Eurogamer.net Robert Purchese Feed

Megabonk and the mystery of the missing YouTuber - is creator Vedinad actually Danidev?

Robert Purchese — Wed, 19 Nov 2025 15:33:57 +0000

It all began innocently enough. It was September and Megabonk was blowing up on Steam, and I was curious. What was this game that had arrived without a formal introduction and raced to more than 100,000 concurrent players? It was the latest in a line of unpredictable viral hits, and I wanted to know more. I wanted to know who it came from, whether it was a slapdash cash-grab made by an opportunistic company, or whether there was something, or someone, more genuine behind it.

"I was brought in to start throwing punches" - veteran exec Peter Moore reflects on the particular set of talents Microsoft needed to make Xbox 360 challenge PlayStation 3

Robert Purchese — Wed, 19 Nov 2025 13:26:54 +0000

Former Xbox boss Peter Moore has recalled why Microsoft poached him from Sega to head-up the company's Xbox 360 charge. He had experience launching the Dreamcast, yes, but more alluring seemed to be his experience of being part of Sega's battle in a console war. Microsoft needed someone to take the fight to Sony and PlayStation.

"Microsoft was afraid Sony was going to own the living room" - the big Xbox 360 interview

Robert Purchese — Wed, 19 Nov 2025 13:19:49 +0000

Peter Moore is one executive who can probably claim to have done it all. Having recently fulfilled a lifelong dream of being CEO of Liverpool Football Club, this Liverpudlian businessman also spent decades working in video games, leading EA, helping Sega launch the Dreamcast and, of course, making a real contender of Microsoft's gaming business with the launch of Xbox 360. Whenever the Xbox 360 made a move, Moore was the person on stage announcing it, literally rolling up his sleeves to display Halo and Grand Theft Auto tattoos, taking the fight to Sony and PlayStation.

"One of the most brilliant programmers around" - tributes pour in as Interplay co-founder Rebecca Heineman passes away

Robert Purchese — Tue, 18 Nov 2025 11:48:28 +0000

Rebecca Heineman, one of the co-founders of Interplay Entertainment - a key programmer as well as the designer of The Bard's Tale 3 - has passed away. She was 62 years old.

CD Projekt Red organising a second European tour for The Witcher in Concert in 2026, and it's well worth going if you can

Robert Purchese — Tue, 18 Nov 2025 10:18:19 +0000

The touring Witcher in Concert musical performance was a resounding enough success that CD Projekt Red has announced a second tour for Europe next year.

"I've been really heartened to see the community revolt against AI stuff" - PUBG creator Brendan Greene distances himself from investor Krafton's controversial 'AI first' mandate

Robert Purchese — Mon, 17 Nov 2025 16:56:47 +0000

Brendan Greene, the creator of PUBG, better known by his alias PlayerUnknown, has said he's "heartened" to see people rally against the use of generative AI when used to make games.

Did you know Brendan "PlayerUnknown" Greene, the creator of PUBG, wants to remake the internet?

Robert Purchese — Sat, 15 Nov 2025 09:00:00 +0000

It's safe to say that Irish video game maker Brendan Greene, known by the alias "PlayerUnknown", is an ideas man. He's credited with creating and popularising the battle royale genre, initially experimenting with it in an Arma 2 mod, then building it into zombie game H1Z1, before making the extraordinarily successful multiplayer shooter PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds - or PUBG as we know it now. Big ideas are irresistible to Brendan Greene, and few ideas come bigger than the one he currently has, to remake the internet.

What we've been playing - "I've not fallen this hard for a game in years"

Robert Purchese — Sat, 15 Nov 2025 08:00:00 +0000

Hello and welcome back to our regular feature where we write a little bit about some of the games we've been playing. This week, Kelsey tries to get Dark Souls 3 working in co-op; a laid-up Ed discovers the thrill of speedrunning; Tom applauds the Viewfinder team; Marie is positively in love with Winter Burrow; Bertie is probably in love with Dispatch; Victoria has no idea what she's doing in Hyrule Warriors; and Will gets really into mechs.

Romance Triss or Yennefer? For a while in The Witcher 3, there wasn't going to be a choice

Robert Purchese — Fri, 14 Nov 2025 11:31:18 +0000

Triss or Yennefer? It's one of the audience-dividing questions people ask each other when they talk about their playthroughs of The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt, about which sorceress they romanced. But for a while during development, the choice wasn't there.

PUBG creator Brendan "PlayerUnknown" Greene is planning a new multiplayer FPS

Robert Purchese — Thu, 13 Nov 2025 13:04:33 +0000

Brendan Greene, the game designer better known by the alias PlayerUnknown, who helped create the battle royale genre - first in an Arma mod, then in H1Z1, then in PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG) - is planning a new and large-scale multiplayer shooter. The current plan is for the game to support 100 versus 100-player battles.

What do you think about 'extraction shooter' as a genre name? Marathon's former product manager hates it

Robert Purchese — Wed, 12 Nov 2025 12:01:02 +0000

The term 'extraction shooter' is being used more and more as games like Escape from Tarkov and Arc Raiders command huge audiences. It is the popular genre of the moment. But the label is deeply flawed, according to former Bungie product manager Chris Sides, who worked on extraction shooter Marathon. Personally, he hates the term.

