The Maw - 15th-20th January 2024
Our weekly news liveblog
Time for another week desperately shovelling quotes, release dates and trailers into the Maw, our weekly news liveblog and also, an abyssal abomination poised to guzzle the waking world and all forms of existence, unless we can satisfy its hunger for headlines. The year is starting to pick up, with a few intriguing titles slated to drop this week in addition to the widely acclaimed Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, out 18th Jan, which Katharine has called "a deep and challenging Metroid-like with some of the best platforming this side of Moon's Ori games".
Here are some other new games out in the next five days which we are holding to our ears and shaking gently: Victorian steampunk RPG Sovereign Syndicate (15 Jan), analog horror call centre simulator Home Safety Hotline (16 Jan), 4X god sim Dominions 6 (17 Jan), paranormal spec ops FPS Contain (16 Jan, early access), roguelike auto-battler The Last Flame (17 Jan, early access), turn-based strategy RPG All Quiet In The Trenches (17 Jan), post-apocalyptic town builder New Cycle (18 Jan), comedic action-adventure sequel Turnip Boy Robs A Bank (18 Jan), Pokemon shoxploitation sim Palworld (19th Jan, early access).
Our live coverage of this event has finished.
IT IS MONDAY - another beautiful day in the Maw! Every meal a banquet, every paycheck a fortune - I LOVE THE MAW. FEED IT.
Gamestop has closed its NFT marketplace.
Overwatch 2 game director Aaron Keller has some follow-up thoughts about the recent announcement that DPS and tank heroes will be given the ability to self-heal, in a bid to make life less frustrating when your support players are goofing off. He notes that "it was a mistake to talk about this lone change out of context, since its a part of a much bigger set coming to Season 9."
The Transylvania Adventure of Simon Quest is, as you may guess, a Castlevania "parody/homage". Announced over the weekend by publisher Retroware for 2025 release, it seems very nicely put-together from the trailer.
As passed on by MP1st, Raven Software lead designer Michael Gummelt has made mention of some cancelled projects on his Linkedin. These include "an ambitious new Call of Duty: Zombies live service project" and "two highly playable, well-developed prototypes as proof of concept for a revival of a classic Raven IP".
Bloomberg have poured cold water over rumours that Rocksteady were once making a Superman game. Here's the key excerpt: "In reality, Rocksteady never pitched or worked on a Superman game, according to people familiar with the company’s strategy over the last decade. Following the release of Arkham Knight in 2015, the studio began working on a Batman VR game and then an unannounced multiplayer game set in an original franchise, which has not been previously reported."
Against The Storm is getting a 1.1 update. We might wait till the actual release changelog to write this up, but provisional notes include new orders, aka ways for the game's sinister Queen to boss you around.
Ark: Survival Ascended is getting a bunch of new mod tools. I've done a proper news post about it.
As passed on by Eurogamer, a rumoured Halo battle royale game from Certain Affinity has been cancelled. The source is insider Shpeshal_Nick, who EG's EIC Tom Phillips considers "reliable". I consider EG's EIC Tom Phillips reliable, so am posting this here.
Katharine's dug up a promising platformer that's a bit like Donkey Kong Country, care of the Xitter search phrase "your game is too much like".
Historical medical management sim War Hospital is out. I wrote a quick piece based on an hour or two with it.
Alice Bell, meanwhile, has been playing a retro-style point and click adventure called Twilight Oracle that has "toddler throwing up Skittles" aesthetics. There's a demo for you to sample, assuming that quote didn't scare you off.
And Alice0 has thoughts on Mobile Suit Baba, a mixture of Into The Breach and Baba Is You, which is very much not a combination of inspirations I ever dreamed would exist.
The devs behind chill renovation sim House Flipper 2 have outlined their plans for the game's upcoming updates, ranging from crucial bug fixes to some nasty save problems through to introducing features missing from the first game, such as a before-and-after comparison to view your hard work. Expect a first hotfix later this week, with more to follow.
A new month, a new rumour around the release date for Elden Ring DLC Shadow of the Erdtree! This one has some credence to it, though, with a recent update to Steam's backend hinting at a mysterious incoming DLC for the game. If it's soon, as the update implies, that would also line up with the previous leak of a February launch date, too.
Time will tell, but the signs look good for something - whether that's the long-awaited expansion or not - headed to Elden Ring very shortly...
Tekken 8’s first DLC character will be series regular Eddy Gordo, kicking off the fighting game's season pass this spring - three more playable characters will follow over the course of 2024, with no doubt plenty more after that.
