A long time ago, developers Double Fine burst onto the scene with the flop that was Psychonauts, following this up with the equally floppy Brütal Legend. Of course, Psychonauts became a cult classic, and I enjoyed Jack Black's Musical Strategy more than most. However, these efforts resulted in Double Fine spending a few years creating smaller titles before the massive Kickstarter success of Broken Age, followed by Psychonauts 2's success on the Fig crowdfunding network, and the acquisition by Microsoft. This brings us to Keeper, their first game in four years. So with that long introduction out of the way, […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/review/keeper-review-shine-a-light/

Embark Studios has been busy preparing for the launch of its next game, Arc Raiders. Today, a massive open playtest begins, giving everyone a chance to download and try out a slice of the game ahead of its full launch.

The Arc Raiders Server Slam is now officially live, running across PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S platforms. The game is playable on PC via both Steam and the Epic Games Store, with cross-play between all platforms.

This is not a beta test, but rather a server infrastructure test. By making the playtest open to all, Embark Studios wants to see how things run at mass scale, allowing them to tackle any glaring issues before the game's full release on October 30th.

During the playtest, you will have access to The Dam Battlegrounds, a sprawling map, much of which is flooded, with abandoned research centres, forests and swamps sprinkled throughout. You'll have access to most weapons, but the highest-tier gear in the game is being kept under wraps until launch.

Progression earned during the server slam will not carry over to the full game, but those who do take part will get an exclusive cosmetic reward when the game does fully launch.

While Embark Studios' previous release, The Finals, was a free to play game, ARC Raiders will have a £32.99 purchase price, so this may be one of your only chances to try the game out for free.

KitGuru Says: Are you planning on taking part in the ARC Raiders server slam this weekend?

It is officially the 25th anniversary of the HITMAN series. To mark the occasion, IO Interactive is releasing a new limited-edition 25th Anniversary version of HITMAN World of Assassination, the full package that combines Hitman (2016), Hitman 2 and Hitman 3 into one set.

The HITMAN World of Assassination 25th Anniversary Edition will be a physical-only release and to top that off, it will also only be available for PS5, so there will be no equivalent 25th Anniversary release for Xbox or PC. The 25th Anniversary limited edition set goes up for pre-order today, with the first units set to ship out on October 17th.

This special release features an exclusive shadowbox, a special visual for the PS5 game case, four highly acclaimed celebrity DLCs (The Undying, The Drop, The Splitter, and The Banker), along with a collectible Lenticular Art Card celebrating the HITMAN legacy.

The Hitman World of Assassination 25th Anniversary Edition will cost $49.99 and will be available in limited quantities.

While this 25th Anniversary Edition set is exclusive to PS5, HITMAN: World of Assassination is available across a broad range of platforms, including Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5, PlayStation VR2, Nintendo Switch 2, iOS and PC. On the 21st of October, IO Interactive will host a special stream where we may get a sneak peek at upcoming content for all platforms.

KitGuru Says: Are you a fan of the Hitman games? Will you be picking up the limited edition 25th anniversary release?

It's been over six and a half years since the original announcement of Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2. Fans had been clamoring for a sequel for years; even though the 2004 action RPG developed by Troika Games was commercially unsuccessful, mainly due to launch bugs and being squeezed in what we have called gaming's greatest month ever, leading to the closure of Troika, Bloodlines eventually gained a cult following and was rightfully recognized as an excellent roleplaying game. The developer picked by publisher Paradox, Hardsuit Labs, had no RPGs in their track record. However, they had enlisted Brian Mitsoda, […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/review/vampire-the-masquerade-bloodlines-2-greatly-uneven-but-still-worth-a-look/

Over the past few months, Ubisoft and Tencent have been forming a new subsidiary, splitting off key franchises like Assassin's Creed and handing them off to the newly formed Vantage Studios. With the launch of Vantage Studios happening recently, Ubisoft made it clear that one long-time franchise leader, Marc-Alexis Côté, would no longer be working with the company. At the time, Ubisoft stated that Côté opted to leave, but he is now claiming otherwise.

Marc-Alexis Côté had worked at Ubisoft for over two decades, working on the Prince of Persia before moving on to Assassin's Creed, where he has served as the franchise boss for years. With the shuffling of Ubisoft and the new subsidiary, Vantage Studios, forming, Ubisoft has let go of a number of executives and moved others to new posts. Ubisoft claimed that they offered Côté a leadership position at Vantage Studios but he turned it down. Now, Côté has said via LinkedIn that he was actually “asked to step aside”.

