Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Pinterest Flipboard Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Pinterest Flipboard Email Share this article Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Pinterest Flipboard Email Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Pinterest Flipboard Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Join the conversation Add us as a preferred source on Google Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. You are now subscribed Your newsletter sign-up was successful Want to add more newsletters? Every Friday Your weekly update on everything you could ever want to know about the games you already love, games we know you're going to love in the near future, and tales from the communities that surround them. Every Thursday GTA 6 O'clock Our special GTA 6 newsletter, with breaking news, insider info, and rumor analysis from the award-winning GTA 6 O'clock experts. Every Friday Knowledge From the creators of Edge: A weekly videogame industry newsletter with analysis from expert writers, guidance from professionals, and insight into what's on the horizon. Every Thursday The Setup Every Wednesday Switch 2 Spotlight Every Saturday The Watchlist Once a month SFX Get sneak previews, exclusive competitions and details of special events each month! The GTA games have often been technical marvels within their respective eras, and some tricks are still impressive to this day. As fans reminisce over the incredible water physics that Grand Theft Auto 4 gave us back in 2008, even one of the game's original tech leads is shocked at what the game can do. On Twitter, fan account GTA 6 Countdown shared a clip of a helicopter landing in a shallow lake in GTA 4. As the chopper comes down, the rotors push away the water, creating a dry spot for you to land. When the blades stop spinning, the water rushes back in, only to be blown backwards again when you prepare for takeoff. "That's cool," Obbe Vermeij, who served as technical director on GTA 4, said in response to the video. "I intended it to be more of a visual thing. Didn't really consider the side effects in shallow water." Former Rockstar technical director " didn’t like GTA 4 that much" at launch because "we had to sacrifice so much" Rockstar's wildest ideas "wouldn't have been as good as GTA," says ex lead, who respects Larian ditching Baldur's Gate 4 This breakdown of graphical tricks in Half-Life and more is an incredible peek behind the curtain That's cool.I intended it to be more of a visual thing. Didn't really consider the side effects in shallow water.February 23, 2026 That's cool.I intended it to be more of a visual thing. Didn't really consider the side effects in shallow water.February 23, 2026 That's cool.I intended it to be more of a visual thing. Didn't really consider the side effects in shallow water.February 23, 2026 You've probably seen Vermeij's name come up a lot if you've been looking at GTA trivia recently, as he's been very publicly sharing insights into the development of the series for years now. He worked on everything from GTA 3 to the expansions for GTA 4, so he's got plenty of insights to share. Notably, Vermeij "didn't like GTA 4 that much." He pointed to the game's lack of mission variety as a major issue, and worried that the team sacrificed too much in terms of gameplay to deliver the impeccable sense of character and atmosphere that GTA 4 is known for. It's tough to say whether the game would be any more beloved than it already is if Rockstar had changed its approach, but one thing's for sure: that water tech looks real good. GTA 4 ranks pretty high on our list of the best Rockstar games.

Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Pinterest Flipboard Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Pinterest Flipboard Email Share this article Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Pinterest Flipboard Email Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Pinterest Flipboard Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Join the conversation Add us as a preferred source on Google Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. You are now subscribed Your newsletter sign-up was successful Want to add more newsletters? Every Friday Your weekly update on everything you could ever want to know about the games you already love, games we know you're going to love in the near future, and tales from the communities that surround them. Every Thursday GTA 6 O'clock Our special GTA 6 newsletter, with breaking news, insider info, and rumor analysis from the award-winning GTA 6 O'clock experts. Every Friday Knowledge From the creators of Edge: A weekly videogame industry newsletter with analysis from expert writers, guidance from professionals, and insight into what's on the horizon. Every Thursday The Setup Every Wednesday Switch 2 Spotlight Every Saturday The Watchlist Once a month SFX Get sneak previews, exclusive competitions and details of special events each month! It's been a few years of rough sailing for fans of pirate games. Without naming names, I feel like there hasn't been a whole lot of treasure on treasure island recently, but it looks like a cask of salvation has washed ashore in the truly shipshape Steam Next Fest demo for Windrose, an open-world PvE survival crafting game blending influences from genre titans like Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag, Sea of Thieves, and Ark. In my many seasons playing Steam Next Fest demos for work, I've scarcely come across one as well-optimized as Windrose, which is really saying something for an open-world survival crafting game. This thing is a full-blown PvE base-building sim with resource and health management, in-depth sailing, naval combat, boarding and melee battles, and a story with beautifully animated cutscenes, and yet, in my 30 minutes with the demo it ran like an absolute champ on my ancient, RX 580 desktop. Developer Windrose Crew says the game's SNF demo offers about 