The Maw 29th April-4th May
This week's most magnetic game releases, plus our weekly newsblog
New week, new videogames! When will it end, etc. There aren't many obvious headliners out in the next few days, but there are a lot of tantalisingly bleak games. Let's see here, we've got a survival shooter that's essentially set in Black Mesa, a sardonical adventure about questing Russian Orthodox nuns, a game about running the company that starts the zombie apocalypse, and a cosy village grower with an atypical emphasis on disease and death. Lovely!
Here are the games in question, plus a few more we have in our eye: Stardew-with-malaria Echoes Of The Plum Grove (29th April); sidescrolling cyberpunk adventure Let Bions Be Bygones (30th April); Half-Lifey open world survival FPS Abiotic Factor (early access, 2nd May); bioweapons management sim Undead Inc (2nd May); US elect 'em up The Political Machine 2024 (2nd May); alt-Russia theological fantasy Indika (2nd May); Fall-Guys-with-boids Feather Party (3rd May, early access).
As ever, this week's videogames are sponsored by that gluttonous Old One we call the Maw, which we must try eternally to satisfy with helpings of videogame news to stop it breaking into our reality like a chestburster. Will the Maw be happy with the above releases? I'm dubious - the Maw generally prefers sequels and things we can liken to The Witcher. But thankfully, I think it still has its mouth full with last week's Manor Lords, which was explosively popular over the weekend. Anyway, you can follow and, if you must, contribute to our weekly newsgatherings by means of the liveblog below, with its unsightly comments thread appendage.
Our live coverage of this event has finished.
AARGH MONDAY
Why do they vex us so? Oh well, time to hand-crank the power armour again and buff that chainsword. FEED THE MAW.
Here's a new Helldivers 2 patch. It makes some sweeping changes to the weapons and Stratagems, plus "minor level generation improvements to how we distribute locations throughout the mission map" and what's this, "shots that ricochet from heavy armored enemies will now properly hit the Helldiver who fired them"? Savage!
Greg the Manor Lords dev is working on the game's first proper patches.
Hold the phone, Returnal developers Housemarque are teasing something. I really liked Returnal. Pls let it not be a f2p mobile port.
Thomas Mahler of No Rest For The Wicked devs Moon Game Studios says they'll be working on the new ARPG for another 5-10 years - as such, don't expect an Ori 3 "anytime soon".
Baldur’s Gate 3 companions are being modded into Stardew Valley, so you can romance Astarion all over again.
As Edwin shared earlier, Moon Studios have said not to expect Ori 3 anytime soon, as the devs reckon they’ll be working on No Rest for the Wicked - "our Lord of the Rings" - for up to a decade.
Game of Thrones reportedly has an MMO in the works, nearly a decade after the last one was cancelled. Its story will apparently take place around the fourth and fifth seasons of the show; or, Before It Got Bad.
Dungeons of Hinterberg, Zelda meets Persona in the Alps, will run a playtest next month ahead of its fresh July release date.
IT IS TUESDAY
Sunny blue skies in London today - we stand on the cusp of spring. The Maw gains +5 Photosynthesis and +10 Nostalgia. FEED IT.
Starfield's Shattered Space expansion launches in the fall, as reported by Kinda Funny via VGC. According to Todd Howard, there's also a free update coming "really soon" that will have new city maps and ship-building features.
Promise Mascot Agency is the new game from the Paradise Killer crew, Kaizen Game Works, who are calling it the "world's first (and best) open-world mascot management crime drama".
Vampire Survivors has a new Laborratory update, featuring such "industry-defining innovations" as "fully rendered running animations, mind-blowing train physics, go-cart racing, and... doors that open??" Read more on Steam.
Vampire Survivors - v1.10 Laborratory - Free Update Out Now on Nintendo Switch, Steam, Xbox & Mobile
New Pals for the Palgods! They're coming in Palworld's summer update.
SeekerX says: "the Maw generally prefers sequels" -- well, one for The Maw, then: the Front Mission 2 remaster comes out tomorrow. I wasn't totally sold on the first remaster, which was maybe a bit too faithful to the clunkiness of the original game, but I remember really liking this series by the time of FM3 and 4, so maybe #2 will be a step up?
The demo is still up on Steam if anyone's curious.
Arrowhead have not-very-subtly taken the piss out of Escape From Tarkov's $250 Unheard edition exclusive PvE mode controversy on ye socials.
A new trailer for Keylocker - "a Cyberpunk turn-based rhythm JRPG inspired by the Mario&Luigi RPG series and Chrono Trigger" - which I played a bit of a while ago and thought was fairly excellent. It's now coming in summer 2024. There's still a demo on the Steam page.
