Civilization 7 will finally enter the atomic age in 2027, via a free update Firaxis says will be ‘even bigger in scope’ than last year’s Test of Time

Despite more than a year of updates and at least one massive overhaul, Civilization 7 remains as stubbornly divisive as ever. May’s enormous Test of Time update brought significant mechanical reworks and a fresh influx of players to Firaxis’ latest entry in the 4X series. But with Steam reviews still sitting at ‘Mixed’, with 51%…

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Ex-BioWare designer says doom and gloom about the next Mass Effect is overstated: ‘I think that they can do it’

Given that Anthem and Mass Effect Andromeda were widely considered disappointments, and Dragon Age: The Veilguard had a divisive reception, there’s a certain amount of skepticism about the Mass Effect game BioWare is currently working on. Some have even suggested it might not come out at all. Armando Troisi, a cinematic designer on the Mass…

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Saber CCO says the studio isn’t changing up its comms strategy after recent controversies: ‘There’s always some dust up’

In a recent interview with PC Gamer’s Joshua Wolens at this year’s Gamescom, Saber Interactive CCO Tim Willits admitted the studio’s leadership had a reputation for saying precisely what it means—”sometimes we ‘say what we mean’ too much,” he laughed. But when asked if recent controversies would change the studio’s comms approach, he said “no.”…

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Dwarf Fortress co-creator Tarn Adams was amazed other devs had heard of his game the first time he went to a convention: ‘I didn’t know that anyone knew what we were doing’

Dwarf Fortress is a bit like caviar—not everyone’s into it, but the people who are describe their experiences with it like a religious awakening. But the game’s legendary co-creator, Tarn Adams, didn’t even know it had a big following for many years, as he told PC Gamer’s Joshua Wolens in a recent interview at Gamescom…

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8-year Old School RuneScape saga comes to a close with former dev sentenced for stealing $400K in gold and items from players

First reported by Dexerto, former Jagex employee Andrew “Mod Jed” Lakeman has been sentenced to three years in prison (suspended for two years) for using dev tools to remove items from player accounts, then selling them online. An investigation found that Lakeman had earned more than $400,000 through this activity. Former OSRS developer Mat K…

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Saber CCO Tim Willits blames layoffs on games industry overspecialization: ‘Studios that have a couple hundred employees that work on one game are going to struggle’

With mega-games like GTA 6 on the way, it’s hard not to feel like games are always getting bigger—both the software itself, and the teams that make it (GTA 6 has an entire dedicated NPC team “art-directing” its every background character). But in an interview with PC Gamer’s Joshua Wolens, Saber Interactive CCO Tim Willits…

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Kingdom Come: Deliverance director says DLSS 5 does right by KCD 2, ‘people are crazy’ for thinking it’s AI slop

DLSS 5 is a controversial technology for all sorts of reasons—you might have heard about this little thing called AI slop—but perhaps the most infamous is its uncanny look. Real concerns have been raised about the potential for something so aesthetically transformative to preserve a game developer’s artistic intent, with Nvidia trying to run interference…

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