Fed up with ‘living in fear’ of mass layoffs, Diablo developers take action against Microsoft: ‘We are ready to begin fighting for real change’
The Diablo team is the next in line to unionize at Blizzard. Over 450 developers across multiple disciplines have voted to form a union under the Communications Workers of America (CWA), and they’re now the fourth major Blizzard team to do so. Game developers, artists, designers, engineers, and support staff all “voted strongly in favor […]
In a major win for playing Battlefield 6 however the heck you want, EA just confirmed Portal servers are actually persistent: ‘It’s always listed in the browser for easy access’
The Battlefield 6 server browser had my curiosity, but now it has my attention: Battlefield Studios just confirmed that servers spun up in its “Portal browser” can be made persistent. Theoretically, that means the Portal browser will behave like a classic FPS browser, allowing someone to host a “24/7 CAIRO ONLY” server that won’t disappear […]
Gemini’s ‘Nano Banana’ AI image editor can’t crop a picture, but its penchant for deepfakes ‘while keeping you, you’ makes me want to wear a brown paper bag on my head forever more
Ready for another bleak application of generative AI? I’m not sure I am, but here we are with Gemini’s ‘Nano Banana’. Alright, alright, get it out of your system and let me explain. The aforementioned fun-size fruit is in fact the name of a major update to Gemini’s AI image generation capabilities. The update is […]
Elden Ring: Nightreign is getting a new ‘high difficulty mode’ in September, including an ‘endless battle for those seeking even greater thrills’
Back in 2024, as the soulslike difficulty discourse once again reared its silly head, Elden Ring director Hidetaka Miyazaki said FromSoft “could just crank the difficulty down,” but warned that doing so “would break the game itself.” That doesn’t seem to be a concern going the other direction, though, as Bandai Namco says a new […]
Today’s Wordle clues, hints and answer for August 18 (#1521)
All the help you need to get your Wordle winning week off to the best kind of start is right here and ready whenever you are. Dip your toe into the waters with our clue for the August 18 (1521) puzzle with confidence, knowing we’ve got plenty of other hints available if you need something […]
Sketch crew Aunty Donna’s latest improv piece turned their set into a giant side-scrolling videogame and it’s great
What happens when you put three very silly sketch comedians in a fantastical videogame environment reminiscent of the most frustrating, foolish, and hilarious 1990s point-and-click adventures? You get Aunty Donna’s latest sketch, “IRL videogame,” which in addition to using the PC Gamer preferred spelling of videogame is pretty funny stuff. In it, comedians Mark Bonanno, […]
There’s already a rollback mod so you can once again kill the bosses in Wuchang: Fallen Feathers who were rendered unkillable in a patch
Wuchang: Fallen Feathers, the game that’s like Bloodborne if you took out all the Victorian England and injected a megadose of 14th century China instead, was recently updated to version 1.5. Said update included some uncontroversial quality-of-life improvements, and some story changes that were rather more controversial. As of version 1.5 various historically important bosses […]
My favorite new desktop buddy on Steam is a cat that goes fishing
Cats like fish, which is a stereotypical gag kind of thing but also true because I imagine most carnivores like fish. Anyway, what if a cat was named Fischer and it liked to go fishing and that was it, that was the whole thing? If you like that as much as I do then probably […]
‘I always knew it was going to go away eventually:’ Anthem producer Mark Darrah gives his take on Stop Killing Games ahead of his own project shutting down forever
The mothballing of live service games has become a hot button issue in gaming with the continued momentum of the Stop Killing Games initiative. And on that topic, 2019’s maligned MMO-lite Anthem will shut down early in 2026 after a seven-year run. You’ll never be able to play it again—no matter how much money you […]
Actor Terence Stamp, who played General Zod in Superman and Mankar Camoran in The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion, has died
As reported by the BBC, the family of Terence Stamp has confirmed that the actor died on Sunday morning at the age of 87. In Stamp’s long and illustrious career, the actor had some notable videogame performances, including the Prophet of Truth in Halo, and Mankar Camoran in The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion. Stamp was […]
