At long last, Nintendo fans finally have something to look forward to again. Yesterday saw the popular game company announce the much anticipated Switch 2 along with a roster of games that are bound to entice gamers from all walks of life. There’s plenty to be excited about when it comes to this new console, but here are some of the things that made us feel positively giddy. 6o523c

10. The screen size m5o1l

While some say it doesn’t look too different from the original, the Switch 2 will be a huge upgrade in of both physical size as well as storage capacity. The new screen boasts an additional 1.7 inches in screen size going from 6.2 inches, to 7.9 inches on the Switch 2. Oh and it s 1080p and 120fps meaning the games on the new console are going to look pretty sharp too.

9. Cyberpunk 2077 5m571g

Sure the game is over four years old now, but the release was kind of botched by all the bugs and whatnot, nowadays it’s a polished and beloved game. The game’s release on the Switch 2 offers the perfect excuse for old players to delve back into the world of Cyberpunk while new players can experience it for the first time.

8. Deltarune Chapters 1-4 4e3o2y

Everybody loves this indie RPG series from the creator of Undertale. Including this in the roster of titles available upon release shows that the new console will continue to have a variety of games from big-budget AAA to smaller indie titles — this is exactly why the original Switch was so popular.

7. Elden Ring Tarnished Edition 4o353f

Speaking of big-budget AAA games, one of the most critically acclaimed games of the last few years will also be available on the Switch 2. The Tarnished Edition includes the base game and the Shadow of the Erdtree expansion as well as new armor, weapons, and customization options.

6. The built-in GameChat feature 1l6j60

Previous Nintendo consoles have not been great for in-game ways of communicating. Don’t get me wrong, I loved PictoChat but to be able to speak to other players in online games would have been fun too. Well Nintendo are finally making that dream a reality with this brand new (to Nintendo) feature.

5. Split Fiction 3d4w68

There’s no doubt about it, Split Fiction became an instant classic upon its release earlier this year. So it makes sense to release it on the Switch 2 while it’s still fresh in people’s minds — the Switch has always been the kind of console you play with friends anyway so a co-op action adventure game is perfect for the console.

4. New James Bond game 25io

It’s been a while since we had a good James Bond game, but I’m still holding out hope that something will come along that brings bad the vibes GoldenEye brought to the Nintendo 64 back in the day. Could this new Bond game finally be the one to do it?

3. GameCube games 1z2q1y

It’s one of the most underrated Nintendo consoles but it had some of the best games. Wind Waker, Luigi’s Mansion, Pikmin, these are just a few of the many great games that were released on the GameCube, and now they’ll be available to play once more on the new console.

2. Mario Kart World 4b4ow

We’d almost lost hope that we’d ever see another Mario Kart game ever again, Mario Kart 8 released in 2014, that’s over ten years, almost as long as the wait between GTA V and GTA VI. But the wait is almost over as Mario Kart World will be a launch title on the Switch 2.

1. The release date 2f6s2u

The most exciting news is the release date and that’s because we don’t have long to wait at all. Nintendo announced that the Switch 2 will launch on June 5th, a little over two months from today. The fact that we’re so close to a new Nintendo console release is by far the most exciting news I’ve heard all year!

As the video game industry grows and the technological tools for turning flesh-and-bone actors into digital beings evolve, it’s only natural for Hollywood stars to become more present in games.

Big gaming awards already recognize the work of voice actors and mo-cap specialists that help to bring some of our favorite characters to life, such as Christopher Judge as Kratos in God of War and Ashly Burch as Aloy from Horizon Zero Dawn. Still, gaming companies know that having a familiar face on the cover of their products can help bring in new customers. 

That’s where Hollywood stars come in, using their talent to elevate the production value of specific games and helping companies expand their player base beyond the usual gamers. But what are the best games featuring big Holywood stars and celebrities?

6. Twelve Minutes 6a3y5e

Twelve Minutes is a quirky time-loop game that occurs entirely inside an apartment. The game puts you in control of a man voiced by James McAvoy, who’s stuck in a time loop that lasts exactly 12 minutes. If you do nothing during this time, you learn that your wife, voiced by Daisy Ridley, is pregnant. Soon after that, a police officer, voiced by Willem Dafoe, enters the apartment, accuses your wife of murder, and accidentally kills her and your newborn baby. So, the goal is to change the future by interacting with the objects in the apartment and choosing different dialogue branches. The story is brought to life thanks to the phenomenal acting of the three Hollywood stars.

5. Beyond: Two Souls 2x703d

Beyond: Two Souls showcased the PlayStation 3’s power by featuring ultra-realistic graphics. To bring its cast of characters to life, Beyond: Two Souls hired big Hollywood stars and turned them into digital versions of themselves through the power of motion capture and voice acting. The game tells the story of Jodie Holmes, a girl who’s mysteriously connected to an incorporeal being named Aiden. If Jodie looks familiar to you, it’s because she’s played by Elliot Page. Additionally, Beyond: Two Souls cast includes Willem Dafoe as Nathan Dawkins, a paranormal researcher who acts as Jodie’s surrogate father. Other actors involved in the project are Kadeem Hardison, Eric Winter, and Caroline Wolfson.

