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! Virtuos has only recently started to become a familiar name to gamers thanks to its work on lavish visual upgrades like Oblivion Remastered and Metal Gear Solid Delta. But the studio has decades of history quietly contributing to major franchises, including in film and television, and its work on Fallout season 2 has everyone asking the obvious question about those rumored Fallout 3 and New Vegas remasters. Ahead of the premiere of the Fallout season 2 finale tonight, Virtuos confirmed on Twitter that "our team worked on environment art, creating photorealistic landscapes that viewers will encounter throughout the season." Given Virtuos' history on Bethesda's Oblivion Remaster, you can imagine the tone of the replies. Welcome back to the Wasteland, vault dwellers! The finale of the second season of Fallout has arrived on Prime Video – catch it today, 3 February 2026 at 6pm PT/ 9pm ET.Our team worked on environment art, creating photorealistic landscapes that viewers will encounter throughout… pic.twitter.com/FHQW4JxkhrFebruary 3, 2026 Welcome back to the Wasteland, vault dwellers! The finale of the second season of Fallout has arrived on Prime Video – catch it today, 3 February 2026 at 6pm PT/ 9pm ET.Our team worked on environment art, creating photorealistic landscapes that viewers will encounter throughout… pic.twitter.com/FHQW4JxkhrFebruary 3, 2026 Welcome back to the Wasteland, vault dwellers! The finale of the second season of Fallout has arrived on Prime Video – catch it today, 3 February 2026 at 6pm PT/ 9pm ET.Our team worked on environment art, creating photorealistic landscapes that viewers will encounter throughout… pic.twitter.com/FHQW4JxkhrFebruary 3, 2026 Rumors of a Fallout 3 remaster in particular have heated up over the past year, but there hasn't been any concrete reporting on what it might look like or even who's developing it. Virtuos seems like the obvious choice given the studio's work on Oblivion Remastered, and there's now precedent for shadowdrops, but overly hopeful Fallout fans keep getting their hearts broken. Fallout 3 remaster reportedly in production as Bethesda boss Todd Howard confirms the developer is working on Elder Scrolls 6, Fallout 76, "and some other things" Bethesda boss Todd Howard sees your comments about Fallout 3 and New Vegas remasters, says the studio is "working on all sorts of stuff": "In general, I prefer to wait" Excitement for Fallout 3 and New Vegas remasters raised and subsequently dashed by Steam glitch In any case, you shouldn't take Virtuos's work on the Fallout show as a concrete indication that it's working on a game in the franchise. The studio's work on film and TV is poorly documented, but it occasionally posts a press blast detailing its contributions to films like Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Jurassic World, or even big chunks of the MCU. The new Avengers are in town, and they’re called the Thunderbolts*. These antiheroes have one last shot at redemption. ⚡Our team at @sparxvirtuos had a blast working on this incredible movie! Special thanks to our long-time partners at @ILMVFX for having us on this Marvel… pic.twitter.com/2vcIXvH4ZcMay 8, 2025 The new Avengers are in town, and they’re called the Thunderbolts*. These antiheroes have one last shot at redemption. ⚡Our team at @sparxvirtuos had a blast working on this incredible movie! Special thanks to our long-time partners at @ILMVFX for having us on this Marvel… pic.twitter.com/2vcIXvH4ZcMay 8, 2025 The new Avengers are in town, and they’re called the Thunderbolts*. These antiheroes have one last shot at redemption. ⚡Our team at @sparxvirtuos had a blast working on this incredible movie! Special thanks to our long-time partners at @ILMVFX for having us on this Marvel… pic.twitter.com/2vcIXvH4ZcMay 8, 2025 By the time Virtuos turned 20 in 2024, it boasted of 23 studios and offices around the world with over 3,800 employees. In other words, it's not just a remaster studio. Maybe Virtuos really is secretly cooking upgraded versions of Fallout 3 and New Vegas, but sadly, its work on the Fallout show isn't a clue one way or the other. These are the best RPGs you can play today.

