items and powering up quicker. Burn Peanut SpriteOffers a chance to find extra loot after eliminating someoneThe Sprite offers you a 20% chance to get extra loot when you eliminate someone. The rate goes up when you level up the Sprite. This is the rarest Sprite to find, which is also a contributing factor to this being in A-tier. B-tier SpriteEffectReasonKing SpriteBoosts Pickaxe damage Yes, there’s not much we can do (unless you want to run at everyone with the Pickaxe trying to clobber them). Dream SpriteGet extra loot every time you level upThe extra loot you get is nice, but the requirement isn’t. The Sprite also works only when you level it up, and the perks it provides aren’t unique. Water SpriteGenerates shields when you’re standing in waterStanding anywhere in Fortnite is a bad choice. Doing that when you might be taking fire isn’t a great idea. Fire SpriteCreates something fiery when you damage enemiesYes, you get a ring of fire when you’re attacking an enemy. However, chances are that you will also get burnt. /wp-content/themes/destructoid2025/assets/img/icons/likes-off.png0 The post Fortnite Chapter 7 Season 3 Sprite tier list—Best ones to use appeared first on Destructoid. View the full article

Hogwarts Legacy 2 is already one of the most anticipated games in the Wizarding World franchise, but recent details have left fans feeling a bit ambivalent about the open-world RPG. Following the massive success of the original Hogwarts Legacy, which became one of the best-selling games of the 2023, expectations for the sequel are incredibly high. View the full article

Thief: The Dark Project is the next classic game that will get the remaster treatment from Nightdive Studios. Atari-owned Nightdive, which specialises in remastering polygonal games from the late ’90s and early 2000s, is currently working on Thief: The Dark Project Remastered, with plans to release it this Winter. As well as the main base game from 1998, the remaster will also add the extra missions, content and updates from its 1999 re-release Thief Gold. Read More... View the full article

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PC users have only a few hours, as of this writing, to claim the 2020 survival horror game Remothered: Broken Porcelain for free. It serves as a prequel to Remothered: Tormented Fathers, although each explores different stories and can be played in any order, and this free game giveaway seems to be in celebration of the third game announcement for the franchise, Remothered: Red Nun's Legacy. As such, it's a good time for horror fans on PC to get into the game. View the full article

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Another Xbox Games Showcase, another no-show from The Elder Scrolls VI. Yes, we know it’s in development — Bethesda chief Todd Howard pops up to reassure fans every now and then. But the unescapable fact is this is a game that was announced eight years ago, on June 10, 2018, with a teaser trailer and we’ve not seen anything of it since. It also means that the wait between the announcement of The Elder Scrolls VI and now is longer than the wait between the release of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and the announcement of The Elder Scrolls VI itself. We don’t even know the name of the game, or where in the fantasy world it’s set. Information-starved GTA 6 fans don’t know how good they’ve got it! As you’d expect, The Elder Scrolls fans have reacted with disappointment to last week's Xbox Games Showcase. Some had dared to hope for at least a mention of the upcoming game. Of course, Bethesda turned up with updates for Fallout 76 and The Elder Scrolls Online, as it always does, but no word on The Elder Scrolls VI. It’s the hope that kills you, as they say. It’s gotten to the point now where some are realizing just how much their lives have changed since Skyrim’s release, and they're starting to worry about when they'll actually play The Elder Scrolls VI (2027? 2028? 2029?). “I was pregnant with my oldest son when Skyrim was released on my birthday,” redditor funny_bunny33 said. “He just celebrated his 14th birthday. I can't wait to give him this as a graduation present.” Some have even equated the wait for The Elder Scrolls VI to the carrion Emperor’s status sat on the Golden Throne in the grimdark far future of the 41st millennium. “It's uncomfortable how many years have passed and how old I am now. I've lived through my teens and now my 20s. Heading into my 30s and it still hasn't come. How much longer Bethesda, gonna be in a nappy at this rate,” said Branman1234. Hope I don't die before it comes out lol byu/jdawg1018 inElderScrolls .reddit-embed-wrapper iframe { margin-left: 0 !important; } “At this point it is more likely we will get the announcement of Skyrim for PS6 before TES VI,” joked another. “It’s actually bonkers, and frankly a stupid business decision, to wait 15 (probably 20 years) to follow up on one of the most popular game franchises of all time,” another said. The last time Todd Howard talked about The Elder Scrolls VI was in March 2026, when he joked that we should all pretend Bethesda hadn't announced it. This is a recurring theme; in February, Howard admitted — once again — that he would have preferred not to have announced the game so early. Howard has warned eager fans as recently as last November that the game is "still a long way off" and has even teased that he may just shadow drop it. He reiterated in February that "it's gonna be a while yet," and confirmed that, "We're able to play it, we're about to pass a big milestone internally, the majority of the studio is on the game and some of our partners." But Howard has also claimed all this waiting is necessary for the game to be great. “What do fans really want?” he said in December of last year. “Do they want a game that comes out before it should and doesn’t meet their expectations? Or do they want the turkey that is in the oven for long enough to be delicious when it finally comes out of the oven, you know? That’s what I think people are going to want. So, we’re going to take our time and as long as it needs to be great.” Here's everything announced at Xbox Games Showcase 2026, if you fancy reading about loads of video games that aren't The Elder Scrolls VI. 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