Games Done Quick 2024 is underway! This year's speedruns in the name of charity include plenty of highlights, with some of my favourites on the schedule being a race between Elden Ring and Sekiro, a blast through big 2023 releases like Baldur's Gate 3, Starfield and Armored Core 6, and - most of all - the world's first speedrunning dog, a shiba inu named Peanut Butter.
IT IS TUESDAY. London shivers in the grip of dire midwinter. All local videogame news writers gain +7 Frostheart. Blow into cupped hands and FEED THE MAW.
As passed on by VGC, Philippe Tremblay, director of subscriptions at Ubisoft, has told GamesIndustry.biz that players are still "used to" owning their games, despite the industry-wide subscription push.
Voice actor Ned Luke has called out a company called WAME for creating a chatbot based on his voice performance as Michael De Santa in GTA 5, apparently without his or Rockstar's permission. WAME have now taken the chatbot offline. Cheers, PCGamesN.
Ubisoft have released patch notes for Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown update 1.01.
I did not realise that The Division 2 has a public trello. As reported by MP1st, forthcoming update and live service plans include a wrangle with the community about whether to allow gear-swapping in combat, which the devs worry "would diminish the tactical nature of the game".
Some morning pick-me-up music - Rush's YYZ. Please somebody else recommend some music on here because we are trending well into Edwin's Teenage Listens and it's only a matter of time before I post some Jethro Tull.
Take Two and Remedy are having a legal battle over the design of Remedy's latest company logo, which Take Two feel is too similar to the Rockstar Games logo, as reported by Respawn First.
Microprose will release a "redux" version of elderly flight sim B-17 Flying Fortress: The Mighty 8th into Steam early access on 23rd January.
Good news, Game Passers. Frostpunk 2 is getting a day one Game Pass launch. No word on when that launch is happening just yet, though the YouTube blurb on its first gameplay trailer suggests it will be before June this year.
Total War: Pharaoh is getting a High Tide update with two new playable factions and various new campaign mechanics, units and, er, gods. Here be the trailer.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 has a new release date - September 5th 2024. That's later than hoped, but necessary to fix "technical imperfections", according to GSC Game World. Here's my full write-up for RPS.
Rapper T-Pain is contributing to GTA 6 in some way, and says Rockstar have banned him from playing GTA Online RP while he does so, in keeping with Rockstar's mixed feelings about/outright antipathy towards GTA mod servers in general. Ta PCGamer.
Minecraft is collaborating with the BBC again in the shape of Minecraft Education: Planet Earth III, a free map in which you play/learn about a series of animals, from great white sharks to Arctic wolves.
Roguelite citybuilder Against The Storm's update 1.1 is out now, as Edwin teased was coming yesterday, although PC Game Pass players should tread carefully as the developers had suggested they backup saves before updating.
TopSpin 2K25 has been announced with a brief trailer and no release date or confirmed platforms. It'll be the first 2K Sports tennis game since 2011's Top Spin 4.
Prison Architect 2 will feature robust mod support, including a built-in mod editor for PC players, game director Gaz Wright tells us.
Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League has a launch trailer now, which aims to "Do The Impossible" aka "make the game look appealing":
This isn't news but I managed to miss that The Many Pieces Of Mr. Coo came out on Steam late last year, after the stunning animated teaser trailer that made the rounds seven years ago:
Alright, I'm out. I'm going to go watch Nujabes covers on YouTube until it's time to sleep.
WEDNESDAY IT IS. FEED THE MAW.
Blizzard have revealed Diablo 4 Season 3, aka Season of the Construct. It begins January 23rd at 10 am PST/6pm UK, and sees you fighting automatons and the forces of the demon Malphas in the deserts of Kehjistan. More here.
Over at the StayPlation blog, Aspyr have detailed how they're updating Tomb Raiders 1-3 for the forthcoming remasters, which let you swap between new and original graphics and control schemes. Go team tank controls!
As passed on by Eurogamer, Sea of Thieves is getting... fast travel? Per the game's Season 11 updates, you'll be able to sink between the waves and resurface at your destination Flying-Dutchman-style after selecting a voyage. You'll lose all the loot you're carrying in the process, however.
A couple of upcoming games I spotted last night. Firstly, dev_hell, a first-person roguelike deckbuilder in which you are a software developer at the worst company ever. The announcement materials compare it to Inscryption.
And secondly, Star Stuff, a cute puzzler in which you explore a factory that makes stars, programming robots to solve challenges. This one's got a demo coming on Friday.
Today's Starfield megapatch has been delayed to "later this week" while they iron out some kinks.
Thunderful - the Swedish group who own the developers and publishers of SteamWorld, among others - have announced that they will lay off 20% of their workforce after a period of "over-investment". Here's my full story for RPS.
