Abandon the country-life for a seaside metropolis in a former Stardew Valley dev's upcoming life-sim

Those of you who like Stardew Valley but prefer the city life will be happy to hear one of its former devs is putting the two together in a new game.



Earlier this week, former Stardew Valley developer Arthur 'Mr. Podunkian' Lee Sunkissed City, a new life-sim "set in an upbeat, sun-kissed seaside metropolis full of funky vibes and quirky characters." While there's no trailer just yet, the game's Steam page does show off a bunch of screenshots, and right now it's looking like "Stardew Valley but if it was set in a city at the seaside," which certainly isn't the worst concept in the world. Lee is currently aiming to release the game later this year, in Q4 2024, but there's as specific a release window as we're going to get right now - it's also planned for release on PC first, and "hopefully consoles soon thereafter."



According to the game's description on Steam, you will be a "fresh hire for the monolithic Pico corporation's new 'Peco Pioneer' pilot program," which tasks you with "fostering a relationship with Apollo's vibrant community and putting in a good word for Pico's new eco-focused initiatives. But all is not well in these bustling streets. The local wildlife has begun to behave more aggressively, the waters are devoid of life, monsters are pouring out from the sewers, and that's not to mention the constant migraines everyone's been having lately."


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What are you playing this weekend?

The weekend is here, and we’re spending ours playing games - as usual.

What else is there to do? Unless you have to work or clean the house or do some other things adults do that’s boring.

Still, even if you have to do any of those things, you should use your downtime to kick back and play a few rounds to escape reality for a bit.

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Stardew Valley 1.6 update moves to polishing phase after longer-than-anticipated development period

Eric 'ConcernedApe' Barone has shared information on the 1.6 update coming to Stardew Valley.

According to the developer, the 1.6 update has taken so long to release, is due to it being a bit larger in scope than originally planned. Barone said all content has been added, and the update is now in the bug-fixing and polishing phase.

The update will likely come to PC first, but Barone doesn’t want a large delay between PC and the console and mobile versions.

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Canceled Zelda and Splatoon concerts go digital with YouTube premieres in February

After canceling the live shows, Nintendo moved its The Legend of Zelda and Splatoon concerts to YouTube.

The company announced earlier this week that The Zelda Orchestra Concert will air on February 9 and you can catch the Splatoon 3 Deep Cut concert on February 10. Both concerts will be pre-recorded and premiere at 5am PT, 8am ET, 1pm UK.

Expect the Zelda concert to last 20 minutes, and the Splatoon show to last 40 minutes.

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The outlook on Suicide Squad and Skull and Bones is tepid – is this the end of the live service craze?

In February, we’re getting two games that explicitly position themselves as ongoing, live service games. Releasing exactly two weeks apart. Both games have been in development for longer than you’d expect - and certainly longer than usual for their respective teams. They’ve both been delayed a few times, though one has a clear lead over the other (and most games) there.

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League comes out February 2. Two Fridays later, Skull and Bones follows. But something about how the two games are perceived in this pre-launch period doesn’t quite line up with what we’ve seen with similar games in the past.

The problem, really, is that it’s hard to pinpoint exactly why each game is enshrouded in this negative cloud. Sure, we can go back and look at player reaction at reveal, and chart a map of how sentiment has shifted (or hasn’t) in the weeks and months since. We could even analyse what mistakes could’ve been avoided or how certain things could’ve been communicated better, but none of that really leads to a compelling conclusion.

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Cavill says training for Highlander is about to begin "in earnest"

Our favorite Witcher, Henry Cavill, is ready to start chopping heads like its 1536 as he starts prepping for his role as Connor MacLeod in the Highlander reboot.

Speaking with various outlets while promoting his upcoming action thriller Argylle, Cavill wouldn’t say much regarding his take on the character originally played by Christopher Lambert, only stating his training has started “in earnest.”

“The training is about to begin in earnest. It'll be a very long training process, and I'm very excited to get into it,” Cavill told Collider. “There's only so much I can tell you at the moment. I want to keep everything under wraps for as long as possible."

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Six years later, Monster Hunter World remains as essential as ever (and it deserves its Steam renaissance)

The Monster Hunter series has always been something that existed in my periphery. Those are games that share a lot of their mechanics, systems and general vibe with many of my favourite games. But they always felt out of reach; it never made sense to meet them where they are. I care a lot about game presentation, and Monster Hunter games have traditionally been locked to handheld consoles.

I don’t play Nintendo games, so the chance of me getting one of the company’s handhelds is practically zero, and I certainly wasn’t going to get one to play a monster hunting game that runs at 30fps and, well, looks like this. You can call me shallow all you want, but I demand a certain level of graphical fidelity and fluidity in the games I play. Blame growing up with PCs, I suppose.

And so, everytime a Monster Hunter game comes out, I get the same people telling me to bite the bullet and buy a used 3DS and just try out any Monster Hunter for a day. My answer was always no.

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Baldur's Gate 3's all acts speedrun record is now under 20 minutes, thanks to flying stealth bear one-shots

Baldur's Gate 3 speedruns have been a near endless source of entertainment for a good while now, with the latest milestone to have been achieved by runners being a sub-20 minute all acts playthrough. Oh, and Ketheric Thorm is casually one-shotted by a flying bear midway through it.

Whether it’s managing to bed Lae’zel in a fashion that even one of Larian’s romance quest designers thinks is cool, quickly dispatching honour mode in under 40 minutes, or, best of all, finding a way to rapidly get it on with Halsin in bear form, the community’s put out plenty of videos that you need to show your BG3-loving mates if you haven’t already. The latest of these, funnily enough, also involves bears.