4. Def Jam 124g66

Def Jam is a wacky fighting video game series that allows you to punch your favorite hip-hop artist in the face. Each game follows a street fighter trying to become the champion of the underworld by facing the toughest people in the streets. As it turns out, many of the characters you have to fight are artists represented by Def Jam Records, a record label specializing in hip-hop. The Def Jam series features dozens of artists turned into video game characters, including Xzibit, Busta Rhymes, Ice-T, Ludacris, and even Snoop Dogg.

3. Grand Theft Auto 2h254

The Grand Theft Auto video game series is famous for featuring celebrity cameos and paying homage to Hollywood stars. Ever since the franchise made the jump to 3D, every new entry has a few familiar faces. GTA 3, for instance, cast some voice actors famous for playing mobsters and criminals, such as Frank Vincent and Michael Madsen. GTA: Vice City took things further by casting Ray Liotta to voice the game’s protagonist. Vice City also uses the voice talents of Luis Guzman, Blondie singer Debbie Harry, and adult film actress Jenna Jameson. Finally, Phil Collins also shows up in Vice City, playing himself. The GTA tradition of casting Hollywood stars would live on. GTA: San Andreas had Axl Rose, Samuel L. Jackson, and Charlie Murphy, for instance. Among the celebrities in GTA 4 are Ricky Gervais, Chelsea Peretti, and Will Forte. Finally, GTA 5 features Dr. Dre and Cara Delevingne, among others.

2. Cyberpunk 2077 4e3919

Inspired by a beloved tabletop RPG setting, Cyberpunk 2077 takes you to a future where corporations rule the world and money is all you need to install wondrous technology into your body. The game allows you to build your custom character to explore a massive city with hundreds of characters. All the while, you are guided by the hologram of Johnny Silverhand, a former freedom fighter who stood against megacorporations and corruption before being killed. Johnny saved his consciousness in a digital device you can use to talk to him, and the figure you see before your eyes is none other than Keanu Reeves. Reeves was a prominent part of Cyberpunk 2077’s marketing campaign, which partly explains the game’s success.

1. Death Stranding 83c5h

Hideo Kojima’s Death Stranding took the use of Hollywood stars to a whole new level by inviting some of the best performers and celebrities of this generation to become video game characters. Set in a unique post-apocalyptic world where the rain accelerates the age of time, Death Stranding stars Norman Reedus as Sam, a delivery man who has to cross dangerous landscapes to ensure the survival of humanity. Along the way, Sam meets many allies and enemies, played by big names such as Mads Mikkelsen, Léa Seydoux, Margaret Qualley, Troy Baker, Tommie Earl Jenkins, and Lindsay Wagner. There are also characters modeled in the likeness of filmmakers Guillermo del Toro and Nicolas Winding Refn.

Anyone with experience working in gaming development will know it’s a low-key miracle any major game gets released at all, let alone arriving bug-free and enjoyable to play. As such, the gaming landscape is speckled with titles that were billed as groundbreaking but ended up being released to widespread disappointment, inevitably followed shortly thereafter by a “yeah we screwed up but we’re listening” social media apology.

So here are ten relatively recent games that promised the world and fell short. I want to underline that this is not a list of bad games – many titles here are now perfectly enjoyable experiences – but they definitely failed to live up to the hype.

Starfield (2023) 2g4s5l

Let’s get it out of the way. Microsoft and Bethesda Softworks promised the moon with Starfield, but the final release was a distinct disappointment. It’s not that Starfield is outright awful, just that the promise of exploring the galaxy turned out to be done largely via menus and even when you’re on foot there’s nothing of note out there to discover.

That, compounded by bad writing, awkward animations, and creaky underlying technology, left Starfield as one of 2023’s most underwhelming major releases. Maybe modders can fix the surface-level issues, but we feel that Starfield‘s flaws are so fundamental it’s probably not going to get much better than it currently is.

Marvel’s Avengers (2020) 5s2f1j

2018’s Marvel’s Spider-Man was a critically acclaimed smash-hit, leading many to assume Marvel and Disney were taking their slate of games very seriously. Soon after that, we began to get teases of Marvel’s Avengers from developer Crystal Dynamics, responsible for the well-regarded Tomb Raider reboot series. How could it fail?!

What eventually landed on shelves was the epitome of everything the public hates about modern gaming. Nickel-and-diming microtransactions, games as a service rubbish, and an incredibly repetitive online mode. Player numbers cratered soon after release and never recovered, the game was recently pulled from storefronts, and its commercial failure is estimated to have lost publisher Square Enix around $200 million.

Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – Definitive Edition (2021) 6d14c

The PlayStation 2 Grand Theft Auto trilogy changed the course of gaming forever, so the announcement of a “definitive edition” bringing these three titles to modern hardware was cause for celebration. Then we actually saw it. Hideous re-worked character models, nonsensical AI-upscaled textures, broken visual effects, all new game-breaking bugs!

Rockstar Games soon itted that the collection “did not launch in a state that meets our own standards of quality, or the standards our fans have come to expect”. To be fair, patches have improved the games, though now development has ceased and they’re destined to remain deeply flawed forever.

Resident Evil 3 (2020) 6v74n

We want to underline that Resident Evil 3 is not a bad game, but it definitely failed to live up to the hype. Development of Resident Evil 3, an update of 1999’s Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, ran concurrently with the amazing Resident Evil 2 Remake and fans expected a game of similar quality. Technically they got it, as Resident Evil 3 plays just as well and looks as good as Resident Evil 2. The only problem is that it’s incredibly short.

