2024-01

Today, during the most recent Xbox Developer Direct, Ara: History Untold, a new strategy game from Oxide Games was announced.  Oxide talked up its "living world," a procedurally generated map for players to create the society they want in Ara. As the developers say, it will change over time based on players' decisions. Ara's Prestige System pits players to build a nation better than opponents'. The game's score system awards points based on what kind of leader a specific player wants to be. An example, as detailed during today's live stream, is building "Triumphs," or famous buildings throughout history that give large Prestige bonuses. Oxide is a Maryland-based studio founded in 2013 by former Firaxis developers. Its previous games include 2016's Ashes of the Singularity and Star Swarm.  Ara: History Untold is expected to be released on PC and PC...

During today's Xbox Developer Direct, Square Enix made a surprise appearance to pull back the curtains on Visions of Mana, the first new mainline game in the franchise in 15 years. Square Enix also revealed Visions of Mana will hit PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC this summer. Executive producer Masaru Oyamada discussed the franchise's history, noting there have been 17 entries across its 30 years of existence. He also points out that what is now the Mana series today actually began as Final Fantasy Adventure in 1991.  Mana series creator Koichi Ishii also joined this segment of the show to discuss how he has supervised the team on its work and implementation of taking what were originally pixelated monsters and converting them into the 3D monsters players will fight in the game.  Notably,...

Obsidian has been working for years on Avowed, a first-person fantasy RPG set in the same world as its excellent Pillars of Eternity games. Unlike the isometric styling of those titles, Avowed is a first-person adventure more in the vein of something like The Elder Scrolls, Fallout, or The Outer Worlds. Today’s Xbox Developer Direct offered a deeper dive into several important aspects of the game, but the standout feature was an explanation of combat, which aims to be action-oriented but still tactically complex. Players are allowed to use customizable loadouts, including selecting different weapons or other tools for each hand. We saw combinations of swords, shields, wands, and spell usage, and pistols. Once in combat, the mix of various offensive skills with defensive capabilities like blocks and parries makes it look like a genuinely engaging approach to battles. I'm...

Developer Ninja Theory appeared on Microsoft's Xbox Developer Direct stream to discuss its sequel, Senua's Saga: Hellblade II. The big news from the footage is the game finally has a release date: May 21. Microsoft also confirmed that the game will be a digital-only release. The developer revealed it is in the final months of development and outlined some elements to expect from Hellblade II. Senua is not in as much fear of her voices as she was in the original game, but she is still a Celtic warrior who struggles with psychosis. Like the first game, Ninja Theory is working with professionals like Cambridge's Paul Fletcher to ensure Senua represents an accurate version of someone struggling with complex mental issues. There are a number of new characters she will interact with. Some will appreciate her perspective and consider her...

Last year was a fantastic year for games, with standout triple-A releases like Baldur's Gate 3, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Marvel's Spider-Man 2, and great independent games like Jusant, Sea of Stars, and countless others. But in 2023 alone, more than 10,000 developers and people in games-adjacent industries were laid off. Plus, the unchecked rise of A.I. continued, and Unity burned developers with its controversial new game engine policies, not to name a few other not-so-great parts about 2023 – it was a great year for games but one of the worst for those who make them.  Now, just as 2024 has begun, the Game Developers Conference has released its 12th annual State of the Game Industry report. Its data was collected from 3000 developers surveyed back in October of last year. GDC and GameDeveloper.com partnered with Omdia, a research...

So far this Pokemon-inspired survival game is a surprising blast....

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We've seen open world games before, but Asgard's Wrath 2 pushed the limits to deliver an expansive game world all in VR. Here's how the devs did it....

The Last of Us TV show will be returning to HBO for a second season in 2025, and we're here to break down all the new and returning cast members, including Pedro Pascal's Joel, Bella Ramsey's Ellie, and newcomer Kaitlyn Dever as Abby....

Here are the Nintendo Switch Accessories we know will work with the Nintendo Switch Lite....