Yup, runner Mae is still doing great things, having just managed to record the world’s first all acts BG3 run that clocks in under twenty minutes. Amusingly, the runner revealed on their Discord server that they first managed to pull off this feat in unrecorded and therefore unofficial fashion in the practice room at this year’s Awesome Games Done Quick event, adding: “So I decided I would simply do it again.”

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Ahoy, mateys! Skull and Bones sets sail for open beta with Year One Roadmap revealed

Ubisoft has announced its endgame and post-launch plans for Skull and Bones along with providing dates for next month’s open beta.

During year one, you will face Legendary Pirate Lords like Philippe La Peste and the Hubac Twins. To best these threats, you will need to strategize carefully as each encounter escalates in difficulty. Strategic ship loadouts and seasonal ships and gear will aid in your quest to take them down during a showdown at the end of each season.

To help expand and defend your empire, you will need to loot stronger equipment and resources. This will be accomplished through world events introduced each season. Expect to face Merchant Convoys, Elite Warships, and other predators on the high seas, a know that bigger challenges bring greater rewards.

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Horizon Forbidden West: Complete Edition heads to PC this March

Horizon Forbidden West: Complete Edition will head to PC on March 21.

Available for pre-purchase, the Complete Edition includes bonus content alongside the Burning Shores expansion.

Here’s what you get:

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Activision Blizzard cancels survival game as Mike Ybarra and Allen Adham leave the company

Activision Blizzard has reportedly cancelled its in-development survival game, as well as waving goodbye to both president Mike Ybarra and chief design officer Allen Adham.


This comes as Microsoft - the tech giant that now owns Activision Blizzard as of the October 2023 acquisition - announced that 1,900 staff within its gaming division will be laid off. The cancellation of Blizzard's in-development survivial game (first reported by The Verge), adds insult to injury.


Mike Ybarra has confirmed his departure on Twitter, alongside a message to the staff affected by the layoffs. He wrote: "I want to thank everyone who is impacted today for their meaningful contributions to their teams, to Blizzard, and to players’ lives. It’s an incredibly hard day and my energy and support will be focused on all those amazing individuals impacted – this is in no way a reflection on your amazing work. If there’s anything I can help with, connections, recommendations, etc., DM me.


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That Final Fantasy 14 live-action series everyone had forgotten about is, in fact, dead

It's been a while since we last heard about a tentative Final Fantasy 14 live-action series. Turns out it's because the project doesn't exist anymore.

The disappointing update on the status of the series, which was first announced back in 2019, comes straight from Hivemind co-founder Dinesh Shamdasani via Twitter (quick hat tip to Eurogamer). "Dead", he declared regarding the show, "We took around a fantastic pilot script by Ben Lustig & Jake Thornton along with a multi-season plan they built with our show runners, but got rejected across the board. The size and scale needed to do it right proved too much for anyone to want to [take the] risk. Amazon came closest."

As a refresher: The Final Fantasy 14 series was announced as a huge collaboration between Sony Pictures Television and Hivemind, the company behind Netflix's The Witcher series. It doesn't come as a surprise that budget became the massive problem between the pilot script and getting picked up properly by a streaming service. Even if Amazon came close to financing the show, the company is already backing huge fantasy TV projects such as The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, an upcoming Warhammer 40K TV series, and the live-action God of War show, which has received a series order.

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Third chapter in the Poppy Playtime Series, Chapter 3: Deep Sleep, is out later this month

Mob Entertainment has announced a release date for Poppy Playtime Chapter 3: Deep Sleep, the latest entry in the episodic horror franchise.

Releasing on January 30, Chapter 3: Deep Sleep is the latest entry in the Poppy Playtime franchise and comes with new levels, locations, and characters, including the introduction of the main antagonist, CatNap. Take a first look at your future enemy below in the final trailer to be released for Chapter 3.

In the game, you will explore Playcare, Playtime Co.’s never-before-seen orphanage, and also come face-to-face with CatNap, part of the Playtime Co.’s Smiling Critters line of plush toys. CatNap is loose in the abandoned factory and determined to put you in his Deep Sleep. You will also get your first look at new environments and newly discovered areas of the abandoned toy factory.

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Like A Dragon Gaiden is the perfect conclusion to a story that never ends

Content Warning: Discussion of themes relating to suicide and spoilers for Like a Dragon: Gaiden

There’s a gun being pointed towards the back of his head, but he says it’s fine.


“I’ve been dead for three years now,” he laments, “I won’t haunt you from beyond the grave.” Just like all of the others, the man holding the gun this time can’t do it. “Always so quick to sacrifice yourself for others,” he replies to the tortured soul formerly known as Kazuma Kiryu, “How has that attitude not gotten you killed yet?”

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Palworld's future update roadmap includes a Pal PvP arena, raid bosses, and crossplay

Good news, people who like Palworld (there seem to be quite a lot of you). Pocketpair has revealed what its plans for the game when it comes to future updates look like, with the likes of PvP, raid bosses, and crossplay all being on the list.

While a lot of folks have been caught up in the discourse surrounding Palworld’s similarities to Pokemon or have been dealing with some serious bugs when they’ve fired it up, plenty have been having fun with it. If you’re not into creating your own fresh entertainment via trickshots, you’ll probably be glad to know that Pocketpair has plenty of new features planned for the game down the line.

