Stalker 2 has faction wars now: Enemies ‘can expand control over new territories’ in its 1.7 jumbo patch that also adds mega-hard mode and makes hiding in bushes meaningful

Just three days out from Stalker 2’s first birthday (doesn’t time fly?) GSC Game World has released another meaty patch for its unique, ambitious, and at times conflagrating shooter. Patch 1.7 is a doozy—you can tell because it’s one of those patches a developer puts out a video to mark—and it’s out now. There are…

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Phasmophobia devs say all that live service malarkey can do one: they focus on making ‘a fun game that people want to play because it’s fun’

Phasmophobia is one of those unproblematic success stories. It launched in early access with such a well-conceived and executed core experience that I breathlessly proclaimed it “the best ghost game ever made.” In the five years since, developer Kinetic Games has slowly but surely built Phasmophobia into the PC’s definitive spook-buster (to the extent there’s…

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Review: Indika (Switch) – A Port That Makes You Lose Faith In An Indie Gem

Thoughts and prayers. There’s a version of Indika I’d call one of the most singularly audacious narrative exploration games in recent memory, a daring title that defies easy classification with its surrealist flourishes, cinematic art direction, and cynical inversion of familiar video game mechanics. Unfortunately, the Nintendo Switch version isn’t it. Part spiritual tragicomedy, part…

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Resident Evil Requiem’s producer assures fans that no punches have been pulled with its horror, but will still welcome player feedback: ‘My mental health is very strong—I am fine to read the comments’

Resident Evil Requiem is one of the scariest Resident Evil games I’ve played, and I only got to see a 30-minute demo at Gamescom, so I dread to think about what the rest of the game will be like. That’s due to a very deliberate choice by the developers to try and steer this next…

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After the bungled launch of Cities: Skylines 2, Paradox Interactive and Colossal Order part ways as development moves to a new studio

Cities: Skylines developer Colossal Order has parted ways with publisher Paradox Interactive, with ongoing development of the series moving to a different studio. In a statement posted to the Paradox Forums, Paradox announced that the pair had “mutually decided to pursue independent paths”, claiming the choice had been made to ensure “the strongest possible future…

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I don’t know how I missed this playable Windows 95-era 3D Maze screensaver, but it’s making me feel like I’m tripping out, man

Have you ever come across something so deeply rooted within your childhood memories, it triggers a physical sensation? I have. It’s this playable 3D Maze screensaver project, which allows you to fulfil the fantasy of controlling your way through a nightmarish tangle of Windows 95-era digital brick walls. Or my childhood fantasy, anyway. I was…

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Poor Monster Hunter Wilds gets politely thrown under the bus as Capcom promises Resident Evil Requiem won’t run as badly

You shouldn’t personify or feel pity for games—developers? Certainly, they’re people. But the game itself is not alive, and it doesn’t have feelings, and any sentimentality or nostalgia you feel for it is a mere trick of the light. Unfortunately, I am not taking my own advice, because Monster Hunter Wilds is getting so thoroughly…

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