PlayStation State of Play November 2025 live report - a blur of smaller Japanese games but few big announcements

Robert Purchese — Tue, 11 Nov 2025 16:46:10 +0000

Happy Bloodborne remake day! Wait let's not get ahead of ourselves. Sony's delivering a State of Play broadcast this evening from 10pm UK time and we'll be covering all of the announcements, as they happen, right here in this article. It's like magic and it's very handy for if you're out but don't want to miss out.

AI as a creation tool "sucks balls", says Falconeer and Bulwark dev Tomas Sala, but it's the future we should be really worried about

Robert Purchese — Tue, 11 Nov 2025 14:24:07 +0000

Tomas Sala is a solo developer known for aerial combat game The Falconeer and sea-town building game Bulwark - projects that are large and ambitious undertakings for one person. Using AI to offload some of that creative load could be an attractive proposition for someone like him. But of all the people I've spoken to about AI, Sala has some of the strongest remarks to make against it.

Dispatch is brilliant, which is great news for Critical Role fans

Robert Purchese — Tue, 11 Nov 2025 14:16:24 +0000

I'm excited. Dispatch is enjoying a real moment in the sun. This is the superhero workplace comedy made by a bunch of former Telltale devs that's being released in retro-cool episodic instalments each week. The series ends this week - Wednesday is the big finale - but Dispatch can already be considered a success. It's sold more than 1 million copies and amassed more than 22,000 Overwhelmingly Positive reviews on Steam, which is a response usually reserved for the top-performing games.

Mocked-up images of a new Steam Controller appear, as speculation rises around Valve revealing new gaming hardware this week

Robert Purchese — Mon, 10 Nov 2025 14:52:01 +0000

We may be about to see a whole new product line of Valve-made gaming hardware. Speculation suggests Valve has a new Steam Controller, virtual reality headset, and console-like device in development, and they may be revealed as soon as this week.

"This microtransaction crap can go jump in a lake" - World of Warcraft's new real-money housing currency is, predictably, causing a stink

Robert Purchese — Mon, 10 Nov 2025 12:18:01 +0000

What were the chances Blizzard would find a way to monetise arguably the most exciting feature coming to World of Warcraft in years? High, it turns out. Blizzard will introduce a premium currency to the game, specifically for housing, called Hearthsteel.

As viral hits like Escape from Duckov and Megabonk change the industry, Falconeer developer Tomas Sala has found another way to survive

Robert Purchese — Sun, 09 Nov 2025 09:00:00 +0000

Like many independent developers, Falconeer and Bulwark creator Tomas Sala faces a problem: how does he get recognition for his games in an overcrowded market that prefers, paradoxically, hits?

The wait for GTA 6 has now been so long it must be some kind of record - right?

Robert Purchese — Fri, 07 Nov 2025 13:41:19 +0000

Another delay for Grand Theft Auto 6. We get within touching distance of it and then, like a fox in the night, it runs out of sight. The new release date is a year from now - November 2026.

What we've been playing - "how have I never noticed this level of Zelda thirst before?!"

Robert Purchese — Fri, 07 Nov 2025 08:00:00 +0000

Hello and welcome back to our regular feature where we write a little bit about some of the games we've been playing. This week, Dispatch stuns Bertie; Connor turns to killing people; Kelsey tries nuzlocking for the first time; Marie hums the Ghostbusters theme; Tom plays Guess Who Pokémon edition, which I had no idea existed; and Victoria opens her eyes to the thirst-trap that is Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

"There's no reason for us to hide anything", says Blizzard, with its best trustworthy expression, as World of Warcraft console speculation begins again

Robert Purchese — Thu, 06 Nov 2025 14:15:06 +0000

Another year, another batch of 'World of Warcraft could be coming to console' speculation. The instigator this time: the upcoming World of Warcraft expansion Midnight, which seems to be providing Blizzard with a time-and-place to snip away game add-ons and simplify the combat experience. Speculation says this is being done to prepare the game for a long-awaited console release.

The missing-in-action second-half of the Ark animated TV series has reappeared! Oh, with a formal delay

Robert Purchese — Thu, 06 Nov 2025 12:41:59 +0000

Good news: the second part of the Ark animated television show has reappeared, having once been promised for the latter part of 2024 but never materialising. The bad news: it's been officially delayed.

Kapow! Episodic gaming really is back on the map - the Dispatch success story continues

Robert Purchese — Thu, 06 Nov 2025 10:24:51 +0000

Superhero workplace comedy Dispatch is currently proving - fairly convincingly - that episodic gaming can really work. Two new episodes of the choice-based narrative series arrived yesterday and propelled the series to even greater popularity than when it launched.

If consoles are dead, how do we explain the phenomenal success of Nintendo's Switch?