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! While recent rumors suggested that physical copies of Grand Theft Auto 6 would be delayed in an effort to avoid leaks, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick himself says that's not the case. Physical media enjoyers can rest easy, as it seems we're all going to be able to pick up GTA 6 at launch. Asked about the rumored delays to physical editions of GTA 6, Zelnick's response to Variety was simple: "That’s not the plan." The rumor stems from a report published by Polish outlet PPE.pl, citing anonymous sources in saying that discs could be delayed anywhere from a few weeks to a few months after the digital launch. The report suggested that such a delay would likely have been due to fears of story and gameplay leaks. After another GTA 6 delay he called unlikely, Take-Two CEO says "bad things happen" when games are rushed and breaks out his favorite phrase: "I'm highly confident on the new date" With big "this is fine" energy, Take-Two CEO says GTA 6 will be the "most extraordinary title anyone's ever seen in the history of entertainment" as latest delay sends Grand Theft Auto fans spiraling Take-Two CEO says "we've never regretted" a delay as GTA 6 slips again, and points to companies that ignored necessary delays "at their peril" Take-Two has also doubled down on GTA 6's November 19 release date, even going so far as to start marketing the marketing. That's despite separate rumors of a potential delay, sparked largely by a misquote attributed to Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier. Meanwhile, Rockstar is embroiled in controversy around the firing of over 30 employees connected with unionization efforts. Whether that has any effect on GTA 6's eventual launch remains to be seen, but it certainly seems that Rockstar and Take-Two are confident in their current launch plans. Grand Theft Auto 6 will define 2026 and the future of gaming, for better or worse.

Developer Obsidian recently announced that it currently has no plans to make The Outer Worlds 3, according to a report by Bloomberg. Company head Fergus Urquhart didn't give a reason as to why Obsidian won't be working on a sequel, but he did note that the performance of The Outer Worlds 2 was "disappointing" and that it needs to "think a lot about how much we put into the games, how much we spend on them and how long they take." Urquhart also said that Avowed was something of a miss for the company, but that it remains committed to the franchise. Obsidian plans to "keep making games in the Avowed universe," but that doesn't necessarily mean a legitimate sequel. Avowed is, after all, set in the same world as Pillars of Eternity. Obsidian is still working on DLC for The Outer Worlds 2, so fans have that to look forward to. Urquhart also confirmed the company is making some DLC for Grounded 2, which was actually a hit. It released three games last year, which Urquhart said was a bad move for support teams. “Spacing those releases helps the company manage its resources and not burn everybody out. It’s not good to release three games in the same year. It’s the result of things going wrong," he said. The developer is also making some entirely new games, of which we know nothing about. As for Avowed, it's coming to PS5 on February 17. All versions are getting an anniversary update that includes a New Game Plus mode, new races, new weapon types and more. It's a good game and well worth the time of PlayStation fans, especially those who have dabbled with The Elder Scrolls franchise.

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! Embark Studios has listened, and boosted the frequency of Arc Raiders' elusive Bird City map modifier event after players complained that it was basically impossible to encounter in certain time zones. Bird City was released as part of Arc Raiders' Headwinds update, bringing flocks of birds to the Buried City map along with unique new Rubber Ducks to collect and more sellable trinkets to find. Unfortunately, though, being tied to very restrictive time slots meant that many players – especially in European time zones – were struggling to experience it in the first place, with them largely taking place during 9-5 workday hours. Thankfully, Embark has now made some changes. In a Discord message acknowledging "an issue" last night "with the map conditions schedule" (as highlighted by folks on Reddit, all map events temporarily disappeared), it's revealed that encountering Bird City shouldn't be such a pain going forward. Arc Raiders has a scheduling problem, and it's getting worse: "Hey unemployed people, are you enjoying the new event?" Arc Raiders' Bird City map modifier explained Arc Raiders' next big update is out tomorrow, and we were all wrong about the new map condition "We just pushed a update enabling this week’s schedule while also increasing the frequency of Bird City. No download required but please restart your game to update," community lead Ossen writes. "We will keep revising and try to find a schedule for all conditions so that all time zones get a chance to play. There is also no store rotation or patch this week but keep an eye out for the update coming next week. See you Topside." Looking at the event schedule now (via Arc Raiders Hub), Bird City's frequency has definitely been given a generous boost – looking at the Buried City map, it appears that there are now nine daily one-hour slots for the map modifier as opposed to just three. To be honest, I still don't know why the events can't just be randomized rather than being locked to specific hours of the day, but at least European folks actually have a better chance of trying this one now. "Was it worth it? Not really": Arc Raiders martyr spends "2 months and 300 hours" on ultra-rare achievement only 14 other people have managed to secure, and it was awful.

