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E3's digital event now officially ditched following cancellation of in-person show
E3 has officially ditched its digital-only event this year, which, following the cancellation of its in-person show back in January, means there'll be no E3 at all in 2022.
E3's 2022 started to look shaky in January, when show organiser the ESA confirmed it wouldn't be holding a physical event this year due to potential risks from covid - though several journalists subsequently suggested it had actually been scrapped before Christmas - marking the third year in a row E3's in-person component has been cancelled.
Hyper Light Drifter is getting a fully 3D rogue-lite follow-up with online co-op
Developer Heart Machine has unveiled Hyper Light Breaker, a fully 3D rogue-lite spin on its acclaimed 2016 action-adventure Hyper Light Drifter that's coming to PC early next year.
While Hyper Light Drifter served up a tautly designed single-player adventure blending rich exploration with challenging melee combat in a strikingly presented top-down, 2D world, Hyper Light Breaker looks like a very different take on the same universe.
Microsoft reportedly launching an Xbox Game Pass family plan later this year
Microsoft is reportedly set to plug a gap in its Game Pass line-up by launching a new family plan, enabling five users to access the service using one subscription, later this year.
That's according to Windows Central's Jez Corden, who, citing "trusted sources familiar with with Microsoft's efforts", reports the family plan has been in the works for some time as Microsoft navigated issues around royalty distribution and third-party licenses. Those kinks are presumably close to being ironed out now, however, with Corden suggesting an official unveiling may happen relatively soon.
Bloodstained is getting a Child of Light crossover for its final playable character
Closing in on seven years after the launch of its hugely successful Kickstarter, Castelvania spiritual successor Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is still ticking off stretch goals, with its latest update delivering its third and final promised playable character - which turns out to be a cameo crossover from Ubisoft Montreal's fondly remembered fantasy platformer Child of Light.
"Aurora has lost her way and awoken in a strange, dangerous new land," explains developer ArtPlay in a new Kickstarter update. "Armed with the Sword of Matildis and accompanied by the loyal Igniculus, she must find a way to escape."
Save £45 on the SteelSeries Arctis 7P+ wireless headset
The SteelSeries Arctis 7P+ wireless gaming headset debuted in October 2021 and has already firmly positioned itself as one of the best gaming headsets on the market right now.
Digital Foundry called the Arctis 7P+ the best wireless gaming headset thanks to its comfortable design, impressive durability and excellent sound quality. The previous Arctis 7P offers similar performance and design for less, but is harder to find now and doesn't have as good battery life or USB-C charging like the 7P+.
Eurogamer Newscast: Is PlayStation Plus Premium a Game Pass killer?
This week on the Eurogamer Newscast, we discuss PlayStation's big new subscription revamp. With a keen eye on Xbox Game Pass and a need to reform its own Plus and Now offerings, Sony laid out its plans - to a mixed response.
Sony's approach clearly differs from Microsoft - it sees no need to bundle in its £70 games on day one. But does this then create confusion for PlayStation fans down the line? When will new games join the Premium service?
Death Stranding: Director's Cut - still impressive on PC, but upgrades are thin on the ground
We've already covered Death Stranding: Director's Cut last September, when Hideo Kojima's unique epic received a range of tech and content upgrades for its PlayStation 5 debut. Chief amongst them was the ability to play the game at a targeted 60 frames per second - something that wasn't possible on the PS4 original, even though Kojima Productions originally designed the game for this performance target. The Director's Cut is now available on PC but the upgrade isn't quite so marked. After all, 60fps was on the table for PC users from day one, the port was exceptional and the DLSS implementation opened the door to great performance at high frame-rates.
Obviously, the content improvements of the Director's Cut make their way across, but is there anything new from a technical perspective? Well, the original Death Stranding port's 'default' graphics settings effectively delivered PS4 Pro quality to PC, with only limited upwards scalability. In the case of the Director's Cut, default now delivers the same improved visuals as PS5, which basically means that draw distance has been pushed out a touch while everything else remains much the same.
Pokémon Go Fest 2022 includes both global and unique city events
This year's Pokémon Go Fest will return to hosting in-person events in three select cities, as well as a two-day global event you can play wherever you are.
The global event will be held on Saturday 4th and Sunday 5th June, and also offer a "bonus finale event" on Saturday 27th August.
Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodhunt's battle royale gets full launch this April
Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodhunt, developer Sharkmob's free-to-play battle royale spin on the long-running RPG series, is getting its full PlayStation 5 and PC launch on 27th April.
Bloodhunt (not to be confused with Big Bad Wolf Studio's upcoming RPG Vampire: The Masquerade - Swansong, Paradox Interactive's troubled Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2, or indeed 2019 visual novel Vampire: The Masquerade - Coteries of New York) was announced toward the end of 2020 and had a limited Steam early access run the following year.
Warhammer 40,000 Darktide has a release date
Vermintide follow-up Warhammer 40,000: Darktide will launch on Tuesday 13th September.