Robert Purchese — Wed, 05 Nov 2025 13:21:20 +0000

When did we all start ignoring Nintendo? Was it the Wii era? Because that's the moment Nintendo stepped away. That's when Nintendo decided to leave the raw-power console fight to PlayStation and Xbox, and let them slug it out while it did something else. Nintendo decided to focus on innovation and creativity and rethink the idea of the console, the Wii being the result. I remember how it was greeted at the time, the Revolution as it was known then, with scepticism - derision, even. What was this comparatively low-powered toy? It wouldn't stand a chance against Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. And yet...

30 years later, a classic Namco arcade game is about to get a first console release

Robert Purchese — Wed, 05 Nov 2025 12:28:36 +0000

It's never too late to release your game on console, apparently. Nearly 30 years later, Namco's Tokyo Wars is getting a PlayStation, Nintendo Switch and Xbox release. It's almost as old as me! (Keep a straight face, Bertie, keep a straight face.)

Switch poised to overtake DS and become Nintendo's best-selling console - and it could take the all-time crown from PS2

Robert Purchese — Tue, 04 Nov 2025 10:03:25 +0000

Nintendo's latest financials are out and while the focus is on how well Nintendo's newest console, the Switch 2, has performed, it's the older generation machine that's a hair's breadth from reaching a staggering milestone for the company: becoming Nintendo's best-selling games machine.

Why did Grand Theft Auto never return to London as a setting? One of the biggest reasons was guns

Robert Purchese — Mon, 03 Nov 2025 16:50:41 +0000

All of the notable Grand Theft Auto games have been set in fictional versions of American cities, but there was once an expansion pack that showed us a glimpse of somewhere else. Somewhere, if you're me, very close to home: London.

Open-world spy games don't work - that's why Rockstar abandoned PlayStation-exclusive spy game Agent

Robert Purchese — Mon, 03 Nov 2025 15:34:10 +0000

It's been a long-running mystery why Rockstar's PlayStation-exclusive spy game Agent never materialised. It was announced with much fanfare in 2007, then proceeded to never show up again. But Rockstar co-founder Dan Houser has finally provided an adequate answer. Simply put, he and Rockstar couldn't find a way to make an open-world spy game work.

What we've been playing - "playing the flute in front of people tends to diffuse any tension"

Robert Purchese — Sat, 01 Nov 2025 08:00:00 +0000

Hello and welcome back to our regular feature where we write a little bit about some of the games we've been playing. This week, Bertie tries to settle into the rhythm of Hades 2; Chris presses Q to say "thanks" after being resurrected a lot; Connor plays the flute to diffuse tension like a musical negotiator; Dom starts hallucinating; Marie wonders why she rebuilt her island; and Will shares with us the secret game he tests mechanical keyboards on.

PUBG creator Brendan "PlayerUnknown" Greene is about to release his next game, and it's not what you're expecting at all

Robert Purchese — Fri, 31 Oct 2025 16:14:46 +0000

Brendan Greene, the creator of battle royale mega-hit PUBG, better known by his alias PlayerUnknown, is about to release a new game. It's called Prologue: Go Wayback! and it's launching in early access on 20th November, and it's the first game by his new studio PlayerUnknown Productions. It's also not the kind of game you're probably expecting it to be.

What will Microsoft do about the Trump administration's provocative use of the Halo IP? "What I wouldn't do is anything public," says former Microsoft attorney

Robert Purchese — Fri, 31 Oct 2025 14:13:05 +0000

Don McGowan is an attorney who knows what he's talking about when it comes to understanding what Microsoft might do following the Trump administration's provocative use of the Halo IP on social media this week. He was a senior attorney at Xbox Game Studios for three years. He was also chief legal officer at The Pokémon Company for a decade - another brand recently abused by the Trump administration. McGowan, currently a partner at KUSK Law and principal at Extreme Grownup Services, has given me an insight into what Microsoft's current thinking might be.

Revisiting Dragon Age: The Veilguard - one year on, how have our thoughts changed on BioWare's opinion-splitting RPG?

Robert Purchese — Fri, 31 Oct 2025 10:52:13 +0000

For a year, on and off, I've been thinking about Dragon Age: The Veilguard. More specifically, I've been thinking about my Dragon Age: The Veilguard review - the five-star review I wrote for Eurogamer. It plagues me. Because to be blunt, I'm not happy with how it sits. I don't think The Veilguard is a five-star game and definitely don't think it's BioWare's best game. To have suggested such a thing has haunted me for 12 months, particularly as new information about Veilguard's troubled development has arisen and we've learned how a Mass Effect team commandeered the project in order to rescue it, overriding the Dragon Age team at its core.

Trump administration's use of Halo "ought to offend every Halo fan, regardless of political orientation", says key series designer

Robert Purchese — Thu, 30 Oct 2025 11:24:34 +0000

The backlash to the Trump administration's use of AI Halo imagery to promote political causes - notably the use of force by ICE to detain purportedly illegal immigrants - has spread to include strongly worded responses from the original designers of the Halo game.