The developer has shared its roadmap for the game’s future via a post on Twitter, which it kicked off by saying: “Sales have far exceeded the development team's expectations, and we are currently experiencing many problems due to excessive access congestion, among other challenges.”

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New Diablo 4 bug is actually something many players have been asking for

Season of the Construct is here for Diablo 4, and bug reports are starting to come in. Players have already come across a progress-blocking bug in the seasonal quest, which thankfully has a workaround.

No one likes bugs, of course, but some bugs can be very well received by players, for the simple reason that the “bug” is actually a feature many have been asking Blizzard for.



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Final Fantasy 7 Advent Children is coming to US cinemas, but not for long

To help get people excited for the launch of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, Square Enix is releasing Advent Children Complete in US theatres for the first time next month.



After a four year wait, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is finally releasing at the end of February, which will see the return of Cloud and co as they head out into the wider world of Gaia. In anticipation of its release, Square Enix announced yesterday that in collaboration with Sony Pictures and Fathom Events, it will be releasing Final Fantasy 7: Advent Children Complete in US cinemas. For those that don't know, Complete is essentially a director's cut of the film released four years after the original, improving in the visual quality, adding in smaller changes like more blood, and it's 26 minutes longer too.



If you're interested in catching this cut of the film in theatres, you'll need to get your tickets booked soon, as it's only available on two dates, February 21, which will screen the English dub of the film, and February 22, which will be the original Japanese voice cast, with English subtitles. The press release for the announcement stresses that those attending should make it there early, as there will be "exclusive introductory content, including a history of Final Fantasy 7 and its connection to Final Fantasy 7 Advent Children."


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Delicious in Dungeon episode 3 finally captured that Studio Trigger magic

At this point in time, Studio Trigger has become something of a household name for anime fans - it kicked things off with the incredibly energetic Kill la Kill, and has produced the excellent series for Netflix like Little Witch Academia and Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, and now most recently, Delicious in Dungeon.


You can pretty quickly recognise a Trigger series, as the studio brings a unique flair to its characters, who often have big, bold, exaggerated expressions, complemented by animation that I think can only be described as wacky. All of this made the prospect of it handling the currently airing Delicious in Dungeon incredibly exciting, but while I love the first couple of episodes, they felt like they were missing something; but thankfully, Delicious in Dungeon episode 3 has managed to get a hold of that classic Studio Trigger magic.



I don't at all blame Trigger for keeping the first couple episodes a bit lowkey, not a huge amount happens in them after all, it's mostly setting up the world and introducing all of the characters. Action is minimal too, so why spend all your budget on places that just don't need it? And there's even some good cooking lessons to be found too. It did leave me wondering if we'd see some animation that would truly cement it as a "Studio Trigger" show that so many people have come to love it for, and the show's third episode really delivered.


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Tekken 8 review: Back(dash), and better than ever

I do my best to create a 1-to-1 recreation of Margaret Thatcher in the Tekken 8 avatar creator for 20 minutes, before giving up and heading into an online lobby at 11PM. There, I lounge at the beach and practice some combos before an American reviewer hops online and sits down at a cab. He buries me alive. I download each replay and pick them apart. I mess around with some other characters, and chuckle one of them transforms a salmon into a giant missile. Tekken is truly back.


Back, and arguably better than ever. Tekken 8 is the latest entry in the legendary 3D fighting game franchise and has gigantic shoes to fill. Tekken 7, while certainly flawed, slowly grew into a world-spanning competitive title that wrestled the hearts of many, even as newer and flashier games were released around it. There is an expectation that Tekken 8 must see the bar set by its predecessor and wall jump over it. Tekken 8 manages the feat.


Let's break it down piece-by-piece, starting with the bits I always find most important when jumping into a new fighter. The online stability is fine in Tekken 8, but not genre-leading in any regard. Reviewers were given two days to try the game online, during which I played with various others from the UK, Europe, and America. Games against those in my own country (using wifi or otherwise) were smooth and frustration-free. The same goes with European matches, although a few brief hiccups here and there were noticeable.


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Jurassic World sequel set to bring back the original film's writer, but can it ever be good again?

Universal seems to be trying to capture some of that classic Jurassic Park magic, as the original film's screenwriter is coming back for a new Jurassic World film.



As reported by Variety, David Koepp, the writer behind 1993's Jurassic Park, as well as its 1997 sequel The Lost World: Jurassic Park, has apparently been brought on board to write a new film in the Jurassic World series, as it's now known. According to Variety, an all-new storyline is planned, with the intention of it starting a new era for the franchise. At this point in time it isn't clear if the more recent main cast like Chris Pratt or Bryce Dallas Howard will return, and it's much the same with the original film's cast Sam Neill, Laura Dern, and Jeff Goldblum, all of which returned for 2022's Jurassic World Dominion.



Outside of that, Frank Marshall is back to produce the film, alongside Patrick Crowley, and Steven Spielberg is unsurprisingly serving as executive producer through his production company Amblin Entertainment. A director hasn't been attached yet, so overall it sounds like it's still early days. Why Universal is deciding to start a new era for the long-running franchise is a bit unclear, as in terms of the box office it's a big hit - the first Jurassic World is the eight highest grossing film of all time, but both of its sequels, Fallen Kingdom and Dominion, were the third highest grossing films of the respective years they released in.


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Fresh Palworld Xbox and PC update aims to finally stop it from getting stuck at a black screen on startup

A fresh update to the very popular, but also very controversial Palworld for Xbox and Microsoft Store-bought PC copies aims to stop the game’s app from grinding to a halt upon startup - leaving players staring at a black screen.