1999’s Nemesis wasn’t a particularly long game to begin with, though the remake omitted some key areas from it, leaving a game that can easily be completed in a single evening (the all-time speedrun is 46 minutes, 51 seconds from start to finish). Was that worth $60? Many loudly concluded no, it was not.

Mass Effect: Andromeda (2017) 323h3m

Mass Effect 3 may have had a controversial ending, but BioWare’s sci-fi RPG trilogy was still considered an all-time great. Andromeda was supposed to continue that winning streak, giving you a new corner of the universe to explore and a fresh cast of characters.

Development did not proceed smoothly, not helped by a switch to the difficult-to-work-with Frostbite 3 engine. The end result was perhaps BioWare’s first true flop, released to widespread mockery of the strange facial animations, technical glitches, and broken mechanics. But hey, everyone makes the occasional mistake, and BioWare was already hard at work on what would surely be its next beloved blockbuster…

Anthem (2019) 3p512q

In 2019 prerelease excitement for Anthem was at fever pitch. BioWare had promised a new online world with a gripping story, exciting combat mechanics, and beautiful graphics. Anthem was poised to be one of the biggest games of the generation, with BioWare promising that it would go on to be ed for years to come.

Then we actually played it and… oh boy where to begin? It was immediately apparent that despite its lengthy development Anthem was seriously undercooked. The loot system was busted, the servers didn’t work properly, it was buggy, and – crucially – simply wasn’t fun. Anthem didn’t sell, those promises of ongoing were broken, and it is now dead as a dodo.

Redfall (2023) 4n3p53

You have to feel sorry for Arkane. For years it had slowly built a reputation for technical and design brilliance, but all it takes is one flop for its good name to be tarnished. Open-world vampire shooter Redfall appeared to play to all its weaknesses, diluting the tight focus on environmental storytelling and emergent gameplay in favor of ugly environments and laughably stupid enemies.

The crowning misery was that this dowdy game was somehow limited to 30 FPS, even on the mighty Xbox Series X. A patch has now rectified that but, predictably, doubling the frame rate has not made Redfall twice as fun. Let’s hope it becomes a mere footnote in the studio’s future.

Street Fighter V (2016) 5u4l6t

Street Fighter V is now a good game, boasting an impressive 45 characters, a variety of modes, and relatively solid online play. But at launch, the venerable fighting game was a remarkably stingy package, with the crucial online multiplayer plagued by connection issues and lag.

Controversy rightly blew up over Capcom effectively selling a half-finished product and then expecting players to fork out more money for the complete package. Over the years the game improved, and the success of Street Fighter 6 indicated Capcom took this lesson to heart. Let’s hope it never repeats the calamity of V.

Halo: Infinite (2021) 6a223k

Halo: Infinite was positioned as the flagship title for Microsoft’s Series X|S consoles, though a disastrous preview screening saw it delayed and dragged back for further development. The final product arrived in December 2021 and was clearly attempting to capture the magic of the first Halo way back in 2001.

The single-player adventure was competent enough, though most eyes were on multiplayer to make this a permanent fixture in the Xbox ecosystem. On that front, it disappointed. Shoddy net code spoiled high-level play, and for a long time, there was a dramatic lack of maps and game modes, leading to a surprisingly low player count. It’s better now, though Halo: Infinite was far from the enduring hit Microsoft had hoped for.

Cyberpunk 2077 (2020) 1st6l

Do we really need to retell this sorry tale? CD Projekt Red had built up an absurd amount of goodwill after the excellent The Witcher III and its subsequent DLCs. And so, by 2020, Cyberpunk 2077 wasn’t just a game, it was a cultural event.

We all know how it went down on launch. Every version of the game, though especially the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One releases, was littered with gamebreaking bugs and glitches. Sony even took the unprecedented move of removing it from sale until it was fixed.

Three years and many patches later, Cyberpunk 2077 is finally a good game, with its Phantom Liberty DLC receiving rave reviews. Don’t you just love a happy ending?

Grimes is widely known for a lot of things. Mostly for her musical career, of course, which has been going on for over a decade now, but also for her former relationship with Elon Musk. In the general public’s eyes, that’s about all there is to the artist, however, her fans know better, especially those familiar with the gaming world.

To say that Grimes is also a voice actress would be a big stretch, but the truth is that she lent her voice to a character in one of the most well-known (and expensive) video game franchises out there. I’m talking about the Cyberpunk universe, naturally, but more specifically, Cyberpunk 2077. The game was received poorly by players and reviewers alike for its system flaws and was met with transphobia accusations, but even so, Grimes fans consider it a win to hear the singer’s voice in it.

What character does Grimes voice in Cyberpunk 2077? 5d3m50

In Cyberpunk 2077, Grimes voices Elisabeth Wissenfurth, best known as Lizzy Wizzy, a musician in the games’ world. This, of course, means that Grimes does more than just speak a few lines in the game — she also performs all of the tracks sung by her character. Does this come as a surprise to anyone? Well, it shouldn’t, as it’s the best use of Grimes’ talents.

