gaming

Those who’ve ordered the Steam Deck but have yet to receive them may not have to wait much longer: Valve has now announced that it’s ramping up production and deliveries for the highly-anticipated handheld device. Taking to Twitter, the gaming company says that it has just sent out the last batch of Q2 emails and will be moving on to Q3 reservations at the end of June. “Production has picked up,” Valve celebrates, “and after today we’ll be shipping more than double the number of Steam Decks every week!” Of course, deliveries will only be made to those who have already registered for one, and those that reserve a Steam Deck now will have to wait a little longer for their device to arrive, but it’s still good news for everyone who wants one, especially when the global chip shortage has led t...

If you’ve enjoyed your experience with Stardew Valley or Animal Crossing: New Horizons and are looking for your next farming-gathering adventure, you’re now in luck: Square Enix has just announced Harvestella. Featured in the trailer above, the upcoming title throws players into a fantastical world largely reminiscent of the studio’s Final Fantasy franchise, with plenty of magical elements to interact with. Aside from the regular farming processes of land tilling, seed sowing, and crop watering, you’ll also be able to collect items to cook and craft with. Other activities include fishing, owning pets or even fighting off monsters and venturing through dungeons to find better loot. A world map allows you to travel to different regions and towns, each with its own unique ...

ATLUS has officially announced the arrival of Persona 5 Royal, Persona 4 Golden and Persona 3 Portable on the Nintendo Switch. The news was unveiled during the latest Nintendo Direct alongside an announcement video, confirming that with the exception of Persona 4 Golden, the titles will be also available on the Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Windows, PlayStation 5 and Steam, with Persona 5 Royal releasing first on October 21. Personal 5 Royal will include a previously released DLC included with the base game, while the other two games will be available in French, Italian, German and Spanish for the first time: Persona 5 Royal: Forced to transfer to a high school in Tokyo, the protagonist has a strange dream. “You truly are a prisoner of fate. In the near future, ruin awaits you.” With the goal...

Pokémon GO developer Niantic on Tuesday announced a partnership with the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) to develop an original augmented reality game titled NBA All-World. The game, which places NBA fans into a real-world metaverse, is a free-to-play geolocational title that challenges players to find and compete against notable NBA players in their respective neighborhoods. Upon challenging top-tier players to games, fans can then recruit NBA icons to their own team before playing on the official court, where they will have the ability to outfit players in custom apparel. “We’re enveloping the world around you into a basketball universe, or what I personally like to call turning the real world into a basketball theme ...

PUBG: Battle Grounds has just unveiled their latest and upcoming map, Deston, during a dev talk event. Teased previously by game developer Krafton, the map is said to launch on July 13. Deston will become PUBG’s first swampland environment, including a mangrove forest and a gigantic chicken in the sky. “Deston is the largest, tallest, and densest map the game has ever seen,” Krafton said. “Throughout a match on Deston, players will experience dense urban settings with tall vertical buildings to rolling hills, plains and newly designed swamps. The map aims to deliver the sweet spot between fun gameplay and immersing players in realistic battlegrounds. Deston will challenge players to learn each biome of the map to understand how it will challenge them to consider different gear, vehicles, a...

Footage of an unreleased sequel to 2006’s Scarface: The World Is Yours has now surfaced online, giving fans a closer look at what could’ve been a video game franchise based on the classic film. Originally in development as a follow-up to the 16-year-old title that picked up after the events of the film itself, the game was long rumored to be in production, with Radical Entertainment building a working pre-alpha version, although this is the first time gameplay footage has actually been released. According to YouTube channel Mafia Game Videos, the game would’ve been called Scarface Empire and was set in Las Vegas, boasting upgraded graphics as well as new gameplay mechanics. It added over on Twitter that the sequel was built on a modified engine that was first used by the open-wor...

Riot Games is now beginning to monitor voice chat recordings on Valorant in an effort to combat online toxicity and disruptive behavior. In a new blog post from the gaming company, Riot says it understands players might not be happy with having their voice chats listened to, but emphasizes the necessity of the new measure in order to create a better, abuse-free community. “We know that before we can even think of expanding this tool, we’ll have to be confident it’s effective, and if mistakes happen, we have systems in place to make sure we can correct any false positives (or negatives for that matter),” its statement reads. “This is brand new tech and there will for sure be growing pains. But the promise of a safer and more inclusive environment for everyone who chooses to play is wor...

Blizzard Entertainment is working on a new first-person shooter Overwatch 2, a sequel to the original 2016 game of the same name. The sequel is currently in-beta and was reportedly intended to allow for player-versus-player modes with the first game, while bringing new cooperative modes into the mix. Overwatch 2 developers hosted a ​​Reddit AMA last week to field questions about the upcoming game. As it turns out, Overwatch 2 will completely replace the original game, rendering it unplayable. Game director Aaron Keller responded to one fan, who had asked if Overwatch 2 would “replace” Overwatch’s PvP modes. “We’re using the term ‘Early Access’ to indicate this is just the start of many new things coming to the game,” Keller responded. “We’re launching with new heroes, maps, and features, b...

Yuji Naka has officially confirmed the long-persisting rumor that Michael Jackson did write music for the soundtrack of Sonic the Hedgehog 3. The Sonic creator revealed the news on Twitter in celebration of the first game’s 31st anniversary, first asking the question “Does Sonic Origins Sonic 3 have a different song?” in reference to the recently-released remastered compilation of the first four Sonic games entitled Sonic Origins. He managed to answer his own question, stating, “Oh my god, the music for Sonic 3 has changed, even though Sega Official uses Michael Jackson’s music.” Naka also shared a TikTok video of Sonic channeling his inner Michael Jackson with “Billie Jean,” adding, “SEGA Official uses Michael Jackson’s music. means this.” To corroborate his claims, he shared a photo of t...

The Prince of Tennis II is coming to the Nintendo Switch this fall. The manga of the same name, which ran in Shueisha’s Weekly Shōnen Jump from 1999 to 2008, followed a middle school tennis player, Ryoma Echizen, and the challenge to beat friends and rivals alike in order to make it to the national tennis tournament. The forthcoming Switch title is called The New Prince of Tennis: Let’s Go! Daily Life and is being developed by Bushiroad. The game is billed as a “documentary adventure game” and will feature an entirely new story. All 62 characters from the series will be included with the potential for multiple pair endings. In a trailer for the game, boys compete in the team-based competition called the Sportsman Hunting Deluxe. A previous Prince of Tennis game launched for smartphones in ...

Netflix has added to its growing roster of games with Into the Breach, a strategy title from the developer Subset Games. The streamer began offering games last year with the launch of titles such as Trivia Quest, Knittens and more. Into the Breach is premised on the ability to travel in time. Gigantic creatures called Veks have taken over Earth and wiped out human civilization. Players venture into the past to defend cities and destroy the alien threat. The title will be available on Netflix’s mobile app for both Android and iOS and won’t show any ads or offer in-app purchases. Subset Games said that the Netflix version of the game will be essentially the same as that of other platforms but adapted for a touch interface. Into the Breach is already available for PC, Switch and Stadia. It’ll...