From co-op server problems caused by the sheer volume of people who’ve stampeded into the game to a stat point reset item permanently decreasing your Pal capturing ability, it hasn’t been totally smooth sailing so far for Palworld from a bugs perspective. However, after acknowledging that its developers are working on fixing the game’s most pressing issues, Pocketpair has already started putting out updates designed to rectify some of them.

In a string of tweets this morning, Pocketpair has revealed that it’s released a number of updates aimed at the versions of the game on Xbox and bought via the Microsoft Store on PC. While the first of these aimed - among other things - to rectify some “sound issues” players had reported, there’s already been another put out since then that aims to stop the game from “[launching] to a black screen”.

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As Apex Legends turns five, do you still care about it?

Apex Legends is turning five years old. Do you feel ancient yet? The game, released by Respawn Entertainment back during the height of battle royale fever, ripped a different sense of movement and skill expression from the bones of the Titanfall IP and gave it to the fledgling subgenre. It was regarded as one of the best FPS games out there. But five years on, do you care?


It's the sort of question that every live-service game enjoyer has to ask every now and again, especially as their go-to game morphs and evolves from that evergreen initial month. Apex Legends, like countless games before it, is far removed from the refreshing game we all played back in 2019. The Legend pool has expanded, as has the number of maps, weapons, and cosmetics. Even if Apex Legends has that same core, it's grown into a new beast in and of itself.


For one, it's harder to get into now than it was before, purely down to a higher skill floor. This isn't a problem unique to Apex Legends by any means, but it's one that burdens the experience for new players. "At some point I (as several other players I know) got some kind of PTSD because of Apex," 34-year-old player IDCh wrote to me over the weekend. "When you simply are not ready for the opportunity to waste 4 hours in the evening being the 'bots' for more experienced players.


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Didn’t like helmet-less Master Chief in Halo? “You don’t like our show” says Pablo Schreiber

Pablo Schreiber, the actor who portrays the live action version of Master Chief in the Halo series, has some choice words for those that don't like the helmet-less Spartan.



Earlier this month, we got the first full trailer for Halo season 2, and while it's certainly looking pretty atmospheric so far, but it has been subject to some criticisms - one of the top posts on the Halo subreddit honed in on the fact that a lot of the trailer featured the Chief without his helmet, putting the strong-jawed Schreiber on full display. He's a handsome man, so I get it, but obviously one of the things Halo fans love most about Master Chief is his iconic green suit. The removal of the helmet was a point of criticism for the first season too, but in Schrieber's opinion, if you don't like that fact, you don't like the show at all.



Speaking to SFX magazine (via GamesRadar), Schreiber said that "People who don’t feel the helmet was necessary to come off, they’re at such an early conception of what the show could be. In order to examine the discrepancy between these two versions of the character [Chief and John-117], you can’t tell that story without taking the helmet off. If you don’t agree with the helmet coming off in the show, you don’t like our show. So, there’s no point discussing it."


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You can make Palworld even more like Pokemon thanks to an upcoming mod

It's not even been a week, and yet Palworld is already getting a Pokemon mod, as if the game didn't resemble the series enough as it is.



You know it, I know it, we all know it, Palworld looks a lot like Pokemon in places, from the designs that have courted some plagiarism accusations, to the very act of having to throw balls at them to capture them. That's mostly where the similarities end, given that it's more of a survival game, but content creator and modder ToastedShoes is seeing to it that Palworld becomes even more like Pokemon. The YouTuber teased an upcoming video of his showing off the mod in question, which you can take a look at for yourself below.



Very quickly you'll see the one and only Ash Ketchum in place of your player character, with his classic red and white cap, and his not so classic bow and arrow he uses to fight with. It looks like a massive undertaking of a mod, as not only is Ash there instead of your own character, but all of the Pals have been replaced with Pokemon like Pikachu, Torterra, Sawsbuck and more. Plus, certain characters have been turned into Ash's companions like Brock and Misty, and the first boss fight is one of his age old nemesis' Jessie from Team Rocket. It's a pretty comprehensive looking mod, and is pretty impressive considering the game came out last Friday.


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Palworld already has a VR mod, letting you truly feel the horror of what you're doing

Despite only releasing last Friday, Palworld already has a VR mod, letting you get up close and personal with the "Pokemon with guns" game.



Palworld has very quickly found a lot of popularity, as it's already become the second most popular paid game on Steam in a matter of days. A lot of that success definitely comes down to the fact it answers the question "what if Pokemon had guns, and also it was a survival game?" But even with that popularity, it's slightly surprising that there's already a mod that lets you play the game in VR. The mod in question, simply called UEVR, comes from praydog, and it's technically a universal VR mod that can be applied to any game built in Unreal Engine, which Palworld was.



Right now, as you can see in the video above from Paradise Decay (thanks, PCGamesN), the VR capabilities are a bit simple, mostly just allowing for a first-person VR perspective. It's up to you to set the angle right, as you can move the position of the VR camera so it's at a suitable height. Controls wise, you can use your usual controller, whatever your brand allegiance might be, or map the buttons to any VR controllers you might have. Looking at the footage above, it seems to work very well, and you can have it so that you can still look around with the right analogue stick if you're playing while sitting down.


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Final Fantasy 16 might be making the leap to Xbox, leaker claims

If Xbox insider Shpeshal_Nick is to be believed, Final Fantasy 16 could be coming to the Series X/S in the future.



