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Either way, Adriyan Rae "worked on it very hard"View the full article

XD released Sword of Convallaria, a tactical RPG for iOS, Android, and PC to audiences in the west in August ’24 (around a year after the game’s East Asian launch). Heavily influenced by Tactics Ogre and Final Fantasy Tactics, the game has captivated fans with its meticulously crafted war story and highly strategic battles, all played out to a beautiful soundtrack. Just over a year following its release, a truly major collaboration between Sword of Convallaria: For This World of Peace and CD PROJEKT RED's open-world RPG The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt has been fully realised and delivered to gamers. Geralt, Yennefer, Triss, and Ciri now appear in Sword of Convallaria as playable characters; allowing players to enjoy collaborative stories and quests surrounding the Lord of the Forest from another world. Bartosz Sztybor, Franchise Creative Director at CD PROJEKT RED, explained his take on the collaboration and how it came together: “At CD PROJEKT RED, storytelling is at the heart of everything we do, and we take a hands-on approach even when collaborating with external partners. For our partnership with Sword of Convallaria, our Franchise Creative team worked closely with developer XD International to craft a story that captures the essence of The Witcher universe, both for the anime trailer and the collaboration quest. Working with a partner who shares our passion for The Witcher is always a privilege, and we’re thrilled with the results of what we’ve created together. We’re looking forward to sharing the fruits of this partnership with the community, and can’t wait to see their response!” CD PROJEKT RED’s Satoru Homma, Japan Country Manager, offered further insight into their partnership with XD Games: “For the collaboration between Sword of Convallaria and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, I was responsible for project management on behalf of CD PROJEKT RED. I am personally a huge fan of Sword of Convallaria, and I had a strong desire to see The Witcher 3’s characters — rendered in beautiful pixel art — playable within a tactical RPG. With the deep love and understanding Sword of Convallaria’s team holds for The Witcher 3, and under the thorough supervision of our in-house lore specialists, we were able to deliver grounded and authentic storytelling in the collaboration quest. I sincerely hope that The Witcher 3 players who may be unfamiliar with the tactical RPG genre will take the time to enjoy this content, which is infused with a deep appreciation for the world and its characters. Director of Sword of Convallaria, Guo Lei (of XD Games)spoke about this collaboration in more detail — as well as the circumstances that led to it becoming a reality. Inspired by Tactics Ogre, which he played in high school, Guo always wanted to become a game creator. He is also a fan of The Witcher 3, and his favourite characters are Geralt and Yennefer. Guo on Sword of Convallaria passing the first anniversary of its western release and how he feels looking back on the past year: Sword of Convallaria got off to a successful start, but there was a ******* when we were searching for the right direction to go in. However, thanks to the support of our fans, we were able to turn things around and successfully celebrate our first anniversary. From now on, we will continue to develop the game with confidence and enjoyment for the fans who have high expectations for it. Regarding the game's content, the Global version saw the release of Iria, and the story of her stepping into the world that lies beyond was depicted on the first anniversary. In the future, Sword of Convallaria will enter its 2.0 story arc, taking players on adventures beyond Iria, and develop a story in which the player protects peace. We hope you will look forward to it. — On how the The Witcher 3 collaboration came about: Guo: From the beginning, our team had already been acquainted with the CDPR China team. During one of these casual conversations, we mentioned that it would be exciting if we could one day work on something together based on Sword of Convallaria and The Witcher 3. Later, we had the opportunity to meet the CDPR Japan team in person at Tokyo Game Show 2024. During our discussions there, I showed them my personal love for The Witcher 3 and the interest in exploring whether we might create something together. They encouraged us to submit a formal proposal, which set the collaboration into motion. The Witcher 3 is a game that boasts worldwide popularity, so I was over the moon when he positively considered our proposal for a collaboration. After considerable effort, the collaboration was officially approved. From that point onward, both teams dedicated nearly a full year to development, ultimately bringing this collaboration to life in the form you see today. What it was about The Witcher 3 that particularly appealed to him: First of all, it's the sense of immersion that comes with being so realistic. You get the feeling that you're immersed in the world, something you can't experience in other games. Also, it's the story element. What's great about it is that it depicts so many stories that you can empathise with. It's very