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Ubisoft+ now has a single Premium plan for all platforms, Classics plan also launches on PC by John Callaham Game publisher Ubisoft is once again altering its game subscription service that started out as Uplay+ in 2019, and later got renamed to Ubisoft+ in 2020. Starting today, Ubisoft+ Multi-Access and PC Access will be merged and renamed as Ubisoft+ Premium, while there will also be a cheaper Ubisoft+ Classics on PC. In a blog post, Ubisoft stated that the newly named Ubisoft+ Premium will still cost $17.99 a month and will offer all of the publisher's new games as day-one releases, and sometimes as early releases. That includes Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown which is now available on Ubisoft+ Premium three days before it is generally available on January 18. The service will still offer players access to lots of older games from Ubisoft's library of titles, which will include premium editions of those games and DLC content. It's available for Xbox, PC, and Amazon Luna users, and one subscription will allow gamers to play those games across all those platforms. The Ubisoft+ Classics plan is now also available for PC users costing $7.99 a month. That service only contains older games from the publisher like Far Cry 6, Rainbow Six Siege, and Watch Dogs: Legion. Ubisoft+ Classics has been available at no extra cost for PlayStation+ Extra and PlayStation+ Premium subscribers since last year. There's no word on if Ubisoft+ Classics will be made available for Xbox and Luna users at some point. While the publisher has not revealed subscriber numbers for Ubisoft+, the blog post claims that in 2023 "we're above projection in terms of subscribers joining the program" and that in "October alone we reached the highest month since launch in terms of monthly active users" That was likely due to the release of Assassin's Creed Mirage, which Ubisoft said was its biggest game launch for current generation consoles.

Weekend PC Game Deals: Bundled speedruns, Ubisoft specials, and a sailing freebie by Pulasthi Ariyasinghe Weekend PC Game Deals is where the hottest gaming deals from all over the internet are gathered into one place, every week, for your consumption. So kick back, relax, and hold on to your wallets. Humble kept the bundle ball rolling with a brand-new collection this week too. Coming in celebrating the new Awesome Games Done Quick marathon, the bundle ships with 8 items. Bayonetta, Borderlands 2: Game of the Year Edition, Celeste, Sprawl, Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, Astalon: Tears of the Earth, Sonic Adventure 2, and Sonic Adventure 2: Battle are the games you're receiving for grabbing the bundle, all great candidates for starting off in speedrunning. It costs $10 and there are no tiers involved, giving you all the above games for one price. Don't forget about last week's digital boardgaming and Heroes of Film and Television bundles that are still going strong too. Epic Games Store's daily holiday giveaways came to and end earlier this week, but the weekly freebies just kept on rolling into 2024. You can now grab a copy of Sail Forth to keep. The indie title has you going on adventures across the ocean on your own sailboat while taking on fisherfolk as crewmates, going around defeating pirates, and solving ancient mysteries deep under the sea. There is a deep sailing physics system in here too. The Sail Forth giveaway is lasting until January 25, which is when the minimalistic platformer Love will be the next freebie. Big Deals Despite being so close to winter deals closing their doors, this weekend is packed to discounts to sort through. Free events haven't started back up yet, so here are our hand-picked big deals for the weekend: Old World – $27.99 on Steam A Plague Tale: Requiem – $22.49 on Steam X4: Foundations – $19.99 on Steam Transport Fever 2 – $19.99 on Steam Starship Troopers: Terran Command – $19.49 on Steam Roboquest – $18.74 on Steam COCOON – $17.49 on Steam Roots of Pacha – $17.49 on Steam Fights in Tight Spaces – $17.49 on Steam Detroit: Become Human – $15.99 on Steam Tropico 6 – $15.99 on Steam Anno 1800 – $14.99 on Steam Definitely Not Fried Chicken – $14.99 on Steam Loot River – $14.99 on Steam Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun – $14.95 on Steam Shadows of Doubt – $13.99 on Indiegala Planet Coaster – $13.49 on Steam Tiny Tina's Wonderlands – $13.05 on GreenManGaming Airborne Kingdom – $12.49 on Steam Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Breakpoint – $11.99 on Steam Scorn – $11.89 on Indiegala Red Dead Online – $9.99 on Steam Mafia: Definitive Edition – $9.99 on Steam Nebuchadnezzar – $9.99 on Steam Weird West: Definitive Edition – $9.99 on Gamesplanet OlliOlli World – $9.89 on Steam Mafia II: Definitive Edition – $9.89 on Steam Cities: Skylines – $8.99 on Steam Far Cry 5 – $8.99 on Steam Call to Arms - Gates of Hell: Ostfront – $8.74 on Steam Hundred Days - Winemaking Simulator – $8.49 on Steam Vampyr – $7.99 on Steam Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege – $7.99 on Steam Tavern Master – $7.49 on Steam Pumpkin Jack – $7.49 on Steam Rez Infinite – $7.49 on Steam Curse of the Dead Gods – $6.99 on Steam Mind Scanners – $6.79 on Steam Ultimate Chicken Horse – $6.74 on Steam Turmoil – $6.49 on Steam Moving Out – $6.24 on Steam Elite Dangerous – $6.15 on GreenManGaming Prison Architect – $5.99 on Steam The Wolf Among Us – $5.99 on Indiegala Space Hulk: Deathwing Enhanced Edition – $5.99 on Steam Immortals Fenyx Rising – $5.99 on Steam Call of Cthulhu – $4.99 on Steam Luck be a Landlord – $4.89 on Steam Chillquarium – $4.79 on Steam HELLDIVERS Dive Harder Edition – $3.99 on Steam Firewatch – $1.99 on Steam Sail Forth – $0 on Epic Store DRM-free Specials The GOG store's DRM-free deals focus on action games and classics this weekend, here are some highlights: Blasphemous 2 - $22.49 on GOG Frostpunk: Game of the Year Edition - $12.24 on GOG Slay the Spire - $8.49 on GOG Death's Door - $7.99 on GOG ATOM RPG: Post-apocalyptic indie game - $5.99 on GOG CrossCode - $5.99 on GOG Dishonored 2 - $5.99 on GOG Darkest Dungeon - $4.99 on GOG Dishonored - Definitive Edition - $4.99 on GOG Torchlight II - $3.99 on GOG Door Kickers - $3.99 on GOG Dragon Age: Origins - Ultimate Edition - $3.99 on GOG The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind GOTY Edition - $3.74 on GOG Broforce - $2.99 on GOG Deus Ex: Human Revolution - Director’s Cut - $2.99 on GOG Roller Coaster Tycoon 2: Triple Thrill Pack - $2.49 on GOG Hotline Miami - $1.99 on GOG Populous: The Beginning - $1.49 on GOG Theme Hospital - $1.49 on GOG Dungeon Keeper 2 - $1.49 on GOG Blackguards Special Edition - $1.19 on GOG Deus Ex GOTY Edition - $0.97 on GOG Pizza Connection 2 - $0.89 on GOG Keep in mind that availability and pricing for some deals could vary depending on the region. That's it for our pick of this weekend's PC game deals, and hopefully, some of you have enough self-restraint not to keep adding to your ever-growing backlogs. As always, there are an enormous number of other deals ready and waiting all over the interwebs, as well as on services you may already subscribe to if you comb through them, so keep your eyes open for those, and have a great weekend.

