Happy this week! I return from holiday to find that Nic, James and the others have been experimenting with the use of Maw-shaped sock puppets to feed the Maw, in the hope that the Maw might form a filial bond with our news-wranglers. Unfortunately, we've learned in the process that anything that resembles the Maw behaves like the Maw. The sockpuppets were last seen tunnelling towards Los Angeles, like the sandworms in Dune. Sorry, America! Anyway, let's have a looksie at the PC game release sheets.
On Monday 29th July, there is nothing but sadness and desolation and desperate SOS messages from Los Angeles. On Tuesday 30th July, there's The Garden Path, an autumnal horticulture sim whose demo Alice B (RPS in peace) enjoyed, and Space For Sale, in which you build domed houses on unreceptive planets. Also on 30th July, the turn-based Neon Evangelism of Arc Seed, and the early access launch of free-to-play Blizzardy RTS Stormgate. Wednesday 31st July has us managing planes in Mini Airways, organising frog toes in Tidy Cauldron, and breaking bad in Drug Lord Tycoon (See also: Nic's recent piece on Dope Wars 98). On Thursday 1st August, the chance to play travelling salesman in Thank Goodness You're Here, from the Untitled Goose Game devs. Alternatively, you could try free-to-play tactics RPG Sword of Convallaria, which appears to be Final Fantasy Tactics plus an undetermined quantity of gacha. And on Friday 2nd August: Motördoom, a horde shooter which is also a Tony Hawk game, Deviator, a metroidvania out to steal Hollow Knight's lunch, and World of Goo 2, sequel to the Prometheus of indie physics puzzlers, which came out shortly before I got into james gournalism 16 years ago. Time for more sadness and desolation!
It's possible these are not the week's best and most interesting games. It's possible I'm lying, plying the readership with talk of indie comebacks, while quietly sliding a copy of Half-Life 3 into my trenchcoat. Only you, the intrepid gourmand of interactive entertainments, can set me straight. Let us know about any games we've missed in the comments, and find our weekly news liveblog below. Have a good one.
Our live coverage of this event has finished.
Key points- 08:09 am 08/02/2024 GET THE HELL IN HERE, FRIDAY
- 08:03 am 08/01/2024 GET A ROOM, THURSDAY
- 08:06 am 07/31/2024 GET A LIFE, WEDNESDAY
- 08:07 am 07/30/2024 GET A CLUE, TUESDAY
- 09:20 am 07/29/2024 GET STUFFED MONDAY
GET STUFFED MONDAY
Ladies and gentlemen, let us video game. FEED THE MAW. Edwin Evans-Thirlwell 09:27 am UTCThose wily Unknown Worlds people have been roadtesting images of Subnautica 2 in Subnautica 1. According to one of the subreddit moderators: "Yes, this is real. There may or may not be others to find".
A time capsule with a screenshot featuring some rather interesting creatures. #PEEPERSRULE
byu/nomorefunnynumber insubnautica
Double Fine have released a bonus episode in their PsychOdyssey studio self-profile. It's billed as part reflection on the studio's history, part "looking to the future and a return to smaller projects".
Double Fine PsychOdyssey · Episode 33: “We Wrote It Down” Watch on YouTube Edwin Evans-Thirlwell 09:47 am UTCVia The Verge, Intel’s 13th and 14th Gen CPUs have proven prone to crash bugs due to some kind of voltage issue. If you're affected, this can't apparently be fixed via software update - any damage is permanent. Intel are, at least, "confident" that patching will keep the crash bug from happening in the first place.
Edwin Evans-Thirlwell 09:50 am UTC Capcom haven't forgotten about the Mega Man series - from a shareholder call via IGN, they're "considering how to create games for it on an ongoing basis". Edwin Evans-Thirlwell 10:33 am UTCVia VGC, Bethesda have registered a trademark for something called Starborn - a reference, probably, to Starfield's endgame, and as such, possibly the name of a new DLC expansion of some kind.
Edwin Evans-Thirlwell 11:52 am UTCBlizzard are toying with the idea of 6v6 in Overwatch again. I approve.
Edwin Evans-Thirlwell 13:55 pm UTCEnshrouded has been updated with new difficulty settings and cosmetic features - read more here.