Escape from Duckov is not what I was expecting at all, and it's another startling reminder that perhaps we're going about this whole making games business all wrong

Robert Purchese — Wed, 29 Oct 2025 16:39:03 +0000

Escape from Duckov isn't what I was expecting at all. Soaring concurrent player-counts and extraordinary sales are usually reserved for Steam games with multiplayer. Those are the games that tend to catch hold and burn hot, then burn out, some months later. But Duckov is a single-player game, or at least it is in its standard form (there are co-operative mods). It's a single-player extraction shooter, which even to write feels like a contradiction - extraction shooters are multiplayer! But not here. You leave your bunker to explore an aggressive world and loot everything you see, returning to base to build and upgrade. Then you do it all over again.

If only Hideo Kojima had known the Wachowskis wanted him to make a Matrix game, maybe he could have found a way to make it work

Robert Purchese — Wed, 29 Oct 2025 14:40:02 +0000

Reports have been swirling that The Wachowski sisters, creators of The Matrix series of films, once approached Konami to have decorated Metal Gear Solid creator Hideo Kojima make a Matrix game.

Amazon isn't closing MMO New World right away, but it won't guarantee the life of the game past 2026

Robert Purchese — Wed, 29 Oct 2025 11:23:34 +0000

I imagine the biggest question people who've put hundreds or thousands of hours into Amazon's MMO New World have right now is: are all my efforts about to be wiped? Is the game about to go offline, and close?

Overlooked top-down horror Darkwood is getting a sequel and surprise new developer

Robert Purchese — Tue, 28 Oct 2025 17:10:23 +0000

Gloomy and unsettling top-down horror game Darkwood is getting a sequel and, it turns out, a surprise new developer. Original creator Acid Wizard, and publisher Hooded Horse, have brought in Pathologic developer Ice-Pick Lodge to do the work.

Individual Diablo, Hades and Persona orchestral musical concerts are coming to London, and if last year's Baldur's Gate 3 concert was anything to go by, you won't want to miss them

Robert Purchese — Tue, 28 Oct 2025 15:11:49 +0000

The Game Music Festival returns to London next year with individual orchestral concerts for the music from Diablo, Hades 1 and 2, Persona 3-5, and composer Hitoshi Sakimoto, who wrote the music for Final Fantasy Tactics and Final Fantasy 12 (among many other games).

We're fairly convinced Baldur's Gate 3 is about to become an Xbox Play Anywhere game, which is ideal for the ROG Ally X

Robert Purchese — Tue, 28 Oct 2025 13:30:00 +0000

Baldur's Gate 3 may soon be an Xbox Play Anywhere title, according to a presumed premature advert spotted on the Xbox Store.

Will Microsoft be able to stop the White House using AI-generated Halo imagery to depict Trump as Master Chief and to promote and recruit for ICE? Depressingly, I doubt it

Robert Purchese — Tue, 28 Oct 2025 12:22:52 +0000

The US government's use of AI-generated Halo imagery on social media has absolutely been a power-play to appeal to like-minded American gamers.

Valve does not get "anywhere near enough criticism" for the gambling mechanics it uses to monetise games, DayZ creator Dean Hall says

Robert Purchese — Mon, 27 Oct 2025 17:40:07 +0000

Dean Hall, the creator of DayZ and more recently Icarus, has called out Valve regarding the use of gambling-related monetisation methods in its games.

Can ghost-hunting phenomenon Phasmophobia work as a board game? We're about to find out

Robert Purchese — Mon, 27 Oct 2025 15:35:34 +0000

Co-op ghost hunting game Phasmophobia is, somewhat surprisingly, being made into a board game.

How much did you play Brain Training? A new study proves the age-defying benefits

Robert Purchese — Mon, 27 Oct 2025 13:45:01 +0000

Dr. Kawashima and Nintendo were right: brain-training games can actually have a significant positive effect and reduce the effects of aging on our brain. A new scientific study has found that as much as a decade of aging may be offset by our efforts playing them, which is good news if you spent a very long time playing Brain Training.

What we've been playing - Battlefield's return to form, Pokémon chokeholds, and familial football

Robert Purchese — Sat, 25 Oct 2025 07:00:00 +0000

Hello and welcome back to our regular feature where we write a little bit about some of the games we've been playing. This week, Tom has a milestone first EA Sports FC match against his son, and respectfully destroys him; Marie plans out her seasonal planting in Stardew Valley; Will sees old FPS friends returning to play Battlefield 6; Kelsey feels the chokehold of Pokémon Legends: Z-A; and Bertie muses on the mutability of feelings about the survival crafting genre.

DayZ creator Dean Hall is a changed man - after years of living the high life, he's focused on saving a studio that flew too close to the sun

Robert Purchese — Fri, 24 Oct 2025 12:28:54 +0000

"There's jobs, there's careers and then there's obsessions, and for me, game development is an obsession. I don't think it's healthy at all, but I am a brush, I must paint. So for me, I've reached the natural end of my arc where I'm just entirely about making video games, and I'm obsessed with wanting to make them better."

DayZ creator's survival game Icarus is coming to PS5 and Xbox soon, but it won't have cross-play

Robert Purchese — Thu, 23 Oct 2025 19:30:00 +0000

Icarus, the survival game made by Dean Hall of DayZ fame, is coming to console. The PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series versions of the game will be released in Q1 2026, and a trailer for the ports was aired during the Galaxies showcase today.

Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 crashes and bugs are being worked on, and in the meantime here are some official workarounds

Robert Purchese — Thu, 23 Oct 2025 11:00:10 +0000

There appear to be a number of issues plaguing the Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 launch, including bugs, crashes, and performance issues. Publisher Paradox and developer The Chinese Room have listed the highest priority of these, assured players they're being addressed, and suggested workarounds to use in the meantime.

Poor old PlayStation 3 - the PS5 has just overtaken its lifetime sales in the US

Robert Purchese — Thu, 23 Oct 2025 09:32:29 +0000

The George Foreman grill, sorry… PlayStation 3, has now been outsold by the PS5 in the US. Sony's newest machine has achieved this feat in a fraction under five years on sale (PS5 launched 12th November 2020).

Black-and-white Mickey Mouse-styled shooter Mouse: P.I. For Hire delayed

Robert Purchese — Wed, 22 Oct 2025 10:57:55 +0000

Mouse: P.I. For Hire - the attractive black-and-white, vintage Disney-styled shooter - has been delayed. The game had been targeting a late 2025 release but will now arrive early in 2026.

Steam receives a promising new feature that should help you discover, and keep track of, new games

Robert Purchese — Wed, 22 Oct 2025 09:36:03 +0000

Valve's rolled out a new discoverability-helping feature on Steam and, based on a few moments with it, it's already a big help.

Roblox and Fortnite are down, and so are many of the world's most popular games

Robert Purchese — Mon, 20 Oct 2025 08:40:20 +0000

Roblox, Fortnite, and a number of the world's other biggest games have gone offline as a huge outage affects the internet this morning.

What we've been playing - Xbox decks, walls, arcs, vampires, and grassy hills

Robert Purchese — Sat, 18 Oct 2025 07:00:00 +0000

Hello and welcome back to our regular feature where we write a little bit about some of the games we've been playing. This week, Tom wraps his hands around the Xbox Steam Deck with a silly name; Kelsey hits a wall in Silksong; Connor finds balance; Bertie bites lots of necks but gets bored; and Ed wishes for a bit more Sonic in Sonic Racing.

Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 review

Robert Purchese — Fri, 17 Oct 2025 13:01:27 +0000

The Chinese Room has managed to make something from a box of inherited parts, but this action RPG feels hollow and functional, and is only redeemed by some stellar performances from the characters and cast.

How long does it take to run around the entire Pokémon Legends: Z-A map? We've tested it, and it's shorter than you'd think

Robert Purchese — Thu, 16 Oct 2025 15:01:14 +0000

A new interim Pokémon game has arrived, and this time in Pokémon Legends: Z-A, the action all takes place in one big city. It feels large to begin with. But how large actually is it?

Black Myth Wukong gets an update that's so big on PS5, you might need to delete the game and redownload it

Robert Purchese — Mon, 13 Oct 2025 11:45:47 +0000

Black Myth Wukong is getting an update today, 13th October, across all platforms. It's a relatively minor update that fixes bugs and introduces some performance optimisations, but it requires so much space on PlayStation 5 that some players might struggle to install it.

What we've been playing - nightmares, getaways, skonging, frog hats, and unpacking

Robert Purchese — Sat, 11 Oct 2025 07:00:00 +0000

Hello and welcome back to our regular feature where we write a little bit about some of the games we've been playing. This week, Marie gives her Sims a holiday; it sounds like Kelsey could use a holiday from Silksong; Alex revisits Clair Obscur ahead of Game of the Year discussions, and is quickly reminded why he loves it; Matt revisits Little Nightmares 1 and 2 while trying to work out why LN3 feels off; Bertie moves house; and Tom loses his frog hat.

Horror dev Bloober has a Switch 2 exclusive in the works, and a new version of Layers of Fear for Nintendo's console this year

Robert Purchese — Fri, 10 Oct 2025 10:03:31 +0000

Bloober, the on-a-good-run Polish developer of the Silent Hill 2 Remake and Cronos: The New Dawn still has a surprising amount of other games nearly ready to release.

The Far Lands! Over 14 years later, the edge of a Minecraft world has been reached

Robert Purchese — Thu, 09 Oct 2025 14:43:50 +0000

It took 14-and-a-half years of walking but finally someone has made it to the edge of the world. Of Minecraft.

"The role of the console is shifting" - are rising prices the end for games consoles as we know them?

Robert Purchese — Mon, 06 Oct 2025 11:00:00 +0000

We're living in unprecedented times, and the future of consoles is in question. It's because of their price. Five years after this generation began, the consoles have never been more expensive, and it's not a pattern we're used to. We're used to prices going down - to manufacturing improvements shrinking both the physical size of the machines and their price. But not this time. This time, it's different.

What we've been playing - mud slides, 9-0 wins, retro difficulty anguish, and space hoppers

Robert Purchese — Sat, 04 Oct 2025 07:00:00 +0000

Hello and welcome back to our regular feature where we write a little bit about some of the games we've been playing. This week, Kelsey digs out the DS to play The Urbz, for some reason; Tom inadvisably asks Jim for some help in Baby Steps; Marie leaps over a wall on a space hopper; Ed is determined to learn Final Fantasy Tactics, which keeps kicking his ass; Connor buys Persona 5 Royal in a Steam Sale; Chris gives a potted review of EA Sports FC 26; and Bertie tries to work out if he likes Steam sensation Megabonk.