unique in that you make painful choices that change the outcome of the story. I was overwhelmed by how the fascinating characters play an active role in the story. How the story was designed, its core themes, and the creative collaboration behind it We wanted to create the worldview of The Witcher 3 within the world of Sword of Convallaria. However, it goes against Geralt's beliefs to get involved in conflicts between nations, and in fact, if we were to depict an epic story involving The Witcher 3, we felt that it would be quite a high hurdle to figure out how to resolve it. For this reason, we decided to aim for a down-to-earth story. The story revolves around the Leshen from The Witcher 3 appearing and causing trouble, and Geralt and his friends teaming up with the Leader to defeat it. Behind the scenes, the story also depicts the malice of people. For example, when a problem occurs, people assume that it is the work of those from a different background to themselves and blame them. The theme of the story poses a question of morality, as Geralt and Yennefer intervene to try to resolve this. In The Witcher 3, Geralt and Yennefer are portrayed as unusual people who present differently from the average person. Naturally, they have differing personalities and ways of conducting themselves. We made it a priority to carefully express the various facets of these characters in the collaborative story. We made sure to communicate closely with CD PROJEKT RED. We created shared documents, edited those documents, and received feedback, all of which allowed us to proceed with development meticulously and efficiently. This resulted in a fun development experience unlike any other. How they approached reimagining The Witcher 3 characters into the pixel-based world of Sword of Convallaria: The Witcher 3 has a realistic 3D visual style, but when translating that into pixel art, our first priority was to think about how to express the movement in a way that would satisfy players. However, the designers also love The Witcher 3, so they had fun designing it with care, for example, to make it clear the difference between a silver sword and a steel sword. As a result, I got the impression that the visuals went smoothly. The regions that were main target for the collaboration: Worldwide. Sword of Convallaria is available in four languages: ********, Japanese, English, and Korean. As with The Witcher 3, we have a global perspective and want game fans around the world to enjoy Sword of Convallaria Sword IP. Therefore, every region is important to us. If I had to say, we're particularly interested in English-speaking countries. We see the English-speaking world as a region where we still want to gain more fans for Sword of Convallaria. It goes without saying that The Witcher 3 has already gained many English-speaking fans, so we hope that this collaboration will help us further appeal to the English-speaking world. Aspects that particularly stood out for him during this collaboration: I think this was a true collaboration. The fact that both parties were working together in the same direction was a feeling I'd never had before, and it was a lot of fun. It was a wonderful experience for us. So, this time, we were able to communicate directly with CDPR, and not only was it very efficient, but we also felt that everyone gained something from this project. The part of the collaboration that symbolised its success, or made him especially proud to be a part of it: What’s necessary when collaborating with other artists is love for the work. I think that only when we have a strong love for the work can we create something that satisfies our collaborators. We ourselves had always wanted to collaborate with The Witcher 3, but it was thanks to CDPR that we were able to make it happen. We are truly happy. We have also prepared skins for Geralt, Yennefer, and Triss. We have created skins based on the scenes that moved us the most while we were playing The Witcher 3. Geralt usually wears armor, but for this skin we created one that realistically expresses the love between father and daughter when Ciri visits Geralt. As for Triss, in The Witcher 3, Triss and Geralt attend a dance party. However, the two of them aren't very interested in the dance party, so they sneak out midway through and enjoy a date in the garden. We recreated that atmosphere with the skin. Each skin was created with love, so I hope all players will check them out. His message to the Sword of Convallaria players who are looking forward to the collaboration: I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to all of our fans. It is thanks to you all that Sword of Convallaria has grown so much over the past year or so, and that we have been able to safely reach our first anniversary. Thank you so much! Thanks to everyone's support, we were able to collaborate with The Witcher 3. How will Geralt and his friends play a role in the world of Sword of Convallaria? We hope that not only the Leaders but also fans of The Witcher 3 will enjoy the event. ©XD Inc. The Witcher® is a trademark of CD Projekt S.A. The Witcher game ©CD Projekt S.A. All rights reserved. The Witcher game is based on a novel by Andrzej Sapkowski. All other copyrights and trademarks are the property of their respective owners. View the full article

