"A dried husk of a product": former Doom producer berates Microsoft for making Halo a "mid-tier" game and mourns the "financialisation" of AAA

"We're trying to make it easier": Valve confirm the Steam Frame is just the start of plans to get Steam games working on compatibility-challenged ARM PCs

"They often don’t make it in the door": Wardogs studio Bulkhead check for "anti-crunch messaging" on prospective hires' social media, CEO says

Wo Long 2: Wings of Ember has a demo out, as Koei Tecmo carve an early 2027 release date into some hulking demons from Chinese mythology

Total War: Shogun 2's Complete Edition adds 50 minor factions in return for breaking your mods, but fear not, players who stick to the old version will get legacy DLC for free

Skyblivion's release is "getting closer" as the massive Skyrim mod's makers start recruiting for a big final marketing push

Tim Willits doesn't think Rideshare's generative AI is damaging Saber's reputation

Marathon's next major update runs a few months further away, permanent PvE in hand, as Bungie ditch their "strict seasonal schedule"

Paradox's grand strategy game Afterworld hasn't got a fixed history, it changes with every playthrough

European Commission's proposed EU Kids Act could see online games forced to enact stricter age verification amid new rules around accounts for under 15s

Lies of P's sequel is a Wizard of Oz homage called Wonders of O, going by a Neowiz trademark, and probably not a videogame based on a famous work of French erotica

Valve considered making a new VR game for the Steam Frame, before tackling the "ludicrous" task of getting Half-Life: Alyx running standalone

As Civilization 7 devs Firaxis prepare to unleash the nukes, the strategy game's latest update whips out a fresh take on the classic Real Earth map

The King Is Watching devs are making The Crab is Walking, this journalist is writing

"We track every server you enter": the Wardogs devs are "coming down hard" on XP farms and cash exploits, even as they encourage people to grind

Valve decided that cutting the Steam Frame’s specs to avoid price rises wasn't "the right product choice" for the VR headset

Valve’s Steam Frame VR headset opens for orders, with the cheapest model priced at a lenswatering £889 / $1,059

Blizzard say Battle.net isn't looking to fight Steam and Epic for supermassive storefront supremacy, despite recently nabbing The Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077

This week in PC games: become a magic girl in Kernel Hearts, a dog commando in Fright Train, or a capital class warship in Sublight

"Valve is under the impression that this game is way sexier": Nighthawks devs claim vampire RPG has erroneously been slapped with Steam adult content label

Sony letter spells the end for unreleased The Last of Us Part 2 multiplayer mod, its creator says

Roblox plan to grow their absurd gaming empire even further by letting devs release games as "standalone apps", potentially via Steam, Epic, and GOG

A StarCraft open-world shooter that's "Deadwood in space", Diablo 5, and a new classic-ish World of Warcraft branch out this year make up Blizzard of reveals

Moss developer Polyarc share that they're shutting down just two months after releasing a VR-less port of the beloved mousey adventure games

The Sunday Papers

What are we all playing this weekend?

"Why do we need more graphics?": 2010's Alan Wake was as photoreal as videogames ever needed to be, reckons original Thief designer

Rockstar had a mole in the union worker Discord server "for over two and a half years", GTA 6 company reveals during legal battle

PlayStation reportedly dumped Hideo Kojima spy action game Physint over exceeded budgets, missed deadlines, and Death Stranding sales

Wardogs presents a different kind of FPS power fantasy: making fat stacks as a pacifist rideshare driver

GTA 6 online mode appears to receive Rockstar's first public acknowledgment, via mention of in-development "32 player format" in legal docs

EA's Saudi Arabian owners are reportedly considering forming an ubermegacorp by merging them with Savvy Games

Do a bit of visual programming and watch your party of heroes conquer an evil tower in Dungeon Automata

Shroom and Gloom is a positively mycelial roguelike double deckbuilder that's now out in early access

GNOG and Goodbye Volcano High dev KO_OP share that they are laying off staff in the only, remotely good statement I've seen in a while

Stylised XCOM-like tactics game Ex Sanguis straps Othercide's obsession with timelines to a leaner roguelike campaign

"We’re going to become the new legend": Naoki Hamaguchi on making Final Fantasy 7 Revelation as if it's the last ever Final Fantasy 7 game

Skyrim’s official IKEA crossover mod might be the most deftly-assembled Elder Scrolls gag ever, if not an ad blueprint other corps should follow

Ubisoft games on Steam may soon no longer require the pesky Connect launcher, thanks to a new tool the publishers are testing

"We want to invite people into this big tent with this grimdark setting": Creative Assembly on how they plan to ease strategy newbies into Total War: Warhammer 40,000

Bargain with demons and boat with the dead in joyful RPG heist quest anthology Thousand Hells

Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse proves Dead Cells' developers were the right fit for a revival in this blessing for the Belmonts

Steam beta update adds a new Big Picture view, screensavers, and a little treat for desktop Steam Machines

As final hearing over GTA firings begins, Rockstar reiterate they "reject the claims" made by union and will defend themselves "vigorously"

Hideo Kojima spy action game Physint switches publishing allegiance from PlayStation to Xbox, probably increasing the chances it'll hit PC

Wanderburg, a bullet heaven where you drive around a Frankensteinian hybrid of a castle and a tank, is out in early access today

Pile cards on top of each other and watch the magic happen in the textured and chunky roguelike deckbuilder Stack Order

Lovely anime Sherlock series The Apothecary Diaries is getting a PC game spin-off, with Maomao chasing down another court conspiracy

Blood of Dawnwalker's troubled power fantasy has me yearning for a more desperate, systemic vampire survival sim

No Man's Sky's 10th anniversary update will let you rule space stations, built floating orbital bases and go on holiday to the sun

Cult classic shoot-em-up Touhou Koumakyou: The Embodiment of Scarlet Devil has a remake out now

Unionised Blizzard workers vote through contract giving them a say on genAI adoption and protection against layoffs

Blood of Dawnwalker devs Rebel Wolves are already looking for someone to help write a sequel, so here's where I'd like to see its vampy tale go next