It’s a weird year for video games. We’re 19 months into a fresh console cycle and support for the PS4 and Xbox One is finally tapering off as developers shift focus to the PS5, Xbox Series X and PC cloud gaming platforms. The pandemic slowed or paused …
‘Time Flies’ turns the life of a housefly into a cute game about existential dread
I didn’t expect to laugh while playing Time Flies, but I did, out loud on the Summer Game Fest show floor. It’s a deceptively simple game with monochromatic, MS Paint-style visuals and a clear premise: You’re a fly and you have a short time to live a f…
‘Valheim’ is heading to Xbox in the first half of 2023
The hit Viking survival sim Valheim is heading to Xbox and PC Game Pass, complete with full crossplay support with the Steam version of the game. Valheim will hit PC Game Pass first, landing in fall of 2022. It’ll come to Xbox Series X and S, and hit Xbox Game Pass same-day in early 2023.
Valheim was a breakout hit of 2021, selling nearly 6 million copies in its first five weeks on Steam Early Access and outstripping established titles like Dota 2 in terms of active players. It ended up as one of the top-earning games on Steam in 2021 overall. The original development team at Iron Gate was just five people, but they’ve since hired on some more folks.
“We’re doing our best,” Iron Gate co-founder Henrik Tornqvist told Engadget in March 2021. “It has become pretty hectic around here since launch.”
Valheim offers an expansive, collaborative universe of hunting, crafting, sailing, building and defeating mythical Norse beasts, and its launch on Xbox Game Pass marks its debut outside of the Steam ecosystem. With so many players already on Steam, crossplay support is key.
Street Fighter 6’s modern controls made me OK at Street Fighter
Thank you, Street Fighter 6. For the first time in my life, I wasn’t embarrassed to play a fighting game in front of strangers on the show floor of a video game convention, and it was all because of the updated control scheme in Street Fighter 6. The m…
‘Limbo’ lead designer’s next project is the cosmic adventure ‘Cocoon’
Jeppe Carlsen’s new game has a distinctly different vibe than his previous releases. As the lead gameplay designer of Limbo and Inside, Carlsen is known for building spooky side-scrollers with morbid visuals, but his latest original project features a bug-like explorer in a mysterious, neon-speckled planet system.
The main character resembles an anthropomorphic firefly as it picks up orbs and uses them to traverse the environment, leaping among worlds and exploring ancient alien technology.
“Each world exists within an orb that you can carry on your back,” Cocoon‘s description reads. “Wrap your head around the core mechanic of leaping between worlds — and combine, manipulate, and rearrange them to solve intricate puzzles.”
It’s not all light and airy, though — Cocoon features a large, overwhelming world and plenty of shadowy areas, much like Limbo and Inside.
Cocoon is due to hit Xbox One, Xbox Series X and S, Game Pass, Steam and Switch in the first half of 2023. It’s published by Annapurna Interactive and in development at Carlsen’s studio, Geometric Interactive.
‘Starfield’ extended first look has big ‘No Man’s Sky’ energy
Here’s our first deep look at Starfield, the expansive sci-fi RPG coming from Fallout studio Bethesda.Bethesda producer Todd Howard introduced the gameplay video at the end of the big Xbox and Bethesda games showcase today. It quickly gave off No Man’s…
‘Forza Motorsport’ will arrive on Xbox and PC in spring 2023
The new Forza Motorsport is due to hit Xbox consoles and PC in spring 2023, and it’ll hit Game Pass on day one. This’ll be five years after the release of Forza Motorsport 7, the latest game in the series. The new entry isn’t called 8 — just Forza Motorsport, thank you very much.
Xbox studio Turn 10 showed off the new title during the big Xbox and Bethesda games showcase, highlighting its many technical improvements and car-reflection effects.
There’s also a gameplay video showing off a track at Maple Valley, a classic tree-lined track from the original Motorsport in 2005 that’s been reimagined for the new game. Other returning tracks include Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps and Laguna Seca Raceway. South Africa’s Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit is making its Forza debut in the the new Motorsport.
Forza Motorsport has a dynamic time of day system for every track, alongside its weather system.
“Changes in time of day alter ambient temperatures, which, in turn, impacts the track surface temperatures,” creative director Chris Esaki said on Xbox Wire. “These track temperature changes will affect the grip of your car, as does rubbering in and weather.”
‘Monument Valley’ studio returns with a cerebral and sporty roguelike, ‘Desta’
Ustwo, the studio behind Monument Valley and Alba: A Wildlife Adventure, is working on a new game called Desta: The Memories Between. It features a blend of roguelike, turn-based and sports-game mechanics, and it’s in development for multiple platforms…