Overwatch has lived many lives as a first-person shooter since it first launched in 2016, going through several iterations, updates, and patches to change things up.

Depending on the strength or weakness of different heroes within the game, different metas formed. And with Overwatch 2's Overwatch Classic arcade mode, Blizzard Entertainment can bring back popular metas of the past to help long-time players re-live the past, and let new players enjoy (or hate) the way things used to be.

Overwatch Classic: GOATS is one of these throwback modes, and we have all the information on what it is, what it means, and how it got its name.

GOATS Overwatch meaning

Overwatch Classic: GOATS is a limited-time mode and a throwback to an era in 2018 when three tanks and three supports was the popular six-vs-six team composition. OW Classic: GOATS brings back the same hero abilities and hero pool at the time so players can use the same team composition, with Damage heroes optional, but not encouraged.

The name originated from a competitive team of the same name that popularized the team composition in Overwatch Open Division's season two way back in 2018. The meta soon took over all competitive play, and the GOATS meta was born. This mode re-lives that time, including six-vs-six teams, no perks, and way more that has changed in the seven years since.

GOAT stands for "greatest of all time," which is what the team considered themselves. Many would disagree for the terror that the meta brought upon OW1, and now it has returned in OW2 as a playable piece of time from the past.

A common GOATS composition consisted of Moira, Lucio, Brigitte as healers, along with, D.Va, Zarya, and Reinhardt as the tanks, making it a fairly unkillable team with a lot of health, a lot of healing, and a strong amount of crowd-control abilities.

Brigitte's Legendary Goat skin is also another tribute to this meta, in case you're a newer player and have no idea what it was like to play back then. She used to wreak havoc within that triple tank-triple support composition, and you can see how it feels in OW Classic while it lasts.

OW2's first version of OW Classic: GOATS is playable from March 25 through April 8, but can be brought back to the Arcade at any time.

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Another new hero shooter has entered the fray. Say hello to Wildgate, the first title from former Blizzard Entertainment president Mike Morhaime's Dreamhaven publisher.

Developed by Moonshot Games, Wildgate puts its spin on the genre by placing its Prospectors (heroes, legends, etc.) in space ships for "epic spaceship battles" where teams can fight against other ships and crews in space, board their ships, and more.

"Blast off into high-stakes spaceship battles and intense first-person shootouts, where no two matches are ever the same," the game's Steam description reads. "If you want to claim the ultimate prize — the mysterious and priceless Artifact — you'll need to improvise on the fly, whether it's chasing down rival crews and stealing their gear, repairing your damaged ship, or scanning for precious resources."

The Reach is "a vast, procedurally-generated map that changes with every game" and is a "dangerous, unpredictable place, filled with deadly hazards and treasure beyond your wildest dreams." Players will have to make their way "through cosmic storms, battle space vermin, and plunder alien ruins for lost caches of loot," while competing against other ships.

Every match of Wildgate is said to be totally different, according to the developers, and each Prospector has their own tools and abilities to differentiate from one another. You can fight other ships and raid them for gear, or head straight for the prize.

At the heart of each match is your ship, which is described as your "home and lifeline" that you will have to work and fight to keep "topped up with ice, fuel and ammo so you're ready for anyone or anything the Reach throws at you."

I think the concept that the game is promising sounds fun enough. The idea of fighting against other ships while chasing some kind of treasure gives me Sea of Thieves vibes, but will it be enough to stand out in a field of hero shooters? I think it's different, but it could end up being too different that most players simply don't care.

I'm rooting for the game to do well because it seems refreshing, and we can all find out more in a play test available for everyone to sign up for set to kick off on April 10.

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The Lagiacrus made a splash in Monster Hunter Tri, setting a new wave of combat with its distinct underwater features. While hunters eagerly awaited its return in Wilds, it was notably absent at launch. Thankfully, the Lagiacrus is making a comeback in an upcoming patch—here's what you need to know.

MH Wilds Lagiacrus release date

According to the Monster Hunter Wilds Title Update 1 showcase, the Lagiacrus is expected to be released in the summer of 2025. If you consider the timing of the first Title Update, we may anticipate an early June launch, but it could potentially arrive later in July.

While the official redesign of the Lagiacrus is still under wraps, a sneak peek at the end of the showcase offers a preview. Catch a glimpse of its iconic claws gripping another monster, along with its striking, scaled body—promising a fearsome return to the waters.

This announcement suggests underwater combat could finally make its way to Monster Hunter Wilds. If true, it would revolutionize the gameplay, just like it did with Trio. Underwater battles have always been challenging in the gaming world, so it'd be interesting to see Wilds' take on it.

In the previous Monster Hunter iterations, the Lagiacrus unleashed electricity from its back and took advantage of the water to inflict tons of damage. Once its health was reduced, it would scurry away to land, changing its tactics with the new terrain.

Monster Hunter Wilds will likely follow a similar formula, where players can break its tail, claw, and horns. You can also look forward to a new armor set, potentially teeming with the striking blue tones of the King of the Sea. It'll infuse your gear with a classic aquatic aesthetic, perfect for the watery theme of Summer.

Now that the launch for Title Update 1 has been confirmed, an official release date for the Lagiacrus will likely arrive soon. I'll be sure to keep an eye out for any new updates. For now, you can get ready for the Mizutsune's debut, set for April 4. It's a great time to raise your Hunter Rank to fend off beasts like the Lagiacrus and Mizutsune, especially since they require a certain level.

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The long-awaited hidden reward in Marvel Rivals' Galacta's Cosmic Adventure event has sort of been revealed by NetEase Games, and it's quite cheeky.

As part of an over-the-air update tonight (no download required), the developers of the latest hero shooter smash hit have finally revealed what's coming to the previously unclaimable reward within the event screen. And it sure does look a whole lot like a man's ass.

The image above can be found in the March 26 patch notes for Marvel Rivals, which has more bug fixes than anything else besides the new booty. Now all that's left to question is, just what is it? And whose beautiful backside is this?

My money's on some kind of twerking Easter Egg, as the muscular back, arms, and butt in question look like they belong to the Mad Titan himself who went viral back in 2019 for a fan-made edit of him throwing cheeks.

But since Thanos isn't in the game just yet, and likely won't be for some time, what if it's a reference to the "America's ass" joke from Avengers: Endgame? Who can forget Chris Evans' Captain America taking down a variant of himself and then staring at his plump rump as the other Captain lay lifeless after their battle?

I'm weary of NetEase adding an actual twerking emote to the game, so I'm not sure what this reward actually is. Maybe it's just a joke and not an actual emote at all, which would be disappointing for anyone looking forward to its reveal. Or maybe the whole roster is about to throw booty like they're at the Hellfire Gala.

Either way, this new reward is definitely butt-related, as NetEase is calling it "a special April Fool's Easter Egg gift" for those who have finished the rest of the limited-time event by unlocking every other reward. The butt silhouette will be found in-game once the update goes live.

After that, our future is unclear, other than the fact that the gift can be claimed from April 1 to 4, so you'll have to be quick if you want to grab this ass.

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Let’s face it, there is no shortage of weapons to choose from in Final Fantasy, regardless of what Job you play. From dungeon drops to crafted weapons and even MogStation purchases, there are thousands to choose from. 

However, there is one type of weapon that will always prove more popular than others — the glowing versions of each expansion's trial weapons. The crafted weapons usually get released a full expansion cycle after the trial was originally introduced, or later in some cases, and they always prove popular, even if they aren’t announced in the patch notes ahead of time. Or maybe especially so, everybody loves a surprise, after all.

As part of 7.2, Hydaelyn’s Weapons “…of Divine Light” have received a subtle yet very pretty glowing effect and can now be crafted and sold — as long as you have a Crystal of Divine Light and the other crafting materials needed to make them. These new level 90 weapons are called “... of Sanctifying Light”, and they’re currently selling on the Marketboard for a pretty penny — around 4 million Gil each on Goblin.