More Embracer Group cuts revealed as Lost Boys Interactive hit with "massive" layoffs by John Callaham The video game-themed company Embracer Group has continued its long, long period of restructuring into the new year. Today, one of their many game development studios, Lost Boys Interactive, got hit with what was described as "massive" layoffs by one of the team members that were affected. Aftermath was the first to report on the layoffs, as a number of now-former Lost Boys Interactive team members revealed their job cuts on social media. The studio's official website stated that it had over 400 employees. It's not clear exactly how many of those 400 team members were cut. Lost Boys Interactive was formed in 2017, and was acquired by Embracer Group, via its Gearbox Software division, in 2022. The studio has provided content for a number of different games and publishers, including Gearbox's own Tiny Tina's Wonderland and Blizzard's Diablo IV. This is just the latest in a series of deep employee cuts and studio shutdowns that Embracer Group has made after a proposed deal with a Saudi Arabia-based investment group called Savvy Games Group for $2 billion in 2023 was canceled at the last minute. At the time, Embracer had about 17,000 employees. In June 2023, Embracer announced a restructuring that would result in deep cuts to its organization. They included the full closure of studios like Saints Row developer Volition, along with a canceled revival of Free Radical Design, well before it was supposed to launch a new game in the Timesplitters first-person shooter series. Other Embracer-owned studios that got hit with big layoffs in 2023, but have not yet been closed, include 3D Realms, Beamdog, and Crystal Dynamics. Back in June, Embracer stated its restructuring period would continue through March 2024. That means we could see further layoffs and studio closing before this is all over. Besides its game studios, Embracer also owns Dark Horse Comics and Middle-earth Enterprises, which owns certain rights to license content from The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.

Starfield's next update will be its biggest yet with over 100 fixes and improvements by Pulasthi Ariyasinghe Before the holiday break, Bethesda had been pushing out a steady stream of updates to its new space RPG Starfield since its launch last year. Just as the studio promised, the 2024 updates will soon start rolling out, and the first is slated to be the biggest one yet. Announced via its official social media channels, Bethesda is planning on bringing an update filled with "over 100 fixes and improvements" to Xbox console and PC players. Before that though, a Steam beta will kick off to test the stability of the changes, echoing the testing steps behind the DLSS update from November. "This update contains a multitude of fixes to Quests," the studio says in a tweet. "Eye of the Storm issues such as being unable to dock with the Legacy or data transfer not starting, and Temples not showing up in Into the Unknown, will no longer prevent Constellation from exploring the cosmos." Some screenshots were also shared to showcase the lighting and shadow improvements, seen them embedded above and below. Here are some more improvements included in the update: "Additionally, this update brings stability improvements and numerous graphic improvements ranging from additional widescreen support to improved textures, lighting, and shadows. Other fixes and improvements include sun disk geometry, planet ring shadows, bulldozed objects reappearing when returning to an Outpost, ship hatches marked inaccessible, and another fix for asteroids following ships." This update contains a multitude of fixes to Quests. Eye of the Storm issues such as being unable to dock with the Legacy or data transfer not starting, and Temples not showing up in Into the Unknown, will no longer prevent Constellation from exploring the cosmos. pic.twitter.com/EkJl2qbpAh — Bethesda Game Studios (@BethesdaStudios) January 12, 2024 The Starfield beta update will launch for Steam users via a beta channel on January 17, with its changelog also coming on that date. Two weeks later, the update will launch to all players across Xbox, PC, and Game Pass. More updates with features like modding support, FSR 3 and XeSS, new ways to travel, and more are coming later in 2024 too. Bethesda is also working on the game's first story expansion, Shattered Space. While only a name has been revealed about this DLC for now, we may get more information about it during the Xbox Developer_Direct showcase next week.

SMITE 2 officially announced; closed alpha testing for the MOBA sequel begins later in 2024 by John Callaham In 2014, developer and publisher Hi-Rez Studios launched SMITE for the PC. The mythology-themed third-person fantasy MOBA game expanded its reach in 2015 to the Xbox One, in 2016 to the PlayStation 4, and in 2019 to the Nintendo Switch. In 2020, Hi-Rez announced SMITE had over 40 million players. Today, Hi-Rez announced it is working on a full stand-alone sequel, SMITE 2. This new game will keep the main elements of the original SMITE but add new features and will run on Unreal Engine 5. Here's a very quick look at the game's features: Fight as a God: Choose your God from across mythology and wield unique godly abilities. Hurl bolts of lightning as Zeus, master the arcane powers of death as Anubis, or backstab your foes as Loki. The Third-Person Action MOBA: No other game offers combat that feels like your favorite hero shooter, crossed with the deep strategy you can only find in a 5v5 MOBA. Feel the impact of every shot, sneak up on enemies, and combo abilities with teammates to take down the enemy Titan. Plays Great Everywhere: SMITE 2 is the only MOBA designed from the start to play amazingly on keyboard and mouse, or controller. SMITE 2 features full cross-play and cross-progression, so you can play with friends regardless of platform and take your unlocks with you from PC to console. SMITE 2 will be released for PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store, along with the Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5 consoles and even Valve's Steam Deck. The original SMITE game will continue to exist and will receive new content and updates alongside SMITE 2. If play the original SMITE, the bad news is that you won't be able to transfer your in-game content and progression to SMITE 2. The good news is, according to SMITE 2's FAQ page, any in-game Gem you got in SMITE, either free or via money, will translate into Legacy Gems in SMITE 2. They can be used to purchase most of that game's in-game content for 50 percent of their prices. You will also get unlocks in SMITE 2 based on your progression in the first game. There's no final release date yet for SMITE 2. However, players can sign up on the game's website to be picked for closed alpha testing that is set to begin in the spring of 2024.