4-6 hours of gameplay, so needless to say I hardly scratched the surface. That said, I pinky promise you I legitimately can't wait to get off of work so I can play more. It's that good. The story, which involves supernatural elements as well as characters inspired by real-world history, kicks off with a pirate captain (you) being attacked by the fabled Blackbeard and becoming a castaway after falling from his ship and contracting a curse that seemingly saves his life. Indie pirate game with Sea of Thieves-style swashbuckling overtakes Pragmata with its Steam Next Fest demo A fantasy Fallout opening pushes me right into one of the most promising RPGs I've played in ages, and an ace Steam demo Diablo creators' new action RPG feels like sampling bread by eating raw flour in rough Steam Next Fest demo You start out by creating a character, slashing your way through a few basic combat encounters, and then waking up stranded on a tropical island. The demo walks you through your first steps toward redemption, including setting up base by gathering resources and making essentials like a tent, cooking fire, and crafting tables. I learned pretty early on that Windrose does not play around. "Kill a bore and obtain its hide," read an onscreen quest objective. Easy enough, I thought, I have a big ol' cutlass and pistol. Man, that pig F'd my S up. Thankfully, I had already established my tent as a respawn point and managed to find the same pig, its HP still slightly drained from the one sword attack I managed to land before it gored me, and still, it took two or three respawns to finally take that sucker down. Naturally, I was a lot more cautious approaching my first encounter with a "drowned" enemy, which looks and behaves like a zombie. It was during this battle I learned that the Ctrl button acts as a backwards dodge, a massively useful tip that the demo didn't alert me to (either that or I just missed it). Combat feels a lot like Sea of Thieves, with a basic slash move and block assigned to the left and right mouse clicks, and a gun you can pull out and use in ranged encounters. That said, enemies are a lot spongier than Sea of Thieves, and dare I say, they're a little smarter too, with unpredictable movements and devastating attack points that make encounters tense and dangerous. Here's where I disappoint everyone: I did not actually make it to the sailing parts of the demo today. The game makes you craft a bunch of stuff, including crafting materials themselves, before you can summon your flagship, and unfortunately the time allotted to me was gone by the time I had made everything. That said, I watched a few gameplay videos and it reminded me a lot of Black Flag, which is about the highest compliment I can pay this game. Yes, all I've seen and done is the opening to the game and the very beginnings of base-building, but already I can just tell there's something special in Windrose. I don't know if it's the immaculate level of polish, the story, the simple but fun combat, the beautiful tropical sunsets, or just the fact that there's a new pirate game with real potential, but I'm not the only one with the same feeling. Wishrose Crew recently celebrated a million wishlists on Steam, and if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go max out this demo and then twiddle my thumbs at my desk while I wait for early access. Here are the best survival games you can play right now.

Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Pinterest Flipboard Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Pinterest Flipboard Email Share this article Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Pinterest Flipboard Email Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Pinterest Flipboard Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Join the conversation Add us as a preferred source on Google Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. You are now subscribed Your newsletter sign-up was successful Want to add more newsletters? Every Friday Your weekly update on everything you could ever want to know about the games you already love, games we know you're going to love in the near future, and tales from the communities that surround them. Every Thursday GTA 6 O'clock Our special GTA 6 newsletter, with breaking news, insider info, and rumor analysis from the award-winning GTA 6 O'clock experts. Every Friday Knowledge From the creators of Edge: A weekly videogame industry newsletter with analysis from expert writers, guidance from professionals, and insight into what's on the horizon. Every Thursday The Setup Every Wednesday Switch 2 Spotlight Every Saturday The Watchlist Once a month SFX Get sneak previews, exclusive competitions and details of special events each month! I've had my eye on a cyberpunk Metroidvania called Altered Alma for over a year now, so I was excited to give its demo a play in this week's Steam Next Fest. After clearing a few areas and getting some upgrades, I'm pleased to report that it is indeed good. I am also surprised to report that it's taken a page or two from Cyberpunk 2077, not just in its RPG elements, but also in some very sexy romance scenes that caught me off guard in the latest trailer. A problem I often have with action game progression systems is how the early sections may suffer from limited gameplay options. You get tons of cool stuff later, but the opening minutes or hours – arguably the most important part of a game – are extremely one-dimensional because all the cool stuff is backloaded. Altered Alma has this problem, but only for about 10 minutes. If the game feels a little slow and difficult at the start, that's because it is, but stick with it and you'll soon find a fast and responsive platformer with delightfully violent combat. Altered Alma stars an android (I think) girl named Jack and her robot companion Vera, who are on the run in a cyberpunk, Star Wars-y spin on Barcelona after refusing to kill a bunch of space babies for the military or something. I'm