Edwin Evans-Thirlwell 16:54 pm UTC Embracer-owned Plaion are the publishers of Amy Hennig and Skydance's 2025-bound superhero shindig Marvel 1943: Rise Of Hydra, as reported by VGC. Edwin Evans-Thirlwell 08:07 am UTCGET A CLUE, TUESDAY
The acrid acres of whitespace beckon. The cursor monotones. FEED THE MAW. Edwin Evans-Thirlwell 08:11 am UTC As reported by PCGamer, Call Of Duty cheatmaker Raging Nation have shut down following a warning from Activision. "Someone affiliated with our business has received a legal notice from Activision," Raging Nation explains. "We may not agree with the assertions made in these legal demands, but we are in no position to litigate with such a large company. It brings us no pleasure to inform all of you that we will be closing our business starting today." Edwin Evans-Thirlwell 08:13 am UTC Meet Your Maker, in which players build post-apocalyptic bases for other players to invade, is getting a free trial. Edwin Evans-Thirlwell 08:14 am UTCThere's a Steam demo out for Square Enix's Visions Of Mana.
Visions of Mana | Demo Announce Trailer Watch on YouTube Edwin Evans-Thirlwell 08:40 am UTC Beta Decay seems promising. It's a big low-poly RPG shooter set in one of those dark, dystopian cyberpunk worlds. Phase 1 - Pre-Alpha | beta decay Watch on YouTube Edwin Evans-Thirlwell 09:25 am UTCHitman World Of Assassination Part 1 is currently 90% off on Steam, if you've been feeling the urge to murder somebody while dressed as a chef.
Edwin Evans-Thirlwell 10:36 am UTCCleanfall is a squirming 2D roguelike with a surprise tower defence element in which you burrow to the planet's centre - it's got a demo, too.
Edwin Evans-Thirlwell 10:38 am UTC Lo, a new Elden Ring patch. It's pretty copious, spanning PvP, Ashes, incantations, spells, and various bugfixes. Edwin Evans-Thirlwell 12:21 pm UTCI've been catching up with Neverness To Everness, an open world free-to-play anime city RPG with driving, interdimensional dungeons and an exorbitant catgirl component. Persona meets Yakuza? Zenless Zone Zero meets Scarlet Nexus? Here's a 13 minute walkthrough trailer.
NTE Gameplay Trailer | Neverness to Everness | Announcement Trailer Watch on YouTube Edwin Evans-Thirlwell 16:17 pm UTC Now dated for early access launch in August, Neyyah wants to be Riven before they ruined it by making everything, ugh, 3D. Edwin Evans-Thirlwell 21:08 pm UTCHytale, the long in-development craft 'em up, has posted a summer 2024 development update with glimpses of their new engine.
Graham Smith 21:09 pm UTCStar Wars Outlaws previews are flooding the net and there's twenty minutes of no-commentary playthrough to watch if you're so inclined:
STAR WARS OUTLAWS New Gameplay 4K (No Commentary) Watch on YouTube Graham Smith 21:13 pm UTCDevolver have shared some extra details of the next Cult Of The Lamb update, Unholy Alliance, over on the PlayStation blog. It adds local co-op and arrives on Steam on August... 12th? 13th? I'm unsure.
Graham Smith 08:06 am UTCGET A LIFE, WEDNESDAY
The Maw the merrier. FEED IT. Edwin Evans-Thirlwell 08:09 am UTC As reported by Videogamer, there's no canon world state in Dragon Age. Own your mess. Edwin Evans-Thirlwell 08:14 am UTC Ant Keeping Simulator is a simulation game about keeping ants. Nic Reuben 08:14 am UTC Medieval multiplayer mace-masher Chivalry 2 is now "feature complete", say Torn Banner. They're turning their attention to "new multiplayer projects, both in the Chivalry universe" and in the upcoming No More Room In Hell 2. Nic Reuben 08:17 am UTC TheGamer has spotted job listings for a new Firesprite game - a "dark, story-driven 'narrative adventure'". Firesprite are the makers of Horizon Call of the Mountain and The Persistence; they saw layoffs earlier this year. Edwin Evans-Thirlwell 08:55 am UTCI feel like this might have been covered while I was off in holiday-land, but Trepang2 has some Bladekisser DLC. I don't see much kissing in that trailer.
Trepang2 Bladekisser DLC Announcement Trailer Watch on YouTube Edwin Evans-Thirlwell 09:02 am UTCMortal Kombat's licensing partners are more "protective" of how their characters kill in the game than how they die, according to series godfather Ed Boon.
Edwin Evans-Thirlwell 11:40 am UTC A former Rockstar North technical director has thoughts on whether GTA 6 will be a technological "jump". Edwin Evans-Thirlwell 13:59 pm UTC Kletka is that proverb about being caught between a rock and a hard place, but instead of the rock you've got an endless ruined Gigastructure, and instead of a hard place you've got an elevator that wants to eat you. Sound appealing? Find some demo impressions through the link, there. Edwin Evans-Thirlwell 14:14 pm UTCKaizen Game Works are hosting a live premiere for their hard-to-summarise open world lark Promise Mascot Agency. It's still going as I write this, but you should be able to watch the full thing back later via the below embed.