Xbox Free Play Days return with seven EA sports games to try over the weekend by Pulasthi Ariyasinghe Microsoft's Xbox Free Play Days promotions have been on break for a few weeks now due to the holidays, but its first 2024 session has just kicked off. Surprisingly, everything available to try out for Xbox Game Pass Core and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members this weekend is from EA. Seven sports games from the publisher are now temporarily available to try for subscribers for no extra cost. EA Sports FC 24, Madden NFL 24, NHL 24, F1 23, EA Sports PGA Tour, EA Sports WRC, and Super Mega Baseball 4 are the games Xbox Series X|S owners can jump into over the weekend. Here are store links, available platforms, and a quick description for each of the available games for anyone looking for a refresher: EA Sports FC 24 (Xbox Series X|S) - Moves, looks, and plays like football. EA SPORTS FC 24 brings you closer to football than ever before, powered by a trinity of technologies driving gameplay realism in every match. Madden NFL 24 (Xbox Series X|S) - Experience the newest iteration of FieldSENSE in Madden NFL 24 on Xbox Series X|S More realistic character movement and smarter AI gives you control to play out your gameplay strategy with the confidence to dominate any opponent in Madden NFL 24. NHL 24 - Four. The number. The name. The natural. Finally, the legendary Bobby Orr is available and playable in NHL 24. F1 23 (Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S) - Be the last to brake in EA SPORTS™ F1® 23, the official videogame of the 2023 FIA Formula One World Championship™. A new chapter in the thrilling “Braking Point” story mode delivers high-speed drama and heated rivalries. EA Sports PGA Tour (Xbox Series X|S) - The exclusive home of the Majors, EA SPORTS™ PGA TOUR™ features Pure Strike for superior golf gameplay powered by ShotLink®, and unrivaled access to the world’s most exclusive golf courses. EA Sports WRC (Xbox Series X|S) - Build the car of your dreams in our biggest rally game ever, EA SPORTS™ WRC, the all-new official videogame of the FIA World Rally Championship, the first developed by the award-winning team behind the DiRT Rally series. Super Mega Baseball 4 (Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S) - Super Mega Baseball™ 4 is where the Legends play. The signature mix of arcade-inspired style and immersive gameplay returns with 200+ baseball Legends and a grand slam of presentation upgrades. From the bunch, EA Sports FC 24's free-to-play promotion is actually available to all Xbox Series X|S players. It does not require an Xbox Game Pass Core or Ultimate membership, unlike the other EA titles, to try over the weekend. The first Free Play Days event of this new year is now live and it will finish its run this Sunday, January 14 at 11:59 p.m. PT.

Sail Forth is free to claim this week on the Epic Games Store by Pulasthi Ariyasinghe It's clear the Epic Games Store is not planning to end its free games promotion anytime soon. Just as the 2023 holiday giveaway festival comes to an end, with Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy as a finale no less, 2024's giveaways have officially begun rolling out. Now, PC gamers can grab Sail Forth, and the store is giving them one whole week to claim the copy and keep it forever. Developed by Festive Vector, Sail Forth lets players have an adventure across the ocean on their very own sailboat. Here, there are fisherfolk to take as crewmates, pirates to defeat, and solve an ancient mystery deep under the sea. Players can also build and customize ships of their choice in this single-player entry, and to afford upgrades, there will be plenty of treasure-seeking, from shipwrecks to giant clams. Here's how the developer describes the mystery surrounding the story as well as the sailing systems of this indie title: Fathom a Mystery! Join forces with the myriad inhabitants of this watery world to uncover a terrible secret buried in the depths of the Deepblue. Reel in a big one with the salty Anglerwranglers, learn the secret spyspeak of the Croaker Command Corps, save the sea life of the Moontiders, capture picturesque memories with a mysterious “camera” device, and much more. Inspire the finefolk from all over to work as one world-spanning crew to save the seas and the planet. Sail Forth into Adventure! Tack and jibe and heave and cut with a sail and wind system designed with enough attention to realistic sailing physics to excite naval enthusiasts while also remaining deeply accessible to anyone and everyone. Sail through stormy swells and serene sunsets in a dynamic and breathtaking day-night weather system. Bask in the beauty of the benevolent ocean waters in Free Sail mode where the only goal is the ever-moving horizon. Sail Forth is free to claim on the Epic Games Store for the next seven days, with the promotion ending next Thursday, January 18. Without a sale, the title normally comes in at $19.99. Continuing the 2024 freebies, the store will offer the minimalistic retro-inspired platformer Love as a giveaway next week.

NVIDIA GeForce NOW adds more games to the service including War Hospital by John Callaham NVIDIA GeForce NOW subscribers can look forward to playing more games from the cloud-based streaming service this week. The biggest Day One release is War Hospital, a different take on the typical war strategy game. Developed by Brave Lamb Studio, War Hospital is set during World War I in 1918. You play a retired British army medic who gets drafted into running a field hospital on the Western Front. Your goal is to manage the hospital's resources even as wounded soldiers keep coming in to be treated. In addition to War Hospital, GeForce NOW is adding even more games this week, including four that are accessible via Microsoft's PC Game Pass: War Hospital (New release Jan. 11, available on Steam) Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla (Xbox, available for PC Game Pass) Jected – Rivals (Steam) RAILGRADE (Steam) Survivalist: Invisible Strain (Steam) The Talos Principle 2 (Epic Games Store) Turbo Golf Racing (Xbox, available for PC Game Pass) TUNIC (Xbox, available for PC Game Pass) Witch It (Steam) Zombie Army 4: Dead War (Xbox, available for PC Game Pass) This has been a very busy week for NVIDIA in general and for GeForce NOW in particular. During CES 2024, the company announced some new features and games that are coming soon to the service. One is G-Sync Cloud, which will allow subscribers with G-Sync-supported monitors to access and play games with the G-Sync Cloud feature. It will allow cloud games on the service to be played while the display will match the streaming rate on the cloud. New NVIDIA GeForce NOW one-day game passes are coming in early February. It will let users who don't want to pay a more expensive monthly fee to try out the paid versions of the service for one day at a lower cost. Finally, the two most recent games from Blizzard, Diablo IV and Overwatch 2, will be added to GeForce NOW, along with many other games, in the near future.

"Indiana Jones and the Great Circle" may be the title of the upcoming Bethesda game by Pulasthi Ariyasinghe It has been exactly three years since Bethesda announced a partnership with Lucasfilm Games to develop a brand-new game set in the Indiana Jones universe. We are just about to get the first gameplay reveal of this highly-anticipated project during the Xbox showcase happening next week, but a leak may have shed light on the game's name a little earlier than intended. According to the details gathered by Twitter user Kurakasis, Lucasfilm has been registering domains for "Indiana Jones and the Great Circle". This includes "indianajonesandthegreatcirclegame.com", "indianajones-and-the-great-circle.com", "indianajonesgreatcircle.com", and many others, as seen below: indianajonesandthegreatcircle.com indianajonesandthegreatcircle.net indianajonesandthegreatcircle.us indianajonesandthegreatcircle.asia indianajonesthegreatcircle.com indianajonesgreatcircle.com indianajonesandthegreatcircle.online indianajonesandthegreatcircle.ru just in case they wanted to hide the registrant's details, here is the actual whois pic.twitter.com/cpy08ZjaIu — Kurakasis (@Kurakasis) January 10, 2024 Kurakasis has also unearthed a trademark filed by Lucasfilm in Europe two years ago, which has "THE GREAT CIRCLE" as a video game-related listing. The original announcement teaser for the Indiana Jones game also has a hint at circles being a key point in the game. A book titled Ancient Circle (by Todd Howard no less) is clearly seen in the first few seconds. Other than MachineGames of Wolfenstein fame is developing this game, not much else is known about this upcoming Xbox platform-exclusive action-adventure project. While we will have to wait until Microsoft makes an official announcement to confirm what exactly will be the title of the game, there is a good chance of this happening next week. Other than over 10-minutes of gameplay, Microsoft has confirmed information like "developer insights, including details about the game’s setting and story, how fans will actually play as Indy, additional details from his next globe-trotting adventure", will be unveiled at the Xbox Developer_Direct showcase. Featuring multiple games like Avowed, Ara, and Senua's Saga: Hellblade II in addition to Indiana Jones, the presentation kicks off on January 18. There may finally be release dates attached to some of these Xbox exclusive projects too.