Over the weekend, on The Infinite Podcast, Xbox Era co-founder Shpeshal_Nick made an appearance where he claimed that the currently PS5-exclusive Final Fantasy 16 will make its way onto the Xbox Series X/S, at least at some point. He didn't have any other details outside of the fact that it will be coming to the rival platform, and he wasn't informed of any kind of release date either. A trailer last year noted that Final Fantasy 16's PS5 exclusivity window would only last for six months following its release, so given that it's exactly seven months at the time of writing since it was released, that period should now be over.



A PC port for Final Fantasy 16 was confirmed last year, so we do know that it won't be PS5 exclusive for much longer anyway, though there's no release date on that port either. Plus, last year Square Enix publicly committed to better Xbox support, meaning a belated Final Fantasy 16 port wouldn't be entirely unsurprising. That was evidenced just recently, with the upcoming, Square Enix developed Visions of Mana getting a nice spotlight during last week's Xbox Developer Direct. As well as that, he also leaked that a Chrono Cross remaster was in the works, which again turned out to be true, marking two Square Enix projects he's accurately shared information on.


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Did the Indiana Jones and the Great Circle gameplay reveal tease Quake 6 through a whiteboard? Maybe!

Xbox's recent deep dive into Indiana Jones and the Great Circle may have also sneakily teased Quake 6, but you almost definitely shouldn't get your hopes up just yet.



Earlier this week, Xbox held its first showcase of the year with its Developer Direct, which focused on a small number of games in a lot of detail. Each game had bits of gameplay intercut with interview footage set in the respective developer's offices, including the final game of the night, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. But as spotted by a user on Resetera, there's a particular moment in the Indiana showcase that seems like it could be teasing Quake 6.



Right off the bat, we should absolutely take this with a grain of salt. The moment in question, at around the 44:44 mark in the video above, shows a whiteboard with some diagrams of puzzles presumably from Indiana Jones on it. But to the left of frame, slightly out of focus, you can see text that reads "ake 6" in all capital letters. You can also see the iconic Quake symbol right below it, so there's pretty much no question about the full text being Quake 6. For some added context, in case you're wondering "hang on, when did Quake 5 happen?" Quake Champions was regarded internally as Quake 5, even if it wasn't officially numbered.


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Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth is charging for new game plus, and even one of its cast isn't happy about it

In a bit of an odd move, Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio has decided to put Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth's new game plus mode behind a paywall.



These days, new game plus modes are pretty common, at least in big AAA releases, as they can offer new challenges to players, as well as making it a bit easier to mop up things like trophies on a second run while still retaining all of your unlocks. For some reason, though, ahead of Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth's release next week, RGG has revealed some of the bonus content that comes with more expensive editions of the game, with one such addition being a new game plus mode. In order to unlock new game plus, you'll need to pick up either the deluxe edition or the ultimate edition versions of the game, as they both come with the Master Vacation Bundle, which includes the mode.



The rest of the bundle makes sense, as it comes with a bonus dungeon, a special Sujimon (Like a Dragon's own take on Pokemon), more resort guests, and more outfits. But generally, most developers will release new game plus for free, even if it comes a while after release like with Alan Wake 2 and Spider-Man 2. To be clear, these special editions of the game aren't exactly the cheapest either - the standard edition, which just comes with the base game, is £60/ $70 on Steam itself, with the deluxe edition setting you back £75/ $85, and the ultimate edition costing a hefty £95/ $110. And that's just for digital content!


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Lego's next Nintendo collab could be a Zelda one, with a Great Deku Tree set rumoured for this year

Some rumours are spreading around that a Lego Zelda Great Deku Tree set is releasing sometime in 2024, and it's not the first time we've heard about such a set.



Back in 2022, Lego stopped allowing users to submit Zelda-themed sets on its Ideas service, quickly prompting fans to suspect that something official could be coming at some point in the future. It wouldn't be too surprising, given Nintendo and Lego do already have a relationship through their Mario and Animal Crossing collaborations. But now, according to Lego leaker 1414falconfan, a Lego Zelda set themed around The Great Deku Tree could be due out this September (thanks, Nintendo Everything). As noted over on a Resetera thread, 1414falcon fan is a pretty reliable leaker when it comes to Lego sets, as they have previously accurately reported on the Lego Piranha Plant model before it was released.



The set will apparently have 2500 piece, and if a previous leak is to be believed, it will allow you to build either the Ocarina of Time or Breath of the Wild Great Deku Trees, and will come with mini-figs of Link from the former, and Link and Zelda from the latter. Take that one with a pinch of salt, as it isn't clear if the images are real or not, though Lego did submit copyright claims on YouTube videos containing said images, which certainly points towards their legitimacy.


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Palworld hits 3 millions copies sold in 40 hours as it's met with accusations of plagiarism

"Pokemon with guns" game Palworld is quickly racking up sales, though as the game shoots up in popularity, it has been met with accusations of plagiarism.



Late last night, the official Palworld Twitter account shared that the new creature collector has hit three million copies sold in the 40 hours since it was released, an obviously impressive figure, especially when you consider it is available on Game Pass. That's also up from the one million copies sold in just the first eight hours on sale, so clearly the concept of giving a Pokemon a gun is a popular one. It's proving popular on Steam too, as it's now the storefront's sixth highest played game according to concurrent players of all time, beating out games like Elden Ring and Baldur's Gate 3.



That popularity isn't coming without some controversy though, as the game's release has also been met with accusations of plagiarism. If you just took a quick glance at the game it'd be quite easy to say that Palworld is borrowing from Pokemon, given the creature collecting element where you throw balls at said creatures to capture them. For the most part that generally seems to be where the gameplay similarities end, as it is more of a survival game than it is an RPG like Pokemon, but numerous people online have pointed out how similar some of the creature designs are.