Cars have had real-life DLC for a while, but now Volkswagen’s gone full pay to win, locking a car’s max horsepower behind a subscription
Some of the execs at Volkswagen must like Gacha games—so much so that, as reported by Auto Express, you now have to “subscribe” to get your car’s full horsepower output with one of its new models. VW’s proposition is this: buy a new ID.3—the brand’s “entry level” (I remember when that used to mean <£20,000, […]
One of the devs behind System Shock and Thief wants to see more games catering to ‘a new generation of folks discovering the game that demands more from them’
In a recent interview on Nightdive Studios’ Deep Dive podcast, former Looking Glass Studios programmer Marc LeBlanc talked about how he sees the System Shock Remake’s success as proof that there is an audience for games that challenge their players’ critical thinking and ingenuity, and that he hopes to see more developers respond to that […]
Rainbow Six Siege X is going absolutely bananas with laser tripwires next season
Now that the launch of Rainbow Six Siege X is behind us, Ubisoft is back to releasing new operators at a steady clip. The first new op of the Siege X era is Denari, a Swiss defender with laser traps so flexible that Aruni must be green with jealousy. I played a few rounds of […]
Fighting games continue to hold the title for coolest videogame soundtracks of all time
Fighting games are a full-blown sensory experience: From feeling the rap of buttons under your fingers as you execute your bread-and-butter combo, to the explosive visual effects that accompany counter hits and special attacks, to the weighty audial blast of every punch and kick—all soundtracked to some of the hottest music in videogames. Welcome to […]
Bastion of sober videogame realism Microsoft Flight Simulator is about to get dinosaurs thanks to a Jurassic World crossover
Somebody’s marketing team didn’t stop to ask whether they should, only whether they could, and as a result Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 is getting an expansion that lets you do a velociraptor fly-by. The Jurassic World: Archipelago add-on will bolt onto your globe the islands of Isla Nublar, Isla Sorna, and the rest of the […]
Today’s Wordle clues, hints and answer for August 7 (#1510)
Feel free to use as much of our Wordle help as you need to keep your win streak going. Our August 7 (1510) clue is a great place to start, and if you’re being tormented by stubborn yellow letters that just won’t turn green our hints can quickly sort things out. Running out of rows […]
God game Fata Deum will bring back those sweet Black & White vibes when it arrives in early access next month
Fata Deum cites Black & White and Populous as inspirations, and it sure does look like a god game in the classic mold. You get to lord it over a bunch of tiny people, granting their wishes with miracles or punishing them arbitrarily at your whim. If God really is a gamer, we’re probably screwed, […]
Will someone please sit with me when I play this super creepy game about examining dozens of old photos for evidence of g-g-ghosts?
I like ghost stuff. I like stories about ghosts, I like seeing old photographs that supposedly show evidence of ghosts, and I like videos that claim to show ghost activity. But I view all that stuff as goofy fun. There’s always a reasonable explanation for whatever shadowy face can be seen in an old photo […]
The Tekken board game reached its crowdfunding goal in 35 minutes and also, by the way, there is a Tekken board game for some reason
There’s a board game for everything now. Last time I looked in at my local store they had board games based on Oregon Trail, the Iliad, and World War II espionage in the Mediterranean theater specifically. I shouldn’t be surprised there’s going to be a board game based on that one fighting game where you […]
Anthem’s former executive producer says BioWare was so good at telling stories that its original Anthem pitch convinced EA to greenlight a game it couldn’t deliver: ‘Maybe there wasn’t anything behind the very evocative statement’
Anthem isn’t getting shuttered for good until January 2026, but it’s already spent years as one of the industry’s preeminent tragedies. This week, former Anthem executive producer and BioWare veteran Mark Darrah published the first of a multi-video YouTube series about the game’s ill-fated production history, and how BioWare’s storytelling chops might have been too […]