Intel's latest Windows WHQL driver supports all 14th Gen CPUs, the new Prince of Persia game by Sayan Sen At CES 2024 this past week, Intel completed the unveiling of its 14th Gen Raptor Lake-S refresh (desktop) lineup with the release of its locked non-K lineup which performs fairly close to the unlocked K models while also not being super-power hungry. This includes the Core i9-14900, i7-14700, and more. On the mobile front, Intel also released its 14th Gen HX SKUs and Core Series 1 U SKUs. The flagship HX part, Intel says, is even faster than AMD's Ryzen 9 7945X3D in most cases. Today, with the latest Windows WHQL driver, versions 31.0.101.5085 and 31.0.101.5122, Intel has added support for these new processors. And in terms of game support, the driver is said to be optimized for the new Prince of Persia title The Lost Crown. The full changelog is given below: HIGHLIGHTS: Support for 14th Gen Intel ® Core™ S/HX-Series processors. GAMING HIGHLIGHTS: Intel® Game On Driver support on Intel® Arc™ A-series Graphics for: Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown KNOWN ISSUES: Intel® Arc™ A-Series Graphics Products: Alan Wake 2* (DX12) may exhibit white corruption on reflective surfaces when Transparency is set to Off. A workaround is to set Transparency to Low or High. Dead by Daylight* (DX11) may experience an application crash during gameplay. Topaz Video AI* may experience errors when using some models for video enhancement. Intel® Smooth Sync may not work as expected with certain DX11 games. Intel® Core™ Ultra with Intel® Arc™ Graphics Products: Diablo 4* (DX12) may exhibit corruption on the terrain during gameplay. Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection* (DX12) may experience application crash after loading into gameplay. The Talos Principle 2* (DX12) may experience an application crash during gameplay with certain Upscaling Presets. Autodesk Maya* may experience application crash while running SPECAPC* benchmark. Blender* may experience application crash while rendering some scenes on certain system memory configurations. Topaz Video AI* may experience errors when using some models for video enhancement. Intel® Iris™ X e MAX Graphics Products: Driver installation may not complete successfully on certain notebook systems with both Intel® Iris™ Xe + Iris™ Xe MAX devices. A system reboot and re-installation of the graphics driver may be required for successful installation. Intel® Core™ Processor (12th -14th Generation) Products: Dragon Quest X Online* (DX9) may experience sporadic application crash during gameplay. INTEL® ARC™ CONTROL KNOWN ISSUES: Using Arc Control Studio capture with certain games may incorrectly generate multiple video files. The “Connector” type in the Display page may incorrectly show DP* when using an HDMI* display connection. Arc Control Studio capture recording file may become corrupted when the mouse cursor is enabled during HDR capture. Camera preview may turn off after the system goes into connected standby mode. To download the latest Intel driver, versions 31.0.101.5085 and 31.0.101.5122, head over to this page on Intel's official website. The driver is compatible with Windows 10 20H2 (October 2020 update) and newer. It supports Intel 11th Gen and newer processors, as well as the DG1 (Iris Xe Max) discrete GPUs; essentially everything that's based on the Xe-LP architecture (Arc GPUs are Xe-HPG).

Minecraft Legends will end active development with one last update this month by John Callaham Minecraft Legends, the action-strategy spin-off of Mojang's hit sandbox game, is about to end active development less than a year since its launch in April 2023. In a blog post, Mojang announced that it will release one more Lost Legends challenge for the game later in January, Snow vs Snouts. It stated: Snow vs Snouts brings a brand-new combat style to the game, in which you focus on destroying piglin bases from afar, using an enhanced version of the powerful redstone launcher. Compared to its base game counterpart, the launcher you wield in this Lost Legend has a faster cooldown and (de)construction rate for more mobility and greater attack power. Plus, it has a knockback effect that makes blasting piglins with it really, really satisfying. There will also be one last free character skin available from the Minecraft Legends Marketplace, the Bright-Eyed Hero skin. After that, there will be no more content updates released for the game. The blog post added: Our existing Lost Legends challenges will remain available for free, and you’ll still be able to reap the rewards if you claim victory. We will of course continue to offer technical support to players, and we won’t be removing any functionalities or features from the game. PvP and co-op will also remain fully functional, so you can continue playing whether you prefer to take on the piglins by yourself or battle alongside (or against) friends. Minecraft Legends, which was co-developed by Blackbird Interactive, got mixed reviews when it was released in April. However, the flagship Minecraft game continues to be popular, and a few months ago, Mojang announced that it had sold 300 million copies of that game since it launched in 2009. Mojang said today that it will "continue exploring the types of games we're passionate about and bringing new experiences to the Minecraft universe". That likely means we may see new Minecraft spin-offs in the future. Of course, there's also the upcoming Minecraft movie that's about to start filming and will hit theaters in 2024.

Turn 10 says it will use player feedback to make many improvements to Forza Motorsport by John Callaham Forza Motorsport, the soft reboot of Microsoft's long-running racing sim game series, launched in October. Since then, the game's development team at Turn 10 has released two free content updates for the game, along with a number of hot fixes and patches. However, many long-time Forza Motorsport players have posted word online there are some features in the new game that they feel need changes and improvements. In a blog post this week, Turn 10 stated that it has heard feedback on three specific areas in the game that it plans to address during 2024. The first is the game's car progression system. Turn 10 says while some players like the current system for upgrading their vehicles, others feel that "it isn’t delivering the upgrade experience that they expect from Forza Motorsport." Turn 10 says that it will be making some changes to this upgrade progression, while also keeping what players like about it. This is a "top priority" for Turn 10, but it added that it may take a little while to decide on the improvements, and then to make code changes and test those changes before the improvements are released. The second issue Turn 10 plans to address is the game's race regulations. Some players have been hit with "inconsistent or unfair penalties" in Forza Motorsport for various track infractions, like being pushed off the track, high-speed collisions, and more. The team says it will be getting data on these issues with the help of other Forza Motorsport racers so the race regulations and their penalties are handled fairly. Finally, the team has received feedback from players that the game's AI drivers can do some odd things, like braking too hard on certain courses, following the typical racing lines too strictly and more. Turn 10 says it will be making changes so those AI drivers are not as aggressive on the track.