The original “... of Divine Light” weapons were a possible drop from The Minstrel’s Ballad: Hydaelyn’s Call, or could be obtained in exchange for Totems in Radz-at-Han, but without the glow, they now look pretty basic in comparison to the new weapons. Don’t get me wrong, they’ve always been pretty, but that added glow just takes things up a notch. 

Here’s a selection of the weapons when compared to their new crafted counterparts, so you can see what I mean:

Sadly, none of the weapons are dyable, much like their non-glowing counterparts, so if you’re anything like me, you’re about to go down a glamour wormhole to make an outfit that fits with the bright blue glow of these weapons. 

This is the first time that Reaper and Sage mains will get a new crafted trial weapon, as the Jobs were introduced with the Endwalker expansion. Pictomancer and Viper mains will need to wait until the next expansion cycle, whenever that happens to be, before they begin getting their own shiny weapons to enjoy. 

More of these glowing level 90 weapons are likely to be added in each major 7.x major patch moving forward, and I’m excited to see which ones will come next. I’m particularly interested in Golbez’s Voidcase weapons because their design and dark color scheme would lend themselves perfectly to a demonic red glow. 

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After seemingly finding its own final destination with its 2011 movie, the series about the wonderfully vengeful death (itself) is back with Final Destination Bloodlines. Warner Bros.' YouTube channel just released the first trailer, and it looks like this might be a return to the best days of the series.

There are a few things making me feel hopeful for this one. First off, the production values look tight, and the film is finally unbound from the awful Avatar-era need for death scenes that only ever look kinda good in 3D.

Also, it feels like the movie wants to build mind-boggling amounts of tension that will likely culminate in gory deaths, but gory deaths that could happen to anyone. The last three films in the series faltered, in my opinion, for not realizing the amount of fear this series managed to create in our minds for everyday objects and events, opting instead for absolutely ridiculous kills that also looked like crap.

Those last three films also veered away from tinkering with the formula. This time around, we're looking at a different concept: a bunch of people who are being hunted by death not because they survived death's first design but because they were never even supposed to exist as far as death is concerned.

Another good reason to look forward to Final Destination Bloodlines is Tony Todd, who shot all the scenes as the legendarily ominous William Bludworth before he passed away in 2024. Whether it turns out great or barely better than 2009's The Final Destination, Bloodlines is both a new and fitting closing chapter for Tony Todd's career.

Final Destination Bloodlines hits the theater on May 16.

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The last few months have seen some pretty great releases. Along with last year's Indiana Jones and the Great Circle and the recent Avowed, Rebellion's new survival first-person shooter, Atomfall, also looks like one to watch.

Taking place in 1957 in an alternative timeline, you'll get to explore, fight, craft, and scavenge your way through the British countryside. With the game officially coming out on March 27, we're just a couple of days away from setting our sights on the Sniper Elite studio's take on Northern England.

Of course, it is possible to play it early if you don't mind forking over a bit more cash. For you see, Atomfall comes in two flavors: Standard Edition and Deluxe Edition. Can you guess which one affords you the privilege of early access?

What's in the Deluxe Edition of Atomfall?

Of course, two days to wait is nothing, but if you simply can't wait to jump into things, you can opt for the more expensive version of the game. According to the Atomfall website, the Deluxe Edition will get you the following:

• The game itself (natch).
• A basic supply bundle, which comes with an exclusive melee weapon and a loot cache.
• An enhanced bundle supply, which nets you a pistol variant, a skill manual, and a new skin for your metal detector.
• The option to play the game three days early (so, now, basically).
• Access to the story expansion Wicked Isle, though that's not yet available.

Obviously, this will set you back a bit more than the vanilla version. On my end (being from the UK and everything), I see the Deluxe Edition is currently going for £64.99 (about $84). You can still get the basic supply bundle with the Standard Edition, but that’s only if you pre-order it.

Those who have paid the extra to play the game a couple of days early seem to be having a good time so far. The Steam page is currently showing a review score of "Very Positive." Of course, we can't make hasty judgments just yet. The game's not properly out yet. Oh, and if you have an Xbox, Atomfall is coming to Game Pass on day one. Only the Standard Edition, though.

The post Atomfall: the difference between the Standard and Deluxe Edition appeared first on Destructoid.

PVP rewards in Final Fantasy XIV are always sought after, and for the most part, they’re time-limited, instilling a sense of fomo. For those who weren’t able to get their hands on the Archfiend Set from series 1, way back in patch 6.1, I have good news — it’s back. 

The Archfiend Set was a particularly popular reward from PVP Series 1, which ran at the tail end of 2022. It’s a universal set, so you can wear it on any class, even your crafters and gatherers, if you want to cook dinner while looking like you’re dressed for the battle of a lifetime. 

As part of patch 7.2, a few items earned during PVP series of the past have been added as items that can be purchased using Trophy Crystals, earned through playing PVP in the current series:

• Archfiend Armor Set (Series 1)
• Clockwork Crimson Chaser minion (Series 2)
• Clockwork Cerulean Chaser minion (Series 2)
• Fylgjia mount (Series 2)

This is good news for anyone who missed out on level 25 of any of the previous series or those who simply weren’t around at the time but like the look of the items now available. It’s also potentially good news for anyone who missed out on any of the other previous series rewards because this is a good indication that they will eventually become available through other means. 

They’re not ludicrously expensive, either, so you’ll be able to earn all of them in a single series if you dive into enough PVP matches or even if you simply take part in your one EXP boosted Frontlines Roulette every day. 

Headed into PVP Series 8 with the implementation of patch 7.2, there are now a bunch of new rewards to work towards, and with the update to the Borderlands (Secure) Frontlines map, there are now many reasons to dive back into PVP within Final Fantasy XIV.

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Glamours have always been the true ‘end goal’ in Final Fantasy XIV, and when Dawntrail (7.0) was introduced, people were excited to see where the new story arc would take us. However, many were more excited for a QoL update — second dye channels in gear. 

While new gear added in 7.0 and beyond would immediately have two dye slots, anything already in existence before that point joined a staggeringly long waiting list to get a second dye slot of its own. Now, with the implementation of the 7.2 patch on March 25, some of the best items in the game are getting their turn — Resistance Weapons. 

Resistance Weapons were the relic weapons introduced during Shadowbringers, and were initially obtained through the completion of objectives in The Bozjan Southern Front and Zadnor. Since then, alternative ways to get them have been added, and they’re now long-standing fan favorites among relics, likely only beaten out by Heavensward’s Anima relics, which are much more difficult to get. 

The usefulness of this second dye channel on the Resistance Weapons varies from weapon to weapon. I have a few (too many) Resistance Weapons and have tested what the second dye slot changes. Here’s what I found on a selection.

On Blade’s Mercy (White Mage), the second dye slot changes the color of the crystals and butterflies at the head and tail end of the staff:

Blade’s Acumen (Summoner), however, is a less obvious change. I couldn’t actually see a difference at first until I zoomed in and noticed that the small metal bar on the side of the book is the only thing that changes noticeably:

Blade’s Subtlety (Ninja) uses this second dye slot to change the color of the handles, which is a nice and subtle way to make them your own:

Relic weapons are always sought after, and you’ll always find people joining the grind to get their hands on them. They sparkle or glow, and post-patch, they’re some of the best glamour weapons to be had. When the Mandervillious Weapons were introduced during Endwalker, fans were actually looking forward to the grind, but what they got was a basic Tomestone exchange that left the relics feeling not much like relics at all. 

We already know that the relic grind is making a comeback when the Dawntrail relics are added as part of Occults Crescent on May 27 as part of patch 7.25, so the good old days of relic farming in the Party Finder are set to make a return, and future relics will always come with two dye channels as standard.