The four-player co-op game builds on Vermintide 2's melee combat with the addition of "deep and balanced gunplay", developer FatShark has said.
Firesprite working on new AAA horror game
A recent job listing has revealed Sony's recently acquired studio Firesprite is working on a new AAA horror game.
The listing in question was shared on ResetEra and reads: "We are looking for a Narrative Director to join our development team for a AAA narrative driven horror-adventure game in Unreal 5.
Neon White is an anime speedrunner full of camp, cards, and colour
"It'll be a game for freaks," said Ben Esposito of Neon White in a gameplay trailer when it was announced for Nintendo Switch last July.
Really, it's a game for people who like fun, campy, melodrama alongside their speedrunning. In a video preview of the game, Esposito describes Neon White as a speedrunning first person shooter meets visual novel that's "nostalgic but not in a superficial way".
Superfuse is an evil genius' lab for splicing bizarre skills together
Let me get this out of the way quickly: Superfuse looks really good. It's basically a Cel-shaded action RPG in the cut of Diablo. Four-player co-op or single-player fun. There's a comic book presentation - and a comic book plot, about people who have become gods and whatnot - which means that gorgeous comic book panels pop up during cut scenes and the designers have been wonderfully bold with the application of halftone. I am a fan of halftone. And from hubs you are despatched to various procedurally wrangled dungeons to splatter sci-fi horrors and take on bosses and pick up loot. Repeat.
All of this looks great. I had a build for a while and was very happy splattering and looting - doing the inventory Tetris thing and the skills-bar glissando. Mutant crabs. Horrible shambling monsters. And me at the heart of it, a Berserker class who seemed to be lamping people for the sheer luminous joy of it all. (The voice acting is supremely charismatic, incidentally - courtesy of Eli Harris in this case, I think.)
Earthworm Jim 2 comes to Nintendo Switch Online
Nintendo has announced three new Switch Online games for March, and they include the 90's run and gun platformer Earthworm Jim 2.
Not many could slow their fall from a great height by ballooning out huge quantities of snot to make some kind of bogey-chute, but Earthworm Jim could. Now, he is back once more, thanks to this recent update from Nintendo.
Fortnite sued over old dance emote
A choreographer is suing Epic Games over dance moves included in an old Fortnite emote.
Kyle Hanagami, a choreographer who has worked with Britney Spears, Justin Bieber and J-Lo, filed suit against Epic regarding the "It's Complicated" emote, which was released within Fortnite back in August 2020.
Weird West review - almost, but not quite, a Dishonored CRPG
The Old West has always been weird, hasn't it? A bloody daydream of plunder and desolation, heroism and nihilism, reincarnated in a thousand motley forms across generations of books, films, folk songs and campfire stories. Videogames have certainly taken it in some peculiar directions. Think of Media.Vision's Wild Arms series for PS1, where six-shooters are ancient relics wielded by chosen adventurers, or the pre-patch version of Red Dead Redemption, with its cursed physics and flying centaurs, or the dreamy vestiges of frontier life you encounter while trudging the plains of Where The Water Tastes Like Wine.
WolfEye's Weird West mixes this vast, rancid legacy with outright fantasy elements sourced partly from the likes of Lovecraft and partly from the studio founders' previous Dishonored games. This very much isn't your classic rootin' tootin' cowboy yarn. Head out into the wilds and you'll find raucous villages of pigmen and ghost towns that absent-mindedly manifest from the foundations up. Dip into the caves and you'll encounter ravenous mutants and blue-stone temples where cultists debate visions of the apocalypse.
Nintendo shows Mii characters in Nintendo Switch Sports
Nintendo has shown its fan-favourite Mii characters back in Nintendo Switch Sports.
When the game was announced back in February, many fans were perturbed by the new-look in-game characters, compared to the Miis used in Wii Sports.
Guerrilla releases another Horizon Forbidden West patch
Another new patch has been released for Horizon Forbidden West. (Please note some of the following fixes may contain story spoilers for the game.)
As with previous patches, this latest update continues to address bugs and improve the game's graphical performance. However, most excitingly for the completionists among us, it also addresses an issue preventing players from getting the 100 percent completion notice in their notebook. Huzzah!
Fallout writer Scott Bennie dies
Scott Bennie, a writer and contributor to the original Fallout, has died aged 61.
Bennie served as a designer, writer and producer of numerous games during his time at Interplay in the 1990s, including The Lord of the Rings, Starfleet Academy, plus Starfleet Command and its sequel.
Save over £300 on Gaming Laptops in the CCL spring sale
If you're in the market for a new gaming laptop that offers a balance of price and performance, you'll want to hop on over to CCL right now. The online retailer has a bunch of spring ready deals where you can save over £300 on select gaming laptops with RTX 3060 graphics cards.
We've picked out three of our favourites to help you narrow down your search to suit a range of budgets, including a machine that's now under £900. As an extra treat, we have an exclusive discount code you can use to save an additional £30 off your order when you spend £600 or more. Just use the promo code 'GAMER30' at checkout.