Battlefield 6 producer insists the game’s ‘cool’ and ‘relatable’ PMC villain and its quest to destroy the US has no deeper meaning: ‘We needed two factions’
We don’t know a whole lot about the setting for Battlefield 6, but the broad strokes were revealed late last week: “Major European countries” have pulled out of NATO, leaving the US and some unspecified number of remaining allies to stand alone against a massive mercenary outfit called Pax Armata. It’s a scenario that feels […]
Elden Ring Nightreign dataminers have uncovered plans for a new endless mode with Armored Core 6’s rank system and skill-based matchmaking
Elden Ring Nightreign’s latest update brought many great things with it: a new Everdark boss (Augur), highly anticipated duo expeditions, and a brilliant new relic sorting system. But something rather unexpected also came with: whispers of upcoming (unannounced) Nightreign content. After the recent patch, dataminers got to work sifting through files to see if there […]
Humble Bundle’s new Warner Bros. collection has 15 really good games, plus Suicide Squad, for just $12
If you’ve got enough money in your pocket to buy a Double Whopper combo but you’re not feeling especially hungry right now, I’ve got a good alternative plan for getting rid of it: Humble Bundle’s “Play the Legends” collection of Warner Bros. games, which includes 16 really good games (well, 15, plus Suicide Squad) for […]
The next Everdark Sovereign for Elden Ring Nightreign has been announced, and players are already placing bets on what its third phase will be
Everdark Augur’s reign is about to be over (thank god for that), but as one falls, another must rise, and the next Nightlord getting the Everdark treatment in Elden Ring Nightreign is none other than the aura dragon herself, Caligo, Miasma of Night. “From a frozen haze, the winged terror emerges,” an official FromSoftware social […]
Fans are celebrating Magic: The Gathering’s latest return to its own setting, but numbers don’t lie—the Final Fantasy crossover boosted revenue 23%
The planes of the Magic: The Gathering multiverse are separated by the Blind Eternities, a mysterious between-space that’s never been fully explored. The latest set, Edge of Eternities, visits the boundary of the Blind Eternities for the first time, using it as the locale for a science-fantasy space opera that pushes at the limit of […]
Today’s Wordle answer for Sunday, July 27
Use our clue for today’s Wordle whenever you feel you need some extra help. Keep it to one side, ready for those tricky moments later on when either the right letters aren’t showing up, or they are but make no sense. Unleash it straight away, ensuring your first line is the best it can possibly […]
Team Fortress 2 gets a boost on Steam charts with summer update, including a slew of community creations
Even after all this time, Team Fortress 2 can still hold its own on Steam’s top sellers chart. It got a boost this week thanks to an update on July 24, which included a trove of community-created content. TF2 bounced up into the top 10 on Steam’s top sellers chart for a few days and […]
Techland bumps back Dying Light: The Beast release by a month ‘to allow for extra polishing work’
Fans of Dying Light 2 will have to wait a little bit longer for the highly anticipated DLC-turned-sequel Dying Light: The Beast. Developer Techland announced on July 24 that the game’s release date has been delayed by four weeks, moving it back to September 19. Techland said in a statement on the delay: “It has […]
Rematch devs call it a ‘samurai game’ and give a timeline for player reports, new ranked queues
Small-squad soccer game Rematch has blown up—no, really, it’s huge—over the last month since it released. Fascinatingly, developer Sloclap was also responsible for Sifu, the time-bending 2022 kung fu game. In a recent Reddit post updating Rematch’s now quite large community on its development, Sloclap addressed its opinion about the relationship between the two as […]
Bethesda promises ‘exciting things’ ahead for Starfield while releasing the teeny-tiniest patch
After no news on Starfield at the Xbox Games Showcase last month, Bethesda has finally given fans the briefest of updates on the game’s future. In the patch notes for update 1.15.222 posted on Steam on July 22, Bethesda stated, “We’re continuing work on future updates and will share more about the exciting things we […]
