Escape from Tarkov’s paid PvE mode controversy appears to be subsiding, after a week of backlash. Escape from Tarkov developer Battlestate recently attracted the ire of fans after announcing the launch of a USD $250 “Unheard Edition” for the game which included an exclusive Player vs. Environment (PvE) mode. Much of the controversy stemmed from the fact that many players had forked out for the USD $150 “Edge of Darkness Edition” which promised “access to all future DLC.” Since the announcement of the Unheard Edition, players have expressed outrage, and alleged Battlestate lied to its ..read more

K.K. Slider and Dodo Airlines feature in newly-revealed Lego Animal Crossing sets. Lego and Nintendo have announced a new wave of Lego Animal Crossing sets, set to launch on 1 August 2024: a Town Hall featuring Isabelle, K.K. Slider, and villager Audie, and the Dodo Airlines hub with a plane, Wilbur, and villager Tangy. The announcement closely follows the launch of the first wave of Lego Animal Crossing sets, which have proved so popular, they’re sold out in most stores (although restocks are slowly drifting in). Lego appears enthusiastic about these releases so far, with these ..read more

Steven Ogg has detailed a cancelled GTA 5 DLC story that would have featured Trevor working undercover. GTA 5 actor Steven Ogg has confirmed rumours Rockstar Games cancelled an “Agent Trevor” DLC for the game, that would have featured game protagonist Trevor going undercover with the FBI. This would have been one of three major story expansions for GTA 5, all of which were cancelled by 2017. Following a major Rockstar hack, dataminers discovered references to three DLC packs in the files of GTA 5: Agent Trevor, Zombie Apocalypse, and Alien Invasion. While not much is known about ..read more

Sand Land is a pleasant, breezy adaptation of Akira Toriyama’s manga of the same name. Sand Land previously had the unfortunate honour of being one of the “forgotten” works of legendary manga artist, Akira Toriyama. Since launch, in the early 2000s, it has been consistently overshadowed by Dragon Ball and its many spin-offs, which have a cultural capital that only few slices of media have. Thankfully, some of that injustice has been corrected in recent times, with Sand Land‘s profile raised by its anime adaptation, and now, with the Sand Land open-world adventure ..read more

Garry’s Mod has reportedly been hit with multiple DMCA notices from Nintendo. Garry’s Mod, the sandbox game that runs on user-generated content, has reportedly been hit with a raft of DMCA takedown notices from Nintendo, flagging mods that introduce fan-made Nintendo content into the game. As a result, the game’s overseers are currently going through 20 years of mod uploads, removing anything even remotely adjacent to Nintendo’s IP. “Honestly, this is fair enough,” the Garry’s Mod team wrote on Steam. “This is Nintendo’s content and what they allow and don’t allow is up to them ..read more

The Electronic Software Association has pointed to copyright concerns as a major difficulty in games preservation. The Electronic Software Association (ESA) has argued against digital games preservation by libraries, arguing that having an accessible range of digitally-preserved games would threaten owner copyright. As noted by Game Developer, the ESA has issued its stance as part of a hearing held by the United States Library of Congress Copyright Office to interrogate the value of a copyright exemption for remote access to preserved video games. In the circumstances analysed, a research ..read more

Looting done just right. Rise of Ronin was met with warm and welcoming reviews.  Hailed for its fantastic graphics and an emphasis on its improved looting system, the players are still learning about the complexity of the gameplay. One of the major improvements, compared to other games from the same studio, everyone’s talking about how the looting system is much fairer and more rewarding now. The Team Behind Rise of the Ronin Team Ninja, the developers behind Rise of Ronin, was previously most well-known for Nioh and the subsequent sequel, Nioh 2.  It’s a complicated R ..read more

Project Dagger was in development for several years before the plug was officially pulled. People Can Fly, the studio most known for its work on Outriders, has officially cancelled its next big game: Project Dagger. The news was spotted by analyst MauroNL3, who surfaced a financial report from 5 April detailing the cancellation of the game, and its subsequent writeoff. Per this report, work on Project Dagger was discontinued due to “the result of re-analysis of the development plans for the project” and “in connection with the unsatisfactory results of the evaluation of the scope and ..read more

BlizzCon 2024 will not go ahead, despite initial plans. BlizzCon 2024 has officially been cancelled, despite initial plans for the event to return to annual cadence. Per a new blog from Blizzard Entertainment, the company is “approaching this year differently” with various celebrations set to take place in-person and online in the coming months. Blizzard plans to return to the BlizzCon format in future, but this year will be an exception. The reason for the unexpected cancellation was not made clear in Blizzard’s latest update, but the company has reassured fans that the decision was ..read more

No Rest for the Wicked is a brutal, unforgiving game that quickly spurns pretenders. No Rest for the Wicked entranced me from the moment I set foot in its strange, gothic world. From its gangly-limbed heroes to the dark shades of its beaches and valleys, the game brims with a real sense of charm. For a self-proclaimed “Souls-like” it begins in surprisingly approachable fashion, allowing you to get to grips with its harsh, violent world as guided by a steady hand. You enter its world as a seasoned traveller and then lose everything. After a dogfight on a ship, you wash ashore on a strange ..read more