Sony unveils Helldivers 2 PC requirements, confirms cross-play with PlayStation 5 by Pulasthi Ariyasinghe Sony announced Helldivers 2 as a rare cross-platform release last year, bringing the cooperative shooter entry to both PlayStation 5 and PC simultaneously. As its launch date gets close, now the company and developer Arrowhead Game Studios are revealing more details about the PC version and cross-play options. The minimum, recommended, performance, and ultra system requirements unveiled today can be seen below. Judging by the range of graphics cards the requirements chart goes through in between minimum and ultra options, the title seems to be quite well optimized. Even a hard drive is listed as usable, something of a rare mention in modern-day high-budget titles. Here are the specifications to hit for those looking to jump into Helldivers 2: MINIMUM RECOMMENDED PERFORMANCE ULTRA AVG PERFORMANCE 1080p @ 30 FPS 1080p @ 60 FPS 1440p @ 60FPS 4K @ 60 FPS AVG PERFORMANCE Low Medium High Very High GPU NVIDIA GTX 1050 Ti or AMD RX 470 NVIDIA GTX 2060 or AMD RX 6600 XT NVIDIA RTX 3070 or AMD RX 6800 NVIDIA RTX 4070 Ti or AMD RX 7900 XTX CPU Intel Core i7-4790K or AMD Ryzen 5 1500X Intel Core i7-9700K or AMD Ryzen 7 3700X Intel Core i5-12600K or AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D Intel Core i5-12600K or AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D RAM 8GB DDR4 16GB DDR4 16GB DDR4 16GB DDR4 OS Win 10 64-bit Win 10 64-bit Win 10 64-bit Win 10 64-bit STORAGE 100GB HDD (7200rpm) 100 GB SSD 100 GB SSD 100 GB SSD Unfortunately there is no mention of upscaling tech like Nvidia DLSS, AMD FSR, or Intel XeSS in today's announcements. But there is still a chance it will employ all of the above for gaining more FPS across almost all hardware combinations, much like other Sony PC ports. Arrowhead also confirmed cross-play will be a feature, letting PlayStation 5 and PC players join together for missions from day-one: Community and teamwork are the most important pillars of Helldivers 2, and so it is essential to ensure players can work together regardless of the system they choose to use. Together we can celebrate victories, mourn losses, and liberate the galaxy without platform boundaries. Helldivers 2 is launching across PlayStation 5 and PC on February 8 with a $39.99 price tag. Pre-orders are now live across the PlayStation and Steam stores.

Xbox Direct showcase will have Indiana Jones gameplay and more next week by Pulasthi Ariyasinghe Microsoft is kicking off 2024 with a games showcase, offering Xbox fans a look at some of the projects its first-party studios are currently working on. The Developer_Direct is coming back for its second year later this week, with the presentation focusing on four major titles releasing in 2024. The showcase will focus on MachineGames' Indiana Jones, Obsdian's Avowed, Ninja Theory's Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II, and Oxide Games' Ara: History Untold. The Xbox Developer_Direct will kick off at 12pm PT / 3pm ET / 8pm UK on Thursday, January 18, across all major Xbox channels and social media portals. Like before, the presenters will be developers themselves, unveiling how the games are progressing and who are the teams currently working on them. Following the Direct, The Elder Scrolls Online team will stream a showcase for unveiling what's next for the hit MMO in 2024, which will include a new zone, storyline, and other features. The XboxWire announcement describes the presentation like this: "We’ll visit MachineGames in Sweden to check in on their Indiana Jones game, swing by Obsidian’s Irvine offices to see more from Avowed, head to Oxide Games’ Maryland home to learn about Ara: History Untold, and take a trip to Cambridge, England to see Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II from Ninja Theory." The Indiana Jones title was first announced in 2021 by Bethesda, and last year, it was confirmed that the adventure game would be coming to Xbox and Windows PCs, skipping out on PlayStation. The first gameplay trailer from the highly-anticipated project will be unveiled at this Developer_Direct as well. Unfortunately, fans will be waiting longer to see how Activision Blizzard's gaming lineup will fit into Xbox. Microsoft confirmed it will have no updates regarding the latest merger's games and assets in this showcase. Last year, Hi-Fi Rush had a shadow drop during the Developer_Direct showcase, offering the widely well-received rhythm action experience to Xbox players as a surprise right away. We don't know if Microsoft is planning another drop like that for this year as well, but it's probably a good idea for Xbox fans to tune in and see what's in store.

Xbox first-party games like Sea of Thieves might be coming to PlayStation 5 by Pulasthi Ariyasinghe The console gaming landscape may be slowly changing. While exclusives are a major aspect of gaming brands, it seems some Xbox titles may soon be coming to rival platforms like PlayStation and Switch, at least according to insiders. It's been a rumor-heavy week already regarding acclaimed exclusives like Hi-Fi Rush making over to other platforms, but now, it's Sea of Thieves' turn. The hugely popular live-service entry where players engage in light-hearted piracy with each other is reportedly in development at least for Sony's PlayStation 5. The reports arrive from Giant Bomb's Jeff Grubb and Stephen Totilo of Game File. Both insiders claim that plans are underway inside Microsoft to bring Sea of Thieves to the Sony console, and ports may not be stopping there. Developed by Rare and released in 2018 for Xbox and Windows PCs, the first-party game has been one of the most successful Xbox games to release in modern times. It crossed the 30 million player mark in 2022, and is routinely seen in the most played games lists on both Xbox and Steam. Now five years old, the title is still receiving a steady stream of major content updates. The most recent update delivered the long-requested Safer Seas option for players, letting them sail the seas without any other crews, simply playing it as a co-op adventure. Keep in mind that Sony is also bringing its next major live-service entry developed by Bungie, Marathon, to Xbox in addition to PlayStation and PC. We may start seeing live-service games from both companies come over to each other's platforms on day one going forward. As for traditional first-party games like Spider-Man or Starfield, the chance of those titles hopping over are quite slim, even if PC players are seemingly getting everything at some point. As usual, take these reports with a grain of salt until Microsoft makes any official announcements regarding their first-party titles hopping over to more platforms.