I have a very short history with MOBAs—apart from being dragged into one too many League of Legends games, I've tried to keep my exposure to a minimum. But that all changed when Valve semi-released Deadlock into alpha... Read more.View the full article

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Strahd von Zarovich, D&D's most famous vampire, is many things. He's a capable soldier and strategist. He's a toxic yearner with serious incel energy. He's a snappy dresser who canonically has 28 capes in his closet. Read the full story on Wargamer: D&D's new Ravenloft book changes Strahd's stats again, and I'm not a fan View the full article

Fictions and Game Freak have revealed the first batch of voice talent in Beast of Reincarnation. View the full article

If you’ve spent enough time browsing Steam, you’ve probably noticed that the Overwhelmingly Positive badge isn’t handed out lightly. Plenty of games launch to strong reviews, but only a small number manage to maintain that level of praise across thousands of players, let alone for multiple years after release. The best part is that some of those games won’t cost you a thing. Whether you’re looking for a weekend distraction, a memorable story, or something you’ll keep returning to for months, there is a surprising amount of quality hiding behind a free download button. Here are ten of the community’s favorites: 1. TRY AGAIN Fighting for main character status. | Image Credit: the Rejects TRY AGAIN follows Benny, a temporary test character stuck inside an unfinished game world on what is effectively his last day of existence. The developer (The Designer) is under pressure from her publisher, the game is nowhere near ready, and Benny would quite like to avoid being deleted before everything is over. The idea alone would have carried a lesser game, but TRY AGAIN backs it up with excellent platforming and a surprising amount of creativity. Levels constantly shift around Benny, reacting to the developer’s increasingly frantic attempts to finish the project. The most common complaint you’ll find in Steam reviews is that it ends too soon. 2. Gravitas Puzzles and ego trips. | Image Credit: Galaxy Shark Studios If you’ve ever found yourself lost in Portal 2, you’ll feel right at home here. Gravitas takes place inside the Gallery of Refined Gravity, a bizarre museum filled with increasingly dangerous exhibits and an equally bizarre Curator who insists on reminding you that everything was his idea. The puzzles are clever, but the Curator is what most people remember. He’s constantly talking, and the game is smart enough to react when you solve a puzzle before he’s finished explaining it. Not bad for a project that began as a student development effort. 3. Disfigure Darkness cuts both ways here. | Image Credit: Cold Brew Entertainment The easiest way to describe Disfigure is as a survival roguelike in which darkness is just as dangerous as the monsters hiding within it. Every run forces you to balance awareness and firepower while the screen fills with increasingly unpleasant things trying to kill you. The “vision system” adds an extra layer of tension to every run. Seeing farther means narrowing your field of view, while seeing more around you comes at the cost of distance. Add in the huge pool of upgrades and weapon modifiers, and no two runs tend to play out quite the same way. 4. STRAFTAT Blink and it’s over. | Image Credit: Lemaitre Bros STRAFTAT’s main hook is that every match is strictly either a 1v1 duel or a 2v2 showdown. It is, quite literally, a “1v1 me/2v2 us bro” simulator, with rounds ending so quickly that rematches become inevitable. Its movement is a huge part of why those matches work so well. Sprinting, corner peeking, sliding, wall-running, and bouncing through maps become second nature surprisingly quickly, turning every fight into a frantic test of aim and mobility. With more than seventy maps available in the free version, repetition rarely becomes an issue either. 5. 