Lizzy Wizzy is featured in the Violence side quest in this game, which is considered to be one of the more disturbing. Don’t worry, I won’t spoil anything for those who wish to play. What I will say, however, is that Grimes reprises her character in Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty, an expansion that takes players on a new journey through Night City.

There was a world, not so long ago, that required disks for playing games. A limited number of copies of a title would be produced and, if players weren’t on the pre-order list, they could be denied the covetous privilege of playing a game on day one, or if demand was high enough, for weeks — if not months. In the modern age, disks are a relic of the past, with most gamers opting for the stress-free experience of ing a digital copy. If consumers are moving away from pre-orders, why aren’t companies?

Pre-ordering goes all the way back to the 1980s. After the 1983 market crash, retailers were leery of overstocking merchandise that might never see revenue and were unwilling to subject themselves to another Atari Video Game Burial — an urban legend turned into truth when a New Mexico landfill turned up thousands of unsold Atari systems and games. In order to insulate themselves from any outside issues, retailers and distributors purchased smaller quantities of games and waited to stock shelves until sales were all but guaranteed. In response, players had only one option if they wanted to ensure they got a copy: pre-order.

But we don’t live in a world of cartridges or quantity disparities anymore. There is an argument to be made about the longevity of a physical copy during an age where platforms can revoke access to digital materials on a whim, but it’s a protection for consumers rather than a necessity for companies. I’m also going to immediately say that indie games are more than welcome to continue to rely on pre-orders — a very necessary lifeline for smaller studios. According to Xsolla, indie studios can net between 15-28% of their total pre-launch sales the day pre-orders are available to the public, and many indie studios make between 20-30% of their first year’s sales with pre-orders. But most indie studios don’t charge $69.99 for a base game, now do they?

This gripe comes during a year of buggy releases from massive AAA studios with budgets of millions, staff of hundreds, and enough shareholders to pad their pockets. I say “year,” but let’s be honest: the last decade has been stained by this conversation, and yet, we are still having it every year and almost every release. Despite thousands of gamers rebelling against the norm, companies still force the issue and rely on pre-orders to guesstimate how successful a title will be. Perhaps the worst thing of all is the petty little “gifts” that developers use to incentivize gamers. There are a number of players who have been jilted by the practice, and the list of egregious titles is lengthy.

There isn’t a game that makes a better case for how broken this system is than Cyberpunk 2077. It’s been years since the title dropped, but CD Projekt Red is still nursing its reputation back to health. Just before that, it was No Man’s Sky. Before that? Mass Effect: Andromeda. The issue is permeating all sects of gaming, even a multiplayer hero shooter like Overwatch isn’t safe from the predatory practice. There is no shortage of games that have royally-burned players, and yet, all that has come of the horrid practice is apology letters and promises to do better. Well, Cyberpunk was bad enough that refunds were given en masse, but it did nothing to solve the problem.

And why do we do it? For the paltry skins or weapons that developers are kind enough to dangle in front of you as a “reward”? More often than not, those useless cosmetics are made free when the game is ported or once it gets old enough. Just look at one of the 17 times Skyrim has been rereleased — over the decade, those coveted DLCs that cost me more than a twentysomething could afford are all included in one bundle or repackaged “complete edition.” The whole concept of limited-time-only cosmetics or weapons is a fabricated scarcity, one that literally shouldn’t exist in a digital world. And it becomes more insulting when the price of any one game jumps from $70 to $300 depending on the version you purchase. There is a reason to charge more for steelbook cases, or physical art books and soundtracks, but a digital version needs no extra cost. It makes one wonder how much of those extra proceeds go to the artists behind the product and how much ends up in those shareholders’ pockets.

It’s no secret that companies are greedy and tend to fabricate circumstances to drive up their profit margins, but for a long time, it seemed like the video game industry was somewhat insulated. As players, we were all startled to learn about the horrendous crunch conditions foisted on many developers, but the stain of greed seems to be spreading. Worst of all, when outliers like Larian Studios, the developers behind Baldur’s Gate III, break the mold, developers cry witch and refuse to learn from the process, despite gamers’ high praises and adoration.

The industry has created a problem that only it can solve. But before it does, we have to stop throwing our money at broken, half-assed, or outright falsely d games.

When it seemed like Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo would put aside their differences and work towards making the gaming industry into an even bigger phenomenon than it already is, the acquisition race came along and exacerbated those competitive tendencies tenfold. Not that the companies didn’t compete before this new consolidation trend, but it had been some time since they openly criticized or undermined each other. Now, Xbox boss Phil Spencer has candidly criticized Sony’s efforts to stop the Activision Blizzard acquisition in its tracks.

In other news, Idris Elba has discussed what his forthcoming role in the Cyberpunk 2077 universe will entail as one game finally dethrones Elden Ring, now Game of the Year, as the best-selling title of 2022.

Xbox boss Phil Spencer says Sony wants to grow “by making Xbox smaller” 5f6n4w

Ever the professional businessman, Phil Spencer never had anything but kind words for the competition, always encouraging Sony and Netflix in their endeavors and even praising them when the situation called for it. But now, the Xbox boss seems to think that PlayStation may have overstepped itself in blocking the $68.7 billion Activision-Microsoft merger, which is still being reviewed by the Federal Trade Commission.