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! Nearly a year has passed since Bethesda Game Studios released its long-awaited remake, The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered, but creative players are still finding ways to shake the RPG up – including by *checks notes* adding… jobs? Let's face it, nobody really enjoys work (editor's note: damn) – but the Hero of Kvatch isn't just anybody. If you're short on some Septims in Oblivion Remastered and wish your hardy protagonist could pick themselves up by the bootstraps and work, wish no more. A new download on Nexus Mods lets you employ the Champion of Cyrodiil between portal closing and quest chasing, and I'm honestly sort of obsessed with the idea. Forget a 9-5, I'm becoming a guard! As the aptly named Jobs of Oblivion mod's official description describes, you can pick up a job contract (posted on behalf of over 130 clients!) at an inn, gear up with new purchasable work-related equipment, and set out to be one of many things. You might be employed as a harvester, jeweler, painter, builder, hunter, or, yes, even a guard – somebody alert the guy who has spent hundreds of days trying to threaten Palace Guards for their armor, please. Skyrim fan works his 9-5 job from within the RPG, battling bandits while tackling emails and facing dragons during PowerPoints: "Work from home became work from Whiterun" Oblivion Remastered's wildest bug made me choose between losing achievements or living as a fugitive I turned every Oblivion NPC into a sheep and broke the game, but I can only blame myself The payment you receive depends on the type of job you're doing and what sort of client you are working for. For example, jewelers are paid more due to the rarity of the materials they use. On the other hand, painters are paid less than jewelers, but their materials are much easier to source. You have to 100% a job to complete it, but you are able to take a break – workers' rights and all that, yeah? Although I'm not sure Tamriel would actually have any… Anyway, that's not important! What's important is that the mod lets you work, and more jobs are underway, too. Players seem to be enjoying Jobs of Oblivion so far, too, with one saying it "adds so much immersion to the game." I'm sold, honestly, because why wouldn't I want to grind out some work right after I… grind out some work in real…? Time to join the 3,000+ folks who apparently feel the same and download the mod. Skyrim fan works his 9-5 job from within the RPG, battling bandits while tackling emails and facing dragons during PowerPoints: "Work from home became work from Whiterun"

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! Nintendo's latest financial results did not mention Metroid Prime 4: Beyond at all, leading to worries about the game's performance and what could that mean for the series going forward. In the latest financial results release from Nintendo, it's revealed that it took Switch 2 under seven months to overtake the Wii U's lifetime sales while the original Switch officially became the best-selling Nintendo console ever. And alongside console sales, the best selling Switch 2 games list was also updated with Pokemon Legends: Z-A – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition and Kirby Air Riders' first sales coming in strong with 3.89 million and 1.76 million copies sold respectively. However, those weren't the only first-party games released since Nintendo's last report. Notably absent were two of Nintendo's biggest holiday games Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment and Metroid Prime 4: Beyond. Nintendo typically includes games when they pass one million copies sold, however Koei Tecmo confirmed last month that Hyrule Warriors has sold over 1 million copies (via Nintendo Life). Koei Tecmo published the game in Japan, so it's possibly a case of the Nintendo-published versions of the game having not sold over one million. With over 17 million units sold, it took Nintendo Switch 2 under 7 months to overtake the Wii U's lifetime sales After an agonizing 7-year wait, Metroid Prime 4 Metacritic score is just barely above black sheep like Other M and Prime Pinball Metroid Prime 4: Beyond – Everything you need to know about the new Switch game Metroid – despite having under four weeks to chart given the financial report's cut-off of December 31, 2025 – was not mentioned at all, suggesting that the long-awaited sequel did not get off to a great start on either console. However, it's possible the game sold over one million copies between the two versions – as Nintendo counts them separately as seen with Pokemon – but seemingly neither did it independently. Fans over on the Metroid subreddit are understandably a bit worried given Metroid's multiple hiatuses, with one user saying: "This might be it for prime. Sad to see man." After all, fans had been waiting 18 years since Metroid Prime 3. However, given the extremely mixed critical reception to the game, some see this as a given, with another responding, "Sale numbers reflect the general sentiment people have of that game." Of course, Metroid has never been a massive seller in the grand scheme of things, with Metroid Dread being the best-selling title in the series at just over three million as of 2022 – which is less than 1-2-Switch for context. While the years of hype and presumably expensive development make this a rough one, I don't see it being the end of Metroid unless the sales were extremely bad. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild's success was in part responsible for the open-world section in Metroid Prime 4