Xbox Game Pass is hands-down one of the best valued subscription services for gamers out there, and the popular Free Play Days feature has become a huge selling point for players. Subscribers across all tiers can enjoy excellent free games for a limited time, with a wide range of options, but Free Play Days also features games that all Xbox users can download, even those without Game Pass subscriptions. View the full article

Ever felt lost at sea in the first days of a new job? I'll admit it—my first weeks at PC Gamer, I had no idea what I was doing (some might say that's still the case). I was just trying to keep my head above water and not publish anything libellous, or at least nothing both libellous and unfunny... Read more.View the full article

Year in Review 2025 | The JRPG wasn't supposed to be "big," it was supposed to be "cool" – and 7 months later, it's officially bothView the full article

In a year absolutely packed with incredible games, we've determined the very bestView the full article

There are several forms of Omnimon, tooView the full article

According to a recent rumor, a new Star Wars game could be announced at The Game Awards this year, and it's not Star Wars Zero Company or Star Wars Eclipse. The rumor comes from @Kurakasis via a post on XCancel, which was then shared in a post on Reddit by user TomorrowComes33. For now, there is no hint at which Star Wars game it is, only what it is not, and it is as much guarantee that it will appear at The Game Awards 2025 as it is that the rumor is actually true. Nevertheless, any sign that a new Star Wars title could be on the way is enough to stir the excitement of franchise fans and get them anticipating what comes next. View the full article

The game launches on February 11, 2026 for $50View the full article

Tim Cain, one of the creators of the original Fallout video game, has rejoined Xbox studio Obsidian Entertainment to work on a mystery project. In a video published on his YouTube channel (which he's used to tell a lot of fun stories about the making of the first Fallout game), Cain said he was now a full-time member of staff at Obsidian, last seen releasing The Outer Worlds 2, Grounded 2, and Avowed. This means he’s not a contractor anymore, and so is not working at other studios, although there is a game set to come out at some point in the future that will have his name on it. Cain wouldn’t say anything about the project he’s joined Obsidian to work on, and told fans not to even bother guessing what it is. “I also can’t talk about the project I’m working on at Obsidian, just because that’s covered under NDA,” he said. “Don’t bother guessing. You’re not going to guess right. I would say that I’m probably a lot less retired now than I was before, so that whole video I have on being semi-retired, I guess I’m not.” Cain last worked at Obsidian as a full-time employee on Pillars of Eternity and The Outer Worlds. He then moved to being a contractor, contributing to The Outer Worlds 2. Obsidian has yet to announce its next project. Last month, Obsidian developers said they were well aware that whenever the studio announces a new game, people ask where Fallout: New Vegas 2 is, but they also love how they’ve been able to create new IP and even release sequels to them. Fallout Season 2 is set to hit Prime Video this December, and while Bethesda has a new Fallout: New Vegas bundle up its sleeve, there’s no word yet on a Fallout remaster or a Fallout: New Vegas 2 to capitalize on the surge of interest in the franchise. Obsidian is of course the developer of the much-loved 2010 RPG Fallout: New Vegas, so fans often wonder whether it will return to the setting for a sequel, especially given it’s now owned by Bethesda parent company Microsoft. Obsidian, though, has focused on making brand new games, and it is prolific in doing so. It’s released Grounded (Grounded 2 came out this year), fantasy RPG Avowed (which came out this year), and sci-fi RPG The Outer Worlds (The Outer Worlds 2 came out this year). Pentiment, which came out last year, was another brand new game, although I wouldn’t expect a sequel to that any time soon. Last month, the Fallout 3 remaster that leaked back in 2023 was said to be still in the works. In response to Bethesda development chief Todd Howard’s recent interview with GQ, in which he talked about The Elder Scrolls 6 still being some way off and “some other things we're doing” in the Fallout franchise, VGC reported that a remaster of Fallout 3 along the same lines as this year’s The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered is among them. There are all sorts of rumors floating around about potential Fallout remakes, and certainly a growing expectation among fans that Bethesda will turn to its older Fallout video games to keep fans on-side while they wait for The Elder Scrolls 6. 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