“[Sony] has a very different view of the industry than we do,” Spencer said in a podcast per GamesRadar. “They don’t ship their games day and date on PC, they do not put their games into their subscription when they launch their games. “Sony is leading the dialogue around why the deal shouldn’t go through to protect its dominant position on console, so the thing they grab onto is Call of Duty.”

Idris Elba calls Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty‘s narrative the best in the medium i6g2b

Idris Elba is proferring the motion capture performance and voice acting for the protagonist in Phantom Liberty, the first proper Cyberpunk 2077 standalone content which will be making its way to our platforms in 2023. CD Projekt has yet to reveal any plot details about this particular outing, but taking to Twitter, Elba has praised the storytellers at the Polish game studio by describing Phantom Liberty‘s story as “the deepest game narrative ever.” Given the company’s track record, we can’t wait to get our hands on this DLC.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II es Elden Ring to become the best-selling game of 2022, surprising no one 372z6m

Elden Ring is unironically one of the best games to ever grace the medium, and it has been recognized as such by every gaming outlet out there. The amount of sudden hype the game generated also carried itself to the consumers, turning the game into the most commercially successful FromSoftware product in history. But the reign of the Tarnished had to come to a close against the power of Call of Duty, and an installment bearing the Modern Warfare II name, at that.

Indeed, according to a new report by the NPD Group, per ComicBook, the latest entry in Activision’s FPS franchise has swept the board, once again going down as the best-selling game of its year on the charts.

Cyberpunk 2077 has announced its first huge DLC expansion to the game, following the recent ‘Edgerunners update’ in September 2022. Much like when the game launched, Idris Elba will  Keanu Reeves as one of the game’s big celebrity voice actors.

A trailer for the DLC expansion debut during the 2022 Games Awards. The trailer starts with Johnny Silverhand, played by Reeves, where he asked if they have a plan. Players were then introduced to Elba’s character, Solomon Reed. According to the trailer’s description, he’s a FIA agent and players will be able to team up with him in their next mission.

Elba appeared in a short video after the trailer’s release. He expressed his excitement to be involved in the update and how he looks forward to players meeting him in-game. The video also showed some behind-the-scenes content during the expansion’s production, in which Elba is seen wearing special motion-capturing headgear and recording lines for his brand-new role.

Since the news came out, fans wondered how CD Projekt Red, the developers of Cyberpunk 2077, managed to grab hold of the celebrity. Regardless, they’re excited to be teaming up with both Elba and Reeves in the expansion.

Alongside the excitement, some players hoped that they would be able to form some sort of romantic connection with Elba in the game. Unfortunately, that’s unlikely to happen since Johnny Silverhand was also someone players could not form a romantic bond with.

The Phantom Liberty’ expansion is an spy-triller DLC, where players will visit a new district of Night City and take on an impossible espionage and survival mission. When the DLC was first announced back on Sept. 7, 2022, the main character, V, was heard taking an oath to serve the New United States of America. Silverhand then later tells V that taking the oath “was a mistake.”

Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty will be released in 2023 on PC, PS5 and Xbox series X/S.

In today’s gaming news Phil Spencer has announced a commitment to bring Call of Duty to Nintendo, Elden Ring is getting a new update, while David Harbour has let it slip that he will be starring in a horror game that might be released in 2023, and the launch of Cyberpunk 2077 killed a standalone multiplayer game that CD Projekt Red was working on. 

Read about all of this news and more in today’s gaming news roundup.

Microsoft is bringing ‘Call of Duty’ to Nintendo 311m5z

Phil Spencer has announced on Twitter that Microsoft will be committed to bringing Call of Duty to Nintendo consoles if the Activision Blizzard acquisition goes through. Hardcore Call of Duty fans might recall that the series did come to Nintendo consoles in the past, back in the days of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and Call of Duty: Ghosts. Titles were released on the Nintendo Wii, Nintendo Wii U, and the Nintendo DS. These games were usually reviewed poorly compared to the other consoles, and we shudder to think about how bad the frame rate might get on the Nintendo Switch.

Of course, this news comes after Phil Spencer offered the same deal to Sony, which they find unacceptable because the franchise will then come to Microsoft’s Game service, which will most likely undercut sales of the games on PlayStation consoles. It is unlikely that the battle against the acquisition will end any time soon.

Elden Ring is getting a new Colosseum update f2pa

A new update, which was announced in the tweet above, will be coming today to Elden Ring. The Colosseum update will be free for all players, and it will open up the Colosseums for some epic PVP battles, so feel free to go all out in your battles against your fellow tarnished. The update is the only DLC to be released for the game, even though it has been extremely popular since the release of the game earlier this year, and it is unknown whether there will be any paid DLC in the future. This new update comes right before The Game Awards, where it will undoubtedly pick up an award or two. 

David Harbour is coming to a horror game next year 3z3p42

In an interview with Video Games FN, David Harbour let it slip that he will be starring in a horror game that should be released in 2023. He was being asked about his role in the Gran Turismo movie, loosely based on the PlayStation franchise of video games when he was asked if he wanted to star in a video game, to which he replied, “I actually have one coming out. Me and Jodie Comer did a video game.” 