Well then. Little Bat Games have announced Vampire Therapist, in which you "guide vampires through centuries of emotional baggage, decades of delusions and the odd bout of self-loathing with real cognitive behavioral therapy concepts". Not only is your character a vampire therapist - he's also a former cowboy. Here's the Steam page. It's out June 17th.
I_have_no_nose_but_I_must_sneeze says: Bring on the Jethro Tull! If we delved into my Teenage Listens, there'd be so much Iron Maiden, Rhapsody and Cradle of Filth to complement all the angst and the confusion.
You asked for it.
Larian's CEO Swen Vincke says you shouldn't expect their games on a subscription service any time soon. "We are already all dependent on a select group of digital distribution platforms and discoverability is brutal," he wrote in a TwiX response to yesterday's comments from an Ubisoft+ executive that people need to "get comfortable" with not owning their games. "Should those platforms all switch to subscription, it’ll become savage."
Embark have updated The Finals with a new Solo Bank It mode, in which 12 players race to amass 40,000 Cash. Here are the full patch notes.
The Tribe Must Survive, a tribe-building sim set in the "Lovecraftian Stone Age", is coming to Early Access on February 22nd.
Bulwark: Falconeer Chronicles, the citybuilding spin-off of Tomas Sala's aerial dog/falcon-fighting game The Falconeer, is launching on PC on March 26th. There will also be a new demo arriving on Steam in two weeks time on January 30th.
Gang Beasts co-developers Radical Forge have revealed Southfield, an entertaining-looking mix of the chaotic physics-y sandbox of Human: Fall Flat and the cozy farming of Stardew Valley. You can play with up to four people in co-op, and it'll be entering Early Access shortly after a Steam Next Fest demo in February. It looks like it could be silly fun!
If you were hoping to check out Starfield's biggest update yet today, bad news: its beta release on Steam has been pushed back a few days. Bethesda put the delay down to needing to address a mysterious "issue", with an exact release date now TBC, but still expected this week. It'll bring over 100 fixes and improvements to graphics when it arrives.
The Finals’ 1.5 update is live, introducing the multiplayer shooter’s first time-limited mode - a solo free-for-all spin on Bank It. There's also a bunch of balance tweaks, bug fixes and improved cheat detection, plus an expanded store offering.
Cult of the Lamb’s Sins of the Flesh - aka the sex update - has come.
Big fan of Endwalker's low-poly grapes (RIP) being honoured with a lamppost in Final Fantasy XIV's latest 6.55 patch, as shown here by YouTuber Meoni. The in-joke that gives on giving!
IT IS THURSDAY. London is still absolutely freezing. Nearby manifestations of the Maw have sprouted dense, violet fur, hindering the action of our particle accelerators. Better FEED IT.
As spotted by Polygon, Rocksteady's founders Sefton Hill and Jamie Walker have founded another studio, Hundred Star Games, in London. I wonder if it's any warmer where they are?
Is there room in your heart for one more tactical roguelike deckbuilder? Out today in early access, Lonestar is sort of focussed on the bit in any shonen anime where two Dragonball-esque characters have an energy beam stand-off.
Here's the launch trailer for Helldivers 2... which comes out 8th February.
Are you a fan of Type-Moon's Fate series? The latest videogame adaptation Fate/Samurai Remnant now has a demo on Steam.
I think the "bodycam horror" gimmick is close to running its course, but Zoochosis from Sparky Marky studio Clapperheads does have the additional virtue of being heavily inspired by the kennel scene from the Thing. You are a zookeeper. It's the dead of night, and the giraffes are looking a bit... wrong.
Puzzle game all-timer Threes is coming to Steam.
Flotsam, in which you build towns out of post-apocalyptic ocean garbage, is hitting the big 1.0 in summer 2024, adding controller support and an improved tutorial while giving the game's story an ending.
It's reported that Dead By Daylight developers Behaviour Interactive are laying off staff - 45 people.
The Bandai Namco America Elden Ring Youtube account has been quietly/invisibly updated, adding to speculation that a Shadow Of The Erdtree DLC reveal is close.
Vermintide 2's long-awaited versus mode appears to be nearing actual release. Here's an update from FatShark on the closed alpha.
Lords of the Fallen developers CI Games are laying off 10% of their staff in the name of "business strength and stability".
It's the Xbox Developer Direct showcase in a few hours time, bringing us more news of Avowed, Ara: History Untold, Hellblade 2: Senua's Sacrifice and MachineGames' new Indiana Jones game. Find all the streams here plus starting times and whimsical/obnoxious thoughts from me.