Microsoft has revealed the first wave of Xbox Game Pass additions for February, and it feels like there's a bit of something for everyone this time around. Two of the titles land on the service today across the Game Pass Ultimate, Premium and PC Game Pass tiers: Final Fantasy II (cloud, Xbox Series X/S and PC) and Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii (cloud, console, handheld and PC). Final Fantasy II is a "remodeled 2D take" on the classic 1988 RPG, while Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is a wild-looking spin-off of the main Like a Dragon series with pirates and naval combat. Madden NFL 26 is hitting Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass across cloud, console and PC on February 5, so subscribers will be able to get in a few virtual downs before the Super Bowl on Sunday at no extra cost. Paw Patrol Rescue Wheels: Championship will join the Game Pass Ultimate, Premium and PC Game Pass lineups on the same day across cloud, console, handheld and PC. On February 10, a game I've been looking forward to, Relooted, joins Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass on cloud, Xbox Series X/S and PC. I really enjoyed the demo of this heist game, in which the goal is to recover African artifacts from Western museums. Two days later, you can check out BlazBlue Entropy Effect X, which is a 2D roguelite action game set in the BlazBlue universe, on Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass (cloud, Xbox Series X/S and PC). Also on February 12, Roadside Research will become available in game preview on cloud, Xbox Series X/S and PC on Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass. This is a co-op (or solo) game for up to four players in which you run a gas station as a group of aliens. You'll examine humans and try to gather as much data as you can without raising suspicion and a potential visit from the feds. The aliens’ disguises, as shown in the trailer, are pretty funny. A third game is on the docket for February 12, with life sim Starsand Island arriving on Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass (cloud, Xbox Series X/S, and PC). A day later, High on Life 2 lands on the same tiers and platforms with a whole new bunch of strange, talking weapons. That's a day-one addition to the line up. Also on February 13, Kingdom Come Deliverance will become delivered to Game Pass Ultimate, Premium and PC Game Pass across cloud, console and PC. On February 17, you can embrace your inner Na'vi in Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora on cloud, Xbox Series X/S, handheld and PC on Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass. I quite enjoyed my initial hands-on with the game, but I haven't jumped into the full version as yet. Last, but not least, Avowed will join the lower Game Pass Premium tier on February 17 across cloud, Xbox Series X/S and PC. It will do so almost exactly a year after its debut and on the same day it hits PlayStation 5 and a major update goes live. Avowed was one of our favorite games of 2025.

Share by: Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Pinterest Flipboard Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Share by: Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Pinterest Flipboard Email Share this article Share by: 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! Stardew Valley creator Eric "ConcernedApe" Barone once started "work on a Stardew Valley 2," but eventually left the sequel behind in favor of Haunted Chocolatier. That doesn't mean he'd be opposed to returning to the idea in the future, though. Speaking in a new interview with IGN, Barone responds to a question asking if he'd ever consider making a Stardew Valley sequel instead of just updating the original 2016 farming sim like he's been doing for the last 10 years. Previously, the dev has explained that while he might eventually make a direct follow-up, it's "just so much easier to just add more stuff to Stardew Valley than to make a whole new game from scratch" – especially when he doesn't "care about money that much." In this latest interview, though, he seems a bit more into the idea. "Yeah, I would," Barone responds. "In fact, I would love to because it would just be fun to work on a whole new set of characters, a whole new world, maybe capture some of that original energy that I had back in 2012, when I started working with Stardew Valley. There's something fun about the number of possibilities in a whole new world, which I think would be fun for me. It'd be fun for my team. We'd be really excited about it. It's a bit difficult because people are so attached to Pelican Town and to the villagers in Pelican Town. I do fear a little bit that if it's a whole new cast of characters, people might feel put off by that." "I am not going to abandon Haunted Chocolatier," says Stardew Valley's Eric Barone Stardew Valley creator ConcernedApe will "announce something very soon" on the farming sim's Switch 2 edition Stardew Valley 1.7 update might be as big as the farming sim's last, as ConcernedApe hints there's "lots more" to come Barone suggests that, to get around that potential hurdle, a different "approach to Stardew Valley 2 could be to use the existing cast, but it's like a new adventure in the world, but then I'm still stuck with the same thing." With that in mind, it's something he'd have to "think about." It's then that Barone drops a bombshell – Stardew Valley 2 was almost a reality, once upon a time. "There was a time where I was starting to work on a Stardew Valley 2, but, I don't know. For various reasons, I moved over to Haunted Chocolatier instead," the dev reveals. "Haunted Chocolatier you could say is like the Stardew Valley 2, but it's a bit different of a game, so we'll see." Details about ConcernedApe's next life sim, the aforementioned Haunted Chocolatier, have been light on the ground since its big reveal in 2021 – Barone recently admitted that he "shouldn't have announced the game so early. But I had my reasons." Despite that, he's still hard at work on it, dispelling any fears by clarifying: "I am not going to abandon Haunted Chocolatier." Stardew Valley doesn't have mod support on console for "numerous reasons" says creator ConcernedApe, but he's not "opposed" to it if it's ever possible.