So the Stranger Things and Violent Night star will be appearing in a video game alongside Comer who you probably know from Killing Eve or Free Guy. It’s unknown when the game will actually be released or if it is a part of an existing franchise. Fans seem to think that they could be the stars of the next installment of The Dark Pictures Anthology. Honestly, it would be good to see him come to Dead by Daylight with his Stranger Things character, but it does not seem like that is what he was referring to. We will just have to wait and see; who knows, the game might be announced at The Game Awards.

CD Projekt Red canceled their multiplayer game because of the disastrous launch of Cyberpunk 2077 51w6d

You might the horrific launch of Cyberpunk 2077 and how it led to PlayStation taking the game off of its store after players bombarded them with refund requests. For most of the players who attempted to play it on PlayStation 4 or Xbox One, the game was a buggy mess and for those who requested refunds, it was unplayable. Well, it turns out that this led CD Projekt Red to cancel their standalone multiplayer game based on the Cyberpunk franchise.

In an interview with Eurogamer, Philipp Weber, the acting narrative director on one of their games in The Witcher franchise, detailed how a pivot to focus on improving the game led to the cancellation of the multiplayer title. This is not surprising in the least, but it has to make you wonder if CD Projekt Red spreading themselves too thin might be why Cyberpunk 2077 was released in that state, to begin with, but we should know more about that when they release their next game. 

According to The Hollywood Reporter, in what might be one of the most bizarre collaborations of all time, a ToeJam & Earl movie is coming to screens, by Amazon Studios, Story Kitchen, and Unanimous Media, Stephen Curry’s production company. Interestingly, Sega seems to be on a mission to sign away the rights to their popular franchises, having found success at the box office with Sonic the Hedgehog. They also recently announced that a Streets of Rage movie is in the works. 

Although it is unclear as to whether Sega owns the rights to the franchise or if they belong to co-creator Greg Johnson, as Sega had no involvement with the last game in the franchise, ToeJam & Earl: Back in the Groove which was released in 2019. As it is in early development we have no word as to when the ToeJam & Earl movie will be coming to theaters. 

A release date has been announced for SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake 4c493m

THQ Nordic has announced a release date for SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake and it will be released much sooner than anyone might have expected. In the trailer above, which showed off SpongeBob’s boarding skills, the release date for the game was announced to be Jan. 31, 2023, which is just over a month from now. The trailer also showed off some of the costumes you can get for SpongeBob in the free pre-order costume pack, including his ‘Sweet Victory’ outfit.

The game is the spiritual sequel to SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom – Rehydrated which was released in 2020 and both games were developed by Purple Lamp Studios. The remake was based on the original SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom which was released in 2003. Pre-orders are open now and SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake will be coming to PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC on Jan. 31, 2023.

Dead Island 2 will let you fight zombies with Alexa 464ua

In what might be the most bonkers gaming news story of the day, Dead Island 2 will let you take out zombies with Amazon’s Alexa. The zombie game will incorporate Alexa Game Control according to Deep Silver, the developer of Dead Island 2. You will seemingly be able to order Alexa to complete certain tasks in the game, like supplying you with weapons or drawing the attention of nearby zombies. 

If you are interested in reading more about the new technology or more specific examples as to how it will be incorporated into Dead Island 2, you can read all about it in our article here. Dead Island 2 is set to be released on April 28, 2023, on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X. Xbox Series S, Xbox One, and PC.

Come back tomorrow for our next gaming news roundup.

Todd Howard is probably to blame for many gamers spending their best years playing Bethesda Softworks role-playing games over and over again. As if that reputation wasn’t already legendary enough, the man wants to do it again with the Elder Scrolls 6, which is no doubt fully in production now that the studio’s work on Starfield has almost finished.

Speaking of Bethesda and their new Microsoft overlords, the Xbox team is reportedly prepared to fight the Federal Trade Commission in court over the Microsoft Blizzard deal if it comes to it. It seems that Bill Gates and Phil Spencer want that sweet Call of Duty revenue, and they’re not willing to take no for an answer.

Another Nvidia GPU dethrones the GTX 1060 as the most common card among Steam s 3e2m5

For the longest time, the GTX 1060 was the unrivaled champion of mid-range graphics cards among PC gamers, being the most commonly purchased and used piece of hardware on Steam. But it seems that the tides are finally shifting as the gaming industry embraces a leap in visual fidelity thanks to next-gen hardware, but the leap that Steam s are willing to take isn’t forward.

In fact, it seems that the GTX 1650 now retains the top spot on the platform, which is strange considering the fact that it’s as much as 20% weaker than the previous king. 2060 and 3050 are also favorite choices, but 1650 and 1060 remain the most popular.

Believe it or not, CD Projekt might be contemplating a Game of the Year edition for Cyberpunk 2077 4u2b1y

Cyberpunk 2077 was off to a very rough start that ruined its prospects in the industry, but thanks to a steady stream of patches and updates, the game is now very playable and its bugs, what remains of them, are hardly a nuisance. Still, Cyberpunk 2077 was far from anyone’s choice for Game of the Year. The game may have actually bagged such an accolade from several outlets, but it’s definitely nowhere near achieving the consensus and the numbers required to be deemed a GOTY candidate.

Still, that isn’t stopping CD Projekt from releasing a Game of the Year edition after the DLC, Phantom Liberty, has come out. At least that’s according to a report by Gamespot, per Insider Gaming, that claims the Polish game developer is planning to release a definitive edition of their divisive game in 2023.