93, Kuindzhi Silence tells the story. | Image Credit: Nikita Igorevich Studio/Smysl Media 93, Kuindzhi is a short first-person narrative experience (in the vein of “walking simulators” like What Remains of Edith Finch) that follows Artyom, an 18-year-old volunteer helping civilians in Mariupol after his father is drafted. He refuses to carry a weapon, and the game never tries to turn him into a hero. Much of its impact comes from the atmosphere. Creaking buildings, distant artillery, and long stretches of silence do a lot of the storytelling. It’s a difficult game in terms of subject matter, but one that approaches it with a great deal of restraint. 6. Harbinger Old-school carnage returns. | Image Credit: Dobrx/Split Signal Harbinger feels like it was made by people who spent far too many hours playing shooters from the 1990s and decided that was a perfectly reasonable foundation for a modern game. The result is a fast, bloody shooter that rewards movement just as much as accuracy. You’ll spend most of your time blasting through monsters before retreating to the Tavern between runs to unlock new tools and prepare for the next trip back into the chaos. 7. Bloody Hell Cute, until the combat commences. | Image Credit: Pun Intended The premise of Bloody Hell is simple enough: an angel goes to Hell to kill Satan. What follows is a surprisingly substantial metroidvania packed with secrets, upgrades, boss fights, and a lot more blood than the not-so-subtle title itself might suggest. The fact that it was built by a team of just three students makes it even easier to appreciate. Years after release, Steam reviews are still full of people wondering why a game of this quality was released for free in the first place. 8. The Expendabros Four “bros,” endless chaos. | Image Credit: Free Lives/Devolver Digital Promotional tie-in games don’t usually stick around in gaming conversations for very long. The Expendabros is one of the rare exceptions. Originally released alongside The Expendables 3, it drops up to four players into destructible levels filled with explosions, bullets, and enough action movie references to keep the joke going from start to finish. It helps that the game itself is genuinely fun, even if you’ve never seen the films. 9. Nightmare House: The Original Mod The hospital awaits. | Image Credit: We Create Stuff Before survival horror leaned heavily on stealth and helplessness, Nightmare House took a different approach by giving players the means to defend themselves while still maintaining a constant sense of dread. This F2P standalone Steam release preserves one of the most memorable Source engine horror mods of its time. Its unsettling atmosphere and effective scares have all aged quite well, but its real strength is in the overall pacing. Every time the game starts to feel predictable, it introduces a new twist that keeps the tension high and players on edge. 10. Wires And Whiskers Teamwork not sold separately. | Image Credit: ISART DIGITAL Wires And Whiskers is a co-op puzzle game about a cybernetic gerbil and the oversized exosuit built to keep it alive. As premises go, it’s certainly one of the stranger ones on this list. One player controls the agile gerbil while the other operates the exosuit’s weapons and puzzle-solving tools. The whole thing can be finished in well under an hour, but it’s packed with enough clever ideas to leave a much ******* impression than its runtime suggests. Here are all the 10 Overwhelmingly Positive-rated free-to-play games we’ve discussed above, at a glance: GameGenreRelease Date1. TRY AGAINPuzzle PlatformerJuly 15, 20232. GravitasPuzzle PlatformerAugust 24, 20193. DisfigureAction RoguelikeJuly 27, 20234. STRAFTAT1v1/2v2 First Person ShooterOctober 24, 20245. 93, KuindzhiNarrative ExperienceMay 20, 20266. HarbingerBoomer ShooterOctober 3, 20247. Bloody HellMetroidvaniaJanuary 27, 20238. The ExpendabrosAction PlatformerAugust 5, 20149. Nightmare House: The Original ModHorror ShooterNovember 14, 202410. Wires And WhiskersCo-op Puzzle GameAugust 1, 2025 Have you played any of these already, and which free game do you think is a true hidden gem on Steam? Let us know in the comments below! View the full article