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While it's not always easy to keep up-to-date, the fact that there are so many games being released all the time means we're living in a golden age of the industry. Even indie titles can make it in this cut-throat gaming world, but some seem to come out of nowhere.

Take Schedule 1 (stylized as "Schedule I"), for example. Having recently taken a quick look at Steam's Top Sellers list, I was anticipating seeing something like R.E.P.O. retain its position, or Atomfall to have seized the top spot. So I was surprised to see this new release has immediately shot to number two (which makes it the top release, just behind the Steam Deck).

Don't worry if you don't know what Schedule 1 is. I must admit, I wasn't aware of it until a couple of hours ago. It only released yesterday, but it's already getting some pretty good reviews on Steam.

So what actually is Schedule 1?

With its low-polygonal assets and cartoony visuals, you could be mistaken for thinking it was a somewhat cutesy indie game at first glance. However, I'll let the description on the Steam page fill you in:

You're a small-time drug dealer rolling into a fresh town with no cash, no product and no connections. Build your drug empire from the ground up in the grungy west-coast city of Hyland Point. Contend against intensifying law enforcement and deadly cartel competitors to expand your empire and reach the peak of the underworld.

It's essentially a sim game, but possibly for fans of Breaking Bad. It's clearly gained enough hype for it to hit the number two spot on Steam. In fact, when I checked earlier on, Schedule 1 had actually knocked the Steam Deck from the top position it so vehemently holds onto. Here's proof:

According to SteamDB, the game reached a concurrent player peak count of 68,662 within the last 24 hours. To put that into perspective, Avowed was showing just over 2,000 players in the same time frame.

Of course, this doesn't necessarily mean Schedule 1 is the next big thing. We've seen trends like this in the past, but it is interesting to see that small games from new studios can seemingly knock down some of the industry's biggest releases. For a brief period, at least.

The post Whatever Schedule 1 is, it’s currently the top game on Steam appeared first on Destructoid.

Like most Soulslike games, leveling up is a huge part of The First Berserker: Khazan. It makes your character stronger thus making boss fights more manageable. We've put together an ultimate The First Berserker: Khazan leveling guide that includes the best leveling spots, builds, and more.

How leveling works in The First Berskerer: Khazan

As you kill enemies in The First Berserker: Khazan you'll gain a resource called Lacrima. Much like Souls in the Dark Souls series, Lacrima is used to level up your character and increase your stats. Upon death, you will drop your unspent Lacrima at the location in which you died and have one opportunity to return to it to reclaim the Lacrima you dropped.

A new feature to the Soulslike formula in The First Berserker: Khazan is progressive Lacrima rewards for attempting boss fights. While you will still be rewarded with Lacrima for defeating a Boss, you'll also gain Lacrima when attempting a boss fight if you die as long as you reach a certain amount of damage. The Lacrima is spawned at the front of the boss entrance, allowing you to claim it after death and spend it to level up and get an extra advantage before attempting the boss fight again.

Scattered throughout the world in Khazan are Blade Nexus', which serves a function similar to that of Bonfires from the Souls series. At a Blade Nexus, you can restore your health and replenish your healing items as well as level up and place points into various Stats using the Lacrima you've earned. This also "resets" the surrounding area, respawning any enemies other than bosses.

What all the Stats in The First Berserker: Khazan do

In total, there are five stats in The First Berserker: Khazan: Vitality, Endurance, Strength, Willpower, and Proficiency. Every time you spend Lacrima to upgrade one of the Stats, your level increases by one and the Lacrima cost for the next upgrade increases. Here's what increasing each Stat in The First Berserker: Khazan does:

• Vitality - A defensive Stat that greatly increases your Health and Resistances.
  • Increases Max Health by 50.
  • Increases Attack DMG by 1.
  • Decreases Weight by 0.05%.
  • Increases all Attribute Resistances by 4.
• Endurance - A Stat that mainly increases Stamina and Stamina Recovery.
  • Increases Max Health by 10.
  • Increases Max Stamina by 15.
  • Increases Attack DMG by 1.
  • Increases Stamina Recover by 0.8%.
• Strength - An offensive Stat for increasing raw damage output.
  • Increases Max Health by 10.
  • Increases Attack DMG by 2.
  • Decreases Weight by 0.1%.
  • Increases Received Stamina DMG Decrease by 0.6%.
• Willpower - An overall effective stat for increasing damage and boosting Stamina.
  • Increases Max Health by 10.
  • Increases Attack DMG by 3.
  • Increases Stamina recovery by 0.4%.
  • Increases Guard Stamina DMG Decrease by 0.7%.
• Proficiency - An all-around Stat that
  • Increases Max Health by 10.
  • Increases Attack DMG by 1.
  • Increases Stamina DMG Increase by 0.4%.
  • Increases Dodge Stamina Cost Decrease by 0.7%.

Best stats to level up early

All stats are important in The First Berserker: Khazan, but some will have more noticeable improvements to your overall strength and capabilities in the early game, so are recommended to grab early. All stats also increase your Max Health and Attack DMG a little bit, so you'll consistently be increasing your power with each level, though some stats can improve each of those even more per level.

In the early game, it's recommended to invest levels into the Vitality and Endurance Stats. Increasing your Vitality will vastly improve your defenses, giving you five times more Max Health than all the other stats, increase Attribute Resistances against all damage types (Fire, Water, Lightning, Earth, Chaos, Plague, and Poison), and increase your overall weight capacity.

Meanwhile, Endurance provides a massive Max Stamina increase as well as greatly boosts your Stamina Recovery. Early on, combat in Khazan can feel a bit clunky as you'll quickly run out of Stamina and then be exposed to attacks or stand there awkwardly. By improving your Max Stamina and the rate at which it regenerates early on, you'll make every build feel better.

Best places to farm Lacrima and level in Khazan

Throughout The First Berserker: Khazan you'll encounter varying degrees of difficulty, especially with bosses. It can be advantageous to find a quality spot to farm Lacrima to quickly level up to give you that extra edge when trying to push through and take down a specifically challenging encounter. Here are some of the best places to farm Lacrima and level up fast in The First Berserker: Khazan:

Early-game Lacrima farming spot

If you're looking to get quick early Lacrima and levels in The First Berserker: Khazan, progress until you reach a snowy area called the Frozen Mountain, and more specifically the quest Trials of the Frozen Mountain which tasks you with Facing the Trials of the Bantu and subduing the ghost. The recommended level for this question is level nine.

Once here, start from the Blade Nexus and take out the four Volk Warriors en route towards the Blade Phantom. Take out 50 percent of the Blade Phantom's health which will earn you a hefty amount of Lacrima. Getting him to 50 percent health will start a second phase, but instead of killing the Blade Phantom, let it defeat you, which will drop the massive amount of Lacrima you've just earned at the front of the Boss Entrance. Run back to this area, once again killing the Volk Warriors on the way, and repeat this pattern to quickly earn a massive amount of Lacrima early on.

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If you’re a fan of survival games but dream of them being less murderous and more cute, you may agree with how Squirreled Away might just be the cutest survival game to come out of 2025. It's a big claim considering it’s only March, but I’m standing by it. 

Squirreled Away is a gorgeous indie gem from developer Far Seas and published by Amplifier Studios, the same publisher who brought us mecha-powered farming sim Lightyear Frontier. You play as a small red squirrel, an alien sight to me in the U.K. where they are all but extinct in 99 percent of places despite being native to the country. In the game, you can change your fur color, but that seems like a disservice to the red squirrel.

Along the way, you’re tasked with helping various forest critters with the problems they face. Armed with various crafted tools, you can gather all manner of resources, such as pebbles and twigs, eventually working your way up to rocks and sticks. I know that doesn’t sound like a big step up, but you’re a squirrel, so everything is large to you. 

