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In a metaphor far too on the nose to turn into any form of fiction, at least without the writer getting mercilessly cyberbullied, a game about finding a needle in a haystack has now become the genuine needle at the heart of a pile of imitators. A pile so large, in fact, one copycat game stands accused of ripping code from another. Read more
Since launch back in May of this year, life sim Paralives appears to have been trucking along nicely, with the dev team offering up fairly regular updates with all sorts of tweaks big and small. Certainly confidence-inspiring for an early access game, especially one as systems-driven as it is. And now, the Paralives team have outlined their plans for the game's first major update, which seem very catered to improving the core experience. Read more
The Japan Actors Union has issued new rules, guidelines, and restrictions related to AI-generated voice use. This includes an outright ban on the replication of the voices of dead actors, unless the actor had authorised its use during their lifetime. Read more
Arc Raiders is still going strong almost a year after finding viral success, and it's all thanks to Embark Studios' one-two-punch strategy of launching a huge new update, Frozen Trails, to coincide with a free weekend. Read more
Bungie surprised players last month by announcing its intention to bring back Destiny 2 campaigns and other additions taken out of the game over the years. When that 'unvaulting' plan was initially announced, Bungie didn't share any specifics, nor a timeline as to when we can expect the things to return. Read more
The price of Xbox's next generation console, codename Project Helix, may be higher than many of us expected. Helix, which is reportedly going to ship as two devices, is estimated to cost close to $2,000. Read more
You can play Football Manager 27 on PC and Mac for free this year for five full days later this month, in a first for the series and apparently an "industry first" for games of its kind. Read more
The FBI and Santa Ana police are investigating the theft of 6451 PSA-graded cards, including nearly 3000 Pokémon cards, from a FedEx truck in California. Read more
And lo, mushrooms! This is what I imagine an old timey tour guide might say while on a hiking trail, but we aren't on one of those, so get that wonderful fungi image out of your brain. No, today is the day that Mycopunk has arrived into 1.0, an online co-op looter shooter about embodying robot rejects fending off hordes challenging champignon. Read more
You've heard of the drill that will pierce the heavens, so introducing: the drill that is attached to an entire city that will pierce the earth. That's the concept for CitaDrill, a roguelite city-builder where the city is encased in a big ole dome, a larger than life drill attached to its base that you dig through an infested planet. It's a lot, of course, but it's got some lush pixel art and a demo you can try out for yourself as part of this Steam Next Fest, too. Read more
Earlier this year, I embarked on a pivotal journey, one that I'm sure upon finishing will change me for good: I started watching Haikyu!! It's my first sports anime (when you're a chubby little muffin like I was, you take more interest in Not Moving over Sports), an abscess in the lexicon of genres I've dipped my toes into, one I'm rectifying after all these years. And friends, it's good eatin'. I even, incredibly briefly, floated the idea of taking up volleyball. Yet now I don't have to, and it's all thanks to a delightful, incredibly Wii Sports coded game called just volleyball. Read more
The wonderful thing about video games is that they can take something that is, quite frankly, terrible, and turn it into an experience where you can't help but think "just five more minutes." Incremental games often have that effect, and Selkie's Salvage&Co. is no different in that regard, it's just the funny thing is that it is essentially a game about taking your rubbish out. Read more
I may have set my expectations for Dawn of War 4 too high, but it's a series that, to my mind, never retreads the same ground. It's therefore been disappointing to feel, having played it across two its campaigns that this long-awaited sequel may have taken too few risks - or been too reverent of the games that came before. Read more
I'll be honest folks: I didn't know that Steam's Personal Calendar feature was still technically in testing. I've been using it here and there to keep track of what's come out recently or what's coming out imminently, and have generally found it to be fairly reflective of the kinds of games I was interested in. It just worked! Yet lo and behold, a post from Valve went out yesterday announcing that the feature has launched out of Steam Labs "and is considered a full feature of the Steam Store." Read more
The 2027 Game Developers Choice Awards (GDCA) will be accepting submissions from publishers and developers for the first time. Read more
Existing digital-only games that include paid random items, such as loot boxes, are being re-rated PEGI 16 if they currently carry a PEGI 3, 7, or 12 rating. Read more
An analysis from Sensor Tower shows just how far ahead GTA 6 is in terms of preorders when compared with some of the biggest AAA games of the past six years. Read more
The Japan Actors Union has announced new guidelines to address the unauthorised use of generative AI to replicate voice performances. Read more
97% of studio leaders have used AI in some form during development, with 94% having used AI in at least one of the nine production stages. Read more
Project Helix is reportedly launching in the 2028 holiday season and is projected to cost between $1,200 and $1,800. Read more
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