Clover Pit does for slot machines what Balatro did for poker, and I can't stop spinning

Robert Purchese — Fri, 03 Oct 2025 09:00:00 +0000

It's almost shameful. To play Clover Pit is to collide with gambling head-on. There, in front of you, is a slot machine, perhaps the purest expression of casino gambling there is. And there's the handle on the side of the machine for you to spin the drum within. Go ahead and rotate the columns of symbols in the hope they'll slow and stop into a scoring pattern on the screen. Did they? It doesn't matter - you can always spin again.

Capcom wants Resident Evil Requiem boss battles to test your wits rather than your shooting skill

Robert Purchese — Thu, 02 Oct 2025 10:55:37 +0000

Capcom has said it's looking more to the original Resident Evil games for ideas about how to challenge players with boss battles in the ninth Resident Evil game, Requiem.

Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 voice cast revealed, includes Returnal's Jane Perry and Still Wakes the Deep's Alec Newman

Robert Purchese — Wed, 01 Oct 2025 15:55:14 +0000

Paradox and The Chinese Room have revealed the voice cast performing in Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2, the action role-playing game which is barely a month away now. The game releases on 21st October.

Bloober confirms Silent Hill 1 remake in production, and won't rule out a Cronos sequel just yet

Robert Purchese — Wed, 01 Oct 2025 10:31:25 +0000

Polish horror specialist Bloober Team has revealed that the Silent Hill 1 Remake, which was briefly teased by Konami in the summer, is now in production.

Free Battlefield 6 seasonal content plans unveiled - first batch arrives a few weeks after launch

Robert Purchese — Tue, 30 Sep 2025 15:53:45 +0000

The first batch of seasonal Battlefield 6 post-release content will arrive 28th October, a few weeks after the game's 10th October launch, EA has announced. It'll bring new modes, new maps, new weapons, and more. And it'll be free.

Earth Must Die is a comedian-packed point-and-click in which you decide how much of a dick you want to be

Robert Purchese — Mon, 29 Sep 2025 16:19:27 +0000

Earth Must Die was one of the stand-out premieres in yesterday's PC Gaming Show. The cartoon-styled space romp shone with crisp and vibrant visuals, and boasted a cast list that read like a who's-who of British comedy.

Silent Hill f is selling faster than the Silent Hill 2 Remake so far

Robert Purchese — Mon, 29 Sep 2025 09:39:03 +0000

Silent Hill is doing good business for Konami at the moment. The just-released Silent Hill f is off to an even stronger start, sales wise, than the widely acclaimed Silent Hill 2 Remake released last year.

What we've been playing - potential games of the year, and good, and only good, games

Robert Purchese — Sat, 27 Sep 2025 07:00:00 +0000

Hello and welcome back to our regular feature where we write a little bit about some of the games we've been playing. This week, Tom reminds everyone that three stars is a good review score; Jim thinks he's found the next Balatro; Connor returns to work and to Hades 2; Bertie struggles to climb a train; and Marie outs herself as a Lego Jurassic World lover.

Can you tame a medieval wilderness? City-builder Farthest Frontier gets a very close 1.0 release date

Robert Purchese — Thu, 25 Sep 2025 14:03:53 +0000

I was really impressed by Farthest Frontier when I played it in early access a few years ago, so much so, I've been keeping an eye out for the full release ever since. And we now finally know when it will be: 23rd October, which isn't far away at all.

Forza Horizon 6 will come to PlayStation 5, but not immediately

Robert Purchese — Thu, 25 Sep 2025 13:04:15 +0000

Forza Horizon 5 set a historic precedent earlier this year when it was released on PlayStation 5. It marked the first time Microsoft's exclusive Xbox racing brand had appeared on a Sony machine - historically a rival in the console space. It was a landmark moment in Microsoft's pivot to Xbox being more of a software company than a hardware-restricted one.

Forza Horizon 6 will be set exactly where we expected it to be set

Robert Purchese — Thu, 25 Sep 2025 09:33:32 +0000

The next grand open-world setting for the next Forza Horizon game will be Japan, Microsoft has accidentally announced, and it will be released in 2026.

Steam gets a navigation-based overhaul and a much needed storefront tidy up

Robert Purchese — Wed, 24 Sep 2025 11:11:00 +0000

Steam's had an overhaul. The world's biggest PC gaming storefront has had a tidy-up, making it appear much less cluttered and busy when you browse.

Baby Steps review

Robert Purchese — Tue, 23 Sep 2025 16:01:27 +0000

Baby Steps walks a fine line between frustration and accomplishment to provide a walking simulator and climbing experience quite unlike anything else.