Xbox's Fable reboot now has a confirmed 2027 release date of February 23, 2027, pushing it well clear of the GTA 6 ****** hole. A fresh trailer was shown off at the recent Xbox Showcase, revealing British icon and Hollywood star Hayley Atwell as its villain. The trailer then concluded with a tease of Fable's original villain, Jack of Blades. Fable is also now up for preorder at most major retailers in the US, so here's a quick guide on what's up for grabs and what comes in each of its three different editions. Fable - Standard Edition Xbox See at WalmartSee at Best BuySee at GameStopSee at AmazonSee at Xbox Store (Digital) PS5 See at WalmartSee at Best BuySee at GameStopSee at AmazonSee at PS Store (Digital) PC See at SteamSee at Xbox Store Fable's standard edition includes the base game on disc, alongside a preorder content bonus pack. This features the "questionably heroic Chicken Suit" and a collection of "charming" in-game Gifts. That incluides a "Wild Flower Bouquet", a "Toy Chicken", and a "Scones & Jam Picnic Hamper". The Amazon product description notes that these can be used "to build your reputation and shape how Albion sees your Hero". All preorders for Fable will include this content pack, so anyone purchasing the standard, premium, or Collector's Edition. Fable - Premium Edition Fable's Premium Edition is available as a digital only purchase for $99.99 on Xbox, PS5, and PC, or as a seperate upgrade pack for $39.99. The Premium Edition includes the full game with Early Access, letting you play up to 5 days before launch (launch is Feb. 23, so you can play the game from Feb. 18). Even more notably, it's also confirmed that Fable will be getting post launch content already, with the Fable: Order of the Hero DLC. This is described as a "story‑driven expansion" that draws players into "the secrets of a dark, ancient cult" that hides deep within Albion. This expansion is also included at no extra cost with the Premium Edition. You’ll also receive x3 each of the following in‑game Gifts: "Queen’s Bouquets", "Bags of Offal", and "Decadent Gold Leaf Bread" - which, similar to the other preorder bonuses, can also be used to build or alter your Albion reputation, or as the Fable site describes it "provoke admiration, disgust, or something romantically complicated". But, there's more, as players will also get the Premium Content Pack, that, according to the Fable website, features two "distinctive" cosmetic armour sets: the "refined Splendid Armour" and the "unapologetically rugged Bastard Armour", with the matching footwear, legs, and torso pieces. Fable - Collector's Edition Fable's Collector’s Edition is available for Xbox, PlayStation 5 and PC, and costs $199.99. It bundles the game with a Steelbook, a collectible Jack of Blades statue and other exclusive items, including the Premium and Preorder content packs as discussed above. The edition is currently available to preorder exclusively from the Xbox Gear Store, with no additional retail partners confirmed so far. Note: at the time of publication, this is out of stock. Physical CollectiblesJack of Blades StatuetteHardcover Art BookCollectible SteelBook caseCustom Heroes Guild Seal PinEarly Access – Play up to 5 days before launchFull game (Xbox and PlayStation customers will receive a physical disc, Steam customers will receive a digital code)Fable Premium Edition Content PackFable: Order of the Hero expansion (coming post-launch)Fable Digital Art Book & SoundtrackIs Fable Still Coming to PS5 in 2027? Yes, Fable is also launching on PS5 next year. While Xbox is reworking its approach to exclusives (again), unlike Gears of War: E-Day and Clockwork Revolution, which were recently announced to be Xbox console exclusives, Fable will also launch on PS5, alongside Xbox and PC on February 23, 2027. Fable is also coming "Day One" to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers, so it's worth keeping that in mind if that's your prefered way to play Xbox Game Studios games. More Preorder Guides Robert Anderson is IGN's Senior Commerce Editor and resident deals expert on games, collectibles, trading card games, and more. You can follow him @robertliam21 on Bluesky. View the full article

