What's on this week — tournaments, festivals, sales, and developer showcases for PC games.
Final Fantasy returning to turn-based combat through the upcoming Final Fantasy Resonance is a pretty big deal, even if you were just going off the reception to its initial reveal. Many folks, including myself, are thrilled to see the series' name attached to a game with an HD-2D art style and have the story of Brave Exvius get adapted in the form of Resonance. In my exclusive hands-on preview
Today marks the beginning of Steam Next Fest, the thrice-yearly, week-long smorgasbord of delectable demos served up by game creators of all sizes as samplers for their in-development delights. And unsurprisingly, as the Steam catalog adds tens of thousands of games every year, that translates into a lot of demos.To be precise: This season's Next Fest is, at time of writing, featuring 4,347 demos.
Almost 18 months after Civilization 7's bumpy launch - which saw it panned by players for a range of issues, including a poor UI, controversial changes to the series' classic formula, and a lack of features - developer Firaxis' slow and steady course correction continues next week with the launch of another major update, this time including much-requested hotseat multiplayer. Read more
The final Assassin's Creed Shadows content update will add one last chapter to the story of Naoe and Yasuke, a tough new challenge mode, and let you dress up as Edward Kenway from Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced.Ubisoft previously confirmed it was calling time on Shadows after dwindling support in recent months and just one major post-launch expansion, and as Resynced's arrival li
In the opening minutes of Final Fantasy 7 Revelation’s reveal trailer, developer Square Enix reintroduces us to the Highwind. Fans of the original PlayStation game will remember its multi-propeller majesty with fondness; this was the vehicle that unlocked complete go-anywhere freedom across Final Fantasy 7’s world map. Unrestricted by rivers, oceans, or mountain ranges, you could soar at high spee
June's Nintendo Direct presentation was reportedly this year's most-watched Summer Game Fest showcase. Read more
Craig Duncan has stepped down from his role as head of Xbox Game Studios after less than two years. He will be departing the company this week. Read more
During the recent Xbox Games Showcase, Xbox CEO Asha Sharma said, "It's only fitting that as we return to Xbox, we return to Gears." With that, Gears of War: E-Day was revealed, and with it plenty of excitement for an early-days take on the war with the Locust. It's an Xbox exclusive, but that just means no PlayStation. We'll still be getting it on PC—and on that front, we've just been served up t
A full decade in, Behaviour Interactive's Dead by Daylight has settled into a comfortable rhythm of content updates and seasonal events, including some surprises. But as the asymmetrical horror game enters its 11th year, there are big changes coming, including mod support and a visual overhaul. Read more
I rather enjoyed the first Final Fantasy 7 remake—I sank a comfy 35 hours into it, plodded along its story, and had a grand old time. I never got around to Rebirth, though. Partially because I just didn't have the time, but also because I didn't want another fully-priced AAA game taking a chunk out of my wallet.Well, now I will be playing it, because as part of the Final Fantasy franchise sale on
No one would accuse poncle's hit game Vampire Survivors of being an especially story-driven experience. It's all about the addictive gameplay loop. But there is lore driving this roguelike action game, and Titan Comics is poised to flesh out that lore with a new Vampire Survivors spinoff series.IGN can exclusively reveal the first artwork from Titan's Vampire Survivors comic. Get a clo
Dead by Daylight recently celebrated its 10 year anniversary with a day-long fan event with panels, meet-and-greets, and crucially, a bunch of new announcements as Behaviour Interactive looks to the next 10 years of development. First off, the headlining news was a recap of Dead by Daylight's upcoming Chapter and collabs, including the highly sought after horror icon Jason Voorhees who "finally ha
Capcom has announced plans to pull Dragon’s Dogma 2 microtransactions from sale ahead of the release of the Dark Arisen expansion.The company will discontinue the Deluxe Edition of the action RPG as well as “certain DLC items” on June 24. This comes alongside a permanent discount for the digital version of the base game.In a post on social media, Capcom listed the microtransactions it was pulling
"The mid-summer dry spell"? My friend, your naivete is exceeded only by your boorishness. You should be ashamed of yourself! This week is anything but dry. It's the week of another Steam Next Fest – a period of carefully abbreviated, wishlist-baiting bounty, in which we cram the Maw's many jaws with demos and playtests. Read more
Fortnite fans are forking out real money on eBay for rare species of Sprite — the game's cute new, Pokémon-like creatures that can be collected and traded.Completed eBay listings show people have paid up to $100 for the promise of rare species being shared with them in-game. Hundreds of listings reveal players choosing to spend on the game's most uncommon varieties — including the coveted
As reports suggesting major changes are brewing at Xbox, likely involving mass layoffs, continue to swirl, the console maker's current boss' plans for the future apparently involve pushing out new Fallout and Elder Scrolls games in speedier fashion. Asha Sharma's desire to whip out new entries in flagship series reportedly comes as Microsoft are considering spinning out or restructuring Xbox as a
It looks like that superb Final Fantasy 7 Revelation trailer at Summer Game Fest was just the ticket for Square Enix: between a blowout trailer showcasing a massive open world, some significant story beats, and refined combat, and a massive media tour following the reveal, interest in the Final Fantasy 7 Remake series appears to have gone through the roof. Read more
Behaviour Interactive has revealed that Terrifier icon Art the Clown is coming to Dead by Daylight as part of a new Chapter in November.The studio behind the ongoing asymmetrical multiplayer game announced its latest horror movie collaboration during the 10th Anniversary Broadcast today. It’s a reveal that will see one of the most brutal killers in horror movie history cut, stab, and smile his way
The upcoming Dead by Daylight movie will be helmed by Icelandic film director Thordur Palsson (The Damned, The Valhalla Murders), using a screenplay from Alexandre Aja (director of Never Let Go, Crawl, and Piranha 3D) and David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick (the writer of three films in The Conjuring series, and both Aquaman films).The news was announced during the Dead by Daylight 10th anniversary br
Behaviour Interactive just finished celebrating Dead by Daylight with its 10th Anniversary Broadcast, and we were there to round up all of the highlights.It was a jam-packed show that ran for more than an hour and a half, but looking at the list of announcements, it’s easy to see why. A deep dive into the visual overhaul set to launch next year was truly just the tip of the iceberg, with other big
Critical Hit(Image credit: Future)Welcome to Critical Hit, where I (or someone else on the PC Gamer team) celebrate and lament all things videogame music, audio design, and the ways our favourite games make our ears tingle.I often think of the times the mainstream dips its toe into our colourful corner of pop culture and tries to fit in—Beyoncé tapping away at a Nintendog, the multitude of weird H
I'm a big fan of management sims, and I think Frontier's Planet Zoo and Planet Coaster series are some of the best modern examples you can play. Not the best—that award goes to last year's brilliant Two Point Museum, though there's a good chance the recently announced Planet Zoo 2 could steal the crown back from Two Point Studios.One of the reasons Two Point Museum is so great is that it gives pla
Owlcat is an insanely busy RPG dev: It's currently developing Mass Effect killer The Expanse: Osiris Reborn, CRPG Warhammer 40K: Dark Heresy, and new add-ons to 2023's Rogue Trader as it celebrates 10 years of build sicko multiclassing. The latest Rogue Trader add-on, The Infinite Museion, was accompanied by a massive patch to the massive RPG.The major changes, to my eye, were a balance pass to Ro
Crimson Desert, the open-world action RPG from Pearl Abyss, has a new challenge for Greymanes – a community challenge event that invites you all to commemorate your time in Pywel by sharing a video. Read more