D&D’s doing a bundle based on the Hellfire Club from Stranger Things
Dungeons & Dragons is rolling out another collaboration with Stranger Things, this time focusing on fan favorite heavy metal dungeon master Eddie Munson, from Season 4. Stranger Things: Welcome to the Hellfire Club will be a board game-style bundle that has lots of thematic premade pieces to run a series of four D&D adventures for […]
Remember the guy who lost a bitcoin wallet worth millions in a landfill? There’s a game about that now
One Man’s Trash is a game inspired by that one guy who lost hundreds of millions in bitcoin in a landfill and then later tried to buy the landfill. In it, you dig into a junk pit with a vacuum “in a desperate (and probably delusional) hunt for your lost ‘PitCoin’ fortune.” In the process, […]
Quarantine Zone creator reveals 3 reasons the zombie sim went viral on TikTok
Quarantine Zone: The Last Check is a simulation game set during the post-apocalypse where you scan survivors for signs of a zombie virus before either letting them through a military checkpoint to safety or… y’know, icing them. But I didn’t need to explain that because you’ve probably either played the free demo or, even more […]
Total War: Warhammer 3’s siege rework beta is live now and runs into August, letting you have your say on pocket ladder prohibition, battle AI improvements, and more
Total War: Warhammer 3‘s Siege Rework beta has officially begun digging its sapper’s tunnels beneath the walls of the base game. Creative Assembly is currently testing numerous major changes to how sieges function, opening the overhaul up for players to try themselves and provide feedback. “The Proving Grounds Siege Beta is now available to download […]
Today’s Wordle answer for Wednesday, July 16
Blaze through your daily Wordle in record breaking time with a cheeky little glance at today’s answer. Or take things at a slower and steadier pace, knowing we’ve got a helpful hint for the July 16 (1488) puzzle here if you need it. However you’d like to tackle Wednesday’s game, we’ve got everything you need […]
Avowed update basically reinvents the fighter and ranger classes, while also adding new weapons and better Steam Deck optimization
Avowed just received a major update addressing one of the most obvious imbalances in the release version: pure ranger and fighter builds had far fewer exciting ways to specialise compared to a wizard. Thanks to spellbooks with a vast range of different elemental attacks, plus some powerful active and passive abilities, wizards enjoyed much more […]
Bungie says it’s ‘actively re-recording’ some voice lines for Destiny 2: The Edge of Fate after fans notice one of the game’s best-known heroes suddenly sounds like one of its most notorious villains
Destiny 2: The Edge of Fate is out today and, while there are a few “emergent issues” on Bungie’s radar, so far it seems to be going pretty well, which is nice. Some players were surprised by one seeming change, though: The voice of Ikora Rey, the Warlock Vanguard, seemed a little off. There’s a […]
Our favorite 1v1 FPS just became our favorite 2v2 FPS, and you can still play it for the low price of free
If Straftat ever has no fans, that means PC Gamer is dead. We named the throwback arena shooter the best FPS of 2024, and its lump-faced, cigarette-smoking combatants have only risen in our estimation with every return we’ve made to its countless brutalist combat dreamscapes. Today, Straftat ascends to an even higher tier of peerlessness, […]
Cyberpunk 2077’s delayed 2.3 update will be revealed tomorrow and could go live later this week
A few weeks after delaying the unexpected Cyberpunk 2077 2.3 update out of its planned June 26 launch, it looks like a release is getting closer—and could be very close indeed, as some sites are reporting the patch will drop on July 17. At the very least, we’ll find out tomorrow—July 16—what’s coming in the […]
Treasonous Helldivers 2 players are weaponizing the Super Earth flag to crash the game for everyone but them
Helldivers with a flair for the dramatic (or psychotic) got good news yesterday when Arrowhead announced that, “thanks to some groundbreaking military research into pointier flag tips,” the CQC-1 One True Flag melee weapon in Helldivers 2 “can now be proudly planted directly into enemies—dead or alive.” Arrowhead described the heraldric upgrade as “absolute democracy” […]