New recipes are unlocked after finding new resources and meditating on them at one of the Squirrel Sanctuaries located on each island. The process is impossibly cute—your squirrel floating into the air and adopting the lotus position with more ease than I’ve ever been able to, and I’ve been attempting to practice yoga for years. There are Golden Acorns to find on every island, and finding all of them on any given island will restore the Sanctuary and increase your stamina.

If all of this sounds good to you (which it absolutely should because there isn’t a single thing not to enjoy about this beautiful experience), there’s a demo available for free now through Steam. The demo lets you explore the entirety of the first island, meeting four new squirrel friends and a particularly buoyant turtle named Terry. You complete the first four squirrel quests, and then you can explore a tiny part of the second island.

Once you’re at the second island, you can use "Squirrel Vision" to see all of the various critter NPCs that you’ll be able to talk to when the full game releases on March 28, but you’re blocked off by an invisible wall. You can talk to one NPC—Lotta Land, the seagull—who is more than willing to tell you about the building system. 

Yes, you can build bases in Squirreled Away, which somehow came as a surprise despite this having all the expected hallmarks of a survival crafter. The caveat is you can only build up in the trees, which is understandable for the squirrel theme, and you unlock more blueprints as you go with the same Meditation system that's used to get more recipes.

The building system itself is smooth and easy to work with, reminding me a lot of the one used in Palworld, but with fewer quirks. Everything clicks together exactly as it should, and there’s no limit to what you can create, as long as you have enough sticks to see you through. If not, you can take your trusty Pebble Tools and grab more resources for building purposes. 

I’ve always been a fan of taking a survival game and making it cozy. I even managed it with Sons of the Forest, which came as a surprise even to me. Squirreled Away taps into my bizarre little niche and has done the hard work for me, allowing for a remarkably relaxing gameplay experience while still scratching that survival itch. 

The post This adorable indie gem might just be the cutest survival game of 2025—and you can try it for free now appeared first on Destructoid.

Something might be coming for GTA 6 on March 25 — at least if the internet’s theory about Game Informer turns out to be true.

It’s pretty normal at this point for GTA 6 fans to hold on to any hint of possible news, especially since it’s been over a year since the game's first trailer dropped. That trailer confirmed a Fall 2025 release window and that the game would come to PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. Rockstar and Take-Two have also all but confirmed that a GTA 6 PC version will come later.

There's a special reason some people are sure a big reveal is coming pretty soon.

GTA 6 fans firmly believe big news is coming on March 25 with Game Informer

Game Informer, the long-running gaming magazine, is coming back on March 25. It’s known for getting exclusive previews of past GTA games, including Vice City, San Andreas, GTA 4, and GTA 5. The timing of its return has people excited. The magazine shut down in August 2024, but now it's coming back — right when GTA 6 hype is building again. That’s why fans think it could feature a big GTA 6 cover story as part of its comeback.

But it’s important to say: this is all just fan speculation. Rockstar, Take-Two, and Game Informer haven’t confirmed anything. Still, here’s what the theory is about and why it’s getting so much attention.

It would be a huge return for a magazine with a lot of history, and it would fit perfectly with Rockstar's slow but steady build-up. Still, Game Informer hasn’t teased anything about GTA 6, and Rockstar has been pretty quiet too. The company recently launched a Discord server that includes a GTA 6 channel—but there hasn’t been any real news shared there either. So, while the timing feels right, it’s still just a theory.

But even if everyone is right and we get news tomorrow, we have no news about how Game Informer is returning on March 25, or if we'll only get an announcement of when their new first issue will come — if they do come back with a magazine, not with some other format like video or daily online news.

If anything is going to happen, fans believe we’ll hear something in the early hours of March 25, likely in the afternoon U.S. time — similar to when Rockstar dropped the first trailer. And if Game Informer really does have something GTA 6-related planned, we can probably expect Rockstar to share extra official details around the same time.

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Souls-like games are always popular if done correctly, and a new one with an anime theme is already a top seller a few days before coming out.

Steam's global top sellers list organizes games by total revenue over a given week. Sous-like hits like Elden Ring and Black Myth: Wukong are often in the top 100, sometimes due to sales propelling them up and other times simply because fans people keep coming back to them. They rank highly in revenue despite fighting big free-to-play games filled with microtransactions, like Apex Legends and Counter-Strike 2.

Now, this new game is already joining the ranks of these classic souls-likes.

The First Berserker: Khazan is one of the most sold games on Steam today

As of March 24, The First Berserker: Khazan is ranked fifth on Steam's Global Top Sellers list, just below the Steam Deck and ahead of the co-op hit Split Fiction. It's also beating every other souls-like game in the platform.

The game is part of the Dungeon & Fighter universe (also known as DNF) and takes place 800 years prior to the events in the first release of the game series, Dungeon Fighter Online. It's a 3D-action RPG with anime art and the usual dark style of souls-like games.

The game releases in Steam's Advanced Access—not to be confused with early access—on March 24, with its complete release coming on March 27. Advanced access simply means people who paid more for the game, usually a deluxe edition of some sorts, get to play it a few days before anyone else. It's not a development method like early access, and games in advanced access are ready to play and fully developed, but paywalled for players who paid more than the rest.

The game released to a score of 80 on Metacritic, with positive early reviews from players on Steam. While these are great numbers, they aren't even close to the 97-percent positive reviews that Sledders had on launch.

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Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is not just a great game, but a fantastic love letter to the iconic movie franchise. Troy Baker's take on the whip-wielding adventurer goes the extra mile to make it feel like an authentic "Indy" experience.

It's a bit of a shame, therefore, that the game was exclusive to Microsoft (Xbox and PC). However, we'd already heard on the grapevine that Indiana Jones and the Great Circle was coming to PS5, and now we have a release date.

As mentioned in the above trailer, you can expect Great Circle to hit the Sony console on April 17, with an option to pre-order it now. There's also a Collector's Bundle, as well as some additional bonus content available, such as the Temple of Doom outfit and a digital art book.

"What is an adventure without going somewhere new?"

I think we ought to give a little shout-out to the PlayStation 5 trailer. We get to see Nolan North and Troy Baker – titans of video game voice acting – opposite each other, as the former quizzes the latter on what it means to be an adventurer.

Levity ensues, with the Unchartered actor welcoming Baker to the Sony system, with comical nods to Nathan Drake in a way that's self-aware enough to acknowledge the similarities between Naughty Dog's mascot and Indiana Jones. The trailer ends with both actors opening a secret box that bathes them in a bright, PS5-esque blue glow.

We're witness to an interesting shift towards non-exclusivity in gaming, lately. Now, it could be argued that games don't need to be tied to one console in the first place and that developers and publishers that do this are simply trying to get a stranglehold on a particular market. But let's not allow that to spoil the trailer. Indiana Jones and the Great Circle on PlayStation 5? Yes, please.

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We know Rockstar is keeping almost everything about GTA 6 a secret, except for the first official trailer. But now, they seem focused on taking down fan speculation as well.

Recently, a creator named Dark Space was creating a GTA 5 map to look like a playable, speculated GTA 6 map using details from the trailer and unconfirmed leaks about the upcoming game. The mod was intended to be completely free and involved collaboration with other modders to have a playable version ready before GTA 6's official release this fall.

However, a video that DarkSpace posted showing the map and interviewing other modders was taken down with a copyright strike by Take-Two Interactive, Rockstar's parent company.

Take-Two issues copyright strike on YouTube against GTA 6 map mod

In a new video, Dark Space explained that he believed his original video was taken down because his map was becoming too accurate, which made Take-Two feel threatened. However, he mentioned his main issue wasn't just the takedown itself, but the method used.

"I literally went into [the map project] accepting they most likely would not want it up, because the project is too on-the-nose using leak coordinate data," Dark Space said.

"I do, however, have a problem with them using the YouTube strike system against my channel. That's my livelihood. You go after that, you're going after not just after my mod, but you're going after my family. These lawyers couldn't even send a simple email first?"