Chinese McDonald's Black Myth: Wukong collaboration features black burgers and a ridiculous dressing gown with matching headband

Robert Purchese — Tue, 23 Sep 2025 09:22:49 +0000

Black Myth: Wukong continues to make a noise in China, this time through a nationwide McDonald's collaboration designed to coincide with this year's Mid-Autumn Festival.

What we've been playing - whispers, webs, houses and beasts

Robert Purchese — Sat, 20 Sep 2025 07:00:00 +0000

Hello and welcome back to our regular feature where we write a little bit about some of the games we've been playing. This week, Kelsey discovers a game like Unpacking on Steam; Tom manages to get his Steam Deck working; Marie puts her Spider-Man suit on; Ed goes with Blue Lions; Ian enjoys drop-kicking; Will argues that Battlefield 2042 wasn't as bad as people made out; Chris can't tell us what he's been playing because it's top secret (but also: Pokémon); and Bertie is smitten by the Vampire Survivor formula all over again.

Don't overlook The Invincible on PlayStation Plus, it's a gorgeous sci-fi mystery that lingers long in the mind

Robert Purchese — Fri, 19 Sep 2025 10:10:37 +0000

It's not how a game feels at the time but how it feels after that defines it. That's a thought I've been chewing in my mind like gum for most of the year. How it settles; that's the clincher. There can be extraordinarily strong feelings when you're playing a game, but months later, do you want to go back? Ask yourself. The answer is telling.

Borderlands 4 crashing on PC? There's a new patch for that

Robert Purchese — Fri, 19 Sep 2025 09:37:37 +0000

A patch for Borderlands 4 has gone live on PC, which claims to address many of the crashes plaguing the game. Specifically, crashes related to animation states, audio, collision checks, and "various" GPU-related things. Basically everything, then.

Even the studio that wrote The Wolf Among Us 2 doesn't know what's going on with it

Robert Purchese — Wed, 17 Sep 2025 15:00:00 +0000

Telltale's second series-slash-sequel, The Wolf Among Us 2, has become notoriously hard to pin down. Originally announced in 2017, the game disappeared when Telltale closed in 2018, then it was resurrected in 2019 only to disappear again in 2023, amid what sounded like burnout from crunch. And we haven't heard a peep since.

Remember episodic gaming? Former Telltale devs are bringing it back for the release of Dispatch, and there's a chance it might work this time

Robert Purchese — Wed, 17 Sep 2025 15:00:00 +0000

Episodic games, much like baggy jeans and curtain haircuts, may be about to make a comeback, and once again it's Telltale staff - former Telltale staff - who are leading the charge.

Your new Vampire Survivors obsession is Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor - and it's a feast of a game

Robert Purchese — Wed, 17 Sep 2025 13:24:26 +0000

I still can't quite believe Vampire Survivors popularised a subgenre. I'm not mad at it - I adore it. But who would have predicted such a simple-looking and simple-playing thing would inspire such a following? A game in which all you do is move an auto-attacking character around while avoiding the swarms of enemies chasing after you. A game about choosing the right upgrades. It became an obsession! So the copycats and variations followed. But their job was harder: they couldn't simply recreate it. This brings us to Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor, released in 1.0 today, a variation on the theme. And I'm pleased to say it's marvellous.

Today in video games - 17th September

Robert Purchese — Wed, 17 Sep 2025 08:15:00 +0000

Update: That's it for our coverage today. Thanks a lot for joining us.

Valheim coming to PlayStation in 2026, possibly alongside the long-awaited 1.0 release?

Robert Purchese — Tue, 16 Sep 2025 13:52:41 +0000

The set is nearly complete: Valheim is coming to PlayStation next year. Remember, the procedurally generated, multiplayer viking survival game is already available on PC, Mac, Linux and Xbox Series S/X (and Game Pass).

Easy queasy: Borderlands 4 FOV sliders may be coming to console

Robert Purchese — Tue, 16 Sep 2025 10:12:02 +0000

One technical issue the console version of Borderlands 4 is facing is a lack of a customisable field of vision slider, as the game has on PC. Currently the console FOV is low and the zoomed-in perspective is making some players feel sick.

Video games roundup 16th September: Physical PlayStation game sales plummet, and Hades returns to Xbox Game Pass

Robert Purchese — Tue, 16 Sep 2025 08:29:36 +0000

Update: Thanks for joining us for another day of video games. Imagine I said that in a loud and cinema trailer-like voice. Catch up with the major talking points below.

"The game is pretty damn optimal" - Randy Pitchford responds to Borderlands 4 PC performance complaints

Robert Purchese — Mon, 15 Sep 2025 11:41:10 +0000

Gearbox Software boss Randy Pitchford has been busy defending Borderlands 4 against complaints of poor game performance on PC. He said the game was "pretty darn optimal" and that people shouldn't expect to be able to run it in huge resolutions at max settings and get incredible frame-rates.

15th September video games roundup: Valve's grip on adult games tightens as Randy Pitchford gives Borderlands 4 PC settings advice

Robert Purchese — Mon, 15 Sep 2025 08:21:09 +0000

Update: That was video games for today, Monday 15th September. The full transcript of everything that transpired can be picked over below. Happy pecking and see you tomorrow!