Amazon says it still wants to make a game set in J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy universe despite canceling a Lord of the Rings MMO it had in development. Earlier this year it was reported that Amazon’s The Lord of the Rings MMO was dead, but with a sliver of hope that the company would still eventually release some sort of Lord of the Rings game in the future. Amazon issued a statement at the time saying: “Our creative team continues to explore a compelling new game experience that does justice to Tolkien's world; we are working closely with Middle-earth and remain excited about the IP.” IGN spoke to Jeff Gattis, GM of Amazon Gaming at Summer Game Fest last week to find out more. “Well, nothing's been canceled per se,” Gattis insisted, before revealing Amazon is currently evalulating various concepts to help figure out what kind of Lord of the Rings game it wants to make. “It's not the most satisfying answer, but the true answer is we're still looking at a number of different things,” Gattis said. “I looked at a project a couple of weeks ago that I thought was quite compelling that perhaps we can go forward with. But evaluating different concepts is trying to figure out what game we want to make, what's the right one for our audience, what's the right one for the broader audience. And my hope is that we'll get there.” The usphot is Gattis confirmed to me that Amazon definitely stills plan to make a Lord of the Rings game, and that it would be completely separate to the recently announced Middle-earth open world RPG in development at Kingdom Come: Deliverance developer Warhorse. Amazon is seemingly committed to making video games based on IP, both that it owns, such as Tomb Raider, James Bond, and The Lord of the Rings, as well as others outside of its portfolio, like the recently released Masters of the Universe: Legends Unite. But don’t count on any brand new franchises being created solely for Amazon video games. “We have not been, to be candid with you, really focused on creating new IP per se, around characters and the like,” Gattis said. “There are a lot of things that we're investing in, which I call more innovative game mechanics and things like that. And there might be IP that comes out of that. Like I said, we've got a ton in development right now. We almost just wish this stuff could come faster so that I could have proof points to tell you instead of just saying, ‘Trust me, we've got stuff coming.' But all in due time.” Amazon’s recent history in AAA game development has been rocky to say the least. Last year's announcement that MMO New World would go into maintenance mode came as part of a round of layoffs affecting an eye-watering 14,000 roles. Bloomberg had reported that Amazon was cutting back especially on MMOs, and that the layoffs included “significant” cuts to Amazon’s video game operation across its Irvine and San Diego offices. Earlier this year, former Amazon Game Studios boss Christoph Hartman left the company in what was reported as a continued retreat from the PC and console video-game space in favor of Amazon's cloud gaming service Luna. Nonetheless, Gattis insisted that Amazon Game Studios remains active in the AAA market. “Yeah, very much committed to it,” he stated. “But committed to the right AAA for the platform. I think that's part of the assessment we've done over the past year is just trying to understand what content makes sense. Tomb Raider makes a ton of sense, we think. There are other things in the pipeline. Broad appeal IP fits in with Prime Video. What we don't want to necessarily do is AAA things that don't really have any real reason to exist in Amazon.” Gattis admitted it hasn’t been easy for Amazon to break into the AAA space, but hopes a new approach to what players can expect to play from Amazon Game Studios will help find its place in the market. “I always start with very Amazon things,” Gattis said. “Start with your customer, understand your audience. And I think that's been part of it for Amazon. I don't think there's been a real clear understanding of what role Amazon plays in the game space and who we're going after. I think there can be a tendency with a lot of big companies to say, 'Oh, we see a big market. We want to be in it.' And that's not really the Amazon way. Let's zoom out and figure out, where is there an opportunity that's underserved in the market and how can Amazon actually bring some unique value here? And if we can't, let's stay out of it. And I think it's been that assessment to give me confidence that we've got it right now, but it's hard.” “The AAA space in particular, very difficult to break into,” he continued. “These companies have spent literally decades and billions and tens of billions of dollars to build up install bases and IP and network effects and friends and all the stores. So I think it's going to be very hard for a brand new high end platform to emerge.” The first big test for this new approach from Amazon, will be its revival of Tomb Raider, with Legacy of Atlantis — a reimagining of Lara Croft’s original adventure coming in February 2027 — followed by a entirely new game, Tomb Raider: Catalyst and the Sophie Turner-led Prime Video TV show. Simon Cardy is a Senior Editor at IGN who can mainly be found skulking around open world games, indulging in Korean cinema, or despairing at the state of Tottenham Hotspur and the New York Jets. Follow him on Bluesky at @cardy.bsky.social. View the full article

After a gameplay demo for the upcoming Gears of War: E-Day was revealed during the Xbox Games Showcase, one of the franchise's original creators, Cliff Bleszinski, took to Twitter to share his thoughts. While Bleszinski is not involved in the production of Gears of War: E-Day, he previously worked as the lead designer on the first three installments, which gives his comments on the new iteration some extra weight. View the full article

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Konami has announced more details on Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse, including its release date. The game will be released on October 15 on PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC, the publisher confirmed. Co-developed by Konami and Evil Empire (The Rogue Prince of Persia) with advisory help from Motion Twin (Dead Cells), Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse is designed to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Castlevania series. Read More... View the full article

One missed from last week is The Lost Wild, a terrifying game that will probably make me need a fresh set of pants after playing it. Read the full article here: [Hidden Content] View the full article

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[Hidden Content] the full article