Dark Space says he primarily earns money through YouTube videos, not from mods, and that his plan with the mod was to build something for the GTA community while monetizing his videos about it, not by monetizing the mod.

"I literally have no complaints about them saying they don't want me to make that map, it's how they go about it that's disrespectful," Dark Space added. "While legally fine, how about morally? This kind of reaction kills the creativity and passion that makes GTA's community what it is."

Rockstar has a history of going after GTA modders

Dark Space isn't officially connected to Rockstar, so his work wasn't actually based on real GTA 6 files — it was simply an educated guess from available footage and leaks. He was just skilled enough to create a convincing and playable version using his modding expertise.

Rockstar likely took action because the mod became too realistic and accurate. This isn't the first time Rockstar has aggressively protected the GTA franchise by targeting fan-created mods. The company shut down the massive Liberty City mod, and years ago it already reportedly sent private investigators to a modder's house.

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Though it doesn't happen often, every once in a while I'll spot a gameplay trailer for a game and immediately be sold on the concept, right off the bat. The latest example of that being the case for me is Beta Decay, an indie horror RPG dystopia with PSX-era graphics.

No, no, you read that right: Beta Decay is deliberately styled after games from the original PlayStation era. The bit that elevates it beyond merely attempting to ape that old, beloved aesthetic is the classic Cyberpunk-style soundtrack and the premise itself. Though you might think this is "just" another attempt at doing something similar to what Forever Winter is doing judging by gameplay alone, that couldn't be further from the truth. Apparently there's space-ship building, engineering, and faction-leading in-between all the brutal gunfire, if you can believe that.

Beta Decay is the unlikely PSX Phantom Pain follow-up nobody saw coming

For starters, Beta Decay is seemingly a dedicated single-player game set in a far future where humanity colonized an entirely different star system. Predictably, clashes between mega-corps, micro-governments, and various smaller factions spin out into open warfare, and the player character is one of the colonists living on this brave new frontier. "Be an engineer, repairing shuttles in space, to a syndicate leader, executing raids deep within a labyrinthic neon city," promises the Steam page, and the gameplay trailers shown off so far definitely deliver.

The vibes of Beta Decay are nothing if not immaculate, though I have to admit the sheer scope of the project has me grabbing a pinch of salt, just in case. Beta Decay supports both first and third-person perspectives, seems to have a FEAR-style bullet time mechanic, features Metal Gear Solid: Phantom Pain style combat and movement gameplay, maps ranging from BLAME!-type superstructures to swamps that wouldn't look out of place in Chronobyl, a player-driven EVE Online kind of economy, starship-building and mecha-controlling, and it's a roguelite on top of all of that. Are you out of breath yet? I sure am.

The best bit, though, is just how good Beta Decay looks in motion. Sure, all we've got for now is cherry-picked footage, but the low-fi graphics really do wonders for the kind of speedy, brutal gameplay this game is all about. It's impressive in a way similar to Project TH, and it's curious that this game, too, is aping a classic stealth title of the yesteryear. I'm all for it, though.

Once again, however, I recommend being at least somewhat skeevy of Beta Decay until the developer Rotoscope Studios shows us something tangible. For one, the game is supposed to launch in Steam Early Access sometime in 2025, so it shouldn't be that long of a wait now. Regardless of anything else, I'm crossing all of my fingers for Beta Decay to deliver on all of its promises because it looks phenomenal. Can an indie dev really incorporate all the elements of roguelite games, survival titles, slick shooters, and economy sims into one comprehensive whole? I don't have the answer yet, but I am oh-so-hoping that it is positive, in the end.

You can learn more about Beta Decay and Rotoscope Studios on the project's official website, and if you too are as enamored with the concept as I am, you're going to want to stay tuned. We're just months away from the game's Early Access launch, now.

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Had anyone showed me Cruelty Squad just a few years back and told me it would be one of the best ImSim titles ever, I'd have laughed in their face. Today, I get it. It just clicked. Thing is, Cruelty Squad's getting an Early Access sequel, and it's even weirder.

Putting Cruelty Squad into sensible terms is impossible. It's an objectively ugly game. Often disturbing on a level that's hard to put into words, it's a celebration of all the mechanics of a true Immersive Sim, albeit one that's actively hostile to the player on every single conceivable level. It's a phenomenal game, too, if you can believe that, and Zoey Handley covered the topic much better than I ever could. No, I'm not here today to guff about the wild, abstract awesomeness of Cruelty Squad. I'm here to let you know that its sequel, Psycho Patrol R, is coming out in Early Access today, on March 24, and it promises an even stranger and more compelling experience.

Psycho Patrol R is out in Early Access on March 24

Though Psycho Patrol R appears to be a standalone title, it is an honest-to-goodness sequel to Cruelty Squad in all the ways that matter. It is due to cook in Early Access for about a year, according to the developer Consumer Softproducts, and the goal is for it to follow the rough production outline established by its predecessor a while back.

The pitch for Psycho Patrol R is appropriately ridiculous. The game is a "mecha FPS hybrid policing and punishment simulator set in the decaying state of Pan-Europa." Players step into the shoes of a V-Stalker mech pilot operating with the purview of the titular Psycho Patrol, which the developer explains is a "special unit tasked with counter-psychohazard operations and neural meltdown prevention using cutting-edge criminological frameworks." Look, I'm not saying this game is a trip, but it should be plainly obvious that it's a trip.

On that note, the bit I'm particularly excited about is that Psycho Patrol R is somehow both easier and more difficult to parse on a purely visual level. Specifically, PPR's level assets and character designs (the ones we've seen so far, at least) are obviously those of our own world, as opposed to Cruelty Squad's incredibly abstract designs and texture work. This helps ground the action, only for all the wacky weirdness of the meat-mecha, the UI, and the weird psycho-tech to make it nonsensical once again. It's Weird at its best, or so I hope.

In summary, then, if you've been eager to play something at least about as weird as Cruelty Squad was a few years back, now's the time to jump into Psycho Patrol R. Just keep all the usual Early Access caveats in mind.

The post The Cruelty Squad Sequel is weirder than we could have imagined appeared first on Destructoid.

There are some topics in the gaming world that will seemingly always remain in the limelight: the whereabouts of Half-Life 3, the ever-changing and fickle nature of the industry, and, of course, why Sony has yet to re-release Bloodborne.

Going down as not only one of the greatest games of the PS4 era, but perhaps one of the best releases in recent history, Bloodborne officially turns ten years old today. Releasing on the then-current Sony console (and only on that) on March 24, 2015, FromSoftware's gothic action RPG struck a major chord with players, especially those who were already big fans of the Dark Souls games.

A decade is a long time for a video game to be on the public conscience and although the developer has moved on since then, a lot of people are not willing to let go of the exploits of the Hunter.

Why hasn't Sony re-released Bloodborne?

Over the years, there have been many calls for publisher Sony to make Bloodborne available on another system. On any system, it seems. In ten years, the game has not managed to budge from the shackles of its PlayStation 4 home; not even a port to the PS5.

The game's director, Hidetaka Miyazaki, has said in the past that the people at FromSoftware would be keen to see Bloodborne on PC, but it's evidently not up to them to make that decision. A remaster would almost certainly go down well in the current gaming environment (can you imagine a Nightdive Studios take on the game?).

It's been said over and over again, but there doesn't seem to be any reason why Sony wouldn't want to make one of the most sought-after games under its belt available on current-gen hardware. At this point, it feels like the more people want it, the more Sony is reluctant to give the fan base what it wants.

It is great that Bloodborne is celebrating its tenth birthday, and we should all be celebrating that. However, it is slightly muddied by the idea that the game's publisher continues to kick its heels about re-releasing it on literally any other system, despite the high demand.

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Controversial skater and Jackass personality Bam Marger will make a return to the iconic series, and there's an awesome reason behind it.

