April 2025

In late 2022, Activision pulled PC gaming into the $70-for-triple-A-games era that the consoles were already living in, becoming the first major publisher on Steam to abandon the old $60 standard for its launch of Modern Warfare 2. Two and a half years later, I’m only now starting to accept the reality of being expected…

What does it take to turn someone into a supervillain? According to a few Marvel movies, not much: Tony Stark skipping a meeting or taking over your construction contracts will instantly push you into a career of ruthless supervillainy. In pixel art action game Vindefiant, it didn’t take much to turn someone evil, either: “In…

For me, the name Raphael Colantonio is basically synonymous with immersive sims, which for the record I love deeply. He founded Arkane, headed up Arx Fatalis, Dishonored, and Prey, and then proved immsims could work from an isometric perspective with the excellent Weird West. So I was more than a little shocked when he said…

The Phasmophobia 2025 roadmap promised Easter, Halloween, and Holiday seasonal events would return this year with recent feedback implemented from its 2024 celebrations. Seasonal spirit sightings should start sometime soon, too, as the Phasmophobia Easter event preview airs later on this month. To get prepared, we’re always watching and waiting—hoping for a sign from the…

I’m a PC evangelist through and through, but there are a few consoles that have stolen my heart over the years: The Game Boy Advance, the GameCube, and, in 2017, the Nintendo Switch. After skipping out on the 3DS and Vita, it reminded me how magical portable gaming can be. The Switch transmuted some hand-me-down…

A Microsoft employee interrupted an address being given by AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman as part of the company’s 50th anniversary event, demanding the company “stop using AI for genocide.” The disruption was first reported by The Verge, which also shared video of the incident. It can also be heard in The Verge’s full coverage of…

Thanks to the benefit of hindsight, we know that Schedule 1 is a pretty cool name for the drug-dealing sim that’s topped the Steam charts these last two weeks. It’s evocative, memorable, and references its subject matter without affixing a played-out “Simulator” on the end. But five months ago, back when Schedule 1 was nothing…

Unity has not been having the greatest time in recent years, much of which is down to its former CEO John Riccitiello. Calling developers “fucking idiots” didn’t seem a wise move when your business depends on, erm, developers, but that was nothing next to Unity’s plans for a mooted runtime fee that would see game…

Since life sim Inzoi launched in early access last week, I’ve relished watching players discover the game’s weirdest quirks, ranging from impressively detailed housing customization options to…the ability to kidnap babies. My new favorite thing, however, is how players who have tried out the game’s fishing system have been unexpectedly greeted with a sharp surprise….