shrugging it off a bit, but this game was written by Resident Evil and Dead Space veteran Antony Johnston and Still Wakes the Deep's Emma Beeby, and it shows. Jack is quippy but not grating, and the character interactions I've had have been a mix of sweet and serious. For a limited demo, I'm remarkably invested. A fantasy Fallout opening pushes me right into one of the most promising RPGs I've played in ages, and an ace Steam demo Zero Parades proves itself a worthy Disco Elysium successor in this free Steam demo, and I shouldn't have doubted it Diablo creators' new action RPG feels like sampling bread by eating raw flour in rough Steam Next Fest demo Movement and combat are the real stars, though. Jack controls a bit like Mega Man, albeit with more slashing, parrying, and blood. But as soon as you discover the teleporting dagger that the entire game is built around, the whole vibe changes. You start executing enemies with finishers that are as lavishly animated as the rest of this gorgeous game. You fly through and around walls and enemies, chaining parries and combos together to maximize your damage and the amount of health energy you regenerate (not unlike Soul for healing in Hollow Knight). It isn't perfect – the parry is wimpy, and the ledge grab is far too slow – but Jack is a fun heroine even with many upgrades missing. The RPG influences called out by developer 2Awesome really pop up in the screen for those and other upgrades – with Metroidvania-style discoveries flanked by new moves and gear tied to resources – and in the companion system. I've only met one friend so far and it's clear from the trailer that he's very romanceable. That trailer also makes it abundantly obvious that Jack is playing for both teams here, so if you like the look of anyone in the cast, there's some good news for you RPG romantics. It's hard to judge deep systems like this from a free sample, but the demo for Altered Alma certainly didn't disappoint me. It made me want more of a game that's been on my radar for a while, which is about all I could ask for. A fantasy Fallout opening pushes me right into one of the most promising RPGs I've played in ages, and it's by far the best Steam Next Fest demo I've tried.

Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Pinterest Flipboard Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Pinterest Flipboard Email Share this article Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Pinterest Flipboard Email Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Pinterest Flipboard Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Join the conversation Add us as a preferred source on Google Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. You are now subscribed Your newsletter sign-up was successful Want to add more newsletters? Every Friday Your weekly update on everything you could ever want to know about the games you already love, games we know you're going to love in the near future, and tales from the communities that surround them. Every Thursday GTA 6 O'clock Our special GTA 6 newsletter, with breaking news, insider info, and rumor analysis from the award-winning GTA 6 O'clock experts. Every Friday Knowledge From the creators of Edge: A weekly videogame industry newsletter with analysis from expert writers, guidance from professionals, and insight into what's on the horizon. Every Thursday The Setup Every Wednesday Switch 2 Spotlight Every Saturday The Watchlist Once a month SFX Get sneak previews, exclusive competitions and details of special events each month! Ubisoft just named subsidiary Vantage Studios as its new Assassin's Creed leader, and CEO Yves Guillemot wants you to know it's OK that he appointed his son Charlie to watch over it. It's OK, since nepotism might be as central to Ubisoft as Far Cry or Rainbow Six. Specifically addressing nepotism accusations about Charlie Guillemot's appointment to co-CEO of Vantage in a recent interview with Variety, Guillemot begins by simply saying "Ubisoft was created as a family company." Indeed, Guillemot and his four brothers Gérard, Christian, Claude, and Michel founded Ubisoft as a money-making venture in 1986 – but that was 1986. Guillemot choosing to let his son oversee one of the most lucrative video game franchises 40 years later doesn't have the same scrappy connotation. "Several" Assassin's Creed games to come, Ubisoft promises, plus more Far Cry amid "restructuring across the company" Ubisoft fires 13-year Assassin's Creed veteran after suspending him for speaking out against return-to-office mandate Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag director says it's "wonderful to be back after all these years" to lead the series Still, Guillemot insists Charlie and co-CEO Christophe Derennes "are the right leaders" for Vantage. He says, "They bring complementary strengths and experience that make them well-suited for the role. Their appointment was based on their skills, track record, and fit for the role." Fit or unfit, Derennes and the younger Guillemot will now be presiding over what Ubisoft says in a February 23 news post is Vantage's "pivotal role in driving the Assassin's Creed brand's long-term vision." And, you know, maybe older Guillemot has a point. According to his LinkedIn, Charlie Guillemot has been a member of the internal Transformation Committee dedicated to reviving Ubisoft's flagship franchises since 2025, so that's likely the Assassin's Creed-relevant experience Yves Guillemot is referencing when he talks about "track record." Otherwise, for three years before the Transformation Committee, Charlie co-founded and led the AI-driven, web3 gaming venture Unagi. As Ubisoft quadruples down on its commitment to using generative AI during game development, that experience unfortunately seems relevant, too. Assassin's Creed 3 director says Ubisoft's Skull and Bones dev team was "junior" and "trying to essentially make Black Flag crossed with World of Tanks or World of Warships," but without the "experience."

Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Pinterest Flipboard Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Pinterest Flipboard Email Share this article Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Pinterest Flipboard Email Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Pinterest Flipboard Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Join the conversation Add us as a preferred source on Google Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. You are now subscribed Your newsletter sign-up was successful Want to add more newsletters? Every Friday Your weekly update on everything you could ever want to know about the games you already love, games we know you're going to love in the near future, and tales from the communities that surround them. Every Thursday GTA 6 O'clock Our special GTA 6 newsletter, with breaking news, insider info, and rumor analysis from the award-winning GTA 6 O'clock experts. Every Friday Knowledge From the creators of Edge: A weekly videogame industry newsletter with analysis from expert writers, guidance from professionals, and insight into what's on the horizon. Every Thursday The Setup Every Wednesday Switch 2 Spotlight Every Saturday The Watchlist Once a month SFX Get sneak previews, exclusive competitions and details of special events each month! Discord's promise to bring age verification worldwide read like a threat to many users of the mega-popular social platform, and the backlash was swift and loud. Today, the company has announced it's delaying the verification rollout to the second half of the year in a self-effacing 1,857-word blog post responding to criticism, penned by its co-founder. But the most important part of the message is this: age verification is still happening, whether you like it or not. "Let me be upfront: we knew this rollout was going to be controversial," Discord co-founder Stanislav Vishnevskiy wrote in the announcement. "Any time you introduce something that touches identity and verification, people are going to have strong feelings. Rightfully so. In hindsight, we should have provided more detail about our intentions and how the process works." As Discord has said from the beginning, age verification will only be required for a small number of features, including access to adult content and the ability to speak in "stage" broadcasts. The fact that some users believe age verification will be required by everyone means "we failed at our most basic job," Vishnevskiy said, which is "clearly explaining what we're doing and why." Discord raises questions while attempting to quell age verification fury, says AI model can predict age of many users Discord ends partnership with controversial age verification software, Twitch immediately says hold my beer Discord will age-lock your account next month and you'll have to submit an ID or accept a face scan to unlock it That idea of "clearly explaining" things seems to be how Discord hopes to mitigate the backlash. Under a header called "what we're changing right now," Vishnevskiy lays out five alterations to the age verification plan that have led to the delayed rollout. But if you look closely, there's only one actual change. There will be an option for spoiler channels, so that servers no longer have a reason to use age gates for similar functions, and there will be additional, as-yet-unspecified new ways to verify your age. The rest of the changes are simply about "transparency," including breakdowns of the vendors that Discord will work with for age verification services – an especially relevant concern given the data breach at one of those vendors last year. Vishnevskiy also promises "transparency reports" on age verification numbers, and a "technical blog" ahead of launch that explains how the "automatic age determination systems" will work. "Over 90% of users will never need to verify their age to continue using Discord exactly as they do today. This is powered in part by our internal safety systems, which can already make an age determination for many adult users without any user action," Vishnevskiy added, as if it's an assurance. I haven't exactly been hiding my cynicism about this announcement so far, but it's really the presentation of this automatic age determination system as some sort of olive branch that really makes me frustrated. Discord tracks "account-level signals" about you, including "how long your account has existed, whether you have a payment method on file, what types of servers you're in, and general patterns of account activity" to determine your age. "It does not read your messages," Vishnevskiy emphasized, "analyze your conversations, or look at the content you post." On some level, we all know that apps are tracking this kind of data about us, and I can't say that I'm shocked Discord is among them. But presenting that kind of tracking in this way, suggesting that we should accept a lesser form of privacy invasion as an alternative to more aggressive breaches of personal security, is so out of touch that I can barely believe it's been put in front of our eyes. It's impossible not to feel the finger of enshittification weighing on Discord's scales, particularly as the company is reportedly making preparations for an IPO, after which it would be accountable to shareholders on the stock market. Discord has been a terrific free product for years, but the company's going to have to figure out how to more and more aggressively monetize its users in the years to come in order to keep those shareholders happy. Vishnevskiy made a point of calling himself a regular Discord user in the blog, and I am too – it's how I've been keeping in touch with my oldest friend group for years. But I can't help but feel the connection between all this, and it's got me trying to find an exit plan from the platform. This age verification rollout proves that Discord is more than willing to pursue changes that are wildly unpopular with its user base, and with that in mind, I can't blame anyone for getting out while the getting is good. Discord ends partnership with controversial age verification software, Twitch immediately says hold my beer and tells new affiliates to submit faces and IDs to the same service.

Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Pinterest Flipboard Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Pinterest Flipboard Email Share this article Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Pinterest Flipboard Email Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Pinterest Flipboard Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Join the conversation Add us as a preferred source on Google Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. You are now subscribed Your newsletter sign-up was successful Want to add more newsletters? Every Friday Your weekly update on everything you could ever want to know about the games you already love, games we know you're going to love in the near future, and tales from the communities that surround them. Every Thursday GTA 6 O'clock Our special GTA 6 newsletter, with breaking news, insider info, and rumor analysis from the award-winning GTA 6 O'clock experts. Every Friday Knowledge From the creators of Edge: A weekly videogame industry newsletter with analysis from expert writers, guidance from professionals, and insight into what's on the horizon. Every Thursday The Setup Every Wednesday Switch 2 Spotlight Every Saturday The Watchlist Once a month SFX Get sneak previews, exclusive competitions and details of special events each month! The big Arc Raiders Shrouded Sky update arrived earlier today, and we now know developer Embark Studios very purposefully left a major addition out of the lengthy patch notes: there are UFOs zooming through the sky. Reddit user Bewarden was among the many players whose gasts were flabbered by this discovery (thanks, PC Gamer). In the clip they shared, a huge flying ship with blue lights on its underside is seen soaring over Spaceport during the new hurricane map condition. A heavy whoosh fades out as the vessel – which is moving at quite a clip, and looks massive even at this altitude – disappears into the clouds. What in tarnation is that? from r/ArcRaiders All of the UFO sighting reports I've seen have come from hurricane maps (which could be anything except Stella Montis as the map condition rotates), so if you're hoping to see it for yourself, I'd start there until we learn more. "A floating nightmare": Arc Raiders' big Shrouded Sky update has 2 new Arc, a big Dam Battlegrounds update, and more Everything new in the Arc Raiders Shrouded Sky update It looks like Arc Raiders is finally adding beards in the Shrouded Sky update, plus a hurricane map condition The closest analog to a live service game stealthily deploying a massive teaser like this is Helldivers 2, which has a history of not only not telling players about new enemies or vehicles entering the Galactic War, but actively lying to them about such things with gaslighting and propaganda. Arc Raiders hasn't gone that far – and if anything, I'd expect the Speranza elite to encourage an investigation here – but Embark has been tight-lipped about these UFOs. Are these actually ships with pilots and passengers, or just very large Arc? Is there a bigger lore bomb looming, like these UFOs being manmade? Is this a sign of things to come in future updates, like the March content drop, or does Shrouded Sky have an Act 2 in reserve? How many Anvil rounds would it take to shoot down one of these things? Many questions remain. Nothing to do but to brave the hurricane winds and keep your eyes peeled. "A floating nightmare": Arc Raiders' big Shrouded Sky update has 2 new Arc, a big Dam Battlegrounds change, confirmed beards, and even an outfit for the friendliest players.

Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Pinterest Flipboard Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Pinterest Flipboard Email Share this article Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Pinterest Flipboard Email Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Pinterest Flipboard Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Join the conversation Add us as a preferred source on Google Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. You are now subscribed Your newsletter sign-up was successful Want to add more newsletters? Every Friday Your weekly update on everything you could ever want to know about the games you already love, games we know you're going to love in the near future, and tales from the communities that surround them. Every Thursday GTA 6 O'clock Our special GTA 6 newsletter, with breaking news, insider info, and rumor analysis from the award-winning GTA 6 O'clock experts. Every Friday Knowledge From the creators of Edge: A weekly videogame industry newsletter with analysis from expert writers, guidance from professionals, and insight into what's on the horizon. Every Thursday The Setup Every Wednesday Switch 2 Spotlight Every Saturday The Watchlist Once a month SFX Get sneak previews, exclusive competitions and details of special events each month! Xbox co-founder Seamus Blackley thinks now-former Xbox boss Phil Spencer might have exhausted himself trying to prop up the game side – but the person he's most concerned about in the aftermath Microsoft's leadership shakeup is ex-president Sarah Bond, who's just resigned after almost 10 years with Xbox. "The person who I feel worst for is Sarah Bond, who was more than capable from a leadership standpoint," Blackley tells GamesBeat in a new interview. "Super cool, actual gamer." Unlike Bond, who was once thought of as Spencer's natural successor, Spencer's actual replacement Asha Sharma was previously president of Microsoft's CoreAI product and has no direct gaming experience. Blackley reminisces that, back in the day (he left Microsoft in 2002), Xbox leadership was a blend of different people and experiences – but "it's never this balance of people that makes something work. The balance is what enables something to happen, but you need to have an idea that people drive through that remains pure somehow." Xbox president Sarah Bond speaks out after news of her Xbox departure: "I’ve decided this is the right time for me" Xbox boss Phil Spencer is leaving, and a Microsoft AI exec is taking over with president Sarah Bond also resigning Xbox co-founder says Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has "a hammer called gen AI" and "there's a nail with an Xbox logo" Helpfully, he thinks, "This is different from Asha." Unlike the power struggle at early Microsoft, "This isn't an insurgency. This is kind of like, 'We're hoping that the new person who's been put in charge of our department, who doesn't have any background in what we do, will not fuck with us too much and will let us do the right thing.'" Just 48 hours into Sharma's tenure, all anyone can do is speculate, even Blackley. But at this uncertain time for Xbox, one thing is obvious: "The game that Phil had been playing for a long time," Blackley continues, "managing the beast so that he could continue to try to do the right thing for games, I think that finally just wore him out." Xbox will be "sunsetted" under new CEO, original co-founder expects: "Her job is going to be as a palliative care doctor who slides Xbox gently into the night."

Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Pinterest Flipboard Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Pinterest Flipboard Email Share this article Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Pinterest Flipboard Email Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Pinterest Flipboard Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Join the conversation Add us as a preferred source on Google Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. You are now subscribed Your newsletter sign-up was successful Want to add more newsletters? Every Friday Your weekly update on everything you could ever want to know about the games you already love, games we know you're going to love in the near future, and tales from the communities that surround them. Every Thursday GTA 6 O'clock Our special GTA 6 newsletter, with breaking news, insider info, and rumor analysis from the award-winning GTA 6 O'clock experts. Every Friday Knowledge From the creators of Edge: A weekly videogame industry newsletter with analysis from expert writers, guidance from professionals, and insight into what's on the horizon. Every Thursday The Setup Every Wednesday Switch 2 Spotlight Every Saturday The Watchlist Once a month SFX Get sneak previews, exclusive competitions and details of special events each month! Assassin's Creed 3 director Alex Hutchinson was as surprised as anyone to see the development of Ubisoft's infamous AAAA pirate game Skull and Bones drag on for so long, especially since, in his view, he and his team already laid the foundation for what they were making. There was a time when many doubted whether Skull and Bones would ever release. Development began way back in 2013 when it was intended as a multiplayer expansion for Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag, and without going into its incredibly tumultuous history, there were several major development reboots and delays before it eventually, triumphantly some would say, released in 2024. Unfortunately for Ubisoft, Skull and Bones' 11-year trajectory to launch ended with a resounding thud marked by middling reviews, low player counts, and extremely disappointing sales. To fully contextualize just how quickly the masses moved on from Skull and Bones, GR+ senior writer Austin Wood recently wrote that he was "genuinely surprised" to learn that it survived Ubisoft's January restructuring bloodbath that resulted in the cancelation of six games. With Ubisoft's dire finances working against it, famously AAAA game Skull and Bones celebrates Year 2 Assassin's Creed 3 held back on the ship-sailing stuff until Black Flag because Ubisoft worried the tech "wouldn't work" In the midst of Ubisoft's grand restructuring, the future of Assassin's Creed has never felt so uncertain Rubbing sea salt into the wound, Hutchinson told PC Gamer it was "bizarre" to watch Skull and Bones take so long to make especially since it was "essentially the same stuff re-shipping 14 years after we made it." Assassin's Creed 3 was the first game in the series to have naval battles, a technically dicey experiment that went well enough for Ubisoft to follow up with the pirate-themed Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag, my personal favorite of them all. So why didn't Skull and Bones stick the landing? According to Hutchinson, by the time at finally released, it just wasn't fresh anymore. "Ideas have a window ... they age out and become stale," he said, adding, "I think the team was junior. They were trying to essentially make Black Flag crossed with World of Tanks or World of Warships. But I don't think they had experience in that. And then they didn't really have experience in making even an Assassin's Creed game down there, because they really did co-development. And then I think it just got away from them." Skull and Bones was the first original game whose development was led by Ubisoft Singapore, although the studio worked in a support capacity on every Assassin's Creed game from Assassin's Creed 2 on, notably as a significant contributor to Assassin's Creed 3's ship battling. I'm a diehard Sea of Thieves fan, noted pirate media obsessive, and longtime Assassin's Creed player, so you'd think Skull and Bones would be right up my alley. Sadly, having played for a few hours at launch and then never again, I have to agree with GR's 2.5/5-star review that on top of many disparate issues, it's just too much of a live-service grind for my money. Indie pirate game overtakes Pragmata with swashbuckling Sea-of-Thieves-meets-Rust Steam Next Fest demo as devs celebrate 1 million wishlists: "A few weeks ago, we couldn't even have imagined this"

We're less than a month from the availability of Death Stranding 2: On the Beach on PC, and today Sony released the required specs. Despite designer Hideo Kojima being known for spectacle in his projects, the minimum specs are quite reasonable. The low graphics preset runs on an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 or AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT 8GB, and that will give players average performance of 1080p at 30 frames per second, which is rough but at least makes the game available for players who haven’t upgraded in awhile. Intel Core i3-10100 or AMD Ryzen 3 3100 are the recommended GPUs for that graphics tier. As is typical for PC gaming, though, the higher end performance options will require beefier internals. This port of Death Stranding 2 will also boast a few firsts. The title will mark the debut of Pico as an upscaling option on PC. This upscaler was made by Guerilla Games and was also used for the Death Stranding sequel on the PlayStation 5. The game will also be adding support for ultrawide views. The cutscenes can be viewed in a 21:9 aspect ration and gameplay can be displayed at 32:9. This option will be available for both PC and the PS5 versions of the game, and an ultrawide monitor won't be required to enable this view option.

Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Pinterest Flipboard Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Pinterest Flipboard Email Share this article Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Pinterest Flipboard Email Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Pinterest Flipboard Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Join the conversation Add us as a preferred source on Google Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. You are now subscribed Your newsletter sign-up was successful Want to add more newsletters? Every Friday Your weekly update on everything you could ever want to know about the games you already love, games we know you're going to love in the near future, and tales from the communities that surround them. Every Thursday GTA 6 O'clock Our special GTA 6 newsletter, with breaking news, insider info, and rumor analysis from the award-winning GTA 6 O'clock experts. Every Friday Knowledge From the creators of Edge: A weekly videogame industry newsletter with analysis from expert writers, guidance from professionals, and insight into what's on the horizon. Every Thursday The Setup Every Wednesday Switch 2 Spotlight Every Saturday The Watchlist Once a month SFX Get sneak previews, exclusive competitions and details of special events each month! The Switch 2 version of Fallout 4 launched just a handful of hours ago, and the first impressions are dramatically more positive than those that came alongside Bethesda's Skyrim port late last year. It's too early for any definitive rulings right now – it doesn't appear that anybody got early access to create a complete technical breakdown – but it seems we've got a solid way for Nintendo fans to get in on Bethesda's post-apocalyptic RPG. Our first indication that Fallout 4: Anniversary Edition might be okay on Switch 2 is the launch trailer, which looks dramatically more impressive than the first look we got at the Nintendo Direct just a few weeks ago. The shadows look consistent, character models seem more detailed, and it no longer has the vague shimmer it showed off on its debut. Early live streams of the port also look solid, as do impressions on social media, and nobody's complaining about the kind of input lag that rendered the Skyrim port "unplayable" in December. Most notably, Fallout 4 comes with three frame rate targets: 30 FPS, 40 FPS, and 60 FPS. The resolution does take a notable hit in the 60 FPS mode, but it seems like the 40 FPS option will be a nice balance of graphics and performance if your preferred display supports it. Bethesda turns Skyrim's Switch 2 launch around with an update that adds 60fps mode: "I wanna cry, it's beautiful" Step aside, awful Skyrim Switch 2 port – Bethesda is releasing Oblivion Remastered on Nintendo's new console this year Skyrim's Switch 2 port "runs like wet a**," players say Either way, it's a dramatic upgrade over Skyrim on Switch 2, which launched locked to 30 FPS. A new patch has introduced a 60 FPS mode to the fantasy RPG, but you only get one chance at a first impression – and it seems Bethesda has been much more successful in giving Switch 2 owners a good version of Fallout 4 on day one. Here are all the upcoming Bethesda games you need to know about.

Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Pinterest Flipboard Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Pinterest Flipboard Email Share this article Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Pinterest Flipboard Email Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Pinterest Flipboard Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Join the conversation Add us as a preferred source on Google Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. You are now subscribed Your newsletter sign-up was successful Want to add more newsletters? Every Friday Your weekly update on everything you could ever want to know about the games you already love, games we know you're going to love in the near future, and tales from the communities that surround them. Every Thursday GTA 6 O'clock Our special GTA 6 newsletter, with breaking news, insider info, and rumor analysis from the award-winning GTA 6 O'clock experts. Every Friday Knowledge From the creators of Edge: A weekly videogame industry newsletter with analysis from expert writers, guidance from professionals, and insight into what's on the horizon. Every Thursday The Setup Every Wednesday Switch 2 Spotlight Every Saturday The Watchlist Once a month SFX Get sneak previews, exclusive competitions and details of special events each month! For fellow FMV heads out there, The Infectious Madness of Doctor Dekker 2 may need no introduction. But to those looking to delve into the rabbit hole of live action gaming, this, like the first game, throws you into the therapist's chair to half-analyze, half-interrogate former patients of your Lovecraftian predecessor, the titular Doctor Dekker. This Steam Next Fest demo allows you to get stuck in with your first patient session, and already has me swimming in possible theories about what happened to your dearly departed (...or are they?) colleagues. Developed by D'Avekki Studios, their latest FMV mystery is well worth checking out for yourself (nose through our Steam Next Fest guide for more about the event). I've long had a soft spot for this developer's take on FMV games. Remaining with a hand in tabletop board games, rather than trying to craft overly ambitious narrative games, these mysteries are more bite-size affairs that use live action performances to sell you on a series of possible clues than simply story hooks. The Infectious Madness of Doctor Dekker 2 – just like predecessors The Shapeshifting Detective or Murderous Muses – is closer to something like Immortality than it is The Bunker. I'm pleased to see this rare sequel from the studio maintaining that style. On the couch It's been almost a decade since the first game, but The Infectious Madness of Doctor Dekker 2 picks up threads from that adventure. Once again, you're trying to uncover the truth behind Doctor Dekker's disappearance, alongside the murder of Doctor Alderby. With random elements, the murderer you need to accuse is chosen at random so you'll need to pay attention as you speak with each patient as no two playthroughs are the same. There's even multiple takes from actors for certain scenes to reflect that (which seems to be togglable if you'd rather stick to pure facts and logic). Zero Parades proves itself a worthy Disco Elysium successor in this free Steam demo, and I shouldn't have doubted it What if Bloodborne was on PS2? This horror is so old school even the dev insists you try the free Steam Next Fest demo Diablo creators' new action RPG feels like sampling bread by eating raw flour in rough Steam Next Fest demo Each patient has their own supernatural problems. Each patient has their own supernatural problems. My demo session has me chatting with Ophelia, far from getting into the weeds of making murder accusations (although, in fact, I actually can – though she simply calls it a poor taste joke). Bounced between Doctor Dekker and Alderby, I have to ask her about the death of her mother, the claim she can hear ghostly voices within her deceased parent's house, and try to figure out if she observed anything suspicious between the two doctors. Each patient has their own supernatural problems you'll have to help them tackle. While most are new, fan favorite Marianna does return as well as the iconic green couch and stark lightning. For once in a sequel, I'm a little thankful a feature has gotten simpler. While the first game's ability to type in every question you wanted to ask a patient was novel at the time, it could quickly become obtuse. Now, you're simply presented with a list of topics, which you can then combine into pairs to attempt more complex enquiries. A notepad tracker that you can turn and off helps you guide your main points of inquiry, but there's a lot of optional chats you can have with your patient as you try to tease out more topics to discuss. Even in this small slice of the game, my demo has me making lots of small decisions that it tells me will help shape the ultimate fate of Ophelia (you read that right, Swifties). No discussion goes more than a few sentences without interaction, so picking through statements really does feel interactive. I'm too early to have a suspect in mind yet, and I'm on the fence about whether I'll be clever enough to pin down my randomly assigned suspect – but I'm certainly looking forward to meeting all my patients and trying to crack what just has been going on in the late Doctor Dekker's practice. The Infectious Madness of Doctor Dekker 2 comes to PC with exact console TBC later in 2026. What if Bloodborne was on PS2? Dark horror No Vacation for an Executioner is so old school even the dev insists to try the free Steam demo before buying "to make sure you like this control style"

As spicy as the PlayStation State of Play that took place a couple of weeks ago was overall, there was one major first-party game that was notably absent from the showcase: Marvel’s Wolverine. Insomniac Games’ latest superhero blockbuster was already slated for a fall release and now the studio has revealed exactly when you’ll be able to get your claws on it. Marvel’s Wolverine is coming to PS5 on September 15. That’s it. That’s the announcement. There’s no new trailer to accompany the news, other than a six-second release date reveal video that popped up on YouTube. Insomniac previously said it would reveal more details about Marvel’s Wolverine this spring. Technically, this release date means that Marvel’s Wolverine will debut in the last week of summer rather than in the fall. Still, it’s one of the relatively few blockbuster games you can expect in the tail end of this year because many major developers and publishers will be staying well clear of GTA VI. Insomniac’s game will have a couple of months of breathing room before GTA VI soaks up all of the air in the gaming world when it arrives on November 19 — assuming Rockstar doesn’t announce another delay. However, parent company Take-Two plans to rev up its marketing machine for the game this summer, so it’s looking like GTA VI’s release date will hold this time.