What we've been playing - "enjoy the rest of your evening going around in circles and dying lots"

Robert Purchese — Sat, 13 Sep 2025 07:00:00 +0000

Hello and welcome back to our regular feature where we write a little bit about some of the games we've been playing. This week, we've been banging our heads on Hollow Knight Silksong and trying to decide, for the most part, whether we love it or not. One moment we do, one moment we don't. But that's not all we've been playing. Tom's been struggling with technology again, Bertie's fallen down another rabbit hole, and Dom dug out the old Final Fantasy Tactics ahead of the remastered one's late September arrival.

12th September video game roundup: Nintendo mixes Switch 2 upgrades and new games in latest Direct

Robert Purchese — Fri, 12 Sep 2025 12:39:44 +0000

Update: The day is done. The Direct is done, and it's given us plenty to think about. Have a lovely weekend.

Slay the Spire 2 has been delayed but it wasn't Silksong's fault, promise

Robert Purchese — Fri, 12 Sep 2025 11:00:31 +0000

Slay the Spire 2, the sequel to the roguelike deck-building game that spawned a genre, has been delayed. Developer Mega Crit had been aiming for an autumn 2025 release, it said, but has now realigned for March 2026.

Today in video games - 12th September

Robert Purchese — Fri, 12 Sep 2025 08:30:35 +0000

It's Friday, 12th September and we're back with another day of video games goings-on. It'll all be sucked in here, through the flexi-nozzle vacuum of the liveblog, where we can ponder what it all means. What does it all mean?

French Lara Croft taking legal action against Aspyr for AI-generated voice use in Tomb Raider remasters

Robert Purchese — Thu, 11 Sep 2025 14:09:42 +0000

Françoise Cadol, the actor who voiced the French version of Lara Croft in all of Tomb Raider games from their inception to 2008, is taking legal action against Aspyr Media for the apparent AI-generated use of her voice in the Tomb Raider 4-6 remasters.

Parents: the new PlayStation Family App is out, and there are excellent opportunities for inter-family trolling

Robert Purchese — Thu, 11 Sep 2025 11:09:33 +0000

Sony has released a new PlayStation Family App on iOS and Android, giving you more - and more immediate - control over a number of aspects of your child's gaming.

11th September video game roundup: Our Hollow Knight Silksong review arrives and it's a biggie, and queer devs speak out against adult game delistings

Robert Purchese — Thu, 11 Sep 2025 07:14:02 +0000

Update: That was the world of video games today on 11th September - a very rainy day here on the southcoast of the UK. A full transcript of everything that occurred is available below to digest at your leisure.

Only nine franchises make up the top 20 all-time best-selling PlayStation chart in the US - can you guess how many are Call of Duty games?

Robert Purchese — Wed, 10 Sep 2025 11:29:38 +0000

In honour of PlayStation's 30th birthday yesterday in the US, data company Circana has dug out figures showing the top 20 best-selling PlayStation video games ever (date-range Jan 1995 to July 2025). Don't get too excited.

10th September video game roundup: Nintendo Direct announced for Friday, and Elden Ring Nightreign's new mode unveiled

Robert Purchese — Wed, 10 Sep 2025 08:30:13 +0000

Update: That was the world of video games today on 10th September - a very rainy day here on the southcoast of the UK. A full transcript of everything that occurred is available below to digest at your leisure.

The original PlayStation turns 30 years old in America today, so here are some nice stories about it

Robert Purchese — Tue, 09 Sep 2025 11:05:32 +0000

Feeling spritely? This shouldn't help: the original PlayStation console was released 30 years ago today in the United States, on 9th September 1995. It was a machine that would change gaming forever.

9th September video games roundup: Indy, Borderlands, Peak, PlayStation, and more

Robert Purchese — Tue, 09 Sep 2025 08:26:23 +0000

It's 9th September - I feel like a human calendar - and we're back with another coagulation of all of today's gaming news and events.

Breathtaking Keanu Reeves would "love" to be Johnny Silverhand in Cyberpunk 2

Robert Purchese — Mon, 08 Sep 2025 16:18:55 +0000

Hollywood actor Keanu Reeves has said he would love to reprise the role of Johnny Silverhand in Cyberpunk 2.

8th September video games roundup: Scrutinising the Saudi takeover of Evo, and Ghost of Yotei has the nicest locales

Robert Purchese — Mon, 08 Sep 2025 08:23:25 +0000

Update: That was the world of video games today on 8th September. A full transcript of everything that occurred is available below to digest at your leisure.

What we've been playing - it's not all Hollow Knight Silksong you know

Robert Purchese — Sat, 06 Sep 2025 07:00:00 +0000

Hello and welcome back to our regular feature where we write a little bit about some of the games we've been playing. This week, predictably, we've been playing Hollow Knight Silksong. How could we not? It's an historic event in video games. It broke various gaming stores. But that's not all we've been playing, I promise.

Hollow Knight Silksong features the voice of Stardew Valley creator Eric Barone

Robert Purchese — Fri, 05 Sep 2025 09:06:22 +0000

Stardew Valley creator Eric Barone has voiced a character or two in Hollow Knight Silksong.