Weekend PC Game Deals: Freshly bundled choices, a galactic freebie, and more by Pulasthi Ariyasinghe Weekend PC Game Deals is where the hottest gaming deals from all over the internet are gathered into one place, every week, for your consumption. So kick back, relax, and hold on to your wallets. The new year is here, and along came with it a brand-new Humble Choice with its January selection. The biggest draws of this bundle are Midnight Suns from Firaxis Games, the well-received strategy entry, as well as Two Point Campus, the humorous university building and management game by the makers behind Two Point Hospital. Here's everything included in this month's Choice bundle: Marvel’s Midnight Suns Digital Deluxe Midnight Suns Doctor Strange Defenders skin Two Point Campus Aragami 2 OTXO The Red Lantern Roguebook Hell Pie Twin Mirror The January 2024 Humble Choice bundle will refresh itself to bring the next wave of games on February 6, giving you a month to decide on the current selection. There aren't any tier business here either, with the bundle costing you $11.99 to grab all games. The Epic Games Store's massive freebie run that offered daily giveaways is finally at an end, but the finale brought a week-long giveaway of Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy to end things with a bang. The single-player adventure lets you take the role of Star-Lord and take command of the eccentric hero team to save the galaxy. The award-winning title is known for its humorous storyline and fitting 80s soundtrack. The special abilities of Star-Lord Drax the Destroyer, Gamora, Rocket Raccoon, and Groot can be used in fights for combos as well as ultimate abilities. Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy giveaway will come to an end on January 11. Which is also when a copy of Sail Forth take its place, confirming that freebies will continue to arrive from the store in 2024. With its own holiday sales ending, the Humble Store has also gone back to offering regular gaming bundles. First up is a packed digital board games collection. It carries Splendor and Love Letter in the $1 starting tier, which is joined by Amberial Dreams, Carcasonne, and Small World in the $5 tier. The third tier adds on 29 more items, most of them being DLC, but it also has Terraforming Mars and Innchanted as games. The $20 final tier adds only one more game: Gloomhaven. Humble also introduced the Heroes of Film and Television Bundle this week, a charity collection containing exactly what its name describes. The $15 complete tier includes 17 family-friendly games from franchises like Star Trek, DC Comics heroes, How to Train Your Dragon, Hotel Transylvania, Ben 10, and others. Big Deals Holiday sales are finally winding down, with only the Epic Games Store still keeping its event and 33% cutting unlimited-use coupon active for a few more days. Here are highlights from that and more in our hand-picked big deals for this weekend: Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales – $29.99 on Epic Store God of War – $24.99 on Epic Store Immortals of Aveum – $23.99 on Epic Store A Plague Tale: Requiem – $22.49 on Epic Store No Man's Sky – $22.25 on Gamebillet Red Dead Redemption 2 – $19.79 on Epic Store The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles – $15.99 on Steam The Expanse: A Telltale Series – $14.99 on Steam Tiny Tina's Wonderlands – $14.99 on Steam Anno 1800 – $14.99 on Epic Store Mortal Sin – $13.99 on Steam Maneater – $13.99 on Steam BioShock: The Collection – $11.99 on Steam MONSTER HUNTER RISE – $11.99 on Gamesplanet Wasteland 3 – $10.79 on Fanatical Riders Republic – $9.99 on Steam Okami HD – $9.99 on Steam Capcom Beat 'Em Up Bundle – $9.99 on Steam Skul: The Hero Slayer – $9.99 on Steam Inscryption – $9.99 on Humble Store Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy – $9.89 on Steam Mega Man 11 – $9.89 on Steam Far Cry 5 – $8.99 on Steam Watch Dogs: Legion – $8.99 on Steam Far Cry 5 – $8.99 on Steam Dying Light – $8.99 on Steam Far Cry New Dawn – $7.99 on Steam Watch_Dogs 2 – $7.49 on Steam No Place Like Home – $6.99 on Steam Chorus – $6.24 on Fanatical The Evil Within 2 – $5.99 on Steam XCOM 2 – $5.99 on Steam Remember Me – $5.99 on Steam LOST PLANET 3 – $4.99 on Steam Metro Exodus – $4.49 on Fanatical Brotato – $3.99 on Steam Pathfinder: Kingmaker - Enhanced Plus Edition – $3.99 on Steam DuckTales: Remastered – $3.74 on Steam Lost Planet: Extreme Condition – $3.44 on Steam Bionic Commando – $3.19 on Steam XCOM: Chimera Squad – $2.99 on Steam XCOM: Enemy Unknown – $2.99 on Steam Left 4 Dead 2 – $0.99 on Steam Portal 2 – $0.99 on Steam Bridge Constructor Portal – $0.99 on Steam Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy – $0 on Epic Store DRM-free Specials The GOG store technically ended its winter sale, but an encore kicked off at the same moment to offer just a few more days of grand holiday DRM-free specials. Here are some highlights: Timberborn - $19.99 on GOG Cuphead - $13.99 on GOG Frostpunk: Game of the Year Edition - $12.24 on GOG XCOM: Enemy Unknown Complete Pack - $9.99 on GOG Desperados III - $9.99 on GOG Beacon Pines - $9.99 on GOG Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition - $4.99 on GOG Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition - $4.99 on GOG Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak - $4.99 on GOG Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen - $4.79 on GOG The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind GOTY Edition - $3.74 on GOG Homeworld Remastered Collection - $3.49 on GOG Roller Coaster Tycoon 2: Triple Thrill Pack - $2.49 on GOG Alien Breed Trilogy - $2.29 on GOG Stronghold Crusader HD - $1.99 on GOG Mirror's Edge - $1.99 on GOG Empire Earth Gold Edition - $1.97 on GOG Populous: The Beginning - $1.49 on GOG Theme Hospital - $1.49 on GOG Dungeon Keeper Gold - $1.49 on GOG Dungeon Keeper 2 - $1.49 on GOG Roller Coaster Tycoon Deluxe - $1.49 on GOG SimCity 2000 Special Edition - $1.49 on GOG Evil Genius - $0.99 on GOG Pizza Connection 2 - $0.89 on GOG Keep in mind that availability and pricing for some deals could vary depending on the region. That's it for our pick of this weekend's PC game deals, and hopefully, some of you have enough self-restraint not to keep adding to your ever-growing backlogs. As always, there are an enormous number of other deals ready and waiting all over the interwebs, as well as on services you may already subscribe to if you comb through them, so keep your eyes open for those, and have a great weekend.

Netflix looking at adding ads to its games, and charging extra for some by Steve Bennett Netflix has been increasing its gaming library significantly over the last 12 months, including adding some headline indie titles as well as some classic triple-A titles. The service is available to all users who are subscribed to Netflix, and platform availability is on a per-title basis. Now, Netflix is reportedly looking into ways to further monetize the games on its platform through a variety of methods not limited to including adverts within these games. The Wall Street Journal has reported that executives at Netflix have been having discussions over the last few months over a selection of options to keep users coming back to the streaming service. Ideas that have been floated are not new ones and already exist within the mobile gaming world. This includes in-app purchases within games as well as charging a fee for titles that are more premium (which may include titles such as the aforementioned indie title Hades). This might also be extended to providing users who subscribe to the ad-supported tier access to the gaming library (something that is not yet available), but these games would then only be available with ads in them. Previously Netflix held the position that it did not want to include ads or other monetization methods within games on its platform. However it appears that has changed in the last few months. WSJ also reports that Netflix games had been downloaded a total of 81.2 million times globally during 2023, which is nearly three times as much as it saw in 2022. It isn't earth-shattering when compared to some larger mobile titles or bigger games on traditional gaming consoles and PC. However it shows that Netflix is seeing growth in the area, and will continue to invest in its library during 2024 and beyond. Source: The Wall Street Journal