It’s that time of the year when a flurry of new video game trailers and gameplay reveals are shown as part of the annual Game Awards. And while who wins Game of the Year will steal some of the headlines on December 11, a lot of the excitement also comes from the secrets and surprises that get unleashed in the form of new game announcements. So we’re keeping tabs on what has been confirmed to make an appearance so far, what has been teased, and some of the pie-in-the-sky dream games we know deep down in our brains won’t be there, but our heart tells us there might just be a chance. Don’t worry, we’re not going to be quite as far-fetched as to say GTA 6 will be at The Game Awards, nor The Witcher 4, which CD Projekt Red has already confirmed won’t be. But that’s enough of that. Let’s head straight into what you can expect from The Game Awards 2025. What We Know Will Be There Regal. Inspiring. Thickness. No, not words often used to describe me, but the ones that accompanied Geoff Keighley’s social media post of a mysterious ******-covered monolith that appeared in the Mojave Desert last week. Theories have been flying out as to what it could be teasing, but much of that speculation has been debunked, with Diablo, God of War, and The Elder Scrolls 6 all supposedly not what it relates to. What do you think it is? regal.inspiring.thickness [Hidden Content] — Geoff Keighley (@geoffkeighley) November 29, 2025 We do know that Resident Evil Requiem will be showing up on the 11th with a new look at the long-running horror series’ latest entry. Arriving early next year, rumours have been circulating ever since its original reveal that Resident Evil 4 hunk, Leon Kennedy, will make an appearance in Requiem. Is now the time for Capcom to confirm his inclusion? A new playable character will be revealed for Invincible VS, though. The fighting game adaptation of the cult-favourite comic and animated TV show has garnered a lot of attention since its summer reveal, so who do you think this character will be? We’ll also get a good look at Exodus, the upcoming sci-fi action RPG from Archetype Studios, formed by former BioWare developers. With that sort of Mass Effect pedigree behind it, it's certainly one we’re looking forward to seeing a lot more of. We also know that a new Total War game will be revealed by developer Creative Assembly, following the series' 25th anniversary. And finally, we know that one of the musical performances on Thursday night will be from Evanescence, who will be showcasing their song “Afterlife” from the Netflix adaptation of ****** May Cry. Would I prefer they did “Bring Me to Life” with Nathan Fielder dressed as an airline pilot on backing vocals? Yes, of course, but we can’t have everything in this world. What Might Be There Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 broke the record for the most nominations of The Game Awards, and looks set to be one of the big winners of the night. Could we see a release date announcement for the upcoming free update that will add a new dungeon, among other treats? Who knows, maybe even a cheeky little shadow drop… Another announcement we could see from one of the big nominees of the night is a wider console release for Hades 2. Currently only on PC and Switch, could one of 2025’s best games come to PS5 and Xbox? Fallout Season 2 arrives on Amazon Prime Video on December 17, and given Geoff’s penchant for having stars of the big and small screen on stage at The Game Awards, we wouldn’t be shocked to see some combination of Ella Purnell and Walton Goggins arrive to give us a sneak peek of what’s to come. Speaking of stars of the big screen, things don’t come much more cinematic than James Bond. 007 First Light is the upcoming action-adventure from Hitman studio IO Interactive, and it's shaping up very nicely, as you can read in my big preview. With it coming out in March 2026, surely we’re due for another hit on the Bond pipe soon. Could a big reveal, such as who the villain will be, or who is performing the game’s theme, be at The Game Awards? The stage certainly seems set for the latter to come with a live performance at the show. Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra, which is being helmed by Uncharted’s Amy Hennig, moved out of early 2026. The delay may mean that we’ll be waiting a little longer to play Captain America and ****** Panther’s WW2 adventure, but is now the time for a full gameplay reveal? Speaking of Marvel, Insomniac’s Marvel’s Wolverine is due late 2026, and while we’ve had some teases of what it will look like in action, we’d certainly love to see more. As for other PlayStation exclusives, Housemarque’s Saros looks set to follow in the sci-fi shooter footsteps of breakout hit Returnal when it arrives in March. Again, we’d love to see more. And one PlayStation Studios game, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, may well be a while off yet — if you think you’re playing this in 2026, keep dreaming — but seeing as it got its big reveal at last year’s Game Awards, it wouldn’t be a stretch to see a ******* look at Naughty Dog’s next project very soon. On the Xbox side of things, could we finally get a good look at some Fable gameplay? Or maybe see Gears of War: E-Day in action? There’s also Forza Horizon 6 on the way next year, of which we’ve seen nothing but the smallest of teasers. We know it's set in Japan, so we would love to see just how beautiful Playground Games’ depiction of Tokyo is. Plus, let’s face it, driving games can never resist pulling out all of the stops and placing their cover car centre of stage at events like this. It also wouldn’t be a Geoff Keighley show with a sprinkling of Hideo Kojima into the mix. The Metal Gear Solid creator is up for a few awards thanks to Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, but might we also get a look at what is coming up next from him? Xbox horror exclusive OD: Knock continues to be teased as it conjures up unsettling memories of P.T, so we could see more of that. There’s also Physint, his PlayStation espionage action exclusive. That may well be far away at this point, but not beyond the realms of possibility for Kojima to tease further. Another legendary developer, Ken Levine, continues to work away on Judas. It’s been over 12 years since he last released a game, 2013’s Bioshock Infinite, so who really knows if now is the time to finally give us a launch date for this one. I’m very excited about it, but I won’t let myself get carried away until I have any idea when I’ll actually be able to play it. Something I have already been able to play a little of is Phantom Blade Zero, a quite punishing sword action game from ******** developer S-Game. It was originally meant to arrive in 2025, but could a release date finally be unveiled on the 11th? And, finally for now. FromSoftware’s Switch 2 exclusive, The Duskbloods, has been very quiet ever since its initial reveal back in April's Nintendo Direct. Due for 2026 – and seeing Keighley has had several previous Hidetaka Miyazaki-related reveals at The Game Awards in the past – maybe now is the time for an in-depth look at exactly what this co-op action RPG is. What We Can Dream Will Be There Well, at least we don’t have to close our eyes and cross our fingers in hope of a Hollow Knight: Silksong release date anymore. But will Team Cherry tease DLC for one of 2025’s best games? Even I won’t go as far as to genuinely suggest that. Another one of this year’s best games is Donkey Kong Bananza, which served as Nintendo’s big launch window 3D platformer. That may have come as a surprise to some who thought Mario would have that position nailed down. Could we see a new 3D Mario game announced at The Game Awards? It’s admittedly a long shot, but with the new Super Mario Galaxy Movie on the way next Spring, it sure would be nice to have a new game to play alongside it. What might be more likely is a look at what Cory Barlog has been cooking up at Sony Santa Monica. A new game from the God of War director outside of that universe has been rumoured for a long time now, and it feels like we may be getting closer to seeing what it is. The Game Awards has a pattern of bringing back past winners of the Game of the Year award to tease their next projects. So this gives us a little hope here. Following on from that train of thought, two recent recipients of the big prize have been Elden Ring and Baldur’s Gate 3. The former’s creator, FromSoftware, may well bring The Duskbloods with them, as mentioned earlier, but what about a new single-player action RPG in the mould of what has made them so well-renowned? Bloodborne 2, anyone? I almost feel bad for mentioning it. As for Baldur’s Gate 3, developer Larian is surely now working on its next game, although seeing as BG3 did take many, many years to make, we won’t be expecting to play this one soon. Could we see a tease of what’s to come, though? Do you think it would be Baldur’s Gate 4 or something altogether different? Baldur’s Gate’s original developer, BioWare, has its sights set on the stars, as the EA studio returns to the beloved sci-fi RPG series, Mass Effect. Could we be given a glimpse into where the story may be heading next? Or dare we even dream of some Mass Effect 5 gameplay? That may be a little too far, but I do like to dream. And speaking of dreaming, I can’t not mention Half-Life 3. Rumours have been circulating over recent weeks that the long, long-awaited FPS sequel might actually be in development, with an announcement imminent. Could it actually be at The Game Awards? Geoff Keighley does have a long history with Valve, but these days it operates more like Rockstar does, with outside help rarely called on for its big marketing beats. Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to see Gordon Freeman pop up on that giant screen, but I won’t believe it until I do. What would be your dream Game Awards reveal? Let us know in the comments below. Mine, as ever, would be a full Burnout reboot from the original Criterion team, but I may have to admit that I’m not living in 2005 anymore. 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