Share Share by: Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Pinterest Flipboard Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Share Share by: Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Pinterest Flipboard Email Share this article Share by: 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 Dune: Awakening is back in the limelight with yet another update and a new chapter – albeit this time, it stands as the survival MMO's biggest to date, reworking endgame content while adding fresh progression systems and more. It's no secret that the Dune: Awakening player count has been dropping, but it looks like this new update is set to breathe some fresh life into Funcom's 2025 release with the arrival of Chapter 3. For anyone out of the loop, there's a lot to look forward to with today's patch, from its "bigger, better endgame" to changes I think we'll all appreciate – like the removal of base taxation and a bundle of goodies for returning players. The most significant feature to come out of Chapter 3 is undeniably the improved endgame. With an entirely "rebuilt" Landsraad, as Funcom describes it, boasting repeatable missions that increase Faction Rank, Great House Standing, and unlock exclusive rewards, it's sure to spark interest in those of us who took an extended break (hi, it's me) from the game. We can also follow five new distinct "specialization" paths – and boy, are they distinct. Dune: Awakening Chapter 3 promises "better endgame" that makes it easier for lapsed players to return by abolishing tax Dune: Awakening Chapter 3 isn't "going to please everyone," but it's only the start of many changes for the survival MMO Dune: Awakening patch finally adds long-awaited Base Reconstruction Tool to the survival MMO – and more, too There's crafting, gathering, exploration, combat, and sabotage – and, yes, I'm excited to see what exactly "sabotage" entails and what sort of gameplay it involves in terms of progression. That's not all, though. We can now enhance unique Tier 6 armor and weapons with powerful "Augments" that are crafted at the update's newly introduced crafting table: the Augmentation Station. It feels like the cherry on top of the Chapter 3 endgame cake, really. My favorite part of the update, however (and likely many other players'), is the removal of base taxation on all player-built bases. Yep, no more traveling to Arrakeen or Harko Village to spend your hard-earned Solaris on something that already sucks enough to deal with in real life. Another reason I personally love this change so much is the fact that it shows Funcom is listening – quality of life is important to us, and therefore to developers, too. The fun doesn't end there, either. There are two new weapons: The Pyrocket and the Dual Blades. And, good news for any Rapier stans – Funcom has "completely" reworked it. There's also, you know, the entirety of Chapter 3 and its story content to enjoy. It picks up right where Chapter 2 left off, with "hours of new story" and a reunion with "an old ally" – if you know, you know… or, at least, I think I know? Finally (but not really, because there's loads more, including the paid Raiders of the Broken Lands DLC with 74 building pieces and 17 decorations), there's that handy package for any and all returning players looking to rejoin the chaos after a lengthy time away. It comes with resources scaled to your progression in the Research tree, making your comeback just a tad bit smoother – I know I'll certainly need it. If you're interested in learning more, be sure to check out the official Dune: Awakening Steam page for the full details on Chapter 3. You can also snag the new DLC there for $9.99 or as part of the Season Pass, which is $24.99. For even more to look forward to, why not have a quick browse through our roundup of the best and biggest new games coming this year and beyond?