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Indiana Jones and the Great Circle's central concept based on real-world theory involving ancient sites

MachineGames has revealed the storyline of Indiana Jones and the Great Circle centers around a real-world hypothesis that claims ancient sites around the world were intentionally built in alignment, forming what's called a Great Circle.

Speaking in an interview with Lucasfilm, game director Jerk Gustafsson shared how the unorthodox theory of a Great Circle connecting ancient sites inspired the title’s plot.

“A great circle is any circle that divides a sphere in half,” said Gustafsson. “On Earth, the most well-known one is, obviously, the equator. But they can exist from any point really, and are used heavily in aviation when plotting your course.

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What are you playing this weekend?

Dunno where you are in the world, but for us, it’s brass monkeys out there. There’s snow everywhere, and flakes are still coming down. The chilly season is barely over, and we’re already sick of it. A pox on winter, we say!

What we wouldn’t give to be sitting in a chair on a nice beach someplace along the Gulf of Mexico, staring at the calm, blue water, watching shorebirds skitter across the sand, and filling our lungs with the magnificent salty air.

Sigh. Later this year, maybe, but only if it’s not unbearably hot, because then we’ll complain about the heat as well. Plus, swimming in the gulf when it feels like bathwater isn’t very refreshing.

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Blizzard is changing the way it's going to balance Diablo 4 classes going forward

Blizzard closed out the pre-Season of the Construct developer livestream for Diablo 4 by sharing news about how it’s going to approach class and item balance going forward, as well as its philosophy behind this new approach.

The developer doesn’t want the meta to get stale, but it’s also aware that taking good things away from players quickly can ruin the fun. So here's what’s actually happening.



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Elder Scrolls Online gets a new expansion in June, plus a 15 month-long birthday party, which feels greedy

The Elder Scrolls Online’s next expansion, dubbed Gold Road, is set to arrive this summer following a big reveal as part of last night’s big Xbox Developer Direct. The game is also getting a 15 month-long tenth birthday celebration, which seems a tad excessive (we're just jealous really).

Yes, it’s almost a decade since Zenimax looked at World of Warcraft (among others), looked at The Elder Scrolls, and thought something along the lines of ‘why not us, man?’. Despite not quite being the cup of tea of many single-player loving mainline Elder Scrolls fans, ESO’s amassed a pretty huge player base of MMO-enjoyers over the years, who’ll get to head on a new adventure in Cyrodiil this June.

Said adventure comes in the form of the Gold Road expansion, which you can check out a cool trailer for below. For veteran ESO players, it looks like Gold Road will serve as a bit of a follow-up to last year’s Necrom expansion, while offering the chance to explore some classic locations you’ll likely remember from Oblivion, in the form of the Imperial province’s West Weald region and its central city, Skingrad.

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Minecraft’s free Planet Earth 3 expansion is the wholesome sort of DLC we deserve

Xbox, Mojang and the BBC are partnering once again, helping to bring a version of some of the BBC’s educational nature content to the world of Minecraft.

Owners of Minecraft’s Bedrock or Education editions can download a free expansion pack that’s built around the BBC’s truly incredible Planet Earth 3 documentary series, adding all manner of real-world marvels of nature to Minecraft.

While the expansion sadly doesn’t feature any narration from Sir David Attenborough, it does feature much of the other things that can be seen in Planet Earth 3, which can be watched in the UK now on BBC iPlayer, and in the US is available on AMC+ and will soon air again on BBC America.

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Ara: History Untold intends to change how you play grand strategy games this fall

During Xbox Developer Direct, Oxide Games gave us a new look at Ara: History Untold gameplay and shared an overview of the key features coming to the historical grand strategy title.

The overview also touched upon the game’s crafting system, approach to simultaneous turns, and more.

Tasked with building a nation, as a ruler, you are charged with leading your people from the dawn of society into one of great achievement by exploring new lands, cultivating arts and culture, working on diplomacy, and going head-to-head with rivals.

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Indiana Jones and the Great Circle: Here's your first look at whip-cracking action

MachineGames finally showed Indiana Jones and the Great Circle during Xbox Developer Direct, and the game’s depiction of Indy is the spitting image of Harrison Ford in his prime.

In the game, you will step into the shoes of Indiana Jones and take on an adventure that spans the globe during the height of the archaeologist’s career.

Announced in 2021, the cinematic action-adventure takes place in 1937, a year or so after the events of Raiders of the Lost Ark. While teaching at Marshall College, Indy wakes one evening to a crash and finds a man stealing, and taking off with an artifact. While on the thief's trail, Indy becomes aware of sinister forces scouring the globe for the secret to an ancient power connected to the Great Circle - a circular ley line encompassing sites of spiritual significance scattered around the world.

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Echo star Alaqua Cox shares her hopes for Maya's future and her own

Following Echo's finale on Disney Plus, fans are wondering about Maya Lopez's future, as well as what's next for star Alaqua Cox. Here are the actress' thoughts.

Deadline has had the chance to sit down with Cox to discuss Echo, its ending, and what might be next for the character in a spoilerific interview that's worth reading if you've already watched the five-episode limited series. The most interesting bits, however, come from Cox's hopes for Maya's future - as well as her own - outside the Marvel realm.