Todd Howard talks Elder Scrolls 6, says he has a vague idea about the game’s timeline 6g125r

The Elder Scrolls community is probably going to die of sheer frustration by the time Bethesda is ready to properly unveil the next installment in the saga, let alone publish it. The team has been working on another IP for several years, a sci-fi that will finally see the light of the day in the form of Starfield next year, but we all know that most folks are anticipating The Elder Scrolls VI. The studio’s chief executive Todd Howard feels the frustration rippling through the fandom, and he’s itted as much that they, too, wish they’d started working on the sixth entry sooner.

“I have a vague idea,” He said of the game’s release date while appearing on the Lex Fridman podcast. “I wish it was soon. We want them out too, you know? I wish they didn’t take as long as they did but they do. Look, if I could go back in time, it would never have been my plan to wait as long as it’s taken.” Well, I guess done is done, but let’s hope Bethesda isn’t wasting any time on Starfield DLCs and focusing their entire efforts on Tamriel now.

Microsoft is willing to fight the FTC in court if they won’t approve the Activision Blizzard acquisition q2b38

Microsoft is still struggling to get its proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion through, but the FTC might be determined to stop the deal in its tracks. Based on a new report by Bloomberg, citing sources close to the matter, the Federal Trade Commission might file an anti-trust lawsuit against Microsoft after all, in which case the company is willing to go to court and defend this staggering investment.

The acquisition of Activision and its subsidiaries is hardly going to create a vacuum in the industry, but the FTC might be concerned about the general trend these big conglomerates seem to be delving ever deeper into. Despite experts initially claiming that Microsoft would have no trouble getting the deal approved, the company seems to be facing ferocious resistance, so we’ll have to wait and see if IPs such as Call of Duty, Diablo, and World of Warcraft will end up in Xbox’s pockets, after all.

We have another brilliant roundup of news from the games industry today as Lionsgate acquires the rights to a Streets of Rage movie, Terry Crews campaigns to be cast in the Gears of War Netflix movie, Santa Monica Studio might be working on multiple games and a patent Sony filed regarding NFTs has surfaced.

Read all about these stories and more in today’s gaming news roundup.

A Streets of Rage movie might be smashing into theaters soon 6s6wk

Deadline reports that a Streets of Rage movie is currently in development after Lionsgate acquired the rights for an adaptation of the popular video game franchise. If you are not aware, Streets of Rage is a franchise published by Sega, and they published three Streets of Rage games in the 90s. They recently brought the franchise back with Streets of Rage 4 in 2020 after years of silence from the franchise. The game was developed by Dotemu, and it currently is sitting at an 82 on Metacritic.

The first bit of good news came back in April when we learned that the action in the classic beat-em-up franchise should be transferred into this film adaptation as Derek Kolstad, the creator of the John Wick franchise will be writing the movie. It will be very interesting to see what kind of story they manage to come up with. 

Cyberpunk 2077‘s expansion is not free 705a27

The much-maligned Cyberpunk 2077 is back in the news after CD Projekt Red announced to GamesRadar that the game’s expansion Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty which will bring back Keanu Reeves as Johnny Silverhand, will indeed cost money. The only reason fans may have thought otherwise is that most of the able content for their last game, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, was free for anybody who purchased the game. 

Unfortunately, but somewhat rightfully, CD Projekt Red is comparing this expansion to The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Blood and Wine which was one of the only paid expansions for that game. The cost of the game will undoubtedly match the size of the expansion, so let’s hope they provide an expansion that is deep and lacks the bugs that the game had at launch.

The studio behind God of War Ragnarök seems to be working on multiple games 5s140

The LA Times recently spoke to Santa Monica Studio regarding the release of their latest hit, the sequel to 2018’s God of War, God of War Ragnarök. One of the things that were brought up by the Creative Director of the studio, Cory Barlog, was that the studio is “spread out on a lot of different things,” seemingly indicating that Santa Monica Studio is currently working on multiple games. 

The studio has been working on the God of War franchise since 2002, although they did cancel a project back in 2014. They do have an External Development Group within the studio, which might be what Barlog was referring to. However, it is more likely that like Naughty Dog and Insomniac Games, they are balancing a few different projects at the same time. It will be interesting to see what exactly the studio will be making in the next couple of years and whether they will be making another entry in the God of War franchise.

Sony filed a patent involving NFTs and blockchain technology 3e1q6y

Sony filed a patent in 2021 which was only made public recently, and the patent concerned the implementation of blockchain technology, with some NFTs thrown in for good measure. The patent compares using blockchain technology to identify unique and non-fungible digital collectibles to collecting a signed baseball struck by Babe Ruth. Of course, it is just a patent, and gaming companies will always invest in new ideas, even if they do not end up panning out. 

This also could be related to the PlayStation Stars reward program which was launched earlier this year but PlayStation made a very public proclamation that their program had nothing to do with NFTs. The idea behind the patent could have been the seed that started PlayStation Stars but the NFT angle could have been abandoned once they saw the backlash a vocal majority had against the technology. Let’s just hope that the patent seeing the light of day means that PlayStation won’t be approaching the technology any time soon. 