Share Share by: Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Pinterest Flipboard Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Share Share by: Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Pinterest Flipboard Email Share this article Share by: 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 The Epic Games Store gave out 662 million copies of free games in 2025, adding up to $2,136 worth "in total value per player," according to the company's new year in review report. These 100 free games averaged a 78% "score," the report reads, though it's a little unclear how that score was determined. Epic Games Store boss says beating Steam isn't the plan – just "enough market share on PC that you have to be here" Larian lead says Epic CEO's claim the EGS offers "better deals" to devs "doesn't sit well" after Alan Wake 2 lost sales Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney supports the $900 million lawsuit against Valve, says Steam's rules force a "30% junk fee" "That's a relatively good conversion for the scale coming through the door, and in many cases it's much more than that, in the mid 20s and in some cases the 30s," he says. Can and will Epic keep giving away games at this rate? "I don't see why not," Allison says. "Our budget kind of hovers around the $20 million mark, but it can go up or down based on opportunity. But generally we view that as our marketing budget. "It's pretty profound, the impact on new users every year. Somewhere between 7 and 12 million come through that program every year. For cost per new user, it's hard to beat. It has a profound effect on retention and having players in the ecosystem at times where we have other things going on. So I expect us to continue. We may alter the cadence of the program at some point in the future, but from my perspective, I don't see a change." During a presentation earlier in our call, Allison says "the free games program has been awesome for us. It's awesome for our players, it's a really important part of our initial scaling, and continues to be a good path for user acquisition." Separately, on the subject of appealing to both players and developers, he adds: "It's 50/50. We've really biased on the developer side. We've given players good reasons to at least patronize us with the free games, and it's been pretty impressive. It's scaled faster than any of us expected. But you have to win on both fronts. If you get all the developers on board and don't have any players, they're not going to make any sales and you won't get all the developers. And if you get all the players here and you don't have the games, you're not going to reach your goals either." "My goal on PC isn't to topple Steam": Epic Games Store boss says beating Valve isn't the plan – just getting "enough market share on PC that you have to be here no matter what."

Share Share by: Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Pinterest Flipboard Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Share Share by: Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Pinterest Flipboard Email Share this article Share by: 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 A major new patch for Helldivers 2 is live now, bringing a whole bunch of balance changes, a new tank vehicle, tweaks to enemies, increased challenge on its highest difficulties, and more. Oh, and also the bots have officially stolen Super Earth's planet-destroying space laser schematics, so, uh, that's concerning. Outlined in the latest patch notes, Helldivers 2's new update is adding the Bastion Tank to "roll over entrenched enemies" – it'll be available in-game later today alongside the new Siegebreakers Warbond. For any veteran players who've been craving more of a challenge, this patch has a change for you. "Made changes across all factions to increase the intensity on high difficulties, the biggest change should be noticed on the Automaton front while Terminids and the Illuminate are less affected," the notes read. Specifically, this should affect difficulties nine and 10. Helldivers 2 patch brings balance changes and bug fixes, but fans are devastated that "Factory Striders will no longer be launched to sky erratically" now: "Worst change ever" Helldivers 2 update adds stealth missions and Arrowhead is finally "ready to make the slim PC build default for all" After Helldivers 2 boss teased chaos in upcoming update, new Illuminate structures appear in Super Earth media Balance changes are the real headliner of the patch, though, with loads of tweaks to both weapons and enemies. For a start, all melee weapons have been given a blanket buff, with base melee attacks being given a 50% increase in damage. While Arrowhead has "decreased the modifiers on the armor passives that increase melee damage," the "total damage with the melee armor passive will be higher or the same as before" – the idea is to "make the Armor passive that increases melee damage less mandatory but still be useful to make melee weapons more effective." Elsewhere, the sway modifier for SMG and Pistol weapons has been reduced – changed "to be the same as most other weapons – as Arrowhead explains: "The intent is that the increased drag of SMG and Pistol which make it a close combat weapon and less effective at range is the main characteristic of these weapons." As for enemy changes, some have been adjusted to increase their effectiveness against certain Helldiver vehicles with large amounts of health. "Things like attacks from Bile Titans, Chargers, Crescent Overseers, Overseers, Rocket firing Automatons, Hulk melee attacks, mortars, acid etc have gotten values adjusted. Some of the adjustments only affect certain targets (ie the Bastion). Other adjustments also affect the FRV and Exosuits," the patch notes explain. Along with those changes, enemies have also gotten better at actually aiming their attacks. Arrowhead notes that the "calculations were not always updated when there were many enemies trying to aim, making Automatons on higher difficulties a bit bad at aiming. They should now attempt to update the aim better considering the data they have before they get another proper aim update. This means that Automatons will aim better even when there are a lot of them without any further cost to performance." Plenty of bugs have also been fixed, and Arrowhead has added a new "hang detection" feature to stop players from getting stuck in a freeze. Essentially, if your game freezes for more than 20 seconds, Helldivers 2 will now purposely crash itself, which will also help prevent issues going forward, as it creates "a file called a 'crash dump' which contains important debugging information for our programmers to diagnose and fix the root cause of the hang." Players who experience a freeze are advised to wait "at least 40 seconds before restarting your PC to allow the hang detector to do its job." "'Yes, I will gladly die for Super Earth'": Helldivers 2 writer had only 7 days to find unofficial face of the franchise John Helldiver, "the cheesiest, most insincere" man in the galaxy.