"I hope that she doesn’t go back to New York City," she said about Maya's potential next chapter, whenever and wherever that happens. With Daredevil: Born Again continuing Wilson Fisk aka Kingpin's story, chances are the character'll be part of future street-level Marvel Cinematic Universe stories in one way or another. Cox added: "I want Maya to reconnect with her family and get rid of New York and what happened in in New York and Kingpin, but we’ll see what happens."

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Until Dawn movie in the works even though it already came out almost 9 years ago

Shazam! director David F. Sandberg is returning to his horror roots with an adaptation of PlayStation's 2015 horror hit Until Dawn. The problem? The original game already was an interactive movie.

The Hollywood Reporter shared the latest exclusive on PlayStation Productions' ever-growing output of movie and TV adaptations yesterday, January 17, adding that Screen Gems would co-produce the project alongside Sony.

On top of David F. Sandberg (who's spent the last few years stuck far away in DC land), Gary Dauberman, the screenwriter behind recent horror hits like It, Annabelle, and The Nun, is doing extra work on a script which was originally written, unbeknownst to almost everyone, by The Invitation's Blair Butler.

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Remember Fallout Shelter? Well, you can now pre-register to play a new-ish Elder Scrolls game like it

You. You like The Elder Scrolls right? Well, Bethesda’s just decided - kind of randomly - to suddenly announce the existence of The Elder Scrolls: Castles, a Fallout Shelter-style mobile game which was kind of already a thing.

What do I mean by that? Well, you might not be aware that TES Castles very quietly released in early access form in September last year, meaning that if you were lucky enough to have access to certain storefronts in certain countries, you might have already given it a go. Now though, it looks like the game’s getting a pre-launch soft launch, which isn’t confusing in the slightest.

“We’re excited to finally share The Elder Scrolls: Castles, our new mobile game from the team behind Fallout Shelter,” Bethesda said in a tweet that weirdly seems to mark the first time it’s really acknowledged the game by its official name, “The team has been hard at work on it for the last few years and we absolutely adore it.”

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The next game from Dave the Diver devs is a sci-fi MOBA about injecting speed juice into your boots

It seems like MOBAs are having a bit of a moment right now. With the recent announcement of Smite 2, and this new game from Mintrocket.

Mintrocket is, of course, the team behind last year's mega-hit (and controversial indie Game Awards 2023 nominee), Dave the Diver, and this new game is quite the shift from the pixel art rogue-lite.

The studio's new game is Wakerunners, a top-down MOBA for 4v4 and 5v5. The game is set in an original sci-fi universe, and it has an interesting mechanic that involves manipulating your character's speed. As you can see in the trailer below, fighters can glide across the field at incredible speeds (and look quite slick, thanks to the game's smooth animations).

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Rock Band DLC is officially ending, but the music will live on

Harmonix has announced that Rock Band 4 DLC will exit stage left on January 25.

After over eight years of releasing weekly DLC, Harmonix plans to shift focus to the free-to-play Fortnite Festival, which brings rhythm-action gaming to the Fortnite ecosystem. Players can expect a rotating selection of songs, and it will support Rock Band 4 instruments - so hang onto your music peripherals.

Live services for the game will continue with Rivals seasons, online play, and more remaining available.

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Want to watch Disney+ on virtual reality Tatooine? It'll only cost you $3500!

Ever thought about watching Star Wars on Tatooine? Or Iron Man on Avenger's Tower? The Apple Vision Pro will let you do just that, but at a steep cost.



Earlier this month, Apple announced that its first VR headset will be released next month, at the very ridiculous price of $3500. One of its biggest unique features is the mix between virtual and augmented reality, but really the thing that the casual user will be interested in is things like watching movies. It can do exactly that, and in a recent press release from Disney itself, some details were shared as to how the headset's Disney+ integration will work. Like other VR headsets, the Apple Vision Pro will let you watch movies in virtual rooms, but obviously this being Disney there are some themed ones you can situate yourself in while watching Disney+.



To start it sounds like there's only going to be four environments to choose from, essentially covering most of its fans' bases. The plainest of the four is the Disney+ Theatre, which is apparently inspired by the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood, but the other three are a little more fun. For the standard Disney fan, you'll be able to hang out on the Scare Floor from Pixar's Monsters Inc., which honestly is a bit of an odd choice of venue, but then the rest of them are too.


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The original Dune is coming back to theatres for its 40th anniversary

It looks like 2024 will be a big year for Dune, as alongside the upcoming sequel to the new iteration, the original 1984 film is coming back to theatres.



Later this year, it will have been 40 years since David Lynch's Dune hit the silver screen, and while it's a bit early (the film released in December), Fathom Events is celebrating the classic sci-fi film's 40th anniversary with a limited released in US theatres. Those who want to check out the film might want to act quickly to get tickets, as it's only showing on February 18 and 19. You'll have to see for yourself if it's showing in your area, but hey, even if it's not, there's still plenty of other ways to watch it.



The original Dune is a bit of an odd one, given that Lynch is not the kind of director who typically makes big, commercial blockbusters. Those that have seen any of his works, such as Twin Peaks or Mulholland Drive know that he's a bit of an oddball, and in an interview from a few years ago he even went so far as to say he's proud of all of his works except Dune. One of the big reasons behind that is because he didn't have final cut on the film, so didn't have the creative control he might have liked to.


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Against all odds, The Last of Us, Part 2 Remastered’s No Return mode is nigh-on perfect

The Last of Us, when you really think about it, is the last game that should have ever gotten a roguelike mode. Think about it; this is a series that goes to great lengths to bemoan the use of excessive violence, that sternly wags its finger and says ‘tsk, tsk, tsk, can’t we do better than this?’ whilst standing in a pool of blood and looking sad.