City of Heroes is officially back, thanks to a license from NCSoft to a fan-run MMO server by John Callaham In the early days of the massively multiplayer game genre, developer Cryptic Studios and publisher NCSOF launched City of Heroes in 2004, where players could create their own original superhero characters and battle evil forces. The game was critically acclaimed and became very popular for a while. It launched a number of expansion packs over the years. In 2007, Cryptic transferred full ownership of City of Heroes to NCSOFT. The publisher kept the game going under its own in-house development team at Paragon Studios. However, the player numbers for the game started to go down. In 2012, NCSoft officially shut down the game's servers and closed Paragon Studios. Even with the official shutdown, there were still many gamers who wanted to keep playing City of Heroes. In 2019, word got out that some people had run private City of Heroes game servers for many years via a leaked code base. The code made its way to other parts of the world which meant even more private servers for the game got up and running. One of those servers was called City of Heroes: Homecoming. Today, the organizers of that server announced a surprise deal with NCSOFT that gives the fan server an official license to not only run City of Heroes but even develop new content for the game. According to the server's FAQ post on this deal, "This agreement provides a framework under which Homecoming can operate the game in a way that complies with NCSOFT’s wishes." NCSOFT still owns City of Heroes under this new arrangement. The Homecoming team stated that it is "not required to pay any up-front or recurring license fees" to NCSOFT, although it will have to pay some "one-off legal costs for some updates to our consumer documentation." The free-to-play Homecoming server will remain free under the terms of the agreement, and the development team will keep it going through fan donations. Hopefully, we will learn more about the Homecoming team's plans, including adding new content, in the coming months.

Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy is free to claim on the Epic Games Store this week by Pulasthi Ariyasinghe The Epic Games Store' holiday giveaway festival as at an end, and the final freebie is a big one. Guardians of the Galaxy, the Marvel entry by Eidos-Montréal offers an original tale featuring the popular gang of misfits. This is the first time that this AAA title has been free , with the store offering the complete adventure to claim for an entire week. Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy has you joining the hero team from the perspective of Star-Lord, who is "leading" the Guardians across the cosmos to save it from a calamity in their own special way. The single-player game has you calling the shots as Star-Lord during the action to command Drax the Destroyer, Gamora, Rocket Raccoon, and Groot to use their special abilities. The award-winning title has also been highly praised for its music choices, which is filled with 80s hits. Here's how Eidos describes the setting: Some jerk (surely not you) has set off a chain of catastrophic events, and only you can hold the unpredictable Guardians together long enough to fight off total interplanetary meltdown. Use Element Blasters, tag-team beat downs, jet boot-powered dropkicks, nothing’s off-limits. If you think it’s all going to plan, you’re in for a world of surprises, with the consequences of your actions guaranteed to keep the Guardians on their toes. In this original Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy story, you’ll cross paths with powerful new beings and unique takes on iconic characters, all caught in a struggle for the galaxy’s fate. It’s time to show the universe what you’re made of. Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy is available to claim for free from the Epic Games Store for an entire week, with its promotion ending on January 11 at 8 a.m. PT. The game usually goes for $59.99 when it is not on sale.

NVIDIA GeForce NOW adds The Finals and more games to its cloud streaming service by John Callaham It's a new year, and that means the NVIDIA GeForce NOW cloud gaming service is back adding new titles to its library of games. Today is a fairly small update in terms of the number of games, but there's one big new released that should be of interest. NVIDIA's blog stated that The Finals, the recently launched free-to-play multiplayer destruction shooter from developer Embark, is now available on GeForce Now's servers. NVIDIA's most recent GPU driver update added support for DLSS 3, DLAA, Reflex, and RTXGI Ray Tracing to The Finals, so you can likely use those technologies when you play the game on the GeForce NOW servers. Here's the list (again, on the small side) of games that's being added to NVIDIA GeForce Now this week: Dishonored, for Hungary, Czech Republic and Poland (Steam) The Finals (Steam) Redmatch 2 (Steam) Scorn (Xbox, available for PC Game Pass) Sniper Elite 5 (Xbox, available for PC Game Pass) There are at least 16 more games planned for launch on NVIDIA GeForce Now during the next month: War Hospital (New release on Steam, Jan. 11) Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown (New release on Ubisoft, Jan. 18) Turnip Boy Robs a Bank (New release on Steam and Xbox, available for PC Game Pass, Jan.18) Stargate: Timekeepers (New release on Steam, Jan. 23) Enshrouded (New release on Steam, Jan. 24) Bang-On Balls: Chronicles (Steam) Firefighting Simulator – The Squad (Steam) Jected – Rivals (Steam) The Legend of Nayuta: Boundless Trails (Steam) RAILGRADE (Steam) Redmatch 2 (Steam) Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun (Steam) Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun – Aiko’s Choice (Steam) Solasta: Crown of the Magister (Steam) Survivalist: Invisible Strain (Steam) Witch It (Steam) Wobbly Life (Steam) Keep in mind that the service usually adds even more games during a month that it announces at the beginning. Case in point; In December, 70 games were announced as coming to GeForce Now but 34 more were added: Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora (New release on Ubisoft, Dec. 7) Goat Simulator 3 (New release on Xbox, available on PC Game Pass, Dec. 7) LEGO Fortnite (New release on Epic Games Store, Dec. 7) Against the Storm (New release on Xbox, available on PC Game Pass, Dec. 8) Rocket Racing (New release on Epic Games Store, Dec. 8) Fortnite Festival (New release on Epic Games Store, Dec. 9) Stellaris Nexus (New release on Steam, Dec. 12) Tin Hearts (New release on Xbox, available PC Game Pass, Dec. 12) Amazing Cultivation Simulator (Xbox, available on the Microsoft Store) Blasphemous 2 (Epic Games Store) Century: Age of Ashes (Xbox, available on the Microsoft Store) Chorus (Xbox, available on the Microsoft Store) Dungeons 4 (Xbox, available on PC Game Pass) Edge of Eternity (Xbox, available on the Microsoft Store) Farming Simulator 17 (Xbox, available on the Microsoft Store) Farming Simulator 22 (Xbox, available on PC Game Pass) Flashback 2 (Steam) Forza Horizon 4 (Steam) Forza Horizon 5 (Steam, Xbox and available on PC Game Pass) Hollow Knight (Xbox, available on PC Game Pass) The Front (Steam) Martha Iis Dead (Xbox, available on the Microsoft Store) Minecraft Dungeons (Steam, Xbox and available on PC Game Pass) Monster Hunter: World (Steam) Neon Abyss (Xbox, available on PC Game Pass) Ori and the Will of the Wisps (Steam, Xbox and available on PC Game Pass) Ori and the Blind Forest: Definitive Edition (Steam) Raji: An Ancient Epic (Xbox, available on the Microsoft Store) Remnant: From the Ashes (Xbox, available on PC Game Pass) Remnant II (Xbox, available on PC Game Pass) Richman 10 (Xbox, available on the Microsoft Store) Spirittea (Xbox, available on PC Game Pass) Surgeon Simulator 2 (Xbox, available on the Microsoft Store) Sword and Fairy 7 (Xbox, available on PC Game Pass) One announced game for December, Terminator: Dark Fate – Defiance, did not get added to GeForce Now due to a delay in its overall release.

