2024-01

Wakerunners is the next game from developer Mintrocket, which made a name for itself last year with the excellent Dave the Diver. Mintrocket did confirm to us that Wakerunners is being developed by a different internal team (apparently it has a number of projects from distinct teams going at once), but the pedigree is still worth calling out. As for the game itself, you can check out the game's teaser trailer below. Technically, the game was soft-revealed in 2022 as Project TB and is a 4v4 and 5vr top-down competitive action game. The game follows a collection of factions trying to survive in a post-apocalyptic earth. The combat leans on a fast-paced system where players glide across the arena using acceleration and deceleration to their advantage as they engage in close-quarters combat. You will apparently be able to swap...

Developer Embark Studios surprise-launched its free-to-play FPS, The Finals, back in December – Game Informer documented everything that goes into a stealth release like this – and the game has continued to garner a strong fanbase. Now, just a little over a month since its release, Embark is set to release Update 1.5.0 and a new limited-time mode, Solo Bank It, tomorrow, January 17.  Embark calls this mode an "experimental" one, pitting 12 single players against each other in PvP matches. The first to obtain a total of 40,000 "Cash wins" takes home the win in Solo Bank It. Similar to standard Bank It, which is already in The Finals, contestants earn Cash by collecting and depositing Coins that drop from eliminated players; Coins can also be found in vaults around the map.  Watch The Finals Update 1.5.0 trailer for yourself below: ...

2K's tennis series is returning after more than a decade of dormancy with TopSpin 2K25, the company announced today. It did so with a quick teaser trailer revealing that it's "coming soon." Its announcement coincides with 2024's first Grand Slam tennis tournament, the Australian Open, which began Saturday, January 13.  "Today, 2K revealed the return of TopSpin with the teaser trailer for TopSpin 2K25, the next must-play sports game from 2K that fully immerses fans into the world of tennis," a press release reads. It also notes more information about the game is "to come."  Watch the TopSpin 2K25 announcement teaser for yourself below:  2K did not reveal a release date or a release window, but given that "25" is in the title, it's likely releasing either this year or the next. The last TopSpin game was released in...

Grand Theft Auto V developer Rockstar Games and Alan Wake 2 studio Remedy Entertainment have a history that goes back years, namely due to the two's work on the Max Payne series. However, the companies are at the center of two trademark disputes filed by Rockstar's parent company, Take-Two Interactive, as first reported by RespawnFirst. In the disputes, Take-Two takes issue with Remedy's new logo it unveiled in April of last year, which features a stylized "R," claiming it's too similar to Rockstar's own "R" logo.  The trademark disputes – here and here – were filed in the United Kingdom, and Take-Two, based in New York, is named as the "opponent" in it. The disputes were filed on May 11, 2023, which is a month after Remedy unveiled its new logo.  Notably, despite the trademark dispute, Rockstar and Remedy...

Diablo IV’s third seasonal event, Season of the Construct, has been revealed and kicks off next week. This time, players will journey beneath Kehjistan to battle demonically corrupted machines. The story centers on the demon Malphas getting his hands on an ancient device called The Loom. Created by Zoltun Kulle for benevolent purposes, it’s able to create mechanical constructs, but Malphas has warped the Loom for his own sinister intentions to unleash a plague of evil machines. However, you’ve got your own trick up your sleeves. Namely, Season of the Construct pairs players with their own mechanized companion called a Seneschal. In addition to lending a hand in combat, tanking incoming attacks, and healing players, the Seneschal serves as the primary power gain system for this season. It features its own management UI and can be customized with specialized Governing...

The 2022 World War II horror game Martha is Dead is the latest video game getting a film adaptation. The game’s Italian developer LKA, is partnering with production company Studios Extraordinares to bring the psychological adventure to the big screen. Martha is Dead is a first-person adventure that follows identical twin sisters, Guilia, the protagonist, and Martha. Set in Tuscany in 1944, during the final stretch of World War II, the sisters are fathered by a Nazi general and have a strained relationship due to the clear favoritism Martha receives from their mother. However, Martha is suddenly found dead, and their mother mistakenly believes Guilia to be Martha, forcing her to assume her late sister’s identity. Supernatural occurrences abound centering on the malevolent entity known as the White Lady. The film follows the same premise. Studios Extraordinares is led by...

Developer GSC Game World will finally release S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl on September 5. The first-person shooter will launch on Xbox Series X/S and PC.  The studio announced this release date in a quick trailer released today, which also calls September 5 the "final release date," indicating GSC Game World is confident it won't be delaying its long-awaited shooter any longer. The game was set to release in the first quarter of 2024 before today's delay. Check out the Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl final release date announcement trailer for yourself below:  Officially confirmed in 2020, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl has taken some time to get off the ground after various starts and stops. Then, following what appeared to be smoother development, the team paused its work in February 2022 due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, where...

Developer 11 Bit Studio has unveiled the first full look at Frostpunk 2 gameplay. First announced in August 2021, the sequel to the bleak yet popular city-builder is also coming to Xbox and PC Game Pass. The trailer provides a look at how decision-making appears in-game. The demands you’ll receive from your citizens appear to be as stressful as the first Frostpunk, as you control a Steward overseeing life in a city situated in an unforgiving tundra where resources are precious and everyone has their own ideas about how society should function. How do you ensure everyone gets fed? What does the education system look like? How do you keep the streets clean of literal and criminal filth? Set 30 years after the original game, citizens can vote to pass laws, and these decisions steer the city’s direction toward multiple...

From cut story to dev secrets, here's what we learned from The Last of Us Part 2's Lost Levels....

Square Enix's foam-drenched online shooter is going live next month and it will be a PlayStation Plus monthly game. For those subscribers looking to add it to their library, or for non-subscribers looking to purchase the game outright, Foamstars launches exclusively on PlayStation 4 and 5 on February 6. As for the game itself, Foamstars is a 4 vs. 4 online multiplayer game where players take on the role of the titular Fomastars of varying classes and abilities to participate in a game called Foamsmash. Rather than simply shooting your opponent, the goal is to coat them with enough foam so that you can slide-kick them to knock them out of the match. The foam also changes the layout of the arena by creating traversable hills and defensive walls, and you can move through your own foam faster than...