Margera had, up until now, been absent from the list of skaters present in the upcoming Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 + 4, but according to the latest episode of The Live Club skate podcast, Margera will be indeed making a return, and because the Birdman himself insisted on it.

As caught by VGC, the podcasters explain that Tony Hawk himself called Activision and said that they were going to put Bam in the game. The game was already done, but Hawk was unflinching and had the studio fly Bam in last minute to get his body scanned to be in the game.

“The game was already done," host Roger Bagley explained. "Tony called up Activision and was like, 'hey, we’re putting Bam in the thing,' and they were like, 'hey, we can't'. He goes 'no, you’re gonna do it,' and basically made them fly Bam back out there to get body-scanned and everything else, and get him back in the game.”

Who is Bam Margera?

Bam Margera is a skater whose DIY CKY movie series paved the way for mainstream success with MTV's Jackass and its films, as well as his spin-off series, Viva la Bam. In recent years, Margera's longstanding struggle with drug and alcohol addiction has forced him out of the public eye and larger projects and even led to production of the latest Jackass installment, Jackass Forever, moving on without him.

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 + 4 will be released on July 11 for Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Switch, and PC; Collector's or Deluxe edition owners will get early access starting July 8. The game will also feature cross-platform multiplayer, and launch day one will be on Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass.

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The grand epic of taking down evil in My Hero Academia is soon drawing to a close as its final season gets an update. My Hero Academia FINAL SEASON will premiere in October this year, though the specific release date is yet to be confirmed.

Toho Co. made the announcement during the AnimeJapan 2025 in Tokyo. In addition, it also revealed a new teaser trailer showcasing Deku and Shigaraki's rivalry and a new key visual.

The studio BONES FILM continues to produce the anime. Naomi Nakayama, who directed the anime's seventh season, returns to direct its eighth and final season. Yosuke Kuroda will once again be writing the series composition. Other returning staff members include Kenji Nagasaki (chief director), Yoshihiko Umakoshi (character design), Hitomi Odashima (character design), and Yuki Hayashi (music).

Crunchyroll also confirms to simultaneously release new episodes as they air in Japan. All of My Hero Academia's previous seasons can also be streamed on the platform.

About My Hero Academia

The anime My Hero Academia is an adaptation of Kohei Horikoshi's manga of the same name. It was serialized in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump in July 2014 and published its final chapter in August 2024. In 2015, the anime aired its pilot episode for its first season.

Since its conception, the series has won numerous accolades both for its manga and anime media. Furthermore, it received numerous spin-off series, including My Hero Academia: Vigilantes, which will air in the Spring 2025 anime season.

VIZ Media describes the series as:

"Middle school student Izuku Midoriya wants to be a hero more than anything, but he hasn’t got an ounce of power in him. With no chance of ever getting into the prestigious U.A. High School for budding heroes, his life is looking more and more like a dead end. Then an encounter with All Might, the greatest hero of them all, gives him a chance to change his destiny…"

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The title of the worst game of all time is always up for debate, but it's hard to deny Big Rigs: Over The Road Racing's favoritism. Fortunately or not, anyone unaware of its legend will get to confirm firsthand when it hits Steam in the near future.

"Get ready for some brake jamm'in, CB talk'in, convey roll'in action across America!" the Steam description reads. "From Portland Oregon to Miami Florida, you'll be hauling loads and trying to stay one step ahead of the law as you climb into your Big Rig for non-stop driving action. And if that's not enough, you'll also be able to race your modified Rig on one of 5 different tracks for the ultimate driving rush as you crush the competition and set a new track record!"

And yet, Big Rigs is barely even a game. There's no collision, for starters. There's also no real way of even losing a race -- your opponent doesn't even get to start their rig. And the racing physics are not even non-existent -- they're something weirder.

To give you a proper idea of just how busted this game is, just know that driving in reverse will get you higher speeds than driving regularly. There's no speed limiter when you're going in reverse, meaning you'll go fast to the point of breaking reality, stretching the size of your rig to fill the entire map, and then instantly win as your rig inevitably stretches over the finish line.

Fans today probably know Big Rigs: Over The Road Racing best after a popular Angry Video Game Nerd episode, but the game's "popularity" originally skyrocketed following Gamespot's scathing review that gave the game an "Abysmal" rating of 1/10. Gamespot's review came accompanied by a video review — something exceedingly rare back in 2003 — that remains one of the funniest pieces of gaming media in existence.

Gamespot's review remains a gem worth reading, but if you only have time for one takeaway, let Alex Navarro's words linger in your mind, "Just how bad is Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing? It’s as bad as your mind will allow you to comprehend".

No new features appear to be coming to this release, either; the Steam page boasts four trucks, four "unique" routes, and a whopping three "intense levels," the same meager offerings from the game's original release.

No pricing info or firm release date is available as of this writing, but Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing is slated for a Q2 2025 release.

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Most people might know DriveThruRPG as the place to get PDF versions of tabletop games, but an equally important part of its model is a Print on Demand (POD) service that prints and ships games your local store might not have. Now, those books might be getting more expensive as DriveThru's owners respond to the same economic uncertainty that is affecting the entire publishing world.

It's the result of new tariffs that have been in the works for months now. President Trump announced and then pulled back on significant tariffs on Canada and Mexico. At the start of March, he announced a 25% tariff on all imports from the two countries but delayed them going into effect until April 2nd. Canada responded by similarly delaying their responding tariffs until the same day.

On March 6th, just before the delay was announced, tabletop game creators who publish with DriveThruRPG received an email titled "Upcoming Print-on-Demand book price changes, effective April 1, 2025." The email promised increases to DriveThruRPG's Print-on-Demand (POD) service, citing "price adjustments" from their print supplier Lightning Source/Ingram.

The initial email cited price changes for the United States with vague details and incorrect math. A day after creators took to social media to question the claims, a correction email was issued with more accurate details and greater breakdowns of these changes.

The rates of black-and-white hardcover books are being hit the hardest. Smaller books will see close to a 20% price increase, while larger books are seeing a nearly 50% increase. Softcover books will be met with "an even greater increase," per the e-mail.

Standard color printings will also see increases in the States by 12-13%, while the premium color option will actually decrease slightly. If you're in the United Kingdom, all prices are going up by about 3%. The main reason cited in the email for these increases is "increasing supply costs in the US."

DriveThruRPG's Director of Partner Relations, Scott Holden, tells Destructoid, "The price changes we are implementing come directly from our print partner, Lightning Source. We do not add any premium or fee to our prices on DriveThruRPG -- the new price they've sent us is the price we charge publishing partners. Normally, price changes come along from our partners every year or two, but thankfully the last couple were small enough that we didn't see a need to pass those increases through to publishers."

"As to the reasoning for the current round of price changes from the printer, I wouldn't want to make any assumptions. But of course, we know the costs of ink, paper, and other supplies, including machinery and parts, shipping and handling costs, etc. are not getting any cheaper."

Tariffs were always going to impact book publishing, but they still sting

Publishers have been anticipating the impact of the new tariffs for months. HarperCollins CEO Brian Murray discussed how most printing paper comes from Canada in a talk summarized by Publishers Weekly, while a later Publishers Weekly article points out that price increases could impact everything from uncoated paper to bibles and children's books.

While the effects on printing and publishing have been anticipated, it will have a major impact on creators and customers who rely on DriveThruRPG. DriveThruRPG's parent company, Wolves of Freeport, has made itself an essential part of the tabletop industry's ecosystem, supporting an ever-growing number of big, small, and indie publishers across various storefronts.

While DriveThruRPG is at the center of their model, Wolves of Freeport also has DriveThruFiction, DriveThruComics, DriveThruCards, Dungeon Masters Guild, Storytellers Vault, Wargame Vault, Pathfinder/Starfinder Infinite, and other unique shelves facilitated within DriveThruRPG's website. It also oversees Roll20, a popular virtual tabletop system that includes its own storefronts and game integration systems, as well as Roll20-powered services, including Demiplane and Dungeon Scrawl.