“From the messages of colleagues, friends, and fans, a recurring theme has emerged that I feel the need to clarify. Many of you have expressed surprise that I would choose to leave Assassin’s Creed after so many years, especially given the passion I still hold for it. The truth is simple: I did not make that choice. Ubisoft decided to transfer the leadership of the Assassin’s Creed franchise to someone closer to its new organizational structure.”

Côté adds that Ubisoft did offer him a position at Vantage Studios but explained that it “did not carry the same scope, mandate or continuity of work” as his previous role.

While things may not have ended 100% amicably, Côté says that he holds “no resentment” towards Ubisoft.

Development of Assassin's Creed games is expected to continue as usual, even with things moving over to Vantage Studios. This new subsidiary will also oversee development of other key franchises like Far Cry.

KitGuru Says: It will be interesting to see what direction Assassin's Creed goes in next. Personally, I'd like to see Assassin's Creed go smaller in scope, rather than continuing to rely on these overly bloated open worlds.

JDM: Japanese Drift Master is an interesting open-world racing game which puts as much emphasis on feeling cool as it does in winning, with near-constant drifting, tight turns and flashy finishes. Following its release on PC earlier this year, the simcade racer has now been officially announced to be coming to Xbox consoles next month – and PS5 in 2026.

Making the announcement, the team at Gaming Factory officially confirmed that JDM: Japanese Drift Master is coming to consoles following its launch on PC back in May.

Interestingly, the game is set to arrive on Xbox first, launching in just over a month’s time (the 21st of November) – followed by its arrival on PS5 sometime in Q1 of 2026.

As mentioned, JDM: Japanese Drift Master is a unique open-world racer which, unsurprisingly, is all about drifting around the streets of Japan in an experience which takes you right back to the early 2000s Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift era of racing.

While the game was received warmly following its PC launch back in May, recent reviews have trended downwards, with the primary complaint being that the physics feels somewhat awkward when using a racing wheel.

However, the game is designed primarily with a controller in mind (even if wheel support was directly stated to feel “as smooth on a controller as it is with sim racing hardware”), and so it will be interesting to see what Xbox players think of the game when it arrives next month.

KitGuru says: What do you think of JDM: Japanese Drift Master? Are you excited for its console launch? Why do you think the PS5 version is arriving later? Let us know down below.

For the past few generations we’ve seen Ubisoft move away from many legacy franchises, ignoring its classics including the likes of Rayman; Call of Juarez and of course Splinter Cell. Fortunately, the latter seems to be making a slow comeback, starting with the recent release of the animated Netflix show Splinter Cell: Deathwatch. Following its arrival just a couple days ago, Netflix has now confirmed that a second Season is on its way.

Making the announcement during IGN’s Fan Fest event, John Wick creator and Splinter Cell: Deathwatch writer/executive producer ‘Derek Kolstad’ confirmed that a second season of the animated series is in the works, stating:

“We’ve got a season two coming your way,” adding that while they don’t yet have a premiere date for Season 2, the follow-up is currently “fully into pre-production and everyone is super excited about where we go next.”

Seeing as how Splinter Cell: Deathwatch is a Netflix original, it is entirely possible that both Seasons 1 and 2 were being developed concurrently (as has been the case with other animated Netflix shows).

As such, while it is exciting to see a second Season already having been confirmed, the real test for its success will be whether the show winds up getting a 3rd Season.

We will have to wait and see, but regardless it is exciting to see Sam Fisher return – even if not in video game form.

KitGuru says: What did you think of Season 1? Are you looking forward to its follow-up? What are your thoughts on Netflix’s other animated adaptations? Let us know down below.

While MLB: The Show had for the longest time been a PlayStation console exclusive (owing to it being developed by Sony’s San Diego studio), the annual baseball series was finally brought over to Xbox following a renegotiation of the series’ licensing contracts. That said, MLB: The Show has yet to make its way to the PC platform. Fortunately, it appears as though this might be changing soon.

As discovered by ResetEra user ‘Aspect’, Sony San Diego recently published a new job listing for a Senior Graphics PC Programmer, with the description reading as follows:

“Come join San Diego Studio making a AAA PC title. Our focus is on delivering innovative, high quality gaming experiences. We are seeking a Senior PC Graphics Programmer to join our team in advancing the visual and technical quality of a AAA PC title.”

It continues, “You will focus on writing and optimizing our PC engine, debugging performance issues, implementing new graphics features, and ensuring the game takes full advantage of platform specific technologies offered by NVIDIA and AMD.”

Though not yet officially announced, this all-but-confirms that MLB: The Show is planned to come to PCs in the future. Given that Sony San Diego has worked almost exclusively on MLB for the past 20 years, this job listing is unlikely to be referring to anything else.