Terry Crews wants to be in Gears of War 83g1w

Star of White Chicks, Everybody Hates Chris, and Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Terry Crews, has said to Gizmodo that he would be in a Gears of War movie “in a heartbeat.” The actor is no stranger to video games, having voiced characters in Saints Row IV and more recently in Crackdown 3. Fans seem to be overjoyed that the actor might be vying for a role in Netflix’s movie, alongside the other fan-favorite Dave Bautista. Although not all fans agree with the general consensus arguing that the 59-year-old actor is too old to star in the film. Someone should probably go tell his muscles that he is 59. 

Marvin the Martian is coming to MultiVersus  182h5e

MultiVersus needs to keep expanding its roster to stay in the public consciousness and that is just what it is doing in Season Two with the addition of Marvin the Martian, the popular Looney Tunes character. In addition to the new character, the fighting game will also be adding a new Game of Thrones map, inspired by the world of Westeros. Season 2 of the Warner Bros. fighting game begins today although both Marvin the Martian and the Game of Thrones map will be coming at a later date. 

Of course, Marvin the Martian is not the only Looney Tunes character to be in MultiVersus with both Taz and Bugs Bunny already playable. The two new additions will most likely not be the only new additions in Season 2 so keep your eyes peeled for an update on which new characters might be coming your way. MultiVersus is currently available and free to play on PC, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Xbox Series S, and Xbox Series X.

Those are all our gaming news stories today, so come back tomorrow and do not miss our next gaming news roundup.

We’ve probably all daydreamed about what it might be like to live in a digital world. And while the metaverse is still in development, Kick-Ass’s Chloë Grace Moretz recently revealed which virtual world she’d like to inhabit. This comes after the actress expressed her love for gaming in September and stars in the Amazon series, The Peripheral.

In an interview with ComicBook.com, Moretz said that if given the chance, she’d like to live in virtual worlds like Final Fantasy XIV and Cyberpunk 2077. She also added that she’d love to live the life of a virtual “bunny girl” in these worlds, as that’s what she’s currently doing when playing these games. She finds the idea “fun” and says that living in these world would be cool.

“Oh, that’s kind of fun, Final Fantasy, that would be crazy. I play a lot of Final Fantasy XIV, so I would love to be my character in there, for sure. I’m one of the bunny ladies. I’m one of the bunny girls, and I live in Ul’dah. So this means nothing to a lot of people, but for people that play the game, yes, I do want to be living in Final Fantasy….Cyberpunk would be kind of cool to live in, too.”

Moretz has expressed her love for video games publicly on Twitter, where she commented about her favorite titles such as Destiny, Call of Duty, and Final Fantasy, to name a few. Her tweets confused fans, thinking that it was a sponsored post. But Moretz clarified that these were her genuine feelings and that she’s a gamer.

Moretz will star in an Amazon series called The Peripheral, a show created by the same people behind Westworld. The show is based on William Gibson’s book of the same name and will be released on Amazon Prime Video on Oct. 21.

CD Projekt went all out today by announcing several Witcher games that are undergoing the early stages of development. One saga, comprising a trilogy, will serve as the backbone of the gaming franchise in the form of AAA role-playing titles, while the rest will be outsourced to other veterans both inside and outside the studio to bring other facets of the Continent to life.

Codename Polaris is the trilogy that takes precedence, with the first installment — what fans are currently referring to as The Witcher 4 – already in the wings after CD Projekt signed a deal with Epic Games to transition from the RED Engine to Unreal 5.

But what does all of this mean for Netflix’s The Witcher, which in itself is a spiraling franchise that has already spawned several spinoff flicks and TV shows?

What do all these new games mean for the TV adaptation? 7nw

While The Witcher books by Andrzej Sapkowski were already a phenomenon in much of Europe and especially Slavic countries, it wasn’t until CD Projekt’s highly lauded trilogy, chiefly The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, that the franchise managed an unprescedented level of global recognition and acclaim.

In other words, it is basically thanks to the games that Netflix even conceived of adapting The Witcher books for the small screens. The result has also been a spectacularly popular television show that breaks viewing records around the world, but it goes without saying that the majority of the fandom and those who engage with the brand on a regular basis in the online circles came over from the games.

CD Projekt apparently intends to reignite that interest in the interactive form of Geralt’s lifestory. Perhaps their new saga even centers around some completely different ensemble. But whatever the outcome from a narrative perspective, it looks like the Polish company is here to dominate The Witcher world all over again.

As far as the show is concerned, Netflix shouldn’t feel threatened by CD Projekt at all. If anything, the return of new games, however far down the line they are, will also end up working in tandem with the television to expand the franchise’s reach to newer generation of audiences.

And speaking of the wait for The Witcher 4, I think it might be safe to presume that Henry Cavill’s run as the White Wolf will have ended long before CD Projekt is even ready to release the first gameplay showcase for their forthcoming game. Alright, maybe not as far down the road, but developing an AAA game in the scale that the company is no doubt aiming for due to the high bar set by The Witcher 3 will take at least five years.

Who knows what will have happened to The Witcher franchise in five years? What we do know is that CDPR and Netflix are currently working together to deliver a seamless experience, with the ninth-gen update for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt even including a small DLC that gives Henry Cavill’s Geralt a long overdue nod.