Promise Mascot Agency - Gameplay Deep Dive Watch on YouTube Edwin Evans-Thirlwell 15:57 pm UTC Bungie are laying off over 200 staff as they form a new studio within PlayStation, via VGC. Sony have “worked tirelessly with us to identify roles for as many of our people as possible," they say, and "will be offering a generous exit package, including severance, bonus and health coverage.” Nic Reuben 08:03 am UTCGET A ROOM, THURSDAY
Once again we must dip our fingers, arms and faces into the internet's bottomless chumbucket. FEED THE MAW. Edwin Evans-Thirlwell 08:06 am UTC I regret to inform you there will be no karaoke in the Yakuza TV show, via The Gamer. Nic Reuben 08:27 am UTCThe Western port for lovely-seeming Japanese slice-of-lifer Shin-chan: Shiro and the Coal Town is coming to Steam on 24th October.
Shin chan: Shiro and the Coal Town - Launch Date Trailer | Coming 24 October to Switch and Steam Watch on YouTube Edwin Evans-Thirlwell 08:58 am UTCI played the demo for isometric city-builder Metropolis 1998 this morning, while awaiting the caffeine spike that signals the beginning of the workday. It's pretty WIP, but seems jolly. I made a hospital with no doors and caused a massive traffic jam.
Image credit: YesBox Edwin Evans-Thirlwell 09:58 am UTCHere are Nic's thoughts on a gameplay overview vid for Planet Coaster 2.
Edwin Evans-Thirlwell 09:59 am UTC Also from Nic, impressions of a dungeon-keeping game which isn't worlds away from that other dungeon-keeping game. Edwin Evans-Thirlwell 14:19 pm UTC What's the weather like there? It's viciously hot here. We were promised a nice, cleansing thunderstorm but it's taking its sweet time. Edwin Evans-Thirlwell 08:09 am UTCGET THE HELL IN HERE, FRIDAY
The Maw nears full dilation. Onward, onward! FEED IT. Edwin Evans-Thirlwell 08:09 am UTC Avowed has reportedly been delayed into 2025. Edwin Evans-Thirlwell 08:19 am UTCAccording to Game File's anonymous Bungie sources, the Destiny studio has long needed to make significant layoffs, regardless of the fortunes of Destiny 2: The Final Shape. Also according to Game File, the alternative to making cuts was insolvency.
Edwin Evans-Thirlwell 08:20 am UTCMiniMatt says: if the thousands of hours spent in various Civilization games had been directed toward actual world domination you lot would be in serious trouble. Yet even I am not so excited by the prospect of "20 minutes of Civ 7 gameplay footage at 1:30pm pacific on the 20th August on FiraxisGames twitch" that I'd put it in the diary and stay up way past my bedtime. Dedicated Maw correspondents are made of sterner stuff however...
I'm always up for a gargantuan CivStream. You can watch it on Youtube or Twitch.
Edwin Evans-Thirlwell 08:31 am UTC Please reset the "days since layoff announcement" gauge from 2 to 0: Intel are getting rid of 15,000 jobs, or 15% of their workforce, by the end of 2024. Thanks, PCGamer. Edwin Evans-Thirlwell 09:44 am UTC Selaco is Steam Deck Verified and there's a lot of new features, story stuff and mode-based whatnot in the workings. Edwin Evans-Thirlwell 10:24 am UTC Prison Architect 2 has been delayed indefinitely " to improve both the game's performance and its content", Paradox have announced. Probably worth noting here: Paradox parted ways with original developers Double Eleven in May - it's now in the hands of co-development outfit Kokku, who have been contributing to development since last autumn. Edwin Evans-Thirlwell 12:48 pm UTCA message from Esko Maijala of One Trick Entertainment: "Reaching out to you really quick to mention that while your article in Rock, Paper, Shotgun about Metsänpeitto was really great and I'm a fan of my country-men Remedy and Alan Wake 2 - I felt the urgent need to mention that before Alan Wake 2 was released our company released a game focusing SOLELY on surviving in Metsänpeitto - forest's cover." My god, he's right. Steam link here.
Lempo - Launch Trailer | PS5 Games Watch on YouTube Edwin Evans-Thirlwell 16:35 pm UTC News has come to light during Bungie's massive layoffs that the company abandoned a mysterious Destiny spin-off project, Payback, some time ago. Edwin Evans-Thirlwell 09:16 am UTC SEGA have trademarked ‘Yakuza Wars’ in Japan, via Gematsu. Nic Reuben Load more comments Loading