Changes to POD prices will lead to two primary challenges. First, the actual prices of books will likely change. Which prices change and by how much are dependent on the book itself.

"[W]e will not generally increase selling prices to match the new print costs," DriveThru's email explains. "However, if a book’s print cost rises above its current selling price, then we will increase the selling price to the next dollar increment over the print price." The email also encouraged creators to review book prices on or after April 1 to make sure margins were still where they wanted them.

The second change comes from crowdfunding new TTRPGs, many of which have options for physical printings. A number of designers use DriveThruRPG's services to fulfill these physical copies. This is actually encouraged by DriveThruRPG, which has an extensive page designed to help designers through the crowdfunding and fulfillment process. As the most commercially available option, these price increases significantly change the math for creators looking to offer print rewards for their games.

Tariffs will hurt TTRPG creators big and small, but it's not clear how yet

It's hard to speculate just how the changes will impact crowdfunded TTRPGs. It could result in fewer games with physical print rewards, or those rewards may go to higher pledge tiers. The crowdfunding goal itself could be higher, or, in the worst-case scenario, fans will see fewer tabletop games on crowdfunding sites.

The tabletop industry has been preparing for these economic hardships, too, before and after the president's tariff announcement. Tabletop news site Rascal offered advice to publishers on how to weather the storm. Monte Cook Games held an Anti-Tariff Sale, with the press release announcing the sale warning of a potential 10% increase in book prices, telling readers, "Most other game publishers will be doing the same thing — or going out of business."

Creators have also taken to places like Reddit and Bluesky, discussing alternate options to printing with DriveThruRPG. Some suggestions for smaller creators have included finding local printers to work with before working with other fulfillment options like Indie Press Revolution, partnering with printers in countries they intend to distribute to, limited printings and selling from their own store, or working with other popular printing companies like Lulu. It's hard to say what options will be economically viable until creators are able to properly assess the market.

The delayed tariffs between the US and Canada are slated to go into effect on April 2nd, barring another delay. However, DriveThruRPG's price increases will definitely happen on April 1st. If you've been eyeing a book for your shelf (like, say, a 1200-page black-and-white print RPG of NASA manuals), you may want to pull the trigger on it now before the price possibly shoots up.

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Okay, it's confession time. Who else felt a little underwhelmed when they first entered the Strip in Fallout: New Vegas? The game is magnificent in pretty much every way – and we are playing a post-apocalyptic game set after a nuclear war – but it does feel like the game's biggest feature needs a bit of freshening up.

Nexus Mods user Qolore7 evidently felt the same way. Bringing us a more cleaned-up version of the famous location, "Lived-In Strip" intends to breathe new life into Fallout: New Vegas' brightly lit and somewhat seedy landmark. It attempts to bring it "closer to its original concept," cleaning the Strip up to make it look that extra bit more enticing to tourists.

In addition, Qolore7 says the mod not only adds a little zest to the Strip but also does so without compromising your PC's performance. In fact, they say it may even offer a better frame rate than the vanilla version due to the "large number of excessive draw-calls removed."

New-New Vegas

It still very much looks like the gambler's paradise that New Vegas is known for, but the screenshots on the Nexus Mods page show the differences between the standard look and what Qolore7 has achieved.

New Vegas is typically held aloft as the greatest Fallout game ever, representing some of Obsidian Entertainment's best work. Despite looking its age these days (it did come out in 2010, after all), one of the game's strongest assets is its writing, combined with its dark sense of humor. Bethesda may have reinvented the series, but it was Obsidian that gave us its most celebrated entry.

It's a good time for Obsidian. The developer is no doubt patting itself on the back after the recent release of Avowed. The fantasy RPG set in the Pillars of Eternity universe has been getting some pretty good reviews since launching in February, but it's going to take some beating to stand up to the might of Fallout: New Vegas.

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In the era of leaks, the Pokémon Company managed to drop the major announcement that Pokémon TCG Pocket's next themed booster pack, Shining Revelry, is about to feature the fan-favorite Shiny Pokémon.

The trailer gives us the first look at shiny versions of the popular Charizard EX and Lucario EX. It also shows, among others, Wiglett, Pachirisu, and Varoom. The new expansion will also feature Red and Iono trainer cards from the Paldea region.

New special EX Deck missions with new rewards will also be available soon.

Pokémon TCG Pocket fans are hyped but fear of getting overwhelmed

Whereas many fan communities live in desperate need of new content, fans of Pokémon TCG Pocket fear that developer Dena is giving them too much at too brisk a pace.

It turns out that a good thing like a surprise reveal may not be that cool when your players don't get the time to ready up their economies for the new content.

The Pokémon Company had also previously announced the revamp of the game's controversial trade system, which will remove the game's trade tokens, but players are yet to feel optimistic about that feature.

What are shiny Pokémon?

Originally introduced in Pokémon Gold and Pokémon Silver, shiny Pokémon are simply shiny-looking versions of already existing 'mon. They are way rarer than their regular counterparts, so their introduction to the game added an extra level of hype for collectors and completionists.

And the good ol' Pokémon TCG is getting a new Team Rocket expansion

If you're a fan of the Pokémon card game and have yet to get into the mobile version of the game, we also have cool news for you. Have a look at the first two cards to be revealed from the upcoming set, The Glory of Team Rocket.

The new Team Rocket set will feature 98 normal cards, which will include the Pokémon belonging to Team Rocket as well as those of Giovani, the leader of Team Rocket. Together with Heat Wave Arena, the Team Rocket expansion will form Destined Rivals, the new Pokémon TCG set.

Shinning Revelry will become available on Pokémon TCG Pocket on March 27, and the ranked season will begin on March 28. The changes to the trading system will arrive later this year. The Glory Of Team Rocket will come out on May 30.

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I'd say I'm not one for nostalgia, but that'd be a bold-faced lie. When I saw that the legendary Painkiller was being revived by none other than 3D Realms and Saber Interactive, I was thrilled. Then, it struck me that I wasn't sure if this was such a good idea.

For those who haven't kept up with mildly obscure legacy FPS franchises of yesteryear, the classic Painkiller games were a kind of an edgy Serious Sam ordeal. Super-speedy run-and-gun titles where players stepped into the shoes (or hooves, as it were) of various humans and demons at the precipice of redemption. The only way to redeem themselves in the eyes of the ominous Creator, though, was to slaughter thousands upon thousands of demons. Who knew redemption could be achieved through the use of stake guns, weaponized meat grinders, and the like? The thing about Painkiller, though, is that it was very much a product of its time, and the developer Anshar Studios needs to prove it's got the moxie to update the formula.

Is now the time to revive Painkiller, and what could be done to make it happen?

The developer attached to the neo-Painkiller project, Anshar Studios, is no slouch. The studio has been credited for work on Layers of Fear, Observer: System Redux, and Baldur's Gate 3 of all things, though largely in support roles. Crucially, Anshar stakes claim to the acclaimed cyberpunk RPG Gamedec, which admittedly has absolutely nothing to do with Painkiller's specific brand of gameplay.

Honestly, I'm not overly concerned as far as the talent goes: Anshar's got loads of that. The bit I'm uncertain about is whether Painkiller has the chutzpah necessary to eke out a niche for itself in the modern gaming scene. It's seriously difficult to overstate just how simple and straightforward these games were, even back in their heyday. Go from A to B, slaughter everything that moves along the way.

The reboot does have some novelties to its name, granted: three-player co-op is a particularly important feature judging by marketing materials, though the developer cites "full offline support" for those of us who can't stand other people for whatever reason. Anshar Studios has also highlighted game-changing tarot card perks to add a bonus layer of complexity to the slaughter, but each of the four playable characters also has their own unique abilities and whatnot to make them interesting.