Share Share by: Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Pinterest Flipboard Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Share Share by: Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Pinterest Flipboard Email Share this article Share by: 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 Perhaps Bethesda Game Studios should stick to its trusty Creation Engine, despite many fans' calls for a swap to another framework like Unreal Engine – or, at least, former Skyrim lead designer and studio veteran Bruce Nesmith seems to think so. The ex-Elder Scrolls developer reveals as much during a recent interview with Press Box PR, first explaining that jumping from engine to engine is no easy feat. "What you have to realize is that if you were to switch engines, and I'll say this for any game anywhere, is that it is a massive effort," admits Nesmith. "You are talking about dozens of people spent doing nothing but making an engine work." It's a large ask, to say the least. "You are talking about putting your developers into a situation where they can't play the game," he continues. "They may not even be able to work on making the game for long stretches because the engine is not there or up to snuff yet. That's an enormous thing." A past game actually serves as an example of just how "enormous" a task this would be: Fallout 76, thanks to the heavily modified version of the Creation Engine it employed. "We ran into it with Fallout 76," as Nesmith recalls. "The engine had to be changed dramatically to do multiplayer. It made things extremely difficult for the team." Fallout 76 and Bethesda's past difficulties with changing things up to make the Creation Engine work aren't the only reasons the studio shouldn't stray from its in-house framework, however. The fact that devs have spent so long improving it and working on it matters, too. After trying Unreal Engine, new fantasy RPG led by ex-Elder Scrolls leads goes back to its Bethesda roots with a unique proprietary engine that's "already more than doubled our development speed" Fallout: London lead is "really worried" Fallout 5 will use Bethesda's proprietary Creation Engine The Elder Scrolls fans fire back at Skyrim lead's fightin' words: Morrowind "manages to hold up better than Skyrim" "The Creation Engine has been tweaked to serve Bethesda's purposes for so many years, decades really, that at this point, it's probably a wiser bet to keep working with it," Nesmith describes. "The benefits that you get from switching to Unreal Engine are probably not going to materialize until two titles down the road." The effort that Bethesda has poured into its engine can be seen in, well, pretty much every title it's launched. "Every Bethesda game that has ever released has had major improvements made to the Creation Engine," says the former Bethesda dev. "Significant improvements are always being made to it. There's an entire team that's devoted to nothing but doing that. But the advantage you have there is that you can still run the game during the whole time because you have an existing engine. You're not having to figure out how to put this new thing in place." He then, understandably, concludes that he'd stick to the Creation Engine. "I would fall on the side of keeping the Creation Engine, keep working on it. If there's something you see that is only possible in Unreal, put it into the Creation Engine. That would be a place where if it's anything vs everything, you say, 'Let's do that. Let's do that anything.' If Unreal does it and Creation doesn't, and we feel we need to do it, do it." I suppose that makes sense – if Bethesda sees something it likes in another engine, there's no reason not to try and make it work in its own in-house one. It'd be simpler than swapping. "The Creation Engine is way more than a rendering engine," after all. "Way, way more. It's a whole method of how data is converted into function, and to graphics, and to the ability to do other things. You cannot just swap that out. That is not something that happens easily." This likely rings especially true for new games like The Elder Scrolls 6 – so I wouldn't hold my breath that Bethesda itself will ever opt to move over to another engine, when so much work has gone into maintaining the Creation Engine. Fallout works as a TV show because it's "unique," says Skyrim lead – but Bethesda's other RPG series might not: "Do they really need marketing for Elder Scrolls 6?"