Warhorse Studios, the developer of Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, is seemingly teasing a potential current-gen upgrade for the game's underrated predecessor from 2018. As the studio has now released the final DLC for Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, it looks like it could be turning its attention back to the first entry in the series. When asked by a fan for a PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S upgrade for Kingdom Come: Deliverance, Warhorse simply responded with the side-eye emoji. While it's not exactly confirmation, it does feel like the studio is telling fans to keep their eyes peeled. View the full article

Amazon's schedule of free games can sometimes be hard to keep up with, and December is no exception. Prime subscribers are getting 14 holiday gifts this season, most of which can be activated on the PC game storefronts GOG and Epic Games. View the full article

An RPG legend goes back to a legendary RPG studioView the full article

All new ****** Ops 7 season 1 content, roadmap, and release timeView the full article

Now Playing | After 20+ hours in Octopath Traveler 0, I'm loving its combat system, but its plethora of party members come with a big downsideView the full article

Fallout creator and former The Outer Worlds co-director Tim Cain has announced his return to a full-time role at Obsidian Entertainment. Cain, who was the driving force behind the post-apocalyptic RPG during his time at Interplay Entertainment in the '90s, previously joined Obsidian back in 2011, just a year after it had launched Fallout New Vegas. He then stayed there through games such as Pillars of Eternity and The Outer Worlds, before stepping down to take on a part-time contractor role from June 2020. Now, however, he's back. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: Fallout co-creator says modern games "don't really know what they want to be," and I don't need to look too hard for examples Leaked Fallout merch, which has a man eating a napkin, sparks AI concerns Fallout remake created in Doom's engine looks incredible in new gameplay trailer View the full article

Samantha Béart has a lot of games coming upView the full article

We lay out all the steps needed for the Undertaker's quest in Elden Ring NightreignView the full article

Silent Road is a newly announced Steam horror game centered on a taxi driver operating in Japan's remote forest region infamous for suicides. The setting of the upcoming title, which is currently targeting a 2026 Steam release, shares some similarities with one of the more polarizing Fatal Frame games in recent years. View the full article

It's been a big year for horror franchises like Silent Hilland Fatal Frame. The former series relocated to a small Japanese village with the successful Silent Hill f, and the latter unveiled Fatal Frame 2: Crimson Butterfly Remake for release in 2026. That should already be enough to occupy fans, but if there's room for one more, a new indie game could pick up the slack. View the full article

Samsung Electronics, one of the world's largest technology companies, was recently denied a new shipment of RAM by Samsung Semiconductor Global, according to industry sources. The two Samsung subsidiaries were reportedly pushed into negotiating a new supply plan at a higher price, a consequence of the ongoing AI-driven spending *****... Read Entire Article View the full article

Bethesda game director Todd Howard says he feels “super lucky” to be working on multiple games at Bethesda Game Studios alongside the Fallout TV show. Speaking to VGC, Howard spoke about his current workload, which sees him oversee multiple Bethesda projects alongside the Amazon TV series. “I think I’m super lucky and blessed that I get to touch so many things and work with so many amazing creative teams, both internal at Bethesda and now with like the group at Kilter Films and Jonah and Athena and Graham and Geneva and everybody there. Read More... View the full article

Another year is almost over. December is a time for reflection, a time to look back on all that you achieved, and then dream of all you hope to accomplish in a year's time. What do I hope to accomplish, an imaginary reader asks? Well, that's easy. I want to play even more board games. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: Reiner Knizia, the busiest board game designer on Earth, has even more reprints crowdfunding on Kickstarter For just $10, this PC board game bundle has some phenomenal cozy games - but you'll have to be quick This deliciously leftwing Christmas board game is all about unionizing against Santa Claus View the full article

The blocky adventure games might not be as alike as once thoughtView the full article