Big fan of the demon catphone in the just-trailered Centum.
Beyond Galaxyland is a lavishly pixel-arted sci-fi RPG. One of your party members is a hamster. Here's a tray-tray (trying out 'tray-tray' for trailers lmk if you like it.)
Manor Lords can be played in VR now. Cower before me, peasants!
Yesterday's Returnal teaser was for a three-year anniversary artbook and graphic novel, the first part of which has been animated. The books are handsome creations, but I'm sure most of us were hungry for something a bit... gamier, or at least DLCier.
Deliver Us Mars developers Keoken Interactive have laid off the majority of their staff, as reported by GamesIndustry.biz.
Dread Delusion - King's Field: Morrowind, sort of - is out of early access on 14th May. The 1.0 build includes a new realm, the Underlands, together with new towns, dungeons, quests and endgame stuff. Here's a trailer.
There are five new games headed to Game Pass in the first batch of May, including Little Kitty, Big City.
As Edwin mentioned this afternoon, KeokeN, the developers of Deliver Us Mars, have laid off their entire team after failing to secure funding for a new project. Its founders vow to rebuild the company.
Square Enix have announced £112 million in "content abandonment losses", as the publisher seeks to be more selective and focused in how they deploy development resources. It is unknown what if any in-development projects might have been impacted by this change.
A Difficult Game About Climbing is like Getting Over It With Bennett Foddy, but without Bennett Foddy, and you use your arms rather than climbing using a pickaxe. It launched last month but I've only just stumbled across it, and it's good, infuriating fun.
WEDNESDAY IS HERE
What fell deeds await? FEED THE MAW.
Cracking first-person climb 'em up Lorn's Lure is "very close" to launch, according to its developer. Things still to do: localisation, Easter eggs, various visual tune-ups, and Steam Deck testing.
Diggergun "is an atmospheric life-sim, platformer with a rich narrative featuring player choice and multiple endings". I've had my eye on it mostly for the monochrome dungeony aesthetic. Here's a dev post about how it handles upgrades.
The Verge claim that we can expect a new Gears of War game announcement during Summer Games Fest in June, together with a deep dive on the next Call of Duty and release dates for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, Avowed and Indiana Jones And the Great Circle.
A few of the people who worked on LEGO videogame adaptations for Traveller's Tales are trying to repeat the feat with Funko Pops in the shape of Funko Fusion. Trailer below. Were you expecting over-the-shoulder shooting? I was not expecting over-the-shoulder shooting.
There's a new Fallout 76 update, weighing in at around 12GB and spanning balancing changes, quality of life updates and bugfixes.
I'm not one of your filthy Smurf lovers but the just-announced The Smurfs - Dreams looks like a nice co-op game, a tiny bit reminiscent of Trine though I guess Super Mario 3D Land is the more obvious comparison?
Dead By Daylight bods Behaviour Interactive are partnering with Haenir Studio on Blight: Survival, which was announced a few years ago - here's the 2022 trailer. I think it could be fun, if by "fun" you mean full of swords, muck, disease and screaming.
A "spiritual successor to SSX", you say.
Take-Two appear to have made substantial layoffs at their Seattle offices, where Intercept Games are located. As reported by Eurogamer, it's possible that the latter's Kerbal Space Program 2 has been cancelled.
D&D (and Magic: The Gathering, and Monopoly, and GI Joe, and Transformers...) makers Hasbro are spending $1 billion on their own video games, ambitiously promising they’ll be ‘quality and authentic’ like Baldur’s Gate 3.
Funko Pop's first video game, co-op shooter Funko Fusion, will let you blast the heads off dead-eyed dolls from Jurassic World, Battlestar Galactica and even the likes of characters from Nope, Megan and Hot Fuzz when it releases this September. As per the trailer shared earlier by Edwin, it looks... surprisingly fun?
Surprise! The next Batman: Arkham game after Kill the Justice League is a VR title exclusive to the Meta Quest, with a full reveal planned for Summer Games Fest.
Starfield’s biggest update yet fixes its rubbish maps, adds custom difficulty and expands ship decoration. It's live via Steam beta now, with a full rollout on May 15th.
BEHOLD THURSDAY
The weekend glimmers in the darkness near at hand, like bioluminescent plankton. FEED THE MAW.Following yesterday's news of Take-Two layoffs in Seattle, Bloomberg report that both Kerbal Space Program 2 developers Intercept Games and London-based OlliOlli developers Roll7 are to be closed.