Something called Captain Laserhawk Niji Warrior has been rated by PEGI, as spotted by Gamerant. The name suggests it's based on Netflix series Captain Laserhawk: A Blood Dragon Remix, itself inspired by Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon. A new Far Cry spin-off, then?
Here's a roundup of everything announced at Xbox's Developer Direct this evening. It included a first look at Machine Games' Indiana Jones & The Great Circle, a surprise update from Square Enix on Visions Of Mana, and updated release dates (or release windows) for Indy, Hellblade 2, Ara: History Untold and Avowed.
Indiana Jones And The Great Circle is first-person, stealthy, and coming in 2024. Tonight's Developer Direct shared a bunch of details about MachineGames' next Nazi-biffer and I've laid some of them out here.
Avowed, Obsidian's first-person fantasy RPG with pistols alongside the swords and wands, is due to release this autumn. I also apparently have some strong thoughts about its design, which looks extremely Xbox360core to me.
Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2 now has a release date of May 21st, 2024. The trailer is extremely dark and oppressive, to my eyes, but it is set in 10th century Iceland, so afterwards you can watch this as a healing balm:
The Xbox Developer Direct featured the four games they said it would, and a fifth as a surprise: Square Enix's Visions Of Mana, the first mainline entry in the action RPG series in over fifteen years. It was announced last month but this was the first proper look at its world, characters and combat:
IT IS FRIDAY, and in Edwin's absence today, I will begin the morning's Maw stirring.
The organisers of GDC have released their annual State Of The Game Industry survey (available to download for free). Topline findings: lots of concern around layoffs, as well as generative AI and game engine pricing changes.
In addition to showing off Indiana Jones last night, Bethesda revealed the next chapter for The Elder Scrolls Online. It's called Gold Road, and brings 30 hours of new quest adventures to the MMO. It arrives on PC on June 3rd. Here's a trailer.
Speaking of worries about layoffs, Lords Of The Fallen devs CI Games have laid off 10% of their workforce, according to GI.Biz.
Behaviour Interactive, the studio behind Dead By Daylight, has also confirmed to Eurogamer that they've had to lay off "less than three per cent" of their workforce due to "changing market conditions".
Earlier this week, Build A Rocket Boy secured another round of funding for their open world everything game Everywhere, as well as their blockbuster game series MindsEye, which will be available inside Everywhere. They plan to launch both "in the near future", they say.
Some lunchtime music for you, inspired by my trip to see the stage play of (the frankly excellent) My Neighbour Totoro yesterday.
The devs behind Diablo 4 discussed lots of Season 3-related details in their Developer Stream last night, but the most important question that arose was: "How the actual heck do you pronounce WASD?" as they talked up its incoming keyboard controls.
At long last, Destiny 2 is finally letting you change your character's appearance. Read Alice0's post for more details.
The game destined to be a hit from the moment a million people wrote "Pokémon with guns", Palworld, has predictably blown up on Steam and Game Pass, selling a million copies in eight hours and bringing its multiplayer servers to their knees.
Genshin Impact's incoming 4.4 update will end January with the return of its Lantern Rite event, as well as letting you transform into a fish to explore its new area of Chenyu Vale. There you'll find a new boss to fight, plus some fancy new visual tech around mist and rocks. Shiny!
Edwin's write-up of The Thing-ish Zoochosis yesterday reminded me of The Thing: The Musical, a genuine work of genius and one of the greatest videos to exist on the internet. Enjoy!
Last Epoch hopes to bring a time-travelling twist to the action-RPG genre that sets it apart from fellow Diablo-likes, and its latest look ahead of next month's full 1.0 release continues to look very promising.
There's a demo out for Hades-esque action-RPG Realm of Ink, offering one full level and a taster of the game's three combat schools and pet system.
OK, let's do this. It's Saturday night and I need something soothing to soundtrack our battle with The Maw.
Halo Infinite will continue to receive updates, but not in the previous "seasons" format. Instead, it'll receive shorter 20-tier battle passes called Operations alongside free updates. 343 Industries say they still have a team supporting the game, but that they also now have teams working on "brand new projects".
Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth features a New Game+ mode like all the other Yakuza games... But you'll need to buy an extra expensive Deluxe Edition to get it. That makes it a £15 upgrade to an already £60 game. What's worse, the Steam store page doesn't make any of this clear.
Indiana Jones And The Great Circle is first-person because first-person because it's part of MachineGames DNA, says the game director, but also because it separates it from certain other action adventure games. Hmm! I wonder what games those are?
It sure seems like there was a Quake 6 tease during the Indiana Jones And The Great Circle reveal. A small one, but still.
Either that or it's a team lunch order. GREGG'S STEAK BAKE 6.