‘We could have, at that point, put out a s*** game’: Former Deep Silver comms boss says Dead Island 2 released 8 years late because an earlier version ‘would have killed the franchise’ if it wasn’t binned
Sometimes all you can do is take a struggling project back to the drawing board. Unfortunately for Dead Island 2 publisher Deep Silver, that’s a decision that meant adding eight years and millions of dollars to the sequel’s development time (via GamesIndustry.biz). In a talk at British game dev conference Develop:Brighton, former Deep Silver head […]
Intel job losses mount as 4,000 layoffs are reported across multiple sites in California, Oregon, Texas and Arizona
Reports of job losses at Intel are reaching critical mass. In the past week, layoffs totalling around 4,000 people are reported to have hit Intel sites across California, Oregon, Texas and Arizona. As bad as these losses are, according to Intel’s own plans for the company they could just be the beginning. It started last […]
Minecraft says to hell with it, adds in-game version of Lava Chicken song, which you get by beating a chicken jockey
All parents of Minecraft-obsessed children have learned a new song by heart this year. “LA-LA-LA-LAVA CHI-CHI-CHI-CHICKEN” booms Jack Black from the treacherous Alexa for the thirtieth time that day, and I quietly put my head in my hands and weep. The 34-second earworm Lava Chicken is the shortest song ever to crack the Billboard top […]
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4 developer is trying to figure out who put the edgy Guitar Hero gag in the game it made, promises to remove it in the next update even though players want it to stay
Iron Galaxy, the studio that made the Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4 remake, says it is investigating how an amusing, some might say slightly edgy, reference to Guitar Hero and developer Neversoft ended up in the game. It also committed to removing the image in question, even though players are now asking the […]
Today’s Wordle answer for Saturday, July 5
Now you’re here, you can relax and enjoy winning your Saturday Wordle however you like. Treat yourself to an instant win if you like, just by scrolling or clicking your way to the answer to today’s Wordle. Or sit back and take it nice and slow, using our helpful tips and the July 5 (1477) […]
Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, the anime so good it made Cyberpunk 2077 cool again, is getting a sequel
It’s beyond a cliche to point out that games’ TV and film adaptations consistently sucked for decades before there were any good ones, and frankly, it’s getting harder to remember that time. One of the best examples of how things have gotten better in recent years is Cyberpunk: Edgerunners—or as I like to remember it, […]
Deep Rock Galactic board game Kickstarter pulls in nearly $1 million in 1 day for a trio of new expansions
There’s a term in tabletop gaming: “beer and pretzels.” It’s an epithet you’ll find tacked on to any game best played with unserious intentions and inebriants aplenty. I’ve described Deep Rock Galactic to friends as a “beer and pretzels” sort of horde shooter, so I don’t know why it never occurred to me that one […]
Ratatan, the new rhythm game from the designer of Patapon, delays early access release in response to negative demo feedback
Ratatan, the spiritual successor to the wonderful PSP rhythm game Patapon, turned up at the PC Gaming Show earlier this year to reveal a new trailer, as well as a demo on Steam and an early access release date of July 25. But with that date now just a few weeks away, developer TVT Co. […]
In the wake of Perfect Dark’s cancellation, Joanna Dark’s voice actor urges fans to help save the series: ‘Agent Dark doesn’t give up and neither should any of you’
Perfect Dark was one of the biggest projects gutted by Microsoft’s latest round of layoffs, which is really saying something given one of the other canceled games is an MMO. The rebooted shooter was in under-wraps development for several years before a fantastic-looking gameplay reveal debuted just last year—and now that all that work is […]
Hideo Kojima’s mysterious OD reportedly escapes the cancellation axe at Microsoft
Microsoft laid off 9,000 employees earlier this week, cancelling games Everwild, the Perfect Dark reboot, and an unannounced MMO in the works at ZeniMax Online Studios in the process. Romero Games’ new shooter fell victim to the massacre too. One game that apparently didn’t get cancelled, though, is OD, the new thing from Hideo Kojima, […]