2025's Painkiller reboot is thus supposed to take the old, brutal run 'n' gun formula and slap a fresh layer of paint on top of it via distinctive characters, perks, and co-op. It could very well work: 2016's Doom has proven that there's an appetite for ultra-speedy shooters. The only question that remains is whether the Painkiller IP, specifically, can command a substantial audience in this day and age. I know I'll give it a fair shake, at least.

The post This legendary horror horde shooter is getting a new developer and co-op experience—but are these changes enough to revive it? appeared first on Destructoid.

A niche game on Steam seems to have figured out exactly how to do early access right, and players are loving it.

In an era when many games linger in early access for years, often using it as an excuse to slowly add features or deliver constant updates, it's refreshing to see a game spend only a short time there, handle player feedback well, and nearly double its player count upon full release.

Realistic snowmobile simulator Sledders released after 15 months in early access

Sledders is a realistic snowmobile simulator game, about as niche as it gets. It first released on December 5, 2023 in early access on Steam and is now a full game as of March 20.

Players get to experience what I'll believe to be authentic snowmobile driving—I'll probably never know for sure—complete with realistic physics and actual snowmobile sounds.

Despite its very specific theme, Sledders hit over 1,800 peak players on Steam after its release on March 20—almost double its early access peak—and earned an impressive average of 91% positive reviews in the last 30 days, with 97% positive reviews on launch day. It even became SteamDB's best-rated release this week.

Even though snowmobiles aren't exactly common worldwide—many countries don’t even have snow, let alone people who ride snowmobiles—Sledders might have found the same sweet spot as Eurotruck Simulator. Just as Euro Truck Simulator attracts many players who aren't truck drivers in real life, Sledders could appeal to enthusiasts who enjoy realistic experiences.

Early reviews suggest the game is a bit hard to start but fun to play, which is the sweet spot for simulators. If it's too easy, it doesn't feel real. If it's too hard, it becomes frustrating.

Snowmobile enthusiasts helped make Sledders

A developer shared on the snowmobiling Reddit community why Sledders has connected so well with players. It turns out one of the developers is a real snowmobile expert who previously ran a snowmobile shop and even recorded real engine sounds to ensure maximum realism.

Sledders is also available on Xbox and PS5 for $34.99.

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Assassin's Creed Shadows had a surprisingly smooth release, considering the history of Assassin's Creed releases.

For a game series that had some nightmare-fuel glitches, like characters in AC Unity losing their entire face and making eyes float into the air, the glitches that we're seeing in Shadows' early days, just a few hours after release, are just okay to deal with.

It's nothing that breaks the game, which is proven by players rating the game positively as well as critics giving it an average 8/10, showing that whatever issues that are happening aren't really disturbing the gameplay.

There's one glitch, though, that has been found by several Assassin's Creed Shadows players, and it's actually quite funny and a bit scary if you look too closely into it.

Petting the dog in AC Shadows makes the dog stand up and freeze

A player shared a video of them petting a dog in AC Shadows at night, and as they approach the dog, the dog simply stands in a T-pose and keeps standing while the player pets the air, almost as if they are channeling something between their hands instead of actually petting the dog.

S,o while Naomi thinks there is a dog there, the dog is standing still, frozen in mid-air next to her while his spirit is being petted in front.

This glitch is harmless because this is not a fight scene, and this doesn't break anything in the game, so it's just funny that this interaction can happen. But it's also likely that if it gains too much attention, Ubisoft will soon patch it because, of course, it kills some of the immersion of the game.

Still, the game has been topping sales charts and getting positive player reviews, despite some toxic players having some oddly weird behavior towards streamers, just because they don't like some of the choices Ubisoft made with the game.

However, nothing like this seems to be disturbing the community that much, and the game keeps featured in Steam's top seller list and beating the releases of other Assassin's Creed games that were on Steam before.

The post Assassin’s Creed Shadows has an oddly hilarious and slightly horrifying dog-petting bug appeared first on Destructoid.

In a suprising turn of events, TaleWorlds Entertainment has announced the first full-featured expansion pack for Mount & Blade 2: Bannerlord. Titled War Sails, this new DLC is supposed to introduce a whole new dimension of warfare to the sandbox strategy/RPG hybrid, but is it going to work out?

Mount & Blade 2 has gone through a very long and arduous development process. It only launched in Steam Early Access back in March 2020, with a subsequent mild 1.0 release in October 2022, and there's not been much happening on that front ever since. With almost three years having gone by in a breeze, nobody really expected TaleWorlds to suddenly announce a huge new DLC, but here we are, with War Sails in tow. Though the Viking aesthetic commands the announcement trailer, there's much more to War Sails than just that, and it is poised to revitalize Bannerlord's tired old gameplay loop.

Can the War Sails DLC rejuvenate Mount & Blade 2: Bannerlord?

Bannerlord: War Sails is due to release on June 17, 2025, and its feature list is nothing if not impressive:

• The introduction of series-first naval warfare and maritime exploration.
• Map expansion featuring the Northern Kingdom and the Nord faction/race.
• Full integration with Bannerlord's base gameplay loop.
• 18 unique ship types.
• Nordic/Viking gear, weapons, and aesthetic items (hairstyles, beards, etc.).
• Mariner combat units.
• Mediterranean and Nordic music and soundscapes, depending on the region one is traveling through.

Crucially, naval combat is supposed to be fully physics-driven, with the behavior of the sea and wind greatly affecting the vessels' performance in combat. Ramming will be a thing, too, with dynamic boarding parties and other related features coming into their own in close-quarters combat.

Frankly, War Sails sounds much more promising and exhaustive than I'd have dared to expect from a Mount & Blade 2: Bannerlord DLC. Make no mistake: this is a genuinely good game with a thriving modding community, it's just that it's a kind of a reinvention of the original Mount & Blade games rather than its own thing. War Sails is the first time we're seeing something genuinely novel and exciting from TaleWorlds, and though there's every chance the expansion pack ends up falling flat on its face, the alternative is that it finally elevates the game to a whole new level.

Of course, War Sails' more-or-less imminent release means that all of our Mount & Blade 2 modlists are about to get broken. To that end, if you're looking to experience the game anew in mid-June with the DLC in tow, I recommend wiping your modlist clean and maybe even reinstalling the whole thing just to be safe. This may well be the Big Thing Mount & Blade 2 fans have been waiting for, so I've got my fingers crossed for TaleWorlds this time around.

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Remember Concord? Despite it not even being a year old, Firewalk Studios' hero shooter has already been largely forgotten about. Well, unless you count it as something that will go down as one of the biggest flops of the current generation.

However, if you happen to have a PlayStation 5 copy of the game, you might want to chuck it on eBay. As noted in a recent report from Metro (which references a forum post on ResetEra), several people are trying to sell Concord on the auction site, with some of the asking prices being surprisingly steep.

As of right now, there are more than 80 listings on the UK version of eBay, with prices ranging from about £30 ($38) to over £360 (approximately $465). That's just for the game itself, though admittedly, some of them are off-the-shelf and sealed, which might be of some interest to very particular (read: affluent) collectors.

Is anyone going to buy one?

If you're not interested in the game itself, you could also pay hundreds for a Concord limited edition DualSense controller. While it's still very pricey, it at least would make a bit more sense, because at last that way, you'd have a usable accessory.

For those who don't remember, Concord was a live-service multiplayer shooter, essentially released to rub elbows with other popular titles in the genre, such as Overwatch, Valorant, and – perhaps to a lesser extent – Battleborn.

Sony released the game on August 23, 2024, for Steam and PS5. Sadly, it was an unmitigated failure, and the publisher pulled the plug on the servers (effectively killing the game) on September 6, 2024. So that's what? Two weeks? That has to be some sort of record.

Given that you can't actually play Concord anymore, it would be a rather odd decision for someone to pay over £300 for a PS5 copy. I mean, even if you do want it just to say you have it, there's no need to pay that much anyway, even on eBay.

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