A Plague Tale: Innocence is free to claim on the Epic Games Store today by Pulasthi Ariyasinghe The Epic Games Store's daily giveaway event is almost at an end, and the company has just unveiled what the penultimate freebie is. A Plague Tale: Innocence from Asobo Studio is the latest game to be free, giving you 24 hours to claim a copy and keep it forever. The adventure title has been given away before, but anyone who missed out on the the Epic Games promotion years ago now have another chance to grab it. Released in 2019, A Plague Tale: Innocence follows the story of Amicia and her little brother Hugo. Set during a mysterious plague from the medieval times, the two family members are hunted by Inquisition soldiers who believe they are responsible for the rat plague infesting the Kingdom of France. Avoiding the swarms of rats is a major aspect of this primarily stealth entry, with sources of light being the only spots safe from the deadly and almost supernatural hordes. Here's how the developer describes the title and the journey of the two young protagonists: 1348. The plague ravages the Kingdom of France. Amicia and her younger brother Hugo are pursued by the Inquisition through villages devastated by the disease. On their way, they will have to join forces with other children, and evade swarms of rats using fire and light. Aided only by the link that binds their fates together, they will face untold horrors in their struggle to survive. As their adventure begins… the time of innocence ends. Asobo Studio also released A Plague Tale: Requiem in 2022, a full-fledged sequel that continues the story and expands heavily on the gameplay. A Plague Tale: Innocence is free to claim on the Epic Games Store until 8 a.m. PT on January 4. The game costs $39.99 to purchase when not on sale. Keep in mind that the daily freebies will be coming to an end tomorrow, with Epic Games planning a final major giveaway to mark the finale.

Assassin's Creed Valhalla, Resident Evil 2, and more come to Xbox Game Pass in January by Pulasthi Ariyasinghe Microsoft is kicking off 2024 with a packed Xbox Game Pass wave. The reveals normally arrive on Tuesdays. Even though it's a day late, subscribers have a lot to look forward to just in the first half of January. This includes one of the most recent Assassin's Creed entries from Ubisoft, The Resident Evil 2 remake, hit WW2 shooter Hell Let Loose, the Xbox studio Compulsion Games' first game, and more. Here's everything coming to Xbox Game Pass, PC Game Pass, and Ultimate (with cloud access) subscribers in the first half of January 2024: Close to the Sun (Cloud, Console, and PC) – Available Now Hell Let Loose (Cloud, PC, and Xbox Series X|S) – January 4 Assassin’s Creed Valhalla (Cloud, Console, and PC) – January 9 Figment (Cloud, Console, and PC) – January 9 Super Mega Baseball 4 (Cloud, Console, and PC) EA Play – January 11 We Happy Few (Cloud, Console, and PC) – January 11 Resident Evil 2 (Cloud, Console, and PC) – January 16 Those Who Remain (Cloud, Console, and PC) – January 16 Ubisoft's Far Cry arrived to Game Pass last month. Now with Valhalla joining this month, it seems Game Pass members may be getting more Ubisoft titles going forward. Five games are leaving the Game Pass services in January, and it includes some blockbusters like GTA V and Persona titles. Here are all the games and their leaving dates: January 5: Grand Theft Auto V (Cloud and Console) January 15: Garden Story (Cloud, Console, and PC) MotoGP 22 (Cloud, Console, and PC) Persona 4 Golden (Cloud, Console, and PC) Persona 3 Portable (Cloud, Console, and PC) With the first wave of 2024 out of the way, Microsoft should have another announcement for what's coming in the second half of January in about two weeks time. The company has already confirmed Turnip Boy Robs a Bank is joining the subscription on January 18 as well.

Star Wars Outlaws is set for release in 2024, according to Disney blog post [Update] by John Callaham Update: 1:45 pm ET - The Disney Parks post has now been updated, stating only that Star Wars Outlaws is due in 2024, with no specific time frame. Original story - While we knew that Star Wars Outlaws, the open-world game set in the Star Wars original film trilogy timeline, was scheduled to come out sometime in 2024, a new article posted today on the Disney Parks blog seems to narrow that release time frame a bit more. The blog post mentions that the game "is set to release late this year." That would mean that Star Wars Outlaws will likely compete with a number of other major titles that will likely be released during that time frame, including the next Call of Duty title, Hellblade 2, and others. Star Wars Outlaws was officially announced in June 2023 during Microsoft's Xbox Games Showcase. Publisher Ubisoft then posted a gameplay trailer and more info on the title which will be developed by the publisher's Massive Entertainment team. The game will be set in between the films The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. As the name of the game indicates, Star Wars Outlaws will focus on the movie universe's gangsters and smugglers. The player will control the character of Kay Vess, a smuggler in the vein of Han Solo who has to think on her feet in order to complete her missions and, more importantly, get paid by her rather shady employers. Ubisoft claims the game will allow players to "explore distinct planets with bustling cities and cantinas" and the gameplay trailers also showcase some space travel and battles as well. Star Wars Outlaws is definitely not the only upcoming game set in a galaxy far, far, away. We are still awaiting a status update on Star Wars: Eclipse from developer Quantic Dream that's set in the High Republic timeline. It was first announced over three years ago. Electronic Arts has some Star Wars games in development as well, including a first person shooter from developer Respawn, and a strategy game from developer Bit Reactor.

20 Minutes Till Dawn is free to claim today on the Epic Games Store by Pulasthi Ariyasinghe The Epic Games Store is nearing the end of its holiday giveaways promotion, but there's still more quality games incoming. To replace yesterday's 24-hour Escape Academy giveaway, 20 Minutes Till Dawn has dropped in as the latest freebie, refreshing the timer. Developed by Flanne, the title's gameplay should be a familiar to anyone who has played Vampire Survivors or a similar game, offering a simple but addicting survival roguelite experience. Released just a few months ago in June of 2023, 20 Minutes Till Dawn throws endless hordes at the player to see if they can last the night. Like other games in the genre, you're given the option to select the weapons, runes, and special abilities, as well as their upgrades, in each 20-minute lasting run, setting the stage for a highly repayable experience. Here's how the developer describes the build varieties and how the gameplay loop progresses: Ignite monsters with every pump of your shotgun, rain lighting down from the heavens, or control magic spears to pierce your enemies! How you confront the hordes is your choice alone. Take control of an ever-growing cast of diverse characters and wield a wide range of weapons, all with an extensive spectrum of evolution paths and unique traits. As you obliterate monsters, collect experience and choose from an in-depth selection of upgrades, summons, and special abilities. Craft the perfect build and become an unstoppable force. 20 Minutes Till Dawn is only free to claim on the Epic Games Store for the next 24 hours, with its promotion ending at 8 a.m. PT on January 3. The game usually costs $4.99 to purchase when not on sale. This is also the first time it's been part of a freebie offer. The Epic Games Store has two stops to go on its giveaways train, both being mystery drops.