Sports games in general are console-centric, with the likes of EA’s Sports FC and 2K’s NBA series selling best on console. That said, given that the series has already found its way onto Xbox (and later Switch), it makes sense that Sony would choose to support the PC platform regardless of whether their hand was forced or not.

KitGuru says: What do you think of the job listing? Could it be for anything else other than MLB: The Show? Have you been hoping the series would come to PC following its arrival on Xbox/Switch? Let us know down below.

Sony is currently locked in a legal battle with Tencent due to the latter’s announcement of Light of Motiram – an open world game which looks eerily similar to PlayStation’s Horizon Zero Dawn / Forbidden West franchise. Previous revelations from the lawsuit included the fact that Tencent had previously pitched a Horizon game to Sony – which the console maker rejected. That said, this wasn’t the only potential project, with the two companies at one point planning to work on a new game based on The Last of Us.

As reported by the publication TheGamePost, a recent court filing by Sony revealed that the PlayStation maker and Tencent were at one point planning to collaborate on a Last of Us project, with PlayStation Studios’ Olivier Courtemanche stating:

“With respect to Aurora Studios [the team behind Light of Motiram], we went into the meeting under the impression that they wanted to do a potential collaboration for The Last of Us”. This was in the wake of Sony having already rejected their pitch for a Horizon title (which was codenamed project Z).

That said, according to Courtemanche the meeting took a different turn, with the pitch including “images resembling a potential Horizon collaboration from the ‘Project Z’ concept discussed in March 2024,” adding that “I believe that these images contained assets from the Light of Motiram game. I was confused by the slide given that we had rejected a potential Horizon collaboration and thought we were there to discuss The Last of Us, among other opportunities.”

Given just how close Sony seems to hold The Last of Us to their chest, it is interesting to see that the console maker had rejected a pitch for Horizon, but was willing to work on a new Last of Us with Tencent.

Of course, both deals ultimately fell through, with Tencent then going on to announce Light of Motiram – leading Sony to file this lawsuit…and the rest is history.

Regardless, it appears as though the events leading up to this lawsuit were perhaps even more messy than original thought. It will be curious to see how the lawsuit proceeds – and whether any other secret cancelled projects are brought to light as a result.

KitGuru says: What do you think of the lawsuit in general? Does Sony have a solid case? Would you have preferred Tencent to make a licensed Horizon or Last of Us game? Let us know down below.

It may be convenient, but if you are designing custom VS Code extensions do not code in anything you don't want people to get access to!  There are currently over 500 VS…

It's been three years since the AMD AM5 motherboard platform and the 600-series motherboards launched. Since its launch, the platform has seen the launch of several CPUs in the Ryzen 7000, Ryzen 8000, and Ryzen 9000 families. While the 600-series motherboards provide great features & compatibility with newer Zen 5 CPUs, motherboard makers are always looking to enhance user experiences through the latest technologies, so AMD has introduced a new chipset line called the 800-series. Now, AMD has introduced both X870 and B850 series chipsets for high-end and mainstream AM5 motherboards. Both of these chips provide brand-new designs and brand-new […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/review/gigabyte-x870e-aorus-master-ice-x3d-motherboard-review-amd-x3d-keeps-on-getting-faster-aorus-top-class-design/

Quantic Dream has been working away on its own original Star Wars game for years, but very few details have surfaced about it since its announcement in 2021. Now, Quantic Dream has spoken out about the project for the first time in a while. 

In a new blog post, Quantic Dream founder, David Cage, revealed how Quantic Dream has transformed from a single-project studio into a multi-project studio, with multiple games in the works. This includes a first for this studio – a competitive multiplayer game. Typically, Quantic Dream has only produced interactive single-player adventures, so a step into the multiplayer realm is a bold move.

“This new title may surprise our fans as it is very different from what we have done so far. But taking risks, challenging ourselves, exploring new ways of playing and telling stories, and attempting what seems impossible, has always been part of our DNA.”

After quietly announcing this secret new multiplayer game, Cage also added that “development of Star Wars: Eclipse continues”, but there is still no word on when we might see more of the game.

While we know very little about Star Wars Eclipse currently, we do know that the game will be one of the first to explore the High Republic era of the Star Wars timeline. This era is set centuries before the main film saga, showcasing a period of time where the Jedi and Sith were both in their prime.

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KitGuru Says: Right now might be the worst time in gaming history to be an unproven studio working on a new IP multiplayer project. The market is so dominated by just a handful of free-to-play shooters that breaking into this market as a newcomer seems impossible.