To inject a non-canon roguelike into this game is anathema to the very point of The Last of Us, on the surface. Saying to its tortured characters “here, have an infinite pit of misery” or “here’s a gauntlet you can run, over and over, where killing is free and violence is celebrated” would no doubt horrify and alienate the more moderate members of the cast (read: Jesse, Dina, Tommy, Owen, and so on). Abby and Ellie may actually enjoy it, though – I always had the feeling they were sadists, at heart.

So how does The Last of Us get it so right? I have put 1000s of hours into roguelikes (I’d go as far as saying they represent my favourite games in the whole industry) and The Last of Us 2 Remastered’s No Return mode is up there with the best. The game’s encounter design was always top-tier; giving you little stealth sandboxes to run around with the option to ‘go loud’ if you get sniffed out (or giving you more than enough pathways to execute your ninja plan with aplomb if not) is only the first layer of the onion.

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Frostpunk 2 is heading to Game Pass on Day 1 - First gameplay revealed

11 bit studios has released the first look at gameplay for its post-apocalyptic city-survival game Frostpunk 2.

Announced in 2021, it's the sequel to the studio’s acclaimed 2018 strategy game Frostpunk, which sold over 3 million copies. It takes place in New London 30 years after the Great Storm of the original game, and the consequences stemming from the arrival of the oil industry.

Frostpunk 2 remains focused on the story of a populace dealing with harsh realities, and it’s up to you as a Steward to ensure the sustainability and survival of your City.

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Rockstar’s parent company is reportedly in a dispute with Remedy over a logo featuring the letter R

Take-Two Interactive, the parent company of Rockstar Games, is reportedly in a trademark dispute with Alan Wake developer Remedy Entertainment, with the former having claimed that the latter’s logo featuring the letter R resembles its own.

This has resulted in Take-Two opposing the trademarks filed by Remedy for two different logo designs via the UK’s Intellectual Property Office, as you can see noted on the listings here and here. It’s an interesting situation to say the least, given that the companies entered an agreement to work together to facilitate remakes of the first two Max Payne games just last year.

The notices revealing Take-Two’s opposition to the two trademarks linked above were spotted by RespawnFirst, which has reported that Take-Two’s opposition stems from the fact it believes “there exists a likelihood of confusion on the part of the public” regarding Remedy’s logos and its own.

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Wednesday lead Jenna Ortega says season 2 is leaning into horror, a welcome change for the Netflix series

Anyone that felt like Netflix's Wednesday could have gone a bit harder will probably be happy to hear that season 2 is looking to learn more into horror.



It was the Emmys last night, with a select few shows taking home most of the awards, but of course it also meant the appearance of many actors making all sorts of comments. Wednesday star Jenna Ortega was one such actor, who was interviewed by Laverne Cox on the red carpet for E! (via Deadline). When asked about Wednesday, Ortega shared that she's "received some scripts now for the second season, and we’re definitely leaning into a little bit more horror." That'll definitely be a welcome change for those who felt that the first season was perhaps a bit too soft and Riverdale-like.



Ortega also shared that "there's some really good one-liners and I think everything is bigger. It’s a lot more action-packed. I think each episode will probably feel a little bit more like a movie, which is nice." Whatever the second season ends up being like, it certainly sounds like Wednesday is upping the ante a bit. This is sure to be a success with Ortega herself, as last year she did express her own criticism of Wednesday, in particular to how the titular character was treated.


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Elden Ring's singular good dog does want to kill you, actually

Elden Ring players have been wondering what's up with a single dog that doesn't seem interested in fighting, but it turns out that is, actually, and would love to kill you.



On your journey throughout The Lands Between, you might have come across a particular dog in Leyndell. It hangs out with a Leonine Misbegotten, which will happily try to kill you, but unless you attack the dog yourself, it won't bite back - though it is still an enemy, and not an unkillable NPC. Of course, players have been wondering why this might be the case, and whether it's on purpose or not. And if so, why would it be? Every other dog in the game wants to kill you, why not this one? Well, sorry to ruin this one good dog for you, but it does want to kill you, and FromSoftware YouTuber Zullie the Witch kindly took the time to explain why it doesn't try to hurt you.



You'll most likely have noticed that a lot of the enemies in Elden Ring have a sort of startup animation they do once you get near enough to them and they've noticed you, before they start to fight you, particularly if they're sat down or the like. Zullie explained that the trigger for the animation isn't actually handled by the enemy AI, but by event regions that cause the enemy to arouse when you approach - something used to great effect, like those surprise baddies round corners.


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Ten years on, Wreckfest is the game that's come closest to filling the Burnout-shaped hole in my soul

There’s a totally destroyed car heading right for me with all the momentum its jauntily-angled wheels can muster. Its front bumper has been completely torn off, exposing its engine block, which is midway through dislodging itself from the rest of the chassis and is angrily spewing fire as it does so. The driver’s face is obscured behind a simple black helmet, which boasts a terrifyingly emotionless countenance.

We’re going to have a crash, and it’s going to be glorious.

Since I first picked up a PS2 controller, crashing has been the thing I’ve spent by far the most time doing in the litany of driving and racing games I’ve played since that point. It’s often been a source of frustration for me, and remains an occasional annoyance, even now that I’ve shaken off the life of a carefree child and gained the slightly improved my reflexes and hand-eye coordination of an adult that’s just about passable at video games.

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