Rabbit & Steel "is a co-op action roguelike that recreates the essence of high-level MMO raiding in a randomized, simplified, bunny-sized package." Quite keen on the concept, not least because I don't really have the patience for full-blown MMOs these days.
Well well, it's "the firsty meaty balance patch" for Balatro.
Bizarro-nun adventure Indika is out today. Here's the launch trailer.
Here's an overview trailer for new stuff coming in season 12 of piratical chillaxer Sea Of Thieves. You can read more in this Steam post.
Very good abstract actioner Death Of A Wish has a Randomizer update that scrambles enemy and item distributions.
Here's a new trailer for the remaster of Commandos, the tactics game that taught juvenile me the extreme importance of lying down. There's a closed beta coming this summer.
As Nic mentioned earlier, nunventure Indika is out now - and here's a fuller post declaring so.
Helldivers 2's next premium warbond features winter weather capes and armour, and several new weapons and grenades including an incendiary impact grenade and a Purifier primary weapon you can charge-up for more powerful shots. It's not enough to make me pay real money for it, mind.
Thirteen-year-old MMO Star Wars: The Old Republic was transferred last year from creators BioWare to MMO maintenance specialists Broadsword. The new operators have continued to add to the game, and update 7.5 is coming soon with new story quests, a visual update, and cosy activities like pie-baking and seed collecting.
Announced last year with a cinematic trailer, co-op survival shooter The Forever Winter now has its first gameplay reveal. It's about scavenging from the battlefields of a never-ending mech war with your stealthy squad, and death means losing all your gear.
FRIDAY AGAIN
Why is London giving off so much lens flare today? Ugh, somebody's been making the Maw eat old Mass Effect games again. FEED IT.
Medieval colony sim Norland has been pushed back from May to June release, according to a dev post which also details a lot of changes to such systems as crime, the world ecology and trading.
Ubisoft's 6v6 tactical headpopper XDefiant has been given a release date - 21st May. Or at least, that's when the preseason begins, with 14 maps, five factions and five modes.
If you're playing Helldivers 2 on Steam, you'll soon be required to link it to a PlayStation Network account for security purposes.
A big update for horror co-op streamer sim Content Warning, introducing a new map, monsters, items and progression elements such as MetaCoins for purchasing island upgrades and hats.
One of Neversoft's founders has filed for the Neversoft trademark (Neversoft, if you've forgotten, was folded into Infinity Ward back in 2014). A new lease of life for the Tony Hawk makers?
Smite 2 is having an alpha this weekend - here's an overview trailer. People who signed up for the alpha test and purchasers of the Founder’s Edition will be able to play till May 5th.
Carceri is kind of a first-person Short Hike featuring a magic camera and imprisoned sentient computer programs. I quite like the looks of it.
A deep dive trailer for Steamworld Heist 2, including an overview of its new job system.
The highly Hadesy action-RPG Realms Of Ink launches into early access on 17th May with the first playable character, four stages, eight boss battles and approximately 30% of the storyline.
Blizzard are giving Overwatch 2's tanks a rework in response to feedback "that tanks can either feel like they get taken down too quickly in a fight or that they’re impossible to take down," to quote game director Aaron Keller.
Fortnite is now a Lego Star Wars game, with a whole new world for its survival mode in time for May the Fourth - along with plenty of other bits for Battle Royale, Rocket Racing and even Fortnite Festival (yes, that includes the Cantina Band song).
League of Legends’ anti-cheat won't brick your PC, Riot have insisted, after adding Valorant’s controversial system to the MOBA - only to spark claims of crashes, file tampering and more.
Here's a closer peek at SteamWorld Heist 2’s new job system, which looks to bring a whole scrapheap of customisation to the charming 2D XCOM-a-like, as shared by Edwin earlier.
Bloodstained’s final update arrives next week, adding Chaos and Versus modes originally planned for 2020. There'll be a final paid expansion after that - and perhaps that sequel we've heard nothing about for a few years now?
Helldivers 2 has received over 100,000 negative Steam reviews in two days after announcing that Steam players must link the game to a PSN account. Arrowhead's CEO says the negative reviews are "warranted" and that Sony are the originator of the policy.
The UK government has responded to a petition asking them to regulate publishers who shut down games. The petition was prompted by the closure of The Crew, Ubisoft's racing game, back in March.
Fall Guys is getting a bunch of Star Wars skins this week, alongside major changes to bean physics. Perhaps it will stop being the most frustrating game ever made? I hope so; my keyboard has precious few uncracked keycaps left.